WIV. OY YORONTO we ’ ae piseke eo | ~Nature A. WEEKLY ILLUSTRATED JOURNAL OF SCIENCE VOLUME LXIlI MAY to OCTOBER 1900 44 “To the solid ground Of Nature trusts the mind which builds for aye.” —WoRDSWORTH Lonron MACMILLAN AND CO. LimireEpD i NEW YORK: THE MACMILLAN COMPANY TE RN IRR ‘at RicHaRD CLAY AND ! December 13, tg00 / the History of Modern Weather Prediction, on the Concretionary Structures of the Magne- one of Durham, 587 e, hee on the Physical Character of the Population il im), Colour Photometry (iii), 273 e of), the Ascent of Mount St. Elias, Alaska, 1, 529 oelectric Force of some Metallic Oxides and Sul- ies, the International Association of, 249 n ne Purification of Acetylene, 110 ; a Handbook é dent and Manufacturer, Vivian B. Lewes, 522 Ch.), Anti-coagulating Power of Serum in Pathological Limiting Standard of Acidity for Moorland ~ Illustration of Doppler’s Principle, Prof. R. ; a New Instrument to Measure and Record in F. Sharpe, 80; the Photography of of, R. W. Wood, 342 ; the Distance to which wy Gunsis Heard, Dr. Charles Davison, 377 ; B38 High Note Production by Galton’s ‘Edelmann, 381; Acoustical Triangulation, ad Effect produced by Stationary Sound- ge, Homochronous Heredity and the, Prof. +» 572 on the Life History of, R. H. Biffen, 613 on Glass, the, Edmund F. Mondy, 246 , the Flow of Marble, 335 chanics of Flight, Lord Rayleigh, 108 ; elin’s Navigable Balloon, 180, 231, 396; 's Air-ship, 626 r, Joseph Larmor, Prof. Geo. Fras. Fitzgerald, Walk through the Zoological Gardens, 466 nary Notes on the Results of the Mount Kenya _H. J. Mackinder, 12; Spider-silk manufac- ar, M. Nogue, 17 ; Grandidier’s Expedition 3; the Winds of Kimberley, J. R. Sutton, le Tuber from the Soudan, Maxime Cornu, ention of Horse-sickness, Dr. G. C. Purvis, ony Fruit-moth, Mr. Barrett, 119; Death Otice of Miss M. H. Kingsley, 134; Locust C. Robbins, 134; the Carboniferous Strata Villiaume, 168; Effect on Lower Nile of n Upper Nile, 180; Palzolithic Man in Tr -R.S., 190 ; South African Philoso- . H. G, Seeley, F.R.S., 262; the Snake- , 302 5 ta Drawings, E. H. L. [ land in Walfisch Bay, 336; Mr. 3 Ghizeh Zoological Gardens, 374; Change of Tabits of Rhinoceros-birds in British East Africa, a , Ray Lankester, F.R.S., Capt. Hinde, 366; the Rhinoceros on the Upper Nile, Oldfield Thomas, 599 ; nic Regions of Lower Egypt, C. Depéret and R. Distribution of Chlorine in West York- ° W. D., F.R.S.), Death of, 602 ; Obituary Notice | INDEX Fourtau, 408; the Ndonda District, H. A. Byatt, 422 ; Paleolithic Implements from Stellenbosch, L. Péringuey and G. S. Corstophine, 464; Egyptian Gold, Daniel Berthelot, 464; the Fauna of South Africa, Mammals, W. L. Sclater, 521; the Preservation of Big Game in Africa, E. N. Buxton, 550; Report of the British Associatidn Committee on the Climate of Tropical Africa, 590; Proof of old Semitic In- fluence in South Africa, K. Meinhof, 606 Agamennone (Dr. G.), the Action of Horizontal and Vertical Pendulums in Seismography, 62 Age of the Earth, the, Prof. Eugene Dubois, 498 ; the Geological Age of the Earth, J. Joly, F.R.S., 235 Agnosticism, Naturalism and, James Ward, 25 Agriculture: Irrigation and Drainage, F. H. King, 5; the Farmstead, Prof. J. P. Roberts, 53; Strontium and Barium unfit to replace Calcium in Phanerogams, Dr. U. Suzuki, 136; the Destruction of the ‘* Moth-borer ” Caterpillar, 182 ; Rural Wealth and Welfare, Geo. T. Fairchild, 245 ; ‘* Frost Fighting,” A. G. McAdie, 274 ; Solubility of Calcium Phos- hate in Soil Water in Presence of Carbon Dioxide, Th. chloesing, 312; Recent Investigations on Rust of Wheat, William G. Smith, 352; Michigan Board of Agriculture, Annual Report, 1898-99, 365. Agricultural Chemistry : Death of Sir John Bennet Lawes, Bart., F.R.S., 456; Obituary Notice of, Prof. R. Warington, F.R.S., 467; Agricultural Botany, John Percival, 570; Year-book of the United States Department of Agriculture, Prof. R. Warington, F.R.S., 597; Further Investigations of Xenia in Maize, Herbert J. Webber, 601 ; the Bobolink as a Rice Pest, F. E. L. Beal, prea inao, on the Japanese Gohez and the, W. G. Aston, Arete Carbonic. Anhydride of the Atmosphere, Prof. E. A. Letts, R. F. Blake, 387; the Air of Rooms, Francis Jones, 387 Air, Water and Food, Ellen H. Richards, Alpheus G. Woodman, 20 Aitken (John, F,R.S.), Dynamics of Cyclones and Anticyclones, ii., 95 ; Atmospheric Electricity, 366 Aitken (R. G.), New Planetary Nebula, 606 ; New Double Stars, 630 Aina the Ascent of Mount St. Elias, Duke of Abruzzi, 1, 529 Albatross in the Pacific, Explorations of the, 307 Albatross, Tenacity of Life of the, Prof. John Perry, F.R.S., 621 ; Captain Wm. J. Reed, 621 Albinism and Natural Selection, Walter Garstang, 620 Alexander (W. B.), the Climate of St. Christopher, 35 Algze, Codium, 63 Algebra, Machine for Solving Algebraic Equations, Georges Meslin, 253 Algeria : Vinification dans les Pays Chauds—Algérie et Tunisie, J. Dugast, 74 Allbutt (Prof. T. C., F.R.S.), Historical Aspects of the Discovery of the Circulation of the Blood, 630 Allchin (J. H.), a Swallow-cum-Sparrow Nest, 532 Allen (J. A.), the Wood Bison, 35 Allingham (William), A Manual of Marine Meteorology, 268 Alloys: Heat of Formation, J. B. Tayler, 70; Want of Uni- formity of Action of Copper-zine Alloys on Nitric Acid, Dr. J. H. Gladstone, 70; Properties of Gold and Copper Alloys, Prof. Sir W. C. Roberts-Austen, F.R.S., and T. K. Rose, 93 ; the Solidification of Alloys, Fred. T. Trouton, F.R.S., 523 iv Alnus Glutinosa, on the Structure of the Root-nodules of, T. W. Woodhead, 613 Alpine Tunnels, the Great, Francis Fox, 281 Althaus (Dr. Julius), Death of, 157 Amateur’s Practical Garden Book, the, C. E. Hunn, L. H. Bailey, 101 Amdrup Arctic Expedition, Return of, 577 America: La spedizione di sua Altezza Reale il Principe Luigi Amadeo di Savoia, Duca degli Abruzzi al Monte Sant’ Elia (Alaska), 1897, Dottore Filippo de Filippi, 1., 529; the Highest Andes, E. A. Fitzgerald, Edward Whymper, 38; Bulletin of American Mathematical Society, 69, 189, 260, 381 ; Transactions of American Mathematical Society, 260, 519 ; American Journal of Mathematics, 92, 381 ; American Journal of Science, 92, 210, 286, 432, 568, 638 ; Our Native (American) Birds, D, Lange, 100; the Geography of the Region about Devil’s Laké and the Dalles of the Wisconsin, Prof. R. D. Salisbury, W. W. Atwood, 172 ; Sette Anni di Caccia Grossa é Note di Viaggio in America, Asia, Africa, Europa, Count Felice Scheibler, 244 ; the New York Meeting of the American Association, 269 ; Maryland Weather Service, 292 ; American Institute and English Institution of Electrical Engineers at Paris, 415; Missouri Botanical Garden, Eleventh Annual Report, 495 Amsterdam Royal Academy, 47 Amsterdam Royal Society, 96 Analytical Chemistry, an Introduction to, G. G. Henderson, M. A. Parker, 292 Analytical Portraiture, Francis Galton, F.R.S., 320; Photo- graphic side of Mr, F. Galton’s Suggestions, 374. Anatomy : Death of Prof. G. V. Ellis, 16 ; Erinnerungen aus meinem Leben, A. KG6lliker, 169 ; Death of Dr. Karl Lange, 198 ; Death and Obituary Notice of Prof. Corrado Tommasi- Crudeli, 228 ; Handbuch der Anatomie und Vergleichenden Anatomie des Centralnervensystems der Siugetiere, Dr. Edward Flatau, Dr. L. Jacobsohn, 267 ;: Morphological Anatomy.of Vertebrates; the Air-chambers in Mammalian Skull, Dr. S. Paulli, 323; the Brain of the Pond-Tortoise, Dr. B. Haller, 324; an Introduction to the Study of the Comparative Anatomy of Animals, G. C. Bourne, 364; Descriptive and Illustrated Catalogue of the Physiological Series of Comparative Anatomy contained in the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, 385 ; Genesis of the Vertebrate Column, Herbert Spencer, 620 Ancient Records of Meteor Showers, M. D. Eginitis, 203 Anderson (Dr. John, F.R.S.), Death ,of, 394 ; Obituary Notice of, 529 Anderson (Prof. R. J.), Crooked-Keeled Breast-bone in Fowls, 159 Anderson (Dr. T. D.), New Variable in Auriga, 161 Andes, the Flora of the, H. H. W. Pearson, 46 Andes, the Highest, E. A. Fitzgerald, Edward Whymper, 38 André (Ch.), Apparent Semi-diameter of Sun, 464 André (G.), Action of Sulphur Dioxide and Hydrogen Sulphide on Pyridine, 216 Andrews (C. W.), a Monograph of Christmas Island (Indian Ocean), Physical Features and Geology, 193 Andrews (William), the Migration of Swifts, 436 Anemometer Tests, Prof. C. F. Marvin, 280 Angiopterts Evecta, on the Structure of the Stem of, Miss R. F. Shove, 612 Animal Cults of the Natives of Sarawak, on the, and their Bearing on the Problems of Totemism, Dr. C. Hose, W. McDougall, 634 ; Mr. Hartland, 635 Animals, an Introduction to the Study of the Comparative Anatomy of, G. C. Bourne, 364 Annalen der Physik, 92, 211, 338, 381, 568, 639 Annandale (N.), on the Appearance and Habits of Some Malay Insects, 590 Ant, Red, Web-spinning habits of, E. G. Green, 253 Antarctica : Magnetic Observations during Belgica Expedition, 108 ; Racovitza Glacialis, new Antarctic fish, Louis Dollo, 350; the Antarctic Regions, Dr. Karl Fricker, Dr. Hugh Robert Mill, 624; Through the First Antarctic Night, 1898- 99, Frederick A. Cook, Dr. Hugh Robert Mill, 624 Antelopes and their Recognition Marks, R. I. Pocock, 584 Anthills, Artificial, at Paris Exhibition, C. Janet, 490 Anthropology: the Races of Europe, a Sociological Study, William Z. Ripley, Prof. A. C. Haddon, F.R.S., 27; Death of Lieut.-Gen. Pitt-Rivers, F.R.S., 33 ; Obituary Notice of, Index’ [ Nature, December 13, 1900 59; Dugong Vertebra as bracelet in Pelew Islands, Dr. O. Finsch, 36; Decorative Art of Sea Dayaks of Sarawak, Prof. — A. C. Haddon, F.R.S., 68; Genealogical Researches in — Torres Straits, Dr. W. H. R. Rivers, 71; Anthropological — Institute, 71, 119, 167, 190; Stone Implements from Pitcairn Islands, J. Allen Brown, 119; Malay Magic, W. W. Skeat, — 145; Earliest Communications between Italy and Scan- — dinavia, Prof, O. Montelius, 167 ; Original Character of the — British People, Nottidge Charles Macnamara, 172; the English Metric System of Criminal Identification, ras Garson, 190; Human Babies : what they Teach, S. S. Buck- man, 221; the White Huns, C. de Ujfalvy, 323; Bushman ~ Drawings, E. H. L. Schwarz, 336; Craniol of Irano- | Indians, M. Ujfalvy, 351 ; Memorial Notices of F, H. Cush- — ing, 397 ; Artificial Deformation of Heads and some Customs connected with Polyandry, Kumagusu Minakata, 437; Pa- | lxeolithic Implements from Stellenbosch, L, Pees and G. S, Corstophine, 464; the Ginn in Morocco, Dr. E. — Westermarck, 499; Slavic Skull at Niedersedlitz, Prof. J. Deichmiiller, 533 ; Mexican Symbolism, Carl Lumholtz, Prof. Alfred C. Haddon, 600 ; the Peopling of Australia, Sidney H. Ray, 621 ; Annual Congress of the German Anthropological Society, 632; see a/so Section H of the British ociation Antoniadi (E.), Anomaly of Dichotomous Phase of Venus, 464 Applications of Electrical Science, Prof. G. F. Fitzgerald, 43 ; Aquila, New Star in, 305 Araucarioxylon, on the Primary Structure of Certain Palzeozoic — Stems Referred to, Dr. D. H. Scott, F.R.S., 612 ia Arber (E. A. Newell), on the Effect of Salts on the CO, Assimila- tion of Ulva latissima, 611 i Archzeology : Pompeii and its Remains, 7 ; the wee Buddha — Relics, 200; Indian Burial Caves on Rio Cunany, Brazil, Dr. _ Goeldi, 500; the Recent Cretan Discoveries and their — bearing on the Early Culture and Ethnography of the East — Mediterranean. Basin, Arthur J. Evans, 526; see a/so Section ~ H of the British Association = Archibald (E. D.), Indian Famine-causing Droughts, 335 _ Arctica : the Norwegian North Polar is 1893-1896 to Franz Josef Land, Scientific Results, Fridtjof Nansen, J. F. Pompeckj, A. G. Nathorst, R. Collett, 146; the Russian — Expedition at Spitsbergen, 373 ; Return of Amdrup Expedi- — tion, 577 ; Musk Ox to be Acclimatised in Sweden, S77 ' Ardnamurchan, on a Granophyre Dyke Intrusive in Gabbro at, Prof. K. Busz, 588 2 ae ae Argyll (the Duke of), Death and Obituary Notice of, 13 ~ ! Arithmetic : Elements de la Théorie des Nombres, E, Cohen, 52 — Arizona, ‘* Chalcedony Park,” the, L. F. Ward, 62 — Armitage (Mrs.), on some Yorkshire Earthworks, 637 Armstrong (Prof.), Dr. Lodge’s Paper on Volia’s Contact — Force, 70; Inhibiting Effect of Etherification on Substitution: — in Phenols, 261 ; Ions, 564 Pb, y Arnold (Mr.), Relative Advantages of Alternate and Con- tinuous Current for General Electrical Supply, with regard to interference with other interests, 415 pene aes Arons (L.), Electric Arc between Metallic Electrodes in Nitrogen and Hydrogen, 93 : Art and Industry, Science in Relation to, 32 Art, Medicine as a Science and Medicine as an, Dr. P. H. Pye- Smith, F.R.S., 356 : Asbestos, Physical Structure of, Geoffrey Martin, 369 _— Ascent of Sap, Dr. Henry H. Dixon, Prof. J. Joly, Ree .3,572 Aschan (Prof. Ossian), on the Constitution of Camphor, 567 Asia: Sette Anni di Caccia Grossa e’ Note di Viaggio in America, Asia, Africa, Europe, Count Felice Scheibler, 244 ; Babylonians and Assyrians, Life and Customs, Rev. Sayce, 289 erg Aspen Leaf, the Trembling of the, Henry J. Colbourn, 436 _ Association of German Naturalists and Physicians, 553 a Assyria: the Reports of the Magicians and Astrolog Nineveh and Babylon, R. C. Thompson, 5 ; Babylo Assyrians, Life and Customs, Rev. A. H. Sa’ Aston (W. G.), on the Japanese Gohed and the 4 Astrographic Chart Conference, the, 377. __ Astrology, the Reports of the Magicians and Astrologers of Nineveh and Babylon, R. C. Thompson, 5! Astronomy: the Nature of the Solar Corona, Prof. Geo. Fras. Fitzgerald, F.R.S., 7; Photometry of Corona, April 16, 1893, » Prof. H. H. Turner, 86; Proportion of Polarised Light in » Solar Corona, J. J. Landerer, 167 ; Polarisation of Solar Corona observed at Elche, P. Joubin, 191; Automatic ce, 209 Ainu inao, 635 ¥ ~ 269; Astronomical Column, 19, 37, 64, 86, 110, 137, 160, 183, 202, 233, oh 304, 324, 352, 377, 398, 425, 459, 491, 501, 535, 550, 581, 606, 630; New Variable in Taurus, Madame Ceraski, 19; Relation between Solar Activity and Earth’s Motion, W. G. Thackeray, 20; Determination of Solar Parallax from Opposition of Eros, Prof. S. Newcomb, 20; Ephemeris for Eros, 20, 110, 184, 233, 377, 459 491, 501, 535, 556, 581, 606, 630 5 Photographic Observations of Eros, Prof. Howe, 137; Howe’s Photographic Observation of Eros, A. C. D. mmelin, 184; Measures of Eros, 233; Opposition of Eros, Prof. S. J. Brown, 425; M. Loewy, 630; Astronomical a. of Physical Problem Investigated at Solar Physics tory, Sir Norman Lockyer, 23 ; Comet Giacobini (1900 @) 37, 256; Colour Screens for Refracting Telescopes, T. J. J. See and G. H. Peters, 37 ; Photometric Revision of Harvard Photometry, 37; the Total Eclipse of the Sun, $4, 132, 398; ‘ ey RekeeSs, Charles P. Butler, 54; Sir Norman Lockyer, K. 104; M. Deslandres, 233 ; a French Observation of the Total Eclipse of the Sun, 183 ; the Total Eclipse Observed at Sea, Col. E. E. Markwick, 183 ; the Total Solar Eclipse as Observed by the Smithsonian Expedition, 246; Maximum Duration of a Total Solar Eclipse, C. T. Whitmell, 64, 86; Duration of Totality of Solar Eclipses at Greenwich, Chas. T. Whitmell, the Dark Fringes Observed during Total Solar Eclipses, V. Ventosa, 86; Actinometric Observations during - Solar Eclipse of May 28, 1900, J. Violle, 216; S. R. Bennett, 263; the Solar Eclipse of May 28, Prof. Copeland and Thomas Heath, 263; Eclipse Photography, Prof. Francis E. Nipher, 246; the Next Total Eclipse of the Sun, 202 ; the Total Eclipse of the Sun of May 17-18, p00» J J. A Muller, 389; Un a on a at poesia -eserg 1774-1838, Dr. mbaut, 64; Rotation of Jupi- pe fis er , Th. Bredikhin, 70 ; the Spectrum of 8-Lyrze and n-Aquilz, A.Belopolsky, 70; Zenitho-nadiral Apparatus for Measuring Zenithal Distances of Stars near Zenith, A. 202; in August, Cornu, 95 ; Astronomical Occurrences in June, 110; in July, ; in September, 425 ; in October, 535 ; Ox- ford University Observatory, Prof. H. H. Turner, 110; Rousdon Observatory, Devon, Sir C. E. Peek,110; Occultation of Saturn, 137 ; Harvard College Observatory, 137 ; Liverpool Observa- tory, W. E. Plummer, 137 ; Temperature Control of Spectro- , Prof. W. W. Campbell, 137 ; Rotation Period of Venus, rof. A. Belopolsky, 160,; Jeremiah Horrocks and the Transit ‘* of Venus, 257 ; Anomaly of Dichotomous Phase of Venus, E. COE Dat, re. Res (1 4 aoe i Inde Antoniadi, 464 ; New Variable in Auriga, Dr. T. D. Anderson, 161; Photographic Observations of Satellite of Neptune, M. S. Kostinsky, 161 ; the Perseid Meteoric Shower, W. F. por momy niety the August Perseids of 1900, W. F. Denning, a Records of Meteor costa M. D. Eginitis, ; Meteor of July 17, ; Meteoric Theory of the Gegen- sell, FR. Moule oe Velocities of Meteors, Dr. W. L. Elkin, 398; the Daylight Meteor of Sunday, September 2, W. F. » 491 ; T. Rooke, 524; B. H. G. Lefroy, 524 ; the Fireball of Sunday, September 2, 535; the Stability of a Swarm of Meteorites and of a Planet and Satellite, Prof. A. Gray, F.R.S., 582; New Variable Star in Cepheus, Madame Ceraski, 183 ; the Kinetic Theory of Planetary Atmospheres, Prof. G. H. Bryan, F.R.S., 189; the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, 233 ; Notes on Saturn and his Markings, W. F. - Denning, 237 ; Occultations of Saturn, 425 ; Rhythms and “2am , G ime, K. Gilbert, 275; New Variable in lis, Madame Ceraski, 305; New Star in Aguila, 305; Comet Borrelly-Brooks, 1900 4, 324, 25 (39% G. Rayet and A. Férand, 464; > ogue ae : ouble Stars, Prof. S. W. Burnham, 324; Ephemeris of Comet 1894 IV. (Swift), 352; Comet Swift oy IV.), 459 ; Variable Stars in Clusters, 352 ; the Astro- ic Chart Conference, 377; Determination of Solar » 377; Observations of Stars, Capella as Double Star, W. H. M. Christie, 383 ; Report of the Cape Observa- tory, Sir David Gill, 398 ; Rae 9 Observatory (Devon), Variable Stars, T Cassiopeize and R iopeie, Sir C. E. ndent Day Numbers for 1902, 398; Stan- tellar Magnitudes, 398; Ring Nebula in Lyra, 425; Orientation of the Field of View of the Siderostat and Ccelostat, A. Fowler, 428 ; Death of Prof. J. E. Keeler, 456 ; Obituary Notice of, 497; the New Spectrographs or the Potsdam Great Refractor, Prof. H. C. Vogel, 459; Structure and Composition of Two New Meteor- Faint Atmospherical Circulation, Dynamical Theory of, Nature, Beier +s, oa | L ndex Vv ra Photography of the Corona, Prof. C. Burckhalter, 535 ; Our ites, G. P. Merrill, H. N. Stokes, 459; Latitude Variation, Earth Magnetism and Solar Activity, Dr. J. Halm, 460; Apparent Semi-Diameter of Sun, Ch. André and Ph. Lagrula, 464; Swift’s Comet (1892 I.), Prof. W. Pickering, 501; Astronomischer Jahresbericht, W. F. Wislicenus, 553; a Night with the Great Paris Telescope, C. P. Butler, 574; New Planetary Nebula, R. G. Aitken, 606 ; Paris Observatory Annual Report, M. Loewy, 606 ; New Double Stars, R. G. Aitken, 630; Astronomical Work at Daramona Observatory, W. E. Wilson, 630 Astrophysics: Escape of Gases from Planetary Atmospheres, S. P. Cook, 54; Dr. G. Johnstone Stoney, F.R.S., 78; Comets and Corpuscular Matter, F. H. Loring, 80 Atkinson (Dr. Edward), Death and Obituary Notice of, 34 Atkinson (Prof. George F.), Lessons in Botany, 30 Atlantic Ocean, North, on the Weather of the, during the Winter 1898-9 ; Captain Campbell Hepworth, 563 Atlas of Urinary Sediments, Dr. Hermann Riedel, 53 Atmosphere, the Carbonic Anhydride of the, Prof. E. A. Letts, R. F. Blake, 387 Atmospheres, Planetary, the Kinetic Theory of, Prof. G. H. Bryan, F.R.S., 126 Atmospheric Electricity, C. T. R. Wilson, 149; John Aitken, F.R S., 366 Atmospheric Electricity and Dew-ponds, Arthur Marshall, 495 Atmospheric Resistance, Specially built Train for Experiment on, 200 Prof. V. Bjerknes, 200 Atwater (Prof. W. O.), Dietary Studies of Harvard and Yale University Boat Crews, 232 Atwood (W. W.), the Geography of the Regions about Devil’s Lake and the Dalles of the Wisconsin, 172 Auerbach (F.), Hardness of Metals,639 © ~ August Perseids of 1900, the, W. F. Denning, 398 Auriga, New Variable in, Dr. T. Australia: a Key to the Birds of Australia and Tasmania, with D. Anderson, 161 their Geographical Distribution in Australia, R. Hall, 6; Fungus Diseases of Citrus Trees in Australia and their Treat- ment, D. McAlpine, 494; Catalogue of Eastern and Aus- tralian Lepidoptera Heterocera in the Collection of the Oxford University Museum, 548; the Peopling of Australia, John Mathew, 549; Sidney H. Ray, 621 Automatic Photography of the Corona, Prof. C. Burckhalter, 535 Automobile Trials at Paris Exhibition, 158 Automobiles, the Musker Steam Motor Waggon, 554 Autotomic Curves, A B. Basset, F.R.S., 572 Autumn Tints, Leaf Decay and, P. Q. Keegan, 523 Ayrton (Prof. W. E., F.R.S.), Electrical Power Distribution, 296 ; a Recollection of King Umberto, 320; Relative Advan- tages of Alternate and Continuous Current for General Electrical Supply, with regard to Interference with other in- terests, 416 Babies, Human, What they Teach, S. S. Buckman, 221 Babylon, the Reports of the Magicians and Astrologers of Nineveh and, R. C. Thompson, 51 Babylonians and Assyrians, Life and Customs, Rev. A. H. Sayce, 289 Bacchus (Ramsden), the Forthcoming Meeting of the British Association at Bradford, 156, 300, 392, 439 Bacteriology: the Principles of Bacteriology, Dr. Ferdinand Hueppe, Dr. A. C. Houston, 73 ; Bacteriological Method of Exterminating Rats, J. Danysz, 84; the Bacterial Treat- ment of Sewage, Dr. Frank Clowes, Dr. Houston, 128; Micro-Organisms and Fermentation, Alfred Jorgensen, 195 ; Influence of Temperatures of Liquid Hydrogen on Bacteria, Allan Macfadyen and Sydney Rowland, 286; Bacillus An- thracis Brevigemmans, C. Phisalix, 408; Living Light, Raphael Dubois, 464; the Structure and Functions of Bac- teria, Alfred Fischer, Dr. A. C. Houston, 465; Tobacco, 576; the Melbourne University Laboratory, 578 Baeyer (Herr), the New Hydride of Benzoyl Superoxide, 202 ; the Action of Permanganate on Hydrogen Peroxide, 629 Bailey (Dr. G. H.), Elements of Qualitative Analysis, 412 Bailey (L. H.), the Amateur’s Practical Garden Book, 1o1 Bailey (V.), Field-mice (North American Voles), 232 Baily (Prof. F. G.), on a Lecture-room form of Volt and Ammeter, 563 B Vi Lndex [ Nature, December 13, 1900 Baker (R. T.), New Meteorite from New South Wales, 384 Baker (T..J.), a Surface-Tension Experiment, 196 Balachowsky (Dmitri), Electrolytic Estimation of Bismuth, 312 ; Electrolytic Estimation of Cadmium, 384 Balances, Thermal Deformation of, T. Middel, 211 Balfour (Right Hon. A. J.) on Scientific Progress, 358 Ballistics, some Modern Explosives, Sir Andrew Noble, K.C.B., F -» 86, INI Bamber (E. F.), Electricity Direct from Coal, 437 Bamberger (Prof.), Products of Nitroso-Benzene, 304 Bamboo Manna, David Hooper, 127 Banks (Right Hon. Sir Joseph), Illustrations of the Botany of Captain Cook’s Voyage Round the World in H.M.S. £zx- deavour in 1768-71, 547 Barker’s (J. H.) Combined Integrating Wattmeter and Maximum Demand Indicator, 610 Barnard (R. J. A.), the Annual March of Temperature, 579 Barnes (Prof. Charles Reid), Outlines of Plant-Life, with Special Reference to Form and Function, 30 Barnes (J.), the Depression of the Freezing-point in Salts Con- taining a Common Ion, Barnett (W. G.), Quaternion Methods applied to Dynamics, 174 Barometer, on a Novel Form of Mercurial, A. S. Davis, 562 Barrett (Mr.), the Cape Colony Fruit-Moth, 119 ’ Barrett (Charles G.), Lepidoptera of the British Islands, 317 Barus (C.), Method of Studying Diffusion of Air thr ough Water, 210 Basset (A. B., F.R.S.), on the Result that a Quintic Curve can- not have more than Fifteen Real Points of Inflexion, 561 ; Autotomic Curves, 572 Bataillon (E.), Experimental Parthogenetic Segmentation in Amphibia and Fish, 288 Bather (F, A.), a Manual of the Echinoderms, 545 Bathymetrical Survey of the Fresh-water Lochs of Scotland, Sir John Murray, K.C.B., F.R.S., and Fred. P. Pullar, 65, 263 Batrachia, Unusual Modes of Development in, Miss Sampson, 605 Baud (E.), Action of Anhydrous Aluminium Chloride on Acety- lene Bauer (Dr. L. A.), Magnetic Observations during Solar Eclipses, 302 Bawden (H. H.), Mental Lapses, 108 Baxter (G. P.), the Atomic Weight of Iron, 160 Bay of Biscay, the Plankton of the, G. Herbert Fowler, 317 Bayley (R. C.), Photography in Colours, 195 Beal (F. E. L.), the Bobolink as a Rice-Pest, 605 Beard (W. F.), the Reform of Mathematical Teaching, 466 Beattie (Prof. J. C.), Electrical Leakage from Charged Bodies, 6 360 Beaulard (F.), the Viscosity of Dielectrics, 47 Beazeley (Alexander), the Reclamation of Land from Tidal Waters, 266 Becquerel (Henri), the Radiation of Uranium, Uranium Radiation, 312 Becquerel Rays, Sources and Properties of, Prof. G. H. Bryan, 191; the -RS,, 151 Beddard (Frank E., F.R.S ), Vibrissee on the Forepaws of Mammals, 523 Beddoe (Dr. John), on the Vagaries of the Cephalic Index, 633 ; on the Anthropology of West Yorkshire, 635 Beddow (F.), Condensation of Phenols with Ethyl Phenyl- propiolate, 215 Beecher (C. E.), Restoration of Stylonurus Lacoanus, 432 Beetle, the Tiger, Fred. Enock, 208 Beeton (M.), Correlation between Life Duration and Number of Offspring, 381 Behr (F. J.) on the Proposed Mono-rail High Speed Electric Railway between Manchester and Liverpool, 610 Behrendsen (O.), Behaviour of Radium at Low Temperatures, 335 Bell (A. M.), on the Occurrence of Flint Implements of Pa- leothic Type on an old Land Surface in Oxfordshire, 636 Bellamy (V), the Salt Lake of Larnaca, 94 Belopolsky Prof. A.), the Spectrum of 6 Lyre and 7 Aquile, 70 ; Rotation Period of Venus, 160 . Bennett (S. R.), Actinometric Observations of Solar Eclipse o May 28, 263 Benzene, Report of the Committee of the British Association on Isomeric derivatives of, 567 ‘ Berg (Dr. Otto), Significance of Kathode Rays in Connection with Mechanism of Discharge, 628 Berget (Alphonse), Demonstration of Earth’s Rotation with one metre long Pendulum, 288 ; Apparatus for Measuring Geodetic Bases, 408 Bermudas, Geology of, A. E. Verrill, 92 Berthelot (Daniel), Nitric Acid Formation during Combustion, 119, 143; Nitric Acid Formation in Combustion of Hydrogen, 216; Boiling Points of Zinc and Cadmium, 384; Egyptian _ Gold, 464; Products and Decomposition of Nitric Esters and Nitroglycerine by Alkalis, 544 ; Absorption of Free Oxygen by Normal Urine, 592 Bertrand (Gabriel), Erythrulose, a new Sugar, 85 ; d—Erythrite, 144 4 Bessey (Prof. C. E.), Age of Big Trees of California, 627 Beyerinck (Prof.), Indigo Fermentation, 47 Biffen (R. H.), on the Life History of Acrospeira mirabilis, 613 , Big Game in Africa, the Preservation of, E. N. Buxton, 550 Binet (Alfred), the Psychology of Reasoning, 388 af Binnie (W. T. E), on a New Form of Self Registering Rain Gauge, 610. 680-3 Prof. Goodman’s New Form of Calorimeter for aids ian semen the Wetness of Steam, 610; Mr. A. T. Walm- _-__ isley on the Use of Expanded Metal in Concrete, 610 ee ok Opening Address by Prof. John “ President of the Section, 513; Dr. John Beddoe on the — of the Cephalic Index, 633; Prof. Macalister, pelo 2 tam A. Francis Dixon on Certain Markings on the Part of the Human Cranium and their Significance, 633; Mr. W. L. H. Duckworth on Nine Crania collected er Stanley Gardiner in his Expedition to Rotuma, Mr, W. L. H. Duckworth on some Anthropological Observations of the Pangan Tribe of Aborigines in the Malay Peninsula, 633; Dr. David Waterson on the De- velopmental Changes in the Human. Skeleton from the _ Point of View of Anthropology, 633; Prof. A. Macalister on Perforate Humeri from Ancient Egyptian Skeletons, 633 ; Prof. J. D. Cunningham on the Sacral Index, 633 ; ro: D. Cunningham on the Microcephalic Brain, 633 ; Dr. C. Haddon on the Textile Patterns of the Sea- oe 634; Mr. W. Rosenhain on the Making of a Malay “* Kris” and on the Malay Method of producing Chains by Casting, 634; Prof. Macalister, 634; Prof. H. Louis on the ‘‘ Kingfisher” Type of a Malay ‘ Kris,” 634; Mr. H. Ling Roth on Permanent Artificial Skin Marks, 634; Mr. F. LI Griffith on the System of Writing in Ancient Egypt, 634; Mr. Arthur J. Evans on the New Scripts mt ; Index ix Discovered by Him in Crete, 526 and 634; Dr. C. Hose and Mr. W. McDougall on the Animal Cults of the Natives of Sarawak and their Bearing on the Problems of Totemism, 634; Mr. Hartland, 635; Mr. W. G. Aston on the Japanese Gohei and the Ainu izao, 635; Mr. David Boyle on the Paganism of the Civilised Iroquois of Ontario, 635; Dr. John Beddoe on the Anthropology of West Yorkshire, 635 ; Mr. J. Gray on the Physical Characteristics of the Popula- tion of West Aberdeenshire, 635-6; Mr. D. Randall-Mac- Iver on the Present State of Our Knowledge of the Modern Population of Egypt, 636; Report of the Committee for the Ethnographical Survey of Canada, 636 ; Report of the Com- mittee on the Natural History and Ethnography of the Malay Peninsula, Mr. W. W. Skeat, 636; Mr. A. M Bell on the Occurrence of Flint Implements of Palzolithic Type on an Old Land Surface in Oxfordshire, 636 ; Mr. J. Paxton Moir on the Stone Implements of the Natives of Tasmania, 636 ; Prof. E. B. Tylor, 636; Mr. H. Ling Roth, 637; Dr. A. C. Haddon on Relics of the Stone Age of Borneo, 637 ; Dr. C. Hose, 637; Mr. Butler Wood on the Prehistoric Antiquitiesof Rumbolt’s Moor near Bradford, 637; Mr. Butler Wood on the Preservation of Local Antiquities, 637 ; Dr. A. C. Haddon, 637; Mrs. Armitage on some Yorkshire Earthworks, 637 ; Mr. D. G. Hogarth on the Cave of Psychré in Crete, 637; Mr. Arthur J. Evans, 637; Mr. J. L. Myres, 637 Section K (Botany).—Opening Address by Prof. S. H. Vines, F.R.S., President of the Section, 536; Mr. Kidston on the Flora of the Coal Measures, 610; Mr. Seward on the Climatic and other Physical Conditions under which Cval was Formed, 610; Dr. Horace Brown on the Possible Richness in CO, of the Atmosphere of the Coal Period, 610; Prof. Bower on the Sand-binding Plant of the Dunes on the Scotch Coast near Berwick, 611; Mr. Samuel Margerison on British Sylviculture, 611; Mr. Albert Wilson on the Great Smoke Cloud of the North of England and its Influence on Plants, 611; Prof. Marshall Ward, F.R.S., on Embryonic Tissues, 611 ; Mr. Henry Jackson on the Formation of Starch from Glycollic Alde- hyde by Green Plants, 611; Mr. E. A. Newell Arber on the Effect of Salts on the CO, Assimilation of U/va latissima, 611 ; Prof. Letts and Mr. J. Hawthorn on the Relation of Ulva latissima to the Pollution of Sea-water by Sewage,’ 611 ; Miss Elizabeth Dale on the Intumescences of Azbzscus vitifolius, 611; Miss Ethel Sargant on a Fourth Type of Transition from Stem to Root-structure, 611; Dr. D. H. Scott, F.R.S., on the Presence of Seed-like Organs in cer- tain Palaeozoic Lycopods, 611 ; Dr. D. H. Scott, F.R.S., on the Primary Structure of certain Palzeozoic Stems referred to Araucarioxylon, 612 ; Prof. A. C. Seward, F.R.S., and Miss Elizabeth Dale on the Structure and Affinities of Dipteris conjugata, 612 ; Miss R. F. Shove on the Structure of the Stem ot Angiopterts evecta, 612 ; Mr. A. G. Tansley on the Conducting Tissues of Bryophytes, 612 ; Mr. W. C. Worsdell on the Origin of Modern Cycads,612; Prof. Overton on the Osmotic Properties and their Causes in the Living Plant and Animal Cell, 612; Mr. Harold Wager on a Demonstration of the Structure and Attachment of the Flagellum in Zuglena Viridis, 612; Mr. Harold Wager on the Behaviour of the Nucleolus during Karyokinesis in the Root-apex of Phaseolus, 612; Miss Ethel N. Thomas on Double Fertilisation in a Dicotyledon Caltha palustris, 612; Mr. J. Lloyd Williams on the Germination of the Zoospore in Laminariacezee, 613; Mr. J. Lloyd Williams on Dictyota, 613; Prof. Vuillemin on the Collier (N. C.), the Causes and Prevention of Consumption, 181 Collins (Henry F.), Metallurgy of Lead and Silver, 194 Colour-changes in Prawns, Dr. Gamble and Mr. Keeble, 555 Colour Photography: Photography in Colours, R. C. Bayley, 195 ; a Handbook of Photography in Colours, Thomas Bolas, Alexander A. K. Tallent, Edgar Senior, 434 Colour Photometry (iii.), Sir William Abney, 273 Colour Screens for Refracting Telescopes, T. J. J. See and G. H. Peters, 37 **Coma,” Prof. S. P. Thompson, 118 Comets: Comet Giacobini (1900 a), 37, 256; Comets and r Matter, F. H. Loring, 80; Comet Borrelly- ks (1900 4), 324, 352, 377, 535 3 Comet Swift (1894 IV.), dag 459; Swift’s met (1892 I.), Prof. W. Picker- I Common (Dr. A. A., F.R.S.), Opening Address in the Depart- ment of Astronomy in Section A of the British Association, aq Comparative Anatomy of Animals, an Introduction to the Study _of thé, G. C. Bourne, 364 ee produced in Gases by the Motion of Negatively- charged Ions, the, J. S. Townsend, 340 Conference, Third International, on a Catalogue of Scientific Literature, London, June, 1900, 206 Congress of German Anthropological Society, Annual, 632 Congress, International, of Applied Chemistry, 519 Congress, International Geological, L. Gentil, 557 Congress of Mathematicians, Paris International, 418 Congress, Paris International Physical, Dr. Ch. Ed. Guillaume, 425 Coninck (CE. de), Mechanical Decomposition of some Metallic Chlorides, 168 ; Organic Solutions of Ferric Chloride, 336 ive Committee, the Board of Education and its, 248 Consultative Committee and Technical Education, the, Prof. J. Wertheimer, 294 Sons Caen its Causes and Prevention, N. C. Collier, 181 Cook’s (Captain) Voyage Round the World, Illustrations of the Botany of, in H.M.S. Endeavour in 1768-71, Right Hon. Sir hog Banks and Dr. Daniel Solander, with Determinations ‘by James Britten, W. Botting Hemsley, 547 Cook (Frederick A.), Through the First Antarctic Night, Cook (S. R.), Escape of Gases from Planetary Atmospheres, 54 Cooking in New Mexico, from the Meteorological Point of View, _ 42i Copeland (Prof.), the Solar Eclipse of May 28, 26 3 Place in Nature of, Heac C. = Apc 498 Coppet (L. C. de), Temperature of Maximum Density of Aqueous ~ $e of Ammonium Chloride and Lithium Bromide and __ Iodide, 312, : Corda (Mr.), Relative Advantages of Alternate and Continuous Current for General Electrical Supply, with regard to Inter- ference with other Interests, 416 Cormack (W.), Estimation of Furfural, 261 Cornish (Va ), the Severn Bore, 126 Cornu (A.), Zenitho-nadiral Apparatus for Measuring Zenithal Distances of Stars near Zenith, 95 Cornu (Maxime), Ousounify a New Edible Tuber from the Soudan, 72 . s, the Nature of the Solar, Prof. Geo. Fras. Fitzgerald, . - *°9 7 Corona, Photometry of, April 16, 1893, Prof. H. H. Turner, 86 Corona, Automatic Photography of the, Prof. C. Burckhalter, 535 Coronas (P. J.), Earthquakes of 1897 in Philippines, 555 Corpuscles in Physical Phenomena, some Speculations as to the Part Played by, Prof. J. J. Thomson, F.R.S., 31 rpuscular Matter, Comets and, F. H. Loring, 80 Correns (Dr. Carl), Untersuchungen ueber d. Vermehrung - d, Laubmoose durch Brutorgane und Stecklinge, 339 Corsica: the Extraction of Tannic Acid from Chestnut Wood, I Corstopihline (G. S.), Paleolithic Instruments from Stellen- bosch, 464 Corti (Dr. Benedetto), Diatomaceze of Lakes Brianza and Segrino, 232 Cortie (Rev. A. L.), on the Classification of Sun-spots, 565 Coupin (Henri), Functions of Crystalline Tube of Acephala, 47 Cousin (H.), Action of Nitric Acid on Trichlor-guaiacol, 264 Coward (J. A.), the Birds of Cheshire, 417 Cowham (Joseph H.), the School Journey, a Means of Teaching Geography, Physiography, and Elementary Science, 619 Crab, a Large Tasmanian, Alex Morton, 496 Craigie (Major P. G.), Opening Address in Section. F at the Bradford Meeting of the British Association, 509 Craniology : Craniology of Indian Hill Tribes, Sir Wm. Turner, F.R.S., 263; Craniology of Irano Indians, M. Ujfalvy, 351 ; Slavic Skull at. Niedersedlitz, Prof. J. Deichmiiller, 533; on . Certain Markings onthe Frontal Part of the Human Cranium and their Significance, Prof. A. Francis Dixon, 633; on Nine Crania Collected by J. Stanley Gardiner during his Expedi- tion to Rotuma, W. H. L. Duckworth, 623 Creeping of Liquids, and on the Surface Tensions of Mixtures, on the, Dr. Trouton, 562 Crémieu (V.), Magnetic Effect not produced by Motion of Electrified Body, 167; Moving Electric Charge not Pro- ductive of Magnetic Field, 396; Inverse Effect of Magnetic Field not Productive of Movement in Electrified Bodies, 616 Cretaceous Rocks of Britain, Memoirs of the Geological Survey of the United Kingdom, vol. i., the Gault and Upper Green- sand of England, A. J. Jukes-Browne, Prof. T..G. Bonney, 617 Crete: the Recent Cretan Discoveries and their Bearing on the Early Culture and Ethnography of the East Mediterranean Basin, Arthur J. Evans, 526; on the New Scripts discovered by Arthur J. Evans in Crete, 526, 634; on the Cave of Psychré in Crete, D. G. Hogarth, 637; Arthur J. Evans, 637; J. L. Myres, 637 Criminal Identification, the English System, Dr. J. G. Garson, 190 Crocker (Prof.), Relative Advantages of Alternate and Con- tinuous Current for General Electrical Supply, with Regard to Interference with other Interests, 416 Crommelin (A.C. D.), Howe’s Photographic Observation of Eros, 184 Cross (C. F.), on the Action of Caro’s Reagent on Furfural, 507 Crystallography: Properties of Crystals Yielding Doubly- refracting Liquids on Fusion, H. R. Hartley and H. L. Bowman, 68; Crystallisation produced in Solid Metal by Pressure, W. Campbell, 166; Crystalline Structures of Metals, J. A. Ewing, F.R.S., and Walter Rosen- heim, 211; Method for Determining Refractive Indices of Minerals of Low Symmetry, G. F. Herbert Smith, 239; Liquid Crystals, O. Lehmann, 568; Calcite Crystals, S. L. Penfield and W. E. Ford, 568 Cuckoo, Mode of Carriage of Egg by, A. H. Meiklejohn, 201 ‘** Cuckoo-spit,” Prof. E. S. Morse, 109 ; ‘*Cuckoo-spittle,”” the Common Frog-hopper, Dr. A. Porta, 532 Cunningham (J. A.), Theory of Order of Crystallisation of Minerals in Igneous Rocks, 262, 368 ; Cunningham (Prof. J. D.), on the Sacral Index, 633; on the Microcephalic Brain, 633 Cunningham (Lieut.-Colonel), on the Determination of Succes- sive High Primes, 561 Cushing (Frank H.), Death of, 16; Obituary Notice of, 397 Curie (Mme.), Atomic Weight of Radiferous Barium, 384 Current Papers, Ocean, H. C. Russell, 108 Curves, Autotomic, A. B. Basset, F.R.S., 572 Cutter (M.), Effects of Work of Active on Inactive Muscular Groups, 492 Cuttriss (S. W.), on the Pot-holes and Caves of the Mountain Limestone District of North-west Yorkshire, 587 Cyanide Process of Gold Extraction, the, James Parks, 148 Cycads, on the Origin of, W. C. Worsdell, 612 Cytology : Histology of the Blood, Normal and Pathological, P. Ehrlich and A. Lazarus, Dr. T. H. Milroy, 410; on the Biology and Cytology of Pythium, Prof. Trow, 613; M. Poirault, 613; E. J. Butler, 613 ‘ ‘ Nature, XIV L; ndex Dacdame cn: 1900 Daily Weather Report of the Meteorological Office, the, | Dietary oe of Harvard and Yale University Boat Crews, W. N. Shaw, F.R.S., 300 Dakin (H. D.), on the Chlorination of the Aromatic Hydro- carbons and the Constitution of the Dichlorotoluenes, 567 Dale (Miss Elizabeth), on the Intumescence of Azbiscus vitée- folius, 611; on the Structure and Affinities of Dzpteris con- jugata, 612 Dallas (W. L.), Indian Thunderstorm Observations, 395 Dante, ice G. Gardner, 53 Danysz (J.), Bacteriological Method of se er y. Rats, 84 Daramona Observatory, Astronomical Work at, W. E. Wilson, 630 Dark Fringes Observed during Total Solar Eclipses, the, V Ventosa, 86 Dark Images of Photographed Lightning Discharges, J. B. Hannay, 389 ««Dark” Lamp, a, Gustave Le Bon, 532 Darwiniens, Lamarckiens et, Félix Le Dantec, 388 pes P Ig (Captain G. A.), Mirage over Needles, Isle of Wight,, e) 5 Davenport (C. B. and Gertrude C.), Introduction to Zoology, 433 Davies (A. S.), on a Novel Form of Mercurial Barometer, 562 Davis (A. Edward), the Refraction of the Eye, including a Complete Treatise on Ophthalmometry, 6 pened (R.), New Effect Produced by Stationary Sound-waves, 56 Davis (W. M.), the Colorado Canyon District, 638 Davison (Dr. Charles), the Distance to which the Firing of Heavy Guns is Heard, 377. Dawson (W.), on the Demerbe System of Tramway Construc- tion, 610 Day (A.), the Air Thermometer:at High Temperatures, 381 ; the Gas Thermometer at High Temperatures, 568 Daylight Meteor of Sunday, September 2, the, T. Rooke, 524 ; B. St. G. Lefroy, 524 De Morgan (Augustus), Elementary Illustrations of the Differ- ential and Integral Calculus, 196 Debierne (A.), Artificial Radio-active Barium, 383 —— in Teeth, the Cause and Prevention of, J. Sim Wallace, 149 Deep-sea Exploration of the Szdoga in the Indian Archipelago, the Cruise and, 32 Deformation, Artificial, of Heads, and Some Customs Connected with Polyandry, Kumagusu Minakata, 437 Deichmuller (Prof. J.), Slavic Skull at Niedersedlitz, 533 Delage (Yves), Traité de Zoologie Concréte. T. ii. 1'@ partie, Mésozoaires—Spongiaires, 122 Delange (R.), Acetyl-phenylacetylene and Benzoyl-phenyl- acetylene, 72 Delépine (Marcel), Preparation of Pure Tungsten, 312 Delezenne (C.), Action of Antileucocytic Serums on Blood- coagulation, 144 Demarcay (Eug. hr, Samarium, 47; Unknown Earths in Crude Samaria, 1443 ; Spectrum of Radium, 336 Denning (W. F.), the Perseid Meteoric Shower, 173 ; Notes on Saturn and His Markings, 237; the August Perseids of 1900, 398; the Daylight Meteor of Sunday, September 2, 491 Denny (G. A.), Diamond Drilling for Gold and Other Minerals, 435 Dentistry, the Cause and Prevention of Decay in Teeth, J. Sim Wallace, 149 Depéret (C.), Neogenic Regions of Lower Egypt, 408 Derby (O. A.), Monazite, 568 Derennes (E.), Use of Sodium Peroxide for Sanifying Wells containing, Carbonic Acid, 432 Deréme (Juvénal), Action of Cyanogen Chloride on Acetone- dicarboxylic Ethyl Ester, 144 Deslandres (M.), Total Eclipse of the Sun, 233 Dew-ponds, Atmospheric Electricity and, Arthur Marshall, 495 Dewar (A. Redcote), from Matter to Man, a New Theory of | the Universe, 493 Dexter (Dr. Edwin G.), Drunkenness and the Weather, 31 Diamond-drilling for Gold and other Minerals, G. A. Denny, 435 Diamonds discovered on Kamenka River, 603 Dickson (H. N.), Circulation of Surface Waters of North At- lantic, 286 Dictyota, J. Lloyd Williams, 613 Didymorchis, Prof. W. A. Haswell, F.R.S., 640 Prof. W. O, Atwater and A. P. Bryant, 232 Differential Equations, Theory of, Ys R. Forsyth, F.R.S., 170 Differential and Integral Calculus, Elementary Illustrations of — the, Augustus De Morgan, 196 Dipteris conjugata, on the Structure and Affinities of, Prof. A. C. Seward, F.R.S., and Miss Elizabeth Dale, 612 Disney (Alfred N.), Modern Microscopes, 154 Distance to which the Firing of Heavy Guns is Heard, the, Dr. Charles Davidson, 377; J. W. Mallet, 523 Ditte (A.)}, Crystallisation of Gold, 312 Diver for ‘Collection of Zoological Specimens, Use of: 253 Divers (E.), Products of Sulphur Dioxide and Ammonia, 715 : Ammonium Imidosulphite, 143 Dixon (Prof. A. Francis), on Certain Markings on the Frontal Part of the Human Cranium and their Significance, 633 Dixon (Charles), Among the Birds in Northern Shires, 177 Dixon (Prof. H. B.), con the Specific Heat of Gases up to a Temperature of 400°, 566 Dixon (Dr. Henry H. ), Ascent of Sap, 572 Dobkévitch (G.), Maximum Sensitiveness in Coherers for Wire- less Telegraphy, 23 Dollo (Louis), Racovitza glactal’s, New Antarctic Fish, 350 Dootson (F. W.), Amino- 2 ay the a ae 143 Double Stars, Catalogue of, Prof. S. W. Burnham, 324 Dowzard (E.), the Viscosity of Essential Oils, 322 Drainage, Irrigation and, F. H. King, 5 Dromatus ater, Vieillot, a Third Specimen of the Extinct, found in the Royal Zoological Museum, Florence, Prof. Henry H. Giglioli, 102 Dromaius ater, Specimens of, Prof. Alfred Newton, F.R.S., 15! Drude (Dr. Paul), Lehrbuch der Optik, 595 Drunkenness and the Weather, Dr. Edwin G. Dexter, 31 Dubois (Prof. Eugéne), the Earth’ s Age, 498 Dubois (Raphael), Living Light, 464 Dublin Royal Society, 95, 262 Dublin Section of the Institution of Electrical Engineers, Inaugural Address, Applications of Electrical Science, Prof. G. F. Fitzgerald, 43 Duckworth (W. L. H.), Rechts-und Linkshandigkeit, Dr. Fritz Lueddeckens, 409 ; on some Anthropological Observations of the Pangan Tribe of Aborigines in the Malay Peninsula, 6333 3: On Nine Crania collected by J. Stanley Gardiner ng his Expedition to Rotuma, 633 Dufau (Em.), Crystallised Calcium Aluminate, 568 Dufour (M.), the Thermal Properties of Fused Silica, 2 255 Dufton(A.), an Arrangement for producing Artificial Light of the same character as Daylight, 563 Dugast (J.), Vinification dans les Pays Chauds—Algérie et Tunisie, 74 Dunraven (the Earl of), Self-instruction in the Practice and Theory of oe He 337 Dunstan (W. R R.S.), the Poison of Lotus arabicus, 238 Duration, cesta, of a Total Solar Eclipse, C. T. Whitmell, 64, 86 Duration of Totality of Solar Eclipses at Greenwich, Chas, yi Whitmell, 269 Durham, on the Concretionary Structures of the Magnesian Limestone of, Dr. G. Abbott, 587 Dutton (C. N. “e the Pneumatic Balance Canal Lock, 135 ~ Dwerryhouse (A. R.), on the Subterranean Drainage of the Limestone, 587 Dyeing Machinery, Electrical, A. E. Sunderland, 457 Dye-stuffs, Artificial, Manufacture in Germany of, 422 Dynamics of Pseudospherical Space, Prof. D. de Francesco, 18 Dynamics, Quaternion Methods applied to, W. G. Barnett, 174 Earth Magnetism and Solar Activity, Latitude Variation, Dr. at Halm, 460 Earth, Recent and Proposed Geodetic Measurements, 622 Earth, an — of the Geological Age of the, J. Joly, E.RS Earth’s Agee brof, Eugene Dubois, 498 Earth’s Motion, Relation between Solar Activity and, W. G. Thackery, 20 Earth’s Rotation, Demonstration with I metre long Pendulum of, Alphonse Berget, 288 Earthquakes : Earth-shake near Manchester, 17 ; Greek Earth- Nature, ] December 13, 1909 Index XV uakes, 1893-8, M. Eginitis, 85; the Great Earthquake of * 90 12, 1897, R. D. Oldham, 305; Philippine Earthquakes of 1897, P. J. Coronas, 555; Earthquake in Bombay and Madras, 578 works, on some Yorkshire, Mrs. Armitage, 637 _ Eberhardt (M.), Action of Dry and Moist Air on Plants, 312; Influence of Dry Air on Plant Structure, 520 Ebert (A.), Generation of Electricity in Liquid Air, 568 _ Echinoderms, a Manual of the, F. A. Bather, J. W. Gregory and E. S. Goodrich, 545 Eckardt (M.), Expansion of Rubidium during Fusion, 93 Eckerlein (P. A.), Thermal Conductivity of Gases, 639 Eclipses: the Total Eclipse of the Sun, 54, 132, 398; Charles _P. Butler, 54; Sir Norman Lockyer, K.C.B., F.R.S., 104; M. Deslandres, 233; French Observations of the Total Eclipse of the Sun, 183; the Total Eclipse observed at Sea, Col. E. E. Markwick, 183; Solar Eclipse of May 28, 1900, Actinometric Observations during, J. Viollé, 216; S. R. ' Bennett, 263; Prof. Copeland and Thomas Heath, 263; - the Total Solar Eclipse as observed by the Smithsonian _ Expedition, 246; Magnetic Observations during, Dr. L. A. Bauer, ; Maximum Duration of a Total Solar Eclipse, -C. T. Whitmell, 64, 86; Duration of Totality of Solar “J at Greenwich, Chas. T. Whitmell, 269; the Dark Z es Observed during Total Solar Eclipses, V. Ventosa, «86; try of Corona, April 16, 1893, Prof. H. H. » Turner, 86 ; Eclipse Photography, Prof. Francis E. Nipher, 246; Automatic Photography of the Corona, Prof, C. ¥ » 5353 the Total Eclipse of the Sun of May 17-18, 1901, 202; J. J. A. Muller, 389; see a/so British Association Edelmann (M. T.), High Note Production by Galton’s Whistle, . gh Mathematical Society, 95, 191 __ Edinburgh Royal Society, 95, 191, 263, 360 _ Education: Extension of the Dyeing Department of Yorkshire ‘a College, 115; a Modern University, 184, 203 ; the Reorgan- = _ isation of the Education Department, 209 ; the Board of Edu- i cation and its Consultative ommittee, 248 ; the Consultative 4 ; and Technical Education, Prof. J. Wertheimer, 294; the Teaching of Mathematics, Prof. John Perry, F.R.S., - 317; the Reform of Mathematical Teaching, David Mair, 389; Henry Woollen, 436; W. F. Beard, 466; C. E. Stro- meyer, 523; Oliver Heaviside, 548; a Physical Basis of a ( E.), Sir Stamford Raffles: ‘‘ England in the Far : itis (D.), Greek Earthquakes, 1893-8, 85; Ancient path of Meteor asain 203 : hel + Nile Floods and Monsoon Rains, 391 ; Egyptian Gold, | Berthelot, 464; on Perforate Humeri from {ncient lan Skeletons, Prof. A. Macalister, 633 ; on the System of Writing in Ancient Egypt, F. LI. Griftths, 634; on the _ Present State of our Knowledge of the Modern Population of ig Beep D. Randall-Maclver, 636 Ehcgpian (P.), Histology of the Blood: Normal and Pathological, _ Eichhorn (H.), Resistivity of Bismuth in Magnetic Field, 639 Eider-duck’s Summer Moulting Plumage, the, Witmer Stone, Ye - Electricity : Maximum Sensitiveness in Ccherers for Wireless . Telegraphy, A. Blondel and G. Dobkévitch, 23; Wireless = and Hertzian Waves, S. R. Bottone, 522; Human in Wireless Telegraphy, E. Guarini and let, 568 ; Value of Refractive Index of Ice for Electro- magnetic. ons, C. Gutton, 23 ; Electro-magnetic Experi- ment, Prof. S. P. Thompson, 71 ; Therapeutic Electricity and Practical Mt Testing, W. S. Hedley, 30; Dublin Section of _ the Institution of Electrical Engineers, Inaugural Address, Ap- sonora of Electrical Science, Prof. G. F. Fitzgerald, 43 ; an xperiment of M. Jaumann, P. Villard, 47 ; the Viscosity of Dielectrics, F. Beaulard, 47 ; Electric Micrometer, P. E. Shaw, _ 67; the Lightning Conductors of St. Paul’s, K. Hedges, 68 ; Discussion on Prot. Lodge’s paper on Volta’s Contact Force, Prof. Armstrong, Mr. Glazebrook -and Dr. Lehfeldt, 70; # i Power Transmission Works in Northern Italy, 84 ; Electric Arc between Metallic Electrodes in Nitrogen and _ Hydrogen, L. Arons, 93 ; Electrolytic Records of Currents, P; Gruetzner, 93; the WE 9, District Short Electric , Railway Line, 107 ; Nikola Tesla’s Recent Electrical Experi- ments, 116; Measurement of Standard Resistances, R. T. Se Se gee Ty Coe ve = ee we Pe. he eee a eo fs a Glazebrook, 118; the Theory of Electrolytic Dissociation, H. C. Jones, 121; the St. Lawrence Power Works, 135; Standardisation of Electrical Engineering Plant, R. P. Sellon, 135; Advancement of Electrical Chemistry, Dr. F. Mollwo Perkin, 138; the Kathode Rays, P. Villard, 191; Electrical Resistance of Thin Films deposited by Kathode Discharge, A. C. Longden, 210; Discontinuity of Kathodic Emission, P. Villard, 240; Significance of Kathode Rays. in connection with Mechanism of Discharge, Dr. Otto Berg, 628 ; Reflection and Mechanical Effect of Kathode Rays, H. Starke, 639 ; Apparatus for production of Short Electric Waves and Study te) Riectig-ceithaPlenomienss Prof. J. A. Fleming, F. R.S., 208 Change of Conductivity of Gases by Continuous Current, J. Stark, 211; Magnetic Screening for Galvanometers, H. du Bois, A. C. P. Wills, 211 ; Electrical Traction on Canals, 231 ; Action of High-frequency Currents on Elementary Respiration, M. Tripet, 240; Experiments on Striated Discharges, R. S Willows, 240; Electromotive force of Nickel Steel, Emile Steinmann, 264; Poulsen’s Telegraphone, Louis Olivier 273 ; Newton’s Rings from Selenium Rays, A. C. Longden, 273 ; a String Alternator, K. Honda and S. Shimizu, 286 ; Volta e la Pila, Prof. Augusto Righi, 293 ; Electrical Orgaris, Muscle or Nerve? Reitraige zur Physiologie des elektrischen Organes der Zitterrochen (Torpedo), Siegfried Garten, 290; Electrical Power Distribution, Prof. W. E. Ayrton, F.R.S., 296 ; Electro- lytic Estimation of Bismuth, Dmitri Balachowsky, 312 ; Resist- ivity of Bismuth in Magnetic Field, H. Eichhorn, 639; Some Results obtained with a Storage Battery of Twenty Thousand Cells, Prof. John Trowbridge, 325; Electric Touch and Molecular Changes produced by Electric Waves, Prof. Jagadis Chunder Bose, 335; Interruption Spark ir Alternating Current with Metallic Electrodes, L. Kallir, 335 ; Thermo- electric force of some Metallic Oxides and Sulphates, A. Abt, 335; Anomalous Electro-magnetic Rotary Dispersion, A. Schmauss, 335; Point Discharges, E. Warburg, 335; the Conductivity produced in Gases by the Motion of Negatively- charged Ions, J. S. Townsend, 340; Swift and Son’s Electric Lamp for Microscopy, 351 ; Electrical Effects of Light on Green Leaves, Dr. A. D. Waller, F.R.S., 3583 Electrical Leakage from Charged Bodies, Prof. J. C. Beattie, 360 ; Atmospheric Electricity, C. T. R. Wilson, 149; John Aitken, F.R.S., 366 ; Variations with altitude of Air Potential, Prof. E. Semmola, 375; Recording Telephones, 371; Variation of Condenser and Choking-Coil Currents with Shape of Electromotive Wave, Alex. Russell, 375 ; Electron Theory of Atomic Magnetism, Robert Lang, 376; Subjects for Consideration by Electrical Engineers, 379 ; Despersion in Air, J. Elster and H, Geitel, 381; Fluorescence and Phosphores- cence in Discharge through Nitrogen, P. Lewis, 381 ; Electro- lysis of Concentrated Solutions of Hypochlorites, André Brochet, 383 ; Circuits formed entirely by Electrolytes, MM. Carmichel and Swyngedauw, 384 ; Electrolytic Estimation of Cadmium, Dmitri Balachowsky, 384 ; Electric Batteries, how to Make and Use Them, 388; Moving Charge Not Productive of Magnetic Field, V. Crémieu, 396 ; Wireless Telegraph in French Navy, 396; What Pressure is Dangerous on Electric Railways with Overhead Trolley Wires, William Rung, 399 ; Units at the International Electrical Congress, 414 ; American Institute and English Institution of Electrical Engineers at Paris, 415; Relative Advantages of Alternate and Con- tinuous Current for General Supply, with regard to Interference with Other Interests, M, Ferranti, 415; Mr. Arnold, 415; Sir William Preece, 415; Dr, Kennelly, 415 ; - Prof. Ayrton, 416 ; M. Corda, 416 ; Prof. Crocker, 416 ; Mr. Mordey, 417; Mr. Mailloux, 417 ; Prof. S. P. Thompson, 417; the Niagara Falls Power Company’s Works, 422 ; Rowland’s New Method for Measuring Electric Absorption, L. M. Potts, 432; Dielectric Cohesion of Gases, M. Bouty, 432; Electricity Direcc from Coal, E. F. Bamber, 437; Electrical Dyeing Machinery, A. E. Sunderland, 457 ; Ettect of Thunderstorms on Calcutta Glow Lamps, 457 ; Evapora- tion not Productive of Loss of Charge, A. Pochettino and A. Sella, 458 ; Dielectric Cohesion and Explosive Fields, 464 ; Electrical Determination of Last Sign of Life, A. D. Waller, 492; Atmospheric Electricity and Dew-ponds, Arthur Marshall, 495; Wastage of Electrical Properties of Cables under Continuous Currents, George Rheins, 520; the Theory of Ions, 524; Ions, Prof. G, F. Fitzgerald, 564; Dr. J. Larmor, 564; Prof. H. E. Armstrong, 564; Mr. Whetham, 564; Prof. Oliver Lodge, Xvi Index Nature, December 13, 1900 564; W. J. Pope, 564; Electric Railway Traction in Germany, 532 ; Negative Effect of Solar Eclipse on Atmo- spheric, Dr. E. Oddone, 532 ; Report of the British Associa- tion Electrical Standards Committee on the Removal of the Standards to Kew, 563; Improved Standard Resistance Coils, R. S. Whipple, 563 ; Prof. F. G. Baily on a Lecture- room form of Volt and Ammeter, 563; Prof. W. B. Morton’s Results Obtained by Applying J. J. Thomson’s and Sommer- feld’s Solution of the Propagation of an Electric Wave along a Single Wire, 563; On the Vector Potential of Electric Currents in a Field where Disturbances are Propagated with Finite Velocity, S. H. Burbury, 563; Wireless Telephony, Sir William H. Preece, 564; Prof. J. Chunder Bose on the Effect of Electrical Stimulus on Inorganic and Organic Substances, 564; Report of the British Association Committee on Electrolysis and Electrical Chemistry, 564; Generation of Electricity in Liquid Air, Ebert and B. A. Hoffmann, 568; Fall of Potential in Flame Gases, E. Marx, 568; Hall Effect in Flame Gases, E. Marx, 568; Influence of Spark-gap on Generation of Réntgen Rays, A. Winkelmann, 568 ; on the Proposed Mono-rail High-speed Electric Railway between Manchester and Liverpool, Sir William Preece, F.R.S., and ¥. J. Behr, 610; Inverse Effect of Magnetic Field not Pro- ductive of Movement in Electrified Bodies, V. Crémieu, 616 ; Experiments on High Resistance, O. N. Rood, 638; Accessory Reactions of Electrolysis, A. Brochet, 639; Elec- tric Conductivity of Pressed Powders, F. Streintz, 639 ; Ratio of Thermal and Electric Conductivities, E. Griineisen, 639 Eléments de la Théorie des Nombres, E. Cahen, 52 Elephant Seals of Kerguelen Island, the, R. Hall, 628 Elephantiasis and Mosquitoes, 374 Elkin (Dr. W. L.), the Velocities of Meteors, 398 Elliott (D. G.), Oreamnus kennedeyz, a New American Moun- tain Antelope, 321 Elliot (Captain R. H.), Snake Venom, 180 Ellis (Prof. G. V.), Death of, 16 Elster (J.), Electrical Dispersion in Air, 381 Elwes (H. J., F.R.S.), Mosquitoes and Malaria, 554 Embryonic Tissues, Prof. Marshall Ward, F.R.S., 611 Emett (Delta), Models of Blood-Corpuscles Infected with Malaria Parasite, 208 Emotion, Experimentation on, Prof. C. S. Sherrington, F.R.S., 32 Emu, a Third Specimen of the Extinct Dromaius ater, Vieillot ; found in the Royal Zoological Museum, Florence, Prof. Henry H. Giglioli, 102 Emu, Specimens of Dromazus ater, Prof. Alfred Newton, F.R.S., 151 Engineering : Valve Motions of Engines, F. J. Vaes, 31 ; Prof. John Perry, F.R.S., 31; the Proposed Mont Blanc Railway, J. and H. Vallot, 62; the Open Hearth Continuous Steel Process, B. Talbot, 67 ; Apparatus for Equalising Hot Blast Temperatures, L. G. Gjers and J. H. Harrison, 67; the Metropolitan District Short Electric Railway Line, 107 ; the Elevated Moving Pavement at the Paris Exposition, 107 ; Railways and Moving Platforms, Prof. John Perry, F.R.S., 412; Road Locomotion, Prof. Hele-Shaw, F.R.S., 139; Automobile Trials at Paris Exhibition, 158; the Musker Steam Motor Waggon, 554; the Halford Gradient Railway, 180; the Conditions of High Speed on Railways, 181 ; Specially built Train for Experiment on Atmospheric Resist- ance, 200; Papers on Mechanical and Physical Subjects, Osborne Reynolds, 243; the Transbaikalian Railway, 253 ; the Reclamation of Land from Tidal Waters, Alexander Beazeley, 266 ; the Great Alpine Tunnels, Francis Fox, 281 ; Electrical Power Distribution, Prof. W. E. Ayrton, F.R.S., 296; Marine Engineering, H.M.S. Veger, 322 ; Subjects for Consideration by Electrical Engineers, 379; American Institute and English Institution of Electrical Engineers at Paris, 415; Iron and Steel Institute, 535 ; Development of Iron Industry in: France, H. Pinget, 535; Iron and Phos- phorus, J. E. Stead, 535; New Aluminium Method. of Producing High Temperatures, E. F. Lange, 536; Present Position of Solution Theory of Carburised Iron, Dr. A. Stansfeld, 536; On the Construction of Shop Buildings and large Engineering Works, E. K. Clark, 610 England in the Far East, Sir Stamford Raffles, H. E. Egerton, 548 England’s Neglect of Science, Prof. John Perry, F.R.S., 221 - Enoch (Fred), the Tiger Beetle, 208 ; Ranatra Linearis, 261 Entomology: Spider-silk manufactures in Madagascar, M. Nogue, 17 ; Note on some Blue and Red Pigments, Prof. T. D. A. Cockerell, 31 ; Catalogue of the Lepidoptera Phalaenae in the British Museum, Vol. II., Catalogue of the Arctiadze (Nolinz, Lithosianz), Sir George F. Hampson, Bart., 77 ; ‘*Cuckoo-spit,” Prof. E. S. Morse, 109 ; ‘* Cuckoo Spittle,” the Common Frog Hopper, Dr. A. Porter, 532; Garden Pests, F. H. Chittenden, 109; Entomological Society, 118, 261, 639; the Cape Colony Fruit Moth, Mr. Barrett, 119; Influence of Temperature on Development of Lepido tera, Prof. Max Standfuss, 136; the Lepidoptera of the British Islands, Charles G. Barrett, 317; Elm and Pine Pests, Dr. R. S. McDougall, 191; Mosquitoes, W. R. Colledge, 201 ; Mosquitoes and Malaria, H. J. Elwes, F.R.S., 554; Prof. Grassi’s Experiment on Mosquitoes and Malaria, 578; Insect Visitors to Iris, Prof. J. G. Needham, 201 ; Web- of Serpe Habits of Red Ant, E. G. Green, 253 ; the Pu of Aporia Crataeg?, Mr. Merrifield, O/¢gostigma Araealis, Sir G. F. Hampson, 261; Ranatra Linearis, F. Enock, 261 ; Phylogeny of Pieride, A. R. Grote, 274; Fig Insects, W. W. Froggatt, 303; Eggs of Wood-Leopard Moth, C. Repington, 321 ; Functions of an Organ of the Larva of the Puss Moth, Arthur S. Thorn, 389; Function of the Whi of the Larva of the Puss Moth, W. F. Kirby, 413; Brief Guide to the Commoner Butterflies of the Northern United States and Canada, Sumuel Hubbard Scudder, 411; the Fruit-pest Ceratitis Capitata, Alfred Giard, 432; Artificial Ant-hills at Paris Exhibition, C. Janet, 490; the Ocelliin the head of the Cockroach, C. Kochi, 500 ; Catalogue of Eastern and Australian Lepzdoptera Heterocera in the Collection of the Oxford University Museum, 548; Church Stretton, vol. i., Macro-Lepidoptera, F. B. Newnham, 571; Dragon-fly - Migrations, A. Lancaster, 579 ; Rare British Insects Captured During Past Summer and Autumn, 606 ; Morphology of Res- piratory Apparatus of Brochus Ornatus, L. G. Seurat, 639 LEntomophthora gloeospora, on the Azygospores of, Prof Vuillemin, 613 : Epping Forest and Elsewhere, Disease of Birch Trees in, Robt. Paulson, 599 : Equations, Differential, Theory of, A. R. Forsyth, F.R.S., 170 Erinnerungen aus meinem Leben, A. Kolliker, 169 % Eros : Ephemeris for Eros, 20, 110, 184, 233, 377, 459, 491, 501, 535 550, 581, 606, 630; Determination of Solar Parallax from Opposition of Eros, Prof. S. Newcomb, 20; Photo- graphic Observation of Eros, Prof. Howe, 137; Howe’s Photographic Observation of Eros, A. C. D. Crommelin, 184 ; Measures of Eros, 233 ; Opposition of Eros, 425 ; M. Loewy, 630 ; On Preparations for Determining the Solar Parallax by Obsegvations of Eros, A. R. Hinks, 565; Prof. Turner, 56 Escape of Gases from Planetary Atmospheres, S, R. Cook, 54 Escape of Gases from Atmospheres, Dr. G. Johnstone Stoney, Escombe (F.), Static Diffusion in Gases and Liquids in Relation. to Carbon-assimilation and Translocation in Plants, 212 Etard (A.), the Hydrolysis of Fibrous Tissue, 72 Ethnography: Malay Magic, W. W. Skeat, 145; see also Section H of the British Association. Ethnology: Death and Obituary Notice of Frank H. Cushing, 16; the Races of Europe, a Sociological Study, William Z. Ripley, Prof. A. C. Haddon, F.R.S., 27; Der Ursprung der Kultur, L. Frobenius, ror ; the Recent Cretan Discoveries and their Bearing on the Early Culture and Ethnography of the - East Mediterranean Basin, Arthur J. Evans, 526 ; the Peopling of Australia, John Mathew, 549 Euglena, the Eye-spot in, H. Wager, 605 Englena Viridis, on a Demonstration of the Structure and - Attachment of the Flagellumin, Harold Wager, 612 Europe: the Races of Europe, a Sociological Study, William Z. Ripley, Prof. A. C. Haddon, F.R.S., 27; Sette Anni di Caccia Grossa € Note di Viaggio in America, Asia, Africa, Europa, Count Felice Scheibler, 244 Evans (A. H.), a Vertebrate Fauna of the Shetland Isles, 75 Evans (Arthur J.), the Recent Cretan Discoveries and their Bearing on the Early Culture and Ethnography of the East Mediterranean Basin, 526; on the New Scripts discovered by him in Crete, 526, 634; on the Cave of Psychro in Crete, 637 Evans (Sir John, F.R.S.), Paleolithic Man in Africa, 190° bic) ine Maier ot = A RES ee Pee ee “ae Nature, ] December 13, 1900 Index XVii Evans (Dr. J. W.), the Mechanically Formed Limestone of _Junagadh, 239 am Evaporation not Productive of Loss of Electricity, A. Pochettino and A. Sella, 458 Evolution ; Death and Obituary Notice of the Duke of Argyll, 13; Naturalism and Agnosticism, James Ward, 25; the Races of Europe, a Sociological Study, William Z. Ripley, Prof. A. C. Haddon, F.R.S., 27; Man and his Ancestor, a Study in Evolution, Charles Morris, 101; Correlation between Life-duration and Number of Offspring, M. Beeton, G. U. Yule, and Karl Pearson, F.R.S., 381; the Origin of Vertebrates, deduced from Study of Ammoceetes, Dr. Gaskell, 423; the Subordination of the Individual to the Welfare of the a 593 Ewing (Prof. J. A., F.R.S.), Crystalline Structure of Metals, -2m1, 567 Ewing’s (Prof. ), Combined Integrating Wattmeterand Maximum Blatations of the .diBer Pacifi Explorations of the A/éatross in the Pacific, 307 ves: Researches on Modern, W. Macnab and E, Ristori, 46; Some Modern Explosives, Sir Andrew Noble, .C.B., F.R.S., 86, 111 _ Extension of the Dyeing Department of Yorkshire College, B TI5 Eye, the Refraction of the, including a Complete Treatise on __ Ophthalmometry, A. Edward Davis, 6 Eye: Ueber den Bau und die Entwicklung der Linse, Dr. _ Carl Rabl, 125 r Fabry, Charles, the Production of Monochromatic Light, 350 Facts of Inheritance, Prof. J. Arthur Thompson, F.R.S., 331 Fairchild (Geo. T ), Rural Wealth and Welfare, 245 Fairley (T.}, on the Heating and Lighting Power of Coal Gas, 7 Fannenberg (W. de), Legons Nouvelles sur les Applications ( ues du Calcul différential, 196 ‘* Faraday Effect,’ Observation of the Circular Components in the, Prof. D. B. Brace, 368 . Farmer (Prof. J. B.), Histologische Beitrage, Heft iv., E. Strasbu 28 20 : rger, Farmstead, the, Prof. J. P. Roberts, 53 Fauna of the Shetland Isles, a Vertebrate, A. H. Evans and _T. E. Buckley, 75 Fauna of South Africa, Mammals, W. L Sclater, 521 Feeding Habits of Rhinoceros Birds in British East Africa, Change of, Capt. Hinde, Prof. E. Ray Lankester, F.R.S., Feathers, Racket, L. W. Wiglesworth, 54; the Reviewer, 54 Fenton (H. J. H.), on a Simple Method of comparing the _** Affinities ” of certain Acids, 567 Férand (A.), Comet 19004 (Borelly-Brooks), 464 Ferée (M.), Sodium Potassium Amalgams, 312 Ferment > oe hig setae and, Alfred Jorgensen, 195 Ferranti (M.), Relative Advantages of Alternate and Continuous _ Current for General Electrical Supply with regard to Inter- ___ ference with other Interests, 415 _ Field-Mice (North American Voles), V. Bailey, 232 _ Fifty Years of Geological Survey in India, 105 Dottore Filippo de), La Spedizione di sua Altezza Reale il Principe Luigi Amedeo di Savoia, Duca degli Abruzzi, al Monte Sant’ Elia (Alaska), 1897, 1 Finn (F.), Fancy Water-Fowl, 547 Finsch (Dr. O.), Dugong Vertebra as Fireball of Sunday September 2, the, 535 Fischer (Alfred), the Structure and Functions of Bacteria, 465 : Fischer (Emil), the Division of Racemic Amido-Acids into their ha ig Components, 62 F * (Dr. K. T.), a Simple Experiment in Thermal Radiation, 1o : tpt : . Fisheries : the Scotch Salmon Fishery for 1899, 303 Fishes, Albinism and Natural Selection in, Walter Garstang, Bracelet in Pelew ‘Fishes, Psychology of, Dr. R. W. Shufeldt, 63 Fitzgerald (E. A.), the Highest Andes, 38 Fitzgerald (Prof. Geo. Fras., F.R S.), the Nature of the Solar Corona, 7; Applications of Electrical Science, 43; AZther and Matter, Joseph Larmor, 265; on thé Relation of Radia- tion to Temperature, 562; on the Partition of Molecular Energy, 562; Ions, 564 ; on Crémieu’s Experiment, 564 Flatau (Dr. Edw.), Handbuch der Anatomie und vergleichen- den Anatomie des Centralnervensystems der Saugetiere, 267 Fleming (Prof. J. A., F.R.S.), Apparatus for Production of Shott Electric Waves and Study of Flectro-Optic Phenomena, 20) Flight, the Mechanics of, Lord Rayleigh, 108 Flint Implements of Paleolithic Type, onthe Occurrence pa an Old Land Surface in Oxfordshire, A. M. Bell, 3 Flood at Forres, 457 Flora of Bournemouth, including the Isle of Purbeck, E. F. Linton, 598 Flora, the Origin of the British, Clement Reid, F.R.S., 268 Florence, R. Zoological Museum, a Third Specimen of the Extinct Dromazus ater, Vieillot, found in the, Prof. Henry H. Giglioli, 1o2 Fluorine: Le Fluor et ses Composés, Henri Moissan, 291 Folklore: ‘‘ Malay Magic”; being an Introduction to the Folk-Lore and Popular Religion of the Malay Peninsula, W. W Skeat, 145; the Ginn in Morocco, Dr. E. Westermarck, 499 Fonzes-Diacon (M.), Crystallised Lead Selenide, 23; Prepara- tion of some Aluminium Compounds and Corresponding Hydrogen Derivatives, 95 ; Selenides of Iron, 216 ; Selenides of Nickel, 592 Food : Dietary Studies of Harvard and Yale University Boat Crews, Prof. W. O, Atwater and A. P. Bryant, 232 Food, Air, Water and, Ellen H. Richards, Alpheus G. Wood- man, 620 Forcrand (M. de), a Lithium Peroxide, 143 Ford (W. E.), Calcite Crystals, 568 ; Forepaws of Mammals, Vibrissze on the, Frank E. Beddard, F.R.S., 523 Forestry : Les Vieux Arbres de la Normandie, Henri Gadeau de Kerville, 7 ; Disease of Birch Trees in Epping Forest and elsewhere, Robt. Paulson, 599; on British Sylviculture, Samuel Margerison, 611 Forres, Reservoir Burst at, 457 Forsyth (A. R., F.R.S.), Theory of Differential Equations, 170 Fossils : Catalogue of the Fossil Bryozoa in the Department of Geology, British Museum (Natural History), the Cretaceous Bryozoa, Vol. I., Dr. J. W. Gregory, 125 Foster (Prof. Le N.), Accidents in Coal Mines, 136 Foundations of Zoology, the, William Keith Brooks, 593 Fourtau (R.), Neogenic Regions of Lower Egypt, 408 Fowler (A.), Orientation of the Field of View of the Siderostat and Coelostat, 428 ; Report on the Proceedings in Section A, Astronomy, at the Bradford Meeting of the B.A., 565 Fowler (G. Herbert), the Plankton of the Bay of Biscay, 317 Fowler (G. J.), Elements of Qualitative Analysis, 412 Fowls, Crooked-keeled Breastbone in, Prof. R. J. Anderson, 159 Fox (Francis), the Great Alpine Tunnels, 281 Fox (T. W.), Mechanism of Weaving, 29 Fracture of Steel Rails, the Cause of, 437 France, Leprosy in, 198; French Observations of the Total Eclipse of the Sun, 183 Francesco (Prof. D. de), Dynamics of Pseudospherical Space, 18 Franz Josef Land, the Norwegian North Polar Expedition, 1893-1896, to, Scientific Results, Fridtjof Nansen, J. F. Pom- peckj, A. G. Nathorst, R. Collett, 146 Freeland (E. H.), the Causes of Sunstroke, 396 Freshwater Lochs of Scotland, the, Sir John Murray, K.C.B., F.R.S., and Fred P. Pullar, 65: Fricker (Dr. Karl), the Antarctic Regions, 624 Friedel (Jean), Action of Total Pressure of Carbon Dioxide on . Assimilation by Chlorophyll, 464 Friedlinde (Dr. B.), New Zealand Volcanoes, 180 Friswell (R. J.), the Wellcome Research Laboratories, 271 Frobenius (L.), Der Ursprung der Kultur, 101 Froggatt (W. W.), Fig Insects, 303 “Frost Fighting,” A. G. McAdie, 274 Frost, Sunspots and, Alex. B. MacDowall, 599 Fiirbringer (Dr.), New Subdivision of Vertebrates, 397 Fungi found in Ceylon Growing on Scale Insects, on, J. Parkin, 613 Fungus Diseases of Citrus Trees in Australia, and their Treat- ment, D. McAlpine, 494 XViii L[ndex Nature, December 13, 1900. Gah] (Dr. R.), Method of Confirming Thermo-dynamical Relations between Freezing Point and Vapour Pressures of very Dilute Solution, 37 Gain (Edmond), Mummy Cereals, 191 Galton (Francis, F.R.S.), Analytical. Portraiture, 320; Photo- graphic Side of Analytical Portraiture Suggestions, 374 ; High Note Production by Galton’s Whistle, M. T. Edel- mann, 381 Galveston, the Lessons‘of, W. J. McGee, 604 Galveston Hurricane, Track of, 628 Gamble (F. W.), Graff's Monographie der Turbellarien, II., Tricladida Terracola (Landplanarien), 241 ; Colour-changes in Prawns, 5553; on the Colour-changes of Various Prawns, 590 Garden-pests, F. H. Chittenden, 109 Gardening: the Amateur’s Practical Garden Book, ‘C. E. Hund, L. H. Bailey, 1o1 Gardiner (Stanley), Report of B.A..Committee on the Struc- ture, Formation, and Growth of the Coral Reefs of the Indian Ocean, 589-590; on Nine Crania Collected by J. Stanley Gardiner during his Expedition to Rotuma, 6 33 Gardner (Edmund G.), Dante, 53 Gardner (W. M.), an Arrangement for Producing Artificial light of the same Character as Daylight, 563 Garson (Dr. J. G.), the English Metric System of Criminal Identification, 190 Garstang (Walter), Albinism and Natural Selection, 620 Garten (Siegfried), Beitrige zur Physiologie des elektrischen Organes der Zitterrochen (Torpedo), 290 Gas Producer, Portable, Dr. J. A. Purves, 601 Gas Thermometry, Dr. P. Chappuis, 214 Gases: Escape of Gases from Planetary Atmospheres, S. R. Cook, 54; Escape of Gases from Atmospheres, Dr. G. Johnston Stoney, F.R.S., 78, 359; Viscosity of Gases as affected by Temperature, Lord Rayleigh, F.R.S., 287; the Conductivity produced in Gases by the Motion of Negatively- charged Ions, J. S. Townsend, 340; on the Results of Dr. Larmor’s Application of the Principle of Least Action to the Statistical Dynamics of Gas Theory, as illustrated by Meteor Swarms and Optical Ray Systems, Dr, Larmor, 562; G. E. Petaval’s Apparatus for Experiments on the Explosive Pressures of Gases, 563; Phosphorescent Glow in Gases, J. B. B. Burke, 564; on the Specific Heat of Gases up to a Temperature of 400°, Prof. H. B. Dixon, F. W. Rixon, 5 Gaskell (Dr.), the Origin of Vertebrates deduced from Study of Ammoceetes, 423 j Gault and Upper Greensand of England, the, Memoirs of the Geological Survey of the United Kingdom, the Cretaceous Rocks of Britain, vol. i., A. J. Jukes-Browne, Prof. T. G. Bonney, F.R.S., 617 Gautier (Armand), Combustible Gases of Atmosphere, 216, 264, 288 ; Combustible Gases in Paris Air, 568; Limits of Combustibility by Red-hot Copper Oxide of Hydrogen and Methane diluted with large Volumes of Air, 119; Arsenic and Iodine in Animal Economy, 383 Gegenschein, Meteoric Theory of the, F. R. Moulton, 305 Geitel (H.), Electrical Dispersion in Air, 381 Gemmill (Dr. J. F.), on the Anatomy of the Head in Cyclopean Trout Embryos, 589 Genesis of the Vertebrate Column, Herbert Spencer, 620 Gentil (L.), International Geological Congress, 557 Geodesy: Apparatus for Measuring Geodetic Bases, Alphonse permet 408 ; Recent and Proposed Geodetic Measurements, 22 Geography : La spedizione di sua Altezza Reale il Principe Luigi Amedeo di Savoia, Duca degli Abruzzi, al Monte Sant’ Elia (Alaska), 1897, Dottore Filippo de Filippi, 1; Prelimi- nary Notes on the Result of the Mount Kenya Expedition, 1899, H. J. Mackinder, 12; Royal Geographical Society Medal Awards, 34; Grandididier’s Expedition to Madagascar, 35 ; Second Expedition to Head Waters of Xingu, Dr. Her- mann Meyer, 36; the Highest Andes, E. A. Fitzgerald, Edward Whymper, 38; the Fresh-water Lochs of Scotland, Sir John Murray, K.C.B., F.R.S., and Fred P. Pullar, 65; the Salt Lake of Larnaca, C. V. Bellamy, 94 ; Death and Obituary Notice of Miss M. H. Kingsley, 134 ; the Geography of the Region about Devil’s Lake and the Dalles of the Wis- consin, Prof. R. D. Salisbury, W. W. Atwood, 172; Area of Basins of Russia in Asia, J. de Schokalsky, 408; the Ndonda District, H. A. Byatt, 422; Pflanzen und Tierver- breitung, Prof. Alfred Kirchhoff, Dr. Otto Stapf, 569; Sur- veying and Exploring in Siam, James McCarthy, 571; Return of Amdrup’s Arctic Expedition, 577 ; the Lessons of Galveston, W. J. McGee, 604 ; the Navigation of the Lower Mississippi, L. M. Haupt, 604; the School Journey, a Means of Teaching Geography, Physiography and Elementary Science, Joseph H. Cowham, 619; the Antarctic Regions, Dr. Karl Fricker, Dr. ‘Hugh Robert Mill, 624; Through the First Antarctic Night, 1898-99; Frederick A. Cook, Dr. Hugh Robert Mill, 624; Physical Geography, Circulation of Surface Waters of North Atlantic, H. N. Dickson, 286 / Geology: Rock Structures in the Isle of Man and in South Tyrol, Dr. Maria M. Ogilvie Gordon, 7 ; Preliminary Notes on the Results of the Mount Kenya Expedition, 1899, H. J. Mackinder, 12; Geology of Klondike Goldfields, R. G. McConnell, 63 ; Death and Obituary Notice of James Thom- son, 83; Geology of Bermudas, A. E. Verrill, 92; Long- myndian Inliers at Old Radnor, Dr. Charles Galloway, 94 ; the Crag of Essex, F. W. Harmer, 94 ; Fifty Years of Geo- logical Survey in India, 105 ; Catalogue of the Fossil Bryozoa in the Department of Geology, British Museum (Natural History), the Cretaceous Bryozoa, vol. i., Dr. J. W. Gregory, 125; the Norwegian North Polar Expedition (1893-1896) to Franz Josef Land, Scientific Results, Fridtjof Nansen, J. F. Pompeckj, A. G. Nathorst, R. Collett, 146; Geological Society, 94, 167, 239, 262; Igneous Rocks of Waterford Coast, F. R. C. Reed, 167; New Rock-type from Kentallen, J. B. Hill and H. Kynaston, 167; the Carboniferous Strata of Nossi-Bé, M. Villiaume, 168 ; the Geography of the Re- gions about Devil’s Lake and the Dalles of the Wisconsin, Prof... R. D.. Salisbury, W. W. Atwood, 172; the Copper- bearing Rocks of Wisconsin, Dr. U. S. Grant, 181; A Monograph of Christmas Island (Indian Ocean), Physical Features and Geology, C. W. Andrews, 193 ; the Origin and Formation of the Red Sea, A. Issel, 201 ; an Estimate of the Geological Age of the Earth, J. Joly, F.R.S., 235; the Mechanically-formed Limestone of Junagadh, Dr. W. Evans, 239; the Consolidated Oolite Sands of Kathiawad, Frederick Chapman, 239; Ceylon Rocks and Graphite, A. K. C. Swamy, 239; Jubilee of the Imperial Gane Institute of Vienna, 258 ; the Order of Crystallisation of Sili- cates in Igneous Rocks, Prof, J. Joly, F.R.S., 262; Theory © of Order of Crystalisation of Minerals in Igneous Rocks, J. A. Cunningham, 262, 368 ; Death and Obituary Notice of Prof. G.H. F. Ulrich, 272; the Clays of Alabama, Drs. E. A. Smith and H. Ries, 274; Rhythms and Geologic Time, G. K. Gilbert, 275 ; Volcanic Rocks from Temisconata Lake, H. E. Gregory, 286; the Statement of Rock Analysis, H. S. Washington, 286 ; Explorations of the 4/batross in the Pacific, 307; the Flow of Marble, Prof. F. D. Adams and Be Nicolson, 335; Sea Coast Destruction and Littoral Drift, W. H. Wheeler, 400 ; Neogenic Regions of Lower Egypt, C. Depéret and R. Fourtau, 408 ; Snow-Drifts on Ingleborough, Prof. T. G. Bonney, F.R.S., 412; New Observations on High Dordogne Valley, A. Michel-Lévy, 432; Amount of Circulation of Carbonate of Lime and Earth’s Age, Prof. Eugene Dubois, 498 ; Geology of Lake District, J. E. Marr, 534; International Geological Congress, L. Gentil, 557; Church Stretton, vol. i., Geology, E. S. Cobbold, 571 ; the Ravine of Chevallegres and Torrent Retrogression, Stanislas Meunier, 592: Memoirs of the Geological Survey of the United Kingdom. The Cretaceous Rocks of Britain, vol. i. The Gault and Upper Greensand of England, A. J. Jukes-Browne, Prof. T. G. Bonney, F.R.S., 617; the Colorado Canyon District, W. M. Davis, 638 Pures eS: Geometry : A First Geometry Book, J. G. Hamilton, F. Kettle, 101 ; Lecons Nouvelles sur les Applications Géométriques du_ Calcul Différential,W. D. Fannenberg, 196 ; Two Remarkable Groups of Loci, E. Mathias, 240 SY eee Geometrical Optics: Lecons d’Optique Géométrique 4 l Usage des Eléves de Mathematique Spéciales, E. Wallon, 30 Geothermal Gradient in Michigan, A. C. Lane, 210 j Gerin (F.), Acetyl Derivatives of Cellulose and Oxycellulose, 616 Germany : Employment of Chemists in German Factories, 84 ; Manufacture of Artificial Dye-Stuffs in Germany, 422; Electric Railway Traction in Germany, 532; Association of German Naturalists and Physicians, 553; Annual Con- gress of German Anthropological Society, 632 j rt pol (i otal rd =. = ols a al . Nature, December 13, 1902 ] Inaenr xix Gessard (C.), Tyrosinase, 96 Ghizeh Zoological Gardens, 374 Giacobini, Comet, (1900 a), 37, 256 Giard (Alfred), the FruitePest Ceratitis capitala, 432 _ Gibson (W.), on Rapid Changes in the Thickness and Character __ of the Coal Measures of North Staffordshire, 587 Gifford (J. W.), a Quartz-Calcite Lens with Identical Visual _ and Photogra pe Focus, 563 Giglioli (Prof. Henry H.), a Third Specimen of the Extinct Dromaius ater, Vieillot, found in the R. Zoological ert Florence, 102 Gilbert (G. K.), Rhythms and Geologic Time, 275 Gilbody (A. W.), Brazilin (iv), 71 Gill pr omag David), Report'of the Ca Ginn, The, in Morocco, Dr. E. Giraffe, the Sub- Species of, 35 _ Gjers (L. ma ay apparatus for Equalising Hot Blast Tempera- tures, re Snow-Drifts - pene: in July, Prof. T. Mc ae ae F.R J. H.), Want rat Uniformity of Action of Copper- Zine Alloys on Nitric Acid, m "Glasgow, the Plague in, 456, 498 » 377 Glass, the Action of Water upon, Edmund F. Mondy, 246 — ae ys ving the Coal and Iron Ore Fields of Shansi and Glusebrosk (R. J.), Dr. Lodge’s Paper on Volta’s Contact Force, 70 ; Measurement of Standard Resistances, 118 - Gley (E.), ), Presence of Iodine in Blood, 216 Glucosides, the, Dr. J. J. I. van Rijn, 36 Goeldi Se) Essien urial Caves in Rio Gold : 3 G Observatory, 398 estermarck, 499 6 Goodrich (E. S.), a ss of Echinoderms, 545 —— (G. F.), Death and Obituary Notice of, 83 Gordon (Dr. Maria M. Ogilvie), Rock-structures in the Isle of _ Man and in South Tyrol, 7 Goret (Maurice), Composition of Albumin of Gledétschia tri- acanthos Seed, 264 Gotch sje h on the Physiological Effect of Local Injury in Society, 96, 384 1 Constitution of Steel, 288 Laboratory, Report of, Dr. T. E. Thorpe, F.R.S., Grand’E (M.), Sigillaria, 23 ; Cordaites, 47 Spreng Motions under Influence of Kathodes rv 92 Graff (Prof. Ludwig von), Monographie der Turbellarien, II. terracola (Landplanarien), 241 ~ Grammar of Science, the, Prof. Karl Pearson, F.R.S., 49 ’s qos to Madagascar, 35 U. S.), the Copper-bearing Rocks of Wisconsin, _ Grass, Effect of Iron upon the Growth of, 151 _ Grassi (Prof.), Mosquitoes and Malaria, 578, 627 ; Mosquitoes _ and Filaria immitis. 627 Gravitation : RS. io: Studies in Gravitation, Prof. John H. A., F. RS. the Stability of a Swarm of Meteorites bet of a Planet and Satellite, 582 «est (J.), on the hat tara Characteristics of the Population of 35- iquakes, 1893-8, M. Eginitis, 8 Peg (E. G. Web-spinning Habits of Red Ant, 253 Grecely (E.), on the Ancient Peneplains in North Wales, 587 Greenwich, the Royal coat, Chase Te Wei at; ; Duration of Totality op A.), —— Physics and Chemistry, 620 the (E. H.),a Form of Wheatstone Bridge for Determining a3 Freezing-points of Dilute Solutions by Platinum Thermo- metry, 563 os Griffiths (F. Ll.), on the System of Writing in Ancient Egypt, 6 34 Grignard (V.), New General Method of Preparing Secondary and Tertiary Alcohols, 85 Grimaux (Edouard), Death and Obituary Notice of, 34 Grote (A. R.), Phylogeny of Pieridz, 274 Growth of Grass, Effect of Iron upon the, 151 Gruetzner (P.), Electrolytic Records of Electric Currents, 93 Griineisen (E.), Ratio of Thermal and Electric Conductivities, 639 Com (E.), Human Body as Screen in Wireless Telegraphy, 5 Guichard (Marcel), Blue Oxide of Molybdenum, 384, 408 Guest (J. J.), Strength of Ductile Materials under Combined ‘Stresses, 118 Guillaume (Dr. Ch. Ed.), the International. Physical Congress, 425 Guldeberg (Dr. G.), Body Temperature of Cetacea, 159 Guns: the Distance to which the Firing of Heavy Guns is Heard, Dr. Charles Davison, 377; J. W. Mallet, 523 Giinther (R. T.), on Mnestra parasites, 589 ; on the pag a or the Phlegrzean Fields near Naples, 591 Guntz (M.), Sodium-potassium Amalgams, 3 Gutton (C. ), Value of Refractive Index 3 "ick for Electro- magnetic. Radiations, 23 Gymnosporangium from China, on a, Prof, F. E. Weiss, 613 Haddon (Prof. A. C., F.R.S.), the Races of Europe; a Socio- . logical Study, 27; Decorative Arts of Sea-Dyaks of Sarawak, 68 ; Mexican Symbolism, Carl Lumholtz, 600 ; on the Tex- - tile Patterns of the Sea-Dyaks, 634; on Relics of the Stone Age in Borneo, 637; on the Preservation of Local Antiquities, 637 : Hzmameebids, Generative Process in, Prof. E. R. Lankester, 424 Hemoglobin not Estimable by Absorbing Power of Blood, L. G. de St. Martin, 520 Hail Preventive, Cannon-fire as a, 158 Hailstorm, a Remarkable, J. G. Roberts, 341 Halford Gradient Railway, the, 180 Hall (R.), a Key to the Birds of Australia and Tasmania, with their Geographical Distribution in Australia, 6; Nesting Habits of Australian Diamond Bird, 303; the "Elephant Seals of Kerguelen Island, 628 Haller (A.), the B-alkyloxy-a-cyanocrotonic Esters, 71; Action of Hydrogen Bromide on Dextro-rotatory Benzylidene Camphor, 119; 8-phenyland 8-benzyl-a-alkoxy-a-cyanoacrylic Acids, 191; Synthesis of aa-dimethyl-y-cyano-cyanotricar- ballylic Ester, 264 Haller (Dr. B.), Brain of Pond-Tortoise, 324 Halm (Dr. J.), Latitude Variation, Earth Magnetism, and Solar Activity, 460 Hamilton (I. G.), a First Geometry Book, Hampson (Sir George F., Bart.), Catalogue. of the Lepidoptera Phalenz in the British Museum. Vol. ii. Catalogue of the Arctiadze (Nolinz Lithosianz), 77 ; O/igostigma araealis, 261 Handbuch der Anatomie und Vergleichenden Anatomie des Centralnervensystems der Saugetiere, Dr. Edw. Flatau, Dr. L. Jacobsohn, 267 Hannay (J. B.), Dark Images of Photographed Lightning Dis- charges, 3 Hasdooetie ( (Miss F.), the Present State of the Theory of Point Groups, 561 Harlay (V.), peers Ferment of Germinating Seeds, 640 Harmer (F. W.), the Crag of Essex, 94; on the Influences of Winds upon Climate during Past Epochs, 588 Harris (R. A.), a Partial Explanation of some of the Principal Ocean Tides, 258 Harrison (J. H.), Apparatus for Equalising Hot Blast Temper- atures, 67 Hart (J. H.), Action of Light on Magnetism, 286 Hartland (Mr.), on the Animal Cults of the Natives of Sarawak and their bearing on the Problems of Totemism, 635 Hartley (H. B.), Properties of Crystals yielding Doubly Refracting Liquids on Fusion, 68 Hartog (Prof. Marcus), on a Peptic Zymase in Young Embryos, 5 Harvard College Observatory, 137 Harvard Photometry, Photometric Revision of, 37 XxX Index . Natu Decsuleres 13, aie Harveian Oration of 1900, the, Historical Aspects of the Dis- covery of the Circulation of the Blood, Prof. T. Clifford Allbutt, F.R.S., 630 Harze, Die, und die Harzebehilter, A. Tschirch, 316 Haselgrove (F. W.), Robin’s Nest in Water-can, 17 Haswell (Prof. W. A., F.R.S.), Didymorchis, 640 Haupt (L. M.), the Navigation of the Lower Mississippi, 6a Hawthorn (J.), on the Relation of Ulva Jatessima to the Pollution of Sea-water by Sewage, 611 Hazewinkel (J.), Indican, 47 Heat: a New Thermo-calorimeter, G. Massol, 23; Method of confirming Thermo-dynamical Relations between F reezing Point and Vapour Pressures of very Dilute Solution, Dr. R. Gahl, 37; Researches on Accurate Determination of Temper- ature of Explosion of Modern Explosives in Closed Vessel, W. Macnab and E. Ristori, 46; the Depression of the Freezing-point in Salts containing a Common Ion, J. Barnes, 64; Heat of Alloy Formation, J. B. Taylor, 70; Want of Uniformity of Action of Copper-zinc Alloys on Nitric:Acid, Dr. J. H. Gladstone,. 70; _Temperature and Potential Gradient in. Rarefied Gases, G. C. Schmidt, 92; Boiling- point Curves, C. L. Speyers, 92; Geothermal Gradient i in Michigan, A. C.. Lane, 210; Thermal Deformation of Balances, T. Middel, 211; Additive Character of Atomic Heats, S. Meyer, 211; Gas Thermometry, Dr. P. Chappuis, 214; the Gas Thermometer, at High Temperatures,’ L.. Holborn and A, L. Day, 568; a Comparison of Impure Platinum Thermometers, H. M. Tory, 214; the Law of Cailletet and Mathias and the Critical Density, Prof. S. Young, 214 ; the Expansion of Fused Silica, H. Le Chatelier, 216; the Thermal Properties of Fused Silica, P. Villard and M. Dufour, 255 ; Rise of Temperature in Fabrics when Moist- ened, Dr. L. Cobbett, 239 ; Viscosity of Gases as affected by Temperature, Lord Rayleigh, F.R.S., 287; Temperature of Maximum Density of Aqueous Solution of Ammonium Chloride and Lithium Bromide and Iodide, L. C. de Coppet, 312; 7 Coefficients of Physico- chemical Reaction, Prof, T. W. Richards, 351; the Air-thermometer at High Temperatures, L. Holborn and A. Day, 381 ; Boiling Points of Zinc and Cadmium, Daniel Berthelot, 384; the Rate of Increase of Underground Heat, James Stirling, 5553; Ratio of Thermal and Electric Conductivities, E, Griineisen, 639 ; Thermal Conductivity of Gases, P. A. Eckerlein, 639 Heath (Thomas), the Solar Eclipse of May 28, 263 Heaviside (Oliver, F.R.S.), the Teaching of Mathematics, 548 Hedges (K.), Lightning Conductors of St. Paul’s, 68 Hedley (W. S.), Therapeutic Electricity and Practical Muscle Testing, 30 Heilprin (Prof. A.), the Permanence of Lake Nicaragua, 395 Heinrich (W.), Die Moderne Physiologische Psychologie in a 245; Zur Prinzipienfragen der Psychologie, 245 Hele-Shaw (Prof., F.R.S.), Road Locomotion, 139; on the Question of the Resistance of Vehicles to Traction, eee (A. de), Phosphorescence unaffected by Magnetic ield, 32 Hemsalech (G. A.), Band Spectrum of Aluminium, 335 Hemsley (W. Botting, F.R.S.), the High Level Flora of Tibet, 46 ; Illustrations of the Botany of Captain Cook’s Voyage Round the World in H.M:S. Endeavour in 1768-71, Right Hon. Sir Joseph Banks and Dr. Daniel Solander, with Determinations by James Britten, 547 Henderson (G. G.), an Introduction to Analytical Chemistry, 292 Henkel (F. W.), Huxley and his Work, 437 Henry (Prof. A. J.), Elevation and Depression -of Lake Level by Wind Action, 579; Tide Oscillation on Lake Erie, 579 Henry (T. A.), the Poison of Lotus Arabicus, 238 Hepworth (Captain Campbell), on the Weather of the North Atlantic Ocean during the Winter 1898-9, 563 Herb Paris, Variations in Plants of the, Miss L. Eleanor Jex- Blake, 174 Herculis, New Variable in, Madame Ceraski, 395 Heredity : Collateral Heredity, Measurements in Schools, Prof. Karl Pearson, F.R.S., 173, 599; Human Babies, what they Teach, S. S. Buckman, 221; Facts of Inheritance, Prof. J. Arthur Thompson, F.R.S., 331 ; Lamarkiens et Darwiniens, Felix Le Dantec, 388 ; Homochronous Heredity and Changes of Pronunciation, Charles G. Stuart-Menteath, 524 ; Homo- chronous Heredity and the Acquisition of Language, Prof. R. Meldola, F.R.S., 572; the Foundations of Zoology, William Keith Brooks, 593 Hergesell (Dr. ); Temperature of Free Air, 253 Hérisséy (E.), Preparation of Gento Picrine and Glucoside from Fresh Gentian Root, 288 Hérissey (H.), Reserve Carbohydrates in Seed gf Trifolium Repens, 216 Hérouard (Edgard), Traité de Zoologie Conerete. partie, Mésozoaires—-Spongiaires, 122 Herschel (Prof. A. S., F.R.S.), some Notes on the Late Prof. Piazzi Smyth’s Work in Spectroscopy, 161 Herschel (John), on a Method of Observing and Recording the Paths of Meteors, 565 Hertz (Heinrich), the Principles of Mechanics presented in a New Form, 50 Hertzian Waves, Wireless Telegraphy and, S. R. Bottone, TB. the yre 522 Hervey (D.), Plotosus canius and the ‘‘ Snake-stone,”.79 Hibiscus vitifolius, on the Intumescences of, Miss hi Dale, 611 Hickson (Prof. S. J.), on Dendrocometes, 589 Highest Andes, the, E. A. Fitzgerald, Edward Whymper, 38 Hill (J. H.), New Rock- -type from Kentallen, 167 ‘ = Hillebrand (W. F.), Carnotite, 432 Hime (Dr. T. W.), on the Effects of Copper: on the Human Body, 566 Hinde. (Captain), Change of Feeding Habits. of Rhinoceros birds in British East Africa, 366 Hinks (A. R.), on some Points connected with the Photography of a Moving Object, 565 ; on the New Form of. Refracting: Telescope recently erected at Cambridge, 565 ; on Prepara- tions for Determining the Solar Parallax by Observations of Eros, 565 Hinrichs (G.), True Atomic Weight of Boron, 216 ; Composi- tion of Air at Different Levels, 432 Histologische Beitrage, Heft IV., E. Strasburger, Prof. J. B. Farmer, 28 Histology of the Blood: Normal and Pathological, P. Ehrlich and A. Lazarus, Dr. T. H. Milroy, 410 History of the Development of Chemistry since the Time of Lavoisier, Lectures on the, Dr. A. Laas 618 History of Language, the, Henry Sweet, 195 Hoffmann (B. A.), Generation of Electricity in ‘Liquid Air, 568 Hogarth (D. Cc. ), on the Cave of Psychro in Crete, 637 Holborn (L.), the Air Thermometer at High Temperatures, 381; the Gas Thermometer at High Temperatures, 568 Holdich (Colonel Sir Thomas H.), on the Question of a Rail- way Connection betweeen Europe and India, 590 Holleman (Dr. A. F.), Lehrbuch der Anorganischen Chemie, 8 9 Hekoes (W. M.), Radiolaria from Coalsdon Upper Chalk, W. M. Holmes, 262 Homochronous Heredity and Changes of Pronunciation, Charles G. Stuart-Menteath, 524 Homochronous Heredity and the Acquisition of Language, Prof. R. Meldola, F.R.S., 572 Honda (K.), a String Alternator, 286 Hoogewerff (Prof.), Indican, 47 Hooper (David), Bamboo Manna, 127 Hopkinson Ue ), on the Rainfall of the Northern “Counties of England, 563 Horovitch (Jacob), Untersuchungen iiber Philons und Platons Lehre von der Weltsch6pfung, 494 Horrocks (Jeremiah) and the Transit of Venus, 257 Horse-sickness, African, a Possible Preventive of, Dr. G. C. Purvis, 83 Horticulture : the Amateur’s Practical Garden Book, C. E. Hunn, L. H. Bailey, 101; Plant Hybrids, Wilfred Mark Webb, 174; the Fruit-pest Ceratitis capitata, Alfred Giard, 4323 Carnations and Picotees for Garden and Exhibition, H. W. Weguelin, 598 Hose (Dr. C.), on Relics of the Stone Age in Borneo, 637 ; on the Animal Cults of the Natives of Sarawak and their Bearing on the Problems of -Totemism, 634 Houston (Dr. A. C.), . the Principles of Bacteriology, Dr. Ferdinand Hueppe, 73; the Bacterial Treatment of Sewage, 128; the Structure and Functions of Bacteria, Alfred Fischer, 465 Howard (Dr. L. O.), Mosquitoes and Malaria, 500 : Howe (Prof.), Photographic Observation of Eros, 137, 184 Nature, ] December 13, 1900 Index Xxi Howles (F. H.), 8-Isopropylglutaric Acid and C7s- and Zrans- ery geaic. Acids, 143 (W. H.), Nature in Downland, 417 Hu (Dr. Ferdinand), the Principles of Bacteriology, 73 (Prof. T. McKenny, F.R.S.), Snowdrifts on Ingle- h in July, 389 Hulett (G. A.), the Purification of Mercury, 160 Human Babies: What they Teach, S. S. Buckman, 221 Humeri, og on, from Ancient Egyptian Skeletons, Prof. A. Macalister, 633 Hunn (C. E.), the Amateur’s Practical Garden Book, 101 Huns, the White, C. de Ujfalvy, 323 Hunt (A. R.), Microphotography, Isophotography, Mega- ion (A, Com y, 79 Hurion (A.), Composition of Mont Dore Gas, 47 Hurricane, trous Hurricane in the United States, 489 Hurricane, Galveston, the Lessons of, 604; Track of, 628 Memorial Statue, the Unveiling of the, 10 Huxley and his Work, F. W. Henkel, 437 ; C. Simmonds, 495 H., es 1). F. R.S.), Lessons in Elementary 3 . Wilfred Mark Webb, 174 Lydroc : Vorlesungen iiber hydrodynamische Fern- r nach C. A. pega Theorie, V. Bjerknes, Prof. ‘iH. — F.R ography: the al Bore, Vaughan Cornish, 126; a 1 Explanation of some of the Principal Ocean Tides, R f9 Harris, 258 ; the Cruise and Deep-sea Exploration of __ the Siboga i in te Indian Archipelago, 327 : the Bacterial Treatment of Sewage, Dr. Frank sand Dr. Houston, 128 ; First-stage Hygiene, Robert A. ‘siepiee, 173;. Use of Sodium Peroxide for Purifying Wells S eaatog Carbonic Acid, E. Derenne, 432; Principes Estat Coloniale, Dr. Georges Treille, 620 7 cg name Psychology of Fishes, Dr. R. W. Shufeldt, 63 ; _ Abnormalities of Limbs and Tail of Dipnoan Fishes, H. ir Brindley. remot 21 St Beitrage zur Physiologie des elektrischen itterrochen (Torpedo), Siegfried Garten, 290; Lepocephals, Young of Conger-eel, E. R. Waite, 324; Glacialis, New Antarctic Fish, Louis Dollo, 350 ; ce . oie Tasmanian Crab, Alex Morton, 496; the Nest- ae Brook-Lamprey, Messrs. Young and cen d 500 E sacutthextion, Criminal, the English System, Dr. J. G. Garson, I { Peiiaion Fossils of Eastern Salt- -range, Dr. K. Red- Mic, Ph Fifty Years of Geological Survey in India, 105, David Hooper, #27 3 Crainology of Hill rs Wm. F.R.S., 263 ; the Great Earth- _ quake of June 12, 1897, R. D. Oldham, 305; the Cruise and Deep-sea Exploration | of the Siboga in the Indian Archipelago, 327 Indiana, Wire ence Telephony i in, 374 Sgro J. Hazewinkel, 47 ; Prof. Hoogewerff and H. ter apy tA Manufacture in Germany of, 422 n Fermentation, Prof. Beyerinck, 47 tr ae in Relation to Art and, 32 : aoe in Euglena, H. Wager, 605 (E. i ineral Production of Canada, 499 borough, Snow-drifts on, in July. Prof. T. McKenny thes, F.R.S., 389; Prof. T. G. Bonney, F.R.S., 412 W riti Dr.'T. E. Thorpe, 554 nal Association of Abiaatics the, 249 International Catalogue of Scientific Literature, the, 197, 206 International Congress of Applied Chemistry, 519 International Geol 1 Congress, L. Gentil, 557 _ Introduction to P — hemistry, James Walker, Prof, __ Arthur Smithells, 76 4 Introduction to Zoology, C. B, Davenport, Gertrude ci _ _ Davenport, 433 Tons, the Theory of, 524 Trano Indians, Craniology, M. Ujfalvy, 351 ‘ oad Insect Visitors to, Prof. J. G. Needham, 201 ; : Iron and Steel Institute, 67, 5353 Solution Theory Ap- & to Molten Iron and Steel, John Parry, 128; Effect of upon the Growth of Grass, 151; Permeability of Iron under the Influence of the Oscillatory Discharge pong a _ Condenser, E. W. Marchant, 413 ‘ feerdein (Phili Iroquois of Ontario, on the Paganism of the, David Boyle, 35 Irrigation and Drainage, F. H. King, 5 Irvine (Dr. R.), on the Mechanical and Chemical Changes which take place during the Incubation of Eggs, 589 ~ Irving (Rev. Dr. A. )s the New Senate of the University of London, 549 Isle of Man, Rock-structures in the, and in South Tyrol, Dr. Maria M. Ogilvie Gordon, 7 Isophotography, A. R. Hunt, 79 Issel (A.), Origin and Formation of Red Sea, 201 Italy: Electrical Power Transmission Works in Northern Italy, 84 ; Cannon Fire as a Hail- 2 aay 158; a Recol- lection of King Umberto, Prof. W . E. Ayrton, F.R,S., 320 Jackson (Henry), on the Formation of Starch from Glycollic Aldehyde by Green Plants, 611 Jacobsohn (Dr. L.), Handbuch der Anatonnie und _verglei- chenden Anatomie des Centralnervensystems der pis Aisolay, 267 Janet (C.), Artificial Ant-hills at Paris Exhibition, 490 Japan, on the Japanese Gohez and the Ainu zzao,- W..G. Aston, 635 Jaumann (G.), an Electrical Experiment of M. _Jaumann, P. Villard, 47 ; Rotating Magnetic Flag, 211 Jex-Blake (Miss L.), Variations in Plants of the Herb Paris, 174 Johnson (Colonel), on Foreign and Colonial Surveys, 590 Joly (Prof. J., F.R.S.), the Formation of , Silica, 84; an Estimate of the Geological Age of the Earth, 235 ; the Order of Crystallisation of Silicates in Igneous Rocks, 262 ; . Ascent of Sap, 572 Jones (Francis), the Air of Rooms, 387 Jones (H. C.), the Theory of Electrolytic py ET SG 121 Jones (H. O.), on a Simple Method of Comparing the ‘‘ Affi- nities” of Certain Acids, 567° Jorgensen (Alfred), Micro-organisms and Fermentation, 195 er (P.), Polarisation of Solar Corona observed-at Elche; E. B.), Lehrbuch der Phcthalicennie (Photo- graphie der Natiirlichen Farben), Wilhelm Zenker, 316 Journal of Botany, 260, 520 Journal of Microscopical Society, 520 Jowett (A.), on the Glacial Phenomena of the West Riding, . 88 Jowett H. R. D.), Constitution of Pilocarpine, 215 Jubilee of the Imperial Geological Institute of Vienna, 258 Jukes-Browne (A. J.), Memoirs of the Geological Survey of the United Kingdom. The Cretaceous Rocks of Britain. Vol. I. The Gault and Upper Greensand of England, 617 Kamenka River, Diamonds discovered on, 603 Kahlbaum (Georg W. A.), Christian Friedrich Schénbein, 1799-1868, 97 Kallir (L.), Taternspeicki Spark in Alternating Current with Metallic Electrodes, 335 Kassowitz (Prof Dr. Max), Allgemeine Biologie, Prof. H. Marshall Ward, F.R.S., 217 Kathode Rays: on the Apparent Emission of Kathode Rays from an Electrode at Zero-potential, C. E. Phillips, 564 Kazan Society of Naturalists, Memoirs of, 93 Keeble (F. W.), Colour-changes in Prawns, 555; on the Colour-changes of various Prawns, 590 Keegan (P. Q.), Leaf Decay and Autumn Tints, 523 Keeler as James Edward), Death of, 456 ; Obituary Notice of, 4 Keller (ftelen), ay” 388 Kelvin (Lord, S.), Motion in an Infinite Elastic Solid caused by Motion through it of a Body acting on it only by Attraction and Repulsion, 360 Kemp (J. F.), the Ore Deposits of the United States and Canada, 365 Kendall (Prof. P. F.), on the Geological Evidence of the Con- ditions under which Coal was formed, 588 Kennedy (N.), Surveying with the Tacheometer, 571 Kennedy (W.), Large Meteor at Roche’s Point, 395 Kennelly (Dr.),: Relative Advantages of Alternate. and Con- tinuous Currents for General Electrical Supply with regard to Interference with other Interests, 415 “« XXli Index [ Nature, December 13, 1900 Kerguelen Island, the Elephant Seals of, R. Hall, 628 . Kerville (Henri Gadeau de), Les Vieux Arbres de la Normandie, Kettle (F.), a First Geometry Book, ror : Key to the Birds of Australia and Tasmania, a, with their Geographical Distribution in Australia, R. Hall, 6 Kidston (R.), on Plant Life during the Growth of the Coal- measures, 587 ; on the Flora of the Coal-measures, 610 Kimberley, the Winds of, J: R. Sutton, 35 Kinetic Theory of Planetary Atmospheres, the, Prof. G. H. Bryan, F.R.S,, 126 ‘ King (F. H.), Irrigation arid Drainage, 5 Kingsley (George Henry), Notes on Sport and Travel, .5 Kingsley (J. S.), the Origin of Mammals, 254 Kingsley (Miss M. H.), Death and Obituary Notice of, 134» Kirby (W.-F.), Function of the Whips of the Larva of the Puss Moth, 413 Kirchhoff (Prof. Alfred), Pflanzen-und Tierverbreitung, 569 Kites, Telephony by, 578 Kites, on the Use of,.for Meteorological Observations, A. L. Rotch, 563 Klondike Goldfields, Geology of, R. G. McConnell, 63 Kochi (C.), the Ocelli in the Head of the Cockroach, 500 KOlliker (A.), Erinnerungen aus meinem Leben, 169 Kostinsky (M.'S.), Photographic Observations of Satellite of Neptune, 161 Kronecker (M.),. Effects of Work of Active on Inactive. Muscular Groups, 492 ‘* Kris,” Malay, on the Making of a, and on the Malay Method of producing Chains by Casting, W. Rosenhain, 63 4; Prof. A. Macalister, 634 “* Kris,” Malay, on the ‘* Kingfisher” Type ofa, Prof. H. Louis, 6 34 Kiihne (Dr. Wilhelm), Death of, 198 Kultur, Der Ursprung der, L. Frobenius, 1o1 Kynaston (H.), New Rock-type from Kentallen, 167 Laboratories: the Wellcome Research Laboratories, R. J. Friswell, 271; Physiology for the Laboratory, Bertha ’ Millard Brown, 365; Biological Lectures from the Marine Laboratory at Woods Holl, U.S.A., for 1899, 411 ; Report of Government Laboratory, Dr. T. E. Thorpe, F.R.S., 499 Lacell (H. G,), Working Silica in the Oxy-gas Blowpipe Flame, 20 Lacroix (A.), Mineralogical Composition of Teschenites, 72 ; the Fayalite of Callobriéres, 240 Ladenburg (Dr. A.), Lectures on the History of the Develop- ment of Chemistry since the Time of Lavoisier, 618 Lafay (A.), Deformations of Contact of Elastic Bodies, 544 Lagrula (Ph.), Apparent Semi-diameter of Sun, 464 Lakes: a Bathymetrical Survey of the Fresh-water Lochs of Scotland, Sir John Murray, K.C.B., F.R.S., and Fred P. Pullar, 65; the Permanence of Lake Nicaragua, Prof. A. Heilprin, 395 ; Elevation and Depression of Level by Wind Action, Prof. A. J. Henry, 579; Tide Oscillation on Lake Erie, Prof. A. J. Henry, 579; on the Recent Discovery of a Ferriferous Horizon in the Huronian north of Lake Superior, Prof. A. P. Coleman, 588 Lamarkiens et Darwiniens, Félix Le Dantec, 388 Lamarliére (L. G. de), Wood of Peat Bog Conifers, 520 Lamb (Prof. Horace, F.R.S.), Scientific Papers, 99 Laminariacez, on the Germination of the Zoospore in, J. Lloyd Williams, 613 Lamp, a ‘‘ Dark,” Gustave le Bon, 532 Lamplugh (G. W.), on the Evidence as to the Age of the English Wealden Series, 588 A Lamprey, the Nest-building Brook, Messrs. E. Young and Cole, 500 Lancaster (A.), Dragon-fly Migrations, 579 Land-Planarians, Monographie der Turbellarien, II. Tricladida Terracola (Land-planarien), Prof. Ludwig von Graff, F. W. Gamble, 241 Land, the Reclamation from Tidal Waters of, Alexander Beazeley, 266 eae (J. J.), Proportion of Polarised Light in Solar Corona, I 7 Lane (A. C.), Geothermal Gradient in Michigan, 210 Lang (Robert), the Electron Theory of Atomic Magnetism, 376 Lange (D.), Our Native (American) Birds, 100 Lange (E. F.), New Aluminium Method of Producing High Temperatures, 536 Lange (Dr. Karl), Death of, 198 Langley’s (Dr. S. P.), Chart of the Infra Red Spectrum from ‘7 to 5°3u obtained by the Bolometric Method, 562 Language, the History of, Henry Sweet, 195 Language, Homochronous Heredity and the Acquisition of, Prof. R. Meldola, F.R.S., 572 5 : ‘Lankester (Prof. E. Ray, F.R.S.), Change of Feeding Habits of Rhinoceros Birds in British East Africa, 366; Generative Process in Heemameebids, 424 Lapses, Mental, H. H. Bawden, 108 : Lapworth (A.), Derivatives of Cyanocamphor and Homo- camphoric Acid, 215 ; Condensation of Ethyl Crotonate with Ethyl Oxalate, 215 5 Larmor (Joseph, F.R.S.), Aither and Matter, 265; Opening Address in Section A (Mathematics and Physics) of the British Association), 449; on the Results of his Application of the Principles of Least Action to the Statistical yamine of Gas Theory, as Illustrated by Meteor Swarms and Optical Ray Systems, 562 ; on the Relation of Radiation to Tempera- . ture, 562 ; on Crémieu’s Experiment, 564; on Ions, 564 Larnaca, the Salt Lake of, C, V. Bellamy, 94 Larva of the Puss Moth, Functions of an Organ of the, Arthur S. Thorn, 389 Latitude Variation, Earth Magnetism and Solar Activity, Dr. J. Halm, 460 re We ls Latter (Oswald H.), the Migration of Swifts, 413 Laurent (Ch.),.an Ammoniacal Chromous Sulphate, 288 Laurent (J.), Composition of Albumen of St. Ignatius and Nux Vomica Beans, 120; the Reserve Carbohydrates of St. Ignatius Bean and Nux Vomica, 336 Laval (Ed.), Les Armes Blanches, leur Action et Leurs Effets Vulnérants, 313; Les Projectiles des Armes de Guerre ; leur Action Vulnérante, 313; Les Explosifs, les Poudres, les Projectiles d’Exercice, leur Action et leurs Effets Vulnérants, 313 Lavoisier Monument, the, 390 Lawes (Sir John Bennet, Bart., F.R.S.), Death of, 456; Obituary Notice of, Prof. R. Warington, F.R.S., 467 Lawrence (W. T.), Condensation of Ethyl a-Bromoisobutyrate with Ethyl Malonates and Cyanacetates, 261 a Lazarus (A.), Histology of the Blood, Normal and Pathological, 410 Le Bel (J. A.), Conditions of Stability of Rotatory Power, 168 Le Bon (Gustave), a ‘‘ Dark” Lamp, 532 : Le Chatelier (H.), the Expansion of Fused Silica, 216 Le Dantec (Félix), Lamarkiens et Darwiniens, 388 Leach (Dr. D. J.), Death and Obituary Notice of, 228 Leach (W.), on Bradford Sewage and its Treatment, 568 — Lead and Silver, Metallurgy of, Henry F. Collins, 194 Leaf Decay and Autumn Tints, P. Q. Keegan, 523 Lebeau (P.), Thionyl Fluoride, 136 ; Iron Silicide, 616 Lecarne (J. and L.), Wireless Telegraphy from Free Balloon, 95 Lecointe (G.), Magnetic Observations during Belgéca Antarctic Expedition, 108 Lecomte (Henri), Le Café, Culture, Manipulation, Production, 33 : : Legons d'Optique Géométrique a I’Usage des Eléves de Mathé- matiques Spéciales, 30 ii Pkt Lees (Dr. C. H.), Viscosities of Mixtures of Liquids, 166 ; Report on the Proceedings in Section A (Physics) at. the Bradford Meeting of the British Association, 562 Lees (F. H.), Morphine (I.), 260 Lefroy (B. St. G.), the Daylight Meteor of Sunday, Sep- tember 2, 524 Lehfeldt (Dr.), Dr. Lodge’s Paper on Volta’s Contact Force, 70; a Text-book of Physical Chemistry, 292 Lehmann (O.), Liquid Crystals, 568 Lenard (P.), Prakaction of Kathode Rays by Ultra-violet Light, 335 Lens, the Orthostigmat, 188 Lepidoptera : Catalogue of the Lepidoptera Phalaenze in the British Museum. Vol. ii. Catalogue of the Arctiadz (Nolinz, Lithosianz), Sir George F. Hampson, Bart., 77 ; the Lepidoptera of the British Islands, Charles G. Barrett, 317 ; Numerousness of Clouded Yellow and Holly-blue Butter- flies, 532 ; Catalogue of Easzern and Australian Lepidoptera Nature, ] December 13, 1900 . Index xxXill oo te in the Collection of the Oxford University _ Museum, 38 _ Leprosy in France, 198 Lessons in Botany, Prof. George F. ‘Atkinson, 30 Letts (Prof. E. “A.), the Carbonic Anhydride of the Atmo- , 387 ; on some Problems connected with Atmospheric ‘bonic Anhydride and on a New and Accurate Method of “Determining its Amount, 566; on the Relation of Ulva fatissima to the Pollution of Sea-water by Sewage, 611 Lewis (E. W.), Inhibiting Effect of Etherification on Substitu- tion in Phenols, 261 Lewis (P.), Fluorescence and Phosphorescence in Electric Dis- through Nitrogen, 381 ; Influence of Slight Impurities i Helium Spectra, 381 es (Vivian B.), Acetylene, a Handbook for the Student and 522 an (Dr. re on the Recent Improvements j in the Textile ii, August Mau, 7 Hc and Ar rht, Living, Raphael Dubois, 464 Portable Gas Producers, Dr. J. A. Purves, 601 F Ponductors of St. Paul’s, the, K. Hedges, 68 — Dark Images of Photographed, J. B. Reale Accademia dei, Anniversary Meeting of, 430 Society, 46, 143, 215, 262 ia F. ) Flora of Bournemouth, including the Isle of 5 s, O. Lehmann, 568 , on the Creeping of, and on the Surface Tension of tures, Dr. Trouton, 562 , is. Viacosities of Mixtures of, Dr. C. H. Lees, 166 2 the International Catalogue of Scientific, 197, 206 ora , Sea Coast Destruction and, W. H. Wheeler, 400 oot os seat W. E. Plummer, 137 chs, Scotch, Bathymetrical. Survey (Part II.), of, Sir John and F, P. Pullar, 263 i Coat, the Pneumatic Balance, 'C. M. Dutton, 135 © yer “(Sit Norman, K.C.B., F. R.S.), Astronomical Applic- > ations of Physical Problems investigated at Solar Physics ie 23; the Total Eclipse of the Sun, 104 er (Dr. W. J.), a Comparison of the Details of the Pro- ‘minences and Corona on hotographs of the Recent Eclipse ee by Prof. Langley in America and Sir Norman Lockyer. 5 otion; Road, Prof. Hele-Shaw, F.R.S., 139 aire (Prof. Oliver), Ions, 564 _ Lodge’s (Prof.) Paper on Volts s Contact Force, Discussion on, ; _ Prof. Armstrong, Mr, Glazebrook and Dr. Lehfeldt, 70 (M.), Paris Observatory Annual Report, 606 ; Opposi- tion of Eros, 6 ca ‘London: H ave in, 157 ; Conference on an International Iautinse “ot Scientific Literature, June 1900, 206; the London Mathematical Society, R. Tucker, 294; the New _ Senate of the University of London, Rev. Dr. A. Irving, a! Be on a Concealed Coalfield beneath the London Basin, - Longden xe c ), El lectrical Resistance of Thin Films deposited by Kathode Discharge, 210; Newton’s Rings from Selenium ys, Looms, Dil Power, 29 _ Lorenzo ase . de), Increased Activity of Vesuvius due to » 60 Loring en HL), Comets oa Corpuscular Matter, 80 aay H.), on the “ Kingfisher ” yee of a ae? oa uitoes and Malaria j in the Campagna, 531 ), Death and Obituary Notice of, 456 Te , Persulphuric Acids, 215 ) Les Charbons Britanniques et leur épuisement, $ ens (Dr. Fritz), Rechts und Linkshindigkeit, 409 holtz (Carl), Mexican Symbolism, 600 jeopods, on the Presence of Seed-like Organs in Certain zeozoic, Dr. D. H. Scott, F.R.S., 611 _ Lyra, Ring Nebula in, 42 ay (Robert A.), First Stain Hygiene, 173 ——_ hi G.), the Climate of San Francisco, 18 ; Frost Fight- Ing, 2 Macstister (Prof.), on the Vagaries of the Cephalic Index, 633 ; on Perforate Humeri from Ancient Egyptian Skeletons, 633 ; on the Making of a Malay “‘ Kris,” and on the Malay Method of Producing Chains by Casting, 634 McAlpine (D.), Fungus Diseasesof Cicrus Trees in Australia, and their Treatment, 494 McCarthy (James), Surveying and Exploring i in Siam, 571 McConnell (R. G.), Geology of Klondike Goldfields, 63 McDougall (Dr. R. S.), Elm and Pine Pests, 191 McDougall (W.), on the Animal Cults of the Natives of Sarawak and their Bearing on the Problems of Totemism, 634 MacDowall (Alex B.), Sunspots and Frost, 599 Macfadyen (Allan), Influence of Temperature of Liquid Hy- drogen on Bacteria, 286 McGee (W. J.), the Lessons of Galveston, 604 Mackinder (H. J.), Preliminary Notes on. the Results of the Mount Kenya Expedition, 1899, 12 MacMahon (Major), on the Asyzygetic and Perpetuant Co- variants of Systems of Binary Quantics, 561; on the Sym- bolism appropriate to the Study of Orthogonal and Boolian Invariant Systems which Appertain to Binary and other Quantics, 561; a Property of the Characteristic Symbolic Determinant of any Quantics in # Variables, 561 Macnab (W.), Researches on Modern Explosives, ii., 46 Macnamara (Nottidge Charles), Origin and Character of the British People, 172 MacTaggart (J.), on the Disposal of House Refuse in Bradford, Madagascar: Spider-Silk Manufacture, Grandidier’s Expedition to Madagascar, 35 Madras, Earthquake in, 578 Magic Squares, on the Construction of, Dr. J. Willis, 561 Magnetism: Magneto-electric Experiment, Prof. S. P. Thomp- son, 71; Atomic and Molecular Magnetism, S. Meyer, 92 ; the Electron Theory of Atomic Magnetism, Robert Lang, 376 ; Magnetic Observations during Ae/gica Antarctic Expedition, G. Lecointe, 108; Magnetic Properties of Iron Aluminium Alloys, ii., S. W. Richardson and L. Lowndes, 166 ; no Magnetic Effect produced by Motion of Electrified Body, V. Crémieu, 167 ; Magnetic Screening for Galvanometers, H. du Bois and A. P. Wills, 211; Rotating Magnetic Flag, G. Jaumann, 211; Action of Light on Magnetism, J. H. Hart, 286 ; Magnetic Observations during Solar Eclipse of May 28, Dr. L. A. Bauer, 302; Phosphorescence Unaffected by Mag- netic Field, A. de Hemptinne, 323 ; Recording . Telephones, 371; Moving Electric Charge not Productive of Magnetic Field, V. Crémieu, 396; Properties of Magnetic Deposits in Magnetic Field, Charles Maurain, 408 ; Permeability of Iron under the Influence of the Oscillatory Discharge from a Con- denser, E. W. Marchant, 413; Latitude Variation, Earth Magnetism and Solar Activity, Dr. J. Halm, 460; a Magnetic Theory of the Universe, 493; Report of the British Association Committee for Improving the Method of Determining Mag- netic Force on Board Ship, 563; Report of the British Asso- ciation Committee on Radiation in a Magnetic Field, 563 ; Distribution of Horizontal Component of Earth’s Magnetism in France, E. Mathias, 592; Inverse Effect of Magnetic Field not Productive of Movement in Electrified Bodies, V. Crémieu, 616; Resistivity of Bismuth in Magnetic Field, H. Eichhorn, M. Nogue, 173 639 Mailioux (Mr.), Relative Advantages of Alternate and Con- tinuous Current for General Electrical Supply, with regard to Interference with other Interests, 417 Mair (David), the Reform of Mathematical Teaching, 389 — Further Investigations of Zenia in, Herbert J. Webber, Malaria, age weg and, G. A. K. Marshall, 375; Dr. L. O. Howard, 500; H. J. Elwes, F.R.S., 554; Major Ronald Ross, 589; Prof. Grassi’s Experiment, 578, 627 ; Mosquitoes and Elephantiasis, a7t's Investigations of Drs. Sambon and Low in the Campagna, 581; Malaria-Parasite, Models of Infected Blood-corpuscles, Delta Emett, 208; Mosquitoes and Filaria immitis, Prof. Grassi and 'G. Noe, 627 | Malay ‘‘ Kris,” on the making of a, and on the Malay Method of ‘producing Chains by Casting, W. Rosenhain, 634; Prof. A. Macalister, 634 Malay “‘ Kris,” on the “‘ Kingfisher” Type of a, Prof. H. Louis, 634 XXiV Lndex Nature, December 13, 1900 Malay Magic, being an Introduction to the Folklore and Popular Religion of the Malay Peninsula, W. W. Skeat, 145 Malay Peninsula, on some Anthropological Observations of the Pangan Tribe of Aborigines in the, W. L. H. Duckworth, 633; Report of the Committee ot the British Association on the Natural History and Ethnography of the, W. W. Skeat, 636 Mallet (J. W.), the Distance to which the Firing of Heavy Guns is Heard, 523 Mallock (A.), on the Measurement of the Tractive Force, Resistance and Acceleration of Trains, 610 Mammals: the Origin of Mammals, J. S. Kingsley, 254 ; the Mammalian Brain, 267; a Text-book of Mammals, 386; Mammals of South Africa, 521 ; Vibrissee on the Forepaws of Mammals, Frank E. Beddard, F.R.S., 523 t Man and His Ancestor: a Study in Evolution, Charles Morris, IOI Man, from Matter to: a New Theory of the Universe, A. Redcote Dewar, Prof. R. Meldola, F.R.S., 493 Manchester, Earthshake near, 17 Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society, 46, 616 Manna, Bamboo, David Hooper, 127 Marbles, the Flow of, Prof. F. D. Adams and J. T. Nicolson, 335 March (F.), Action of Monochloracetic Esters on Sodium Derivative of Acetylacetone, 47 Marchant (E. W.), Permeability of Iron under the Influence of the Oscillatory Discharge from a Condenser, 413 Marckwald (Dr.), Peculiarities of Picric Acid and its Solutions in Light of Ionic Hypothesis, 37 Margerison (Samuel), British Sylviculture, 611 Marine Biology : Fixation of Clay in Suspension in Water by Porous Bodies, J. Thoulet, 191 ; Marine Biological Associa- tion: Annual General Meeting, 230; Use of Diver for Col- lection of Specimens, 253 ; the Plankton of the Bay of Biscay, G. Herbert Fowler, 317; the Cruise and Deep-sea Explora- tion of the Szboga in the Indian Archipelago, 327 ; Deep-sea Deposits from Valdivia Expedition, Sir John Murray and Dr. Philippi, 360; Lectures from the Marine Laboratory at Woods’ Holl, U.S.A., for 1899, 411; Place of Copepoda in Nature, Isaac C. Thompson, 498 Marine Engineering : H.M.S. Veer, 322 Marine Meteorology, a Manual of, William Allingham, 268 ge ahe (Colonel E. E.), the Total Eclipse Observed at Sea, 103 Marloth (Dr.), Barnacle-growth on Southern Bight Whale, 19 Marr (J. E.), Geology of Lake District, 534 ; on the Formation of Reef Knolls, 587; on the Geological Evidence of the Conditions under which Coal was Formed, 588 Marriott (W.), Rainfall in West and East England in Relation to Altitude, 215 Marshall (Arthur), Atmospheric Electricity and Dew-ponds, 495 Marshall (G. A. K.), Mosquitoes and Malaria, 375 Martell (B.), the Use of Steel in Ship-building, 90 Martin (Geoffrey), Physical Structure of Asbestos, 369 Marvin (Prof. C. F.), Anemometer Tests, 280 Marx (E.), Fall of Potential in Flame Gases, 568; Hall Effect in Flame Gases, 568 Maryland Weather Service, 292 Mascart (Jean), Meteor of September 24, 1900, 592 Massol (G.), a New Thermo-calorimeter, 23 : Mathematics : Dynamics of Pseudo-spherical Space, Prof. D. de Francesco, 18; Elémeats de la Théorie des Nombres, E. Cohen, 52; Bulletin of American Mathematical Society, 69, 189, 260, 381.; Transactions of American Mathematical Society, 260, 519; American Journal of Mathematics, 92, 381; Families of Transformations of Straight Lines into Spheres, Dr. E. O. Lovett, 92; Memoirs of Mathematical Section of Novorossian (Odessa) Society, 93 ; Mathematical Society, 94, 262; the London Mathematical Society, R. Tucker, 294; Edinburgh Mathematical Society, 95, I91; Quaternion Methods Applied to Dynamics, W. G. Barnett, 174; Theory of Differential Equations, A. R. Forsyth, F.R.S., 170; Elementary Illustrations of the Differential and Integral Calculus, Augustus De Morgan, 196; an Introduc- tion to the Differential and Integral Calculus and Differential Equations, F. G. Taylor, 221; Locus of Centre of Hyper- spherical Curvature for Normal Curve of. 2 Dimensional Space, Prof. P. H. Schoute, 232 ; Two Remarkable: Groups of Geometrical Loci, E. Mathias, 240; Machine for Solving Algebraic Equation, George Meslin, 253; the Teaching of Mathematics, Prof. John Perry, F.R.S. 317 ; Oliver Heaviside, F.R.S., 548 ; the Reform of Mathematical Teaching, David - Mair, 389; Henry Woollen, 436; W. F. Beard, 466; C. E. Stromeyer, 523 ; Continuous Binary A Linearoid Groups, E. J. Wilczynski, 381 ; Invariant Scrolls in Collineations which leave a group of Five Points Invariant, V. Snyder, 381; Paris Inter- national Congress of Mathematicians, 418; Autotomic Curves, A. B. Basset, F.R.S., 572 Mathew (John), the Peopling of Australia, 549 Mathias (E.), Two Remarkable Groups of Geometrical Loci, 240; Distribution of Horizontal Component of Earth’s Magnetism in France, 592 : Matruchot (L.), Structure-Modifications in Vegetable Cells in True Fermentation, 47 Seg Matter, AZther and, Joseph Larmor, Prof. Geo. Fras. Fitzgerald, F.R.S., 265 3 Mau (August), Pompeii, its Life and Art, 7 ‘ Maurain (Charles), Properties of Magnetic Deposits in Magnetic Field, 408 Maximum Duration of a Total Solar Eclipse, C. T. Whitmell, 64, 86 Meacham (F. G.), Condition of Mine after 15 Months’ Closing, 62 ea norepsinite in Schools, Collateral Heredity, Prof. Karl Pearson, F.R.S., 173 ; Mechanics: the Principles of Mechanics Presented ina New Form, Heinrich Hertz, 50; the Mechanics of Flight, Lord Rayleigh, 108; Strength of Ductile Materials under Com- bined Stresses, J. J. Guest, 118; Papers on Mechanical and Physical Subjects, Osborne Reynolds, 243 ; Deformations of Contact of Elastic Bodies, A. Lafay, 544 Mechanism, Idea or Nature, 25 Mechanism of Weaving, T. W. Fox, 21 ; Medicine: Atlas of Urinary Sediments, Dr. Hermann Riedel, 53; Death of Dr. Julius Althaus, 157 ; Death and Obituary Notice of Dr, D. J. Leach, 228; Medicine as a Science and Medicine as an Art, Dr. P. H. Pye- Smith, F.R.S., 356; Death and Obituary Notice of Dr. W. H. Lowe, 456; Association of German Physicians, 553; the Opening of the Medical Schools, Prof. F. W. Tunnicliffe, 572; Death of Sir H. W. D. Acland. F.R.S., 602; Obituary Notice of, 627; Historical Aspects of the Discovery of the Circulation of the Blood, Prof. T. Clifford Allbutt, F.R.S., 630 ie: Mediterranean: The Recent Cretan Discoveries and their bearing on the Early Culture and Ethnography of the East Mediterranean Basin, Arthur J. Evans, 526 Megaphotography, A. R. Hunt, 79 Meiklejohn (A. H.), Mode of Carriage by Cuckoo of Egg, 201 Meinhof (K.), Proof of Old Semitic Influence in South Africa, 606 Melbourne University Bacteriological Laboratory, the, 578 Meldola (Prof. R., F.R.S.), Christian Friedrich Schénbein, 1799-1868, G. W. A. Kahlbaum, Ed. Schaer, 97; from Matter to Man, a New Theory of the Universe, 493 ; Homo- chronous Heredity and the Acquisition of Language, 572 Melting Points of Rock-forming Minerals, the, J. A. Cunning- ham, 368 : Memoirs of Kazan Society of Naturalists, 93 ; Memoirs of Mathematical Section of Novorossian (Odessa) Society of Naturalists, 93 Mental Lapses, H. H. Bawden, 108 Merrifield (Mr.), the Pupze of Aorta crataegt, 261 Merrill (G. P.), Structure and Constitution of Two New Meteo- rites, 459 j Mersey, the, Sir George Nares’ Annual Report, 231 t Meslin (George), Machine for Solving Algebraic Equation, 253 Mésozaires-Spongiaires, Traité de Zoologie Concréte, Yves Delage and Edgard Hérouard, 122 Metallurgy ; the Open-hearth Continuous Steel Process, B. Talbot, 67; Apparatus for Equalising Hot Blast Tempera- tures, L, F. Gjers and J. H. Harrison, 67 ; Death and Obituary Notice of G. F. Gorinsson, 83; Solution Theory Applied to Molten Iron and Steel, John Parry, 128 ; Present Position of Solution Theory of Carburised Iron, Dr. A. Stansfeld, 536; the Cyanide Process of Gold Extraction, James Park, 148; Crystallisation Produced by Pressure in Solid Metal, W. Campbell, 166; Metallurgy of Lead and Silver, Henry F. Collins, 194 ; Egyptian Gold, Daniel Berthelot, 464 ; the Nature, December 13, 1900 ] Index XXV Solidification of Alloys, Fred T. Trouton, F.R.S., 523; Iron and Steel Institute, 535; Development of Iron Industry in France, H. Pinget, 535 ; Iron and Phosphorus, J. E. Stead, 535; New Aluminium Method of Producing High Tempera- _ tures, E. F. Lange, 536; on the Chemical Compounds con- tained in Alloys, F. H. Neville, 566; on the Crystalline Structure of Metals, Prof. J. A. Ewing, 211, 567; W. Rosen- hain, 211, 567 _ Metals, Crystalline Structure of (ii), Prof. J. A. Ewing, F.R.S., and Walter Rosenhain, 211, 567 Metals: the Cause of Fracture of Steel Rails, 437 Metals, Hardness of, F. Auerbach, 639 pee, the Climate of San Francisco, A. G. McAdie and G. Willson, 18; Drunkenness and the Weather, Dr. Edwin G. Dexter, 31 ; Climate of St. Christopher, W. B. ~ Alexander, 35 ; the Winds of Kimberley, J. R. Sutton, 35 ; _ Symons’s Monthly Meteorological Magazine, 93, 335 ; Meteo- rological Extremes, Wind-force, 93 ; Meteorological Society, : = 215; the Wiltshire Whirlwind of October, 1, 1899, G. Jj. Symons, F.R.S., 95; Dynamics of Cyclones and icyclones, ii, John Aitken, F.R.S., 95; Ocean Current pee C. Russell, 108 ; Heat-wave in London, 157 ; Severe Thunder-storm in London, 199; the Weather in _ London, 231; the Warm Weather in London, 272; Cannon- fire as a Hail Preventive in Italy, 158 ; Dynamical Theory of Al ic Circulation, Prof. V. Bjerknes, 200 ; Rainfall in West and East England in Relation to Altitude, W. Marriott, eo” ening at Blue-Hill Observatory, 252; High Kite q ie ‘at Blue-Hill, Lawrence Rotch, 350; on the Use of es for Meteorological Observations, A. L. Rotch, 563 ; et re of Free Air, Dr. Hergesell, 253 ; a Manual of Marine Meteorology, William Allingham, 268 ; Frost Fight- , A. G. McAdie, 274; Anemometer Tests, Prof. C. F. arvin, 280; Maryland Weather Service, 292; the Daily oer Report of the Meteorological Office, W. N. Shaw, Be Be Wey Meteoro 300 ; the Week’s Weather, 302, 323, 350, 395; the logical Service in Japan, 323; Indian Famine. _ §63; the Past Ten Years’ Rainfall Deficiency in Kent and _ Surrey, 604; the Climate of Norway, A. S. Steen, 457; _ Disastrous Hurricane in United States, 489; Atmospheric __ Electricity and Dew-ponds, Arthur Marshall, 495 ; Sunshine _ in Mexico, M. Moreno, 499 ; the History of Modern Weather __ Prediction, Prof. C. Abbe, 499 ; Report of the British As- __Sociation Committee on Meteorology, 562; Report of the _ British Association Committee on Solar RadiationExperiments _ conducted by Prof. Callendar on the Modified Copper-cube _ Actinometer, 562 ; on a Novel Form of Mercurial Barometer, _ A.S. Davies, 562; on the Weather of the North Atlantic _ Ocean during the Winter 1898-99, Captain Campbell Hep- Worth, 563 5 on the Physical Effects of Wind in Towns and _ their Influence = Ventilation, J. W. Thomas, 563 ; the _ Annual March of Temperatures, R. J. A. Barnard, 579 ; Elevation and. Depression of Lake Level by Wind Action, Prof. A. , Henry, 579; Tide Oscillation on Lake Erie, Prof. A. J. Henry, 579; Sunspots and Frost, Alex. B. Mac- _ Dowall, 599; Mirage over Needles, Captain G. A. Daubeny, i 5; on the Climatic and other Physical Conditions under __ Which Coal was Formed, Mr. Seward, 610 ; on the Possible , ess in CO, of the Atmosphere of the Coal Period, 610 ; Galveston Hurricane, 628 Meteors: The Perseid Meteoric Shower, W. F. Denning, 173; 4 en Ape Perseids of 1900, W. F. Denning, 398 ; Ancient Re of Meteor Showers, M. D. Eginitis, 203 ; Meteoric Theory of the Gegenschein, F. R. Moulton, 305 3 Meteor of July 17, 305; Large Meteor off Roche’s Point, W. _ Kennedy, 395; Velocities of Meteors, Dr. W. L. Elkin, 398 ; the Daylight Meteor of Sunday September 2, W. F. Denning, 491; T. Rooke, 524, B. St. G. Lefroy, 524; the Fireball of Sunday September 2, 535; 0n a Method of Observing and Recording the Paths of Meteors, John Her- schel, 565 ; the Stability of a Swarm of Meteorites and of a Planet and Satellite, Prof. A. Gray, F.R,S., 582 ; Meteor of September 24, 1900, Jean Mascart, 592 Meteorites: New Meteorite from New South Wales, R. T. Baker, 384; Meteorite in Spain, 421; Structure and Con- stitution of Two New Meteorites, G. P. Merrill, H. N. Stokes, 459 Meulen (H. ter), Indican, 47 Meunier (Stanislas), the Ravine of Chevalleyres and Torrent Retrogression, 592 Mexican Symbolism, Carl Lumholtz, Alfred C. Haddon, 600 Meyer (Dr. Hermann), Second Expedition to Head Waters of Xingu, 3 Meyer (S.), Atomic and Molecular Magnetism, 92; the Additive Character of Atomic Heats, 211 Miall (Prof. L. C.), On the Respiratory Organs of Aquatic Insects, 589 Michel-Lévy (A.), New Observations on High Dordogne Valley, 432 Michigan Board of Agriculture, Annual Report 1898-99, 365 Micro-Organisms and Fermentation, Alfred Jorgensen, 195 Microcephalic Brain, On the, Prof. J. D. Cunningham, 633 Micrometer, On a Cheap Form of, for Determining Star Positions on Photographic Plates, Prof. Turner, 565 Micrometer, Electric, P. E. Shaw, 67 Microphotography, A. R. Hunt, 79 Microscopy : Photo-micrography, Dr. Edmund J. Spitta, 4; ' Microscopical Society, 143, 287; Journal of Microscopical Society, 520; Modern Microscopes, Alfred N. Disney, 154; Application of Striz Method to Illumination of Objects, Prof. Wood, 166; Modification of Rousselet Compressor, G. H. J. Rogers, 287; the Structure of Palzozoic Plants, Mr. Carruthers, F.R.S., 287 ; Swift and Son’s Electric Lamp for Microscopy, 351 ; the Eyespot in Euglena, H. Wager, 605 ; ’ Untersuchungen iiber Mikrostructuren deserstarrten Schwefels nebst Bemerkungen iiber Sublimation, O. Biitschli, 619; Untersuchungen iiber die Microstructur kiinstlicher und natiirlicher Kieselsduregallerten (Tabaschir, Hydrophan, Opal), O. Biitschli, 619; Double Staining of Spores and Bacilli, R. G. Smith, 640 Middel (T.), Thermal Deformation of Balances, 211 Migration of Swifts, the, Oswald H. Latter, 413; William Andrew, 436 Mill (Dr. H. R.), On Profs. Pettersson and Nansen’s New Insulating Water-bottle, 591 ; On the Treatment of Regional Geography, 591 ; Through the First Antarctic Night 1898-99, Frederick A. Cook, 624; the Antarctic Regions, Dr. Karl Fricker, 624 Milne (Prof. J.), Report of the Seismological Committee of the British Association, 587 Milne-Edwards (Prof. A.), Death and Obituary Notice of, 13 Milroy (Dr. T. H.), Histology of the Blood: Normal and Pathological, P. Ehrlich and A. Lazarus, 410 Minakata (Kumagusu), Artificial Deformation of Heads and some Customs connected with Polyandry, 437 Mineral Production of Canada, E. D. Ingall, 499 Mineralogy: Mineralogical Composition of Teschenites, A. Lacroix, 72; the Formation of Silica, Prof. J. Joly, 84; Mineral-formation in Granite, C. E. Stromeyer, 84; the Copper-bearing Rocks of Wisconsin, Dr. U. S. Grant, 181 ; _ Mineralogical Society, 239; Conchite, Agnes Kelly, 239; Method for Determination of Refractive Indices of Minerals of Low Symmetry, G. F. Herbert Smith, 239 ; Alteration of Pyrites by Underground Water, Dr. J. W. Evans, 239; the Fayalite of Callobriéres, A. Lacroix, 240; the Order of Crystallisation of Silicates in Igneous Rocks, Prof. J. Joly, F.R.S., 262 ; Theory of Order of Crystallisation of Minerals in Igneous Rocks, J. A. Cunningham, 262, 368; the State- ment of Rock Analyses, H. g. Washington, 286; the Empirical Formula of the Tourmaline Acid, S. L. Penfield, 286 ; the Flow of Marble, Prof. F. D. Adams and J. T. Nicolson, 335 ; the Ore Deposits of the United States and Canada, J. F. Kemp, 365; Carnotite, W. F. Hillebrand and F. L. Ransome, 432; Monazite, O. A. Derby, 568 ; Dia- monds Discovered in Kamenka River, 603; Determination XXV1 Index Nature, | December 13, 1900 of Minerals in thin Rock Sections, L. V. Pirrson and H. H. Robinson, 638 Minguin (J.), Action of Hydrogen Bromide on Dextro-rotatory Benzylidene Camphor, 119 Mines, Coal, Accidents in, Prof. Le N. Foster, 136 Mining : the Cyanide Process of Gold Extraction, James Park, 148 ; Diamond Drilling for Gold and other Minerals, G. A. Denny, 435; Condition of Mine after Fifteen Months’ Closing, F. G. Meacham, 627 Mirage over Needles, Isle of Wight, Captain G. A. Daubeny, 60 Missinipteds the Lower, the Navigation of, L. M. Haupt, 604 Missouri Botanical Garden, Eleventh Annual Report, 495 Mixter (W. G.), Products of Explosion of Acetylene, 639 Mixtures: On the Creeping of Liquids and on the Surface Tension of Mixtures, Dr. Trouton, 562 Modern Explosives, Some, Sir Andrew Noble, K. a BF RS 86, III Modern Microscopes, Alfred N. Disney, 154 Modern Physical Chemistry, H. C. Jones, 121 Modern University, a, 184, 203 Moir (J. Paxton), on the Stone Implements of the Natives of Tasmania, 636 Moissan (Henri), Manganous Fluoride, 47; Thionyl Fluoride, 136; Le Fluor et ses Composés, 291 ; Tw New Silicon Borides, 312; Carbides of Neodidymium and_ Praseodidy- mium, 639 Molecular Energy, on the Partition of, Prof. G. H. Bryan, ERS; eect Prof. Fitzgerald, 562 Molliard (M .), Structure-modifications in Vegetable Cells in True Fermentation, 47 Mollusca: Church Stretton. Vol. I. Buddicom, 571 Monazite, O. A. Derby, 568 Monckman (Dr.), on the Glacial Phenomena of the West Riding, 588 Mondy (Edmund F.), the Action of Water upon Glass, 246 Mongoose and Snake Venom, the, Captain R.‘H. Elliot, 180 Monismus, Probleme, Kritische Stiidien iiber den, Dr. H. v. Schoeler, 435 Monistische Gottes- und Weltanschaung, J. Sack, 172 Monsoon Rains, Nile Floods and, 391 Mont Blanc Railway, the Proposed, J. and H. Vallot, 62 Montelius (Prof. O.), Earliest Communications between Italy and Scandinavia, 167 Morbology: the Causes and Prevention of Consumption, N. C. Collier, 181; Leprosy in France, 198; the Plague, 231 ; Rats and Plague, Dr. Frank Tidswell, 273; the Plague in Glasgow, 456, 498, 577 ; Elephantiasis and Mosquitoes, 374 ; Mosquitoes and Malaria, G. A. K. Marshall, 375; Dr. L. O. Howard, 500; H. J. Elwes, Fisisg Ub Sat Major Ronald Ross, 589 3 Investigations of Drs. Sambon and Low on Mos- quitoes and Malaria in the Campagna, 531; Prof. Grassi’s Experiment on Mosquitoes and Malaria, 578, 627; Mos- quitoes and filaria immitis, Prof. Grassi and G. Noe, 627; Plumbism in Pottery Workers, W. Burton, 616; the Causes of Sunstroke, E. EH. Freeland, 396 Mordey (Mr.), Relative Advantages of Alternate and Con- tinuous Currents for General Electrical Supply with regard to Interference with other Interests, 417 Moreno (M.), Sunshine in Mexico, 499 Morgan (Prof. C. Lloyd, F.R.S.), the Relation of Stimulus to Sensation, 278 ; Experiments on the Avoidance of Distasteful Forms by Birds, 590 Morgan (G. T.), Action of Formaldehydes on Naphthalene Amines (II.), 215 Morocco, the Ginn in, Dr. E. Westermarck, 499 Morphology : Morphological Anatomy of Vertebrates: the Air chambers in Mammalian Skull, Dr. S. Paulli, 323; the Brain of the Pond-tortoise, Dr. B. Haller, 324; the Origin of Vertebrates deduced from Study of Ammoceetes, Dr. Gaskell, Molluscs, Robert A. 423 Morris (Charles), Man and his Ancestor, a Study in Evolution, IOI Morse (Prof. E. S.), ‘* Cuckoo-spit,” 109 Morton (Alex.), a Large Tasmanian Crab, 496 Morton (Prof. W. B.), Results Obtained by Applying of 06 Thomson’s and Sommerfeld’s Solution of the Propagation of an Electric Wave along a Single Wire, 563 i Moscou, Bulletin de la Société des Naturalistes de, 93 Mosquitoes, W. R. Colledge, 201 ; Mosquitoes and ee G. A. K. Marshall, 375; Dr. L. O. Howard, 500; H. Elwes, F.R.S., 554; Major Ronald Ross, 589; Prof. Grassi, 578, 627 ; Models of Infected Blood Corpuscles, Delta Emett, 208 ; Investigations of Drs, Sambon and Low in the Campagna, 5315 ; Mosquitoes and Elephantiasis, 374 ; Mos- quitoes and /ilaria zmmitis, Prof. Grassi and G. Noé, 627 Mosses: Untersuchungen ueber d. Vermehrung d. Laubmuose durch Brutorgane und Stecklinge, Dr. Carl Correns, 339 Mosse (A.), Physiological Action of Compressed Oxygen, 492 Moulton (F. R.), Meteoric Theory of the Gegenschein, 305 Mount Kenya Expedition, 1899, Preliminary Notes on the Results of the, H. J. Mackinder, 12 Mount St. Elias (Alaska), La Spedizione di sua Altezza Reale il Principe Luigi Amadeo de Savoia, Duca degli Abruzzi, al Monte Sant’ Elia (Alaska), 1897, Dottore Filippo de Filippi, I, 529 Mountaineering : La spedizione di sua Altezza Reale il Principe Luigi Amadeo di Savoia, Duca degli Abruzzi, al Monte Sant’ ’Elia (Alaska), 1897, Dottore Filippo de Filippi, y 595. the Highest Andes, E. A. Fitzgerald, Edward Whympe O Bcck Moureu (Chattes), Acetyl-phenylacetylene and Bensayle iényl- acetylene, 72 Moutuori (De. Adolfo), the Loss of Power of tine Oxygen by Blood caused by Injection of Carbonic Oxide, 1 Moving Pavement, the Elevated, at the Paris Exhibition, 107 Moving Platforms, Railways and, Prof. John Perry, F. > 412; Lieut.-Colonel W. Sedgwick, 436 Mud Island in Walfisch Bay, 336; Mr. Cleverley, 464 Muff (H. B.), on the Glacial Phenomena of the West Riding, 588 Muller (J. J. A.), the Total Eclipse of the Sun of “May 17-18, 1901, 389 Miiller-Pouillet’s Lehrbuch der Physik und Metediblogiay 361 Multiple Space in Applied Mathematics, on the Use of, H. S. Carslaw, 561 grhs Mummy-Cereals, Edmond Gain, 191 Mundy (A. J.), Acoustical Triangulation, 422 Murray (Sir John, K.C.B., F.R.S.), a Bathymetrical Bivker ef the Freshwater Lochs of Scotland, 65, 263; Physical, Chemical, and Biological Conditions of Black Sea, 191 ; rin id Sea Deposits from Valdivia Expedition, 360 Muscle Testing, Therapeutic Electricity and Practical, WwW. S. Hedley, 30 Museums, Descriptive and Illustrated Catalogue of the Physio- logical Series of Comparative Anatomy contained in the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons cf England, 385 Musker Steam Motor Waggon, the, 554 Myers (W.), Standardisation of Anti-venomous Senim, 215 Myres (J. L.), on the Cave of Psychro in Crete, 637 Nagaoka (Dr. H.), Elastic Constants of Rocks and Velocity. of Seismic Waves, 36 Nansen (Fridtjof), the Norwegian North Polar Expedition, 1893-1896, to Franz Josef Land, Scientific Results, 146 ; Prof. Nansen’s New Insulating Water Bottle: Dr. H. R Mill, 591 Naphthalene Derivatives, Isomeric, Report of the Committee of the British Association on, 567 Nares (Sir George, F.R.S.), Annual Report on the Mersey, 231 Nathorst (A. G.), the Norwegian North Polar Expedition, ' 1893-1896, to Franz Josef Land, Scientific Results, 146 Natural History: Notes on Sport and Travel, George Henry Kingsley, 5 ; the Unveiling of the Huxley Memorial Statue, 10; Preliminary Notes on the Results of the Mount Kenya Expedition, 1899, H. J. Mackinder, 12 ; Death and Obituary Notice of Prof. A. Milne-Edwards, 13; ; Linnean Society, 46, 143, 215, 262; New South Wales Linnean Society, 640 ; a Vertebrate Fauna of the Shetland Isles, A. H. Evans and © T. E. Buckley, 75 ; Memoirs of Kazan Society of Naturalists, 93; Bulletin de la Société des Naturalistes de Moscou, 93 ; Temperatures of Recently Killed Chamois, G. Stallard, 293 ;_ Nature in Downland, W. H. Hudson, 417; the Birds: of Cheshire, T. A. Coward and Charles Oldham, 417 ; in Bird- land with Field Glass and Camera, Oliver G. Pike, 417; the . Preservation of Big Game in Africa, E. N. Buxton, 550; Association of German Naturalists, 553 ; Church Stretton, vol. i., Geology, E. S. Cobbold ; Macro- Lepidoptera, F. B, Nature, ] December 13, 1900 Newnham; Molluscs, Robert A. Buddicom, 571 ; Antelopes and their Recognition Marks, R. I. Pocock, 584; Unusual Modes of Development in Batrachia, Miss Sampson, 605 ; Tenacity of Life of the Albatross, Prof. John Perry, F.R.S., 621; Captain Wm. J. Reed, 621; the Elephant-Seals of Kerguelen Island, R, Hall, 628 Natural Selection: Lamarckiens et Darwiniens, Félix Le Dantec, 388 ; Albinism and, Walter Garstang, 620 Naturalism and Agnosticism, James Ward, 25 Naturvolker, Psychologie der, Dr. J. Schultze, 220 Naval Architecture: the Use of Steel in Ship-building, B. Martell, 90; the Steadying of Ships, Prof. G. H. Bryan, = IBESys = Navigation: Self-instruction in the Practice and Theory of _ Navigation, the Earl of Dunraven, 337 : Acoustical Trian- lation, A. J. Mundy, 422 N New Planetary, R. G. Aitken, 606 Hestine (Prof. J. G.), Insect Visitors to Iris, 201 Photographic Observations of Satellite of, M. S. - Kosti 56E - Neville (F.'H.), on the Chemical Compounds contained in New Ins ent to ‘Measure and Record Sounds, a, Dr. Ben- -__ jamin F. Sharpe, 80 New Mexico, Meteorology of Cooking in, 421 _ New South Wales Linnean Society, 640 _ New South Wales Royal Society, 288, 384 _ New York Meeting of the American Association, the, 269 __ New Zealand Volcanoes, Dr. B. Friedlander, 180 Newcomb (Prof. S.), Determination of Solar Parallax from Opposition of Eros, 20 — ; _ Newn (F. B.), Church Stretton, vol. i., Macro-Lepidoptera, BPE: _ pee (Prof. Alfred, F.R.S.), Specimens of Dromaius ater, a ‘Newton’s ings from Selenium Rays, A. C. Longden, 273 _ Niagara Falls Power Company’s Works, the, 422 a ‘ e, the Permanence of, Prof. A. Heilprin, 395 _ Nicholson (J. T.), the Flow of Marble, 335 _ Nidd Valley Waterworks of Bradford, J. Watson, 609 oe. Effect on Lower Nile of ‘‘Sudd” Cutting on Upper, >: 180,,-~ arent oy _ Nile Floods and Monsoon Rains, 391 Nile, Upper, the White Rhinoceros on the, Oldfield Thomas, _ Nimier (H.), les Armes Blanches, leur Action et leurs Effets g Vulnérants, 13; les Projectiles des Armes de Guerre, leur _ . Action Vuln » 313; les Explosifs, les Poudres, les Pro- : jectiles @Exercice, leur Action et leurs Effets Vulnérants, 313 _ Nineveh and Babylon, the Reports of the Magicians and Astro- ____ logers of, R. C. Thompson, 51 _ Nipher (Prof. F. E.), Exposure and Development of Photo- gra lates in Ordi Light, 62 ; Photographic Reversal, 159 ; the Zero Photographic Plate, 192 ; Eclipse Photography, _ . 246; Method of obtaining Zero Photographic Plate, 396 cee (Sir Andrew, K.C.B., F.R.S.), Some Modern Explosives, _ Noé (G.), Mosquitoes and Filaria immitis, 627 _ Nogue (M.), Spider-silk Manufacture in Madagascar, 17 _ Normandie, les Vieux Arbres de la, Henri Gadeau de Kerrville, 7 orth Atlantic, Circulation of Surface Waters, H. N. Dickson, a Te Bhs) biern:, 333; a *‘Dirk”” Limo, Guastave le ~ Bon, 532; Radiation of a Black Body on the Electro-magnetic Theory, Dr. H. C. Pocklington, 564 R iffles (Sir Stamford), Eazlandin the Far East, H. E. Ezerton, Riils, Steel, the Cause of Fracture of, 437 Railways: The Proposed Railway up Mont Blanc, J. and H. Vallot, 62; the Metropolitan District Short Electric Railway _ Line, 107 ; the Halford Gradient Railway, 180; the Con- ditions of High S on Railways, 181; Specially built Tram for Experiment on Atmospheric Resistance, 200; the Transbaikalian Railway, 253; What Pressure is Dangerous on Electric Railways with Overhead Trolley, William Rung, 399; Railways and Moving Platforms, Prof. erry, FR -» 412; Lieut.-Colonel W. Sedgwick, 436 ; - Traction in Germany, 532; on the Question of a y Connection between Europe and India, Colonel Sir a vi 56 q Pink British, H. Sowerby Wallis, 435 _ Ramage (H.), on a Method of Investigating Correspondence =. between Spectra, 563 3 ‘Rambant (Dr. A. A.), Unpublished Observations at Radcliffe Za Sboereatory. 1774-1838, 64 : Randall- ver (D.), on the Present State of our Knowledge _ of Gases as affected by Temperature, 287 _ Reorganisation of the Education Department, the, 209 — _ Reale Accademia dei Lincei, Anniversary Meeting of, 430 Reasoning, the Psychology of, Alfred Binet, 388 a a biére (A.), Pages Choises des Savants Modernes, 6 “aps ion of Land from Tidal Waters, the, Alexander __. Beazeley, 266 i ‘Recognition Marks, Antelopes and their, R. I. Pocock, 584 A Ilusteatiows of the Botany of Captain Cook’s Voyage Round the World in H.M.S. Zndeavour, in 1768-71, Right Hon. Sir Ji Banks and Dr. Daniel Solander, Prof. W. bain emsley, F.R.S., 547 _ Fancy Water-fowl, F. Finn, 547 = ‘alogue of Eastern and Australian Lepidoptera Heterocera the Collection of the Oxford University Museum, Part foctuina, Geometrina and Pyralidina, Colonel C. oride and Tineina, Right Hon. Lord agham, John Hartley Durrant, 548 tamf ot England in the Far East, H. E. Egerton, fla und Tierverbreitung, Alfred Kirchoff, Hann, stetter and Pokorny, Dr. Otto Stapf, 569 al Botany, Theoretical and Practical, John Perci- g and Exploring in Siam, James McCarthy, 571 ton, Vol. I. : Geology, E. S. Cobbold ; Macro. », F. B. Newnham; Molluscs, Robert A. urveying mit the Tacheometer, N. Kennedy, 571 » Foundations of Zoology, William Keith Brooks, 593 hrbuch der Optik, Dr. Paul Drude, 595 ear-book of the United States Department of Agriculture, 1899, Prof. R. Warington, F.R.S., 597 _ Lehrbuch der Anorganischen Chemie, Dr. A. F. Holleman, _ Flora of Bournemouth, including the Isle of Purbeck, E. F. Linton, 598. ni - Comeiney on Picotees for Garden and Exhibition, H. W. _ Symbolism oP the Huichol Indians, Carl Lumholtz, Prof. Alfred C. Haddon, F.R.S., 600 _ Xenia, or the Immediate Effect of Pollen in Maize, Herbert a3 * Jj. Webber, 601 _ Memoirs of the Geological Survey of the United Kingdom. _ The Cretaceous Rocks of Britain, Vol. I. : the Gault and - Raps Greensand of England, A. J. Jukes-Browne, Prof. (Re ees » F.R.S., 617 _ The Law and Practice relating to Letters Patent for Inven- tions, R. W. Wallace, J. B. Williamson, 618 _ Lectures on the History of the Development of .Chemistry ___ since the Time of Lavoisier, Dr. A. Ladenburg, 618 _ Untersuc iiber Mikrostrukturen des erstarrten Schwe- fels nebst erkungen uber Sublimation, O. Biitschli, 619 gg aeonge iiber die Mikrostruktur kiinstlicher und _ Naturlicher Kieselsaiuregallerten (Tabaschir, Hydrophan, Opal), O. Biitschli, 619 _ The School Journey: a Means of ame Geography, 4 pio y, and Elementary Science, Joseph H. Cowham, 619 _ Air, Water and Food, Ellen H. Richards and Alpheus G. Woodman, 620 _ Elem Physics and Chemistry, R. A. Gregory and A. T. Simmons, 620 rinciples d’ Hygiene Coloniale, Dr. Georges Treille, 620 he Antarctic Regions, Dr. Karl Fricker, Dr. Hugh Robert Mill, 624 by hrough the First Antarctic Night, 1898-99, Frederick A. Cook, Dr. Hugh Robert Mill, 624 te 1olds (J. E.), Silico-diphenyl diimide and Silicotriphenyl- guanidine, 215 d (Osborne), Papers on Mechanical and Physical “ng ee 243 ins (George), Wastage of Electrical Properties of Cables nder Continuous Currents, 520 men Rhinoceros, the White, on the Upper Nile, Oldfield Thomas, 599 Rhinoceros-Birds in British East Africa, Change of Feeding- habits of, Captain Hinde, Prof. E. Ray Lankester, F.R.S., 66 3 Rhys (Prof. John), Opening Address in Section H of the British Association, 513 Rhythms and Geologic Time, G. K. Gilbert, 275 Richards (Ellen H.), Air, Water and Food, 620 Richards (Prof. T. W.), the Atomic Weight of Iron, 160; Physico-Chemical Reaction, its Driving Energy and Tem- perature Coefficients, 351 Richardson (F. W.), on Bradford Sewage and its Treatment, 507 Richarz (Prof. R.), an Illustration of Doppler’s Principle, 35 Ries (Dr. H.), the Clays of Alabama, 274 Riedel (Dr. Hermann), Atlas of Urinary Sediments, 53 Riehl (Alois), Giordano Bruno, zur errinnerung an den 17 Februar, 1600, 77 Righi (Prof. Augusto), Volta e la Pila, 293 Right- and Left-Handedness, Dr. Fritz Lueddeckens, W. L. H. Duckworth, 409 Rijn (Dr. J. J. I. van), ‘* Die Glykoside,” 363 Riley (J. W.), Building Construction for Beginners, 125 Ring Nebula in Lyra, 425 Ripley (William Z.), the Races of Europe, a Sociological tudy, 27 Ristori (E.), Researches on Modern Explosives, II, 46 Ritter (W. E.), Harrimania Maculosa, a New Enteropneustum,, 579 Rivers (Dr. W. H. R.), Genealogical Researches in Torres. Straits, 71 Riviére (M.), Researches in Presence of Saturated, Mercury - Vapour, 191 Rixon (F. W.), on the Specific Heat of Gases up to a Tempera- ture of 400°, 566 Road Locomotion, Prof. Hele-Shaw, F.R.S., 139 Robbins (W. C.), Locust Destruction in South Africa, 134 Roberts (J. G.), a Remarkable Hailstorm, 341 Roberts (Prof. J. P.), the Farmstead, 53» Roberts-Austen (Prof. Sir W. C., F.R.S.), Properties of Gold~ and Copper Alloys, 93 Robertson (Sir George), Presidential Address in Section E of the British Association, 590 Robin’s Nest in Water-can, F. W. Haselgrove, 17 Robinson (H..H.), Determination of Minerals in thin Rock- sections, 638 fe Minerals, the Melting Points of, J. A. Cunning-- ham, Rock-structures in the Isle of Man and in South Tyrol, Dr.. Maria M. Ogilvie Gordon, 7 Roger (E.), Greatest Heat of Century, 421 Rogers (G. H. J.), Modification of Rousselet (Microscopical) Compressor, 287 : Rontgen Rays: Mechanical Motions under Influence of Réntgeny Rays, L. Graetz, 92; Meeting of Réntgen Society, 179; the: American Holtz Machine, 179; Dr. Rémy’s Localising Apparatus, 180; Production by Battery Current of, J. Trowbridge, 211 ; Cadett and Neall’s X-Ray Paper, 253; Influence of Spark-gap on Generation of Réntgen Rays, A. Winkelmann, 568 Rood (O. N.), Experiments on High Electrical Resistance, 638 Rooke (T.), the Daylight Meteor of Sunday, September 2, 524 Rooper (T. G.), on the Teaching of Geography in the Elemen- tary Schools of the West Riding, 591 Rooms, the Air of, Francis Jones, 387 Root-structure, on a Fourth Type of Transition of Stem to, Miss Ethel Sargant, 611 Rose (T. K.), Properties of Gold and Copper Alloys, 93 Rosenhain (Walter), Crystalline Structure of Metals, 211, 567 ; on the Making of a Malay “ Kris” and on the Malay Method of Producing Chains by Casting, 634 ; Ross (Major Ronald), on Malaria and Mosquitoes, 589 Rotation Period of Venus, Prof. A. Belopolsky, 160 Rotch (A. Lawrence), High Kite Flight at Blue Hill, 350; on the Use of Kites for Meteorological Observations, 563 Roth (H. Ling), on Permanent Artificial Skin Marks, 634 ; on the Stone Implements of the Natives of Tasmania, 637 Rotuma, on Nine Crania Collected by J. Stanley Gardiner during his Expedition to, W..H, L. Duckworth, 633 XXXIV L[ndex Nature, December 13, 1900. Rousdon Observatory, Devon, Sir C. E. Peek, 110; Variable Stars, T Cassiopeiz and R Cassiopeize, Sir C. E. Peek, 398 ; Meteorological Observations at, Sir C. E. Peek, 422 Rowland (Sydney), Influence of Temperature of Liquid Hydro- gen on Bacteria, 286 Royal College of Surgeons, the Centenary of the, Victor Plarr, 294 Royal Geographical Society, Medal Awards, 34 Royal Society, 46, 93, 189, 211, 238, 286, 335, 358, 381, 615; Royal Society Selected Candidates, 56; Conversazione, 67, 20 Rubber-cultivation in Samoa, 136 Rubber Forests in Peru, 578 Ruhemann (S.). Condensation of Ethyl Acetylenedicarboxylate with Bases and B-Ketonic Ester, 215; Condensation of Phenols with Ethyl Phenylpropiolate, 215 Rumbald’s Moor (Near Bradford), on the Prehistoric Antiqui- ties of, Butler Wood, 637 Rung (William), what Pressure is Dangerous on Electric Railways with Overhead Trolley Wires, 399 Runge (C.), the Spectygm of Radium, 568 Rural Wealth and Welfare, Geo. T. Fairchild, 245 Russell (Alex. ), Variation of Condenser and Choking Coil Currents with Shape of Electromotive Wave, 375 Russell (H. C.), Ocean Current Papers, 108 Rust of Wheat, Recent Investigations on, William G. Smith, 352 Sabatier (Paul), Addition of Hydrogen to Acetylene in Pre- sence of Copper, 168; Addition of Hydrogen to Acetylene in Presence of Reduced Iron and Cobalt, 191; Addition of Hydrogen to Acetylene and Ethylene in Presence of Finely- divided Platinum, 264 ; Action of Reduced Nickel on Acety- lene, 312; Action of Finely-divided Metals on Acetylene and Ethylene, 336; Addition of Hydrogen to Ethylene in Presence of Reduced Metals, 240 Sack (J.), Monistische Gottes-und-Weltanschaung, 172 Sacral Index, on the, Prof. J. D. Cunningham, 633 St. Christopher, Climate of, W. B. Alexander, 35 Saint Lawrence Electrical Power Works, 135 St. Louis Academy of Science, 192 St. Martin (L. G. de), Heemoglobin not Estimable by Absorb- ing Power of Blood, 520 St. Paul’s, the Lightning Conductors of, K. Hedges, 68 St. Petersbourg, Bulletin de Académie de, 70, 211 Salisbury (Prof. R. D.), the Geography of the Regions about Devil’s Lake and the Dalles of the Wisconsin, 172 Salmon Fishery.for 1899, the Scotch, 303 Sambon (Dr.), Mosquitoes and Malaria in the Campagna, 531 Samoa, Rubber-cultivation in, 136 Sampson (Miss), Unusual Modes of Development in Batrachia, 60 5 San Francisco, Climate of, A. G. McAdie and G. H. Willson, so ats Sand-binding Plant of the Dunes on the Scotch Coast, near Berwick, the, Prof. Bower, 611 Sandwich Islands, on the Zoology of the, R. C. L. Perkins, 589 Sanford (W. A.), Large Puff Balls, 496 Sap, Ascent of, Dr. Henry H. Dixon, Prof. J. Joly, F.R.S., F.R.S Sarawak, on the Animal Cults of the Natives of, and their Bearing on the Problems of Totemism,. Dr. C. Hose, W. McDougall, 634; Mr. Hartland, 635 Sargant (Miss Ethel), on a Fourth Type of Transition of Stem to Root-structure, 611 Saturn : Occultation of Saturn, 137, 425 ; Notes on Saturn and his Markings, W. F. Denning, 237 Savants Modernes, Pages Choises des, A. Rebiére, 6 Sayce (Rev. A. H.), Babylonians and Assyrians, Life and Customs, 289 Scale-insects on Fungi found in Ceylon, Growing on, J. Parkin, 572 Sarawak, Decorative Arts of Sea Dayaks, Prof. A. C. Haddon, .S., 68 13 Schaer (Ed.), Sg Friedrich Schonbein, 1799-1868, 97 Schafer (Prof. E. A., F.R.S.), Lessons in Elementary. Physio- logy, Thomas H. Huxley y, LL.D., F.R.S., 363 Schiebler (Count Felice), Sette Anni di Cacia Grossa € Note di Viaggio in America, Asia, Africa, Europa, 244 : Schloeswig (Th.), Solubility of Calcium Phosphate in Soil-water in presence of Carbon Dioxide, 312 Schmauss (A.), Anomalous Electro-magnetic Rotatory Disper- sion, Schon (, ), Text-book of Zoology, Treated from a Biological Standpoint, 386 Schmidt ie C.), Temperature Potential Gradient in Rarefied Gases, 9 Schoeler tbr. Monismus, Schokalsky (J. By, Area of. Basins of Russia in Asia, “er Schénbein (Christian Friedrich), 1799-1868, Georg W. A. Kahlbaum, Ed. Schaer, Prof. R. Meldola, F.R.S., School Journey. the, a Means of Teaching Geography, Physio- graphy, and Elementary Science, Joseph H. Cowham, 619 Schools, Collateral Heredity Measurements in, Prof. Karl Pearson, F.R.S., 173, 599 ie ee Percussion Caps for Shooting in, Sir Lauder Brenton, 4 v.), Probleme, Kritische Studien itiber den R.S., 54: : Shoute (Prof. P. H.), Locus of Centre of Hyperspherical Curva- ture for Normal Curve of 2 Dimensional Space, 232 Schryver (S. B.), Morphine (1), 260 Schultze (Dr. J.), Psychologie der Naturvélker, 220 Schwartz (E. H. L.), the Snake-stone, 302; Bushman Draw- ings, 336 Science: Science in Relation to Art and Industry, 32; the Grammar of Science, Prof. Karl Pearson, _ R.S.;° 49; Scientific Papers, Peter Guthrie Tait, Sec. R.S., Prof. Horace Lamb, F.R.S., 99 ; Some Scientific Aspesti of Trade, 117; the International Catalogue of Scientific Literature, 197, 206; England’s Neglect of Science, Prof. John Perry, — F.R.S., 221; Medicine as a Science, and Medicine as an Art, Dr. P. H. Pye-Smith, F.R.S., 356; Mr. Balfour on Scientific Progress, 358 ; Forthcoming Books of Science, 558 Sclater (W. L.), the Fauna of South Africa ; Mammals, 521 Scotland : a Bathymetrical Survey of the Fresh-water Lochs of Scotland, Sir John Murray, K.C.B., F.R.S., and Fred P. Pullar, 65, 263 ; the Salmon Fishery for 1899, 303 Scott (Dr. D. H., F.RS. ), on the Presence of Seed-like Organs in certain Palseozoic Lycopods, 611; on the Primary Struc- of certain Paleozoic Stems referred to Araucarioxylon, Seat (Prof. W. B.), on Recent Explorations in Patagonia; 587; on the Miocene Fauna of Patagonia, 58 Scripts, on the New, discovered by Arthur J. Evans i in Crete, 526, 634 Scudder Taithiel Hubbard), Brief Guide to « Commoner Butterflies of the Northern United States and Canada, 411 | Sea, the Total Eclipse Observed at, Colonel E. E. Markwick, \ 103 ‘ Sea Coast Destruction and Littoral Drift, W. H. Wheeler, 400 Sea-dredging, Building-land made by, 1 58 yg on the Textile Patterns of the, Dr. A. C. Haddon, 634 Seals of Kerguelen Island, the Elephant, R. Hall, 628 4 a: (Lieut.-Colonel W.), Railways and Moving Platforms, See" (T. J. J.), Colour Screens for Refracting Telescopes, 37 Seed-like Organs in certain Palzeozoic Lorene on = Pre- sence of, Dr. D. H. Scott, F.R.S., Seeley (Prof. H.-G FoR. cy ), an ‘Anominaiat Reptile from Bunter Sandstone of Reichen, 94 ; Theriodont Reptile from Baviaans River, Cape Colony, 262 Seismology: Elastic Constants of Rocks and Velocity of Seismic Waves, Dr. H. Nagaoka, 36; Action of Horizontal and Vertical Pendulums, Dr. G. Agamennone, 62); Greek Earthquakes, 1893-8, M. Eginitis, 85; Bolletino della Societa Italiana Sismologica, 93, 286; the Colaba (Bombay) Observatory, 181; the Great Earthquake of June 12, 1897, as D. Oldham, 305; Earthquakes of 1897 in Philippines, P. J. Coronas, 555 ; Report of the Seismological Committee’ of the British Association, 562 ; Prof. J. Milne’s Report of the Seismological Committee of ‘the British Association, 587 Self-instruction in the Practice and Theory of Navigation, the Earl of Dunraven, 337 Sell (W. J.), Aminochloropyridines, 143 Sella (A.), Evaporation not Productive of Loss of Electricity, 458 | Sellon (R. P.), Standardisation ‘of Electrical Engineering Plant, 135 Nature, ] December 13, 1900 L; alee XXXV - Semmola (Prof. E.), Variations with Altitude of Air Potential, 4 Senderen (J. B.), Addition of Hydrogen to Acetylene in the & seme in Presence of Reduced Iron and Cobalt, 191 ; Addition of Hydrogen to Acetylene and Ethylene in Presence of - Finely-divided Platinum, 264; Action of Reduced Nickel on Acetylene, 312; Action of Finely-divided Metals on Acety]l- ene and Ethylene, 336; Addition of Hydrogen sto Ethylene ___ in Presence of Reduced Metals, 240 _ Senior (Edgar), a Handbook of Photography in Colours, 434 _ Sensation, the Relation of Stimulus to, Prof. C. Lloyd Morgan, F.R.S., 278. : a Possible Preventive of African Horse-sickness, Dr. G. C. Purvis, 83; Standardisation of Anti-venomous W. M ‘Serum, Seurat (L. G.); ata Bore, the, V han Cornish, 126 » Va ’ the Bacterial reatment of Sewage, Dr. Frank Clowes ouston, 128; on Bradford Sewage and its Treat- . W. Richardson, 567; W. Leach, 568; W. B. “y oh on the Relation of U/va Jatissima to the of Sea-water by Sewage, Prof. Letts, J. Hawthorn, (M.), on the Climatic and other Physical Conditions - which Coal was formed, 610 < pat C., F. — “ ), on the Structure and Affinities Dr. Benjamin F. a a New Instrument to Measure and a Ey Electic Micrometer, 67 LNs (WwW. N fey F.R.S.), a Daily Weather Report of the Office, 3 (W.A., F. e $. ), Working Silica in the Oxy-gas owpi pipe. Flame; 20 ne on Cire C. S., F.R.S.), Experimentation on Emo- ‘Sh ian. a Vertebrate Fauna of the, A. H. Evans and a T. E Buckley, 75 Shimizu (S.), i arsine Alserrator, 286 nine bailey the Use of Steel in, B. Martell, 90 Shs te Scaling of Prof. G. H. Bryan, F.R.S., 186 out in Schools, Percussion Caps for, Sir Lauder Brunton, ie ov . (Miss a a eerie, 612 ee (Dr. R. W.), Psychology of Fishes, 6 oS reeggelegion and Exploring in, James McCarthy, 571. Si the yeitioned — amg sea Exploration of the, in the fat and Palos: Tl dneesions of the Field of View of ler, 428 ek (Prot, Henry), Death of, 456; Obituary Notice of, ca in inGicriess Blowpipe Flame, W. A. Shenstone, F.R.S., and H. G. Lacell, 20 Pipe ider, Manufacture in Madagascar, M. Nogue, 17 etallurgy of Lead and, Henry F. Collins, 194 nons (A. T.), Elementary Physics and Chemistry, 620 Bemmondis (C.), Huxley and his Work, 495 Me J.), New Pyrogenous Product from Tartaric Acid, gists I tritaric Acid, 639 Skeat (W.. Ws Malay Magic : being an Introduction to the Folklor Popular Religion of the Malay Peninsula, 1455 ; tows of the Committee of the British Associa- non ig page History and Ethnography of the Malay pf rt in ~} ’ on, Human, on the Developmental Changes in the, from Point of View of Anthropology, Dr. David Waterson, orpology of Respiratory Apparatus of Larva ¥ ), on the Structure of the Stem of Angzopieris Ancient Egyptian, on Perforate Humeri from, Prof, Macalister, 633 ‘ , on Permanent Artificial, H. Ling Roth, 634 en (Walter Percy), Death of, 179; Obituary Notice of, 256 Smith (Dr. C. A.), the Clays of Alabama, 274 ith (G. F. Herbert), Method for Determining Refractive Indices of Minerals of Low Symmetry, 239 smith (H. G.), Amyl Ester of Eudesmic Acid in Eucalyptus © Oils, 384 of Copper, 168; Addition of Hydrogen to Acetyl-. Smith (R. G.), Double Staining of Spores and Bacilli, 640 Smith (William G.), Recent Investigations on Rust of Wheat, ws ‘ Sriithells (Prof. Arthur), Introduction to Physical Chemistry, James Walker, 76 Smithsonian Expedition, the Total Solar Eclipse as observed by the, 246 Smyth (the late Prof. Piazzi), some Notes on his Work in Spectroscopy, Prof. A. S. Herschel, F.R.S., 161 Smoke Cloud of the North of England and its Influence on Plants, the Great, Albert Wilson, 611 ‘* Snake-stone,” Plotosus cantus and the, D. Hervey, 79 Snake-stone, the, E. H. L. Schwartz, 302 Snake-venom, Captain R. H. Elliot, 180; Standardisation of Anti-venomous Serum, W. Myers, 215; the South Indian Snake-men, Captain R. H. Elliott, 324° Snape (H. L.), Racemic and Optically Active Forms of Iso- amarine, 143 Snelgrove (Edward), Object Lessons in Botany from Forest, Field, Wayside, and Garden, 53 Snow-drifts on Ingleborough in July, Prof. T. Mekiiiny Hughes, F.R.S., 389; Prof. T. G. Bonney, F.R.S., 412 Snyder (V.), Invariant Scrolls In Collineations which leave a Group of Five Points Invariant, 381 Soames (Laura), Introduction to English, French, and German Phonetics, with Reading Lessons and Exercises, 220 Sociology : the Races of Europe, a Sociological Study, William Z. Ripley, Prof. A. C. Haddon, F.R.S., 27 Solander (Dr. Daniel), Illustrations of the Botany of Captain Cook’s Voyage Round the World in H.M.S. Zndeavour, in 1768-71, 547 Solar Parallax, Determination of, 377 Solar Radiation, Report of the British Association Committee on Solar Radiation on Experiments conducted by Prof. Callendar on the Modified Copper-cube Actinometer, 562 Solidification of Alloys, the, Fred. T. Trouton, F.R.S., 523 Sollas (Prof. W. J., F.R.S.), Opening Address in Section C of the British Association, 481 ; on a Concealed Coal Field Beneath the London Basin, 587 | Solution Theory Applied to Molten Iron and Steel, John Parry, 128 Sound Waves, the Photography of, Prof. R. W. Wood, 342 Sounds, a New Instrument to Measure and Record Sounds, Dr. Benjamin F. Sharpe, 80 rosa hngeaind Properties of Becquerel Rays, Prof. G. H. Bryan, F.R 151 South African Philosophical Society, 216, 264, 464 Space, Pseudospherical, Dynamics of, Prof. D. de Francesco, 18 ree, the Subordination of the Individual to the Welfare of the, 593 Spectrum Analysis, Comparison of Stellar with Laboratory Spectra, Sir Norman Pocknci 23; Spectrum of 6 Lyre and 7 Aquile, O. Belopolsky, 70; Temperature Control of Spectrograph, Prof. W. W. Campbell, 137; some Notes on the late Prof. Piazzi Smyth’s Work in Spectroscopy, Prof. A. S. Herschel, F.R.S., 161; the Band Spectrum of Aluminium, G.A, Hemsalech, 335 3 Spectrum of Radium, Eug. Demar- gay, 336; Spectrum of Radium, C. Runge, 568; Influence of Slight Impurities on Argon and Helium Spectra, P, Lewis, 381; Fluorescence and Phosphoresence in Electric Discharge through Nitrogen, P. Lewis, 381; the New Spec- trographs for the Potsdam Great Refractor, Prof. C. H. Vogel, 459; Dr. S. P. Langley’s Chart of the Infra Red Spectrum from 0°7 to 5°3 m@ obtained by the Bolometric Method, 562; H. Ramage, on a Method of Investigating Correspondence between Spectra, 563 ; Spectra of Hydrogen and Aqueous Vapour, J. Trowbridge, 568; Spectroscopic Examination of Colour Produced by Simultaneous Contrast, G. J. Burch, 615 Spencer (Herbert), Genesis of the Vertebrate Column, 620 Speyers (C. L.), Boiling Point Curves, 92 Spider-silk Manufacture in Madagascar, M. Nogue, 17 Spitta (Dr. Edmund J.), Photo-micrography, 4 Sport and Travel, Notes on, George Henry Kingsley, 5 Sporting Tour, Count Scheibler’s, 244 Stability of a Swarm of KH BIE and of a Planet and Satellite, the, Prof. A. Gray, F.R.S., Staffordshire, North, on Rapid Chiaiiges in the Thickness and » Character of the Coal Measures of, W. Gibson, 587 Standards for Faint Stellar Magnitudes, 398 XXXVI Tades Nature, December 13, 1900 Stanley (Hiram M.), an Outline Sketch, Psychology for Begin- ners, 245 : Stansfeld (Dr. A.), Present Position of Solution Theory of Carburised Iron, 536 Stapf (Dr. Otto), Pflanzen- Alfred Kirchhoff, 569 Stapleton (I1.), Condensation of Ethyl Acetylenedicarboxylate with Bases and 8-Ketonic Ester, 215 Starch, from Glycollic Aldehyde by Green Plants, on the Formation of, Henry Jackson, 611 Stark (J.), Change of Conductivity of Gases by Continuous Currents, 211 Starke (H.), Reflection and Mechanical Effect of Kathode Rays, und Tierverbreitung, Prof. 39 Stars: New Variable in Taurus, Madame Ceraski, 19 ; New Variable in Auriga, Dr. T. D. Anderson, 161 ; New Variable Star observed in Cepheus, Madame Ceraski, 183; New Variable in Herculis, Madame Ceraski, 305; Variable Stars in Clusters, 352; Rousdon Observatory (Devon), Variable Stars, T Cassiopeize and R Cassiopeize, Sir C. E. Peek, 398 ; New Star in Aquila, 305 ; Catalogue of Double Stars, Prof. S. W. Burnham, 324; New Double Stars, R. G. Aitken, 630; Standards for Faint Stellar Magnitudes, 398 Stassano (H.), Function of Cell-nucleus in Absorption, 240 Stather (J. W.), on the Glaciation of the East Riding, 588 Statistics: Accidents in Coal Mines, Prof. Le N. Foster, 136 Stallard (G.), Temperature of Recently-killed Chamois, 293 Stead (J. E.), Iron and Phosphorus, 536 Steadying of Ships, the, Prof. G. H. Bryan, F.R.S., 186 Steel: the Use of Steel in Shipbuilding, B. Martell, 90; Solu- tion Theory applied to Molten Iron and Steel, John Parry, 128; the Cause of Fracture of Steel Rails, 437 Steele (B. D.), Diacetylacetone Derivatives, 260 Steen (A. V.), the Climate of Norway, 457 Steinmann (Emile), Electromotive Force of Nickel-Steel, 264 Stem to Root-structure, on a Fourth Type of Transition of, Miss Ethel Sargant, 611 Stephanos (Prof. Cyparissos), Sur les Relations entre la Géo- metrie Projective et la Mécanique, 561 Stevens (J. S.), Measurement of Surface Tension, 568 Stimulus to Sersation, the Relation of, Prof. C. Lloyd Morgan, F.R.S., 278 Stirling (James), the Rate of Increase of Underground Heat, 555 Stock (Alfred), Two New Silicon Borides, 312 -Stokes (H. N.), Structure and Constitution of Two New Meteorites, 459 Stokes (Sir William), Death and Obituary Notice of, 394 Stone Age in Borneo, on Relics of the, Dr. A. C. Haddon,. 637; Dr. C. Hose, 637 Stone Implements from Pitcairn Island, J. Allen Brown, 119 Stone Implements of the Natives of Tasmania, on the, J. Paxton Moir, 636; Prof. E. B. Tylor, 636; H. Ling Roth, 637 Stones (Witmer), the Eider Duck’s Summer Moulting Plumage, 201 Stoney (Dr. G. Johnstone, F.R.S.), Escape of Gases from Atmospheres, 78, 359 Storage Battery of Twenty Thousand Cells, Some Results obtained with a, Prof. John Trowbridge, 325 Strahan (A.), on the Physical Conditions during the Growth of the Coal Measures, 587 Strasburger (E.), Histologische Beitrige, Heft IV., 28 Streintz (F.), Electric Conductivity of Pressed Powders, 639 Stresses, Strength of Ductile Materials under Combined, J. J. Guest, 118 Stromeyer (C. E.), Mineral Formation in Granite, 84; the Reform of Mathematical Teaching, 523 Stroud (Prof. W.), Range-finders, 607 Structure and Constitution of Two’ New Meteorites, G. P. Merrill, H. N. Stokes, 459 Stuart-Menteath (Charles G.), Homochronous Heredity and Changes of Pronunciation, 524 Subterranean Drainage of the Limestone, on the, Rev. W. Lower Carter, A. R. Dwerryhouse, 587 ‘*Sudd” Cutting on Upper Nile, Effect on Lower River of, 180 Sugar-canes: the Destruction of the ‘‘ Moth-bore” Cater- pillar, 182 Sun: the Nature of the Solar Corona, Prof. Geo. Fras. Fitz- gerald, F.R.S., 7; Photometry of Corona, April 16, 1893, Prof. H. H. Turner, 86; Automatic Photography of the Corona, Prof. C. Burckhalter, 535; Relation between Solar Activity and Earth’s Motion, W. G. Thackeray, 20 ; Deter- mination of Solar Parallax from Opposition of Eros, Prof. S. Newcomb, 20; the Total Eclipse of the Sun, 54, 132, 398; Charles P. Butler, 54 ; Sir Norman Lockyer, K.C.B., F.R.S., 104; M. Deslandres, 233 ; French Observations of the Total Eclipse of the Sun, 183 ; the Total Eclipse observed at Sea, Colonel E. E. Markwick, 183; the Total Solar Eclipse as observed by the Smithsonian Expedition, 246; Maximum Duration of a Total Solar Eclipse, C. T. Whitmell, 64, 86; Duration of Totality of Solar Eclipses at Greenwich, Chas. T. Whitmell, 269 ; the Dark Fringes observed during Total Solar Eclipses, V. Ventosa, 86; the Next Total Eclipse of the Sun, 202; the Total Eclipse of the Sun of May 17-18, 1901, J. J. A. Muller, 389; Eclipse Photography, Prof. Francis E. Nipher, 246; Latitude Variation, Earth Magne- tism and Solar Activity, Dr. J. Halm, 460; Sunspots and Frost, Alex. B. MacDowall, 599; see also British Association Sunderland (A. E.), Electrical Dyeing Machinery, 457 Sunstroke, the Causes of, E. H. Freeland, 396 ; Surface-tension Experiment, a, T. J. Baker, 196; Prof. Henry Bourget, 269 Surface-tension of Mixtures, on the Creeping of Liquids and on the, Dr. Trouton, 562 Surgery : Dr. Rémy’s Localising Apparatus for Rontgen Rays, 180; the Centenary of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, 294, 331; Victor Plarr, 294; Descriptive and Illustrated Catalogue of the Physiological Series of Compara- tive Anatomy contained in the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, 385; Death and Obituary Notice of — Sir William Stokes, 394 EoaN Surrey, the Birds of, J. A. Bucknill, 339 Surveying : Surveying and Exploring in Siam, James McCarthy, 571; Surveying with the Tacheometer, N. Kennedy, 571 ; on Foreign and Colonial Surveys, E. G. Ravenstein, Colonel Johnson, 590 Sutherlandshire, on the Plutonic Complex of Cnoc-na-Sroine, J. J. H: Teall, 588 Sutton (J. R.), the Winds of Kimberley, 35 : Suzuki (Dr. U.), Strontium and Barium unfit to replace Calcium in Plants, 136 BD ie Sweet (Henry), the History of Language, 195 Swamy (A. K. C.), Ceylon Rocks and Graphite, 239 Swift and Son’s Electric Lamp for Microscopy, 35! Swifts, the Migration of, Oswald H. Latter, 413 ; William Andrews, 436 Swifts’ Comet (1892 I.), Prof. W. Pickering, 501 Swifts’ Comet (1894 IV.), 352, 459 Syllis Vivipara, E. S. Goodrich, 215 Sylviculture, on British, Samuel Margerison, 611 - Symbolism, Mexican, Carl Lumholtz, Alfred C. Haddon, 600 Symons (G. J., F.R.S.), the Wiltshire Whirlwind of October 1, 1899,95 ; A Symons’s British Rainfall, H. Sowerby Wallis, 435 Symons’s Monthly Meteorological Magazine, 93, 335 Tacheometer, Surveying with the, N. Kennedy, 571 Tait (Peter Guthrie, Sec. R.S.), Scientific Papers, 99 Talbot (B.), the Open Hearth Continuous Steel Process,’67 Tallent (Alexander A. K.), a Handbook of Photography in Colours, 434 Tansley (A. G.), on the Conducting Tissues of ye bist Hoy 612 Tasmania: a Key to the Birds of Australia and Tasmania, with their Geographical Distribution in Australia, R. Hall, 6; a Large Tasmanian Crab, Alex. Morton, 496; on the Stone Implements of the Natives of Tasmania, J. Paxton Moir, 636 ; Prof. E. B. Tylor, 636; H. Ling Roth, 637 ‘epee Tattooing : on Permanent Artificial Skin Marks, H. Ling Roth, | 634 Teural new Variable in, Madame Ceraski, 20 Tayler (J. B.), Heat of Alloy Formation, 70 _ Taylor (F. G.), an Introduction to the Differential and Integral Calculus and Differential Equation, 221 ; Teaching of Mathematics, the, Prof. John Perry, F.R.S., 317; Oliver Heaviside, F.R.S., 548 Teaching, the Reform of Mathematical, Henry Woollen, 436 ; W. F. Beard, 466 5 Teall (J. J. H.), on the Plutonic Complex of Cnoc-na-Srdine, Sutherlandshire, 588 Nature, ] December 13, 1900 ai ‘i 7. Index XXXVI iphy, Wireless: Maximum Sensitiveness in Coherers, A Blondel and G. Dobkévitch, 23; Wireless Telegraphy from _ Free Balloon, J. Vallot and J. and L. Lecarme, 95 ; Wireless 4 Msg in French Navy, 396; Wireless Telegraphy and -‘Hertziar Waves, S. R. Bottone, 522; Human Body as * Screen in Wireless Telegraphy, E. Guarini and F. Poncelet, faphs, the, Herr Paulsen, 61 y: Recording Telephones, 371; Wire Fence Com- .in Indiana, 374; Telephony by Kites, 578 r Screens for Refracting pene om Feds J+ 1. Peters, 37; on the new Form of Refracting recently erected at Cambridge, A. R. Hinks, 565 ; the Great Paris Telescope, C. P. Butler, 574 trol of Spectrograph, Prof. W. W. Campbell, on the Relation of Radiation to, Dr. Larmor, of. Fitzgerald, 562 res of Recently Killed Chamois, G. Stallard, 293 Life of the Albatross, Prof. John Perry, F.R.S., rt: in Ww. J. Reed, 621 nela), Vil Notes, and Some Other Papers, 340 ), Recent Electrical Experiments, 116 ustries, on the Recent Improvements in the, Dr. A. tert of the Sea Dayaks, on the, Dr. A. C. Haddon, , (W. G.), Relation between Solar Activity and on, 20 and Physical Chemistry, Part ii., Chemical Statics, van ’t Hoff, 245 upeutic Electricity and Practical Muscle Testing, W. S. sfablacion:; a Simple Experiment in, Dr. K. T. , 10 ea Gas Thermometry, Dr. P. Chappuis, 214; a on of age Platinum Thermometers, H. M. Tory, > Therma ager of Fused Silicas, P. Villard x ir, 255; the es, L. Holborn and A. Day, 381; E. H. Griffiths of Wheatstone Bridge for determining the Freezing ints of Dilute Solutions by Platinum Thermometry, 563 ; . Gas Thermometer at High Temperatures, L. Holborn .. L. Day, 568 nere ‘voir, on the Formation of New Beaches on the hores of, R. D. Oldham, 588 (Miss Ethel N.), on Double Fertilisation in a Dicoty- rc p tris, 61 ledon Caltha palus. omas (H. H.), Undescri s (J. W.), on the Physical Effects of Wind in Towns and heir 1 ¢nce on Ventilation, 563 : is (Oldfield), the White Rhinoceros on the Upper Nile, (V.), the Estimation of Thallium, 96 n (Prof. J. Arthur, F.R.S.), Facts of Inheritance, as 2 Trilobites in Oxford University son (R. C.), the Reports of the Magicians and Astro- logers of Nineveh and Babylon, 51 jompson (Prof. S. P.), an Electro-magnetic Experiment, 71 ; “Coma,” 118; Relative Advantages of Alternate and Con- tinuous Current for General Electrical Supply, with regard to terference with other Interests, 417 on (Prof. J. J., F.R.S.), some S Played by Corpuscles in Physical omson (James), Death and Obituary Notice of, 83 eprtbor S.), Functions of an Organ of a Larva of the uss Moth, (Thos.), Modification of Prof. Wood’s Diffraction of Colour Photography, 58 (J. F.), Ethyl Sodio- and Methylsodio-cyanacetates, 3; the aa-88-tetramethylglutaric acids, 143 ; ees as ic Acid and C7s- and 7vans-methylisopropylglutaric, 143; New Series of Pentamethylene Derivatives (1) culations as to the henomena, 31 “roce: riges Air Thermometer at High Tem- | 261 ; Action of Sodium and Methyl Iodide on Ethyl Dimethy]- butanetricarboxylate, 261 Thorpe (Dr. T. E., F.R.S.), Pottery and Plumbism, 42 ; Report of Government Laboratory, 499; Writing Ink, 554 Thoulet (J.), Fixation of Clay in Suspension in Water hy Porous Bodies, 191 Threlfall (R.), on Mr. E. H. Griffiths’ Form of Wheatstone Bridge for Determining the Freezing Points of Dilute Solu- tions by Platinum Thermometry, 56 Tibet, the High Level Flora of, W. B. Hemsley, 46 Tidal Waters, the Reclamation of Land from, Alexander Beazeley, 266 Tiddeman (R. H.), on the Formation of Reef-knolls, 587 ; on the Raised Beach of Gower in South Wales, 588 Tides, a Partial Explanation of some of the Principal Ocean, R. A. Harris, 258 Tidswell (Dr. Frank), Rats and Plague, 273 Ciger Beetle, the, Fred. Enock, 2 Timiriazeff (Prof. Clement), Chlorophyll a Sensitiser, 102 Tobacco, 576 Todd (Prof.), on the Application of the Electric Telegraph to the Furtherance of Eclipse Research, 565; on Operating Eclipse Instruments Automatically, 565; on the Use of a Wedge of Yellow Optical Glass in giving Correctly Gra- duated Photographic Exposures of the Partial Phases of an Eclipse and the Corona, 565 Toepler (Prof. Max), Globe Lightning, 350 on (Prof. Corrado), Death and Obituary Notice of, 22 Torpedo-fish, Beitrige zur Physiologie des Elektrischen Organes der Zitterrochen (Torpedo), Siegfried Garten, 290 Torres Straits, Genealogical Researches in, Dr. W. H. R. Rivers, 71 Tory (H. M.), a Comparison of Impure Platinum Thermo- meters, 214 Totemism, on the Animal Cults of the Natives of Sarawak and their bearing on the Problems of, Dr. Hose, W. McDougall, 634; Mr. Hartland, 635 Tour through Great Britain in 1727, a, 5, L. Petty, 496 Touren (Charles), Solubility of Mixture of Salts having Common Ion, 72 Townsend (J. S.), the Conductivity produced in Gases by the Motion of Negatively-charged Ions, 340 Toxicology: /”/otosus cantus and the ‘“ Snake-stone,’’ D. Hervey, 79; the Poison of Lofus Arabicus, W. R. Dunstan, F.R.S., and T. R. Henry, 238 Trade, some Scientific Aspects of, 117 Transactions of American Mathematical Society, 260, 519 Transbaikalian Railway, the, 253 Transit of Venus, Jeremiah Horrocks and the, 257 Traquair (Ramsay H., F.R.S.), Opening Address in Section D of the British Association, 502 Travel, Notes on Sport and, George Henry Kingsley, 5 Treille (Dr. Georges), Principes D’ Hygiene Coloniale, 620 Trembling of the Aspen Leaf, the, Henry J. Colbourn, 436 Triangulation, Acoustical, A. J. Mundy, 422 Tripet (M.), Action of High Frequency Currents oa Elementary Respiration, 240 Trolley Wires, Overhead, What Pressure is Dangerous on Elec- tric Railways with, William Rung, 399 Trouton (Fred. T., F.R.S.), the Solidification of Alloys, 523 Trouton (Dr.), on the Creeping of Liquids and on the Surface Tension of Mixtures, 562 Trow (Prof.), on the Biology and Cytology of Pythium, 613 Trowbridge (Prof. John), Production by Battery Currents of X- rays, 211; some Results obtained with a Storage Battery of Twenty Thousand Cells, 325; Spectra of Hydrogen and Aqueous Vapour, 568 Tschirch (A.), Die Harze und die Harzebehiilter, 316 Tucker (R.), the London Mathematical Society, 294 Tunis: Vinification dans les Pays Chauds—Algérie et Tunisie, J. Dugast, 74 ke Tunnels, the Great Alpine, Francis Fox, 281 Tunnicliffe (Prof. F. W.), the Opening of the Medical Schools, 72 ; Twrbellarien, Monographie der, ii., Tricladida Terricola (Land- planarien), Prof. Ludwig von Graff, F. W. Gamble, 241 Turbine System, Parson’s Steam, H.M.S. Viper, 322 Turner (Prof. H. H.), Photometry of Corona, April 16, 1893, 86 ; Oxford University Observatory, 110; on a Cheap Form XXXVIil + of Micrometer for determining Star Positions on Photographic Plates, 565; on Preparations for Determining the Solar Parallax by Observations of Eros, 565 Turner (Sir Wm., F.R.S.), Craniology of Indian Hill Tribes, 263; Inaugural Address at the Bradford Meeting of the British Association, 440 Tylor (Prof. E. B.), on the Stone Implements of the Natives of Tasmania, 636 Type Specimens, on the Registration of, Rev. J. F. Blake, 587 Tyrer (C. T.), American, Russian and French Turpentines and Terebenes, 322 Tyrol, South, Rock-structures in the Isle of Man and in, Dr. Maria M, Ogilvie Gordon, 7 Udall (W.), 8-Isopropylglutaric Acid and Cis- and Trans- Methylisopropylglutaric Acid, 143 Uhlenhuth (Dr. ‘R.), Preparation of Free Hydroxylamine, 376 Ujfalvy (C. de), the White Huns, 323; Craniology of Irano- Indians, 351 Ullswater, on the Mode of Formation of the Basal Carboniferous Conglomerate of, R. D. Oldham, 588 Ulrich (Prof. G. H. F.), Death and Obituary Notice of, 272 Ulva latissima, on the Relation of to the Pollution of Sea- water by Sewage, Prof. Letts, J. Hawthorn, 611 Ulva latissima, on the Effect of Salts on the CO, Assimilation of, E. A. Newell Arber, 611 Umberto, King, a Recollection of, Prof. W. E. Ayrton, F.R.S., 20 3 i Umow (N.), Objective Presentation of Properties of Polarised Light, 211 Underground Heat, the Rate of Increase of, James Stirling, 555 United States : Chemistry in the United States, Prof. Chandler, 301 ; the Ore Deposits of the United States and Canada, J. F. Kemp, 365; Biological Lectures from the Marine Laboratory at Woods’ Holl for 1899, 411 ; Brief Guide to the Commoner Butterflies of the Northern United States and Canada, Samuel Hubbard Scudder, 411; Pisciculture in the United States, Dr. Whitten, 423; Disastrous Hurricane in the United States, 489 ; Year-book of the United States Department of Agriculture, Prof. R. Warington, F.R.S., 597 Units at the International Electrical Congress, 414 Universe, from Matter to. Man, a New Theory of the, A. Red- cote Dewar, Prof. R. Meldola, F.R.S., 493 Universities : University Intelligence, 22, 45, 69, 91, 118, 141, 165, 188, 209, 238, 259, .284, 311, 334, 380, 431, 463, 492, 519, 543, 591, 614, 638; University of Birmingham, 141; a Modern University,.184, 203;. the New Physical Laboratory at Owens College, 250; the New Senate of the University of London, Rev. Dr. A. Irving, 549 Unveiling of the Huxley Memorial Statue, the, 10 Ursprung der Kultur, der, L. Frobenius, 1o1 Urinary Sediments, Atlas of, Dr. Hermann Riedel, 53 Vaes (F. J.), Valve Motions of Engines, 31 Vallot (J. and H.), the Proposed Mont Blanc Railway, 62 Vallot (J.), Wireless Telegraphy from Free Balloon, 95 ess Page: of Engines, F. J. Vaes, 31; Prof. John Perry, “ROS. Qt Variable Stars : New Variable in Taurus,, Madame Ceraski, | 19; New Variable Star observed in Cepheus, Madame Ceraski, 183 ; New Variable in Herculis, Madame Ceraski, 305; New Variable in Auriga, Dr. T. D. Anderson, 161 ; Variable Stars in Clusters, 352 ; Rousdon Observatory (Devon; Variable Stars, T Cassiopeize and R Cassopeize, Sir C. E.) Peek, 398 Variation in Plants of the Herb Paris, Miss L. Eleanor Jex- Blake, 174 Vaubel (Dr.), the Phenyl Derivative of Diimide, 255 Velocities of Meteors, Dr. W. L. Elkin, 398 Ventilation, on the Physical Effects of Wind in Towns and | their Influence on, J. W. Thomas, 563 Ventosa (V.), the Dark Fringes observed during Total Solar Eclipses, 86 Venturi (M.), Manganous Fluoride, 47 : Venus: Rotation Period of Venus, Prof. A. Belopolsky, 160 ; Jeremiah Horrocks and the. Transit of Venus, 257 Verrill (A. E.), Geology of Bermudas, 92 Vertebrates: Vertebrate Fauna of the Shetland Isles, -A. H. Index Nature, December 13, 1900 Evans and T. E. Buckley, 75; New Subdivision in’ the Vertebrates, Dr. Fiirbinger, 397 ; the Origin of Vertebrates, Deduced from Study of Ammoccetes, Dr. Gaskell, 423; Harrimania maculosa, a New Enteropneustum, W. E. Ritter, 579; Genesis of the Vertebrate Column, [Herbert Spencer, 20 Vesuvius’s Increased Activity due to Exceptional Rainfall, Dr. G. de Lorenzo, 605 Vibrissze on the Fore-paws of Mammals, Frank E, Beddard, F.R.S., 523 Vienna, Jubilee of the Imperial Geological Institute of, 258 Vignon (Léo), the Nitrocelluloses, 520; Reduction of Nitro- cellulose, 544; Oxycelluloses from Cotton, Flax and Hemp, 592; Acetyl Derivatives of Cellulose and Oxycellulose, 616 Village Notes, and some other Papers, Pamela Tennant, 340 — Villard (P.), an Electrical Experiment of M. Jaumann, 47; the Radium Radiation, 47; the Kathode Rays, 191; Discon- tinuity of Kathodic Emission, 240; Permeability of Fused Silica to Hydrogen, 240; the Thermal Properties of Fused Silica, 255 Villiaume (M.), the Carboniferous Strata of Nossi-Bé, 168 Villiger (Herr), the New Hydride of .Benzoylsuperoxide, 202 ; the Action of Permanganate on Hydrogen Peroxide, 629 Vines (Prof. S. H., F.R.S,), Opening Address in Section K of the British Association, 536 > Vinification dans les Pays Chauds—Algérie et Tunisie, J. Dugast, 74 Violle (J.), Actinometric Observations May 28, 1900, 216 { Viper, H.M.S., 322 ri Viscosities of Mixtures of Liquids, Dr. C. H. Lees, 166 during Solar Eclipse of i Viscosity of Gases as affected by Temperature, Lord Rayleigh, 3 F.R.S., 287 Viscosity of Essential Oils, the, E. Dowzard, 322 © ¢ Viticulture: Vinification dans les Pays Chauds—Algérie et Tunisie, J. Dugast, 74 - Vogel (Prof. H. C.), the New Spectrographs for the Potsdam Great Refractor, 459 be te Volcanoes: New Zealand Volcanoes, Dr. B. Friedlander, 180 ; Increased Activity of Vesuvius due to Exceptional Rainfall, Dr. G. de Lorenzo, 605 Volta e la Pila, Prof. Augusto Righi, 293 sa Vorlesungen iiber hydrodynamische’ Fernkrafte nach C. A. Bjerknes’ Theorie, V. Bjerknes’, Prof. G. H. Bryan, s- 9.513 ; Vries (Hugo de), Mutability of @nothera Lamarckiana, 592 Vuillemin (Prof.), on the S.), Obituary Notice of Sir John Bennet Lawes, Bart., R:S., 467 ; Year-book of the United States Department of Pee 5, 597 Vashington (H. S.), the Statement of Rock Analyses, 286 Vater, Air, Water and Food, Ellen H. Richards, Alpheus G. - Woodman, 620 Vater upon Glass, the Action of, Edmund F. Mondy, 246 iter-fowl, Fancy, F. Finn, 547 ter Supply, on the Distribution of Chlorine in West York- shire, and.on the rage: Standard of Acidity for Moorland Waters, W. Ackro' ean” fon | ction of Light on Silver as demon- y earctation, 2 254 a vid), on the Developmental Changes in the i or Ful Shodet on from the Point of View of Anthropology, a 6aaee Ware (J. on the Nidd Valley Waterworks of Bradford, 609 Vez Iron porte. on the Evidence as to the Age of the sand Wound H. Nimier and Ed. Laval, 313 w enness and the, Dr. Edwin G. Dexter, 31 : of the Meteorological Office, the Daily, W. N. Served Maryland 292 Wi fred Mark), Plant Hybrids, 174 (Herbert J.), Further Investigations of Xenia in Maize, xelin (H. W.), Carnations and Picotees for Garden and pice . E.), on a Gymnosporangium from China, 613 ‘Research Laboratories, the, R. J. Friswell, 271 (A.), American, Russian and French Turpentines _ and Terebenes a gpg Verth J.), the Consultative Committee and ” Technical ies 294 Vest (J. H.), yg sabe Acid, 215 Vestermarck (Dr. E.), the Ginn i in Morocco, 499 Vethey’s (E. R.) “Method of Teaching Geography, 591 Whale, Southern Bight (South Africa), Barnacle Growth >1, Whalen, Body Teraporat f, Dr. G. Guldberg, 159 em ure of, Dr. uldberg, 1 Vheat, Rust of, Passat Investigations on, William G. Smith, “an er (W. H.), Sea Coast Destruction and Littoral Drift, ; 400 V : ms Ions, 564 Whipp! (Re $.);: “cat Standard Resistance Coils, 563 Whi ips of the Larva of the Puss Moth, Function of the, W. Ka irby ieley ii A.) Oxime of Mesoxamide, 260 VhitmelIXC , Maximum Duration of a Total Solar Eclipse, 64, 86; Duration of Totality of Solar Eclipses.at Greenwich, 269; on the Seen of Totality of the Solar Eclipse of 28, 1900 Whitaker (f (E. T. ee Report on the Proceedings in Section A _ (Mathematics) at the Meeting of the British Association, 561 wW Vh ~— Ae ), Pisciculture in United States, 423 Whymp (Edward), the Highest Andes, 38 Viglesw orth (L. W.), Racket Feathers, 54 4 ezyn tems (J. Lo -), Continuous Binary A Linearoid Groups, 381 d), on the esis of the Zoospore in q 13; Dictyota, 6 flliamson (J. B. ), the Law cad Practice relating to Letter "Patent for Inventions, 618 (Dr. J.), on the Construction of Magic Squares, 561 rears S.), Experiments on Striated Discharges, 240 A. P.), Magnetic Screening for Galvanometers, 211 (ND. H.), the Climate of San Francisco, 18 ok Albert), the Great Smoke Cloud of the North gland and its Influence on Plants, 611 a (C. T. R.), Atmos noone Electricity, 149 n (E.), on the Glacial Phenomena of the West Riding, 588 (Dr. Gregg), Eggs and Embryos of Ornithorhynchus, 589 m (W. , Astronomical Work at Daramona Observ- 7 ietomet Tests, Prof. C. F. Marvin, 280 finkel ose ta), Influence of ‘Spark- -gap on Generation of ntgen Rays, 568 t Wire Fence Telephony in Indiana, 374 Wireless Telegraphy: Maximum Sensitiveness in Coherers, A. Blondell and G. Dobkévitch, 23; Wireless Telegraphy from Free Balloon, J. Vallot and J. and L. Lecarme, 95 ; Wireless Telegraphy in French Navy, 396; Wireless Tele- graphy and Hertzian Waves, S. R. Bottone, 522; Human Body as Screen in Wireless Telegraphy, E. Guarini and F. Poncelet, 568 Wisconsin, the Geography of the Regions about Devil’s Lake and the Dalles of the, Prof, R. D; Salisbury, W. W. Atwood, 172 Wislicenus (W. F.), Astronomischer Jahresbericht, 553 Wolff (Jules), a New Indicator in Acidimetry, 23 Wood (Butler), on the Prehistoric Antiquities of Rumbald’s Moor (near Bradford), 637; on the Preservation of Local Antiquities, 637 Wood (Prof. R. W.), Application of Strize Method to Illumin- ation of Objects, 166; the Photography of Sound Waves, 342; Thos. Thorp’s Modification of Wood’s Diffraction Process of Colour Photography, 580 Woods’ Holl, U.S.A., Biological Lectures from the Marine Laboratory at, for 1899, 411 Woodall (H. J.), on the Determination of Successive High Primes, 561 Woodhead (T. W.), on the Structure of the Root-nodules of Alnus glutinosa, 613 Woodman (Alpheus G.), Air, Water and Food, 620 Woollen (Henry), the Reform of Mathematical bh a 436 Working Silica in the Oxy-gas eh ys Flame, W. A. Shen- stone, F.R.S., and H. G. Lacell, 20 Worms: the ‘‘ Tall Army Worm,” F. H. Chittenden, 109 ; Syllis Vivipara, E. S. Goodrich, 215; Didymorchis, Prof. W. A. Haswell, F.R.S., 640 Worsdell (W. C.), on the Origin of Modern Cycads, 612 Worthington (Prof. A. M., F.R.S.), an Optical Phenomenon, 293 Wounds, Weapons and, H. Nimier and Ed. Laval, 313 Writing in Ancient Egypt, on the System of, F. Tl. Griffiths, 634 34 Writing Ink, Dr. T. E. Thorpe, 554 Wyatt (C. W. ), British Birds, 100 Xenia in Maize, Further Investigations of, Herbert J. Webber, 601 Xingu, Second Expedition to Head Waters of, Dr. Hermann Meyer, 36 Yatabe (Prof. Kyokichi), Death of, 15 Yates (J.), Brazilin (iv.), 71; Heematoxylin (Wier Yorkshire: Extension of the Dyeing Depastnent a Yorkshire College, 115; on the Distribution of Chlorine in West York- shire, and on the Limiting Standard of Acidity for Moorland Waters, W. Ackroyd, 566; on the Potholes and Caves of the Mountain Limestone. District of North-west Yorkshire, S. W. Cuttriss, 587 ; on the Glacial Phenomena of the West Riding, Dr. Monckman, E. Wilson, A. Jowett, H. B. Muff, 588; on the Glaciation of the East Riding, J. W. Stather, 588 ; on the Anthropology of West Yorkshire, Dr. John Beddoe, 63 53 on some Yorkshire Earthworks, Mrs. Armitage, 637 Young (Mr.), the Nest- -building Brook Lamprey, 500 Young (Prof. S.), the Law of Cailletet and Mathias and the Critical Density, 214 Young (W. J.), the aa-88-tetramethylglutaric Acids, 143 Yule (G. U.), Correlation between Life-duration and Number of Offspring, 381 Zeiller (R.), Eléments de Paléobotanique, 315 Zenker (Wilhelm), Lehrbuch der Photochromie (Photographie der Natiirlichen Farben), 316 it pana s(Count von), Navigable Balloon, 180, 231, 396, 626 ogy: Zoological Society, 94, 119, 261 ; Reports for 1899, 16; Barnacle-growth on Southern Bight Whale, Dr. R. Marloth, 19: Additions to Zoological Paka, 19, 37, 61, 64, 85, 110, 137, 160, 183, 202, 233, 256, 275,» 304, 324, 351, 376, 397, 425 459, 491, 501, 534, 556, 581, 606, 629 ; a Walk through the Zoological Gardens, F. G. Afialo, 466 ; the Sub-species of Giraffe, 35; the Wood Bison, J. A. xl Index r Nature, _ December 13, 1900 Allen, 35; a Third Specimen of the: Extinet Dromaius ater, Vieillot, found in the Royal Zoological Museum, Florence, Prof. Henry H. Giglioli, 102 ; Specimens of Dromazus ater, Prof. Alfred Newton, F/R.S., 151; Traité de Zoologie Con- crete, t. ii. 1" partie, Mésozoaires-Spongiaires, Yves Delage and Edgard Hérouard, 122; Ueber den Bau und die Entwick- lung der Linse, Dr. Carl Rabl, 125 ; Field-mice (North American Voles), V. Bailey, 232; Monographie der Turbel- larien (ii.), Tricladida Terricola (Landplanarien), Prof. Lud- wig von Graff, F. W. Gamble, 241; Sette Anni di Caccia Grossa é, Note di Viaggio in America, Asia, Africa Europa, Count Felice Scheibler, 244; Death and Obituary Notice of Walter Percy Sladen, 256 ; the Reparative Power of the Pond- mussel, H. H. Bloomer, 274; the Hearts of Lungless Sala- manders, Dr. H. L. Bruner, 274; Orcamnus Kennedyi, a New American Mountain Antelope, D. G. Elliott, 321; the Cruise and Deep-sea Exploration of the Szsoga in the Indian Archipelago, 327 ; Change of Feeding Habits of Rhinoceros- birds in British East Africa, Captain Hinde, Prof. E. Ray Zschorner (Herr), the Textile Uses of Peat, 108 = Lankester, F.R.S., 366 ; Zoological Gardens of (hizeh 3745 Textbook of Zoology, Treated from a Biological Standpoint,. O. Schmeil, 386; Death of Dr. John Anderson, F.R.S., 3943. Obituary Notice of Dr. John Anderson, F.RS., con a _ Subdivision of Vertebrates, Dr. Fiirbringer, 397 ; Correlation between Tertiary Mammalian Horizons of Europe and America, Prof. H. F. Osborn, 4243 Introduction to Zoology, C. B. Davenport, Gertrude C. Davenport, 4333; Vibrisse on’ the Forepaws of Mammals, Frank E. Beddard, F.R.S., 523; the Fauna of South Africa, Mammals, W. L. ter, 521; a Treatise on Zoology, 545; Pflanzen und Tierver- - breitung, Prof,, Alfred Kirchhoff; Dr. Otto Stapf, 569; Arctic Musk Ox to be Acclimatised in Sweden, 577; Aarrimania Matculosa, a New Enteropneustum, W. E. Ritter, 579 ; Ante- lopes and their Recognition Marks, R. I. P oh,; the Foundations of Zoology, William Keith Brooks, 593; the White Rhinoceros on the Upper Nile, Oldfield Thomas, 599; Genesis of the Vertebrate Column, Herbert Spencer, 620 Resi, RICHARD CLAY AND SONS, LIMITED, LONDON AND BUNGAY. _ as the grandest of the Alaskan Chain. A WEEKLY ILLUSTRATED JOURNAL OF- SCIENCE. ** To the solid ground Of Nature trusts the mind which builds for aye.” —WoRDSWORTH. THURSDAY, MAY 3, 1900. MOUNT ST. ELIAS. La spedizione di sua Altezza Reale il Principe Luigi _ Amedeo di Savoia, Duca degli Abruzzi al Monte Sant’ _ Elia (Alaska) 1897. Da Dottore Filippo de Filippi ; 2 illustrata da Vittorio Sella. Pp. xvii + 273; with 34 =.= 4 _ plates, 4 panoramic views, 2 maps and 115 figures in text. A beneficio delle Guide Alpine Italiane. (Milano: U. Hoepli, 1900.) OUNT ST. ELIAS, with an altitude, as now ascer- tained, of 18,092 feet, stands—a majestic corner- ' post—exactly at the angle where the Alaskan boundary- line ceases to run parallel to the coast and strikes north- ward along the 14Ist meridian, and its summit is now generally acknowledged to lie on the Canadian side of the frontier. Whether it maintain its supposed pre- eminence among the mountains of the North American continent, or whether it eventually prove to be overtopped by Mount Logan, its great neighbour on the north, or, as the most recent explorations seem to indicate, by Mount McKinley, one of the yet unvisited peaks to the west- ward, it must, from its commanding position on the verge of the open ocean, always impress the imagination In recalling the fact that the mountain was for long erroneously supposed -to be a volcano, Mr. Douglas Freshfield has told us, on the authority of the poet himself, that Tennyson had Mount St. Elias in mind when he described the land- scape of a volcano among snow as one of the pictures on the walls of “The Palace of Art” | (see The Alpine { Journal, vol. xix. p. 174). So far as our present knowledge goes, nowhere else on the face of the globe is there so great a vertical range of snow and ice as among these Alaskan mountains. On Mount St. Elias the permanent snow-line comes down to within about 3000 feet of the sea, while the enormous glaciers nourished by the excessive humidity of the climate not only descend to sea-level, but unite and spread out in a vast plain of ice covering an estimated area of 1500 square miles between the foot of the mountain and the ocean. NO. 1592, VOL. 62] Thus entrenched in ice sheets, so that even its base _ is defended, it is not surprising that the mountain with- stood several attacks before it was conquered. The first | attempt was made, in 1886, by Messrs. Libbey, Schwatka and Seton-Karr ; the next, in 1888, by Messrs. Topham, Broke and Williams ; the third and fourth, by Prof. I. C. Russell, in 1890 and 1891 ; and the fifth, by Prof. H. G. Biyant, in 1897, almost simultaneously with the successful Italian expedition. Of these explorers, Prof. Russell achieved in every way the most important results, bad weather alone preventing his complete success in 1891, after an altitude of 14,500 feet had been attained and the practicability of the ascent had been demonstrated. Prof. Russell correctly determined the height of the mountain, and carried out investigations upon its physical charac- teristics which proved of high scientific importance. Lieut. Seton-Karr had previously called attention to the sin- gular condition of the glaciers at the foot of the moun- tain, where immense piles of morainic debris, in places overgrown with dense vegetation, hide the marginal surface of the ice ; but it was not until Prof. Russell published his more adequate descriptions that geologists fully recog- nised the value of the phenomena of the “ piedmont ” ice in elucidating the conditions of ice-covered lowlands in general during the Glacial Period, and especially during its closing stages. So closely has Prof. Russell’s name become associated with the mountain, that one cannot _ stifle a regret that the satisfaction of being first upon the | for consolation to Mount St. Elias. | i summit did not fall to his lot. In the volume before us, however, we are glad to find a graceful acknowledgment of the work of previous explorers, in a chapter having for its motto this quotation, from Mr. D. Freshfield :— “Those who went first and opened the way are not less entitled to credit than those who came afterwards and reaped the fruit of their predecessors’ labours.” The leader of the Italian expedition, H.R.H. Prince Louis of Savoy, in planning an ascent higher than the Alps could offer, had at first contemplated an attack upon one of the great peaks of the Himalayas. Forced by un- favourable circumstances to abandon this idea, he turned He could not have selected a more princely amusement, or a better exercise in skilful organisation and patient endurance. That he B 2 NATURE Niel (May 3, 1900 achieved his object without mishap, and that he and his little band of fellow-countrymen had the patriotic satis- faction of planting the Italian flag on a summit assuredly never before trodden by the foot of man, was due to the careful forethought with which all the preliminary arrangements of the expedition were planned. A graphic account of the ascent was communicated by one of the party, Dr. Filippo de Filippi, to the English Alpine Club a few months afterwards, and was published in the A/pine Journal for May 1898. As chronicler of the expedition, Dr. Filippi has now expanded his story in the handsome and portly volume before us, in which he deals at full length with the conditions of the climb, and describes in glowing language the wild grandeur of the scenery. The beautiful photogravure plates and the illustrations in the letterpress, with which the book is so bountifully provided, are reproduced from photographs taken, for the most part, by Vittorio Sella, who was also of the party, and these are especially valuable as a faithful and permanent record of the physical characters of this seldom-visited region, and particularly of the untraversed wilderness of snow and mountain peaks to the northward of St. Elias. Among many that are excellent, there is one plate (p. 136), showing the snowy eastern spurs of St. Elias delicately fluted by innumerable avalanches, which seems to us peculiarly impressive. Of the ten chapters of the book, only five deal with the actual ascent; the first three, and also the final chapter, are devoted to the outward and homeward journeys ; the fourth to the previous history of the mountain; and appendices, covering seventy-four pages, to the equipment and scientific results of the expedition. As Russell had foretold, the mountaineering difficulties encountered during the climb were slight, and the ad- venture resolved itself into a long, arduous struggle up- ward for thirty days, usually in wretched weather, over interminable snow-fields and glaciers. The character of the climb was pithily given by one of the guides, in answer to inquiries after his return :—“ C’est comme le Breithorn, seulement beaucoup plus haut.” The ex- pedition, consisting of the Prince with four compatriots, five Italian guides, and ten Americans who acted as porters, landed safely near Point Manby, at the foot of the moraine of the Malaspina ice-field, on the evening of June 23, and on July 1 started forward across the ice, all subsequent encampments being upon snow. ‘Traversing the Malaspina in three days, partly in dense fog, the party struck upward along the eastern flank of its great tributary the Seward Glacier, which was afterwards crossed, and the Agassiz Glacier gained, at an altitude of only 3480 feet, by Russell’s previous route through the Dome Pass, on July 13. Thence the explorers forced their way slowly up the Newton Glacier, through laby- rinths of crevasses and ice-falls, for thirteen days, of which only three were fine. Fortunately the fog and snow which fell to their lot were unaccompanied by either wind or electrical disturbance; nor did the party sufferfrom cold, the temperature ranging steadily between 25° and 35° F. Their progress along this glacier averaged only about I mile 500 yards daily. At this stage they received news that the expedition led by Prof. Bryant, which had set out a few days ahead of them, had been conipelled to NO. 1592, VOL. 62] return to the coast owing to the illness of one of its © members, after having reached the foot of the Newton Glacier. The Italians were greatly impressed with the vivid colouring of the névé and ice even in the thickest weather, the tints ranging from brilliant turquoise and azure to the deepest blue, without the greenish tinge familiar to them in the Alps. This and the weird atmospheric effects in these mountain solitudes are eloquently described by Dr. Filippi. Having left the American porters behind, and estab- lished theit advance camp on the col at the head of the Newton valley, at an altitude of 12,287 feet, the success of the mountaineers depended solely upon the weather. Fortunately this proved more favourable than at the lower elevations, and they were able, without delay, to attack the summit. It was absolutely calm and clear on July 31, when after a heavy climb of 5800 feet from their last bivouac, during which the majority of the party were more or less affected by mountain-sickness,. the Prince and his comrades reached the crest just before noon. The thermometer registered a temperature of 10'5° F., and the barometer stood at 15 inches 15 lines. The height of the mountain as determined by the barometer was 18,092 feet, which is in remarkably close ~ agreement with Russell’s figures, 18,100 feet, obtained by triangulation. From the summit they saw the majestic mass of Mount Logan to the north-eastward, sinking north-westward into a very intricate lower chain, while to the westward was a chaos of low ridges, névés and glaciers, overtopped at a distance of some hundred miles or so by three great snowy giants as yet unexplored, which proffer substantial work for the future. Then came the descent and the return to the coast, which was safely reached in ten days. Some of the lower ridges overlooking the Malaspina Glacier, where they had previously found snow, were now knee-deep in blossom- ing plants. The appendices to the volume are, from a scientific standpoint, not particularly important. The first de- scribes the equipment of the expedition in detail, and should be of service to explorers of similar regions. The excellent plan was adopted of packing the supplies in tin boxes, each containing sufficient material of every kind for twenty-four hours. The second appendix consists of meteorological tables, giving the simultaneous observ- ations made daily between June 25 and August 3 by the expedition, and by the Rev. C. J. Hendricksen, of the Swedish Mission at Yakutat, at the foot of the mountain. The third deals with the health of the party. The absence of colds, rheumatism, or other ill results from the trying conditions of the journey is made the subject of comment ; and the symptoms which effected most of the explorers during the final stages of the ascent are fully discussed, but it is thought that these might be in part attributed to excitement and want of sleep. The only case of real illness was that of one of the American > porters, who, after having passed a night, during the return, on ground covered by vegetation, on the Hitchcock Hills, was seized with an attack of malaria while cross- ing the Malaspina Glacier. The terrible plague of mosquitoes on the coastal strip of forest is especially May 3, 1900] NATURE 4 o _ mentioned. Another appendix, on the zoological material, __ is principally devoted to the description of a new arachnid and of a new oligochete annelid collected on the snow. _ An appendix on the rocks and minerals is for the most _ part a discussion of Russell’s previous work, but contains _ the information that the outcrops near the summit of the mountain consist of typical diorite passing: locally into hornblendite. The ascent of Mount St. Elias was an achievement worthy of a prince, and this handsome volume is worthy of the achievement. Beautifully printed, magnificently illustrated and tastefully bound, it reflects credit upon all concerned in its production. But (alas! the inevitable but !) it has no index. oo Wik A: HYDROD YNAMICAL THEORY OF ACTION ies AT A DISTANCE. learn tiber hydrodynamische Fernkrifte nach _ CC. A. Bjerknes’ Theorie. Von V. Bjerknes. Band i. iy ’p- 338 ; with jofigures. (Leipzig : Johann Ambrosius arth, 1900.) HEORIES of matter—or should we not rather call 4 them theories of force, since, in “explaining” the perties of matter, we are mainly Soaceree with those nifestations which we say are due to “ force ”—natur- y fall into two distinct classes. The first class includes ose hypotheses which regard continuous matter as ing built up of discrete particles, and the direct action of finite portions of matter as being due to action _ ata distance of these particles. The second class in- _ cludes those hypotheses which regard these particles as _ singularities in a continuous medium, and which attri- _ bute their action at a distance to the direct agency of _ the medium. In a certain sense, these two theories are _ reciprocal. In both, certain attributes are localised at _ points, and it is necessary to bridge over the distance _ between these points. According to the first hypo- Pe thesis, a field of force pervades the intervening gaps ; according to the second, they are filled with a dis- tribution of mass. The belief that both hypotheses are _ possible, enables us to imagine that there may be no limit to the smallness of the scale on which Nature con- ducts her operations, the phenomena occurring in any be; region being made to depend in their turn on others oc- _ ¢urring in the far more minute regions which are regarded __as constituting its ultimate elements, and these elements 4 ‘being in turn capable of further subdivision, and so on indefinitely. " In 1852, Lejeune-Dirichlet, being unacquainted with _ the works of Green and Stokes on this subject, published _ @ paper containing the solution of the problem of the motion of a sphere in an incompressible fluid. In a course of lectures given at Gottingen in 1855-56, Dirich- _ let gave the corresponding solution for a sphere fixed in ___ a Steady current, and invited his pupils to attempt the Solution for an ellipsoid. Among these pupils were _ Schering, who solved the problem, and C. A. Bjerknes, ___who gave a generalisation for space of 7 dimensions. At this time the doctrine of action at a distance may have been said to be at its zenith, and Géttingen had given birth only a few years previously to the last brilliant pro- duct of that doctrine, Weber’s Law. As a foreigner, NO. 1592, VOL, 62] Bjerknes was, however, less influenced by the views then prevailing in the Géttingen school, and a volume of Euler’s correspondence falling into his hands caused him to oppose the doctrine of action ata distance. A fresh light was thrown on the hypothesis of a continuous all- pervading medium by Dirichlet’s discovery that a sphere moving in an incompressible perfect fluid experiences no retardation from the fluid, and an impetus was given to Bjerknes to develop Dirichlet’s investigations in a direction widely differing from anything then contem- plated by his professor. From the effects of purely translational motions of two spheres, Bjerknes was led on to consider the mutual actions of two pulsating spheres, and discovered that such spheres attract or repel one another according as their phases are the same or opposite, the law of force being that of the inverse square. Bjerknes found, © moreover, that the expressions for the forces acting on a sphere moving in liquid consisted of two terms, which he distinguished as “inductional forces” and “ energy forces,” a result which he arrived at by con- sidering the expressions for the pressures on the spheres, but which might have been found more readily had Thomson and Tait’s application of Hamilton’s principle been then known to him. About 1875, Bjerknes pub- lished a paper in which he established the hydro- dynamical law of action and reaction, and the analogy with electric and magnetic action at a distance ; and in the following year he gave an independent investigation based on the Hamiltonian principle. From 1875 onwards, Bjerknes appears to have occu- pied himself chiefly with the terms of lowest order in the expressions for the forces ; and in 1878 he discovered the law of rotation for oscillating spheres. Since then he seems to have devoted his attention mainly to electric and magnetic analogies, and in the middle of his eightieth year he completed the discussion of the “ inductional forces,” and by this means pushed the analogy between hydrodynamic action at a distance and electromagnetic phenomena as far as it could be pushed without depart- ing from the fundamental hypotheses. A complete account of these investigations was never published, and it remained for his son, Prof. V. Bjerknes, to embody them in the present volume. For three years Prof. V. Bjerknes has delivered courses of lectures on the subject at the University of Stockholm, and the book is practically based on these lectures. It is divided into four parts : the first, an introductory part, dealing with the general principles of vector fields and hydro- dynamical equations ; the second, dealing with the motion of the liquid surrounding a system of moving spheres treated from a kinematical standpoint ; the third, dealing with the influence of the pressures on the motion of the spheres themselves ; and the fourth, with the theory of apparent actions at a distance, of hydrodynamical origin. In the second part, the diagrams of the stream lines due to a moving, oscillating or pulsating sphere in various fields of force are noticeable for their elegance. It is to be wished that the courses of lectures which Prof. V. Bjerknes delivered on the work of his father could be taken as models of what university lectures should be, for the development of a theory such as the present affords an excellent and not difficult insight into 4 NATURE [May 3, 1900 the methods of mathematical analysis. So long as our English university colleges are, to a great extent, in the hands of oligarchies, who attach more importance to such trifles as the handwriting and spelling of matriculation or medical preliminary students than to higher scientific study, such courses of training will only be accessible to those who seek them in countries more enlightened in the matter of scientific education than Great Britain. We can readily imagine that Bjerknes’ theories may find their way into many transatlantic universities among the “classics of science.” They have, indeed, no small claim to be regarded as classical. It is true, as Prof. V. Bjerknes points out, that his father’s and Kirchhoff s work in several cases somewhat overlapped, but it would ap- pear that in developing the theory of motion of spheres in liquids as a basis for explaining the properties of matter, Bjerknes stood entirely on ground of his own making. Other theories involving the conception of a continuous medium have sprung up ; we have had the vortex-atom theory before us, and we now find it néces- sary to postulate the existence of an ether, whose attri- butes resemble those of an elastic solid rather than a fluid. At the present time few will regard the hypothesis of pulsating spheres as of more than classical interest. As having been first developed in the face of a prevalent belief in the doctrine of action at a distance, and as in- genious methods of replacing this action at a distance by the action of an intervening medium, the application of the term “classical” to these investigations of C. A. Bjerknes may not be altogether without justification. : G. H. BRYAN. PHOTO-MICROGRAPHY. Photo-micrography. By Dr. Edmund J. Spitta. Pp. xi + 163, (London: The Scientific Press, Ltd., 1899.) A QUARTER of a century has now elapsed since the renaissance of the art and science of photo- micrography. Up to that time much of the best work in this direction was accomplished in America by Lieut.- Colonel Woodward, of Washington, whose successful photographs of diatoms excited the admiration of all microscopists who saw in his productions the faithful delineations of those “markings” on them; on which many hours of microscopical manipulation had been spent in bringing their delicate tracery to a correct definition. From that time to the present the fascination of transferring the minutest details of histological and biological science to the photographic plate has found many ardent votaries, with the result of improved apparatus and lenses corrected to such a degree of accuracy for this work that sharp and well-defined images can now be obtained in a manner that would have been a boon and a revelation to workers twenty- five years ago. Amongst the latest exponents of this branch of micro- scopical science we must name that of the author of the book under consideration. Dr. Spitta in this work on photo-micrography has dealt with the subject very fully and from a scientific standpoint, so that the student who takes up this branch of the photographic art is thoroughly furnished with all NO. 1592, VOL. 62] the information necessary to the accomplishment of perfect work, leaving, however, only that amount of — personal experience to be obtained and which will be demanded of every one who first embarks on this art, and without which he is liable to be landed in many difficulties. In Chapter i. the author deals with illuminants, a by no means unimportant point for consideration ; for although we have several good illuminants for low power work, it is when we come to work with the highest power objectives that either the lime-light or that of the electric arc lamp must be employed to produce the best possible results. These lights are not always readily accessible ; but as the aspiring student most probably will try his ’prentice hand on low power work, the single wick lamp. burning the best paraffin oil will furnish him with a light sufficiently rich in actinic rays that, provided the proper length of exposure be given, will result in a very suc- cessful negative. Dr. Spitta in Chapter ii. proceeds to. give directions for obtaining photo-micrographs by low power objectives, dealing with this in such a lucid manner that the student who closely follows his clear _ description cannot fail in being rewarded by satisfactory results, being assisted in his work by algebraical formulee and illustrations of simple but effective apparatus. : Chapter iii. deals with medium power photo-micro- graphy, and contains some very necessary cautions relative to the avoidance of vibrations in the apparatus, for, as the author observes, “‘when photographing at 1ooo diameters, 1/1000 of an inch shake in the specimen makes a shift'of one inch in the photographic plate,” or he might have said in the photographic zmage ,; therefore the absolute necessity of the most perfect stability, not only in the apparatus but even in the studio, can be readily understood and provided for—even a heavy tread on the floor of an adjoining room being sufficient to dis- — turb the steadiness of the optical arrangement. Dr. Spitta describes different methods whereby this difficulty may be overcome. Allowance must also be made for the | expansion of the metal of the microscope from the heat of the illuminant, for even in low power work, say of 250 diameters, the heat from the oil lamp must not be con- sidered a negligible quantity, and must be considered so far that no photographic exposure should be attempted till the metal has had time to become fully expanded. Chapter iv. is overloaded with woodcuts of different makes of microscopes valuable as affording the student a choice of various instruments, but by no means neces- sary to his work, as any one of these is sufficient for attaining good medium power work. This chapter also deals with the subject of lenses and eyepieces and the accessory fittings of the microscope generally ; but there is one point that must have the greatest attention, and that is the fine adjustment, and Dr. Spitta does well in laying great stress upon its importance ; nothing is more embarrassing to the operator, when perhaps everything else in the apparatus is working well, to find that the fine adjustment by which he hopes to obtain that sharp definition without which his work is valueless, is alto- gether useless from faulty construction, and Dr. Spitta describes the various forms of this all-important addition to the photo-micrographic installation. May 3, 1900] NATURE 5 _ The remaining three chapters of this work treat of ; Peach subjects as substage fittings, coloured screens, and the various subsidiary apparatus useful in high power _ or “critical” photo-micrography. These particulars do not bear the condensation that is necessitated by the "space allotted to this report, but are full of information for the guidance of the photo- -micrographic student and j will materially assist him in his work. A valuable feature _ is included in the appendices, and is headed “ 25 common _ faults in photo-micrography ; their causes and means of _ cure”; by a reference to p. 152 every error that may present itself in the beginner’s work is described, the reason for it given, and the remedy indicated. Added 1d of the book are five plates of representative ‘k in photo-micrography, the work of the author, while pened index brings the work to a conclusion. -E KINGSLEY S LIFE AND WRITINGS. on Sport and Travel. By George Henry Kings- . With a memoir by his daughter, Mary H. ley. Pp. viii + 544. (London: Macmillan and ‘Ltd., 1900.) S is a book, we venture to think, that most readers will lay down with deep regret—regret that a very d writer, an acute observer, and an ardent sports- (in the best sense of the word) should have thed so little of his experiences to the world. ce Kingsley, a member of a clever family (or, his biographer will have it, a member of a clever n of an ancient family), was evidently a man far above the ordinary intellectual level, and enjoyed ivalled opportunities of adding to our store of know- : by travel in distant lands at a time when they were ratio: unspoiled by the march of civilisation. Unfortu- however, he seems to have been devoid of those zular and methodical habits of work by which alone results of a life of exploration and travel can be erly recorded, and we have consequently to be : with mere scraps and fragments of a vast store ‘rom such scraps and fragments as the editor, who is a great extent also the author, of the present volume has been able to save from oblivion, we-glean how keen an Sbserver and how true a lover of nature was Dr. Kingsley. Whether among the coral-girt isles of the South Pacific, _they were yet in great part free from the “ beach- nber,” or on the prairies of the “ wild west,” at a time the bison were still to be numbered by hundreds, t by thousands, his descriptions of scenery and s are life-like pictures. e greater part of the account of the author's travels en in the memoir by his daughter, which occupies than a third of the whole volume, and is, in great in the form of letters or of extracts from the . And here we take the opportunity of expressing sense of the excellent manner in which Miss Kingsley —herself a traveller and writer of world-wide repute— ha as discharged what must evidently have been a task of " ordinary difficulty. ‘ingsley (in company with the late Lord Pembroke) NO. 1592, VOL. 62| to a great extent, populated by their native denizens. visited the South Seas in the late “sixties”—a time when yachting in those latitudes had not come into vogue; and such descriptions as he has left of the natives and natural products only make us regret that they were not fuller. Fish seem especially to have at- tracted his attention; but when he states that he dis- believes the story of a Chaetodon' shooting water at a fly, the editor should have added that the only fish which performs this feat is a species of Zoxofes, whose southern range only extends to North Australia, so that it could not have come under the ken of the author. The travels in Canada and the United States were undertaken in company with Lord Dunraven, between 1870 and 1875; parts of them being described by the latter in “The Great Divide.” Of the various collected papers of Dr. Kingsley, perhaps the most interesting to the naturalist is the one entitled “ Among the Sharks and Whales.” Here the author graphically describes, as an eye-witness, certain encounters between the larger Cetaceans and smaller members of the same order, together, perhaps, with other denizens of the deep. We are told, for instance, how some of these creatures, of thirty feet or so in length, were seen to leap clean out of the water, and then to fall with a sounding “smack” that could be heard half a mile off. But whether the creatures in question were attacking a whale, or leaping for mere fun, the author was unable to determine. Neither could he say definitely whether or no they were “killers.” And he seems, indeed, to be somewhat confused between “ killers.” and “threshers” ; although, as to the sharks commonly called by the latter name, he denies that they ever attack whales, adding that he has never even known a shark of any kind throw itself out of the water. RL. OUR BOOK SHELF. irrigation and Drainage, Principles and Practice of, their Cultural Phases. By F. H. King, Professor of Agricultural Physics in the University of Wisconsin, author of “The Soil.” The Rural Science Series. Pp. xxi + 502. (New York: The Macmillan Company London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1899.) THE object of this book, as stated in its preface, is “to present, in a broad yet specific way, the fundamental principles which underlie the methods of culture by irri- gation and drainage,” and we may say that we consider the author successfully does this. The introductory chapter treats of the importance of water in cultivation, and in it a number of interesting ex- periments on the amount of water absorbed by cereals and other plants, and the weight of dry matter produced are described, from which it appears that with cereals the amount of water used varies from about 300 to 500 lbs. per pound of dry matter produced. The general result of these experiments is considered to show “that well- drained lands in Wisconsin, and in other countries having similar climatic conditions, are not supplied naturally with as much water during the growing season as most crops are capable of utilising, and hence that all methods of tillage which are wasteful of soil moisture detract by so much from the yield per acre.” 1 The editor avows a difficulty i in deciphering some of the MS. which came into her hands, and therefore suggests the ey of a certain amount of mis-spelling. Some naturalist ee would, however, doubtless have corrected the following errors, viz.:—P. 61, Chez tons for Chaetod. p. 222, Haroldus for Harelda; p. 414, Mesnbions australis for Balaena australis ; p. 421, Ovules and Mutras for Olives and Mitras ; 3 and p. 424 Orcus for Orca. 6 NATURE [May 3, 1900 Similar experiments have been made with other crops, as, for instance, potatoes, and the importance of such experiments is, as stated further on in the book, “ because only such knowledge as this can show how economical or how wasteful our methods of tillage may be, and how nearly we are realising the largest profits which are possible to the business,” ahha The conditions of rainfall under which irrigation is practised in different parts of the world are discussed, and the means of “ conserving the moisture of the subsoil” by proper tillage pointed out. Anexcellent account is given of the depth of root penetration in the soil, which is illus- trated, as is the rest of the book, by some very good and instructive engravings. A short account is given of sewage irrigation ; and the idea that the milk of cows fed on sewage produce is in any way detrimental is disposed of by quotations from Sir Henry Littlejohn, and from Mr. Spier, the Scottish Dairy Commissioner. Methods of diverting streams for irrigation are carefully described and fully illustrated, as also are the methods of applying the water to the ground. In Part ii. (a small portion at the end of the book) the necessity for soil drainage is insisted on, and the methods of carrying it out are described. The book altogether is very readable, although the spelling of some of the words seems curious to an English reader. It is also well printed, and the only misprint noticed is on p. 403, where the word “ denitrification ” is used instead of “ nitrification.” Wee C; The Refraction of the Eye, including a Complete Treatise on Ophthalmometry. A Clinical Text-book for Students and Practitioners. By A. Edward Davis, A.M., M.D. Pp. 431. (New York: The Macmillan Co., 1900.) THIS volume should prove a valuable addition to the library of the ophthalmic surgeon, for though several books on retinoscopy have been published, this is the only work on ophthalmometry yet written in English. It comprises a description of Javal and Schiétz’s modi- fication of Helmholtz’s ophthalmometer, together with full instructions in the use of the instrument ; the necessity of forming a clear mental picture of the state of the eye from the results of an experiment being rightly insisted upon. One hundred and fifty illustrative cases are included in the text, and a comprehensive index has been ap- pended, so that the student can readily find a parallel to any case which may give him trouble. One hundred and nineteen diagrams, including a clear and well-drawn woodcut of the ophthalmometer of Javal and Schiétz, are distributed throughout the text. Although the advantages which may be gained by the use of the ophthalmometer are insisted upon, the author has taken great pains to indicate the limitations of its usefulness. By its aid we may determine with accuracy the radii of curvature of the cornea in various meridians ; but the author endorses the generally accepted opinion that there is no definite relation between the curvature of the cornea and the refractive condition of the eye, as far as hypermetropia or myopia are concerned. Myopia usually depends upon an elongation, and hypermetropia upon a shortening of the axis of vision. Strangely enough, in cases of extreme myopia, a somewhat flat- tened cornea is generally met with. Nevertheless, in cases of simple hypermetropia and myopia, the ophthal- mometer eliminates the question of corneal astigmatism. The routine of examination followed by the author is (1) use the ophthalmometer ; (2) use trial lenses and test cards ; (3) use the ophthalmoscope ; (4) if after two tests on different days the result is still unsatisfactory, employ a mydriatic and use the retinoscope in addition to the other tests. It is stated that (1) to (3) suffice for 99 per cent. of uncomplicated cases. In the use of test glasses, it is recommended that a NO. 1592. VOL. 62] series of positive lenses, gradually increasing in power, should first be employed: By this means spasmodic ac- commodation is avoided. The fact that the use of atropine — can so often be dispensed with is of great importance, since many men might hesitate to have their eyes ex- amined if this necessitated a temporary cessation of their business duties. A number of instructive cases are included, showing the serious results which may follow on the prescription of unsuitable glasses for a patient. Not only severe pain and inability to use the eyes for any length of time, but even personal disfigurement may be produced. Thus a case is recorded (p. 307) of a patient whose eyes were being forced into a divergent squint by the use of pris- matic glasses. After a careful examination, the prisms were discarded and suitable lenses were ordered, with the result that, after two weeks, complete comfort and the possibility of working with satisfaction were en- joyed for the first time for many years. Be, Altogether this book gives us a good idea of the vast advantages to the human race which have resulted from the optical researches of Helmholtz, culminating in the invention of the ophthalmometer and the ophthalmoscope. BE... A Key to the Birds of Australia and Tasmania, with their Geographical Distribution in Australia. By R. Hall. Pp. xii+ 116; plate and map. (Melbourne: Mullen and Slade ; London: Dulau and Co., 1899.) WERE it nothing more than a synopsis of Australian © birds, with just sufficient in the way of description to enable the different species to be easily recognised, this well-printed little ‘‘ Key” would be to a great extent of merely local interest. But since the author has very wisely made geographical distribution its leading feature, the work appeals to a much wider circle of students than would otherwise have been the case. In his Report on the Zoology of the Horn Expedition, Prof. Baldwin Spencer recently divided Australia into three zoological sub-regions ; namely, (1) the Torresian, embracing the northern and eastern districts as far as South Queensland ; (2) the Barsian, comprising eastern New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania ; and (3) the Eyrean, including the remainder of the mainland. These sub-regions are further split up into “areas,” and the fact that bird-distribution accords with sucha parcelling- — out of the continent from other lines of evidence affords important testimony in support of Prof. Spencer’s views. It is noteworthy that the South Queensland area forms the headquarters of the Australian Passeres, a fact for which there must surely be some adequate physical reason, if only it could be discovered. The total number of species recorded is 767, among which the black emu is believed to be extinct ; and, so far as we have been able to verify them, the diagnoses of the various groups and species seem well adapted to their purpose. , The work appears singularly free from errors and misprints, and ought to be in the hands of every Australian bird- lover. RL. Pages Choisies des Savants Modernes. By A. Rebiére. Pp. vili + 620. (Paris: Nony et Cie, 1900.) ~ THIS is a series of extracts (translated into French when not written in that language) from the works of eminent men of science. other man of science seriously. A scientific writer does not appear to the best advantage in “tit-bits” selected from his works ; and, except as a possible stimulus, the value of such a miscellany as this cannot be reckoned very high. The portraits, of which there is a considerable number, will probably be found, by scientific readers, the most interesting feature of M. Rebiére’s compilation. It appeals mainly to the general reader, — and the best that can be hoped of it is that it may induce _ some members of this class to study the works of one or ~ f a ed May 3, 1900] NATURE 7 | Les Vieux Arbres de La Normandie. By Henri Gadeau . de Kerville. Fasc. iv. Pp. 219 + 352. (Paris: J. B. Bailligre et fils, 1899.) __ THis instalment of M. de Kerville’s careful monograph contains twenty views of trees from photographs by the uthor, Beogpanied by detailed descriptions and histori- _ cal notes. e work is well and conscientiously done, _ whilst the illustrations are well selected and admirably in collotype. The trees here shown include _ ten oaks, six yews, two beeches, a lime and a poplar. _ As the photographs of the deciduous trees have been _ taken in very early spring, before the opening of the buds, their. tion and general architecture are shown to the greatest advantage. With this volume, @ frofos of _ a notable oak-tree growing at Isigny-le-Buat, the author in $ an interesting account of recorded cases of upon oaks in Normandy. He is able to pro- ence in support of some twenty-seven recorded The book will appeal to all tree-lovers ; may ‘some to similar studies. We remember to something of the kind for Northumberland hirty years ago in the 7ransactions of the Tyne- aturalists’ Field Club. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. - does not hold himself Sr tai Sor opinions ex- d by his correspondents. either can he undertake ) return, or to. correspond with the writers of, rejected notice zs taken of anonymous communications. ] The Nature of the Solar Corona. in the recenty-published number of Sczence Abstracts, , tha’t there is every reason to think that the corona line t represented by any dark line in the solar spectrum. I » to call attention to the way this confirms the suggestion corona is an aurora round the sun. In the March aber of the Annalen der Physik for this year, p. 462, Herr mtor describes experiments from which he concludes that re is no absorption corresponding to the emission of light by is which is caused to radiate by an electric discharge. He ukes certain deductions as to the temperature of the gas which phasise the difficulty of defining ‘‘ temperature ” in the case steady state ; but, whatever is to be deduced from his on, it certainly lends weight to the suggestion that the rona is due to an emission of a similar character to that of a transmitting an etige- . 30. i sEO. FRAS. FitZzGERALD. es in the Isle of Man and in South Tyrol. AMPLUGH’s recent paper referred to in his: letter in URE of April 26 (p. 612) is devoted to an elucidation of the ations of the boniferous limestone to the Carboniferous anic rocks” in the Isle of Man (Q./:G.S. 1900, p. 11). m Mr. Lamplugh’s description, these relations are very to bes relations which I described as subsisting between d-Triassic dolomitic limestone (‘‘ Mendola Dolomite ”) ithe tufaceous “‘ Wengen” beds of Enneberg. The ‘‘Buchen- Og eee ” of Enneberg, which I mentioned in my iter (NATURE, March 22), had been described in geological rature as a ‘‘ Middle Triassic agglomerate ” of local occur- ce above ‘‘Mendola Dolomite,” in the neighbourhood of ptive outbursts of that age. My map and sections showed the agglomerate had a limited occurrence in fault-zones : es where differential movemeat had taken ween the harder, more resisting ‘‘ Mendola Dolomite ” yielding, mixed “‘ Wengen” series ‘‘ comprising dust- d ie em well as fossiliferous shales and shaly lime- I therefore explained the so-called ‘Triassic ” fate as a subsequent structure, of the nature of a shear- 4 ghd Ni eae ee of the later Alpine u (C./.G.5. 1899, pp. 567, 584, Figs. 1, 4, 9, 10). ‘ nplug describes in the Cabbouticcors serhag e the ‘Man rock-structures of brecciated limestone, tuffs with d strips of limestone, and coarse lomerate which had ously been referred to the effects of Carboniferous eruptive NO. 1592, VOL. 62] quced scripts intended for this or any other part of NATURE. action. « Mr. Lamplugh’s explanation is that the various com- = in the structure of these rocks ‘‘ have not been caused y the volcanic outburst, but have been brought about at a later date’by the differential movement of segments of the eruptive rocks upon their original floor of limestone” (Q./.G.S. pp. 15, 19, Figs. 3, 4). The parallelism between the two cases is self- evident. In 1894, I had explained on precisely the same prin- ciple of subsequent differential movement, the occurrence of certain anomalous phenomena at the afer limit of the Wengen- Cassian series in Enneberg, 7.e. the limit of this plastic and compressible series against the higher horizon of Triassic calcareo- dolomitic rock, termed ‘*Schlern Dolomite” (‘* Coral in the Dolomites,” Geol. Mag. 1894, p. 55). The parallelism in the general sequence of events in the Isle of Man and in South Tyrol is as follows :— Isle of Man. Pre-Carboniferous Movement. Lower Carboniferous Deposition. Subsequent Movement. Enneberg. Pre-Triassic Movement. Triassic Deposition. Subsequent Movement. The crust-movement immediately antecedent to Triassic de- position in South Tyrol was that which accomplished the upheaval of the Permian Alps, post-Triassic* crust-movement culminated in the upheaval of the present Alps (aut. Q./.G.S. 1899, p. 628, and NATURE, Sept. 7, 1899, pp. 445-6). The farther issues of my paper in showing how differential movements twist the rocks by taking place in cross-directions were not touched in my letter of March 22, for the reason that Mr. Lamplugh did not in his paper enter into the torsional results of differential movements. But, as I have elsewhere expressed, rock-torsion or ‘‘ warping”’ goes on all the time in crust-folding, and clearly, where from any cause whatsoever there is the greatest complexity in the differential movements, there will be the greatest complexity in the torsional phenomena. MARIA M. OGILVIE GORDON. POMPEII AND ITS REMAINS} RE city of Pompeii is one which will ever maintain ahold upon the imagination of cultured man, as much for what it represented in the history of civilisation, as for being the victim of one of the most awful visitations of the powers of nature which have ever befallen the abiding place of a great society of men. It is not the place here to descant upon the wealth and luxury of its Fic. 1.—Plan of the Temple of Isis. 1, Portico ;"2, cella ; FD shrine of Harpocrates; 4, purgatorium; 5, hall of initiation ; 6, hall of mysteries ; 7, 8, 9, abodes of priests ; a, colonnade ; 4, refuse pit ; c, niche for statue of Bacchus ; dd, niches; e, large altar. inhabitants, on the bright and reckless lives which they led, on the splendour of its buildings, or even the fancied security wherein men and women lulled themselves, not- withstanding the violent shock of earthquake which shook the city to its very foundations on February 5, A.D. 63, for all these things are the commonplaces of history ; but we are concerned with the remains left by the awful catastrophe which took place on August 24, ust Mau. Translated by F. W 1 “ Pompeii, its Life and Art.” re Au Kelsey. Pp. xxii+ 509. (New Yor e Macmillan Co., 1899.) 8 NATURE | A.D. 79, and buried the cities of Herculaneum and | Pompeii in a layer of mingled mud, lava, pumice stone, | dust and wet ashes. In less than thirty-six hours | Vesuvius had completely blotted out these towns and | had covered the ground around for miles with pumice stones, barely as large as walnuts, to the depth of ten | { May 3, 1900 made themselves very busy, for the costly stones and - marble used in the construction of porticos, vestibules and baths, not to mention the pillars, were eagerly sought after for the building of new villas and houses. When such human vultures had battened on the re- mains of the town, they left what they could not, or would not, carry away to decay and desolation. For fifteen hundred Fic. 2.—View of the Temple of Isis. feet. Of the twenty thousand people who are estimated to have been in Pompeii when destruction came upon the doomed country, about two thousand perished, the rest saved themselves by flight ; but fortunately for the people of our own time they were compelled to leave behind them most of the things which describe to the student and antiquary the manner of their lives, and reveal the high standard in luxury and artistic civilisation to which they had attained. The blow fell so suddenly, and the overwhelm- ing of the city was so swiftly and effectively performed, that men and animals had no time to die in the usual manner, and the ashes which caked round them have preserved forms and scenes which, though be- longing to the dead and dying, are replete with unerring suggestions of life. Soon after the city of Pompeii was buried, the survivors came back and began to dig out the objects of value belonging either to themselves or their friends which they knew to be in the houses. As the upper parts of many of the houses still stood above the pumice stone and ashes, they were able to locate them in many instances with convenient ac- curacy, and as a result there re- mained in Pompeii, when the search- ers had finished work, but few houses which had not been partly or wholly explored. Anything like a systematic search, however, was never made, and the excavators worked most in the places which seemed to promise years, Pompeii and its dead slept in peace, and certain pious folk com- forted themselves with the view that its inhabitants, like those of the Cities of the Plain, richly deserved their punishment. About A.D. 1600, D. Fontana, who was occupied in bringing water from the Sarno to Torre Annunziata, cut a conduit through a part of the site of Pompeii, and two inscriptions were found in the course of the work. In 1719, Count Elbeuf’s workmen sank a shaft on the site of Herculaneum, and reached a level corresponding with the stage of the theatre. In 1754, a number of tombs at Pompeii were discovered by the road-makers who were working to the south of the city, but no systematic attempt to leave what had been excavated made until 1763, when the discovery of the inscription of Suedius Clemens that of Pompeii. A year later, the theatres, the Street of Tombs, and the villa of Diomedes were un- covered, and general interest in the work was at last awakened. Between 1806 and 1815, under Joseph Napoleon and Murat, the Herculaneum Gate and Forum were exca- vated ; and between 1825 and 1848, a large number of beautiful houses were cleared out and made accessible to Fic. 3.—Theé Temple of Isis restored. the curious and the learned. Up to this period, the work of excavation, though carried on with skill and zeal, was exceedingly unscientific ; indeed, judged by the canons of the excavator of to-day, it would be pronounced to possess. the best results. Among others, the builders’ labourers | no system at all. In 1860, however, explorations and NO. 1592, VOL. 62] uncovered and visible to all was ~ definitely proved that the site was - May 3, 1900| NATURE 9 excavations on the site of Pompeii were entrusted to the _ hands of G. Fiorelli, and most of the excellent results , which have attended the excavations made during the last forty years are due to the plan inaugurated by him. At the present time, about one-half of the site of Pompeii has been excavated, and, according to the calculations ] } | which he made as far back as 1872, the work of clearing | the undisturbed parts in the western half of the ancient city, and the whole of the eastern half, will not be com- pleted much before the year 2000. The above facts | will enable the reader to grasp the magnitude of the undertaking, and to appreciate the help which is forth- coming from Prof. Mau’s exhaustive work, of which we must now speak briefly. It is well known that Prof. Mau has for more than a score of years devoted all his winters to the study of the antiquities of Pompeii, and there is little doubt that he is facile princeps among the experts in this special branch of Roman archeology. His articles and papers in the scientific period- icals have secured for him a high position among savants, even in his own country, and his “ Mittheil- __ungen” are at once the product of _ good scholarship and enthusiasm. The volume before us is not a _ mere translation of one previously ' issued, but is to all intents and _ purposes a new work, now published _ for the first time in English. Mr. _ Kelsey, who is responsible for the _ English work bearing Prof. Mau’s ' mame, is more than the translator, _ for he has abridged the German _ manuscript which he had to work _ from in many places, and a number of additions to the text are due to _ him. He has done his part of the _ work faithfully, and the English _ visitor to Pompeii has now available in his own tongue a volume in which lucidity of treatment goes hand in _ hand with erudition and scholarship. The English text is accompanied by twelve plates, six plans, and two hundred and sixty-three cuts, which are inserted as near as possible to the ‘subject-matter illustrated by them. We have only one fault to _ find with the book—it is a little _ heavy to carry about. Thus having said our worst, we proceed to. de- Scribe. very briefly its contents. _ The six first chapters really form the introduction, which they are actually called, and they treat of the early apis history and general situation of Pompeii, the overwhelm- ing of the city, and the excavations undertaken during the last hundred and fifty years. The last chapter of the section on building materials and architectural periods is particularly instructive, and will be read by more than the tourist. Part i. contains twenty-five chapters, which deal exhaustively with the public buildings and places of _ -Pompeii, including the Forum, the Basilica, the Comitium, _ the theatres, the temples of Jupiter, Apollo, Zeus Milichius, and, strangest of all, the temple of the Egyptian goddess Isis. It will be remembered that the Ptolemies, by the help of Manetho, an Egyptian priest, and of Timotheus, a man who had peculiarly perfect knowledge of the Eleu- sinian Mysteries, associated certain Egyptian religious ceremonies with those of the Mysteries, in the hope of _ binding his Greek and Egyptian slaves together in the _ ‘bonds of a common form of worship. The new cult, _ though it was abominated by the philosophers, was very NO. 1592, VOL. 62] Pr a. popular, and it spread from Alexandria by way of the Delta into Syria, and from the same centre to Rome. As a result, we find that a college of priests of Isis, or Pastophori, was founded at Rome in the time of Sulla, about B.c. 80. The Romans objected to the introduction of the Egyptian gods, and three times in the space of eleven years was their temple destroyed. Oddly enough, a temple in honour of Osiris and Isis was built in Rome about B.c. 44, and before the end of the century their festival was recognised by the public calendar. But other cities of Italy were more tolerant than Rome, for a temple in honour of Serapis was standing at Puteoli B.c. 105, and not long after this date the temple to Isis was built at Pompeii. In the earthquake which took place A.D. 63 this temple suffered greatly, but it was rebuilt by Numerius Popidius Celsinus at his own expense “from the foundation.” From the view given by Prof. Mau on p. 166, we see enough to show us qT ie t Wii Fic. 4.—The adoration of the holy water of the Nile during the worship of Isis. that although the building bore slight resemblance to an ‘Egyptian temple, there was, notwithstanding, a wish on the part of the architect to produce an unwonted effect on the mind of the beholder. The deities Osiris, Isis, Anubis and Harpocrates were represented by statues, and as they have never been found, it is probable they were carried off by the faithful on that awful day in August, A.D. 79. We know little of the ceremonies con- nected with the initiation into the Mysteries, but two skulls, a marble hand, two small boxes, a gold cup, a small giass vessel, and a statuette of the god nearly one inch in height seem to have played a prominent part in them. We have not space to follow Prof. Mau through his description of all the various parts of this interesting temple, but we may note that the existence of the hiero- glyphic sepulchral inscription, set up for the scribe Hat on a pillar to the right of the altar, indicates the adop- tion in Pompeii of a widespread Egyptian custom. The IO NATURE. [May 3, 1900 worship of Isis attracted large numbers to her temple, and the principal services took place before daybreak. The curtains were drawn aside and the statue of the goddess was presented to her worshippers, who straight- way prayed to her; an hour after sunrise a hymn was sung to the rising sun, typified by Harpocrates, and the service was over. The second service of the day was held two hours after noon, and it seems to have consisted in the adoration of water in a vessel which was supposed to have been taken from the Nile. Whatever the details may have been, the services certainly had reference to scenes connected with the finding of the dead body of Osiris by his wife Isis, and they were intended to urge the beholder to renounce the present life and to prepare for a second birth into a purified and beatified state ot existence in a new world. The temple of Isis at Pompeii is a remarkable relic of the adoption of a remarkable religion by the Romans, and we hope that Prof. Mau will add any new facts which he may glean from subsequent researches to the future editions of his work. Thesecond part of Prof. Mau’s volume deals with the houses of Pompeii, and it seems to us to be the best in the book, for it recalls the scenes and occurrences in the daily household life of the Pompeians in a most realistic fashion. The mind’s eye has so many facts supplied to it with such lucid explanations that a street of houses appears before it without fatigue, and as the result of but little effort. Parts iii.-vi. deal with trades and occupa- tions, the tombs, Pompeian art and inscriptions; the chapters of these sections are written in the same easy style, but at the same time the reader feels that he is being led along an interesting path by the hand of a master of his craft. THE UNVEILING OF THE HUXLEY MEMORIAL STATUE. Soe statue, by Mr. Onslow Ford, R.A., of the late Right Hon. Thomas Henry Huxley, now placed in the first right-hand recess of the Great Hall of the Natural History Museum, was unveiled by H.R.H. the Prince of Wales on Saturday last, April 28, the ceremony being performed, by his Royal Highness’s desire, imme- ‘diately after the meeting of the Trustees appointed for that day. Seating accommodation had been provided for the Huxley family, the Trustees of the British Museum, the members of the Memorial Committee, and other dis- ‘tinguished guests and chief subscribers to the Memorial Fund, in front of the statue ; and a still greater number of persons, most of whom were subscribers also, assembled in the corriglors overlooking the Great Hall, and on the staircases. There were from 700 to 800 persons present, adequately representative of all branches of science, art, law, music, and politics, and of several foreign nations. The following is a Classified list of the persons more directly concerned “in the ceremony :— Executive Committee of the Memorial Fund and others, Lord Shand (Chairman), Sir Joseph Fayrer, wKVC,S.T., F.R.S. Sir Henry Thompson, Bart. Sir Joseph Hooker, G.C.S.L., Cabri. rus, Sir John Donnelly, K.C.B. Sir Norman Lockyer, K.C.B., F.R.S. Sir Michael Foster, K.C.B., M.P., F.R-S: Sir Spencer Walpole, K.C.B. Sir A. Geikie, F.R.S. Mr, Briton Riviere, R.A. Bart., Among other persons who were seated in the central Dr. P. L. Sclater, F.R.S. Prof. G. B. Howes, F.R.S. (Hon. Secretary). Mrs. Huxley and members of the Huxley family, to the number of thirty-two. Sir E. Maunde Thompson and Officers of the British Museum, Bloomsbury. Prof. E. Ray Lankester, the Director, and the Officers of - the British Museum (Natural History). enclosure were the following :— Sir F. Abel, Bart., F.R.S. Prof. T. Clifford Allbutt, M.D., F.R.S. Sir L. Alma-Tadema, R.A. Sir Edwin Arnold, K.C.LE., Com The Attorney-General. Mr. Alfred Austin. Sir Squire Bancroft. Hon. Edmund Barton, Q.C. Prof. Bastian, F.R.S. Sir Lowthian Bell, Bart., F.R.S. Mr. Horace Brown, F.R.S. Sir T. Lauder Brunton, M.D., F.R.S. Rt. Hon. L. Courtney, M.P. Sir Wm. Crookes, K.C.B., FeR,S:; Mr. Francis Darwin, F.R.S. The Earl of Ducie, F.R.S. Sir W._ Thiselton - Dyer, K.C,M.G., F.R.S. Mr. R. Etheridge, F.R.S. Prof, J. B. Farmer, M.A. Lady Flower. Prof. Le Neve Foster, F.R.S. Dr. R. Garnett, C.B. Dr. J. H. Gladstone, F.R.S. Lieut.-Col. | Godwin-Austen, A iy Senos Dr. A. Giinther, F.R.S. Mr. G. Henschel. Lord Hobhouse, K.C.S.L, C.LE: Prof. Victor Horsley, F.R.S. Prof. J. W. Judd, C.B., F-R.S. Right Hon. W. E. H. Lecky, M.P. | Sir Hugh Low, G.C.M.G, Dr. P. Manson, : Dr. Ludwig Mond, F.R.S. Prof. R. Meldola, F.R.S. Sir Francis Mowatt, K.C.B. Sir Andrew Noble, K.C.B., F.R.S Admiral Sir Erasmus Omman- ney, Bart., C.B., F.R.S. Prof. J. Perry, F.R.S. Sir W. C. Roberts-Austen, K:C.B;, Peace Sir Henry Roscoe, F.R.S. Prof. A. W. Riicker, F.R.S. Sir J. S. Burdon-Sanderson, Bart., F.R.S. an Dr. D.-H Seott. eee Sir G. G. Stokes, Bart., F.R.S. Prof. G. Johnstone Stoney, F oe SAA Mr. J. J. H. Teall, F.R.S. Prof. T. E. Thorpe, F.R.S. Prof. W. A. Tilden, F.R.S. Rev. Canon Tristram, F.R.S. Sir William Turner, Pao en Prof. W. F. R. Weldon, F.R.S. y Foreign nationalities were represented by :— Dr. F. P. Moreno (of the Argentine Republic). Major Dr. von Wissmann Germany). Mons. L. Geoffray (France). Mons. F. Fuchs (Congo Free State). Prof. Batalha Reis (Portugal). Punctually at the time appointed (1.15 p.m.), his Royal — Prof. G. Paladino (of Naples). Prof. G. Gilson (of Louvain), Sefior Don Pedro Jovar y Tovar (Spain). : : Count Bottaro Costa (Italy). Plenipotentiaries at the Inter- national Conference for the preservation of wild animals in Africa. Trustees of the British Museum. H.R.H. the Prince of Wales. Earl of Elgin, K.G. Earl of Hopetoun. Viscount Cross. The Bishop of Winchester. The Lord Walsingham. The Right Hon. Sir George Trevelyan, Bart. The Right Hon. John Morley, P M.D. Sir Nathaniel Lindley, Master of the Rolis. Dr. W. S. Church, President of the Royal College of Physicians. The Rev. F. H. Annesley. Mr. Cavendish-Bentinck. The Duke of Devonshire, K.G. Lord Russel! of Killowen. Lord Avebury. ; Viscount Peel. ; Viscount Dillon. Sir John Evans, K.C.B. Sir Richard Webster. NO. 1592, VOL. 62] Highness took up a position to the spectators’ left of the statue, supported by the Standing Committee of the Trustees of the Museum, with Sir Maunde Thompson and Prof. Ray Lankester; while Sir Joseph Hooker, similarly supported by the members of the Executive of the Memorial Committee, stood on the right ; the sculptor, Mr. Onslow Ford, being in proximity to the statue. . The proceedings were opened by Prof. Ray Lankester, with the following introductory statement :— ; Your RoyaLt HiGHNEss, My Lorps, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,—The duty of briefly explaining the nature of the present proceedings has devolved upon me. I feel it to be a great privilege to discharge this duty on the occasion a, 7 to do honour to my venerated master, Prof. Huxley. is HORS, Wa ee SE od ee ee _ May 3, 1900] NATURE II celebration would have been no less dear to Huxley’s fellow- __ worker and friend, the late director of this museum, Sir William . Flower, who unhappily is no longer with us to witness the com- _ pletion of the memorial statue which he, especially, desired to see placed in this hall. A few months after Prof. Huxley’s death in 1895, a committee was formed for the purpose of establishing a memorial of the Cy naturalist and teacher. Ata meeting of that committee, 1eld on November 27, 1895, at which 250 members were pre- sent, and at which his Grace the Duke of Devonshire presided, the following resolution was carried ; “That the memorial do take the form of a statue, to be in the Museum of Natural History, and a medal ‘In connection with the Royal College of Science ; and __. that the surplus be devoted to the furtherance of bio- a ical science in some manner to be hereafter deter- om > Ag committee, dependent upon the amount the world, besides our own country, from , from India and the remotest Colonies, and > United States of America, subscriptions have been re- for the Huxley memorial, amounting in all to more than years ago the committee commissioned and obtained the n of a medal bearing the portrait of Huxley, and has ed its presentation as a distinguished reward in the Royal of Science. The re-publication of the complete series sy’s scientific memoirs, which was proposed as one of rials to be carried out by the committee, has been ’ by Messrs. Macmillan, without assistance from the e. Iam glad to be able to state that two large volumes hese ely illustrated contributions to science have been atone other memorials were in progress under the of the executive committee, they secured the services low Ford, R.A., to execute the statue which it had by the general committee to regard as the chief the s riptions entrusted to them. On the com- of the statue, the trustees of the British Museum agreed it and to place it in the great hall where we are now lf of the vast body of subscribers to the memorial, Hooker, Huxley’s oldest and closest friend, himself of that distinguished group of naturalists, including Lyell, Richard Owen and Charles Darwin, who shed uch lustre on English science in the Victorian age, will the statue of Huxley to the trustees of the British Your Royal Highness has been graciously pleased, as trustees, to represent them on the present occasion, ceive the statue on their behalf. The memorial statue ey is the expression of the admiration, not only of the pe , but of the whole civilised world, for one who as er, t , writer and man, must be reckoned among figures in the records of our age. eph Hooker then stepped forward from among the mmittee, and presented the statue in the following words :— __ May fr PLease Your Roya HIGHNEss,—I have the honour _ of being deputed, by the subscribers to the statue of my friend the late Prof. Huxley, to offer it to your Royal Highness, on behalf of the trustees of the British Museum, with the intent it it should be retained in this noble hall as a companion to e statues of Prof. Huxley’s distinguished predecessors, Sir seph Banks, Mr. Darwin and Sir Richard Owen. It would be é work of oy er ae even were I competent to do so, to ell upon Prof, Huxley’s claims to so great an honour, whether a pr nd scientific investigator of the first rank, asa teacher, as a public servant; but I may be allowed to indicate a elism between his career and those of two of the eminent uralists to whom I have alluded, which appears to me to afford additional argument in favour of retaining hisstatue in proximity theirs. Sir Joseph Banks, Mr. Darwin and Prof. pe all tered upon their effective scientific careers by embarking on yages of circumnavigation for the purpose of discovery and earch under the flag of the Royal Navy. Sir Joseph Banks g und Prof. Huxley were both Presidents of the Royal Society, were both trustees of the British Museum ; and, what is more notable _ by far, so highly were their scientific services estimated by the rown and their country, that they both attained to the rare ur of being called to seats in the Privy Councils of their tive Sovereigns. NO. 1592, VOL. 62] ie With these few words I would ask your Royal Highness graciously to accede to the prayer of the subscribers to this statue, and receive it on behalf of the trustees of the British Museum. He was followed by Sir Michael Foster, who pronounced the following “oge on Huxley’s work and influence :— May IT PLeAsE Your Royal HIGHNEss,—Before you unveil this statue it is my duty and privilege to add a few words to those which have just been spoken by the beloved Nestor of biological science. Sir Joseph D. Hooker, born before Huxley was born, a sworn comrade of his in the battle of science, standing by him and helping him like a brother all through his strenuous life, may perhaps be allowed to shrink from saying what he thinks of the great work which Huxley did. We of the younger generations, Huxley’s children in science, who know full well that anything we may have been able to do springs from what he did for us, cannot on this great occasion. be wholly silent. Some of us have at times thought that Huxley gave up for mankind much which was meant for the narrower sphere of science; but if science may seem to have been thereby the loser, mankind was certainly the gainer; and indeed it was a gain to science itself to be taught that her interests were not hers alone, and that not by one tie or by two, but by many was her welfare bound up with the common good of all. To many perhaps the great man whose memory we are here met to honour was known chiefly as the brilliant expositor of the far-reaching views of that other great man who through his statue is now looking down upon us. Your Royal Highness is doubtless at this moment thinking of that interesting occasion, fifteen years ago, when you unveiled that statue of Darwin, and you are calling to mind the weighty words then spoken by him. whose own statue brings us here to-day. Huxley it is true fought for Darwin, and indeed ‘‘he was ever a fighter.” But he fought not that Darwin might prevail ;. he fought for this alone—that the views which Darwin had brought forward might be examined solely by the clear light of truth, untroubled by the passion of party or by the prejudice o preconceived opinion. As he never claimed for those views the infallibility of a new gospel, so he always demanded that they should not be peremptorily set aside as already proved to be wrong. Hosisy worked for his fellow men in many ways other than the way of quiet scientific research. Had we not known this we should have thought that his whole life had been given up to original scientific investigation, so much has the progress of biologic science, since he put his hand to it, been due to his labours. On the sands of many a track of biologic inquiry he has left his footprint, and his footprint has ever been to those coming after him a token to press on with courage and with hope. The truths with which he enriched science are made known in his written works ; but that is a part only of what he did for science. No younger man, coming to him for help and guidance, ever went empty away; and we all—anatomists, zoologists, geologists, physiologists, botanists, and anthropolo- gists—came to him. The biologists of to-day, all of us, not of this country alone, but of the whole world of science, forming, as it were, a scattered fleeting monument of this great man, are proud at the unveiling of this visible lasting statue here. In conclusion, Sir M. Foster, facing the Prince, added the words :—May I crave your Royal Highness’s permission to seize this opportunity to assure you incidentally, but none the less from the bottom of our hearts, on the part of men of science that we, in common with all Her Majesty’s subjects, are rejoicing that you escaped the dreadful peril to which a few days back you were exposed, and to express to you our continued esteem and respect ? On Sir M. Foster’s return to his seat among the committee, the Duke of Devonshire, speaking from in front of the veiled statue, said he had the honour nearly five years ago of presiding over the committee formed for the purpose of establishing a memorial to Prof. Huxley. He had now to report to his Royal Highness that the labours of that committee had ter- minated, and to say that the committee desired to present the statue to his Royal Highness on behalf of the trustees of the British Museum. They felt, however, that the real memorial to the deceased man of science was to be found in the writings which had already been referred to, and still more in the scientific work he accomplished or helped to promote, and in the influence he exercised and was still exercising upon the 1 as" NATURE | May 3, 1900 minds of younger men, many of whom they trusted might at some future time emulate his distinguished example. On behalf the committee he begged to tender his Royal Highness their thanks for having come to give a final sanction to their proceedings, and for having undertaken the duty of unveiling the statue that day. The Prince of Wales then withdrew the covering from the statue, and brought the proceedings to a close with the following words :— My Lorps, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,—I consider it a very high compliment to have been asked by the Huxley Memorial Committee to unveil and receive this statue, and to do so in the name of the trustees of the British Museum, of whom I have the honour to be one. _ I have not forgotten that fifteen years ago I performed a similar duty in connection with the fine statue of the celebrated Charles Darwin, which is at the top of the stairs, when it was similarly handed over to the British Museum. We have heard to-day most eloquent and interesting speeches with reference to that illustrious man of science and the great thinker, the late Prof. Huxley. It would, therefore, be both superfluous of me, I may even say unbecoming in me, to sound his praises here in the presence of so many men of science, who know more about all his work than I do. I can only, on my own behalf, endorse everything that has fallen from the lips of those gentlemen whc have spoken, and I beg to repeat the expression of the great pleasure it has given me for the second time to have performed the interesting ceremony of taking over the statue of another great and illustrious man of science. The statue is a colossal seated one of white marble, the figure being represented in a doctor’s gown, with the right hand clasping one arm. of the chair, and the left lying across the other with the fist clenched. The pedestal is of Verona marble on a black base, and bears upon its face the name and dates of birth and death in simple bronze letters. - The statue is a thoroughly successful work of art, and stands out in bold: relief to the dim mystery of the recess in which it is placed. Though the expres- sion of the face is perhaps a little severe, the features are true to nature ; and when it is considered that the artist was never privileged with a sitting in life, and that the only material available to him were the death mask and an assemblage of none too favourable photographs, it must be admitted he has done well. Great praise must be given to the modelling of the hands, in which those who knew the great philosopher intimately will recognise a faithful portrayal of well-defined characteristics. - The first and main object of the Memorial has thus been. successfully achieved. As for: those which re- main, the award at the Royal College of Science is to -be known as the “Huxley Gold Medal,” for the ‘“‘ promotion of science in the directions in which Huxley ' was distinguished,” and especially for research to be carried on in the laboratory which bears his name. It has been further arranged that the use of the obverse die shall be granted to the Anthropological Institute (of which Huxley was practically the founder), in connection with the establishment by that body of a Huxley Lecture- ship, and a medal, for which they will furnish the re- verse. Huxley’s labours as an anthropologist are among the most important of his scientific career, and it may be questioned whether his “ Man’s Place in Nature,” published against the advice of some of his friends, who feared his “ruin” did it appear, does not now rank among the best and most enduring of his works. His influence as an anthropologist was great, and devotees to that branch of science will hail with satisfaction this decision to perpetuate his memory. PRELIMINARY NOTES ON THE RESULTS OF THE MOUNT KENYA EXPEDITION, 1899. ane Mount Kenya Expedition left Nairobi, the then head of the Uganda Railway, on July 26, 1899, and returned to Naivasha, a station on the Uganda Road, on September 29. Considerable difficulties were experienced in the matter of commissariat, on account of the drought NO. 1592, VOL. 62] and famine prevalent throughout East Africa. For this reason a longer sojourn on the mountain would have been impracticable, even if other circumstances had permitted of it. Previous accurate knowledge of Mount Kenya rested chiefly on the work of Captain G. E. Smith, R.E., who had fixed the position of the peak, by triangulation along the Uganda Road, and of Dr. J. W. Gregory, who, in 1893, ascended the south-western slope to a height which appears to have been nearly 16,000 feet. An account of the 1899 journey is given in the May number of the Geographical Journal. Mount Kenya is a, vast flattened dome, seered with radiating valleys. It rises from a plateau, the level of which is 5000 to 7000 feet above the sea. Upon the crown of the dome is a precipitous pyramid, the cleft peak of which has an altitude of 17,200 feet. The entire massif measures about fifty miles from east to west and forty miles from north to south. Its northern slopes are crossed by the equator. We made a plane table survey of the central portion of the mountain, and connected it by route surveys with Nairobi and Naivasha. The altitude of the central peak was determined by boiling point and theodolite, combined in four different ways, with an average result practically the same as that obtained by Captain Smith at a distance of ninety miles. The central pyramid is the core of the denuded and. dissected volcano, a fact first suggested by the late Joseph Thomson, who saw the mountain from the Laikipian plateau. Although not yet examined in section, the holocrystalline rock on the summit may probably be identified with the nepheline syenite obtained by Gregory at a lower level. The core must, therefore, have risen considerably above the present peak, and if - allowance be made for still loftier crater-walls, the original height of Kenya may have equalled that of the still complete Kibo summit of Kilimanjaro. — The most significant point in the structure of the mountain is the fact that, while the major axis of the peak strikes west-north-westward and throws the glaciers — down northern and southern slopes, the chief water- — parting runs ina direction at right angles to this, past the eastern foot of the central peak, with the effect that — the valleys are thrown off eastward and westward, and that all the existing glaciers belong to the westward — drainage. From a series of rock specimens obtained at widely separated spots on the summit of the craggy ridge constituting the divide, it appears that the lie of the water-parting has been determined by a system of great dykes, which must almost have split the mountain in two. tT There are fifteen existing glaciers, of which two are a mile in length, and the remainder are small. Their lower ends descend to about 14,800 feet. Everywhere and at all hours at the time of our visit the surfaces were dry and crisp. Comparatively little water flowed from them, and the’ stream banks below gave small in-. dication of floods. The ice was intensely hard, and fed by fine hail rather than snow. These facts may be ex- plained by the meteorological conditions. Although the air-temperatures were not very low at night, there was then great radiation into the cloudless sky. In the after- noon, on the other hand, a cloud cap regularly warded off the sunshine, The air was usually dry, the relative humidity falling on more than one occasion to 54 per cent. Evidence of past glaciation was frequent down to 12,000 feet both in the eastern and western valleys, and — there were occasional traces down to about 9000 feet. The whole of the central part of the mountain, with the ex- ception of the peak and the dividing ridge, must have been buried under a sheet of glacier, more than compar- able to that of Kilimanjaro, at a time later than the » erosion of the existing valleys. ee Te ee May 3, 1900] © NATURE A3 Snow was absent from the summit, and several species | of brilliantly coloured lichen were collected there. Ever- lasting flowers grew in the rock chinks up to 16,500 feet. In the upper Alpine zone were two distinct species of giant groundsel and two of giant lobelia, seeds of which have been brought home. The greater part of our dried plants was lost, but the mossés and lichens were saved. A series of photographs of the Alpine vegetation in various stages of growth was taken by my colleague, Mr. C. B. Hausburg. Mr. collected by us. The most interesting is a new species of Rock Dassy (Procavia Mackinderi), whose nearest relative has recently been sent home from the Eldoma Ravine by Mr. F. J. Jackson (P. /acksonz). these two species, no Rock Dassies have been found in any part of East Africa, nor are they known further south. P. Mackinderi appears to be isolated above the forest- zone (7000-10,000 feet) on Mount Kenya. Dassy was obtained from a lower level. A new Forest Oldfield Thomas has described, before the Zoo- | logical Society, the skulls and skins ‘of the mammals | | from the death of men of prominent public position who Apart from | This mountain block and the Rift Valley may be the necessary complements of one another. Only a small collection of insects was obtained, chiefly in Kikuyu, but Prof. Poulton informs me that it in- cludes new species of Coleoptera, Forficulide and Hymenoptera. H. J. MACKINDER. THE DUKE OF ARGYLL. MONG the losses which science is from time to time called upon to deplore, not the least serious arise have taken an active personal interest in the advance of natural knowledge, and have done their best to promote The late Duke of Argyll was an eminent example of Heir of a long line of illustrious it. this type of man. | ancestors, who for many generations have played a lead- ing part in the stormy annals of their native country, | called early in life to the legislature where he mingled | conspicuously in the political “conflicts of his time, full of Kenya Peak, from the south-west. The collection of birds has been described by Dr. Bowdler Sharpe. " as the European species, which feeds on the rats of the Alpine zone of Kenya, and there are three other new Species. Generally the birds are similar to those of It includes a new eagle owl, as large | Mount Elgon, and in a lesser degree to those of Kili- | This is strikingly indicated by the fact that /if Mr. Jackson had not explored Mount Elgon in 1890, ‘nearly every bird we obtained would have been new. _ The few human inhabitants of Kenya are W andorobo, elephant hunters, who live in the forest up to its higher "limit. On one occasion a party of them was seen at Over 12,000 feet. j To west of Mount Kenya is the so-called Aberdare | " Range, traversed for the first time by the members of our | /€xpedition. It consists of two much denuded volcanic stumps, Nandarua and Sattima, rising to 12,900 and 13,200 feet respectively, and of a raised block, 9000 feet ~high, defined by parallel fault scarps, which strike in the same direction as the scarps of the Great Rift Valley. NO. 1592, VOL. 62] wide and generous sympathies which prompted him to speak or to write on most of the great questions that agitated the public mind during his long and brilliant career, the Duke yet found time to read much and widely in science, and to keep himself acquainted with the pro- gress of scientific discussion and achievement. He was happily gifted with a marvellous versatility, so that he could turn rapidly from one sphere of thought and activity to another far removed.- Hence, amid the cares of State and of the administration of a great domain, as well as in the sorrow of domestic bereavement, he was often to be found immersed in the perusal of some recent treatise, or carrying on a research of his own in those parts of the scientific field which more specially interested him. Whether as an acute critic of the labours of others, or as an observer of nature himself, his devotion to these pur- suits remained a characteristic feature of his life from the beginning to the end. It is difficult at present: to define with precision the extent and value of the services of such aman in the progress of the science of his time. His 14 NATURE [ May 3, 1900 own original contributions may be little in amount or im- portance, but his example and his enthusiasm, together with his political activity and his social rank, combine to make him a force in the land, which powerfully aids any good cause which he espouses. The death of the Duke of Argyll is thus an event which must be chronicled with sincere regret in the pages of a scientific journal. It was through geology that the Duke first came practically in touch with science, and it was in geological pursuits and criticisms that he found the most congenial employment of his leisure moments. It is just half a century since, on a visit to his property in the Island of Mull, he found that one of his tenants had gathered a number of fossil leaves and plants from the rocks of the neighbourhood. At once appreciating the geological significance of these remains, he investigated their mode of occurrence, and recognised their association with sheets of lava and volcanic ashes. The plants were pronounced by Edward Forbes to be probably of Miocene age, and thus was securely laid the first stone of the edifice that has since been reared in illustration of the volcanic history of the Inner Hebrides. It is matter for regret that the Duke never followed up this important discovery. Other geological fields attracted him, where he found ampler material for the exercise of that critical acuteness and the display of that forensic style of argument which made his writings so lively and so pungent. He had imbibed his earliest ideas of geological causation in the school of the cataclysmists, and to these ideas he adhered to the last. When the earlier views of Hutton and Playfair with regard to the denudation and sculpture of the land were revived and began to spread among the younger men, the Duke raised his protest against them, and poured on them the contempt and ridicule which they seemed to him to deserve. As they grew in ac- ceptance, both in this and other countries, and as their advocates increased in number and in confidence, his vehemence of declamation seemed to augment in pro- portion. Nor was this the only line along which the modern tendency in geological speculation seemed to the Duke to be running in an entirely wrong direction. When he began to interest himself in these questions, Agassiz’ doctrine, that not only Britain but a large part of Europe was once buried under land-ice, had not been generally accepted. The geologists of this country preferred to account for the phenomena by supposing that the land had been submerged in a sea across which floating ice drifted. The Duke of Argyll was never able to accept the modern doctrine, except in a limited degree. He admitted the former existence of local valley-glaciers, but could not recognise the force of the evidence ad- duced to show that not only the valleys, but the sur- rounding hills had once been over-ridden by a vast sheet of ice. The rise of the modern school of evolution afforded the Duke full scope for the exercise of his acute reasoning power and keen critical faculty. In article after article, address after address, and volume after volume, he sub- jected the doctrines of that school to the closest scrutiny. It may be freely admitted that he detected here and there a fallacy, and pointed out a conclusion different from, but not less probable than, that which his opponents had drawn. But perhaps his most valuable service lay in that border-land of philosophy and science in which he specially loved to exercise his thoughts and his pen. Even when men of science differed widely from his his conclusions, they could not but admit that in his ‘Reign of Law” and his “ Unity of Nature,” he showed the wide range of his reading, the clearness and vigour of his reasoning powers, the force and eloquence of NO. 1592, VOL. 62] his style, the grasp he had of some of the more difficult . scientific problems of his day, the strong bent of his nature towards metaphysics, and, above all, the lofty tone of his sentiments in regard to the moral nature and destiny of man. eis The Duke of Argyll was essentially a man of action, to whom the stir of conflict and the stimulus of controversy were not uncongenial. Even in his scientific discussions: he could not always quite forego the style in which he vilipended the opposite party in the House of Lords or in the public prints. He seemed sometimes hardly to realise the full extent and meaning of the evidence which he was criticising. _ In conversation, indeed, he might appear for a time to be impressed by the force of this evidence, and be willing to admit that the truth might, perhaps, lie somewhere between his own views and those. to which he was opposed. But the force of early con- viction or prepossession would, in the end, be too strong for him, and possibly the next morning his opposition would be found to be as complete and confident as ever. Unflinching and resourceful as an antagonist, enforcing with almost passionate enthusiasm what he held to be the truth, independent and self-reliant alike in his opinions and his actions, dignified and courteous after the manner of an older time, he formed altogether a striking and picturesque personality. But the energy of the doughty debater was combined with much personal kindliness even towards those from whom he most seriously differed. Above all the other features of his character there shone out an intense love ~ of nature and an eager desire to know more of her processes and laws. Year after year the Duke would spend weeks at a time in his yacht among the Western Isles, which he loved with all the enthusiastic devotion of one who was born and spent his youth among them. He was familiar with that western coast from one end to the other, under every change of sunlight and shadow. He had sketched every peak and crag and island, and he delighted to recall from his sketch-books the charm with which these scenes had fascinated him. To all their obvious attractions for the ordinary visitor his - geological knowledge enabled him to join the fresh interest which is given to them by an acquaintance with the history of their remote past. In this way he kept himself in touch with some of the aspects of nature that most vividly appealed to his imagination. His poetic temperament found refreshment in these frequently re- newed sojourns amid the varied scenery of the West of Scotland. As shown by his published writings, his wide acquaintance with modern English poetry furnished him with many an apt quotation and allusion. Tennyson’s poetry seemed to be particularly familiar to him, inso- much that a casual citation of a line or expression from that poet by one of the company would some- times lead the Duke to quote from memory the whole passage. = As the head of a great historic clan, the Duke of Argyll was a true Scot, who had studied his country’s history both geological and political, and had made him- self personally acquainted with a large part of its surface, The geological problems that more particularly engaged his attention were largely those which his own Highland hills and glens had suggested to hismind. Now and then, in the midst of an eager conversation, a Scottish word | or expression would come most readily to his lips as conveying the meaning he wished to express. general services to the country at large this is not the place to speak. But we may confidently anticipate that when some future historian shall review the various forces which have furthered the advance of science in this country during the Victorian age, a well-marked place will be assigned to the services rendered by the Duke of Argyll. a Gye Of his. . May 3, 1900] NATURE 15 J PROF. A. MILNE-EDWARDS. Ti is with sincere regret that we have to record the _ death, at the age of sixty-four, of Prof. Alphonse r -Edwards, the Director of the Paris Museum of al History, which took place at Paris on Saturday, ea after a brief illness. The late professor was of lish descent, being the grandson of Mr. Bryan Edwards, M.P., a West Indian planter who settled at 4 oe ; and, with this ancestry, it is curious to note how a extremely imperfect was his colloquial knowledge of the English language. His father, Prof. Henri Milne- was the -known eminent zoologist of Paris, ii 1885 5 and father and son were for many ated in zoological work. Paris Yn 1835, Alphonse Milne-Edwards took in 1859, and was nominated Pro- 901 of Pharmacy in 1865. In 1876 he y for his father as Professor of Zoology i es Plantes ; in the following year he suc- e late Prof. P. Gervais as a member of the the Paris Academy of Sciences ; and in 1885 pe Academy of Medicine. In 1891, being fessor of Zoology, he was appointed Director aris “Museum of Natural History and of the s in the Jardin des Plantes ; his official title is the latter post being Administrateur chargé ction de la Ménagerie au Musée d’ Histoire published, in 1864, an important memoir on and affinities of the Chevrotains, and a ; 7366, on the osteology of the Dodo, in 1867 wards issued the first fasciculus of his ’magnifi- , entitled “Recherches Anatomiques et Paléon- 5 pour servir 4 |’Histoire des Oiseaux Fossiles nce,” which was completed in four volumes ‘text and two of plates) in 1872. As mentioned by ton, this monumental work marked an epoch y, op it showed the possibility of forming a of birds by means of their “long bones.” was excited by the identification in this s of peculiar existing African and Malagasy ‘ds in the French Tertiaries. While this he Alphonse Milne-Edwards was his father in bringing out the “ Re- r servir 4 l'Histoire naturelle des Mammi- was commenced in 1868 and completed in proportion of the latter was devoted to scription of new types of mammals from Central mi ong them being the many strange forms, like pi pus, the n recently obtained by Pére David in the ict of Eastern Tibet. The period from 1866 saw the issue of “ Recherches sur la Faune e éteinte des Iles Mascareignes et de sar.” And the late professor’s interest in the fauna was likewise shown in a paper on the g hyd the Lemurs, oie ara in 1871, and in his 3 to Grandidier’s “‘ History of Madagascar,” blication. sut it a mistake to suppose that the re- che: of Prof.’ Milne-Edwards were by any means red to mammals and birds. From an early period reer his attention had been directed to the study hytes and crustaceans ; and later on he had atten- died the animals adherent to submarine cables, had been raised after a sojourn at the bottom of With this latter subject the study of the ocean dg Yams connected. And in 1880 he brought fof ‘Gascony. The results obtained were so impor- that the same vessel was again put at the disposal NO 1592, VOL. 62] of the professor, who completed the survey of the Gulf of Gascony, and explored the sea-bottom of the Strait of Gibraltar and of a considerable portion of the Medi- terranean. In 1882 the 7vavaz//eur undertook a survey- ing voyage of the Atlantic as far as the Canaries. The year following the 7a/ésman took the place of the 7ra- vailleur, and carried Prof. Milne-Edwards and his associates to the coasts of Portugal, Morocco, and the Canary and Cape Verde Islands, and then on to the Sargasso Sea, whence it returned by way of the Azores. The results of these dredging expeditions were published under the title of “ Expéditions scientifiques du 7ravailleur et du Talisman pendant les années 1881, 1882 et 1883.” For these deep-sea explorations, Milne-Edwards was awarded the gold medal of the Royal Geographical Society. In 1876 he was elected a Foreign Member of the Zoological Society of London, and in 1882 a Foreign Correspondent of the Geological Society. He paid several visits to England, the last on the occasion of the Zoological Congress at Cambridge in 1898. R. Lb. NOTES. THE funeral of the Duke of Argyll will take place at the family burial ground, Kilmun, on the Holy Loch, on Tuesday next, May 8. THE annual conversazione of the Institution of Electrical Engineers will be held at the Natural History Museum, South Kensington, on Tuesday, June 26. Tue Duke of Cambridge, president of the Sanitary Institute, will occupy the chair at the Institute dinner on Friday, May Il. THE University of Gottingen has awarded the Volbrecht prize for scientific research to Dr. Gegenbauer, professor of anatomy at Heidelberg. The prize is of the value of 12,000 marks (600/.) To commemorate the foundation of the k. k. geologischen Reichsanstalt of Vienna, in 1849, a jubilee meeting will be held in the great hall of the Institute on June 9, and representatives of science or of scientific institutions are invited to be present. Tue Botanical Gazette records the death by drowning, in September last, of Prof. Kyokichi Yatabe, the founder of the Botanical Society of Japan. THE annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science will be held at Columbia Universtity, New York, from June 25 to June 3o. WE learn, from the American Naturalist, that the herbarium and the principal part of the botanical library of Columbia Uni- versity have been transferred to the New York Botanic Garden, and that, in future, the advanced work in botany of the Uni- versity will be carried on in the laboratory of the Garden. THE British Medical Journal states that the tenth award of the Riberi prize of 20,000 lire (800/.) will be made by the Royal Academy of Medicine of Turin on December 31, 1901, for the best printed or manuscript work, or the most important dis- covery, during the quinquennium 1897-1901, in the domain of experimental pathology, hygiene, or forensic medicine. ‘Tue Franklin Institute has awarded John Scott medals and premiums to Mr. A. V. Groupe for his improved braiding machine, to Messrs. C. A. Bell and S, Tainter for their inven- tion of the graphophone, and to Mr. A. M. Hopkins for his pneumatic system for preventing the bursting of water-pipes by freezing. Elliott Cresson medals have been awarded to Mr. 16 NATURE Lite 3 (gee L. E. Levy for his acid-blast method of etching metal plates ; and to Prof. W. O. Atwater and Mr. E. B. Rosa for their respir- ation calorimeter. THE Dazly News states that Lieut. R. E. Peary has for- warded some interesting relics to the Royal Naval College, Greenwich. These consist of the sextant left behind in Repulse Harbour by ‘Lieut. Beaumont in 1876, and subsequently recovered by Lieut. Peary, and the original record deposited in a cache by Sir George Nares on Norman Lockyer’s Island in 1875. The great meteorite which Lieut. Peary brought back from his last Arctic expedition still remains on the Cob Dock of the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The meteorite weighs: 200,000 pounds, and Lieut. Peary wishes to obtain 15,000/. for it. TueE Trinity House steam vessel /rene, with the deputy master, Captain G. R. Vyvyan, on board, accompanied by a committee of the Elder Brethren and their scientific adviser, Lord’ Rayleigh, has proceeded to the Bristol and English Channels in order that special surveys in connection with new lighthouse works, and observations on both English and French lights from seaward, may be made. THE death is announced of Mr. G. V. Ellis, who succeeded Prof. Quain as professor of anatomy in University College, London, in 1850, an appointment which he held for twenty- seven years, resigning in 1877, when he was appointed Emeritus Professor. Mr. Ellis was co-editor with the late Dr. William Sharpey of the sixth edition of ‘‘ Quain’s Elements of Anatomy,” published in 1856, and the author of several works for students of anatomy. AmoncG the items included in the Prussian Budget is a sum of 7,300,000 marks, for the purchase of lands in Berlin, on which is to be erected a building for the Academy of Sciences and the Royal Library. The value of the land is estimated at more than 11,000,000 marks, but about 3,000,000 marks is obtained by the exchange of other property, and 1,000,000 marks is to be voted next year. A SUMMER meeting of the Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland will be held at the Owens College, Manchester, on Thursday and Friday, June 21 and 22. Op- portunities will be afforded to members of seeing things of local interest during their visit to Manchester. An excursion to the Lake District will be arranged, and members who desire to join the party are requested to inform the local secretary, Dr. Peter Thompson, the Owens College, Manchester. A COMMITTEE composed of many eminent men of science in France has been formed for the purpose of obtaining funds for the erection of a modest monument at Langres in honour of Auguste Laurent, the renowned chemist. Laurent was born at La Folie, near Langres, in 1808, and in 1831 became assistant to Dumas, under whom he acquired a special knowledge of organic chemistry, and carried on his original researches on naphthalene and carbolic acid, together with their derivatives. After filling various posts, the last of which was a chemical professorship at Bordeaux, Laurent became Warden of the Mint at Paris, where he remained in intimate connection with Gerhardt until his death in 1853. Subscriptions for the pro- posed monument should be sent to the treasurer of the Committee, M. Caublot, 45 rue de Belleville, Paris. Mr. JAMES MANSERGH has been elected president of the Institution of Civil Engineers, in succession to Sir Douglas Fox. Sir William White, K.C.B., F.R.S., Mr Charles Hawksley, Mr. J. C. Hawkshaw, and Mr. F. W. Webb have been elected vice-presidents. - The following awards have been made for papers read and discussed before the Institution during the past session. :—A George Stephenson medal and a Telford premium NO. 1592, VOL. 62] to Sir Lowthian Bell, Bart., F.R.S.; Telford medals and premiums to Messrs. H. H, Dalrymple-Hay, B. M. Jenkin, F. W. Bidder and F. D. Fox; a Watt medal and a Telford q premium to Mr. J. Dewrance ; a Crampton Prize to Sir Charles” Hartley ; and Telford premiums to Messrs. C. N, Russell and R. A, Tatton. The presentation of these awards, together with those for papers which have not been subject to discussion, and will be announced later, will take place at the inaugural meeting of next session. AMERICAN ethnology has been deprived of a prominent worker by the death of Mr. Frank H. Cushing. Mr. Cushing,. says the Sczentéfic American, was born in 1857, at Northeast, Pa., and when he was only eighteen years of age his work was. brought to the attention of the late Mr. Spencer F. Baird, who was then Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, and in 1875, he went to Washington as an assistant in that institution. He had charge of the ethnological exhibit at the Centennial Ex-— position of 1876, and in 1879 he accompanied an expedition from the Smithsonian Institution to investigate the Pueblos of New Mexico, and at his request was left at the Pueblo of Zuni, where he lived almost continuously for six years. He returned to Washington in 1884 and began to work up his voluminous. notes. South-western Archeological Expedition. tions were made in South Arizona and New Mexico, and the large collection of objects of prehistoric art which he gathered _ This work | is in the Peabody Museum at Cambridge, Mass. took up two and one-half years of his time, and then Mr. Cushing returned to the United States Bureau of Ethnology to- supervise a memoir on the Zuni myths printed by the Bureau. Three years later he became director of the expedition fitted out by Mrs. Phoebe A. Hearst and the late Dr. William. Pepper, conducted under the auspices of the National Museum, the Bureau of Ethnology and the University of Pennsylvania. Two years later he was made Director of the Hemenway Extensive excava- THE motion for the second reading of the Sea Fisheries Bill in the House of Commons, on Monday, resulted in a lively | dis- cussion. The Bill prohibits the sale of flatfish below a specified size, and its rejection was moved on the grounds that it would not: have the effect of preventing the destruction of immature fish, or of increasing the supply of fish. In the course of the discus- sion, an honourable member said that the whole of the trouble arose from the institution of a number of committees composed of farmers, lawyers, and captains of the horse, foot, and artillery, who knew little of fishing, and who ventilated strange theories. and supported them with portentous and irrelevant statistics. This remark was used as an argument against the Bill, but it may also be taken to mean that if fishery matters were controlled by scientific men familiar with the natural history of the sea, and questions concerning fisheries were referred to marine biologists, recommendations would be made upon which reasonable regu- lations might be based. Board of Trade statistics prove that there is a large destruction of immature fish, and that the quantity of fish landed has decreased during recent years. The Govern- ment, wishing to preserve a great national industry, have put for- ward the present Bill, which is really the Undersized Fish Bill of - last year, and has appeared under various other titles in previous years. The discussion upon the Bill was not completed when the House adjourned on Monday. THE report presented at the anniversary meeting of the Zoolo- gical Society, held on Monday, stated that the number of Fellows of the Society at the end of last year was 3246. The total i in- come of the Society during the past year was 28,8804 The average annual receipts of the Society for the previous ten years ~s have been 26,370/., so that. the receipts for 1899 exceeded that average by 2509/7. The number of visitors to the Society’s May 3. 1900} NATURE 17 Gardens in 1899 was 696,707. The number of animals now living in the Gardens is 2753, of which 821 are mammals, 1471 birds, and 461 reptiles and batrachians. Amongst the additions made during the past year, thirteen were specially commented upon as being of remarkable interest, and in most - cases new to the Society’s collection. Of these, by far the most _Grévy’s zebras placed under the care of the Society by Her Majesty the Queen. These animals, which had been presented to Her Majesty by the Emperor Menelik of Abyssinia, were brought down to Zeila, on the coast of Somaliland, under the care of Captain J. L. Harrington, the British Political Agent. _ At Zeila they were handed over to the Society’s assistant super- % t, Mr. Arthur Thomson, who had been sent there by _ The works in connection with the new bore at the he new machinery for pumping were completed last The evidence consists in the occurrence of certain ruins which correspond closely with ruins of the Saga-time in Ice- land, but which differ from native dwellings and early European NO. 1592, VOL. 62] il at the request of the Foreign Office on purpose to_ | ruins on the coast; and also in the correspondence in the physical features of the Massachusetts coast with the description of the country called Vinland in Icelandic literature. This evidence has recently been brought together in an illustrated _ article by Miss Cornelia Horsford in Appleton’s Popular Science | Monthly. noticeable objects exhibited for the first time were the pair of | THE recent Norwegian earthquakes are studied by Mr. J. Rekstad in a paper published in the Bergens Museums Aarbog (1899, No. iv.). During the four years 1895-1898, the number of recorded earthquakes is 77, the corresponding number for Great Britain being 24, and for Greece, 1652. A SLIGHT earth-shake occurred near Manchester at about 1.17 a.m. on April 7, It was felt at Pendleton, Pendlebury, Seedley, Salford and vuther places in the immediate neighbour- hood of the Irwell Valley fault. The small disturbed area and the rather marked intensity of the shock point to a local origin, probably connected either directly or indirectly with the extensive coal-workings of the district. On February 27, 1899, a similar earth-shake was felt at the-same places (see NATURE, vol. Ixi. p- 546). WE have received a reprint o: a paper, published in the Bulletin of the Geographical Society of Philadelphia, ‘“‘ On the Nicaragua Canal in its Geographical and Geological Relations,” by Prof. Hugelo Heilprin. The paper, which is illustrated by maps and photographs, discusses (1) the volcanic phenomena of the region of the proposed canal ; (2) an assumed inconstancy in the level of Lake Nicaragua ; and (3) the deformation of the Nicaragua coast-line. After pointing out the marked deficiency of trustworthy information concerning the region, especially with regard to lake and river topography and hydrography and dynamical geology, the author concludes that ‘‘ the facts that are known render doubtful, or at least open to question, the advisability of constructing, or even the practicability, of a canal suchas is contemplated.” . . . ‘* It may, perhaps, be pro- perly questioned whether, if the canal had been constructed. a hundred years ago, along the site that is now being contem- plated, it would be in existence to-day.” THE current number of Za Geographie contains a sugges- tive paper on the variation of the limits of the Mediterranean region, by M. Gaston Bonnier. It is pointed out that at- tempts to define the boundary from geological considerations have proved unsatisfactory, and that the region is more clearly distinguished by its climate. This may be traced in the flora, the Mediterranean region being roughly taken in France as the region of the olive. M. Bonnier contends that it can be more closely followed, especially in certain regions, by reference to other plants, and discusses a number of interesting observations with regard to exposure and elevation. AT the close of an address recently delivered as president or the Anthropological Society of Washington, Mr. W. J. McGee enunciated the cardinal principles of science as follows :—‘‘ The indestructibility of matter, the contribution chiefly of chemistry ; the persistence of motion, the gift mainly of physics ; the de- velopment of species, the offering of the biotic sciences; the uniformity of nature, the guerdon of geology and the older sciences ; and the responsivity of mind, the joint gift of several sciences, though put in final form by anthropology.” These principles are comprehensive enough, but they will not satisfy all students of epistemology, so much depends upon the point of view occupied. THE manufacture of silk cord from spiders’ web seems likely to attain commercial importance, for we learn through the Board of Trade Journal that one of the most novel exhibits in the Paris Exposition will be a complete set of bed-hangings i8 NATURE [ May 3, 1900 manufactured in Madagascar from the silk obtained from the halabe, an enormous spider that is found in great numbers in certain districts of the island. The matter has been taken up by M. Nogue, the head of the Antananarivo Technical School. The results he has already achieved show that the production of spider silk should quickly become a highly important industry. Each spider yields from three to four hundred yards of silk. After the thread has been taken from the spiders they are set free, and ten days afterwards they are again ready to undergo the operation. The silk of these spiders, which is of the most ex- traordinary brilliant golden colour, is finer than that of the silk- worm, but its tenacity is remarkable, and it can be woven betes: the least difficulty. WE have received from the Agricultural Department of the Economical Society of Youriev (Dorpat) a report upon the results of rainfall and temperature observations made in the Baltic Provinces of Livonia and Esthonia during 1898. This is the thirteenth year of publication ; the report contains a large amount of very useful statistics, including monthly and yearly means and the number of rainy days at no less than 203 stations. The same information is also shown very clearly in a graphical manner, together with a comparison of the year’s results with a ten years’ average. We note that the publication of the results for the year 1899 may be expected very shortly. THE Weather Bureau of the United States has published a valuable discussion of the climate of San Francisco (Audletin No. 28), by Messrs. A. G. McAdie and G. H. Willson. The work is based upon observations collected during the last thirty years, and the results are given in considerable detail on account of the important position of the town and the peculiarity of its climate. The authors state that if a native of San l*rancisco were asked which was the coldest month of the year, he might be unable to answer, and if asked which was the warmest, he might say November. This arises from the comparative small range of temperature; the mean annual temperature is about 56'2°.. May and November have practically the same tempera- ture ; the warmest month is September, 60°9°, and the coldest January, 50°1°. The highest temperature recorded was 100°, in June, 1891, and the lowest 29°, in January, 1888. The mean of the three consecutive warmest days has never exceeded 76°3°, and the mean of the three coldest days was 40°7°. The annual rainfall is 23 inches. July and August are practically without rain, while December and January together have nearly 10 inches. A SERIES of Lower Silurian fossils from Baffin Land, in the region between Hudson Bay and Davis Strait, has been described and figured by Mf. Charles Schuchert (Proc, U.S. Nat. Museum, vol, xxii. 1900). The fossils belong to the Trenton group, and the strata rest unconformably on old crystalline rocks. The author notes the early introduction in the Baffin fauna of Upper Silurian genera of corals, such as Halysites. He also remarks that the corals, brachiopods, gasteropods and trilo- bites have a wide distribution, and are less sensitive to differing habitats than the cephalopods or lamellibranchs. IN an article on the Dwyka Coal-measures (77vans. S. African Phil. Soc. vol. xi.), Mr. E. J. Dunn points out that the Dwyka conglomerate, which occurs at the base of the coal-bearing series, is a most valuable horizon, and that its length of outcrop exceeds 2000 miles, This is shown on an accompanying map. Within this outcrop coal may be present at varying depths over an im- mense area, extending from the southern part of the Transvaal to Kimberley and near East London. Borings alone can decide if profitable seams occur, and if so, at what depths. Ir is well known that the blood of animals that have been poisoned with carbonic oxide loses its power of absorbing oxygen. Dr. Adolfo Moutuori, writing in the Rendiconte of NO. 1592, VOL. 62] the Naples Academy, describes experiments tending to explain the fact that dogs are capable of surviving the injection into their veins of a quantity of carbonic oxide far greater than would poison them if inhaled. It is found that the poisoned blood reacquires its power of absorbing oxygen when it is brought into contact with the pulmonary tissues, but not otherwise. THE statics and dynamics of pseudospherical space in three dimensions form the subject of a memoir by Prof. D. de Fran- cesco in the Rezdiconto of the Naples Academy. Defining the co-ordinates of a point as the hyperbolic sines of the perpendi- culars on three principal orthogonal planes of reference, the author introduces the conception of the moment of a force with regard to a point, analogous to the moment in ordinary statics, and, in addition, the new notion of the co-moment, of which an analytic expression is given. By representing forces by the hyperbolic sines of segments measured on their lines of action the equation of virtual work is established, and by applying this equation to a rigid system the author determines the six characteristics, the central axis, and the invariants. Starting from the conception of the co-moment, the problem of dynamics is treated by the method of Poinsot. Two invariants are found, and the conditions for their vanishing lead to remarkable geometrical properties, which do not exist in ordinary mechanics. The same author discusses in the 4¢¢z ded Lénced the kindred problem of integration of the differential equations of free motion of a rigid body in space of constant curvature. Mr. J. E. Grirritu, of Bangor, author of the ‘‘ Flora of Carnarvonshire and Anglesey,” proposes to publish a series of photographic reproductions of the cromlechs of these two counties of Wales. The series will contain forty-three Te graphs of thirty-six different cromlechs. A RUMOURED project of reclaiming Wicken Fen in Cambridge. shire, forming the subject of a recent leader in the Standard, once more raises the question as to the desirability of acquiring by public subscription this last remaining habitat of the old fauna and flora of the Fen district, and thus saving them from extinction. be hoped that a movement may be set on foot for the purpose before it is too late. ‘WE have received No. 3 (vol. i.), for April, of Climate, ey Quarterly Journal of Health and Travel,” edited by Dr. C. F. Harford-Battersby. The periodical is the organ of the Travel- lers’ Health Bureau, the object of which is to supply to inquirers information of every kind connected with the health and comfort of travellers and of residents in unhealthy climates. Among the original articles in the number before us is a very interesting one on “‘ Gardening in West Africa,” by Miss Kingsley, and a résumé of the facts at present ascertained connecting malapia fever with the pa asite of the mosquito. A short paper on ‘*European Children in Tropical Climates,” by Dr. G. D. McReddie, will be read with interest by many. A ‘* FLORA OF BOURNEMOUTH ” is announced for early publi- cation by the Rev. E. F. Linton, of Bournemouth (subscription price, 7s. 6d.). The area taken is a radius of twelve miles, and includes portions of the counties of Hants and Dorset, with the Isle of Wight. The total number of flowering plants and Pteridophytes is stated as 1137. In the Naturwissenschaftliche Wochenschrift for April 15, Prof. M. Mébius gives an interesting account of pigments in the © | vegetable kingdom. Commencing with the colouring matters — of fungi and lichens, he proceeds to those in the various groups of Algze, and then to the pigments of Muscinez, Pteridophytes, and Phanerogams, contained in the stem, root, leaves, flowers, Such a project was suggested some time ago by | Mr. Carrington, the editor of Sczence Gossép, and it is much to | May 3 3: Pee NATURE 19 % hog fruits. He regards chlorophyll and hemoglobin as antago- nistic substances, the one characteristic of the vegetable, the other of the animal kingdom. _ To the Sttewngsberichte of the Berlin Academy for March 15, K. von Mobius, the director of the Zoological Museum, communicates a suggestive paper on our perception of the _ esthetic proportions of various mammals. __- Tue April number of the Journal of Anatomy and Physiology contains the full text of the paper read by Dr. Albert Gray at the last meeting of the British Association on Helmholtz’s theory of hearing. The author proposes a modification of the paris of the German investigator, according to which a re- ; analogy between the senses of hearing and touch is st issue of the 7vamsactions of the South African Society, Dr. R. Marloth gives the results of his ns as to the mode of growth of the barnacle infesting n Bight Whale. Were it not for some special pro- > growth of the epidermis beneath, coupled with the € away of the outer layer, would soon cause the parasite pete: sd, and, as a matter of fact, this actually takes place > dead shells. The living barnacle cannot, however, be jd in this manner, since it dissolves the part of the epi- which its skin is in contact at the same rate at which al tissue is formed below. Consequently the layer between the barnacle and the true skin never varies b and the parasite accordingly retains its position, the ting at the apex at the rate at which it grows at Mi Gavruier.Vittars, Paris, have published the third =d hegre of the ‘* Traité élémentaire d’Electricité avec les os edition of the late Prof. Milnes Marshall’s well- n paencscs! manual. on “The Frog: an Introduction ‘ Handbook of Jamaica,” compiled by Mr. T. L. Rox- d Mr. J. C. Ford, and published by Mr. Edward is filled with historical, statistical and general in- nati n concerning the island. We notice that the magnetic sat tion, which was 6° 30’ E. at the end of last century, and s been steadily decreasing since then, is now only 1° 24’ E., fin 1910 its value will be zero. Iw the course of a few weeks, Mr. Gustav Fischer, Jena, will c nence the publication of ‘* Aus den Tiefen des Weltmeeres,” elaborate work in which Prof. Carl Chun will describe and work will be published in twelve parts, the first of which ill appear during this month and the last in November. A SIXTH edition, revised and enlarged, of ‘‘ A Text-book of ing,” by C. and J. J. Beringer, has just been published by ‘s. Charles Griffinand Co. Mr. J. J. Beringer is responsible 1¢ revision of this handy book for assayers ; and he remarks | the preface: ‘‘ The principal changes in this edition are ddi to the articles on gold, cyanides and nickel, and a h enlarged index. The additional matter covers more than trate the German deep-sea expedition to Antarctic waters.- SCIENTIFIC students and investigators in Melbourne should be grateful to Mr. T. S. Hall for the ‘* Catalogue of the Scientific and Technical Periodical Literature in the Libraries in Melbourne,” which he has prepared. Besides periodicals, the list includes reports of scientific societies, as well as Govern- ment reports and Parliamentary ‘papers of scientific import. The catalogue will be a very useful guide to scientific literature accessible in Melbourne and its suburbs. THE sixteenth part of Mr. Oswin A. J. Lee’s fine work, ‘* Among British Birds in their Nesting Haunts, illustrated by the Camera,” has just been published by Mr. David Douglas, Edinburgh. The birds illustrated and described are the black- cap, bullfinch, short-eared owl, yellow wagtail, stock dove, pintail, wryneck, and lesser whitethroat. The present part completes the fourth volume, and it is hoped that the whole work will be finished in the course of a few months. Art the meeting of the Chemical Society on June I, 1899, Prof. Sydney Young, F.R.S., described.a series of tests made by him to determine the delative efficiency of various forms of still-heads for fractional distillation. The design of several new still-heads, superior in many respects to those in common use, was an outcome of the investigation ; and chemists will be glad to know that Messrs. J. J. Griffin and Sons have now placed these improved forms upon the market. THE additions to the Zoological Society’s Gardens during the past week include a Mozambique Monkey (Cercopithecus pyge- rythrus, 2) from Uganda, presented by Lady Ashburnham ; two Leopards (Felis pardus, § 2) from India, presented by Mrs. C. Simpson ; a Tawny Owl (Syrnzum aluco) from Scotland, pre- sented by Mrs. C. M. Blackwood ; six Common Vipers ( Vipera berus) from Dorsetshire, presented by Mr. A. Old; nine Natter- jack Toads (Bufo calamita) from Norfolk, presented by Mr. J. B. Thornhill; a Sykes’s Monkey (Cercopithecus albigu- larés, 2), a Flap-necked Chameleon (Chamaeleon dilepis) from East Africa, a Cactus Conure (Conurus cactorum) from Bahia, deposited ; two Gold Pheasants (7haumalea picta, 22), two Silver Pheasants (Zuflocamus nycthemerus, 22), two Cabot’s Horned Tragopans (Certornis caboti, $¢) from China, two Germain’s Peacock Pheasants (Polyplectron germaint, 8 2) from Cochin China, two Japanese Pheasants (Phasianus versi- color, 8 2), two Scemmerring’s Pheasants (Phastanus soemmer- ringi,é?) from Japan, three White-backed Trumpeters (Psophia leucoptera) from the Upper Amazons, four Wonga- Wonga Pigeons (Lewcosarcia picata) from New South Wales, a Musky Lorikeet (Glossopsittacus concinnus) from Australia, three Blue-crowned Hanging Parrakeets (Loriculus galgulus) from Malacca, an Ural Owl (Syrnium uralense), North-east European; a Great Wallaroo (JJacropus vobustus, 6) from South Australia, a Barbary Wild Sheep (Ovzs tragelaphus, 3) from North Africa, purchased ; a Yak (Poephagus grunniens, 3), born in the Gardens. OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. : New VARIABLE IN TAuRUs.—In the Astronomische Nach- richten (Bd. 152, No. 3635) M. W. Ceraski, of Moscow, an- nounces the discovery of another new variable by Madame Ceraski during her examination of the plates taken by M. S. Blajko. The star’s position is :— ; R.A. Decl. a anges tens 2 5 33 17°33 +26 18 55°3 (1900) 5 30 29°56 +2617 7°9 (1855) The star is not found in the B.D. At its maximum it is of 9'0-9'5 mag. ; at minimum, about 12 mag. or less. On 1900 March 29, it was at the limit of visibility in a telescope of 4°5 inches aperture. 20 NATURE | May 3, 1900 SEARCH ErHEMERIS FOR Eros.—In view of preparing for observations of this minor planet during the coming opposition, the following ephemeris has been prepared by J. B. Westhaver from the elements computed by H. N. Russell (Astronomical Journal, No. 479, vol. xx. p. 185). Ephemeris for 12h. Greenwich Mean Time. 1900. ‘. R.A. Decl. Mag. ape | Scag gh ty May. 3 7 ie Se Oe | —-4 0 25 13°4 5 5 46°7 3 28 2 7 9 323 2 55 29 13°3 9 13 16°9 2.22545 II 27078 I 49 52 13°3 13 20 43°1 I 16 48 : 15 24 24°9 © 43 35 132 17 28 5°8 —O 10 II 19 31 45°8 +0 23 22 13‘2 21 35 25°0 O57 4 23 89.355 I 30 55 13'1 25 42 40°8 2 455 27 46 17°5 .2 39 4 13°! 29 49 53 3 13 22 3! 23 53 284 +3 47 48 13'0 RELATION BETWEEN SOLAR ACTIVITY AND EARTH'S Morion.—In the Astronomische Nachrichten (Bd. 152, No. 3635), Mr. W. G. Thackeray criticises the recent paper by Dr. J. Halm (As¢r. Nach. Bd. 151, No. 3619, NATURE, March 8, p. 445), deducing certain relations between the sun-spot cycle, the changes in the obliquity of the ecliptic and the variations of the terrestrial latitude. Mr. Thackeray states first, that continuous ob- servations of sun spots have only been made since 1825, so that the sixty years period lacks sufficient evidence ; secondly, that Dr. Halm has ignored some of the systematic errors of observation, particularly those depending on the corrections for temperature in the transit circle reductions, although in some cases their amount affects the value of the obliquity by as great a quantity as the whole amplitude of Chandler’s long period inequality of latitude variation. The paper includes a table showing the annual corrections to Leverrier’s obliquity from 1836-1896, with corresponding yearly means of Wolf’s spot numbers. These differ from the values adopted by Dr. Halm, and the resulting plotted curves shew little or no resemblance. DETERMINATION OF SOLAR PARALLAX FROM OPPOSITION OF Eros.—In the Astronomical Journal (No. 480, vol. xx. pp. 189-191), Prof. S. Newcomb directs attention to the favourable opportunity for determining the Solar Parallax which will be afforded by the comimg opposition of the minor planet Eros, in December 1900, the conditions being conducive to more accurate direct measurements than have ever before been presented. As another such favourable opportunity will not occur for more than thirty years, several suggestions are made for determining the best combination of observations. The period during which determinations may be made is remarkably long, as during the five months from 1900 Octo- ber 15 to 1901 March 15, the distance of the planet will.be less than 0°50 astronomical unit. The high degree of precision attainable in late years by photo- graphy indicates this as the best method, an additional point in favour of this plan being that photographic telescopes are already in use at various stations, and need only devoting to this work. In arranging the programme of observations three objects should be kept in view :— , First, the station and hours of exposure should be so chosen as to secure the maximum of parallactic angles. Secondly, endeavour should be made to secure simultaneous exposures at different stations, in order to lessen the uncertain- ties arising from differences of scale, changes in relative position of planet among stars, and in the reduction of the position of the planet from hour to hour. Series of independent determina- tions should also be made, each within an interval of twenty-four hours. Thirdly, the relative displacement should, as nearly as possible, be in a direction at right angles to the motion of the planet among the stars. Prof. Newcomb then describes four charts included in the paper, showing projections of the earth as seen from Eros at the Epochs (1) middle of October to end of November ; (2) about December 16; (3) about January 10; (4) about February 1. On these are marked the sunset and sunrise lines, and parallels NO. 1592, VOL. 62] of latitude corresponding to the principal observatories : Hel- singfors, Pulkowa, 60° lat. ; Greenwich, Paris, Potsdam, &c., 50° lat.; Jamaica, Madras, 15° lat.; Arequipa, —15° lat. ; 4 Cape of Good Hope, ~35° lat. On these projections the direction of the planet’s motion for different dates is indicated, so that observers may find by inspection the relative importance of observations at various stations and at various times of night. 5 Respecting the degree of precision it may be possible to attain in the final result, it is noticeable that the course of the planet throughout the entire period will lie along the borders of the Milky Way, ensuring more and nearer comparison-stars than would otherwise be available. An element of uncertainty is the probable error of measurement from the plates. From a consideration’ of Kapteyn’s investigation of the Helsingfors parallax plates, and those at Potsdam, it is likely that the probable error of the solar parallax from a pair of simultaneous plates at Arequipa and Helsingfors would be +0”'02, and even this might be reduced were it not for the uncertainty arising from the motion of the planet. WORKING SILICA IN THE OX Y-GAS BLOWPIPE FLAME. THE plastic state of silica, and the elasticity of fine threads of vitreous silica, were first observed by M. Gaudin (Comptes rendus, viii. 678, 711) in 1839; but his observations seem to have attracted but little attention, and the valuable qualities of ‘* quartz threads” remained unutilised till they were independ- ently rediscovered and applied by Prof. C. V. Boys in 1887. Similarly, M. A. Gautier succeeded, in 1869, in making very narrow tubes of silica, and showed such tubes in Paris in the year 1878, but he failed to make further progress, even with the aid of M. Moissan’s electric furnace (Comptes rendus, cxxx. 816, March 26), and his early work was so completely forgotten, both in France and England, that the latest French worker on the subject, M. A. Dufour, was evidently unaware of its existence a few weeks ago (Comptes rendus, cxxx. 775, March 19). © 5; But though it thus appears that Prof. Boys was not, as has been supposed, actually the first physicist to draw silica into threads, or work it into fine tubes, there can be no doubt but that his observations, methods of working and experiments have formed the basis of all that has been done since the publication of his first paper in 1887. ae In June 1899, one of the authors of this article exhibited (in conjunction with W. T. Evans), at the Royal Society’s Soirée, a tube of vitreous silica, about 12 cm. in length and I cm. in diameter, and at the same time showed the process by which it had been made. Since that date we, the present writers, have made a good deal of further progress. We have succeeded in making longer tubes of various thicknesses, and in joining such tubes both end to end and at right angles. On February 22, we filled and sealed an ungraduated mercury thermometer made entirely of vitreous silica! ; and what is equally important, we have entirely overcome the difficulty caused by the great tendency of quartz to splinter when suddenly thrust into the oxy-gas flame. We therefore now publish a short account of our methods in the hope that they may enable others to take advantage of the new material without undertaking a tedious preliminary investigation into its properties and the methods of working it. We may perhaps be permitted to add that we have already commenced experiments intended to test the suitability of silica for use in mercury and air thermometers, especially in regard to the fixity, or otherwise of their zero points, that M. A. Dufour is engaged on similar work, especially in relation to high temperature ther- mometers, and that we are ‘also studying the fitness of silica ‘apparatus for researches on the properties of pure gases.* To prepare Non-splintering Silica. —The best form of silica Qs for use before the blowpipe is rock crystal. This may be ob- tained in the form of chippings, or in masses which have proved unsuitable for optical work. We have experimented with the lighter particles of Kieselguhr, after well washing them with strong hydrochloric acid, and also with well-washed precipitated silica ; but, though these can be worked before the blowpipe without much difficulty, they have not proved satisfactory in our — hands, as they yield an opaque product which is only suitable for a few purposes. f 1 Narorg, April 5, p. 540. 2 This will obviously involve a careful investigation into its power of condensing gases and vapours. Ml a cee a May 3, 1900] NATURE 2I ’ In order to prepare non-splintering silica from native masses of rock crystal, the latter must be heated in a Bunsen flame, unless they are already perfectly clean, until the outer impure ayers can be removed easily by a blow from an iron pestle or hammer. The clean masses of silica must then be heated in a vessel containing boiling water for some time, and dropped whilst hot into clean cold water. This treatment will cause the “masses to crack to such an extent that they may easily be broken into fragments of convenient dimensions by sharp blows fromaclean hammer. When the material has thus been broken up, the fragments must be examined one by one, and all those z which contain foreign matter must be rejected. Finally, the selected fragments must be heated to a yellow-red heat ina _ platinum dish, and then quickly thrown into deep cylinders con- taining cold distilled water. After the quartz has been treated 7 is, ide caaes twice, it will be found to be semi-opaque and very much like a white enamel in appearance. It be brought safely into the oxy-gas flame, or be pressed zainst masses of white-hot plastic silica without any heating, such as is necessary in the case of the tz. These processes do not occupy much time, and epared material saves a great deal of time and Se opie stages. We have tried unprepared | cloudy quartz, but both these splinter badly. rw pipe. ave worked silica both in the flame of » blow through” jet, and in the flame of a good gas” burner. We find the latter gives by far the factory results. The large ‘‘ blow through ” burners, uy be used for welding and melting iron, or for melting , do not give satisfactory results, from an economical view, with silica. cessary precaulions.—In working silica it is neces- very dark glasses to sep the eyes. The darkest isses usu: eee oy spectacle makers are not, in our expe- ice, satisfactory. e use spectacles made specially from oie 24 kened, that it is difficult at first to work m at all. We lay some stress on this matter, as we are that want of care in selecting the spectacles would be ‘result in injury to the sight of any one who should silica before the blowpipe frequently, and for long spells. uive difficulty of working Glass and Silica.—The shioning of apparatus {rom silica before the blowpipe is expen- e, for the consumption of oxygen is large, and it demands patience to build up large pieces of apparatus from S$ 1 s of quartz. But owing to the remarkable fact hat properly prepared silica, and also silica rendered vitreous fusion, may be plunged directly into the hottest part of the is flame, and afterwards be suddenly cooled, and reheated sooled, apparently as frequently as one pleases, without of its. ing, it is really very much easier to manipu- an any variety of glass. The most careless and most enced worker runs no risk of breaking his apparatus want of skill in managing the flame, or through the 2s of his affairs compelling him to put aside half-finished yk. It is important, however, to apply the flame to the aque wed silica, in the first instance, in such a way as to oid the of air bubbles. Our practice is to heat st the lowest surface of each fresh mass of silica, and to take ure that fusion proceeds regularly from below upwards. If this a perfectly clear glass-like product is obtained. is very liable to exhibit a phenomenon resembling ation, especially at the earlier stages before the traces sodium and lithium, which seem to be present in most quartz, fe been expelled. In order to avoid permanent injury to finished work from this cause, care must be taken to employ e. If this be done, any devitrification that may will be removed easily by reheating the disfigured he Silica Tubes.— Before one commences to construct 3 of silica it is well to prepare a stock of the vitreous in the form of rods about 1 mm. in diameter. These by holding a small lump of non-splintering silica in the y means of forceps with platinum tips, so as to melt one the mass, pressing a second fragment of the material the heated spot till the two adhere, heating the second from below upwards until it assumes a clear vitreous ce, then adding a third fragment of silica to the second, to the third, and so on, until an irregular rod has ed. Finally, this irregular rod must be reheated ll sections at a time, and drawn out to the desired extent. NO. 1592. VOL. 62] * These rods are easily made by any one ; a capable laboratory boy will produce about a score of rods 20 cm. long in an hour, after a few days’ practice at the work ; but his consumption of oxygen must be watched closely. The platinum tongs do not suffer much if one works-in the manner described, for after the first start off they are only used to press co/d fragments of silica against the fused ends of the growing rods. Our forceps have been used by four beginners, and are quite unharmed after several years. When a supply of the rods of-vitreous silica has been pre pared, bind a few of them, at their ends, with fine platinum wire round a rod of platinum I to 1°5 mm. in diameter ; heat the silica cautiously till the rods adhere to one another, and then withdraw the platinum core. If the tube is not perfect, add bits of silica at the defective places and reheatthem. Close one end of the rough tube thus produced and blow a small bulb upon the closed end, proceeding in the manner employed for producing glass bulbs, Heat the bottom of the buib, attach a rod of silica to it, reheat the whole bulb and then draw it out into a tube. Blow a fresh bulb at one end of the fine tube thus made, and draw this out in its turn until the tube is six or seven cm. in length. By the time this is accomplished the worker will have discovered that the hottest spot in his oxy-gas flame is just inside the tip of the inner cone, but not too near the orifice of the jet ; and after this, if he can perform the simpler operations of glass working, he will, with a few weeks’ practice, find it easy to make larger apparatus by following the simple instruc- tions given below. The chief difficulty met with when one wishes to make large bulbs, tubes, &c., is due to the fact that the only thoroughly satisfactory burners give comparatively small flames, and that it is only the hottest parts of these flames that give the desired results. There 1s no doubt, however, that suitable combinations of small burners could be contrived if they should be demanded, for the production of apparatus of really considerable dimensions. In order to convert a small bulb of silica into a large tube, proceed as follows :—Heat one end of a fine rod of vitreous silica, and when it is in the plastic state apply it to the bulb at the point c. Then soften the adjacent parts of the rod and allow them to fall upon the bulb so as to form a ring C B, attached to the bulb. Heat the end of the bulb and c B till the silica softens, then blow out the end in the usual manner. If this process C — 3 is repeated the bulb will first become ovate and then form a short tube which can be lengthened, practically speaking, indefinitely. Tubes of 1°5 cm. diameter and of considerable length are easily made in this way bya patient person. It does not answer to add lumps of silica at E and then to blow them out; we had no success in working silica till we abandoned that method. The sides of a tube formed in that way are too thin, and blow-holes constantly form in them. The tubes are easily thickened, when necessary, by adding rings of silica, reheating these, and blow- ing them to spread the material as one would do when working glass. It is best to blow through a chamber containing potash. If this is connected to the end of the silica tube by india-rubber ‘ valve” tube, one is able to move the silica tube with sufficient freedom. If a large tube is being made, it is best to blow out the softened material whilst it is still in the hottest part of the flame, but smaller objects may be transferred to the less hot parts of the flame with advantage at the moment of blowing. When a comparatively large object must be uniformly heated, it is convenient to place a sheet of silica in front of the flame a little beyond the object to be heated, in order that it may throw back the flames upon those parts of the material which are turned away from the chief source of heat. A suitable plate of silica is easily made by sticking together small, rounded masses of vitrified quartz. We find that it is not difficult to produce tubes of various thicknesses and various internal diameters by heating and collaps- ing thin tubes made as described above, and that fine capillaries, ** thick millimetre tubes,” and tubes of two or three millimetres bore, of moderate thickness, can be produced in this way. Thermometer stems are best made by adding rings of silica to small bulbs, thickening them in the flame till their cavities are a2 NATURE [May 3, 1900 very small, and then quickly drawing them out whilst soft. Finally, we may add that tubes of silica can as readily be sealed to one another as tubes of glass, and that T-pieces and side tubes generally may be formed by fixing rings of silica in the positions to be occupied by the side tubes and extending them by blowing as already described, or by attaching tubes of suitable dimen- sions, previously prepared, to short side tubes blown as just described. It is therefore possible to construct such apparatus as Geissler tubes, small distilling tubes, and thermometers with stems of the German type, &c. We feel sure that small flasks could easily be made also by means of suitable combina- tions of several oxy-gas burners, though doubtless they would be rather expensive. ; Finally, solid rods of silica five or six millimetres in diameter can be made by putting together small masses of prepared silica, or better by pressing together in the flame the softened ends of the fine rods already described. Notes on some Properties of Vitreous Silica..—A good many of the properties of silica have already been described by Prof. Boys, but a knowledge of the following, some of which are, we think, now described for the first time, will be found useful :— (1) Vitreous silica is a very poor conductor of heat ; hence it is possible to hold a thick rod of silica very close to a strongly ignited zone. (2) Our colleague, the Rev. H. Pentecost, finds that vitreous silica is less hard than chalcedony, but harder than felspar. Its surface appears to be about equally hard after it has been heated as strongly as possible and cooled suddenly, and after it has been heated and cooled in the air. Tubes of silica may be readily cut by means of a cutting diamond, and also with a good file of hardened steel. (3) It has already been stated that cold vitreous silica can be plunged safely into the hottest part of an oxy-gas flame, and that the heating and cooling foo can be repeated with im- punity. Hot vitreous silica bears sudden cooling equally well. We have repeatedly plunged thick rods and large tubes of silica, heated till plastic, into cold water and even into fusible metal below 100°, without any injury to the material, for when after- wards cut with a diamond it did not fly.” On the other hand, threads of silica become rotten when heated to the highest temperature of an ordinary blowpipe.* Large objects seem to be affected to a much less degree; and we suspect that this phenomenon may be due to surface devitri- fication. When silica is in this friable state it can be re-annealed by again softening it in the oxy-gas flame. According to Gaudin, wires of silica heated to a suitable temperature (‘‘ rouge-blanc ”) acquire great cohesion and become very elastic. We have not yet succeeded in fixing platinum electrodes securely into silica tubes. But we have reason to hope that this: may be found to be practicable by the use of kaolin, or some other natural silicate. Meanwhile, it seems possible that they might be soldered into the silica if necessary (see ‘* Laboratory Arts,” by R. Threlfall). We may add that, according to M. Gaudin, emerald gives threads which are even more tenacious than those of silica. W. A. SHENSTONE. Clifton College. H. G. Lace Lt. UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL : INTELLIGENCE. - CAMBRIDGE.—The following is the Speech delivered, on April 26, by the Public Orator (Dr. Sandys) in presenting Mr. CHARLES Hoss for the degree of Doctor in Science, honords causa. Insulam Borneonem orbis terrarum inter insulas omnes prope maximam esse constat. Insulae autem illius insulis nostris fere duplo maioris in parte septentrionali patet regio quae unum e Britannis regem suum esse gloriatur. In eadem vero regione provincia quaedam, fluviorum ingentium infra confluentes, abhinc annos decem alumno nostro tradita est, qui barbarorum animos bellicosos pacis ad foedera vocavit, et armorum certamina -saeva certaminis nautici in ludum mutavit. Idem non modo in foedere inter barbaros sanciendo victimarum caesarumy haruspex sollertissimus, sed etiam avium in silvis volantium augur et 1 See also Gaudin, oc. cit. 2 Gaudin obtained similar results with drops of Zigwid silica. - . 3 Gaudin observed a similar phenomenon in the case of fine threads, and so also, we believe, did Boys. NO. 1592, VOL. 62] auspex admirabilis exstitit.. Ergo alumni nostri auspiciis et — Helvetiae et Bataviae et Germaniae et Galliae et Britanniae musea avium et animalium exemplis eximiis aucta et suppleta sunt, et insulae ipsius zoologia, anthropologia, geographia, novo lumine illustratae. Talia propter merita alumnus noster non modo inter nosmet ipsos a regia geographiae societate praemio singulari donatus est, sed etiam inter Europae gentes tum aliis honoribus ornatus est, tum praesertim inter Germanos falconis albi eques iure optimo nominatus est. Nostra denique zoologiae, anatomiae, archaeologiae musea iam plus quam decimum per annum alumni nostri liberalitatem loquuntur. _ Ergo nos quoque insulae tantae non modo avium et animalium venatorem assi- duum, sed etiam montium et fluminum exploratorem intrepidum, ob scientiarum fines etiam imperii Britannici prope terminhos feliciter propagatos, laurea nostra hodie libenter coronamus, Duco ad vos museorum nostrorum patronum liberalissimum, exploratorum nostrorum hospitem benignissimum, CAROLUM Hose. The General Board propose the establishment of a lectureship in ethnology, to which Dr. Haddon may be appointed; and a lectureship in bacteriology and preventive medicine for Dr, Nuttall. Both have unofficially given valuable instruction in _ their respective subjects, and the recognition now suggested will probably be readily accorded by the University. New lecture- — ships in experimental physics and in agricultural chemistry are also proposed. I The Board of Agricultural Studies, at the close of their first — financial year, make a highly satisfactory report. Theirincome — is sufficient for the provision of a complete course of instruction, — which has now been organised under the direction of Prof. Somerville. They now ask the University to establish a special examination in agricultural science (botany, chemistry, physics and geology) for the ordinary B.A. degree. THE history of the University of London, from the time of Sir Thomas Gresham’s bequest, in 1575, of his house and garden in Bishopsgate, for the purposes of education, down to the com- — pletion of the work of the commissioners appointed under the © University of Léndon Act, 1898, is traced in an interesting — article in the current number of the Quarterly Review. The ~ large part the University has taken in the renascence of natural science, which will hereafter be regarded as the main — characteristic of intellectual progress in the nineteenth century, is pointed out, as well as the fact that London degrees in science were the first conferred by British universities. WE learn from .Scéence that the University of Chicago has secured the 2,000,000 dollars needed to meet the requirements — of Mr. Rockefeller’s gift of an equal amount. At the recent convocation of the University, President Harper gave some de- tails in regard to the gifts received since January Ist. They have come from more than 200 different persons, and 90 per cent. of them were unsolicited. The largest items appear to be the Gurley paleontological collection, 30,000 dollars from Mrs, Delia Gallup, and, given anonymously, 60,000 dollars for a commons, 50,000 dollars and 25,000 dollars for a students’ club-house, 20,000 dollars towards a women’s hall, and 30,000 — dollars with specific use to be designated later. President Harper stated that the total assets of the University are now — not far from 11,000,000 dollars. Pe a i THE Technical Education Board of the London County Council will proceed shortly to award five senior county scholar- — ships, each of the value of 60/. a year for three years, with free tuition fees up to 30/. a year. These scholarships are intended to assist young men and women to pursue a course at some University or at a technical college of University rank. Some — of the scholars who have been elected in previous years are holding their scholarships at Oxford and Cambridge, others are — studying at technical colleges in different parts of England, — while others are pursuing courses of study on the Continent. The scholarships are open only to candidates who are under twenty-two years of age, and whose parents are in receipt of not more than 4oo/. a year. In addition to the senior scholar-_ ships, the board has in past years made a certain number 0 grants of smaller value to assist students in pursuing advanced education, and the board has at its disposal a certain numbe free places at University College, London, King’s Colle; London, and Bedford College, London. The scholarships grants are awarded, not on the result of a set examination, on the consideration of the past achievements and promise of May 3, 1900] NATURE 23 _ the candidates. Application forms may be obtained from the Bix ae Bed the Technical Education Board, 116, St. Martin’s Place, W.C., to whom they should be returned not later than _ May 14. The board is also offering scholarships for the en- b.