Skip to main content

Full text of "Nature"

See other formats 


my - 


> eo ee | 


Nature, ] 7 
October 1, 1914 


Nature 


A WEEKLY 


ILLUSTRATED JOURNAL OF SCIENCE 


WZ TEE 


ri Nature, 
October 1, 1914 


Nature, 
October 1, 1914 


Nature - 


A WEEREY 


ieebolRATED JOURNAL OF SCIENCE 


VOLUME “X€ITI 


MARCH, 1914, to AUGUST, 1914 


‘To the solid ground 
Of Nature trusts the mind which builds for aye.” —WORDSWORTH 


PVondon 


ieee rtLAN AN@eeo, Limirenp 
NEW YORK: THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 


RICHARD CL. 
BRUNSWICK STREET, 
AND BUNG 


¢ Sons, LTp., 
FORD STREET, S.E., 
SUFFOLK. ; 3 


Nature, ] 
October 1, 1914 


IN DE 


Po THOR 


Abbott (Prof. C. G.), Solar Constant of Radiation, 198-9; 
Radiation of the Sun, 464 
Abbott (G.), Limestones simulating Organic Characters, 


414 

_Abderhalden (E.), Dr. J. O. Gavronsky and W. F. 
Lanchester, Defensive Ferments, 213 

Abdul Majid, Phenomena of the Conscious and Uncon- 
scious, 428 

Abegg (Prof. R.), Dr. Auerbach, die Elemente der siebenten 
Gruppe, 184 

Abraham (H.) and others, Time of Wireless Waves over 
Earth’s Surface, 524 

Adams (Prof. Frank D.), Conservation of Natural Re- 
sources: Presidential Address to Royal Society of 
- Canada, 655 

Adams (Prof. H.), Practical Surveying and Elementary 
Geodesy, 236 

Adams (W. S.) and A. Kohlschiitter, Radial Velocities, 416 

Agassiz (Alex.), Funafuti Boring, 31 

Aitken (Dr. John), Forests and Floods, 506 

Albe (Dr. E. E. F. d’), Type-reading Optophone, 394 

Alcock (Lieut.-Col.), Hzemoproteus of Indian Pigeon, 584 

Alexander (W. B.), First Description of a Kangaroo, 664 

Allen (Dr. G. M.), Development of Colour Pattern in 
Mammals and Birds, 591, 651 

Allen (Dr. H. S.), Photo-electricity, 502 

Altham (Major-Gen. E. A.), Principles of War, 399 

Andrade (E. N. da C.), Experiments re Origin of Spectra, 
59; Flow in Metals under Large Stresses, 288 

Andreas (Mui Shuko), Gypsy Coppersmiths in Liverpool, 57 

Andrews (Dr. C. W.), Antelope discovered by Miss Bate in 
Majorcan Cave Deposits, 445; Descriptive Catalogue 
of Marine Reptiles of Oxford Clay, 582 

Andrews (E. C.), Cobar Copper Field, 17 

Andrews (R.), Whales of North Pacific, 514 

Annandale (Dr. N.) and S. W. Kemp, Fauna of Chilka 
Lake, 473 

Appleyard, Direct Measurement of the Napierian Base, 231 

Arber (Agnes), Root Development in Stratiotes aloides, 24 

Archbold (T. R.), Device for filling Ore Sacks, 50 

Aristotle, Theory of the City, 401; Physics, 428 

Armstrong (Dr. E. F.), Chemical Facts and Genetical Con- 
stitution, 127 


Armstrong (Prof. H. E.) and others, Processes operative in | 


Solutions, 22, 394; Benzene Derivatives, 22, 394 

Arup (P. S.), Industrial Organic Analysis, 184 

Asch (Dr. W. and Dr. D.), A. B. Searle, Silicates in 
Chemistry and Commerce, and Stereo-chemical Theory, 
184 

Ash (F. W.), Secondary Sex Characters, 345 

Ashby (Dr.), Discoveries in Malta, 412 

Ashley (H. E.), Clays, 363 

Ashworth (Dr. J. H.), New Species of Sclerocheilus, 420 

Ashworth (Dr. J. R.). Intrinsic Field of Magnet, 314 

Atkinson (Prof. G. F.), Segregation of Hybrid Types in 
(Enothera in First Generation, 492 

Auerbach (Dr. Fr.), die Elemente der siebenten Gruppe des 
periodischen Systems (Abegg), 184 


INDEX. 


Avebury (Lord), Prehistoric Times, 57 
Awati (P. R.), Mechanism of Suction’ in Lygus pabulinus, 
IOI 


Babcock (W. H.), Early Norse Visits to North America, 
6 


13 

Bachelet (E.), Levitated Railway, 273 

Bacon (G. W. and Co., Ltd.), School and College Atlas, 
427; Excelsior School Map of the United States, 505 

Bacon (Roger) [Commemoration of, at Oxford], 354, 405 

Bacot (A. W.) and Prof. Martin, Plague and Fleas, 63 

Bailey (E. B.), Ballachulish Fold, 446 

Bailey (Capt. F. M.), Tsangpo River, 460 

Baillaud (J.), Recording Time Signals, 446 

Baker (G. S.), Ship Resistance and Area Curve, 148 

Baker (Prof. H. B.) and Hon. R. J. Strutt, Active Nitrogen, 
5; (and Dr. Tiede, and E. Domcke), Active Nitrogen, 
478 

Baker (W. M.) and A. A. Bourne, Shorter Algebra, 236 

Ball (Dr. J.), the Earth’s Contraction, 188 

Balls (W. L.), Development and Properties of Cotton 
Fibre, 308; Leaf-fall and Soil Deterioration, 341 

Barbier (P.) and R. Locquin, Linalol, 395 

Barbour (Sir D.), Influence of Gold Supply on Prices and 
Profits, 294 

Barclay (Andrew, Sons and Co., Ltd.), Fireless Locomotive, 
670-1 

Bardet (J.), Extraction of Germanium from Vichy Water, 
289 

Barendrecht (H. S.), Enzyme Action, 39 

Barham (B. G.), Development of Incandescent Electric 
Lamp, 54 

Barlow (Dr.) [Death], 412 

Barnard (Prof E. E.), Nove, 385; Halley’s Comet, 541 

Barnard (K. H.), Crustacean Fauna of South Africa, 119; 
Living Phreatoicus, 577 

Barnard (S.) and J. M. Child, Key to “New Algebra,” 236 

Barnes (Prof. H. T.), Expansive Force of Ice, 655 

Barnett (S. J.), Thermions and the Origin of Solar and 
Terrestrial Magnetism, 109 


| Barratt (T.), Thermal Conductivity of Rarer Metals, 524; 


(and A. B. Wood), Volatility of Thorium Active 
Deposit, 367 
Barrell (Prof. J.), Relations of Isostasy to a Zone of 


Weakness, 403 


| Barrett (E. B.), Teaching as Self-Education, 153 


Bartlett (H. J.), Wind Direction and Rainfall, 472 

Barus (Prof. Carl), Interference Measures in Physics, 652 

Bassler (R. S.), Fossil Crinoids from Mississippi Valley, 149 

Bate (Miss D. M. A.), Antelope from Majorca Cave 
Deposits, 445 

Bateson (Prof. William), Inaugural Address to the British 
Association (Australian Meeting), Part I., Melbourne, 
635: Part IT., Sydnev, 674 

Bather (F. A.), Zoological Classification, 189 

Bauer (Dr. L. A.), International Magnetic Observations 
during the Solar Eclipse of August 21, 1914, 507 


vi 


Baxandall (D.), Early Slide Rule, 8 

Baxandall (F. E.), Enhanced Manganese Lines, 278 

Baxter (Evelyn V.) and Leonora J. Rintoul, Report on 
Scottish Ornithology in 1913, 669 

Bayeux (R.) and P. Chevallier, Oxygen and Carbon 
Dioxide in Blood at Paris and on Mt. Blanc, 155 

Baynes (R. E.), New Units in Aerology, 110 ; ‘ 

Beattie (J. C.), Secular Variation of Magnetism in S: 
Africa, 499 

Beauvais (G.), Definition of Time by Clock, 524 

Beebe (C. W.), Classification of Pheasants by Tail-moult, 


I 

Bell (Dr. J. M.), Wilds of Maoriland, 482; (and others), 
Rodingite, 308; (and C. Fraser), Geology of North 
Island, N.Z., 308 } 

Bell’s Outdoor and Indoor Experimental Arithmetic, H. H. 
Goodacre and others, 236, 662 

Belot (E.), Origin of Planetary Features, 69 / 

Bemmelen (Dr. W. van), Upper-air Records at Batavia, 5; 
Meteorology in Dutch East India, 96; Temperature- 
difference between Up and Down Traces of Sounding 
Balloon Diagrams, 269 

Bengough (Dr.) and Mr. Jones, Corrosion, 70 

Benham (C. E.), Perspective made Easy by Means of 
Stereoscopic Diagrams, 108 

Benoist and Copaux (MM.), Transparency to X-Rays of 
Complex Salts, 24; Transparency to X-Rays and 
Atomic Weight, 102 

Berget (A.), Piezometric Sounder, 

Berry (Prof. E. W.), Tertiary 
America, 494 ; 

Berthelot (D.), Photolysis of Oxalic Acid by Ultra-violet 
Rays, 446 

Bertrand (G.), Silver as Stimulant of Aspergillus niger, 261 


368 
Floras of S.E. North 


Best (Elsdon), Stone Implements of the Maori, 2098; 
Cremation among the Maori, 566 

Bielecki (].) and V. Henri, Tautomerism, 181 

Biesbroeck (G. van), Variable Stars, etc., 594 

Bigelow (Prof. M. A., and Anna N.), Introduction to 


Biology, 450 

Bigourdan (G.), Classification of Nebula, 516 

Billy (M.), Preparation of Pure Metals, 25 

Bingham (Prof. H.), Exploration in Peru, 97 

Bird (R. M.) and W. S. Calcott, Vanadium, Petroleum, and 
Asphalt, 540 

Black (Dr. G. F.), Gypsy Bibliography, 4 ; 

Blagg (Miss M. A.), Baxendell’s Observations of Variable 
Stars, 101; Collated List of Lunar Formations, 361 

Blair (K. G.), Heteromerous Coleoptera from New Guinea, 
I0I 

Blanc (A.), Radiation from Oxidisation of Phosphorus, 369 

Bliss (G. A.) and E. Kasner, Princeton Colloquium, 528 

Bloch (Madame E.), Modifications in Structure of Roots 
and Stems due to Compression, 421 

Bloch (L. and E.), New Absorption Spectrum of Oxygen in 
Ultra-violet, 261 

Blumenfeld and Urbain (MM.), Isolation of Neoytterbium, 
630 

Boccardi (J.), Diurnal Latitude Variations, 172 

Bolus (H.), South African Orchids, 425 

Bon (Fred), Ist es wahr dass 2X2=4?, 475 

Bone (Prof. W. A.), Surface Combustion: Royal Institu- 
tion Discourse, 202 

Borchardt (W. G.) and Rey. A. D. Perrott, Junior Trigo- 
nometry, 662 

Borel (Prof. E.). le Hasard, 662 

Boring (Alice M.) and R. Pearl, “Odd Chromosome” of 
Chick, 538 


Bose (brot |. .C.), ntitability of Plants, 372.) Plant 
Autogranhs : Roval Institution Discourse, 546 
Bottomley (Prof. W. B.), Accessory Factors in Plant 


Growth, 445 

Roulenger (Dr. G. A.), Snakes of Europe. s8« 

Bourget, Buisson, and Fabry (MM.), Radial Velocities and 
Wave-lensths in Orion Nebula, 289 

Bourauelot (Em.), Biochemical Synthesis, 261 

Routaric (A.), the Solar Constant, 395 

Boutroux (Prof. P.), les Principes de l’Analyse Mathé- 
matiaue, 183 

Bowie (W.) and H. G. Avers, United States Level Net, 651 

Bowman (A.), Eel Larve in Scottish Waters, 164 


Lndex 


eS ew” 


Nature, 
October 1, 1914 


Boys (Prof. C. V.), Kinematography, F. A. Talbot, 60; 
Movements on Water Surfaces, 214; Schilowsky Gyro- 
scopic Two-wheeled Motor-car, 251 

Braak (Dr. C.), Vertical Temperature Distribution in 
Atmosphere, 6 

Bragg (Prof. W. H.), an X-Ray Absorption Band, 31; 
Crystalline Structures as revealed by X-Rays, 124; - 
X-Rays and Crystalline Structure, 494 

Branford (V.), Interpretations and Forecasts, 401 

Bridger (Dr. A. E.), Minds in Distress, 424 

Brauner (Prof. B.), New Units in Aerology, 136 

Breuil (l’Abbé H.) and others, Prehistoric Art, 9 

Bridgman (P. W.), Phase Changes due to High Pressures, 


493 

Brittlebank (Dr. J. W.), Milk Supply, 517 

Brodetsky (Dr. S.), Densities of Planets, 33 

Broek (Dr. A. van den), Atomic Models and Regions of 
Intra-atomic Electrons, 7; Structure of Atoms and 
Molecules, 241; 8 and y Rays and the Structure of the 
Atom, 376; Radio-activitv and Atomic Numbers, 480 

Broglie (Duc Ge), Spectral Analysis by Secondary Rays of 
Réntgen Rays, 349, 629 

Brooks (C. E. P.), Climatic Change, 532 

Brown (A. H.), Cuban Rain Record, 340 

Brown (A. R. Haig), “My Game-Book,” 353 

Brown (Harold), Rubber, 608 ane. 

Brown (Prof. J. Macmillan), New Script found in Caroline 
Isles, 486 

Brown (Prof. W.), Change of Length in Nickel Wire, 232 

Browning (P. E.), Action of Bromine on Hydroxides, 421 

Bruce (Sir D.) and others, Trypanosome Diseases, 445, 522 

Bruce (Dr. W. S.), Spitsbergen Expedition, 512 

Brucker (Prof. E.), Botany, 450 

Brunner (W.), Sunspots, 17 

Brush (Dr. C. F.), Kinetic Theory of Gravitation, 493 

Bryan (Prof. G. H.), Optical Representation of 
Euclidean Geometry, 33 

Bryant (Prof. R. C.), Logging, 82 

Buckland (J.), Plumage Bill, 485 

Buller (Prof. A. H. R.), Subterranean Part of Fruit Bodies 
of Hymenomycetes, 655 

Burch (Dr. G. J.) [Obituary], 114 

Burnham (Prof. S. W.), Retirement, 247 

Burr (Prof. W. H.), Suspension Bridges, Arch Ribs, and 
Cantilevers, 609 

Burt (C.), Psychology and Child Hygiene, 424 

Bushe-Fox (J. P.), Hengistbury Head, 412 

Butler (Dr. E. J.), an Eelworm Disease of Rice, 96; 
Peronosporacez, 226 

Butterworth (S.), Null Method of Testing Vibration Gal- 
vanometers, 367 

Buxton (Dr. D. W.), Anzesthetics, 213 


Non- 


“C. H. C.,” Ornamental Lathework for Amateurs, 557 

Cahen (E.), Théorie des Nombres, 159 

Callendar (Prof. H. L.), the Doppler Effect’ and Carnot’s 
Principle, 59, 109 

Calmette (A.), Treatment of Epilepsy by Snake Poison, 
128; Keeping Cobra Poison, 551; (and V. Grysez), 
New Demonstration of Generalised Lymphatic Stage 
preceding Localisations in Tuberculous Infection, 314 

Cameron (Prof. A. T.), Distribution of Iodine in Tissues, 


655 

Campbell (A.), Vibration Galvanometers of Low Resist- 
ance, 23; (and D. W. Dye), Measurement of Alternat- 
ing Electric Currents of High Frequency, 522 

Campbell (Matilda G.), Domestic Science for High Schools, 5 

Campbell (N. P.), Composition of the Atmosphere, 507 

Campbell (Dr. R.), Rocks from Gough Island, South 
Atlantic, 420 

Campbell (W. W.), Rapid Convection in Stellar Atmo- 
spheres, 671 

Canac (F.), New Method of Crystal Measurements by 
X-Rays, 657 

Cannon (Miss A.) elected Hon. Member of the Royal Astro- 
nomical Society, 64 

Capitan (Dr. L.) and others, Cave Paintings, 9 

Capstick (Dr. J. W.), Sound, 502 

Carmichael (Prof. R. D.), Theory of Relativity, 28 

Carnegie Trust, 279 

Carnot (Sadi), [Note on Family of], 301 


ature, 
October 1, 1914 


Ludex 


Vil 


Ce 


Carpenter (Dr. F. A.), Clouds of California, 592 

Carpenter (Prof. G. H.), the Dublin Gorilla, 136; Insect 
Pests in Ireland, 367; (and T. R. Hewitt), Reproduc- 
tive Organs and Larva of Warble-fly, 127 

Carter (H. G.), Genera of British Plants, 237 

Cartwright (C. T.), Metal Production in Canada in 1912, 
216 


Carus (P.), Principle of Relativity in the Light of Philo- 
sophy of Science, 187 

Carus-Wilson (C.), Earthquake House at Comrie, 328 

Case (Prof. E. C.), the “Sail-backed” Reptile, 333 

Case (G. O.), Coast Sand Dunes, Spits, and Wastes, 583 

Caspari (Dr. W. A.), India-rubber Laboratory Practice, 663 

Casteels (L.), Variable Stars, 594 

Cathcart (Dr.), Carbohydrate in Nutrition, 595 

- Caullery (Prof. M.), les Problemes de la Sexualité, 345 

Cautley (R. W.), Descriptions of Land: Text-book for 
Survey Students, 134 

Cave (C. J. P.), Upper Air Research: Address, 334 

Caven (Dr. R. M.), Atomic Volume Curves of Elements, 


351 
Chakravarti (N.), Spirit Belief in Jataka Stories, 657 
Chamberlain (J. F. and A. H.), Continents and their 
People : South America, 83 
Chamberlain (Joseph), [Death], 484 
Chambers (W. F. D.) and I. G. Rankin, 
Haloes with X-Radiation, 507, 611 
Chant (Prof. C. A.), Great Telescope for Canada, 459 
Chapman (Dr. S.), Number and Light, of the Stars, tor, 


Asymmetric 


29 

‘Charpy (G.), Time and Deformation of Metals, 499 

Charron (F.), Hydrodynamical Magnification of Wireless 
Signals, 289 

Chaspoul (M.), Action of Radium on Crystal Wireless 
Detectors, 657 

Chatley (Prof. H.), Aeroplane Wings, 4o1 

Chauchard (M. and Mme.), Action of Ultra-violet Rays on 
Amylase and Lipase from Pancreatic Juice, 395 

Chevenard (P.), Expansion of Ferro-nickels, 552 

Chilton (Prof. C.), Deto, a Subantarctic Crustacean, 419; 
Wood-boring Gribble in Auckland Harbour, 620 

Chouchak (M.), Nutrition of Plants under Electric Current, 


473 

Chree (Dr. C.), Time Measurements of Magnetic Disturb- 
ances, 101; the 27-day Period in Magnetic Phenomena, 
522; Lag in Marine Barometers, 588 

Chrétien (H.), Mirror Astrolabe, 260 

Christy (M.), Beaks of Crossbills, 439 

Clark (J. E.) and R. H. Hooker, Phenological Observa- 
tions, 232 

Clodd (E.), Childhood of the World, 426 

Coffin (Prof. J. H.), the Socialised Conscience, 134 

Coghlan (H. L.) and J. W. Hinchley, Coconut Cultivation 
and Plantation Machinery, 237 

Coheéndy (M.), Life without Micro-organisms, 289 

Cole (Prof. G. A. J.), Nature Reserve in Spitsbergen, 534 

Coleman (Dr. O. P.), Nickel Industry in Canada, 216 

Colgan (N.), Folk-lore of Irish Plants and Animals, 168 

Colin (Capt.) and Lieut. Jeance, Wireless Telephony, 383 

Collinge (W. E.), Oral Appendages of Isopods, 22 


Collis (A. G.), Switchgear and Control of Electric Circuits, 


477 

Conduché (A.), Action of Chloroform on Metallic Sulphates, 
261 

Coninck (CE. de) and G. Bernstein, Atomic Weight of 
Nickel, 315 

Considére (M.), Contraction of Armoured Concrete, 232 

Constantin (R.), Osmotic Compressibility of Emulsions, 261 

Cook (Captain), London Memorial to, 461, 481 

Cools (Prof. M. T.), Diseases of Tronical Plants, 425 

Cooper (E. A.), Autolysed Yeast Cure for Avian Poly- 
neuritis, 593 

Corbett (L. C.), Garden Farming, 553 

Cornish (Dr. V.), Waves of Sand and Snow, tor 

Couturat (L.), Lydia G. Robinson, Algebra of Logic, 504 

Cowie (F. W.), Transportation in Canada, and Montreal 
Harbour, 303 

Crawford (Mr.) and Miss Levy. Orbit of Comet 1914b, 384 

Crawley (A. E.), Supernatural Religion, E. McClure, Canon 
ie Wewisse a) P2) Macks, P. S. P. Handcock, A. 


Upward, 81; the Golden Bough completed, Prof. J. G. | 


Frazer, 157; Marriage Ceremonies in Morocco, Prof. E. 
Westermarck, 319; Interpretations and Forecasts, 401 ; 
Precursors of Christianity (Golden Bough), Prof. J. G. 
Frazer, 476 

Crawley (C. W. S.) and Dr. S. W. J. Smith, Experiments 
with Incandescent Lamp, 367 

Creedy (F.), Single-phase Commutator Motors, 54 

Cronshaw (H. B.), Epidote from Sudan, 472 

Crookes (Sir Wm.), Spectrum of Silicon, 521, 654 

Cropper (J. W.) and A. H. Drew, Induced Cell-reproduction 
in Amoebe, 611 

Crossland (Cyril), Desert and Water Gardens of the Red 
Sea, 163 

Cuming (E. D.),-Bodley Head Natural History, 353 

Cumming (Dr. A. C.) and Dr. S. A. Kay, Text-book of 
Quantitative Chemical Analysis, 184 

Cummings (B. F.), Scent Organs in Trichoptera, 367 

Cunningham (E.), Principle of Relativity, 378, 408; 454 

Cunnington (Dr. W. A.), Tanganyika Parasitic Copepoda, 


I 
Cues (Maurice), Deviation of Atomic Weights obtained 
with Lead, 421 
Curtis (Maynie R.), Double Yolk Eggs, 538 
Curtis (W. E.), Hydrogen Lines and Series Constant, 523 
Czapek (Prof. F.), Biochemie der Pflanzen, 451 
Czaplicka (Miss M. A.), Expedition to Yenesei Tribes, 589 


Daly (Prof. R. A.), Igneous Rocks and their Origin, 449 

Darbishire (A. D.) and M. W. Gray, Inheritance of 
Characters of Wool of Sheep, 420 

Darling (C. R.), Cellular Structure of Emulsions, 376; 
Inorganic “ Feeding,” 481 

Darwin (Sir F.), Transpiration in Plants, 492 

Darwin (H.), Migration Routes, 4o1 

Davey (W. P.), X-Rays, 223 

Davison (Dr. C.), the Sicilian Earthquake of May 8, 272; 
on Rev. Osmond Fisher, 535 

Dawson (Dr. W. B.), Currents in Gulf of St. Lawrence, 


I 

Day ie. L.) and others, Methods of Determining Densities 
of Minerals at High Temperatures, 413 

Deecke (W.), European Sedimentary Rocks, 276 

Deeley (R. M.), Weather Forecasting, 58; Weather Fore- 
casts in England, 402 

Deerr (N.), Multiple Effect Evaporation, 415 

Defant (Dr. A.), Birds and Weather, 457 ; 

Delassus (Prof. E.), la Dynamique des Systémes matériels, 


28 

Delepine (Prof.) and Dr. A. Greenwood, Action of Metals 
upon Bacteria, 517 

Delorme (General Edmond), Blessures de Guerre, 665 

Denning (W. F.), April Meteors, 172, 223; May Meteors, 
250; Telescopic Meteors, 303; Fireballs, 384; Meteors 
on June 25-26, 464; June Meteors, 480; Meteoric 
Streaks, 531; the Perseids, 622 

Dennis (T.), Algebra for Preparatory Schools, 504 

Desch (Dr. C. H.), Quincke’s Hypothesis, 95; Cellular 
Structure of Emulsions, 213; Constitution of Alloys, 
Dr. W. Guertler, 605 ; Solidification of Metals: Report, 
67 

Destatteee (H.), Solar Electrical Field, 260; (and A. 
Perot), Design of Electromagnet to give Magnetic 
Field of 100,000 gauss, 102; (and V. Burson), Swan 
Band Spectrum in Magnetic Field, 472 

D’Esterre (C. R.), Nova No. 2, Persei, 331 

Dewey (H.), Geology of North Cornwall, 592 

Dines (W. H.), Laws of Atmospheric Movements, 280; 
Temperature-difference between Up and Down Traces, 
320; Calibration of Balloon Instruments and Reading 
of Traces, 588 : f 

Dixon (Prof. H. B.) and others, Photographic Analysis of 
Explosion Flames traversing a Magnetic Field, 445 

Dobson (G. M.), Pilot Balloon Ascents at Upavon, 24: 
Atmospheric Electricity at Kew, 524; at Kew and 
Eskdalemuir, 585 

Doliarius (Dr.), Perpetual Calendar, 172 

Doncaster (Dr. L.), Chromosomes, Heredity, and Sex, 175 

Douglass (Dr. A. E.), Rainfall estimated by Tree Growth, 


539 


Vill 


Dreaper (W. P.), Formation of Mineral Deposits, 50; the 
Research Chemist and Textile Industry, 71 

Drew (G. H.), Denitrifying Bacteria in Tropical Seas, 465 

Drude (Dr. O.), die Oekologie der Pflanzen, 425 

Drugman (Dr. J.), Childrenite from Cornwall, 471 

Drury (A. N.), the Microchemical Test for Oxygen Place 
in Tissues, 

Duane (Prof. W.), Highly Radio-active Solutions, 493 

Duff (Miss D.), Trematode found in Canadian Beaver, 655 

Duhem (Prof. P.), le Systeme du Monde: Histoire de 
Platon a Copernic, 317 

Dunoyer (L.) and Prof. R. W. Wood, Resonance of 
Sodium, 207, Correction, 289 

Dupuy (E. L.), Magnetism of Alloys, 103 

Durell (C. V.), Test Papers in Elementary Algebra, 504 

Dyer (Dr. B.) and F. W. E. Shrivell, Manuring of Market 
Gardens, 553 

Dyson (Dr. F. W.), Stars around North Pole, 574, 599 


Eastman (Prof. C. R.), Text-book of Paleontology, adapted 
from Prof. von Zittel’s, 661 

Eccles (Dr. W.), Transmission of Electric Waves round the 
Bend of the Earth, 321, 351 

Edridge-Green (Dr. F. W.), an Optical Illusion, 214 

Education Board : Circular on Geometry, 686 

Edwardes-Ker (D. R.), Course of Practical Work in 
Chemistry of the Garden, 161 

Edwards and Carpenter (Profs.), Hardening of Steel, 626 

Egerton (F. C. C.), Future of Education, 583 

Ehrenhaft (F.), Minimum Quantities of Electricity, 207 

Engler (Prof. A.), Celebration of Seventieth Birthday of, 140 

Erskine-Murray (Dr. J.), Handbook of Wireless Tele- 
graphy, 30 

Estreicher (Prof. Tad), First Description of a Kangaroo, 60 

Eucken (A.), die Theorie der Strahlung und der Quanten, 
263 

Evans (Dr. J. W.), Mr. Roosevelt in Brazil, 432 

Evans (Dr. R. C. T.), the “Green Ray” at Sunset, 664 

Eve (Prof. A. S.), Unidirectional Currents within Carbon 
Filament Lamp, 32 

Everest (A. E.), Production of Anthocyanins, 127 

Evershed (J.), Displacement of Lines in Solar Spectrum, 
69; Pressure in the Reversing Layer of the Sun, 224 


Fairgrieve (J.), Rainfall on June 14, 454 

Fajan (K.), Different Atomic Weights of Lead, 383 

Fantham (Dr. L.) and Dr. Annie Porter, Minute Animal 
Parasites, 501 

Farlow (Prof. W. G.), Vegetation of Sargasso Sea, 493 

Farren (G. P.), Plankton off Clare Island, 446 

Fawcett (W.), the Banana, 608 

Faye-Hansen (K. M.) and J. S. Peck, 222 

Fearnsides (Prof. W. G.), Analogies between Igneous Rocks 
and Metals, 44 

Fenton (H. J. H.), Diformdiol-peroxide, 393 

Fermor (Dr. L. L.). Ice Crystals from Switzerland, 472; 
Hematite from Kallidongri, 472 

Fewkes (Dr. J. W.), Pueblos of New Mexico, 537-> Ieost 
Culture in Arizona, 570 

Firth (C. M.), Archzological Survey of Nubia, 85 

Fisher (E.), Synthesis of a Glucosidic Compound of Sugar 
and Purine, 68 

Fisher (Rev. O.), Origin of the Moon 
Contraction, 213; [Obituary], <3< 

Fitz-Patrick (J.), Exercices d’Arithmétique, 2 

Fleming (Prof. J. A.), Progress in Wireless Telephony, 110; 
Improvements in Long-distance Telephony, 150, 360-1; 
Atmospheric Refraction and Bending of Electromagnetic 
Waves round the Earth, 523 

- Foot (Miss K.) and E. C. Strobell, Crossing Euschistus re 
Inheritance of a Male Character, 76 

eg (A. C.), Tree Growth: Clare Island Survey, 260, 

20 

Forcrand (R. de), Potassium Trioxide, 181 

Ford (Prof. W. B.) and C. Ammerman, Plane Geometry, 
159 

Fortineau (C.), Treatment of Anthrax, 181 

Fosse (R.), Urea, 207 { 

Foster (Wolcott C.), Wooden Trestle Bridges and _ their 
Concrete Substitutes, 267 


and the Earth’s 


Lndex 


Nature, 
October 1, 1914 


Fournier d’Albe (E. E.), a Type-reading Optophone for the 
Blind, 394 } 
Fowler (Prof. A.), Series Lines in Spark Spectra: Bakerian 
Lecture, 145 

Fowler (Dr. W. W.) and H. St. J. Donisthorpe, Coleoptera 
of the British Islands, 343 

Franklin (W. S.), “Bill’s School and Mine,” 30 

Frazer (Prof. J. G.), the Golden Bough (conclusion) : Balder 
the Beautiful, 157; the Golden Bough: Adonis, Attis, 
Osiris, 476; Testimonial to, 312 

French Hydraulic Service, Oscillations of Glaciers, 534 

Frenkel (Elsa), Sun-spots: Short-period Variations, 17 

Frere (Catherine F.), a Proper Newe Booke of Cookerye, 53 

Freund (Ida), [Obituary], 327 

Freytag (G.), Science Books for Austrian Schools, 373 

Friedlander, Tyrian Purple, 569 

Frouin (A.) and D. Roudsky, Thorium Sulphate for Treat- 
ing Cholera, 657 

Fry (M. W. J.), Extension of Number by Symbols, 24 

Fuji (K.) and T. Mizoguchi, Melting Range of Temperature 
of Lava, 515 

Fulton (Dr. T. W.), Plaice, 362 


Galitzin (Prince B.), Damped Seismographs, 349 

Galli (Prof. Ig.), Globular Lightning, 383 

Galton (F.), Hereditary Genius, 453 

Gardiner (Miss L.), Birds’ Plumage Bill, 41 

Gardner (W. M.), the Art of “Dying,” 343 

Gask (Lilian), In the “Once upon a Time,” 353 

Gaskell (Dr. J. F.), Chromaffine System of Annelids, 49 

Gates (Dr. R. R.) and Miss N. Thomas, Cytological Study 
of CGEnothera, 175 

Gaudefroy (C.), Dehydration of Gypsum, 499 

Gault (H.), Preparation of Tricarballylic Acid, 51 

Gautier (A.) and P. Clausmann, Fluorine in Freshwater, 
368 

Geikie (Sir A.), on Sir John Murray, 88 

George (Rt. Hon. D. Lloyd), Education and Science Grants, 


259 
Getman (Prof. F. H.), Outlines of Theoretical Chemistry, 


555 

Gibbs (Miss Lilian S.), Flora of Mt. Kinabulu, N. Borneo, 
620 

Gibson (Prof. G. A.), Napier and Logarithms, 222 

Gilbert Centenary, 164 

Gilbert (Leo), das Relativitatsprinzip : Satyren, 56 

Gilder (R. F.), Prehistoric Remains in Nebraska, 669 

Gildersleeves (E. W.), Simple Method of Aerating Marine 
and other Aquaria, 162 

Gill (Sir David), G. Forbes on, 622 

Gill (Rev. H. V.), Distribution of Earthquakes, 276 

Giltay (J. W.), Optical Illusion, 189 

Girard (P.), Semipermeability of Cells to Ions, 657 

Glazebrook (Dr. R. T.), Development of the Aeroplane, 388 

Gold (E.), Reduction of Barometer Readings in Absolute 
Units, 341; Measurements of Solar Radiation, Dr. 
Gorczynski, 362; International Kite and Balloon 
Ascents, 588 

Goldschmidt (Prof. R.), Einfithrung in die Vererbungs- 
wissenschaft, 581 

Goldstein (Dr. E.), Light Effects with Canal Rays, 539 

Goodacre (H. H.) and others, Bell’s Outdoor and Indoor 
Experimental Arithmetic, 236, 662 

Gorezynski (Dr. L.), Solar Radiation, 362 

Gorgas (Surgeon-General), Sanitary Work in Panama, 91 

Goring (Dr. C.), the English Convict, 86 

Gouy (G.), Action of Gravity on Gaseous Mixtures, 102, 199 

Graham-Smith (Dr. G. S.), Flies and Disease, 653 

Gramont (A. de), Ultimate Spectrum Lines of Elements, 
524 

Granjon (R.) and P. Rosemberg, Practical Manual of 
Autogenous Welding, 161 

Grant (Kerr), Cellular Structure of Emulsions, 162 

Grassi (Dr. B.), Eels, 164 

Gray (H.), Superheated Steam for Ships, 148 

Gray (J.), Permeability of Echinoderm Eggs, 8 

Gray (R. Kaye), [Obituary], 246 

Green (C. E.), the Cancer Problem, 134 

Green (Dr. J. R.), [Obituary], 379 

Gregory (Prof. J. W.), Evolution of Essex River-system, 
322: Structure of Carlisle-Solway Basin, 288 


Nature, 
October 1, 1914 


Lndex 


ix 


Gregory (Prof. R. A.), Primary Education and Beyond, 173 

Gregory (R. P.), Genetics of Tetraploid Plants in Primula 
sinensis, 2 

Griffith (Rev. 
Avebury, 57 

Griffiths (Dr. E. H., and Ezer), Capacity for Heat of 
Metals at Low Temperatures, 523 

Grignard (V.) and C. Courtot, Derivatives of Cyclo- 
pentadiene and its Dimer, 446 

Grove (W. B.), British Rust Fungi, 264 

Grummitt (W. C.) and Dr. H. G. A. Hickling, Structure 
of Coal, 288 

Grunmach (Prof. L.), Seismometry and Engineering, 627 

Guertler (Dr. W.), Metallographie: Band i., die Konstitu- 
tion, 605 

Guichard (M.), Atomic Weight of Iodine, 552 

Guillaume (C. E.), Metric System, 483 

Gully (Dr.), Acidity in Soils, 598 

Gunn (J. A.), Action of Drugs on isolated Human Uterus, 


259 
Giinther (Prof. S.), Biicher der Naturwissenschaft, 373 
Gurney (J. H.), the Gannet, 113 
Guthnick (Dr. P.), Variable Satellites of Jupiter 
Saturn, 489 
Gutton (C.), Specific Inductive Capacity of Liquids, 51 
Gwyther (R. F.), Specification of Elements of Stress, 77, 
128 


and 


Haas-Lorentz (Dr. G. L. de), die Brownsche Bewegung, 502 

Haberlandt (Prof. G.), M. Drummond, Physiological Plant 
Anatomy, 477 

Haddon (Dr. A. C.), Stone Technique of the Maori, E. 
Best, 298; on the Urgent Need for Anthropological 
Investigation, Dr. Rivers, Prof. Jenks, and Mr. 
Morley, 407; Lost Culture in Arizona, Dr. Fewkes, 