% ment of horticulture and gardening. Two of these, ie Soaahle at the Swanley Horticultural College, Kent, give free board and tuition for two years, and may be reckoned as of the _ value of 60/. a year. They are open to candidates between the ages of sixteen and twenty, and one will be awarded to a young - man and the other toa young woman as the result of a com- _ petitive examination. No candidate is eligible whose parents are in receipt of more than 400/. a year. SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. eee, LONDON. Physical Society.—Ordinary meeting held by the invita- Sir Norman Lockyer, F.R.S., in the Solar Physics » South Kensington, on April 27.—Mr. T. H. ice-President, in the chair.—Sir Norman Lockyer lort account of the physical problems now being in- d at the Solar Physics Observatory, and their astro- applications. The chief work carried on at the atory is the comparison of stellar spectra with spectra ed from lights emitted by laboratory sources. The light Star (or the sun) and from an arc (or a spark) are tely upon the slit of a spectroscope, and the two oop ea ges ed side by side upon the saine plate. The lines in the arc Sige depends upon which part of is focussed on the slit. The image of the centre is rich s, the image of the edge gives a few single lines. Changes ‘in spectra are also dealt with. The thickening and thinning of nes depends upon several things. In the first place, it depends ‘upon the density of the substance, and thus the hydrogen ‘lines in the spectrum of Sirius are much broader than those in a Cygni, the hyd 1 g denser in the former star. Changes may ye produced by variations in quantity. A reduction in the ntity of a substance generally simplifies its spectrum, the line disappearing last. The motion of a luminous body or from the spectroscope alters the wave-length of the light ted and produces a shift in the lines of the spectrum. The apd E 1€ of Nova Aurigze, we have dark and bright lines of the sane vobatance side byside. This shows that eae are two bodies involved, moving with different velocities, the one giving aradiation and the other an absorption spectrum. Another ge in the lines depends upon temperature. In general an n ein temperature produces a greater number of lines, a otable exception being sodium, which gives its full number of Ss at temperature of an ordinary Bunsen flame. The fa of metals obtained from the arc, and by sparking, are | quite different. Those lines which make their appear- or are intensified in passing from the arc to the higher npel the spark, are known as enhanced lines. The parison of stellar spectra with laboratory’spectra is often easy. nce, the presence of iron in the sun and hydrogen in is easily seen. Several lines in the spectrum of Bella- have been shown to be due to helium, the position of the lines being exactly the same as those due to the gases from clevite. In many cases it is possible to build up the spectrum if a star from the spectra of its constituents taken at the proper emperatures. For instance, the spectrum of y Orionis can be c oo ageareage by means of oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon ier with the well-marked lines of hydrogen and helium. ye can roughly estimate by the character of the spectra of stars, 2 temperatures of those stars, and thus arrive at a stellar iermometry. Starting with a hot star like Bellatrix, and pass- through 6 Persei, + Lyre, Sirius, Castor, Procyon to Arc- acold star, we have a gradual change in the character of which appear in the spectrum of any constituent. The ig of the lines in the case of spectra of sun spots enables to trace changes in temperature of the sun, and we can com- e these temperature changes with a variety of terrestrial nomena, such as variation in latitude. The extraordinary mb of lines exhibited by many metals suggests that what ‘are accustomed to call chemical elements are really complex which are made up of simpler ones. Attempts have made to build up the spectra of metals by superimposing NO. 1592, VOL. 62] mpe 5 tion is a measure of the velocity in the line of sight. | simple sets of lines upon one another. In many cases a great number of series would be required to represent things com- pletely. In the case of hydrogen it would be necessary to have at least twenty-seven series to give the structure spectrum only. Taking the atomic weight of hydrogen as unity, the atomic weight of the little masses which might give rise to any one of these series would be about ‘oo1g. This is of the order of mag- nitude of the small bodies, of which the existence has been suggested by Prof, J. J. Thomson from his work on ions. PARIS. Academy of Sciences.—M. Maurice Lévy in the chair.— The President armounced to the Academy the death of M. Alphonse Milne-Edwards, and gave an account of his work. — On linear partial differential equations of the second order, and on the generalisation of the problem of Dirichlet, by M. Emile Picard.—On the heats of combustion and formation of some iodine compounds, by M. Berthelot. A redetermination , of the heats of combustion of fourteen typical iodine derivatives. In spite of preconceived notions to the contrary derived from the incomplete combustion of such cempoundsas iodoform in air, no difficulty was experienced in completely burning any of the substances in the calorimetric bomb.—On rifling in cannon, by M. Vallier. A discussion on the best form of curve for the rifling of cannon, and an extension of the work of M. Zaboudski upon the same subject.—On the upright trunks, stems and roots of Sigillaria, by M. Grand‘Eury. A study of, the Sigillaria existing in a quarry in the neighbourhood of St. Etienne. From the fact that the stems (Syringodendron) found in a vertical posi- tion are not distributed at random, but are usually found in groups near each other forming well marked colonies, and from other characters of their growth, the author concludes that the hypo- thesis of R. P. Schmitt that they have been transported by water and deposited in the position found, is untenable. The view of Dawson that they have grown upon unsubmerged soil is also held to be untenable, all the facts noted by the author pointing to the Sigillaria have grown in the place in which they are found in marshy soil; under water varying from I metre to 7 or 8 metres in exceptional cases.—Reply to a reclamation of priority of M. Curie, by M. Gustave le Bon.—Reply by M. Th. Tommasina to a reclamation of priority, by MM. Ducretet and — Popof.—Note by M. L. M. Bullier replying to M, Geelmuyden on a question of priority.—On the complementary terms in the criterium of Tisserand, by M. Gruey.—On differential equations of any order whatever with fixed critical points, by M. Paul Painlevé,—On the generalisation of analytical prolongation, by M. Emile Borel.—The theoretical cycle of gas engines, by M. A. Witz. A discussion of the remarks and criticism of M. Marchis.—On the dielectric constant and the dispersion of ice for electromagnetic radiations, by M. C. Gutton. The value of the refractive index for electromagnetic waves was found to vary with the wave-length from 1°76 for a wave-length of 14 cm. to 1°50 for 2088 cm., ice thus presenting normal dispersion for electromagnetic waves. —T wo applications of Govi’s camera lucida, by M. A. Lafay.—On the maximum sensitiveness practically employed in coherers for wireless tele- graphy, by MM. A. Blondel and G. Dobkévitch. The increase of sensibility observed by M. Tissot to occur when the coherer is placed in a rnagnetic field, is ascribed by the authors to purely mechanical causes, the increase of contact between the powder and the electrodes produced by their mutual attraction.—On the radiations of radium, by M. E. Dorn. The author draws at- tention to the fact that he published a note on the deviation of the rays emitted by radio-active barium bromide in an electric field on March 11, independently of M. Becquerel.—On a new thermo-calorimeter, by M. G. Massol. Two improvements on Regnault’s thermo-calorimeter are suggested, the replacement of alcohol by sulphuric acid, giving a large increase in the range of the instrument, and the use of a reservoir at the upper end of the instrument as in Walferdin’s maximum thermometer by which the sensitiveness of the thermo-calorimeter is increased without undue lengthening of the stem. The instrument thus modified has been of especial service in the study of superfused liquids. —A new indicator in acidimetry, and its application to the estimation of boric acid, by M. Jules Wolff. The indicator proposed is a solution of ferric salicylate in sodium salicylate, which passes from violet to orange when the solutions become alkaline. Data are given showing the results obtainable with borates. —On the selenides and chloroselenides of lead, by M. Fonzes-Diacon. —Crystallised lead selenide, PbSe, is obtained by 24 NATURE [ May 3, 1900 reduction of a selenate by hydrogen or by carbon, by the action of hydrogen selenide upon the vapours of lead chloride, and by the direct fusion in the electric furnace of precipitated lead selenide.—On the alkaline selenio-antimonites, by M. Pouget. Selenio-antimonites can be obtained of analogous composition to the sulpho-antimonites already known ; mixed sulphur and selenium compounds, thioantimonites in which the sulphur is only partially replaced by selenium have also been prepared.— Micro-chemical researches on yttrium, erbium and didymium, by MM. M. E. Pozzi-Escot and H. C. Couquet.—Mechanism of the senility and death of nerve cells, by M. G. Marinesco. As the result of a study of nerve cells from the brain and spinal column of individuals of ages ranging from 60 to I10, it was found that the modifications constituting the old age of the nerve cell do not only consist of the diminution, more or less marked, of this body, but include other more interesting changes, some of which, tangible to the microscope, are described.—Hetero- plastism, by M. Nicolas-Alberto Barbierii—A determination of the conditions under which tissue from one mammal can be grafted on to another, to replace similar tissue. The results of experiments are given on the grafting of muscular, vascular, and nervous tissue. DIARY OF SOCIETIES. THURSDAY, May 3. Roya InstiruTIon, at 3.—A Century of Chemistry in the Royal Insti- tution: Prof. J. Dewar, F.R.S. LInNEAN Society, at 8.—Note on the Movements in Fishes: Prof. R. J. Anderson.—On New Species of Hadimeda, from Funafuti: Miss E. S. ~ Barton.—On West Indian Fungi: Miss A. L. Smith. Cuemicat Society, at 8.—Brazilin, Part IV.: A. W. Gilbody, W. H. Perkin, jun., and J. Yates.—Hzmatoxylin, Part V.: W. H. Perkin, jun.,and J. Yates —The Substituted Nitrogen Chlorides and Bromides derived from o- and /-acet-toluide and their Relation to the Substitution of Halogens in.Toluides and Toluidines: F. D. Chattaway and K.R. P. Orton. ; RONTGEN SociETy, at 8.—Demonstration and Exhibition of NewMethods and Results. INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—If the discussion on Prof. Forbes's Paper, read on April 26, is concluded, the following Paper will be read:—The Calculations of Distributing Systems of Electric Traction under British Conditions: H. M. Sayers. FRIDAY, May 4. Roya. INsTITUTION, at 9 —Pottery and Plumbism: Prof. T. E. Thorpe, GEOLOGISTS’ ASSOCIATION, at 8.—Some Features of the Recent Geology of Western Norway: Horace W. Monckton. : Cotp StoraGe anp Ice Association (Examination Hall, Victoria Em- bankment), at 11.30.—Recent Researches in Refrigeration : G. Halliday. —Insulation and Insulators : W. D. A. Bost.——At 3.—Electric Lighting of Cold Stores: W. B. Esson.—The Design and Construction of Build- ings for Ice Factories and Cold Storage: P. Gaskell. SATURDAY, May 5. ; Roya. InstTiTruTION, at 3.—Egypt in the Middle Ages: Prof. Stanley Lane-Poole. MONDAY, May 7. Society oF Arts, at 8.—The Incandescent Gas Mantle and its Use: Prof. Vivian B. Lewes. Society or Cuemicat InpustRy, at 8.—The Production of Nitrate of Soda in Chili: Dr. W. Newton. TUESDAY, May 8. Roya InstiruTion, at 3.—A Corner of Sussex: Dr. H. R. Mill. Society oF Arts, at 8.—Art Metal Work: Nelson Dawson. ZooLocical Society, at 8.30.—A List of the Batrachians and Reptiles of the Gaboon (French Congo), with Descriptions of New Genera and Species: G. A. Boulenger, F.R.S.—On the Birds of Hainan: W. R. Ogilvie Grant.—On the Rhopalocera collected by the late Mr. John Whitehead in the Interior of the Island of Hainan: Philip Crowley. Roya PuHorocrapuic Society, at 8.—The Effect of Colour on Grada- tion: Chapman Jones. WEDNESDAY, May 9. Society oF ArTs, at 8.—Improvement of our Roads: A. Moresby White. GEOLoGIcaL Socigery, at 8.—The Pliocene Deposits of the East of England. Part II. The Crag of Essex (Waltonian) and its Relation to that of Norfolk and Suffolk: F. W. Harmer. With a Report on the Inorganic Constituents of the Crag by Joseph Lomas.—The Salt Lake of Larnaca (Cyprus): C. V. Bellamy. Iron AND STEEL INSTITUTE, at 10.30.—General Meeting.—On Blowing- Engines driven by Crude Blast-Furnace Gas: Adolphe Greiner.—The Solution Theory of Iron: Baron H. von Jiiptner.—The Use of Fluid Metal in the Open-Hearth Furnace: James Riley.—Iron and Phos- phorus: J. E. Stead.—The Continuous Working of the Open-Hearth Furnace: Benjamin Talbot. NO. 1592, VOL. 62] THURSDAY, May to. Royat Society, at 4.30.—Probable Papers : On the Diffusion of Gold in _ ~4 Solid Lead at the Ordinary Temperature: Sir W. Roberts-Austen, F.R.S.—On Certain Properties of the Alloys of the Copper-Gold Series : Sir W. Roberts-Austen, F.R.S., and Dr. T. ose.— Experiments on Supposed Vascular and Visceral Factors in the Genesis of Emotion : Prof, Sherrington, F.R.S.—On the Brightness of the Corona of April 16, 1893. Preliminary Note: Prof. H. H. Turner, F.R.S. : Roya INstTiTuTION, at 3.—A Century of Chemistry in the Royal Insti- tution: Prof. J. Dewar, F.R.S. : ; : ‘ MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY, at 5.30.—Special Meeting.—The Differential Equation whose solution is the Ratio of Two Solutions of a Linear Dif- ferential Equation: M. W. J. Fry.—A Congruence Theorem relating to Eulerian Numbers and other Coefficients: Dr. Glaisher, F/R.S. _ INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—A Frictionless Motor Meter: S. Evershed. Iron AND STEEL INsTITUTE, at 10.30,—Ingots for Gun Tubes and -Pro- peller Shafts: F. J. R. Carrulla.—The Manufacture and Application of Water-Gas : Carl Dellwik.—The Equalisation of the Temperature of Hot Blast: Lawrence Gjers and Joseph H. Harrisen.—The Manganese Ores of Brazil: H. Kilburn Scott.—The Utilisation of Blast-furnace Slag: Ritter Cecil von Schwarz (Liége). FRIDAY, May 11. ? Roya. INSTITUTION, at 9.—Shakespeare and True Patriotism : Sidney Roya AsTRONOMICAL Society, at 8. SATURDAY, May iz. Royat InstituTION, at 3-—South Africa; Past and Future: Dr. Alfred P. Hillier. i CONTENTS. PAGE Mount St. Elias. By G. W. L. . |) A Hydrodynamical Theory of Action at a Distance. By Prof. G. H. Bryan, F.R.S. |...) Gis ee Photo-micrography .... . . ) . . (ope George Kingsley’s Life and Writings. ByR.L... 5 Our Book Shelf :— 5 a ee King: ‘Irrigation and Drainage, Principles and Practice of, their Cultural Phases..—W. H. C.. . Davis: ‘‘ The Refraction of the Eye, including a Com- plete Treatise on Ophthalmometry. A Clinical Text- book for Students and Practitioners." —E. EE... . Hall : ‘‘ A Key to the Birds of Australia and Tasmania, with their Geographical Distribution in Australia.”— Rebiere: ‘‘ Pages Choisies des Savants Modernes” . . Kerville : ‘‘ Les Vieux Arbres de La Normandie” . . | Letters to the Editor :— ey The Nature of the Solar Corona.—Prof. Geo. Fras. FitzGerald, F.R:S.*) .-...) 34) Rock-structures in the Isle of Man and in South Tyrol.—Dr. Maria M. Ogilvie Gordon. . . . . Pompeii and its Remains. (J//ustrated.) ...... The Unveiling of the Huxley Memorial Statue . Preliminary Notes on the Results of the Mount Kenya Expedition, 1899. (J//ustrated.) By H. qj. Mackinder. 0...) 6; a ee eS The Duke of Argyll. By A.-G, +25.3 eee Prof. A. Milne-Edwards. By R.L.... 2... Notes. (Jiiusirated.). . .. , 6 rr Our Astronomical Column:— ; New Variable in Taurus . . 9.) Jigs Search Ephemeris for Eros .\ | > 9) uses Relation between Solar Activity and Earth’s Motion Determination of Solar Parallax from Opposition of POS york wee Zoe Working Silica in the Oxy-gas Blowpipe Flame. © (With Diagram.) By W.A, Shenstone, F.R.S., and H. G..Lacell 2 . .. «19:2 Gece ee University and Educational Intelligence. . .. . “ Societies and Academies ..9. ......0 0%) Diary of Societies’; .- 77) = 5. 4 ee NATURE 45 THURSDAY, MAY Io, 1900. MECHANISM, IDEA, OR—NATURE ? _ Naturalism and Agnosticism. By James Ward, Sc.D. _ ‘'2vols. Pp. xviiit+302 and abe cede A. and C. Black, 1899.) HE distinguished writer of the well-known article on psychology in the “Encyclopedia Britannica ” could not but be sure of a welcome for any contribution towards ‘the establishment of a world-formula that he ~ found it in him to offer. Prof. James Ward displays nalytica ‘power of quite first-rate quality, even when he 5 ii perversely. He has an insight more than common dearings of scientific methods and naturalistic ons, even when he is disputing their competency ting their range. If his lucidity is that of the il teacher, his earnestness and his often eloquence 1€ great one. Finally, in meeting the apostles of ism within the jurisdiction of their own categories, ithout the mystification of an alien esotericism, he set an example of hopeful augury. |“ Naturalism and ic cism ” i is for these reasons one of the books that the other hand, while future attempts ‘at construc- cannot neglect the reasonings of this very consider- * work, Prof. Ward’s is not a mind “to nestle ‘in.” s attack upon Naturalism with Agnosticism must, we ure to think, be held to have failed, his paciinion to iritualistic Monism to be illicit. Prof. “Ward’s book embodies his Gifford died in defence: ‘of theism, delivered at Aberdeen in the years 1896 to 1898. As they “take it for granted that till an : dealistic Ge spiritualistic) view of the world can be su ed, any exposition of theism is but wasted labour,” § they are in effect a critique of Naturalism and Agnosticism fa we ingly and together, followed by a brief development of Monism of Spirit, in whose interests they are assailed. _ Their “demurrer”* to theistic inquiries is ruled out, "because they themselves, it is claimed, have failed. ~ We may pass the question whether a Naturalism that - dares to say that it sees no way of access to knowledge of a certain kind, “demurs” to theism in any manner in bl “spiritualistic monism,” with its implicit pantheism, raid not, and consider rather the development of Dr. ird’s attack on Naturalism. He tries a fall with it in fields—Mechanism, Evolution taken as the working Mechanism, and Psychophysical Parallelism as the vice by which the mechanical view disposes of the portunate facts of consciousness. It seems to follow tat unless ‘Naturalism must be identified with Mechanism r author's thesis fails. ye regards Mechanism, Dr. Ward disclaims any pre- ions to specialism in physics, but he shows such Ilectual communion with the studies that are the glory of his university, that he fully sustains his ht to be heard. His fundamental point is the abstract- }and hypothetical character of modern physics. He vs how they pass from the perceptual and actual into has been happily called “conceptual shorthand.” - finds mathematical physics “idealistic” in their OC dure—epistemologically, we presume, not ontologi- NO. 1593. VOL. 62] cally—and he claims that they do not set before us “what verily is and happens.” Matter, mass, energy— what are these? We seem driven to modify our ideas of them again and again, till we end either in Nihilism, with, for instance, Kirchhoff, or in some highly artificial formula, such as, ¢.g. the “hydrokinetic ideal” of Lord Kelvin. From the point of view of logic, the inverse methods of abstract physics are such that our ultimate principle will not necessarily be a vera causa in the sense of one who can say Ayfotheses non fingo. If, then, we accept it as ultimate reality, we are simply Neopytha- goreans. Can we construct from it a cosmos of qualitative variety ? much less an organic world. Yet, starting from mechanism, such an attempt at edification has been made by Mr. Herbert Spencer. To him the sciences in their evolutionary gradation appear to offer a closed system, a polity, a synthesis which is philosophy. The absence of the two volumes essential for the bridging of the gap from inorganic to organic, and especially of that famous chapter in which, “ were it written,” the transition is actually made, puts. Mr. Spencer’s high claims out of court. But further, by playing off dissipation of energy against conservation, the doctrine of “ First Principles” can be shown to be inadequate. And Mr. Spencer’s demand for instability of the homo- geneous at the start, instability of the heterogeneous at the finish, shows his construction to be arbitrary. To get evolution to the point of a working process, we need, says Dr. Ward, a teleology—“ evolution with guidance,” or plan, or purpose. And this to our author implies something incompatible with mechanism, mind in some transcendental sense, god. There is perhaps a lacuna in the inference, but so comes the god into the mechanism But if mind is thus to be, at the very least, the pre- dominant partner in the world-system—it is to be much more—Dr. Ward must get rid of Psychophysical Par- allelism. Psychosis cannot be epiphenomenon, nor, to use Huxley’s unfortunately loose phrase, a “collateral product.” Nor can man—though this is not the same thing—be a conscious automaton. We cannot have any implication of “the impotence of mind to influence matter.” We must admit “interaction,” because “ in- variable concomitance and absolute causal independence are incompatible positions.” But if there is not only room for god, as Brahma so to speak, at the beginning, but also both room for and need of, as it were, Vishnu, throughout the working of the mechanism, to save it from nihilism, to supply “ guid- ance” to the evolutionary process, to infuse new energy, or, as “the sorting demon of Maxwell,” restore wasted energy, to account for life, to work as immanent sustaining force throughout, we need only to refute dualism in favour of a “duality of subject and object,” and the way is clear for idealism. But is this so? Is naturalism really refuted? Is neutral agnosticism illicit, or, in the alternative, so unstable, as to be necessarily materialist or mechanical in bias? Or has Dr. Ward haply shown that certain physicists, like certain idealists, have no right to their creed? Those, namely, who fail to take their symbols as formulz, ab- stractions, averages, or to see:that where explanatory, the range of their power of explanation is limited. Or has he perhaps overthrown much in the hasty constructions ¢ 26 NATURE [May 10, 1900 of Huxley and Mr. Spencer, made: in the first flush of the reconnaissance in force of militant science, but left Naturalism the while untouched ? Dr. Ward’s polemic against Mechanism is, we take it, justified with some qualifications, as against those who hold that the synthesis of naturalism is complete, and that the law of its continuity implies the resolution of all phenomenal realities into terms of the modern substitutes for matter in motion, conceived of as having no qualitative but only quantitative determinations. Again, the un- necessarily contemptuous criticism of Evolution as the working of mechanism is valid against Mr. Spencer’s “First Principles.” Mr. Spencer’s mastership happily does not rest upon the soundness of the too early stereo- typed foundation, nor on the claim that the edifice is complete to its coping-stone. Further, if “ science” is at the standpoint of the materialism of Laplace, or even if it has taken the Huxley of the early sixties, with his un- doubted materialist bias, as guide in all things, it will have to retrace the steps it has taken in its advance towards a creed. If it abstracts the known from the knower, and maintains that the act of abstraction makes no difference, it can be convicted of positing a phenomenal world Zer se. If, in the faith of continuity, it says that the inorganic, as it is conceived by mathematical physics, not only con- ditions but also constitutes the organic, in the sense that we must not, in order to explain the organic, look for anything in the inorganic other than those mathematical determinations of which alone abstract physics take account, then it is against that long patience which is the chief of discoverers, and is attempting an “ anticipation” of experience. If it treats regulative as constitutive prin- ciples, and attributes agency to formulz, it is guilty of what we had thought was specifically the idealist’s fallacy. But must Naturalism do these things? We might instance Dr. Hodgson’s experientialism and Prof. Miinsterberg’s transformism among types of natur- alism able to “let the galled jade wince.” Surely, too, the specialist, finding in his own department, recognised as partial and abstract, the immanence of law, and learn- ing that his colleagues in other departments find law there too, and so throughout, is justified in believing that out of nature—human nature, and specifically the nature of human thought included—the solution must .come. Unable to find a mediating term between his “non- matter in motion” or what not, and psychic process, he accepts the “parallelism,” with hypothetical connection as co-aspects or, since Prof. Ward, despite of Kant and Mr. Bradley, prefers the causal relation, co-effects of a unitary system. And if to the knowledge of this he sees no road from the human standpoint, wherein lies the illicit- ness of the union, always stigmatised by Dr. Ward as an evil /éazson, between his positive treatment of his facts of science and his agnostic neutral attitude, without bias either materialist or spiritualist, towards the ultimate real ? Dr. Ward thinks, in terms of the quotation on his title- page, that law implies teleology, and that teleology implies spiritualistic monism. We do not see the steps by which he establishes this latter point. And he thinks neutral agnosticism unstable in the direction of one bias or other. We donot see why. Surely in taking Naturalism “to designate the doctrine NO. 1593, VOL. 62] that separates Nature from God, subordinates Spirit to Matter, and sets up unchangeable law as supreme,” Dr, Ward has imposed upon it three characters—the first an _ ambiguity, the second a mechanical bias which is not essential to it, the third its pride, or what it would re- pudiate, according to the meanings attached to the words “law” and “supreme.” It is he who has conjured up what, by a curious slip, he calls “a novel Frankenstein.” We cannot accept Dr. Ward’s criticism of psycho-. physical parallelism. Mr. Stout, who also “carried Cam- bridge to Aberdeen,” is to the point here. He treats it as the best mode of formulating the facts, but needing for explanation something beyond itself. That he finds this something in an idealist metaphysic makes his witness the more impartial. Prof. Ward hankers after “ inter- action,” or at least ‘‘activity of mind.” The first, in the form in which he demands it, involves him, to our think- ing, in a dualism, which is not a duality of subject and object, and for which his own “refutation of dualism” is enough. ‘The second is spiritualism, which, if monistic, precisely inverts material monism and makes man a conscious automaton from the other point of view. We may note in this connection a sceptical argument of Dr. Ward’s, In what seems to be a misapplication of the formula of “ introjection,” which he applies elsewhere with signal success, he insists that my /sychoses are experience only for me, my #euroses experience only for the physiologist. The inference surely must be to solipsism or to nothing. Does Dr. Ward mean to deny the accompaniment of my psychical phantasmagoria with brain change ? The quality of Dr. Ward’s idealism is perhaps. to be doubted. Where does he get the “ voluntary movement ” which is essential to our perception of space? We are not quite sure that his “intellective synthesis ” gives him a right to a world of “intersubjective intercourse” at all. It is, to use an illustration of his own, a case of genii each hermetically sealed in his bottle, but collectively at large. Or it is natural realism. Again, his mental “activity” is in collision with the teaching of Mr. Bradley. ; Dr. Ward must have creative agency for thought if “nature is spirit” (though if this be so ina plain, straight- forward sense, then why naturalism is wrong from the point of view of spirit is hard to see). But all thought that we know is accompanied with body, and does not create. Huxley “quite rightly refuses to convert invari- able concomitance into necessary conjunction.” If that. is so, what becomes of Dr. Ward’s formula as to parallelism and causal independence, apart from his fallacious use of it to establish interaction, when the ‘ community” need not imply more than that they are aspects or, if Dr. Ward will have it so, co-effects of the same real ? : Prof. Ward declines to allow analysis to be adequate unless you can find your way back to complete synthesis. Judged by this test, what becomes of Spiritualistic Monism? Indeed, the double edge of Dr. Ward’s argu- ments is one of the marked characteristics of his book, What is good for “non-matter in motion” is good for Green’s “relations without ve/afa.” What is good for Lord Kelvin’s Plenum is good for Mr. Bradley’s Reality. A dialectical process, which must take place in a time considered to be riddled with self-contradictions and aufgehoben, is analogous to the form of evolution that . a € . ee ce ees ad ee Lie Tk aE el May 10, 1900] NATURE 27 _ Dr. Ward eviscerates. In truth, mechanism inverted is _ Spiritualistic monism. The naturalism not yet fully for- _ mulated, which has allied itself provisionally and in no _ way illegitimately with neutral agnosticism, is happily _ neither materialism nor idealism. H. W. B. _ THE EVOLUTION OF EUROPEAN PEOPLES. _ The Races of Europe: a Sociological Study. By William _ Z. Ripley, Ph.D. Pp. 624; and bibliography, pp. _ ‘160. +222 portrait types; 86 maps and diagrams, and other illustrations. (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Triibner and Co., Ltd., 1900.) , oe reserved for an American anthropologist _ 4 to give us the first comprehensive work on the races of Europe, a subject which is as fascinating as it is two chapters of this comprehensive work deal al questions, among others the problem of ent versus race in determining ethnic characters upon, and the error of confusing community ge with identity of race is pointed out ; nation- y often follow linguistic boundaries, but race no necessary relation to them. the main arguments in the book are derived from a n of three main sets of comparative data—the , hair- and eye-colour, and stature—it was ary to discuss their value, and in doing so the r has passed in brief review various races of man in ts of the world. As the shape of the head, that is ngth-breadth, or cephalic index, is not liable to be 1 by environment as pigmentation appears to be, id stature certainly is, it takes the first rank as a criterion of race, the colour of the hair and eyes comes second, while stature is relegated to the third rank. Ripley states as a proposition that is “fairly sus- le of proof” : iy 1¢ European races, as a whole, show signs of a econdary or derived origin; certain characteristics, S| Ne ‘ial . ere oda eae lead us to class ying" terme e extreme primary t he Asiatic and the negro races Seapenively.” payee: _ Surely the wavy-haired group of mankind has as much n to be considered primitive as are the frizzly- or Straight-haired groups. That certain characters are ermediate does not imply that a mixture has taken ace. In some respects each of these three main groups mankind is nearer to, and in others further from, the er apes than the other two groups; the wavy sharacter of the hair of the Europeans, for example, is wobably an ancestral feature that has been retained by hem and the other Cymotrichi. Hd he earliest and lowest strata of population in Europe vere extremely long-headed, and the author regards the ing Mediterranean race as most nearly representative of hen He considers it highly probable that the Teutonic ac _ of Northern Europe is merely a variety of the mitive long-headed type of the Stone Age ; both its ctive blondness and its remarkable stature having acquired in the relative isolation of Scandinavia, gh the modifying influence of environment and arti- selection. It is certain that, after the partial occu- on of Western Europe by a dolichocephalic type in _ NO. 1593, VOL. 62] the Stone Age, an invasion by a broad-headed race of decidedly Asiatic affinities took place. This intrusive element is represented to-day by the Alpine type of Central Europe. It is the play of these three groups, Teutonic or Nordic, Alpine and Mediterranean, upon one another, together with the effect of environment, the potency of which varies locally, occasional isolation and sexual selection, which has resulted in the complexity of the ethnology of modern Europe. Dr. Ripley deals with the various countries of Europe, and endeavours to unravel the anthropological history ofeach. It is a humiliating fact how often political or religious bias has crept into ethnological arguments ; but our author approaches the subject with an unprejudiced mind, and looks at the problem from a broad point of view. The most remarkable trait of the population of the British Isles is the uniformity of its head-form ; the pre- vailing type is that of the long and narrow cranium, accompanied by an oval rather than broad or round face. The length-breadth indices all lie between 77 and 79, with the possible exception of the middle and western parts of Scotland, where they fall to 76. This index alone proves little in the present instance, and recourse must be made to other characters, such as hair-colour and stature. These distinctly prove a dual element in the popula- tion, one of which is the persistent Neolithic stock, a branch of the Mediterranean race; the other is the northern race, composed of Saxon, Danish and Nor- wegian elements. Immigrants belonging to the Alpine race, not pure, but as a mixed people, overran all. England and part of Scotland, bringing with them bronze implements, the art of pottery-making, and other cultural advantages ; but their physical influence was transitory, for at the opening of the historic period the earlier types had considerably absorbed the new-comers, and the Teutonic invasion completed their submergence. Dr. Ripley, however, is scarcely correct in stating that the Alpine immigrant type never reached Ireland, as traces of them have been recorded (cf Proc. Roy. Irish Acad. (3), iv. 1898, p. 570). The distribution of stature bears out a distinction between the Goidels and the Brythons ; but the high stature found in South-west Scotland is anomalous, and requires further study. It is impossible to deal with all the controversial problems in the book, but an author can generally be gauged by his treatment of critical cases, and of these it is no exaggeration to say that Dr. Ripley always takes a sane position. The origin of the Etruscans is a case in point. The different views of various authors are briefly stated, but the author inclines to Sergi’s theory that the Etruscans were really compounded of two ethnic elements, one from the north bringing the Hall- statt civilisation of the Danube Valley ; the other Medi- terranean, both by race and culture. The sudden out- burst of a notable civilisation being the result of the meeting of these two streams of human life, the author appears to have overlooked the probability of a similar history for early Greece. A whole chapter is given toa discussion of the Basques, and Collignon’s deductions are adopted. The French 28 NATURE [May Io, 1900 ~ Basques of to-day are more pure than: the Spanish ; but they originally came from Spain. - Although the Basque face is extraordinarily narrow, the head is broad ; but this is not due to a mixture with the Alpine race, as the Basque head is essentially dolichocephalic, the breadth occurring pretty far forwards’ near the temples. We have here, in fact, an example of a local modification (a sub-species of the Mediterranean stock) evolved by long- continued and complete isolation, in-and-in breeding primarily engendered by peculiarity of eee and perhaps intensified by artificial selection. After having analysed the various European groups, Dr. Ripley devotes a couple of chapters to European origins and others to social problems, such as environ- ment verszs race, acclimatisation, and urban selection ; in the latter he discusses the tendency to long-headedness, shortness of stature and brunetness that characterises most large towns. Dr. Ripley has presented us with a very valuable and most interesting study of‘ the origins and physical char- acteristics of various European peoples, which is as in- dispensable to students of history and sociology as it is to anthropologists. The clearness with which he states and illustrates-his facts leaves nothing to be desired; and | we offer him our congratulations on ‘having coped so successfully with an intricate problem, and. on- having | ' splits completely into two daughter-chromosomes upon brought his laborious researches to psn a. vuamnaounts conclusion. The book is handsomely “ got up,” and is sumptuously illustrated. There are 222 carefully-selected> portrait types, and 86 maps and diagrams. The selection of the portraits could have been no easy task, and the con- struction of the distributional maps must have entailed an infinitude of labour. The volume concludes with a bibliography on the anthropology and ethnology | of Europe, which is as appalling as it is invaluable. UA. C. HADDON. A REVISION OF CERTAIN CELL PROBLEMS. fTistologische Beitriige, Heft VI.: Ueber Reduktions- theilung,’ Spindelbildung, Centrosomen und Cilien- biidner' im Pflazenreich. Von E. Strasburger, 0.6. Professor an der Universitat Bonn. Pp, xx + 224. Mit. vier litho. Tafeln. (Jena: Gustav Fischer, 1900.) i is with) no small degree of pleasure that we have perused this, the latest, addition to the five series of “ Histologische Begs? by Prof. Strasburger. The new volume, like some of its predecessors, deals almost exclusively with cell: problems, and anything which its author may have to say on such matters must always command special respect. Breadth of treatment and open-mindedness, no less than thoroughness, have al- ways characterised the work of this great investigator, and perhaps few who are not familiarly acquainted with the cell literature up to the early seventies can realise the extent to which our modern knowledge of cytological phenomena is indebted to the pioneer researches of the author of “Zellbildung und Zelltheilung.” In the volume before us, amongst other topics, the whole subject of what are now familiarly known as “Reduction-divisions” is treated afresh, and emphasis is NO. 1593, VOL. 62] laid on the need for a wider basis .of comparison before we can return a satisfactory answer to the question asto whether the reduction is only gwantitative, or whether ~ as Weismann and his followers have supposed, it is gualitutive also. The majority of English and German botanist cytologists have decided in favour of the former view, and _ the researches of Flemming, Brauer, Meves and others on the animal side have shown that. the opposite view is, at least, not always tenable. The case of the Salamander especially appears to be impossible of interpretation from the standpoint of the “ Qualitative” hypothesis, and now Strasburger shows that. the vitally important feature in the Salamander mitosis, viz. the /ongitudinal fission of the retreating chromosomes during the diaster stage of the first reduction division, is closely paralleled by the, behaviour of the nucleus in the pollen mother cells of Tradescantia. Such a discovery is of the highest value as supporting the evidence already accumulated in favour of the merely quantitative character of these mitoses. The explanation which Strasburger gives of the structure of the ordinary V-shaped chromosome in the first re- duction diaster will not, perhaps, gain general acceptance till it has been tested afresh. He believes that the original rod-shaped chromosome, divided longitudinally in two planes cutting each other at right angles, first, the spindle, and then that each of them opens out along | the second plane of cleavage, only cohering at one end thus giving rise to. the V-shaped chromosomes of. the. diaster. During the second division, the latter finish their longitudinal fission by complete separation of the limbs. at the apex of the V, and thus what would appear to be a transverse fission proves to be merely the finish of a longitudinal splitting incepted at a much. earlier period. The author also discusses the nature of the causes which have brought about the difference of sex, and dis- ‘misses the “ hunger ” and autophagy hypothesis of Dangeard, which is, perhaps, a rather crude form of the less. tangible but familiar theories of rejuvenescence. The view is supported that one important factor lies in the comparative absence of kinoplasm from the female, and of trophoplasm from the male, gamete. But it may, per- haps, be questioned whether the study of the evolution of sex in such forms as the green alge does not favour the conclusion that such a difference is a result rather than a cause of sex-difference. fn Incidentally, the view recently advocated by Némec, that the reproductive mitoses, in their early multipolar — character, contrast with the universally bipolar vegetative divisions, is shown to be without foundation. Multi- polar spindles occur both in pollen mother cells and in those of the root apex in Vicia, and the present writer — has also observed them in the apical meristem of Equisetum. The frequent connection of spindle fibres with eta: 1 nuclear nucleoli is admitted, and is utilised to support the contention that these enigmatical bodies stand in a close relation to the kinoplasm which they are regarded as “activating.” different writers, been described as centrosomes are cer- tainly nothing else than these escaped nucleoli, and in Many of the bodies which have, by - May 10, 19co] NATURE 29 the example of Nymphaea, in which the presence of centrosomes has recently been insisted on, Strasburger __ shows that not only can the occasional granules not be identified as centrosomes, but that the spindle often reaches to and ends on the peripheral layer of the cytoplasm in a multipolar fashion. ___. Naturally the bodies known as blepharoplasts are also : Groaphe under discussion. These structures have by some been identified with centrosomes, but they seem really to be but remotely related to them. The fact that, "as was. shown by Webber, the true spindle often becomes multipolar, notwithstanding the presence of blepharo- plasts, tells strongly against their centrosomic character, whilst the fact that in the earliest stages radiations start . proves absolutely nothing at all. Fischer has shown how heterogeneous bodies may serve as starting-points for radiations in fixed specimens of al- bumin ; and Guignard has described and figured, in the of the lily, similar radiations having the entire et 3 as their common centre. Much more definite is relationship existing between the blepharoplasts and _ Strasburger, who regards them as essentially con- ig EOF kinoplasm, adduces a series of observations in ort of the view that they, or bodies like them, are ‘an tly associated with cilia. Certainly it is a fact y should be absent from all the other nuclear divi- ns, they are constantly present in those which directly to the formation of the motile antherozoids. More- -R. Hertwig has found an analogous relation to hold ad for Actinospherium, stating that “centrosomes” occur in connection with the polar (Richtungs) sepilet rey are quite absent from the somatic isnot possible to touch, even briefly, on all the points raised and illustrated in Prof. Strasburger’s book ; it is. hoped, however, that enough has been said to in- at its importance as embodying, not only a consider- pnepebet- of new facts, but also many new and sug- points of view. d throughout the volume one is struck, not only by fal recognition accorded to the work of other in- ators in the same field, but by the invariable esy which characterises the ~aesanbe criticism of all ined by himself. J. B. FARMER. MODERN POWER LOOMS. cthanism of Weaving. By T. W. Fox. Pp. xxii +514. — Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1900.) “HE second edition of this excellent book, on the con- _ struetion and working of the power loom, has been ly revised by the author. It has justly been ecg nised as a standard text-book on the subject of om mechanism. The work treats of tappet, dobbie, n¢ _ Jacquard or harness looms. In the first place, a full sition is given of the tappet shedding motion, refer- ; being made to the Yorkshire tappet loom, Wood- and segment tappets, and also to the different “motions for the depression of the heald shafts. roceeding, Mr. Fox deals with some of the principal es of dobbies, such as the Blackburn, Keighley, Burn- NO. 1593, VOL. 62} ll significance that whilst, in ferns and cycads, » ley and American. By means of sectional drawings, the somewhat intricate mechanism of these dobbies is clearly described. The work would have been enhanced to the manufacturer of heavy fabrics, such as linen, woollen and worsted textures, if fuller descriptions had been given of the dobbies employed in the weaving of these fabrics. Still, to the student of cotton weaving and the manufac- turer of light fabrics, the information supplied will be found invaluable, and even the makers of heavier cloths might consult the pages on dobbies with profit. It is open to dispute whether the best method of treatment has been adopted, from a student’s standpoint, in dealing fully with shedding motions, including the Jacquard, and card stamping, and the methods of tieing up the harness, before reference is made to other essential motions of the loom ; but the plan of the author is evident on only a cobb examination of the book, namely, to treat of each distinct motion in all its various forms in succession, excluding the possibility of affording the reader at the outset even a general notion of the combination of movements in power-loom weaving. This explains why some 280 pages, or more than half the book, should be devoted to the principles of shedding, card stamping and harness mounting, prior to any descriptive reference being made to the picking, the warp let-off, fabric take- up, shuttle, and other motions. In dealing with the Jacquard loom, the single-lift machine—the basis on which all Jacquards are con- structed—is first treated of ; then follow descriptions of the double-lift, centre-shed, open-shed, twilling, Bessbrooke and cross-border machines. The doup and gauze harness are very clearly explained. Other systems of tie-up, more elaborately illustrated, might have been advan- tageously incorporated into this section of the work; but sufficient datais afforded to enable the student to grasp the principles on which the complex mountings are effected, necessary in the weaving of tapestry and decorative silk fabrics. Lappet weaving receives adequate attention, especially as worked by means of lappet wheels and the Scotch method ; but only brief details are given on other forms of this motion, in which lags are used and pegs of different lengths, and also in which the frames for carry- ing the lappet threads operate on the upper side of the fabric. In regard to picking, Mr. Fox gives some interesting information on the magnitude of the force expended in propelling the shuttle from side to side of the loom. Perhaps there is no motion in weaving in which improve- ment is so desirable as in picking. This is more obvious in heavy looms, where large shuttles have to be used, travelling at a high speed. Under the head of ‘ Warp Protectors,” fast and loose reeds are considered, as well as shuttle guards. Many attempts have been made at automatic warp-stop motions, such as those applied to the Northrop and Poyser looms, but probably the author has not mentioned these on account of their not having come into general .use in this country; still, there are principles in both interesting to the student of “ Mechanism of Weaving.” The chapter on “ Multiple Box Motions” is one very typical of the author’s skill in the €xposition of difficult mechanical problems. Revolving, as well as drop-box 30 NATURE [May 10, 1900 motions, with suitable illustrations, are fully explained. On “beating-up,” the author has some instructive in- formation respecting the movement of the crank for carrying the batten or going part against the fell of the fabric. He supplies a table showing the motion of the crank, and treats of the length of the crank-arm and the eccentricity of movement. The concluding portions of the book are devoted to weft-stop motions, mechanism for governing the warp and taking-up of the fabric, the construction of temples and selvage motions. There is also a chapter on the arrangement of weaving-rooms or sheds, with a plate illustrative of the positions of the looms and other machinery. The book should be in the possession of all those interested in the construction of power looms. OUR BOOK SHELF. Lecons d’Optique géométrique al’ Usage des Eléves de Mathématiques spéciales. Par E. Wallon, Professeur au Lycée Janson-de-Sailly. Pp. 343. (Paris : Gauthier- Villars, 1900.) THIS book has been written at the desire of Prof. Wallon’s students, to whom a graceful tribute is paid, in the preface, for the assistance which their questions, doubts and objections have rendered in developing the author’s methods of teaching. To look on one’s students as collaborators, that is certainly the secret of successful |, teaching ; and, as here presented, Prof. Wallon’s lectures. are certainly successful in giving a systematic and clearly defined outline to the science of geometrical optics. The diagrams are well drawn and numerous, and the mathe- matical proofs are simple and yet sufficient. There is, however, little that is novel to be found in the course of these lectures; indeed, in a few cases it might be objected that there was a tendency to lag behind the times. Thus, in discussing refraction equivalents, Newton’s law, that ” z —_ and Dale’s law, that ” - = constant, constant, are alone men- tioned (7 being the refractive index, aa a ee density of the substance). Lorenz’s law, that con- oi + ee stant, is now most generally accepted. For gases, in which 7 is nearly equal to unity, all three laws hold with about equal accuracy. But Lorenz’s law appears to hold in passing from .the gaseous to the liquid state, and must therefore ‘be accepted as the most general. An interesting chapter is devoted to the subject of the human eye, in which the most well known optical proper- ties of that organ are discussed. In the ensuing chapter, on optical instruments, a particularly good account is given of the optical systems comprised in telescopes and microscopes of various patterns. It is surprising, how- ever, that the ophthalmoscope and ophthalmometer are not mentioned, and are in fact so seldom found described in works on geometrical optics. Both instruments involve interesting optical arrangements, and their practical usefulness would render a description of their details still more interesting. gh Therapeutic Electricity and Practical Muscle T: esting. By W.S. Hedley, M.D., M.R.C.S. England. Pp. ix + 278; 3 plates; 99 illustrations. (Loadon: J. and A. Churchill, 1899.) THE increased use of electro-therapeutic methods renders the appearance of Dr. Hedley’s book welcome. The profession have for some time looked somewhat askance at this departure in therapeutics, and are, in many branches of this practice, rather inclined to regard the good effect NO. 1593, VOL, 62] and Gladstone of the treatment as moral and not actual. The work before us considers the whole subject from a scientific. standpoint, and any one interested in it will gain con- siderable profit from its perusal. The reader must be warned at once that the book con- tains no mention of radiography or the application of the Réntgen rays to the healing art, either from a diagnostic or therapeutic standpoint. The author, in his preface, admits. that the work is a therapeutical one, and to some extent apologises for the description of such instruments as the cystoscope, &c. No doubt he thinks the profession is in possession of sufficient literature upon the subject of radiography, which may or may not be true ; the sphere of usefulness of the book would, however, certainly = been increased by the inclusion ‘of this subject. 2 .The work is divided into three parts. The reason for this classification is not quite evident ; a part as a classi- fication unit seems, in the author’s hands, to differ to no material extent from a chapter. Further, each part is chaptered separately, which, without some very ‘ial object is to be gained, is a bad plan ; from this it follows: that the book contains three Chapters i i., &e. ; The first part is mostly concerned with those general physical considerations which have a special bearing upon what the author in the first chapter of Part ii. calls the electro-therapeutic outfit. A good account is given in Chapter vii. (p. 65) of currents of great frequency and high potential, which, as has been frequently shown, are of great therapeutic value. character. “One of the most useful chapters from the standpoint of the general physician is Chapter v. Part ii., upon the _ action of muscles and the consequences of their paralysis. In Chapter x. Part iii, an interesting account of cata- phoresis is.given. Very frequent mention is made of authors’ names and no reference added, nor is there an index of authors at the end, or anything in the shape of a bibliography. Mere chance or whim has apparently guided the author in giving or omitting the full reference of a work cited; in some cases the full reference of important monographs is withheld, in others that of trivial ones given. This method cannot be too severely deprecated. To sum up our remarks, it is with the manner and not the matter of the book we find fault. It is full of usetul and, indeed, essential information to those working in this field ; the author has spared no pains to collect fact bearing upon and elucidating his subject. : Lessons in Botany. By Prof. George F. Atkinson, Ph.B. Pp. xv+365. (New York: Henry Holt and Co., 1900.) THE present volume is, in a sense, an abridged edition of an excellent text-book by the same author, which appeared a year or two ago. The subject-matter is care- fully arranged to suit the convenience of teacher :and pupil, and altogether the book is one which should prove useful in this country as well as in America. Naturally, from the British point of view, the difficulty of obtaining the needful specimens occasionally may turn up, though this would not recur very often. We can confidently recommend Prof. Atkinson’s book to the. qpotes: of teachers. Outlines of Plant Life, with special reference to Form and Function. By Prof. Charles Reid Barnes. Pp. vi+308. (New York: Henry Holt and Co., 1900.) THIs is a work intended for school use. It has some points of merit, especially the special part on ecology, in which the examples are well chosen and fully illustrated. The illustrations, though almost all are (with due acknow- ledgment) borrowed from other works, are distinctly good. We think the book a useful one, and the exercises which are interspersed through the volume add to its value. Much technical detail i eo) _given, both of a purely electrical and electro- -physiological May io, 1900] NATURE 31 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. _ [The Editor does not hold himself Je tet for opinions ex- _ pressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected ss manuscripts intended for this or any other part of NATURE. No notice is taken of anonymous communications.) Note on some Red and Blue Pigments. _ Tue following data are placed on record because interesting in themselves, andin the hope that ter may be useful to others who have the opportunity to make further investigations. (1) A little boraginaceous plant called Zremocarya micrantha ‘orrey) is common in sandy places at Mesilla Park, New Mexico, owering in April. A few days ago, Prof, E, O. Wooton called ‘my attention to the fact that its roots are deep red, and stain 1 ye ae Curious to learn more about this peculiar ion, I made some tests, with the following results :—The nent is not soluble in water, but it readily dissolves in cold ol, forming a beautiful red solution. The roots, after being vith alcohol, become white, showing that the pigment is ‘superficial, and is apparently an excretion from the root. colour is that of the normal or acid state of the pigment, ling enc liquor potassze to make the solution alka- ur immediately becomes a beautiful blue. An ex- caustic potash does not destroy the pigment until lerable time. Prof. A. Goss tested. the delicacy of -reaction in the presence of acids and alkalis, and found ‘small excess of one or the other would give the ic colour. The pigment is, of course, an anthocyan, at least, to litmus ; and it may be that it can be been remarked more than once that whereas the is of Acridiidz (grasshoppers) are sometimes blue, , and sometimes yellow, species living in the same of very diverse genera, will often have similarly by n the Mesilla Valley we have common species th red and with yellow wings; but in the Organ Mountains, ig iz aw nt fagd ‘two species very abundant, both having ue 1 , anc otherwise coloured much alike, though of totally era. These were Leprus wheeleri and a Trimero- took for 7. cyaneipennis, but which Mr. S. H. ls me is distinct and apparently undescribed. As the aso a al be certainly a pigmentary colour, embled the vegetable anthocyans, I detached one ngs of 8 i wheelerz, and boiled it in dilute hydro- As hoped, but hardly ventured to expect, nce became red. Heating the thus reddened wing potasse did not change it back to blue, but caused it to low. I infer that the blue pigment has a red (acid) phase, alkali will destroy it altogether, leaving a yellow is of a different character. It is difficult to sion that the redness or blueness of the wings in pers may result from the action of some enviror- tor (¢.g. the juices of eee eaten) upon the pigment, this accounts for the colour-similarity of diverse species ving at the same place. Of course, this is not supposed to ccount for the similarity of the colours of the tegmina and hora: , of which the various shades of grey, red and brown semble those of the rocks and ground. ; T. D. A. COCKERELL. la Park, New Mexico, U.S.A., April 17. a a a ; ae ee Valve Motions of Engines. your number of December 14, 1899, Prof. John Perry men- 1s a diagram by Mr. Harrison. This diagram is the same as bids ische polare Exzenterschieberdiag ” of F. A. the Zeztschrift des Vereins Deutscher Ingenieure, April e is only a small difference, as Mr. Harrison finds the nce OC by means of a circle with radius = length of con- fod, and Mr. Brix finds that distance by calculating it x, (R = length of crank, L = length of connecting- Now OC has not exactly that value, but the fault made ith is much smaller than the fault made by describing e. Therefore the method of Mr. Brix is preferable to of Mr. Harrison. F. J. Vas. tterdam, April 14. NO. 1593, VOL. 62] Mr. Brix seems to have solved only the simple case of a valve worked by an ordinary eccentric. There are other good graphical solutions—for example, by Coste and Maniquet in a modified form of the Reauleaux diagram, which gave accurate results. Mr. Harrison’s diagram is more general and is applicable to link and radial valve-gears and to all motions which are composed of a simple harmonic vibration with a small octave superposed. It may be used for velocities and accelera- tions as well as mere displacements. As to calculating the 2 distance OC by the formula = i instead of using the construc- tion of the circular arc, this is a matter of no importance because there is no appreciable difference in the answers. April 28. JOHN PERRY. Drunkenness and the Weather. I NOTICE in your issue of March 15 a communication from Mr. R. C. T. Evans, of Gray’s Inn-road, W.C., calling attention to a probable error in my deductions in the paper which appeared in your issue of February 15, under the title ‘* Drunkenness and the Weather.” He says, ‘‘ When a man is intoxicated and commits an assault, the result is entered in the police reports as ‘assault,’ the more serious offence overshadowing the less ; so that in all probability many of the cases of assault referred to in the statement were also cases of drunkenness, but were not tabulated as such. Studying Prof. Dexter’s curves in this light, we may reasonably conclude that the number of those arrested for drunkenness or its results, varies but little throughout the ear. Although his supposition seems a reasonable one, a fuller statement of the conditions of the study will show that the fluctuations of the ‘‘ drunkenness” curve cannot be so easily accounted for. First, the. monthly occurrence of arrests for drunkenness for New York City is more than twice that for assault, even in the summer, when the former are at the minimum and the latter at the maximum for the year, and if we suppose that every person arrested. for. assault in the summer was also intoxicated and would have come into the hands of the law for that crime if he had not for the other, even this would not bring the drunkenness curve up to its normal for the winter months.; Second, the method of recording crime by the New York City Department of Police makes this practically impossible. Misdemeanours are there classified and recorded under 183 different headings. The two which I have compared are “assault and battery ” and “intoxication.” There are, how- ever, four other classes of assault besides, one for ‘‘ intoxication and disorderly conduct,” equalling that of ‘‘assault and battery” in the annual number of arrests, besides one for ‘‘ fighting.” A letter just received from the Clerk of Police says, ‘‘The crime of intoxication and fighting—a drunken brawl —would be classified in the statistics as ‘ intoxication and . disorderly conduct.’” A careful analysis of all the conditions would make it seem that only occasionally would arrests for ‘assault and battery ” encroach upon the data of drunkenness. I believe they might sometimes do so, but not sufficiently often to materially influence the curve. EpwIn G. DEXTER. Greeley, Colo., April 17. SOME SPECULATIONS AS TO THE PART PLAVED BY CORPUSCLES IN PHYSICA PHENOMENA. . ie some experiments described in the P&7/. Mag. October 1897, I showed that in the kathode rays there were present bodies whose mass was exceedingly small compared with the masses of ordinary atoms ; these masses, which carry a charge of negative electricity, I called “corpuscles.” Ever since then I have indulged in speculations as to the possibility of these corpuscles existing in a free state in ordinary matter not under the . influence of the very intense electric field which are associated with the kathode rays. #\s recent work has produced some evidence of the free existence of these corpuscles, I have thought that these speculations might be of some interest to a wider circle than that to which they have hitherto been addressed. In the PAz/. Mag. 32 NATURE [May 10, 1900 (February 1900), I showed that these corpuscles existed in the neighbourhood of a hot wire and of a metal plate illuminated by ultra-violet light, and recently the discovery by Giesel, Curie and Becquerel of the magnetic deflection and electric charge carried by part of the radium radiation may be interpreted as indicating the existence of cor- puscles in this substance. I suppose, then, that there is a certain amount of what may be called corpuscular dissociation taking place in bodies ; that some of the molecules of the substance are continually breaking up by the detachment of a corpuscle, and are being reformed by the arrival of another corpuscle ; the result of this is that at each instant there are a certain number of free corpuscles with negative charges distributed throughout the body, while the corresponding positive charges are on the molecules of the body, the corpuscles are much more mobile than the molecules; indeed, in solids and liquids, the latter may be regarded as almost fixed in comparison with the former. We thus get the conception of a body permeated with corpuscles which are able under forces to move from one part of the body to.another. We must remember that, as the particles are charged, any movement will be accompanied by electrical effects and, in general, a volume density of electrification. The actual number of corpuscles free at any instant is the result of an equilibrium between the number of cor- puscles produced by dissociation and the number which recombine. Thus if g is the number of corpuscles pro- duced by dissociation in unit volume in one second, 7 the time during which a corpuscle is free (ze. the time which elapses between its departure from one molecule and its entry into another), z the number of free corpuscles in unit volumes, then when there is equilibrium g=7/r or nm=tg=hg/u, if \ is the mean free path of the corpuscle and z its velocity of translation. In non-conductors we suppose that there are very few corpuscles, but that they are abundant in metallic conductors. Let us now trace some of the consequences of the existence of these cor- puscles in a solid, and suppose for the moment that the positively charged molecules are fixed ; if the corpuscles are acted upon by gravity (of which point we have no evidence), then in a vertical bar of metal the number of corpuscles in unit volume will be greater at the bottom of the bar than at the top, for. just the same reason. as the density of the air gets less as we go higher; thus in this case gravity would pro- duce a displacement of electricity, the bottom of the bar being negatively and the top positively electrified. Again, in a rotating mass of metal the centrifugal force would tend to drive the corpuscles towards the surface ; there would thus from this effect be an excess of the corpuscles near the surface and a deficit near the axis. Thus the outer parts of the metal would be negatively and the inner parts positively electrified, the rotation of the negatively electrified corpuscles being no longer com- pletely balanced by that of the positively electrified molecules would give rise to a magnetic field; thus a large mass of rotating metal would act as a magnet. Again, suppose we place a piece of metal in a magnetic field, the action of the magnet on the moving corpuscles will make them describe curved paths, and we can easily see that the magnetic effect due to the particles moving in this way is in the opposite direction to that of the external magnetic field. Thus a metal containing these corpuscles would tend to act like a diamagnetic substance. Again, suppose the metal is exposed to an electric force X, the corpuscles will acquire an average velocity along x equal to Xre/2m, where m is the mass of a corpuscle and é¢ its charge. Let us call this velocity vX, then the electric current across unit drea is wevX ; thus wev or ge*A?/2202" is the specific conductivity of the substance. If we suppose that ~, the mean velocity of translation of the corpuscles, varies with the temperature in the same way as the velocity of translation of the molecules of a gas, 7“? would be pro- NO. (593, VOL. 62] portional to the absolute temperature, and the specific resistance would, considered as a function of the absolute temperature 6, vary as 6/9 ; if g, the amount of ionisation ~ increases as the temperature increases, the resistance will vary more slowly than the absolute temperature ; if ¢ diminishes as the temperature increases, the resistance would vary more rapidly than the temperature. These corpuscles moving from place to place would carry not merely electric charges, but energy from one part to another ; and since the coefficient of diffusion of these cor- puscles is proportional to v, the thermal and electric con- ductivities would be proportional to each other. Again, when we have conducticn of heat we have unequal streams of these corpuscles in opposite directions ; thus the un- equal deflection of their paths produced by a magnet would give rise to an electric displacement, and we should have an electromotive force at right angles to the mag- netic force and to the temperature gradient, an effect discovered by v. Ettinghausen and Nernst. From the conductivity of the gas we can deduce the value of wev. We know the value of e, and hence another equation would enable us to determine # and v; for this purpose we turn to the Hall effect, but here the results are dis- appointing, for we can easily prove that when E! and E are the tranversal and longitudinal electric forces and H the magnetic force, E!/EH = le = eh, where v, and 1 1 1 a Vy are respectively the velocities of the negative corpuscles and positive molecules under unit electric force, and 2, and 4, the values of & for these ions where £ = pres- sure + number of systems in unit volume. ‘If both the negative corpuscles and the positive molecules behave like perfect gases, 4, = £, and E!/EH ='37%, since v is very small ; thus, on this supposition, the Hall effect would give us the value of v; but there seems no reason to suppose that the positively electrified molecules in the solid would produce the same pressure as an equal number of molecules in the gaseous state, and thus though v, is small compared with 7, 4, may be so small compared with 4, that £,v, cannot be neglected in com- parison with £,v,, and in this case the Hall effect would not be sufficient to determine v. The fact that the Hall effect is of different signs for different substances shows that we have to take into account both terms in the expression for E!/EH. h Again, if different parts of a metal bar were at different temperatures, the “pressure” as it were of these corpuscles would be different at different parts of the bar, so that the corpuscles would tend to flow from one part of the bar to the other, and cause an electric displacement ; thus difference of temperature would cause an electric displacement. This is the Thomson effect, measured by the “specific heat of electricity.” The value of the “specific heat of electricity” will on this theory depend not only on the variation with temperature of the kinetic energy of a single corpuscle, but also on the way the dissociation ‘constant g varies with the temperature. There are many other phenomena which can be inter- preted in terms of these corpuscles, but these I must leave for another occasion. J. J. THOMSON. Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge, April 30. SCIENCE IN RELATION TO ART AND INDUSTRY. At the annual banquet of the Royal Academy on Saturday evening, Sir Norman Lockyer, in replying on behalf of science, made the following remarks upon the intimate relation between intellectual progress and the study of nature, and also upon the necessity fora more liberal provision for scientific work if England wishes to compete successfully with other nations struggling for industrial supremacy. Though the public mind may be a a es ee ee May 10, 1900] NATURE a2 99 _ disturbed by the statement of the principle that the pro- _ vision made for scientific and technical study and re- _ search should be as great as that given by any two other _ Nations, the comparison will serve a useful purpose in _ directing attention to a view of the claims of science __ worthy of consideration. 3 : ‘It is a very great honour for a student of science to be called Prt such an august assembly as this to say a few words ; but if I am to be accepted as the representative of science I do not wish to be fette: the dependence by your suggestion, Sir, that I should refer to “the of art onscience. I am sure that I may frankly say for ¢ man of science that. we acknowledge freely the firm 7 herh between art and science—a brotherhood founded ‘upon a common object, the study of Nature, ‘‘the mistress of site: masters,” and carried on by a common method, the proper co-ordination of brain, hand and eye. In every case ich a man of science or a man of art has to deal, imagina- requ d, and so science and art meet upon terms of elpfulness. I think I may also say that this feeling is oo aie by men of art, for many of them honour sir friendship, and therefore I know their sentiments. more anxious to say this because some twenty years was privileged to attend this anniversary dinner, I shed representative of literature express a totally - differe ntiment. He told us that ‘‘before their sister, _ Science, now so full of promise and pride, was born, there were * r rand Literature like twins together,” and it was suggested it the sooner art and literature formed an alliance offensive snsive against the interloper, the better it would be for lo not believe inthis. For me science is as old as art. uve both advanced together. Let us take the position s 6000 years ago, to begin at the beginning of things, if n. Then the priest-mummifiers of Memphis had to be nd anatomists. If you go to the Gizeh Museum you find i , peng in those statues of Chepren in diorite, n wood, and the plaques, veritable Memlings in clearly show that this knowledge was also possessed ptors. If you come down toa comparatively modern something like 600 B.c., and compare those wonderful of Solinunto with the marbles of the Parthenon, which later date, you will find an enormous advance in the x. You will find that Hippocrates had lived in the interval, sed, that he and Phidias were contemporaries and fellow- nen. Carrying the matter down to the introduction of ersities into Northern Italy in the thirteenth century, we find i e between the art of Cimabue and Giotto de- on the fact that anatomy had been introduced in the time. Science, then, is no new interloper, seeking to de- from the importance of art and literature. What was new ity years ago was that the work of the late Prince Consort, 40se name will always be revered by those who know the nefits he conferred on our country, was then beginning to tell. showed us that in order to secure industrial progress we must ay , above all things, instruction and practice in science and art. In war, being well assured of the valour and endurance of sailors and soldiers, the chief thing we have to do is to see they are properly supplied with the engines and munitions war, and, more than these, the scientific spirit. In peace, the beauty of a nation’s life and a perfect record of it, we st look chiefly to the sweetening and ennobling influences of tand the enduring works of its masters; but for a nation’s tinued welfare and progress both science and art are neces- y. Weare in face of industrial struggles, and we must utilise science and art to supply the wants of our own and other tries, and to provide commodities made in England, besides That one fair planet can produce, Brought from under every star.” eare in face of a struggle for existence in which we know full ll that only the fittest will survive. How are we going to try on the struggle? What are our. weapons? Our first line efence in this direction can only consist of our Universities d our teaching centres. Have we enough of them? We already that we have not enough of them, because we have y lost several important engagements in these industrial t Are there no means by which we can judge of their ficiency? In relation to non-peaceful international struggles which also defeat has to be guarded against, a clear and NO 1593 VOL. 62} i a a NOTES. ’ bay ain Pror. E. SugEss, professor of geology in the University of Vienna, has been elected a‘ Foreign Associate of the Paris Academy: of Sciences, in succession to the late Sir Edward Frankland. Sir John Burdon-Sanderson, Bart., has been elected a Correspondant of the Academy, in succession to the late Sir James Paget. Dr. S. L. TORNQUIST, of Lund (Sweden), has been elected a Foreign Member of the Geological Society, and Prof. F. Sacco, of Turin, has been elected a Foreign Correspondent. WE much regret to see the announcement of the death of Lieut.-General Pitt-Rivers, F.R.S., the distinguished anthro- pologist, on Friday last. THE annual conversazione of the Society of Arts will be held at the Natural History Museum, South Kensington, on Wednesday evening, June 20. THE adjourned debate on the Sea Fisheries Bill was resumed in the House of Commons on Monday. After a long discussion, a division was taken, and a majority was obtained in favour of the second reading. The Bill was then referred to a Select Committee. Ir is reported that Vesuvius has shown signs of increased activity during the past few days. Explosions have taken place in the crater of the volcano, and masses of rock and lava have been ejected. The huts of the guides and the topmost station of the funicular railway are threatened. Reuter reported that four Englishmen who ascended Vesuvius on Tuesday went beyond the limit indicated as dangerous by the guides and gendarmes, and were seriously injured by a mass of ejected material striking them. This however has since been denied by Reuter’s Naples Correspondent. THE U.S. National Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Barnard medal to Prof. Rontgen for his discovery of the X-rays. This medal is awarded at the close of every quinquennial period for a discovery in physical or astronomical science, or novel application of science to purposes beneficial to the human race. The first presentation of the medal was to Lord Rayleigh and Prof. Ramsay for their joint discovery of argon. REUTER’s AGENCY learns that Dr. Louis Sambon and Dr. G. C. Low, who has been awarded the Craggs research scholar- ship of 300/. per annum, are about to experiment with a view to proving that malaria is spread by mosquito bites, and expect to begin work seriously on June 1, by which time they will have all their arrangements completed. A suitable spot has been chosen 34 NATURE {May 10, 1900 for the erection of their mosquito-proof house in the Campagna, -on the line of the railway running from Rome to Tivoli. A MEETING of the International Association for the Ad- vancement of Science, Arts and Education will be held at the Society of Arts to-morrow (May 11), at4 p.m. Sir Archibald Geikie, F.R.S., vice-president. of the British Committee, will preside. The secretary, Prof. Patrick Geddes, will deliver an address on the nature and aims of the Association and its forth- coming assembly at the Paris Exhibition. IN connection with the International Congress of Physics to be held in Paris from August 6 to 12, a preliminary programme of papers has been issued. Over sixty reports have already been promised, and among the names of contributors we notice those -of Amagat, Arrhenius, d’Arsonval, Battelli, Becquerel, Blondlot, Bouty,' Boys, Branly, Brillouin, Broca, Cornu, Curie, Exner, Griffiths, Hurmuzescu, Lippmann, Lorenz, Poincaré, Potier, Poynting, Pringsheim, Righi, ‘Spring, J. J. Thom son, Villard, Warburg and Wien. THE next meeting of the Comité International des Poids et Mesures is fixed for September 10, 1900. Owing to the death of M. Joseph Bertrand, and the resignation of Prof. Thalen, two of the original members of the Comité, the number of members is now limited to eleven. Great Britain will be repre- sented at the forthcoming meeting by Mr. H. J. Chaney, a anember of the Comité. THE death of M. Edouard Grimaux, at the age of sixty-five, -occurred during the past week. M. Grimaux succeeded Cahours as professor in the Ecole Polytechnique at Paris, and also held a chair at the Agronomic Institute. He made numerous and valuable contributions to organic chemistry, and was the author of several chemical treatises. He will be gratefully remembered by chemists for an admirable biography of Lavoisier, which he published in 1884. M. Grimaux lately became prominent in connection with the Dreyfus case. At the Zola trial he ex- spressed his belief in the innocence of Dreyfus. For this he was deprived of his professorship by General Billot, notwithstanding ithe fact that he had rendered devoted service to the army in 1870. In 1894 M. Grimaux was elected to the Academy in the place of Frémy. REPLYING to a question in the House of Commons on Mon- -day, Mr. Akers-Douglas stated that the new National Physical Laboratory is not to be erected, as has been reported, in the Queen’s Cottage grounds, or in any other grounds attached to Kew Gardens. It will stand quite outside those Gardens on ‘Crown land. The only part of the scheme which might possibly be supposed to affect the amenities of the Gardens is a small ‘building which will not, at the outside, cover a quarter of an acre. This building will be so placed as not to interfere with ‘the views from the Gardens over the Old Deer Park, and it will not be opposite to that part of the Gardens round the Queen’s ‘Cottage which is reserved in a wild state, The building will only be used for delicate scientific work which will not disturb the seclusion of the neighbourhood of the Queen’s Cottage, and which, in fact, itself requires as much quiet and privacy as can ‘be obtained. THE Paris correspondent of the Chemist and Druggist states ‘that science is represented at the Salon by several portraits of average merit. The best is that of Dr. Vaillard, head army surgeon and professor at the Val de Grace Military Hospital, ‘where he is known to two or three generations of army pharma- ‘cists who have followed his lectures. Dr. Vaillard is of middle age, and is shown standing, in regimental dress, with the Cross -of the Legion of Honour on his tunic. His left hand is leaning -on a laboratory-bench, on which are a microscope and a variety NO. 1593, VOL. 62] of analytical appliances. To his right is a lecture-blackboard, and one can dimly see his written demonstration. M. Paul Bourdier. and member of the French Institute, is the work of a lady artist. She shows him in everyday attire in a corner of his laboratory, sitting at a table, with a collection of scientific apparatus near at hand; in the background is a furnace, at which an assistant in a white blouse is working, M. Tisserand, of the French Institute, is another portrait of fair merit. One would like to see more of this class of picture, beet must : ——. artists find no market for them. THE death of Dr. Edmund Atkinson on bape 4th iuindy persis a very short illness, will be a matter of deep regret tohis large circle of friends. He was born at Lancaster in 1831, and was a student of Owens College, Manchester, in the early days of that institution. There he became assistant to the late Sir Edward Frankland, the first professor of chemistry in the © College, and was associated with him in organising the labora- tory which has since become so well known. About 1854 he went abroad for some years and continued his scientific studies at the Universities of Marburg, Gottingen and Heidelburg, and at the Ecole de Médecine in Paris under Wurtz. On his return to England he became private assistant to Sir Benjamin Brodie at Oxford, then science master at Cheltenham College, and after- wards professor of experimental science at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, and at the Staff College. He was several times elected upon the council of the Chemical Society, and was one of the founders of the Physical Society, of which Society he was treasurer from the beginning until the last anniversary meeting, with the exception of a short interval a few years ago. Dr. Atkinson rendered great service to science by his numerous translations into English of foreign scientific works ; among these the best known are Ganot’s ‘‘ Elements of Physica? von Helmholtz’s ‘‘ Popular Scientific Lectures” and Mascart’s ‘* Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism.” He was a man of excellent judgment in practical affairs, and of late years he gave much time as a magistrate to the local affairs of his neighbour- hood. He was always ready to undertake onerous duties for those in need of help, and was a most generous and steadfast friend. THE council of the Royal Geographical Society have awarded the two Royal medals for this year to Captain H. H. P. Deasy and Mr. James McCarthy. The Founders’ medal has been awarded to Captain Deasy for the exploring and survey work accomplished by him in Central Asia. Mr. McCarthy is the Government surveyor of Siam, and the Patron’s medal has been awarded to him for his great services to geographical science in exploring all parts of the kingdom of Siam, for his laborious work during twelve years in collecting materials for a map, to form the basis of a survey system, and for his admir- able map of Siam just completed. The other awards have been made as follows :—The Murchison award to M. Henryk Arctowski for the valuable oceanographical and meteorological work which he performed on the Belgian Antarctic expedition ; the Gill memorial to Mr. Vaughan Cornish for his researches, extending over several years, or sea-beaches, san on wave-forms in water; the Back grant to Mr. Robert Cod- rington for his journeys in the region between Lakes Nyassa and Tanganyika, during which he removed, on behalf of the Society, the section containing the inscription from the tree ~— under which Livingstone’s heart was buried; and the Cuth- bert Peek grant to Mr. T. J. Alldridge for his journeys during the past ten years in the interior of Sierra Leone, during which he has done valuable geographical work. THE following opportunities for the study of botany during — the ensuing summer season in the United States are mentioned The artist is The portrait of M. Hautefeuille, chemist, _ unes, and | / _ > } ee % _ May to, 1900] NATURE 35 _ in the Journal of the New York Botanic Garden for April : — 5 Columbia University, New York, has instituted a summer session, nning July 2 and ending August 10. The department, of any will be under the charge of Prof. Lloyd, who will offer : courses. in ecology, general botany, and research work in select 3 subjects. Students in these courses will have access to the museum and collections of the Botanic Garden. The Woods Holl Laboratories will be open from July 5 to August 16, and _ the botanical staff includes Dr. B. M. Davis, Mr. G. T. Moore, Dr. R. H. True, Miss Rhoda A. Esten, and Miss Lillian a MacRae. Courses in cryptogamic botany, plant . physiology, and plant cytology will be offered. The biological al rat Cold Spring Harbour will be open from July 2 t 25, the botanical staff including Dr. D. S. Johnson, . Cowles, and Mr. W. C. Coker. Courses of lectures d in cryptogamic botany, ecology, and bacteriology. eeeey of the U.S. Monthly Weather Review ins a very interesting account of the climate of pher, by Mr. W. B. Alexander. The island lies in 20’ N. and longitude 65° 45’ W. ; its length is 23 the breadth of the main body is about 5 miles. The ‘ is occupied by a range of mountains, the highest of ‘Misery, rises to a height of about 4100 feet. G diagrams are given showing the barometric pressure , and the rainfall for 44 years at Basseterre, which is a spacious and fertile valley. The climate, generally “Sa and healthy, being tempered and purified by understorms. The mornings and evenings of the which occur in August, are i somes cool ; the ire is about 81°, of August, 83°, Gnd February, 78°. 1 annual rainfall is about 51°6 inches ; 37 per cent. of n t occurs during the first half of the year, and 63 per the last half. The rainfall is more frequent than it has only reached or exceeded 5 inches in 24 hours Proceedings of the South African Philosophical Society, sof ' R. Sutton em an important discussion of uot aa: reasons for not delaying Conpatade of the oo is situated at Kenilworth, about three .N.E. of Kimberley, at an altitude of nearly 4000 feet. been supposed that there was an overwhelming excess of winds, and theories have been propounded why this case; but the conclusion to be drawn from the paper is while sometimes one and sometimes another direction may ponderate from year to year, a definite prevailing wind does exist. Of the 25,898 hours of wind analysed throughout three years, the final resultant contains the small components y 50 hours to the north and 100 hours to the west. The liurnal curve of wind velocity contains two maxima (2h. p.m. 10h, 45m. p.m.) and two minima (5h, a.m. and 7h. 30m. pm ). ‘TDihe mean hourly velocity is 6°6 miles per hour. interesting illustration of Doppler’s principle is noted by F. Richarz, of Greifswald. The writer was standing by Brenner Pass near a curve where a railway train was aching him, the line being backed by a wall of mountain. the engine giving a short whistle, an echo was heard, the of which was at least half a tone lower than the original fHE American Museum of Natural History, New York, as learn from a note recently published by Mr. J. A. Allen, recently obtained a specimen of the head of the wood-bison NO. 1593, VOL. 62] (Bison americanus athabascae), which is still in existence in the forests near Great Slave Lake. Compared with the bison of the plains (now extinct in a wild state) the woodland bison is stated to be rather larger than the former, and to have the bases of the horn-cores relatively thicker. In 1894 the herd of wood-bisons in the Great Slave Lake district was estimated to- be some hundreds in number, but in 1899 it was reduced to about fifty. A very few years more will probably witness the complete extinction of this animal. - AT a recent meeting of the Geographical Society of France,. the well-known naturalist, M. Grandidier, the author of the: great work upon the natural history of Madagascar, gave an: account of his last expedition to that Island, in 1898-99, M. Grandidier landed at Tuléar, on the south-western coast of the Island, and thence made an adventurous journey through. the interior to Fianarantsoa, in the Betsileo country, in the south- eastern district. M. Grandidier on his way visited the well- known deposits of Ambolisatra, about 35 kilometres north of Tuléar, where numberless fragments of Acpyornis, and almost: entire skeletons of the small Madagascar hippopotamus, besides. remains of many lemurs of gigantic size and other extinct animals were obtained. From Fianarantsoa, M.. Grandidier proceeded north through a well-known country to Antananarivo, the capital of the Island. As in the case of other larger mammals, the process of dividing the giraffe (Gzraffa camelopardalis) into ‘* sub-species” is now proceeding apace. Mr. de Winton (P2.Z.S. 1897, p. 273) first showed, on good-grounds, that the giraffe of South Africa was, in certain points of structure, different from the giraffe of the Sahara and Nubia, and proposed to call the former Giraffa capensis, leaving the old name Giraffa camelopardalis for the northern form. Since then, Mr. O. Thomas (7.Z.S. 1898, p. 40) has separated the giraffe of Upper Nigeria from. the northern form under the title Giraf/a camelopardalis peralta. Still more recently, Herr Matschie, of Berlin (S7¢zd. ges. Mat. Fr, Berlin, 1898, p. 75), has added two new names to the list of giraffes, and called them after their discoverers, G. ¢éppels- kircht and G. schillingsi, the former being from German East Africa, and the latter from British East Africa. It is curious. that these two closely adjoining districts should not agree even in having the same form of giraffe ! THE Quart. Journ. Micr. Sctence for April contains an account by Monsieur P. Bouvier of the results of his examination of the specimens of the primitive Arthropods, commonly known as Peripatus, in the collection of the British Museum. The author, who adopts the generic divisions proposed by Mr. Pocock, names one new Andean form after the Director of the Museum, and shows that, with the exception of one from the Congo and a second from Sumatra, all the representatives of the typical genus Perifatus are American. To the same journal Mr, E, Warren communicates a paper on the individual differences exhibited by one of the water-fleas (Daphnia magna) in its power of withstanding the introduction of salt into the water in which it lives. The physiological condition of the individual is foun@ to have a great effect on it salt-resisting powers. IN the last issue of the Zeztschr. Wiss, Zool., Dr. R. Gast relates the life-history of a rotifer of the genus Apsélus, speci- mens of which were recently found in an aquarium at Leipzig. This paper is followed by one on the development of a sponge of the group Sycones by Dr. O, Maas, which is worthy of special notice on account of the beauty of the illustrations. MENTION has already been made in these columns of the descrip- tion in the Motes from the Leyden Museum of the crustaceans collected during the Dutch Expedition to Central Borneo. In the March issue of the same serial this is followed by an account. 36 NATURE [May 10, 1900 of the birds, which have been worked out by Dr. Biittikofer; Although expectations were \entertained that: many new forms would be obtained, out’ of 269 species collected all were bi sg viously known, and only two were new to Borneo. THE April number of the Journal of the Quekett Microscopical ‘Club contains the. description, by Mr. J. G, Waller, of a new marine British sponge, obtained’ some twenty years ‘ago at Torbay, for which the name Raphiodesma affinis i is suggested. Another addition to the British fauna is a new species of Hymenoptera (Prosopis palustris), from Wicken Fen, Caim- | bridgeshire, described by Mr. R. C.,'L. Perkins, in the. £72/o- | mologist's Monthly Magazine for March. :This discovery should strengthen naturalists in their opposition to the proposed drain- ing of the fen in question. MANY strange objects a are worn by savage peoples, and for various reasons, also, as with us, rarity usually enhances value. In the Pelew Islands the rubbed-down first ver‘ebra (atlas) of the dugong is worn as a bracelet by the more important men, for it is not often that the vertebra in question is large enough tobe so worn. The ‘‘klilt,” as it iscalled, has recently been fully described and figured by Dr.O. Finsch (G/obus, Ixxvii. 1900, p- 153). In the Timor Group a wooden imitation is employed ; but in Timorlaut the second vertebra (axis) of the dugong is employed ; but, although the dugong is greatly hunted in Torres Straits and in South-eastern New Guinea, no ornaments are made from its‘bonés or tusks. «Dr. HERMANN MEYER gives an account of a second journey to explore the head waters of the Xingu; in the Verhandlungen of the Berlin Gesellschaft fiir Erdkunde. The route taken was from Cuyaba, reached by ascending the Parana—Paraguay from Buenos Ayres, over the watershed and down the Ronuro to its junction with the main stream, and back to Cuyaba up the course of the Kulischu ; practically the same as the former journey of 1896-97, except that the Ronuro was followed throughout its length instead of the Jatoba, a tributary joining it in its lower course. ‘Dr. Meyer concludes that later expedi- tions will avoid the Ronuro; the Ku lischu gives the best access to the region, an exploration of which as far as the Paranayuba would give valuable scientific results. THE new number of the Aét¢theelunzen von Forschungsrets- enden und Gelehrten aus den deutschen Schiitzgebieten contains some interesting papers from the German East African region. Captain Kannenberg gives the first part of an account of a journey through the Marénga Makali region, witha map. The pendulum expedition under Dr. Fulleborn and Lieut. Glanning reports progress. A summary of the results of the geological expedition in the region north of Lake Nyassa under Dr. Danz is given, and Lieut. panniers contributes a Pape on the Warangi. Dr. H. NacaoKA has contributed a valuable paper on the _ elastic constants of rocks and the velocity of seismic waves to the Publications of the Japanese Earthquake Investigation Com- mittee (No. 4 in Foreign Languages). His experiments were ‘made on about eighty specimens of different rocks, cut into prisms 15 cm. long and nearly 1 cm. square in section. They showed at once that-Hooke’s law does not hold even for very small flexure and torsion, the deviation being prominent in certain specimens of sandstone, and more marked in torsion than in flexure experiments. On releasing the rocks from stress, the return to the original state is‘extremely small. The elastic constants of archeean and palzozoic rocks (whether of igneous origin or otherwise) are far higher than those of cainozoic tocks, though the velocity of elastic waves in them is not higher in the — same proportion. So far as the experiments go, the elastic con- stants increase more rapidly than the density, so that the velocity NO. 1593, VOL. 62] crust, WE have received, the Twenty-fourth Annual Report of aid Geological and Natural, History Survey of Minnesota for the years 1895-98 5 ‘a report which is stated by Mr. N. II. Winchell, the State Geologist, to be his final one. As he remarks: ‘It ought not to be supposed that by the closing of active work by the present survey, and the publication of its final report, the geology of the State is a finished thing. Geology is a progres- sive science, and requires continual work.” Other States have had surveys which have been hurried to " « completion,” and have naturally had to enter upon re-surveys, more careful and elaborate. Our own Geological Survey has experienced this as much as any of those abroad ; where impatience to see. the work “completed” and simallness of revenue have hampered and retarded real progress. The report be:ore us contains a synop- sis of the field-work done in Minnesota since 1894, and a useful alphabetical index to the entire series of annual reports. of the Survey. Mr. Winchell also notes some of the more important ec nomic and scientific researches solace 9 should be 5 ea on in a future survey of the State. IN the. ‘ Palzontologia Indica” for soa there ise a Binerip- tion of the Cambrian fauna of the Eastern Salt-range, by Dr. K. Redlich, who has supplemented the work of Waagen with more detailed information. A new genus, Hoeferia, is how estab- lished for the specimens previously referred to” Olenelius. Among other fossils described are Hyolithes, Lingulella and Pseudotheca. The name Cylindrites is applied to ** long cylinders, which are often arranged in a fan-shaped aggregate,” and appear to be worm-tracks ; but it may be pointed out that the name was long ago. applied to a genus of Gasteropods. None of the Cambrian fossils from the Salt-range can, in the author’s opinion, be referred to a later horizon than the Para: doxides-zone. Dr. F. N oetling contributes notes on the morphology of the Pelecypoda, dealing with the hinge of some Miocene and recent bivalves. He endeavours to show that the shape and the delicate and minute variations in the shells can to some degree be expressed better by figures than by words. Dr. C. Diener describes the Anthracolithic fossils of Kashmir and Spiti. In studying the collections made by the Geological Survey of India, he came to the conclusion that fossils both of Permian and Carboniferous ages were included in the series ; and he uses the term Anthracolithic as a convenient one " Permo-Carboniferous group, which appears to be intimately connected stratigraphically and palzontologically. Among the specimens described, the presence of many European types of Carboniferous Brachiopoda is noted, and there are also affinities with the Australian Carboniferous fauna. In the form of ‘‘ Appendix No. 2” for 1900 to the Kew Bulletin, we have the usual list of new species of plants brought into cultivation for the first time during last year, or re-introduced after having been lost from cultivation. THREE of the photographs in natural colours, tnt by Mr. | H. J. Mackinder in his journey to the summit of Mount - ‘Kenya, are reproduced by a three-colour process in the May*number of the Geographical Journal. Colour, photography has thus been brought into the service of geographical exploration, and we may expect to see further developments of its use. THE May number of the Journal of the Chemical ‘Seca, which now appears with a regularity worthy of emulation by the publications of other scientific societies, contains Sir Henry Roscoe’s memorial lecture on Bunsen, accompanied by a photo- gravure of the lamented chemist, and Prof. Thorpe’s presi- dential address on some characteristics of the study and progress of chemistry in Great Britain during the present century. ¥* must be greater in the interior than at the surface of the earth’s a x May 10, 1909] NATURE 37 ay _ THE current number of 7%e Budider (May 5) contains repro- ductions of Mr. Aston Webb's drawings of the proposed build- fp to be erected in the Imperial Institute Road, South Ken- sington, to accommodate the physics and chemistry departments of the Royal College of Science. The original drawings are on view at the Royal Academy. - ‘Tue “ Statesman’s Year-book,” edited by Dr. J. Scott Keltie, with the assistance of Mr. I. P. A. Renwick (Macmillan), has been accepted as a trustworthy authority upon all matters of geography for so many years, that people familiar with its pages, and and therefore conscious of the extent and accuracy of for sation contained i in them, regard it as one of the few nals. The volume for 1900, which has just been 3 arger than any previous edition, and the numerous ment of territories which were made last year have necessitated many changes in the text, several of the sections ; been almost rewritten. Four specially prepared coloured c , dealing with (1) the partition of North-east (2) the seorganisation of British Nigeria and the French territories ; (3) the political partition of the Pacific ; _ arrangement of the boundary between British enezula. The ‘ Year- book” is thus an epitome ‘ | events as well as a manual of statistical “information concerning the states of the world. volume is kept so completely up to date as it is at likely to be superseded. 2 in the current number of the Berichte, Dr. some peculiarities shown by picric acid ns, in the light of the ionic hypothesis. Picric r obtained, has an intense yellow colour, but on from strong hydrochloric acid it becomes nearly | white crystalline mass is sucked nearly dry and washed with a little water to remove the acid, the yellow colour at once returns. which at first has only a pale yellow colour, re intensely coloured as water is added. Dr. 2 : lexing phenomena rig an Srumediate ex- eo perp ig Pp terms: of the theory of electrolytic dissociation. n of the relations deducible by thermo- x between the freezing-point and vapour , dilute solution, although of considerable the electrolytic theory of solution, presents great difficulties, especially as regards the vapour pres- ations. An ingenious method attacking this described in the current Zedtschrift fiir physihalische Chemie, by Dr. R. Gahl. A measured volume of air is drawn tt rough the solution, such as hydrochloric acid, and this is assed through pure water, the change of electrical conductivity ich is measured, The number of cases in which such a _ can be applied is obviously restricted, but the accuracy 1able appears to be of the order of ‘oor mm. of mercury. E additions: to the Zoological Society’s Gardens during the week include a Grys-bok (Raphiceros melanotis) from South a, a Yellow- whiskered Lemur (Lemur xanthomystax) from ladagascar, presented by Mr. J. E. Matcham; a Violet- necked Lory (Zs riciniata) from Molluccas, presented by Mr. i. R. Filliner; two Australian, Rails (Ra//us pectoralis) from c ‘Holland, presented by Mr. C. J. Fox; a Common Boa ‘oa constrictor) from South America, an Egyptian Eryx (Zryx Jus) from Egypt, presented by Mr. C. W. Lilley ; two Eyed ds (Lacerta ocellata), European, presented respectively by Robinson and Miss Ash ; two Edible Frogs (Rana escu- ) from Biskra, presented by the Hon. Mrs. A. Cadogan; a NO. 1593. VOL. 62] Crowned Lemur (Lemur coronatus), a Black Lemur (Lemur macaco), two Blackish Sternotheres (S/ernothoerus nigricans), a : Radiated Tortoise (Zestudo radiata) from Madagascar, a Slender Loris (Zoris gracilis) from Ceylon, two Ambherst’s Pheasants (7haumalea picta,$?), ten Reeve’s Terrapins (Damonia reevest), a Three-banded Terrapin (Cyclemmys tri- fasciata) from China, a Grooved Tortoise (7estudo calcarata) from Khartoum, too Roofed Terrapins (Xachuga fectum), a Hamilton’s Terrapin (Damonia hamiltoni) from India, a Derbian Sternothere (Sv/ernothoerus derbianus), two Black -Sternotheres (Svernothverus niger) from West. Africa, .three Chequered Elaps (Z/aps /emmiscatus) from South America, a Glass Snake (Ofhiosaurus afus), European; six Kentucky Blind Kish (Amblyopss speloea) from Kentucky, deposited ; a Brazilian Tapir (7@piérus americanus, 8) from South America, a Cape Hunting Dog (Lycaon pictus, ? ) from South Africa, two Siamese Pheasants (Zuplocamus proela'us, & 9) from Siam, two Rufous-tailed Pheasants (Zuplocamus erythropthalmus, 6 2) from Malacca, purchased; a Crowned Lemur (Lemur coro- natus), an English Wild Cow (Sos ¢aurus), born in the Gardens, OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. CoMET GIACOBINI (1900 a).—This comet has been in an un- favourable position for observation during the past few weeks, but is now rapidly leaving the sun, and may be searched for in the early morning. The following ephemeris is an abridg- ment from one given by Herr A. Berberich, of Berlin, in the Astronomische Nachrichten (Bd. 152, No. 3636 )i— Ephemeris for 12h. Berlin Mean Time. R.A 1900. -A. Decl. h. m s. aarp May 21 1 i7 22 +24 21°8 22 16 27 24 41°4 23 15 30 CT ae Se 24 14 31 25 21°4 25 13 29 25 418 26 12 26 26 2°6 27 Il 21 26 23°6 28 IO 13 26 44°9 29 9 3 27 6°5 30.2 7 50 27 28°4 Sheer 1 Ogee +27 50°6 At present the comet is moving slowly in a north-westerly direction through the constellation Pisces, almost in a line between 6 Arietes and a Andromedz. CovouR SCREENS FOR REFRACTING TELESCOPES.—The Astronomische Nachrichten (Bd. 152, No. 3636) contains a description of some experiments undertaken by Messrs. T. J. J. See and G. H. Peters, at the United States Naval Observatory, — to determine the utility of viewing celestial objects through variously coloured screens. It was thought that if a suitable screen was chosen which would cut off the violet light of the ~ secondary spectrum shown by the lens, that a considerable im- provement of the definition might be expected, and after trial of several types of light filter, several were found which did materially improve the seeing. The screen specially recom- mended consists of a solution of picric acid and chloride of copper in alcohol. This is applied in a small cell made to fit as a cap outside the eyepiece of the telescope. It is thought that the method may improve meridan work by furnishing better defined star-discs, and also planetary micrometer measurements on account of the diminution of irradiation. PHOTOMETRIC REVISION OF HARVARD PHOTOMETRY.— The Harvard Photometry, showing the brightnesses of stars north of declination — 30°, and of the sixth magnitude or brighter, was compiled from observations made during the period 1879-82. In 1891, on the return of the photometer to Cambridge from Peru, it was decided to redetermine the magnitudes of these stars, and by the end of 1894 the work was almost completed. Nearly all the observations were made by Prof. E. C. Pickering, the Director of the Observatory of Ilarvard College, and’ the results of the revision now form Part i. of the last issue of the Annals of Harvard College Observatory, vol. xliv. 38 NATURE [May 10, 1900 FITZ GERALD'S “HIGHEST ANDES.”? N the book entitled ‘‘The Highest Andes,”’ Mr. E. A. Fitz Gerald relates the experiences of himself and his party upon the journey which he made in 1896-97 in the neighbour- hood of Aconcagua, the highest mountain at present known in South America, which it was his aim to map and to ascend. He describes in considerable detail the various operations of the expedition, and recounts with rare frankness the sensations of himself and of his assistants at low atmospheric pressures. Various other matters of considerable public interest are intro- duced incidentally in his volume, such as the Trans-Andine Railway and the Boundary dispute between Chili and the Argentine Republic; but the attention of the reader willbe mainly engrossed by his history of the attacks upon the two Engineer, got up and said of Aconcagua that ‘‘ he believed it to be little less than 15,000 feet high. Admiral Fitzroy had described it as being higher than any of the Himalayan peaks 3 but he must have been mistaken in his calculations, no doubt in consegence of the difficulty in getting a suitable base for a trigonometrical measurement. He(Mr. Miers) had often seem it void of snow, and as the snow-line in that latitude is, about 15,000 feet, 2¢ 2s mantfest that the mounta‘n cannot much exceed that height.” Though Sir Clements Markham (the present President of the Royal Geographical Society) was at the meet- ing, it does not appear that either he or any one else entered a protest against this startling statement (see /roc. R. Geog. Soc., December 9, 1872, pp. 66-7). Subsequently, Aconcagua rose | toa height exceeding 24,000 feet in the pages of the Daily great mountains Aconcagua and Tupungato, neither of which | ras conquered easily. Although it is visible from Valparaiso, Aconcagua can scarcely be said to have been known at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Fic. with its name when he was travelling in Peru. He said many years afterwards that, at that time, Chimborazo was everywhere accounted to be the loftiest mountain in the world. But in his ** Aspects of Nature,” published in England in 1849, he knew differently, and referred to the Great Andes of Peru and Bolivia which were brought to light by Mr, Pentland; and to Aconcagua, which had been found by the officers of the 4d- venture and Beagle on Fitzroy’s expedition to be between 23,000 and 24,000 feet in elevation. Since then the mountain has had its ups and downs; or, to employ the language of the geologist, it has had its periods of elevation and subsidence. It got to its lowest level about twenty-seven years ago at a meeting of the Royal Geographical Society. After the reading of a paper by Mr. R. Crawford, C.E., upon a projected railway route across the Andes, Mr. J. W. Miers, another Civil 1 “‘The Highest Andes: a Record of the First Ascent of Aconcagua and Tupungato in Argentina, and the Exploration of the Surraunding Valleys.” By E. A. Fitz Gerald. 8vo, pp. 390. (London: Methuen and : ) NO. 1593, VOL. 62] Humboldt was certainly unacquainted Chronic/e (January 18, 1897), and it has now, according to Mr. Fitz Gerald, dropped to 23,080 feet, or to almost. exactly the height assigned to it by Admiral Fitzroy. This appears to be the greatest elevation that any one has hitherto reached upon a mountain. ‘ , ' Mr. Fitz Gerald’s Expedition sailed from Southampton on 1.—Looking down Horcones Valley from glacier. i October 15, 1896; left Buenos Aires November 29 ; and on December 7 arrived at Punta de las Vacas (7858 feet), the terminal station in Argentina of the Trans-Andine Railway.! This terminus is only a little more than twenty miles to the south-east of the summit of Aconcagua. No other mountain in the world of anything like its magnitude is approached so closely by railway.2, An abortive attempt to get to it was first of all made va the Vacas Valley, which runs a little west of north from the Terminus and leads to the eastern side of the mountain ; and it was subsequently found that the true way towards the summit was by the Horcones Valley, the upper part of which lies to the west of the main peak. After some pre- 1 This line is intended to connect Buenos Aires and Valparaiso. Its con- struction has been suspended for several years, but it has been quite recently stated that progress will shortly be resumed. About 44 miles remain to be made. 2 The railway which is being constructed towards Chamonix terminates at present at the village le Fayet, which is less than #ez miles distant from the summit of Mont Blanc. The summit of Ment Blanc is 13,875 feet above le Fayet, and that of Aconcagua is 16,222 feet above Punta de las Vacas- May 10, 1900] NATURE 39 liminary exploration, a camp was established at the head of this valley, at a height of about 14,000 feet. pasturage,” it is said, ‘‘ made it impossible to take the mules any fatther,” and thenceforward all transport had ‘to effected by men. Besides Mr. Fitz Gerald, the Expedition at this time consisted of Messrs. Vines, de Trafford and Gosse ; Zurbriggen, the brothers Joseph and Louis Pollinger, Lanti and Weibel. Matthias Zurbriggen, who was born in Switzerland and lives in Italy, is termed guide, and the rest of the men are called porters; although the two Pollingers and Lochmatter are actually guides, and amongst the best of the younger ones of the Zermatt district. Lanti, who is also calleda porter, appears to have been a miner. Trans-Andine Railway, joined the party at a later date. On the first day (December 23), Fitz Gerald and Zurbriggen, ** The lack of | difficulty I had in breathing, and partly on account of the dreadful snoring of the men. They would begin breathing heavily, and continue on in an ascending scale till they almost choked. This would usually wake them up, and they were | quiet for ten minutes or so, till gradually the whole perform- | ance recommenced” (pp. 55-6). On the following day (December 25) they continued the ascent; and, although the distance that they mounted was small, Mr. Lightbody, an engineer of the | the effects became more marked. Mr. Fitz Gerald says of him- self and also of Zurbriggen: ‘‘ We were feeling distinctly weak about the knees, and were obliged to pause every dozen steps or so to catch our breath, and frequently. we sat down for about ten minutes to recover” (p. 56). On the next night they en- | camped on the desired spot, which is said to have been 18,700 with four porters and twelve horses or mules, started from the | mouth of the Horcones Valley (8948 feet), and went to the | Spot at its head that has been already mentioned, which was about 14,000 feet above the sea; and, leaving the animals | feet above the sea. During the day, Zurbriggen advanced (according to his estimate, 2000 feet above the camp), and returned ‘late in the evening, completely exhausted.” On the 27th Mr. Fitz Gerald and the rest retreated to 12,000 feet in the Horcones Valley, in doing which, it seems to me, they made a Fic. 2.—Saddle on which the 18,790 ft. camp was situated. there, some of the party pushed on, with the view of arriving at a depression upon the ridge which leads from the summit towards the north-west ; but when an altitude of 16,000 feet is supposed to have been reached, a halt was called on account of the lateness of the hour. ‘‘ Being much fatigued, we decided not to pitch our tent, but simply to crawl into our sleeping-bags. place. . During the night, one of my Swiss porters, a tall, powerfully-built man, Lochmatter by name, fell ill. He suffered terribly from nausea and faintness.” Next day they " progressed upwards, but still did not reach the spot for which they were aiming, and passed the night at some elevation that is mot mentioned. It was now Mr. Fitz Gerald’s turn to feel the effects of diminution in atmospheric pressure. **I had suffered acutely,” he says, ‘‘ during the afternoon from nausea, \and from inability to catch my breath, my throat having become dry from continual breathing through my mouth. . . I was unable to sleep at all, partly because of the NO. 1593, VOL. 62] | | mistake, and sacrificed some of the advantages which had been gained by considerable labour, On December 30 they re-started, reached the 18,700 feet camp at the end of the day, and left at 5.45 the next morning with the view of reaching the summit. ‘‘ At that time we little | knew what lay before us; the summit looked so very near that No one had the energy even to make for himself a smooth | we even talked of five or six hours as a possible time in which to | reach it. We set out towards our peak over the loose, crumbling | rocks that covered the north-west face ; the steepness was too great for a direct line of march, and we were obliged to twist and zigzag.” **T noticed Zurbriggen was going very fast; I was obliged to call to him several times, and ask him to wait for me, as I did not wish to exhaust myself by pressing the pace so early. I was surprised at his hurrying in this way, as it is generally Zurbriggen who urges me to go slowly at first. However, I soon discovered the reason for this; he was suffering bitterly from cold. Seeing that his face was very white, I asked him if 40 NATURE [ May 10, 1900 he felt quite well, He answered that he felt perfectly well, but that he was so cold he had no sensation whatever left in his feet ; for a few moments he tried dancing about, and kick- ing his feet against the rocks, to get back his circulation. I began to get alarmed, for frozen feet are one of the greatest dangers one has to contend against in Alpine climbing. The porters who had been lagging behind now came up to us; I at once told Zurbriggen to take his boots oft, and we all set to work to rub his feet. To my horror I discovered that the cir- culation had practically stopped. We continued working hard upon him, but he said that he felt nothing. We: took off his stockings, and tried rubbing first with snow and then with brandy ; we were’ getting more and more alarmed, and :were even beginning to fear that the case might be hopeless, and might even necessitate amputation. At last we observed that his face was becoming pallid, and slowly and gradually he began to feel.a little pain. We hailed this sign with joy, for it meant, of course, that vitalit} was returning to the injured parts, and we renewed our efforts ; the pain now came on more and more severely ; he writhed and shrieked and begged us to stop, as he was well-nigh maddened with suffering. Knowing, however, that this treatment was the one hope for him, we continued to rub, in spite of his cries, literally holding him down, for the pain was getting so great that he could no longer control him- self, and tried to fight us off. The sun now rose over the brow of the mountain, and the air became slightly warm ; I gave him a strong dose of brandy, and after a great deal of trouble induced him to stand up. We slipped on his boots without lacing them, and supporting him between two of.us, we began slowly to get him down the mountain side. At intervals we stopped to repeat the rubbing operation, he expostulating with us vainly the while. After about an hour and a half, we succeeded in getting him back to our’tent, where he threw himself down, and begged to be allowed to go to sleep. We would not permit this, however, and taking off his boots again we continued the. rubbing opera- tions, during which he shouted in agony, cursing us volubly in some seven different languages. We then prepared some very hot soup, and made him drink it, wrapping him up warmly in all the blankets we could find and letting him sleep in the sun. In the afternoon he seemed quite right again, and was able to walk about a little” (pp. 61-2). This episode breught that day’s attempt to an end, but the next morning (January 1) they started again at 8 a.m., with temperature at 26° F., passed the place where they had turned back on December 31, and then encountered great and steep slopes of loose, rolling stones; which, so far as the mountain itself was concerned, seem to have formed the greatest difficulty on the ascent. ‘‘ The first few steps we took caused us to pause and look at one another with dismay. Every step we made, we slipped back, sometimes the whole way, sometimes more. . . . We continued plodding on for some time, our breath getting shorter and shorter as we struggled and fought with the rolling stones in our desperate attempts not to lose the steps we gained. . . . There was nothing to fix our attention upon except the terrible, loose, round stones, that kept rolling, rolling as if to engulf us.” Now another one became ill. **Louis Pollinger” (who is an unusually sturdy and powerful young fellow) ‘was turning a sickly, greenish hue. All the colour had left his lips, and he began to complain of sickness and dizziness.” They went on until 2.15. p.m., and then turned back. ‘‘Zurbriggen, I think, could have gone a little farther, but even he admitted that he did not think he would be capable of reaching the summit. . . . The temperature had now dropped to 17° F., and the sun gave us no warmth to speak of. Coming down was almost worse than going up. Fatigued as we were, and chilled and numb to. the bone, we constantly fell down, and it was four o’clock before we reached ourencampment. . . . We wereall of us suffering from splitting headaches.” Although Mr. Fitz Gerald speaks frequently of heat and cold, he does not often quote actual temperatures ; but at this point he remarks that the temperature fell to 5° F. during the night, that the maximum in the sun had only been 47° F. during the previous three days, and that it had barely reached 29° F. in the shade. Though the cold which was experienced was not at all lower than might have been expected, they found it trying. ‘‘Thecold at this altitude seems absolutely unendur- able after sunset. I have seen the men actually sit down and cry like children, so discouraged were they by this intense ‘NO. 1593, VOL. 62] cold” (p. 57); and he says, truly, at another place, that ‘* with the barometer standing at fifteen inches, the rarefied atmosphere lowers all the vital organs to such an extent that 20° of frost feels more like 60°” below freezing: point (p. 63). - There were four of them in their miserable little tent, packed so close that each time one turned over he was obliged to wake the rest.” ‘A terrible and stunning depression had SE E————=— ve taken hold upon us all, and none of us cared even tospeak. At — times I felt almost as if I should go out of my mind. . . . ambition to accomplish anything had left us, and our one desire was to get’ down to our lower camp, and breathe once more like human beings” (p. 67); and so down they went, this time to Puente del Inca, 8948 feet, at the mouth of the Horcones Valley, and waited there a week. pee On January 9 they started again, passed that night /half-way up the Horcones Valley, and on the next day went up to the 18,700 feet camp, ascending from 14,000 feet at the rate of 854 feet. per hour! ‘‘ We all seemed so. well that I’ thought it better not to make an attempt on the mountain next day, but to see what a few days of rest and good food would dofor us. My hope was that the system would accustom itself to the rarefied air.” The minimum of that night was 1°F., which is the lowest temperature recorded in the volume. At 9 a.m. on January 12, Mr. Fitz Gerald set out once more for the summit, accom- panied by Zurbriggen and Joseph Pollinger. v1 part I knew, after the first quarter of an hour, that would be fruitless. However, I pushed along, hopii hope that by some chance I might feel better as we we had barely reached 20,000 feet, when I was oblig: myself on the ground, overcome by acute pains and and he returned to the tent, while Zurbriggen pushed He did not, however, reach the summit ; and, when he turning, was watched through a field-glass, - ee “‘ He was apparently quite exhausted ; he could only few steps at a time, and then seemed to stumble forward lessly. We watched him thus slowly descend for about and a half; first he sat down for four or five minutes, slowly plodded onward again. At last he reached a lar of snow, where, by sliding, he was able to’ mak He did not reach the tent till after sunset, and ~ speechless with thirst and fatigue” (p. 78), oe own description : ‘*T got up, and tried once more to go on, but I was only able to advance from two to three steps at a time, and then I had to stop, panting for breath, my struggles alternating with violent fits of nausea. At times I would fall down, and each time had greater difficulty in rising ; black specks swam across my sight ; I was like one walking in a dream, so dizzy,and sick that the whole mountain seemed whirling round with me. The time went on; it was growing late, and I had now got into sych a helpless condition that I was no longer able to raise myself, but had to call on Lanti to help me. . . . Lanti was in good con- dition, and could, I feel sure, have reached the summit. He was one of the strongest men we had with us. For a long time past he had been begging me to turn back, assuring me that our progress was so slow, that even should I keep it up I could not reach the top before sunset. I was right under the great wall of the peak, and not more than a few hundred yards from the great couloir that leads up between the two summits. I do not know the exact height of this spot, but I judge it to be about a thousand feet below the top. Here I gave up the fight and _ started to go down. ‘*T shall never forget the descent that followed. I was so weak that my legs seemed to fold up under me at every step, and I kept falling forward and cutting myself on the shattered stones that covered the sides of the mountain. I do not know how long I crawled in this miserable plight, steering for a big patch of snow that lay in a sheltered spot, but I should imagine that May 10, 1900] NATURE 41 it was about an hour and a half. On reaching the snow I lay down, and finally rolled down a great portion of the mountain side. As I got lower my strength revived, and the nausea that I had been suffering from so acutely disappeared, leaving me with a splitting headache. Soon after five o'clock I reached our tent. My headache was now so bad that it was with great difficulty I could see at all. ** Zurbriggen arrived at the tent about an hour anda half later. He had succeeded in gaining the summit, and had planted an ice-axe there; but he was so weak and tired that he could scarcely talk, and lay almost stupefied by fatigue. Though naturally and justifiably elated by his triumph, at that moment he did not seem to care what happened to him. At night, in fact, all hope and ambition seemed to depart, after four days spent at this height, and that night we got little sleep, every one making extraordinary noises during his short snatches of unconsciousness—struggling, panting, and choking for breath, until at last obliged to wake up and moisten his throat with a drop of water ” (pp. 82-3). affected by the diminution in the atmospheric pressure which they experienced, and they were sometimes rendered almost in- capable. Upon the map, Tupungato is credited with a height of 21,550 feet, but I have not been able to find in the volume the data from which this elevation has been derived. If it has no better foundation than readings of an aneroid barometer, it is probable that the height has been considerably over-estimated. The elevation assigned to Aconcagua is obtained from the rail- way-levels as far as the terminus at Punta de las Vacas (7858 feet), carried on by levelling and triangulation up the Horcones Valley, and may be considered authoritative. Notwithstanding its great height, the mountain bears little snow in the middle of the summer; and in this respect the observations by Mr. Miers which are quoted at the beginning of this article are sup- ported. Mr. Fitz Gerald, indeed, says that ‘‘ when Zurbriggen made the ascent of Aconcagua, he went to the summit of the mountain without placing his foot upon snow ; the side of the mountain was bare to the top on the north-west slopes” (p 34). The apex of Tupungato was also bare rock. From Fic. 3.—Seracs of the Horcones Glacier. Thus, Zurbriggen alone reached the highest point in the world | the absence of great snow-fields and large glaciers in this ' which has hitherto been ascended ; and it is not the least curious fact in this interesting journey that he should have done so, for he was not the most nimble of the party, and in appearance and a gait is not the one who might have been expected to be the most successful. That he did succeed was proved on the following 13th of February, when Mr. Vines and Lanti again ascended the mountain, and found an ice-axe on the summit and a substantial yramid of stones which he had built. The cairn might have | been erected by any one, but the axe could have been put there _ only by himself. The position assigned to Aconcagua on the map which ac- | companies Mr. Fitz Gerald’s volume is long. 69° 59’ west of Greenwich, 32° 39’ south latitude, and Tupungato is placed about 57 miles to itssouth. This latter mountain was ascended __ by Mr. Vines and Zurbriggen on April 12, 1897, but only after three attempts which ended in failure. Upon it, as on Acon- cagua, all those who got to considerable elevations were strongly - NO. 1593, VOL. 62} elevated region, it would appear that the annual snow-fall there is inconsiderable. Mr. Fitz Gerald’s book will give abundant food for reflection to those who think that the loftiest mountains in the world can be scaled, and scaled easily. He confirms the observations of others, that the greatest heights are reached painfully and laboriously, and ‘that there is a pretty constant diminution in pace the higher one ascends. The illustrations in the volume are reproductions of photographs, and out of the forty-five views of scenery which are given, thirty-three are by Mr. Lightbody. The appendix contains notices of the rocks, by Prof. T. G. Bonney; of the reptiles, scorpions and spiders, by Messrs. Boulenger and Pocock ; and of the plants, by Mr. Burkill. The collections seem meagre, and nothing except a few rock specimens appears to have been brought from the greatest heights. EDWARD WHYMPER. 42 NATURE [May to. 1900 POTTERY AND PLUMBISM. 1) R. T. E. THORPE, F.R.S., gave a lecture on Friday evening, May 4, at the Royal Institution, on the results of an experimental inquiry which he has made, at the instance of the Home Office, on the hygienic questions involved in the use of lead compounds in the manufacture of pottery. After explaining how lead poisoning occurs in connection with pottery manufacture, he described the conditions which a perfect glaze must fulfil, and named the various forms in whichlead compounds enter into the composition of the glazing material as ordinarily employed. He pointed out that experience amply de- monstrated, both in this country and on the Continent, that ‘‘raw” lead is more generally mischievous in its action than “ fritted ” lead, that is, lead in the form of a complex silicate associated with alumina, lime, &c. This depends on the more ready solubility of the various modifications of raw lead in the animal secretions, and more particularly in the gastric juice. This fact, indeed, is now generally recognised, and in the inquiry which was instituted by the Home Office in 1893, manufacturers whose names deservedly carry authority in the pottery districts strongly urged the substitution of fritted lead for raw lead in all glazes. Unfortunately, however, this recom- mendation was not enforced. This may have been due, partly at least, to the circumstance that cases of plumbism occurred from time to time in works where fritted lead was exclusively used. The fact is there is fritted lead and fritted lead. Dr. Thorpe then proceeded to explain the results of a recent inquiry into the conditions which determine the ease with which lead may be dissolved out from a fritt by dilute acids such as are present in gastric juice. In the first place, it was found that, speaking generally, English fritts yielded a far larger amount of lead to solvents than those made in Holland, Belgium, Germany or Sweden. Indeed, some English specimens of fritted lead were found to be hardly less soluble than raw lead, as shown by the following numbers :— Lead oxide dissolved, expressed as per- centage of total lead oxide present. Lead silicate, Specimen I. on Sui 99'S 3° 23 ”° II. oor Glaze A, made with lead silicate ... 99'2 ee: a 2 " i 99°2 ‘ itharge 100°0 Bla ips Red lead 100°0 White lead 100°0 Next, the inquiry showed that there was no necessary relation between the amount of lead oxide in a fritt and the extent to which it would yield lead to solvents comparable, as regards their action, with animal secretions. Some of the compounds richest in lead were, in fact, among those least attacked by solvents. This is illustrated by the following series of numbers :— I. Solubilities practically the same, amounts of lead oxide in the fritt very different. Percentage of lead Solubility per : 3 oxide in fritt. cent. on fritt. Dutch fritt pie wae 18’0 traces English fritt, A 40°4 as o'2 Belgian fritt 22°4 ae O'7 English fritt, B 41°3 o'7 9 pe 52°3 0'4 II. Solubslities very different, amounts of lead oxide in fritt practically the same. English fritt, D 37°9 28'0 » » E 30°2 ase 14 ” my 45°8 10'8 Swedish fritt 44'I 2'1 Further inquiry elicited the fact that the extent to which the fritt gave up lead to the solvent depended upon two conditions :— (1) The existence of a definite numerical relation between the basic and’acidic oxides in the fritt, and (2) Complete chemical union. : é The definite numerical relation thus alluded to may be stated in the following terms :—If the sum of the equivalent percentages of. basic oxides, expressed as lead oxide, is not more than double NO. 1593, VOL. 62] the sum of the equivalent percentages of acidic oxides, expressed — as silica, the solubility of the fritt, as regards lead, is rarely more — than 2 per cent. Any increase in this ratio is attended by an — increase in the amount of lead dissolved, and the amount of — soluble lead increases very rapidly with even a slight increase in — the ratio. The following figures serve to illustrate this fact :— Percentage Solubility ras o per cent. Ratio. — lead oxide. on fritt. taf z : Dutch fritt, No. 1... .. 18°0 (4.4 Seances eee Belgian fritt, No. 1 2S 225% 307 1a, Dutch fritt, No. 2 ... 19'0 1:2) san ht 2§O Belgian fritt, No. 2 22°4 O'F ae Swedish fritt eek 44°1 21 teuecsO 4 English fritt ... 24°02. jae O°2 ENS] — i <5 igh dee AO°A tenets - ed atitee, BOB is 5 24'S). ek 06) FEE ETFO “3 Re a okey 14: Ga, ETO ” ” 36°4 2°3 oy (1°87 ss an 45'8 108 eee OL i . 37°90. «eS ees Be 70°4 inn, OPS It was further found that, provided the ratio of acids to b is below 2, the nature of the basic oxides has little or no effe upon the amount of the lead oxide dissolved. This ma: illustrated by the following numbers :— toe 2 Alumina. Lime. ‘ He Dutch fritt . 19°0 81 9°02 English fritt ... 16°2 ... 10°3 Be Neha Swedish fritt .... 44°1 5:5. eee Further evidence of the fact that the insolubility 0 comp silicate is determined by the ratio of acids to bases, and is in pendent of the specific nature of the bases, is afforded by the - case of flint glass, which consists essentially of a silicate of alkali united with a silicate of lead. Separately, these silicates are readily attacked by dilute acids. _When united, as in flint glass, the compound is only very sparingly soluble. Merely to flux together the ingredients of a fritt, with no regard to its composi- tion as a definite chemical compound, and with no regard to the — time or temperature needed to complete the chemicé ange is not the proper way to make a frit. £4 8 8 In the course of the inquiry it was found that the Contine fritts, which conformed to the above ratio, and were distinguished _ by their comparative solubility, were very difficult to break up by the action of acids, and yielded only minute portions of | soluble matter (much of which, however, consisted of lead) to solvents, whereas the English fritts were, for the most part, very easily decomposed by the same treatment, and gave up the greater part of their lead to solution. This led to the surmise that the Continental fritts consisted, in the main, of comparatively stable chemical compounds, the minute quantity of lead dissolved being due to some lead compound—oxide or silicate—in a state of incomplete chemical union. Experiment showed that this surmise was correct. By treating a tritt, compounded so as to be within the limiting ratio, with dilute acid, by far the greater portion of the soluble or incompletely fixed lead may be re- moved, and a highly insoluble complex lead silicate is obtained. A fritt, for example, containing upwards of 53 per cent. of oxide of lead, and of which the limiting ratio of acids and bases was about 2, had this ratio lowered to 1°8 and the solubility diminished from 2 per cent. to four-tenths of a per cent., the amount of lead oxide in the product so treated being upwards of 52 per cent. iN dee A number of manufacturers and professional fritt makers, acting in conformity with the suggestions which have been put forward, and in response to the invitation of the Home Secretary _ to have their glazes tested in the Government Laboratory, are now producing lead fritts having a solubility which is even below the standard provisionally suggested in the Home Office — Circular of December last. y Although measures based upon the above facts will no doubt largely minimise the evil of lead poisoning, Dr. Thorpe stated that he was not sufficiently sanguine to suppose that they would altogether stamp out plumbism in the Potteries. It must be clearly understood that complete immunity from lead poisoning © can never be obtained so long as lead cémpounds continue to be — used. The true solution is to be found in the more general — May 10, 1900] NATURE 43 oticn of leadless glazes. That leadless glazes of a high jancy, covering power and durability, and adapted to all of table, domestic and sanitary ware, to china furniture, insulators and electric fittings of the most varied kind, fectly practicable, was illustrated by reference to the ; ous examples of leadless glazed ware which, thanks to the ity of a numter of the manufacturers, were exhibited to eieace: Among them were specimens from Mintons, from Worcester Royal Porcelain Company, Burgess and Leigh, rand Read, Bernard Moore, the Crystal Glaze Company, Brothers, Defries, and others. Telegraph insulators of n’s and Buller’s make were exhibited by the Post Office. orpe stated that leadless glazed ware was now being number of the Government Departments and to “London Clubs. He further stated that the Board had resolved to insert a clause in all ew works strictly prohibiting the use of any ‘ing lead glaze wherever practicable. application of leadless glazes has passed ental stage is so obvious that the Secretary es to relax the Special Rules, issued by the t, in regard to the pottery industry in the “processes in which no compounds of lead concluded by remarking that every intelligent ncede that there is an ample field for investigation of attack into problems connected even iples of his art. The craft of the potter m the intelligent application of scientific , however, modern science enters into it to it be desired is perhaps open to question. ‘no industry in the world, certainly none in ative in its operations as that of the potter, ‘ ish earthenware still enjoys, no doubt, the em: the skill and aptitude of Wedgwood and mec t : followers imparted to it. The great potter was ‘abreast of the physical science of his day, and was quick - or take advantage of any discovery which seemed to be of service to his art. But perhaps it may be sr the spirit of Wedgwood actuates his successors that might be desired. It is at least certain that of this spirit, that is, the intelligent application of 1 principles, would years ago have obviated, to least, this evil of plumbism among the pottery ONS OF ELECTRICAL SCIENCE. » much honoured by having been placed in the Inow occupy, and by having to deliver this opening Dublin Branch of the Institution of Electrical believe that we are one of the first branches that d into the meeting stage of our existence, and may rselves on having d through our larval trans- rand rapidly, and on our having been the first to of the parent Institution in founding these local *s is worthy of our grateful commendation. We are left free to develop our own life untrammelled by any rules such as we would ourselves have necessarily chosen to ern our actions. We have the great advantage of being a inch of a most distinguished Institution of world-wide reputa- 1, and that without paying any extra subscription. I hope we will add to the life and work of that Institution, and yromote both our own interests and the welfare of man- apers and discussions here will be taken as delivered to litution of Electrical Engineers, and, if of sufficient merit, published in its Proceedings, thus securing to us a world- ication, while at the same time ensuring that Ireland with the work done. tory of electricity in the nineteenth century is far too E pact for an occasion like the present one, but certain ects of this history convey valuable lessons for the future and lay well engage our attention in this last year of the century, )may help us to lay the foundations for further advance in the _ The aspect of the history of electricity during the nine- address to the Dublin Section of the Institution of Electrical gineers, de Prof. G. F. Fitzgerald, F.R.S. Abridged fr nai of the Institution, April. ~ idged from the NO. 1593, VOL, 62] ) ¥ its oie ¢ teenth century to which I desire to direct your attention is an object-lesson of how to apply science to further the well-being of mankind, The history oe any applied science might be con- sidered in this aspect, but the history of applied electricity is particularly appropriate for being thus considered, for several reasons. The history is condensed within a few years ; the dis- coveries of science have followed one another with extraordinary rapidity, and within a few years after the discoveries were made they have been applied to the use of man. It is just a hundred years since Volta discovered how to make continuous electric currents, Within a few years of that discovery their chemical actions were discovered and electric lights produced, both arc and incandescent. Twenty years afterwards the magnetic effect of an electric current was discovered by Cérsted, its mathe- matical theory evolved by Ampére, and the law of its intensity worked out by Ohm. Some fifteen years afterwards, Faraday discovered how to produce electric currents by magnetism. Im- mediately after the discovery of the principle of the conservation of energy it was applied to electro-magnetism, and the founda- tion of our whole system of electro-magnetic measurement was laid. Faraday’s belief in the correlation of electricity and light, following lines suggested by Lord Kelvin, was forged into a con- sistent theory by Clerk Maxwell, and this theory confirmed ex- perimentally by Hertz. Such, in brief, is the scientific history of electro-magnetism during the expiring century, and on this science practically all the applications of electricity depend. I may pause for an instant to consider where this theory now lands us. The all-pervading ether has been realised as the means of transmitting light, electricity and magnetism, and we are looking forward to its properties explaining chemical actions and gravitation. We are still looking for a theory of its struc- ture which will give a dynamical explanation of its properties. We know how to express these properties by quantities we call electric and magnetic force, whose laws we know, but whose laws we are, as yet, unable to explain by any structure working on dynamical principles. So far as we know, the properties or electric and magnetic force are explicable upon dynamical prin- ciples ; so far there is no known necessity for seeking for adynami- cal properties in the ether; so far we may hope to explain electro-magnetism upon the dynamical principles of Newton’s laws without invoking any other principles than those of force and inertia, as expounded in these laws. Until, however, a satisfactory theory of the nature of the ether has been actually - invented, there will remain some doubt as to the adequacy of these fundamental dynamical laws to explain all its properties. The direction in which it is most probable that an explanation will be found is in the hypothesis that the ether is of the nature of a perfect liquid full of the most energetic motion. We know that a gas consists of separate molecules in intensely energetic irregular motion. I expect that the ether is a perfect liquid in intensely energetic irregular motion : much more rapid than that of any gas: with a rapidity of internal motion comparable with the speed of light: maybe with enough energy in each cubic centimetre to keep hundreds of horse-power going for a year, if only we could get at it. So far as this hypothesis has been worked at there seems nothing impossible about it, but, on the contrary, much possibility in it, and, to my mind, its inherent simplicity confers on it a great probability. Be that as it may, we now know that in the electric lighting of our cities, in electric tramways and railways, in electric furnaces and electrolytic vats, and in the other innumerable applications of electricity, we are harnessing the all-pervading ether to the chariot of human progress, and using the thunder- bolt of Jove to advance the material welfare of mankind. Having thus shortly considered the progress of electrical science, the history of the applications of electricity may be thus summarised. Shortly after CErsted discovered the magnetic effect of an electric current this discovery was applied to telegraphy, and Faraday’s discovery of how to generate electric currents by magnetism was almost immediately applied to the same use. Telegraphy developed rapidly, and many subsequent discoveries were due to the observations made in the practical application of electricity to telegraphy. This has been develop- ing ever since, accumulating knowledge and applying the accumulations to produce more knowledge and more applica- tions, till all this has resulted in the perfection of the multiplex telegraph and the wonders of the telephone and wireless telegraphy. No other department of applied electricity has had such a continuous development, hardly any interval elapsing between discovery and application in its case, while in almost 44 NATURE [May 10, 1900 every other case years have elapsed between discoveries and their application. It is especially the object of this address to call attention to the cause of this and to the lessons to be learnt from it. Within the first decade of the century, electrolysis and the electric light were discovered ; but, except ona small scale in electro-plating, it was reserved for the last quarter of the century to see their application to the general use of. mankind. Before her Majesty began to reign, Faraday had discovered how to generate electric currents by magnetic actions ; but, except to generate currents to light a couple of lighthouses, no applica- tions of Faraday’s discovery to generate electric currents on a large scale was made till Wilde, Gramme and. Siemens worked at it, more than thirty years after its discovery. The applica- tion of electric currents to transmit power on a small scale was made in the electric telegraph years before any applications were made on a large scale. Except for a few experiments by Jacobi and others, the transmission of power by electric currents on a large scale is the work of the last twenty—one might almost say of the last ten—years. owen Consider now what are the characteristics of the applications which developed continuously, and what were those of the applications which lay dormant for years. Maybe we can learn from this consideration how to arrange that, in the future, our discoveries may not lie for years dormant. The most noticeable difference between the applications of electricity that developed and those that lay dormant is that those that developed were useful on a small scale, while those that lay dormant were nut useful until developed on a large scale. Electro-plating and telegraphy were useful on quite a small scale. Experiments as to their efficiency.could be conducted on the laboratory scale with quite cheap apparatus, and thus they were actually developed. A recognised authority, who is fond of poking paradoxical fun at professors, has recently stated that ‘‘ the progress of telegraphy and telephony owes nothing. to the abstract scientific man.” I do not know exactly what -he means by the abstract scientific man, but I do know that telegraphy owes a great deal to Euclid and other pure geometers, to the Greek and Arabian mathematicians who invented our scale of numeration and algebra, to Galileo and Newton who founded dynamics, to Newton and Leibnitz who invented the calculus, to Volta who discovered the galvanic cell, to CErsted who discovered the magnetic action of currents, to Ampére who found out the laws of their action, to Ohm who discovered the law of the resist- ance of wires, to: Wheatstone, to Faraday, to Lord Kelvin, to Clerk Maxwell, to Hertz.. Without the discoveries, inventions and theories of these abstract scientific men, telegraphy as it now is would be impossible. We have seen that electro-plating and telegraphy were capable of development on a small scale, and were consequently largely developed by laboratory research. The development.of dynamos from Faraday’s discovery required expensive experiments, and to test their efficiency on a large scale required very expensive experiments indeed. It was not possible to conduct experiments that would be of much practical use on the small scale on which laboratory experiments have to be conducted, on account of the miserable pittance that is at the command of scientific laboratories. The only opportunity of conducting experiments on .a large scale is when an inventor can: control capital, as, for example, if he himself is in the position of anyengineer to some wealthy body whose money he can employ on experiments. Jacobi and others spent a good deal of money, no doubt, on experiments in power distribution by electro-magnetic engines, but their expenditure, though quite considerable as compared with the usual run of laboratory experiments, was as nothing compared with the enormous sums spent by the pioneers of modern electro- magnetic machinery on ¢hez7 experiments. What we have found, then, is that development depended on whether or no people experimented energetically upon how to render each discovery of practical utility ; where experimenting was energetic, development was rapid ; where experimenting was not energetic, development was slow. We have further found that the energy of experimenting depended on the money available ; where little money was required, development was rapid ; but it was slow where large sums of money were required in order to perform valuable experiments. ; We may further inquire how it happened that. money and time became available for costly experiments. Money 1s available for laboratory experiments by the beneficence of private and NO. 1593, VOL. 62] public endowment, and time is available by the devotion of These — have been available because some few men have had faith in the — desirability of knowledge both for its own sake and for the ~ material and moral advantage of mankind. Money has been available in England on a large scale in the past because of the ~ enthusiastic faith of some very few men in the possibilities o. — scientific men to the advancement of natural knowledge. scientific discoveries. One of the most remarkable instances of this faith was in the case of the great experiment of laying the Atlantic cable. A few men with strong faith impressed their belief on a few capitalists, and after years of most expensive experimental work they at last brought their great undertaking to a successful issue ; the general body of capitalists meanwhile looking on with amused incredulity. The development of the dynamo depended similarly upon the strong faith of individuals, who spent immense sums of money and much time and energy on the subject because they had faith in its possibilities. of the developments of scientific discoveries of the latter years of the century have been due to foreigners or firms with foreign leaders, such as Siemens Brothers. This has been largely us it system—of weights and measures. It is with great hopeful- ness that I see public opinion gradually growing in favour of the metric system. re 3 How does it happen that one of the foremost countries in advancing science has been one of the last to appreciate the possibilities of applied science? This has been due partly, no doubt, toour great success as manufacturers and as mere mechanical inventors. No doubt Watt was a truly scientific inventor, and even mere mechanical inventors are appliers of scientific know- — ledge that was discovered, in the most part, by scientific men centuries ago ; but most of our success as manufacturers has been due to mechanical inventions and to our well-trained and expert artisans, and not to the useful application of recent scientific — discoveries. This great success, and the absence of scientific training in our schools, and the want of contact between manu- facturing and scientific society, have all contributed to prevent a due appreciation of the value of scientific discovery and experi- “ment as a means of advancing the material wealth of society. . When can we expect the country or generous benefactors to learn that science on a large scale is at the basis of the material prosperity of the country, and that science ona large scale is very expensive. Of what use is 200/, a year in making experiments on a commercial scale? Ten thousand pounds a year would be more like the figure required ; and 10,000/. a year could be most profitably spent on experimental work here in Ireland, on the one subject of utilising our bogs. It is most probable that the energy of their combustion could be transmitted to our towns to provide them with light and power ; but the preliminary experi- ments are jar beyond the capabilities of a scientific laboratory. Then there are the questions of three-wite tramways, leaky telegraph lines, submarine relays, sun engines, of flying machines which Lord Rayleigh considers can be constructed if money enough were forthcoming, and of vacuum tubes as a means of illumination, and of numberless other matters already ripe for application, to say nothing of the innumerable scientific dis- coveries that have not yet been even suggested as having practical applications. aa Besides these industrial laboratories, all our Government departments, such as the army and navy, should have large experimental organisations where any invention that promised success would be developed and seriously tried. The decision of what to try should not be left to mere officials, however dis- tinguished, but should be referred to independent scientific’ advisers—persons who were not tranimelled by official traditions, but were in touch with scientific advance and enthusiastic -— believers in it. If the country spent a couple of millions per annum on. experimental: work of this kind it would bear much ~ It is remarkable how many 4 iis ante May 10, 1900] NATURE 45 vere y fruit, and we should not find ourselves out-shot by semi-barbarous 3 ers, - : _ Hope is the great incentive to exertion. Without it a nation _isdead. Without it we lose all belief in the possibility of im- ‘provement, and improvement: at once hecomes impossible. The history of electrical engineering. the utilisation of the all-pervading _ ether for the service of man, should strenghen our hope and our belief in the possibility-of improvement. For has it not re- _ volutionised society and enabled high and low, ‘rich and poor, to ~ lead better lives, by inakiog life less hard and grimy, and thus _ improved the well-being of man both materially and, what is far more important, morally as well ? VERSITV AND EDUCATIONAL INTELLIGENCE. following are the principal lectures announced . Clifton, practical physics: Mr. Baynes, tity and magnetism; Mr. Jervis-Smith, or machinery, with electrical testing; Prof. compounds; Dr. Fisher, metals and organic Wath organic chemistry ; Mr. Marsh, practice mistry; Mr. Hartridge, aromatic compounds ; rcourt, subjects of the preliminary examination ; _ the elements treated in the periodic order; 2 odic system, Groups vii. and viii.; great and their work; Mr. Walden, synthetical methods chemistry; Mr. Wilderman, equilibrium and physical and chemical reactions in heterogeneous rot, Miers, the new theories of crystal structure ; nan, the crystallography of optically active substances ; morphology; mam- r Prof. Gotch, the central nervous " Gotch and Mr. Ramsden, advanced course gy; Mr. Mann, advanced histology of | nervous Burch, physiological physics ; Mr. Mann, practical f. Vines, elementary . course of botany; Prof. es of civilisation (arts of subsistence and_pro- Burdon Sanderson, general pathology; Dr. ogical bacteriology ; Dr. Collier, medical diag- onds, fractures and dislocations ; Prof. Thom- and respiratory systems; Mr. Smith Jerome, 1armacolc pee -soateria pees Prof, Esson, the geometry of conics; Prof. Love, hydrostatics and ¢ Sire Elliot, the theory of cl an tchett Jackson, science tutor of Keble Col- has been elected to the post of Radcliffe’s librarian, The new Radéliffe Library, erected for the Uni- y by the Drapers’ Company, is ineanwhile approaching n, a eo tp peers ee ce) ps in natural science are announced by the following olleges ferton and New, July 3; Balliol, Christ Church and nity, December 4; Magdalen, December 11. | lecided that diplomas in geography shall be # versity ; the details of the scheme have yet he before Congregation and Convocation. ‘ /AMBRIDGE.—Honorary degrees are to be conferred on the Edmund Barton, delegate from New South Wales in con- n with the Australian Commonwealth Bill, and on H.M. King of Sweden and Norway. ‘are vacancies at the University Tables in the Zoological ns of Naples and Plymouth. Applicants should write to Prof. Newton before May 24. _. it is. proposed to affiliate the University of Tasmania. ; nelors: of Arts and Bachelors of Science of that University residence. _ The Financial Board estimate that, owing to the loss of fees, c,, consequent on the absence of many members of the Uni- ‘Yersity in South Africa, the income of the Chest will next year short of the necessary expenditure by 650/. nteen additional freshmen were matriculated on May 5. NO. 1593, VOL. 62] Eee pemeration: of Sir Henry Acland, has entered on > be entitled to proceed to Cambridge degrees after | Mr. Thomas Andrews, F.R.S., has presented to the Chemical Laboratory a valuable echelon spectroscope, for which the special thanks of the University have been ordered. Dr. TUNNICLIFFE has been appointed to the chair of materia medica and pharmacology in King’s College, London. Dr. JoHN WYLLIE has been elected ‘to succeed the’ late Sir Thomas Grainger Stewart in the chair of medicine in the Uni- versity of Edinburgh. IN order to enable Essex dairy-farmers, and ladies engaged in dairy-work, to gain an insight into the organisation and practice of the agricultural industries of Denmark, the Essex Technical Institution Committee have made arrangements for a party to visit that country. Visits will be made to a number of schools and other institutions, farms, and manufactories concerned with dairying, and a valuable insight will be obtained into Danish methods. Full particulars of the programme can be obtained from Mr. T. S. Dymond, County Technical Laboratories, Chelmsford. _ THE growth of municipal technical schools in England during the ten years which followed the passing of the Technical Insti- tution Act, 1889, formed the subject of an inquiry made by the National Association, for the Promotion of Technical and Secondary Education a short time ago. The results showed that a-capital sum of 2,340,651/ had been spent on technical schools, and that there were 239 such schools (including agri- cultural and dairy, schools and domestic science schools) in existence or in course of establishment. Since the conclusion of the inquiry, technical schools had been erected, or it had been, decided .to erect, them, in several other towns, and the latest report shows that the total amount incurred for 272 schools. under municipal.and public bodies is now at least 2,643,172/. THE progress of science and education in the United States. is largely due to the interest taken in the-work of colleges andi universities by private benefactors. Scarcely a week passes without affording instances of generous gifts to institutions of this. kind, by persons who desire to promote the development of national character and industries. As an example of. this. public spirit, we have' the. case of Dr. D. K. Pearson, of © Chicago, who, on: attaining his eightieth birthday recently, de- cided to add 525,000 dollars to the 2,000,000 dollars’ he ‘had previously given to colleges, Then we have the announcement . in Science:that Mr. Andrew Carnegie has promised the trustees . of the Carnegie Institute, Pittsburg, Pa., to become responsible for 3,000,000 dollars, the amou.it estimated as necessary for the - proposed extension and enlargement of the building at the entrance of.Schenley Park. The new building will be nearly six times as largeas the present one. We-should be glad to be - able to record many similar gifts to institutions devoted to scence and education in this country. OnE of the good effects of the technical education movement during the past ‘ten years is that many secondary schools, such. as grammar and endowed schools, which formerly excluded science from their curricula, have had to adapt themselves to - modern requirements as a condition of receiving assistance from. technical- education ‘authorities. The annual report of the- National Association for the promotion of Technical and Second- ary Education refers'to an inquiry undertaken to determine the- extent of the changes. which have been brought about in this~ way, both by the establishment of new secondary schools and by the adaptation of existing secondary schools for the purposes of technical education. The facts revealed by the inquiry go to show that in England alone, since 1889, 81 new public secondary schools have been established, while 215 existing schools have been extended mainly for the purposes of science teaching. As regards the schools in the latter category, the extensions to 195 of them have resulted in the addition of 251 physical and chemi- cal laboratories, 77. workshops for manual ‘training, 76 lecture- rooms, and 50 class-rooms. The total sum of money involved by these developments is 764,449. By their capital grants to secondary schools, County Councils have-exerted a direct in- fluence in the reorganisation, and have secured a voice in the management and control of the schools. By the Councils’ annual maintenance grants, the work of reorganisation has been gradually consolidated, and the permanence of proper manage- ment and control has become assured, _ It is not surprising, there- fore, that the latter, as a continuous source of income to secondary schools, have been increasing in number and in value during recent years. 46 NATURE [May 10, 1900 SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. LONDON. Royal Society, February 1.—‘‘ Researches on Modern Explosives ; Second Communication.” By W. Macnab, F.I.C., and E. Ristori, Assoc. M.Inst.C.E., F.R.A.S. Communicated by Prof. Ramsay, F.R.S. The object of the experiments was to endeavour to find a means of determining more accurately than has hitherto been done the temperature reached when an explosive is fired in a closed vessel. A modification of the method developed by Sir W. C. Roberts-Austen was employed. A thin platinum wire was melted by the heat of the explosion, but a thick wire was un- altered. This showed that the temperature reached was above the melting point of platinum, and also that the duration of the maximum temperature was very short. From this it was argued that if rhodium-platinum couples of different diameters, sufficiently thick not to be melted during explosion, were used in a bomb, the deflections of the galvanometer indicated would’ vary inversely with the sizes of the wires forming the couples ; that in this way data might be obtained from which might be calculated the deflection of an infinitely thin couple, which could be capable of taking up the heat in an infinitely short time, and that this deflection expressed in degrees would repre- sent the actual temperature reached. Couples formed of wires of pure platinum and platinum alloyed with 1o per cent. of rhodium, varying in diameter from o°OI to 0°044 of an inch, were employed. Each couple was successively fixed inside the bomb, and on firing the explosive the deflection of a spot of light reflected from the mirror galvanometer was photographically recorded. These records show the uniformity of the results, and also the time occupied in heating each couple to its maximum, and that the deflections are in inverse order to the thickness of the couple used. Two series of experiments made with two different explosives —ballistite (composed of 30 per cent. nitroglycerine and 70 per cent, gun-cotton) and gelatinised gun-cotton—were carried out with a number of different couples, and the results expressed as curves show the gradual rise of the deflections as the thickness of the couple diminishes ; but all through the gun-cotton curve is below the ballistite curve, thus indicating that the temperature reached during explosion of the gun-cotton is lower than that of the ballistite. Experiments made with the following explosives showed that the relative temperature can be easily ascertained. Gun-cotton gave the lowest temperature, and in order came cordite, ballis- tite (composed of 70 per cent. soluble nitro-cotton and 30 per cent. nitroglycerine) and ballistite (composed of 50 per cent. soluble nitro-cotton and 50 per cent. nitroglycerine). : Another series of experiments is in progress for determining the other necessary elements which will be required before the value of these deflections of the galvanometer can be accurately expressed in degrees of temperature. April 5.—‘‘ Uber Reihen auf der Convergenzgrenze.” Emanuel Lasker, Dr. philos. Communicated by MacMahon, F.R.S. Linnean Society, April 19.—Dr. A. Giinther, F R.S., Presi- dent, in the chair.—On behalf of the Hon. Charles Ellis, the President exhibited photographs of a large tree, 7axodium distichum, growing at Oaxaca in Mexico, and of another gigantic tree, a native of Cambodia. The circumference of the former, at a height of 3 feet from the ground, was stated to be 143 feet, while the height was estimated to be not more than 100 feet. The native name for this tree is Sadévo. Mr. Daydon Jackson read an account of it, quoting from Loudon’s Mag. Wat. fiist. vol. iv. (1831), p. 30, and Humboldt’s ‘‘ Views of Nature,” p. 274. The second gigantic tree, which could not be satisfactorily determined from the photograph, had been ob- served growing on the Makong River, near the celebrated ruins of the great city of Angkorwat in Cambodia.—Messrs. W. B. Hemsley and H. H. W. Pearson read a paper on some collec- tions of high-level plants from Tibet and the Andes. Mr. Hemsley first gave a brief history of the botanical exploration of Tibet, followed by an account of the unpublished collections presented to Kew by Captain Wellby and Lieut. Malcolm, by Captain Deasy and Mr. Arnold Pike, and by Dr. Sven Hedin. These collections were all made. at great altitudes in Central and Northern Tibet ; few of them below 15,000 feet, NO. 1593, VOL. 62] Von Major and some of them at 19,000 feet and upwards. The highest point at which flowering plants had been found was 19,200 feet above the level of the sea. Hendersoni, Arenaria Stracheyi, Saxifraga parva, Sedum Stracheyt, Saussurea bracteata, Gentiana tenella, G. aquatica, an unnamed species of Astraga/us, and an unnamed species of Oxytropis. These are the greatest altitudes on record for flowering plants. Deep-rooting perennial herbs having a rosette of leaves close to the ground, with the flowers closely nestled in the centre, are characteristic of these altitudes. The predominating natural orders are :—Composite, Leguminosee, Cruciferee, Ranunculacee and Graminez. The Composite largely predominate, and the genus Saussurea is represented by numerous species. Specimens of about a dozen species were shown to illustrate the great diversity exhibited by this genus in foliage and inflorescence. Liiliaceze and the allied orders were very sparingly represented. Two or three species of onion occur; one of them, A//ium Semenovit, in great abundance up to 17,000 feet. None of the collections contained any species of orchid.—Mr. H. H. W. Pearson described the Andine flora, with special reference to Sir Martin Conway’s small col- lection of plants brought from Illimani in the Bolivian Andes in 1898. In consequence of the labours of d’Orbigny, Pentland, Meyen, Weddell, Mandon and other botanists, the high-level flora of the mountains of Bolivia is better known than that of any other equally elevated region of the Andes. Weddell’s collections form the nucleus of ‘the materials from which the ** Chloris Andina ”—the classic work on the flora of the High Andes—was prepared. Many collectors have obtained plants, in various parts of the Andes at elevations stated to be greater — than 17,000 feet. Colonel Hall states that he saw four plants on Chimborazo in 1831 at ‘‘ nearly 18,000 feet.” These were two species of Draba, one of which was D. aretoides, H. BE, and two Composites, one being a Czlcitium. Mr. Whymper and others have thrown sqme doubt upon the determination of this elevation, and it is probable that it was over-estimated. Out of forty-six species of flowering plants obtained by Sir Martin - Conway, seven are from 18,000 feet or above it, two being as high as 18,700 feet. These, the highest Andine plants on record, are Malvastrum flabellatum, Wedd., and Deyeuxta Thirty-nine species in this collection were The species, with one exception, are confined to the Andes, eight or nine them not being found outside Bolivia. In: the colle by Mr. Fitzgerald’s expedition in the Aconcagua valleys be- tween 8000 and 14,000 feet, ten genera (z.e. one quarter of the ‘whole) are endemic in South America. The contrast between this and the small endemic element in the Conway collection from above 14,000 feet gives additional support to the generalisa- tion that the fiora of high levels is more cosmopolitan than that of low levels. —A paper was read by Mr. E. S. Salmon on some mosses from China and Japan, MANCHESTER. Literary and Philosophical Society, April 24.—Prof. Horace Lamb, F.R.S., President, in the chair.—The following Prof. James Dewar, F.R.S., London; Prof. J. A. seaing, F.R.S., Edinburgh; librarian, Mr. W. E. Hoyle. PARIS. Academy of Sciences, April 3c.—M. Maurice Lévy in the chair.—On the telescopic planets, by M. C. de Freycinet. The ideas of Laplace upon the distribution of the telescopic ~ planets in concentric spherical layers round the sun are developed analytically and confirmed. If the asteroids are divided into The plants recorded by Deasy and - 4 Pike at altitudes of 19,000 feet and upwards are :—Corydalis ) ye > nee eS May 10, 1900] NATURE 47 ce groups according to their inclination, the mean distance the lanets of these groups from the sun is sensibly constant. Dd Gecearcl.” of aluminium for the radium radiation, by ee egerel. A study of the penetration of thin alu- “3 m sheet by the radium rays, the latter being placed in a x magnetic field and the effects of the deviable and non- able rays pring studied separately.—Study of manganous ase, by MM. Henri Moissan and Venturi. Pure anhydrous s fluoride, MnF,, was obtained in four ways: by the 1 of eacintion of hydrofluoric acid upon metallic manganese, by rae interaction nS a aeeerarceen fluoride and the metal, b heating osilicate in a current of HF at 1000", ese carbonate in the acid. The MnF, could not be prepared from aqueous solution, of the. at, stems and roots of Cordaites, by M. The view is put forward that Cordactes, like other fossil plants dealt with in previous papers, x in the place where they are found, many ligneous as growing only on dry land flourish- Fae eon portions constantly, submerged in was nominated a Foreign Associate in the : late Sir Edward Frankland.—On a relation between of ee, gronpe and the differential equations critical points, by M. Paul Painlevé.—On the _ introduced by M. Appell into the equa- mics, by M. A. de Saint Germain.—An im 1d simplified solar ieporcope, by M. A, Deschamps. — icroscope, by M. A. Deschamps.—On an experiment y M. P. Villard, In an experiment described é a charged glass rod was brought near a tube ‘oil, in which kathode rays were being developed, . As these results were not in agree- n with the usual hypotheses concerning the kathode, an at- - was made to repeat the experiments, but no deviation of So the eee Srertion to that predicted by the theory —On the radium radiation, by M. P. Villard. ‘he ray pa Sereble in a magnetic field have much greater er than the deviable rays. The ordinary X-rays Crookes Syabe behave similarly. —Luminescence of rare- “ox a metallic wire communicating with one of the ae Manesco coil, by M. J. Borgman.—On the and viscosity of dielectrics, by M. F. Beaulard. he rematis the experiments given, the author that dielectrics do not present the phenomenon sis, but are only endowed with viscosity.—On _ by M. Eug. Demarcay. The properties of the isolated by the method of double magnesium ss previously described are so well defined that it would x to be a simple substance analogous to other elements a mixture. The pale yellow colour of the oxide is y not due to any impurity. The atomic weight, as d by the sulphate method, is about 147°5.—On the ation of sulphur dioxide with metallic iodides, by M. E. _ Potassium iodide, either in solution or in the solid rapidly absorbs sulphur dioxide, the compound KI.SO, formed. This compound is easily dissociated into its ; its dissociation pressure at 0° being 60 cm. of at 30°, 238 cm. Other iodides form similar com- nds.—On the =e emitted by the Mont Dore springs, by F. Parmentier and A. Hurion. The gas is carbon dioxide ning 0°49 per cent. of sprogen and ‘ol per cent. of argon. mination with aluminium bromide, by M. Ch. Pouret. fic Cc ed compounds, heated to their boiling . some time with aluminium bromide, give d vie of the corresponding bromine. derivatives. The ation of bromoform, methylene bromide, methy] bromide, yl bromide, pentabromethane, ethylene, ethylidene and acetyl- romides is described in detail.—The action of monochlor- > esters ra n the sodium derivative of peereemcnt B e compounds (Cie CO),.CH,CH © OG, CO),.CH.C CH,.CO. OCH, are dedtid s and also roducts of the reaction between these bodies and phenyl- ine.—Action of ethylidene chloride upon phenols in © of potash, by MM. R. Fosseand J. Ettlinger.—On the ‘NO. 1593, VOL. 62] ent: ST a A presence of tyrosine in the water of contaminated wells, by M. H. Causse. The water from contaminated wells at Lyons gave an orange coloration with the chloromercurate of sodium para- diazobenzenesulphonate which proved not to be due to cystine. Tyrosine was then extracted and identified by analysis. —On some changes which occur in plants grown in the dark, by M. G. André. A set of comparative analyses of maize and lupin plants grown in sunlight and in the dark.—Studies in develop- ment of Petromyzon Planert, by M. E, Bataillon.—Modifications in structure observed in cells undergoing a true fermentation, by MM.L. Matruchot and M. Molliard. The fermentation of the fruit of Cucurbita maxima was carried out under conditions excluding the possibility of intervention of any foreign organisms. Every cell in a state of true fermentation shows a very clear nucleus, a small amount of chromatine arranged on the periphery of the nucleus, a protoplasm full of vacuoles, and numerous minute drops of essential oil formed in the protoplasm.—Botanical zones in French Western Africa, by M. A. Chevalier.—On the granites and. syenites of Madagascar, by M. A. Lacroix.—On the Gothlandian of the Peninsula of Crozon (Finisterre), by M. F. Kerforne.—Influence of temperature on the fatigue of the motor nerves of the frog, by M. J. Carvallo. Temperature has a considerable influence upon | the activity of motor nerves, the excitability increasing up to 20° C.—The functions of the crystal- line tube of the Acephala, by M. Henri Coupin. The function of this tube appears to be digestive, a storehouse of diastases.— Topography of the mouth as regards sensitiveness of taste, by M Ed, Toulouse and N. Vaschide. AMSTERDAM. Royal Academy of Sciences, March 31.—Prof. H. G. van de Sande Bakhuyzen in the chair.—On orthogonal comitants, by Prof. Jan de Vries.—On indigo fermentation, by Prof. Beyer- inck.. Indigo fermentation is the decomposition of the glucoside indican into indoxyl and glucose by the action of acell. This is effected in two ways: first, by katabolism, z.e. by the direct action of the living protoplasm on the indican; secondly, by specific enzymes. All the indican splitting bacteria examined act by katabolism, and. are quite inactive when dead. The indican plants and some kinds of yeast contain indigo enzymes, and so are still active when dead. The indigo enzymes of Indigo leptostachya, Polygonum tinctorium, Phajus grandifiorus, Saccharomyces sphaericus, and the emulsion of sweet almonds, which also acts feebly on indican, proved to be quite different enzymes with optima of activity at 61°, 42°, 53°, 44° and 55° C. respectively. The action of all of them is increased by acid to the amount of 0°5 c.c. normal per 100 c.c. of indican solution ; more acid as well as alkali decrease their activity. In indigofera there is no katabolism, whilst in Polygonum there is a slight katabolism at low, in Phajus a very strong katabolism at high, temperatures. Hence the last two decompose indican in both ways at once, while indigofera does so by enzyme action only. In the leaves of Phajus indican is localised in’ the protoplasm both of the cells of the epidermis and of the mesophyll ; the indigo enzyme occurs in the chlorophyll granules.—Prof. Hoogewerff presented on behalf of Mr. J. Hazewinkel, sani of the ‘‘experimenting station” for indigo at Klaten (Java), a paper, entitled ‘‘Indican, its splitting up, and the enzyme which brings this about.” This paper contains the results of inquiries, made’ in 1898, which for technical reasons were not intended for publication. Beyerinck’s publication makes further withholding useless. Mr. Hazewinkel observed that when all enzyme actions are excluded, an aqueous solution might be obtained from leaves of Indigofera leptostachya, which solution by the action of enzymes and subsequent oxidation yielded indigo. The glucoside-indican found in this solution appeared to be a fairly stable substance (also at boiling heat and when acted upon by alkalis), provided it was not exposed to the action of enzymes (indimulsin, emulsin) and of acids, Mr. Hazewinkel proved in various ways, among others by the formation of indi- zubine (with isatin), that the indigo-forming splitting-product of indican is indoxyl, and inquired into various circumstances in- fluencing the detection of indoxyl in those solutions and the formation of indigo from indoxyl, and also observed that during the so-called fermentation of indigo leaves, no indican, but indoxyl is present in the fermentation fluid.— Prof. Hoogewerff also made a communication on behalf of Mr. H. ter Meulen and himself, entitled ‘* A Contribution to the Knowledge of Indican.” Basing their inquiries upon the above-mentioned inquiries by Mr. Hazewinkel and those made 48 by Prof. Beyerinck, Prof. Hoogewerff and Mr. ter Meulen prepared pure indican from leaves of Polygonum tinctorium, cultivated by Prof. Beyerinck,, and from indican solutions received from Mr. Hazewinkel. Indican crystallises out of an aqueous solution with 3 mol. H,O, probably in rhombic crystals, melting at 51° temperature with the formation of violet vapours ; it tastes bitter and is optically active, exerting a left-handed rotation. Over sulphuric acid zz vacuo it loses its water of crystallisation ; its melting point is then 100°-102°. It dissolves pretty readily i in water, methyl alcohol, ethyl alcohol and acetone, and very slowly in benzole, carbos disulphide, ether or chloroform. It is represented by the formula C,,H,,NO,, corresponding to the formula. proposed by Marchlewski. The result obtained was 56°7 per cent. C, 5°8 per cent. H, 4°7 percent. N ; the molecular weight was determined cryoscopically. On ‘decomposition with HCl and oxidation with air, indican yielded indirubinous in- digotine. No difference was observed between indican out of Z7- digofera leaves and that obtained from Polygonum leaves. Further investigations were promised.—The following papers were also presented-for publication in the /voceedings : On a special case of Monge’s differential equation, by Prof. W. Kapteyn. — On the locus of the centres of hyperspherical curvature for the normal curves of #-dimensional hyperspace, by Prof. Schoute.— On the power of resistance of the red-blood corpuscles, by Mr. Hamburger. —(1) On behalf of Mr. J. D. van der Waals, junr., @ paper on equations, containing functions for different values of ‘the independent constant ; (2) on behalf of Dr. J. Verschaffelt, ‘a paper on the critical isotherm and the densities of saturated ‘vapour and liquid in the case of isopentane and carbonic acid, ‘by Prof. van der Waals.—On the 14-monthly period of the “motion of the earth’s pole, with determinations of the azimuth of ‘the meridional signs of the Leyden Observatory in the years 1882-1896, by Prof. H. G. van de Sande Bakhuyzen, on behalf -of Mr. J. Weeder.—Prof. Hoffman presented for publication in the Transactions a paper, entitled ‘* Zur Entwicklungsgeschichte «ler Sympathicus.” DIARY OF SOCIETIES. THURSDAY, May to. *{Rovat Society, at 4.30.—On the Diffusion of Gold in Solid Lead at the Ordinary Temperature : Sir W. Roberts-Austen, F.R.S.—On Certain Properties of the Alloys of Gold and Copper: Sir W. Roberts-Austen, F. ., and Dr.‘T. K. Rose.—Experiments on the Value of Organic Sensation as Contributory to Emotion: Prof. Sherrington, F.R.S.—On the Brightness of the Corona of April 16, 1893. Preliminary Note: Prof. bg F.R.S.—The Radio- Activity of Uranium’: Sir’ W. Crookes, ‘RoyvaL LNSTITUTION, at 3. —A Century of Chemistry in the Royal Insti- tution: Prof. ewar, F.R.S. > MATHEMATICAL “Society, at 5.30.—Special Meeting.— The Differential Equation whose solution is the Ratio of Two Solutions of a Linear Dif- ° Fry.—A Congruence Theorem relating to Dr. Glaisher, F.R.S.—Linear 5D es Oia on ferential Equarion: Eulerian Numbers and other Coefficients : Substitutions Commutative with a given’ Substitution: Dickson. ‘INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 8. ul Frictionless Motor eter: S. Evershed. RON AND STEEL INSTITUTE, at r0.30.—Ingots for Gun Tubes and Pro- peller Shafts : Fs JR: Carrulla.—The Manufacture and Application of Water-Gas: Carl Dellwik.—The po meh ZA of the Temperature of Hot Blast : Lawrence Gjers and Joseph H. Harrison.—The Manganese “Ores of Brazil: H. Kilburn Scott.—The Utilisation of Blast-furnace -Slag : Ritter Cecil von Schwarz (Liége). FRIDAY, May 11. Rovat ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, at’ 8. ae i the Alleged Rotation of the Spiral Nebula M 5: Canum Venat: H. Turner.—Observations of Minor Planets at Windsor, New, onth Wales: John Tebbutt.—The Duration of the Greater Sun-spot Disturbances for the Years 1881 to - 1899: Rev. A. L. Cortie.—Note on Measures by Prof. Barnard of Two Standard Points on the’Moon’s Surface: S: A. Saunder.—Micrometrical Measures of Double Stars: W. Coleman.—Diagrams for Planning Photo- graphic Observations of Eros: A. R. Hinks. PHYSICAL SOCIETY, at 5.—Discussion of Prof Lodge’s Paper on the Se heb concerning Volta’s Contact Force.—The Heat of Formation of Alloys: Mr. J. B. Tayler.—On the Want of Uniformity in the Action of Copper- Tine Alloys on Nitric Acid: Dr. Gladstone, F.R S.—An Electromagnetic Experiment, and Exper illustrating the Aberra- tion called Coma: Prof. S. P. Thompson, F.R.S MALACOLOGICAL SociETY, at 8.—On a New Species of Despoena, Newton (Proserpina, Gray): with Notes on some Allied Forms: E.R. Sykes.— On some New Mollusca from the Philippines : G. B. Sowerby.—On some Lamellibranch Remains occurring in a Sandstone from the Malay Peninsula: R. Bullen Newton. 3 SATURDAY, May 12. Royat InsTITUTION, at 3.—South Africa : Past and Future: P. Hillier. NO. 1593. VOL. 62] De, Alfced and decomposing, when heated, to a higher’ NATURE ENtay 10, ‘ MONDAY, May 14. SocirtTy oF Arts, at 8. —The Incandescent Gas Mantle and its Use: Prof. Vivian B. Lewes. RovaL- GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY, at 8.30.—Nature and Man in British New Guinea: Prof. A. Haddon, F.R.S. TUESDAY, May 1s. Rovat INsTITUTION, at 3.—Brain Tissue considered as the Bein ie = ‘ j Thought: Dr. Alex Hill. ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE, at 8.30. Roya STaTISTICAL SociETy, at 5.—Municipal Finance sis Municipal Enterprise : Sir H. H. Fowler. WEDNESDAY, May 16. 5 Society oF ARTs, at 8.—A National Repository for Science and Art: Prof. Flinders Petrie. RovaL METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY, at 4.30.—The Wiltshire Whirlwind of October ‘t, 1899: the lateG J. Symons, F.R.S:—The Variations of the Climate of the Geological and Historical Past and their Causes: Dr Nils Ekholm. Rovat Microscopicat Society, at 7.30.—Exhibition of Microscopic Pond Life. —— At 8.—On the Lag in Microscopic Vision : E. M. Nelson. THURSDAY, May 17. ge ; RoyAL SOCIETY, at 4.30. Roya InsTITUTION, at 3.—A Canny, of Chemistry at the ‘Ried a tution : ‘Prof. J. Dewar, F. ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY, at 4.30. ay Freshwater Fishes of Africa: G. A. Boulenger, F.R.S. SociETY OF ARTS (ieidian Section), at 4. 30.—The Industrial Development of India: J. A. Baines. INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 8. —Alearee: Sent Induction Motors: A. C. Eborall. Cuemicat Society, at 8.—Chlorine Derivatives of Pyridine. VI. The Orientation of some Aminochloropyridines: W. J. Sell: and F Dootson. : ae FRIDAY, May 18. Roya INSTITUTION, at 9.—The Structure of Metals: Pret J. A. Ewing, + F EPIDEMIOLOGICAL SOCIETY, at 8,30. SATURDAY, tie 19. Roya INSTITUTION, at 3.—South Africa: Past and Fukiae Dr. Alfred Hillier. _, CONTENTS. -..« .PAGE Mechanism, Idea, or—Nature? By H. W. B. - 25 The Evolution of European Peoples. By Prof. A. c Haddon, F.R.S. \27, A Revision of Certain Cell Problems. By Prof. J. B. Farmer... 0.0. 2 0 Modern Power Looms | 2.0... = iss eee 29 Our Book Shelf :— : 1 Wallon: ‘‘ Legons d’Optique géométrique a rUsage des Eléves de Matkématiques spéciales.”—E. , 30 Hedley : Mikes re i and Practica ‘i Muscle Testing” . . oa ce Wa ene se gO Atkinson : «« Lessons in Botany ” 30 Barnes: ‘‘ Outlines of Plant oe with special elei- ence to Form and Function” . . 1... ... 30 Letters to the Editor :— Note on some’ Red and Blue -Pigments.—Prof. TED: A Cockerel ss)". y 31 Valve Motions of bod capesner ae Vaes ; Prof. John Perry, F.R.S. . 31 Drunkenness and the Weather.—Dr.’ ‘Edwin ‘a: Wexters. < 31 Some Speculations as to the Part played by Cor- puscles in Physical Phenomena. ‘By Prof. x Sas Thomson, F.R.S. . . Dae ena’ 73 1 Science in Relation to Art and Industry . De RP Notes. ; Ag ie). ee Our Astrdnoinical Column :— He Pads? Sa Comet Giacobini (1900 a) . Bada oe ae WE Colour Screens for Retraniinis Telesespey! A Sosy aor, YB Photometric Revision of Harvard Photometry . “ Loh Fitz Gerald’s ‘‘ Highest Andes.” ete By Edward Whymbpet': 10°". Soe 38 Pottery and Plumbism . Dee «a ae aa Applications of Electrical Science, By Prof, G. F. i Fitzgerald, F.R. Ss. i is) Sauer} University and Educational Intelligence . pea ise ge Societies and Academies .... ye ten eee ain ean dO Diary of Societies . 2 0°. 4.50 3 sce 6%. eee . 48 gang! ee ee ene gs) Ce SB! Ol DS, SS ee ae eee NATURE 49 THURSDAY, MAY 17, I900. BIOLOGY AS AN “ EXACT” SCIENCE. ee Grammar of Science. By Karl Pearson, M.A., _ F.R.S., Professor of Applied Mathematics and Mechanics, University College, London. Second Edi- tion, revised and enlarged, with 33 figures in the text. F. Pp suet 548, ae Adam and Charles Black, % 1900.) HE sciences of life are marked off for practical pur- a s from those concerned with inorganic matter ous differences in the nature of the material with ich they respectively deal. But in addition to dis- ctions of this kind, it has been customary to look upon gy as having a lower claim to the title of an try and physics. This view has been emphasised practice of calling biology a merely “ descriptive” », with a kind of implication that other sciences hat and something more. The distinction, however, best an artificial one, resting mainly on the fact that conditions of life are often so complex, and the data ifficult of access, that the use of those quantitative ods of induction which in other sciences have been ful of important results, so far as biology is concerned to a great extent remained in abeyance. could not be expected that this state of things suld be allowed to continue. “ Every science,” said nley Jevons, “ and-every question in science, is first a oat fact only, then a matter of quantity, and ~ ck mistry and Pei the quantitative methods have long since gained a footing. Physiology tends increas- ingly to become a science of exact measurement, and ‘there i is abundant scope for the exercise of mathematical “power int! the i investigation of its present data. With regard, however, to many problems of what is known as “ general biology,” especially thosé which gather round the central doctrine of evolution, it is no doubt true that until recently easurements have either not been applied at all, or have been used only in the simplest and crudest form. 7 at general biology has now ceased to deserve the ‘reproach of neglecting quantitative methods is largely jue to the labours of Mr. Francis Galton, Prof. Weldon, and Prof. Karl Pearson ; the way towards a greater pre- ion of method having also been in some degree pre- ed by other workers, such as Milne Edwards, J. A. len and A. R. Wallace. the second edition of his well-known “ Grammar of nce,” Prof, Pearson has included two new chapters h contain < a semi- popular account of his recent work B ihe mathematical aspects of evolutionary theory. The ground covered is extensive, comprising quantitative stigations of variation, correlation, selection in its arious forms, heredity and reversion. ‘Those readers ho may be deterred by the length and elaboration of f. Pearson’s papers in the Proceedings and Philosophical actions of the Royal Society will here find a clear unt of the various problems concerned, together with a NO. 1594, VOL. 62) -ceivable.” value tolerably easy explanation of the mathematical processes in- volved in their attempted solution, and a useful summary of the results so far arrived at. The author states his main position as follows :— “What we need in the theory of evolution is quantita- tive measurement following upon precise definition of our fundamental conceptions. Biologists, even as physicists have done, must throw aside merely verbal descriptions, and seek in future quantitative precision for their ideas.” In the same spirit, Prof. Weldon remarked in his Pre- sidential Address to Section D at the Bristol meeting of the British Association: “ Numerical knowledge of this kind is the only ultimate test of the theory of natural selection, or of any other theory of any natural process whatever.” That these dicta are substantially true will hardly be questioned, though it may be objected to Prof. Pearson that he somewhat overstates his case. All con- crete science is in its essence descriptive, and it is not improbable that parts at least of biological study will have to remain indefinitely in the condition of “ merely verbal description.” It would appear, too, that in his eagerness to denounce the putting forward of inadequate hypotheses, the author allows himself to undervalue those rough preliminary generalisations which have frequently formed so useful a step in the completion of a great in- duction. It is possible to attach too much importance to Faraday’s famous saying. If every “suggestive thought” which has eventually turned out to be imper- fect, or even erroneous, had been “crushed in silence” instead of being given to the world, the cause of scientific progress would have suffered. We must often, for prac- tical purposes, be content to proceed by the method of successive approximation. The work of Darwin himselt was only to a limited extent quantitative. Evolutionists of what may perhaps without offence be called the “orthodox” type, will find Prof. Pearson’s attitude towards most controverted points sufficiently correct. Thus, without denying the possibility of a bathmic element in evolution, he does not countenance the “inherent growth-forces” that find favour with Neo- Lamarckians. Demonstration of the inheritance of acquired characters he holds to be still wanting ; tradition, on the other hand, is probably an important factor in what are called the “instincts” of the lower animals. He finds no quantitative evidence for tele- gony, the occurrence of which alleged phenomenon “seems both mechanically and physiologically incon- ‘The reality of natural selection as a factor in evolution is quantitatively demonstrable, and sexual selection is rehabilitated. It would be impossible within the limits of a notice like the present to do justice to the lucidity of Prof. Pearson’s explanations, the ingenuity of his mathematical ‘devices, and the care with which he has avoided possible sources of error in his calculations. Examples may be found in his exposition of the technical terms “ modal ” and “standard deviation” ; in his determination of the coefficient of regression ; and in his discussion of the relative value of selective and non-selective death- rates for organs of different sizes. Among the most valuable of his suggestions are those on the importance of correlation ; on selective mating in its various forms D 50 NATURE '[May 17, 1900 (including autogamy, endogamy, homogamy, preferential mating or “‘sexual selection” in Darwin’s sense, and heterogamy); and on “genetic selection” or the -in- heritance of fertility. The last-named principle promises to be of special weight as a factor in evolution, though the proof of definite correlation of other physical charac- ters with that of fertility must still be considered in- complete. The analysis of natural selection into auto- generic, heterogeneric and inorganic selection (“ intra- selection” being ignored) is useful, and might have been carried still further. A contribution to the theory of evolution so original and stimulating as Prof. Pearson’s must necessarily run the gauntlet of much adverse criticism. This will probably take the form rather of objection to certain points of detail than to the general drift of his method. Certainly some passages and expressions seem capable of amendment. It is, for instance, scarcely allowable to speak of the approach of the coefficient of correlation to unity as “the transition of correlation into causation.” As the author himself elsewhere points out, correlation does not imply causation, though the converse is no doubt true enough. The principle of recognition-marks in their widest sense seems again to deserve more consideration than it receives at his hands. They are requisite to ensure the actual effectiveness of the impulse towards preferential mating. It is worth notice in this con- nection that the author’s view as to the species-forming tendency of differential fertility (which is distinct from “ physiological selection,” as understood by Romanes) is well exemplified by Dr. Jordan’s work on “ mechanical selection.” In speaking of hybridisation with reference to atavism, the “Grammar” does less than justice to observed facts. The evidence afforded by crosses, such as those so carefully investigated by Standfuss at Zirich and by Prof. Cossar Ewart at Penicuik, has a bearing on heredity and atavism which cannot safely be ignored. Prof. Pearson contents himself with saying that in such cases, “from physiological and mechanical reasons, the gametes produce a zygote which does not give an individual blending the ancestry. Here any singularity almost may be expected.” This statement, to say the least, seems wanting in precision. Again, a severe critic might allege that the author is apt to assume theoretical values (as in the case of the re- semblance of first cousins) which have not stood the test of rigid proof. We have not yet learned to like the new term ‘“‘ apole- gamy,” nor such a phrase as “a comparative few zygotes ” (p. 453). The remarkable form of a sentence on p. 461 is probably due to a printer’s error, as also the substitu- tion of DAG for FAG at the bottom of p. 447. These, however, are small matters, and do not detract from the value of the book. We must not be led into a discussion of the earlier chapters, a notice of which appeared in these columns at the time of their original publication. There is, however, one point on which we cannot refrain from joining issue. Prof. Pearson takes biologists to task for the loose way in which they often use such terms as “ matter,” “force” and “motion,” as if no important questions lay behind them. Now it is certain that, in their employment of these “ieee ay biologists have no desire whatever to 0. 1594, VOL. 62] prejudice any philosophical problems. to follow suit. of ordinary language. it, their “figurative” sense, they ought to be defined. Why so? end in view. the “ matter ” Supposing an opponent were to say that would the Professor waste time in making him define his terms? Can we not “beat about the bush” without entering into explanations that would satisfy the school- — master and the botanist? It would seem that here the Professor once more overshoots his mark. It will be convenient to give, in conclusion, a summary of the main contention of these new chapters in the, author’s.own words, as follows :— “It is not absence of explanations, but rather of the quantitative testing of explanations, which hinders the development of the Darwinian theory.” “The problem of the near future is not whether Darwinism is a reality, but what is quantitatively the rate at which it is marking . and has worked.” It is noteworthy to find him adding :— “If that problem should be answered in a way that is ‘ not in accordance with the age of the earth, as fixed by — certain physicists, it by no means follows that it is biology which will have to retrace its steps. When the rate is determined, it will be as exact in its nature as physical When meta-— physicians and physicists are agreed about the definition — of these terms, the biologist will doubtless be quite ready 4 Meanwhile he must be allowed the use~ But Prof. Pearson maintains that — if these words are used in their everyday, or, as he calls No definition is required for the particular of the argument was not “attractive,” and — that there was no “force” in this or that contention, endl sna abe SL appreciations ; and it will be a question of superior logic, _ and not of the superiority of the ‘exact’ over the ‘de- scriptive * sciences which will have to settle any disagree- ment of biology and physics.” the raze of effective change, and when the biologists are in a position to make a definite draft on the bank of time, their credit will be just as substantial as that of the so-called exact sciences.” These last sentences, as coming from a iiabheisuees, and we cannot but admire the are highly significant ; courage that has given them expression. F, A. D; HERTZS MECHANICS. The Principles of Mechanics presented in a New Form. By Heinrich Hertz. (London : Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1899.) REAT expectations were aroused by the publication, in 1894, of a book by Heinrich Hertz, with the title, ‘‘ Die Principien der Mechanik in neuem Zusam- menhange dargestellt.” received theory of dynamics in strictly logical sequence ; .. “It is a question of Authorised English Translation, — by D. E. Jones and J. T. Walley. Pp. xxviii + 276. — Perhaps it would set out the © perhaps it would present a complete theory of energy in- — dependent of the notion of force; perhaps it would bridge the gap between the miblecdiae and mechanical — standpoints. Whether it would do any of these things or not, what Hertz might have to say would certainly be — worthy of attention. Hertz died before the work was printed, and the task of seeing it through the Press was — entrusted to Dr. P. Lenard. He tells us that the author had devoted the last three years of his life to the book, the last two being spent in perfecting its form ; and, al-~ though there are indications that he was not even then — ee eee NATURE =. ‘May 17, 1900] P 0 mpletely satisfied, the work may fairly be regarded as the mature expression of his deliberate thought on the é& 2 book opens with a preface by Helmholtz, followed ar n¢ ine author’s theory is formulated in two books :— _ Book i. ; Geometry and kinematics of material systems ; © Book ii. :. Mechanics of material systems. Helmholtz’s = preface contains an ‘account, which might be called an _ appreciation, of the scientific work of Hertz, and is further _ remarkable for the statement that, while Kelvin, Maxwell and Hertz appear to have derived fuller satisfaction from explanations of physical facts founded on some simple general conception, such as Hertz’s “straightest path,” oo for his part, had felt safer in adhering to the repre- on of physical facts and laws by systems of itial equations. In his own preface the author s us that his object was “to fill up the existing gaps, and to give a complete and definite presentation of the ‘of mechanics which shall be consistent with the of our present knowledge, being neither too re- d nor too extensive in relation to the scope of this ge” ; and that what he hoped was new in his was ‘‘ tbe arrangement and collocation of the whole - logical or philosophical aspect of the matter.” ‘the introduction the author criticises the received of dynamics and the more modern doctrine of tics, and proceeds to explain the character of the neory which he proposes. The novelty consists in “whereas ‘the other two theories started from four m p04 ‘concepts—space, time, mass and force, or —he requires only three—space, time and mass— the: Siasittiasis of concealed masses. In Book i. $ concerning spaces and times are considered, and rehave a generalisation of ordinary kinematics, including of the path and velocity of a material system, TO and straightest paths. By a material System is meant what in the ordinary presentation of dynamics would be called a system of particles with in- ariable connections. Some of the definitions referred simple. The definition of mass might have been omitted with advantage. In Book ii. the author enunciates his aental law ””—that every free system moves in a ightest path. This law may be looked upon as an interpretation of the principle of least action for systems which all the energy is kinetic, or as an extension of uuss’s principle of least constraint. He proceeds to s ow the motions of systems which are not free can be brought under the fundamental law by means of the hypothesis of concealed masses—the visible system is regarded as linked on to another system by invariable subject which the author appears to be preparing. G. B. M. NO. 1594, VOL. 62] OUR BOOK SHELF. Atlas of Urinary Sediments, with special reference to their Clinical Significance. By Dr. Hermann Riedel. Translated by F. C. Moore, M.Sc., M.D. Victoria. Edited and Annotated by Sheridan Delépine,. M.B., C.M. Edinburgh, B.Sc. Pp. viii + 111, and 36 plates. (London : C, Griffin and Co., Ltd., 1899.) THE work before us, as is evident from its title, is an atlas, and will be of interest rather on account of its plates, which are very beautiful, than of its letterpress ; this latter, however, which is situated at the end.of the book, covers more than a hundred pages, and is provided with a bibliography, and an index of authors and subjects. The text is sub-divided into an introduction and two parts. The introduction deals with methods of collection and examination, &c. Part i. is devoted to unorganised, Part ii. to organised sediments. ‘The editor has added considerably to the original text, his remarks being indi- cated by parentheses: he occasionally differs with Dr. Riedel concerning fact. The large additions to the text made by the editor have rather altered the character of the work, and have probably increased the sphere of its usefulness. Under organised sediments bacteria are considered. A useful chapter is to be found at the end concerning the making of permanent specimens of urinary sediments. The book should be of value to urinologists, and the plates certainly to physicians in general. The thanks of the profession are due to the translator and the editor for making the work available to English readers, and amplifying its contents. Dante. By Edmund G. Gardner, M.A. Primers.” Pp. vit+159. (Dent, 1900.) A VERY admirable book, by the author of Dante’s “Ten Heavens.” Dante was a master of the science of his time, and Mr. Gardner has shown that he has not only carefully studied the “ Divina Commedia” from the point of view of literature, but has taken pains to carefully annotate all the references to the then systema mundi on which so much of the action of the poem depends. Diagrams and explanations are given at the end of the book, which will be found most useful by the student. The Farmstead. By Prof. J. P. Roberts, Director of the College of Agriculture, Cornell University. Pp. vi+ 350. (New York: The Macmillan Company. London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1900.) THIS is a very readable compendiuin of suggestions in regard to providing a beautiful, economical, and healthy rural home. Although written for American farmers, it contains much that is of interest to all who are con- cerned with a country life, and few will peruse the book without gleaning some useful hints. There are special chapters on house-furnishing, decoration, and sanitation by Prof. Mary Roberts Smith, who writes pleasantly on the lighter sides of a farmer’s life. A strong case is made out for the educational opportunities of the farm, which are shown to be ample enough to satisfy the most exacting advocate of Nature Study. W. S. Object Lessons in Botany from Forest, Field, Wayside and Garden. Book ii., for Standards iii., iv. and v. By Edward Snelgrove, B.A. Pp. xviii+297. (London : Jarrold and Sons.) THIS is a meritorious little book, and ought to well serve its purpose of inculcating habits of accurate and precise observation in the young pupils for whom it is designed. Although we notice a few slips here and there, they are not serious ones, and are quite eclipsed by the excellent character of the book as a whole. The author is convinced, as he says in the preface, of the value of elementary botany in the education of children, and we think his book justifies his contention. “The Temple 54 NATURE [ May 17, 1900 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. [The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions ex- pressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for this or any other part of NATURE. No notice ts taken of anonymous communications. } Percussion Caps for Shooting in Schools, THE extraordinary explosive power of fulminate of mercury is known to all chemists, but it is not generally known that the explosion of a percussion cap on a gun will cause a current of air sufficient to extinguish a candle at a distance of ten or fifteen feet. The distance, of course, varies with the length and bore of the gun, and with the nature and the size of the candle. The gun must be pointed at the lower part of the wick, and in order to blow out the candle the aim at this distance requires to be nearly as accurate as would be required to make a centre with a rifle at a hundred yards. Ina speech to the Primrose League on May 9, Lord Salisbury mentioned the expediency of every man having the chance to learn to handle a rifle within reach of his own cottage. By beginning with percussion caps children might be taught to handle a gun at such an early age, that, in case of invasion of this country, boys of fourteen might be able to act as soldiers, as they are said to be doing amongst the Boers at the present time. The objections to training children to handle a rifle are, first of all, the danger of the child shoot- ing either itself or some one else ; and secondly, the expense. But the inclination of children to play soldiers might readily be utilised by teaching them to handle first of all a toy gun, and then to practice shooting at a candle with caps. For those who shoot best with caps, the practice with a saloon rifle might be held out asa reward. One single-barrelled old muzzle-loading gun would suffice for many children, and as 240 caps cost a shilling, the expense of providing a gun and material for practice would be very small. LAUDER BRUNTON. Escape of Gases from Planetary Atmospheres. In Nature of March 29 (p. 515), Dr. Stoney, in referring to a paper by the writer in the January number of the Asfvo- physical Journal, raises the question as to the correctness of the use of Maxwell’s distribution of velocities in computing the escape of gases from the earth’s atmosphere. He maintains that this distribution does not hold at its attenuated limits. In my paper I have not taken conditions which may exist there, but boundary conditions, which are much more favourable to the escape of the molecules of a gas, and certainly compatible with the kinetic theory, if we are to accept such a theory at all. Of the four conditions discussed in my paper, I will only refer to the third, the data for which are based on direct observation, namely, — 66° C. at a height of 20 kilometres (the mean of several . ascensions really giving — 65° C. to — 70°C. for a height of only 16 kilometres). The pressure is calculated from the usual ex- ponential formula, which agrees closely with observations to this height. At these temperatures and pressures there can be no question as to the validity of the kinetic theory. Let us assume now that the atmosphere abruptly terminates at this height, and at this temperature the loss would certainly be greater (in fact, very much greater) than under the actual conditions, where the temperature and pressure are much lower. It should also be noticed that in my tables I have assumed the atmosphere to be entirely made up of one gas—for example, helium or hydrogen. Even then only 26°73 x 10-7 c,c. of helium would escape in 10” years. Hence the assumption that helium is now escaping from our atmosphere is without foundation. In the case of a hydrogen atmosphere only 0°54 c.c. will escape in one year. If the total amount of air in the atmosphere be taken approximately at 10% c.c., and if the actual density and tem- "perature at the outer limits of the atmosphere be also considered, it will be evident how baseless the supposition is that either helium or hydrogen is escaping. It should be further noted that Maxwell’s distribution of: velocities from zero to infinity is the only one giving a sufficient velocity for any escape at all, Clausius’ theory not being adequate. It was the assumption that helium is escaping from the at- mosphere—since it had not been detected—that first led me to verify it on the kinetic theory of Maxwell. The discovery, by Ramsay, of helium as a constituent of our atmosphere only tends to confirm the results of my calculations of the impossibility - of its escape, S. R. Cook. Physical Laboratory, University of Nebraska, April 26. NO. 1594, VOL. 62] Racket Feathers. it Your able reviewer of Meyer and Wiglesworth’s “‘ Birds of ~ Celebes ” (NATURE, April 26), criticising the arguments used to. account for the formation of the racket tail feathers of the parrot, Prioniturus (as an inherited effect of mechanical attrition on objects against which the tail is liable to be brushed—boughs, — walls of nesting-hole, &c.), asks the pertinent question, why so- few exposed feathers, such ‘‘ as the external rectrices and remigi of all birds, and specially the lengthened feathers of oere. shaped tails (Dzcrurus) are neither bare nor racket-shaped nor incipiently so.” The insignificant length of the outer rectrices: of Dicrurus perhaps safeguards them ; when these feathers are longer, as in the closely-allied Bhringa and Déissemurus, they are racket-shaped. As to the remiges and rectrices of. next ; but still, the outer webs ave always very much narrowed in the outermost and most exposed feathers, less narrowed in the: next, and so on till in the middle of the wing and tail (where they are well protected on both sides) they are not narrowed at all. But, while normal wing and tail feathers are exposed to: attrition on one web only, long feathers standing well out from the rest are liable to have the web frayed on both sides of the shaft as far as they project beyond the other feathers, and to some extent where they rest upon the other feathers through friction against the latter.. It is assumed that at some period — earlier in the history of the race these elongated feathers were of the usual simple shape, but they are now known to issue from. the follicles displaying peculiarities which are often much the — same as those obtained by scraping an ordinary feather with a. knife—namely, if the shaft is stiff ad not very lc a small terminal spatule is formed (as in Préoniturus, Parotia) ; if the shaft is long and weak, a large spatule (as in Zanysiptera, Loddigesia). A difficulty, perhaps, to the acceptance of the theory is its apparent consequence—that epidermal (in a sense, — dead) structures, like feathers, possess the power of transmitting. mutilations to posterity. For my own part, I think that the sensitive tissues (much in the same way as the shape of a stick placed in the hand of a blind man is comprehended by him after touching other things with it), and that a corres poner Bote logical adjustment is made and gradually inherited. is probably not an exact recapitulation of the mutilation, but it’ sometimes appears to be very nearly so. The reasons for the exceptions to the author’s rule is what ! chiefly demands an explanation, in the opinion of o7 hie hs THE REVIEWER. — THE APPROACHING TOTAL THE SUN. Be approaching total solar eclipse, on the 58th of the present month, promises to contribute some — valuable additions to our scientific knowledge of the centre of our system, inasmuch that the track of the moon’s. shadow on the earth’s surface passes, to an unusual ex- tent, through regions which are easily accessible. Enter- ing the North American continent near New Orleans; in Louisiana, the central line of eclipse traverses the ECLIPSE OF — ae States of Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Carolina, : FP a iz = ire ¢ a small. — if \ modification of shape of the feathers is communicated to the — Mav 17, 1900] NATURE 55 «ber to the Atlantic from the shore of Virginia, Norfolk. The track is thus crossed by many of e. the numerous railway systems of the Southern States, ; Sheet facilities being thereby offered to observers ' with large instruments. Information supplied by the _ U.S. Weather Bureau indicates that stations in Alabama and Georgia are most likely to be favoured with an un- clouded sky; hence the expeditions from the chief _ American observatories will go there. Congress has _ voted 5000 dollars to the Naval Observatory, and 4000 . dollars to the Smithsonian Institution, for the necessary _ €quipment. The Naval Observatory staff will organise two expeditions, one going to North Carolina, the other to Georgia, so that the stations will be some 200 miles apart, and will furnish valuable evidence as to the changes towhich: the solar surroundings are subject. ian Institution will be represented by ; “Prof. $.P: Langley, and the Princeton Observatory by _ Prof. who will make a redetermination of the th of the green corona line. Prof. Stone will luct a party from the University of Pennsylvania, although details are as yet unknown here, it is ex- that itions from the Yerkes (Profs. Hale, and Frost) and Lick (Prof. Campbell) Observ. Pail eadensour to obtain complete spectroscopic of the various stages of the eclipse. The latter in use the 40-foot coronograph, giving a 4-inch disc ons plates 14X17 inches. Prof. Pickering, of the larvarc Observatory, proposes to make a for an intra-Mercurial planet, and will y occupy a station in Alabama. the kindness of Prof. Young, the Rev. J. M. Bacon n enabled to organise an expedition to the States, pp his observations will be made in the neighbourhood ‘adesborough, near the boundary between North and th Carolina. The party will consist of the Rev. J. M. 1, Miss Bacon, and Mr. and Mrs. Maskelyne. The ye latter observers will expose a telescopic kinemato- graph on the corona during totality, and also an ordinary in matograph on the landscape during and after totality, Su ho of recording the sweep of the moon’s The Rev. J. M. Bacon, using a_telescopic will photograph the corona at definite times to mid-totality, for determining the posi- sun and moon, and will expose a long film, nuously driven, to the zenith before, during and ined for recording the relative brightness of the during and without eclipse. By means of a kite, e will also cempare the temperature of the air at an tude of several hundred feet and at ground-level. se s Bacon will attempt to photograph the outer corona at i extensions, and also a series of landscape _photo- gr phs showing the gradual diminution of illumination. ecial attention will also be devoted to the “shadow bands,” and to making standard photographic compari- on of the light of the corona with that of the full ' Prof. Burckhalter, of the Charbo Observatory, will hotograph the corona by means of a camera provided ith 1 revolving screens, so adjusted as to give varying sures for the different regions. ; the eclipse will occur at the American stations at nes from th. 30m. to 1h. 50m., we in England will be ble to hear of the results obtained there before the i s in Spain have commenced operations. leaving the American coast, the moon’s shadow s the Atlantic in a westerly direction, and reaches t of Portugal, near Ovar, about 4.0 p.m. Thence dly passes across the peninsula, leaving the main- some little distance south of Alicante, and crossing Mediterranean to Algiers. Most of the European ditions will have stations along this line, chiefly at ar, Santa Pola and Algiers. Taking the stations in order suggested by the progress of the eclipse, the NO. 1594, VOL. 62] sa coe) distribution of the various parties and their plan of operations will be as follows :— Ovar.—At this place, some twenty miles south of Oporto, and five miles from the coast, will be stationed one of the three official expeditions sent out by the British Government, the observers being the Astronomer Royal and Mr. Dyson, his chief assistant. The former has arranged to take large scale photographs of the corona with the 9-inch object-glass of the Thomson photoheliograph at Greenwich, the primary image being enlarged by a concave secondary magnifier to a scale of about 4 inches to the sun’s diameter, on plates 15 x 15 inches ; and also photographs with the double camera used in previous eclipses, having a 4-inch rapid rectilinear lens of 33 inches focus, and another of 13 inches focus, for recording the extensions of the coronal streamers. Mr. Dyson’s programme is purely spectroscopic. He will have two slit spectroscopes belonging to Captain Hills, and will endeavour to obtain photographs of the spectrum of the “flash” and of the corona. Prof. Miiller, of Potsdam, will from this station de- termine the albedo of Mercury from direct photometric comparisons with Venus, which will then be near its greatest brilliancy. Santa Pola.—The second British official expedition will be stationed here, some distance south of the town of Alicante, on the east coast of Spain. The party will be under the direction of Sir Norman Lockyer, who will be primarily assisted by Mr. A. Fowler, Dr. W. J. S. Lockyer and Mr. H. Payn. On their arrival at Gibraltar, they will be taken on board H.M.S. Theseus, of the Mediterranean squadron, which will then convey them to their destination. As at Viziadrug in 1898, and Norway in 1896, volunteers will be selected from the ship’s company, and parties detailed out for every character of observation it is possible to make during a total solar eclipse; and in the interval between their land- ing and the final day, besides the erecting and adjusting of the instruments, the principal observers will have their time fully occupied in giving lectures, practical demonstrations, and rehearsals to the host of volunteers who will undoubtedly offer themselves. Sir Norman Lockyer will make visual observations with a 4-inch Cooke photo-visual telescope equatorially mounted, and will give the signals for the whole of the remaining human and mechanical machinery to be set in motion. The following are the chief sections of the observers :— 20-foot Prismatic Camera.—This will be manipulated by Mr. Fowler, and consists of a Cooke photo-visual triplet lens, of 6 inches aperture and 20 feet 3 inches focal length. Outside this will be placed the objective prism, of 9 inches aperture and 45° angle, which was used at Viziadrug in 1898. The instrument will be fixed horizontally, and fed with light from a 12-inch siderostat. It is proposed to obtain instantaneous photographs of the chromospheric spectrum at both internal contacts, and long-exposure photographs of corona spectrum during totality. It is hoped that the greatly increased disper- sion given by this instrument will increase the contrast between the /ize and continuous spectra of the corona, and so render more accurate measurements of wave- length possible. The plates used will be 15 x 24 inches. 6-inch Prismatic Camera.—This is the same instru- ment which was used with success by Mr. Fowler in 1898, and will be under the charge of Dr. Lockyer. It consists of a 6-inch object-glass by Henry, of 7 ft. 6 in. focus, outside which are adjusted two objective prisms, each of 6 inches aperture and 45° angle. The programme with this instrument is similar to that of the 20-foot. Coronographs.—Several coronographs of varying power are being taken, the largest being under the charge of Mr. Howard Payn, a gentleman who has generously volunteered his services for the expedition. This instru- 56 NATURE ood 17, is ment has a Cooke photo-visual lens of 4 inches aperture and 16 feet focal length, the primary image being used on plates 12 x 12 inches. In addition, the De la Rue coronograph (48 inches aperture and 72 inches focal length), Graham coronograph (3 inches aperture, 21 inches focal length), and Dallmeyer coronograph (6-inch aperture rapid rectilinear, 48 inches focal length) will be used. Parties of the volunteers will be engaged in one or other of the following observations :— Disc drawings of corona about 19 volunteers. Observations of ring spectra fy ey Hs Observations with pocket slit spectroscopes... a ad oF Observations of shadow bandas Ea os Observations of stars and other celestial objects visible during totality oe + 20 A Shadow phenomena, both atmospheric and terrestrial ... woo Ff! Colours of landscape, &c. gags a Meteorology, temperature, pressure, &c. ... Ae yo 5 is Photographs of landscape ts ag Natural history effects on men and animals ... pee In addition. to these aversnehts several of the ob- servers will obtain photographs of the eclipse spectra by means of diffraction gratings and prisms fixed in front of their own small cameras. Those with gratings are likely to be specially useful, as the dispersion is sufficiently great to render it possible for the bright line spectra -to show up from the continuous spectrum, and there is the further advantage of the large field given by an ordinary rectilinear, so that the spectrum of the streamers may also be obtained. Prof. Copeland, Astronomer Royal of Scotland, will also occupy a station at Santa Pola, using a telescope of 4o feet focus. The British Astronomical Association and the French Astronomical Society will each send parties to both Alicante and Algiers. As, however, the former place is so well occupied by Sir Norman Lockyer’s party, the third official party from the British Government will occupy a station at Algiers, and will consist of Prof. Turner, Mr. Newall, Mr. Evershed and Mr. Wesley. _ Prof. Turner will photograph the corona with one of the double cameras used in previous eclipses, one of | which is arranged to polarise the coronal light before it reaches the photographic plate, and thereby determine the extent to which this light is initially polarised. In addition, he also hopes to repeat his work of 1893 and 1898 for "determining photometrically the relative bright- ness of the corona at varying distances from the limb. Mr. Newall will have three instruments under his charge, viz. :—(1) A four-prism slit spectrograph for ob- taining the spectrum of the “flash,” and of the corona. In the latter he hopes to obtain material for showing the difference, if any, between the spectrum of the coronal rays and the other portions. (2) An objective grating camera for photographing the spectrum of the corona in monochromatic light. (3) A polariscopic camera: for photographing the corona, special attention being de- voted to the study of any differences between the darker and brighter rifts. ' Mr. Wesley, the assistant secretary of the Royal Astronomical Society, has for many years critically studied the minute structure of the corona, he being the draughtsman who has engraved the reproductions of many of the corona photographs of past eclipses for publication, but has not hitherto had an opportunity of studying it from nature. By the kindness of M. Trépied, the Director of the French Government Observatory at Algiers, Mr. Wesley will be enabled to examine the corona with the powerful “equatorial coudé” (about 8 inches aperture). NO. 1594, VOL. 62] Mr. Evershed will not be stationed at Aagiers itself, but intends to observe from a place near the limiting line of totality, about twenty miles south of Algiers, so that he may photograph the “flash” spectrum with somewhat longer exposure than near the central line. Mr. and Mrs. Maunder will repeat at’ Algiers their programme so successfully carried out at Buxar, India, in 1898, but with larger apparatus. This will include short exposure photographs of the inner corona, and others with long exposure for extensions and streamers. Mr. and Mrs. Crommelin will go to Algiers, and take photographs of the corona and of the shadow as projected on the atmosphere. It is also*stated that Mr. Percival Lowell, of Arizona, and Prof. Todd, of Amherst College Observatory, U.S.A., will occupy stations near Tripoli, in North Africa. It is to be hoped that favourable weather will enable the latter astronomer to successfully use his electrical control, by means of which he has arranged that a great number of photographic cameras shall be automatically exposed for varying times, all of which are operated from one re- volving drum with delicately fitted electrical contacts. The eclipse occurs at the European stations about 4.0 p.m. Greenwich time, so that it may be possible to communicate the results of the various expeditions to the evening papers of the same day. : Mention should be made of the generous arrange- ments which have been made by the authorities of all eae ee Se ae the Governments concerned, whereby the usual customs tariff and examination will be dispensed with, provided the observer is furnished with a certificate showing that his baggage is really for eclipse observation. The rail- way companies in Spain have also consented to convey passengers at half the usual fares. CHARLES P. BUTLER. THE ROYAL SOCIETY SELECTED : CANDIDATES. Pe TEEN candidates were selected by the Council ot the Royal Society on Thursday last for election into the Society. The following are the names and qualifications of the new Fellows :— GEORGE JAMES BURCH, Lecturer at the University Extension College, Reading. Author of the following papers :—(r1) ‘* Experiments on Flame” (NATURE, 1885-86) ; (2) ‘‘ A Perspective Micro- scope” (Proc. Roy. Soc., vol. xiii.) ; (3) ** Researches on the Capillary Electrometer” (Proc. Roy. Soc., vol. xlviii., zd¢d., vol. lix., Phzl. Trans., vol. clxxxiii(A)., The Electrictan, July, 1896). ‘Ona Method of drawing Hyperbolas” (Phz/. Afag., Jan., 1896). Also joint author of the following he rs :—(I) * Dissociation of Amine Vapours” (with Mr. a Marsh) (Journ. Chem. Soc., 1889) ; (2) ‘* E.M.F. of certain pa contain- ing Nitric Acid” (with Mr. V. H. Veley) (Phed. Trans., vol. clxxxii(A). ; (3) ‘‘ Effect of Injury in Muscle” (with Prof. Burdon-Sanderson) (Proc. Physiol, Soc., 1893) 3 (4) ‘* Action of Concentrated Acids on Metals in contact ” (with Mr. S. W, Dodgson) (Proc. Chem. Soc., 1894) ; (5) ‘‘ D’Arsonval Physical Theory” (with Mr. L. E. Hill) (Journ. Physiol., 1894) ; (6) ‘‘The Electromotive Properties of Malapterurus ane (with Prof. Gotch) (P4227. Trans., 1896). Supplementary Certificate. M.A. (Oxon). Author of the following scientific papers in addition to those . Hermann’s — stated in the first certificate : :-—** On Prof. Theory of the Capillary Electrometer” (Proc. Ray. Soc., vol. 1x., p. 328); ‘‘ The Tangent Lens-gauge” (Phz7. Mag., 1897, p. 256); ‘An Inductor-Alternator for Physiological Experi- ments ” Journ. of Physiology, vol. xxi., 1897; ‘* An Account of Certain Phenomena of Colour Vision with Intermittent _ Light” (ébéd.) ; ‘* Artificial Colour Blindness, with an Examina- | tion of the Colour-Sensations of 109 Persons” (Phzl. Trans., vol. clxli., 1899) ; joint author with Prof. Gotch, F.R.S., of the following scientific papers :—‘‘ The Electrical Response of May 17, 1900] NATURE 57 Nerve to a Single Stimulus as investigated by the Capillary _ Electrometer” (Proc. Roy. Soc., vol. Ixiii., 1898, p. 300); « The Electrical Response of Nerve to Two Stimuli” (Journ. - Salta vol. xxvi., 1899); ‘‘ The Electromotive Force of 1e Organ Shock, &c., in Malapterurus electricus” (Proc. Roy. Soc., vol. Ixv., p. 434, 1900). 2 T. W. EDGEWORTH DAVID, _ B.A, (Oxon.), F.G.S. Professor of Geology in the University _ of Sydney, N.S.W. Formerly Senior Geologist to the Geo- ey of New South Wales, and author of many reports ad maps issued by the Survey. Has published many papers dealing with Glacial action in recent, as well as ancient, iods; among others :—‘‘ Evidences of Glacial ion in S. Brecknock and E. Glamorgan” (Quart. Journ. Soc., vol. xxxix., pp. 39-58, 1882) ; ‘‘ On Evidences of Action in the Carboniferous and Hawkesbury Series, , vol. xliit, in Permo 92, 1896); also many papers and addresses ith Petrology, Vulcanology, and_ Stratigraphical the Southern Hemisphere, published in the Journals , Linnean, and the Societies of New South Wales. ntenned and conducted to a successful issue the work ‘the Coral Atoll of Funafuti, undertaken by the Royal and the Geographical Society of New South Wales, assistance of the Admiralty. , Pe 190-197, 1887) ;. ‘* On Glacial -Carboniferous Times ”’ (zdzd., vol. _ JOHN BRETLAND FARMER, Oxon.), F.L.S. Professor of Botany, Royal College cf se, London. Formerly Fellow of Magdalen College, Distinguished for his Botanical and Biological re- ches. ‘Author of the following papers :—‘‘On the De- opment of the Endocarp in Sam/ucus nigra” (Ann. of Bot., l. ii.) ; Contribution to the. ‘‘ Morphology and Physiology of Pulpy Fruits” (2é¢d., vol. iii.) ; ‘The Stomata in the Fruit of Tris Pseudacorus” (ibid., vol. iv.); “On Tsoetes lacustris” (ibid., vol. v.) ; ‘On Abnormal Flowers in Onctdium splendt- dum” (ibid., vol. vi.); ‘On the Occurrence of two Prothallia _ in an Ovule of Pinus sélvestris” (ibid.); ‘On the Embryogeny _ of Angiopteris evecta” (zbid.) ; ‘‘On Nuclear Division in the _ Pollen-mother-cells of Lzlium martagon” (ibid., vii.) ; ‘On _ the Relations of the Nucleus to Spore-formation in certain Liverworts” (Proc. Roy. Soc., vol. liv.) ; ‘* Studies in Hepa- | ticee” (Ann. of Bot., vol. viii.); ‘‘On Spore-formation and _ Nuclear Division in the Hepaticz ” (zdéd., vol. ix.) ; ‘* Further _ Investigations on Spore-formation in /¢gatella conica” (ibid.) ; _ “* Respiration and Assimilation in Cells containing Chlorophyll” _ (tbid., vol. x.) ; “‘ Ueber Kerntheilung in Lilium” (‘ Flora,” 1895); ‘*On the Structure of a Hybrid Fern” (Anz. of Bot., |. xi). Joint Author of :—with J. Reeves, ‘‘On the Occur- ence mtrospheres in Peliia epiphylla” (tbid., vol. viii.) ; with J. H. Williams, ‘‘ On Fertilisation and the Segmentation of the Spore of Fucus” (Proc. Roy. Soc., vol. 1x.) ; with T. Waller, ‘‘ Observations on the Action of Anzsthetics on Vege- table and Animal Protoplasm” (¢é¢d., vol. Ixiii.); with J. Se tland, ‘Contributions to our Knowledge of the Fucaceze, their Life-History and Cytology” (PAz/. Zrans., vol. cxc.). LEONARD HILL, _M.B. Lecturer on Physiology, London Hospital Medical College. Distinguished as a Physiologist. Author of the _ following works :—‘‘ On Poisoning by Phosphorus” (Lancet, _ 1890); ** On Intra-Cranial Pressure” (Roy. Soc. Proc., vol. lv.) ; On Effects of Compression of the Common Carotid Artery ” t th Moore) (Brit. Med. Journ., 1894); *‘On Formation of Heat in the Salivary Glands” (with Bayliss) (¥ourn. of Phys., vol. xvi.) ; ‘* On D’Arsonval’s Physical Theory of the Negative ation’ (with Birch) (zdzd.); ‘‘On a Simple Form of Gas mp” (zbzd., xvii.); ‘Exchange of Blood-Gases” (with barro) (7d2d.) ; ‘ On Exchange of Blood-Gases"in Brain and le” (zbzd., xviii.) ; ‘On the Influence of Gravity on the culation” (zézd.) ; ‘‘ On Intra-Cranial Pressure and the Cir- ation” (with Bayliss) (25¢d.) ; ‘‘ The Physiology and Pathology the Cerebral Circulation,” Hunterian Lectures, Churchill, 96; ‘On Nervous Pressure and the Pulse” (with Barnard 1 Sequeira) (Fourn. Physiol., xxi.); ‘* Influence of Gravity the lation ” (with Barnard) (zdzd.); ‘* The Causation of Chloroform Syncope” (Brit, Med. Yourn., 1897) ; “ A Simple NO. 1594, VOL. 62] Form of Sphygmometer ” (z¢.) ; ‘‘On Arterial Pressure in Man” (Journ. Phys., xxii.) ; *‘On Rest, Sleep and Work on Arterial Pressure” (Zancet, 1898); ‘‘On Syncope and the Influence of Posture on Rabbits” (Fourn. Phys., xxii.) ; ‘‘On the Effects of Cerebral Anzemia produced by Ligation of the Cerebral Arteries” (with Mott) (zdzd., 1898); ‘‘On Human Cerebro-Spinal Fluid” (Proc. Roy. Soc., 1898). In the press :— ** Mechanism of the Circulation” (Schafer, ‘*‘ Text-Book of Phys.”); ‘* Cerebral Circulation” (Allbutt’s ‘‘ System of Medicine ”’). : JOHN HORNE, F.G.S., F.R.S.E. One of the Senior Geologists on the Staff of the Geological Survey of Scotland. Has been engaged for more than thirty years in the Geological Survey. From 1868 to 1876 he personally studied and mapped large areas of the Silurian uplands of Scotland. From 1876 to 1883 he surveyed extensive tracts in the counties of Nairn, Inverness, Banff and Aberdeen. From 1884 till the present time he has taken an important share in the investigation and mapping of the compli- cated geology of the North-West Highlands. In addition to these official researches he has devoted his intervals of holiday to original exploration, and has made important contributions to our knowledge of the glacial and volcanic geology of. the Orkney and Shetland Isles. Among his papers are the follow- ing :—‘‘ A Sketch of the Geology of the Isle of Man,” and the ‘** Post-Pliocene Formation of the Isle of Man” (Adin. Geol. Soc. Trans., ii., 1174, pp. 323, 329); ‘‘ The Geology of the Island of Unst” (Zain. Phys. Soc. Proc., iv., 1878, p. 274); ‘* The Volcanic History of the Old Red Sandstone Period North of the Grampians” (G/as. Geol. Soc. Trans., vii., 1881, p. 77). Most of his investigations have been worked out in conjunction with Mr. B. N. Peach, F.R.S., but the results have been arranged and described by Mr Horne. Some of this conjoint work has been of the highest value, both in regard to British geology and to the theoretical treatment of the science. Special reference may be made to the ‘‘ Report on the Recent Work of the Geological Survey in the North-West Highlands of Scot- land” (Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., xliv., 1888, p. 378), in which the detailed structure of one of the most intricate geological regions in Europe was worked out and-illustrated ; to a paper on ‘‘ The Olenellus-Zone in the North-West Highlands” (zézd. ,. xlviii., 1892, p. 227), which demonstrated the existence and stratigraphical relations of Lower Cambrian Rocks in Scotland ; and to the large volume recently published by the Geographical Survey, on ‘‘ The Silurian Rocks of Scotland” (p. 749), which gives the detailed results of a prolonged and laborious investiga- tion by Messrs. Peach and Horne of the whole Silurian region of southern Scotland. In 1888 was awarded the Wollaston Fund by the Geological Society, and in 1899 received from the same Society, in association with his friend and colleague, Mr. Peach, a duplicate Murchison medal. Received, in 1893, the Neill medal from the Royal Society of Edinburgh, in recognition of the value of his contributions to Geology. JOSEPH JACKSON LISTER, M.A., F.Z.S. Demonstrator of Comparative Anatomy in the University of Cambridge. Distinguished as a Zoologist. Was Naturalist on board H.M.S. Zgerza in two cruises, one to Christmas Island (Indian Ocean), the fauna of which he was the first to investigate, and another in the Pacific among the Tonga, Union and Phoenix Islands, during which he made him- self well acquainted with the fauna of those islands, and of the Seychelles. His researches on the Foraminifera have thrown important light on the life-history and reproduction of that group. Author of the following papers :—‘‘ On the Natural History of Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean” (Proc. Zool. Soc., 1888, p. 512); ‘*On some Points in the Natural History of Fungia” (Quart. Journ. Micros. Soc., vol. xxix., p. 359) 3 ‘** A Visit to the Newly-Emerged Falcon Island, Tonga Group, S. Pacific” (Proc. Roy. Geograph. Soc., March 1890) ; ‘‘ Notes on the Birds of the Phoenix Islands, Pacific Ocean” (Prac. Zool. Soc., 1891, p. 289); ‘‘ Notes on the Natives of Fakaofu (Bow- ditch Island), Union Group” (Journ. Anthrop. Just., 1891, p- 43) ; ‘‘ Notes on the Geology of the Tonga Island” (Quart, Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. xlvii., p. 590); ‘Contributions to the Life-History of the Foraminifera” (Abstract, Proc. Roy. Soc., vol. lvi., p. 155. Full paper, PAzl Zrans., vol. clxxxvi., 18958, p. 401); ‘‘A Possible Explanation of the Quinque- loculine Arrangement of the Chambers in the Young of the 58 ~ NATURE [May 17, 1900 Microspheric Forms of Triloculina and Biloculina” (Proc. Camb. Fhil. Soc., vol. ix., pt. v.); with J. J. Fletcher, ‘On the Condition of the Median Portion of the Vaginal Apparatus in the Macropodtdae” (Proc. Zool. Soc., vol, \xiii., 1881, p. 976). Supplementary Certificate. Author of ‘‘Astroclera Willeyana, the representative of a New Family of recent Sponges,” in the Zoological Results of Dr. Willey’s Expedition, 1899. JAMES GORDON MACGREGOR, D.Sc. (Lond.), 1876. M.A. (Dalh.) Professor of Physics, Dal- housie College, Halifax, N.S. Well known for his long-continued Researches on Electrolytic Conductivity, on Solutions, on Re- sistance of Metals, and on Thermo-electricity, Author of numerous Memoirs contributed to the Royal Society of Edin- burgh, the Royal Society of Canada, the Physical Society, and the British Association, including the following :—‘‘ Note on the Electrical Conductivity of Saline Solutions” (Proc. Roy. Soc., Edin., 1875); ‘‘On the Electrical Conductivity of Stretched Silver Wires” (z4¢d., 1878); ‘‘On the Variation with Temper- ature of the Electrical Resistance of certain Alloys” (Zvrazs. Roy. Soc., Edin., 1880) ; ‘*On the Measurement of the Re- sistance of Electrolytes by means of Wheatstone’s Bridge” (Trans. Roy. Soc., Canada, 1882); ‘‘On some Experiments showing that the Electromotive Force of Polarisation is inde- pendent of the difference of Potential of the Electrodes ” (zd7d., 1883); ‘‘On a Test of Ewing and MacGregor’s Method. of Measuring the Electrical Resistances of Electrolytes” (zdzd., 1890, with Prof. Ewing) ; ‘‘ Note on the Volumes of Solutions” (Brit. Assoc. Report, 1877, with Dr. Knott); ‘fOn the Thermo- electric Properties of Charcoal and certain Alloys, with a Sup- plementary Thermoelectric Diagram” (Zain. Trans., 1879, with Dr. Knott and Prof. Michie Smith); ‘*‘ The Thermo- electric Properties of Cobalt” (1876, Proc. Roy. Soc., Edin., 1878) ; ‘‘On the Absorption of Low Radiant Heat by Gaseous Bodies” (zdid., 1882-83) ; “‘On the Resistance to the Passage of the Electric Current between Amalgamated Zinc Electrodes and Solutions of Zinc Sulphate” (Zrazs. Now. Scot. Inst. Nat. Sct., 1983); ‘On the Density and the Thermal Expansion of Solutions of Sulphate of Copper” (Zraus. Roy. Soc., Canada, 1884) ; ‘‘On the Relative Bulk of certain Aqueous Solutions _and their Constituent Water” (Z7ans. Nov. Scot. ust. Nat. Scz., 1886); ‘A Table of Cubicle Expansions” (77vazs. Roy. Soc., Canada, 1888); ‘‘On the Variation of the Density with the Concentration of Weak Aqueous Solutions of certain Salts” (tbed., 1889, vol. ix., 1891); ‘* On the Calculation of the Con- ductivity of Electrolytes” (7ézd., 1896); *‘On the Relation of the Physical Properties of Aqueous Solutions to their State of Ionisation ” (Ph2z/. Mag., 1897); ‘*On the Hypothesis of Ab- stract Dynamics and the question of the number of Elastic Con- stants ” (zézd., 1896, with Mr. E. A. Archibald) ; ‘* On Calcu- lation of Conductivities of Electrolytes” (/dzd., February 1898). Author of ‘‘An Elementary Treatise on Kinematics and Dynamics ” (1887). PATRICK MANSON, €.M.G., M.D. (Aberd.). F.R.C.P. (Lond.). LL.D. (Aberd.). Physician and Medical Adviser to the Colonial Office. Lecturer on Tropical Medicine, St. George’s Hospital, Charing Cross Hospital and London School of Tropical Medicine. Dis- tinguished as a Physician and Parasitologist. Discoverer of Filarial Periodicity of the 7é/e of the Mosquito in Filarial Meta- morphosis ; of Filarial Ecdysis; and of many other points in connection with the life-history of the Filaria nocturna. Dis- coverer of three other blood-worms of man, viz. Azlaria diurna, Filaria perstans and Filaria Demargquatt. Discoverer of the disease known as Endemic hemoptysis and of its Parasitic cause. Discoverer of Bothriocephalus Mansoné and of many points in connection with human and animal helminthology. Was the first to describe accurately and to name Finea imbricata, and to prove experimentally its dependence on a vegetable parasite. Was the first to point out the significance of the flagellated body -as the initial stage of the extra-corporeal cycle of the malaria parasite, and to enunciate the hypothesis that ‘the mosquito was the host of the parasite at this stage, and ‘therefore an active -agent in diffusing malaria, an hypothesis since proved by Major Ross to be correct. Author of a work on Filaria sanguinis 4ominis. and some Parasitic Diseases of Warm Climates, 1883 ; -of ‘* Tropical Diseases,” 1898 ; of the Goulstonian Lectures on NO. 1594, VOL. 62] the Life-History of the Malaria Parasite Outside the Human Body, 1896; of Papers on the Metamorphosis of Fi/aria af sanguinis hominis in the Mosquito (7vans. Linn. Soc., 1883) ; ‘*On the Nature and Significance of the Flagellated Body in Malarial Blood” (Brit. Med. Journ., 1894); and of many other papers on the subjects mentioned above and allied matters. THOMAS MUIR, LL.D., M.A., F.R.S.E. Superintendent-General of Education in the Cape Colony. Distinguished as a’ Mathematician and Educationist. Author of ‘fA History of Determinants,” and fifty-eight original mathematical papers, including ‘‘ Continu- ants :_a New Special Class of Determinants” (Proc. Roy. Soc. Edin., 1875); “On the Transformation of Gauss’ Hypergeo- metric Series into a Continued Fraction” (Lond. Math. Soc., 1876) ; ‘‘ New General Formule for the Transformation of Infinite Series into Continued Fractions” (7vans. Roy. Soc. Edin., 1876); ‘*On Eisenstein’s Continued Fractions ” (zbzd., 1879); ‘‘On a _ Systematic Determinant connected with Lagrange’s Interpolation Problem” (Zand. Math. Soc. Proc., 1881-2) ; ‘On New and Recently Discovered Properties of certain Symmetric Determinants” (Quart. Journ. Math, 1882) ; ‘‘On the Phenomena of ‘ Greatest Middle’ in the Cycle of a Class of Periodic Continued Fractions” (Proc. Roy. Soc. Edin., 1884); *‘ The Theory of Determinants in the Historical Order of its Development” (zséd., vol. xiii.-xvi.) ; ‘On Some Hitherto Unproved Theorems in Determinants” (2d¢d., 1891) ; “* A Problem of Sylvester’s in Elimination” (zdzd., vol. xx.) ; ‘*New Relations between Bipartite Functions and Determin- ants, with a Proof of Cayley’s Theorem in Matrices” (Lond. Math, Soc. Proc., vol. xvi.). Has rendered services of the highest importance to education in the Cape Colony, and in his capacities of trustee of the South African Museum and member of the Geological Commission has greatly promoted original scientific research in South Africa. Ae Shas M.A., Sc.D. (Dublin). Radcliffe Observer. fe Astronomer of Ireland. Late Andrews Professor of Astro- nomy in the University of Dublin. Author of the following researches in Astronomy and Physics :—Catalogue of the Mean Places of 1012 Southern Stars” (** Astronomical Observations and Researches of Dunsink,” part vi.) ; ‘* Catalogue of the Mean Places of 717 Stars” (part vii., 2b/d.); ‘*On the Deter- mination of Double Star Orbits from Spectroscopic Observa- tions of the Velocity in the Line of Sight” (AZonchly Notices, Roy. Astron, Soc., vol. li., No. §); ‘To Adjust the Polar Axis of an Equatorial Telescope for Photographic Purposes” (zdzd., liv., No. 2); ‘*On the Inequality in the Apparent Diurnal Movement of Stars due to Refraction, and a Method of Allowing for it in Astronomical Photography” (#zd., vol. lvii., No. 2) ; ‘*On a Geometrical Method of Finding the most Probable ARTHUR ALCOCK RAMBAUT, © is Pa -Late Royal. Apparent Orbit of a Double Star” (Proc. Royl, Dubi. Soc., vol. vii., part 2); ‘‘On the Distortion of Photographic Star Images due to Refraction” (zdéd., vol. viii., part 2); ** On the Rotation Pericd of the ‘Garnet’ Spot on Jupiter” (zdéd., vol. viii., part 5); **On the Relative Positions of 223 Stars in the Cluster x Persei, as Determined. Photographically ” (in conjunction with Sir R. Ball) (Zrans. Roy. Lrish Acad., vol. xxx., part 4); {On the Possibility of Determining the Distance of a Double Star by means of the Relative Velocity of the Components in the Line of Sight” (zéd., 2nd series, vol. iv., No. 6); ‘‘ The Absorption of Heat. in the Solar Atmosphere” (in conjunction with W. E. Wilson) (zé2zd., 3rd series, vol. ili., No. 4). a ROPE Cains WILLIAM JAMES SELL, M.A. Senior Demonstrator of Chemistry, University of Cam- bridge. Author of the following papers :— Volumetric Deter- mination of Chromium” (Zrans. Chem. Soc., 1879); “ On a. Series of Salts of a Base containing Chromium and Urea,” Nos. t and 2 (Proc. Roy. Soc., 1882 and 1889); “ Anhydro- Derivatives of Citric and Aconitic Acids” (Zvans. Chem. Soc., 1892) ; ‘* Salts of a new Platinum Sulphurea Base” (Arz/. Assoc. Rept., 1893) 3 * Studies on Citrazinic Acid,” Pts. I.-V. (Zrans. Chem. Soc., 1893-1897); ‘‘ Note on the Action of Chlorine on Pyridine” (Zrans. Chem. Soc., 1898); ‘* The Chlorine Deriva- tives of Pyridine,” Pts. I.-II. (2déd., 1898) ; ‘‘ Interaction of Ammonia and Pentachlorpyridine” (2ééd.) ; ‘* Constitution of. Glutazine ”’ (zdzd.). A ood NATURE 59 May'17, 1900] W. BALDWIN SPENCER, B.A. (Oxon.), M.A. (Melbourne). Professor of Biology in the Melbourne University ; formerly Fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford ; Hon. Sec. of the Royal Society of Victoria ; Corr. Member Zool. Soc., Lond. Distinguished as an original investigator in Zoology and Comparative Anatomy; and as a teacher and organiser. Graduated at Oxford twelve years ago. Has published more than thirty memoirs, among which are :— *©On a New Family of Hydroidea Ceratellidee ” (Zrans. Roy. Soc. Vict., 1890); ‘‘ The Anatomy of Megascolides Australis,” and other rs on Australian Earthworms and Planarians (#id.) ; ‘On New Crustacea and New Mammals,” in Report 4 of the Horn Expedition to Central Australia (which he : ee **On the Pineal Eye in Lacertilia” (Quart. Fourn. ae Sez., 1887) ; ‘On the Habits, Blood-vessels and’ Lungs wtodus Fosteri” ; ‘‘On a New Genus of Marsupials from Australia ” (Proc. Roy. Soc. Vict., vol. ix.) ; ‘*On the Nerves of Scyllium ” (Quart. Journ. Micros. Sct., 1881) ; he Early Development of Rana temporaria (zbid., 1885) ; Fauna and Zoological Relationships of Tasmania” ential Address to Sect. D., Austr. Assoc. Adv. Sci., JAMES WALKER, Edin.), Ph.D., Leipzig. Professor of Chemistry, Uni- College, Dundee. An active and successful worker in y, especially physical and organic. Author of numerous of which the following are among the most important :— itatsbestimmung Organischer Basen ” (Zezt. Physikal. iv.. p. 319, 1889); ‘‘ Ueber Lésliskkeit und Schmelz- ', v., 193, 189c) ; ‘‘ The Dissociation Constants ic Acids” (Journ. Chem. Soc., \xi., p. 696, 1892) ; thyl Salts of Camphoric Acid” (zd2d., Ixi., p. 1088, ». 748, 1896). Along with F. I. Hambly, ‘‘ Transformation of Cyanate into Urea” ( Journ. Chem. Soc., vol. lxvii., p. 746, 3). Along with J. R. Appleyard, ‘‘ Transformation of nmonium Cyanates into the Corresponding Ureas” (Journ. Chem. Soc., vol. lxix., p. 193, 1896). _ PHILIP WATTS, Naval Architect and Director of the War-Shipbuilding Depart- ment of Sir W. G. Armstrong, Whitworth and Co. Distinguished - for his knc of the science and practice of Naval Archi- tecture. Responsible designer of a considerable number of the iftest and most powerful war-ships. [as done much original scientific and experimental work in connection with investigations the stability of ships and floating bodies ; the oscillations of ‘in still water and amongst waves; the propulsion and manceuvring powers of ships. Was appointed by the Admiralty and acted for some years as assistant to the late Mr. W. Froude, _ F.R.S., on the analytical and experimental work carried on by : par myestigatcr. In that capacity he took part in the device und eee of the process of ‘‘ graphic integration” by which the oscillations of ships can be approximately determined der assumed conditions of wave motion, including the effect fluid resistance. Has independently proposed a method of ucing the rolling of ships at sea, by the introduction of free into a suitably formed chamber. This plan was adopted the Admiralty for several important ships, after mathematical d experimental demonstration of its efficiency. Was entrusted th experimental investigation of the turning powers of H.M.S. 7hunderer made in connection with the work of the sible Committee. Devised and applied methods for de- mining exactly the path traversed by the C.G. of the ship, : rate of acquisition of angular velocity, the angle of heel and ) omena incidental to turning under the action of the adder. This investigation led to subsequent modifications in _ the under-water form of ships, tending to increase their handi- _ ness. Is author of the following papers printed in the Zrans- NO. 1594, VOL. 62] departure in the study of handicrafts. actions of the Institution of Naval Architects :—‘‘ Ona Method of Reducing the Rolling of Ships at Sea” (1883) ; ‘‘ The Use of Water Chambers for Reducing the Rolling of Ships at Sea” (1885) ; ‘* The Italian Cruiser Premonte” (1889) ; ‘* The Steering Qualities of the Yashzma’’ (1898) ; ‘‘ Elswick Cruisers Built during the last Ten Years” (1899). CHARLES THOMSON REES WILSON, M.A. (Cantab.), B.Sc. (Vict.). At present engaged in Investi- gations on Atmospheric Electricity on behalf of the Meteoro- logical Council. Author of the follewing papers :—‘‘On the Formation of Cloud in the absénce of Dust” (Cane. Phil. Soc. Proc., vol. viii., p. 306); ‘* The effect of Réntgen’s Rays on Cloudy Condensation” (Roy. Soc. Proc., vol. lix., p. 338) + ** Condensation. of Water Vapours in the Presence of Dust- free Air and other Gases” (Pil. Trans., A., (1897), pp- 265-307); ‘‘ On the Action of Uranium Rays on the Condensa- tion of Water Vapour” (Camb. Phil. Soc. Proe., vol. ix., pp: 333-338) ; ‘‘On the Production of a Cloud by the Action of Ultra-Violet Light on Moist Air” (#4zd., vol. ix., p. 392) + **Condensation Nuclei produced in Gases by the Action of R6ntgen Rays, Uranium Rays, Ultra-Violet Light and other Agents” (P4%z/. Trans., A., 192, pp. 403-453); ‘‘ Compara- tive Efficiency as Condensation Nuclei of positively and nega- tively charged Ions ” (zdzd., A., 193, pp. 289-308). LIEUT.-GENERAL PITT-RIVERS, F.R.S. BY the death of Lieut.-General Augustus Henry Lane- Fox Pitt-Rivers, F.R.S., on May 4, anthropology has lost one of her most prominent and enthusiastic Lag and one whose place it will be impossible to ‘ t Augustus Henry Lane-Fox was born in 1827. He served with distinction in the Crimea, at Alma and Sevastopol, being during that campaign an officer in the Grenadier Guards, and on the staff, :@\s. Lieuf.-Colone} Lane-Fox he was the earliest and principal associate of Colonel, afterwards Lieut.-General, Hay, the first Com- mandant and Inspector-General of Musketry, and about 1855 he wrote and delivered the series. of lectures which then, and since, formed a principal part of the’ Hythe cur- riculum. He had thus the honour and’:distinction of being prominently associated with the; inauguration of one of the most important reforms in ourmiilitary system. He had the unusual reputation in those*days of mili- tary dandies of being an able, studious and scientific officer ; but his. career at Hythe was not a long one. While he was there he had the abet training and instruction of those who came to qualifygas musketry instructors ; and he added to, if he did nof originate, the interesting collection of ancient arms and weapons and projectiles in that establishment. General Pitt-Rivers. never lost his interest in military matters, and as late as. 1893 he was appointed Colonel of the South Lancashire Regiment. Few men have had the collecting’ instinct so strongly developed as had General Pitt-Rivers, but i his case not only were his interests extremely wide, but he had always some method in his collecting ; there was invari- ably some principle or theory that the objects were de- signed to illustrate. Consequently he‘bought with judg- ment, and what in most collections*are “curios” or trophies, under his arrangement became links in a chain of scientific argument, or clever suggestions of stages in the evolution. of human thought or handicraft. The spoils of over twenty years of intelligent collect- ing were exhibited, in 1874, in the Bethnal Green Museum, and the catalogue of this collection was pub- lished by the Science and Art Department. It is no exaggeration to say that this collection was a revelation to many people, and it and the catalogue initiated a new It was, in fact, the first practical application of the theory of evolution to- objects made by man. As Colonel Lane-Fox he was, fo 60 NATURE [ May 17,- 1900 example, the first to demonstrate the evolutionary history of patterns, or of certain decorative features from realistic originals. He placed together, side by side, analogous objects from all parts of the world, and often he was enabled to demonstrate the origin and modifications of modern weapons, utensils, and the like. This system has its dangers ; analogy may often be mistaken for homogeny, and it must be admitted that mistakes were occasionally made or wrong inferences suggested ; but with care these may be greatly reduced, and this system of studying human |; productions appeals alike ‘to. the general public’ and to scientific-men. ‘We believe. that the collections exhibited in 1874 were first offered to the University of Cambridge, but now they find a final resting-place inthe museum at Oxford, where they have since been greatly added to and further elaborated. Owing to the death of the sixth Baron Rivers in 1880, Mr. Lane-Fox succeeded to large estates in Wiltshire and Dorsetshire, and’ he assumed the name of Pitt-Rivers. This gave him his chance; many years previously his keen eye had noted the numerous earthworks and tumuli on Cranborne Chase, but he little thought that fortune would hand them over to his keeping. In 1881 the General commenced excavating, and in 1887 he published the first of his four quarto memoirs on the results of his digging. Many burrows. had been rifled before by antiquaries, but never had excavations been so systematically and thoroughly studied in this country. These memoirs are monuments to the princely liberality, technical skill, and conscientious attention to details that characterised General Pitt-Rivers. In order to display the finds obtained in his excava- tions, Pitt-Rivers built a new museum at Farnham in Dorsetshire, and once more he gave rein to his: passion for collecting, and soon an extensive and valuable ethnographical: museum sprang up in this remote country village. Here, systematically arranged and described, may be seen models of the sites and excavations, and every specimen and fragment thence obtained. In order to illustrate the pottery which is found ‘in various diggings, a comparative collection of pottery and ceramics was started which now forms a very valuable epitome of this industry in all ages and climes. In the same manner, ‘a large comparative collection of agricultural implements has been collected. Here also is the collection of locks, upon which he based the memoir he published in 1883. The collections of general ethnography are surprisingly rich, and his well selected specimens of Benin metal work constitute per- haps the most representative series extant. - Words fail to express one’s surprise at finding this wonderful museum buried in the depth of the country. At Tollard Royal, near Farnham, the General very carefully. restored a thirteenth century house, which is known as King John’s House—this he converted into a museum mainly designed to illustrate the rise of the art of painting ; and with characteristic thoroughness he began with paintings of the twentieth and twenty- sixth dynasties. Not far off are the Larmer Grounds, a park which has been beautifully laid out and provided with numerous picturesque large summer-houses for the use of ex- cursionists. During the warm weather a band plays on Sunday afternoons, and large numbers of people avail themselves of the General’s hospitality. In this effort to provide free and innocent enjoyment to the multitude, General Pitt-Rivers received much opposition from well-meaning but misguided sabbatarians; but in this as in so many other matters, he pursued what he con- sidered to: be his duty without being influenced by the opinions or opposition of others. He was very fond of joining the happy throngs, and he was never more pleased than when many thousands assembled on NO. 1594, VOL. 62] great occasions, such as the annual races. It is gratifying to, know that his liberality was never abused by unseemly conduct. General Pitt-Rivers’ written contributions to anthropo- logical literature were very numerous, and in his time he took an. active part in the work of various societies. General Pitt-Rivers was a Fellow of the Royal Society ; on more than one occasion he was President of the Anthropological Institute ; and he was a Vice-President of the Society of Antiquaries. His last public appearance was when he read an address as Vice-President of the Royal Archeological Institute at Dorchester in 1893. He was Inspector under the Ancient Monuments Protection Act of 1882, and in this capacity he visited the scheduled monuments; but even his’ energy was powerless to counteract the restricted powers and scope of the Act. It would be difficult to detail the wide range of subjects that interested General Pitt-Rivers, and the remarkable knowledge he had on so many subjects. He was by no means a man whose sympathies narrowed with age. His strong physique, indomitable energy and imperious will enabled him to accomplish an immense amount of work, and his trained mind, combined with wide knowledge and sympathy, rendered that -work of especial merit. Possessed of an abundance of means, he spent lavishly on his beloved science. His strenuous life was devoted to the advancement of knowledge and to the instruction and recreation of the populace.’ » Ne The NOTES. THE council of the Society of Arts attended at Maliaaes House, on May 8, when his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, K.G., President of the Society, presented the Albert medal of the Society to:Sir William Crookes, F.R.S., ‘‘ for his extensive and laborious researches in chemistry and in physics ; researches which have, in many instances, developed, into useful Praaeeal applications in the arts and manufactures.” THE Paris correspondent of the Zémes states that the com- — mittee of the Paris Academy of Sciences has selected as candidates for election as permanent secretary, in place of the late M. Joseph Bertrand, M. Cornu, professor at the Ecole Polytechnique, and M. Darboux Jean, of the pected: of Sciences, in Paris. By the will of the late Mr. G. |. Symons, F.R.S., a valuable bequest is made to the Royal Meteorological Sodhety: Mr. Symons was a great lover of old books, and had succeeded in getting together an extensive meteorological library. He bequeathed to the Society all his books, pamphlets, maps and photographs a copy of which is not already in its library. He also bequeathed his Cross of the Legion of Honour, his Albert medal, and other decorations, as well as the testimonial album presented to him by the Fellows of the Society in 1879. In addition to the above he also bequeathed the sum of 200/. Mr. GOsCHEN made an important announcement at. the annual dinner of the [ron. and Steel Institute last week. He said that, with a view to developing the power of English guns by means of improving the propellant agent, a committee has been appointed, with Lord Rayleigh as chairman, to investigate the whole subject. The reference to the committee is to carry out trials to ascertain what are the best smokeless propellants for use in existing guns of all natures and in existing small arms, and to report as to whether any modification in the existing designs of guns is desirable with a view to developing to the full the powers of any propellant which may be proposed. 7 4 e. 4 i = May 17, 1900] NATURE 61 . Tue King of the Belgians has created Mr. Ey Windsor Richards, past president of the Iron and Steel Institute of Great ; Britain, a sea Commander of the Order of Leopold. s THE Royal Commissioners who were recently appointed to . ‘inquire into and report upon the condition of the salmon fisheries of England, Wales and Scotland, cominénced their _inguiry ¢ on Tuesday. Forty-six of the sixty-five automobile vehicles which left ~ London on April 23. for a 1000-mile trial, returned on Saturday last. From: a report in the 7#mes, we gather that the mechanical results of the trial have been very much what they were expected 0 be. That is to say, the established type of machine has ved itself entirely trustworthy, and between the Daimler, . and Panhard motors there has been, in the matter of r,” practically nothing to choose. Of the cars only four were driven by any other motive oa spirit, and of these one steamer only iced from Mr. Moore and Mr. Fergusson t the Tanganyika Expedition arrived at Lake Kivu ner 7, 1899, having left two of their party (Messrs. Te pean at the head of Lake Tanganyika. They ded the active volcano of Karunga, north of Lake £390 feet), but found only steam without lava issuing / snes They arrived on the shores of Lake Albert- s in Pik, near Mount Ruwenzori, which they Sad ascend, ving imens o: the very curious blind fish o: the Kentucky, U.S.A. (Amblyopsis spelaea), may now be | the Zoological Society’s fish-house, where they have osited by the Hon. Walter Rothschild. They are of a ‘uniform pale flesh colour. When exposed to the light creatures hide themselves among the stones in the tank they are placed, though when shaded they seem to about tid freely like other fishes, but usually keep near Ancient Monuments Protection Bill was read a second ein the House of Lords on Tuesday. The measure extends r of the Ancient Monument Act of 1882, and pro- s that local authorities should be empowered to take over tel of national monuments and to receive voluntary con- ibuti ons towards the cost of maintaining and preserving them. ] e of the London open spaces had been preserved in this nner, and there seemed no reason why the same principle d not be applied to monuments of archzological interest. Dy a U.S. Congress has under consideration a Bill for the nversion of the present Office of Standard Weights and easures into a National Standardising Bureau similar to the anstalt at Charlottenburg, and the National Physical ory. The clause dealing with the work of the bureau s as follows :—The functions of the bureau shall consist in tody of the standards ; the comparison of the standards ce, and educational institutions with the standards sted or recognised by the Government ; the construction ooeny of standards, their multiples and subdivisions ; g and calibration of standard measuring apparatus ; the lution of problems which arise in connection with standards ; ne determination of physical constants, and the properties of NO. 1594, VOL. 62] materials when such data are of great importance to scientific or manufacturing interests, and are not to be obtained of sufficient accuracy elsewhere. THE gold medal of the Linnean Ts of London, which is annually presented alternately to a zoologist and toa botanist» has this year been awarded to Prof. Alfred Newton, F.R.S., in recognition of his important contributions to zoological science. To the general public Prof. Newton’s name will be best known in .connection with the latest addition of Yarrell’s ‘‘ British Birds’. (vols. i. and ii, of which were revised and edited by, him), and the ‘‘ Dictionary of Birds,” an admirable compendium. of ornithology. As editor of the Zdés (1865-70), and of the ‘* Zoological Record” (1870-72), to which for some years previously he had supplied the annual record of the literature relating to Aves, he has placed ornithologists of all nations under great obligations to him, as he has done, also, by his publications on the avifauna of Iceland, Greenland, the West Indies, the Mascarene and Sandwich Islands, and by his articles in the ‘‘ Encyclopedia Britannica”’ and the ‘‘ Dictionary «of National Biography.” As chairman for many years of a com- mittee of the British Association he has been instramental in securing the publication of valuable reports on the migration of birds and in obtaining legislative protection for the more useful species by the appointment of a close time, The medal will be presented at the Anniversary Meeting of the Linnean Society. THE Académie Royale de Belgique announces the following prize subjects for 1900 :—Mathematical and Physical Scrences : A description of researches on critical phenomena in physics, together with new researches upon this subject ; new ‘re- searches on the viscosity. of liquids; study of-the de- rived carbonates of an element of ‘which the compounds are still little known; the variation of latitude, together with a discussion of the reasons which have been put forward to account for it ; a contribution to the algebraic and geometric study of 2 linear forms, # being greater than 3; new researches on the thermal conductivities of liquids and solutions... Natural Sciences: The determination of the limits of the Comblain-au- Pont formation, and the place it should occupy in geological classification. Is it Devonian or Carboniferous ?; researches on: the modifications produced in minerals by pressure ; researches on’ the organisation and development of a flat-worm with the object of determining whether there exist any phylogenic relationships between Platyhelminthes and Enteroccela; does a nucleus exist in Schizophytes (Schizomycetes) ? if so, what is its structure and mode of division ?; researches on Devonian plants of Bel- gium, from the point of view of description, stratigraphical posi- tion, and, if possible, anatomical characters. The value of the gold medal to be awarded for each subject is six hundred francs. Memoirs may be writtenin French or in Flemish, and must be sent to the secretary of the Academy by August I. WE learn rom the Z/ectrician that an instrument called the telephonograph, which is a modification of the phonograph,’ was recently inspected and tested by the German Postmaster- General and several engineers. Its inventor, Herr Paulsen, a Dane, has replaced the wax cylinder of the Edison phonograph by a steel band, and the style by a magnet energised by a tele- phone. Currents transmitted by the telephone pass through the electromagnet and create.consequent poles on the steel band, and more or less the converse operation is employed for: repro- ducing the sound. A long line can, of course, intervene between the transmitting telephone and the phonograph itself, and it is suggested that a telephone subscriber on leaving his office can set such a telephonograph to receive telephoned messages during his absence. 62 NATURE _ [May 17, 1900 EXPERIMENTS on the exposure and development of photo- graphic plates in ordinary light have recently been made by Prof. F. E. Nipher, and are described in Sczence. It appears that if a photographic plate in a camera is greatly over-exposed it may be developed in the light. A plate which should for ordinary work have an exposure of a second and a half for street or outdoor photography, may be exposed for two hours. When developed with weak hydrokinone by the light of a lamp, it gives a good positive. If the plate is held too near the lamp the light will dissolve a picture already appearing. If held too far away the plate begins to fog. By moving toward or from the lamp the proper illumination may be soon secured. It is remarkable that a street scene taken in this way shows not a moving thing on the streets. In Prof. Nipher’s pictures, tram- cars passing every two minutes, waggons, horses, pedestrians, left no trace upon the plate. But the fixed objects are shown perfectly, with their proper shadows and high lights. Prof. Nipher -points out that lantern slides and transparencies may be made directly by this method without re-photographing from a negative. Rdéntgen ray pictures can also be obtained upon plates which have been exposed to the light of an ordinary room for a few days, by developing in the manner described. Good radiographs have been thus produced upon plates which were uncovered during exposure to the rays. THE usual proof that the arithmetic mean of any number of positive quantities is greater than their geometric mean consists in showing that if any two of the quantities be replaced by their © semi-sum, the new series has the same arithmetic mean and a greater geometric mean. This proof, however, involves the assumption that if this process of substitution be repeated in- definitely, the ultimate result will be a series of quantities each equal to the arithmetic mean of the original series. We have never seen this property proved, and it is certainly by no means an obvious truth in the general case, for the result of the repeated operations is always a fraction whose denominator is a power of 2, while the arithmetic mean of quantities has 7 for its de- nominator. We are glad to see that Mr. G. E. Crawford, writing in the Proceedings of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society, recommends an alternative proof in which the number of steps is finite, and the above assumption is not made. Two such proofs are possible, both of which run on somewhat parallel lines, and Mr. Crawford refers to a text-book which appeared a | few years ago for the alternative to the proof now given. WE have received from Prof. A. Klossovsky, the energetic director of the meteorological system of South-west Russia, a very valuable contribution to climatology. The work consists of two volumes, text and charts, and embraces the large area running from about the latitude of London to the northern shores of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, and bounded on the east by the River Dnieper. The observations used in the discussion include those made at the stations belonging both to the Central Meteorological Service of St. Petersburg and to the South-west Russian system, and embrace a period of twenty-five years (1871-1895). The tables exhibit monthly, yearly and five-yearly values of all the principal elements, and the distribu- tion of thunderstorms and hail. The charts are coloured, and show very clearly the mean annual distribution of rainfall, the number of days of thunderstorms and hail, mean and extreme temperatures, and the distribution of cloud and humidity. The tables are arranged in various ways, and furnish most useful statistics for agriculturists and for men of science generally. In describing some Neocene corals of the United States (Proc. U.S. National Museum, vol. xxii. 1900), Dr. H. S. Gane re- marks that a majority of the corals in these Eocene, Miocene NO. 1594, VOL. 62] and Pliocene formations belong to extinct species. They do not, however, present any close kinship with the corals of a like — age in the West Indies, but are more nearly related to tho e now living in the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean. Mr. Cecit B. CRAMPTON, who has for some time been assistant to Prof. Boyd Dawkins in the museum at Owen’s College, Manchester, has been appointed an assistant geologist on the Geological Survey of Scotland. 5 Mr. Lester F. WARD gives an account of the wonderful ‘* Petrified Forest ” or ‘‘ Chalcedony Park” of Arizona (Report to Department of the Interior, U.S. Geol. Survey, 1900). Count- less logs of silicified wood occur over a wide area in Arizona, but they are especially abundant in a particular tract known as the ‘‘ Petrified Forest,’ east of Holbrook, between the Little Colorado and Rio Puerco, Here the logs lie in the greatest profusion, ‘‘ while the ground seems to be everywhere studded — with gems, consisting of broken fragments of all shapes and sizes, and exhibiting all the colours of the rainbow.” These silicified blocks are not z s¢tz, but have been derived from a bed of conglomeratic sandstone of Triassic age, which is exp on the margin of a high plateau. Mr. Ward refers also to a well- known ‘‘ Natural Bridge,” which consists of a petrified trunk lying across a canyon, and forming a footbridge, and he observes that the trunk here is 27 sétz. taken to preserve these natural phenomena. seo c-h A REPORT on the proposed railway from the Commune des Houches, Bonneville, in Haute-Savoie, to the summit of Mont Blanc, has been published by M. Joseph Vallot, Director of the Mont Blanc Observatory, and M. Henri Vallot, engineer. This great undertaking was projected by M. Saturnin Fabre, but various routes have been suggested. These are fully dis- cussed by the authors, who give reasons for recom : ng a route which starts from the valley of the Arve at an elevation of about 3000 feet, and proceeds-by the Aiguille du Gotiter and the Déme du Gotiter to a terminus at the Petits Rochers Rouges, where the elevation is about 15,000 feet. The total . length ot the railway would be about seven miles, and from an elevation of about 4000 feet to its upward termination, the line | would for the most part be subterranean. There would be several openings, and also stations giving access to the mountain, at points of special interest and beauty. M. Joseph Vallot contributes chapters on the geology, including the glacial phenomena, and these are illustrated by a section showing the nature of the solid rocks through which the railway would be _ carried, and the thickness of the glacier-ice above. For a short distance the tunnelling would be made through Liassic slates and Trias with gypsum, and then’ wholly through various crystalline schists. net A IN his memoir recently published in the Philosophical Trans- actions (see NATURE, April 19, p. 595), Mr. Oldham has shown that, in recording the movements due to distant earthquakes, He advocates that means be ee the heavy vertical pendulums employed in Italy answer most readily to the early tremors, while the light horizontal pendulums of Rebeur-Paschwitz and others are most affected by the later- : arriving surface-undulations. Dr. G. Agamennone has discussed the same subject independently in a note read on February 18 — before the R. Accademia dei Lincei of Rome. Papa Observatory, of which he is director, are two horizontal pendulums provided with mechanical registration. that these instruments fail to indicate small local shocks, while in recording distant earthquakes they lag behind the vertical pendulums with stationary masses. But, by increasing the” At the Roccadi: _ It is found — es ee eee May 17, 1900] NATURE 63 which the horizontal pendulums carry from 25 to 60 kg., _ this defect almost disappears. Dr. Agamennone therefore pro- “poses to erect an additional pair of horizontal pendulums at Rocca di Papa in which the masses shall be at least 500 kg., the - period of oscillation 10 to 15 seconds, and the magnifying ratio _of the writing stiles 50, and possibly 100. He also suggests a le system of registration ; the stiles at one end are to write on white paper moving with a velocity of about 50 cm. - per hour, and at the other end on an endless strip of smoked paper, which, on the occurrence of a shock, will be made to ‘ aa The former record will enable the D to be determined, and the latter the te trip F Sere yaa ha eeoeived the Transactions and Repore of the Man- the Proc, Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., entitled “On nrecognised form of blood circulation without capil- ocean, of Vertebrata.” ‘‘ Sinusoids” is the name ed-for the newly-discovered vessels, which are said to eay respects from true pees e South London Art Gallery, Peckham Road, Cam- y be described as a wonderful ‘‘ pennyworth.” Not contain two excellent photographic plates of corals, s an excellent popular introduction to the study of ful structures. The collection in question is the rt. J. Morgan, of St. Leonards, who has kindly ‘them for public exhibition. last Refort we are glad to notice that the Felsted Society appears in a flourishing condition. chemistry receive a larger share of attention than case in school societies, owing, doubtless, to ‘that ‘the president, Mr. A. E. Munby, teaches these s in the school. Dr, Charles Hose has kindly offered to 2 selection from his Bornean treasures if proper accom- on = be obtained for their display. : is the title of the fourth issue of the Liverpool cal Committee’s memoirs. The remarkable ies ovigiaally described as Fucus tomentosus, but signated Codéum tomentosum, is one of three British ntal ives of the group Codiaceae, but the only one found n the area treated of in this series of memoirs. Although “coor it occurs within the district only in shallow FOC items the South end of the Isle of Man. The plants } and fruit in winter; the season of fructification ntly extending from November till February. The of the memoir have worked out the life-history of the 1 so far as their materials admitted of this being done ; : are certain problems connected with the reproduction quire further investigation. R. R W. SuuFELDT contributes a paper on the psychology hes to the April number of the American Naturalist. In 1 it may be said that fishes possess excellent visual power, ; o the exact discrimination between objects ; and there is son to believe that they are extremely sensitive to any. , of their native element, when such disturbance is ’ the range of appreciation of their nervous organs. , however, any fish has the extreme sensibility of the Clepsine, which, when the experiment is conducted with NO. 1594, VOL. 62] proper precautions, will be conscious of the touch of a needle- point on the surface of the water of the dish in which it is placed, is more than doubtful. The peculiar sensitiveness to teasing exhibited by the fish known as the snowy grouper (Zpinephelus niveatus) is instanced by the author as a pheno- menon requiring special explanation. When much disturbed, this fish displays a spasm, or fit, much resembling the contor- tions of death, eventually floating belly-upwards, and at the same time changing colour. The author suggests that these movements are for the purpose of warning off predatory fish, which prefer to take their prey in a healthy condition after an exciting chase. A PRELIMINARY Report on the Klondike Goldfields, Yukon District, Canada, has been published by Mr. R. G. McConnell. (Printed in advance from the Summary Report, Geol. Surv. Canada for 1899, 1900). The rocks consist of stratified and foliated rocks, mostly Palzeozoic, and of granites and other erup- tive rocks of Tertiary age. Of the older rocks, the Klondike series constitutes the country rock along the productive portions of all the richer creeks. - It mainly comprises micaceous schists, greatly crushed and altered, which pass in places into a granitoid rock. Quartz veins are very abundant, and these occasionally contain free gold. The placer deposits have derived their gald from the quartz veins and silicified schists of the district ; and it is considered probable that productive veins, or zones offcountry rock, will eventually be discovered. A fairly full account is given of the placer deposits, so far as they are known, but the author remarks that the work of the prospector will not be completed for many years. The valleys known to be productive in gold are shown on a map. ‘** Norges on the Fossil Flora of South Gippsland,” by Mr. James Stirling, Government geologist, have been published by the Department of Mines, Victoria (1900). The plants, which: include ferns, cycads and conifers, were obtained from Jurassic strata. They are illustrated in six plates, which accompany the notes, and which were prepared under the direction of the late Sir Frederick McCoy. MEssrs. ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE AND Co. will publish in a few weeks Mr. W. Worby Beaumont’s new and comprehensive work, ‘‘ Motor Vehicles and Motors: Their Design, Construc- tion and Working by Steam, Oil and Electricity.” Pror. J. A. EwiNe’s standard work on ‘* Magnetic Induction in Iron and Other Metals” (The Zéectrictan Printing and Publishing Co.) has reached a third edition. A chapter has been added on practical magnetic testing, and important advances made since the book was originally published have been taken into consideration. Messrs, NEWMAN AND GUARDIA, LIMITED, have just placed a new quarter-plate pocket camera—the ‘‘ Nydia ”—upon the market. The camera is fitted with a special 54-inch lens, either Zeiss, Wray or Ross make ; it carries twelve films or eight plates ; when folded it measures only 7} x 4} x 1} inches, and it only weighs, when loaded, 1} lbs. Photographers re- quiring a portable and efficient hand camera at a moderate price should see the ‘‘ Nydia.” THE fourth edition of ‘‘ Psycho-therapeutics,”’ by Dr. C. Lloyd Tuckey, has been issued by Messrs. Balliére, Tindall and Cox. The third edition was published nearly ten years ago and since that time hypnotism and suggestion have become recognised forms of medical treatment. Dr. Tuckey’s work is a useful statement of the development of the system of psycho- 64 NATURE [May 17, 1900 therapeutics, both from the theoretical and practical sides, and it will’ show practitioners what can be accomplished by hypnotic suggestion. ALTHOUGH a large amount of work has been published upon the physical properties of dilute solutions of single electrolytes, the experimental study of solutions of mixed electrolytes, notwith- standing its great interest from the point of view of the electrolytic theory of dissociation, has not been worked at so extensively. The theoretical discussion of such mixtures leads to a set of equations somewhat difficult to solve ; but since Prof. MacGregor, of the Dalhousie College, Halifax, Nova Scotia, showed how to solve these equations by a simple graphical method, systematic re- searches have been carried on at this college on the properties of such mixed solutions of electrolytes. A recent paper, by Mr. J. Barnes, in the Zyansactéons of the Nova Scotian Institute of Science, deals with the depression of the freezing point in salts containing a common ion; and the results show that in the case of mixtures of potassium chloride and sodium chloride, and of sodium chloride and hydrochloric acid, and of all three, it is possible, with the ionisation coefficients obtained by Prof. Mac- Gregor’s method, and onethe assumption that the molecular depression of an electrolyte in a mixture is the same as it would be in a simple solution of the same total concentration, to predict the depression of the freezing point within the limits of the error involved in observation and calculation. _ THE additions to the Zoological Society’s Gardens during the past week include a Bonnet Monkey ( A/acacus sénicus, 3 ) from India, presented by Lady Malcolm, of Poltalloch; a White- crested Tiger Bittern (Z%grisoma Jeucolophum) from West Africa, presented by Mr. W. F. Marshal ; four Chaplin Crows (Corvus capellanus) from Southern Persia, presented by Mr. B. T. Ffinch; a Cinereous Vulture (Vultur monachus), European, presented by Mr. W. E. Found; a Common Boa (Boa constrictor) from South America, presented by Mr. F. H. Preston; two Egyptian Foxes (Canis méloticus) from North Africa, two Prevost’s Squirrels (Sczeeras prevost2) from Malacca, a Ring-tailed Coati (asua rufa) from South America, two Porto Rico Pigeons (Columb osa) from the West Indies, a Sclater’s Cassowary (Caswarius sclaterz), two Red-sided Eclectus (Eclectus pectoralis) from New Guinea, four Logger- head Turtles (7%assochelys caretla) from Tropical seas, twelve Elegant Terrapins (Chvysemys scripta elegans), seventeen Lesueur’s Terrapins (MJadlacoclemmys lesueurz) from North America, twelve Adorned Terrapins (Chrysemys ornata) from Central America, seven Reeves’s Terrapins (Damonia reeves?) from China, deposited ; five Hairy Armadillos (Dasypus vedlosus) from La Plata, four Common Indian Starlings (Sturnus menz- bierz), a Bengal Fox (Canis bengalensis) from India, two Meyer’s Parrots (Poeocephalus meyeri) from South-east Africa, four Australian Sheldrakes (Zadorna tadornoides), five Wood Swallows (Artamus sordidus) from Australia, six Sulphury Tyrants (Pitangus sulphuratus), a Black-pointed Teguexin (Zzpinambis nigropunctatus) from South America, purchased ; a Crowned Lemur (Lemur coronatus), six Common Wolves (Canis lupus), a Llama (Lema peruana) born in the Gardens. OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN UNPUBLISHED OBSERVATIONS AT RADCLIFFE OBSERVA- TORY, 1774-1838.—In a pamphlet containing a reprint of an article in Monthly Notices, vol. lx. pp. 265-293, Dr. A. A. Ram- baut, Radcliffe observer at: Oxford, calls attention to a very valuable.collection of astronomical observations which are_pre- NO. 1594, VOL. 62] the time parallel to the motion of the moon, thereby served at the Radcliffe Observatory, but have not been reduced or published. Two of the Oxford astronomers, Profs. Hornsby Ws and Robertson, spent a large amount of labour in reduci Bradley’s observations made at Greenwich from 17#0-1762, an further continued his work by themselves maintaining a system-- atic and regular series of observations for sixty-five years, from 1774-1838. These were all made with the instruments sup- plied by Bird to the Radcliffe Observatory at its installation, consisting of two quadrants each of 8-feet radius, a transit in- strument of 8-feet focal leugth, and a zenith sector of 12-feet focus. The observations have all been methodically copied in a similar form to their printed edition of Bradley’s observations, and contain altogether about 130,000 transits and 60,000 zenith distances. Dr. Rambaut states that his staff at present could not undertake the reductions ; but, in order to show the extreme importance of the data available, he has made a selection of them, giving the probable errors compared with other observers. j Sy The planets and sun have received considerable attention, there being about 8000 observations of the sun alone, a number little less than that on which Leverrier’s tables were founded, and, moreover, covering the period when the corrections to the mean longitude of the sun, as deduced at Greenwich, Paris and Konigsberg, are most discordant. ; The working list of stars includes about 4870 of those ob- served by Flamsteed and Bradley, so that direct comparisons could be made in the reductions. specially apparent in the question of proper motions, alee up as they do the long gaps between Bradley and Piazzi, or Bradley and Pond. Specimens of Dr. Rambaut’s reductions are given in the paper to show the high degree of accuracy attained by the observations. eae MaxIMUM DuRATION FOR A TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE.— Mr. C. T. Whitmell, president of the Leeds Astronomical Society, recently read a paper showing the results of calcula- tions he had made in the endeavour to ascertain what is the maximum duration possible for a total solar eclipse (A/onthly Notices, R.A.S., vol. lx. pp. 435-441). After considering the several effects of the varying distances of sun and moon from the earth in determining size of umbra and velocity of shadow, he cites the following five conditions as required for maximum duration of totality :— : ote (1) The new moon, at or very near a node, must also be at the most favourable perigee possible ; (2) the sun must be at apogee ; (3) during totality, which should be observed at local noon, the moon’s shadow should run along a parallel of latitude, in order that the diurnal movement of the observer may be for ucin its full effect in detaining him within the umbra; (4) the on and moon should be in the zenith, so that the umbra may be as large as possible ; (5) the observer should be on the equator, so that his linear velocity may be as great as possible. Of these, owing to the sun and moon zo¢ moving in the plane of the celestial equator, it is impossible that (4) and (©) can be simultaneously fulfilled ; (5) is more favourable than (4). Taking the moon’s horizontal, parallax as 61’ 22”, A earth’s radius as 3963 miles, moon’s »» 1081°5 miles, ~ 9 99 9 ” ¥ \ and using the present accepted ec/épse values of the diameters of the sun and moon, the maximum totality will occur near the middle of July, at noon, in geocentric north latitude about 4° 52’, and will last about 7m. 4os., the sun being at apogee with a parallax of 8”°70. This ison the assumption that the declinations of the two bodies are considered practically constant during — totality. The author gives the following list of long duration eclipses, calculated by Mr. Crommelin from Oppolzer’s data :— \ i Position of noon point | id Duration at Date © Re Longitude — Latitude ‘ er 1 - By see 1901 May 18 6 41°6 97 E. £3. 1919 May 29 7 6 °6.~ os ome ie 4N. 1937 June 8 9: 3Q'Os a, Bas 10 N. 1955 June 20 7 2atG ee wap koe 15 N. 1973 June 30 7 AGO. 0 (OB 19 N. 1991 July 11 Ti FON. eae ROSH WN 22 N. Their great value would be May 17, 1900] NATURE 65 THE FRESH-WATER LOCHS OF SCOTLAND. - : HE introduction to this paper, published in the Geographical : Journai, includes the correspondence that passed between ____ the Royal Societies of London and Edinburgh and Her Majesty’s Treasury in 1883 and 1884, relative to the survey by a Govern- ment Department of some of the inland lakes of Scotland. The weighty arguments brought to bear upon the Government by these learned societies failed in their object, and the Govern- ; ment declined to undertake the proposed surveys. In these circumstances the authors determined a few years ago to make a systematic survey of all the fresh-water lochs of Scotland, and the present paper is the first instalment in the publication of their results, dealing with a compact series of lakes directly or indirectly connected with the water-supply to the city of Glasgow, viz. Lochs Katrine, Arklet, Achray, Vennachar, _ Drunkie, Voil, Doine and Lubnaig, which form part of one united drainage system having its outflow by the River Teith. Fic, 1,—F. P. Pullar’s sounding machine. _ _ In order to overtake the large amount of work contemplated, ‘. involving an immense number of soundings, within a reasonable _ time, it was necessary to have a portable wire sounding machine _ adapted for rapid work in small rowing boats. Mr. Pullar _ designed, and had made, a sounding machine (see Fig. 1), which _ is described and figured ; this apparatus is admirably adapted for _ the purpose in view, and with it all the soundings in the different _ lakes were taken. __, The total number of soundings recorded in the paper, taken in the eight lochs mentioned, was 2422, the number varying * 775 im the largest (Loch Katrine) to go in the smallest _ (Loch Doine). These soundings were laid down in position on _ the large scale (six-inch) Ordnance Survey maps, and contour- _ lines of depth drawn at certain intervals, from which with the aid of the planimeter the cubic mass of water in each loch was i i 1 “A Bathymetrical a. of the Fresh-water Lochs of Scotland.” By John Murray, K.C.B., D.Sc., F.R.S., and Fred. P. Pullar, Esq., ree Part 2 The Lochs of the T. chs and Callander District. ms NO. 1594. VOL. 62] - calculated. The soundings}show that Lochs Katrine, Arklet, Achray, Voil and Doine form each a single basin, while in Lochs Lubnaig, Drunkie and Vennachar the irregularities of the bottom cut up the deep parts of the lochs into separate basins. The most important of the lakes under consideration is the well-known Loch Katrine, which is eight miles in length, one mile in maximum width, with an area of 4# square miles. The greatest depth, 495 feet (824 fathoms), was found much nearer the eastern than the western end, so that a section drawn down the centre of the loch from west to east: (see Fig. 2) shows a gradual increase of depth for nearly four-fifths of the total length, and then a more rapid rise of the bottom to- wards the eastern end. A section across the loch from north to south (see Fig. 3) shows the deeper part at the point chosen for the section nearer the southern than the northern shore. The mean depth of the loch, z.e. the cubic mass of water divided by the area, is 199 feet. The sur- face of the loch lies at an elevation of 364 feet above the sea, hence a considerable portion of the bottom (over one square mile) falls below the level of the sea; in this respect Loch Katrine differs from all the other lochs treated of. In connection with the water-supply to Glasgow, Loch Katrine was raised four feet above its pre- vious level, and it is now in process of being raised an additional five feet. Loch Arklet is a small Highland loch situated between Lochs Katrine and Lo- mond, at an elevation of 455 feet above the sea. It is over a mile in length, nearly half a mile in maximum width, and covers an area of about one-third of a square mile. The greatest depth, 67 feet, was found nearer the western than the eastern end; the mean depth is 24 feet. Loch Arklet at present belongs to the watershed of Loch Lomond, but the Corporation of Glasgow have power to divert its waters into the Loch Katrine watershed, with the view of increasing the supply of water to that city. Loch Achray is situated between Lochs Katrine and Vennachar, at an elevation of 276 feet above the sea. It receives the outflow from Loch Katrine and flows into Loch Vennachar,, the level of which is six feet lower. Loch Achray is about 1} miles in length, and one-third of a mile in maxi- mum width, covering an area of about one-third of a square mile. The greatest depth, 97 feet. was recorded in two places approximately in the centre of the loch ; the mean depth is 36 feet. Loch Vennachar is about four miles in length, with a maxi- mum breadth of less than three-quarters of a mile, and covers an area of over 14 square miles. The greatest depth, 111 feet, is situated approximate- ly in the centre of the loch ; the mean depth is 424 feet. Loch Vennachar has been raised five feet nine inches in connection with he Glasgow water-supply. for the purpose of providing compensation water to the River Teith. Fic. 2.—Longitudi nal section of Loch Katrine along the axis of maximum depth. ‘lhe black portion shows the true slopes; the outline shows the slopes exaggerated ten times. Fic. 3.—Transverse section of Loch Katrine. The black portion shows the true slopes ; the out- line shows the slopes exaggerated ten times, 66 NATURE [May 17, 1900 Loch Drunkie is a peculiar irregular little Highland lake, shut in on all sides by high hills, situated, at an elevation of 416 feet above sea-level, a quarter of a mile to the south of Loch Venna- char, into which it flows. It is remarkable in shape, a quad- rangular body throwing out three arms in different directions ; the maximum length is over a mile, the maximum width of the body over a quarter of a mile, and the area nearly a quarter of a square mile. The greatest depth, 97 feet, was found near the base of the north-eastern arm; the mean depth is 36 feet. Loch Drunkie was raised twenty-five feet in connection with the Glasgow water-supply, for the purpose of supplying compen- sation water to the River Teith. Lochs Voil and Doine formed at no distant date a continuous loch, which has been divided into two portions by the material deposited by the rivers. The level of these lochs being fifty feet higher than that of Loch Katrine, it has been suggested that an additional supply of water to Glasgow can be obtained by means of a tunnel from Loch Doine to Loch Katrine through the intervening hills. Loch Voil is over 34 miles in length, about one-third of a mile in maximum width, and covers an area of nearly nine-tenths of a square mile. The greatest depth, 98 5G: on F bod Temperature of LOCH KATRINE sé|! 4 \ \ ‘gel \ | Wil 327 \ a1: | \ Hivkowe se APRIL 1899 os ie \ JUNE 1897 ben Sg PA SR, —JUNE 1898 ary —_____ NOVEMBER 1897 bse graphically in Fig. 4. The relation between the variation of temperature and the size and depth of the lochs is pointed out, and shows how much more suitable a large deep Take 4 is, as a source of water-supply, than a shallow basin, ensuring a relatively low temperature in summer and a relatively high temperature in winter. Interesting observations were made on the pel other organisms in the various lochs, and on their variation with the season, certain species being obtained in abundance" t certain seasons and absent or rare at other seasons, a The amount of rain falling annually on the drainage areas of these lochs was estimated by three methods, the Dake grouped into two series, viz. Lochs Katrine, Achray, e and Vennachar, which have their outlet at the eastern end « Loch Vennachar. forming one series ; and Lochs Doine, Vi and Lubnaig, which have their outlet at the southern end of Loch Lubnaig, forming the other series. The readings of the rain-gauges at all the observing stations within and near the catchment- basins of these lochs were grouped together into two series corresponding with the two series of lochs indicated, and the average annual rainfall at the average height of the calculated for each series. — By the first method, 2 per cent. of annual rainfall was added for each 100 feet of mean height of the catchment-basin above the average height of the rain-gauges, and a figure thus obtained representing the aneeee annual rain- fall over the entire catchment-basin. By the second method, the increase of 24 per cent. per 100 feet of height was used to calculate the probable annual rainfall at the same heights and intervals as the contour-lines on the Ordnance Survey A third method was afforded by drawing lines of equal = on a map of the district. The total amount of rain falling on the catchment-basins of the two series of lochs indicated was calculated by these three methods, and the results bene by the first two methods agree very closely, while th obtained by the third method were in each case i ‘bly less. The mean obtained by the three methods Bie mare be regarded as a close approximation to the’ amount of rain falling annually on these catchment-basins, viz. 14,100 million cubic feet for the Vennachar catchment, and 1 million cubic feet forthe Lubnaig catchment. mn In the case of the Vennachar catchment a unique unity is presented for comparing the vutflow with the rainfall, for a record has been taken twice a day of the depth of Taser over a weir at the east end of Loch Vennachar Katrine has been made use of by the Glasgow Co on as the source of the water-supply to that city. The readings of the depth of the outflowing water during the year 1869 have been calcu- lated out, and the outflow for that year has been estimated at 9572 million cubic feet. Peer The quantity of water supplied to Glasgow. during the year 1869 is estimated at 1660 million cubic feet. There is thus an. excess of rainfall, according to the mean of the three methods, over the overflow of 2860 9 5S 10 FATHOMS Fic. 4.—Temperature of the water in Loch Katrine. feet, was found towards the western end; the mean depth is 41 feet. Loch Doine is nearly a mile in length, and over a quarter of a mile in maximum breadth, with an area of nearly a quarter of a square mile. The greatest depth, 65 feet, was found towards the eastern end; the mean depth is 33 feet. Loch Lubnaig is one of the most interesting of the lochs under consideration, the configuration of the bottom being much more irregular than in any of the others. It receives the outflow from Lochs Doine and Voil, its level being nine feet lower (405 feet above sea-level). The greatest depth, 146 feet, was found approximately near the centre of the loch ; the mean depth is 42% feet. The contour-lines of depth do not follow the contour -of the loch, hollows and ridges alternate with each other, and in some places comparatively deep water is found close to the shore, while in other places shallow water extends a consider- able distance from shore. The deposits forming on the floor of these lochs are described in detail, and the numerous temperature observations taken at the surface and at various depths down to the bottom (some of which were taken as recently as March 1900) are fully discussed. The. serial temperatures taken in -Loch Katrine are shown NO. 1594, VOL. 62] 15 20 25 50 85 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80824 million cubic feet. This difference must be accounted for by absorption, evaporation and loss of water by underground channels. © The readings of the outflow for a series of twenty-five years or more would be a far more satisfactory basis for calculation than a single year’s readings (and. the year 1869 was not an. average, but a very dry year), and it would be very interesting to have the average annual outflow calculated over the whole period during which the record has been kept, in the same way as the mean annual rainfall is calculated for a particular station. Records of é the rainfall at high elevations in different parts of the catchm basins would also be desirable in comparing the avera: rainfall with the average annual outflow. Appended to the paper is an account of the geology o district by Messrs. B. N. Peach, F.R.S., and J. Horne, F. based on materials collected during the Geological Survey of that region, and published by permission of Sir Archibald Geikie, the Director-General. A brief sketch is given of the ge ological structure of the area embracing the various lochs, which has an~ i important bearing on the question of the evolution of the valley-. ia It is shown that, along the Highland border, there isa system. great development of conglomerates, grits and greywac longing partly to the crystalline schists and partly to the Old Red Sandstone. These strata, being vertical or nearly so, would be much less easily eroded than the gently inclined schistose rocks. di nS ha 7% > es a Os U May 17, 1900] NATURE 67 tee lying to the north-west. Such an arrangement would naturally lead to the formation of narrow and comparatively flat-bottomed aa behind rocky gorges, the latter being cut through the : vertical beds of hard grit and conglomerate along the Highland border. Evidence is adduced to show how this remarkable structure likewise contributed to the erosion of rock basins during the glacial period. The glacial phenomena of the region are : reviewed, which indicate at least two periods of glaciation ; one, : when the ice-shed lay to the north of the area under considera- tion, when the ice-movement was. independent of the existing val em, and when even the highest mountains were over- ridden by the ice. This great development was followed by a period of local glaciation, when the glaciers were confined mainly to the existing valleys. Lastly, the soundings of the various lochs are viewed in relation to the geological history of the area, and with reference to the question of the origin of the various lakes. It is shown that some of the lochs are typical rock basins, that in some instances the deepest ocoahag in front of the rocky barriers at or near their is made to all the important faults traversing thich have led to the more rapid disintegration of ials, but though they have in certain cases produced ions of the floors of the lakes, they cannot account for ration of the rock basins. The soundings of Loch ¥ reveal the striking fact that one of the deep basins in e lies on the upthrow side of the most powerful fault : ng the crystalline schists of that region. Messrs. Peach nd Horne believe that the soundings of the various lakes in the basin of the Teith above Callander furnish strong evidence in ee Ramsay’s theory of their excavation by ice-action. ‘The paper is illustrated by seven coloured maps, the first three "ing on 2 small scale the orography and drainage areas, the bar and the rainfall of the district, the other four # wing on ‘a larger scale the bathymetry of the various lochs __and the relief of the surrounding country. There are also Pxemetouniwoodcuts, some of which are reproduced in this ‘. + he ¢ eh patos , CUT - —-- pres "IRON AND STEEL INSTITUTE. anon meeting of the Iron and Steel Institute was held ae on ‘eins ieee and Thursday, May 9 and 10, in the hall of : Rae! of Civil Engineers, under the presidency of Sir P Roberts-Austen, K.C.B., F.R. S. The attendance of members, was larger than at any previous gathering. The rt of the council, which was read by the secretary, Mr. it H. Brough, showed that the Institute i is in a flourishing . The receipts last year were greater than in any r, 110 new members were added to the roll, the iginal papers was well maintained, and a Roy al rea iif Taborporition had been granted. After the aoa ‘aaah baie, the president presented the Bessemer gold _ medal for 1900 to Mr. Henri de Wendel, the eminent French 4 2 a in recognition of his great services to metallurgy in “ee the iron-ore resources of French and German Lor- raine. Mr. de Wendel having expressed his appreciation of the honour ra upon him, Mr. Stead announced that he had ; reese ne the reading of his paper until the autumn ie Pc ame F "Riley then described the various attempts that have been made to use fluid metal in the open-hearth furnace. The ‘results he obtained at Wishaw, in 1898, were encouraging, and experience over a considerable period show that great advantages are derived from the adoption of this method. The best future -open-hearth » he considers, will include the use of fluid ~ metal direct the blast furnaces. ae cba per read was one of most conspicuous novelty, by ar, is t, on the open-hearth continuous steel process. Seg was introduced at the Pencoyd steelworks in Penn- The furnace used is a basic-lined tilting furnace of nty-five tons capacity. Many thousands of tons of steel ve been made by this method with very satisfactory results, all les of steel having been produced. The cost and delay in rging cold material is avoided. There is a saving in fuel in ot g molten pig iron. The demand for a large supply of scrap is dispensed with. A regular supply of steel in any sired quantity and at frequent intervals is insured. There is ccs output, an increased yield, and a saving in repairs and in labour charges. At the same time it is possible to use NO. 1594, VOL. 62] very large furnaces, with consequent reduction in cost of pro- duction, without the necessity for very large cranes and ladles. A long discussion followed the reading of the paper, the opinion being general that the process is an important advance in open- hearth steel practice. Mr. A. Greiner gave an account of the results obtained at the Cockerill works, Belgium, with the first blowing-engine worked by blast-furnace gas ever employed in any ironworks. This 600 horse-power engine has been running since November 20 last with unpurified gas taken from the Seraing blast-furnaces. Baron H. von Jiiptner submitted a further instalment of his researches on the theory of solution of iron and steel. He dis- cussed the application of the laws of chemical mechanics in the case of iron carbon alloys, and showed what an important bear- ing thermo-chemistry possesses for a knowledge of the constitu- tion of the alloys of iron and their alterations of state. The meeting then adjourned until May 10, when Mr. C. Dellwik dealt with the manufacture and application of water- gas, describing the production of the gas by means of a simple apparatus with a degree of economy surpassing that of other less valuable gas. Whilst in the old processes the Bas leaving the generator during the blow contains principally carbon monoxide and nitrogen, in the author’s process it consists chiefly of carbon dioxide and nitrogen. The subject of utilising blast-furnace slag is a fruitful source of inquiry, and a recent important development was dealt with by Mr. C. von Schwarz. This is a successful method of manu- facturing cement from blast-furnace slag, recently employed in Germany and Belgium. The cement thus made obtains a higher price in the market than ordinary Portland cement. Mr. L. F. Gjers and Mr. J. H. Harrison described an apparatus for equalising the varying temperatures of hot blast. Hitherto the hot blast has been allowed to enter the furnace as it left the stove, and in order to obviate the interference with the steady working of the furnace, the authors have devised an apparatus consisting practically of another small stove with a central division wall. It is filled with chequer work ; and the hot blast, entering at one side of varying temperature, is delivered out at the other side at an even mean temperature. The form of ingot that would seem to be the most natural for the manufacture of a gun-tube or a propeller shaft is one with a circular section, Mr. F. J. R. Carulla, however, pointed out the drawbacks of this form, and showed that a polygonal ingot with ser sie sides answers the required conditions. Mr. H. K. Scott contributed a paper on manganese ore de- posits and mining in Brazil, giving a detailed account of the geological structure of the deposits, and of the economic development of the industry. After the usual votes of thanks to the Institution of Civil Engineers, proposed by Sir John Alleyne, Bart., and to the president for his conduct in the chair, proposed by Mr. Carnegie, the proceedings terminated. Incidentally, Mr. Carnegie announced his intention of founding a scholarship in connection with the Iron and Steel Institute for the advance- ment of research in connection with iron and steel. THE ROYAL SOCIETY CONVERSAZIONE. THE general opinion of the scientific company at the Royal Society on Wednesday, May 9; on the occasion of the first of the two soirées held annually, was that novel and striking exhibits were not so numerous as in some exhibitions of previous years. The following were among the most noteworthy exhibits :— Mr. Richard Kerr showed a clock controlled at a distance by wireless telegraphy of the Hertzian wave system. Mr, J. Wimshurst, F.R.S., exhibited an influence machine, constructed e twelve plates of vulcanite. Prof. Silvanus P. Thompson, F.R.S., showed some pretty electromagnetic experiments, one being the converse of De La Rive’s experiment, using floating magnet instead of floating battery, and others showing new varieties of the De La Rive experiment (see p. 71). Prof. Minchin, F.R.S., showed that luminous flashes could be induced in a helium tube by Hertz waves. An electric micrometer was shown by Mr. P. E. Shaw. The instrument was designed primarily to measure the small move- ments of a telephone diaphragm. A screw abuts on a system of three levers, set up on a strong wooden frame. By turning the 68 NATURE [May 17, 1900 screw, the far end of the levers moves to and fro through distances which can be controlled and measured. This end of the levers carries a rod, and the diaphragm.a small plate, both of iridio-platinum ; if these two surfaces touch one another, a flow of a small amount of electricity occurs, producing a sound in a telephone held by the observer; at the same time he reads by a telescope a graduated circular scale fixed on the screw. Since the screw and levers can be moved at will- by the observer, he can, by this contact method, find the position of the diaphragm, and follow its movements. Precautions against vibrations are taken by having indiarubber suspensions, and against temperature changes by covering the working parts with boxes wrapped in felt. Movements as small as 345th of a wave- length of sodium light have been measured by this apparatus. Mr. Killingworth Hedges exhibited jointing boxes and aigrettes used in the rearrangement of the lightning conductors of St. Paul’s Cathedral. The original system for the protection of the Cathedral from lightning was installed under the advice of the Royal Society in about’ 1756. This was replaced in 1872 by what was then considered the most improved method, when the unsoldered joints were found to be very defective ; in some cases they were quite loose ; also the earths, originally made by laying the cable in a drain which had become disused, were in some cases insulated from the ground. New earths have been substituted. The method adopted to protect the structure unites the old system and the new cables-to a hori- zontal conductor run on the top of the parapet, entirely round the building ; to this copper aigrettes as shown are teed at intervals. : Other electrical exhibits were models illustrating leakage from electric tramways, shown by Mr. A. P. Trotter, and improved forms of standard resistance coils made by the Cambridge Scientific Instrument Co., Ltd. Dr. Isaac Roberts, F.R.S., exhibited his magnificent volume of photographs of stars, star-clusters and nebulz, recently reviewed in NATURE (vol. lxi. p. 533). The volume contains seventy- two photographs, which have been enlarged by mechanical processes from the original negatives, and they furnish evidence of the evolution of stellar systems from nebulous matter as seen in the convolutions of spiral nebulz. They also furnish a founda- tion for the inference that the system of the W/ky Way is not unlimited in extent, and that the numerous aggregations of stars, seen in lines and curves in the stellar regions, indicate their development from spiral nebulee. Mr. Thomas Thorp exhibited some of his grating films and their application to diffraction colour photography, on Prof. Wood’s principle. Dr. Downing, R.S., exhibited maps illustrating the track of the total eclipse of the sun of May 28. Mr. W. A. Shenstone, F.R.S,, and Mr. H. G. Lacell showed a quantity of non-splintering silica, suitable for use in the oxy-gas flame. The method of converting this into tubes and other forms of apparatus, as recently described in NATURE (May 3), was demonstrated practically, together with experi- ments to illustrate the behaviour of vitreous silica under sudden and great changes of temperature. The following apparatus, constructed of silica, was also exhibited. A long tube for use with a platinum thermometer; a mercury thermometer ; bulbs and stems for thermometers ; a Giessler tube ; a small distilling tube ; and rods and tubes of various sizes for various purposes. Some examples of leadless glazed ware were shown by Dr. T. E. Thorpe, F.R.S. Mr. H. B. Hartley and Mr. H. L. Bowman gave a de- monstration of the properties of crystals yielding doubly-refracting liquids on fusion. - Certain crystalline organic compounds, viz. p-Azoxyanisol, -Azoxyphenetol, and Cholesteryl benzoate, have been found by Prof. Lehmann, of Carlsruhe, to give on melting (at temperatures of 116°, 134° and 145° respectively) liquids possessing the properties of double-refraction and dichroism, even under conditions in which a state of strain is impossible. When these: anisotropic liquids are further heated, they change at definite temperatures of transition (134°, 165° and 178° re- spectively) into ordinary isotropic liquids. The intermediate bodies have been called ‘liquid crystals,” for, although the evidence: of: their elasticity, viscosity, and dielectric capacity shows them to -be undoubtedly liquids, yet nevertheless they possess, like crystals, both ‘double refraction and dichroism.. ‘Specimens: from the reefs‘ of Funafuti were exhibited by Prof. J. W. Judd, C.B., F.R.S., on behalf of the Coral-Reef Committee of the Royal Society. The exhibits included :— (1) Specimens illustrating the rate of growth of corals ‘and NO. 1594, VOL. 62] calcareous algze from the reefs of Funafuti. Experiments made by Mr, A. E. Finckh, of Sydney, who in 1898 carried the boring made by Prof. T. E. David in the previous year from the depth of 698 ft. to 1114 ft., have thrown much new light upon this important question. Specimens illustrating these experiments are exhibited. (2) New and interesting forms of Foraminifera, which have been described by Mr. F. Chapman. Thesé include :—(a) Cycloclypens, a genus previously regarded as being very rare, but now shown to exist abundantly at Funafuti. . The two species formerly described are now shown to be dimorphic forms of the same organism. (4) A curious form of Polytrema, which occurs encrusting various objects in alternate layers with the marine alga Lzthothamnion, thus forming loose nodules. (c) The newly-described Haddonia, first obtained from Torres Straits, &c. : ae Prof. H. G. Seeley, F.R.S., showed drawings of restorations of Dimorphodon. ‘The drawings, of the natural size, are based upon fossil remains from the Lias, in the British Museum. They represent the skeleton as in the quadruped and biped positions ; and show the contours of the body at rest, walking, and preparing for flight, to illustrate proportions of the skeleton. Dr. C. I. Forsyth-Major exhibited remains of extinct gigantic and lesser lemurs from Madagascar, and living forms for com-. parison. Some beautiful examples of chalk fossils were exhibited by Dr. Arthur W. Rowe. ‘of vii Dr. Manson exhibited longitudinal sections of filariated mosquitoes (Culex czlvaris), showing that Filaria nocturna, like the malaria parasite, leaves its mosquito host v2@ the proboscis. 2 : A collection of living marine worms (Annelids) from the neighbourhood of Plymouth, designed to illustrate, as far as possible, the prominent features in the habits of life of the different types of this class of animals, and such modifications of form as are related thereto, formed the exhibit of the Marine Biological Association, | Rites Prof. E. Ray Lankester, F.R.S., on behalf of the Archzo- logical Survey of the Egypt Exploration Fund, showed repro- ductions of paintings and sculptures in tombs of Ancient Egypt, representing domestic and wild animals and birds. The tombs of Ancient Egypt contain abundant representations of animal life. In spite of the artists’ ignorance of perspective and oc- casional faulty colouring, the outlines are rendered with re- markable fidelity to nature, often enablin identified. Among domestic animals, the ogs are perhaps the most interesting, as showing that extreme development of | The monuments from — various breeds had already taken place. which the drawings exhibited were copied are of two periods :— (1) Tombs at Beni Hasan, of the XIIth Dynasty (czrca 2000 B.C.) ; (2) the Tomb of Ptah-hetep at Saqqareh, of the Vth Dynasty (czvca 3000-2500 B.C.). Prof. A. C. Haddon, F.R.S., showed specimens illustrating © the decorative art of the Sea Dayaks of Sarawak. The carved and painted designs of the Dayak men are entirely different from the woven and embroidered patterns made by the women. The former are chiefly plant derivatives, while the latter are mainly greatly modified animal forms. The significance of the distinction and thejreal meaning of the patterns themselves are not yet elucidated. The method by which the women make the patterns in their woven fabrics was also illustrated. The warp is stretched on a frame, and numerous strands are tied tightly with strips of leaves ; the whole is removed and then submerged in a dye. The lashing is then undone, and the tied-up portions are found to be undyed. The whole process is repeated if a three-colour pattern is required. PORN Re Ethnographical. objects from Malay Peninsula (Malay and Sakai) were shown by Mr. W. W. Skeat. The phonographic records of songs of the Pangan tribe, a wild aboriginal tribe of Negrito stock, received much attention. it A collection of anthropometric instruments was shown by Dr. J. G. Garson. | Sain dl Sobeies The Royal Geographical Society exhibited a section cut from the tree on Lake Bangweulu, Central Africa, under which — Livingstone’s heart was buried, and containing the inscription carved by his native followers. In the course of the evening, strations were given by Sir Andrew Noble, K.C.B., F.R.S.,:on modern explosives ; Dr. Arthur W. Rowe, on the photomicro- graphy of chalk fossils by reflected light; and Mr. F. Enock, on photographs from living insects, showing the metamorphoses of one of the Odonata. Uy the species to be short discourses and demon-- ee ee ee a ee ee ee ee ee cma Ge eee 1 Sage ee May 17, 1900] NATURE 69 UNIVERSITV AND EDUCATIONAL INTELLIGENCE. _CAMBRIDGE.—The King of Sweden and Norway was on Monday admitted by the Chancellor to the honorary degree of LL.D. The ceremony was witnessed by a vast assembly, and the King gave much pleasure by his gracious bearing and evident interest in the proceedings. The General Board are about to syvciat s a lecturer in ex- : perimental. physics in succession to Mr. W. N. Shaw. Appli- cations are to be sent to the Vice-Chancellor by May 19. The Master of Downing and Dr. Barclay-Smith announce a course of instruction in practical histology, to be given during the long vacation, beginning on July 7. _ The trustees of the late Miss R. F. Squire. have offered the Veen? ‘a sum of about 13,500/. for the erection of a law ine = connection with the new law school, and adjoining the Sedgwick Memorial Museum. . This timely benefaction will llitate the speedy erection of the the Botanical and als, plans for which are now under the consideration ye ts Se a 5 a ee 1 to establish a special examination in the sciences Iture, as a qualification for the ordinary B.A. a ose received in the Senate on May 10, and r ‘its adoption has been sanctioned by the council. mination for minor scholarships in Natural Science will at Downing College in March 1901. heen be made to the tutor. Application for i Wsitisfattory side of technical education is the work nin the lecture-rooms and laboratories of University n connection with Technical Instruction Committees. ¢ ebuises of evening lectures to teachers, just arranged _ by the Technical Instruction Committee of Liverpool with Prof. : Lodge and Peof. Herdmin, are instances in-point. The res deal 1 with some recent developments of physical and nce, Prof. Lodge taking for his subject ‘‘ Electric Vi brations,” Daa" Prof. Herdman ‘‘ Oceanography.” The lectures are’free to teachers who can give evidence that they are _ able to profit by them. oh at to Museums, and outdoor lessons, are counted as by the Board of Education, with the result silo given a definite place in the scheme of in- i schools. Ina similar way, the National Zoo- asa age gen is used to place great object-lessons dreds of thousands of visitors to the national fie alt all of the United States. The pupils in the Washington benefit greatly by these oppor- nl tk “become a part of their routine to visit, under care of a pavaag the Smithsonian Institution and National as well as the park ; while those outside the , efit i tly through the numerous excursions of fest and the stimulus and suggestion they may thus receive. -« Two new buildings i in connection with the Yorkshire College, "Leeds, to be devoted to the development of clothworkers’ re- search and dyeing, &c., were formally okay: on Friday last, _ by the Master of the Clothworkers’ Company, Mr. A. C. Cronin. Principal Bodington, of the Yorkshire College, the professors and students, and mayors of various boroughs, also attended on the occasion. It was explained that it was intended to raise the tone of dyeing, and ‘that the outlay on the extensions is likely to d rastentold return. Mr. Cronin, in declaring the new Be Open, expressed a hope that increased knowledge in ; would be the result of these extensions. Ata acheon which followed, in responding to the toast of ‘‘ The nworkers Company,” he said it. was the intention of the y that the Yorkshire College should become the first id most complete example of a textile and dyeing school not ae it ers: but in the world. There is now hardly. any ctu town of any size in Yorkshire which has not its school or institute, and with which the Clothworkers’ y has not been or is not still connected. ; medical school of the future was the subject of an ; delivered before the fifth triennial Congress of American and Surgeons, on May 2, by the president, Prof. Bowditch, of Harvard. According to Prof. Bowditch, we spect that a medical school of the first rank will, in the sdiate future, be organised and administered somewhat as ':—(1) It will be connected with a university, but will be NO. 1594, VOL. 62] so far independent of university control that the faculty will practically decide all questions relating to methods of instruc- tion and the personnel of the teaching body. (2) It will offer advanced instruction in every department of medicine, and will therefore necessarily adopt an elective system of some sort, since the amount of instruction provided will be far more than any one student can follow. (3) The laboratory method of instruc- tion will be greatly extended, and students will be trained to get their knowledge, as far as possible, by the direct study of nature, but the didactic lecture, though reduced in importance, will not. be displaced from its position as an educational agency. (4) The work of the students will probably be so arranged that their attention will be concentrated upon one principal subject at a time, and these subjects will follow each other in a natural order. (5) Examinations will be so conducted as to afford a test of both the faithfulness. with which a student performs his daily work and of his permanent acquisition of medical know- ledge fitting him to practise his profession. THE first official ceremony of the University of Loudeo’ in the new home at South Kensington was the presentation of degrees by the Prince of Wales on Wednesday, May 9. ‘The University has thus entered upon a new phase of its career. As the Chancellor of the University remarked in his address, nothing has been more striking within the last few years than the pro- gress of new universities in different parts of the country. The University of Wales, of which the Prince of Wales is Chan- cellur, has been founded, and, although very young, it is already making notable progress and will ultimately be a great success. Besides this, there is the Victoria University, of which Lord Spencer is Chancellor, and which has made remarkable progress; and also the completely new University of Bir-. mingham.. What does: all this mean? It means.that the country is stirred up on the subject of education ; and among all classes and places there is a greater sense of the import- ance of it than ever there has been before. As to the. Uni- versity of London, the Chancellor quoted figures to show the. great progress which. has taken place, and made special refer- ence to the great stimulus to the improvement of the education of women throughout ‘the country arising out of the action of the University in obtaining a supplementary charter to enable women to be admitted to the examinations.. Up to the present - time the University has been only an examining body. It has by its examinations done a gocd work for the education of the people, and it has set an example which has had a. very important effect upon all the schools. throughout the country. But it is now a teaching University, and. with its large list of faculties its work will be very widespread. The Prince of Wales then made a few remarks, in the course of which he said: ‘‘No one wishes more sincerely than I do happiness and prosperity to this University ; and from all that we have heard from the Chancellor I think the University is in a fair way of becoming one of the greatest importance, and one that will hold its own, no doubt, with many of the others which are of more ancient origin. T am glad to think that,.as the. result of somewhat difficult, and I may say somewhat delicate, negotiations, the London University has now found a home in this large building, better known as the Imperial Institute, in which, as-you all know, I take a deep interest. We are very grateful to Her Majesty’s Government for all they have done, and for having facilitated the arrangements which I hope ares now complete. It only rests with me to express the fervent wish that the London University will not regret having come ta. a more distant part of London, and that they will find that they have ample room for all their requirements in. this University.” — Sir Michael Foster, M.P., then addressed those who had. received awards at the hands of the Chancellor. He reminded them that the value of the degree was not in the degree itself, but in. the labour which had led up to it. The degree might be. the guinea stamp, but it was the work and the mental discipline: which was the real gold. SCIENTIFIC SERIALS. Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society, April.— Prof. F. N. Cole summarises the Proceedings of the February meeting of the Society, and abstracts a few of the papers com- municated. The bye-laws were revised. By this amendment it is provided that the ex- presidents shall be life-members of the council, and‘that the presidential term of office shall be 7O NATURE {May 17, 1900 extended to two years.—Prof. J. Pierpont gives an interesting account of the summer meeting of the Deutsche Mathematiker- Vereinigung held at Munich in September-of last year.—Some theorems concerning linear differential equations of the second order is an abstract by Prof. M. Bécher of certain results which he communicated at the February meeting (see sfra).—A paper by Dr. M. B. Porter, read at the same meeting, is entitled ‘‘ A note on the enumeration of the roots of the hypergeometric series between zero and one,”’ It is acontinuation of a note published in the May (1897) number of the Bzdéletin.—Dr. J. Sommer reviews Hilbert’s ‘Grundlagen der Geometrie,” and Prof. E. O. Lovett does the same for Keoenig’s ‘* Legons de Cinématique,”— The longer papers read before the Society will, we presume, be printed in the new Zransactions.—The notes are very full, and there is a fair list of publications. Bulletin de ? Académie des Sctences de St. Pétersbourg, vol. vii. No. 3.—On the rotation of Jupiter and his spots, by Th. Bredi- khin. An analysis of the observations made by the author himself at Moscow, and of some later observations at Pulkova. A comparison of the times of rotation of spots situated in the same latitudes shows that some of them are formed in the lower, and some in the higher strata of Jupiter’s atmosphere. Prof. Joukovsky’s formulze hold good as a rule; but a more careful discussion shows that the law of friction must be altered; the latter is proportional to the square or even to a higher degree of velocity. But it would be extremely difficult to make a theo- retical discussion if the law be altered in this sense.—The scientific results of the Black Sea expedition, by A. Ostrooumov : iii. Fishes of the Sea of Azov.—Materials for the hydrology of the White Sea and the Murman Sea (Arctic Ocean along the Norman coast), by N. Knipovitch : i, Lists of the Observations. Vol. vii. No. 4 —The series of Jean Bernoulli, by N. Sonin.— New researches into the spectrum of 8 Lyree and n Aquile, by A. Belopolsky. These new researches were made with the aid of the 30-in. refractor of Pulkova. The spectroscopic velocities of n Aquilze showed a periodicity very near to the periodicity of the variations of magnitude, z.c. 7 days 4 hours, and it was possible to calculate its orbit. Similarly, as for § Cephei, it was proved that the changes of brilliancy in » Aquile cannot be ex- plained by eclipses of the star. As regards 8 Lyre, the former suppositions of the author are now fully confirmed. This star represents a system of two bodies, having at any instant opposite spectroscopic velocities, and one of the two bodies eclipses the other during their revolutions.—Preliminary communication on applications of Rykatschew’s method for studying the relations between rainfall and height of water in rivers, by Dr. Harry Gravelius.—The third international balloon ascents of May 1, 1897, by Ed. Stelling.— Observations of the satellites of Mars with the 30 in. refractor at Pulkova, by F. Renz; and on the photographs of Mars, by S. Kostinsky. : Vol. vii. No. 5.—On the changes of pressure under the piston of the air-pump, by Prince Galitzin. Theoretical discussion is compared with direct observation.—Some remarks on the sensi- bility of the eye, by the same author.—Abstract from the yearly report for 1896 of the Central Physical Observatory, by M. Rykatschew.—On the excretory organs of Ascaris megalocephala, by S. Metalnikoff.—On the routes of the cyclones over Russia in 1890-92, preliminary communication, by P. Rybkin, SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. LONDON. Physical Society, May 11.—Prof. O. 2: Lodge, F.R.S., President, in the chair.—A discussion of Prof. Lodge’s paper on the controversy concerning Volta’s contact force was commenced by Prof. Armstrong. Prof. Armstrong expressed his indebted- ness to the president for putting forth clearly what we are trying to understand, and said that it was hardly time for chemists to enter the discussion when physicists themselves differed. There has apparently been a change in front since the time when the effect was supposed to be due either to (1) chemical action between the metals, or (2) oxidation. Prof. Lodge’s view is intermediate, but approximates to the second. Prof, Armstrong said that from a practical point the existence of the effect was unknown, | because sufficient precautions had never been taken to prevent chemical action. He urged the continuance of experiments similar to’ those carried out by Mr. Spiers, and stated that modern ideas of chemistry were favourable to the view which NO. 1594, VOL. 62] Prof. Lodge had taken up with regard to the Volta effect. —Mr. Glazebrook made some remarks upon the meaning of the term E which occurs in the expression for the Peltier effect at the junction of two metals. If we confine our attention to an infinitesimal cycle at the junction of two metals at slightly different temperatures, we get the equation for the Peltier effect in which E is the potential difference at the point considered. If then, assuming reversibility, we sum up all the infinitesimal cycles round a circuit and get a finite cycle, the E.M.F. of the circuit is a function of the two temperatures between which it is working. Differentiating with respect to temperature the total E.M.F, of the circuit, we get an equation which applies to the circuit as a whole, and in which E is the total E:M.F. round the circuit. Mr. Price asked if any critical experiment could be suggested to settle the question.