579 

Haig (Dr. H. A.), Anatomy of a Foetal Sea Leopard, 127 

Haigh (W. D.), Carboniferous Volcanoes of Philipstown, 
King’s Co., 260 

Haldane (Lord), Hartley University, 444 

Hale (Prof. G. E.), Mount Wilson Solar Observatory, 201 

Hall (Miss E. H.), the Iron Age in Crete, 537 

Hall (Capt. G. L.), Elementary Theory of Alternate 

Current Working, 477 

(Kate M.), Natural History of Common British 

Animals: Vertebrates, 450 

Halle (T. G.), Geology of the Falkland Isles, 170 

Haller (Albin) and others, Syntheses by Sodium Amide, 
103, 128, 232, 314, 420, 446; (Life of Albin Haller, by 
E. Lebon), 161 

Hamilton-Browne (Col. G.), Camp Fire Yarns, 28 

Hampson (Sir G. F.), Catalogue of Lepidoptera Phalzenz 
in the British Museum, 343 

Hamy (M.), Site for Mont Blanc Observatory, 288; (and 
M. Millochau), Effect of Voltage on Arc with Alter- 
nating Current, 232 

Handcock (P. S. P.), Latest Light on Bible Lands, 81 

Hann (Dr. J. v.), Panama Meteorology, 487; Climatic 
Factors, 621 

Hardcastle (Capt. J. H.), Aristotle’s Physics, 428 

Harper (W. E.), Large Canadian Reflector, 671 

Harrison (Dr. E. P.), Gore Effect in Iron, 473 

Harrison (Prof. Jos.) and G. A. Baxandall, 
Geometry and Graphics, 2 

Hart (W. E.), the Peregrine Falcon at the Eyrie, 633 

Hartley (H.), Electrical Condition of a Gold Surface during 

Absorption and Combustion of Gases, 75 

Hartley (Dr. P.), Imperial Bacteriological 
Muktesar, Major Holmes, 137 

Hartness (J.), the Human Factor in Works Management, 
609 

Hatch (Dr. F. H.), Theories of Ore-genesis : Address, 176 

Hawkes (O. A. M.), Relative Lengths of Human Toes, 435 

Heape (W.), Sex Antagonism, 345 

Heath (Prof. R. S.), Text-book of Elementary Statics, 236 

Heatherley (F.), the Peregrine Falcon at the Eyrie, 585, 633 

Heaton’s Annual, 30 

Heaviside (O.), Long-distance Telephony: Pioneer Work 
of, 360-1 

Hector (Dr. C. M.), New Zealand Solar Observatory, 415 


Hall 


Practical 


Laboratory, 


9 
J.), Prehistoric Times, Rt. Hon. Lord | 


Heincke (Prof.), Report on Plaice, 201 

Hellmann (Prof. G.), Weather Superstitions, 176; Publica- 
tions of the Royal Prussian Meteorological Institute, 
374; Motion of Air in Lowest Strata, 414 

| Henri (Mme. V.), Metabiotic Action of Ultra-violet Rays, 
181, 657; Mutations of Bacteria, 193 

Henri (V.), Dispersion of Ultra-violet Rays, 472; (and 
Mme. V. Henri), Metabiotic Action of Ultra-violet 
Rays, 657 

Hepworth (Commander M. W. C.), the Gulf Stream, 441; 
Gulf Weed, 499 

Herbert (Agnes), the Moose, 353 

Hersam (Prof. E. A.), Flow of Sand, 277 

Hertwig (O.) and others, Morphologie und Entwicklungs- 
geschichte, 106 

Hewitt (Dr. C. G.), Feeding Habits of Stable-fly, 655 

Hewlett (Prof. R. T.), Technical Mycology, Dr. Kossowicz, 
Prof. Henneberg and Dr. Bode, 2; Mutations of 
Bacteria, Madame V. Henri, 193 ; Improvements in the 
Binocular Microscope, 217; Legislation and the Milk 
Supply, 403 

Hicks (Prof. W. M.), Effect of the Magneton in Scattering 
a Rays, 340 

Hill (Prof. M. J. M.), Theory of Proportion, 662 

Hill (Dr. R. A. P.), the British Revolution, 427 

Hinneberg (P.) and others, Kultur der Gegenwart, 423 

Hirshfeld (Prof. C. F.) and T. C. Ulbricht, Farm Gas 
Engines, 265 

Hirst (S.), Arachnida and Myriopoda from Dutch New 
Guinea, 260 

Hjort (Dr. Johan), Yield of Sea 
Fisheries, 672 

Hobbs (Prof. W. H.), Simple Determination of Common 
Minerals, 591 

Hogg (H. R.), Spider Collection, 50 

Holden (Prof. E. S.), [Obituary], 89 

Holland (Sir T. H.), Indian Geological Terminology, 359 

Hollemann (Prof. A. F.), Dr. A. J. Waller, Dr. Mott, 
Text-book of Organic Chemistry, 57; (Dr. A. J. 
Walker), Laboratory Manual of Organic Chemistry for 
Beginners, 108 

Hdéller (K.) and G. Ulmer, Naturwissenschaftliche Biblio- 
thek fiir Jugend und Vollx, 373 

Hollis (H. P.), List of Large Telescopes, 437 © E 

Holmes (Dr. A.), Lead and the Final Product of. Thorium, 
109 

Holmes (Major J. D. E.), Imperial Bacteriological Labora- 
tory, Muktesar, 137 

Holst (Dr. N. O.), Subsidence in the Ice Age, 621 

Holt (Dr. A.), Solution of Hydrogen by Palladium, 76 f 

Holtby (J. R. D.), Ancient Human Bones from Dublin, 


Fluctuations in the 


31 7 
Hondas (Prof. K.), New Theory of Magnetism, 593 . 
Honigschmid (O.) and Mlle. St. Horovitz, Atomic Weight 
of Lead from Pitchblende, 446 
Hood (J.), [Death of], 589 
Hope Reports, 10 i 
Hopkinson (J.), Local Natural History Societies, 596 
Hopwood (F. L.), Unidirectional Currents in Carbon 
Lamp, 84 
Hornell (J.), Trawling Ground on Tanjore Coast, 567 
Horton (Dr.), Tonisation of Substances heated on a Nernst 
Filament, 155 3) 
Horwood (A. R.), Story of Plant Life in the British Isles, 


2 

Howe (Dr. C.C.), Durch Kénig Tschulalongkorns Reich, 
26 

Housed (C.), les Zoocécidies des Plantes d’Europe, 187 

Housden (C. E.), the Riddle of Mars the Planet, 294 

Houston (Dr. A. C.), Studies in Water Supply, 133 

Houstoun (Dr. R. A.), Dispersion by a Prism, 76 

Howarth (E.), Museums and Schools, 625 

Hubrecht (J. B.), Solar Rotation, 77 

Hughes (T. M. P.), a Triangle that gives the Area and 
Circumference of any Circle, and the Diameter of a 
Circle equal in Area to any given Square, 110 

Hunter (J. de G.), Atmospheric Refraction and Geodesy, 42 

Huntington (Prof. E.) and others, Climatic Factor in Arid 
America, 617 

Hutchin (H. W.), Assay of Tin Ores, 50 

Huxley (Mrs.), [Death], 140 


x Index 


Iddings (J. P.), Igneous Rocks, 183 ; 

Illing (V. C.), Paradoxidian Fauna of Stockingford Shales, 
656 

Innes (R. T. A.), Triple Stellar System, 289 


Jacks (L. P.), All Men are Ghosts, 81 
Jackson (A. B.), Catalogue of Hardy Trees at Albury Park, 


23 

eee (ee H.), Astronomy : Popular Handbook, 211 

Jaeger (Prof. F.), German East Africa, 414 : 

Janet (Prof. P.), F. Suchting, Allgemeine Elektrotechnik, 54 

Jauncey (G. E. M.), X-Ray Spectra, 214 

Javillier (M.), Effect of Zinc on Aspergillus niger, 261 

Jeans (J. H.), Potential of Ellipsoidal Bodies and Figures 
of Equilibrium of Rotating Liquid, 522; Report on 
Radiation and Quantum Theory, 593 

Jégou (P.), Arrangement for Studying Strength of Wireless 
Oscillations, 446 

Jenkinson (Dr. J. W.), Centrifuged Egg of Frog, 359 

Jenks (Prof. A. E.), Anthropology, 407 

Jevons (Winefrid), Schools and Employers in United States, 
62 

eee (Prof. W.), Elemente der Exakten Erblichkeits- 
lehre mit Grundziigen Biologischen Variationsstatistil, 
581 

Johnson (Dr. G. L.), Photography in Colours, 374 

Johnson (S. W.), From the Letter-files of, 133 

Johnson (Prof. T.), Vitamines of Food, 41 

Johnston (Sir H. H.), Horse-shoe Arch, 66; Ethnology of 
Africa, 274; the Plumage Bill, 350; Destruction of 
Wild Peafowl in India, 559 

Jolly (Dr. W. A.), Electrical Discharge of Narcine, 577 

Joly (Prof. John), Local Application of Radium in Thera- 
peutics, 181 

Jones (H. C.), New Era in Chemistry, 555 

Jordan (D. S.), S. Tanaka, and J. O. Snyder, Catalogue 
of Fishes of Japan, 225 

Jordan (F. W.), New: Type of Thermogalvanometer, 231 

Jordan (Prof. H. E.), Mammalian Spermatogenesis, 466 

Jordan (Dr. W. L.), Figure of the Earth, 121 

Jost (Dr. L.), R. J. H. Gibson, Plant Physiology, 237, 513 

Jourdain (Rev F. C. R.) and C. Borrer, Erythrism in 
British Eggs, 43a 

Judd (Prof. J. W.), Alexander Agassiz and Funafuti 
Boring, 31, 135: Geology of Rockall, 154; on Prof. 
Eduard Suess, 245 

Jukes-Browne (Alfred J.), the Devonian of Maryland, 386; 
[Obituary], 667. - 

Julian (H. Forbes), [Memorial to], 14 

Jungfleisch (E.) and P. Landrieu, Acid Salts of Dibasic 
Acids, 314 

Junk’s Natur-Fiihrer : die Riviera, 580 


Kalandyk (S. J.), Conductivity of Salt Vapours, 523 
Kammerer (Dr. P.), Ursprung der Geschlechtsunterschiede, 


345 

Kayem (Dia iGe We C)) ande Wak Higgins, Emission of 
Electricity at High Temperatures, 189, 340, 561 

Keen (B. A.), Pheriomena of Clay Suspensions, 321 

Keith (Prof. A.), Anthropological Study of Shakespeare 
and Burns, 66 : 

Kellicott (Prof. W. E.), Text-book of General Embryology, 
106; Outlines of Chordate Development, 295 i 

Kellogg (Prof. V. L.), Lice on Mammals, 413 

Kent (W.), Investigating an Industry, 632 

Kermode (P. M. C.) and Prof. “Herdman, 
Antiquities, 478 

‘Kerschensteiner (Dr.), C. K. 
Nation, 505 

Kesteven (L.), Venom of Fish Notesthes robusta, 473 

Kew (H. W.), Nests of Pseudoscorpiones, so 

Kidd (F.), Influence of Carbon Dioxide on Seeds, 49, 313 

King (Prof. L. V.), Rayleigh’s Law of Extinction and the 
Quantum Hynothesis, 557 

Kingon (Rev. J. R. L.), Native Progress in S. Africa, 624 

Kinne (Prof. Helen) and Anna M. Cooley, Foods and 
Household Management, 83 

Kinoshita (K.). Japanese Chrysogorgoide, 654 

Klein (Prof. F.) and others, die Mathematischen Wissen- 


Manks 


Ogden, Schools and the 


Nature, 
October 1, 1914 


schaften, 423; (Dr. G. C. Morrice), Icosahedron and 
Equations of the 5th Degree, 662 

Klemensiewicz (Z.), Electrochemical Properties of Radium-B 
and Thorium-B, 472 

Kloes (Prof. J. A. van der), Searle (A. B.), Manual for 
Masons, 530 

Klotz (Dr. O.), Unit of Acceleration, 611 : 

Knecht (Prof. E.) and Miss Eva Hibbert, 1-Pimaric Acid 
from French Rosin, 127 

Knott (Dr. C. G.), Changes of Electrical Resistance accom- . 
panying Magnetisation in Iron, 420; Napier Tercen- 
tenary, 516, 572 

Kobold (Prof. H.), Comet 1914a (Kritzinger), 223; Orbit 
of Comet 1914c (Neujmin), 515 

Koch (Dr. P. P.), Registering Microphotometer, 278 

Koehler (Prof. R.), Echinoderma of the British Museum, 


2 
etieur (G.), Conspectus Rosaceanum Japocinarum, 654 
Koketsu (R.), Latex-containing Tissues of Japanese Plants, 

54 
Kolkwitz (R.), Pflanzenphysiologie, 212 
Koriba (K.), Twisting in Flower-spike of Orchid Genus 

Spiranthes, 654 
Korteweg (Prof. D. J.), Circulatory Movement in Liquids, 


584 


Kossowicz (Dr. <A.), Mykologie der Gebrauchs- und 
Abwasser, 2 : 
Kowalski (J. de), Explosive Phenomenon in Rarefied 


Nitrogen, 51; Different Spectra of Mercury, Cadmium, 
and Zinc, 103 
Krasinska (Miss Sophie), Histology of Medusze, 486 
Kronecker (Prof. Hugo), [Obituary], 410 
Kunz (Dr. G. F.), the Curious Lore of Precious Stones, 105 
Kistner (Prof.), Stellar Radial Velocities, 623 
Kyle (Dr.), Flat Fish, 201 


Lahy (J. M.), Blood Pressure in Physical and in Psychical 
Fatigue, 103, 473 

Lallemand (C.), the Litre, 314 

Lamb (Prof. H.), Dynamics, 662 

Lambe (L. M.), Skull of New Dinosaur, 332 

Lampland (C. O.), Positions of Lowell Variable Stars and 
Asteroids, 415 

Lamplough (F. E. E.) and J. T. Scott, Eutectic Growth, 


420 

Lanfer (B.), Turquoise in the East, 537 

Langley Flying Machine, 564 

Lankester (Sir E. Ray), Nature Reserves, 33 

Lankshear (F. R.), Chemical Significance of Absorption 
Spectra, 314 

Larmor (Sir Joseph), Cellular Structure of Emulsions, 213; 
awarded de Morgan Medal, 433; (and J. S. B 
Larmor), Protection from Lightning, 287 

Lau (H. E.), Case for a Planet beyond Neptune, 437 

Laveran (A.), Kala-azar, 207 

Lawes and Gilbert Centenary, 164 

Lawrence (Sir J. J. T.), Orchid Collection, 244 

Lawson (R. W.), Thorium Lead—an Unstable Product, 479 

Le Morvan (C.), Photographic Chart of the Moon, 304 

Le Rolland (P.), Ratio of Times of Pendulums, 551 

Lea (Einar), Eel Larvze collected by the Michael Sars, 164 

Leathem (J. G.), Doublet Distributions in Potential Theory, 


314 

Lebeau (P.), Hvdrogenations by Sodammonium, 525 

Lebon (E.), Savants du Jour: Albin Haller, 161 

Lebour (Miss M. V.) and T. H. Taylor, Ways of Collecting 
Eelworms, 242 

Leduc (A.), Density of Neon, 128 

Lee (O. J.), Stars with variable Radial Velocities, 17 

Lees (Prof. C. H.), Method of Least Squares and Fourier’s 
Method, 471 

Legge (J. G.), “The Thinking Hand,” 633 

Lehmann (Inna), Stellar Spectra, 331 

Leiper (Dr. R. T.) and Surgeon E. L. Atkinson, Antarctic 
Helminthes, 23 ‘ 

Lematte (L.), Estimation of Mono-amino Acids in Blood, 


318 
Lett (Rev. Canon), Census Catalogue of Mosses of Ireland, 
260 


Nature, 
October 1, 1914 


Lndex x1 


Letts (Prof. E. A.), Some Fundamental Problems in 
Chemistry—Old and New, 291 

Levick (Surgeon G. M.), Adélie Penguins, 314, 612 

Levy (Miss) and Mr. Crawford, Elements of Comet 1914) 
(Zlatinsky), 384 

Levy (Dr. Oscar), Elementares Praktikum der Entwiclkl- 
ungsgeschichte der Wirbeltiere, 106 

Lewis (Canon H.), Modern Rationalism in its Biographies, 
8 


i F 

Lewis (Dr.), Heart Fibrillation, 595 

Lewis (R. C.), New Tapeworms from a Wallaby, 314 

Leyst (Dr. E.), Earth Magnetism, 539 

Lieben (Dr. A.), [Obituary], 534 

Liebwohl (F.), Tetraxonid Sponges of Japan, 654 

Lindemann (Dr. F. A.), Atomic Models, 277; Radio-Activity 
and Atomic Numbers, 584 

Linnaeus (Elisabeth), Flashing Flowers, 348 

Lippmann (G.), Photographic Method for 
Differences, 155 

Lister (Lord) [Memorials to], 13 

Little (A. D.), Industrial Research in America, 45 

Lloyd (Dorothy), Influence of Osmotic Pressure upon Re- 
generation of Gunda ulvae, 259 

Lo Bianco, Marine Sexual Activity, 499 

Lo Surdo (Signor), Electrical Analogy of Zeeman Effect, 
280 

Lock (Dr. R. H.), Rubber and Rubber Planting, 132 

Lockett (W. T.), Oxidation of Thiosulphate by Bacteria, 


Longitude 


127 
Lockyer (Dr. W. 

August 21, oe 
Lodge (Sir O. J.), on Prof. J. H. Poynting, F.R.S., 138 
Léhnis (Dr. F.), Landwirthschaftliche Balxteriologie, 605 
Lorentz (Dr. G. L. de Haas-), die Brownsche Bewegung, 


S.), Forthcoming Total Solar Eclipse, 


502 

Lorentz (Prof. H. A.) and others, Principle of Relativity, 
sli eee. 

Loria (Prof. G.), le Scienze Esatte nell’ Antica Grecia, 475 

Lotsy (Dr. J. P.), Origin of Species by Crossing, 23 

Loveday (A.), Keltie (J. S.), Dr. M. Epstein, Statesman’s 
Year-Book, 531 

Lowson’s Text-book of Botany: Indian Edition, M. Willis, 
237 

Lucian (Prof. H. A. Strong), the Syrian Goddess, 105 

Lumiére (A.) and J. Chevrotier, Cultures of Gonococcus, 


447 

Lunt (Dr. J.), Spectra of Meteorites, 624 

Lusk (H. H.), Social Welfare in New Zealand, 28 

Lydekker (R.), Malay Race of Indian Elephant, 102; 
Catalogue of Heads and Horns of Indian Big Game, 
343; Horns of the Okapi, 478; (and G. Blaine), Cata- 
logue of Ungulate Mammals in the British Museum, 
528 

ae (Prof. T.), an Extension of the Spectrum in the 
Extreme Ultra-Violet, 241 


McAdie (Prof. A.), New Units in Aerology, 58; Weather 
Forecasts, 83 

McCance (Mr.), Hardening of Steel, 626 

McClean (F.), Vertical Air Currents over the Nile, 4o1 

McClure (E.), Modern Substitutes for Traditional Chris- 
tianitv, 81 

MacDonald (Prof. T. S.). Man’s Mechanical Efficiency, 445 

Macdonald (Dr. W.), Makers of Modern Agriculture, 556 

McFarland (Prof. J.), Biology : General and Medical, 267 

McIndoo (Dr. N. F.), Smell in Hymenoptera, sar 

Macintire (Prof. H. J.), Mechanical Refrigeration, 609 

McIntosh (Dr. J.), Parenchymatous Syphilis and the Newer 
Remedies, 505 

Mackenzie (J.), Report on New Zealand Survey Opera- 
tions, 1aT2-13, 309 

Mackenzie (Dr. I. E.), 
Derivatives, 184 

M’Lachlan (N. W.), Practical Mathematics, 2 

McLean (R. C.), Amitosis in Water Plants, 24 

McLeish (J.), Mineral Production of Canada in 1911, 1912 
216 

McLennan (E.), Elevation of Harton Colliery, 507 

MacLeod (Prof.), Glvcogenic Function of Liver, 595 

McMillan (R.), Origin of the World, 320 


the Sugars and their Simple 


MacMunn (N.), Path to Freedom in the School, 659 

MecMurrich (Dr. J. P.), Pacific Salmon and Halibut, 124 

Macnab (Wm.), Explosives, 518 

Macnaughton-Jones (Dr. H.), Ambidexterity and Mental 
Culture, 162 

McRobert (Rachel W.), Acid Intrusions and Ash-necks near 
Melrose, 76 

M’Whan (Dr.), Axial Inclination of Curves of Thermo- 
electric Force, 127 

MacWilliam (Prof.), Causes of Death under Chloroform, 


595 

Madeley (C.), Municipal Museums: Address, 625 

Majid (Abdul), Phenomena of the Conscious and Uncon- 
scious, 428 

Majumdar (R. C.), Date of Chashtana, 657 

Mallock (A.), Waves in Sand and Snow, Dr. V. 
191; Weather Forecasts, 349 

Mann (L.), Old Carved Stone Balls, 359 

Manners-Smith (Lieut.-Col. J.), the Plumage Bill, 350 

Marage (M.), the Divining Rod and Water in Pipes, 128 

March (Dr.), Eugenics, 15 

Marconi (G.), Lecture in Rome, 37; Results with New 
Apparatus, 64 

Marks (E. O.), Mining Model, 50 

Marriott (Major R. A.), the Change in the Climate and 
its Cause, 108 

Marriott (W.), Thunderstorm of June 14 at Dulwich, 402 

Marsh (A. S.), Azolla in Britain, 24 

Marshall (Prof. a Sequence of Lavas at North Head, 
Dunedin, N.Z., 394 

Martin (Dr. C. i Lizard Venom, 123 

Martin (E. A.), Movements on Water Surfaces, 214 

Martin (W. F.) and C. H. Pierce, Water Resources of 
Hawaii, 71 

Martius (Prof. F.), Konstitution und Vererbung in ihren 
Beziehungen zur Pathologie, 606 

Martonne (Prof. E. de), Traité de Géographie Physique: 
Climat—Hydrographie—Relief du Sol—Biogéographie, 


Cornish, 


293 

Maspero (Sir Gaston), Elizabeth Lee, Egyptian Art, 210 

Massee (George and Ivy), Mildews, Rusts, and Smuts, 264 

Massol (L.), Snake Poisons, 181 

Masterman (Dr. A. T.), Salmon and Smelt, 486 

Mathews (Prof. G. B.), a Triangle that gives the Area 
and Circumference of any Circle, T. M. P. Hughes, 
110; Property of Chain Fractions, 136 

Mathews (G. M.), List of Birds of Australia, 585 

Matignon (Prof. C.), Utilisation of Distillery Vinasses, 540 

Matthews (Dr..J. M.), Textile Fibres, 211 

Maugham (R. C. F.), Wild Game in Zambezia, 665 

Maurer (Prof. E. R.), Technical Mechanics, Statics, and 
Dynamics, 609 

Maynard (G. D.), Pneumonia among Natives on the Rand, 
275 

Mawson (Sir Douglas), 
IQII-I4, 11, 466 

Maycock (W. P.), 
tions, 477 

Meek (C. F. U.), Spindle Length and Volume, 23 

Meldola (Prof. R.), Chemistry : Ancient and Modern, Prof. 
E. A. Letts, 291; Atomic Volume Curves of Elements, 


Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 


Electric Circuit Theory and Calcula- 


351 

Mellor (Dr. J. W.), Chemistry, “Roscoe and Schorlemmer,” 
Sir E. Thorpe, 27; American Research on Clays, 363 

Mennell (F. P.), Manual of Petrology, 82; Bornite 
Nodules in Shale from Mashonaland, 102 

Mercer (F.), the Arc as a Generator of High Frequency 
Oscillations, 524 

Mercer (H. N.), Ratio of Specific Heats of Air, Hydrogen, 
CLs, LOL 

Merton (T. R.), Attempts to produce Rare Gases by 
Electric Discharge, 522 

Michaelis (Prof. L.), Einfithrung in die Mathematik fiir 
Biologen und Chemiker, 159 

Mill (Dr. H. R.), Elementary Commercial Geography, 134; 
Realm of Nature, 450 

Milligan (F. M.). Cultivation of the Oil Palm, 608 

Millikan (Prof. R. A.), Quantum Theory and h, 493 

Millochau (G.), New Pyrometric Method, 551 

Mills (W. H.) and others. Resolution of an Acid, 420 


Milne (Prof. J.), Work of, 194 


Xil 


Milne (R. M.), Mathematical Papers for Royal Military 
Academy and College, 1905-13, 662 

Milne (Dr. W. P.), Higher Algebra, 159 

Minchin (Prof. G. M.) [Obituary), 115 

Minguin (J.) and R. Bloc, Influence of Solvents on Optical 
Activity, 289, 499 

Minkowski (H.), Relativity Theory, 532 

Mitchell (Dr. P. Chalmers), Childhood of Animals, 371 

Mitscherlich (Prof. E. A.), Preparation of Soil Extracts for 
Analysis, 598; Estimation of Soluble Soil Constituents, 


598 
Moir (J. Reid), Flints found in Ipswich, 169, 195; Ancient 
Female Skeleton found near Ipswich, 484 
Monaco (Prince of), Fishes’ Change of Depth at Night, 368 
Montague (P. D.), Fauna of Monte Bello Islands, 471 
Montel (A.), Elasticita e Resistenza dei Corpi Pietrosi, etc., 
609 
Montessori (Dr. Maria), Handbook, 659 
Moore (Prof. B.), Hydrogen-ion Concentration of Sea 
Water, 221 
Moore (C. B.), Aboriginal Sites in Louisiana and Arkansas, 


412 

Moore (Dr. N.), the Physician in English History, 239 

Morgan (J.), T. P. Marchant, and A. L. Wood, the 
“Conway” Manual, 660 

Morgan (J. D.), Instrument for recording Pressure Varia- 
tions in Tubes, 231 

Morgan (Prof. T. H.), Heredity and Sex, 345 

Moritz (Prof. R. E.), ‘Text-book on Spherical Trigo- 
nometry, 504; Plane and Spherical Trigonometry : 
with Five-place Tables, 504. 

Morley (Claude), Revision of the Ichneumonidae, 343, 529; 
Fauna of British India, 343 

Morley (S. G.), Anthropology, 407 

Morris (A.), Cambridge County Geographies: Merioneth- 
shire, 580 

Moss (Dr. C. E.), E. W. Hunnybun, Cambridge British 
Flora, 579 

Moulton (Lord), Napier’s Logarithms, 572 

Moureu (C.), Helium from Fire-damp, 50-51; Carbon 
Subnitride, 232 

Mummery (J. H.), Tubes in Marsupial Enamel, 126 

Murray (J. A.), Chemistry of Cattle Feeding and Dairying, 
553 

Murray (Sir John), [Obituary], 88; the Ocean, 585 

Murray (Miss M. A.), Killing the King in Ancient Egypt, 14 


Nansen (Dr. 
541 

Napier Tercentenary, 516, 572 

Nash (Dr. E. H. T.), School Lighting, 287 

Nashan (P.), Relation between Stellar Spectra, Colours, 
and Parallaxes, 145 

Naville (E.), Discovery at Abydos, 91 

Neville (H. A. D.), Digestibility of Pentosans, 154 

Newman (A. K.), Who are the Maoris? 318 : 

Newsham (J. C.), Horticultural Notebook, 557 

Newsholine (Dr.), Public Health, 18 : 

Newton (E. T.), Small Mammalian Remains from La 
Colombiere Rocl: Shelter, 100 

Nicholas (T. C.). Trilobite Fauna of St. Tudwal’s, 657 

Nicholson (C.), Respiratory Movements of Insects, 205 

Nicholson (Prof. J. W.), Constitution of Atoms and Mole- 
cules, 268 

Nicholson (Mr.), New Satellite to Jupiter? 623 

Nolan (J. J.), Electrification of Water by Splashing, 522 

Noyes (Anna G.), “How I kept my Baby Well,” 424 

Nutting (Prof. P. G.), Brightness of Images, 171; Seeing 
and Photographing Faint Objects, 480 


F.), North Atlantic Physical Investigations, 


Ogg (Prof. A.), Ideas in Physical Science: Address, 623 

Okada (Dr.) and others, Seiches, 222 

Ollivier (H.), Course de Physique Générale, 502 

Onnes (Prof. H. K.), Low Temperature Physical Reports, 
330; Ampére Molecular Current in a Conductor, 481, 


524 
Oppel (Prof. A.), Leitfaden fiir das Embryologische Prak- 
tikum, und Entwicklungslehre, 606 


Lndex 


Wature, 
LOctover 1, 1914 


Orton (J. H.), Ciliary Mechanisms on Gills, 124 

Osborn (Prof. H. F.), Permian S. African Reptiles, 514 

Osborne (Elizabeth A.), From the Letter-Files of S. W. 
Johnson, 133 

Oswald (Dr. F.), Geological Map of the Caucasus, 632 

Oxley (A. E.), Internal Molecular Field in Diamagnetics, 


154 

Owen (J. A.) and Prof. G. S. Boulger, The Country 
Month by Month, gor 

Owens (T. G.), Battleship Design, 148 


Palissy (Bernard), Scientific Work, 518 

Park (Prof. James), Text-book of Geology, 319 

Parker (W. H.), Correlation in Wheat, 154 

Parsons (Messrs.), Testing Turbo-dynamos, 488 

Patterson (Dr. T. S.), Optical Rotatory Power, 122 

Pearson (Dr. S. V.), State Provision of Sanatoriums, 30 

Peirce (Prof. B. O.), Demagnetisation Factors of Cylin- 
drical Rods in High Uniform Fields, 670 

Pelourde (Dr. F.), Paléontologie végétale : Cryptogames, 425 

Penny (F. W.), Vredefort Granite of Witwatersrand 
System, 341 

Peringuéy (L.), Bushmen Paintings from Rhodesia, 577 

Perkin (Dr. F. M.), Oil Resources, 360 

Perrier (A.), and H. K. Onnes, Magnetisation of Liquid 
Mixtures of Oxygen and Nitrogen, 155, 207 

Perrin (Mrs.), British Flowering Plants, 65 

Perrin (Prof. J.), Osmotic Compressibility of Emulsions, 
261; Fluids with Visible Molecules, 332 

Perry (Prof. J.), Retirement of, 339 

Petch (T.), Termites, 466 

Pethybridge (Dr. G. H.), Phytophthora and Potato 
Diseases, 226 (and P. A. Murphy), Common Potato 
Blight Fungus, 226 

Petrie (Prof. W. M. Flinders), Cellular Structure of Emul- 
sions, 269; Treasure of Lahun, 512 

Pettersson (Prof. O.), and Comm. C. F. Drechsel, North 
Atlantic Water, 541 

Pfund (Dr. A. H.), Measuring Star Light, 361 

Philip (A.), Reform of the Calendar, 187 

Phillips (C. E. S.), Modern Forms of Réntgen Ray Tubes, 
270; Action of Radium Rays on Bakelite, 295 

Phisalix (Mme. Marie), Vaccination: against Hydrophobia 
by Mucous Secretion and Snake Poison, 525; Vaccina- 
tion against Poison of Heloderma suspectum, 657 

Pickels (G. W.) and C. C. Wiley, Text-book on Railroad 
Surveying, 239 

Pickering (Prof. E. C.), Variable Star —41° 3911, 198; 
Opposition of Eros in 1914, 488 

Pickering (Prof. W. H.), Mars Reports, 94 

Picon (M.), Preparation of Butine, 261 

Piesse (E. L.), Royal Society of Tasmania, 333 

Pilgrim (Dr. G. E.), the Siwaliks, 382 

Plate (Prof. L.), Selektionsprinzip und Probleme der Art- 
bildung, 581 

Pocock (Constance I.), Highways and Byways of the 
Zoological Gardens, 353 

Pocock (R. 1.), Facial Vibrissee of Mammalia, 471 

Pocock (R. W.), Ligament Unaltered in Eocene Oysters, 


59 

Poincaré (H.), [Memorial Prize Fund], 116 

Pope (Prof. William J.), Opening Address to Section B, 
Chemistry, at the British Association, 645, 681; (and 
J. Read), Optically Active Substances of simple Mole- 
cular Constitution, 198, 419 

Poplavska (Madame H. 1J.), Botany of Lake Baikal, 93 

Porter (Dr. Annie), and Dr. Fantham, Minute Animal 
Parasites, sor . 

Postgate (Isa J.), Song and Wings: Bird Poems, 611 

Potts (F. A.), (1) Thompsonia, a Crustacean Parasite ; 
(2) Gall-forming Crab, 341 

Potts (Prof. G.), Rural Education, 623 

Poulton (Prof. E. B.), and others, Hope Reports, 10; 
Forged “Anticination” by Sleeper, 563 

Powell (J. H.), Hook-swinging in India, 668 

Poynting (Prof. J. H.), [Obituary], 138; [Memorial to], 550 

Praeger (R. L.), Weeds: Simple Lessons, 450 

Prain (D.), and staff, Index Kewensis, 425 


j Preston (H. B.), New Zonitidae from Equatorial Africa, 314 


Nature, 
October 1, 1914 


Pring (Dr. J. N.), Ozone in Upper Air, 22 

Prior (Dr. G. T.), Sulph-arsenite of Lead from Binnenthal, 
102; Phacolite and Gmelinite from Co. Antrim, 102 
Nickel in Meteorites, 472 

Protheroe (E.), Railways of the World, 501 

Pull (E.), Engineering Workshop Exercises, 108 

Pye-Smith (Dr. P. H.), [Obituary], 356 


’ 


Quincke (Prof.), Electric “Foam” Walls, 198 


Raman (C. V.), Dynamics of Vibration, 622 

Ramann (Prof.), Estimation of Soil Constituents, 598 

Ramart-Lucas (Mme.) and A. Haller, Syntheses by Sodium 
Amide, 314 

Ramaswami (M. S.), 
venulosum, 233 

Ramsay (L. N. G.), Annelids : Nereida, tor 

Ramsay (Sir Wm.), Portrait Presentation to, 91 

Rankin (I. G.), and W. F. D. Chambers, Dual Pheno- 
menon with X-Radiation, 402; Asymmetric Images 
with X-Radiation, 507, 611 

Rapson (Prof. E. J.), Ancient India, 664 

Ray (S. H.), Borneo Languages, 118 

Rayleigh (Lord), Movements of Floating Particles, 83; the 
Sand-Blast, 188 ; Fluid Motions, 364; Law of Extinc- 
tion, 57 

Regan (C. T.), Distribution of Antarctic Fishes, 260 

Reed (F. R. C.), Chinese Palzontology, 123 

Reichenbach (Dr. E. F. Stromer v.), Lehrbuch der Palao- 
zoologie, 266 

Reichenow (A.), die Vogel, 585 

Reichert (Prof. E. T.), Synthetic Power of Protoplasm, 491 

Reid (G. A.), Movements of Floating Particles, 60 

Reinhardt (Dr. L.), Vom Nebelfleck zum Menschen, 333 

Reinheimer (H.), Evolution by Cooperation, 55 

Rendle (Dr. A. B.), Catalogue of Plants collected by Mr. 
and Mrs. P. A. Talbot in Oban District, South Nigeria, 


Leaf Variation in Heptapleurum 


237 

Rengade (E.), Alkaline Sulphides, 155 

Rennie (Dr. J.), Cuckoos, 543 

Reuter (O. M.), A. u. M. Buch, Lebensgewohnheiten und 
Instinkte der Insekten, 214 