—Dr. Lehfeldt called attention to some experiments which had been performed to measure the potential difference between an electrolyte and a gas. The electrolytes considered were chiefly aqueous solutions, and the potential differences observed varied largely. The surface tensions of the liquids were measured, and it was shown that the variations in the potential difference were very similar to those in surfacetension. This suggests, in the case of electrolytes, true physical surface effects, and not chemical action. —The chairman remarked that Dr. Lehfeldt evidently looked upon the metal- ether boundary as being the effective one. The experimental evidence is not sufficient to say exactly which is the effective contact, but it seems to show that the metal-ether effect is of the same order of magnitude as the oxygen layer effect. to Helmholtz they ought to be related, and they apparently are. —The chairman then read a paper, by Mr. J. B. Tayler, on the heat of formation of alloys. Experiments have been made upon alloys of lead with tin, bismuth and zinc, and of zine with tin and mercury. The method employed consisted in dissolving (1) the alloy, and (2) the corresponding mixture of metals in mercury, and measuring the heat of solution in each case. On the assumption that the solutions obtained are identical, the difference between the heat of solution of the mixture and that of the alloy is the heat of formation of the latter. The calorimeter was a thin glass tube silvered on the outside and supported by a stouter tube silvered on the inside. Suitable arrangements were adopted for the introduction of the metals or alloys, which were used in the form of filings. Solution was often complete in less than a minute, and rarely took more than two minutes and a half. The alloys first experimented upon contained their constituents in equivalent proportions, and the heats of formation were found to be small in comparison with those found for brass by Galt and Baker. It was thought that only a small percentage of the atoms present had entered into definite. chemical combination, and that more reliable results ‘would be obtained by dissolving a small quantity of one metal in an excess of the other, and calculating from the experimental results the heat of formation of the gramme-molecular weight of compound upon the supposition that the whole of the small quantity of metal had entered into chemical combination by the exercise of its normal valency. Using the numbers so obtained to find, by Kelvin’s theory, the potential difference which should exist between the metals concerned when put in contact, results were arrived at.which agreed neither with the Volta effect nor the Peltier effect, but which weré considerably nearer the former than the latter. A paper on the want of uniformity in the action of copper-zinc alloys on nitric acid was read by Dr, J. H. Gladstone., Ex- periments have been made by dissolving copper-zine alloys in nitric acid, following the method of Dr. Galt, and adopting the precautions mentioned by him. The reaction between nitric acid and these metals or: alloys is very complicated, and there is a difference between the products in the case of an alloy and in the case of the equivalent mixed metals. The gases evolved be- ing small in the experiments performed, attention was directed _ to the determination of the substances remaining in solution, 2.¢. the nitrous acid and :ammonia. The alloys.gave much more nitrous acid and less ammonia—in fact, two of the alloys em- ployed produced no ammonia. Discrepancies in results maybe _ due to the fact that the zinc and copper in contact forma zinc- copper couple which in the presence of acid sets up a vigorous action and produces a different evolution of heat. definite chemical compounds, but mixtures of two or more alloys with uncombined zinc and copper. The alloy with Difficulties arise in the investigation because the alloys used may not be ~ 8°38 per cent, of copper appears to be fairly uniform. Different ob- — servers disagree as to the.amount of heat produced by any + May 17, 1900] NATURE 71 _ reaction, but the excess of calories in a zinc reaction over those in a copper reaction appears to be fairly constant. Starting with _ 640 calories, the value, according to Galt, when copper is dis- _ solved in nitric acid of sp. gr. 1°360, we should have 1357 calories when zinc is dissolved, provided the chemical action is the same in each case. All the calorimetrical results from the _ different specimens of alloys would theoretically lie upon the _ straight line drawn between 604 and 1357. This is practically so from pure copper to the copper 70 per cent. alloy, but beyond __ that there is less heat produced than that indicated by the straight line law, the maximum deviation lying at about copper 37 per cent. The specimen containing 38°38 per cent. copper, which is not far from the alloy CuZn,, shows a loss of 32 calories. The only way in which this deficit can be accounted for is by sup- = action of this alloy on nitric acid produces a of nitric oxide than in the case of pure copper. “full force to this argument, it cannot account for s_ 10 calories of the deficit. There is, therefore, a deficit as yet unaccounted for on chemical grounds. wr states that it is desirable that experiments should on the zine-copper alloys with solvents which give mical action than that produced by nitric acid. The inted out that the results obtained by Galt for an hich appeared to be a chemical compound, were in close at with what would be expected from the existence of ta contact . Prof. Armstrong said that the action of cid on brass or zinc and copper was a function of the of acid present, its strength, the temperature and the re; and that, therefore, it was unsatisfactory to conduct nts using nitric acid as a solvent. He suggested the solution of bromine in which finely-powdered zinc, cop- mass are easily soluble with a simple chemical reaction. inson pointed out that it was impossible to use the formula for the calculation of the Volta effect from the papers said it was difficult to see that y the application of the Kelvin theory other. Referring to Dr. Gladstone’s paper, Mr. Cooper d that it was possible that the difference in the reducing powers of mixtures and alloys might be due to local action, which would more pronounced in the case of alloys. More hydrogen e evolved, and the reduction would be more complete. — fe n then showed an electromagnetic experi- _ A circular coil capable of carrying a strong current was with its axis horizontal in a tank of water. Into the > also placed some small magnets in sealed glass tubes ted as to have a density approximately equal to that of er. The magnets just floated or just sank.. On running a ent through the coil it was possible to “‘ fish” for the mag- s, which, acted pon, by the magnetic field, immediately made ir way tothe coi]. When the current was carefully reversed the approach of a magnet, repulsion instead of attraction place, and the magnet retreated.. In general, however, reversal of the current produced reversed polarity in the magnet, nd attraction still persisted.—The Society then adjourned until ye SU a : ep! Chemical Society, May 3.—Prof. T. E. Thorpe, Presi- ent, in the chair.—The following papers were read : —The ub: 1 no dined and nitrogen bromides derived rtho- and para-acet-toluide, by F. D. ~ Chattaway K. J. P. Orton. Hypochlorous and hypobromous acids ‘rt ortho- and ge into substituted nitrogen des and bromides, which readily undergo transformation tothe isomeric substituted toluides.—The estimation of hypo- ites and iodates; and the reaction of iodine monochloride ith alkalis, by K. J. P. Orton and W. L. Blackman. © The thors”. of estimating hypoiodites is based on the oxida- n of sodium arsenite by hypoiodites, but not by iodates. The tial reaction of iodine monochloride and alkalis is represented 7 the equation ICl + 2MOH = MIO + MCI+H,0O ; conversion ‘metallic hypoiodite into iodide and iodate becomes com- after twenty-four hours.—Products of the action of sulphur de on ammonia, by E. Divers. Amongst the products of neous decomposition of ammonium amidosulphite is NO. 1§94, VOL. 62] found a substance of acid properties to which the author assigns the constitution HO.C.CH :C.CO———__CH..CH,,.C :. CH.C.OH I | | eee HC.CH: C.CH(OH)—CH C:CH.C.OH —On hematoxylin (v.), by W. H. Perkin, jun.,and J. Yates. The study of the oxidation products of tetramethylhematoxylin leads to the view that hematoxylin has the constitution HO.C.C(OH) : C.CO ———--CH..CH,.C : CH.C.OH I | | le Gee HC.CH=—=C.CH.CH(OH).CH C:CH.C.OH —Note on the function of the characteristic meta-orientating groups, by A. Lapworth. . Anthropological Institute, April 24.—Mr. C. H. Read, President, in the chair.—Dr. W. H..R. Rivers described a genealogical method of collecting social and vital statistics which he had used with success when in Torres Straits with the Cambridge Anthropological Expedition. Genealogies of the inhabitants of Murray Island and Mabuiag were com- iled which went back for three to five generations, and included nearly all the families at present on those islands. In working out these genealogies, the only terms of rela- tionship used were father, mother, child, husband and wife, and care was taken to limit those terms to their English sense. The chief difficulties were the prevalence of adop- tion in Murray Island and the custom of exchanging names in Mabuiag. The trustworthiness of the genealogies was guaranteed by the fact that nearly every detail was derived independently from several informants. These genealogies afford material for the exact study of numerous sociological problems ; thus the system of kinship can be worked out very thoroughly by ascertaining the native terms which any individual applies to other members of his family, ¢.e. the subject can be investigated entirely by means of concrete examples, and abstract terms of relationship derived from European sources avoided. The genealogies also afford material for the study of totemism, - marriage customs, naming customs, &c. By this method also vital statistics may be collected, both of the present and the past. The genealogies compiled in Torres Straits supply data for the study of the size of families, the proportion of the sexes, the fertility of mixed marriages, &c. The method has the further advantage of bringing out incidentally many facts in the recent history of the community, to which it gives increased definiteness and concreteness. The paper was discussed at some length by the President, Mr. Gomme and Dr. Japp.—Dr. A. C. Haddon, F.R.S., exhibited a large number of lantern slides illustrating various native industries in British New Guinea ; the photographs were taken during the recent Cambridge Anthropological Expe- dition. The most complete series was one showing all the stages in the manufacture of pottery by Port Moresby women ; other slides illustrated the manufacture of canoes at Keapara with stone implements. Photographs were shown of the process of pile-driving and the erection of buildings, as well as of fire- making, and various women’s industries, such as_ tattooing, making string, &c.—Mr. Gowland pointed out a number of rallels from Korea to the mode of pottery-making described y Dr. Haddon.—The secretary laid before the meeting a brief account of the proceedings of the Cretan Exploration Fund, and of the discovery by Mr. A. J. Evans, at Gnossus, of a collection of clay tablets inscribed with pictographic signs, Paris, Academy of Sciences.—-M. Maurice Lévy in the chair.— The President announced to the Academy the loss by death of M. E. Grimaux, member of the Section of Chemistry.—Prepara- tion of the B-alkyloxy-a-cyanocrotonic esters, isomers of the acetu- alkyleyanacetic esters, by M. A. Haller. The true acetyl- alkylcyanacetic esters, CH,.CO.CR(CN).CO.OC,H,, have been prepared by Held by acting with cyanogen chloride upon the sodium derivative CH;.CO.CR.Na.CO.OC,H,; the isomeric ester of the enol form, CH,.C(OH)=C(CN).CO.OC,H;, are obtained by first converting the sodium into the corresponding 2: 9a NATURE [May 17, 1900 silver derivative, and then treating this with the alkyl iodide: The reactions of the ester so obtained are clearly those of the enolic ester, the alkyl group not being directly united to carbon. —The arable earths of the Canton of Redon from the point of view of phosphoric acid, by M. G. Lechartier. The analyses given show how it is that certain lands in the Canton have been successfully cultivated from time immemorial, without the use of phosphatic manures.—Geographical, positions and magnetic ob- servations on the eastern coast of Madagascar, by M. P. Colin. The latitude and longitude of Vatomandry and Mahanoro have been redetermined, and also the values of the magnetic elements at those places. The results show that the existing maps require correction in some respects.—Prof. Burdon-Sanderson was Se to a Correspondant for the Section of Medicine and ep td in the place of the late Sir James Paget.—Positions ndamental polar stars determined at the Observatory of Lydits, by M. F. Gonnessiat.—Shooting stars observed at Athens during the year 1899, by M. D. Eginitis.—On the method of Neumann and the problem of Dirichlet. by M. A. Korn.—On an application of the method of successive approxi- mations, by M. A. Davidoglou.—On the distribution of gaine numbers, by M. Helge von Koch.—On gas engines, by M Marchis. A reply to the ty of M. Witz.—An slectrically driven pendulum, by M. Ch. Féry. The mechanism described is arranged so as to leave the pendulum as far as possible uncon- strained.—The heat of neutralisation of hydrogen peroxide by lime, by M. de Forcrand.—Solubility of a mixture of salts having a common ion, by M. Charles Touren. The curve showing the relation between the solubility of potassium bromide in solutions of potassium bromide of different concentrations is not coin- cident with the corresponding curve for potassium nitrate and chloride. Hence the law proposed by Nernst, that equivalent solutions of nitrate and bromide should lower the solubility of ‘the chloride to the same extent, is not verified. The author motes as an interesting application of the phase rule that the -study of the solubility of a mixture of salts may show that they are isomorphous, when direct proof may be difficult.—The -action of phenyl isocyanate and of aniline upon some y-ketonic acids, by M. T. Klobb.—Some new compounds of antipyrine “with mercury halides, by MM. J. Ville and Ch. Astre.—On acetyl-phenylacetylene and benzoyl- -phenylacetylene, by MM. Ch. Moureu and R. Delange. “ Acetyl-phenylacetylene is ‘quantitatively decomposed by alcoholic potash into phenyl- .acetylene and potassium acetate ; benzoyl-phenylacetylene re- acts differently, acetophenone being produced.—On the stability of siccharose solutions, by M. CEchsner de Coninck.—Study of the hydrolysis of fibrous tissue, by M. A. Etard. The fibrous tissue of beef, hydrolysed with sulphuric acid, gives a poly- saccharide, but practically no leucine.—On some fresh-water Palaemonidae of Madagascar, by M. H. Coutiére.—On a new edible tuber from the Soudan, the Ousounify, by M. Maxime ‘Cornu. The Ousounify is a tuber resembling the potato in taste, which is cultivated and sold in the Soudan. It is a jabiate, and ‘is provisionally named Plectranthus Coppine. It thas the advantage over the potato that it can be grown ina truly tropical climate.—On the mineralogical composition of the teschenites, by M. A. Lacroix. The hornblende teschenites of ‘Madagascar are analogous, both in structure and mineralogical composition, to the teschenites from Portugal and the Pyrenees, but they contain the nepheline intact. The teschenites from both regions were probably originally identical from the mineralogical point of view.—On the excitement of the electrical nerve of the gymnotus by its own current, by M. Mendelssohn. ‘The electric nerve of the torpedo fish may be excited by its own -current.—On the southern aurora observed during the wintering of the Belgian Antarctic expedition.—Barometric deviations produced on the parallel on successive days of the synodic revolution, by M. A. Poincaré. DIARY OF SOCIETIES. THURSDAY, May 17. Rovat Society, at 4.30.—The Circulation of the Surface Waters of the North Atlantic Ocean: H. N. Dickson.—(1) On Cerebral Anzmia and the Effects which follow Ligation of the Cerebral Arteries ; (2) The In- fluence of Increased Atmospheric Pressure on the Circulation of the Blood. Preliminary Note: Dr. Leonard Hill.—Contributions to the Comparative Anatomy of the Mammalian Eye, chiefly based on Ophthal- moscupic Examination: Dr. Lindsay Johnson. RovaL INSTITUTION, at 3.—A Century of Chemistry at the Royal Insti- tution: Prof. J. Dewar, F.R.S. 0. 1594. VOL. 62] ZOOLOGICAL SociETyY, at 4.30.—The Freshwater Fishes of Africa: G. A. Boulenger, F.R.S. Soctety or ArTs(Indian Section), at 4.30.—The Industrial Development of India: J. A. Baines. INSTITUTION OF age oye ws a at 8.—Alternating Current Induction Motors: A. C. E CHEMICAL SOcIETY, at 8. es Derivatives of bss ta VI. The Orientation of some Aminochloropyridines: W. J. Sell and F. W. Dootson. . FRIDAY, May 18. Rovat INSTITUTION,.at 9 —The Structure of Metals: Prof. J. A. Ewing, F EPIDEMIOLOGICAL SOCIETY, at 8.30. SATURDAY, May 1% Rova InsTITUTION, at 3.—South Africa: Past and Future: Dr. Alfred Hillier. 7 MONDAY, May 21. Society or Arts, at 8.—The Incandescent Gas Mantle and its Use : Prof. Vivian B. Lewes. Royat GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY, at 3.—Anniversary Meeting. VicToria INSTITUTE, at 4.30.—Ethics : Rev. Dr. Wace. TUESDAY, May 22. Rovat INSTITUTION, at 3.—Brain Tissue and Thought: Dr. A, sai ZOOLOGICAL Society, at 8.30.—On the Development of the Skelet the Tuatera, Sphenodon ¢Hatteria) punctatus: Prof. G. B. F.R.S., and H. H. Swinnerton.—On Crustaceans from the oF Islands Mar by Mr. Rupert Vallentin: Rev. T. bin F.R.S.—The Significance of the Hair-slope in certain Matias} Dr. Walter Kidd. Roya PuoroGrapuic Society, at 8.—Hydroquinone and. Colour Im- pressions : Alfred Watkins. WEDNESDAY, May 23. SociETy oF ARTS, at 8.—Salmon Legislation : J. Willis-Bund. GEOLOGICAL SocIETY, at 8.—The Igneous Rocks of the Coast of € Waterford : F. R. C Reed.—On a New Type of Rock from Kent: elsewhere, and its Relations to other Igneous Rocks in catnie . J. B. Hill and H. Kynaston. THURSDAY, May 24. ane LINNEAN SocIETY at 3.—Anniversary Meeting. INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 8. —Annual “General Meeting. fy FRIDAY, May 25. eae Roya. INSTITUTION, at 9.—The Great Alpine Tunnels: Francis ie PuysicaL SOCIETY, at-5.—Experiments illustrating the Aberration called Coma: Prof. S. P. Thompson, F.R.S.—Notes on the Measurement of some Standard Resistances: R. Glazebrook, F.R.S.—On the Strength of Ductile Materials under Combined Stresses: J. J. Guest. =| CONTENTS. 2 apa Biology as an “Exact” Science. By F. A.D. .. 49 Hertz’s. Mechanics. By A, BiH Laewae feeb gy <) Assyrian and Babylouien Ae «oy a aati aE The Science of Number. By G. B a ee aR Rg Our Book Shelf :— : Riedel: ‘‘ Atlas of Urinary Sediments, with special reference to their Clinical Sigua aie 53 Gardner: ‘‘ Dante” oe fe ee ig RE Roberts : ‘‘ The Farmstead.” —W. 's. 53 Snelgrove : ‘* Object Lessons | Jin Botany from Forest, Field, Wayside and Garden”... . 4. . «+. « 53 Letters to the Editor :— i Percussion Caps for Shooting in Schools. —Sir Lauder. Brunton, F.R.S. 54 re Gases from Planetary Atmospheres. —S, R. afiphd Coo : Racket Feathers.—L. W. "Wiglesworth ; ; The Reviewer . Ree The Approaching Total Eclipse of the Sun, By. Charles P. Butler .. . RE Facts. The Royal Society Selected Candidates . «ie aes Pea Lieut.-General Pitt-Rivers, F.R.S. By A. C. sity Notées:...-5 oe) bi: (Gye vie Ne aie Our Astronomical Column:— Unpublished Observations at Radcliffe Giaaalleee: 1774-1838 sy '% aho8;. Pet We Maximum Duration for a Total Solar Eclipse Wa The Fresh-water Lochs of Scotland. (arated By Sir John Murray, K.C. Tie F.R. as and F, Poller MEE Pe a ee aR Iron and Steel Institute... ...........% The Royal Society Conversazione. . University and Educational Intelligence. ..... Scientific Serials, ........);. <:.:eusey eee soa ns eee Societies and Academies 02 ise, oe Se): plese ene ai Diary of Societies . . 6/62 4%) oie hogs )s 6 ee NATURE 73 THURSDAY, MAY 24, 1900. THE SCIENCE OF BACTERIOLOGY. | The Principles of Bacteriology. By Dr. Ferdinand Hueppe. Authorised translation from the German by Dr. E. O. Jordan. Pp. x+467. (Chicago: The Open Court Publishing Company. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Triibner and Co., Ltd., 1899.) N order to fully appreciate the aim and object of the talented author of this work, it is necessary to quote a few passages from his preface. Prof. Hueppe points _ out that the natural history side of bacteriology has in __ the past been kept too much in the foreground, while the _ scientific side has been relegated almost exclusively to the Sections dealing with protective inoculations. “This mode of treatment,” continues the author, “no yer suffices to meet a growing and legitimate demand. this” book I wish to present an attempt at a critical : pomorchense exposition of bacteriology, basing it arly and solidly upon scientific conceptions. I make S aay in order that our knowledge of the causes of _ putrefaction, fermentation and disease, together with the _ methods of the prevention and cure of infection, may prea a way free from all ontology. It is sometimes of of gee | to restate things which are axiomatic. The ’ or ‘ essences,’ which, even in the age which has egret the law of the conservation of energy and the evolution of living things by means of the struggle for _ remains sunk in the ontological contemplation of diseased _ cells and disease-producing bacteria, are a mere remnant __ of priest medicine, and can have no place in any scientific 2 conception of biology, pathology or hygiene.” F ~The first chapter (pp. 1-49) in the book deals with “The ‘structure of bacteria.” No greater ‘authority on _ this subject than the author could be named ; yet, in view of the highly important questions discunaea in _ Chapters iv.-vii., one is led to doubt whether this portion __ of the book is not a little out of keeping with the scope of the work as a whole. _ The “Vital phenomena of bacteria” are discussed in _ Chapter ii. (pp. 50-138). Although the subject is most _ ably dealt with, most of the information given may be found in nearly every text-book of bacteriology. Con- _ sidering the important character of the rest of the book, this chapter seems unduly long. In Chapter iii. (pp. 146-219) a brief description of the _ most important pathogenic bacteria is given. Here the author paves the way for the discussion of the important sstions which crop up later in the book. It is curious note that Prof. Hueppe, although considering that the evidence is most in favour of &. typhosus and B. coli communis being two distinct species, is by no means dogmatic on the point. Thus he says, on p. 193 :— __ “There are, in fact, at present two’ opposing views. The one,which to me seems to be the better founded, is that the bacteria of typhoid fever and 2. coli communis are > distinct species. The other view is that the common estinal saphrophyte, 2. coli communis, is an xco-para- which, under special conditions, may become able to ade the body and penetrate into the living organism, pit’ * eprekcurem transformation into the typhoid ium.” NO. I 595, VoL. 62] _ existence, still haunt the mind of the physician who | tective At the end of this chapter Mr. Jordan contributes a brief résumé of Sanarelli’s recent papers upon yellow fever. The summary is concisely and well written, and enables one to comprehend without difficulty the extent and value of Sanarelli’s researches. The remaining chapters are full of originality, and invite most careful reading and serious attention. In Chapter iv. (pp. 221-274) the “Cause of infectious disease” is discussed with conspicuous ability. The author endeavours to show what is false and what is scientifically tenable in the different conceptions of the true and sufficient cause of epidemic disease upheld by such authorities as Koch, Virchow and Pettenkoffer. “Virchow finds an internal cause in the diseased cells ; his opponents see an external cause in the germs that bring about the disease ; and Pettenkoffer sees a cause in those external conditions which play no particular réle either in the eyes of Virchow or in those of Virchow’s chief oppouents.” If the writer does not altogether succeed in his object, he at all events widens our horizon of thought to an extent which is quite remarkable. It will not be out of place to quote a single paragraph— “If the facts are considered in a scientific spirit rigorously and without prepossession, it is seen that the sum of the qualities of a disease germ is only apparently the ‘essence’ of an infectious disease, that, in reality, here as elsewhere, a true internal cause is to be found, inherent in the internal organisation of man. Just as in all natural processes, without exception, so here, the disease germs act as liberating impulses, and are able to set free only what in the form of a predisposition toward disease is in some way prefigured both in nature and amount in the human body.” In Chapter v. (pp. 275-294) the author asks the ques- tion—“ Can disease be cured by combating the cause ?” In speaking of Hahnemann’s doctrine of the value of small doses, the author passes the following criticism on homceopathy :— “Even the childish extravagance which found vent in homceopathy could not impair the sound kernel of truth which the doctrine contained.” Although Prof. Hueppe’s whole book ought to be read by all those physicians who are modest enough (happily, the great majority) to believe that there is something still to be learnt in the theory and practice of medicine, this chapter is especially full of suggestions and original obser- vations, which the thoughtful practitioner would do well to study. Chapter vi. (pp. 295-397) treats of “ Immunity, pro- inoculation, and curative inoculation.” It is, perhaps, the most important chapter in the book, and it is impossible in the limits of this notice to do the author full justice. It may, however, be said that it deals with a most difficult and complex subject in a way that is to be highly commended, That it is “ stiff” reading cannot be denied, but that is not the fault of the writer, but of the subject. A careful perusal of this portion of the book will well repay the physician as well as the bacteriologist, The “ Prevention. of infectious diseases by combating the cause of the disease” is the text of Chapter vii. (pp. 398-439). Here we are not altogether in sympathy with the writer, although his views are clearly and forcibly 74 NATURE [May 24, 1900 expressed, and are in the main in touch with the teachings of modern sanitarians. It is to be regretted that in this chapter the author allows his personal antagonism to Koch’s doctrine of disinfection to weaken his arguments and conclusions. That the followers of Koch sometimes carried disinfection too far does not detract from the value of Koch’s original observations. Prof. Hueppe lays peculiar stress on the importance of making infectious disease impossible by removing the predisposition to disease, but he scoffs at the idea of combating disease by warring directly with the germs of disease. Although there is a great deal to be learnt from this chapter, it seems a pity that so able a writer should have marred his own work by a captious criticism of Koch’s able investigations. The last chapter (pp. 440-455) deals with the “ History of Bacteriology.” Ably written though it is, it, like the first chapter, appears to be foreign to the general scope of the book. In summary of the book as a whole, it may be said that it affords more ground for serious thought and reflection than perhaps any of the works on bacteriology hitherto published. The original and able manner in which the author attacks biological problems of great difficulty and complexity deserves all praise, and we can cordially recommend the book, not only to bacteriologists pure and simple, but also to those physicians who recog- nise the limitations of medical science. Much praise is due to the translator. worth as a bacteriologist is well known and fully appre- ciated. ‘By giving us this translation of Hueppe’s work he has added to his reputation. A. C. HOUSTON. SUNSHINE AND WINE-GROWING. Vinification dans les Pays chauds—Algérie et Tunisie. Par J. Dugast. Pp. 281; 58 figures. (Paris: Carré et C. Naud, 1900.) be rennet: G to the preface, valuable scientific and technical works on the production of wine in tem- perate climates have been published both in France and elsewhere ; but so far the special problems which are encountered by wine-growers in the warm climates of such countries as Algeria and Tunis have remained un- noticed. The present work is intended by the author to fill this blank. But although it has been written specially with a view to describe the difficulties peculiar to wine-making in a warm climate and the means of over- coming them, the author has done more than this, for he has found it advisable, in order to make his purpose quite clear, to embody his special subject in a general scientific and technical description of wine-making. As he has had very considerable practical and scientific experience in his subject, the result is a work well worth the attention of all interested in the making of wine. The most common difficulty of the Algerian. wine- grower, and one whichis very rare in the more temperate climate of France, is due to the must, or grape juice, very frequently containing too little acid and too much sugar as a result of very active plant assimilation induced by excessive solar radiation. Deficiency of acid is apt 0. 1595, VOL. 62] Mr. Jordan’s not only to affect injuriously the flavour of the resulting wine, but also to induce unsoundness ; the latter effect being caused by the low acidity of the wine favouring the growth of injurious bacteria, which the higher acidity of a normal wine tends to inhibit, owing to the well- known fact that an acid medium is unfavourable to the development of most ferment bacteria. The means employed to remove the difficulty of want of acidity, which are described by the author, let us into secrets of wine-making which some’ may perhaps be in- clined to think border on sophistication. Plastering is one which is undoubtedly objectionable. It consists in adding calcium sulphate to the crushed grapes, which results in the formation, from the cream of tartar present in the must, of sulphate of potash. But this method, though evidently made use of by many wine-growers, is condemned by the author, and also discouraged by the French law, which limits the amount of sulphate oa to two grammes per litre. Other methods for increasing the acidity of the must are: crushing a certain quantity of unripe sour grapes -with the ripe ones ; the addition of tartaric acid to the must previous to fermentation ; and sprinkling the grapes in the wine-press with, what the author styles, di-calcic phosphate. The latter treatment is said to result in the formation of acid phosphate of potash, a salt considered — by the author to be less objectionable than sulphate of potash. Excess sugar in the must acts detrimentally by throw- ing too much work on the yeast, which is itself apt to be crippled in the hot climate of Algeria by an exceed- ingly high fermentation temperature. Mention is made of the fermentation temperature at times rising to up- wards of 115° F.—which in itself is sufficient to arrest the fermentation functions of most yeasts. About 20 per cent. of sugar is considered e's most favourable amount for a wine must to contain, and if the saccharometer shows that it exceeds this amount, the best remedy appears to be the simple and inexpensive -use of the pump. An interesting point, about which tiuel has been said of late years, is raised by the author when he deals with the question of the use of pure selected yeasts in the fermentation of wine. It has been advanced by cer- tain upholders of this system that the characteristic flavour or bouquet of most well-known wines is produced in the main by the variety or species of yeast natural to the grapes of the district, and that, if pure cultures of such yeasts are made use of in the fermentation of foreign musts, the flavour of the resulting wines assume the character of the wines of the district from which the yeasts were obtained. The idea is evidently one of the greatest importance to the wine industry, as it holds out hopes of improving the wine of poor districts into something like, let us say, first quality clarets or Burgundies. The author of this book states that selected yeasts have been much used — by the wine-growers of Algeria, and he claims to have had ample opportunities for studying the results. The conclusion he arrives at is that the yeast from a noted growth of wine, when added to an ordinary must, is quite powerless to confer on it the special qualities of the wine from which it comes ; and he further concludes — leh 6 mea ae ee ee 3 May 24, 1900] NATURE 75 j _ that yeast has little, if any, influence on the bouquet of wine, The true character of a wine, he maintains, is due to numerous factors, among which the variety of grape __and the character of the soil and climate preponderate ; _ ifthe yeast does produce any flavour, it is indistinguish- able among these. If, however, the author passes adverse judgment on selected yeasts regarding their power of conferring flavour, he does not do so with regard to their use for setting up a rapid and healthy fermentation in wine must. For this purpose he advocates their use warmly, but insists on the employment of a selected indigenous yeast as more calculated to be in harmony with the environment than if it was derived from a foreign source. __ The valuable results which have accrued from Emil C. en’s remarkable studies on yeast have already led ny successful results in technical practice, that feel inclined to suspend judgment regarding the a of wine yeast in the matter of flavour until ely to be useful to our Colonial wine-growers of a and the Cape ; the climate of these countries what similar to that of Algeria, and no doubt f the special difficulties discussed in this book are et with in these countries. A. J. B. THE FAUNA OF THE SHETLANDS. Vertebrate Fauna of the Shetland Islands. By A.H. vans and T. E. Buckley. Pp. xxix + 248. (Edin- burgh : D. Douglas, 1899.) . LTHOUGH it would be too high a meed of praise - to say that the authors have done for the Shet- what Gilbert White did for Selborne (the systematic ment of the fauna not being favourable to colloquial ing), there is no doubt that they have succeeded in ducing a very interesting volume, and one which ould be indispensable to every visitor to the most thern group of the British Islands, whether or no he specially interested in birds. For in place of restrict- themselves to a detailed account of the various mbers of their vertebrate fauna, Messrs. Evans and have furnished a very interesting description of ‘more striking physical features of these islands, ether with numerous notes on the people and their ode of life. But perhaps the most generally attractive ture of the work will be the exquisite views of Shet- Seagate which it is adorned ; these illustrations ‘ing the highest | credit alike on the photographer : fal the artist responsible for their reproduction i in the sent form. In introducing these scenic pictures, in e of figures of the birds recorded as members of the , the ‘authors have undoubtedly exercised a wise scretion. In only one instance have they made a itural history object the chief feature of an illustration ; one exception being the beautiful plate of the nest Eyouny of the great skua—a bird of all-absorbing st to the naturalist in the Shetlands. “And here it-is proper to mention that the volume us forms a part of the vertebrate fauna of Scot- nd, of which several volumes by Messrs. Harvie-Brown NO. 1595, VOL. 62] and Buckley have already appeared. It seems that Mr. Evans, who has an extensive personal acquaintance with the Shetlands, had an idea of writing an indepen- dent work on its animals. The securing his services as a contributor to the larger undertaking will commend itself to all. After devoting fifty-four pages to a well-written descrip- tion of the physical features of the country, the authors proceed to their proper subject—the detailed account of the vertebrates, which includes both the terrestrial and the marine forms. In the classification of the birds they follow in the main the scheme of Mr. H. Saunders, and though they suggest that some amendments might per- haps have been made had it not been for the sake of uniformity with the “ Fauna of Orkney,” yet we are glad to know from his volume in the Cambridge “ Natural History” that Mr. Evans, at least, is no friend to the plan of unnecessarily multiplying the genera of British birds, nor to the “ Scomdber scomber” principle. In the classification of mammals, especially when we note the statement that Mr. Eagle Clarke has carefully revised the proofs, it is somewhat surprising to find the narwhal included among the Physeteridae. Neither do we see the necessity of regarding the rorquals as the representatives of a family by themselves. But, alto- gether apart from such trivial details, we must take exception to the practice of including introduced species among mammalian faunas. In the present instance the authors note five species of rodents as belonging to the Shetland fauna, whereas only one of these— Mus sy/- vaticus —is really indigenous. The trouble such methods cause to those who have occasion to write on the geo- graphical distribution of animals is best known to them- selves. If introduced forms are mentioned at all, their foreign origin ought to be indicated in such a manner that it will catch the eye of the reader at the first glance. In the case of birds, such as the ruff, which but rarely visit the islands, some conspicuous notification of the fact would likewise be advantageous, although we are ready to acknowledge that the line between regular visitors and accidental stragglers is very hard to draw. The above mention of Mus sylvaticus—the long-tailed field-mouse—reminds us that one of the most important objects of histories of island faunas is to point out whether the indigenous animals are in any way distinguish- able from those inhabiting the nearest mainland. In the case of birds of strong flight such differences are not likely to occur, but they should be looked for in birds that never leave their island home, and in the indigenous mammals. On the special characters of the Shetland field-mouse the authors are silent, which in view of Mr. Barrett-Hamilton’s recent recognition of a peculiar repre- sentative of this type in St. Kilda is distinctly to be regretted. In the case of the common wren, which has likewise a peculiar local race in St. Kilda, the authors ‘state that the Shetland form differs to a certain extent from the one found on the Scottish mainland, although not, in their opinion, sufficiently so as to be entitled to be re- garded as representing a distinct race. If this be so, and the field-mouse be indistinguishable from the main- land form, it suggests that the Shetlands have been separated from the mainland at a later date than have the Hebrides ;—but this is just one of the cases where 76 NATURE [May 24, 1900 we should have liked a well-considered opinion from the authors ! In an area like the Shetlands the great interest, from a faunistic point of view, centres on the birds ; and among these the great skua holds the foremost place, since its only British breeding-stations are on these islands. So much has been of late years written on this subject, both in newspapers and in ornithological journals, that it is one with which the public are tolerably well acquainted. Nevertheless, the account given by the authors of the almost complete extermination of this fine species, and its subsequent rehabilitation by the efforts of various members of the Edmonston family and Mr. Scott, of Melby, will be read with interest, and forms a concise summary of the whole affair. We should, however, like to know more with regard to the meaning of the statement that “ protection for the skuas implies some measure of protection also for the gulls ; but unless the latter greatly increase, the former cannot be expected to do so.” Some interest also attaches to the specimen of the collared pratincole killed by Bullock in 1812, as being the only examiple of the species hitherto shot in North Britain. In the fourth edition of “ Yarrell” the skin is stated to bein the British Museum, but the investigations of the authors fail to confirm this statement. Greater attention is, however, merited by the account of the nesting of the storm petrel, which sometimes lays its eggs among large stones on the shore, and in other cases selects deserted rabbit-burrows for its home. The crofters, knowing the value set on the eggs of this bird by collectors, and being likewise extremely partial to young petrels as a donne bouche, are extremely reluctant to indicate the rabbit-holes in which the birds nest to strangers. To many it will come asa surprise to learn that ravens are still common in the islands ; so numerous, indeed, as in certain districts to prove very destructive to the poultry and stock, on which account war is waged against them by the crofters. In contrast to the abund- ance of these birds is the scarcity of rooks, which are, indeed, little more than casual visitors to the islands. The weakest point about the book is undoubtedly, as the authors themselves are fain to confess, the section on fishes, the classification followed being altogether obso- lete and discredited. Bes whos PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY. Introduction to Physical Chemistry. By James Walker, D.Sc., Ph.D. Pp. x + 332. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) Lt is now nearly ten years since Prof. Walker placed English students under obligation by his admirable translation of Ostwald’s “Outlines of General Chemistry.” Since that time “little Ostwald” has been the source from which most students have taken their first draught of information about physical chemistry in its modern: form. The phrases and paraphrases of the book, the diagrams, the perpetual motions “ which are impossible ” have become almost painfully familiar to the examiner. The present writer is one of those who believe phat NO. 1595, VOL. 62] Ostwald’s book has been of the highest service to’ chemistry. At the same time, it must be admitted that it is one to be used with care. taken the use of the book is eminently calculated to lead to a learned smattering. It is, in fact, a book which forms the summary of a course of instruction, and for beginners it must be supplemented by an extended commentary by an experienced teacher. These observations arise inevitably in connection with Prof. Walker’s new book, which, in size, appearance and typography, as well as in its topics, bears so striking a resemblance to‘Ostwald’s “Outlines.” The first question that the reader will ask is—Where lies the difference between the two books? This question is soon answered as one reads; Prof. Walker’s book is more limited in range and incomparably simpler. To quote the author’s words, it “makes no pretension to give a complete or even systematic survey of physical chemistry” ; the aim is to give a full discussion of some of the chief principles of modern physical chemistry, and to show their appli- cation to ordinary laboratory chemistry. Dr. Walker has achieved his purpose in a most satis- factory manner, and has produced a book which will be a real boon to students of physical chemistry. He writes with the knowledge of a specialist and the experience of a teacher, and it is very striking to any one who knows the difficulties of students to see how perfectly Dr. Walker appreciates them. Not less striking are the expository power and resourcefulness with which the difficulties are handled. Whilst the whole book is clear, readable, and abreast of the times, some chapters deserve special attention. The one on chemical equations is amongst these. It gives a rational account of the art of constructing chemical equations by dissection and summa- tion, a subject which has been strangely neglected by The chapter on fusion and solidifica- text-book writers. tion is made very clear by a thorough discussion of the mutual relations of salt, ice and water. The wide generalisation, or group of generalisations known as the. Phase Rule, is expounded within reasonable limits. Hitherto there has been nothing concise on this subject in the English language. The chapters relating to the modern theories of solution are, it need scarcely be said, written with fulness of knowledge and in the spirit of a true believer in the doctrine of electrolytic dissociation. Chemical dynamics is treated succinctly, and admirably illustrated by examples. There is a distinct gain here in departing from the strict historical development of the subject, which is apt to confuse beginners by the series of fresh starts which it involves, The concluding chapter on thermodynamical proofs is made as clear as it well could be. At the end of each chapter references are given to original articles which have appeared in English journals and to English books. The list of these is quite gratifying, but the wisdom of confining the refer- ences to English publications seems questionable. The extraordinary’ backwardness -of students in acquiring a reading knowledge of German is condoned by such a> restriction ; and, besides this, it would have been a service to many students who have some knowledge of ‘the language if Dr, Walker had helped them to select There is an illusory”. appearance of simplicity about it, and if care be not” AS Sat et, ace at a =e ee May 24. 1900] NATURE 77 the really important pioneering papers from the vast periodical literature that has arisen in Germany during the past ten years. In concluding this notice, one is naturally led to re- flect upon the attitude which appears to be still main- tained by a number of English chemists in regard to the modern theories of solution. There can be no doubt that a student reading Dr. Walker’s book will become imbued with these theories, and will acquire convictions that will be difficult to eradicate. If these theories are wrong, if they are even strongly suspect, the responsi- bility of the teacher becomes serious It is true Dr. Walker gives here and there some indications of the objections which have been urged against them, but there is no explicit statement of the opposition case. The question arises whether an opposition case can be explicitly stated. The theory of ionic dissociation has been applied to explain and co-ordinate a very large number of chemical facts, and has thrown light on “matters that were previously dark. The contention of _ the objectors appears to be mainly that this light is _ tilusory. The present writer is far from claiming judicial a agente in the matter; but he ventures to think that es op position to the dissociation theory would be more ed, both here and on the Continent, if it were of ; a more positive character, and if a more tangible alter- “native theory could be presented which should prove itself not less comprehensive and practically productive than the one which is assailed. The history of science shows plainly enough that a comprehensive theory with -some weak points will hold its ground until a not less omprehensive theory with fewer weak points makes ; appearance. It is probably on this ground that Prof. alker takes his stand in freely imparting the doctrine : of electrolytic dissociation to elementary students of ical chemistry. ARTHUR SMITHELLS. OUR BOOK SHELF. Satalogue of the Lepidoptera Phalaenae in the British Museum. Vol. ii. Catalogue of the Arctiade (Nolina, a tare in the collection of the British Museum. a hae George F. Hampson, Bart. “Pp. xx + 589, and sf Mm tes oa Fi (London: Printed by order of the rustees, 1900.) ‘THE first volume of this series, containing the Syntomide, was published in 1898, and we have now to welcome the eed of the second, comprising two groups, which author treats as sub- families of the Arctiadze; the typical Arctiane being reserved for the third volume. 193 species are described in the second volume, all of yhich, except 162, belong to the Lithosianz, the Nolinz being a comparatively small sub-family. The enormous extent of the insect-world is but little realised, even by naturalists, unless they are entomo- logists ; but, considering the progress already made, we are probably well within the mark in saying that it may - well take fifty volumes, and the whole of the néw century, _ to complete the Catalogue before us ; and yet the moths _ are only a portion of one of, the seven principal orders of and one which is probably far surpassed jin insects, Bs “number of species by at least three other orders. __ The descriptions of the species are necessarily brief, oe are arranged on a uniform plan which admits of easy parison; and their determination is further facili- NO. 1595, VOL. 62} tated by comprehensive tables of genera and species, and by the large proportion which have been figured, either in the crowded coloured plates, or in text-illustrations. We are glad to see that space has been found for notices of larvze, when known. Space has also been devoted to phylogeny ; but it is, perhaps, an open question whether it is worth while to deal with this subject in a descriptive work at all. At best, it can only express the momentary and necessarily fluctuating opinions of an individual author on the affinities of genera and species from the very im- perfect materials at present available ; for until the earlier stages of a considerable number of forms have been care- fully studied and tabulated for comparison, it is impossible for us to judge of them completely or accurately. We would therefore prefer to treat this branch of the subject tentatively, in ephemeral publications, rather than to intro- duce a necessarily fluctuating factor, of merely temporary value at best, into a standard work of reference, of such great and permanent value to all lepidopterists as the present. We must also object to the author’s tendency to dogmatise on the subject, especially as our knowledge of fossil insects is at present practically nil, and of the early stages of the great majority no better. Such a phrase as [the Arctiadz form] “a family of moths de- rived from the Noctuidz,” seems to us quite out of place in a scientific book at the present state of our knowledge ; though a formula which we find a little further on is less objectionable ; “the o/inae probably arose from a very early Arctian form which had affinities in the Woctuidae to Hypenae and Sarrothripae.” But these are details of individual taste or judgment ; while there cannot be two opinions respecting the value and importance of the work. F. K. Giordano Bruno, zur erinnerung an den 17 Februar, 1600. Von Alois Riehl. Zweite neu _ bearbeitete Auflage. Pp.iv+56. (Leipzig: Engelmann, 1900.) EARLY in 1600 Giordano Bruno went to the stake in the cause of free speech and thought. The ashes of martyr- dom have ere now kept evergreen even reputations and names that were otherwise of little worth. But Bruno’s life and work are alike memorable. Few, however, of those to whom the romantic wander-years and heroic death appeal, have leisure and training to grapple with the technical Latin and hard Italian of the versatile and stormy Nolan. The tercentenary, therefore, of Bruno’s tragedy can have no memorial more fitting than Prof. Alois Riehl’s “ Giordano Bruno.” Would that it were in English! Dating originally 1889, Prof. Riehl’s brochure has undergone revision thorough and throughout. It puts Bruno in his right setting of time and place. It resumes, with brevity and lucidity quite noteworthy, the principles for which Bruno gave his life. Bruno originated neither Copernican physics nor pantheist metaphysics. His debt to one close forerunner at least is not small. Yet in taking the new astronomy as a scientific basis, and only therefrom passing to such meta- physical conceptions as infinity and unity, while reaching out ultimately to a monistic principle, it is Brunoand not his precursors, physicist and revived neoplatonist, that may claim to father modern naturalism. Prof. Riehl characterises the system as “ theocentric,” since nature is, for Bruno, deus 7 rebus. Bruno is said to have met the process which resulted in his condemnation by equivocating between what he accepted secundum fidem and what he affirmed secundum rationem. At any rate, whatever human weakness he may have shown, he lost no opportunity of reaffirming his principles. He recanted nothing. He. could have saved himself would he but have prostituted his pen to apologetics on behalf of the reigning orthodoxy. He chose not proper vitam vivendi perdere causas. And ‘he died a Sia. hh -errant of the free spirit. H. B. 78 NATURE [ May 24, 1900 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. [The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions ex- pressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for this or any other part of NATURE. No notice ts taken of anonymous communications.) Escape of Gases from Atmospheres, I ASK for space to reply to Mr. Cook’s letter in last week’s NATURE. : There are two ways in which the rate at which gases escape from atmospheres may conceivably be investigated, viz. the a priori method, which seeks to determine from the kinetic theory of gas what proportion of molecules attain the requisite speed ; and the @ fosterior? method, which seeks to ascertain from the observed effects of escape where and on what scale it has actually taken place. I tried the @ frzor¢ method more than thirty years ago, but had to abandon it; having satisfied myself that 2 the present state of our knowledge it cannot be made to furnish a valid investigation. J came to this conclusion upon grounds which are fully stated in a paper of which the first part will appear in the May number of the Astrophysical Journal, and the second. and more important part probably in the June number. — I then “turned to the a fostertor2 method, and endeavoured to develop it in the memoir which Mr. Cook has criticised (see Sczentijic Transactions of the Royal Dublin Society, vol. vi. (1897), p. 305, or Astrophysical Journal for January 1898, p. 25). Both methods, if correctly applied, should lead to the same results ; but the @ frzovz method, as handled by Mr. Cook and Prof. Bryan, furnishes a different rate of escape from the a posterior’ method. In such cases there must be a mistake or mistakes somewhere, and in the above-mentioned paper sent to the Astrophysical Journal I have endeavoured to trace out where the mistakes are. The principal errors seem to be three. The number of molecular speeds which lie between v and v+dv =N(r+8)dv where N is the number of molecular speeds whose distribution is under consideration, m is the probability function (in this case Maxwell’s law), and 5 may be called the deviation function, as it furnishes the difference which exists between the actual number and that computed by Maxwell’s law. In all cases of prob- ability laws the deviation fuction 8 is large when N is small ; but when the events whose distribution is sought are independent of one another and have causes all of one kind, then § becomes inconspicuous when N is sufficiently large, and the distribution law may i such cases be reduced to Nady without sensible error. This reduction, however, is not always legitimate when, as in gases, the events are so associated with one another and with other agencies that cumulative effects can arise. Then 8 may become larger than m in reference to those values of v which make w small. The first omission seems to be the omis- sion to take this into account. Another omission is the omission to take the size of the element of volume dxdydz into account. This, as experiment shows, may at the bottom of the earth’s atmosphere be as small as the cube of one-tenth of a millimetre. But in the regions from which the escape of gas is possible, it has a volume of many cubic miles. This circumstance, which largely increases the opportunity which molecules have of escaping from that situation, has not been taken into account. But perhaps the most serious error is overlooking the fact that Maxwell’s law holds good only of a portion of isotropic gas surrounded by similar gas. That the gas shall be isotropic is one of the data employed by Maxwell in his proof of the law. Another law (which may be, and in fact is, very different from Maxwell’s) is the law of distribution of the molecular speeds in a portion of gas as anisotropic as that of the regions from which the actual escape takes effect. The deductions from Maxwell’s law may be correctly derived, but the premiss being wrong the conclusion has no significance. It would be very satisfactory if we had two ways—the a priori method as well as the a fosteriori—of investigating the problem; but with our present limited knowledge of molecular physics, this does not seem to be within our reach. “Mr. Cook at the end of his letter supposes that ‘* the dis- covery by Ramsay of helium as a constituent of our atmosphere NO. 1595, VOL. 62] only tends to confirm the results of my (Mr. Cook’s) calculations of the impossibility of its escape.” This is so far from being the case that the quantitative determinations made in Prof, — Ramsay’s laboratory are now sufficiently advanced to lead with much increased emphasis to the opposite conclusion. This appears from the following data, which have been generously placed at my disposal by my friend, Prof. Ramsay :— (1) The proportion by volume of argon in dry atmospheric air is about 1 per cent. of the whole, the volume of neon (to which the present note will not further refer) may be taken as about a thousandth part of the volume of argon, and the volume of helium as about 1/10 to 1/20 of the volume of neon. Ac- cordingly, the volume of helium in dry air is something ike from 1/10,000 to 1/20,000 of the volume of argon, or from 1/1,000,000 to 1/2,000,000 of the whole volume of the air. ~~ (2) Both argon and helium are supplied to the atmos by hot springs ; argon generally by all hot springs which contain atmospheric gases, and helium by some of them. (3) The argon in such springs, like the oxygen and nitrogen, may be simply gas which had previously been removed from the atmosphere by water. A litre of water under ordinary conditions will absorb about 45 c.c. of the oxygen of the air in contact with it ; about 15 c.c. of its nitrogen ; about 40 ¢.¢. of its argon ; and about 14 c.c. of its helium.? fick Hence in rain we should expect to find the following pro- portions preserved :— | ! 20°9 100 78°1 Too * mal x 4°§ of O43 pl ii? 1°5 of Ny; I ? loo * 40f A; and 5 petals I oF rail Sa oe erase of He. to 2,000,000 as from PEA Sit ERG ae So far as oxygen, nitrogen and argon are concerned, these pro- portions are sufficiently nearly those in which the gases are pre- sent in the springs referred to. But in those springs in whict helium also has been detected, it seems to be present in quat ties about 1/10 of the argon—that is, in a Riggott: f nearly from 3000 to 6000 more than we can attribute to having been derived from the atmosphere, a (4) This great excess of helium in some springs has doubtless a mineral origin, some minerals, chiefly uranium compounds, containing much helium which they give up when heated. On the other hand, there does not appear to be any comparable mineral source of argon. (5) Hence, on the whole, the argon which is being supplied to the atmosphere by hot springs seems to be argon which had previously been withdrawn from the atmosphere and which is being restored to it. Whereas, in contrast to this, there seems to be a continuous transfer of additional helium from the solid earth to the atmosphere always going on. ote Thus the facts seem to warrant our inferring :— (a) That the excessively small quantity of helium in the atmosphere is helium on its way outwards. (6) That it would have become a much larger constitt of the atmosphere, by reason of the influx from below, if there’had been no simultaneous outflow from above, 4 aS (c) That the rate of this outflow is presumably equal to the rate of supply; and therefore such as would suffice in a few thousand, or at least in a few million, years to drain away the small stock of helium in the earth’s atmosphere, if the source of supply from below could be cut off.? me “4 aad Pe! 1 See the determinations made by Herr Estreicher in Prof. Ramsay’s laboratory, as recorded in the Zectschrift fur physikalische Chemie, vol. xxxi. (1899), p- 184. } at PY hae 2 If the proportion of helium in the atmosphere is assumed to be some- thing between 1/1,000,000 and’ 1/2,000,000 of the whole atmosphere (which rather tends to be an over-estimate, since it does not take into account the increased diminution of the density of the helium as it ascends, which is a consequence of its escape from the top of the atmo- sphere), then the ‘helium in the whole of the earth's atmosphere would, if reduced to standard temperature and pressure, occupy a volume somewhere between acube of ten miles, and half that space. Now, so far as can be judged from the imperfect observations as yet made on the rate at which helium is being filtered into the atmosphere, it would appear that the pre- sent rate of supply is such as would yield this quantity of helium in some-- thing like one or two thousand years, and perhaps in a less time, : May 24, 1900] NATURE 79 # ft thus appears that the recent more exact determinations have raised what was probable when I wrote my memoir into being now almost certain, by showing with greatly increased clearness — (1) That argon is unable to escape from the earth. (2) That helium is slowly escaping, and presumably was in a position to escape more freely in the distant past. It is interesting to observe that another moot question in astronomy seems to be resolved by Prof. Ramsay’s work. It is known that the dynamical relation of the vapour of water ‘to Mars is nearly the same as that of helium. to the earth. ‘We are accordingly now justified in presuming with greater confi- dence that water cannot remain upon Mars, that accordingly the polar snows of that planet are probably carbon dioxide, and some of the other appearances which have been observed are ‘eae f low-lying fogs of this vapour as they travel the two poles. G. JOHNSTONE STONEY. N., May 20. '8, Upper Horsey Rise, ‘iat “ Plotosus canius” and the ‘“‘ Snake-stone.” “Posststy the following facts may possess interest for some of _ A’good many: years ago; when sea-bathing in the Old Straits re 7 tema those separating the island from the Malay la), I put my foot in a slight muddy hollow in the sandy 5 ment I did so, I received an agonising stab near ankle (from some red-hot poisoned blade, it seemed) which ve me in hot haste ashore, where a Malay constable, on ig what had happened, and on examining the wound, pro- my assailant to be the ‘‘ikan sémbilang” (sémb:lang lotostis canius, one of the siluroids, I am informed by the British Museum. The fish is armed with ines on theshead, one projecting perpendicu- and one projecting horizontally from each y lost no time inrunning to the barracks near by, shortly returned with a little round charcoal-like € size of a small marble. This he pressed on to , to'which it adhered, and remained there by itself, ¥continuation of pressure, for a minute or more. 2 | began to flow, which, after a ood of normal colour. The pain, which , began to diminish soon after this, ically disappeared. “The wound gave ; Soipeahe es afterwards I noticed a hole ~ e the wound had been. ~ entleman, who, curiously enough, had suffered in ‘in another part of Singapore the same day, was so fortunate in his cure, being completely laid up for six’ Peete Muth aa. : Fagg shes offs The black stone applied by the Malay to the wound came, éd, fromthe head of a snake, and claimed, therefore, to. oar stone. It was, no doubt, a snake-stone, probably charred bone, and therefore porous in character, which for the adhesive and absorptive powers it displayed n his ** Thanatophidia of India,” e in “ Hobson-Jobson”) expresses entire disbelief in the icacy of these stones as remedies ‘‘in the case of the veal bite ‘a deadly snake,” owing to the extreme rapidity with which, | such a case, the venom pervades the system. However this may be, the late Prof. Faraday, after exami- ion of one of these stones, supplied by Sir Emerson Tennent ated by Yule), credits it with certain absorbent powers, and it nother remedy, considéred of some value by Malays for the of Plotosus canius is the sap of Henslowia Lobdbiana, grows freely on the coasts of the Malay Peninsula. mong other marine offenders of this class dreaded by Malays al varieties of the skate or sting-ray, ‘‘ pari” as they € generically called, and some of the ‘‘lépu,” of which the ce ous one, I have Mr. Boulenger’s authority for saying, the “lépu” proper, viz. Synancia horrida. When the skate reaches a large size, he will drag a fisherman’s canoe a long ; aye the Medusz, one much dreaded is known as ‘‘ ampai,” NO. 1595, VOL. 62] Sir J.’ Fayrer (quoted by | from its long fringes. The effects, unless a remedy can speedily be found, are painful and trying to a degree, seeming to pene- trate the whole frame, as it were, electrically, at once specially affecting the seat of any ailment, and even the teeth and the hair. have never suffered from it myself, but am enabled to speak to these points from two cases which came under my personal‘observation. A valuable remedy for this sting, if applied soon, is the juice of the young fruit of the papaw (Carica papaya). A further illustration of the value of some native remedies is supplied by a case which occurred some years ago at Malacca, during my residence there, though I cannot state what the remedies employed were. A young gentlemen in the office of the Telegraph Company went out to bathe in the sea one night from the 4 of the pier (in any case rather a rash proceeding, if only for the occasional presence of crocodiles !), when he found himself in the embrace of some creature with long tentacles, from which, after desperate struggles, he eventually succeeded in freeing his legs and his arms, and in regaining the pier. The Colonial surgeon could do nothing for him, and he was in such tortures that for-a time he seemed to have lost his’ mental balance, but nine or ten days after the occurrence a native practitioner, being called in, cured him completely. D. HERVEY. The Elms, Aldeburgh, May. Microphotography, Isophotography, Megaphotography. I HAVE read with much interest your article on microphoto- graphy (p. 4) at its best, Possibly some of your photographer readers may be glad to know that microphotography of sorts is within the reach of all who possess a microscope with suitable -substage-condenser and a camera. The results may not’ com- pete with the best, but they are very useful. I find that any transparent object which can be conveniently seen in the micro- ‘scope can be reproduced in the camera. If the fine adjust- ment is good enough for ordinary work, it is good enough for photographic work. One of my earliest attempts was to photograph fluid inclu- sions in quartzes with ordinary sunlight, and rock-sections polarised. The only difficulty was that the sun would not keep still, and without a heliostat the work was most troublesome, not to say aggravating. In one case, a mere movement of the ‘condenser-diaphragm made the bubble in the inclusion fly back- wards and forwards. A negative was taken in each position, and a lantern slide taken ofeach negative. With a little device _in the double lantern the motion of bubbles in inclusions can ‘be shown ona nine-foot screen. These negatives were taken with- ‘a. 1/16th immersion, the camera ‘being extended with a brown paper tube, and the extra apparatus did not cost one shilling. ' Up to a $-inch objective, ordinary gas, with isochromatic . plates, does very useful work. The only difficulty to surmount is to handle the focusing apparatus, and see the focusing screen at the same time. hand mirror solves the problem. But a fine adjustment is really scarcely necessary, as it is easy ‘to focus with the camera as in ordinary photography. It is often desirable to photograph objects their exact size. Before the Kent’s Cavern Collection was divided, I. photo- i. ey the choicest examples for the Torquay Natural History ociety. The implements were fixed with beeswax ona piece of plate-glass, which could be placed in any position and backed by any desired background. I sent a couple of prints to the International Amateur Photographic Exhibition at Vienna, and the jury, much to my surprise, awarded them a diploma. . The extra apparatus certainly did not cost Ios., and the negatives were taken in the lecture-room of the Natural History Society ‘under some disadvantages. Of megaphotography I have but a single experience. While observing the transit of Venus, I thought I would try a photo- graph. I drilled a hole in the telescope cap for diaphragm ; took off the eye-piece and stuffed the telescope into a common camera, with a red cloth to make it light-tight ; exposed six negatives with hand exposure on instantaneous plates. Result : four passable negatives and one good one. This quite unlooked- for success was due to some back volumes of NATURE which propped up the camera. The success was really a downright ie fie” 3 for, knowing the exposure must be hundreds of times too much, I added a quantity of bromide of potassium to the 80 NATURE. [May 24, 1900: developer, and the amount chanced to be correct. All photo- graphy is done with objective and camera. In photographing the sun, the object is some ninety millions of miles off; in photographing a fluid inclusion in quartz, it is the 1/16th of an inch off—a mere question of detail. Most of these scientific photographs are far easier than the simplest everyday landscape. A. R. Hunt. Comets and Corpuscular Matter. REFERRING to Prof. J. J. Thomson’s article on ‘‘ corpuscles ” in your issue of May 10, it occurs to me that the behaviour of corpuscular matter described therein may have some bearing on cometary phenomena. - May not the structure of comets to some extent be explained by assuming that their tails are composed of aggregations of negatively charged particles of extremely minute size, answering to the free corpuscular matter as defined by Prof. Thomson, and which to a large degree may be formed by a sort of *‘ corpuscular dissociation,” or detachment, taking place in the comet’s nucleus when its temperature is elevated upon nearing the sun?» Since Prof. Thomson’s experiments in- dicate the presence of negatively charged matter in kathode rays having a much smaller mass than ordinary atoms, there is reason to believe that matter in this state has properties quite apart from matter in a much coarser state of atomic division. Postulating an electrostatic field as existing in interplanetary space, with the sun as a negative centre or source of electro- static radiation, and assuming that a comet’s tail is composed of these corpuscles, the gravitational force it may suffer, when in proximity to the sun, would perhaps be very small in comparison with the electrostatic force existing throughout the vast congrega- | tion of these extremely minute particles, and thereby. account | for the repulsion of the tails of comets when they approach the | sun. -The nuclei of comets may be composed of matter in a much coarser state of subdivision, which, though endowed with posi- tive or opposite electricity, is subject to gravitational influences which determine their course in the neighbourhood of the sun. While the above is a partial re-statement of existing hy- potheses, it may, I venture to suggest, be of interest in con- nection with Prof. Thomson’s remarkable experiments on matter smaller than atoms. F. H. Lorine. 1 Champion Grove, Denmark Hill, S.E., May 18. frequency ; ard if the natural pitch of the plate is made . to approximate that of the resonator and tone, the ampli- © tude of the plate’s vibrations are rapidly multiplied. ° To make this amplitude a definitely measurable quantity, the sensitive plate carries at its centre a tiny mirror, which forms one of a system of mirrors constituting Michelson’s refractometer (PAz/. Mag. 1882, xiii. p. 236). © A displacement of the little mirror from its position at rest amounting to a half wave-length of light will cause - a corresponding shifting to one side of the interference bands, so that each dark band will take the position before occupied by the next dark band. The width of the bands may be so ‘adjusted that a telescope with micrometer eyepiece can easily subdivide each band into a hundred parts. Hence the displacement of the sensitive plate, while a tone is sounding, could be observed with great precision, if the eye could act with sufficient rapidity to mark the oscillation of any one band. WAL That, of course, is out of the question. But it is easy to compound this motion of the bands with another motion perpendicular to it (also in the focal plane), and » thus to make the displacements visible. To do this, the interference bands are made to stand vertically in the field, and a screen with a narrow, horizontal slit is inter- posed in the line of sight; consequently the bands during silence appear in the telescope as a narrow, — _ horizontal strip, composed of the bands reduced to A NEW INSTRUMENT TO MEASURE AND . RECORD SOUNDS DIRECT, absolute measurement of the intensity of ' sound at any point in the air must determine in ordinary units, such as kilogram-metres, the energy involved in the condensations and rarefactions of which the propagation of sound consists. But these pulsations follow each other so rapidly,and the amount of energy involved in even the loudest sound is so infinitesimal, that such measurement is attended with considerable difficulty ; so much, indeed, that probably not a half- dozen laboratories in the world have any instrument whatever purporting to make direct, absolute measure- ments of the energy of sound. We owe to Helmholtz (“ Wissenschaftlische Abhand- lungen,” vol. i. p. 378) a mathematical theory by which we can determine the ratio between the energy of the pulsations of a tone just without, and that within a spherical Helmholtz resonator; to Lord Rayleigh we owe an expression for the energy of sound in terms of the condensation (“ Theory of Sound,” vol. ii. Sec. 245). Upon these two results this instrument (like Wien’s, Wied. Ann. 1898, p. 834) is founded. A pure tone is received into a spherical Helmholtz resonator, a portion of the walls of which is replaced by a small, circular, extremely thin glass plate, situated just opposite the mouth of the resonator. The pulsations within force this plate to vibrate with the tone’s 1 This instrument is described somewhat more fully than it is here in the Monthly Weather Review, July 20, 1899, published by the U.S. Depart- ment ot Agriculture. We are indebted to the courtesy of its editor, Prot. Cleveland Abbe, for the accompanying illustrations. ; NO. 1595, VOL. 62] : Fic. 1.—The refractometer. The resonator has: been unscrewed! from: the: supporting bracket, leaving the sensitive plate and tiny mirror in place. square spots of dark and light... Now a small lens, forming the object-glass of the telescope, is mounted upon the end of one tine ofa tuning fork, electrically © driven, and having the pitch of the tune to be measured. During silence, the vertical vibration of the object-glass ° stretches out the strip of spots into a.rectangle of long, vertical bands, But when the tone sounds, these bands . arrange themselves diagonally across the same rectangle, . the slope of the bands increasing with the intensity of the tone. The micrometer eyepiece can be rotated on its optical axis, and it is provided with a tangent screw for close” adjustment. As it is rotated a vernier moves over a graduated arc, so that the angle of the slope (a) may be measured, as well as the height (Q) of the rectangle, the height (0) of the strip, and the width of five double bands. Putting B=Q-—o, and P=the displacement of a band, we have P=Btana. The intensity of the tone is proportional to P*, which is thus determined in mean wave-lengths of white light. ! Thus far it has been tacitly assumed that the source of tone is at just the right distance from the receiving - resonator for the vibrations of the sensitive plate to be in phase with those of the fork carrying the object- . glass. But in ordinary work this agreement in phase May 24, 1900] NATURE 81 rarely occurs, so a further modification is important. However, by simply loading the lens fork very slightly, we make the phases of the one oscillation overtake those of the other as slowly as we please. During agreement in phase the appearance of the bands will be that already described, with the slope (let us say) downward to the right. Two or three minutes after, when the two phases are opposite, the slope of the bands will be down- ward to the left. Between these two appearances con- fusion will reign, for the rectangle is then occupied by overlapping ellipses of changing eccentricity. But when- ever the two oscillations are composed into a straight For experimentation we require a source of sound that | will produce a tone of great constancy and purity, but line there is abundance of time to measure the slope of | the interference bands. We have now attained only a relative measurement of | intensity. But if we knew what maximum pressure within the resonator produced the observed amplitude of the sensitive plate, Rayleigh’s expression together with Helmholtz’s ratio would yield us the absolute intensity of the tone just outside the mouth of the resonator, which we seek. This pressure we do not know ; we can, how- ever, make a pretty close approximation to it. Let us be content, provisionally, with an error of about four parts in athousand. Accordingly we will remove the sensitive plate from the resonator, in order to substitute for it a thicker plate, of natural pitch four octaves higher. Then we will cork the resonator, and produce a series of pres- “sures within it by means of an air-pump. These _ pressures, measvred statically with a water manometer, together with the corresponding displacements, furnish a table of the degree of approximation sought ; so that by _ interpolation, when necessary, we may assign the pres- sure that has caused the amplitude, P, in any paiticular _ case, and thence obtain the energy of the tone in abso- - jute units. _ Of course, much pains must be taken to exclude all disturbing vibrations from the sensitive plate, whether one whose intensity may be varied at will between wide limits. Moreover, the tone should issue from a small and definitely located area. It will be convenient, also, to have this instrument easily portable, so that it may be moved freely even while sounding. Such a source is o Fic. 3.—The source of tone, with its box removed. obtained by causing a tuning fork to transmit its vibra- tions to a thin iron plate, which forms a portion of the walls of another spherical resonator ; for the middle of one tine is rigidly connected with the centre of the plate. | This combination is carefully tuned to give the tone _ required, and it is boxed so that only the mouth of the resonator protrudes. The fork is driven electrically, but Fic. ' Fic. 2.—The refractometer boxed and ready for use. The resonator is covered with felt. "transmitted through the air or through the floor and ia _ Supports. | Measured must be allowed to beat only upon the side of “the plate which is -within the resonator. Accordingly, "employed for the refractometer, for the tuning fork which carries the object-glass ; and also for the instrument which produces the tone, as well.as for the camera, both of which remain to be described. With these precau- ‘tions, however, the result desired is very well attained, as is shown by careful tests. Moreover, the constancy | and sensitiveness of this instrument oe to be highly gratifying. NO. 1595, VOL. 62] —The open camera. the film. Adjustment of speed is accomplished, by the aid of stroboscopic observation of the disc of black and white sectors, inspected through the square of ruby glass opposite. The electromagnet operates the arm which carries the shutter. Moreover, even the waves of the tone to be | heavy, padded boxes and piers of soft rubber are | The motor is-shrouded t» prevent its sparking from fogging its current is interrupted by the vibrations of a second fork, the two being in relay. The intensity of the tone depends, of course, upon the strength of the current which drives the source-fork, and this we may vary at will. Moreover, the intensity at the mouth of the source- resonator may be defined:in terms of the current effective in producing it. These intensities are determined by means of the damping factors of the arrangement. The theory of this source as an independent, absolute measure of intensity is an extension (Sharpe, Sczence, 1899, p. 810) of that given by Lord Rayleigh for the tuning fork (PAi/. Mug. 1894, vol. xxxviil. p. 365). This instrument makes a very pure and effective source of fo. mi. «3. 82 NATURE [May 24, 1yoo tone, simple in construction, and useful for a variety of purposes. A feeble current of a few hundredths of an ampere produces a tone that can be distinctly heard in every part of a building, 204 x 114 feet, four stories high, and containing ninety, rooms. It may also be used under water, To photograph and thus record for analysis a sound of any kind whatever, the resonator is removed by simply screwing it off, without disturbing the sensitive plate ; and a camera is, substituted for the telescope and eye. The window of the camera now forms the narrow slit, and a lens, placed between the window and the refracto- meter, focuses a narrow, horizontal strip of interference bands upon the photographic film. This film is wound about a cylinder (cf Raps, Wied. Ann. 1893, p. 194) kept in rapid rotation by a small electric motor within the camera. The speed of this motor is kept constant by Lebedew’s method (Wied. Ann. Band 59, p. 118). Con- z. Quiet. 2. Fanning I. 3. Fanning II. 4. Noise. 5. Flageolet. 6. Fork Cyog. 7. Kork cosg. 8. Fork c’539. 9. Forks C+c. 10. Forks +ce+c’.. xr. Forksg+a. 12. Forksct+e+g-+c’.. 13. Tone source. NOTES. AS we go to press, a message from Sir Norman Lockyer at: Santa Pola informs us that 130 volunteer observers have been obtained from H.M.S. Theseus, the instruments have been adjusted, and the Spanish authorities are assisting splendidly. : The weather prospects are good. Mr. J.S. Bupcerr left Liverpool on Saturday last on his second expedition to the Gambia, where he is going in order to complete his studies of the fish-fauna of that colony, and — especially to investigate the life-history and development of the abnormal fishes Polypterus and Protopterus. On reaching Bathurst, Mr. Budgett will proceed up the River Gambia to his former quarters on M‘Carthy’s Island, in the neighbourhood of which he, has already ascertained that these fishes are found breeding during the rainy season. A memoir on some points in 1. (a)h. 2. (o)h. 3. p(oo)l. 4. (a)te. 5. m(ee)t. 6. s(e)t. ( 13. F 7. (a)t. 8. (it. g. (aught. 1o. (e)re. 12. (u)se. 12. (u)rn. ork co95g- Fic. 5.—Analyses of Fork Tones and Vowel Sounds. sequently the lateral vibration of the bands caused by the sound, combined with the steady, vertical motion of the exposed portion of the film, is recorded in parallel, wavy lines. The shutter is opened for the time required for a single rotation of the cylinder by an electrical device. After each exposure the cylinder is moved in the direction of its axis by turning a screw from without. Thus a fresh portion of the film is brought under the shutter, without stopping the motion or opening. the camera. In this way were taken the photographs of fork tones and vowels here given (Fig. 5). The photograph of a.single tone from the source, whose intensity at the sensi- tive plate has been determined by the first method, affords a standard (viz. its amplitude) for determining the absolute intensity of every other sound photographed ; while comparison with the wave-length appearing in the photograph of the tone of a standard fork gives the pitch of other sounds. BENJAMIN F. SHARPE. NO. 1595, VOL. 62| the anatomy of Polypterus, based on specimens obtained by Mr. Budgett during his first expedition, was read before the. Zoo- logical Society on May 8, and will shortly be published in the Society’s Zransactions. 3 AT a recent meeting of the British Ornithologists’ Union and Club, under the presidency of Mr. F. D. Godman, F.R.S., the following resolution was unanimously adopted :—‘‘ That any member of the union directly or indirectly responsible for the destruction of nests, eggs, young or parent birds of any species mentioned below should be visited with the severest censure of the union and club.” The birds referred to are the chough, golden oriole, hoopoe, osprey, kite, white-tailed eagle, honey buzzard, common buzzard, bittern and ruff. THE committee of the Liverpool School of Tropical Diseases have decided to despatch, at an early date, an expedition to the _ Amazon to investigate yellow fever. The expedition will May 24, 1900] NATURE 83 ‘probably in the first instance proceed to Baltimore to confer _ with the yellow fever experts at the Johns Hopkins University, afterwards going to Para and other places on the South American F een: AN expedition, under the auspices of the Royal Dublin “Society and the Royal Irish Academy, conjointly, has left ~ Dublin for Spain, to observe the solar eclipse on May 28. The consists of Prof. C. J. Joly, Sir Howard Grubb, F.R.S., | as ‘A. Rambaut, F.R.S., Mr. W. E. Wilson, F.R.S., Prof. : Ww, Bergin, Mr. S. Geoghegan and Mr. Rudolph Grubb. The observers have selected as their station the hill of Berro- -calillo at Placencia, near Madrid, and have already had ¢ assistance afforded them by Prof. Iniquez, director the pees. at Madrid, and his staff, who- will them- ; eclipse at the same station. will be glad to know that the King of the Sen M. L. Dollo, Conservator of the of the International Botanical Congress, to from October 1 to 10, has issued a fresh invita- botanists to enrol themselves as members. The of members has been fixed at 20 fr., which will of the publications of the Congress. The ready been fixed on as subjects for discussion ik ig studies ; species and hybrids ; icrometric measures ; influence of the nature of Lo ms are invited. The president of the i rig E. Prilliewx ; the general secretary, M. E. he treasurer, to whom subscriptions should be sent, Villersexe! 2, Paris. D1 nmittee has been appointed to inquire which. agricultural seeds are at present yhether any further measures can with “secure the maintenance of adequate and germinating power. The committee ywing mem bers, viz. :—The Earl of Onslow, man ; Sir W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, K.C.M.G., acob | Wilson ; Mr. R. A. Anderson, secretary of ultural Organisation Society ; Mr. R. Stratton; Easton ; Mr. James Watt and Mr. David Mas E. Brooke-Hunt, of the Board of Agriculture, secretary to the committee. seeuibion to Malvern and district has been arranged by logists’ Association for Whitsuntide. The director ‘ill »e° Prof. T. T. Groom, and during the stay at Malvern, m Saturday, June 2, to Tuesday, June 5, a number of inter- geological sections and structures will be examined. HE tenth International Congress of Hygiene and Demo- _will be held in Paris this year, on August 10-17, the presidency of Dr. Brouardel, Dean of the Faculty dicine of Paris. Programmes and forms of application mbership can be obtained from the secretary of the iti bane Dr. Paul F, Siri cam 42, Walton Street, nelsea, ‘Ss W. . TING of the Institution of Mining Engineers will be n London on June 14-16. The members have been ited to attend the International Congress of Mining and all argy which will be held in Paris on June 18-23, with object of collecting together engineers and others, who NO. 1595. VOL. 62] in various parts of the world are engaged in forwarding the- progress of mining and metallurgy. The Congress, like that of 1889, is under the direct patronage of the French Government. SWEDISH metallurgy has suffered a severe loss by the death, on May 12, of Mr. G, F. Goransson, at the age of eighty-one. Without his help, the Bessemer process might perhaps never have been perfected. In 1858, at Edsken, he increased the area of the tuyeres, and succeeded in shortening the process so- as to produce sufficient heat in the converter to allow of the proper separation of the slag from the metal, and thus to con- vert pig-iron into good steel, which having been exported to England encouraged the capitalists who were supporting Sir Henry Bessemer. At the Swedish meeting of the Iron and Steel Institute in 1898, Mr. Goransson, although very infirm, welcomed the members, in an English speech, to the ‘Sandvik. works; of which he was chairman and founder. ‘nt the anniversary meeting of the Royal Geographical Society, on Monday, the medals and other awards already an- nounced (p. 34) were presented. The.president, Sir Clements. Markham, in the course of his anniversary address, said that a committee has been formed, to obtain funds for the erection of a suitable memorial to Dr. Livingstone, on the spot where the tree stood under which the heart of the great explorer was buried. The materials will be conveyed, free of expense, from the mouth of the Zambesi to Lake Bangweolo, by the kindness of the: African Lakes Corporation and the British South Africa Company. The prospects of the Antarctic expedition, from a financial point of view, have been somewhat clouded by the war. At. least 30,000/. more than has already been raised is required. Apart from the finances, the affairs of the expedition are in a flourishing state, and everything seems hopeful. The keel of the exploring ship is now laid at Dundee. She will be the: best polar exploring vessel that has ever left these shores... and the first that has ever been built in this country specially for scientific work in polar regions. WE regret to record the death, at the age of seventy-seven,,. of Mr. James Thomson, F.G.S., of Shawlands, Glasgow. Among the many enthusiastic workers at Scottish geology, none had plied his hammer with more zeal. He had been an active member of the Geological Society of Glasgow for up- wards of forty years, and was a frequent attendant at the meet- ings of the British Association. Although he had written on. the geology of Islay, and on parts of Arran and the Outer Hebrides, his special researches were on the Scottish Carboni-. ferous corals ; and his contributions on this subject, carried on partly in conjunction with the late Prof. H. A. Nicholson, were numerous. He had formed an exceedingly fine collection. of fossil corals, which he presented to his native town, Kilmarnock, A POSSIBLE method of prevention of horse-sickness, which is. endemic in the Orange Free State, Transvaal, Natal, Rhodesia. and Bechuanaland, and also occasionally occurs in Cape Colony, is described in the Cafe 7imes (April 24) by Dr. G. C. Purvis. Fortified serum, derived from immune horses, almost invariably produces fatal heemoglobinuria when injected into horses suffer- ing from horse-sickness, Dr. Purvis finds, however, that if the animal is gradually accustomed to the toxin, until it can receive an injection of 100 c.c. or 200 c.c. of serum, virulent blood, can be injected without danger, It appears that fortified serum is a useful agent if used in a proper way, and that it iscapable of preventing the onset of horse-sickness. Moreover, if, in spite of precautions, an animal acquires the disease, judicious treatment with the serum will assist in bringing about a cure. 84 A BACTERIOLOGICAL method of exterminating rats, proposed by M. J. Danysz of: the Pasteur Institute of Paris, is described in the British Medical Journal, M. Danysz has found a microbe which, if introduced into a population of rats, may be trusted to breed a pestilence among them that will wipe them out, or at least make them a negligible quantity. From field- mice suffering from a spontaneous epidemic disease he isolated a cocco-bacillus presenting the general characters of B. co/z, and thus resembling Leeffler’s B. typhi murtum. By an elaborate process of repeated cultures of this micro-organism passed through series of mice and afterwards through rats, he succeeded in intensi- - fying its virulence so as to makeit, when eaten, certainly patho- » genic for the latter rodents. Having satisfied himself of the fatal effect of the cultures in the laboratory, he had them tried in a large number of farms, warehouses, and other places in- fested by rats. From the reports of these experiments, amount- ing to several hundreds, it appears that in 50 per cent. of cases the method resulted in a complete disappearance of the rats, while in 30 per cent. their number notably diminished ; in ' 20 per cent. the method failed. SOME interesting figures showing the high estimation in which technical’ knowledge is held in certain branches of industry by German manufacturers, have recently been published in the Zettschrift fiir angewandte. Chemie, from a lecture on ‘* Technical Education and the Importance of Scientific Training,” delivered before the German Emperor by Prof. J. Bredt. The following statistics, corrected to the end of last year, refer to three of the most important factories in Germany where aniline dyes are made, viz. the Badische Anilin-und Sodafabrik, of Ludwigshafen ; the Farbewerke vorm. Meister Lucius und Briining, of Hochst am Main; and the @arben- fabriken vorm. Fr. Bayer and Co., of Elberfeld. Ludwigshafen. Hichst. Elberfeld. Workmen 6207 3670 3900 Staff — 128 886 Chemists 146 130. 130 Engineers 75 37 29 Of course, the Zugineer remarks, conditions are somewhat ‘different in Germany from those which obtain in this country, because these dye works own the ‘patents for various highly ‘lucrative’ proprietary articles, “pharmaceutical preparations; but we should be interested to ‘learn how many ‘‘ chemical” factories in Great Britain employ “over 100 skilled chemists. AN enterprise, similar to the Edison works at Paderno, where _ energy of some 13,000 horse-power is derived from the River Adda, and employed for producing electricity, which is carried by overhead cable to Manzo and Milan, but on a larger scale, is, states. the Board of Trade Journal, now. on the eve of _completion in. Northern Italy. A report of H.M. Consul at Milan (Foreign Office, Annual Series, 2413) states that the Societa Lombardia per distribuzione di energia Elettrica, ‘obtained a concession from the Government on the River Ticino, at Vizzola, some miles below its issue from Lake Mag- - giore, and immediately set about’ constructing works for the - development of-hydraulic power'of no less’ than 20,000 horse- ’ power (theoretical), which will give 10,000 effective horse-power of electric energy for industrial purposes, after making full ‘ allowance:for loss'in transmission: Since the works were begun, ‘ the sariction of the Government has been obtained to a project for the construction of a movable dam across the river some distance higher up, which would. enable the company to increase its volume of water, and allow of the sanie’’ being ‘constantly maintained during all seasons of the year. The theoretical hydraulic power would then be 24,000 and the effective electric energy 12,000 horse-power. This’ dam_ has NO. 1595. VOL. 62] kiss ‘ih PAE and manufacture numerous. LBay sia ideas not yet: been commenced, but the works have bzen constructed on the basis of the larger supply of water. seven dynamos, giving three-phase alternating currents, have been put up. The dynamos and all the other electrical plant have been supplied by Germany. It was originally intended to bring all this electric energy into Milan, a distance of twenty-five miles, but the whole of it has now been disposed of in and about the manufacturing towns of Gallarate, Busto, ' Arsizio, Legnano and Sarsuno, which lie between Vizzola and Milan, a district which already, for the cotton industry alone, “uses steam to the extent of 10,coo horse-power. This enter- prise is said to be the most important of its kind in Europe. The plans are due to the initiative of Italian engineers and were made as far back as 1887, but their execution must be attributed in a large measure to the assistance of a German firm which has subscribed a bsomsigesians pay of oF la of the company. IN arecent number of NaTuRE (March 1, p- 421) reference was made to a paper by Dr. Liideling, in which diurnal varia- tions of terrestrial magnetism were shown graphically ** with the aid of von Bezold’s vector diagrams.” Though von Bezold appears to have been the first to use the convenient term ** vector diagram ” to designate the curves referred to, Dr Chree pointed out in NATURE of March 22 (p. 490) that the curves were employed by Airy in 1863, and since then by several people in this country, including Lloyd and himself, and were not used by von Bezold until 1897. Dr. Liideling now sends us — a letter in which he states that both von Bezold and himself were well aware of the previous use of the curves, and that acknowledgment of earlier work was made in. the, paper briefly mentioned in NATURE. Pror. J. Joy has discussed ‘ The Theory of eh Order of Formation of Silicates in Igneous Rocks” (Proceedings, Roy. Dublin Soc. ix. [N.S.] 1900). He has. lately found that the softening point of quartz is far below what is currently thought. Observations indicate that silica is a body possessing an extra- ordinary range of viscosity. It isa thick liquid at about 1500” C. At a temperature of about 800° C. it is plastic, and yields with considerable rapidity to distorting forces. Perhaps it never crystallises very vigorously. The author’s experiments show that a silicate containing a small quantity of silica crystallises out at a higher temperature than a silicate with a larger per- centage of silica; and this, according to his theory, i is because the crystallising point of the one is less affected by the silica than that of the other. In a short article on ‘‘ The Formation. of Minerals in Granite” (AZemoirs, Manchester Lit. and Phil. Soc. xliv. 1909), Mr. C. E. Stromeyer brings forward some facts and suggestions which lead him to conclude that there is no necessity to limit the temperature: of granite formation, as propounded by Dr. Sorby, nor to assume that the earth's interior is solid. Not -only temperature and rate of cooling, but also pressure have combined to influence the mineral composition of granites. _Where the solid rock resting on the molten material is of a low specific gravity. and a bad conductor of heat, the depth at ‘which granite rock would commence to solidify would not be ‘great, and most probably the quartz would crystallise first,| forming, say, quartz-porphyry. Where the rock resting on the 4 molten mass is heavy, containing perhaps much iron-oxide, and — acting as a good conductor of heat, the depth at which the granite would commence to solidify would be much greater than in the previously-mentioned case, the pressure would be i much greater, and most probably the quartz would remain fluid — long after the felspars had crystallised, forming, say, felspars ‘porphyry. - In the author’s ope every apr a comiiOn® is conceivable. Seven turbines and ’ | $ 4 ‘ -May 24..1900] NATURE 85 _. TuHeE-second volume of the Azz/es of the National Observa- tory of Athens contains a catalogue of the earthquakes felt in _ Greece during the years 1893-1898. Its value will be evident from the facts that it occupies more than 150 quarto pages and _ contains entries of 3187 shocks. therefore appears that earthquakes are about twice as frequent in Greece as they are in Japan. M. Eginitis, the director of the observatory, adds an interesting discussion of the catalogue. ‘For the six years of the records, earthquakes were most numerous during the months of April and May ; there is the usual apparent maximum during the early hours of the morning ; and the usual |. doubt as to the existence of any connection between the “frequency of earthquakes and the positions of the earth and moon in their orbits. There seems to be no part of the country pgetirely. free from earthquakes, but their distribution is most alar, 2018 shocks having been recorded in Zante alone. e volume:siso contains the meteorological tables for 1896, and . Eginitis on ancient observations of meteor showers, of the discs of the sun and moon at the horizon, and pse of August 8, 1896. observers in the May number of the Zoo/ogist note the f the unusually cold and late spring on the bird-life of the _ Mr. W. W. Fowler states that after a careful search, 10, in the neighbourhood of Chipping Norton, he was le to discover a single specimen of the summer migrants. i “ig by that time to be numerous. Mr. W. Wilson, on hand, comments on the late pairing of Ape and Scotland. the the ‘April number of the Victorian Naturalist, Mr. D. Le gives an interesting account of the plants and animals with during a visit to Western Australia. In several sages he comments on the diminution in the number of wild mals, The rabbit-bandicoot, for example, has disappeared om : districts where it was formerly numerous, owing to “‘ ring- ” the timber and cultivation ; while the common phalanger, ‘ opossum,” has been practically exterminated from the settled To the Revue générale des Sciences ot Miy 15, Monsieur 5 contributes a notice of the biological laboratory established among the extinct volcanoes of the . The principal object seems to be the investigation the fas and flora of the ‘num2rous lakes, several of which "great depth and cover a large area. Already important s have been made with regard to the ** plankton ” of lakes. On the salt plains the existence of a marine fauna long beén known, and the discovery is now announced of > survival there of a marine fauna. _ ‘We have received the fourth number of the Vews Bulletin of a avneea Society of New York, which contains a popular trated account of some of the new buildings in the menagerie, well igo several of the most notable animals. Some of the tog phs, especially those of polar bears, of a group of ti (elk), and of a bull bison, are exquisite productions, We however, sorry to note that there is a deficiency of funds the support of the zoological park ; and an earnest appeal is de by the Board of Managers to induce more of the residents New York to become members of the Society. As K.. BARTON has sent. us a copy ot a paper on the omy of the digestive tract of the salmon, published in the ; | number of the Journal of Anatomy and Physiology. The _ object of the investigation was to determine the truth of the atement that when salmon enter our estuaries they are suffer- ng from a degenerative catarrh of the mucous membrane of the ntestines, which subsequently spreads upwards to the stomach. The examination of a considerable number of specimens is NO. 1595, VOL. 62] vation Taking area into account, it | stated to refute this assertion, and that previous-observers have been misled: by the effects of the methods employed in their investigations. Parr III. of “*A Manual of Surgical Treatment,” by Dr. W. Watson Cheyne, F.R.S., and Dr, F. F, Burghard, has been published by Messrs Longmans, Green and Co. The subject is the treatment of the surgical affections of the bones, and amputations. We propose to review the work when the six parts of which it will be composed have been published. : THe fifth. revised and enlarged edition of’ Dr. Richard Hertwig’s ‘“‘ Lehrbuch der Zoologie” has just been published by the firm of Gustav Fischer, Jena. As with other zoological text-books, many alterations and additions have had to be made in order to bring it in touch with the present state of knowledge. THE material collected by Dr. Arthur Willey from New Britain, New Guinea, Loyalty Islands and elsewhere, when in search of the eggs of the Pearly Nautilus, during the years 1895-97, has proved exceptionally rich in subjects of study. Part iv. of the ‘* Zoological Results”. (Cambridge: University Press) contains ten. papers upon various forms of life, and Part v. is in the press. The original intention was to com- plete the work in five or six parts. A NEw sugar has been discovered by M. Gabriel Bertrand, by the action of the sorbose bacterium upon erythrite, and is described by him under the name of erythrulose in the Comptes rendus for May 14. By its reactions it appears to be a ketone of the composition CH,(OH).CO.CH(OH).CH,OH,. thus being a lower homologue of levulose. Erythrulose is not fer- mentable by yeast, but forms a well crystallised osazone ; it resists oxidation by bromine water, and hence is probably a ketone. A NEw general method of preparing secondary. and tertiary alcohols, which, on account of the excellent yields obtainable, promises to be of considerable service, is described by M. V. Grignard in the current number of the Comptes rendus. Mag- nesium turnings react but slowly with methyl iodide at ordinary temperatures, but in presence of ether. a violent reaction takes place, resulting ina clear solution probably containing CH;.MglI. If to this solution an aldehyde or ketone is added, and the product treated with dilute acid, about 70 per cent. of the theoretical amount of the corresponding secondary or tertiary alcohol can be isolated. Thus methyl iodide and acetaldehyde give isopropyl alcohol ; benzaldehyde and isobutyl bromide give phenylisobutyl-carbinol ; methyl iodide and acetophenone, dimethyl-phenyl-carbinol. THE additions to the Zoological Society’s Gardens during the past week include a Squirrel Monkey (Chrysothrix sciurea) from Guiana, presented by Mr. Percy L. Isaac; an Ocelot (Felis - pardalis) from South America, presented by Mr. M. A. French ; | an Allen’s Porphyrio (Aydrornia al/eni) captured at sea, pre- sented by Captain J. C, Robinson; a Snowy Owl (Wyctea scandiaca, 2) from Bylott Island, Lancaster Sound, presented by Mr. A. Barclay Walker ; two Long-eared Owls (Asio otzs), European, presented by Mr. D. F. Campbell ; six Long-nosed Crocodiles (Crocodtlus cataphractus) from West Africa, pre- sented by Mr, J. S. Budgett; four Blood-rumped Parrakeets (Psephotus haematonotus), two Rose Hill Parrakeets (P/aty- cercus eximius), two Crested Pigeons (Ocyphaps lophotes), two Plumed Ground Doves (Geophaps plumifera), two Black and White Geese (Anseranas semipalmata) ftom Australia, two African Tantaluses ( Psezdotantalus ibis), two Senegal Touracous (Turacus persa) from West Africa, purchased; two King ‘Snakes (Coronella getulay, a Coralline Snake (Coronedla gentilis), 86 NATURE [May 24, 1900 ~ two American Black Snakes (Zamenis constrictor), ten Penn- sylvanian Mud Terrapins (Cénosternum pennsylvanicum), four Adorned Terrapins (Chrysemys ornata), thirteen Elegant Terrapins (Chrysemys scripta elegans), six Lesueut’s Terrapins (Malacoclemmys lesueurt), six Red Newts(Sperlepes ruber) from North America, a Garnett’s Galago(Galago garnetti) from East Africa, a Serval (Felis serval) from Africa, a Common Teguexin (Tupinambis teguexin), three Annulated Terrapins (W2corta annulata) from South America, four Blue Wall Lizards (Lacerta muralis, var. cosrulez) from Faraglione, five Schlagintweit’s Frogs (Rana cyanophilyctis) from Southern Asia, deposited; a Barbary Wild Sheep (Ovés tragelaphus, é), born in the Gardens. OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. THe DARK FRINGES OBSERVED DURING TOTAL SOLAR Ec.ipses.—We have received a communication from Sefior V. Ventosa, astronomer at the Madrid Observatory, concerning the appearance and probable cause of the dark fringes—or ‘‘ shadow bands” as they are generally called—which are always observed some few seconds before and after totality during the progress of a total eclipse of the sun. The chief points of his com- munication are here summarised. These alternating dark and bright fringes are parallel to each other, all moving in the same direction, but the velocity varies greatly from time to time. Several reasons have been advanced to account for their appearance, chief of which are those regarding them as (1) diffraction fringes bordering the actual shadow of the moon on the earth’s surface ; (2) shadow phenomena produced in the body of our own atmosphere, and affected by the direction of the wind. The examination of the observed facts appears to support to some extent those holding the latter view, as while the bands may be well seen in one place, they may be invisible in a neighbouring locality ; their form, generally rectilinear or slightly undulating, is also variable, while their breadth has been variously estimated from I cm. to 50 cm., although this will, of course, partly depend on the in- Clination of the surface on which they are observed. Sometimes they mcve with about the speed of a man walking, at others with the speed of an express train, the velocity always being less, however, than that of the shadow itself. (During the coming eclipse the shadow will move through 800 kilom. in 12 minutes. ) Sefior Ventosa has been occupied for some time in study- ing the currents in the higher regions of our atmosphere by observing the undulations round the sun and stars with a telescope, and thinks that these upper atmospheric currents may possibly have some bearing on the question of the eclipse shadow bands; the movement of these higher portions show- ing through the quieter lower strata and being rendered visible on account of different refractive powers. He thinks it would be useful to determine the velocity of these currents by anemometers at various altitudes, and also to observe the undulations round the limb of the sun at the time of eclipse, comparing them with the shadow bands in direction and velocity of movement. To ascertain if any experimental illustration of this hypothesis could be presented, he states that bands may be produced by passing diffuse light reflected from a sheet of corrugated glass through a circular aperture representing the sun, over which an opaque disc, represent- ing the moon, is made to slide. When the segment left un- covered is about 5 mm. in.width, alternate bright and dark bands can be observed on a white screen held near, if the length of the segmental opening is approximately parallel to the undulations of the glass, but if at right angles they entirely disappear. He trusts, however, that his putting forward this hypothesis for establishing a connection between eclipse shadow bands and atmospheric undulations will show the advisability of recording the direction and velocity of the wind during eclipses, so that more definite data may be available for discussion. PHOTOMETRY OF CORONA, APRIL 16, ‘1893.—In a com- munication recently made to the Royal Society, Prof. H. H. Turner, F.R.S., gives the details of procedure and results obtained in photometric observations of the corona during the total eclipse of the sun in April 1893. The visual brightness of NO. 1595, VOL. 62] the corona was determined by Prof. T. E. Thorpe at the eclipses of 1886 August 29, and 1893 April 16, by a method arranged by Sir W. Abney (P%i?/, Trans. A, 1889, p. 363, and 1896, p. 433), but soon after the first of these, Sir W. Abney devised a method of comparing the coronal light with that of a fixed standard by photographic means. This method was first put into practice at the eclipse of 1889, and has been repeated systematically since. Part of the photographic plate, before being taken for eclipse use, is exposed to a graduated series of exposures from a standard source of light in the laboratory, and then without development is afterwards used to receive the impression of the corona, the part carrying the pre- vious standard exposures being protected from further light action. On subsequent development there results a picture of the corona, and a series of squares of graduated densities on the same plate, so that the brightness of any part of the coronal structure may be directly compared with the brightness of the standard light of the laboratory. . The 1889 photographs have not yet been measured, but Prof. Turner has reduced several of the plates taken in 1893 by Sergeant Kearney at Fundium, Africa. These were obtained with the ‘‘ dcuble tube ” apparatus, giving pictures of two sizes, the moon’s disc being 0°6 inch and 1°5 inches in diameter. Examples of each scale image were examined, one of the large scale photographs, taken with an exposure of 50 seconds, being specially carefully measured along four radii extending due ., S., E., W., from the limb respectively, and the resulting table of comparison measures is included in the present paper. This table shows :— ‘t (1) That the accuracy of the method is such that the intensity of the light is determinable within a very small error. tee (2) The intensity of the coronal light falls off in nearly the same manner in all four directions (1893 was near a sun-s maximum, with corona of symmetrical form). There is a marked difference, however, between the intensities along the north and south radii. erat (3) The falling off in intensity is at first exceedingly rapid, becoming very gradual at distances more than 45 minutes from the limb. ape (4) The absolute brightness of the corona in terms of the ** moon” by using a conversion factor. ; ae See Prof. Turner then compares the brightness thus determined oy with that obtained visually by Abney and horpe, and presents two curves showing the combined obser- vations, which show a marked agreement between the results arrived at in such different ways. No measures of brightness, however, were made visually within 0°6 of a‘radius from the limb, and it would be useful if this were done at the coming eclipse. § MAXIMUM DuRATION OF TOTALITY FOR SOLAR ECLIPSE,— Mr. C. T. Whitmell sends us the following corrections to the data given in the abstract of his paper last week (p. 64) :— Earth’s radius to be taken as 3963°296 miles. Moon’s ,, 99099 9 ag I "000 5) ey The eclipse for which the totality will be a maximum will take place at noon about the beginning, not the middle, of July. _ SOME MODERN EXPLOSIVES* — \ NEARLY thirty years ago, in the Royal Institution, I had the honour of describing the great advances which had then recently been made both in our knowledge of the phenomena which atterid the decomposition of gunpowder, and in its prac- tical application to the purposes of artillery. Poidkg I described the uncertainty which up to that date had existed as to the tension developed by its explosion, the estimates varying enormously from the 101,000 atmospheres (about 662 tons on the square inch) of Count Rumford to the 1000 atmo- spheres (6°6 tons per square inch) of Robins, or, taking more modern estimates, from the 24,000 atone (158 tons per square inch) of Piobert and Cavalli to t (about 29 tons per square inch) of Bunsen and Schischkoftf. These uncertainties were, I think I may say, Set to rest by certain experiments carried out both in guns and close vessels at Elswick, by the labours of the Explosive Committee appointed 1 A Discourse delivered wel eb Institution on Friday, March 23, by Sir Andrew Noble, K.C.B., F. € 4300 atmospheres May 24, 1900] NATURE $7 by the War Office, and by researches conducted by Sir F. Abel and myself. These researches were conducted on a large scale with the view of reproducing as nearly as possible in exp2riment the conditions that .exist in the bore of a gun. You muy judze of the magnitude of the experiments when [ tell youthit I have fired and corn? retained in one of my cylinders a charge of m6 less than 28 lbs. of ordinary powder. % The result of the discussion oF the whole series of experiments £ led to the following conclusions :— i ( (t) That the tension of the products of combustion at the _ moment of explosion when the powder practically filled the space in which it is fired—that is, when the density is about unity—is a little over 40 tons on the square inch, or about 6409 ‘changes in the chemical composition of powder, changes in the mode of ignition, cause a very consider- tial energy of exploded gunpowder sup- d t ‘ed at the density of unity was found to be about 000 grammie units per gramme, or 486 foot tons per lb. of ust confess that when I gave the lecture I have referred to, ig the many centuries during which gunpowder has held its wn as prac ically the sole propelling agent for artillery pur- , Seeing also that gunpowder differs in certain important n pore ee exvigsiees to which I shall presently call your ition, Thad serious doubts as to whether it would be pos- so far to modify these latter as to permit of their being sed in large charges and under the varied conditions required n the naval and military services. __ Gunpowder is not like gun-cotton, cordite, nitro-glycerine, yddite, and other similar explosives, a definite chemical com- on in a state of unstable equilibrium, but is merely an mixture’ of ‘eat be varied to a very considerable extent without aces, in results. These constituents do not, ture of the powder, suffer any chemical second... ae, “atd _ Vou will further have observed the heavy cloud of smoke which has attended the deflagration you have seen. Nearly six- _ tenths of the weight of the powder, after explosion, remains as a _ finely divided solid, giving rise to the so-called smoke familiar _ to many of you, and of which a good illustration is shown in _ this instantaneous photograph. By way of comparison I burn _ Similar lengths of gun-cotton in the form (1) of cotton, (2) of _ strand, (3) of rope, and you will observe the different rates at which these varied forms of the same miterial are consumed, _ the rate depending in this case upon the greater aggregation and higher density, consequently higher pressure, of the cessive samples. Although the names of cordite and ballistite are probably iliar to all of you, the appearance may not bz: so familiar, ; Ihave here on the table samples of the somewhat Protean — 0 ‘to assume. “Here, for instance, are forms of cordite, the explosive of the vice, which we are indebted to the labours of Sir F. Abel and Prof. Dewar. This, which is in the form of fine ) Shit eads, is used in small arms, and here are successive sizes, d to successive larger calibres, until we reach this siz2 bc : NO. 1595, VOL. 62] 2y sulphur and charcoal, in proportions © nsumed in less than the hundredth part of a ch these explosives, or explosives of the same nature, — hict is that employed for the charge of the 12-inch, 50-ton | A couple of the smaller cords I burn, both for purposes of pate See and to draw your attention to the entire absence. of. smoke. The smoke of the gunpowder you see still floating near the ceiling, but little or no trace fs smoke can be seen from such explosives as gun-cotton, cordite or ballistite, their products of combustion being entirely gaseous. You will have observed that in the combustion which you ‘| have just seen there is no smoke, but I must explain, and I | shall shortly show you, that this combustion is not quite the same as that which takes place, for instance, in the chamber of a gun. Here the carbonic oxide and hydrogen, which are products of explosion, burn in the air, giving rise, with the aid of a little free carbon, to the bright flame you see, and some- . what ‘increasing the rate of combustion. In a gun, however, owing chiefly to pressure, the cordite is consumed in a very small portion of a second. In order to illustrate the effect of pressure upon the rate of combustion, I venture to show you a very beautiful experiment devised by Sir F. Abel. It has been shown in this room before, but it will bear repetition. In this globe there is a length of cordite. I pass a current through the platinum wire on which it is resting and you see the -cordite burns. I now exhaust. the air and repeat the experiment. The wire is red-hot, but the cordite will not burn. That the failure to burn is not due to the absence of oxygen is shown by plunging lighted cordite into a jar of carbonic acid, where, although a match is instantly put out, the cordite continues to burn—but observe the difference. There is no longer any bright flame, although the cordite is being consumed at about the same rate as when burned in air; and whena sufficient quantity of the CO, is displaced, I can make the inflammable gases ignite and burn at the mouth of the jar. Another illustration is also instructive. I have here a stick of cordite wrapped round with filter paper; I dip it in water and light the end ; you may note that at first you see the bright flame. But as the combustion retreats under the wet filter | paper, there appears a space between the flame and the cordite, the flame finaily disappears, hot gases with sparks of carbon alone showing. One other pretty experiment I show, _ I have here a stick of _cordite which I light—when fairly lighted I plunge it in this beaker of water. The experiment does not always succeed at. the first attempt, but you now see the cordite burning ‘under the water much as it did in the jar of carbonic acid. The red, fumes you observe are due to the formation of nitric peroxide. caused by the decomposition of the water by the heat. I have on the table samples of certain other smokeless | explosives of the same class. Here is a ballistite used in Italy. Here is some Norwegian ballistite. Here again is ballistite in le || the tubular form, and in these bottles it is seen in the form of | cubes. Here is some gelatinised gun-cotton in the tubular form, and here are some interesting specimens, with which I have experimented, and which up to a certain pressure gave good ‘results, but which exhibited some tendency to violence when. that pressure was exceeded. Here also are some samples of the French B.N. powder, consisting of nitro-cellulose partially gelatinised and mixed with tannin, and with barium and potassium nitrates. Lastly, I show you here a sample of picric acid, a substance which has been used for many years as a colouring material, but which will be of interest to you because it is used as the explosive of lyddite shell, concerning which I shall presently have more to say ; it differs from all the other explosives in being, in the crystalline form, exceedingly difficult to light. I fuse, however, in this porcelain crucible, a small quantity. I pour a little on a slab, and on dropping a fragment into a red-hot test-tube you see with how much violence the fragment explodes. I also burn a small quantity, and you will observe that, unlike gun-cotton, cordite and ballistite, it is not free from smoke, the smoke in this case being simply carbonaceous matter. You will observe also how much more slowly if burns. The composition of these various explosives (although in the case of both cordite and ballistite I have experimented with ‘samples differing widely in the proportion of their ingredients) may be thus stated. The gun-cotton I employed was of Waltham Abbey manu- facture, and, when dried, consisted of 4°4 per cent. of soluble 88 NATURE [May 24, 19007 cotton and 95°6 per cent. of insoluble ; as used, it contained TABLE II. 2°25 per cent. of moisture. bird é The service cordite consists of 37 per cent. trinitro-cellu- Under pressure of explosion, tons per square inch lose, with a small proportion of soluble gun-cotton, 58 per Coabituents : oor nitro-glycerine and 5 per cent, of the hydrocarbon a tons | 8 toris |'ra tome {50 deme ie balan | cece an Vv . } The ballistite I principally used was composed of 50 per cent, | tite dinitro-cellulose (collodion cotton) and 50 per cent. of nitro- | vols. + ee glycerine. The whole of the cellulose was soluble in ether | CO, 21°44 | 25°06 | 26°27 | 27°21 | 26°75 | 28°13 | 29°27 alcohol, and the ballistite was coated with graphite. CO . | 29°66 26°31 | 25°08 | 25°24 | 24°53 | 23°19 | 22°31 The French B.N. powder consisted of nitro-cellulose partly | H... . | 15°92 | 15°33 | 16°03 | 14°56 | 14°77 | 14°14 | 13°56 gelatinised, and mixed with tannin, and with barium and potas- | N ... 13°63 | 13°80 | 13°22 | 13°13 | 13°43 | 12°99 | 13°07 sium nitrates. The transformation experienced by some of these | H,O ... | 19°09 | 1909 | 19°09 | 19°09 | 19°09 | 19'09 | 19°09 explosives is given in Table I., while the pressures in relation to | CH, oo 26 “41 “31 77 | 1°47) 2:46) cage the gravimetric densities of some of the more important are a Ont ee There are slight changes as regards the 65 ° other products, but they do not compare 9 60 = © importance with that to which I have 5 8° V4 g _ referred. wd he = ss gle But before drawing your anenaoe to § 50 A so $ ‘other points of interest, it is desirable to ea LL Fas 45 ra give you an idea of the advances in bal- ee L, 40 listics which have been made both by im- bs Me 35 2 provements in the manufacture of the old fl 430 & powders and by the introduction of the - 30 x BO as =z new. ; Za oa ae y On Fig. 2 is placed the results as regards y 20 ‘ je, em = a - a velocity of nice explosives, commencing > Is pS —— ° @ with the R.L.G. powder, which was in 4 10 a << ‘© w suse in the latter part of the fifties, and fs Be | 5 & terminating with the cordite of the present “a 706 10 1B 202530 35 40450 55 60-66 70 75 80 BS day. ef DENSITY OF PRODUCTS OF EXPLOSION Fic. 1.—Pressures observed in closed vessels with various explosives. TABLE I, Constituents Cordite | Ballistite B.N. & Lyddite vols. vols. vols. vols. CO... 20°5 29°! 3 ee 12'8 COs 23°3 .21°4 24'2 49°7 H 16°5 15‘0 16°4 138 N 14°6 10°! 126 19 6 H,O 236 24°4 25°0 38 CH, . I'5 trace 06 0°3 Quantity of gas in c.c. ‘ per gramme 890°5 807 822 960°4 Units of heat 1272 1365 1003 856°3 -The decomposition experienced by. these high explosives on being fired is of much greater simplicity than that experienced by the old powders, and.is, moreover, not subject to the con- siderable fluctuations in the ultimate products exhibited by them, ‘ The products of explosion of gun-cotton, cordite, ballistite, &c., are at the temperature of explosion entirely gaseous, con- sisting of carbonic anhydride, carbonic oxide, hydrogen, nitrogen and aqueous vapour, with generally a small quantity of marsh gas. : The water collected, after the explosion vessel was opened, always smelt, occasionally very strongly, of ammonia, and an appreciable amount was determined in the water. _ In examining the gaseous products of the explosion of various samples of gunpowder, it was noted that as the pressure under which the explosion took place increased, the quantity ‘of car- bonic anhydride also increased, while that of carbonic oxide decreased. The same peculiarity is exhibited by all the ex- plosives with which I have experimented. I show in Table II. the result of a very complete series of a sample of gun-cotton fired under varying pressures, and it will be noted that the volumes of carbonic oxide and carbonic anhydride are, between the highest and lowest pressures, nearly exactly reversed. NO. 1595, VOL. 62] The experiments I am now referring. to were made in a gun of 100 calibres” in length, and were so arranged that in a single round the velocities could be measured at 16-points of the bore. The chronoscope with which these velocities were taken has been already described, and I will now only say that it is capable of registering time to the millionth of a second with a probable error of between two and three millionths. connected with the mode of registration I may mention. In the early experiments with the old powders, where the velocities did not exceed 1500 or 1600 feet-seconds, the arrangement for causing the projectile to record the time of its passing any par- ticular point was effected by the shot knocking down a smal) steel knife or trigger which projected slightly into the bore ; but — when the much higher velocities, with which I subsequently ex- perimented, were employed, this plan was found to be unsatis- factory, the steel trigger, instead of being immediately knocked down by the shot, frequently preferred instead to cut a groove in the shot, sometimes nearly its whole length, before it acted. Hence another arrangement for cutting the primary wires had to be adopted. The diagram I am now showing you is, however, both inter- The intention, among other points, was. esting and instructive. to ascertain for various calibres in length in a 6-inch gun the velocities and energies that could be obtained, the maximum pressures, whether mean or wave, not exceeding about 20 tons on the square inch. The horizontal line or axis of abscissze re- presents the travel of the shot in feet, the ordinates or perpen- diculars from this line to the curve represents the velocity at that oint. : *: j The lowest curve on the diagram gives, under the conditions I have mentioned, the velocities attainable with the powder which was used when rifled guns were first introduced into the service, and you will note that with this powder the velocit attained with 100 calibres was only 1705 foot-seconds, while wit 40 calibres it was 1533 foot-seconds. Next on the diag comes pebble powder with a velocity of 2190 foot-seconds ; next comes brown prismatic with a velocity of 2529 foot- . The next powder is one of considerable interest, and one which might have arisen to importance had it not been super- seded by ,explosives of a very different nature. It is called Amide powder, and in it ammonium nitrate is substituted for a large portion (about half) of the potassium nitrate, and there is ~ You will observe the velocity in - also an absence of sulphur. the 100 calibre gun is very good, 2566 foot-seconds. The pres- sure also was low and free from wave action. It is naturally not One curious fact | ae oe ee ks Se be May 24, 1900] NATURE 89 less, but the smoke is much less dense and disperses much re rapidly than does the smoke of ordinary powder. Its advantage, however, was that it eroded steel very much ‘on any other powder with which I experimented, while its lvantage was due to the deliquescent properties of um nitrate necessitating the keeping of the cartridges in : cases, on the diagram comes B.N. or Blanche Nouvelle > an expl plosive which, while free from wave action, is é Femarkable as od will note if you follow the curve, in develop- velocity than the other powders in the first m, and less in the later stages of expansion. Ei compare this curve with the highest curve on the m the four-tenths cordite, you will note that the curve for the first eight feet of motion is the higher, and Eat feet the curves cross, the B.N. giving a final foot-seconds, or 500 feet below the cordite ace, which, with much lower initial pressure, velocity of 2806 foot- seconds, or somewhat higher than a. Then follow three different sizes of cordite, the st a muzzle velocity of 3284 foot-seconds, or ble that of the early R.L.G. TABLE IIL.—6-inch Gun, 100 Calibres long. Velocities and Energies realised with High Explosives, Weight of Projectile, 100 Zs, Length of | Length of bbe of rane of Bore, 40 Bore, 50 ore, 75 | Bore, 100 Calibres. Calibres. Osiitets, Calibres. Nature and Weight of Explosive. TIS EAR RE z by pa + ida ees Rol s|/ Ble] Bl e/ Ble |B 3 o i] v 8 v 8 3 i) 5 3s be 7 & CI Ss > s > Hol > | e.. = f. s. |ft.tons) f. s. [ft tons| f. s. | ft. ton| ft.ton Cordite,*4 in.(27°5 lbs.)| 2794 | 5413 | 2940 | 5994 | 3166 | 6950 E sep 7478 Cordite,o*35 in.(22lbs.), 2444 | 4142 | 2583 | 4626 | 2798 | 5429 | 2915 | 5892 Cordite, 0°3 in.(20 lbs.)| 2495 | 4316 | 2632 | 4804 | 2821 | 5518 | 2914 | 5888 Ballistite, 0°31 gin.cubs.\) 2456 | 4047 | 2537 | 4463 | 2713 | 5104 | 2806 | 5460 French B. N. (25 Tbs. ) 2422 | 4068 | 2530 | 4438 | 2700] 5055 | 2786 | 5382 Amide prism (32 Ibs.) | 2225 | 3433 | 2331 | 3768 | 2486 | 4285 | 2566 | 4566 Brown prism (50 lbs.) | 2145 | 3190 | 2257 | 3532 | 2435 | 4111 | 2520 | 4488 Pebble ete ahaa 1885 | 2464 | 1980 | 2718 | 2110 | 3087 | 2190 | 3326 R.L.Gg (23 Ibs.)......... 1533 | 1630 | 1592 | 1757 | 1668 7) 1705 | 2016 i t al daw oe 1 Hi VELOCITY CURVES obtained by CHRONOSCOPE EXPERIMENTS WITH VARIOUS EXPLOSIVES IN A 100 CALIBRE 6 INCH GUN 1 L * L 1 | * 1 L ind i 32 4 36 6 J 2 4 16 18 20 2 1e pisses formidable-looking Table III. I have placed wall are exhibited the velocities and energies realised in n with the various explosives I have named, and the in addition, shows the velocities and energies in guns of e calibre but of 40, 50 and 75 calibres in length, as well at of 100 calibres. meoapare the results shown in the highest and lowest stable, that is, the results given by the highest and curves on the diagram, you will see that the velocity of r er is nearly twice as great as that of the latter, while zy and capacity for penetration is nearly four times as ‘remind most of you that in artillery matters it developed, not the velocity alone, that is of vital _ I venture to insist upon this point, because so hose who desire to instruct the authorities, write as if oa the only point to be considered. In a given gun en charge, if the weight of the shot, within reasonable ‘NO. 1595, VOL. 62} “ua 6 2 TRAVEL OF SHOT IN FEET. Fig. 2 limits, be made to vary, the ballistic advantage is greatly on the side of the heavier shot, and for three principal reasons. (1) More energy is obtained from the explosive. (2) Owing to the lower velocity the resistance of the air is greatly reduced. (3) The heavier shot has greater capacity for overcoming the reduced resistance. You will observe that on this velocity diagram, upon which { have kept you so long a time, is shown, not only the travel of the shot in feet, but the position of the plugs which gave the velocities. Further, on the higher and lower curves, the ob- served velocities are shown where it is possible todo so. Near the origin of motion the points are so close that is is not possible to insert them without confusing the diagram. At the risk of fatiguing you, I show, in Fig. 3, curves showing the pressure existing in the bore at all points, these pressures being deduced from the curves of velocity. You will note the ia to which I drew your attention, with 90 : NATURE [May 24, 1900 regard to the powder called B.N. You will remember that in the early stages of motion it gave velocity to the, shot much more? rapidly than did the other powders. You see the effect in the pressure curves, the maximum being considerably higher than any of the other pressures, while the pressure towards the muzzle is, on the other hand, considerably below the average. I fear you may think I have kept you unnecessarily long with these somewhat dry details, but I have had reasons for so doing. In the first place I desire to demonstrate to you the enormous advances which have been made in artillery by the introduction of the new explosives, and which we in a great measure owe to the distinguished chemists and fphysicists who have occupied themselves with these important questions. ; Secondly, I desire to show, you. that the explosive which has been adopted by this country, and which we chiefly owe to the - labours of Sir F, Abel and Prof. Dewar, is in ballistic effect inferior to none of its competitors. . I might go further and say that it is decidedly superior. re Ww add that in the present war it appears to have been handled in a way worthy of the reputation of the corps. : ae I fear the causes of some of our military failures at the com-- mencement of the war must be looked for in other directions, and the present unfortunate war will turn out to be ablessing in disguise, if it should awaken the Empire to the necessity of correcting serious defects in our organisation, possibly the natural result of our constitution ; and, in that case, the invaluable lives that have been lost will not have been sacrificed in vain. Fam ; ( Zo be continued.) Oe eee THE USE OF STEEL IN SHIPBUILDING) MANY changes and developments in the construction : ships for the mercantile marine have’ taken place during elast: forty years. At the commencement of this peri ood was) still the principal material employed for shipbuilding, and although iron had been introduced for general shipbuilding ) SSS NS aS evel F- y ee 22 % . sa — oof { a i f + trae & rae roe] * \ 20-| PRESSURE CURVES 40 Calibres. 50 Cali PRESSURE IN TONS PER SQ. INCH. ERE Bs 34] S —™, 20 LL : Ly, Me Sex 7; 24 ' POSITION OF PLUGS it r iit Ries \ f 1 ‘g \ i ° 2 4 6 6 ite} 12 4 6 is 20 - iliac wees obtained by i 2 CHRONOSCOPE EXPERIMENTS witH VARIOUS EXPLOSIVES. IN A 100 CALIBRE 6 INCH GUN. a a TRAVEL OF SHOT IN FEET. Fic. 3. Lastly, at a time when the efficiency of all our arms, and especially our artillery, is a question which has been deeply agitating the country, I may do some good by pointing out that the authorities are well aware that any practicable velocity or energy they may desire for their guns is at their disposal. They have such guns, I mean guns with high velocity and high energy—whether they have enough of them, and whether they are always in the right place, is another matter, for which perhaps the military authorities are not altogether responsible. But velocity and-energy is not the only thing that is required under all. circumstances in war, and: I ask you to believe that if the War Office authorities have, for their field guns, fixed on a velocity yery much below what is possible, they have had sound and sufficient reasons for so doing. My firm and_I, individually, have had much to-do with the introduction of the larger high-velocity and quick-firing guns into our own and other services; butas an old artillery officer, in no way responsible for our field guns, I may perhaps be al- lowed to say that, whether as regards materiel or personnel, our field artillery is inferior to none anywhere ; and I venture to NO. 1595, VOL. 62] purposes some twenty years earlier, the record of new tonnage added to the British Register in 1860 shows only about 30 per cent. to have been built of iron. (Ch. Mea Meee teeter AY The general adoption of iron for shipbuilding on the Wear ~ dates from about the year 1863, and by 1880 it had, in that dis- — trict, entirely taken the place of wood. On the Clyde, Mersey and Tyne, iron shipbuilding was adopted at an’ even earlier date. ~ So far back as 1855, iron had largely taken the place of wood — for shipbuilding on the Clyde. 3) Stet a ER a The difficulty of preventing the fouling of the bottoms of iron ships due to corrosion or marine ‘growths, and the conse- quent loss of speed, led to various ee made to sheath the bottoms of iron ships and cover the wood sheathing ~ with copper, yellow metal, or zinc sheets. The result was the introduction of the system of construction known as “‘Compo-- site,” in which the framing was of iron, with wood planking wrought on the iron frames, and sheathed with copper or yellow metal. ; ; 1 Abstract of a paper read before the Institution of Naval Architects Mr. B. Martell. ine 3 ‘. » NATURE QI May 24, 1900 | The early composite ships were classed as experimental, and bject to biennial survey, in order that the condition of the gs might be examined, and the effects of the galvanic set ¢ Bat the iron framing and yellow metal sheathing ined from time to time. far back as 1862, applications were made for vessels to be classed which were to be built sap peed geri, bat in the absence of experience regarding the durability of steel, the Com- mittee of Lloyd’s Register felt it was not in their power to . nin nowever, a steam yacht. of 2400. tons was built for under the survey of Lloyd’s Register Sur- astructed partly of steel. A reduction of about allowed in the steel scantlings from those re- iron ship of the same size, , Mr. James Riley, then manager of the Siemens at Landore, read a paper before the Institution of fects on the production of mild steel, setting forth ; of experiments that had been made with steel manu- d by ties Wiaieens, Marti or open hearth process, and g the qualities of this material as to ductility and tensile results were placed before the Committee of Lloyd’s r, and in 1877 plans from Messrs. J. Elder & Co, were for the construction of two paddle steamers to be tonnage of steamers and sailing vessels of iron and steel bvilt and registered in the United Kingdom since 1880. Soon after the introduction of mild steel for shipbuilding pur- poses, attention was given to the making of heavy steel castings to take the place ot iron forgings for stern frames, rudders, pro- peller brackets, stems, quadrant tillers, &c. These castings are required to be subjected to certain tests, and at the present time are often adopted in place of iron forgings. It may be here remarked that, notwithstanding the early doubts as to the durability of steel, experience has shown that where proper care is taken to thoroughly clean and paint the surfaces, the deterioration is not appreciably greater than that of iron. In some parts, however, such as thin deck plating, and plating of inner bottom and floors under boilers, , steel appears to be more liable to deteriorate, and in consequence of this, iron is often used for these parts in vessels otherwise con- structed of steel. UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL INTELLIGENCE. OxrorD.—An appointment will ere long be made to the new Wykeham professorship of physics, which will be endowed in accordance with statute by New College. It is understood that a portion of the space to be vacated in the University Museum by the removal of the Radcliffe Library will be utilised, at least temporarily, as a laboratory for the teach- ing of electricity. Merton College proposes to contribute, out of its University Purposes Fund, the sum of 700/. towards the cost of fitting up, and 500/. towards that of maintaining; for two years, the new electrical laboratory, provided that no further liability be hereby undertaken by the College. This proviso is intended to guard against the College University Purposes Fund being regarded as a permanent source of income. Messrs. W. Peterson, principal of McGill University, and John Fletcher, professor of Latin in the University of Toronto, have been ap- | pointed as representatives of the University at the centenary of the University of New Brunswick, and Mr. W. R. Morfill, reader in Russian, has been appointed representa- }299.00¢ | DIAGRAM SHEWING THE TONNAGE OF IRON ANO STEEL VESSELS es BUILT AND REGISTERED IN THE UNITED KINCDOM SINCE THE YEAR 180. eo aD : beseaned by oe morc en issernee STEAM VESSELS $y% ; ea / be, riage os Ry 5 | s20009) sa * | 3a0099| | 200000) Lice 000 | aE) Pe mes ee oe ee Mee SE ae oe aad oe ” — oe 9 aes — ww —. ” SAWING VESSAS " tive at the five-hundredth anniversary of the University of Cracow. The statute making the degrees of B.C.L. and D.C.L. accessible to persons who have obtained a degree in arts in other Universities, and study law in Oxford although they have not been admitted to the degree of B.A., has been approved by Th Babin for the English Channel service, with a n of about 20 per cent. in the scantlings which had been e same year, in consequence of a net which may be the volume of Zransactions of this Institution for 1877, cided to admit steel with scantlings 20 per cent. lighter cribed for iron, in vessels building for classification, e rial having a tensile strength of from 26 to : re inch, and an elongation of 20 per cent. ona ght inches. These limits of tensile strength have ed to 28-32 tons. s in the use of mild steel for shipbuilding purposes red from the fact that while in 1878 seven steel “ey tons, were classed in Lloyd’s Register, and 435 No. 1595, VOL. 62} Congregation and Convocation ; and also the decree instituting the new. research degrees of Doctor of Letters and Doctor of Science. i It is proposed that the necessary qualification for intending candidates for the diploma in Geography shall be that can- didates give satisfactory evidence that they have received-a good general education, and not, as at first suggested, that they should have passed the examination for the B: A. degree. On May 22 the honorary D.C. L. degree was conferred upon the following colonial representatives:—The Hon. Alfred Deakin, the Hon. James R. Dickson, C.M.G., and the Hon. Sir Philip O. Fysh, K.C.M.G. : The 212th meeting of the Oxford University Junior Scientific Club was held on Friday, May 11. Papers were read by Mr. S. A. Ionides, Balliol, on ‘* Microphotography,” and by Mr. P, Elford, St. John’s, on ‘‘ Chemists of the Nineteenth Century.” The following papers will be read during the course of-the resent term :—‘‘ Musical Tetanus,” Prof. Sir John Burdon anderson, F.R.S. ; “‘ The Labile Hydrogen Atom,” Mr. A. F. Walden, New College; ‘‘A Method for Measuring the Diameter of the Earth,” Rev. T. C. Porter. J CAMBRIDGE.—Dr. J. W. L. Glaisher, F.R.S., has been ae by the council of the Senate a governor of St. Paul’s hool. 92 NATURE [May 24, 1900 Sydney University, New South Wales, has been placed on the list of recognised schools of medicine. The Rev. T. Wiltshire has founded a prize to. be awarded annually for proficiency in geology and mineralogy. The prize is open to members of the University who have passed Part i. of the Natural Sciences Tripos, and are not of more than ten terms’ standing. Prof. J. Ward and Prof. R. Adamson, of Glasgow, are appointed electors to the Gerstenberg studentship in philosophy, open to students of natural science. : Pror. LEON GUIGNARD has been appointed director of the Paris School of Pharmacy. Pror. LuDwic BOLTZMANN, of Vienna, has accepted the invitation to the chair of physics in the University of Leipzig. THE Chemist and Druggist announces that Prof. Moissan has been elected a member of the Paris Superior Council of Public Instruction, in succession to the late M. Planchon, deceased. He has also accepted the important post of pro- fessor of chemistry at the Paris Sorbonne, in place of M. Troost, who retires on account of advancing age. SCIENTIFIC SERIALS. American Fournal of Sctence, May.—Notes on [the geology cof the Bermudas, by A. E. Verrill. The present Bermuda - Islands are the remnant of a. very much larger island, covering -anarea of about 300 to 400 square miles. A subsidence of at «least 80 to 100 feet took place at a comparatively recent period. The Greater Bermuda, as well as the present Bermudas, are -composed of shell sand drifted from the sandy flats by the winds in former times into hills, and afterwards consolidated by in- . filtration and exposure into what is known as Aeolian limestone. “The shell sand is constantly increasing in amount, chiefly by the annual growth and death of small shells, as in former periods, ‘so that the total mass of the islands is probably still increasing beneath the sea. The ‘‘red soil” of Bermuda is mainly the residue left after the destruction and solution of the limestones. ‘The islands rest on the hidden summit of an ancient volcano. —Some boiling point curves, by C. L. Speyers. The author ‘shows that the equation ~ . accounts for the boiling point curves of every mixture for which the partial pressures of the constituents are known at some temperature not very far from the boiling point of the mixture under consideration.—Action of ammonium chloride upon natro- lite, scolecite, prehnite and pectolite, by F. W. Clarke and G. Steiger. The authors show how the ammonium chloride re- action can be used for studying the chemical structure of these minerals, and that the orthosilicate formule for natrolite and scolecite must be discarded.—Siliceous calcites from the Bad Lands, Washington County, South Dakota, by S. L. Penfield and W. E. Ford. The calcites obtained from the new locality have a peculiar crystallisation, being steep hexagonal pyramids instead of rhombohedra.—Studies in the Cyperaceze, by T. . Holm. This paper deals with the segregates of Carex filifolia, Nutt. —Mineralogical notes, by A. F. Rogers. Describes various peculiar forms of gypsum and calcite. Twinned gypsum crystals from Lebo, Kansas, possess hemimorphic orthorhombic symmetry rather than monoclinic.—The Hayder Creek, Idaho, meteoric iron, by W. E. Hidden. This meteorite, weighing 870 grammes, was found at the bottom of a twelve-foot shaft. _No companions have been found.—Explorations of the A/éatross in the Pacific, by Alexander Agassiz. This is the author’s fourth and last letter to the U.S. Fisheries Commissioner on the cruise of the A4:éa- tross. It describes the work in the Ellice, Gilbert and Marshall Islands, as well as the Carolines and Ladrones. The Truk Archipelago was perhaps the most interesting of the island groups of the Carolines, and it is the only group of the volcanic _ Islands surrounded by an encircling reef which the author has seen in the Pacific, which at first glance:lends any support to the theory of the formation of such island groups as Truk by subsi- dence. But a closer examination shows that this group is not an exception to the general rule thus far obtaining in all the island groups of the Pacific visited during this trip, that we must look to submarine erosion and to a multitude of local mechanical causes for our explanation of the formation of atolls and of NO. 1595, VOL. 62] Eventually, the positive light retires towards the anode, so that © barrier and encircling reefs, and that, on the contrary, subsidence has played no part in bringing about existing conditions of the — atolls of the South and Central Pacific. a American Journal of Mathematics, vol. xxii. 2.—Remark concerning the expansions of the hyperelliptic sigma-functions, by — Oskar Bolza, are supplementary to two papers, by the same ~ writer, in vol. xxi. pp. 107-125 and pp. 175-190.—On a — certain class of groups of transformation in space of three — dimensions, by H. F. Blichfeldt, is the carrying on of an investi- — gation (by S. Lie) of groups of transformations in 3 variables, defined by the properties : two points have one, and only one, invariant ; s>2 points have no invariants independent of such two-point invariants. This class belongs to a wider class in 2 ~ variables defined by the properties : not less than m>TI points — may possess invariants, while s points, s>m, may have no in- — variants independent of the m-point invariants. The wider — class includes the group of Euclidean motions in space of 2 or 3 — dimensions, the group of translations in space of # dimensions, — the group of Euclidean motions and similar transformations in — space of 3 dimensions, &c. Certain groups are discussed and ~ their general properties stated.—Dr. L. E. Dickson, in a paper — on the canonical form of a linear homogeneous substitution in a — Galois field, gives a short proof by induction of a result which ~ M. Jordan had previously obtained by a rather lengthy analysis.— _ Dr. E. O. Lovett writes on families of transformations of straight lines into spheres. Ifa plane o containing two points Z and Z, moves upon a coincident plane o, containing two straight lines gand g,,so that £ remains upon g and Z£, upon g,, the two planes form a mechanism possessing the following well-known — properties: Every point of o traces an elli upon ¢,, and every point of o, traces a limagon upon o (cf Chasles, Apercu, — p- 49), a circle c of radius a in o rolls upon the inner side of a circle c, of radius 2a in o,. Every point of c describes a straight line passing through the centre of c,. Any two of these lines, with the points which generate them, can be taken for g, g, and £, £E, in defining the movement. Mr. E. M. Blake’s object, in his article on the Ellipsograph of Proclus, is to study (1) the curves generated by the points of « and o, ; (2) the ruled surfaces generated by any straight line carried by o or o, and not parallel to them ; (3) the curves enveloped by any straight line of « or o,; (4) the developables enveloped by carried peor (of. Cayley, on the kinematics of a plane, Q./. xvi. 1878; Schell, ‘‘Theorie der Bewegung und Kriafte,” i. pp. 227-230, and articles by Burmester).—Mr. N. J. Hatzidakis, in displacements depending on one, two,. . . & parameters in a space of # di- mensions, extends to the general case results obtained for 4 dimensions by Prof. Craig (vol xx. 2) and M. Darboux.—The | main object of Dr. G. A. Miller on the product of two substi- — tutions is to prove the following theorem :—If /, m, # are any © three integers greater than unity, of which we call the greatest — &, it is always possible to find three substitutions (Z, 47, VV) of k+2 or some smaller number of elements, and of orders /, m, 2 respectively, such that L.Z=WN. in Annalen der Phystk, No. 4.—Temperature and potential — gradient in rarefied gases, by G. C. Schmidt. When a vacuum ~ tube is heated, the positive light becomes stratified. The — stratifications increase in- breadth as the temperature increases. — the discharge becomes. dark. At the kathode, on the other — hand, an increase of the temperature produces an extension of © the glow light, such as is produced by an increase of the current © strength. When the dark discharge has set in, the potential | gradient is greatest at the anode, and is proportional to the | distance from the kathode.—Mechanical motions under the © influence of kathode rays and Rontgen rays, by L. Graetz. | Rotations similar to those produced by Quincke in liquids may | be produced in air ionised by X-rays, by mounting light di- | electric bodies provided with agate caps on needle points in | the space between two condenser plates exposed to the ‘rays. | The sense of the rotation depends upon the initial tendency, except when the rotating body contains a’ metallic substance, in ~ which case the direction of rotation depends upon the direction | of the rays and the electric field. The rotations are explained by the electrostatic forces between the wall of the tube and the | parts of the body charged by the ions. The author believes that these rotations furnish an explanation for the rotations | under the influence of kathode rays first observed by Crookes. —_ Atomic and molecular magnetism, by S: Meyer. Special in- vestigations of the magnetic susceptibilities of copper compound have shown that there is no essential difference between cupric May 24, 1900] NATURE 93 / _ and cuprous compounds. Wherever the formation of a molecule out of its constituent atoms leads to a considerable contraction of volume, the molecular magnetism is increased, so that the _ result may even be a paramagnetic compound. Where, on the her hand, there is expansion, the diamagnetism increases. — nergy of kathode rays, by W. Cady. The author discusses the ous methods of determining the energy of kathode rays. ‘The thermopile and the bolometer have undoubted advantages ‘as compared with the calorimeter, but it is necessary to know how much of the energy incident upon them is reflected, and how much energy is lost in the process of, reflection. The _ author bases his calculations upon the supposition that 40 per _ cent. of the kathode energy is reflected, and that the amount of _ energy lost during reflection is 30 per cent.—Electric arc _ between metallic electrodes in nitrogen and hydrogen, by L. _ Arons electromotive forces necessary to produce an arc between metallic electrodes depends upon the nature of the irrounding gas. In air, silver electrodes give a fine arc, but no an be ced with them in nitrogen. Iron electrodes, require a high voltage in air, require only a very low : in nitrogen.—Electrolytic records of electric currents, Gruetzner. The author gives details of the method of ling alternating currents of high frequency with the aid of paper, and shows that for low voltages it offers decided ies over the dust-figure method.—Change of volume of m during fusion, by M. Eckardt. The fusing point of m is 37°80. During melting, « gramme of rubidium nds by 0°01657 c.cm. zons’s Monthly Meteorological Magazine, May.—Meteoro- al extremes’: wind-force. This is the third of a valuable of articles ; the first two referred to pressure and tempera- The difficulties are far greater than in the other cases, as rmining wind-force observations no homogeneity exists ther as crete egal eaiain employed, or the units of the rious scales in which ‘the results, either instrumental or esti- oh sent The instrument most generally used is ir. Robinson's cup-anemometer, the few others being chiefly sler’s or Dine’s pressute anemometers. In the velocity instru- ents the factor for obtaining the true velocity of the wind epends upon the length of the arms and the size of the cups. atil recently the factor used has been 3, but more recent hag ;periments have shown that the speed at the cups should be ultipliec by the factor 2‘2, so that some very high velocities merly recorded should be reduced by nearly one-third. the highest velocities recorded in this country (reduced the new factor 2°2), we may mention a severe gale in the Sea in January 1899, in which a rate of 90 miles per hour as recorded in one gust ; the maximum mean force for an hour Fleetwood was 75 miles. The highest recorded velocity in a t was recorded by Dines’s anemometer at Rousdon, in South in March 1897, viz. at a rate of 101 miles perhour. At wich a ] re of 514 lbs. on the square foot was recorded ary 18, 1881, which is equivalent to a velocity of about miles per hour, but there is good reason for believing that strong wi the records of these pressure plate anemo- €rs are occasionally much too high. It is still a moot ques- 1, what is the strongest force that the wind attains, and whether force in some of the gales which visit our exposed shores 1 the Atlantic is much exceeded in tropical cyclones. Bollettino della Societd Sismologica Italiana, vol. v. 1899- », No. 7-—List of earthquakes: observed in the East, and cially in the Ottoman Empire, during the year 1896, by gamennone. An extract from a paper noticed in NATURE, Ixi. p. 400.—The Etnean earthquake of May 14, 1898, by ecb. The epicentre was at S. Maria di Licodia on the west slope of Etna, and the focus must have been shallow, e shock was strong enough to damage many buildings near entre of a small disturbed area.—Notices of earthquakes led in Italy (October 11-November 19, 1898), by A. Can- the most important being earthquakes in Sicily on I, 2and 3, Dalmatia on November 8, the Ionian Sea mber 9, and distant earthquakes on October 12 and 4 I Phan P . The Modena-Bologna earthquake of the night of ty 1-2, 1900, by G. Agamennone. A slight shock, with irbed area of about 60,000 sq. km., but recorded by a graph at Lubiana (330 km. from the epicentre).—On an a ae by A. Cancani, a paper noticed in NATURE, vol. lxi. p. 573.— Notices of earthquakes recorded in Italy (November 21~-Decem- ber 31, 1898), by A. Cancani, the most important being distant earthquakes on December 1 and 3.—QOn a new form of multipli- cation applicable to seismic movements and on a new seismo- scope founded on the same, by G. Pericle. Bulletin de la Société des Naturalistes de Moscou, 1899, No«t. —Meteorological observations at Moscow in 1898, by E. Leyst.— On the development of green algues under conditions excluding the assimilation of carbon-dioxide, by Dr. A. Artari.—On the Hedysarum species (15) found in European Russia, Crimea and Caucasia, by B. Fedtschenko.—On the Hydrachnids of the neigh- bourhood of Moscow, by A. Croneberg (plate). Forty-nine species, several of which are new, are described.—On the iron-ores (¢urjit) of the South Urals, by J. Samoiloff. All these articles, with the exception of the last one, are in German, or contain German résumés. —Notes on Coleoptera of European Russia and Caucasia, by A. Semenoff. Memoirs of the Mathematical Section 0, the Novorossian (Odessa) Society of Naturalists, vol. xix.—Foundations of a theory of analytical functions, by J. Timtchenko, continued from vols.. xii. and xvi. This part contains the history of certain special questions, the discussion of which has mainly contributed to the development of the theory of these functions... Memoirs of the Kazan Society of Naturalists, vols. xxxii. and: xXxiii,— Materials relative to the flora of the northern boundaries.. of the black-earth region, by S. Griegorieff.—The corals of the Devonian deposits in the Urals, by N. Bojartsen (one plate). Filty-six species are enumerated, several of these, as also one- genus (/Vicholsonia), being new.—On the saliva glands of: Peri- Planeta orientalis, by A. Lebedeff (plate).—The Ranunculaceze rothermi phenomenon in electrical contacts with slight sure, by A. Cancani.—Latian earthquake of July 19, 1899, s NO. 1595, VOL. 62] of Russian Turkestan, by Olga and Boris Fedtschenko. One hundred and fifty-eight species are enumerated, forty-three species being endemic, and thirty-eight species belonging to the Alpine region. A suggestion for the determination of the Turkestan Species is given, All articles are summed up either in French or in German. ; SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. LONDON. Royal Society, May 10.—‘‘ On Certain Properties of the Alloys of Gold and Copper.” By Prof. Sir W. C. Roberts- - Austen, K.C.B,, F.R.S., and T. Kirke Rose, D.Sc. _ : The alloys.of gold and copper, which are of great industrial. importance owing to their use in coinage, have not been sub- jected hitherto to systematic examination. It has been assumed that they differ widely from the silver-copper series, which has been studied from different points of view, but there is very~ little evidence on which this view can be based. Examination with the aid of a thermo-couple and autographic recorder shows that the freezing-point curve of the gold-copper series consists of two branches setting out from the points of. solidification of the pure metals and meeting at a point, which. is the freezing point of the eutectic. The eutectic contains about 82 per cent. of gold and 18 per cent. of copper, or about 60 atoms. . of gold to 40 of copper, and solidifies at 905°. The general, shape of the curve therefore resembles that of the silver-copper. series when the abscissz give the relative number of atoms. Under the microscope, alloys containing more than 82 per- cent. of gold show a minutely granular structure in which it is not certain that two constituents can be distinguished. .The section of standard gold containing 91°6 per cent. of gold bears, a close resemblance to. that of standard silver prepared in the same way. The alloy with 80 per cent. of gold shows the characteristically-banded eutectic structure almost exclusively, and the alloys with less gold consist of crystals of copper set in a matrix of the eutectic. Another point of similarity between the gold-copper andi, silver-copper series is that both the eutectics are brittle and. show scarcely any extensibility ; they differ in these respect from, most other eutectics. Analysis of various portions of ingots of standard gold reveals the fact that liquation takes place as. definitely as in standard silver, the difference in composition. /between the centre ‘and the outside of similar ingots being, how- ever, three or four times greater in standard silver than in ‘standard gold. '0°3 to 1°O part per 1000 less gold than the outside, In the latter case, the centre contains from 94 NATURE [May 24, 1900 It follows from these results that the gold-copper series of alloys presents many points of similarity with the silver-copper series, and that the main difference is only one of degree, copper being apparently more soluble in gold in the solid state than in silver. Geological Society, April 25.—J. J. H. Teall, F.R.S., President, in the chair.—The President read the following resolution which had been passed unanimously by the Council : ‘* That this Council desire to place on record their deep sense of the loss which both science and literature have sustained in the death of the Duke of Argyll, who was the oldest surviving past-President of the Geological Society’’ ; and stated that on behalf of the Council he proposed to communicate a copy of the resolution to the Duchess of Argyll, coupled with an expression of respectful sympathy.—On a complete skeleton of an Ano- modont reptile from the Bunter Sandstone of Reichen, near Basel, giving new evidence of the relation of the Anomodontia to the Monotremata, by Prof..H. G. Seeley, F.R.S. The author discusses various views which have been expressed with regard to the position of the Labyrinthodonts. He has already separated these animals from the Amphibia and combined them with the Ichthyosauria in a group of reptiles named Cordylo- morpha, and he enumerates a series of characters which constitute so close a link between the two types “‘ that it is not possible, in the absence of evidence, to conceive of their being referred to different classes of animals.’’ In conclusion, the author argues that the points of structure are so few in which Monotreme mammals make a closer approximation to the higher mammals than is seen in the fossil described and other Anomo- dontia, that the Monotreme resemblances to fossil reptiles become increased in importance. He believes that a group Theropsida might be made to include Monotremata and Ano- modontia, the principal differences (other than those of the skull) being that Monotremes preserve the marsupial bones and the atlas vertebra. Ornzthorhynchus shows pre-frontal and post-frontal bones, and has the malar arch formed as in Anomo- donts and some other reptiles.—On Longmyndian Inliers at Old Radnor and Huntley (Gloucestershire), by Dr. Charles Callaway. The grits, with some associated slaty bands, forming a ridge near Old Radnor were considered by Sir Roderick Murchison to be May Hill Sandstone. The author has dis- covered that one of the beds of Woolhope Limestone, dipping westward, is crowded with rounded and angular fragments of grit bearing a general resemblance to the arenaceous parts of the Old Radnor Group. May 9.—J. J. H. Teall, F.R.S., President, in the chair. —The Pliocene deposits of the East of England. Part ii. : The Crag of Essex (Waltonian), and its relation to that of Suffolk and Norfolk, -by F. Harmer, with a report on the inorganic constituents of the Crag by Joseph Lomas.: Three divisions of the Red Crag are proposed, namely, Wal- tonian, Newbournian and Butleyan, which are distinguished alike by the difference of their faunas, and by the position which they occupy. The first, with its southern shells, is confined to the county of Essex ; the second, containing a smaller propor- tion of southern and extinct, and a larger proportion of northern and recent species, occupies the district between the Orwell and Deben, and a narrow belt of land to the east of the latter river ; the third, in which Arctic forms such as Cardium groenlandicum are common, is found only farther north and east. All these beds are believed to have originated in shallow and land-locked bays, successively occupied by the Red Crag sea as it retreated northward, which were silted up, one after the other, with shelly sand. The conditions under which the Red Crag beds originated seem to exist at the present day in Holland, where sandy material brought down by rivers, with dead shells in great abundance from the adjacent sea, is being thrown against and upon the coast, principally by means of the westerly winds now prevalent. From meteorological considerations, it seems probable that strong gales from the east may have prevailed over the Crag area during the latter part of the Pliocene epoch. +A description of the Salt-Lake of Larnaca in the Island of Cyprus, by C. V. Bellamy. After a brief description of the general geology and geography of the island, the author pro- ~ ceeds to deal with the topography of the lake, which occurs in a‘ basin shut off from the sea, its deepest part being about to feet below sea-level. The barrier between the salt-lake and the sea is made of stiff calcareous clay associated with masses of con- glomerate resting on plastic clay, that on watery mud, and that again on stiff calcareous clay. The sea-water appears to-per- NO. 1595, VOL. 62] colate through the highest deposits, meeting with checks in the conglomerates, and thus reaches the basin somewhat slowly, where it is evaporated to dryness by the summer heat and deposits its salt. Artificial channels have been made, to carry the flood-water from the land direct to the sea, so that it does not dilute the brine of the lake. The rainfall in the catchment- area round the lake is at the most only enough to supply 223 million gallons, and as the lake contains 480 million gallons when full, the balance of 257 million gallons must be derived from the sea. The lake is probably situated on what was an extensive arm of the sea at the close of the Kainozoic era, The salt-harvest begins in August, at the zenith of summer heat, and it is reported that a single heavy shower at that time of year suffices to ruin it.. Observations are given on the density of the water, the plants and animals in the water, and the lake- shore deposits.” Zoological Society, May 8.—Dr. W. T. Blanford, F.R.S., Vice-President, in the chair.—Mr. Sclater exhibited a mounted specimen of a male reedbuck, which had been obtained by Mr. Ewart S. Grogan on the Songwé River, north of Lake Nyasa. The specimen was of about the same size as the common — reedbuck (Cervicapra arundinum), but differed from that species in several important points. Mr. Sclater considered it referable to a new species, and proposed to name it Cervicapra thomasinae.—Mr. C. Davies Sherborn made some remarks on the progress of his ‘* Index Generum et Specierum Animalium,” of which he expected the first portion (1751-1800), containing about 60,000 entries, to be ready for publication at the end of this year.—Mr. G. A. Boulenger, F.R.S., read_a paper on the batrachians and reptiles collected by Mr. G. L. Bates in the Gaboon (French Congo), among which were specimens of ten new species and five new genera of. the former, and of one new ._ species of the latter, which were described. These descrip- — tions were incorporated with a list of the. previously known species from the Gaboon, by which it was shown that the — batrachians known from this country reached thirty-nine in number and the reptiles eighty. —Mr. W. R. Ogilvie Grant read a paper on the birds of the Hainan, based on a collection sent _ home by the late Mr. John Whitehead from the Five-Finger — Mountains in the interior of the island. Examples of many ~ interesting species had been procured, which were either new to science or to the fauna of the island. Among the former, which. numbered eleven, were mentioned a splendid silver pheasant, a — remarkable night-heron, and a peculiar brown-and-white jay of | the genus Urocissa. The paper ‘contained a complete account of the avifauna of Hainan as known at the present time.—Mr.. Philip Crowley read a paper on the Rhopalocera collected by the late Mr. John Whitehead on the Five-Finger Mountains in the interior of Hainan. Specimens of 108 species were contained in the collection, of which eight were described as new, and many others were recorded from that island for the ~ first time.—Mr. J. S. Budgett read a paper, entitled “‘Some ~ points in the anatomy of /olypterus,” as deduced from an examination of specimens lately procured by the author in the ~ River Gambia.—Mr. G.'A. Boulenger gave a list of the fishescol- — lected by Mr. J. S. Budgett during his recent expedition ‘to the — Gambia. Among these were examples of two new species, — which were proposed to be named Clarius budgettt and — Synodontis ocellifer. Altogether specimens of forty-two species _ of fishes were obtained by Mr. Budgett from the river. 2 { extended medium.—Prof. Love, F.R.S., gave a_descri on of some diagrams illustrating a paper, by Mr. J. H. Michell, which _ treats of distributions of stress in two dimensions. —The follow- ing papers were communicated by their titles :—The differentiz equation whose solution is the ratio of two solutions of a linear _ differential equation, by Mr. M. W, J. Fry; Note ona quin. quisectional equation, by Prof., L. J, Rogers 5 On the iffer- entiation :of single theta functions, by, the Rev, M. M. | of the wave-system-due to the free vibrations of a nucleus in anes May 24, 1900] NATURE 95 x ‘Wilkinson ; and linear substitutions commutative with a given gabatiztion, by Dr. L. E. Dickson.—Lieut.-Colonel Cunning- .» V.P., showed that numbers which are expressible in a two forms N ae. gi are always com- y' ithe ta when py=y'r’; id. showed saw to reduce them to _ the forms N=X?+yuvY?=X”"+yvY”, the factorisation of which is known from Euler’s researches. art rcs Society, May 17.—Dr. C, Theodore ent, in the chair.—A paper was read on the “Wiltshire Subiwing of October 1, 1899, which had been pre- oes the late Mr. G. J. Symons, F.R.S., a few days before was stricken down wit ‘paralysis. This whirlwind occurred ii 2 p.m. and 3 p.m., commencing near Middle Winter- _ slow and epraman in a north-north-easterly direction. The Thee of the e was nearly twenty miles, but the average h was only about 100 yards; in this narrow track, how- _were blown down, trees were uprooted, and $s were lifted and carried by the wind a considerable dis- tan » before they were deposited on the ground. Fortunately greater part of the district over which the whirlwind passed : n Down, otherwise the damage and perhaps loss of life Fave been considerable. At Old Lodge, Salisbury, the Sl aptatds of oe whirlwind was strikingly shown by several being lifted up and dropped down several feet rth 1-west of their original position. At a place eighteen miles - from ‘its origin the whirlwind came upon a rick of oats, a con- _ siderable — of which it carried right over the village of _ and deposited in a field more than a mile and a half away. A paper by Dr. Nils Ekholm, of Stockholm, was also read on variations of the climate of the geological and historical past : causes. In this the author attempts to apply the ults of physical, astronomical and meteorological research in r to ex — secular changes of climate revealed by _ geology and hi DUBLIN. M — Royal: Dublin Society, February 21.—Prof. G. F. Fitz- c _F.R.S., in the chair.—Prof. W. N. Hartley, F.R.S., a papers on the action of heat on the ab- Ee spectra and chemical constitution of saline solutions, Baa of the the occurrence of cyanogen compounds in coal-gas, m of cyanogen in that of the oxy-coal- gas E. J. McWeeney gave an account of the jrecently demonstrated connection between mosquitoes and malaria, with rein demonstration of the life-history of the former.—Prof. + Johnson communicated a note on Sclerotium disease of e grown at Greystones, county of Wicklow. . T. Trouton, F,R.S., in the chair.—Dr. bast Saree read a aper, entitled ‘* Contributions to the C of the action of inorganic salts on the structure and nt of plants.”—Mr. R. J. Moss (in the absence of ) communicated a paper, by Prof. E. A. Letts d Messrs, e, Caldwell and Hawthorne, on the nature iG ad pers < of the chemical changes which occur in mixtures of ge and sea-water.—Prof. J. Joly read a paper on the theory othe ert Wilr (a silicates in igneous rocks, which was d by a diagram (see p. 84) “April 25.—Prof. J. Emerson Reynolds, F,R.S., in the chair. Prof. J. Emerson Reynolds, F.R.S., read a paper on recent analyse of the Dublin gas supply, and observations thereon.— ‘Prof. G. A. J. Cole communicated a paper by himself and Mr. J A. Cur on certain rocks styled ‘‘ felstones,” occur- ring as dykes in the county of Donegal. EDINBURGH. oyal Society, May 7.—Sir Arthur Mitchell, K.C.B., in the ir.—Mr. John Aitken, F.R.S., read a paper on the dynamics clones and anticyclones, Part ii, ; which was enious ex ent showing the production of vortex columns air. the upper metal surface of a flat box through ick steam was blown was spread a sheet of brown horoughly soaked with hot water. A steady gentle blast of s driven across this steaming surface by means of a rotating Sand when a barrier was interce ed so as to cut off half of Po” from the direct effect of the blast, a succession of whirls was started at the boundary between the sheltered and ashi parts of the surface. These whirls were plainly dle e in the columns of rotating cloud, and showed on a small NO. 1595, VOL. 62] Lereqd | illustrated by an | Paper » scale some of the characteristics of cyclones. According to Mr. Aitken’s mode of looking at the phenomenon, the blast of air produced by the fan is analogous to the anticyclonic marginal wind which is regarded as driving the cyclone. The relations be- tween the upper and lower currents in a ng movement were also illustrated in the experiment.—Mr. R. C. Punnett communicated a paper on certain Nemerteans from Singapore, in which several facts of morphological interest were brought to light, notably the presence, in one species, of ducts placing the anterior portion of the alimentary canal in communica- tion with the excretory system, and so with the exterior ; and the different features shown in the termination of the lateral nerve-cords in a single genus where there might be a commis- sure either above or below the rectum, or else no commissure at all.—Mr. R. T. Omond, in a paper on the reduction to sea- level of the Ben Nevis barometer, pointed out that, using the ordinary reduction formula, we get an appreciable difference be- tween the observed sea-level pressure at Fort William and the reduced Ben Nevis reading. Leaving out of account all cases in which strong winds were blowing, Mr. Omond had worked out in detail the hourly readings for a period of time extending over six years, and gave reasons for his belief that the dis- crepancy noted above was due to a false estimate of the average temperature of the air between Fort William and Ben Nevis. This average was not the mean of the bottom and top tem- peratures. Mathematical Society, May 11.—Mr. Muirhead, Presi- dent, in the chair.—A theorem in continued fractions (Prof. Steggall), on certain elementary inequality theorems (Prof. Gibson), note sur un probléme de géométrie (Mons. Ed, Col- lignon) ; communicated by Dr. Mackay. PARIS. Academy of Sciences, May 14.—M. Maurice Lévy in the chair.—On a zenitho-nadiral apparatus designed to measure the zenithal distances of stars near the zenith, by M. A. Cornu. In front of a horizontal telescope carrying a wire micrometer is placed a special arrangement of two mirrors making an angle with each other of 90°. Four images can be seen simultaneously, that of the star near the zenith, the cross wires, the reflection of these wires in the mercury bath, and the image of the wires from the special reflector. When the image of the movable wire coincides with its reflected image from the mercury bath, the nadiro-zenithal image of this wire passes through the zenith, whatever may be the deviation from a right angle of the angle between the mirrors. The arrangement possesses important advantages over the methods at present in use.—Remarks on a meteor which fell in Bolivia on November 20, 1899, by the French Chargé d’Affaires at La Paz.—On divergent series, by M. Le Roy.—On the_ representation of non- uniform functions, by Desaint.—On a _ modifi- cation which . metallic surfaces undergo when submitted to light, by M. H. Buisson. Under the influence of light, the metallic surface changes its state as measured by the rate at which it loses a charge of electricity, this change not being per- manent but gradually disappearing when the radiant energy is cut off.—On the thermoelectric properties of some alloys, by M. Emile Steinmann. The alloys studied were ten nickel steels, four samples of platino-iridium, three of aluminium bronze, five telegraphic bronzes, five brasses, and four of German silver, at temperatures ranging from 0° to 260°C. In the binary alloys the observed electromotive forces are arranged in the order of magnitude of one of the components, but no simple relation could be deduced between the electromotive force and chemical composition in the case of nickel steel or of ternary alloys.—Duplex and diplex transmission by electric waves, by M. Albert Turpain.—Experiments in wireless tele- graphy from a free balloon, by MM. J. Vallot, J. Lecarme and L. Lecarme. It was found to be possible to transmit messages to the balloon without an earth wire, even up to a distance of six kilometres and a vertical height: of 800 metres.—An arrangement designed to prevent the inter- ception of despatches in wireless telegraphy, by M. D. Tommasi. »—On the hydrated calcium peroxides, by M. inde Forcrand. A thermochemical paper.—On the allotropic transformations of ‘the alloys of iron and nickel, by M. L. Dumas.—Preparation of some aluminium compounds and of the corresponding hydro- gen derivatives, by M: Fonzes-Diacon. Details are given of the preparation of aluminium - sulphide, - selenide, phosphide, - -erystalline vegetable base. ’ 4 96 NATURE [May 24, 1960 arsenide and antimonide. By the decomposition of these substances the hydrides HS, H,Se, PH; and AsH; are ob- tained in a very pure state. SbH, can also be prepared in considerable quantity.—The estimation of thallium, by M. V. Thomas. The oxidation of thallous to thallic salts is carried out with bromoauric acid, the precipitated gold being weighed. Provided that the quantity of thallium present is not too small, the results are very exact.—Action of anhydrous aluminium chloride upon acetylene, by M. E. Baud, The aluminium chloride absorbs nearly four times its weight. of acetylene, hydrogen, marsh-gasand ethylenic hydrocarbons being evolved. Complicated condensation products are formed, which are being further ex- amined.—Some new organometallic combinations of magnesium and their application to syntheses of alcohols and hydro- carbons, by M. V. Grignard (see p. 85).—Santalenes and santalols, by M. M. Guerbet. A description of the isolation of two alcohols and two hydrocarbons from essence of sandal- wood, together with the products resulting from the action of acetic acid, hydrochloric acid, and nitrosyl chloride upon the hydrocarbons and acetic anhydride, and phos phorus pentoxide upon the alcohols. —On tyrosinase, by M. C. Gessard. Tyrosinase is a ferment isolated from fungi, it possessing oxidising powers, giving a red oxidation product with tyrosin.—On the oxidation of erythrite by the sorbose bacterium and production of a new sugar, erythrulose, by M. Gabriel Bertrand (see p. 85).— On the amount of iron in hemoglobin from the. horse, by MM. L Lapicque and H. Gilardoni.—On a method allowing of the extraction of the sugar from molasses by means of the ordinary boiling apparatus, by M. Paul’ Lecomte.—Chlorophyll assimilation in plants confined in rooms, by M. Ed. Griffon.— A new self-registering apparatus for continuous currents, by MM. Auguste and Louis Lumiere. GOTTINGEN. Royal Society of Sciences.—The Wachrichten (mathe- matico-physical section), Part iii., for 1899, contains the following memoirs communicated to the Society :— October 28, 1899.—E. Riecke: Lichtenberg figures in the interior of Rontgen tubes.—W. Voigt: on a problem of Kohlrausch’s in thermodynamics.—P. Gordan: new proof of Hilbert’s theorem on homogeneous functions. November 25.—W. Kaufmann: outlines of an_ electro- dynamical theory of gaseous discharges (Part i). December 14.—W. Kaufmann : the same (Part ii. ). December 9.—G. Bohlmann: a problem concerning the **smoothing-out ” of statistical curves. January 13, 1900.—S. Kantor: a theorem in determinants. —A. Schoenflies : a proposition in the analysis of position. — E. Neumann: on Robin’s method for determining electrostatic potential. February 8.—W. Voigt : thermomagnetic effects. February 3.—E. Zermelo: on the motion of a system of points in relation to inequations of condition. February 17.—A. von Koenen : on the age of North German ‘Wealden formation ( Walderthon). remarks on the theory of so-called AMSTERDAM. Royal Academy of Sciences, April 21.—Prof. H. G. Van -de Sande Bakhuyzen in the chair.—The following papers were read :—Prof. Kluyver on approximation formule concerning the prime numbers, not exceeding a given limit. The author shows that it is possible to express the approximate value of the sum -of the (—s)th powers of these prime numbers, if only their total number be given. | A similar formula gives an approxima- tion to the value of the logarithm of the least common multiple of all integers below a given number.—Prof. Winkler, on behalf of Mr. M. A. van Melle, on some reflexes in respiration in con- nection with Laborde’s method of re-establishing respiration . stopped by narcosis by rhythmically pulling the tongue.—Prof. Franchimont, on behalf of Dr. Greshoff, on Echinopsine, a new This communication was accom- panied by remarks by Prof. Kobert, of Rostock, and Prof. Ver- schaffelt, of Amsterdam.—Prof. van Bemmelen, on behalf of Dr. F. A. H. Schreinemakers, on the composition of the vapour phase in the system of water and phenol with one and with two liquid phases.—Prof. Bakhuis Roozeboom, (az) on behalf of Dr. 2» A. Smits, on decreases in vapour tension and rises of the boiling point in the case of diluted solutions ; (4) on behalf of | NO. 1595. VOL. 62], Dr. Ernst Cohen, on thermodynamics of Clark’s normal element.—All the above papers will be inserted in the Pyo- ceedings.—The following pabers were presented for publication in the Proceedings :—(a) One by Prof. Schoute, entitled ‘‘Joachimsthal Theorem for Normal Curves”; (4) one by Prof. Bakhuis Roozeboom, on behalf of Dr. Ernst Cae entitled ‘* Studies on Inversion (I.).” DIARY OF SOCIETIES. THURSDAY, May 24. LINNEAN SociIETY at 3.—Anniversary Meeting. INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Annual General Meeting. FRIDAY, May 25. Roya. INsTITUTION, at 9.—The Great Alpine Tunnels: Francis Fox. Puysica SOcIETY, at 5 —Experiments illustrating the Aberration called Coma: Prof. S. P. Thompson, F.R.S.—Notes on the Measurement of some Standard Resistances: R. T. Glazebrook, F.R.S.—On the Strength of Ductile Materials under Combined Stresses : J. Je nema MONDAY, May 28. Society oF ARTS, at 4.30.—Imperial Telegraphic Cotsabeaanibalnias Sir Edward Sassoon. TUESDAY, May 29. ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE, at 8.30. —Early Communications between Italy and Scandinavia: Dr. Oscar Montelius. WEDNESDAY, May 30. Society oF Arts, at 8.—Russian Central Asia ; Countries and Peoples : A. R. Colquhoun. THURSDAY, May 31. Roya Society, at 4.30.—Probable Papers: Paleolithic Man eee ai Sir John Evans, F.R.S.—On the Estimation of the Lesion Coloured Surfaces used for Colour Discs: Sir W. de W. Abney, F —The Sensitiveness of Silver and of some other Metals to Light : rks. General Waterhouse.—The gabe Structure of Metals (Second Paper): Prof. Ewing, F.R.S., and W. Rosenhain.—The Exact Histo- logical Localisation of the Visual Area of the Human Cerebral Cortex : Dr. J. S. Bolton.—Vapour-density of Bromine at ave ath Temperatures (Supplementary Note): Dr. E. P, Perman and G. kinson. FRIDAY, June 1. Roya INsTITUTION, at 9 —Bunsen: Sir Henry Roscoe, F.R Gso.ocists'’ASSOcIATION, at 8.—Our Older Sea Margins : ae Archibald Geikie, F.R.S. CONTENTS. —_s pac The Science of Bacteriology. By Dr. A. C. Houston 73 Sunshine and Wine-growing. By A.J.B...... 74 The Fauna of the Shetlands. By R.L. . . J Physical Chemistry. By Prof. Arthur Smithells “he Our Book Shelf :— Hampson: ‘‘ Catalogue of the Le 6 Lepidoptera Padi in the British Museum.” F ’ Riehl: ‘ Giordano o Bruno, 2 zur hebdiet fa an den 17 Februar, 1600.” SS) = 3 Letters to the Editor : Escape of Gases from ah aee —Dr. G. John- stone Stoney, F. R.S. ** Plotosus canius” and the. a Hervey .. Microphotography, Isophotography, Megaphotography. —A, 3 ; Comets oa onthe Matter.—F. ‘H, Loring *. A New Instrument to Measure and Record Sounds. (Zilustrated.) By Dr. Benjamin F. Sharpe Pe pte Sey Notes). 3, Our Astronomical Column :— The Dark | Fringes observed . wan ie Solar “ Snakestone.” FCI SES oo. os oie ie ee fae ats: BO Photometry of Corona, April 16: "1893. Katies... OF an Maximum Duration of Totality for Solar ‘Belipse | a. SOs Some Modern Explosives. (With Tiinsketense By Sir Andrew Noble, K.C.B., F.R.S. ...... . 86 The Use of Steel in Shipbuilding: (With Diagram.) f By 'B. Martelli). 0:6 (3° S732 ere ie ee University and Educational: Intelligence: Ran) Scientific Serials . ..... 6 ass sieves 5) ae Oem Societies and Academies ..... Sy eee Diary.of ‘Societies. .:.: i) 3:c is & & ats kv 90 vest “99 bi Satie: enmthae gis g ra. OG ae eee a ee NATURE 97 j THURSDAY, MAY 31, 1900. A LIFE OF SCHONBEIN. hristian Friedrich Schinbein, 1799-1868. Ein Blatt . sur Geschichte des 19. Jahrhunderts. Von Georg W. A. Kahlbaum und Ed. Schaer. I. Theil. Pp. xix+230. (Leipzig : Johann Ambrosius Barth, 1900.) *HIS work forms the fourth part of the series of mono- graphs on the history of chemistry being published under the editorship of Prof. Kahlbaum, of Bale, whose _ qualifications for the task have already been made known _to English men of science in the notices of two of his ier volumes published recently in these columns.' The instalment covers the period from the time of bein’s birth to the year 1849, and is divided into sections, which comprise respectively the intervals 820, the “Wanderjahre” 1820-1828, the resi- Bale from 1828 till the discovery of the passivity towards the end of 1835, and the prosecution of researches on the latter subject and on cognate elec- ubjects from 1836 till 1849. There is a supple- y section dealing with Schénbein as a teacher and which is by no means the least interesting part of esent volume. A perusal of the work will not only nce its readers that Schénbein was altogether a € } man as a thinker and experimenter, but that h aly and work could not have fallen for delinea- and estimation into any better or more appreciative ands than those of Dr. Kahlbaum and his colleague. ; subject of the present biography was born at agen, in Schwabia, on October 18, 1799. Passing nis. boyhood, it appears that in his fourteenth year gets his first start in life as a pupil in the chemical ‘maceutical factory ‘of Metzger and Kaiser at so as to become a practical chemist. He =d much at first from home-sickness, which, the uthors tell us, is a purely German ailment :— t “Dasbittere Leid des Heimwehs, dieser acht deutschen die Englander und Franzosen haben kaum ein ; Wort dafiir, &c.” _ fier seven years in this factory, he went, in 1820, into J. G. Dingler’s factory for chemical products at on which occasion it is noteworthy that he it his only examination, and obtained his only aye Dr. Kielmeyer, of Stuttgart. The original ei, which has been obtained by Dr. Kahlbaum, es that at that time Schénbein was possessed of a , tific and practical knowledge of chemistry. Dr. ngler’s letter, setting forth the qualifications which he don the part of the young man whom he. was ; x of engaging, is dated March 20, 1820, and as re atlas: of the state of affairs in a German establish- en gee the early part of the nineteenth century, it will careful perusal. The chemist required by him was e scientific rather than ordinary routine chemical : wlec ze ; he was to have at the same time something re than a superficial acquaintance with chemistry, in r that he might be able to carry out the analytical required of him ; he was to have a knowledge of (RAVI 1Y CT IY Sp nN i) a - 1 Nature, February 8, p. 337; and March 29, p. 513. ee NO. 1596, VOL. 62] languages, so as to be able to translate, at least from French ; he was to be possessed of moral rectitude, and to be entirely worthy of confidence. He'was to come on probation for fourteen days, and if not found suitable he was to be sent back “ carriage paid” (“ bei Vergiitung der Reisekosten”). If found suitable, he was to be boarded and lodged, and to receive from 200 to 300 florins per annum, with an increase to follow. As the editor points out, Schénbein must have made good use of his time at Boblingen, since he seems to have come up to Dingler’s requirements, and was appointed to the Augsburg factory ; but before entering upon his duties he drew a fatal conscription number, and had to undergo a short term of military service. It appears, however, that he was soon discharged from this duty, through the intervention of the King, and in May 1820 he was “ militarfrei.” The eight years from 1820-28 must have been years of great activity in Schénbein’s early life. He remained only a few months at Augsburg, and then travelled from one University to another. His name is associated during this period with the Universities of Tiibingen and Erlangen. While studying at the latter place, where he had Liebig for a contemporary, he was also holding the appointment of director in Adam’s factory at Hemhofen, but finding that his factory work interfered with the pro- secution of a regular course of study at the University, Mr. Adam relieved him of this work, and assisted him pecuniarily by appointing him tutor in his family. Among many other interesting episodes in Schénbein’s career at this period is his sojourn in England, which appears to have been the outcome of a taste for pedagogy inspired by his friend Christian Friedrich Wurm, who subsequently became professor of history in the Ham- burg gymnasium—a man of many parts, a master of the English language and an ardent disciple of Pestalozzi, whose works he had translated into English. It was in 1826 that the young Schénbein entered the service of Dr. Mayo, who kept a school at Epsom, where Wurm was already engaged, for the purpose of imparting instruction in mathematics and natural philosophy on Pestalozzian principles in return for ‘50/. sterling per annum; with board, lodging and washing.” The description of Dr. Mayo’s establishment given by Wurm, and the criticisms which he makes upon the English educational methods of that time, are preserved in a letter to Schénbein written from Epsom in 1825, and published by Dr. Kahlbaum in the present volume. The editor comes to the conclusion that the Epsom academy was as far removed from the ideal Frébel institute as the classical establishment of Dr. Blimbers at Brighton, in which young Paul Dombey was “forced” to death. Schénbein appears, however, to have made the best of his oppor- tunities while in England, and to have paid visits to London and to Scotland, making friends and acquaint- ances, and gleaning knowledge wherever he went. In 1827 he left for Paris, and a long extract from his diary of travel, reprinted in the present work, is full of most interesting comparisons of English with French modes of travelling, and of the personal characteristics of the two nations. While Anglophobia, judging from some of the correspondence received by Schénbein at that time, F ew 98 ° NATURE [May 31, 1900 appears even then to have existed in Germany, it is satis- factory to learn that he was never influenced by it :— “Dann war gerade ihm der afflammende Strohfeuer- enthusiasmus der Franzosen nicht sympathisch, sein deftiges, bedachtes Wesen war sehr wohl, wit haben das ja gesehen, begeisterungsfahig und hingebend, aber, wie sein Humor nichts von dem spriihenden Feuerwerk franzésischen Esprits hatte, so wenig trat sein Enthusi- asmus als schnell verrauschende Schwarmerei auf. Die langsame niedersachsische Art der Englander war ihm, dem Schwaben, darum viel herzwairmender als das riechische Feuer der Franzosen.” It is, in fact, quite remarkable to find throughout this biography how warmly Schénbein felt himself in sym- pathy with England and English people. Faraday, ‘Grove and Graham were his intimate and life-long friends. He appears to have gone to Paris under the ‘same conditions and for the same purpose that he came here—to acquire a more intimate knowledge of the lan- guage, and to gain some insight into French pedagogy. The school in Paris, kept by a M. Rivail, in which he temporarily became a teacher, was unsatisfactory from ‘every point of view, and on the whole the young German _ seems to have had anything but a pleasant time in the French capital about that period. But there, as else- ‘where, he made the best of his opportunities by attending lectures at the Sorbonne, where he came under the in- fluence of Gay-Lussac and Thénard, Biot, Dumas, Pouillet, Brongniart, &c., and by the time he returned to England to stay with his friend and Epsom colleague, Barron, at Stanmore, his appreciation of France and the French had considerably increased. Schénbein’s views ‘on the nature and constitution of Polytechnics, and his letters to Wurm written from Paris, and giving his ex- perience of the Sorbonne and its professors, are full of interest. In 1827, Merian, the professor of physics and chemistry at Bale, was taken ill, and a substitute had to be found to carry on his duties. The post was first offered ‘to Schénbein’s friend, Engelhart, then also in Paris, who was unable to accept it, and afterwards to Schonbein, ‘who was in England, and who finally undertook the duties, thus severing himself from this country, appar- ently to his regret, and becoming attached, in 1828, to ‘that University, on which he ultimately shed such lustre. ‘The first years of his connection with Bale were unsettled by the provisional character of his appointment, and were further troubled by political disturbances, during which Schénbein himself bore arms, and it was not till February 1832 that he made his first communication to the scien- tific society of that town. This paper dealt with the classification of the elements into metals and non-metals, the former being defined as those elements which form basic oxides, and the latter those which form acid oxides. A few other papers followed during the years 1833-1835 ; ‘one on the Pepys gas-holder, one on polarised light, one on an zgnzs fatuus observed at Barenthal in the Black Forest, and one on the isomerism of chemical compounds. With the clearing of the political atmosphere and the cessation of hostilities, the University of Bale underwent reorganisation, and Schénbein was appointed ordinary professor of physics and chemistry in 1834. His mar- wtiage took place the following year, towards the end of NO. 1596, VOL. 62] which (December 23, 1835) he made known to the “ Naturforschenden Gesellschaft” his memorable work on the behaviour of tin and iron towards nitric acid, later — communications on the passive state of iron and other — metals having been made on January 21 and March 3, 1836. ag The observation which formed the starting-point of — Schénbein’s researches appears to have been made by | many previous investigators, among whom our own countryman, James Keir, F.R.S. (PAdl. Trans. 1794) is given the priority. The period covered by the next sec- tion of the present work, viz. from 1836 to 1849, was full of activity and productiveness on the part of Schénbein, whose development of ideas, from his first experiments on the “ passive” state of metals through all their rami- fications into the various fields of electro-chemistry, is followed out and set forth by Dr. Kahlbaum with a masterly hand. As we are at this period well within what might be called the public aspect of Schénbein’s work, when his results were being continuously published and discussed throughout the scientific world, it is unneces- sary to dwell at any greater length upon the contents of the present instalment of his biography. It will interest English readers particularly to find how skilfully the authors trace the influence of Schénbein’s correspondents, and particularly Faraday, upon his work. This work : centred round the subjects of the origin of the electric current and the polarisation of the electrodes. The great controversy between the “chemical” and the “contact ” theories of electromotive force was then raging, and it is now a matter of history how ably and staunchly Schén- bein advocated the former. Most clearly are his views expressed in the extracts from his correspondence with Faraday, Poggendorff, Grove, De la Rive and others which the authors have brought togetherin this biography. Now and again passages occur which are really pro- phetic, such, for example, as his statement concerning the possible utility of the “Voltaic cell” in organic chemical investigation,! and his remarks? on the desira- bility of there being a more frequent blending of physics and chemistry in the same individual, as exemplified by Berzelius, Gay-Lussac, De la Rive, Becquerel, Daniel and _ Grove. Dr. Kahlbaum points to the modern school of — physical chemistry as the embodiment of this wish. In the concluding section, Schénbein’s position in the world of science, as deduced from his own statements, — is most instructively summed up. He was something _ more than a “physicist ” or ‘‘ chemist ” :— 1 “Also Schénbein war nichts weniger als ein kritikloser Anhanger der Naturphilosophie im gew6hnlichen Sinne des Wortes, als der er im allgemeinen verschrieen ist, aber er war eine durch and durch philosophisch angelegte _ Natur mit gefiilltem philosophischem Schulsack und gut — geschultem Denken, die eben immer aus theoretischen Ansichten heraus ihre Arbeiten unternahm.” —* This judgment is borne out by an extract relating to. his work on ozone contained in a letter written to Liebig in 1866, in which he states that, although the detection of _ a peculiar smell in electrolytic oxygen was accidental, all that has since proceeded from this observation cannot be ascribed to accident. bi hi 1 Pogg. Ann. 1839, xvii. 583. pa 2 Beitrége zur physthalischen Chemie, 1844. - a at May 31, 1900] NATURE 99 weed the many interesting aspects of Schénbein’s fe and work dealt with in this section is his dislike for or. nic chemistry already referred to in his correspond- fe with Faraday. Dr. Kahlbaum, we may add, ss this opinion with some very strong remarks of n (pp. 204-205), which will, no doubt, be forgiven __ by the “ Herren Organiker ” in view of the very important es the history of nineteenth century science which __ he is rendering by these biographical contributions. Then, =... cannot but be struck by the versatility of $ genius as revealed by the narration of his on with journalism. That the illustrious Bale was possessed of great literary power is made y his biographer. It is worthy of record that ein attended the Birminghamj meeting of the Association in 1839, and-the Cambridge and mpton meetings in 1845 and 1846; of the first of gave an account in his “ Reisetagebuch eines ayy ” of which extracts in English plished in the Athen@um. As an excellent ih tie literary style may be mentioned the g description of Easter festivities in Germany, English to Faraday in 1856. With respect to "Style and method of publishing his scientific there is a long and interesting critical letter Ye la Rive in 1839, in which he reproaches Schén- . in for being too diffuse, for writing too much and at © great a length, for introducing too often unverified ions, and, in fact, as we should say at the present transferring the contents of his ey note- h est ‘une ‘voie tentative, A la téte de Redihe est comma moment, qui publie, publie le journal de riences, aussi voyez le peu d’effet que font ses | x sur le continent.” [his criticism, by the way, is endorsed by Dr. Kahl- regrets that the Germans, “on account of its n,” should have imitated a style which he Latha incivility (Unhéflichkeit) to the readers. igh has been gleaned from this volume to show our that asa contribution to the history of the science R. MELDOLA. : . BeOS OR TAIT S SCIENTIFIC PAPERS. Papers. By Peter Guthrie Tait, M.A., RSE. Vol. ii. Pp. xiv + 500. (Cambridge : At Si iticwtsty Pres, 1905) ROF. TAIT is to be congratulated on the energy with which this reprint is being pushed vard. The first volume, noticed in NATURE, vol. Ix. 98, is already followed by a second, so that the pletion of the work at an early date may be The —- instalment contains two considerable ict imental investigations ; one of these, on the com- lity of water at very high pressures, was suggested evious research on the Cha/lenger thermometers ; 1e second, on impact, we are indebted to the author’s hown interest in golf. There is alsoa very in- g discussion of the cause of the “soaring ” aor of gale bal, NO. 1596, VOL. 62] ‘ei f The most important theoretical research consists of a revision of the kinetic theory of gases, from the old standpoint of elastic spheres. All students of this in- tricate subject will be glad to have Prof. Tait’s acute examination of it in the present compact form. It is. interesting to note, by the way, the author’s frank con- fession: “I have... . abstained from reading the details. of any investigation (be its author who he may) which seemed to me to be unnecessarily complex. Such a course has, inevitably, certain disadvantages, but its. manifest advantages far outweigh them!” Let us hope that no indolent reader will be tempted to turn against Prof. Tait himself a dictum which conveys.a very salutary warning to authors ! One of the most useful features of this reprint is the number of short papers which to many readers will now become known for the first time. There are also included a few biographical notices, as well as articles from the “Encyclopedia Britannica.” In a note to the article on “quaternions” we are told that the sketch of the subject recently given by Prof. Klein in the “Theorie des Kreisels” rests on a misapprehension. This is one disappointment the more for those students who have vainly striven time after time to get a clear notion of what a quaternion. really is, and who hoped that they had found at last. something like a clear and compact and _ intelligible: account of the matter. If, in spite of the fact that “the grandest characteristic of quaternions is their transparent intelligibility,” men like Cayley and Klein are declared to have gone astray, one may be excused for asking whether there may not be something wanting after all in the official presentations of the subject ? The paper on the laws of motion hardly addresses itself to points on which a modern reader would seek enlightenment. Instead, we have verbal questions as to. the meaning of “force” and the proper translation offi certain phrases of Newton. Are not such questions. disposed of once for all by the simple statement that since: the time of Newton scientific people have specialised their usage of the word “force”? Although this has. not been. an unmixed advantage, it is probably now irrevocable. Still, one may reasonably urge that it is hardly fair to. take a popular term, used in a great variety of senses, to. attribute it for special purposes one and only one of these, and then to denounce as ignorant any one who. continues to use it in its former latitude. The scorn, for example, which has been called forth by the term “ centri- fugal force” has often been most ‘unjust, the physical notions of the users being clear enough, although they. were not expressed in the conventional phraseology.. The endless discussions which have been inflicted on us. as to the meaning of the word. “ weight,” furnish another instance of the trouble which may be wrought by. specialists attempting to. usurp functions which do not. properly belong to them. The last paper in the volume, on the teaching of natural philosophy, contains matter which probably hardly any one would question. Yet it well deserves reprinting,. if only for the passage near the end which speaks of “the fatal objections to the school-teaching of physical science,” based on the intrinsic difficulties of the subject, and the maturity of mind required to overcome them.. Any one who-is.aware of the futility and the pedantry of. 100 NATURE [May 31, 1900 a good deal that goes on in schools under the name of science-teaching will thank Prof. Tait for this courageous utterance. The mischief is that school-teaching is domi- nated by examinations, and that the kind of science- teaching which it is possible, and highly desirable, to have in schools does not readily lend itself to examination- tests of the ordinary kind. .- The volume is marked by the same beauty and ac- curacy of printing as the former one.’ It is intimated that a third volume will complete the work. HORACE LAMB. WYATT’S BRITISH BIRDS. British Birds; with some Notes in reference to their Plumage. By C. W. Wyatt. Coloured Illustrations. (London: William Wesley and Son, 1899.) YW HETHES the beautifully illustrated work on. the same subject by the late Lord Lilford leaves room for the present volume and its predecessor, is a question for the publisher rather than for the reviewer to answer ; but, if the stream of books on the subject be any criterion, the appetite of the British public for natural histories of the avifauna of their own country seems insatiable. Apart from all this, the present work, of which the first volume was issued in 1897, has high claims on the consideration of the public, the large size (4to.) of the paper on which they are printed permitting the plates to be on a scale of greater magnitude than in the work above-mentioned, while their excellence from an artistic point of view, as well as their apparent fidelity to nature, leaves little or nothing to be desired from the point of view of the connoisseur in animal painting. In too many instances we have either an inartistic but truthful portrait of the creature depicted, or an artistic picture in which de- tails of coloration are sacrificed to the general effect ; but in the present case, the happy mean appears to have been attained in these respects. The plates are signed with the initials ‘‘C. W. W.,” but we are told in the preface that the colouring has been done by the daughters of Dr. Bowdler Sharpe, whose training is a sufficient guarantee for its accuracy. It must, indeed, be understood that the book stands or falls by the plates, as the letterpress is restricted in the main to details concerning the plumage of the specimens figured, or to generalities relating to seasonal changes of colour, nothing in the way of description being given. When the scientific names applied to the different species are those of almost universal acceptation, no references to other works are added; but in the case of those where uniformity is by no means general, a reference is made to the synonyms used in standard manuals, such as the fourth edition of ‘ Yarrell.” It may be added that the reference to the latter work in the case of the Hen-Harrier appears to have been introduced by mistake, as the nomenclature employed is the same. As regards generic nomenclature, the author adopts a middle course, avoiding the inordinate “splitting” followed by some ornithologists, as he does the excessive “lumping” favoured by others. The first volume was devoted to the resident Passeres of the British Islands, and as the present commences with NO. 1596, VOL. 62] the migratory members of the same order, it will be evident that the author does not confine himself to a ~~ strictly systematic arrangement. In excluding the casual visitors, which, in our own opinion, have no right whatever to the title of British Birds, the author differs from the plan followed by some of his brother ornitholo- gists, whose object seems to be to draw up as long a list ~ as possible, without any regard to the facts of geogra- phical distribution. The other groups included in this volume include the Picarians, Owls, Hawks, and Pigeons, so that the Game Birds, Waders, and Water-Birds alone » a remain for its successor. As a handsome, and at. the same time an accurate, series of volumes for the drawing-table, the work may be heartily commended to all bird-lovers with whom “money » is no object.” | ge Se OUR BOOK SHELF. Our Native [American] Birds, how to protect them, and attract them to our homes. By D. Lange. Pp. x + 162. (New York: The Macmillan Co.; London: Mac- millan and Co., Ltd., 1899.) ° LEST our readers should be misled into thinking that the if present little volume is but another item in the already ~ | large literature of British ornithology, we have ventured to indicate its birth-place by a bracketed interpolation in the title. es The author, to whom the love of birds is evidently second nature, starts with the assertion that, with the exception of a few counties, the number of song-birds has — of late years been steadily decreasing in the United States, and then proceeds to consider in detail—firstly, how this unfortunate state of things has been brought about, and, secondly, how it may best be remedied. Nor are song-birds alone considered, a certain amount of space being devoted to game-birds (inclusive of the Anatidae), many of which have likewise suffered severely. The fact of the decrease in the former group seems to rest on conclusive evidence ; the main causes assigned being lack of suitable nesting-places, want of water and food, the abundance of cats (domestic and feral), the ravages committed by boys, collectors, and plume- hunters, the aggressive habits of the English sparrow, and the use of poison in gardens and farms. As regards legislative protection, the author wisely leaves this to the various “ Audubon Societies,” which have been established in the States, and other suitable agencies ; devoting his attention mainly how to supply to his feathered friends such objects as are essential to their well-being, and how to guard them from the attacks of their chief foes. As our readers are aware, Many towns and villages in the States are located on the open prairie, where the absence of cover renders the birds especially liable to destruction ; while even in districts more favoured by nature there ‘seems to be a great ten- dency to make the gardens of residents as open and bare of shrubbery as possible. Oid hollow trees, too, which form the nesting-places of so many species, havelikewise been ruthlessly felled, so that the unhappy birds have literally no retreats wherein to hide. Accordingly, the planting of trees, vines and shrubs ~ (especially kinds which afford good cover and edible | berries) is strongly urged, while beds of suitable kinds | of flowers, such as gladioli, should be planted to attract: humming-birds. For species building in hollow trees, nesting-boxes should be provided in suitable sites ; while ~ q drinking and bathing vessels should be furnished in the dry season, and abundance of suitable food at all times. The noxious sparrow is to be hustled out of the usurped nesting-places, while coils of barbed wire, or suitable May 31, 1900] NATURE IOI __wire fences, must be used to balk prowling cats. the best means of dealing with the human foes of birds, these, as already said, are mainly left to the powers that _ be; but the formation of “bird-leagues,” by members of _ the female sex who are willing to forego the ornamenta- ion of their head-gear by the plumes of songsters, is _ strongly urged, as is the repression of the ordinary col- _ lector. Education, and the establishment of an annual _ “bird-day,” are also regarded as important factors in _. the scheme. _'_ The-:author has performed his task in a manner calcu- _ lated to interest his readers, and his: work should be love to hear bird-music around their homes. RL _ Der Ursprung. der Kultur. Von 1: Frobenius.. Bd. i. Der Ursprung der. Afrikanischen Kulturen.: Mit 26 _ Karten, 9 Tafeln, sowie ca.:240 Text illustrationen. Pp. xxxi + 368. (Berlin: Gebriider Borntraeger, 1898.) [HIS is the first volume of an ambitious work. The hor p es. to seek out the Origin of Civilisation n what he considers to: be a new plan. , But in reality . Frobenius can only work on the old lines; he only compare one custom with another, and use the ne old weak argument from analogy to prove. con- tion between tribes who have similar customs: “er t alte Weisheit als neue.” (“ Programm”: p. xii.). sea the virtues of his “new plan,” however, i very manner of the Teutonic Ge/ehrte: he con- s himself to be laying the foundations of. a new ice. (p. xiv.): “Was bedeuten alle Entbehrung und ig, wenn sie auch noch so herb sein mégen, sr dem grossen Gliicke, schaffend und Schépf- erisch bei der Griindung einer Wissenschaft teilnehmen 4 k6nnen. Ich habe die bitteren Stunden und herben bel nie so stark empfunden, wie die Freude iiber die folge, das stolze Gefiiht des selbststindigen Schipfers. d ich habe den herzlichen Wunsch, dass etwas von er Spannkraft, die Miidigkeit und alle sonst vielleicht rzeihlichen und berechtigten Wiinsche vergessen lasst, diesen Blattern dem Leser bemerkbar werden und n tibergehen mége.” The italics are our own: we fear that Mr. Frobenius, like so many of his ™ Fachgenossen,” has no sense of humour. He does not forget to castigate his predecessors in ethnological study, ome of whom are apparently prone to set fool’s caps on heads and give them out to be academical costume ). The whole “ Programm” which precedes the is a typical product of what the author himself the “iiberhitzten Gelehrtenkopf” (p. ix.). part from the rather ridiculous pretensions of its troduction, the book as a whole is useful enough as a ries of essays on various phases of African ethnology, ' ten very interesting, ¢.g. the chapter on ing-styles (p. 194 ff.). They cannot, however, be to prove much with regard to the origin of African civilisation, which is presumably what they are intended odo. The author’s arguments in favour of his theory of lalayonigritish ” origin of West African culture are ngly put forward. te -9enuDb xpected to find exhaustively discussed t about the wonderful civilisation of » with the earliest beginnings of which we have to the energy of Prof. Petrie and Messrs. libell, De Morgan and Amélineau, been brought into contact, and which appears more and more m in character the further we go back. Not a e oe amit of the Zulu and Egyptian head-rests to take the instance which first comes to mind ; ‘curious misapprehension on p. 97, where Fig. 60 is cribed as a “ Sceptermesser der Pharaonen,” whatever t may be: the object in question is merely the well- NO. 1596, VOL. 62} As to The Amateurs Practical Garden Book. to those on both sides of. the. Atlantic who known and» commonly-used Egyptian sword called Khepesh (on account of its resemblance to the shape of ‘an animal’s ¢high, e.g. khepesh), which had nothing in particular to do with either Pharaohs or sceptres. Of the illustrations, while the majority are good, some are certainly very bad, e.g. Plate iv. and Figs. 137, 139. (“‘ The Garden Craft Series.”), By. C. E..Hunn and L. H. Bailey. Pp. vi+ 250. (New York: The Macmillan Co. ; - London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1900.) THE sub-title of this book very aptly indicates the nature of its contents, “The simplest directions for the grow- ing of the. commonest things about the house and garden.” ' The subjects dealt with are arranged alphabetically, beginning with Abobra and ending with Zinnia. It must not, however, be concluded that the book is merely a dictionary of plant names. It is much more. Thus, under the heading “ Annuals,” we have an ex- planation of the term, the cultural details necessary. for their proper growth, together with lists classified accord- ing to the colour of the flower, or the purpose the flowers have to serve. The book is written for the climate of New York, but with the requisite modifications it is suitable for gardeners in this country also. It is severely practical, and prin- ciples, though perceptibly diffused, are not.so much a mentioned. ‘ Man and his Ancestor: a Study in Evolution. By Charles Morris. Pp. 238. (New York: The Mac- millan Company. London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1900. THE author has written this little book for the purpose of providing the intelligent person with a good and sufficient reason for the evolutionary faith that is in him. It is true that there is no book of a non-technical nature that quite covers the ground taken by the author, and it is only fair to him to state that he has filled this gap in a most creditable manner. It is obvious that many stages in the evolutionary history of man can only be guessed at by us, and that there is much room for discussion in these hypotheses as well as in the interpretation of ac- cepted facts; but Mr. Morris is not aggressively dog- matic, nor has he striven to be sensational. There are, however, several statements to which exception can be taken in the chapter on the “ Vestiges of Man’s Ancestry.” If Mr. Morris thinks the function of the thyroid is a “ minor and obscure one,” let him have his own excised and then he will know. Club foot is not generally re- garded as a reversion to the anthropoid foot. Taking it -all round, the book may be safely recommended to that class of readers for whom it was intended, and it may lead such to consult the recognised works on the various topics on which he touches. Owing to no references being given, inquirers will have to seek elsewhere for an introduction to the literature of human evolution. The ah has not considered his little book worthy of an index. A First Geometry Book. F. Kettle. Pp. ii + 91. By J. G. Hamilton and (London: Edward Arnold, 1900. THISs little book contains a series of elementary exercises in geometry based on the method of allowing the pupil to deduce as many principles as possible after, and from the results of, experiments or exercises dependent on them. The deductions are drawn from the pupil’s own measurements of his drawings to scale of the usual geometrical figures. From this it will be understood that the book really consists of a series of graduated exercises which appear to be well chosen and arranged, and likely to prove suggestive to teachers and useful to students beginning their first studies of the subject. 102 NATURE | May 31, 1900 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. (The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions ex pressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for this or any other part of NATURE. No notice ts taken of anonymous communications. | A Third Specimen of the Extinct ‘‘ Dromaius ater,” Vieillot; found in the R..Zoological Museum, Florence, In January 1803, a French scientific expedition, under Baudin, visited the coast of South Australia and explored Kangaroo Island, called by them ‘‘ Isle Decrés.” One of the naturalists attached to the expedition was the well-known F, Péron, who wrote an interesting narrative thereof. He noticed that Decrés Island was uninhabited by man, but, although poor in water, was rich in kangaroos and emus (Casoars he calls the latter), which in troops came down to the shore at sunset to drink sea-water. Zhree of these emus were caught alive, and safely reached Paris; we learn from the “* Archives du Muséum” that one was placed in the Jardin des Plantes, and two were sent to ‘* La Malmaison,” then the resi- dence of the Empress Josephine. We learn later that two of these birds lived to 1822, when one was mounted entire and placed in the ornithological galleries of the ‘‘ Muséum,” the other was prepared as a skeleton and placed in the comparative anatomy collections. No mention is made of the ultimate fate of the third specimen. Péron was unaware that the emu he had found on _ the Kangaroo Island was peculiar and specifically quite distinct from the New Holland bird; this was found out much later, and foo Jate; for after Péron and his colleagues no naturalist evermore set eyes on the pigmy emu of Kangaroo Island in its wild condition! It appears that when South Australia was_ first colonised, a settler squatted on Kangaroo Island and systematic- ally exterminated the small emu and the kangaroos. When the interesting fact was ascertained that Péron’s emu was a very distinct species quite peculiar to Kangaroo Island and found nowhere else, Dromazus ater had ceased to exist ; and the only known specimens preserved in azy museum were the /wo mentioned above, in Paris. For some years past my attention had been drawn to a small skeleton of a Ratitee in the old didactic collection of the R. Zoological Museum under my direction; it was labelled “¢ Casoario,” but was in many ways different from a cassowary ; but other work kept me from the proposed closer investiga- tion, and it was only quite recently, during a visit of the Hon. Walter Rothschild, on his telling me that he was working out the cassowaries, that I remembered the enigmatical skeleton. A better inspection showed us that it is, without the least doubt, a specimen of the lost Dromazus ater. ascertained that it had been first catalogued in this museum in 1833; that most of the bones bore written on them in a bold round hand, very characteristic of the first quarter of the nineteenth century, the words ‘* Casoar male ;” and lastly, that during the latter part of Cuvier’s life, about 1825-30, an exchange of specimens had taken place between the Paris and the Florence Museums. I have thus very little doubt that our specimen is the missing ¢zrd one brought alive to Paris by Péron in 1804-5. This highly interesting ornithological relic is now on loan at the Tring Museum, and can be seen*there by any ornithologist in England who may wish to examine it. I intend shortly to give a fuller notice of this valuable specimen. Henry H. GIGLIOLI. R. Zoological Museum, Florence, May 15. Chlorophyll a Sensitiser. Ir was with a feeling of great satisfaction that I read the concluding lines of Dr. H. Brown’s highly interesting presi- dential address (NATURE, September 14, 1899), I-was glad to see that this distinguished chemist, to whom the physiology of plants is so much indebted, adopts certain views on the chloro- phyll function, which I have been defending for more than a quarter of a century against the leading authorities of the German Physiological School (Sachs and Pfeffer). But since some slight errors seem to have crept into Dr. Brown’s statements of my opinions on’ the subject, I may, perhaps, be allowed to bring forward the following corrections, NO. 1596, VOL. 62] I afterwards . Dr. Brown seems to believe that the analogy between the action of chlorophyll and that of.a chromatic sensitiser was ** first pointed out by Captain Abney” and ‘more fully elaborated ” by me ; and secondly, that I give ‘‘a far too simple explanation of the facts” by admitting a ‘mere physical \rans- ference of vibrations of the right period from the absorbing chlorophyll to the reacting carbon dioxide and water.” : To begin with the less important question of priority, I must Sik that up to this date Iam not aware of Captain Abney’s claims. acknowledge my debt to that accomplished investigator, whose brilliant achievements in this line of research I have never omitted toadmire. The fact that the dissociation of the carbon dioxide in the green leaf is affected by the rays of light absorbed by chlorophyll was for the first time established by my researches in 1873, and an account of these experiments presented to the International Congress of Botany in Florence (May 1874).* At the same date (1873) Prof. H. Vogel made his important discovery of the chromatic sensitisers, and in November 1875, E. Becquerel applied it to the chlorophyll-collodion plates. In May 1875 appeared my Russian work on the mow ee et de Physique of 1875, as expressly stated, is but an extract. In this French translation the idea that chlorophyll may be considered as a sensitiser is fully discussed. Consequently any claim of priority may be fairly advanced, only in favour of a paper having appeared in the short interval of a year—from May 1874, when I announced the fact, to May 1875, when I interpreted zt in the light of H. Vogel’s recent discovery. On consulting the 2. S. Catalogue of Scientific Papers, 1 could not find any paper of Captain Abney’s for this period 1874-1875.*. So far concerning the priority question. Passing to the second point, I am sorry to say Dr. Brown is decidedly in the wrong, for in my French paper just cited, and which probably escaped his notice, after discussing the quite recent discoveries of H. Vogel and Edmond Becquerel, I conclude: ‘* Ou ne saurait pour le moment décider la question de savoir si cet effet serait dai uniquement 4 un phénoméne physique, ou bien si la matiére colorante prendrait part 4 la transformation chimique. Cette derniére maniére de voir ferait rentrer l’action de cette matiere (chlorophylle) dans la régle générale de l’action accelératrice des matiéres organiques dans les réactions photochimiques, car c’est généralement en absorbant les produits de la dissociation, effectué par la lumiére, que les substances organiques détruisent cet equilibre qui tend a s’établir entre le corps deen osé et les produits de décomposition et c’est ainsi qu’une dissociation partielle aboutit 4 une décomposition complaite.”* At a later date, ina report presented to the International Congress of Botany in St. Petersburg (1884), taking in account ‘the subsequent photographical work on the sensitisers, I brought forward experimental proof that chlorophyll may be considered a sensi- tiser in Captain Abney’s sense of the word: ‘* La chlorophylle est un sensibilisateur régénéré & mesure qu'il se décompose et qui provoque en éprouvant une décomposition partielle la dé- composition de l’acide carbonique.” ® From all these quotations it may be inferred that I always kept in view the chemical aspect of the chlorophyll function, now advocated with such stress by Dr. Brown.® Pee But I did not content myself with such purely theoretical considerations, and ever since have been in search of what Dr. 1 Atti del Congresso Botanico tenuto in Firenze, 1875, 108. Ata still earlier date (Botanische Zeitung, 1869, No. 14), I found out the source of T. W. Draper's error, and proved that the process is chiefly due to the red rays of light. es 2 “ Recherches sur la décomposition de l'acide carbonique dans le spectre solaire par les parties vertes des végétaux” (Extrait d'un ouvrage ** Sur l'assimilation de la lumiére par les végétaux,” St. Petersbourg, 1875, publié en langue Russe) Annales de Chimie et de Physique, 5 serie, t. xil. 1877. 3 Prof. Pfeffer, in his account of the whole subject (“* RE pein ete Zweite Auflage, pp. 325-341), goes so far as to attribute this sensitiser theory “a the chlorophyll function to Prof. Reinke, whose paper appeared ten years ater. : 4 L.c. p. 40. Ina footnote I add that certain physiological facts seem to agree with this point of view. : Ct oa 5 **Wtat actuel de nos connaissances sur la fonction chlorophyllienne’’ (Annales des Sciences Naturelles Botanigue, 1885, p. i - 119). ae 6 At a still earlier date (in a Russian work on the ‘‘Spectrum Analysis of Chlorophyll,”. St. Petersburg, 1871) I even expressed Dr. Brown’s present point of view in the form of an equation : : era XO0+CO,=XCO+02 +H,0 ‘ =X0+CH20+02 Le, X being Dr. Brown’s hypothetical ‘‘ reduced constituent of chlorophyll.’ Had I’ known them, I should have been the first to Tae > a Pe % 5 ¢ are Se Pe an Men a a f ; May 31, 1900] NATURE 103 ee 1 SO appropriately terms the ‘‘reduced constituent of p byl My persistent endeavours resulted in the dis- protophylline, a substance obtainable through the on of nascent hydrogen on chlorophyll solutions.1 Some rs later I discovered this substance in the living plant.” he existence of a reduced constitu:nt of chlorophyll may be uently considered as a perfectly established fact, and will y brought to account by the chemical theory of the pil function. I conclude my French paper. with the g words :—‘‘ L’étude de ces substances ne manquera jetter une vive lumiére sur le co’é chimigue de la fonction i qui a été étudié dans ce dernier temps presque au Ponte de vue physique.” up: though it may be clearly seen that for nearly pas a ears I have been considering chlorophyll as a chemical (or, strictly speaking, an adserbent of the products of ation of CO, and H,O), still even now I must confess thi theo ry acks direct experimental proof and may be con- only as a matter for further research, whereas the of the question (z.e. that CO, and H,O are de- pope. the agency of those rays of the spectrum, bsorbed and somehow transformed by chlorophyll) ion of a fact, put beyond any doubt by my re- the decomposition of CO, and on the produc- - are a cne: t on te oe in the living plant.? But I do not abandon the hope that.the discovery of the Arotophyl/ine may turn out some ay to be a step in the direction of a chemical theory of the I function, somewhat similar to that of the colouring * the blood—an analogy which has been present to my CLEMENT TIMIRIAZEFF, that M. Timiriazeff should regard the concluding ny presidential address as doing him some injustice. one can be more impressed than I have been with the ne beauty and importance of M. Timiriazeff’s work, which away many illusions, and for the first time prominently out the fact that the rays corresponding to the principal on band of the chlorophyll spectrum are those which active in the assimilatory process. ilways regarded M. Timiriazeff’s paper of 1885 (Avn. Vat. [Bot.], vol. ii. P- 99) as being one of the most -and eloquent expositions in scientific literature, and f of the proposition there laid down was given by n 1890 (Compt. rend. 110, 1346), when he succeeded € reappearance of starch in a depleted leaf ‘spectrum only takes place in the region of nding exactly to the principal absorption band hyll. 2 regard to the first point raised in M. Timiriazeff’s letter, “may say that when preparing my address I experienced a diffi- ity in ascertaining who it was that first drew attention to : existing analogy between chlorophyll and a chromatic ‘There is no complete list of Sir William Abney’s rs, and & : y S pape owing he sent many communications on this and n nen to phot ic journals in various parts of np applied fo Sis Williams Atney before writing: what I There can be no doubt that chromatic sensitisers were’ h ‘‘in the air” immediately after Vogel’s discoveries of d it is probable that the application of these new ideas ore occurred independently to Abney, Timiriazeff m ff's second objection is that I have not sufficiently fo account his views of the function of chlorophyll as a sensitiser. Qn this point I may say that I had in paper of 1885: ‘‘ Etat actuel de nos connaissances sur on chlorophyllienne,” which it was fair to imagine fully d the author’s view up to that date. It is certainly the / réle of chlorophyll which is there insisted upon, as the quotation indicates ; ‘‘ Le rdle de la chlorophylle dans méne de la décomposition de l’acide carbonique peut imé ainsi: elle absorbe les radiations qui possédent : description of this curious substance was given in two short communicated to these columns: ‘“ Colourless Chlorophyll” iE, 1885, p. 342) and ‘*Chlorophyll’’ (NATURE, 1886, p. 52). For DI details, see Comptes rendus, 1889. a protuphylline dans la plante vivante ” (Comptes rendus, 1889). iregistrement photographique de la fonction chiotophy ifs nte vivante ”’ (Comptes rendus, 1884). ‘NO 1596. VoL. 62] Ci ) ienne la plus grande énergie et transmet cette énergie aux molécules. de l’acide carbonique qui, a elles seules, n’éprouveraient pas de décomposition, étant transparentes pour ces radiations énergiques,” ; That the physical conception was certainly uppermost in M. Timiriazeff’s mind at that time is further shown by the diagram and remarks immediately following, in which he regards the molecules of carbon dioxide as suffering ‘‘ shipwreck” in the luminous undulations corresponding to maximum amplitude. It is, however, quite clear from M. Timiriazeff’s references to his paper of 1877, and especially to his Russian paper of 1871, neither of which I have seen, that he has expressed views which are practically identical with those contained in the concluding remarks of my address. It is to be regretted that these ideas were not again clearly brought forward in the 1885 paper, which purported to give the author’s latest views on the whole ques- tion, and that the physical idea of the immediate transference of the energy of radiation was there made the dominant one. 52, Nevern Square, Kensington. Horace T. Brown. A Simple Experiment on Thermal Radiation. THE following experiment, which has been successfully per- formed by our students for several years, may be of interest to teachers of physics. Three chemical thermometers are chosen of equal size and shape. The bulb of one is silvered, of the other covered with dead black paint by dipping it into a mixture of lamp-black and alcohol, whilst the third is left unchanged. For silvering, any of the well-known solutions and processes will be applicable. The thermometers indicate the same temperature if there is no source of radiation near them. But if a gas flame, for example, an Argand burner, be placed at a distance of 20 centimetres from them, so that the thermo- meters, hanging from a stand, are at equal distances from the flame, theftemperature rises at a different rate, and to a different, though in each thermometer constant, height. The silvered wt Plai as, \\ rees ~. Wa SE i / U ¥ $ 8 BY, : nm 2 5 %. 4 3 re D 5 10 15 20 25 3 35 4 Minutes Fic. 1. thermometer gives the lowest reading, and the blackened the highest, whilst the thread -of the uncovered one stops at some point between these readings nearer to that of the blackened than the silvered ; for the different surfaces of the thermometers absorb the radiation of heat generated in the flame in different proportion, The blackened thermometer bulb almost com- letely absorbs the rays falling on it; the silvered and polished ulb reflects the radiation reaching it ; the plain glass bulb partly reflects and partly absorbs the rays. us, none but the silvered bulb thermometer indicates the temperature of the air communicating heat to it by conduction, As the other thermo- meters rise in temperature, they emit radiation ; and when the amount of heat emitted from them equals the amount received through radiation from the gas flame, they are in the final stationary state, which is, of course, reached by the thermo- meters at different temperatures. If the gas flame is put out, the temperatures of the three 104 NATURE [May 31, 1900 thermometers fall at different rates. Observations made simul- taneously on them every minute, and plotted on squared paper, illustrate fairly well Kirchhoff’s law enunciating that a body emits those rays best which it absorbs best. When the gas flame is replaced by a freezing mixture, the greatest fall of temperature is experienced by the blackened thermometer, and the least by the silvered one, for the same reasons. The same arrangement of thermometers may be used to show the cold produced by evaporation. For this purpose, the bulb to be blackened has to be wetted immediately before starting the radiation experiment. First the temperature of this thermo- meter falls, even though the gas flame be lighted, but after a few minutes its temperature rises very quickly to reach the same state of equilibrium as when taken with dry black paint. In Fig. 1 the dotted curve represents the behaviour of the freshly wetted blackened thermometer. For silvering the thermometer bulbs, we use most success- fully the process described first by A. Martin in Poggendorff’s Annalen (cxx. 1863, p. 335), and reprinted in many of the books on practical physics. K. T. FISCHER. Miinchen (Bavaria), Kgl. Technische Hochschule. THE TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE SUN. i Rees last total solar eclipse of this century appears to - have been successfully observed all along the line of totality. The weather conditions were favourable at all the observing stations, and numerous photographic and visual observations have been made of the pheno- mena revealed during a total eclipse. Elaborate arrange- ments were made to study the eclipse in all its aspects, and it has fortunately been possible to carry them out in a most satisfactory manner. A code telegram received at the Solar Physics Observatory, South Kensington, from Sir Norman Lockyer, states:—‘‘At the time of the eclipse the weather was excellent, and all the instruments were satisfactorily employed. There was a fall in temperature during the eclipse of from 4° to 6° C. The eclipse was not a dark one, and very few stars were seen. The corona exhibited large equatorial extensions and distinct polar tracery as expected. Observations of the shadow band were fully made in two planes. In the fixing up of the instruments, and the making of the observations, assist- ance was given by about 150 of the officers and crew of H.M.S. 7heseus, which conveyed the eclipse party from Gibraltar to Santa Pola, a few miles south-west of Alicante.” The corona was similar to those observed during the eclipses of 1878 and 1889—both epochs of sunspot mini- mum—and thus supplies additional support. to the prob- ability of a real connection between the coronal structure and the state of solar activity. There were two long equatorial streamers, the western one being bifurcated and extending about two solar diameters. Several ob- servers note that the inner corona was visible for at least five seconds after totality. The eclipse was a short, and therefore a bright, one, which accounts for the general report that no shadow was seen either on land or in the atmosphere, and that very few stars were visible. Mercury and Venus were, however, observed. All the reports agree in estimating the duration of totality as shorter than was expected, so that the lunar tables will need slight revision for future computations. Important observations were made of the shadow bands, which are stated to be very different in many respects from those previously observed. From one of the American stations it is reported that the bands were about one inch in breadth, their general direction being south 563° E. ; before totality their motion was at-right angles to this—that is, almost north-east ; and in the opposite direction after totality. Superposed on the linear bands, however, were certain dark patches pre- NO. 1596, VOL. 62] viously unnoticed, having a motion at right angles to Baily’s beads were well seen at the © that of the bands. instants of second and third contact. Prof. Todd, at Tripoli, is reported to have successfully employed twenty photographic cameras, one of which was furnished with a lens of 24 inches aperture. The party at Pinehurst, from the U.S. Naval Obser- vatory, under Prof. Skinner, obtained a good series of . spectrum photographs, including five with plane and concave gratings and four with an objective prism ; also five large scale photographs of the corona with a lens of forty feet focus.. . Prof. Pickering obtained a good series of photographs with the new large instrument he had specially made for searching for an intra-Mercurial planet. As we go to press, the following description of the observing parties at Santa Pola has been received from Sir Norman Lockyer. PREPARATIONS AT SANTA POLA, Santa Pola, Friday, May 25. The party from the Solar Physics Observatory arrived here on May 17, and now, thanks to the assistance so freely rendered by the Spanish authorities of all grades, and the strong working parties furnished by H.M.S. Theseus, the instruments are all in order and we are ready for the eclipse. At Gibraltar the Captain of the Zheseus sent off Mr. Daniels, torpedo gunner, to meet the Expedition, and the sixty-nine cases of instruments were carefully transferred to a lighter, and so soon as they were landed here those belonging to each instrument were at once brought alongside the piers which had already been erected for them on a site as near the landing stage as possible, thanks to the diligence of Mr. Howard Payn, a volunteer assistant who had preceded the party by rail and had secured the necessary bricks at Alicante. if The prismatic cameras, and those of the ordinary kind, fed by ccelostats and siderostats, with all prisms and mirrors, were in adjustment by the 21st, and drills were begun on the 22nd. The parties of observers are as follows; and careful notes of the arrangements made are being kept, as some ‘improvements have been made on those adopted in 1898. Parties on Shore.—Prismatic cameras. (20 ft.); (2) two prisms (7 ft. 6 in.). (3) Graham (f. 6°5) ; (4) Dallmeyer (f. 8:0 about) ; (5) De la Rue (f. 17°5); (6) long focus (f. 48). (7) Discs. (8) Shadow bands. (9) Meteorology. (10) Stars. (11) Landscape colours. Parties on Board.—(1) Stars. (2) Shadow. (3) Meteor- ology. (4) Landscape. The whole party is in robust health, thanks to the glorious climate and any amount of work in the open air. We live in a little inn, which since the Queen’s birthday has blossomed into the “ Victoria Hotel,” kept by one Frasquito Dols, a Spanish sailor and sea-cook, a regular “handy man,” who has put up mosquito curtains, and rigged up a lift to carry our well-cooked food and excellent local wine to the first floor where we reside ; (1) One prism AF pamela Coronagraphs.°° _ in rooms which, though furnished with unparalleled sim- ) plicity, are absolutely clean. which the winter months may be so pleasantly spent in the shadow of date palms. The ship is much further away from the shore than in 1898—some 2000 yards—and the winds rise very sud- denly in the open roadstead. The administration of the camp, therefore, devolves upon Lieut. Doughty, R.N., - who, with Lieuts. Andrews and Patrick, remain constantly on shore in a pile-dwelling—a bathing establishment — which has seen better days, and has been rechristened “ Theseus Villa.” } The “Scotch Commission,” as it is called here—that is, It seems a pity that more © do not know of this delightful climate so near home, in — < a aan ae oe 2 et ce a i, Sa gS a len tT I ES oe EE a ee” el epee / May 31, 1900]. NATURE 105 _ Dr. Copeland’s party—has chosen a site up the hill be- __ hind the town some distance from the jetty. ____ Elaborate arrangements have been made for the obser- _ vation of shadow bands, two walls, E.and W. and N. and _ §., composed of first-class volley targets 16 x 6ft., having _ been erected on a level space which has been white- washed. __ Six discs have been set up on spars, and most careful _ drills have taken place. I have been quite astonished at _ the exact reproduction of all the features of a dummy _ corona set up on each occasion. ___ It appears that the east wind is the best for us, and it _ is blowing now; a cloudy morning generally is followed by a cloudless sky in the. afternoon. The weather chances are good, but they are not perfect. “F / NORMAN LOCKYER. FIFTY YEARS OF GEOLOGICAL SURVEY RR aR IN INDIA. ; “PRQUGH the Honourable East India Company had _ showed their interest in the advancement of eological science by the appointment, so long ago as 18, of a geologist to the Great Trigonometrical Survey, is but fifty years since the first “Report of the _ Geological Survey of India for 1848-49,” by Dr. John McClelland, was published. In 1851 Dr. McClelland as relieved by Dr. Thos. Oldham, who, on his arrival in Calcutta, found the Geological Survey represented in capital of India by a room, a box and a messenger. One assistant, Mr. W. Theobald, was already in the _ employment of the Company, and during the following _ five years seven assistants were appointed, of whom but Mr. H. B. Medlicott and Dr. W. T. Blanford, names _ cut deep in the record of Indian geology, survive. _ It was not, however, till 1856 that the Geological _ Survey was established as a regularly organised service, _ witha sanctioned establishment of superintendent (now _ Styled director), fifteen graded assistants and a palzonto- _ logist. In spite of the increased area over which British extends, the establishment sanctioned in 1856 ained the same, with some minor, temporary changes, | an alteration of nomenclature, till 1892, when, ead of an increase, the permanent staff was reduced three, and to compensate for this reduction arrange- nts were made for the employment of two “ specialists ” terms of years, who were expected to devote their services more especially to economic geology. From one cause and another, this scheme has not received a full trial yet, and it is only during the present year that e full sanctioned staff is at work. The experiments so made in the temporary employment of assistance to : Geological Survey, for the special purpose of economic work, cannot be regarded as successful, and the result of the present trial will be watched with interest, as it is likely to have great influence in the shaping of the future sourse and policy of the Survey. The concrete results of less than half a century’s ork with this cea wae staff are a geological map of early the whole of India proper, which is accurate as ga its main features for this large area, and as ds details for a large proportion of it ; and a con- able acquaintance, largely accompanied by maps, e€ mountainous country to the north-west and and of the countries to the east, which are included Indian Empire. The published results are con- in thirty volumes, of the ‘‘ Records,” twenty-nine e “Memoirs,” and twenty volumes, not counting : only partly published, of the ‘“ Palontologia esides this collection of separate memoirs there was ared, with the approval and sanction of the Govern- it of India, a “‘ Manual of the Geology of India,” in 0 volumes, by Messrs. H. B. Medlicott and W. T. NO. 1596, VOL. 62] ae » Blanford, published in 1879, to which were subsequently added a volume on the “ Economic Geology,” by the late Dr. Valentine Ball, and one on the “ Mineralogy,” by Mr. F. R. Mallet. These volumes contained not only much information collected by the Survey, which it had not been possible to publish previously, but for the first time, by collecting scattered information into one general review, made the geology of India generally accessible and intelligible. The need for, and value of, these volumes is shown by the fact that they soon went out of print, and in 1894 a revised version of the first two volumes was issued. The progress of the Survey in’ the period intervening between these two issues had been so great that a totally different scheme could be adopted, and instead of the series of separate descriptions of isolated areas, which was to a large extent inevitable in 1879, it was possible to treat the geology of India as an harmonious whole in 1894. A re-issue of the third | volume of the original edition, the volume on “ Economic Geology,” has also been commenced, but though nominally a re-issue, it is, even more than in the case of the stratigraphical and structural geology, a new book, being different in scope and in aims, and containing no part of the original work. The results of the Geological Survey, apart from its publications, are to be looked for both in India and out of it. In India, in the economic development of the Empire ; and out of India, in the influence they have had on the advancement of geological science. The former of these is naturally that to which the Adminis- tration attaches the greater importance, and in this con- nection the existence of the Survey is amply justified in the fact that two of the coal-fields, which yield an im- portant part of the coal-supply of India, were discovered and explored by the Geological Survey. Singarenni, surveyed by Dr. W. King, and Umaria, by Mr. T. W. Hughes, have, from their geographical position, a much greater importance than would appear merely from a numerical statement of the number of tons of coal raised in them, for they serve to supply a large area with cheap fuel which would otherwise be deprived of that advantage. These two fields in themselves would justify the existence of the Survey, from an economic point of view, apart from other benefits ; but besides this the existence of a band of trained advisers, and of the observations accu- mulated by them, has frequently been instrumental in preventing the useless expenditure of large sums of money, and in this way alone the Survey has rendered an ample return for its maintenance. Though the Administration is naturally most interested in the economic aspects of the work of the Geological Survey, there has never been any attempt to convert it into a mere prospecting or mining department. The Govern- ment of India has always recognised purely scientific work as an important duty of the Survey, and regarded the advancement of science not only as a thing to be de- sired and encouraged on its own account, but as further- ing and rendering more valuable the economic results of the Survey, by improving the instrument with which it works. It is this portion of the work of the Survey which is of the greater interest outside India, and more especially to the readers of NATURE. First among the results which have influenced the course of geological science may be placed the recogni- tion of the importance of deposits formed on land, in which Indian survey took an early and important part. It was shown that the Gangetic alluvium, formerly looked upon as a marine deposit, was, as regards its upper layers at least, a land deposit ; it was shown that the great series of sandstones and conglomerates of which the foot-hills of the Himalayas are composed were formed, not in the sea, but on land, by rivers which were the ancestors of those now draining the Himalayas ; the great Gondwana system was shown to be exclusively a dry land deposit, 106 NATURE [May 31, 1900 and later the same origin was attributed to the great Vindhyan system. In the next place we have the recognition of the Permian glacial epoch. The first description of these beds was published in the d/emoirs of the Geological Survey in 1856, and their glacial origin proclaimed in 1875 by the late Mr. H. F. Blanford. Though the idea of glaciation in Permian times and in what are now low latitudes has met with great opposition, it has gradually made progress, and it is now generally recognised that the Permian boulder-beds of India, though extending inte regions that are now within the tropics, are relics of a bygone glacial epoch. In Africa, the glacial origin of similar beds has been accepted by more than one observer ; and in Australia—where the traces of glacial action in, the marine Permian or Permo-Carboniferous beds, below the principal coal-measures, was first recognised by a member of the Indian Geological Survey who had been deputed by the Indian Government to study the Australian coal-measures—the existence of glacial action on a large scale has been fully confirmed by workers in that country. In South America, too, it seems that there are similar beds, of apparently the same age, and the evidence of this widespread glacial epoch, more remark- able in many ways even than the post-Tertiary extension of glaciation, must be reckoned with in any speculations attempting to account for the great climatic changes of which the past sediments bear witness. The labours of the Indian Geological Survey have had important results in geological science in other minor points, too numerous to detail in the limited space of an article, but a mention of the great earthquake of 1897 cannot be omitted. This earthquake was the greatest of which there is historic record, exceeding the great Lisbon earthquake of 1755; but even before this was known the Indian Government had ordered the Survey to make a complete scientific investigation of it. Being the greatest earthquake of which there is historic record, the visible effects were on an unprecedented scale, and its investigation has consequently yielded re- sults which must be taken into account in all future seismological research. Nor must mention be omitted of one of the most recent suggestions, which appears likely to be fruitful of results, made in 1898 by Mr. T.-H. Holland, that much of the decomposition, and more especially hydration, of the minerals composing igneous rocks was submarine, and that the undecomposed state of similar rocks, even of perishable minerals like olivine and nepheline, in certain regions, is due to these being ancient land- areas which have not been submerged beneath the sea since a remote geological period. Such, briefly stated, is the record of the Geological Survey ‘of India, a record which reflects credit on all‘ who have been concerned in the making of it. Yet it must not be forgotten that credit is due also to the Civil Administration of India, which has not only maintained the staff by whom the record has been made, but has given the further pecuniary assistance, modest in amount but steadily continued, which has enabled the Survey to form a museum fully illustrating the geology of India in all its branches, to establish a well-equipped laboratory, and to collect a library which, as a geological working library, is probably unsurpassed by any and equalled by few. NOTES. M. DarBoux, Dean of the Faculty of Sciences of Paris, has been elected permanent secretary of the Paris Academy of Sciences, in succession to the late M. Joseph Bertrand. Prof. J. Willard Gibbs, professor of mathematical physics in Yule University, has been elected a correspondant of the Academy in the section of mechanics. Prof. J. Chatin, assistant professor NO. 1596, VOL. 62| of histology.at the Sorbonne, has been elected a member of the” section of anatomy of the Academy, in succession to the late M. Blanchard. THE recommendations of the international conference which recently met in London to determine the steps which might use- fully be taken for the preservation of wild animals, birds and fish in South Africa, have now been published as a Parliamentary Paper. The zone within which it is proposed to apply the provisions of the Convention is bounded on the north by the 20th parallel of north latitude, on the west by the Atlantic Ocean, on the east by the Red Sea and by the Indian Ocean, on the south by a line following the northern boundary of the German possessions in South-Western Africa, from its western extremity to its junction with the River Zambesi, and thence running along the right bank of that river as far as the Indian Ocean, To- preserve the various forms of animal life existing in a wild state within. this zone, it is proposed to prohibit the hunting and destruction of certain animals, especially females when accom- panied by their young or capable of being otherwise recognised, of which the protection, whether owing to their usefulness or to their rarity and threatened extermination, may be considered — necessary by each local government. The establishment, as. far as it is possible, of reserves within which it shall be un- lawful to hunt, capture or kill any bird or other wild animal - except those specially exempted from protection by the local authorities, is recommended, and also of close seasons with a — It is proposed to put export duties on the hides and skins of giraffes, antelopes, zebras, — view to facilitate the rearing of young. rhinoceroses and hippopotami, on rhinoceroses and antelope horns, and on hippopotamus tusks, and to prohibit. the hunting or killing of young elephants. Measures are to be taken for ensuring the protection of the eggs of ostriches, and for the destruction of the eggs of crocodiles, of those:of poisonous snakes, - i It is, however, understood that some: of the principles laid down may be relaxed, either in order to: permit the collection of specimens for museums or ae and of those of pythons. gardens, or for any other scientific purpose. Pror. J. PERRY, F.R.S., has been elected eieeidelt of ‘the Institution of Electrical Rngiteets for the session 1900-190. ; Mr. BORCHGREVINK, who recently returned from his ex-- plorations in the Antarctic, will, it is expected, give a lecture: before the Royal Geographical Society.on June 18. THE American Academy of Arts and Sciences has decided to award the Rumford medal to Prof. Carl Barus, of Brown University, for his researches in heat. WE learn from Scéence that the Committee of Coinage, Weights and Measures of the U.S. House of Representatives. . has unanimously agreed to report as an amendment to the Sundry Civil Bill the measure establishing a United States. : Standardising Bureau, referred to in NATURE of May 17 (p. 61). WE regret that a part of the edition of last week’s NATURE. appeared without the announcement that the names of Dr. D. Gill, F.R.S., and Dr. T. E. Thorpe, F.R.S., were included. in the list of Birthday Honours. The former has been promoted to the rank of K.C.B., and the latter has been created a C.B. THE third Liverpool expedition for the study of tropical diseases, referred to last week, will start in the first week in July. The members of the expedition are Drs. Durham andi. The object of the expedition is to study yellow. Walter Myers. fever, malaria and dysentery. AN excursion to Malvern and district has been arranged by the Geologists’ Association for Whitsuntide. The director will be Prof. T. T. Groom, and during the stay at Malvern, _ from Saturday, June 2, to Tuesday, June 5, a number of inter-- ae esting geological sections and structures will be examined. ee May 31, 1900] NATURE 107 A MEETING of the Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union will be held 5 ‘at York on Whit-Monday for the investigation of the natural ist ory of Askham Bog, and for the geological investigation of the morainic ridges of Askham and Bilbrough. Askham Bog ss = of the very few undrained spots left in the Vale of York ; ce the naturalist values it’ much as the paleontologist values 2 ie bone of an extinct animal, for from it he can draw such a true and = picture of a stage in the development of the ict. z: me A Fisuertes Exhibition will be held at Salzburg, Austria, « on mber 2, and the eight following days. The exhibits are | lixided into nine classes, and include sections for artificial breeding apparatus, preserving methods, tackle, and the litera- _ ture and statistics of fishing. P THE Zimes announces that the appointment of the com- dg -manding officer of the National Antarctic Expedition has been made by the joint committee of the Royal and Royal Geo- graphical Societies. The officer selected is Lieut. Robert F._ “Seat, now torpedo-lieutenant of the Majestic. He has been ‘years i in the Navy, has a record of service of the highest lass, and will shortly be promoted to commander. The head of the scientific staff will be Dr. J. W. Gregory, recently inted professor of geology in the University of Melbourne. \ough he has only just entered upon his duties at Melbourne, the authorities have granted him leave of absence to serve with ‘the Antarctic Expedition. He will come to mieten in October q ‘to prepare for his new work. "AN exhibition of photographs, by Dr. P. H. Emerson, will be : Open at the Royal Photographic Society, 66 Russell a W.C., from May 30 until June 30. _ ‘instructed to repay to the Government Grant Committee of the iiss to Prof. Smyth for the purchase of scientific instru- er he went to Ripon. The will bequeaths to the Royal Soe ety of Edinburgh the portrait of Prof. Smyth, by Faed, a Ay and all his books of original drawings and journals, boxes of glass photographs. : the same as a trust, whereof the income is to be em- } and a small sale to the public, at a cost of about 600/., the sopic MSS. offered by Prof.’ Smyth to the Government 4 C. ber 1857, and then to assist or promote every ten or tw ai exceptional expedition for the study of some x branch of astronomical spectroscopy in the purer air rticul: 3 ead of Teneriffe in. pen If the residuary estate accepted by the Royal Society of Edinburgh, it is to be buted ainongst the pecuniary legatees. ple Show.” In every respect, apart from the uncertainty if the weather, the great annual exhibition more than fulfilled € expectation of lovers of flowers and of horticulturists erally. On the other hand, the botanist was greeted by ) Species that was not already known. The student of evo- might, nevertheless, have made the acquaintance of new artificial races, and hours might have been spent mining fresh garden ‘‘ varieties,” produced by hybridisa- tion and cross-breeding. Even when some striking variation @s been chanced upon, and “fixed” by careful selection, ous crossing may be resorted to, in order that further provements” may be brought about. To take a case, 0. 1596, VOL, 62] By the will of the late Prof. Piazzi Smyth, the executors are |. Royal Society all of the advances, estimated at 300/., made by The residuary estate ers for certain legatees for life, and subject to their teres! for the Royal’ Society of Edinburgh if agreeable to. ed by that Society, first, in printing for a limited free distri-. ‘is sufficient to cause its adhesion to the rollers. sT week the Royal Horticultural Society held its thirteenth Messrs. Laing and Sons showed some begonias, in which the development of a ‘‘ crest” or tuft of small outgrowths from the petals was very much marked. This appeared sporadically and slightly at first in a plant with flowers of the same colou¥ as those of its parents, but since the establishment of the crested race it has been crossed with others, and now crested petals may be had of many tints. The cactus-flowered zonal pelargo- nium may be mentioned on account of its vivid colouring and nuimerous narrow petals. Its rearer, Mr. E. S. Towell, obtained it from the seed of a ‘‘semi-double ” Pe/argontum, which he crossed with pollen from many different flowers. Among these was that of Lychnis chalcedonica; and Mr. Towell, though not absolutely certain of the fact, considers that the last-named species is the father of his ‘‘ Fire Dragon.” The particular tint of scarlet shown by the petals, the time these persist, and their divided appearance favour this view. Tue Sugar-Beet Committee of the Central Chamber of Agriculture have completed arrangements for a limited number of experiments in the growth of sugar-beet during the forth- coming season, each experimental plot being at least one acre in extent. In all, there will be about thirty-three different experiments, of which twenty-five are situated in England, four in Scotland, and four in Ireland. The English counties in which one or more experiments will be made are Wilts, Hants, Berks, Oxon, Beds, Kent, Suffolk, Hereford, Worcester, Warwick and Lancaster. As previous experiments have, in certain cases, demonstrated the value of sugar-beet for the feeding of live stock (independently of its value for the manu- facture of sugar), it has been decided to keep this point specially in view in connection with the experiments of the present year. AN interesting feature of the Paris Exposition is the elevated moving pavement. The line, which is described in the Sctentéfic American, forms a complete circuit, running along the side of the Champ de Mars, the Quai d’Orsay, the Esplanade des “Invalides and the Avenue de la Motte-Picquet, the total length of its course being 3500 metres.. The platform is supported on an-elevated structure, to which access is given from a number of stations situated within the Exposition grounds. The sub- structure supports three platforms, one fixed and two movable, these having a speed of eight and four kilometres per hour. To enable the platform to pass around the curves, the different -sections are dovetailed into each other by large circular por- tions, forming a kind of horizontal hinge. Each of the plat- forms carries an I-beam running along under the centre ; these rest upon a series of rollers placed at intervals, operated by electric motors. Upon the shaft of the motor is mounted a large roller for the high-speed platform and a roller of one-half the diameter for the slow speed. The friction of the platform The platform was put into operation on April 14, and has proveda great success, as by its means an easy passage through the grounds is afforded, as well as a series of interesting views. The tour is made in twenty-six or fifty-two minutes, PARTICULARS of the short electric line—about 5000 feet in length—between Earl’s Court and High Street, Kensington, which has just been opened on the Metropolitan District Rail- way, are given in the current number of the Aéecfrician. The engineers, Sir John Wolfe Barry and Sir W. H. Preece, were required to equip this line electrically without any interference with the permanent way, without any interference with the running of the ordinary train service, and without allowing any electric current to pass through the permanent way or the sub- soil, lest. such should interfere with the signalling arrangements of the line. In accordance with these stringent regulations, it became necessary to adopt an insulated system throughout, and 108 NATURE [ May 31, 1900 to do.the whole of the .construction work in the few midnight hours when the trains were not running. The system may, be termed a four-rail system. It includes the two ordinary track rails, which are not used for any electrical purpose whatever, and two electrical:rail conductors placed on either side outside the track. A special type of train has been designed for the line, the design being such as to adapt it specially’ to the ex- perimental conditions. There is no separate locomotive, the train being worked in block, and a motor carriage being placed at either end. Only one motor carriage, however, is used at a time—viz, that. one in thagtront. in the direction in which the train is moving. This arrang ment, while duplicating the amount of electric motor plant, is ‘convenient, as it obviates shunting the moto carriage, — It -is intended to carry out, a series of careful experiments _ on electri Sitraction upon. this line, and for this purpose a Re tosinet dh, car will some- times be attached to the train. Already certain experiments have been made. In his evidence before the Select Committee of the House of Commons considering the Manchester-Liverpool Express Railway, Sir William Preece recently stated that the train, fully loaded, had started on the very difficult gradient of 1 in 43—a feat which an ordinary steam locomotive was unable to perform when hauling a similar load. Moreover, in a tug- of-war between the electric train and a steam locomotive, the electric train readily overcame the steam engine. It has been said that every person is mentally a little un- balanced, and that education from this point of view is simply the attempt to secure and maintain mental equilibrium, which, however, is never actually attained. Lapses of thought, inad- vertencies in expression, and other slips in speaking or writing (lapsus linguae and lapsus calzmi) are thus of interest to the. psychologist as useful guides to the understanding of mental processes. Every one has experienced unaccountable lapses of this kind, and the lapse often comes as a surprise to the speaker or writer himself. During a lecture, a professor inadvertently referred to the ‘‘ tropic of Cancercorn,” intending to say ‘‘ the tropics of Capricorn and of Cancer.” Many similar instances might be cited, for example, the man who was going fora walk o *‘get a breash of freth air,” the person who inquired for the ‘* portar and mestle,” and another who said ‘the pastor cut the shermon sort.” A physicist is recorded to have said that he feared he should ‘‘ get the instrument out of needle,” when he intended to say he feared he would ‘‘ get the instrument out of level and deflect the needle.” | This is curious, but it is not so amusing as the order of ‘‘ beggs and acon” for breakfast, or the remark of a nervous churchman to a stranger in his seat, ‘Excuse me, but you are occupuing my pie.” Mr. H. Heath Bawden has made a detailed study of similar mental] lapses, both oral and graphic, and his results are described in a monograph of the Psychological Review, It is suggested that the aberrations dealt with are due to incipient aphasia or agraphia, and the similarity between them is held to show that our ordinary experience borders. at every point on what is called the abnormal or pathological condition. For some time past peat has been largely used in this country as litter for stables in the place of straw. This material is now likely to have a much more extended use, and the peat bogs of this and other countries made to assume a value never before realised. . For the past twelve years Herr Zschérner, of Vienna, has been investigating the properties of peat, and has shown its possibilities, In the Vienna Exhibition of last year was a building in which everything, from the carpets on the floor to the curtains on the windows, and the paper on the walls, had all been made from peat. Herr ZschGrner’s investi- gations have shown that, although the fibres of the remains of the reeds and grasses of which peat is composed have become NO. 1596, VOL. 62] altered in their physical and chemical character, yet they have not suffered any anatomical change ; and while nothing capable of fermentation or ‘decay is left, the fibrous structure remains intact ; that they are very durable, elastic, good non-conductors _ of heat and non-combustible. . Fabrics woven from them are found to have the toughness of linen with the warmth of wool. There is no textile fabric that cannot be woven from these fibres.. Blankets and other coverings used for horses and cattle have been found in use to excel in warmth and cleanliness. The unspun fibre is found to be a good substitute for absorbent cottons possessing strong antiseptic properties. Paper of several qualities has been made, and the uses to which peat fibre has already been applied indicate possibilities that may render the peat bogs of Ireland a valuable addition to the resources of that country, and give full occupation to {gl inhabitants of the ‘‘ congested ”’ districts. 3 THE Rendiconto of the Naples Academy for March ead April contains a complete list of the mathematical works - ins - Prof. Beltrami. In the Bulletin de la Classe des Sciences of the Belgian Academy, M. Vandenberghe continues his researches on the dissociation of substances in solution. The author, by. new experiments conducted with the use of solvents belonging to the same homologous series, establishes the conclusion that the influence exerted on the decomposition of molecular associations by the solvent does not materially influence the effects due to elevation of temperature. estar? ak A PRELIMINARY note on the magnetic obechiiliial aie during the Zedgica Antarctic expedition is given by M. G. Lecointe in the Buzzéletin de la Classe des Sciences (Brussels). For the measurements of declination Neumayer’s apparatus was used, the declination being the difference between the magnetic azimuth of a star and the true azimuth calculated from the local time. The Neumayer apparatus was also found far more suit- able than the theodolite for. measuring the horizontal com- ponent, the instability of the theodolite as its feet began to sink into the ice rendering observations made with it of little value. In determining the inclination the great sensitiveness of Gambey’s compass could not be utilised regularly on account of © the ice-movements, and here again Neumayer’s apparatus proved the most serviceable. .The paper consists eines of a table of the recorded observations. . uh IN his Wilde Lecture, published in the A/anchester hechiis, 1899, No.’ 5, Lord Rayleigh’ discusses the mechanical principles and possibilities of flight, problem of the sailing’ bird is treated from the three alter- native points of view, which attribute its source of energy to upward currents, variation of wind-velocity with the altitude and pulsating gusts of wind. Lord Rayleigh then considers the law of dependance of the aerial resistance of a plane surface on its obliquity, and describes experimental methods whereby'the resistances at different obliquities may be compared by an ‘‘astatic”’ arrangement, in which pairs of vanes are so adjusted that the moments of the oppositely turned vanes balance each other. In connection with the expenditure of power required to support a given weight, Lord Rayleigh has calculated that, in order for a man to support himself by a vertical screw by working at the power an average man can maintain for eight hours a day, he would require a screw ninety metres in diameter, and in this estimate no account has been taken of the weight of the mechanism or of frictional losses. In conclusion, me effects of flapping wings are briefly discussed. A FURTHER addition to Mr. current papers (No. 4), containing the tracks of 124 bottles received during a year ending with September last, has been both natural and artificial. The _ H. C. Russell’s intestines en May 31, 1900] NATURE 109 __ published. The comparatively large number of bottles received appears to be owing to the prevalence of southerly winds; the north-west winds being found to alter the direction of the drifting bottles, so that they pass to the south of Australia. The _ Suggestion made in the previous paper that bottles thrown over on the east coast drifted first to the east in Tasman Sea, and _ then northwards until they reached the great current from the east, which passes south of New Caledonia, is supported ina kable way by the drift of the Perthshire after she was a led in the Tasman Sea; her general direction for 640 miles __ was N.E. by N., at an average daily rate of 13°6 miles. To- wards the end of the drift she travelled rapidly to the west. _ Two bottles floated near Cape Horn came over to Australia at _ the daily rates of 12°2 and 9°5 miles respectiyely. There are __also some very interesting bottle tracks in the North Atlantic - Ocean. One of these, floated in the Gulf of Mexico, made a run of 6300 miles in a south- easterly direction—the longest hitherto recorded in that ocean by Mr. Russell. The propor- tion of bottles received to those thrown overboard appears to be very disappointing ; out of 48 bottles thrown from ss. Gudf Of. Bothnia, to take an extreme case, only one was received. THe resolutions passed at the International Congress for Marine Research | held at Stockholm last summer are published _ in extenso in the April number of the Scottish Geographical a Magazine. important feature in these resolutions is the 3f ition that the primary object of the investigations recom- to be undertaken is the improvement and promotion of - fisheries by means of international agreements. _ In Appleton’ s Popular Science Monthly for May, Prof. E. S. _ Morse gives a full account of the observations made by himself ny years ago as to‘the manner in which the larval insect ‘ ~ known as the ‘ cuckoo-spit ”-forms the mass of froth in which it is concealed. If the insect be cleared from the mass of froth and allowed to settle upon some succulent plant-stem, it will soon thrust its piercing organs through the outer layers and _ commence sucking the juices. After a short time a clear fluid _ exudes from the abdomen, and after flowing over the body eventually fills up the spaces between the latter, the legs and _ the stem, so that the entire creature is soon totally enveloped. _ For about half an hour the insect will remain quiescent in this tion, when it suddenly begins to ‘‘blow bubbles” by ng its tail out of the fluid, opening the terminal segment, _which appears like claspers, and then bending down the tail into the fluid with an attached air-bubble, which is instantly lowed to escape. These movements are repeated at the rate 70 or 80 a minute till the entire envelope of fluid is converted the mass of froth with which we are all familiar. Bulletin No. 23 of the Division of Entomology of the U.S. partment of Agriculture is devoted to a series of articles, by . F. H. Chittenden, dealing with some of the insects in- rious to garden crops. Sixteen different species of such pests escribed, with the devastation they cause. Out of these, st generally interesting is the invasion of the ‘‘ fall army- in 1899. This caterpillar (Zaphygma Srugiperda) derives me from the circumstance that, unlike the true ‘‘army- ” it is seldom observed, except perhaps in the most } st, before August, During 1899 these caterpillars appeared st swarms over a large area of the States, where they in- much damage on ai oe of various kinds. Properly » the ‘ fall army-worm’ ’ is a grass-feeder, but when it bits appearance in such numbers as to consume all acces- t - sture in the neighbourhood, as was the case last season, turns S its attention to gardens, orchards and greenhouses. crops affected last year, in addition to grass and clover, in- NO. 1596, VOL. 62] < rice, maize, wheat, oats, cabbage, beet, peas, turnips and even tobacco. Unfogtnpately, the ‘‘fal army-worm” differs from the true “‘army-worm” in that its hosts may reappear the year after a visitation ; and destructive measures, such as poisoning by kerosene or arsenic, are accordingly essential. WE have received the Proceedings of the South London Entomological and Natural History Society for 1899, which includes the President’s address and several original communi- cations on entomological mibjociner Tue latest issue of. Northumberland, Durham, 7 unique and unrivalled 1883 to the trustees counties by the late | drawn up'by Mey) éstory Transactions of ready. s THERE are a White’s ‘* Selborne,” but ‘Sy aiSigne will be extended to the splendid volumes, the first of which has just been published by Mr. S. T. Freemantle. In this edition we shall have in two: volumesa superb “ Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne, and a Garden Kalendar,” edited by Dr. R. Bowdler Sharpe, with an introduction to the Garden Calendar by Dean Hole, and numerous plates and other illustrations. ‘*LA SPELEOLOGIE” is the title of a little handbook by M. E. A. Martel on the science of caverns. It belongs to the ** Scientia ” series, published by MM. Carré et Naud (Paris, 1900; pp. 126). The author gives an account of the origin of fissures and caverns, of the action of subterranean waters and all matters connected with them. He deals also with the phe- nomena of ice-caves (g/acféres), and again with the relations between rock cavities and metalliferous deposits. The various prehistoric and historic remains found in caverns are somewhat briefly dealt with ; and: finally the author discourses on the plants and animals found living in subterranean regions. Mr. W. ENGELMANN, of Leipzig, has just commenced the publication of an elaborate work, by Prof. W. Wundt, en- titled ‘* Vélkerpsychologie : Eine Untersuchung der Entwick- lungsgesetze von Sprache, Mythus, und Sitte.” ‘The work will be completed in three volumes—the first dealing with language as the expression of the emotions by signs and speech, the second with myths and religions, and the third with ceremonies and customs. - Each volume will be complete in itself, and will be separately indexed. The second (and concluding) part of the first volume will be published in the autumn of this year, and will then be reviewed with the part which has just appeared. Dr. RoBERT MuNRO’s ‘‘ Rambles and Studies in Bosnia- Herzegovina and Dalmatia” (Blackwood). is not only an excellent book of travel, but a very valuable contribution to archzeological literature. An appreciative notice of the work appeared in these columns four years ago (vol. liv. p. 78), and we have now,to announce the publication of a second, revised and enlarged edition’ An account is given of the proceed- ings of the Congress of Archzeologists. and Anthro pulogists held at Sarajevo in August 1894, and as the Government of Bosnia- Herzegovina have departed from their original intention to publish a report of the congress, Dr. Munro’s volume has the distinction of being the. only record, in-book form, of the important’ problems which were considered. A number of additions have been made to the original volume, and a much- wanted index has been supplied. THE second and third -parts of the second volume of the unique ‘‘Encyklopadie der mathematischen Wissenschaften ” in course of publication by the firm of B. G. Teubner, Leipzig, have just béen issued: The scope of this great undertaking is 110 NATURE [May 31, 1900 . so extensive that several years must elapse before the work is completed. There will be seven volumes in all, having the following ‘subjects and editors :—Arithmetic and algebra, Prof. W. F. Meyer ; analysis, Prof. EI. Burkhardt ; geometry, Prof. Meyer ; mechanics, Prof. F. Klein ; physics, Prof. A. Sommer- feld ; geodesy and geophysics, Prof, E. Wiechert ; astronomy (under arrangement); history, philosophy, and didactic questions, Prof. Meyer. The work is published under the auspices of the Munich and Vienna Academies of Science, and the Gottingen Society of Sciences, and no mathematical library will be complete without it. S1r JoHN Lupsock’s book on ‘‘ The Scenery of Switzerland, and the causes to which it is due” has been translated into Italian by Dr. L. Scotti, and is published by Signor U. Hoepli, of Milan, as ‘*Le Bellezze della Svizzera, Descrizione del Paesaggio e sue Cause geologiche.” The first English edition was noticed in NATURE of September 10, 1896 (vol. liv. p- 439); the translation is from the third edition, published in 1898. THE use of acetylene for lighting rooms upon a commercial scale renders its purification from sulphuretted and phosphuretted hydrogen imperative, on account of the injurious effects of the products of combustion of these impurities in a confined space. Numerous substances have been put forward by different inven- tors as effecting the desired purification, among which may be mentioned ferric chloride, chromium sulphate, petroleum, benz- ene, chromic acid, bleaching powder, and cuprous chloride. ‘The ideal purifier should remove the impurities as completely as possible, should not absorb acetylene itself, and should not communicate any objectionable properties to the purified gas. ‘The current number of the Mozzteur Scientifique contains ab- stracts of numerous papers upon this subject. From these it would appear that solutions of metallic salts do not wholly remove the impurities, chromic acid and chloride of lime solu- tions being the only substances that effect a complete puri- fication, and of these the former is preferable, as with the latter explosions have occurred, probably owing to the formation of chloro-acetylene. THE additions to the Zoological Society’s Gardens during the past week include a Diana Monkey (Cercopithecus diana) from West Africa, a Common Squirrel (Scéeres vulgaris), British, presented by Mrs. Morris; a Common Paradoxure (/ara- doxurus niger) from Java, presented by Mr. E. E. Hewens; a Boddaert’s Snake (Drymobcus boddaertt), a, Chequered Elaps (Elaps lemiiscatus), a Rat-tailed Opossum (Didelphys nudi- caudata) from Trinidad, presented by Mr. Leon Bernstein; a Summer Snake (Covtia oestiva), a Mexican Snake (Coluber melanoleucus), six Menobranches (WVecturus maculatus), five American Green Frogs (Rana halecina) from North America, deposited. OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. ASTRONOMICAL OCCURRENCES IN JUNE. June 2. 8h. 33m. to gh. 35m. Moon occults « Cancri (mag. *O) 5°0). 4. 9h. 49m. to 1oh. 45m. Transit of Jupiter’s Satellite III. (Ganymede). 7. Qh. 58m. to 10h. 55m. Moon occults the’ ‘star D.M. — 10°, 3570 (mag. 6°0). 8h. Jupiter in conjunction with moon, 1° 29’ North. Lt, Jupiter II.” Ith. 23m. to 12h. 43m. Transit of Jupiter’s Satellite III. (Ganymede). 12. Partial eclipse of the moon. 13h. 16'2m. First contact with penumbra. 15h, 24'2m. First contact with shadow. 15h. 27°6m. Middle of the eclipse. 15h. 31‘om. Last contact with the shadow, NO. 1546, VOL. 62] 17h. 390m. Last contact with the penumbra. It willbe a very small eclipse, the proportion of the moon’s surface covered by the earth’s shadow June 12. being equal to only one-thousandth part. The fainter . outlying shadow will, however, cover a large region, but will be only faintly discernible, 7h. Mercury in conjunction wtih e Geminorum. Mercury, 0° 3’ South, 3 ch, | 1a, 13. 9h. 4om. to 10h, 52m. Moon occults the planet Saturn, Sena 15. Venus. Illuminated portion of disc, 0°144. Mars, 01962. ited 16. 8h. 48m. Jupiter’s Satellite IV. (Callisto) in con- junction south of planet. ve 19. Saturn. Polar semi‘diameter, 17’’°0. Outer minor axis of outer ring, 18’’°87. so het “ehigewingd | 23. 5h. Saturn in opposition to sun. Seats 4 SEARCH EPHEMERIS FOR Eros.—The following is continued from the ephemeris by J. B, Westhaver (Astronomical Journal, No. 479, vol. xx. p. 185). aaa, | NRT c! Ephemeris for 12h. Greenwich ; R.A, Mean Time. Srercit M 1900 ecl. Mag. | he mars; Ye reo June 2, 23.57. 5 2°6 us) Oh 22) 2a ae eee O230%T es 457 6 ., 12°9° 6 4 87 § 31 Sloe Soaeee 8 7 40°7 6 6 57 12°9 10 Il I1'9 6 42 6 Tone 12 14 42°5 717.24 03-5 A2Be 14 18 12°4 782 Sai RY ee 160. 21 41°7 8 28 27 12°7° 18 25 10°3 9: 4 te ree 20 28 38°1 Q'40° “5a FL aeze 22 32; 5:3 Io 16 | neice ie 24° 35 31°3 10 52 19 126 26 38 57°5 It 28 39 re 28 42 2274 12 gehen 12°5 30 45 46°6 12 40 4} pee AS) 2 aa 9 10°0 .... 13 18 34 «1 125 Prof. Howe is reported to have discovered the planet in the constellation Aries. oe as = OxForD UNIVERSITY OBSERVATORY.—In the twenty-fifth annual report of the Savilian professor at Oxford, Prof. H. H. Turner briefly reviews the history. of the institution. The late Prof. Pritchard, in. 1873, successfully appealed to the University for facilities to institute the means of carrying on astronomical research, but the plans originally projected being modified by the presentation of Dr. De la Rue’s instruments, the building was not finished until 1875. However, notwithstanding his advanced age, Prof. Pritchard carried out before his death two important researches, the Uranometria Nova Oxoniensis, and the determination of stellar parallaxes ; and initiated a third, the share of the Observatory in the International Astrographic Chart,. During the six years of Prof. Turner’s directorship the energies of the Observatory have been chiefly directed to carrying out, as expeditiously and economically as is consistent with the necessary accuracy, this great work of fundamental astronomy. One or two more years will be required to com- plete it, but the work is at present as well advanced as at any of the other eighteen observatories which are collaborating. In addition, the Observatory has been utilised as an educa- tional institution for the benefit of the students of the University. For the Astrographic Catalogue, 736 plates are now measured, and 705 completely reduced, out of the 1180 falling to the share of the Observatory. Measurements have been made on a plate supplied by Prof. E. C. Pickering to determine the optical distortion of a photographic doublet... A preliminary discussion of these measures indicates a distortion varying as the cube of the distance from the centre of the plate; this somewhat sur- prising result, if confirmed, will enable the reduction of photo- graphs of star fields of wide angle to be made with great accuracy. ; £ Ys RousDON OBSERVATORY, Devon.—Sir C. E. Peek sends us” another of his pamphlets (No. 6), containing the detailed par- . ticulars of the observations of variable stars during the past decade. The observations of T Cassiopeiz extend over the ten years 1889-1898, and those of R Cassiopeiz from 1887- 1898. At the end of the observation the light curves of the two. — stars are shown. ett — ee re SE es ee ee a os Ciera eset May 31, 1900] NATURE ITI SOME MODERN EXPLOSIVES) II. to points which have to be considered when the comparative merits of explosives for their berin ‘ ‘ee ded’ ‘ends. You will easily understand that between explosives which are y te led to be used for propelling purposes, and those: which _ are intended to b2 used, say for bursting shell, a wide difference "ig Be > i t Jas igs former case, facility of detonation would be an in- a superable objection ; in the latter, the more perfect the detonation cept for the large volume of flame and the great amount of heat gen d, we inthis room would not suffer ; we should probably ex nore inconvenience did I fire a similar slab of gun- detached burning portions would probably be pro- fired this same slab with two or three grammes of n y, a detonation of extreme violence would e detonation would be capable of blowing a hole in a ck iron plate, and would probably put an end to a ble portion of the managers in the front row. d to you some time ago the time in which a charge ed in the chamber of a gun—if a charge of slabs were eftectively detonated, this charge d into gas in less than the 20,000th part of a result would follow were I to try a ‘similar experi- a slab of compressed gunpowder HY the same al not say the experience would be pleasant, but there nothing of the instantaneous violent action which mr of the gun-cotton. re gi an of the extraordinary violence which ac- panies detonation, I have fired, for the purpose of this Ww ninate of mercury, a charge of lyddite in a cast- tl 0 are sufficiently near can see for them- It. By far the greater part of the cast-iron shell, t 10 Ibs., is reduced to dust, some of which is so assumed it to be deposited carbon until I had tested . magnet. I may add that the indentation of the steel by pieces of the iron which were not reduced to powder > to indicate velocities of ‘not less than 1200 feet- this velocity must have been communicated to the space of less than two inches. comparison, I place beside it a cast-iron shell ‘der. You will observe the extraordinary dif- » have on the table two small steel shells exploded, detonated, the other by a partially detonated remark that in the accounts of correspondents uent mention is made of the green id rance is due probably to imperfect na to a mixture, in fact, of the yellow picric with the k smoke. I ~ say, however, that imperfect detonation an evi . nother experiment I draw your attention. 4 certain purposes I caused to be detonated, in the chamber 12-pounder, a steel shell charged with lyddite. The detona- was not perfect, but the base of the shell was projected with ‘violence against the breech screw. You may judge of how ; that violence was when I tell you that the base of the shell ¢ a complete impression of the recess for the primer, develop- eat heat in so og ; tne lagen “ ome more remarkable, central portion of the sheared, ing into the ral hole through which the striker PeThis piece of the table, and open to your inspection. € 0} _instance to illustrate the difference between com- cc detonation I trouble you with. Desiring to ascer- difference, if any, in the ten gt of explosion between on and detonation, I fired a charge of lyddite in such a ‘that detonation did not follow. The lyddite merely Discourse delivered at the Royal Institution on Friday, ; irew Noble, K.C.B., F.R.S.. Continued from p. se wget No. 1596, VOL. 62] deflagrated. © But a similar charge differently fired shortly after- wards detonated with such extreme violence as to destroy the vessel in which it was exploded. The manner in which the vessel failed I now show you (Fig. 4), and I have on the table the internal crusher gauge which was used, and which was also totally destroyed. ; i The condition of this gauge is very remarkable, and the action on the copper cylinder employed_to measure the pressure was one to which I have no parallel in the many thousand experi- ments I have made with these gauges. The gauge: itself is fractured in the most extraordinary way, even in some places to which the gas had no access, and the mi gre cylinder, which when compressed usually assumes a barrel-like form (that is, with the central diameter larger than that at the ends as shown in Fig. 5); but in this experiment, and in this only, the cylinder was bulged closed to the piston, as you see. It would appear as if the blow was so suddenly given that the laminz of the metal next the piston endeavoured to escape in the direction of Prius Contains ae Crusner Gauce. TRB aie > ZU eee ae Fic. 4.—Explosion vessel. least resistance, that being easier than to overcome the inertia of the laminz below. The erosive effect of the new explosives is another point of first-rate importance in an artillery point of view. The cordite of the service is not, if the effect be estimated in relation to the _ energy impressed on the projectiles, more erosive than, for example, brown prismatic, which was itself a very erosive powder ; but as we are able to obtain, as you have seen, very much higher energies with cordite than with brown prismatic, the erosion of the former is, for a given number of rounds, materially higher. : There is, however, one striking difference. By the kindness of Colonel Bainbridge, the Chief Superintendent of Ordnance Factories, I am enabled to show you a section of the barrel of a large gun eroded by 137 rounds of gunpowder. Beside it is a barrel of a 4°7-inch quick-firing gun eroded by 1087 rounds of gunpowder, and another eroded by 1292 rounds of cordite. You 1. 2. 3. oa will observe the difference. In the former case the erosion much resembles a ploughed field. In the latter the appearance is more, as if the surface were washed away by the flow of the highly heated gases. f But take it in what way you please, the heavy erosion of the guns of the service, if fired with the maximum charges, is a very serious matter, as with the large guns, accuracy, and in a smaller degree energy, are rapidly lost after a comparatively small number of rounds have been fired. Cordite was first produced for use in small arms only, where, owing to the small charges employed, the question of erosion is not of the same importance as with large guns ; but its employ- ment, from the great results obtained with ‘it, was rapidly extended to artillery, and the attention of @: friends, Sir F. Abel and Prof. Dewar, has for some time been devoted in conjunction with myself to investigating whether it is not possible materially to reduce this most objectionable erosion. With this object I made the following series of experiments. Fic. 5.—Copper cylinders. FI2 NATURE | May 31, 1g00 I had cordite of the same dimensions prepared with varying proportions of nitro-glycerine and gun-cotton. The nitro- glycerine being successively in the proportions of 60, 50, 40, 30, 20 and 10 per cent., and with each of these cordites I deter- mined the following points :-— (1) The quantity of permanent gases generated. (2) The amount of aqueous vapour formed. (3) The heat generated by the explosion. smaller proportions of nitro-glycerine, ; the corresponding maximum pressure-curve you will A the pressures have decreased nearly in like proportion. Hence it is probable that the lower effect is mainly due to a slower com- bustion of the cordite, and it follows that this effect may be. to a great extent, remedied by increasing the rate of combustion - by reducing the diameter of the cordite to correspond with the reduction in the quantity of nitro-glycerine. ne. but if you will look at — note that To test this point I caused to be nu- factured a second series of cordites of the sme 7 ~ same composition, but with the diameters a i r® successively reduced by ‘03, as you see with nae Ls the samples I hold, and this diagram (Fig. 1400 4 |, 7) shows at a glance the result. The boee » energies you see are, roughly, practically agi cae aah Hs the same, but if you look at the pr ssure- ‘200 4 ee li2 curve you will observe that I have ob- ee tained a curve in which, on the whole, | cae * "the pressures vary in the contrary direction, eae . % He = that is to say, in this case the pressures on J s t+———___|_ |, __ increase as the nitro-glycerine diminishes. _ Taking the two series into 2 ' sy ie r? ~—s show. that by a. proper arr: 7 ; rb amount of charge and diamete: oo 4 pete |, would be possible to obtain the eer | listics and approximately the same pre: A rs from any of the samples The ; bet) he you, Per eT ; s But I have to draw your oa i another point. From the curv ~ sate 2 the quantities of heat you 100 + y passing from 10 per c to 60 per cent., the Dh ‘ ‘Fic. 6.—Energy in foot tons ; héat in units ; gas in c.c.; erosion in inches ; pressure in tons. (4) The erosive effect of the gases. (5) The ballistic energy developed in a gun, and the corre- ‘sponding maximum pressure. —° . ; 4 (6) The capacity of the cordite to resist detonation when fired with a strong charge of fulminate of mercury. . _ The results of these experiments were both interesting and instructive. "cae To avoid wearying you with a crowd of figures, I have placed _ on Fig..6 the results of the first five series 50% 0% _ increased by about 60 is the curve indicating amount of erosion, and while the quantity of h about 60 per cent., the erosion is greater by These experiments entirely confirm the c have previously arrived, viz. that heat is the determining the amount of erosion. (va n experimenting with a number of alloys of s' resistance was shown by an alloy of steel wit tion of tungsten, but the difference between t amounted only toabout 16 percent. = of experiments, ou , 7800 On the axis of abscissee are placed the —2200- wLilbieks , B percentages of nitro-glycerine, while the © 21004 Lopez A Mort 1 ea ordinates show the quantities of the gases 2 i beet Ge Pea 3 are generated, the amount of heat developed, 1200 4 KES Pee: bare q the erosive effect of the explosive, the bal- ~ 200 4 a= ioe eee.. 8x listic energy exhibited in a gun, and the i104 1 ae maximum gaseous pressure. 1600 + fasye on You will note that with the smallest so 4 i proportion of nitro-glycerine the volume js 4 ee ‘of permanent gases is a maximum, and i300 4 : ‘ Bee that the “volume steadily decreases with 200 - sage abe tee et ; = the increase of nitro-glycerine. On the ,,-|_$—_4 : ; Lit tae other hand, the heat generated as steadily ce 4 ; thes tyal increases with the nitro-glycerine, and if 4 ie ae we take the product of the quantity of heat —_,,, - 8 and the quantity of gas as an approximate _,,, | br measure of the potential energy of the ,,,. ay bs. explosive, the higher proportion of nitro- —,,, | oa) ag BF glycerine has an undoubted advantage; ,,, | ae V2 but in this case, as in the case of every — ,,,1 es other explosive with which I have experi- ,,, | Page mented, the potential energies differ less _,,, ' than might be expected from the changes ~ 1 in transformation, as the effect of a large MO 20% 3% 40% quantity of gas is to a great extent com- pensated by a great reduction in the quan- tity of heat generated. ae ally a ‘ This effect is, of course, easily explained, and was very strikingly exhibited in the much more complicated transforma- tion experienced by gunpowders of different compositions, a long series of which were very fully investigated by Sir F. Abel and myself. ai Looking at this diagram you will have observed that the energy developed in the gun is very much smaller with the NO. 1596, VOL. 62] 50% Fic. 7.—Energy in foot tons ; pressure in tons. ‘ The whole of these cordites were, as I have mentioned, sub- _ jected to detonation tests. None of them, so far as my experi- ments went, exhibited any special tendency in this direction, _ I will now endeavour to describe to you a most interesting % and important series of experiments which, I regret to say, is a long way from completion. The objects of these experiments were (1) to ascertain the i N » ‘ as a3 a i a Psi SS eS ee a Gr. May 31, 1900] NATURE 113 time required for the combustion of charges of, cordite in which the cordite was of different thicknesses, varying from 0'05-inch to 0°60 of an inch; (2) the rapidity with which the explosives part with their heat to the vessel in which the charge is con- fined ; ard (3) to ascertain, if possible, by direct measurement, the temperature of explosion, and to determine the. relation between the pressure and temperature at pressures approxim- ating to those which exist in the bore of a gun, and which are, of course, greatly above any which have yet been determined. As regards the first two objects I have named, I have had no serious difficulties to contend with, but as regards the third, I have so far had no satisfactory results, having been unable to use Sir W. Roberts Austen’s beautiful. instrument owing to the temperature at the moment of explosion being greatly too high, high enough indeed to melt and volatilise the wires. I am, however, endeavouring to make an arrangement by which I hope to be able to determine these points when the temperature is so far reduced that the wires will no longer be fused. If the piston be left free to move the instant of the commence- ment of pressure, the pg limit of the time of complete ex- plosion will be indicated ; but, on account of the inertia of the moving parts, the pressure e indicated will be in excess of the true pressure, and the excess will be, more or less, inversely as the time occupied by the explosion. If we desire to know the true pressure, it is necessary to com- press the gauge beforehand to a point closely approximating to the expected pressure, so that the inertia of the moving parts may be as sms i arrangement by which this is effected is not shown in the photograph, but the gauge is retained at the desired pressure by a wedge-shaped stop, seit in its place by the pressure of the spring, and to the stop a heavy weight is attached—when the pressure is relieved by the explosion, the weight falls and leaves the spring free to act. I have made a large number of experiments with this instru- ment, both with a variety of explosives and with explosives fired under different conditions. Time will not permit me to do more than to show you on the screen three pairs of experiments to Fic. 8 ’ The apparatus I have used for these experiments is placed on the table. The cylinder in which the explosives were made is too heavy to transport here, but this photograph (Fig. 8) will sufficiently explain the arrangement. The charge I used is a little more than a kilogramme, and it is fired in this cylinder in the usual manner. The tension of the gas acting on the piston compresses the Spring, and indicates the pressure on the scale here shown. But to obtain a permanent record, the apparatus I have mentioned is employed. There is, you see, a drum made to rotate by means of small motor. Its rate of rotation is given by a ehroncanali acting on a relay, and marking seconds on the drum, while the magnitude of the pressure is registered by this pencil actuated by the pressure- gauge I have just described. To obtain with sufficient accuracy the maximum pressure, and also the time taken to gasify the explosive, two observations— that is, two explosions—are necessary. NO. 1596, VOL. 62] illustrate the effect of exploding cordite of different dimensions, but of precisely the same composition. Ishall commence with rifle cordite. In this diagram (Fig. 9) the axis of abscisse has the time in seconds marked upon it, while the ordinates denote the pressures, and I draw your atten- tion to the great difference, in the initial stage, between the red and the bluecurves. You will notice that the red curves show a maximum pressure some 4} tons higher than that shown by the blue curve ; but this pressure is not real. It is due to the inertia of the moving parts. The red and blue curves in a very small fraction of a second come together, and remain practically together for the rest of their course. The whole of the charge is consumed in something less than fifteen thousandths (‘015) of a second. In the case of the blue curve the maximum pressure indicated is obtained in the way I have described, and is approximately cor- rect—about nine tons persquare inch. The rapidity with which this considerable charge parts with its heat by communication to 114 NATURE | May 31, 1900 the explosion vessel is very striking. In four seconds after the explosion the pressure is reduced to about one-half, and in twelve seconds to about one-quarter. I now show you (Fig. 10) similar curves for cordite 0°35 inch 3 T T T explosion ; and knowing all these points with very considerable accuracy, we should be able, from the study of the curves to’ which I have drawn your attention, and which can be obtained 1 from different densities of gas, to throw considerable light upon. rs CURVES SHEWING RATE OF COOLING. Dia. of Cordite 0°05 6 ~« * 4 // PRESSURE IN TONS PER SQ.INCH If / | | | _ of Joule, Clausius, Clerk Maxwel Oo on ' so & 4S TIME IN SECONDS. ~ Fic. 9. in diameter, or about fifty times the section. Here you see that the time taken to consume the charge is longer. The effect of inertia is still very marked, although much reduced. The true maximum pressure is little over 8 5 bore of a gun is due to the bombardment dicates that the velocity communicated to a P jjec "4 by myriads of small projectiles moving at enormous 5] the kinetic theory of real, not ideal gases, at temperatures and pressures far re od from those which have been the subject of such careful and accurate research by many distinguished physicists. ha The question, as I have said, involves some very considerable difficulties ; never- theless, I am not without hope that the experiments I have been describing may, in some small degree, add to our know- ledge of the kinetic theory of gas. That wonderful theory faintly shadowed forth almost from the commencement of philosophic thought, was first distinctly put forward by Daniel Bernoulli early in’ the last century. In the latter half of the century now drawing to a close the labou Kelvin and others have placed in a position analogous and equal that held by the wndulatory theory light. os ade eae The kinetic theory has, he wer e1 artillerists a special charm, beca Beets 5 k-tepi takes Seni T tons, but after the first third of a second the two curves run ‘so close together that T T T they are indistinguishable. y pees you see the pressure is reduced CURVES SHEWING RATE OF COOLING. | Dia. of Cordite 0°6 ~ Ba eta | ° rn i by one-half in four seconds, and ina little more than twelve seconds again halved. The last pair of curves I shall show (Fig. 11) you was obtained with cordite VA yi 0°6 inch in diameter, or nearly 150 times 7 ae the section of the rifle cordite. With this cordite the combustion has been so slow that the effect of inertia almost disappears ; / [ ‘ ow PRESSURE IN TONS PER SQ. INCH. it is reduced to about half a ton per square inch. The maximum being nearly the F same as in the last set of experiments. The time of combustion indicated I have called slow, but it is about ‘06 of a second, - and the whole of the experiments show a most remarkable regularity in‘their rate of cooling, the pressures at the same distance - of time from the explosion being in all . der cases approximately the same—as, indeed, they ought to be. The density being the ‘same and the explosive the same, the only differ- ence being the time in which the decomposition is completed. - jectile. » parting with the ‘energy they possess by impact to OR Ces ae TIME IN SECONDS. Fic, 11. ” — ———— T rT CURVES SHEWING RATE OF COOLING Dia. of Cordite 0-35 La ~ > PRESSURE IN TONS PER SQ INCH o ” a“ a ‘3 TIME IN SECONDS Fic. 10. It appears to me that, knowing from the experiments I have described, the volume of gas liberated, its composition, 1ts density, its pressure, the quantity of heat disengaged by the NO. 1596, VOL. 62] 1s 6 ALA 6 = Fs There are few minds which are not more or less affected by the infinitely great and the infinitely little. NM Sih se It was said that the telescope which revealed to us infinite space was balanced by the microscope which showed us the infinitely small; but the labours of the men to whom I have referred have intro- duced us to magnitudes and weights in-, finitesimally smaller than anything the microscope can show us, and to numbers which are infinite to our finite compre- — hension. Let me draw your attention again to this figure (Fig. 2) showing the velocity impressed upon the projectile, and let me endeavour to describe the nature of the forces which acted upon it to give it its motion. I hold in my hand a cubic centi- metre, a cube so small that I aaa a a hardly visible to those at a distance. Wel. if this cube were filled with the gases pro- duced by the explosion at 0° C. and atmospheric pressure, there would be something over seven trillions, that is, seven followed by eighteen cyphers, of molecules. Large as these numbers are, May 31, 1900] NATURE 115 they occupy but a very small fraction of the contents of the : cubic centimetre, but yet their number is so great that they would, if placed in line touching one another, go round many times the circumference of the earth, a pretty fair illustration of Euclid’s definition of a line. These molecules, however, are not at rest, but are moving, even at the low temperature I have named, with great velocity, the molecules of the different gases moving with _ different velocities dependent upon their molecular weight. _ Thus, the hydrogen molecules which have the highest velo- _ city move with about 5500 feet-seconds mean velocity, while the slowest, the carbonic anhydride molecules, have only {150 feet-seconds mean velocity, or about the speed of sound, But in the particular gun under discussion, when the charge was exploded there were no less than 20,500 cubic centimetres of gas, and each centimetre at the density of explosion contained 580 times the quantity of gas—that is, 580 times the number of molecules that I mentioned. Hence the total number of mole- cules in the exploded charge is 84 quadrillions, or let us say approximately for the total number eight followed by twenty- four cyphers. It is difficult for the mind to appreciate what this immense number means, but it may convey a good idea if I tell you that second, it would take him 265 billions of years to perform the task of counting ifa man were to count continuously at the rate of three a | supply of students for this subject was available. { EXTENSIONS OF THE DYEING DEPART-:- MENT OF YORKSHIRE COLLEGE, | “THE opening of the extensions in the Clothworkers’ Depart- ments of Yorkshire College, Leeds, has already been re- | ferred to (p. 69). The new buildings, which are shown in the accompanying illustration, comprise practical and pattern dye- houses and a research laboratory; and, as with several other | parts of Yorkshire College, they, owe their erection to the generous interest taken in technical education by the Cloth- workers’ Company of London. The Clothworkers’ Departments of the Yorkshire College consist of textile industries, dyeing and art. The buildings occupied by these departments have been erected by the Cloth- workers’ Company at a cost of about 60,000/. ; they are spread over an area of about one-and-a-half acres, and have been specially arranged and equipped for the teaching of all the subjects connected with the designing and manufacturing of woven fabrics. The Dyeing Department of the Yorkshire College was estab- lished in 1880, and the head of the department is Prof. J. J. Hummel. Although the accommodation at first provided was extremely limited, it nevertheless sufficed to show that a demand for instruction in dyeing really existed, and that.a continuous In due time them. - So much for the numbers; now let me tell you of the velocities with which, at the moment of explosion, the mole- cules were moving. Taking first the high-velocity gas, the hydrogen, the molecules of the gas would strike the projectile with a mean velocity of about 12,500 feet-seconds. You will observe I say mean velocity, and you must note that the molecules move with very vari- able velocities. Clerk Maxwell was the first to calculate the probable distribu- tion of the velocities. A little more _ than one-half will have the mean velocity or less, and about 98 per cent. will have 25,000 feet-seconds or less. A very few, about one in 100 millions, might reach ____ the velocity of 50,000 feet-seconds. q The mean energy of the molecules of _ different gases at the same temperature _ being equal, it is easy from the data I ' have given to calculate the mean velo- tity of the molecules of the slowest moving gas, carbonic anhydride, which would be about 2600 foot-seconds. _. I have detained you, I fear, rather tong over these figures, but I have _ done so because [ think they throw some light upon the extraordinary violence that some explo- ves exhibit whén detonated. Take, for instance, the lyddite hell exploded by detonation I showed you earlier in the vening. I calculate that that charge was converted into gas in less than the 1/60,o00th part of a second, and it is not difficult to conceive the effect that these gases of very _ high density suddenly generated, the molecules of which are ' moving with the velocities I have indicated, would have upon the shell. __ The difference between the explosion of gunpowder fired in a lose vessel, and that of gun-cotton or lyddite when detonated, ‘very striking. The former explosion is noiseless, or nearly The latter, even when placed in a bag, gives rise to an xceedingly sharp metallic ring, as if the vessel were struck a sharp blow with a steel hammer. But I must conclude. I began my lecture by recall- some of the investigations I described in this place “@ great many years ago. [ fear I must conclude in much _ the same way as I then did, by thanking you for the tention with which you have listened to a somewhat dry ‘subject, and by regretting that the heavy calls made on my time during the last few months have prevented my _ making the lecture more worthy of my subject and of my _ audience. NO. 1596, VOL. 62] Hew © | New Buildings of the Dyeing Department of Yorkshire College. it was found desirable to increase the facilities for experimental work, and in 1885 the Clothworkers’ Company of London erected and equipped, at an expense of about 12,000/., the front portion of the handsome and commodious building at present occupied. It was felt some years ago that the work of the different departments might be connected. It was considered desirable, for example, that the coloured yarns employed in the weaving department should be dyed by the students in the dyeing department, so that, if at the same time these yarns could also be manufactured on the premises by the establishment of a spinning department, it would become possible to teach the whole routine of clothworking, from the wool in the raw state to the finished cloth. Acting upon this idea, the Clothworkers’ Company decided to make the necessary provision for carrying out the scheme suggested, and to extend both the weaving and dyeing departments, at a cost of about 25,000/. In connection with the dyeing department, it was arranged to build a three-storied building, to provide two additional dyehouses in which practical dyeing could be carried on, and also a research laboratory for the prosecution of scientific investigations connected with dyestuffs and dyeing. In July 1896, the foundation stone of the new Clothworkers’ Research Laboratory and the other extensions was laid by the ‘116 NATURE | May 31, 1900 Master of the Clothworkers’ Company, and the completed buildings were opened on May 11. At the present time, therefore, the dyeing department of the Yorkshire College is represented by a building of considerable dimensions, and so comprehensive in character and equipment as practically to meet every requirement for the purpose of giving a complete theoretical and practical instruction in the art of dyeing in all its branches, Some idea of the magnitude of the work done in the dyeing department of Yorkshire College may be gained from the fact that each session over 200,000 dyed patterns are distributed. Each student, according to the time spent in the dyehouse, receives during ‘his course of instruction from 2000 to 20,000 patterns, each of which conveys a definite piece of information on some point connected with the application of this or that colouring matter. Not only is the behaviour in the dyebath of each colouring matter investigated, but notes of the results obtained are made by the students during the progress of the work. Further, each student enters in his own book all the patterns received, together with notes of the materials employed, and the results of each experiment. Hence the students not only learn how to experiment and discover the capabilities of each colouring matter for themselves, but they also acquire the useful habit of observing and of making notes, while their pattern books contain a fund of information which is invaluable to them in their after career. The systematic training which they receive also prepares them to deal with the variable con- ditions of work in actual practice, such as the character of the | water, the nature of the textile material employed and its ultimate uses, and many other points which must always be taken into account in dyeing. In the practical and pattern dyehouses the students are shown how they are expected to apply in practice the principles they have learned in the course of their experimental work. Moreover, the solution of difficulties which naturally arise under the slightly altered conditions from those obtaining in the | experimental dyehouse, the greater confidence inspired by dealing with the larger quantities of material, and the knowledge that the products of their labour are really to be employed in the manufacture of cloth, are all factors of inestimable value in the training of the students before they enter into actual practice, to which they are as it were brought indeed ‘one step nearer by the character of the work pursued. Altogether, the students are able, in the College dyehouses, to gain at least some insight as to the meaning and value of practical experience, and an influence is exerted which reacts by giving life and vigour to the work of the whole department. The art of dyeing owes much to science, and in a University College like the Yorkshire College, it is not unreasonable to expect that students of the art should, in return, contribute something to science, more particularly to that branch of it which pertains to dyeing. dyehouses the students are taught the av¢ of dyeing, in the Clothworkers’ Research Laboratory they are also urged to study the sczence of dyeing. The aim here is to assist in the work of gaining a fuller and truer knowledge of. the fundamental laws and principles connected with dyestuffs and dyeing, and so help to raise, as far as possible, the whole tone and level of the dyeing trade, by infusing into it the traits of an exact science. The carrying on of original research by advanced students has already become, indeed, a marked feature of the department, and the Clothworkers’ Company have, in a special way, recog- nised the value of such work by establishing a lectureship, the holder of which devotes his whole time to co-operating with the professor in introducing students to this higher form of study. This research work, too, has an intimate connection with Prof. Hummel’s lectures, in the course of which are described the methods employed in preparing the coal-tar colours, in isolating the pure colouring principles of dyewoods, and in studying the chemistry of mordanting, dyeing, &c. _ By allowing the students to carry out similar experiments themselves, the College enables them to understand, in a clearer manner than is otherwise possible, how our knowledge concerning dyestuffs and dyeing has been acquired, and it is hoped that by reason of the practical experience thus gained in the art of research, some students may, in due time, become independent investigators. The Clothworkers’ Research Laboratory is an addition which gives completeness to the means of instruction in dyeing already furnished. The advanced students are thereby provided with the facilities for extending the boundaries of science connected NO, 1596, VOL. 62| If in the experimental and practical © with dyeing, and it is hoped that many young men will take advantage of the opportunity thus given. If in the pursuit of this object the authorities at Yorkshire College can succeed in attracting and training a band of earnest workers ; if a well- recognised and successful School of Research in Dyeing is established, side by side with the School of Practical Dyeing, it cannot but be of inestimable value from an educational as well as from a practical point of view, for, if the students, before they leave the College, are taught to contribute to the general sum of knowledge it it surely education in the truest and best sense of the term. . 4 MR. NIKOLA TESLA’S RECENT ELECTRICAL EXPERIMENTS. A REMARKABLE paper, by Mr. Nikola’ Tesla, appears in the June number of the Ceztury Magazine. The subject is ‘‘ The Problem of Increasing Human Energy, with Special Reference to the Harnessing of the Sun’s Energy”’ ; and though metaphysical and sociological questions receive a large share of attention, the article contains an account of some very interest- ing electrical experiments, now described for the first time, illustrated by several very striking photographs, two of which are here reproduced. Mr. Tesla has been engaged for several years in further investigating the properties of alternate currents of high potential and frequency, with which he astonished audiences at the Royal Institution in 1892 (see NATURE, vol. xlv. p. 345). The following abstract of a part of his paper | shows that his work has led to results of scientific interest and significance. Electrical discharges capable of making atmospheric nitrogen combine with oxygen have’ recently been produced. Experi-’ ments made since 1891 showed that the chemical activity Fic. 1.—Combustion of atmospheric nitrogen by the discharge of an electrical oscillator giving twelve million volts and alternating 100,000 times per second. The flame-like discharge shown in the photograph measured 65 feet across. AS of the electrical discharge was: very considerably increased by, using currents of extremely high frequency or rate of vibration. This was an important improvement, but prac- tical considerations soon set a definite limit to the progress in this direction. Next, the effects of the electrical pressure of the current impulses, of their wave-form and other characteristic features, were investigated.. Then the influence of the atmo- spheric pressure and temperature and of the presence of water, and other bodies was studied, and thus the best conditions for’ causing the most intense chemical action of the discharge and securing the highest efficiency of the process were gradually ascertained. The flame grew larger and larger, and its oxidising action more and more intense. From an insignificant brush- discharge a few inches long it developed into a marvellous elec- trical phenomenon, a roaring blaze, devouring the nitrogen of — the atmosphere and measuring sixty or seventy feet across — (Fig. 1). The flame-like discharge visible is produced by the ~ “May 31, 1900] NATURE 117 intense electrical oscillations which pass through the coil shown, and violently agitate the electrified molecules of the air. By this means a strong affinity is created between the two normally indifferent constituents of the atmosphere, and they combine readily, even if no further provision is made for intensifying the chemical action of the discharge. Under certain conditions the atmosphere, which is normally | a high insulator, assumes conducting properties, and so becomes | capable of conveying any amount of electrical energy. The discovery of the conducting properties of the air, though unex- pected, was only a natural result of experiments in a special field carried on for some years previously. It was during 1889 that certain possibilities, offered by extremely rapid electrical oscillations, led to the design of a number of special machines adapted for their investigation. One of the earliest observations made with these new machines was that electrical oscillations of an extremely high rate act in an extraordinary manner upon the human organism. Thus, for instance, power- ful electrical discharges of several hundred thousand volts, which at that time were considered absolutely deadly, could be passed through the body without inconvenience or hurtful con- sequences. Another observation was that by means of such oscillations light could be produced in a novel and more eco- nomical manner, which promised to lead to an ideal system | of electric illumination by vacuum-tubes, dispensing with the necessity of renewal of lamps or incandescent filaments, and possibly also with the use of wires in the interior of buildings. ‘ —The coil, current: of electricity at the rate of 100,000 alternations per second. _ The discharge escapes with a deafening noise, striking an unconnected r) ) coil 22 feet away, and creating such an electrical disturbance that sparks an inch long can be drawn from a water-main at a distance of 300 feet a _ from the laboratory. 8 . _ The investigations led to other valuable observations and re- Sults, one of the more important of which was the demonstration of the practicability of supplying electrical energy through one Wire without return. To what a degree the appliances have been perfected since the demonstrations in 1892, when the ap- Jaratus was barely capable of lighting one lamp, will appear fom the fact that as many as four or five hundred lamps have yeen lighted in this manner. he success of this method of transmission suggested that the rth could be used as a conductor, thus dispensing with wires. she earth was regarded as an immense reservoir of electricity, h could be disturbed effectively by a properly designed le ttrical machine. Accordingly efforts were directed toward erfecting a special apparatus which would be highly effective in reatin s a disturbance of electricity in the earth, and a novel d of transformer or induction-coil, particularly suited for this ial purpose, was designed. By means of this apparatus, it is practicable, not only to transmit minute amounts of electrical lergy for operating delicate electrical devices, but also electrical energy in appreciable quantities. _ However extraordinary the results exemplified by Fig. 2 may _ 4ppear, they are but trifling compared with those which are ittainable by apparatus designed on these same principles. NO. 1596, VOL. 62] , =) , handicap. partly shown in the photograph, creates an alternating | sary plant for the manufacture of sulphate of copper on a large _ seen how formidable a competitor is entering the field. | case the more satisfactory days of the English trade in sulphate Electrical discharges have been produced, the actual path of which, from end to end, was probably more than one hundred feet long ; but it would not be difficult to reach lengths one hundred times as great. Electrical movements occurring at the rate of approximately one hundred thousand horse-power have been obtained, but rates of one, five, or ten million horse-power are easily practicable. The most valuable observation made in the course of these investigations was the extraordinary behaviour of the atmosphere toward electric impulses of excessive electromotive force. The experiments showed that the air at the ordinary pressure became distinctly conducting, and this opened up the wonderful prospect of transmitting large amounts of electrical energy for industrial purposes to great distances without wires, a possibility which, up to that time, was thought of only as a scientific dream. Further investigation revealed the important fact that the con- ductivity imparted to the air by these electrical impulses of many millions of volts increased very rapidly with the degree of. rare- faction, so that air strata at very moderate altitudes, which are easily accessible, offer, to all experimental evidence, a perfect conducting path, better than a copper wire, for currents of this character. The experiments have indicated that, with two terminals maintained at an elevation of not more than thirty thousand to thirty-five thousand feet above sea-level, and with an electrical pressure of fifteen to twenty million volts, the energy of thou- sands of horse-power can be transmitted over distances which may be hundreds and, if necessary, thousands of miles. Investi- gations are now being carried on with the object of reducing considerably the height of the terminals now required. SOME SCIENTIFIC ASPECTS OF TRADE. REPORT on the trade and commerce of Leghorn, for the year 1899, by Mr. Vice-Consul Carmichael, has just been received at the Foreign Office and published as No. 2714 of the Annual Series. The following extracts from the report are of interest as showing the various points at which scientific work and knowledge touch industry. The proportion of sulphate of copper imported from Great Britain in 1898 was 96 per cent.; it had in 1899 fallen to 76 per cent. The explanation of this unwelcome fact appears to be due to keen United States competition. Italian manufacture is likely to become an even more formidable danger in the near future. Manufacturers appear as a rule to have gone to England for the greater part of the raw material, and that of itself was a Now, however, the flourishing and influential Societa Metallurgica of Leghorn is busily erecting the neces- scale. Italy produces some 26,000 tons of copper annually, and it is said that the company can depend upon securing its material at home. Should this be the case it will at once be In any seem to be over. As this series of reports is yearly obtaining a larger circulation it may perhaps be necessary to state that the wood from which briar pipes are made is not the root of the briar rose, but the root of the large heath known in botany as the Zrica arborea. Our ‘‘briar” is but a corruption of the French ‘‘ bruyére.” The briar-root industry has had a somewhat curious history. First begun in the Pyrenees some 50 years ago, jit travelled along the French Riviera and the Ligurian coast (taking Corsica by the way) to the Tuscan Maremma, and has now reached Calabria in the south, which is at present its most flourishing centre. By the very nature of the business, when a certain district has been exhausted of all its roots, the industry must come to an end there, and I have heard the opinion expressed that the Italian branch of it cannot last much more than another ten years. Leghorn has always been the centre of the export of Tuscan briar-root since the Maremma industry came into existence, but as the South Italian briar is of admittedly superior quality, a large quantity of the Calabrian root is also imported into Leghorn for selection and subsequent export. The olive oil crop throughout Tuscany, small as it promised to be, has, I regret to say, been more than -half destroyed by 118 NATURE [May 31, 1900 the ravages of the olive fly. Hence the quantity of olive oil obtained this season in Tuscany has been insignificant, while the quality of most of it is distinctly inferior, A full crop of olive oil may be reckoned at a money value of some 10,000,000/. The olive maggot—which subsequently develops into the olive fly—destroys the pulp of the fruit, and so potent are the ravages-of this pest that it is capable of diminishing the yield of oil by one-half, and seriously injuring the quality of the remainder. It will therefore be seen that the fly may actually cause damage in one year amounting to 5,000,000/, Notwithstanding the urgency of the matter, no means of destroying the insect appear so far to have been discovered, nor has the State suggested any practical remedy. The subject is recommended to the notice of English men of science, as any discovery which should ex- terminate the plague ought certainly to be profitable. What seems to be wanted is that. entomologists of experience should carefully study the habits of the fly with a view to finding out the hitherto undiscovered winter habitat. Then alone could proper steps be taken for its destruction. It has been hazarded with some likelihood that the winter habitat of the fly must be in the bark of the olive trees. If that were the case, all that would be needed would be to paint the trees during the winter with a simple solution of lime, which, though it might spoil the beauty of the Italian landscape, would rid the country of a very formid- able enemy to its agricultural prosperity. UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL INTELLIGENCE. CAMBRIDGE.—Two University lectureships in experimental physics are now vacant. The appointment is for five years, and the stipend 50/. a year. Applications should reach the Vice-Chancellor by June 2. The researches of Mr. L. N. G. Filon, advanced student, of King’s College, in relation to certain problems in applied ‘mechanics, have been approved as a qualification for the B.A. degree. Sixty-three men and nineteen women have acquitted them- selves so as to deserve honours in the Mathematical Tripos, -Part I. Honorary degrees will, on June 12, be conferred on the Earl of Rosse, F.R.S., Sir Benjamin Baker, F.R.S., Sir W. L. Buller, F.R.S., Prof. S. P. Langley, Prof. W. M. Flinders Petrie and Prof. H. Poincaré. The graces for the establishment of a new special examination in agricultural science for the B.A. degree was opposed on May 24, but it was carried by a large majority. The first examination will take place at the end of the year. OnE of the chief difficulties which has to be overcome by Technical Education Committees is the defective character of elementary education, respecting which lament is very general. Several instances of this difficulty are given in the current number of the Record of Technical and Secondary Education. The Durham committee have been compelled for some years to give financial assistance to preparatory classes now formed in all but twenty-one districts of the county. The committee have by such means paved the way for their new regulation of 1899 that there must be ‘‘the production of evidence of preparatory training on the part of all new applicants on whom attendance grants would be claimed.” This action already appears to be having a satisfactory effect. The Cambridgeshire, Nottingham- shire and Staffordshire committees also deal at some length with the question of defective elementary education. The Cambridge- shire committee go so far as to say :—‘‘ The very backward state of elementary education has made it extremely difficult, if not -impossible, to establish a system of technical education in the proper sense of the term.” The Staffordshire committee speak of it in its relation to ‘‘the early age at which pupils leave the elementary schools,” and this has thrown upon them ‘‘ much elementary and preparatory work which otherwise would have been unnecessary.” The importance of promoting the efficiency of the work of evening continuation schools cannot be too strongly urged, as they largely constitute the foundation of the work of Technical Education Committees and thus lead on to higher and specialised instruction. NO. 1596, VOL. 62| SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. - Lonpon. Physical Society, May 25.—Prof. J. D. Everett, F.R.S., Vice-President, in the chair.