Reynolds (J. H.), Trade and Technical Education, J. C. 
Smail, 465 

Reynolds (Minnie J.), How Man Conquered Nature, 505 

Rhodes (Dr. W. G.), Primer on Alternating Currents, 54 

Richards (T. W.) and M. E. Lembert, Atomic Weight of 
Lead of Radio-active Origin, 603 

Richet (C.), Hereditary Tolerance of Toxins 
Organisms, 103; General Anaphylaxy : 
Poisoning and Chloroform, 314 

Rideal (Dr. S.), Paper Utensils, 518 

Ridgway (Prof. R:), Birds of N. America, 544 

Ridley (H. N.), Botany of the Utakwa Expedition, Dutch 
New Guinea, 340 

Rigg (T.), Soil and Crop in Biggleswade Area, 154 

Rijckevorsel (Dr. E. van), Secondary Maxims in Meteoro- 
logy, 197 

Rindell (Prof. A.), Estimations of K,O in Felspar, 598 

Rio (H. A. del) and others, Prehistoric Pictures, 9 

Ritchie (Prof. W.), Language Study, 624 

Rivers (Dr. W. H. R.), Needs of Anthropological Investi- 
gation, 407 

Roaf (H. E.), Muscular Contraction, 445 

Robb (A. A.), Principle of Relativity, 454 

Roberts-Austen (Sir W. C.), Addresses and Metallurgical 
Papers, 555 

Robertson (J. B.), Organic Matter in Oil-shales, 207 

Robertson (J. L.), Nature in Books, 453 

Robson (G. C.), Mollusca from Dutch New Guinea, ror; 
Lo Bianco’s Work on Marine Animals, 499 

Rohden (C. de), Rare Earths in Scheelites, 630 

Roosevelt, Theodore: Autobiography, Sir H. H. Johnston, 
79: Tourney down River Duvida, 432 

Roper (Miss I. M.), Flowers in Stone in Bristol Church 
Architecture, 19¢ 

Roscoe (H. F.} and C. Schorlemmer, Treatise on Chemistry, 
Dr. J. W. Mellor, 27 


in Lower 
pS ae 


Lndex 


Xxill 


Rose (Sir T. K.), Rapid Estimation of Zinc in Bronze, 171; 
On Roberts-Austen, 555 

Réseler (Prof. P.) and H. Lamprecht, 
Biologische Uebungen, 606 

Rosenhain (Dr. W.), Metallic Nomenclature, 95; Harden- 
ing of Steel, 626 

Ross (H. C.), and others, Induced Cell-reproduction and 
Cancer, 235 

Ross (Dr. Wm. H.), Nitrate Deposits, 651 

Ross (Sir Ronald), Encouraging Discovery: Address, 331 

Roule (L.), Dissolved Oxygen in Salmon Rivers, 315; 
Traité Raisonné de la Pisciculture, 631 

Routledge’s New Dictionary of English Language, 453 

Roux (W.), Terminologie der Entwickelungsmechanik, 131 

Royal Society, Catalogue of Scientific Papers, 1800-1900: 
Subject Index, Physics, 478; Catalogue of Scientific 
Papers, 4th Series (1884-1900), 633 

Royds (Dr. T.), Displacement of Lines in Solar Spectrum, 
464 

Rubinow (I. M.), Social Insurance, 294 

Rudge (W. A. D.), a Meteoric Iron, 22; 
during Raising of Dust Cloud, 22 

Ruge (A.), and others, B. Ethel Meyer, Encyclopedia of 
Philosophical Sciences, 55 

Runge (Prof. Carl), Graphical Methods, 159 

Russell (Dr. E. J.), From the Letter-Files of S. W. 
Johnson, Elizabeth A. Osborne, 133 

Russell (Prof. H. N.), Relations between the Spectra and 
other Characteristics of the Stars: Address, 227, 252, 
281 

Russells(@2 .); Plant Mite, 237 


Handbuch fiir 


Electrification 


Sabatier (Prof. Paul), Catalysis in Organic Chemistry : 
Lectures at King’s College, 306; (and M. Murat), Benz- 
hydrol, 24; Direct Hydrogenation by Catalysis, 103; 
(and L. Espil), Reduction of Nickel Protoxide, 102 ; 
Reduction of Oxides of Copper, ete., 551; (and A. 
Mailhe), Manganous Oxide for Catalysis of Acids, 128, 
171; Catalytic Decomposition of Benzoic Acid, 603 

Saleeby (Dr. C. W.), Progress of Eugenics, 527 

Sand (Dr. H. J. S.), Vacuum-light Lead Seals, for leading 
in Wires, 23 

Sargent (F. L.), Plants and their Uses, 372 

Saunders (J. T.), Ammonia Content of Small Ponds, 341 

Schiifer (Sir E. A.), The Prchibitior of Experiments on 
Dogs, 242 

Schidlof (A.), and A. Karpowicz, Evaporation of Globules 
of Mercury, 499 

Schilowsky (Dr.), Gyroscopic Two-wheeled Motor-car, 251 

Schlesinger (Dr. F.), Allegheny Stellar Observations, 488 ; 
Novel Combination of Instruments, 671 

Schmidt (Dr. Joh.), Growth of Hops, 199; Marine Investi- 
gations, 201 

Schmucker (Prof. S. C.), Meaning of Evolution, 581 

Scott (Dr. D. H.) and Prof. Jeffrey, Fossil Plants from 
Kentucky, 313 

Scott (Sir Percy), Importance of Submarines, 415 

Scott (Capt. R. F.), [Memorial to], 618 

Scott (Prof. W. B.), History of Land Mammals in W. 
Hemisphere, 553 

Scrivenor (J. B.), Topaz Rocks of Gunong Bakau, 232 

Seager (Prof. H. R.), Principles of Economics, 632 

Geaeie (A. B.), Cement, Concrete, and Bricks, 265 

Secchi, [Tower Telescope in Memory of], 121 

Sedgwick (S. N.), Holiday Nature- book, 585 

Seligmann and S. G. Shattock, Seasonal Assumption of 
“Eclipse” Plumage in Mallard, 23 

Sellers (Dr. A.). Blood Changes in Lead Workers, 517 

Seton (E. T.), Trail of the Sandhill Stag, 665 

Seward (Prof. A. C.), Climate tested by Fossil Plants, 102 

Seymour (Prof. H. J.), Wicklow Lakes, 577 

Shann (E. W.), Lateral Muscle of Teleostei, 

Sharp (H.), Education in India, 200 

Shastri (S. Pt. B. N.), Stone Inscription in Sanskrit dated 
1086 A.D., 658 

Shaw (D. M.), Man’s Chin: a Dynamical Basis, 

Shaw (Dr. W. N.), Pilot Balloon Soundings : 
23: Atmospheric Movements: Laws. 
Forecasts in England, 375 

Shawcross (H. D.), Nature and the Idealist, 


232 


Sep anal 
Interpretation, 
280: Weather 


187 


XIV Ludex 


Nature, 
October 1, 1914 


Shelford (Dr. V. E.), Animal Communities in Temperate 
America, 665 

Shotwell (Prof. J. T.), Religious Revolution of To-day, 5 

Shrimpton (G.), Atomic Weight of Copper by Electrolysis, 


471 

apes (Dr. F. T.), Nitrogen Compounds of Rain and Snow, 
55 

Sieberg (A.), Einfiihrung in die Erdbeben- und Vulkan- 

kunde Siiditaliens, 580 

Siemens (A.), Metric System, 390 

Siemens Brothers Dynamo Works, 
Mining, 

Sill (Dr. E. M.), the Child, 4 

Sleeper (G. W.), Supposed Forgery by, 563 

Sleeping Sickness Committee, Report, 587 

Slipher (Dr. V. M.), Nebular Rotation, 361, 594; Zlatin- 
sky’s Comet, 653 ‘ 

Smail (J: C.), Trade and Technical Education Abroad, 465 

Smith (E. A.), Sampling and Assay of the Precious Metals, 


Ltd., Electricity in 


I 

Smith (F. E.), Magnetograph for Horizontal Intensity, 471 

Smith (Prof. G. Eliot), Archeological Survey of Nubia, 
C. M. Firth, 85; Piltdown Skull, 300; Egyptian 
Mummies, 566 

Smith (H. G.), Minerals and the Microscope, 610 

Smith (S. W.), On Roberts-Austen, 55s 

Smith (W. W.), Alpine Vegetation of South-east Sikkim, 591 

Soddy (F.), Chemistry of the Radio-Elements, 1 : 

Sollas (Prof. W. J.), Cré Magnon Man: Imprints of His 
Hand, 240; Paviland Cave, 274 

Solly (R. H.), Sartorite, 471 

Solvay (E.), Physical Chemistry and Psychology: Prize 
Awards, 300 ; 

Sommerville (Dr. D. M. Y.), A Four-Dimensional Model, 
420 

Southern (R.), Free-living Nematoda, 446 

Spath (L. F.), Tragophylloceras loscombi, 394 

Spinden (H. J.), Maya Art, ges 

Stackhouse (J. F.), Antarctic Expedition, s12 

Stanley (Prof. G. H.), Meteorite from Zululand, 95; Metal- 
lurgy on Witwatersrand, 623 

ne (H.), Practical Science for Engineering Students, 
236 

Stark (Prof. J.), Electrical Analogy of Zeeman Effect, 280: 
Effect of Electric Field on Spectrum Lines, 360 

Stark (M.), Petrographic Provinces, «92 

Stead (Dr: J. E)), and’ Mr. Steadman, 
Brasses, 95 

Stebbing (Rev. T. R. R.), Antarctic Stalk-eyed Crustacea, 
207; Crustacea from Falkland Islands, 260 

Stebbins (J.). Tests of Spectroscopic Binaries, 570 

Stefansson (V.), My Life with the Eskimo, 400 

Stein (Sir Aurel), Central Asia, 460 

Stenhouse (E.), First Book of Nature Study, as0 

Steuart (D. W.), Atmospheric Electricity near Leeds, 207 

Stevens (Prof. F. L.), the Fungi which Cause Plant 
Disease, 264 

Stevenson (T. J.). Coal Bed Formation, 119 

Stirm (Dr. K.), Chemische Technologie der Gespinstfasern, 
211 

Stone (Sir B.), fObituary], 484 

Strachan (H.), Elementary Tropical Hygiene, 213 

Strahan (Dr. A.), Darwin and Wallace: Address to Geol. 
Soc., 76 

Strasburger (E.) and O. Hertwig, and others, Zellen- und 
Gewerbelehre Morphologie und Entwicklungsgeschichte, 


Muntz Metal 


106 
Stratton (F. T. M.), Origin of Structures on the Moon’s 
Surface, 84 


Stratton-Porter (G.). Moths of the Limberlost, 353 

Siromern (Dr By- Fey vy. Reichenbach), Lehrbuch der 
Palaozoologie: Wirbeltiere, 266 

Stromeyer (C. F.), Determination of Elastic Limits under 
alternating Stress Conditions, 340 

Strong (Prof. H. A.), Dr. Garstang, The Syrian Goddess of 
Lucian, tos i 

Stroobant (Prof.), Progress of Astronomy. 437-8 

Strutt (Hon. R. J.). Experiments on ‘Origin of Spectra, 
32; Luminous Vanours distilled from the Arc and 
Bigs os Series, 340; (and others), Active Nitrogen, 
5) 47 


Stuhlmann (O.), and R. Piersol, Photo-electric Effect of 
Carbon, 454 

Stupart (Dr.), Meteorology in Canada, 655 

Stutzer (Prof. O.), Lagerstatten der “Nichterze,” 348 

Suess (Prof. Eduard), [Obituary], 245 ; (Emm. de Margerie), 
la Face de la Terre, 293 

Suplee (H. H.), the Mechanical Engineer’s Reference Book, 


295 
Suter (H.), New Zealand Mollusca, 528 
Sutton (J. R.), Temperatures of Air at Mochudi, 289 
Suyehiro (Dr. K.), New Torsion-Meter, 148 
Swan (Sir Joseph Wilson), [Obituary], 355 
Swinton (A. A. C.), Committee on Wireless Telegraphy, 406 
Swynnerton (C. F. M.), Short Cuts by Birds to Nectaries, 77 
Szilard (B.), Measurements of Electrical Potentials without 
Wires, 24 


Tacke (Dr.), Estimation of Acidity in Soils, 599 

Taggart (W. S.), Textiles: a Handbook, Mary S. Woolman 
and Ellen B. McGowan, 186 

Talbot (F. A.), Kinematography and its Applications, 60 

Talbot (Mr. and Mrs. P. Amaury), Plants from Oban Dis- 
trict of South Nigeria, 237 

‘Talman (C. F.), Isothermal Layer of the Atmosphere, 84 

Tandler (Dr. J.), and Dr. S. Grosz, die biologischen 
Grundlagen der sekundaren Geschlechts-charaktere, 345 

Tanret (G.), Galengine, 368 

Tattersall (Dr. W. M.), Amphipoda and Isopoda from Lake 
of Tiberias, 233; (and T. A. Coward and others), 
Faunal Survey of Rostherne Mere, 128 

Taylor (G. I.), Eddy Motion in the Atmosphere, 288 

Taylor (Griffith), Physiography of Eastern Australia, 307 

Teixeira (Sir A.), Climate of Lorenzo Marques, 652 

Tempsky (F.), Science Books for Austrian Schools, 373 

Thomas (Prof. F. A. W.), Das Elisabeth Linné Phanomen, 
348 

nee (Miss Nesta), Cytological Study of CEnothera, 175 

Thomas (O.), Mammals collected in Dutch New Guinea, 
232; Affinity between Pygmy Squirrels of Guiana, W. 
Africa, and Malay Archipelago, 314 

Thomas (W. B.), and A. K. Collet, the English Year, 353 

Thompson (Prof. S. P.), Lecture Experiment on Irrationality 
of Dispersion, 101; Intermittent Vision, Mr. Mallock, 
522: Rose of the Winds, 621 

Thomson (D. and J. G.), Cultivation of Human Tumour 
Tissue in vitro, 313 

Thomson (Sir J. J.), Production of very soft R6ntgen Rays 
by Impact of Positive and Slow Kathode Rays, 523; 
Education and Science, 603 

Thornton (H. G.) and G. Smith, Nutritive Conditions deter- 
mining Growth of Soil Protista, 313 

Thornton (Prof. W. M.), Electrical Ignitton of Gaseous 
Mixtures, 22 

Thorp (T.), [Death], 460 

Thorne (Sir Edward), and others, Dictionary of Applied 
Chemistry, 27 : 

Thurston (E.), Madras Presidency, 580 

Tiede (Dr. E.), E. Domcke, and others, Active Nitrogen, 
478 

Gaiden (Sir W. A.). Progress of Scientific Chemistry, 555 

Tillyard (R. 1.), Wing-venation of Odonata, 525 

Timerding (H. E.), die Verbreitung mathematischen 
Wissens, 423 

Timmermans (T.), Pure Propane, 103 

Todd (Prof. D.), Total Eclipse of 1914 in Turkey and 
Persia, 311 

Toit (A. L. du), Porosity of Rocks of Karroo System, 289 

Tozzer (A. M.), Ruins in Guatemala, 248 

Tracey (Prof. J. C.) and Prof. H. B. North, Descriptive 
Geometry, 248 

Trechmann (C. T.), Scandinavian Drift of Durham Coast 
and Glaciology of S.E. Durham, 340 

Trevor-Rattye (A.). Camning in Crete: Appendix on Caves, 
by Dorothea M. A. Bate, 29 

Troland (L. T.), Chemical Origin of Life, 171 

Tropical Diseases Committee: Report, 673 

Trouton (Prof. F. T.), Opening Address to Section A at 
the British Association, 642 

Tunmann (Dr. O.). Pflanzenmikrochemie, 372 

Turner (F. C.) and Prof. J. M. Bose, 662 


Nature, ] 
October 1, 1914 


Turner (Prof. H. H.), Tables for Facilitating Use of Har- 
monic Analysis, 662; (and Miss Blagg), Baxendell’s 
Observations of Variable Stars, 1o1 

Turner (Sir Wm.), Aborigines of Tasmania, 127 


Upward (A.), Divine Mystery, 81 

Usherwood (T. S.), and C. J. A. Trimble, First Book of 
Practical Mathematics, 2; Practical Mathematics for 
Technical Students, 504 


Vaillant (P.), Drops: Tate’s Law, 155 

Variot and Fliniaux (MM.), Comparative Growth of Breast 
_and Bottle-fed Infants, 315 

Vaughan (A.), Correlation of Dinantian and Avonian, 76 

Véronnet (A.), Causes of the Sun’s Heat, 420; Form of the 
Earth, 670 

Vignon (L.), Solvents of Coal, 368; Synthetic Preparation 
of a Coal Gas, 447 

Vines (Prof. S. H.) and G. C. Druce, Morisonian Her- 
barium, 4; On Dr. J. Reynolds Green, 379 

Violle (H.), Cholera and the Liver, 421 

Voigt (A.), Junk’s Natur-Fiihrer : die Riviera, 580 

Voss (A.), die Beziehungen der Mathematik zur Kultur, 423 


Wager (H.), Action of Light on Chlorophyll, 49; Cellular 
Structure of Emulsions, 240; Blue-Green Algae, 583 

Wagner (Dr. P. A.), Diamond Fields of South Africa, 527 

Walcott (C. D‘), Cambrian Brachiopoda, 62; Chinese Cam- 
brian Faunas, 123; Blue-green Algae, 652 

Walker (G. W.), Modern Seismology, 158 

Wallace (Alfred Russel), [Memorials to], 37 

Wallace (Dr. J. Sim), Dental Diseases in Relation to 
Public Health, 160 

Waller (Dr.. A. D.), 
Human Heart, 313 

Wallerant (F.), Mobility of Molecules in a Solid Crystal, 
260 

Wallis (B. C.), Junior Geography of the World, 453; Rain- 
fall of Southern Pennines, 472 

Walmsley (H. P.) and Dr. W. Makower, Photographic 
Action of a Rays, 288; Passage of a Particles through 
Photographic Films, 367 