—Prof. S. P. Thompson showed some experiments illustrating the aberration called Coma. If a converging lens is placed obliquely in a parallel beam of light, instead of giving a point image, it produces unilateral distortion, and the bright central spot is accompanied by a pear- shaped tail, which is known asacoma. The direction in which this tail points depends upon the side of the lens which is pre- sented to the light. With a concavo-convex lens the convex surface gives an inward pointing coma, and the concave surface an outward pointing coma. The existence of this phenomenon is due to unequal magnification from different zones of the lens, a fact which was shown by covering the ‘lens with a zone-plate of three or four rings and viewing on a screen the distorted images of the several zones. The form of a coma varies greatly with the distance of the screen from the lens. A panties of light which has passed obliquely through a convex lens is capable of producing some curious shadows. The shadow of a rod can be obtained as a circular spot, and that of a grating, made by stretching threads between two rods, as concentric circular rings. Prof. Thompson also showed a stringed model __ illustrating the paths of light-rays in the formation of a coma. —Mr. R. T. Glazebrook then read some notes on the measure- ment of some standard resistances. Three methods have been employed by the author for building up multiples of a standard resistance, such as a one-ohm coil. The first method consists in making as accurately as possible three three-ohm coils. These in parallel can be compared directly with the standard by ~ Carey Foster’s method. Their resistance in series is very approximately nine times that in parallel, and hence an accurate determination of a resistance about nine ohms can — tained. If, then, this resistance is put in series w standard, an accurately-known ten-ohm resistance — tained. By a similar process, a hundred- or a ohm coil can be built up. The second method consists in calibrating a resistance-box. The one-ohm coils of the box are eves directly with the standard, and the other resistances determined accurately by a building-up process, the high using a subsidiary resistance-box. In comparing k ; q 7 : & § 85 resistances, the difference between the two boxes n great as to send the balance off the bridge wire. In these cases the third method is employed. The equal arms of the bridge are accurately known, and one of them is shunted with a resistance, which need not be accurately known, until the read- ing is brought back on to the wire. The coils chiefly used throughout the experiments are made. of platinum-silyer. —Mr. J. J. Guest read a paper on the strength of ductile materials under combined stresses. The author through- out his experiments has used the ‘‘ yield point” of a material as the true criterion of its strength, and has rejected the elastic limit as being modified .by local yielding. At present, two theories are used in the calculation of strengths of materials. The first is that the material yields when one of the principal Stresses reaches a certain amount. This theory, which was adopted by Rankine and is used by engineers in England and America, is not in accord with recent experiments. The second theory is that the material yields when the greatest strain reaches acertainamount. This was advocated by St. Venant, and is used by engineers on the Continent. Besides these there is a third theory of elastic strength, in which the condition of yield- ing is the existence of a shearing stress of a specificamount. Inthe case of asolid bar subjected to torsion, there is a variation in the strain from the axis outwards, and consequently the materials have been used in the form of thin tubes. This allows the application of an internal fluid pressure. The specimens were steel, — copper and brass, the state of set caused by drawing having — been removed by annealing, The tubes were subjected to (1) | torque, (2) torque and tension, (3) tension only, (4) tension — and internal pressure, (5) torsion and internal pressure, and | (6) internal pressure only. The axial elongation, the twist, | and occasionally the circumferential strain were measured. — Towards the end of the experiments observations were made ~ on bending. The results disprove the maximum stress } theory, and are at variance with the maximum strain theory. © The maximum shearing stress developed, and the correspond- © ing shearing strain were comparatively constant through- — out the experiments, and no other simple relation between the stresses or strains was even approximately constant. The results ‘a DL i May 31, 1900] NATURE 119 of the experiments have been plotted synoptically on a curve, and the several lines have been drawn upon which these points should lie, according to the various theories. Itis readily seen that the points cluster round the line which represents the __ existence of a specific shearing stress, The author, therefore, _ favours the existence of this stress for any material. The chair- man read a communication upon the subject from Dr. Chree. _ Mr. Guest, in his paper, has regarded the shearing stress theory asa little known one. As the shearing stress is half the differ- ence between the greatest and least principal stresses, this theory is the same as Prof. G. H. Darwin’s maximum stress-difference All the theories suppose that the stress-strain law is linear, and that strains are so small that their squares and pro- ducts can be neglected. Mr. Guest concludes that in ordinary materials the law is linear to the elastic limit, which answers to a stress lower than that which answers to the yield point, and __ that yield point phenomena arise between these. Nevertheless, he focusses attention on the yield point as the criterion of strength, and assumes that Hooke’s law holds up to it. _ Entomological Society, May 2.—Mr. W. L. Distant, Vice-President, in the chair.—Mr. W. L. Distant exhibited the cocoon, measuring nearly three and a half inches each way, of meee beetle—probably belonging to the genus Hediocopris— found at Pretoria in the Transvaal.—The Rev. Theodore Wood exhibited a specimen of Caradus auratus, L., taken in either June or mber 1898 by Mr. Ferrand, of Littlefield House, Exmouth, on the Haldon Hills in the neighbourhood of that town.—Mr. McLachlan exhibited an example of RAznxocyphea fulgidipennis, Guérin, a brilliant little dragon-fly of the sub- b Snily Calopteryginae, a native of Cochin China, which, so far ___as he knew, had not been captured since prior to 1830. It had been in M. Guérin’s hands, and Mr. McLachlan had received it from M. René Oberthiir.—Mr. “ew Chapman exhibited _ various specimens iilustrating Acanthopsyche opacella.—Mr. Barrett exhibited specimens of Saat destructive to the _ fruit crops of South Africa. Among them Sphingomorpha montetronis, Butl., known as the Fruit Moth in Cape Colony— ___a bold and powerful insect, with a sucking tongue strong enough Te Pe the sound skin of a peach or fig. The presence of a : ii t does not appear to disturb it, so that examination of its _ methods can be readily made, when it can be seen that it does _ mot take advantage of the natural opening into a fig, or of a crack or other amrety to a peach, but deliberately pierces a hole _ which afterwards shows as a small round spot, from which decay invariably results. It seems a matter of indifference to moth whether the fruit has fallen, or is on the tree, ripe or unripe. With regard to Achaea lienardi and Serrodes inara, the two species are restless and timid, and therefore more difficult to observe. In the present season, however, both have _ been extremely abundant, and have been seen at apparently uninjured fruit, so that it seems they are capable of equal struction. Several others, feeding mainly on damaged fruit, were also taken with the aforesaid species, among them some w to science, and recently described’ by Sir George Hampson. r. Jacoby exhibited Ca//omorpha wahlbergi from Africa, and bilopyra sumptuosa from Australia.—A paper was communi- ted on ‘* New Palzarctic Pyralide,” by Sir George F. lampson, Bart. Anthropological Institute, May 15.—Mr. C. H. Read, t, in the chair.—The president alluded to the severe which the Institute and anthropology in general had sus- ed in the loss of its former president, the late General Pitt- ers.— Mr. F. Haverfield contributed a note on certain stone sts discovered on a Roman site at Clanville, in Hants, and iscussion ensued from which it appeared improbable that they ere of human workmanship.—Mr. J. Allen Brown described a ollection of stone implements brought from Pitcairn Island ; Lieut. Pike, R.N. The implements are of two types, both armed of the volcanic rocks of the island. The first series con- ists of stone axes of analogous forms to those of other islands of ie Pacific. The other is peculiar, being large, and with in- urved sides and broad cutting edge, more or less ground as ell as chipped. A third form is that of a cylindrical chisel. he author mentioned also the discovery of rock carvings of sun, oon, birds, &c., tombs with pottery and human skulls, and of arved stone figures like those of Easter Island. The fact that ¢ implements were found below the surface of the ground, and hat from the time of its discovery by Carteret until its occupa- ion by the mutineers of the Bounty, makes it probable that the ns in question are of considerable age.—Mr. H. Stopes NO. 1596, VOL. 62] roy = Maree = SU exhibited a number of unclassified stone objects which he had collected from the river gravels of the Thames valley, and dis- cussed the purposes for which he believed them to have been shaped. He also produced specimens of Nertina nonaasre found in the same gravels, which he regarded as an indication of their age. Zoological Society, May 22,—Dr.?Albert Giinther, F.R:S., Vice-President, in the chair.—A communication was read from Prof. G. B. Howes, F.R.S., and Mr. H. H. Swinnerton, on the development of the skeleton of the Tuatera, Sphencdon (Hatterta) punctatus, which was stated to be the outcome of eighteen months’ work on materials supplied to the authors by Prof. Dendy, of Christchurch, N.Z An account was given of the egg, the hatching, and the habits of the hatched young, which the authors reared till four months old.—The Mala- costracan Crustacea collected by Mr. Rupert Vallentin at the Falkland Islands, from December 1898 to February 1899, formed the subject of a paper by the Rev. T. R. R. Stebbing, F.R.S. Many of the species had long been known, as several scientific expeditions had been made to these islands during this century. This carefully made collection, however, had afforded a much needed opportunity for discussing and clearing up obscure points in some of the earlier descriptions of the Crustacean fauna.—Mr. L. A. Borradaile read the fourth instal- ment of his memoir on Crustaceans from the South Pacific. This part contained an account of the crabs, of which 77 species were enumerated. Seven new species were described, and a scheme of classification of the swimming crabs (Portunidae) was put forward.—A communication was read from Dr. R. Bowdler Sharpe, which contained an enumeration of the birds—56 species in all—collected during the Mackinder Expedition to Mount Kenya, accompanied by field-notes of the collectors.—Mr. F. E. Beddard, F.R.S., read a paper, entitled ** A Revision of the Earthworm Genus Amynéas.” According to the author, this genus comprised 102 species, which were enumerated and commented upon.—Mr. Beddard also read a paper on the structure of a new species of earthworm, which he proposed to name Benhamia budgettz, after its discoverer, Mr. J. S. Budgett, who had obtained two specimens of it at M‘Carthy’s Island during his recent visit to the Gambia. PARIS. Academy of Sciences, May 21.—M. Maurice Lévy in the chair.—Researches on the formation of nitric acid during com- bustions, by M. Berthelot. The compressed oxygen used in combustions in the calorimetric bomb always contains a small quantity of nitrogen, up to 8 per cent. A portion of this is oxidised during the combustion, and the amount of nitric acid so formed has been regularly measured in order to correct the calorimetric data. The author now attempts to trace the relation between the nature of the organic substance under com- bustion and the quantity of nitric acid formed, details being given in the present paper of experiments on amorphous carbon, graphite and diamond.—Limits of combustibility by red-hot copper oxide of hydrogen and methane diluted with large volumes of air, by M. Armand Gautier. When combustible gases, such as hydrogen or marsh gas, are mixed with large quantities of air and are passed over columns of red-hot copper oxide, the difficulty of completely burning the gas increases with the dilution. Thus with a dilution of 20 parts in 100,000, hydrogen is not completely burnt on passing over a column of 35 centimetres of red-hot copper oxide, but com- bustion is complete when this length is doubled. Methane is more difficult to burn ; thus at a dilution of 7 in 100,000 nearly half the carbon escaped unburnt after passing over a column of oxide 70 cm. long.—Publications of the Observatory of Besancon from 1886 to 1896, by M. Loewy.—Action of hydrogen bromide upon dextro-rotatory benzylidene camphor, by MM. A. Haller and J, Minguin. Benzylidene camphor combines with hydro- bromic acid to form mono-bromo-benzyl-camphor. If the combination is carried out at 100°, two other products are ob- tained, benzylidene-campholic acid, (COOH). CgH,4.CH:CH.C,.Hs, and phenyloxy-homocampholic acid, (COOH).C,H,,y.CH,.CH(OH)C,H,, derivatives of which are described.—On fossil forests and the vegetative soils of the coal-measures, by M. Grand’Eury. Further arguments in favour of the author’s view that the vegetable fossils have really grown in the places where they now occur, and have not been deposited there by water.— 120 NATURE [May 31, 1yoo Report on works presented by M. Marx.—Remarks on: an eruption of the volcano Mayon in the Isle of Lucon, by ‘the French Consul for the Philippines.—On the convergence of the coefficients in the development of the perturbation function, by M. A. Férand.—Remarks on a memoir of M. Massau on the gang: integration of some partial differential equations, by J. Coulon.—On a remarkable point in relation wih the route -Thomson effect, by M. Daniel Berthelot. The point at which the inversion of the Joule-Thomson effect occurs is deduced by a graphical construction from the data of Amagat, and the result compared with some recent calculations of M. Van der Waals.—On the distribution of currents and poten- tials in the periodic state set up in the length of a sym- metrical polyphase line presenting capacity, by M. Ch. Eug. Guye.—On resonance in wireless telegraphy, by M. A. Blondel. —Communication by wireless telegraphy with the aid of radio- conductors with polarised electrodes, by M. C. Tissot.—On anhydrous calcium dioxide and the constitution of its hydrates, by M. de Forcand. A thermochemical paper.—On some pro- perties of aluminium, and on the preparation of gaseous hydrogen phosphide, by M. Camille Matignon. Details are given show- ing how to burn aluminium in steam, carbon monoxide and dioxide, oxides of nitrogen, formic acid, sulphur dioxide and other gases and vapours. The preparation of crystallised aluminium phosphide is described, from which pure PH, can be readily obtained. —Combinations of lithium bromide with am- monia, by M. J. Bonnefoii—The compounds LiBr.NHs, LiBr.2NH,;, LiBr.3NH3, LiBr.g4NH, are indicated by a study of the dissociation pressures. .The application of the Clapyron formula to these data gixes values for the heats of dissociation cf .these compounds in _ good agreement with the direct. thermochemical measurements. —On two polysulphides of lead and copper, by M. F. Bodroux. The compounds. PhS, and Cu,S, are described.—On a mercury chlorosulphide, by M. F. Bodroux. A chlorosulphide, Hg.S,;.HgCl,, can be prepared, which is stable at ordinary temperatures.—Action of water upon mercurous sulphate, by M. Gouy.—Partial synthesis of levo-rotatory erythritol, by M. L. Maquenne. Wohl’s method is applied to xylose, the steps being xylosoxime, acetylxylonic nitrile, erythose-aceta- mide, and erythrite.—Preparation of the dialkylamido-dichloran- thraquinones, by M. E. C. Severin.—On a monoiodohydrin of glycol, by MM. E. Charon and Paix-Séailles.—On y-chloro- crotonic acid, by M. R. Lespieau. A description of the pro- perties of CH,Cl.CH:CH.CO,I]{, its nitrile and ethyl ester.— On the composition of the albumen of the St. Ignatius bean and of the zx vomica bean, by MM. Em. Bourquelot and J. Laurent. The albumen from these beans yields the same carbohydrates, a mixture of a mannane and a galactane, as the albumen of legu- minous beans previously studied. In xx vomica the proportion of galatose found on hydrolysis is very high. These beans, in fact, serve as. an advantageous source of crystallised galatose. —Experimental researches upon the evolution of the lamprey, by M. E. Bataillon.—Remarks upon certain points in the life- history of the lower organisms, by M. J. Kunstler.—On some new Synclavellz in the compound Ascidians, by M. Maurice Caullery.—Analysis of marine deposits collected off Brest, by M. J. Thoulet.—The mineral matters in the human fcetus during the last five months of pregnancy, by M. L. Hugonengq. —lIdentity of a bacillus from milk with the pneumobacillus of Friedlzender, by MM. L. Grimbert and G. Legros.” The com- plete identity of these bacilli was shown by a comparative study of their general biology and mnerpaslaey, and of their action upon carbohydrates. DIARY OF SOCIETIES. THURSDAY, May 31. Roya Socigty, at 4.30.—Palzolithic Man in Africa: Sir John Evans, F.R.S.—On the Esumationof the Luminosity of Coloured Surfaces used for Colour Discs: Sir W. de W. Abney, F.R.S.—The Sensitiveness of Silver and of some other Metals to Light : Major-General Waterhouse.— The Crystalline Structure of Metals (Second Paper): Prof. Ewing, F.R.S.,. and W. Rosenhain.—Vapour-density of Bromine at High ‘Lemperatures (Supplementary Note): Dr. E. P, Perman and G. A. 38. Atkinson. FRIDAY, JuNEt. Roya. INSTITUTION, at 9.—Bunsen: Sir Henry Roscos, F.R GeoLoGisTs'ASSOCIAT 10N, at8.—Our Older Sea Margins: Geikie, F.R.S. TUESDAY, JUNE 5. ANTHROPOLOGICAL INsTITUTE, at 8.30.—The Metric System of Identifica _tion used in Great Britain: Dr. J. G. Garson. NO. 1596, VOL. 62| Se Archibald WEDNESDAY, June 6. GEOLOGICAL Socrety, at 8. —- Machete erin Limestones foci Junagadh and «ther Localities : Dr. J. W. Evans.—Note on the Con- solidated A®olian Sands of Kathiawad: Frederick Chapman.—On Ceylon Rocks and Graphite: A. K. Coomara Swamy. Sociery or PuBLic ANALYSTS, at 8,—The Determination of Oxygen in Copper by Ignition in Hydrogen : the Conduct of Soil Analysis: all.—The Adulteration of Wheaten Flour with Maize: G. Embrey. —A ow Colour Reaction for distinguishing between certain [someric Allyl and Propenyl Phen Alfred C. Chapman. ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY,at 8. 3 ay oe THURSDAY, June 7: he Ba LinnEAN Society, at 8.—On a Viviparous Syllid Worm raat NATURE ~ [June 7, 1900. bacteria possess motile tail-like flagella, and by the move- ment of these the minute organisms maintain a rapid progress through the liquid. Bacteria which are devoid of flagella, and cannot traverse free paths in the liquid, are shown in Figs. 5,6, 7 and 8. In Fig. 9, the spores of these minute vegetable organisms are seen interspersed amongst the organisms themselves. The Perens have Fic. 2.—‘‘ Sewage proteus.” Mictoscopic preparation stained by V. Ermengem’s method, showing one flagellum at the end of each rod ; from a 24 hours’ growth agar culture at 20°C. X 1000. two methods of multiplying, by fission and by producing spores : the spores have great power of retaining vitality. It is found that none of these bacteria are selectively retained by a coarse coke-bed during the treatment, but that all the species make their appearance in but slightly diminished numbers in the purified effluent from the coke-bed. The average reduction in number of bacteria Fic. 3.—B. mesentericus. Sewage variety E. Microscopic preparation Me inad by V. Ermengem’s method, showing numerous flagella, from a 20 hours’ agar culture at 20° C. X 1000. suffered by the sewage by one treatment in a coarse coke-bed amounted to only 27°7 per cent. It would therefore appear that the different species of bacteria assist one another in the purifying action, and by pro- ducing either contemporaneous or consecutive effects’ upon the sewage secure its purification : : in_bacterio- logical language, their action is either symbiotic or NO. 1597, VOL. 62| sola iokic. or ae of both kinds, The organisms seem to establish and maintain a condition of equilibrium amongst themselves in the coke-bed, since attempts to- artificially increase the number of certain species have — thus far failed. ‘ee It appears that in the above processes there 1s no separation of the bacterial action which takes place i 4.—B. mesentericus. Sewage variety I. stained by V. Ermengem’s method, showing a 20 hours’ agar culture at 20° C.. X 1000. Fic. the presence of air from that which absence of air, and both processes pro by side in the open coke-bed. -Th called “ septic,” treatment, during whic resolved with separation of hydrogen however, sometimes made to para aérobic treatment. of large volumes of combustible se been employed at some works for i on the incandescent principle. The general products from both pros action are carbon dioxide, water, am hydrogen and methane ; and in the aérobic ammonia is subsequently oxidised into nitrite and JUNE 7, 1900] NATURE 131 7 The experience obtained from several years’ experi- ] mental bacterial treatment of sewage at several of our : largest cities has recently been published. : _In 1893 the London County Council constructed an acre coke-bed about three feet in depth at the Barking Out- This bed has been ‘ fall of the North London Sewage. Fic. 6.—B. subtilissmus. Impression preparation from a gelatine plate culture. X 1000. receiving screened and: sedimented sewage up to the present time, the process of sedimentation having been assisted by the addition of a small proportion of solutions of lime and of ferrous sulphate. Two years ago the bed was deepened to about six feet. Its purifying action, as measured by the amount of oxidisable matter present in Fic. 7.—B. mesentericus. Sewage variety E. Microscopic preparation from a 20 hours’ agar culture at 20°C. xX 1000. the raw sewage and in the clear effluent, amounts to 92 per cent., and if the purification is calculated from the clear sewage and effluent, it amounts to 84 per cent. More recent experiments have proved that the treatment of raw, roughly-screened sewage in such coke-beds is ‘Satisfactory, but that the capacity of the bed becomes NO. 1597, VOL. 62] continuously reduced by the deposition upon the coke of mineral matter from road detritus, of particles of straw, chaff and woody matter from the horse-traffic and from the wood pavements. It was, therefore, evident that these matters must be deposited by sedimentation before the sewage was brought into the coke-beds. A comparatively Fic. 8.—B. enteritidis sporogenes (Klein). Microscopic double-stained preparation, from a serum culture, showing spores. X 2000. rapid process of sedimentation suffices to remove these matters, since even the cellulose matters arrive in the sewage in a heavy and waterlogged condition. It was found advantageous to use coke in comparatively large fragments, about the size of walnuts, since this facilitated the rapid draining of the liquid from the coke, Fis. 9.—Proteus vulgaris. X 1000. and at the same time increased the sewage capacity of the bed and promoted its efficient aération. The depth of the beds has been augmented from 4 to 13 feet, and the increase of depth seems to be attended with increase of efficiency. The 13-foot bed has for long periods given a purification from dissolved oxidisable matter of over 132 NATURE [JUNE 7, 1900 60 per cent. . It has maintained a most satisfactory state of aération, since the air drawn from the bottom has contained, on an average, 17 per cent. of oxygen. About 60 per cent. of the matter which settles from the sewage under ordinary conditions is combustible, and could, therefore, very well be dealt with by a destructor. The tendency of the coke bacteria beds is undoubtedly to improve in their purifying power with age, provided they are not overworked. A bed which had given for some time a 50 per cent. purification, gradually increased in efficiency until its purifying effect reached nearly 70 per cent. Theeffluent from this bed underwent an additional purification of 20 per cent. by treatment in a second similar bed. ; The effluent from a single coke-bed worked on the in- termittent principle was clear and odourless, and remained in this condition when it was kept in open or closed bottles in a warm laboratory. It maintained the life of gold-fish, roach, dace and pike indefinitely : it was there- fore not only well aérated, but was able to maintain its aérated condition. This proves that it was free from any rapidly oxidisable matter. It was undoubtedly, however, undergoing gradually further purification by the action of the bacteria which it contained, and with the assist- ance of dissolved oxygen. Such an effluent would be quite suitable for introduction into the tidal part of the river, where the water is too salt and muddy to be used for drinking purposes. Bacteria are present in large numbers in the river- water itself, and undoubtedly exert a most useful purify- ing effect upon the water during its flow. The relation between the number present in the sewage and in the water of the River Thames, below and above locks, is shown by the following estimations made by Dr. Hous- ton. The number of liquefying bacteria included in the total number of bacteria present in one cubic centimetre, and the number of spores of bacteria, are also stated :— : Liquefying) 2 Bacteria. ated 3 n Raw sewage from North London, Feb. to April 1898 ee ... | 3,899,259 | 430,750 | 332 Raw sewage from South London, Feb. to April 1898 «+ | 3,526,667 | 400,000 | 365 May to Aug. 1898 at ... | 6,140,000 | 860,000 | 407 Effluent from coke-bed, South London, May to Aug. 1898 ... | 4,437,500 | 762,500 | 252 [Percentage reduction by passing through coke-bed... (27°7] [11°4] | [38] Lower Thames water, Green- hithe, half ebb-tide, Oct. 1898... 10,000 — 63 Lower Thames water, Barking, low tide, Nov. 1898... zie 34,400 -- 89 Upper Thames water, between Sunbury and Hampton, Nov. 1898 ae os 4 ie 5,100 — 56 Upper Thames water, Twicken- ham, Nov. 1898 = ay 3,000 — 18 The results obtained by the experimental bacterial treatment of sewage at Manchester during the last two or three years bears out generally those which have been obtained in London. The treatment has differed in some details from that adopted in London. The particles of coke constituting the coke-beds have been smaller. The coke-beds have been subjected to a larger number of in- termittent fillings per day ; and the preliminary treatment in an open anaérobic tank has been carried out with advantageous results. The scientific experts who have suggested and watched the experiments state their con- viction that bacterial treatment is the treatment which is most suitable for Manchester sewage, but that in order to secure the most effective purification, the coke-beds NO. 1597, VOL. 62] must have sufficiently frequent and prolonged periods of rest, and must be fed with sewage as free as possible from suspended matter, and as uniform in quality as may be. Preliminary anaérobic treatment is referred to as the best means of securing uniformity in quality of the sew- age, and of adapting it to rapid subsequent aérobic purifi- cation. Four fillings in 24 hours have been found suitable, if one day’s rest in seven is given to each coke- bed ; the number of fillings, however, may exceed this without detriment to the bed or to the character of the effluent. pen: Town sewage is found to arrive at the outfalls at an almost constant temperature throughout the year. It rarely falls below 13° C. And this temperature not only prevents the possibility of the coke-beds being stop} by the freezing of the sewage, but also secures to the bacteria one condition favourable to their action. When a bed is too freely aérated by the passage of frosty air constantly through the interstices of the coke, this favourable condition is, however, seriously interfere with, and the bed may even become stopped by the freezing of the sewage. ee In the more recent experiments carried out in America by the State Board of Health, Massachusetts, the ten- dency has been to use fine coke, and to allow the effluent from the coke to pass through sand. The passage of the liquid has either been allowed to take place with the out- flow widely opened, so that the bed never fills ; or the sewage has been allowed to fill the bed and to remain quiescent in contact with the coke for a time, as in the English experiments. The conclusions arrived at seem to be that the degree of purification obtained by the use of fine coke and sand is very satisfactory, but that the volume of sewage dealt with in a given time is smaller — than when larger coke fragments are used, and the ten- . dency seems to be to ‘adopt the larger coke in order to expedite the more rapid drainage away of the effluent. It will be seen from what has already been said that — it is well not to speak of this system of treatment as one rocess of — mechanical separation of material suspended in a liquid. — The fact that the coke-beds only commence their purify- _ ing action after they have been “ primed” by repeated — of filtration. Filtration ordinarily implies a contact with sewage, and that this purifying action keeps increasing as the bed “matures,” is sufficient to show that the action is by no means of a mechanical nature. It would be well, therefore, to speak of it as a process , of bacterial treatment, and thus to indicate that the purifying agents are bacteria, which are acting under control, and are placed under conditions favourable to the development of their full activity. It would be rash to say that the methods of bacterial treatment have as yet reached their most effective state ; but it is significant that these methods have secured con- verts wherever they have received careful and ir trial, and that those are their warmest advocates who have had the widest experience of their working. It is even probable that further improvements will be made in the means of treating sewage bacterially, but it is quite certain that the processes at present in use are able to secure the economical and satisfactory purification of ordinary town sewage. FRANK CLOWES. THE TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE SUN. INCE the first series of telegrams was received announcing successful observations of the total eclipse of the sun on May 28, all the more detailed — reports to hand confirm the universal satisfaction of the various parties at the results. As, however, most of the parties having a definite programme arranged to obtain photographic records, complete details cannot be known until the development of the whole of the plates, and in- - - ag ae at say EEL A — OP i Jone 7, 1900] NATURE 133 some cases this will not be until the observers return _ home. _ Rough prints from several of the negatives obtained with the prismatic cameras used by Sir Norman Lockyer’s _ party show as great amount of detail as those taken in The need for correction of the lunar tables is indicated by the universal experience that totality was some seconds /ess than that previously computed, The American observers estimate the difference as three seconds, while at Ovar, in Portugal, Mr. W. H. M. Christie, the Astronomer Royal, gives the time of totality as 85 seconds, whereas the calculated value was 93 seconds. - Several observations in- dicate that the discrepancy is to be looked for in the moon’s dia- meter being taken too large. The most unfortunate victim of this error appears to have been Mr. Evershed, who journeyed to an outlying station, near Mazafran, so close to the limiting line of totality as was considered safe. He did this with the object of photograph- ing the “flash” spectrum with’ as _ 1898. From a cursory examination of the negatives few _ differences appear in the chromospheric spectrum ; the “1474” corona ring seems, however, slightly more feeble than before. Fic. 2.—The 20-foot prismatic camera and siderostat, n a letter received from Mr. Fowler he states that negatives obtained by Mr. Payn with the 16-foot ke coronagraph are excellent, especially one showing inner corona. _ ' The accompanying illustrations, received too late or reproduction with Sir Norman ockyer’s letter last week, show some long duration as possible; this will be understood when it is considered that exactly on the central line the duration of the flash will be merely momentary, but as the observer recedes from the central line the line of sight to the moon’s limb becomes more oblique, until on the limiting line of totality the so-called “flash” is visible for the whole time of totality at that point. Owing to this ambiguity of the data, the station chosen was evidently somewhat further from the central line than was anticipated, and consequently Mr. Evershed had the unpleasant experience of less than one second totality. His preparations must have been exceedingly perfect, however, for he reports having obtained a good photograph at the proper instant, though it will fall short of expectation for the reason stated. Prof. Howe, of Denver, has already determined the position of the planet Eros, which he was fortunate enough to discover on his photographic plates during the eclipse, and has circulated his result. The co- ordinates of the planet will be found in the “ Astronomical Column.” Gy PiBy NOTES, S1r ARCHIBALD GEIKIE, F.R.S., has been elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in the section of Geology, Mineralogy and Physics of the Globe, in succession to the late Carl Friedrich Rammelsberg. the arrangements made for ob- ing the eclipse at Santa Pola. iculars concerning the ‘various in- ruments will be found in NATURE May 17. Prof. H. H. Turner, at Bonsarea, tar Algiers, successfully carried out | ‘ $ programme of photographing the | ona, obtaining seven ordinary pic- s and seven with interposed polar- ig apparatus. The polarisation icated was decidedly radial. Mr. H. F. Newall obtained the first flash” and “corona” spectra th both slit spectroscope and ob- jéctive grating, those taken with the ter, however, being weak. With Newall he also made polariscopic ations. Mr. W. H. Wesley made an excellent drawing from observations with the eight-inch Coudé equatorial ced at his disposal by M. Trépied, director of the french observatory at Algiers. He reports that very ttle structural detail was discernible in the inner corona. NO. 1597, VOL. 62] Fic. 3-—Discs on spars, for naked eye observations of the corona. Pror. FouquE has been elected vice-president of the Paris Academy of Sciences for the year 1900, in succession to the late Prof. Milne-Edwards. Prof. Boltzmann has been elected to succeed the late Prof. Beltrami, in the mechanics section of the Academy. 134 NATURE [JUNE 7, 1900 / Pror. PAuL GrotH, of Munich, has been elected a Foreign Member of the Geological Society, and Prof. A. Issel, of Genoa, a Foreign Correspondent. THE annual conversazione of the Institution of Electrical Engineers will be held on Tuesday, June 26, at the Natural History Museum, South Kensington. The guests will be received by the president (Prof. Perry), and Mrs. Perry. Tue Croonian Lectures for 1900 will be delivered by Dr. F, W. Mott, F.R.S., before the Royal College of Physicians of London, on June 19, 21, 26 and 28. The subject is ‘‘ The Degeneration of the Neurone.” Ir is stated that Captain W. Bade di Wismar has organised an expedition to the east coast of Spitsbergen and Franz Josef Land to seek for traces of Andrée, and also to obtain intelligence of the Duke of the Abruzzi. No apprehension is felt about the Duke of the Abruzzi, as a long interruption in his communications with the rest of the world was foreseen. A MEETING was held at the Meteorological Society on Thursday last to consider the question of a memorial of the late Mr. G. J. Symons, F.R.S. It was resolved that the memorial should take the form of a gold medal, to be awarded from time to time by the council of the Royal Meteorological Society for distinguished work in connection with meteorological science. An executive committee was appointed to take the necessary steps to raise a fund for this purpose, Contributions will be received by the assistant secretary, Mr. W. Marriott. LorpD LIsTER will open the new clinical laboratories at the Westminster Hospital on Tuesday, June 12,at4 p.m. He will be received by Sir J. Wolfe-Barry, chairman of the committee, and supported by Lord Kelvin, Sir Michael Foster, M.P., Dr. ‘Church, president of the Royal College of Physicians, Sir William MacCormac, president of the Royal College of Surgeons, and ‘the Dean of Westminster. THE completion of the twenty-fifth year of teaching by Prof. Luciani, Rector of the University of Rome, was celebrated on May 3 in the physiological laboratory of the University. The British Medical Journal states that the theatre was crowded with admirers of the well-known physiologist, conspicuous -among whom was Prof. Baccelli. An address was delivered by Prof. Todaro, to which Prof. Luciani, who was much moved, weplied. Prof. Baccelli also spoke, and ended by embracing Prof. Luciani, who was the object of enthusiastic congratulations from the assembly. THE decision of the Trinity House authorities to remove the wireless telegraphy installation between the South Goodwin lightship and the South Foreland was discussed by the Dover Chamber of Commerce on Friday. It was decided to memorialise the Trinity Board and to request the Chambers of Commerce of the ports of the United Kingdom, as well as Lloyd’s and other shipping bodies, to support the memorial, with a view to the establishment of a connection between lightships and the shore on dangerous sands. THE president of the Board of Education has approved of a Committee, which is now sitting, ‘‘ to inquire into the organisa- tion and staff of the Geological Survey and Museum of Practical Geology ; to report on the progress of the Survey since 1881 ; to suggest the changes in staff and arrangements necessary for bringing the Survey in its more general features to a speedy and satisfactory termination, having regard especially to its economic importance ; and, further, to report on the desirability, or otherwise, of transferring the Survey to another public depart- ment.” The members of the Committee are :—The Right Hon. J. L. Wharton, M.P. (chairman), Mr. Stephen E. Spring NO’ 1597, VOL. 62] Rice, C.B., Mr. T. H. Elliott, C.B., General Festing, C.B., Dr. H. F. Parsons, Mr. W. T. Blanford, F.R.S., and Prof. C. Lapworth, F.R.S., with Mr. A. E. Cooper as secretary. THE announcement of the death of Miss Mary H. Kingsley, at Simonstown, on Friday, will be received with deep regret by geographers, ethnologists, and many others who are familiar with her works. Miss Kingsley was the elder of the two children of the late Dr. G. H. Kingsley, and quite recently (May 3) her memoir of her father, published with his ‘* Notes on Sport and Travel,” was noticed in these columns. Miss Kingsley will chiefly be remembered for her explorations in West Africa, and her works upon them. The first volume in which she recorded her experiences was ‘‘ Travels in West Africa,”’ published in 1897. Last year, a further volume of ““West African Studies” appeared, and a few weeks ago her ‘*Story of West Africa” was published in the Empire Series. Miss Kingsley’s books are marked by a sincerity and humour which make them of deep interest even to readers who may — not always agree with her forcibiy-expressed convictions. Her interest in West Africa, as an obituary notice in the 7Zmes points out, was partly scientific, partly sociological, partly political. She made numerous contributions to our knowledge of the fishes of some of the West African rivers, and of the reptiles in that part of the continent. In both her books on West Africa she made valuable additions to our knowledge of the native mind and character, and her studies in fetish bring © out in a remarkable manner the sympathetic insight which | enabled her to project herself into the mind of the negro races, In ‘‘ West African Studies” Miss Kingsley set forth, with much array of facts and arguments, a strong indictment of the system of government by Crown colonies in West Africa. Personally, Miss Kingsley was of a modest and retiring disposition ; but the frequent journeys that she made up African rivers and through the bush with none but native attendants afforded undoubted testimony to her apes. powers of endurance and — fertility of resource. AT the last meeting of the General Medical Connatl, the report of the Pharmacopceia Committee, referring to the sub- ject of a proposed international Pharmacopeeia limited to drugs — of a drastic nature, was adopted. If an international conference on the subject in question is arranged, the Council will appoint _representatives to participate in it, and one or more members will be appointed to act as delegates. Communications have been opened with the United States authorities with a view to bringing about greater uniformity in the official preparations contained in the British Pharmacopoeia and the United States Pharmacopeeia respectively ; and it is hoped that, by mutual concessions, important approximations and assimilations in the contents of the two works may be ultimately secured. Further communications have been received with reference to the Indian and Colonial ‘‘ Addendum,” and important suggestions from Canada have been considered by the committee in detail. It is hoped that the addendum will be authorised for issue by the end of the year. collection of British and foreign works bearing on the history and development of the Pharmacopceia has been collected and deposited in the office of the Council. THE widespread invasion and _ persistent devehtitions of locusts in so many parts of Africa give interest to all trials and experiments, as well as the ordinary remedies, employed for the alleviation of this ruinous plague of the farmer. The following notes from Mr. W. C. Robbins, Stock Inspector of the Lower Tugela and Mapumulo Districts, are published in the Cape. ; official Agrécultural Journal :—** For the past three days I have. been over the ground where my men have been infecting locusts ~_ with Government fungus, and the result was that I found dead By the efforts of Dr. Leech, a valuable _ JuNE 7, 1900] NATURE 135 sts everywhere. I send you a sample ; you will notice they of worms, and we know from experience than when are found in this state whole swarms die off. Some, you e, are half eaten ; these were eaten by their fellows. I _ seen many clusters of locusts eating dead ones.” The z upon bodies of dead locusts suggests that diseased locusts nay be utilised as a substitute for locust fungus. Tests are being le to determine whether a preparation from diseased dead will infect a swarm in the same way as locust fungus in the Government laboratory. paper on ‘‘ The Standardisation of Electrical Engineer- nt,” published in the Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Mr. R. Percy Sellon arrives at the follow- ral conclusions :—(a) Standardisation to a greater at present exists is in the interest of the manufac- ie means of facilitating repetition and production, and of ting the competition of standardising foreign manufacturers. Standardisation of “ends” or ** performance ” as distinct : “means” or ‘*constructional details” is equally in the the user, by securing for him low purchase cost, 'y, freedom from the risks of experimental designs, turers’ guarantees. (c) The relative absence of in Great Britain, in contrast with other mainly traceable to the prevailing system wherein engineer specifies ‘‘means” or ‘‘ constructional ” tails instead of confining himself to ‘‘ ends” or “ perform- ce.” (d) The determination of standards by organised effort \ med the slow and costly process of “ trial and error” sizes, both quarto and octavo, this is by no means a Rates, and proceedings, especially of local societies A. We have before us a pile of such publications, r 1 in order of size, and increasing gradually from 7 x 44 the top to 12 x Io inches at the bottom. They in- papers which it is desirable to bind up with other the same subjects, but which have had to be rele- ‘the pile” on account of their inconvenient sizes. e more unfortunate because journals of this particular often contain reports on current research, the inclusion in bound volumes of reprints, easy of reference, might those repetitions of investigations which involve h loss of time, and only lead to disappointment, accom- ed by unpleasant—not to say undignified—controversies as S. Department of Agriculture has issued a Bulletin, containing ‘‘ Organisation Lists of the Agricultural and Experiment Stations in the United States, with tural Experiment Stations in Foreign Countries.” six pages are occupied by notes on the courses of study names of the boards of instruction at filty-nine colleges ; devoted to agricultural teaching, or with agricultural ts; while twenty-one pages give the names of the board and staff at fifty-six experiment stations. ows a list of foreign experiment stations, with the the directors, to which is added a most useful state- the more important publications issued in 1899 by the stations of the United States. Some notes on the p of the colleges and stations to the United States NO. 1597, VOL. 62] Treasury complete this exhaustive record. Probably, the in- formation, so far as it concerns the United States, is trustworthy, but the same cannot be said in regard to the British stations, for this section of the work is defective alike as regards accuracy and completeness. It would be well to have the British section thoroughly revised in any future issue. WE have received from Dr. W. van Bemmelen a memoir on the deviation of the magnetic needle from the end of the fifteenth century to the year 1750, with isogonic charts for the epochs 1500, and subsequent half centuries down to 1700. The work is published as a supplement to vol. xxi. of the ‘“‘ Batavia Meteorological and Magnetical Observations,” and is the out- come of researches made during several years in various libraries and archives in the Netherlands and other European countries prior to the author’s appointment to the Batavia Observatory. The work is a laborious compilation of all the most trustworthy observations, commencing with the voyage of Columbus in 1492, and is a most valuable contribution to terrestrial magnetism, containing between five and six thousand observations in all parts of the world, with references to the positions and the sources whence the information has been obtained. The value of the work is much enhanced by numerous critical remarks and by explanatory text; the language used is German. As attention has recently been much directed to the enormous drafts that are being made on the coal supply of the world for power purposes, the following description of one of the most recent attempts to obtain power by utilising the hitherto wasted resources of nature may be of interest. A company called the Saint Lawrence Power Company, composed of English and American shareholders, some time since obtained a tract of 2000 acres of land at Massena, adjacent to the Saint Lawrence and Grasse rivers. On this land an electrical installation of con- siderable magnitude is in course of construction. The works, which it is expected will be completed next autumn, are in- tended to develop ultimately 110,000 horse-power. The plant is situated on the River Grasse, a tributary of the Saint Lawrence, from which the water for driving the machinery will be diverted through a canal three miles long, 200 feet wide at the bottom, and 25 feet deep. The bottom of this canal at the river end will be 60 feet above the ordinary water-level in the River Grasse, which will form the tail-race forthe turbines. The pre- liminary mechanical equipment will be eight units of 5000 horse- power, each obtained by three twin turbines and dynamos. The land adjacent to the works which is to be utilised for manu- facturing and allied purposes will be accessible by branches of the New York Central Railway and by the canal to the Saint Lawrence, which will be large enough to take vessels of considerable draught. THE means of overcoming the difference of level of the coun- try through which canals pass isin most cases overcome by locks placed either singly or in flights, depending on the height to be overcome. About twenty-five years ago, the locks between the Trent and Mersey Canal and the River Weaver, where there is a difference of 50 feet, were superseded by the hydraulic lift at Anderton. The boats here are floated into iron troughs which are raised or lowered by hydraulic power, one boat ascending and another descending at the same time. This system was subsequently adopted on other canals in France and Belgium, and, with some modifications, in Germany. What is claimed as an improvement on this system is now being carried out on the Erie Canal in America, at Lockport, by what is termed a ‘* Pneumatic Balance Canal Lock.” A description of this lift was given in a paper contributed to the Franklin Institute by Mr. Chauncey N. Dutton. The existing stone locks were erected in 1836, and overcame a lift of 624 feet by means of five flights. The lock which is being erected to supersede these consists of 136 NATURE i two steel chambers, one for ascending and the other for de- scending boats. These chambers are divided into two parts, the upper one containing water to receive the boats, and pro- vided with gates, as in the case of the Anderton lift ; and be- neath this a second chamber containing compressed air on which the lock-chamber floats. The air-chambers are so pro- portioned that they automatically differentiate the air-pressure. The water in the lock-chamber which contains the boat at the upper level is so adjusted that its weight, with the boat it con- contains, is 200 tons greater than that of the lower one. Each of these locks weighs 1500 tons and contains 4500 tons of water, the weight in motion, when the boats are ascending and de- scending, exceeding 12,000 tons. The advantages claimed by the use of compressed air are a saving in cost, safety in work- ing, and great economy in water. The power for compressing the air is furnished by a 36-inch turbine working a four-cylinder pump. This also drives the dynamos which operate the gates and light the lift. A RECENT report by Prof. Le Neve Foster upon the number of persons employed, and the number of fatal accidents, in mines and quarries in the United Kingdom, shows that in 1899 the death-rate of the workers at mines under the Coal Mines Act, taking underground and surface workers as a whole, was 1°26, whilst that of 1898 was 1°28. At the mines under the Metal- liferous Mines Act, the death-rate of the underground and surface workers as a whole was 1°59, a figure decidedly higher than that of 1898, which was only ‘96. The inside workers in quarries had a slightly smaller death-rate from accidents in 1899 than they had in the previous year. A RECENT consular report (No. 2418) on the trade of Corsica ‘states that of the few industries at present carried on, that of extracting tannic acid from chestnut wood is now perhaps the most flourishing in the island. This industry is carried on in Bastia, which is the commercial centre of Corsica, by two large factories which export together about 4000 tons of extract per annum, in concentrated liquid form. To prepare this quantity requires nearly 20,000 tons of wood of the sweet chestnut tree yearly. The immense forests are equal to supplying the demand for many years ; but this tree not being under the control of the Administration of Woods and Forests its wholesale destruction without compulsory replanting will, it is feared, in time not only influence adversely the climate of large districts, but cause much misery in those districts where chestnut flour forms the staple food of the peasants. of the sweet chestnut. ACCORDING to the Acting British Consul at Samoa, rubber _has been introduced there, and is being grown by several of the planters. It appears to thrive, and as far as can be seen the soil is admirably adapted for the growth of this most valuable product. WE have received the official edition of the Fourth Annual Report of the New York Zoological Society, the substance of which is given in more popular form in a publication alluded to a short time ago in our ‘* Notes ” column. THE Marlborough College Natural History Society, in its Report for 1899, sets an admirablé example to institutions of this nature in publishing a list of the Lepidoptera of the district, the elaboration of which has been a work of years. It is by the thorough working out of local faunas that provincial natural history societies can alone properly justify their existence. REFERRING to a remark in the review of the ‘ Vertebrate Fauna of the Shetland Islands ” in NATURE of bis 24 t (P. 73); NO. 1597, VOL. 62] ‘It is prepared from the dried fruit [June 7, 1900 i alk ——_— >: Mr. Eagle Clarke writes to say that though he revised some of the proofs, the revision of the Cetaceans was undertaken by Mr, James Simpson, and that he did not revise either the MS. or | the proof relating to that order. ‘* Mr. Simpson, who had a special knowledge of the group, has passed from among us, but I nfs “i little doubt that his inclusion of the Narwhal in the Physeteridae was the result of a mere slip.” THE Entomologist for June contains the first instalment of the translation of an article by Prof. Max Standfuss on experim in hybridisation, and on the influence of temperature on the development of the Lepidoptera. As an instance of the line of investigation followed, we may quote the case of the map- butterfly (Vanessa levana), in which the difference between ; insects bred’ from the summer and winter pupe is so great as to- ; have formerly led to the belief that they belonged to different? species. By placing the summer pupe in an ice-house the winter imago was produced ; but, on the other hand, it was | found much more difficult to change by warmth the winter pupze into the summer imago. This led to the inference that the winter form was the original one; and this is confirmed by the circumstance that the only near relatives of this insect are four | species from northern Asia. ; THE second edition, revised and largely rewritten, of Dr. Julius Wiesner’s work, ‘‘ Die Rohstoffe des Pflanzenreiches,” is in course of publication by the firm of W. Engelmann, eel ra and the second and third parts have just appeared. The work will be completed in two volumes, and will pre be com-— pleted towards the end of this year. | A NEW edition of Thompson’s ‘‘ Gardener’s Assistant,” which - has for many years been accepted as a trustworthy repository of | information on the science and art of sgardening in all | branches, is in course of publication by the Gresham Publish- ing Company. The work has been completely revised and’ entirely remodelled under the direction and general editorship of Mr. William Watson, of the Royal Gardens, Kew, and con- tains contributions by many eminent horticulturists. The first volume has just been published, im THE first volume of a ‘‘ Cyclopedia of American Horticul- ture ””—a work described as ‘‘comprising suggestions for culti- vation of horticultural crops, and descriptions of the trade _species of fruits, vegetables, flowers, and ornamental plants, together with geographical data and biographical sketches,’ has just been published by Messrs. Macmillan and Co., Ltd. It is’ edited by Prof, L. H. Bailey, whose fertility in the production of excellent botanical books is really astonishing, assisted by Mr. W. Miller. The present volume extends from A to D, and contains 509 pages and 743 illustrations. Beit work will. be completed in four volumes. i A COMPLETE and convenient cabinet of glass-blowing apparatus and materials, arranged especially for students or others using Mr. T. Bolas’s book on ‘* Glass Blowing,” has been put on the market by the Camera Construction Company. Exercises in the manipulation of glass cultivate delicacy of touch and perception, and are therefore excellent as ‘manual training for young people. In scientific work, and more especially in physical and chemical sciences, the ability to work. glass is a very valuable accomplishment, and a cabinet which provides a ready means of obtaining practice in this art is a desirable possession for laboratories as well as private students. ; THE question as to whether strontium and barium can replace calcium in plants has been made the subject of inquiry by more than one experimenter. The February number of oF a. N { if ‘ : a yee A JUNE 7, 1900] NATURE 137 of the College of Agriculture of Toky6 ‘contains an interesting = + 62°02°. The crystals of the optically ases are orthorhombic and sphenoidally hemihedral. Society, May 3.—Mr. C. B. Clarke, F.R.S., ident, in the chair.—Mr. H. E. Smedley exhibited a of botanical wax models prepared on an enlarged scale the morphological structure and also the process of ion in various t of plants.—Mr. J. E. Harting -and made remarks on some skins of willow grouse Prince Demidoff on the N.W. border of Mongolia n Alta Mountains and the Kobdo River.—On behalf of . S. Barton, the Botanical Secretary read a paper ona ecies of Halimeda from Funafuti; and on behalf of L. Smith, a paper on some West Indian fungi, with ions of a new genus and species. ; 24. Anniversary Meeting.—Dr. A. Giinther, F.R.S., nt, in the chair.—The following were elected into the NO. 1597, VOL. 62] Ethyl methylsodiocyan- - . ta. Ing Council :—Mr. Clement Reid, Dr. D. H. Scott, Rev. T. R. R. Stebbing, Prof. S. H. Vines, and Mr. A, Smith Woodward ; and as President, Prof. Sydney Howard Vines, F.R.S. ; Treasurer, Mr. Frank Crisp; Secretaries, Mr. B. Daydon Jackson and Prof. G. B. Howes, F.R.S.—The retiring President then delivered his annual address, choosing for his subject, **The unpublished correspondence of William Swainson with contemporary naturalists (1806-1840),” lately acquired by the Society.—The Gold Medal of the Society was then presented to Prof. Alfred Newton, F.R.S., in recognition of his important contributions to zoological science. Royal Microscopical Society, May 16.—Mr. Carruthers, F.R.S., President, in the chair.—Mr. Chas. Baker exhibited two microscopes ; one made specially for critical work was fitted with eye-pieces of the Society’s new Standard gauge, No. 3, of 1°27 in. The other instrument, named the ‘* Plantation” microscope, was designed for use in the tropics for the purpose of discovering the ova of internal parasites, Dr. Hebb said a paper had been received from Mr. Millett, being Part viii. of his report on the Foraminifera of the Malay Archipelago. This, as on former occasions, would be taken as read.— E. M. Nelson ‘read a paper on the lag’ in microscopic vision, which he illustrated by diagrams and a series of tabies showing the proportionate values of the performance of various objectives under eye-pieces of different powers. In the case of an apochro- matic objective of fine quality, the degree of merit was shown to range from 14°7 with a low eye-piece, to 7°7 with a deep one, but the difference was more marked with ordinary dry achro- matic lenses. Mr. Nelson’s experiments had shown that in respect to the lag, microscopes with short tubes had some ad- vantage over those with long tubes. Mr. Nelson also read a paper, for Mr. E. B. Stringer, ona new form of finé adjustment, a microscope by Messrs. Watson and Son, fitted with the arrangement, being exhibited. Mr. Nelson said that its working seemed exceedingly good. As the fine adjustment was placed just behind the. body, the limb could be made of any length without putting additional strain upon the screw, a matter which would be of great advantage in mictoscopes made for examining large sections.—In announcing the adjournment of the meeting until Wednesday, June 20, the president said he hoped then to be able to submit and explain a series of lantern Slides representing . minute structure of some Paleozoic plants. ParIs. Academy of Sciences, May 28.—M. Maurice Lévy in the chair.—Formation of nitric acid in combustions, by M. Berthelot. When sulphur is burnt in the calorimetric bomb in compressed oxygen under a pressure of twenty-five atmospheres, some nitrogen also being present, nitric acid is formed in quantities amounting to about ‘oor of the sulphur present. At atmospheric pressure the amount of nitric acid formed is much reduced. ith metals such as iron and zinc no nitric acid is formed.—Preparation, properties and analysis of | thionyl fluoride, by MM. H. Moissan and P. Lebeau (see p. 137). —On the laws of specific heats of fluids, by M. E. H. Amagat. The formula 5 = ao x is applied to find the at? relation between the. specific ay and_ pressure of carbon doxide. The values o S and ae. Were found graphically from the experimental data, and the results are given in the form of curves.—On some remarkable sub-groups of a group of substitutions or transformations of Lie, by M. Edmond Maillet. —On ial differential equations of the third order which admit of an intermediate integral, by M. A. Guldberg.— Formule giving the volumes of saturated vapour and the maximum pressure, by M. H. Moulin, The formule deduced from theoretical considerations by the author are compared with the experimental data of Young, Tate and Amagat for benzene, fluorbenzene, carbon tetrachloride, ether, acetic acid, methyl alcohol, water and carbon dioxide with satisfactory results.— The energy absorbed by condensers submitted to a sinusoidal difference of potential, by MM. H. Pellat and F. Beau- lard.—The transparency of some liquids for electrostatc oscillations by M.. A. de Heen.—On_ some photochemical effects produced by the wire radiating Hertzian waves, by M. Thomas Tommasina.—On a lithium peroxide, by M. de Forcrand. Since the combustion of lithium in oxygen gives 144 NATURE [JUNE 7, 1900 only traces of a peroxide, attempts were made to prepare lithium peroxide in the wet way, by the action of hydrogen peroxide upon solutions of lithium salts. A thermochemical study of the products showed that some Li,O, is formed in this way.—On the unknown earths contained in crude samaria, by M. Eug. Demarcay. The oxide isolated contains neither samarium nor gadolinium, and is of an atomic weight between these two elements. The chief lines of the spark and absorption spectrum are described.—The reduction of erythrulose and the preparation of a new erythrite, d-erythrite, by M. Gabriel Bertrand. Ordinary erythrite is easily oxidised by the sorbose bacterium to the ketone erythrulose, CH,(OH).CO.CH(OH).CH,OH, and this on treatment with sodium amalgam gives a mixture of two erythrites, one identical with the original inactive erythrite, the other, separated by means of its acetal, is active, possessing a rotatory power [a]>= -4°°76.—Action of cyanogen chloride upon acetone-dicarboxylic ethyl ester, by M. Juvénal Deréme. The cyano-derivative produced, (CO,C,H;).CH.CN.CH,(CO,C,Hs), readily forms metallic salts, the hydrogen adjacent to the cyanogen group being replaced.—On the metallic combinations of diphenylcarbazone, by M. P. Cazeneuve.—Osmotic pressure of the egg and experimental polyembryony, by M. E. Bataillon. —On the sub-fossil Lemuridz of Madagascar, by M. Guillaume Grandidier.—On the discovery of a cave containing animal re- mains at Bains-Romains, near Algiers, by MM. E. Ficheur and A. Brives. The remains found include the bones of the species Bubalus, Bos, Cervus, Antilope, Hippopotamus, Rhinoceros and Lquus. The presence of man was indicated by a molar, flint heads, and the presence of calcined bones.—Mode of action of antileucocytic serums upon the coagulation of the blood, by M. C. Delezenne. The mode of action appears to be identical with that of a peptone, the intravenous injection of a leucolytic agent being the same in all cases, the destruction of the white cor- puscles circulating in the blood.—On the restoration to life obtained by the rhythmical compression of the heart, by MM. Tuffier and Hallion. A claim for priority against M. Batelli. DIARY OF. SOCIETIES. THURSDAY, June 7. LInNEAN SOcIETY, at 8.—On a Viviparous Syllid Worm: E. S$. Goodrich. —On the Genera Pheoneuron, Gilg,, and Dicellandra, Hook f.: Dr. A. Itapf.—On the Structure and Affinities of Achiurus unicinctus > Miss Embleton. CHEMICAL Society, at 8.—Diphenyl- and Dialphyl-ethylenediamines, their Nitro-derivatives, Nitrates, and Mercurochlorides: W. S. Mills. —Condensation of Ethyl Acetylenedicarboxylate with Bases and B- ketonic Esters: Dr. S. Ruhemann and H. E. Stapleton.—The Constitu- tion of Pilocarpine: Dr. H. A. D. Jowett.—The Nitrogen Chlorides derivable from 7z-Chloroacetanilide and their Transformations: Dr. F. D. Chattaway, Dr. K. J. P. Orton, and W. H. Hurtley.—Derivatives of Cyanocamphor and Homocamphoronic Acid : Dr. A. Lapworth. R6ONTGEN SociETy (St. Bartholomew’s Hospital), at 8.—Dr. Lewis Jones will show an Influence Machine of American design.—Mr. James Wims- hurst, F.R.S., will give a short statement of his work in the design and the perfecting of the several forms of his Influence Machine.—Dr. Rémy, of Paris, will show a new Localising Apparatus. FRIDAY, June 8: Roya. INSTITUTION, at 9.—The Effect of Physical Agents on Bacterial Life : Dr. Allan Macfadyen. ‘ PuysicaL SocIETY, at 5.—On the Magnetic Properties of Iron and Aluminium Alloys, Part II.: Dr. S. . Richardson.—Note on Crystallisation produced in Solid Metal by Pressure: W. Campbell.— On the Viscosity of Mixtures of Liquids and of Solutions: Dr. C. H. Lees. Roya AsTRONOMICAL Society, at 8.—Note on a Meteoric Shower South of Corvus : W. F. Denning.—Theory of the Motion of the Moon, Part III. Chapter vi.: Ernest W. Brown.—The Solar Eclipse of 1900 May 28 observed at Stonyhurst: Rev. W. Sidgreaves.—The Solar Eclipse of 1900 May 28 observed at Norwich: G. J. Newbegin.—The Total Solar Eclipse of 1900 May 28 observed at Navalmoral, Spain: Rev. S. J. Johnson.—vrobabie Papers : Description of the Durham Almucantar : R. A. Sampson.—The Cause of the Shadow Bands seen in connection with Total Eclipses of the Sun: G. Johnstone Stoney. ; MALACOLOGICAL SociETy, at 8.—Note on Two Apparently Undescribed Species of Bensonia: W. T. Blanford.—The Non-marine Mollusca of Norfolk Island: E. R. Sykes.—Among the Exhibitions will be Specimens of Volutilithes abyssicola, Eburna papillaris, and Bullia annulata from South Africa, also Cyfraea nigricans, together with other New Cale- donian Cowries : G. B. Sowerby.—Dissections of the Genitalia of Acavus: W. B. Randles. NO. 1597, VOL. 62] MONDA Y, June 1x1. Socrety or CuEemicat InpustRy, at 8.—The Maintenance of Aération as a Standard of Purity of Sewage Effluents: W. Dibbin and G.. Thudichum.—The Composition and. Determination of Cerium Oxalate: - Dr. Frederick B. Power and Frank Shedden.—The Producti i of Soda in Chili: F. G. Welch. i ih 6 Rrodbetion TUESDAY, JuNE 12. ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE, at 8.30. ‘ Roya Puorocrapnic Society, at 8.—The Construction of Photographic Objectives : Mathematical Investigation: H. L. Aldis. ae THURSDAY, June 14. Royat Society, at 4.—Election of Fellows.——At 4.30.—Probable Papers : Some New Observations on the Static Diffusion of Gases and. Liquids, and their Significance in certain Natural Processes occurring in Plants : . Brown, F.R.S., and F. Escombe.—The Electrical Effects of Light upon Green Leaves (Prelimina Communication): Dr. A. D. Waller, F.R.S'—The Exact Histological Localisation of the Visual Area of the Human Cerebral Cortex: Dr. J. S. Bolton.—The Diffusion of Ions produced in Air by the Action of a Radio-active Substance, Ultra- violet Light and Point Discharges: Townsend.—Data for the Problem of Evolution in Man. V. On the Correlation between Duration of Life and the Number of Offspring : Miss M. Beeton, G. U. Yule, and rof. K. Pearson, F.R.S.—On an Artificial Retina and a Theory of ‘Vision, Part I. : Prof. J. C. Bose. is MATHEMATICAL SociETY, at 5.30.—Some Multiform Solutions of the Partial Differential Equations of Physical Mathematics and J i- cations, Part ii.: Carslaw.—Some Quadrature Formule: W. F. Sheppard.—Notes on Concomitants of Binary Quantics: Prof. ‘Elliott, F.R.S.—Extensions of the Riemann-Roch Theorem in Plane : Dr. Macaulay.—On the Invariants of a certain Differential Expression. connected with the Theory of Geodesics: J. E. Campbell.—On the Con~ stants which occur in the Differentiation of Theta Panchen Rey. M. M. U. Wilkinson. ae ae ; CONTENTS. Modern Physical Chemistry. By R. T,G..... 123 Mesozoa and Enantiozoa. By A. W........ 122 The Duration of the British Coal-fields. By Bennett H. Brough... s 3). 4 9) ane Our Book Shelf :— 4 A Rabl: ‘‘ Ueber den Bau und die Entwicklung der Linse.”—-R. L. 2. ss os Riley : ‘* Building Construction for Beginners”. . ._ Gregory : ‘¢ Catalogue of the Fossil Bryozoa in the — Department of Geology, British Museum (Natural | History). The Cretaceous Bryozoa” ..... « Letters to the Editor :— The Kinetic Theory, o. Planetary Atmospheres.— Prof..G.'H. Bryan, FJR.S.) 239 Sa eee The Severn Bore. (J//ustrated.) Vaughan Cornish Bamboo Manna.—David Hooper ....... . Solution Theory Applied to Molten Iron and Steel. — John’ Parry 00. os) The Bacterial Treatment of Sewage, (Zilustrated.) By Dr. Frank Clowes ... . - » « 4) 6 « oan The Total Eclipse of the Sun. (//ustrated.) C.. PB. os... ss ¢ ses its 0 er Notes... 2. us. ptisre alecke See Our Astronomical Column :— aT Photographic Observation of Eros. . Occultation of Saturn . ._ Harvard College Observatory... ++ ++ ++ Liverpool Observatory. . - . + jee yee ees Temperature Control of Spectrograph. Gites a3 Advancement of Electrical Chemistry. (With Diagram.) By Dr. F, Mollwo Perkin ..... .. Road Locomotion. By Prof. Hele-Shaw, F.R.S.._ The University of Birmingham. ......:. University and Educational Intelligence. (///ws- _ ILL fo eee eR rrey pte UE Se Societies and Academies. .....+ +++ ++: Diary of Societies. see Die eee eee 124 oe By a Ce ee Te eo Oe ae ye £ LCS oe | | . Pe, NATURE 145 THURSDAY, JUNE 14, Igoo. MALAY MAGIC. Malay Magic; being an Introduction to the Folklore and Popular Religion of the Malay Peninsula. By W.W. _ Skeat. Pp. xiv + 685, and numerous plates and illus- trations. (Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1900.) ‘THE object of this interesting and important work is . set forth on the title-page with such clearness that 2 reviewer and reader are spared some trouble in de- ing it, and it is pleasing to be able to say that the author exhibits the same clearness throughout the _ hundreds of pages which he has devoted to the discussion _ of his subject. Speaking broadly, Mr. Skeat’s volume is _ divided into six sections or chapters, which indicate by their length the relative importance of the matters of _ which they treat, and the well-chosen illustrations do _ much toenlighten the reader of the work on many points aetrichs cad not fall naturally under the heading of facts of fol _ Mr. Skeat’s book differs greatly from the works ip fidkiore which appear from time to time, for it con- tains, not only what seems to us to be an exhaustive state- nt of facts which he has collected and arranged with car re and discretion, but a series of deductions made after 1 eemes tick of the general principles which have, or iously or unconsciously, guided man in all ages and 2 E Adiitries in working out theories as to the relations Bex exist between the animate and inanimate in nature. ‘travellers and sojourners in foreign lands and ¢ islands have written books on the folklore of their s, but the greater number of them have been rised by haste, and by a lack of knowledge of i damental facts of primitive anthropology. More- , it has frequently happened that, although their ; have given their facts correctly, they have not a all that might have been given had their own edge of them at first hand been sufficiently good to forth from the natives all that might have been ex- from them. Mr. Skeat has given abundant time i “sed and as he has relied for guidance in diffi- latters upon such works as Prof. E. B. Tylor’s ive ei Calture,” the non-expert will feel that he is in Mr. Skeat’s years of residence in the Malay gave ‘him unwonted facilities for collecting in- yn, and his official position and knowledge of the i e dialects enabled him to make the fullest use of his portuni Another fact must be remembered. The ence 06 ‘ae West upon the East grows stronger every Baad the systems of the white man and government -to modern Western ideas, which, sooner or “he invariably succeeds in imposing upon the loured man, are not favourable to the preservation of * Piacerstitions and beliefs. Little by little they are aside, and eventually they disappear ; thus frequently happens that information which the student of com- “ tive folklore would consider priceless for his studies ; for ever. Mr. Skeat has done well in collecting such information in the Malay Peninsula whilst it is still ‘b be obtained, and we can only hope that other officials have the time and opportunity for collecting an- NO. 1598, VOL. 62] < wed bi ell Aa thropological facts industry. According to Malay views in general, the earth and the sea were formed, each in seven stages, after the light, which was an emanation from the Deity, had become the “world-ocean.” The earth was surrounded by a ring of mountains which kept it in its place, and served as the abode for legions of spirits. This mountain is, of course, the old Arab mountain of K4f, from which, as Yakiit says, “all other mountains are derived.” Certain sages, however, hold other views, and describe how the Kabah, or home of the famous Black Stone at Mekka, the navel of the earth, was made immediately after God made himself manifest by his tokens the sun and moon. Next, the angel Gabriel killed the great serpent Sakati- muna, and the description of the subsequent disposal of her body forcibly recalls the Babylonian account of the fight between Merodach and Tidmat. In fact, it seems pretty clear that Semitic cosmogonies have been drawn upon by the Malay theologians for several of the above theories. In shape, the earth is oval, and it revolves upon its own axis once every three months. Day and night are caused by the sun, which is a circular body moving round the earth. The sky is made of stone or “bed-rock,” and the stars are merely holes which let light through from the place of light above. An earthquake is caused by the buffalo which supports the earth on its horns, throwing it from the tip of one horn on to the tip of the other; this buffalo stands on an island in the midst of the nether ocean. The tides are caused by a huge crab moving in and out of his cavern, which is situated at the root of the Pauh Janggi tree. Eclipses are the result of a monster dragon trying | to swallow the sun and moon ; and indeed any untoward movement in nature is attributed to the movements of beasts of enormous size or dragons. The appearance of man upon the earth is accounted for in various ways, but it appears that all Malay ex- planations of his origin are based upon Arabic legends of the creation of man by Allah, who is said to have fashioned him out of earth, air, fire and water. The version of one legend, printed by Mr. Skeat on pp. 19-20, with its mention of Michael, Gabriel and Izrafel, pro- claims the source from which it was derived. The body is composed of earth, air, fire and water, and with these elements are connected four essences—the soul or spirit with air, love with fire, concupiscence with earth, and wisdom with water. But the works of Arabic writers on such matters were not the only authorities consulted by the. early Malay philosophers, for Greek authors of treatises on the composition of man are often quoted. Passing over the consideration of the sanctity of the body for want of space, we come to the mention of the soul, which is described as a thin, unsubstantial human image or mannikin, which is temporarily absent from the body in sleep, trance and disease; after the death of the body, the soul departs from it for ever. It is usually invisible, but it is supposed to be as big as the thumb, and to resemble the body in shape, proportion and com- plexion ; it is of an impalpable, filmy, shadowy substance, may emulate his devotion and ‘and causes no displacement in the body into which it enters. It possesses all the attributes of the body to H 146 NATURE [JuNE 14, 1900 which it gives life, and it suffers from all its disabilities ; sickness is supposed to be caused by its absence from the body, and the soul may be abducted from it by unlawful means. The human soul is seven-fold, and it seems, at times, as if each was independent, for in certain cere- monies an abode is provided for each. The idea that a man possesses several souls is very old, and in Egyptian » religious texts it may be traced back to the period of the earliest dynasties, about six thousand years ago, The number seven is, of course, and.always has been, a magical number, and in ceremonies which are intended to do good, as well as those in which the object is to do evil, it plays a. prominent part. In Babylonian and Assyrian magical texts we find the seven evil spirits of the deep, and the Mesopotamian underworld pos- sessed seven gates; it must not be forgotten, too, the famous temple of Nebo at Borsippa, which tradi- tion. identifies with the. Tower of Babel, was, built in seven stages. When we come to discuss Malay gods, we find the subject to be one of some difficulty. In the old religion, which the Malay professed to throw off when he adopted Muhammadanism,'his ideas had formulated the existence of a large number of nature powers which closely resemble the Hindu gods found in Brahmanism ; and before he adopted these as the objects of his worship, he seems to have peopled heaven and earth with myriads of spirits. To this day, when in trouble, he cries out, not to the Allah preached by Muhammad, nor to the deities which the Brahman religion made known to him, but to the evil spirits which his ancestors worshipped and feared untold centuries ago. It has been the same in all ages and in all countries, and the nations which become “converted” to a new religion in reality only drop the observances connected with their old faiths ; and although they may tear down the shrines of old gods and build others to new ones, they do not succeed in uprooting from their minds the beliefs and ideas of which the overthrown shrines were the outward and visible signs. In spite of the teaching of Muhammad and the Brahmans, the Malay still believes that every department of nature is presided over by a “god” who must be propitiated by man, and to be specially honoured and revered are such gods as Batara Guru, Batara Kala, Batara Indra, and Batara Bismu ; the greatest of this group is the first. It is interest- ing to note that native influence has succeeded in intro- ducing into the Malay pantheon a number of gods of the sea, which from certain aspects are identified with older terrestrial gods. Many of the Jinn, or evil spirits of the Arabs, have been identified with old Hindu spirits, and the view held by the Malay on the importance of such beings may be gathered from the fact that it was believed to be possible to buy them from the Shékh of the Jinh at Mekka, at prices varying from ninety to a hundred dollars each ! More than three-quarters of Mr. Skeat’s volume are occupied with a description of the magic rites which the Malay connects with the various departments of nature, and with the life of man. This is not to be wondered at, for it is clear at a glance that there is no event in his life, however trivial and apparently unimportant, which, unless properly protected by magic rites and ceremonies, may give hostile devils and fiends an opportunity for NO. 1598, VOL. 62] doing undreamed-of mischief to the wretched mortal whom accident or design has left unguarded. We regret that we cannot follow Mr. Skeat through his description of birth-spirits and birth-ceremonies, and through the whole period of a man’s life from the cradle to the grave, as sketched by him, for our space is exhausted, and the reader can study for himself the curious Malay customs which concern betrothals, marriages and deaths. Many of them have their counterparts in other countries, but not. a few are peculiar to the Malay. As we read of them we cannot help wondering how, if the pious Malay fulfils all his religious obligations, he ever finds time to do anything else. It is improbable in these days that many men are found who are able to carry out all the religious performances enumerated by Mr. Skeat, and it is much to be hoped that the influence of the English will drive many of them out of existence. Meanwhile a good. and careful record of Malay sorcery, witcheraft and demonology, which is invaluable for the study of com- parative religion and folklore, has been given us by Mr. Skeat, and there is no doubt. that he has laid anthropo- logists and ethnographers: and Oriental —— under a heavy debt of eos THE NANSEN NORTH POLAR EXPEDITION. The Norwegian North Polar Expedition, 1893-96: Scientific Results, Edited by Fridtjof Nansen. Vol. i. The Jurassic Fauna of Cape Flora, Franz Josef Land. By J. F. Pompeckj. With a geological sketch of Cape Flora and its neighbourhood by Fridtjof Nansen. © Pp. 147; with 3 plates. Foss¢l Plants from Franz Josef Land. By A. G. Nathorst. Pp. 26;. with 2 plates. An Account of the Birds. By R. Collett and F. Nansen. (London: Longmans, Green and — Co., 1900.) HE second chapter of the first voluel a the “ Scientific Results” of the Nansen North Polar Expedition opens with a geological sketch of Cape Flora and its neighbourhood by the leader of the expedition. It was a wise determination, on the part of those re- sponsible for the publication of the results, to issue the several articles in English. The policy, too. frequently followed, of writing important scientific papers in the language of the country where they are published, tends to place serious obstacles in the way of those who en- deavour to follow the researches of Continental investi- gators. It is narrowness of view, rather than true patriotism, that compels authors to publish their results in languages which cannot be read by the eresueajonty of scientific workers. The geological investigation of Cape Flora, Keane Josef Land, was. undertaken by Dr. Reginald Koettlitz, the geologist of the Jackson-Harmsworth Expedition, during the years 1894-97. Dr. Nansen’s residence at “Elm- wood,” as the guest of Mr, Jackson, during a period of rather less than two months, afforded him an opportunity of visiting the most important localities in company with | Dr. Koettlitz ; the information he collected bears testi- mony to the good use which was made of this short visit. Nansen has given us a clear account, accom-_— panied by diagrammatic sketches and photographs, of the geology of Cape Flora. This portion of Franz Josef i: JUNE 14, 1900] NATURE 147 rd _ Land has the character of a plateau with a basaltic cap, _ 150 metres thick, composed of sheets of lava arranged in _ fegular and almost horizontal terraces, which present a _ Striking resemblance to the familiar basalt sheets in the _ cliffs of the Western Isles of Scotland. _ From the face of the basalt a: talus-slope extends to _ fear the shore-line, where it passes into almost hori- _ zontal raised beaches, which occut at approximately the _ same level on both sides of the Cape, and point to a _ aniform and recent elevation. The volcanic rocks: rest on Jurassic sedimentary strata, consisting for the most _ part of soft shale or clay containing numerous nodules of _ hard stone. From a “nunatak ” protruding through the glacier, about 600 or 700 feet above sea-level, several fossil plants were found in fragments of shale spread over the surface of the rock within two small areas. The important: question as to whether the shale was actually tn situ and represented the remnant of an interbasaltic bed, or whether it had been broken off from a lower stratum and carried up by the intrusion of igneous _ material, has not been definitely settled. Nansen is of _ pinion that the plant-bed was zm s7tz, and may be looked _ apon, therefore, as throwing important light on the age _ of the basaltic sheets ; if this view is correct, the basalt must. be assigned, on palzobotanical evidence, to an Upper Jurassic or Lower Cretaceous age. Very little is known as to the Jurassic deposits of Northbrook Island beyond Cape Flora ; the beds examined at Cape _ Gertrude have yielded no fossils beyond fragments of _ wood and lignite. Nansen inclines to the view expressed __ by Messrs. Newton and Teall,! that the beds at Cape _ Gertrude were deposited under varying conditions and _ during oscillations of level ; while the argillaceous sedi- _ ments of Cape Flora, which are more uniform in com- _ position, appear to have been laid down in a shallow sea _ during a period of comparative tranquillity. _ » The marine Jurassic fossils collected by Nansen from _ the rocks of Northbrook Island in the Franz Josef Archi- _pelago are described by Dr. J. F. Pompeckj, whose _ work bears the stamp of thoroughness and accuracy. An _ account is given of previous literature relating to the _ Jurassic rocks of ‘Franz Josef Land, special prominence _ Deing naturally given to the description by Mr. Newton _ of the fossils brought to England by the Jackson-Harms- worth Expedition. Some portions of the Cape Flora Strata are fairly rich. in fossils, but the fragmentary ature of the material renders accurate determination a latter of considerable difficulty, and in many cases the ‘fragments are indeterminable. Dr. Pompeckj has per- z yrmed his task with ability, and his conclusions have sen arrived at as the result of careful sifting of the Meagre evidence at his disposal. A glance at the com- parative table of the Cape Flora fossils collected by the ackson-Harmsworth Expedition and by Nansen shows that in several instances Pompeckj’s determinations do mot agree with those of Newton ; considering the frag- mentary nature of many of the specimens, it would be strange indeed if there’ were no discrepancies in the lists of the two palaontologists. rhe fauna, as described by Pompeckj, is represented oe Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. liii. (1897), p. 477; tbid. vol. liv. (1898), NO. 1598, VOL. 62] by the following genera :—Pentacrinus, Serpula, Lingula, Discina, Pseudomonotis, Pecten, Lima, Leda, Macrodon, Amberleya, Macrocephalites, Cadoceros, Quenstedtoceras, and Belemnites. The Ammonites appear to be abundant as compared with other groups, the genus Cadoceros being specially prominent as regards both species and the number of specimens. Of the twenty-six species collected by Nansen, seven- teen are new to the region, and five are considered to be new. species. As the author points out, his results “differ in no slight degree from those which Newton arrived at from his examination of the Jackson-Harms- worth material.” . The sedimentary strata of Cape Flora are classed by Pompeckj as Lower Bajocian, Lower, Middle and Upper Callovian. In the concluding paleo-geographical remarks, atten- tion is drawn to the importance of the Cape Flora fossils as coming from the most northerly development of Jurassic rocks so far investigated. The occurrence of marine Bajocian species demonstrates “the existence of a Bajocian Sea in the north of the Eurasian-Jura con- tinent.” The extent of this northern sea cannot be determined, but the Jurassic, sediments of Cape Flora afford evidence of deposition in shallow water near, the shore-line of an Arctic continent. Neumayr’s fascinating theory of climatic zones in the Jurassic period does not receive support from the paleontological results of Pompeckj and Newton; the scanty evidence at present available points to the existence of a decided central European facies in the fauna of Cape Flora, a fact opposed to the conclusions of Neumayr. The patches of sedimentary rock from which Nansen obtained several fragmentary remains of plants have already been referred to as either portions of strata pre- served zw situ, or conceivably derived from lower strata and carried to a higher level by igneous forces. It is unfortunate that the history of the vegetation which flourished on the site of Franz Josef Land during the Mesozoic period is: not represented by more legible records, but we may congratulate Prof. Nathorst on having exercised caution and care in the interpretation of the imperfect documents at his disposal. Among the genera recognised by Nathorst are the following :—Cladophilebis and Sphenopteris fragments represent the ferns, small specimens referred to Podoza- mites and Pterophyllum may be accepted as evidence of the existence of Cycadean plants: Ginkgo, Czekanowskia, Phoenicopsis, Feildenia, Taxites, Abietites, Pityanthus and Pityostrosbus demonstrated the occurrence of Gink- goales and Coniferz. The fairly numerous examples of small Ginkgo leaves are the most interesting fossils dealt with by Nathorst ; they enable us to extend the range of the Mesozoic species of this isolated genus, which is to-day represented by the maiden-hair tree of China and Japan, The leaves named by Nathorst Ginkgo polaris bear a close resemblance to Ginkgo digitata, a species which played a prominent part in the Jurassic vegetation of several regions ; the Franz Josef Land specimens are characterised by the small size of the leaves, and may possibly be regarded as a northern variety of the larger-leaved Ginkgo digitata of the Inferior Oolitic rocks of East Yorkshire. As regards 148 NATURE [JUNE 14, 1900 the question of geological age, we agree with Nathorst’s verdict that the plant-bearing beds must be assigned either to an Upper Jurassic or to a Lower Cretaceous horizon. Several of the plants suggest a comparison with Inferior Oolite species from the rich plant-beds of the Yorkshire coast, and it is not improbable that in the fragmentary fossils from Cape Flora we have the re- mains of a flora but slightly younger than that which has left abundant traces in the Lower Oolite strata of more southern latitudes. While admitting the danger of attempting to assign an exact geological date to the fragmentary and imperfect specimens, there can be no doubt that they must be referred to a period anterior to the Tertiary, and in all probability they are remnants of an Upper Jurassic flora. While regretting that the fossils from Franz Josef Land are not more numerous and less fragmentary, we may offer a hearty welcome to the two able palzontolo- gical memoirs by Dr. Pompeckj and Prof. Nathorst ; these authors, in carrying out their difficult tasks with thoroughness and good judgment, have set a standard of efficiency which promises well for the succeeding volumes of the “Scientific Results” of the Nansen Expedition. A. C'S. As might have been expected, no birds new to science were obtained during the voyage of the /ram ; never- theless, some interesting observations were made on the range and distribution of bird-life in the high north, while naturalists have, apparently for the first time, been made fully acquainted with the early plumage of the roseate gull. In the course of the expedition birds were observed in the highest latitudes in which they are definitely known to be able to exist. During the summer of 1895, when the vessel was between 84° and 85° 5’ north lat., in the neigh- bourhood of Franz Josef Land, ten species were from time to time observed, although none occurred in any numbers. The one found farthest north was the Fulmar petrel, which was seen in lat. 85° 5’; in the last edition of “Yarrell” the extreme range of this bird is given as 82° 30’. During the summer of 1896, when the “ram was north of Spitzbergen, the first herald of returning bird- life was a snow-bunting, which made its appearance on April 25. From the observations made during the same season, it is now evident that to the north of Spitzbergen, between lat. 81° and 83°, the Arctic Ocean is the resort of large numbers of birds, belonging, however, to com- paratively few species. Apparently these consist for the most part of immature individuals, in the first plumage, ’ which spend the summer among the open channels in the ice. The little auk and the ivory gull were among those most numerously represented ; Sabine’s gull having only been seen on asingle occasion. Although swimming birds were by far the most numerous in these high lati- tudes, shore-haunting species were represented by the ringed plover and the grey phalarope, which were seen running about on the ice by the side of the open water. The fasciculus is illustrated by an artistic plate of the roseate gull in its first plumage, which is mainly brown on the upper-parts, and therefore quite unlike that of the adult. ec: os NO. 1598, VOL. 62] THE CYANIDE PROCESS. The Cyanide Process of Gold Extraction. By James Park. Pp. viiit127. (London: Griffin and Co., Ltd., 1900.) iy Nira great success which has attended the introduc- ) tion of potassium cyanide for the extraction of gold has created a widespread interest in this chemical. process, and given rise to several books and papers on the subject from various authors. When we consider that at one large works 500 tons of gold are treated in twenty-four hours, we understand on what a colossal scale the cyanide method is worked. The process, like many others, has grown up from small beginnings, and it is largely owing to Messrs. MacArthur and Forrest that cyanide of potassium is now successfully applied to the treatment of gold ores in different parts of the world. It is a most significant! sign of the times that men who have been practically engaged in an enterprise are willing to communicate the results of their experience to the public at large, and from the manner in which the literature of the subject is growing, every detail requisite for economic working will soon be widely known and utilised. Therefore, one is not inclined to analyse the text too minutely, with the object of finding ~ small flaws, provided the information is broadly reliable and accurate. It was inevitable that electricity should be brought into play in connection with such an important process, and we find Messrs. Siemens and Halske early in the field, with a method of depositing the gold on lead by means of electrolysis. There are two sides to this subject, as to most others, viz. the economic, or practical as it is termed, and the scientific. Now the former seems to be fairly well treated, but what is wanted is much greater attention to be paid to the latter, as it is possible that, with fuller and more intimate knowledge, potassium cyanide may be equally useful in the treat- ment of other metals besides gold, especially as it is now | so largely used in the electro-deposition of gold, silver, copper, brass, &c. The work under notice has passed through three editions in New Zealand, and this is the first English edition. It is intended for the use of students, metallurgists and cyanide operators. Several new illustrations and tables are added, and the inform- ation relating to the treatment of slimes and the analysis of solutions has been greatly extended. It is gratifying to learn that wet crushing and cyanide treatment have been followed with as much success in New Zealand as in South Africa, although the ores are of a complex character. ; wit The arrangement of the contents of the book is admir- able. After a brief introduction and a general statement as to the limitations of the subject, the chemistry of the subject is wisely introduced, so that the student is at | once brought face to face with the various reactions that — occur, and led to see the reason for loss of cyanide, | which is sometimes so excessive. Valuable inform- ation is given on pp. Io-13 on the action of potassium cyanide on metallic sulphides. A very useful chapter on laboratory experiments will be appreciated by teachers and students of metallurgy, as well as by the chemist and works manager; indeed, a commodious and well- a et [Xm JUNE 14, 1900] NATURE 149 equipped laboratory is one of the most important and mecessary parts of a cyanide plant. The control, testing, and analysis of solutions is treated in a fuller manner - than is usual with books of this class, and of the three methods given we prefer the silver nitrate test. The jles for the assay of cyanide solutions are a useful ddition to this chapter. The appliances for cyanide ‘extraction are briefly described, and although accom- _ panied by several good scale drawings, certain details _ are omitted which might have been profitably included. __ The synopsis of the process for the actual extraction by _ potassium cyanide is well written, and the conditions for successful treatment, such as strength of cyanide solu- _ tion, &c., are stated as clearly as one could wish. _ Chapter vii. deals with the applications of the processes at different works. Leaching and precipitation are suc- cinctly dealt with in Chapters viii. and ix. These are followed by a short description of the Siemens-Halske __ électrical process, which not only deposits the gold, but _ gives rise to the production of a number of valuable nercial bye-products, such as lead, copper, litharge d paint. For all those who wish to obtain a sound ! sdge of the cyanide process, as conducted at the it time, we heartily commend Park’s handbook. OUR BOOK SHELF. Cause and Prevention of Decay in Teeth. By J. Sim Vallace, M.D., B.Sc., L.D.S. Pp. 101. (London: and A. Churchill, 1900.) is a reproduction in book form of a series of les published in the Journal of the British Dental ciation. The subject has been dealt with in the light of the w universally accepted chemico-parasitic theory of al caries, but the author treats less of exciting or Immediate causes than of those remote and predisposing. de attributes the great and increasing prevalence of dental caries among civilised nations to the elimination _ of the coarser and more fibrous parts of foodstuffs from _ the diet, and points out that this may act in two ways. _ Firstly, owing to the absence of mechanically detergent constituents of food, more of the fermentable, acid- ‘producing and germ-sustaining parts of the latter re- main in contact with the teeth for some time after meals. sondly, that the tongue, being less actively employed g the act of chewing and swallowing, fails to attain $ full size and exercise its normal important function _ modelling the dental arches, so that irregularities ‘ from crowding and malposition of the teeth serve tensify their predisposition to caries. he subject is, on the whole, efficiently dealt with, and book may be recommended to the medical practitioner telligent layman. It is a pity, however, that the author lays such per- “sistent stress upon what he considers the daring erodoxy of his opinions, as these are at most modi- ions of those currently accepted. It is somewhat iting, too, to find set forth for the instruction of the and with an air of great originality (as on p. 94), rtain points in the operative treatment of caries which among the very first impressed upon all students in hools of dental surgery. «Su IY) too, the accusation of ignorance of the causes the diseases -he attempts to combat, and empiricism in tice, are undeserved by the educated dental surgeon y. HAROLD AUSTEN. ‘NO. 1598, VOL. 62] LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. [The Editor does not hold himself ao fag for opinions ex- pressed by hts correspondents. either 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.) Atmospheric Electricity. IN a letter on this subject in NArURE of March 29, Mr. Aitken criticises the theory which attributes the prevalence of positive electrification in the atmosphere to the superiority in efficiency as nuclei for the condensation of water vapour, of the negative ions over the positive. That any difference in the degree of supersaturation necessary to make water condense on positively and on negatively charged ions would result under‘suitable conditions in the production of an electric field was pointed out by Prof. J. J. Thomson (P77. Mag. vol. xlvi. p. 533), and it was suggested by him that this might be a source of atmospheric electricity. Experiments made by the present writer proved that there is such a difference, and that water vapour condenses much more readily on negative than on positive ions; while Elster and Geitel (and independ- ently, Lenard) have recently brought forward evidence based on their own experiments and those of Liuss, tending to show the existence of free ions in the atmosphere. There remains the question whether the necessary degree of supersaturation can ever occur in the atmosphere. Mr. Aitken contends that there is no such thing as dust-free air in the atmo- sphere, and that therefore any considerable degree of super- saturation is impossible. Air practically dust-free does, however, seem to have been met with on Ben Nevis, accompanied by something very like supersaturation (Rankin, Journ. Scot. Met. Soc. vol. ix. p. 131). In Mr. Aitken’s own papers, too, records of small numbers of dust particles (sometimes considerably less than 100 per c.c.) are not rare ; and the lowest values are met with just under the conditions where their occurrence is of most significance. For **most of the low numbers in the tables were observed during rainy weather, and the very low ones in misty rain, when the clouds were at or near the surface of the earth” (Aitken, Edin. Trans. xxxvii. p. 664). Again, the purest air met with by Mr. Aitken was that blowing from off the Atlantic Ocean, the mean number of dust particles in a series of 258 observa- tions extending over nearly five years amounting to 338 perc.c. ; on one occasion the number was as low as 16 per c.c. (Zdzn. Trans. xxxvii. p. 666). Air coming from such a region can hardly be considered as abnormal. Moreover, such observations are necessarily made in air within a few feet of the ground ; at a greater height it is likely to be less contaminated. Consider a mass of air occupying I c.c. and saturated with water-vapour at 10° C., and let it expand till, say, 3 x 10°§ gram. (less than one-third of the total water) has condensed to form 100 drops. Let us suppose the drops to be equal in size and let us calculate the volume and thence the radius of each drop, and from this obtain the rate at which they will fall relatively to the air (assuming the velocity =2~ a the viscosity « being taken as 1°8 x 1074). We obtain for the radius of each drop the value 1°9X10-% centim., and for the rate of fall through the air, v=4'4 cms. per second. In a rising current of moisture-laden air containing 100 dust particles per c.c. there is thus no difficulty in seeing how the drops as they ascend may grow large enough to lag behind, the air at the rate of 4°4 cms. per second (=160 metres per hour) ; while the greater part of the moisture in the surrounding air is still retained as vapour. If then the upper surface of the cloud is carried to such a height that the drops reach the size r=1'9xX10~% cm., it will there be lagging behind the rising air at the rate named, and a dust-free layer must exist immediately above it, increasing in vertical thickness at the rate of something like 180 metres per hour. Even if 1000 drops were formed in each c.c. of the cloud, the rate of growth of the dust-free layer would, as a similar calculation shows, when the same quantity of water had separated, amount to 34 metres per hour. j A difficulty raised by Mr. Aitken in connection with the removal of dust particles by condensation of water upon them is this : ‘‘ When a cloud forms in ordinary impure air, only a small proportion of the dust particles become active centres of 150 NATURE [JUNE 14, 1900 condensation, whilst many receive no charge of vapour.” Instead of being an addition to our difficulties, does not this rather sug- gest a method by which, even if the air entering the base of a cloud be very impure, it may become freed from its dust? For it follows that even in such air a comparatively small number of drops will be formed in each c.c. when the saturation level is reached. What becomes of the nuclei which do not there form active centres of condensation? If the presence of a few slightly more efficient nuclei has prevented them from coming into play, the same number of actual drops will be at least equally effective in this respect. Will the dust particles then remain free until they are carried up beyond the reach of the drops, and there become active centres of condensation as Mr. Aitken suggests ? It seems to me that, after a considerable vertical thickness of cloud has accumulated, this is highly improbable ; such a cloud is likely to act as a very efficient air filter. For if even very impure air be kept in a small vessel with wetted walls the dust particles are removed in a comparatively short time—the shorter the smaller the vessel—by coming in contact with the walls. Dust particles in air travelling through a cloud must be very favourably situated for removal by contact with the drops. They are thus not likely to survive as free nuclei long enough to be able to come into play at the upper surface of the cloud, unless the time taken to traverse the cloud has been comparatively short. A cloud, due to an ascending air current containing near its lower surface as many dust particles (7700 per c.c.) as that encountered by Mr. Aitken on one occasion on the Rigi Kulm, even if it receive a continuous supply of equally or more impure air from below, may thus have no dust particles left in its upper portions beyond what are contained in the drops; while the number of drops per c.c.. may amount to only a small fraction of the number of dust particles originally present, the size of each being correspondingly greater. Mr.* Aitken refers to the possible re-evaporation of drops due to the tendency of the larger ones to grow at the expense of the smaller. But all drops which have survived the great tendency to evaporate which accompanies the initial stages of their growth will surely continue to grow so long as the rate of expansion remains the same, or even if it be much reduced. The effect of the size of the drops on the vapour pressure necessary to cause water to condense on them is in fact relatively unimportant’ except in the case of very small drops; if we apply Lord Kelvin’s formula to the case of drops even as small as 1074 cm. in radius we find that the vapour pressure exceeds by only about one part in a thousand that over a flat surface of water ; the evaporation from the drop of one part in 30,000 ofits mass would cool it sufficiently to counterbalance this difference. With respect to the power of sunshine to manufacture nuclei in air containing various gaseous impurities specified by Mr. Aitken, it may be observed that there is no evidence of such an effect of sunlight in normal atmospheric air, and that all the substances mentioned by Mr. Aitken (ammonia, nitric-acid, &c.) being very soluble in water would be dissolved out of the air in passing through a cloud of water drops. It is true that sunshine does appear to produce in pure air nuclei (which how- ever require a fourfold supersaturation to make water condense on them), and that strong ultra-violet light produces large nuclei like dust particles (P2/, Trans. 192, p. 403); but these effects have not, so far as I can see, any immediate bearing on the subject of the possibility of supérsaturation in the atmosphere. I do not know of any evidence to show whether the small drops in clouds tend to coalesce to form larger ones or not. Such coalescence would tend to hasten the process of separation of dust-free air from the cloud, by increasing the downward velocity of the drops relatively to the air; but it is unnecessary to assume its occurrence. We have now seen reason for believing that the drops in the upper portion of a cloud produced in ascending air are likely, before the air around them has lost any very large proportion of its vapour, to have grown large enough to lag behind the ascend- ing air at quite an appreciable rate; and that the air between them is likely to be dust-free. Under these conditions a dust- free layer will be formed above the cloud, and will continually increase in vertical thickness. This layer will be saturated with moisture at its lower edge, above this it will be supersaturated ; the amount of supersaturation being greatest near its upper limit, and depending on the vertical distance through which the air has risen since escaping from the cloud. Now to produce in air initially saturated the supersaturation (approximately four- fold) necessary to cause water to condense on negative ions, it is NO. 1598, VOL. 62] sufficient to let the volume of the air increase adiabatically to 1°25 times its initial value (P27, Trans. A, vol. cxciii. p. 289) 5. an expansion which will result from an ascent of the air through a vertical distance of 2500 metres, if we suppose the air on escaping from the cloud to be at a temperature of 10° C, (at lower’ temperatures a smaller elevation would suffice). Thus, when the air in the uppermost layers of the supersaturated stratum has. reached a height of about 2500 metres above the level at which it escaped from the cloud, a sudden change will result ; conden- sation will there take place on the negative ions. The thickness of the supersaturated stratum (z.e. the vertical distance which the upper surface of the cloud has lagged behind the air), when the condensation on the negative ions begins, may vary greatly ; it may be very small if the drops are small and the ascent of the air rapid; it may amount to nearly the whole 2500 metres in the case where the drops grow large enough to acquire a velocity. relative to the air as great as the upward velocity of the air, so that the upper surface of the cloud has ceased to ascend. Above any cloud in an ascending air current, however numerous and small the drops, we should expect to find a supersaturated layer (possibly of very small vertical thickness), provided its - r. surface has risen high enough for all dust particles to have either come into play as condensation nuclei, or to have been removed by coming in contact with drops already formed ; provided also that the heating effect of sunshine on the drops at the upper surface of the cloud is not sufficient to counterbalance the cooling effect of the expansion and cause them to evaporate. And if the ascending current continues till a level about 2500 metres higher is reached, we get condensation taking place in the dust-free layer. It is difficult to avoid connecting this process with the sudden appearance of ‘‘ false cirrus” at the top of a cumulo- nimbus cloud at the commencement of a shower. We must now consider what will happen to the drops con- densing from the supersaturated layer. Mr. Aitken takes the view that if condensation ever did take place on the ions, the drops formed would fall at once as rain, and that a cloud would never result, He remarks that the supersaturated air will be, as it were, in an ‘‘ explosive” condition, which will cause the extremely rapid growth of any drop that may begin to form, thus preventing condensation on neighbouring ions. There is, however, no obvious reason for supposing the rate of increase of size of a drop in supersaturated air to be of a different order from that of the diminution in size of a similar drop in an un- saturated atmosphere. In neither case is there angen eh Bis nature of an explosion. In the one case evaporation causes the lowering of the temperature of the drop below that of the sur- rounding air (to the wet-bulb temperature), the evaporation being thereby retarded ; in the other case, the condensation on the drop at once raises its temperature above that of the sur- rounding supersaturated air, the rate of growth being mainly determined by the rate at which the drop can give out to the surrounding air the heat developed in it by the condensation. [ do not think we have the data for determining whether the drops will fall at once as rain or remain in suspension till they have travelled into regions where the ascending current is in- sufficient to support them. In either case, if the drops: fal} through a supersaturated layer of some thickness, they are likely to reach the ground as negatively charged rain. I see, how- ever, no reason to conclude that negatively charged clouds may not also be produced by condensation on the negative ions. . _ The foregoing considerations contain a theory of the origin of rain such as I had in view when the paper, criticised by, Mr- Aitken, on the difference between the positive and negative ions as condensation nuclei was written (PAél. Trans. A, vol. exciii. p. 289). That rain may sometimes at least have its origin in supersaturated portions of the atmosphere has indeed been held by v. Bezold, Cleveland Abbe, and other meteorologists, __ I do not propose to consider what is likely to happen after the rain has begun to fall. It may be pointed out, however, that we are likely then to have a reduction in the supply of dust particles, especially if the rain extends over a considerable area ; for the inflowing air is likely to have a considerable proportion of its - dust particles carried down by the rain before it has penetrated any great distance into the rain-washed area. In Mr. Aitken’s papers may be found references to the apparent dust-removing power of rain. Sue! Mr. Aitken considers that the positive ions would not remain in the atmosphere, because a slightly greater supersaturation ~ than was necessary to cause condensation in the negative ions would bring them down also. It is conceivable that they may _ Jone 14, 1900] NATURE 151 sometimes be removed in this way; but if we consider that a ; ‘increased supersaturation (six-fold instead of four-fold) is , and that the production of ions is continually going ogee that negative ions as well as positive are always pre- me can hardly consider it a likely occurrence. What then uent history of the positive ions after being car- x of reach of the drops formed on the negative ions? ue under the action of the electric field produced by this tion, tend to travel downwards relatively to the air with ( » Ao the order of one centimetre per second fora field of ts per metre, as the measurements of Rutherford and Sami have shown. After being carried beyond the region of ascending air-currents, they will travel downwards towards the earth’s surface; but long before reaching it they will become attached to cloud particles or to the dust particles of the lower laimed that the process described above is the only eqeally free from other spectrum-glares, and well-defined in position, as its bright violet “ marsh-gas ” lines was seen and measured, ah in Derg band—or the latter Re of it—seen their deportments, in an ~ region, of which one is ‘Sir Jj. N. disoleyer sonata with the fiaros-like band , K, as an invariable accompaniment (much more re- than the four “*Carbon-A” bands) of the * hot-carbon ” : _ This small three-lined band falls exactly in place th on the Bunsen-flame spectrum’s fifth, or violet band’s ing zone of weak hazy light, as the late Prof. Piazzi n the Spectra of the Compounds of Carbon with Hydrogen and og gach Be Papers, Nos. i., i oy is of the Royal ociety, x ee 152 oat ray tobe Februaty-June, 1880 Xxxiii. p. 1, November 1881. an ‘by Dre W W. M. Watts Maro On the Spectrum of Carbon,” vol. xxiii. p. 197, December, 1880), ‘‘ very bright” in a pure sol ye : Sg in a methyl vacuum-tube by Dr. Pliicker. AY Sugg estions on the Classification of the of fatty 7 Bodies xia Radiation Flutings ” : Proceedi: I Society, vol. xliv. p. 53, April, 1888 ; and ** ‘Appendix to the ion vi. ‘“ Genera Statement with regard to Carbon,” ‘the Royal Society, vol. xlv. p. 186, November, 1888. the! Note on the Spectrum of Carbon,” Proceedings of the Royal 1, May, 1880. Spectra of oer pa Proceedings of the Royal i. p. 118; ; November, 1887. ‘ 6 1598, VOL. 62] » DIN dled Smyth, in his full-length map and micrometric measures of that spectrum pictured it, surrounding the place of the violet line Hy almost as closely as its bright following ‘‘hydrocarbon” light-zone surrounds the dark solar line G’s position, with a curiously prominent solitary bright line in the dark partition space between them. A fairly satisfactory explanation of this fifth band’s construction might thus, with no material need of any reconciling adjustment to the ‘‘Carbon-B” band’s line- places, be extracted from the Edinburgh spectrum record, by supposing the first and second portions of its divided light- -field to belong really to different radiant sources, and to be due, in- dependently of each other, respectively to ‘‘ hot carbon ” and to ‘* hydrocarbon gas’s” incandescence. But the near agreement in position between the flame-band’s feeble front-domain of shapeless light-haze, and the “ hot carbon’s””’ small three-ribbed fluting lacks far too much from being well affirmed by exact co- ordinations to be any certain evidence of a real spectroscopic or physical connection ; and the weak preceding portion of the violet flame-band has thus been very appropriately consorted by Sir J. N. Lockyer with the following bright portion of this violet haze-band, as belonging both together to the hydro- carbon spectrum. 1 “Another small violet- -region band was traced by Sir W. Huggins in the spectrum of the Comet. 1881, Il, , where it lay between the violet and the ultra-violet ‘‘ cyanogen ” bands, a. little beyond 4 towards the line H of the solar spectrum. Among this ‘‘Carbon-B”’ swéte of bands, suspected by Sir J. N. Lockyer at an early stage of his spectroscopic observations of the sun, in 1874, to have counterparts in the dark lines of the solar spectrum, the strong f/avos-like ultra-violet fluting’s deli- cate train of bright lines and linelets was at length photographic- ally proved by Sir J. N. Lockyer, in 1878,” to coincide precisely with a close-packed orderly array of faint, exceedingly fn ne dark lines at the same place in the solar spectrum; and the same coincidence of about thirty serrations of this band in ten ngstrom’s wave-length units, with as many exactly correspond- ing ripplings of light and darkness at the ultra-violet confines of the sun’s visible spectrum was again very abundantly well proved by Profs. Trowbridge and Hutchins at Hartford, U.S., in 1887.3 It was also pointed out by Profs, Liveing and Dewar at the close of the second of their above-quoted papers, in 1880, on the ** Spectra of Compounds of Carbon with Hydrogen and Nitrogen,” that a fluted ultra-violet band in the spectrum of the cyanogen-flame, of which they photographed many | in an ultra- violet region extending far beyond this grey one’s position, exactly coincided in spectrum-place with the remarkably fluted ultra-violet dark band P, in the solar spectrum. After Sir W. Huggins and Padre Secchi had independently detected the “‘ hydrocarbon’ s” or low gas-flame’s bands in the spectrum of Winnecke’s Comet, in 1868, and some ten or twelve comets in as many following years were found to show the same bands in their spectra,* to ogether with occasional traces of the oxy-carbon or ‘‘cool- carbon spectrum, a far wider range of the “‘ hot” and ** cool carbon ” bands was presently discovered for them by Sir _J..N, Lockyer among the spectra of celestial bodies, and in his ** Researches on the Spectra of Meteorites,” in 1887,° and in the Bakerian Lecture to the Royal Society on a ‘‘ Suggested Classification of the various Species of Heavenly Bodies,” ® the low gas-flame’s or hot carbon spectrum’s bands were clearly shown to exhibit themselves, with rarer excrudescences of cool carbon bands, not only in comets, but alike in sun-like and fluted, and bright-line and temporary stars, and even in nebule, the aurora, and sometimes in lightning-flashes, as a sort of torch- light glow of colliding meteorites, condensed meteoritic swarms, and electrically gasified and illumined meteoritic dust, through- out the universe. It surely needed then only the recent discovery by Prof. G. E. Hale and his coadjutors, Mr. W. S. Adams and Prof. Frost, in 1The Bakerian Lecture :—‘‘ Radiation Flutings,” Proceedings of the Royal Society, vol. xliv. p. 53, April 1888. 2’ Note on the existence of Carbon in the Coronal Atmosphere of the Sun,” Proceedings of the Royal Society, vol. xxvii. p. 3 , April, 1878. 3* On the Spectrum of Carbon compared with that of the Sun," Proceed: ings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, vol. xxiii. p. ro, 1887-8 ; and American Journal of Science, Series 3, vol. xxxiv. P- 345, 1888; Nature, vol. xxxvii. p. 114, December, 188 4 “The Meteoritic Hypothesis,” by Sir fo N. Lockyer (Macmillan and Co., 1890), p..t76 :—Table of Carbon-Spectrum Comets, taba ings of the Royal Society, vol. xliii. pp. 117-156, November, Pe abc tiees of the Royal Society, vol. xliv. pp. 1-93, April, 1888 ; and (‘Appendix to the Bakerian Lecture”’) vol, xlv. pp. 157-262, "November, 1888. 164 NATURE [JUNE £4, 1900 America, with the giant telescope of the Yerkes Observatory’s enormous power, that the green and citron hydrocarbon’s chief band-lines can be observed dark on the photosphere at the sun’s edge, and close by, bright in the chromosphere to a height from the sun’s edge which they estimated not to exceed 1” of arc, or about 500 miles, to completely ratify the foregoing views that those low gas-flame’s fluted bands are produced by carbon vapour at an exceedingly high temperature ; and fully to justify the first observers in England and America of the presence of carbon in the sun, in the opinion which they independently expressed, that the temperature of the glowing region of the sun’s atmosphere where this carbon vapour is produced and made to incandesce, must certainly approach nearly to, and at the same time not much exceed, that of the electric arc. ; Carbon substance furnishes yet another known form of gaseous spectrum, which consists only of a few sharp bright lines, quite free from bands of shaded light, or flutings; and this linear form of its spectrum may be pretty certainly ascribed to carbon vapour in its simplest molecular, perhaps even monatomic, state of aggregation, since it is only obtained by heating carbon in a condensed electric spark to the highest possible artificial tem- peratures. No indications, however, of carbon’s occurrence at this exceedingly high temperature in any celestial spectra, appear as yet to have been met with. Although no gaseous spectra produced at such high temperatures as those of the condensed electric spark were spectroscopically measured by the late Prof. Piazzi Smyth, yet a depiction of this carbon spectrum as it was first seen in the Leyden-jar spark between carbon poles by Angstrom in 1863, and as it was represented by Angstrém and Thalen in their ‘‘ Spectres des Metalloides” in 1875, is given with the line-spectra of common air, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen and of vapour of mercury, by different authors, in the Plate of full-length spectra of his ‘‘ High Dispersion Spectrum ” Paper of 1884, by the late Prof. Smyth, to compare with his own measurements of low temperature spectra of the same elementary gases or their compounds. The map of the carbon line-spectrum given by Angstrom and Thalen shows a spectrum- field extremely bare of lines, but terminated, at its two ends, by two very bright ones, a red, closely double line almost coinci- dent with Fraunhofer’s C, or Ha, and a violet one close-follow- ing G and the violet hydrogen line Hy, and like the hydrogen- lines appearing to be easily widened into a diffuse, broad line by taking the spark in gases at increasing pressures.? A faint single line near E, and two groups of three and four moderately bright, pretty close-packed lines near the beginnings of the two brightest (green and citron) flutings of the Bunsen. flame, or ‘‘hot-carbon” band-series, are all the ‘remaining visible portions of this spectrum figured, as they had excellently observed and studied it, by Profs. Angstrom and Thalen. But the latter two isolated line-groups appear to fit on remarkably: well to the view already apparently borne out and substantiated by what precedes, that with rising temperatures and increasing disgregation of carbon-vapour molecules, the interval between the beginnings of the green and citron flutings becomes wider in passing from the ‘‘cool” to the ‘‘ hot” carbon-band series. For while those band-beginnings are respectively at A = 519°70 and 560°75 (distance = 41‘05uu) in the cool, or oxy-carbon set, and at A=516°40 and 563°34 (distance = 46'94uu) in the hot, or hydrocarbon set of bands, the front-lines of the ‘‘ Excelsior” Carbon-spectrum’s (as the late Prof. Piazzi Smyth poetically termed it), or still hotter and more broken-up carbon-vapour molecules’ two small solitary line-groups, are at A = 515°05 and 569°41, in AngstrOm and Thalen’s Table of these carbon lines ; both shifted again slightly in position in the same left and right directions as before, and with the interval between them again increased a little, now, from its last measures, 41°05 and 46°94, to 54°36up. But a most industrious explorer, and a describer and recorder unsurpassed in the skill of his depictions of the surprising beau- 1 Bulletins of the Yerkes Observatory, No. 12, 1899. .2 This widening of the carbon violet line to a “* broad band” at A=4272 (Angstrém, 4266'0) is very distinctly recorded in Dr. W. M. Watts’ ag Index of Spectra,” 1872, ‘‘ Carbon-Spectrum, No. IV.”; where the groups and single lines, a, 8 (pus the two next lines), y, and 1, compose together Angstrém and Thalen’s line-spectrum of pure carbon. With four or five exceptions, all the many lines contained in the several other line-groups besides these, in the same Carbon-Spectrum Table, can, however, be readily identified with lines of the oxygen line-spectrum mapped by Angstrim and Thalen on the same Spectrum-Plate (‘‘ Spectres des Metalloides,” Upsala Nova Acta, vol. ix. 1875) with their line-spectrum of carbon, and also with lines in Dr. Schuster’s map (Philosophical T? z of the Royal Society, 1879) of the line-spectrum of oxygen. NO. 1598, VOL. 62] ties of all this rich domain of matter’s spectroscopic radiations, we must again here grieve. to note, has passed away. Besides his already-mentioned extremely perfect measurements of ‘* gaseous spectra,” the late Prof. Smyth’s published spectrum- maps and spectroscopic writings comprised long descriptions too of not less than five full series of measurements with high disper- sion, in southern skies, and with great magnifying powers, of the dark lines of the solar spectrum.’ These graphic solar-spectrum maps and those of the ‘‘ gas-spectra,”” and separate papers treat- ing also of the oxygen-gas spectrum singly, and of the dark line group ‘‘4” in the solar spectrum by itself,? together form a lasting store of precious materials for spectroscopic study too variously instructive and often suggestive of interesting theo- retical deductions from their well-recorded details, to be here dealt with shortly and concisely. It is with a sense of doing only very partial justice to the exceedingly high merit and scientific value of those other important spectrum records and researches, that as much space as could be accorded to these short notes has been devoted here to pourtraying only the increasing cosmical significance and the widely-spreading applications in spectro- scopic astronomy, of his valuable investigations of the ordinary forms of carbon spectra. In his effectual unravelling of the mazy linelet systems of those familiar spectra’s bands, a plain and simple law of sequence in the linelets’ spectrum-places was disclosed, which some years later also proved the proper clue to elicit order from the complex-looking linelet structures of the dark absorption-bands, ‘‘ A” and ‘‘ B” (both due to oxygen in our terrestrial atmosphere), at the red end of the solar spectrum. Although those shaded groups’ constructions were only perfectly made known at last in 1893, by Mr. G. Higgs, of Liverpool,* from the beautiful figures of them given in his then published ‘ Photographic Studies of the Solar Spectrum,” yet the drawings | of those bands in Prof. Smyth’s Madeira and Winchester Solar Spectrum Plates in 1881 and 1884, only second to Mr. Higgs’ photographs in their clear discriminations and accurate positions of the bands’ details, would have certainly afforded ripe enough materials to establish at least the major portions of their simple featured laws of linelet sequence by themselves, if they had been _ searchingly examined, and carefully enough discussed and studied — for the purpose. Further examples of the same simple law of linelet intervals in such ‘‘ shaded” bands (where each distinguishable szzfe or tier of linelets exhibits simply a fixed and uniform excess or growth of interval—of each széée’s own amount or proper measure—in every pair of adjoining lines, over that of its immediately ie ceding line-pair, as the rank of lines advances from the brighter to the dimmer region of the shading) occur, moreover, not only in the brightest, green, but also in the citron and the blue band- figures, very plainly, of Prof. Smyth’s full-plate ‘high dis- persion” maps of those three most notable light-ridges in the ‘*carbon oxide’? (or ‘‘cool carbon”) spectrum. Another interesting indication of line-systems also can be traced in his — full-length mapped array of the four then known low tempera- ture lines of oxygen, three of which he discovered to be finely triple, and to which he contributed three more just similarly triple lines. Two Balmer’s series of three lines each can be pretty certainly distinguished in this strikingly peculiar group of six mapped triplets, converging approximately to a nearly common progression-head, or series-limit, at about A = 430 wu. Possibly these two line-sequences which his much extended range and finely multiplied line-features of the ordinary. tube- spectrum of oxygen appear to show, may have been dy recognised and fittingly comprised by Messrs. Kaiser and Runge among the many such line-series which they have found indi- cations of in the spectrum-field of oxygen. But these and many more such philosophical results may be looked for to be richly gleaned and brought to light by coming years’ discussions of the — minute and copious information which with Mr. T. Heath’s — skilful assistance in their draughtsmanship and computations, is _ lucidly unfolded in Prof. Smyth’s noble works of well resolved — and accurately measured ranks of lines both in the solar and in | ie gaseous spectra. In those several sound and stalwart opera — E ‘ i 1 At Lisbon, in 1877-78, with glass prisms (the whole visible solar spec: trum), Edinburgh Philosophical Transactions, vol. xxix. 1880; in | Madeira, in 1881, with a Rutherford’s diffraction grating (21_ special “subjects,” or small regions of the solar spectrum); ‘‘ Madeira Spectro- scopic,” Edinburgh, 1882; and at Winchester, in 1884, with a Rowland’ £ diffraction grating (the whole visible spectrum, mapped ¢h7ice), Edinburgh — Philosophical Uransactions, vol. xxxii. 1886. i with barium salts and a sulphate have their radio- ‘activity reduced. The author has not been able to obtain an nactive uranium salt.—Researches on the pressures of saturated ‘mercury vapour, by MM. L. Cailletet, Colardeau and tiviére. An experimental study of the vapour pressure of lercury from its boiling point up to about 880. At the nt where the pressure is about 160 atmospheres, the that we notice the volume bears the name of a firm of printers. uated at a distance of over 190 miles from the st land, with the intervening ocean attaining a h of more than three miles, Christmas Island appears lave derived its limited fauna from the Sunda Archi- 0, of which indeed it probably once formed a part. ; length of its isolation is, however, indicated by the _ circumstance that four out of its five indigenous mammals re peculiar species, the fifth—a Shrew—being a local NO 1600, VOL. 62] variety of an Assam and Tenasserim form. The majority of the few land birds are likewise distinct, the most. striking being a Goshawk (Astur natalis), an Owl (Ninox natalis), and a White-eye (Zosterops natalis), specimens of all of which were first collected by Mr. J. J. Lister during a flying visit to the island in 1890. As regards the fauna generally, it exhibits no greater evidence of affinity with that of the Mentawei chain of islands, running parallel with Sumatra and Java, than with that of the two islands last named. And the hypo- thesis that Christmas Island formed the termination of a “ Mentawei Peninsula” must accordingly be given up. One of the main objects of the exploration of the island was to ascertain whether its geological structure would throw any further light on the vexed question of the origin of atolls. As the result of his observations, Mr. Andrews is led to believe that, from the absence of a sufficient thickness of reef-limestone, Christmas Island, although originally an atoll, could not have been formed in the manner required by the Darwinian theory, as the amount of subsidence which has taken place would have been quite insufficient. That a certain amount of sub- sidence may have occurred in the early history of the island, Mr. Andrews considers to be quite possible. “Tt may, of course, be objected,” he writes, “that Christmas Island was never a typical atoll, and to this objection no answer is possible ; but since it can be shown that at one time it must have consisted of reefs and islands approximating very nearly to those seen in atolls which are regarded as typical, the determination of the nature of the foundations upon which these reefs and islands rested is at least a step in the right direc- tion. .. . In this case the basis of the island is almost certainly a volcanic peak, the foot of which is now some 2400 fathoms below the level of the sea, and that on its summits and flanks great accumulations of Tertiary limestones have been deposited, and in some cases are interstratified with the products of the eruptions, probably for the most part submarine, which took place from time to time. The oldest of the volcanic rocks are trachytic, the newer basaltic. The last of the eruptions was ac- companied by the formation of’ thick beds of volcanic ash, and it is upon these that the great mass of the Miocene (Orbitoidal) limestones rests.” The occurrence of such a thickness of Tertiary de- posits (ranging from the Eocene or Oligocene upwards) is unknown in any other oceanic island. It is important to notice that these rocks, allowing for a difference in the proximity of land at the time of their deposition, are very similar to those of South Java ; but the author con- siders that there are difficulties in believing that the two series of sediments were deposited in a continuous area, as this would involve great local dislocations. Ac- cordingly the volcanic peak theory is adopted in preference to such a view. In speaking of elevation and depression, the author is careful to guard himself by stating that such terms are merely used in relation to the sea-level ; and it would appear, from reading between the lines, that he is rather in favour of an actual alteration of the sea-level in these districts. It may further be inferred that he does not intend his conclusions as to the mode of origin of Christmas Island to affect the case of other atolls, his idea apparently being that all atolls are not of precisely similar origin. K 194 NATURE [JUNE 28, 1900 The rocks which have brought Christmas Island into the most prominent notice are the thick beds of nearly pure lime phosphate capping several of the higher hills. It is inferred that this deposit has been formed by the action of beds of guano on limestone forming the summits of the low islets presumed to have existed previous to the first elevation of the present island. Another phos- phatic bed is considered to have been produced by guano acting on volcanic ash. It is for the purpose of working these phosphates that the island has been leased by a commercial company. Although the greater part of the volume is of a highly technical nature, it must not be inferred that this is the case with the whole of its contents. As an example of its lighter side, the excellent account of the habits of the Frigate-bird may be cited. These birds, which form the main support of the present colony of the island, are of an inquiring and fearless disposition. “The usual way of obtaining them is,” writes the author, “for a man to climb into the topmost branches of a high tree near the coast, armed with a pole eight or ten feet long and a red handkerchief, The latter he waves about, at the same time yelling as loudly as possible. The birds, attracted by the noise and the red colour, swoop round in large numbers, when they are knocked down with the long pole. In this way suffi- cient birds to supply the small colony with food can usually be obtained in an hour or two; occasionally, however, in unfavourable states of the wind, they are difficult to procure.” From first to last, the exploring, the collecting, and the descriptive and literary portions of the book have been thoroughly well carried out. And, despite the fact that no far-reaching or epoch-making discoveries. in either zoology, geology, or distribution have been made, all concerned in the production of the volume before us (save the printer) are to be heartily congratulated on the manner in which they have executed their respective tasks. RK. A NEW WORK ON SILVER. Metallurgy of Lead and Silver. Part ii. Silver. By Henry F. Collins. Pp. 352. (London: Griffin and Co., Ltd., 1900.) E recently had occasion to notice the first volume of the present work, and to speak favourably of its merits. We are pleased to find the second portion equally good. It has been a source of great regret that the distinguished master of metallurgy, the late Dr. Percy, did not live to complete his projected work on Silver, instead of leaving what has been termed a splendid fragment : and as no book claiming to give a full account of the metallurgy of the subject has been published since, we cordially welcome the advent of a further contribu- tion. It is perhaps unnecessary to point out how closely interwoven is the metallurgy of lead with that of silver, or to state that a full treatise on silver cannot be written without considerable reference to lead; and when one author is competent to deal with both branches of the subject, it affords the best means of imparting a sound knowledge of these metals. In the present case we have this additional advantage, that the editor is an NO. 1600, VOL. 62] authority on all questions relating to the nature and pro- perties of silver, together with that of assaying. The immense importance of silver in the economic relations — of the United States is well known, and many attempts have been made to introduce similar relations into this and other countries ; hence it may be considered one of the most important metals known to mankind. The present work is not an exhaustive treatise on silver, and is evidently intended chiefly for those who are connected with the extraction of the metal from its ores. Those ancient methods which are fast becoming obsolete have not escaped notice; for, while they may not possess much practical.value at the present time, their chemical and educational value is not to be despised. Numerous references to original sources of information are given throughout the volume, and this will enable the reader to obtain fuller information than is given here. The method of procedure in special works, such as that of matte smelting at Sunny Corner (p. 268), is described at some length with clearness and precision. The author has followed the same plan as in his first volume, of econo- mising space by giving details of the practice at different localities in the form of tabular statements. This should prove useful for reference and comparison. The book is divided into four main sections, dealing re- spectively with silverand its ores, amalgamation, lixiviation, and smelting processes. Of these the chapters relating to lixiviation and blast furnace smelting are the best, as they appear to be the branches with which the author is most familiar. The hyposulphite leaching process is described in a more lucid and methodical manner than we have seen elsewhere, and the advantages and dis- advantages of calcium sulphide are admirably compared on p. 197. 'A chapter is specially devoted to hypo- sulphite leaching practice, in: which is given details of plant, mode of working, advantages and disadvantages of lixiviation, cost, and examples of the Russell process in various localities. Data as to cost and results at mills using the Patera and Russell processes respectively are given in the form of tables on pp. 224 to 227. A serviceable chapter on the refining of lixiviation sulphides concludes the section. The fourth section, dealing with the extraction of silver by smelting processes, contains a considerable amount of information in a condensed form. The table of comparison of various systems of smelting is instructive and helpful. The construction of furnaces is made clear by the aid of figures, drawn to scale. arguments in favour of the hot blast for smelting mattes are pertinent and convincing. Several well-compiled tables are included in this chapter. Pyritic smelting receives only a brief notice in Chapter xv., as this sub- ject has been partly dealt with in the first volume. The subject of matte smelting in reverberatories for silver- copper ores is next -considered, and the characteristics of the method, with the points of difference from blast furnace practice, are pointed out. This kind of information is often of great moment to the practical man, who has to decide on the most economic method to adopt in special cases. The final chapters deal with the treat- ment of argentiferous mattes, which generally require a } preliminary concentration to eliminate some of the lead and iron. In some cases a direct method may be The’ cds Cee ey + pAlb pee Ea ee A ~er 5 NATURE 195 lopted, and information is here given for that purpose. 1e Bessemerising of copper mattes is briefly described. ver-copper smelting and refining is limited in its lication to ores comparatively free from sulphur, nic, and lead, and therefore but little used. The plant employed is specified and illustrated by diagrams and tables. The book concludes with a short account the various wet methods used for argentiferous slimes. 1e author’s attempt to cover the ground embraced by ‘such a wide subject within a moderate compass will, with the aid of tables and summaries, prove most valuable both to practical men and to students. a AY es HE OUR BOOK SHELF. ory of Language. By Henry Sweet, M.A. 148. (London: J. M. Dent and Co., 1900.) are few living scholars who are so well qualified weet to write a thoroughly comprehensive intro- science of language. He is, as is well f the foremost European authorities on it at the same time he is a profound and er on those psychological aspects of lin- in which few phoneticians take any while possessing a competent knowledge ic comparative philology in its latest he is preserved from the narrowness of ere Indogermanist by having made a prac- f Arabic, Finnish and Chinese. Notwith- small size, this “ primer” is a very remark- n completeness of outline, it is superior to ary manual of the subject known to us ; and : arid skeleton, but contains a good deal of interesting illustration of the principles ex- Perhaps it is not quite so easy to master as ‘is usually expected to be. Although strictly in the sense that it assumes no previous knowledge on the reader’s part, it does demand considerable power of close atten- some training in habits of scientific thought. erefore probably be less acceptable to absolute than to those who have already. some general e of the subject and desire to render their con- of it more systematic and precise. Even by inced philological scholars it may be studied with est and profit. ‘contents of the book may be said to consist of ons: an exposition of the general principles the development of language, an outline of the f the Aryan family of languages, and a state- the author’s views as to the exterior affinities of d the locality in which it was developed. Per- third part is somewhat out of place in an ele- book, but it is at any rate interesting. Dr. hypothesis is that primitive Aryan arose in navia out of a mixture of the language of Ugrian rs with that of the aboriginal population among rey were absorbed. This is not now such a y heresy as it would have been a few years ago, it is not likely at present to find a ready welcome ndogermanists. The apparent affinities between and Ugrian certainly seem too striking to be due coincidence, but it is a long step from this admis- he acceptance of the definite theory here pro- nded. The writers who have hitherto advocated ewhat similar views have always discredited their y their ignorance of philology and their lack of c caution. It is to be hoped that Dr. Sweet will the world a full exposition of the grounds on his conclusions are based. Whether he succeeds NO. 1600, VOL. 62] able. in the establishment of his particular thesis or not, he can hardly fail to make a valuable contribution towards — the ultimate solution of the question. Micro-organisms and Fermentation. By Alfred Jérgensen. Pp. xitit+318. (London: Maemillan and Co., Ltd., 1900. ) THE study of the biology of fermentation has made considerable progress in recent years. The knowledge that has been gained of the nature and mode of action of the living agents in question is mainly due to the efforts of foreign observers. Through the investigations of Pasteur, and most notably of Hansen, the subject became a recognised branch of methodical and practical inquiry. To be in a position to employ the essential and to exclude the deleterious agents in a fermentative pro- cess is to substitute scientific for haphazard methods. This, briefly put, is the aim of technical mycology, and the gain to a given industry is considerable, as ¢.g. in brewing and distilling operations. Of the books dealing with micro-organisms and fermentation, Dr. Jérgensen’s has long occupied a leading position, and hardly requires an introduction to the specialist. The new edition just .issued has been completely revised, and the English translation has been well done by Dr. A. K. Miller and Mr. A. E. Lennholm. Dr. Jérgensen’s reputation as a teacher and investigator, as well as his intimate associa- tion with Hansen, place this work above the ordinary run of text-books. The first chapters deal with the methods of microscopical and physiological examination of micro-organisms, and the methods for obtaining and utilising pure cultures of the useful races of sac- charomyces are described. The examination of water and air is next dealt with—a subject of importance on account of the injurious organisms that may exist in the air and water of a brewery. The chapter on bacteria is somewhat incomplete. The technical mycologist has commenced to study the bacteria more closely, and a fuller account of this branch of the subject will be found in Lafar’s book. An interesting account is given of the alcohol-forming bacteria, and of certain symbiotic fer- ments, e.g. Kephir and the ginger-beer plant. The moulds of importance in technical work are fully dealt with. Of recent work, Buchner’s “Zymase” is_ shortly alluded to ; but more mention might have been made of Calmette’s investigations at Lille and Séclin upon the symbiotic action of moulds and yeasts in the alcoholic fermentation. The account of the alcoholic ferments in Chapter v. is naturally the main and distinctive feature of this work, and it will be particularly valuable to the English reader on account of the lucid description it con- tains of Hansen’s investigations upon yeasts. The various species of bottom and top fermentation yeasts of interest to the brewing chemist are fully dealt with. The final chapter is devoted to the application of the results of scientific research in practice. The value of the book is added to by a number of illustrations and a very full bibliography. As an introduction to the morphology and biology of the alcoholic ferments, Dr. Jérgensen’s work leaves little to be desired, and consti- tutes a valuable complement to the text-books which deal mainly with the chemical side of the subject. Photography. in Colours. By R. C. Bayley. Pp. 74. (London ; Iliffe, Sons and Sturmey, Ltd., 1900.) THIS little book is practically a reprint.of a series of articles by the author which have already appeared in a photographic periodical, but the subsequent revisions and convenience of reference occasioned by their collec- tion under one cover should render them more service- The general principle has been to avoid techni- calities and purely executive details, aiming rather to 196 NATURE [JUNE 28, 1900 ae give a lucid explanation of the principles governing the various processes, which may be understood by readers not necessarily acquainted with photographic manipu- lation. The opening chapters introduce the elementary ideas of the nature of colour and the undulatory theory of light. Following these is a chapter on the Lippmann process, this being the only direct process having a purely physical origin. aie. The fourth chapter deals with the principles of colour vision, showing how the colour curves of red, green and blue sensitiveness are employed in deciding the screens used in the three-colour photographic process ; two pro- cesses of this type, founded by Ives and Joly respectively, being then fully explained. The work is brought up to date by descriptions of Wood’s diffraction grating process, and later improve- ments on the Joly process. A chapter is also devoted to three-colour photomechanical processes, and another to the method developed by Sanger Shepherd and others of producing lantern slides in three colours. Lecons nouvelles sur les applications géométriqgues du calcul différentiel. Par W. de Fannenberg, Professeur 4 la Faculté des Sciences de l'Université de Bordeaux. Pp. 192. (Paris: A. Hermann, 1899.) THE geometrical applications of the differential calculus, which are usually given in English treatises on the cal- culus, are mostly confined to plane curves. In these lessons, on the contrary, the author begins by assuming a knowledge of elementary analytical geometry of three dimensions, and proceeds at once to deal with subjects which occur in the latter part of an English text-book on solid geometry, in chapters on the general theory of curves and surfaces. Thus we have sections on the descriptive properties of tortuous curves and curved surfaces, followed by sec- tions on the metrical properties of tortuous curves, of ruled surfaces, and of surfaces in general. The author's treatment of his subject is exceedingly clear and elegant, and there is considerable freshness of method. We may notice, in particular, the early employ- ment of the six co-ordinates of a line ; the use of the system of moving axes formed by the tangent, the principal normal and the binormal at a point on a curve; the systematic application of Gaussian curvilinear co-ordinates in developing the properties of the several classes of curves that may be traced on a surface. In fact, a student will find here in small compass a pleasant introduction to some of the most powerful methods of modern analysis as applied to geometry, and if he proceeds afterwards to the “Lecons sur la théorie générale des surfaces,” by Darboux, his study of that great classic will have been much facilitated. Elementary Illustrations of the Differential and Integral Calculus. By Augustus De Morgan. New Edition. Pp. viiit142. (Chicago: The Open Court Publishing Company. London: Kegan Paul and Co., Ltd., 1899.) IT is nearly seventy years since De Morgan first pub- lished this tractate in-the Library of Useful Knowledge. It was afterwards bound up with his large treatise on the differential and integral calculus, but the very inferior typography detracts much from the pleasure of perusing it there. In the present issue we have a very attractive reprint. Although there has been in recent years almost a superabundance of elementary treatises on the calculus, some of them not lacking excellent illustrations of the fundamental principles and processes of the subject, it may still be said that De Morgan’s effort at popularisa- tion remains the greatest of its kind, and far above all others-in the philosophic spirit which animates it. NO. 1600, VOL. 62] ‘well defined. ef LETTER TO THE EDITOR. [The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions ex- pressed 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 zs taken of anonymous communications. } eae" A Surface-Tension Experiment. ae Ir an unbroken vertical jet of falling water is allowed to impinge normally on a smooth circular disc, whose diameter is rather greater than that of the jet, then a phenomenon, illus- trated by the accompanying photographs, is observed. These are one-ninth natural size. tis alias A disc about 7 mm, in diameter was supported on the upper end of a knitting-pin, which was held vertically ina clamp. _ A jet of water proceeding from a tube of 6 mm. internal diameter was directed downwards, so as to strike the disc centrally. ivaetitt If the initial velocity of the jet is high, then an umbrella- shaped sheet is formed, which breaks up into a shower of drops at its margin. On diminishing the rate of outflow, the broken Fic. 2, Fic. 1, ‘ 3000 C.c. per min. 4000 ¢.c. per min. Fic. 3 _-2T00 C.C. per min edge of the sheet gathers itself together and closes inwards until — it reaches the upright supporting the disc, thus forming a com- — pletely closed pear-shaped surface (Fig. 1). The surface-tension of the falling sheet thus drags in the water radially, for ifit were in separate drops these would describe parabolic paths, == } On further restricting the water supply there is, in general,a tendency for the surface to elongate and at the same time to | contract laterally, thus becoming more spindle-shaped (Figs. 2 and 3). In this condition the figure is remarkably steady and . — With a still slower stream of water (Fig. 4), the spindle i reaches a certain critical length at which it first begins to a. - Fie. Fic. 5. Fic. 6. — : 4 See : 1600 ¢c.c. per min. 1000 C.c. per min, oscillate vertically and to pulsate, and then a sudden constriction occurs causing the division of the spindle into two bubbles, one of which rushes down and the other up the vertical support. The latter bubble persists as a small conical figure imme-. ia diately beneath the disc (Fig. 5). tonal Since there is an almost instantaneous transition from Fig. 4 to Fig. 5, it was not found possible to photograph any of the intervening conditions. : Aa NS June 28, 1900] NATURE 197 The length of the spindle in Fig. 4 (just on the point of undergoing segmentation) is about four times its diameter ; a which is considerably greater than in the three preceding res, and which approaches that known to hold in the case of unstable liquid cylinder. t outflow from the tube is in each case stated er the photograph. The knitting-pin was then replaced by a glass tube, closed at ‘its upper end, but connected below with a manometer, which was put into connection with the interior of the various bubbles mean of a small hole previously blown in the side of the tube near its upper extremity. The pressure inside the bubbles was ____ always found to be very nearly atmospheric, an excess of about I mm. of water being the greatest noted. ___ Another form of apparatus gave striking results. _ _____ A =t tube was supported with the cross piece vertical, and the upper opening was closed with a cork into which a stiff wire was that it hung centrally, with its other end projecting the lower opening of the tube. ar disc was attached to this projecting wire, and was y in the path of the issuing stream of water which was by the side tube. : erly regulating the velocity of the water a series of ilar to those produced by the former method can be the adjustments are not so easily controlled to note how the water constituting the walls of tes into a single stream which falls from its base. _ T. J. BAKER. rd’s School, Birmingham, May 28. TERNATIONAL CATALOGUE OF VENTIFIC LITERATURE. ae pe proceedings at the recent third Inter- Conference, of which the Acta are printed page, there can be little doubt that the ultimate of this important enterprise is now assured. the meeting, some of us, perhaps, vaguely feared ign delegates would come prepared to suggest culties, if not to announce the unwillingness es they represented to take any part in the thing of the kind occurred: all came bent = success; not a word was uttered in de- of any of the proposals brought under con- and all present may be said to have taken an > interest in carrying the proceedings to a issue. Every one was of opinion that if a fair can once be made, the importance of the work at ; it will be of such use to scientific workers , that it will rapidly grow in favour and soon - wide support which is not yet given to it use its character and value are but im- derstood. Therefore, all were anxious that a ig should be made. ‘ estimated that if 300 sets or the equivalent the expenses of publication will be fully met. purchase of more than half this number was ed by France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Switzer- the United Kingdom, the Conference came to usion that the number likely to be taken by other would be such that the subscriptions necessary the cost of the catalogue would be obtained. esolution arrived at after this opinion had been ned, “ That the catalogue include both an author’s and ubject index, according to the schemes of the Pro- onal International Committee,” must, in fact, be read resolution to establish the catalogue. ° countries represented at the various Conferences, g Belgium, not one has expressed any unwilling- ually to cooperate in the work. Unfortunately, the United States nor Russia was officially repre- on the present occasion. The attempts that have ade to induce the Government in the United NO. 1600, VOL. 62] States to directly subsidise the catalogue have not been successful : but that the United States will contribute its fair share, both of material and of pecuniary support, . cannot be doubted. There as here private or corporate enterprise must undertake much that is done under Government auspices in Europe. As to Russia, the organisation of scientific workers there has been so little developed that it is very difficult to secure their attention, and probably our Russian colleagues are as yet but very imperfectly aware of what is proposed. The importance of Russian scientific work is so great, however, that it stands to reason that it must be fully considered ; and it may be supposed that Russia will join when she becomes oy eae with what is proposed and what is required of her. A Provisional International Committee has been ap- pointed, which will take the steps now necessary to secure the adhesion and cooperation of countries not yet pledged to support the scheme. Originally, it was proposed to issue a card- as well as a book-catalogue, but on account of the great additional expense this would involve, and as the Americans in particular have not expressed themselves in favour of a card issue, it is resolved to publish the catalogue, for the present, only in the form of annual volumes. From the outset great stress has been laid on the preparation of subject indexes which go behind the titles of papers and give fairly full information as to the nature of their contents. Both at the first and the second International Conference this view met with the fullest approval. Meanwhile, the action of the German Govern- ment has made it necessary to somewhat modify the original plan. In Germany, a regional bureau will be established, supported by a Government subvention, and it is intended that the whole of the German scientific literature shall be catalogued in this office ; no assist- ance will be asked from authors or editors or corporate bodies. In such an office it will for the present be impossible to go behind titles; consequently, only the titles of German papers will be quoted in the catalogue. In the first instance, some other countries may prefer to adopt this course on the ground of economy. But in this country, at least, the attempt will be made to deal fully with the literature, and the cooperation of authors and editors will be specially invited. An author may not always be best able to judge which are the most im- portant points in his paper to be noted in an index, but the experience gained in the Royal Society during several years past has shown that authors furnish most valuable information, and that their suggestions are easily reduced into shape. A full code of instructions for the use of the regional bureaux is now being prepared under the auspices of the Provisional International Committee. The catalogue is to be published annually in seventeen distinct volumes. The collection of material is to com- mence from January 1, 1901. As it will be impossible to print and issue so many volumes at once, it is proposed to publish them in sets of four or five at quarterly in- tervals. During the first year, parts covering shorter periods will be prepared, so as to make the subsequent regular issue possible of volumes in which the literature published during a previous period of twelve months is catalogued. Valuable opportunity will thus be given from the outset of gaining experience both in the preparation and use of the catalogue. : hat many difficulties will be encountered in carrying the work out cannot be doubted ; but if scientific workers generally will but reflect on the inestimable value of accurate classified subject indexes, they cannot but see that it will be to their great advantage to do all in their power to further the enterprise. If the attempt fail, it will only be because those on whose behalf it is under- taken are blind to their own interests. H. E. A. 193 NATURE [JUNE 28, 1900 NOTES. THE annual visitation of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, by the board of visitors, took place on Tuesday last. A SPECIAL joint meeting of the Royal and Royal Astro- nomical Societies is being held in the rooms of the Royal Society to-day, to receive preliminary accounts of the observations of the recent eclipse of the sun. THE Nilson Memorial Lecture will be delivered by Prof. Otto Pettersson, of Stockholm, before the Chemical Society on Thursday next. THE great kindness and attention shown oy the Alcalde and other authorities at Santa Pola to the astronomical party who went there to observe the recent eclipse, and to the captain and officers of H.M.S. Zhesews, who conveyed the members of the expedition from Gibraltar, occasioned a very pleasing little episode. On leaving Santa Pola a donation of to/. was col- lected, and left by Captain Tisdall with the Mayor for the benefit of the poor of the town. This gift was highly appreciated by the local authorities, and the amount has been distributed by a local committee. The children in the schools were not for- gotten, and each of them received a packet of sweets anda memorial card relating to the eclipse and the visit of the expe- dition. We are also able to state that the Mayor of Santa Pola has received from the Spanish Government a decoration of the First Order of the Civil Administration. We heartily congratulate him on his new honour, which all who had any relations with him know was well deserved. AT a public meeting recently held in Belfast, it was decided to renew the invitation to the British Association to visit Belfast in 1902, and a representative deputation was appointed to present the invitation at the forthcoming Bradford meeting of the Association. The last meeting in Belfast took place in 1874, and was under the presidency of Prof. Tyndall. Sir WILLIAM MacCorMaAcC is to receive to-day the honorary degrees of M.D. and M.Ch. from the University of Dublin. THE death is announced of Prof. Boutan, general inspector of public instruction in France. Prof. Boutan was one of the founders of the Société francaise de Physique, and was also the author, jointly with M. d’Almeida, of a treatise on physics, THE death is announced of Dr. Karl Lange, professor of _ pathological anatomy in the University of Copenhagen ; also of Dr. Wilhelm Kiihne, professor of physiology at Heidelberg. THE new physical laboratory at Owens College, Manchester, will-be opened to-morrow by Lord Rayleigh. The new labora- tory will have a larger floor area than that of any other similar institution in the world, with the exception of the Johns Hopkins and the Strasburg laboratories. Great efforts have been made to provide an equipment of the most modern appa- ratus for use in every branch of physical science, and to main- tain conditions which shall ensure their being used to the best advantage. The research laboratories are to be an im- portant feature of the new buildings, and should attract a large number of students. Another feature is the electro-technical wing, which is to constitute a John Hopkinson memorial, and will be formally handed over by the relatives of the late Dr. John Hopkinson, on the occasion of the opening ceremony. It is understood that Dr. C. H. Lees, formerly chief assistant lecturer in the physics department of Owens College, will occupy the post of assistant director of the new laboratories, under Prof. A. Schuster, the director, and that Mr. R. Beattie has been appointed lecturer in electrotechnics. AT the conversazione to be held at the London Medical Graduates’ College and Polyclinic on Wednesday, July 4, Prof. Osler F.R.S., of Baltimore, will deliver an address on “| The NO 1600, VOL. 62] Teaching of Practical. Medicine,” and the museum will be inaugurated. THE annual general meeting of the Réntgen Society will be held on Thursday, July 5. The Presidential Address will be delivered by Mr. Wilson Noble. THE second annual meeting of the Astronomical: and Astro- physical Society of America is being held in conjunction with the meeting of the American Association at Columbia Uni- versity. In addition to the papers to be presented, there will be discussions upon the following subjects :—The eclipse of May 28 last; Observations of Eros to be made at the next opposition ; Spectroscopic determinations of motion in the line of sight. AN important* meeting of the Committee of the Liven School of Tropical Medicine was held on the 19th inst., when it was reported that the Government were co-operating with the School in the matter of the despatch of the Yellow Fever Expedition to America and Brazil, and that a letter had been. received from the Marquess of Salisbury asking swhether the Committee wished him to communicate with the British repre sentatives in the countries to be visited by the expedition. The offer was gratefully accepted, and a further letter was received from Lord Salisbury saying that he had asked the British Am-. bassador at Washington and H.B.M. Consul at Para to obtain. all possible facilities from the United States and Brazilian authorities respectively on behalf of the expedition, Official invitations for the expedition to visit Washington had been re- ceived from the heads of the medical departments of the U.S. army, and to visit Baltimore from the authorities of the Johns Hopkins University. As has already been stated in these columns, the expedition consists of Dr, Durham (Grocers Re-- search Scholar) and Dr. Walter Myers (John Lucas Walker Student), both of Cambridge. The expedition, which started. on Tuesday last, goes first to Canada, and then proceeds direct to Washington and Baltimore. After conferring with the bacteriological experts there, the expedition will go to New York, and sail from that port to Para. Subsequent ca greets will be guided by circumstances. AT a dinner given last Monday in honour of the Yellow a Expedition, Mr, A. L. Jones, chairman of the school, announced his intention of giving 1000/, to vards the erection of a Tropical. Diseases Hospital in Liverpool in connection with the Royal. Southern Hospital, to be associated with the name of Miss Mary Kingsley. It was also announced that Mr. Blaize, of Lagos, and Mr. John Holt, of Liverpool, had promised 500/. each to- the same object. Two other subscriptions of 100/. each were: announced. THE Summer School of Medicine, which was to hard been held at Cambridge from June 25 to June 30, has, unfortunately,. had to be abandoned in consequence of the meagre number of acceptances received. The necessity for the taking of this step- is the more to be regretted, as very careful preparations had been. made to insure a successful session; demonstrations of the malarial and other blood parasites, and of the most recent work on cancer, had been arranged for, and in addition to- these subjects lectures were to have been given by experts in their several lines of work upon various other matters of medical. and surgical interest. THERE are, it is estimated, about 400 lepers in France. They are scattered about in Brittany, in the Pyrenees, on the: shores of the Mediterranean, and in Paris, where they number 150. Among the lepers there are missionaries and nurses who. have fallen victims to their devoted care of sufferers in other: countries, and officials and soldiers who have contracted the a disease in the colonies. An anti-leprosy committee has, says. the British Medical Journal, recently been formed on the- Ce, JUNE 28, 1900] NATURE 199 tive of Dom Santon, a member of the Benedictine Com- of Ligugé, who is also a doctor of medicine, for the care lepers in France and the prevention of the spread of the é. Dom Santon has for many years past devoted himself study of leprosy, travelling for that purpose in many rts of the world. After conference with the Council of iene he has acquired a property in the Vosges, where he proposes to establish an asylum for lepers to be called the it. Martin Sanatorium. The plans have been approved by the ‘rench Government. National Academy of Sciences of the United States has ended to the trustees of Columbia University that the be given to Prof. Réntgen for his discovery of The medal, of gold, is awarded quinquennially to shall have made such discovery in physical or science as, in the judgment of the National ences, shall be esteemed most worthy of the eal expedition is to be sent into Southern summer by the University of the State of Missouri. charge of Prof. J. M. Stedman, head of the Department, and will have for its object the biological, largely entomological, survey of the Vera Cruz on the Gulf, which is in perpetual top of the volcano Popocatepetl, which is far stual snow line, and down to Acapulco on the will give all the temperature variations from to perpetual snow, and will allow of the study er conditions not to be found elsewhere in a. The collection will become the property of , which is to furnish half the expenses, the other e by Prof. Stedman. — xpedition, consisting of President Jordan and Mr. John ar of the Department of Zoology in Stanford University, d for Japan, for the purpose of making a collection of insects of that country. Assistance will be given ates of Stanford University at present resident in Science that Mr. G. B, Gordon has secured the ruins of Copan, and the lands pertaining thereto, of ten years, with the right to make excavations to Cambridge, Mass., for preservation, a portion hat may be found.: TITTMANN has been appointed successor to Dr. as superintendent of the United States Coast ic Survey, Dr. Pritchett having been elected president chusetts Institute of Technology. ra on Norse discoveries in America have been awarded 3. Dalton, of New York City, and Mr. K. F, Murray, , Va. te announces that a donor, who wishes to be anonymous, resented to the American Museum of Natural History the 1 exhibited by Messrs. Tiffany and Co. at the Paris n, consisting of American and foreign cut and uncut stones and other objects. The value of the collecticn ed at over 50,000 dollars. iG the summer a station will be maintained on Lake by the New York State Museum, for the study of insects. The work will be under the direction of Dr. Scientific American states that a new species of petrel in discovered on the Island of Kauai (Sandwich Islands) can National Geographical Society’s prizes for the | also reported to have found on the same island a new species of seagull. He is about to go to Guam for the purpose of exploring that island, and to make a collection of birds and fishes for the Bishop Museum of Honolulu. EXCELLENT results have been obtained by the French Government from experiments made with wireless telegraphy. The Zngineer of June 15 says that the demonstrations showed that communication could be maintained, between ship and shore, to a distance of about sixty miles with comparative ease, only the height of the masts of the Government ship U¢i/e preventing longer distances being attained. In consequence of these achievements the French Government have decided to equip their Mediterranean Squadron with the necessary apparatus. WIRELESS telegraphy stations are, by the instructions of the Chief Signal Service Officer of the United States, to be esta- blished in the harbour of San Francisco, in Porto Rico and the Philippines. AMONG the numerous congresses arranged to take place in connection with the Paris Exposition, in addition to those to which attention has already been called in these columns, may be mentioned the following, dealing respectively with :—- Automobiles, on July 9; medical electrology and radiology, from July 27 to August 1; medicine, from August 2 to 9; physics, from August 6 to 11, and on the same dates, technical and industrial education; chemistry, from August 6 to IT; hygiene and demography, from August 10 to 17; hypnotism, from August 12 to 15; electricity, from August 18 to 25; prehistoric anthropology and archeology, from August 20 to 25 ; ethnology, from August 26 to September 1; railroads, from September 15 to 23; acetylene, from September 23 to 28. Ir is satisfactory to find that the present troubles in, South Africa have not interfered with Museum progress in the larger towns of Cape Colony. From the Resort of the Committee of the Albany Museum for 1899, we learn that it was expected the new buildings would be ready for opening about July 1. A SEVERE thunderstorm occurred in London on the 25th inst., accompanied by heavy rain and hail. The weather had been very unsettled for some days, with gales on our exposed coasts. On the evening of the 24th a storm area lay off the north-west coast of Ireland; this subsequently took a somewhat unusual south-easterly direction. At 8 a.m. on the 25th the centre lay over the Midland Counties, and next morning had traversed the south-eastern part of the English Channel. The rainfall on the 24th and 25th amounted to about an inch in several parts of the United Kingdom. The temperature continues low for the season over the whole country. Two specimens of the egg of the Great Auk were sold by auction at Stevens’s Rooms last week, and realised 315 and 180 guineas respectively, The more important of the two eggs is an unrecorded one from a French collection, and is described as the finest specimen known of a special type of marking. The price just obtained for it establishes a record, 300 guineas having, until this sale, been the highest amount ever received. About seventy-five eggs of the Great Auk are known to be in existence. ACCORDING to Scéence, the Millinery Merchants’ Protective Association of America has proposed to the various Audubon Societies of the country to cease killing or buying any North American birds, except such as are edible and killed in season, if the societies will undertake not to interfere with the use of these birds or with skins imported from countries not in North A. Searle, of the Stanford University. Mr. Searle is 0. 1600, VOL. 62] America. 200 NATURE [JUNE 28, 19c0 THE Pioneer Mail (Allahabad) of June 1, 1900, has an in- teresting article on the recent discoveries in the neighbourhood of the previously identified birthplace of Buddha. Mr. W, Peppé, owner of the Birdpur estate on the Nepal frontier, ex- cavated in January 1898 a reliquary (stiipa) of Buddha, and found relics in a casket inscribed in characters not later than the third, and possibly even of the fourth, century B.c. During last winter Prof. Rhys Davids revisited the spot, and gave to the Royal Asiatic Society at its meeting in April last the result of his own local observations and examination of the relics, which is that they have a very fair title to be considered genuine remains of Buddha. These are stated to have been divided after the cremation into eight portions, and distributed amongst sections of the Sakya clan, which inhabited this region. The relics themselves are fully described and illustrated in the Royal Asiatic Society’s Journal for July 1898, and further notices on the subject are to be looked for in forthcoming numbers of the same, journal, and also (by Dr. Hoey) in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. It is hoped that the Government of India may support Mr. Peppé in further excavations in this evidently promising locality. THE Scientific American for June 9 gives the following interesting particulars of a specially built train used on the Baltimore and Ohio Railway ina series of experiments upon the atmospheric resistance to railroad trains. The trial train was made up of six passenger coaches, such as are used on suburban service. They were provided with four-wheeled trucks, 33-inch cast-iron wheels, and 33-inch journals, and the total weight, exclusive of engine and tender, was 325,500 pounds. In preparation for the test all external obstructions were removed from the train. The roofs of the cars were arched; the windows set out flush with the sides of the cars; and the sheathing was laid lengthwise instead of per- pendicularly as in other cars, The sheathing extended to within eight inches of the track and covered the trucks. Suitable openings permitted access to the axle boxes, and a sliding door led into the substructure at opposite sides of the car centre. When the cars were coupled, two diaphragms met and enclosed the space between the cars, from edge to edge of the roof line. The platform doors consisted of roller curtains which dropped to the steps and were flush with the sides. Flexible spring curtains completed the vestibule from the roof to the bottom of the car. When the train was coupled it presented the appearance of one long sinuous and flexible car. The tender was of peculiar construction, and continued the unbroken line from the engine cab to the baggage car, to which it was vestibuled. In its entire construction the train complied with the varied demands of practical operation. While the plans called for partial sheathing of the locomotive, it was decided to make the first tests with remodelled cars only, in order to prove how far the existing system of car construction is responsible for the atmospheric resistance of trains. The sheathed train, consisting of six cars and hauled by an engine weighing 57 tons, made the run of 40 miles from Baltimore to Washington in 37 minutes and 30 seconds. One mile was made in 40 seconds, and two miles in 81 seconds. From Beltville to College, a distance of 44 miles, the time was 3 minutes and 10 seconds, a sustained speed of 85 miles an hour. By far the most remarkable run, however, was from Annapolis Junction to Trinidad, a distance of 20°1 miles in 15 minutes and 20 seconds, at an average speed of 78°6 miles an hour. The first seven miles of this run was up a grade from 25 to 55 feet to the mile, and it was covered in a fraction over 6 minutes; while the last 5 miles on the down grade from Alexander Junction to Trinidad was covered in 2 minutes and 55 seconds, a speed of 102°8 miles an hour. The locomotive used has cylinders 20 x 24, with four coupled 78-inch drivers. The boiler carried 165 pounds of NO. 1600, VOL. 62] steam. With ordinary firing the steam never dropped below 160 pounds during the entire run. The best time previously made on the line was a few seconds less than 39 minutes, on which occasion the train consisted of four Pullman cars hauled by the company’s fastest and most powerful passenger engine, THE Report of the Kew Observatory Committee for the year 1899 has been published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society in the usual form. From January 1 last the Observatory was incorporated with the National Physical Laboratory, and will no doubt greatly extend its useful work. The Observatory Committee, as hitherto constituted, has ceased to exist, but the work of the Observatory will be carried on by the same staff as heretofore. During the past year the magnetic work is said to have been unusually onerous, as many colonial and foreign institutions have sent their instruments to the Observatory to be verified No very large magnetic disturbances were registered ; the mean Westerly Declination was 16° 57’. The electrograph has worked in a satisfactory manner during the year, and, with the sanction of the Meteorological Council, the records for a complete year have been lent to Mr. C. T. R. Wilson, of Cam- bridge, for investigation. The verification of instruments of all kinds amounted to over 22,000, a falling off of nearly 2400 as compared with the work of the previous year. A seismograph has been in regular operation during the year; a disturbance was particularly noticeable on September 10, THE dynamical principle of atmospheric circulation is treated by Prof. V. Bjerknes in the Aeteorologische Zeitschrift, 1900, iii., iv. Starting with the property that the circulation theorems of abstract hydrodynamics (according to which the circulation in any circuit formed by the same particles is constant) only hold good when the pressure is a function of the density alone, Prof. Bjerknes points out that in the atmosphere this condition is not satisfied owing to local differences both in the temperature and in the degree of moisture present in the air. Of these two causes a first seems to be the most important. The conception of — ‘* solenoids ” is then introduced, a solenoid being an elementary unit tube bounded by pairs of consecutive surfaces of equal volume and equal pressure respectively. The fundamental proposition in connection with circulation asserts that the rate of change of the circulation in any circuit is proportional to the number of solenids enclosed by that circuit. A number of diagrams are given representing the cases of land and sea breezes, trade-winds, local upward currents, hill and valley winds, cyclones and anticyclones. The omission to take ac- count of the extra complications arising from viscosity and ter- restrial rotation probably prevents these investigations from being utilised for calculations in connection with weather prediction ; and for this reason Prof. Bjerknes’ theory must be rather re- garded in the same light as other dynamical theories of physical phenomena, in which certain simplifications not occurring in nature are made in order to bring the calculations within the range of mathematical analysis. But it is only by the aid of such simplifications that order can be evolved out of the chaos of statistics furnished by the experimentalist. AN account of the seismological observatory of Quarto, near Florence, together with the observations of more than 170 earthquakes made during the meteoric year 1899 (November 1, 1898-October 31, 1899), is published by the director, Mr. D. R. Stiattesi, in the first Bollettin» Sismografico of the ob- servatory. Through the generosity of Count G. Bastogi, of Florence, this must be one of the most completely equipped observatories in Italy. It contains two Vicentini microseismo-, — graphs (one with a mass of 500 kg. and a length of 9°28 metres), a pair of horizontal pendulums with mechanical registration, and © a pair of geodynamic levels, besides a large number of seismo- scopes and tromometers, all of Italian design. JUNE 28, 1900] NATURE 20I _ In the June number of the Zoologist, Mr. A. H. Meiklejohn raises the question as to the manner in which the cuckoo carries her egg when about to deposit it in the nest of the bird selected to act as foster-mother. It is commonly supposed that the egg _ is carried in the beak, and in Prof. Newton’s edition of ‘* Yar- tell” several instances are quoted where observers state they have actually seen the modus oferandi. Mr. Meiklejohn, who was fortunate enough to observe a cuckoo in the act of deposit- its egg in a robin’s nest, is, however, of opinion that the throat of the bird serves as the receptacle for the egg. He states that (1) the cuckoo was constantly opening her mouth during a encounter with the robins ; (2) that the egg was cer- not laid in the ordinary way in the nest ; (3) that the egg was slightly moist and sticky ; (4) that the throat of the bird d a slightly distended appearance, which might well been due to the presence of the egg. It will be interesting to jote what his fellow-ornithologists think of the author's anation of the mystery. American laboratories it appears that the place of the com- y is largely taken by the furrowed salamander (Mecturus is), which forms the general subject for anatomical in- on. Mr. W. S. Miller, assistant professor of anatomy Wisconsin laboratory, has accordingly undertaken to in detail the anatomy of this amphibian, and papers on vascular system and brain appear in the latest issue of m of the University. The author calls attention to amount of individual variation which occurs in the ag of Mecturus. unication to the latest issue of the Proceedings of le vig Academy, Mr. Witmer Stone shows that the of eider-duck, as well as the ned: breasted mer- vale mallard after the breeding season. As in the ee this plumage lasts only during the time fei its dull coloration is doubtless for the pur- g them as inconspicuous as possible during this rT “of this temporary dress, like those of the first of all birds, are very inferior in their structure. The iting plumage of the king-eider has hitherto been considered ordinary dress of immature birds. paper on mosquitoes, by Mr. W. R. Colledge, which in vol. xv. of the P,oceedings of the Royal Society of nd, the author states that he has succeeded in keeping he Hnbests alive for three weeks, and that Dr. J. Ban- has had some in captivity for eighty or ninety days. bly their ordinary full term of existence is three months. where the application of kerosene is inconvenient, the ction of a few minnows into the ponds or pools in which ed will speedily lead to the destruction of the larvze and origin and formation o. the Red Sea are discussed brief article by M. A. Issel (Bull. Soc. Belge de Géol., ‘xiii, April). Following Suess, he considers that the ne conditions of the Arabic depression (‘* Lacus us?) were probably determined in late Miocene times. intains that then, or early in Pliocene times, the Nile, a river than it now is, emptied its waters directly into lake, the outlet being an immense waterfall. Even in times the Nile continued to send a portion of its into the Red Sea, although it had meanwhile formed outlets into the Mediterranean area. Traces of this former tile connection are furnished in the actual faunas of the two NO. 1600, VOL. 62] ioceneé seas, The opening of the Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb was caused after a period of volcanic activity, the eruptions being succeeded by subsidence and by erosion of the barrier which separated the Red Sea from the Indian Ocean. It is remarked that the opening of the Suez Canal has sensibly affected the distribution of some forms of life. IN a paper on the fruiting of the blue flag, or Iris, published in the May number of the American Naturalist, Prof. J. G. Needham shows that, in addition to the bees by which they are fertilised, the flowers of this plant are visited by a number of insects of other kinds. The visits of these latter appear for the most part to have been hitherto noticed ; and as many of these illicit visitors are of no use for the purpose of fertilisation, the ill- adapted ones are, according to the author, habitually deceived by the flower itself as to its proper entrance. Of the various visitors, two small bees of the genera C/isodon and Osmia were thoroughly at home in the flower, alighting at the entrance and passing immediately down the narrow passage leading into the nectary, and as quickly emerging and flying off. On the other hand, numerous kinds of Syrphid flies spent a much longer time on the flower, which many of them visited only for pollen, Other visitors were certain small flower-beetles and weevils, which never by any chance succeeded in reaching the nectary. Two interesting lectures by Prof. D. T. MacDougal, delivered at the Woods Holl Marine Biological Laboratory, are reprinted from the Budletin of the New York Botanic Garden. In his address on the ‘‘ Significance of Mycorhizas” a general sum- mary is given of our present knowledge of the occurrence of these organisms, both endotropic and ectotropic. All known species of mycorhizal fungi are stated to belong to the families Oomycetes, Pyrenomycetes, Hymenomycetes, and Gasteromy- cetes ; and it is suggested that their further study and identification may result in a considerable increase in our knowledge of the physiology of vegetable life ; and that their culture may not be without importance in the nutrition of a number of perennial flowering plants. The lecture on the ‘‘ Influence of inversions of temperature, ascending and descending currents of air, upon distribution ” is devoted to an explanation of the distribution of the flora in the United States, especially in the region of the great cafions. APPENDIX III. tor 1900 of the Kew Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information is entirely occupied with a list of the additions to the Library of the Royal Botanic Gardens, made during the year 1899 Tue West Indian Bulletin, vol. i. No. 3, published in Barbados, contains the completion of the report on the papers read at the Agricultural Conference held in that island, and ot the discussions arising out of them. THE last two parts which have reached us of Engler’s Botanische Jahrbiicher (vol. xxviii. Hefts 1 and 3) are occupied entirely with the useful description and systematic papers which form so conspicuous a character of the work. Among those re- lating to flowering plants are the following, or instalments of them :—Composite of Ecuador, by Hieronymus; The flora of Central America, by Loesener; Classification of the Caly- ceracee, by Reiche; Revision of the genus Lénnaea, by Graebner ; African Verbenacee, Borraginez, and Labiate, by Giirke ; 7Zriplochiton, a new genus of Malvales from the Cameroons, constituting the type of a new family, Triplo- chitonaceze, by Schumann; Report of the botanical results of the Nyassa Lake Expedition, by the Editor, Herr Hennings and Dietel furnish respectively instalments of their papers on the Fungi and on the Uredinez of Tapan. 202 NATURE [JUNE 28, 1900 WE have received a number of papers by different officers of the Observatory of Catania. Most of these we have noticed on their first appearance. Among the others, we may mention a valuable memoir, by Mr. S. Arcidiacono, on the eruptive period of Etna from July 19 to August 5, 1899, in which he points out the approximate coincidence of the great explosion on the former day with the total cessation of the flow of lava in Vesuvius and a strong earthquake in Latium, and also an interesting account of the history of the observatories of Catania and Etna. THE Mitthetlungen aus dem Roemer-Museum, Hildesheim (No. 11, April 19), includes a paper, by Mr. A. R. Grote, on the phylogeny of the families of butterflies, with a genealogical tree. It is a continuation and amplification of previous papers on the same subject, published by the author in Germany and America, and is mainly based on neuration. Like many authors, Mr. Grote divides the butterflies into two main super- families, Papilionides and Hesperiades; but it will surprise many entomologists to find that all the butterflies except the true Papilionidze are referred to the Hesperiades. A NEw journal has been started in Berlin, the first number of which bears the title ‘‘ en et Museum,” while in the second number the words ‘‘et Clinicum” are added. The journal is to be of an international character, and includes articles and notes in English, French and German. The title of the journal is sufficiently suggestive in itself of the contents, which comprise descriptions of new apparatus and reagents, methods of preparation, notices of new books, obituary notices, and lists of trade catalogues, of which the publishers will send copies on application. Dr. FRANCESCO FossATI has published in the J/emorie del R. Istituto Lombardo a bibliography of the writings of Volta. Several such lis ts have already been published: one in 1813 by Prof. Configliachi, containing the titles of forty-four works ; one in 1877 by Prof. Pietro Riccardi, containing sixty titles ; while the collection procured by Antinori in 1816 con- tained sixty-seven writings. The present bibliography is partly the outcome of a suggestion made by Prof. Alessandro Volta, junr., at the Como Electrical Congress last year, and it contains the titles of 231 writings. In the current number of the Berichte (p. 1569) Baeyer and Villiger describe some of the properties of the new hydride of benzeylsuperoxide, C;H,CO O.OH. by the action of sodium ethylate upon benzoylsuperoxide, C,11;CO.0.0.CO.C,;H; + NaOC,H; =C,H;CO.O0.ONa + C,H;CO.OC,H;. The sodium salt of the new compound is formed together with ethyl benzoate. The ethyl benzoate is removed with ether, and the hydride of benzylsuperoxide separated by acidifying and extracting with chloroform. On distilling the chloroform, the hydride remains as a colourless crystalline mass, which melts at 41-43°. It is very soluble in the ordinary solvents, with the exception of benzene. The smell is penetrating and pungent, resembling, in the dilute state, hypochlorous acid, but not ozone. In its oxidising action on potassium iodide or aniline, and in its reducing action on permanganate, it stands midway between hydrogen peroxide and Caro’s reagent (potass- ium persulphate dissolved in concentrated sulphuric acid), _ With benzoyl chloride it forms benzoylsuperoxide ; with acetic anhydride, benzoylacetylsuperoxide. The oxidation of benzalde- hyde to benzoic acid by exposure to air is shown to be due to he agency of this new compound, C,H;COH + O,=C,H;CO.O.0H C,H;CO.0.0H +C,H;COH =2C,II;.COOH, which is formed as an intermediate product. NO. 1 600, VOL. 62] The substance is obtained THE additions to the Zoological Society’s Gardens during the past week include a Smooth-headed Capuchin (Cebus monachus) — from South-east Brazil, presented by Mr. F. Wallace ; an Indian Desert Fox (Cavs /eucopus) from Persia, presented by Captain D, J. Leiper; a Small Hill Mynah (Gracula religiosa) from India, presented by Captain R. York Heriz, R.N. ; two Yellow- bellied Liothrix (Zéothrix luteus) from India, presented by Miss Petrocochino ; a Cockateel (Calopsittacus novae hollandiae) from Australia, presented by Mrs. Harry Blades; four Ring- necked Parrakeets (Palacornts torquatus) from India, presented by Mr. J. M. G. Bate; three Chaplain Crows (Corvus capel- Janus) from Southern Persia, presented by Mr. B. T. Ffinch; two Green Lizards (Lacerta viridis), four Viperine Snakes ( Zropedonotus viperinus), a Smooth Snake (Coronella austriaca), two Marbled Newts (Ao/ge marmorata), European, presented by the Rev. F. W. Haines; an Ourang-outang (Simia satyrus, 8) from Borneo, five Mole Rats (Sfa/ax sp. inc. ) from East Africa, a Grey Parrot ( Pstttacus erithacus) from West Africa, a Yellow-cheeked Amazon (Chrysotis autumnaiis) from Honduras, nine Mountain Witch Ground Doves (Geotrygon — cristata) from Jamaica, a Hocheur Monkey (Cercopithecus nictitans) from West Africa, seven Brazilian Tortoises ( Zestudo tabulata) from South America, five American Box Tortoises (Czstudo carolina) from North America, deposited; two Peba Armadillos ( Zatusia peba) from South America ; three Spotted Owls (Athene brama) from Madras; three White-throated Finches (Stermophila albogularis) from Brazil, a Thick-billed Seed Finch (Oryzoborus crassirostris) from South America, a White-eared Conure (Pyrrhura dencotis) from Brazil, a Logger- head Turtle (Zhalassochelys caretta) from the Tropical Seas, purchased ; two Burrhel Wild Sheep (Ovés burrhel), a Thar (Hemitragus enlaicus), born in the Gardens ; two Pied Mynahs ( Sturnopastor contra), bred in the Gardens. OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. ASTRONOMICAL OCCURRENCES IN JULY. July 3. 8b. om. togh. 11m. B.A.C. 4006 (mag. STi by the moon. 4. th. Mercury at greatest elongation (26° 2’ east). 5. Jupitér in rag ace with 8 Scorpii. 8. Ith. 24m. to 1th. 54m. 8 Scorpii (mag. 2°5) oceulted by the moon. 8. 13h. Jupiter 1° 35’ north of the moon. \ 9. 10h. 50m. to12h. 2m. 24 Ophiuchi(mag. 5 6) oceulted by the moon. 9. Pallas in opposition to the sun. fe) 33 Sagittarii (ea: 6'0) & Sagittarii (mag. 3°5) oc- 1oh. 18m. to 1th, om. occulted by the moon, Io. 12h. 19m. to 13h. 18m. culted by the moon. Io, 16h, Saturn 0° 48’ south of the moon. : 14. 9h. 43m. to 1oh. 17m, c! Capricorni (mag. 5°2) oc- culted by the moon. 15. Venus. Liluminated portion of disc, = o-o18. Mars s Gs 15. 8h. 29m. to gh. 21m. by the moon. I5.. Ioh, 11m. Minimum of Algol (6 Persei). 16. 11h, 3m. 1rh. 42m. 16 Piscium (mag. 5°6) occulted by the moon, 21. 13h, 2m, to 13h. 52m. by the moon. 21. 14h. 53m. to 15h, 12m. occulted by the moon. 25. _ Giacobini’s comet situated close to a Cygni. 28. Epoch of the Aquarid meteoric shower (Radiant 340° — 12°). 31. Ceres in opposition to the sun. THE Next ToraL EcLipsE OF THE SUN.—We have re- cently received Nautical Almanac Circular No. 18, issued under the superintendence of Dr. Downing. « Aquarii (mag. 5°5) occulted 53 Tauri (mag. 5°5) occulted D.M. + 20°, 751 (mag. 59) ae This pamphlet NATURE 203 June 28, 1900] contains the local particulars of the next total eclipse of the sun, hich takes place on May 17, 1901. From inquiries which have been made, it appears that the positions selected in the eastern portion of the shadow track are those which are most easily accessible. These are all situated in the Malay Archipe- lago, with the exception of Mauritius. The durations of totality the various stations recommended are as follow :— : Duration of Long Lat. Totality. = + Py 4 m. Ss. 57 33°2E 20 6S 3 35 100 20°5 0 58 6 14 109 20 I 5 40 II 3 41 4 15 ave SS 7 9 28 5 Sp.29 : elements on which the computations are based are those ved in the Nautical A/manac for 1901. A map of the jis included in the circular, by the aid of which other than those specified may be selected if desired. r REcorDs oF MeTEoR SHOWERS.—In his report year 1899, M. D. Eginitis, director of the Athens y, gives a short account of some ancient records of ers which appear to be suggestively consistent with nts of several conspicuous showers of present times. ‘was mentioned by the patriarch Nicéphore as lasting no exact date is given. From the historical state- however, M. Eginitis traces the epoch as the e year 752. This would suggest it being a shower des, and, in fact, counting from the conspicuous ds in 1852, 1872 and 1892, the twenty years onding to three periods of the comet, it is seen - 752 would be in such a series. He thus considers of 752 to have been a Bielid shower of Andro- rs previously to this, in 745, the appearance of a was recorded by Théophane ead Céd nos. e, however, that the showers of 1852 and later are not Same swarm as the shower of 752, but that they are ts of slow but continual disintegration of the comet. ees in Cédrinos describes a shower in 558, also in the autumn. Apparently connected with this is n of a comet in 518, the interval being almost six periodic time of Biela’s comet, so that here there evidence of a second series of showers, connected comet by similarity of period, but occurring at pochs from the first series mentioned. The modern 1798 and 1838 would fall in this second group. ne in 763 and Domno Alberico in 1122 record falls Stars in the month of April, and these would corre- > present showers of Lyrid meteors. chronicled in April 1094 by Alberico cannot be at ted with any known radiant. UNIVERSITY} Il. ‘constitution of the new University of Birmingham is on the simplest and broadest lines, and appears to offer scope feat developments in the future, some of which can hardly yreseen at the present time. 1¢ movement for the foundation of a university arose out of ason Science College, founded by Sir Josiah Mason in ; _* quarter of a century ago ; though it was not till five ars that the college was open to receive students. In 92 an amalgamation was effected with the Queen’s College aculty of Medicine, and in 1897 the whole was incorporated as body under the Mason University College Act. The Senate of twenty-seven members, and there are a large number _and demonstrators ; but that it should have already veloped into a university is a very remarkable fact, and a h of great enterprise and energy on the part of the community which the college has done its work ; indeed, it is un- ' that this rapid development could have taken place unless been fortunate enough to secure the interest and personal of a prominent Minister of the Crown. 4 Continued from p. 186, _ NO. 1600, VOL. 62} _ A MODERN bt The Faculties of the University already provided for are science, arts, medicine and commerce, but provision is made for the addition of other faculties by Statute later on. Each faculty holds its own meetings, and is presided over by its elected dean. The assemblage o1 professors constitutes the ‘‘ Senate,” as usual. The ‘‘ Council,” or acting governing body under the Court, consists of the deans of the faculties, five nominees of the Birmingham City Council, twelve members appointed by the Court of Governors, and lastly of the chief officials of the University, z.e. the Chancellor, the Vice-chancellor, the Pro- Vice-Chancellor, the Treasurer, the Principal, and the Vice- Principal. The Court of Governors is a very widely repre- sentative body, consisting of all the chief officials in the neigh- bourhood of Birmingham, the head-masters of the principak schools, ten of the Members of Parliament for the boroughs and counties in the Midland district, a nominee of each of the other English Universities (including the University of Wales), a member from each of the Midland County Councils, five nomi- nees by the Birmingham City Council, certain named life governors and donors of certain sums, all the professors of the University, six persons elected by the Guild of Graduates, three by the Guild of Undergraduates, and eleven members appointed by the voluntary elementary schools of the neighbourhood. It is hardly possible to imagine a wider basis of representation than the one adopted for the Court of Governors of this University. Among the executive officers there is to be a Secretary, and also a Registrar appointed by the Council ; the Vice-Principal and one of the deans, 7.¢. the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, are likewise to be appointed by the Council. There is to be a Principal appointed by the Crown; there is also to be a Vice- Chancellor elected by the Court of Governors, and there is to be a Chancellor ; the first Chancellor being the Right Hon. on Chamberlain, and the first Vice-Principal Prof. R. S. eath. » Concerning the objects to which all this machinery will be applied, no doubt a good deal will at the beginning be conducted on lines with which we are more or less familiar, though there appears to be no desire to imitate other universities, but rather a hope that it may be possible to strike out on a new line, and develop a broad system of national education suited to modern times, and to the practical requirements of life in an active city of the British Empire. To this end a committee of inquiry was formed, and a depu- tation sent to various colleges and universities, chiefly in the United States and Canada, in order to study what was going on there. This body reported to the management committee con- nected with the establishment of the University of Birmingham, and their report constitutes an important and informing docu- ment. In it they say that :— ‘** Their object has bzen the teaching of science in its appli- cation to industry, and in the first place to the industries of the city and district, coupled with such technical instruction in handicrafts as will enable the students to complete their course in-the university itself.” They classify the industries of the district.as follows :—mining, oe a engineering, and chemical trades, and no n-metallic tr: es. They recommend that there shall be chairs of mining, metallurgy, engineering, and applied chemistry. They further recommend that the’ students should be put through a very thorough course, consisting largely no doubt of a study of mathematics, physics, pure chemistry, and geology, as taught at present, but finishing with a specifically technical course, making it four years in all. A shorter course would likewise be permissible, but it appears would not lead to a degree. _They say the students should be divided into two classes, viz. :— (1) ** Those taking a four-years’ course in mechanical (includ- ing electrical), civil or mining engineering, metallurgy or applied chemistry, who would study for a master’s degree in their respective subjects. At the conclusion of this course facilities would be offered for further study and research to those who could give the time or should wish to proceed to the doctor’s degree.” (2) ‘* Those taking a course of from one to three years in any of the above subjects, with a view to the practical application of the teaching to a particular industry. With such students, less time could be devoted to theory, as attention would have to 204 NATURE [JUNE 28, 1900, be concentrated on methods and results. Their work in these courses would be recognised by class certificates.” ; In addition to the professor of each technical subject there will be an assistant-professor and several instructors, each competent in a particular branch. ee : , They indicate a block plan for the buildings required, their size and their suggested arrangement. These plans suppose a front of two storeys, containing the lecture rooms, library, museum, &c., and at the back a series of blocks, all on the ground floor, and intended for the various laboratories and workrooms which have been described in the report. These could be built to provide accommodation in the first instance for 200 day students, increasing afterwards to 500. _ \ ‘‘The space occupied by these buildings, including the necessary yards and roads, a gymnasium, a director’s house, and rooms for a caretaker, is about six acres. In view of the future of the university, a total area of not less than twenty-five acres should be provided.” The committee recommend that this land be taken in the outskirts of the city on a main line of, by preference, both rail and road, and they estimate the complete cost as follows :— Twenty-five acres of land and buildings 80,000/, Machinery, apparatus, and instruments 66,000 Fittings, utensils, lighting, and heating 5,000 Technical library ... sie vat 1,500 Museum ve os sid 500 Director’s house 2,000 Total . 155,000/. They estimate the cost of maintenance (including the staff) at 10,4507, per annum. : Thus the scheme is a very large one, but it is estimated that the fees from students will ultimately do a good deal towards covering the cost of maintenance. The committee do not advise night classes, and in this we think they are wise; they consider that the already existing municipal technical school either does provide or might provide for the need these night classes are intended to meet, and they are sure that the curriculum they propose will absorb all the energies of the teaching staff when employed in the daytime only. They do not clearly indicate the training they propose for mining engineers, but for mechanical, electrical, and civil, they draw up a course the same in the first two years; in the third year the mechanical and electrical branch off on the one hand, and the civil on the other, while in the fourth year there is more specialisation, but not much distinction drawn even then between mechanical and electrical. So far, the lines indicated are not very different from what is becoming customary, but they propose to attempt a Faculty of Commerce. Now the establishment of a great commercial school on serious lines is anew experiment, and has not yet been, successfully tried anywhere. They propose a capital expendi- ture of 6000/7. on class-room accommodation, together with books and apparatus, and an annual expenditure of 2200/. on a professor, an assistant professor, an instructor, and some special lecturers. We think that they will find that the addition of certain other chairs will be essential if a commercial faculty is to take its proper position, especially political economy and geography, probably law also. We do not see that any provision has been made for these three subjects. We regard a thorough course in political economy as essential to the well-being of a commercial faculty; and geography, treated completely, we regard as a much more important subject than the committee at present seem to realise. The advisory committee enter further into the difficult question of commercial education. They say that modern languages should be learnt when quite young ; which indeed is very true, but it seems to us a counsel of perfection. In practice we feel sure that modern languages would certainly have to form a con- siderable part of a scheme for commercial education. Commercial arithmetic, they say, does not go far enough ; and that also is extremely probable; but a training in elemen- tary mathematics, beyond the immediately practical stage, would be of great advantage to the commercial man in many indirect ways. : As to geography, the committee think that the information is best obtained as wanted from books of reference and consulta- tion with one of the touring agencies; but in this we entirely NO. 1600, VOL. 62] differ from them. To make proper use of books of reference . some previous knowledge of the subject is necessary ; and the earth, especially the portion accessible to trade, is not so big but that an adequate knowledge concerning its chief features should be acquired and possessed by a competent man of business, without having to refer constantly to others. The committee, however, go on to recommend that, in addi- tion to these things, instruction shall be provided in business organisation, the theory and principles of trade unions, associa- tions, trusts, combinations and rings ; that instruction shall be given in commercial law, likewise in accountancy, in shipping and railway practice, and in banking and exchange ; bee they say very wisely that ‘‘ such knowledge as the foregoing is what is required in business, and is usually only learnt bit by bit at a heavy cost, so that the man of business has generally reached the limits of his working life before he has completed his com- mercial education, and owing to the want of a codified system business men continue from generation to generation to renew the mistakes of their predecessors, and to repeat their experi-. ments, and after much tribulation to re-arrive at their methods, their rules and their conclusions.” : They further indicate that this commercial education is not to be taken as a substitute for a more general education, but is to be a supplement to it. They say, ‘‘ Students in the commercial education course should not be allowed to enter at too early an age. Twenty is quite early enough; and it would be most de- sirable that they should have taken a degree in Arts before studying for the commercial degree, and certainly the highes' commercial degree should only be given to those already in possession of an Arts degree.” Rae : They hope (again in this case) that the fees from students may make it largely self-supporting, but we incline to think that they estimate the fees from students too highly. _ If they fix the’ fee for each student at 50/. a year, we fear that the expense will | exclude a considerable number of those who might otherwise derive special benefit from the course proposed. They realise that this attempt at a thorough commercial education is a new experiment, and one which, if successful, | may have most important consequences on the commercial | future of the country, and they conclude as follows :— ‘There is no instance elsewhere of any course at once so complete and so valuable; there is not even, so far as your committee know, any university in the United Kingdom where there is a separate Faculty of Commerce, and as there has not yet been any effort to treat the subject with the thoroughness now proposed, so there is no means of estimating the extent to which advantage would be taken of such teaching. — Your committee, however, point to the fact that a Faculty of Commerce so organised and based on the actualities of business experience, would at the present moment stand alone, and, would therefore attract to the Birmingham University all who | feel the need of such an education, and would also to a much © greater extent create a new demand.” There is no doubt, however, that the Arts Faculty in general requires strengthening in many ways, the addition of new chairs being one of them ; and unless this is done as soon as opportunity offers, the scientific and technical training proposed will not acquire its proper university status. The training of the students must not be limited to their immediate fancied needs ; neither students nor their parents are the best judges of what is in the long run really desirable. A much broader training must be given in the university of the future than has been given in the university of the past. Depth without breadth has been the feature of some Honours schools ; shallowness with athletics has been the feature of some Pass schools. The university of the future must mend all this, and secure that all its graduates without exception have had a broad training-in many subjects—subjects lying in different departments of human knowledge ; so that they may be really educated and not merely informed. As to the depth possible, that will vary with individual powers, and the standard must not be made impossible for the average man ; but to give the average man a training in some highly specialised practical department, and then turn him out on the world as a university graduate, is not what we expect or hope for from the new university. Such students there will be, doubtless, and they may well receive special diplomas | each in his own branch, but they should not be graduates. Some other students there will be, who, in addition toa broad and liberal culture, have the power of going deeply into some one sub‘ect, and these should receive degrees with honour ; — ° wy : JuNE 28, 1900] NATURE 205 but both these classes will be exceptional. For the average man a broad training in many subjects, well taught and under _ the most favourable conditions, is what is wanted, in order to leave him adaptable and efficient in the subsequent uncertain __ealls of actual life ; and such men should constitute the bulk of _ the pass graduates, and be the backbone of the new scheme. Annexed to the report is an account of the visit of the committee’s deputation to American and Canadian Universities, and the information thus obtained and summarised is of the greatest interest and importance. _ A deputation of the Advisory Committee of the University of i m paid a visit to colleges and universities in the United States and Canada at the end of last year, on the sugges- tion of Mr. Carnegie, who, it is understood, is willing to provide ; a0 eco sum for the establishment of an adequate scientific _ and technical college on this side of the Atlantic. An appendix to the committee’s report contains a statement of the condition uirs which found in America. find that ‘*almost the whole of the students enter on a four-year course of instruction with a view to graduation. student on entrance is required either to pass an examina- to present satisfactory evidence that he is qualified to ‘the course on which he enters. The entrance examina- = not very different, as a rule, from the matriculation examination of the University of London. It is more advanced — in math ics, but probably easier on the literary side.” r session ranges between thirty-three and thirty- s; but outside this there are summer excursion classes, er workshop classes usually of about one month. remarkable difference they find in the system of With us, college lectures form a connected course, ensing with the necessity of a text-book, except for x and extending information. It has often seemed n lectures are perfectly right if the student already ows the subject ; it then systematises and organises pee erosses his knowledge ; but if, as too often student comes to the lecture-room ignorant of the ¢ cannot derive proper benefit from a course of he cannot discriminate between the essential and the vely unessential ; he cannot without practice watch ts and take notes at the same time ; he cannot always attention fixed: we have noticed that students who y been to a British secondary school, one of the large ls or indeed. any other, cannot as a rule keep their long fixed on anything. There are exceptional id there are exceptional schools; but as a rule what y learn in class work at school is a habit of inattention ! on, the average procedure in class being too the quicker boys, too rapid for the slower ones, and too _ This habit of inattention, once firmly acquired, h them through the first year and sometimes through year of their college life, and they are all the time a to any who wish to get on, and who are becoming = te realise some of the responsibilities and opportunities O a ‘ ; or sana 3 lectures in America it would appear that ‘‘a ‘amount of home preparation and work is meined, The ent is expected to read up in a text-book the subject ter of the lectures beforehand, the lectures in many cases of exposition and experimental illustration of the text- ecitation classes are held in connection with each which individual students are questioned on the text- , or asked to demonstrate on the blackboard the rest of the class.” rary studies are not wholly neglected by the students of 2, nor is attention to them confined to the needs of the ce examination. In addition to the requirements of the examination in languages, grammar, and history, a amount of time is given by the science students, especially two years, to what appear to be often called ‘‘ culture s,” such as literature, composition and rhetoric, history, al economy, French and German. But the most important and much-to-be-imitated portion of the adopted in America, is that whereby the credit given for 2s not depend solely on a concluding examination, but e really to represent the aggregate work of the whole There is a Paper examination, and that is quite right, is eminently desirable that a student should be able to s what he knows accurately and on demand. Quite half credit ought to be awarded to this faculty, but not all; the NO. 1600, VOL. 62] remaining half should be awarded for work in class-room and laboratory. In the States there are no practical examinations as with us. Proficiency in laboratory work is accredited by assigning marks for attendance and for excellence of laboratory and manual work throughout the session. We believe that this system is very successfully in force at such places as the City Guilds Central Technical College at South Kensington, but we have not yet heard of its much to be desired introduction into universities in this country. There is no doubt that it would have the best . effect on both student and demonstrator ; and it would have the further advantage that the troublesome practical examinations, especially those in the senior stage, when they become rather farcical, could be dispensed with. Another desirable innovation is thus expressed :—‘‘ The right of dismissal at any stage is maintained and used. Any student who shows that he is unable or unwilling to keep up with the work is excluded by the Faculty from the graduation course. He may be allowed to take on special courses, but usually he is dismissed from the institution. The system has been devised to keep, and succeeds in keeping, the students continuously at work, and the result of the process of exclusion in the earlier stages is that nearly the whole of the final classes are successful in graduating.” ; One of the most important arrangements in America is the large provision made at some of the institutions for post-graduate work. Only a small proportion of students are able to spare time for it, but it is encouraged by affording every facility for’ study and research to the post-graduate ; and graduates from one institution frequently work as post-graduates at another. This system of interchange between universities, which already ob- tains largely in Germarty, is surely to be desired in this country, especially in post-graduate stages, where specialisation naturally and properly sets in. Over-specialisation in undergraduate stages is, we believe, to be deprecated. A certain amount of general knowledge, both literary and scientific, is needed, and should be acquired by all. The committee found that in America the proportion of staff to students is much greater than with us ; and they further found —what is a matter of great importance—that the subdivision of subjects is, as in Germany, likewise carried much further; so that, for instance, every important branch of engineering has its own professor, with perhaps an assistant professor, and certainly with instructors ; and no attempt is made, as with us, to place the whole of a gigantic scientific subject in its higher stages under the control of one man. We observe that in the fundamental subjects of chemistry and physics the general laboratory arrangements and the scope of teaching appear to be much the same in America as in this country. The laboratories are, however, as a rule more spacious, the equipment in apparatus is on a larger scale, greater facilities are given for research, and the size of the laboratories allows most of the physical apparatus to be kept in position— different rooms being used for different subjects. In the more important laboratories many rooms are provided for original re- search, which is carried on by the staff and post-graduate students. At Cornell there is a special laboratory for physical chemistry, At several colleges there is a department of applied chemistry, through which all students pass who are graduating in chemistry. This is excellent, and tends to make the know- ledge much more real and practical. Chemicals are made, in- stead of being merely purchased ; ‘‘the course is short, and generally consists in the production of pure chemicals from com- mercial articles on a scale in which many kilogrammes are dealt with. The processes are made to resemble, as far as possible, those of manufacturing practice.” In civil engineering we observe that ‘‘ the work in surveying is very thorough, and includes field work throughout the year, together with a summer course. There is usually an extensive stock of theodolites, levels, and chains, so that each student in the field has his own instrument. During the two last years particular attention is devoted to bridge construction, the student preparing complete drawings and stress sheets in ac- cordance with the practice of the leading railway companies.” Less hostile feeling to academically bred apprentices would be felt in this country if these practical features could be imitated. In mining engineering, a summer excursion class is sometimes formed to spend some weeks in a mining district, where facili- ties are given t» inspect the actual processes of mining. Great importance is assigned to engineering-laboratory work, 206 NATURE | JUNE 28, 1900 and the whole ground of the engineering lectures is provided for in the equipment of the laboratories. The machines are large in number and in capacity, so that every student performs ex- periments on an adequate scale. The work is chiefly pursued in the third and fourth years, and occupies from four to six hours weekly. In some laboratories there are full-size locomotives mounted, so that running tests can be made, and special courses are arranged for those who wish to take up the mechanical side of railway practice. Facilities are given by the railroad com- panies for testing under the conditions of actual running. The shops gave the impression of being thoroughly practi- cal, and on such a scale that the knowledge acquired there by the student would be of use in his subsequent professional life. The greater size of the Continent is, perhaps, partially re- sponsible for the following paragraph in the committee’s report, although really if education were properly appreciated in this country, our island is large enough for us to follow the ex- ample. The paragraph we refer to looks very attractive to those whose work in this country lies in colleges cramped in the middle of great cities. It runs as follows :— ‘*We were very much struck with the amount of ground occupied by the colleges, each building standing in its own grounds, so that it is well lighted on every side. Usually there is a large entrance hall, a fine staircase, and wide corridors lead- ing to class-rooms and laboratories. The floor space in the laboratories is generally very much greater than with us. The apparatus, instead of being huddled away in dark corners, is set out and classified as if for exhibition, ;while the machinery ° occupies a space worthy of its impdértance.” We observe also that every college possesses departmental libraries and reading-rooms available for the students, in addi- tion to the large central library and reading-room. The social aspect of university life is not forgotten, and the following glorified edition of a student’s union is well worthy of imitation :— ‘© The University of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia possesses in Houston Hall a fine building given to the University by an old graduate, in memory of his son, who was also a graduate. It is a club-house for the students, any student becoming a member for two dollars per annum. In the building are reading, billiard and smoking rooms, a luncheon-room, a gymnasium, a swim- ming bath, and rooms for college societies. The hall is entirely and very well managed by the students. It is re- garded by the staff as having a most excellent influence on student life.” ‘ In concluding this part of the general report of their American visit, the committee make a well-deserved comment, which we will presently quote, for nothing more splendid in the direction of educational endowment has been seen in our times than the magnificent sums which wealthy American citizens are willing to place at the disposal of university authorities. They do, in- deed, realise, as we do not, or at least have not yet, the immense, the super-eminent, importance of real education and kno-wledge,- to a country and an empire which has to hold its own against ever-increasing competition, and constantly to make its way in fresh uncivilised regions. The following are the concluding general remarks :— : ‘‘We desire to express our admiration alike for the high ideal of scientific education, which is the aim in American uni- versities, and for the enthusiasm in all classes which renders it possible to approach so near that ideal. Everywhere we found evidence that the wealthier citizens realise the importance of university education, and encourage the universities by generous gifts ; and everywhere, both by teachers and by students, these gifts are being used for higher learning and research.” THIRD INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON A CATALOGUE OF SCIENTIFIC LITERA- TURE, LONDON, JUNE 1900. List oF DELEGATES APPOINTED TO ATTEND THE CONFERENCE. Austria.— Prof. E. Weiss (Kaiserliche Akademie der Wissen- schaften, Vienna) ; Prof. Karl Toldt (Universitat, Vienna). France.—Prot. G. Darboux (Membre de l'Institut de France) ; Dr. J. Deniker (Bibliothécaire du Museum d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris); Prof. H. Poincaré (Membre de |’Institut de France). Germany.— Prof. Dr. F, Klein (Geheimer Regierungs-Rath, NO. 1600, VOL. 62] Universitat, Géttingen); Prof. Dr. B. Schwalbe (Direktor, Real-Gymnasium, Berlin); Dr. F. Milkau (Oberbibliothekar, Universitat, Berlin). Greece. —Mons. de Metaxas (Chargé d’ Affaires for Greece). Hungary.—Dr. August Heller (Bibliothekar, Ungarische Akademie, Buda-Pesth) ; Dr. Theodore Duka (Hon. Member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences). /taiy.—Prof. Giacomo Ciamician (R. Universita, Bologna) ; Prof. Raffaelo Nasini (R. Universita, Padua). Japan.—Prof. Einosuke Yamaguchi (Imperial University of Kioto). ’ Mexico.—Sefior Don Francisco del Paso y Troncoso, — : Norway.—Dr. Jorgen Brunchorst (Secretary, Bergenske Museum). Switzerlanc.—Dr. Jean Henri Graf (President, Commission de la Bibliothéque Nationale Suisse, Berne); Dr. Jean Ber- noulli (Librarian, Bibliothéque Nationale Suisse, Berne). __ United Kingdom.—Representing the Government; The Right Hon. Sir John E. Gorst, Q.C., M.P., F.R.S. (Vice-President of the Committee of Council on Education). Representing the Royal Society of London: Sir Michael Foster, K.C. B., Sec. R.S.; Prof. Arthur W. Riicker, Sec.R.S.; Prof. H. E. Arm- strong, F.R.S.; Sir J. Norman Lockyer, K.C.B., F.R.S, ; Dr. Ludwig Mond, F.R.S.; Dr. T. E. Thorpe, For.Sec.R S. - Cafe Colony.—Sir David Gill, K.C.B., F.R.S. ; Trimen, Esq., F.R.S. it Indza.—Lieut.-General Sir Richard Strachey, G.C.S.L, F.R.S.; Dr. W. T. Blanford, F.R.S, Natal,—Sir Walter Peace, K.C.M.G. (Agent-General for — Natal). eet. New Zealand.—The Hon. W. P. Reeves (Agent-General for. New Zealand). : Queensland.—The Hon. Sir Horace Tozer, K.C.M.G. (Agent- General for Queensland). ACTA. Opening Meeting, Tuesday, June 12, at the rooms of the Society of Antiguaries, at 10 o'clock. " (1) Prof. Darboux moved that Sir John E. Gorst be the President of the Conference. The motion having been carried unanimously— (2) Sir John Gorst took the chair and welcomed the delegates. i a: (3) On the motion of Sir M. Foster, seconded by Prof. Darboux, it was resolved that Dr.. F. Milkau be the sec y for the German language ; that Dr. Jean Bernoulli and Dr. J. Deniker be the secretaries for the French language ; that Prof. Giacomo Ciamician be the secretary for the Italian language 5 that Prof. H. E, Armstrong be the secretary for the language. : _(4) That the secretaries, with the help of shorthand reporters, be responsible for the frocés verbal of the proceedings of the Conference in their respective languages. : ; (5) Sir Michael Foster read out the names of delegates appointed to attend the Conference. ery (6) On the motion of Sir Michael Foster, it was resolved— (i.) That the meeting adjourn at I p.m., and meet again at 2.30 pm.; (ii) that on Wednesday, the meeting commence at II a.m. (7) On the motion of Sir Michael Foster, seconded by Prof. Riicker, it was resolved that English, French, German and Italian be the official languages ot the Conference, but that it shall be open for any delegate to address the Conference in any other language, provided that he supplies for the proces verbal of the Conference, a written translation of his remarks into one or other of the official languages. Si (8) Sir Michael Foster presented the Report of the Provisional International Committee, and it was resolved that the report be received. : vey (9) The following resolutions were then agreed to :—(i.) That the publication of a card catalogue be postponed for the present ; (ii.) that the book catalogue be at first issued only in the form of annual volumes, : ‘ (10) Sir Michael Foster having moved (iii.) that the catalogue include both an authors’ and a_ subject index, according to the scheme of the Provisional International Committee ; Prof. Riicker thereupon explained the financial position, and the delegates of the various countries stated to what extent they were authorised to promise contributions towards the expenses of the catalogue. From these statements it appeared that sub- scriptions to 163 sets of volumes (or their equivalent) of the June 28, 1900] NATURE 207 7 r} ; vais ° tied oi, > ea, to the value of £2,771, would be guaranteed, viz. as OWS :— & 45 sets equivalent to 765 - Germany ... Be * ‘United Kingdom See 45 » ” 29 765 nh France ses wee 35 ? ” ? 595 ety te y see ose eee 27 ” ? ” 459 _ Switzerland of pare Ne PP 3» 102 _ Norway _... ce Nee eee ua pas oh _ Other delegates estimated that the probable contributions from their countries would be :— f & 16 sets equivalent to 272 4 ” ” ? + 5 ” 29 9 5 5 ” 9 ” 85 is further estimated that the British Colonies and De- ould subscribe for at least 25 sets, equivalent to into account the subscriptions to be expected States, Russia, Holland, Sweden, and a number es, as well as the probability of outside sales, the e was of opinion that the necessary subscriptions to ost of 300 sets of the catalogue would be obtained. of the discussion the motion above set forth was y agreed to. e course cf the discussion, it was stated by dele- ibuted among public institutions, and that they private sale of the catalogue in addition. following motions, of which notice had been given s day, were considered and adopted :— lonference is of opinion that the financial prospects se are sufficiently satisfactory to warrant further i taken toward the publication of the catalogue, in > fact that the representatives of the various countries that the governments or corporations they repre- z to subscribe for the number of complete sets of cost stated in paragraph Io. e décide: que le cété financier de l’entreprise élucidé pour justifier les arrangements ultérieurs yur la publication du Catalogue, les représentants is pays ayant en effet déclaré que les gouvernements savants qu’ils représentent sont préts a souscrire au séries complétes du Catalogue, et aux prix indiqués s der von den Vertretern der verschiedenen Linder 2 Erk! , dass die durch sie vertretenen Linder aften entschlossen sind, auf die in § 10 angege- listindiger Exemplare zu dem ebenda festgesetzten subskribiren, gibt die Konferenz der Meinung Aus- die finanziellen Aussichten des Unternehmens avviso che avendo i rappresentanti dei L ¢ 0 che i governi 0 i corpi scientifici da loro i sono pronti a sottoscrivere nella misura indicata si pud ritenere l’impresa abbastanza soddisfacente dal io per autorizzare gli ulteriori passi che sono t la pubblicazione del catalogo. lat, ing the appointment of the International a P. International Committee be appointed shall be entrusted with the duty of approaching, through fal Society, such countries as may be necessary, with the taining their adhesion to the scheme for the publication 2 catalogue, or promises of financial support. Jue jusqu’a la constitution définitive du Conseil International, ‘comité international provisoire soit nommé. Ce comité sera gé de se mettre en rapport par l’intermédiaire de la Société ale, avec les personnes autorisées des différents pays, suivant écessités de la situation, afin d’obtenir de ces pays l’adhésion ‘appui financier a l’ceuvre du Catalogue. lass bis zur Einsetzung des /nuternational Council ein Pro- al International Committee ernannt wird, mit dem sich durch die Vermittelung der Royal Society mit Betracht kommenden Lindern in Verbindung zu setzen, ihrer Mitwirkung bei der Verdffentlichung des Katalogs NO. 1600. VOL. 62] zu versichern oder ihre Zusagen fiir finanzielle Unterstiitzung zu erwirken. Che sia nominato un comitato internazionale provvisorio sind. a che non sara costituito definitivamente il Consiglio Inter- nazionale. Questo comitato avra l’incarico di mettersi in comunicazione mediante la Royal Society con i diversi p.esi, secondo che sara necessario, per ottenere la loro adesion2 al progetto di pubblicazione del catalogo o la promassa del loro appoggio finanz ario. (c.) The said Provincial Committee is further authorised to make other preparations for the publicition of the catalogue, but without incurring financial responsibility. Inasmuch as it will be necessary for some one corporation to make the necessary contracts and undertake the final financial responsibilities, the Provincial Committee is authorised to iuclude among such preparations, negotiations either with the Royal Society, or with another corporation, or with a govern- ment, or with a publisher, bat the confirmation of all such preparations, and the carrying out of any final agreement or contract, shall rest with the International Council. Ce comité sera autorisé en plus a prendre d'autres mesures préliminaires en vue de la publication du Catalogue; mais il n’aura aucune responsabilité financiére. Comme il sera nécessaire, pour un corps constitué quelconque, de conclure des traités et d’encourir les responsabilités finan- ciéres définitives, le comité provisoire est autorisé 4 comprendre parmi les mesures préparatoires de ce genre, les négociations soit avec la Société Royale, soit avec un autre corps constitué, soit avec un gouvernement, soit avec un éditeur. Toutefois la confirmation de toutes ces mesures préparatoires, ainsi que larrangement financier définitif ou. conclusion d’un traité, doivent incomber au Conseil International. Das genannte Provisional Committee wird ferner beauftragt, andere Vorbereitungen zur Verdffentlichung des Katalogs zu treffen, ohne jedoch eine finanzielle Verantwortlichkeit ein- zugehen. Soweit es notwendig ist, dass eine Korporation die erfor- derlichen Vertrige abschliesst und die endgiiltige finanzielle Verantwortlichkeit iibernimmt, wird das Provisional Committee ermichtigt, derartige Vereinbarungen entweder mit der Royal Society oder mit einer anderen Korporation oder mit einer Regierung oder mit einem Verleger einzuleiten, indem die Bestatigung solcher Verhandlungen wie die Ausfiihrung der endgiiltigen Vereinbarungen dem International Council vorbe- halten bleibt. Questo comitato sara inoltre autorizzato a prendere altre misure preliminari per la pubblicazione del catalogo, senza avere tuttavia nessuna responsabilita finanziaria. E poiché é necessario per un corpv costituito di concludere dei contratti e d’assumere la responsabilita finanziarie definitive, cosi il comitato provvisorio é autorizzato ad includere nei lavori preparatori le trattative o colla Royal Society o con altre corporazioni o con un governo ocon un editore : mala conferma di queste trattative e l’approvazione finale del contratto sara riservata al Consiglio Internazionale. (13) The “‘Scheme for the Publication of an International Catalogue of Scientific Literature ” was then considered, and it was resolved— That Article I. be approved— Omitting the words in paragraph 5 on page 5, lines 9 and Io, “the limits of the several sciences to be determined hereafter,” and also the words, page 5, lines 27-29. That Article II. be approved— Omitting the words ‘‘the same . . in paragraph 10, page 7 ; dding Italian to the three languages mentioned in para- graphs 10 (a) and (4); Altering the word ‘“‘ delegate” to ‘‘contracting body (as hereinafter defined) ” in paragraph 10 (@) ; Omitting at the top of p. 8 the words within square brackets ; Omitting in paragraph 11, p. 8, the words within square brackets: ‘‘The . .. Appendix II.,” and substituting the following : ‘‘ Each contracting body shall have one vote in deciding all questions brought before the Council” ; And inserting in paragraph 13, before the words: ‘‘ There shall also be . . .” the words: ‘‘If the International Council so decide.” That Article III. be approved without change. That Article IV. be approved, omitting the opening para- graph in square brackets. regulations were ” 20% NATURE [JUNE 28, 1900 That Article V. be approved, inserting the words: ‘‘ or as soon after that date as the International Council may decide,” in paragraph 29, after ‘* January 1, 1901.” That Article VI. be approved, inserting at the beginning of paragraph 32, the words: ‘‘ Unless ‘the International Council decide otherwise ”’ ; Substituting in paragraph 34, p. 14, line 33, ‘‘ instructed ” for ‘* authorised.” That Article VII., excepting paragraph 37, be approved— Omitting paragraph 35 and the next paragraph in square brackets, and substituting therefor : ‘‘ any body which establishes a regional bureau shall be termed a contracting body.” Omitting the words ‘‘ which takes a complete share” in the first line of paragraph 40, and omitting the whole of the second sentence in this paragraph, and omitting the three appendices. (14) It was further resolved to substitute for paragraph 37, Section VII., page 15, the following :— ** That it will be an instruction to the Provisional Committee to negotiate with the several contracting bodies with reference to the sale in their respective regions of copies other than those subscribed for by the contracting bodies.” Que les instructions soient données au comité proviscire pour négocier avec les différents corps contractants la question de la vente dans leurs pays respectifs des exemplaires souscrits par ces corps. Aufgabe der Provisional Committee wird es sein, den ver- schiedenen contrahierenden Kérperschaften (contracting bodies) beziiglich des Verkaufs von Exemplaren in ihren Landern, ganz abgesehen von der gewahrleisteten Anzahl, bestimmt e Festset- zungen vorzuschlagen. (15) It was resolved that. the Provisional Committee con- templated in Resolution 12 (B) be constituted as follows :—Prof. Armstrong, Dr. Brunchorst, Dr. Graf, Dr. Milkau, Prof. Nasini, Prof. Poincaré, Prof. Weiss ; power being given to the Royal Society, while retaining only a single vote, to nominate further members, and power being given to the Committee to appoint substitutes if any of those named were unable to serve, and also to co-opt two new members. (16) On the motion of Sir Michael Foster and Prof. Riicker, it was resolved that the Royal Society be requested to appoint the Secretary to the Provisional Committee, and to meet pro- visionally such expenses as the Committee may incur. (17) It was resolved that the proces verbal of the Conference be signed by the president and secretaries. (18) The Royal Society was requested to undertake the editing, publication, and distribution of a verbatim report of the pro- ceedings of the Conference. (19) On the motion of Prof. Schwalbe, a vote of thanks to Sir John Gorst for presiding over the Conference was passed by acclamation. : (20) On the motion of Sir Michael Foster, the thanks of the Conference were accorded to the Society of Antiquaries for the use of their rooms. (Signed) Joun E. Gorst. Henry E. ARMSTRONG. Dr. JoH. BERNOULLI. G. CIAMICIAN, J. DENIKER. THE ROYAL SOCIETY CONVERSAZIONE. "THE exhibitions at the conversazione, which took place on the 20th inst., were numerous and interesting. There was a great wealth of photographs, including a large collection illustrating the results obtained during the last total eclipse. Among the other objects exhibited were the following :— Prof. W. Ramsay, F.R.S., and Dr. M. W. Travers exhibited the inert atmospheric gases; their spectra, and some of the apparatus used in determining their physical properties. The Meteorological Office exhibited North Atlantic weather charts, winter, 1898-99. Prof. J. W. Judd, C.B., F.R.S., on behalf of the Coral- Reef Committee of the Royal Society, exhibited specimens from the reefs of Funafuti. Mr. J. Mackenzie Davidson exhibited a stereoscopic fluoro- scope. The stereoscopic fluoroscope is an instrument to enable an observer to see the shadows cast by the Rontgen rays on the fluorescent screen in stereoscopic relief. Prof. W. E. Dalby exhibited a model to illustrate and ex- periment upon the balancing of four-cylindered engines, NO. 1600, VOL. 62] Prof. Silvanus P. Thompson, F.R.S., showed experiments on the aberration called Coma. Coma is an aberration due to the several zones of the lens not having equal focal lengths, and hence, when the lens is transmitting an oblique pencil, the unequal refraction of the different parts gives rise to a singular unilateral distortion of the cones of rays traversing the various zones. In these experiments, the effects are analysed by cover- ing the lens with a series of zones alternately opaque and trans- parent. Some singular effects can also be produced without the zone plate, by inserting in the oblique pencil, after traversing the lens, objects to cast shadows on ascreen. In this way a straight wire can be arranged so that the shadow it casts is a totally-detached circle. Some diagrams of coma, and a string model illustrating their origin, were also shown. Mr. W. Gowland exhibited Japanese books on botany, intended to show the general character of the work of Japanese botanists from 1759 to 1856. Mr. W. Gowland, for the Silchester Excavation Committee, exhibited remains of a Roman silver refinery found at Silchester. Mr. S. Evershed exhibited an electric supply meter (a fric- tionless motor meter). Prof. H. S. Hele-Shaw, F.R.S., and Mr. A. Hay showed lines of induction in a magnetic field, represented by stream-line flow. Prof. E. Ray Lankester, F.R.S., exhibited enlarged models of gnats (mosquitoes) and of human blood-corpuscles infected by the malaria-parasite; modelled by Miss Delta Emett. (1) Female Cuéex pipiens, Linn,, the common brown gnat or mos- quito; enlarged twenty-eight times linear. The insect is shown in the act of alighting. This gnat does not harbour the malaria- parasite. (2) Female Anopheles maculipennis, Hoffmansegg, the common spot-winged gnat or mosquito; enlarged twenty-eight times linear. (3) Models of human blood-corpuscles infested with the malaria-parasite (cestivo-autumnal or remittent fever) known as Haemomenas praecox ; magnified seven thousand five hundred times linear. The blood-corpuscles are transparent, and show the parasites within. The upper row shows the multi- plication of the parasite within the corpuscles by fission giving rise to ‘‘ sporocytes,” which creep into other non-infected blood- corpuscles and repeat the process, thus increasing the infection. © The lower row shows the formation of a crescent-shaped ‘‘ gametocyte” within the blood-corpuscle. Instead of breaking up, the parasite enlarges and becomes sausage-shaped. The ‘“oametocytes” thus formed are destined to be poe by the gnat Anopheles, when they develop in the gnat’s stomach —some into eggs and some into spermatozoa. : The Zoological Society of London showed two living female crowned lemurs (Lemur coronatus), each with a young one. Prof. G. B. Howes, F.R.S., and Mr. H. H. Swinnerton exhibited reconstructional models, built up from microscopic sections, of the developing head skeleton of the New Zealand | reptile, Sphenodon punctatus. Sir John Evans, K.C.B., F.R.S., exhibited ancient cameos and gems, and palzolithic implements from ica. Prof. Wyndham Dunstan, F.R.S., exhibited the poisonous lotus of Egypt (Lotus Arabicus). (a) Living plant grown: at Kew. (4) Dried plants from Nubia. (c) Specimens of the new glucoside, Lotuszne, and its decomposition products. Mr. Fred Enock exhibited an aquatic walking-stick insect, with eggs (Ranatra linearés). The following demonstrations, with experiments and lantern illustrations, took place :— Mr. Fred Enock, life-history of the Czcindela campestris—the common tiger beetle. This common Coleopteron goes through its metamorphoses in deep vertical burrows made in the sand by the curious larva, which ‘ sits” at the top of the hole, patiently waiting for its prey to come to it, as it does not go in search of it. Three years are passed in its subterranean den, at the lower end of which it remains during the winter months in a semi- torpid state; activity is resumed at the approach of warm weather. eee se Prof. J. A. Fleming, D.Sc., F.R.S., demonstrations with an apparatus for the production of short electric waves, and the study of electro-optic phenomena. The apparatus exhibited consists of a radiator for the production of a beam ot electric radiation, the wave-length being about eight inches. T radiator is contained in a zinc box, which prevents the diffusion of the radiation in all directions. The receiver consists of a metallic filings tube of the Branly type, associated with a relay and electric bell. The receiver is also contained in a zine The JUNE 28, 1900] NATURE 209 of } corn nto two portions and transmitting the two portions gaa the relative lengths of which can be Haddon, F.R.S., cinematograph photographs of in Torres Straits. THE RE-ORGANISATION OF THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT. ‘the Secondary Education Bill to the House of ‘Tuesday last, the Duke of Devonshire made the marks on the re-organisation of the Education ips may remember that on the Bill of last year took place upon the future organisation. of the artment. I thought at the time, and I am still zly of opinion now, that that discussion was some- mature. It proceeded on the assumption that the on of the new office would continue on the same lines which had existed when the educational departments ate and distinct, and that there would be in the new fo divisions, one of which would carry on the work of acation Office in connection with elementary educa- the other of which would carry on the work of the and Art Department. . . . We now propose to revert to ynisation of the office, but not entirely upon the lines of ( and Science and Art Departments. The prin- of the department which we propose will be a anent secretary, who will supervise generally the of the department. It must be remembered, when is attached to this or that minor subordinate ment, that it will be the permanent secretary who will be ble to the President of the Board in the administration whole department, and that it is impos,ible, and would esirable if it were possible, that the office should be into what I may call water-tight compartments, the each of which would be charged with special duties and her, and that the idea should be entertained that the work f the office should be carried on in several departments, which auld have no connection or relation with each other. We pose that under the principal per t tary there shall be principal assistant secretaries, one mainly charged with duties a connection with elementary and the other with secondary educa- We yom to abolish the name ‘ Science and Art Depart- ? The Science and Art Department will be merged in secondary education branch of the office. As soon as it may sible, we propose to transfer the greater part of the staff the late Science and Art Department from South Kensington nitehall, except such part of it as may be necessary to at South Kensington for the administration of the museum the colleges of science and art. In place of the third on that was contemplated, we now propose to give the pal assistant secretary of secondary education two addi- ul assistant secretaries, one of whom will be chiefly charged n the supervision and control of literary instruction, and other of technological study. This is not the organisa- on, I admit, to which I partly committed myself last year; tt I trust that it may, in substance, meet the views, cially the later views, which have been expressed to by high educational authorities. With the name we > to get rid of many of the traditions which were sup- ed to attach to the old Science and Art Department— NO. 1600, VOL. 62] ber ee traditions which have, I believe, been regarded as opposed to the true interests of education by many of those who have been responsible for the management of the older endowed schools. The original idea of the Science and Art Department was, or at all events was supposed to be, that by means of lectures, classes, and examinations a knowledge of the principles of science and art, which would be valuable to the students themselves and to the nation at large, could be engrafted upon almost any kind of previous elementary or secondary training. It is quite true that this idea has been in recent years very largely modified, but I do not think that it is yet generally known how far the original traditions of the Science and Art Department have been already departed from. We hope and intend that the idea of the future education branch of the office will be to make science and art instruction a part of general education in addi ‘ion to those classical and literary studies which have hitherto formed its main portion. In the schools and institutions directly assisted by the Board of Education the teaching of science and of art, with the addition, perhaps, of some commercial subjects, will probably remain the principal object. But, on the other hand, in those secondary schools, whether of older or more modern type, which desire to enter into connection with the board, there ought not to be, and there need not be, any interference with the older classical and literary studies so long as there continues to be a demand for them. At the same time, we hope that the scientific resources of the Board will be placed at their disposal if they desire, as many of them do desire, to develop the more modern sides of instruction and education... . It may be of interest to the House to know what are the principal appointments which have been made or are proposed to be made in the principal office of the new secondary educa- tion branch of the department. Sir George Kekewich, the late secretary of the Board of Education, has become the permanent principal secretary of the new Board, and it is he who will be responsible to the President of the Board and to the Govern- ment for the administration of the department as a whole. The principal assistant secretary for secondary education will be Sir William Abney, who has done more than any other man in ex- tending the studies of the schools of science under the Science and Art Department. Under him the assistant secretary to deal with the literary side of instruction will be Mr. Bruce, an assis- tant commissioner to the Charity Commission under the En- dowed Schools Act, who has been: chiefly engaged and has obtained much experience in the administration of the Welsh Act. The assistant secretary for technological study has not yet been appointed.” UNIVERS/I1VY AND EDUCATIONAL INTELLIGENCE. CAMBRIDGE. —Prof. Sir Michael Foster has been nominated by the Council of the Senate as the representative of the University of Cambridge on the Council of the Jenner Institute of Preventive Medicine. Mr. A. W. Hill, of King’s College, and Mr. L. Lewton- Brain, of St. John’s College, have been appointed University Demonstrators in Botany. Mr. E. E. Walker, Trinity College, has been elected to the Harkness Scholarship in Geology and Paleontology. Prof. Woodhead announces ten courses of lectures and demonstrations in Pathology and Bacteriology to be held during the ensuing Long Vacation. Mr. Shelford Bidwell, F.R.S., was on June 19 admitted to the degree of Doctor of Science. Mr. W. N. Shaw, F.R.S., has been elected a Senior Fellow of Emmanuel College. It is a condition attaching to his tenure that he shall give annually in the University not less than three lectures on the Physics of the Atmosphere or some kindred subject. Mr. C. T. R. Wilson, F.R.S., formerly Clerk Maxwell Student in experimental physics, has been elected to a fellowship at Sidney Sussex College. The following have been awarded scholarships or exhibitions in Natural Science at the several colleges at the end of the academical year :— Clare College: Bailey, Cartwright, Cassidy, Hughes. Pembroke College: Lang, Anderson, Hall. King’s College: Kewley, French, Wilde, Mollison, McIntyre. Christ’s College: Fox, Moore, Wilson, Macnab, Muff, Cumberlidge, Sewell. NATURE 210 [JuNE 28, 1900 Emmanuel College: Nixon, Austin, Sutton, Rothera, | 1901. By the will of Henry M. Curry the Western University Banham. of Pennsylvania receives 10,000 dollars for scholarships ; and Sidney Sussex College: Bullough, Colt, Drapes, Fearnsides, Harrison, Humphrey, Robinson, Gough. THE Appointments Gazette, which is the journal of the Cam- bridge Appointments Association, gives in its last issue (June 1900) much valuable information regarding scientific and other posts open to university graduates. It also contains articles on post graduate work in medicine, by Prof. Allbutt ; on training for business, by Mr. G. E. Foster ; and on Long Vacation courses in French, by Mr. H. J. Millar. A list of some two hundred graduates seeking appointments in various departments of in- dustry, with their university qualifications, ages, &c., completes the journal. This list might be consulted with advantage by heads of departments and others in search of suitable candidates for vacant appointments. The Association is doing a useful work in bringing together employers and employed in the various walks of life where university training is of importance, and it already possesses a large and influential membership. The Master of Trinity is chairman, Mr. W. N. Shaw, F.R.S., vice-chairman, and Mr. W. A. J. Archbold, secretary. Pror. OLiver J. Lopcer, F.R.S., has been appointed Principal of the University of Birmingham. THE following appointments at the University College of North Wales, Bangor, are announced :—Mr. W. W. Firth to be assistant lecturer in Electrical Engineering, and Mr. Alexander Darroch to be assistant lecturer in the Day Training Department. Mr. W. Cadwaladr Davies was appointed the representative of the Council upon the Central Welsh Board, and Mr. H. Bulkeley Price the representative on the Carnarvon- shire County Governing Body. Dr. JOHN WILLIAM WHITE, of Philadelphia, has been elected to the John Rhea Barton Chair of Surgery in the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania ; Dr. Frank Morley, of Haverford Col- lege, has been appointed professor of mathematics in Johns Hopkins University, vice Prof. Thomas Craig, resigned ; Prof. Charles J. Bartlett takes the place of Prof. M. C. White, who for thirty-three years has filled the chair of pathology in the Medical School of Yale University. THE Report of the Council to the Governors of the City and Guilds of London Institute, dated March 1900, has just been issued, and gives a full account of the work accomplished in connection with the year 1899, and contains verbatim reports of the addresses delivered respectively by Sir Andrew Noble and Sir Douglas Fox at the opening of the session, and at the dis- tribution of certificates and prizes. We notice from the report that during the past twenty years the work of the Examinations Department has developed to an enormous extent : thus in 1888 the number of subjects of examination was 24, the number of centres of examination 89, and the number of candidates 816. In 1899 the number of subjects had increased to 63, the number of centres to 397, and the number of candidates to 14,004; the number of registered classes being 1764, and of students in at- tendance 34,176. These numbers are exclusive of those who receive instruction in manual training. The total number of students last year in the classes registered by the Institute was 36,155, as compared with 34,990 in the previous year. THE following gifts and bequests for scientific and educatiunal purposes are noticed in Science :—By the will of the late Jonas G. Clark, of Worcester, Mass., who founded Clark University in 1889, the entire estate is left to the University, providing the people of Worcester raise a fund. of 500,000 dollars. If the sum of 250,000 dollars is raised, he bequeaths 500,000 dollars. If 500,000 dollars is raised, he bequeaths 1,000,000 dollars and makes the University his residuary legatee. He also leaves 100,000 dollars for the University library and a similar sum for a department of art. Messrs. Samuel Cupples and Robert S. Brookings have each given to Washington University one-half of the total capital stock of the St. Louis Terminal Cupples Station and Property Company, which company owns the so- called ‘‘ Cupples Station.” The annual income from this gift to the University will be from 120,000 to 130,000 dollars per year. The gift is to form a permanent endowment fund, the interest of which is to be expended by the Board of Directors in any way which it sees fit. Dr. D. K. Pearsons has offered 50,000 dollars to Carleton College, Northfield, Minn., on condition that the college authorities raise 100,000 dollars before January 1, NO. 1600, VOL. 62] T the University of Pennsylvania has received 20,000 dollars from Mr. f. D. Lippencott and Mr. J. G. Carruth respectively. THE second general meeting of the Agricultural Education Committee was held on Friday last at the rooms of the Society of Arts. The report of the executive to the general cone gave a brief account of the constitution and proceedings of th committee from its commencement, and explained that its ob- jects were: (I) to secure systematic and efficient instruction, both theoretical and practical, in agricultural subjects suitable to every class engaged in agriculture; and (2) to diffuse among the agricultural classes a more thorough appreciation of the advantages of instruction bearing directly or indirectly on their industry. The policy of the committee, the report stated, was largely recognised in the new Day School Code; and the block grant, the continuous course of rural instruction, lessons in ‘common things” given through the standards, and the new subject of household management for girls, were all on the lines of the committee’s resolutions. Moreover, the executive be- lieved that it was largely due to the representations of the committee that the new Board of Education, shortly after its formation, issued a circular to managers and teachers of rural elementary schools impressing on them the importance of making education in the village school more consonant with the en- vironment of the scholars than was now usually the case, and especially encouraging the children to gain an intelligent know- ledge of the common things which surround them in the country. Other provisions of the new Code were referred to with satis- faction, and the report stated that the committee had not failed to co-operate with the Board of Education in bringing them into effect. attention should be given to organisation. It would seem that the precedent successfully set some years ago in Scotland of handing over the educational work.of the Board of Agriculture to an educational authority, while leaving to the Board the in- spection of experimental and research work, might well be fol- lowed. If that was not done, and the present division of functions continued, the cause of rural education, especially in its higher branches, would undoubtedly suffer. It was also to be hoped that attention would be given to the training of teachers, and that the new Board would introduce some modifications into the — curricula of the training colleges to ensure the qualification of a certain number of trained teachers to give instruction on elementary science and common things required by the Code. A good deal also remained to be done in tinuation work on a satisfactory footing. SCIENTIFIC SERIALS. fz American Journal of Science, June.—A method o. Bes the diffusion (transpiration) of air through water, and a met of barometry, by C. Barus. The diffusion of air through water is studied by observing the gradual loss of the air contained in a Cartesian diver, and this loss is determined from the change in the temperature coefficient contained in the equation of flota- tion. The same equation also involves in a simple manner the height of the barometer; and a Cartesian diver apparatus is, therefore, virtually a water barometer which need only be one foot high instead of thirty feet.—Separation and determination of mercury as mercurous oxalate, by C. A. Peters. The author estimates mercurous salts volumetrically by precipitating with ammonium oxalate, and determining the oxalic acid by potass- ium permanganate, and gravimetrically by direct oe of the precipitate. —Electrical resistance of thin films deposited by kathode discharge, by A. C. Longden. The thinnest films have a resistance which is very much higher than is warranted by their thinness. The sign of the temperature coefficient of resistance varies with the thickness, and it is therefore possible to obtain resistances by kathode-ray deposition which do not vary with the temperature. Such resistances form valuable high-resistance standards. —New meteorite from Oakley, Logan county, Kansas, by H. L. Preston. This is a siderite of 61 lbs. found in 1895.— Some observations on certain well-marked stages in the evolution — of the Testudinate humerus, by G. R. Wieland. The develop- ment of the humerus of the turtle presents a special interest on account of its graduated change of habitat from dry deserts to the ocean.—Geothermal gradient in Michigan, by A. C. Lane. The geothermal gradient at Bay City is 1°5 degrees F. per 100 With regard to the work which remained to be done, placing evening con- | i ek i; JuNE 28, 1900] NATURE 211 feet. The Upper Peninsula is a region notorious for its much __ lower gradient. The author discusses the various hypothesis __ framed to account for the differences in the gradient. Among _ these are the cooling action of Lake Superior, a survival of the Ice Age coldness, and differences in the conductivity of rocks. The author favours the last hypothesis.—Production of X-rays ya battery current, by J. Trowbridge. The installation of a as dlant of 20,000 storage cells at the Jefferson Physical Laboratory has enabled the author to obtain X-rays of exceptional brilliancy, yielding negatives of great contrast. When the X-ray tube is rst connected with the battery terminals no current flows, It is necessary to heat the tube, when it suddenly lights up. A distilled-water resistance of about 4,000,000 ohms is inserted in _Annalen der Physik, No. 5.—Change of conductivity of gases by a continuous electric current, by J. Stark. The resistance be as conveying an electric current is highest near the owing to nooad es, the accumulation of ions of the same sign in hbe It has another maximum near the middle, ‘more towards the side of the anode, The resistance mced by the heat developed at the electrodes, by the and by the unequal speed at which the two kinds ‘through the gas.—Objective presentation of the polarised light, by N. Umow. A beam of parallel ised light is allowed to fall on various geometrical whose surfaces have peculiar optical properties, such as a e d with fuchsine, a quartz plate, or a Babinet com- The reflection or transmission of the light gives rise colour phenomena. Peculiar spiral effects are obtained the beam through an opalescent colophonium emul- etic screening, by H. du Bois and A. P. Wills. In of their work, the authors calculate and verify the - ereebat of iron for galvanometers. The external the three screens are 2°5, 4:3 and 8° cm. and their thicknesses are 0°27, 0°18 and o'18 cm. eoretical ‘‘ screening ratio,” z.e. the ratio by which g magnetic field is reduced, is 60°2, and the observed 1°6.—Armoured galvanometers, by H. du Bois and _ Describes some galvanometers screened in accord- the results of the previous paper.— Rotating magnetic Jaumann. A small magnet mounted like a flag on as an axis may be given a continuous rotation by im- it in mercury contained in a glass vessel surrounded by ng copper vessel, with a current traversing the body ury and returning through the copper vessel. The ent in overcoming the resistance of the mercury is from the current itself. It appears as a counter E.M.F. ‘mercury rotates with the magnet.—Thermal deforma- balances, by T. Middel. Delicate balances show a con- jle change of sensitiveness with the temperature. The hows that this is due to the bending of the beam of the owing to the unequal expansion of the upper and the portion, and that is due to the unequal working of the the coefficient of expansion for cast brass being less than rolled brass.—The additive character of atomic heats, by er. The author shows that in the case of twenty-six ; excess of the sum of atomic volumes over the molecular is accompanied by an excess of the aggregate atomic over the molecular heat, and that a defect of atomic ‘is accompanied by a defect of atomic heats in the manner. Boron and bismuth sesquioxides are the only On tin de Académie des Sciences de St. Pétersbourg, vol. No. 1.—Yearly report of the Academy.—A _newly- ered Old Turkish inscription, by Dr. W. Radloff, pre- report. The-inscription was discovered by Madame beth Clements near Urga, and excellent reproductions of re made. Dr. Radloff found that it was made in honour of wise Toyukuk, father-in-law of Bilga-khagan, who was born 16 of our era.—On the elements of earth-magnetism at enets, Khotin and Odessa, by W. Dubinsky. viii. No. 2.—On the rapid motion of the line of the 2s in the system. of a’ Gimini, by A. Byelopolsky.—On oscopic determination of the movements of + Virginis, he same.—Aurora borealis observed at Pavlovsk on mber 20, 1897, by V. Kuznetsoff, with two photographs. — fydrobiological researches at the Sebastopol Biological Station, A. Ostrooumoff. . viii. No. 3.—On the attempts at reprodjucing cometary NO. 1600, VOL, 62] phenomena by means of experiments, by Th. Bredikhin (in Russian). The recent results obtained by photography per- mitted us to obtain most exact reproductions of cometary forms. They stimulated the desire of producing theories of comets, and, as far as the author knows, five different theories were proposed lately ; they differ essentially in their fundamental principles. No great comets having appeared lately, the earlier drawings, made by previous astronomers, necessarily must be taken into account. Bredikhin found it necessary, therefore, to system- atically discuss the facts which relate to the variety of forms of comets, and the passages from the one form to another. These facts can be ignored by no theory, and the author consequently analyses those criteria which must be applied to each theory of the comets.—On the way of building magnetic observatories, by H. Wild.—Description of a very rare case of Craniopagus parielalis, by J. Ziematzky (plate).—On the influence of the terms of third order in the perturbations function of the move- ment of the earth round its centre of gravity on the formule of nutation, by A. Ivanof (in French). The author gives a new formula for reducing the length of the second pendulum for any geocentric latitude. Vol. viii. No. 4.—Ephemerid of the comet of Encke from June I to July 31, 1898, by A. Ivanoff.—On the differences of the horizontal intensities of earth magnetism obtained from observations of the unifilar and the bifilar theodolite, by H. Wild.—Positions of 1041 stars of the star-cluster 5 Messier, deduced from photographs, by Madame Shilow. Full list, a from careful measurements made on photographic plates. SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. LONDON. Royal Society, May 31.—‘‘ The Crystalline Structure of Metals.” Second Paper. By Prof. J. A. Ewing, F.R.S., and Walter Rosenhain, B.A. The investigations described in this paper deal principally with the phenomena of annealing. The first section of the paper describes experiments made in the hope of observing under the microscope the process of recrystallisation in strained iron. This attempt to watch the process of recrystallisation failed, although the experimental difficulties of keeping a specimen under microscopic observation while it was being heated were successfully overcome. The specimen was electri- cally heated in a vessel with a thin glass or mica window, and the microscope-objective was kept cool by directing a strong blast of cold air on it and on the surface of the window. The next section of the paper deals with the changes of crystalline structure which go on in lead and other metals at comparatively low temperatures. The authors’ attention was directed to this by noticing that a piece of plumber’s sheet lead, when etched with dilute nitric acid, exhibits a strikingly crystalline structure, with large crystals. The character of this appearance led the authors to the view that a slow process of annealing or recrystallisation was at work in such lead at ordinary atmospheric temperatures, and the authors have satisfied themselves that this is the case. The method of investigation con- sisted in taking a series of micro- photographs, at low magnifica- tions, of certain marked areas in the surface of a specimen, in order to watch the change which went on through lapse of time, or after application of some thermal treatment. When a piece of cast lead is severely strained by compression, the originally large crystals, after being considerably flattened, are driven into and through one another, so that the etched surface of a strained specimen presents a fine grain, whose crystalline nature only becomes apparent under considerable magnification (80 to 100 diameters). A piece of lead severely strained in this way, and kept for nearly six months in an ordinary room without any special thermal treatment, was found to be undergoing continuous change during that time. A series of photographs of this specimen, taken at intervals during the six months, show that a great number of the small crystals have grown larger at the expense of their neighbours, In similar specimens which have been kept at 200° C., the growth has been much more rapid and more pronounced. The rate of growth is a function of time and temperature, but some specimens show much more rapid changes than others under similar conditions of temperature ; in some cases five minutes’ exposure to a temperature of 200° C. is sufficient to alter the 6-4 NATURE [June 28, 1900 crystalline pattern completely. Experiments have a.s0 been made at 100° C. and 150° C., leading to the general result that crystalline growth will occur at any temperature from that of an ordinary room, 2.e. 15° C. or 20° C., up to the melting point of lead, and that in general the higher the temperature the more rapid is the initial rate of change. No numerical data can be given, as the crystals are quite irregular, both in size and shape. A comparison of micro-photographs of the same specimen at various stages reveals the fact that the growth of an individual crystal occurs, not in uniform layers all round it, but by the formation of arms and branches that invade the neighbouring crystals, the intervening portions sometimes changing at a later stage. This action is analogous to the formation of skeleton crystals ina metal during solidification from the liquid state, the space between the branches filling in as solidification proceeds, A marked feature observed in several specimens was the large and rapid growth of one or two individual crystals ; in several instances such individua!s grew until they were some hundreds of times larger than their neighbours. Generally the most aggressive crystals were found near the edges of the specimen. It is noticeable that at times a crystal which has already grown considerably is swallowed up by a more powerful neighbour. Some light is thrown on the nature of these actions by the fact that this growth only occurs in crystals that have been subjected to severe plastic strain. By casting the metal ina chill mould, specimens of lead can be obtained having a crystal- line structure quite as minute as that found ina severely strained specimen, but this structure remains unchanged at temperatures which produce rapid change in a strained specimen. The investigation of the effects of such comparatively moderate temperatures was extended to other metals, viz. tin, zinc and cadmium. In tin, the various phenomena of crystallisation from the fluid state are strikingly illustrated on a large scale by the thin layer of that metal which constitutes the surface of commercial tin-plate. The effects of rapid and slow solidifica- tion in producing small or large crystals respectively are well marked, and an examination of the etched surface of tin-plate under the microscope reveals beautiful geometrical markings or pits, whose oriented facets produce the well-known selective effect of oblique illumination. The study of the crystalline structure affords an explanation of the nature and method of production of patterns in ‘‘ moirée métallique,” a process which has long been in use for the decoration of articles manufactured of tin-plate. ; : The final section of the paper deals with an hypothesis, which is advanced as an attempt to explain the mechanism of the growth of crystals in apparently solid metal.! According to this hypothesis, the metallic impurities which are present in a metal play an important part in the action. When a metal solidifies from the fluid state, the metallic impurities ultimately crystallise as a film of eutectic alloy in the inter-crystalline junctions ; when fairly large quantities of such eutectics are present, the microscope reveals their presence as an inter-crystalline cement, such as that formed by “ pearlite” in slowly cooled mild steel ; very minute quantities of eutectic, however, will be invisible and yet capable of forming a thin film of fusible cement. The authors conceive that the changes of crystalline structure which go on while the piece is in the solid state are accomplished by the agency of eutectic films between the crystals, in dis- solving metal from the surfaces of some crystals and depositing it on others. When a metal is severely strained, these films of eutectic will be also strained and in many places broken, thus allowing the actual crystals to come into con- tact with one another. The difference in the rate of etching of adjacent crystals and the phenomena of the electrolytic transfer, in an acid solution, of lead from one crystal to another in the same mass of metal, support the supposition that there is a difference of electric potential between the crystal faces which are brought into contact by severe strain. If it be assumed that a film of eutectic alloy when fluid, or even when in the pasty condition that precedes fusion, can act as an electrolyte, we may regard any two crystals thus in contact, with a film of eutectic interposed. in places, as a very low resistance circuit, and the growth of the positive crystal at the expense of the negative would result. Moreover, such growth would be more rapid at higher tem peratures, and its rate at a given temperature would vary in different specimens according to the nature and quantity of the im purities present. That an alloy can act as an electro- 1It is proper to say that this hypothesis is due to Mr. Rosenhain.—J. A. E. NO. 16CO, VOL. 62] lyte has not been established experimentally, but the assumption is supported by the close general analogy between alloys and salt solutions. This analogy ‘extends to the very question of the growth of crystals, as Joly has shown that when crystals of a salt are immersed in their mother-liquor, growth of one at the expense of others will take place. : It should be added that solution of one crystal into the inter- vening film of eutectic, along with deposit on the neighbouring ~ crystal from the eutectic, may occur as a consequence of differences of orientation, producing differences of ‘‘ solution pressure” apart from actual electrolysis, but the fact that growth has not been observed to occur except in strained crys favours the view that the action is electrolytic. Some further results which have been deduced from the above hypothesis have been verified by experiment. It follows from the hypothesis that an inter-crystalline boundary contain- ing no eutectic would be an impassible barrier to crystalline growth, but if the eutectic could in any way be supplied, growth across the boundary might take place. In an absolutely pure specimen of lead, there would be no eutectic at the inter-crystalline junctions, but as extremely minute traces of impurity would suffice to set up the action, it is almost hopeless to verify the hypothesis in this way. Some experi- ments on the cold welding of lead have, however, borne out these conclusions. Two clean, freshly-scraped lead surfaces will unite under great pressure in the cold state, and if a piece so welded be annealed, the crystalline growth due to the anneal- ing, with very rare exceptions, never crosses the inter-crystalline boundary formed by the welding surface. To test whether the presence of some eutectic would allow growth to take place, small quantities of a more fusible metal were scattered over the freshly-scraped surfaces of lead before squeezing them together. Then, after a cold weld had been made by pressure, on anneal- ing by exposure to 200° C. it was found that crystal growths fre- quently crossed the line of the weld, as the above theory led one to expect. This experiment has been repeated many times with the uniform result that whenever a small quantity of eutectic, or of an impurity capable of forming a eutectic with the lead, was scattered over the clean surfaces before welding, a distinct growth of crystals across the boundary took place as a result of annealing. On the other hand, a large number of welds were made without introducing any impurity, and with very rare ex- ceptions they showed no growth across the boundary, even after the annealing process was continued for some weeks. In rare exceptions a minute amount of growth across the bou was observed, but these may fairly be accounted for by the almost | unavoidable presence of traces of impurity. The result as a — whole. goes far to confirm this solution theory of crystalline growth in annealing. June 14.—‘‘ Static Diffusion of Gases and Liquids in Relation | to the Assimilation of Carbon, and Translocation in Plants.” By Horace T. Brown, F.R.S., LL.D., and F. Escombe,B.Sc., . F.L.S. j ‘ This paper is intended to be the first of a series descriptive of the work carried out by the authors in the Jodrell labor- atory on the fixation of carbon by green plants, and deals mainly with the purely physical processes by which atmospheric carbon dioxide gains access to the active centres of assimilation. The new evidence which F. F. Blackman brought forward in 1895 in favour of the gaseous exchanges of leaves taking place exclusively through the stomatic openings, presents at first sight certain difficulties of a physical nature, which have led to an examination of the whole question of the free diffusion of carbon dioxide at very low tension, and under a set of con- ditions very different from those under which the previous deter- minations of the coefficient of diffusion of carbon dioxide and air have been made by Loschmidt and others, where the gases were initially of equal tension, and the ratios of mixture de- parted widely from those of ordinary atmospheric air. The inquiry has led to the discovery of some new facts connected with the static diffusion of gases and liquids, which are of con- siderable interest, not only from the physical point of view, but from the explanations they suggest of certain natural processes which are primarily dependent on diffusivity. : The method employed in the first instance for the deter- mination of the diffusivity of atmospheric carbon dioxide was one of static diffusion down a column of air of a definite length towards an absorptive surface at the bottom of the column When a static condition has been established, there is a steady flux of the carbon dioxide down the air column June 28, 1900] NATURE 213 which may be quantitatively investigated by the same simple _ mathematical treatment as the ‘‘ flow” of heat ina bar when _ the permanent state has been reached, or the ‘‘ flow oe of elec- tricity between any two regions of a conductor maintained at a __ constant difference of potential. eC By a long series of experiments of this nature it was found that the diffusivity constant, £, for very dilute CO, does not materially depart from the value assigned to it by Loschmidt and others, when experimenting with much higher ratios of mixture, and that the difference is certainly not of sufficient magnitude to be taken into serious account in the study of the natural processes of gaseous exchange in the assimilating organs of org the static diffusion of a gas, vapour, or solute, as the case may be, the amount of substance diffusing in a given time, all ther conditions being the same, is directly proportional to the sectional area of the column. It is found, however, that if the obstructed by interposing at any point in the » a thin septum pierced with a circular aperture, the across unit area of the aperture is greater than it ss an equal area of the unobstructed cross-section at this point. If the margin around the aperture of at least three or four times its diameter, the rate y found to be directly proportional to the /ear of the aperture and not to its area, so that the flow through unit area varies inversely as the number of experiments on the diffusion of carbon water-vapour and sodium chloride in solution are support of this proposition. All these show that the ion across such a septum, all other conditions being directly proportional to the diameter of the aperture, might have been expected, to its area. : the same result is obtained when small circular discs orbent, such as a solution of caustic alkali, are sur- by a wide rim and exposed to ferfectly still air, the carbon dioxide absorbed under these conditions being to the diameters of the discs. , there are any sensible air currents the absorption ional to the areas. two sets of phenomena may be explained as follows :— case of the absorbing disc in perfectly still air, the con- streams of carbon dioxide creep through the air towards ing disc, establishing a steady gradient af density, and will be a flux surfaces or ‘‘ shells” surrounding and terminating in the rim. The state of things is yal to the electric field in the neighbourhood of a of the same shape and dimensions as the absorbent _In the case of the gas, the curves or ‘‘shells” of equal y are the es of the similarly curved surfaces of ential above the electrified disc, whilst the converging creep or flux of the gas are the analogues of the lines of force which bend round into the disc as they h it. consider two such absorbent discs of different diameters, ed surfaces in each system corresponding to a given ity will be found at actual distances from the discs which the same proportion to each other as are the diameters of cs. In other words, the gradient of density on which 1¢ rate of flow depends will be proportional to the diameters ‘the discs, which is exactly what is found experimentally. case of an absorbent disc is the exact converse of one has been theoretically investigated by Stefan, viz. the ions of evaporation of a liquid from a circular surface. He that the lines of flux of the vapour proceeding from the 2 of the liquid must be hyperbolas, whilst the curved s of a pressure of the vapour must form an orthogonal stem of ellipsoids, having their foci, like the hyperbolas, in e bounding edges of the disc. This wasa purely mathematical Juction which has never been verified experimentally, but it ill be seen that the exactly converse phenomena of diffusion € in complete agreement with it. m the other case of a diffusive flow through a circular aper- a diaphragm, the lines of flow, which are convergent as pproach the aperture, bend round their foci situated in the ges of the disc and form a divergent system on the other side, = chamber into which they pass is a perfectly absorbent one, authors are indebted to Dr. Larmor for this suggestion of the tatic analogy. rpendicular to the lines of equal NO. 1600, VOL. 62] and is sufficiently large, there will be formed on the inner side of the diaphragm a system of density shells similar to those out- side, but with the gradient of density centrifugally instead of centripetally arranged. This system of shells is termed nega- tive, and is as effective as the outer positive system in regulating the flow according to the ‘‘ diameter law,” so that this law will still hold good even if the outer air currents are sufficient to sweep away the external positive shells altogether. All the known facts of diffusion through circular apertures in a diaphragm are in complete accord with the above explanation, which is fully elaborated in the original paper. By diffusing colouring matter through apertures in a septum, under such conditions as to prevent convection currents, the ‘* density shells’? have been rendered visible, and it has been- shown that their ellipsoidal form is exactly that which is. demanded by the above hypothesis. Moreover, this method gives an experimental demonstration of the more rapid projec-- tion of the diffusing particles from the edges of the aperture- than from a point nearer its centre, a fact completely in harmony- with the deduction of Stefan regarding the evaporation of liquids under analogous conditions. The various cases which present themselves in practice with. regard to the rate of diffusion through single apertures in a diaphragm are then discussed from the above point of view, and simple formulz for the determination of this rate for single ands double systems of density shells are established : (1) for cases where the thickness of the diaphragm is negligible, and (2) for other cases where the apertures become more or less tubular.. In a subsequent section of the paper it is shown how closely the observed facts conform to these deductions, and that in static diffusion through apertures in a septum we have a new and accurate method for the determination of the diffusivity con- stants of atmospheric CO,, of the vapours of liquids, and of substances in a state of solution. ' Since the velocity of the diffusive flow through unit area of an: aperture in a diaphragm varies inversely with the diameter, it might reasonably be expected that a diaphragm could be so- perforated with a series of very small holes arranged at suitable distances from each other, as to exercise little or no sensible - obstruction when it was interposed in a line of diffusive flow, although the aggregate area of the small holes might represent only a small fraction of the total area of the septum. Multi- perforate diaphragms of this kind were found to possess all the remarkable properties which had been anticipated. The material used for the septa was very thin celluloid, which was perforated at regular intervals with holes of about 0°38 mm. in diameter. Details of a number of experiments. with such diaphragms are given, in which it is shown that they may be so arranged as to produce but little obstructive influence. on the diffusive flow of a gas when the total area of the aper- tures amounts only to about 10 per cent. of the area of the septum, and that nearly 40 per cent. of the full diffusive flow may be maintained when the number of the apertures is so. far reduced as to represent an area of only 1°25 per cent. of the full area of the septum. The explanation is to be found in the local intensification of the gradient of density in the immediate neighbourhood of the diaphragm, and which does not extend to the column away from the apertures. This disturbance of gradient is brought about by the rapid convergence of the lines of flux, and their divergence on the other side, with the consequent formation of a system of ‘‘density shells” over each aperture. A system. of perforations of this kind may be compared with a system of conductors electrified to a common potential, the density of © the diffusing substance above the apertures corresponding to electric potential, and the non-absorbing portions of the diaphragm to a surface formed by lines of electric force. Just as the electric capacity of a plate is not much reduced by’ cutting most of it away, so also is it possible to block out a large portion of the cross-section of the diffusing column with- out materially altering the general static conditions on which the flow depends, The importance of these results in relation to diffusion through porous septa is next considered, diffusion through a thin porous septum being only an extreme case of free diffusion through a multiperforate diaphragm, whose apertures are so far reduced in size as to materially interfere with the mass movement of the diffusing substance. A section of the paper is devoted to the application of these new observations to the processes of gaseous and liqpid diffu- 214 NATURE [JUNE 28, 1900 sion in living plants, and it is pointed out that the structure of a typical herbaceous leaf illustrates in a striking manner all the physical properties of a multiperforate septum. Regarded from this point of view it is shown that the stomatic openings and their adjuncts constitute even a more perfect piece of mechanism than is required for the supply of carbon dioxide for the physiological needs of the plant, and instead of expressing surprise at the comparatively large amount of the gas which an assimilating leaf can take in from the air, we must in future rather wonder that the intake is not greater than it actually is. From data afforded by actual measurements of the various parts of the stomatal apparatus of the sunflower it is shown that an extremely small difference of tension of the carbon dioxide within the leaf, as compared with that in the outer air, will produce a gradient sufficient to account for the observed intake during the most active assimilation. It is also shown that the large amounts of water-vapour which pass out of the leaf by transpiration are well within the limits of diffusion, and that it is unnecessary to assume anything like mass movement in the outcoming vapour. The translocation of solid material from cell to cell in the living plant is next considered, especially with reference to this transference being, at any rate in part, brought about by means of the minute openings in the cell-walls through which the con- necting threads of protoplasm pass. Notwithstanding the very small relative sectional area of these perforations they probably exercise an important function in cell-to-cell diffusion, in virtue of their properties as multiperforate septa. There are two appendices to the paper, one in which a full description is given of a series of experiments on the absorption of carbon dioxide by solutions of caustic alkali from air in movement ; the second being devoted to a detailed description of the methods used for accurately determining the carbon dioxide absorbed. Physical Society, June 22.—Mr. T. H. Blakesley, Vice- President, in the chair.—A paper, entitled ‘‘ Notes on Gas Ther- mometry,” by Dr. P. Chappuis, was read by Dr. Harker. The author having been led to recognise that hydrogen could not be used as a thermometric substance at high temperatures, on account of its action on the walls of the glass reservoirs, has had recourse to a constant volume nitrogen thermometer with an initial pressure slightly under 800 mm. The value of the coefficient of expansion of nitrogen at constant volume is variable, diminishing up to 80° C. and then increasing slightly. In fact, nitrogen at 100° C. behaves like hydrogen at the ordinary tem- peratures, its compressibility being less than that required by Boyle’s law. A table of corrections was therefore prepared. The readings of the constant volume nitrogen thermometer are too low, but the corrections are small, amounting to about 0'04° C, at the temperature of boiling sulphur. The mean result of the author’s experiments for the boiling point of sulphur is 445°'2 under a pressure cf 760 mm. Callendar and Griffiths’ results obtained with a constant pressure air thermometer is 444°'53- The difference is attributed to the joint action of several causes:—(1) The corrections for a constant pressure thermometer are about double those of a constant volume instru- ment. This correction applied to Callendar and Griffiths’ result would raise it about o'1°. (2) Callendar and Griffiths have used a value for the gas constant which is larger than that obtained by more recent experiments. Adopting the latter value, the boiling point would be raised to 445°. (3) The divergence may be due to the expansion of the reservoir. The most accurate way of determining this is by the interference method of Fizeau. This method is used with small pieces of the material, and the author has employed it to determine the coefficient of expansion between 0° and 100°. Extrapolation to 450° might cause errors . The linear expansion has recently been determined by Bedford between 0° and 840° by a comparator method. The homogeneity of porcelain is doubtful, especially when glazed, and the great differences occurring between the expansions obtained from the above methods is attributed to the change in form of the tube in Bedford’s experiments, brought about by un- equal thickness and want of homogeneity and consequent unequal expansion. The author therefore adheres to his value of the boiling point obtained from the expansion by the Fizeau method, whilst recognising the uncertainty attaching to the application of the coefficient of expansion of the reservoir over an interval four times as great as that over which it was determined. —A paper on a comparison of impure platinum thermo- NO, 1600, VOL. 62] meters, by Mr. H. M. Tory, was read by Prof. Callendar. The object of this paper is to investigate the probable order of accuracy attainable in the determination of high temperatures by the use of ordinary commercial specimens of platinum wire. Five wires were compared, from 400° to 1000° The funda- mental coefficients of the wires varied. within 40 per cent. of the maximum value, but the temperatures observed by them when calculated on the platinum scale by means of the ordi simple formula, did not differ by more than 9° at 1000° rok Each wire was directly compared with a pure standard wire, the two being wound side by side in the same tube. Curves have been drawn with the platinum temperatures of the standard wire as abscissze, and the differences between the temperatures indicated by the two wires compared as ordinates. These curves are all straight lines, within the limits of observation, and hence the determination of two constants is sufficient to enable us to compare an impure platinum thermometer with the standard, and therefore with the scale of the gas thermometer. The two constants can at once be obtained from observations at the boil- ing point of sulphur and the freezing point of silver, and thus a practical thermometric scale can be established, which between o° and 1000° never differs by more than two or three degrees from the gas scale.—Prof. Callendar said he was unable to yt with the correction to his observations suggested by M. P. Chappuis. He considered that the uncertainty in the coefficient of expan- sion of the gas was due to uncertain changes in the volume of the bulb, and to uncertainty in thé coefficient of expansion of mercury. The fundamental coefficient of mercury was ~ ‘00018153 according to Regnault, ‘00018216 according to the later reduction of Broch, and ‘00018256 according to experi- ments by Chappuis with a hard glass bulb. It made a difference of no less than 4 per cent. in the fundamental coefficient of ex- pansion of the glass, according as the original results of Regnault, or the value found by Chappuis, assuming the linear expansion of the glass, were adopted. The importance of the changes in the volume of the bulb had been fully pointed out, and a method of taking approximate account of these had been explained in the paper on the boiling point of sulphur in 1890. Unfortunately the glass employed was rather soft, and the changes of volume which occurred were too great to permit of the most accurate determination of the coefficient. The boiling point, when corrected for the smaller expansion of the bulb, came out lower than 444'53°. With os to porce- lain, Prof. Callendar did not consider it a good material, on account of the glaze. He did not think that the average co-. efficient of a tube or bulb over a large range of temperature could be inferred from a small and possibly asymmetric specimen. The results might be less inconsistent in the case of homogeneous and well-annealed metallic bulbs, The correction for the expansion of the bulb was, he believed, given by the Se pe a (C+ 46)¢(¢- 100). He did not agree with M. P. Chappuis that. the correction was independent of ¢, although the value of 6 was certainly most important at high temperatures. He also wished to take exception to the method adopted by Chappuis of calculating the correction of the nitrogen thermometer, Accord- ing to Joule and Thomson, the correction should be greatér ; according to other authorities, it might be less. _He hoped to discuss this in a further communication to the Society. Mr. Glazebrook said that, although he placed confidence in Chap- puis’ formula for a definite piece of porcelain between certain temperatures, he thought further and careful work was necessary before fixing on a formula for ordinary use. Prof. Carhart said he would like to seeacomparison made between the results of experiments with gas thermometers and those with platinum and platinum-rhodium couples. Mr. Rose-Innes expressed his interest in the behaviour of nitrogen about 100° C., as mentioned in M. P. Chappuis’ paper. Dr. Lehfeldt said the peculiarities of the nitrogen scale between 70° and £0° might be explained by the reversal of the properties of nitrogen between 0° and 100°. — A paper on the law of Cailletet and Mathias and the critical density was read by Prof. S. Young. The law of Cailletet and Mathias is very nearly, though in most cases not absolutely, true. It appears to be only strictly true when the ratio of the actual to the theoretical density at the critical point has the normal value 3°77. The curvature of the ‘‘ diameter” is gene- rally smaller the nearer this ratio approaches its normal value. _ The curvature is in nearly every case in opposite directions, according as this ratio is greater or less than 3°77. The curva- ture is generally so slight that the critical density may be caleu- lated from the mean densities of liquid and saturated vapour at. June 28, 1900] NATURE 215 temperatures from about the boiling point to within a few de- (ted of the critical point with an error generally not exceeding per cent. If, however, the critical density is calculated from ‘the mean densities at low’ temperatures, the error may be considerable ; in the case of normal decane it is between 5 and ij cent. The law does not, as a rule, hold good at all for ielabances the molecules of which differ in complexity in the oie and liquid states. Mr. Rose-Innes said that in his paper the author had used the generalisations of Van der Waals, _ although the author himself had shown that they were not strictly true. Prof. Young said that the generalisations held in some cases, although they did not in others. In all cases they were approximately true, and it was therefore advisable to use them, ee the results as far as possible. —The Society then adjourned until next October. iety, June 7.—Prof. Thorpe, President, in liowing papers were read.—Condensation of bhoxylate with bases and B-ketonic esters, by and H. E. Stapleton. Ethyl acetylenedicar- with benzamidine to form a substance of the NH.CO CO.NH erm glyoxaline red.—Condensation of phenols with ylpropiolate, by S. Ruhemann and F. Beddow. oxide reacts with ethyl phenylpropiolate, yielding e of the constitution C.H,.C\OC,H,) :CH.CO,Et ; is easily hydrolysed, and the acid readily loses carbon giving phenoxystyrene, CH, :C(OC,H;).C,H;.—The n of pi ine, by H. A. D. Jowett. Isopilocarpine dation a lactonic acid of the constitution be ee CH.CH.CO,H —Co i ution, » which the acid”? on mixing the former two substances, indicating the existence of the acids H,O..4SO, 3 in a mixture of sulphuric acid and hydrogen -diphenyl- and dialphyl ethylenediamines, their tes, nitratesand mercurichlorides, by W. S. Mills. — SO * og ware aaa and homocamphoric acid, by orth e halogen derivatives of cyanocamphor’ are to = and homocamphoramic acid, 6O0,H).CHs.CONH2, b akg hey alkalis. mphoricacid,C 14(CO,H). CHBr.CO,H, made ; homocamphoric dichloride with bromine, can be con- H.CO,H into homocamphoric acid, CsH,6 | .— ar \co.0 -violet absorption spectra of some closed chain carbon s. II. Dimethylpyrazine, hexamethylene and tetra- , by W. N. Hartley and J. J. Dobbie.—A study orption spectra of o-oxycarbanil and its alkyl deriva- telation to tautomerism, by W. N. Hartley, J. J. and P. G. Paliatseas.—Action of formaldehyde on the naphthalene series (II.), by G. T. Morgan. The rf eltyde on ethyl-8-naphthylamine in cold acetic ution results in the formation of 2 : 2-diethyldiamino- phthylmethane.—The bromination of benzeneazo- II.), by J. T. Hewitt and W. G. Aston.—Condensa- ethyl crotonate with ethyl oxalate, by A. Lapworth. -oxalocrotonate, CO,Et.CO.CH,.CH : CH.CO,Et, is by the action of sodium ethoxide on a mixture of ethyl le and ethyl oxalate ; it is converted into a-pyrone-a’- ee CH.CH:C.CO.H tylic acid, || Per CUO arches in silicon compounds. VI. On silicodiphenyldiimide Silicotriphenylguanidine, by J. E. Reynolds. On_ heating phenylamide, Si(NHC,Hs),, the diimide, Si(NCgH5)., and phenylguanidine, Si(NC,EH,)(NHC,H, )s, are obtained. — ach’s hydrogen tetroxide, by H. E. Armstrong. ean Society, June 7.—Prof. Sydney II. Vines, F.R.S., t, in the chair.—Mr. R. Morton Middleton exhibited a NO. 1600, VOL. 62] nomoc: » by hydrochloric acid.— letter, dated ‘‘ London, 13 June 1788,” in the handwriting of Sir J. E. Smith, addressed to Charles Louis L’Héritier, at Paris, in which he mentioned a visit to Oxford with Sir Joseph Banks and J. Dryander for the purpose of looking over the plants and drawings of Sibthorp, who was then lecturing there ; and added some critical remarks on several species of Sztda which L’Héritier had sent him for determination. Mr. Middleton also exhibited an engraved portrait of Sir J. E. Smith from the Gentleman’s Magazine, 1828, which, with the letter, he presented to the Society.—Mr. F. Enock, with the aid of the lantern, exhibited several photomicrographs and photographs of living insects, and gave an illustrated account of the life-history and metamorphoses of a dragonfly (Zschna cyanea).—Mr. E. S. Goodrich read a paper, entitled ‘‘ Notes on Sy//is vivipara, Krohn.” This worm, which he found in a tank at the Naples Laboratory, appeared to be identical with that described by Krohn in 1869 (Arch. f. Naturg. xxxv. p. 197), and in general form resembled Claparéde’s Sy/iis Armandi (probably S. prolifera, Krohn). The peculiar point of interest was its method of reproduction, the embryos growing within the body- cavity of the parent to an advanced stage (when they resemble the adult except in their smaller size and fewer segments), and escaping by the breaking off of the posterior portion of the rent’s body.—Dr. Otto Stapf read a ye on the two elastomaceous genera Dice/landra, Hook. f., and Phaconeuron, Gilg. He showed that the differences between them are not in the heterandry and homceandry respectively, as was supposed, but in much more important characters which concern all those parts which affect the formation of the fruits and seeds. The diagnoses of the two genera must therefore be revised, with the result that Phaeoneuron and Dicellandra change their character as monotypic genera.—A paper was read by Miss A. L. Embleton giving a full account of the anatomy and histology of Echiurus unicinctus, received from Prof. K. Mitsukuri, of Tokyo. CAMBRIDGE, Philosophical Society, May 7.—Prof. Clifford Allbutt, F.R.S., in the chair.—Exhibition of anomalous bones from pre- dynastic Egyptian skeletons, by Prof. Macalister, F.R.S.— Ammocoetes a Cephalaspid, by Dr. Gaskell, F.R.S. The paper contained evidence that Ammocoetes was the living representative of the ancient Cephalaspids.—Note on some abnormalities of the limbs and tail of Dipnoan fishes, by H. H. Brindley. Lepidosiren and Protopterus sometimes exhibit rtial bifidity of the limbs and tail. This condition of the imbs of Protopfterus has received some speculative attention, and it has also been suggested that a branched limb of Lefz- dostren might have a respiratory function. Boulenger and Howes have since shown that Profopierus may regenerate its limb in a branched condition, and sections of branched limbs of Lepidosiren show histological features clearly suggesting a reproduced condition. Budgett and Kerr have noticed a con- siderable tendency to injury and reproduction of limbs and tail in both these fishes—and there can be no doubt that the repro- duction is often bifid. A parallel is therefore afforded with the bifidity sometimes seen in lizards’ tails, which in all cases examined are reproduced structures. In some of the latter there is evidence that the extra tail is a new growth arising from an injured place, and in others that the new growth is bifid from its commencement. In the cases of Lefzdoszren examined the latter condition alone seems to hold. —On the standardisation of anti-venomous serum, by W. Myers. It was shown that Calmette’s method was based on views which were no longer tenable ; and, further, that a special mixture.of snake venoms is required. A more accurate measure of the antitoxin was to test its neutralising power, using ten times the minimal lethal dose of unheated Cobra poison, and mice of 15 grams weight as test animals. With this method it was possible to estimate the serum to within 15 per cent. Royal Meteorological Society, June 20.—Dr. C. Theo- dore Williams, President, in the chair.—Mr, W. Marriott read a r on rainfall in the west and east of England in relation to altitude above sea-level. This was a discussion of the mean monthly and annual rainfall for the ten years 1881-90 at 309 stations which the author had grouped according to the altitude of the stations above sea-level. The western stations were considered to be those which drained to the west, and the eastern stations those which drained to the east of the country. The diagrams exhibited showed that there is a general increase in the annual amount of rain as the altitude increases, and 216 NATURE [JUNE 28, 1900 that the rainfall is considerably greater in the west than in the east. The monthly diagrams brought out prominently some interesting features, among which were (1) that the monthly rainfall in the west is subject to a much greater range than in the east ; (2) that in the west the maximum at all altitudes occurs in November, but in the east it is generally in October ; (3) that in the west the spring months, April, May and June, are very dry; and (4) that both in the west and east there is a very great increase in the rainfall from June to July.—A paper by Mr. J. Baxendell wasalso read, giving a description of a new self-recording rain-gauge designed by Mr. F. L. Halliwell, of the Fernley Observatory, Southport. This rain-gauge, which the author believes approaches very closely to an ideal standard, thasalso the merit of being constructed at a moderate priok. PaRISs. Academy of Sciences, June 18.—M. Maurice Lévy in the hair.—On the monument erected to Lavoisier, by M. Berthelot. ‘The monument is now finished, and will be unveiled on July 27. —The problem of the cooling of the earth’s crust treated from Fourier’s point of view, but by a much simpler method of integ- ration, by M. J. Boussinesq.—Actinometric observations during the eclipse of May 28, by M. J. Violle. A diagram of the results obtained is given which closely approximates to the ~theoretical curve, the divergence being mainly due to the lag of the instrument, but also apparently in part owing to an absorp- tion of heat by the solar atmosphere. The minimum ratio deducted from the observations was 0°12, distinctly less than the ratio of the radiant surfaces, 0°14. Two sets of observations ~were carried out, one on the Pic du Midi, at a height of 2860 metres, and the other from a balloon, at a height of about 10,000 metres, —On the formation of nitricacid in the combustion of hydro- gen, by M. Berthelot. Hydrogen was burnt froma jet in oxygen .

calls “the log. of the hour angle.” It is the d of half the hour angle, but this is a de- : “one happens to possess the particular table in ch some obliging genius has given this quantity, | argument hour angle, the work is done and it b , So far as the result is\ concerned, satisfactorily, t to the memory rather than the rigorous process istration is a plan Earl Dunraven thinks admir- pted to meet the difficulties introduced by “a Slippery, and tumbling deck ” and the inconveniences 10. 1606, VOL. 62] “of a dimly-lit cabin, full of confusion and noise.” We fail to perceive the particular advantages of this system, but would express any doubts on this point very modestly, for the author speaks from an actual experience, which we can very inadequately apprehend. But if our methods of teaching are as far asunder as the poles, it is impossible to escape the influence of the cheerful, breezy style in which the book is written—a model for those who attempt to substitute teaching by written description for oral explanation. The author appears to be sitting at the same table with the student, giving him of his best, and actually pushing him through ° the examination. If any one has failed to satisfy the examiner that he is competent to do “a day’s work,” let him take Earl Dunraven for his guide, and he will become fully persuaded of the easiness of the problem, rather than of its difficulty, and will pass the ordeal with success. The author supposes his pupil to be conversant with the multiplication table, but with practically nothing else, so he gives first a chapter on arithmetic, followed by one on the application of logarithms ; the theory is dismissed in a page, and of this short summary the student is told “don’t bother to read it unless you havea mind to.” This is the keynote of the whole book, only those problems which can have an immediate practical significance, or can be broached in the examination room, are pressed on the student’s notice. But to make amends for the lack of theory, on the practical side, the detail is very full and complete. From logarithms we pass to the description of the instruments used at sea, and so arrive at the “sailings” and that troublesome problem of the “day’s work,” which proves such a stumbling block for so many aspirants for certificates. At this point the author thinks it time to introduce a little algebra and trigonometry, though he advises only extra masters to read it, and we must admit that it contains some hard things, and that we should have some difficulty in solving some of the simple equations proposed by following the rules laid down for our guidance. The author is not seen at his best in these chapters, which are better taught in the schoolroom than on the ship’s deck. Tides and charts, so far as their investigation and construction are needed for the examination room, are fully explained. The first volume concludes with the solution of simple problems connected with the determination of latitude, longitude, and azimuth. We cannot get very far into the second volume without some knowledge of spherical trigonometry, and here, again, we do not find the chapters devoted to this subject altogether satisfactory. Spherical trigonometry covers a very small but well recognised subject of inquiry, and can without much difficulty be made complete. The methods are simple and easily applied, except in one point, and that is the determination of the quadrant in which the various arcs fall. Earl Dunraven has not much assist- ance to offer on this vexed point. He pins his faith to Haversines, and as a rule keeps free from the employ- ment of auxiliary angles. In this he is no doubt well advised, for the advantages of the method so long insisted upon in elementary treatises are by no means so apparent in actual work. Through the intricacies of the ingenious method known as Sumner Lines, Earl Dunraven con- ducts us with care, especially dwelling on the use of the Q oak NATURE [Aucust 9, 1900 various tables that have been introduced to facilitate the process and hasten the result. After one or two further applications of spherical trigonometry, we are brought face to face with that curious survival, known as a Lunar Distance, and we are quite sure that the author did some violence to his sense of practical utility when he devoted sO many wearisome pages to the consideration of this obsolete problem. In the examination room of the Board of Trade, the thorny difficulties of “clearing the dis- tance” may exercise a wholesome effect on the extra master, whose fate it is to attack this problem, and in- duce him to acquire a greater knowledge of nautical astronomy than he would otherwise do; but we imagine in the great majority of cases the applicant endeavours to forget all about the intricacies of the problem as soon as he is possessed of his qualifying “ticket.” The skill of the mechanician has done much to remove the neces- sity of the ingenious device, but the rapid transit of vessels from port to port, and the numerous time signals in known longitudes, give to the mariner Greenwich Time more accurately than it'was ever determined by the method of lunar distances. But for some reason known only to the authorities, an acquaintance with the method is demanded, though the necessary facility in manipulating the sextant cannot so well be required. The whole process affords an interesting case of the resources of analysis outrunning in accuracy the observ- ations to which it is applied. “ Problems,” says Earl Dunraven, “will be given you in the examination room on the infernal subject of magnetism and deviation,” so he has much to say about the coefficients A to E. To many, we are afraid these coefficients will remain a matter of intricate manipula- tion, .carrying no definite meaning ; but if they follow the author’s guidance, they ought to issue triumphantly from the examination ordeal. His rules are admirably arranged, and, from a purely mechanical point of view, leave nothing to be desired. We could have wished that the theory had been a little fuller, but we remember, a little regretfully, that the author’s object is not to teach magnetism, but to pass the reader or student through an examination of a strictly limited character. We cannot but think that the book is eminently calcu- lated to effect this object. Admirably printed, well and lavishly illustrated, furnished with numerous examples and written in a free and easy, but lucid style, we should imagine that this work is destined to become the most popular book on the subject, and that it will be the one guide and text-book to which the young officer will apply, to help him to meet and defy the terrors of Her Majesty’s examiners. WE. .P, THE CULTIVATION AND PRODUCTION OF COFF. ie Le Café, Culture—manipulation—production. Par Henri Lecomte, Agrégé de l'Université, Docteur es Sciences, &c. Pp. vit 342. (Paris: Georges Carré et C. Naud, 1899.) OFFEE in its various commercial aspects, whether from the point of view of the planter, the broker, the retail dealer, or the consumer, has from time to time commanded a great deal of attention. Occupying as it does a large and extended area of cultivation within the NO. 1606, VOL. 62] ‘and is illustrated by a figure of the so-called Arabian — tropics, and being an important branch of industria culture in many of the British possessions, as Jamaica, q Ceylon, Southern India, and Borneo, it is but reasonable to expect that treatises on the cultivation, best means of improvement of yield and quality, prevention of disease, j &c., would be numerous. In the English language many such works are available, and if this be so, bearing on a culture which though large and important is smal] in comparison with that of Brazil, Central America, M : Java, and Sumatra, we might mia expect to find a large ; number of books in the languages of the nations to which these extensive coffee growing countries belong. = The work before us is the latest contribution to the ei French literature of the subject, and extensive as that — literature is and for the most part carefully worked out, M. Lecomte’s handbook will be a useful and valuable — addition not only for its arrangement, but also for the & concise character of the information given and the various items of intelligence regarding production in the several countries referred to and exports therefrom. a The first chapter is devoted to the early history of the — coffee plant. The botany of the genus Coffea is treated © | of in the second chapter occupying twenty-five ell coffee (Coffea arabica) in flower and in fruit, and a figure — is also given of C. stenophylla, the tree which furnishes the wild coffee of Sierra Leone, as well as of the new species from the Congo, Gs canephora, Pierre. In the | enumeration of species given in this chapter thirty- three are referred to, prominence, of course, being given — to C, arabica and C. liberica, the two most important — coffee yielding species. The best varieties of C. arabica cultivated in various parts of the world are also enumerated. © & Referring to Coffea stenophyllz the specific name of which, by the way, is spelt with a capital initial letter, the | author gives the following interesting account of it: In 1894 some plants of this new species were received at — the Royal Gardens, Kew, from Sierra Leone, and those! plants produced flowers in 1895. Seeds were afterwards — sent to most of the English colonies where it was thought — the plant might flourish. In Ceylon, however, the results have not been satisfactory; but in Dominica, — Jamaica, and Trinidad, the case has been different. In the Botanic. Garden of Port of Spain, Trinidad, — there are some fine fruiting examples of this tree — quite free of disease. The author further regrets — that this coffee has not yet been introduced into the © French colonies. On the climate and elevation suitable for — the success of coffee plantations the great coffee-growing — country of Brazil has the first consideration, The re- — maining chapters are devoted to the consideration of — soils, the choice of seeds, transplanting, manures, shade — trees, &c. The. use of simple diagrams showing the different positions in which the coffee plant and its shade trees may be placed will be found useful, as wilh — also the list of trees suitable both for shade and shelter, amongst which we notice such well-known trees as Albizzia Lebbek, A. stipulata, and Exythrina indica. On the subject of harvesting or gathering the crop it is. pointed out how extremely variable in the period of ripen- ing its seeds the plant is in different countries. Thus in Cuba, Guadaloupe, and other islands of the Antilles, the harvest commences in August and is carried on throu; Se iss _AuGustT 9, 1900] NATURE 339 smber, while in Brazil it commences in May and September. ugh the broad Sinciuies of the preparation of for market are well known, the description here especially aided as it is by the practical illustra- 1 be of especial value. No book on coffee could e complete without a reference to the diseases the plant is subject, whether the disease belongs » vegetable or animal kingdom. Consequently in thirty-one pages devoted to this part of the sub- bstitutes for coffee also come under consideration. g, however, a comparatively small space, and zh no doubt sufficient is said about them, their might be considerably increased. Perhaps one st interesting parts of the book is that treating ction, in which each country is considered y, the first chapter being devoted to the American and naturally leading off with Brazil. British, French Guiana are also considered, and com- made with product and export, as are also those yuay, Venezuela, Columbia, Costa Rica, Mexico places. The West Indies, including Jamaica, ico, Trinidad and other important coffee growing S) as well as the Eastern countries and Africa, e - sraphical distribution of Hie coffee plant, together t se of each country in kilogrammes, and late to ch the figures refer. A comparison of the oduce of each country is readily gained by a series of different sizes, with the names of the country be- each, and the total in figures ; from this it will be t Brazil is far ahead of any other individual An interesting table is also given showing the yn of coffee in the principal countries of the which i it seems that of the European countries sumes by far the largest quantity. The for 1897 standing.thus—Germany 1 36,390, 0, England 12,420, while the consumption in ‘ of America in the same year amounted to il The book concludes with a table of subjects eral chapters, but lacks that most necessary s—a Pigoad index. , YOO. THE BIRDS OF SURREY. Surrey. By J. A. Bucknill. Pp. lvi a (Londbn': Af H. Porter, Ret ae )M (a great extent of open moorland and the presence of several large sheets of water, Surrey an unusually favourable position among the tr an counties for the development of a large fauna ; and since a very considerable portion of the y is now undergoing a metamorphosis under the 1¢ of the builder as the area of the metropolis and uburbs increase, it is most important that a full should be secured of the species of birds which ' Hasppesting from its limits. The compiling of ds, and the careful working out of the past d of, seem, indeed, to be the chief justification for. lication of county ornithologies. And in this , as well as in the careful collection of local bird- ~ NO. 1606, VOL. 62] south of England. of locally distributed species within the limits | names, the author of the work before us appears to have discharged his task in a thoroughly satisfactory manner. An instance of this is afforded by his account of the occurrence of the black-grouse in Surrey. To many of our readers it will probably come asa surprise to learn that black-cock shooting was a recognised sport on the Surrey moors during the forties, and even to a consider- ably later date. At the present day there is, however, scarcely a single genuine wild bird of this species to be met with in the county ; and the excellent history of its gradual extermination given by Mr. Bucknill should, therefore, be read with the greatest interest alike by sportsmen and by ornithologists. The raven, the buzzard, the marsh-harrier, and the dotterel are other species which have disappeared from the county, either totally or as nesting birds ; the last record of the occurrence of the dotterel being 1845, when a couple of specimens were purchased from the landlord of an inn at Hindhead. Of the numerous rare birds that have been noticed from time to time in the county, the great majority have been visitors to the well-known Frensham ponds, the larger of which extends into Hampshire. Here we are practically in Gilbert White’s country; and in these favoured haunts have been seen the osprey, the spoonbill, several of the rarer kinds of duck, the goosander, and the purple heron. Sad to say, the arrival of these wanderers has for the most part been speedily followed by their slaughter ; and, as the author remarks, hundreds of other avian rarities have doubtless been killed and eaten without record. Unhappily, the great increase in game preserva- tion which has taken place of late years in the county appears to have been the cause of ,the diminution in the numbers of many of the rarer species of birds. But there are many country gentlemen, on the other hand, | who are lovers of natural history, and who veto as much as possible the bird-slaying propensities of their game- keepers. It is to such, and to the laws now in force for the protection of wild birds, that we have to look for the commencement of a better state of things in the wilder parts of the county. And the fact that the golden oriole and-the hoopoe have been observed of late years on several occasions indicates the probability that these beautiful birds would once more nest in the Surrey groves if only they received adequate protection. A feature of the book is the beautiful series of illustra- tions of Surrey scenery ; the views of Frensham Great Pond and of the Surrey Weald being some of the best examples of landscape photogravure that have come under our notice. Although primarily intended for resi- dents in the county (among whom we are glad to see that a long list of subscribers has been enrolled), the book is full of interest to all bird-lovers living in the Roe I. OUR BOOK SHELF. Untersuchungen ueber ad. Vermehrung d. Laubmoose durch Brutorgane und Stecklinge. Von Dr. Carl Correns, a.6. Prof. d. Botanik in Tiibingen. Pp. xxiv+472; mit 187 abbild. (Jena: Verlag v. Gustav Fischer, 1899.) FEw people perhaps fully realise how abundantly the mosses are ratio with modes of vegetative reproduc- tion, even although they may be fully cognisant of the fact that the protonema—the precursor of the moss- 340 NATURE [AuGUST 9, 1900 ~ plant—is readily induced to make its appearance from the cut ends of the stemis and leaves of these plants. Prof. Correns has done a useful service in bringing together, in a classified manner, the numerous methods employed by mosses to ensure their propagation and dispersal by means less expensive than by the production of spores. The readily friable stems of some species of Andreaea, the easily detached branchlets of Dicranum, are instances, well known to muscologists, of a large class of propagative bodies. These simpler forms of re- production are also widely spread amongst plants other than mosses, and in some cases—e.g. Lycopodium Selago —the superficial resemblance is rather striking. Less obvious are the subterranean bulbils or buds, such as are met with in Dzicranella, Bar bula, or Funaria, in which special tuberous bodies are formed.. Décranella heteromalia affords a pretty example of a form transi- tional from the simple to the more complex types, inas- much as the subterraneous bulbils of this moss are little more than rows of swollen rhizoid-cells arranged some- what like a string of beads. Many of these bulbils are regarded by Correns rather as of the nature of food reservoirs than as brood bodies ; but it is at least certain that they are in most cases able to function in the latter capacity as well as in that of mere storehouses of food- reserves. Bole eer : Other and-very common cases of brood -bodies are afforded by the so-called “‘ folia_fragilia”—leaves which readily become-detached from the parent plant, and with greater or less intervention of protonematal. filaments give birth to.new. individuals. Oftentimes the leaves destined to this:end undergo considerable contraction in size, and, indeed, bse assume a totally rudimentary appearance. ’ Again, :as‘in some species cof Orthotrichuem cells grow out from the ends of leaves, and the sausage-shaped pro- liferations, after detachment from the parent. plant, grow out to filaments, on which new plants arise. Thé above are only a few of the many forms cited by Correns ‘of’ gametophytic reproductions in ‘the mosses by vegetative means. But as Pringsheim long ago pointed out, it is also possible to reproduce these plants from the sporophyte generation, especially from cut fragments of the seta or stalk of the moss-capsule. These are far more interesting, as they resemble the curious aposporic de- velopment met with in a number of ferns. Indeed, these latter offer, perhaps, a means of attacking the details of the phenomena of apospory with a greater chance of success than in the case of the ferns, since they seem more easily induced by simpler experimental devices than is the case with the higher plants. A general synopsis of the various types and forms of brood-bodieés ‘forms ‘a-useful adjunct ‘to the «main. de- scriptive part of:a book on which the author has evidently expended much-labour, and.which should earn for him the gratitude of all those muscologists who are not merely, de- scribers of species, as well as ‘of botanists. who © seem too often‘ rather to be disposed to ae ‘important section of the VERE, kingdom: : Viliage. ‘Notes, and. Some Other Papers, Tennant. Pp. xii + 204;° 13 Plates. ‘William Heinemann, 1900.) THESE notes reveal some of the humour and pathos of rural life in South Wilts, and here and there they lightly touch natural scenes and objects other than human. The plates, which are reproductions from original photo- graphs of Wiltshire views, ‘are excellent, and the book itself is.a dainty volume suitable for a drawing-room table. Reference is made to the “pernicious habit of ‘underlining’ in their-letters”” which some people adopt, yet we notice an abundance of italicised words in the book, and they are equivalent to the underlined words so severely condemned. i NO. 1606, VOL. 62] ‘By. Pamela . (London : composed of ions produced by the rays. .the centre 4 centimetres in diameter. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. [The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions ex pressed 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 ‘oe 4 No notice ts taken of anonymous communications.) i The Conductivity produced in Gases by the Motion of Negatively-charged Ions. “y RECENT researches have shown that gases are rendered con- ductors of electricity when negatively-charged ions move through them with a high velocity. Thus the kathode rays and the Lenard rays possess the property of ionising gases through — which they pass (J. J. Thomson, ‘‘ The Discharge of Electricity _ through Gases”). Becquerel (Comptes rendus, March 26, 1900) © also has recently shown that the conductivity produced by. radium is due to small negatively-charged particles given off by the radio-active substance. In these cases the charged pi rticles- which ionise the gas move with velocities nearly equ to the velocity of light. Some experiments which I have recently made show oats ions | ; which are produced in air by the action of Réntgen rays will — produce other ions when they move through the gas with a 2 velocity which is small compared with the veueelie of light. When Rontgen rays are sent through a gas, at atmospheric — 2 pressure, the current between two electrodes immersed in the gas increases in proportion to the electric force, when the force — is small. For large forces the current attains a — which is” practically constant, When the pressure of the gas is cogucad, the connection — # Pat between conductivity and electromotive force is more compli- — cated. The accompanying tables show the connection between — i current and electric force for air at 2 and ‘8 mm. pressure, ~ At these pressures the current is practically constant for forces — of about Io volts per centimetre, and when forces of this order — are acting, all the ions are produced directly by the rays. When — the electric force is increased these ions produce others, so that — the current again increases. bt It appears from the following investigation that ns new ions s are produced by the collisions between negatively-charged ions | and the molecules of the gas. ie Let us suppose that 2 negative ions are moving” ina ee b between two parallel plates at a distance d apart. Let X the electric force between the plates ( = a3), and F4 the pressure of the gas. In going a distance dx. the 2 ions produce : a x 2 ‘x dx others, where a is a constant depending on X, f, — and the temperature, - which is constant in these experiments. — (The coefficient a is pees. zero for small values of %) unless Z is also small). ; ; ean ‘ | dn = andx mys OA NE ee and 2 = 2,E* ae Se Hence 7 ions starting at a distance x from one of the plates — will give rise to #(E**—1) others. When the ions arrive at the — plate, the formation of new ions ceases and the current stops, — although the electromotive force is kept on. Let , be the ~ number per unit volume produced by: the’ ‘rays. The total number of ions. produced will therefore be Fete: [oatear = Pe 2B 1). 0 per unit area, tot being the number produced by the rays. | Hence Larted Ge yest ¥) Lo eee eae fo ad | eae where ¢ is the current for a large force X, dn s; the name The following experiments were made in order to test. the accuracy of this formula for currents produced between - two — parallel plates whose distance apart could be varied. The rays fell normally on one of the plates, which was mad of thin aluminium, and after passing through the air between the plates, the ‘rays were completely stopped by the second = plate, which was of brass. The plates were 10 centimetres diameter, and the rays were allowed to fall on a circular area The conductivity: ; thus confined to a region where the force was constant. — large part of the conductivity (cj) arises from ‘the seconda' radiation from the brass disc, At high ‘pressures the scooniinem Aucust 9, 1900] NATURE 341 effect is principally confined to a layer of gas near the surface (John S. Townsend, Cams. Phil. Proc., vol. x. Part iv.), but _ when the pressure is low the secondary rays are not so rapidly _ absorbed by the gas, and the ionisation (#,) between the plates = is nearly uniform. 5 The ratios of < were determined for different forces, the air 4 4 _ being at a pressure of two millimetres. When the strength of a _ the Tays was reduced to § of its original value it was found that the ratios This shows that a bs 0 ene of 2, and is some function of X and £. : plates were then set at one centimetre apart, and the values of ¢ were determined for different forces. The results, ‘cotresponding to a pressure 2 and ‘8 mm., are given in the columns of the accompanying tables. The numbers g are the mean between the currents in opposite directions. = V a form of apparatus, however, there were only very were unaltered. is in- ifferences found in the conductivity when the electro- wees Were reversed. The plates were then set at two E Setsdnsctres apart, and the currents found in this case for | _ pressures 2°14 and ‘8 mm. are given in the third columns of "the tables. __ The force X is given in volts per centimetre. TABLE I,—Air at pressure 2 mm. oe” 3 dd=1) e(d=2) Colculated pee of 20 “a 28 49°5 28 40 os 28°2 51 28°4 ae 29°5 55 29'5 120 as 3 8I 35'5 160 baa 51 173 50 : 180 64°5 293 63 TABLE II.—Air at pressure ‘8 mm. rm 78 Calculated val f XxX cdd=1) (d=z0) a — ed values o 10 bes 10 17°7 10 20 10°5 19 10°5 40 12 24°5 12 $6 17 53°5 17 im. 31 190 29 165 61 990 62°5 186 82 2180 84 7 __ The tables show that the current increases more rapidly with __ X when the plates are two centimetres apart than when they are _ one centimetre apart. This effect cannot be attributed to a _ surface action which would be independent of @ when X remains _ constant. __ From the formula fas, E*?—-1 - . C ofa from the third columns of the tables, by making d=2 and & the smallest value of c. From values of a thus obtained, the ratios for the different forces corresponding to plates I centi- eesseer we can deduce the values metre (d= I) were calculated. The values of ¢ found in this _ manner are given in the fourth columns, and they show a good __ agreement with the experimental determinations. _ Other experiments for different pressures have also been " made, and they all show an agreement with the present theory. _ For the purpose of deciding whether it is the positive or ‘ oe, produce other ions by their rapid motion _ through the gas, we may mention the following experimental _ results. When the lines of force in the gas are not parallel, _ large differences in current were obtained on reversing the _ €électromotive force. Thus, when the conductivity takes place _ between two electrodes one inside the other, it was found that for high electromotive forces the current is much greater when __ the ions go towards the inner electrode. Thus, with an apparatus consisting of a small spherical electrode surrounded by a large electrode made of thin aluminium, the currents, when the outside electrode was positive, were 14 ' e- a potential difference of 40 volts, and 34 for a potential fs. e of 300 volts; when the outside electrode was nega- _ tive the currents were 14 and 174 for the same voltages. In these experiments the pressure was about 2 mm. The posi- $ tive and negative ions produced by the rays are generated a nearly uniformly throughout the area between the electrodes. _ When the large electrode is positive only a few of the negative _ tons pass through the region round the small electrode where NO. 1606, VOL. 62] the force is big, and the current only increases from 14 to 34. When the electromotive force is reversed all the negative ions produced by the rays come into the region where the force is big, and the current is thereby increased from 14 to 174. It is therefore evident that the increase of conductivity must be attributed to the rapid motion of the negative ions, I hope in a future paper to give a fuiler account of the above experiments, and also to point out some of the applications of this theory to the passage of electricity through gases. I may mention that the high conductivitiés obtained with ultra-violet i (Stoletow, Journal de Physique (2), 9, pp. 463-473, 1890), at pressures of about 1 millimetre, may be explained by this theory. Approximate values of the energy of translation of the nega- tive ion when producing another ion by a collision can also be obtained from the coefficients a. J. S. TOWNSEND. Trinity College, Cambridge. A Remarkable Hailstorm. I HEREWITH enclose you prints, from untouched negatives, of hailstones which fell at Northampton on Friday, July 20. The drawing board measures 19}” by 17”, andthe average circumference of the hailstones upwards of five inches. These are by no means the largest that fell, according to the state- ments of trustworthy persons, but were typical of what fell in my garden. Fic. 1.—Group of hailstones which fell at Northampton on July 20. Size of board 194 in. by 17 in. The majority of the stones were somewhat flattened, fas shown in the front of the photograph, but many were nearly spherical like those in my hand (Fig. 1). The stones were extremely dense and well frozen, and buried themselves in the garden soil. Where they fellon hard surfaces, they usually broke into fragments which rebounded to consider- able heights, while glass roofs suffered enormous damage all over Fic. 2.—Sections of hailstones (Northampton, July 20). the area, some twelve miles by six, covered by the storm. I have a piece of glass 5/16ths of an inch in thickness many hundred square feet of which were bro‘en at the various factories in the town. , The sections (Fig. 2) were an afterthought and show the structure exceptionally well in two instances. J. G. ROBERTs. Northampton and County School, July 30. 342 NATURE [AUGUST 9, 1900 THE PHOVOGRAPHY OF SOUND-WAVES AND THE DEMONSTRATION OF TAE EVOLUTIONS OF REFLECTED WAVE- FRONTS WITH THE CINEMATOGRAPH. Introduction. }s a paper published in the PAilosophical Magazine for August 1899, | gave an account of some experi- ments on the photography of sound-waves, and their application in the teaching of optical phenomena. Since writing this paper I have extended the work somewhat and at a meeting of the Royal Society on February 15, 1900, gave an account of this work, and demonstrated certain features of wave motion with the cinematograph. In the present article I propose to give a somewhat more extended account of the work, paying especial attention to the analogies between the sound-waves and waves of light. ‘ In teaching the subject of optics we are obliged to resort to diagrams when dealing with the wave-front, and in spite of all that we can do, the student is apt to form the opinion that the rays are the actual entities, and that wave-fronts are after all merely conceptions. The set of photographs illustrating this article will, I think, be of no small use to teachers in ridding the minds of students of the obnoxious rays, and impressing the fact that all of the common phenomena of reflection, refraction and diffraction are due simply to changes wrought on the wave-front. Sound-waves in air were first observed and studied by Toepler, by means of an exceedingly sensitive optical contrivance for rendering visible minute changes in the optical density of substances. A very full description of the device will be found in Toepler’s article (Wed. Annalen, cxxxi.), while a brief account of it will be given presently. . The waves in question are the single pulses of condensed air given out by electric sparks. A train of waves would complicate matters too much, and for illustrating the optical phenomena which we are to take up would be useless. ‘The snap of the spark gives us just what we require, namely, a single wave-front, in which the condensation is considerable. When seen subjectively, as was the case in Toepler’s experiments, the wave-fronts, if at all complicated, as they often are, cannot be studied to advantage, as they are illuminated for an instant only, and appear in rapid succession in different parts of the field. By the aid of photography a permanent record of the forms can be obtained and studied at leisure. The first series of photographs, published in the Phzlosophical Magazine, were made with an apparatus similar to the one to be presently described ; while most of those illustrating this article were made on a much larger scale’ by employing a large silvered mirror in place of the lens, an improve- ment due to Prof. Mach, of Prague, who has given much attention to the subject. y As it is a matter of no trouble at all to set up in a few minutes, in any physical laboratory, an apparatus for showing the air-waves subjectively, and as the method does not seem to be as well known as it deserves to be, a brief description of the “ Schlieren” apparatus, as Toepler named it, may not be out of place. The Apparatus. The general arrangement of the “Schlieren” appa- ratus is shown in Fig. 1. A good-sized achromatic lens of the finest quality obtainable, and of rather long focus, is the most important part of the device.. I have been using the object-glass of a small telescope figured by the late Alvan Clarke. Its diameter is five inches, and the focal length about six feet. I have no doubt but that a smaller lens could be used for viewing the waves, but NO. 1606, VOL. 62] a ([o__ (( pene tage =e ae aes pt e ( ae ee ee te one of at least this size is desirable for them. _ The lens is mounted in front of a suitable source of light (in the present case an electric spark), which should be at such a distance that its image on the other side of — the lens is ‘at a distance of about fifteen feet. The image of the spark, which we will suppose to be , straight, horizontal, and very narrow, is about two- thirds covered with a horizontal diaphragm (a), and im- — mediately behind this is placed the viewing-telescope. On looking into the telescope we see the field of the lens — uniformly illuminated by the light that passes under the diaphragm, since every part of the image of the spark receives light from the whole lens. If the diaphragm be lowered the field will darken, if it be raised the illumination will be increased. In general it is best to have the diaphragm so adjusted that the lens is quite i feebly illuminated, though this is not true for photo- graphic work. Let us now suppose that there is a globular mass of air in front of the lens of slightly greater optical density than the surrounding air (4). The rays of photographing: rhs RRS ise light going through the upper portion of this denser mass will be bent down, and will form an image of the spark © PS ae below the diaphragm, allowing more light to enter the — telescope from this particular part of the field; conse- — quently, on looking into the instrument, we shall see the © upper portion of the globular mass of air brighter than the rest of the field. The rays which traverse the under ~ part of “3,” however, will be bent up on the contrary, © forming an image of the spark higher up, and wholly — covered by the diaphragm ; consequently this part of the oh - ry ~ aes aoe _ HG - Bs -—- aed Fic. 1. field will appear black. It will be readily understood — that, with the long path between the lens and the image a very slight change in the optical density of any portion of the medium in front of the lens will be sufficient — to raise or depress the image above or below the edge: of the diaphragm, and will consequently make itself manifest in the telescope. : eek’: The importance of using a lens of first-class quality is quite apparent, since variations in the density of the glass of the lens will act in the same way as variations in the density of the medium before it, and produce unequal illumination of the field. It is impossible to find a lens which will give an absolute even, feeble illumination, but a good achromatic telescope objective is perfect enough for every purpose. A more complete discussion of the operation of the apparatus will be found in Toepler’s. original paper in the Anmalen. The sound-waves, which are regions of condensation, and consequent greater optical density, make themselves apparent in the same — way as the globular mass of air already referred to. They must be illuminated by a flash of exceedingly short — : duration, which must occur while the wave is in the field — of view. Toepler showed that this could be done by starting the sound-wave with an electric spark, and illuminating it with the flash of a second spark occurring a moment ~ later, while the wave was still in the field. A diagram of the apparatus used is shown in Fig. 2. In lens are two brass balls (a, a), between which the spark of an induction coil passes, immediately charging the — Leyden-jar c, which discharges across the gap at @ am ~ instant later. The capacity of the jar is so regulated that the interval between the two sparks is about one In front of the — = \ aS AUGUST 9, 1900] NATURE 343 _ ten-thousandth ofa second. The field of the lens is thus _ illuminated by the flash of the second spark before the sound-wave started by the first spark has gone beyond the edge of the lens. To secure the proper time-interval between the two Sparks it is necessary that the capacity of the jar be quite small. A good-sized test tube half full of mercury stand- ng ina jar of mercury is the easiest arrangement to fit _ This limits the length and brilliancy of the illumin- spark, and with the device employed by Toepler is unable to get enough light to secure photographs waves. After some experimenting I found that if ark of the jar was passed between two thin pieces gnesium ribbon pressed between two pieces of thick =-glass, a very marked improvement resulted. With form of illuminator I found that five or six times as light could be obtained: as by the old method of ng the spark between two brass balls. ne spark is flattened out into a band, and is kept in the same plane, the light issuing in a thin t from between the plates. By this arrangement we cure a light source of considerable length, great in- isity, and bounded by straight edges, the three essentials securing good results. The glass plates, with the ribbon terminals between them, must be clamped in some _ sort of a holder and directed so that the thin sheet of ht strikes the lens: this can be accomplished by darkening the room, fastening a sheet of paper in front lens, and then adjusting the plates so that the Fel a Fic. 2. + : x er is illuminated as much as possible. The image by the lens will be found to have very sharp edges,' on one of which the edge of the m can be set in such a manner as to allow little light to pass when the intervening medium = & but very ( + geneous ; a very slight change, however, in any tion may be sufficient to cause the entire amount of _ light passing through that portion to pass below the _ diaphragm and enter the telescope. et __ The photographs were made by substituting a photo- : hic objective for the telescope, in the focal plane of _ which a vertical board was mounted to support the plate. _ The room was darkened, a plate held in position, and a _ single spark made to pass between the knobs by pulling string connected with the hammer of the induction coil. The plate was then moved a trifle and a second eee ssion secured in the same way. This obviated _ several of the difficulties experienced in the earlier work. _ The images never overlapped, and the hot air from the S| did not appear in the pictures. About thirty-five were obtained on each plate in less than a from which it was usually possible to pick a showing the wave in all stages of its development, to the variations in the time-interval between the D ‘1 If more than one image appears it means that the plane of the glass plates of the illuminator does not lie parallel to the optical axis of the System. It is of prime importance to secure a single image. NO. 1606, VoL. 62] head, and but slightly modified the face. The ; exhibited the new complex type. At the nide period the Arabs reinforced the Semitic Ujfalvy accepts and reinforces Houssay’s dictum . of Aryans with Mongols or Mongoloids, the their | facial characters, flattening of the nose, promi- -bones, | absence or sparseness of the beard ; ‘auch impose the shape of their skull on the ius . Sure AND Son have just patented a very handy c lamp for microscopic purposes. The lamp—a wer 1a enclosed in a metal cylinder, the inner am of which is painted white. The light makes its exit ough a circular aperture in the side of the cylinder near its te end; the end is closed by a plate set at an angle of 45° ited white, so as to reflect the light through the circular “The light thus does not pass direct from the ndescent carbon filament to the mirror of the microscope, t is reflected from the white walls of the cylinder. In this very even illumination is obtained, which is more uniform it obtained from the average ground glasslamp. While, r, the light given by this lamp is admirably suited for 1ary powers such as are attached to the average student’s ope, it is, in our opinion, neither powerful enough nor ough for high-power work, this being a defect common NO. 1606, VOL. 62] to all electric microscope lamps. Where in addition a iamp is required for dissection purposes, as is so often the case, the direct light of the ordinary type of electric lamp will be found more suitable. This lamp is very compact and steady, and its movements, especially those about its horizontal axis, are parti- cularly easy and steady. THE Botanical Museum of Florence has recently received a donation of considerable interest in connection with the history of botany in Italy, viz. the collections made by Micheli, by Bruno Tozzi, and by G. Targioni-Tozzetti in the 18th century, including the type-specimens of species named by these and other eminent botanists. The donation includes also Micheli’s and Targioni-Tozzetti’s collections of sea-weeds. In No. 4 of vol. xxi. of Motes from the Leyden Museum, Dr. J. Biittikofer, the director of the Zoological Garden at Rotterdam, records the birds collected by the. Dutch expedition to Central Borneo. Testimony is borne to the thoroughness of the work of the English naturalists, the late Messrs. Everett and Whitehead, and Mr. Charles Hose, by the fact that the author has not been able to add a single new species to the avian moun- tain fauna of the island. Dr. Biittikofer comes to the conclusion that both the mammalian and the avian faunas of Borneo are remarkably homogeneous, especially so far as the lowlands and the mountain bases up to an elevation of about 1000 metres are concerned. In vol. ii. No. 1 of the same serial, Mr. M. C. Piepers defends his theory of the evolution of colour in Lepi- doptera, as explained at the recent Zoological Congress at Cambridge, against the criticisms of Miss Newbiggin and Dr. von Linden. In Nature Notes for August the Selborne Society refers to the urgent need of a crusade against pigeon-shooting. THE MS. of the second volume of the late Dr. Stark’s ‘‘ Birds of South Africa” has been found amongst the papers of the deceased naturalist, who was killed at Ladysmith during the siege. It has been revised for the press by Mr. W. L. Sclater, director of the South African Museum, Cape Town, and will be shortly published by Mr. R. H. Porter. It will form part of Mr. Sclater’s series of volumes on the fauna of South Africa. _ THE report of the Zoological Garden of Calcutta for the year 1898-99, which has recently been received in this country, gives a favourable impression of the present condition and prospects of this establishment, drawn up by Lieut. -Colonel P. A. Buckland, the honorary secretary and treasurer. The superintendent ‘of the Calcutta Garden, Babu R. B. Sanyal, who represented that Institution at the International Congress of Zoology at Cambridge in August 1898, contributes to this report an interesting account of his experiences at the Cambridge meeting, and of his observations on many of the zoological gardens of Europe, which he took the opportunity of visiting on the same occasion. THE additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the past week include a Macaque Monkey (Aacacus cynomolgus) from India, presented by Mr. T. Forsyth Forrest; a Diana Monkey (Cercopithecus diana) from West Africa, presented by Mr. W. Cleaver ; two Greater Vasa Parrots (Coracopsis vasa) from Madagascar, presented by Mr. G. eBarfoot ; a Silky Cow- bird (Molothrus bonariensis) from South America, presented by Mr. F. Willes ; seven Algerian Skinks (Zumeces algeriensis), a Spiny-tailed.Mastigure (Uromastix acanthinurus) from North Africa, -presented by Mr. G, H. Fernan; a Common Viper (Viper berus), British, presented by Mr. Alfred Cooper; a Green Lizard (Lacerta viridis), a Dohl’s Snake (Zamenis dahit), European ; two Snakes (Co/uber prasinus) from Upper Burmah, deposited ; two Ring- -necked Pheasants (Phastanus torquatus), 352 eee NATURE [AuGuST 9, 1900 two Gold Pheasants (7haumalea picta) from China, a Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus), five Barn Owls (Strix flammea), British, purchased; a Japanese Deer (Cervus ska), born in the Gardens, OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. CoMET BORRELLY-BROOKS (1900 6).—Several observations of this comet are announced. The comet is at present easily seen with a small telescope, but is becoming fainter. Ephemeris for 12h. Berlin Mean Time. 1900, R.A, Decl. Br. h. m. s. Aug. 9 SET as +61 I1I'9 O'9! 10 15 14 63 37°6 87 II 19 12 65 56°8 83 12 23 41 68 9°4 79 13 28 47 70 15°6 75 14 34 46 72 15°3 71 15 41 48 74 86 67 16 3.50.8 +75 55°7 0°63 During the week the comet passes rapidly northwards from a Persei, across into Camelopardus, and then near the boundary of this constellation and Cassiopeia. Its path is at present so nearly linear that it may be found by sweeping along the direction formed by the stars 7, x and a Persei. EPHEMERIS OF COMET 1894 IV. (SwiFr).—Mr. F. H. Seares sends the following search ephemeris for the assistance of interested observers :— LEphemeris for 12h. Berlin Mean Time. 1900. : R.A, ecl. ] h. m, s ‘ Aug. § 15 57 20 — 24 32°8 12 15 59 31 36'0 16 16 2 10 40°2 20 16 5 17 454 24 16 8 50 51°4 28 16 12 50 — 24 58°1 VARIABLE STARS IN CLUSTERS.—fHarvard College Observ- atory Circular (No. 52) contains the results of the measures of a set of photographs of the star cluster Messier 3 (N.G.C., 5272). This object is solow in the sky at Arequipa, and the stars so faint, that satisfactory photographs of it could not be obtained with the 13-inch Boyden refractor with exposures less ‘than .gom. The rate of increase of the light of many of these stars is extremely rapid, and in order to determine such change with the greatest precision, it is necessary to have photographs taken with short exposures. Accordingly, at Prof. E. C. Pickering’s request, Prof. J. E. Keeler has taken a series of excellent pictures of the cluster with the 3-foot Crossley reflector of the Lick Observatory. The first of these had an exposure of 60m., while twenty-four others were ob- tained with exposures of om. each. Prof. Bailey has ex- amined these photographs very carefully, devoting attention specially to three of the variable stars. It has previously been stated (Circular No. 33) that the proportion of variable stars is greater in this cluster than in any other object of the same class. The periods of the three variables were found to be: No, 11, 12h, 12m. 25s.; No. 96, 12h. om. 15s. ; No. 119, 12h. 24m. 31s. The variations were recorded for intervals of 5m., and are given inatable. From this it appears that the total increase of light takes place in the caseof No. 11, within 7om. ; No. 96, within 60m.; and No. 119, within 80m. The greatest rapidity of increase of light occurs in the star No. 96, which increases during 5m. at the rate of at least 2°5 magnitudes per hour, and during 3om. at the rate of more than 2‘0 magni- tudes per hour. This rate of change appears to be the most rapid of any known variable. The Algol variable U Cephei, which perhaps undergoes the most rapid change of any variable not found in clusters, changes at the rate of about 1°5 magni- tudes per hour during about 30m. of its period. In all these - Stars the rate of change is relatively slow near the beginning and end of the period of increase. In No. 96 the increase is about ten times as rapid as the decrease. Generally speaking, the lengths of period and form of light curves of these three stars are similar to those of the variables in the clusters Messier 5 and _w Centauri (Astrophysical Journal, vol. x. p. 255). : NO. 1606, VOL. 62] RECENT INVESTIGATIONS ON RUST OF : WHEAT. ‘ +P es re RUST; or mildew, -is familiar to the agriculturist as a disease destructive to wheat and other cereals, and to ; botanist as the subject of important researches relating to fungi, It was known in times of antiquity, as shown by numerous — references indicating its destructiveness. Virgil says, ** Soon, too, the corn gat sorrow’s increase, that an evil blight ate up the stalks” (‘‘ Georgics,” i. 150-1). In Britain, it is stated that ‘*mildew of wheat-plants has been known for over 300 years, according to the records” (‘* Report on Mildew on at Plants, 1892,” Board of Agriculture, 1893, p. 25). Shake- ~ speare ascribes it to ‘‘ the foul fiend Flibbergibbet ” (King Lear, © Act iii. Scene 4). and Jethro Tull (1731) refer to it. The connection of rust of cereals with a specific fungus is generally ascribed to Fontana (1767), and Persoon, after further investigation, in 1797 named the fungus Puccinia graminis. An account of rust, with illus- trations of the Pucctnza, by Sir J. Banks in 1805, is apparently the first important paper on the rust and its fungus in Smith (‘‘ Diseases of Crops,” London, 1884, Chaples ae.) by ; ”* London, | (* Re oe C. B. Plowright (‘‘ British Uredineze and Ustilagineze,” 1889, p. 46), and in the Board of Agriculture re The works on husbandry of Hartlib (1655) tain. i Since then the epidemic has been the subject of many papers, — and of, at least, three organised inquiries. _ The historical side — of the subject is conveniently summarised by Worthington G. — 4 . on Mildew on Wheat Plants, 1892,” Board of Agriculture, 1893, — Re 4-} 3 Rust of wheat occurs throughout Britain, especially in the — wheat-growing districts, and forms of it are found on oat, — barley, rye, and almost all grasses The losses from the form ~ on wheat, reported to the Board of Agriculture in 1892, vary — from nine to sixteen bushels per acre of crop. Rust-epidemics have been the subject of special attention in Europe, more particularly in Sweden, Germany, France and Austria. A rust conference was formed:in 1890 for Australasia, and still con- — tinues to meet. In the United States of America, the Depart- — ment of Agriculture sanctions the statement that “ the damage © to wheat and oats from rust in this country probably exceeds that caused by any other fungous or insect pe localities is greater than that caused by all other enemies com- st, and in some — bined” (Carleton, M. A., ‘‘ Cereal Rusts of the United States,” — U.S. Department of Agriculture, Bz/letin 16, 1899). and Japan, substantial losses are ascribed to this di . The remedy for this epidemic is a difficult problem, and the — aim of recent research has been, in the first place, to obtain a true conception of the fungus causing it. facts leading In India i * up to recent investigations may be briefly reviewed. It is an © old and deep-rooted belief amongst growers of wheat that the © rust of their crops is influenced by the neighbourhood of bar- | berry bushes. Evidence of this is seen in certain old enactments enforcing destruction of the barberry ; for instance, that passed by a parliament at Rouen ‘in 1660, and others included in the Province Law of Massachusetts (America) between 1738 and 1761. same opinion, ; In 1841 Prof. J. S. Henslow (Journal of the Royal Agri- i cultural Society, vol. ii. 1841) suggested that the yellow summer — rust of wheat, and the black mildew which’ comes later, are stages in the life of one and the same fungus. Passing over many papers’ discussing these relationships, we come to one b De Bary published in 1865 (‘* Untersuchungen iib, Uredinex.” Monatsber. d. Berlin Akad., 1865). From his epeioncnis De Bary concludes, that the yellow summer rust (Uvedo linearis, — Persoon) on Gramineae, the black autumn rust (Puccinia graminis, Persoon) also on Gramineae, and the rust on bar- — berry (Aecédium berberidis, Persoon) with its associated ‘* spermogonia ”’ stage, are phases in the life-history of the same fungus, for which the name Puccinda graminis is retained. ° In other words, that three (or four) recognised species of fungi — are one and the same. At the same time a new phenomenon in the life of fungi was revealed, namely, that there existed parasitic fungi which required two host-plants in order to develop the forms of reproduction included in their life-cycle ; this De Bary named metcecism or (as better known in Britain) ~ hetercecism. The life-history of Pzccinda graminis, as defined by De Bary, is given in all our text-books. Uredospores (see Fig. 1) are produced on wheat and other Gramzneae throughout the summer, and infect the same group of host-plants; the Sir: Joseph Banks, in his paper (1805), holds the — ee : NATURE 353 pores of the Puccinéa stage hibernate and in the follow- Ing germinate, producing secondary spores (also known ia), which infect barberry foliage and give rise there to dium stage with its aecidiospores ; aecidiospores do not t barberry again, but on Gramineae produce the uredospore are - ef oats (Puccinia graminis, spec. form Avenae). a, leaf, fruits of barberry with Aecidium berberidis (nat. size) ; ad d, a spikelet of oat with Uvedo stage (nat. size); e, uredo- x 500); 7, sheath spores (X 500). ck rust ; luster of, ¢ son.) a completing the cycle. Accompanying the aecidium- ch gives off spermatia or spore-bodies whose function De Bary, nor any one since, has been able to determine. ). 1606, VOL. 62] of oat with Puccinia stage (nat. size); | Eriksso rs constantly a form of reproduction, the spermo- |. glitch /. wits. Botahit. xxix: 196. These results had an important and direct bearing on rust- epidemics of cereals, and they gave an impetus to further research on the biology of the whole group of rust-fungi or Oredineae, and, in fact, of all other parasitic fungi. In 1889, twenty-five years after De Bary’s first results, both Plowright (Zoc. ctt., p. 56) and Rostrup published.a list of fifty hetercecious rust-fungi. Recently, Dietel (Engler’s ‘* Pflanzenfamilien ’’) gave about a hundred cases, including species outside the Uredineae. Works like Plowright’s ‘‘ British Uredinez” are the evidence of this impulse, and a perusal of current botanical periodicals shows that the subject is by no means exhausted, Ten years ago, three species of rusts occurring on crops of cereals were recognised : (1) Puccinia graminis, with its Aectdium stage on barberry and mahonia ; its uredospore and teleutospore stages on wheat, barley, oats, rye, and about a hundred species of grasses (see Fig. 1). (2) Puccinia rubigo-vera, with Aectdium on many species of Boragineae ; uredospores and teleutospores on wheat, rye, and a number of grasses (see Fig. 2). to ae of Newcastle, and to Dr. Hector Mackenzie, . Thomas’s Hospital. Such examples of accurate tracing ation by observation and experiment admonish us to give perfunctory explanations which so often do duty for in- lat we leat inflammation to ge and every complaint to t; if we uiesce in the ular as- ption of disease eben, ehetial strain, and ihe nervous sion of modern life, we shall make no progress in true lology. I see many patients suffering from idleness—few, or n om hard work. ‘‘Nerve-prostration” from ‘ worry” _ ** brain-tension” often proves a decent synonym for the scts of gambling and drink. Modern life is easier, safer, and other than it was a hundred yeats ago. Our young men ‘maidens are healthier, stronger, better grown, less hysterical d sounder in mind and body than their great-grandparents. I iture to think that the duty of a physician is not to flatter the f-love of neurotic patients, but to inspire fortitude, and to ibe regular and steady work as the best cure for a thousand ous ailments, " NO. 1606, VOL, 62] x4 ery, « ey As another point in scientific ztiology, allow me to warn against the temptation to assume that because many diseases are now proved to depend upon the presence of bacteria this must be true of all. Science does not anticipate, but waits for proof. We have complete scientific evidence, according to the criteria so well formulated by Koch, of the absolute and constant cause of anthrax, of relapsing fever, of tubercle, and several other dis- eases in both men and animals; but we must not forget the preliminary difficulty of identifying the specific bacillus—as in the case of enteric fever and diphtheria—nor the difficulty of finding one of the lower animals which is susceptible to the disease, as again in the case of typhoid fever and of cholera; nor the difficulty of the same anatomical and clinical conditions being produced by different organisms, as in the case of pneu- monia and ulcerative endocarditis. Moreover, while in some diseases, which are undoubtedly infective and specific, no con- stant pathogenic microbe has yet been determined—as in typhus, measles, small-pox, and syphilis—we have, on the other hand, in the case of leprosy and of lupus, examples of disease un- questionably specific and bacterial in origin, but very unlike other infective maladies in their clinical course and natural history. At present it is surely undesirable to speak of “ the undiscovered microbe of rheumatism.” Science has to do with proved facts alone, and our language should never outrun our knowledge. Experiments in Scientific Medicine.—There is one aspect of scientific medicine so important that it must not be omitted— the necessity of experiments for the progress of pathology, and, through it, for the prevention and cure of disease. It requires no argument to convince any one who \is the least acquainted with the principles of inductive science that experiment is no less necessary than observation. In physics and in chemistry this is obvious and universally acted on. The same method is indispensable for the progress of animal and vegetable physio- logy, and to such practical applications of science as engineer- ing, agriculture and medicine. Nor can experiments be restricted to rare occasional and solemn occasions ; they must be carried on in large numbers, by many different experimenters, and under every variety of condition. Any attempt to abolish, to check or to limit this experimental work is, in the degree that it is successful, fatal to progress. Happily it can never be successful, for the impulse to increase knowledge of the works of creation is too deeply implanted in men. Investigation must and will go on, by the only path which it can follow. The method which was preached by Bacon and followed out by his great contemporary, William Harvey, which was continued by Lower, Hooke and Mayow in the early days of the Royal Society, by Aselli, Malpighi and Haller, by Hunter, Hewson and Hales, by Edward Jenner, by Sir Charles. Bell, by Johannes Miiller, by Claude Bernard, by Ludwig, and by the many eminent physiologists and pathologists in Germany, in France and throughout the civilised world, this method of investigation is absolutely necessary for the progress of our science and the improvement of our art. As its objects and methods are better understood, it will secure the enlightened patronage of all who desire the diffusion of human knowledge and the further spread of human happiness. " Fortunately this very progress of science has brought with it the removal of the one grave drawback, as every right-thinking man must have felt it, to the benefits of these experiments upon living animals. Inflicting pain upon the humblest of God’s creatures is repugnant to our feelings, though no one, unless maintaining a thesis, would contend that it is wrong to exact the most’ painful efforts, or even the death from exhaustion of a horse in order to carry help to a human being. But the discovery of ether, chloroform, and other anesthetics, and the improved methods that we owe to the genius of Lister, have not only relieved the surgeon of the most repulsive part of his duties, but have relieved the experimenter also, Except in the investigation of the action of new remedies or in the inoculation of infective diseases, both of which inflict discomfort of a limited degree and duration rather than any- thing that can be described as pain, the experiments of the laboratory, whether physiological, pathological or therapeutical, are conducted without inflicting pain. The opposition to them has not succeeded, and is sure to diminish. However mistaken our opponents, we are glad to find there is even exaggerated jealousy to avoid anything approaching to cruelty.” This legitimate object our more candid critics may be assured is already amply provided for. 358 NATURE [AUGUST 9, 1900 MR. BALFOUR ON SCIENTIFIC PROGRESS. APART altogether from individual likes and dislikes, is there any characteristic note which distinguishes this century from any that have gone before it? On this point I range myself with those who find the characteristic note in the growth of science. In the last 100 years the world has seen great wars, great national and social upheavals, great religious movements, great economic changes. Literature and art have had their triumphs, and have perman- ently enriched the intellectual inheritance of our race. Yet, large as is the space which subjects like these legitimately fill n our thoughts, much as they will occupy the future historian, t is not among these that I seek for the most important and the most fundamental differences which separate the present from preceding ages. Rather is this to be found in the cumulative products of scientific research, to which no other period offers a precedent or a parallel. No single discovery, it may be, can be compared in its results to that of Copernicus; no single discoverer can be compared in genius to Newton; but, in their total effects, the advances made by the nineteenth century are not to be matched. Not only is the surprising increase of knowledge new, but the use to which it has been put is new also. The growth of industrial invention is not a fact we are permitted to forget. We do, however, sometimes forget how much of it is due to a close connection between theoretical knowledge and its utilitarian application which, in its degree, is altogether unexampled in the history of mankind. I suppose that, at this moment, if we were allowed a vision of the embryonic forces which are predestined most potently to affect the future of mankind, we should have to look for them, not in the Legislature, nor in the Press, nor on the platform, nor in the schemes of practical statesmen, nor the dreams of political theorists, but in the laboratories of scientific students whose names are but little in the mouths of men, who cannot them- selves forecast the results of their own labours, and whose theories could scarce be understood by those whom they will chiefly benefit. - I do not propose to attempt any sketch of our gains from this most fruitful union between science and invention. I may, however, permit myself one parenthetic remark on an aspect of it which is likely more and more to thrust itself unpleasantly upon our attention. Marvellous as is the variety and ingenuity of modern industrial methods, they almost all depend in the last resort upon our supply of useful power ; and our supply of useful power is principally provided for us by methods which, so far as I can see, have altered not at all in principle, and strangely little in detail, since the days of Watt. Coal, as we all know, is the chief reservoir of energy from which the world at present draws, and from which we in this country must always draw; but our main contrivance for utilising it is the steam engine, and, by its essential nature, the steam engine is extravagantly wasteful. So that, when we are told, as if it was something to be proud of, that this is the age of steam, we may admit the fact, but can hardly share the satisfaction. Our coal- fields, as we know too well, are limited. We certainly cannot increase them. The boldest legislator would hesitate to limit their employment for purposes of domestic industry. So the only possible alternative is to economise our method of con- suming them. And for this there would, indeed, seem to be a sufficiency of room. Let a second Watt arise. Let him bring into general use some mode of extracting energy from fuel which shall only waste eighty per cent. of it, and lo! your coalfields, as sources of power, are doubled at once. The hope seems a modest one, but it is not yet fulfilled ; and therefore it is that we must qualify the satisfaction with which at the end of the century we contemplate the unbroken course of its industrial triumphs. We have, in truth, been little better than brilliant spendthrifts. Every new invention seems to throw a new strain upon the vast, but not illimitable, resources of nature. Lord Kelvin is disquieted about our supply of oxygen ; Sir William Crookes about our supply of nitrates. The problem of our coal supply is always with us. Sooner or later the stored-up resources of the world will be exhausted. Humanity, having used or squandered its capital, will thenceforward have to depend upon such current income as can be derived from that diurnal heat of the sun and the rotation of the earth till, in the sequence of the ages, these also begin to fail. With such 1 Address delivered by Mr, Balfour, M.P., at the opening of the Cambridge Summer Meeting on August 2. Abridged from the 777es. ‘NO 1606, VOL. 62] ‘for us to take note how rapidly the prodigious progress of —— = ol remote speculations we are not now concerned. It is enough ~ discovery has increased the drain upon the natural wealth of manufacturing countries, and especially of Great Britain, an at the same time, frankly to recognise that it is only by ne\ inventions that the collateral evils of old inventions can | mitigated ; that to go back is impossible; that our only hop lies in a further advance. Cie After all, however, it is not necessarily the material and obvious results of scientific discoveries which are of the deepest interest. They have effected changes more subtle and pera less obvious which are at least as worthy of our consideration and are at least as unique in the history of the civilised world. No century has seen so great a change in our intellectual appre- hension of the world in which we live. Our whole point of view has changed. The mental framework in which we arrange the separate facts in the world of men and things is quite a new framework, The spectacle of the universe presents itself now in a wholly changed perspective. We not only see more, but we see differently. The discoveries in physics and in chemistry, which have borne their share in thus re-creating for us the evolution of the past, are in process of giving us quite new ideas as to the inner nature of that material whole of which the world’s tra- versing space is but an insignificant part. Differences of quality once thought ultimate are constantly being resolved into diffe ences of motion or configuration. What were once regar as things are now known to be movement. Phenomena appar- ently so wide apart as light, radiant heat and electricity, are, as it is unnecessary to remind you, now recognised as substan- tially identical. From the arrangement of atoms in the mole- cule, not less than their intrinsic nature, flow the characteristic attributes of the compound. The atom itself has been pulverised, — and speculation is forced to admit as a possibility that even the chemical elements themselves may be no more than varieties of a single substance. Plausible attempts have been made to reduce the physical universe, with its infinite variety, its glory of colour and of form, its significance and its sublimity, to one homogeneous medium in which there are no distinctions to be discovered but distinction of movement or of stress. And although no such hypothesis can, I suppose, be yet accepted, the gropings of physicists after this, or some other not less audacious unification, must finally, I think, be crowned with success, The change of view which I have endeavoured to indicate is purely scientific, but its consequences cannot be confined to science. How will they manifest themselves in other regions of human activity, in literature, in art, religion ? The subject is one rather for the lecturer on the twentieth century than for the lecturer on the nineteenth. I, at least, cannot endeavour to grapple with it. Pais } ‘ ot. SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. LONDON. Pee Royal Society, June 14.—‘‘ The Electrical Effects of Light’ upon Green Leaves.” By Augustus D. Waller, M.D., F.R.S. In the preliminary communication recently made to the Royal Society, the author shows how, from the study of the electrical effects of light upon the retina, he was led to ask whether the chemical changes aroused by the action of light upon green leaves are also accompanied by electrical effects — demonstrable in the same way as the eye currents. The — question is tested in the following way :—A young leaf freshly gathered is laid upon a glass plate and connected with a galvanometer by means of two unpolarisable clay electrodes — Aand B. The half of the leaf connected with A is shaded — by a piece of black paper. An inverted glass jar forms — a moist chamber to leaf and electrodes, which are then — enclosed in a box provided with a shuttered aperture through which light can be directed. A water trough in the — path of the light serves to cut out heat more or less. Under ~ favourable conditions there is obtained with such an arrange- — ment a true electrical response to light, consisting in the establishment of a potential .difference between illuminated — and non-illuminated half of a leaf, amounting to 0°02 volt. The deflection of the galvanometer spot during illumination _ is such as to indicate current in the leaf from excited to peateciey part. The deflection begins and ends sharply with the begin- — ning and end of illumination ; it is provoked! slightly by diffe | AUGUST 9, 1900] NATURE 359 laylight, more by an electric are-light, most by bright sunlight. ct abolished by boiling the leaf, and by the action of an aesthetic, carbon dioxide. e first experiments, made at the end of March, were upon ves taken from plants about 6 inches high, and the response was then between o’oor and 0002 volt in value. Experi- S upon similar leaves were resumed early in May, when it ed that the external condition by which the state of the most obviously governed is temperature. On warm days ranged from 0’005 to 0°02 volt; on cold days it tise above above 0°005, and was sometimes nil. Some pon — in a warmed box gave satisfactory results, may be thus summed up:—The normal response at ‘C. is diminished or abolished at low temperature (10°), ted at high temperature (30°), diminished at higher > (50°), and abolished by boiling. he month of May advanced, the iris leaves, even in the ox, became more and more inert, and by the 23rd inst., the plants were mostly full grown and in flower, no satis. ory leaf could be found. Leaves of iris appear to give ‘marked response at or about mid-day, than at or about Tested by Sach’s method the leaves gave no evidence of ivity during insolation. the failure of the iris leaves to react, other leaves were ht for which should give evident differences of reaction in ation with evident differences of state. Leaves of trope- and of mathiola gave a response to light contrary in the n to the iris response, viz. ‘‘ positive” during i u m, and subsequently ‘‘negative.”! In these two ~ cases leave empty of starch acted better than leaves laden with Pai of : » of the gave a variety of responses strongly simultaneous action of two opposed forces ng a resultant deflection in a + or — direction. Leaves nary garden shrubs and trees, &c., ¢.2. lilac, pear, mond, mulberry, vine, ivy, gave no distinct response ; this is ibly due toa lower average metabolism in such leaves as npared. the activity of leaves of small young plants in sh = are ip waseamag. concentrated within a sr area. The petals of flowers gave no distinct response, | indicates that chloroplasts are essential to the Hae: 204 he effect of carbon dioxide upon the iris leaf was abolition dd and after passage of the gas, with subsequent Jpen mathiola and tropeeolum, augmentation ¢ followed on applying air containing 1 to 3 per 100 on dioxide, and prompt abolition resulted from a full s run through the leaf-chamber. On the air supply being kept clear of carbon dioxide there was gradual abolition of beck followed by gradual recovery on the re-admission of amount of carbon dioxide. * Fatigue” effects may be produced if the successive illumina- ons (of 5 minutes duration) are repeated at short intervals paxioutad s). At intervals of 1 hour, successive illuminations 5 minutes produce approximately equal effects. With the of mathiola, periods of illumination of 2 minutes at intervals minutes ‘were used without provoking any obvious sign of une 21.—‘* Note on Inquiries as to the Escape of Gases n A ” .By G. Johnstone Stoney, M.A., Hon. ey ves ater tions have been gas from the supposed causes ; the third 4 pur a ont “2 Foewiear jin by the present writer, d reasons war the help of the same theory from the Ghwerved effects, P ory ‘Where, as in the present instance, the a prioré and a posterioré thods have led to inconsistent numerical results, it is incum- olga to search for the mistake or mistakes which must have been made. If these can be found and cor- #, an important advantage is gained; and the present is an pt to trace some of them by in uiring whether there are nS Of agencies In nature which facilitate the escape of ; egative” as the term is loyed in physiological literature, i.e. tive pole of sapnave element (“ heal ae . , tro, at Journal for January 1900. . Soc, Proc., April 55 red 335- : mi Transactions of the Royal Dublin Society, vol. vi. Part 13 3 or physical Journal for January atoh And for further evidence that escaping from the earth, see NaTuRE of May 24, 1900, p. 78. NO. 1606, VoL. 62] gaseous molecules from the earth, and which are omitted, or which have not been sufficiently taken into account, in Mr. Cook’s and Prof. Bryan’s investigations. Let AV be a volume containing at a given epoch a large number 7 of molecules of the atmosphere, and let A¢ be a dura- tion commencing at that instant. Also, let 7’ be the number of encounters which each of these molecules on the average meets with in the times A¢. Then will N=z2n' be the total number of their free paths in that time; and the actual number of these free paths, in which the initial speed after an encounter lies at the time ¢ between w and v+dv, must be precisely dN=N(4r+38)dv, (1) where = is the probability function (that employed by Mr. Cook, or that employed by Prof. Bryan, or some other), and 8 (the deviation function) represents whatever is the real divergence of the actual number from that computed by the formula used by them, viz. : dN=Nrav; (2) in other words, computed on the supposition that 8/x is of gos 2 a amount. ow 7 is one fully-determined function in Mr. Cook’s investi- gation, and another fully-determined function in Prof. Bryan’s ; but little is known of what dis in either case, except that it is in both an excessively complex function of N, v, 4, with several other variables, some of which it is difficult even to indicate ; and that by its amount for any given value of ¢ and at any given position in the atmosphere it must supply in equation (1) the actual effect, at that time and place, of all natural agencies which had not been taken into account in calculating the expression 7, If due care has been taken in framing the probability law 7, it will in many cases be legitimate to assume that 8/x is suffici- ently small to warrant our using equation (2) when computing the approximate distribution among the free paths of those speeds which assign /arge values to 7, while at the same time it may need proof and may not be a legitimate assumption in reference to those values of v which make 7 sma//@ Now it is in this latter case that the assumption has to be made by Mr. Cook and Prof. Bryan. The conditions under which the assumption is likely not to be . true are the following :— A. Where the events, the law of whose distribution purports to be represented by the z function, are of such a kind that a vast number of the events need to be passed under review in order to secure an approximate conformity to ay fixed law. Now experiment shows that in ordinary air trillions of the free paths, probably many trillions, must be grouped together in order to make manifest any law in the distribution of the speeds. In all such cases we are not entitled to ignore the 8 function, except in estimating the frequency of such speeds as can be shown to assign a sufficient preponderance to the m function. Accordingly it is not legitimate to ignore the 3 function when treating of the frequency of speeds which make = excessively small, such as are the speeds which carry molecules away from the earth. B. But a more important omission occurs where the function has been arrived at without taking into account agencies in nature which affect the distribution of speeds. Where this has been done the 3 function must include the whole effect of these agencies, and this again forbids our relying upon equation (2) in poe. mis the frequency of any speed which makes the value of m@ small. Bri. Thus in Mr. Cook’s computation no notice is taken of the anisotropic character of the outer strata of the earth’s atmosphere, which facilitates the escape of molecules, In Prof. Bryan's this is partly taken into account by treating the molecules as moving in a constant field of force, This may possibly be sufficient, though it ignores the reactions which are also necessarily present. ‘To include them it would be necessary to extend the partition of energy beyond the molecules of the atmosphere to all the other molecules of the earth which attract them. B2. Then, again, both computations ignore the incessant turbulence of the atmosphere which, in its lower’ strata, produces all the phenomena of weather, and in its upper regions phenomena which are swifter and on a larger scale. This turmoil, with all its dynamical, thermal and electrical effects, is 360 NATURE [ AUGUST 9, 1900. due, like most other events upon the earth, to the shiftings about of energy which intervene between the advent of energy and from the sun and its radiation from the earth into space ; and to take it into account in an investigation based on the laws of the partition of energy, it would be necessary to extend that partition beyond the earth to the sun and to the intervening zether. B3. So, again, the great absorption of solar. radiation’ which takes place in the outer layers of the earth’s atmosphere will have to be taken into account, and as it has not been included under function 7, it still. further augments the part which the 8 function takes in equation (1) and renders equation (2) an insuffi- cient one for the purposes of the investigation. B 4. The commotion going on in the atmosphere consists in part of electrical phenomena. Some of these—thunderstorms, auroras, the electrical condition of fogs, &c.—can be observed from the stations which men occupy at the bottom of the atmosphere, and are of such a kind that they must be ac- companied by a charged condition of that stratum of the atmosphere the density of which renders it a better conductor than the atmosphere above it and below. This stratum, then, and the strata above it receive charges of electricity which, according to the varying condition of the strata further down, will sometimes be disguised electricity and at other times un- disguised. This electrified condition of the upper regions, co-operating with ascending currents, which necessarily increase in speed as they advance, will presumably give rise to prominences upon the earth’s atmosphere, upon which the density of the electrification will be intensified and from which in consequence gaseous molecules find it easier to escape than from other situations. In this and other ways electricity may help the escape. Now of these agencies, all of which affect the rate at which gas can escape from the earth, none is included in the investi- gation which Mr. Cook has made of that phenomenon ; and only the first (B 1) is dealt with by Prof. Bryan. Moreover, it is probable that these are not the only ways in which nature can intervene, and which have been overlooked. The supposition then that either of the probability laws made use of by those investigators can be applied to our actually existing atmosphere, without a large correcting function 3, would appear to be a mistake ; and, if so, the inferences from those laws when so applied are not part of a real interpretation of nature. It need not therefore occasion any surprise that, in the case of helium, the facts of nature seem to negative those inferences. (See NATURE of May 24, 1900 ; the second column of p. 78.) EDINBURGH. Royal Society, July 16.—Lord Kelvin, President, in the chair.—Lord. Kelvin read a paper on the motion in an infinite elastic solid by the motion, through the space occupied by it, of a body acting on it only by attraction and repulsion. The ideal atom considered in this paper was a region of space in which the ether was changed in density by the action of forces upon it. In the particular case chosen for development the atom was taken as spherical with spherical distributions of density within it, and every element of matter was supposed to act on every element of the ether according to the Newtonian law. The further assump- tion was made that the average density of the ether within the atom was the same as if the atom were not present. The atom and the ether were then supposed to be in relative motion, and the total kinetic energy of the ether within the atom was calcu- lated, as also the effective inertia of the ether in the space occupied by the matter. On the assumption that the density of the ether at the centre of the atom was 101 times greater than the undisturbed density, it was found that a refractivity was obtained a little smaller than that of oxygen. By assuming that the average density was in excess or defect of the undisturbed -density of the ether, we could extend the method so as to include electrical actions.—In a second paper, on the number of molecules in a cubic centimetre of gas, Lord Kelvin pointed out that in the preceding paper he had been obliged to take the number as 4 x 10” instead of Maxwell’s number, 19 x 101%, —In a paper on the hyperbolic quaternion, Dr. Alex. Macfarlane showed how by the introduction of ‘‘real” instead of ‘ imagi- nary” vectors, quaternion theorems of spherical geometry could be generalised so as to be applicable to hyperbolic geometry. — Sir John Murray and Dr. Philippi communicated a preliminary NO. 1606, VOL. 62] note on the deep-sea deposits collected during the Valdivia » 4 expedition of 1898-9. Leaving Hamburg and passing round by the north of Scotland, the Valdivia proceeded southwards by the west coast of Africa to the Cape, thence to the Antarctic — seas, returning by way of the Indian Ocean and the Suez Canal. — Generally speaking, the nature of the deposits agreed with what | _ was already known, but fuller information was gained in many instances. For example, off the mouth of the Congo samples of coprolitic mud had been obtained, largely made up of little oval pellets of mud which had passed through the intestines of echinoderms. These had consolidated and were apparently in the process of being transformed into glauconitic an phosphatic concretions. The study of the formation and distribution of glauconite was geologically of great importance, and a detailed — examination of the Va/divia collections would probably throw — much light on the subject.—Prof. J. C. Beattie communicated a second part of his researches into the leakage of electricity from charged bodies at moderate temperatures. In most of the experiments described, zinc strips resting on insulated iron plates were sprinkled with various salts and then heated to about 350° C., the whole being enclosed in an iron box which was connected to the case of the electrometer. Among the substances used were common salt, alone or with iodine or bromine, and similar combinations with the chlorides of lithium, lead, potassium, &c. Generally a steady negative charge was produced by the heating, but not always. The difference of potential so obtained depended on the nature of the insulated - metals, but not on their distance apart. When high voltages were used, the positive charge leaked away, while the negative charge was retained. An explanation was offered founded on. Enright’s and on Townsend’s experiments.—A communication was also presented by Dr. Thomas Muir on the theory of skew determinants and pfaffians in the historical order of its develop- — ment up to 1857.—In a brief review of the session, the Presi- dent referred to the great losses the Society had sustained through the deaths of the Duke of Argyll and Sir Douglas Maclagan. : CONTENTS. PAGE eae Practical Navigation. By W. E. Pu. ois) oe B87 The Cultivation and Production of Coffee. . ae 77438 The Birds of Surrey. By R. L. Our Book Shelf :— setae th Correns: ‘‘ Untersuchungen ueber d. Vermehrung d. Laubmoose durch Brutorgane und Stecklinge” . . Tennant: “ Village Notes, and Some Other Papers ” Letters to the Editor :— han - The Conductivity produced in Gases by the Motion of Negatively-charged Ions.—J. S. Townsend ee A Remarkable Hailstorm. (Z//ustrated.)—J. G. Roberta: is.) oh ae oa oa The Photography of Sound-Waves and the Demon- stration of the Evolutions of Reflected Wave- Fronts with the Cinematograph. (Z//ustrated.) © oe: (ok erate: See le 339 339 340 340 eee eet} ) eer te tee a eee 341 By Prof. R. W. Wood ..... .. si «0° += see Notes 95506 30. ee) slo ease te Our Astronomical Column:— Comet Borrelly-Brooks (1900 4)... . +++ ++ 352 Ephemeris of Comet 1894 IV. (Swift). .... hetigge : Beker aes oes (Lilus- Variable Stars in Clusters . . Recent Investigations on Rust of Wheat. trated.) By William G. Smith Medicine as a Science and Medicine as an Art. By ’ Dr, P. H. Pye-Smyth, F.R.S. Mr. Balfour on Scientific Progress ........ Societies and Academies. .......- 0 te: ae EATS ORES NATURE 361 THURSDAY, AUGUST 16, I9g00. STANDARD TEXT-BOOK OF PHYSICS. iller-Pouillet’s Lehrbuch der Physik und Meteorologie. -Neunte umgearbeitete und vermehrte Auflage von Leopold Pfaundler. In drei Banden. Erster nd, Mechanik, Akustik. Pp. xxi+888 (1886). siter Band, unter Mitwirkung des Dr. Otto -Lummer, Erste Abtheilung, Optik. Pp. xx-+ 1192 (1894-1897). Zweite Abtheilung, Warme. Pp. xiv + 768 (1898). Dritter Band, Elektrischen Erschein- -engen. Pp. xvi+1062 (1888-1890). (Braunschweig : Friedrich Vieweg und Sohn.) ‘HE appearance of the second part of the second _ volume of this work marks the completion of the ith edition of an important treatise on experimental physics which has for many years been widely used in Germany. The importance of the work lies in the fact ‘it aims at giving a full description of physical appa- ratus and experimental methods, no attempt being made _to expound mathematical theories, and none but the “most elementary mathematics being employed or _assumed as one of the reader’s acquirements. _ Herein the work differs from most of our English text-books of physics, in which the tendency has latterly n to combine a certain amount of mathematical _ theory with short accounts of experiments in illustration _ of the theory, both the mathematical and experimental portions being of necessity very incomplete. This tendency, probably necessitated by our examination system, will, as long as it continues, prevent our having in English such complete works on experimental physics as that now before us. ~ Any work on physics, however, in several volumes uced at different times, must, when completed, se nt some lack of uniformity among its parts, cially if the part dealing with that branch of the ibject which varies most rapidly is not produced last. This is the case in the present instance. The volume ‘on magnetism and electricity was published some ten or twelve years ago, several years before the appearance of volumes on light and heat. The reason given is that, on account of the rapid advance made in electricity, the volume dealing with this branch in the previous edition appeared much more out-of-date than the other volumes, _and therefore had more need of revision. For the same reason, on now reviewing the whole of the present _ edition, one cannot help being struck with the fact that the volume dealing with electricity and magnetism far adequately represents the present state of the subject this: branch than do the other volumes in their own Ss. In the first véluche of the présent edition, dealing mechanics and sound, after an introductory chapter H fundamental notions and a short discussion of _ and uniformly accelerated motion of a point ina ‘Straight line, the subject of mass and force is im- mediately taken up, further treatment of kinematics being postponed to a later stage. It seems to the writer _ to be preferable, especially in an elementary book on the Bi i "Seat to deal more fully with kinematics before going NO. £607, VOL. 62] on todynamics proper. The student should first become well acquainted with the notions of velocity, acceleration, their composition and resolution, and should give special attention to cases in which the acceleration is not in the same direction as the velocity. In this way he is enabled to acquire a much clearer idea about acceleration as a quantity with a direction of its own, and is therefore much better prepared to make the transition from his pre- vious vague notion of force to the more accurate dynamical meaning of the term. The subject of mass and its measurement is discussed at some length, and in a very instructive manner. The action of a force in producing acceleration in a body is finally adopted as the basis of the dynamical measurement of mass. This system in- volves the definition of force. A definition of mass (due to Mach) independent of the definition of force is referred to in a footnote on p. 85, viz.: bodies which (by gravitation) produce equal but opposite accelerations in each other are said to have equal masses. This includes the definition of the ratio of the masses of two bodies as the ratio “of the accelerations which they produce in each other, and when a unit of mass is chosen, the mass of any other body is measured by the acceleration given to the unit divided by the acceleration experienced by the body itself. The phraseology is sometimes not as accurate as one could wish ; thus on p. 92 we tind the expression “an acceleration of one metre,” and in the following sentence, “a velocity of one metre” ; and again, the kilogramme is stated to be both the unit of mass and the gravitational unit of force. Although explanations follow, it must lead to some confusion in the mind of a beginner to find that a kilogramme means sometimes a mass and sometimes a force. It is of the greatest importance in an exposition of the principles of dynamics that one meaning only should be attached to every technical term. A similar confusion arises in connection with the term “ weight,” about which there is a lengthy discussion on pp. 96-99. The difficulty might have been much diminished by re- serving the word kilogramme to mean a mass and weight to mean a force—viz. the resultant force acting ona body falling freely near the earth. The common use of the terms should be explained afterwards. On pp. 326-333 a short account is given of the be- haviour of spinning tops and gyroscopes, with a general explanation of the couples called into play by a deflec- tion of the axis of rotation. The “drift” of a shell fired by a cannon is ascribed mainly to gyrostatic action. The constantly increasing angle between the axis of rotation and the direction of motion causes the air in front of the shell to exert a force tending generally to raise the head of the shell with respect to the centre of mass ; this produces a deflection of the point of the shell to the right, and the increased pressure thus intro- duced on the left side causes a deflection to the right. It is possible that, with a shell of suitable shape, the pressure of the air would tend to raise the rear end, and the gyrostatic deflection would in this case be to the left. As is remarked in a footnote, however, the greater friction on the under side of the shell probably plays an important part, and this always causes a drift to the right. R 362 — In Chapter v. a good elementary account of the laws of capillarity is given. On p. 444 Quincke’s falling drop method of measuring surface tensions is described, the weight of the drop being stated to be equal to the pro- duct of the surface tension and the circumference of the line of contact. Lord Rayleigh has shown that this is not correct even if the liquid motion in the drop at the moment of separation be neglected ; the excess of pres- sure in the drop corresponding to the curvature of the surface (supposed cylindrical near the plane of contact) has the effect of diminishing the size of the drop to one- half the value stated, and this result agrees more-closely with experiment. The second part of the volume, on sound, resembles in its general mode of treatment most other elementary text-books on the subject. The general nature of wave- motion is made quite clear by numerous diagrams of wave-curves and wave-machines. The deduction given on p. 638 of the expression ,/E/D for the velocity of propagation of sound-waves is not satisfactory, since it involves the tacit assumption that the whole energy is half potential and half kinetic. In connection with the experimental measurement of the velocity of sound in water in tubes, referred to on p. 643, the influence of the walls and Kundt’s measure- ments in tubes with walls of different thicknesses should have been mentioned, and in the description of the resonance tube experiment, no method is given for eliminating the end correction. The last chapter contains an interesting account of the researches of von Helmholtz and others on the vibrations of violin strings, combination tones, analysis of sounds, and the theory of consonance and dissonance, In the second volume (light and heat) the author is assisted by Dr. Lummer, who, we are told in the preface, is chiefly responsible for the part dealing with optical systems and the theory of optical instruments. This part of the work has been largely re-written for the present edition, and brought well into line with the modern views on image-formation founded by Abbe. As is the case in doing most things, there are two ways of writing a book on geometrical optics. The first, until recently the usual, method is to begin with very special cases, such as thin lenses, and proceed by degrees to the more general cases of thick lenses and systems of lenses. The other, and more modern, method is to begin with the general case of a point-point correspondence between two portions of space, of such a kind that to a pencil of rectilinear rays passing through a point in one region corresponds a pencil of rectilinear rays passing through a point (the image) in the other region; then to intro- duce the special cases of image-formation by reflecting or refracting surfaces and centred systems, including lenses. The two methods thus proceed on opposite lines. The latter method has been perfected by Abbe, and is the one adopted by Czapski and, though necessarily in a more elementary and restricted manner, in the present work. After two chapters dealing with the nature of light; photometry, refraction and reflection at plane surfaces, Chapter iii. treats of the formation of images by refraction NO 10607, VOL. 62] NATURE {[AuGusT 16, 1900 at a single spherical surface ; then the general case of any _ number of spherical surfaces separating different media, — with their centres in a straight line ; and, finally, two co- axial centred systems, with the special case of a “ tele- scopic” system in which the “ interval” is zero. The lens is regarded as two centred systems, each consisting of a single spherical surface. Jie ~ Chapter xii. is devoted to the theoryand use of “ stops,’’ the calculation of magnifying power and brightness’ of images in centred systems, and, finally, the laws of formation of images of illuminated objects, as in the ordinary use of the microscope. Here purely geometrical methods break down, and diffraction spectra play an all- important part. A highly interesting account follows o Abbe’s theory of microscope images and its remarkable verification by the use of the diffraction plate, in which is shown how the similarity of image to object, as well as the resolving power of the instrument, depends upon the number of diffraction spectra whose rays enter the objec- tive and take part in the final image-formation. How these. principles are applied in the construction of microscope- objectives is set forth in the chapter on optical instru- ments, which also contains details of many of the anew improvements in optical instruments of all kinds, ‘at The second part of vol. ii. (on heat) does not differ from the corresponding nal “of the previous edition so fundamentally as is the case with the part on optics ; but it is brought more nearly up-to-date by many additions, including the work of Olszewski and Linde on the lique- faction of gases, a chapter on thermochemistry, steam. calorimeters, recent determinations of the specific heat of water at various temperatures and of the mechanicah equivalent of heat. No reference is made, ft 9 fo recent improvements in the choice of a unit of heat. — Thermodynamics does not receive very much eigenen; few applications being mentioned beyond Kelvin’s defini- tion: of absolute temperature, and a calculation of the change of melting point produced by pressure. Some details are given, however, of the parts and action of steam, air, and gas engines. : A short chapter on meteorology, dealing with sliinatic conditions and their changes, brings this volume to a close. As to the third volume, it suffers, as was aenssiakiadl before, in comparison with the other volumes from having been written several years ago. Still, it contains a large mass of useful information about electrical and electro- technical apparatus, much of which is not usually found in text-books on electricity and magnetism. It is impossible, in the space at our disposal, to give: more than a very rough sketch of a work which extends to close upon 4000 pages, and many excellent qualities of the work mist for this reason remain unmentioned. One of the chief features is the large number (nearly 3000). of excellent illustrations, and, chiefly in the section on optics, some very beautiful coloured plates, Explana- tions are, as a rule, given very clearly, and often aided by numerical examples worked out. apparatus described, as well as the numerous references to original papers, the work is certain to prove useful, as it no doubt has already done, to aiudgnts and Sane: of | physics. Further,on account of the very large number of experiments and forms of Ji be ad eae een! - se See & ; : : a ‘ ’ 4 - . _ AucusrT 16, 1900] NATURE 363 HUXLEY’S PHYSIOLOGY. Lessons in Elementary Physiology. By Thomas H. _ Huxley, LL.D., F.R.S. Enlarged and revised edition. D. XXIV + 611. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., JXLEY’S “Lessons in Elementary Physiology” was probably the best book of its kind which yer been written. It set forth the elements of n anatomy and physiology in so clear and concise , and the little volume formed so complete a com- 1 of the essential facts which had accumulated science with which it dealt, that it was at once d as supplying a want which had long been felt a popular and, at the same time, an authorita- xposition of the subject. Its success was enormous. jon after edition was sold in rapid succession, and ooklet—for it was nothing more—was not only din schools throughout this country as he text- Kk with which the teaching of physiology was to be 5 tot it was soon translated into every civilised and even, it is said, into more than one tongue. c oes its success lies on the surface. It was the English which was characteristic of the “ itslanguage trenchant, flowing, and well chosen, S apposite, its facts duly marshalled and leading ir aoa conclusion. And the book was what entific accuracy, should not be burthened by rae nor by theories which might or nately prove correct. Moreover, the ground —V fartrhre are now a dozen similar treatises, then not one. But it is safe to assert that Jey” would in any case have taken the first place. saanaly new edition of the “ Lessons”—the first the lamented death of the original author—has made its appearance under the auspices of Sir el Foster and Dr. Sheridan Lea. Michael Foster een associated with the book throughout its whole ' iiGiterdan Lea’s_ name appears now for the first connection with it; but although the responsi- 3 joint, the labours of preparation have fallen upon Dr. Lea’s shoulders. We may be sure that « has been a labour of love to the editors. The » friendship which existed between them and eae veneration for his memory, their desire to 2 the high standard and reputation of the work, have caused them to put forth their best efforts to u ivitd-coukinsed success. In surveying the changes which have been introduced, anh of chief interest appears to be to notice n€ or the introduction of these changes has tended in way to modify the original character of the work. have already seen that this character was that of a r exposition of the science suitable especially for s, and the questions naturally arise, is the book | of this nature? Has it been modified to suit it to r purposes than that for which its author originally ote it?! It must be conceded that the book retains asure its character as a popular expositor. This owing to the fact that the editors have Mh * following” Lessons in Elementary Physiology’ are primarily d to serve the pai ppees of a text-book for teachers and learners in n¢ ‘ils! "schools.”—ZE-xtract from Preface to the First Edition, 1866. NO. 1607, VOL. 62] preserved “as far as possible the original author’s own form of exposition and indeed his own words.” But it must also be admitted that its character in this respect has been modified by changes and additions. The purport of these appears to have been to adapt the book for use by students of medicine, a design which may be laudable but cannot fail to affect the general tone of the work, Students of medicine require to learn anatomy and physiology with a minuteness of detail not necessary in a work which is intended to be of a popular nature. Not only is it important that the unquestioned facts of the science should be set before them, but they require also to be made cognizant of statements which, however probable, are not universally accepted as facts, and of theories which may or may not ultimately prove to be correct. And herein it appears to me lies the difference between the new “Huxley” and the old. That the change tends, as the editors claim, to increase the sphere of usefulness of the work, may be perfectly true, but the essential character and original aim of the work has been thereby affected. If there is a gain on the one side there is a loss on the other, and it is impossible that it should not be so; it is a question of opinion whether the gain counterbalances the loss. For my own part, while recognising the able manner in which the new material is worked up and incorporated with the old and the increased value which is thereby imparted to the work as a text-book preliminary to the study of physiology, I must frankly confess that I regret the change. Students of medicine have already more than one elementary text-book in which the facts and chief theories of physiology are set forth with all the clearness that could be desired, and in one instance at least with a wealth of illustration which cannot be surpassed or even approached in a book of so small a size as ‘“‘ Huxley.” On the other hand, the amount of. detail which has been introduced into this edition, while valuable for the medical student, is unnecessary or unsuitable for the school boy. Perhaps it was impossible to avoid this change, perhaps it was desirable to make it ; at any rate it has been made, and as years go on the development of the book must proceed along the lines which have been now laid down. That it will be as successful on these lines as it has been upon the old ones may be confidently assumed so long as it remains under the management of the present editors, but I believe that my regret that the change has been intro- duced will be shared by most of those who remember, the appearance of the original book in the late sixties and the enthusiasm with which it was then received. E, A, SCHAFER. THE GLUCOSIDES, Die Glykoside. By Dr, J. J. I. van Rijn, (Berlin: Gebr. Borntraeger, 1900.) HE student of chemistry or botany, who may have attempted to grope his way through the tangle of chemical facts relating to plant products, will be grateful to the author of this exhaustive monograph on the glucosides, or glykosides as he prefers to spell it, where the latest information, with all the necessary Pp. xvi+ 511. references, is easily found. 364 The study of the glucosides may be said to date from Liebig and Wohler’s remarkable discovery of the decom- position of amygdalin by its own ferment or enzyme. The discovery. of other glucosides followed in fairly rapid succession. Among these may be mentioned, without reference to chronological sequence: salicin, derived from willow bark ; populin, from aspen leaves ; zesculin, from the bark of the horse chestnut ; daphnin, from Daphne mezereum; phloridzin, from the bark of apple, pear and other fruit trees; hesperidin, from the fruit of limes, oranges and lemons ; potassium myronate or sinigrin, from black mustard seed ; ruberythric acid, from madder root, &c. They all undergo decomposition by a process of hydrolysis into grape sugar, and at least one other constituent drawn from such very varied groups of compounds as phenols, alcohols, aldehydes, mainly of the aromatic series, and in the case of black mustard seed, from a sulphocyanide. No trustworthy explanation of the constitution of these substances was, or could be, forthcoming until the structure of their proximate con- stituents had been ascertained. The most important contribution to our knowledge of the glucosides in recent years has been undoubtedly that of Emil Fischer in his classical researches’ on the sugars. The formation of the glucosides of the simple alcohols and phenols, and of similar compounds of the mercaptans and ketones, has not only given a valuable clue to the structure of the natural products, but has revealed the close analogy which exists between these compounds and the members of the disaccharoses (cane and milk sugar and maltose). Moreover, the identification of new sugars has led to the successful search for these substances among the glucosides and other plant pro- ducts. Rhamnose or methyl pentose is found to replace glucose in several glucosides: quercitrin, hesperidin, frangulin, baptisin, datiscin, &c., whilst chinovose, another pentose, is contained in chinovite. Many other interesting points have arisen. The hydro- lysing action of the enzyme accompanying one glucoside has been shown, not to be confined to that glucoside, but to extend to others, although, at the same time, strictly limited to a particular series of compounds. The enzyme of yeast has in a similar way been recognised as not exclusive, although restricted in its hydrolysing power. The action of emulsin and yeast on amygdalin is in- structive. Emulsin effects complete hydrolysis of the glucoside into benzaldehyde hydrocyanic and two mole- cules of glucose, whereas the enzyme of yeast only removes one glucose group. Fischer, who discovered this curious difference between the two enzymes, has allotted the following formula to the second product : emulsin. C,H,CH.CN | O.CH.CHOH.CHOH.CH.CHOH.CH,OH. l —O } : O The splitting off of more than one molecule of glucose on hydrolysis occurs with populin, hesperidin, helleborin and others. All these facts are recognised and carefully recorded in the volume before us. The work is divided into two parts. The first part deals with the artificial glucosides ; the. second, with the NO. 1607, VOL. 62 | NATURE [AucusT 16, 1900 natural products. arranged ‘in a Strictly chemical order; in the second, according to the natural order of plants. to this arrangement, the author lays stress on the fact that the study of the constituents of plants should not — follow a chemical classification, but should include all compounds occurring in the same natural order ; because, he explains, it is only in this way that the chemical, morphological and anatomic properties will appear in their true light. The goal of the chemist should not be determined by purely utilitarian motives, but Rochleder’s principle should be borne in mind that “the relation- ship of plants is determined by compounds of the ‘same chemical nature which they contain.” There are one or two points mentioned in the book which are new to us, and may interest our readers. It appears now that sinigrin, the glucoside of black mustard seed, is not hydrolysed, as usually represented in text- books, without the addition of the elements of water ; but the glucoside contains one molecule of water C,9H,;gNS,KO,+H,O, and the decomposition then falls into line with the hydrolysis of other glucosides, — CypHygNS_KO, + HO =CsHNCS + Col,.0,+KHSO,. According to Beyerinck, indigo does not occur in the oldest of the indigo plants (/sa¢¢s ¢énctoria) as the gluco- side indican, as usually stated ; but in the form of indoxyl, which rapidly oxidises to indigo in contact with air; whilst the glucoside indican which is found in Judigo- Sera leptostachya and Polygonum tinctorium may be extracted and left in contact with air without under- going any change in the absence of enzymes and bacteria. JG; AN OXFORI TEXT-BOOK. An Introduction to the Study of the Comparative Anatomy of Animals. By G. C. Bourne, M A., F.L.S- Vol. i. Pp. 258. (London: G. Bell and Sons, 1900.) | HIS admirable little book is designed to meet the requirements of the elementary examinations of. the leading universities of Great Britain, and though of necessity largely concerned with creatures upon which laboratory treatises exist in abundance, it has been so. framed. as to supplement and not supersede certain of these, the author having aimed at “the lessons that may. be learned and the conclusions which may be drawn” In the first part, the compounds are © In reference © rather than the detailed description of the facts them-: — selves. The work opens with an “Introduction,” in. which it is pointed out that in the study of natural science, as in other things, something of the nature of a creed is necessary for action, and there is given a. definition of “evolution,” on the basis of the principles — 4 involved in which the science of comparative anatomy is said to be founded. tion of. the germinal blastemata. of their inter-relationships. Passing on to treat of the — elementary principles of morphology and physiology, the _ author proceeds to deal with the anatomy of the frog, the elements of histology of the Vertebrata, the cell and cell theory, and. phenomena of development up to the forma- The Protozoa are next dealt with, including the Mycetozoa and Volvocine; and, apropos of Volvox and Zoothamnium, there follows a _ chapter on the Protozoa and Metazoa, with a discussion The Ccelenterata follow 4 _ Auecust 16, 1900] NATURE 365 ed on the study of Hydra and Obelia, with a con- uding chapter on classification. The book is novel in in execution. BBiitschli on the “ Schaumplasma,” Boveri ‘on the Ascaris egg, Maupas on the Ciliata, Keuten on na, Hertwig on Actinosphzrium, the mitotic pro- ss in Amoeba bi-nucleata, the immortality of the jtozoa, are conspicuous among topics of the times died in a manner well calculated to arouse the tive faculty, which, under our prevailing systems many of its predecessors and contemporaries, the S written in choice English. It is in places even and in such paragraphs as those in which the author ids the points of dissimilarity between Vertebrate and rtebrate (dog, fish, and lobster), a perspicuity is notice- $ most nearly the irresistible charm of the late M. Paul “Premiére Année d’Enseignement Scientifique.” Ori; and altogether admirable, and those of the Hydra, based on the authors unpublished researches, Tle . On p. 47 the author gives two new figures of the heart, which, as regards the detailed structure of pylangium and the ostia of the carotid and pulmo- cutaneous arteries, are wholly unconventional. It is _ explained in the preface that these are drawings of re- constructional models from sections, and we dare not _ doubt their accuracy. The question, however, arises _ how far the facts they reveal may be true of but one individual ; and the author would have done well to _ have either intimated this or left the matter aside till farther investigated. Again, we regret the too forced roduction of analogy to the inanimate, as, for example, he nervous system to the telegraphic apparatus. In however, the author is but acting in the spirit of the s. His book is simply charming and well worthy his utation ; and while its literary style should alone re for it a wide circulation, it cannot fail to exercise avening and humanising influence on the youthful d. It is to be followed by a second volume, dealing the Coelomate Metazoa, and the sooner this appears : better for biological science and culture. OUR BOOK SHELF. he Ore Deposits of the United States and Canada. By Jj. F. Kemp. Pp. xxiv + 462; index and 163 illustra- tions. Third edition. (New York and London: The Scientific Publishing Company, 1900.) OF Prof. Kemp’s industry as a compiler there can be no uestion. The last edition of his work on ore deposits teeming with information, and his footnotes alone are proof of the thoroughness with which he has conducted is search after facts. But it is not a book which ap- tals to the elementary student, because he is launched to a mass of details without sufficient preparation in e introductory part, which is sadly lacking in wood- cuts. And further, there is evidence of haste or want _ of care in correcting the book for the press. Surely a writer on ore deposits should be able to spell such names _“Posepny,” “Sjégren” and “ Pribram” with strict accuracy. Errors in spelling ordinary French and German words are frequent, and when one notes as many NO. 1607, VOL. 62] as nine mistakes in seven consecutive lines, there are fair grounds for complaint. It is not only in his spelling that Prof. Kemp evinces carelessness. A mineralogist | would not speak of specular iron as “ specular hematite” ; the product of a zinc mine should not be called sfelter, as the word denotes the metal, not the ore. By one of his sentences, one might infer that Prof. Kemp would not admit sulphide of sodium among the metallic sul- phides. Itis not good English to say: “ Considerable limonite has also resulted from the weathering of clay- ironstone nodules.” In spite of frequent and unpardonable minor blemishes, which could easily have been avoided by employing a careful proof-reader, the book will be found very useful by those who require a summary of the innumerable memoirs and papers describing American ore deposits. Prof. Kemp’s conclusion that an amendment is needed of the laws regulating the tenure of ore deposits in the Western States will be warmly endorsed by most mining men. Gb NG. By Bertha Millard Physiology for the Laboratory. (Boston: Ginn and Co., Brown, S.B. Pp. viii + 167. 1900. THIs little book sets forth, in twenty-two brief chapters, certain practical directions for the study of the elements of anatomy, histology and physiology of the vertebrate body, and the first principles of bacteriology. Many of the instructions given are in interrogatory form, and for simple experiment and observation of the living in action, in which lies the very essence of the science of physi- ology, the student is commendably referred to his or her own body. Beyond this, however, there is nothing in the book that is new, or which calls for comment in these pages. The mode of treatment is begotten of a conviction on the part of the authoress, that “there is needed a radical change in the teaching of physiology ” ; and we read with astonishment the statement that while the method of teaching botany, chemistry and other sciences “has long been that of going first to the study of the specimen and then to the text-book,” this has not been the case for “ physiology ”—that having apparently been taught from the text-book alone. She is writing, however, of State schools of America, and if the accusa- tion be applicable to them generally, we wish her success in her enterprise. Michigan Board of Agriculture. Annual Report 1898-99. Pp. 465. (Michigan : State Board of Agriculture, 1899.) IN this volume are included the thirty-eighth annual report of the Secretary of the Michigan State Board of Agriculture, and the twelfth annual report of the Experi- ment Station of the State Agricultural College. Many subjects of interest are dealt with in both reports, but only a few can be referred to here. Experiments with Indian corn, to test the influence of thickness of planting upon the character of the crop, show that a gradual increase occurs in the yield of dry matter and protein as the distance between the rows and between individual plants is increased. It appears that, to obtain the greatest yield of valuable nutrients, Indian corn should be planted in rows fully three and a half feet apart, and the seeds six and nine inches apart in the rows. The establishment of several large beet-sugar factories in the State last year has caused increased attention to be given to experiments in beet culture. An interesting detail of some new experimental work, to which reference is made by Prof. C. D. Smith, director of the Experimental Station, is the breeding of bees with longer tongues. It is hoped that, by selection and breeding, a variety of honey bee will be developed capable of extracting nectar from the blossoms of the clover grown in the State. Among the subjects of Budletzns published in the report are :—forestry, strawberry culture, methods of combating disease-producing germs and fruit-growing. 366 NATURE iat ae mo nis wine! [AuGUST 16, 1900 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. [The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions ex- pressed 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 zs taken of anonymous communications. | Change of Feeding Habits of Rhinoceros-birds in British East Africa. THE enclosed extract from a letter just received by me from my friend, Captain Hinde, of the British East Africa Pro- _tectorate, will interest all zoologists. It is a curious fact that a bird which is so valuable as Buphaga in clearing parasitic insects from cattle that we lately agreed to give it special pro- tection at the International Conference on the Preservation of African Wild Animals, should now, by a sudden change of con- ditions induced by man, become a dangerous and noxious creature. This fact shows how difficult is the problem pre- sented by the relations of civilised man to a fauna and flora new to his influence. E. Ray LANKESTER. Natural History Museum, London, August Io. ‘« The following case of wild birds changing their habits may interest you :—The common rhinoceros-bird (Buphaga erythroe- pyncha) here formerly fed on ticks and other parasites which infest game and domestic animals; occasionally, if an animal had a sore, the birds would probe the sore to such an extent that it sometimes killed the animal. Since the cattle plague de- stroyed the immense herds in Ukambani, and nearly all the sheep and goats were eaten during the late famine, the birds, deprived of their food, have become carnivorous, and now any domestic animal not constantly watched is killed by them. Perfectly healthy animals have their ears eaten down to the bone, holes torn in their backs and in the femoral regions. Native boys amuse themselves sometimes by shooting the birds on the cattle with arrows, the points of which are passed through a piece of wood or ivory for about half an inch, so if the animal is struck instead of the bird no harm is done. The few thus killed do not seem in any way to affect the numbers of these pests. On my own animals, when a hole has been dug, I put in iodoform powder, and that particular wound is generally avoided by the birds afterwards; but if the birds attack it again, they become almost immediately comatose and can be destroyed. This remedy is expensive and not very effective. Is there any other drug you could suggest that would be less likely to be detected? Perhaps you know that I reported three years ago that these birds rendered isolation under the cattle plague regu- lations useless in some districts, as I proved beyond doubt they were the only means of communication between clean and infected herds under supervision, a mile or two apart. These birds I have never seen on the great herds of game on the open plains, but I have seen them on antelope and rhinoceros in the immediate neighbourhood of Masai villages, and herds of cattle; on the other hand, I have never seen the small egret on cattle, though often on rhinoceros and gnii.” Atmospheric Electricity. In NatuRE of June 14 Mr. Wilson replies to the objections raised in my letter of March 29 to his explanation of the origin of atmospheric electricity. Before proceeding to consider Mr. Wilson’s reply to my objections it may be well that the point at issue between us should be clearly defined. as Mr. Wilson, in my opinion, somewhat confuses it. Mr. Wilson says, ‘‘ Mr. Aitken contends there is no such thing as dust-free air in the atmosphere.” Now I certainly made no such statement, for the simple reason that I do not know whether such a con- dition exists to any extent or not, only a few cases being on record. What I did state was, ‘‘ So far as our knowledge goes, it can hardly be said there is such a thing as dust-free air in our atmosphere, and the cases in which low numbers have been observed are so extremely rare that they can hardly have any bearing on phenomena of such widespread existence as atmospheric electricity, even though we suppose those few particles to be afterwards got rid of.” I simply asked for a verdict of ‘‘ not proven” against Mr. Wilson’s theory. I think it will be admitted that it rests with Mr. Wilson, and those who think with him, to prove that the air is generally dust-free at elevations higher than ordinary cumulus and nimbus clouds,- as NO. 1607, VOL, 62] without this dustless air the supersaturation necessary condensation on ions is admittedly not possible. Mr. Wilson discusses the question of the number of du particles in the atmosphere from Mr, Rankin’s Ben Nev observations and my own at Kingairloch, and points out th practically dust-free air has been observed on Ben Nevis. Su is the case, but so far as‘I know dust-free air has been o on only a few occasions, and such isolated instances — evidently no bearing on the case. Mr. Wilson then turns to observations and says ‘* the mean number of dust particles in a — series of 258 observations, extending over nearly five years, amounting to 338 per c.c. ; on one occasion the number was as low as 16 per c.c.” The above statement, it must be clearly — understood, refers to 258 of the tests made in the purest air, and is not the mean of all the observations. In the tables there are’ 688 observations for Kingairloch : of these I find there are 41 in which the reading was under 100, 341 were over a 100 but less than 1000 per c.c,, whilst the remaining 306 observations were all over 1000 per c.c. The 16 per c.c. referred to by Mr. Wilson only occurred once. In the other years referred to the lowest figures were 38, 43, 67 and 205 perc.c. So that,as — already said, the conditions represented by those low figures, — such aso on Ben Nevis and 16 at Kingairloch, are so excepti that they are not likely to play any part in phenomena so universal as atmospheric electricity. eee | Mr. Wilson, referring to the selected observations taken at Kingairloch on the pure air coming from the Atlantic, says ‘* Air coming from such a region can hardly be consi as abnormal. Moreover, such observations are necessarily made in air within a few feet of the ground ; at a greater height it is likely to be less contaminated.” Taking the last of these points first, an examination of the diagrams given along with the tables, from which Mr. Wilson made his extracts, will show that when- ever the air became pure the readings low down and high up were nearly alike. This is shown by the curves in the diagrams for Ben Nevis and Kingairloch being nearly alike during these periods. Further, it may be seen from the curves that there was sometimes less dust at low than at high level when the air came from the Atlantic. wl rik AL An examination of the tables from which Mr. Wilson took his Kingairloch figures easily refutes his assumption that the air of the Atlantic, as given in these tables, ‘‘can hardly be‘considered as abnormal.” In the tables will be found the results of tests made in France, Italy and Switzerland. Observations were made at three places in France on the shores of the Mediter- ranean, at Hyéres, Cannes and Mentone. An analysis of the figures for these places, made during visits extending over five years, shows that the lowest number observed was 725 per c.C., — and of eighty-eight tests only ten were under 1000 per c.c., the others being all over 1000. ‘At the Italian Lakes observations — were made at Bellagio and Baveno. Many of these observations» were made at elevations up to 2000 feet. In all, 188 tests were made: of these the lowest was 300 perc.c. On only thirteen occasions was the number under 1000, and 175 readings gave numbers over 1000 per c.c. igs Perhaps it may be objected that all these Continental tests were made in low level polluted air. We shall therefore Sis SES as J * now examine the result of the observations made on the Rigi Kulm, given in the same tables. The top of the Rigi is 5900 feet above sea-level, but it has only the purifying effect of 4400 feet, as it is only about that height above the surrounding plains, During the tests, made on the visits during the five different years pre- viously referred to, 259 observations were taken on thirty-two days, and the lowest number observed was 210 per c.c. N - seven observations gave readings under 1000 per c.c., whilst the — other 162 tests were all over 1000 per c.c. These tests, at both high and low level, give no support to Mr. Wilson’s statement that the Atlantic air on the west coast.of Scotland ‘‘can hardly be considered as abnormal.” me Teed PS Let me further support this point by reference to observations made by others of the air in different parts of the world. Prof. G. Melander, of Helsingfors, in his work, entitled ‘‘ Sur ‘la 4 condensation de la vapeur d’eau dans latmosphére,” gives the results of 268 tests made of the air at Saléve, Biskra, Torhola, Loimola, Kristianssund and Grip. In all these 268 samples of | air tested there were only five with less than 500 per c.c., and — 5 no low numbers were observed. . Mac din, I now turn to the very interesting series of observations made _— by Mr..E. D. Fridlander and published in the Quarterly — Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, vol. xxii. No. 99, AvcusT 16, 1900] NATURE 367 uly 1896. In thisipaper Mr. Fridlander gives the results of observations made during a voyage round the world from oy to America, across that continent to Santa Cruz ly, from there across the Pacific Ocean to New Zealand, then ea and Mediterranean, visiting Switzerland on the way. On the western side of the Atlantic the numbers were high, being _ from 2000 to 4000 per c.c., though the vessel was far from land, its position being 55° 0’ N., 42° 11’ W. Lower numbers were _ obtained between Labrador and Newfoundland, the readings ere being from 420 to 840 per c.c. rc.c. were got in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. oast the lowest was 700 and highest 4500 per c.c. fic Ocean the lowest reading was 280 per c.c. and highest 25. Few readings were obtained in New Zealand under ) per c.c. In the Indian Ocean the air seems to be rather than most places, or at least was so when the observations : made. Readings as low as 200 per c.c. were obtained, 1 they seldom were over 500. Tests made on only two days the pring Tats vea pra, 280 and a maximum of 375. One day’s tests in the Red Sea gave from 383 to 490 pti The result of two days’ tests of the Mediterranean gave a minimum of 875 and a maximum of 2500 per c.c. A sult which agrees with that already given for the French coast of the Mediterranean. ae redinader's tests of the air in Switzerland give results Readings as low as 280 On the Pacific On the _to those already referred to for the Rigi Kulm. At all the places the numbers were always over 1000 per c.c., the observations were made at considerable elevations. But on the Riffelberg (altitude 7400), where Mr. Fridlander ent some days, the numbers varied from 225 to 4000 per c.c. the summit of the Bieshorn (altitude 13,600) the lowest vation gave 140 per c.c., which, so far as I know, is the lowest number yet observed in Switzerland, When we com- pare the given by Prof. Melander and Mr. Fridlander of the dust particles in the air of different parts of the world with those obtained in the Atlantic air on the west coast of Scotland, __ awe are forced to admit that the latter is abnormally pure. 7 The rate of fall of cloud particles as given by the calculations of Mr. Wilson seems to be much too rapid. He assumes that ir in which clouds are formed is always rising. This can be said to be the fact. Suppose a large area of the th’s surface to be covered with cloud, forming a vast sea, 1 as one sometimes sees from the top of a mountain. It is that the air over all that area cannot be rising at any rable rate, and yet the clouds will be seen to keep nearly same tion for hours. If the air. be still, and if Mr. ‘ilson’s calculations are correct, then the mountains ought to rise out of such a cloudy sea at the rate of nearly 500 feet per hour, which, I venture to say, no one has ever seen. [r. Wilson seems to think, though all the dust particles in ; air will not become centres of condensation, it isa matter ei am gr as he thinks the cloud will act as a perfect filter, by the descending cloud particles coming in contact with, and absorbing, the inactive dust particles. So that all particles _ that do not become active centres of condensation will be carried out of the air by the falling drops, and leave the air rising through the cloud particles dustless. He gives no evidence in _ support of this assumption other than the purification of dusty _ air in a closed vessel with wet sides. Now dusty air in a closed mere es a considerable time to become dust-free, and I _ think it ma be contended that gravitation plays no inconsider- able part in the process, perhaps more than the wet sides referred to by Mr. Wiison. So far as my observations go, there jis no evidence of any such powerful purifying effect in clouds. At least when making observations in old clouds, both at top and bottom of them, there were always observed a large number of dust particles, but whether any had been absorbed by the ry ome or not it would beimpossible to say. If any had _ been absorbed, certainly. many were still free. __ That clouds have not the purifying effect claimed for them by ; ‘Mr. Wilson may be best shown by reference to the observations _ made on the Rigi Kulm on May 21, 1889 (Proc. Roy. Soc. Edin., *y vol. xvii. p. 193). On the morning of that day, when I left Lucerne on my way to the Rigi Kulm, the sky was covered with cloud, and when ascending the mountain the cloud was entered at an elevation of about 2000 feet below the top. On arriving at the top the clouds were still very dense, and remained $0 till the evening ; afterwards they settled down to the level of ‘the kulm, when a vast sea of clouds was disclosed stretching in NO. 1607, VOL. 62] ' . ia, and homewards by the Indian Ocean, Arabian . all directions with the peaks of the higher Alps standing out like islands. Under these conditions the observations made on the top of the Rigi on that day were evidently taken in air just above the upper surface of a uniform stratum of cloud 2000 feet deep, where, according to Mr. Wilson, there ought to have been dustless air, yet the observations showed there were still 210 particles per c.c. Next morning the clouds still extended in most directions and were much thinner, and the number of dust particles had increased to over 800. I may as a well here call attention to the fact that during the night the upper surface of the clouds had only settled down about 1000 feet. ow much of this was due to the cloud ticles falling through the air, and how much to evaporation, it would be hard to say. Probably evaporation played the principal part, as the clouds were now much thinner, and the evaporation probably took place from the upper .surface, as in the morning the air'on the Kulm was dry—the wet-bulb depression being as much as 6°, and a wind of some strength was blowing from the south-east. The rate of descent of the particles in this cloud was therefore much slower than the rate of fall calculated by Mr. Wilson. Mr. Wilson, in criticising my remarks on the re-evaporation of cloud particles, says: ‘‘ But all drops that have survived the great tendency to evaporate which accompanies the initial stages of their growth will surely continue to grow so long as the rate of expansion remains the same, or even if it be much reduced.” Here again Mr. Wilson assumes that clouds are always rising. Now a great part of the life of a cloud, and the air in which the particles are carried, is spent in moving horizontally, and sometimes even downwards, and occasionally with but little movement in any direction; and it is during this stable con- dition that the opportunity is given for the re-evaporation of the smaller drops. Mr. Wilson points out that if a very slight proportion of the water in a drop were to evaporate, it would cool the drop and check the evaporation, a statement with which all will agree. But though the cooling may check evaporation, it will not stop it. The particles in a cloud are close together, and those condensing vapour and .growing warmer soon part with their heat by radiation and by contact with the air, so that the heat lost by the evaporating particles is rapidly supplied to them by the condensing ones, and, as we shall see later, this exchange of heat takes place at a muc quicker rate than one might imagine. ; I do not think that practical chemists will agree with Mr. Wilson’s statement that all the ammonia, nitric acid and other impurities, out of which the sun can manufacture nuclei, will be washed out of the air by the rain. The difficulty of removing the last traces of gases by washing is well known. Are meteorologists prepared to accept that part of Mr. Wilson’s theory which necessitates the formation of rain-clouds at an elevation of 7500 feet above the top of the ordinary cumulus and nimbusclouds? In other words, are meteorologists prepared to affirm that there are two distinct rain zones—one where the ordinary rain-clouds condensed on dust nuclei are formed, then over these clouds clear air for 7500 feet, above which the ion rain-clouds are formed? This upper ion-cloud must result in rain if the theory is correct, otherwise there will be no separation of the positive and negative ions, I leave it to the meteorologists to say whether rain-clouds have ever been observed at elevations of 20,000 to 30,000 feet—not above sea-level, but above the surface of the ground. Mr. Wilson does not seem to think that my remarks on the rapid growth of cloud particles in supersaturated air have any bearing on the subject, and objects to my use of the term ex- plosive in reference to the condition of supersaturated air. If I had known a better term I would have used it. Though super- saturated air is ina condition of equilibrium with itself, yet when nuclei are introduced into it there is at once a rapid rush of vapour molecules towards the condensing particles, and a rapid breakdown of conditions all round the nuclei, which seems to me not at all inaptly compared to an explosion—centripetally, of course. Mr. Wilson grounds his objection to the rapid growth of the ion-cloud particles in supersaturated air on the difficulty and slowness with which the condensing drops part with the heat developed by the condensing vapour. I shall not follow Mr. Wilson in his comparison of a condensing with an evaporating drop, as it is not easy to see the changes taking place in the latter, but will rather refer to an experiment which Mr. Wilson, and others who have experimented on this subject, must often have seen. Take aglass flask in which there is a 368 NATURE [AUGUST 16, 1900 little water, full of ordinary air, and provided with means of ex- panding the air in the flask, and either returning the air to the flask, or admitting filtered air. Goon repeating the process of expanding and cloud-making in the flask. - After this has been done a number of times, the nuclei become fewer and fewer, and at last only a very few are left in the air. Every one must have noticed when making this experiment that the cloud particles are very small on the first expansion, and that they fall very slowly, almost imperceptibly, but that at the end of the experiment, when the last dust particles become nuclei, the water particles are large and fall rapidly like rain drops. At the beginning of the experiment, with plenty of dust in the air, there is almost no supersaturation, the nuclei being so close the tension is relieved as soon as it is formed. When, how- ever, only a few particles are present, there are large spaces . between the nuclei where supersaturation can take place, and it is by falling through this supersaturated air that the drops, when few in number, are able to grow so quickly and become so large. It therefore seems probable that something of the same kind will: happen if ions were to become nuclei in supersaturated air. Whenever an ion becomes active it will rapidly grow to the dimensions of a rain-drop in the same manner and for the same reason that the dust-nucleused drops do in supersaturated air. These little drops evidently have a way of parting with the heat of condensation at a very much quicker rate than Mr. Wilson is disposed to admit. It is this capacity for rapid growth in supersaturated air that makes it so improbable that ions can ever give rise to a cloudy form of condensation. To form a cloud a large number of them would require to become active at the same moment. But this is evidently not possible in a rising column of air. The ions which rise on the top of the ascending column will become active first, and by falling through the lower supersaturated air will grow with great rapidity and give riseto a rainy, but cloudless form of condensation. There are some points connected with ions about which I think the readers of NATURE would be glad to have some information, and which I think Mr, Wilson, with the aid of the apparatus at his disposal, could give us. For instance, one would like to know (1) how long ions remain in air in an inclosed vessel, when both + and — ions are present ; (2) when only + or — ions are in«the air ; (3) whether the presence of dust has any effect on the duration of their life. For practical purposes one would also like to know further (1) how many ions are generally in the air near the ground ; (2) what amount of electricity they carry with them. Finally, one would like to know how many ions will pass up through a cloud and escape at the top; as one would almost expect, these ions, with their electric charges, will be more likely. to be cleared out of the air by rain than the dust particles, and whether both kinds are equally liable to be washed out by rain. If not, the inequality may help to explain some important electrical phenomena. JOHN AITKEN. Ardenlea, Falkirk, June 27. The Melting Points of Rock-forming Minerals. IN connection with the abstracts of papers read before the Royal Dublin Society by Dr. J. Joly, F.R.S., and myself, given in NATURE for July 12 (p. 262), I might perhaps be per- mitted to draw attention to a few points. The same subject has been recently dealt with by Mr. C. E. Stromeyer (Mem. Manchester Lit. and Phil. Soc., vol. xliv. Part iii. No. 7, 1900) and by Prof. Sollas, F.R.S. (Geo. Mag., July 1900). In the first place it may be noted that the ‘‘ melting point” of a substance under a definite pressure has a perfectly definite meaning. The ‘‘ softening point,” on the other hand, obviously depends on the magnitude of the distorting force with which the softness is tested, as weil as on the other conditions of experi- ment. It is an established fact that the melting points of a very large number of substances vary with the pressure. Bunsen, as far back as 1850, perceived the geological application of this phenomenon. In discussing the crystallisation of plutonic rocks, itis the melting points of the minerals under enormous pressures which really concern us. These pressures are probably sufficient to alter the melting points through several hundred degrees. There are then two ways open for us to ascertain these melting points. Firstly, we might determine them by direct experiment at the necessary large pressures ; or, NO. 1€C7, VOL. 62] secondly, we might measure the melting points at ordinary atmospheric pressuré and determine the rate of increase (or decrease) of melting point with increase of pressure (d6/dp). Considering the gigantic pressures with which we have to deal, it seems decidedly easier to adopt the second method. The agreement between the results obtained from the application of the thermodynamic formula i ad Or, et Vs) F ap é . +3 ae (where @=absolute melting temperature ; (7 —v,)=the Se of volume at the instant of melting; L=the latent heat mechanical units) with the results of experiments (e.g. M. A. Battelli, Journal de Phys., t. viii. p. 90, 1887), seems to justi the application of that formula to the case of the minerals in question, in the absence of direct experiment. It is true that the formula was deduced for a reversible system, and that no natural process is reversible. But a similar objection would hold against the application of any theoretical formula to the conditions obtainable in experimental work. In the ent case it is only claimed for the formula that it will afford an approximate estimate of the melting points of minerals under large pressures ; and after all, even direct measurement of such ~ high temperatures as are involved is always attended with un- certainty. In order to apply this formula we require 0, (7 —7,), and L. The melting points of the most important minerals at atmospheric pressure have been determined by Dr. Joly and Mr. R. Cusack (Proc. Roy. Irish Acad., Ser. 3. vol. ii. p. 383 vol. iv. p. 399). A large part of the volume change on melting is, I submit, afforded us by the difference in density between the crystalline mineral and its fused glass. Now it is characteristic of amorphous substances to pass gradually and continuously from solid to liquid (cf Preston, ‘* Theory of Heat,” ava and 286); and so it is highly probable that such a mineral glass will pass’ without sudden volume change into the liquid state, and it has, in fact, passed gradually in the inverse direction. It is not contended that any given mineral ever existed as a glass in the molten magma of an igneous rock, but only that it existed as a liquid. eon ae In my paper, above referred to, I have shown how the ** fusibility ’ of a mineral must be connected with its laten heat, and hence by a comparison of relative fusibility an melting temperature we may often deduce the relative latent heats of two minerals. Thus, for example, the ‘*fusibility ” of labradorite is 3 on von Kobell’s scale, and its melting point is” 1229° C., whereas orthoclase has a melting point of only 1175°C., | but is much less ‘‘ fusible,” viz. 5 on von Kobell’s scale. Hence I infer that the latent heat of orthoclase is decidedly greater than that of labradorite. Similarly, the Jatent heat of augite is less than that of orthoclase. But the volume-change on melting of augite is greater than that of orthoclase. There- fore d0/dp is greater for augite than for orthoclase. It is thus possible to arrive at the order of melting points of minerals under the pressure of rock formation. If, after ascertaining this order, it is still found to be inconsistent with the order of crystallisation, as shown by microsopical examination, it may be. necessary to examine the more complicated influences of solu- tion, &c., on the crystallising points of the minerals. sli In conclusion, I may point out that it must be a matter of extreme importance in measuring the melting temperature of quartz to make sure that the specimen used is pure, andin par- ticular free from the alkalis. Messrs. Shenstone and Lacel) (NATURE, May 3, 1900, p. 20) have found that rock crystal very often contains sodium and lithium, traces of which might be expected to lower the melting point. Further, it has long been known that quartz, with a density of 2°66, passesinto the variety of silica with density 2°3 at a temperature below-its melting point (cf Fremy, Zuc. Chim. 6, p. 142). And similar — transformations are common among metals. Is it not possible then that the phenomena observed by Dr. Joly mayhavenothing to do with the fusion point of quartz, but are simply cases of molecular transformation at a temperature below the melting point ? J. A. CUNNINGHAM. — Royal College of Science, Dublin. » a Observation of the Circular Components in the _ ‘““ Faraday Effect.” TS ae AFTER repeated attempts to determine the nature of the ‘* Faraday effect,” I have succeeded in observing that ordinary light, when passing from a surface into a medium in such a way a AucustT 16, 1900] | NATURE 369 to be under the influence of a magnetic field, is broken up into two circular components oppositely polarised. The system used consisted of two rectangular prisms of glass sed with their diagonal faces parallel and separated by a of mica of approximately } A retardation. The lines of were parallel to this plate. A ray of ordinary light from a flame sent into the system normal to this plate was ively totally reflected parallel to the lines of force and a at right angles to the mica, which served to change the ise and to keep the absolute direction of the circular vibra- sthe same. The rays passed five times around within this » giving twenty internal reflections. The separation of the rays agreed, so far as could be deter- ined, with the calculations based on the assumptions usually le in explaining this phenomenon. When the field was sed, the direction of vibration of each circular component reversed. This does not establish the assumption of a rela- e change in the velocities usually made, as a relative change of the components, or both, would produce the same ct. It does show, however, that a medium in a magnetic transmits, in the direction of the lines of force, light ations by circular components only. D. B. BRAcE. Physical Laboratory, University of Nebraska, August 1. es CAN any of your readers tell me where I can find a good : t of asbestos and its physical structure? The ordinary works of reference I am acquainted with give too meagre an _ account to be of any use. GEOFFREY MARTIN. 13 Hampton Road, Bristol, August 1. : Physical Structure of Asbestos. THE BRADFORD MEETING OF THE Betsy BRITISH ASSOCIATION. qt now possible to give a forecast of the chief + subjects to be brought before the various Sections of the British Association at the forthcoming Bradford _ meeting. The following outlines of sectional pro- 4 umes show that many matters of importance and ‘scientific interest will be dealt with, so that the meeting promises to be a memorable one. particulars as to the probable proceedings of the * sics Section have yet been received. CHEMISTRY. ‘Prof. W. H. Perkin, jun., F.R.S., the President of Section B (Chemistry) is this year setting a precedent in the conduct of the sectional meetings. Several - memb the Association have been asked to furnish rep orts on the present state of knowledge in the parti- cular departments of chemistry with which they are ecially conversant, and the reading of these reports be followed by discussion. In accordance with this programme, Mr. Francis H. eville, F.R.S., will present a report dealing with the _ properties and interactions of the metals. The following _ questions will be brought forward for discussion in _ connection with the report :— I. Are the methods usually employed in studying the _ equilibrium between two or more substances with change temperature immediately applicable to the study of , and are similar results obtained in the two cases? with varying conditions of temperature and con- centration, a system of ferric chloride and water deposits ) ice; (2) Fe,Cl,12H,O; (3) Fe,Cl.7H,O; (4) Cly,5HO ; (5) Fe,Clg, 4H,0 ; (6) Fe,Cly or (7) mix- | of the phase numbered » with that numbered 7+1)? Are the solubility curve of ferric chloride and the iad point curves of metallic mixtures of the same 2. How far does (1) microscopic examination, and 2) change in physical properties, such as electromotive _ force, &c., enable us to detect the existence of a compound - in an alloy? 4 NO. 1607, VOL. 62 | 3. In what definite proportions are metals known to combine? Is any regularity manifest with respect either to their position in the periodic system or to their valency with regard to non-metals ? 4. What methods are available for determining the molecular weights of the metals, and can it be asserted in any cases, other than those of mercury, zinc and cadmium, that the molecular weight is satisfactorily determined ? 5. Can a definition be given of a metallic element which makes it possible to distinguish between metals and non-inetals ? 6. Can any explanation be given which will satis- factorily account for (1) the difference between metallic and electrolytic conduction, and (2) the remarkable changes in the electrical conductivity of metals attending admixture ? As some of the questions bearing upon this subject are of as great importance to the physicist as to the chemist, physical members of the Association are to be invited. to join in the discussion. Dr. Adolf Liebmann will contribute a report on recent improvements in the treatment of textiles, a subject which acquires peculiar importance from the fact that the 1900 Meeting of the Association is being held in the centre of a district devoted to the textile industry. Dr. Arthur Lapworth will give a report on our knowledge of the chemistry and constitution of camphor. Attention has of late years become so concentrated on the chemistry of the camphor group as to make an authoritative discussion on the constitution of camphor almost a necessity to the organic chemist. Mr. William J. Pope will present a report on our present knowledge of stereochemistry ; it is understood that special attention will be given in this report to the work done during the past twelve months on the optical activity of compounds containing an asymmetric nitrogen, tin or sulphur atom. Among the other papers to be presented at the meeting is one on the specific heat of gases at temperatures above 400°, | by Prof. H. B. Dixon, F.R.S.; and Mr. H. T. Brown, F.R.S., will give an account of his recent work on the diffusion of gases and liquids. The papers of special local interest include one on the treatment of Bradford sewage, by Mr. F. W. Richardson, the City analyst ; and also a paper on the treatment of woolcombers’ effluents, by Mr. W. Leach. The title of the sectional address to be delivered by the President is, of course, not yet announced ; it is understood, however, that the address will deal with the teaching of chemistry. GEOLOGY. The proceedings of Section C (Geology) will open at 10.30 a.m. on Thursday, September 6, with the delivery of the address of its president, Prof. W. J. Sollas, who has chosen for his subject, “ The History of the Earth in relation to a Scale of Time.” Prof. Sollas will take a wide scope in discussing this subject, and will introduce such fundamental matters as the constitution of the earth, the relative value of the various geological periods, the origin sof ocean basins, the formation of mountain- chains, and the evolution of the organic world. We may be sure that his discourse will be brilliant and suggestive. It is probable that Prof. J. Joly will also treat on the knotty problem of the duration of geological time at the same, or a subsequent, meeting of the Section. As befits the place of meeting, the geology of the Carboniferous rocks will receive much attention. A joint discussion with the botanists (Section K), on the con- ditions which existed during the growth of the forests of the Coal Period, will be held on Monday, September 10, when Mr. A. Strahan and Mr. J. E. Marr will open the debate from the geologist’s standpoint. The Coal- measures of the West Riding form the subject of a paper by Mr. W. Cash, and those of North Staffordshire of one 379 NATURE I [AuGuST 16, 1900 ‘by Mr. W. Gibson, of H.M. Geological Survey ; while the fossil fishes of the Carboniferous rocks will be discussed by Dr. E. D, Wellburn. Prof. W. B. Scott has promised a paper, with lantern illustrations, on the geology and palzontology of Patagonia, which promises to be of great interest. Prof. A. P. Coleman, of Toronto, brings forward an account of a ferriferous horizon in the Huronian of Lake Superior, and will also present the final report of the Committee for the investigation of Pleistocene de- posits in Canada. Mr. J.J. H. Teall will describe a plutonic complex of Sutherland, and its bearing on current hypotheses as to the genesis of igneous rocks. Glacial subjects, as usual,. will receive due attention ; papers on the local phenomena will be brought forward by Dr. Monckman and Messrs. Muff, Jowett and others, and on those of Welsh localities by Mr. E. Greenley and Mr. J. R. Dakyns. The concretions of the magnesium limestone of Durham will be discussed by Dr. Abbott. ‘Tidal ripple-marks will be described by Mr. Vaughan ‘Cornish ; and the caves and pot-holes of Ingleborough and district by their explorer, Mr. S. W. Cuttriss, in both cases with lantern illustrations. Mr. A. C. Seward will treat of the Jurassic flora of the Yorkshire coast. Among the reports of committees will be that which deals with the course taken by underground waters in the Ingle- borough district, giving the result of recent experiments ; and excursions have been arranged to the sites of the investigation. As usual, short afternoon sectional excur- sions to places of geological interest in the neighbour- hood of Bradford will be included in the arrangements -of the Section. ZOOLOGY (AND PHYSIOLOGY). Dr. R. H. Traquair, F.R.S., the President of Section D (Zoology and Physiology), will address the Section on “The Bearings of Fossil Ichthyology on the Doctrine of Descent.” Major Ronald Ross will (by request) address the Section on “Malaria and Mosquitoes.” Messrs. Gamble and Keeble will give an account of their researches on the “Colour-Physiology of Hippolyte,” illustrated by lantern projections and practical demon- strations. Prof. L. C. Miall, F.R.S., will read a paper on the ‘Respiration of Aquatic Insects”; and other papers on the natural history of insects will be given by Messrs. T. H. Taylor, Wilkinson, Walker, and Dr. Munro. Prof. S. J. Hickson, F.R.S., will read a paper on *‘ The Nuclei of Dendrocometes.” Among the reports of committees, Mr. Stanley Gardiner’s account of his researches on the Coral Islands of the Indian Ocean is awaited with particular interest. GEOGRAPHY. In Section E (Geography), the President, Sir George Robertson, will deliver his address on Thursday, Sep- _ ‘tember 6, at 11 a.m. The subject of the address is -appropriately “Geography and the Empire.” Amongst the subjects to which special attention will be directed in the Section may be mentioned that of “ Colonial and Foreign Surveys.” Papers dealing with these will be ead by Mr. E. G. Ravenstein and Mr. B. V. Darbishire ; and Dr. H. R. Mill will contribute a paper on “ The Treatment of Regional Geography.” Problems of applied commercial geography will be dealt with by Mr. G. G. Chisholm in a paper on “Some Consequences that may be Anticipated from the Development of the Resources of China,” and Mr. E. Heawood on the “ Commercial Resources of Africa.” An important paper on “ Railway connection between Europe and Asia” will be contributed by Sir Thomas Holdich ; and it is hoped that Mr. C. R. Beazeley will return in time to give an account of his journeys on the wecently-opened portions of the Siberian Railway. — The excellent work initiated by Mr. T. G. Rooper while H.M. Inspector of Schools at Bradford, «1 NO. 1607, VOL. 62] carried on by Mr. E. R. Wethey, one of the secretaries of the Section, makes papers on “School Geography,” and the teaching of elementary geography generally, of special interest at this meeting. Mr. Rooper and Mr. — Wethey will each describe parts of their work, and S| exhibit some of the maps and models used as illustrations, — in the exhibition which forms a novel feature of the Bradford meeting. vsiteay eae In the department of geographical exploration, Mr. C. E. Borchgrevink will give an account of the voyage of the Southern Cross in the Antarctic regions. Captain — P. Deasy will describe his journeys in Central Asia; Captain E.S.Grogan contributes a paper,“ Through Africa from the Cape to Cairo” ; and Mr. Cutliffe Hyne — one on “ Arctic Lapland.” (Dea aa On special and more technical subjects there’ will be | papers on “ Large Earthquakes in 1899,” by Prof. John Milne ; on the “ Distribution of Relative Humidity,’ by Mr. E. G. Ravenstein; on “Snow Ripples,” by Mr. — Vaughan Cornish ; and on ‘The Origin of Moels,” by _ Mr. J. E. Marr. aa cats) tte | MECHANICAL SCIENCE. NS teaemre Sir Alexander Binnie, the President of Section G (Mechanical Science), will survey the various stages of scientific progress which have led to the modern con- ception of natural phenomena. Several interesting papers by local engineers will be read before the Section. One, by Mr. J. Watson, will describe the © Bradford waterworks and the very fine reservoirs _ belonging to that system. In connection with this — there will be an excursion on the Saturday to the reservoirs. A paper will be read by Prof. Hele-Shaw on the resistance of road vehicles to traction. A proposal — will be made to appoint a committee of the Association — to carry out an exhaustive series of experiments on road — resistance. Much interest will no doubt be excited by the paper which is to be read by Mr. J. H. Glass on the coal and iron ore fields at Shansi and Honan, and rail- way construction in China. This paper will be illustrated by a number of lantern slides showing the Chinese — methods of working these mineral deposits. In view of — the great industry of Bradford, the paper by Prof. — Beaumont on the application of photography to textile designing is likely to create great interest. In the — department of electrical engineering there is a good ~ programme of papers. The Small Screw Gauge Com- — mittee will submit a report descriptive of a series of — experiments which have been carried out by Mr. Price — in the engineering laboratory at University College, London ; and in connection with this, a paper will be read by Mr. O. P. Clements on screw threads used in cycle construction and for screws subject to vibration. Mr. A. — Mallock will give an account of experiments he has made to determine the tractive force, resistance, and acceleration of electric trains. Mr. Aldridge’s paper on the automobile for electric street traction will describe a — novel process, by means of which, in certain circum- — stances, it is possible to organise a tram service without — tram rails, and this paper will be illustrated by the © cinematograph, showing an actual system at work. ANTHROPOLOGY. Bt In the Anthropological Section, the President, Prof. J. Rhys, proposes to devote his opening address to “the — prehistoric ethnology of the British Isles,” a subject ~ full of matter for discussion, on which he is entitled — to speak with. peculiar authority. Several important — papers are expected in the department of anthro- — pometry, especially a note by Dr. Beddoe on the “vagaries of the Cephalic Index,” and a paper by Prof.” Cunningham on the “ Sacral Index.” Mr. H. Ling Roth ~ contributes a classification of various modes of orna- — ‘ menting the skin, such as tattooing, cicatrisation, and — _ AucusT 16, 1900] NATURE 371 the like. Dr. Haddon promises an account of his recent to Borneo, with special reference to the industries md daily life of the natives. A discussion is being ed on the subject of “Animal Worships,” with ice to the vexed question of the significance of mj; and Mr. David Boyle, of Toronto, will con- a study of the phenomena of Neo-Paganism the natives of certain parts of the Dominion of a. Among other archzeological papers, special attaches to Mr. Arthur Evans’s account of his discovery of tablets inscribed with an A°gean , in the Mycenzean palace of Gnossus in Crete ; and ir. F, Ll. Griffith’s discussion of the origin of the ian hieroglyphic system. There will be papers, as wa of archzeological interest in the neigh- f Bradford. ect the progress of botany in the nineteenth century. as been arranged to hold a joint discussion with some { the members of the Geological Section on the con- ions under which the forests of the Coal Period grew. \e origin and manner of formation of Coal, the climatic physical conditions which prevailed during the ion of the Coal-measures, the most striking stics of the vegetation, and other questions will ybably be dealt with. The local committee propose rm a small museum of specimens and photographs strate the botany and geology of the Coal Period. Friday afternoon a semi-popular lecture, illustrated tern slides, will be delivered by Mr. Percy Groom, * Plant form in relation to nutrition.” ong the papers already promised, the following =. mentioned : —On the presence of seed-like organs palaces Palaeozoic Lycopods, by Dr. D. H. Scott ; the _ origin of modern Cycads, by Mr. Worsdell ; the fertilisa- _ tion of Caltha palustris, by Miss Thomas; on a new § transition from stem to root in seedlings, by Miss it ; the anatomy of the stem of Angiopieris evecta, s Shove; the structure of the nucleolus, also a stration of the structure of the eye-spot and ellum of Zuglena, by Mr. Wager ; the biology and ogy of a new species of /yéhium, by Dr. Trow ; the SPiology of Acrospeira mirabilis, by Mr. Biffen; the histology and reproduction of the Laminariaceze, and _ additional notes on the cytology of the reproductive cells in the Dictyotacez and Fucacee, by Mr. J. Lloyd _ Williams ; on the effect of salts on the CO, assimilation Ulva latissima, by Mr. Arber ; on fungi found on the le-insects of Ceylon, by Mr. Parkin; the structure affinities of Dipteris conjugata, with notes on the logical history of the Dipteridinee, by Mr. Seward mee Hale. RECORDING TELEPHONES. OW that the telephone has become, even in this __ country, an instrument of such universal com- rcial and general employment, the advantages of an atus that will satisfactorily record the messages mitted through an ordinary telephone line are so kingly apparent that it is unnecessary to enlarge upon m. That it should have been possible to construct such in tus has been evident since the invention of the jhonograph. But the direct combination of the phono- _ graph with the telephone, which seems so simple in ry, has presented difficulties in practice which up to present have not been successfully overcome, and phonograph of to-day, over twenty years since its lion, remains little more than a scientific toy, eas its contemporary, the telephone, has become an st indispensable adjunct of civilisation. It would "NO. 1607, VOL. 62] 4 ‘wire was passing between its poles. appear, however, that the problem of recording tele- phone messages is nearing a practical solution, for there have been quite recently put forward, under the names respectively of the “Telephonograph ” and the ‘** Telegraphone,” two separate inventions of a recording telephone. : The first of these instruments-+the “ Telephonograph ” —is the invention of Mr. E. O. Kumberg, and contains little that is novel in principle, being simply a combina- tion of the phonograph with a loud-speaking telephone receiver, in which the inventor has sought by a suitable design of apparatus to diminish the distortion of voice which is usual with such an arrangement. The invention consists of a phonograph in which a loud-speaking telephone receiver is substituted in place of the ordinary diaphragm to which one speaks. The telephonic currents. varying in the receiver set up vibrations in a soft iron diaphragm which is attached by a short stiff wire at its. centre to a second diaphragm of mica. The centre of this mica diaphragm is connected by a link with the cutting style, which accordingly traces on the wax: cylinder of the phonograph a record of the message transmitted through the telephone. The cylinder can then be subsequently used in connection with the speaking diaphragm of the phonograph to repeat the recorded message. Unfortunately, neither the telephone nor the phonograph is free from distortion, and the “ Telephonograph” may be expected to possess in an enhanced degree the imperfection of each of its com- ponents; from what we learn, it seems that Mr. Kumberg’s invention is by no means perfect in articulation. The second instrument which has been brought for- ward under the name of the “Telegraphone” is, we believe, entirely new in its principle, and if it realises but a part of what is claimed for it by its inventor represents a very great advance in telephony. This instrument is the invention of Herr Valdemar Poulsen, a Danish electrician, and is on view at the Paris Exhibition. It is” briefly described in a note contributed by Herr Poulsen to the Comptes rendus for June 25, and somewhat more fully in an article which appears in the Revue Générale des Sciences for June 30. It is, of course, perfectly well known that if a piece of steel be placed between the poles of an electromagnet which is excited by a current, a magnetic field is set up. in the steel, the strength and direction of which depend. upon the strength and direction of the current in the exciting coils of the electromagnet, and the magnetism thus induced in the steel is still retained by it when removed from the inducing magnetic field. This is the principle which Herr Poulsen has utilised in the con- struction of his new recording telephone. In place of the ordinary telephone réceiver he uses a simple electro- magnet, the current transmitted through the telephone line passing round the exciting coils of the magnet. When, therefore, any one speaks into the transmitting instrument at the far end of the telephone line, the magnetic field due to the electromagnet will vary in strength and direction in accordance with the varying electric currents transmitted through the lines. Between. the poles of the magnet is passed a steel wire or band, which is moved forward in the direction of its length at a uniform and rapid velocity. At each point of this wire there will be produced a magnetisation proportional to- the current which was flowing through the coils of the electromagnet at the moment when that section of the vi There will thus be established in the steel wire a magnetic record of the telephonic message, and just as the varying electric currents have been utilised to produce in the wire a magnetisation varying from point to point along its length, so, by the converse process, may this magnetisa- tion’ be employed to set up currents in a telephone: 372 NATURE [AucusT 16, 1900 receiver, and thus reproduce the original speech. It is only necessary to connect the coils of the electromagnet in series with a receiving telephone, and to cause the steel wire on which the magnetic record has been made to pass once again at the same speed and in the same direction between the poles of the magnet; for the variation of the magnetic field which the wire produces as it moves along will generate currents proportional to the rate of variation of this field, and the telephone will respond in the same way, and with the same degree of accuracy, as did the receiving telephone in the early Bell combination of a pair of magneto-telephones prior to the employment of a microphone.and a battery. The diagrams in Figs. 1 and 2 show the arrangement of the apparatus. C is the electromagnet on which are the bobbins of wire B and B’,, which are connected either to the transmitting or receiving instrument according as it is desired to record a message or to listen to one already recorded. Between the poles P and P’ of the electromagnet passes the steel wire F, which is wound in a helix over two drums, T and T’, to which the ends of it are attached and which are driven by an electric motor, Fic. 2. so that the wire winds off one drum on to the other. The drums rotate at such a speed as to give the wirea linear velocity between the poles of a metre per second. At the same time the magnet C is moved at right angles to the direction of motion of the wire, so that for one revolution of the drums the magnet moves a distance equal to the pitch of the helix. The message thus recorded can be effaced, according to Herr Poulsen, by the simple process of passing the steel wire between the poles of the magnet when the latter is excited by a steady current from a_ battery. This operation establishes in the wire a uniform magnetic field at right angles to its length, and this field, so far from interfering with recording a future message, appears to be necessary before any such record can be made. But if it be desired to keep the record, this may be done instead, and the wire used over and over again to repeat the same message. A thousand repetitions can be made, it is said, without any diminution in loudness or distinctness. _ If the recorded message is not sufficiently loud, it is possible with a comparatively simple arrangement to NO. 1607, VOL. 62] greatly increase its loudness. For this. purpose it is — necessary to arrange a series of parallel steel wires or — bands as shown in Fig. 3, all of which have been pre- — viously prepared for receiving a magnetic record by being passed between the poles of a magnet excited by a — steady current. The wires are moved at a uniform rate. — The first wire, 1, passes first between the poles of a electromagnet M, which is connected to the teleph line, and consequently receives a magnetic record of t transmitted message. The wire next passes between poles of a second electromagnet, A, which is connected in series with a similar magnet A’, between the poles of which the second wire, 2, passes. As the wire I passes between the poles of the magnet A currents are induced in the coils of this magnet, which, traversing also the coils of the companion magnet A’, produce a magnetic record in the wire 2. A similar action occurs as the first wire passes between the poles of the magnets B, C, ... Z, which are connected in series with the magnets B’, Cc’, z’, so that there is established in each of the wires 2, 3, 4,... #, similar magnetic records. The wires 2, 3, 4, .. . # pass finally between the poles of a number of electromagnets, ,, 2, Q, ... Q,, which are all joined in series with a telephone receiver, T. If the two magnets which are joined together in series, such as A, A’, B, B’,... are arranged in the same per- pendicular to the direction of the steel wires, and if all a j-HAB ¢ yz A} H H fx j Av ties ie ac 3 ! ! Siz, Fy B ¢ ny! 2 ¢ re ec 4 } n I - 1 EE sa ons ies Sth fap meee Scheel tS) ee ; Co ae ae wed ri: pe | ge ae | poy cet a 7 mere ee ei ote : a: | Fic. 3. — _ the wires are moved forward with the same velocity, then the magnetisations in the various wires—2, 3, 4, - --#— — at points lying in the same perpendicular will be similar; and since all these points will pass at the same instant between the poles of the magnets Q., Q,, Qy... Qn they will there superpose their effects, and the intensity of the sound in the telephone, T, will be increased in — proportion to the number of wires. It seems possible, — therefore, with this device to indefinitely increase the loudness of the received message, and with quite a simple arrangement to easily double or treble th intensity of the sound. sas. There is a second ingenious method by which it is — suggested that an increase in loudness can be obtained. — In this advantage is taken of the fact, already pointed out, that the strength of the currents induced in the — coils of the receiving electromagnet depends on the rate — of variation of the magnetic field : it is therefore possible to increase the strength of the currents induced by a field. altering from one given strength to another by diminishing the time in which such alteration occurs. — If, therefore, we have a steel band on which a magnetic ~ record has been made, we may increase the strength of the currents it will induce in the electromagnet connected to the receiving telephone—and consequently the loud- — ness of the repeated message—by simply increasing the ike AucustT 16, 1900] NATURE 373 ed at which the band passes between the poles of that tromagnet. But in order to obtain the amplification the sound in this manner, it is apparent that the band be moved more quickly when used to repeat the age than it was when used to record it, and thus increased loudness will be accompanied by an in- sed quickness, and probably at a sacrifice of clear- s due to the alteration in pitch. For if the speed of - band when used for recording be increased, the effect be merely to spread out the message along the wire, : intensity of the magnetisation set up in the wire nds only on the strength of the currents transmitted igh the telephone, and this strength is determined the loudness and quickness with which the message oken at the transmitting end ,¢ invention of Herr Poulsen may be looked upon as invention of a magnetic phonograph, and must be sgarded as an extremely ingenious and beautiful attempt ; the solution of the problem of recording telephonic nessages. It possesses many advantages over the com- nation of the telephone and the wax-cylinder phono- raph, especially in the fact that the recording is effected the immaterial agency of magnetism, and not by the ical agency of a style writing on wax, so that the : ions in the articulation due to mechanical causes should be entirely absent. The method of in- creasing the loudness by the use of a number of parallel bands i eae exceedingly simple, and offers a possible means of making a telephonic relay, and thereby in- sing the limits of distance to which sound can be mitted ; it is a method which might be imitated . wi ‘the ordinary phonograph, by causing the message _ recorded on the wax cylinder to be repeated to one or - more other cylinders, and finally making all repeat their records simultaneously ; but in this case the practical difficulties would be very much greater. That Herr _ Poulsen’s invention is still only in an experimental stage may be gathered from the fact that though the instrument itself is on view at Paris, it has been found too difficult at the Exhibition to make the necessary adjustments to _ exhibit it in operation publicly ; but we await with in- terest its further development, for the introduction of a trustworthy recording telephone would be a benefit to - public, for which it is to be hoped they will not have ig to wait. EPs eS . NOTES. THE French Minister of War has invited the Paris Academy Sciences to advise as to the precautions to be adopted in cting and planting trees in the neighbourhood of powder magazines, in order to secure the best protection from lightning. nance to the effect that the Réaumur thermometer will not be admitted to official control after January 1, 1901. This will _ Tue International Congress of Physics, held in Paris last week, appears to have been a complete success, more than a thousand members, including leading physicists of many nation- alities, having been obtained. Lord Kelvin received a grand ovation at the opening meeting, and was nominated honorary of the Congress. M. OusTaet and M. Depousarques are the two candidates » have been nominated by the Paris Academy of Sciences or the chair of zoology in the Muséum d’Histoire naturelle, dered vacant by the death of Prof. Milne-Edwards. The “Appointment rests with the Minister of Public Instruction. _ THE Athenaeum announces that Prof, Virchow has been elected an honorary member of the Mathematical and Natural NO. 1607, VOL. 62| THe Chancellor of the German Empire has issued an ordi-- lead to the exclusive use of the centigrade thermometer in — Science Section of the Vienna Akademie der Wissenschaften, while Prof. Klein, of Géttingen, has been appointed corre- sponding member of the same section. THE attention of persons interested in zoological gardens and keeping captive animals should be directed to the passing of the ** Act for the Prevention of Cruelty to Wild Animals” (63 and 64 Vict., Ch. 33), which has just become law. This Act extends the provisions of the ‘Cruelty to Animals Acts 1849 and 1854” (which related to demestic animals only) to all birds, fishes and reptiles not included in that Act. By Sect. 2 of the new Act, ‘‘ Any person shall be guilty of an offence. who, whilst an animal is in captivity or close confinement, or is maimed, pinioned, or subjected to any appliance or contrivance for the purpose of hindering or preventing its escape from such captivity or confinement, shall, by wantonly or unreasonably doing or omitting any act, cause or permit to be caused any unnecessary suffering to such animal ; or cruelly abuse, infuriate, tease, or terrify it, or permit it to be so treated.” Any person committing such an offence may be proceeded against under the Summary Jurisdiction Acts, and on conviction is liable to be imprisoned for three months or fined £5. A REUTER telegram from St, Petersburg states that the Imperial Academy of Science has just received news from the Russian expedition at Spitsbergen stating that in the month of September last the members of the expedition in question had erected, at Horn Sound, observatories for conducting meteoro- logical, magnetic, astronomical and astrophysical researches. On October 20 the sun disappeared for four months, and at the end of October absolute and continuous night set in. The members of the expedition applied themselves constantly to scientific observations after November 17. On February 22 the sun was seen again for the first time. On June 5 and 8 the first boats arrived, ending the complete isolation of the expedition, which had lasted for nine months. THE annual meeting of the French Association for the Advancement of Science was recently held at Paris. General Sebert, the president, delivered an address on the progress of mechanical industries and the means of developing them. In the course of his remarks he alluded to the value of technical education and research as factors in national advances. “It is noteworthy,” he said, “‘ that progress in mechanical industries has always coincided with the development of technical educa- tion in the countries in which the industries are carried on. The most rapid progress takes place in the countries where in- stitutions for experiment and research are most numerous. Wherever research laboratories have been established to permit the study of the best conditions of invention, there the most marked advances first take place.” The Association’s grants for scientific purposes, made at the recent meeting, amounted to 21,241 francs, or about 850/. Mr. A. R. Hunt, writing from Torquay with reference to our note (p. 322) on the rumbling sounds heard at Bognor and Torquay on July 18, says: ‘* I happened to go into my garden a few minutes after ten on the date named, and was at once conscious of a very unusual pulsating rumble. My first idea was earthquake, but the sound came steadily from one point, roughly south-east; and at last died away into distinct taps.” The observation is interesting in showing how far the individual reports can be heard (see p. 378). Mr. J. STIRLING, Government geologist of Victoria, New South Wales, is at present in London as the mining representa- tive of the Victorian Government, and during his stay here proposes to address some of the scientific, professional and mining 374 NATURE [Aucust 16, 1900 organisations of the United Kingdom on matters of origina research in Australasia. He will give an address at the Conven- tion of Mining Institutes of Cornwall during August, and subsequently at Manchester, Bristol and other centres. SOME interesting information as to the actual experience of nations who have adopted the metric system is given in a number of reports from Her Majesty’s consular and other officers in Europe, which have just been brought together and published by the Foreign Office. H.M. representatives in twenty-two States were asked to give information upon the following points. (1) The ease or difficulty with which the change of systems was made, the manner of introduction of the metric system, and the time occupied in making the change; (2) How far the metric system is satisfactory in its practical operation, and whether there is any desire to return to former systems ; (3) As to the effect the adoption of the metric system has had upon the commerce of the nations adopting it. The answers received to these questions go to show that the best way to introduce .the metric system is to make it compulsory after a specified period. The change from the old to the new system is slow in country districts, but as new generations come on familiar with the metric measures the old measures gradually drop out of use. In Turkey, the difficulties of enforcing the system upon an ignorant and illiterate people have proved insurmountable; but in the majority of States from which information has been received, the system is becoming more extensively used every day. Once the system has been adopted there is no desire to return to the old measures, and the effect upon commerce is always bene- ficial, In fact, the reports greatly strengthen the position of those who urge that the metric system should be adopted in England, if only for the sake of British trade. It was mentioned in these columns some time ago that the wire fencing of great sheep farms in some parts of Australia was used as telephone wires. A recent report from H.M. Consul at Philadephia states that this system of communication is being employed by farmers between the towns of Anderson, Pendleton and Ingalls, in Indiana. The top wire of a barb-wire fence is used as the conductor, the continuity of the line being assured by special devices at highways and railway crossings. The line is fourteen miles in length with five stations, two at Anderson, two in Pendleton, and one at Ingalls. Local farmers state that they have used the “‘ fence-line” to converse with friends eight miles distant, and this at a time when the fence posts were still saturated with the morning dew, a condition under which the line is supposed to work with least satisfaction. It is stated that the line has been such a practical success that the farmers of the neighbourhood are organising companies for the purpose of placing themselves in telephonic communication throughout the whole district. AN excellent article dealing with the photographic side of the suggestions as to analytical portraiture made by Mr. F. Galton in Nature of August 2 appears in Photography of August 9. Illustrations are given of results obtained by com- bining two portraits of a single person in the same pose, but having different expressions during the two exposures. In one picture the sitter has a normal expression; in the other he is smiling. A transparency was made from the normal negative ; and when this positive and its negative were superimposed they neutralised one another. But by placing the positive of the normal expression of face upon the negative of the smiling expression, the two do not, of course, exactly obliterate one another. Certain parts of the features are common to both, and these disappear when the different positive and negative are superimposed, leaving only portions which represent the smile of the sitter’s features. Ina similar way, by superimposing the positive of a glum portrait upon the negative of a normal NO. 1607, VOL. 62] expression, it is possible to obtain differences representing an individual’s glumness. Readers of ‘* Alice in Wonderland > will remember that the Cheshire cat gradually disappeared an: left only its grin behind. This facetious idea has now b realised, for as our enterprising contemporary points out, | Galton’s analytical portraiture shows how the factors of a grin 5 or a scowl can actually be discriminated, so that a grin can be obtained without the face upon which it appeared. A Reurer telegram from Liverpool, dated August 12, makes the following announcement :—The second malarial ex tio a of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine has just. wired | q home from Bonny, in Nigeria, news of a most important. discovery—viz. that the parasite which causes elephantiasis has, _ like that which causes malaria, been found in the proboscis | of =f the mosquito, Oddly enough, the same discovery has just been simultaneously made by Dr. Low in England in mosquitoes a brought from Australia, and by Captain James in India. Elephantiasis is a disease which causes hideous defor say . thousands, or rather millions, of natives in tropical countries, . and sometimes in European residents. Itisduetoa small worm which lives in the lymphatic vessels and .occludes them. — The fact that this worm can live also in the mosquito has long been + known, but the discovery of it in the insect’s proboscis shows: that it enters the human body by the bites of these pests. Europeans in the tropics are indebted to mosquitoes, not only for — much discomfort, but for two dread maladies—malaria and elephantiasis ; and it is high time that the authorities should begin seriously to consider Major Ross’s advice to destroy these insects or their breeding-places wherever practicable. = THE medical papers contain detailed reports of the Thirteenth International Congress of Medicine, which was held in Paris am 4 the beginning of this month under the presidency of Prof. Be M. Lannelongue, Among the representatives of Great Britain were Sir William MacCormac, Sir T. Lauder Brunton, Sir J. Sanderson, Sir Dyce Duckworth, Sir Felix Semon, a and | -rof. Simpson. A banquet in honour of Lord Lister was arranged by, Prof. Charles Richet and the ‘‘Scientia” social society. Speeches: expressing admiration of Lord Lister’s work, and describing i” the influence it has had upon various branches of medical and surgical science, were made by Prof. Richet, Dr. Bouchard, Prof. | Guyon, Dr. Lucas Championniére, and Dr. Pinard. In his _ reply, Lord Lister said he regarded the banquet as being in honour of the noble science of surgery and the Royal Society of London, of which he was the president. It showed that the scientific world knew nothing of the misunderstandings between peoples of different nationalities, and that men of science had mutual respect for one another at all times. Lord Lister added : ‘‘T have often said, and it gives me pleasure to repeat it this evening, that I owe much to Pasteur. It is true that I was passionately fond of physiology and surgery. The nature of in~ flammation was the subject of my first investigations, Asa — surgeon, I deplored the disastrous results which often followed’ the most skilful operations, and I saw, what many others had doubtless remarked before me, that the most important troubles — of a wound were due to changes in the tissues of the body after the operation, and had an external origin. But all my effortsto avoid these complications were unavailing until Pasteur threw a new and strong light upon the subject, and indicated a possible course of action which I have done my best to follow. That is all. If my efforts have been followed by such beneficial results as have been generously described by speakers this evening, the success must, in a ae measure, be ascribed to the fortunate chance of my time.’ \ Tie report of the Zoological Gardens of Ghizeh, near Cairo, for the year 1899, gives a good account of the progress of Institution, rho under the rule of its present director, Captain’ Avcust 16, 1900] NATURE 375 Flower, has become a popular place of resort for the visitors to Egypt, as well as for the Cairenes. The in 1899 were 3033/., of which 968/. were for gate- , and the expenditure was 3019/. The list of donors many well-known names, amongst which we see those ‘Sir William Garstin, Prince Omar Tousson, Sir F. Wingate % Lord Kitchener. The Government of India presented an ant. Various new buildings were erected, and others were tructed in 1899. The number of animals in the collection ober 1 of that year was 473, against 270 at the corre- Jon ing date in 1898. A list of wild birds that inhabit the * Gardens, and in many cases breed there, enumerates Meret species, amongst which is the European song-thrush us és musicies). Two proboscis monkeys (Vasa/is larvatus), ‘by the Government of the Netherlands East Indies, _oxsaaeg did not live long. We are informed that since the report was issued Captain Flower has succeeded in bringing to Gardens from the Sudan a fine young giraffe, the Ghizeh ; presented by the Sirdar. _~ WRITING from Mashonaland in May, Mr. G. A. K. Marshall raises, in the August number of the Entomologist, what appears to bea pertinent question with regard to mosquitoes and malaria. Tf it be admitted, he observes, that malaria can only be carried by» mosquitoes of the genus Anopheles, and that these insects 4 ean ‘only acquire the microbes from malarially-infected man, ‘Cah we 3 are logically bound to accept the conclusion that if or party of men, free from malarial poison, should BE heuasic from a healthy area into an unhealthy but uninhabited tegion, it would be impossible for them to contract fever, how- ever miuch’ “they might be bitten by mosquitoes. Further, it follows that all uninhabited regions, even of comparatively small ‘size (seeing that the range of individual species of Ano- pheles is apparently very limited in extent) must be entirely devoid ¢ of malaria, even though they may be full of swamps and ‘teem with mosquitoes. * Such conclusions are, however, ty to experience, and if the writer’s premises be correct, ty requires an explanation at the hands of specialists. aur tp rcic | . Ta Walcott collection of Hymenoptera, now in the Cam- bridge University Museum, has yielded to the researches of Mr. RC. L. Perkins (Zutomologists’ Monthly Magazine for pee: a species (Odynerus tomentosus) new to the British Considering that the greater part of the collection was made in the first half of the century, it is not a little remarkable that the species should have escaped notice so long. bara rig bs THE large scale on Whiteki they do things in America has ‘a proverb. An instance is afforded by Mr. J. B. - Smith’s description of one hundred new species of moths of the family Moctaidie in vol. xxii. of the Proceedings of the U.S. Museum. oe ‘To yok. xxix, No. 13 of the Proceedings of the Boston Society. of Natural History Dr. H. S. Pratt contributes an im- _ portant paper on the embryological history of the so-called 4 _ imaginal discs of the sheep-tick (A/elophagus ovinus). For the a benefit of our non-entomological readers it may be mentioned that these imaginal discs, or folds, are structures in the larva and pupa which do not participate in the general breakdown of tissue at the periodical changes, but undergo continuous ‘development into the corresponding parts of the perfect insect. Hitherto, the author says, these structures have been studied only in the larval and pupal stages; and he for the first time Epeeeeibps their origin and early stages of growth. Four out of the nine papers in Part i. of the Proceedings of the Philadelphia Academy for 1900 are devoted to the land and fresh-water molluscs of America. In the first of these Mr. NO. 1607, VOL. 62] fire of wood and oil C..T. Simpson describes a number of new or unfigured river mussels (Unionidze) ; the second, by Mr, W. H. Dall, treats of the land-shells of some of the Pacific Islands, more especially those of the Galapagos and Cocos groups ; in the third, Mr. H. A. Pilsbry discusses the anatomy of the helicoid genus Ashmun- ella, and in the fourth the molluscs of the Great Smoky Moun- tains. This last communication is perhaps the one of most general interest, since the author is of opinion that the cleft in the Appalachian chain formed by the valley of eastern Tennessee indicates the boundary between two zodgeographic provinces. The lists of terrestrial molluscs given by him as respectively characteristic of the eastern and western divisions of this portion of the chain seem to bear out his contention as to the existence of two distinct faunas. THE sixth of the series of physico-mathematical handbooks published by Messrs. Carré and Naud, of Paris, under the title of ‘* Scientia,” is a small treatise by M. Fred. Wallerent on crystalline groups and their optical properties. As an introduc- tion to modern crystallography the little volume should be of much use to those interested in other branches of science who are desirous of acquiring a general knowledge of the history and fundamental principles of the subject, and who do not possess the spare time for mastering a larger treatise. In a short note contributed to the Ass del R. Istituto d@’ Incoraggiamento (Naples), Prof. E. Semmola discusses the state of our knowledge of the variations of the electrical poten- tial of the air with the altitude. In reference to Le Cadet’s result that the potential decreases with the altitude, Prof. Semmola points out that the late Prof. L. Palmieri, in conjunc. tion with himself, had established a similar property previously, Le Cadet found that the potential decreased from 150 to 44 volts in the first kilometre of altitude, and deduced that the potential decreased much less rapidly at greater altitudes. But Semmola thinks that the high potential found at the surface of the earth was at any rate in part due to the obscurity of the superincumbent air. A SHORT note on the reflection of light in the neighbourhood of the critical angle is given by Mr. J. G. Coffin in the Zechno- logy Quarterly, the object being to examine more fully than is done in most text-books the consequences of applying Fresnel’s formule to refraction from a denser to a rarer medium. Tables are calculated by the author and Prof. Picker- ing, showing the percentages of light reflected at different in- cidences in passing from a rare to a dense medium and wice versé, and the results are exhibited graphically by curves. The paper thus contains an amplification of the superficial information contained in the majority of treatises on optics. IN the Journal of Proceedings of the Institution of Electrical Engineers, xxix. 142, 1900, Mr. Alexander Russell discusses the question how condenser and choking-coil currents vary with the shape of the wave of the applied electromotive force. Various forms of wave being considered, the author finds that the sine curve wave produces the least effective current when applied to a condenser, and the largest magnetising current when applied to a choking-coil. Similar results are established for the sym- metric wave in the case of a family of waves of equal height. The subject is sufficiently interesting to make us wish for a fuller mathematical investigation, Mr. Russell’s note being a mere statement of results. Some tests of fire retardent materials are described by Mr. Charles L. Norton in the 7echnology Quarterly, xiii. 2, for June 1900. The tests were made on October 5, 1899, and February 3, 1900, by setting up small buildings previously constructed in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and building a inside. Observations of the progress 372 NATURE [AucusT 16, 1900 of the fire and of the subsequent state of the wooden backing led to a number of interesting conclusions as to the value of the protection afforded by various retardent materials. Among these we note the comparative value of a wooden and metallic lath ; the necessity of applying fire retardent material in at least two thicknesses so as to break joints ; the immense superiority of three-ply over two-ply doors; the advantage of the Atkinson composite door as being more gas-tight than a wooden door ; the fire-resisting qualities of three-inch plank as compared with one-inch boards, or lath and plaster; the excellency of Mississippi wire glass; and the satisfactory performance of «‘ King’s Windsor ” cement and ‘‘ Adamant ” plaster. AN important development of the electron theory has been carried out by Robert Lang in his article on atomic magnetism contributed to the Annalen der Physik (No. 7). It may now be said that the phenomena of magnetism have at last been successfully reduced to those of electricity. We know from the work of Thomson and of Drude that an electric current in a wire consists of a stream of very small particles called electrons. These electrons are formed by the splitting up of the metallic atoms into a larger positive and a_ smaller negative portion. The positive electrons, under the influence of an electromotive force, travel in one direction along the wire, with a velocity of about I cm. per second. The negative electrons travel in the opposite direction with the same charge, but with a smaller velocity. The masses are in the ratio of about 9:1. Now according to Lang, the negative electrons revolve round the heavier positive electrons in a “magnetised metal, like a planet round the sun, and the electric convection currents thus produced are nothing more or less but Ampére’s ‘‘elementary molecular currents.” Lang calculates the speed of the electrons and the diameter of their orbit. The speed is that of light, and the figures obtained lead to conclusions in close agreement with known facts. AN interesting article, entitled ‘‘ Cartographie de la Caverne Mammoth,” is contributed by Dr. H. C Hovey to the Bulletin de la Société de Spéléologie, tome v. 1899. The author gives a short history of the attempts to map the celebrated Mammoth Cave, and points out that, owing to objections on the part of the proprietors, the scientific investigation of these caverns is still incomplete. The paper is accompanied by reproductions of the map by Hovey and Call, and that by C. R. Blackall for purposes of comparison. A VALUABLE addition to our knowledge of the cretaceous geology of Saxony is furnished by Dr. W. Petrascheck in a paper published in the Adbhandi. der Naturwiss. Gesellsch. Isis (Dresden, 1900). The author seeks to trace the change of facies developed at various horizons in the cretaceous rocks of this area when followed laterally. He explains, as far as possible, the modifications in the character of the fossil fauna which accom- pany the: changes in petrographical facies. The region dis- cussed comprises the neighbourhood of Dresden and the well known ‘‘ Saxon Switzerland.” THE August number of the Journal of the Chemical Society contains the Friedel Memorial Lecture, delivered before the Society by Prof. J. M. Crafts. THE second English edition of Prof. Ostwald’s ‘* Scientific Foundations of Analytical Chemistry,” translated from the second German edition by Dr. George M‘Gowan, has been published by Messrs. Macmillan and Co, Since the original work was published in 1894, the principles expounded in it have been steadily gaining acceptance, but, so far as we are aware, no English text-bcok of chemical analysis has appeared in which he analytical methods and reactions of the laboratory are con- istently explained in terms of the theory of ions instead of NO. 1607, VOL. 62] being represented by the ideal equation-formule. As Prof. Ostwald states, the general ‘standpoint of analytical chemistry has undergone but little change ; nevertheless, the newer id are gradually being applied to laboratory work by lecturers and demonstrators who are in touch with modern chemical theory. The new edition just published will be the means of : = the knowledge of the fundamental principles underlying chemical processes, and will be a source of inspiration to teachers who wish to make analytical chemistry a science as well as an art. 2 A SIMPLE method of preparing free hydroxylamine is given in a recent number of the Axnalen (311, 117) by Dr. R- Uhlenhuth. When the phosphate of the base is heated gently under reduced pressure, the base distils over in a state of such purity that the distillate solidifies on placing the receiver into — melting ice. THOUGH the need for a universal standard table of atomic weights is recognised by all chemists, the question whether it shall be constructed upon a basis of O = 16 or H=1 has yet to be decided. The Chemical News publishes a letter from Profs. Bredt, Erdmann, Fischer, Volhard, Winkler and Wislicenus, members of the International Committee on Atomic Weights, upon this point. It is remarked that if cogent reasons necessitate an alteration of the standard of atomic weights, it would be better to start from an element of which the weight can be conveniently ascertained, such an element, for example, as silver — or iodine, which also serves as a practical starting-point in con- sideration of the sharpness of its reactions in numerous analytical operations. But in the opinion of the writers such cogent reasons for an alteration do not present themselves, for the ratio of hydrogen to oxygen has been established with an exactness ee ee es which fully suffices for all practical purposes. It is felt that the time for an unchangeable table of atomic weights has not yet come ; for each succeed ing year brings corrections in the atomic weights of the rarer elements, and at the same time speculations | as to their simple or compound nature. Opinions are therefore invited upon the following questions :—(1) Shall the unity of E| hydrogen be retained as the standard for reckoning atomic — weights? (2) Shall the atomic weights be given approximately with two decimal places in which the uncertain figures can be _ recognised by the type? (3) Shail the International Atomic ~ Weight Commission have the current table of atomic weights edited on this basis? Communications should be sent to Herr Prof. J. Volhard, Miihlpforte 1, Halle-a-S. THE additions to the Zoological Society’s Gardens during the past week include a Lioness (F¢/ds /eo) from* South Africa, pre- — sented by the Right Hon. Cecil J. Rhodes; a Black-backed Jackal (Cant’s mesomelas), a Leopard Tortoise ( 7estudo pardalis), a Puff q Adder (Biétis arietans) from South Africa, presented by Mr. — J. E. Matcham; a Grey Ichneumon (Herfestes griseus) from India, presented by Mr. W. A. Gillett ; a Blue and Yellow Macaw (Ava ararauna), a Red and Yellow Macaw (Ara chloroptera) from South America, presented by CaptainG. H. Arnot ; a Chinese Quail (Coturnix chinensis) from China, two — Asiatic Quails (Perdicula aséatica) from India, two Sparrow 4 Hawks (Accipiter nisus), British, presented by Mr. D. Seth- — Smith ; a Common Quail. (Coturnix communis), British, pre-. sented by Miss F. E. Burt; a Lesser White-nosed Monkey (Cercopithecus petaurista) from West Africa, a Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus,?) from the Polar Regions, two Black-headed Caiques (Catca melanocephala) from Demerara, a Smooth- headed Capuchin (Cebus monachus) from South-east Brazil, a Pleurodele Newt (Aolge waltz), a Leopardine Snake (Co/euber leopardinus), a Vivacious Snake ( Zarbophis fallax), six European ~ Pond Tortoises (Zmys orbicularis), South European; two 3 Egyptian Mastigures (Uromastix spintpes), an Algerian Tortoise gz (Testudo ibera) from North Africa, four Alligator Terrapins a | % Aveust 16, 1900] NATURE 377 dra serpentina) from North America, a Leopard Tortoise lo pardalis) from South America, two Argentine Tor- Testudo argentina) from the Argentine Republic, de- 1 ; a Gold Pheasant ( 7haumalea picta, 8) from China, two ttle Bitterns (Ardetta minuta), European, purchased; a urrhel Wild Sheep (Ovzs durrhe/), born in the Gardens. > _ OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN eT BORRELLY-BROOKS (1900 4).—The following elements jemeris are furnished by Herr J. Moller in the As¢rono- : Nachrichten (Bd. 153, No. 3654). hae ale Elements. _ T=1900 Aug. 3°298 Berlin Mean Time. 1 =" 12. 30°2 8 =328 1°8/1900'0 4 z= 62 35°6 log g= = 0°00636 Ephemeris Jor 12h. Berlin Mean Time. ; R.A. Decl. Br. h. m. s. A ey 3 50 8 +75 55°7 0°63 4 O12 77 36°3 60 4 12 37 79 10°3 56 4 28 4 80 37°7 53 4 47 52 81 57°7 50 5 13 26 83 9°5 48 5 47 9 84 11°4 45 ie 31.8 85 o'8 42 eee 2. 20. § 85 34°6 40 5 8 28 54 +85 49°3 0°38 B EPHEMERIS FOR OBSERVATIONS OF Eros.—The following is a continuation of co-ordinates computed by Herr F. Ristenpart (Astronomische Nachrichten, Bd. 152, No. 3643). Ephemeris for 12h, Berlin Mean Time. JA VEgOOs < R.A. Decl. BE See's j pers.) (Se parniates i AD | eee 2 © 29°40 +27 56 22°5 aoe | ir 3 19'S! 28 38 11°6 mh oy OO: as GC. O77 29 20 17'4 22. “ 8 50°73 30 2 40°0 24 II 31°33 30 45 19°5 ne. 14 8:25 31 28 16°1 a San 16. 41°22... 32 IL 29°5 Yer 219 I0‘OI_ .... 32 54 59°5 _ ASTROGRAPHIC CHART CONFERENCE.—The fourth meeting of the International Committee for directing the photo- uphic delineation of the sky has recently been held in Paris, commencing July 19. The first jmatter taken in hand was the P near Monte Video (Uruguay) to carry out the zone 17° to — 23°) allotted to Santiago. It was also suggested that the new observatory at Perth, West Australia, might possibly ¢arry out the work on the remaining zone ( — 32° to — 40°). _ Another important item of the discussion was the advisability of publishing the rectangular co-ordinates of the stars as sured, with, of course, the constants of each plate, or delay- the work until these could be transferred to equatorial co- ordinate: It was considered that in the near future the absolute positions of the comparison stars would be much more -accur roa than at present. The only drawback to this ‘Scheme is that Dr. Scheiner, of Potsdam, has already started the publication of the catalogue giving R.A. and Decl. of the NO. 1607, VOL. 62] In connection with the assignation of photographic magni- tudes, it appeared to be generally believed that the estimation of diameters by means of a scale is a surer plan than measurement with a micrometer for this particular branch of work, but no definite ruling was given on this point. The original plan agreed to in 1896 for taking the chart plates with three exposures of 30m. each has not been followed at all the observatories, and it was resolved at this meeting that in future the method of taking the chart plates shall be decided by the individual directors. In the reproduction of these chart plates, it is unlikely that uniformity will be secured ; the French observatories have made enlarged copies by heliogravure, but as each observatory would have to expend some 10,000/. to do this, the actual method of reproduction is left unsettled. DETERMINATION OF SOLAR PARALLAX.—A circular has been issued by the special committee appointed by the Inter- national Astrophotographic Conference held recently at Paris .-containing the resolutions passed for systematising the work to be done at all the world’s observatories during the coming autumn and winter, when it is hoped, by means of observations of the minor planet Eros, to determine the parallax and dis- tance of the sun with a degree of accuracy previously unattain- able. The following is a summary of the suggestions adopted :— (1) That the determination of parallax of Eros be made by micrometric, heliometric and photometric measurements. (a) By observations of the planet east and west of the meridian at the same observatory. (4) By the co-operation of the observatories of Europe and North America. (c)*By the co-operation of the observatories of the northern and southern hemispheres. (2) During the period of parallax observations the diurnal movement of Eros should be determined as accurately as pos- sible by heliometer, micrometer and photography. (3) (a) Observers determining the parallax in right ascension should make measures each night and morning, profiting by all favourable circumstances to operate with as large hour angles as. possible. (4) Observers finding parallax by difference of de- clination in northern and southern hemispheres, should arrange that the mean instants of observation do not vary much from the meridian passage of the planet at the southern station. (4) It is necessary that special series of photographs be taken of the region traversed by Eros, in order to furnish accurate determinations of the positions of comparison stars. As the varying atmospheric conditions will play an exceed- ingly important part in the observations, particularly those away from the meridian, MM. André and Prosper Henry have been asked to prepare suggestions for eliminating these difficulties. At the time of writing, the following observatories have signified their intention of helping with the scheme :—Algiers, Athens, Bamberg, Bordeaux, Cambridge (England), Cambridge (U.S.),- Cape of Good Hope, Catania, Cordoba, Chicago (Yerkes), Edinburgh, Greenwich, Heidelburg, Leyden, Leipzig, Lyons, Marseilles, Minneapolis (U.S.), Mount Hamilton (Lick), Nice, Potsdam, Rome, San Fernando, Strassburg, Tacuboya, Toulouse, Upsala, Vienna (Ottahring), Vienna (Wahring), Washington. THE DISTANCE TO WHICH THE FIRING OF HEAVY GUNS IS HEARD. [N a discussion which took place in NATURE some time ago on the so-called ‘‘ Barisal Guns” and other mysterious sounds, Prof. Hughes suggested that it would be desirable to ascertain how far the firing of guns can be heard (vol. liii. p. 31). In connection with another subject, that of spurious earthquakes (see NATURE, vol. Ix. pp. 139-141), I have for some time been collecting notes on this point, and I propose here to describe some of the facts obtained, chiefly with regard to the great naval review at Spithead on June 26, 1897, and the operations of the: French fleet at Cherbourg on July 18, 1900. I will mention first a few cases referring to more or less isolated observations of the reports of distant guns. The firing during the battle of Camperdown on October 11, 1797, is said to have been heard in Hull, the distance between the two places being more than 200 miles. A gentleman, formerly resident at Kertch in the Crimea, informs me that he has heard the sound of the guns fired at Sebastopol, distant 158 miles. During the “American Civil War, the roar of the guns at the battles of Malvern Hill and Manassas (or Bull Run) was perceptible at 378 NATURE Lexington in Virginia, the distances being about 123 and 125 miles respectively (NATURE, vol. liii. p. 296). When the Alabama was sunk nine miles off Cherbourg on the morning of Sunday, June 19, 1864, the sound of the guns was heard in Jersey, at Clyst St. George, near Exeter (108 miles from Cherbourg), and at Brent Tor, near Bridgwater (about 125 miles). . The great naval review at Spithead on July 17, 1867, was held during rough, boisterous weather ; but the noise of the guns is said to have been heard at Exeter (105 miles), Morebath, near Tiverton (105 miles), Great Malvern (107 miles), and Castle Frome in Herefordshire (110 miles). In all the above cases the sound was, of course, the aggregate of that of many guns of different sizes fired simultaneously. But, in naval reviews, the charge is very much less than in actual warfare; a 6-inch gun, for instance, would fire a blank charge of 7 lbs., whereas the service charge for the same gun would be 48 lbs. fired with shot. With regard to the distance to which the report of a single gun can be heard, I have very little information. A 110-ton gun fired at Woolwich made a window shake at Chignall St. James (24 miles), and was heard at Witham (32 miles) as a rumbling sound which seemed to deafen the observer slightly (NATURE, vol. xli. p. 369). Time-guns at Bombay have been often heard at the northern Mahim, distant more than 50 miles (vol. lvi. p. 223). The reports of the heavy guns at the battle of Malvern Hill, mentioned above, could be easily distinguished at Lexington from those of the smaller weapons ; and a similar observation is recorded below. The subject is evidently one on which useful contributions to our knowledge might be made by residents near the south coast of England. ‘Naval Review at Spithead on June 26, 1897. Shortly before the great naval review held in honour of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, I wrote to the principal London news- papers and to several published in the south of England, and I have to thank the editors of these papers, and the ladies and gentlemen who replied to my inquiries, for the help they have kindly given me. The points to which I directed attention were the times at which the reports were heard, whether the air- vibrations were strong enough to make windows rattle, the direction from which the sound appeared to come, and the direction of the wind. The fleet collected on this occasion consisted of 165 vessels of war of allclasses arranged in five lines about six miles in length. The position of the flag-ship (H.M.S. Aenown) was about two miles N. 20° E. of Ryde; and the distances given below are all measured from this point. As the Royal yacht entered the lines immediately after 2 p.m., the first shot was fired from the Renown, and was taken up by other ships in turn, each firing a Royal salute of twenty-one guns. ‘‘The heaviest gun employed,” I am informed by the Secretary of the Admiralty, ‘‘was probably a 6-inch breech-loading gun, firing a blank charge of 7 lbs.” ; but others of different sizes were also used. It produced at first a dull crackling noise, according to a corre- spondent on H.M.S. Sansparet/, but, as ship after ship took up the salute, the firing grew more animated and the roll of the guns louder; until, after about five minutes, the report of the last gun died away. The atmospheric conditions were fairly favourable for the propagation of the sound. Light, but variable breezes, generally between north-east and south-east, prevailed over most of the south of England. The thunderstorms which occurred on that day followed the salute in most places, but nearly all my correspondents (several being retired military officers) agreed that the sound of the guns could be readily distinguished from that of thunder. ; In many of the records which I have received, the time is given so roughly that it is difficult to feel confident that they refer to the salute in question, and in several it is omitted alto- gether. Under the former heading come records from Honiton (90 miles from Spithead) and Shebbear, near Torrington (135 miles) ; and under the latter from near Rickmansworth (67 miles) and Great Malvern (107 miles). Excluding all such cases, the number of records is reduced to twenty, from nineteen places. At very few of these places, and at none more distant than about 28 miles, were the vibrations strong enough to shake windows. Distinct reports were heard at the beginning and end of the salute as far as Farnham (34 miles), otherwise the sound was a dull, continuous roar, with occasional booms from the heavier guns, Framfield (574 miles), to the north-east at Wimbledon (62 NO. 1607, VOL. 62] The sound was heard to the east as far as- [AucusT 16, 1900 ‘a miles), to the north at Bloxham Green, near Banbu miles), and to the west at Wellington in Somerset (93 mile: These are more or less isolated places, but there is a fairly c 1 tinuous series of observations in a north-westerly direction, ¢ tending to Melksham (61 miles), Monkton Farleigh, near Bi ford-on-Avon (67 miles), Bath (two observations, 69 miles Weston, near Bath (71 miles). ‘ In the evening the fleet was illuminated, and a final salute, similar to that at 2 p.m., was fired on the return of Prince of Wales shortly after 11 p.m. I have only two accot which may refer to this salute, one from Cosham in H at 11.30 p.m., the other from Ashburton in Dev. miles) at 11.59 p.m. The recorded times differ t give much value to these observations. tie al Naval Review at Cherbourg on July 18, 1900, About 10 p.m. a sham fight took place between two portions — of the French fleet at Cherbourg in honour of the visit of the — President, M. Loubet, to that town. The number of vessels engaged was forty-three, including ‘thirteen of the largest and most modern battle-ships in the world. During the next few days — accounts appeared in various English newspapers of a series of supposed earthquake-shocks felt shortly after 10 p.m. at different — places along the southern coast, from Torquay to Bognor. The long duration of the disturbances and their apparent transmission through the air being opposed to a seismic origin, I wrote letters to a number of London and south-country papers, and the account which follows is chiefly based on the replies which 1 received to these letters. * a 4 As some doubt has been expressed with regard to the con-— nection between the two phenomena, it may be well to mentio nt the evidence in its favour. (1) With two exéeptions, not one of the places (forty in number) from which récords have come” is more than a mile or two from the coast. There are several — from the south of the Isle of Wight, but none from that part of Hampshire shielded from Cherbourg by the’ higher ground - of the island. (2) Though a few persons in the open air assert that a tremor was felt, the great majority state that the sound © travelled through the air and not through the ground ; windows — rattled loudly without there being any movement of the floor, © and at Lancing (100 miles from Cherbourg) and Seaton in Devon (97 miles) observers placing their hands on the wall felt it dis- _ tinctly vibrating ; the noise caused a drumming in the ears at several places more than a hundred miles from Cherbourg. (3) The sounds were recognised as those of heavy guns by many ~ persons, and with less hesitation the smaller the distance from Cherbourg. (4) The night was very still, hardly a breath of wind could be felt, and the sea perfectly calm; and the sound was heard to the east and west along the English coast at almost ~ equal distances from Cherbourg. (5) Lastly, heavy guns are rarely, if ever, fired from English ships or forts at so late an hour ; whereas more than 24,000 charges are said to have heen fired in Cherbourg harbour during almost the same interval in which the sounds were heard in England. See Though the times of occurrence are roughly given, for the most part in placing the commencement of the distur ances just after 10 p.m., and the end shortly before 10.30. Clearer evidence as to the identity of the sounds throughout the whole area affected is provided by the similarity in their relative duration and intensity. The first began about 10.2 or 10 and lasted nearly four minutes. Then came a pause of minutes, when there was another burst of about the same intensity and nearly the same duration. About ten minutes later the third followed, slighter in intensity and of shorter duration, perceived almost as far as the others (at Torquay anc Brighton, ror and 104 miles respectively), though not by observers. Pahiheet $30 I have no information as to the size of the guns used on occasion, but they were probably much heavier than those ployed for the salutes at Spithead in 1897. To the west, sound was heard at Budleigh Salterton, Sidmouth and Torq) (101 miles from Cherbourg), Paignton (102 miles), and Daw and Exmouth (104 miles); to the east at Lancing (100 m Brighton (104 miles), and near Henfield (107 miles, and miles from the sea). At all of these places, and at | between, the air-vibrations were strong enough to ma windows shake and rattle, and there are accounts of this or similar effect being observed at a greater distance than sound—at Plymouth (123 miles), and Menheniot, near Lisk (136 miles, and five miles from the sea). At the latter pl Aveust 16, 1900] NATURE 379 den rattling of a large window was distinctly heard at p.m., but it was unaccompanied by any sound. from the intensity of the disturbances at Torquay and I see no reason to doubt the connection of the vation with the firing at Cherbourg. ir teresting to notice how the character of the sound ith the increasing distance from Cherbourg. At St. ; Point (65 miles) and Bonchurch (68 miles), both in ‘Wight, the sound was described as exactly like that avy guns. At Bournemouth and Muddiford in Hampshire " th re was a continual rumbling noise, with occasional ms. At greater distances, as far as Lancing, Tor- P nton, the prominent reports ceased to be audible, ms 2 ‘merely a deep monotonous throbbing noise, the IS I ptrane sith great rapidity and regularity, resem- quick ting of a big drum far away, or the beats 2s of a distant and unseen steamer. At very great Alice, miles) referring to a most curious throbbing e air, and a dull sound like that of a distant train ; he at hton (104 miles) remarks that he heard or l. The rattling of the window and the in- vibrations at Menheniot may perhaps be this ey. CHARLES DAVISON. “FOR CONSIDERATION BY mber (July) of the eat of the Institution r ineers contains a list of subjects suggested 1 as suitable for papers to be read at the meetings . The list is here reprinted, and it of directing attention to many important n, as well as eliciting information upon ‘various branches of electrical engineering, generating steam and steam power for renal di 10Nns. z of fuel in power stations. sion. and applicability of gas or oil engines stations. ‘plants for the utilisation of river- or tidal- neration of electrical energy. prospects of the application of wdered fuel in electrical power stations. x) blast-furnace gases or other waste products es in the generation of electricity. dust-destructors to the generation of power station chimney shafts ; specialities n and equipment. vibrations from electric light and power a and Bee stating running at high speed. vse ‘sp oa el cost of dynamo, a and multiple central stations. .) supply of electricity to towns and factories Dae sec large generating units are em- ion of electrical energy from a distant generating gh districts served from a different source of or under a separate local authority. Sesion by constant current, direct or of relative advantages and disadvantages of ren! | alternate-current transmission. ive advantages and disadvantages of ane 1 tvee-phas transmission. ng Same: of alternating current motors, Pournesasiae in connection with for the conversion of direct current into alternate thod 4% providing for electrical supply during hours of mall demand. ; 1 sat on of lighting plant for other work during the hours of small demand. ' NO. 1607, VOL. 62] a) 26. The electrical equipment of large blocks of offices in a city. oa sorte of design in the manufacture of small electric ttings. SPonable electric lamps of the ‘‘ safety” type, or otherwise. - Enclosed arc lamps. . Improvements in incandescence electric lamps. pips iiosrens electric lamps with filaments other than pure car : Applicatiod of electrical transmission in factories :— (a) Detailed description, giving sizes of motors and power provided. (4) Comparison of separate or combined direct- and alternate-current methods. (c) Combination of lighting and power for purposes such . Electricity meters. . Description of electrical methods, or comparison of these with other methods, of propelling vehicles. . The supply of electrical energy for tramway purposes. . The use of electrical methods of traction on railways served by steam-driven locomotives. . The economy and design of electrical elevators. . The design and economy of electrically driven pumps. . The utilisation of electrical energy in mining. . The applications of electrical energy in warfare. - The use of electricity in the textile and other industries. . The application of electricity i in musical instruments. . Electro-therapeutics. The establishment of public time- -services by electricity. Recent advances in telegraphy. Applications of alternating currents in telegraphy. . The transmitting capacity and load factor of telegraph circuits. . Hertzian telegraphy. . Method s, in aerial telegraphy, of restricting signals to selected stations. . Recent improvements in telephony. i . Descriptions of systems tending to simplify the interchange - of telephonic communications. ‘ The talking capacity and load factor of telephone circuits. . The application of electricity to the generation of heat for domestic purposes (cooking, ventilation, heating, &c.). . The construction and use of electric furnaces. . The application of electricity to the welding or eRe of metals. . The application of electrical heating methods in chemical or metallurgical operations. . The applications of electricity in metallurgical processes. . The applications of electrolysis in the smelting or one of metals, or in the chemical industries. . The electrical equipment of chemical factories. . Improvements in primary batteries. . Examination of the present position of secondary batteries in electrical engineering. . The direct generation of electrical energy from fuel. . The economic employment of thermo-generators. . Improvements in the apparatus for producing, and in the applications of, kathode and Rontgen rays. The relative suitability and _ efficiency OF the different materials available for any of the requirements of electrical engineerin g- . The electric strength of di-electrics. . Recent advance in the manufacture or use of insulating materials. . New insulating materials. . Electrical applications of aluminium, sodium, &c. . The electrical uses of the rarer metals. The treatment, testing, specifications, or uses of iron or steel, or of iron alloys, for magnetic purposes. _ The manufacture of permanent magnets. The relation of chemical composition and physical condition to the electrical or magnetic properties of substances, considered in its bearing upon electrical engineering practice. High- resistance metals for instruments or resistance coils. 4. New resistance alloys. &. The protection of laboratories and observatories against magnetic disturbances due to local causes. Recent legislation in its relation to electrical undertakings. . The relations between electric lighting or power corporations and municipal authorities. 380 NATURE [AucusT 16, 1900 PRIZE SUBJECTS OF THE PARIS SOCIETE D’ENCOURAGEMENT. ‘THE June number of the Bulletin de la Société a’ Encourage- ment pour t’lndustrie Nationale contains the programme of prizes and medals proposed by the Society for 1901 and following years. The questions proposed for solution cover a large field ; omitting many which have only a local interest, the chief problems suggested as prize subjects for I901 are as follows. In Mechanics, prizes of 2000 franes for a motor weigh- ing less than 50 kilograms per horse-power developed ; for an important advance in mechanical methods of transmitting energy ; and for automobiles suitable for use in towns and in the country respectively, the conditions laid down for the motor car suitable for towns requiring the absence of fumes or smell, and in the case of the one for use in the country, only such fuel to be used as can ordinarily be obtained in country towns. In Chemistry, a prize of 1000 francs for the utilisation of any waste product; of 2000 francs for a publication useful to chemical or metallurgical industry ; two prizes of 500 francs each for scientific researches in chemistry, of which the results can be utilised in industrial work ; a prize of 2000 francs for an improvement in the manu- facture of chlorine ; one of 1000 francs for the discovery of a new alloy useful in the arts; and of 2000 francs for a study of the expansion, elasticity, and tenacity of pottery clays and glazes, for a scientific study of the physical and mechanical properties of glass, for a new method of manufacturing fuming sulphuric acid and sulphur trioxide, and for the manufacture of a steel by the introduction of a foreign element possessing specially useful properties. In the Economical Arts, 2000 francs for an invention of new methods allowing of the utilisa- tion for lighting and heating, either for domestic or industrial purposes, of petroleum, density not less than 0800 ; 2000 francs for a continuous extractor ; 3000 francs for a method of puri- fying water for domestic use ; and 2000 francs for a 2-candle power incandescent electric lamp fulfilling certain special conditions. Other prizes offered include one of 2000 francs for the best study of the diseases of cider and the means of preventing or arresting their development ; of 3000 francs for the invention of a method allowing of the production of an indefinite number of. positives in colours either by a direct mcthod or with a Lippmann negative ; of 2000 francs for a memoir on the silk industry in the Lyons region ; of 1500 francs for a memoir on the cycle industry; and of 3000 francs for a study of commercial syndicates. According to the general conditions for these prizes, all memoirs must be sent in before December 31, they must be written in the French language, and are open to persons of all nationalities. UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL INTELLIGENCE. TEACHERS in Schools of Science and Technical Schools will find a Diary and Calendar just issued by Messrs. Philip Harris and Co., scientific instrument makers, Birming- ham, a convenient little pocket-book. ‘lhe diary is for the year commencing on September 1, and ending August 31, 1901. The dates are given of examinations in science and technology, and memoranda referring to the days on which official papers must be sent in are brought together in a calendar. The book is thus a real vade mecum for science teachers. THE following Saturday morning courses for teachers have been arranged by the London Technical Education Board. A course of about ten lectures on the teaching of mathematics will be given by Prof. Hudson at King’s College The object of these lectures is to help those who are practically engaged in teaching, and wish to become acquainted with modern methods and improvements in order to render their teaching more effective. A course on physics will be given under the direction of Prof. W. Grylls Adams and Mr. S. A. F. White. The course will consist of practical work in the Wheatstone Laboratory, the object of the instruction being to enable students to obtain an intimate knowledge of the methods employed in physical measurements and familiarity with the use of apparatus. A course of twenty lectures on physiology will be delivered by Prof. Halliburton. The object.of the NO. 1607, VOL. 62] course is to acquaint teachers with the modern methods o teaching physiology by objective methods. A course of t lectures on the teaching of physical geography, each lectun followed by a class for practical work, will be given by Miss Catherine A. Raisin, D.Sc., at Bedford College. _ THE London Technical Education Board makes provision for advanced students as well as for those of elementary grades During the coming session evening science courses will be held in connection with the Board at University College, King’s — College, and Bedford College. At University College, Prof. J. A. Fleming, F.R.S., will give a course of ten lectures, followed by laboratory practice, in advanced, electrical measurements. A course of lectures on the electric motorand — its application in electric traction will be given by Prof, C. A. Carus-Wilson, each lecture to be followed by an experimental demonstration or by a class for the practical working of numerical __ examples in connection with the subject. A course willbegiven — by Prof. E. Wilson, at King’s College, on direct and alternating currents. In mechanical engineering, Prof. T. Hudson Beare — will give a course of ten lectures, at University College, on the _ theory of steam engines and boilers, with laboratory work on the testing of steam engines and boilers. Prof. Beare will also give a course of five lectures on the theory of gas — and oil engines, combined with laboratory work. A course 2 of five lectures on water-tube boilers will be given by Mr. — Leslie Robertson. A course will be delivered by Prof. D,S. Capper and Mr. H. M. Waynworth in the mechanical engineering laboratories of King’s College.. The course will consist of about twenty demonstrations upon steam and gas engines and general laboratory work. The latter portion of | each evening will be devoted to experimental and practical work in the engineering laboratory in illustration of the lectures. A course on civil engineering will be delivered by Prof. Robinson. The methods of producing artificial cold will be the subject of a course of lectures to be delivered at University College by Dr. W. Hampton. At the same college, Mr. E. C. C. Baly will deliver eight lectures dealing with the methods of spectro- scopy, especially in connection with the photography of the spectrum. HER Majesty’s Commissioners for the Exhibition of 1851 have — made the following appointments to Science Research Scholar- | ships for the year 1900, on the recommendation of the authorities — of the respective universities and colleges. The scholarships — are of the value of 150/. a year, and are ordinarily tenable tbr two years (subject to a satisfactory report at the end of the first year) in any university at home or abroad, or in some other — institution approved of by the Commissioners. The scholars are — to devote themselves exclusively to study and research in some branch of science, the extension of which is important to the — industries of thecountry. A limited number of the scholarships _ are renewed for a third year where it appears that the renewal is likely to result in work of scientific importance. The new scholars and their nominating institutions are as follows :— ‘i C. E Fawsitt, B.Sc. (University of Edinburgh), V. J. Blyth, M.A. (University of Glasgow), J. Moir, M.A., B.Sc. (Univer- — sity of Aberdeen), W. M. Varley, B.Sc. (Yorkshire College, Leeds), J. C. W. Humfrey, B.Sc. (University pa 2 Liver- — pool), S. Smiles, B.Sc. (University College, London), N. Smith, — B.Sc. (Owens College, Manchester), L. L. Lloyd (University — College, Nottingham), Alice Laura Embleton, B.Sc. (University — College of South Wales and Monmouthshire, ry A.g Cunningham, B.A. (Royal College of Science, Dublin), W. S. Mills, B. A. (Queen’s College, Galway), J. Patterson, B.A.(Univer- _ sity of Toronto), W. C. Baker, M.A. (Queen’s University, King- — ston, Ontario), J. Barnes, M.A. (Dalhousie University, Halifax, tbo work done during the first year. the places where they are studying are as follows :—J. C. Irvine B.Sc. (University of Leipzig), H. L. Heathcote, B.Sc. (Univer-- sity of Leipzig), Winifred Esther Walker, B.Sc. (University College, London), F. W. Skirrow, B.Sc. (University of Leipzi C. G. Barkla, B.Sc. (Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge Harriette Chick, B.Sc. (Thompson-Yates Laboratories, Univer fe sity College, Liverpool), F. A. Lidbury, B.Sc. (University « Leipzig), W. Campbell, B.Sc. (Royal College of Science, Sou Kensington), L. Lownds, B.Sc. (University of Berlin), J. Jenkins, B.Sc. (University of Kiel and Biological Instituti Aucust 16, 1900] | NATURE 381 ‘Heli d), R. D. Abell, B.Sc. (University of Leipzig), . Caldwell, B.A. (University of Wiirzburg), W. B. McLean, Sc. (Owens College, Manchester), B. D. Steele, B.Sc. (University of Breslau), E. J. Butler, M.B. (University of Freib rg), J. W. Mellor, B.Sc. (Owens College, Manchester), . N. G. Filon, M.A. (King’s College, Cambridge). Four ips granted in 1898 have been exceptionally renewed re r. These scholars and their places of study are :— ir. A. H. Reginald Buller, B.Sc. (University of Munich), H. T. ert, B.Sc. (University of Leipzig), R. L. Wills, B.A. endish Laboratory, Cambridge), E. H. Archibald, M.Sc. d University). SCIENTIFIC SERIALS. merican Journal of Mathematics, vol. xxii. No. 3.— continuous binary A linearoid groups, and the corresponding erential equations and A functions, by E. J. Wilczynski. In previous paper (vol. xxi. 2) thé writer has shown that, cor- sponding to every group of the form m Mi = 2 Pix (X53 a, ~~~ Ay) Yu (1), Be k=l the 7 parameters a; are essential, there exists a of differential equations of order 7, whose general solu- are by (1), if 7), . . » ¥» form a fundamental system. : ix were supposed to be uniform functions of «x, it was found that, if the parameters a; were properly chosen, @ix were uniform functions of the parameters also. In the nett opal he discusses these groups, the corresponding _ differenti a= ions, and their solutions for the case when Dr. Lovett, in his note on a property of lines in #- dimer al space, working on the lines of Cesaro’s ‘* Lezioni di — Geometria In oe highest dissents of multiple curvature cuts _ its osculating space of highest dimensions, or lies wholly on one side of that space, according as the number of dimensions of _ the space necessary to the existence of the curve is odd or even. _ —Concerning the = sub-groups of the simple group G of all linear fractional substi tutions of determinant unity in two non- ogeneous variables with coefficients in an arbitrary Galois by Dr. L. E. Dickson (read before the Chicago section of at! ical Society, December 1899), leads to a generali- of Groups defined by Congruences,” Proc. of London oc. vol. xxvi.). Variations from Burnside’s method of ent are introduced, partly to avoid the separate treatment of the cases d=1 and d= 3, and to take in the exceptional cases =2 and #=3, and to reduce the calculations ; and further, on e ot Neat: to amplify some ofthe proofs. A few errors are Iso pointed out and amended.—On some invariant scrolls in allineations which leave a group of five points invariant, by V. he quadric surfaces which are left invariant by cyclical eal have been exhaustively treated. There is another f series of scrolls, viz. those contained in a linear con- -gru _which have not been considered, except one form Piccet by Ameseder. The writer confines his attention to such surfaces. There are six collineations which are of essen- tially different type, which project a set of five points into _ themselves without leaving every point invariant. In the nota- _ tion of substitution-groups these may be thus represented : TySS(ALAgAa)(AQ)( Ap), “ TyStAAANANAD, Tee AAAs Ty=(AyAgA;A,)(A5) and T;=(A,A,A,A,A,). On the reduction of hyperelliptic integrals (¢=3) to elliptic rrals by transformations of the cae le third degrees, by ie. The point of the paper is an application of cubic to the problem of the reduction to elliptic integrals, iptic integrals of genus =3 and of the first kind, by I transformation of the third degree. It is a continua- Prof. Bolza’s researches on the cubic transformation (‘* Die bische Involution und Dreitheilung, &c. ,” and ‘‘ Zur Reduction lyperelliptischer Integrals, &c.,” Math. Ann., Bd. 50, pp. 68 _ and 314).—The closing paper, by Dr. E, H. Moore, was read pefore the American Mathematical Society at the Buffalo meeting of the summer of 1896, and is entitled ‘‘ The Cross-ratio Group NO. 1607, VOL. 62] * i A, ¥ GF[#"] of results due to Prof. W. Burnside (** On ' writer gives numerous references to memoirs in of 2! Cremona Transformations of Order 2 — 3 in Flat Space of n — 3 Dimensions.” Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society, July.— Some remarks on tetrahedral geometry, by Dr. Timerding, is a paper read at the June meeting. Several properties of a tetra- hedral complex are given, viz. the pole curves of such a complex of lines form again another such complex among the cubic space curves circumscribed about the fundamental tetrahedron, the complex curves of such a complex of lines form another tetrahe- dral complex, &c.—Prof. H. B. Newson’s paper on singular transformations in real projective groups was read at the April meeting. It treats of transformations in real projective groups which can not be generated from the real infinitesimal transforma- tions of certain continuous groups. The discussion, which is limited to one and two dimensions, can be readily extended to three and higher dimensions.—Miss Schottenfels, in a paper read at the June meeting, writes on groups of order 8!/2, and gives a simple proof of a correspondence established by Dr. Dickson (Proc. of London Math. Soc., vol xxx.).—Prof. F. S. Woods continues his notes on Lobachevsky’s geometry.— Prof. Pierpont reviews H. Burkhardt’s ‘‘ Functionen-theoretische Vorlesungen ” (vol. ii. ‘‘ Elliptische Functionen ”).—A ‘* correc- tion,” notes, new publications, list of papers read before the Society, with references to the places of their publication, and a full index, complete the sixth volume of the second series. Annalen der Physik, No. 7.—Dispersion of electricity in air, by J. Elster and H. Geitel. Since-the sun’s rays contain ultra- violet light before they impinge upon the atmosphere, this light must ionise the upper strata, and the ions produced will be gradually distributed through the whole of the atmosphere by diffusion and convection. Hence the atmosphere will contain stray ions of both signs, but chiefly negative ones in the lower strata, owing to their superior mobility. The presence of these ions can be made evident by an electroscope.—Influence of slight impurities upon the spectrum of a gas, by P. Lewis. Very small quantities of hydrogen and nitrogen considerably affect the. spectra of helium and argon, but the reverse is not the case.—. Fluorescence and phosphorescence in the electric discharge. through nitrogen, by P. Lewis. When nitrogen prepared from ammonium nitrate and sulphate, and purified over hot copper is pumped through an H-shaped vacuum tube, the whole wall of the tube shows a brilliant fluorescence lasting: a few -seconds, which extends for a length of about a yard into the supply and exhaust tubes. - The light can be made permanent by keep- ing the pump at work and thus supplying a continuous stream of fresh nitrogen. Spectroscopic examination shows that the fluorescence is dependent upon the presence of a number of bands in the extreme ultra-violet, due to a combination of nitro- gen with a trace of oxygen.—Production of very high notes by Galton’s whistle, by M. T. Edelmann. The author gives tables for the pitches of pipes of various dimensions, and instructions. how to test the pipes by Kundt’s dust figures. He has succeeded in constructing a pipe of only 2 mm. diameter, which gives the. enormously high pitch of 170,000 complete vibrations per second, or over two octaves beyond the extreme limit of audibility.—The magnetic force of the atoms, by R. Lang. Magnetism is accounted for by the. revolutions of negative about positive electrons.—The air thermometer at high temperatures, by L. Holborn and A. Day. The authors further investigate the pro- perties of the air thermometer consisting of a platinum-rhodium vessel filled with nitrogen, and compare its indications with that of a platinium-iridium thermo-couple, paying particular attention to their regular expansion of the vessel. The corrected value for the melting point of gold is 1064°0° C.—Difference of tempera- ture between the surface and the interior of a radiating body, by F. Kurlbaum. A method is given of determining this difference of temperature by means of two bolometers exposed symmetrically to different surfaces of the same black partition. SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. LONDON. Royal Society, June 14.—‘‘ Data for the Problem. of Evolution in Man. V. On the Correlation between Duration of Life and the Number of Offspring.” By Miss M. Beeton, G. U. Yule, and Karl Pearson, F.R.S,, University College, London. 382 NATURE [AuGUST 16, 1900 According to the Darwinian theory of evolution the members of a community less fitted to their environment are removed by death. But this process of natural selection could not perma- nently modify a race if the members thus removed were able before death to propagate their spécies in average numbers. It then becomes an important question to ascertain how far duration of life is related to fertility. In the case of many insects death can interfere only with their single chance of off- spring ; they live or not for their one breeding season only, A similar statement holds good with regard to annual and biennial plants. In such cases there might still be a correlation between duration of life and fertility, but it would be of the indirect character, which we actually find in a case ot men and women living beyond sixty years of age—a long life means better physique, and better physique increased fertility. On the other hand, there is a direct correlation of fertility and duration of life in the case of those animals which generally survive a number of breeding seasons, and it is this correlation which we had at first in view when investigating the influence of duration of life on fertility in man. The discovery of the indirect factor in the correlation referred to above was therefore a point of much interest. For it seems to show that the physique fittest to survive is really the physique which is in itself (and inde- pendently of the duration of life) most fecund. The data dealt with in this paper consists of four series, the first three collected and reduced by Miss M. Beeton, and the fourth series by Mr. G, U. Yule. Mothers. Length of Life and Size of Family. . Serzes 7. —Taken from the ‘‘ Whitney Family of Connecticut,” a well-known history of an American Quaker family. Series I7,—Taken from purely English Quaker records. The data for this series were drawn from a great variety of histories and records of the Society of Friends. Fathers. Length of Life and Size of Family. Series IJ7.—The great bulk of the data was extracted from the American Whitney Family. Series V.—Extracted from Burke’s ‘* Landed Gentry.” The following are some of the chief results obtained from the reduction of these series :— Table of General Results. Leda . Mean age at | Mean size of pateann A Series. Parent. SP amily. a ot life. I. Mother 53°292 5269 0°4943 II. Mother 61183 5811 0°2340 ies 8 YR Father 58086 5469 0°4764 IV. Father 63°577 5°336 0'2010 - Itis shown that the peculiar physique in both men and women which leads to longevity is also associated with greater fecundity. Of two women who both live beyond fifty years, the longer lived is likely to have had before fifty the larger family. The association is, however, much greater for American than English parents, although the American parents dealt with are, in the great majority of cases, of Anglo-Saxon race. Climate, mode of life, in general selection and environment, seem to be dif- ferentiating in this respect the English and the Anglo-American. The English Friends, we should suppose, would be as a class very comparable with the American Friends; yet their average life is longer, their fertility greater, and there is less association be- tween longevity and fecundity. In both cases our algebraical formulz show that American men and women are more alike, and English men and women are more alike than the women to the women or the men to the men of the two races. This is the more remarkable, as the English Friends as a class are by no means identical with the Landed Gentry. ; « In order to represent the continuous change in the regression, which cannot be done by two straight lines, which only enable NO. 1607, VOL. 62] | expression such parabolas are for these statistics For American mothers and fathers we see dy/dx consisten positive throughout life, and we have a most excellent grap demonstration of the physical characters which tend to lon: being also associated with fecundity. i Weismann has suggested that it may be an advantage species that its duration of life should be shortened. This is ne a priort, confirmed by the case of a man in the Am 4 series: the longer the parents live, the greater the number of — their offspring. But if we can lay any stress on a bend-in for — the English mothers, and on a similar, but less marked, ten- _ dency for the English fathers, we might argue that reproducti selection was possibly in England working against extremi longevity, although favouring parents living till sixty-five or — seventy. Indeed, those whoerush rapidly to brilliant, but not 54 : F : N |__| Mothers! SO N : ae is n : ies g 5 + & 350 aa ze 5 ‘ : 1S : ‘ f 60 & SS g Ss § $2 IFO 8 o 5 8 8 “& 80 5 Fe) VT foes er een eee Size of Family.) ewok a | {EF RP RIK fd y ? ‘ over-stable, conclusions might ‘emphasise Weismann’s views by — showing how in an old community, with much greater pressure on the material resources, there is a tendency to r the:¢ fertility of the long-lived parents; while ina new community, — with plenty of food and occupation for all, the longest-lived — parents are the mostfertile ! However, all that we safely — say is that there is a marked difference between English and ~ American parents, and that this distinguishing characteristic is ~ almost equally visible if we take opposite sexes of such diverse — classes as English Friends and English country gentlemen. We — would leave to further investigations its true interpretation. Admitting a substantial correlation between length of life and’ i fertility, it is of great interest to investigate what effect, other things being equal, reproductive selection would have in modif the duration of life. f ee Avcust 16, 1900] NATURE 383 4q The following table gives the mean length of life of parents iken singly and of parents weighted with their offspring :— Mean Duration of Life of Parents in Years. ighted Weighted . A eaten partite: Progression. —— -§3°292 59°920 6°628 Paes S03 63°839 2°656 58086 63 ‘082 4 996 63°577 65°510 1°930 _ Now these are substantial differences even in the case of the ngli: parents, but they are very large differences in the case American nts. If we suppose no assortative mating basis of characters tending towards longevity, then it is ‘measure by a rough .approximation the effect of repro- ion in modifying the duration of life. ncreased duration of life would be about two years per n from the American data, and about 9 to 9°5 months eneration from the English data. he result for the American series shows us how an especially ect of life, due possibly in this case to some family te rapidly raised by reproductive selection, if there be no opposing factor of evolution. The English results on the other hand show us a small, but sensible, tendency in re- roductive selection to prolong the duration of life. Allowing r seoereaees (os. century, we might expect the duration of to be raised about two years in a century by this factor of evolu _ A-some pread view of evolution stops at the survival of the fitter without discussing the mode whereby the less fit le ve no, or fewer, offspring than the fit. Of course, if the un- fit are exterminated before adult life, there is no chance of their reproducing themselves. It has been shown in ‘ Data for the yblem of Evolution in Man (II.)” that a selective death-rate its for adults, so that the whole work of selection does not take ce before the reproductive stage is reached. But Miss Beeton’s for the correlation of duration of life in the case of brethren z as minors seem to show that the selective death-rate for chil- 1 is rather less, not greater, than its value for adults. [lence, for the reduction or extermination of stock unsuited to its en- vironment, we should have to look largely to selection in the adult re. In the present paper we have made what we believe to the first quantitative determination of how a selective mor- far it ‘this ee. ry We thus reach the important result build up a constitution fittest to survive o thi is cause. mce how reproductive selection can replace a remarkably short- wed stock by a longer-lived stock, for the bulk of the offspring c = from the longer-lived members. -PaRIs. _ Academy of Sciences, July 30.—M. Maurice Lévy in e chair.—On the observatory at Mount Etna, by M. J. _ Janssen. Remarks on local difficulties due to climatic disturb- ances and to the peculiar situation of the observatory.—New yi | 1 The point is still under investigation. - NO. 1607, VOL. 62] processes of vaccination against symptomatic carbuncle of the ox by means of preventive serum in association with vaccines, by M., S. Arloing. A continuation of former experiments on the subject.—On the age of the sea-shore sands of Dunkirk, by M. J. Gosselet. The formation of these deposits is considered to have commenced since the fourth or fifth centuries. —M. Duhem was elected a corresponding member for the section of mechanics. —Observations of Borrelly’s comet (July 23, 1900) at the Paris Observatory, by M. G. Bigourdan.—Provisional elements and ephemerides of the Borrelly-Brooks’ comet (July 23, 1900), calculated by M. G. Fayet.—On the spectral images of the chromosphere and protuberances obtained with the prism- atic chamber, by M. Georges Meslin. A description of the results obtained with the apparatus previously described. —On two surfaces related to every Weingarten’s surface, by M. A. Demoulin.—On artificial radio-active barium, by M. A. Debierne. Many substances become radio-active when brought into intimate contact, by solution or simultaneous precipitation, with radio-active compounds. Artificial radio-active barium chlor- ide, intermediate in character between barium and radium, has thus been obtained.—On the thermo-electricity of steels, by M. G. Belloc. . A comparative study of the thermo-electric properties of soft iron, soft steel, and hard steel.—On a means of weaken- ing the influence of industrial electric currents on the terrestrial field in magnetic observatories, by M. Th. Moureaux. An account of the methods whereby the disturbances caused by electric tramways in the neighbourhood of observatories may be removed or corrected for.—On the electrolysis of concen- trated solutions of hypochlorites, by M. André Brochet. The electrolysis of hypochlorite resembles, in its later stages, that of alkaline chloride solutions, and tends towards the same limits. There is, therefore, little hope of obtaining concentrated solutions of hypochlorites by the direct electrolysis of chlorides. —On gadolinium, by M. Eug. Demarcay. A study of the spectrum of gadolinium —On diphenylcarbazide as a sensitive reagent for some metallic compounds, by M. P. Cazeneuve. The conversion of diphenylcarbazide into diphenylcarbazone by the action of salts of copper and mercury and the persalts of iron, as recently described, furnishes a delicate test for these metals.. The. latter unite with the carbazone to form coloured compounds.—Preliminary study of the chemism of the en cephalon, by M. N. Alberto Barbieri, Experiments on the chemical changes occurring in the brain of animals when left for twelve to eighteen hours at a temperature of 45°. —On the dissolution of the nitrogenous constituents of malt, by MM. P. Petit and G. Labourasse. Experi- ments relating to the existence of a proteolytic enzyme in malt.—Action of the liquid from the external prostate of the hedgehog on the liquid of the seminal vesicles; nature of this action, by MM. L. Camus and E. Gley.—On some properties and reactions of the liquid from the internal prostate of the hedgehog, by MM. L. Camus and E. Gley. This and the previous paper form a continuation of the authors’ researches on the coagulation of the secretion of the seminal vesicles by that of the external prostate, or Cooper’s gland. and:the coagulation of the latter secretion by that of the internal prostate. —On some Alpheidz of the American coasts, by M. H. Coutiére. An account of some specimens in the collection at the United States National Museum, Washington. August 6.—M. Maurice Lévy in the chair.—The menstrual function and rutinanimals. Function of arsenic in the economy, by M. Armand Gautier. The author has found that the quan- tities of arsenic and iodine, which in normal blood are hardly estimable, are largely increased during menstruation, the total amount of arsenic eliminated during one period of menstruation representing the whole amount usually present in the thyroid gland. The arsenic and iodine which accumulate in the thyroid gland are eliminated in the male by the hair and nails, and by epithelial desquamation. In the female, this excess is either eliminated by the genital organs or utilised by the growing foetus. —Observations of the star Capella, considered as a double star, made at the Greenwich Observatory, by Mr. W. H. M. Christie. The independent discovery by Cam bell and Newall, by spectroscopic observations, that Capella is a double star, has been confirmed by direct observation with the large Greenwich equatorial.. The star appears distinctly elongated in one direction, the distance of the two components being estimated at o'1 second. Observations of the direction of this elongation, taken between April 4 and July-20, confirm 384 NATURE [AuGuST 16, 1900 period of revolution deduced spectroscopically by Newall.— The comet (1900 4) discovered July 23 at the Observatory of Marseilles, by M. Borrelly. The comet. is visible to the naked eye as a star of 6th to 7th .magnitude,— Observations of the comet 1900 4 (Borrelly-Brooks) made at the Observatory of Besancon, by MM. A. Sallet and P. Chofardet.—Observations of the Borrelly-Brooks comet, made at the Toulouse Observatory with the 25 cm. equatorial, by M. F. Rossard.—On circuits formed uniquely by electrolytes, by MM. Camichel and Swyngedauw. From the experiments described with circuits consisting wholly of liquid electrolytes, the authors conclude that an electrolyte may be traversed by a current without decomposition.—On the coupling up of alternators from the point of view. of the har- monics, and of the effect of synchronised motors, by M. A. Perot. —On the boiling points of zinc and cadmium, by M. Daniel Berthelot. The metals were boiled in an electric furnace speci- ally constructed to avoid the errors due to superheating and radiation from the walls, the temperature being measured by the interference refractometer method previously described by the author. Zinc boiled at 920°, and cadmium at 778°.—On the atomic weight of radiferous barium, by Mme. Curie. — First attempts at determining the atomic weight of the metal in radiferous barium chloride gave 146 as against 138 for pure barium chloride. As the result of prolonged fractionations, a product has now been obtained in which the atomic weight is as high as 174. This, however, -is certainly too low, as the chloride analysed still contains an wunknown amount of barium.—On the electrolytic estimation of cadmium, by M. Dmitry Balachowsky. The metal is deposited upon a dish previously covered with copper. The solution is -slightly acidified with nitric acid, and the deposition carried out at 60° under conditions of electromotive force and current density specified.—On some new spectra of rare earths, by M. Eug. Demarcay.—On the blue oxide of molybdenum, by M. Marcel Guichard. The hydrated blue oxide of molybdeuum has been isolated in a pure state and analysed, and proved to “have the composition MoO,.4MoO,,6H,O.—On the normal proportions of iodine in the organism, and its elimination, by M. P. Bourcet. The author, in conjunction with M. Gley, having previously shown the presence of a trace of iodine in normal blood, has now determined the amount of this element in various parts of the body. The quantities found vary from 0’00 mgr. in fat, pancreas and bladder, to 0'18 mgr. per 100 grams of ‘liver and 1°8 mgr.:per 100 grams of hair. The quantities found are small compared to the amount present in the thyroid gland. About 0°33 mgr. of iodine is taken into the human system daily in food ; the thyroid gland contains only about 4 mgr. ; hence it becomes necessary to discover the means of elimination. This is shown to be chiefly effected in man by the skin and epidermal products, sweat, skin, hair and nails; in women, by the menstrual blood, which contains 0°8 to o’9 mgr. of iodine per kilogram, as against 0’02 mgr. per kilogram in normal blood.— On the nitrogenous substances in malt, by MM. P. Petit and G. Labourasse.—On the origin of the secondary calcareous breccia of Ariege, and results drawn from the point of view of the age of the lherzolite, by M. A, Lacroix.—On some temperatures observed in the park of St. Maur, by M. E. Renou. ‘New Souru WALES. Royal Society, June 6.—The President, Prof. Liversidge, ¥.R.S., in the chair.—On the relation, in determining the volumes of solids, whose parallel transverse sections are 7i¢ functions of their position on the axis, between the position and co- efficients of the sectionand the (positive) indices of the function, by G. H. Knibbs.—On the amyl ester of eudesmic acid occurring in eucalyptus oils, by Henry G. Smith. In a paper read before this society, July 1898, on the stringy-bark trees of New South Wales, R. T. Baker and the author show that an ester was present in the oil of Zucalyptus macrorhyncha. Since then esters have been found to be present in several eucalyptus oils. The author shows that esters are present in fair amount in the oils of £. botryoides, E. Saligna, and £. rostrata, and that an aromatic alcohol, either linalool or geraniol, is present in the oil of Z. patentinervis, over 16 per cent. of free alcohol being proved. The ‘saponified oil of Z. patentinervis has a fine odour. Citral also occurs in this oil, proved by its characteristic reactions.—Note on a new meteorite from New South Wales, NO. 1607, VOL. 62] Letters to the Editor :— P by R. T. Baker. The meteorite described in this paper found early in January of this year, two miles from Bugaldi, a postal town fifteen miles north-west of Coonabarabran. pear-shaped and is nearly five inches long and three inches w at the broadest part. It belongs to that class of meteorite known as siderites, and is probably composed of iron an nickel. It has a well-defined, closely adhering ‘‘ skin” of bl magnetic material, while the metal immediately beneath th ; coating is silvery-white in appearance. On the smooth portion — at the extremity of the larger end can be seen very distinctly Widmanstatten’s figures. The specimen has an exceeding! new appearance, as if it had only just arrived upon the earth and shows no signs of oxidation. ee 2) a bis Hi GOTTINGEN. hj Royal Society of Sciences.—The Wachrichten (physico- — mathematical section), Part i. for 190 0, contains the following — memoirs communicated to the Society. i it February 3.—L. Kriiger: Compensation of errors by means — of equations of condition in geodetic determinations of points. March 3.—E. Marx: Fall of potential and dissociation in — flame-gases.—W. Nernst: On the question of the hydratation — of dissolved substances, Part 1.—H. Lotmar : The same, Part 2. —C, C. Garrard and E. Oppermann: The same, Part 3.—H. Minkowski: Theory of the units in algebraic Zah:Rirper. — ae March 16.—W. F. Osgood: On a theorem of Schénflies re- ~ lating to the theory of the functions of two real variables.—F. Bernstein: On the same theorem.—H. E. Timerding: On linear systems of conics. : % Among the official reports of the Society are one (by Prof. F. — Klein) on the publication of Gauss’s works ; and one on the progress of the Encyclopedia of Mathematics. | f 7 CONTENTS. PAGE A Standard Text-book of Physics ........ 361 Huxley’s Physiology. By Prof. E. A. Schafer, BER Sisg sia rseu eek Son ae 363, PROM ed ier gw er ee The Glucosides. ByJ.B.C.... eh Ae Gime An Oxford Text-book ... aera eee Our Book Shelf :— aaa a Kemp: ‘‘ The Ore Deposits of the United States and _ Canada.”—C. L. N. F. . ine eee can Brown: ‘ Physiology for the Laboratory”. . . . . 365 ‘Michigan Board of Agriculture. Annual Report —— 1898-99” ..... J ee | ee i PON hel Se oe 8 © «© @ ® oyehie: Change of Feeding Habits of Rhinoceros-birds in rote East Africa.—Prof. E, Ray Lankester, Atmospheric Electricity. John Aitken, F.R.S.. . The Melting Points of Rock-forming Minerals.—J. A. Cunningham ). 605) gee eiurees Observation of the Circular Components in the ‘‘ Faraday Effect.”"—Prof. D. B. Brace ... . 300 Physical Structure of Asbestos.—Geoffrey Martin . 3 9 The Bradford Meeting of the British Association . 369 Recording Telephones, (Wzth Diagrams.).... + 3 1] Notes). cso e cites a Se (Ship CEL ene eae Our Astronomical Column :— Comet Borrelly-Brooks (19004)... 2+ +++ + 3 Ephemeris for Observations of Eros. . . «+ + + + 377 — The Astrographic Chart Conference «++. + ++ 377 Determination of Solar Parallax ; : The Distance to which the Firing of Heavy Guns is Heard. By Dr. Charles Davison F 7 Subjects for Consideration by Electrical Engineers 379 Prize Subjects of the Paris Société d’Encourage- ment University and Educational Intelligence ..... Scientific Serials. ......--:-+s ? Societies and. Academies. (Wzth Diagram.).. . - 38 . : 6 ee er ee le eS a a Se ee Oe ee ip) Teh ye. Pr est es ee NATURE 385 THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 1900. A MUSEUM CATALOGUE. iptive and Illustrated Catalogue of the Physio- cal Series of Comparative Anatomy contained in @ Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons of eland. Vol. i. Second edition. Pp. xlix + 160. ndon : Taylor and Francis, 1900.) \F the catalogues of the Royal College of Surgeons, rendered famous by the labours of Hunter, Owen and Flower, but one in osteology, by Dr. R. Bowdler Sharpe, and one in teratology, by Mr. B. Thompson Lowne, have appeared during the sent conservators term of office. Prof. Charles unlike his predecessor i in this office, who con- trated his attention upon one special department, ction, and with the aid of his coffipetent assistants ded year by year specimens of surpassing value terest, which have become the admiration of all sholders. The period of his conservatorship has been of unparalleled activity in all branches of zoology, and in the labour of keeping pace with this he has not been found wanting, as, for example, when, on the dis- covery of the calcified teeth of the Monotreme, he pro- duced from his rich store of material the famous specimen which has since adorned his shelves, and shows more than all others yet described. With this museum, as _ with others in our own land, the Englishmen’s colonising , - instinct has come forcibly into play, in the accumulation of objects, not merely of local interest, such as are generally to be found in the museums of other countries, bu - general and universal, wherefore the present catalogue of >i atl based upon a matchless material. is explained in the preface that the specimens naa have been dealt with on the original Hunterian , the intention being to bring together examples of - structures in plants and animals as perform the function ; and comment is further made upon the essity for a large number of preparations “to supply places of those that have become worthless, and to ve as illustrations of new discoveries, and phases of ight.” At the outset, necessity, begotten of progress advancement, is met by the propounding of a scheme, explained in the text, under which it is proposed distinguish, firstly, between “Structures concerned in preservation of the individual or to its advantage” and those “concerned in the preservation of the race.” AUinder the former of these departments, sixteen headings are included, under the latter eight ; and since the present cat ogue deals with but the first three of the former. ‘ies, those alone need be further remarked upon. They “Endoskeleton »; “Flexible Bonds of Union and FSuppon we Muscular and Allied Systems” ; but before passing 66 to epnsider them more fully, it may be said ume of a series, individually set out in greater detail, each with a concise statement of the order of arrange- NO. 1608, VOL. 62] ment to be adopted, and a definition, when necessary, of what is implied in the heading it bears. : The arrangement of each section is so framed as to’ include both plants and animals, whenever possible, the former being considered first, and each in. ascending order. Turning now to the three sections to be speci- fically considered, we find specimens illustrating, under the first, the chemical composition, structure, and mode of formation of the various endoskeletal systems ; under the second, the various forms of ligaments and joints ; and under the third, the forms, structure and texture of muscles. To particularise in these columns concerning the details of either of these is impossible ; but it may be said that no leading type of tissue or arrangement of parts is unrepresented, and that preparations like that of the cartilages of the cuttle, the elastic honeycomb of the flexor carpi muscle of the elephant, or of the leaves of the sensitive plant fixed in the diurnal position, must be seen to be appreciated. The most attractive portions of the work are those dealing with the marvellous array of processes occurring in the growth of the coral skeleton, and (as pertaining to the study of joints and jointing) with the question of adaptation in these to the conditions of existence. The study of the general question of origin, detailed con- stitution and relationship, of the coral skeleton, has for years engrossed the attention of Prof. Stewart ; and to our knowledge of this subject and the allied one of the structural variations of the bony tissues of the osseous fishes, he has in the long run added more than most other investigators since von Kdlliker. Beyond. laying this magnificent result of his labours before audiences . which annually assemble on the occasion of lectures delivered in his official capacity, and occasional — “exhibits” before the Linnean and Zoological Societies, he, with a modesty so marked as to be well-nigh depre- ciative of his talents, has published nothing concerning them ; and the present volume therefore comes rather as a memoir from his hands than as a mere official cata- logue, and it is worth all the scattered papers he could have published in the time. It teems with interest and records of beautiful objects, and is illustrated by fourteen magnificent plates, mostly in colour, done from his own drawings by the facile hand of Green, than whom no better English lithographer in zoology exists. Of these plates no praise can be too high, and we expect for them an unprecedented popularity in the future. They must be seen to be appreciated, and, with the exquisite pre- parations they illustrate, constitute a possession of which even the Royal College of Surgeons may well be proud. Each of the entries in the catalogue bears a registration number, and where desirable a short biblio- graphic reference, as an aid to the student. The success of this volume augurs well for the. future of the museum and its collections, and knowing; the unparalleled excellence of the numerous. additions which during the last decade have been made ‘to the series of which it treats, thanks to the curatorial genius of Prof. Stewart and the unrivalled skill of his lieutenant, Mr. R. H. Burne, we can safely predict even a_ better result for the volumes yet to come. The collection of zootomical preparations arising under their hands is far S 386 NATURE (Aucust 23, 1900 and away the best in existence, and. together with the governors of the college they have ensured a debt of gratitude which it will take generations to repay. In the pages of this volume the student will find records of structures and relationships undreamt of in the text-books, unrecorded in the best monographs ; and it is a pity that he is not informed of this. The work is a positive storehouse of new facts and intensely interesting details, and will be of inestimable value to zoologists at large. A TEXT-BOOK OF MAMMALS. Text-book of Zoology, treated from a Biological Stand- point. Part I., Mammals. By O. Schmeil. Translated by R. Rosenstock, and, edited by J. T..Cunningham. 8vo. Pp. vii + 138, illustrated. (London: A. and C. Black, 1900.) a stated in the first title-page, this book is intendéd “ for the use of schools or colleges, forming, in fact, a portion of the series of School Text-books now in course of issue by the publishers. It is, therefore, essential that it should be written in a popular and attractive style, and also that it should be absolutely accurate and up-to- date, both as regards the facts recorded, and, so far as possible, in nomenclature. So far as this first item is concerned, the present fasciculus appears to fulfil the required conditions fairly well, the anatomical details being treated in a manner which renders them of easy apprehension by the student, while the descriptions of the animals themselves are, if anything, written in a too popular style. The plan adopted is to take a more or less typical member of a group for special treatment, and then to refer to the kindred forms in a more general manner, Illustrations are numerous ; and while many of them are excellent, others, especially the cut of a family of orangs on p. 19, can only be described as hideous caricatures. In a book written primarily for German students, it must be inevitable that the animals of the Fatherland come in for a fuller share of notice than would have been the case had it been the product of an English were but this is a fault of no special importance. When, however, we come to the baind essential feature of an elementary text-book—accuracy as regards facts, classification and nomenclature—we are bound to confess that the fasciculus before us fails lamentably. Indeed, its appearance is almost a calamity for zoological science in England, since the student who intends to pursue the subject seriously will have much to unlearn ; and even for those who only desire a smattering of the subject, it is most important that they should become acquainted with animals by their proper titles, and that what they are taught as facts should really be such. In his preface the editor tells us that he has practically re- stricted his task to comparing the translation with the original, correcting the proofs, making here and there emendations in detail where a statement seemed open to doubt, or where differences between the faunas of Britain and Germany had to be indicated. For the sake of his own reputation it is a pity that he did not compare the work in detail with a standard English treatise on mam- 0. 1608, VOL. 62] mals, when he could scarcely have failed to detect some . | of the shortcomings of the original text, despite the fact that all the English treatises on the subject are now mor > or less out of date. # As regards the general classification of the grow although this: differs to a certain extent from the generally adopted in this country, we have no comn to make, except that for some unaccountable reason the order Sirenia is totally omitted, while there appears to be no mention of the animals by which it is Bis q i anywhere in the text ! bed) Turning to some of the ordinal groups, we ‘find orang taken as a typical representative of the apes, rightly named Sma satyrus. Naturalists will, ever, be considerably surprised to see the chimpanz 17 (p. 22) assigned to the same genus (Simia), wherea gorilla is made the type of a genus by itself ; there is one well-established zoological fact, ‘it is t intimate relationship existing between the chim and the gorilla, and the wide gulf separating b the orang. Again, under the heading. of. the P la yrr apes, there is no reference to the marmosets : quite fail to find a reason for the statem 22) that the howling monkeys are the best known mem! rs 5 of that group. In treating of the Lemuroids, the , author departs from his rule of selecting one. species: for special notice, and the space allotted to the BNP is af i inadequate. notice of the tiger (p. 33), when, after stating ok ‘this animal is found in Amurland and Central _ the anthor proceeds to say that its “favourite haunts: are | swampy districts of the tropical zone, thickly overgrown 4 with bamboo and similar bushes.” Again, on p. 84 we i. find Cricetus frumentarius alluded to as “the sitet ory hamster,” although the true marmots are noticed i inan — earlier page. Passing on to p. 105, we meet with the _ statement that the Indian buffalo is sa¢d to exist in a wild } state in the “East Indies” ; while the European bison is stated to be extinct, although on an earlier page (98) b| its existence in Lithuania and the Caucasus is alluded o! a Although we do not propose to notice in ‘detail ‘the hope- - lessly obsolete generic and specific. nomenclature adopted, the statement on p. 106 that “the best- -known African g ludicrously absurd and incorrect to be. passed ~ over. And as a second instance of incorrect nomenclature. we may refer to the inclusion of the roe (p. 108) in the same — genus as the red deer, from which the fallow deer is excluded. And in this connection it may be mentioned that the editor, who has been recently writing on a antlers, should have been aware that the brow-tine i isnot developed in those of the roe. wang Before leaving the Placentals, it may be mentione land Carnivora as distinct alike from the molar and p molar series is not calculated to give the stud idea of the homology of the cheek-teeth throughout the — class. And we also venture to think that the statement — on page 37, that “in its dentition the wolf very nearly resembles the cat,” in spite of the subsequent qualifica- tion that the number of teeth is ee scarcely ; accor ; with the facts. : LUGUST 23, 1900] NATURE 387 ‘definition of'the Marsupials, exception /niust n to the statement that the young are a/ways shed in a pouch ; and when mentioning the occur- fe of the group in America no reference is made. to é. ‘Indeed, the account of the whole group is inadequate ; and when the author speaks of the \merican, opossum fur, we strongly suspect he gpind the product of the so- -called opossums ally when treating of the Monotremes, the author a ‘the spiny anteaters are represented solely by ns are but local races of a single species se name. is. E. aculeata ; and the author appears to unacquainted. with the very distinct genus + known as Proechidna / , dy said, we do not intend to criticise in detail nclature employed; but in the retention of w discarded by those who have made a special zfenet the author has done his best to put of touch with the present state of science. his statement, we are aware that the author on the circumstance that he is treating his a biological standpoint. This, however, in Is no excuse for neglect of the details o d nomenclature. © to this part of the solace are, to ‘in ‘the whole fasciculus. RL. Siderits of the iA tnadaphera By Prof. , D.Sc., Ph.D., and R. F. Blake, F.I.C., ntific Proceedings o of the Royal Dublin No. 15. Pp. 270. / oom ie or Francis Jones, F.R.S.E., F.C.S. nchester : ipairiphiets wouldamply justify its pub- is only served to emphasise the necessity estigation into the methods of estimating i e in the atmosphere. It is partly experi- tly” bibliographical i in character. The authors, mselves called upon to make a series of obser- he carbon dioxide of the air, have made a y of Pettenkofer’s method, and have intro- necessary corrections, without detracting from its simplicity. They take the precaution, by other observers, of preventing the action of a solution on the glass by coating the vessel th a layei dhe paraffin wax. It may be pointed out that. I zene is moré suitable than the melted he ihe film obtained with the solution is less. ae The baryta solution i is manipulated very sly out of contact with air. Yet with all these ns the results show that perfection is far from Piet of analyses on page 132 there is a dis- cy between the highest and lowest figures of toper : NO. 1608, VoL. 62] ai ist7ix and E. setosa. As a matter of fact, x of the adaptation of animals to eric Taylor, Garnett, Evans and “stove without flue. centi;‘in another set on the same page: the difference amounts to 17 per cent., and on the next page to 20 per cent. It seems superfluous to introduce the third decimal into the result when the experimental error affects the first decimal place, and equally unnecessary to make a correction for aqueous vapour, which only amounts to about one and a half per cent. on the volume of carbon dioxide, as against 10 per cent. or thereabouts from experimental error. The authors omit to mention how long the baryta remains ity contact with the sample of air. This is an important factor which should not be neglected, for there can be’no doubt that the absorption of carbon dioxide by the baryta proceeds at a rapidly decreasing rate and that the final traces of the gas may take many hours to disappear. . The book is full of useful information, drawn from a variety’ of sources, the collection of which must have cost the authors no little trouble. At the same time, one is inclined to think that the value of the information would have been enhanced if they had gone another step and made a critical selection ‘from.the mass of. analyses which they reproduce, for the figures cannot all be equally trustworthy, and many of them must be entirely illusive. The second pamphlet relates to domestic hygiene. It treats of the effects produced on the air of rooms by the use of gas, coal and electric light for heating and lighting purposes. The effect is determined by estimating the amount of carbon dioxide by Pettenkofer’s inethod, and by exposing a layer of permanganate solution to the air and finding the quantity of the salt reduced. Mr. Jones, unlike the authors of the previous pamphlet, is not troubled by misgivings about Pettenkofer’s method, except in the matter of the baryta attacking the glass. He therefore substitutes lime-water as the absorbent, apparently unaware of the fact that its effect on glass is precisely of the same character, which may be easily observed by placing very dilute lime-water coloured with phenolphthalein in any glass vessel; in a day or two the colour will be completely dis- charged. As the results here are only required for comparison, great accuracy is not requisite, and the ordinary method may be relied on. The results of the permanganate method will scarcely serve to recommend it. We find, for example, that in two experiments made on July 21 two-thirds the quantity of permanganate was reduced in the one case in double the time. As Mr. Jones points out, the quantity of dust may affect the rapidity of reduction. If this is the case, effective ventila- tion will produce disturbance of the air and movement of dust as well as local currents from gas-jets, and it will be difficult to differentiate the two. The results which Mr. Jones obtains are precisely what might be anticipated if we take into account the fact that a coal fire produces an enormous air current through a room near the floor level, whereas a gas fire usually only serves to carry away its own products of combustion. Mr. Jones finds. that the purest atmosphere is maintained with a coal fire and electric light; then follow gas fire with electric light, coal fire and gas light, and gas fire and gas light. The worst effect is produced by an open gas cooking The author shows, moreover, that 388 NATURE [AUGUST 23, 1900 ‘ gas light is more deleterious than a gas fire. That the worst atmosphere exists at the top of a room where the heated products of combustion accumulate is only natural. That is the reason, it is to be presumed, why the topsy-turvy method of ventilating at the floor level with a coal fire is the one most generally in use. FB e, OUR BOOK SHELF. Lamarckiens et Darwiniens; Discussion de quelques Théories sur la Formation des Especes. Par Félix Le Dantec, Chargé du Cours d’Embryologie générale a la Sorbonne. Pp. 191. (Paris: Félix Alcan, 1899.) THIS is a well-intended, but scarcely adequate, endeavour to reconcile the Darwinian with the Lamarckian con- ception of evolution. While admitting the principle of natural selection as an important factor in organic development, the author seeks to explain the origin of species mainly.on a Lamarckian basis. It may be doubted whether his suggested compromise will com- mend itself. to either party. We are of opinion, pace M. Le Dantec, that Darwin’s estimate of Lamarck was perfectly just; and that if Lamarckian views are to prevail, it must be by dint of facts and arguments other than those adduced by Lamarck himself. The present volume contains nothing approaching a demonstration of the inheritance of acquired characters ; and until this is forthcoming, the Lamarckian fabric must be held to lack foundation. It is curious that the author, who has undoubtedly grasped the principle of natural selection, should not see how groundless is his hesitation in apply- ing it. A reason.for this failure is doubtless to be found in his tendency to deal with cases of adaptation as if they were ready made ; he has apparently not taken into account the evidence of gradual approximation to the ‘completely adapted condition. How, he asks, can chance. have produced the aspect of Kal/ima? A study of allied forms might have shown him that his question was wide of the mark. On the crucial subject of mimicry and _ protective resemblance, this strange reluctance to carry .an admitted principle to its legitimate end produces especially unfortunate’ results. M. Le’ Dantec is con- strained, not only to suppose that the white of Arctic animals may be a direct result of the colour of their surroundings ‘fas in Poulton’s experiments on cater- pillars,” but to assume the conscious adoption of ap- _ propriate habits on the part of protected organisms. It would seem that not much is here gained by the abandon- ment of the Darwinian standpoint. In the last few chapters of the book the author expounds his ‘“ bio- chemical” theory of heredity, but without throwing any new light on the familiar,difficulties of the subject. It is open to any one to proclaim his faith in the essentially chemical character of all kinds of protoplasmic activity, but the fact remains that among these ‘phenomena there is a residuum which does not easily relate itself with what is known of the properties of other kinds of matter. This is where the problem was found by M. Le Dantec, and this is where he has left. it. F. A. D. Flelen Keller: Souvenir. Pp. 65. Volta Bureau, 1899.) THE achievements of Miss Helen Keller bear striking testimony to what it is possible to accomplish in the education of the deaf. Though totally blind, as well as deaf, from infancy, she succeeded in passing the examina- tion for admission into Radcliffe College, Harvard Uni- versity, a year ago. In honour of this remarkable result, ‘the Volta Bureau, which exists for the increase and diffusion of knowledge relating to the deaf, has published this souvenir, containing an account of her career, con- NO. 1608, VOL. 62] (Washington : ledged to rest on a of unconscious suggestion, it is very dangerous to found in an English form, and this the more so that the ef ‘are given concerning their working. and use. The book tributed by Dr. A. Graham Bell, Miss A. M. Sullivan and other instructors, and herself. a Dr. Bell considers that the lesson taught by Miss — Keller’s case 1s that books should be used at the earliest — stages of a deaf or blind child’s education. ‘I would have a deaf child read books in order to learn the language,” he remarks, “‘ instead of learning the language in order to. read books.” Miss Sullivan describes how — she gave Miss Keller books printed in raised letters long before her pupil could read them. Words of par- ticular shapes were associated with particular objects and actions, and ina comparatively short time Miss Kellerthus acquired an exceptional knowledge ofthe English language. Miss Sullivan employed the manual alphabet exclusively as a means of communication at the commencement of the child’s education. She adopted the method of talk- — ing to Miss Keller just as’ she would to a seeing and ~ hearing child, spelling into her hands the words and ~ sentences she would have spoken to her if she could have ~ heard, in spite of the fact that at first much of the — language was unintelligible to the child. Three years — after beginning to communicate by means of the manua = alphabet, Miss Keller began to try to imitate sounds. te Some deaf children are taught to speak by imitating the movements of the lips of the teacher. Miss Keller could ~ not see these movements, but she could feel them by — touching her teacher’s lips, and she was soon able to reproduce the same sounds and articulate words. == How Miss Keller was prepared for admission into Radcliffe College, the entrance examination of which is exactly the same as that of Harvard College, is described _ by her instructors, and Miss Keller gives a simple chrono- — logical account of her studies. The whole statement is a remarkable narrative, and will be of the deepest in- terest to teachers of the deaf and students of psycho- logical development. : fS: L eeares ys The Psychology of Reasoning. By Alfred Binet. Trans- — lated by Adam Gowans Whyte. Pp.191. (Chicago : Open Court Publishing Company. London: Kegan ~ Paul and Co., Ltd., 1899.) aa THIS is a translation of the second edition of M. Binet’s 3 i ] tween the two eyes. The book is full of interesting — psychological facts ; but unfortunately most of these are © drawn from hypnotic experiments, and Binet does not — yet appear to have recognised that, owing to the influence q psychological theories on such a basis. a = Nevertheless M. Binet’s work should be very welcome translation has been very well done. ce Sy ae Electric Batteries: How to Make and Use Them. Edited by P. Marshall. Pp. 63. (London : Dawbarn and Ward.) sa a THE principal forms of primary electric _ batteries are described in this little book, and some serviceable details will be particularly helpful by amateur electricians ; and» bi students of electricity will find in it some information not ot usually given in the text-books. Fy) _ Aucust 23, 1900] NATURE 7 389 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. Eiitor does not hold himself responsible for opinions ex- his correspondents. Neither can he undertake » or to correspond with the writers of, rejected scripts intended for this or any other part of NATURE. lice ts taken of anonymous communications.} Snow-drifts on Ingleborough in July. July 4 last I was on Ingleborough with a party of gists examining the swallow-holes which mark where t, running off the impervious drift and shale above loss on the southern shoulder of the hill, first reaches tain Limestone. Some of these swallow-holes are oo call obsolete—that is to say, when new openings formed and enlarged as time went on, some of the ch obviously at one time carried off the flood-water gathering-ground, now receive only what oozes in peat and drift immediately round it, or the rain which ‘ly on it: and rain seldom falls vertically up there. f them seem to have been developed without any large water having ever invaded them. They run to. great the open shaft being from 30 to 360 feet deep, below ces and open joints far down to the valley below. n into the limestone rock to a depth of some 70 feet, ; masses of snow to 4 feet in thickness. It was own on the surface, from the particles of peat which on toit, but was pure and white within. Obviously nase n had been filled by drifted snow during the winter, and summer’s sun could not reach that depth to melt it, while fem ire was lost on the moist pinnacled rock on sted. No flood ever filled this particular chasm with mg torrent, such as at times fills Weathercote Cave, ot, or even Gaping Ghyll up to the brim, and causes e “therefore, we had an accidental. combination of con- . favourable for the preservation of snow, long past mid- ; -of not more than 1500 feet above the sea, "of a orkshire mountain. - This is an interesting fact to bear in mind when speculating the causes of glacial conditions having so*recently pre- id over the British Isles. We see here that half-way up rough, in an exceptionally hot summer, the air tempera- snrgeepeseaiee remove last winter’s snow. Dia hae m T, McKENNY HUGHES, S I. Eclipse of the Sun of May 17-18, rgor. © Nautical Almanac Circular (No. 18) local particulars ‘track, three of which, Padang, ‘Pontianak and na, are situated in Netherlands India. In the explana- ‘mentioned that, from inquiries which have been made, ; that the positions selected are the most accessible, it would probably be impossible for observers to occupy station for which the + alae ah conditions favourable. - oe have not. been made on the spot, where d best have been obtained.+ Other localities Government of Sumatra’s west coast are as easily accessi- which a railway leads to the interior ; and ; s on the banks of the Kapuas as easily as Ponti- Secon, many other places may give opportunity to » parties for observation, viz. on the islands of Lingga ni ys on the banks of the Barito and the eastern coast 20, in the Gulf of Tomini (Celebes) and in the Moluccas. however, will be most favourable in the western elago, both on account of the longer duration for local resources. Through the Koninh- oo Veruniging at Batavia, data have been Having mentioned some .of the causes which prevent a rigorous comparison between the Nile floods and the Indian rainfall, one is not unprepared to find some dis- crepancies ; but Mr. Eliot certainly does not overstate his case when he contends that these tables indicate that in at least four out of five seasons in which there was a partial failure of the rains in India there was a low Nile, and that generally the two countries are similarly affected by the meteorological conditions and the varia- tions of those conditions. The causes of these variations — are obscure, and at present very imperfectly recognised, for a complete solution, as Mr. Eliot points out, demands a much more intimate knowledge of the atmospheric conditions that prevail overa large area. The meteorology — of Australia and the Indian Ocean, and perhaps also of — the Antarctic Ocean, must be linked on to that of the Indian monsoon area “ before it will be possible to ascer- tain the missing factors necessary to complete the ex- planations of the relations between the chief features of the monsoon currents and rainfall of India and the antecedent and concurrent conditions in the Indian area ~ and the regions to the south.” To trace and anticipate the effect of weather conditions over the area that — embraces both India and Egypt, in which our interests — are so largely involved, should stimulate further inquiry, — with the result of placing at the command of science — additional means for dealing with so grave a problem. ea. ae _npeaft paacaed mR P.c aT Sabai f it od THE FORTHCOMING MEETING OF “THE | ~ BRITISH ASSOCIATION AT BRADFORD. | Ge the last article on the subject of the forthcoming meeting of the British Association an account was — given of the handbook that is to be published in connec- tion with the visit, and some information was furnished in regard to hotel and lodging accommodation. In the a present article it is proposed to give a description of the — excursions arranged by the local committee. Following the custom of former years, it has been arranged that half-day excursions only shall take place on ~ the Saturday, and that the whole-day excursions shall be — reserved until the Thursday, when the serious work of the — Association will be completed. The only exceptions to — this are that the Mayor and Corporation are inviting a small party of engineers to visit their waterworks at — Gowthwaite, in the Nidd Valley, and that a party exclu-_ sively for geologists will travel to Pateley Bridge by the ; > ae . = Bs F a 7 a it ___AucusT 23, 1900] NATURE 393 wy ile a } = ‘same train in order to visit the Brimham Rocks. These _ two excursions will occupy the whole of Saturday. The excursions, then, arranged for Saturday, September 8, are as follows :— BOLTON PRIORY.—The party will leave the Bradfor (Midland) Station at 1.32. Drive from Bolton to the Priory, where they will be received by the vicar, the Rev. A. P. Howes, who will give a brief description of its his- tory and architecture. They will then drive forward along the banks of the Wharfe to the Wooden Bridge, where tea will be provided : an opportunity will be given for a visit to be made to the Strid (celebrated by Words- worth), and then the party will be driven back to the __ station in order to reach Bradford in time for dinner. Mr. Geoffry Fison will be the leader of the excursion. _ FARNLEY HALL.—The residence of the Fawkes family, which contains a wonderful collection of Turner’s pic- _ tures. The Hall‘is of great historical interest, as it was B ie = < , } ¢ _ the residence of Lord Fairfax in the time of the Civil at 1.20, and the et ae oc 7> War, and many relics of the period: are shown. The party will leave the Midland Station at 1.15 for Otley, where they will be met by Major Mitchell, of Cayley _ Hall, the leader; they will then be driven to Farnley, and as much time as possible will be spent in inspecting the Turner pictures and the beautiful old Hall. Major ‘Mitchell will afterwards entertain the party to tea in his grounds, and they will then be driven back to the station. . ILKLEY.—The excursion will start from the Midland Wheeler ; at Ilkley the party will be divided into several toe TP ota: ‘smaller bodies, who will in turn visit the Roman camp and fortifications, some curious Saxon crosses that are ‘to be seen in the churchyard, and some remarkable “instances of cup and ring marks, which are to be seen ‘on Rombald’s Moor above the village. At 4.30 the ‘different ies will reassemble in the beautiful grounds of the Wells House Hydro, where they will be enter- tained to tea by the invitation of the directors. They will arrive back in Bradford about 7 o’clock. | _ HAWoORTH.—The train will leave the Midland Station "abe will be met at Haworth by Mr. Greenwood, the president of the Bronté Society, who will escort them to the church and the Bronté Museum, and show them many places which will be _ familiar, from description, to the readers of ‘ Shirley.” ‘The leader of the party will be Mr. J. A. Clapham. KNARESBOROUGH.—Maijor H. D. Sichel will conduct _a party to Knaresborough, the train leaving at 1.15. On arrival, the visitors will be divided into two parties, and, under the leadership of Major Sichel and Mr. Arthur ‘Harris respectively, they will be taken by opposite routes to visit the Castle, the petrifying Dropping Well, and Eugene Aram’s Cave. Afterwards they will be driven to Plumpton Rocks, where tea will be provided, and they ___will return by a train reaching Bradford about 7.30. KIRKSTALL ABBEY AND ADEL.—The train will leave the Midland Station at 1.25, and Kirkstall Abbey will be described by Mr. E. Kitson Clarke, the leader. The visitors will then be driven to Adel Church, which is almost a unique instance of Saxon architecture, and which will be described by the vicar. They will then drive back to the Yorkshire College, Leeds, where they will be entertained to tea by the principal, Dr. Bodington, one of the vice-presidents of the Association. PATELEY BRIDGE.—As indicated above, this is the only excursion extending over the whole day. Two parties _ will leave by a special train at 1.15, the one conducted by the Mayor (Mr. Wm. C. Lupton, J.P.), for a small: party of engineers, who will be driven from Pateley to the Nidd Valley Waterworks ; the other, exclusively for geologists, who, under the leadership of Mr. J. Lower Carter, will walk to the Brimham Rocks, and visit other places of geological interest. NO. 1608, VOL. 62] Station at 1.32, under the leadership of Mr. Mortimer | For the week-end (September 8-10), ‘the Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union are organising a specially interesting excursion. The district which has been selected is the neighbourhood of Grassington, in Upper Wharfedale, which is not merely a romantically. picturesque region, but a remarkably good district for nearly all branches of natural history and geology. The excursion is intended, as far as possible, to be one strictly for practical working naturalists, and as accommodation is very limited, it will be needful to give preference to such members of the British Association as are likely to investigate in their own particular department. The arrangements will be under the direction of leading Yorkshire naturalists, who hope to introduce their comrades from other parts of the country to a remarkably interesting district. There wilh be the usual fully descriptive circular prepared, which will be sent to any one who may apply for it to the hon. secs. of the Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union, Leeds. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 15.—The whole-day excur- sions arranged for the concluding day of the meeting are as follows :— THE ACKTON COLLIERY.—This excursion, which will be under the leadership of Mr. C. J. Cutcliffe-Hyne, is intended for a limited number of botanists, geologists and engineers, in order that some opportunity may be given them of examining the Yorkshire coal-measures. The party will be divided into two on arriving at Feather- stone: the one will be taken down the pit, while the other will examine the machinery and various interesting ‘material on the bank. They will then meet at one o’clock and will be-entertained to lunch by Lord Masham, the owner of the mine, after which the proceedings will be reversed, and the respective parties will be taken round the bank and down the pit; they will then reunite, and after partaking of afternoon tea will return to Bradford. BOLTON PRIORY.—This is an amplification of the previous half-day visit, again under the leadership of Mr. Geoffry Fison. Fuller opportunities will be fur- nished of seeing the Priory and the Strid, and lunch will be provided. at the Wooden Bridge. In the after- noon a visit will be made to Barden Tower, the ancient keep of the Lord Clifford, of the Wars of the Roses fame, and of his son, the Shepherd Lord. RIPON AND FOUNTAINS ABBEY.—Mr. Mortimer Wheeler will conduct a party to Ripon; after a special musical service at the Cathedral, they will be driven to Fountains Abbey, and lunch will be provided in the Refectory. They will then be taken over the ruins by the Dean of Ripon, after which the Marquis of Ripon will entertain the party to tea. On returning to Ripon, if time permits, they will be conducted to the crypt and the more interesting parts of the Cathedral by the Dean before leaving for Bradford. SWINTON PARK.—By the invitation of Lord Masham and under the leadership of the Mayor, Mr. William Lupton, a party will visit Masham. On arrival, they will be driven to Jervaulx Abbey, the ruins of which, of course, possess great historical interest, and will then return to Lord Masham’s residence, Swinton Hall, the drive each way being of extraordinary beauty. At the Hall they will be entertained to lunch by Lord Masham, after which the afternoon will be spent in inspecting the very fine collection of Old Masters and modern pictures, and the party will drive to the station to join the special train, which will convey also the party from Ripon. MALHAM.-—A party, under the leadership of Mr. Cecil Slingsby, will leave at an early hour for Bell Busk ; thence they will drive across country to Malham, and after lunch they will visit Gordale Scar, and, if time per- mits, at the invitation of Mr. Walter Morrison, M.P., they will go on to Malham Tarn and Malham Cove. They will leave Malham about 5 p.m.and drive to Skipton, visiting Skipton Castle on the way, and thence by train back to Bradford. 594 ~ NATURE [AuGusT 23. 1900 SETTLE AND CLAPHAM.—By the same train which -conducts the party to Malham, another party will leave for Settle under the guidance of Mr. J. J. Brigg. After visiting the Victoria Caves, they will drive to Ingleton and lunch. From there they will walk through the beautiful grounds of Mr. J. A. Farrer and explore the Clapham Caves, in which most extraordinary specimens of stalactites and stalagmites are to be seen. The two last excursions are specially intended for geologists. YORK.—It is, of course, essential that York, where the first meeting of the British Association was held seventy years ago, should be visited. The party will arrive in York about 11 o’clock, under the leadership of Mr._ J. A. Clapham. The visitors will immediately proceed to see the walls, the museum, and St. Mary’s Abbey. Then, after lunch at the Station Hotel, they will visit the Min- ster, where most of the afternoon will be spent. By the invitation of the Lord Mayor, they will afterwards be entertained to tea at the Guildhall before leaving for the station, For all the half-day excursions a uniform charge will be made, and similarly for Thursday’s excursions there will also be a uniform charge. Visitors applying for ex- cursions will be required to hand in this fee, together with the application form; and tickets, as nearly as possible in accordance with their preferences, will be allotted to ‘them. By making all the excursions of equal cost, it is ‘expected that the work of allotment will be simplified. The next article will deal with the mayoral and civic functions that have been arranged, and some account will ‘be given of the large garden-party which the municipality will hold on Monday, September 10, and of the various ‘private garden- prea to be given on September 12. RAMSDEN BACCHUS. NOTES. WE regret to announce the death of Dr. John Anderson, F.R.S., the distinguished zoologist. Dr. D. Morris, C.M.G,, the Imperial Commissioner of Agriculture for the West Indies, has just arrived in this country. Pror. G. CAREY Foster, F.R.S., has been appointed Prin- cipal of University College. - Prof. Foster is a Fellow of the College, and was formerly professor of Experimental Physics and Quain Professor of Physics; he is also a Fellow of the University of London, in which University he acted as ex- -aminer previous to his election to the Senate. THE International Geological Congress is now in session at Paris. Among the items included in the programme are dis- -cussions on international co-operation in geology, fundamental researches for the establishment of a definitive classification, scheme for an international lexicon of petrology, and the photography of types of fossil species. REUTER reports that Major Gibbons, the African traveller, reached Omdurman on August 20. The line of route traversed ‘by the expedition represents a distance of 13,c0o miles. Among the objects attained were the mapping of Barotseland ; the accomplishment of the first steam navigation of the Middle -Zambesi; and the tracing of the whole course of the river, the discovery of its source, and the determination of its watershed. Thence the route of the expedition was eastward, and by way of ‘the Great Lakes and the Nile. THE annual meeting of the English Arboricultural Society “was held at Manchester last week. Prof. Somerville was ap- ‘pointed president for the ensuing year. Reports were read from NO. 1608, VOL. 62] —_— the judges upon essays on ‘‘ Foreign versus Native Timber,” — ‘Agricultural and Woodland Drainage,” and ‘‘ Thinning.” The silver medal for the first essay was awarded to Mr. George Cadell, late of the Indian Forest Department, and bronze medals for the other essays were given to Mr, D, A, Glen, of Kirby, . near Liverpool, and Mr. A. Dean, of Egham. THE third annual report of the Council of the Roi Society shows that the society is making satisfactory pre The demonstrations at the meetings are very. valuable to workers with Réntgen rays, and the papers and abstracts _ lished in the Archéves enable members who are unable toattend the meetings to keep well in touch with the latest. developments of radiographic work. Dr. J. B. Macintyre, one of the earliest and most prominent investigators with Réntgen rays, has con- sented to be nominated as the next president of the society. ty ‘ ougenad S1r WILLIAM STOKES, the eminent surgeon, died. Lauda at Pietermaritzburg on Saturday. He filled the post of President of the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland in 1896; and among his other appointments was the professorship of pr He bas Royal College of Surgeons in 1872, senior su rgeon of Government Hospital of Ireland in 1868, president ‘oF ee logical Society of Ireland, and Surgeon in Ordinary | to | ti in Ireland from 1892. He was the author’ of a nu addresses, and contributions to the medical press, on se operative surgery. A REUTER telegram from St. Petersburg. gtdtes that ‘news has been received there from Dr. Sven Hedin, tha his expedition this spring to Lob Nor to settle th ‘vari questions in dispute regarding that lake and | its ‘surro ndit has resulted in discoveries exceeding his. expectations. found, in fact, that the lake known to previous explorers no longer exists, having dried up, leaving its bottom strewn with shells and marine growths. Around this old basin, however, a regular system of new lakes has been formed, which Dr. Sven Hedin has explored and mapped. Tn connection ith this announcement, it is worth remark that at the ‘time the visit of Prince Henry of Orleans to Lob Nor, towar end of 1889, the lake consisted of a number of interlacing lakes and river-arms, the contraction of the former large water-area being probably due to the using up of - the. waters of the Tarim for irrigation by thers increasing | Berne ighiste : | river basin. THE Scientific American announces that the. U. Ag Congres: has granted funds for the inauguration of agricultural experiment stations in the islands of Hawaii and Porto Rico. Prof... Ss. A. Knapp has been selected to investigate the agricultural condi- tions and possibilities of Porto Rico. He went to the island in June, and will study the lines of experimental investigation which should be undertaken there, places suitable for stations, and the approximate expense of inaugurating and maintaining the work. Dr. W. C. Stubbs will make a preliminary ‘ survey of the conditions in the Hawaiian Islands. He sailed pd ‘ Hawaii about the middle of July, and will spend the ‘month of August in the islands. The conditions there are somewhat different from those of Porto Rico, as a station for experiments in sugar production has been maintained by private beaiaene for a number of years. Tue Berlin Academy of Science has (says Sciénte) mide the following grants for scientific work : Prof. Adolf Schmidt, of Gotha, for the collating and publication of material on terrestrial magnetism, 750 marks; Dr. Leonhard Schultze, of Jena, for ‘investigations on the heart of invertebrates, 2000 marks ; Prof. Emil Ballowitz, of Greifswald, for investigations on the structure of the organs of smell of vertebrates, 800 marks; Dr. Theodore Boveri, of Wiirzburg, for experiments in cytology, 500 marks ; : oa AucGusT 23. 1900] sf. Maxime Braun, of Konigsberg, for studies on the Trema- marks; Dr. Paul Kuckuck, of Heligoland, for in- ; on the development of Phaosporese, 400 marks ; Dr. W Sneha Solomon, of Heidelberg, for his geological and er ical investigations in the Adamello mountains, 1000 s; Prof. Alexander Tornquist, of Strassburg, for the publi- t of his work on the mountains of Vicenza, 1100 marks ; , Alfred Voltzkow, of Strassburg, for the drawings of his ‘on the development of the crocodile, 1000 marks: Prof. nnes Walther, of Jena, for the publication of his work on , 1000 marks, rn from the Daily Graphic that the Norwegian nt has built and fitted out a steam vessel for the irpose ‘of marine scientific research, and has placed as a trained staff of assistants, in charge of Dr. J. Teader of the Norwegian Fishery and Marine Investi- ‘The vessel herself, the Afichael Sars, has been con- Norway on the lines of an English steam trawler— of boat being regarded as the most seaworthy and for hie ch an expedition —but considerably larger, being , 23 feet beam, and fitted with triple expansion horse-power. The fishing gear includes, zx¢er , nets, and lines of all kinds, with massive steel Ss P powertil’ steam winches to work the heavy appa- while the numerous scientific instruments are of the very ites t description. The expedition left Christiania in , on what may be termed its trial trip along ast (accompanied for part of the time by Dr. - desirous of testing various instruments in improvements), and has just sailed from thy ‘cruise to the North Atlantic ‘and Arctic rt has already added so much to the know- fishes, their life, habits, and the causes affecting “ that, with the means now at his disposal, a punt of valuable information will probably be we of service to the fishing industry of all JOCHELSON AND Bocoras, of the Jesup North edition of the American Museum, recently started he nor th-eastern part of Asia, by way of San Francisco and ladivost toe 9 continue the work of the expedition in Siberia. 4 s of the investigations undertaken are given in \ Maseum Journal. The region to be visited is rth-east of the Amur River. The explorers will study n! 8 of the native tribes of that area to the inhabitants north-western, part of America, and also to the es visited by Dr. Laufer, under the auspices of the to those living farther west. It is expected that nanner they will succeed in clearing up much of the tory of these peoples, and it is hoped that the question x ns between the aborigines of America and ia will. b definitely. settled, Thus the work proposed is ' ofthe general plan of the. Jesup North Pacific Expedition, hich i | for the investigation of the relations be- ses of Asia and America. It is fortunate that this has, been. taken up at the present time, since the gold e s along, the coast of Bering Sea are rapidly changing Sp ions of native life; so that within a few years their customs, and perhaps the tribes themselves, will be inct. It is expected that the journey, which will extend ‘ a pecs of two years, will result in a series of most in- esti ng additions to the collections of the Museum, and in an nr ; nt advancement of our Bane of the peoples of the salted been noted (vol. Pry p- 451) that Prof. A. _has brought forward evidence which throws doubt NATURE 395 NO. 1608, VOL. 62] upon the permanence of the waters of Lake Nicaragua, the- fountain head of the San Juan River. His conclusions have been criticised, but he gives further reasons for them in the Bulletin of the Geographical Society of Philadelphia (July), and” shows that this new factor will have to be taken into con- sideration in connection with the proposed Nicaragua Canal. The full conclusions now drawn by Prof. Heilprin from data furnished by the Nicaragua Canal Commission of 1897-99, and! the special reports of the chief engineer and hydrographer appended thereto, are:—{1) Lake Nicaragua has undergone’ marked shrinkage during the period of the last twenty-five to: fifty years. (2) The shrinkage is a progressive one, and there: are no known conditions by which the loss incurred can be made good. (3) The assumption is well founded that the earlier measurements of the altitude of the lake surface, made by Galisteo and Baily, indicating an abasement of. the waters by 20 to 30 feet, were accurate. The relations of these conditions. to canal construction become immediately apparent, and it may well be agreed that a region subject to the changes which have been indicated ‘‘ would offer serious obstacles to the construction of a canal of the magnitude of the one REPRE or. to its permanency alter construction.” 1 Mr. W. N. SHAW, F-RIS., ‘informs us that Mr. W. spe the observer for the Meteorological Office at Roche’s ‘Point, co. Cork, notes that at 9.15 p.m. (G.M.T.) on August 13 a very large’ meteor shot into view eastward, going E.S.E. At about an altitude of 70° it exploded with a brilliant flash, and a noise was heard like that of a rocket fired off at some dis- tance. The meteor left a long luminous track visible for some- seconds after the explosion, The trail would have been very brilliant but that the vars oni ~~ was lit up by the moon, at the: same time. IN the afternoon of Friday, August 17, some parts of the sbuihe of London were visited by one of the sharpest thunderstorms. that have occurred for some time. The weather was very close, the thermometer reaching 82°, and the distribution of barometric pressure was of a complex character. During the storm, which. lasted about an, hour, and was accompanied by a heavy, haib squall, the amount of rainfall at the central part, near Herne Hill, was 1'2 inch. In some parts of the suburbs the roads. were completely: flooded, while in others comparatively little rain fell. At Westminster there ‘was none, at Brixton 0°4 inch, and at Greenwich only five-hundredths of an inch. During the- » same afternoon a severe Chnndaeninee also occurred, at Ilford,, A pIscUSSION of the thunderstorm observations recorded in 1897 at ten selected stations in India, by Mr. W. L. Dallas, is contained in Part ix. vol. vi. of the /udian Meteorological Memoirs. The results for the--year have been divided into five- day periods, The storm-frequency varies considerably . in different parts, but, generally speaking, the number of storms is unimportant during February and the early part of March; but after the middle of March the thunderstorm season commences,, and continues until the middle of October, the maxima occurring towards the end of May and September. After October 23 no- storms are reported. Storms are much more frequent in the afternoon than in the morning, and when a storm occurs in the- forenoon it is followed, almost without exception, by another in the afternoon. There is a belief that the damage done by light- ning in the tropics is slight compared with that done in tem- perate zones, and the fact that at ten observatories in the year in question only four instances of damage being recorded gives. support to this belief. - Pror. CANCANI remarks in a recent paper (Z/a/. Soc. Sésmo/. Boil., vi. pp. 37-42) that seismology stands almost alone among. the. sciences of observation and experiment in that so far no- 396 NATURE [AUGUST 23, 1900 pattern instrument and no comparable apparatus have been intro- duced.’ He admits that the Seismological Committee of the British Association have taken a step. in the right direction, but considers that the instrument used by them possesses several defects which prevent its general adoption, The conditions which should be satisfied by the type apparatus, he describes as follows: It must be astatic or possess a stationary mass, and must be equally capable of recording the very small and rapid preliminary vibrations and the subsequent undulations of long period; it must have the sanction of experience, the cost of erection and maintenance must be small, and the construction so simple that it does not easily get out of -order; it must allow the continuous inspection of the traces, and its sensibility must lie within convenient limits. ABOUT two years ago Dr. Sambon brought forward evidence that sunstroke was an infectious disease, and consequently due to microbic influences. This view has not met with general acceptance, and Mr. E. H. Freeland, who has had exceptional opportunity of observing cases of sunstroke, both ashore and afloat, shows in the A/iddlesex Hospital Journal (July) that all the phenomena of this affection can be explained on general physiological principles without reference to germs at all. He concludes his paper as follows :—‘‘ Whether sunstroke be due to external physical causes, or whether it be an infectious disease and due primarily to a micro-organism which has yet to be isolated, must be decided in the future. For the present it seems to me that there is ample evidence for believing that sunstroke is due primarily to thermic influences—the exposure of the body to a hot moisture-laden atmosphere—and secondarily to the circulation in the blood of certain toxic poisons, the re- sult of perverted tissue metabolism ; and that, until more tangible evidence is brought forward to prove that the affection is due to microbic influence, one may safely accept the older doctrine with regard to its causation as a sound working hypothesis, if nothing else.” Pror. F, E. NIPHER, of Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, has sent some further particulars with reference to the methods he uses to obtain a “‘zero” plate. His observations upon photographic reversal have already been noticed in these columns (pp. 62, 159), and he has pointed out the bearing of his work upon eclipse photography (p. 246). The following details of the operations he follows may enable other photo- graphers to repeat his experiments. ‘‘ The plate is placed under a punched stencil in a printing frame. It is exposed at Zcm. from a 16 c.p. lamp. By a few trials one can find the time-interval of exposure, so conditioned that nothing will develop on the plate in a developer of fixed composition, strength and temperature, and at a-fixed distance from the 16c.p. lamp. This is a standard developer, With a shorter time of exposure than that giving the zero plate, a negative will result, and with a longer time, a positive. A plate to be used in taking any picture to be developed in the standard developer (as a positive) is all exposed to the 16 c.p. light at a distance 7 cm. for a time which experiment has shown will put the film into the zero condition when developed in the standard bath. It is then put into the plate-holder, and given a camera exposure in the usual way, after which it is developed.’ It is not important that the developing bath should be at any. particular distance from the lamp. The plate is to be pre-exposed so that a zero plate will result in that: particular bath, at any fixed distance from the lamp. I usually make this distance about eight inches.’ ACCORDING to Maxwell's electromagnetic theories, a moving body charged electrically produces a magnetic field. In the Bulletin of the French Physical Society; M. Y. Crémieu NO. 1608, VOL. 62] gives a brief note on certain experiments destined to test the’ actual existence of such a field, as well as the converse result - that a moying charge placed in a variable magnetic field’ Having, at the — s suggestion of M, Lippmann, conducted some experiments for with ‘negative results, M. Crémieu now gives an account of certain investi-. gations made with a disc of 37 cm. in diameter, rotating at the — experiences a certain ponderomotive force. the purpose of investigating the latter effect, rate of 100 to 130 revolutions per second in the centre of an. annular coil connected with a highly sensitive galvanometer. If the disc is suddenly charged, the convection current thus produced should give rise to an induced current through the galvanometer, and the magnitude of the convection current being, determined by the number of revolutions and the density of the charge, the amount of the expected deflection of the galvano- meter could be calculated. No deviation of the predicted magni- tude. was obtained, and the author concluded that a moving charge does not produce a magnetic field. Such a conch on leads logically to the rejection of existing theories of the electric current, and M. Crémieu proposes to conduct further experi- ments with the object of throwing more light on this difficult — question. The author does not, in this note, say anything about the effects of the self-induction of the rotating disc, and further information on this point appears desirable in cee the results. f A FEW interesting details referring to the use oh wireless telegraphy in the French navy are given by a naval correspon- dent of the Daily Graphic. It is stated that half. a-dozen- ships in the combined French squadron recently at Cherbourg were fitted for wireless telegraphy, and the clicking, crackling, and sparking of the big coils was heard on. board all day.. Messages have been taken in and sent out at distances quite twice or three times as great as anything achieved with the instruments in use in the British ships. The French do not fit the wire toa as in our ships ; ; it is suspended between the funnels to: the triatic stay, and is much less conspicuous. . The manceuvring of the submarine boats, Aforse and Warval, is described as atin i 5 they are, it is stated, much ahead of the American Holland b which i is considered to be a formidable creapor: cases | a AN interesting and detailed account of Count von ‘Zepplirs successful trial trip of his navigable balloon on July 2 is given in — Die Umschau by an anonymous author, who has endeavoured to dispel the. somewhat exaggerated reports which have been circulated as to the success or failure of the experiment. ‘It is pointed out that the delay in the ascent, which some persons _ attributed to an accident, was really caused by the wind being too strong at the time originally proposed for the trip. The wind-velocity at the time of starting was 5‘5 metres per second, and the balloon was actually driven forwards for a short distance in the face of this wind. But after a short time the path deviated till it made an angle of 30° with the wind-direction. This deviation, the writer explains, was due to several causes. In the first place the rope broke which supported the movable mass necessary for the maintenance of longitudinal balance, and to restore equilibrium it was necessary to stop or even reverse one of the machines, so that the balloon could no longer be driven full ahead. Moreover, the framework was found to have undergone a little deformation, which gave the machine a slight bias to one side, interfering with the steering. The wind causing the balloon to drift towards the shore, a descent was made in order that Count Zeppelin might land on the water (to use an Irishism), and thus have his machine towed back by steamer. The descent was very gradual, the cars gently sinking down to the water without the sudden jerk which is commonly experienced in an ordinary balloon. This result is attributed to the favout- ‘ ae» Le I eee NATURE 397 n of the balloon, a cylinder experiencing greater a as brilliant. ave already referred to the great loss anthropology has edin the death of Mr. Frank Hamilton Cushing on April he current number of the American Anthropologist are notices by various leading American anthropologists, it is evident that a peculiarly gifted and winning ty y has passed away. Mr. Cushing had great. manual id an acute appreciation of how things were made, ot practised himself to do anything an American omplish, and with the same limited resources. rs he lived with the Zuiii Indians, living their life g himself with their ideas and modes of thought, ‘rose onan in the social Pueblo life, taking part in their and i in their sacred ceremonies. An intense eagerness of his, life, and his kindly sympathetic nature and ligence and dexterity placed him in the front rank of é “epoca MS. material, which it is to be hoped will fully published, for*his published works by no means do the extent and value of his researches. contemporary Sctence, for July 27, contains a summary # Lacey Act,” ‘recently passed by Congress for the pro- a ot and other birds in the United States, and for i ation of foreign birds and mammals. important Act has been confided by the a ent of Agriculture to the Division of . Palmer being the officer selected to supervise tion. Dr. Palmer has lost no time in making aciples of the new law, having already published ‘of the Department, entitled ‘‘ Protection and Im- Birds, under Act of Congress, approved May 25, regards the ‘importation of wild animals and birds, veto is placed on certain injurious species ; and im- in all cases obtain special permits from the Secre- ture before a single. individual can be landed. s should be applied for in advance. No permits shipping birds from one State to another, although ites the Commissioners of Fish and Game have allow the shipment of a limited number for breeding are necessary for domesticated birds, and : s to natural history specimens for museums. In of the larger ruminants special permits will be issued, ore, in the form prescribed for domesticated mammals. d species include the European house-sparrow, the r, : fr. ‘bats or flying foxes, and the mongoose, or ichneu- etsy inspectors are appointed to carry out the law, advice in cases of difficulty. The attention of all ‘i d is drawn to those sections which make it unlawful : from. one State to another animals or birds taken in ion of local laws, and which require all packages live birds and animals to be clearly marked with and address of the shipper, and with the nature of heal re HBR or no the inferior animals have souls, forms the ect of an article by Herr S. von Uexkiill in the ZioZ. alt of os I. 2 rt 3 of vol. xxviii. of the Morphologisches Jahrbuch, Dr. lier publishes his third memoir on the vertebrate brain, g specially ‘of that of the mouse, but adding some ob- s in regard to Echidna. The second article in the same ‘NO. 1608, voL. 62] 2 than a sphere. The performance of the motors and | was brought up with it. number is by Dr. Fiirbringer, and treats of the systematic position of the Myxinoids. The author is of opinion that vertebrates should be subdivided as follows :— I. Acrania (Amphioxina). II. Craniota : (1) Distoma (Myxinoides). (2) Cyclostoma (Petromyzontes). (3) Gnathostoma : (a) Anamia (Pisces, Dipneusta, Amphibia). ' (6) Amniota (Reptilia et Aves, Mammalia). WE have received the Report of the Manchester Museum for 1899-1900. From this we learn that the Museum has been en- riched during the period in question with two collections of first-class importance, one of these being Mr. C. H. Schill’s cabinet of Lepidoptera, and the other the Layard collection of wcepors and implements. IN the concluding part of his eS Ornithological Notes,” pub- lished in the July issue of the Victortan Naturalist, Mr. Robert Hall, of Melbourne, discusses the question whether a tree- building diamond-bird (Pardalotes) is the foster-parent of a cuckoo. In the case referred to the young cuckoo was actually seen to be fed by the diamond-bird, one of whose own young The incident is at present quite unique. TuE Library of the Patent Office is-an institution known and appreciated by many students of science, both pure and applied. A series of classified catalogues of the contents of the Library has just been started by the publication of a ‘Subject List of Works on Photography, and the Allied Arts. and Sciences,” Each’ volume of the series will contain (1) a general alphabet of subject headings, with’ descriptive entries, in chronological order, of the works arranged under these’ headings ; (2) a key or a summary of these headings shown in class order. The pre- sent list comprises 557 works (73 serials, 484 text-books, &c,) wholly or in part photographic—representing 1300 volumes. The catalogue is really a valuable little bibliography of photo- graphy as well as a guide to the contents of the Library. THE additions to the Zoological Society’s Gardens during the past week include a Green Monkey (Cercopithecus callitrichus), a —— Monkey (Cercopithecus, sp. inc.) from West Africa, pre- sented by Mr. L. J. Sparrow; a Mozambique Monkey (Cerco- pithecus pygerythrus) from East ‘Africa, presented by Mr. C. Mackay ; three Pheasants (Phastanus colchicus), British ; a Common Peafowl (Pave cristatus, g ) from India, presented by Captain G. H. Arnot ; a Long-legged Buzzard (Auteo ferox), a Black Kite (A/i/vus migrans), two Lesser Kestrels( Tinnunculus cenchris), European, two American Kestrels (7inunctlus Sparverius) from America, presented by Mr. J. Simonds; a Bengal Weaver Bird (Ploceus bengalensts), a Manyar Weaver Bird (Ploceus manyar), four Black-throated Weaver Bird (Ploceus atrigula), an Indian Roller (Coracias indica) from India, presented by Mr. E. W. Harper; a Spiny-tailed Iguana (Ctenosaura acanthura) from Central America, presented by Mr. C. Hagenbeck ; a Common Lizard (Lacerta vivipara), British, presented by Mr. Stanley S. Flower; a Military Macaw (Ara militaris) from- South- America,: a Roseate Cockatoo (Cacatua roseicapilia), six Blue Lizards (Cerrhonotus coeruleus) ‘from Australia, three Blue-tongued Lizards ( 7i/igua scincoides) from Western North America, a White-collared Kingfisher (Halcyon chloris) from India, a Saddle-backed Tortoise ( 7estudo ephippium), three Albemarle Tortoises’ (7estudo vicina), two Thin-shelled Tortoises ( Zestudo microphyes) from the Galapagos Islands, deposited ; an Argali Sheep (Ovés ammon, 2) from the Altai Mountains, two Black Storks (Czconia nigra), European ; a Ring-necked Pheasant (Phasianus torquatus) from China, purchased; four Indian Crows (Corvus splendens), a > 398 NATURE [AucustT 23, 1900 Little Cormorant (Phalacrocorax javanicus), a Green-winged Dove (Chalcophaps indica) from India, received in exchange ; a Japanese Deer (Cervus sika), five Rosy-billed Ducks (AZe/opiana peposaca), bred in the Gardens. OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. VELOCITIES OF METEORS.—At the second annual meeting of the Astronomical and Astrophysical Society of America, recently held at Columbia University, New York, Dr. W. L. Elkin described the apparatus and results of photographs obtained at the Yale Observatory for the determination of the velocity of meteors (.Sezerce, vol, xii. pp. 125-6). The idea of using photo- graphy for this purpose appears to have been first suggested by J.. H. Lane in 1860, but it was not until 1885 that Zenker made the next practical attempt in Berlin, and attention has again been recently called to the matter by Prof. Fitzgerald. The Yale apparatus consists of a bicycle wheel fitted with twelve radial opaque screens, fixed so that, while rotating, the screens are brought intermittently in front of the cameras. The wheel as at present worked makes about 50-60 revolutions per minute, but it would be better to increase this speed in future apparatus. A check on the velocity is afforded by records made each revolution on a chronograph.. The length of interruption of the meteor trail and the ‘consequent velocity are then. determinable if a second observation of the meteor from a distant station has been obtained. In November and December 18g9, five such duplicate trails were secured. The apparent velocities of these are given as 50°4, 12°2, 50°3, 20°2, 36°5 kilometres per sec. ; their altitudes varying from 45 to 100 kilometres. - Correcting the apparent velocities for the attraction of the earth and the diurnal rotation by Schiaparelli’s formulz, the true velocities with respect to the sun are 34°4, 32°0, 32°4, 39°8, 34°0 kilometres per sec. Comparing these velocities with’ those calculated on assumption of parabolic or elliptic orbits, the real velocities are in all cases smaller, indicating that the atmospheric retardation has amounted to 8-15 kilometres per sec. The elements deduced for one meteor, an Andromedid, agree remarkably closely with those of Biela’s comet, showing the method to be capable of considerable accuracy. STANDARDS FOR FAINT STELLAR MAGNITUDES.—Prof. E. C. Pickering announced at the above-mentioned conference that a grant of 500 dollars had been made from the Romford Fund for the purpose of carrying out an investigation on the brightness of faint stars by the co-operation of several observ- ‘atories possessing large telescopes. The point immediately desirable is the accurate measurement of a few stars which shall serve as standards for future work on a larger scale. Five photometers have been constructed, each having a photographic wedge which. may be interposed between the eye and the star as seen by the telescope. Thirty-six regions have been care- fully selected in different parts of the sky, and twenty stars (five of each of. magnitudes 12, 15, 16, 17) are to be chosen in each region, the faintest to be selected and measured with the Lick and Yerkes telescopes. The stars of the 16th magnitude will be measured with the 26-inch of the University of Virginia, and perhaps also with the 23-inch Princeton refractor ; those of the 15th magnitude will be measured by the 15-inch Harvard telescope. All of these are to be then compared with stars of the 12th magnitude, whose adso/ute magnitudes will finally be determined with the 12-inch Harvard meridian photometer. After the work is properly got in hand, it is hoped that it may be reduced to a simple routine without sacrificing the quality of the results. THE ToTAaL Soar Ectiipse, May 28, 1900.—As more detailed reports of the results obtained by the American ob- servers during the recent total eclipse come io hand, it is interest- ing to note the increased use which has been made of large diffraction gratings, both concave and plane. In Sczence (vol. | xii. pp. 174-184), Mr. L, E. Jewell describes the work at Pine- hurst, N.C., and Griffin, Georgia, of the two parties organised by the physical department of the Johns Hopkins University. At each station there were installed two spectroscopes, one having a plane diffraction grating, surface 3 x 5 inches, 15,000 lines to the inch, used in conjunction with a quartz lens to photograph the spectrum of the first order; the other having a concave grating of 10 feet radius and 15,000 lines to the inch, mounted NO. 1608, VOL, 62] in the usual Rowland form, with a. large quartz lens to throw an image of the sun on ‘the slit-plate from a heliostat. 1 photographs were very successful, and show the spectrum’ wave-lengths 3000 to 6000, even the exposures of ‘only second giving good negatives. : In the same number of Science Profs. E. B. Frost anc Barnard describe the apparatus they successfully used the same eclipse at Wadesboro, N.C, REPORT OF THE CAPE OBSERVATORY.—In his r ; the year 1899 Sir David Gill, Her. Majesty’s Astronomer Cape of Good Hope Observatory, makes special menti completion of the new record room, providing sto scripts, the safe preservation and orderly arrangen precious astrographic plates, and also serving as the p the measurements of these plates are undertaken. The pier and foundations for the new transit circle pleted, hut the delay in obtaining the sheet steel dom the work at a standstill. The observations with the instrument have been mainly those of the standard stars for the reduction of the Catalogue Astrographic plates., When the new transit circle arrives it will be entirely devoted to the systematic meridian observations of the sun, Mercury, Venus a mental stars. With the heliometer, observatior oppositions of major planets have been continued. — The 24-inch object glass of the McClean e returned to: Sir Howard Grubb, for refiguring, anc ment, has, hitherto only been used with.a. slit stellar spectra. Since the photographic ob lis- mounted the 18-inch visual lens has been used for measurements of twenty-one, close double stars. The 7-inch equatorial has been used in the ‘revision of the Cape Photographic Durch-— musterung, in the observation of suspected variable stars, and in~ the detection of double stars, = this Hil ee 3 The 6-inch instrument with a Zollner photom used for determining the visual magnitudes of sta areas of different galactic latitudes, the photograp) of which are already determined. A comparison visual and photographic magnitudes will subseque With the astrographic equatorial 152 chart plates and catalogue plates have been passed. 103 plates, conte stars, have been measured during the year, all showing an error of 0’'6 being repeated. = - Seventy-eight photographs of /r2s were taken during July 11~December 31, with sz exposures on ea conjunction with meridian observations of comparison i intended to.use the results of the measurements of plat for determining the mass of the moon, The geodetic survey of South Africa and Rhodesia has considerably advanced, but was interrupted by the outbre the Transvaal war. The Anglo-German boundary been hindered by the waterless character of the Kz but the work is now completed as far as Ar: lags r offset chain will be carried to the 20th meri . E, Peek sen a pamphlet of sixteen pages containing the sixth cc on systematic observations of variable stars made at his « at Rousdon, Lyme Regis, Devonshire. The p: furnishes the details of the variability of T Cassiope! years 1889-1898, and of R Cassiopeiz for the 1887-1898, The light curves of both ars al the end of the pamphlet. by. _ INDEPENDENT Day NUMBERS FOR 1902. —A s pan has been issued from the Cape Observatory ig the n dent day numbers for correcting the places of stars given in Nautical Almanac for 1902. The values of the constants: precession, aberration and nutation employed in the \ ene recommended by the Paris International C 1896. cal iy eeepc, RouspON OBSERVATORY (DEVON).—Sir ¢ : 2* welriine THE AUGUST PERSEIDS OF 1900. ()BSERVATIONS of this well-known annual display * much hindered by moonlight, though the weather wi generally clear at about the time of the maximum. O1 satellite was full on the evening of August 10, and all the smaller meteors. Apart, however, from t ference, the shower of 1900 seems to have been a scanty one. It furnished a considerable number of CUMS RT _Aveust 23, 1900] Ae NATURE 399 eteors it is true, and of these it is hoped the real paths may be omputed ; but on the nights of August 10 and rr observers what disappointed: with the character of their results. ‘of the full moon’s influence in practically obliterating shower may not, however, have been given sufficient The best night sae to have been August 12, when s were tolerably frequent considering the circum- ae) . - moonlight presented an obstacle to success in the eek of | t, there was no such impediment early in and during the last fortnight of July. The earlier he shower were.therefore well observed. . In fact, it onable whether the Perseids have ever been more suc- ‘observed in the month of July. Amon »in the observations were Profi A. S. Herschel, _R. Bridger, W. E. Besley, A. King, and many \t Cambridge a e number of meteors were re- he results show that the first Perseids were noticed ly 16, and gradually increased in numbers until the maximum. The radiant showed the usual E.N.E. a most decided manner. — x KC fon July 15-30, in 174 hours of observation, ors were seen, including about 24' Aquarids (radiant and 5 Perseids. But the only night on which a aumber of Perseids were registered to indicate a good July 30, when the ‘position was at 31°+54° from Io ral of the most prominent of the minor showers of the ‘observed, and their radiants accurately determined as | 305° 12°, 8 meteors 315° +47°; 9 tg 935 TIS Bi. , at Clapham Common, London, registered were seen on the 23rd (30 meteors) and 24th s results are important, for on the former ant point of the Perseids at 23°+51°, at 25°+524°, from 5 and 7 meteors rCSU! shel, at Slough, during a series of short n y 17 and August 1, recorded 53 meteors, very interesting early Perseids and_ several ‘position of the latter radiant was placed at ut 7 paths. ; s seen by Prof. Herschel were also noted The earliest Perseid of which duple ae << . 4 emeris plac 6, and Memoirs R.A.S., vol. liii. p. 210. nt. Aquarids were recorded at Slough and Bristol 0, with heights from 65 to 44 miles and 56 to ively. These meteors are usually lower in the re thar be) Perseids, and move much slower. If we adiant of the former shower in 1900 as 339°— 11°, we wobably have a position which is certainly within 1° of On July 15, at 1oh. 13m., a Capricornid fireball was seen at stol ind» 4 laces.. It was a splendid object, about ree tl nes brighter than Venus, in the northern part of England. fell thts of 51 to 21 miles, along a path of 78 miles ; » 16 mi r second. long set, the brilliancy of the meteor was described as dazzling, and the nucleus left a streak which remained for three-quarters of an hour. The meteor was directed ‘radiant at 249°- 20° in Scorpio, and fell from a height 5 miles, along a path of about 175 miles. Pa wnotbet { nes the brightness of Venus, It was seen at Bristol and NO 1608, VOL. 62] those who: re indicated at 53° + 63°, 245° + 72°, 333° +28. neteors between July 14 and 24, and the great. aly 17, at 8h. 47m., a magnificent fireball appeared over he of England and Scotland. Though the sun reball appeared, and was rated at about | at several stations in the eastern counties. It fell from 68 to 27 miles, along a path of 103 miles; velocity, 19 miles per second, and was directed from a well-known July radiant at 280° — 15°. But the number of brilliant meteors which have recently appeared is so large that the objects cannot be alluded to in detail. Many ordinary shooting stars have also been doubly observed, and these will be tabulated and published at a later period. Among these there was an interesting @ Perseid on July 23, 11h. 13m., with heights of 83 to 59 miles, and a radiant at 30°+47°, quite distinct from the true Perseids. On about August 10-12 the radiant of the Perseids was found far east of its place in July. On August 12, Mr. King, at Leicester, determined the position as 484°+58° from 16 Perseids, and Mr. Besley derived it at 47°+ 564° on the same night from 4 meteors. On August 16 the writer at Bristol saw 5 Perseids from a radiant at 54° +58”. ) J Though the shower was partially obliterated by moonlight just at the important time, it has this year furnished some in- teresting materials for discussion as regards its earlier and later stages. W. F, DENNING. WHAT PRESSURE IS DANGEROUS ON ELECTRIC RAILWAYS WITH OVERHEAD TROLLEY WIRES} ‘THE following investigations were set on foot on account of a dissension between the firm of Messrs. Brown, Boveriand Co., Switzerland (Baden), and the: authorities regarding the proper pressure for two different electric railways to be worked by three-phase alternating current, namely, the lines Stansstad- Engelberg and Fermatt-Garnergratt, which lines it was proposed to work at. a. pressure of ‘750 volts. . But this pressure being regarded as dangerous, the authorities refused to allow one exceeding 500 volts to be actually employed... In these circumstances the. firm communicated with Prof. H. F, Weber,.of the Ziirich Polytechnic, asking him to express his opinion on this matter. In view, however, of his own want of experience on this particular point, Prof, Weber commenced a long series of investigations of the physiological effects of the. electric current on the human. body, and he used himself as the measuring instrument, thus exposing himself to great danger. The experiments were made with reference to the special circumstances of the above railways, where the current was supposed to be supplied through two overhead leads, the rails being used as the third conductor of the three-phase system. Two series of experiments were made corresponding with the cases— (a) A person seizes the two bare leads with both hands simultaneously, or both of the leads fall on a bare part of the human body. (4) A bare part of a person standing on the railway or on a car comes into contact with one of the leads. The apparatus used in the case of experiments (a) consisted of an iron ring wound with 630 turns of wire, through which was sent an alternating current, the frequency of which was 50 per second. The voltage between the first and the last turn was kept at 210 volts. To every thirtieth turn was soldered a copper wire of 10 cm. length, and 6 mm. diameter, and consequently the pressure between the first and the second wire was 10 volts, that between the first and third 20 volts, and so on, up to 210 volts. Prof. Weber tried these pressures successively on himself, constantly holding with one hand the first wire and seizing with the other hand each of the other wires in succession. The experiments were made three times, his hands being each time wetted to begin with, and afterwards being used dry. The results of each of the three series so obtained were consistent with one another. When experimenting with wet Aands he obtained the follow- ing results :— P.D. Effect. 10 volts. Very feeble trembling of the muscles of the fingers ; ; the current from hand to hand was measured and found to be o’oor ampere. Very considerable trembling of the hands, wrists and forearms; the hands and the arms were able to be moved freely, and the wires could be 1 By William Rung, C.E., of the firm of Brown, Boveri and Co., Switzer> oo caer from the Danish Civilengeneer by F. Lehmann, M. Fy janis. Pe UP $ 20 volts, 400 NATURE _. [Aucust 23, 1900 released easily. The current was from 0°0020 | he is, however, rather well insulated by means. oe his shoe to 00027 ampere. and, as it will be evident from the results, the danger is int 30 volts. The fingers, hands, wrists, the forearms and upper | case very small even at high pressures. arms nearly paralysed; the fingers or hand The arrangement used for this series of experiments « could scarcely be moved ; ; serious pains in the | of twenty glow-lamps,each for 100 volts pressure, conn: fingers, hands and arms, and the experiment | series and all well insulated, the total alternating not endurable for more than 10 seconds. The | between the first and the last lamp being 2000 volts. wires could, however, be released, but only by | terminal of the first lamp was earthed, and between ev using the greatest determination. Current, | consecutive lamps a 6 mm. copper wire was solderéé O'OI5 ampere. main connecting the lamps. Between the earth and t 40 volts. The fingers, hands and arms were instantaneously | second, third to the twentieth of the 6 mm. wires, th paralysed, and the pain was almost unbearable. | was consequently 100, 200, 300, '. . . 2000 volts. The wires could hardly in any case be released. Standing on the ground, Prof. Weber touched the The pain could not be endured longer than § | wires—firstly, merely by a slight touch; sécondly, » ‘seconds. gripping them in his hand. The experiments were 50 volts. Ages instantaneous : paralysis of all the muscles of he fingers, hands and arms; the wires could val be released; the state endurable for 2 seconds at most, whence it was impossible to measure the current. - Having obtained the above results, the experimenter did not find it advisable to let the pressure exceed the 50 volts; the fact that when the hands were wet, it was impossible on 50 volts pressure to release the wires, seemed to prove to him that serious danger was just beginning at this point. With dry hands he formed the epotony results :— P.D.. 40 volts. The fingers only tihele slightly ; the current too feeble for measurement. The effects gradually increasing and extending to the arms up to the shoulders, until.at The fingers, hands and arms were almost cramped and aching in every part; great effort was required to release the wires; current from 0°009 to O’OII ampere. At the same moment in which the. wire is seized, the hands are absolutely paralysed and the wire cannot be released again. The pains in the hands and arms were so violent that they caused the experimenter to call out involuntarily ; the effects could not be endured for more than 1-2 seconds. The experimenter now went back to 80 volts, and the difference was so great that the effects of this pressure seemed to be extremely feeble relatively to the effects at 90 volts pressure ; this fact prevented him from trying the effects of pressure higher still From these experiments Prof. Weber draws the following conclusions :— ‘* A simultaneous touching of both of the poles of an alter- nating current circuit is dangerous as soon as the pressure exceeds 100 volts ; and since it is impossible to set one’s self free, the case must be regarded as fatal whenever immediate help is not at hand.” These results are consistent with several disasters which have happened in practical life. In 1896, in Horgen (Switzerland), a man, to prevent his falling 80 volts. 90 volts. down from a ladder, seized with both his hands two non-: insulated leads with a P.D. of 240 volts between them, and was immediately killed. In a mine in Silesia a workman seized in the same manner some non-insulated leads and was killed on account of his being unable to release them, the P. D. being 300 volts. In the Electric Central Station in Olten a workman, desirous of proving to his companions that a pressure of 500 volts was quite safe, seized both of the leads and was killed instantly. Froin this it is obvious that the general opinion of a pressure of 500 volts not being dangerous does not hold good, the limit being much lower. In spite of the great number of disasters which have already happened, the danger does not seem to have been generally appreciated, and workmen and erectors are often. seen to deal with leads and apparatus of relatively high pressures in the most careless manner. That disasters have not taken place far more often may be due to the fact that -in most cases ’ help has been at hand instantly. ° Entirely differing from these are the results of the other series of.experiments (4). In this case the person is. supposed ‘to stand at one of-the poles itself, namely, the earth, whee which NO. 1608, VOL. 62] ‘against the danger, for the hand is instinctively drawn back ‘rapidly. two conditions, the experimenter standing firstly o isa and afterwards on clay covered by a thee ee ) ust. Standing on motst gravel soil, he obtained “the results :— Pa) Effect when the wire w : Slightly touched. Firmly 800 volts. Feeble stinging of the skin. ey eae Gradually increasing wath at’ sacha’ 2000 volts. ‘Violent stinging of the I aa ok, trembling the _ skin. Z Standing on clay covered with coal- dust, he | following results :— » Nees DP Effect when the wire her Ee - © Slightly touched. gripped. 200 volts. Scarcely sensible sting- No effect whatever. ing of the skin. The fin es begin to tng : eo feebly. 2 } Gradually increasing. ~ Intense tr 700 55 st . 1000: ‘Stinging ‘like’ burning | Th by a flame. 2 E 1300 ,, Same effect. The ped A ' * paralysed, ‘and the cannot be re From the last series of experithents it will be obvi vious to touch one of the poles is not dangerous as long as. pressure does not exceed about 1000 volts ; the intense stin p which appears at the first slight touching serves as a Rvegce n The main result of these experiments is, then, that all pres: i= sures between 100 and 1000 volts must ‘be regarded as equally dangerous, and consequently there is no reason for not using the higher pressures between 500 and 1000 volts, especially as te lead to greater economy in the working of the electric ee Further, there is only a very little chance of the passengers < : other persons coming into contact with both’ of the leads. this danger the employés only are exposed, and being gener people with some electric training, they are acquainted with danger and may be supposed to be sufficiently careful. Finally, it is to be remarked that the authorities after thes investigations allowed the use of a working BREEN, of 786 volts as originally proposed. ~ E. SEA COAST: DESTRUCTION AND LITO. FG? 6 A fas ‘THE increasing number of seaside resorts that are. stantly. being established all round the coast of th country, and the necessity of protecting the sea front ges devastation of the waves, has led recently to greater being shown in the protection of the shores and cliffs. _ The means taken to preserve our coasts are as dive many of them are ineffectual ; and in many cases are ¢ without any proper consideration being given to. the | which the waves act, or to the physical conditions which hay be dealt with in the management of the littoral drift; y ~ AvuGusT 23, 1900] NATURE 401 18 frequently the amenities of the beaches of seaside resorts, and ‘their use and enjoyment by visitors, are impaired by structures ‘as ugly as they are useless to attain the object in view, and in other cases the construction of costly works is rapidly followed their destruction by the sea. a conditions that have led to the present state of the cliffs and oast, and the conditions under which the material is drifted the shore. For the purpose of illustration, the coast-line south-west of England between Start Point and the Solent has been selected, as this presents features of unusual interest for the study of coast destruction and the drift and accumulation of ee weeterial. The cliffs between these two points consist of a series of rocks of varying degrees of hardness, showing in many laces almost vertical faces to the sea, and ranging in height up 500 or 600 feet. The destruction of these cliffs leads to the on the beach at their base, of fragments of rock, or inland gravels derived from their summits, which are converted =6 wave action into shingle, consisting of pebbles of varying er and size, but generally shaped into the form of flattened ovoids, readily distinguishing them from the angular gravels due to ial drift, or the rounded pebbles rolled down inland rivers. ___ Originally, no doubt, these cliffs descended to the bed of the _ English Channel with the same slopes as characterise their land _ faces, and were washed by the deep water of the sea without _ the intervention of the sand beaches which now stretch from _ them, and which, where they exist, have an almost uniform — inclination rea all parts of the coast. The. present orm of these cliffs is due to the destructive action of the waves, or to landslips and weathering from rain‘ and frost. The wearing away has not been regular. Head- _ lands composed of hard rocks project out boldly to low-water _ mark and beyond, while the softer rocks which formerly ad- _ joined them have been gradually worn away, leaving indents of ney moo Sa depths. - Some i tion of the original position of the coast, and the distance to which it extended beyond the present line, is afforded fe ew remains of a raised beach, portions of which, consisting x pennies which have been subjected to marine action, are to m at Portland Bill on the east of Lyme Bay, at Hopes Nose, near Torquay, at Brixham and in Start Bay on the west. (tein beaches are at a much higher level than the present __._water-line. The direction of this old beach was located by the __ late Sir J. Prestwich as running in an unbroken line at ten miles ____ outside the present shore between the thirteen- and twenty- _ fathom contour. There are also patches of gravel near the ____ nine-fathom contour extending all round the bay at about a mile _____ The coast-line has been broken up into three principal indents __ between the two headlands, namely, Lyme Bay, Weymouth _ Bay and Bournemouth Bay ; the contour of which again is split ; on bo numerous minor bays and coves, the greater number of own have their own peculiar characteristics and contain their es iar accumulations of shingle. Two of these shingle _ banks, namely, the Chesil Bank in Lyme Bay, and that at Hurstcastle at the entrance to the Solent, are, perhaps, the most remarkable accumulations to be found anywhere round the coast ___ of Great Britain ; while at Axmouth is one of the most extensive _ landslips of which there is any record. The fight between sea _ and land is continvous and unceasing, with the result that the area of this country is gradually being reduced. rivers which discharge into the sea along the south _ coast are few and insignificant in character, and are utterly in- __ capable of transporting from the land the large amount of stones or sand now found on the coast. In some cases they have been __ blocked up by the littoral drift. A careful consideration of all _ the circumstances can therefore only lead to the conclusion that some of the results which have been attained must be due to _ ‘Other and mightier forces than those now in existence. These __ forces may probably be ascribed to the same agencies that gave __ to this country the shape which it now assumes, and by which the valleys and rivers were scooped out. _At the close of the last great Ice Age the melting of the vast a of snow which then coveréd this country must have led to ___ large torrents of water escaping seaward, which would carry with __ them the debris from the rocks broken up by frost and ice, in _ the shape of boulders, gravel and sand ; and Tete leaving de- posits in the valleys and those which are to be found on the summit of the cliffs, would carry the degraded material to the sea and form a talus at the level of the water. This deposit, NO. 1608, VOL. 62] proposed as shortly as possible in this article to state the | after the wear and tear caused by the waves during long ages, resulted in the present sand beaches. It is certain that the enormous mass of sand which now covers the littoral of the sea cannot have been deposited by existing agencies. The degradation of the cliffs that takes place is quite inadequate to account for its existence ; more especially as onl the harder rocks have afforded the material of which the sand ts composed, the softer detritus having been carried away in sus- pension to the depths of the ocean. The sand of the seashore consists almost entirely of grains of quartz of a nearly uniform size, and even where flints abound in the sea cliffs and in the shingle on the beach, this material is conspicuous by its absence in the sand of the shore. As pointed out in my letter in NATURE of November 30 last, only about one-third of the flints lying on the beaches along the south coast, not only in the part dealt with but also on those bordering on the chalk cliffs extending from Brighton to the North Foreland, and in the large accumulations at the Chesib Bank and Dungeness, are derived from the chalk, the colour of the majority of the flints being different shades of brown, grey, white and red, the former being most prevalent, whereas flints from the chalk are invariably black with a white exterior coating. If the above assumption as to the deposit of land detritus on the coast be correct, it affords a reasonable explanation of this phenomenon. Another provf that the large accumulations of shingle along the coast are not due to agencies at present operating, is afforded by the fact that the Chesil Bank and Hurst Bank, where the supply of new material drifting along the coast is limited, have not varied materially in shape or increased in size during the time to which the most ancient records relating to them extend, the fresh supply coming from the cliffs being only sufficient in these cases to make up the wear and tear caused by the waves. The supply afforded by the degradation of the cliffs is after all limited in quantity, and only about equal to making good the waste due to the constant wave action on the shingle. If from any cause an abnormal accumulation takes place on any particular part of the coast, denudation immediately sets in on the coast beyond. Instances of this are: afforded by the ex- tension of the Point at Dungeness and the banking up of the shingle on the west side, which has led to a diminished supply all along the Dymchurch and Hythe coasts. The construction of the Admiralty Pier at Dover has led to the denudation of the coast to the northward along St. Margaret’s Bay. The pier at Shoreham Harbour for a time denuded the supply at Hove and Brighton ; and it is found universally to be the case that where the drift has been stopped by the debris from the fall of the cliffs acting as a groyne extending out to low water, or where artificial works have arrested the progress of the drift, the coast -beyond has suffered from denudation. There is no continuous drift of shingle throughout the whole length of this coast, but the material is confined to the various bays and the banks where it has been accumulated. It has been stated that the land gravel found along the foot of the chalk cliffs at the east end of the English Channel may have been derived from the waste of the gravel beds of the cliffs of Dorset and Hampshire, and that pebbles found on the Chesil Bank have been derived from the coast of Devon; but an examination of the coast shows that under present conditions, at any rate, this is neither the case nor physically possible. For this to have occurred the shingle must not only have passed the numerous headlands which project into the water, but also the approaches to Southampton and Portsmouth, in which the depth of the channels is from five to ten fathoms. Nearly every bay and cove along the coast here dealt with has its‘own peculiar accumulation of shingle, which does not travel beyond the projecting headland, and. in many cases there are long intervals along the shore where the rock is bare. Thus the shingle in Slapton Bay is of a different character from that found in any other part of the same coast. | It consists almost entirely of round white quartz pebbles, resembling peas in shape, and averaging from an eighth to a quarter of an inch in diameter. This shingle not only covers the beach, but has been thrown up into a bank, the top of which is above the level of high tides, and has drifted across a deep indent ‘in the bay, into which two fresh-water streams’ discharge, ‘entirely closing this from the sea and forming-it into a fresh-water lake about two miles long. The quartz pebbles of the Slapton beach do not drift beyond the eastern horn ‘of the bay, and ‘are not to be found in-the next recess. All along the» Devonshire coast 402 NATURE [AucusT 23, wee the numerous bays and coves have. beaches on which are accumulated shingle derived from the limestone, slate, green- stone, and other rocks which surmount them, while in others there is an absence of shingle and only sand is found. In the bay lying between the headland of the Exe and that at Otterton- Point, the beach at Budleigh Salterton is strewn with quartzite boulders and pebbles derived from a large bed contained in the cliffs’ bordering this part of the bay. These pebbles are of a pink colour, some having marks on them like blood spots. No stones of a similar character are found in the next. bay, the drift being stopped by some rock ledges which project, out from Otterton Point and form a natural groyne, The shingle in front of Seaton consists almost entirely of the chert and flint derived from the rocks at Beer Head. Beyond this, for several miles there is no continuous bank. of shingle, but accumulations ‘are to be found in the bight of the bays, the pebbles being derived almost, entirely from the gravel beds in the cliffs. on the east side of Bridport Harbour is of a different character from that on the west shore, and resembles in size and shape that at Slapton, but the colour. of . the pebbles. is . different, these consisting of flint instead of quartz, This small shingle continues all along the coast, and up to the commencement of the Chesil Bank. The drift of shingle along the shore. only takes place above the line of low water, and within the zone covered by the horizontal range of the tide, and. it does not accumulate. below the line of mean tide level, except where its progress is stopped by encountering an obstruction, and when the quantity has become so great as to extend out into deep water. When the shingle encounters a river of any magnitude, it extends out in a spit across the entrance to the estuary, causing the tides to be diverted from their direct course, and to flow round the end ; or else the channel becomes diverted from its course to the leeward, and made to flow ina course parallel with the coast for some considerable distance. Examples of this are found along the coast here dealt with, in the Spits across the estuaries of the Teign and the Exe, and that across Christe 1arch Harbour, and in the diversion of the streams at Seaton and Uharmouth. The. Chesil Bank, which commences near Abbotsbury and extends in a south-easterly direction to the island of Portland, a distance of 107 miles, has in its course diverted several small streams, which now flow in a channel running parallel with the bank. The width of this great mound of shingle is about . 