Walter (L. H.), Application of Electrolytic Luminosity, 394 

Walton (A. J.), Variations in Growth of Adult Mammalian 
Tissue in Plasma, 127 

Ward (Prof. F. E_) the Montessori 
American School, 650 

Ward (John J.), Insect Biographies, 214 

Ward (L. K.), Kangaroo Island Asphaltum, 307 

Wardle (H. N.), Jibaro Diminutive Mummy Heads, 382 

Warren (S. H.), Flint Fracture and Early Man, 23 

Warth (F. J.), Liquefaction of Rice Starch, 383 

Washington (Dr. H. S.), Composition of Rockallite, 154 

Waters (A. W.), Marine Fauna of British East Africa, 471 

Watson (D. M. S.), Pariasaurian Skull, 50; Deinocephalia, 


Inclinations of Electrical Axis of 


Method and the 


367 

Watson (Prof. W.), Anomalous Trichromatic Colour 
Vision, 393 

Watteville (C. de), New Method of Studying Sparlx 


Spectra, 524 

Watts (Dr. W. M.), Index of Spectra, 516 

Wedderburn (Dr. E. M.) and A. W. Young, Temperature 
in Loch Earn, 629 

Weed (L. H.), Nuclear Masses in Human Brain-stem, 650 


Index 


XV 


Wells (Prof. G. J.) and A. J. Wallis-Tayler, the Diesel or 
Slow-combustion Engine, 265 

Wernham (H.’F.), Genus Sabicea, 529 

West (J. H.), Poems of Human Progress, 374 

West India Committee, Map of the West Indies, 320 

Westell (W. P.), Wonders of Bird-life, 585 

Westermarck (Prof. E.), Marriage Ceremonies in Morocco, 


319 

Whipple (F. J. W.), Dynamical Units for Meteorology, 427 

White (Dr. C. P.), Pathology of Growth: Tumours, 235 

White (Lazarus), Catskill Water Supply of New York 
City, 209 

Wilde (Archer), Sounds and Signs: a Criticism of the 
Alphabet, 318 

Williams (Rev. G. H.), Careers for Our Sons, 478 

Williams’s Fire-damp Indicator, 461 

Williamson (H. C.), Zoological Classification, 135 

Willis (M.), Lowson’s Text-book of Botany: 
Edition, 237 

Willstatter (R.), and A. Stoll, Chlorophyll, 451 

Wilson (Prof. E.), Magnetic Properties of Shielded Iron, 
22, 288 

Wilson (Dr. Ed. Adrian), [Statue of], 511; [Memorial to, 
at Cheltenham], 618 

Wilson (J.), Practical Education in Secondary Schools, 
Trade Schools, and Central Schools, 146 

Wilson (Prof. J.), Polygamous Mendelian Factors, 368 

Wimperis (H. E.), Principles of Application of Power to 
Road Transport, 265 

Winch (W. H.), Inductive versus Deductive Methods of 
Teaching, 424 

Winge (Dr.), Sargasso Sea, 170 

Winter (Col.), Curious Meteor Display, 69 

Winterbotham (Capt.), Accuracy of Triangulation, 571 

Woglom (Dr. W. H.), Cancer, 397 

Wood (Prof.) and G. U. Yule, Feeding Trials with Oxen 
and Sheep, 154 

Wood (P. W.), the Twisted Cubic, and Metrical Properties 
of the Cubical Hyperbola, 159 

Wood (Prof. R. W.), Radiation of Gas Molecules excited 
by Light, Guthrie Lecture, 43; (and L. Dunoyer), 
Resonance Lines of Sodium, 207, 289, 368 

Wood-Jones (Dr. F.), the Funafuti Boring, 135 

Woodhead (Prof. Sims), Education in Technical Use of 
Microscope, 287 

Woodward (Dr. A. Smith), a Paleolithic Engraving on 
Bone, 101; Lower Jaw of Anthropoid Ape from Upper 
Miocene, 288 

Woodward (B. B.), 
Pisidium in the 
Mollusca, 585 

Woodward (Horace B.), Student’s Geological Atlas of Great 
Britain and Ireland, 30 

Woolman (Marv S.) and Ellen B. McGowan, Textiles: a 
Handbook for Student and Consumer, 186 

Worcester (D. C.), Flying Crustacean, 620 

Wourtzel (E.), Ammonia and Radium Emanation, 24 

Wraight (E. A.) and P. L. Teed, Tin Ores, 50 

Wright (Dr. Wm.), Beginning of Art, 9 


Indian 


of British Species of 
Museum, 343; Life of the 


Catalogue 
British 


Young (Thomas), the Sand-blast, 188 


Zerner (E.) and R. Woltuch, Pentoses in Pentosuria, 670 

Zeuthen (H. G.), die Mathematik im Alterthum, 423 

Zittel (Prof. K. A. von), Prof. C. R. Eastman, Text-book 
of Palzontology, 661 

Zlatinsky, New Comet, 303, 331 


Xvi 


SUBJECT 


Aberdeen, British Medical Association at, 595 

Abor Invertebrates, 275 

Abydos, Discoveries, E. Naville, 36, 91 

Acceleration, Unit of, Dr. O. Klotz, 611 

Active Nitrogen, Prof. H. B. Baker, Hon. R. J. Strutt, 5; 
(and Dr. Tiede and E. Domcke), 478 

Adélie Penguins, Surgeon G. M. Levick, 314, 612 

Adsorption Coefficients, J. Bancelin, 103 ; Adsorption, Prof. 
F. T. Trouton, 642 

Advertisement and Ags ae 196 

Aerating Aquaria, Method of, E. W. Gildersleeves, 162 

Aero Club of America, 411 

Aerudynamic Institute of Koutchino, 330; Langley Aero- 
dynamical Laboratory, 653; Aerodynamic Laboratory 
of Auteuil, L. Lecornu, 657 

Aerology, New Units in, Prof. A. McAdie, 58; 
Baynes, 110; Prof. B. Brauner, 136 

Aeronautical Science, Recent Progress in, 614 

Aeronautical Society: Wilbur Wright Memorial Lecture, 
Dr. R. T. Glazebrook, 388; Gold Medal to Prof. G. H. 


RoE 


Bryan, 434 
Aeroplanes: Development of the Aeroplane, Dr. R. T. 
Glazebrook, 388; Aeroplane Wings, Prof. H. Chatley, 


401; Langley Flying Machine, 564; the RE 1 of the 
Royal Aircraft Factory, 614 

African Mammal Fauna, 70 

Agriculture: Experiment Station for Lea Valley, 36; 
Drought-resisting Adaptation in Maize, G. N. Collins, 
119; From the Letter-files of S. W. Johnson, Elizabeth 
A. Osborne, 133; Chemistry of the Garden, D. R. 
Edwardes-Ker, 161; Jawes and Gilbert Centenary 
Fund, 164; Hops, Dr. J. Schmidt, 199; International 
Institute of Agriculture, 329; Importance of Mineral 
Elements in Feeding Farm Animals, 383; Iodine and 
Carbolic for Cattle Diseases, Major Holmes, 435; 
Congress of Tropical Agriculture, 489; Manuring of 
Market Gardens, Dr. Dyer and F. W. E. Shrivell, 553; 


Chemistry of Cattle Feeding and Dairying, J. A. 
Murray, 553; Garden Farming, L. C. Corbett, 553; 
Makers of Modern Agriculture, Dr. W. Macdonald, 
556; Agricultural Bacteriology, Dr. F. Lo6hnis, 605; 
the Oil Palm, F. M. Milligan, 608; Rubber, H. 
Brown, 608; the Banana, W. Fawcett, 608 

Albury Park, Catalogue of Trees and Shrubs in, A. B. 


Jackson, 237 
Alcoholic Fermentation, Dr. 
Alcyonarian, New Type, 435 
Algz, Blue-green, H. Wager, 583; Dr. C. D. Walcott, 652 
Algebra: Higher Algebra, Dr. W. P. Milne, 159; a Shorter 
Algebra, W. M. Baker and A. A. Bourne, 236; Key to 
“A New Algebra,” S. Barnard and J. M. Child, 236; 
Algebra of Logic, L. Couturat, Lydia G. Robinson, 
504; Algebra for Preparatory Schools, T. Dennis, 504 ; 
Test Papers, Elementary, C. V. Durrell, 504 
Alkaline Sulphides, E. Rengade and N. Costeanu, 
All Men are Ghosts, L. P. Jacks, A. E. Crawley, 
Allegheny Observatory, 488, 671 
Alloys of Copper, Nickel, and Aluminium, L. Guillet, 102 ; 
Thermo-electric Power of Selenides of Tin, H. Pélabon, 


A. Harden, 463 


155 


81 


473; Alloys for Standards, 483; Constitution of Alloys, 
Dr. W. Guertler, Dr. C. H.> Desch, ‘605 5 

Alpha Particles, Passage through Photographic Films, 
H. P. Walmsley and Dr. W. Makower, 367 

Alphabet, Sounds and Signs: a Criticism of the, A. Wilde, 
318 

Alternating Currents, Primer on, Dr. W. G. Rhodes, 54; 


Alternate Current Working, Capt. G. L. Hall, 477 


Lndex 


| Alumina Precipitation and Fluorides, Mlle. 


Nature, 
October 1, 1914 


BN DEX. 


H. Cavaignac, 


155 

Ambidexterity and Mental Culture, Dr. 
Jones, 162 

America: American Indian Tribes, 38; Smoke Abatement 
in America, 69; American Chemical Society: 
Address: Industrial Research in America, A. D. Little, 
45; Early Norse Visits, W. H. Babcock, 136; 
American Research on Clays, H. E. Ashley, G. H. 
Brown, Dr. J. W. Mellor, 363 ; American Faunas, 382 ; 
Americanists’ International Congress, 434; American 
Philosophical Society, 492; Secular Climatic Changes, 
Prof. E. Huntington and others, 617; Animal Com- 
munities in Temperate America, Dr. V. E. Shelford, 
66 

BER ona Content of Water of Small Ponds, J. T. Saunders, 
341 

Ammonite Tragophylloceras loscombi, L. F. Spath, 394 

Amnauer Hansen Cruise, 381 

Amoeba, Induced Cell-reproduction in, J. W. Cropper and 
A. H. Drew, 611 

Ampére Molecular Current shown in Metals, Broie silewiss 
Onnes, 481, 524 

Anesthetics, Dr. D. W. Buxton, 213; Administration of, 
385 

Anaphvlaxy, C. Richet, 314 

Anatomy: Physiological Plant Anatomy, Prof. G. Haber- 
landt, M. Drummond, 477 ; Anatomy of Salivary Glands 
in Mammalia, 606 

Ancient: Ancient Monuments Boards, 64; Ancient Monu- 
ments of Wales, 619; Ancient Monuments Law, 668; 
Ancient Times, Lilian Gask, 353-4; Ancient India, 


Prof. Rapson, 664 
Animals: Childhood of Animals, Dr. P. C. Mitchell, 371; 
Fantham and Annie Porter, 501; 


H. Macnaughton- 


Animal Parasites, Dr. 
Animal Communities in Temperate America, Dr. V. E. 
Shelford, 665 

Antarctic: Mawson Expedition, 11; Australasian Expedi- 
tion, Sir Douglas Mawson, 466; Antarctic Parasites, 
12-13; Sir E. Shackleton’s (Imperial Transantarctic) 
Expedition, 36, 65; Gift of 24,o0ol. from Sir J. Caird, 
459; Members of, 536; Antarctic Bibliography, J. 
Denucé, 38-39; Antarctic Stallk-eyed Crustacea, Rev. 
T. R. R. Stebbing, 207; Scottish Antarctic Expedi- 
tion, 218; Belgica Voyage, 222; Antarctic Fishes, 
Distribution, C. T. Regan, 260 

Antelope: Skeleton of Myotragus balearicus found by Miss 
Bate, Dr. C. W. Andrews, 445 

Anthocyanic Pigments, E. Rosé, 155 

Anthocyanins, A. E. Everest, 127 

Anthrax : Staining Reaction, 15; Changes in Bacilli due to 
Ultra-violet Rays, Mme. V. Henri, 181; Treatment by 
Injecting Sterilised Pyocyanic Cultures, L. and C. 
Fortineau, 181 

Anthropoid Ape Jaw, A. S. Woodward, 288 

Anthropology: Study of Man (Criminal and Defective), 
A. MacDonald, 66; Ancient Remains in German East 
Avgica, Ore oH: Reck, go; Ambidexterity, Dr. H. 
Macnaughton-Jones, 162; Red Sea Coast, C. Cross-' 
land, 163; Malay Aboriginal Tribes, 168; Cré6 Magnon 
Man: Imprints of his Hand, Prof. W. J. Sollas, 240; 
Frazer Fund, 312; Ancient Human Bones from Dublin, 
J. R. D. Holtby, 314; Who are the Maoris? A. K. 


Newman, 318; Diminutive Mummy Heads of. Jibaro 
Indians, 382; Fair Eskimo Tribe, V. Stefansson, 400; 


Urgent Need for Investigation, Dr. Rivers, Prof. Jenks, 


Nature, (| 
October 1, 1y14 


ve ndex 


XVil 


—— en ee ee eee eee 


S. G. Morley, Dr. A. C. Haddon, 407; Childhood of 
the World, E. Clodd, 426; Relative Lengths of Toes, 
O. A. M. Hawkes, 435; Man’s Mechanical Efficiency, 
Prof. J. S. MacDonald, 445; Cheddar Caves Skeleton, 
Profs. Seligmann and Parsons, 461; Ancient Female 
Skeleton found near Ipswich, 484; Man’s Chin, D. M. 
Shaw, 531; “Wolf-child” found in Indian Jungle, 566; 
Expedition led by Miss Czaplicka to study Tribes, of 
Yenesei, 589 ; Mendelian Methods and Human Society : 
British Association Address, Prof. W. Bateson, 635, 
674; Dissection of an Imbecile, Prof. L. Testut, 650; 
Body Magnitudes of Bulgarians, E. Pittard, 657; see 
also Ethnology 

April Meteors, W. F. Denning, 172, 223 

Aquaria, Method of Aerating, E. W. Gildersleeves, 162; 
Care of Small Aquaria, Dr. Osburn, 435 

Aquitania, Cunard Liner, 278, 358 

Arachnida from Dutch New Guinea, S. Hirst, 260 

Archeology : 

General : Caves of Crete, Dorothea M. A. Bate, 29; Dis- 
covery of Colonnades at Abydos, Prof. E. Naville, 36, 
91; Prehistoric Times, the late Rt. Hon. Lord Avebury, 
Rev. J. Griffith, 57; Bible Lands, P. S. P. Handcock, 
A. E. Crawley, 81; Survey of Nubia, C. M. Firth, 
Prof. G. E. Smith, 85; Exploration in Peru, Prof. H. 
Bingham, 97; the Syrian Goddess, Lucian: with Life 
of Lucian, Prof. H. A. Strong, Dr. J. Garstang, 10s; 
Egyptian Art, Sir G. Maspero, Elizabeth Lee, 210; 
Prehistoric Ruins in Guatemala, A. M. Tozzer, 248; 
Ancient Monuments in Rhodesia, 248; Discoveries in 
Malta, Dr. Ashby, 412; Aboriginal Sites in Louisiana 
and Arkansas, C. B. Moore, 412; Maya Art, H. J. 
Spinden, 455; Crete, Miss E. H. Hall, 537; Perthshire 
Fortifications, Rev. G. A. F. Knight, 537; Gila River 
Pueblos, 537; Egyptian Mummies, 566; Relics of Lost 
Culture in Arizona, J. W. Fewkes, Dr. A. C. Haddon, 
570; Bushman Paintings, L. Péringuey, 577; Sanskrit 
Inscription on Stone (1086 a.p.), S. P. B. N. Shastri, 
658; Ancient India, Prof. E. J. 
historic Dwellings in Nebraska, 669 

of Britain: Bone Engraving from Dorset, Dr. A. Smith 
Woodward, tot; Flint Workshop found in Ipswich, 
J. Reid Moir, 169, 195; Prehistoric Trade between 
England and France, O. G. S. Crawford, 169; Maum- 
bury Rings Excavation, 195; Carvings of Flowers in 
Stone, Miss I. M. Roper, 195; Great Stone Circle at 
Avebury, 249; Pottery found at Ipswich, J. R. Moir, 
275; Paviland Cave, Prof. Sollas, 275; Appeal for 
Funds for Exploration, 327; Carved Stone Balls in 
Scotland, L. Mann, 359; Dewlish Elephant Trench, 
381; Hengistbury Head, J. P. Bushe-Fox, 412; Manks 
Antiquities, P. M. C. Kermode and Prof. Herdman, 
478 

Beck: My Life with the Eskimo, V. Stefansson, 400; 
Geology of new Islands, 539 

Aristotelian Society : Proceedings, A. E. Crawley, 55 

Aristotle’s Physics, Capt, J. H. Hardcastle, 428 

Arithmetic: Exercices d’Arithmétique, J. Fitz-Patrick, 2; 
Bell’s Outdoor and Indoor Experimental Arithmetics, 
H. H. Goodacre and others, 236, 662 

Arizona, Relics of Culture, Dr. J. W. Fewkes, Dr. A. C. 
Haddon, 570 

Art: the Beginning of Art, Abbé Breuil and others, Dr. W. 
Wright, 9: Egyptian Art, Sir G. Maspero, Elizabeth 
Lee, 210; Maya Art, H. J. Spinden, 454 

Aspergillus niger, Silver as Stimulant of Growth, G. 
Bertrand, 261 

Asphalt and Vanadium, R. M. Bird, 540 

Assay of Precious Metals, E. A. Smith, 157 

Association of Teachers in Technical Institutions, 386 

Astrolabe, Mirror, H. Chrétien, 260 

Astronomy : 

General Treatises: Astronomy: a Popular Handbook, 
Prof. H. Tacoby, 211: le Svstéme du Monde: Histoire 
des Doctrines Cosmologiques de Platon A Copernic, 
Prof. P. Duhem, 317; Nautical Astronomy: the 
“Conwav ” Manual, 660 

Comets: Hallev’s Comet, Prof. E. E. Barnard, 541; 
Comet rq1zf (Delavan), orbit, 216; 541, 569, 594, 
chart, 622, 671; Comet t1o14a (Kritzinger), 121, 144, 
223, 250, 437; Comet t1914b (Zlatinsky), 303, 330; 