500 feet, and its height varies from 32 to 53 feet, its top being from 23 to 43 feet above high tides. Hurst Castle shingle, bank extends out from the mainland at the entrance to, the Solent for 14 miles, terminating in a hook- like formation on. which stands Hurst Castle, erected in the reign of Henry VIII. The bank slopes down. across the Solent for a distance of three miles, leaving only a deep narrow passage between its foot and the Needles, in which is from 4 to 9 fathoms of water. This shingle bank forms on its southern side a steep submarine cliff from 20 to 70 feet in height, the face being very steep and dropping almost suddenly from a dry bank to several fathoms of water. So far as any record exists, this bank has not increased or diminished in size or undergone any material altera- tion since the castle was built. Eastward of the bank there is no drift of shingle, the foreshore for several miles consisting of a wide belt of alluvial deposit. Another lesson this stretch of coast appears to teach is, that the theory which has generally received acceptance, that the prevailing direction in which the shingle is drifted along any given coast is always i in the same direction as that of the pre- vailing wind, is not founded on fact. This theory may be said to have been settled on the facts brought forward in a paper read at the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1853 on the Chesil Bank, and the discussion which followed. A careful examination of the facts mentioned in that article do not appear to warrant any such conclusion, but, on the contrary, tends to disprove it. The local movement of shingle along the south-west coast, and also along the other parts of the seashore, are certainly not uniformly in accord with the direction of the prevailing winds of this country. Approximately, the wind in England blows for two-thirds of the year from the south-west. On the east coast the general direction of the drift is from north to south. On the south-west coast the general direction is from west to east. From Beachy Head to Dover it is north-east; from Dover to the North Foreland, northerly ; ‘from the North Foreland to the mouth of the Thames, westerly ; and north of the Thames south-westerly. NO. 1608, VOL. 62] The shingle On the west coast, the drift is from south to north, up to” the middle of the Trish Channel ; and north of this, from south to north ; and up the Bristol Channel from west to east. In these instances the movement, is in the same direction as set of the flood-tide. Although this is the general | direction of the’ drift, there numerous instances where, owing to the varying set of the ti the drift moves in three or four different directions within short ranges. Taking the example of Lyme Bay and the Bank, the locality where the prevailing wind theory was lished, the facts as given by the author of the paper were the prevailing di direction of the wind on this part of the coast between S.S.W. and S.W.4W., which is ‘practically i angles to the Chesil Bank, | If then the drift is in the ¢ of the prevailing wind, this should lead to a movement. . The bulk ‘of the materials ‘of whielothes composed are stated in the paper to have come from the “lif to the west of the bank, and therefore must have a south-easterly direction. At. the east end of | the shingle derived from the debris of Portlan in a northerly direction. On the other side of th Portland, in Weymouth Bay, the shingle is. moved westerly direction ; therefore, within the space of miles, the drift is in three opposite directions, not one is in the direction of the prevailing winds, but all - ich a in the direction at which the flood-tide strikes the shor g Further, it is correctly stated that the effect of winds from the a south-west tends to pull down the bank, which is restored - again to its normal condition during calms and north-east winds. Along all tidal coasts it will be found that the general ditec- tion of the drift is the same as that of the flood-tide, and ~~ the beach material in bays is moved in the same di that in which the wavelets due to the flowing tide break on beach. It is not contended that shingle is not drifted” roves due to wind. On the contrary, it is a well- . that shingle is frequently drifted, first in one direction then in 'the opposite, during the occurtence of gales blowing from difeveni quarters obliquely on the shore, and that the beaches are a nately heaped up with material at one place and. led another, This process, however, is only. occasional and’ it mittent, and beyond it there is a regular and continuous d one given direction, the main course along the coast in same direction as the flood-tide,. the building 1 up of shingl banks being most-active during calms and off-shore winds. © After a long and careful investigation the writer has satisfied himself that the building up of shingle banks and the regular and continuous drift that takes place along the coast are due to wave action caused by the flow and ebb of the tides. As the great tidal wave moves along the deep water of the c a surrounding the coast, its crest is in'advance of the sides, which — encounter the friction of the shallower water. The swel tide therefore meets the shore at an angle oblique to its central course. As the lateral flow of the swelling water comes in con- tact with the shore it is checked and reflected back, causing” a series of small undulations or wavelets, which ete me 24 of the water. Although these waves are small, var in height, according to the condition of the tide and the tone oe the ancl ets 8 6 to 24 inches, they are constant, and never cease d the time that the beach is covered by the tide, the number of ‘them: vary- ing from ten to twenty a minute. Allowing a mean of { this gives a total of 3600 impulses during the period that each tide is acting on the shore. These wavelets are never absent from the shore, except when absorbed by larger’ waves due to wind, As the wavelets break, the water attains a ipineies a movement, and aided by the flood current lifts up and carries forward coarse sand and pebbles in a movement: oblique:to the — coast line, and so gives them a slow but continuous movement. The constant murmur that is eal ona shingle neath bit taps when there is a total absence of wind, and when ‘the sea is per fectly smooth and calm in the offing, attests the fact that pebbles on the face of a shingle beach are in constant movement. These tidal wavelets are capable of moving and pushing up the face of a shingle bank pebbles weighing from I or 2 ounces up to 5 or 6 lbs. A calculation as to the mechanical power of the water contained in an average sized wavelet shows that kinetic energy developed amounts to 165 foot Ibs., which capable of lifting 9900 pebbles, each weighing 4 ounces, to a height of 1 foot. _W. H. WHEELER: — ey, & AuGusT 23, 1900| _NATURE 403 . RECENT STUDIES IN GRAVITATION. . pene poly made firmer and broader by every later r 1 you, then, that the motion of the planets round r sin in lie, each marking out the area of its orbit at a sta and each having a year proportional to the root 7 the cube of its mean distance from the sun, that there is a force on each planet exactly proportional , directed towards, and inversely as the square of its nice nae _ The lines of force radiate out from. the ic - equally, and always grasp any matter with a m 1 to its mass, whatever planet that matter ne that. ‘action and reaction are equal and opposite, netiacts on the sun with a force proportional to_ its dif, further, we suppose that these forces are y the sum totals of the forces due to every particle of r in the bodies acting, we are led straight to the law of ion, that the force between two masses M, M, is always ional to the product of the masses divided by the square stance + between them, or is — to % = ” +7 a ictieaticlics. G is the constant of gravitation. e force is always proportional to the mass acted on, ke — but only about the mass whichis pulling. for instance that of the sun pulling the earth — ‘earth pulling the moon, or if we compare masses and wei But in this weighing their \d each against the sun. is not the but the mass of the sun. e average, from the mass of the earth, falls reasing by 32 ft. /sec.*, while the earth falls million miles away, with a velocity increas- we can at once show that the mass times that of the earth. sya mass acting, but does not tell us the value of meeting, in terms of our terrestrial standards. , the planets, or the earth, in pounds or d G, we must descend from the heavenly earthly j toatter and either compare the pull of a mass on some body with the pull of the earth on it, 4s engi masses and find the pull between igh he by Newton, and was set ap ah in his So “édition, p- 41). intai cht be used, wild? weighed ndin; it deflected the plumb ratenaity of the mountain could be found rocks composing it, and the distance of b line by a survey. The deflection of the é ‘give the mass of the earth. considered - the possibility: of measuring the wee: two. masses, and calculated how. u a: "tale a sphere a foot in diameter, of the an density, to draw another equal sphere, with their " seperated by }-inch, through that }-inch. But he — mistake in his arithmetic, for while his. result ‘month, the actual time would only be at _ Had his value been right, gravitational ex ould have been beyond the power of even Prof. %t has been thrown on Newton’s authorship of a , but I confess that there is something not altogether z even in the mistake of a Newton. His’ faulty elas, faliverod dat ns Ro Royal Institution of Grant Paisein on jay, 23, by Poynting, F. R. Ss, ‘NO. 2 (ae To 62] | motion due to the different planets pure each © : gh them, one © und or bilogrampe: of terres- | the fact that a body at the earth's surface, — In other words, © i ! | arithmetic showed that there was one quality which he shared | with the rest of mankind. undies in gravitation which I am to describe to you this — ing will perhaps fall into better order if I rapidly run — e well beaten track which leads to those studies, the | irst laid down, by Newton, based on astronomical | 2s the same change of velocity whatever that mass ~ velocity tells us nothing about the mass _ e the accelerations due to different | tion gives us only the acceleration, the - Not long after Newton’s death the mountain experiment was actually tried, and in two ways. The honour of making these first. experiments on gravitation belongs to Bouguer, whose splendid work in thus breaking new ground does.not appear to, me to have received the credit due to it. One of his plans consisted in measuring the deflection of the plumb line due to Chimborazo, one of the Andes peaks, by finding the distance of a star on the meridian from the zenith, first at a station on the south side of the mountain, where the vertical was deflected, and then at a station to the west, where the mountain attraction was nearly inconsiderable, so that the actual nearly coincided with the geographical vertical. The difference in zenith distances gave the mountain deflection. It is not sur rising that, working in snowstorms at one station, and in sandstorms at the other, Bouguer obtained a very in- correct result. But at least he showed the possibility of such work, and since his time many experiments have been carried out on his lines under more favourable conditions. Now, how- ever, I think it is generally recognised that the difficulty of estimating the mass of a mountain from mere surface chips is insurmountable, and it is admitted that the experiment should be turned the other way about and regarded as an attempt to measure the mass of the mountains from the density of the earth known by other experiments. These other experiments are on the line indicated by Newton in his calculations of the attraction of two spheres. The first was carried out by Cavendish. Yj aM M Yy Y L Fic. 1.—Cavendish’s apparatus. In the apparatus (Fig. 1) he used two lead balls, B B, each 2” in diameter. These were hung at the end of a horizontal rod 6’ long, the torsion rod, and this was hung up by a long wire from its middle point. Two a attracting spheres of lead, w w, each 12” in diameter, were brought close to the balls on opposite sides so that their attractions on the-balls conspired to twist the torsion rod round the same way, and the angle of twist was measur The force could be reckoned in terms of this angle by setting the rod vibrating. to and fro and finding the time*of vibration, atid the force came out to less than 1/3000 of a grain. Knowing M, M, and 7 the’ distance between them and the force G M, M,/?*, of | course Cavendish’s result gives G, or knowing the attraction of a big sphere on a ball, and knowing ‘the : attraction of the earth on the same ball, that i is, its weight, the ment gives the mass of the earth in terms of that of the big sphere, and so its mean density. This experiment has often been repeated, but I do not think it is too much to say that "no advance was made in exactness till we come to quite recent work. far the most remarkable recent study in gravitation is Prof. Bo s’ beautiful form of the Cavendish experiment, a research which stands out as a model in beauty of design and in exactness of execution (Fig. 2). But as Prof. Boys has described his ex- periment already in this theatre (Proc. X.7., xiv. Part ii. 1894, . 353), it is not necessary for me to more than refer to it. It 1s enough to say that he made the eae discovery, obvious 404 NATURE- % ning yoy aa [AuGusT 23, 1900 perhaps when made, that the sensitiveness of the apparatus is increased by reducing its dimensions. He therefore decreased the scale as far as was consistent with exact measurement of the parts of the apparatus, using a torsion rod, itself a mirror, only 2” long, gold balls, # m, only }" in diameter, and attracting lead masses, M M, only 4}” in diameter, The force to be measured was less than 1/5 x 10° grain. The exactness of his work was increased by using as suspend- ing wire one of his quartz threads. It would be difficult to over-estimate the service he has rendered in the measurement of small forces by the discovery of the remarkable properties of these threads. One of the chief difficulties in the measurement of these small gravitational pulls is the disturbances which are brought about by the air currents, which blow to and fro and up and down inside the apparatus, producing irregular motions in the torsion rod. These, though much reduced, are not reduced in propor- tion to the diminution of the apparatus. A very interesting repetition of the Cavendish experiment in place of the somewhat untrustworthy metal wire which he used in the work already published. hs Prof. Boys has almost indignantly disclaimed that he was en- gaged on any such purely Jocal experiment as the determination _ of the mean density of the earth. He was working for om Universe,-seeking the value of G, information which would be as useful on Mars or Jupiter or out in the stellar system as here on the earth. But perhaps we may this evening consent oe more parochial in our ideas, and express the results in terms of the mean density of the earth. In such terms, then, both Boys and Braun find that density 5°527 times the density of water, agreeing therefore to I in 5000. +Syaary There is another mode of proceeding which may be regarded as the Cavendish experiment turned from a horizontal into a vertical plane, and in which the torsion balance is replaced by the common balance. This method occurred about the same time to the late Prof. V. Jolly and myself. The principle of my own experiment (PAz/. 7vams., 182, 1891, A, p. Sou) will be sufficiently indicated by Fig. 3. A big bullion ba with a 4-foot beam had two lead spheres, AB, each about 5olbs. in weight, hanging from the two ends in place of the usual scale Fic. 3.—Common balance experiment (Poynting). __ Fic. 2:—Boys’ apparatus. has lately been concluded by Dr. Braun (Devkschriften der Math. Wiss. Classe der Kais. Akad. der Wissenschaften Wien, \xiv. 1896) at Mariaschein, in Bohemia, in which he has sought to get rid of these disturbing air currents by suspending his torsion rod in a receiver which was nearly exhausted, the pressure being reduced to about 3$5 of an atmosphere. The gales which have been the despair of other workers were thus reduced to such gentle breezes that their effect was hardly noticeable. His apparatus was nearly a mean proportional between that of Cavendish and Boys, his torsion rod being about 9" long, the balls weighing 54 gms.—less than two ounces — and the attracting masses either 5 or 9 kgms. His work bears internal evidence of great care and accuracy, and he obtained almost exactly the same result as Prof: Boys. ~. Dr. Braun carried on his work far from the usual laboratory ' facilities, far from workshops, and he had to make much of his . apparatus himself. [His patience and persistence command our ‘ highest admiration. 4 I am glad to say that he is now repeating the experiment, using as suspension a quartz fibre supplied to him by Prof. Boys NO. 1608, VOL. 62] pans. A large lead sphere, M, 1’ in diameter and weighing about 350 lbs., was brought first under one hanging weight, then under the other. The pull of the lead sphere acted first on one side alone and then on the other, so that the tilt of the balance beam when the sphere was moved round was due to twice the pull. By means of riders the tilt, and therefore the was measured directly as so much increase in weight. Thisincrease, when the sphere was brought directly under the hanging weight with 1’ between the centres, was about } mgm. in a total weight of 20 kgm., or about 1 in 100,000,000. If, then, a sphere I foot away pulls with 1/108 of the earth’s pull, the earth being on the average 20,000,000 feet away, it is easy to see that the earth’s — mass is calculable in terms of the mass of the sphere, and its = density is at once deduced. The direct aim of this experiment, — then, is not G, but the mass of the earth. .- ey ae It is not a little surprising that the balance could be made to indicate such a small increase, in weight as 1 in 100 million. — But not only did it indicate, it measured the increase, with —— variations usually well within 1 per cent. of the double attrac- — tion, or to 1 in 5000 million of the whole weight, a changein weight which would occur merely if one of the spheres were moved 4; inch nearer the earth’s centre. This accuracy isonly — ach) ep p25 1 Ly i cE eT eee PEF Oy NN DS rata att ase Sabet sl i Ay Cie re ak AUGUST 23, 1900] -NATURE 405 attained by never lifting the knife edges and planes during an experiment, thus keeping the beam in the same state of strain throughout, and, further, by taking care that none of the schanism for moving the weights or riders shall be attached any way to the balance or its case, two conditions which e absolutely essential if we are to get the best results of which alance is capable. ite recently another common balance experiment has been it to a conclusion by Prof. Richarz and Dr. Krigar- 1 (** Anhang zu den Abhandlungen der Konigl,” Prezss. der Wissenschaften zu Berlin, 1898) at Spandau, near : Their method may be gathered from Fig. 4. A : of 23 cm., say 9-inch beam, was mounted above a lead pile about 2 metres cube, and weighing 100,000 kgm. ) pans were supported from each end of the beam, one above, the other pan below the lead cube, the suspending of the lower pans going through narrow vertical tubular in the lead. Instead of moving the attracting mass, the d mass was moved. Masses of 1 kgm. each were put say, one in the upper right-hand pan, the other in the r left-hand pan, when the pull of the lead block made the ht hand heavier and the left hand lighter. Then the weights ae rence to the lower right hand, and the upper left hand aen the pulls of the lead pile were reversed. When we remember that in my experiment a lowering of the hanging ¥ eu Oo V)JU)"22 UMMM pee MMM ‘Fic. 4.—Common balance experiment-(Richarz and Krigar-Menzel). inches would give an effect as great as the pull I sphere by 14 was measuring, it is evident that here the approach to and removal from the earth by over 2 metres ould produce very ‘considerable changes in weight, and, indeed, these changes masked the effect of the attraction of the lead. Preliminary _ experiments had, therefore, to be made before the lead pile _ was built up, to find the change in weight due to removal from ing lower pan, and this change had to be allowed for. a attraction of the lead pile came out at 1°3664 a to ; +, and i mean density of the earth at 5*505. _ This agrees nearly with my own result of 5°49, and it is a _ eurious coincidence that the two most recent balance experi- ‘ments e very nearly at, say, 5'5 ; and the two most recent ‘Cave | experiménts agree at, say, 5°53. But I confess I _ think it is merely a coincidence. I have no doubt .that the _ torsion riment is the more exact, though probably an experi- ‘ment on different lines was worth making. And I am quite content to accept the value of 5°527 as the standard value for the present. ‘And so the latest research has amply verified Newton’s cele- brated guess that ‘the quantity of the whole matter of the earth may be five or six times greater than if it consisted all of { 4 ” i > oq & x - I now turn to another line of gravitational research. When which have been most closely studied are electric and magnetic forcés) we are at once led to inquire whether the lines of gravitative force are always straight lines radiating from or to the mass round which they centre, or whether, like electric and magnetic lines of force, they have a preference for some media and a distaste for others. We know, for example, that if a magnetic sphere of iron or cobalt or manganese is placed in a previously straight field, its permeability is greater than the air it replaces, and the lines of force crowd into it, as in Fig. 5. Fic. 5.—Paramagnetic sphere placed in a previously straight field. The magnetic action is then stronger in the presence of the sphere near the ends of a diameter parallel to the original course of the lines of force, and the lines are deflected. If the sphere be diamagnetic, ‘of water, or copper, or bismuth, the perme- ability being less than that of air, there is an opposite effect, as in Fig. 6, and the field is weakened at the end of a diameter rallel to the lines of force, and again the lines are deflected. imilarly, a dielectric body placed in an electric field gathers in the lines of force, and makes the field where the lines enter and leave stronger than it was before. If we enclose a magnet in a hollow box of soft iron placed in a magnetic field, the lines of force are gathered into the iron and largely cleared away from the inside cavity, so that the magnet is screened from external action. Now common experience might lead us at once to say that | there is no very considerable effect of this kind with gravitation. The evidence of ordinary weighings may, perhaps, be rejected, inasmuch as both sides will be equally affected as the balance is commonly used. But a spring balance should show if there is any large effect when used in different positions above different media, or in different enclosures. And the ordinary balance is used in certain experiments in which one weight is suspended beneath the balance case, and surrounded, perhaps, by a metal case, or perhaps by a water bath. Yet no appreciable variation of weight on that account has yet been noted. Nor does the direction of the vertical change rapidly from place to lace, as it would with varying permeability of the ground below. But perhaps the agreement of pendulum results, what- ever the block on which the pendulum is placed, and whatever the case in which it is contained, gives the best evidence that there is no great gathering in, or opening out of the lines of the earth’s force by different media. Still, a direct experiment on the attraction between two masses with different media interposed was well worthy of trial, and such an experiment has lately been carried out in America ——————_ 7, 1. See mE 7 \ Wee ¢ : i } pL AP I _ SH] a - DROSS wrens L$ Fic. 6.—Diamagnetic sphere placed in a previously straight field. by Messrs. Austin and Thwing (Physical Review, v. 1897, p- 294). The effect to be looked for will be. understood from Fig. 7. If a medium more permeable to gravitation 1s inter- ed between two bodies, the lines of force will move into it rom each side, and the gravitative pull on a body, near the interposed medium on the side away from the attracting body, ‘we compare gravitation with other known forces (and those NO. 1608. vot. 62] asia will be increased. f ; ae The apparatus they used was a modified kind of Boys 406 NATURE [AvGusT 23, 1900 apparatus (Fig 8). _Two small gold masses in the form. of short vertical wires, each ‘4 gm. in weight, were arranged at different levels at the ends virtually of a torsion rod 8 mm. long. The attracting masses M, My were lead, each about 1 kgm. These were first in the positions shown by black lines in the figure, and were then moved into the positions shown by dotted lines. The attraction was measured: first when merely the air and the case of the instrument intervened, and then when various slabs, each 3 cm. thick, 10 cm. wide and 29 cm. high, were interposed. With screens of lead, zinc, mercury, water, alcohol or glycerine, the change in attraction was at the most about 1 in 500, and this did not exceed the errors of experiment, That is, they found no evidence of a change in pull with change of medium. If-such a change exists, it is not of the order of the change of electric pull with change of medium, but something far smaller. Perhaps it still remains just possible that. there are variations of gravitation perme- ability comparable with the variations of magnetic permeability in media such as water and alcohol. Yet another kind of effect might be suspected. In most crystalline substances the physical properties are different along different directions in a crystal. They expand differently, they conduct heat differently, and they transmit light at different speeds in different directions. We might, then, imagine that the lines of gravitative force spread out from, say, a crystal sphere unequally in’ different directions. Some years ago, Dr. Mackenzie (Physical Review, ii. 1895, p. 321) made an experiment in America in which he sought for direct evidence of such unequal distribution, of the lines of forces He used a form of apparatus like that of Prof. Boys (Fig. 2), the attracting masses being calc spar spheres about 2 inches in Fic. 7.—E7:2: of intorp sition 0° moe nerm:able medium in radiating field of force. ; diameter. The attracted masses in one experiment were small lead spheres about 4 gm. each, and he measured the attraction between the crystals and the lead when the axis of the crystals | were set in various positions. But the variation in the attraction was merely of the order of error of experiment. In another experiment the attracted masses were small cale spar crystal cylinders weighing a little more than 4 gm. each. But again there was no evidence of variation in the attraction with variation of axial direction. Practically the same problem was deteckeaas in a different way by Mr. Gray and myself (Phz/. Trans., 192, 1899, A, p. 245). We tried to find whether a quartz crystal sphere had any directive action on another quartz crystal sphere close to it, whether they tended to set with their axes parallel or crossed. It may easily be seen that this is the same problem by con- sidering what must happen if there is any difference in the attraction between two such spheres when their axes are parallel and when they are crossed. Suppose, for example, that the attraction is always greater when their axes are parallel, and this seems a reasonable supposition, inasmuch as in straight- forward crystallisation. successive parts of the crystal are added to the existing crystal, all with their axes parallel. Begin, then, with two quartz crystal spheres near each other with their ‘dxes in ‘the same plane, but perpendicular to each’ other. Remove one to a very great distance, doing work against their mutual attractions. Then, when it is quite out of range of appreciable action, turn it round till its axis is parallel to that of the fixed crystal. This absorbs no work if done slowly. Then let it return. The force on the return journey at every point is greater than the force on the outgoing journey, and more work ‘will be got out than was put in. When the sphere is in its first position, turn it round till the axes are again at right angles. NO. 1608, VOL. 62] positions, and observing whether the hanging sphere te would be extremely difficult to observe its effec occurred to us that we might call in the aid of the p Then work must be done on turning it through this right a ang] to supply the difference between the outgoing and incom fe works. For if no work were done in the turning, we could go through cycle after cycle, always getting a balance of over, and this would, I think, imply either a cooling crystals or a diminution in their weight, neither a : being admissible. We are led, then, to say. that. attraction with parallel axes exceeds that with roid there must be a directive action resisting the turn crossed to the parallel positions. And. conversely, a d action implies axial variation in gravitation. ' The straightforward mode of testing the existence re) directive action would consist in hanging up one sphere. wire or thread, and turning, the other round into. v twist out of position. But the. action, if it exists, is so and the disturbances due to air currents are so crew forced oscillations, by turning one sphere round and 1 oun constant rate, so that the couple would act first in one ¢ i and then in the other, alternately, and so set the henge ig vibrating to and fro. The nearer the complete time of ¥ of the applied couple to the natural time oh vibrati _ t es a: t “oO: é nN i a iy af of b eee Pas a ie % ” ¢ i ‘ oO “ ; M2 sy “Or 2 ‘S s Ag a S| SHOU 5 ee n: ‘ae ; * ¥ 4 é i +i é i 5 1@ ie ag ? Ar. : “UL KIES < a a Aida : ged wwe + amn ce elesueey . ‘ eae F ‘, iS “0. H nS i: ‘ r rg : ea H ” . 4 md . Nn e ‘ ° 1 ¢ agin st effect if its period exactly coincided with the 120 period of the hanging sphere—#.e. if the. r sphere in 240 seconds. But in the conditions of the experi- vibrations of the small sphere were very much damped, forced oscillations did not mount up as they would in a NO. 1608, VOL. 62] freer swing. The disturbances, which were mostly of an im- pulsive kind, continually set the. hanging sphere into, large vibration, and these. might easily be taken as due to the res volving sphere. In fact, looking for the couple with exactly coincident periods would be something like trying to find if a ; fork set the air in a resonating jar vibrating when a brass band was playing all round it, It was necessary to make the couple period, then, a little different from the natural 120 second period, and, accordingly, we revolved the large sphere once in 230 seconds, when the supposed quadrantal couple would have a period of 115 seconds, Figs. 10 and 11 may help to show how this enabled us to eliminate the disturbances. _ Let the ordinates of the curves in Fig. 10 represent vibrations set out to a horizontal time scale. The upper curve isa-regular vibration of range that the maxima and the minima of the regular vibration always fall at the same points, so that, taking 7 pericds and adding up the ordinates, we get 7 times the range, viz. + 21. But in the disturbance the maxima and minima fall at different points, and; + 3, the lower a disturbance beginning with . range + 10.. The first has period 1, the second . - period 1'25. Nowcutting the curves into lengths | equal to the period of the shorter time of vibration, and arranging ° the lengths one under the other as in Fig. 11, it will be seen | even with 7 periods only, the range is from + 16 to — 13, or less; than the range due to the addition of the much smaller regular vibration. In our experiment, the couple, if it existed, would very soon establish its vibra- tion, which would always be there and would go through all its values in 115. seconds. An observer, watching the wheel at the top of the re- volving axis, gave the time signals every I1°5 seconds, © regulating the speed, if neces- sary, and an observer at the telescope gave the scale read- ing at every signal, that is, 10 times during the period. The values were arranged in 10 columns, each horizontal line giving the readings of a peri The experiment was carried on for about 24 hours / \ at a time, covering, say, 80 ' periods, On adding up the ne Pai sear ge Fic. r1.—Results of ‘superposition of would always fall in the same two columns, and so the addi- tion would give 80 times the swing, while the maxima and minima of the natural swings due to disturbances would fall in different columns, and so, in the long run, neutralise each other. The re- sults of different days’ work might, of course, be added together. There always was a small outstanding effect such as would be produced bya quadrantal couple, but its effect was notalways inthe same columns, and the net result of about 350 period observations was that there was no 115 second vibratiomof more than I second of arc, while the disturbances were sometimes 50 times as great. _ The semicircular couple required the turning sphere to revolve in 115 seconds, Here, want of symmetry in the apparatus would come in with the same effect as the couple sought, and the outstanding result was, accordingly, a little larger. _ Butin neither case could the experiments be taken as show- ing areal couple, _ They only, showed. that, if it existed, it er3 to-3 ‘Range +10. to -10 SS Pange+2] to- 2) I Range+16 to-132 to the period of the regular one. NO lengths of curves in Fig. 10 equal’ was incapable of producing an effect greater than that observed. — Perhaps the best way to put the result of our work is this: Imagine the small sphere set with its axis at 45° to that of the other... Then the, couple is not greater than one which would take 5 hours to turn it through that 45° to the parallel position, and it would oscillate about that position in not less than 12 hours. e semicircular couple is not greater than one which would turn from crossed to parallel position in 44 hours, and it would oscillate about that position is not less than 17 hours. s 408 NATURE [AUGUST 23, 1900. : Or, if the gravitation is less in the crossed than in the parallel position, and in constant ratio, the difference is less than 1 in 16,000 in the one case ‘and less than 1 in 2800 in the other. We may compare with these numbers the difference of rate of travel of yellow light through a quartz crystal along the axis and perpendicular to it. That. difference is of quite another order, being about I in 170. As to other possible qualities of gravitation, I shall only mention that quite indecisive experiments have been made to seek for an alteration of mass on, chemical combination,! and that at present there is no reason to suppose that temperature affects gravitation. Indeed, as to temperature effect, the agreement of weight methods and volume methods of measuring expansion with rise of temperature is good, as far as it goes, in showing that weight is: independent of temperature. So while the experiments to determine'G are converging on the same value, the attempts ‘to' show that, under certain con- ditions, it may not be constant, have resulted so far in failure all along the line. No attack on gravitation has succeeded in showing that it is related to anything but the masses of the at- tracting and the attracted bodies. It appears to have no relation to physical or chemical condition of the acting masses or to the intervening medium. Perhaps we have been led astray by false analogies in some of our questions. Some of the qualities we have sought and failed to find, qualities which characterise ‘electric and magnetic forces, may be due to the polarity, the + and —, which we ascribe to poles and charges, and which have no counterpart in mass. But this unlikeness, this independence of gravitation of any quality but mass, bars the way to any explanation of its nature. The dependence of electric forces on the medium, one of Faraday’s grand discoveries for ever associated with the Royal Institution, was the first step which led on to the electromagnetic theory of light now so splendidly illustrated by Hertz’s electro- magnetic waves. The quantitative laws of electrolysis, again due to Faraday, are leading, I believe, to the identification of elec- trification and chemical separation, to the identification of electric with chemical energy. But gravitation still stands alone. The isolation which Fara- day sought to break down is still complete. Yet the work I have been describing is not a failure. We at least know something in knowing what qualities gravitation does not possess, and when the time shall come for explanation all these laborious and, at first sight, useless experiments will take their place in the foundation on which that explanation’ will be built. SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. PaRIS. Academy of Sciences, August 13.—M. Maurice Lévy in the chair.—On the neogenic regions of Lower Egypt and the Isthmus of Suez, by MM. C. Depéret and R. Fourtau. Of the Miocene formation the following were recognised :—The Burdi- galian, or first Mediterranean stratum, by the presence of Echinolampas amplus, Scutella Innzst, Lovenia, Ctdaris -aventonensts, Amphiope truncata ‘and ‘other fossils; the Vindobonian, or second ‘Mediterranean stratum, by a blue lime containing Pecten cristato-costatus and numerous echinoderms. Of the Pliocene, in‘ the neighbourhood of Cairo, are layers of yellowish sand containing Clypeaster aegypttacus and other characteristic fossils.—The area of the basins of Russia in Asia, by M. J. de Schokalsky. The map is made upon the scale of I in 4,200,000, and the’ area evaluated by means of a sheet of celluloid divided in square millimetres. The area found is 16,085,000 sq. kilometres. —'On ‘a hypsometric map _ of European Russia, by M. J.'de Schokalsky. The previous map of M. de Tillo was limited by the latitude 60° N. ; the present map includes the whole of European Russia upon a scale of 1 in 15,300,000.—Observations of the Borelly comet, made at the Observatory of’ Algiers with the’ 31°8 cm. equatorial, by M. F. Sy.—A new arrangement of apparatus serving to measure geo- desic bases, by M. Alphonse Berget. Ruled plates of iron float- ing in a bath of mercury are used instead of the ordinary scales. The method has the advantage of securing without trouble the absolute horizontality of the rules; two consecutive rules are necessarily in the same horizontal plane, since their mercury ‘baths are connected ; there is no correction necessary for the flexure of the rules, and the temperature correction is much more certain.—Stereoscopic vision of curves traced by a phase apparatus, by M. Marc Dechevrens.—Properties of magnetic 1 Landolt, Zeit. fiir Phys. Chem., xii..1,'1894. Sanford and Ray, Physical Review, v..1897, p. 247. : No. 1608, VOL. 62] deposits obtained in a magnetic field, by M. Ch. Maurain. Iron” was deposited ina magnetic field either from a solution of ferrous —__ and ammonium chlorides, or from a solution of ferrous sulphate in sodium pyrophosphate. It was found that the intensity of magnetisation of different‘layers of the deposit growing in a uniform field has the same value, and that the uniform ier netisation acquired by a deposited strip increases with the strength of field in which the deposit is obtained.—The 76 of discontinuities in the propagation of explosive phenomena, by _ ? t n M. Paul Vieille. On the assumption of an adiabatic elasticity together with continuity, the velocities of wave propagatio found in certain cases are too great. It is necessary to assume that the phenomenon is discontinuous.—Action of hydrogen upon the sulphides of arsenic, by M. H. Pélabon. Details of a experiments of the interaction of realgar and hydrogen in sealed __ tubes at 610° C. The reaction is a reversible one, and the limit is affected by the introduction of an excess of arsenic.— The properties of the blue oxide of molybdenum, by M. Marcel Guichard. The blue oxide is a molybdate, and could not be obtained free from water, two oxides of molybdenum only existing in the anhydrous state, MoO, and MoO,.—On the colouring matter of Zchinus esculentus, by M. Griffiths. —On the composition of the ashes of some medicinal plants, by M. Griffiths. —On a cause of error in the examination of wines for salicylic acid, by M. J. Ferreira da Silva. The method of Petlet and Grobert will indicate the presence of salicylic acid in a pure wine that is really free from it. The official German method gives exact results.—On a variety of the anthrax bacillus; a short asporogenic form, Bacé/lus anthracis brevigemmans, by M. C. Phisalix. In the organism of the dog the 2. anthracis undergoes important modifications, becoming shorter with a rapid and complete segmentation. It is still uncertain whether — this should be regarded as a variety or a new species.—Anti- __ hepatic serum, by M. C. Delezenne.—Application to man of the regeneration of confined air by means of sodium peroxide, b MM. A. Desgrez and V. Balthazard. The apparatus describe weighs twelve kilograms, and by its means a man can penetrate easily into an irrespirable atmosphere. CONTENTS. A Museum. Catalogue ~.°.. 0.) ee 385 A Text-book of Mammals. ByR.L....... . 386 Good and Bad Air. ByJ. B.C... wiiche We GOTE Our Book Shelf :— Le Dantec : ‘‘ Lamarckiens et ‘Darwiniens ; Discussion - de quelques Théories sur la. Formation des_ Espéces.”—F, A, D. ago . . . . _ pie ‘s acum ai, ‘¢ Helen Keller: Souvenir”... 42s « s,s eee es Binet : ‘‘ The Psychology of Reasoning” . =; . . ‘* Electric Batteries: ‘How to Make and Use Them” Letters to the Editor:— | Snowdrifts on’ Ingleborough in July.—Prof, T. McKenny. Hughes, F.R.S, °. . di «eee The Total Eclipse of the Sun of May 17-18, 1901. —J. J. AcMuller oe eo ie a os A The Reform of Mathematical Teaching. —David Mair Functions of an Organ of the Larva of the Puss Moth. —Arthur 8; Thorn... 5 a Pa see Dark Images of Photographed Lightning Discharges. —Jj. B. Hannay.) oe. sete ee ai The Lavoisier Monument. (Jélustrated.) .. Nile Floods and Monsoon Rains. ........ 3 The Forthcoming Meeting of the British Association at Bradford. By Ramsden Bacchus. ...... Notes igo a. eigenen age ig Our Astronomical Column :— Velocities of Meteors Rae te ae : Standards for Faint Stellar Magnitudes . ..... The Total Solar Eclipse, May 28, 1900 ..... .- Report of the Cape Observatory. . . Rousdon Observatory (Devon) Independent Day Numbers for 1902. . . . . . « «. The August Perseids of 1900. By W. F. Denning What Pressure:is dangerous on Electric Railways with Overhead Trolley Wires. By William Rung Sea-coast Destruction and Littoral ‘Drift. By by W.H. Wheeler ~§..... 5° Se RL Sidon a ee Recent Studies in Gravitation. (J//lustrated.) By = = ‘Prof. John H. Poynting, F.R.S. . eo eieatet 45 Ee Societies and Academies eS gOS ae ¢ . . . k 399... et pee re a pene a ee NATURE 409 - THURSDAY, AUGUST 30, 1900. lncatene sepensittinn 1900.) bic interest of the treatise under consideration sists in the exposition of a variety of condi- ich, in the author’s opinion, are associated ommonly known as right-handedness, a tich is generally assumed to refer to a ical development and functional employment ‘of the body. Moreover, the author seeks to mena upon which his extended con- - (or left-) handedness is based to a e, aie he finds in the existence of a ee of blood-pressure in the vessels of one head (and i in the common instance, viz, the one, in the vessels of the left side) than in > other. Dr. Lueddeckens is thus firstly con- prove the existence of such an inequality in as has just been mentioned, and the of his book are devoted to this part of the n nan a account of the embryological history , and the departures from original m try, which that system presents, we are a study of the hydrodynamic conditions the aortic arch in the living subject, and in er it ‘is argued that the circumstances are at's roduce a higher blood-pressure in the in the. Tight common carotid artery. The ien of cerebral heemorrhage, and of ) OMe" biteria centralis retinzee on the left aha urged in further support: of this t of the pressure in their arterial systems, >to divide individuals into three classes, wh m the blood-pressure is higher on the e in whom the _ pressure is higher on the finally, there must be a category in which such cases as present a degree of blood- h is the same in each hemisphere. The conte will, it is believed, fall within the first has isions, and to such cases (ordinary right- ons) our attention is first directed : evidence ernal carotid artery, F Maiaiig various super- and the conclusion is arrived at that there is a inance in growth and a more easily excitable sensibility (auditory sensations being especially on the left side, such preponderance being ssociated with the higher blood-pressure on ne ‘second place, a number of observations on the e of the eyeball, and on the comparative dimensions ay ec: eyes in the same individual, are discussed. NO. 1609, VoL. 62] structures and also the ear (internal maxillary | For it is argued that a difference in blood-pressure will find expression in a difference in the shape of the eyeball on the same side, and that this difference in shape will, in turn, be manifested by differences between the two eyes, in respect of sight. And it is finally submitted that observations on the respective refractive powers in the two eyes of a number of persons examined with regard to this point bear out the conclusion which was thus arrived at on a priori grounds. Thirdly, differences in the size of the pupil on the two sides are taken as criteria of differences in blood-pressure, the smaller pupil corresponding to the higher blood-pres- sure, and vice versd. Thus we should, according to the author’s argument, expect normally to observe differences in this respect. But inasmuch as such difference between the pupils is, by many authorities, considered to accom- pany pathological conditions only, the author is at con- siderable pains to show that a purely physiological difference in size may exist. And so again, his arguments that the difference in blood-pressure will be manifested by a difference in thé pupils, and further that the differ- ence is normally (in right-handed persons, that is) indi- cative of a higher blood-pressure on the left side of the héad, are considered to be justified by the nuinber of cases in which the smaller of two “ physiologically ” unequal pupils was observed in the left eye. Turning from the special domain of ophthalmic anatomy and physiology, the relative weights of the cerebral hemi- spheres next claim attention, and Hamarberg’s results are quoted as indicative of a slight excess of weight in favour of the left hemisphere. The conformation of the several cortical areas is then described, in allusion to their well-known connection with the voluntary produc- ‘tion of movements (and of speech in particular). Sensory: phenomena are next considered, and evidence of a right- sided predominance in nervous excitability is adduced from the results of work by Biervliet (on the muscular sense, taste, hearing, sight) ; and lastly, psychical events are dealt with, though with much brevity owing to the difficulty of obtaining relevant evidence. Passing briefly over the category of subjects in whom an equal blood-pressure is presumed to obtain on both sides of the head, the remaining class in which the blood- pressure on the right side of the head exceeds that on the left is dealt with much in the same way, and in nearly as much detail, as the first class ; and with very similar results, mutatis mutandis: in other words, Dr. Lueddeckens finds in the majority of left-handed persons the various sources of evidence which have previously been detailed, and which indicate in the left- handed persons a higher blood-pressure on the right side of the head, just as they indicated this condition on the left side of the head in right-handed persons. Interesting observations on the psychical phenomena ‘of young left-handed individuals are recorded, and in particular their difficulties in learning to write, their tendency to adopt mirror-writing, and the greater fre- quency of impediments to speech among the left- handed may here be noted. Finally, the tendency of the left-handed to lie on the left side during sleep is commented upon. The foregoing sketch will, it is thought, render the T 410 NATURE [AUGUST 30, 1900 following comments intelligible. Firstly, the demon- stration of an essential and fundamental point, viz. the higher degree of blood-pressure in the area supplied by the left common carotid artery, leaves a good deal in the way of direct evidence to be desired : the most important point urged in support being perhaps the comparatively greater frequency of cerebral hemorrhage on the left side. The author admits that, as regards the brain, the confluence of the two vertebral arteries (to form the basilar) equalises the conditions on the two sides so far as the parts (medulla, pons, and posterior parts of hemi- spheres) supplied by these are concerned, whereas the equalising effect is not supposed to be felt in other parts of the circle of Willis. We regret that we can find no direct guidance on this point in Hill’s important work on the cerebral circulation. The arrangement of the great vessels springing from the aortic arch is also a subject that admits of a good deal of discussion in the present connection. With reference to the auditory nerve (p. 16), and the greater sensibility of the auditory centre in the left hemi- sphere, it may be mentioned that some support is afforded to this view by the earlier date at which the auditory fibres running up to the first temporal gyrus in the left hemisphere acquire their medulla, and presumably attain a fully functional state (Flechsig). In his observations on the eye, the author is to be congratulated on having devised new applications of routine clinical methods to the elucidation of the questions with which he deals. As regards actual differences in the dimensions of the eyes, it is remarkable that no evidence on this subject is forth- coming from the otherwise exhaustive work by L. Weiss on the anatomy of the eye (Anatomische Hefte, Bd. viii. 1897). The recognition of non-pathological differences in the size of the pupils is a point on which it is worth while to insist; moreover, the phenomenon will lose little, if any, of its importance as a physical sign in the early diagnosis of certain nervous diseases (¢.g. general paralysis of the insane). As regards the weights of the hemispheres of the brain, it may be well to remark that there appears to be a mis-quotation on p. 49, where the weight of aleft cerebral hemisphere is stated to be 218 gm., and that of the corresponding right hemisphere 133 gm. only ; at any rate, if there is not a mistake in quoting Hamarberg’s figures, the brain could hardly be regarded as other than pathological, and consequently valueless in this connection. But more important than this is the fact that Braune’s extensive weighings show that the difference between the two hemispheres is quite negligible. At the same time we may mention that, according to Bastian, the specific gravity of the left hemisphere exceeds that of the right. Finally, we do not feel inclined to agree with the author in explaining instances of the exist- ence of double personalities on the supposed presence of equal blood-pressure in right and left common carotid arteries. On the whole, we think that while the amount of evidence in support of the author's main assumption might well be increased, at the same time the clear record of observations, and the deliberate discussion of their significance, will render Dr. Lueddeckens’ volume of much interest to biologists. W. L. H. DUCKWORTH. NO. 1609, VOL. 62] MODERN VIEWS ON THE CHARACTERS OF THE CELLULAR ELEMENTS IN THE BLOOD 4 Histology of the Blood: Normal and Pathological. By P. Ehrlich and A. Lazarus. Edited and translated by W. Myers, ‘M.A., M.B., B.Sc. Pp. xiii + 216. | bridge: At the University Press, 1900.) N OT much more than a year has elapsed since the first § part of “die Anzemie,” by Ehrlich and Lazarus, ap- :? peared in Nothnagel’s “ System of Pathology and Thera- but during that short time the work has taken a 4 peutics” ; foremost ‘place among those dealing with the histology of the blood. Perhaps the most striking feature of the book — is its originality, broad lines being laid down along which future investigators may work, and no subject is taken up without being enriched by some suggestive hypothesis based on interesting observations made by Ehrlich him- self or some of his pupils. Although comparatively a small book, it may be said, without disparagement to the many other works on hiematelone: to be the one to which the term “ epoch- making ” may, without exaggera- _ tion, be applied. It is only possible to refer shortly to some of the most important subjects discussed in its pages, Although it is undoubtedly with reference to the leuco- cytes that the most important observations are made, — there are also points of great interest treated of in the chapter dealing with the morphology of the erythrocytes. — This is especially the case with regard to the authors’ views on polychromatophilia as a sign of degeneration, and on the method of transformation of megaloblasts to megalocytes and normoblasts to normocytes. Not less. important are the paragraphs dealing with the megalo- blastic type of the blood and marrow in pernicious anzemia. But it is when the authors come to discuss the normal and pathological histology of the white blood cor- puscles that we find on every page observations that shed light on points that have been long in obscurity. Although the authors belong to a comparatively smmail school that believes in the absolutely distinct characters of two types of white blood corpuscles, lymphocytes and granular leucocytes, yet no one, whatever his own opinions may be, can rise from a perusal of these pages without granting that no stronger case could have been presented in support of this view than the one placed before us in this book. Perhaps it is mainly to Ehrlich and Ribbert in Germany, and Muir in this country, that we are indebted for the most powerful arguments ¥ against the view that all leucocytes are developed from the lymphocyte. The arguments presented in this book in favour of the view that there are two great types of white cells, are obtained from morphological, experimental, pathological and clinical data. The morphological characters of the different forms of white cells are first — described in a very lucid manner. removal of that organ from guinea-pigs. of the white blood corpuscle. The chapter dealing with the demonstration of the ont 2 granules and their significance is, of course, one in which (Cam- j ; There is an exceed- _ ingly valuable contribution to our knowledge of the functions of the spleen in Kurloff’s work on the effects of — The functions — of the lymph glands and bone marrow are described, and — additional evidence is given in favour of the two-fold tyReg = ; | | - | ih § 3 & 4 ie AUGUST 30, 1900] NATURE 4tl ‘at home. He repudiates Altmann’s claims to priority ard to the importance of cell granules. The de- n of the different types of leucocytosis and leuco- ia is exceedingly good, and perhaps constitutes valuable section of the work. It is unfortunate one in the case of Kanthack and Hardy’s investi- , of referring to the very important work done by experimental leucocytoses and leucocythzmia. him that we are indebted in the first place for the tion of the “leucoblastic” type of marrow in rental leucocytosis. h’s chemiotactic theories with regard to the n of different cells from their seat of formation, ow, into the blood, and from the blood into the C., are presented in a most interesting fashion, unfortunately, it is still impossible to speak etiology of medullary leucocythamia in any- the most indefinite way. To Dr. Myers’ trans- me can only refer in terms of praise. Perhaps it rs at places by being rather too literal. References to ers eosin-methylene blue mixture, and to Kanthack lardy’s work, are welcome additions made by the slator and editor. Confirmation and amplification of = very important investigations of Kanthack and Hardy, _ Hardy alone, on the solution of oxyphil granules cells containing the latter come in contact with chi ns of B. anthracis, &c., would be heartily welcomed by all who are interested in the subject of leucocyte -Secretions. T. H. MILRoy. )) BIOLOGY AT WOODS’ HOLL, U.S.A: gical Lectures from the Marine Laboratory at oas’ Holl, U.S.A., for 1899. Pp. 282. (Boston: n and Co., 1900.) ; E present volume, like all its predecessors, is replete with interest and full of testimony to the y and good work of the Whitman School. It con- ue reports of sixteen lectures, of which as many as ire for the first time botanical ; and although among zoological writers we miss the names of Whitman 1€ or two of the most tried among his earlier col- eurs, the effects of their teaching and example are dent. More especially is this the case with the by C. M. Child on “The Significance of the il Type of Cleavage,” and by E. Thorndike on act,” in which certain of Whitman’s most famous slusions receive support. onspicuous lectures are those by C. B. Davenport on he Aims of the Quantitative Study of Variation,” and acques Loeb on “The Nature of the Process of ilisation,” each in extension of work for which these estigators are now well known. The latter writer, aling with facts which show that the process of fer- ation and development may be produced in the egg by the action of certain salts, to an advanced stage, d have us believe he has transferred the problem of isation from the realm of morphology into the realm ical chemistry. There is an important address by heus Hyatt on “Some Governing Factors usually _ heglected in Biological Investigations,” in which the _ uniformitarian hypothesis receives a check and a defence NO. 1609, VOL. 62] = is set up of a law of “ Tachygenesis” or “ abbreviated development” ; and there is incorporated in it a dis- cussion on heredity, in its bearings on Ribot’s argument: that it is a “specific memory,” and that a form of automatism is the link between memory and habit. T. H. Morgan continues to write on “ Regeneration,” and among the lectures there are two which are note- worthy as embodying full bibliographies, of service for reference—viz. those by A. G. Mayer on “ The Develop- ment of Colour in Moths and Butterflies,” and by G. N. Calkins on “Nuclear Division in Protozoa.” Interest amounting to novelty is greatest as concerns the work of C. H. Eigenmann on the breeding habits of the blind- fishes, the Amblyopsidz, of the Mississippi Valley, in which the discovery that the bleached condition is as- sumed by the young even when reared in the light, is brought forward as evidence of hereditary establishment of an effect of the environment ; and as concerning a lecture by H. S. Jennings on “The Behaviour of Uni- cellular Organisms,” in which, from the fact that a multi- plicity of causes may bring about similar reactions, it is argued that organisation and not the nature of ‘the stimulus determines the result of experiment. Of the botanical lectures, that by D. H. Campbell on “The Evolution of the Sporophyte” furnishes an argument in favour of the abandonment of aquatic life having had a potent influence in its higher development, while another by D. P. Penhallow will be useful, as giving a succinct account of the alteration and carbonisa- tion processes undergone by vegetable organisms during fossilisation. The remaining lectures are upon the effects of temperature and currents of air upon distri- bution, the significance of mycorrhizas, the associative processes in animals, and the “ Physiology of Secretion ”;. and the fout ensemble gives promise of increased at- tention in the future to questions of cytology, in both their experimental and physiological aspects, with a leaning to those which involve philosophic principles and abstract ideas. No doubt much of the biological work of the next generation will be of this type, but in view of the probability that that may stand in danger of being overdone, and of the idea that nothing remains possible on the old lines, it may be said that in the very book under review there is reached the conclusien that “it is the individual which is the unit and not the cell.” In the future, when everything will need to be gone over again under an advance in methods and a better under- standing, the facts of mere anatomy—the value of which there is a growing tendency to depreciate—will assuredly prove as important and instructive as in the past. Our American brethren may do well to bear this in mind. OUR BOOK SHELF. Brief Guide to the Commoner Butterflies of the Northern nited States and Canada. Being an Introduction to a Knowledge of their Life-histories. With Illus- trations of all the Species. By Samuel Hubbard Scudder.” Pp. xi +210; 22 plates. (New York: Henry Holt and Co., 1899.) OUR notice of the first edition of this work appeared in NATURE for August 10, 1893. This is not before us while writing ; but as far as we can tell without actual comparison, the present edition, as regards the letter- 412 NATURE press, is little more than a reprint of the first. But the plates are a welcome addition. They represent seventy- three species, without colour, carefully drawn and :easily recognisable, though sometimes badly printed. The small size of the book renders it very convenient for.|: handy reference. A European entomologist will recog- nise one or two old friends, such as the Camberwell Beauty, the Painted Lady, Red Admiral, and a Small Copper, hardly distinguishable from. our own ; but the proportions of the various families. and genera are very different from what obtains in Europe. A single plate, representing five species, and another representing only six species, are enough to illustrate the Satyrida, and the Blues and Coppers together; while a much more crowded plate is required for the Hair-Streaks, and two for the Skippers. There are also several very large and conspicuous species, including six large Swallow-Tails, and the northern representatives of several tropical genera. But although the average size of the North American butterflies is much larger than ours, and much of the settled part of the country lies much further south, the number of species in the Northern States is much smaller than in Europe, owing to the comparative absence of Satyridz and Lyczenidz ; and it is not till we reach the frontiers of Mexico that the vast wealth of the tropical American butterfly fauna (almost equalling that of all the other continents put together) begins to dawn upon us. W. Paks Elements of Qualitative Analysis. By G. H. Bailey, D,5c, Ph.D., and 'G, Jo Fowler, Nese” Paris (Manchester: J. E. Cornish, 1900.) AMONG the distinctive characteristics of this addition to the already numerous volumes on practical chemistry are: the prominence given to the recognition of common elementary substances by an examination of their simple physical and chemical properties, the attention given to dry methods of analysis, and the series of flame-reactions. These sections provide students of practical chemistry with excellent exercises in manipulation, and will counter- act the belief that the best way to analyse a substance is always to dissolve it and go through the usual routine treatment of solutions and precipitates. There is little sympathy with ordinary qualitative analysis at the present time, but where the subject is taught it should be taught intelligently ; and as this little book provides a reasonable course of laboratory work, it merits a trial. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. [The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions ex- pressed 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. NVo notice ts taken of anonymous communications.) Railways and Moving Platforms, . ABOUT twenty years ago I was in the habit of speaking with Prof. Ayrton and other friends about a scheme which might increase ten-fold the carrying capacity of the Underground Rail- way. I prepared a letter for the Z2zes newspaper about two years ago, but at the earnest entreaty of a friend I applied for patent protection for the scheme, and did not publish the letter. I have not proceeded with the patent, and wish now that I had published the letter. Indeed, I wish that, instead of merely talking the matter over with friends twenty years ago, I had published what I had to say. Travelling now on the new Central London Railway, one feels that there is enormous waste of energy and of tinre in starting and stopping thetrains. Again, a train must not be longer than the platform. On my scheme the train does not stop, and the longer it is the better. Indeed, Ican imagine an endless ‘train keeping a perfectly constant speed all the time. My scheme is easy enough to understand now that moving platforms are common. NO. 1609, VOL. 62] way. They enter a small train at the station ; this train grad: gets up a speed equal to that of the express; it runs alo the express at a particularly well-laid part of the line; the an exchange of passengers, and the local train gradually comes to rest again at the station. . > tiepeaes For the Underground Railway, the method which most ex mended itself to Prof. Ayrton and me long ago was this. At -a station, say St. James’s Park, the platform was a carefully con- — structed turntable, 500 feet in diameter, the rim of which tra at 8 miles per hour. The whole area was not really a floor ; it was only a skeleton of a turntable, being an outer rim 8 feet broad and many radial passages. The very long trainto Mansion House, travelling at 8 miles per hour, was close to the rim of the _ turntable; indeed geared with it in a rough, simple manner for less than half its circumference ; the train from Mansion House did the same on the other side. I need not speak of the automatic opening and closing of the doors of the train. = == A passenger, let us say second class for Mansion House, takes _ his ticket and. descends a spiral staircase, which revolves so. slowly that even the frailest and most timid of old ladies is not frightened ; in fact, it revolves on its own axis once in 134 seconds. At the bottom the passenger sees a few notices; one of them saying second class, Mansion House, has a hand — pointing along a radial passage, and this is followed. As — the passenger moves radially, he does not notice that he is — gradually getting up speed circumferentially. He does not notice that the floor gets slightly inclined as he moves out, | to counteract the small effect of centrifugal force. When he ~ reaches the outside of the platform he probably finds a train — there, seemingly at rest, with the doors open, and he enters it, ‘moving perhaps along the platform, choosing one compartment rather than another. If he is lucky he has about one minute in which to make his choice. But he will notice pear haa oe the. 1% platform an altering time signal which tells him how much more ~ time he has.to waste: 50 seconds, 40, or 30, or 20, or 10; ifhe — delays after the signal says 0, an iron railing will come between him and the train; he will see the train moving laterall away from the platform, and he must wait seventy-four seconds — before he sees a train coming laterally towards him; the — railing goes away, and he has again sixty seconds in which to enter. ; ; es If he had a third class ticket to South Kensington, he would — have proceeded in exactly the same way. Also every passenger wanting to leave the train at St. James’s Park had sixty seconds in which to do it. Trains at 16 miles an hour give only half these times. A platform of only 250 feet diameter would — give only half the time if the train speed was 8 miles an hour. I need not dwell upon the details of this and other~_ methods which suggest themselves. It may be soon or syne, but I feel sure—I have felt sure for many years—that my method ~ will have to be adopted. JOHN PERRY. August II. Pa aya i q ; Snow-drifts on Ingleborough, == — IN his interesting letter on ‘‘ Snow-drifts on Ingleborough in July,” Prof. Hughes describes what may be called the first stage in the formation of a glaciére. These ice-caves, not very rarein parts of the Alps and Jura, were made by the present Bishop | Bristol the subject of an attractive book (published thirty-fiv years ago), and have been occasionally noticed in the earlier volumes of NATURE and elsewhere. I have always believe that snow, drifted into caves during the winter, was the initial cause of these natural ice-houses (about half a dozen of which I have visited), and can quote a case from the Alps which is a slight variation of that described by Prof. Hughes. On July 24, 1873, I went up the Pic d’Arzinol (9845 feet) from Evolena i the Val d’Hérens, and on the way down—so far as I remembe: between five and six thousand feet above sea-level—my guide diverged from the track to show me what he called the Pertnis: Freiss. These were two fissures, apparently joints, opened by slight subsidence. A description of one will serve for bette ott except that there was hardly any descent toits floor. “The fissure” extended some four yards into the hill, and was at widest about as many feet. Ice was patched about the floor, and in places” After passengers enter a station I get AUGUST 30, 1900] NATURE 6% 413 eee formed:a plaster on the walls, its thickness being at most. three inches. It showed prismatic structure, though rather small. The air within was cold (I had no thermometer); but as the | surface of the ice was wet, it was above 32°F., though I think mot much. The guide told me that the fissures in winter-time __ were filled with snow. This accumulation, probably owing to _ the shape of the fissure, no longer remained as snow, but was a Sie by the ice on the floor and walls, which the guide _ said seldom, if ever, disappeared. The absence of ice from the a lls of the Ingleborough ‘‘ swallow hole” was probably due to _ some exceptional dryness of the rock ; but Prof. Hughes has un- _ doubtedly found a ‘ baby” ice-cave, like that I have described, ‘it will be worth examining some more of these dry shafts to ee whether a slightly better developed specimen may not be ae ‘ ped spe ‘in the neighbourhocd. ' TT. G. Bonney. Pern ability of Iron under the influence of the - Oscillatory Discharge from a Condenser. ae _ IN your issue of August 2 there is an abstract of a very interest- g Ramee cf read by Prof. Trowbridge, on his experiments with a =. & of 20,000 secondary cells. In it he mentions that the permeability of iron when under the influence of a very powerful — disch from a large condenser is now under observation. _ “Ishould like to draw attention to some experiments I was Gi over a year ago in Lord Blythswood’s laboratory (an nt of which has not yet been published), in which I have _ gone into the subject in some detail. _ __[m my experiments the lowest frequency used was about / §000 a second. I enclose two photographs of sparks taken in c) Fic. 1. the usual way with a revolving mirror. The discharge in photo- graph (1) took place through a coil of about § millihenrys self- induction from a battery of Leyden jars of a total capacity of *06 microfarads, the potential difference between the coatings, before discharge, being 13,500 volts. In photograph (2) a fine wire core, consisting of 550 No. 28 soft iron wires, was inserted p a Be... Stina! ‘ & Vy afi es hz Rieck 1 Fit iin Fic. 2. into.the coil (which was wound on a hollow paper spindle of _ about 1°3 cm. internal diameter). The other conditions of Facet were identical in the two cases; the speed of the _ mirror, however, was 19 revolutions per second for photograph (1), and 16 per second for eae dea ae thus tending to draw out the more in the first photograph. The essential differences are, however, well marked. At the beginning of the discharge we have the ‘‘ pilot” spark, first noticed by Prof. Boys; and then in the photograph (2), taken _ with the iron wire cores, a series of oscillations gradually in- _. ereasing in length. The first half-oscillation, however, is nearly twice as long as the half-oscillations in photograph (1), when ___ there were no iron wire cores in the coil. The increase in the time for a half-oscillation is due, of course, to the increased self- _ induction of the coil on account of the iron; and the gradually- _ fmcreasing length is due to the increase in permeability of the _as the intensity of the discharge dies away. In photograph ) the frequency of oscillation of the spark taken with the coil wing air cores is about 9000 per second, and in (2) the ap- aate magnitude of the current during the first discharge with the iron cores, 15 amperes. It would be impossible in the course of a short note to de- Scribe in detail the work that has been done, but in numerous __€xperiments (over three hundred spark photographs have been NO. 1609, VOL. 62] taken) that have been made, the iron has. been found to behave in the same way under these oscillating magnetisations as it'does _ when steady currents are used to produce magnetising forces of thesame intensity. In most experiments single layer coils have- been used in which the magnetising forces due to a given cur- rent can be calculated, and it has been possible to determine approximately the forces acting on the iron. From the results, curves showing the variation in permeability with magnetising force have been plotted. - In some experiments, the magnetising current due to the discharge has been as large as 1000 amperes. In order to obtain discharges as powerful as this, a very large glass-condenser has been used with a total capacity of 1°5 microfarads, made up of plates of glass (coated with shellac) 1°6 mm. (1/16”) thick. The conducting surfaces are of tinfoil. The glass appears a great deal stronger than that used_by Prof, Trowbridge, as it has been tested repeatedly at 20,000 volts. It is possible, however, that the suddenness with which his con- denser is charged from his cells may account for the readiness with which the glass breaks. In my experiments the condenser was charged by a large Wimshurst machine of 160 plates, which took almost half a minute to get up the full potential of 20,000 volts. | The glass used is known technically as 15 oz. 3rds selected flat sheet, and was obtained from Messrs. Malloch, of lasgow. E. W. MARCHANT. Blythswood Laboratory, Renfrew, August 7. Function of the Whips of the Larva of the Puss Moth. ¥.OUR correspondent (p. 389) will find a detailed account of the various defensive appliances of the larva of Cerura vinula in Prof. Poulton’s work on the ‘Colours of Animals” (Inter- national Science Series), and in papers published by him in the Transactions of the Entomological Society of London for 1886 ei 1887, the latter papers being illustrated by beautiful coloured plates. It is usually believed by entomologists that the function of the ‘‘ whips” in the caudal appendages of the larva is to drive away, or frighten away, Ichneumon Flies or other enemies, but there is still room for further. inquiry ; and although, the larva is highly protected, it is liable to the attacks. of some species of Ichneumon Flies, though it may be able to defend itself against others, for the protection of no animal is absolutely complete. The appendages are doubtless homologous with the retractile fleshy fork in the neck of the larve of the Swallow-tailed Butterflies (Papilionidee), which probably fulfils a similar function. We KIRBY. Hilden, Sutton Court Road, Chiswick. The Migration of Swifts. ~ On the morning of Friday, August 10, I witnessed a large flight of Swifts travelling westward along the Sussex coast. The birds were passing this place in a continuous though thin stream for several hours; I saw them myself from 10 a.m. when I first visited the shore, and watched them till 12 noon. A few birds were also noted travelling in the same direction between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. The day was bright but showery, and a fresh W.N.W. breeze was blowing at the time, so that the birds were flying almost against the wind; they flew low, seldom rising fifteen feet in the air,and often passing within two feet of my head as I lay on the shingle ; they kept to the coast-line and for the most part over the top of the fringe of tamarisks that here stretch for miles just above the shingle. Since that day I have not seen a single Swift in the neighbourhood, in spite of having travelled on my bicycle as far west as the mouth of Chichester Harbour along the coast, and to various places north of this line as far as Chichester and Arundel inland. It would be interesting to know if other observers witnessed any similar flights on August 10, and also if Swifts are still to be seen in any places in our islands at the present time. I have on two previous occasions seen Swifts arfive on the east coast of Norfolk as late as the first week in September (after a complete dearth of the birds for some three weeks), and depart again after a few days’ sojourn—these perhaps are migrants from the European conti- nent. As many of your readers are now doubtless at the seaside, it seems a favourable opportunity to ask them to kéep their eyes open and record any facts that they may observe bearing on the movements of these birds. OswaLp H. LATTER. East Preston, near Worthing, August I9. 414 ‘' NATURE [AUGUST 30, 1900 UNITS AT THE INTERNATIONAL ELEC- TRICAL CONGRESS. A? the suggestion of Prof. Hospitalier, Section I. of the Congress agreed that the following should be the members of the Commission on Units :—Messrs. Ayrton (Great Britain), De Chatelain (Russia), Dorn (Germany), De Fodor (Hungary), Eric Gérard (Belgium), Hospitalier (France), Lombardi (Italy), Kennelly (United States); and at the first meeting of the Commission, on August 21, which was attended also by Prof. F. Kohlrausch and Sir W. Preece—whose names had been added to the list of the Government delegates for Ger- many and England—a report presented to the Congress by the American Institute of Electrical Engineers was taken into consideration. This report had been drawn up for that Institute by a committee appointed for this purpose, and it contained the following resolutions :— (1) We consider that it is necessary to give names to the absolute units in the electromagnetic and electro- static systems, as well as convenient prefixes to designate the decimal multiples and submultiples of these units in addition to those already in use. (2) The International Congress of Electricians, which will take place this year in Paris, should be invited to choose the names and the prefixes. (3) A great advantage would be gained by a rational- isation of the electric and magnetic units, and the Con- gress should be invited to find ways and means to obtain such a rationalisation. The proposition to rationalise the units—that is, to change them so that the coefficient 47 should not appear —was withdrawn by Dr. Kennelly on behalf of the United States ; as well as the suggestion regarding the employment of prefixes, and it was resolved that :— The Commission will only deal with propositions that will introduce no change in the decisions arrived at at previous congresses. A long discussion then took place as to whether it was really necessary to give names to the C.G.S. units either in the electrostatic or the electromagnetic systems, and finally it was agreed to withdraw the proposition so far as it dealt with the electrostatic system. The desirability of giving a name to the unit of magnetic field and to the unit magnetic flux was strongly urged, and as the names of Gauss and Weder had been employed for some years in America for these units respectively, the advantage of adopting these names for the C.G.S. units of field and flux was advocated. On the other hand, the resolution arrived at:by the Electrical Standards Committee of the British Association in 1895 to employ these names respectively for other units was pointed out. Finally, the Commission, at the end of their second sitting, on August 22, recommended the following :— . “The Commission is not of opinion that it is necessary to give names to all the electromagnetic units. “ However, in view of the use already of practical instruments which give the strength of a magnetic field directly in C.G.S. units, the Commission recommends that the name Gauss be assigned to this unit in the C.G.S. system. ‘“The Commission proposes to assign to the unit of magnetic flux, of which the magnitude will be subse- quently defined, the name of Maxwell.” These resolutions were brought before Section I. of the Congress on August 24, and led to a long discussion. M. Mascart opposed the giving a name to the C.G.S. unit of magnetic field. The employment of practical instruments for the direct measurement of the strength of magnetic fields in C.G.S. units was not, in his opinion, a sufficient reason for assigning a name to that unit. Besides, this decision of the Commission appeared to be NO. £609, VOL. 62] contrary to the spirit of the Congresses of 1881 and 1889, which did not give the names of men to the C.G.S, — units. He admitted that the name of a man might be — given to the practical unit. In any case, the name of “Gauss” seemed to him liable to give rise to confusion, for Gauss was the originator of the first absolute system — employed, viz. that of the “millimetre-milligramme- — second ” system, and that system, as distinguished from the “centimetre, gramme, second” system, was still in actual use in certain cases—for the measurement of the — earth’s field, for example. . \ OS Prof. Kohlrausch said that the “absolute units” were enough for the physicists, but that, if the engineers felt the need of practical units, Dr. Dorn and he did not _ see that any inconvenience would arise from names being given to them, suchas those of Gauss and of Maxwell, for example. The German delegates could not, how- ever, commit their Government in the matter, and they _ considered that the Congress should limit its recom- mendations to the use of these new names without seeking that legal sanction should be given to them. oe |) Prof. Ayrtonagreed with M. Mascart,and mentionedthat during the past five years many ‘‘ Ayrton-Mather Field Testers” had been constructed to read off the strength of a magnetic field directly in C.G.S. units, but that no — need for any special name for that unit had been felt in connection therewith. He added, however, that, while holding the opinion expressed by M. Mascart that it was not desirable to give the names of persons tothe C.G.S. units, the units of field and-flux had this peculiarity, that without any multipliers they were the practical units ~ adopted. To this M. Mascart replied that the word “ practical ” in this connection was ambiguous, since, although it was true that the C.G.S. units of magnetic field and flux were ~— employed in practice, they did not belong to the so-called “ practical system.” 4 M. Hospitalier appealed to the Section to give names ~ to the unit of field and the unit of flux. He did not ask ‘for any legal decision in the matter, for the names ~ were put forward as a simple recommendation to the Section. |. ‘ i a After a discussion in which Messrs. Ayrton, Carpentier, Dorn, Hospitalier, Kohlrausch, Mailloux, Mascart, A. Siemens, Silvanus Thompson and others took part, Prof. Eric Gérard stated that in his opinion it was desirable to come first to a decision that names should be given to the C.G.S. units of magnetic field and to flux of magnetic induction. M. Mascart, expressing his approbation of this idea, the president of the Section, M. Violle, put the following proposition formally to the meeting :— “The Section recommends the adoption of specific names for the C.G.S. units of magnetic field and of magnetic flux.” This proposition being adopted, with only two dissentients, the meeting was adjourned for a short time to enable the members to exchange their views regarding the exact names that should be employed. On the meeting reassembling, the president put the two ~ following propositions successively :— a (1) The Section recommends the adoption of the name of — Gauss for the C.G.S. unit of magnetic field. ; aa (2) The Section recommends the adoption of the name of MAXWELL /for the C.G.S. unit of magnetic flux, ae both of which were adopted with only two dissentients. On the same afternoon these resolutions of Section I. — were submitted to the Chamber of Government Delegates — to the Congress. and adopted, and finally, at the closing — meeting of the Congress on Saturday, August 25, the — action which had been taken in the matter was formally i reported by M. Paul Janet, one of the two secretaries of — the Congress. a AvGUST 30, 1900] NATURE 415 TAE AMERICAN INSTITUTE AND THE _ ENGLISH INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL _ ENGINEERS IN PARIS. CTARTING with a trip in electric launches up the 4 Thames on Sunday, August 19, a lunch at Henley, visits to electric works in London and its neighbourhood ‘on Monday, a dinner in the evening with many Anglo- ican patriotic speeches, a trip to Chatham on ay, inspection of the dockyard, a second lunch, speeches, and a reception by General and Mrs. rin the afternoon, the members of the two electrical ieties prepared themselves to encounter a somewhat wy Pease in journeying together to Paris. On ursday, August 16, the formal joint meeting é held in the large hall of the American Pavilion at Exhibition, with Mr. Carl Hering, the president of American Institute, and Prof. Perry, the president English Institution, as joint chairmen. The erican, unlike the British Royal Pavilion, is a large ular building stretching uninterruptedly from floor to with a series of galleries running round it, and it fitted up as a kind of huge commercial club, whereas the Britis py Sin manor house, and contains a loan collection the finest examples of the British school of painting, efly of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. When one remembers the invasion of England with American machinery—especially electric machinery— _ one envies the commercial instincts that have produced _ the American Pavilion, with all its facilities for aiding _ commerce, its lifts, the doors of which magically glide _ open and shut again on touching a button, and in which _ you are rapidly and noiselessly wafted to any of the - many galleries. In our Pavilion, on the contrary, commerce has been relegated to a top room, reached by a back staircase, entered literally through a back door, and the lift con- nected with this commercial room has not advanced— _ and never will advance—beyond the construction of the _ well for it. But walk in at the front door, and you can feast your eyes on the work of Gainsborough, Reynolds, _ Romney, Constable, Turner, Lawrence, Hoppner, Opie, % Doeanh and of others ; and, after the roar of the Exhibi- _ tion, the grinding of the moving platform running all eng it, and the rumbling of the electric railways, you feel as if you had passed out of the whirl and money _ making of a factory into the peace and grandeur of _ Westminster Abbey. Why, however, has the British u _ Royal Commission made so little use of this treasure on the Quai d’Orsay ? ___ Mr. Hering welcomed the members of the two elec- _ trical societies present, and expressed the hope that this _ meeting mi ht be the forerunner of many joint meetings, _ the next of which he hoped to see held in the United _ States, and an invitation to attend that meeting he __-daintily expressed in English, French and German. _ Prof. Perry followed, and stated that, although no _ minutes could be read of any previous joint meeting, _ minutes of the present meeting were being taken, as he - felt sure that there would be another joint meeting at _ which they would have to be read. ___Prof. Mascart rose to express the thanks for the honour _ which the English Institution had done him in electing _ him one of their four vice-presidents some months ago. _ He hoped that not only might there be a joint meeting of __ the two societies in the United States—at Philadelphia, _ for example—but that it would be one at which all the _ Institutions of Electrical Engineering in the world would _ berepresented. And although he feared that advancing { age might prevent his being present, he would none the 4 a : less co-operate in spirit. The special subject dealt with at the present joint NO. 1609, VOL. 62] Pavilion has been designed to represent an. meeting was :— The Relative Advantages of Alternate and Continuous Current for a General Supply of Elec- tricity, especially with regard to Interference with other Interests,” and the discussion was opened by Mr. Ferranti. He stated that this was not a continuation of the old con- tention between the relative advantages of direct and alternating current, for the rivalry which formerly existed between the two systems, and which led the advocates of the one to regard everything as absolutely wrong which was done by the advocates of the other, was luckily dying out. Engineers-nad begun to realise that the direct and the alternate current systems of electric distribution had each their separate functions, and the object of the pre- sent discussion was to elicit an expression of opinion as to whether the “ interference with existing interests” did not furnish an important -consideration in the choice of the system to be adopted in a particular case. It was not merely, he urged, the damage to water and gas pipes that was zow being caused by the employment of the direct current that had to be taken into account, but they had to bear in mind the value of the underground property that might be injured ten years hence if the great develop- ment of the distribution of electric energy, which must necessarily take place in that period, were carried out on a wrong plan. He concluded by expressing the opinion that the difference in the magritude of the disturbance caused by the two kinds of current was very great. Mr. Arnold next spoke as a member of the American Institute—it being arranged that representatives of the two bodies should speak alternately. He drew attention to the difficulty of using the alternate current for general distribution arising from the inability to satisfactorily balance the load, and he considered, therefore, that the direct current system was the better. And, in view of the difficulties which attended the employment of the alternating current for driving electric tramcars, he con- sidered that in this case also the direct current was the one to be adhered to. Sir William Preece reminded the meeting that he has not given his adhesion publicly to either the direct or the alternating current system, and, therefore, that he was in a position to speak quite impartially. He considered that the interference of alternating current circuits with telephone lines could be entirely overcome by the em- ployment of a metallic return for the telephone, but it had to be admitted that the surgings which occasionally took place in alternate current circuits disturbed the block signalling on railways. He referred to a case in France where the triphase alternate system of working had supplanted the direct current one, and suggested that this was an indication of the increasing appreciation of the former method, and that the capacity of long cables introduced a serious difficulty with alternate current transmission. : The variety of frequencies employed by the various companies—the London Electric Supply Company, for example, using a frequency of 67, while the City of London Company employed 97—he regarded as ob- jectionable, and he hoped that this joint meeting would deal with the importance of arriving at a uniform standard of frequency. He also suggested that the relative advantages of underground and overhead conductors might well occupy the attention of the meeting. Dr. Kennelly spoke of the relative fields for direct and alternating currents, and gave as an example that with an isolated plant of moderate size a direct current at a pressure of 100 volts might be employed, while if the area to be dealt with was larger, the current might still be direct, but a pressure of 200 or 220 volts would have to be resorted to, whereas when the area became large, transformation became necessary, and for that the alternating current was, of course, especially well adapted. 416 NATURE [AUGUST 30, 19Cc0 He referred to the growing use of high pressure alter- nating currents for transmitting: power to tramways, and performing a double transformation for supplying the low pressure direct current for driving the electro- motors on the cars; and he considered that this’ un- necessary complication arose from the tramway motor having been developed as a direct current motor, and from the difficulty that would now be -experienced in replacing the many tens of thousands of direct: current tramway motors with an alternating. current type.. In the case of new tramways and. railways,. at any rate, he looked forward to the time when the. alternating . current would alone be employed, but he admitted that the electric simplification would be accompanied with greater risk of shock and danger to life. As to the interference that might be caused by electric tramways to magnetic observatories, he thought that, in view of the far greater: commercial importance of the tramway, the magnetic observatory would have «to give’ way, and remove its apparatus to! a: place where electric tramways were not required by the: public. Prof. Ayrton expressed the view that, since no doubt existed as to the considerable damage that electrical under- takings had caused to underground pipes, telephones, submarine cables and magnetic observatories, the question arose whether an endeavour was to be made to prevent the attack or to strengthen the defence. In the case of tele- phone circuits the Joint Committee of the two Houses of Parliament in England had decided that since—wholly apart from the advent of electric tramways—the Tele- phone Companies had realised that, in order to prevent interference. between the telephone lines themselves, as well as to prevent the disturbance caused by neigh- bouring telegraph lines, it was necessary to abandon the earth-return and employ a metallic: return, and: since such a metallic return would shield the telephone circuit: from disturbance that might otherwise be. caused. by electric tramways, there was no necessity to debar the tramway from employing theearth. But as regards the electrolytic destruction of gas and water pipes the matter was quite different, and, therefore, the Board of Trade had imposed a regulation forbidding the difference of potential between any part of the rail. and the terminal of the dynamo being allowed to exceed 7 volts. Prof. Ayrton pointed: out, however, that this limit was too high even to prevent electrolysis, and cer- tainly would not prevent the mutilation of: messages received through a submarine cable: which was landed in the neighbourhood of an electric tramway, as instanced at the Cape of Good Hope. He questioned whether the security anticipated by Mr. Ferranti and others that would follow from a general substitution of alternating for direct current would be: nearly as great as was imagined, and he referred to the experiments which he had published some years ago on the comparatively rapid production of separated hydrogen and oxygen that could be obtained in, an ordinary sulphuric acid voltameter, through which an. ordinary alternating current was passing. The specimen ofa pipe corroded with an adternating current of one ampere passing for six weeks lying on the table, and which had been sent to the meeting by Mr. Trotter, of the Board of Trade, was an important illustration of the electrolytic action that could be produced with the commercial. alternating current supplied by the.London Electric Supply Company. A magnetic observatory was in a more serious position still, since, as the undisturbed magnetism of the ‘earth had to be measured, no system of defence could be: utilised, and nothing short of the absence of attack could be satisfactory. He was glad, therefore, to say that - the Electric Tramway Companies in London, thanks to the action of the Board of Trade in appointing a joint com- NO. 1609, VOL. 62] ‘ceeded in inducing the London Tramway Compa’ _radius of two. miles round the Kew Observatory should _ be divided up into absolutely dzstinct one mile sections; -be as good’ as that obtained with a wholly insulated there were so few magnetic observatories in the world, sections for this purpose, and he found that the current _gas system in New York from Io to 20 per cent. of the gas electric light system employed in New York could be — ‘was the more efficient for small loads. Further, wh mittee to represent the commercial and the tram interests, and thanks to'the experiments and the nego tions carried out by this committee during the past ¢ months, had not regarded the preservaricn ft magnet records from the drastic point of view advocated b Kennelly. In fact, the president of their Institution, Prof. Perry, in co-operation with Prof. Riicker, re at | to propose a scheme in which, first, all the lines’ within a secondly, that the current should be led to the trolley wire and withdrawn from the rails at the mdddle of each — of these sections ; and, thirdly, the difference of p is between the rails and the earth within. this two f iles. radius should never be allowed to exceed one-fifth of a volt. -And with these conditions, calculation showed e| that, although the protection afforded would not, of course, — i = system, it would be probably sufficiently great to prevent any. appreciable interference being caused with the — magnetic. observations regularly taken at the Kew { Observatory. 5 5 RI deg ia M. Corda thought the adoption of the alternate or the direct current was mainly a matter of cost, and since the __ Fire Insurance Companies allowed the maximum pressure __ to be used with the alternating current to be only half as great as with the direct current, he considered that as long as that regulation lasted the direct current must — gain the day. Seren? ' Prof. Crocker said that the interference produced by an electric circuit on another undertaking might be divided into that produced by induction and that pro- duced by leakage. The disturbance of the apparatus in a magnet observatory was due to both causes, but, as that particular disturbance might be dismissed from consideration. With alternating currents the disturbance produced by induction was the more serious because this induction set up currents in other wires, and it was, therefore, very difficult to avoid. With direct currents. the leakage disturbance was the more serious, but it possible to prevent this. Some time ago he had had occasion to test the insulation of the whole of the New York electric ‘lighting system, which was split up into — which leaked to earth did not exceed one per cent. of the current that was supplied to the houses, whereas with the was lost by leakage. Consequently, since very high — insulation could be obtained with the type of under- — ground cables that were:employed with high pressure work, it followed that the leakage on the low pressure reduced to a still lower value than one per cent. Further, — that if it were possible in London to reduce the apap 3 difference between the rails and the earth to only half a volt, he should imagine that electrolysis might be — avoided even with the ordinary trolley wire tramway. — He was, therefore, in ‘favour of employing the direct — current for the purpose of avoiding interference with — other interests. : CTS SER Cer But he considered that the considerations of economy and efficiency were more important than those regarding — interference, and, while the three-phase and the direct current motors of the same power had the same effi- — ciency from half up to: full load, the direct current motor — 3 for constant speed the regulation with both types of - motor was. about the same, the direct current motor — had a distinct advantage in regulation when the speed was variable. On the whole, therefore, he was in favour of the use of a direct current system of electric supply. AUGUST 30, 1900] NATURE 417 _ Mr..Mordey, on account of lack of time, dealt shortly with the drop of pressure along the rails of an electric tramway, and stated that he had found, that when the _ length was even 28 miles, the difference of potential be- _ tween any parts of the rails and the generating: station _ could be kept down to 7 volts ; and he referred to the _ much greater attention that was given in England than in America to reducing the maximum drop of pressure tramway rails. Ihe employment of rotary trans- -as on the new Central London Railway, he ca as a makeshift, and suggested that, if the t of all the transformers employed along the 6 miles »f the route had been capitalised, it would have paid the y to have employed far thicker conductors. As ; the difficulty arising from the capacity of long round cables traversed with alternate current, he sd out that no difficulty in overcoming the effects of city had. ever been met with in dealing with the 250 es of underground cable in St. Petersburg. The yard of Trade had succeeded in using such instru- ents in their laboratory at Westminster that no inter- srence could be caused by the construction of any electric - in the neighbourhood ; therefore, he deplored e resi as stance that had been successfully offered a few ears ago by a London college to the passing of a Bill for ie construction of an underground electric railway near lege. Mr. Mailloux pointed out that the small power-factor _ obtainable with alternate current motors, and the greater _ change in speed with a change in the E.M.F. that was ex- _perienced with alternate current than with direct current ___ motors, was a serious objection to the employment of the ___ former, and he instanced a case where the large current that was pecessary for starting an alternate current motor had led him to dopt a direct current system in a sugar factory where 2000 horse-power was employed. The Fire Insurance Rules in the United States, which com- lec the use of iron conduits, but which did not require both the going and return conductors should be closed in the same iron tube—a condition, however, lered necessary. if alternate currents were employed to an important economy being. obtained by using ate. conductors in separate iron tubes, which a ge possible with a direct current. rof. S. P. Thompson expressed his surprise that in ships for electric lighting, where the possible urbance of the compasses was a vital consideration, _ direct current and two pole machines, the worst e to use, had been frequently employed even by the | firms, like that of Messrs. Siemens. He looked ward to seeing the use of multipolar machines on ship, and of the alternating current; for not only dthe compasses be then secure from disturbance, would be much greater freedom from electrolysis . places, and therefore of fire. He pointed out > alternate current lent itself so readily to the use efficient low voltage glow lamps combined with economic Azigh voltage transmission ;. and finally that, since it was impossible to employ any device to screen a wpagperic observatory from magnetic disturbance, since _ such a device would cut off the effects produced by __ Variations of the earth’s magnetism which the observatory existed to measure, there was a strong reason for running tric tramways, with alternating current in any city w em etic observatory existed... oe he close of the preceding discussion, M. Hospi- sr, Mr. Gavey, Mr. Hering. and General Webber rred to points of special and. novel interest in. the ral electrical sections of the Exhibition, in connection which they had served as jurors ; and in the after- n these gentlemen acted as guides in taking parties tee _* 4 of members of the two electrical societies to view the b exhibits which had been specially mentioned. maz t NO. 1609, VOL. 62] THREE BOOKS OF POPULAR NATURAL AISTOR Y2 M® HUDSON has never written any book that ‘ts. not extremely pleasant to read, though since he- settled‘in England he has never had so much to tellus as was told in his “ Naturalist in La Plata:”* That book, though it may not be his own favourite, will always, if we are hot'mistaken, be reckoned as his best ; and the reason is simply that it treated of animal life among which 4e was entirely at home, and of which we knew little or nothing. ‘His English books have not this quality, though they have many other excellences. The otie before us, for example, is charmingly written, full of grace and feeling, touched with a tender and sympathetic imagination, made piquant by a certain quite inoffensive egoism ; but, as we read in his pages of the South Downs, we are forced to recognise the fact that he is not of them. He is a stranger there—a most appreciative one, it is true—but still a stranger. It is perhaps given: to few who have not been bred among the Downs to- enter fully into their spirit, and we will not deny that Mr. Hudson, rambling alone through their sweet air and lying on their delicious turf, has caught it as none could do without rare gifts of sympathy and observation ; yet there is something missing. It 1s not pleasant to have to find fault with a book so: readable ; but a naturalist cannot but regret that Mr. Hudson should have given himself up so entirely to impressions throughout a volume of just three hundred pages, that no real contribution to natural history is to- be found in them. ie notices an- interesting point, writes a charming paragraph about it, and leaves it, sometimes without making it clear what plant or creature he is talking about. To take an example: he has ob-. served that the banded variety of He/ix memoralts is almost the only one to be found on the high downs, andi that its bright coloration does not save it from the thrushes ; but he does not pursue this fact, which has. attracted the attention of conchologists and suggested! at least one interesting’ explanation. ~Snail life on the downs is, indeed, so extraordinarily abundant, that a book. which contains so much pleasant reading about the down turf is hardly complete without a chapter specially de- voted to it. The same may be said of his remarks on: insect hfe; he tells us of the common blue butterfly, and its habit of clinging to the bents, but of other blues he says nothing; a skipper is mentioned, but we are- left in the dark as.to the species. In writing of a certain fly, he declares that neither books nor entomologists have been able to tell him its name, and leaves it with a few words of good-natured contempt for the specialism: of the present age. A little more exactness in a book by a naturalist, which naturalists may be expected to- read, would have greatly added to its permanent value. Even men of letters may complain when they find an. allusion to Arthur Young’s famous “Tour through Great Britain in 1727.” What book can this be ? The best chapters are those which deal with the birds. and the human beings of the downs.’ Shepherds and shepherd boys are delightfully pictured ; and Mr. Hudson has discovered for himself the’pleasing habit of” the ruddy-faced shepherd lads in adorning themselves with wild flowers. About the birds’ he has plenty to tell us—it is his own subject ; and the chapter on “Shep-- herds and Wheat-ears ” will be read by all ornithologists with mingled pleasure and pain. All that he writes of” the singers of the downland is beautiful and true’; per- haps the songs of the stonechat and whinchat have never 1 “Nature in Downland.” By W. H. Hudson. Pp. xii + 307. (London =: Longmans, Green and Co., 1900. “The Birds of Cheshire.” By T. A. Coward and Charles Oldham, Pp. 278. (Manchester : Sherratt and Hughes, 1900.) “In Birdland, with Field-glass and Camera.” By Oliver G. Pike.. Pp. xvi + 280. (London; T. Fisher Unwin, 1900.) 418 NATURE [AUGUST 30 1900 been so well described. Of the linnet, too, he says most truly that it has one note, and only one, of almost un- approachable musical beauty. The singing of the sky- larks, that invariable accompaniment cf down life, is described with all Mr. Hudson’s wonderful sympathy and delicacy of language; but what are we to say of his belief that the highest notes of this bird may be heard on the downs at a distance of three miles? It is a belief which it would hardly be possible to test. “The Birds of Cheshire” is an excellent book of its kind.. The first essential of such a compilation is that it should be unimpeachable as a record ; and, so far as we can discover, the compilers have here used both pains and judgment in testing the records of others, while their own experiences are recorded simply and faithfully. Thus a real step is gained in the collection of valuable material for that comprehensive work on the distribution of birds in these islands which we may hope to see in due time. There is no superfluous matter in this volume, and no Fic. 1.—Bearded Tit feeding young. attempt at fine writing ; and excellent paper, print and binding combine to make it a very pleasant book to handle. The half-dozen plates of Cheshire scenery are very effective, and nothing is wanting, unless it be a rather better map of the county. The avifauna of Cheshire, as the authors remark, is surprisingly poor; the county does not lie upon any regular line of migration. It is too far north for the nightingale, which has seldom occurred, though we note that it has been recorded by that excellent observer, Rev. C. Wolley-Dod. The lesser whitethroat, as might be expected, is not common, nor is the grasshopper warbler. We should have expected the pied flycatcher to be more common than seems to be the case ; the tree sparrow, a bird of peculiar distribution, has probably been often overlooked. The goldfinch and linnet are decreasing in numbers, but the opposite is the case with the turtle-dove. The list of waders, gulls, and birds of the coast, is not very large, and we regret to find that NO. 1609, VOL. 62] the ubiquitous golfer is contributing to its further diminution. The characteristic bird of the county is a noble one—the great crested grebe, which is widely distributed ; and in dealing with it the authors have allowed themselves some half-a-dozen pages, which will be welcome to all ornithological readers. Mr. Pike’s little book bears the same relation to his photographs as a popular lecture does to its lantern illustrations: 7z.e. it is of secondary interest. Photo- graphy, applied to birds and their nests and eggs, seems to be a most attractive pursuit, leading its votary often to spend hours in the endeavour to catch a bird at some opportune and interesting moment, or to find the nest on which he has set his heart. It should certainly be useful in training the faculty of observation, and in assisting the memory; and it may become a most welcome substitute for the predatory habits of private egg-collectors, who are perhaps the most dan- gerous enemies of our rarer birds. The actual contribu- tion to zoology, however, does not seem as yet to have been great, and it is quite possible that before long we may have too many books on the subject. Mr. Pike’s is, however, so unpretending and so pleasantly written, that it will no doubt be welcome to many beginners in ornithology who wish to learn where and how to look for nests, and a few of his experiences and his photographs will be interesting even to the more experienced. Part iv. on Norfolk birds, is perhaps the most valuable section of the book, and of the three photographs which Mr. Pike succeeded in taking of the nest of the bearded tit we select one for reproduction, as a favourable specimen of his work. THE INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF MATHEMATICIANS. A CONGRESS of mathematicians was held at Chicago during the World’s Fair; but this was an isolated one. The series of international congresses was in- augurated at Ziirich in 1897, and the second congress of this series met in Paris from the sixth to the eleventh of the present month. About 225 mathematicians of various nationalities, with 25 members of their families, were present. It had been expected that the numbers would be very much greater, as many as one thousand provisional acceptances having been received before last December ; the diminished attendance was doubtless due partly to the great heat of the preceding month, but prob- ably in greater measure to the fear of exhibition crowds and exhibition extortions. It had been supposed that the Exhibition would attract people to the Congress ; on the contrary, it seems to have kept them away. The com- position of the Congress was certainly international ; the numbers of members from the different countries were approximately as follows :—France, 90; Germany, 25 ; United States, 17; Italy, 15; Belgium, 12; Russia, 9; Austria and Hungary, 8; Switzerland, 8 ; England, ais Sweden, 7; Denmark, 4; the remainder being from South America (4), Holland, Spain, Roumania, Servia, Portugal, Turkey, Armenia, Greece, Canada, Mexico, apan. J The actual business was preceded by a réunion at the Café Voltaire, on the evening of August 5, when about half the members were present. The proceedings proper consisted of two general meetings on Monday and Saturday, with sectional meetings on the four inter- vening days. The opening general meeting had been announced for 2.30 p.m., August 6, in the Palais des Congrés in the Exhibition grounds; but unfortunately some action on the part of the Exhibition authorities necessitated changing the hour to the morning, and this change was decided upon too late to be communicated to all the members, many of whom had not even arrived in Paris at that hour. Thus a considerable number of the ee es AUGUST 30, 1900] NATURE 419 members were unable to be present at the first geheral meeting, which was held on August 6 at 9.30 a.m. Hermite was acclaimed président d’honneur ; M. Poincaré, president; the vice-presidents (some 7” absentia) were announced as MM. Czuber, Gordan, Greenhill, Lindeléf, Lindemann, Mittag-Leffler, Moore, Tikhomandritzky, _ Volterra, Zeuthen, Geiser. The secretaries were MM. Bendixson, Capelli, Minkowski, Ptaszycki, Whitehead ; the general secretary, M. Duporcq. _M. Poincaré, on taking the chair, spoke a very few words of greeting, and then called upon the speakers of the day. M. Cantor, in his address, “Sur Phistorio- oem des mathématiques,” sketched the development $s subject through Montucla (toujours un modéle tout historiographe des sciences doit suivre), sstner, Cossali, Bossut, Chasles, Libri, Nesselmann, rhardt, Arneth, Hankel, Boncompagni, up to authors “the present day. He ‘expressed the firm conviction that the history of mathematics, from the beginning of Lagrange’s work, can only be written as a series of special histories, with a final volume (Histoire des Idées) co- ordinating the whole. M. Volterra, “Trois analystes italiens, Betti, Brioschi, Casorati, et trois maniéres denvisager les questions d’analyse,” compared and con- sted the work of these three mathematicians, and con- the influence their differing lines of thought and ion have had on the developinent of Italian SiS "Six se ‘sections had been arranged, with meetings extend- over four days. While in general two sections were ‘sitting at the same hours, yet matters were so arranged as to avoid, as far as possible, the conflict of interests that had been felt at Ziirich, where only one day was i devoted to the sectional meetings. These six sections, _ with their presidents and secretaries, were as follows :— ‘(1) Arithmetic and Algebra: Hilbert, Cartan ; (2) Analysis: Painlevé, Hadamard ; (3) Geometry : Darboux, Niewenglowski ; (4) Mechanics and Mathematical Physics: Larmor, Levi-Civita; (5) Bibliography and _ History: Prince Roland Bonaparte, d’Ocagne; (6) _ Teaching and Methods : Cantor, Laisant. _- Owing, however, to the unavoidable absence on some _ days of the president of Section 5, and the small number ber the in that section, Sections 5 and 6 sat together, the presidency, first of M. Cantor (Wednesday), and then of M. Geiser (Friday) ; and at the Wednesday _ Morning sitting the two papers of most general interest 4 B) in the Congress were read. These were Hilbert’s address on the future problems of mathematics, valuable assisting the mathematician to orientate himself, and — account of the mathematics of the old ga school, of special interest as giving information, not readily accessible otherwise, about a system of mathematics that is now entirely obsolete. It appears j = that the Japanese invented zero for themselves, and em- Br i= the circle as a symbol for zero; that they used 3 inaries and complex numbers, and calculated the value of = correctly to forty-nine places of decimals. In . connection with this, M. Cantor remarked that the use of zero is probably Baby.onian, and dates from about 1700 B.C. M. Hilbert considered the origin and nature of the problems of mathematics the study of which is most likely to prove profitable ; the characteristics of a proper solu- tion ; and the methods of attacking any problem that offers special difficulties. If the problem is really in- soluble, then for the advance of mathematics it is essential that the impossibility be rigorously demon- Strated. He illustrated his argument by means of selected problems that invite attack—problems regarding the axioms of arithmetic and of physics, prime and transcendental numbers, questions in the theory of functions, and the determination of the arrangement of the circuits that an algebraic curve can possess ; NO. 1609, VOL. 62] & -bolic space; M. Jamet, referring to a paper about to appear in the Nachrichten der Kgl. Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Géttingen, 1900, for a more complete list of definite problems that demand investigation. -_ Much interest was displayed in the papers read by M. Mittag-Leffler at the Tuesday morning sitting of Section 2, “Sur fonction analytique et expression analytique,” “ Sur une extension de la série de Taylor.” The domain of an ordinary power-series is a circle that reaches to the nearest singular point ; at all points inside this there is convergence, at all points outside there is divergence ; this the author generalised so as to obtain a certain expression convergent within a particular region (an étoile), and divergent without. He raised the question whether an analytic expression can be found which shall represent, throughout its domain of definition, an assigned analytic function. A discussion followed between MM. Borel, Hadamard and Painlevé, as to the nature of the connection between “analytic expression in a complex variable x” and “ analytic function in x.” At the Thurs- day sitting of Section 1, M. Padé read a paper, “ Apercu sur les développements récents de la théorie des frac- tions continues” ; in this he showed the dependence of the expression of a function of x as a continued fraction on a certain diagram, in which each convergent is repre- sented by a point whose co-ordinates are the degrees of the numerator and denominator of the convergent ; and, referring. to the discussion that followed Mittag- Leffler’s paper, suggested that a continued fraction may be found to be a suitable analytic form for any assigned analytic function. The Friday morning combined sitting of Sections 5 and 6 was to a great extent occupied by the discussion of a resolution offered by M. Leau, urging the Academy to consider favourably the adoption of a universal lan- guage, not with a view to displacing any of the existing languages, but as a scientific medium auxiliary to these. Some such resolution has been brought forward lately on several similar occasions by the advocates of the latest artificial language, Esperanto. The discussion showed, on the part of mathematicians, very little sympathy with the suggestion, and very little recognition of a need for any such medium. As one speaker remarked, mathe- matics already has a universal language, the language of formule ; and the general sense of the sections was evi- dently that the existing diversity of languages need cause no real difficulty, so long as writers are willing to confine themselves to English, French, German and posechly Italian, this view of the case being formulated y a Russian, M. Vassilief. The only result of the dis- cussion was the rejection of M. Leau’s motion, and the recording of a wish that the Academy would discoun- tenance any unnecessary diversity in the languages employed for scientific purposes. The four languages enumerated by M. Vassilief are those officially recognised in the meetings of the Congress, though it was notice- able that a great many of the speakers chose to speak in French, possibly out of compliment to their hosts. Other communications of value, though of less general interest, were the following :—In Section 1, M. Ste- phanos, Sur la séparation des racines des ’ équations algébriques ; in Section 2, M. Tikhomandritzky, Sur Vévanouissement des fonctions @ de plusieurs variables ; M. Bendixson, Sur les courbes définies par les équations différentielles ; M. Jahnke, Zur Theorie der Thetafunc- tionen von Zwei Argumenten ; in Section 3, M. Lovett, On contact-transformations between the elements of space ; M. d’Ocagne, Sur les divers modes d’application de la méthode graphique 4 l’art du calcul; M. String- ham, Orthogonal transformations in elliptic or in hyper- Sur le théoréme de Salmon concernant les cubiques planes ; in Section 4, M. Hada- mard, Relations entre les caractéristiques réels et les caractéristiques imaginaires pour les équations différ- 420 NATURE © [AuGusT 30, 1900 entielles 4 plusieurs variables indépendantes ; M. Vol- terra, Comment on passe de l’équation de Poisson a caractéristique imaginaire & une équation semblable a caractéristique réel; in Sections 5 and 6, M. Padoa, Un nouveau systéme irréductible de postulats. pour l’algébre ; M. Capelli, Sur les opérations fondamentales de Parith- ‘métique. The attendance at these sectional meetings, all of which were held at the Servoney varied from ‘50 to! 120. The concluding general meeting was held at the Sor- bonne at 9 a.m.on Saturday. The proceedings opened with the sending of a message of greeting to M. Her- mite, the président.d’honneur of the Congress. .It was ‘then unanimously voted that the next Congress be held in Germany, in 1904, at the beginning or end of the summer vacation, the place mentioned as probable being Baden-Baden. M. Mittag-Leffler then delivered ‘his _address, ‘‘ Une» page de la vie de Weierstrass,” ‘and M. Poincaré spoke briefly on the “ Réle de l’intuition et de la logique en mathématiques,” closing the proceedings immediately afterwards with the few words, ‘La séance est levée ; le congrés est clos.” On the conclusion of the Tuesday afternoon sectional meetings, members were received at the Ecole Normale Supérieure, where a pleasant opportunity for social inter- course was enjoyed; and at noon on the day after the closing of the Congress a banquet was held at the Salle de l’Athénée-Saint-Germain, when about 160 members sat down. In the absence of M. Poincaré, the proceed- angs were conducted by M. Darboux; speeches were made also by MM. Geiser, J. Tannery, Stephanos and Vassilief. es considerable number of members of this and other scientific congresses accepted the invitation of Prince Roland Bonaparte to a scientific sozrée on Saturday. A /éehad been arranged by President Loubet for Thursday evening, but could not be held on account -of the funeral of the King of Italy ; the invitations were consequently transferred to the /é¢e in honour of the Shah on August Io. It will be seen that very little business was transacted, -apart from the reading of papers. At the joint sitting of Sections 5 and 6, it was asked what steps had been taken to put into effect the resolutions of the Ziirich Congress -as to the formation of a committee to consider certain -questions of bibliography, &c., these having been adopted with the hope of ultimately ‘consolidating mathematical enterprise, and directing it into profitable channels. No very satisfactory answer was forthcoming ; M. Laisant, -on behalf of the French Mathematical Society, replying that they had done nothing in this line, having been entirely occupied with making material provision for the ‘Congress. He drew the attention of members, however, to the announcement of the Anmuatre des Mathématiciens, undertaken by Carré et Naud, 3, Rue Racine, which is designed to be a complete register of all mathematicians, with their addresses. It is much to be hoped that these questions, raised at Ziirich, will be dealt with in a business-like manner at the Congress of 1904. NOTES. THE Scientia Club gave a banquet to Lord Kelvin during -the International Physical Congress at Paris. M. Louis Olivier .presided over a distinguished company, and speeches in appre- -ciation of Lord Kelvin’s scientific work were made by him and -by Profs. Mascart and Cornu. From the official report of the International Congress of #lectricians at Paris, ‘we see that two communications, by Mrs. _Ayrton'and M. Blondel, were received with great appreciation. Mrs. Ayrton’s paper was on the luminous intensity of the electric -are with continuous current, and she showed that the best result, ‘oth from the point of view of luminosity and expenditure of NO. 1609, VOL. 62] energy, was obtained from an arc only a millimetre in length. Demonstrations in illustration of this conclusion, and: showing the absorbing and cooling effects of carbon vapour produced in the arc, as well as the production and absorption of green and - } yellow radiations, were given by Mrs. Ayrton at a special meet-. ing in the Ecole supérieure d' Electricité, the progress of electric lighting during the past ‘ten. years, and made some very valuable remarks on arc lamps with alternating currents, and on the carbons commonly used in arc lights, IN opening the business of Section A (Mathematical and Phy- sical Science), of the British Association at. the . forthcoming Bradford meeting, we understand that Dr. Larmor will review the change of ideas which has recently become current regard- ing the scope and method of physical explanation. The bril- liant experimental verification of Hertz has led to the acceptance on the Continent of the views originated in this country regard- ing the nature of electric actions and their dependence on the ether ; but there has been a strong tendency to eliminate from the exposition of the theory those dynamical explanations which. formed a main feature of its development in the hands of Clerk Maxwell. It is of fundamental importance to consider how far purely descriptive methods can thus avail towards an- effective formulation of general physical theory, without appea’ ‘to a dynamical foundation of some kind. subject the discrete atomic constitution of matter is reached when we probe deep enough ; thus the method of representa+ tion of the physical activities of the material atoms, so far as they can be known to us, is of the essence of a dynamical treatment. This leads on to the | cognate question, whether denial of direct action at a distance « necessarily implies the passing on of all electric effects from element to element of the medium entirely by simple stress; if that be too narrow a scheme, the efforts that have ‘been made towards formulation on this basis were foredoomed to failure, The scope and limitations of the method of statistical enumeration of the activities of the atoms, which is the only one now available in ultimate thermodynamic discussions, depend-on considera- tions of a different order. The modern extension of the range of the principle of Carnot also requires us to face the question | how far the processes of chemical interaction between atoms, as distinct from the properties of the molecules when formed, are amenable to dynamical representation. —The general scheme for the business of the section is to take physical | papers ofa mathematical nature on Friday, September 7. On Monday, September 10, the section will divide into two, dealing with mathematics and meteorology respectively. On Tuesday a discussion on ions will be opened by Prof. Fitzgerald. It is also hoped to arrange discussions on the partition of molecular energy, and onthe relation of radiation to sider Pre ie amnat the thermodynamic aspect. A PasTEUR Institute has just been opened at Kasauli, a hill station in the Punjab district, about thirty miles from Simla. It is thus no longer necessary for a person bitten by a rabid animal in India to journey to Paris for treatment by inoculation. The — treatment at the Kasauli Institute is to be given free of charge. ProF. J. C. Boss, who has been attending the: recent Inter: national Congress of Physics at Paris as the delegate of the Government of Bengal, will also attend the British Association meeting at Bradford in the same capacity, and’ will there de- scribe some electrical investigations with which he has. lately been engaged. egy Ba ba ea Mid THE following international congresses upon nites subjects will be held in connection with the Exposition at Paris during September: 3-8, History of Religion; 3-5, Basque Studies ; 3-4, Pharmacy Specialities ; 10-16, Meteorology; 10- -12, Agri- M. Blondel reviewed a In all branches of the — = ae Spay Wes ORR ‘~] E lp: ‘ry it \ nt = . a > ® Aucust 30, 1900] NATURE A421 . Gran, director of the biological station at Wimereux, made Chevalier of the Order of Leopold by the Belgian ent, as a recognition of the hospitality which he has to an students and naturalists at his laboratory | w. B GUNNING, the director of the State Museum at , Speaks in high terms of the way in which he has been y the new British authorities. He has not only been 1 in his post at the museum, but also materially assisted h efforts to add to it a zoological garden, which he had ned ‘before the outbreak of hostilities. It was to this (in- vient) garden that the’ celebrated lioness (now in the Regent’s arden) was presented by Mr. Rhodes, but subsequently the = st by’ Mr. ‘Kruger’s order. atern ational association, for the promotion of psychical has, been. established under the title : Société inter- onale de I’ Institut Psychique. A. Bulletin has been issued ntai ining a report of the inaugural meeting held at Paris on ane 3¢ , and explaining the objects of the organisation. The omité pacrer se. includes the names of Prof. Mark Bis MW. F. Barrett, Sir William Crookes, Prof. O. J ONUD ENT to sities Pelletier and J. B. Caventou, d as pharmaceutical chemists, was unveiled at Paris, by i during the recent International Congress of ik vcadion was born in 1795, and studied at the hool of Pharmacy. While pharmacist at the St. Antoine 40-4 met er eed their fruitful collaboration began. Ine: thes made their work edits by presenting an nt of their methods and results to the Paris Academy of s on September 11, 1820. In their memoir they stated had succeeded in isolating cinchonine and quinine sical and red cinchona bark, and described the thera- erties of these substances. In 1827 the Montyon of Sciences was awarded to them in recog- ti F thie: two investigators together, stands to remind of their joint services to science and humanity. fd}; International Meteorological Congress will be opened. Ss on Monday, September 10, under the presidency of . Mascart, and will continue during the week. The ernatic _ Meteorological Committee, which met last year it. Petersburg, decided that it would convene, at the same as the Congress, the various committees appointed by the "Conference in 1896. These committees are the fol- in; je Terrestrial Magnetism « and Atmospheric Elec- 2 (2) Aeronautics. (3) Clouds. (4) Radiation and. The first of these committees held an important ring at Bristol ‘in 1898, the proceedings and resolutions of ve been published in the reports of the British Associ- A great number of ascents, both with free as well as. . ve balloons, have been made in different countries, for the | matic investigation of the upper regions of the atmosphere, wom , the publication and discussion of the international vations of clouds, made in 1896-97, will probably be leted in 1900 in the majority of the countries taking part | he same. From this it will be seen that communications of high interest will be brought before the Congress. The NO. 1609, VOL. 62| questions which will be dealt with are not restricted exclusively to meteorology properly so-called : they will include, generally, everything which affects the physics of the globe. The meetings of the Congress and of the committees will be held at the House of the Société d’Encouragement, 44, Rue de Rennes, where the International Conference met in 1896. Communi- cations relating to the organisation or to:the programme of the Congress should be addressed.to Mons. Angot, general secretary; 12, Avenue de 1’Alma, Paris. A REvuTER telegram, dated Madrid, August 24, states that twelve fragments cf a meteorite have fallen on the boundary of the provinces of Jaen, Cordova and Granada. The fall was preceded by a series of loud detonations. One fragment, weighing about a pound, which was picked up at Val, in the province of Jaen, is said to be of hexagonal shape, grey on the surface, and of a greenish colour inside. As attempts are being made to found a domestic science, and to introduce exactitude into the operations of the kitchen, a note, in the Monthly Weather Review recording the . actual experience of a. housekeeper at Albuquerque, New Mexico, is of interest. . It appears that cooking recipes and practices which are trustworthy not far from sea-level are worthless at Albuquerque, the altitude of which is 4933 feet. Water boils there at 202° F., instead of 212° F.; hence articles of food, the cooking of which depends upon heat applied through the medium of water, require a longer time for cooking than is given in the cookery books. On account of the extreme dry- ness of the atmosphere, farinaceous foods, such as beans, corn, &c., lose so much of their moisture that they have to be left for a long time in water before cooking, in order to be softened. But the worst difficulty is with cake-making. Ordinary recipes as to number of eggs and amount of baking powder break down altogether, and housekeepers have to modify them if they wish their operations to be successful. As the barometric pressure determines to what extent the disengaged carbon dioxide shall expand and aerate the dough, this may explain the different action of baking soda and egg batter. In any case, the observa- tion is interesting, and chemists may find it worthy of their attention. La Nature of August 18 contains an article, by M. E. Roger; director of the meteorological station at Chateaudun, near Paris, entitled ‘‘ The Greatest Heat of the Century.” A temperature of 103° ‘6 in the screen was observed there on July 27 of this year. The nearest temperature to this hitherto recorded in the vicinity of Paris during the last hundred years was 101°°5 at Montsouris Observatory on the 20th of the same month. At Poitiers in July 1870, a temperature of 106°*2 was recorded. Among the highest temperatures recorded in or near London are 95°°2 at the late Mr. Symons’ station, Camden Town, on July 16 last, and 97°'1 at Greenwich in July 1881 ; in that month a reading of 101° was obtained at Alton, Hants. Tue Pilot Chart of the North Atlantic Ocean for August, issued by the U.S. Hydrographic Office, contains a diagram showing the path of the noteworthy cyclonic tropical storms of the years 1898 and 1899, together with the time of their duration, which varies from 2 to 39 days; two of the storms ‘were traced entirely across the Atlantic. Taken collectively, “the several tracks exhibited show the doubtful accuracy of generalised statements concerning certain characteristics of these storms, such as their velocity, the latitude of their recurvature, &e. ‘Thus the statement is often made that’ in the higher latitudes, after recurvature, the velocity along the track will average 25 or 30 miles an hour. However true this may be as the statement of an average, its untrustworthiness with regard to a particular storm is.well shown by one of the tracks laid down, 422 ~ NATURE [AucusT 30, 1900 in which the velocity of the centre after recurvature off the coast of Florida fell to about three miles an hour through three degrees of latitude. WE have received a copy of the meteorological observations made at Sir Cuthbert Peek’s observatory at Rousdon, Devon, for the year 1899, the sixteenth year of the series. This obser- vatory is a second order station of the Royal Meteorological Society, and possesses a very complete equipment of instruments, both astronomical and meteorological, including various patterns of standard anemometers, the observation and comparison of which form a special and valuable feature of the regular work of the station. The mean temperature of the year exceeded the average by more than 2°; but the year was free from extremes in either direction, although at Greenwich on August 12-a tempera- ture of 90° was recorded. The rainfall was about two and a half inches below the average, and amounted to only 29°31 inches; falls of an inch or more occurred on five days. A daily com- parison is made between the actual weather and the forecasts of the Meteorological Office ; as regards wind, the percentage of success has increased from 69 in 1884 to 93 in 1899, and in the case of weather, from 73 to 92 in the same period. THE following notes from a report by Mr. H. A. Byatt, assistant collector, Fort Alston, are published with others in the British Central Africa Gazette:—‘‘ After passing over the ridge of hills which culminates about two miles to the east of Ndonda, some forty miles from the lake shore, the appearance of the country and the nature of its soil changes very consider- ably. In place of the low-lying marshy expanses along the coast, one finds a monotonous series of undulating grassy plains, covered almost exclusively with a growth of tall rank grass. The soil generally, though occasional small deposits of clay are found, consists of a layer of coarse porous sand, apparently of no great depth, lying upon a substratum of hard rock, and may well have been washed down by centuries of rain from the low hills above mentioned. The country is remarkably waterless. Judging by the appearance of the vegetation which it supports, the soil is of poor quality, and offers but little hope of successful cultivation. Large timber is conspicuous by its absence, and it is only at rare intervals that the raphia-palm and other trees requiring a copious supply of moisture are found ; but possibly such woods as the Mlanje cedar might be introduced with suc- cess. Owing to the rank growth of grass, it is an ideal cattle country ; but the true reason of the excellent condition of cattle in this country is to be found, I believe, in the presence of a certain salt in the earth—possibly a nitrate or phosphate Of soda. In many places itis so abundant that upon the evaporation of the water it is left as a thick white deposit on the surface of the soil, whence it is gathered up by the natives and used as a con- diment. Of other. minerals, beyond the existence of graphite, I have so far found no trace.” THE progress of work on the new wheel-pit of the Niagara Falls Power Company, at Niagara Falls, N.Y., which is in- tended to supplement the present hydraulic installation of the same company, is described and illustrated in the New York Electrical Review (August 15). It is only a few years since the company began operations with a plant capable of being ex- tended to 50,000 horse-power. Both the rapid growth of electrochemical industries at Niagara, and of electric power applications in Buffalo, twenty-six miles away, have rapidly carried the plant up to the limit of its former hydraulic equip- ment. Now the new one, which is slightly larger than the old, is under construction, and it is expected that within a year 105,000 horse-power will be generated and distributed from this one plant. The growth of such industries in the United States has been extraordinary. In New York State there is another plant under construction which will be finished within a year, NO. 1609, VOL. 62] and will develop the enormous total of 150,000 biome calle & Practically all of the latter installation will be used in electro- chemical work in the manufacture of carbides and caustic and bleaching powder. THE manufacture of artificial dye-stuffs in Germany was referred to in a recent report from H.M. late Consul- -General s at Frankfort-on-Main. The endeavours of manufacturers and g industrial chemists are directed, generally speaking, to pro- ducing the organic natural products, such as those of colour — plants, dye woods, insects, molluscs, &c., by artificial and even — cheaper and purer means, and in a more serviceable form for dyeing ; 3 also to producing new colours, which not onlyapproach _ in brilliancy and effectiveness the natural kinds, but even surpass _ them. Since the discovery that the important dye-stuff madder —alizarine—could be produced in an easy and cheaper manner from the carburetted hydrogen of coal-tar, the use of dye-stuffs B . obtained by coal-tar distilling has gradually grown to such an ‘| extent that in Germany about five times as many artificial — colours are made as in all other countries combined. According — to the census in 1895, there existed twenty-five factories for — the manufacture of aniline and aniline colours, and forty-eight + factories (with seven branches) for the production of other coal- tar products (z.¢. not only for colours, but also for other com- modities, such as picric acid, &c.). The aniline works employ — 7266 hands, the latter factories 4194 ; in all, 11,460 men. 5 IN connection with the foregoing note, the Board of Trade — Journal gives some particulars as to the manufacture of artificial _ indigo in Germany, from a report to the Foreign Office. The = importance of indigo is evidenced bythe fact that the production — of natural vegetable indigo equals in value the entire world’s — production of artificial dye-stuffs. The present artificial indigo of commerce represents almost pure indigotin. It is sold in the — form of a 97 per cent. powder, whereas the indigotin contained _ in vegetable indigo fluctuates between 70 and 80 per cent. It — contains no indigo-red, no indigo-brown and no indigo-blue. — The lack of indigo-red and indigo-blue, which both seem to be of some importance in the relation of the dye-stuff to the fibre, — are its special disadvantages. The indigo-red seems to be of © importance in the production of darker shades of colour. There — is no doubt that at some time not too far off it will be possible — to produce this ingredient also. Artificial indigo is used by — dyers in the same way as vegetable indigo. If it is possible to " render the process of manufacture materially cheaper, andthereby to considerably reduce the price of artificial indigo, the danger to natural indigo will be greatly increased ; it is, indeed, to be feared that with the increase of chemical knowledge the same _ fate awaits this dyeing plant, which is extensively cultivated in — British territories, as overtook the Krapp plant, the cultivation of which nowadays no longer pays. Artificial indigo affords a new example of the manner in which applied science revolu- — tionises the most varied spheres and destroys as well as creates great wealth. THE Atlantic Monthly for August contains an account, by Ms. Sylvester Baxter, of a method devised by Mr. Arthur J. Mundy, ~ whereby a ship may be guided into port in stormy weather which prevents ordinary signals from being of service. The — method is called ‘‘ Acoustical Triangulation.” It is based on — the property that sound travels under water with a velocity that ¥ is unaffected by the disturbances such as winds, which have so ay large an influence on the propagation of sound-waves in air; and — the putting of this principle into practice depends on the ~ invention of a successful apparatus for ringing a bell under water 4 by electrical connections. Three bells placed at the corners of : a triangle, preferably equilateral, are sounded at known intervals of time. By noting the intervals of time between the instants when the first and second bells are heard, the locus of the biee 2 -AucusT 30, 1900] NATURE 423 ion is known to be one of the branches of a certain hyper- foci of which are the two bells. By noting the apparent _ between the second and third bell, the ship is similarly on another hyperbola, and the intersection of the two ale the required position of the ship. The only on to the method appears to us to be that a pair of plic branches may intersect in /wo points, so that for given Is lireen the bell sounds the position of the ship may be us. This could be avoided by having four bells instead of Geneva, Prof. A. Pictet surveyed the work which had ‘ought before the society during 1899. Eighteen meetings eld, and no less than seventy-three communications or were read. M.F. L. Perrot and Prof. Guye have made a ff measures of surface tension of various liquids by the of falling drops. The conclusion arrived at as a result - observations was that these tensions are not proportional weight of the drops. A new recording telephone was ed by M. F. Dussan4. M. T. Tommasina has studied lations of conductivity of coherers, and M. E. Steinmann tributed a note on the thermo-electricity of various alloys. ‘section of chemistry and mineralogy, M. Louginine has ited an important memoir on the latent heat of evaporisa- some organic liquids; MM. Dutoit and Friderich have ined the molecular weights of some organic liquids by the of capillary ascensions; Prof. A. Pictet and M. a have presented a note on the constitutional relation ' a fags alkaloids of opium-papaverine and laudanine ; M. ¢ has described his researches on the Liparite rocks of and M. H. Auriol has made a detailed study of the soil8 of the Canton of Geneva. In the section of [. de Candolle stated that grains of wheat which he had four years under mercury had germinated and pro- normal plants ; and Prof. Chodat has described several ganisms of plants. Among the subjects of papers con- to the section of zoology and anthropology are the opment of the wings of Lepidoptera, by M. A. Pictet ; anda tive saeendy of a series of skulls from old burying- iaban i in Valai: ae ae Pitard. In the section of physiology and , Prof. J. L. Prevost and Dr. Battelli have described ( d researches on the action of electric currents upon and M. Babel has given an account of his work on the ative toxicology of aromatic amines. seein trend of legislation in the interests of fish pre- ion in the United States is, Dr. Whitten remarks (State y Bulletin, No. 12, New York), to place more reliance hods of fish propagation than on a multiplicity of mus restrictions, and to obtain through scientific research knowledge essential to enlightened regulation. In 1871 nited States commission of fish and fisheries was created dertake scientific investigations, collect information, and to her the introduction and multiplication of food fishes, parti- _ cular in waters under national jurisdiction. In 1898 the com- _ mission maintained 34 fish-cultural stations and distributed 509,546 eggs, fry and adult fish. Fish commissions have created in every State except Kentucky. Many of the ons exist primarily for protective purposes, but others carr on valuable scientific work and maintain hatcheries and ock local waters with the most valuable food fishes. Illinois a zoological station, and Oregon has created the office of ie biologist for the investigation of the animal resources State and the development of such as have economic at relation of the cell to the enzymes, or soluble ferments originate from cells, was touched upon by Sir J. Burdon- _ Sanderson, Bart., in the address he delivered before the recent N9. 16C9, VOL. 62] International Medical Congress at Paris. Formerly, he pointed out, each kind of cell was regarded as having a single special function proper to itself, but the progress of investigation has | shown that each species of cell possesses a great variety of chemical functions and that it may act on the medium which it inhabits, and be acted upon by it, in a variety of ways. Thus, for example, the colourless corpuscles of the blood (or, as they are now called, leucocytes) are considered not merely as agents in the process of suppuration or as typical examples of con- tractile protoplasm, but rather as living structures possessing chemical functions indispensable to the life of the organism. Simi- larly, the blood disc, which formerly was thought of merely as a carrier of heemoglobin, is now regarded as a living cell possessed of chemical susceptibilities which render it the most delicate re- agent which can be employed for the.detection of abnormal conditions in the blood. The tendency of recent research is to show that the reactions referred to as chemical functions of the cell (action of the cell on its environment—action of the environ- ment on the cell) are the work of ferments—intrinsic or ex- trinsic—which are products of the evolution of the living cell, and therefore to which the term enzymes may be applied. RECENT researches have plainly indicated that in the case of the disease- producing micro-organisms, the specific functions which for years were regarded as proper to,-and inseparable from, the cell belong essentially to the enzymes which they contain. It has been further shown that similar statements can be made as regards ferment-processes which differ widely from each other and no less widely from those induced by bacteria. So that in the domain of microbiology the enzyme may in a certain sense be said to have ‘‘ dethroned the cell.” For if, as.M. Duclaux has said, itis possible to extract from the cell a substance which breathes for it, another which digests for it, another which elaborates the simple from the complex, and finally another which reconstitutes the complex from the simple, the cell can no longer be considered as ove, but rather as acomplicated machine, the working of which is for the most part dependent on enzymes, which, however numerous and varied may be the processes in which they are engaged, all follow and obey the universal law of adaptation, and all contribute to the welfare and protection of the organism. In our last week’s issue reference was made to Dr. Haller’s views as to the relationships of the different groups of the Vertebrata, based on his study of the hag-fishes and lampreys. And in the July number of the /ournal of Anatomy and Physiology the subject of the origin of Vertebrates, as deduced from the study of the larval lamprey. (Ammoccetes), is resumed by Dr, Gaskell. In this important communication the author arrives at the conclusion that Ammoceetes is a representative of the Devonian Cephalaspids, and also that a larval form of the latter group must have existed which was of the nature of the Eurypterid Crustaceans. Again, judging from the development of Limulus, it would appear that the larval Eurypterid resembled a Trilobite, and there is evidence that Trilobites are Phyllopods, which are almost certainly derived from Chzetopod Crustaceans. Admitting the derivation of the lampreys from Cephalaspids, we find that the latter, in their adult condition, approximate to larval Amphibians ; and we hence pass from the latter to the lower Mammals, and so on to Man. Thus, according to Dr. Gaskell, the study of Ammoccetes, owing to the importance of larval forms, enables us to bridge the gulf between the Annelid and Man. THE greater portion of the July number of the Quart. Journ. Microscopical Science is occupied by a communication from Messrs. F. W. Gamble and J. H. Ashworth on the anatomy and classification of the Sandworms (Arenicolidxe). This is followed by a most interesting series of diagrams illustrating the life-history of the parasites of malaria, by Messrs. Ross and 424 NATURE [AUGUST 30, 1900 Fielding-Ould, accompanied by a short explanatory text. The diagrams were originally intended to illustrate a lecture delivered at the Royal Institution, to which reference is made in NatTuRE of March 29.. The authors adopt the name Hezmameebide: for ‘the intracorpuscular ‘amcea-like bodies which occur'-in the’ blood ‘of certain animals: * Of ‘these, three species occur in’ human beings’ (producing the various types of malarial fever),one in ‘monkeys, three in bats, and two in birds. ‘Only’ the human and avian forms are illustrated. The development ‘of four of these has been followed in gnats ; the three human forms living in Anopheles, while the bird-infesting species dwells in the common’ Culex pipiens. To this paper Prof. E. Ray Lankester appénds’ a separate conimunication describing the ‘generative process in the aforesaid *‘ Hema- meebids” and in the allied Coccidiidz, which ‘are parasitic in cuttle-fish. Sexual conjunction, or ‘‘ zygosis,” has recently been demonstrated to occur in’ the former group, and shortly before certain peculiar bodies known as microgametes and macro- gametes were‘found to occur in the latter. These Prof. Lankester now shows respectively correspond to the spermatozoa and ova of higher organisms, specimens of the Coccidiidze being figured in which the process of fertilisation by the microgametes is actually taking place. - To vol. xiii. Part 1 of the Azzals of the New York Academy of Sciences, Prof, H. F. Osborn contributes an important paper on the correlation between the Tertiary mammalian horizons of Europe and America. The author is of opinion that the Puerco Eocene of the United States has no parallel in the European series, and that the Egerkingen beds of Switzerland are newer than the Wasatch. The three main divisions of the European Miocene are correlated with the Loup Fork and a portion of the John Day groups of America. But the most generally interest- ing portion of the paper is that in which Prof. Osborn enunci- ates his views with regard to former land connections, The theory of an extensive Antarctic continent synchronously con- necting South America and Australia, and also communicating at some epoch with Africa, is deemed to be demonstrated, And it is considered that South America has experienced four dis- tinct streams of faunal migration. In the first it received its peculiar Ungulates and Edentates ; in the second it yielded the ancestors of Aard-varks, Pangolins, and perhaps Hyraces, to Africa; during a third land connection Marsupials immigrated from Australasia ; and in the fourth the modern North American types effected anentrance. In contradistinction to the general view that Africa received its fauna from the north, the author is of opinion that the Dark Continent was itself the great dis- persing centre and theatre of evolution; but whether South America received its original fauna from Africa or from North America is left an open question. ; AMERICAN zoologists continue to devote their attention to the mammals of the Old World; and in the Proceedings of the Washington Academy of Sciences for July, Mr. G. S. Miller publishes two papers on the squirrels of Siam and Malacca, as well asa third on the European red- backed field-mice. Mr. Bonhote has just bzen writing on the former subject in the Annals of Natural History, and it seems a pity that naturalists cannot agree to divide their work so as to avoid overlapping and consequent unnecessary multiplication of names. THE Zoo/ogist for. August contains an interesting account of a visit to Lundy Island during the nesting season, by Mr. F. L. Blathwayt. In the course of the paper allusion is made to the tradition that the Great Auk, or some equally large unknown bird, formerly inhabited the island. Only one or.two pairs of this bird were known to the islanders, but an egg (subsequently broken) was secured in 1839. This subject seems worthy of further investigation. NO. 1609, VOL. 62] WE are glad to see that in its September issue the Gi7?s Realm is endeavouring to awake an interest in the animal ‘life of 4 the sea-shore among its numerous juvenile feaders, by publishing . Met an illustrated article, entitled ‘An Mourin a Drang,” by’ E. Step. low tide, the author introduces his young friends’ to’ its living inhabitants in such a delightful manner that he can scarcely fail to gain many converts to the study of natural histo The photographs of crabs and lobsters with witch the ere illus- trated are admirably presented. oth eh A Bulletin (Technical Series, No. °s) just issued by id Us Ss. epartment of Agriculture (Division of Entomology) contains contributions towards a, monograph of the American Aleurodide, by Mr, A. L. Quaintance, and a paper on the Red Spiders. of the United States (Tetranychus and Stigmzeus), by Mr. Nathan Banks. homopterous family Aleurodide in England. They are garden insects, which have a superficial resemblance to small pie moths. In the present monograph forty- two American speci of Aleurodes (Latreille) are described, most of them for the | first time, and ten. others belonging to the genus Aleurodicus (Douglas)... To these the plates refer. The second paper, which is illustrated by wood-cuts, relates to the mites. improperly called Red Spiders, which are equally troublesome in gardens and greenhouses in Europe and America. here discussed, ten species of Tetranychus , (Dufour) and one of Stigmzeus (Koch) are described ;. several as new. It is rather a pity that the term entomology is used in England so narrowly as practically to exclude mites, spiders, centip edes, &c., from entomological publications, and thus to ‘hir r the popularigation of knowledge respecting ~ them. In ‘America, entomology is given the wider extension which it possessed at pn beginning of the century, as may, be seen by. the inclusion of ' mites in the present publication. THE members of the Manchester. Microscopical Society Nesaten a word of encouragement for the efforts they make to extend a knowledge of natural history. entirely concerned with this work, and the members of it propa- gate the gospel of natural history by iecturing and demonstrating wherever their services are required.’ “Ap taining a list of nearly fifty subjects has been isstied; “and the honorary secretary, Mr. George Wilks, 56, Brookland Street, Eccles New Road, Manchester, will arrange for lectures or demonstrations upon any of them if a communication is made to him. . wear ine THE two last numbers of the Bulletin of the ‘Free “Museum of Science and Art of Philadelphia show that this institution is growing rapidly under the care of Mr. Cu'in. ‘The more im- portant recent additions are figured. In vol. ii, No. 33s an account of the historical Dickeson collection from the “Mississippi mounds, and in the following number is a descriptive catalogue : of the Berendt collection of books and~ “manuscripts on the languages of Central America in the Museum Library, carefully compiled by the late Dr. Brinton. + ‘peggae THOSE interested in the decorative art ot primitive folk should consult two fully illustrated papers in the Amerécan A nthropologist (N.S. vol. ii. No, 2, 1890). basketry designs of the Maidu Indians: of California, in’ which animal and plant forms, feathers, arrow heads, mountains and clouds are plaited in a very conventional manner.’ The author makes the significant remark, ‘* The knowledge of the designs is almost exclusively confined to the older women, the younger — The second paperisone by Mr. B, Laufer, on the Amoor tribes, and isa preliminaryaccount generation knowing only very few.” of the work done by this observer on the Jesup North Pacific “Drang,” we leatn, is Cornish for'a deep cleft 5 and { | in his admirable description of such a cleft among’ the rocks. at Of the two genera 3 One, by Mr. R; B. Dixon, deals with eee oe We have only one or two species of the interesting 4 One section of the society is © Geese, Soret en Le ae wre: “2g i i | “ Re ee ee ee we ee ee a AvuGUST 30. 1900] NATURE 425 _ Expedition. Mr. Laufer gives a careful analysis of zoomorphic mis, mainly of the Gold tribe ; their decorative art shows I traces of Chinese influence, but the designs have been ved in an.original and interesting manner. ‘ aoe of sor te eo and pathological apparatus, burners, which can be used instead of ordinary Bunsen ers where gas is not available. These are, of course, ble for any laboratory, and not merely for bacteriological _ Of special interest are a number of new centrifuges for n the examination of blood, sputum, milk. In water, a minute is sufficient. When examining blood ‘or m “it may be necessary to make upwards of 10,000 revo- 3 a minute, which rate can be obtained by a water-power uge manufactured by Messrs. Griffin. Another note- hy addition is a special test-tube possessing characteristics s required for bacteriological work, but rarely found. +k include a Javan Mynah (Gracula javanensis) from a, presented by Mr. George Smith; an Indian Crow ts evi from India, pitdechted. by Mr. E. A. ms ; a Rose-coloured Pastor (Pastor roseus) from India, 9 Finch (Cyanospiza cyanea), a Nonpareil Finch anospize ctris) from North America, presented by Mr, L. a Baker ; a Raven (Corvus corax), European, presented ir, G. St. Leger Hopkinson; three Blackish Sternotheres oerus nigricans) from Madagascar, two Prasine Snakes / from Upper Burmah, eleven American Box a Tortoises ( Cistudo carolina) from North America, deposited ; an Occipital Blue Pie (Uvocissa occipitaiis) from the Western g ten Common Chameleons (Chamaeleon vulgaris) a from “North Africa, purchased; a Brush-tailed Kangaroo | : Soule born in the Gardens, ri a Saa) lies OccURRENCES IN SEPTEMBER. pt. 1. 8h. , Jupiter in conjunction with the moon, Jupiter, fy “ghee Ps] : °° 51 North. Be drab (Be. ee: — to 8h, 11m. ‘ Moon oceults the planet Pe. teak hn + a he Th 35m, to 8h. sem. Moon occults aha star ie 3 Gass tari 5 seuth sees qh. 24m, Teena Atanas) of Jupiter’ s Sat. IL. ets ane: [ 35m. to 13h. “43m. “Moon occults ® Atietis Ff f ee 1 eon ran oh, 34m. Moon occults 13. Tauri we eee to. oh. 18m, Moon. occults D. M. + 20°, ; eae Venus. eel portion’ of disc st - oe. Ss i 1azhi 8m... ‘Minimam of Algol (8 Persei). el tedikd ps4 : 6h. . Venus at greatest elongation. 46° 1’ West. to 18. 1gh. 48m. to 15h. gom. Moon occults 29 Cancri . aaa (mag. 5°9). i 7..30,). Sh. 57m. Minimum of Algol (B Persei), .» 23. oh. Sun enters Libra, autumn commences. 27. Saturn. Outer minor axis of outer ring = 17’’* La Se ae 2th, Ly alee in canjnaction with the moon, Jupiter, Siilitizie 0. 13° North. .. Nesura IN LyrRA.—It is foketeating't to find in the ‘Be it de la Société Astronomique de France, August 1900, ose of the first published work done with the great 50- refractor of the Paris Exposition while that exhibition is in progress. M. Eugéne Antoniadi, of the Juvisy Observ- NO. 1609, VOL. 62] - Prof. S. atory, has been for some time making systematic observations of nebul with the instrument, anda drawing showing a consider-. able amount of detail accompanies his paper on the Ring Nebula, the first of the series he has undertaken to study. | He mentions that the lens used is the photographic one, the other, specially corrected for the visual rays, not yet being in position. The focal length of this glass is about 186 feet (57 metres). OCCULTATION OF SATURN.—On Monday evening next, September 3, there will be an occultation of Saturn by the moon, for which the following Reet for Greenwich may be useful :— Angle from Sidereal Mean r - nate Time. Time. North point. Vertex, ; i als Ape z Disappearance TO. ek Te hi ae 126 Reappearance..,... 19 I ... 8 11... 217 206 Providing the weather be favourable, this should be. an ex- cellent opportunity for observing the occultation of the planet, as the altitude will be almost at its maximum, meridian. passage at Greenwich occurring at 7h. 7m. Moreover, from its being such a bright object, observations may be made with instruments of the lowest optical power. In the Bulletin de la Société Astronomique de France for August 1900, M. M. Honorat gives. an illustrated description of his observation of the last occultation of Saturn on. June 13. He mentions the conspicuous contrast. between, the slightly yellowish colour of the moon and the greenish tint of the planet. During the occultation the planet appeared separated from the lunar limb by a narrow shadow about 5” of arc in width, AS a contrast effect. At the reappearance of Saturn at thé terminator, he could net perceive any trace of penumbral shadow cast on the planet’s isc, OpposiIrION OF EROs.—Two additional circulars have been issued by the special committee appointed by the Astrographic Conference to direct the observations-of Eros during the coming opposition. Special attention is drawn to the work: which may be commenced at once, such as: micrometric observations with all equatorials of large aperture, for furnishing definite positions for the theory of the planet’s movement, and that these should be published as soon as possible, to perfect the ephemerides for the actual parallax work later. An ephemeris is included from the computations of M. Millosevich, and tables showing the limiting times between which the planet will have an altitude greater than 20° at various latitudes, and also a table indicating the proper regions to be included on the photographs on dates extending from September 19 to January 7. In the Astronomische Nachrichten (Bd. 153, No. 3656), J. Brown, of the U.S. Observatory at Washington, calls attention to the many opportunities for simultaneous micro- meter observations at’ widely separated stations, and as many observatories are not equipped with the. photographic instru~ ments necessary for the more general programme contemplated, gives data for assisting micrometer. observers to co-operate for this type of work alone. The high declination of the planet makes it possible to secure simultaneous observations at. all the Eastern stations west of Pulkowa, and at all the American observatories east of Denver. He also gives a table showing the Greenwich Mean Time at which the planet will be simul- taneously visible at the observatories of Pulkowa, Konigsberg, Vienna, Evanston, Madison, Yerkes and Denver for intervals of ten days from 1900 October 1-1901 January- 19. Careful sketches of the comparison stars in the field should be made to facilitate subsequent identification. Owing to the rapid orbital motion of Eros rendering observations for position angle and distance very troublesome, measures should be made in rect- angular co-ordinates referred to the true equatorial poutep of the wed micrometer wire. j THE INTERNATIONAL PHYSICAL CONGRESS. THE first International Congress of Physics, which has just ' _ finished its sittings, has been a brilliant success. The number of participators exceeded a thousand, and, in spite of the attractions which Paris always offers, in spite of the simul- taneous rivalry of the Universal Exhibition itself, sectional and general meetings were closely followed up to the last day by a great number of visitors. 426 NATURE [ AUGUST 30, 1900 The cause of this unexpected success must no doubt be sought in the idea underlying the plan of the Congress, worked out as it was with the greatest care by a committee of the Société Fran- caise de Physique. That committee deliberately rejected the method of simply presenting personal memoirs, or notes on limited subjects, and concentrated all its efforts upon the pre- paration of a well-arranged summary of the actual state of physical science, in the branches in which, within the last few years, the greatest progress has been made, and the actual stage of progr ess of which at the end of the nineteenth century it was considered most important to investigate. Once the list of subjects was completed, the work was divided among the physicists who seemed best qualified to give a complete re- presentation of their special subject. This plan gave rise to a series of reports, many of which are works of a very high value, and which, in their entirety, constitute the most complete representation of any science at a given epoch yet made. These ‘reports number about 80. To summarise these here would be, so to speak, repeating the work of the Congress on a small scale, and that could not be thought of. fine myself to referring to them by groups which are obviously related and mutually supplement each other. For this considerable task, a preface was necessary. M. H. Poincaré provided such a preface, and brought it before the Congress amid great applause, showing how mathematical generalisation could render experimental work infinitely more fertile. Experimental physics is a library. Mathematical physics arranges it and prepares the catalogue. It does not enrich it, but if it is well prepared it enables one to draw a greater profit from the former. The celebrated mathematician then showed how hypotheses have succeeded each other, in the form of physical images or simply mathematical images, where the symbol often remains true even when the mechanism is no longer accepted. Mathematical analysis also alone gives the true sense of the simplicity hidden under complexity, as in the case of Newton’s law—which is always rediscovered in the most complicated movements of the heavenly bodies—or the kinetic theory of gases, where the law of large numbers hides the isolated individuals, only permitting the appearance of an aggregate for which the laws of Mariotte-Boyle and Gay-Lussac, long considered simple, are only the destruction of the action of individual molecules. Starting from these now well-known facts, M. Poincaré showed how the same methods and ideas apply to theories now being evolved concerning the interaction of matter and ether. His speech will no doubt be read and studied for a long time to come, and will remain one of the most perfect expressions of the state of mind of the masters of modern science. To the organisers of the Congress, Lord Kelvin’s promise of a personal contribution of work had been a powerful and valued encouragement. But what they hardly dared hope for was to see him, after the fatigues of a voyage, take a very active part in the Congress, and to see him hold spell-bound by the charm of his discourse a respectfully attentive audience bent upon seizing every thought of the great physicist. M. Poincaré’s speech gave him an occasion for a brilliant improvisation on the con- stitution of the ether; and he also dealt with the subject in a paper on the waves produced in an elastic solid by the motion of a body acting upon it by attraction and repulsion. But it was not only in that speech that the illustrious honorary fresident of the Congress showed the interest he felt in the assembly. Presiding every day at sectional meetings, he clothed both reports and debates with a very special authority. To facilitate work, the Congress had been divided beforehand into seven sections, the work of which I propose briefly to review. In the measurement section, presided over by M. Benoit, the chief work was that of determining the actual state of metrology properly so called. After a very complete recapitulation, by the president, of the history of standards and methods employed in the measurement of length and the progress so far made, detailed attention was devoted to the complete metrological definition of standards and their legal definition; the legal status of the electrical units; and some improvements which might con- veniently be made in a number of insufficient definitions, or definitions referring to conceptions recently introduced into science, such as the different abscissze of the spectrum, &c. Some resolutions were passed, such as that recommending the adoption 1 These reports presented to the Congress have been translated into French. They were printed for purposes of discussion, and will be shortly published in three volumes. ; NO. 16C9, VOL. 62] I shall, therefore, con- , of the mechanical C.G S. units (erg and joule) for the expres- sion of calorimetric quantities, comprising, naturally, the solar constant, to be reduced by the meteorologists to the calorie per & minute per sq. cm. Also that in the expression of elastic constants, the C.G.S. unit of pressure, the darde, be adopted, of which the multiple by 10°, the megadarie, is sufficiently represented by the pressure exercised by a column of mercury 75 cm, long at o° and under normal gravity.. The Congress further supported the sectional resolution that national labora- tories be created in countries which do not as yet possess any. The interferential methods of measurement brought out an excellent paper by M. Macé de Lépinay ; there were also four contributions relating to thermometry of precision (Chappuis), pyrometry (Barus), the mechanical equivalent of heat (Ames), and a special study of the variation of the specific heat of water (Griffiths). All these showed that great progress has been made in these various departments. Thus at present the divergencies among the various gas thermometers are known over a long in- terval, and it is also known that though the hydrogen and nitrogen thermometers, for instance, may still differ between 0° and 100°, their divergence at the higher temperatures is insignificant if | care is taken to slightly correct the mean coefficient of expan- sion between 0° and 100°. The difficulty of employing hydrogen at high temperatures lends a great importance to this provision. Pyrometry also is rapidly advancing, and as regards the —— mechanical equivalent, the great divergences which existed a few years ago have disappeared owing to a more complete cor- rection of thermometric values and a better knowledge of electric standards. : FF Some very fine work has also been done in connection with gravitation. The measurement of the Newtonian constant, ad- mirably expounded by Mr. Boys, whose special work in this department is now classical, and the announcement of anomalies of gravitation by Messrs. Bourgeois and Eoétviés, gave rise to very interesting discussions. A few years ago these anomalies were placed beyond a doubt, and it is already possible to study the details with the aid of apparatus which, like of M. Eétvés or that of Messrs. Threlfall and Pollock, indicates the most minute details, whereas the pendulum fermerly em- ployed only gave the more considerable anomalies. The Congress expressed.a hope that the study of these anomalies will be pursued by the new methods, not only for the sake of knowing the gravitational acceleration in every place, but also for the better knowledge of the constitution of the globe. Finally, M. Leduc presented to the section a report on the electro-chemical equivalent of silver, and M. Gouy another on the standard of E.M.F. It appears from the latter that the cadmium standard is preferable to every other. The measurement of the velocity of sound, dealt with by M. Violle, forms in a manner the transition between the section of measurement and that of mechanical and molecular physics. In the latter, presided over by M. Violle, after a very complete treatise by M. Amagat on the whole of his work, and an admir- able paper by M. van der Waals on the statics of mixed fluids, Mathias showed, in a paper well provided with references, how the critical point may be determined by various methods. Specialising further, Prince Galitzine dealt with the re- fractive index, and, finally, M. Battelli exhibited the relations between the statics of fluids and their calorimetry. Except as regards mixtures, the ideas on these various subjects are well fixed nowadays, and new light can only come from the experimental side. Mixtures are less known, and the paper in which the celebrated Amsterdam physicist condensed our actual knowledge of this question will no doubt powerfully contribute to make them known. Having created the idea of continuity between the liquid and the gaseous states, he has had the satis- faction of seeing it become classical. But it is in another direction that this evolution advances nowadays. continuity also exist between the liquid and the solid state? The diffusion of solids, their flow under pressure, the constitu- tion of alloys, so well studied, notably by M. Spring and Sir W. Roberts-Austen, might lead to that belief, especially since M. Schwedoff has proved the rigidity of liquids. M. Tammann raises some doubts concerning this idea, and recommends a careful distinction between the amorphous and the crystalline states. In any case, the presence at the Congress of the eminent physicists mentioned, with the exception of M. Tammann, who was represented by M. Weinberg, contributed greatly to the interest of the subject and to its future progress. The study of the permanent or temporary deformations of | Does this > a pei AUGUST 30, 1900] NATURE 427 solids naturally furnishes interesting data. A work by M. M , and another by the author of the present article, were _ devoted to these two questions. It is interesting to note that the last experimental researches are all in favour of the chemical theory of temporary deformations. ___ M. Voigt has devoted a great amount of indefatigable activity _ to the study of the elasticity of crystals. His summary of this was a great boon to the second section. It was a con- ler: piece of work, in which, naturally, the mathematical formula was predominant. This work will serve as a base for those interested in the elasticity and the piezo-electricity of as well as in questions of symmetry. M. van’t Hoff was not present at the Congress, but he wed his interest by sending a work on the formation of : in a mother-liquor containing a mixture of salts. In }case questions of equilibrium play an important part, the 1 of the crystals depending, not only upon the solubility of salt in the mixture, but also upon the quantity of each. It was very interesting to learn the ideas arrived at by M. van der Mensb e, after a long career devoted to the study capillarity. The report presented by Joseph Plateau’s son- ! constitutes a precious document on capillarity, a subject hich has been somewhat eclipsed by other subjects, but which as formed the object of investigation of the greatest spirits, and continues to do so. We must be short, and can only mention the report by M. illouin on gaseous diffusion, by M. Perrin on osmosis, and 'M. Bjerknes on hydrodynamical actions at a distance. The er derives its interest more especially from the fact that a pret oommewe model may be constructed which possesses all characteristics of a world subjected to actions at a distance. The third section, presided over by M. Lippmann, dealt with opti The recent researches on the laws of radiation natur- ally formed part of its programme, opened by those inseparable _ reports, on the theoretical laws of radiation, by M. W. Wien ; _ on the radiation of solids, by M. Lummer; and on gaseous _ radiation, by M. Pringsheim. The practical realisation of the _ black body, the verification of Stefan’s law for a large range of «tem , and certain simple relations between the tempera- ture and the position of the maximum in the spectrum, are the _ salient facts which the experimental work of recent years has _ brought out. For gases, a doubtful point is the validity of _ Kirchhoff’s law, but according to M. Pringsheim that does no _ seem to be in any danger if only the purely thermal radiati is " _ Recently, the spectrum has been greatly extended in the infra-red. M. Rubens, to whom the greatest progress in this _ direction is due, had undertaken to give a summary of this question, showing how the dispersion formule agreed with 7a iment, and demonstrating experimentally the connection __ between long light waves and electrical waves.. This work again _ called forth a discussion on the formule and theories of $ gs ee opened by M. Carvallo. ea a The kinematics of the spectrum has also made great progress _ Since Balmer showed for the first time that the hydrogen rays _ are represented by a very simple formula. The researches of Kayser and Runge and other physicists, Rydberg among them, ive shown that the distribution of the spectrum lines is _ governed by laws, some of which are clearly established, while _ others are as yet unknown. Of all this work, M. Rydberg gave an excellent summary. __ The velocity of light has, as we know, given rise to metro- logical work of the first rank, and of extreme difficulty. It fell _ to the distinguished president of the Congress, M. Cornu, to _ give a review of this subject, and during the remarkable speech _ which he delivered at the Ecole Polytechnique, the physicists _ from all parts had the privilege of seeing the original apparatus ___ of Fizeau and of Foucault, who were the first to give an approxi- _ mate value of that velocity by measurements confined to the aA c- 3 ____ Itis this characteristic velocity which for Maxwell was the _ touchstone of the theory involving the identity of luminous __ and electrical oscillations. As the instruments become more _ perfect, and the sources of error disappear, this identity is more nu a more Bepveneed. It was very interesting to co-ordinate )) mbers furnished by vant proper with those furnished by _ the comparison of units and the direct measurement of the Suugery of electric waves. M. Abraham undertook the first t es: ol his work, and MM. Blondlot and Gutton the second. . | brings us to the electrical section, presided over by M. NO. 1609, vot. 62] Potier, and in his absence by M. Bouty. The line of demarca- tion, however, is becoming more and more difficult to draw. The extremely interesting work of M. Lebedef on the pressure produced by radiations, has its origin in the great work of Max- well; but it might also arise from pure thermodynamics, as shown by Bartoli and Boltzmann. As regards Hertzian waves, treated in a masterly manner by M.-_Righi, they approach so closely to the work of M. Rubens, that the small interval which still separates them is probably the only reason—and a very artificial one—for keeping them separate at all. Ina supple- mentary note, M. Branly gave an. account of some of his own researches on coherers. The reports just mentioned furnished the experimental side of an idea, the theoretical aspect of which was treated of in a paper by Prof. Poynting on the propagation of electrical energy. We encounter another group of questions in the gaseous dielectrics, studied by M. Bouty, as well as electrolysis and ionisation, which have made such vast progress during the last decade, and which were dealt with by M. Arrhenius, one of the promoters of the new ideas, in a paper which will remain a model of clearness. Finally, we have M. Christiansen’s theories of contact electricity, M. L. Poincaré’s theories of the electric cell, and the exposition of Nernst’s ideas, which had not been con- templated in the programme of the Congress, but which enabled their founder to give to the meeting a review admirably completing this group of questions. The presentation of present ideas on magnetism had been ex- cellently prepared by two fundamental reports, one, by M. du Bois, on the general magnetic properties of bodies, and another, by M. Warburg, on hysteresis, which he was the first to observe, and which, in the hands of Ewing, Hopkinson and others, attained such great importance. Two particular aspects of magnetism, viz. magneto-striction and the E.M.F. of magneti- sation, which could not form part of the general reports, were treated separately by M. Nagaoka and M. Hurmuzescu. Although the applications of electricity are almost entirely beyond the subject-matter of the Congress, there are some which are connected so closely with general physics that it seemed very desirable to have them dealt with, This was done by M. von Lang, whose work on the electric arc is well known, while M. Potier gave an exhaustive paper on the theory of polyphase currents, and M. Blondel the description of apparatus for tracing. the curves of rapidly varying currents. In a few years’ time the work of the fifth section—ionisation and magneto-optics, presided over by M. Becquerel—will no doubt fall naturally into one of the preceding sections. But at the present moment they are still so undefined, they open up such new horizons, that it appeared well to collect them in a special section. The idea proved very fruitful, for the section was largely attended, and the discussions at it proved very fascinating. ' M. Lorentz had prepared an admirable report on magneto- optics, with special reference to the Zeeman phenomenon. He expounded both his own ideas and those of M. Voigt. The presence of the latter gave the section the privilege of an exposition at first hand of his latest ideas. The absence of Prof. J. J. Thomson could not but be severely felt. But the work which he had sent in, concerning the ratio of the electric charges to the masses carrying them, was read amid great interest after the general exposition made by M. Villard of the state of our knowledge of kathode rays. The phenomena of actino-electricity, somewhat forgotten now, though much studied ten years ago, gave rise to a report by MM. Bichat and Swyngedauw. Perhaps increased atten- tion will be devoted to them now that the researches of M. Becquerel and those of M. and Mme. Curie have proved so fertile in the examination of new bodies, , The speeches in which first M. Becquerel and then M. Curie expounded the disconcerting properties of uranium, polonium and radium rays, were for many a revelation. These extra- ordinary bodies, discovered by their radio-active properties, which were first announced by M. Becquerel, and then followed up with such startling success by M. and Mme. Curie, were known to the majority of those present, but only a few had seen those few decigrammes of material extracted from several tons of the mineral richest in it, pitchblende, and certainly the effects produced surprised by their intensity those who saw them for the first time. Several hundred persons at a time could see this light, which appears everlasting, radiated perpetually by radium, the clear 428 NATURE [Aucusr 30, 1900 . patch which it produces even across a sheet of metal.on a screen of barium platino-cyanide, the instantaneous discharge of an electrified ‘body brought near to the substance, and the sparks passing when radium is brought within a few centimetres of the spark gap. ' The magnetic deflection of the rays could, of course, not be made evident to such a large audience. But the original negatives could be projected, and they showed the curvilinear propagation’ of the rays in a magnetic field. The new bodies constantly project matter endowed with a great velocity. Neighbouring bodies are impregnated with it, and become radio-active in turn. These particles attach them- selves, not only to objects, but to persons as well, so that. M. Curie will be condemned for some time to abandon every kind of electrostatic research: No electrometer remains charged in his neighbourhood, and it is certain that if radium had only been as plentiful’as gold, static electricity would never have been discovered.’ In ‘the same domain, important generalisations have been made, such as the theory of dispersion in metals, founded by. M. Drude upon the eléctron theory, of which the author gave an account to the section. ; oo The sixth section, under the presidency of M. Mascart, occupied itself with cosmical physics. Terrestrial magnetism should undoubtedly have formed part of the work of this section, but the Meteorological Congress which will shortly meet intends to make that the principal object of its studies, and it was evidently necessary to leave it aside. ; Yet the work of this section was very fruitful. Here, naturally, observation still holds a predominant place, as in the work of the Swiss physicists, with M. Hagenbach at their head, on glaciers; and the detailed study of oscillations of lakes by MM. Sarasin and Fotel, who brought their results before the Congress. In the department of atmospheric electricity, a very good account was given by M. F. Exner, and Mr. Paulsen gave an account of the Danish expedition to Iceland for the study of the aurora. The evaluation of the solar constant by M. Crova, ac- cording to recent researches, and a very ingenious theory of suns-pots established by M. Birkeland after troublesome calcula- tions, were heard with much interest. Finally, M. °C. Dufour showed how, without the help of any laboratory apparatus, the approximate brightness of the stars could be determined. It had seemed useful to collect in a seventh section some works relating to biology. In the absence of M. d’Arsonval, this section, presided over by M. Charpentier, did a great deal of good work, and justified the idea of the organisers of the Congress. The application of physical and mathematical methods to the transmission of energy in organisms, to which M. Broca has devoted attention for a considerable time, and the curious retina phenomena studied by M. Charpentier, gave this section a vast field of discussion. Finally, the new theory of accommodation established by M. Tscherning received the sanc- tion of a very largely attended meeting, while M. Hénocque spoke of the spectroscopic methods used in biology. The proceedings of the Congress were not confined to sec- tional work and general meetings. A visit to the laboratories of the Sorbonne and the Ecole Polytechnique showed many ex- periments in progress, installed’ by the professors of these establishments or their provincial and foreign colleagues. These could only be properly appreciated by observing them closely and in small groups. Shall I speak of the reception in the Jardin de l’Elysée, whither the President of the Republic invited several Con- gresses to witness a theatrical performance? Or of the charm- ing sotrée for which Prince Roland Bonaparte had placed at ‘the disposal of the organisers his vast and magnificent library for a number of interesting experiments? This soévée, which will leave in the’ minds of all who were present the most agreeable memories, would itself deserve a lengthy description. But I ‘cannot conclude this already lengthy article without saying how much the French physicists have been touched by the sympa- thetic action of the foreign secretaries of the Congress, who deposited a magnificent crown on the modest tomb of the great Fresnel, of which the Société Frangaise de Physique has con- stituted itself the guardian... A moving speech by M. Warburg, and a warm expression of thanks by M. Cornu, president both of the Congress and of the Society, referring in a few words to the life of that great physicist, ended this first Congress, where so many new thoughts have been born, and so many friendships made or consolidated. Cu. Ep. GUILLAUME. NO. 1609, VOL. 62] ‘rotation of the field in both instruments (Comptes rendus, vol. ‘Some of the results at which he has arrived are of great interest, “quently small, Prof. Cornu obtains the following results:— ORIENTATION OF THE FIELD OF VIEW OF THE SIDEROSTAT AND COELOSTAT. () BSERVERS who have practical acquaintance with the siderostat and heliostat are familiar with the fact that while the reflected image of a star may be kept stationary, the images of surrounding stars have a rotation around it ; while 14 the sun is the object viewed in the mirror, the image will about the axial ray. It is on account of this rotation of the fie ; that neither the siderostat nor the heliostat can be used witha _ fixed telescope for celestial photography, except for objects which can be photographed with short exposures. ~ sips 4 Certain unexpected peculiarities of this motion have recently led Prof. Cornu to investigate the general laws gov erning the 7 cexxx. No. 9, 1900; Bulletin Astronomique, February 1900). and we: believe attention has not been previously drawn to them, although they could have doubtless been derived from Orbinsky’s formula for the orientation of the field (‘* Die totale Sonnenfinsternisse am 9 Aug. 1896”), or from other formule which have been employed by observers as occasion required. Prof. Cornu first discusses the general question of the orienta- tion of the field, irrespective of the mechanical means of retaining the reflected image in a fixed position. In Fig. 1, NESW represents the horizon, z the zenith, P the pole, PD the hour circle of the star D, and p’ the point of the horizon towards which the rays are reflected. PN is equal to the latitude of the inte ee se ely otal alls Soest spas Piatt eee 2 buestiubee Fic. 1.—Orientation of field of siderostat. © place, = L; pp is the polar distance of the star, = 8; SPD is the hour angle of the star, = 4. For the purposes of calculation the point D’ is defined by its polar distance PD’ = p, and by the angle spb’ = w which the plane pp’ makes with the meridian ; p and w can be détermined in terms of the azimuth of D’(= sD’ =a, reckoned positive towards the west) and the latitude, by solving the right-angled triangle psp’, in which ps = 180°—L; thus tan mee 2ailguels | sin Lav bet The normal to the mirror must always bisect the arc DD’ of a great circle, at M, so that the position of the reflected ray from any part of the sphere can be easily determined. Thus the — image of P is at P’ in the continuation of the hour circle PM, MP’ being equal to pM. To determine the orientation of the field, it ‘is most convenient to ascertain the direction, after reflection, of — the point P, since it is a fixed point on the sphere. Taking the — plane of pp’P, as the reference plane, and its trace on the sphere as a fixed direction, the orientation of the reflected pole is con- veniently defined by the angle p)p‘p’=Y, which can be readily calculated, as also D’P’, the distance of the reflected pole from the centre of the field. - POA, ORNS, tpi kee shh Zz Applying this in the first place to the siderostat, where the — reflected rays are south or nearly so, and the angle a conse- cos p= cosacosL; tanw= (1) The reflected image of the pole describes a circle round the centre of the field, with a radius equal tothe polar distance — of the star observed. a _ Aucusr 30, 1900] NATURE 429 sete ‘at the of the triangle ppp’, Pp being the apex, the at on of the reflected ; of the field) is given by the equation cos 4 (p +8) cos 4 (p—a) ‘an 4 (4~w) evien y ¥ = € of the star over the hour circle pn’ being ‘expressed by an hoes tan} Y = K tan } 20, “ah i where K = cos $ (p +2) (p+3) AeeparDe cos 4 (p — 8) 5) The me is continuous and in ct or int according to the sign of K. the same direction, plane of reference is a plane of symmetry, since the — w = 2n?, and the equation | angle y is equal to the supplement of the | pole (that is, the direction of the | where w of rotation readily follows. The interval from the . ce :—(a) The rotation of the field has the same period as" has equal values of contrary sign at equidistant intervals - passage across the reference plane. illustrates the rotation by a diagram similar to always positive, so that the Yelocity has m e sign as K; its value varies from 27K.(when ‘(when #= 4), and is equal to the diurnal motion nditions make the denominator equal to K. The slowly for small values of ¢, that it may be d it as constant and equal to 2xK. Since the n passage cannot be observed with the side- the value 27 is not observable. ne a 4 be in the ron When the polar distance of the ent direction of rotation of the the star is greater than this Pappctedls ) } direction. p’p. To obtain the the mirror, it would be neces- e the angle reckoned from the a vertical line passing through y to calculate the angle PDZ.- r NO. 1609, vor, 62] parent motion of the field, as seen in the mirror, same direction as the apparent motion of pplement of the polar distance’ =0 for all ~ Sun at summer solstice, London. Fic. 2.—Illustrating rotation of field of siderostat. 2 (6) When the reflected ray is in a horizontal and southerly direction, as is usually the case, #=0, and p=m-—L, sothat the ~ formula for orientation becomes tang} Y=Ktan}$h _ sin}(L-83) gy maT It readily follows that there is no rotation of the field in this case when the polar distance of the star observed is equal to the | latitude of the place of observation ; the rotation is clockwise if the polar distance be less than the latitude, and contrary if greater. Fig. 2 illustrates the varying conditions of rotation in the latitude of London (a) for the position of the sun at the winter solstice, (4) for the position of the sun at the summer “solstice, and _(c) for a star which passes through the zenith. In each case the numbers are placed to represent the position angles of the north point of the field at corresponding hour angles. ‘In the case of the heliostat, where the rays are reflected in a northerly direction, a similar method of computation is adopted by Prof. Cornu ; but as the instrument is so little used in work of precision, it is unnecessary to give the details. The important result is that the field of view under ordinary conditions has an angular velocity of rotation greater than that of the diurnal motion, Star through zenith, London. A knowledge of the orientation of the field as reflected by a mirror is so frequently required that it may be useful to refer briefly to other ways of treating the problem. Orbinsky proceeds much in the same manner as Prof. Cornu, but considers the more general case in which the reflected rays are neither in the meridian nor horizontal. The position of the normal is midway between the direction of the star and that of the reflected ray, on a great circle, so that the direction of the reflected ray from any other point of the celestial sphere can at once be determined. In this way the position of the zenith point of the field (vertex) is derived with respect to the vertical circle in the plane of the reflected ray. A calculation of the angle between the vertex and the north point is then all that is required to give the direction of the north point of the field with respect to a vertical line through it. Another method of representing the orientation was adopted Mr. Shackleton in connection with the eclipse of 1806. ‘is can be applied toa reflection in any direction, but it will suffice to indicate its application to a siderostat with the reflected ray in the meridian. Using Prof. Cornu’s notation so far as possible, in Fig. 3 NESW is the horizon, Nps the meridian, P the pole, D the star, M the mirror, Ms the direction of the re- flected ray from D, and spN the trace of the plane of reflection. Representing the direct field by avé, # is the north point. The field of the mirror appears behind the mirror‘as a’n’d’, a’d’ re- maining in the plane of reflection, and 6’Nx’ being equal to bpn. Since Nv is a vertical line through the field of the mirror, and ~Na’ = psp, it is evident that vNn’ = 180° - (psp + PDs). 430 NATURE [AuGuUST 30 1900 vYNw’ thus corresponds with the angle Y in Prof. Cornu’s formula, and its value is derived by precisely the same formula. Fic. 3.—Orientation of field of siderostat. The orientation of the field of a ccelostat is very readily derived. In this instrument the mirror turms on a polar axis in its own plane, so that the normal is always on the equator, and the polar dis- tance of the reflected ray is always equal to the supplement of the polar distance of the star. Thus, in Fig. 4, pp’ is the supplement of pp. The reflection of the hour circle through the star, PD, will coin- cide in direction with that through the re- flected ray, PD’, so that 2 will become 7’, and it only remains to determine the angle Pp’z to ascertain the position of the north point with regard to a vertical line through the field of the mirror. If we suppose the rays to be reflected in a horizontal direction, in the triangle pzD, PZ = the co-latitude, -ZD' = go° and pp’ = 180°-— pp, so that the required angle can be at oncederived. In this case it is convenient to know the azimuth of the reflected ray, that is, PzD’ ; _and the simplest solution is to calculate this angle first by the formula cos PZD’ = cos (180°- PD) sec L. “The required angle is then derived from the formula ‘sin PD’Z = sin PzD’ cos L cosec (180° — PD). The position of the north point having ‘been determined, the remaining points can _at once be placed, noting that the east and west points are reversed as compared with the direct view in the sky. It is important to note that although there is no rotation of the field so long as the telescope remains in one position, the x Fic. 4.—Orientation of field of coelostat. whole field is turned when the telescope is set in a different Thus, if the telescope is directed west for observa- . direction. NO. 1609, VOL. 62] tions of the morning sun, the orientation of the field will be — different when the telescope is pointed in an easterly direction — for observations of the sun in the afternoon ; in the former case — the north point lies to the right of the vertical, and in the latter — case to the left. he Other investigations relating to the ccelostat, including the — determination of the best position for the telescope under given conditions, have been made by Prof. H. H. Turner (Monthly — Notices R.A.S., vol. lvi. p. 408). oe As the ccelostat has not yet come into very general use, it may be of interest to add a few remarks as to the arrangements which have been made by Sir Norman Lockyer at the Solar Physics Observatory for utilising this instrument in a permanent observatory (Fig. 5). On account of the varying declinations of the heavenly bodies, the position of the observing telescope must admit of corresponding changes, either in inclination or azimuth, or both. When special instruments, such as the spectro-heliograph, are to be used with the ccelostat, as at the Solar Physics Observatory, motion in azimuth is the only motion permissible, and this is provided for by fixing the receiving instrument on a platform which runs on circular rails, with the ccelostat at the centre. The platform carrying the telescope or spectroscope is covered with a travelling hut, the roof of which ct a ee ee re Rp Pee 2 ae ee ee ae Fic. 5.—The ccelostat of the Solar Physics Observatory. ee is inclined so as not to obstruct the mirror. The ccelostat itselr is provided with a hut, which is removed to the north when the instrument is in use ; this is shown to the left in the illustration. A. FOWLER. THE ANNIVERSARY MEETING OF THE - REALE ACCADEMIA DEI LINCEI. MELANCHOLY interest attaches to the anniversary meeting of that ancient scientific society, the Reale Ac- cademia dei Lincei, held in June, from the fact that the society was then mourning the loss of its distinguished president, Prof. Beltrami, and has since been plunged into deeper mourning by the untimely and unexpected loss of its patron, King Humbert, who with Queen Margherita had for many years taken part in these yearly meetings. It is, moreover, largely due to the munificence of the late King of Italy that the society is enabled to further the advancement of science by the award of prizes for theses dealing with some subject of scientific research. From the presidential report of Prof. Mesadaglia, we learn — that the society’s losses have included, besides Beltrami, the . names of Capasso, De Simoni, Ferrara, Nestore and Tommasi- — Crudeli among the ordinary members, and, of foreign members. Bertrand, Bunsen, Janet and Liais. The AZéz, or ** Proceedings ” » contain for the year 147 papers, in addition to which several AUGUST 30, 1900] NATURE 431 longer papers are being printed in the A/emorze or ‘ Transac- tions,” and the corresponding societies with which an exchange f publications is made now number not less than 500. Under e title of Notizie degli Scavi, the society brings out accounts of plogical discoveries in Italy, the material for which is ed monthly by the Minister of Public Instruction. Of tt publications, we note the issue of three volumes of the ex Atlanticus ” of Leonardo da Vinci, a magnificent work, cost of publishing which sthe late King gave material ce ; also the ‘‘ Forma Urbis Rome” of Signor Lanciani, ing of a large scale archeological map of Rome. the Royal prize of 1000 francs for normal and patho- physiology six candidates entered, and a large number of of iderable merit were submitted by them. The as been adjudged to Prof. Giulio Fano, of Florence, for ; papers, dealing, amongst other subjects, with the physiology of the embryonic heart, the doctrine of experimental y ogy, the organ of hearing, the graphic registration of 2 tory chimism and reflex movements, the latter being a ation of previous researches on the organs of Zmys ea. Of the six candidates for the Royal prize for geology ineralogy, two. were considered worthy of the award, was therefore divided equally between them. One of ccessful candidates, Prof. De Lorenzo, chose geological and sent in about twenty essays, the most important of dealt with the trias of the environs of Lagonegro, ic mountains of Lagonegro, geological observa- the Apennines of the southern Basilicate, and geo- al studies of the southern Apennines. Prof. Giorgio a’s work, on the other hand, was entirely mineralogical, _the influences of temperature and pressure, on the chemical metamorphism of rocks and a long and laborious series of experiments, Eeeying five or six months, the author con- ir ittle or no effect, while the influence of jiderable. The results have a special bearing rtz formation. The Royal prize for ad- gical science was adjudged to Dr. Paolo Orsi, is investigations of the antiquities of Eastern si has-thrown quite a new light on the prehistoric the people known as the Siculi, from the neolithic to thé period of expansion of the Greek colonies. A fot philosophy and moral science had been offered for ng with either the theory of consciousness or the practical philosophy. This prize has been divided Prof. Bernarding Varisco and Prof. Francesco Minister of Public Instruction offered a sum of ; in physical and chemical sciences, and for two prizes in philological sciences, the confined to teachers in secondary schools. The for the-prizes in physical and chemical sciences have N ha i ne to Prof. .O. Marco Corbino, ial y for his work oni light traversing metallic vapours tic field, and the other to be divided between Profs. 3onacini and Riccardo Malagoli, more especially for their pers on Réntgen rays. In philology, the prizes have fided up into a number of minor awards, distributed ‘Signori Giuseppe Vandelli (whose work stood first), rf loni, Astorre Pellegrini, Giuseppe Rua, Giuseppe yugusto Balsano, Giovanni Negri and Guglielmo Volpi. At the conclusion of the awards a biographical commemora- 89 of the late Prof. Beltrami was delivered by Prof. Luigi ' a. In Reg ete of the ree this s ollowed by a chronological of Beltrami’s scientific works, in compiling which use has been made of the previously published lists by rof. Dini, and by Signori Pinti and Brambilla in the Annali i Matematica and the Rendiconto of the Naples Academy _ The proceedings terminated with an address by Signor = Colombo’on the’ progress of electrotechnics in Italy. nor Colombo briefly traced the gradual development of the eory of the electrical transmission of energy, from the discovery Volta, through the various — indicated by Pacinotti’s ention of the first dynamo, Galileo Ferraris’ principle of the é magnetic field, and a number of intermediate inventions, wn to the principle of wireless telegraphy, to the development which two Italians, Righi and Marconi, have so largely con- . The absence of coal has long been a serious bar to € progress of Italy in commercial competition, but Signor ombo proves by statistics that Nature has provided a source NO. 1609, VOL. 62] of energy more than sufficient to fill the deficiency, in the water- power with which the country has been well endowed, and it only needs the development of plant for the electrical trans- mission of, power, aided, moreover, by the best means for minimising waste of energy, to raise Italy to a condition of commercial prosperity. UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL INTELLIGENCE. THE Pall Mall Gazette states that Miss Cruickshank has given to Aberdeen University, in memory of her brother, Dr. Alexander Cruickshank, the botanic garden at Chanoury, Old Aberdeen, extending to six acres, and capable of accommodating nearly six thousand specimens. Miss Cruickshank has devoted to its endowment the sum of 15,009/. Mr. GILBERT R. REDGRAVE, Senior Chief Inspector in the South Kensington branch of the Board of Education, has been appointed an Assistant Secretary for Technology. Announce- ment is made that in the ensuing autumn the Duke of Devon- shire will appoint a departmental committee, on which the county councils and the City and Guilds of London Institute will be represented, to consider, z/er alia, the co-ordination of the technological administration of the Board of Education with the technological work at present carried on by educational bodies other than that Board. A Goop idea of the scope and value of the work of the ex- aminations department of the City and Guilds of London Institute can be obtained from the ‘“‘ Programme of Technological Examinations (1900-1901),” published by Messrs. Whittaker and Co. Examinations are held in seventy technological subjects, and also in manual training (wood-work and metal- work), For each examination a syllabus is given, and a useful list of works of references; and the questions and practical exercises set at the recent examinations are all reprinted. Several of the syllabuses have been revised, notably those of photography, pottery and porcelain, silk throwing and spinning, and silk weaving, electric lighting, watch and clock making, typography, lithography, carpentry and joinery. THe Redruth School of Mines, of which the syllabus for 1900-1901 is before us, offers exceptional facilities for study- ing the principles of mining in the Cornish mining district. One wing of the school building is occupied by a large mineral gallery, erected to the memory of the late Dr. Robert Hunt, F.R.S.. The museum, which contains a valuable col- lection of mineral specimens, and is the property of the Mining Association and Institute of Cornwall, is at all times accessible to students of the school. The mining course con- sists of practical underground work, including the timbering of shafts and levels, and of lectures on geology, the principles of mining, the raising and mechanical | bs ane acoag of ores, and of practical work in gold panning and vanning. Students, in addition, are taught the methods of prospecting for minerals in all ible positions, and are trained to detect favourable indications on the surface. There is thus a reasonable com- bination of science with practice in subjects essential to the training of mining engineers. Wuat school gardens are to children, allotments are to adults in agricultural districts, and both provide valuable means of experiment. . The Report of the Technical Instruction Com- mittee of the Oxfordshire County Council shows that this is well recognised is several parts of the county. For instance, at the Chipping Norton Agricultural Class there were fifty-four students. of an average age of thirty-eight. They were factory hands, labourers, mechanics and small tradesmen, who all cultivated allotments, and were thus able to put principles to a practical test, and determine the causes thus affecting growth. At. Reading College, which is connected with the Oxfordshire Committee, various insects and plants were received from different parts of the county for identification, and advice was. given in many localities. Field experiments were made on sainfoin and lucerne, rotation, ‘‘ finger and toe,” mangel, and different manures for barley. Charlock spraying was investigated at three farms, and other experimental work had been done under the auspices of the College and the Technical Education Committee. 432 NATURE [AuGusT 30, 1900 SCIENTIFIC SERIAL. American Journal of Science, August.—Rowland’s new method for measuring electric absorption and losses of energy due to hysteresis and Foucault currents, and on the detection of short curcuits in coils, by L. M. Potts. Rowland’s method, in which the condenser is placed in one arm of a Wheatstone bridge, together with the fixed coils of an electrodynamometer, while the movable coil is mounted in the cross connection, is practically useful. The electric absorption always acts as a resistance in series with a capacity. The resistance is indepen- dent of the current, but the temperature has a decided effect on both.—Some new Jurassic vertebrates, by W. C. Knight.’ The author describes two new species, called Plestosaurus shirleyensis and Cimoliosaurus laramzensis respectively. They are in the collection of the University of Wyoming.—Carnotite .and asso- ciated vanadiferous minerals in Western Colorado, by W. F. Hillebrand and F. Leslie Ransome. -Carnotite is probably a mixture of minerals of which analysis fails to reveal the exact nature. Instead of being the pure uranyl-potassium vanadate, it is to a large extent made up of calcium and barium com- pounds. Near Placerville, Colorado, certain sandstones show a green colouring and cementing material which contains nearly 13 per cent. of V,O,. It is intended to work this sandstone for vanadium.—Restoration of Stylonurus Lacoanus, a giant arthropod from the Upper Devonian of the United States, by C. E. Beecher. The arthropod described takes equal rank with the Giant Spider Crab of Japan and the great ‘‘ Seraphim ” ( Pterygotus anglicus). The animal has a length of nearly 5 feet, and with the legs. extended it would measure about 8 feet.— Iodometric estimation of arsenic acid, by F. A. Gooch and Julia C. Morris. —Further notes on pre-glacial drainage in Michigan, by E. H. Mudge. The author discusses the present and former levels in the vicinity of the village of Saranac. AND ACADEMIES. PaRIS. Academy of Sciences, August 20.—M. Maurice Lévy in the chair.—New observations on the high valley of Dordogne, by M. A. Michel-Lévy. Owing to. the cuttings recently made for the railway between Queuille and Mont-Dore, some new facts on the geology of this valley have been discovered.-- On the left flank of the valley the deposit of labradorite can be traced up to the Capucin. More to the south an outcrop of trachyte, rich in black mica and amphibole, can be followed up 10 near the ravines of Riveaugrand. The right flank of the Mont-Dore valley shows clearly the prolongation of the lower andesite of the Grand Cascade. . A trachytic dyke has also been recently discovered by M. Paul Gautier in the first ravine west of Compissade, which is rich in granitic inclusions. —On the existence of Ceratztis capilata, var. hispanica, in the neighbour- hood of Paris, by M. Alfred Giard. During the present spring a large proportion of the apricots at Courbevoie, near Paris, fell off the trees in a green state, and the remainder, although apparently exceptionally fine when ripe, where found to be honey- combed with larvee.. This larvze were found, on development, to give rise to Ceratités capitata, a species that has already been found to be very destructive to many kinds of fruit in the Azores, at Madeira, the Cape of Good Hope, Algeria and Malta. This is its first appearance near, Paris, possibly owing to an exceptionally favourable spring. Means for combating this scourge are suggested, as it is of the first importance that it should not become acclimatised in Paris.—Observations on shooting stars made from August 11 to August 14 at the Observatory of Paris, by Mlle. D. Klumpke, About thirty meteors were observed during four nights, of which some came from Perseus and others from the polar region. The former were white, short and very rapid, the latter luminous and coloured.—Observations of the sun made at the Observatory of Lyons with the Brunner equatorial during the first quarter of 1900, by M. J. Guillaume. The results are given in three tables showing the number of spots, their distribution in latitude, and the . distribution of faculz in Jatitude.—On the composition of the air in a vertical section, and on the composition of the upper layers of the terrestrial atmosphere, by M. G. Hinrichs. By applying a formula of Laplace, the composition of the air is deduced at different ‘levels. From these calculations, carbon dioxide would dis- appear at 30,000 metres, argon at 60,000 metres. At 100,000 NO. 1609, VOL. 62] SOCIETIES metres the air would consist of oxygen 0°3, nitrogen 4°6 — and hydrogen 95‘I per cent.—On the dielectric cohesion of — gases, by M. Bouty. When a gas contained in an insulating — vessel is placed in a constant electric field, there is a coral critical pressure above which the gas acts as a dielectric, — and below which the discharge passes. The relation pela a this critical pressure (#) and the field (y volts per centimetre) — has been studied for three gases—hydrogen, air and car ! @ a St es dioxide. For low pressures the relation found is y= @ + “" ; For higher pressures the curve is Verepehgg 2 coincident with the asymptote, y = a + b(p + m).—On the extraction of oxygen from the air by solution at a low temperature, by M. Georges F Claude. Various solvents for air have been tried at low ie peratures in the hope of discovering a liquid in which the difference of solubility of the two gases would be very marked. The experiments, however, were unsuccessful, as it was found that at low temperatures the solubility of the nitrogen increased, so that starting with a mixture containing 65 per cent. of oxygen, after solution and boiling out, the aeabuhil oF oxygen was practically unchanged, amounting in no case to — more than 70 per cent.—On the pyrogallol-sulphonic sects, by ‘- M. Marcel Delage.—On the dextrins of apr 3 ‘by “9 M. P. Petit. The results obtained by the action of diastase upon starch were very divergent, depending upon the a of the i diastase and the conditions under which it had been preserved. —On the use of sodium peroxide for making wholesome wells containing carbonic acid, by M. E. Derennes. The use of 4 milk of lime for the absorption of dangerous amounts of carbonic acid contained at the bottom of a well has the dis- advantage that the residual gas may consist almost entirely of nitrogen. The substitution of sodium peroxide for lime would a ensure as much oxygen being given off as carbon dioxide ~ absorbed. Retreat mg Sind Nw 2h CONTENTS. _ PAGE Right- and Left-handedness. By W. L. H. Duck- e Worth 0 eos ens eo le) ae nee Modern Views on the Characters of the Cellular | Elements in the Blood. By Dr. T. H, Milroy, . 410 Biology at Woods’ Holl, U.S.A. ........,. 411 Our Book Shelf :— Bibsitee st ae” le Scudder: ‘‘ Brief Guide to the Commoner Butterflies of the Northern United States and Canada.”— att Bailey and Fowler: ‘Elements of Qualitative Analysis”’ . a 9) bats 6 ee re . 412 Letters tu the Editor :— : et Railways and Moving Platforms.—Prof.John Perry, — jy «ay - Haan ing eae 2” ak er de _ Snow-drifts on Ingleborough,—Prof. T. G. Bonney, 5 Beweeear eb s : | at Oscillatory Discharge from a Condenser. (Z//us- ; trated.)—E. W. Marchant... . . «smart y@lS 0 Function of the Whips of the Larva of the Puss Moth, _ : PRIEDY ope sae oe abr ee ee LS The Migration of Swifts Oswald H. Latter. . . 413 Units at the International Electrical Congress 414 The American Institute and the English Institution of Electrical Engineers in Paris...) 415 Three Books of Popular Natural History. (///us- “a. oe ae Goria em git east ee The International Congress of Mathematicians. . 418 Ie ya ae mee PER Mar Repo hae Our Astronomical Column :— See ae nuit ar Astronomical Occurrences in September . . . . . .. 425 Ring Nebula in Lyra. oe: ae 0 Occultation of Saturn 3.’ s woe ae ee Opposition of Eros . . rg? - 425 The International Physical Congress. By Dr, Ch. — and Ceelostat. (J//lustrated.) By A. Fowler . 428 The Anniversary Meeting of the Reale Accademia dei Lincei esata aie va jclen eenedes Wegeeaie ta ta 430 - University and Educational Intelligence . .... 431 Scientific Serial . «tits ub vackerahsh aims aaa tie ee 432 Societies and Academies | .0.°. . o . s o coy NATURE 433 axeD THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1900. ‘NEW DEPARTURE IN THE TEACHING e2 OF ZOOLOGY. uction to Zoology: a Guide to the Study of ls, for the use of Secondary Schools. By C. B. wenport, Ph.D., and Gertrude C. Davenport, B.S. xii + 412. CNet York: The Macmillan Co. jon: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1900.) y senior author of this book is well known in zoological circles for his two-volume work on erimental Morphology ”—one of the most novel and of modern text-books ; and his wife, whose er owledged in its preface, Now appears as Coreen / Sia 6 of the United States. The key to the li of the w work and nature of its contents lies in the f ator sjprpupoacénent | that the “vast majority of its are not to be zoologists, but rather fairs,” and that “ what the ordinary citizen ofdg ically is (not a course in comparative re 2 a “acquaintance with the commonest “knowl edge of “where else over the world ermal of his State are to be found, and of man,” and that to know these matters more important than to know the location of unglion of the snail.” Theré can be little section of active teachers, but it must not be hat the didactic system of laboratory instruction ress: sini ‘its ‘development become modified beyond ions and intentions of its founders, and that , however, and their bold attempt to overcome ra med a useful task, but experience can lecid upon the wisdom of the remedy they sis Os is of 336 pages, excluding appendices, and ‘twenty-one chapters. The first four with the Insecta, and then follow one each ctively to the Myriapoda and Spiders, two Crustacea, Worms and Molluscs, one each to nod mata, ‘Celenterata and the Protozoa, and a rhea on the Vertebrates taken in ascending “a ed whole closing with a novel chapter on the os egg as a study i in development. The plan adopted sach chapter i is much as follows :—Opening with a con- « e statement of the systematic position and relationships n order or other great group of animals conveniently cted (with a definition of its name usually in a foot- “i c , there follows a very brief description of the habitus, d if so be the food and other special topics of interest, ; f on > Or more of its familiar species. There is then na short; descriptive account of its more familiar »s, and it may be of its development ; and the whole NO. 1610, VOL. 62] hg is resolve the authors are in agreement £ nst which they are in the long run entering. “needs. ‘planned it did not ignore ‘non-anatomical | gramme, and we question if the most hopeful aspect of ‘to the extent their attitude implies. In |. recognition of the later tendency towards. chapter is brought to a close by an appendix, in the form of a key to the families of the order to which the type chosen belongs, or to the orders of the class or other great divisions of the group under consideration, while in places an accompanying key to the identi- fication of members of allied subfamilies may be added or incorporated. The plainest and most concise terms are adopted, and there is a tolerably free use of illustra- tion, preference being given to photographs of entire animals, often with their natural surroundings, in many cases with marked success ; and it cannot be denied that the authors have been desperately earnest in the task of selection and compilation. The body of the work is followed by three main appendices, of which the second is a bibliographic list embodying a none too fortunate selection of books of reference, the third a synopsis of the “animal kingdom,” and the first an outline of a course of laboratory work upon the type-organisms selected as titular for the main chapters. Novelty here is as great as with the rest of the book, for in the “ Exercises ” pre- scribed, after each type-organism has been referred to its habitat, with brief directions for its capture and pre- servation in the living state where necessary or desir- able, there follow instructions for drawing, and series of questions, framed with a view of compelling the observer to determine details for himself, and not of pointing out the precise nature and limits of the observation he is expected to make, as is customary with most laboratory treatises current. “ Hints for observations on the living animal” usually follow, as do “ Topics for further study.” This very novel scheme is the outcome of experience gained while aiding in the conduct of the zoological affairs of the Harvard University, and as here delimited it is prescribed “for use in schools that can give to the subject five periods per week for half a year,” at dis- cretion and with modification determinable by local The book thus embraces a very ambitious pro- the undertaking is not simply the better encouragement of field-work and of observation of nature in the open, in respect to which our existing methods do perhaps stand in need of reform. It appears to us, however, that too much has been attempted within the limits of the book, that there is danger in its too frequent brevity of statement, and that it stands in need of a greater uniformity of treatment. What, for example, is to be gained by merely referring to the Tunicata as “ Chordata which are either attached or form colonies, or both” (which is an erroneous state- ment), and as a group of Invertebrates which “lie nearest to the stem from which the Vertebrates arose,” when whole paragraphs are given to far less generally important assemblages of forms? What also the use of defining the Stomatopoda as including “ only Squilla,” and then Cumacea, Isopoda and Amphipoda as embracing a number of forms? The inclusion of the Sponges in the Ccelenterata ; the old-fashioned classification of birds, with the Ratitz referred to the order “ Cursores”; the in- clusion of the Bryozoa on one page among the Gephyrea and Leeches (“Annelida”), and on another among the “ Scolecida” ! can only be cited as examples of classifi- catory treatment sorely in need of revision ; while among U 434 NATURE [SEPTEMBER 6, 1900 definitions given we note a frequent lack of accuracy and precision, as, for example, with that of the Ophidia as having their ‘‘eyelids absent.” The senior author’s pre- vious work explains the introduction of experimental observations of the antenniform-ophthalmite order, and brief note is taken of “variation” and abnormality. The social life and “language ” of ants, protective resemblance and mimicry among the Lepidoptera, the habits of the spiders, and many other similarly fascinating topics receive in due course passing consideration. The reader will put down the book feeling the better for its perusal and with a desire to know more, while its “keys.” to the identification of the common forms of life, oft overlooked because always present, but withal foremost in their claims on our attention, will prove useful and encouraging. We are doubtful, however, whether the authors would not have done better to have attempted less and that more uniformly, and whether they are justified in their refrain that in matters of elementary scientific education the mere “needs” of the ordinary citizen are to be alone gratified. We are by no means convinced that this argument is sound, Their method would seem likely ‘to discount the teacher’s important function of deciding what is to be left untaught—a matter of the utmost urgency in elementary scientific work. We shall watch with interest the development of their scheme. COLOUR PHOTOGRAPHY. A Handbook of Photography in Colours. By Thomas Bolas, Alexander A. K. Tallent and Edgar Senior. Pp. viii + 343. (London: Marion and Co., 1900.) - HE preface or introduction is written by the publishers, and is immediately followed by an index. Then follow three ‘‘sections.” (1) 85 pages, by Mr. Bolas, on the “ Historical Development of Helio- chromy. General Survey of Processes. Direct Helio- chromes on Silver Chloride.” (2) 205 - pages, by Mr. Tallent, on ‘‘ Three-colour Photography.” (3) 27 pages, by Mr. Senior, on “ Lippmann’s Process of Interference Heliochromy.” Each section is quite distinct from the others, except that they are bound into one volume and indexed together; there is therefore much repetition, For example, Maxwells colour-sensation curves and Abney’s revised curves are each given twice (the two renderings, by the way, are not identical), and Lipp- mann’s formula for his emulsion is givenat p. 55 and also at p. 332.. Careful. editing would have avoided such waste of space. Some of the diagrams are drawn with exceedingly thick lines, and are provided with very large heavy lettering, while others incline, rather in the oppo- site direction. Some of the spectra as drawn for showing absorption, sensitiveness and so on, have the red to the left-, and others the red to the right-hand side ; some are normal, and others are as produced by prisms. It may be said that these are quoted from various sources ; but in a volume in which it is thought necessary to explain with a large diagram the refraction of light on passing from air into water, surely a little explanation of these differences is desirable. At p. 180, a spectrum which is normal is described as “ prismatic.” .The volume appears not to have been edited at all, therefore the only way to NO. 1610, VOL. 62} do justice to the authors is to regard it as three distines books. Mr. Bolas gives.an excellent summary of the whole — As a careful com- | piler should do, he has erred, if it be an error, in including Carey Lea’s highly coloured partial reduction products of the halogen salts — subject, both historical and practical. too much rather than too little. of silver might have been passed by, by some writers, as well as other references to conjectures. Zenker’s work and Wiener’s investigations are described. intelligibly, although concisely; indeed, the author has evidently spared no pains to give every one his due, and to use to the best advantage the small space at his disposal. __ Mr. Tallent begins his section with.several pages on the properties of light and the construction of ordinary spectroscopes—matter which, we think, might well have been omitted in order to make room for the treatment of subjects for which the reader is often referred to other books or articles. The peculiar firework-like diagram at p. 112, given to illustrate dispersion, is more likely to mislead than assist the student ; and some of the other diagrams might have been ne more clear, in spite of the extraordinary boldness of the drawing and lettering. Mr. Tallent has gathered together a great deal of in- formation about three-colour work, which he presents in the form of notes rather than as a treatise. It is doubt- less advantageous in some cases to supply. the raw material only, but. the possession of bricks and mortar does not enable every one to build himself a house. If the very popular style of description sometimes adopted were given up in favour of more technical details, and if the practical applications of the various principles were more closely associated with the. enunciation of the principles themselves, we think that the book would be more useful to the large majority of those who will read it. But we must be grateful to Mr. Tallent for having made a beginning in the getting together of the hitherto widely scattered items of the subject. His work must be of con- siderable assistance to any one following him, and we hope that later on he himself may be able to give us a treatise founded on these notes. Mr. Senior treats only. of Lippmann’s | interference process, and he writes on this with authority, for he has given the matter much practical attention, and has pro- duced some of the best examples that have been seen. He gives his formule and methods apparently without any reserve, as well as the published formule of other notable workers. He precedes the practical details with a few pages on the optical principles involved, setting forth clearly the character of “stationary waves.” We think that most people reading p. 323 would consider it as showing that the colours reflected from a Lippmann photograph are complementary to those of the objects photographed, but it is quite obvious that Mr. Senior does” not intend to convey this impression. The publishers, in their preface, state that thirty-one years ago they published the pioneer work on photo- graphy in colours (by Ducos du Hauron), and they feel satisfaction now in following up) ne line they “ opened up over a quarter of a century ago.” All who are interested in the subject will feel thankful to Messrs. Marion and Co. for having done so. C. Je ran bas SEPTEMBER 6, 1900] NATURE 435 OUR BOOK SHELF. vobleme Kritische Studien iiber den Monismus. Dr. H. v. Schoeler. n, 1900.) VON SCHOELER’S critique of monism is the work of which, with all reverence for scientific fact, has but disdain for post-scientific theory. The sm of which Haeckel, for instance, or Romanes is xponent, has captured many scientific intellects, but “is ir ‘Dr. von Schoeler’s view an arbitrary conceptual astruction. It leaves the problems still with us. Of eu es of ye hae of biology, of psychology, we but little, and that little makes against such monism. more than knowledge, and will find emancipation ér in science nor in religion, but in art. von Schoeler’s discursive criticisms of a variety of fs at construction, or steps towards construction, somewhat unequal value, but not uninteresting. enter into some detail, and might well give pause one who is inclined to build a system without his bricks. But, if it be true that a man’s nay meaning apart from the underlying and implied unsatisfactory character of our author’s positive g must reflect upon his polemics. The way in he couples Plato and W. K. Clifford on p. 95 s doubts as to his insight. Those who allow that “mechanical theories are tending more and more jaterialism, that organic evolution reduced to its nnot even descriptive continuity unhypo- ly, and that for a deduction of consciousness from ynscious we have not so much as the point of vill be left cold by Dr. von Schoeler’s appeal ismus, and his enthusiasm for Goethe’s Wedtan- made complete in the light of Kant’s. The which he goes to Bruno’s gemini efficientes even for Dr. von Schoeler within a monism (v. p. 97, ). And Kant’s provisional dualism does not exclude Von Pp. viii + 107. (Leipzig : Engel- and from any other standpoint it cannot : ypothetical. doubtful, finally, whether Dr. von Schoeler quite ands in what sense a system admits certain unex- points as truly problems, and in what sense it to solve them. Is the origin of motion a problem sed by monism as one which it must attempt to And is not metaphysic always, so to speak, a fost examination? The “gray in gray” of philosophy commonplace: “the owl of Athene wings for flight when twilight falls.” H. W. B. ad Drilling for Gold and other Minerals. By . A. Denny. Pp. x+158. (London: Crosby Lock- ood and Son, 1900.) the Paris Exhibition of 1867 much interest was ed by hot’s invention for cutting through hard ck by diamonds in rapid rotation. Originally intended r use On a small scale, this method was soon applied by Major Beaumont and others to deep boring ; and the _ great improvements made of recent years in the con- _ Struction of the instruments used, and the large amount _ of experience that has been gained by their general use _ in mining districts, have added so much to the importance _of the subject of boring, that it is no longer possible to deal with it adequately in a chapter of a general treatise mining. An independent work is needed. In German, exists in Tecklenburg’s monumental work. In h, however, Mr. Denny’s handbook is the first to detailed account of the use of modern diamond rills in searching for mineral deposits. The work, n covers 158 pages, contains much information of a ‘ical character, including particulars of the cost of NO. 1610, VOL. 62] apparatus and of working. It is, unfortunately, limited in its scope. South African conditions are alone con- sidered, and the descriptions of the drills are confined to machines made by two American firms. The numerous well-designed drills of English and Continental make are not mentioned. The work cannot, however, fail to be of value to any one contemplating using diamond-drilling machines for the examination of mineral lands in South Africa. The author gives some interesting results, deduced from his own experience, of the rate of progress of machine diamond drilling in various rocks. For holes up to 1000 feet he finds that, including all normal delays, the rate averages per week : in limestone, 150 to 200 feet ; in Carboniferous sandstone, 150 feet ; in slate, 100 to 150 feet ; in greenstone, 110 feet; in basalt, conglomerate, diabase, diorite and dolomite, 100 feet ; in porphyry, 90 feet ; in quartz, 85 feet ; in granite, 73 feet ; and in chert, 60 feet. As regards the cost of drilling, the author points out that diamond drilling on the Witwatersrand is almost always done by contract, the reasons being that men with the requisite experience are not easily secured, and that a mining company rarely has sufficient work to justify the outlay upon the plant. The average tender for a hole 3000 feet deep would work out at about 37s. 6d. per foot, the price being fixed.on a sliding scale, say 25s. per foot for the first 500 feet, and rising by 5s. per foot every 100 feet. If the company undertook the work on its own account, the cost per foot would be about 26s. 8d., or 3950/. for the 3000 feet. This with 2340/7, the cost of drilling outfit, brings the total cost of the hole to 6290/., as compared with 5625/7, the contractors’ price. It is to be regretted that the author has not compared these prices with those obtaining elsewhere. The bore- hole at Paruschowitz in Upper Silesia, for example, the deepest in the world, completed to a depth of 6566 feet in 1893, was bored by the diamond drill. The average rate of progress was 16} feet a day, and the cost was 37612., or 35s. a yard. Details of the average working cost of diamond drills in Victoria and New South Wales, which are published annually in the Government reports, might advantageously have been cited for purposes of comparison. BB: Symons’s British Rainfall, 1899. Compiled by H. Sowerby Wallis. Pp. 251. (London: Edward - Stanford, 1900.) A PORTRAIT of the late Mr. G. J. Symons, the founder of the British Rainfall Organisation, and an appreciative tribute to his memory, are naturally found in this volume —the first to appear without his name upon the title-page. The thirty-nine volumes for which Mr. Symons was responsible form a real monument to his industry and scientific work. Mr. Sowerby: Wallis, who was associated with him for thirty years, will continue the work along the lines which have hitherto proved so successful. The usual particulars are given concerning the rainfall and meteorology of various parts of the British Isles during the year 1899, as observed at about 3500 stations. The average rainfall of the ten years 1890-1899 is dis- cussed in an article, the values being given for a hundred stations well distributed over the three kingdoms. The discussion is only provisional, but so far as it has gone it indicates that over a large part of the. kingdom the rain- fall in the period considered was deficient by from 5 to 1o r cent. and upwards. Over an area of about 300 miles ong by 100 miles wide, stretching right across the country from south-west to north-east, the fall for the period shows a deficiency of Io per cent. or more. In other words, accepting the values discussed, it appears that little more than eight and a half years’ rain fell over a large part of Central England in the ten years 1890 1899. 436 NATURE [SEPTEMBER 6, 1900 « LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. [Zhe Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions ex- pressed 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. NVo notice ts taken of anonymous communications. ] Railways and Moving Platforms, IN reference to Prof. John Perry’s letter in NATURE of Aug, 30 on the subject of ‘‘ Railways and Moving Platforms,” will you kindly allow me to state that I worked out a scheme for moving platforms for railways in India in the year 1877, and that a paper of mine on the subject was published in the professional papers of the Thomason Civil Engineering College at Rurki in India in 1877 or 1878? My plan was to have alongside of the main line a length of about a mile of level line, with a steep incline at either end, for the moving platform. The moving platform would acquire sufficient speed on these inclines to run alongside of, and be made fast to, a train on the main line running in the same direction at reduced speed. After the platform had been made fast, and passengers and crates of luggage transferred to a similar platform on the train, the train was to increase its speed, and finally release the plat- form with sufficient way on to carry it up the incline at the other end of its run, so as to be in readiness for the next train from the opposite direction. This represented the case for moving platforms in its simplest form to suit Indian traffic. Details, of course, can readily be supplied. W. SEDGWICK September 3. (Lt.-Col, late R.E.). The Migration of Swifts. REFERRING to the letter of Mr. O. H. Latter in NATURE of August 30, there are swifts’ nestsin the roof of my house, and the birds went to their nests as usual on the evening of August 11, but on the following evening, Sunday, August 12, they had gone. In other houses close at hand swifts remained on the 13th and 14th, but by the evening of the 15th all had dis- appeared. On one occasion some years ago a solitary swift remained after his. companions: had departed, and consorted with the neighbouring house martins until the last week in September. A curious occurrence was observed by me on May 26 last, when the swifts had already been for some time with me But on the afternoon of that day I was on board the Transatlantique Com- pany’s steamer crossing the Mediterranean from Marseilles to Algiers in order to observe the total eclipse of the sun. The boat left Marseilles at one o’clock, and at 4h. 4om., by which time we were seventy miles from the land, a flock of birds was seen following the ship in the distance. In a few minutes they were flying round the ship, and turned out to be common swifts. They were estimated to be about 200 in number. They gradually forged ahead, leaving the ship behind, and in a few minutes were lost in the distance. Several of the passengers made a note of the occurrence. The course followed by the swifts was one or two points to the right of the ship’s course, or about S.S.W., in the direction of the Balearic Islands. WILLIAM ANDREWS. Steeple Croft, Coventry, September 1. The Reform of Mathematical Teaching. THE deeply interesting letter of Mr. David Mair on the above subject in a recent number of NATURE will no doubt be atten- tively perused. Many, I imagine, could echo his experience when he says, speaking of 100 boys at a ‘‘ well-taught school,” ‘* hardly one failed to write out the construction and proof, but only one of the hundred carried out the practical construction. Clearly our present Euclidian teaching has little to do with geometry.” Grave dissatisfaction in regard to the study of Euclidian geometry has long been voiced in Great Britain and in France, and the reason for the continued lamentable state of things in that special scientific direction is not, I think, far to seek. When Euclid, as a practical teacher, made use of his Propo- NO. 1610, VOL. 62| sitions, theory and practice had doubtless that close association — which Mr. Mair appears rightly to desire as a remedy for the] § present extraordinary condition of Euclidian study. Now, if we assume that Euclid’s own pupils were first of we drilled in a thorough knowledge of the sub-geometric properties — of the cube, we are led. largely to modify the supposed indictmgng or against Euclid’s method. a Again, Euclid seems to me to have used oe only of a strict, but of a particular or edificial nature ; ne) properly viewed, each succeeding proposition carried, hot © its specific teaching or lesson, but beautiful groups | surrounding truths of an implicit character. If the foregoing remarks be valid, it is easy to see Seema two serious faults can be charged against Euclid’s method— namely, the use of false diagrams and indirect demonstrations, The former, of course, being misleading, are not in harmony with the modern Herbartian cumulative principles of ‘ educa-. tive instruction.’ PES ir As to the second fault, the Splendid argumentation famous Simson in his ‘¢ Notes” will not, I fear, ’ Euclid’s favour. Mr. Mair rightly vindicates for the power of “‘ educational interest,” another Herbartian by the by; and I agree with him that “ geometry is Se ae : re case than algebra,” because with the latter, I opine, oe of ‘‘zero” inevitably leads the ‘mind towards” the” cubical standard. Al Sd m No one could reasonably wish the true: Euclidian-or dif geometry to be suppressed, but might without presump press for a reform in the way of presenting all geom truths by a direct reference to those sub- eometric mech have equal rank with the oldest of nature’s . aws If for any school or pupil, instead of enlargi aaa ; ng avout eee: é vision, and creating intellectual joys, the Euclidian tasks prolonged drudgery, mystery and confusion, as the; often do, such toil should perforce be abandoned | ‘to at, at least, waste of time and energy, not to’ speak ig to human happiness. Possibly in the broad expanse of the forse universities of the world may eventually sug reforms ofa vital kind in the teaching Tetons mathematical science. I am not competent to pursue the subject to - I might remind students that, although by a sort’ oy epar’ i a kingly personage Euclid said there was “no ri ; roar | geometry,” he did not say there was no royal gate | that I trust I have, however faintly, gis indicate | August 25. HEnay Wooures. a Pu | see et SY ES ar nt ee ‘¢ ESSE Lage 4 va > Bt The Trembling of the Aspen. heat. COs ay rene red Ir is well known that the vibratory motion of the leaf of the’ aspen and other poplar trees is caused- by a: flatte ‘orthe: petiole at its junction with the lamina. The lower Row the leaf-stalk is elongated and rigid, thus forming a- pon which the flattened portion of the stalk can, in yirt vie elas- ticity, move to and fro as the wind acts upon ete s of the tree. It is stated by Kerner that this adaptation prevents the leaves striking against each other and the branches of the tree, whereby they might get bruised. In this connection it is a noticeable fact that the poplars which exhibit this property of leaf-vibration most strongly have sparsely sistribaeed Macnee and the foliage is scanty in comparison with other trees “oF tie'genus, especially the abele, or white poplar. With reference to the abele, it may be noticed be 2 the Rade which possess the trembling motion in a sli “are covered with a white felting, which Kerner eur thee adapta- tion to protect the stomata from the excess of atmospheric moisture which prevails in the damp situations and river-sides where this tree commonly grows. Yet, it may he noted, the. aspen is found in precisely similar. conditions, and must be affected injuriously by any influence that would act. ly. 2 upon the abele. Now, it has occurred to me that the real use. the vibratory motion of the aspen leaf may be an tion 8 throw off rapidly the excess or aqueous condensation liable to take place upon the foliage of trees growing in marshy iE situations. I should very much like to hear the opinions of — some of your readers on this point, which, if a true solution of the matter, is interesting from the fact : that the same end is _ - NATURE 437 very different means in two plants of the same so very much alike in all other particulars. July 25. HENRY J. COLBOURN. Electricity direct from Coal. | reference to the announcement made in the Daily tember I, that Thomas A. Edison had com- ine for the generation of electric power direct Bi without the use of engines or dynamos, may I ask at a few lines from an article on electric traction yu, and which you published on April 12, 1894? electric traction can be employed on a very large aust possess a means of producing the electricity and at the time it has to be used, or, in other must a battery in which the energy of coal sformed directly into electric current, so that we out storage batteries in which to carry electric , or heavy copper conductors through which to moderately low tension from the spot where it is ere it is used, or light aérial conductors through y it at tension. i we shall be without this, or how many minds ‘in the solution of this or some such problem, we ut the moment it is solved, and solved doubtless will be such a transformation scene in the cations of electricity as one can hardly con- Id mean that for almost all purposes except tich heating is required electricity would or could electric light-producing battery in every house, mtly of any mains in the streets; an electric ttery to carry us whither we would on 3 and in every house to put an end to on crowded factories and workshops, in d towns ; such and other advantages would ing electricity from a servant into a master, transformer of energy into a source of energy.’ te E. F. BAMBER. Square oH September 3, ore . ations of Heads, and some Customs connected with Polyandry. to your note on M. Charles de Ujfalvy’s recent » (p- 323, ante), I may be allowed to n to the ancient Korean practice of artificially heads, which was apparently similar to the by the Huns as well as the Hiina kings of the Chinese ‘‘ History of the Later Han written in the fifth century, swé. ‘‘ Eastern Bar- ys: ‘The people. of Ma-Kan (in the south-western . peninsula) wish their heads flat ; so the child just born they compress with stone to horned head-dresses worn by the polyandric n White Huns put in mind the old Japanese usages, ged by Fujioka and Hirade in their ‘* History of the = Customs and Manners,”’ Tokio, 1897, vol. i. p. 169: festival of the god of Tsukuma, every woman had to | Procession after the holy sedan-chair, with a number of oportionate to her immoralities. In the of hia while the priest was praying in a feast-day, woman was scourged on similar principles.” KuMaGusU MINAKATA. ent Place, South Kensington, August 11. ‘Huxley and his Work. 13 of ‘‘ One Hundred and One Great Writers,” issued andard, and presumably edited by Dr. Garnett, occurs ying remarkable account of Huxley and his work, Ss work is that of the populariser, the man who makes contributions to science or thought, but states the of others better than they could have stated them 88 mment is needless. . W. HENKEL. ¢ Observatory, Collooney, Ireland, August 23. | NO. 1610, VOL. 63] THE CAUSES OF FRACTURE OF STEEL RAILS 7 HEN the down Scotch express was running through St. Neots station, on the Great Northern Railway, on December 10, 1895, a rail broke into seventeen pieces, part of the train left the metals, and a serious accident resulted. Several features of the report on the mishap,. drawn up in the ordinary course by the late Sir Francis Marindin, might well have occasioned deep thought, notably the conclusion that the first fracture of the rail took place over a chair at a minute induced flaw, which did not exist when the rail was manufactured. The whole report, however, is suggestive rather than. explanatory, and the result was the appointment by the Board of Trade of a committee to investigate the question of the loss of strength of steel rails caused by prolonged use. The committee was a very strong one, and con-- tained some distinguished steel manufacturers, engineers, metallurgists and chemists. They collected a vast amount of information, much of it apparently considered unsuit- able for publication, and made long series of experiments, many of them, judging from the report, more easily made than their results explained. Finally, after four years’ work, they have issued a re- port with the satisfactory feature that practically no- change is recommended to bé made in the mode of management of the permanent way by the railway companies. Ferrite Pearlite Fic. 1.—Steel rail. Showing pearlite and ferrite. x 850 D. Nevertheless, although no legislation seems likely :to result from the labours of the committee, the evidence that has been collected and published in the appendices. to the report is of great scientific interest. The experi- mental work that was undertaken was divided among the members of the committee. A number of rails found broken on the road, or discarded as worn out, were selected for examination. Prof. Unwin took charge of the tests on their hardness, tensile strength and bending strain, and Mr. Windsor Richards of those on their re- sistance to the shock of falling weights ; Sir William Roberts-Austen made micrographical examination of the- rails, and Dr. Thorpe analysed them. Sir Lothian Bel} includes in his comprehensive memorandum details of a number of mechanical tests on rails, and Prof. Dunstan gives an interesting account of the effects of atmospheric corrosion. Interest naturally centred around the St. Neots rail- It was found to be of ordinary composition, and the mechanical tests applied to it showed that the steel was. of variable, but, on the whole, of good quality. It was only on microscopic examination that the extraordinary character of the rail became evident. Good rail steel, according to Sir W. Roberts-Austen, consists of “ferrite,”” or iron free’ from carbon, and “ pearlite,” which is a mixture of alternate bands of ferrite and “cementite” (the carbide corresponding to the formula Fe,C). The structure is shown in Fig. 1, a reproduction of a micro- 438 NATURE [SEPTEMBER 6, 1900 graph of rail steel magnified 850 diameters, in which the light constituent is ferrite, and the alternate bands of ferrite and cementite together make up the constituent pearlite. Well-developed pearlite with a conspicuous banded structure is characteristic of good rail steel. It is the form of carbide produced by slow cooling. When, however, steel is hardened by “ quenching,” pearlite is no longer to be found, and the whole mass consists of interlacing crystalline fibres devoid of banded structure, and is called “‘ martensite.” With regard to this, Sir William Roberts-Austen says : “The detection of martensite in a rail should at once that the rail is too hard locally to be safe in use.” An examination of the running edge of the St. Neots rail (Fig. 2) showed that a surface layer of about 1/1ooth of an inch thick existed, in which the carbide was mainly in the form of martensite. . This surface layer forms the lighter upper part of the figure, while the darker portion below it shows the usual assemblage of pearlite and ferrite granules. The actual unning edge is shown against the dark space at the top Fic. 2.—St. Neots rail, running edge. Pearlite passing into martensite. Xx 140 D. of the figure. Martensite was also found in small patches in some other worn and broken rails, but to a far less extent, the St. Neots rail being unique in this respect. The questions that naturally presented themselves on this discovery were, first, How far would this structure account for the brittleness of the rail? and secondly, How had the martensite been produced? With regard to the first question, the rolling surface of the St. Neots rail was found to be traversed by a number of transverse cracks (Fig. 3), some just passing through the hardened skin, others running into the substance of the rail. The upper surfaces of rails are subject to tension over chairs by the weight of passing trains applied between the chairs, and cracks are formed in this way. To realise the importance of these cracks, it is only necessary to turn to Mr. Martin’s memorandum. He found that a heavy steel rail nicked with a chisel toa depth of 1/64th of an inch broke under the weight of six hundredweight let fall from a height of twelve feet, while the same rail, if not previously nicked, resisted success- fully the fall of a ton weight from a height of twenty feet. The loss of strength due to these minute cracks is therefore amazing, and can only be accounted for on the hypothesis that shallow nicks are readily induced by NO. 1610, VOL. 62] | | | shock to spread through the mass. The induced flay of Sir Francis Marindin might thus be explained. On the other’ hand, a warning note is struck by Pre Unwin, who points out that minute transverse fissures a common on the rolling surfaces of old rails ; and as onl one rail in 2000 or 3000 breaks on the road, the othe being discarded as worn out, it must be rare for su fissures to spread into the substance of the rail. It is suggested that if much silicon is present, the spreading — of fissures becomes more rapid ; but the St. Neots rail contained only o’o9 per cent. of silicon, an amount well — ; : I Ss within the limits of composition put forward by Messrs, _ cause it to be viewed with extreme suspicion, as showing | ; Windsor Richards and Martin as suitable for rail steel. _ On considering the problem of how martensite can be formed on the rolling surfaces, it is again evident — that the St. Neots rail is a remarkable exception. All old rails become ‘‘ hammer-hardened” on the surface by long use, and their strength and percentage of elongation — may be increased by annealing, but no clear case of any — production of martensite in this way could be obtained. The effect produced by the ‘‘cold-rolling” action of — Fic. 3.—St. Neots rail, rolling surface. Xx 5 D. passing trains on steel is shown in Fig. 4, which is a photograph enlarged 140 diameters of the running edge of a rail taken up after ten years’ wear. The direction of © the granules is changed in the surface layer, but other- wise the structure is unaltered. Roberts-Austen succeeded in producing a structure like that of the St. Neots rail, but only by local heating with an electric arc. With regard to this, he observes that this experiment “‘ points — to the probability that local heating of a rail by skidding, © followed as it would be by the rapid abstraction of the heat by the mass of the cold rail, can produce patches of © martensite, though it may be very difficult in the labor- — atory to imitate the actual conditions by mechanical — means.” He seems to think that “the structure of the — St. Neots rail would point to the changes having been effected while the rail was actually in use.” zi Although the St. Neots rail has thus baffled the com- mittee, inasmuch as they cannot say definitely whether other rails are likely to be altered in the same way, it ! evident that one of the most important results of their labours will prove to be the full realisation of the fact that steel possesses a complex structure which can be- studied with the microscope, that this structure varies greatly with the mechanical and thermal treatment P vy, SEPTEMBER 6, 1900} NATURE 439 _ which it has been subjected, and that the durability of the rail depends on its structure. Apart from the micrographical appendices, much in- teresting information may be obtained from a study of _ the mechanical tests, and some of the conclusions drawn yy Prof. Unwin from these are among the most definite in the report, though they do not go far to explain the ‘St. Neots cua It is found, for instance, that rails enerally break near their ends “ owing to greater strain- are due to discontinuity at the joint,” and that the fish-joints are an unavoidable source of danger. It is also found that a rail is more liable to break when its yorn ) head i is turned down, as usually happens after a few irs’ use in the case of double-headed rails. Consider- tions of space alone prevent these points from being ‘bag with at greater length. “THE BRADFORD MEETING: OF THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. pei final arrangements for the Bradford meeting 2 of the British Association are now complete, and there is every indication that the gathering will be one of the largest that has been held in recent years. Representatives of scientific institutions are coming from nearly every country in the world; and there are dele- ates from the United States, Canada, the Cape, New ‘ealand, the West Indies, India, France, Germany, ussia, Dénmark and Sweden, Spain, Italy and Greece. he Bradford people have come forward in a most willing manner to offer hospitality to the visitors, and a had the opportunity of accepting private hospitality. In our last article we dealt with the excursion pro- mme. We propose now to say something about the 3 various social functions which have been organised for _ the week. ‘The first social gathering will be a reception at the Municipal Technical College this afternoon (September 6). ‘Mr. W. E. B. Priestley, the chairman of the Technical ‘Instruction Committee, will welcome the visitors ; and, alter partaking of afternoon tea, they will be escorted in _ small bodies round the building, to see the textile _ exhibition, and the various processes of the textile _ industries. On the evening of the same day (Thursday) NO. 1610, VOL. 62} . 5. the Mayor and Mayoress have invited the Association to a conversazione in St. George’s Hall. The building will be elaborately decorated, and music will be provided by a large string band, under the conductorship of Mr. I. Shepherd. There will be exhibits of various scientific novelties in different parts of the building ; and the galleries will be specially levelled-up for refreshment and aaa buffets. The 2nd West York Artillery Volunteers are providing a Guard of Honour to line the staircase. At the conclusion of Prof. Gotch’s lecture on Friday night there will be a smoking concert at the Technical College in honour of the President, for which various well-known elocu- tionists have been engaged. On Monday, September to, the Mayor and Corporation are inviting all persons attending the meeting to a large garden-party in Lister Park. The portion of the park where the guests will chiefly collect will be that above the lake. Around or in this space there will be several refreshment tents, and in front of each will be little tables in the open, surrounded by chairs, after the style of the foreign cafés. The lake will be decorated by means of Venetian masts and flags ; while some new boats will be out, with boatmen i in suitable garb in charge of them. The Black’ Dyke Band plays near the lake, and the band of the Bradford Rifles at the high end of the park. Archery and other amusements will be provided; and in one corner there will be some ballooning Sone ments under the direction of the Rev. J. Bacon, who is well known just now in con- nection with the trials which, in conjunction with Admiral Fremantle, he has been making in improved military signalling from balloons. Prob- ably Mr. Bacon will be accompanied by the Admiral. It is proposed to erect a 70-foot pole about 30 yards from the balloon, and another, of equal height, in the furthest corner of the park ; and, somewhere between the two, it will be attempted to explode a mine by means of wireless telegraphy, an experiment which was recently successfully performed at Newbury. Mr. Nevil Maskelyne will take part in the wireless telegraphic experiments, in _ order to exhibit the new receiver which he has patented large proportion of the strangers will at any rate have and sold to Lloyd’s. On Tuesday the Mayor and Corporation are inviting the Association to a soirée in St. George’s Hall. The arrangements will be somewhat similar to those on the occasion of the Mayor’s function on the preceding Thursday, excepting that the music will be provided by the band of the Artillery Volunteers. On Wednesday various private garden-parties will take place. Mrs. Henry Illingworth has invited 150 members of the Association to visit her grounds, for tea, tennis and croquet ; and there will be music for those who prefer to rest after their labours. There will also be a garden- party at Ferniehurst, Baildon, by the kind invitation of Mr. and Mrs. G. C. Waud ; a procession of prize-winning hackneys will take place in the course of the afternoon ; and also sheep-dog trials, for which most of the celebrated dogs in the North Country have been brought to- gether. . ek Messrs. Wm. Fison and Co. have also invited a hundred members to a garden-party at Greenholme, where, after tea, they will have an opportunity of visiting the turbine machinery and their textile works. Another function on the same day will be a garden-party at Royds Hall, by the kind invitation of the Low Moor Iron Company. The visitors will first be taken round the foundries to see some smelting work, and to examine some of the most striking parts of the machinery. On the evening of Wednesday (the 12th) there will be 440 NATURE [SEPTEM8ER 6, 1900 -a grand concert in St. George’s Hall, at which Madame Ella. Russell will be the Arzmdé donna. The Bradford Permanent Orchestra, under the conductorship of Mr. Frederick Cowen, will render a very interesting pro- -gramme ; and the Festival Choral Society are to perform certain celebrated items from the works of Handel, "Wagner and Sullivan. A temporary museum, illustrative of papers read before ‘the Sections, will be provided in the Girls’ Grammar ‘School. Its primary object is to afford a space where those who read papers can deposit any specimens or apparatus which they may show, and which thus can be examined more at leisure than in the Section Room. In addition, the Bradford officials have endeavoured to get together some choice geological specimens of local interest, which will illustrate the discussions to take place in the Geological and Botanical Sections on ‘the origin of coal; and also specimens illustrating the xeef-knolls of the Craven district, which have been the ‘subject of controversy in recent years. Butler Wood, the chief librarian under the Bradford ‘Corporation, has taken under his care a collection of local pre-historic specimens. Amongst the readers of papers, Mr. J. J. Stead, of ‘Middlesbrough, will exhibit specimens of metals, treated ‘by a peculiar method which he has discovered. There ‘will be numerous maps, principally geological—several ‘dealing with the investigation of the underground water- courses of Malham and Ingleborough. There will also be a contribution, by Mr. A. D. Ellis, of a number of rare and valuable atlases, of the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries ; while various lantern slides used in the Sections will be shown on transparent screens. In addition, the Science and Art Department have promised the loan of the best work that was done in the recent National ‘Competition ; and the collection from South Kensington iis expected to be of an exceptionally attractive character, representing, as it does, the cream of the best work of tthe Art Schools of the country. It is intended that the exhibits shall be largely illustrative of the products of Bradford, and that they shall also illustrate, to a certain extent, the work that is being done at the Municipal Technical College. RAMSDEN BACCHUS. XNAUGURAL ADDRESS BY PrRoF. SIR WILLIAM TURNER, M.B., -D.C.L.,° D.Sc.,;. F.R.S.,. PRESIDENT OF . THE ASSOCIATION. TWENTY-SEVEN years ago the British Association met in Bradford, not at that time raised to the dignity of a City. The ameeting was very successful, and was attended by about 2000 persons—a forecast, let us hope, of what we may expect at the present assembly. A distinguished chemist, Prof. A. W. Williamson, presided. On this occasion the Association has -selected for the presidential chair one whose attention has been -given te the study of an important department of biological science. His claim to occupy, however unworthily, the distin- guished position in which he has been placed rests, doubtless, on the fact that, in the midst of engrossing duties devolving on a teacher in a great University and School of Medicine, he has endeavoured to contribute to the sum of knowledge of the science which he professes. It is a matter of satisfaction to feel that the success of a meeting of this kind does not rest upon the shoulders of the occupant of the presidential chair, but is due to the eminence and active co-operation of the men of science who either preside over or engage in the work of the mine or ten sections into which the Association is divided, and to the energy and ability for organisation displayed by the docal Secretaries and Committees. The programme prepared ‘by the general and local officers of the Association shows that no efforts have been spared to provide an ample bill of fare, both in its scientific and social aspects. Members and Associates ~will, I feel sure, take away from the Bradford Meeting as pleasant memories as did our colleagues of the corresponding -Association Francaise, when, in friendly collaboration at Dover dast year, they testified to the common citizenship of the NO. I610, VOL. 62] Further, Mr. | Universal Republic of Science. As hefits a leading centre of industry in the great county of York, the applications ¢ science to the industrial arts and to agriculture will form subject of discussion in the papers to be read at the meeting. Since the Association was at Dover a year ago, two of former Presidents have joined the majority. The Duke ¢ Argyll presided at the meeting in Glasgow so far back as 1855. Throughout his long and energetic life, he proved himself to b an eloquent and earnest speaker, one who gave to the considera- tion of public affairs a mind of singular independence, and a thinker and writer in a wide range of human knowledg J. Wm. Dawson was President at the meeting in Birming 1886. Born in Nova Scotia in 1820, he devoted him study of the Geology of Canada, and became authority on the subject. He took also an active a part in promoting the spread of scientific educa Dominion, and for a number of years he was Pr Vice-Chancellor of the M‘Gill University, Montre: Scientific Method. Edward Gibbon has told us that diligence and the only merits which an historical writer can ascrib Without doubt they are fund&mental qualities | historical research, but in order to bear fruit they exercised by one whose mental qualities are such him to analyse the data brought together by discriminate between the false and the true, to p into the complex motives that determine human able to recognise those facts and incidents which either a primary or only a secondary influence nations, or on the thoughts and doings of the pe character he is depicting. "2a In scientific research, also, diligence and accuracy ; mental qualities. By their application new facts ¢ and tabulated, their order of succession is asc wider and more intimate knowledge of the pr is acquired. But to decide‘on their true si balanced mind and the exercise of prolonged — reflection are needed.. William Harvey, the father research in physiology, in his memorable work, Cordis et Sanguinis,’’ published more than two cen tells us of the great and daily diligence which the course of his investigations, and the numerot and experiments which he collated. At the refers repeatedly to his cogitations and reflections of what he had observed, without which the com ments of the heart could not have been analysed, th determined, and the circulation of the blood in stream definitely established. Early in the it ce Carl Ernst von Baer, the father of embryological re one showed the importa1ce which he attached to the combination of — observation with meditation by placing side by side on the title — page of his famous treatise, ‘‘ Ueber Entwich gsgeschichte der | Thiere ” (1828), the words Beobachtuny und Reflexion, = Though I have drawn from biological science my illustrations of the need of this combination, it must not be inferred that it applies exclusively to one branch of scientific inquiry; the con- — junction influences and determines progress in all the sciences, and when associated with a sufficient touch of imagination, — when the power of seeing is conjoined with the faculty of fore- — seeing, of projecting the mind into the future, we may expect something more than the discovery of isolated facts; their co-ordination and the enunciation of new principles and laws will necessarily follow. phe: i Scientific method consists, therefore, in close observation, frequently repeated so as to eliminate the possibility of erroneous seeing ; in experiments checked and controlled in every direc- in which fallacies might arise ; in continuous reflection on the _ appearances and phenomena observed, and in logically reasoning out their meaning and the conclusions to be drawn trom them. Were the method followed out in its integrity by all who are engaged in scientific investigations, the time and labour ~ expended in correcting errors committed by ourselves or by ~ other observers and experimentalists would be saved, and the ~ volumes devoted annually to scientific literature would be ~ materially diminished in size. Were it applied, as far as the © conditions of life admit, to the conduct and management ae i human affairs, we should not require to be told, when critical — periods in our welfare as a nation arise, that we shall muddle — through somehow. Recent experience has taught us that wise _ wy SEPTEMBER 6, 1900] NATURE 44r .and careful prevision are as necessary in the direction affairs as in the pursuit of science, and in both es, when properly exercised, they enable us to reach with ive certainty the goal which we strive to attain. _ Improvements in Means of Observation. it certain principles of research are common to all the each great division requires for its investigation arrangements to insure its progress. Nothing con- ‘much to the advancement or knowledge as improve- the means of observation, either by the discovery of icts to research, or by a fresh adaptation of old s. In the industrial arts, the introduction of a new kind material, the recognition that a mixture or blending is nore serviceable than when the substances employed are ned, the discovery of new processes of treating the used in manufactures, the invention of improved ry, all lead to the expansion of trade, to the occupation people, and to the development of great industrial _ In science, also, the invention and employment of d more precise instruments and cae enable us to te more clearly the signification of facts and phenomena were previously obscure, and to penetrate more deeply mysteries of nature. They mark iresh departures in of science, and provide a firm base of support from @ continuous advance may be made and fresh conceptions ure can be evolved. ‘not my intention, even had I possessed the requisite edge, to undertake so arduous a task as to review the ss which has recently been made in the great body of which lie within the domain of the British Association. ccupation in life has required me to give attention to which deals with the structure and organisation of of man and animals—a science which either includes scope or has «sauna and is alg ‘song to ¢ anatomy, embryology, morphology, zoology, physi- d anthropology—I shall limit myself to the street re you some of the more important observations ions which have a bearing on the present position subject. As this is the closing year of the century it I think, be out of place to refer to the changes which d years have brought about in our fundamental con- of the structure of animals. In science, as in business, ll from time to time to take stock of what we have ing, so that we may realise where we stand and n the balance to our credit in the scientific ledger. k as the time of the ancient Greeks it was known human body and those of the more highly organised re not homogeneous, but were built up of parts, the milares (76 avdmuo.a pépn) of Aristotle, which differed other in form, colour, texture, consistency and These parts were familiarly known as the bones, s, blood-vessels, glands, brain, nerves and so on. ies) rolled on, and as observers and observations iplied, a more and more precise knowledge of these parts mighout the Animal Kingdom was obtained, and various S were made to classify animals in accordance with their and structure. During the concluding years of the last and the earlier part of the present, the Hunters, and John, in our country, the Meckels in Germany, St. Hilaire in France, gave an enormous impetus to al studies, and contributed largely to our knowledge of ruction of the bodies of animals. But whilst by these her observers the most salient and, if I may use the expres- l, the grosser characters of animal organisation had been recog- ised, little was:known of the more intimate structure or texture of parts. So far as could be determined by the unassisted vision, so much as could be r ised by the use of a simple had indeed been ascertained, and it was known that sles, nerves and tendons were composed of threads or es, that the blood- and lymph-vessels were tubes, that the s which we call fascie and aponeuroses were thin nes, and so on. : in the present century Xavier Bichat, one of the most men of science during the Napoleonic era in France, d his ‘‘ Anatomie Générale,” in which he formulated t general principles. Every animal is an assemblage of organs, each of which discharges a function, and actin f, each in its own way, assists ‘in the preservation o The organs are, as it were, special machines situated . 1610, VOL. 62] od: se rentu NO in the general building which constitutes the factory or body of the individual. But, further, each organ or special machine is- itself formed of tissues which possess different properties. Some, as the blood-vessels, nerves, fibrous tissues, &c., are generally distributed throughout the animal body, whilst others, as bones, muscles, cartilage, &c., are found only in certain definite localities. Whilst Bichat had acquired a definite philosophical conception of the general principles of construction and of the distribution of the tissuzs, neither he nor his pupil Béclard was in a position to determine the essential nature of the- structural elements. The means and appliances at their dis- posal and at that of other observers in their generation were not sufficiently potent to complete the analysis. Attempts were made in the third decennium of this century to- improve the methods of examining minute objects by the manu- facture of compound lenses, and by doing away with chromatic and spherical aberration, to obtain, in addition to magnification: of the object, a relatively large flat field of vision with clearness. and sharpness of definition, When in January 1830 Joseph; Jackson Lister read to the Royal Society his memoir ‘*On some properties in achromatic object-glasses applicable to the improvement of microscopes,” he announced the principles on which combinations of lenses could be arranged, which would: possess these qualities. By the skill of our opticians, micro- scopes have now for more.than half a century been constructed which, in the hands of competent observers, have influenced and extended biological science with results comparable to those obtained by the astronomer through improvements in the: telescope. : In the study of the minute structure of plants and animals the observer has frequently to deal with tissues and organs, most of which possess such softness and delicacy of substance and outline: that, even when microscopes of the best construction are em- ployed, the determination of the intimate nature of the tissue, and the precise relation which one element of an organ bears to. the other constituent elements, is in many instances a matter of difficulty. Hence additional methods have had to be devised’ in order to facilitate study and to give precision and accuracy to- our observations, It is difficult for one of the younger genera- tion of biologists, with all the appliances of a well-equipped: laboratory at his command, with experienced teachers to direct him in his work, and with excellent text-books, in which the- modern methods are described, to realise the conditions under which his predecessors worked half a century ago. Labora- tories for minute biological research had not been constructed, the practical teaching of histology and embryology had not been organised, experience in methods of work had not accumulated ;- each man was left to his individual efforts, and had to puzzle his way through the complications of structure to the best of his- power. Staining and hardening reagents were unknown. The- double-bladed knife invented by Valentin, held in the hand, was. the only improvement on the scalpel or razor for cutting thin, more or less translucent slices suitable for microscopic examina- tion ; mechanical section-cutters and freezing arrangements had: not been devised. The tools at the disposal of the microscopist were little more than knife, forceps, scissors, needles, with acetic acid, glycerine and Canada Ipathate as reagents. But in the employment of the newer methods of research, care has. to be taken, more especially when hardening and staining re- agents are used, to discriminate between appearances which are to be interpreted as indicating natural characters, and those- which are only artificial productions. ’ Notwithstanding the difficulties attendant on the study o. the more delicate tissues, the compound achromatic microscope pro- vided anatomists with an instrument of great penetrative power. Between the years 1830 and 1850 a number of acute observers. applied themselves with much energy and enthusiasm to the examination of the minute structure of the tissues and organs in. plants and animals. Cell Theory. It had, indeed, long been recognised that the tissues of lants were to a large extent composed of minute vesicular ies, technically called cells (Hooke, Malpighi, Grew). In 1831 the discovery was made by the great botanist, Robert Brown, that in many families of plants a circular spot, which he- named areola or nucleus, was present in each cell ; and in 1838- M. J. Schleiden published the fact that a similar spot or nucleus. was a universal elementary organ in vegetables. In the tissues of animals also structures had begun to be recognised compar- able with the cells and nuclei of the vegetable tissues, and in. 442 NATURE | SEPTEMBER 6, 1900 1839 Theodore Schwann announced the important generalisation that there is one universal principle of development for the elementary part of organisms, however different they may be in appearance, and that this principle is the formation of cells. The enunciation of the fundamental principle that the elementary tissues consisted of cells constituted a step in the progress of biological science which will for ever stamp the century now drawing to a close with a character and renown equalling those which it has derived from the most brilliant discoveries in the physical sciences. It provided biologists with the visible anatomical units through which the external forces operating on, and the energy generated in, living matter come into play. It dispelled for ever the old mystical idea of the influence exercised by vapours or spirits in living organisms. It supplied the physiologist and pathologist with the specific structures through the agency of which the functions of organisms are discharged in health and disease. It exerted an enormous influence on the progress of practical medicine. A review of the: progress of knowledge of the cell may appropriately enter into an address on this occasion. Structure of Cells. A.cell is a living particle, so minute that it needs a micro- scope for its examination ; it grows in size, maintains itself in a state of activity, responds to the action of stimuli, reproduces its kind, and in the course of time it degenérates and dies. Let us glance at the structure of a cell to determine its con- stituent parts and the 7é/e which each plays in the function to be discharged. The original conception of a cell, based upon the study of the vegetable tissues, was a minute vesicle enclosed by a definite wall, which exercised chemical or metabolic changes on the surrounding material and secreted into the vesicle its characteristic contents. A similar conception was at first also entertained regarding the cells of animal tissues; but as observations multiplied, it was seen that numerous elementary particles, which were obviously in their nature cells, did not possess an enclosing envelope. A wall ceased to have a primary value as a constituent part of a cell, the necessary vesicular character of which therefore could no longer be en'ertained. The other constituent parts of a cell are the cell plasm, which forms the body of the cell, and the nucleus embedded in its sub- stance. Notwithstanding the very minute size of the nucleus, which even in the largest cells is not more than 1/500th inch in diameter, and usually is considerably smaller, its almost constant form, its well-defined sharp outline, and its power of resisting the action of strong reagents when applied to the cell have from the period of its discovery by. Robert Brown caused histologists to bestow on it much attention. Its structure and chemical composition ; its mode of origin; the part which it plays in the formation of new cells and its function in nutrition and secretion have been investigated. When examined under favourable conditions in its passive or resting state, the nucleus is seen to be bounded by a membrane which separates it from the cell plasm and gives it the character- istic sharp contour.. It contains an apparently structureless nuclear substance, nucleoplasm or enchylema, in which are embedded one or more extremely minute particles called nucleoli, along with a network of exceedingly fine threads or fibres, which in the active living cell play an essential part in the production of new nuclei within the cell. In its chemical composition the nuclear substance cousists of albumincus plastin and globulin ; and of a special material named nuclein, rich in phosphorus and with an acid reaction. The delicate network within the nucleus consists apparently of the nuclein, a substance which stains with carmine and other. dyes, a property which enables the changes, which take place in the network in the production of young cells, to be more readily seen and followed out by the observer. The mode of origin of the nucleus and the part which it plays in the production of new cells have been the subject of much discussion. Schleiden, whose observations, published in 1838, were made on the cells of plants, believed that within the cell a nucleolus first appeared, and that around it molecules aggre- gated to form the nucleus. Schwann again, whose observations were mostly made on the cells of animals, considered that an amorphous material existed in organised bodies, which he called cytoblastema. It formed: the contents of cells, or it might be situated free or external to them. He figuratively compared it to a mother liquor in which crystals are forties Either in the cytoblastema within the cells or in that situated external to them, the aggregation of molecules around a nucleolus to form NO. 1610, VOL. 62] a nucleus might occur, and, when once the nucleus had beer formed, in its turn it would serve as a centre of aggregation additional molecules from which a new cell would he produce He regarded therefore the formation of nuclei and cells possible in two ways : one within pre-existing cells (endogeno cell-formation), the other in a free blastema lying external cells (free cell-formation). In animals, he says, the endog: method is rare, and the customary origin is in an external ~ blastema. Both Schleiden and Schwann considered that after — the cell was formed the nucleus had no permanent influence on ~ the life of the cell, and usually disappeared. ik Under the teaching principally of Henle, the famous Professor of Anatomy in Gottingen, the conception of the free formation of nuclei and cells in a more or less fluid blastema, by an aggre- gation of elementary granules and molecules, obtained so much credence, especially amongst those who were engaged in the — study of pathological processes, that the origin of cells within pre-existing cells was to a large extent lost sight of. That a parent cell was requisite for the production of new cells seemed to many investigators to be no longer needed. Without doubt this conception of free cell-formation contributed in no small — degree to the belief, entertained by various observers, that the simplest plants and animals might arise, without pre-existing — parents, in organic fluids destitute of life, by a process of spon- — taneous generation; a belief which prevailed in many minds ~ almost to the present day. If, as has been stated, the doctrine — of abiogenesis cannot be experimentally refuted, on the other hand it has not been experimentally proved. The burden of proof lies with those who hold the doctrine, and the evidence that we possess is all the other way. pea Multiplication of Cells. - Although von Mohl, the botanist, seems to hive been the first to recognise (183) in plants a multiplication of cells by division, it was not until attention was given to the study of the egg in various animals, and to the changes which take place in it, attendant on fertilisation, that in the course of time a much more correct conception of the origin of the nucleus and of the © part which it plays in the formation of new cells was obtained. Before Schwann had published his classical memoir in 1839, von Baer and other observers had recognised within the animal’ ovum the germinal vesicle, which obviously bore to the ovum the relation of a nucleus to a cell.. As the methods of observa- tion improved, it was recognised that, within the developing egg, two vesicles appeared where one only had previously existed, to be followed by four vesicles, then eight, and so on in multiple progression until the ovum contained a multitude of vesicles, each of which possessed a nucleus. The vesicles were obviously cells which had arisen within the original germ-cell or ovum. These changes were systematically described by Martin Barry so long ago as 1839 and 1840 in two memoirs communi- — cated to the Royal Society of London, and the appearance pro- duced, on account of the irregularities of the surface occasioned by the production of new vesicles, was named by him the mulberry-like structure. He further pointed out that the — vesicles arranged themselves as a layer within the envelope of — the egg or zona pellucida, and that the whole embryo was com- — posed of cells filled with the foundations of other cells. He — recognised that the new cells were derived from the germinal — vesicle or nucleus of the ovum, the contents of which entered into the formation of the first two cells, each of which had its nucleus, which in its turn resolved itself into other cells, and by a repetition of the process into a greater number. The endogenous origin of new cells within a pre-existing cell and the process which we now term the segmentation — of the yolk were successfully demonstrated. In a third memoir, published in 1841, Barry definitely stated that young cells originated through division of the nucleus of the parent cell, instead of arising, as a product of crystallisation, in _ the fluid cytoblastema of the parent cell or in a blastema situated external to the cell. ‘7 In a memoir published in pines bi Goodsir advocated the view that the nucleus is the reproductive organ of the cell, and that from it, as from a germinal spot, new cells were formed. In a paper, published three years later, on nutritive centres, he — described cells the nuclei of which were the permanent source — of successive broods of young cells, which from time to time — occupied the cavity of the parent cell. He extended also his ~ observations on the endogenous formation of cells to the carti- — lage cells in the process of inflammation and to other tissues — SEPTEMBER 6, 1900] NATURE 443 going pathological changes. Corroborative observations dogenous formation were also given by his brother, Harry in 1845. These observations on the part which the 3 plays by cleavage in the formation of young cells by nous development from a parent centre—that an organic nity existed between a mother cell and its descendants th the nucleus—constituted a great step in advance of the views entertained by Schleiden and Schwann, and showed that ry and the Goodsirs had a deeper insight into the nature ‘functions of cells than was possessed by most of their con- yporaries, and are of the highest importance when viewed in light of recent observations. 1841 Robert Remak published an account of the presence ) nuclei in the blood corpuscles of the chick and the pig, he ip ee as evidence of the production of new cles by division of the nucleus within a parent cell ; but ot until some years afterwards (1850 to 1855) that he additional observations and recognised that division of le nucleus was the starting-point for the multiplication of cells | the ovum and in the tissues generally. Remak’s view was he process of cell-division began with the cleavage of the us, followed by that of the nucleus, and that again by of the body of the cell and of its membrane. KoOlliker of parasitic worms, and drew the inference that in ation of young cells within the egg the nucleus under- eavage, and that each of its divisions entered into the fo m of anewcell. By these observations, and by others sequently made, it became obvious that the multiplication of F cells, either by division of the nucleus within the cell, or by the budding off of a part of the protoplasm of the cell, was ' as a widely spread and probably a universal , and that each new cell arose from a logical observers were, however, for the most part 1. to consider free cell-formation in a blastema or exuda- y i regation of molecules, in accordance with the enle, as a common phenomenon. This proposition rent cell. tale: ; published in his ‘‘ Archiv,” commencing in vol. i. d finally received its death-blow in his published lec- Cellular Pathology, 1858. He maintained that in structures there was no instance of cell development ere a cell existed, there one must have been before. ion was a continuous development by descent, which ulated in the expression ommzs cellula e celluld. Bai, Karyokinests. _ Whilst the descent of cells from pre-existing cells by division ' ucleus during the development of the egg, in the embryos ‘plants and amas: and in adult vegetable and animal tissues, } 1 healthy and diseased conditions, had now become y ¥ ised, the mechanism of the process by which ge of the nucleus took place was for a long time un- The discovery had to be deferred until the optician able to construct lenses of a higher penetrative power, the microscopist had learned the use of colouring agents ble of dyeing the finest elements of the tissues. There was on to- ve in some cases a direct cleavage of the ;, to be followed by a corresponding division of the cell two parts, did occur. In the period between 1870 and 1880 tions were made by Schneider, Strasburger, Biitschli, 91, van Beneden and Flemming, which showed that the divi- on of the nucleus and the cell was due to a series of very remark- ar now known as indirect nuclear and cell division, _kai The changes within the nucleus are of so mplex a character that it is impossible to follow them in detail hout the use of appropriate illustrations. I shall have to con- at myself, therefore, with an elementary sketch of the process. have previously stated that the nucleus in its passive or ing stage contains a very delicate network of threads or fibres. first stage in the process of nuclear division consists in the ds arranging themselves in loops and forming a compact within the nucleus, The coil then becomes looser, the loops reads shorten and thicken, and somewhat later each looped ad splits longitudinally into two portions. As the threads when colouring agents are applied to them, they are called in fibres, and the loose coil is the chromosome (Waldeyer). the process continues, the investing membrane of the _ nucleus disappears, and the loops of threads arrange themselves within the nucleus so that the closed ends of the loops are NO. 1610, VOL. 62] usly, in 1843, described the multiplication of nuclei. ed with great energy by Virchow in a series of directed to a common centre, from which the loops radiate out- wards and produce a starlike figure (aster). At the same time clusters of extremely delicate lines appear both in the nucleo- plasm and in the body of the cell, named the achromatic figure, which has a spindle-like form with two opposite poles, and stains much more feebly than the chromatic fibres. The loops of the chromatic star then arrange themselves in the equatorial plane of the spindle, and bending round turn their closed ends towards the periphery of the nucleus and the cell. The next stage marks an important step in the process of division of the nucleus. The two longitudinal portions, into which each looped thread had previously split, now separate from each other, and whilst one ome migrates to one pole of the spindle, the other moves to the opposite pole, and the free ends of each loop are directed towards its equator (metakinesis). By this division of the chromatin fibres, and their separation from each other to opposite poles of the spindle, two starlike chromatin figures are produced (dyaster). * Each group of fibres thickens, shortens, becomes surrounded by a membrane, and forms a new or daughter nucleus (dispirem). Two nuclei therefore have arisen within the cell by the division of that which had previously existed, and the expression formu- lated by Flemming—omnis nucleus e nucleo—is justified. Whilst this stage is in course of being completed, the body of the cell becomes constricted in the equatorial plane of the spindle, and, as the constriction deepens, it separates into two parts, each containing a daughter nucleus, so that two nucleated cells have arisen out of a pre-existing cell, A repetition of the process in each of these cells leads to the formation of other cells, and, although modifications in details are found in different species of plants and animals, the multi- plication of cells in the egg and in the tissues generally on similar lines is now a thoroughly established fact in biological science, » In the study of karyokinesis, importance has been attached to the number of chromosomes in the nucleus of the cell. Fiem- ming had seen in the Salamander twenty-four chromosome fibres, which seems to be a constant number in the cells of epithelium and connective tissues. In other cells again, especially in the ova of certain animals, the number is smaller, and fourteen, twelve, four, and even two only have been described. The theory formulated by Boveri that the number of chromosomes is constant for each species, and that in the karyokinetic figures corresponding numbers are found in homologous cells, seems to - be not improbable. In the preceding description I have incidentally referred to the appearance in the proliferating cell of an achromatic spindle- like * lia Although this was recognised by Fol in 1873, it is only during the last ten or twelve years that attention has been paid to its more minute arrangements and possible signification in cell-division. The pole at each end. of the spindle lies in the cell plasm which surrounds the nucleus. In the centre of each pole is a somewhat opaque spot (central body) surrounded by a clear space, which, along with the spot, constitutes the centrosome or the sphere of attraction. From each centrosome extremely delicate lines may be seen to radiate in two directions. One set extends towards the pole at the opposite end of the spindle, and, meeting or coming into close proximity with radiations from it, constitutes the body of the spindle, which, like a perforated mantle, forms an-imperfect envelope around the nucleus during the process of division. The other set of radiations is called the polar, and extends in the region of the pole towards the periphery of the cell. The question has been much discussed whether any con- stituent part of the achromatic figure, or the entire figure, exists in the cell as a permanent structure in its resting phase ; or if it is only present during the process of karyokinesis. _ During the development of the egg the formation of young cells, by division of the segmentation nucleus, is so rapid and continuous that the achromatic figure, with the centrosome in the pole of thespindle, is a readily recognisable object in each cell. The polar and spindle-like radiations are in evidence during karyokinesis, and have apparently a temporary endurance and function. On the other hand, van Beneden and Boveri were of opinion that the central body of the centrosome did not disappear when the division of the nucleus came to an end, but that it remained as a constituent part of a cell lying in the cell plasm near to the nucleus. Flemming has seen the central body with its sphere in leucocytes, as well as in epithelial cells and those of othe 444 NATURE ‘tissues. Subsequently Heidenhain and other histologists have cecorded similar observations. It would seem, therefore, as if “there were reason to regard the centrosome, like the nucleus, as a permanent constituent of a cell. This view, however, is not universally entertained. If not always capable of demonstration in the resting stage of a cell, it is doubtless to be regarded as potentially present, and ready to assume, along with the radiations, a characteristic appearance when the process of nuclear division is about to begin. One can scarcely regard the presence of so remarkable an ap- pearance as the achromatic figure without associating with it an amportant function in the economy of the cell. As from the centrosome at the pole of thespindle both sets of radiations diverge, it is not unlikely that it acts as a centre or sphere of: energy and attraction. By some observers the radiations are ‘regarded as substantive fibrillar structures, elastic or even con- tractile in their properties. | Others, again, look upon them as morphological expressions’of chemical and dynamical energy in the protoplasm of the cell body. On either theory we may -assume that they indicate an influence, emanating, it may be, from the centrosome, and capable of being exercised both on the -cell plasm and on the nucleus containedin it. On the contrac- tile theory, the radiations which form the body of the spindle, ~either by actual traction of the supposed fibrillee or by their pres- sure on the nucleus which they surround, might impel during karyokinesis the dividing chromosome elements towards the poles of the spindle, to form there the daughter nuclei. On the dynamical theory, the chemical and physical energy in the centrosome might influence the cell plasm and the nucleus, and attract the chromosome eiements of the nucleus to the poles of the spindle. The radiated appearance would therefore be con- sequent and attendant on the physico-chemical activity of the ~centrosome. One or other of these theories may also be applied to the interpretation of the significance of the polar radiations. Cell Plasm. In the cells of plants, in addition to the cell wall, the cell body -and the cell juice require to be examined. The material of the -cell body, or the cell contents, was named by von Mohl (1846) yprotoplasm, and consisted of a colourless tenacious substance which partly lined the cell wall (primordial utricle), and partly traversed the interior of the cell as delicate threads enclosing -spaces (vacuoles) in which the cell juice was contained. In the protoplasm the nucleus was embedded. Niageli, about the same time, had also recognised the difference between the protoplasm -and the other contents of vegetable cells, and had noticed its nitrogenous composition. Though the analogy witha closed bladder or vesicle could no longer be sustained in the animal tissues, the name ‘‘ cell” con- -tinued to be retained for descriptive purposes, and the body of the cell was spoken of as a more or less soft substance enclosing a nucleus (Leydig). In 1861 Max Schultze adopted for the substance forming the bedy of the animal cell the term ‘‘ pro- toplasm.” He defined a cell to be a particle of protoplasm in the substance of which a nucleus was situated. He re- -garded the protoplasm, as indeed had previously been pointed out by the botanist Unger, as essentially the same as the contractile sarcode which constitutes the body and pseudopodia of the Ameeba and, other Rhizopoda. As the term ‘‘ proto- plasm,” as well as that of ‘‘bioplasm” employed by Lionel Beale in a somewhat similar though not precisely identical sense, ‘involves certain theoretical views of the origin and function of ‘the body of the cell, it would be better to apply to it the more purely descriptive term ‘‘ cytoplasm ”’ or “cell plasm.” Schultze defined protoplasm as a homogeneous, glassy, tena- -cious material, of a jelly-like or somewhat firmer consistency, in ‘which numerous minute granules were embedded. He regarded it as the part of the cell especially endowed with vital energy, whilst the exact function of the nucleus could not be defined. Based upon this conception of the jelly-like character of pro- -toplasm, the idea for a time prevailed that a structureless, dimly granular, jelly or slime destitute of organisation, possessed great physiological activity, and was the medium through which the phenomena of life were displayed. ; More accurate conceptions of the nature of the cell plasm soon began to be entertained. Briicke recognised that the body of “the cell was net simple, but had a complex organisation. Flem- ming observed that the cell plasm contained extremely delicate ‘threads, which frequently formed a network, the interspaces of which were occupied by a more homogeneous substance. Where NO. 1610, VOL. 62] additional illustrations of differentiation within the cell In many cells there appears also to be a difference character of the cell plasm which immediately surro nucleus and that which lies at and near the periphery of The peripheral part (ektoplasma) is more compact. nd g definite outline to the cell, although not necessarily differentiating into a cell membrane. The inner part (endoplasma) is softer, — and is distinguished by a more distinct crane 1 ce, and by containing the products. specially formed i | par- ticular kind of cell during the nutritive process. _ Pe By the researches of numerous investigators on t organisation of cells in plants and animals, a lat evidence has now been accumulated, which sh¢ the nucleus and the cell plasm consist of somethi: homogeneous, more or less viscid, slimy material. — ognisa! objects in the form of granules, threads or fibres can guished in each. The cell plasm and the nucleus re: are therefore not of the same constitution Bird e polymorphic characters, the study of which in heal changes produced by disease will for many y rs to | important matters for investigation. and, morphological elements. PRE ond > oe Between 1838 and 1842 observations were made which showed * that cells were constituent parts of secreting lands and mucous — membranes (Schwann, Henle). In rea Jo in | com: municated to the Royal Society of Edinburgh a n secreting structures, in which he established the princi cells are the ultimate secreting agents ; he recognised in tl of the liver, kidney, and other organs the characteristic secre- tion of each gland. The secretion was, he said, situated between — the nucleus and the cell wall. At first he thought that, as the - nucleus was the reproductive organ of the cell, the secretion was _ formed in the interior of the cell by the agency of the cell wall; _ but three years later he regarded it as a product of the nucleus. — The study of the process of spermatogenesis by his brother, — Harry Goodsir, in which the head of the spermatozoon was — found to correspond with the nucleus of the cell in which the spermatozoon arose, gave support to the view that the nucleus — played an important part in the genesis of the characteristic — product of the gland cell. + SE FON The physiological activity of the cell er and its complex — chemical constitution soon after began to be r . Some - years before Max Schultze had published his memoirs on the — characters of protoplasm, Briicke had shown that the well- — known changes in tint in the skin of the Chamzeleon were due — to pigment granules situated in the cells in the skin which were — sometimes diffused throughout the cells, at others concentrated — in the centre. Similar observations on the skin of the frog — were made in 1854 by von Wittich and Harless. The move- — ments were regarded as due to contraction of the’ cell wall on — its contents. In a most interesting paper on the pigmentary — system in the frog, published in 1858, Lord Lister demonstrated — that the pigment granules moved in the cell plasma, by forces — resident within the cell itself, acting under the influence of an | external stimulant, and not by contractility of the wall. Under | some conditions the pigment was attracted to the centre of the — cell, when the skin became pale ; under other conditions the pigment was diffused throughout the body and the branches of — the cell, and gave to the skin a dark colour. It was also experimentally shown that a potent influence over these move- } ments was exercised by the nervous system. ak The study of the cells of glands engaged in secretion, even when - the secretion is colourless, and the comparison of their appear-— ees { > Watters Rae w a - - sates J y SEPTEMBER 6, 1900] NATURE 445 2 when secretion is going on with. that seen when the cells are at rest, have shown that the cell plasm is much more nular and opaque, and contains larger particles during ity than when the cell is passive ; the body of the cell swells from an increase in the contents of its plasm, and chemical iges accompany the act of secretion. Ample evidence, is at hand to support the position taken by John r, nearly sixty years ago, that secretions are formed cells, and lie in that part of the cell which we now say ‘consists of the cell plasm ; that each secreting cell is endowed th its own peculiar property, according to the organ in which Situated, so that bile is formed by the cells in the liver, milk those in the mamma, and so on. mately associated with the process of secretion is that of n. As the cell plasm lies at the periphery of a cell, and alike both in secretion and nutrition, brought into closest with the surrounding medium, from which the pabulum it is necessarily associated with the nutritive activity. on enables it to absorb nutritive material directly from thout, and in the process of growth it increases in amount by ; erstitial changes and additions throughout its substance, and ~ mot by mere accretions on its surface. ae ee ee oe ‘ panes es regards its nutrition and the other functions which as to discharge. The question has, however, been discussed, ther in a tissue composed of cells closely packed together plasm may not give origin to processes or threads which n contact or continuous with corresponding processes of ming cells, and that cells may therefore, to some extent, r individuality in the colony of which they are members. ces were recognised between 1863 and 1870 by Schrén n the deeper cells of the epidermis and of some membranes which gave sanction to this view, and it lé through contact or continuity of threads connect- its neighbours, that cells may exercise a direct Other. — botanist, as the foundation of a mechanico- ory of descent, considered that in plants a net- jlasm, named by him idio-plasm, extended rhole of the plant, forming its specific molecular m, and that growth and activity were regulated by its of tension and movements (1884). y of the structure of plants with special reference to sence of an intercellular network has for some years been yy Walter Gardiner (1882-97), who has demonstrated of cell plasm protruding through the walls of vegetable continuous with similar threads from adjoining cells. lly, therefore, a plant may be conceived to be built up cleated cytoplasmic network, each nucleus with the Il plasm surrounding it being a centre of activity. cell would retain to some extent its individuality, iner contends, the connecting threads would be for the conduction of impulses and of food from a which lie around it. For the plant cell therefore, een accepted in the animal cell, the wall is reduced fy position, and the active constituent is the plasm. It is not unlikely that the absence of a olling n ag cells to be brought into more immediate contact and lity than is the case with the generality of animal cells, a mechanism for harmonising the nutritive and processes in the different areas in the body of n this particular, it isof interest to note that the es in animals, where somewhat similar connecting occur, are only indirectly associated with the scular systems, so that, as in plants, the cells may nutritive and other purposes, to act and react each other. — ae on ang te a th Nerve Cells. ~ Of recent years great attention has been paid to. the intimate structure of nerve cells, and to the appearance which they . cell is not a secreting cell ; that is, it does not derive from blood or surrounding fluid a pabulum which it elaborates yhich the cell is a constituent element, to be in due course dis- harged. into a duct which conveys the secretion out of the land. Nerve cells, through the metabolic changes which take in them in connection with their nutrition, are associated ith the production of.the form of energy specially exhibited by NO. 1610, VOL. 62] ken of a cell as a unit, independent of its. rvous system in plants requires the plasm of ad- esent when in the exercise of their functional activity. A_ visible, palpable secretion characteristic of the organ of | animals which possess a nervous system, termed nerve energy. It has long been known that every nerve cell has a body in which a relatively large nucleus is situated. A most important discovery was the recognition that the body of every nerve cell had one or more processes growing out from it. More recently it has been proved, chiefly through the researches of Schultze, His, Golgi and Ramon y Cajal, that at least one of the pro- cesses, the axon of the nerve cell, is continued into the axial cylinder of a nerve fibre, and that in the multipolar nerve cell the other processes, or dendrites, branch and ramify for some distance away from the body. A nerve fibre is therefore an essential part of the cell with which it is continuous, and the cell, its processes, the nerve fibre and the collaterals which arise from the nerve fibre collectively form a neuron or structural nerve unit (Waldeyer). The nucleated body of the nerve cell is the’ physiological centre of the unit. The cell plasm occupies both the body of the nerve cell and its processes. The intimate structure of the plasm has, by im- proved methods of observation introduced during the last eight years by Nissl, and conducted on similar lines by other investi- gators, become more definitely understood. It has been ascertained that it possesses two distinct characters which imply different structures, One of these stains deeply on the addition of certain dyes, and is named chromophile or chromatic sub- stance ; the other, which does not possess a similar property, is the achromatic network. The chromophile is found in the cell body and the dendritic processes, but not in the axon. It occurs in the form of granular particles, which may be scattered throughout the plasm, or aggregated into little heaps which are elongated or fusiform in shape and appear as distinct coloured particles or masses. The achromatic network is found in the cell body and the dendrites, and is continued also into the axon, where it forms the axial cylinder of the nerve fibre. It consists apparently of delicate threads or fibrille, in the meshes of which a homogeneous material, such as is found in the cell plasm generally, is contained. Inthe nerve cells, as in other cells, the plasm is without doubt concerned in the process of cell nutrition. The achromatic fibrillze exercise an important influence on the axon or nerve fibre with which they are continuous, and probably they conduct the nerve impulses which manifest them- selves in the form of nerve energy. The dendritic processes of a multipolar nervecell ramifyin close relation with similar processes branching from other cells in the same group. The collaterals and the free end of the axon fibre process branch and ramify in association with the body of a nerve cell or of its dendrites. We cannot say that these parts are directly continuous with each other to form an intercellular network, but they are apparently in apposition, and through contact exercise influence one on the other in the transmission of nerve impulses. There is evidence to show that in the nerve cell the nucleus, as well as the cell plasm, is an effective agent in nutrition. When the cell is functionally active, both the cell body and the nucleus increase in size (Vas, G. Mann, Lugaro); on the other hand, when nerve cells are fatigued through excessive use, the nucleus decreases in size and shrivels ; the cell plasm also shrinks, and its coloured or chromophile constituent becomes diminished in quantity, as if it had been consumed during the prolonged use of the cell (Hodge, Mann, Lugaro). It is interesting also to note that in hibernating animals in the winter season, when their functional activity is reduced to a minimum, the chromophile in the plasm of the nerve’ cells is much smaller in amount than when the animal is leading an active life in the spring and summer (G. Levi). When a nerve cell has attained its normal size it does not seem to be capable of reproducing new cells in its substance by a pro- cess of karyokinesis, such as takes place when young cells arise in the egg and in the tissues generally. It would appear that nerve cells are so highly specialised in their association with the evolution of nerve energy, that they have ceased to have the wer of reproducing their kind, and the metabolic changes both in cell plasm and nucleus are needed to enable them to discharge their very peculiar function. Hence it follows that when a rtion of the brain or other nerve-centre is destroyed, the injury is not repaired by the production of fresh specimens ot their characteristic cells, as would be the case in injuries to bones and tendons. In our endeavours to differentiate the function of the nucleus from that of the cell plasm, we should not regard the former as concerned only in the production of young cells, and the latter as the exclusive agent in growth, nutrition, and, where gland 446 NATURE [SEPTEMBER 6, 1900 cells are concerned, in the formation of their characteristic pro- ducts. As regards cell reproduction also, though the process of division begins in the nucleus in its chromosome constituents, the achromatic figure in the cell plasm undoubtedly plays a part, and the cell plasm itself ultimately undergoes cleavage. A few years ago the tendency amongst biologists was to ignore or attach but little importance to the physiological use of the nucleus in the nucleated cell, and to regard the protoplasm as the essential and active constituent of living matter ; so much so, indeed, was this the case that independent organisms re- garded as distinct species were described as consisting of proto- plasm destitute of a nucleus; also that scraps of protoplasm separated from larger nucleated masses could, when isolated, exhibit vital phenomena. There is reason to believe that a fragment of protoplasm, when isolated from the nucleus of a cell, though retaining its contractility and capable of nourishing itself for a short time, cannot increase in amount, act as a secreting structure, or reproduce its kind: it soon loses its activity, withers, and dies. In order that these qualities of living matter should be retained, a nucleus is by most ob- servers regarded as necessary (Nussbaum, Gruber, Haberlandt, Korschelt), and for the complete manifestation of vital activity both nucleus and cell plasm are required. Bacteria, The observations of Cohn, made about thirty years ago, and those of De Bary shortly afterwards, brought into notice a group of organisms to which the name ‘‘ bacterium” or ‘‘ microbe” is given. They were seen to vary in shape: some were rounded specks called cocci, others were straight rods called bacilli, others were curved or spiral rods, vibrios or spirillz. All were characterised by their extreme minuteness, and required for their examination the highest powers of the best microscopes. Many bacteria measure in their least diameter not more than 1/25000th of an inch, 1/1oth the diameter of a human white blood corpuscle. Through the researches of Pasteur, Lord Lister, Koch, and other observers, bacteria have been shown to play an important part in nature. They exercise a very remarkable power over organic substances, especially those which are com- plex in chemical constitution, and can resolve them into simpler combinations. Owing to this property, some bacteria are of great economic value, and without their agency many of our industries could not be pursued ; others again, and these are the most talked of, exercise a malign influence in the production of the most deadly diseases which afflict man and the domestic animals, 7 Great attention has been given to the structure of bacteria and to their mode of propagation. When examined in the living state and magnified about 2000 times, a bacterium appears as a homogeneous particle, with a sharp definite outline, though a membranous envelope or wall, distinct from the body of the bacterium, cannot at first be recognised ; but when treated with reagents a membranous envelope appears, the presence of which, without doubt, gives precision of form to the bacterium. The substance within the membrane contains granules which can be dyed with colouring agents. Owing to their extreme minute- ness it is difficult to pronounce an opinion on the nature of the chromatine granules and the substance in which they lie. Some observers regard them as nuclear material, invested by only a thin layer of protoplasm, on which view a bacterium would be a nucleated cell. Others consider the bacterium as formed of protoplasm containing granules capable of being coloured, which are a part of the protoplasm itself, and not a nuclear substance. On the latter view, bacteria would consist of cell plasm inclosed in a membrane and destitute of a nucleus. Whatever be the nature of the granule-containing material, each bacterium is regarded as a cell, the minutest and simplest living particle capable of an ‘independent existence that has not yet been discovered, Bacteria cells, like cells generally, can reproduce their kind. They multiply by simple fission, probably with an ingrowth of the cell wall, but without the karyokinetic phenomena observed in nucleated cells. Each cell gives rise to two daughter cells, which may for a time remain attached to each other and form a cluster or a chain, or they may separate and become independent isolated cells. The multiplication, under favourable conditions of light, air, temperature, moisture and food, goes on with ex- traordinary rapidity, so that in a few hours many thousand riew individuals may arise from a parent bacterium. Connected with the life-history of a bacterium cell is the NO 1610, VOL. 62] formation in its substance, in many species and under certain conditions, of a highly refractile shiny particle called a spore. At first sight a spore seems as if it were the nucleus of the bacterium cell, but it is ‘not always present when multiplication by cleavage is taking place, and when present it does not appear to take part in the fission. On the other hand, a spore, from the character of its envelope, possesses great power of resistance, so that dried bacteria, when placed in conditions favourable to germination, can through their spores germinate and resume an active existence. Spore formation seems, therefore, to be a provision for continuing the life of the bacterium under con- ditions which, if spores had not formed, would have been the cause of its death. The time has gone by to search for the origin of living organisms by a spontaneous aggregation of molecules in vegetable or other infusions, or from a layer of formless primordial slime diffused over the bed of the ocean. Living matter during our epoch has been, and continues to be, derived from pre-existing living matter, even when it possesses the simplicity of structure of a bacterium, and the morphological unit is the cell. Development of the Exg. As the future of the entire organism lies in the fertilised egg cell, we may now briefly review the arrangements, consequent on the process of segmentation, which lead to the formation, let = say in the egg of a bird, of the embryo of the young chick. In the latter part of the last century, C. F. Wolff observed that the beginning of the embryo was associated with the formation of layers, and in 1817 Pander demonstrated that in the hen’s egg at first one layer, called’ mucous, appeared, then a second or serous layer, to be followed by a third, intermediate or vascular layer. In 1828 von Baer amplified our knowledge in his famous treatise, which from its grasp of the subject created a new epoch in the science of embryology. It was not, however, until the discovery by Schwann of cells as constant factors in the structure of animals and in their relation to development that the true nature of these layers was determined. We now know that each layer consists of cells, and that all the tissues and organs of-the body are derived from them. Numerous observers have devoted themselves for many years to the study of each layer, with the view of determining the part which it takes in the formation of the constituent parts of the body, more especially in the higher animals, and. the important conclusion has been arrived at that each kind of tissue invariably arises — from one of these layers and from no other. : The layer of cells which contributes, both as regards the number and variety of the tissues derived from it, most largely to the formation of the body is the middle layer or mesoblast. From it the skeleton, the muscles, and other locomotor organs, the true skin, the vascular system, including the blood and other _ From the structures which I need not detail, take their rise. inner layer of cells or hypoblast, the principal derivatives are the epithelial lining of the alimentary canal and of the glands which open into it, and the epithelial lining of the air-passages. The outer or epiblast layer of cells gives origin to the epidermis or scarf skin and to the nervous system. It is interesting tc note that from the same layer of the embryo arise parts so different in importance as the cuticle—a mere protecting struc- ture, which is constantly being shed when the skin is subjected to the friction of a towel or the clothes—and the nervous system, including the brain, the most highly differentiated system in the animal body. How completely the cells from which they are derived had diverged from each other in the course of their differentiation in structure and properties is shown by the fact that the cells of the epidermis are continually engaged in repro- ducing new cells to replace those which are shed, whilst the cells of the nervous system have apparently lost the power of reproducing their kind. : In the early stage of the development of the egg, the cells in a given layer resemble each other in form, and, as far as can be judged from: their appearance, are alike in structure and pro- perties.. As the development proceeds, the cells begin to show differences in character, and in the course of time the tissues which arise in each layer differentiate from each other and can be readily recognised by the observer. To use the language of von Baer, a generalised structure has become specialised, and each of the special tissues produced exhibits its own structure and properties. . These changeszare coincident with a rapid SEPTEMBER 6, 1900] NATURE 447 ‘multiplication of the cells by cleavage, and thus increase in size of the embryo accompanies specialisation of structure. As the ocess continues, the embryo gradually assumes the shape ee eeristic of the species to which its parents belonged, il at length it is fit to be born and to assume a separate conversion of cells, at first uniform in character, into tissues of a diverse kind is due to forces inherent in the cells in each layer. The cell plasm plays an active though not an elusive part in the specialisation ; for as the nucleus influences ition and secretion, it acts as a factor in the differentiation f the tissues. When tissues so diverse in character as mus- cular fibre, cartilage, fibrous tissues, and bone arise from the alls of the middle or mesoblast layer, it is obvious that, in dition to the morphological differentiation affecting form and _ Structure, a chemical differentiation affecting composition also rs, as the result of which a physiological differentiation takes e. Thetissuesand organs become fitted to transform the energy rived from the food into muscular energy, nerve energy, and other orms of vital activity. Corresponding differentiations also modify he cells of the outer and inner layers. Hence the study of the evelopment of the generalised cell layers in the young embryo enables us to realise how all the complex constituent parts of the _ body in the higher animals and in man are evolved by the pro- cess of differentiation from a simple nucleated cell—the fertilised ovum. A knowledge of the cell and of its life-history is there- _ fore the foundation-stone on which biological science in all its _ departments is based. _If we are to understand by an organ in the biological sense a e3 le of carrying on a natural process, a nucleated il is an organ in its simplest form. In a unicellular animal or t such an organ exists in its most primitive stage. The plants. animals again are built up of multitudes of ns, each of which, whilst having its independent life, issociated with the others, so that the whole may act in unison for a common purpose. As in one of your great factories S each spindle is engaged in twisting and winding its own thread, it is at the same time intimately associated with the hundreds of other spin in its immediate proximity, in the manufacture of the yarn from which the web of cloth is ultimately to be It has taken more than fifty years of hard and continuous ie -aiptioabaay our knowledge of the structure and development the tissues and organs of plants and animals up to the level of present day. Amidst the host of names of investigators, both at home and abroad, who have contributed to its progress, ‘seem invidious to particularise individuals. There are, , a few that I cannot forbear to mention, whose claim ed on such an occasion as this will be generally Botanists will, I think, acknowledge Wilhelm Hofmeister as a master in ogy and embryology, Julius von Sachs as the t important investigator in vegetable physiology during the quarter of a century, and Strasburger as a leader in the study he phenomena of nuclear division. researches of the veteran Professor of Anatomy in Wiirz- Albert - ee kes have sonened the entire field of _ animal histology. His first paper, published fifty-nine years ago, _ was followed by a succession of memoirs and books on “hah _ and comparative histology and embryology, and culminated in apg Tecan the structure of the brain, published in — _ Notwithstanding the weight of more than eighty years, ___ he continues to prosecute histological research, and has pub- ___ lished the results of his latest, though let us hope not his last, work during the present year. . Amongst our own countrymen, and belonging to the genera- tion which has almost passed away, was William Bowman. His pean, gaa between 1840 and 1850 on the mucous membranes, fibre, and the structure of the kidney, together with his researches on the organs of sense, were characterised by a power _ observation and of interpreting difficult and complicated appearances which has made his memoirs on these subjects land- _ marks in the history of histological inquiry. __ Of the younger generation of biologists, Francis Maitland ulfour, whose early death is deeply deplored as a loss to ritish science, was one of the most distinguished. His powers observation and philosophic perception gave him a high place as an original inquirer, and the charm of his personality—for asad is not the exclusive possession of the fairer sex—endeared him to his friends. NO. 1610, VOL. 62] >) J ph General Morphology. Along with the study of the origin and structure of the tissues of organised bodies, much attention has been given during the century to the parts or organs in plants and animals, with the view of determining where and how they take their rise, the order of their formation, the changes which they pass through in the early stages of development, and their relative positions in the organism to which they belong. Investigations on these lines are spoken of as morphological, and are to be distinguished from the study of their physiological or functional relations, though both are necessary for the full comprehension of the living organism. The first to recognise that morphological relations might exist between the organs of a plant, dissimilar as regards their func- tion, was the poet Goethe, whose observations, guided by his imaginative faculty, led him to declare that the calyx, corolla, and other parts of a flower, the scales of a bulb, &c., were metamorphosed leaves, a principle generally accepted by botanists, and indeed extended to other parts of a plant, which are referred to certain common morphological forms although they exercise different functions. Goethe also applied the same principle in the study of the skeletons of vertebrate animals, and he formed the opinion that the spinal column and the skull were essentially alike in construction, and consisted of verte- bree, an idea which was also independently conceived and advocated by Oken. The anatomist who in our country most strenuously applied himself to the morphological study of the skeleton was Richard Owen, whose knowledge of animal structure, based upon his own dissections, was unrivalled in range and variety. He elaborated the conception of an ideal, archetype vertebrate form which had no existence in nature, and to which, subject to modifications in various directions, he considered all vertebrate skeletons might be referred. Owen’s observations were con- ducted to a large extent on the skeletons of adult animals, of the knowledge of which he was a master. As in the course of de- velopment modifications in shape and in the relative position of parts not unfrequently occur and their original character and place of origin become obscured, it is difficult, from the study only of adults, to arrive at a correct interpretation of their mor-- phological significance.. When the changes which take place in the skull during its development, as worked out by Reichert and Rathke, became known and their value had become appreci- ated, many of the conclusions arrived at by Owen were challenged and ceased to be accepted. It is, however, due to that eminent anatomist to state from my personal knowledge of the condition of anatomical science in this country fifty years ago, that an enormous impulse was given to the study of com- parative morphology by his writings, and by the criticisms to } which they were subjected. There can be no doubt that generalised arrangements do exist in the early embryo which, up to a certain stage, are common to animals that in their adult condition present diverse characters, and out of which the forms special to different groups are evolved. As an illustration of this principle, I may refer to the ‘stages of development of the great arteries in the bodies of vertebrate animals. Originally, as the observations of Rathke have taught us, the main arteries are represented by pairs of symmetrically arranged vascular arches, some of which enlarge and constitute the permanent arteries in the adult, whilst others disappear. The increase in size of some of these arches, and the atrophy of others, are so constant for different groups that they constitute anatomical features as distinctive as the modifica- tions in the skeleton itself. Thus in mammals the fourth vascular arch on the left side persists, and forms the arch of the aorta ; in birds the corresponding part of the aorta is an enlargement of the fourth right arch, and in reptiles both arches persist to form the great artery. That this original symmetry exists also in man we know from the fact that now and again his body, instead of corresponding with the mammalian type, has an aortic arch like that which is natural to the bird, and in rarer cases even to the reptile. A type forra common to the vertebrata does therefore in such cases exist, capable of evolution in more than one direction. . The reputation of Thomas Henry Huxley as a philosophic comparative anatomist rests largely on his early perception of, and insistence on, the necessity of testing morphological con- clusions by a reference to the development of parts and organs, and by applying this principle in his own investigations. The principle is now so generally accepted by both botanists and 448 NATURE [SEPTEMBER 6, 1900 anatomists that morphological definitions are regarded as depend- ing essentially on the successive phases of the development of the parts under consideration. The morphological characters exhibited by a plant or animal tend to be hereditarily transmitted from parents to offspring, and the species is perpetuated. In each species the evolution of an individual, through the developmental changes in the egg, follows the same lines in all the individuals of the same species, which possess therefore in common the features called specific characters. The transmission of these characters is due, according to the theory of Weismann, to certain properties possessed by the chromosome constituents of the segmentation nucleus in the fertilised ovum, named by him the germ plasm, which is continued from one generation to another, and impresses its specific character on the egg and on the plant or animal developed from it. As has already been stated, the special tissues which build up’ the bodies of the more complex organisms are evolved out of cells which are at first simple in form and appearance. During the evolution of the individual, cells become modified or differen- tiated in structure and function, and so long as the differentiation follows certain prescribed lines the morphological characters of the species are preserved. We can readily conceive that, as the process of specialisation is going on, modifications or variations in groups of cells and the tissues derived from them, notwith- standing the influence of heredity, may in an. individual diverge so far from that which is characteristic of the species as to assume the arrangements found in another species, or even in another order. Anatomists had indeed long recognised that variations from the customary arrangement of parts occasionally appeared, and they described such deviations from the current descriptions as irregularities. Darwinian Theory. The signification of the variations which arise in plants and animals had not been apprehended until a flood of light was thrown on the entire subject by the genius of Charles Darwin, who formulated the wide-reaching theory that variations could be transmitted by heredity to younger generations. In this manner he conceived new characters would arise, accumulate, and be perpetuated, which would in the course of time assume specific importance. New species might thus be evolved out of ‘organisms originally distinct from them, and their specific characters would in turn be transmitted to their descendants. By a continuance of this process new species would multiply in many directions, until at length from one or more originally sim- ple forms the earth would become peopled by the infinite varieties of plant and animal organisms which have’ in past ages inhabited, or do at present inhabit, our globe. The Darwinian theory may therefore be defined as Heredity modified and influenced by Variability. It assumes that there is an heredity quality in the egg, which, if we take the common fowl for an example, shall con- tinue to produce similar fowls. Under conditions, of which we are ignorant, which occasion moleculer changes in the cells and tissues of the developing egg, variations might arise in the first instance pr»bably slight, but becoming intensified in successive generations, until at length the descendants would have lost the characters of the fowl and have become another species. No precise estimate has been arrived at, and indeed one does not see how it is possible to obtain it, of the length of years which might be required to convert a variation, capable of being trans- mitted, into a new and definite specific character. The circumstanges which, according to the Darwinian theory, determined the perpetuation by hereditary transmission of a variety and its assumption of a specific character depended, it was argued, on whether it possessed such properties‘as enabled the plant or animal in which it appeared to adapt itself more readily to its environment, ¢.e, to the surrounding conditions. If it were to be of use the organism in so far became better adapted to hold its. own in the struggle for existence with its fellows and with the forces of nature operating on it. Through the accumulation of useful characters the specific variety was perpetuated by natural selection, so long as the conditions were favourable for its exist- ence, and it survived as being the best fitted to live. In the study of the transmission of variations which may arise in the course of development it should not be too exclusively thought that only those variations are likely to be preserved which can be ‘of service during the life of the individual, or in the perpetuation of the species, and possibly available for the evolution of new NO. 1610, VOL. 62] : species. It should also be kept in mind that morphological characters can be transmitted by hereditary descent, which, ° though doubtless of service in some bygone ancestor, are im the new conditions of life of the species of no physio- ’ logical value. connection with abnormalities and with tendencies or predisposition to diseases of various kinds, teaches us that’ characters which are of no use, and indeed detrimental to the: — individual, may be hereditarily transmitted from i 1 parents to off->— spring through a succession of generations. EO i Theg Since the conception of the possibility of the evolution of new’ ti species from pre-existing forms took possession of the minds of ’ naturalists, attempts have been made to trace out the lines on’ which it has proceeded. The ‘first to give a systematic account of ' what he conceived to be the order of succession in the evolution — of animals was Ernst Haeckel, of Jena, in a well-known treatise. ° Memoirs on special departments of the subject, too numerous to” particularise, have subsequently appeared. The problem has been” attacked along two different lines: the one by embryologists, - of whom may be named Kowalewsky, Gegenbaur, Dohrn, Ray Lankester, Balfour and Gaskell, who with many others have’ conducted careful and methodical inquiries into the stages of © development of nunterous forms belonging to the two great divisions of the animal kingdom. Invertebrates, as well as- vertebrates, have been carefully compared with each other in’ the bearing of their development and structure on their affinities. and descent, and the possible sequence in the evolution of the” Vertebrata from the Invertebrata has been ‘discussed. The other method pursued by palzontologists, of whom Huxley, Marsh, Cope, Osborne and Traquair are prominent auth wd has been the study of the extinct forms preserved in the rocks and’ the comparison of their structure with each other and with that of existing organisms. In the attempts to trace the line of descent the imagination has not unfrequently beén called into’ play in constructing various conflicting hypotheses. ‘Though ’ from the nature of things the order of descent is, and without’ doubt will continue to be, ever a matter of speculation and not’ of demonstration, the study of the subject has been a valuable intellectual exercise and a powerful stimulant to research. =” . VETS LA We know not as regards time when the fiat went forth, ‘* Let. there be Life, and there was Life.” All we can say is that it must have been in the far-distant past, at a period so remote’ from the present that the mind fails to grasp the duration of the’ interval. Prior to its genesis our earth consisted of barren rock and desolate ocean. When matter became endowed with Life,’ with the capacity of self-maintenance and of resisting external disintegrating forces, the face of nature began to undergo a momentous change. Living organisms multiplied, the land’ became covered with vegetation, and multitudinous varieties of ~ plants, from the humble fungus and moss to the stately palm and — oak, beautified its surface and fitted it to sustain higher kinds of living beings. Animal forms appeared, in the first instance simple” in structure, to be followed by others more complex, until the’ mammalian type was produced. The ocean also became peopled with plant and animal organisms, from the microscopic diatomy’ to the huge leviathan. Plants and animals acted and reacted’ on each other, on the atmosphere which surrounded them and on’ the earth on which they dwelt, the surface of which became” modified in character and aspect. At last Man came into’ existence. His nerve-energy, in addition to regulating the pro- cesses in his economy which he possesses in common with ani- mals, was endowed with higher powers. When translated: into psychical activity it has enabled him throughout the ages’ to progress from the condition of a rude savage to an ad- vanced stage of civilisation ; to produce works in literature, art, and the moral sciences which have exerted, and must continue to exert, a lasting influence on the’ development of his higher’ Being ; to make discoveries in physical science; to acquire a knowledge of the structure of the earth, of the ocean in its’ changing aspects, of the atmosphere and the stellar universe, of the chemical composition and physical properties of matter in its various forms, and to analyse, comprehend, and subdue the forces of nature. ie By the application of these discoveries to his own purposes Man has, to a large extent, overcome time and space; he has studded the ocean with steamships, girdled the earth with’ electric wire, tunnelled the lofty Alps, spanned the Forth with — a bridge of steel, invented machines and founded industries of » : ui Our knowledge of the structural and fune-" — tional modifications to be found in the human body, in? } a . > 4 * Td ae, oe ce e = : r Pa ih atal hi aa ‘} os C | Big ee sd . . Cy 4 4 4 ~ : SEPTEMBER 6, 1900] NATURE on As for the promotion of his material welfare, elaborated government fitted for the management of great com- formulated economic principles, obtained an insight laws of health, the causes of infective diseases, and the ‘ f controlling and preventing them. ¢ reflect that many of the most important discoveries D act science and in its applications have been made iring the present century, and indeed since the British Asso- ee d its first meeting in the ancient capital of your county ty-nir years ago, we may look forward with confidence to . Every advance in science provides a fresh platform n which a new start can’ be made. The human intellect is oe of evolution. The power of application and of onc h of thought for the: elucidation of scientific prob- is by no means exhausted. In science is no hereditary Me The army of workers is recruited from all natural ambition of even the private in to maintain and increase the reputation of the of ‘knowledge which he cultivates affords an ample that, the march of science is ever onwards, and justifies ocl: g for the next century, asin the one fast ebbing that Great i is Science, and it will prevail. stom ) 9 _ SECTION A. | MATHEMATICS AND PHYSICS. DDRESS By Jos—EPpH Larmor, M.A., D.Sc. 3 pee C.P.S., PRESIDENT OF THE SECTION. Aap mabe that before entering upon the business of the pause to take note of the losses which our of science has recently sustained. The fame of i apar cary his official position as Secretary of the nces, was long ago universally estab- by Ss paar on the Infinitesimal Calculus : it of late years sustained by the luminous exposition and r bans stato of his books on the Theory of Probability iodyn s and Electricity. The debt which we owe “veteran, G. Wiedemann, both on account of his : which take lal physics, and for his great and indispensable soap of electricity, cannot easily be over- death of Sophus Lie, following soon after his nore his native country Norway, we have lost t constructive mathematicians of the century, various directions fundamentally expanded the conceptions of analysis by reverting to the foun- : ‘intuition. In Italy the death of ese investigator whose influence has been res | mathematical physics. In our own country ‘in D. E. Hughes one of the great scientific in- ae 3 while we specially deplore the removal, in one who has recently been well known at ‘ings, "Thomas Preston, whose experimental investiga- the relations between magnetism and light, combined eens we lucid exposition, marked out for him m important event of general scientific interest year has been the definite undertaking of the x F the. international co-ordination of scientific litera- 5 and ieapay be in some measure in the prolonged confer- that were necessitated by that object that the recently ced international . federation of scientific academies has ad its origin. In the important task of rendering accessible le stores of scientific knowledge, the British Association, and x this Section of it, has played the part of pioneer. r annual volumes have long been classical, through the 1 of the. progress of the different. branches of that have been from time to time contributed to them ieiapiet British men of science; and our work in this 1 has received the compliment of successful imitation ster Associations on the Continent. usual conferences connected with our department. of ” menwty have been this year notably augmented by the international congresses of mathematicians and of st “which met a few weeks ago in Paris. The three 2s of reports on the progress of physical science during the a years, for which we are indebted to the initiative of the ch Society, will provide an admirable conspectus’ NO. 1610, VOL. 62] us back to the modern revival of | on the theories of transcendental geometry and. of the present trend of activity, and form a permanent record for } the history of our subject. , Another very powerful auxiliary to progress is now being rapidly provided by the republication, in suitable form and within reasonable time, of the collected works of the masters of our science. We have quite recently received, in a large quarto: volume, the mass of most important unpublished work that was left behind him by the late Prof. J. C. Adams ; the zealous care of Prof. Sampson has worked up into order the more purely astronomical part of the volume ; while the great undertaking, spread over many years, of the complete determination of the; secular change of the magnetic condition of the earth, for which the practical preparations had been set on foot. by Gauss himself, ; has been prepared for the press by Prof. W.G. Adams. By the publication of the first volume of Lord Rayleigh’s papers a series of memoirs which have formed a main stimulus to the progress of mathematical physics in this country during the past twenty years has become generally accessible. The completed. series will form a landmark for the end of the century that may be compared with Young’s ‘‘ Lectures on Natural Philosophy ” for, its beginning. The recent reconstruction of the University of London, and the foundation of the University of Birmingham, will, it is to be hoped, give greater freedom to the work of our University Colleges. , The system of examinations has formed an admirable stimulus , to the effective acquisition of that general knowledge which is a, necessary part.of all education. So long as the examiner recog- nises that his function is a responsible and influential one, which - is to be taken seriously from the point of view of moulding the teaching in places where external guidance is helpful, test by ex- — amination will remain a most valuable means of extending the, area of higher education. Except for workers in rapidly pro-. gressive branches of technical science, a broad education seems better adapted to the purposes of life than special training over- a marrow range ; and it is difficult) to see how a reasonably, elastic examination test can be considered as a hardship. But, the case is changed when preparation for a specialised scientific , profession, or mastery of the lines of attack in an’ unsolved problem, is the object. The general education has then been, presumably finished ; in expanding departments of knowledge, variety rather than uniformity of training should be the aim, and, the genius of a great teacher should be allowed free play without. | external trammels. It would appear that in this country we have recently been liable to unduly mix up two methods. We have, been starting students on the special and lengthy, though very, instructive, processes which are known as original research at an age when their time would be more profitably employed in, rapidly acquiring a broad basis of knowledge. As a result, we, have been extending the examination test from the general, knowledge to which it is admirably suited into the specialised, activity which is best left to the stimulus of personal interest. Informal contact with competent advisers, themselves imbued, with the scientific spirit, who can point the way towards direct. appreciation of the works of the masters of the science, is far more effective than detailed instruction at second hand, as. regards growing subjects that have not yet taken on an, authoritative: form of exposition.. Fortunately there seems to, be now no lack of such teachers to meet the requirements of. the technical colleges that are being established throughout the, coun ; The famous treatise which opened the modern era by treating, magnetism and electricity on a scientific basis appeared just 300 years ago. The author, William Gilbert, M.D., of Colchester,, from the Grammar School of his native town to St. John’s, College, Cambridge: soon after taking his first degree, in 1560, he became a Fellow of the College, and seems to have remained, in residence, and taken part in its affairs, for about ten years. , All through his subsequent career, both at Colchester and after- wards at London, where he attained the highest position in his profession, he was an exact and diligent explorer, first of chemical and then of magnetic and electric phenomena. _ In the. words of the historian Hallam, writing in 1839, ‘‘in his Latin treatise on the Magnet he not only collected all the knowledge. which others had possessed, but he became at once the father of ' experimental philosophy i in this island” ; and no demur would be raised if Hallam’s restriction to this country were removed, Working nearly a century before the time when the astronomical discoveries of Newton had originated the idéa of attraction at a, ‘distance, he established a complete formulation of the interac- tion of magnets by what we now call the exploration of their 450 ~ NATURE [SePTEMBER 6, 1900 F fields of force. His analysis of the facts of magnetic influence, and incidentally of the points in which -it differs from electric influence, is virtually the one which Faraday re-introduced, A cardinal advance: was achieved, at a time when the Copernican Astronomy had still largely to make its way, by. assigning the behaviour of the compass and the dip needle to the fact that the earth itselfis a great wnagnet, by whose field of influence they are controlled. His book passed through many editions on the Continent within forty years ; it won the high praise of Galileo. Gilbert has been called ‘‘ the father of modern electricity” by Priestley, and ‘‘the Galileo of magnetism ” by Poggendorff. When the British Association last met at Bradford in 1873 the modern theory which ‘largely reverts to Gilbert’s way of formulation, and refers electric and magnetic phenomena to the activity of the zether instead of attractions at a distance, was of recent growth ; it had received its classical exposition only two years before by the publication of Clerk Maxwell’s treatise. The new doctrine was already widely received in England on its own independent merits. On the Continent it was engaging the: strenuous attention of Helmholtz, whose series of memoirs, deeply probing the new ideas in their relation to the prevalent and fairly successful theories of direct action across space, had begun to appear in 1870. During many years the search for crucial experiments that would go beyond the results equally explained by both views met with small success; it was not until 1887 that Hertz, by the discovery of the ethereal radiation of long wave-length emitted from electric oscillators, verified the hypothesis of Faraday and Maxwell and initiated a new era in the practical development of physical science. The experi- mental field thus opened up was soon fully occupied both in this country and abroad ; and the borderland between the sciences of optics and electricity is now being rapidly explored. The extension of experimental knowledge was simultaneous with increased attention to directness of explanation ; the ex- positions of Heaviside and Hertz and other writers fixed atten- tion, in a manner already briefly exemplified by Maxwell him- self, on the inherent simplicity of the completed zthereal scheme, when once the theoretical scaffolding employed in its construction and dynamical consolidation is removed ; while Poynting’s beautiful corollary specifying the path of the trans- mission of energy through the ether has brought the theory into simple relations with the applications of electrodynamics. Equally striking has been the great mastery obtained during the last twenty years over the practical manipulation of electric power. The installation of electric wires as the nerves connect- ing different regions of the earth had attained the rank of ac- complished fact so long ago as 1857, when the first Atlantic cable was laid. It was targely the theoretical and practical difficulties, many of them unforeseen, encountered in carrying that great undertaking to a successful issue, that necessitated the elaboration by Lord Kelvin and his coadjutors of convenient methods and instruments for the exact measurement of electric quantities, and thus prepared the foundation for the more recent practical developments in other directions. On the other hand, the methods of theoretical explanation have been in turn im- proved and simplified through the new ways of considering the phenomena which have been evolved in the course of practical advances on a large scale, such as the improvement of dynamo. armatures, the conception and utilisation of magnetic circuits, and the transmission of power by alternating currents. In our time the relations of civilised life have heen already perhaps more profoundly altered than ever before, owing to the establishment of practically instantaneous electric communication between all parts of the’ world. The employment of the same subtle agency is now rapidly superseding the artificial reciprocating engines and other contrivances for the manipulation of mechanical power that were introduced. with the employment of steam. The possibilities of transmitting power to great distances at enormous tension, and therefore with very slight waste, along lines merely suspended in the air, are being practically realised ; and the advantages thence derived are increased manifold by the almost automatic manner in which the electric power can be transformed into mechanical rotation at the very point where it is desired ‘to apply it. The energy is transmitted at such lightning speed that at a given instant only an exceedingly minute portion of it is in actual transit. ‘When the tension of the alternations is high, the amount of electricity that has to oscillate backwards and forwards on the guiding wires is proportionately diminished, and the frictional waste reduced. At the terminals the direct trans- mission from one armature of the motor to the other, across the NO. 1610, VOL. 62] deeper than the phenomena, has now given place to eager dis-_ intervening empty space, at once takes us beyond the province ol the pushing and rubbing contacts that are unavoidable in mechanical transniission ; while the perfect symmetry and re- versibility of the arrangement by which power is delivered from a rotatory alternator at one end, guided by the wires to another place many miles away, where it is absorbed by another alter- nator with precise reversal of the initial stages, makes this We are here dealing primarily with the flawless continuous medium which is the transmitter of radiant — energy across the celestial spaces; the part played by the coarsely constituted material conductor is only that of a more or less imperfect guide which directs the current of ethereal energy. — The wonderful nature of this theoretically perfect, though of — course practically only approximate, method of abolishing limita- tions of locality with regard to mechanical power is not diminished by the circumstance that its principle must have been in some manner present to the mind of the first person who fully realised _ the character of the reversibility ofa gramme armature. In theoretical knowledge a new domain, to which the theory — as expounded. twenty years ago had little to say, has recently — been acquired through the experimental scrutiny of the electric — discharge in rarefied gaseous media. The very varied electric — phenomena of vacuum tubes, whose electrolytic character was — first practically established by Schuster, have been largely reduced to order through the employment of the high exhaustions intro- duced and first utilised by Crookes. Their study under these — circumstances, in which the material molecules are so sparsely — distributed as but rarely to interfere with each other, has con- — duced to enlarged knowledge and verification of the fundamental — relations in which the individual molecules stand to all electric phenomena, culminating recently in the actual determination, by — J. J. Thomson and others following in his track, of the masses and velocities of the particles that carry the electric discharge — across the exhausted space. The recent investigations of the — circumstances of the electric dissociation produced in the atmo- sphere and in other gases by ultra-violet light, the Réntgen radiation, and other agencies, constitute one of the most striking — developments in experimental molecular physics since Graham | determined the molecular relations of gaseous diffusion and trans- — piration more than half a century ago. ‘This advance in experi- mental knowledge of molecular phenomena, assisted by the discovery of the precise and rational effect of magnetism on the spectrum, has brought into. prominence a modification or rather development of Maxwell’s exposition of electric theory, which was dictated primarily by the requirements of the abstract theory itself; the atoms or ions are now definitely introduced as the carriers of those electric charges which interact across the zether, and so produce the electric fields whose transformations were the main subject of the original theory. ie We are thus inevitably led, in electric and zthereal theory, as in the chemistry and dynamics of the gaseous state which is the department of abstract physics next in order of simplicity, to the consideration of the individual molecules of matter. The theo- retical problems which had come clearly into view a quarter — of a century ago, under. Maxwell’s lead, whether in the exact ‘dynamical relations of ethereal transmission or in the more fortuitous domain of the statistics of interacting molecules, are those around which attention is still mainly concentrated ; but as the result of the progress in each, they are now tending towards consolidation into one subject. I propose—leaving further review of the scientific aspect of the recent enormous development of the applications of physical science for hands more competent to deal with the practical side of that subject— — to offer some remarks on the scope and validity of this molecular — order of ideas, to which the trend of physical explanation and development is now setting in so pronounced a manner, | val If it is necessary to offer an apology for detaining the attention — of the Section on so abstract a topic, I can plead its intrinsic philosophical importance. The hesitation so long felt on the Continent in regard to discarding the highly-developed theories — which analysed all physical actions into direct attractions between the separate elements of the bodies concerned, in favour _ of a new method in which our ideas are carried into regions ty 4 ‘ ; 4 cussion of the potentialities of the new standpoint. There has even appeared a disposition to consider that the Newtonian — dynamical principles, which have formed the basis of physical explanation for nearly two centuries, must be replaced in these _ NATURE 451 er subjects by a method of direct description of the mere of omena, apart from any attempt to establish causal $s; the initiation of this method being traced, like that of onian dynamics itself, to this country. The question sen as to how far the new methods of ethereal physics be considered as an independent departure, how far they rm the natural development of existing dynamical science. In agland, whence the innovation came, it is the more conservative sition that has all along been occupied. Maxwell was himself in d in the school of physics established in this country by Stokes and Lord Kelvin, in which the dominating een that of the strictly dynamical foundation of all Although the pupil’s imagination bridged over al chasms, across which the master was not always able ow, yet the most striking feature of Maxwell’s scheme was ical framework into which it was built. The dvanced reformers have now thrown overboard’ the aratus of potential functions which Maxwell found necessary : dynamical consolidation of his theory, retaining only the ‘result as a verified descriptive basis for the phenomena. is way all difficulties relating to dynamical development eed consistency are avoided, but the question remains as much is thereby lost. In practical electro-magnetics nsmission of power is now the most prominent phenome- formal dynamics is put aside in the general theory, its *e must here be replaced by some more empirical and ‘method of describing the course of the transmission ansformation of mechanical energy in the system. ‘The direct recognition in some form, either explicitly or citly, of the part played by the zther, has become indispensable the i and exposition of general physics ever since e discoveries of Hertz left no further room for doubt that this cal scheme of Maxwell was not merely a brilliant specula- but constituted, in spite of outstanding gaps and difficulties, formulation of the underlying unity in physical dynamics. main of abstract physics is in fact roughly divisible into ons. In one of them we are mainly concerned with ns. ‘one portion of matter and another portion different position in space ; such interactions have niform and comparatively simple relations; and the is traceable to the simple and uniform constitution of the medium in which they have their seat. The other is that in which the distribution of the material les comes into account. Setting aside the ordinary nics of matter in bulk, which is founded on the uniformity properties of the bodies concerned and their experimental i action, pve oY Pe ination, we must assign to this region all phenomena “are concerned with the unco-ordinated motions of the ncluding the range of thermal and in part of radiant s; the only possible basis for detailed theory is the ical dynamics of the distribution of the molecules. The ‘more deep-seated and mysterious processes which are in- ved in changes in the constitution of the individual molecules elves are mainly outside the province of physics, which is to reason only about permanent material systems ; ust be left to the sciences of chemistry and physiology. the chemist domain of very precise knowledge relating, in some dia- i¢ manner, to the topography of the more complex les has been attained. The vast structure which chemical has in this way raised on the narrow foundation of the ) perhaps the most wonderful existing illustration doth of the rationality of natural processes and of the analytical owers of the human mind. In a word, the complication of ‘material world is referable to the vast range of structure and f states of aggregation in the material atoms ; while the possi- bility of a science of physics is largely due to the simplicity of institution of the universal medium through which the individual on each other. of the uniformity in the interactions at a dis- een material bodies to the played by the ether ‘ep towards the elimination of extraneous and random eses about laws of attraction between atoms. It also ‘that medium on a different basis from matter, in that its de of activity is simple and regular, whereas intimate material iteractions must be of illimitable complexity. This gives strong ind for the view that we should not be tempted towards ex- NO. 1610, VOL. 62] + plaining the simple group of relations which have been found to define the activity of the ether, by treating them as mechanical consequences of concealed structure in that medium ; we should rather rest satisfied with having attained to their exact dynamical correlation, just as geometry explores or correlates, without ex- plaining, the descriptive and metric properties of space. On the other hand, a view is upheld which considers the pressures and thrusts of the engineer, and the strains and stresses in the material structures by which he transmits them from one place to another, to be the archetype of the processes by which all mechanical effect is transmitted in nature. This doctrine im- plies an expectation that we may ultimately discover something analogous to structure in the celestial spaces, by means of which the transmission of physical effect will be brought into line with the transmission of mechanical effect by material framework. At a time when the only definitely ascertained function of the gether was the undulatory propagation of radiant energy across space, Lord Kelvin pointed out that, by reason of the very great velocity of propagation, the density of the radiant energy in the medium at any place must be extremely small in com- parison with the amount of energy that is transmitted in a second of time: this easily led him to the very striking con- clusion that, on the hypothesis that the ether is like material elastic media, it is not necessary to assume its density to be more than 107'8 of that of water, or its optical rigidity to be more than ten 10~* of that of steel or glass. Thus far the ether would be merely an impalpable material atmosphere for the transference of energy by radiation, at extremely small densities but with very great speed, while ordinary matter would be the seat of practically all this energy. But this way of explaining the absence of sensible influence of the xther on the phenomena of material dynamics lost much of its basis as soon as it was recognised that the same medium must be the receptacle of very high densities of energy in the electric fields around currents and magnets.! The other mode of explanation is to consider the ther to be of the very essence of all physical actions, and tw correlate the absence of obvious mechanical evidence of its intervention with its regularity and universality. On this plan of making the zther the essential factor in the transformation of energy as well as its transmission across space, the material atom must be some kind of permanent nucleus that retains around itself an ethereal field of physical influence, such as, for example, a field of strain. We can recognise the atom only through its interactions with other atoms that are so far away from it as to be practically independent systems ; thus our direct knowledge of the atom will be confined to this field of force which belongs to it. Just as the exploration of the distant field of magnetic influence of a steel magnet, itself concealed from view, cannot tell us anything about the magnet except the amount and direction of its moment, so a practically complete knowledge of the field of physical influence of an atom might be expressible in terms of the numerical values of a limited number of physical moments associated with it, without any revelation as to its essential structure or constitution being involved. This will at any rate be the case for ultimate atoms if, as is most likely, the distances at which they are kept apart are large com- pared with the diameters of the atomic nuclei ; it in fact forms our only chance for penetrating to definite dynamical views of molecular structure. So long as we cannot isolate a single molecule, but must deal observationally with an innumerable distribution of them, even this kind of knowledge will be largel confined to average values. But the last half-century has wit- nessed the successful application of a new instrument of re- search, which has removed in various directions the limitations that had previously been placed on the knowledge to which it was possible for human effort to look forward. The spectroscope has created a new astronomy by revealing the constitutions and the unseen internal motions of the stars. Its power lies in the fact that it does take hold of the internal relations of the indi- vidual molecule of matter, and provide a very definite and 1 We can here only allude to Lord Kelvin’s recent most interesting mechanical illustrations of a solid zther penrerting with material molecules and with itself by attraction at a distance: unlike the generalised dyna- mical methods expounded in the text, which can leave the intimate structure of the material molecule outside the problem, a definite. working constitution is there assigned to the molecular nucleus. It is pointed out in a continuation that is to appear in the PAz/. Mag. for September, that a density of zther of the order of only 10-9, which would not appreciably affect the inertia of matter, would involve rigidity comparable with that of stee!, and thus permit transmission of magnetic forces y stress ; this solid zther is, however, as usual, taken to be freely permeable to the molecules of matter. 