Rapson, 664; Pre- 


orbit, Mr. Crawford and Miss Levy, 384; 4373; spec- 
trum, Dr. Slipher, 653; Comet 1914¢c (Neujmin), 488, 
515 

Instruments: Proposed Tower Telescope to Secchi’s 
Memory, 121; a Mirror Astrolabe, H. Chrétien, 260; 
Microphotometer, Registering, Dr. P. P. Koch, 278; 
Large Telescopes, H. P. Hollis, 437; Great Telescope 
for Canada, Prof. C. A. Chant, 459; Large Canadian 
Reflector, W. E. Harper, J. S. Plaskett, 671; Novel 
Combination of Instruments, Dr. F. Schlesinger, 671 

Meteors: Curious Display of February 9, 1913, 69; 
Meteorite from Zululand, Prof. Stanley, 95; April, 172, 
223; May, 250; Telescopic, 303; Fireballs, 384; 
June 25, 464; Streaks, 531; Perseids, 569, 622, 653, 
all W. F. Denning 

Moon: Origin of Structures on Moon’s Surface, F. J. M. 
Stratton, 84; Origin of the Moon, and the Earth’s 
Contraction, Rev. O. Fisher, 213 ; Photographic Chart 
of the Moon, C. Le Morvan, 304; Collated List of 
Lunar Formations, Miss M. A. Blagg, 361 

Nebulae: Orion Nebula, Spectroscopic Measures, H. 
Bourget and others, 289; Rotating Nebula in Virgo, 
Dr. V. M. Slipher, 361, 594; Classification of Nebulz 
and Star Clusters, G. Bigourdan, 499, 516 

Observatories : Solar Observatory for New Zealand, 95; 
Hamburg, 121; Mount Wilson Solar Observatory, 201; 
Report of Harvard College, 251; Lowell, 331; Cape 
Observatory, 385, 622; New Zealand Solar Observa- 
tory, 415; U.S. Naval Observatory Report, 464; 
Allegheny Observatory Publications, Dr. Schlesinger 
and C. J. Hudson, 488; Reports of Indian Observa- 
tories, 541; Solar Physics Observatory, Cambridge, 
594; Royal Belgium Observatory, 594 

Planets: Densities of. Planets, Dr. S. Brodetsky, 33; 
Origin of Planetary Surface Features, E. Belot, 69; 
Monthly Report on Mars, Prof. W. H. Pickering, 94; 
Jupiter before Sunrise, 121; the Riddle of Mars, C. E. 
Housden, 294; Planet beyond Neptune, H. E. Lau, 
A378) Opposition! of Eras® this) Year, 2rofs. Be G 
Pickering, 488; Variable Satellites of Jupiter and 
Saturn, Dr. P. Guthnick, 489; Jupiter, 569; New 
Satellite to Jupiter, Mr. Nicholson, 623 

Stars: Stars with Variable Radial Velocities, O. J. Lee, 
17; Number and Total Light of the Stars, Dr. S. 
Chapman, 101, 296; Baxendell’s Observations of 
Variable Stars, H. H. Turner and Miss Blagg, 1o1; 
Relations between Spectra, Colours, and Parallaxes, P. 
Nashan, 145; Nova Geminorum No. 2, 172; Relations 
between Spectra and other Characteristics of the Stars, 
Prof. H. N. Russell, 227, 252, 281; Convenient Com- 
parison Spectrum, Dr. J. Lunt, 251; Variable Star 
Observations, 278; Enhanced Manganese Lines and 
a Andromede, F. E. Baxandall, 278; Nova No. 2, 
Persei, C. R. D’Esterre, 331; Light of the Stars, Dr. 
A. H. Pfund, 361; Nove, Prof. E. E. Barnard, Boars 
Positions of Variable Stars and Asteroids discovered at 
Lowell Observatory, 415 ; Photometric Tests of Spectro- 
scopic Binaries, J. Stebbins, 570; Close Companion to 
n Argus, R. T. A. Innes, 570; Stars around the North 
Pole, Dr. F. W. Dyson, 574, 599; Stellar Radial 
Velocities, Prof. Kistner, 623; Prism Material for 
Stellar Spectrographs, Dr. J. S. Plaskett, 655: Rapid 
Convection in Stellar Atmospheres, Prof. W. W. Camp- 
bell, 671 

Sun: Sun-spots : Internal Motion, W. Brunner, 17; Sun- 
spots, Short-period Variations, Elsa Frenkel, 17; 
Electric Waves and the Eclipse on August 21, 68; 
General Development of Lines in Solar Spectrum, J. 
Evershed, 69; Solar Rotation, J. B. Hubrecht, aa 
New Cycle, 144; Solar Radiation, Prof. Abbott, 198, 
464; Pressure in Reversing Layer, J. Evershed, 224; 
Displacement of Lines in Solar Spectrum, Dr. Royds, 
464; Green Ray at Sunset, Dr. Evans, 664; Total 
Solar Eclipse of August 21, 1914: 68, 94, in Turkey 
and Persia, Prof. Todd, 311, 330; Magnetic Pro- 
gramme, Dr. Bauer, 507; the Total Eclipse (with 
Maps), Dr. W. J. S. Lockyer, 508; B.A.C. Radio- 
telegraphic Programme, 590, 618; Notes, 623, 654; 
Results, 667 

Miscellaneous: Gravity in Egypt and the Sudan, P. A. 
Curry, 17; Astronomical Refraction and Geodetic 


XVI 


Index 


Nature, 
October 1. 1914 


Measurements, J. de G. Hunter, 42; Death of Prof. 
E. S. Holden, 89; the Change in the Climate and its 
Cause, Major R. A. Marriott, 108; Diurnal Variations 
of Latitude, J. Boccardi, 172; Perpetual Calendar, Dr. 
Doliarius, 172; the Earth’s Contraction, Dr. J. . Ball; 
188; Monument to N. L. de la Caille, 434; Progress in 
1912, Prof. P. Stroobant, 438; Latitude Variation for 
1913-14, Prof. Albrecht, 570; on Sir David Gill, G. 
Forbes, 622 ; Spectrum of Silicon, Sir W. Crookes, 654 ; 
Green Ray at Sunset, Dr. R. C. T. Evans, 664 
Asymmetric Halos with X-Rays, W. F. D. Chambers and 
I. G. Rankin, 507; Asymmetric Images with X-Radia- 
tion, I. G. Rankin and W. F. D. Chambers, 611 
Atlantic, Physical Researches in North, Dr. F. Nansen, 
41; O. Pettersson and C. F. Drechsel, 541 
Atlases: Stanford’s Geological Atlas of Great Britain, 
H. B. Woodward, 30; School and College Atlas (G. W. 
Bacon and Co., Ltd.), 427 
Atmosphere: Upper-air Records at Batavia, Dr. van 
Bemmelen, 5; Vertical Temperature Distribution, Dr. 
C. Braak, 6; Atmospheric Refraction and Geodetic 
Measures, J. de G. Hunter, 42; Isothermal Layer, 
C. F. Talman, 84; Atmospheric Electric Gradient in 
Industrial Wistrices, D. W. Steuart and J. Jorgensen, 
207; Laws of Atmospheric Movements, Dr. W. N. 
Shaw, W. H. Dines, 280; Eddies, G. I. Taylor, 288; 
Motion of Air in Lowest Strata, Prof. G. Hellmann, 
414; Composition of the Atmosphere, N. P. Campbell, 
507; International Kite and Balloon Ascents, E. Gold, 
588; Free Atmosphere of British Isles: Calibration of 
Balloon Instruments and Reading of Traces, W. H. 
Dines, 588; Comparison of Electrical Conditions at 
Kew and Eskdalemuir, G. Dobson, 588; Lag in Marine 
Barometers on Land and Sea, Dr. C. Chree, 588 
Atomic Theory: Atomic Models and Regions of Intra- 
atomic Electrons, Dr. A. van den Broek, 7; Structure 
of Atoms and Molecules, A. van den Broek, 241; 
Constitution of Atoms and Molecules, Prof. Nichol- 
son, 268; Atomic Models by Simple Method of Dimen- 
sions, Dr. F. A. Lindemann, 277; B and y Rays and 
Structure of the Atom (Internal Charge Numbers), A. 
van den Broek, 376; MRadio-activity and Atomic 
Numbers, Dr. A..van den Broek, 480 
Atomic Volume Curves of the Elements, Dr. R. 
Prof. R. Meldola, 351 
Atomic Weight of Nickel, 


M. Caven ; 


CE. de Coninck, 315; Different 


Atomic Weights of Lead, K. Fajan, 383; Maurice 
Curie, 421; P. Honigschmid and Mlle. St. Horovitz, 
446; T. W. Richards, 603; Atomic Weight of Copper 


by Electrolysis, G. Shrimpton, 471 

Auditory Ossicles of American Rodents, 620 

Aurochs, 301 

Australasian Antarctic Expedition, Sir D. Mawson, 11, 466 

Australia : Cobar Copper Field, E. C. Andrews, 17; Recent 
Geological Work, 307; Bacon’s Large Scale Map, 415; 
Federal Handbook, 486; List of Birds, G. M. Mathews, 
585; Australian Institution of Engineers, 650; First 
Description of a Kangaroo, W. B. Alexander, 664; 
Australian Meeting of the British Association, 325, 559; 
Inaugural Address, Prof. William Bateson, President, 
635, 674; Section A—Mathematics and Physics—Open- 
ing Address, Prof. F. T. Trouton, 642; Section B— 
Chemistry—Opening GRERES, Prof. Wm. J. Pope, 645, 
681 

Austrian School Books, 373 

Autumn and Winter, W. B. 

Avebury Stone Circle, 249 

Aviation in England, 13; Aviation and Army Estimates, 36 


Thomas and A. K. Collet, 353 


re) 


Baby’s Health, Care of, Anna G. Noyes, C. Burt, 424 

Bachelet Levitated Railway, 2 258 

Bacillus, Lactic, Non-hereditary Accommodation of, C. 
Richet, 446 

Bacon, Roger, Commemoration of, 354, 405 

Bacteriology : Oxidation of Thio-sulphate by Bacteria in 
pure Culture, W. T. Lockett, 127; Imperial Bacterio- 
logical Laboratory, Muktesar, India, Major J. D. E. 
Holmes, Dr. P. Hartley, 137; Metabiotic Action of 
Ultra-violet Rays, Mme. V. Henri, 181, 657: Muta- 
tinns of Bacteria, Prof. R. T. Hewlett, 193; Bacterial 


Treatment of Peat, Prof. Bottomley, 196; Effect of 
Soil on Secretion of Enzymes, 358; Mercuric Iodide as 
Bactericide, 421; Marine Bacteriology, G. H. Drew, 
465; Action of Metals upon Water and Bacteria, Prof. 
Delepine and Dr. A. Greenwood, 517; Agricultural 
Bacteriology, Dr. F. L6hnis, 605 

Baikal, Lake Flora, Mme. Poplavska, 93 

Bakelite, Action of Radium Rays on, C. E. S. Phillips, 295. 

Ballachulish Fold, E. B. Bailey, 446 

Balloons: Temperature-difference between Up and Down 
Traces, Dr. W. van Bemmelen, 269; W. H. Dines, 
320; Kite and Balloon Ascents, E. Gold; Calibration 
and Reading of Balloon Instruments, W. H. Dines, 588 

Banana: Cultivation, Distribution, and Commercial Uses, 
W. Fawcett, 608 

Barometer : Reduction of Readings in Absolute Units, E. 
Gold, 341; Lag on Land and Sea of Marine Baro- 
meters, Dr. C. Chree, 588 

Batavia: Upper-air Records, Dr. 
Meteorology, 96 

Bees : Colour Sense, Dr. F. Stellwaag, 221; Destruction of 
Germs of Bee Diseases by Heat, Dr. White, 435 

Belgica Antarctic Results, 222 

Belgium: Royal Academy Prizes, 485; Royal Observatory 
Annals, 594 

Bell’s Outdoor and Indoor Experimental Arithmetics, H. H. 
Goodacre, others, 236, 662 

Belladonna, Cultivation, A. F. Sievers, 16 

Belle Isle Strait Currents, Dr. W. B. Dawson, 175 

Beta and Gamma Rays and Structure of the Atom 
(Internal Charge Numbers), A. van den Broek, 376 

Bhutan, J. C. White, 328 

Bible Lands, P. S. P. oeien a A. E. Crawley, 81 

Big Game: Big Game Protection, 329; Indian Heads and 
Horns, 343; Exhibition of African Trophies, 461° 

“Bill’s School and Mine,” W. S. Franklin, 30 


van Bemmelen, 5; 


Biochemistry : Biochemical Synthesis, E. Bourquelot and 
M. Bridel, 261; Chlorophyll, R. Willstatter and A. 
Stoll, 451; Biochemie der Pflanzen, Prof. F. Czapek, 


451; Composition of the Atmosphere, N. P. Campbell, 
507; Bulletin de la Société de Chimie Biologique, 652 

Biography : Theodore Roosevelt : Autobiography, Sir H. H. 
Johnston, 79; From the Letter-files of S. W. Johnson, 
Elizabeth A. Osborne, 133; Savants du Jour: Albin 
Haller, E. Lebon, 161 

Biology: Prof. Haeckel’s Eightieth Birthday, 13; Labora- 
tory Manual of Invertebrate Zoology, Dr. G. A. Drew, 
80; Text-book of Biology, Prof. W. M. Smallwood, 80; 
Terminologie der Entwickelungsmechanik, W. Roux, 
131; Mathematik fiir Biologen, Prof. L. Michaelis, 
159; International Convention on Plant Diseases, 167 ; 
Chemical Origin of Life, L. T. Troland, 171; Biology : 
General and Medical, Prof. J. McFarland, 267; Life 
without Micro-organisms, M. Cohendy, 289; Biologische 
Versuchsanstalt, Vienna, 299; Ursprung der Gesch- 
lechtsunterschiede, Dr. P. Kammerer, 345; die 
biologischen Grundlage der sekundéren Geschlechts- 
charaktere, Dr. J. Tandler and Dr. S. Grosz, 345; 
Sex Antagonism, W. WHeape, 345; Secondary Sex 
Characters, F. W. Ash, 345; les Problémes de la 
Sexualité, Prof. M. Caullery, 345; Heredity and Sex, 
Prof. T. H. Morgan, 345; Introduction to Biology, 
Prof. M. A. Bigelow and Anna H. Bigelow, 450; 
Synthetic Power of Protoplasm, Prof. Reichert, 491; 
Applied Biology, 513; a Forged “Anticipation” of 
Modern Ideas, 563: Handbuch fiir Biologische 
Uebungen, Prof. P. R6seler and H. Lamprecht, 606; 
Induced Cell-reproduction in Amcebzee, J. W. Cropper 
and A. H. Drew, 611; Heredity : Inaugural Address to 
the British Association at Melbourne and Sydney, Prof. 
Wm. Bateson, 635, 674; Japanese Publications, 654 

Biology, Marine: Pacific Salmon and Halibut, Dr. J. P. 
MecMurrich, 124; Ciliary Mechanisms on Gills of 
Amphioxus, etce., J. H. Orton, 124; Egg of Sea Urchin, 
J. Gray, 124; Port Erin Report, 196; Marine Investi- 
gations, 201: Port Erin Easter Work, 227; Clare Island 
Plankton, G. P. Farren, 446; Tortugas Laboratory, 
G. .H.. Drew, Dr. W. Vaughan, 465; Japanese 
Chrysogorgiide, K. Kinoshita, 654; Japanese Tetraxo- 
nida, F. Liebwohl, 654; Fluctuations in Vield of Sea 
Fisheries, Dr. Hort, 672 


Nature, ] 
October 1, 1914 


Lndex 


X1X 


eee 


Birds: Short Cuts by Birds to Nectaries, 
Swynnerton, 77; the Gannet: a Bird with a History, 
J. H. Gurney, 113; Nesting Habits of Adélie Penguins, 
Surgeon G. M. Levick, 314, 612; Notes, 439; 
Erythrism in British Eggs, Rev. F. C. R. Jourdain and 
C. Borrer, 439; Parasites of Birds, H. V. Jones, 439; 
Bird Sanctuary in Kangaroo Island, 439; King 
Penguin’s Cry, 439; South African Ground Hornbill, 
Opel os Swynnerton, 439; Crossbills, M. Christy, 
439; Rifle Birds of Paradise and Snake Skins, 440; 
Migration Routes, H. Darwin, 401; Bird Migration 
and Weather, A. Defant, 457; Perches on Light- 
houses, 513; Notes, 543; die Vogel, A. Reichenow, 
585; List of Birds of Australia, G. M. Mathews, 58s ; 
Wonders of Bird-life, W. P. Westell, 585; Peregrine 
Falcon at the Eyrie, F. Heatherley, 585; W. E. Hart, 
633; the Reviewer, 633; Song and Wings, Isa J. 
Postgate, 611; Gulis killed by Hail at Teesmouth, 669 ; 
Report on Scottish Ornithology, Evelyn V. Baxter and 
Leonora J. Rintoul, 669 

Birds’ Plumage Bill: Importation, 41; Royal Society for 
Protection of Birds, 64; the Plumage Bill, Lieut.-Col. 
J. Manners-Smith; Sir H. H. Johnston, 350; Bird 
Destruction in Nepal, C. W. Beebe, 462; Plumage Bill, 
J. Buckland, 485; 532; Bird Destruction in India, Sir 
H. H. Johnston, 559 

Black Forest, Origin, P. Kessler, 301 

Blind, Optophone for the, Dr. E. E. F. d’Albe, 394 

Blood: Amounts of Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide in Blood 
at Paris, Chamonix, and on Mont Blanc, R. Bayeux 
and P. Chevallier, 155; Monoamino Acids in Blood, 
L. Lematte, 315 

Bloodhounds and Crime, 461 

Blue-green Algz, H. Wager, 583; their Connection with 
Fossil Flora, Dr. C. D. Walcott, 652 