452 NATURE [SEPTEMBER 6, i - detailed, though far from complete, analysis of the vibratory motions that are going on in it; these vibrations being i in their normal: state characteristic of its dynamical constitution, and in their deviations from the normal giving indications of the velocity of its movement and the physical state of its environment. ” Maxwell long. ago laid emphasis on the fact that a physical atomic theory is not competent even to contemplate the vast mass of potentialities and correlations of the past and the future, that biological theory has to consider as latent in a single organic germ containing at most only a few million molecules. On our present view we can accept his position that the properties of such a body cannot be those of a ‘‘ purely material system,” provided, however, we restrict this phrase to apply to physical properties as here defined. But an exhaustive discovery of the intimate nature of the atom is beyond the scope of physics ; questions as to whether it must not necessarily involve in itself some image of the complexity of the organic structures of which it can form a correlated part must remain a subject of specula- tion outside the domain of that science. It might be held that this conception of discrete atoms and continuous zther really stands, like those of space and time, in intimate relation with our modes of mental apprehension, into which any consistent picture of the external world must of necessity be fitted. In any case it would involve abandonment of all the successful traditions of our subject if we ceased to hold that our analysis can be formulated in a consistent and complete manner, so far as it goes, without being necessarily an exhaustive account of phe- nomena that are beyond our range of experiment. Such - phenomena may be more closely defined as those connected with the processes of intimate combination of the molecules: they include the activities of organic beings which all seem to depend on change of molecular structure. If, then, we have so small a hold on the intimate nature of matter, it will appear all the more striking that physicists have been able precisely to divine the mode of operation of the in- tangible zther, and to some extent explore in it the fields of physical influence of the molecules. On consideration we recognise that this knowledge of fundamental physical inter- action has been reached by a comparative process, The mechan- ism of the propagation of light could never have been studied in the free zether of space alone. It was possible, however, to determine the way in which the characteristics of optical propa- gation are modified, but not wholly transformed, when it takes place in a transparent material body instead of empty. space. The change in fact arises on account of the ether being entangled with the network of material molecules ; but inasmuch as the length of a single wave of radiation covers thousands of these molecules the wave-motion still remains uniform and does not lose its general type. A wider variation of the experimental conditions has been provided for our examination in the case of those substances in which the phenomenon of double refrac- tion pointed to a change of the zethereal properties which varied in different directions; and minute study of this modifi- cation has proved sufficient to guide to a consistent appreciation of the nature of this change, and therefore of the mode of zethereal propagation that is thus altered. In the same way, it was the study and development of the manner in which the laws of electric phenomena in material bodies had been. unravelled by Ampére and Faraday that guided Faraday him- self and Maxwell—who were impressed with the view. that the ether was at the bottom of it all—in their progress towards an application of similar laws to zther devoid of matter, such as would complete a scheme of continuous action by consistently interconnecting the material bodies and banishing all untraced interaction across empty space. Maxwellin fact chose to finally expound the theory by ascribing to the ether of free space a dielectric constant and a magnetic constant of the same types as had been found to express the properties of material media, thus extending the seat of the phenomena to all space on the plan of describing the activity of the ether in terms of the ordinary electric ideas. The converse mode of development, starting with the free zther under the directly dynamical form which has been usual in physical optics, and introducing the influence of the material atoms through the electric charges which are involved in their constitution,’ was hardly employed by him ; _ 1 In 1870 Maxwell, while admiring the breadth of the theory of Weber, ‘ which is virtually based on atomic charges combined with action at a distance, still regarded it as irreconcilable with his own theory, and left to the future the question as to why ‘‘ theories apparently so fundamentally opposed should have so large a field of truth common to both.”—“‘ Scientific Papers,” ii. p. 228. NO. 1610, VOL, 62] in part, perhaps, because, owing to the necessity of correl his theory with existing electric knowledge and the mode yf expression, he seems never to have reached the stage of: ou ing it into a completely deductive form. The dynamics of the zether, in fact the recognitinmiis existence of an eether, has thus, as a matter of hi reached through study ‘of the dynamical phenomena of ma ‘ When the dynamics of a material system is worked up purest and most general form, it becomes a formulation relations between the succession of the configurations of motion of the system, the assistance of an indeper of force not being usually required. We can, however, a attain. to such a compact statement when the. system’ is se contained, when its motion is not being dissipated by agenci of frictional type, and when its connections can be d irect specified by purely geometrical relations between the co: ordinates, thus excluding such mechanisms as rolling con i The course of the system is then in all cases determined by some form or other of a single fundamental property, that any alteration in any small portion of its actual course m oduce an increase in the total ‘* Action” of the motion. It is to | 0 observed that in employing this law of minimum as regards th Action expressed as an integral over the whole time of th : motion, we no more introduce the future course as ining influence on the present state of motion than we do in drawing a straight line from any point in any direction, although tk length of the line is the minimum distance between its en ds. In drawing the line piece by piece we have to make tentative excursions into the immediate future in order to adjust « nell element into straightness with the previous | ee» Senate tracing the next stage of the motion of a material “system we similarly to secure that itis not given any such directions as woul unduly increase the Action. But whatever views may be held to the ultimate significance of this principle of Action, its import: ance, not only for mathematical analysis, but asa exploration, remains fundamental. When the dynamics of material systems are refined down to common basis, this principle of minimum is— Hertz preferred to express its contents in the form of straightness of course or path. It will be: e lines already indicated, that this is another mode of statement of of the same fundamental idea; and the general equivalence is, worked out by Hertz on the basis of Hamilton’s 4 ent of the principles of dynamics. The latter mode of atten may be adaptable so as to avoid the limitations which rest ct the connections of the system, at the ex introducing new variables ; if, indeed, it does not jintrod gratuitous complexity for purposes of physics ‘to attempt t this. However these questions may stand, this principle straightness or directness of path forms, wherever it ne the most general and comprehensive formulation of pu dynamical action: it involves in itself the com course events. In so far as we are given the algebraic { Pes time-integral which constitutes the Action, ee nS of any suitable co-ordinates, we know implicitly wactabrtn ; dynamical constitution and history of the system to — applies. Two systems in which the Action is ily same formula are mathematically identical, are cisely correlated, so that they have all dynamica common. When the structure of a dynamical system ae concealed from view, the safest and most ener way towards : a exploration of its essential relations and connections, | and i fact towards answering the prior question as to whether it is purely dynamical system at all, is through this order of id The ultimate test that a system is a dynamical one isnot that w shall be able to trace mechanical stresses throughout it, but the its relations can be in some way or other openolidated in accordance with this principle of minimum Action, — definition of a dynamical system in terms of the simple princi of directness of path may conceivably be subject to abyection too wide ; it is certainly not too narrow ; and it is which has naturally been evolved from two centuries of seu the dynamics of material bodies. Its very great lead to the objection that we might completely focaace th future course of a system in its terms, without having pegs a working familiarity with its details, of the kind to which v have become accustomed in the analysis of simple materi systems ; but our choice is at present between this kind 0: formulation, which is a real and essential one, and an empil description of the course of phenomena combined with bits 6 the s ES SS e SEPTEMBER 6, 1900] NATURE 453 s relating to more or less isolated groups. The list of great es, including Kelvin, Maxwell, Helmholtz, that have been sciated with the employment of the principle for the elucida- ion of the relations of deep-seatel dynamical phenomena a strong guarantee that we shall do well by making the most ‘this clue. Are we then justified in treating the material molecule, so far $ revealed by the spectroscope, as a dynamical system coming mder this specification ? Its intrinsic energy is certainly per- ent and not subject to dissipation ; otherwise the molecule ould gradually fade out of existence. The extreme precision md regularity of detail in the spectrum shows that the vibrations hich produce it are exactly synchronous, whatever be their itude, and in so far resemble the vibrations of small itude in material systems. As all indications point to the molecule being a system in a state of intrinsic motion, like a vortex ring, or a stellar system in astronomy, we must consider s radiating vibrations to take place around a steady state of n which does not itself radiate, not around a state of rest. ‘the least of the advantages possessed by the Action ple, as a foundation for theoretical physics, is the fact that ment can be adapted to systems involving in their con- | permanent steady motions of this kind, in such a way y the variable motions superposed on them come into sideration. The possibilities as regards physical correlation ‘thus introducing permanent motional states as well as per- At structure into the constitution of our dynamical systems long been emphasised by Lord Kelvin;? the effective ion of abstract dynamics to such systems was made y by Kelvin and Routh about 1877; the more sition of the theory by Helmholtz has directed general what is undoubtedly the most significant extension cal analysis which has taken place since the time of toa the molecules, it is now verified that the Action ciple forms a valid foundation throughout electrodynamics tics ; the introduction of the ether into the system has sted its application. It is therefore a reasonable hypo- t the iple forms an allowable foundation for the gical analysis of the ‘radiant vibrations in the system ed by a single molecule and surrounding ether; and the vledge which is now accumulating, both of the orderly ping of the lines of the spectrum and of the modifications mn these lines by a magnetic field or by the density x immediately surrounding the vibrating molecule, fail to be fruitful for the dynamical analysis of its - But let it be repeated that this analysis would be e when a formula for the dynamical energy of the mole- obtained, and would go no deeper. Starting from our limited definition of the nature of a dynamical system, is merely to correlate the observed relations of . of vibration in a molecule, when it has come ‘State as regards constitution and is not under snce of intimate encounter with other molecules. recalled incidentally that the generalised Max well- of kinetic energy of the molecule, among its various possible ident types of motion, is based directly on the validity of on principle for its dynamics. In the demonstrations offered the molecule is considered to have no permanent jitutive energy of internal motion. It can, however, be by use of the generalisation aforesaid of the Action that no discrepancy will arise on that account. Such ic kinetic energy virtually adds on to the potential energy of stem ; and the remaining or acquired part of the kinetic of the molecule may be made the subject of the same 1 of reasoning as before. = | us now return to the general question whether our inition of a dynamical system may not be too wide. ' As a’case in point, the single principle of Action has been shown ‘to provide a definite and sufficient basis for electrodynamics ; yet after it without material contact, and so transmits mechani- et ee! ‘or a classical exposition see his Brit. Assoc. Address of 1884 on “* Steps ds a Socket Theory of Matter,” reprinted in “‘ Popular Lectures and i. ; NO. 1610, VOL. 62] principle of the equable distribution of the acquired . *when, for example, one armature of an electric motor pulls the acts by itself, independently of the other elements. The stress excited in any element depends on the strain or other displace- ment occurring in that element alone ; and the mechanical effect . that is transmitted is considered as an extraneous force applied at one place in the medium, and passed on from element to element through these internal pressures and tractions until it reaches another place. We have, however, to consider two atomic electric charges as being themselves some kind of strain configurations in the zther; each of them already involves an atmosphere of strain in the surrounding ether which is part of its essence, and cannot be considered apart from it; each of them essentially pervades the‘entire space, though on account ofits invariable character we consider it as a unit. Thus we appear to be debarred from imagining the ether to act as an elastic connection which is merely the agent of transmission of a pull from the one nucleus to the other, because there are already stresses belonging to and constituting an intrinsic part of the terminal electrons, which are distributed all along the medium. Our Action Criterion of a dynamical system, in fact, allows us to reason about an electron as a single thing, nothwithstanding that its field of energy is spread over the whole medium ; it is only in material solid bodies, and in problems in which the actual sphere of physical action of the molecule is small compared with the smallest element of volume that our analysis considers, that the familiar idea of transmission of force by simple stress can apply. Whatever view may ultimately commend itself, this question is one that urgently demands decision. A very large amount of effort has been expended by Maxwell, Helmholtz, Heaviside, Hertz, and other authorities in the attempt to express the mechanical phenomena of electrical action in terms ofa transmitting stress. The analytical results up to a certain point have been promising, most strikingly so at the beginning, when Maxwell established the mathematical validity of the way in which Faraday was accustomed to represent to himself the mechanical interactions across space, in terms of a tension along the lines of force equilibrated by an equal pressure preventing their expansion sideways. According to the views here developed, that ideal is an impossible one ; if this could be established to general satisfaction the field of theoretical discussion would be much simplified. This view that the atom of matter is, so far as regards physical actions, of the nature of a structure in the zether in- volving an atmosphere of ethereal strain all around it, not a small body which exerts direct actions at a distance on other atoms according to extraneous laws of force, was practically foreign to the eighteenth century, when mathematical 1 oan was modelled on the Newtonian astronomy and dominated by its splendid success. The scheme of material dynamics, as finally compactly systematised by Lagrange, had therefore no direct relation to such a view, although it has proved wide enough to include it. The remark has often been made that ‘it is probably owing to Faraday’s mathematical instinct, combined with his want of acquaintance with the existing analysis, that the modern theory of the ther obtained a start from the electric side. Through his teaching and the weight of his authority, the notion of two electric currents exerting their mutual forces by means of an intervening medium, instead of by direct attraction across space, was at an early period firmly grasped in this country. In 1845 Lord Kelvin was already mathematically formulating, with most suggestive success, continuous elastic connections, by whose strain the fields of activity of electric currents or of electric dis- tributions could be illustrated ; while the exposition of Maxwell’s interconnected scheme, in the earlier form in which it relied on concrete models of the electric action, goes back almost to 1860. Corresponding to the two physical ideals of isolated atoms exert- ing attractionat a distance, and atoms operating by atmospheres of zthereal strain, there are, as already indicated, two different developments of dynamical theory. The original Newtonian equations of motion determined the course of a system by ex- pressing the rates at which the velocity of each of its small parts or elements is changing. This method is still fully applicable to those’ problems of gravitational astronomy in which dynamical explanation was first successful on a grand scale, the planets being treated as point-masses, each subject to the gravitational attraction of the other bodies. But the more recent development of the dynamics of complex systems depends on the fact that analysis has been able to reduce within manageable limits the number of varying quantities whose course is to be explicitly traced, through taking advantage of those internal relations of the parts of the system that are invariable, either geometrically 454 NATCRE [SEPTEMBER 6, 1900 or dynamically. Thus, to take the simplest case, the dynamics of a solid body can be confined to a discussion of its three com- ponents of translation and its three components of rotation, in- stead of the motion of each element of its mass. With the number of independent co-ordinates thus diminished, when the initial state of the motion is specified the subsequent course of the complete system can be traced ; but the course of the changes in any part of it can only be treated in relation to the motion of the system as a whole. It is just this mode of treatment of a system as a whole that is the main characteristic of modern physical analysis. The way in which Maxwell analysed the interactions of a system of linear electric currents, previously treated as if each were made up of small independent pieces or elements, and accumulated the evidence that they formed a single dynamical system, is a trenchant example. The inter- actions of vortices in fluid form a very similar problem, which is of special note in that the constitution of the system is there completely known in advance, so that the two modes of dynamical exposition can be compared. In this case the older method forms independent equations for the motion cf each material element of the fluid, and so requires the introduction of the stress—here the fluid pressure—by which dynamical effect is passed on to it from the surrounding elements: it corresponds to a method of contact action. But Helmholtz opened up new ground in the abstract dynamics of continuous media when he recognised (after Stokes) that, if the distribution of the velocity of spin at those places in the fluid where the motion is vortical be assigned, the motion in every part of the fluid is therein kinematically involved. This, combined with the theorem of Lagrange and Cauchy, that the spin is always confined to the’ same portions of the fluid, formed a starting-point for his theory of vortices, which showed how the subsequent course of the motion can be ascertained without consideration of pressure or other stress. The recognition of the permanent state of motion constituting a vortex ring as a determining agent as regards the future course of the system was in fact justly considered by Helmholtz as one of his greatest achievements. The principle had entirely eluded the attention of Lagrange and Cauchy and Stokes, who were the pioneers in this fundamental branch of dynamics, and had virtually prepared all the necessary analytical material for Helmholtz’s use. The main import of this advance lay, not in the assistance which it afforded to the development of the complete solution of special problems in fluid motion, but in the fact that it constituted the discovery of the types of per- manent motion of the system, which could combine and inter- act with each other without losing their individuality,’ though each of them pervaded the whole field. . This rendered possible an entirely new mode of treatment; and mathematicians who were accustomed, as in astronomy, to aim directly at the determination of all the details of the special case of motion, were occasionally slow to apprehend the advantages of a pro- cedure which stopped at formulating a description of the nature of the interaction between various typical groups of motions into which the whole disturbance could be resolved, : The new train of ideas introduced into physics by Faraday was thus consolidated and emphasised by Helmholtz’s investig- ations of 1858.in the special domain of hydrodynamics. _In illustration let us consider the fluid medium to be pervaded by permanent vortices circulating round solid rings as cores: the older method of analysis would form equations of motion for each element of the fluid, involving the fluid pressure, and by their integration would determine the distribution of pressure on each solid ring, and thence the way it moves. This method is hardly feasible even in the simplest cases. The natural plan is to make use of existing simplifications by regarding each vortex as a permanent reality, and directly attacking the problem of its interactions with the other vortices. The energy of the fluid arising from the vortex motion can be expressed in terms of the positions and strengths of the vortices alone; and then the principle of Action, in the generalised form which includes steady motional configurations as well as constant material con- figurations, affords a method of deducing the motions of the cores and the interactions between them. If the cores are thin they in fact interact mechanically, as Lord Kelvin and Kirchhoff proved, in the same manner as linear electric currents would do ; though the impulse thence derived towards a direct hydro- kinetic explanation of electro-magnetics was damped by the fact ‘1 We may compare G. W. Hill’s more recent introduction of the idea of permanent orbits into physical astronomy. NO. 1610, VOL 62] that repulsion and attraction have to be interchanged in the analogy. The conception of vortices, once it has been arrived at, forms the natural physical basis of investigation, although the older method of determining a distribution of pressure-stress a throughout the fluid and examining how it affects the cores is still possible ; that stress, however, is not simply transmitted, as it has to maintain the changes of velocity of the various portions of the fluid. But if the vortices have no solid cores we are at a loss to know where even this pressure can be considered as applied to them; if we follow up the stress, we lose the vortex ; yet a fluid vortex can nevertheless illustrate an atom of matter, and we can consider such atoms as exerting mutual forces, only these forces cannot be considered as transmitted through the agency of fluid pressure. The reason is that the vortex cannot now be identified with a mere core bounded by a definite surface, but is essentially a configuration of motion extending throughout the medium. ? hus we are again in face of the fundamental question whether all attempts to represent the mechanical interactions of — electro-dynamic systems, as transmitted from point to point by _ means of simple stress, are not doomed to failure; whether they do not, in fact, introduce unnecessary and insurmountable difficulty into the theory. The idea of identifying an atom with a state of strain or motion, pervading the region of the ether around its nucleus, appears to demand wider views as to what constitutes dynamical transmission. The idea that any small portion of the primordial medium can be isolated, by merely introducing tractions acting over its surface and transmitted from the surrounding parts, is no longer appropriate or con- — sistent : a part of the dynamical disturbance in that element of the medium is on this hypothesis already classified as belonging to, and carried along with, atoms that are outside it but in its neighbourhood—and this part must not be counted twice over. The law of Poynting relating to the paths of the transmission of energy is known to hold in its simple form only when the electric charges or currents are in a steady state ; when they are changing their positions or configurations their own fields of intrinsic energy are carried along with them. dig It is not surprising, considering the previous British familiarity with this order of ideas, that the significance for general physics. of Helmholtz’s doctrine of vortices was eagerly developed in this country, in the form in which it became embodied through Lord Kelvin’s famous illustration of the constitution of th matter, as consisting of atoms with separate existence an mutual interactions. This vortex-atom theory has been a main source of physical suggestion because it presents, on a simple basis, a dynamical picture of an ideal material system, atomic- ally constituted, which could go on automatically without extraneous support. The value of such a picture may be held to lie, not in any supposition that this is the mechanism of the actual world laid bare, but in the vivid illustration it affords of the fundamental postulate of physical science, that mechanical phenomena are not parts of a scheme too involved for us to explore, but rather present themselves in definite and consistent correlations, which we are able! to disentangle and apprehend with continually increasing precision. It would be an interesting question to trace the origin of our preference for a theory of transmission of physical action over one of direct action at a distance. It may be held that it rests on the same order of ideas as supplies our conception of force ; that the notion of effort which we associate with change of the motion of a body involves the idea of a mechanical connection through which that effort is applied. The mere idea of a trans- mitting medium would then be no more an ultimate foundation for physical explanation than that of force itself. Our choice between direct distance action and mediate transmission would thus be dictated by the relative simplicity and coherence of the accounts they give of the phenomena: this is, in fact, the basis on which Maxwell’s theory had to be judged until Hertz detected the actual working of the medium. Instantaneous transmission is to all intents action at a distance, except in so far as the law of action may be more easily formulated in terms of the medium than in a direct geometrical statement. __ In-connection with these questions it may be permitted to refer to the eloquent and weighty address recently delivered by M. Poincaré to the International Congress of Physics. M. Poincaré accepts the principle of Least Action as a trustworthy basis for the formulation of physical theory, but he imposes the © condition that the results must satisfy the Newtonian law of equality of action and reaction between each pair of bodies Hai Nibearing ni ee ey s Ga. aah - is SEPTEMBER 6, 1900] NATURE 455 _ concerned, considered by themselves ; this, however, he would allow to be satisfied indirectly, if the effects could be traced a, ross the intervening ther by stress, so that the tractions on a eo sides of each ideal interface are equal an1 opposite.! above argued, this view appears to exclude ad initio all tomic theories of the general type of vortex atoms, in which penerey of the atom is distributed throughout the medium 1 of being concentrated ina nucleus; and this remark s to go to the root of the question. On the other hand, position here asserted is that recent dynamical developments ; permitted the extension ot the principle of Action to ms involving permanent motions, whether obvious or latent, t of their constitution ; that on this wider basis the atom y ‘itself involve a state of steady disturbance extending ugh the medium, instead of being only a local structure act- ‘by push and pull. The possibilities of dynamical explana- are thus enlarged. The most definite type of model yet ined of the physical interaction of atoms through the zther perhaps, that which takes the «ther to be a rotationally €lastic medium after the manner of MacCullagh and Rankine, __ and makes the ultimate atom include the nucleus of a permanent tational strain-configuration, which as a whole may be called an electron. The question how far this is a legitimate and effective model stands by itself, apart from the dynamics which ustrates ; like all representations it can only cover a limited For instance, it cannot claim to include the internal re of the nucleus of an atom or even of an electron ; for es of physical theory that problem can be put aside, it y even be treated as inscrutable. All that is needed is a tulate of free mobility of this nucleus through the ether. definitely hypothetical, but it is not an unreasonable late because a rotational zether has the properties of a per- juid medium except where differentially rotational motions concerned, and so would not react on the motion of any seping through it except after the manner of an ap- nge of inertia. It thus seems possible to hold that Soy (10n: mit a model forms an allowable representation of the dynamical wity of the ether, as distinguished from the complete con- ion of the material nuclei between which that medium ; n. any rate, models of this nature have certainly been most 1 in Maxwell’s hands towards the effective intuitive grasp a scheme of relations as a whole, which might have proved lex for abstract unravelment in detail. When a physical ‘l of concealed dynamical processes has served this kind of se, when its content has been explored and estimated, and - familiar through the introduction of new terms and en the ladder by which we have ascended may be kicked and the scheme of relations which the model embodied tand forth in severely abstract form. Indeed, many of the fruitful branches of abstract mathematical analysis itself Paes et Start in this way to concrete physical concep- . This ual transition into abstract statement of physical ‘ions in fact amounts to retaining the essentials of our work- models while eliminating the accidental elements involved m ; elements of the latter kind must always be present ise otherwise the model would be identical with the thing it represents, whereas we cannot expect to mentally grasp cts of the content of even the,simplest phenomena. Yet ’ t standpoint is always attained through the concrete ; for purposes of instruction such models, properly guarded, 1ot perhaps ever lose their value: they are just as legitimate areca? diagrams, and they have the same kind of lin In Maxwell's words, ‘‘ for the sake of persons of these different types scientific truth should be presented in dif- na a forms, and should be regarded as equally scientific er it appear in the robust form and the vivid colouring of ot illustration, or in the teniuity and paleness of a sym- expression.” The other side of the picture, the necés- incompleteness of even our legitimate images and modes of representation, comes out in the despairing opinion of Young Chromatics,” 1817), at a time when his faith in the un- ulatory theory of light had been eclipsed by Malus’s discove the phenomena of polarisation by reflection, that this diffi- “will probably long remain, to mortify the vanity of an £ YS. also Hertz on the electro-magnetic equations, § 12, Wie i. Ann, . The 6 gg of merely coptaaken a system of ‘forces ne statical ess is widely indeterminate, and therefore by itself unreal ; the actual n is whether any such representation can be co-ordinated with existing NO. 1610, VOL. 62] ambitious philosophy, completely unresolved by any theory” : not many years afterwards the mystery was solved by Fresnel. This process of removing the intellectual scaffolding by which our knowledge is reached, and preserving only the final formule which express the correlations of the directly observable things, may moreover readily be pushed too far. It asserts the concep- tion that the universe is like an enclosed clock that is wound up to go, and that accordingly we can observe that it is going, and can see some of its more superficial movements, but not much of them ; that thus, by patient observation and use of analogy, we can compile, in merely tabular form, information as to the manner in which it works and is likely to go on working, at any rate for some time to come ; but that any attempt to probe the underlying connection is illusory or illegitimate. As a theo- retical precept this is admirable. It minimiszs the danger of our ignoring or forgetting the limitations of human faculty, which can only utilise the imperfect representations. that the external world impresses on our senses. Oa the other hand such a remainder has rarely been required by the master minds of modern science, from Descartes and Newton onwards, what- ever their theories may have been. Its danger as a dogma lies in its application. Who is to decide, without risk of error, what is essential fact and what is intellectual scaffolding? To » which class does the atomic theory of matter belong? That is, indeed, one of the intangible things which it is suggested may be thrown overboard, in sorting out and classifying our scientific possessions Is the mental idea_or image, which suggests, and alone can suggest, the experiment that adds to our concrete knowledge, less real than the bare phenomenal uniformity which it has revealed? Is it not, perhaps, more real in that the uni- formities might not have been there in the absence of the mind to perceive them ? No time is now left for review of the methods of molecular dynamics. Here our knowledge is entirely confined to steady states of the molecular system : it is purely statical. In ordinary statics and the dynamics of undisturbed steady notions, the. form of the energy function is the sufficient basis of the whole subject. This method is extended to thermodynamics by making use of the mechanically available energy of Rankine and Kelvin, which is a function of the bodily configuration and chemical constitution and temperature of the system, whose value cannot under any circumstances spontaneously increase, while it will diminish in any operation which is not reversible. In the statics of systems in equilibrium or in steady motion, this method of energy is a particular case of the method of Action ; but in its extension to thermal statics it is made to include chemical as well as configurational changes, and a new point appears to arise. Whether we do or do not take it to be pos- sible to trace the application of the principle of Action through- out the process of chemical combination of two molecules, we certainly here postulate that the static case of that principle, which applies to steady systems, can be extended across chemical combinations. The question is suggested whether extension would also be valid to transformations which involve vital pro- cesses. This seems to be still considered an open question by the best authorities. If it be decided in the negative a distinc- tion is involved between vital and merely chemical processes. It is now taken as established that vital activity cannot create energy, at any rate in the long run, which is all that can from the nature of the case be tested. It seems not unreasonable to follow the analogy of chemical actions, and assert that it cannot in the long run increase the mechanical availability of energy—that is, considering the organism as an apparatus for transforming energy without being itself in the long run changed. But we cannot establish a Carnot cycle for a portion of an organism, nor can we do so for a limited period of time ; there might be creation of availability accompanied by changes in the organism itself, but compensated by destruction and the inverse changes a long time afterwards. This amounts to as- serting that where, as in a vital system or even in a simple mole- cular combination, we are unable to trace or even assert complete dynamical sequence, exact thermodynamic statements should be mainly confined to the activity of the existing organism as a whole ; it may transform inorganic material without change of energy and without gain of availability, although any such statements would be inappropriate and unmeaning as regards the a of the processes that take place inside the organism itself. In any case it would appear that there is small chance of reducing these questions to direct. dynamics; we should rather 456 regard Carnot’s principle, which includes the law of uniformity of temperature and is the basis of the whole theory, as-a pro- perty of statistical type confined to stable or permanent aggre- gations of matter. Thus no dynamical proof from molecular considerations could be regarded as valid unless it explicitly restricted the argument to permanent systems; yet the condi- tions of permanency are unknown except in the simpler cases. The only mode of discussion that is yet possible is the method of dynamical statistics of molecules introduced by Maxwell. Now statistics is a method of arrangement rather than of demon- stration. Every statistical argument requires to be verified by comparison with the facts, because it is of the essence of this method to take things as fortuitously distributed except in so far as we know the contrary; and we simply may -not know essential facts to the contrary. For example, if the interaction of the cether or other cause produces no influence to the con- trary, the presumption would be that the kinetic energy ac- quired by a molecule is, on the average, equally distributed among its various independent modes. of motion, whether vi- brational or translational. Assuming this type of distribution to he once es.ablished in a gaseous system, the dynamics of Boltzmann and Maxwell show that it must be permanent. But its assumption in the first instance is a result rather of the absence than of the presence of knowledge of the circumstances, and can be accepted only so far as it agrees with the facts; our knowledge of the facts of specific heat shows that it must be restricted to modes of motion that are homologous. In the words of Maxwell, when he first discovered in 1860, to his great surprise, that in a system of colliding rigid atoms. the energy would always be equally divided between translatory and rotatory motions, it is only necessary to assume, in order to evade this unwelcome conclusion, that ‘‘ something essential to ‘the complete statement of the physical | theory of molecular encounters must have hitherto escaped us.’ Our survey thus tends to the result, that as regards the simple and uniform phenomena which involve activity of finite regions of the universal zether, theoretical physics can lay claim to con-: structive functions, and can build up a definite scheme ; but in the domain of matter the most that it can do is to accept the, existence of such permanent molecular systems as present them- selves to. our notice, and fit together an outline plan of the more general and universal features in their activity. Our well-founded beliefin the rationality of natural processes asserts the possi-. bility of this, while admitting that the intimate details of atomic constitution are beyond our scrutiny and provide plenty of room for processes that transcend finite dynamical correlation, NOTES. M. Fave has been elected a Foreign Member of the Reale Accademia dei Lincei of Rome. Dr. OusTacet has been appointed professor of zoology in. the Paris Natural History Museum, in succession to the late Prof. Milne-Edwards. WE regret to see the announcement of the death of Mr. Henry Sidgwick, late professor of moral philosophy at Cambridge. Sir Joun B. Lawes, Barr., F.R.S., whose agricultural experiments at Rothamsted are of world- cide renown, died on Friday last, at eighty-six years of age. THE announcement in Scéence that Prof. J. E. Keeler, director of the Lick Observatory, and the author of many important papers on astrophysics, died in San Francisco on August 12, from the effects of heart disease, will be received by astronomers with much regret. Prof. Keeler was only forty-three years of age. Ir has been officially notified that a death which occurred in hospital at Glasgow on Monday in last week was due to true bubonic plague. The presence of the disease is suspected in several cases of illness under treatment. THE Committee on Water-tube Boilers in the Navy has now been completed by the selection of Dr. John Inglis, lately NO. 1610, VOL. 62] NATURE apparatus successfully fulfilled the conditions a few days ago. ei Edinburgh in 1875 he presided over the section of apes Se ‘and delivered the address before that section. : [SEPTEMBER 6 1900 president of the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders Scotland, and vice: president of the Institution of Nay Architects. THE Mathouene correspondent of the Zimes states that ir compliance with a request of the Royal Geographical $ and other British scientific bodies, Prof. Baldwin Spencer h received leave of absence from the Melbourne University : one year, to enable him to study the customs and beliefs of th natives of the northern portion of South Australia. THE Berlin Academy of Sciences has made the following — grants, in addition to those already announced (p. 394) > Dr. e Floltermann, Berlin, for a botanical expedition to Ceylon, 4000 marks; Prof. Ludolf Krehl, Greifswald, for experiments on respiration, 1500 marks; Prof. Julius Tafel, Wiirzburg, for the continuation of his work on electrolysis, 100 marks ; Dr. Benno Wandolleck, Dresden, for the investigation of the morphology of diptera, 800 marks. a POS THE names of one hundred eminent Americans no. longer y living are to be engraved in the Hall of Fame of the New York : University. Scéence states that the following names of Boh ‘of science have been proposed: John Adams Audubon, S| Spence F. Baird, Alexander D. Bache, Nathaniel Bowditch, William Chauvenet, Henry Draper, James P. Espy, Asa Gray, Robert Hare, Joseph Henry, Edward Hitchcock, Isaac Lea, Matthew Fontaine Maury, Marie Mitchell, Benjamin Peirce, D David te Rittenhouse, Benjamin Silliman, Benjamin Thome ud Torrey. zt THE Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company have eneaatas to supply the Admiralty with Marconi apparatus for thirty- two 3 ships and stations. The test of efficiency which has to be 2 satisfied is that the instruments shall enable communication to E be carried on between a fitted ship in Portsmouth Harbour an@ a fitted ship at Portland, a distance of about sixty-five miles, with a good deal of land between, including the Dorsetshire mi Hills, making it about ninety miles by sea. A trial set of the. 2 THE death is announced of Dr. W. H. Lowe, | formerly president of the Royal College of Physicians: of ‘Edinburgh. i Dr. Lowe held several important positions in Edinburgh, among others those of president of the Royal Medical Society, and vice-president, subsequently president, of the rgd? 4 Society. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Coll 7 Physicians of Edinburgh i in 1846, and president of that coll a BY in 1873. : At the meeting of the British Medical Associationin _ Fo Ler wh ait ¥ THE eleventh annual general meeting of the ibiiehaleeatt ri Institution of Mining Engineers will be held at waite a Tues- day, September 18. Among the papers to be read, ol r taken a as read, are the following :—The geological features of the Somerset. and Bristol coal-field, with special reference to the physical geology of the Somersetshire Basin, by Mr. James McMurtrie = methods of working the thin coal-seams of the Bristol and Somerset coal-field, by Mr. George E. J. McMurtrie ; the analogy between the gold ‘‘cintas” of Columbia and the auri- ferous gravels of California, by Mr. Edward Gledhill ;— - the. zs theory of the equivalent orifice treated graphically, by Mr. H. W. Halbaum ;, development and working of mineralsin the Leon district, aan! by Mr. J. A. Jones ; and the geological 4 age of the gold-deposits of Victoria, Australia, by Mr. - Tames, 4 Stirling. me 3 THE programme of the meeting of the Iron and Steed - Institute, to be held in Paris on September. 18-21, under the 4 presidency of Sir William Roberts-Austen, has iust been issued. NATURE 457 ollowing are subjects of papers to be brought before the +—The development of the iron and steel industries in e since 1889, by H. Pinget ; iron and steel from the point of the ‘* phase-doctrine,” by Prof. Bakhuis-Roozeboom ; steel at the Paris Exhibition, by Prof. H. Bauerman ; m methods of testing iron and steel, by Mr. Albert olby 5 relling-mills, by Mr. Louis Katona ; the constitu- slags, by Baron H. von Jiiptner; a new method of high temperatures, by Mr. Ernest F. Lange; the aluminium on the carbon of cast iron, by Messrs, elland and H. W. Waldron; the present position of , Srey of carburised iron, by Dr. A. Stansfield ; ol osphorus, with appendixes on (1) eutectics, (2) ns, (3) method of determining free phosphide of . and steel, and (4) heat-tinting metal sections for eae” by Mr. J. E. Stead. aa a serious flood, due to the bursting of the reservoir on the-morning of August 23, wrought great - the western part of Forres. Since the great Moray 1829, described by Sir Thomas Dick Lauder, the ; not suffered such a disaster. In that year the esa cause of* flooding ; in the present case done by the breaking down of the embankment med up the waters in a valley on the Sanquhar : e to t e east of the Findhorn and a little south of Forres. di med a reservoir of from eight to twelve acres. y morning, August 22, the area was only partially sr, from eight to ten feet below the level of Within twelve hours an inch and a half of rain ' filled rapidly, and by 3 a.m. on Thursday down the overflow, which was only before 5 a.m. the immense breastwork gin top to bottom in one mass, about twenty to the overflow, and the waters rushed wildly ry iron bridge with a concrete pier, 30 feet ick, were carried away, an ash tree was ne waters spread rapidly over the low grounds gathered to a height of three or four feet. ey and oats were carried off, wooden outhouses stone walls, iron railings, gates and glasshouses » doors were driven in and a number of were submerged for some time to a depth of a > feet. Fortunately no lives were lost. ence to the inquiry as to the functions of the pro- sats of the caterpillar of the Puss Moth (p. 385), sd communications from several correspondents, with Mr. W. F. Kirby (p. 413) in regarding the mmeere® intended for driving away Ichneumon a thé Electrician refers to a curious effect produced re thunderstorms upon the glow lamps on the circuits of itta Electric Supply Co. It appears that immediately peua lightning flash the brightness of the glowing been observed to increase suddenly, gradually return- freque tly 3 a observed that the engineers of the company lave sought every possible explanation of the curious pheno- enon, but have been unable to find any defect in their uits—which are on the overhead wire system—that might an explanation. Indeed, the only conceivable explana- one which appears so extraordinary that many may find rable difficulty in accepting it. It is well known that acting as a coherer in a wireless telegraph apparatus, the usual sudden decrease in resistance when subjected ic radiation. It is suggested that the carbon filaments NO. 1610, VOL. 62] another as possible. | process, Mr. of a glowing lamp may undergo a similar change when exposed to the influence of a tropical thunderstorm in its immediate | vicinity. This sudden decrease in the resistance of the filament would, of course, produce a correspondingly rapid increase in its candle-power, after which the gradual self-decoherence of the carbon would account for the return of the lamp to its normal incandescence. WE have received an interesting account of the climate of Norway, by Mr. A. S. Steen, being a reprint from the Official Publication for the Paris Exhibition, 1900. As that country stretches through more than 13 degrees of latituce and extends nearly 300 miles beyond the Arctic Circle, the most varied shades of continental and maritime climates are represented within its confines. Mr. Steen has divided the country into south-east, west and north sections, this being in fact in ac- cordance with nature’s own division. In the inland districts of south-east Norway and Finmark we have examples of the most typical inland climate, viz. severe winter and relatively high temperature maxima in summer, and small rainfall ; while along the whole length of coast-line the winter is unusually mild, the summer cool, and rain falls in abundance. The influence of the Gulf Stream can be traced all over the country, and it is one of the chief agencies to which Norway owes its condition as a civilised inhabited State to its farthest bounds on the shores of the Polar Sea. The following are quoted as some of the highest sammer temperatures: in the south-east 86° and upwards, and 93° at Christiania (once only); on the south coast no higher temperature than 80°°5 has ever been recorded. In the west, temperatures of 88°'5, and once 93° at Vossevangen,, have been recorded. In the northern section temperatures of 85° to 88° have been recorded, but in the most southern of the Lofoten Isles (in the middle of the ocean) the thermometer has never risen above 68°. A PAPER, by Mr. A. E, Sunderland, on applications of electrochemistry in dye and print works, is published in the Society of Arts Journal (August 24). The requirements which should be fulfilled bya machine for electrical dyeing are con- sidered to be as follows :—(1) The poles must not be of metal, but of carbon or biscuit porcelain, which conduct by becoming saturated with the electrolyte. (2) They must be as near to one (3) The cloth must pass between the poles in the open width. (4) The poles may be perfectly smooth, and preferably cylindrical, revolving freely. These particulars are necessary, because in the ordinary passage of the electric current across any dye solution, the tendency of the dye is to concentrate itself around the negative pole, and not to circulate freely in the whcle dye vessel ; there is thus always a great danger of unevenness. In the finishing of goods the peculiar effect which is produced by calendering a. piece in two different directions, one impression upon another, is well known. This is technically termed water-marking or moire, and is due to the irregular reflection from the surface of the material, one part of the light being totally reflected, and the other part dispersed. The effect can be introduced in several ways, one of which depends upon electricity. This Sunderland remarks, resolves itself practically into the local application of electrolysis. A platinum plate of suitable size is connected with the positive pole of the source of current. On this conducting surface is placed some ab- sorbent material saturated with a solution of common salt. On this pad is placed the fabric to be water-marked, and the plate engraved with the water-mark connected with the nega- tive terminal is pressed down upon it. The salt solution is decomposed, and a facsimile of the water-mark is printed on the cloth. To produce opaque designs, the absorbent material is saturated with a solution of barium chloride, which is decomposed on passing the current. 458 NATURE [SEPTEMBER 6. 1909 In the Aété dei Lincet, ix. 2, Dr. A. Campetti describes ex- periments made with common salt and copper sulphate tending to prove that there exists a difference of potential between a solid salt and its unsaturated solution, this difference of potential being of the same order of magnitude and sign as the difference of potential between a more concentrated and a less concentrated solution of the same salt. THE question as to whether evaporation from the surface of an electrified liquid produces a loss of electricity is one of con- siderable interést in connection with theories of atmospheric electricity. An investigation of this point is given by: Signori A. Pochettino and A Sella in the Adéé ded Lincet, ix. 1. The method employed was to examine the rate at which an electrified plate lost its charge under the varying conditions when its surface was dry or was covered with a layer of water, and when it was exposed to a current of dry air or air saturated with watery vapour. The results tabulated show that the loss is more rapid in dry air than in saturated air, that with saturated air the presence or absence of the layer of water makes no. practical difference, but that with dry air the discharge is actually slightly less rapid when the. plate is wet than when it is dry. It is inferred that evaporation does not produce loss of charge, that the difference between dry air and saturated air is due to the fact that the dry air was ionised, while all trace of ionisation had been removed from the saturated air, and that the greater insula- tion obtained with dry airby wetting the plate was due totheionisa- tion being partially removed by the evaporation from the plate. IN a paper published:in the Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, Mr. Barrett-Hamilton suggests that the (pathological) changes of colour and form which occur in certain Salmonoids during the breeding season may afford a clue to the origin of secondary sexual characters in animals in general. ** Once,” writes the author, ‘‘ the existence of such a primitive state of things characterised by growth or discoloration of the whole or part of the. body is admitted, we have therein the starting-point whence natural selection by alteration, suppres- sion or accentuation of the details might easily produce many or all the nuptial changes of animals as we now see them, evolving in each a structure suitable to its own particular need, whether jn eye, as in the Eel, in snout, as in the Salmon;; or in hind-limb, as in Lepidosiren. Indian Museum Notes (vol. v. No. 1) contains an interesting paper, by Mr. E. E. Green, on Indian Scale-insects (Coccidz), showing the’ great increase which has recently taken place in our knowledge of their various groups. So late as 1886 only seven Indian representatives of the family were recorded, the well-known Wax-insect (Ceroplastes ceréferus) being one. Now thirty-seven species, distributed among fourteen genera, are known from Continental India, although this represents only a very small proportion of the real number. Not only are these insects interesting from their structure and their beauty of form and colour, but some are of commercial importance. The remainder of the number treats of various insect pests, notably those infesting tea and coffee plants, and those destructive to cereals and crops. THE distribution of the Ruff in Ireland forms the subject of an interesting paper, by Mr. C. L. Patten, in the Zr7sh Naturalist for August. THE July number of the Agricultural Gazette of New South Wales maintains the usual high and useful character of this journal, an article on the important part played by bacteria in soil being of especial interest to the scientific agriculturist. FROM the Indian Museum we have received ‘* Illustrations of the Shallow- Water Ophiuroidea collected by the /zvestigator,” by Dr. k. Koehler, published by the trustees. The specimens described are figured in eight plates, NO. 1610, VOL. 62] To the last issue of the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Mr. H. A. Pilsbry communicating four papers idealing respec- tively with the land snails of Japan, South ww Ae and Polynesia, and India. : Science Gossip for September contains an interesting article, by Mr. R. J. Hughes, on the colouring of shells, in which he demonstrates that the most common pigment among those of northern Europe is the sesquioxide of iron. ‘Another paper in the same number forms the continuation of ‘‘ Geological Notes in the Orange River Colony,” by Major Skinner, R.A.M.G. _ IN the July number of the American Naturalist, Prof. H. L. Osborn describes a remarkable Axolotl from Dakota, which appears different from any named form, and. may indicate a new type. In the course of his paper the author raises the question whether we yet know the adult of the true Mexican Axolotl, the specimens that have developed into Salamanders. being from the United States and perhaps specifically distinct. © WE have received three fascicules of the ** Results of the 4 a Bengal for 1899, Mr. F. Finn contributes a paper on Indian — Weaver Finches (Ploceidz), in the course of which he shows — how a supposed new species has been named ona | specimen of 4 a well-known bird in its summer plumage. Syl Ey MALACOLOGIS'’s will find much to interest them in the sheets _ of the Proceedings of the Philadelphia Academy last to. hand, Branner-Agassiz Expedition to Brazil,” in course of publication in the Proceedings of the Washington Academy. Two of these, written by ladies, are devoted to Crustacea, while the third, by Mr. C. H. Gilbert, deals with ‘the fishes. When ladies appear as authors of papers, it is much to be desired that they should prefix ‘* Mrs.” or ‘‘ Miss” to their names, as it is otherwise pees difficult to ascertain their proper titles. el MENTION in these columns has already been made of Mr. G. S. Miller’s work on Old World mammals, and we have now received a paper, communicated by that naturalist to the Proceedings of the Washington Academy of Sciences (vol. ii. pp. 203-246), in which he describes a very large number of new | species, mainly Rodents, collected by Dr. W. L. Abbott on islands in the North China Sea, Many of these are rats and mice. , THE publication of Prof, E. Morselli’s free course of lectures on man from an evolutionary point of view is still proceeding, and the fascicules when bound together will form an interesting volume on physical anthropology, or, as the author terms it, Antropologia générale. The last number to hand (No. 45) concludes the section on the brain, and commences an account of the progenitors of man. Saat erin f THERE is always something of interest in our well illustrated contemporary, Zhe Religuary and Illustrated Archaeologist. Thé July number contains some architectural notes from Monmouth- shire, by Mr. J. Russell Larkby, illustrated by numerous sketches, and a short paper, by Mr. R. E, Head, on lace bobbins ; these are oftei decorated in various ways, and different parts of the country furnish local types. THOsE who are interested in criminal anthropology. will find in a recent number of the Bulletin de la Société a’ Anthropologie de Paris(Tome x. 4° série, p. 453) a psycho-physiological, _ ¢ medico-legal, and anatomical study of an atrocious criminal named Vacher, by MM. J.-V. Laborde, Manouvrier, Papillaut and Gellé. It is strange that studies of this kind are never made in this country. It is quite time that physical anthropology and psychology were more directly recognised by persons sain in criminology. Str ARCHIBALD GEIKIE’s ‘* Outlines of Field ‘cupheas 1g (Macmillan) has been the counsellor and friend of many young — geologists and intelligent observers of the earth’s features. ag SEPTEMBER 6, 1900] rs NATURE 459 - edition—containing numerous alterations and additions, ile retaining the original form—has just been published, and hould be possessed by every lover of country rambles or her of earth-knowledge. BULKY volume, containing ‘‘ Agricultural Statistics of h India for the years 1894-95 to 1898-99,” has just been ributed by the Department of Revenue and Agriculture of > Government of India. The tables show (1) total average, ssification of areas, irrigation, fallow land, area under crops, and stock; (2) prices of produce; (3) incidence of the land ue on area and population ; (4) varieties of tenure held from Government ; (5) register of transfers of landed pro- erty ; and (6) yields of principal crops. Riri ‘THE additions to the Zoological Society’s Gardens during the st week include a Green Monkey (Cercopithecus callitrichus, 8) ym West Africa, presented by Mr. C. A. Gilbert ; two Bosch- boks (Zragelaphus sylvaticus) from South Africa, presented by A. MacCarthy Morrough; a Rufous-necked Wallaby ruficollis) from New South Wales, presented by Miss tr; a Germain’s Peacock Pheasant (Polyplectron ger- mi) from Cochin China, presented by Mr. Arthur Yates; a Common Boa (Bea constrictor) from South America, presented y Mr. G. R. Fairbanks ; two Red-bellied Squirrels (Sczurus variegatus) from South America, a Yellow-fronted Amazon hrysotis ochrocephala) from Guiana, ten Roofed Terrapins chuga tectum) from India, deposited ; a Wapiti Deer (Cervus BY r ——T > a | a i La | — —— | —— ~~! ” S 5 ~~ A ~ .~ ~! N 74 LA oo‘ “4 Pa! kee ee Cost ee a ee ce ffi ehh . SEPTEMBER 6, 1900] NATURE 461 In order to extend the as possible, a similar curve (Fig. 1, B,) was : on Airy’s statistics from 1841-1857 (7rans. ‘Soc., vol. cliii.)._ Se magnetic'curves are in perfect harmony with those of auror 2, and both sets bring out a comets and, for our » eminently important fact, namely, that although for the jst part they correspond closely’ with the eleven-years spot eriod, there nevertheless appear waves which at first sight seem ‘have nothing to do with the display of solar activity. Most eable in this respect are the maxima of 1852 and_ 1864, of € former especially seems almost to contradict the c of a connection between sun-spots and aurore. A xamination of the spot-curves, how- ils the fact that in these two ach more energetic’ character. as far back communication from Sir Norman, stating that this curve of ** unknown” lines goes excellently with my curve 1 of Fig. 1. the maxima and minima of the spectroscopic curves showing a perfect synchronism with those of the curve of latitude-variation. I take this opportunity of expressing my indebtedness to Sir Norman Lockyer for drawing my attention to this most signifi- cant and singular fact. The lag in the case of curve 1 has been allowed for by shifting this curve one and a half years in the backward direction. When it has thus been made to coincide with the comparison curves, their correspondence becomes most striking—a remark- able feature being ihe exactness with which certain secondary maxima in 1865, 1887 and 1898 are represented in each case. 1750 a 0 70 (nee there occurred, at exactly the peculiar disturbances or irre- | RY <4" / alarities in the exhibition of spots on the ee ~ fotepacle that, after all, the waves har ints in the magnetic may be supposed to arg | caused bysolar influence, although ley appé x for some reason or Other on a ea ted scale. This is decidedly cS the opinion of Prof. Fritz and of Mr. Ellis, SS ae -mention instances character, the latest having occurred = al wing the spot-maximum of Ghbessir ns! of this research may “divided into two parts. ’ first, the etic variations . and contrasted, in relation to ars sun-spots, with ed more or less rh “period of 2 p++ oe FE lation ; and in the it on nomena relative to r “Sf ot and aurora period. . —T - &+—-8 +—h> +8 J are :— > —— Oy 4 t regard to ‘the eleven-years peje} y == ane MitadGe Of Watitudecwaric a | 1: of latitude-variation. an ot ges in the values of the ed at Greenwich from {ig ———I Tt = ‘ay’s corrections to the “SS stars derived from ob- sO Seeeesae: sun during the years —~} ard to the ‘‘ great ” period — ndiers long period inequality > 4 he observed residuals of the obli- 1 1753-1896 as compared with ‘tabular values. . The Greenwich corrections to the ight-ascensions relative to a funda- er Ys yaa according to r yeas +f ’ data requisite for the formation of ve of semiamplitudes (Fig. 1, curve n from Dr. Chandler’s paper in No. 277, and from the publications of Nyrén (4.4. 3166), Mr. Wanach ; 3112) and Prof. Albrecht (** Berichte iber den Stand der Erforschung der Breitenvariation”). It has be borne in mind, as pointed out in my previous papers, the latitude phenomenon lags behind the comparison lagnetic curves by about 1°5 years. Such a lag appears ideed to be a characteristic ture common to most terres- tial phenomena which have hitherto been found to be in- fluenced by solar activity. In this connection I must refer to i¢ highly important and interesting discovery made by Sir in Lockyer some quency of the ‘‘unknown” lines widened in sun-spot a during a cycle of solar activity follows the spot-curve ctly the same interval, viz. 1°5 years. .I have received a NO. 1610, VOL. 62] aurore (Loomis numbers.) B erg fe ‘ roe? ts the f years ago, that the curve representing T, turning points of Dr. Le rains long period ine 781 Fig. I. (From “Ast. Nach") 3649. uality of latitude-variation ; A, great period of ates represent eleven-years’ means of Loomis’ annual aurora- he of great period of sun-spots (Wolf); 1, twelve-years’ means of residuals of obliquity (Greenwich observations) after elimination of purely secular change ; 2, twelve-years’ means of corrections to the sun’s elimination of purely secular change ; 3, combined curve of obliquity and sun's R.A., the dotted curve representing . A. relative to a system of fixed stars (Greenwich observations) after olf's great period of sun-spots on a somewhat different scale. Indeed, so accurately are the motions of the amplitude-curve shadowed in those of the magnetic variations, that to any un- prejudiced astronomer this fact in itself must indicate with sufficient force the existence of a vera causa. The periods of latitude-variation afford a new and almost as. certain proof of the existence of an intimate connection between ‘the polar motion and earth-magnetic phenomena. Dr. Chandler has already shown that a small amplitude corresponds to a great period and vice versd (A.J. 277, p. 98). How well this tifluence is borne out may be seen from the following analysis of the average values of y according to the lengths of the period :— - NATURE [SEPTEMBER 6, 1900 462 Period in days. ‘Observed 7. Computed ~. a“ “é Under 390 0°20 0°20 390-420 o'18 o'19 420-450 O'15 0°13 Over 450 o’10 oe This statement in itself constitutes a proof of my assertion, and renders it unnecessary for me to add anything further on this point. Any one who cares to plot down the values for the periods given by Dr. Chandler must arrive at the conclusion that the comparison of the curve so obtained, with the magnetic and auroral curves, gives indeed a convincing argument in favour of the earth-magnetic hypothesis. I have next to consider the changes in the values of the obliquity as observed at Greenwich due to the eleven-years period of solar activity. In my paper, 4.4. 3619, I have discussed fully the reduction of these values to a uniform and homogeneous system, as well as the elimination from them of the secular variation and the influence of the ‘‘ great” sun-spot and aurora.period. The resulting curve (Fig. 1, curve 2) exhibits the utmost conformity with those of the earth-magnetic and latitude phenomena. This fact is of the highest significance, inasmuch as it affords added testimony to the accuracy of the data on which my research is founded. The curves communicated show that at times, when the amplitude of latitude-variation reaches maximum values (1 years after minimum displays of magnetic dis- turbance), the Greenwich obliquity attains small values; while at times, when the amplitude is at a minimum (14 years after maximum displays of magnetic disturbance), the obliquity appears to be excessively great. This leads at once to the conclusion that whenever the amplitude is great, the minimum latitude for the Greenwich meridian must occur near the time of the winter solstice, and that when the amplitude is small just the reverse ought to take place. Now Dr. Chandler’s statistics in 4./. 277 afford ample means of testing this conclusion. In point of fact they show that at times of maximum amplitude the epochs of minimum latitude for the Greenwich meridian have always -occurred on some date between the beginning of November and ‘the end of February, while at times of amplitude-minima these -epochs, with the exception of the first in 1840, are comprised within the interval from May to August. The mean date in the ‘former case is January 10, and in the latter July 16; and the -mean deviation of a single epoch from these two dates is not wmore than about + 4o days. I consider that, in spite of the great uncertainty which wnaturally attaches to researches of so delicate a character, the evidence afforded by these results is to be taken as a proof that the residuals in the obliquity, far from being accidental, are really caused by latitude-variation. Thus, owing to the great extension of the series of Greenwich solar observations, these residuals form an excellent test of my assertion that the motion of the pole depends on ‘the intensity of the earth- magnetic forces. As regards the corrections to the right-ascensions of the - stars derived from Greenwich observations of the sun, I need ~only state that after subtracting the secular variation found by Mr. Thackeray (42M. June 1896), the resulting values give curve 3 of Fig. 1, which, in spite of somewhat large accidental . discrepancies, is in general agreement with all the others, especially with that of the obliquity. Having thus shown that my contention with regard to a con- nection between the eleven-years period of auroral displays and magnetic disturbances and the motion of the earth’s pole of rotation appears to be borne out by all the facts which con- stitute the sum of our present knowledge of the peculiar pheno- mena relating to latitude-variation, I next consider the ‘‘ great ” period of aurors, which, as already stated, is synchronous with .the great period of solar activity. For this purpose I exhibit in Fig. 2 curves showing the great -aurora-period according to Loomis’ annual numbers, and the -great spot-period in Wolf's relative numbers. The interval comprised by this great period is according to Wolf equal to six small cycles, z.e. sixty-six years. Now this vis exactly the period of Dr. Chandler’s long inequality of latitude- ‘variation. The smallest amplitudes and greatest periods of Wlatitude-variation, according to Chandler’s formula, fell in 1782 and 1848, almost exactly at the times of greatest auroral displays ; whereas the greatest amplitudes and smallest periods NO. 1610, VOL. 62] occurred in 1815 and 1881, z.e. just at the times when the display of auroree reached a minimum. But in addition to this there are other facts which point to an influence on the earth’s motion exercised by some force varyin: with the great period of solar activity. In my previous papers I have discussed at some length the evidence afforded ie the. curves representing the observed residuals of the obliquity, and — Prof. Newcomb’s corrections to the right-ascension of the sun — relative to a fundamental system of fixed stars. I therefore — need not here dwell upon their importance as strongly support-— ing my hypothesis. : Fe A reference to curves 1, 2 and 3 of Fig. 2 will show how exquisitely parallel are their courses, and how complete is their — agreement, not only with the changes in the displays of aurorze and solar activity, but also with Dr. Chandler's long period inequality. It seems utterly inconceivable that a correspondence so consistent can be attributed merely to accident. 05 | It remains to state briefly one or two very important and — interesting deductions made from the results of the last ten years’ researches into the phenomena of latitude-variation. Md The frequency of auroree and magnetic disturbances, as is well _ known, shows, in addition to the variations associated with — changes of solar activity, other fluctuations depending on the — season of the year—a fact which has been closely investigated _ and corroborated by Mr. Ellis. It appears that the magnetic — disturbances recorded at Greenwich reveal decided maxima at — the equinoxes and minima at the solstices, thus betraying, like the auroree, a half-yearly period. Set Now the foregoing results point to the conclusion that the distance of the pole of instantaneous rotation from the pole of | figure depends on the display of earth-magnetic forces. Hence in the course of a year this distance must become twice com- _ paratively short and twice comparatively long; 2z.¢. instead of — being circular, the path described by the pole of rotation round the pole of figure must be elliptical—the mean pole being situated at the centre of the ellipse. If the period of polar motion were exactly one year, the position of the axes of this ellipse referred to a fixed meridian would remain unaltered. But from Dr. Chandler’s investigations we know the period of — latitude-variation to be on the average 428 days. Hence the effect of seasonal change in the earth-magnetic forces must- consist in continuously rotating the axes of the polar ellipse in. a direction opposite to that of the motion of the pole. These conclusions are well corroborated by the observed facts, and are clearly revealed in the plate appended to Prof. Albrecht’s latest ‘* Bericht.” The comparatively great eccentricity of the ellipses admits of a tolerably accurate determination of the angles — between their major axes and the Greenwich meridian. Ifthe | magnitudes of these. angles be computed (Table vi. of my — paper, A.V. 3649), it will be found that they exhibit quiteun- mistakably the progressive change of position of the ellipse with regard to the meridian, the average angular distance between __ two successive positions of the major axes being about 33°. i But a closer examination of these figures shows that they indi- " ji cate fluctuations in this average amount which stand in a remarkable connection with the varying display of magnetic disturbances. The motion of the ellipse appears to have been largely pro- gressive in 1892, 1894 and 1898 ; while it has been very slight, and at times even retrograde, in 1890, 1893 and 1896. In the first-mentioned years the ellipses are also more irregular and distorted than in the others, indicating a more vehement and spontaneous character of the forces acting on the motion of the pole. Now, according to Mr. Ellis, these years were the only _ ones in which magnetic disturbances of the character ‘‘ great”’ occurred at Greenwich, while in the last-named years his statistics show that there prevailed a decided magnetic. calm. While leaving the final confirmation of this interesting fact to future observations, it does not seem too much to say that in- the face of existing evidence it is difficult to retain the idea that a coincidence so peculiar can possibly be ascribed to mere _ accident. (ek ‘ The results of my researches may be thus shortly sum- marised :— og i. The changes in the motion of the pole of rotation round — the pole of figure are in an intimate connection with the varia- tions of the earth-magnetic forces. : i ia aif ii. Inasmuch as the latter phenomena are ina close relation — with the state of solar activity, the motion of the pole is also — _ SEPTEMBER 6, 1900 | 2 ctly pependent on the dynamical changes taking place at 's surface. ‘ii. The distance between the instantaneous and mean poles creases with increasing intensity of earth-magnetic disturb- . The length of the period of latitude-variation increases be "4 . . . » ‘ 1 in ng intensity of earth-magnetic disturbance. y. In strict analogy with the phenomena of aurorz and of agnetic disturbance, the influence of the eleven-years period sun-spots, as well as of the ‘‘great ” period, is clearly exhibited | the phenomenon of latitude-variation ; and the same devia- ons from the solar curve as are manifested by the aurorz are so evident in the motion of the pole. The half-yearly period of the earth-magnetic phenomena es the motion of the pole of rotation in such a way that » instead of being circular, assumes the form of an having the mean pole at its centre. The half-yearly period also explains the conspicuous fact rotation of the axes of the ellipse in a direction opposite to the motion of the pole. J. Hav. UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL Bee ANTELLIGENCE. ‘or. J. G. MACGREGOR, of Dalhousie University, Halifax, Scotia, has been appointed professor of. physics in rsity College, Liverpool, in succession to Prof. Lodge. Tue Calendar of the Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical lege, for the session 1900-1901, has been received. - Among contents of the volume we are glad to notice schemes of courses of study; extending over three years, for students who intend to take up some branch of applied science or engineering ee ron q3 ae encouraged to follow one of the regular courses in the several departments of study. This is the only way to derive any real advantage from a Technical College, desultory attendance at classes without any definite object being of little hg ee meeting of the University Court of St. Andrews, aeld on Saturday last, the proposal of the Marquis of Bute, who ed a sum of 20,000/, to be held as a fund for endowing a of anatomy in the University, was considered. After beration, the Court resolved cordially to accept the proposed on the conditions as stipulated by his lordship, and to re - the Lord Rector to inform Lord Bute of the Court’s de _ The Court further resolved to proceed at once with h oe gy Sek gt pclae of anatomy at St. Andrews, to be wed by Lord Bute’s gift, the first presentation to the chair z Dr. Musgrove, the present lecturer in anatomy,- such entation ’ made as soon as the ordinance creating the is approved by her Majesty in Council. HE mission of science in education was recently considered detail by Prof. J. M. Coulter in an address delivered at sity of Michigan, and published in Scéence. The ms set forth in the paper are formulated as follows :—The duction of science among the subjects used in education C ised the methods of teaching, and all subjects ‘felt the impulse of a new life; it has developed the ntific spirit, which prompts to investigation, which demands nat belief shall rest upon a foundation of adequate demonstra- tion, which recognises that the sphere of influence surrounding may be > rsa traversed and that everything beyond is as rtain as if there were no facts ; it has introduced a training liar to itself, in that it teaches the attitude of self-elimina- on, an attitude necessary in order to reach ultimate truth, and hus supplements and steadies the other half of life, which is to - To obtain these results, there must be teachers can teach, whose background and source of supply is the westigator. Moreover, the results are immensely desirable, inasmuch as they do not interfere with anything that is fine and lifting in the old education, but simply mean that the possi- dilities of high attainment and high usefulness are open to a far ~al num r. NO. 1610, VOL. 62] < -C) . NATURE Students are permitted to attend single classes, | 463 Messrs. S. Z. DE FERRANTI, the electrical engineers at Hollinwood, near Oldham, have just adopted an educational scheme for their apprentices.. Success at evening classes, com- bined with steady work, are to be the chief recommendations for promotion from one department toanother. And the apprentice who obtains the highest position in the South Kensington Ex- aminations in subjects of importance to the theoretical training of an engineer will be awarded a scholarship tenable in the day engineering department of the Manchester Municipal Technical School, His fees will be paid by Messrs. Ferranti, and also the wages he would receive if working in their shops. Mr. F, Brocklehurst takes this generous scheme as the text of a pam- phlet upon ‘‘ Technical Education,” issued by the Technical Instruction Committee of Manchester, and he hangs upon it some instructive remarks as to the responsibilities of manufacturers and the nation at large, if England is to maintain her position in the industrial world. Referring to education in Switzerland, he points out that at Winterthur, a small engineering town near Zurich, the technical school is attended by 400 day students who have voluntarily left their employment (sacrificing their wages in so doing) for one or two sessions in ordey to devote themselves to technical study. The town, the canton and the State com- bine to assist the realisation of their ambitions by bearing the burden of cost, and in keeping the fees of the technical school low. In the same way the great Polytechnic of Zurich is crowded in its day department with hundreds of young men pre- paring themselves for the engineering, electrical and chemical in- dustries. Germany provides many similar examples. In the Technical High School of Darmstadt there are to be found 1100 day students, all of them over eighteen years of age; many of them graduates of universities, and the remainder having received a splendid high-class education in secondary schools. These are engaged in the study of electrical, chemical or mechanical science directly bearing upon industrial pursuits, This is only one of many technical high schools in Germany, the culmina- tion of which is seen in the Charlottenberg Technical High School, near Berlin—the finest institution of its kind in the world—with its more than 2000 day students. These young men are being prepared for the highest positions, as technical chemists, mechanical, naval, civil and railway engineers, ship- builders and architects. There are now in the German Tech- nical High Schools no fewer than 11,000 day students. In connection with the figures given it must be noted that (1) they are exclusive of science students taking university courses ; (2) the pupils are without exception youths of over eighteen years of age; and (3) each technical high school insists upon an entrance examination of an exacting character. The great advance of the United States in engineering is, as Mr. Brocklehurst remarks in his pamphlet referred to above, largely due to the fact that during the last forty years very im- portant engineering schools have been founded. The chief of these is the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at Boston. This is attended by 1171 day students, whose average age at entrance is eighteen years and nine months, and who are either graduates from other colleges or have attended the public high schools for at least four years. The Worcester Engineering Polytechnic has 823 day students. Nearly 1000 are in the Lehigh Engineering College. The Stevens Institute of Tech- nology, New Jersey, has 214; and the Case School of Applied Science in Cleveland, Ohio, 218, Five hundred and ninety- seven day students attend the classes of the Sheffield Scientific School in Connecticut, while the Sibley College of Engineering —part of Cornell University, New York—has 492 day students. There are 242 day students in the Engineering Department of the University of Michigan. A recent report shows that in the Engineering Colleges of the United States the number of day . students enrolled is 9659, and that their growth since 1878 is. 516 percent.! Fifty-one per cent. of these students have had a three-year high school course, which would bring them to. seventeen years of age. The number of engineering students . graduated in 1899 was 1413, and the number of institutions pro- viding an education in this branch of technical instruction (engineering) is 89. This is exclusive of evening work altogether. It is also exclusive of what America is doing in the fields of chemistry and textiles. Little wonder is it that this wealth of educational opportunity is producing its crop of skilled craftsmen trained to compete on more than equal terms with the Briton. The Manchester Technical Institution Committee is doing a service to the nation by placing these facts prominently before the manufacturers of the district. 464 MATURE SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. PARIS, Academy of Sciences, August 27.—M. Faye in the chair. —On Egyptian gold, by M. Berthelot. Analyses of specimens of gold of different epochs show that at the time of the sixth and twelfth Egyptian dynasties the art of separating the silver from native gold was not known. Some gold leaf of the Persian epoch was pure, the silver having been separated. As, however, there is a period of about twelve centuries between the dates of the last two specimens analysed, specimens of inter- mediate dates must be examined if the date of this, metallurgical discovery is ‘to- ‘be’ fixed.—Observations of the comet 1900 4 (Borelly-Brooks) made with the large equatorial of the Observa- tory of Bordeaux, by MM. G. Rayet and A. Férand. The nucleus of the comet on July 31 was of about the oth or Toth magnitude, the head having a diameter of 3’ to 4’ of arc.—The apparent sémi-diameter. of the sun and its posi- tion relative to the moon, deduced from the eclipse of May 28, by MM. Ch. André and Ph. Lagrula. The final result for the apparent semi-diameter of the sun‘is given as 15’ 59°24 + 0”*30.—On an anomaly of the dichotomous phase of the planet Venus, by M. E. Antoniadi. The edge of the planet is always more brilliant than the central regions ; thence irradiation ought to produce the prolongations actually. observed. The phenomenon would thus appear to be of purely physio- logical origin.—Dielectric cohesion and explosive fields, by M. E. Bouty. The term explosive field is applied to the mini- mum strength of field between two nearly plane electrodes required to produce sparking. The curves relating to critical fields, as described in a preceding note, show many analogies with those ‘of explosive fields. Thus both the critical and explosive fields are linear’ functions of the pressure of the gas, and the constants for the gases hydrogen, air and carbonic acid are arranged in the same order of magnitude.—On the comp»sition of the combinations obtained with fuchsine and the sulphonated azo-colouring matters, by M. Seyewetz.— —On lighting by the cold physiological light called living light, by M. Raphael Dubois. By the growth of certain micro- organisms in suitable media, details of which are given, a room may be illuminated with an intensity about equal, to moonlight. —Action of the total pressure upon the assimilation by chloro- phyll, by M. Jean Friedel. Although the influence of the partial pressure of the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere upon chlorophyll assimilation has been well investigated, the effect of ‘changing the total pressure of the air has not yet been examined. It was found that the lowering of ‘the total pressure, even to 4 atmosphere, does not modify the nature of the chlorophyll assimilation, but that its intensity diminishes in a regular manner ‘with the pressure. Four species of plants ‘were used, and the numbers obtained for the variations were of the same order in all of them.—On the ancient extent of the glaciers in the region discovered by the Belgian Antarctic Expedition, by M. Henryk Arctowski. CaPE Town, South African Philosophical Society, August 1.—L. Péringuey, President, in the: chair.—The secretary read a second report on the mud island which appeared off Pelican Point. at the beginning of June, from Mr, Cleverly, R.M., Walfish: Bay, and showed the photographs taken by Mr. Waldron, Public Works Department. Mr; Cleverly reported that the island no longer existed on June 7, it having then entirely ‘subsided, as, on steaming over the site, soundings of six and seven fathoms were obtained. The sea was much discoloured, and a distinct odour of sulphur was still to be distinguished. Small quantities of dead fish were found on Pelican Point, but this is a not unusual occurrence. About the time of the island’s appearance heavy rollers set in along the coast; and though these did not affect Walfish Bay, thirty yards of the new breakwater at Swakop .Mouth were totally destroyed, a derrick carried away, and two men drowned. Though these rollers are usually experienced on this coast in the winter months, Mr. Cleverly understands that the engineer in charge at Swakop Mouth had set up a theory that the damage to his works resulted from an earthquake wave, and that he pointed to the appearance of the mud island at Walfish Bay in support of his theory, but in Mr. Cleverly’s opinion the cause of the upheaval must have been extremely local as no disturbance whatsoever was felt at the settlement or in the confined waters of Walfish Bay. Mr. Waldron, on the invitation of the president, gave an account of NO. 1610, VOL. 62] _ [SEPTEMBER 6, 1900 his visits to the island. It was visited on Tune 1, 2and 4. At the next visit, on June 7, there was no island. On June I 0 member of the party landed and noticed a small basin-shap hollow containing water and emitting gas bubbles. The odour was distinctly that of sulphuretted hydrogen. Dr. Corsage ain le agreed with Dr. Marloth as to there being no need for voleai activity to explain the phenomenon ; nor was there any evidence of such. He compared the appearance of the island at Walfish — Bay with the ‘“‘mud lumps” known to arise in the Gulf of — Mexico, and quoted Sir Charles Lyell’s account of these. 1 Walfish Bay island was evidently a quite similar phenomeno As to the gas, the Gulf of Mexico ‘‘mud lumps” eee off marsh-gas, and the sulphuretted hydrogen peechiieediial emitted at Walfish Bay, was probably due to the decomposi of animal as against plant material. The fine: mud from Walfish Bay, under the microscope, was found to contain diatoms, fish scales, bones, and other remnants of — 5 matter.—Notes on stone implements of palzolithic a found at Stellenbosch and the vicinity, by L. Péringuey nat ; GP Bs Corstophine. The discovery of stone implements of a particularly ancient type at Bosman’s Crossing, Paarl and — Malmesbury, was described. From the rude character of the - chipped stones, Mr. Péringuey was disposed to regard them as — being equal in age to the palzolithic implements of Europe, but. Dr. Corstophine had shown him the difficulty of accepting this theory owing to the geological deposits in or on which the stones are found. So far no implements have been found in any deposit that can be regarded as of great antiquity. In the Stellenbosch district the implements are found imbedded either in the rain-wash of weathered granite or in the laterite, or simply on the surface, so that no geological evidence has yet been discovered as to the presumable antiquity of the implements. One feature of this occurrence, which Dr, Corstophine pointed out, is that- as yet no implements have been found on the recent alluvial terraces of the Eerste River, but only on the hill slopes round about. The implements are | formed from water-worn boulders of Table Mountain Sandstone, | sr often retain a considerable pore i psi ors surface. it CONTENTS. ot PAGE A New Departure in the Teaching of revicey we. 433) Colour Photography. By C. J. Our Book Shelf :— ‘ Schoeler : aS Kritische Studien iiber den Monismus.”—H. B. Denny : "Dianond Drilling for Gold” and” othe Minerals.” —B. +p oer taki * 435 . **Symons’s British ‘Rainfall 1899” ‘a be es Letters to the Editor:— 4 Railways and Moving Platforms. —Lieut. Colonel a W. Sedgwick. . . ‘ . 436 The Migration of Swifts. -_ William ‘Andrews . bes 4.300 The Reform of Mathematical Teaching. Henry ete ee ees 434) ‘Woollen . , 436 ' The ’ Trembling of. the Aspen ‘Leal. “Henry i: (s Colbourn. . ? 436 Electricity direct from Coal.—E. F. ‘Bamber se tye 430 o Artificial Deformations of Heads, and some Customs — connected with Polyandry, ~Kumagusu Minakata a7 | Huxley and his Work.—F, W. Henkel . . The Causes of Fracture of Steel Rails. (Iliustrated.) rea The Bradford Meeting of the British Association. | By Ramsden Bacchus _ 439 : Inaugural Address by Prof, Sir William | Turner, F.R.S., President of the Association Section ‘A.—Mathematics and Physics. — Opening Address by Dr. Joseph Larmor, F.R. = Presi- dent of the Section . . aan "She Clee pee eee ae ee Notes ’ Our Astronomical Column:—_ Ephemeris for Observations of Eros . . + +++. + Comet Swift (18941IV) .. The New Spectrographs for the “Potsdam. Great 08.9 . o,, CO) eae ay oe OUMC ON air ai 6 Mista » tee Ae Structure and Constitution of Two "New Meteorites - 459° Latitude-Variation, Earth-Magnetism and Solar ‘ee Activity (With Diagrams. ) By Dr. J. Halm . 460 University and EducationalIntelligenmce ..... 4 Societies and Academies . 2°.) 2 Soe ea NATURE 465 ~ THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, I900. vs BACTERIOLOGY. Structure and Functions of Bacteria. By Alfred ischer, Professor of Botany at the University of Leipzig. Translated into English by A. Coppen Jones. p. viii + 198. (London: Clarendon Press, 1900.) - first two chapters are concerned with the mor- _+ phology of bacteria, and the subject is most ably deal It with, as might be expected from so talented a an ist as Prof. Fischer. Nevertheless, these are not chapters which strike one as of exceptional interest mportance, because they treat of matters discussed every text-book of bacteriology, and afford but little sw information. Chapters iii. and iv., under the title of “ Taxonomy,” with the question of species and variability among a; the involution and attenuation of microbes ; systematic position of bacteria and their classification. . Fischer points out that the heated controversy on ‘3 species question” rests on our different conception and pleomorphism among bacteria. Pleo- phism in its true sense does not exist among bacteria rding to Fischer, and mutability of function (other of a temporary character) is also denied by him. _ Thus he asserts positively that “It has not been hitherto possible | to entirely suppress a single biological character _ many species.” _ Weare inclined to take a less dogmatic _ position as regards the suppression of a biological ‘ __ character, while fully agreeing with the author that the _ attainment in our cultures of acguizred characters that are permanent and hereditary in bacteria is not to be _ The classification of bacteria. proposed by er has much to commend it, but it is natural to nk from so sweeping a change in our existing nomen- clature as would be necessary if his views | were 4 ‘ischer, would fall wtider the genus Plectridium, the sub- eC menlly Plectridize, the family Bacillacee, and the order ler the same order, but the genus would be Bactridium, - sub-family Bacillez, and the family Bacillacez. Fischer ‘suggests that names of the genera might be formed conveniently such a way that the root of the word indicated the pe of the cell, and the termination the arrangement of the cilia. The root-words might be dak¢ron (rod), hloster (spindle), and fP/lectron (drum-stick), and the rminations -imizm for monotrichous, -//um for lopto- Be ca, and -édium for peritrichous types.” Chapter v. deals with the distribution of bacteria ; their modes: of life, and spontaneous generation. Using the _ modes of nutrition as a basis for classification, Fischer vides bacteria into the following groups :— I. Prototrophic Bacteria. Nitrifying bacteria, bacteria of root- nodules, sulphur iron bacteria, occur only in the open in nature— ever parasitic, always monotrophic. Il. Metatrophic Bacteria. 3 Zymogenic, saprogenic and _ saphrophile bacteria occur in the open and. upon the external and internal _ Surfaces of the body—sometimes parasitic (facultative _ parasites), monotrophic or polytrophic. NO. 1611, VOL. 62] III. Paratrophic Bacteria. Occur only in the tissues and vessels of living organisms—true (obligatory) parasites. The author remarks that it is worthy of note that not only the bacteria but all other organisms can be arranged in these three biological divisions, Chapters vi. to ix. deal with the physiology of nutrition, general principles of culture, respiration of bacteria, influence of physical agents, and the action of chemicals. It is impossible in the limits of this review to do justice to these chapters, which although treating of matters described in every text-book of bacteriology, yet succeed in presenting the subject to the reader in a new and attractive light. Chapters x. and xi. treat of the circulation of nitrogen in nature. It may be said without fear of contradiction that the author has dealt with this complex problem in a masterly manner. No other writer that we are aware of (unless, perhaps, Lafar) has placed the subject before the reader in so comprehensive and intelligible a form. To indicate the scope of these chapters we cannot forbear quoting from the introductory remarks as follows :— “Apart from the activity of organisms like the pig- ment and phosphorescent bacteria, and other remarkable metabolism of the sulphur—and iron—bacteria, the work of bacteria in nature embraces three great processes : (1) The circulation of nitrogen: effected by putre- faction, the formation of nitrates, and the assimilation of atmospheric nitrogen. (2) The circulation of carbon by the fermentation of carbohydrates’ and other non-nitrogenous products of animals and plants. (3) The causation of disease in other organisms, particularly in man and the higher animals. There are in nature five sources of nitrogen open to plants and animals : (1) The atmosphere (79 per cent. by volume of free nitrogen). (2) The nitrates of the soil and the traces of nitrous acid formed in the air during thunderstorms. (3) Ammonia, which occurs in minute quantities in the air, and is set free abundantly by the putrefaction and decay of dead organisms. (4) Animal excreta, which contains nitrogen compounds of many kinds, even down to ammonia ; and (5) The tissue of plants and animals.” Chapters xii. to xiv. deal with the circulation of carbon dioxide in nature, and they are full of interest to the biologist, and will doubtless appeal very strongly to students of agricultural chemistry. Chapters xv. to xvii. treat of bacteria in relation to disease. In no captious spirit we venture to offer the criticism that here the author treads on less familiar ground, and although the subject is discussed in a scholarly and instructive manner, there is some evidence that a pure botanist is apt to fall into error when invading the domain of the pathologist. We do not agree with the author when he says that 2. co/7 is almost indistin- guishable from the parasite of typhoid fever. It is easily distinguished—the difficulty lies in differentiating between certain phase-forms or allies of B. cold and the typhoid germ. Again, Prof. Fischer would seem to be in error when he says that the dimensions of the two are about the same, that both are actively motile and -peritrichously ciliated, and that the cilia are too delicate for their number to be of determinative value. As a x 466 NATURE [| SEPTEMBER 13, 1900 matter of fact, B. co/¢ is a short rod, hardly longer than broad, frequently showing only very feeble motility, and usually having only 1 to 3 flagella, which stain with difficulty ; whereas the typhoid bacillus occurs as long, thin, slender rods and filaments, which (the rods) are actively motile and move about in a fashion quite different from the colon bacillus. Moreover, the flagella average ten in number, and stain readily. The state- ment that &. co/z is frequently present in dirty water must be accepted with reserve, unless it be assumed that the word “dirty” is meant by the author to convey the idea of fouling with matter of an excremental sort. Again, the author, speaking of the staphylococci (s.p. aureus, citreus and albus), says that in nature these germs are found everywhere. We venture to dispute the truth of this remark, which is stated as if it werea fact ; yet in our judgment it is merely a supposition, and an erroneous one. These few criticisms are made in no carping spirit ; indeed, the book as a whole strikes us as being one of the best that has been written on the subject, and in many respects it is quite unique. The chapters dealing ‘with the circulation of nitrogen and carbon in nature are -altogether admirable. We can find no words sufficiently strong to recommend this book to the perusal of all students of bacteriology, and particularly to those ‘interested in biology from the technical point of view. - Unstinted praise must be given to the translator ; in -offering to English readers a translation of Prof. Alfred Fischer's “ Vorlesungen iiber Bakterien” he has placed us under a deep debt of gratitude. A.C. HOUSTON. OUR BOOK SHELF.. A Walk Through the Zoological Gardens. Afflalo, F.R.G.S., ¥.Z.S. Pp. 232: and Co., 1900.) IT is not by any means abundantly clear that a guide to --the Zoological Society’s Gardens is needed, inasmuch as there already exists the well-known and accurate guide to the Society’s collection by Mr. Sclater. Although it is true that the author does not call his book a “ guide” in “the title, he nevertheless observes in the preface that it is ‘his object “to conduct the reader from house to house -and from paddock to paddock, pointing out the chief features of interest” on the way. We must, therefore, consider the book as intended to be a guide. As such it -does not appear to us to be at all informing ; it would have been well, too, to avoid positive error. The author -calls a sea-lion a seal, which—seeing that true seals are often exhibited—is confusing. The African Mudfish, Protopterus, often on view in the Reptile house, is dubbed Lepidosiren, which, we need scarcely explain, is a. South American Dipnoan. There are other errors of fact, and -certain statements which are so loose and confused that they are practically erroneous. It is naturally impossible in a small book like the present to give an exhaustive By F. G. (London : Sands account of all the animals to be seen in the course of a’ year or two in the Gardens. But the author leaves out “sO many important beasts that he fails to convey a real notion of the extent and variety of the collection. By cutting out the tale of how he rescued a blue pencil from a cormorant, which afterwards swallowed a lady’s parasol, and by forbearing to mention that porcupines “pare their teeth on elephants’ tusks” (!), and generally by -avoiding gossip of a totally uninteresting and equally un- instructive kind, Mr. Aflalo might have grappled more successfully with the immense amount of material at his -disposal. ; NO. 1611, VOL. 62] - LETTER TO THE EDITOR. [The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions ex- Neither can he undertake rejected NATURE. — pressed by his correspondents. to return, or to correspond with the writers of, manuscripts intended for this or any other part fh No notice zs taken of anonymous communications.) The Reform of Mathematical Teaching. - To your issue of August 2 Prof. Perry contributes an indict- — ment of the present system of mathematical teaching in this country. As he invites criticism, one need not apologise either for defending existing methods or for criticising his suggested improvements. His main attack seems to be directed against mathematics as an educational subject, and in particular the teaching of Euclid falls under his ban. The elements of abstract reasoning are, he says, quite unnecessary to a boy’s mental de- - velopment. Why does he not add that common-sense is of no value also ? Do we always first learn by actual trial, as is stated in his article? Do we throw ourselves into deep water and learn to swim forthwith? Do we set about jumping, cycling, billiards or cards without any previous explanation? Surely, as a rule, in these matters we are taught, not only what to do at the start, but also, if we can grasp them, the guiding principles. In a game of whist, who does not dread the unreasoning partner who, has learnt the rule ‘‘ Third player plays highest,” and blindly acts upon it ?” ‘ Euclid, though it might advantageously be shortened by the assumption of a few more axioms and postulates, is not, I venture to say, at alla ‘‘soul-destroying, weary, worrying study for the schoolboy.” Of course it may be made so, but to every boy, with care, it may become interesting, and, in the experience of many teachers, it proves a more engrossing subject to their classes than either arithmetic or algebra. Prof. Perry very properly points out some of the weak spots in present-day arithmetic. He instances “our abominable system of weights and measures.” One may suggest that that system is hardly the fault of our system of mathematics ; it is entirely its misfortune, Will he not, instead of girding at the unfortunate teachers of mathematics, agitate for a conference of — delegates from all bodies interested in this most important question ? ; Later on in his article it is stated that practice, interest, dis- count, tare and tret, alligation, position, &c., are at this day taught exactly as during the last century. This statement is absurd. It is true that discount, percentages, stocks, areas, &c., are all dependent on the rule of proportion; but for purposes of explanation and of interest it is certainly as well not to lump these together in one heterogeneous muddle under the head of ‘* Proportion.” If such a method were in vogue, or if the whole of arithmetic were, by means of formule, reduced to multiplication and division, one would certainly see ‘‘ the film of dulness covering a boy’s face as he entered the class-room.”? As regards the syllabus quoted by Prof. Perry, it is easy to agree with him thus far—that it is admirably adapted for a technical training. In practical mathematics, where mental training is of minor importance, exigencies of time will compel the teacher to omit explanations, or only to give them roughly, for his chief object is to enable his pupils to apply mathematical results, as distinct from reasoning, to problems in engineering, science, or kindred subjects. On the other hand, the average boy’s mathematical education up to the age of fifteen or sixteen is an absolutely different matter ; to put it crudely—the teacher’s main effort is to enable his pupil to ask and to answer reasonably the question ee Why ? Bhd . At present there is really no orthodox system, but, in my | opinion, the methods enunciated in the principal text-books of the day do, with slight exceptions, tend to develop a boy’s mental powers. When the boy has decided on his profession, then by all means continue his education on the lines suggested by Prof. Perry. Finally (if one may misquote his opening words), “it is very. « important to try to get a view of our system of teaching mathe- matics, which is not too much tinted with pleasant (or possibly unpleasant ) memories of science and engineering.” W. F. BEARD. ~ i a a i NATURE 467 of our truly great men has passed away. Born | 1814, his life extended over the greater part century full of great men and great deeds; yet this goodly company he will surely be placed front rank if we have regard to his personal and to the far-reaching and beneficial character ss achievements. An only son, he was left at the eight without a father, and owed much of his “up to the care of his mother, to whom he was y attached. Educated at Eton and Oxford, he 1834, at the age of twenty, on the manage- nt of the paternal estate at Rothamsted, Herts. How ny youths placed thus early in the possession of a witiful home, and a sufficient income, would have ‘into habits of easy enjoyment, and left nothing them worth recording ? But these circumstances, of danger to the average lad, were exactly suited ba pment of the work which the youthful was to accomplish. His active mind obtained at se perfect freedom of action. His love of work and h sense of duty led him to devote himself to the nagement of the home farm, and under his keen servation its fields became to him pages of nature, | held in Belfast. The meeting next year will Gl ww, with Prof. A. W. Riicker as president, commence on Wednesday, September 11, 1901. idents for the meeting will be: The Earl of . Blythswood, Lord Kelvin, the Lord slasgow, the Principal of the University of Mor n Stirling-Maxwell, M.P., Sir Andrew Archibald Geikie, Sir W. T. Thiselton- -Dyer, 2s Parker Smith, M.P., Mr. John Inglis, and Andrew Stewart. ‘Alluding ‘to the arrangements for go meeting, the Lord Provost of Glasgow said Vv had been placed at the disposal of the , and all the Sections will probably be accom- under one roof. There will also be an exhibi- zow next year, and the 450th anniversary of the y will be celebrated. Schafer has retired from his ‘secretaries, and Dr. D. osition as one of és Scott has been following | is a synopsis of the grants of money oriated to scientific purposes by the General Naikemattel aod Physics. L h, Lord—Electrical Standards... Ep i ae RJ. W. ccart te eae Observations ... 75 . Fil. A. oer ne rice on board Ship ec aay 10 aaa ta) ean its NO. 1611, VOL. 62] d meeting of the General Committee it Chemistry. Hartley, Prof. W. N.—Relation between Absorption Spectra and Constitution of al a Riete * (balance, £6 8s. gd. in hand) : ei os *Roscoe, Sir H: E.—Wave-length “Tables. ; *Miers, Prof. H. A. er Sulphonic Derivatives of Benzene a x ai sce tis Geology. *Hull, Prof. E.—Erratic Blocks ( £6 i inhand) .. *Geikie, Prof. J.—Photographs of Geological Interest (balance, £10in hand) ... *Lloyd- feo Prof. C.—Ossiferous Caves at Uphill (renewed) .. *Watts, Prof. W.-W. — Underground Water of North- West Yorkshire .. bie *Scharff, Dr. —Exploration of Irish Caves (renewed) Aa *Marr, Mr. J. E.—Life-zones in British Carboniferous wn 35 50 15 Rocks Zoology. *Herdman, Prof. W. A.—Table at the Zoological Station, Naples. *Bourne, Mr. G. C.—Table at the Biological Laboratory, Plymouth ... *Woodward,. Dr. H.—-Index Generum. “et Specierum Animalium.. te *Newton, Prof. A. —Migration of Birds ... Poulton, Prof. E. B.—Life-history of the Marble Gall- fly Geography. Keltie, Dr. J. Be bell Surface Waves Mill, Dr. H. R er of Land-level in the Phlegreean Fields ; Economic Sctence and Statistics. *Giffen, Sir R.—State Monopolies in other she (413 13s. 6d. in hand) . Brabrook, E. W. —Legislation regulating Women’ s Labour Mechanical Science. *Preece, Mr. W. H.—Small Screw Gauge (balance in hand) and.. ie Binnie, Sir A.— ~ Resistance of Road Vehicles to “Traction Anthropology. *Evans, Mr. A. J.—Silchester Excavation *Penhallow, Prof. D. P.—Ethnological Survey of Canada Garson, Dr. J. G.—Age of Stone Circles (balance in hand nd) sie “Read, Mr.. C.. H. —Photographs " of Anthropological Interest (balance of £10 in hand) Ss *Tylor, Prof. G. B.—Anthropological Teaching .. Evans, Sir John.—Exploration in Crete ... Physiology. *Schafer, Prof. E. A.—Physiological Effects of Peptone... Schafer, Prof. E. A.—Chemistry of Bone Marrow Starling, Prof. E. H. Oey, aeiiaiin in the Rabbit... par / Botany. visser, Prof. J. B.—Fertilisation in Phaeophyceze Marshall Ward, Prof.—Morphology, Bling | and Taxonomy of Podostemaceze sant Corresponding Societies. *Whitaker, Mr. W.—Preparation of Report * Re-appointed. NATURE [SEPTEMBER 13, 1900 SECTION A. DEPARTMENT OF ASTRONOMY, OPENING ADDRESS BY Dr. A. A. Common, F.R.S., F.R.A.S., CHAIRMAN OF THE DEPARTMENT. Ir has been decided to form a Department of Astronomy under Section A, and.I have been requested to give an address on the occasion. In looking up the records of the British Asso- ciation to see what position Astronomy has occupied, I was delighted to find, in the very first volume, ‘‘ A Report on the Progress of Astronomy during the Present Century,” made by the late Sir George Airy, so many years our Astronomer Royal, and at that time Plumian Professor of Astronomy at Cambridge, This report, made at the second meeting of the Association, de- scribes, in a most interesting manner, the progress that was made during the first third of the century, and we can gather from it the state of astronomical matters at that time. The thought naturally occurred to me to give a report, on the same lines, to the end of this century, but a little consideration showed that it was impossible in the limited time at my disposal to give more than a bare outline of the progress made. At the time this report was written we may say, in a general way, that the astronomy of that day concerned itself with the position of the heavenly bodies only, and, except for the greater precision of observation resulting from better instruments and the larger number of observatories at work, this, the gravita- tional side of astronomy, remains much as it was in Airy’s time. What has been aptly called the New or Physical Astronomy did not then exist. I propose to briefly compare the state of things then existing with the present state of the science, without dealing very particularly with the various causes operating to produce the change ; to allude briefly to the new astronomy ; and to speak rather fully about. astronomical instruments generally, and of the lines on which it is most probable future develop- ments will be made. In this report (Brit. Assoc. Report, 1831-32, p. 125) we find that at the beginning of the century the Greenwich Observatory was the only one in which observations were made on a regular system. The thirty-six stars selected by Dr. Maskelyne, and the sun and moon, were observed on the meridian with great regularity, the planets very rarely and only at particular parts of their orbits; small stars, or ‘stars not included in the thirty-six, were seldom observed. This state of affairs was no doubt greatly improved at the epoch of the report, but it contrasts strongly with the present work at Greenwich, where 5000 stars were observed in 1899, in addition to the astrographic, spectroscopic, magnetic, meteoro- logical, and other work. Many ‘observatories, of great importance since, were about that time founded, those at Cambridge, Cape of Good Hope and Paramatta having just been started. A list is given of the public observatories then existing, with the remark that the author is ‘‘ unaware that there is any public observatory in America, though there are,” he says, ‘‘ some able observers.” The progress made since then is truly remarkable. The first public observatory in America was founded about the middle of the century, and now public and private observatories number about 150, while the instrumental equipment is in many cases superior to that of any other country. The prophetic opinion of Airy about American observers has been fully borne out. The discovery of two satellites to Mars by Hall in 1877, of a fifth satellite to Jupiter by Barnard in 1892, and the discovery of Hyperion by Bond, simultaneously with Lassell, in 1848, are notable achievements. The enormous amount of work turned out by the Harvard Observatory and its branches in South America, all the photo- graphic and spectroscopic work carried out by many different astronomers, and the new lines of research initiated show an amount of enthusiasm not excelled by any other country. A greater portion of the astronomical work in America has been on the lines of the new astronomy, but the old astronomy has not been at all neglected. In this branch pace has been kept with other countries. From this report we gather that the mural quadrant at most of the observatories was about to be replaced by the divided circle. which, as the author says, ‘‘may be considered as the greatest improvement ever made in the art of instrument making.” Two refractors of 11 and 12 inches aperture had just been NO. 1611, VOL. 62] Troughton had perfected a method of dividing circles, | imported into this country; clockwork for driving had been applied to the Dorpat and Paris equatorials, but the author ha not seen either in a state of action. aa The method of mounting instruments adopted by the Germans was rather severely criticised by the author, the general principle of their mounting being ‘‘telescopes are always supported ai the middle, not at the ends.” VO aa ‘* Every part is, if possible, supported by counterpoises.” ** To these principles everything is sacrificed. For instance, in an equatorial the polar axis is to be supported in the middle. by a counterpoise. This not only makes the instrument wea (as the axis must be single), but also introduces some incon- venience into the use of it. The telescope is on one side of the - axis ; on the other side is a counterpoise. telescope has a counterpoise. A telescope thus mounted must, — I should think, be very liable to tremor. M4 no mechanic and who has not used one of these instruments lence of the workmanship.” Ce I have no doubt that this question had often occupied Airy’s — mind, for in the Northumberland Equatorial Telescope which — he designed shortly after for Cambridge he adopted what has — been called the English form of mounting, where the telescope — is supported by a pivot .at each side, and a long polar axis is supported at each end. This telescope is in working order at the present time at Cambridge. oo ae id When he became Astronomer Royal he used the same design — for what was for many years the great equatorial at Greenwich, — have made no improvement in instruments except in the excel- — though the wooden uprights forming the polar axis were in the © Greenwich telescope replaced by iron. It says much for the excellence of the design and workmanship of this mounting, designed as it was for an object-glass of about 13 inches diameter, when we find the present Astronomer Royal, Mr. Christie, has used it to carry a telescope of 28 inches aperture, — and that it does this perfectly. ; Notwithstanding the greater steadiness of the English form q of mounting, the German form has been adopted generally for the mounting of the large refractors recently made. : There is much interesting matter in this report of an historical character. As I have already said, the new astronomy, as we know it, did not exist ; but in a report (Brit. Assoc. Report, 1831-32, p- 308) on optics, in the same volume, by Sir David Brewster, we find that spectrum analysis -was then occupying attention, © and the last paragraph of this report is well worth quoting : ‘* But whatever hypothesis be destined to embrace and explain this class of phenomena, the fact which I have mentioned opens an extensive field of inquiry. By the aid of the gaseous absor- bent we may study with the minutest accuracy the action of the elements of material bodies in all their variety of combinations, — upon definite and easily recognised rays of light, and we may discover curious analogies between their affinities and those - which produce the fixed linesin the spectra of the stars. The apparatus, however, which is requisite to carry on such inquiries with success cannot be procured by individuals, and cannot even be used in ordinary apartments. Lenses of large diameter, ac- curate heliostats, and telescopes of large aperture are absolutely necessary for this purpose ; but with such auxiliaries it would be — easy to construct optical combinations, by which the defective — rays in the spectra of all the fixed stars down to the zewth mag- nitude might be observed, and by which we might study the — effects of the very combustion which lights up the suns of other systems.” : ea Brewster’s words are almost prophetic, and it would almost | appear as if he unknowingly held the key to the elucidation of — the spectrum lines, for it was not until 1859 that Kirchhoff’s discovery of the true origin of the dark lines was made. _ Fraunhofer was the first to observe the spectra of the planets. and the stars, and to notice the different types of stellar spectra. | Each end of the If a person who inal i may presume to give an opinion, I should say that the Germans | ici ‘ 5 In 1817 he recorded the spectrum of Venus and Sirius, and later, \ i in 1823, he described the spectrum of Mars; also Castor, — Pollux, Capella, Betelgeux and Procyon. mua ae, sy Fraunhofer, Lamont, Donati, Brewster, Stokes, Gladstone and others carried on their researches at a time when the prin- — ciples of spectrum analysis were unknown, but immediately upon — Kirchhoft’s discovery great interest was awakened. With spectrum analysis thus established, aided as it was later by the greater development of photography, the new astronomy 7 was firmly established. it fi af NATURE 471 -memorable results arrived at by Kirchhoff were no sooner d than they were accepted without dissent. The works , Foucault and Angstrém at that period were all sug- the truth, but do not mark an epoch of discovery. spectroscopy divided itself naturally into two aches, the one of the sun, the other of the stars, each ;many offshoots. I shall just mention a few points re- ach. The dark lines in the solar spectrum had already ped by Fraunhofer, and now it only needed better ¢nts and the application of laboratory spectra with Kirch- aciple to advance this work still further. ofer had already pointed out the way in using gratings, were further improved by Nobert and Rutherfurd. off’s Map of the Solar Spectrum, published in 1861-62, -most complete up to that time; but the scale of refer- idopted by him was an arbitrary one, so that it was not yefore this was improved upon. Angstrém published in ‘map of the ‘‘ Normal Solar Spectrum,” adopting the scale of wave-lengths for reference, and this remained in quite recent times. sreased accuracy in the ruling of gratings by Rutherfurd ally improved the efficiency of the solar spectroscope, but s not until Prof. Rowland’s invention of the concave that this work gained any decisive impetus. The maps ublished in 1 5) and tables (published in the years a $) of the lines of the solar spectrum are now almost uni- ersally accepted and adopted asa standard of reference. These bles alone record about 10,000 lines in the spectrum of the , which is in marked contrast to the number 7 recorded by ollaston at the beginning of the century (1802). Good work production of maps has also been done in this country by Se See ir 7 ichelson has also recently invented a new form of spectro- cope called the “Echelon” (4st. Phys. Journ., vol. viii. 4898, p. 37), in which a grating with a relatively small number of lines is em , the Sraression necessary for modern work tet pdms a high order (say the hundredth) into light has been concentrated. es lines recorded in the visual and ultra-violet portions solar spectrum, maps have been made of the lines in the red, the most important being that of Langley’s, published repared by the use of his ‘‘ bolometer.” Good work been done in this direction previously by , Lamansky and Abney ; the last, indeed, succeeded | photog: ne rt of it. e recording of the all, however. VevVvel raunhofer lines in the solar spectrum is ] . The application of the spectroscope to the las several epoch-marking events attached to it, notably _of proving the solar character of the. prominences and _ the rendering visible of the prominences without the aid eclipse by the discovery of Lockyer and Janssen in 1868, q el raph by Hale and Deslandres in 1890. juccess has not yet favoured the many attempts to photograph yyment of the calorific rays. sctroscopic work on the sun has led to the discovery of apany hundreds of dark lines, the counterparts of which it has not yet been possible to produce on the earth. _ But besides those unknown substances which reveal their resence by dark lines, there were two others discovered, which showed themselves only by bright lines, the one in the chromo- _ Sphere, to which the name of Helium was given, and the : _in the corona, to which the name of Coronium was : y. >) Apes he former was, however, identified terrestrially by Ramsay 1895, though the latter is still undetermined. The revision its wave-l , brought about by the observations of the ipse of 1898, may, however, result in this element being insferred from the unknown to the known in the near future. study of stellar spectra was taken up by Huggins, urd and Secchi. Rutherfurd (Am. Journ., vol. xxxv. 2, p. 77) published in 1862 his results upon a number of and suggested a rough classification of the white and yw stars ; but Secchi deserves the high credit of introducing the first systematic differentiation of the. stars according to their spectra, he having begun a spectroscopic survey of the _ heavens for the purposes of classification (Comptes rendus, NO. 1611, VOL. 62] t. Ivii. 1853), whilst Huggins devoted himself to the thorough analysis of the spectra of a few stars, The introduction of photography marks another epoch in the study of stellar spectra. Sir William Huggins applied photo- graphy as early as 1863 (Phil. Trans., 1864, p. 428), and secured an impression of the spectrum of Sirius, but nearly another decade elapsed before Prof. H. Draper (Am. Journ. of Soc. and Arts, vol. xviii. 1879, p. 421) took a photograph of the spectrum of Vega in 1872, which was the first to record any lines. With the introduction of dry plates this branch of the new astronomy received another impetus, and the catalogues of stellar spectra have now become numerous. Among them may be mentioned those of Harvard College, Potsdam, Lockyer, McClean and Huggins. The Draper Catalogue (Anna/s Ha» vard Coll., vol. xxvii. 1890) of the Harvard College, which is a spectroscopic Durchmusterung, alone contains the spectra of 10,351 stars down to the 7-8 magnitudes, and this has further been extended by work at Arequipa, whilst Vogel and Miiller of Potsdam (Astro-Phys. Obs. zu Potsdam, vol. iii. 1882-83) made a spectroscopic survey of the stars down to the 7°5 magnitude between —1° and +20° declination. This has again been supplemented by Scheiner (s42d., vol. vii. 1895 : ‘* Untersuchungen iiber die Spectra der helleren Sterne”), and by Vogel and Wilsing (2dz¢., vol. xii. 1899 : ‘* Untersuchungen iiber die Spectra von 528 Sternen”’). Lockyer (Phz/. Trans., vol. clxxxiv. A, 1893) in 1892 published a series of large- scale photographs of the brighter stars, and more recently McClean (Phdl. Trans., vol. exci; A, 1898) has completed a spectroscopic survey of the stars of both hemispheres down to the 24 magnitude. For the study and investigation of special types of stars, the researches of Dunér on the red stars, made at Upsala, and those of Keeler and Campbell on the bright-line stars, made at the Lick Observatory, deserve mention. For the study of stellar spectra the use of prisms in slit or objective- prism spectroscopes has predominated, though more recently the use of specially ruled gratings has been attended by some degree of success at the Yerkes Observatory. Several new stars have also been discovered by their spectra by Pickering in his routine work of charting the spectra of the stars in different portions of the sky. The photographic plate containing their peculiar spectra was, however, not examined in many cases until the star had died down again. Spectrum analysis also opened up another field of inquiry, viz. that of the motion of the stars in the line of sight, based on the process of reasoning due to Doppler, and accordingly named Doppler’s Principle (‘‘ Ueber das farbige Licht der Doppel- sterne,” . . . Abhandl, der K. Bihmischen Ges. d. Wiss. V. Folge, 2 Bd. 1843.) The observatories of Greenwich and Potsdam were among the first to apply this to the stars, and more recently Campbell at Lick, Newall at Cambridge, and Belopolsky at Pulkowa have made use of the same principle with enormous success. It was also discovered that there are certain classes of stars having a large component velocity in the line of sight, which changes its direction from time to time, and in many such cases orbital motion has been proven, as in the case of Algol. Another class of binary stars has also been discovered spectro- scopically and explained by Doppler’s principle. I refer to the stars known as spectroscopic binaries, in which the spectrum lines of one luminous source reciprocate over those from the other source of light, according as one is moving towards or away from the earth. This displacement of the spectrum lines led to the discovery uf the duplicity of 6 Aurige, and ¢ Urse Majoris by Pickering (Am. Jour. [3], 39, p- 46, 1890). everal other such stars have now been detected, notably B Lyre, and lastly Capella, discovered independently by Campbell (As¢ro- Phys. oa. vol. x. p- 177) at Lick, and Newall (Afonthly Notices, vol. lx. p. 2, 1899) at Cambridge. The progress of the new astronomy is so closely bound up with that of photography that I shall briefly call to mind some of the many achievements in which photography has aided the astronomer. Daguerre’s invention in 1839 was almost immediately tried with the sun and moon, J..W. Draper and the two Bonds in America, Warren de la Rue in this country, and Foucault and Fizeau in France, being among the pioneers of celestial photo- graphy; but no real progress seems to have been made until after the introduction of the collodion process. Sir John Herschel in 1847 suggested the daily. self-registration of the sun-spots to supersede drawings; and in 1857 the De la Rue 472 NATURE [SEPTEMBER 13, 1900 photo-heliograph was installed at Kew. From 1858-72 a daily record was maintained by the Kew photo-heliograph, when the work was discontinued. Since 1873 the Kew series has been continued at Greenwich, and is supplemented by pictures from Dehra Dfin in India and from Mauritius. The standard size of the sun’s disc on these photographs has now been for many years 8 inches, though for some time a 12-inch series was kept up. The’ first recorded endeavour to employ photography for eclipse work dates back to 1851, when Berowsky obtained a daguerreotype of the solar prominences during the total eclipse. From that date nearly every total eclipse of the sun has been studied by the aid of photography. In 1860 the first regularly planned attack on the problem by means of photography was made, when De la Rue and Secchi successfully photographed the prominences and traces of the corona, but it was not until 1869 that Prof. Stephen Alexander obtained the first good photograph of the corona, In recent years, from 1893 until the total eclipse which occurred last May, photography has been employed to secure large-scale pictures of the corona. These were inaugurated in 1893 by Prof. Schaeberle, who secured a 4-inch picture of the eclipsed sun in Chili: these have been exceeded by Prof. Langley, who obtained a 15-inch picture of the corona in North Carolina during the eclipse of May 1900, Photography also supplied the key to the question of the prominences and corona being solar appendages, for pictures of the eclipse sun taken in Spain in 1860 terminated this dispute with regard to the prominences, and finally to the corona in 1871. ; fn 1875, in addition to photographing the corona, attempts were made to photograph its spectrum, and at every: eclipse since then the sensitised plate has been used to record both the spectrum of the chromosphere and the corona. The spectrum of the lower layers of the chromosphere were first successfully photographed during the total eclipse of 1896 in Nova Zembla by Mr. Shackleton, though seen by Young as early as 1870, and a new value was given to the wave-length of the coronal line (wrongly mapped by Young in 1869) from photographs taken by Mr. Fowler during the eclipse of 1898 (India). Lunar photography has occupied the attention of various physicists from time to time, and when Daguerre’s process was first enunciated, Arago proposed that the lunar surface should be studied by means of the photographically produced images. In 1840 Dr. Draper succeeded in impressing a daguerreotype plate with a lunar image by the aid of a §-inch refractor. The earliest lunar photographs, however, shown in England were due to Prof. Bond, of the United States. These he exhibited at the Great Exhibition in 1851. Dancer, the optician, of Man- chester, was, perhaps, the first Englishman who secured lunar images, but they were of small size (Abney, ‘‘ Photography ”). Another skilful observer was Crookes, who obtained images of 2 inches diameter, with an 8-inch refractor of the Liverpool Observatory. In 1852 De la Rue began experimenting in lunar photography. He employed a reflector of some Io feet focal length and about 13 inches diameter. A very complete account of his methods is given in a paper read before the British Asso- ciation. Mr. Rutherfurd at a later date having tried an 114-inch refractor, and also a 13-inch reflector, finally constructed a photographic refracting telescope, and produced some of the finest pictures of the moon that were ever taken until recent years. Also Henry Draper’s picture of the moon taken Sept. 3, 1863, remained unsurpassed for a quarter of a century. Admirable photographs of the lunar surface have been pub- lished in recent years by the Lick Observatory and others. I myself devoted considerable attention to this subject at one time ; but only those surpassing anything before attempted have been published in 1896-99 by MM. Loéwy and Puiseux, taken with the Equatorial Coudé of the Paris Observatory. Star prints were first secured at Harvard College, under the direction of W. C. Bond, in 1850; and his son, G. P. Bond, made in 1857 a most promising start with double-star measure- ments on sensitive plates, his subject being the well-known pair in the tail of the Great Bear. The competence: of the photo- graphic method to meet the stringent requirements of exact astronomy was still more decisively shown in 1866 by Dr. Gould’s determination from his plates of nearly fifty stars in the Pleiades. ‘Their comparison with Bessel’s places for the same objects proved that the lapse of a score of years had made no difference in the configuration of that immemorial cluster; and NO. 1611, VOL. 62] Prof, Jacoby’s recent measures of Rutherfurd’s photog apha. taken in 1872 and 1874 enforce the same conclusion. meas 3 The above facts are so forcible that no wonder that at th Astrophotographic Congress held in Paris in 1887 it decided to make a photographic survey of the heavens, and y eighteen photographic telescopes of 13 inches aperture are in — operation in various parts of the world, for the purpose of pre~ paring the international astrographic chart, and it was hoped that the catalogue plates would be completed by 1900. Photography has been applied so assiduously to the discovery of — minor planets that something like 450 are now known, the most noteworthy, perhaps, as regards utility being the discovery of — Eros (433) in 1898 by Herr Witt at the Observatory Urania, near Berlin. i: With regard to the application of photography to recording — the form of various nebulz, it is interesting to quote a_ et from Dick’s ‘‘ Practical Astronomer,” published in 1845, as” opposed to Herschel’s opinion that the photography of a nebula would never be possible. ‘It might, perhaps, be considered as beyond the bounds of probability to expect that even the distant nebulz might thus be fixed, and a delineation of their objects produced, which shal} — be capable of being magnified by microscopes, But we ought to consider that the art is only in its infancy, and that plates of © a more delicate nature than those hitherto used may ec be pre- pared, and that other properties of light may yet be which shall facilitate such designs. boundaries to the discoveries of science, and to.'the practical ap plications of scientific discovery, which genius and art may accomplish.” It was not, however, until 1880 that Draper first photo- graphed the Orion Nebula, and later by three years I succeeded in doing the same thing with an exposure of only thirty-seven vered, For we ought now to set no — minutes. .In December 1885 the brothers Henry by the aid of | photography found that the Pleiades were involved in a nebula, part of which, however, had been seen by myself (Monthly Notices, vol. xl. p. 376) with my 3-foot reflector in February 1880, and later, February 1886 ; it was also partly discerned at Pulkowa with the 30-inch refractor then newly erected. Still more nebulosity was shown by Dr. Roberts’s photo- graphs (zé2d., vol. xlvii. p. 24), taken with his 20-inch reflector in October and December 1886, when the whole western side of the group was shown to be involved in a vast nebula, whilst a later photograph taken by MM. Henry early in 1888 showed that practically the whole of the group was a shoal of nebulous matter. ; In 1881 Draper and Janssen recorded the comet of that year by photography. wore Huggins (Proc. Roy. Soc., vol. xxxii. No. 213) sueceeded in photographing a part of the spectrum of the same object (Tebbutt’s Comet 1881, II.) on June 24, and the Fraunhofer lines were amongst the photographic impressions, thus demon- strating that at least a part of the continuous spectrum is due to reflected sunlight. He also secured a similar result from Comet Wells (Bret. Assoc. Report, 1882, p. 442). : I propose to consider the question of the telescope on the following lines: (1) The refractor and reflector from their in- ception to their present state. (2) The various modifications and improvements that have been made in mounting these in- struments, and (3) the instrument that has lately been introduced by a combination.of the two, refractor and reflector, a striking example of which exists now at the Paris Exhibition. | Ata meeting of the British Association held nearly half a — century ago (1852) (Belfast) Sir David Brewster showed a eth of rock crystal worked in the form of a lens which had nD recently found in Nineveh. Sir David Brewster asserted that this lens had been destined for optical purposes, and thatit never _ was a dress ornament. That the ancients were acquainted with the powers of a mag- — ¥ nifying lens may be inferred from the delicacy and minuteness of the incised work on their seals and intaglios, which could only have been done by an eye aided by a lens of some sort. _ ‘There is, how ever, no direct evidence that the ancients were really acquainted with the refracting telescope, though Aristotle — speaks of the tubes through which the ancients observed distant — objects, and compares their effect to that of a well from the — bottom of which the stars may be seen in daylight (‘*‘ De Gen. Animalium,” lib. v.) As an historical fact without any equivo- cations, however, there is no serious doubt that the telescope was invented in Holland. NATURE 473 _ SEPTEMBER 13, 1900] sad ‘he honour of being the originator has been claimed for three mn, each of whom has had his partisans. Their names are , Lippershey and Janssen. himself says that it was through hearing that some France or Holland had miade an instrument which distant objects that he was led to inquire how such a Id be obtained. pean of a result or discovery, supposing such ‘to honestly his own, ranks as the first inventor, is little doubt that Galileo was the first to show the to make a telescope (Newcomb’s ‘‘ Astronomy,” lis first telescope was made whilst on a visit to he there exhibited a telescope magnefying three is was in May 1609. Later telescopes which emanated hands of Galileo magnified successively four, seven times. This latter number he never exceeded. pgilyin ifying power was not attained until Kepler the theory and some of the advantages of a balemnee wo convex lenses in his ‘‘ Catoptrics” (1611). The first > actually apply this to the telescope was Father who describes it in his ‘‘ Rosa Ursina ” (1630), and Wm. = was the first to appreciate practically the chief advan- his invention of the micrometer and application of sights to instruments of precision. however, not until about the middle of the seventeenth that Kepler’s telescope came to be nearly universal, and fly because its field of view exceeded that of the : Spr tag telescopes were made by Huygkens, and of these he discovered Titan (Saturn’s brightest his telescopes magnified from forty-eight to ninety-two e about 2} inches aperture, with focal lengths ranging to 23 feet. By the aid of these he gave the first of Saturn’s ring, which he published in 1659. Iso states that he made. object-glasses of 170 feet focal length ; also one 300 feet long, but which ily 600 times ; he also presented one of 123 feet to society of London. states that the best telescopes of Campani at Rome ) times,®and were of 17 feet focal length. He him- id to have made telescopes of from 300 to 600 feet focus, improbable that they were ever put to -practical use. iscovered Saturn’s fifth satellite (Rhea) in 1672, with a > made by Campani, magnifying about 150 times, whilst 4, he added the third and fourth satellites of the . to the list of his discoveries. these telescopes were unwieldy, Bradley, with his ency, actually determined the diameter of Venus in , telescope of 212 feet focal length. such cumbersome instruments many devices were ett sper aérial telescopes, as they were termed, parts of thesky. Huyghens contrived some ingenious for va amg and - for adjusting and centre- *ye-piece, the object-glass and eye-piece being connected braced rod. . , E not, however, until Dolland’s invention of the achro- iect-glass in 1757-58 that the refracting telescope was im , and even then the difficulty of obtaining ks of glass free from striz limited the telescope as perture, for even at the date of Airy’s report we have 12 inches was about the maximum aperture for an ork of improving glass dates back to 1784, when began experimenting with the manufacture of optical conv his secrets to the firm of Fraunhofer and Utzschneider, whom he joined in 1805, and during the period e was there they made the 9°6 inches object-glass for the rz and Madler, the successors of Fraunhofer, carried out ally the methods handed down to them by Guinand and mand communicated his secrets to his family before his in 1823, and they entered into partnership with Bontemps. er afterwards joined the firm of Chance Bros., of Bir- m, and so some of Guinand’s work came to England. present day MM. Feil, of Paris, who are direct de- ts of Guinand and Messrs. Chance Bros., of Birming- e the best known manufacturers of large discs of , optical NO. 1611, VOL. 62] It is related in history that Ptolemy Euergetes had caused to be erected on a lighthouse at Alexandria a piece of apparatus for discovering vessels a long way off; it has also been main- tained that the instrument cited was a concave reflecting mirror, and it is possible to observe with the naked eye images formed by a concave mirror, and that such images are very bright. Also the Romans were well acquainted with the concentrating power of concave mirrors, using them as burning mirrors, as they were called. The first application of an eye lens to the image formed by reflection from a concave mirror appears to have been made by Father Zucchi, an Italian Jesuit. His work was published in 1652, though it appears he employed such an instrument as early as 1616. The priority, however, of de- scribing, if not making, a practical reflecting telescope belongs to Gregory, who, in his ‘‘ Optica Promota,” 1663, discusses the forms of images of objects produced by mirrors. He was well aware of the failure of all attempts to perfect telescopes by using lenses of various curvature, and proposed the form of reflecting telescope which bears his name. Newton, however, was the first to construct a reflecting tele- scope, and with it he could see Jupiter’s satellites, &c. En- couraged by this, he made another of 6} inches focal length, which magnified thirty-eight times, and this he presented to the Royal Society on the day of his election to the Society in 1671. To Newton we owe also the idea of employing pitch, used in the working of the surfaces. A third form of telescope was invented by Cassegrain in 1672. He substituted a small convex mirror for the concave mirror in Gregory’s form, and thus rendered the telescope a little shorter. Short also, from 1730-68, displayed uncommon ability in the manufacture of reflecting telescopes, and succeeded in giving true parabolic and elliptic figures to his specula, besides obtain- ing a high degree of polish upon them. In Short’s first tele- scopes the specula were of glass, as suggested by Gregory ; but it was not until after Liebig’s discovery of the process of de- siting a film of metallic silver upon a glass surface from a salt in solution that glass specula became almost universal, and thus replaced the metallic ones of earlier times. Shortly after the announcement of Liebig’s discovery Stein- heil (Gaz. Univ. d’ Augsburg, March 24, 1856)—and later, independently, Foucault (Comptes rend., vol. xliv. February 1857)—proposed to employ glass for the specula of telescopes, and, as is wellknown, this is done in all the large reflectors of to-day. I now propose to deal with the various steps in the develop- ment of the telescope, which have resulted in the three forms that I take as examples of the highest development at the present time. These are the Yerkes telescope at Chicago, my own 5-foot reflector, and the telescope recently erected at the Paris Exhibition, dealing not only with the mountings, but with the principles of construction of each. When the tele- scope was first used all could be seen by holding it in the hand. As the magnifying power increased, some kind of support would become absolutely necessary, and this would take the form of the altitude and azimuth stand, and the motion of the heavenly bodies would doubtless suggest the parallactic or equatorial movement, by which the telescope followed the object by one movement of an axis placed parallel to the pole. This did not come, however, immediately. The long focus telescopes of which I have spoken were sometimes used with a tube, but more often the object-glass was mounted in a long cell and suspended from the top of a pole, at the right height to be in a line between the observer and the object to be looked at ; and it was so arranged that by means of a cord it could be brought into a fairly correct position. Notwithstanding the extreme awkwardness of this arrangement, most excellent observations were made in the seventeenth century by the users of these telescopes. Then the achromatic telescope was invented and mechanical mountings were used, with circles for finding posi- tions, much as we have them now. I have already mentioned the rivalry between the English and German forms of mount- ings, and Airy’s preference for the English form. The general feeling amongst astronomers has, however, been largely in favour of the German mounting for refractors, due, no doubt, to a great extent, to the enormous advance in engineering skill. We have many examples of this form of mounting. A list of the principal large refracting and reflecting telescopes now existing is given at the end of this paper. All the refractors in this list, with the exception of the Paris telescope of 50 inches, 474 NATURE and the Greenwich telescope of 28 inches, are mounted on the German form. Some of these carry a reflector as well, as, for instance, the telescope lately presented to the Greenwich Obser- vatory by Sir Henry Thompson, which, in addition to a 26-inch refractor, carries a 30-inch reflector at the other end of the declination axis, such as had been previously used by Sir William Huggins and Dr. Roberts; the last, and perhaps the finest, example of the German form being the Yerkes telescope at Chicago. The small reflector made by Sir Isaac Newton, probably the first ever made, and now at the Royal Society, is mounted on a ball, gripped by two curved pieces, attached to the body of the telescope, which allows the telescope to be pointed in any direc- tion. We have not much information as to the mounting of early reflectors. Sir William Herschel mounted his 4-foot tele- scope on a rough but admirably-planned open-work mounting, capable of being turned round, and with means to tilt the tele- scope to any required angle. This form was not very suitable for picking up objects or determining their position, except indirectly ; but for the way it was used by Sir William Herschel it was most admirably adapted: the telescope being elevated to the required angle, it was left in that position, and became practically a transit instrument. All the objects passing through the field of view (which was of considerable extent, as the eye- piece could be moved in declination) were observed, and their places in time and declination noted, so that the positions of all these objects in the zone observed were obtained with a con- siderable degree of accuracy. It was on this plan that Sir John Herschel made his general catalogue of nebule, embracing all the nebulz he could see in both hemispheres ; a complete work by one man that is almost unique in the history of astronomy. Sir William Herschel’s mounting of his 4-foot reflector differs in almost every particular from the mountings of the long focus telescopes we have just spoken of. The object-glass was at a height, the reflector was close to the ground. There was a tube to one telescope, but not to the other. The observer in one case stood on the ground, in the other he was on a stage at a considerable elevation. One pole sufficed with a cord for one; a whole mass of poles, wheels, pulleys and ropes surrounded the other. In one respect only were they alike—they both did fine work. Lassell seems to have been the first to mount a reflector equatorially. He, like Herschel, made a 4-foot telescope, and this he mounted in this way. Lord Rosse mounted his tele- scopes somewhat after the manner of Sir William Herschel. The present Earl has mounted a 3-foot equatorially. A 4-foot telescope was made by Thomas Grubb for Melbourne, and this he mounted on the German plan. The telescope being a Cassegrain, the observer is practically on the ground level. A somewhat similar instrument exists at the Paris Observatory. Lassell’s 4-foot was mounted in what is called a fork mounting, as is also my own 5-foot reflector, and this in some ways seems well adapted for reflectors of the Newtonian kind. We now come to the Paris telescope. This is really the result of the combination of a reflector and a refractor. I can- not say when a plane mirror was first used to direct the light into a telescope for astronomical purposes. It seems first to have been suggested by Hooke, who, at a meeting of the Royal Society, when the difficulty of mounting the long focus lenses of Huyghens was under discussion, pointed out that all difficulties would bedone away with if, instead of giving movement to the huge telescope itself, a plane mirror were made to move in front of it (Lockyer, ‘‘ Star-gazing,” p. 453). The Earl of Crawford, then Lord Lindsay, used a heliostat to direct the rays from the sun, on the occasion of the transit of Venus, through a lens of 40 feet focal length, in order to obtain photographs, and it was also largely used by the American observers on the same occasion. Monsieur Loéwy at Paris proposed in 1871 a most ingenious telescope made by a combination of two plane mirrors and an achromatic object-glass, which he calls a Coudé telescope, which has some most important advantages. Chief amongst these are that the observer sits in perfect comfort at the upper end of the polar axis, whence he néed not move, and by suitable arrange- ments he can direct the telescope to any part of the visible heavens. Several have been made in France, including a large one of 24 inches aperture, erected at the Paris Observatory, and which has already made its mark by the production of perhaps the best photographs of the moon yet obtained. I have already spoken of Lord Lindsay and his 40-foot telescope, fed,.as it were, NO. 1611, VOL. 62 | er 3 with light from a heliostat. been followed in the design of the large telescope in the Paris Exhibition. But in place of a lens of 4 inches aperture and a heliostat a few inches larger, the Paris telescope has a plane mirror of 6 feet and a lens exceeding 4 feet in diameter, with focal length of 186 feet. The cost of a mounting on the Gerr plan and of a dome to shelter such an instrument would h been enormous. The form chosen is at once the best cheapest. One of the great disadvantages is that from eke of things it cannot take in the whole of the heavens. i nelic stat form of mounting of the plane mirror causes a rotatio : image in the field of view which in many lines of research is strong objection, There is much to be said on the other sid The dome is dispensed with, the tube, the equatorial mounti and the rising floor are not wanted. The mechanical arrange- ments of importance are confined to the mounting of the neces- sary machinery to carry the large plane mirror and move it round at the proper rate. the work done. ; 7m We have watched the astronomer, first observin eee floor level, then mounted on a high scaffold like Sir Wi Herschel, Lassell and Lord Rosse; then, starting again from the floor level and using the early achromatic telescope ; then, — as these grew in size, climbing up on observing chairs to suit the — various positions of the eye-end of the telescope, as we see in — Mr. Newall’s great telescope ; then brought to the floor again — by that excellent device of Sir Howard Grubb, the rising floor. © This is in use with the Lick and the Yerkes telescopes, where’ the observer is practically always on the floor level, though constant attention is needed, and the circular motion has to be provided for by constant movement, to say nothing of the danger of the floor going wrong. Then we have the ideal condition, as in the Equatorial Coudé at the Paris Observatory, where the ~ observer sits comfortably sheltered and looks down the tele~ scope, and from this heavens. The comfort of the observer is a most important’ matter, especially. for the long exposures that are given to photo- graphic plates, as well as for continued visual work. In sucha form of telescope as that at Paris the heliostat form of mounting’ — the plane mirror is most suitable, notwithstanding the rotation of the image. Auguste many years ago, and lately brought forward again by ~ Mons. Lippman, of Paris, and that is by simply mounting the plane mirror on a polar axis and parallel therewith, and causing this mirror to rotate at half the speed of the earth’s rotation. Any part of the heavens seen by any person reflected from this mirror will appear to be fixed in space, and not partake of the © apparent movement of the earth, so long as the mirror is kept moving at this rate. A telescope, therefore, directed to such a mirror can observe any heavenly body as if it were in an absolutely fixed position so long as the’ angle of the mirror shal} not be such as to make the reflected beam less than will fill the object-glass. There is one disadvantage in the ccelostat, as this” instrument is called, and that is its suitability only for regions” near the equator. The range aboveand below, however, is large — enough to include the greater portion of the heavens, and that — portion in which the solar system is included, Here the tele- scope must be moved in azimuth for different portions of the sky, - as is fully explained by Prof. Turner in vol. lvi. of the Monthly Notzces, and it therefore becomes necessary to provide for moving _ the telescope in azimuth from time to time as different zones — above or below the equator are observed. No instrument yet devised is suitable for all kinds of work, but this form, notwith- — standing its defects, has so many and such important advantages — that I think it will obviate the necessity of building any larger refractors on the usual models. scope much largér than the Yerkes on that model, in comparison - with what could be done on the plan I now advocate, renders it — most improbable that further money will be spent in that way. | It may be asked, What are the lines of research which could be _ taken up by a telescope of this construction, and on what lines” should the telescope be built ? I will endeavour to answer this. All the work that is usually done by an astronomical telescope, [SEPTEMBER 13, 1900 . The telescope need not have any — tube (that to the Paris telescope is, of course, only placed there for effect), as the flimsiest Covering is enough if it excludes false i sition can survey the whole of the visible — But there is another way in which a plane mirror u can be mounted, and that is on the plan first proposed by — ree eae OT eee ee ee ee [ ee. =? We Menon) | re | The cost of producing a tele- — ee ee ee ae | This is exactly the plan that ha “s € 4 4 ante if ere: 2 ae Berreneen 13, 1900] NATURE 475 — = cepting very long-continued observations, can be equally weil : by the fixed telescope. But there are some special lines r which this form of research is admirably suited, such as otographs of the moon, which would be possible with a g mirror of, say, 200 feet focal length, giving an image ne 2 feet diameter in a primary focus, or a larger image e obtained either by a longer focus mirror or by a com- binatic m. It might even be worth while to build a special for lunar photography, provided with an adjustment to axis and a method of regulating the rate of clock to ; the irregular motion of the moon, and thus obtain fixed images on the photographic plate. vantage of large primary images in photography is now sognised. For all other kinds of astronomical photo- uphy af ixed telescope is admirably adapted ; and so with all ak oscopic investigations, a little consideration will show that litions under which these investigations can be pursued As to the actual form such a construction ake we can easily imagineit. The large mirror mounted in the centre ; circular tracts round this centre, on -shaped house can be travelled round to any azimuth, ng all the necessary apparatus for utilising the light from e plane mirror, so as to be easily moved round to the d position in azimuth for observation. In place of a fan- aa movable round the plane mirror, a permanent nou: might encircle the greater portion round the mirror, and this house the telescope or whatever optical combination is 3 might be arranged on an open framework, supported on lar rails, so as to run round to any azimuth required, The icity of the arrangement and the enormous saving in cost i allow in any well-equipped observatory the use of a instrument for special work. The French telescope has x about 6 feet in diameter and a lens of about 4 feet. nis is a great step in advance over the Yerkes telescope, and may be some time before the glass for a lens greater than “inches diameter will be made, as the difficulty in making ptical glass is undoubtedly very great. But with the plane ; > will be no such difficulty, as 6 feet has already been and} so with a concave mirror there would be little re inning with 6 feet or 7 feet. The way in which the minor would be used, always hanging in a band, is the tt favourable condition for good work, and the absence of an observation, except of course that of the plane 1 could be given by floating the polar axis and nical arrangements, a motion of almost perfect ne Reutoasly important thing in using silver or glass mirrors of resilvering from time to time. Up to quite silvering of my 5-foot mirror was a long, uncertain, sive process. Now we have a method of silvering is certain, quick, and cheap. This takes away the disability from the silver or glass reflecting telescope, surface of silver can now be renewed with greater ease nd in less time than the lenses of a large refracting telescope could be taken out and cleaned. It may be that we shall reyert metal for our mirrors, or use some other deposited r on glass; but even as it is we have the silvered: glass which ' at once allows an enormous advance in power. justice to any large telescope it should be erected in a as regards epmate, where the conditions are as favour- as “Invention of the telescope is to me the most beautiful Familiarity both in making and in using has only my admiration. With the exception of the micro- pce the late Prof. Hughes, which enabled one to hear inaudible sounds, sight is the only sense that we have been able to enormously increase in range. The telescope _ enables one to see distant objects as if they were at, say, one- th of their distance, while the microsco renders visible objects so small as to be almost incredible. In _ order to appreciate better what optical aid does for the sense of » we can imagine the size of an eye, and therefore of a man, sble of seeing in a natural way what the ordinary eye sees y the aid of a large telescope, and, on the other hand, the size a man and his eye that could see plainly small objects as we ‘see them under a powerful microscope. The man in the first would be several miles in poss eh and in the latter he would ao a very small fraction of an inch in height. NO. 1611, VOL. 62] as it may possibly be to the microscope. For a certain amount of light is necessary to produce sensation in the eye. If this. light is insufficient nothing is seen ; but owing to the accumula- tive effect of light on the photographic plate, photographs can. be taken of objects otherwise invisible, as I pointed out years ago, for in photographs I took in 1883 stars were shown on photographic plates that I could not see in the telescope. Al) photographs, when closely examined, are made up of a certain. number of little dots, as it were, in the nature of stippling, and. it is a very interesting point to consider the relation of the size and separation of these dots that form the image, and the rods. and cones of the reckoner which determines the power of the eye. Many years ago I tried to determine this question. I first. took a photograph of the moon with a telescope of very short focus (as near as I could get it to the focus of the eye itself, which is about half an inch). The resulting photograph measured one two-hundredth of an inch in diameter, and when. examined again with a microscope showed a fair amount of detail, in fact, very much as we see the moon with the naked eye; making a picture of the moon by hand on such a scale that each separate dot of which it was made corresponded with each separate sensitive point of the retina employed when view- ing the moon without optical aid, I found, on looking at this. picture at the proper distance, that it looked exactly like a real moon. In this case the distance of the dots was constant, making them larger or smaller forming the light or shade of the picture. I did not complete these expetiments, but as far as I went I thought that there was good reason to believe that we could in this way increase the defining power of the eye. It is a subject well worthy of further consideration. I know that in this imperfect and necessarily brief address I have been obliged to omit the names of many workers, but I cannot conclude without alluding to the part that this Associa- tion has played in fostering and aiding Astronomy. A glance rly the list of money grants shows that the help has been most liberal. In my youth I recollect the great value that was pat on the British Association Catalogue of Stars ; we know the elp that was given in its early days to the Kew Observatory ; and the Reports of the Association show the great interest that has always been taken in our work. The formation of a separate Department of Astronomy is, I hope, a pledge that this. interest will be continued, to the advantage of our science, List of Large Telescopes in existence in 1900. Refractors 15 inches and upwards Refractors 15 inches and upwards Inches Inches. Paris (Exhibition) . | 50 Mount Etna 218 erkes 2 «| 140 Strassburg IQ'I Lick 36 ilan » | 19°! Pulkowa 30 (Dearborn) Chicago - | 18°5. Nice 29°9 || Warner Observatory, Paris 3 28'9 Rochester, U.S. . | 16'0 Greenwich 28°0 | Washburn Observa- Vienna. 27'0 tory, Madison, Washington, U. ‘S. . | 26°0 Wisconsin of 25h Leander, McCormick | Edinburgh 15‘! ae eny Vir- Brussels 15‘! ginia 260 | Madrid 15 0. Greenwich 26’0 | Rio Janeiro 15'0: Newall’s, Cambridge. 25°0 | Paris 150 Cape of Good “ot ade 240 | Sir William Huggins, 150. Harvard . 24°0 | Paris ‘ 15'0 Princeton, N.J., U.S 23'0 | Reflectors 2 feet 6 inches and mer Reflectors 2 feet 6 inches and upwards. Ft. In.| Ft, In, Lord Rosse -|6 0 South Kensington . | 3 0 Dr. Common. - | § © || Crossley (Lick). P | 3 0 Melbourne - | 4 © | Greenwich ; | 2 6 Paris | 4 © | South Kensington 2 6 Meudon } 3 3s Maney also comes in as a further aid to the ernest NATURE [SEPTEMBER 13, 1900 SECTION B. CHEMISTRY. OPENING ADDRESS BY PRoF. W. H. PERKIN, JUN., PH.D., F.R.S , PRESIDENT OF THE SECTION. The Modern System of Teaching Practical Inorganic Chemistry and tts Development. IN choosing for the subject of my Address to-day the develop- ment of the teaching of practical inorganic chemistry I do so, not only on account of the great importance of the subject, but also because it does not appear that this matter has been brought before this Section, in the President’s Address at all events, during the last few years, In dealing generally with the subject of the teaching of chemistry as a branch of science it may be well in the first place to consider the value of such teaching as a means of general education, and to turn our attention for a few minutes to the development of the teaching of science in schools. There can be no doubt that there has been great progress in the teaching of science in schools during the last forty years, and this is very evident from the perusal of the essay, entitled ** Education: Intellectual, Moral, and Physical,” which Herbert Spencer wrote in 1859. After giving his reasons for considering the study of science of primary importance in education, Herbert Spencer continues: ‘‘ While what we call civilisation could never have arisen had it not been for science, science forms scarcely an appreciable element in our ‘so-called civilised training.” From this it is apparent that science was not taught to any appreciable extent in schools at that date, though doubtless in some few schools occasional lectures were given on such scientific subjects as physiology, anatomy, astronomy, and mechanics. Herbert Spencer’s pamphlet appears to have had only a very gradual effect towards the introduction of science into schemes of education. For many years chemical instruction was only given in schools at the schoolroom desk, or at the best from the lecture table, and many of the most modern of schools had no laboratories, The first school to give any practical instruction in chemistry was apparently the City of London School, at which, in the year 1847, Mr. Hall was appointed teacher of chemistry, and there he continued tp teach until 1869.1 Besides the lecture theatre and a room for storing apparatus, Mr. Hall’s department contained a long room, or rather passage, leading into the lecture theatre, and closed at each end with glass doors. In this room, which was fitted up asa laboratory, and used prin- cipally as a preparation room for the lectures, Mr. Hall per- formed experiments with the few boys who assisted him with his lectures. As accommodation was at that time strictly limited, he used to suggest simple experiments and encourage the boys to carry them out at home, and afterwards he himself would examine the substances which they had made. From this small -beginning the teaching of chemistry in the City of London School rapidly developed, and this school now possesses laboratories which compare favourably with those of any school in the country. The Manchester Grammar School appears to have been one of the first to teach practical chemistry. In connection with this school a small laboratory was built in 1868 ; this was re- placed by a larger one in 1872, and the present large labora- pr under the charge of Mr. Francis Jones, were opened in 1880. . Dr. Marshall Watts, who was the first science master in this school, taught practical chemistry along with the theoretical work from the commencement in 1868. As laboratories were gradually multiplied it might be sup- posed that boys were given the opportunity. to carry out experiments which had a close connection with their lecture- room courses. But the programme of laboratory work which became all but universal was the preparation of a few gases, followed by the practice of qualitative analysis. The course adopted seems to have been largely built up on the best books of practical chemistry in use in the colleges at that time; but it was also, no doubt, largely influenced by the requirements of the syllabus of the Science and Art Department, which con- 1 Mr. A. T. Pollard, M.A., Head Master of the City of London School, has kindly instituted a search among the bound copies of the boys’ terminal reports, and informs me that in the School form of Terminal Report a head- ing for Chemistry was introduced in the year 1847, the year of Mr. Hall’s appointment. NO. T4611, VOL, 62] ’ ‘tained a scheme for teaching practical chemistry.!| Even down to quite recent times it was in many schools still not considered : dj essential that boys should have practical instruction in connec: tion with lectures in chemistry. A Report issued in 1897 bya special Committee appointed the Technical Education Board of the London County Coun adduces evidence of this from twenty-five secondary schools in London, in which there were 3960 boys learning chemistry. Of these 1698 boys, ever ; 955 boys, or 24 per cent., did practical work, consisting of a certain amount of preparation of gases, together with quali- tative analysis ; but of these latter 743, or 77 per cent., had not reached the study of the metals in their theoretical work, so that their testing work can have been of little educational value, It was also found that in the case of 655, or 68 per cent. of the total number of boys taking practical’ work, the first introduc- tion to practical chemistry was through qualitative analysis. But some years before this Report was issued a movement had begun which was destined to have a far-reaching effect. A Report ‘‘on the best .means for promoting Scientific Education in Schools” having been presented to the Dundee Meeting of this Association in 1867, and published in 1868, a Committee of the British Association was appointed in 1887 ‘for the pur of inquiring and reporting upon the present methods of teac ing chemistry.” The well-known Report which this Committee presented to the Newcastle Meeting in 1889 insisted that it was worth while to teach chemistry in schools, not so much for the usefulness of the information imparted as for the special mental discipline it afforded if the scientific method of investi nature were employed. It was argued that ‘learners should be put in the attitude of discoverers, and led to make observa- tions, experiments, and inferences for themselves.” And since there can be little progress without measurement, it was pointed out that the experimental work would necessarily be largely of a quantitative character. Prof. H. E, Armstrong, ina paper read at a conference at the I{ealth Exhibition five years before this, had foreshadowed much that was in this Report. He also drew up a detailed scheme for ‘‘a course of elementary instruction in physical science,” which was included in the Report of the Committee, and it cannot-be doubted that this scheme and the labours of the Committee have had a very marked influence on the develop- ment of the teaching of practical chemistry in schools, That this influence has been great will be admitted when it is under- stood that schemes based on the recommendation of the Com- mittee are now included in the codes for both Elementary Day Schools and Evening Continuation Schools. The recent syllabuses for elementary and advanced courses issued by the Incorporated Association of Headmasters and by the Oxford and Cambridge local boards and others. are evidently directly inspired by the ideas set forth by the Committee. The Department of Science and Art has also adopted some of the suggestions of the Committee, and a revised syllabus was issued by the Department in 1895, in which qualitative analysis is replaced by quantitative experiments of a simple form, and by other exercises so framed ‘‘as to prevent answers being given by students who have obtained their information from books or oral instruction.” This was a very considerable advance. but it must be admitted that there is nothing in the’ syllabus which encourages, or even suggests, placing the learners in the attitude of discoverers, and this, in the opinion of the Committee of this Association, is vital if the teaching is to have educational value. Many criticisms have been passed upon the 1889 Report. It has been said that life is much too short to allow of each individual advancing from the known to the unknown, according to scientific methods, and that even were this not so too severe a tax is made upon the powers of boys and girls. In answer to the second point: it will be conceded that while it is doubtless futile to try to teach chemistry to young children, on the other hand experience has abundantly shown that the average school- boy of fourteen or fifteen can, with much success, investigate such problems as were studied in the researches of Black and Scheele, of Priestley and Cavendish and Lavoisier, and it is quite remarkable with what interest such young students carry out this class of work. It may be well to quote the words which Sir Michael Foster is a 11 find, on inquiry, that examinations in the Advanced Stage and — Department in 1878, the practical examination being extended to the Honours of Practical Chemistry were first held by the Science and Art e Elementary Stage in 1882. ing or 43 per cent., did no practical work what-— q ea saben ee ee, Ree es Bye — | _—* SEPTEMBER 13, 1900] NATURE 477 used in this connection in his admirable Presidential Address to _ this Association in 1899. He said: ‘* The learner may be led to old truths, even the oldest, in more ways than one. He may be brought abruptly to a truth in its finished form, coming straight to it like a thief climbing over a wall; and the hurry nd press of modern life tempt many to adopt this quicker way. Or he may be more slowly guided along the path by which the truth was reached by him who first laid hold of it. It is by this latter way of learning the truth, and by this alone, that the arner may hope to catch something at least of the spirit of the tific inquirer.” I believe that in the determination of a suitable school course experimental science this principle of historical development 3 a very valuable guide, although it is not laid down in the 1889 of the British Association. ‘ “he application of this principle will lead to the study of the ‘solvent action of water, of crystallisation, and of the separation of mixtures of solids before the investigation of the composition of water, and also before the investigation of the phenomena of _ combustion. It will lead to the investigation of hydrochloric acid before chlorine, and especially to the postponement of atomic and molecular theories, chemical equations, and the laws of chemical combination, until the student has really sufficient _ knowledge to understand how these theories came to be __ There can be no doubt that this new system of teaching cannon | in schools has been most successful. Teachers are deli with the results which have already been obtained, and whom I have had the opportunity of consulting, directly and indirectly, cannot speak too highly of their satis- faction at the disappearance of the old system of qualitative alysis, and the institution of the new order of things. I may mention in this connection the excellent work which is bei 4 a rs a was really understood at the time that it could not be decided ___ at once whether the gas was derived from the acid or from the ___ metal, or from the water, or in part from the one and in part as the other, an attitude of scepticism and of suspended judgment will have been formed, which will continue to guard ____In the new system of teaching chemistry in schools much ___ attention must necessarily be given to weights and measure- ments; indeed, the work must be largely of a quantitative kind, ___ and it is in this connection that an important note of warning Bes hhas been sounded by several teachers. They consider, very Na rightly, that it is important to point out clearly to the scholar __ that science does not consist of measurement, but that measure- __ mentis only a tool in the hand of the inquirer, and that when once sufficient skill has been developed in its use it should be _ employed only with a distinct object. Measurements should, in fact, only in reference to some actual problem which ae RS a i 2 q appears to be really worth solving, not in the accumulation of aimless details. , ‘ ay And, of course, all research carried out must be genuine and not sham, and all assumption of the “obvious” must be most _ carefully guarded against. But the young scholar must, at the ‘Same time, not forget that although the scientific method is ____hecessary to enable him to arrive at a result, in real life it is the ___ answer to the problem which is of the most importance. ____ Although, then, there has been so much Necumiesas during _ the last ten years, on the subject of teaching chemistry in _____ Schools, and such steady progress has been made towards ____ devising a really satisfactory system of teaching the subject to «1S Prof. J. G. Macgregor in Nature, September 1899. : 2 Cf. H. Picton in The School World, November 1899 ; Bevan Lean, ebruary 1900. . 5 is A Ch Mrs. Bryant, ‘‘ Special Reports on Educational Subjects,” vol. ii. P. 113. NO. 1611, VOL. 62| young boys and girls, it is certainly very remarkable that prac- tically nothing has been said or written bearing on the training which a student who wishes to become a chemist is to undertake at the close of his school-days at the college or university in which his education is continued. One of the most remarkable points, to my mind, in connec- tion with the teaching of chemistry, is the fact that although the science has been advancing year by year with such unexampled rapidity, the course of training which the student goes through during his first two years at most colleges is still practically the same as it was thirty or forty years ago. Then, as now, after de ager a few of the principal gases, the student devotes the ulk of his first year to qualitative analysis in the dry and wet way, and his second year to quantitative analysis, and, although the methods employed in teaching the latter may possibly have undergone some slight modification, there is certainly no great difference between the routine of simple salt and mixture fol- lowed by quantitative analysis practised at the present day and that which was in vogue in the days of our fathers and grandfathers. Since, then, the present system has held the field for so long, not only in this country but also on the Continent, it is worth while considering whether it affords the best training which a student who wishes to become a chemist can undergo in the short time during which he can attend at a college or university. In considering this matter I was led in the first place to care- fully examine old books and other records, with the object of finding out how the present system originated, and I think that valuable and interesting information bearing on the subject may be obtained from a very brief sketch of the rise and development of the present system of teaching chemistry, and especially in so far as it bears on the inclusion of qualitative analysis. Un- fortunately, it is not so easy to gain a good historical acquaintance with the matter as I at first imagined would be the case, and this is due in a large measure to the fact that so few of the laboratories which took an active part in the development of the present system of chemical training have left any record of the methods which they employed. In this connection I may, perhaps, be allowed to suggest that it would be a valuable help to the future historian if all prominent teachers of chemistry would leave behind them a brief record of the system of teach- ing adopted in their laboratories, showing the changes which they had instituted, the object of these changes, and the results which followed their adoption. There is no doubt that the progress of practical chemistry went largely hand in hand with the progress of theoretical chemistry, for as the latter gradually developed, so the necessity for the determination of the composition, first of the best known, and then of the rarer minerals and other substances, became more and more marked. _ The analytical examination of substances in the dry way was employed in very early times in connection with metallurgical operations, and especially in the determination of the presence of valuable constituents in samples of minerals. Cupellation was used by the Greeks in the separation of gold and silver from their ores and in the purification of these metals. Geber knew that the addition of nitre to the ore facilitated the separa- tion of gold and silver, and subsequently Glauber (1604-1668) called attention to the fact that many commoner metals could easily be separated from their ores with the aid of nitre. But it was not till the eighteenth century that any marked progress was made in analysis in the dry way, and the progress which then became rapid was undoubtedly due to the discovery of the blowpipe, and to the introduction of its use into analytical operations. The blowpipe is mentioned for the first time in 1660, in the transactions of the Accademia del Cimento of Florence, but the first to recommend its use in chemical operations was Johann Andreas Cramer in 1739. The progress of blowpipe analysis was largely due to Gahn (1745-1818), who spent much time in perfecting its use in the examination of minerals, and it was he who first used platinum wire and cobalt solution in connection with blowpipe analysis, The methods employed by Gahn were further developed by his friend Berzelius (1779-1848), who gave much attention to the matter, and who with great skill and patience gradually worked out a complete scheme of blowpipe analysis, and published it in a pamphlet, entitled ‘‘ Ueber die Anwendung des Lothrohrs,” which appeared in 1820. After the publication of this work blowpipe analysis rapidly came into general use in England France and Germany, and the scheme devised by Berzelius is essentially that employed at the present day. 478 NATURE [SEPTEMBER 13, 1900 Indeed, the only notable additions to the methods o. analysis in the dry way since the time of Berzelius are the development of flame reactions, which Bunsen worked out with such characteristic skill and ingenuity, and the introduction of the spectroscope. ae The necessity for some process other than that of analysis in the dry way seems, in the first instance, to have arisen in quite early times in connection with the examination of drugs, not only on account of the necessity for discovering their con- stituents, but also as a means of determining whether they were adulterated. In such cases analysis in the dry way was obviously unsuitable, and. experience soon showed that the only way to arrive'at the desired result was to treat the substance under examination with aqueous solutions of definite substances, the first reagent apparently being a decoction of gallnuts, which is described by Pliny as being employed in detecting adulteration with green vitriol. The progress made in connection with wet analysis was, how- ever, exceedingly slow, largely owing to the lack of reagents ; but as these were gradually discovered wet analysis rapidly developed, especially in the hands of Tachenius, Scheele, Boyle, Hoffman, Margraf, and Bergmann. Boyle (1626-1691) es- pecially had an extensive knowledge of reagents and their application; and, indeed, it was Boyle who first introduced the word ‘‘ analysis” for those operations by which substances may be recognised in the presence of one another. Boyle knew how to test for silver with hydrochloric acid, for calcium salts with sulphuric acid, and for copper by the blue:solution produced by ammonia. , Margraf (1709-1782) introduced prussiate of potash for the detection of iron, and Bergmann (1735-1784) not only intro- duced new reagents and new methods for decomposing minerals and refractory substances, such as fusion with potash, digestion with nitric acid or hydrochloric acid, but he also was the first to suggest the application of tests in a systematic way, and, indeed, the method of analysis which he developed is on much the same lines as that in use at the present day. He paid special atten- tion to the qualitative analysis of minerals, and gave careful instructions for the analysis of gold, platinum, silver, lead, copper, zinc, and other ores. The work of Scheele (1742-1786) had in- directly a great influence on qualitative analysis, as, although he did not give a general systematic method of procedure in the analysis of substances of unknown composition, yet the methods which he employed in the examination of new substances were so original and exact as to remain models of how qualitative Analysis should be conducted. Great strides in analytical chemistry in the wet way were made through the work of Berzelius,; who, by the discovery of new methods, such as the decomposition of silicates by hydrofluoric acid and the introduction of new tests, greatly advanced the art. He paid special attention to perfecting the methods of analysis of mineral waters, and these researches, as well as his work on ores, and particularly his investigation of platinum ores, stamp Berzelius as one of the great pioneers in qualitative and quanti- tative analytical chemistry. - By the labours of the great experimenters whom I have mentioned qualitative analysis gradually acquired the familiar appearance of to-day, and many books were written_with the object of-arranging the mass of information which had accumu- lated, and of thus rendering it available for the student in his efforts to investigate the composition of new minerals and other substances. Among these books may be mentioned the ‘ Fland- buch der: analytischen Chemie,” by H. Rose, and especially the well-known analytical text-books of Fresenius, which have had an extraordinarily wide circulation and passed through many editions. The work of the great pioneers in analytical chemistry was work done often under circumstances of great difficulty, as before the end of the seventeenth century there were no public insti- tutions of any sort in which a practical knowledge of chemistry could be acquired. Lectures were, of course, given from very early times, but it was not until the time of Guillaume Francois Rouelle (1703-1770), at the beginning of the eighteenth century, that lectures began 'to.be illustrated by experiments. Rouelle, who was very active as a teacher, numbered among his pupils many men of eminence, such as Lavoisier and Proust, and it was largely owing to his influence that France took such a lead in practical teaching. In Germany progress was much slower, and in our country the introduction of lectures illustrated by «xperiments seems to have been mainly due to Davy. : NO. 1611, VOL. 62] When it is considered liow slowly experimental work came to 4 be recognised as a means of: illustration and education, evenin _ connection with lectures, it is not surprising that in early times practical teaching in laboratories should have been thought quite unnecessary. — es The few laboratories which existed in the sixteenth cent were built mainly for the practice of alchemy by the reigning princes of the time, and, indeed, up to the beginning of the teenth entury, the private laboratories of the great masters were the only schools in which a favoured few might study, but which were not open to the public. Thus we find that Berzelius re- ceived in his laboratory a limited number of students who worked mostly at research ; these were not usually young men, and hi: school cannot thus be considered as a teaching institution in the ordinary sense of the word, Pa i sort The earliest laboratory open for general instruction im Great Britain was that of Thomas Thomson, who, after graduating in Edinburgh in 1799, began lecturing in that city in 1800, and opened a laboratory for the practical instruction of his pupils. Thomson was appointed lecturer in Chemistry in University in 1807, and Regius Professor in 1818, and in Glasgow he also opened a general laboratory. Heide Vinwahs di kaha The first really great advance in laboratory teaching is due to Liebig, who, after working for some years in Paris under Gay-Lussac, was appointed in 1824 to be Professor of Chemistry in Giessen. Liebig was strongly impressed with the necessity for public institutions where any student could study chemistry, and to him fell the honour of founding the world-famed Giessen Laboratory, the first public institution in Germany which brought practical chemistry within the reach of all students. Giessen rapidly became the centre of chemical interest in Germany, and students flocked to the laboratory in such num as to necessitate the development of a systematic course of practical chemistry, and in this way a scheme of teaching was devised which, as we shall see later, has served as the founda- tion for the system of practical chemistry in use at the present ay. When the success of this laboratory had been clearly estab- lished, many other towns discovered the necessity for similar institutions, and in a comparatively short’ time every universi in Germany possessed a chemical laboratory. The teaching of practical chemistry in other countries was, however, of very slow growth; in France, for example, Wurtz in Bea Bicesre attention to the fact that there was at that time only one I: > tory which could compare with the German laboratories, namely, that of the Ecole normale supérieure. greener Ok Bh In this country the provision of suitable laboratories for the study of chemistry seems to date from the year 1845, when the College of Chemistry was founded in London, an institution which under A. W. Hofmann’s guidance rapidly rose to such a prominent position. sara eer In 1851 Frankland was appointed to the chair of chemistry in the new college founded in Manchester by the trustees of fohn Owens, and here he equipped a laboratory for the teaching of practical chemistry. Under Sir Henry Roscoe this laboratory soon became too small for the growing number of chemical students, a defect which was removed when the new buildings of the college were opened in 1873. In 1849 Alexander Williamson was appointed Professor of Practical Chemistry at University College, London, where he introduced the practical methods of Liebig. «Robe k Gaver eed ape ae Following these examples, the older universities gradually — came to see the necessity for providing accommodation for the practical teaching of chemistry, with the result that well- equipped laboratories have been erected in all the centres of learning in this country. aaa’ Since Liebig, by the establishment of the Giessen Laboratory, must be looked upon as the pioneer in the development of prac- tical laboratory teaching, it will be interesting to endeavour to obtain some idea of the methods which he used in the training of the students who attended his laboratory in Giessen. From small beginnings he gradually introduced a s atic course of practical chemistry, and a careful comparison shows that this was similar in many ways to that in use at the present day. The student at Giessen, after preparing the more important gases, was carefully trained in qualitative and quantitative analysis ; he was then required to make a large number of preparations, after which he engaged in original research. — Although there is, as far as I have been able to ascertain, no — printed record of the nature of the quantitative work and the _ SEPTEMBER 13, 1900] NATURE 479 parations which Liebig required from his students, the of ote analysis is easily followed, owing to the : of a most interesting book published for the use of the students. 1846, at Liebig's request, Henry Will, Ph.D., Extra- ry Professor of Chemistry in the University of Giessen, a small book, for use at Giessen, called ‘* Giessen Out- ' Analysis,” which shows clearly the kind of instruction in that laboratory at the time in so far as qualitative is concerned. This book, which contains a preface by is particularly interesting on account of the fact that it s evidently the first Introduction to Analysis intended for the trair ning of elententary students which was ever published. In > preface Liebig writes: “The want of an introduction to themical analysis adapted for the use of a laboratory has given © the present work, which contains an accurate description e course I have followed in my laboratory with great advan- twenty-five years. It has been prepared at my request 24% who has been my assistant during a great part of book undoubtedly had a considerable circulation, and sed in most of the laboratories which were in existence at hat time, and thus we find, for example, that the English ‘translation which Liebig ‘ hopes and believes will be acceptable the English public” was the book used by Hofmann for his dents at the College of Chemistry. In this book the metals divided into groups much in the same way as is done now ; oup is then separately dealt with, the principal character- the metals of the group are noted, and their reactions _ Those tests which are useful in the detection of each metal are particularly emphasised, and the reasons given for electing certain of them as of special value for the purposes of Separating one metal from another. Throughout this section of the book there are frequent dis- as to the possible methods of the separation, not only of tals of one group, but of those belonging to different groups; and the whole subject is treated in a manner which shows c that Liebig’s great object was to make the student think for himself. After studying ina similar manner the behaviour of the principal acids with reagents, the student “is introduced to a course of qualitative analysis comprising (1), lary examination of solids (2), qualitative analysis of the ce in solution. Pik tructing a system of qualitative analysis, but more par- tly of clearly leading the student to argue out for himself ds of tion which he will ultimately adopt. The ‘from those in use at the present day, and which are so re that the student could not possibly have used them @ system introduced in this book, no doubt owing to the results obtained by its use, was rapidly recognised as the rd method of teaching analysis in most of the institutions ; at that time. Soon the course began to be further ed, book after book was published on the subject, and ad the teaching of qualitative analysis assumed the shape d form with which we are all so well acquainted. But the resent-day book on qualitative analysis differs widely from **Giessen Outlines” in this respect, that whereas in the latter the introduced are mere indications of the methods of separa- o be employed, and are of such a nature that the student did not think for himself must have been constantly in ties, in the book of the present day these tables have been ed out to the minutest detail. Every contingency is pro- sd for ; nothing is left to the originality of the student ; and which, no doubt, was once an excellent course has now me so lessly mechanical as to make it doubtful whether fains anything of its former educational value. € question which I now wish to consider more particularly ether the system of training chemists which is at present d, with little variation, in our colleges and universities is ly satisfactory one, and whether it supplies the student the kind of knowledge which will be of the most value to im it | his future career. ose who study chemistry may be roughly divided as to mere careers into two groups—those who become teachers iose who become technical chemists. Now, whether the ent takes up either one or the other career, [ think that it is ar that the objects to be aimed at in training him are to give NO. I6II, VOL. 62] 11Ca) So gtay sections are evidently written with the object, not only. ides with a few tables which differ considerably in» him-a sound knowledye of his subject, and especially to so arrange his studies as to bring out in every possible way his capacity for original thought. A teacher who has no originality will hardly be successful, even though he may possess a very wide knowledge of what has already been done in the past. He will have little enthusiasm for his subject, and wil] continue to teach on the lines laid down by the text-books of the day, without himself materially im- proving the existing methods, and, above all, he will be unable, and will have no desire, to add to our store of knowledge by original investigation. It is in the power of almost every teacher to do some research work, and it seems probable that the reason why more is not done by teachers is because the importance of research work was not sufficiently insisted on, and their original faculty was not sufficiently trained, at the schools and colleges where they received their education. And these remarks apply with equal force to the student who subsequently becomes a technical chemist. In the chemical works of to-day sound knowledge is essential, but originality is an even more important matter. A technical chemist without originality can scarcely rise to a responsible position in a large works ; whereas a chemist who: is capable of constantly improving the processes in operation, and of adding new methods to those in use, becomes so valuable that he can command his own terms. Now, this being so, I think it is:;extraordinary that so many of the students who go through the prescribed cqurse of training —say for the Bachelor of Science degree—not only show no originality themselves, but seem also to have no desire at the ‘conclusion of their studies to engage in original investigation under the supervision of the teacher. That this is so is certainly my experience as a teacher examiner, and I feel sure that many other teachers will endorse this view of the case. If we inquire into the reason for this deficiency in originality, we shall, I think, be forced to conclude that it is ina ‘measure due to the conditions of study and the nature of the courses through which the student is obliged to pass. A well-devised system of quantitative analysis is undoubtedly valuable in teaching the student accurate manipulation, but it has always seemed to me that the long course of qualitative analysis which is usually considered necessary, and which ~ generally precedes the quantitative work, is not the most satisfactory training for a student. There can be no doubt that to many students qualitative analysis is little more than a mechanical exercise: the tables of separation are learnt by heart, and every substance is treated in precisely the same manner: such a course is surely not cal- culated to develop any original faculty which the student may possess. Then, again, when the student passes on to quantita- tive analysis, he receives elaborate instructions as to the little details he must observe in order to get an accurate result ; and even after he has become familiar with the simpler determina- tions he rarely attempts, and indeed has no time to attempt, anything of the nature of an original investigation in qualitative or quantitative analysis. It indeed sometimes happens that a student at the end of his second year has never prepared a pure substance, and is often utterly ignorant of the methods employed in the separation of substances by crystallisation ; he has never conducted a distillation, and has no idea how to investigate the nature and amounts of substances formed in chemical reactions ; practically all his time has been taken up with analysis. That this is not the way to teach chemistry was certainly the opinion of Liebig, and in support of this I quote a paragraph bearing on the subject which occurs in a very interesting book on ** Justus von Liebig: his Life and Work,” written by W. A. Shenstone (pp. 175, 176). “‘In his practical teaching Liebig laid great stress on the producing of chemical preparations ; on the students preparing, that is to say, pure substances in good quantity from crude materials, : The importance of this was, even in Liebig’s time, often overlooked ; and it was, he tells us, more common to find aman who could make a good analysis than to find one who could produce a pure preparation in the most judicious way.” ** There is no tener way of making one’s self acquainted with the properties of a substance than by first producing it from the raw material, then converting it into its compounds, and so becoming acquainted with them. By the study of ordinary analysis one does not learn how to use the important methods of crystallisation, fractional distillation, nor acquire 480 NATURE [SEPTEMBER 13, 1900 “any considerable experience in the proper use of solvents. In short, one does not, as Liebig said, become a chemist.” One reason why the present system of training chemists has persisted so long is no doubt because it is a very convenient system : it is easily taught, does not require expensive apparatus, and, above all, it lends itself admirably for the purpose of competitive examination. The system of examination which has been developed during the last twenty years has done much harm, and is a source of great difficulty to any conscientious teacher who is possessed of originality, and is desirous, particularly in special cases, of leaving the beaten track. In our colleges and universities most of the students work for some definite examination—frequently for the -Bachelor of Science degree—either at their own University or at the University of London. For such degrees a perfectly definite course is prescribed and must be followed, because the questions which the candidate will have to answer at his examination are based on a syllabus which is either published or is known by precedent to be required. The course which the teacher is obliged to teach is thus placed beyond his individual power of alteration, except in minor details, and originality in the teacher is thereby discouraged : he knows that all students must face the same examination, and he must urge the backward man through exactly the same course as his more talented neighbour. In almost all examinations salts or mixtures of salts are given for’ qualitative analysis. ‘‘ Determine the constituents of the simple salt A and of the mixture B” is a favourite examination formula; and as some practical work of this sort is sure to be set, the teacher knows that he must contrive to get one and all of his students into a condition to enable them to answer such questions. If, then, one considers the great amount of work which is required from the present-day student, it is not surprising that every aid torapid preparation for examination should be accepted with delight by the teacher ; and thus it comes about that tables are elaborated in every detail, not only for qualitative analysis in ‘inorganic chemistry, but, what is far worse, for the detection of some arbitrary selection of organic substances which may he set in the syllabus for the examination. I question whether any really competent teacher will be found to recommend this system as one of educational value or calculated to bring out and train the faculty of original thought in students. If, then, the present system isso unsatisfactory, it will naturally be asked, How are students to be trained, and how are they to be examined so as to find out the extent of the knowledge of their subject which they have acquired ? In dealing with the first part of the question—that is, the training best suited to chemists—I can, of course, only give my own views on the subject—views which, no doubt, may differ much from those of many of the teachers present at this meeting. The objects to be attained are, in my opinion, to give the student a sufficient knowledge of the broad facts of chemistry, and at the same time so to arrange his practical work in par- ticular as to always have in view the training of his faculty of original thought. I think it will be conceded that any student, if he is to make his mark in chemistry by original work, must ultimately specialise in some branch of the subject. It may be possible for some great minds to do valuable original work in more than one branch of chemistry, but these are the exceptions ; and as time goes on, and the mass of facts accumulates, this will become more and more impossible. Now a student at the commencement of his career rarely knows which branch of the subject will fascinate him most, and I think, therefore, that it is necessary, in the first place, to do all that is possible to give him a thorough grounding in all branches of the subject. In my opinion the student is taken over too much ground in the lecture courses of the present day : in inorganic chemistry, for example, the study of the rare metals and their reactions might be dispensed with, as well as many of the more difficult chapters of physical chemistry, and in organic chemistry such complicated problems as the constitutions of uric acid and the members of the camphor and terpene series, &c., might well be left out. As matters stand now, instruction must be given on these subjects simply because questions bearing on them will probably be asked at the examination. And here, perhaps, I might make a confession, in which I do not ask my fellow-teachers to join me. My name is often attached to chemistry papers which I should be sorry to have to No. 1611, VOL. 62] sound training will be given in elementary science in most obtained. answer ; and it seems to me the standard of examination papers, and especially of Honours examination papers, is far too high. Should we demand a pitch of knowledge which our own experience tells us cannot be maintained for long? or In dealing with the question of teaching practical chemistry, © it may be hoped, in the first place, that in the near future a schools, very much on the lines which I mentioned in the first part of this address, The student will then be in a fit state to undergo a thoroughly satisfactory course of training in inorganic — chemistry during his first two years at college. Without wish-— ing in any way to map out a definite course, I may be allowed ~ to suggest that instead of much of the usual qualitative and — quantitative analysis, practical exercises similar to the following — will be found to be of much greater educational value. | : (1) The careful experimental demonstration of the funda-— mental laws of chemistry and physical chemistry. (2) The preparation of a series of compounds of the more — important metals, either from their more common ores or from — the metals themselves. With the aid of the co nds thus — prepared the reactions cf the metals might be studied and the ~ similarities and differences between the different metals then — carefully noted. 4 (3) A course in which the student should investigate in certain — selected cases: (a) the conditions under which action takes — place; (4) the nature of the products formed; (c) the yield If he were then to proceed to prepare each product in a state of purity, he would be doing a series of exercises of the highest educational value. | (4) The determination of the combining weights of some of | the more important metals. This is in most cases compara- — tively simple, as the determination of the combining weights of © selected metals can be very accurately carried out by measuring the hydrogen evolved when an acid acts upon them. Many other exercises of a similar nature will readily sug- gest themselves, and in arranging the course every effort | should be made to induce the student to consult origina) — papers, and to avoid as far as possible any tendency to mere mechanical work. | The exact nature of such a course must, however, necessarily — be left very much in the hands of the teacher, and the details will no doubt require much consideration ; but I feel sure that a course of practical inorganic chemistry could be constructed — which, while teaching all the important facts which it is neces- sary for.the student to know, will, at the same time, constantly tend to develop his faculty of original thought. ! Supposing such a course were adopted (and the experiment is well worth trying), there still remains the problem of how the student who has had this kind of training is to be examined. oe With regard to his theoretical work there would be no diffi- — culty, as the examination could be conducted on much the same — lines as at the present time. In the case of the practical exami- nation I have long felt that the only satisfactory method of © arriving at the value of a student’s practical knowledge is by the — inspection of the work which he has done during the whole of his — course of study, and not by depending on the results of one or two days’ set examination. I think that most examiners will agree with me that the present system of examination in practical chemistry is highly unsatisfactory. This is perhaps not so appa- rent in the case of the qualitative analysis of the usual simple salt or mixture ; but when the student has to do a quantitative exercise, or when a problem is set, the results sent in are fre- quently no indication of the value of the. student’s practical — work, Leaving out of the question the possibility of the student — being in indifferent health during the short period of the praca tical examination, -it not infrequently happens that he, in his — excitement, has the misfortune to upset a beaker when his — quantitative determination is nearly finished, and as a result — he loses far more marks than he should do for so simple an accident. g Again, in attacking a problem he has usually only time to try one method of solution, and if this does not yield satisfactory results he again loses marks ; whereas in the ordinary course of his practical work, if he were to find that the first method we faulty, he would try other methods until he ultimately arrived at the desired result. = It is difficult to see why such an unsatisiactory system as th might not be replaced by one of inspection which I think could easily be so arranged as to work well, a SEPTEMBER 13, 1900] MATURE 481 — - Astudent taking, say, a three years’ course for the degree of helor of Science might be required to keep very careful notes the practical work which he does during this course, and r to avoid fraud his notebook could from time to time be led by the professor or demonstrator in charge of the tory. An inspection of these notebooks could then be suitable times by the examiners for the degree, by which | very good idea would be obtained of the scope of the which the student had been engaged in, and if thought ry a few questions could easily be asked in regard to the so presented. Should the examiners wish to further test didate by giving him an examination, I submit that it be much better to set him some exercise of the nature of e original investigation, and to allow him two or three to carry this out, than to depend on the hurried work of three days. - ae _ The object which I had in view in writing this Address was to call attention to the fact that our present system of training in nem! does not appear to develop in the student the power sonducting original research, and at the same time to eavour to est some means by which a more satisfactory e of things might be brought about. I have not been able, : in the limits of this Address, to consider the conditions of judy during the third year of the student’s career at college, or ) discuss the increasing necessity for extending that course and ting on the student carrying out an adequate original investi- before granting him a degree, but I hope on some future on to have the opportunity of returning to this very impor- of the subject. If any of the suggestions I have made prove to be of practical value, and should lead to the ction of more original research by our students, I shall feel ‘that a useful purpose has been served by bringing this matter before this Section.. In concluding I wish to thank Prof. H. B. Prof. F. S. Kipping an estions, and my thanks are especially due to Dr. Bevan Lean for much information which he gave me in connection with that part = Address which deals with the teaching of { in schools. oi others, for many valuable SECTION C. ; GEOLOGY. pi dw ; iC -Appress By Pror. W. J. Soiias, D.Sc., LL.D., __ F.R.S., PRESIDENT OF THE SECTION, Sal elt Evolutional Geology. t close of one century, the dawn of another, may naturally tt some brief retrospective glance over the path along our science has advanced, and some general survey of its 1t position from which we may gather hope of its future ;; but other connection with geology the beginnings and of centuries have none. The great periods of move- ave hitherto begun, as it were, in the early twilight hours, before the dawn. Thus the first step forward, since which as been no retreat, was taken by Steno in the year 1669 ; than a century elapsed before James Hutton (1785) gave resh energy and better direction to the faltering steps of the young science; while it was less than a century later (1863) *n Lord Kelvin brought to its aid the powers of the higher aatics and instructed it in the teachings of modern physics. Steno onward the spirit of geology was catastrophic ; from tton onward it grew increasingly uniformitarian ; from the of Dareis and Kelvin it has become evolutional. The guity of the word “‘ uniformitarian” has led to a good deal less logomachy, against which it may be as well at once to guard by indicating the sense in which it is used here. In ne way we are all uniformitarians, z.e. we accept the doctrine the “‘ uniform action of natural causes,” but, as applied to ogy, uniformity means more than this. Defined in the riefest fashion it is the geology of Lyell. Hutton had given us Theory of the Earth,” in its main outlines still faithful and and this Lyell spent his life in illustrating and advocating ; so commonly happens the zeal of the disciple outran the v I the master, and mere opinions were insisted on as necessary dogma. What did it matter if Hutton as a result of quiries into terrestrial history had declared that he found itige of a beginning, no prospect of an end? It would have marvellous if he had! Consider that when Hutton’s NO. 1611, VOL. 62] sit ca “Theory ” was published William Smith’s famous discovery had not been made, and that nothing was then known of the orderly succession of forms of life, which it is one of the triumphs of geology to have revealed; consider, too, the existing state of physics at the time, and that the modern theories of energy had still to be formulated ; consider also that spectroscopy had not yet lent its aid to astronomy and the consequent. ignorance of the nature of nebulz ; and then, if you will, cast a stone at Hutton. With Lyell, however, the case was different : in pressing his uni- formitarian creed upon geology he omitted to take into account the great advances made by its sister sciences, although he had know- ledge of them, and thus sinned against the light. In the last edition of the famous ‘‘ Principles” we read: ‘‘ It is a favourite dogma of some physicists that not only the earth, but the sun itself, is continually losing a portion of its heat, and that as there is no known source by which it can be restored we can foresee the time when all life will cease to exist on this planet, and on the _ other hand we can look back to a period when the heat was so intense as to be incompatible with the existence of any organic beings such as are known to us in the living or fossil world. .. . A geologist in search of some renovating power by which the amount of heat may be made to continue unimpaired for millions of years, past and future, in the solid parts of the earth has been compared by an eminent physicist to one who dreams he can discover a source of perpetual motion and invent a clock with a self-winding apparatus. But why should we despair of detecting proofs of such regenerating and self-sustaining power in the works of a Divine Artificer ?” ere we catch the true spirit of uniformity ; it admittedly regards the universe as a self-winding clock, and barely conceals a conviction that the clock was warranted to keep true Greenwich time. The law of the dissipation of energy is not a dogma, but a doctrine drawn from observation, while the uniformity of Lyell is in no sense an induction : it is a dogma in the narrowest sense of the word, unproved, incapable of proof; hence perhaps its power upon the human mind; hence also the transitoriness of that power. Again, it is only by restricting its inquiries to the stratified rocks of our planet that the dogma of uniformity can be maintained with any pretence of argument. Directly we begin to search the heavens the possibility, nay even the likelihood, of the nebular origin of our system, with all that it involves, is borne in upon us. - Lyell therefore consistently refused to extend his _ gaze beyond the rocks beneath his feet, and was thus led to do a serious injury to our science: he severed it from cosmogony, for which he entertained and expressed the most profound con- tempt, and from the mutilation thus inflicted geology is only at length making a slow and painful recovery. Why do I dwell on these facts? To depreciate Lyell? By no means. Noone is more conscious than I of the noble service which Lyell rendered to.our cause: his reputation is of too robust a kind to suffer from my unskilful handling, and the fame of his solid contribu- tions to science will endure long after these controversies are forgotten. The echoes of the combat are already dying away, and uniformitarians, in the sense already defined, are now no more; indeed, were I to attempt to exhibit any distinguished living geologist as a still surviving supporter of the narrow Lyellian creed, he would probably feel, if such a one there be, that I was unfairly singling him out for unmerited obloquy. Our science has become evolutional, and in the transformation has grown more comprehensive: her petty parochial days are done, she is drawing her provinces closer around her, and is fusing them together into a united and single commonwealth— the science of the earth. Not merely the earth’s crust, but the whole of earth-know- ledge is the subject of our research. To know all that can be known about our planet, this, and nothing less than this, is its aim and scope. From the morphological side geology inquires, not only into the existing form and structure of the earth, but also into the series of successive morphological states through which it has passed in a long and changeful development. Our science inquires also into the distribution of the earth in time and space ; on the physiological side it studies the movements and activities of our planet ; and not content with all this it ex- tends its researches into etiology and endeavours to arrive at a science of causation. In these pursuits geology calls all the other sciences to her aid. In our commonwealth there are no outlanders ; if an eminent physicist enter our territory we do not begin at once to prepare for war, because the very fact of his undertaking a geological inquiry of, itself confers upon him all the duties and privileges of citizenship. A physicist studying 482 _ tae NATURE [SEPTEMBER 13, 1900 geology is by definition a geologist. Our only regret is, not that physicists occasionally invade our borders, but that they do not visit us oftener and make closer acquaintance with us. Early History of the Earth: First Critical Period, If I am bold enough to assert that cosmogony is no longer alien to geology, I may proceed further, and taking advantage of my temerity pass on to speak of things once not permitted to us. I propose, therefore, to offer some short account of the early stages in the history of the earth. Into its nebular origin we need not inquire—that is a subject tor astronomers. Weare content to accept the infant earth from their hands as a molten globe ready made, its birth*from a gaseous nebula duly certified. If we ask, as a matter of curiosity, what was the origin of the nebula, I fear even astronomers cannot tell us. -There is an hypothesis which refers it to the clashing of meteorites, but in the form in which this is usually presented it does not help us much: Such meteorites as have been observed to penetrate our atmo- sphere and to fall on to the surface of tha earth prove on examination to have had an eventful history of their own of which not the least important chapter was a passage through a molten state ; they would thus appear to be the products rather than the progenitors of a nebula. We commence our history, then, with a rapidly-rotating molten planet, not impossibly already solidified about the centre and surrounded by an atmosphere of great depth, the larger part of which was contributed by the water of our present oceans, then existing in a state of gas. This atmosphere, which exerted a pressure of something like 5000 Ib. to the square inch, must have played a very important part in the evolution of our planet. The molten exterior absorbed it to an extent which depended on the pressure, and which may some day be learnt from experiment. Under the influence of the rapid rotation of the earth the atmosphere would be much deeper in equatorial than polar regions, so that in the latter the loss of heat by radia- tion would be in excess. This might of itself lead to convec- tional currents in the molten ocean. The effect on the atmosphere is very difficult to trace, but it is obvious that if a high-pressure area originated over some cooler region of the ocean; the winds blowing out of it would drive before them the cooler superficial layers of molten material, and as these were replaced by hotter lava streaming from below, the tendency would be to convert the high into a low-pressure area, and to reverse the direction of the winds. Conversely under a low- pressure area the in-blowing winds would drive in the cooler superficial layers of molten matter that had been swept away trom the anticyclones. If the difference in pressure under the cyclonic and anticyclonic areas were considerable, some of the gas absorbed under the anticyclones might escape beneath the cyclones, and in a later stage of cooling might give rise to vast floating islands of scoria. Such islands might be the first fore- shadowings of the future continents. Whatever the ultimate effect of the reaction of the winds on the currents of the molten ocean, it is probable that some kind of circulation was set up in the latter. The universal molten ocean was by no means homo- geneous: it was constantly undergoing changes in composition as it reacted chemically with the internal metallic nucleus ; its currents would streak the different portions out in directions which in the northern hemisphere would run from north-east to south-west, and thus the differences which distinguish particular petrological regions of ‘our planet may have commenced their existence at a very early stage. Is it possible that as our know- ledge extends we shall be able by a study of the distribution of igneous rocks and minerals to draw some conclusions as to the direction of these hypothetical lava currents? Our planet was profoundly disturbed by tides, produced by the sun ; for as yet there was no moon; and it has been suggested that one of its tidal waves rose to a height so great as to sever its connection with the earth and to'fly offas theinfant moon. This event may be regarded as marking the first critical period, or catastrophe if we please, in the history of our planet. The career of our satel- lite, after its escape from the earth, is not known till it attained a distance of nine terrestrial radii ; after this its progress can be clearly followed. At the eventful time of parturition the earth was rotating, witha period of from two to four hours, about an axis in- clined at some 11°or 12°tothe ecliptic. The time which haselapsed since the moon occupied a position nine terrestrial radii distant from the earth is at least fifty-six to fifty-seven millions of years, but may have been much more. Prof. Darwin’s story of the moon is certainly one of the most beautiful contributions ever NO. 1611, VOL. 62] _ to Prof. Joly, from between eighty and ninety mi r ago. made by astronomy to geology, and we shall all concur with him when he says, ‘‘ A theory reposing on vere cause, which brings into quantitative correlation the length of the present day and month, the obliquity of the ecliptic, and the inclination and eccentricity of ‘the lunar orbit, must, I think, have strong claims to acceptance.” Rta The majority of geologists have long hankered after a metallic composed chiefly, by analogy with nucleus for the earth, meteorites, of iron. Lord Kelvin has admitted the probable existence of some such nucleus, and lately Prof. Wiechert has furnished us with arguments—‘“ powerful” arguments Prof. Darwin terms them—in support of its existence. The interior — of the earth for four-fifths of the radius is composed, according — to Prof. Wiechert, chiefly of metallic iron, with a density of © 8:2; the outer envelope, one fifth of the radius, or about 400 miles in thickness, consists of silicates, such as we are familiar — with in igneous rocks and meteorites, and possesses a density of — It was from this outer envelope when molten that the — 372. moon was trundled off, twenty-seven miles in depth going to its formation. The density of this material, as we have just seen, is supposed to be 3°2; the density of the moon is 3°39, a close approximation, such difference as exists being c pletely explicable by the comparatively low temperature of the moon. — The outer envelope of the earth which was drawn off to form — the moon was, as we have seen, charged with steam and other gases under a pressure of 5000 Ib. to the square inch ; but as — the satellite wandered away from the parent planet this pressure — continuously diminished. Under these circumstances the moon. would become as explosive as a charged bomb, steam would burst forth from numberless volcanoes, and while the face of the moon might thus have acquired its existing features, the ejected material might possibly have been shot so far away from its origin as to have acquired an independent orbit. If so we may ask whether it may not be possible that the meteorites, which sometimes descend upon our planet, are but portions of its own envelope returning to it. gravity of those meteorites which have been seen to fall much above 3°2, and that they have passed through a stage of fusion, are consistent with this suggestion. sf Second Critical Period. ** Consistentior Status,” The solidification of the earth probably became completed soon after the birth of the moon. The temperature of its surface at the time of consolidation was about 1170° C., and it was therefore still surrounded by its primitive deep atmosphere of steam and other gases. This was the second critical period in the history of the earth, the stage of the ‘ consistentior status,” the date of which Lord Kelvin would rather know than that of the Norman Conquest, though he thinks it lies between twenty and forty millions of years ago, probably nearer twenty than forty. ' : ua: Now that the crust was solid there was less reason why move- — ments of the atmosphere should be unsteady, and definite regions of high and low pressure might have been established. Under the high-pressure areas the surface of the crust would be — depressed ; correspondingly under the low-pressure areas it would be raised ; and thus from the first the surface of the solid — earth might be dimpled and embossed.”+ Third Critical Period. Origin of the Oceans. ‘ The cooling of the earth would continuously progress, till the — temperature of the surface fell to 370° C., when that part of © the atmosphere which consisted of steam would begin to liquefy ; then the dimples on the surface would soon become filled with superheated water, and the pools so formed would — =e vit The facts that the average specific - is not — | | | 7 2 - . expand and deepen, till they formed the oceans. This is the — aecord third critical stage in the history of the earth, dating, illions of years — With the growth of the oceans the distinction between land and sea arose—in what precise manner we may proceed to inquire. ; status,” when the earth had just solidified, we shall find, ac- cording to Lord Kelvin, that the temperature coatinueastia increased from the surface, where it was 1170°C., down to a © depth of twenty-five miles, where it was about 1430°C., or — 260° C. above the fusion point of the matter, forming the crusi 1 It would be difficult to discuss with sufficient brevity the probable dis- tribution of these inequalities, but it may be pointed out that the moon is — possibly responsible, and that in more ways than one, for much of the existing geographical asymmetry. ‘ : ; «a If we revert to the period of the ‘‘consistentio Na SEPTEMBER tg: 1900] NATURE 483 ‘That the crust at thls depth was not molten but solid is to be by the very great pressure to which it was subjected— ‘so much pressure, indeed, as was required to counteract the ence of the additional "260°C. hus if we could have ed the pressure on the crust we should have caused it to y; by restoring the pressure it would resolidify. By the he earth’s surface had cooled down to 370°C. the depth sath the surface at which the pressure just kept the crust 1 would have sunk some slight distance inwards, but not ently to affect our 9 eae he 2 average pressure 0 the primitive atmosphere upon the ust can readily be calculated by supposing the water of the isting oceans to be uniformly distributed over the earth’s and then bya simple piece of arithmetic determining : pth 5 this is found to be 1'718 miles, the average depth of ns being taken at 2°393 miles. Thus the average pres- over the earth’s surface, immediately before the formation = oceans, was equivalent to that of a column of water 8 miles high on each square inch. Supposing that at its : the ocean were all ‘‘ gathered together into one place,” and he “ae me appeared,” then the pressure over the ocean floor pe spcicaerd from 1°718 miles to 2°393 miles, while that rtions of the crust that now formed the land would shed by 1°718 miles. This difference in pressure 1 tend to erate those faint depressions which had tice under the primitive anti-cyclonic areas, and if the just lidified material of the earth’s crust were set into a state of ow, it might move from under the ocean into the bulgings which ing to form the land, until static equilibrium were esta- Under these circumstances the pressure of the ocean be j just able to maintain a column of rock 0'886 miles in or ten twenty-sevenths of its own depth. It could do no ; bu in order that the dry land may appear some cause competent either to lower the ocean bed the seventeen twenty-sevenths of its full depth, or to raise tinental he to the same extent. Sucha cause may, ink in a further effect of the reduction in over ‘the continental areas. Previous to the condensa- the ocean, these, as we have seen, were subjected to an ric pressure equal to that of a column of water 1°718 ight. This pressure was contributory to that which used t! -five miles of the earth’s crust to become oli¢ ed, i , just about one fortieth of that pres- or anes to raise the fusion point 6°C. What, then, ye expected to n when the continental area was 2d of this load? Plainly : liquefaction and corresponding sion of the underlying rock. it we will not go so far as to assert that actual liquefaction sult ; all we itr for our explanation is a great ex- and this would probably follow whether the crust were x not. For there is good reason to suppose that when ture above its ordinary fusion point is com- the solid state by pressure, its volume is very dig es either of pressure or temperature. The expansion of liquid carbon dioxide is a case in point : of this fluid xi —z20° C, become 150 volumes at pa temperate just below the critical point. A great re of a atch also occurs when the material of i "igneous rocks ; ine state to that of glass ; in the case of 13 soe ence in volume of the rock in the two temperatures is 13 per cent. e over the site of continents were accompanied by volume at all approaching this, the additional elevation of twenty-sevenths required to raise the land to the sea- tens be accounted for. How far down beneath the sur- Teh En the material on which he experimented ; apparently ety Pain olivine. enough to express res of the pian ewes rea rery na mre np way volume: precise manner for me. He writes: “It would re- ent shee pt temperatures and pressures to work out in aye it hice then what is really involved is that in a certain | and that changes state with a considerable of volume) has an enormous isothermal compressibility. Although 6 ly pene eg in pod jo gets of bodies which melt suddenly, like ice, ‘ involve very bilities in the case of bodies even © eater noggin ey so at all quickly, z.e. within a small hat you Saeteied then, is that at a certain depth to be squeezed from under the oceans, and that, near its melting point, he roa relief of pressure is accompan ied by nous increase in volume w helped to raise the Continalite: Now Ihave written the thing out oa my own way it seems very likely. It y, a suggestion quite worthy of serious consideration, and a pro- Keg oa some places must almost certainly have been in operation, and ; still operative. Looking at it again, I hardly think it is quite io: 1611, VOL. 62] If the relief of face the unlcading of the continents would be felt it is difficult to say, though the problem is probably not beyond the reach of mathematical analysis ; if it affected an outer envelope twenty- five miles in thickness, a linear expansion of 4 per cent. would suffice to explain the origin of ocean basins. If now we refer to the dilatation determined by Carl Barus for rise in temperature in the case of diabase, we find that between 1093° and 1112° C. the increase in volume is 3°3 per cent. As a further factor in deepening the ocean basins may be included the compressive effect of the increase in load over the ocean floor : this increase is equal to the pressure of a column of water 0°675 mile in height, and its effect in raising the fusion point would be 2°C., fron which we may gain some kind of idea of the amount of compression it might produce on the yielding interior of the crust. To admit that these views are speculative will be to . confess nothing ; but they certainly account for a good deal. They not only give us ocean basins, but basins of the kind we want, that is, to use a crude comparison once made by the late Dr. Carpenter, basins of a tea-tray form, having a somewha flat floor and steeply sloping sides ; they also help to explain how it is that the value of gravity is greater over the ocean than over the land. The ocean when first formed would consist of highly heated’ water, and this, as is well known, is an energetic chemical re- agent when brought into contact with silicates iike those which formed the primitive crust. As a result of its action saline solu- tions and chemical deposits would be formed ; the latter, how- ever, would probably be of no’ great thickness, for the time occupied by the ocean in cooling to a temperature not far re- moved from the present would probably be included within a few hundreds of years. The Stratified Series. The course of events now becomes somewhat obscure, but sooner or later the familiar processes of denudation and the de- position started into activity, and have continued acting uninter- ruptedly ever ‘since. The total maximum thickness of the sedimentary deposits, so far as I can discover, appears to amioant : to no less than 50 miles, made up as follows :-— Feet Recent and Pleistocene ... 4,000 Man. PROCOMB Voc) e.g.5 5) <2) és¥. “v5 OOO Pithecanthropus. Miocene: ce. Sie as ee 000 Oligocene . 12,000 Eocene tae 12,000 Eutheria. Cretaceous .. ... 14.000 ... Jurassic tee 8,000 ... POMBE a's 5 ahs thes 13,000 Mammals, PORIE 22) f2'ene Ss. 4 ged S000 Reptiles. Carboniferous... ...... 24,000 Amphibia, Devonian 22,000 Fish. Silurian tee "eae a, A MOPCUIOMI? 5. ecg.) cla less. hg OOO ’ Cambrian 16,000 Invertebrata, Keeweenawan 50,000 -Penokee 14,000 Huronian 18,000 Geologists, lice with the tardy pace at which sediments appear to be accumulating at the present day, could not con- template this colossal pile of strata without feeling that it spoke of an almost inconceivably long lapse of time. They were led : to compare its duration with the distances which intervene between the heavenly bodies ; but while some chose the distance ; of the nearest fixed star as their unit, others were content to measure the years in terms of miles from the sun, Evolution of Organisms. The stratified rocks were eloquent of time, and not to the logist alone ; they appealed with equal force to the biologist. sea Darwin’s explanation of the origin of species, the likely that there is or could be much squeezing sideways of liquid or other viscous material from under one Lous to another, because the elastic yielding of the inside of the earth would be much quicker than any flow of this kind. This would only modify your theory, because the diabase that ex- nds so much on the relief of pressure might be that already under the Ind, and raising up this latter, partly by being pushed up itself by the elastic relief of the inside of the earth and partly by its own enormous ex- pansibility near its melting point. The action would be quite slow, because it would cool itself so much by its expansion that it would have to be warmed up from below, or by tidal eart squeezing, or by chemical action, before it could expand isothermally.” 484 NATURE [SEPTEMBER 13, 1900 present rate at which form flows to form seemed so slow as almost to amount to immutability. How vast then must have been the period during which by slow degrees and innumerable stages the protozoon was transformed into the man! And if we turn to the stratified column, what do we find? Man, it is true, at the summit, the oldest fossiliferous rocks 34 miles lower down, and the fossils they contain already representing most of the great classes of the Invertebrata, including Crustacea and Worms. Thus the evolution of the Vertebrata alone is known to have occupied a period represented bya thickness of 34 miles of sediment. How much greater, then, must have been the interval required for the elaboration of the whole organic world ! The human mind, dwelling on such considerations as these, seems at times to have been affected by a sur-excitation of the imagination, and a consequent paralysis of the understanding, which led to a refusal to measure geological time by years at all, or to reckon by anything less than ‘‘ eternities.” Geologic Periods of Time. After the admirable Address of your President last year it might be thought needless for me to again enter into a con- sideration of this subject ; it has been said, however, that the question of geological time is like the Djin in Arabian tales, and will irrepressibly come up again for discussion, however often it is disposed of. For my part I do not regard the question so despondingly, but rather hope that by persevering effort we may succeed in discovering the talisman by which we may compel the unwilling Djin into our service. How immeasurable would be the advance of our science could we but bring the chief events which it records into some relation with a standard of time ! Before proceeding to the discussion of estimates of time drawn from a study of stratified rocks let us first consider those which have been already suggested by other data. These are as follows :—(1) Time which has elapsed since the separation of the earth and moon, fifty-six millions of years, minimum esti- mate by Prof. G. H. Darwin. (2) Since the ‘‘ consistentior status,” twenty to forty millions (Lord Kelvin). (3) Since the condensation of the oceans, eighty to ninety millions, maximum estimate by Prof. J. Joly. It may be at once observed that these estimates, although independent, are all of the same order of magnitude, and so far confirmatory of each other. Nor are they opposed to conclu- sions drawn from a study of stratified rocks; thus Sir Archi- bald Geikie, in his Address to this Section last year, affirmed that, so far as these were concerned, one hundred millions of years might suffice for their formation. There is then very little to quarrel about, and our task is reduced to an attempt, by a little stretching and a little paring, to bring these various estimates into closer harmony. Prof. “Darwin’s estimate is admittedly a minimum; the actual time, as he himself expressly states, ‘‘may have been much longer.” Lord Kelvin’s estimate, which he would make nearer twenty than forty millions, is founded on the assump- tion that since the period of the ‘‘consistentior status” the earth has cooled simply as a solid body, the transference of heat from within outwards having been accomplished solely by conduction. ! It may: be at once admitted that there is a large amount of truth in this assumption; there can be no possible doubt that the earth reacts towards forces applied for a short time as a solid body. Under the influence of the tides it behaves as though it possessed a rigidity approaching that of steel, and under sudden blows, such as those which give rise to earthquakes, with twice this rigidity, as Prof. Milne informs me. Astronomical considerations lead to the conclusion that its effective rigidity has not varied greatly for a long period of past time. ; Still, while fully recognising these facts, the geologist knows —we all know—that the crust of the earth is not altogether solid. The existence of volcanoes by itself suggests the con- trary, and although the total amount of fluid material which is brought from the interior to the exterior of the earth by volcanic action may be, and certainly is, small—from data given by Prof. Penck, I estimate it as equivalent to a layer of rock uniformly distributed 2mm. thick per century ; yet we have every reason to believe that volcanoes are but the superficial manifestation of far greater bodies of molten material 1 The heat thus brought to the surface would amount to one-seventeenth of that conveyed by conduction. : NO. 1611, VOU. 62] “| which lie concealed beneath the ground, Even the wide areas of plutonic rock, which are sometimes exposed to view over a country that has suffered long-continued denudation, are merely the upper portion of more extensive masses which lie remote from view. The existence of molten material within the earth’s crust naturally awakens a suspicion that the pro- cess of cooling has not been wholly by conduction, but also to some slight extent by convection, and to a still greater extent by the bodily migration of liquid lava from the deeper layers of the crust towards the surface. Ney The existence of local reservoirs of molten rock within the crust is even still more important in another connection, that is, in relation with the supposed ‘‘average rate of increase of temperature with descent below the ground.” It is doubtful whether we have yet discovered a rate that in any useful sense can be spoken of as ‘‘average.” The widely divergent views of different authorities as to the presumed value of this rate may well lead to reflection. The late Prof. Prestwich thought a rise of 1° F. for every 45 feet of descent below the "| BRITISH ISLES. | ge st inl i gia ye “| : § Tobe iT & ORF Skawele | oF DA) ULI Creek Mle ING 8 Y S sy Osu es | : a ore be " , r a o 3 Y- o * Ns “8 o Fic. 1.—Map of the British Isles, showing the distribution of rates of increase of temperature with descent. The rates are taken from the ‘* British Association Report,” except in the case of those in the south of Ireland. ' zone of constant temperature best represented the average; Lord Kelvin in his earlier estimates has adopted a value of 1° F. for every 51 feet; the Committee of this Association appointed to investigate this question arrived at a rate of 1° F, for every 60 feet of descent; Mr. Clarence King has made calculations in which a rate of 1° F. for 72 feet is adopted ; a re-investigation of recorded measurements would, I believe, lead to a rate of 1° F. in 80 or feet as more closely approaching the mean. This would raise Lord Kelvin’s estimate to nearly fifty millions of years. Y m When from these various averages we turn to the observations on which they are based, we encounter a surprising divergence j of extremes from the mean ; thus in the British Isles alone the ~ rate varies from 1° F. in 34 feet to 1° F. in 92 feet, orin one case to 1° F, in 130 feet. It has been suggested, and to some extent shown, that these irregularities may be connected with SEPTEMBER 13, 1900] NATURE 485 _ differences in conductivity of the rocks in which the observa- __ tions were made, or to the circulation of underground water ; ___ but many cases exist which cannot be explained away in such a ___- manner, but are suggestive of some deep-seated cause, such as the distribution of molten matter below the ground. Inspection ___ of the acconipanying map of the British Isles, on which the rates __ Of increase in different localities have been plotted, will afford - some evidence of the truth of this view. Comparatively low fates of increase are found over Wales and in the province of _ Leinster, districts of relatively great stability, the remnants of an _ island that have in all probability stood above the sea ever since _ the close of the Silurian period. To the north of this, as we enter a region which was subject to volcanic disturbances during __ the Tertiary period, the rate increases. ____ It is obvious that in any attempt to estimate the rate at which _ the earth is cooling as a solid body the disturbing influence of _ subterranean lakes of molten rock must as far as possible be eliminated ; but this will not be effected by taking the accepted ‘mean of observed rates of increase of temperature: such an average is merely a compromise, and a nearer approach to a ‘correct result will possibly be attained by selecting some low rate of increase, provided it be based on accurate observations. _ Itis extremely doubtful whether an. area such as the British Isles, which has so frequently been the theatre of volcanic activity and other subterranean disturbance, is the best fitted to afford trustworthy results; the Archean nucleus of a con- tinent ag, ae expected to afford surer indications. Unfor- a inarmtel . the hidden treasures of the earth are seldom buried in _ made in them. One exception is afforded by the copper-bearing =3 a increase of temperature with descent into the crust as afford- _ ing a safe guide to the ‘rate of cooling of a solid globe; and _ if the much slower rate of increase observed in the more _ ancient and more stable regions of the earth has the import- which is ted for it, then Lord Kelvin’s estimate the date of the “consistentior status” may be pushed into a remoter past. If, as we have reason to hope, Lord Kelvin’s somewhat con- period will yield to a little stretching, Prof. Joly’s, on other hand, may take some paring. His argument, oadly stated, is as follows. The ocean consisted at first of water; it is now salt, and its saltness is due to the Th then, matter that is constantly being carried into it by rivers. | : : then, we know the quantity of salt which the rivers bring each year into the sea, it is easy to calculate how many they have taken to supply the sea with all the salt it at esent contains. For several reasons it is found necessary to sstrict attention to one only of the elements contained in sea It: this is sodium. The quantity of sodium delivered to the sea _ every year 7 rivers is about 160,000,000 tons ; but the quantity of sodium which th* sea contains is at least ninety millions of _ times greater than this. The period during which rivers have been carrying sodium into the sea must therefore be about ninety millions of years. Nothing could be simpler; there is no serious flaw in the method, and Prof. Joly’s treatment of the subject is admirable in every way ; but of course in calculations B's: as this everything depends on the accuracy of the data, _ which we may therefore proceed to discuss. ~ Prof. Joly’s _ estimate of the amount of sodium in the ocean may be accepted as sufficiently near the truth for all practical purposes. We may therefore pass on to the other factor, the annual contribution of by river water. Here there is more room for error. ‘wo quantities must be ascertained: one the quantity of water which the rivers of the world carry into the sea, the other the uantity or proportion of sodium present in this water. The al volume of water discharged rivers into the ocean is n by Sir John Murray as 6524 cubic miles. The mate being based on observations of thirty-three great rivers, hough only approximate, it is no doubt sufficiently exact ; at __ all events such alterations as it is likely to undergo will not greatly affect the final result. When, however, we pass to the last quantity to be determined, the chemical composition of average NC. 1611, VOL. 62] -five millions o river water, we find that only a very rough estimate is possible, and this is the more unfortunate because changes in this may very materially affect our conclusions. The total quantity of river water discharged into the sea is, as we have stated, 6524 cubic miles, The average composition of this water is deduced from analyses of nineteen great rivers, which altogether discharge only 488 cubic miles, or 7°25 per cent. of the whole. The danger in using this estimate is twofold: in the first place 7°25 is too small a fraction from which to argue to the remaining 92°75 percent., and, next, the rivers which furnish it are selected rivers, z.¢., they are allof largesize. The effect of this is that the drainage of the volcanic regions of the earth is not sufficiently represented, and it is precisely this drainage which is richest in sodium salts. The lavas and ashes of active volcanoes rapidly disintegrate under the energetic action of various acid gases, and among volcanic exhalations sodium chloride has been especially noticed as abundant. Consequently we find that while the proportion of sodium in Prof. Joly’s average river water is only 5°73 per million, in the rivers of the volcanic island of Hawaii it rises to 24°5 per million (Walter Maxwell, ‘* Lavas and Soils of the Hawaiian Islands,” p. 170). No doubt the area occupied by volcanoes is trifling compared with the remaining land surface. On the other hand the majority of volcanoes are situated in regions of copious rainfall, of which they receive a full share owing to their mountainous form. Much of the fallen rain percolates through the porous material of the cone, and, richly charged with alkalies, finds its way by underground passages towards the sea, into which it. sometimes discharges by submarine springs. Again, several considerations lead to the belief that the supply of sodium to the ocean has proceeded, not at a uniform, but at a gradually diminishing rate. The rate of increase of temperature with descent into the crust has continuously diminished with the flow of time, and this must have had its influence on the tem- perature of springs, which furnish an important contribution to- river water. The significance of this consideration may be judged from the composition of the water of geysers. Thus. Geyser, in Iceland, contains 884 parts of sodium per million, or nearly 160 times as much as Sir John Murray estimates is. present in average river water. A mean of the analyses of six geysers in different parts of the world gives 400 parts of sodium per million, existing partly as chloride, but also as sulphate and carbonate. It should not be overlooked that the present is a calm and quiet epoch in the earth’s history, following after a time of fiery activity. More than once, indeed, has the past been distin- guished by unusual manifestations of volcanic energy, and these must have had some effect upon the supply of sodium to the ocean. Finally, although the existing ocean water has apparently but slight effect in corroding the rocks which form its bed, yet it certainly was not inert when its temperature was not. far removed from the critical point. Water begins to exert a powerful destructive action on silicates at a temperature of 180° C., and during the interval occupied in cooling from 370 to’ 180° C. a considerable quantity of sodium may have entered into solution. . A review of the facts before us seems to render some reduction in Dr. Joly’s estimate imperative. A precise. assessment is impossible, but I should be inclined myself to take off some ten or thirty millions of years. We may next take the evidence of the stratified rocks. Their total maximum thickness is, as we have seen, 265,000 feet, and consequently if they: accumulated at the rate of one foot ina century, as evidence seems to suggest, more than twenty-six millions of years must have elapsed during their formation. Obscure Chapter in the Earth's History. Before discussing the validity of the argument on which this last result depends, let us consider how far it harmonises with revious ones. It is consistent with Lord Kelvin’s and Professor arwin’s, but how does it accord with Professor Joly’s? Sup- posing we reduce his estimate to fifty-five millions; what was the earth doing during the interval between the period of fifty- Y conse ago and that of only 264 millions of years ago, when, it is presumed, sedimentary rocks commenced to be formed? Hitherto we have been able to reason on probabili- ties ; now we enter the dreary region of possibilities, and open that obscure chapter in the history of the earth previously hinted at. For there are many possible answers to this question. In the first place the evidence of the stratified rocks may have been 486 NATURE [SEPTEMBER 13, 1900 wrongly interpreted, and two or three times the amount of time we have demanded may have been consumed in their formation. This is a very obvious possibility, yet again our estimate con- cerning these rocks may be correct, but we may have erroneously omitted to take into account certain portions of the Archzean com- plex, which may represent primitive sedimentary rocks, formed under exceptional conditions, and subsequently transformed under the influence of the internal heat of the earth. This, I think, would be Prof. Bonney’s view. Finally Lord Kelvin has argued that the life of the sun as a luminous star is even more briefly limited than that of our oceans. In such a case if our oceans were formed fifty-five millions of years ago, it is possible that after a short existence as almost boiling water they grew colder and colder, till they became covered with thick ice, and moved only in obedience to the tides. The earth, frozen and dark, except for the red glow of her volcanoes, waited the coming of the sun, and it was not till his growing splendour had banished the long night that the cheerful sound of running waters was heard again in our midst. Then the work of denudation and deposition seriously recommenced, not to cease till the life of the sun is spent. Thus the thickness of. the stratified series may be a measure rather of the duration of sun- light than of the period which has elapsed since the first forma- tion of the ocean. It may have been so—we cannot tell—but it may be fairly urged that we know less of the origin, history, and constitution of the sun than of the earth itself, and that, for aught we can say to the contrary, the sun may have been shining on the just-formed ocean as cheerfully as he shines to-day. Time required for the Evolution of the Living World. But, it will be asked, how far does a period of twenty-six ‘millions satisfy the demands of biology? Speaking only for myself, although I am aware that eminent biologists are not ‘wanting who share this opinion, I answer, Amply. But it will be exclaimed, Surely there are ‘‘ comparisons in things.” Look at Egypt, where more than 4,000 years since the same species of man and animals lived and flourished as to-day. Examine the frescoes and ‘study the living procession of familiar forms they so faithfully portray, and then tell us, how comes it about that from changes so slow as to be inappreciable in the lapse of forty centuries you propose to build up the whole organic world in the course of a mere twenty-six millions of years? To all ' which we might reply that even changeless Egypt presents us with at least one change—the features of the ruling race are to-day not quite the same as those of the Pharaohs. But putting this on one side, the admitted constancy in some few common forms proves very little, for so long as the environment remains the same natural selection will conserve the type, and, so far as we are able to judge, conditions in Egypt have remained remarkably constant for a long period. Change the conditions, and the resulting modification of the species becomes manifest enough ; and in this connection it is only necessary to recall the remarkable mutations observed and recorded by Prof. Weldon in the case of the crabs in Plymouth Harbour. In response to increasing turbidity of the sea water these crabs have undergoneor are undergoing a change in the relative dimensions of the carapace, which is persistent, in one direction, and rapid enough to be determined by measurements made at intervals of a few years. Again, animals do not all change their characters at the same rate: some are stable, in spite of changing conditions, and these have been cited to prove that none of the periods we look upon as probable, not twenty-five, not a hundred millions of years, scarce any period short of eternity, is sufficient to account for the evolution of the living world. If the little tongue-shell, Lingula, has endured with next to no perceptible change from the Cambrian down to the present day, how long, it is some- times inquired, would it require for the evolution of the rest of the animal kingdom? The reply is simple: the cases are dis- similar, and the same record which assures us of the persistency of the Zingula tells us in language equally emphatic of the course of evolution which has led from the lower organisms upwards to man. In recent and Pleistocene deposits the relics of man are plentiful: in the latest Pliocene they have dis- appeared, and we encounter the remarkable form Péthecan- thropus ; as we descend into the Tertiary systems the higher mammals are met with, always sinking lower and lower in the scale of organisation as they occur deeper in the series, till in the Mesozoic deposits they have entirely disappeared, and their place is taken by the lower mammals, a feeble folk, offering NO. 1611, VOL. 62] little promise of the future they were to inherit. Still lower, and even these are gone; and in the Permian we encounter © reptiles and the ancestors of reptiles, probably ancestors of — mammals too; then into the Carboniferous, where we find amphibians, but no true reptiles; and next into the Devonian, where fish predominate, after making their earliest. appearance at the’close of the Silurian times ; thence downwards, and the vertebrata are no more found—we trace the evolution of the invertebrata alone. Thus the orderly procession of organic forms follows in precisely the true phylogenetic sequence; in- vertebrata first, then vertebrates, at first fish, then amphibia, next reptiles, soon after mammals, of the lowlier kinds first, of the higher later, and these in increasing complexity of structure till we finally arrive at man himself. While the living world was thus unfolding into new and nobler forms, the immutable Linguia simply perpetuated its kind. To select it, or other species equally sluggish, as the sole measure of the rate of bio- logic change would seem as strange a proceeding as to confound the swiftness of a river with the stagnation of the pools that lie beside its banks. It is occasionally objected that reer Shed have drawn from the palzontological record is mere myth or is founded only on negative evidence. Cavils of this kind prove a double misapprehension, partly as to the facts, partly as to the value of negative evidence, which may be as good in its way as any other kind of evidence. bie a Geologists are not unaware of the pitfalls which beset ive evidence, and they do not conclude from the absence of fossi in the rocks which underlie the Cambrian that pre-Cambrian periods were devoid of life; on the contrary, they are fully persuaded that the seas of those times were teeming with a rich variety of invertebrate forms. How is it that, with the exception of some few species found in beds immediately underlying the Cambrian, these have left behind no vestige of their existence? The explanation does not lie in the nature of the sediments, which are not unfitted for the preservation of fossils, nor in the composition of the then existing sea water, which may have contained quite as much calcium carbonate as occurs in our pre- sent oceans ; and the only plausible supposition would appear to be that the organisms of that time had not passed beyond the stage now represented by the larvee of existing invertebrata, — and consequently were either unprovided with skeletons, or at all events with skeletons durable enough for preservation. If so, the history of the earlier stages of the evolution of the in- vertebrata will receive no light from paleontology ; and no direct answer can be expected to the question whether, eighteen or nineteen millions of years being taken as sufficient for the evolution of the vertebrata, the remaining available eight millions would provide for that of the invertebrate which are represented in the lowest Cambrian deposits. Oi a priori grounds there would appear to be no reason why it should not. If two millions of years afforded time enough for the conversion of fish into amphibians, a similar period should suffice for the evolution of trilobites from annelids, or of anne- lids from trochospheres. . The step from gastrulas to trocho- spheres might. be accomplished in another two millions, and two millions more would take us from gastrulas through morulas to protozoa. fairs - As things stand, biologists can have nothing to say either for or against such a conclusion: they are not at ne in a posi- tion to offer independent evidence ; nor can they hope to be so until they have vastly extended those promising investigations which they are only now beginning to make into the rate of the variation of species. eee ee f * A Unexpected Absence of Thermal Metamorphosis in Ancient — Rocks. eae ; Two difficulties now remain for discussion: one based on — theories of mountain chains, the other on the unaltered state of — some ancient sediments. The latter may be taken first. Prof. — van Hise writes as follows regarding the pre-Cambrian rocks of the Lake Superior district : ‘The Penokee series furnishes an instructive lesson as to the depth to which rocks may be buried and yet remain but slightly affected by metamorphosis. The series itself is 14,000 feet thick. It was covered before being upturned with a great thickness of Keweenaw rock.. This series at the Montreal River is estimated to be 50,000 feet thick. Lore Adding to this the known thickness of the Penokeeseries, wehave a thickness of 64,000 feet. . . . The Penokee rocks were then ~ buried to a great depth, the exact amount depending upon their 4 SEPTEMBER 13, 1900] NATURE 487 “horizon and upon the stage in Keweenaw time, when the tilting and erosion, which brought them to the surface, commenced. _** That the synclinal trough of Lake Superior began to form fore the end of the Keweenaw period, and consequently that Penokee rocks were not buried under the full succession, is more than probable. However, they must have been buried to depth—at least several miles—and thus subjected to high sure and temperature, notwithstanding which they are aratively unaltered” (Zenth Annual Report U.S.: Geol. vey, 1888-80, P. 457). this example because it is one of the best instances of that occurs more than once in considering the history entary rocks. On the supposition that the rate of it of temperature with descent is 1° F. for every 84 r 1° C. for every 150 feet, and that it was no greater these early Penokee times, then at a depth of 50,000 * Penokee rocks would attain a temperature of nearly .; and since water begins to exert powerful chemical on at 180° C. they should, on the theory of a solid coolin lobe, have suffered a metamorphosis sufficient to obscure thefr semblance to sedimentary rocks. Either then the accepted e of downward increase of temperature is erroneous, or the ee rocks were never depressed, in the place where they posed to observation, to a depth of 50,000 feet. Let us sid er each alternative, and in the first place let us apply the : of temperature increment determined by Prof. Agassiz in j Superior district : it is 1° C. for every 402 feet, twenty-five millions of years ago, or about the time when y the Penokee rocks were being formed, it would C. for every 305'5 feet, with a resulting temperature at a of 50,000 feet of 163°C. only. Thus the admission of a low rate of temperature increment would meet the diffi- but on the other hand it would involve a period of several ds of he sm of years for the age of the ‘‘ consistentior ,” and thus greatly exceed Prof. Joly’s maximum estimate ‘age of the oceans. We may therefore turn to the second ve. As this it is by no means certain that the ed portion of the Penokee series ever was depressed 50,000 feet : the beds lie in a synclinal the base of which indeed may have sunk to this extent, and entered a region of metamor- osis; but the only part of the system that lies exposed to ; the upturned margin of the synclinal, and as to this it seen ire emg to make any positive assertion as to the to which it may or may not have been depressed. To ep an open mind on the question seems our only course for present, but difficulties like this offer a promising field for frequently alleged that mountain chains cannot be ex- on the hypothesis of a solid earth cooling under the s and for the period we have supposed. This is a n well worthy a consideration, and we may first en- x to picture to ourselves the conditions under which yuntain chains arise. The floor of the ocean lies at an average y n of 2000 fathoms below the land, and is maintained at a stant tem re, closely approaching o° C., by the passage ‘it of cold water creeping from the polar regions. The wwe temperature of the surface of the land is above zero, > can afford to disregard the difference in temperature mn it and the ocean floor, and may take them both at zero. ‘next the increase of temperature with descent, which rs beneath the continents : at a depth of ee feet, or at same depth as the ocean floor, a temperature o 87° C. will be _ reached on the supposition that the rate of increase is 1° C. for 150 feet, while with the usually accepted rate of 1° C. for 108 _ feet it would be 120° C. But at this depth the ocean floor, __ which is on the same spherical surface, isato° C. Thus surfaces _ of equal temperature within the earth’s crust will not be spherical, _ but will rise or fall beneath an imaginary spherical or spheroidal surface according as they occur beneath the continents or the No doubt at some depth within the earth the departure isothermal surfaces from a spheroidal form will disappear ; considering the great breadth both of continents ond oceans is depth must be considerable, possibly even forty or fifty Thus the sub-continental excess of temperature ma e itself felt in regions where the rocks still retain a hig emperature, and are probably not far removed from the critical sion point. The effect will be to render the continents mobile ‘regards the ocean floor ; or, vice-versa, the ocean floor will NO. 1611, VOL. 62] be stable compared with the continental masses. Next it may be observed that the continents pass into the bed of the ocean by a somewhat rapid flexure, and that it is over this area of flexure that the sediments denuded from the land are deposited. Under its load of sediment the sea-floor sinks down, subsiding slowly, at about the same rate as the thickness of sediment in- creases ; and, whether as a consequence or a cause, or both, the flexure marking the boundary of land and sea becomes more pronounced. A compensating movement occurs within the earth’s crust, and solid material. may flow from under the sub- siding area in the direction of least resistance, possibly towards the land. At length, when some thirty or forty thousand feet of sediment have accumulated in a basin-like form, or, according to our reckoning, after the lapse of three or four millions of years, the downward movement ceases, and the mass of sediment is subjected to powerful lateral compression, which, bringing its borders into closer proximity by some ten or thirty miles, causes it to rise in great folds high into the air asa mountain chain. It is this last phase in the history of mountain making which has given geologists more cause for painful thought than probably any other branch of their subject, not excluding even the age of the earth. It was at first imagined that during the flow of time the interior of the earth lost so much heat, and suffered so much contraction in consequence, that the exterior, in adapting itself to the shrunken body, was compelled to fit it like a wrinkled garment. This theory, indeed, enjoyed a happy existence till it fell into.the hands of mathematicians, when it fared very badly, and now lies in a pitiable condition neglected of its friends, For it seemed proved to demonstration that the contraction consequent on cooling was wholly, even ridiculously, inadequate to explain the wrinkling. But when we summon up courage to inquire into the data on which the mathematical arguments are based, we find that they include several assumptions, the truth of which is by no means self-evident. Thus it has been assumed that the rate at which the fusion point rises with increased pres- sure is constant, and follows the same law as is deduced from experiments made under such pressures as we can command in our laboratories down to the very centre of the earth, where the pressures are of an altogether different order of magnitude ; so with a still more important coefficient, that of expansion, our knowledge of this quantity is founded on the behaviour of rocks heated under ordinary atmospheric pressure, and it is assumed that the same coefficient as is thus obtained may be safely applied to material which is kept solid, possibly near the critical point, under the tremendous pressure of the depths of the crust. To this last assumption we owe the terrible Boaies that have been conjured out of ‘‘the level of nostrain.” The depth of this as calculated by the Rev. O. Fisher is so trifling that it would be passed through by all very deep mines, Mr. C. Davison, however, has shown that it will lie considerably deeper, if the known increase of the coefficient of expansion with rise of temperature be taken into account. It is possible, it is even likely, that the coefficient of expansion becomes vastly greater when regions are entered where the rocks are compelled into the solid state by pressure. So little do we actually know of the behaviour of rock under these conditions that the geologist would seem to be left very much to his own devices ; but it would seem there is one temptation he must resist—he may not take refuge in the hypothesis of a liquid interior. We shall boldly assume that the contraction at some unknown: depth in the interior of the earth is sufficient to afford the ex- planation we seek. The course of events may then proceed as follows. The contraction of the interior of the earth, con- sequent on its loss of heat, causes the crust to fall upon it in folds, which rise over the continents and sink under the oceans, and the flexure of the area of sedinientation is partly a conse- } SPURS Saag 408 Section A.—Department of Astronomy.—Opening Address by Dr. A. A. Common, F.R.S., Chair- man of the Department .... . A Bese yi sa oo 470 Section B.—Chemistry.—Opening Address by Prof. W.H. Perkin, Jun., F.R.S., President of the So Reena Ve ee ceva . 476 Section C.—Geology (///ustrated.).—Opening Address by Prof. W. J. Sollas, F.R.S., President of the Section’ .......,. oe ce ARS AK 4 Notes \ Our Astronomical Column :— Ephemeris for Observations of Eros . . +... The Daylight Meteor of Sunday, September 2. W., FF. Denning sii daiwa WABI rs ae University and Educational Intelligence ..... Societies and Academies Sty Oe ames ee Oe = NATURE 493 Matter to Man; a New Theory of the Universe. y A. Redcote Dewar. Pp. 289+viii. (London: apman and Hall, Ltd., 1898.) E do not recommend this work to the serious attention of our readers, but as a study in l-stringing it is not devoid of interest. It appears the production of a writer who has acquired a know- of scientific terms by extensive reading, without wving any real grasp of the vast range of subjects over ch he travels. The result is such as might have been yed at by a student who had been through a hurried ‘se of cram, and who at his final examination had n set some such question as this:—Given, a ‘vocabulary of scientific terms, construct a theory of the universe. The author is strong on magnetism. We have never with such a liberal use of this term as is indulged in Mr. Dewar. Like the “ vapours” which afflicted our tors in the last century, and which accounted for all ailments, the word magnetism accounts for nearly thing in Mr. Dewar’s universe. It is in the fifth pter that the stupendous importance of this form of gy is first sprung upon the reader :— The inference from this basis [that every atom is a magnet. is astounding, for not only does it involve the netism of the earth as well as the magnetism of all _ the constituents of the earth, but it establishes beyond a doubt the magnetism of all the products of the earth— eral, vegetal and animal. Every crystal, plant, al and man is thus a magnet, whose every energy-- cular, nervous, vital, or mental—resolves itself into familiar operations of magnetism.” Still further, as all the planets and heavenly bodies e alike in nature, so far as we can judge from analogy, must they be governed by similar energy to the earth. ence we reach the final conclusion, that the dottom rgy of the universe ts also magnetism” (pp. 72-73). aving once become impregnated with this universal gnetic cult, the reader, who may otherwise have been spared for the series of mental shocks which is in e for him, will learn with comparative calmness that > difference of gravity at the equator and the poles is cause the earth is a magnet (p. 69); he will feel sure at sooner or later “animal magnetism” mesmerism, _ &c., are bound to appear on the scene, and in this he _ will not be disappointed (p. 87) ; and he may even learn with equanimity that he possesses “a virtual magnetic battery” in his “vacuole or stomach” (p. 85). In the _ chapter on the causes of vegetal evolution we read :— “These huge internal fires [of the earth] are virtually earth's magnetic battery, through which it is kept in as a living prs tenanted with vegetal and animal >; hence, when all conditions are suitable, and the soil is properly saturated with water, thereby inducing able chemical action, the internal magnetic forces ow up a clotted vegetation on every available spot of und on the globe. This vegetation is but a bristling d of earthly material ejected by the earth's mag- ism ; filaments of matter, having the same relation to __ the earth as a man’s beard to his chin, or as the bristling iron filings on a horse-shoe magnet” (p. 162). NO. 1612, VOL. 62] It must be admitted that the force of magnetism can no further go, and the attributing to this agency of the. vegetable-like accumulation of snow-drift on a projecting obstacle (p. 124), or the turning of a sun-flower towards the sun (p. 137), may be accepted as a mere bagatelle. Truly, as the author says, after having evolved “ vegetal molecules” by a “chance flux of suitable atoms,” the “magnetic laws are equal to all emergencies” (p. 159). The subtle distinction between a horse-shoe magnet as a dry magnet, and a plant as a wet magnet (p. 161) is too fine for any but ultra-metaphysical minds to grasp, but since it leads to the practical conclusion that a flower-pot full of moist earth is an artificial plant battery, it may be allowed to pass by virtue of its horticultural merits. We confess that, in turning over the pages of this astonishing production with the object of endeavouring to learn the author’s views, we have been so fascinated by his glib manipulation of the affairs of the universe, that we have allowed ourselves but little time for a critical examination of his scientific data. In fact, the work may be said to consist mainly of generalities, so that there are but few detailed statements to, grasp. Here are a few specimens :— The law of combination in definite proportions is illus- trated (p. 58) by the statement that “if 20 parts of oxygen be mixed with 6 of hydrogen, only 16 parts of oxygen and 2 of hydrogen unite, 8 parts remain uncombined.” This. error is driven home in the following page :— “Innumerable elements, for instance, may often meet in suitable conditions for combination, but if unsuitable in Proportion, no selection ensues ; consequently there is no production,” &c. Hydrogen is said to bea constituent of saltpetre (p. 79). “If alot of chips be thrown into the water they all. attract each other and form a mass” (p. 87). This is explained by the statement that sticks and stones require “ stick and stone magnets to magnetise them.” ‘*Contrasted with chemical combination, chemical decomposition has been almost ignored by chemists” (p. 101). “ Magnetic induction” is used to explain the crystal- lisation of a solid from a solution (p. 118). After describing the movements of a “ geometer” caterpillar, the author says: “Other caterpillars and centipedes develop feet on each ring” (p. 198). “ The fire-flies of America, which, Diogenes-like, carry a lamp with them,” are classed with the bombardier beetle, both the light of the former and the discharge of the latter being described as “undoubtedly the result of electric action” (p. 201). It need hardly be said that the propounder of a new philosophy—such as Mr. Dewar claims to be—must clear away the rubbish of previous thinkers before he can lay the foundations of his own system. Many of the current doctrines are accordingly denounced in no measured terms, and the author’s emendations launched at the reader. For example, the classification of matter into simple and compound substances by chemists is scoffed at (p. 55), and here is Mr. Dewar’s amendment :— - “From unlimited corroborative evidence we believe this [duality or sexuality in elementary substances] to be the case; hence we enunciate as one of the funda- mentals of the new Materialism that the normal chemical Y 494 NATURE [SEPTEMBER 20, 1900 division of the elements into metallics and non-metallics is the bottom classification of matter, the only one with -confidence to be designated great.” Again (p. 56) : “With this alteration (hydrogen considered as metallic) -are we warranted in ascribing to this dual classification of substance that importance, both scientifically and philo- -sophically, which we assign it? The evidence is over- whelmingly affirmative, for no known natural product exists which does not contain both classes of these elements in combination. Matter itself must thus be sexual.” There is a very widely spread mineral substance com- posed of silicon and oxygen which forms no inconsider- -able a proportion of the earth’s rocky constituents, and of which the author has no doubt heard. Silica in its various forms is certainly a natural product ; and so Mr. Dewar will no doubt insist upon classifying silicon with the metals. There is also a gas composed of carbon and -oxygen which is present in the atmosphere, and which is of vital importance for plant life. We should like to know how Mr. Dewar brings carbon dioxide under his “fundamental principle, which embodies one of the most salient truths in the science of the century” (p. 57). The reader who is anxious to know how the “ New Materialism” deals with the problem of life will find it disposed of in a light and airy way that might even be provocative of mirth were it not evident on every page that the author intends us to take him seriously. There is absolutely no mystery about it at all—there is no un- ‘known force, there is no impulse different from the ordinary laws of matter. The animal is ‘‘a mere mass of conjoined magnets,” containing “‘a virtual magnetic bat- ‘tery in its stomach” (p. 222). Elsewhere we.are told that ‘the plant differs from the animal in having its magnetic battery outside instead of within, and the author seems ‘quite proud of having discovered a distinction between animals and plants that has hitherto eluded the men of science (p. 164). As for the appearance of life on the -earth, it is a mere trifle to the “ New Materialism” : “Under suitable conditions of heat, light and moisture, a chance flux of suitable atoms combines sexually into ‘vegetal molecules ” (p. 159) [magnetism as before]. “Even, as on a frosty night, the surface of the ground is whitened with crystals of rime, so in many a river and ocean bed the water must often coagulate with millions of vegetal and animal cells” (p. 209). “But as igneous activity subsided to solid quiescence, -and water, soil, light and heat interacted, the proto- plasmic elements—oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, -&c.—would meet in suitable proportion, and [magnetism as. before] the spontaneous production of simple -organisms—protophyta, protozoa and the lowest kinds of fungi and algae—would ensue as a matter of course, &c.” (p. 246). The origin of man is described (p. 247) in a manner that can only make the reader exclaim that the New Materialism, like a certain historical character, is capadle de tout ;— ““Man’s first progenitors thus probably appeared on ‘the earth as spontaneously produced protoplasmic cells or ovules, hundreds or thousands in number, developed by sexual and magnetic affinities from a flux of the -chemical elements in some ambrosial inlet of water.” +. No further extracts need be given, and no further criticism is necessary to justify the opinions expressed at the beginning of this notice. ’R. MELDOLA. NO. 1612, VOL. 62] OUR BOOK SHELF. be Untersuchungen tiber Philons und Platons Lehre von der Weltschopjung. Von Jakob Horovitz. Pp. xiii+12. (Marburg: N. G. Elwart, 1900.) Dr. HOROVITZ’ essay is the outcome of his thesis approved for the degree of philosophy in the University — of Marburg. Its purpose is to focus the rays of light 4 which close exegesis of the 7?maeus throws upon the — cosmogonic scheme wherein Philo effected the synthesis — of Plato and Moses. While recognising the Stoic and — Neopythagorean elements in Philo’s teaching, Dr. — Horovitz has little difficulty in showing that in both style — and matter the dominant influence was Plato’s. Itisto — the analysis, then, of Plato’s creation-myth that we must — turn if we would understand Philo with his enormous — influence on the development of the doctrine of the — Logos in Christian literature. nw, The (ov vonrdv of the Zimaeus is no mythical dupli- — cate of the demiurge, but distinguished as das ewige — Urbild from the latter, whose real causal activity leads © to an identification with the creative reason and ideal — good of earlier dialogues. The subordinate artificers of © physical creation are not the ideas as distinct from the — idea of good, but in part a concession to popular — theology, in part perhaps due to the place of evil in — Plato’s system, and the fact that dualism, though over- ruled, is not extinguished. In his valuable and textually supported discussion of the problems, Dr. Horovitz perhaps tends to overestimate the consistency and con- — tinuity of Plato’s writings, and to underestimate the ~ mythus element in the 7zmaeus. | Now Philo’s intelligible world or order, the work of the one day of creation before time was or the serial “days” of the production of the world of sense began, — is to be assimilated to the intelligible (gov of Plato as — modified in conception by a use of the Stoics’ metaphor of architect and supra-sensual city. It is not the Logos — save in the sense in which his plan is the mind of the — architect. Dr. Horovitz moves familiarly among the conceptions of Logos, intelligible world, ideal man and the like, and by adjustment of the emphasis on the various clauses of Philo’s commentary produces a con- struction which might carry conviction. The muéata of Philo, and the reasons why they were mufanda from the Platonic theory, are well brought out. The ideal man is the work of God, the physical man is the work of God in conjunction with subordinate agents, and these powers find their natural analogue in the angels of the Jewish scheme. Platonic scholars, or those of them who have not despaired of the (gov as unintelligible, will find food for reflection in the one side of Dr. Horovitz’ study. Theologians, students of Neo- j platonism, persons who take an interest in the Hegelian — keligionsphilosophie, may well take their starting-point — from the other. Bu We Bu ig Fungus Diseases of Citrus Trees in Australia, and their — Treatment. By D. McAlpine. Pp. 132; 19 plates. © (Melbourne: Brain, Government Printer, 1899.) f THIS is one of the many useful publications dealing — with plant diseases issued by the Victoria Depart- — ment of Agriculture. According to statistics given, the — cultivation of orange and lemon trees is extending — rapidly, and one successful lemon grower considers that — instead of paying 62,498/. annually for oranges and lemons, the colony could not only produce sufficient for — home consumption, but could also supply the half of — Europe. Under these circumstances the appearance of a work of the kind under consideration is most opportune, — more especially as it is stated to be written for the — benefit of growers. It is therefore somewhat disappoint- ing to find that a considerable portion of the text is” devoted to technical descriptions of new species of fungi, — a subject of no interest whatever to cultivators, more — pec ed a 5% h ih _ SEPTEMBER 20, 1900] NATURE 495 = especially as many of the species enumerated are simply saprophytic forms, whose presence can do no injury. “esa eration of such species is, from a scientific point, of great value ; but they are altogether out lace in a work which should place before practical the outcome of scientific research in language ed of scientific technicalities. The author con- rs it essential that each fungus should possess a jar name in addition to its scientific one, and there ‘some justification for this idea, especially when “mames are of local origin, and express a = idea, as ‘“collar-rot,” “wither-top,” &c., is more than doubtful whether the English render- of the scientific name, as “ West Australian Septoria,” Gleeosporium-like Colletotrichum,” will be adopted 1e fruit grower. Fifty-one species of fungi found on is trees are described as new to science; this is a what daring piece of work in the comparative nce of literature and herbaria. It must be borne in that the fact of a fungus not agreeing with any pecies recorded in Saccardo’s ‘‘Sylloge Fungorum” by © means justifies an author in describing it as new to In defining parasites and saprophytes respectively, the thor states that it is not always easy to decide between 9, and the crucial test, by means of pure cultures, alluded to. This, however, may not be due to lack ywledge or desire on the part of the author, who, as ble pathologist, is probably expected to cover too h ground ; hence fundamentals, which consume time, ¢ apt to be neglected in favour of less exact methods, ch may meet with approval for the time being. he twelve coloured plates illustrating the most pro- aced and destructive forms of disease attacking lemons oranges are excellent in every respect, and should ; "great service in enabling planters to recognise at an early stage the appearance of a disease which, if _ meglected, might prove disastrous. The most approved methods of treating the various diseases are given in ssourit Botanical Garden. Eleventh Annual Report. Pp. 144; 58 plates. (St. Louis, Missouri, 1900.) 41S volume is almost entirely made up of four scientific srs representing work carried out in connection with Missouri Botanical Garden. The papers are: a sease of Tascodium distichum known as “ peckiness,” ‘a similar disease of Libocedrus decurrens known as tt, by Dr. H. von Schrenk ; Agaves flowering in the ngton Botanic Garden in 1898, by Mr. J. N. Rose ; Lo ied the American species of Euphorbia of the n Tithymalus occurring north of Mexico, by Mr. S. Norton ; and a Revision of the species of Lo- rpus of the United States, and a description of a s of Sagittaria, by Mr. J. G. Smith. Dr. von e's paper has already been noticed (vol. Ixi. TOC: Li “Trelease, the director of the Garden, shows by apers and his report that valuable work is being A small synoptical collection representative of incipal natural orders of flowering plants has been stalled in the central part of the Gatden; where it is sposed to continue it as a convenient means of enabling feache ; in elementary schools to demonstrate to their pils the characters of the larger plant groups. The number of species and varieties now cultivated in Garden is nearly ten thousand. r. Trelease devoted a couple of months last summer the study of the botany of the Alaskan coast region the islands of Bering Sea, as a member of the timan Alaska Expedition. The scientific results of work will, no doubt, be published after the large unt of material collected has been subjected to critical “NO. 1612, VOL. 62] LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. [The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions ex- pressed by hts correspondents. Neither can he undertake to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for this or any other part of NATURE. No notice ts taken of anonymous communications.) Atmospheric Electricity and Dew-ponds. It is not my intention to enter into controversy with such authorities as Mr. Aitken or Mr. Wilson. I wish only to de- scribe certain phenomena which have come under my notice, in the hope that I may help to throw some light on a subject of great importance, theoretical as well as practical. On the chalk hills in the south-east of England there are a num- ber of ponds known as dew-ponds. One of these was described by Gilbert White (‘‘ Natural History of Selborne,” Letter 29). There is a pond of considerable size at one of the highest points of the main ridge of the South Downs close to Chanctonbury Ring. From its position it is obvious that this pond can only be fed by water precipitated into it directly from the air. Yet it always contains a considerable volume of water. At the end of the dry weather last year, when most of the ponds in the valleys were empty, this dew-pond still contained several thou- sand gallons. How does this pond obtain the enormous quantities of water necessary to compensate for the rapid evaporation in such an exposed position, and also to supply large flocks of sheep? “2 It appeared to me that therejwas but one possible explanation : a difference of electrical potential must cause an attraction between the particles of moisture and the summit of the hill upon which the pond is situated. It is, of course, well known that drops of rain, &c., usually have an electrical charge, but it was necessary to ascertain whether this was capable of producing such a great effect In order to test this point I took two porcelain basins of equal size and suspended them by means of silk threads from stakes driven into the ground at a high part of the ridge of the South Downs. In each of these basins was fixed an upright piece of sheet-copper. The two pieces of apparatus were placed in exactly similar positions and were in every respect identical, except that in the one case the copper screen was con- nected to earth by means of a wire, whereas in the other case it was insulated by the silk threads. The apparatus was left thus during the night of April 1, 1899. There was a thick mist on the hills, so much so that I was unable to select the most favourable position for the apparatus. In the morning the amount of water in the two basins was measured. In the basin with the insulated screen there were 15°5 c.c. of water; in that with the screen connected to earth there were 18'0 c.c. This clearly confirmed my theory, for the insulated apparatus would tend to acquire an electrical charge from the particles of moisture. Consequently the attraction would be less than in the case of the apparatus which was not insulated. The insulation must have been very imperfect, for the silk became saturated with moisture as soon as the apparatus was erected. The position chosen, also, was not so favourable as it might have been. Nevertheless there was a difference of 16 per cent. in the quantities of moisture collected. I intended to repeat and extend the experiment, but I have been unable to find an opportunity. I hope that this letter will call attention to a matter of considerable interest. ARTHUR MARSHALL. Chemical Department, Woolwich Arsenal, September 10. Huxley and his Work. Mr. HENKEL’s quotation from ‘‘One Hundred and One Great Writers” (NATURE, September 6) reminds one that the taunt of being a populariser was familiar enough to Huxley himself. It recalls also the little side-thrusts with which in return the detractors were sometimes honoured. In the ~ to vol. viii. of the ‘Collected Essays,” for instance, Huxley remarks :— : ‘The popularisation of science has its drawbacks. Success in this department has its perils for those who succeed, The people who fail take their revenge, as we have recently had occasion to observe, by ignoring all the rest of a man’s work and glibly labelling him a mere populariser.” 49¢ NATURE 5A [SEPTEMBER 20, 1900 The belittling process, though unjustifiable, was understand- able enough in those old days of controversy. To-day it seems ra‘her uncharitable. C. SimMonbs. Thurlow Hill, West Dulwich, September 17. A Large Tasmanian Crab, I AM sending you a photograph of a large crab ( Pselocranzum gigas), caught in the Tasmanian waters during the present month. The crab weighed 30 lbs. It is one of the largest that We have several specimens has been caught in these waters. in the Tasmanian Museum weighing from 16 to 22 lbs. are generally caught by the fishermen in very deep water, from fifteen to thirty fathoms, while fishing for the fish known as the Tasmanian Trumpeter (ZLa¢rs hecateza). I shall be glad to know whether readers of NATURE have ever known of a larger Psz/ocranium gigas having been caught. ALEX. MORTON. Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, July 30. Large Puff Balls. HAVING seen in some papers lately notices of large puff balls, it may probably be of interest to record the measurements of one far exceeding in size any I ever heard of. It was found by my daughter, Mrs. Pole-Carew, in a small park belonging to me near this place, where she is residing. I took careful measurements of it at the time it was found, of which I send you a copy. It differed in no respect except size, either inside or out, from the ordinary smooth puff ball. Measurements of a large Puff Ball found in Chipley Park, near Wellington, Somerset, June 12, 1900. Horizontal circumference ... Me ss, 57 . Inches Vertical ditto, greatest ... eS ea 51 v ie x» smallest ... Rs Royer Ce) Ds Height os sae om ee ens & * Greatest width Ke PaLOn:. 95 Smallest ,, OF ig ea Nee SD Hy y, Weight 14 lb. 10 oz. W. A. SANFORD. Nynehead Court, Wellington, Somerset, September 11. “A Tour through Great Britain in 1727.” Is not the ‘*Tour” queried by your reviewer (p. 417, column 2) that of Defoe, which has frequently been reprinted ? and yet the first edition (1724-27) is still the best, in spite of re-editors and its extension from three vols. to four. Ulverston. S. L. Petty. NO. 1612, VOL, 62] They PROF, HENRY SIDPGWICK. sity policy, his power depended on a practical insight and — decision of view for which those who know him only — through his writings would be unlikely to credit him. 7 He was born in 1838. His father, the Rev. William — Sidgwick, was headmaster of the Skipton Grammar — School. Having been at Rugby under Dr. Goulburn, he — entered Trinity College in October 1855. In 1859 he ~ took his degree as Senior Classic and 33rd Wrangler, — was elected to a Trinity Fellowship, and soon afterwards — appointed Lecturer in Classics and Assistant Tutor. His — interest in literary criticism and in problems of practical — ethics was indicated, at this early stage, by various minor _ writings, of which we may specially mention an article — on “The Prophet of Culture” (A/acmillan’s Magazine, — 1867), in which he made a very characteristic examination of Matthew Arnold’s closing lecture at Oxford. In 1868 3 was founded a Society, called “The Free Christian — Union,” of which Sidgwick was vice-president. His famous essay on “The Ethics of Conformity and Sub- scription” (1870) was written at the Society’s request. — This period of his life culminated in 1869 in the deter- mination to give up his Trinity Fellowship on the ground — that he no longer believed in the explicit creed to which the holders of Fellowships were required to subscribe under the old system of “tests.” This action of Sidgwick’s and the similar acts of some of his friends and contemporaries _ were undoubtedly important forces in the promotion of the abolition of the tests. Not long after, Sidgwick was © made Lecturer and Examiner in the Moral Sciences,and — later, Pralector in Moral and Political Philosophy at Trinity. In 1881 he was elected to an Honorary iy ellow-. ship there, and in 1883 he succeeded Birks in the Knightbridge Professorship of Moral Philosophy, which he resigned at the beginning of his illness last June. As a teacher, Sidgwick exerted a profound and en- — during influence, largely due to the extraordinary patience and quick perception with which he recognised and criti- _ cised the efforts of his pupils at independent thought. He presented to them an ideal of conscientious thorough- — ness in the pursuit of speculative truth, which has — impressed and inspired even those who have developed — their thought in directions far removed from his own. 4 Sidgwick’s most important work, ‘‘The Methods of — Ethics,” was published in 1874 (2nd ed., 1877; 3rd, — 1884 ; 4th, 1890; 5th, 1893). Its purpose is unlike that — of most other modern works in philosophy. Not aiming — directly at the construction of an ethical system, it — adopts rather the Socratic method of stimulating the ~ plain man to examine his own principles, and by self- — criticism to free them from vagueness, obscurity and in- consistency. By many readers the unimpassioned, elabor- ately reasoned, judiciously balanced criticism is found ~ unprofitable. But its penetrating subtlety and breadth ~ of view are characteristics which have been recognised _ by all who have come under its influence, and have won © for it a place amongst the philosophical classics. In | general spirit it carries on the tradition of English ~ common-sense empiricism ; and, while to Sidgwick all — forms of transcendentalism were repellent, yet unlike © many of his’ predecessors in English philosophy, his — criticism of opposed schools of thought was always keen — and thoroughly scholarly. A different side of Sidgwick’s — intellectual character is shown in his work on “ Practical — Ethics,” a collection of essays and addresses (1898), in” 7 which his speculations are applied to the very definite — solution of actual problems of conduct in modern life. — SEPTEMBER 20, 1900] at NATURE 497 2 In the “Outlines of the History of Ethics for English Readers,” Sidgwick has supplied a most useful guide to the study of the subject. In the “ Principles of Political and Method of Economic Science” (1885), there is return to the older English thought, but the subject is er with an acuteness and originality specially cteristic of Sidgwick’s intellect, which have given to works real value as contributions to economic nce. The third book of the principles contains the rt of Political Economy,” which, together with “ The nents of Politics” (1st ed, 1891; 2nd, 1897), the keen interest always felt by Sidgwick in al and social questions, and the practical sagacity which he handles these problems. In_ politics, gwick combined the freedom from prejudice of the dical with the caution of the Conservative. __ Perhaps the most important practical work with which the name of Sidgwick has been associated is in connection with the higher education of women. He was the virtual founder of Newnham College, through the scheme of lectures for women which he initiated in 1869, and the house of residence which he started and persuaded Miss Clough to take charge of in 1871. In 1880, Mrs. Sidg- ick having consented to become vice-principal of the second Hall of the College just opened, they both came live there for two years; and when, after Miss Clough’s death in 1892, Mrs. Sidgwick became principal of the College, they made it their permanent home. In 1882 Sidgwick accepted the presidency of the _ newly formed Society for Psychical Research, in the _ subject-matter of which he had been interested for many _ years. The spirit which has characterised the proceed- _ ings of the Society, and the success which it has achieved, Ihave been largely due to the sobriety and wisdom of Sidgwick’s constant counsel and control. me PROF. JAMES EDWARD KEELER} cS ae! sudden death of Prof. James E. Keeler, director + of the Lick Observatory, which occurred at San rancisco on August 12, removes’one who stood at the ery forefront of astrophysical research. pen Edward Keeler was born at La Salle, Illinois, Y September 8, 1857. His qualifications for scientific ate clearly showed themselves at the Johns Hopkins niversity, where he took an undergraduate course, and served as assistant to Prof. Hastings, with whom he observed the total solar eclipse of 1878 in Colorado. Shortly after this he was appointed assistant at the Allegheny Observatory, where he had an important part in the long series of bolometric investigations carried on by Prof. Langley, then director of the Observatory. In July 1881 he was a member of Prof. Langley’s well- known expedition to Mount Whitney, in Southern Cali- pacer iat an extensive region in the extreme infra- red of the solar spectrum was discovered with the bolo- meter. Later he studied for two years in Berlin and Heidelberg under Helmholtz and Quincke, and returned to the Allegheny Observatory, where he remained until appointed a member of the staff of the Lick _ Observatory. His work on Mount Hamilton commenced in 1885, and for some time he was the only astronomer at _ the Observatory, which was still in process of. construc- _ tion. In May 1891 he was elected professor of astro- as. eed in the Western University of Pennsylvania and _ director of the Allegheny Observatory. ____ Keeler’s work at the Lick Observatory was continued ina most effective manner with the modest instrumental _ resources at Allegheny. With a full understanding of the _ art of making the most of his means, he took up photo- i 1 Abrid from an obituary notice contributed to Sczence of September by Prof. George E. Hale. , z NO. 1612, VOL. 62] %j a he Economy” (ist ed., 1883; 2nd, 1887) and in “ The. graphy for the first time, made himself thoroughly familiar with photographic processes, and then, with the aid of a spectrograph whose general design has been followed in the construction of the great modern spectrographs at Mt. Hamilton, Potsdam, Pulkowa and Williams Bay, he obtained the photographs of the spectra of red stars which excited so much interest at the dedication of the Yerkes Observatory. He also made an admirable series of drawings of Mars, which was published in the Memoirs of the Royal Astronomical Society. In the spring of 1898 Keeler had practically decided to accept a position on the staff of the Yerkes Observatory, and would have done so had he not just then been appointed director of the Lick Observatory. His recent work on Mt. Hamilton has not been confined to the direction of the affairs of a great observatory. The re- markable success of his experiments with the Crossley reflector, of which a full account is fortunately preserved in the June number of the Astrophysical Journal, has impressed every one who has seen the wonderful photo- graphs of nebulze and star clusters made with this instrument. Of Keeler’s other contributions to science two in par- ticular deserve present mention: his determination with the Lick telescope of the motion in the line of sight of the planetary nebulz, and“his demonstration of the meteoric constitution of Saturn’s rings. The memoir which describes the first of these investigations already ranks as a classic of astrophysical literature ; while the spectroscopic demonstration of the meteoric constitution of Saturn’s rings is perhaps the most striking of the many effective applications which have been made of Doppler’s fruitful principle. Much more might be said of Keeler’s work, but this should suffice to indicate its lasting value. It is a satis- faction to add that its merit has been widely appreciated, as has recently been evidenced by the award of the Draper and Rumford medals. He was president of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific and a councillor of the Astronomical and Astrophysical Society of America. He was elected an Associate of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1898 and a member of the ‘National Academy of Sciences at its last meeting. His kindly and genial manner, combined with unusual tact and rare judgment, drew to him many friends, who will _long mourn his loss. NOTES. THE annual meeting of the Iron and Steel Institute was opened at Paris on Tuesday with an address by the president, Sir W. Roberts-Austen, K.C.B., F.R.S. It was announced that Mr. Andrew Carnegie has offered to the Institute the sum of 6500/. for the purpose of founding a medal and scholarship to be awarded for any piece of work that may be done in any works or University, and to be open to either sex. Ir is stated by the Paris correspondent of the 7%mes that M. Yersin, to whom the Academy of Moral Sciences recently awarded a prize of 15,000 francs for philanthropic acts, has devoted the sum to his anti-plague serum establishment at Nha-trang. THE British Medical Journal announces that the prize of 4000 marks voted by the Berlin Congress of Tuberculosis for the best popular work on tuberculosis as a social scourge, and the means of preventing its ravages, has been awarded to Dr. S. A. Knopf, of New York. The work will be published by the German Central Committee. A TABLE of standard sizes of conductors for electric supply mains has been drawn up by the Cable Makers’ Association and sent to electrical engineers. The table shows the nominal 498 NATURE [SEPTEMBER 20, 1900 size of conductors, in square inches, number and diameter of strands, resistance in standard ohms per 1000 yards, and weight in Ibs. per 1000 yards. It is proposed to adopt the sizes and combinations of conductors shown in the table as the basis for tenders, beginning on October I. Tue list is now completed of the subjects to be discussed at the International Botanical Congress to be held in Paris from the first to the tenth of October, in connection with the Exposi- tion, and promises a time of varied interest from both a struc- tural and an economical point of view. Those who wish to become members, and thus to obtain the results of the Congress, should send their subscriptions (20 fr.) to M. H. Hua, Treasurer to the Congress, 2 Rue de Villersexel, Paris. Five additional cases of plague, of a mild type, were reported in Glasgow on Monday. This raises the total to twenty-two plague cases, one suspected case, and 115 persons under obser- vation. The attacked persons had been in contact with plague cases. Prof. Muir states in his report on the new cases that his ‘experiments show without doubt that the bacillus was that of bubonic plague. He examined nine cases, both microscopically and by means of cultures, and found the same results. AT the Geographical Congress at Berlin in October 1899 it was decided to form an International Seismological Society. The first meeting of the delegates from different countries will be held at Strassburg on April 11, 1901. The principal subjects chosen for discussion are: The organisation and extension of macroseismic investigations in all countries, the organisation of international microseismic observations, the selection of apparatus for international and local seismic observations, the annual publication of international seismic reports, and the statutes of the new society. THE Liverpool Marine Biology Committee’s station at Port Erin has been very fully occupied during the greater part of the summer, and there are at present half-a-dozen workers doing original research in the laboratory. On Saturday last a party of the Isle of Man Natural History and Antiquarian Society proceeded to Port Erin on a visit to the laboratory, and were heartily welcomed by Prof. Herdman, F.R.S. Mr. Isaac C. Thompson gave a lecture, ‘‘On the Place of the Copepoda in Nature.” It was pointed out that the copepoda are of the utmost value as scavengers, as they: live on the products of decomposition, putrefaction, drainage matter, &c., and by their internal laboratories convert refuse matter into most valuable food material, some copepoda constituting one of the chief sources of food for fishes, and therefore of man. Mr. Thompson said that no less than 200 species have been found in Liverpool Bay. Their beautiful organisation illustrates the truth that the wonderful structure of some animals, which can only be studied with the microscope, shows them to be as full of interest as those familiar to our ordinary vision. Besides the many free swimming copepods, there are many species found as fish parasites, living on the gills and on other external parts of our common fishes ; some of these are nourished by the fish and do harm, while others do not, their presence being rather an advantage than otherwise. THE importance of an organised and continuous system of rainfall observations is obvious to every one possessing sufficient knowledge of physical geography to know the relation of rain- fall to agriculture, water supply, and all questions in which the development of natural resources is concerned. It is as essential that such observations should be systematically carried on in a thickly populated country like our own as it is that they should be made in all parts of the British Empire in which observers’ can _ be found. And when stations have been established, it is again essential that there should be a central bureau in which the obser- vations can be collected, and their relation to one another, and to NO. 1612, VOL, 62] the natural features of the district. determined. A report, by Mr, F, R. Johnson, upon irrigation and water supply, rainfall, and water rights in Cape Colony, published in the Cage Agricultural Journal (August 2), issued. by the Department of Agriculture, i, reminds us of the value of continuous rainfall records in con- ! nection with works for irrigation and water supply. Itisunusuak for stream flow measurements, owing to their cost, to be avail- able, even in the most favourable circumstances, to anything like the same extent, and it is therefore very necessary that the rainfall records advantage taken of all they are capable of teaching, so that when considered and compared with shorter periods of stream flow measurement (possibly only available for an adjoining catch- ment) the significance of the whole may be appreciated and understood. So far this has not been done in Cape Colony, from an engineering point of view, and the need of the informa- tion is felt now that the hydrographic conditions of the ‘Colony are being investigated. From the rainfall observations so far ex- amined, it appears that sufficient water should be available. to irrigate about five million acres of arable land; and when it is considered that this means an enhanced land value in the Colony of upwards of a hundred million pounds, the advantage of set- ting to work at once to digest and apply the data hc are to specific proposals for irrigation is apparent. IN an article on ‘‘ The Amount of the Circulation OG the Cars bonate of Lime and the Age of the Earth,” by Prof. Eug. Dubois (X. Akad. van Wetenschappen te Amsterdam, 1900), it is conceded that the ocean, which derives all of its carbonate of lime from rivers or the waste of sea-cliffs, holds as much of it as it can, and that rivers are incessantly bringing © a surplus. A considerable amount of carbonate of lime is often to ‘be found in the matter carried in suspension by large rivers to the ocean, and it is obvious that in these river-waters the solution must be saturated. The quantity of carbonate of lime in river- waters is naturally determined by the rocks in the drainage areas. The author gives reasons which lead him to conclude that not more than one-thirtieth part of the carbonate of lime which rivers now discharge into the ocean:is newly formed from silicates, although : originally all was so derived. His calculations, based on the amount of carbonate of lime annually carried to sea by rivers, show that the formation of the whole estimated minimum, amount of carbonate of lime on the earth would require about 45,000,000 of years, and that of the real amount a much larger lapse of time. He estimates that 1/2,770,000th of the total quantity of carbonate of lime of the earth participates annually’ in the present circulation. The final result of his investigation, though admittedly only suggestive, is that the real lapse of time since the formation of a solid crust and the appearance of life upon the globe may be more than a thousand million of years. Mr. A. GipB MAITLAND, Government geologist of Western Australia, has issued, as Bulletin No. 4 of the survey reports, a. general account of ‘* The Mineral Wealth of Western Australia.” This work is intended to replace the useful mining handbook which was prepared by Mr. Harry P. Woodward, and has long been out of print. The author gives a sketch of the geological 4 features of the Colony, and then deals specially with gold,. : lead and copper, tin, iron, miscellaneous minerals (such as: antimony, zinc, &c.), coal and graphite, guano and artesian. water (with records of borings). A full list of minerals is appended, and there is a map showing the distribution of useful minerals in Western Australia, and five geological maps. of particular mineral districts. important product. In 1899 upwards of two thousand tons. were obtained, the total value being over 5000/7, The amount raised last year was, however, small compared with some: previous records. should be carefully discussed, and full — . The guano, which is obtained © from the Abrolhos Islands and elsewhere in the north, is an ye Pa ee ett a eon te een 205 1900] NATURE 499 _ A REPORT on the mineral statistics and mines of Canada for £898 (1900), drawn up by Mr. E. D. Ingall, contains records of a great variety of mineral products. It is interesting to note that the output of coal, supplied mainly from Nova Scotia two-thirds), and from British Columbia (nearly one- 1), shows an increase: the total production being nearly million tons. Natural gas is obtained from wells in ern Ontaria. Gold shows a large increase, due to the out- m the Yukon ; but silver, which is almost wholly derived British Columbia, shows a decrease, On the whole, how- sen abil of Canada’s mineral industries is stated to be ‘a :M. Moreno publishes a discussion of the sunshine pstbies the Observatory of Leon (Mexico), situated in latitude 21° ’ N., showing the daily amounts recorded by a Campbell- itokes instrument from June 1892 to December 1898. These ues are all the more acceptable from the fact that out of some rty observatories in the Mexican Republic, Leon appears to be only station which furnishes a complete record of sunshine. : following figures, giving the average percentages of the possible amounts, show that the locality enjoys a large amount bright sunshine :—winter, 71; spring, 72; summer, 59; n, 69; and for the year, 68. In Dr. Scott’s discussion of a years’ sunshine in the British Isles, the annual average for n on. (City) is 24; for Greenwich, 25; and for Jersey, the est part of the British Isles, 40. THe U. Ss. Monthly Weather Review for May last contains an g article, by Prof. C. Abbe, on the history of modern y ther pr He considers that the first effort towards this end was the publication of the ‘‘ Mannheim Ephemerides,” a series of thirteen volumes, for the years 1780-92, containing : detailed meteorological observations for thirty-six stations in Europe and for three stations in America. After many years, rof. H. W. Brandes first compiled from those observations aily weather maps for 1783 (‘‘ Beitrige zur Witterungskunde,” pzi 1820). In 1826 Prof. J. P. Espy organised a joint itte 2€ for the purpose of studying storms ; numerous maps and many published in four successive reports 5-60). The labours of Espy and Redfield established the “move in such a manner that their approach can be predicted by ‘means of maps. Prof. J. Henry constructed daily weather maps telegraphic reports, for personal study, for several years m 1848, and from 1856 onwards they were exhibited at the quent — predictions of the weather for the benefit of This date brings us down to ry interesting points referring to the work of the Govern- L Se, Laboratory are mentioned by the director, Dr. T. E. Thorpe, , F.R.S., i in the report recently issued. A number of tinned meats ‘were examined for the Admiralty for food preserva- tives, but no antiseptic other than common salt was detected. Numerous butters contained boric preservative and were arti- ficially coloured. As usual, the use of boric acid is most preva- dent in butters from France, Belgium and Australia, and is very common also in Holland. The most frequent colouring- ‘matter is annatto, but the use of coal-tar yellows appears to be ‘on the increase, and is especially prevalent in Holland, the 1ited States and Australia. In the course of the year it was “decided by the Board of Trade that all passenger ships should be fequired to carry a filter capable of delivering water free from rganisms. With Dr. Thorpe’s assistance, a filter which - gatisfactorily fulfils this condition has been decided upon. As a NO. 1612, VOL. 62] , t that individual features of the weather, as well as storms, | supplement to the work of the Steel Rails Committee (see p. 437), an investigation was undertaken with the object of elucidating the mode in which the phosphorus in steel is chemically combined. The inquiry clearly showed, as has already been surmised, that the phosphorus present is, like the carbon, not infrequently in more than one form of combination. The greater part of the work done in connection with the Home Office arose out of the inquiries instituted by the Home Secretary, relative to the pre- valence of lead-poisoning arising from the use of lead compounds in pottery manufacture. A considerable number of * fritts”” and ‘*glazes”’ have been examined, and the conditions determining the ease with which lead compounds may be extracted from them by dilute acids, comparable as regards their action with that of the gastric juice and other animal solvents, have been ascertained. As the result of the inquiry made last year, the Home Secretary has required the manufacturers of pottery to abandon the use of raw lead, and in view of the facts brought to light by the examination of the fritts and glazes, he has expressed his intention of prescribing that in future such glazes shall con- form to a standard of insolubility as regards lead. THE evidence for presence of totemism in various parts of the world is now being carefully examined, as it is beginning to be realised that a cult of animals is not necessarily the same as totemism. This is the attitude taken by Dr. C. Hose and Mr. W. MacDougall in their paper read before the recent meeting of the British Association, and to which reference will be made elsewhere in our columns. Dr. E. Westermarck, the author of the well-known work on ‘‘ Human Marriage,” has published some of the results of his investiga tions in Morocco in a paper in the Journal of the Anthropological Institute (vol. xxix. p. 252), entitled ‘‘ The nature of the Arab Giz, illustrated by the present beliefs of the people of Morocco,” in which he adopts the same conclusion. The Guumn, as they are called in Morocco, form a special race of beings, created before Adam. They have no fixed forms, but may assume almost any shape they like. Usually they are hurtful to man. The bad Guun being always ready to attack human beings, various means are used for keeping them at a distance. The Gru are afraid of salt and steel, which are consequently employed as prophy- lactics ; the best and, from a religious point of view, the correct preventive against their attacks is the recital of passages of the Koran. Dr. Westermarck adversely criticises Robertson Smith’s explanation that the Giz are modernised representatives of totem animals, and states that they are beings invented to explain the wonderful and mysterious in nature. They are, in fact, survivals of the early indigenous animistic beliefs of a salt- less and ironless antiquity, which, at a later date, were absorbed and developed under the influence of Islam. THE Society for the Protection of Birds has just issued, in pamphlet form, a communication from Sir C. Lawson, which appeared in the Madras Mai/ of March 27 and April 11, plead- ing for the adequate protection of insectivorous birds in India. It appears that for more than a decade a law has been in force in Madras for the protection of birds, but that when, some time ago, steps were taken to extend this enactment to the other presidencies, the responsible advisers to the Indian Government did not consider that the time was ripe for such legislation. Sir C. Lawson now urges that, in great part owing to the famine, the need of bird protection by law demands immediate recogni- tion. At present he pleads only for those insectivorous species whose wholesale slaughter for the sake of their plumage. leaves grain and cotton-fields at the mercy of insect pests, thus causing ‘*a deplorable sacrifice of human food and the materials of human raiment, besides inflicting penury on individuals and great loss to the State.” The society is endeavouring to form an Indian 500 NATURE | SEPTEMBER 20, 1900 branch, and applies for support to all interested in India. Of the excellency of the object in view we are fully assured, but it must be borne in mind that legislation of the nature proposed entails many difficulties in India, and should not be introduced without very mature consideration. WE have received a Budlletin (vol. iii. No. 2) of the Madras Government Museum containing an illustrated account by the superintendent, Dr. E. Thurston, of the sea fisheries of Malabar and South Canara. A considerable portion of the pamphlet is _taken up with an account of the instructions which have been recently drawn up by the author for the guidance of the officials at the various fish-curing establishments in attaining~ statistics of the life-history and migrations of the more abundant species of fish. Asan instance of the difficulties encountered in India in obtaining statistics of this nature, it may be mentioned that ** at the fish-census, 1889, the officer who was told off to make the record of fishes brought ashore, was at first driven away by the fishermen, who refused to give him the requisite information, from fear that the census was being taken with a view to in- creased taxation.” The remainder of this valuable report is taken up by a diary made by the author during a tour of inspec- tion of the fish-curing yards of the districts in question during the antumn of last year. Some of the most striking modes of fishing are illustrated in the plates, and details given of the amount and value of the catches at the different stations.. Dr. Thurston is of opinion that a much greater variety of fish might be intro- duced with advantage at the dinner tables of Europeans residing in Madras than is at present the case. As nest-building fishes are comparatively few, naturalists will read with interest an account given in the August issue of the American Naturalist, by Messrs. Young and Cole, of the manner in which the brook-lamprey (Zampetra wildert) makes a structure of this nature. It is believed that the males precede the females at spawning time and commence nest-building before the arrival of the latter. The nest is made among pebbles, but it does not seem that the lampreys follow any definite plan in its construction. They affix themselves to such pebbles as require removing from the nest, and then endeavour to swim straight away with them. In the case of a heavy stone two lampreys may join forces. The number of fish in a nest may vary from one to thirty or forty ; but there are generally between three and t wenty-five. A PAIR of fenestrze covered with membrane have for some time been known to occur in the head of the common cockroach, and represent functional ocelli in other species of the same group. In the Amerzcan Naturalist for August, Mr. C. Kochi records the existence of a pair of spots in the former insect, just below the aforesaid fenestrae. These spots he believes also represent the sites of another pair of ocelli which in other insects have shifted their position and coalesced to form the unpaired median ocellus. THE Sunday Magazine, like many other popular journals, publishes occasional articles on scientific subjects, the one in its September issue being devoted to swimming crabs. Excellent illustrations are given of several of the species to be met with on the British coasts, while the letterpress describes their distinctive features and the leading peculiarities in their habits. A PAPER on the life-histories of the mosquitoes of the United States, by Dr. L. O. Howard, recently published in one of its Bulletins by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, appears opportunely. The writer gives concise but clear descriptions, accompanied by enlarged illustrations, of all the members of the group met with in the States, devoting special attention to those of the malaria-producing genus, Anopheles. Dr. Howard calls NO. 1612, VOL. 62] attention to the circumstance that he advocated the employment of kerosene for the destruction of the larvee as far back as 1894, and claims that this mode has proved more effectual, when used _ In 5 on a sufficiently large scale, than any other yet suggested. certain cases, however, as in the instance of tanks containing water intended for drinking purposes, the employment of kero- sene may be undesirable, and the introduction of fish, where none previously existed, is then advocated. The value of most small fishes as destroyers of mosquito larvee is well illustrated by a natural experiment which recently took place in Connecticut. ‘*In this case a very high tide broke away a dyke and flooded the salt meadows of Stratford, a small town a few miles away from Bridgeport. The receding tide left two small lakes, nearly side by side and of the same size. In one lake the tide left a dozen or more small fishes, while the other was fishless. An examination in the summer of 1891 showed that while the fishless lake contained tens of thousands of mosquito larvee, that containing the fish had no larvz.” WE have received from the publishers two numbers of the Zeitschrift fiir wissenschaftliche Zoologie—the last of vol. Ixvii. and the first of Ixviii. The former contains an article, by Herr E. Wasmann, describing a new genus (Termitoxenia) of wing- less Dipterous insects parasitic in the nest of white ants or — termites. Four species of these remarkable insects are recog- nised, of which one is Indian, while the other three are from Africa. considerable interest to stock-beeders, treats of the histology of certain infusians found in the stomachs of cattle and in the coecum of the horse. The three articles forming the first part of vol. Ixviii. are all devoted to invertebrate anatomy and morphology. THE August issue of the Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society contains, in addition to numerous articles dealing with fruits, vegetables and flowers, a paper treating of the scale and mealy-bug, and a second discussing the black currant-mite and its ravages. In the latter, which should be especially valuable to horticulturists, it is stated that the origin of the pest in question is unknown, but that its first recorded occurrence in the British Isles is about fifty years ago, when it was found in Scotland. THE Natural History and Ethnographical Museum of "Para, Brazil, has commenced to issue a series of memoirs; the first of these is an account by Dr. Emilio A. Goeldi, the director of the museum, of some archzological excavations which he made in 1895 of some artificial burial caves of an extinct tribe of Indians on the Rio Cunany (Goanany). Each cave consists of a circular shaft, 8 feet 24 inches deep and 3 feet 4} inches in diameter, the opening of which was. closed by a large disc of granite. A crescentic chamber had been cut in the soil at the base of the shaft, in which were deposited a number of remarkable earthen vessels of very varied form, most of which were painted in red with peculiar designs and patterns. Some of the funeral vases were conventionally modelled to represent the human form, and others had on them various animals moulded in high relief. The memoir is illustrated by capital plates. Messrs. G. W. WILsoN, of Aberdeen, have just issued a catalogue of more than seven hundred new lantern slides repre- senting scenes and objects in Spain. The list should be of particular interest to teachers of geography. WE have received the Annual Reports of the Royal Botanic Another article in the same issue, which should be of © Garden, Calcutta, from the superintendent, Major Prain, for [ the years 1898-1899, 1899-1900. Close attention has been given by the garden staff throughout the past year to the propagation and distribution of plants of economic importance. . SEPTEMBER 20, 1900] NATURE 501 AFTER an interval of about two years, Sir George King, late ‘superintendent of the Royal Botanic Garden, Calcutta, continues, ‘in the Journal of the Asiatic Society, Bengal, his materials for a 2 of the Malayan Peninsula. The present part consists of a j0graph of the Malayan species of Melastomacez, prepared the assistance of Dr. O. Stapf, of the Kew Herbarium. an article on the fertilisation of Peronospfora parasitica in Annals of Botany for June, Mr. Harold Wager points out | there are at present known three distinct types of fertilisa- tion in the Peronosporeze. In the first, represented by Perono- wa parasitica, the oosphere and oospore are uninucleate, and ‘ takes place between two nuclei only. In the second ype the oosphere i is uninucleate and the oospore multinucleate, d fusion is effected between two nuclei only. In the third the oosphere and oospore are both multinucleate, and on takes place between a number of nuclei in pairs. ¥ a paper recently read before the Linnean Society, on the 1 of the Basidiomycetes, Mr. G. Massee points out the ection between the Hyphomycetes and the Protobasidio- es. The conidial forms of many Hyphomycetes are true acemageeasign There is no evidence that the Autobasi- cetes are in any way descended from the Protobasidio- stes ; while, on the other hand, there are indications that Autobasidiomycetes may probably have been derived by ‘modifications of the spore-bearing organs or oasids of 1 forms of certain Soult fungi. ‘Electricity through Gases” (Constable and Co.) has been translated into French by Dr. L. Barbillion, and published by MM. Gauthier-Villars under the title ‘Les Décharges dans les Gaz.” Dr. Barbillion adds a few notes, and Dr. C. E. Guillaume contributes a preface. The original volume was reviewed in NATURE of January 12, 1899 (vol. lix. _ p- 241), and the translation will doubtless be received by French physicist with the same appreciation as the work has commanded _ in Great Britain. oe SEVERAL articles of real interest to students of science and philosophy have appeared in recent numbers of Zhe Open Court. The August number contained an account of Galileo in which his work is presented in new aspects, and the opposition to his conclusions as to the movements of the earth and the character of the visible universe is in some part explained. The current number contains an instructive contribution on Greek religion and mythology, by the editor, Dr. Paul Carus, and one on animism in popular thought and in science, by Prof. E. Mach. Many of the articles in the magazine are excellently illustrated. _. AN atlas for druggists and students of pharmacy, by Prof. Ludwig Koch, is in course of publication by the firm of _ Gebriider Borntraeger, Leipzig, under the title of ‘ Die x mikroskopische Analyse der Drogenpulver.” The first volume ___ ts to be devoted to barks and woods, and the second part of it, containing six plates, has just appeared. _ THE third and fourth parts of Dr. Chun’s elaborate account of _ the German Va/divia expedition have just been published by _ the firm of Gustav Fischer, Jena. The parts are illustrated with _ mumerous half-tone figures and some very fine plates, and the _ work promises to be a ey attractive narrative of an extensive a4 THE additions to the Zoological Society’s Gardens during the past week include a Sooty Mangabey (Cercocebus fuliginosus) from West Africa, presented by Mr. B. Stewart ; a Squacco ‘Heron (Ardea ralloides), South European, cresdiltet by Mr. A. F. Putz; a Black-headed Terrapin (Damonia reevesi unt- __ éolor) from China, an Algerian Skink (Zumeces algeriensis) from North-west Africa, a Common Chameleon (Chamaeleon vul- NO. 1612, VOL. 62] garts) from North Africa, presented by Mr. F. J. Bridgman ; an European Pond Tortoise (Zmys orbicudaris), European, pre- sented by Miss F. M. Weippert; a Wall Lizard (Lacerta muralts), a Tessellated Snake (7ropidonotus tessellatus), Euro- pean, presented by Mr. Walter Hunter ; two Badgers (Meles taxus), British; two Indian Fruit Bats (Preropus medius) from India, three Black-spotted Teguexins (7upinambis nigropunc- tatus) from South America, two Antillean Boas (Boa divintlogua) from the West Indies, ‘five Undulated Lizards (Sce/oporus undu- /atus) from South-east United States, deposited. OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN EPHEMERIS FOR OBSERVATIONS OF EROS :— 1900. R.A Decl. Beas 5 gue, Sept. 20 2 39 43 +40 47°! 21 ath 40 20... 41 9°9 22 40 55 41 328 23 41 2 41 55°7 24 4U 56 42 18°6 25 42 23 42 41°4 26 42 46 43 42 27 43 7 43 27°0 28 43 25 43 49°7 29 43 40 44 12°3 30 2 43 51 +44 34'8 Swirt’s Comer (1892 I.).—In the Annals of Harvard College Observatory (vol. xxxii. Part ii. pp. 267-295), Prof. W. Pickering describes the photographs obtained of this comet at Arequipa during March and April 1892, illustrating his remarks by reproductions from nine of the negatives. The plates were taken with four instruments—the 13-inch Boyden telescope, 8-inch and 2°5-inch doublets, and a 20-inch reflector ; two photographs were also obtained with | the 8-inch refractor ’ provided with an objective prism of 13° refracting angle. The exposures varied from 5 to 133 minutes. While the comet was easily visible to the naked eye, it was carefully examined with a double image prism, but no traces of polarisation could be detected in either the head or tail. The nucleus was yellowish-green in colour, giving out a triangular jet towards the sun. The head was distinctly divisible into three parts—nucleus, bright primary envelope and an outer fainter one. The tail was composed of two sets of rays having distinctly different origins. The brighter of these sets, forming what may be called the ‘‘inner ” tail, took its origin from the rear side of the inner envelope, and in some of the photographs this attains the great length of over 20° of arc. The rays were absolutely straight so far as could be determined from. the photographs, and were inclined to each other about 10°. The outer tail sprung from the external faint envelope, and, in contrast to the other, was marked by conspicuous deep and wide rifts between the rays composing it. Prof. Pickering thinks that certain periodic differences in appearance are caused by a rotation of the comet about an axis passing longitudinally through the tail. Comparisons of the Arequipa photographs with others obtained by Dr. Wolf and Prof. Barnard show that it is quite possible to detect changes from one hour to another, and froma detailed examination of the angular deviation of the rays it is probable that the rotation period is about 94-97 hours. The photograph taken April 14 shows a strong deflection of the inner tail, but the absence of other photographs near that date render it impossible to trace the cause, and the pheno- menon was not ibe sequently repeated. In general, it was impossible to identify any particular feature on two successive days, but on April 6, 7, 8, a bright conden- sation was noticed each day, and its distance from the nucleus of the comet was found to increase day by day. These dis- lacements were carefully measured, Prom Se into kilometres by reference to the comet’s elements, and an estimate made of the amount of the repulsive force exerted u tail by the sun. This indicated the total repulsive force to be about 39°5 times the gravitational force. The spectrum photo- graphs have been difficult to reduce, but the brightest region of the spectrum appears as an intense and very narrow line about A 3890. No indications of the hydrogen lines were seen. m the comet’s 502 NATURE [SEPTEMBER 20, 1900 THE BRADFORD MEETING OF THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. SECTION D. ZOOLOGY, OPENING ADDRESS BY RAMSAY H. TRAQUAIR, M.D., ve S. IN. opening to-day the sittings of the Zoological Section, I must first express my sense of the honour which has been con- ferred on me, in having been chosen as your President on this occasion, and I may add that I feel it not only as an honour to myself personally but also as a compliment to the field of investigation in which the greater part of my own original work has been done. It is a welcome recognition of the doctrine, which I, and much more important men indeed than I, have always maintained, namely, that Palzeontology, however valu- able, nay, indispensable, its bearings on Geology may be, is in its own essence a part of Biology, and that its facts and its teachings must not be overlooked by those who would pursue the study of Organic Morphology on a truly comprehensive and scientific basis. As I have asked on a previous occasion, ‘* Does an animal cease to be an animal because it is preserved in stone instead of spirits? Is a skeleton any the less a skeleton because it has been excavated from the rock, instead of prepared in a macerating trough?” And I may now add—Do animals, because they have been extinct for it may be millions of years, thereby give up their place in the great chain of organic being, or do they cease to be of any importance to the evolutionist because their soft tissues, now no_ longer existing, cannot be imbedded in paraffin and cut with a Cambridge microtome ? These are theses which I think no one denies theoretically ; but what of the practical application of the rule? For though cordially thanking my biological brethren for the honour they have done me in placing me in this chair to-day, I must ask them not to be offended if I say that in times past I have a few things against some of them at least. I refer first to the apathy concerning paleontological work, more especially where fishes are concerned, which one frequently meets with in the writings of biologists, as seen in the setting up of classifications and theories and the erection of genealogical trees without any, or with at least inadequate, inquiry as to whether such theories or trees are corroborated by the record of the rocks. But more vexatious still are the offhand proceedings of some biologists who, when they wish to complete their generalisations on the structure of a living organism, or group of organisms, by allu- sion to those which in geological time have gone before, do not take the trouble to consult the original palzeontological memoirs or papers, or to make themselves in any way practically acquainted with the subject, but derive their knowledge at second or third hand from some text-book or similar work, which may not in every case be exactly up to date on the matters in question. Nay, more than this, I think I have seen the authors of such text-books or treatises credited with facts and illustrations which were due to the labours of hard- working paleontologists years before. But a better time, I am convinced, is not far off, when the unity of all biological science will be recognised, not merely theoretically, but also practically by workers in every one of its branches, Of one thing I must, however, warn those who have hitherto devoted their time exclusively to the investigation of things recent, namely, tlrat a special training is necessary for the correct interpretation of fossil remains, especially those of the lower Vertebrata and many groups of Invertebrata. So it comes that what looks to the uninitiated eye a mere confused mass of broken bones or plates may to the trained observer afford a flood of valuable light on questions of structure previously undetermined. We must take into account the condition of the fossil as regards mineralisation and crushing ; we must learn to recognise how the various bones may be dislocated, scattered, or shoved over each other, and to distinguish true sutures from mere fractures. We must carefully correlate the positive results obtained from one specimen with those afforded by others, and in this way it happens that to make a successful restoration of the exo- or endo-skeleton of a fossil fish or reptile may require years of patient research. But the thought sometimes does come up in my mind, that some people imagine that fossils, such as fishes, occur in the rocks all restored and ready, so that the author of NO. 1612, VOL. 62] such a restoration has no more scientific credit in his work tham if he were an ordinary draughtsman drawing a perch ora trout — But the student of fossil remains must’ for an illustrated book ! not only learn tosee what does exist in the specimen he exam= ines, but also to refrain from seeing things which are not there —to know what he does not, see as well as what he does see. For many grave errors have arisen from want of this necessary training, as, for instance, where the under surface of a fish's head has been described as the upper, or where markings of a purely petrological character have been supposed to indicate actual structures of the greatest morphological importance. Or we may find the most wonderful details described, which may indeed have existed, but for which the actual evidence is only the fertile imagination of the writer. a From this it will be apparent that though Paleontology is Biology and Biology includes Palzontology, yet as regards — original research a division of labour is in most cases necessary. For though paleontological investigations are absolutely im- possible without an adequate knowledge of recent zoology, yet the nature of the remains with which the paleontologist has to deal renders their interpretation a task of so different a character from that allotted to the investigation of the structure and’ development of recent forms that he will scarcely have time for the successful carrying out of a second line of r ch Conversely, the same holds regarding the sphere of work of the recent biologist. gel Now those last remark$ of mine may perhaps tend to confirm an idea which I have at least been told is prevalent in the minds of recent biologists, namely, that the results of Palaeontology are so uncertain, so doubtful, and so imperfect, that they are scarcely worthy of serious attention being paid to them. And the best answer I can make to such an opinion, if it really does exist, is to try to place before you some evidence that Paleeon- tology is not mere fossil shell hunting, or the making up of eat lists of names to help the geologists to settle their stratigraphi horizons, but may present us with abundance of matter of genuine biological interest. Re Sal Since the days of Darwin, there is one subject which more than all others engrosses the attention of scientific biologists. I mean the question of Evolution, or the Doctrine of Descent, Time was when controversies raged round the very idea of Evolution, and when men of science were divided amon: ‘them selves as to whether the doctrine to which Darwin’s theory of Natural Selection gave so mighty-an impetus was or was not to be accepted. Times have, however, changed, and I hardly think that we should now find a single true scientific worker who continues to hold on by the old special creation idea. Philo- sophic zovlogists now busy themselves either with amassing morphological evidences of Descent or with the discussion of various theories as to the factors by which organic evolution has been brought about—whether Natural Selection has been the all-_ sufficient cause or not, whether acquired peculiarities are trans- missible, and so on. ate ae sii From the nature of things it is clear that the voicé of the’ palzeontologist can only be heard on the morphological aspect of the question, but to many of us, including myself, the morpho- logical argument is so convincing that we believe that even if the Darwinian theory were proved to-morrow to be utterly base- less, the Doctrine of Descent would not be in the slightest degree affected, but would continue to have as firm ahold on our minds as before. ; ess Now as Palzontology takes us back, far back, into the life of the past, it might be reasonably expected that it would throw great light on the descent of animals, but the amount of its evidence is necessarily much diminished by two unfortunate. circumstances. First, the terrible imperfection of the geological record, a fact so obvious to any one having any acquaintance with Geology that it need not be discussed here ; and secondly, the circum- stance that save in very exceptional cases only the hard parts of animals are preserved, and those too often in an extremely fragmentary and disjointed condition. But though we cannot. expect that the paleontological record will ever be anything more than fragmentary, yet the constant occurrence of new and important discoveries leads us to entertain the hope that, in course of time, more and more of its pages will become disclosed to us. Incomplete, however, as our knowledge of Evolution as derived from Paleontology must be, that is no reason why we should not appraise it at its proper value, and now and again stop for a moment to take stock of the material. which has, accumulated. eo iooiiialeee SEPTEMBER 20, 1900] NATURE 503 You are aJl already acquainted with the telling evidence in ur of Evolution furnished by the well-known Mammalian as well as of teeth, in which the progress, in the course of rom the more general to the more special is so obvious that conceive of any unprejudiced person shutting his eyes to inference that Descent with modification is the reason of these s being so. Suppose, then, that on this occasion we take h ntological evidence of Descent in the case of fishes. ; Ido the more readily because what original work I have jable to do has lain principally in the direction of fossil ology; and again, because it does seem to me that it is s d ment that one has most reason to complain of ant of interest on the part of recent biologists; even, I may y, of some professed palzeontologists themselves. ut the subject is really of so great an extent that to exhaust in the course of an address like the present would be simply gossible, so I shall in the main limit myself to the considera- yn of Palzeozoic forms, and this more especially seeing that we ay hope for a large addition to our light on the fishes of the ore recent geological formations from the fourth volume of the Catalogue of Fossil Fishes” in the British Museum, which il soon appear from the pen of my friend, Dr. A. Smith Wood- rd. Ineed scarcely say how much his previous volume has -conduced to a better knowledge of the Mesozoic forms. Here I may begin by boldly affirming that I include the ‘arsipo hii as fishes, in spite of the dictum of Cope that no a fish which does not possess a lower jaw and a Why not? The position seems to me to be a ly arbitrary one ; and it is, to say the least, not impossible ne modern Lampreys and Haggs may be, as many believe, “Sep descendants of originally gnathostomatous forms. origin of the Vertebrata, Paleontology gives us no clue, forerunners of the fishes must have been creatures which, e lowest Chordata of the present day (Urochorda, Hemi- rda, Cephalo a), had no hard parts capable of preserva- n. And though I shall presently refer again to the subject, I y here affirm that, so far as I can read the record at least, it npossible to derive from Paleontology any support to the recently revived, that the ancient fishes are in any way ed to Crustacean or merostomatous ancestors. hat have we then to say concerning the most ancient fishes which we are > vats ? idea that the minute bodies, known as Conodonts, which from the Cambrian to the Carboniferous, are the teeth of hes and possibly even of ancient Marsipobranchs may now be id to be given up. They are now accepted by the most trust- orthy authorities as appertaining to Invertebrata such as ss and Gephyrea. recently, however, Rohon! has described from the Lower of the neighbourhood of St. Petersburg small teeth odus and Archodus) associated with Conodonts, and which ‘to be real fish teeth, but not of Selachians, as is shown by presence of a pulp cavity surrounded by non-vascular It is impossible to say anything more of their ities. scure and fragmentary fish remains have been obtained by leot, and described by Jaekel, from rocks in Colorado sup- d to be of Lower Silurian or Ordovician age.? But doubts we been thrown on their age, and the fossils themselves, lich have, it must be owned, a very Devonian look about 9Dran Ne) le te da, our t purpose. is not till we come to the Upper Silurian rocks that we __ begin to feel the ground securely under our feet, though we may _ be certain, from the degree of specialisation of the forms which _ we there find, that fishes lived in the waters of the globe for pies Peco i a cteristic of the ‘‘ Ludlow bone-bed ” are certain minute _— scales on which Pander founded the family Ccelolepide, having flat or sculptured crown, below which is a constricted ‘‘neck,” and then a base usually perforated by an aperture leading into a ral pulp cavity. As these little bodies, looked upon by iz as teeth, were shown McCoy to be scales, and as ey occurred at Ludlow in England and Oesel in Russia along small Selachian spines (Onchus), they were usually con- aig as appertaining, with the latter, to small Cestraciont ‘ss, The genera TZhelodus, Coelolepis and others were 1 ‘Ueber untersilurische Fische,” Mélanges Géol. et Paléont. vol.i. (St. Petersburg, 1899) PPOs 2 Bulletin Geol. Soc. America, vol. iii. 1892, pp. 153-171. NO. 1612, VOL. 62] founded on these dermal bodies, but it is doubtful if any but the- first of these names will stand. But the aspect of affairs was altogether changed by the dis- covery three years ago, by the officers of the Geological Survey, of entire specimens of 7he/odus in the Upper Silurian rocks of the South of Scotland, from which it was evident that the fish, though somewhat shark-like, could hardly be reckoned as a true Selachian.! 7helodus Scoticus, Traq., has a broad flattened anterior part corresponding to the head and forepart of the body, very bluntly rounded in front, and passing behind into- right and left angular flap-like projections, which are sharply marked off from the narrow tail, which is furnished with a deeply cleft heterocercal caudal fin, Unless the flap-like laterab projections are representatives of pectorals, no other fins are present, neither do we find any teeth or jaws, nor any trace of internal skeleton ; and it is only a few days since Mr. Tait, collector to the Geological Survey of Scotland; pointed out to me in a recently acquired specimen a right and left dark spot at the outer margins of the head near the front, which spots may indicate the position of the eyes.2. A previously unknown genus,. Lanarkia, Traq., also occurred, in which the creature had the very same form, but instead of having the skin clothed with small shagreen-like scales, possessed, in their place, minute sharp conical hollow spines, without base and open below. What we are to think of those two ancient forms, apparently so primitive, and yet undoubtedly also to a great extent special- ised, we shall presently discuss. Let us now for a moment look at the genus Drepanaspis,. Schliiter, from the Lower Devonian of Gmiinden in Western Germany.* We have here a strange creature whose shape- entirely reminds us of that of Zhe/odus, having the same flat broad anterior part, bluntly rounded in front, and angulated: behind, to which is appended a narrow tail ending in a hetero- cercal caudal fin, which is, however, scarcely bilobate. But here the dermal covering, instead of consisting of separate scales or spinelets, shows a close carapace of hard bony plates, of which two are especially large and prominent—the median dorsal and the median ventral—other large ones being placed around the margins, while the intervening space is occupied by a mosaic of small polygonal pieces. The position of the mouth, a transverse slit, is seen just at the anterior margin; it is- bounded behind by a median mental or chin-plate, but no jaws properly so called are visible, nor are there any teeth. Then on each margin near the front of the head is a small round pit,. exactly in the position of the dark spot seen in some examples of Thelodus, which, if not an orbit, must indicate the position of some organ of sense. Again, the tail is covered with scales after the manner of a “ganoid”’ fish, being rhombic on the sides, but assuming the form of long deeply imbricating fulcra. on the dorsal and ventral margins. The position of the branchial opening, or openings, has not yet been definitely ascertained. All these plates are closely covered with stellate tubercles, and we cannot escape from the conclusion that they are formed by the fusion of small shagreen bodies like those of 7helodus, and united to bony matter developed in a deeper layer of the- skin. If the angular lateral flaps of Zhe/odus represent pectorab fins, then we would have the exceedingly strange phenomena of such structures becoming functionally useless by enclosure in hard unyielding plates, though still influencing the general out- line of the fish. Be that as it may, can we doubt that in roe arise 8 we have a form derived by specialisation from a Ccelolepid ancestor ? This Drefanaspis throws likewise a much desired light on the fragmentary Devonian remains known since Agassiz’s time- as Psammosteus. These consist of large plates and fragments of plates, composed of vaso-dentine, and sculptured externally by minute closely-set stellate tubercles, exactly resembling the- scales of some species of 7/e/odus. These tubercles are also frequently arranged in small polygonal areas, reminding us- exactly of the small polygonal plates of Drepanaspés, and, like them, often having a specially large tubercle in the centre. 1R. H. Traquair, ‘‘ Report on Fossil Fishes collected by the: Geologica) Survey in the Silurian Rocks of the South of Scotland,” Zvans. Roy. Soc... Edin., vol. xxxix. 1899, pp. 827-864. 21 am indebted to Sir A. Geikie, F.R.S., Director-General of the Geological Survey, for permission to make use of this and other facts dis-- closed by Mr. Tait’s work in the Lesmahagow Silurians during the present: summer. 3 R. H. Traquair, Geol. Mag., April 19:0. 504 NATURE [SEPTEMBER 20, 1900 That Psammosteus had an ancestry similar to that of Drefan- aspis can also hardly be doubted. Finally, in the well-known /terasfis of the Upper Silurian and Lower Devonian formations we have a creature which also has the head and anterior part of the body enveloped in a carapace, to which a tail covered with rhombic scales is appended behind, and, though the caudal fin has never been properly seen, such remains of it as have occurred distinctly indicate that it was heterocercal in its contour. The plates of the carapace have a striking resemblance in general arrange- ment to those of Drefanaspis, though the small polygonal pieces have disappeared, and there 1s a prominent pointed rostrum in front of the mouth; and it is to be noted that the small round apertures usually supposed to be orbits are ina position quite analogous to that of the sensory pits in Drefan- aspis. The plates of the carapace of P/erasfis are not, how- ever, tuberculated, but ornamented by fine close parallel ridges, the microscopic structure of which, along with their frequent lateral crenulation, leaves no doubt in our minds that they have been formed by the running together in lines of Zhelodus-like shagreen grains. An aperture supposed to be branchial is seen on the plate forming the posterior angle of the carapace on each side. Until these recent discoveries concerning the Ccelolepidee and Drepanaspide, Pteraspis and its allies, Cyathaspis and Palaeasfis, constituted the only family included in the order Heterostraci of the sub-class Ostracodermi, distinguished, as shown by Lankester, by the absence of bone lacunz in the microscopic structure of their plates. It is now, however, clear that we can trace them back to an ancestral family in which the external dermal armature was still in the generalised form of separate shagreen grains or spinelets. But the Ostracodermi are usually made to include two other groups or orders, namely the Osteostraci and the Asterolepida.? The Osteostraci are distinguished from the [Heterostraci by the possession of lacune in their bone structure, and by having the eyes in the middle of the head-shield instead of at the sides. Cephalasfzs, which occurs from the Upper Silurian to the top of the Devonian, is the best known representative of this division. Instead of a carapace, we find a large head-shield of one piece, though its structure shows evidence of its having been originally composed of a mosaic of small polygonal plates, and it is also to be noted that the surface is ornamented by small tubercles, there frequently being one larger in size in the centre of each polygonal area. The posterior-external angles of the shield project backward in a right and left pointed process or cornu, scarcely developed in C. Murchisoni, internal to which, and also organically connected with the head-shield, is a rounded flap-like structure, which strongly reminds us of the lateral flaps of the Ccelolepidee. The body is covered with scales, which on the sides are high and narrow ; there is a small dorsal fin, and the caudal, though heterocercal, is not bilobate. It is scarcely necessary for me to add that we find just a little evidence of jaws or of teeth as in the case of the Heterostraci. The association of the Heterostraci and Osteostraci in one sub-class of Ostracodermi has been strongly protested against by Prof. Lankester and Dr. O. M. Reis, but here the Scottish Silurian strata come to the rescue with a form which I described last year under the name of Afeleaspis tessed/ata, and of which some more perfect examples than those at my disposal at that time have recently come to light through the labours of Mr. Tait, of the Geological Survey of Scotland. Here we have a creature whose general form reminds us strongly of Zhelodus, but whose close affinity to Cephalaspis is absolutely plain, were it only on account of the indications of orbits on the top of the head. The expanded anterior part which here represents the head- shield of Cephalaspfis shows not the slightest trace of cornua, but forms posteriorly a gently rounded lobe on each side, clearly suggesting that the cornual flaps of Cephalasf7s are homologous with and derivable from the lateral expanses in the Ccelolepide. This cephalic covering is composed of numerous small polygonal plates like those of which the head-shield in Cephalaspis no doubt originally consisted, and the minute tubercles which cover their outer surfaces also suggest that the superficial layer was formed by the fusion of Ccelolepid scales. 1 To these I myself recently added a fourth, the Anaspida, for the remarkable Upper Silurian family of Birkeniidz, but as these throw no light as yet on the problem of Descent they may at present be only mentioned. ; NO. 1612, VOL. 62] The body is covered with rhombic scales, sculptured externally with tubercles and wavy transverse ridges, and arranged in lines — having the same general direction as the scutes of Cephalaspis, — from which we may infer that the latter originated from the — The fins are as in Cephalaspis, fusion of scales of similar form, there being one small dorsal situated far back, and a heteroceral caudal, which is triangular in shape, and not deeply cleft into upper and lower lobes as in the Ccelolepide. Finally, the scales, on microscopic examination, show well-developed bone _ lacunee in.their internal structure. : That AZeleaspis belongs to the Osteostraci there is thus not the smallest doubt, but its general resemblance to the Ccelo- lepidz in its contour anteriorly led me to regard it as an annectent form, and consequently to believe that there is after all a genuine genetic connection between the Heterostraci and the Osteostraci. And I have not seen reason to depart from that opinion even th ugh Aée/easpis turns out to be still closer to Cephalasp7s than was apparent in the original specimens. If this be so, then Cephadaspzs, as well as Preraspis and its allies, is traceable to the Ccelolepidee, shark-like creatures in which, as we have already seen, the dermal covering consists of small shagreen-like scales, or of minute hollow spines, and consequently all theories as to the arthropod origin of the Ostracodermi, so far as they are founded on the external con- figuration of the carapace in the more specialised forms, must fall to the ground. And from the close resemblance of these scales of Zhelodus to Elasmobranch shagreen bodies—for forty- five years they had been, by most authors, actually referred to the Selachii—I concluded that the Ccelolepidze owed their origin to some form of primitive Elasmobranchs. That is, however, not in accordance with the view of the late Prof. Cope, that the Ostracodermi are more related to the Marsipobranchii, and that, from the apparent absence of lower jaw, they should be placed along with the last-named group in a class of Agnatha, altogether apart from the fishes proper. And Dr. Smith Woodward, who is inclined to favour Cope’s theory, has expressed his view that the similarity of the Ccelolepid scales to Elasmobranch shagreen is no proof of an Elasmobranch derivation, but that such struc- tures, representing the simplest form of dermal hard parts, may have originated independently in far distant groups.t Knowing what we do of the occurrence of strange parallelisms in evolution, it would not be safe to deny such a possibility. But as to a Marsipobranch affinity, I would point out that the apparent want of lower jaw among the hard parts which nature has pre- served for us is no proof of the absence of a Meckelian cartilage among the soft parts which are lost to us for ever; and also, as Prof. Lankester has remarked, that there is no evidence what- ever that any of the creatures classed together as Ostracodermi were monorhinal like the Lampreys. The only fossil vertebrate having a single median opening, presumably nasal, in the front of the head is Palaeospondylus, but, whatever be the true affinities of this little creature, at present the subject of so much dispute, I think we may be very sure that it is not an Ostracoderm. The Devonian ‘‘ Antiarcha” or Asterolepida, of which Pterichthys is the best known genus, are also usually placed in the Ostracodermi, with which they agree in the possession’ of a carapace of bony plates, in the absence of distinct lower jaw or teeth, in the non-preservation of internal skeleton, and in having a scaly tail furnished with a heterocercal caudal fin, and, as in the Cephalaspide, also with a small dorsal. But they have in addition a pair of singular jointed thoracic limbs, evidently organs of progression, which are totally unlike anything in the Osteostraci or in the Heterostraci, or indeed in any other group of fishes. These limbs are covered with bony plates and hollow inside, but though I once fancifully compared them in that respect with the limbs of insects, I must protest strongly against this expression of mine being quoted in favour of the arthropod — theory of the derivation of the Vertebrata ! ; Nor do I think that there is any probability in the view pub- : lished by Simroth nine years ago,” namely, that Plerichthys may have been a land animal which used its limbs for progression on dry ground, and that the origin of the heterocercal tail was the ~ bending up of the extremity of the vertebral axis caused by its being dragged behind the creature in the act of walking. That view was promulgated before the discovery of the membranous expanse of the caudal fin in this genus. el But though the Asterolepida are apparently related to and in- clusible in the Ostracodermi, the geological record is silent as ~ 1 Geol. Mag., March 1900. ‘ “abe 2 ‘* Die Entstehung der Landthiere,” Leipzig, 1891. _ SEPTEMBER 20, 1900] NATURE 595 immediate origin, no intermediate forms having been ad connecting them more closely with either the Hetero- i or the Osteostraci. In the possession of bone lacunz and dorsal fin they have a greater resemblance to the latter, but ay be looked upon as certain that they could have had no origin from that group. s the Ostracodermi as a sub-class, they become at the end of the Devonian epoch, and cannot be credited iny share in the evolution of the fishes of more recent s, not even if we restore the Coccosteans or Arthrodira to fellowship. To the latter most enigmatical group, which I still continue to look upon as fishes, I shall make some nce further on. ning now to say a word regarding the Elasmobranchii, it n from the fin-spines found in Upper Silurian rocks that are of very ancient origin, and that if we only knew them ly they would have a wonderful tale of evolution to tell. their internal skeleton is from its nature not calculated for ervation, and for the most part we only know those creatures | scattered teeth, fin-spines and shagreen, specimens show- either external configuration or internal structure being rare, ally in Palzeozoic strata. But from what we do know, e is no doubt that the ancient sharks were less specialised those of the present day, and that the recent Notidanids preserve peculiarities which were common in the Selachii of % es. we ask whether the fossil sharks throw any light on the dis- d origin of the paired limbs, whether from the specialisation ht. and left lateral folds, or whether that type of limb ** archipterygium ”’ by Gegenbaur, consisting of a central _ axis als pre- and post-axial radial cartilage at- |, was the original form, I fear we get no very definite ¢ from Elasmobranch paleontology. The paired fins of pper Devonian shark, C/adose/ache, as described by Bash- ee, Smith oe and others, seem Biel the 1 fold theory, an inted to the right and left series small intermediate itaes Nhich in isis Lawes Devonian \canthodei (Parexus and Climatius) extend between the eC ls and ventrals as evidence of a former continuous lateral n. So also, if I am right in looking on the lateral flaps of the olepidz as fins, the evidence of these ancient Ostracodermi be in the same direction. , on the other hand, we have the remarkable group of ca athidee, extending from the Lower Permian back to Pper Devonian, in which the paired fins are represented - *‘archipterygium” which in the pectoral at least is om this biserial ‘‘archipterygium” in the Pleuracanthide, A. Fritsch, ten years ago, derived the tribasal arrangement ern sharks, much according to the Gegenbaurian method, ng, however, a compromise with the lateral fold theory ‘assuming that the Pleuracanth form originated from one, sist a simple parallel rods, like that described in 1 my description of the pectoral fin of the Carboniferous dodus Netlsoni* Y have shown that the cartilaginous structures ntly present an uniserial archipterygium intermediate be- *n the yee enema in Pleuracanthus and that in the modern ‘s, but I felt compelled to acknowledge that the specimen ht also be interpreted in exactly the opposite way, namely, example of a transition from the ‘‘ ptychopterygium” of loselache to the Pleuracanth and Dipnoan limb. And so in this fin of Cladodus is claimed in support of their views by _ both parties in the dispute. When w _ theory, it will be seen that Elasmobranch palzontology has not as yet uttered any very clear or decided voice on the question as whether the so-called archipterygium is the primary form of red fin in the fish, or only a secondary modification. We all now inquire if we can obtain any more light on the subject m the Crossopterygii and Dipnoi. es Ceratodus Forsteri.” “Ueber das Genus Hydodus und seine systematische Stellung,’ ographica, vol. xlvi. 1900. NO. 1612, VOL. 62] The Crossopterygii are a group of Teleostomous fishes, charac- terised externally by their jugular plates and lobate paired fins, and represented in the present day only by the African genera Polypterus and Calamoichthys, which together form the peculiar family Polypteridz. The Crossopterygii appear suddenly in the middle of the Devonian period, their. previous ancestry being unknown to us. Four families? are known to usin Paleozoic times —the Osteo- lepide, Rhizodontidz, Holoptychiidz and Ccelacanthide, but it is only with the first three that we have at present to deal. The Osteolepidz and Rhizodontidz, which appear together in Middle, and die out together in Upper Paleozoic times, re- semble each other very closely. In both we have the paired fins, more especially the pectoral, obtusely or subacutely lobate ; there are ‘two separate dorsal fins, one anal, and the caudal, which is usually heterocercal, though in some genera it is more or less diphycercal. In both the teeth are conical and have the same complex structure, the dentine being towards the base thrown into vertical labyrinthic folds, exactly as in the Stego- cephalian Labyrinthodonts, and this along with the lung-like development of the double air-bladder in the recent Polypteridze has given rise to the view that from these forms the Stego- cephalia have originated. The nasal openings must have been on the under surface of the snout, as in the Dipnoi. Of these two so closely allied families we must conclude that the Osteolepidz are the more primitive, as in them the scales are acutely rhombic and usually covered with a thick layer of ganoine, while in the Rhizodontide they are rounded, deeply imbricating, and normally devoid of the ganoine layer, which, however, occasionally recurs on the scales of Rhzzodopsis and the fin-rays of Gyroptychius. What then of the structure of the paired fins? Fortunately in the Rhizodont genera 77istichopterus and Eusthenopteron the internal skeleton of the lobe was ossified, and what we see clearly exhibited in the pectoral of some specimens is striking enough. We have a basal piece attached to the shoulder-girdle and followed by a median axis of four ossicles placed end to end. The first of these shows on its postaxial margin a strong In fact, we have in the Rhizodontide a short uniserial ‘*archipterygium,” and the question is, Has this been formed by the shortening up and degeneration of an originally elongated and biserial one, or on the other hand do we find here a condi- tion in which the stage last referred to has not yet been attained? This question is inseparable from the next, whether the Rhizodonts or the Holoptychians form the most advanced ? The Holoptychiide resemble the Rhizodontide extremely closely in their external head-bones, in their rounded, deeply imbricating scales, and in the form and arrangement of their median fins. But the teeth show a more complex and special- ised structure than those of the Rhizodontide ; the simple vertical vascular tubes formed by the repeated folding of the dentine in that family being connected by lateral branches around which the dentine tubules are grouped in such a way as to give rise in transverse sections to a radiating arborescent appearance ; hence the term ‘‘dendrodont.” In this respect, then, the Holoptychiidee show an advance on the Rhizodontide —what then of the paired fins? While the ventral remains sub- acutely lobate, as in the previous family, the pectoral has now assumed an elongated acu/ely Jobate shape, with the fin-rays arranged along the two sides of a central scaly axis exactly as in the Dipnoi; and though the internal skeleton has not yet been seen, yet, judging by analogy, we cannot escape the belief that it was in the form of a complete biserial ‘‘archipterygium.” What, then, is the condition of affairs in the oldest known Dipnoan ? he oldest member of this group with whose configuration we are acquainted is Dipferus, which likewise appears in the middle of the Devonian period simultaneously with the Osteo- lepidee, Rhizodontidee and Holoptychiidze. In external form it closely resembles a Holoptychian, having a heterocercal caudal fin, two similarly placed dorsals, one anal, and circular imbri- cating scales, which, however, have the exposed part covered 1 Five, if we include the singular and still imperfectly known Tarrasiide of the Lower Carboniferous. 5c6 NATURE [SEPTEMBER 20, 1900 ~ with smooth ganoine, But now we have the ventrals as well as the pectorals acutely lobate in shape, and presumably archi- pterygial in structure; the top of the head is covered with many small plates, there is no longer a dentigerous maxilla, the skull is autostylic, and the palatopterygoids and the mandibular splenial are like those of Ceratodus.and bear each a tooth-plate ‘with radiating ridges. Now, comparing Dzféerus with the recent Ceratodus and Protopterus, the first conclusion we are likely to draw is, that the older Dipnoan is a very specialised form, that its heterocercal tail and separate dorsals and anal are due to specialisation from ‘the continuous diphycercal dorso-ano-caudal arrangement in the recent forms, that the Holoptychiidee were developed from it by shortening up of the ventral archipterygium, as well.as by the -changes in cranial structure, and that the Rhizodontide and ‘Osteolepidee are a still more specialised series in which the pec- toral archipterygium has also shared the fate of the ventral in ‘becoming shortened up and uniserial. Five years age, however, M. Dollo, of the Natural History ‘Museum at Brussels, the well-known describer of the fossil rep- ‘tiles of Bernissart, proposed a new view to the effect that the \process of evelution had gone exactly in the opposite direction ; + and after dong consideration of the subject I find it difficult to escape from the conclusion that this view is more in accordance with the facts of the case, though, as we shall see, it also has its -own difficulties. I have already indicated above that we are, on account of the ‘more specialised structure of the teeth, justified in considering ‘the Holoptychians, with their acutely lobate pectorals, a newer ‘type than the Rhizodonts, even though they did not survive so ‘long in geological time. What, then, of the question of “autostyly? We do not ‘know the suspensorium of Yoloptychius, but that of the Rhizodontidz was certainly hyostylic, as in the recent Polypterus. Now as there can be no doubt that the autostylic condition of skull is a specialisation on the hyostylic form, as seen also in the Chimzeroids and in the Amphibia, to suppose ‘that the hyostylic Crossopterygii were evolved from the autostylic Dipnoi is, to say the least, highly improbable; in my own ‘opinion, as well as in that of M. Dollo, it will not stand: -And if we assume a genetic connection between the two groups it is in accordance with all analogy to look on the Dipnoi as the children and not as the parents of the ‘Crossopterygii. M. Dollo adopts the opinion of Messrs. Balfour and Parker ‘that the apparently primitive diphycercal form of tail of the recent Dipnoi is secondary, and caused by the abortion of the ‘termination of the vertebral axis as in various ‘‘ Teleostei,” so that no argument can be based on the supposition that it repre- “sents the original ‘‘ protocercal” or preheterocercal stage. Very likely that is so, but it is not of so much importance for the ‘present inquiry, as both in the. Osteolepidee and Rhizodontidze we find among otherwise closely allied genera some whichare theterocercal, others more or less diphycercal. Dzp/opterus, for example, differs from Zhurs¢us only by its diphycercal tail, and in like manner among the Rhizodontide TZrdstichopterus is heterocercal, Husthenopteron is nearly diphycercal, and there -can be no doubt that, in spite of this, their caudal fins are perfectly homologous structures. But of special interest is the question of the primitive or non- primitive nature of the continuity of the median fins in the recent Dipnoi. Like others I was inclined to believe it primitive, and ‘that the broken-up condition of these fins in Dzf/erus was a subsequent specialisation, and in fact gave the series Phanero: _pleuron, Scaumenacia, Dipterus macropterus and D. Valencien- este as illustrating this process of differentiation. This view of course draws on the imperfection of the geological record in assuming the existence of ancient pre-Dipterian Dipnoi with continuous median fins, which have never. yet been discovered. But Dollo, using the very same series of forms, showed good reason for reading it in exactly the opposite direction. — The series is as follows :— (1) Dépterus Valenciennesé?, Sedgw. and Murch., from the “Orcadian Old Red, and the oldest Dipnoan with whose shape we are acquainted, has two dorsal fins with short bases, .a heterocercal caudal, and one short-based anal. (2) Dipterus macropterus, Traq., from a somewhat higher ¢horizon in the Orcadian series, has the base of the second dorsal much extended, the other fins remaining as before, 1 “Sur la Phylogénie des Dipneustes,”” Bulletin Soc. belge géol. paléont, -hydr., vol. ix. 1895. NO. 1612, VOL. 62] Devonian of Canada, the first dorsal has advanced considerabh (3) In Scaumenacia curta (Whiteaves), from the ake towards the head, and its base has now become elongated, ably the second has become still larger and more extended, though © still distinct from the caudal posteriorly. : (4) In Phaneropleuron Andersoni, Huxley, from the Up Old Red of, Fifeshire, the two dorsal fins are now fused ¥ ith each other and with the caudal, forming a long continuous fin — along the dorsal margin, while the tail has become nearly — a diphycercal, with elongation of the base of the lower division of — the fin. based. ; : (5) In the Carboniferous Uronemus lJobatus, Ag., the anal is now also absorbed in the lower division of the caudal, forming now, likewise on the hzemal aspect, a continuous median fin be- hind the ventrals. There is alsoa last and feeble remnant of a tendency to an upward direction of the extremity of the vertebral axis. ' (6) In the recent Ceratodus Forsteri, Krefft, the tail is diphy- cercal (secondary diphycercy), the median fins are continuous, But the anal still remains separate, narrow, and short- — the pectorals and ventrals'retain the biserial archipterygium, but the cranial roof-bones have become few, __ af ag (7) In Protopterus annectens, Owen, the body is more eel-like, and the paired fins have lost the lanceolate leaf-like appearance which they show in Cevatodus and the older Dipnoi Thx like slender filaments in shape, with a fringe on one side of minute dermal rays ; internally they retain the central jointed axis of the ‘‘ archipterygium,” but according to Wiedersheim the radials are gone, except it may be one pair at the very base of the filament. 4 (8) Finally, in Lepedostren paradoxa, Fitz., the paired fins are ley are still more reduced, having become very small and short, with only the axis remaining. From this point of view, then, Dzgerus, instead of being the most specialised Dipnoan, is the most archaic, and the modern Ceratodus, Protopterus and Lepidosiren are degenerate forms, and instead of the Crossopterygii being the offspring of Dipterus-like forms, it is exactly the other way, the Dipnoi owing their origin to Holoptychiidz, which again are a specialisation on the Rhizo- dontide, though they did not survive so long as these in geological time. Consequently the Cevatodus limb, with its long median segmented axis and biserial arrangement of radials, is not — an archipterygium in the literal sense of the word, but a deri- vative form traceable to the short uniserial type in the Rhizo- donts. But from what form of fin ¢hat was derived is a question to which palzontology gives us no answer, for the progenitors of the Crossopterygii are as yet unknown to us. ~ ale 3 . Plausible and attractive as this theory undoubtedly is, and though it relieves the paleontologist from many difficulties which force themselves upon his mind if he tries to abide by the belief that the Dipnoan form of limb had a selachian origin, and was in turn handed on by them to the Crossopterygii, yet it is not without its own stumbling-blocks. » First, as to the dentition, on which, however, M. Dollo does not seem to put much stress, it is impossible to derive Dipterus atrectly from the Holoptychiidze, unless it suddenly acquired, as so many of us have to do as we grow older, a new set of teeth. The dendrodont dentition of Ho/optychius could not in any way be transformed into the ctenodont or ceratodont one of Diprerus : both are highly specialised conditions, but in different directions. Semon has recently shown that the tooth-plates of the recent Ceratodus arise from the concrescence of numerous small simple conical teeth, at first separate from each other.t Now this stage in the embryo of the recent form represents to some extent the condition in the Uronemidze of the Carboniferous and Lower Permian, which stand quite in the middle of Dollo’s series. Again, the idea of the origin of the Dipnoi from the Crosso- pterygii in the manner sketched above cuts off every thought of a — genetic connection between the biserial archipterygium in them — and in the Pleuracanthidz, so that we should have to believe that this very peculiar type of limb arose independently in the Selachii asa parallel development. It may be asked, Why not? We may feel perfectly assured that the autostylic condition of the — skull in the Holocephali arose independently of that in the Dipnoi, as did likewise a certain amount of resemblance in their dentition. But those who from embryological grounds o aes ight here say, if they chose, If so, why should not also the same form - any notion of the origin of the Dipnoi from ‘* Ganoids” of limb have been independently evolved in Crossopterygii? Accordingly, while philosophic paleontology is much indebted 1 “Die Zahnentwickelung des Ceratodus Forsteri.” (Jena, 1899.) se SEPTEMBER 20, 1900] NATURE 5°7 M. Dollo for his brilliant essay, and though we must agree 1 him in many things, such as that the Crossopterygii were t derived from the Dipnoi, and that the modern representatives the latter group are degenerate forms, yet as to the zmmediate of the Dipnoi themselves, and the diphyletic origin of led oa mad we had best for the present keep min lis ‘* Catalogue of the Fossil Fishes” in the British Museum 1891), Dr. Smith Woodward, following the suggestion of erry in 1875, classified the Coccosteans or ‘‘ Arthrodira” an extremely specialised group of Dipnoi. At first I was uch taken with that idea, but after looking more closely into ‘subject I meen to doubt it extremely. My own opinion at resent is that the Coccosteans are Teleostomi belonging to the t order, Actinopterygii; but Prof. Bashford Dean, of New ‘k, will not have them to be even “fishes,” but places them distinct class of ‘*‘ Arthrognatha,” which he places next to Soyo (=Ostracodermi), even hinting at a possible mion with them, whereby the old ‘‘ Placodermata” of McCoy would be restored. It will, therefore, be better to leave them out of consideration for the present, pending a‘thorough re- ination of their structure and affinities. We come then to the great order of Actinopterygii, to which large number of the fishes of later Palzeozoic age belong, as ‘well as the great mass of those of Mesozoic, Tertiary and Modern times. Of these we first take into consideration the sub-order, namely, the Acipenseroidei or Sturgeon tribe, vy the dermal rays of the median fins are more numerous n their supporting ossicles, while the tail is, in most, com- pletely heterocercal. And the oldest family of Acipenseroids with which we are acquainted is that of the Palzoniscide, which, in addition to well-developed cranial and facial bones, the 7 normally covered with rhombic ganoid scales ished with peg-and-socket articulations. Of this family one ' Cheirolipis, appears in the same Devonian strata cadian series) with the earliest known Crossopeterygi!, and nmed ‘ancestry we know no more than we do of theirs. spis is a fully evolved palzoniscid, as shown by its : ium, wide gape, and other points of its structure. i x Carboniferous rocks of Scotland, where the family attains an enormous development, we find one or two genera, ¢.g. _ Canobius, which appear less specialised, as the suspensorium is nearly vertical, and the mouth consequently smaller. __ This family endures up to the Purbeck division of the Jurassic 2 , and in the Carboniferous Cryphzolepis, the Lower Trissolepis and the Jurassic Coccolepis we find the reneration of the rhombic scales into those of a circular ricating arrangement, which we find repeated in other Ganoids.”’ In fact, in one Carboniferous. genus, ner w, the scales disappear altogether with the exception t on the body prolongation in the upper lobe of the caudal and a few just behind the shoulder-girdle. And in Palzozoic times we notice also a side branch of the ee, constituting the family Platysomidz, in which, while the median fins acquire elongated bases, the body becomes shortened up and deep in contour. The scales become high and Marrow, their internal rib and articular spine coincident with the aii of or margin; the suspensorium, too, instead of swinging as in the typical Palzoniscide, tends to be directed ely forward, while the snout becomes simultaneously lin front of the nares. ; nost interesting series of forms can be set up, beginning £1 us, which, though it has the platysomid head contour and a long-based dorsal, has only a slight deepening o/ the body, and still retains the palzoniscid squamation and a gs ea se _ In ee which resembles gd _ én shape, being only slightly deeper, we have now the charac- _. teristic platysomid squamation, and the base of the anal fin is _ considerably ted. Platysomus has a still more elongated anal fin, and the body is rhombic ; while in Chezrodus the body ; still deeper in contour, with peculiar dorsal and ventral peaks, sng fringing dorsal and anal fins, while the ventrals seem to . disappeared altogether. Here also, as in the allied genus heirodopsis, the separate cylindro-conical teeth characteristic of the family are, on the palatal and splenial bones, replaced by dental plates, reminding us of those of the Dipnoi. Certainly e Platysomidz seem to me to form a morphological series as strongly in favour of Descent as any other in the lo1 of palzontology.!, IR. H. Traquair, ‘ Structure and Affinities of the Platysomide,” 7vans. _ =~Ray. Soc. Edin., xxix. 1879, pp. 343-391- NO. 1612, VOL. 62] i If we now return to the Palzoniscide we find that they dwindled away in numbers in the Jurassic rocks, and finally became extinct at the close of that epoch. But already in the Lias (leaving the Triassic Catopteridz out of consideration for the present) we find that they have sent off another offshoot sufficiently distinct to be reckoned asa new and separate family, namely, the Chondrosteidz, in which the path of degeneration, in all but the matter of size, seems to have been entered on. In the genus Chondrosteus, though the paleoniscid type is clearly traceable in the cranial structure, there is marked degeneration as regards the amount of ossification, and though the suspensorium is still obliquely directed backward the tooth- less jaws are comparatively short, and the mouth seems now to have become tucked in under the snout as in the recent sturgeon. Then the scales have entirely disappeared from the skin except on the upper lobe of the heterocercal caudal fin, where they are still found arranged exactly as in the Palzeoniscidze. Chondrosteus in fact conducts us to the recent Acipen- seroids—the Polyodontidz (Paddle-fishes) and Acipenseridee (Sturgeons). The first of these resembles Chondrosteus in the nakedness of the skin, except on the upper lobe of the caudal fin,’ the more palzeoniscid aspect of the external cranial plates, such of them as remain, for they are now still further reduced. But in front of the mouth and eyes there is an addition in the form of an enormous vertically flattened paddle-shaped snout covered above and below with a large number of small ossifications. The sturgeons have, however, nearly altogether lost the paleoniscid arrangement of the cranial roof-bones, which, strange to say, now exhibit an arrangement reminding us of that in Dzfferus, and the external facial plates are still more reduced than even in Polyodon ; but we may note a very strong resemblance to Chondrosteus in the position of the mouth, the edentulous jaws, and the jugal bone, indeed also in the palatal OT So the sturgeons and paddle-fishes of the present day would seem to be the degenerate, though bulky, descendants of the once extensively-developed group of Palzeoniscidz, even as the modern Dipnoi are degenerated from those of Palzozoic times. We now notice another affarent offshoot of the Paleoniscidee, namely, the family of Catopteridee (Catopterus and Dictyopyge), which is limited to rocks of Triassic age. Unfortunately the osteology of the head is not well known, but Dr. Smith Wood- ward’s observations are to the effect that both the head and shoulder-girdle are of palzoniscoid type. The relationship of these small fishes to the Palzeoniscidze is shown by the general shape, the number and position of the fins, the rhombic ganoid _scales, and the close arrangement of the rays of the median fins. But the rays of the dorsal and anal fins are now almost equal in number to their supporting ossicles, and the tail has become only abbreviate heterocercal. That is to say, the caudal body prolongation no longer proceeds to the termination of the upper lobe, which is reduced in size and in the number ofits rays. The Catopteridz are obviously an annectent group, as although from their abbreviate heterocercal tail they have usually been placed in the next sub-order, Dr. Smith Woodward prefers to look upon them as Chrondrostei (z.e. Acipenseroidei).” Wherever we place them they express the beginning of a set of changes towards a more modern type of fish, which are emphasised in the great series of Lepidosteoid fishes (Protospondyli + AZtheo- spondyli of Smith Woodward), being the fishes more or less allied to the recent Bony Pike of North America. But these changes must have been well advanced before the Triassic era, for already in the Upper Permian occurs the genus Acentrophorus, whose fellowship with Seméonotus, Lepidotus, and all the rest of the series of Mesozoic semi-heterocercal ‘** Ganoids ” is at once obvious. If we look at the configuration of a typical Jurassic member of this series, such as Lepfidotus or Eugnathus, we shall at once see that we are a stage nearer the modern osseous fish. Though the scales are bony, rhombic, and ganoid we are struck by the ** Teleostean ”-like aspect of the external bones and plates of 1 Collinge has, however, found rudimentary scales in the skin of the recent Polydon folium (Journ. Anat. and Phys., ix. pp. 458-487), and Cope has described an allied Eocene genus, Crossopholis, in which minute scales are seen (Mem. Nat. Acad. Sciences, iii. 1886, pp. 161-163). 2 Dr. Smith Woodward also refers the singular Belonorhynchidz of the Trias to the same sub-order on account of the excess of the number cf the dermal rays of the dorsal and anal over that of their supporting ossicles, even although the tail is here abbreviate diphycercal. 508 NATURE [SEPTEMBER 20, 1900 the head, the rays of the dorsal and anal fins are fewer and correspond in their number to that of the internal supports or ‘‘interspinous” bones, while in the caudal we see again the semi-heterocercal or abbreviate-heterocercal condition we noticed above in Catopterus. Then if we refer to the tail of Lepzdosteus itself we shall observe how few are its rays and how evident it is that we have here to do only with the lower lobe of the original paleeoniscoid caudal fin. For a convincing corroboration of this we have only to look at the tail of the embryo Lepidosteus as described and figured by Prof. A. Agassiz to see that it in reality passed through an Acipenseroid stage, and the last we see of the upper lobe of this tail is in the form of a filament which projects from the top of the original lower lobe and then disappears. Again, in these Lepidosteid forms we have a repetition of the same tendency for the thick rhombic, peg-and-socket articula- ting scales to become rounded and imbricating as we saw in the Crossopterygii and again in the Palzeoniscide. So, for instance, in Caturus, which has been shown by Dr. Smith Woodward to resemble Zugnathus so closely in structure, the scales are deeply overlapping, and most of them ‘‘cycloidal” in shape. To such an extent does this go that in the recent Amza, whose skeletal structure so clearly shows it to belong to this group, the rounded scales are so thin and flexible that after it was removed from the Clupeoid family, or Herrings, and placed among the ‘‘ Ganoids” it was considered to be the type of a distinct sub-order of ‘* Amioidei.” Ten years ago, however, Dr. Beard came to the conclusion, from anatomical and embryological data, that this division could no longer be maintained, and that the Amioids must in fact be united with the Lepidosteids.1| Dr. Smith Woodward has, therefore, in the third volume of his catalogue, done well to reduce the ‘‘ Amioidei” to the rank of a family, including also the Jurassic genera Lzodesmus and Megalurus, and to place this family close to the Eugnathidee. As the Asipenseroids dwindled away after the close of the great Palzeozoic era, and are now scantily represented only by the degenerate paddle-fishes and sturgeons, so the Lepidosteid series, flourishing greatly in the Trias and Jura, in their turn declined in the Cretaceous, and in the Tertiary period became about as much a thing of the past as they are now, the. North American Lepedosteus and Amdéa, of which remains of extinct species have also been found in Eocene and Miocene rocks, only remaining. ‘These two genera can, however, hardly. be called ‘* degenerate.” But that the fishes which succeeded the Lepidosteids in populating the seas and rivers of the globe were evolved from them there can be no reasonable doubt, while it is equally clear that they branched off at an early period, as already in the Trias we find the first representatives of the order of Isospondyli, which contains our familiar Herrings, Salmonids, Elopids, Scopelids, &c. For Dr. Smith Woodward has not only definitely placed the Jurassic Leptolepidz and Oligopleuridz in the Isospondyli, but also the Pholidophoridz, which appear in the Trias and extend to the Purbeck. And it is of special interest that in the Pholidophori the scales are still brilliantly ganoid and mostly retain the peg-and-socket articulation, while in the allied Leptolepidz, although they have become thin and circular, a layer of ganoine mostly remains. With the Isospondyli we now get fairly among the bony fishes of modern type—Teleostei as we used to call them—to which other sub-orders are added in Cretaceous and Tertiary times, and which in the present day have assumed an overwhelming numerical preponderance over all other fishes. The prevalent form of scale among these is thin, rounded, deeply imbricating, and with the posterior margin either plain (cycloid) or serrated (ctenoid), But that these ‘‘ cycloid”’ and ‘‘ ctenoid ” scales are modifications from the rhombic osseous ‘‘ganoid” type we cannot doubt after what we have seen. It is indeed strange that the same tendency to the change of rhombic into circular overlapping scales should have occurred independently in more than one group. For reasons given at the beginning, and also because I fear I have already exceeded the limit of time usually allotted to such an Address, I must now stop. Butinconclusion I mayalludeto a well-known fact regarding the tail of these modern fishes, the bearing of which on the doctrine of Descent is sufficiently clear and has long been recognised. 1 ‘‘ The Inter-relationships of the Ichthyopsida,” Axatomtischer Anzeiger, 1890. Smith Woodward arrived at the same result in 1893 from the study of the Jurassic genera / efidotus and Dafpedixs. See Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., June 20, 1893, pp. 559-565. NO. 1612, VOL. 62] We have seen that the completely heterocercal tail of the typical Acipenseroid becomes, by abortion of the upper lobe and shortening of the axis, the semi-heterocercal one of the Lepidosteids, in most of which, however, the want of symmetry is still perceptible externally by a short projection or “ sinus” of scales which is directed obliquely upward at the beginning of the top of the fin. In the ordinary bony fishes and in some Lepidosteids also the caudal fin becomes likewise symmetrical, as seen from the outside ; generally also bilobate, though the upper lobe is ‘not that of a Palzoniscid or Sturgeon. This con- dition of tail has been long known as ‘‘homocercal.” But in many such homocercal tails, when we dissect away the skin and soft parts, the upward bend of the vertebral axis is revealed, and in some, as in the Salmon, the extremity of the vertebral axis is continued as a cartilaginous style among the rays near the upper margin of the fin. But there are many others, such, for instance, as the peculiarly specialised group of Pleuronectidz or flat fishes, in which the skeleton of the caudal extremity dooks quite symmetrical, but yet in the embryo the extremity of the notochord is seen to have an upward bend, showing that the homocercal tail is indeed a specialisation on the old heterocerca} one. It is strange that though this embryological fact was long ago pointed out by Agassiz, and though he noted its great interest in connection with the prevalence of heterocercy among the Palzeozoic fishes, yet he remained to the end an opponent of evolution. But this is just one of these instances in which Phylogeny and Ontogeny mutually illustrate each other. Why, otherwise, should the tail of the embryo stickleback or flounder be heterocercal ? Incompletely as I have treated the subject, it cannot but be acknowledged that the palzeontology of fishes is not less emphatie in the support of Descent than that of any other division of the animal kingdom. But in former days the evidence of fossi) ichthyology was by some read otherwise. - By It is now a little over forty years since Hugh Miller died: he who was one of the first collectors of the fossil fishes of the Scottish Old Red Sandstone, and who knew these’ in some respects better than any man of his time, not excepting Agassiz himself. Yet his life was spent in a fierce denunciation of the doctrine of evolution, then only in its Lamarckian form, as Darwin had not yet electrified the world with his * Origin of Species.’”” Many a time I wonder greatly what Hugh Miller have been able to see the remarkable revolution which was wrought by the publication of that book. The main argument on which Miller rested was the ‘* high” state of organisation of the ancient fishes of the Paleozoic formations, and this was apparently combined with a confident assumption of the completeness of the geological record. As to the first idea, we know of course that evolution means the passage from the more general to the more special, and that although as the general result an onward advance has taken place, yet specialisation does not always or necessarily mean ‘*highness” of organisation in the sense in which the term is usually employed. As to the idea of the perfection of the geo- logical record, that of course is absurd. ; We do not and cannot know the oldest fishes, as they would not have had hard parts for preservation, but we may hope to come to know many more old ones, and older ones still, than we do at present. My experience of the subject of fosil ichthyology is that it is not likely to become exhausted in our day. __ We are introduced at a period far back in geological history to certain groups of fishes some of which certainly are high in organisation as animals, but yet of generalised type, being fishes and yet having the potentiality of higher forms. But, because their ancestors are unknown to us, that is no evidence that they did not exist, and cannot overthrow the morphological testimony in favour of evolution with which the record actually does furnish us. We may therefore feel very sure that fishes, or ‘‘ fish-like vertebrates,” lived long ages before the oldest forms with which we are acquainted came into existence. : The modern type of bony fish, though not so **high” in many anatomical points as that of the Selachii, Crossopterygii, Dipnoi, Acipenseroidei and Lepidosteoidei of the Palzozoie and Mesozoic eras, is more specialised in the direction of the fish proper, and, as already indicated, specialisation and ‘‘ highness ” since those pre-Darwinian days, and though we shall never be able would have thought had he lived a few years longer, so as to in the ordinary sense of the word are not necessarily coincident. _ But ideas about these things have undergone a wonderful change ~ fully tounravel the problems concerning the descent of animals,we ' see many things a great deal more clearly now than we did then, — __ SEPTEMBER 20, 1900] ——— SECTION F. ECONOMIC SCIENCE AND STATISTICS. ABRIDGED FROM THE OPENING ADDRESS BY MAjor P. G, CRAIGIE, V.P.S.S., PRESIDENT OF THE SECTION. _ OF all statistical work the enumeration of the units of popula- _ tion must ever take the foremost place, and on the eve of the us to be taken before many more months have passed a re- nce to that great impending task could hardly be omitted on ‘eccasion. In common with all students of the machinery census-taking, I am sure I echo the feelings of the Section—as 9 those of the Royal Statistical Society, who have long ed in this direction—in deeply regretting that the first us of the twentieth century is not to possess the distinction iy had hoped to see conferred upon it of being by preliminary i t—as I hope it may prove to be in ultimate et—the first of a series not of decennial but of quinquennial countings of the people. The growing complexity of social conditions and speed of life ad ts functions at the present date, contrasted with the y movements of a hundred years ago, would alone and amply justify a more frequent stock-taking of the inhabitants of Great Britain than has been the practice in the past. The prac- tical wants of our much multiplied system of local government ; _ eannot fail, I believe, ere long to bring about the granting of an _ intermediate numbering, even if for the moment other considera- overrule the more academic pleas of statisticians for this reform, or the arguments, sound as I believe them to be, for a permanent Census Office, a permanent Census Act, anda trained and continuous Census Staff, to whom preparation of the ma- _ chinery beforehand and detailed elaboration of the. results after _ the actual census year might with real economy be entrusted. Although the proposal which has been before the International Statistical Institute in one form or another for a sychronous world’s census,” at the moment of passing from one century to another, is hardly likely, for administrative reasons, and in view of the previous fixtures of the great census-taking Govern- ments of the earth, to be literally realised, the dates of the great countings of the nations will nevertheless come sufficiently close for all practical comparisons. The great Russian enumeration, on the success of which M. Troinitsky is so heartily to be con- _onggperta is not yet long accomplished. The twelfth census of > United States is now being taken. The Scandinavian inquiry- coincides with the century’s end, the Italian and panish censuses are already overdue, and both France n take their count within a few months after the itieth century has begun. Attempts to utilise statistical data, to determine the relative _developm »pment of agriculture in different parts of the world and at different periods of time, are sometimes made with regard >to what is described as the world’s aggregate of one or __ two leading individual products as typical as the rest ; or, again, _ one or two typical countries, or at least countries where the _ available information is more complete than elsewhere, are _ chosen, and the course of development or decline of their crop areas or the several descriptions of their animal produce is traced incem a compared. | Certain obvious objections, which it is well to recognise, im- Je the student of figures who resolves to proceed on the first fthese methods. At the outset he is arrested by embarrass- ment the choice of what single products are to be held Ls ee eka of agricultural outturn. The most usual of all ES is that which restricts inquiries to the case of wheat. _ This course to be rendered, comparatively speaking, «easy, as more probably been written and more statistics, _ official or unofficial, theoretical or commercial, actual or ima- a ey. have been compiled with regard to this bread grain than Sg any other crop. But it is time we recognised that wheat has too much and too exclusive attention directed to it as a type of % icultural uction. Very widely as it is undoubtedly used in form of bread, even as food its place is occupied at one time another, and in one country or another, by other substitutes, and its cultivation, is, after all, not the employment which de- mands the most attention and most skill at the hands of the __ agriculturist. Not only do rye and even maize serve as substitutes supplements in feeding man, but other crops, such as oats, barley, millet, rice, and so on, have claims to greater notice than _ they receive, and play a direct as well as indirect part in ~pror food. tton, flax and wool are other typical ___ products, the use of which for clothing is all-important to an NO. 1612, VOL. 62] NATURE 509 enormous population, and the extension or retrogression of such crops deserves some of the attention of the agricultural statistician. Tea, coffee, wine, spirits and beer are, it is not to be forgotten, agricultural products in one clime or another, either directly or indirectly ; and crops so important as sugar or tobacco are almost to be classed as necessaries of existence. Of yearly growing importance is it also, in these days, when the animal portion of our food supply bulks so much more fully than before in the daily rations of populations as they grow in wealth and increase in consumptive power, that we should closely follow the fluctuations in the five stock maintained for food and learn the teaching of the agricultural returns on the manufacture of beef, of mutton, of pig meat, or of milk. Although the attempt to grasp the relative magnitude of the agricultural production of one State as compared with another, or to note the growth or decline of its prominence in the culti- vation of particular staples, or the manufacture of particular kinds of human food, is always an enterprise of difficulty in existing statistical conditions, it is one which has fascination for many classes of economists and politicians. If attempted at all, it is well to recognise that there are inevitable dangers in the task, and that if any figures are relied on as conclusive their meaning must. be interpreted by some knowledge of the demographic con- ditions of each State and its geographical, climatic and agricultural circumstances. Taking a few of the most conspicuous products of the soil, it will generally be found that a very few leading States are so par- ticularly identified with one or other type of production that the examination of their records are therefore available as guides to the course of a single crop. Probably quite two-thirds of the cotton of the world is grown in the United States alone, where the surface so employed reaches 25,000,000 acres as compared with under 9,000,000 acres in British India, the next largest cotton-growing region of which statistical record exists. In wool the produce of the Australasian Colonies of Great Britain—with flocks which still exceed 100,000,000 head—makes much the largest contribution to the total. In rice, so far as statistics carry us, our Indian possessions head the list of producers. In hops the English crop still probably exceeds the German in production, although the latter with larger area closely contests the place. In tobacco, while the acreage apparently employed in British India is nearly double the 595,000 acres in the United States, no other country in our statistical records comes within one- seventh of the American area. The vineyards of Italy are returned as covering 8,500,000 acres, and those of France 4,300,000 acres, while those of Austria and Hungary, next in magnitude, cover but a seventh part of the last-mentioned figure. Russia bulks largely as a grower of flax; and alone shows a whole third of the area of barley recorded in all the countries which supply returns, and if in the case of potatoes the Russian acreage is not very different from that of Germany the total production of the latter empire reaches the largest aggregate of any single country. If the subject of inquiry be the place of wheat-growing in the world at one date or another, it would not be to the older European countries, other than Russia at all events, we should turn to see where the surface so utilised was extending. Reckoned by the percentage of her cereal area which she still devotes to wheat, France, with 47 per cent. under the crop, or Italy, with 55 per cent., would naturally be selected as typical wheat-growers ; but both are practically in a stationary or, collectively, even in a slightly retrograding position. It is on the other side of the Atlantic where the most note- worthy movements have occurred. In comparatively new exporting countries, such as Argentina and Canada, though the statistics from neither are complete, wheat areas still extend, and that of the United States, though eve with great sensitiveness under varying price conditions, an moving from one centre to another westward or north- westward across the American continent, is now reported as covering 44,600,000 acres. This total, it must be allowed, whatever views may be held as to future progress, makes the United States a typical grower of this particular cereal, to which it gives an importance second only to the still more extensive roduct of American soil, to which we give the name of maize, but to which alone in American parlance is allowed the title of corn. The leading changes in the production of typical crops as measured by the acreage, and the stock of cattle, sheep and 510 NATURE [SEPTEMBER 20, 1900 swine recorded at or near the commencement, the middle, and the close of the past thirty years, may be contrasted for export- ing countries with expanding populations and growing agri- culture, and in countries where these conditions are absent, or in a typical consuming centre like our own country. Relying on the agricultural returns of the United States, a table could be constructed, as under, for three dates within the past thirty years which furnish the following indication of agricultural changes :— United States 1870 1835 1899 Population, in million persons ... 386 56°1 76'°0 Area under maize, in million acres 38:6 731 $2°1 Area under wheat me 190 342 44°6 Area under oats ry 88 22'8 26°3 Area under cotton re 9°9 18°3 250 Cattle (million head) 25°5 43'8 439 Sheep ” he ig 40°9 50°4 4t°9 Swine Fi 26'8 45'1 38°7 In 1870 the United States held, it would thus appear, a popula- tion of 38,600,000, and grew an acre of maize for each unit ot the population, and an acre of wheat for every two persons, and somewhat more than an acre of cotton for every four. At this period the surplus exported to other nations, it may be added, represented two-thirds of the cotton, rather more than one-fifth of the wheat, but less than one per cent. of the maize. In 1885 the population had augmented to an estimated total of 56,000,000, or by 45 per cent. The area under the crops above quoted had meantime been extended in nearly twice this ratio. The United States exported still about two-thirds of the cotton grown ; the wheat export was slightly greater in propor- tion to the product than before, or 26 per cent. ; while nearly 3 per cent. of the maize crop found a market abroad. The population of the States is now estimated to have risen to 76,000,000, or twice what it was thirty years ago, although the census has yet to say if this calculation has been realised.. The cultivation of maize had meantime reached 82,000,000 acres, wheat was reported to cover 44,000,000 acres, and cotton 25,000,000 acres, while the foreign market received 65 per cent. of the cotton, 33 per cent. of the wheat, and now as much as 9 per cent. of the maize grown on these areas. In none of these cases, it will be noted, has the area under crop failed to increase, but in all the rate of increase was dis- tinctly slower in the second than in the first half of the period. If time sufficed to trace the annual course of movement between the contrasted dates, it might be well remembered that from 1871 onward to 1889, with only a single slight check in 1887, the growth of the maize acreage has been continuous, From 1889 to 1894 fluctuations were reported yearly, ending in the latter year at a total acreage no higher than that of 1880, but returning again in a single year, if the record can be trusted, to the highest point reached. The wheat acreage movement has been more irregular, and the latest figures are complicated by the admitted corrections which were made to an-amount of 5,000,000 acres for too low previous estimates in 1897. Allowing for this, the regular upward movement of the wheat acreage was apparently checked in 1880, and has only begun again since 1898 under the stimulus of higher prices in that ear, . In live stock the development would seem to have been arrested altogether between 1885 and the end of the century in the case of cattle, and turned into an absolute decline in the number of sheep and swine, although in the fifteen years before 1885 cattle had increased more than 71 per cent., swine 74 per cent., and sheep 25 per cent. As a matter of fact the maximum number of cattle was reached in 1892, when the numbers were 54,000,000, or ten millions more than at present, the stock of swine declining in a still greater ratio from the same year, and sheep declining and rising again in the separate periods between 1883 and 1889, and between 1893 and 1897. f the ratio under each: head to population is considered, it would appear that the United States possessed 661 cattle for every 1000 of her citizens in 1870. This was raised to 829 per 1000 persons in 1885, while the ratio now has fallen again below the starting-point, or to 604 per 1000 persons. Sheep have fallen in the thirty years from 1060 in 1870 to 880, and now to NO. 1612, VOL. 62] 537 head only per 1000 inhabitants. animals and animal products, which last have been main at a still higher level than before. _ Turning to‘a country of nearly stationary population, provided for in the main from its own agricultural produce with slight assistance from abroad, a like contrast for the beginning, the middle, and the end of the period under review will give roughly the results shown below. \ the Franco-German war with the data two years later, or in 1872. (For table, see below). : oa Thus in France, where wheat-growing has always had such a predominance among the cereals, the area is neither increasing nor diminishing. The total of 17,000,000 acres falls, however, somewhat short of the provision of an acre to two persons, which held good, in the United States ; but this is more than © corrected by the higher average yield, which is nearly 5 bushels per acre greater in France than in America. Taking wheat and rye together, there are a million acres less of bread corn grown in France than there was when her slow-moving population was two millions smaller, or less than 58 acres to 100 persons now as against 60 acres to the 100 twenty-eight yearsago, = France 1872 | 1885 1899 Population, in million persons ... | 36% (9Re eee Area under wheat, in millionacres ... TP, 77 °s Area under oats | BEG gt aaa Sheep ye ee i i |:24°O (22562 age Swine a; “54 | 58 6°21 1 1898. i > epee tt The changes which the last quarter of the nineteenth century has seen in the leading features of French agriculture may easily summarised. The population of 1872 but little exceeded — 36,000,000, that of 1885 reached 38,000,000, and the latest data only bring it up to little over 38,500,000. The wheat-growing | area remains, it would appear, under all conditions practically at c I These remarkable changes B are worthy of note in connection with the exports of Ras i : v. Here, although we are ~ provided with an annual figure, the start has to be made after — Se a Se Se ee rt 17,000,000 acres, the only break to the general uniformity of — the cultivation of this cereal (with which the returns include spelt) occurring in the season of 1891, when, under exceptional climatic conditions, only 14,000,000 acres were harvested. — There is one typical French agricultural product—wine— which has materially declined under circumstances which are well known. The vineyards of 1872, which were reported as covering 6,500,000 acres, are now returned as less by a third of that area, and covering 4,300,000 acres only. Sait In cattle a material growth up to 1885, but a very smal} increase since that year, is reported ; while if sheep, as in all European countries, are fewer, the fall is less than in Germany, and it is most marked in the first half of the period. Swine in France have steadily increased. As regards the cattle, it may be noted that France had 313 cattle to each 1000 of her people in 1872, 345 in 1885, and 352 per 1000 now. Of sheep the number per 1000 is 560, against 681 at the earlier date. — Treating a few of the distinctive points of our own i- culture in the same way at the beginning, middle, and end of the past thirty years, the statistics of the United Kingdom would give these results :— casi ey aan United Kingdom 1870 1885 _ 1899 Population, in million persons ... | 31°2 36°0 40°7 Area under wheat, in million acres 38 2°6 72tY Area under cats 45 y 4°4 4°3 4°I Area under other corn crops __,,: 3°6 i eS Cattle (million head fi esd g'2 10°9 Be ia Sheep 5 je 32°8 901 EP BT xt Swine ” 37 he ale 40 Here the most striking contrast with France is in the growth of population. From being a country with 5,000,000 fewer re dt hia my Ts ay ee aan OF ee, _ SEPTEMBER 20, 1900] NATURE 511 ibitants the United Kingdom is now one actually greater 2,000,000 persons than is France. This is an increase more than 30 per cent., while the surface under ; has heavily fallen, the main loss occurring under ’ which have been amply discussed between 1 1895. With some revival, as in America, consequent improvement of price in recent years, the slight apparent Ihave shown in the cultivation of oats is in fact con- to Ireland, the area in Great Britain being greater than beginning of the period. The cattle stock of the United lom is increased by some 23 per cent., and the swine by § per cent., while our flocks of sheep have been main- at a level far exceeding that of other European States, nctive in a peculiar manner of the agriculture of Great or they still represent, as it appears, on the average 400 ‘to every 1000 acres of land, against 164 in France, 81 in any, 32 in Belgium, and 17 in the United States. lances sing toa comparison with another great country, which, the United States, is a typical exporter of more than form of agricultural produce, it may be asked how far wailable statistics of Russia allow such information to be ed. For the earliest of the three years contrasted the from the Russian empire are meagre and unsatisfactory. nd must be excluded as blank in our statistics at that time, ile as re animals no figures at all would appear to have be a made public for any of the last twelve years. With such ications as these, the available data for the nearest year in larger crops stood as under :— Russia in Europe (ex Poland) 1870 1885 1899 . i on, in million persons ... | 65°7 81°7 94°23 of rye, in million acres 66°41 | 64°6 63°4 ofwheat —,,_ 28°71 | 28-9. | 38-0 ee ae ee | 32°87 | 349 | 361 fe) cereals, in million tot, eee sy oat ? 31°4 34°2 ion head) 22°8 23°67 | (24°6)4 Bo! 48°1 46°77 | (44°5) 4 Ripert (yy svn: gl 9°47 | (9°2)4 ‘ ; 3 In 1883. 3 Census of 1897. 4 In 1888. “years ago. the population of European Russia, ex would i r from such data as we possess to have -d in round numbers at under sixty-six million is given as somewhere about eighty-two millions in and accorc to the recent census it is ninety-four now. The bread corn of the country continues to be more largely rye than wheat, and the area in the year r which statistics are available, occupied by the former % as practically an acre to the person, or in all 66,400,000 acres, | than half an acre per inhabitant, or 29,000,000 acres, being under at. The combined surface devoted to these vo bread grains together was thus 95,000,000 acres in the ate, or 145 acres to every 100 persons. 1 years later, when the population was apparently x by 16,000,000 persons, or 24 per cent., the statistics of ‘acreage indicate 2,000,000 acres less than before, or acres. The wheat acreage, if the official data be was little if at all in excess of the 1872 figure, the rye sat together roughly giving I15 acres to I10 persons. tion of this decline, while the exports of both grains p naintained or extended, affords an opportunity for closer ‘inquiry into the basis of the published returns which are “rece ed from that country. _ But carrying the review of the official figures further, the very latest data for this section of the Russian territory would “appear to indicate a yet further shrinkage in the acreage of rye, but accompanied now, as was apparently not the case until lately, by a considerable increase in land under The total of this cereal is now put as high 38,000,000 acres, but the net available area of Stuffs, although brought up to 101,000,000 acres, esents a still diminishing ratio to population, or acres to every 100 persons. Moreover, as Russia must _ be regarded as growing both wheat and rye for export as well asc ee ans larger proportions of her acreage which is _ employed in feeding a non-Russian population deserve to be NO. 1612, VOL. 62] | contrasts which are both interesting and instructive. specially marked in this connection, when the low yields of both cereals are remembered. Whether the foregoing figures do indeed represent the facts of each period is, I think, a worthy object of inquiry for some of our younger statisticians, and it is a problem one would like to see solved as regards this particular country before venturing on any too confident conclusion as to what is the real meaning of the changes of the past, and what may be the future position in regard to the growth of bread-stuffs and the growth of population in the world as a whole. Calculations, however, such as those just quoted cannot fail to remind the student how very different in productive power the ‘*acre ” of wheat may be, and is, in different countries. Assuming that we take the existence of 38,000,000 acres as reported of wheat land in Russia in Europe (¢x Poland) to be proved, a com- parison of the estimated yields shows that such an area repre- sents less than 12,000,000 acres of the productive power we are accustomed to in Great Britain. So, too, for the vast wheat area of the United States, it takes two and a third acres to pro- duce what is now our average yield in this country. Three Indian or three Italian acres of wheat of the calibre now in use would in the same way be required to supply the number of bushels that a single acre of our soil in the climate we enjoy, and worked under the system of farming that we practise here, would in ordinary seasons produce. In other extensive areas of wheat-growing the yields, though greater than the above, are very considerably below our own, the Austrian, Hungarian and French yields standing at 16, 17 and 18 bushels respectively, against the 30 bushels which is apparently the average yield of the last five years in the United Kingdom. Only when we come to very small total areas do we find instances where the average wheat yields approach or over any considerable periods exceed our own. When Denmark, for example, is referred to as reaching 42 bushels per acre in the season of 1896, it is not to be forgotten that only a minute area of selected land, in this case only 84,000 acres, is devoted to this cereal. Results realised on this small scale can hardly be spoken of as an average in contrast with those of countries where millions of acres are: grown, and can usually be paralleled in some sections of the bigger country. Nor should it be forgotten, if the agricultural position of one State be compared with another, how widely the conditions of different parts vary from the picture presented by the average figures credited to the State as a unit, and how often sections of one country differ more from each other agriculturally than from the country with which they are contrasted. Within the United Kingdom alone we are, or ought to be, familiar with essential local differences of this type, which have to be kept in mind. Even in respect of the relative density of population and the number of mouths to be sustained in a given area, it may be yr correct to describe every 1000 acres in the United King- om as carrying on their surface on the average 519 persons, but it may be remembered with advantage that, considered geographically apart, Scotland, for example, is a country of but 220 persons, and Ireland of but 219, to the 1000 acres of area. Such a position suggests that it might be fair to draw our agricultural comparisons between Scotland or Ireland as units of area, and such a country as Denmark, where the population is 248 to the 1000 acres. Thus one-third of the cereal area of England is still devoted to the growth of wheat, while Denmark has but 3 per cent. so occupied, thereby resembling Scotland or Ireland, where some 4 per cent. only of the corn is wheat. Similarly, on this population basis, Austria with 320 persons, or Switzerland with 312, to the 1000 acres may be not inappropri- ately classed with Wales, where the density is 345. In parti- cular, an examination of the live stock maintained by each 1000 acres of the surface in all these cases affords parallels (eee or table, see p. 512.) Thus Wales bears easily the palm as regards the total stock of sheep carried, while Ireland, with a population practically bearing a similar ratio to that of Scotland to her surface, has more than three times as dense a stock of cattle and more than eight times as many pigs, although not much more than half as many sheep to the 1000 acres. Although beaten as regards the number of pigs maintained on a given area by Denmark and by Hungary, Ireland’s cattle are more than twice as numerous relatively as those of France, where the population is not so very different in proportion to the soil, 512 NATURE [SEPTEMBER 2C, 1900 Per 1000 Acres of Total Area Country ay rT eh ae MR eg eS Ee Persons | Cattle | Sheep | Swine Ireland 219 2031p @OT | 61 Scotland 220 64 | 390 7 Hungary 232 Shy S102 | 92 Denmark 248 186 | 115 | 88 France; 300. 293 103 | 164 48 Switzerland ... 311 132 27 57 Austria ... 320 117 43 48 Wales 345 147 685 50 Among countries where the areas are still greater in propor- tion to the resident population it may not be without interest to group. together—as regards their present density—persons, cattle, sheep and swine. Per tooo Acres of Total Area Countries l Persons Cattle Sheep | Swine | Preteen New South Wales __... i 10 221 I New Zealand ... ns te a8 294 3 Victoria ia oe att ae 234 6 Norway os aS a6 4 £37 18? | zt Wmted States ot a ee Bee BES 17 17 Sweden ihe | 49 25 13 8 Russia (ex Poland) | 66 20? 362 fi | 1 In 1890. 2 In 1888. Such figures serve to emphasise the vast difference between the flocks maintained in our Australasian Colonies and the other countries in this group. The animal wealth of England by herself, omitting the Celtic fringes above quoted, may be compared with a nearer competitor. Belgium has 893 persons to 1000 acres, England 925; and Belgium has 195 head of cattle and 160 head of swine, but only 32 sheep, on an average area of this size in her little kingdom, against 144 cattle, 64 pigs, and as many as 488 sheep in England. Were the comparison to be made more closely yet, the cattle stock of Belgium agrees closely- in point of density with, say, the particular division of our area comprising the north- western counties of England, which have 194 cattle to 1000 acres, or considerably more than the great butter-exporting country of Denmark, and at least a very close approach to the 197 head per 1000 acres which are to be found in the fat pastures of the Netherlands. _ These limited comparisons on single points of agricultural production in single countries do not, I know, satisfy the de- mands which are often made for world-wide surveys and com- parisons on a larger scale. I confess I somewhat distrust the strength and due coherence of the statistical bricks on which these heroic conclusions are built up. It is most usual in corn trade journals, and the practice is sometimes followed in serious debate and reproduced in the year-books of the United States Government, to give a yearly picture of at least the world’s wheat crop. For the close comparison of one season with another much must depend on the sufficiency of the weakest item in the account, and weakness is sure to creep in some- where when crops are estimated on varying systems, at different dates, and on authorities of unequal value. The definitions adopted. by one calculator as to the limits of the ‘* world” vary from those of another, and commercial estimates, as they are called, may be, at the discretion of the computer, substituted for or adopted in the absence of official data, so that the guesses ata single country’s harvest may differ more widely from each other than would account for the total margin between one year’s aggregate supply and another, to the confounding of satisfactory conclusions as to what is really happening. Last but not least of the obstacles to uniform grouping of harvests in complete years—ending as these years do at different periods— is the fact, not to be overlooked, that wheat harvests are being gathered somewhere in every month in the twelve. One is driven back then to the attempt to rest opinions on the growth of one form of culture or another on recorded acre- NO. 1612, VOL. 62] age, rather than assumed production. Yet even here a good - illustration of the difficulty of any extensive compilation may be - found in the tentative memorandum Sir Robert Giffen put before the last Royal Commission on Agriculture as indicating, with many necessary reservations and _ qualifications, the relative movements of grain area, live stock, and population in the twenty years before 1893. Briefly, the earlier totals pe = into conjunction for this purpose were made up, as regards the ~ population figures taken to represent the starting-point of 1873, from the statistics of groups of countries and colonies at dates for the most part about 1871-3, but in some instances ranging back to 1866 and on to 1881, and aggregating 365,800,000 per- sons. Against these were set a total of 461,800,000 persons, enumerated, for the most part, about 1890-93, but in a few © instances, where later data were wanting, going back to 1880-88, — the growth of population between the totals being 26 per cent. The acreage about 1873 and about 1893, contrasted with these © figures, included wheat, rye, barley and oats, but not maize—a larger crop than any of the last three. The countries contrasted — were limited necessarily by the extent of information, and the — list did not include all of which the population was accounted — for, the increases per cent. being 28 per cent. in the case of oats, 19 per cent. in the case of wheat, 5 per cent. in the case of barley, with a decrease of 5 per cent. in rye. It should be observed, however, that the calculation as to the increase of — wheat would have been much closer to that of population had not a very large area, nearly stationary in amount, been credited to India and Japan at both dates; the local population of these Asiatic countries being disregarded as, generally speaking, non- wheat-eating. ; { It was only as an outline pointing the direction in which inquiry might be useful that Sir Robert Giffen called attention to these figures, which, as he acknowledged, were of the roughest possible description, and rather suggestive of a closer inquiry, which should take account of the difference between the consumptive power of the countries aggregated, the varying productive power of nominally equal areas of surface, and the varying type of live stock maintained. If the wheat acreage table, in the memorandum referred to, is examined in detail, a very effective picture of the difficulty of exact comparison as between any two given dates is incidentally presented. Out of twenty-four countries enumerated (including Canada and Australasia as units) a twenty or twenty-one years’ comparison is only really effected in five cases—Russia, the United States, France,* United Kingdom and Australasia. In five other instances the period dealt with is only from seventeen to eighteen years ; in three other cases only fourteen or fifteen years. In Canada, Egypt and Denmark, the comparison will be found to be more limited still, and only to cover eleven or twelve years; while in the Argentine Republic, where the recent expansion of wheat-growing has been prominent, the available statistics allowed only of a comparison of two periods, no more than nine years apart. For seven other countries. the wheat acreage was necessarily either omitted or inserted — as presumably the same as both the earlier and the later date. — Had the retrospect been confined to the cases where a twenty or twenty-one years’ comparison was possible—and these, after all, included the most important. and typical wheat-growing communities—the increase. would have stood, not at 19, but at 24 per cent., or scarcely below that of the growth of population — generally. This result is reached without taking account of © any South American figures, where the increase of area is relatively much greater, or of those of India, where the com- parison is difficult and the acreage- growing but slightly. But, — further, it is to be remembered that if the comparison of the memorandum were to be continued up to 1899, instead of © stopping at 1893, the figures would have shown that wheat- — growing had apparently made a new start in the five important — countries for which the long comparison was possible, as many million acres having been added in the past six years as in the whole preceding twenty—a result which may afford — much. occasion for suspending our final judgment and no little — warning of the danger of single year contrasts. — Since the above calculations were before the Commission there has been an extension of 10,000,000 acres in the official estimates of wheat areas in the United States, and 5,400,000 acres in Russia, while, although official details are still wanting beyond 1895 for Argentina, nearly 3,000,000 acres more were in that year accounted for in that republic; and there is an impression, apparently well founded, that by the present time 3 SEPrEMBER 20 1900] NATURE 513 total may have reached 8,000,000 acres, or nearly five fion acres more than the final figure in Sir Robert Giffen’s If anything like 20,000,000 acres have thus been to the wheat-growing surface of the globe in the last five which these further figures suggest, even if no cor- ‘be made for the Indian quota, there may be much less se than was suggested in the memorandum between the of population and wheat-growing. jut attempting in any way to controvert what was one of essons Of the memorandum I have been examining, as to ndency to increase the numbers of cattle at a ratio above ry lation, i it has also to be remembered that the apparent ‘cent. increase there shown between 1873 and 1893 may ve to be discounted by subsequent deductions in the United tates, in Australasia, and at the Cape in recent years ; while tis one of the problems I have never yet seen satisfactorily swered, why in almost all old countries except our own the n of the stock of sheep seems contiruous and remark- 2: Sheation these matters only, however, to suggest the of uncertainty which must attend the efforts to arrive at ions, made even by. the highest authorities, on the only data which exist. If there is, as I have shown, such uncertainty till in the facts on which a conclusion could be built as to the as ha the relative growth of live stock, or of cereal ultu’ e supply of bread-stuffs, how much greater must aie be oft a who attempt, on the basis of such data, the course of events for a generation yet to come! I ‘ T am not intrepid enough to follow some of the conjec- : ‘which have been hazarded on this point, and can only, in r address. recur once more to the prime qualifica- ; ‘Safe statistical deductions with which I opened my redoubled caution in handling calculations, a very d , of data giving records of single and isolated years, a wise reservation in any prophetic pictures of the future of uction, whether of wheat or cotton, in meat or of | € contingency, always present, of altered condi- 8 which ever and anon in the past have altered and falsified an pen of earlier observers. or 110Nn SECTION H. ANTHROPOLOGY. NG eons: BY Pror. JoHn Ruys, M.A., LL.D., ke PRESIDENT OF THE SECTION. HAPs I ought to begin by apologising for my conspicuous : qualification to fill this cha, but I prefer, win your ion, to dismiss that as a subject far too large for me to f this morning. So I would beg to call your attention for 2 a moment to the excellent address given to this Section It was full of practical suggestions which are well recalling : one was as to the project of a Bureau of ry for ( reater Britain, and the other turned on the de- "of founding an Imperial Institution to represent our 2 pire. I mention these in the hope that we all not leave the Government and others concerned any peace ave realised those modest dreams of enlightenment, ‘minds are just now so full of other things that the ; of knowledge and science are in no little danger of overlooked. So it is all the more desirable that the Colonia Association, as our great parliament of science, should the necessary steps to prevent that happening, and to keep before the public the duties which a great and com- nation like ours ee to the world and to humanity, ther civilised or savag’ The difficulties of a sition of the president of this Section arise in a great measure from the vastness of the field of research which the Science of Man covers. He is, therefore, constrained ) limit his attention as a rule to some small corner of it; and, ith the audacity of ignorance, I have selected that which tae labelled the early ethnology of the British Isles, but I 967 logy, ee it only along the precarious paths of folk- ; becatise I know no other. Here, however, difficulty : at any rate I suppose I ought to t I feel it a di culty, namely, that I have committed gh publicity on that su a already. But, as a matter of = hardly bring myself to confess to any such feeling ; his leads me to mention in passing the change of attitude have lived to notice in the case of students in my own Most of us here present have known men who, when had once printed their views on their favourite subjects of NO. 1612, VOL. 62] iti0n, study, stuck to those views through thick and thin, or at most limited themselves to changing the place of a comma here and there, or replacing an occasional azd by a but. The work had then been made perfect, and not a few great questions affecting no inconsiderable portions of the universe had been for ever set at rest. That was briefly the process of getting ready for pos- terity, but one of its disadvantages was that those who adopted it had to waste a good deal of time in the daily practice of the art of fencing and winning verbal victories ; xifon, minis saptiesnai- speaking, ** With many a whack na many a bang : Rongh crab-tree and old iron rang.” Now all that, however amusing it may have been, has been changed, and what now happens is somewhat as follows: AB makes an experiment or propounds what he calls a working hypothesis ; but no sooner has AB done so than CD, who is engaged in the same sort of research, proceeds to improve on This, instead of impelling AB to rush after CD with all kinds of epithets and insinuating that his character is deficient in all the ordinary virtues of a man and a brother, only makes him go to work again and see whether he cannot improve on CD’s results ; and most likely he succeeds, for one discovery leads to another. So we have the spectacle not infrequently of a man illustrating the truth of the poet’s belief, ‘* That men may rise on stepping-stones Of their dead selves to higher things.” It is a severe discipline in which all display of feeling is con- sidered bad form. Of course every‘now and then a spirit of the ruder kind discards the rules of the game and attracts attention by having public fits of bad temper; but generally speaking. the rivalry goes on quietly enough to the verge of monotony, with the net result that the stock of knowledge is increased. I may be told, however, that while this kind of exercise may be agree- able to the ass who writes, it is not conducive to the safety of the publisher’s chickens. To that it might suffice to answer that the publisher is usually one who is well able to take good care of his chickens; but, seriously, what it would probably mean is, that in the matter of the more progressive branches of study, smaller editions of the books dealing’ with them would be required, but a more frequent issue of improved editions of them or else new books altogether, a state of things to which the publisher would probably find ways of adapting himself _ without any loss of profits. And after all, the interests of knowledge must be reckoned uppermost. It is needless to say that I have in view only a class of books which literary men proper do not admit to be literature at all ; and the book trade has one of its mainstays, no doubt, in books of pure literature, which are like the angels that neither marry nor give in marriage : they go on for ever in their serene singleness of purpose to charm and chasten the reader’s mind. My predecessor last year alluded to an Oxford don said to have given it as his conviction that anthropology rests on a founda- tion of romance. I have no notion who that Oxford don may have been, but I am well aware that Oxford dons have some- times a knack of using very striking language. In this case, however, I should be inclined to share to acertain extent that Oxford don’s regard for romance, holding as I do that the facts of history are not the only facts deserving of careful study by the anthropologist. There are also the facts of fiction, and to some of those I would now call your attention. Recently, in putting together a volume on Welsh folklore, I had to try to classify and analyse in my mind the stories which have been current in Wales about the fairies. Now the mass of folklore about the fairies is of various origins. Thus with them have been more or less inseparably confounded certain divinities or demons, es- pecially various kinds of beings associated with the rivers and lakes of the country. They are creations introduced from the workshop of the imagination ; then there is the dead ancestor, who also seems to have contributed his share to the sum total of our notions about the Little People. In far the greater number of cases, however, we seem to have something historical, or, at any rate, something which may be contemplated as historical. The key to the fairy idea is that there once was a real race of ple to whom all kinds of attributes, possible and impossible, have been given in the course of uncounted centuries of story- telling by races endowed with a lively imagination. When the mortal midwife has been fetched to attend on a fairy mother in a fairy palace, she is handed an ointment which she is to apply to the fairy baby’s eyes, at the same time that she is gravely warned not to touch her own eyes with it. Of course 514 NATURE [SEPTEMBER 20, 1900 any one could foresee that when she is engaged in applying the ointment to the young fairy’s eyes one of her own eyes is certain to itch and have the benefit of the forbidden salve. When this happens the midwife has two very different views of her surroundings: with the untouched eye she sees that she is in the finest and grandest place that she has ever beheld in her life, and there she can see the lady on whom she is attend- ing reposing on a bed, while with the anointed eye she per- ceives. how she is lying on a bundle of rushes and withered ferns in a large cave, with big stones all round her and a little fire in one corner, and she also discovers that the woman is a girl who has once been her servant. Like the midwife we have also to exercise a sort of double vision, if we are to understand the fairies and see through the stories about them. An instance will explain what I mean: Fairy women are pretty. generally represented as fascinating to the last degree and gorgeously dressed: that is how they appear through the glamour in which they move and have their being. On the other hand, not only are some tribes of some fairies described as ugly, but fairy children when left as changelings are invariably pictured as repulsive urchins of a sallow complexion and mostly deformed about the feet and legs: there we have the real fairy with the glamour taken off and a certain amount of depre- ciatory exaggeration put.on. Now when one approaches the fairy question in this kind of way, one is forced, it strikes me, to conclude that the fairies, as a real people, consisted of a short, stumpy, swarthy race, which made its habitations underground or otherwise cunningly con- cealed. They were hunters, probably, and fishermen; at any rate, they were not tillers of the ground or eaters of bread. Most likely they had some of the domestic animals and lived mainly on milk and the produce of the chase, together with what they got by stealing. They seem to have practised the art of spin- ning, though they do not appear to have thought much of cloth- ing. They had no tools or implements made of metals. They appear to have had a language of their own, which would imply a time when they understood no other, and explain why, when they came to a town to do their marketing, they laid down the ex- act money without uttering a syllable to anybody by way of bar- gaining for their purchases. They counted by fives and only dealt in the simplest of numbers. They were inordinately fond of music and dancing. They had a marvellously quick sense of hearing, and they were consummate thieves; but theirthievery was not sys- tematically resented, as their visits were held to bring luck and prosperity. More powerful races generally feared them as for- midable magicians who knew the future and could cause or cure disease as they pleased. The fairies took pains to conceal their names no less than their abodes, and when the name.happened to be discovered by strangers the bearer of it usually lost heart and considered himself beaten. Their family relations were of the lowést order: they not only reckoned no fathers, but it may be that, like certain Australian savages recently described by Spencer and Gillen, they had no notion of paternity at all. The stage of civilisation in which fatherhood is of little or no account has left evidence of itself in Celtic literature, as I shall show presently ; but the other and lower stage anterior to the idea of fatherhood at all comes into sight only in certain bits of folklore, both Welsh and Irish, to the effect that the fairies were all women and girls, Where could such an idea have originated ? Only, it seems to me, among a race once on a level with the native Australians to whom I have alluded, and of whom Fraser of ‘* The Golden Bough” wrote as follows in last year’s Fort- nightly Review: ‘‘ Thus, in the opinion of these savages, every conception is what we are wont to call an immaculate concep- tion, being brought about by the entrance into the mother of a spirit, apart from any contact with the other sex. Students of folklore have long been familiar with the notions of this sort occurring in the stories of the birth of miraculous personages, but this is the first case on record of a tribe who believe in im- maculate conception as the sole cause of the birth of every human being who comes into the world. A people so ignorant of the most elementary of natural processes may well rank at the very bottom of the savage scale.” Those are Dr. Fraser’s words, and for a people in that stage of ignorance to have imagined a race all women seems logical and natural enough— but for no other. The direct conclusion, however, to be drawn from. this argument is that some race—possibly more than one—which has contributed to the folklore about our fairies, has passed through the stage of ignorance just indicated ; but as an indirect conclusion one would probably be right in NO. 1612, VOL. 62] supposing this race to have been no other than the very primi- tive one which has been exaggerated into fairies. At the same time it must be admitted that they could not have been singular always in this respect among the nations of antiquity, as isamply _| proved by the prevalence of legends about virgin mothers, to whom Frazer alludes, not to mention certain wild stories recorded by the naturalist Pliny concerning certain kinds of — animals. iy OP Some help to make out the real history of the Little People * may be derived from the names given them, of which the most | common in Welsh is that of y Zy/wyth Teg or the Fair Family. But the word cor, ‘a dwarf,” feminine corres, is also applied to gs them ; and in Breton we have the same word with such deriva- tives as korrik, ‘‘a fairy, a wee little wizard or sorcerer,” with | a feminine korrigan or korrigez, analogously meaning a she-fairy or a diminutive witch. From cor we have in Welsh the name | of a people called the Coranians figuring in a story in the four- teenth-century manuscript of the Red Book of Hergest. There one learns that the Coranians were such consummate magicians that they could hear every word that reached the wind, as it is put ; so they could not be harmed. The name Coranians of those — fairies has suggested to Welsh writers a similar explanation of — the name of a real people of ancient Britain. I refer to the © Corttant, whom Ptolemy located, roughly speaking, between the — river Trent and Norfolk, assigning to them the two towns of Lindum, Lincoln, and Ratae, supposed to have been approxi- — mately where Leicester now stands. It looks as if all invaders from the Continent had avoided the coast from Norfolk up to the neighbourhood of the Humber, for the good reason, pro- — bably, that it afforded very few inviting landing-places. So here presumably the ancient inhabitants may have survived in suffi- cient numbers to have been called by their neighbours of a_ different race ‘‘the dwarfs” or Corttanz, as late as Ptolemy's time in the second century. This harmonises with the fact that the Coritani are not mentioned as doing a ng, all political initiative having long before probabl po of fj their hands into those of a more powerful race. How far inland | the Coritanian territory extended it is impossible to say, but it — may have embraced the northern half of Northamptonshire, where we have a place-name Pytch/ey, from an earlier Pihies léa, meaning ‘* The Pict’s Meadow,” or else the meadow of a man called Pict. At all events, their country took in the fen district containing Croyland, where towards the end of the seventh century St. Guthlac set up his cell on the side of an ancient tumulus and was disturbed by demons that talked Welsh. Cer- tain portions of the Coritanian country offered, as one may infer, special advantages as a home for retreating nationalities : witness as late as the eleventh century the resistance offered by Hereward in the Isle of Ely to the Norman Conqueror and his mail-clad warriors. : ete fapfeas In reasoning backwards from the stories about the Little People to a race in some respects on a level with Australian” savages, we come probably in contact with one of the very. earliest populations of these islands. It is needless to say that we have no data to ascertain how long that occupation may have been uncontested, if at all, or what progress was made-in the. course of it: perhaps archeology will be able some day to help — us to form a guess on that subject. But the question more immediately pressing for answer is, with what race outside Wales may one compare or identify the ancient stock caricatured — in Welsh fairy tales? Now, in the lowlands of Scotland, to- — gether with the Orkneys and Shetlands, the place of our fairies — is to some extent taken by the Picts, or, as they are there col-— loquially called, ‘‘the Pechts.” My information about the — Pechts comes mostly from recent writings on the subject by — Mr. David MacRitchie, of Edinburgh, from whom one — learns, among other things, that certain underground—or — partially underground—habitations in Scotland are ascribed _ to the Pechts. Now one‘kind of these Pechts’ dwellings — appear from the outside like hillocks covered with grass, so _ as presumably not to attract attention, an object which was ~ further helped by making the entrance very low and as in-— conspicuous as possible. But one of the most remarkable ~ things about them is the fact that the cells or apartments into — which they are divided are frequently so small that their inmates — must have been of very short stature, like our Welsh fairies. Thus, though there appears to be no reason for regarding the — northern Picts themselves as an undersized race, there must — have been a people of that description in their country. — Perhaps archzeologists may succeed in classifying the ancient — _ SEPTEMBER 20, 1900] NATURE 545 ations in the North accordingly: that is, to tell us what ; of them were built by the Picts and what by the Little whom they may be supposed to have found in possession it part of our island. : and the Highlands of Scotland the fairies derive r more usual appellations from a word sia or sith (genitive , which may perhaps be akin to the Latin sédes and have a seat, settlement, or station; but whatever its exact g may have originally been, it came to be applied to the ‘sor mounds within which the Little People made their les. Thus, des Side as a name for the fairies may be ted by mound people or hill folk; fer stde, ‘‘a fairy » by a mound man ; and den side by a mound woman or hee. * were also called simply séde, which would seem n adjective closely allied with the simpler word séd. to leave this question of their names, let me direct your ion for a moment to one of the most famous kings of the of ancient Erin: he was called Mider of Bri Leith, said a hill to the west of Ardagh, in the present county of ord. There he had his mound, to which he once carried een of Eochaid Airem, monarch of Ireland. It was some before Eochaid could discover what had become of her, and ordered Dalan, his druid, to find it out. So the druid, when had been unsuccessful for a whole year, prepared four twigs w and wrote on them in Ogam. Then it was revealed n through his keys of seership and through the Ogam y that the queen was in the sd of Bri Leith, having been nn thither by Mider. By this we are probably to nd that the druid sent forth the Ogam twigs as of inquiry to other druids in different parts of country; but in any case. he was at last successful, ing hurried at the head of an army to Bri Leith, ey in earnest to demolish Mider’s mound. At ler was so frightened that he sent the queen forth to nand, who then departed, leaving the fairies to digest th for it is characteristic of them that they did not fight, but bic eir time for revenge, which in this case did “hot come t mg after Eochaid’s day. Now, with regard to _ the fairy king, one is not told, so far as I can call to mind, that e wa varf, but the dwarfs were not far off; for we read of a © is represented as notorious for his stingi- o emphasise the description of his inhospitable ‘said to have taken from Mider three of his dwarfs rude words might repel any of the men of -seeking hospitality or bring any incon- . . The word used for dwarf in this story is corr, usually the Irish for a crane or heron, but here, and in other instances, which I cannot now discuss, it seems to = been identical with the Brythonic cor, ‘‘a dwarf.” It is ble, moreover, that the rvé/e assigned to the three Irish is much the same as that of the dwarf of Edeyrn son of in the Welsh story of Geraint and Enid and Chrétien de _ Brec, .which characterises him as fe/ e¢ de put etre, herous and of an evil kind.” ‘way of summarising these notes on the Mound Folk I y that I should regard them as isolated and wretched nants of a widely spread race possessing no political signifi- whatever. But, with the inconsistency characteristic of ng connected with the fairies, one has.on the other hand nit that this strange people seems to have exercised on the -probably on other races as well—a sort of permanent taee, beteh it and awe stretching to the verge of adora- tion. In fact, Irish literature states that the pagan tribes of Erin before the advent of St. Patrick used to worship the séde or the fi _ Lastly, the Celt’s faculty of exaggeration, combined a his to comprehend the weird and uncanny popu- lation of the mounds and caves of his country, has enabled him, ‘mm one way or another, to bequeath to the great literatures of Western a motley train of dwarfs and little people, a whole world of wizardry, and a vast wealth of utopianism. If you subtracted from English literature, for example, all that has been contributed to its vast stores from this native source, you d find that you left a wide and unwelcome void. ; it the question must present itself sooner or later, with ‘what race outside these islands we are to compare or identify our mound-dwellers. Iam not prepared to answer, and I am yosed to ask our archeologists what they think. In the meantime, however, I may say that there are several consider- i which impel me to think of the Lapps of the North of NO. 1612, VOL. 62] Europe. But even supposing an identity of origin were to be made out as between our ancient mound-inhabiting race and the Lapps, it would remain still doubtful whether we could expect any linguistic help from Lapland. The Lapps now speak a language belonging to the Ugro-Finnic family, but the Lapps are not of the same race as the Finns; so it is possible that the Lapps have adopted a Finnish language, and that they did so too late for their present language to help us with regard to any of our linguistic difficulties. One of these lies in our topo- graphy: take for instance only the names of our rivers and brooks—there is probably no county in the kingdom that would be too small to supply a dozen or two which would baffle the cleverest Aryan etymologist you could invite to explain them ; and why? Because they belong in all. probability to a non- Celtic, non-Aryan language of some race that had early posses- sion of our islands. Nevertheless it is very desirable that we should have full lists of such names, so as to see which of them recur and where. It is a subject deserving the attention of this Section of the British Association. We have now loitered long enough in the gloom of the Pecht’s house: let us leave the glamour of the fairies and see whether any other race has had a footing in these islands before the coming of the Celts. In August 1891 Prof. Sayce and I spent some fine days together in Kerry and other parts of the south- west of Ireland. He was then full of his visits to North Africa, and he used to assure me that, if a number of Berbers from the mountains had heen transferred to a village in Kerry and clad as Irishmen, he would not have been able to tell them: by their looks from native Irishmen such as we saw in the course of our excursions. This seemed to me at the time all the more remarkable, as his reference was to fairly tall blue-eyed persons whose hair was rather brown than _ black. Evidence to the same effect might now be cited in detail from Prof. Haddon and his friends’ researches among the population of the Arran Islands in Galway Bay. Such is one side of the question which I have in my mind: the other side consists in the fact that the Celtic languages of to-day have been subjected to some disturbing influence which has made their syntax unlike that of the other Aryan languages. I have long been of opinion that the racial interpretation of that fact must be, that the Celts of our islands have assimilated another race using a language of its own in which the syntactical peculiarities of Neo-Celtic had _ their origin ; in fact that some such race clothed its idioms in the vocabulary which it acquired from the Celts. The problem then was to correlate those two facts. I am happy to say this has now been undertaken from the language point of view by Prof. J. Morris Jones, of the University College of North Wales. The results have been made public in a book on The Welsh People recently published by Mr. T. Fisher Unwin. The paper is entitled ‘‘ Pre-Celtic Syntax in Insular Celtic,” and the languages which have therein been compared with Celtic are old Egyptian and certain dialects of Berber. It is all so recent that we have as yet had no criticism, but the reasoning is so sound and the arguments are of so cumulative a nature, that I see no reason to anticipate that the professor’s conclusions are in any danger of being overthrown. At the close of his linguistic argument, Prof. Morris Jones quotes a French authority to the effect, that, when a Berber king dies or is deposed, which seems to happen often enough, it is not his son that is called to succeed him, but the son of his sister, as appears to have been usual among certain ancient peoples of this country; but of this more anon. In the next place my attention has been called by Prof. Sayce to the fact that ancient Egyptian monuments represent the Libyans of North Africa with their bodies tattooed, and that even now some of the Touaregs and Kabyles do the same. These indications help one to group the ancient peoples of the British Isles to whose influence we are to ascribe the non-Aryan features of Neo-Celtic. In the first place one cannot avoid fixing on the Picts, who were so called because of their habit of tattooing themselves. For as to that fact there seems tobeno room for doubt, and Mr, Nicholson justly lays stress on the testimony of the Greek historian Herodian, who lived in the time of Severus, and wrote about the latter’s expedition against the natives of North Britain a long time before the term Péct? appears in literature. For Herodian, after saying that they went naked, writes about them to the following effect: ‘‘ They puncture their bodies with coloured designs and the figures of animals of all kinds, and it is for this reason that they do not wear clothes, lest one should not behold the designs on their 516 bodies.” This is borne out by the names by which the Picts have been known to the Celts. That of Pict is itself in point, and I shall have something to say of it presently; but one of the other names was in Irish Cruzthnz, and in Welsh we have its etymological equivalent in Prydyn or Prydain. These vocables are derived respectively from Irish crwth and Welsh pryd, both meaning shape, form, or figure, and it is an old sur- mise that the Picts were called by those names in allusion to the animal forms pricked on their bodies, as described by Herodian and others. The earlier attested of these two names may be said to be Prydyn or Prydain, which the Welsh used to give in the Middle Ages to the Picts and the Pictland of the North, while the term Ynys Prydain was retained for Great Britain as a whole, the literal meaning being the island of the Picts: that is the only name which we have in Welsh to this day for this island in which we live— Ynys Prydain, ‘‘The Picts’ Island.” Now one detects this word Prydain in effect in the Greek TIperavixal Nijoo: given collectively to all the British Isles by ancient authors, such as Strabo and Diodorus. It may be rendered the Pictish Islands, but a confusion seems to have set in pretty early with the name of the Brittanni or Brittones of South Britain: that is to say, Pretanic, ‘‘ Pictish,” became Brittannic or British; and this is, historically speaking, the only known justification we have for including Ireland in the comprehensive term ‘‘ The British Isles,” to which Irishmen are sometimes found jocularly to object. In the next place may be mentioned the Tuatha Dé Danann of Irish legend, which cannot always be distinguished from the Picts, as pointed out by Mr. MacRitchie. The tradition about them is, that, when they were overcome in war by Mil and his Milesians, they gave up their life above ground and retired into the hills like the fairies, a story of little more value than that of the extermination of the Picts of Scotland. In both countries -doubtless the more ancient race survived to amalgamate with its conquerors. There was probably some amount of amal- _-gamation between the Tuatha Dé Danann or the Picts and the Little Moundsmen ; but it is necessary not to confound them. ~The Tuatha shared with the Little People a great reputation for magic ; but they differed from them in not being dwarfs or of a -swarthy complexion: they are usually represented as fair. In ‘the case of Mider, the fairy king, who comes in some respects mear the description of the heroes of the Tuatha Dé Danann, it is to be noticed that he was a wizard, not a warrior. Guided by the kinship of the name of the Tuatha Dé Danann .-on the Irish side of the sea and that of the Sons of Déz on this ‘side, I may mention that the Mabinogion place the Sons of Dén ‘on the seaboard of North Wales, in what is now Carnarvon- shire: more precisely their country was the region extending from the mountains to the sea, especially opposite Anglesey. In that district we have at least three great prehistoric sites all on the coast. First comes the great stronghold on the top of Penmaen Mawr; then we have the huge mound of Dinas Dinlle, eaten into at present by the sea south-west of the western mouth of the Menai Straits; and lastly there is the extensive fortifi- cation of Tre’r Ceiri, overlooking Dinlle from the heights of the Eifl. By its position Tre’r Ceiri belonged to the Sons of Don, and by its name it seems to me to belong to the Picts, which comes, I believe, to the same thing. Now the name Tre’r -Ceiri means the town of the Keiri, and the Welsh word cez7é is used in the district in the sense of persons who are boastful and ostentatious, especially in the matter of personal appearance and fine clothing. It is sometimes also confounded with cewrd, ~** giants,” but in the name of Tre’r Ceiri it doubtless wafts down to us an echo of the personal conceit of the ancient Picts with -their skins tattooed with decorative pictures; and Welsh literature supplies a parallel to the name Ynys Prydain in one ~which is found written Yys y Ceuri, both of which may be rendered equally the Island of the Picts, but more literallv perhaps some such rendering as ‘‘ the Island of the Fine Men” would more nearly hit the mark. Lastly, with the Sons of Dén must probably be classed the other peoples of the Mabinogion, such as the families of Llyr, and of Pwyll and Rhiannon. All these peoples of Britain and Ireland were warlike, and such, so far as one can see, that the Celts, who arrived later, might with them form one mixed people with a mixed language, such as Prof. Morris Jones has been helping to account for. Let us now see for a moment how what we read of the state of society implied in the stories of the Mabinogion will fit into the hypothesis which I have roughly sketched. In the first place I ought to explain that the four stories of the Mabinogion were NO. 1612. VOL. 62] NATURE [SEPTEMBER 20, 1900 probably put together originally in the Goidelic of Wales before they assumed a Brythonic dress. Further, in the form in which we know them, they have passed through the hands of a scribe — or editor living in Norman times, who does not always a pear to. ; have understood the text on which he was operating. To make — out, therefore, what the original Mabinogion meant, one has — every now and then to read, so to say, between the lines. Let us take, for example, the Mabinogi called after Branwen, — daughter of Llyr. She was sister to Bran, king of Prydain, and to Manawyddan, his brother : she was given to wife to anIrish king named Matholwch, by whom she had a son called Gwern. In Ireland, however, she was, after a time, disgraced, andserved in somewhat the same way as the heroine of the Gudrun Lay; but in the course of the time which she spent ina menial position, _ doing the baking for the Court and having a box on the ear ad- ministered to her daily by the cook, she succeeded in rearing a starling, which one day carried a letter from her to her brother — Bran at Harlech. When the latter realised his sister’s position of disgrace, he headed an expedition to Ireland, whereupon ~ Matholwch tried to appease him by making a concession, which was, that he should deliver his kingdom to the boy Gwern, Now the question is, wherein did the concession consist? The — redactor of the Mabinogi could, seemingly, not have answered, — and he has not made it the easier for any one else to answer. — In the first place, instead of calling Gwern son of Matholwch, — he should have called him Gwern son of Branwen, after his — mother, for the key to the sense is, that, in a society which — reckoned birth alone, Gwern was not recognised as any relation - to Matholwch at all, whereas, being Bran’s sister’s son, he was Bran’s rightful heir. No such idea, however, was present to the mind of a twelfth-century scribe, nor could it be expected. — Let us now turn to Irish literature, to wit, to one of the © many stories associated with the hero Ciichulainn. He belonged — to Ulster, and whatever other race may have been in that part of Ireland, there were Picts there: as a matter of fact Pictish — communities survived there in historical times. Now Cichulainn — was not wholly of the same race as the Ultonians around him, for he and his father are sharply marked off from all the other Ultonians as being free from the periodical illness connected ~ with what has been called the couvade, to which the other adult braves of Ulster succumbed for a time every year. Then I may mention that Cuchulainn’s baby name was Sefanta Beg, or the Little Setantian, which points to. the country whence Cuchulainn’s father had probably come, namely, the district — where Ptolemy mentions a harbour of the Setantii, somewhere near the mouth of the Ribble, in what is now Lancashire. At the time alluded to in the story I have in view, Ciichulainn was young and single, but he was even then a great warrior, and the ladies of Ulster readily fell in love with him ; so one day the nobles of that country met to consider what was to be done, — and they agreed that Cuchulainn would cause them less anxiety — if they could find him a woman who should be his fitting and special consort. At the same time al8o that they feared he might die young, they were desirous that he should leave an heir, ‘‘ for,” as it is put in the story, ‘‘ they knew that it was from himself his rebirth would be.” The Ulster men -had a — belief, you see, in the return of the heroes of previous — generations to be born again; but we have here two social — systems face to face. According to the one to which Cuchulainn — as a Celt belonged, it was requisite that he should be the father — of recognised offspring, for it was only in the person of one of — them or of their descendants that he was to be expected back. — The story reads as if the distinction was exceptional, and as if : | <3 BE C- ppeelaaeMt the prevailing state of things was wives more or less in common, with descent reckoned according to birth alone. Such is my — impression of the picture of the society forming the background © to the state of things implied by the conversation attributed t the noblemen of Ulster. Here again one experiences difficultie arising from the fact that the stories have been built up in th form in which we know them by men who worked from th Christian point of view, and it is only by scrutinising, as it were, — the chinks and cracks that you can faintly realise what the — original structure was like. oe Among other aids to that end one must reckon the instances — of men being designated with the help of the mother’s name, not — the father’s: witness that of the King of Ulster in Cuchulainn’s — time; namely Conchobar mac Nessa, that is to say, Conor, s¢ of a mother named Nessa ; similarly in Wales with Gwydion so of Dén, Further we have the help of a considerable number o ancient inscriptions, roughly guessed to date from the fifth SEPTEMBER 20, 1900] NATURE 5!7 sixth century of our era, and commemorating persons traced back to a family group of the kind, perhaps, which Czesar mentions in the fourteenth chapter of his fifth book. Within these groups wives were, according to him, in common (z7@gr se communes). ike for instance an inscription from the barony of Corcaguiny in] . which commemorates a man described as ‘* Mac Erce, or uco Dovvinias,” where Muco Dovvinias means the clan group of Dovvinis or Dubin (genitive Duzbne), the tress after whom Corcaguiny is called Corco-Duibne in Irish. We have the same formula in the rest of also on the on stone found at Silchester, in Hampshire. + amily group is evidenced also by an inscrip- a at St. Ninian’s, in Galloway; and, to go further back— haps a good deal further back—we come to the bronze dis- vered not long ago at Colchester, and dating from the time of Emperor Alexander Severus, who reigned from 222 to 235. Phis is a votive tablet to a god Mars Medocius, by a Caledonian Pict, who Se his name as Lossio Veda, and describes himself further as Wepos Vepogeni Caledo. He alludes to no father, and Nepos Vepogeni is probably to be rendered Vepogen’s sister’s son. At any rate, the Irish word corresponding etymologically _ to the Latin wefos has that sense in Irish ; but so far as I know it has never been found meaning a nephew in the sense of brother’s son. That may serve as an instance how the ideas of ler race penetrated the fabric of Goidelic society ; for here ve must suppose a time to have come when there was no longer occasion for a word meaning a brother’s son, which, of _ course, there never was in the non-Celtic society which ranked and women according to their birth alone. Now this Caledonian Pict was not exceptional among his smen, for they succeeded in observing a good deal of silence onc their fathers down, one may say, to the twelfth century. It is historjcal that the king of the northern Picts was not wont to be the son of the previous king. In short, when the Celtic elements there proved strong enough to ensure that the son of a previous king should succeed, a split usually took place, the purer Picts being led by the rule of succession by irth to set upa king of their own. The fact is not so well known that the same succession prevailed also some time or other at Tara in Ireland : it is proved by a singular piece of in- _ direct evidence, the existence of a tragic story to explain why _ **no son should ever take the lordship of Tara after his father, unless some one came between them.” The last clause is due, ‘should say, to somebody who could not understand such a rohibition on the ancient rule that a man’s heir was his ter’s son. This would be, according to Irish legend, in the lifetime of Conor mac Nessa. It is curious to notice how the stories about the Pictish ménage seemed to have puzzled ancient authors. I will jenn Moa one instance, to wit, from Golding’s sixteenth ion of what then passed as the production of ge. i Solinus, and what may now pass, even according to Mommsen, as os enough for my present purpose. It runs thus: ic | the Promontorie of Ca/ydon to the Iland Thule is » dayes sayling. Next come the Iles called Hebudes, five ‘in number, the inhabiters whereof know not what corne _ meaneth, but liue onely by fishe and milke. They are all vnder the gouernment of one King. For as manie of them as bee, oe Be seuered but with a narrowe groope one from another. © King hath nothing of hys own, but taketh of euery mans. He is bounde to equitie by certaine lawes: and least he may start from right through couetousnesse, he _ learneth Justice by pouertie, as who may have nothing proper _ or peculiar to himselfe, but is found at the charges of the _ Realme. Hee is not suffered to haue anie woman to himselfe, __ but whomsoeuer he hath minde vnto, he borroweth her for a _ tyme, and so others by turnes. Wherby it commeth to passe _ that he hath neither desire nor hope of issue.” ____ The man who wrote in that way presumably failed to see that 3 the king was not subject to any special hardship as compared _ with the other men in his kingdom, where none of them had any offspring that he could individually call his own. This, be it noticed, refers to the Hebrides, not, as sometimes happens, to the more distant island of Thule, where there was also a ing, as any reader of “ Faust” will tell us. _ We now come to the Celts, and begin with Pliny’s version of _ Ceesar’s words about the division of Gaul into three parts, as follows: Gallia omnis Comata uno nomine appellata in tria NO. 1612, VOL. 62] populorum genera dividitur, ‘bus maxtme distincta. A Scalde ad Sequanan Belgica, ab eo ad Garunnam Celtica eademque Lugdunensis, inde ad Pyrenaei montis excursum Aquitanica, Aremorica antea dicta. We may for the present dismiss the third or Aquitanic Gaul from our minds ; but Belgic and Celtican Gaul may be taken as representing the two sets of Celts of our ownislands. The Belgic Gauls began last to come to this country, and their advent seems to fall between the visits of Pytheas and Julius Cesar: that is, roughly speaking, between the middle of the fourth century and that of the first century B.c. In this country they came to be known collectively as Brittanni or Brittones, the linguistic ancestors of the people whohave spoken Brythonic or the Lingua Brittannica, such as the Welsh, the Cornish, and the Strathclyde Britons. As to the others Celts, it is much harder to say when or whence exactly they came—I mean the linguistic ancestors of the Gaels of Ireland, Man, and Scotland, that is to say, the peoples whose language has been Goidelic. Some scholars are of opinion that there were no Goidelic-speaking peoples in Britain till some such came here from Ireland on sundry occasions, beginning with the second century, in the time of the Roman occupation, but how the Goidels would be supposed by them to have reached Ireland I do not exactly know. My own notion is that the bulk of them reached that country by way of Britain, and that they arrived in Britain, like the Belgic Gauls later, from the nearest parts of the Continent ; for this would be previous to the appearance of the Belgic Gauls on the western sea-board of Europe: that is to,say, at a time when Celtica extended not merely to the Seine, ‘but to the Scheldt or to the Rhine, if not further. Then as to the time of the coming of the ancestors of the Goidels, it has been supposed coincident with a period of great movements among the Celts of the Continent, in particular the movements which resulted, among other things, in some of them reaching the shores of the Mediterranean and penetrating to the heart of the Iberic peninsula. Perhaps one would not be far wrong in fixing on the seventh and the sixth centurles B.c. as covering the time of the coming of the earlier Celts to our shores, In Britain I should suppose these earlier hordes of Celts to have conquered most of the southern half of the island; and the Brythonic Celts, when they arrived, may have overrun much the same area, pushing the Goidelic Celts more and more towards the west. Under that pressure it is natural to suppose that some of the latter made their way to Ireland, but it is quite possible that their emigration thither had begun before. Some time or other previous to the Roman occupation the Brythonic people of the Ordovices seem to have penetrated to the sea between the rivers Dovey and Mawddach, displacing probably some Goidels who may have gone to the opposite coasts of Ireland; but more traces in Irish story appear of in- vasions on the part of the Dumnonii, who possessed the coast between Galloway and Argyle. These were so situated as to-. be able to assail Ireland both in front and from behind, and this is countenanced to some extent by Irish topography, not to mention the long legends extant as to great wars in the west- of Ireland between the Tuatha Dé Danann and invaders in- cluding the Fir Domnann. I suspect also that it was the- country of these northern Dumnonians which was origin- ally meant by Lochlinn, a name interpreted later to mean Norway. Such are some of the faint traces of the Goidelic invasions of Ireland from Britain, but it is possible—perhaps probable—that Ireland received settlers on its southern coast from the north- west of Gaul at a comparatively late period, at the time, let us say, when Cesar was engaged in crushing the Veneti and the Aremoric League. This has been suggested to me by the name of the Usdie, which probably survives in the first syllable of Ossory, denoting a tract of country now, roughly speaking, covered by the county of Kilkenny, but which may have been considerably larger before the Déisi took possession of the baronies of the two Decies and other districts now constituting the county of Waterford, not to mention possible encroachments on the part of Munster on a boundary which seems to have been sometimes contested. Now the Continental name which invites comparison with that of the Usdiz is that of the Ostizi, who in the time of Pytheas appear to have occupied the north-western end of what aiteewards came to be called Brittany ; they were also called Ostiones, and more commonly Osismi, I see no_ reason to suppose that the ships of the Aremoric League could not 518 NATURE [SEPTEMBER 20, 1900 make the voyage from Brittany to the principal landing- places on the south of Ireland from the Harbour of Cork to that of Waterford, and I gather from Ptolemy’s Geography that Ireland was relatively better known on the Continent than Britain, although the latter had been in a manner con- nected with the Roman world. This I should explain some- what as follows :—Czesar, who knew very little about the west of Britain and probably less about Ireland, says that in his time the great druidic centre of Gaul was in the country of the Carnutes, somewhere, let us say, near the site of the present town of Chartres, that druidism had been introduced from Britain to Gaul, and that those who wished ta understand it had to go to Britain to study. The authors of antiquity tell us otherwise nothing about druids in Britain except that Tacitus speaks of such in the Annals, in his well-known passage as: to Suetonius Paulinus landing with his troops in Anglesey and the scene of slaughter which ensued. Indeed, one may go further and say that there is no proof that any Belgic or Brythonic people ever had druids: they belonged to the Celtican Gauls and the Goidelicising Celts of Britain and Ireland, who had probably accepted the institution from the Pictish race. At any rate it is significant that the Life of St. Columba introduces the reader to a genuine druid at the court of the Pictish king, near. Inverness, where, as well as on Loch Ness, the saint had to contend with him. In any case, it is highly probable that druidism was no less.a living institution in Ireland than in the Goidelic and Pictish parts of Britain. Presumably it was more so, and it may be conjectured that Gaulish students of druidism visited Ireland no less than Britain ; also, wzce versdé, that Irish druids paid visits to the Celtican part of Gaul where druidism flourished on the Continent, and in a word that there was regular intercourse between Gaul and the south of Ireland. | If the druids of Ireland, who, among other vé/es, played that of schoolmasters and teachers in that country, travelled to Celtica, they must have spread on the Continent some information about their native country, while generations of them cannot have returned to Ireland, with their druidic pupils, without bringing with them some of the arts of civilised life as understood in Gaul: among'these one must) rank very decidedly the art of writing, which the druids practised. Now you know the usual account given of the ordinary Latin for Ireland, namely Azbernza —to wit, that it was suggested by such native names as that of one of the greatest tribes of that country, namely the "Iovepva or Zvernz, and that it had its v ousted when’ Latin began about the fourth century to write 4 for v, and that an % was then pre- fixed to make the word //zbernza properly connote the wintry — climate which our sister island had always been supposed to enjoy.’ But now comes the question, where did Pomponius Mela, who flourished about the middle of the first century, get his Zaverna, which Juvenal also used? Doubtless from a druid like Dalan, or some other educated native of Ireland, for what the editors print as Juverna, Juuerna, or Juverna would appear in ancient manuscripts as /“VERN4 or tuuerna, in which the first two syllables are spelt correctly with v wv according to a system of spelling well known in Ogmic writing centuries later. But a particular system of spelling seems to me to imply writing, and thus one is encouraged to think that the Ogam alphabet may have been invented no later than the first century in the inter- course I have conjectured to have been going on -between the north-west of Gaul and the south of Ireland, where the majority of Ogam inscriptions are now found. But what has archeology to say on the question of such intercourse ? After this digression I come back to the two main streams of Celtic immigration from the same parts of the Continent in two different periods of time. The later of these introduced the Lingua LBrtttannica, which was practically a dialect of old Gaulish ; but the affinities of the other Celtic language of these islands, the Goidelic, are not so easy to determine. I have long thought that I can identify traces of it on the Continent, and that its principal home was in the region which Pliny called Celtica, between the Garonne and the Seine. I ventured accordingly to call it Celtzcan, as the simpler word Celtic had already been wedded to a wider signification. Since then the existence of that language has been placed beyond doubt by the discovery of fragments of a calendar engraved on bronze tablets. This find was made about the end of 1897 at a place called Coligny, in the department of the. Ain, and the pieces are now in the muséum at Lyons. It is difficult to say for certain whether Coligny is within the territory once occupied by the Sequani, or else by the NO. 1612, VOL. 62] Ambarri, a people subject to the Aidui, who were rivals of the — Sequani and Aryerni. The name of the Sequani would seem to — have belonged to the Celtican language, and Mr. Nicholson, in his interpretatiqp of the calendar, has ventured in this instance to call it Sequanian. But two inscriptions in what appears to be the same language have come to light also at a place called Rom, in the Deux Sévres and on the Roman road from Poitiers to Saintes. This Celtican language is to be carefully distin- guished from Gaulish, but it is not exactly what I expected it to be: it is better. For several of the phonetic changes character- © istic of Goidelic had not taken place in Celtican. -Among other — things it preserves intact the Aryan consonant , which has since mostly disappeared in Goidelic, as it had even then in Gaulish. This greater conservatism of Celtican enables one to refer to it the national appellation of the people of the region in question, namely, that of the Pzctones, from which it is impos- sible to sever the name of the Picts of Britain and Ireland, who are found also called Péctones and Pictanei. Here I may . mention that Mr. Nicholson calls attention to instances of tattooing on some of the faces on ancient coins belonging to — Poitou and ‘other parts of western France. In the light of the — names here in question one sees that Jzcfos was a Celtican word _ of the same etymology, and approximately, doubtless, of the same meaning, as the Latin word pzctus, that the Celticans had applied it at an early date to the Picts on account of their habit of tattooing themselves, and that the Picts had accepted it (with its derivative Pictones) so generally that by the time when the Norsemen arrived in the North of Scotland, it was the name which the natives gave them as that by which they called them- selves. That is practically proved by the Norsemen calling Caithness and Sutherland Petta-Jand or the Land of the Picts, and the sea washing its northern shore Pettalands forth, which survives modified into Pentland Firth. OS pine Ge Another Celtican word of great interest here has by amere chance come down in a high German manuscript written before the year 814; it is Chortonicum, and occurs among a number of geographical names, several of which refer to psathat § Chortonicum may very well have meant the country of the Pictones. At all events, the great German philologist, Pott, at _ once saw that it was to be explained by reference to the word Cruithne, ‘‘ a Pict,” with which it decidedly goes as distinguished from its Brythonic equivalent Prydyn (or the older Przten), with — an initial 4. The Celtican form originally meant was some such yocable as Qurtonico-n, with the gz which was usual in Celtican and early Goidelic, where it formed, in fact, one of the most conspicuous distinctions between those languages and Brythonic or Gaulish, in which gz had been changed into /. — His fa My remarks have again run into tiresome details, but it is only by attending to such small points that one can — to force language to yield us any information in the matter of ethnology. It may perhaps help in some measure if I sum up what I have been trying to say, thus: eye ays The first race we have found in possession of the British Isles consisted of a small, swarthy population of mound-dwellers, of an unwarlike disposition, much given to wee and wizardry, and perhaps of Lappish affinities. its attributes have been exaggerated or otherwise distorted in the evolution of the Little People of our fairy tales. ove _ The next race consisted of a taller, blonder people, with blue eyes, who tattooed themselves and fought battles. These tattooed or Pictish people made the Mound Folk their slaves, and in the long run their language may be supposed to have been modified by habits of speech introduced by those slaves of theirs from their own idiom. The affinities of these Picts may be called _ Libyan, and possibly Iberian. Cr ever Next came the Celts in two great waves of immigration, the first of which may have arrived as early as the seventh century before our era, and consisted of the real ancestors of some or our Goidels of the Milesian, stock, and the linguistic ancestors of all the peoples who have spoken Goidelic. That language may be defined as Celtican so modified by the idioms of the population which the earlier Celts found in possession that its — syntax is no longer Aryan. “ao ¥ Then, about the third century B.C., came from Belgica the linguistic ancestors of the peoples who have spoken Brythonic; — but, in the majority of cases connected with modern Brythonic, they are to be regarded as Goidels who adopted Brythonic speech, and in so doing brought into that er. their | Goidelic idioms, with the result that the syntax of insular — Brythonic is no less non-Aryan than that of Goidelic, as may — SEPTEMBER 20, 1900] NATURE 519 readily seen by comparing the thoroughly Aryan structure ‘the few sentences of old Gaulish extant. Those are the races which have been inferred in the course hese remarks, in which I have proceeded *on the principle each successive band of conquerors has its race, language ‘institutions eventually more or less modified by contact 1 the race, language and institutions of those whom it has re That looks simple enough when stated so, but the which we get proves complicate. In any case I have sndeavoured in this address to substitute for the rabble of livinities and demons, of fairies and phantoms that disport uemselves at large in Celtic legend, a possible series of yeoples, to each of which should be ascribed its own proper utes. But that will only be possible if we can enlist the aid of the Muse of Archzology. _ THE INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF ee APPLIED CHEMISTRY. HIS congress was held in Paris during the last week of July, ' M. Moissan being president and M. Berthelot honorary at. The work was divided into ten sections : analytical ry, chemical industry of inorganic products, metallurgy, mines and explosives, chemical industry of organic products, the ugar industry, chemical industry of fermentation, agricultural iene, food analysis, medical and pharmaceutical tography, and electrochemistry. More than papers were read and discussed, and numerous ns were , of which the following were the most In view of the great inconvenience caused com- by uncertainty in the atomic weights used by ana- | chemists, the congress, hoping that the adoption of the es oxygen as a base (O=16) would lead to a inty and to a simplification in the calculation of weights, agreed to work in unison with the International om on atomic weights. It further suggested the _ necessity for an International Commission for fixing methods and coefficients of analysis in commercial work. Committees were also appointed to deal with questions of indicators in volu- enyeenihaiies lysis of manures, potash estimation, and the use ana. sulphurous acid in wine. In the second section the chief _ questions dealt with were the determination of high tempera- _ tures, construction of ges and porcelain furnaces, the manu- of sulphuric acid, and of barium and hydrogen peroxides. n the rea of metallurgy, mines and explosives, papers re read dealing with the sampling of minerals, the constitu- Gs of iron and steel, the use of the microscope in the study of utilisation of waste heat, and the estimation of sulphur, se and phosphorus in metals. In the section dealing pr Gud organic substances the most important dis- on was on the use of alcohol for other than drinking pur- ante series of resolutions was passed stating that in the inion of the congress no duty should be charged upon alcohol sed in the preparation of pharmaceutical and chemical pro- _ duets. In the case of alcohol intended for use as fuel, the sub- ; ses added should be of a character appropriate to its use, not | costly, and not containing any non-volatile substance. Any 5 eg Rens pure alcchol from methylated spirit should ‘be liable to severe penalties, and all makers of stills should be npelled to give ticulars to the excise authorities of stills sol ay rseelred. _In the other sections discussions were held on ' the relation of the sugar industry to the State, the methods of * lysis of wines and spirits, the carbide industry, manufacture percarbonates, and numerous other papers of interest. UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL Bp )) .. +++ INTELLIGENCE. Tris officially announced that Mr. L. R. Wilberforce, demon- a strator in physics at the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge, and ___ University lecturer in physics, has been appointed to the Lyon ones chair of ce physics at University College, _ Liverpool, vacated by the removal of Dr. Oliver Lodge to the _ University of Birmingham, _ Tue Admiralty has created an important new post in the kyard staff, namely, that of electrical engineer, to rank next the four chief assistant engineers. To fill this post the __ Admiralty has chosen Mr. Louis i Steele, M.I.E.E., late chief E #* of Messrs. Verity, and formerly assistant engineer _. with Messrs. Johnson and Phillips. Mr. Steele received his NO. 1612, VOL. 62] bit training at the Technical College, Finsbury, under Prof. Silvanus Thompson and Prof. Perry, and carried off the certifi- cate of the College in 1890. He will be attached to the Dockyard staff at Portsmouth. INSTRUCTION in chemistry is well provided for at the Gold- smiths’ Institute, New Cross. During the session about to commence, Mr. W. J. Pope will give courses of lectures on oils, fats and waxes, organic chemistry with special reference to recent work and current views, inorganic chemistry and stereo- chemistry. In this last course of lectures, the principles which form the foundation of stereochemistry will be discussed, together with the methods which have led to the discovery of stereoisomerism amongst compounds of carbon, nitrogen, tin and sulphur. Particular attention will be paid to the bearing of stereochemistry upon current chemical problems. Lectures in chemistry will also be given by Mr. Stanley J. Peachey. DuRING the past year the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy was conferred by twenty-two Universities in the United States upon 233 candidates. The distribution of these degrees among the various Universities, and the subjects taken, are dealt with in an article in Scéence. It appears that 120 of the degrees were granted to students of the humanities, and 113 for scientific subjects. The tables show that the humanities are favoured at Havard and Yale Universities, and the sciences at Johns Hopkins, Columbia and Cornell Universities. Last year Johns Hopkins gave more than its proportionate share of degrees in chemistry, physics, zoology and physiology, Chicago in mathe- matics, geology, sociology and education, Harvard in physics, zoology and anthropology, Columbia.in astronomy, botany, zoology and education, Yale in paleontology and psychology, Cornell in botany and psychology, and Clark in mathematics, psychology and education. The six science subjects in which most students presented theses are as follows :—Chemistry 26, physics 15, botany 12, mathematics 11, zoology I1, psych- ology 9. EVER since the funds were provided for technical education in this country, it has been insisted upon in these columns, and by men of science generally, that such education could only be profitably carried on by giving rational instruction in scientific principles instead of attempting to teach actual processes and trade methods, which are constantly in a state of flux on account of new developments. The most gratifying characteristic of educated opinion at the present time is the acceptance of this view ; and it is especially noteworthy in connection with the substitution of nature study for agriculture in rural schools. In an address recently delivered before the Cheshire College or Agriculture, Prof. Robert Wallace dwelt upon the relation between the work of an agricultural school and actual farm work, and showed himself in complete sympathy with the view which has been expressed over and over again in these columns. Here is the case in a few words :—‘‘ What a young farmer should learn is not ordinary farm work, viz. to plough and harrow a given area in the day. He can become an expert at that kind of thing at home to greatest advantage, without cost for instruction, and at the same time prove a valuable aid to his father. He requires to be taught just those things which are not to be learned on an ordinary farm, to have explained to him the meaning of processes which are founded on scientific prin- ciples, and to become familiar with the common facts of those sciences which bear upon agricultural practice.” If this had been borne in mind by Technical Instruction Committees in rural districts from the time they came into existence, their efforts would have received more encouragement from practical men, and have been attended with better results, than have been attained in many cases. SCIENTIFIC SERIALS. Transactions of the American Mathematical Society, vol. i. No. 3.—Wave propagation over non-uniform electrical con- ductors, by M. I. Pupin, is a paper read before the society in December last. The main object of it is the solution of a pro- blem which, looked at from a purely mathematical point view, can be stated as follows :—Find the integral of the partial i i i ay RY. Tay d determine it so differential equation Lin + WE = go2 2nd deter as to satisfy 4+2 boundary conditions, where 4+ 1 1s the number of coils. The principal difficulty is to determine 520 NATURE [SEPTEMBER 20, 1900 the proper mathematical formulation of these sundry con- ditions so as to obtain a system of equations which can be readily solved. The paper is illustrated by diagrams which put the problems discussed ina clear light.—‘* Ueber systeme von differentialgleichungen dessen vierfach periodische functionen geniige leisten,” by M. Krause, was presented at the Chicago (April) meeting of the present year. References are given to Ifermite be Sur quelques applications de la théorie des fonctions elliptiques,” 1885), and to a paper by Picard (Comp/es rendus, Band 89), and to previous work by the author.—E. B. van Vleck follows with a paper on linear criteria for the determination of the radius of convergence of a power series. Its object is to establish criteria for the convergence of a power series when the (7+1)th coefficient A, is connected with the preceding co- efficients by a linear relation which tends to take a limiting form as 7 increases indefinitely. The criteria include Cauchy’s ratio- test as a special case, and may be looked upon as an extension of the test, and are applicable in cases in which the simple ratio- test fails. The paper closes with two theorems which are an extension for the case of two variables, criteria for the converg- ence of power series in such a case are stated to be very rare. —On the existence of the Green’s function for the most general simply connected plane region, by W. F. Osgood.—A short but suggestive note—‘‘D” lines on quadrics, by A. Pell. These lines, so named by Cosserat, were originally considered by Darboux. They are the lines drawn upon a surface in such a way that the osculating sphere at every point is tangent to the surface at that point. In addition to the above, the lines have been studied by Enneper and Ribaucour (for surfaces in general). Inthe present paper the author applies the theory oi elliptic functions to the integration of Darboux’s differential equation, and obtains an idea of the appearance of the lines and also some of their properties. —Starting from an article, by Prof. F. Morley, in the previous number of the Zransact‘ons, F. H. Loud gives sundry metric theorems concerning # lines in a plane. By giving a different interpretation to formule got by Prof. Morley, Mr. Loud obtains a new series of theorems and other results of some interest.—An application of group theory to hydrodynamics, by E. J. Wilczynski. It was observed by Sophus Lie that the stationary motion of a fluid can serve as a perfect picture of a one-parameter group in three variables. Apparently: this fact has not been utilised for the purposes of hydrodynamics. This paper does this. Amongst other advantages, the treatment, from the new standpoint, leads to special cases of exceptional interest and importance, which otherwise appear to be difficult and unpromising.—Dr. L. E. Dickson, following up work recently published in the Proceedings of the London Mathe- matical Society (vol. xxxi. pp. 30, 351), contributes an article on the determination of an abstract simple group of order 27°38-5°7, holohedrically isomorphic with a certain orthogonal group and with a certain hyperabelian group (contributed to the Chicago [April] meeting of the society). In the Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society for August, Mr. E. M. Nelson has one of his useful technical articles on the ‘*lag ”’ in microscopic vision, as well asa historical account of the improvements in the structure of the microscope introduced by the firm of Ross. Mr. E. B. Stringer describes a new form of fine adjustment. Miss A. Lorrain Smith gives a description of some new microscopic fungi, including a new species of Ento- mophthora, not parasitic, but saprophytic on dead animal tissues. There is, in addition, the usual summary of current researches relating to zoology, botany and microscopy. In the Journal of Botany for August, Messrs. W. and G. S. West have a second instalment of their notes on freshwater algze, in which some new species and varieties are described. The remaining papers are descriptive or geographical. SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. PARIS. Academy of Sciences, September 10.—M. Maurice Lévy in the chair.—Occultation of Saturn by the moon on September 3 observed at the Observatory of Lyons, by MM. J. Guillaume, G. Le Cadet and M. Luizet.—On differential systems with a general uniform integral, by M. Paul Painlevé. Four types of systems are examined, problems in mechanics such as the move- ment of a heavy body fixed by a point, the inversion of total differentials, the case where the general integral of a differential system does not admit of transcendental singularities, and the NO. 1612, VOL. 62] study of the integrals of a differential system in a real field.—On the liquefaction of air by expansion with production of external. work, by M. Georges Claude.—On the dielectric cohesion of gases and vapours, by M. E. Bouty. The experiments previous]: described upon the relation existing between the distance at which insulation breaks down and the pressure of the gas have be extended to vapours of liquids. Results of measurements for water, and eleven organic liquids, are given in the _present paper. —On the modification of the electrical and organic properties of cables under the prolonged action of currents, by M. Georges Rheins. When a cable is submitted to the action of an alter- nating current it preserves its electrical and organic properties. intact. With a continuous current in one direction the cable gradually loses its electrical properties, this effect being pro- duced by the slow penetration of the copper from the wire into the sheath. The effect is similar with both gutta and paper coatings.—New researches on the absorptive power of heemo- globin for oxygen and carbonic acid, by M. L. G. de Saint- Martin. As the result of numerous experiments quoted, the author is of opinion that, contrary to the views generally held, it is impossible, especially in pathological cases, to estimate hemoglobin by means of the absorbing power of the blood.—On the nitrocelluloses, by M. Léo Vignon. _ Both the nitrocelluloses and the nitro-oxycelluloses energetically reduce. Fehling’s solution, their reducing power being apparently inde- pendent of the degree of nitration. The reducing powers of the nitration products of cellulose and oxycellulose are of the same order, about one-fifth that of inverted sugar.—On the wood of the Conifers of peat bogs, by M. L. Géneau de Lamarliére. In the wood of Conifers taken from a peat bog, the intercellular layer formed of lignin and pectic compounds is intact, whilst the internal portion has been strongly attacked by microbial} action. phous substance remaining behind which is soluble in potash after the action of chlorine. The material resembles callose.— Influence of a dry or moist medium upon the structure of plants, by M. Eberhardt. Compared with normal air, the effect of dry air is to increase the thickness of the epidermal cuticle and the number of stomata, to make the cork layer form earlier, to increase the production of ligneous tissue, and to cause an increase in the amount of pallisade tissue in the leaf. PAGE CONTENTS. A Magnetic Theory of the Universe. By Prof. R. Meldola, FURS... a eee se De ene AOS Our Book Shelf :— Horovitz: ‘* Untersuchungen iiber Philons und Platons Lehre von der Weltschépfung.”—H. W. B. 494 McAlpine: ‘f Fungus Diseases of Citrus Trees in Australia, and their Treatment” ..... «. - 494 “; Missouri Botanical Garden. Eleventh Annual Report so: oN na 6a nl eee tia 495 Letters to the Editor: — Atmospheric Electricity and Dew- Lapis —Arthur Marshall . PEE Sea Huxley and his Work.—C. Simmonds : A Large Tasmanian Crab. (Lllustrated, 5 Riles, Morton: 8s ee a . Large Puff Balls.—W. A. Sanford: a9 0943 ‘*A Tour through Great Britain in tat "S$. L. Petty 5 oo Sse a oi Lay es eae Prof. Henry Sidgwick Sictehite pee caae a Pos Tralee taeie Prof, James ‘Edward ‘Keeler 23) wa) ae Ag Notes: $66. 5.050 3s ae ee Bir ceria alk Our Astronomical Column:— Ephemeris for Observations of Eros... ....: Swift’s Comet (1892 I.) . tie The Bradford Meeting of the ‘British Association :— i Section D.—Zoology.—Opening Address by Dr. Ramsay H. Traquair, F.R.S. : Section F.—Economic Science and Statistics. —_= Opening Address by Major P. G, Craigie, President of the Section . Section H.—Anthropology. —Opening Address ‘by Prof. John Rhys, President of the Section The International Congress of Applied Chemistry University and Educational Intelligence ..... Scientific Serials . 4 Societies and Academies . ; The lignin and cellulose have disappeared, an amor- — NATURE 521 _ THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1900. _ THE MAMMALS OF SOUTH AFRICA. The Fauna of South Africa; Mammals. Vol. i. mates, Carnivora and Ungulata. By W.L. Sclater. ip. Xxx + 324; illustrated. (London : Porter, 1900.) N our review of the “ Birds of South Africa” (vol. i.), _ published earlier in the year, reference was made to scope of the present series of volumes and the pecu- rities of the South African fauna ; and it will there- = be unnecessary to recapitulate what has been there ten. In the introduction to the volume before us . Sclater remarks that since 1832 no one has attempted to give a complete account of the mammals of South _ Africa, attention having been concentrated by writers on a his subject to the larger forms which constitute the chief attraction to sportsmen and travellers. Accordingly, in the case of the smaller representatives of the class the author has practically a clear field before him, much your being necessary to collect and collate the numerous pers which have been written of late years on the lents and other small mammals of Africa. This por- 1 of his subject is, however, reserved for the second volume ; and at present. we have only to consider how _ Mr. Sclater has treated the section: dealing with the r types of mammalian life. As he himself admits, his task in this respect has been a comparatively easy one; the “Book of Antelopes” __ clearing the way in regard to that very important group _ of the Ungulata, while the Zebras have been carefully worked out by Mr. Pocock and other naturalists, and the 4g Carnivora have attracted the attention of numerous _ writers. On all these: valuable sources. of information Mr. Sclater has drawn largely ; and it is no discredit to him if the work partakes to a very considerable degree of the nature of a compilation, and contains comparatively tle that is new and original. Indeed, ‘this is fully acknowledged in the. Introduction, where the author takes care to state that in his account of the habits of _ the different animals he has relied on the observations of others, and endeavoured to compile from published writings and manuscript letters an adequate and readable count of each. _ By these observations we by no means intend to imply _ that Mr. Sclater’s work is in any sense a superfluous or _ unnecessary one; the “Book of Antelopes ” and other _ works of that description are expensive and accessible _ pnily to the few ; and, as already said, there is no modern q and up-to-date work treating of South African mammals asa whole. _ . Both in respect to his treatment of the aforesaid life- : histories and in his ven og of the species themselves pee By vir ¢ . ult of his labours ; the volume before us being suffi- ently popular and interesting to attract the attention of 1e sportsman, while at the same time it contains,a suffi- _ cient amount of technical cletail to satisfy the needs of 5 - the working naturalist. Whether, however, in these days of cheap natural histories and zoological text-book$ it is . necessary that every work on local faunas should contain a hackneyed recapitulation of the characteristics of the NO. 1613, VOL. 62] orders and other large groups of animals may be a ques- tion which many would, we think, be inclined to answer — in the negative. As regards the numerous illustrations in this volume, it is much to be regretted that the majority, which were executed in the Colony, are of a very inferior description, and in no wise worthy to stand alongside those borrowed from the “ Book of Antelopes ” and other well-known works. Probably there is not time to alter the arrangements made for illustrating the second volume ; but if there be, it is most desirable that the drawings should be made and photographed in this country. As regards the local variations presented by species, the author is perhaps a little too conservative ; and although he gives full details in regard to the numerous races of Burchell’s zebra, we venture to think that more might have been said, for instance, with regard to the local phases of the Kaffir cat and some of the jackals. Among the Carnivora, it is interesting to find that the author recognises the black-footed cat (Felis nigripes), which has been so unaccountably overlooked by recent writers, as entitled to rank as a species. And, in another group, we think he is decidedly well advised in adopting the Colonial term “ Dassie” (an abbreviation of the Boer klip-dass = rock-badger) as the popular name for those animals which used to be scientifically known as Hyrax, until that name was displaced by the earlier Procavia. Generally speaking, Mr. Sclater is, indeed, well up to date as regards nomenclature, both popular and scientific. He does not, however, in all cases give credit for recent emendations in nomenclature to those to whom it is due. For instance, the reader would be led to imagine that the author was the first in modern times to replace the ordinary scientific title for the eland by Zaurotragus oryx, whereas the change was initiated last year by Mr. Rowland Ward in his “Records of Big Game.” And it cannot be urged in the author’s defence that the omission is due to the fact of his quoting only references from works bearing directly on South Africa, since he departs from this rule in the case of Cephalophus grimmi (p. 157), as well as in other instances. A change of name for which the author appears to be really respon- sible occurs in the substitution of Stvepsiceros capensis for S. kudu ; but this directly raises the question of the advisability of adopting the alliterative S. strepsiceros, which some would now regard as the proper name of the kudu. On the whole, the volume appears. to be remarkably free from misprints and slips. On p.,.317 the author has, however, given Elephas planifrons as the type of Falconer’s subgenus :Euelephas, and E. hysudricus as that of Zoxodon ; whereas the two specific names should be transposed. But this unfortunate slip is not all, for in making these two species the respective types of the subgenera the author has totally misrepresented Falconer. Mr. Sclater has, of course, taken them as the types be- cause they occur first in Falconer’s table. But Auelephas of Falconer is merely the typical subgenus of Llephas (Elephas proper it would now be called), and therefore the type of the one is the type of the other ; this being, of course, the Indian elephant. Again, in the paper to which Mr. Sclater refers, Dr, Falconer, in writing of the Loxodons, says that “the existing type of this group Z 522 NATURE [SEPTEMBER 27, 1900 is the African elephant, which Fred. Cuvier, in 1835, proposed to erect into a distinct genus under the name of Loxodonta.”. A more unfortunate error, complicated by a more unfortunate slip, could scarcely be conceived. In one other passage where the author ventures into the domain of palzeontology he has scarcely been more successful, since (p. 308) he unhesitatingly accepts the alleged Cretaceous age of presumed Hyracoid remains discovered in the Argentine. Possibly, however, his omission to mention that fossil “dassies” occur in the European Pliocene may be due to the time that the volume has taken in passing through the press, although the fact was announced at the Zoological Congress held at Cambridge in 1898. Much general interest will attach to Mr. Sclater’s account of the two large mammals which have un- doubtedly become extinct in South Africa in modern times. With regard to the first of these, the author remarks that the last blaauw-bok (AHzppotragus leuco- phoeus) was probably killed in 1799 ; and that, in addition to several pairs of horns, five complete mounted speci- mens are known to be preserved. The quagga (Zguus guagea) he believes to have survived in the Orange Colony till at least 1878, although it is difficult to obtain exact information owing to the Boers confounding this species with Burchell’s zebra. Of the white rhinoceros it is considered not improbable that a few may still survive in Zululand, although it is sad to learn that no less than six are reported to have been killed so lately as 1894, one of these being exhibited in the museum at Pretoria, The latest information with regard to the white-tailed gnu is that a few herds were, till recently, preserved on some farms in the Orange Colony and the Transvaal ; while it is suggested that a few stragglers may survive in the Kalahari, Gordonia and German South-west Africa. Much anxiety will now be felt by naturalists as to what has happened to the gnus, and also to the blesboks, till lately preserved in the Boer Republics ; and it is to be hoped that those responsible for the settlement of these districts will do all in their power to protect such remnants as the war may have left. We hope ere long to have the pleasure of congratulating Mr. Sclater on the completion of his task. RL. OUR BOOK SHELF. Acetylene, a Handbook for the Student and Manufacturer. By Vivian B. Lewes, F.1.C., &c. Pp. xxvi + 978. (Westminster: Archibald Constable and Co., Ltd., 1900. ) IN this handsome volume of nearly 1000 pages, Prof. Lewes has presented the English reader with a hand- book on the manufacture and use of acetylene which in completeness of scope and wealth of illustration will compare with its French and German rivals. In the first part (consisting of four chapters) the scientific history of acetylene and its properties is set forth with considerable detail ; useful summaries of many researches are given, and references to the original memoirs are added. The question of the discovery of “commercial calcium carbide” is discussed with dis- crimination, the chief credit being assigned to the Canadian engineer, Mr. T. L. Willson. NO. 1613, VOL. 62] The reactions of . acetylene, especially with metallic salts, are fully 2 considered. } Part ii., the most important in the book, describes the development of the electric furnace, and its special adaptation to the manufacture of calcium carbide. The generation of acetylene by the action of water on the carbide is next considered, and then the question of impurities and their removal is discussed. Most of the figures illustrating this portion of the book are clear and satisfactory, but a few are indistinct and on too small a scale. The chapter on the combustion of acetylene is illustrated by a number of useful drawings of burners and flames, and -full data are given for a comparison. between acetylene and other methods of illumination, both as regards prime cost and working expenses. We think ‘Prof. Lewes has shown himself eminently fair in the discussion of this subject. vei The method of treatment adopted by the author naturally leads to some repetition, but in a book of. reference this will not be felt an inconvenience, It was perhaps hardly necessary to give the author’s “acetylene theory of luminosity” twice over. In a new edition we hope that the number of small inaccuracies will be re- duced. We did not expect to find a chief gas-examiner saying that “sulphur dioxide, in ill-ventilated apart- ments, will absorb oxygen and moisture from the air, and will in this way become converted into minute traces of sulphuric acid, which, concentrating themselves upon any cold surface in the room, give rise to corrosion,” &c. . The Harcourt pentane standard is not approved of, apparently, by Prof. Lewes, who states that it was first described in 1887. It was described ten years earlier. The specific heats of gases given on page 609 are in- correct, and several names are wrongly spelled, 2.¢. Vielle should be Vieille (p. 68), Smithell should be Smithells (563). In spite of small errors, the book is a mine of information, and will be useful, both to chemical students and to others interested in the making and use of acetylene. b FI Wireless Telegraphy and Hertzian Waves. By S. R- Bottone: Pp. 113. (London: Whittaker and Co. 1900.) THERE are many whose interest in wireless telegraphy will take the form of a desire to experiment for them- selves, and who, whether from inclination or necessity, will prefer to do so with home-made apparatus. To these the little book before us will especially commend itself. The first half of Mr. Bottone’s work is devoted to “preliminary notions,” “historical considerations,” and to achapter on electric waves. This earlier half seems to us to leave much to be desired. Thus a clear elementary description of the fundamental experiments of electrical science is followed (p. 12) by a very obscure summary of the properties of electric charges and currents. Again, the confusing of the words “ stress” and “ strain ” will not please the reader accustomed to the modern strict usage of these terms. AK The description of apparatus in these earlier chapters is often involved, and many sentences will be foun which through faulty punctuation or other small errors are not at once intelligible. A considerable amount of repetition also seems to occur, apart from deliberate recapitulation. The later part of the book includes a number. of 4 really good descriptions in detail of how to make such ~ apparatus as a small induction coil, a Wimshurst machine, a relay, or acoherer ; and the author is evidently familiar with the little practical difficulties which arise. Possibly the importance of making a dimensioned draw- ing before starting work might have been emphasised ; but in all other respects these ‘‘ workshop recipes” seem very complete and well suited to the wants of those about i to make such apparatus. D. K. M. ee ee) ot ee rae ; SEPTEMBER 27, 1900] NATURE 523 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. [The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions ex- pelea intended for this or any other part of NATURE. lo notice ts taken of anonymous communications.) Vibrissze on the Forepaws of Mammals. s well enough known that carnivorous and other—espe- nocturnal—animals are provided with numerous long hairs, rally called vibrissce, upon various regions of the face. The skers ” of the cat are a familiar example. But it is not y known that there exists very commonly in those same a tuft of long hairs upon the wrist, which are con- vith a large nerve. There have been incidental references 2 structures ; thus Mr. Bland Sutton described and figured n several Lemurs. But it is not, [ believe, a matter of nm knowledge that they are present in a great variety of . Ihave examined members of the groups, Lemur- ivora, Rodents, and Marsupials, and invariably found Structures in those members of the groups in question use their forepaws as climbing or grasping organs, or in A They are generally not very conspicuous, as the aaa hairs are often not iwarkedly thicker than those of the i fur. But often they contrast by their colour. In a _almost albino, example of the squirrel Sczurus maximus, hairs were especially obvious, owing to their being black, and contrasting with the pale brown of the surrounding part of lage. Ina black cat the same vibrissz were white. It is nowever, easy to assure oneself of their presence by the touch. The bundle of these rather stiff hairs and the k nerve termination cannot be missed, if the skin be gently seote d.. Ina newly born phalanger this structure was parti- obvious ; but in a kangaroo of corresponding age there ‘signs of an elevation of the skin bearing thick hairs. It embered that the mode of life of these two marsupials nt. Although I have examined up to the present enera of mammals, it appears to me that this structure found to be pretty universal. I have of course not detected these arm vibrissze in Ungulates. - Zoological Society’s Gardens. ‘ FRANK E. BEDDARD. By eee AEE ) Be Distance to which the Firing of Heavy Guns is Heard. In the number of Nature for August 16, there is an ic sic cul Charles Davison on the distance to which the ing of heavy guns is heard. The writer of the article seems wish to collect facts bearing upon this question: I can supply e bit of information of the kind desired. _ In the summer of 1863, during the siege of Charleston, S.C., Federal forces, being at the time an officer in the Army, I went, under orders, from Macon, Ga., to ton by way of Millen, Augusta and Branchville. It at the time of the first heavy naval bombardment of Port tra. The train stopping at a water tank a few miles (I do it now remember just how many) on the Macon side of Millen, 1 therefore somewhat farther than this place from Charleston, heard distinctly, not only the general, more or less varying, of the bombardment, but also the low boom of individual ns. The sound was faint, but unmistakable in the stillness aile the engine was taking water, but was lost as soon as the train into motion again and its noise began. At Augusta, during ¢ stop made there, I could catch the sound of the guns again, th it was interfered with a good deal by the confused noise town. At Branchville, a hamlet of a few houses, the E was easily recognised by any one, and was accompanied by 4 im Jeeling of tremor, R- len is nearly due west from Charleston, and distant about _ 117 miles in a direct line. Augusta is approximately 25° north of west from Charleston, and about 122 miles distant. Branch- ville is about 35° north of west from Charleston, and at a distance of about sixty miles, Mr. Davison says that he has but little information as to the at which the discharge of single guns has been heard. therefore add that the heaviest guns in use in the bom- ment I refer to were the 15-inch smooth bore muzzle-loading carried by the Federal turreted ‘‘ Monitors.” I do not now what was reported to be the charge of powder » but they were, of course, firing shotted cartridges—some solid shot, but more frequently shell. J. W. MALLer. NO. 1613, VOL. 62] ah ih retest s By PA The Solidification of Alloys. IN a recent discussion on alloys, which took place at the Bradford Meeting of the British Association in the Section of . Chemistry, a curious uncertainty was alluded to, which occurs in the cooling of certain alloys from the liquid state, as to the relative proportions of different varieties of crystals which form, depending on the rate that the cooling is proceeding with. I would wish to draw the attention of those more particularly interested in the matter to a direction in which to look for what may be one of the causes of this peculiarity, namely, to the effect that different conductivities for heat in the different kinds of crystals may exercise in determining the relative propor tions in which they form, where, as in this case, two or more varieties are possible. Where there is a difference in the conductivity of two possible varieties, the more of the better conducting material that is formed the faster in general the cooling can proceed. The matter might be looked upon as a kind of inorganic evolution. Suppose that in the first instance round the boundaries, through which heat is passing out, of the cooling material, the two varieties form with equal facility, where the better conducting material forms heat escapes fastest and solidi- fication of the molten material proceeds fastest, we may suppose this to follow in composition the linesof the crystals in proximity, namely, of the better conducting kind. Thus, by a kind of survival of the fittest, one of the varieties prevails. When the cooling is very slow, where in the limit the temper- ature is at any moment the same throughout,» this controlling influence is a vanishing quantity. * A similar principle is probably the cause of the radiating structure seen often in a cooled mass of certain materials, such as bismuth and possibly ice, which have different conductivities in different directions in the crystal. FRED. T. TRouron. Physical Laboratory, Trinity College, Dublin. The Reform of Mathematical Teaching. As Iam in full sympathy with Prof. Perry’s views, my own training, somewhat on the lines suggested by him, may be of interest. I was once taught Euclid and thoroughly hated the subject. At thirteen I was sent to school in Germany, where I was taught geometry ; it had so little resemblance to Euclid that I looked on it as a new subject and was delighted with it. After eighteen months I returned to England to serve my apprentice- ship, but not before I had advanced as far as solid geometry, quadratic equations and trigonometry, and I believe that this early and rapid mathematical training was of inestimable advan- tage to me in the works. It seems unconsciously to have led me to look on practical subjects with so much of a mathematical feeling that even now my fellow engineers consider me very mathematical, yet all the subsequent mathematical training at college (Germany) only extended over another eighteen months, and I admit that I would have liked to have had more. I now come in contact with many engineers, both old and young, and almost invariably find that they are unmathematical, z.é., they cannot look at an engineering problem with an analy- tical eye ; and no wonder, if they have been brought up on Euclid. To me these volumes seem to be a collection of mathematical puzzles, which the ancient Greeks sent each other for solution, and which are most excellently edited by Euclid. _ of cars and tripods, sup- _ porting bowls, birds and _ other objects, which _ form a feature in the-’ _ remains of a wide Euro- an zone during the _ Late Bronze and Early _ Iron Age. That their 4 pee source ie y t a rs probable q “id Be fae wheslen _ car with the silver boat of Queen Aah-hotep ; but here again we see among Cretan remains what is probably the earliest European ex- ample of the class. _ Once more the archzo- _ logical phenomena bring home to us the fact that we _ Stand here at the meeting-place of the North and South _ wi ARTHUR J. EVANS. | THE ASCENT OF MOUNT ST. ELIAS (ALASKA). as 7 “THE Italian original of this work was reviewed in our columns a short time ago (see NATURE, May 3), _ and we now welcome the English translation. In the _ preface we are informed that “the whole profit on the _ sale of the Italian edition, together with all royalties _ and rights on foreign editions, will be dedicated to an _ Insurance Fund for Italian Guides.” ' In its present garb the story of the expedition is told _ in simple and straightforward language, with only here _and there an unaccustomed term to show its foreign 4 1“ The Ascent of Mount St. Elias (Alaska).” By H.R.H. Prince _ Luigi Amedeo di Savoia, Duke of the Abruzzi; narrated by Filippo de _ Filippi: illustrated by Vittorio Sella: and translated by Signora Linda _ Villari with the author's supervision. Pp. xii+ 241. 34 photogravure plates, ‘ panoramic views, and 117 illustrations in text. (Westminster: _ Archibald Constable and Co., 1900.) NO. 1613, VOL. 62] fferings, especially miniature figures of the double axe, | | origin ; é.g. “In September snow-storms continue almost | _ point of the caravan routes between Egypt, Syria and | Bo its traditional foundation to | ‘the legendary scene of the infancy of this indigenous | ne stalactite columns of the lower part of the cave were | without cease” (p. ix.), and (in reference to rock-systems) “the different components of the soz? of South Alaska are all stratified” (p. 232). The picturesque passages in the descriptions of the scenery have, however, lost their glow and read somewhat flat, as indeed can scarcely be avoided in a close translation. The distinctiveness of Prof. Israel C. Russell’s name seems lost under the un- familiar initials J. C., which are used throughout the book (except in the appendix, p. 232), although the full name is given correctly on p. 3. Considering the high estimation in which the citizens of San Francisco hold their business energy, it is rather amusing to read Dr. Filippi’s impression that their city “ being an agricultural centre, is very quiet and exempt from the feverish turmoil of the industrial Eastern States” (pp. 9-10). Fic. 1.—Mount St. Elias from the third Newt on Cascade, The profuse illustrations of the original are all repro- duced ; and. in other respects this English edition is almost, but not quite, as sumptuous as its Italian fore- runner. In fact so handsome is it, that in spite of the great mountaineering achievement which it chronicles, one cannot help’ harbouring, like a well-known essayist under similar circumstances, a lurking desire to strip it of its fine coat to re-clothe some ragged veteran of greater intrinsic consequence. G.. W. L. JOHN ANDERSON, M.D., LL.D., F.R.Si &c. R* the death, on August 15, of Dr. John Anderson, in his sixty-seventh year, a serious loss has been inflicted on zoological science. Amongst the zoologists of this and other countries, Dr. Anderson was widely known and warmly esteemed. The particular branch of inquiry to which for many years before his death he had devoted himself, the investigation of the Vertebrata of Egypt, could only be successfully carried on by a naturalist who, in addition to experience in collecting, had both time and funds at his command, and who also possessed sufficient energy and tact to ensure the 530 NATURE [SEPTEMBER 27, 1900 assistance of highly-placed Government officials. All these advantages Dr. Anderson combined in an unusual degree, and although it is to be hoped that the work he left unfinished will not be brought to an end by his death, there can be no question that the want of his guiding hand in the enterprise will be severely felt. Dr. Anderson’s scientific work consisted of two dis- tinct parts. From 1865 to 1886he was at the head of the Indian Museum, Calcutta, and chiefly engaged in the collection, arrangement and study of Indian and Burmese Vertebrata. After his retirement from India, in 1886, the subject which occupied him principally, and of late years exclusively, was, as already mentioned, the study of the fauna inhabiting Egypt and the Nile valley. He was the son of Thomas Anderson, a. banker of Edinburgh, and was born on October 4, 1833. His elder brother, Dr. T. Anderson, was in the medical service of he East India Company, became well known as a otanist, and was for some years superintendent of the Botanical Gardens, near Calcutta. After passing through the medical course in the University of Edinburgh, John nderson received a gold medal and the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1861. For a couple of years he held the Professorship of Natural Science at the Free Church College, Edinburgh, and he went to Calcutta in 1864. : His arrival in Calcutta was at a fortunate time, The . Asiatic Society of Bengal had gradually come into the ossession of a large collection, not only of the archzo- ogical remains, manuscripts, coins and similar objects, for the study of which the Society was originally estab- lished, but also of zoological and geological specimens in large numbers. In the course of the preceding quarter of acentury the collections had increased, chiefly through the work of Edward Blyth, the curator, until the Society’s premises were crowded, and the Society’s funds no longer sufficed for the proper preservation and exhibition of the specimens collected. After long negotiations, interrupted ‘by, the disturbances of 1857, arrangements were com- ‘pleted in 1864 by which the archzological and zoological ‘collections of the Society (the geological specimens had ‘been previously transferred) were taken over by the Government of . India, who undertook to build a new smuseum in Calcutta, of which the Society’s collections would form the nucleus. ‘he trustees appointed by the - Government to manage the new museum asked the "Secretary of State for India to select a curator, and Dr. J. Anderson was nominated for the post early in 1865. His status was changed, a few years later, to that of superintendent of the museum, and in addition to his museum work he became Professor of Comparative Anatomy at the Medical College, Calcutta. He held both offices until his retirement from India in 1886. The time at which Dr. Anderson arrived in India was fortunate in another respect. It coincided with a great impulse given to Indian zoology by the publication of Jerdan’s “Birds of India,” the. last’ volume of which appeared in 1864, and with the presence in Calcutta of a larger number of men interested in the study of the fauna than were assembled there at any time before or since. Amongst these men were Jerdan himself, Ferdinand Stoliczka, Francis Day, and Valentine Ball, all of whom have now passed away. Probably at no time has so much progress been made in the study of ‘Indian Vertebrata. as inthe years 1864-74, and in this _ ‘work Dr. Anderson took an important part. The new Indian Museum, which now towers over the other buildings of Chowringhee, was not ready for occu- pation till 1875, but meantime Dr. Anderson had been busily engaged in adding to the zoological collections and in getting them into order. One of his first tasks was the bringing together of an ethnological series, for which the conditions of Calcutta are favourable.- Amongst other important additions made by him was that of a fine series of human skulls representing various Indian NO. 1613, VOL. 62] races. Another very valuable museum series brought together by him consisted of a good collection of Indian Chelonia ; skeletons, carapaces and stuffed specimens. _ The work in Calcutta was interrupted by two important expeditions to Upper Burma and Yunnan, to both o which Dr. Anderson was attached as naturalist and medical officer. Both expeditions were designed to oH through China to Canton or Shanghai, but in neither — case was it found practicable to carry out the original — plan. The first expedition, commanded by Colonel E Bae Sladen, left Calcutta at the end of 1867, proceeded as far as Momein in Yunnan, and returned to India in — November 1868; the second, under the command of — Colonel Horace Browne, left in January 1875, but was — treacherously attacked by the Chinese before it had pro- ceeded more than three marches beyond the Burmese frontier, and compelled to return, Mr. Margery, of the © Chinese Consular Service, who had been despatched to | accompany the mission, and who had preceded it by a — march, being murdered with several of his followers. The difficulties experienced by both missions from the time they crossed the frontier between Burma and China, and the j § i opposition of the inhabitants of the country, seriouslyinter- _ fered with zoological observations, and the collection — of specimens was generally impossible; but still — some important additions were made to the previous knowledge of the fauna. A full account of the journey — was given in Dr. Anderson’s reports and in a work by — him, entitled “ Mandalay to Momein,” published in 1876. — The detailed observations on zoology, supplemented — by important notes on some Indian and Burmese 3 mammals and chelonians, were published in 1878-9, — under the title of ‘*Anatomical and Zoological — Researches, comprising an Account of the Zoological — Results of the two Expeditions to Western Yunnan in © 1868 and 1875, and a Monograph of the two Cetacean ~ Genera, Platanista and Orcella.”. The work appeared in two quarto volumes, one consisting of plates. Dr. Anderson was the first who succeeded in obtaining — specimens of the porpoise (Orced/a) inhabiting the Irra-_ waddi, and the examination of this previously undescribed form led him to make a thorough anatomical investigation of an allied species occurring in the Bay of Bengal and in the estuaries of rivers flowing into the bay, and also of the remarkable cetacean, P/azanist/a, inhabiting the © Ganges, Brahmaputra and Indus. ' The only other important collecting expedition under- taken by Dr. Anderson during his tenure of the super- intendentship of the Indian Museum was to Tenasserim and the Mergui Archipelago in 1881-2. This journey was © chiefly, though by no means exclusively, undertaken for the collection of marine animals, and the descriptions of the results, to which several naturalists contributed, were published first in the /ourna/l of the Linnean Society, and subsequently as a separate reprint in two volumes, under the title of “‘ Contributions to the Fauna of Mergui and its — Archipelago.” This appeared in 1889. Dr. Anderson’s— share was the description of the Vertebrata and an account ~ of the Selungs—a curious tribe inhabiting some of the — islands ; but in connection with his visit to Mergui, and — as part of a general description of the fauna which he ; had at first proposed to publish, he prepared an account ~ of the history of Tenasserim, formerly belonging to Siam, — This historical 7ésumé, which deals especially with British commercial and political intercourse with Siamese and Burmese ports, was compiled mainly from the manuscript records of the East India Company, ~ preserved in the library of the India Office, and was ~ published in 1889 in a separate volume, entitled “ English ~ Intercourse with Siam.” The book forms a well-written — and interesting chapter of the history of British progress — in Southern Asia. ie Besides the works already mentioned and many papers, descriptive of mammalia and reptiles, which " TORREY dong, SEPTEMBER 27, 1900] NATURE 53! re published in the /ourna/ of the Asiatic Society of ngal and in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society ondon, Dr. Anderson wrote two catalogues on very ent subjects for the museum under his charge in cutta. Of these, one was the first part of the “ Cata- ue of Mammals,” published in 1881, the other the atalogue and Handbook of the Archzological De And which appeared in 1883. Anderson was elected a Fellow of the Royal ety in 1879, and retired from the Indian Service in . He had married a few years previously, and after retiring he travelled with his wife to Japan. Finally he ed in London, but for the remainder of his life his ‘was somewhat precarious, and he passed several iters in Egypt. Here he took up the study of the mmals and reptiles, which had received but scant sntion since the early part of the century, when the ; and superbly illustrated French work on Egypt peared—a work which, brilliantly begun by Savigny and others, was never adequately completed. __ To the work of collecting, examining, figuring and _ describing the Mammalia, Reptilia and Batrachia of _ Egypt, the later part of Dr, Anderson’s life, when he , well enough for work, was mainly devoted. He also : some attention to the fauna of the neighbouring n in 1898 published “A Contribution to the plogy of Arabia,” founded on the collections of e Mr. J. T. Bent and others. The first part of portant work he had intended to produce on the gy of Egypt, containing an account of the physical s of the a and descriptions of the Reptilia oe eng em in 1898. It is a fine quarto nt figures, many of them coloured. le large collections and notes for the volume a, and these it is nates will be published in as soon as the Dpoet Nile ales was once more ) Ao ‘to civilisation, was the systematic collec- i ription of the fish inhabiting the river and ibutaries. That this important work (of which a eile oer in NATURE of February 23, 1899) is now out with warm interest and assistance from r Government, must be attributed to Dr. srson’s foresight, zeal and skilful advocacy. Both in tandian Empire and in North-eastern Africa, Dr. Anderson soap much to the solution of one of the chief biol uestions of the present day, an Inowledge ae the distribution of animal life. W. T. B. NOTES. NEW inetwnee of the want of encouragement, and often ition, which scientific work receives in this country is given by Major Ronald Ross in a letter in Monday’s Zimes. It _ appears from a correspondence just published, that in 1898 the of State for India refused to permit officers and | _ soldiers to undergo voluntary inoculation against typhoid. It is known to our readers that Dr. Wright, professor of pathology etley, elaborated the system of inoculation against typhoid 4 > long ago as 1896. The treatment is based on the soundest Files i principles, and substantial evidence of its value as a _ preventive measure had been obtained by laboratory experiments. It is entirely free from danger, and there would have been no diffi- ity in obtaining numerous soldiers to undergo inoculation with ; which might thus have been made three years ago, results would _ have been obtained which could have been utilised in the recent war in South Africa, and might have been the means of saving - hundreds of lives. But unfortunately for the army as well as - for science, officers and soldiers appear to have been forbidden NO. 1613, VOL. 62| Dr. Wright’s typhoid vaccine. From the results of the inoculations. to submit themselves for inoculation. In other words, a reab success against disease might have been scored, and in any case the information gained would have been of value in making further efforts to diminish mortality from typhoid, but the officials. who should have done everything in their power to assist the work, deliberately stopped it by hampering the freedom of the persons who would most benefit by the treatment. It is difficult to understand this singular action, and Major Ross has done a public service by directing attention to it. Ir was announced in NATURE several months ago (p. 230) that Dr, L. Sambon and Dr. G. C. Low, of the London School of Tropical Medicine, had arranged to live from May to the end of October—that is, during the malarial season—in a part of the Roman Campagna, near Ostia, where scarcely a person spends a night without contracting malarial fever of a virulent type. No quinine or other drug was to be taken as a precautionary measure, but the investigators were to live in a mosquito-proof hut from an hour before sunset to an hour after sunrise, so as to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes, which only feed during the night. The experiment was planned to test the reality of the connection between malaria and mosquitoes, and we learn from the British Medical Journal that it.has been most successful. On September 13, Prof. Grassi visited the residence of the investi- gators with several other men of science, and gave his testimony as to the value of the experiment in the following telegram to Dr. Manson: ‘‘ Assembled in British mosquito-proof hut, having verified perfect health experimenters amongst malarial stricken in- habitants, I salute Manson who first formulated mosquito malarial theory.—Grassi.” So far as the experimént has gone, therefore, the result is entirely satisfactory, and affords the strongest support to the mosquito theory of malaria, Additional evidence is given by Dr. Elliott, a member of the Liverpool expedition sent to Nigeria some time agv to investigate the subject of malarial fever, who has recently returned to this country. He reports that the members of the expedition have been perfectly well, although they have spent four months in some of the most malarious spots. They lived practically amongst marshes and other places hitherto supposed to be the most deadly, and they attribute their immunity to the careful use of mosquito nets at night. ANOTHER experiment arranged in connection with their malarial investigation in the Campagna is described in the British Medical Journal, Drs. Sambon and Low have shown that by avoiding mosquitoes they avoid malaria ; but this is, after all, only negative evidence, and its full value can only be appreciated in connection with the actual production of malaria in a healthy person in this country by the bites of mosquitoes containing the germ of the'disease. This evidence is now forth- coming. We learn from our contemporary that a consignment of mosquitoes which had been fed on the blood of a sufferer from malaria in Rome, under the direction of Prof. Bastianelli, was received in London early in July. A son of Dr. Manson, who offered himself as a subject for experiment, allowed himself to be bitten by these insects, and, though he has never been in a malarious country since he was a child, he is now suffering from well-marked malarial infection of double tertian type, and microscopical examination shows the presence of numerous parasites in his blood. Full details of the experiments will be published in due course ; meanwhile, they must be regarded as affording the most striking confirmation of the transmission of malaria by mosquito bites that has yet been obtained. Dr. L. A. BAUER, in charge of magnetic work of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, has gone to Alaska and to the Hawaiian Islands, in order to select the sites for the magnetic observatories in those regions. The principal or standard 532 NATURE (SEPTEMBER 27, 1900 4 magnetic observatory is now being erected sixteen miles to the south-east of Washington City, and a fourth observatory is, temporarily, in operation at Baldwin, Kansas. The last named observatory is central to the area being surveyed by four mag- netic parties, and it will be shifted about in-the western States according to the requirements of the magnetic survey. . It is the intention to have the four observatories ready in time to co-operate with the Antarctic expeditions. IN connection with the usurpation of swallows’ nests by house Sparrows, Mr. J. H. Allchin sends a description of a swallow- cum:-sparrow’s nest seen by him at Dymchurch, in the Romney Marsh. The original nest was built on a beam immediately under the corrugated iron roof of a shed, but the usurpers had so completely covered it with straw, grass, feathers, fibres and other materials, that it was almost impossible to see any portion ‘of it. Mr. Allchin remarks: *‘I have seen other’ nests of swallows which had been taken possession of by sparrows, but in those instances the only evidences of occupation were bits of straw or grass sticking out of the entrance; this is the first one I have seen covered over so thoroughly as to completely hide ‘he work of the original builders. ANOTHER successful experiment with electric traction on railways is reported from Germany, the line being from Berlin to Zehlendorf on the new Wannsee railway. . The- train in question (says Fez/den’s Magazine for September) was equipped as if actually running to scheduled time. It was furnished with a motor car at each end, the work of propulsion ‘being divided equally between them, the advantage claimed for this being that the reversing of the train becomes unnecessary at the end of each journey. Eight ordinary cars were employed in addition, seating in all 400 passengers. These experiments are to be continued over a period of one year, at the termination of which it is expected that the question will be decided whether or not electric propulsion is to be wholly substituted for steam power, while at the fsame time much useful data will be gathered. An advantage already claimed is that electric motive power is about 15 per cent. cheaper than steam, and also at higher velocities the chance of accidents is supposed to be less. A train of this description is at present on trial in this country, and it will be useful to compare notes from each when the material is available. F Rom all quarters we learn that the present season has been remarkable for the appearance of numerous specimens of the clouded yellow butterflies (Co/éas edusa and C. hyale), as well as the holly-blue (Zycaena argiolus). During one country walk of three miles in Cambridgeshire, on August 13, the’ present writer saw three Aya/e and one edusa; ina garden near Brighton a holly-blue was seen on September 4, and many collectors report having obtained fair series of one or both of the two yellows in a day’s hunting. From Sczence Gossip we learn that the variety helzce of C. edusa has occurred in some numbers in clover fields in east Essex.. The year 1892 will be remembered as the last occasion on which C. edusa occurred in abundance, but the present season is characterised by the comparative frequency of the pale species hya/e, which’ was far less plentiful in 1892. The humming-bird moth (Macroglossa stellatarum) appears to have been gaining rather more than the usual notoriety in the daily papers which it-has received ever since, some thirty years ago, the late Rev. J. G. Wood, in his ‘*Common British Moths,” wrote: ‘This moth, which is tolerably common, has been very familiar to the public of late years on account of the many letters which have.appéared in the daily journals, much to the amusement of practical entomo- logists, who have been too familiar with the uses in. emnertion to think it worth a special notice.” NO. 1613, VOL. 62] Dr. ANTONIO Porta communicates to the Rendiconti del R. Istituto Lonibardo certain, studies on the anatomy of the common — frog-hopper (Aphrophora spumaria, L..) having especial refer- ence to the secretion of froth, so well known to all gardeners. — The author finds that the apparatus which secretes the frothy liquid in 4, spumaria, and possibly in other species, consists of hypodermal glands scattered over the back and especially near the stigma, that the corpus ovalis is perhaps in relation with the secretion of froth, that the mass of cells foundin the latero-ventral position collect and perhaps produce material of which the animal makes use in the elaboration of the secretions, _ and that the glandular epithelium of the seventh and eighth — segments serve as supports for minute appendages of a branchial character, which have disappeared in Czcadz and va thus a rit vee the hypothesis of Wheeler. i In view of our knowledge of the influence of radiant energy on electrically charged bodies, much interest attaches to the question whether a solar eclipse has any marked effect on — atmospheric electricity. Dr. Julius Elster made observations — during the last total eclipse-at Algiers, and remarked an im- — portant fall of the potential of atmospheric electricity at and slightly after the totality. The” observations are given in the last number of the A/emozrs of the Societa degli Spettroscopisti Italiani: On the other hand, Dr. Emilio Oddone describes, in the Rendicont? del R. Istetuto Lombardo, observations made with an electrometer at Pavia, where during the last eclipse eight-. tenths of the solar diameter were obscured, The results were of a negative character. Before the eclipse, high negative © potentials were observed, which were attributable to clouds accompanying a distant thunderstorm ; but during the eclipse the variations in the electrostatic potential seem to have been similar to the ordinary diurnal variations. It thus appears that — the eclipse exercised no very marked influence on the electric state of the air; but whether any portion of the observed varia- tions was attributable to this cause is a question which it would be difficult to answer. i if iy Mr. DAVID ROBERTSON has communicated tothe Proceedings of the PhilosophicalsSociety of Glasgow a short note on the equilibrium of a column of air and the atmospheric temperature _ gradient, in which the adiabatic formula for the maximum gradient consistent with aries < is eotehtinee in a simple manner. ~ Parts 10 to 12 of the Meddelanden fran Lunds ae Observatorium contain several papers on mathematical astro- nomy. One, by T. Brodén, deals with some probability — considerations relating to the convergence of certain continued fractions, a problem treated by Gyeldén in 1898. Certain if librations in the planetary system are the subject of a paper ‘by © C. V. L. Charlier, while G. Norén and J. A. Wallberg contri- — bute lengthy formule for the development of the disturbing | ; function in its canonical elements. No. 110 of Ostwald’s ‘ Klassiker der exacten Wissenschaften ” a (Leipzig, Wilhelm Engelmann, 1900) i is a reprint of J. ‘HH. van’t © A Hoff’s papers on the laws of chemical equilibrium. The three & papers in question are those communicated in French to the Swedish Academy of Sciences about the year 1885, and deal with the laws of chemical equilibrium in attenuated systems, a a general property of attenuated media, and the electric conditions of chemical equilibrium. The present book is a translation of these — papers by Georg Bredig, and an appendix of twenty pages con- tains.a brief biographical notice of van’t Hoff and numero notes, both historic and explanatory. | In the course of a paper‘on the various forms of onkeal escence, in the Revue Scientifique for September 8, M. Gustave Le Bon describes a dark’ a (* lampe noire q for the as ‘ ~ i SEPTEMBER 27, 1900] NATURE 933 J Won of invisible radiations of great wave-length in connection ca the study of phosphorescence. Among other experiments Ms ed with this lamp, the following is very striking :—In an o ely dark room, a dark lamp is placed on a table, this . Jamp not transmitting any trace of visible light. In front of it, M. Le Bon places a statuette covered with sulphide of lime that has been left in darkness for several days, and consequently retains no trace of phosphorescence. After about a couple of the statuette becomes luminous, and appears to emerge n the darkness. : Tue director of the Meteorological Observatory at Ponta _ Delgada, St. Michael, has published an interesting report on ‘the proposed establishment of an international meteorological ‘service at the Azores, including a history of the observations in those islands, and a chart showing the tracks of a number of storms which have visited that part of the North Atlantic _ during the last five years. The first regular observations were made at ‘Angra (Terceira) in 1864, at Ponta Delgada in 1865, oa and at’ ‘Santa Cruz (Flores) in 1897. _ The observations at Ponta Delgada are now regularly’ published in the Daily Weather Report issued by the Meteorological Council. Since the year 1893 six of the islands have been in telegraphic communication with Lisbon, and eventually cables will be laid to England, Germany, and the United States, and Flores will be connected with the other islands. The direct communication of observa- vations between ‘America, the Azores and this country cannot fail to be most useful both to science and to shipping ; and, although the chart above referred to shows that most of the depressions passing the archipelago strike the coasts of Europe considerably south of the British Islands, a knowledge of the positions and movements of the larger areas of high and low barometric pressures in the North Atlantic must be of pine = eee for the purpose of storm prediction. Ip is well known that while country-folk adhere to the old idea that adders when frightened are in the habit of protecting their young by swallowing them, a large number of naturalists regard the feat as an impossibility. In the September number of The Zoologist Mr. G Leighton, a well qualified anatomist, has set himself the task of ascertaining whether there is any founda- on for the objection. And he arrives at the conclusion that is no anatomical reason why the oft-repeated statement of ntry observers should not be founded on fact. The author ncludes by stating that the objection raised on the ground that owing is is unnecessary is a mere matter of opinion, adding | that i is now necessary is for a competent authority to an adder which has been observed to swallow its young. ‘Until this i is done scientific naturalists will continue to regard -question as one eapebls of broot if ee, but hitherto ved.” _ THE eminent physiologist Dr.. Gustave chee has communi- cated to the Revue générale des Sciences of September 15 a long and able letter urging the importance of establishing a course of - ties, For a considerable time it appears that this subject has been taught to a certain extent in some of these institutions ; a the regular curriculum in all. After pointing out its extreme Dr. Loisel formulates his appeal as follows: (1) That a single course of elementary embryology, embracing both that of man and of other vertebrates, should be established in each Uni- ____ (2) that this course should be instituted in a manner which ____would serve the needs of all students to whom a knowledge of _ this subject is of importance in their future career. These reso- ___ lutions, we are glad to see, have been unanimously adopted by NO. 1613, VOL. 62] instruction i in practical embryology in the new French Universi-. but, for various reasons, it has not hitherto been made a part of importance to students of medicine, anatomy, and gynecology, versity, and that the necessary apparatus should be provided ;. the Section of Medicine at the recent Congress, and we may therefore hore that this important addition to the teaching of. the Universities may shortly be in working order. WE have received vol. vii. pt. 1 of the Zvansactions of the Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists’ Society, which contains a number of papers on local topics. In the Victorian Naturalist.for August, Mr. A. J. North describes a new genus and species of Australian Passerine bird as Eremiornis cartert, while Mr. R. Hall continues his valuable notes on the distribution of the birds of Australia, WE have received the autumn number of Aiddy’s Quarterly, a journal issued at Liverpool ostensibly for the advertisement of certain agricultural and other commodities, but which contains a number of very interesting and well illustrated articles dealing with stock-raising and kindred subjects. Among these, one treating of ostrich-farming should attract general attention. THE September issue of the Azna/s of the South African Museum is devoted to the commencement of a synopsis of the moths of South Africa, by Sir G. F. Hampson. South Africa is the oldest British possession of any considerable size which has hitherto never had a catalogue of its indigenous moths, and as there are now many collectors in the country, Sir George Hampson has been well advised in endeavourin3 to supply a an acknowledged want. THE ‘‘ British Anti-Dubbing Association” has forwarded to us an influentially signed letter respecting the cruel practice. of cutting the combs and wattles of game-fowls. In spite of the fact that the practice is. already illegal, and that. birds which have been ‘‘dubbed” are ineligible for prizes at the British Dairy Farmers’ Association show, it is still largely prevalent. It is now hoped that by bringing the matter into prominent notice, the pressure of public opinion may be brought to bear upon the promoters of poultry-shows, so as to disqualify all mutilated birds from being classed. THE present boundaries in North-west Bohemia between tke districts in which pure German, pure Tschech (Chekh), and the various mixtures of these languages are spoken, are clearly indicated by Dr. J. Zemmrich on a map in Globus (Bd. Ixxviii. p. 101) which illustrates his paper on that subject. THE disposal of the dead is an important subject of ethno- graphical inquiry ; therefore thanks from students are due to Mr, W. Crooke for his paper on ‘‘ Primitive rites of disposal of the dead, with special reference to India,” in the /ourna/ of the Anthropological Institute (vol. xxix. p. 271). Nearly every form of burial is practised in India, and Mr. Crooke has given full references for every statement he has made. From Dr. Thurston’s report on the administration of the Madras Museum for the year 1899-1900,-we learn that the general progress of that institution is satisfactory. Anthropo- logists will be pleased to hear that the superintendent has found time to continue his valuable investigations concerning the various races met with in the Presidency, those which have recently engaged his attention being the Pathan, Shee and Saiyad Muhamadans of Madras city. -In the Adhandlungen der Naturwiss. Gesellsch., Isis, 1900, Prof. J. Deichmiiller describes a find of three broken urns and a stone axe of Neolithic age from near Dresden; these urns and two others described in the paper are decorated with incised lines. The same author also describes a late Slavic cemetery at Niedersedlitz of a date about 1100 of our era. The single measurable skull was meso-orthocephalic, with a cephalic index of about 78°7. ; 534 NATURE [SEPTEMBER 27, 1900 A RECENT number of the Adbhandlungen of the Vienna Geographical Society consists of an important paper, by Prof. Dr. J. Cvijik, of Belgrade, forming the first part of a study of the glaciation and morphology of parts of Bosnia, Herzegovina and Montenegro. The memoir, which it is impossible to summarise in a note, is illustrated by nine maps. CHIEF CONSTRUCTOR KRETSCHMER publishes in the AZaréne- Rundschau a paper on the German Antarctic Expedition. The p'per deals first with the chief difficulties of Antarctic explor- ation, the achievements of former expeditions, and the general scheme of work to be undertaken by the expeditions now being fitted out. The second part is of special interest from the miaute details and numerous drawings given of the design and coistruction of the vessel now being built for the’ German Expedition. We have also received a reprint of Mr, W. S. Bruce’s paper in the June number of the Scottish Geographical Mugazine, giving an account of the proposed Scottish National Antarctic Expedition. A DESCRIPTIVE catalogue of a collection of the economic minerals of Canada, exhibited at the Paris Exhibition, has been prepared under the direction of Dr. G. M. Dawson. This will be a useful work of reference. It is interesting to note that the collection includes samples of lithographic stone. THE Proceedings of the Geologists’ Association for August 1900 contains some highly interesting notes on the geology of the English Lake District, by Mr. J..E. Marr. The notes, which were prepared for the summer excursion of the Association, embody the results of work carried out for many years by Mr. Marr, partly in conjunction with Mr. A. Harker. While sup- porting the generally accepted views of the succession of the older Paleozoic rocks, the facts now brought forward indicate that the disturbances to which these rocks have been subjected are due to the pushing forward of the strata in a northerly direction at unegual rates. Under these conditions the Skiddaw Slates moved furthest forward, causing the Green Slates and Porphyries to “‘ lag behind,” and the Upper Slates (Silurian, with Coniston Limestone at base) to lag behind the Green Slates and Porphyries. _The peculiar faulting attending these dis- turbances is specially described. The intrusive igneous rocks and their metamorphic effects and other subjects are also dealt with. “In the same number of the Proceedings there is a paper, by Mr. G. E. Dibley, on zonal features of the chalk pits in the Rochester, Gravesend and Croydon areas. The author has laboured long and enthusiastically in collecting from the various zones, and the results which he now publishes in notes, and in a carefully arranged list of fossils, form an important addition to our knowledge of the life-history of the chalk. An interesting bone, which he obtained from the Middle Chalk of Cuxton, is described by Mr. E. T. Newton as probably belonging to the Rhynchocephalia, a group of lizard-like animals, which in- cludes the living New Zealand Hatteria and the Triassic fy perodapedon. THE Transactions of the American Microscopical Society for 1899 (vol. xxi.), contains a number of interesting articles on microscopic objects, zoological and botanical, together with a smaller number on microscope construction and laboratory apparatus. IN the Agricultural Gazette of New South Wales for August, we notice a number of papers of interest and value for farmers and horticulturists in the Colony. Much information is contained in this and in previous numbers on the diseases to which domestic animals and cultivated crops are liable, and on the best methods for their treatment. NO. 1613, VOL. 62] THE parts most recently received of Engler’s Botanische Sahrbiicher are Heft 4 of.vol. xxviii. and Heft 2 of vol. xxix. Besides a few shorter articles, these parts are almost entirely occupied by two important descriptive papers —a continuation of the editor’s report on the results of the German N yassa expedi- tion, and one by D. Diels on the flora of Central China. THE Bulletin of the Imperial Society of Naturalists of Moscow, No. 4 for 1900, contains several interesting botanical papers in German. Of these the most important is the second of a series. by W. Arnoldi on the morphology and history of development of the Gymnosperms, The present paper is devoted to the process of fertilisation in Seguota (Wellingtonia), and is a link in the chain of the numerous and most important observations of recent years which connect the process of impregnation in Gymnosperms with that in Vascular Cryptogams on the one hand, and that in Angiosperms on the other hand, THE third annual dinner of the association of old students of the Central Technical College will be held on Tuesday, Octo- ber 2nd, at the Restaurant Frascati, Oxford-street. Old students can obtain further particulars from the honorary secretary, Mr. M. Solomon, 12, Edith-road, West Kensington, W., to whom all applications for ‘tickets should be made. ct eis Tue three parts of vol. xxxix. of the Zyvamsactéons of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, which have just been issued, con- tain several very valuable papers read before the Society during the sessions 1897-98 and 1898-99. ‘All the papers have been published separately, and most of them have been reviewed in NATURE, or briefly described in the reports of the — the Society. Messrs. BAILLIERE, TINDALL AND Cox have published the fifth edition of ‘*A Synopsis of the British Pharmacopceia, - compiled by Mr. H. Wippell Gadd, with analytical notes and suggested standards by Mr. C. G. Moor. This little pocket- book is widely appreciated: it contains a complete table of chemicals, drugs and preparations in the official ‘‘ Pharma~ copeeia,” with their character, doses, &c., as well as other information arranged in a convenient form. THE additions to the Zoological Society’s Gardens aig’ the past week include a Mona Monkey (Cercopithecus mona,?) from West Africa, presented by Mrs. C. Campbell ; a Red-footed. Ground Squirrel (Xerus erythropus) from West Africa, pre- sented by Dr. Oswald Horrocks ; a Grey Ichneumon (Herpestes griseus) from India, presented by Captain W. H. Rotheram, R.E. ; a Plantain Squirrel (Sc¢rus plantanz) from Java, pre- sented by Mr. H. H. Goodwin; two Dusky Ducks (Amas 0b- scura) from North America, presented by Mr. W. H. St. Quintin ; a Peregrine Falcon (Fadco peregrinus), European, pre- sented by Mr. A. L. Jessopp ; three Jays (Garrulus glandarius), British, presented by Dr. R. B. Sharpe; four Pheasants (Phasianus colchicus), British, presented by Mr. F, Larratt ;: two Western Yellow-winged Laughing Thrushes (77rochalop-: terum nigrimentum), a Rufous-chinned Laughing Thrush (Zan- thocincla rufigularis), a Slaty-headed Scimitar Babbler (Pomatorhinus schisticeps), wing (Psaroglossus spiloptera) from. British India, presented by Mr. E. W. Harper; a Blue and Yellow Macaw (Ara ararauna) from South America, presented by Mr. Randolph Berens; a Red Tiger Cat (Felis chrysothrix), a Leopard (felis pardus), two Rose-ringed Parrakeets (Palaeornis doctlis) from West — Africa, a Yellow-crowned Troupial (Zcterus chrysocephalus), a Yellow-backed Troupial (Jcterus croconotus) from South America, an Alpine Marmot (Arctomys marmotta), two Cross bills (Loxza curvirostra), European ; ten Elephantine Tortoises — ( Testudo elephantina) from the Aldabra Islands, deposited. ia twa Tae a Black-throated Ouzel (Merula — 7 strigularis), two Tickell’s Ouzels (Alerula unicolor), a Spotted — er teeta ea Pied SEPTEMBER 27, 1900] NATURE 535 : OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN = ASTRONOMICAL OCCURRENCES IN OCTOBER. - Oct. 6. 13h. 35m. to 14h. 29m. Moon occults « Piscium Be = “e533 _ (mag. 5). — .. .g. toh. 42m. Minimum of Algol (8 Persei). i. 6h. 51m. Transit (egress) of Jupiter’s Sat. III. «4%. 8h. 47m. to gh. 25m. Moon occults w? Tauri | Amag: 4°6). ¥ _ 42. 7h. 30m. Minimum of Algol (8 Persei). 18h. 36m. to 19h. 23m. Moon occults ¢ Tauri Site, (mag. 3). i _ 13. 5h. to 15h. 43m. Moon occults »v Geminorum ors . 4). : be 15. Venus. Illuminated portion of disc = 0°637. ea Mars. ” ” ” = 0°902. +16. 17h, 26m. to 18h. 30m. Moon occults.« Cancri 5. (mag. 5). : ; : _ £7. Saturn. Outer minor axis of outer ring = 16”°68. 19. toh. Conjunction of Jupiter and Uranus. Jupiter, Nas (0° 25'N. 19-21. Epoch of Orionid meteoric shower. (Radiant ec = OI +15°.) o(t26... 12h. > essaaians of Jupiter and moon. Jupiter, : 0° 27’ _ 28. 6h, 21m. Jupiter’s Sat. IV. in conjunction S. of pena fest : Ww Bie Probable date of perihelion of Barnard’s. comet Re HES I » 929. 8h. 27m. to 8h. 46m. Moon occults @ Sagittarii Sastre vmag. 4°9). : 3 ». 29. 16h. Mercury at greatest elongation (23° 46’ E.). _ THE FIREBALL OF SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 6h. 54m.— _ A very large number of observations of this brilliant object were e _ but they were not very exact, as the meteor appeared in ay . The radiant point was probably in Cepheus at about 7 7. The object, during its visible flight, appears to have nded from a height of eighty-five miles over Richmond, Yorks., to twenty miles over Fleetwood, Lancs.; and to have traversed a path of eighty-four miles, Another fine meteor was observed on Sunday evening, September 16, at 8h. 44m., and descriptions have come from London, Birmingham, Oxford and . The radiant was in the southern sky between Capricornus and Piscis Australis at 324°-25°. The meteor fell from about fifty miles over Bewdley to thirty-two miles over and had a visible course of eighty-six miles. The velocity is somewhat doubtful. * EPHEMERIS FOR OBSERVATIONS OF EROS :— 1900. R.A. Decl. ae ae : h m Ss. é ‘ “ ee | ee 243 7°41 +43 27 2°0 aah ance BB-y:\ +r 43 25°24 43 49 43°2 STS ee 43 ae 44 12 204 Sanya tce8O 43 51°63 44 34 52°7 (it Vhs, 5 ‘ 43 59°96 44 57 18°9 pie!" cine aes 44 4°92 45 19 382 wig es 2 ‘ 44 6°44 45 41 50°2 244 4°44 +46 3 53°8 a ee, ere The co-operative observations for determinations of parallax will commence about the beginning of October. The planet is at present in the constellation Perseus, and passes the meridian pe tondon about 2°40 a.m. ’ EPHEMERIS OF CoMET BORRELLY-BROOKS (1900d).—This comet is now rapidly becoming fainter, and the following pitts from a complete Ephemeris furnished by Herr A. Scheller (Astronomische Nuchrichten, Bd. 153, Nos. 3660, 3663) will doubtless suffice for observers possessed of the necessary optical power :— ee" LEphemeris for 12h. Berlin Mean Time. ' -Igo0. R.A. Decl. / Br. h. m s. 3 7 . Sept. 29 14 26 34 +69 7°7 0°07 3 32 53 68 I1‘o "06 7 38 55 67 24°5 06 It 44 50 66 47°3 05 ; 15 50 38 66 18°7 "04 19 14 5627 .. 65 53°3 "04 23 15 216 65-450 oa POS _/ ee Sie ey, 65 404 ... ‘63 Bh is OIG eae Ie Reg ae k Bg NO. 1613, VOL. 62] cations, such as the growing exigencies of armour plate. AUTOMATIC PHOTOGRAPHY OF THE CoRONA.—Mention has often been previously made of Prof. C. Burckhalter’s in- genious apparatus for obtaining photographs of the solar corona during an eclipse, and it now appears that he was extremely suc- cessful at the eclipse in May last. Popular Astronomy, vol. viii., contains reproductions from two negatives of the corona secured by him, one uncontrolled as has hitherto been usual, the other the result of intercepting part of the coronal light for varying periods of time during the total exposure. The total exposure in each case was 8:0 seconds, but by means of a system of res volving diaphragms arranged in one of the cameras, the image was shielded in various regions for different times, thus permitting the details of the inner corona to be photographed on the same plate as the outermost faint streamers. The following are the calculated effective exposures at the several stated distances from the moon’s centre (moon’s semi-diameter =1 5’ 58”). Distance from moon’s centre 16’ 20’ Rg 50° on LIG Exposure ++. O'04S. .., O'238. ... 1°76s. ut 3°20s. ... 800s, _ The photograph shows the inner coronal detail close to the limb of the moon, the outer streamers extending for more than a lunar diameter. Several of the inner coronal tufts. appear. to be projected on the long broader streamers as background. THE IRON AND STEEL INSTITUTE. THE Iron and Steel Institute held its autumn meeting in Paris on September 18 and 19, under the presidency of Sir ~ William Roberts*Austen, K.C.B., F.R.S. Besides a long pro- gramme of ten papers, visits to the Exhibition, to the works at St. Chamond, at Hayangé in Lorraine, and at St. Denis near Paris, ‘were arranged by an influential reception committee, of which Mr. Robert de Wendel was president and Mr. Henri Vastin honorary secretary. The attendance was unusually large, and the meeting was in every respect a successful one. The proceedings began on September 18 at the house of the Société d’Encouragement, with an address of welcome by Mr. Robert de Wendel, president of the French Association of Iron- masters. Sir William Roberts-Austen, having acknowledged the welcome, delivered a presidential address dealing in fault- less literary style with the history of metallurgy in France. The first paper read by the secretary, Mr. Bennett Brough, was by Mr. H. Pinget, secretary of the Comité des Forges, and dealt with the development of the iron industry in France since the Institute’s last visit to Paris in 1889. The increase in out- put of iron and steel has been much greater than it was in the interval between the two previous exhibitions in Paris. No striking technical invention been made, but great progress has been effected in increasing the power of the appliances used and in improving the quality of the products. There is a marked tendency to replace cast iron by cast steel, and success has attended endeavours to cast complicated forms in metal which is both tough and of high tensile strength. Moreover, special steels are now available for the requirements of particular 8 e€ discussion on this paper was confined to complimentary remarks from Sir Lowthian Bell, F.R.S., Mr. Greiner and others. The second paper, the most important submitted to the meeting, was that by Mr. J. E. Stead on iron and phosphorus. It is typical of modern metallurgical research, and contains a mass of original observations showing how phosphorus occurs in iron and steel. The subject is dealt with in four sections: (1) the constitution, properties and microstructure of iron contain- ing form traces to 24 per cent. of phosphorus; (2) the effect of carbon when introduced by the fusion or cementation process into iron containing phosphorus; (3) the microstructure of pig iron containing phosphorus; and (4) the diffusion of solid phosphide of iron into iron. There are appended to the paper useful notes on eutectics, on solid solutions, on the method of determining free phosphide of iron in iron and steel, and on heat-tinting metal sections for microscopic examination. The observations recorded show that iron will retain as much as 1°75 per cent. of phosphorus as phosphide in solid solution, and that when more than -that is present, the excess separates and is found as free phosphide of iron mixed up with the mass of iron. It is also shown that carbon added to solid solutions of phosphorus in iron throws out of solution the dissolved phos- phide, which appears in a separate state. The most remarkable 536 NATURE [SEPTEMBER 27, 1900: result given indicates that when carbon is added by the cement- ation process, the phosphide, when in large quantity, is thrown, not only out of solution, but escapes entirely out of the metal as a-liqnid eutectic leaving a constant residuum behind, A method is described by which phosphorus compounds in pig iron can be identified by means of the microscope. This consists in simply heating the polished surfaces to about 300° C. for a few minutes, when each constituent takes a different oxidation tint. The iron acquires a sky-blue colour, the carbide a red-brown and the phosphide compound a pale yellow. The coloured sections are of great beauty. Many results are given showing how the solid phosphide diffuses in solid iron, and showing that under suitable conditions well-formed crystals will grow in solid metal, Mr. H. Bauerman’s paper on iron and steel at the Universal Exhibition, Paris, 1900, was prepared mainly for the use of the members of the Institute visiting the Exhibition during the meet- ing. It contained a critical description of the more prominent metallurgital exhibits, and forms a valuable record of the con- dition of the ‘metallurgical industry at the close of the century. On September 19, the remaining papers on the programme were dealt with. Chief among these was that by Mr. E. F. Lange, on a new method of producing high temperatures. The principle underlying the process, which is the outcome of re- searches made by Dr. H. Goldschmidt of Essen, is not new, as it is based upon the heat energy developed by the chemical action of aluminium upon oxygen, or rather that between aluminium and certain metallic oxides. The practicability of the process was clearly shown by the welding together during the meeting of two short lengths of heavy girder rails. The method not only opens up a new field for aluminium but also promises to be of considerable’ importance in engineering work. In the discussion Sir William Roberts-Austen pointed out the extreme precision with which the reduction took place, and Sir Lowthian Bell dwelt on the value of the process if it should prove that carbonless iron could be obtained by it for electrical purposes. The paper by Mr. A. L. Colby, of Bethlehem, United States, on American standard specifications and methods of testing iron and steel, embodied the results of over a year’s work by a com- mittee of American experts, conducted with a view to the adop- tion of international standards. Some of the specifications were criticised by Mr. R. A. Hadfield. The engineer, he thought, was encroaching on the field of the metallurgist. In- teresting contributions to the discussion were made by Mr. C..P. Sandberg and by Dr. Dudley, of Pennsylvania. In a paper on the influence of aluminium on the carbon in cast-iron, Mr. G. Melland and Mr. H.W. Waldron gave the results of an elaborate research in which they endeavoured to determine the amount of aluminium which is necessary to pro- duce the maximum separation of graphite in a white pig-iron as free as possible from silicon and other impurities, and to ascer- tain, by casting every melting both-in sand and in chill moulds, the effect produced by slow and rapid cooling upon the mode of existence of the carbon in the metal with amounts of aluminium varying from 0°02 to 12 per cent. ¢ . Inthe paper by Mr, Louis Katona, of Resicza, Hungary, the various disadvantages of the rolling-mills now in use were dis- cussed, and suggestions were made for obviating them with a view to increasing the output and lessening the fuel con- sumption, In a lengthy paper on the constitution’ of slags, which was taken as read, Baron H. von Jiiptner discussed iron slags from a modern ‘point of view, and described the varying reactions which take place between them and iron. The slags considered are divided into three groups—silicate slags, phosphate slags ‘and oxide slags.- The results of the investigation tend to show that slags should be regarded as solutions, and not as compli- cated chemical compounds. The ‘‘ phaseé-rule” of Gibb has served as a guide to the authors of two well-reasoned papers of ‘great scientific inteérest—one on iron.and steel from the point of view of the phase doctrine, by Prof. Bakhuis:-Roozeboom,:.of Amsterdam, and the other‘on the present position of the solution theory of carburised iron, by Dr. A. Stansfield. The’ phase rule says in effect that in a system such as that of the carburised irons, in which two distinct sub- stances (carbon and iron) are involved, but in which certain forms or phases of carbon or. iron, or carbon-iron solution, or carbon-iron’ compound, are-present; no more than two of these phases can exist in equilibrium with each other at a particular temperature.. In the case of a solution of salt in water, this NO. 1613, VOL. 62] would mean that there could only be salt and ice and solution together at a particular temperature (the eutectic temperature) and that at any other temperature there could only be ice and’ solution or salt and solution (at temperatures above the eutectic), or ice and salt (at temperatures below the eutectic). In the case of a salt solution this is quite evident, but the value of the phase rule is that we can apply it with equal confidence in cases where we do not, to begin with, know the answer to our question. Applying the rule to the case of solid carburised iron at tem- peratures above that of all the known allotropic charges—we have the four possible substances of iron, graphite, cementite and solid solution of carbon (either graphite or cementite) in pig-iron. The rule states that only two of these can in general exist permanently together. The general conclusions to be drawn from Dr. Stansfield’s researches are :— (1) That carbon is less soluble in iron when presented in the form of graphite than when presented in the form of cementite. (2) That the apparent reversal of this in steel is due partly to the absence of nuclei of graphite on which further deposits might take place ; partly to the length of time required for the separa- tion of the graphite, involving, as it does, the gradual passage of carbon through the iron to reach the nuclei, and partly to the mechanical pressure which must oppose the formation of graphite in solid steel. ro BES The meeting was brought to a close by a vote of thanks to:the French authorities and societies, whose hospitality had been enjoyed, proposed by the president and seconded by Mr.-W. Whitwell, president-elect. A vote of thanks to the president was proposed by Mr. Greiner, of Seraing, Belgium, and seconded by Mr. Nordenfelt. The social functions in connection: with the meeting were of a very attractive character. They included an operatic entertainment organised by the Comité des Forges, a reception by the Commissioner-General and Mrs. Jekyll at the British Royal Pavilion, a banquet at the Hétel Continental, a reception by Mr. E. Schneider in the Le Creusot. pavilion, a re- ception at the Hétel de Ville by the president of the Municipal Council, and a reception on September 24 by the Minister of Public Works. ; ; Bi cris x THE BRADFORD MEETING OF THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION, _ SECTION K. BOTANY, OPENING ADDREss BY Pror..S..H. Vines, M.A., D.Sc., F.R.S., PRESIDENT OF THE SECTION. THERE has been considerable difference of opinion as to whether the present year marks the close of the nineteenth or the beginning of the twentieth century. But whatever may be the right or the wrong of this vexed question, the fact that the year-date now begins. with 19, instead of with 18, suggests the appropriateness of devoting an occasion such as the present to a review of the century which has closed, as some will have it, or, in the opinion of others, is about to close. I therefore pro- pose-to address you upon the progress of Botany during the nineteenth century. te sa ay I am fully conscious of the magnitude of the task which I am undertaking, more especially in its relation to the limits of time and space at my disposal. So eventful has the period been that to give in any detail an account of what has been accom- plished during the last hundred years would mean to write the larger half of the entire history of Botany. This being so, it might appear almost hopeless to attempt to deal with so large a subject ina Presidential Address. But I trust that the very restrictions under which I labour may prove to be rather ad- vantageous than otherwise, inasmuch as they compel me_ to confine attention to what is of primary importance, and thus to give special prominence to the main lines along which the development of the science has proceeded. 20 8 ee ieee Statistics. “ We may well begin with what is, after all, the most funda- mental matter, viz. the relative numbers of known species of — plants at the beginning and at the end of the century. It might - appear that the statistics of plants was a subject susceptible of very simple treatment, but unfortunately this isnot the case. It must be remembered that a ‘‘species” is not an invariable ¥. oe sche SEPTEMBER 27, 1900] NATURE Ka9 nt upon the su of living plants. * WUD: ee peryes - Filicinge (inclading Isoétes), about my os, Secale R A Equisetinz, about - Total Pteridophyta ... Musci_... Species of Bryophyta (Saccardo’s Estimate). dard unit, like a pound ora pint, but that it is an idea de- bjectivity of individual botanists. For nce, one botanist may regard a certain number of similar ats as all belonging to a single species, whilst another may the differences among them such as to warrant the distinction S many species as there are plants. It is this inevitable ation in the estimation of specific characters which renders difficult to deal satisfactorily with plants from the statistical of view. However, the following figures may be regarded ing a fair idea of the increase in the number of “‘ good” is generally stated that about 10,000 species of plants were m to Linnzeus in the latter half of the eighteenth century, h one-tenth were Cryptogams ; but so rapid was the pro- in the study of new plants at that time that the first enu- ation of plants published in the nineteenth century, the ynopsis” of Persoon (1807), included as many as 20,000 cies of Phanerogams alone. Turning now to the end of the entury, we arrive at the following census, for which I am debted mainly to Prof. Saccardo (1892) and to Prof. de Toni o has kindly given me special information as to the Algze :— ies of Phanerogams indicated in Bentham and Hooker's ** Genera Plantarum” (Durand, ‘* Index,” 1888). ~ Dicotyledons... 78,200 Monocotyledons 19,600 are prenererms ‘i 2,420 2 0 Se 100,220 _ Estimated subsequent additions (Saccardo) ... - 5,011 idee: tare eu 120: Total Phanerogams w+ 105,231 Species | Plerid phyta (indicated in Hooker and Baker's « Spuopeis ales “ New Ferns.” and *‘ Fern Allies”). 3,000 432 20 3,452 4 . 4,609 Hepaticze se 3,041 Total Bryophyta ... 7,650 NY Species of Thallophyta. _ Fungi (including Bacteria) (Saccardo) 39,663 _ Lichens (Saccardo) __... oA ‘a 5,600 _Algze (incl. 6000 Diatoms) (de Toni)... 14,000 a : a. Total Thallophyta 59,263 _ Adding these totals together— Pe | fannie aad yee 105,231 wee) | ) yta : 35452 3 . yta es one a 59,263 have a grand totalof ... ev -' 175,596 as the approximate number of recognised species of living iosperms and Fungi. NO. 1613, VOL. 62] 7 fm We may venture to cast a forward glance upon the possible future development of the knowledge of species. Various partial estimates have been made as to the probable number of existing species of this or that group, but the only comprehensive estimate with which I am acquainted is that of Prof. Saccardo (1892). He begins witha somewhat startling calculation to the effect that there are at least 250,000 existing species of Fungi alone, and he goes on to suggest that probably the number of species belonging to the various other groups would amount to 150,000 ; hence the total number of species now living is to be estimated at over 400,000. On the basis of this estimate it appears that we have not yet made the acquaintance of half the contemporary species ; so that there remains plenty of occupa- tion for systematic and descriptive botanists, especially in the department of Fungology. It is also rather alarming, in view of the predatory instincts of so many of the Fungi, to learn that they constitute so decided a majority of the whole vegetable kingdom. In spite of the great increase in the number of known species, it cannot be said that any essentially new type of plant has been discovered during the century. So far as the bounds of the vegetable kingdom have been extended at all, it has been by the annexation of groups hitherto regarded as within the sphere of influence of the zoologists. The most notable instance of this has occurred in the case of the Bacteria, or Schizomy- cetes, as Naegeli termed them. These organisms, discovered by Leeuwenhoek 200 years ago, had always been regarded as infusorian animals until, in 1853, Cohn recognised their vege- table nature and their affinity with the Fungi.» These plants have acquired special importance, partly on account of the con- troversy which arose as to their supposed spontaneous genera- tion, but more especially on account of their remarkable zymo- genic and pathogenic. properties, so that Bacteriology has become one of the new sciences of the century. Classification. Having gained some idea of the number of species which have been recognised and described during the century, the next point for consideration is the progress made in the attempt to reduce this mass of material to such order that it can be intelligently . apprehended ; ina word, to convert a mass of facts into a science ; ‘*Filum ariadneum Botanices est systema, sine quo chaos. est . Res Herbaria” (Linnzeus). The classification of p'ants is a problem which has engaged attention from the very earliest times. Without attempting to enter into the history of the matter, I may just point out that, speaking generally, all the earlier systems of classification were more or less artificial, the subdivisions being based upon the distinctive features of one set of members of the plant. When I say that of all these systems that proposed by Linnzeus (1735) was the most purely artificial, I do not imply any reproach: if it was the most artificial, it was at the same time the most serviceable, and its author was fully aware of its artificiality. This system is generally regarded as: his most’ remarkable achievement ; but the really great service which Linnzeus ren- . dered to science was the clear distinction which he for the first time drew between systems which are artificial and those which are natural. Recognising, as he did, his inability to frame at that period a satisfactory natural system, he also realised that with the increased number of known plants some more ready means of determining them was.an absolute necessity, and it was for this purpose that he devised his artificial system, not as an end, but as a means. The end to be kept:in view was the natural classification: ‘*‘ Methodus naturalis est ultimus finis Botanices” is his clearly expressed position in the ‘* Philosophia Botanica.” : There is a certain irony in the fact that the enthusiastic ac- ceptance accorded to his artificial system throughout the greater part of Europe contributed to postpone the realisation of Lin- nzeus’s cherished hopes with regard to the attainment of a natural classification. It was just in those countries, such as Germany and England, where the Linnean system was most readily adopted that the development of the natural system proceeded most slowly. It was in France, where the Linnean system never secured a firm hold, that the quest of the natural system was pursued ; and it is to French. botanists more particularly that our present classification is due. It may be traced from its first beginnings with Magnol in 1689, through the bolder attempts of Adanson and of Bernard de Jussieu (1759), to the 538 NATURE [SEPTEMBER 27, 1900 relatively complete method propounded by Antoine Laurent de Jussieu in his ‘* Genera Plantarum,” just 100 years later. The nineteenth century opened with the struggle for pre- dominance between the Jussiean and the Linnean systems. In England the former soon obtained considerable support, notably that of Robert Brown, whose ‘‘ Prodromus Flore Nove Hol- landice,” published in 1810, seems to have. been the first English botanical work in which the natural system was adopted ; but it did not come into general use until it had been popularised by Lindley in the ’thirties. Meantime the Jussiean system had been extended and im- proved by ‘Auguste Pyrame de Candolle (1813-24). It is -essentially the Candollean classification which is now. most generally in use, and it has been immortalised by its adoption in Bentham and Hooker’s ‘‘ Genera Plantarum,”’ one of the great botanical monuments of the century. In Germany, however, it has been widely departed from, the system there in vogue being based upon Brongniart’s modification (1828, 1850) of de Candolle’s method as elaborated successively by Alex. Braun (1864), Eichler (1876-83) and Prof. Engler (1886, 1898). It must be admitted that for the last fifty years the further evolution of the natural system, at any rate so far as Phanerogams are concerned, has been confined to Germany. One of the most important advances in the classification of Phanerogams was based upon Robert Brown’s discovery in 1827 of the gymnospermous nature of the ovule in Conifers and Cycads, which led Brongniart (1828) to distinguish these plants as ** Phanérogames gymnospermes”’ ; and although the system- atic position of these plants has since then been the subject of much discussion, the recognition of the Gymnospermez as a distinct group of archaic Phanerogams is now definitely accepted. Moreover, the greatly increased knowledge of the Cryptogams has involved a considerable reconstruction in the classification of ° that great sub-kingdom. One of the most striking discoveries is that first definitely announced by Schwendener (1869) con- cerning Lichens, to the effect that the body of a Lichen consists .of ‘two distinct organisms, an Alga and a Fungus, living in symbiosis ; a discovery which was so nearly made by other con- temporary botanists, such as de Bary, Berkeley and Sachs, and which can be traced back to Haller and Gleditsch in the eighteenth century. But the discoveries which most affected the classification of the Cryptogams are those relating to their reproduction. Whilst it had been recognised, almost from time immemorial, that . Phanerogams reproduce sexually, sexuality was denied to Cryptogams until the observations on Liverworts and Mosses by Schmidel and by Hedwig (of whom it was said that he was born to banish Cryptogamy) in the eighteenth century; and even as late as 1828 we find Brongniart classifying the Fungi and Algze together as ‘‘ Agames.” But in the middle third of the nine- teenth century, by the labours of such men as Thuret, Pringsheim, Cohn, Hofmeister, Naegeli and de Bary, the sexuality. of all classes of Cryptogams was clearly established. It is worthy of note that, although the sexuality of the Phanerogams had been accepted for centuries, yet the details of sexual reproduction were first investigated in Cryptogams. For it was not until 1823 _that Amici discovered the pollen-tube, and it was more than twenty years. later (1846) before he completed his discovery by ascertaining the true significance of the pollen-tube in relation to the development of the embryo; whilst it remained for Strasburger to observe, thirty years later, the actual process of fertilisation. The discovery of the reproductive processes in Cryptogams not only facilitated a natural classification of them, but had the further very important effect of throwing light upon their relation to Phanerogams. Perhaps the most striking botanical achieve- ment of the nineteenth century has been the demonstration by Hofmeister’s unrivalled researches (1851) that Phanerogams and Cryptogams are not separated, as was formerly held, by an impassable gulf, but that the higher Cryptogams and the lower Phanerogams are connected by many common features... The development of the natural classification, of which an account has now been given, proceeded for the most part on the assumption of the immutability of species. As Linnzus ex- pressed it in his ‘‘ Fundamenta Botanica,” ‘‘ species tot numer- amus, quot diverse forme in principio sunt create.” It is difficult to understand how, with this point of view, the idea of affinity between species could have arisen at all; and yet the . establishment of genera and the attempts at a natural system NO. 1613, VOL. 62] ‘Similarly, the distribution in time of existing natural orders prove that the idea was operative. The nature of the prevalent — conception of affinity is well conveyed by Linnzeus’s aphorism, _ ‘* Affines, conveniunt habitu, nascendi modo, proprietatibus, viribus, usu.” a But a conviction had been gradually growing that the assumed ed fixity of species was not: well founded, and that, on -plants in all their parts and in all stages of their life, so as to ft: attain that complete knowledge of them without which their affinities cannot be accurately estimated. If the classification of - Cryptogams is, at the present moment, in a more satisfactory position than that of Phanerogams, it is just because the study — of the former group has been, for various reasons, more thorough and more minute than that of the latter. core as Palacophytology.: ion mbes i The stimulating influence of the new doctrine was not, how- ever, confined to the investigation of existing plants ; it also gave a remarkable impulse to the study of fossil plants, inasmuch’ as the theory of descent involves the quest of the ancestors of the forms that we now have around us. Marv ; progress has been made in this direction during the nineteenth century, — by the labours more especially of Brongniart, Goep Unger, Schimper, Schenck, Saporta,, Solms-Laubach, Renault, on the Continent, and in our own country of Lindley and Hutton, Hooker, Carruthers, and more especially of Williamson. So — far-reaching are the results obtained that I can only attempt the barest summary of them. I may perhaps best begin by — saying that only a small proportion of existing species have been found in the fossil state. In illustration I may adduce the statement made by Mr. Clement. Reid in his recent work, ‘* The Origin of the British Flora,” that only 270 species, that is, about.one-sixth of the total number of British vascular plants, are known as fossils. Making all due allowances for the im- perfection of the geological record, for the limited area investi- gated, and for the difficulty of determination of fragmentary specimens, it may be stated generally that the number of exist- ing species has been found to rapidly diminish in the floras of successively older strata; none, in fact, have been certainly found to persist beyond the Tertiary period. Certain existing genera, belonging to the Gymnosperms and to the Pteridophyta, have, however, been traced far down into. the Mesozoic period. does not coincide with that of existing genera ; thus the Ferns of the Carboniferous epoch apparently belong, for the most part, if not altogether, to the order Marattiaceze, but they are not referable to any of the existing genera. bi ye Moreover, altogether new families of fossil plants have been discovered : such are, amiong Gymnosperms, the Cordaitaceze and the Bennettitacece ; among Pteridophyta, the Calamariacez, ~ the Lepidodendracex, the Sphenophyllaceze and the Cycado- filices. It is of interest to note that all these newly discovered © families can’ be included within the main subdivisions of the existing flora; in fact, no fossil plants have been found which — suggest the existence in the past of groups outside the limits of - our Phanerogamia, Pteridophyta, Bryophyta and Thallophyta. — It cannot be said that the study of Paleobotany has as yet. made clear the ancestry and the descent of our existing flora, — To begin with the angiospermous flowering plants, it has been ascertained that they make their first appearance in the Cretaceous epoch, but we have no clue as to their origin. The relatively late appearance of Angiosperms in geological time ~ suggests that they must have sprung from an older group, such ~ as the Gymnosperms or the Pteridophyta; but there is no ~ evidence to definitely establish either of these possible origins. — Then as to the origin of the Gymnosperms, whilst it cannot be — doubted that they were derived from the Pteridophyta, the existing data are insufficient to enable us to trace their pedigree. — The most ancient family of Gymnosperms, the Cordaitacex, ca Bs a be traced as far back as any known. Pteridophyta, and cannot, 7 y yal at 4 5 KE: Na ae NATURE 539 | _ SEPTEMBER 27, 1900] refore, have been derived from them ; but the fact that the itaceze exhibit certain cycadean affinities, and the dis- of the Cycadofilices, suggest that what may be termed hylum of Gymnosperms (including the Cordait- e, Bennettitaceze, Cycadacez, and perhaps the Ginkgoacez) ag in a filicineous ancestry, of which, it must be nl no forms have as yet been recognised. rning to the Pteridophyta, the origin of the Ferns is still unknown : the one fact which seems to be clear is that the jorangiate forms (Marattiaceze) are more, primitive than the rangiate. With regard to the Equisetine, the Cala- iaceze were no doubt the ancestors of the existing and of a uisetums. Similarly, in the Lycopodine, the eeeeenerencencese were the forerunners of the existing pod and Selaginellas. The discovery of the Spheno- ce siedemns £0 throw some further light upon the phylogeny e two groups, inasmuch as these plants possess characters indicate affinity with both the Equisetinz and the thus suggesting the possibility that they may have ing from the same ancestral stock. PFO complete the geological survey of the vegetable kingdom I will briefly allude to the Bryophyta and the Thallo che Owing no doubt to their delicate texture, the records of these pa Cean plants have been found to be very incomplete. So much is this z oven the Bryophyta that I forbear to make any statement fake Fung! is em. The chief point of interest with regard to is that most of those which have been discovered in - state were found in the tissues of woody plants on hich th } were parasitic. In this way it has been possible to tain, with some probability, the existence of Bacteria and ial Fungi in:the Palzeozoic period. The records of the e are more satisfactory ; they have been traced far back oe qe age, where they are represented by siphon- us fort ns and by the ——* obscure plants known as and Pachythec In waco way the study sae Palzobotany has proved the of dbigher from lower forms in the successive ological Thus the Tertiary and Quaternary periods re characterised by the predominance of Angiosperms, just as _ the Mesozoic: aid is characterised by the predominance of Gymnosp and the Palzozoic by the predominance of ophyta. And yet, as I have been pointing out, we are le to. ews the ancestry of any one of the larger groups reason for this is that the geological te Beinn it is known, mores —_ i paw oh with abruptness that the ear iest, and therefore the interesting, chapters in the evolution. of plants are closed After the eal of plant-forms in the Carboniferous h iere isa striking falling-off in the Devonian, in which, plants of nisation, such as the Cordaitacese, » and the Lepidodendracez, still occur. In Sioran epoch vascular plants are but sparingly present— but that any such highly organised plants should _ be found there—together with probable Algze, such as Vema- Pogonndeeonrd Pachytheca. The Cambrian rocks present nothing : sowealled “* Fucoids,” such as Zophyton, &c., some of oma Alge. The only known fossil in the oldest strata = Sander is the much-discussed Zoz0on canadense, of animal origin ; but the occurrence here of large s of graphite seems to indicate the existence of a con- flora which has, unfortunately, become quite undeter- _ Thus, whilst there is some evidence that the primi- were Algze, there is at present no available record of stages through which the Silurian and Devonian —— were evolved from them. ‘ Abit Morphology. LE. pees be made as to the cause of the great advance in the recognition of the true affinities of plants, and consequently in their classification, which distinguishes the nineteenth century, I _ would refer it to the progress made in the study of morphology. |The earlier botanists regarded all the various parts of plants as E “Sorgar ” in relation to their supposed function ; hence their _ description of plants was simply ‘‘ organography.” The idea of “regarding the parts of the plant-body, not in connection with _ their functions, but with reference to their development and Siete matwal relations, seems to have originated with Jung in the _ seventeenth century (1687): it was revived by C. F. Wolff _ about seventy years later (1759), but it did not materially affect __ the study of plants until well on in the nineteenth century, after NO. 1613, VOL. 62] Goethe had repeatedly written on the subject and had devised the term ‘‘ morphology” to designate it. For a time this some- what abstract mode of treatment led to mere theorising and speculation, so much so that the years 1820-1840 will always be stigmatised as the period of the ‘‘ Naturphilosophie.” | But fortunately this time of barrenness was succeeded by a_veritable renascence. Robert Brown and Henfrey in Brongniart, St. Hilaire and Tulasne in France; Schleiden, Naegeli, A. Braun, and, above all, Hofmeister in Germany, led the way back from the pursuit of fantastic will-o’- the-wisps to the observation of actual fact. Instead of evolving schemes out of their own internal consciousness as to how plants ought to be constructed, they endeavoured to discover by the study of development, and more particularly of embryogeny, how they actually are constructed, with the result that within a decade Hofmeister discovered the alternation of generations in the higher plants ; a discovery which must ever rank as one of the most brilliant triumphs of morphological research, With the knowledge thus acquired it became possible to determine the true relations of the various parts of the plant- y ; to distinguish these parts as ‘‘ members ” rather than as “organs” ; in a word, to establish homologies where hitherto only analogies had been traced—which is the essential difference between morphology and organography. The publication of the ‘Origin of Species” profoundly affected the progress or morphology, as of all branches of biological research : but it did not~alter its trend; it confirmed and extended it. We are not satisfied now with establishing homologies, but we go on to inquire into the origin and phylogeny of the members of the body. In illustration I may riefly refer to two problems of this kind which at the present time are agitating the boianical world. The first is as to the origin of the alternation of generations. Did it come about by the modification of the sexual generation (gametophyte) into an asexual (sporophyte) ; or is the sporophyte a new formation in- tercalated into the life-history? In a word, is the alternation of generations to be regarded as homologous or as antithetic? I am not rash enough to express any opinion on this controversy ; nor is it necessary that I should do so, since the subject has: twice been threshed out at recent meetings of this Section. The second problem is as to the origin of the sphorophylls, and, indeed, of all the various kinds of leaves of the sporophyte in — the higher plants. It is suggested, on the one hand, that the sporophylls of the Pteridophyta have arisen by gradual sterilisa-. tion and segmentation from an unsegmented and almost wholly reproductive body, represented in our day by the sporogonium of the Bryophyta ; and that the vegetative leaves have been de- rived by further ‘sterilisation from the sporophylls. On the other hand, it is urged that the vegetative leaves are the more primitive, and that the sporophylls have been derived from them. It will be at once observed that this second problem is intimately connected with the first. The sterilisation theory of the origin of leaves is a necessary consequence of the antithetic view of the alternation of generations ; whilst the derivation of sporophylls from foliage-leaves is similarly associated with the homologous view. Here, again, exercising a wise discretion, I will only venture to express my appreciation of the important work which has been done in connection with this controversy— work that will be equally valuable, whatever the issue may eventually be. I will conclude my remarks on morphology with a few illus- trations of the aid which the advance in this department has given to the progress of classification. For instance, Linnzeus divided plants into Phanerogams and Cryptogams, on the ground < sg in the former the reproductive organs and_pro- cesses are conspicuous, whereas in the latter they are obscure. In view of our increased: knowledge of Cryptogams this ground of distinction is no longer tenable ; whilst still recognising the validity of the division, our reasons for doing so are altogether difterent. For us, Phanerogams are plants which produce a seed ; Cryptogams are plants which do not produce a seed. Again, we distinguish the Pteridoph “p and the Bryophyta trom the Thallophyta, not on account o their more complex struc- ture, but mainly on the ground that the alternation of genera- tions is regular in the two former groups, whilst it is irregular or altogether wanting in the latter. Similarly, the essential distinc- tion between the Pteridophyta and the Bryophyta is that in the former the sporophyte, in the latter the gametophyte, is the preponderating form. It has enabled us further to correct in many respécts the classifications of our predecessors by altering NATURE [| SEPTEMBER 27, 1900 the systematic position of various genera, and sometimes of larger groups. ‘Thus the Cycadaceze have been removed from among the Monocotyledons, and the Coniferze from among the Dicotyledons, where de Candolle placed them, and have been united with the Gnetacez ‘into the sub-class Gymnosperme. The investigation of the development of the flower, in which Payer led the way, and the elaboration of the floral diagram which we owe to Eichler, have done much, though by no means all, to determine the affinities of doubtful Angiosperms, especi- ally among those previously relegated to the lumber-room of the Apetalee. Anatomy and Histology. Passing now to the consideration of the progress of knowledge concerning the structure of plants, the most important result to be chronicled is the discovery that the plant-body consists of living substance indistinguishable from that of which the body of animals is composed. The earlier anatomists, whilst recognising the cellular structure of plants, had confined their attention to the examination of the cell-walls, and described the contents as a watery or mucilaginous sap, without determining where or what was the seat of life. In 1831 Robert Brown discovered the nucleus of the cell, but there is no evidence that he regarded it as living. It was not until the renascence of research in the forties, to which I have already alluded, that any real progress in this direction was made. The cell-contents were especially studied by Naegeli and by Mohl, both of whom recognised the existence of a viscous substance lining ‘the wall of all living cells as a *‘mucous layer” or ‘‘ primordial utricle,” but differing chemi- cally from the substance of the wall*by being nitrogenous : this they regarded as the living part of the cell, and to it Mohl (1846) gave the name ‘‘protoplasm,” which it still bears. The full significance of this discovery became apparent in a somewhat roundabout way. Dujardin, in 1835, had described a number of lowly organisms, which he termed Infusoria, as consisting of a living substance, which he called ‘‘sarcode.” Fifteen years later, in a remarkable paper on Protococcus pluvialis, Cohn drew attention to the similarity in properties between the ‘‘sarcode ” of the Infusoria and the living substance of this plant, and arrived at the brilliant generalisation that the ‘‘ protoplasm” of the botanists and the ‘‘sarcode” of the zoologists are identical. Thus arose the great conception of the essential unity of life in all living things, which, thanks to the subsequent labours of such men as de Bary, Briicke, and Max Schultze, in the first instance, has become a fundamental canon of Biology. A conspicious monument of this period of activity is the cell-theory propounded by Schwann in 1839. Briefly stated, Schwann’s theory was that all living bodies are built up of structural units which are the cells: each cell possesses an in- dependent vitality, so that nutrition and growth are. referable, not to the organism as a whole, but to the individual cells. This conception of the structure of plants was accepted for many years, but it has had to give way before the advance of ana- tomical knowledge. The recognition of cell-division as the process by which the cells are multiplied—in opposition to the Schleidenian theory of free cell-formation—early suggested doubts as to the propriety of regarding the body as being built up of cells as a wall is built of bricks. Later the minute study of the: Thallophyta revealed the existence of a number of plants, such as the Myxomycetes, the phycomycetous Fungi, and the siphonaceous Algze, some of them highly organised, the vege- tative body of which does not consist of cells. It became clear that cellular structure is not essential to life; that it may be altogether absent or present in various degree. Thus in the higher plants the protoplasm is segmented or septated by walls into uninucleate units or ‘‘energids”’ (Sachs), and such plants are well described as ‘‘ completely septate.’”’ But in others, such as the higher Fungi ‘and certain Algz (e.g. Cladophora, Hydrodictyon), the protoplasm is septated, not into energids, but into groups of energids, so that the body is ‘‘ incompletely septate.” Finally there are the Thallophyta already enu- merated, in which there is complete continuity of the proto- plasm: these are ‘‘unseptate.” Moreover, even when the body presents the most complete cellular structure, the energids are not isolated, but are connected by delicate protoplasmic fibrils traversing the intervening. walls ; a fact which is one of the most striking discoveries in the department of histology. This was first recognised in the sieve-tubes by Hartig (1837) ; then by Naegeli (1846) in the tissues of the Floridee. After a long period of neglect the matter was taken up once more by NO. 1613, VOL. 62] the expression of a nutritive process. At the opening of the —— Tang] (1880), when it’ attracted the attention of many investi- gators, as the result of whose labours, especially those of Mr. — Gardiner, the general and perhaps universal continuity of the protoplasm in cellular plants has been established. Hence the body is no longer regarded as an aggregate of cells, but asa _ more or less septated. mass of protoplasm: the synthetic standpoint of Schwann has been replaced by one as distinctively analytic. ey, bey Time does not permit me to do more than mention the im- portant discoveries made of late years, mainly on the initiative of Strasburger, with regard to the details of cytology, and especially to the structure of the nucleus and the intricate dance of the chromosomes in karyokinesis. Indeed, I can dobutscant justice to those anatomical discoveries which are of more exclusively botanical interest. -One important generalisation — which may be drawn is that the histological differentiation of the — plant proceeds, not in the protoplasm, as in the animal, but in — the cell-wall. It is remarkable, on the one hand, how similar the protoplasm is, not only in different parts of the same body, but in plants of widely different affinities; and, on the other, | what diversity the cell-wall offers in thickness, chemical com- position, and physical properties. In studying the differentia- tion of the cell-wall the botanist has received valuable aid from the chemist. Research in this direction may, in fact, be said to have begun with Payen’s fundamental discovery (1844) that the characteristic and primary chemical constituents of the cell-wall is the carbohydrate which he termed cellulose, ‘ee The amount of detailed knowledge as to the anatomy of plants which has been accumulated during the century by countle: workers, among whom Mohl, Naegeli, Unger and Sanio deserve special mention as pioneers, is very great—so great, — indeed, that it seemed as if it must remain a mere mass of facts — in the absence of. any recognisable general principles which might serve to marshal the facts into a science. The first step towards a morphology of the tissues was Hanstein’s investiga- tion of the growing point of the Phanerogams (1868), and his recognition therein of the three embryonic tissue-systems. This _ has lately been further developed by the promulgation of van Tieghem’s theory of the stele, which is merely the logical out- come of Hanstein’s distinction of the plerome. It has thus become possible to determine the homologies of the tissue-systems in different plants and to organise the facts of structure into a — scientific comparative anatomy. . It has become apparent that, — in many cases, differences of structure are immediately traceable — to the influence of the environment; in fact, the study of physiological or adaptive anatomy is now a large and important — branch of the subject. f A eel The study of Anatomy has contributed in some degree to the — progress of.systematic Botany, It is true that some of the more ambitious attempts to base classification on Anatomy have not been successful ; such, for instance, as de Candolle’s subdivision. * of Phanerogams into Exogens and Endogens, or the subdivision — of Cormophyta into Acrobrya, Amphibrya, and Acramphibrya, proposed by Unger and Endlicher. Still it cannot be denied — that anatomical characters have been found useful, if not’abso- — lutely conclusive, in suggesting affinities, especially in the — determination of fossil remains. A large proportion of our — knowledge of extinct plants, to which I have already alluded, — is based solely upon the anatomical ‘structure of the vegetative — organs; and although affinities inferred from such evidence _ cannot be regarded as final, they suffice for a provisional — classification until they are confirmed or disproved by the — discovery and investigation of the reproductive organs. ui _ Coronas, which we have just received from the Observatory of ge Manila. He estimates the total number of shocks at 307, occur- ‘f ting in 108 groups. No part of the archipelago was entirely 2 from earthquakes, though less than five were felt in ‘ - Mindoro, Paragua and the central part of Luzon. In the north- a east of Samar, where more than a hundred were felt, they were most frequent and most destructive. Full descriptions are given _ of the three most important earthquakes—those of Luzon, én Anise 15; Zamboanga, on September 21, with the accompany- _ ing sea-waves and long series of after-shocks; and Samar, on October 19-20. Four of these earthquakes were recorded at _ distant stations, both Shide and Edinburgh being more than er from the origins. The mean velocities of the waves the, two principal Zamboanga earthquakes are estimated at -and 8*1 kms. per second along the surface, or 7°6 and 7°1 kms. per second along the chords. “Fas i, ‘DETERMINATIONS of the rate of increase of underground temperature, apart from their scientific interest, have an important practical application in fixing the limit of depth at which mining operations can be carried on successfully. In this connection a report has been lately issued by the Department of Mines of the Government of Victoria, dealing with observations of under- ground: temperature at Bendigo, ‘the author being Mr. James g, Government Geologist. The rise of temperature of the rock ; with the depth varies in different parts of the earth’s sur- e, thus making it difficult in any mining district to determine 2 at the rate of increase is without actual experiment. Thus, aos the hitherto recognised formula for the Bendigo of 1° Fahr. for every 60 feet in depth, we should have a temperature. of 125° at the 3,500 feet level. The observations dy made prove that this temperature is not reached. It has been asserted in some quarters that mining might extend to as great a depth as 10,000 feet, if the difficulties of haulage could be. ‘overcome ; but when we consider the effect of com- re the air at such a depth (z.¢. the compression caused by own weight), it will be seen that ventilation under ordinary ns would be practically unattainable. At a depth of 10,000 feet the ventilating current entering the shaft at, say, a _ temperature of 60° Fahr., would attain a temperature of 90° by its own weight, altogether apart from the additional heat Tepacre by contact of the air with the heated rock surfaces. It possible, however, to imagine a limit of 5000 feet as a work- depth, although the present observations as to the normal rate of increase of temperature of the rocks at Bendigo—1° Fahr. for every 135 feet—suggest 4000 feet as a convenient practical limit to healthy working. Mr. Stirling’s report is accompanied by charts illustrating the temperature and pressure gradients in No. 180 mine. In connection with the composition of the air, Mr. Stirling calls attention to the very defective ventilation of many mines, and to the necessity of owners and directors of mines itd steps to remedy the existing evils. : % a I In Narourg, vol. lix. Pp. 133, we briefly referred to the very interesting investigations of MM. Hildebrandsson and Teisserenc de Bort into the history and present conditions of dynamical NO. 1614, VOL. 62] meteorology. Part ii. of this important work has now been issued, dealing generally with revolving storms, and the organi- sation of the international meteorological services, and particu- | larly with the parts taken by Le Verrier, FitzRoy, and Buys Ballot; and reproducing specimens of the earliest reports and charts issued by each. Le Verrier seems to have been the first in Europe to conceive the idea of ‘telegraphic weather fore- casts, although, owing to inadequate support, he was the last of the three to introduce a regular working service. It is interesting to read, thirty-five years after the death of Admiral FitzRoy, the judgment of the eminent authors upon his work in this country, viz. that the criticism of his weather service was- both severe and unjust, and Le Verrier’s opinion is quoted that if he did not arrive at sufficiently practical results, probably on account of the limited area dealt with, no one else in his place could have done better. In another chapter, dealing with the fundamental works in the different countries between 1865 and 1872, the laborious investigations of Dr, Buchan occupy a pro- minent place. The publication of his remarkable memoirs and charts at this early epoch were of the highest importance in the development of dynamical meteorology, and the early researches made subsequently in other countries have been, to a great extent, simply verifications of his ideas. The Storm Atlas of Prof. Mohn, the present chief of the Norwegian Meteorological Service, the publications of the Meteorological Office, and the Synoptic Charts of the late Captain Hoffmeyer and of the Copenhagen and Hamburg institutes, are also specially referred to as having contributed greatly to the development of meteoro- logical science. THE remarkable colour-changes exhibited by a familiar prawn (Zippolyte varians) form the subject of an extremely interesting and most beautifully illustrated paper by Dr. Gamble and Mr. Keeble, which appears in the Quarterly Journal of Micro- scopical Science for September. The species in question may be met with commonly in the lower tidal pools along the shore, or may be obtained by trawling in deeper water. It has long been known that different individuals exhibit variations in colour ranging from one eud of the spectrum to the other, and also that many specimens display a protective resemblance to the particular seaweeds on which they may be resting. Itis now demonstrated that all the different colour-variations are capable of passing into one another, and the protective resemblances of individuals to their environment are most admirably displayed in the coloured plates with which the paper is illustrated. But this is not all. Twice during the twenty-four hours every specimen is living in deeper water than ordinary, and this includes a certain change in coloration to harmonise with the stronger or weaker light. But a much more important colour-change is induced by the daily alternation of light and darkness, and as the shades of evening approach every single individual of the species gradually loses its distinctive diurnal hue and becomes of a full trans- parent azure blue. The change is heralded by a reddish glow followed by a green tinge, which finally melts into the azure. And it is not a little remarkable that the day-and-night change has been so long established that it has become periodic and occurs whether the specimens are kept in perpetual darkness or vice versa, To the same journal Monsieur E. L. Bouvier communicates a supplemental paper on the results of his examination of the series of examples of Peripatus in the British Museum. He deals especially with the specimens described as P. jamaicensis, which are shown to include two perfectly distinct species. Our German contemporary, Waturwissenschaftliche Wochen- schrift, ‘of September 23, contains a long digest of Prof. G. Siebert’s translation of Lydekker’s ‘‘ Geographical History of Mammals,” which was published so long ago as 1897. 556 NATURE [OcTOBER 4, 1900 THE additions to the Zoological Society’s Gardens during the past week include two Macaque Monkeys (AZacacus cynomolgus) from India, presented respectively by Mrs. Woods and Mrs. Sassoon; -a Plantain Squirrel (Scéuras plantant) from Java, a Vulpine Phalanger (77réchosurus vulpecula) from Australia, presented by Mrs. A. Jeffrey; a Ground Hornbill (Azcorvus abyssinicus), a Bell's Cinixys (Cénéxys belliana) from West Africa, presented by Mr. Henry Strachan ; a Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus), European, presented by Mr. W. R. Bryden ; a Brazilian Tapir (Zapérus americanus), two Snowy Egrets (Ardea candidissima), six Ring-necked Lizards ( 7ropidurus torquatus), three Surinam Lizards (Amezva surtnamensis), a Lizard (Crocodilurus lacertinus), two Tuberculated Iguanas (Iguana tuberculata), six Giant Toads (Bufo marinus) from Para, presented by Captain A. Pam; a Vivacious Snake (Tarbophis fallax), European, presented by Mr. W. H, St. Quintin ; a Spix’s Macaw (Cyanopsittacus spixt) from Brazil, a Large Grieved Tortoise (Podocnemis expansa) from the Amazons, six Florida Tortoises (Zestudo polyphemus) from North America, four Elegant Snakes (77opfzdonotus ordinatus infernalis), four Couch’s Snakes ( Zvopidonotus ordinatus coucht) from California, deposited ; a Bristly Ground Squirrel (Xerus setosus) from South Africa, a Pink-headed Duck (Rhodonessa caryophyllacea) from India, purchased. ; i ~ OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN EPHEMERIS FOR OBSERVATIONS OF EROS :— Igoo. R.A. Decl. heim 3, rege Oct. 4 244 4°44 +46 3 538 5 43 58°85 46 25 48°2 6 43 49°57 46 47 32°2 7 43 36°50 47 9 51 8 43 19°53 47 30 25°4 9 2 58°56 47 51 32°1 fe) 42 33°51 48 12 23°6 II 242 4'23 +48 32 58°9 THE ROYAL PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY’S EXHIBITION. HE Royal Photographic Society hold their annual exhibition --this year in the New Gallery, Regent Street, instead of, as heretofore, at the Water Colour Society’s Gallery in Pall Mall. The result of the change to the larger galleries is certainly a matter for congratulation, because the very restricted accommodation of previous years crowded out professional and trade work, and gave very little space indeed for the exhibition of scientific and technical photography. This year, if any branch of photography is not represented, it is because of other difficulties than want of space. The only notable omission that occurs to us is that of cinematography, and this is accounted for by the very stringent regulations now enforced making a practical demonstration impossible. The pictorial section occupies about as much of the walls as usual, and the greater part of the remaining space is taken up by professional and trade work, and apparatus exhibits, many of which, however, are not entirely devoid of scientific interest. But upstairs, in the gallery that runs round the central hall, there will be found a very excellent collection of ‘“‘ scientific, technical and photomechanical exhibits.” The Royal Observatory, Greenwich, contribute some of their most recent work with the 30-inch reflector, the 26-inch Thompson photographic refractor and other instruments. The photograph of the great: nebula in Orion, taken last December, appears to be especially noteworthy. Two plates of the planet Eros are shown.