Bodley Head Natural History, E. D. Cuming, 
Shepherd, 353 

Boltzmann’s Formula for Entropy, 302 

Bonaparte Fund, 572 

Bones, Ancient, from Dublin, J. R. D. Holtby, 314 

Books of Science, Forthcoming, 18, 40, 361 

Borneo Languages, S. H. Ray, 118 

Botanic Gardens, National, of South Africa, 190 

Botany : Morisonian Herbarium, Oxford, Prof. S. H. Vines 
and G. C. Druce, 4; Improvement of Medicinal Plants, 
16; British Flowering Plants with Plates, Mrs. Perrin, 
65; Short Cuts by Birds to Nectaries, C. F. M. 
Swynnerton, 77; Flora of Lake Baikal, Madame H. I. 
Poplavska, 93; Rubber and Rubber Planting, Dr. 
R. H. Lock, 132; Sargasso Seaweed, 170; Leaf Varia- 
tion in Heptapleurum venulosum, M. S. Ramaswami, 
233; Catalogue of Hardy Trees at Albury Park, 
Surrey, A. B. Jackson, 237; Lowson’s Text-book of 
Botany: Indian Edition, M. Willis,. 237; Coconut 
Cultivation and Plantation Machinery, H. L. Coghlan 
and J. W. Hinchley, 237; Genera of British Plants: 
with Characters, H. G. Carter, 237; Story of Plant 
Life in British Isles, A. R. Horwood, 237; Catalogue of 
Plants collected by Mr. and Mrs. Talbot in Oban 
District, S. Nigeria, Dr. A. B. Rendle and others, 
237; Plant Physiology, Dr. L. Jost, R. J. H. Gibson, 
237; Plant Life, T. H. Russell, 237; Trevor Lawrence 
Orchid Collection at Kew, 244; Siam Expedition, Dr. 
C. C. Hosseus, 267; Wild African Oranges, 275; Java 
Laboratory for Foreigners, 299; Cotton Fibre, W. L. 
Balls, 308; Utakwa Expedition, Dutch New Guinea, 
H. N. Ridley, 340; Pflanzenmikrochemie, Dr. O. 
Tunmann, 372; Irritability of Plants, Prof. J. C. Bose, 
g7o- Plants) and “their Uses; F. LL: Sargent, 372; 
Oekologie der Pflanzen, Dr. O. Drude, 425; Diseases 
of Tropical Plants, Prof. Cook, 425; South African 
Orchids, H. Bolus, 425; Index Kewensis: Plantarum 
Phanerogamarum, 425: Accessory Factors in Growth 
and Nutrition, Prof. W. B. Bottomley, 445; Botany, 
Prof. E. Brucker, 450; Weeds: Simple Lessons, R. LI. 
Praeger, S. Rosamond Praeger and R. J. Welch, 450; 
Plant Anatomy, Prof. G. Haberlandt, M. Drummond, 
477; Transpiration, Sir F. Darwin, 492; Sargasso Sea, 
Prof. W. G. Farlow, 493; Plant-autogranhs, Prof. J. C. 
Bose, £46; Genus Sabicea, H. F. Wernham, 529; 
Horticultural Note-book, J. C. Newsham, 557; Cam- 


j. A. 


coe. M. | 


bridge British Flora, Dr. C. E. Moss, E. W. Hunnybun, 
579; Junk’s Natur-Fiihrer : die Riviera, A. Voigt, 580; 
Blue-green Algz, H. Wager, 583; Cultivation of the 
Oil Palm, F. M. Milligan, 608; Rubber, Harold Brown, 
608; the Banana, W. Fawcett, 608; Flora of Mount 
Kinabulu, Miss Lilian S. Gibbs, 620; Recent Botanical 
Work in Denmark, 627; Blue-green Algz and Fossil 
Algz, Dr. C. D. Walcott, 652 ; Japanese Rosacez, with 
Tables, G. Koidzumi, 654; Latex-containing Tissues of 
Japanese Plants, R. Koketsu, 654; Twisted Spike of 
Spiranthes Orchids, K. Koriba, 654; see also 
Palzobotany 

Bournville Collection of Glacial Boulders, 141 

Brachiopoda, Cambrian, C. D. Walcott, 62 

Bradford Technical College, 126 

Brain-stem, Nuclear Masses in Human, L. H. Weed, 650 

Brass: Nomenclature, 95; Effect of Heat on Muntz Metal 
Brasses, Dr. J. E. Stead and Mr. Steadman, 95 

Brazil, Mr. Roosevelt in, Dr. J. W. Evans, 432 

Bricks, A. B. Searle, 265; A. Montel, 609 

Bridges : Wooden Trestle Bridges and Concrete Substitutes, 
W. C. Foster, 267; Suspension Bridges, Prof. W. H. 
Burr, 609 

Brightness of Optical Images, P. G. Nutting, 171 

Britannic, White Star Liner, 16 © 

British Animals: Vertebrates, Kate M. Hall, 450 

British Association: Australian Meeting, Inaugural Address 
by the President, Prof. William Bateson: Part i., at 
Melbourne, 635; Part ii., at Sydney, 674; Section A— 
Mathematics and Physics—Opening Address, Prof. 
F. T. Trouton, 642; Section B—Chemistry—Opening 


Address, Prof. William J. Pope, 645, 681; Havre 
Meeting with French Association, 533, 595 
British Flora, Cambridge, Dr. C. Moss, E. W. 


Hunnybun, 579 

British Journal of Photography, Diamond Jubilee, 434 

British Medical Association at Aberdeen, 595 

British Museum (Natural History): Arctic Rocks of Sir J. 
Franklin’s Expeditions received from Haslar, 168; 
Catalogue of British Pisidium, B. B. Woodward, 343; 
Revision of Ichneumonide, C. Morley, 343, 529; 
Catalogue of Heads and Horns of Indian Big Game 
bequeathed by A. O. Hume, R. Lydekker, 343; Cata- 
logue of Lepidoptera Phalenz, Sir G. F. Hampson, 
343; Additions, 436; Catalogue of Ungulate Mammals, 
Vol. ii., R. Lydekker, G. Blaine, 528; Genus Sabicea, 
H. F. Wernham, 529; Notes, 669 

British Pharmacopceia, Postponement, 650 

British Plants: Genera of British Plants, H. G. Carter, 
237; Story of Plant Life in the British Isles, A. R. 
Horwood, 237 

British Revolution, Dr. R. A. P. Hill, 427 

British Science Guild, 331, 536 

Brownian Motion, Dr. G. L. de Haas-Lorentz, 502 

Bug, Biology of the Bed-, A. A. Girault, 169 

Building Materials, Elasticity and Resistance, A. Montel, 
609 

Buildings, Vibrations due to Earth Tremors, Prof. Grun- 
mach, 627 

Bulgarians, Body Measures, E. Pittard, 657 

Burns’ Skull, Prof. Keith, 66 

Bushman Paintings, L. Péringuey, 577 

Butine, Preparation of Pure, M. Picou, 261 


Calendar, Perpetual, Dr. Doliarius, 172; Reform of the 
Calendar, A. Philip, 187 

Cambrian Brachiopoda, C. D. Walcott, 62 

Cambridge; Cambridge Scientific Instrument Co., 382; 
New Physiological Laboratory and School, 417, 438; 
Cambridge University Previous Examination, 440; 
Cambridge British Flora, Dr. C. E. Moss, E. W. 
Hunnybun, 579; Cambridge County Geographies : 
Merionethshire, A. Morris, 580: Northumberland, S.R. 
Haselhurst, 580; Solar Physics Observatory, 594 

Camp Fire Yarns of the Lost Legion, Col. G. Hamilton- 
Browne, 28 

Camping in Crete, A. Trevor Battye: with Description of 
Cave Deposits by Dorothea M. A. Bate, 29 

Canada: Heaton’s Annual, 30; Mineral Industry, 216; 
Canadian Entomological Service, 226; Canadian 


XX 


Index 


Nature, 
October 1, 1914 


Weather Forecasting, B. C. Webber, 250; Canadian 
Transport and Montreal Harbour, F. W. Cowie, 303 ; 
Royal Canadian Institute, 440; Great Telescope, Prof. 
C. A. Chant, 459; Large Canadian Reflector, 671; 
Official Guides for Geologists, 545; Canadian Depart- 
ment of Mines: Cobalt, 568; Royal Society of Canada: 
Meeting, 655 

Canal Rays, New Effects, Dr. E. Goldstein, 539 

Cancer: Cancer Problem, C. E. Green, 134; Radium and 
Quacks, 224; Pathology of Growth: Tumours, Dr. 
C. P. White, 235; Researches into Induced Cell- 
reproduction and Cancer, H. C. Ross and others, 235 ; 
Studies in Cancer and Allied Subjects, Dr. W. H. 
Woglom, Drs. Calkins, MacCallum, Gies, and others 
(Columbia University), 397, 606 

Cantilevers, Prof. W. H. Burr, 609 

Cape Observatory Report, 385 

Carat, Metric, 248 

Carbon: Unidirectional Currents in Carbon Filament, Prof. 
A. S. Eve, 32; Photo-electric Effect of Carbon as 
influenced by its Absorbed Gases, O. Stuhlmann and 
R. Piersol, 454; Effect of Carbon Dioxide on Seeds, 
F. Kidd, 313; Reduction of Carbon Monoxide by 
Hydrogen in presence of Radium Emanation, O. 
Scheuer, 463 

Careers for Our Sons, Rev. G. H. Williams, 478 

Carnegie Trust, 279; Carnegie Institution of Washington: 
Encouragement of Research, 309; Carnegie Foundation 
for Advancement of Teaching, 418 

Carnot’s Principle, Doppler Effect 
Callendar, 59, 109 

Carte Internationale du Monde, 166 

Caspian Sea, Shrinkage, 195 

Catalogue of Scientific Papers (1884-1900), Royal Society, 
633 ; Subject Index, Physics, 478 

Catalysis: Manganous Oxide for Syntheses of Aldehydes 
and Ketones, P. Sabatier and A. Mailhe, 171; Catalysis 
in Organic Chemistry, Prof. P. Sabatier, 306; Cata- 
lytic Decomposition of Benzoic Acid, P. Sabatier and 
A. Mailhe, 603; Catalytic Influence of Copper Oxide 
on Oxygen-Hydrogen, J. Joannis, 525 

Cattle Feeding, J. A. Murray, 553 

Caucasus, Geological Map with Notes, Dr. F. Oswald, 632 

Cave Prehistoric Pictures, Dr. Capitan, l’Abbé Breuil, 
H. A. del Rio, Dr. W. Wright, 9 

Cecidology : Zoocécidies des Plantes de 
Houard, 187 

Cell: Induced Cell-reproduction and Cancer, and other 
Papers, H. C. Ross and others, 235; Induced Cell- 
reproduction in Amcebze, J. W. Cropper and A. H. 
Drew, 611 : 

Cellular Structure of Emulsions, Prof. K. Grant, 162; Sir 
Joseph Larmor, 213; Dr. C. H. Desch, 213; H. Wager, 
240; Prof. W. M. Flinders Petrie, 269; C. R. Darling, 
376 

Cement, Concrete, and Bricks, A. B. Searle, 265; Elasticity 
and Resistance of, A. Montel, 609 

Central Asia, Sir A. Stein, 460 

Cetacearis, Census of Stranded, 329 

Chain-fractions, Property, Prof. G. B. Mathews, 136 

Chalk: Bacterium calcis, G. H. Drew, 465 

Chance, Prof. E. Borel, 662 

Charcoal Burning in the Weald, W. R. Butterfield, 223 

Charmouth Lias, L. F. Spath, 304 

Chashtana, Date, R. C. Majumdar, 657 

Cheese, Roquefort, J. N. Currie, 359 


ayaxél, letdoyig daly JL; 


V’Europe, C. 


Chemistry : 
General: Treatise on Chemistry, H. E. Roscoe and C. 
Schorlemmer, Dr. J. W. Mellor, 27; Government 


Laboratory Report, 35; Some Fundamental Problems 
in Chemistry—Old and New, Prof. E. A. Letts, Prof. 
R. Meldola, 291, 351: Dr. R. M. Caven, 351; Outlines 
of Theoretical Chemistry, Prof. F. H. Getman, 555; 
New Era in Chemistry, H. C. Jones, 555; Progress of 
Scientific Chemistry, with Biographies, Sir W. A. 
Tilden, 555; Inaugural Address to the British Associa- 
tion, Prof. W. J. Pope, 645, 681 

of Alloys: Constitution of the Iron-carbon Alloys, Dr. W. 
Guertler, Dr. C. H. Desch, 605 

Analytical : Industrial Organic Analysis, P. S. Arup, 184; 
Text-book of Quantitative Chemical Analysis, Dr. 


A. C. Cumming and Dr. S.A. Kay, 184; International 
Commission on Chemical Analysis of Soils, 598; India- 
rubber Laboratory Practice, Dr. W. A. Caspari, 663 
Applied: Dictionary of, Sir E. Thorpe and others, Dr. 
J. W. Mellor, 27 
Atmospheric : Chemical Composition of Rain, Dr. Juritz, 
463 ; Composition of the Atmosphere, N. P. Campbell, 


507 
of Cattle Feeding and Dairying, J. A. Murray, 553 
Cellular Structure of Emulsions, Prof. K. Grant, 162; 
Sir J. Larmor, 213; Dr. (©. His Desch, 213; Hi. Waser; 
240; Prof. W. M. F. Petrie, 269; B. A. Keen, 327; 
C. R. Darling, 376 
Cement, Concrete, and Bricks, A. B. Searle, 265 
Garden, D. R. Edwardes-Ker, 161 


Industrial: Industrial Research in America: Address, 
A. D. Little, 45 
Inorganic: die Elemente der siebenten Gruppe des 


periodischen Systems, Prof. R. Abegg, Dr. F. Auer- 
bach, 184 

Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of, 322 

of Nitrogen: Active Nitrogen, Prof. H. B. Baker, Hon. 
R. J. Strutt, 5, 478; Dr. E. Tiede, E. Domcke, 478 

Organic: Text-book of Organic Chemistry, Prof. A. F. 
Hollemann, Dr. A. J. Walker, Dr. Mott, 57; Labora- 
tory Manual of Organic Chemistry for Beginners, 
Prof. A. F. Hollemann, Dr. A. J. Walker, : 108; 
Biography of Albin Haller, E. Lebon, 161; Industrial 
Organic Analysis, P. S. Arup, 184; Matter in Oil- 
shales, J. B. Robertson, 207; Catalysis in Organic 
Chemistry, Prof. P. Sabatier, 306; British Association 
Address, Prof. Pope, 645, 681 

of Plants: Microchemistry of Plants, Dr. O. Tunmann, 
372; Chlorophyll, R. Willstatter and A. Stoll, 457; 
Biochemie der Pflanzen, Prof. F. Czapelk, 451 

of Radio-elements, F. Soddy, 1 

of Silicates: with a Hexite-Pentite Theory, and Stereo- 
chemical Theory, Dr. W. Asch and Dr. D. Asch, A. B. 
Searle, 184 

of the Sugars and their Simple Derivatives, Dr. J. E. 
Mackenzie, 184 

Surface Combustion, Prof. W. A. Bone, 202 


Textile: the Research Chemist and the Textile Industry,’ 


W. P. Dreaper, 71; Chemische Technologie der 
Gespinstfasern, Dr. K. Stirm, 211; the Textile Fibres, 
Dr. J. M. Matthews, 211 

Miscellaneous: Institute of Chemistry, 14; Reduction of 
Nickel Protoxide, P. Sabatier and L. Espil, 102; 
Syntheses by means of Sodium Amide, A. Haller and 
J. Louvrier, E. Bauer, Mme. Ramart-Lucas, R. 
Cornubert, 103, 128, 232, 314, 420, 446; Hydrogenation 
by Catalysis of Diaryl Ketones, and Aryl Alcohols, P. 
Sabatier and M. Murat, 103; Pure Propane: Weight 
of Litre, J. Timmermans, 103; Discussion on Optical 
Rotatory Power, 122; I-Pimaric Acid from French 
Rosin, Prof. E. Knecht and Miss E. Hibbert, 127; 
Manganous Oxide for Catalysis of Acids, P. Sabatier 
and A. Mailhe, 128; Density and Atomic Weight of 
Neon, A. Leduc, 128; Potassium Carbonyl, A. Joannis, 
128; Chemical Origin of Life, L. 1. Troland, 171; 
Optically Active Substances of Simple Molecular Con- 
stitution, Prof. Pope and J. Read, 198, 419; Osmotic 
Compressibility of Emulsions, J. Perrin, 261; R. Con- 
stantin, 261; Action of Chloroform on Metallic 
Sulphates, A. Conduché, 261; Alkaloid from Galega, 
G. Tanret, 261; Preparation of Butine, M. Picon, 261; 
Derivatives of Octadiine, M. Lespieau, 261; Chemical 
Constitution and Rotatory Power, Dr. Pickard, Mr. 
Kenyon, 303; Acid Salts of Dibasic Acids, E. Jung- 
fleisch and P. Landrieu, 314; Bunsen Gesellschaft, 
383 ; Diformdiol-peroxide, Dr. H. J. H. Fenton, 393; 
Solutions, Prof. H. E. Armstrong and E. E. Walker, 
394; Resolution of 5-nitrohydrindene-2-carboxylic Acid, 
W. H. Mills and others, 420; Diagnoses of Bases, C. 
Moureu, 420; Deviations in Atomic Weight of Lead, 
Maurice Curie, 421; Action of Bromine on Hydroxides 
of Lanthanum, and Didymium, P. E. Browning, 421; 
Derivatives of Cyclo-pentadiene, V. Grignard, 446; 
Colour Reaction by Hydroquinone, M. Maldiney, 446; 
Photolysis of Oxalic Acid by Ultra-violet Rays, D. 
Berthelot, 446; Photo-electric Effect of Carbon and its 


gs 


Az se? 8@ ae, Ae 


Nature, ] : 
October 1, 1914 


Lndex 


XX1 


Chemistry (continued) : 
Absorbed Gases, O. Stuhlmann and R. Piersol, 454; 
Hydrates of Manganese Sulphate, M. de Forcrand, 524; 
Recoura’s Green Chromium Sulphate, A. King and 
others, 525; Hydrogenations by Sodammonium Car- 
bons, P. Lebeau and M. Picon, 525; Chemical 
Synthesis of Inositol, 540; Reduction of Oxides of 
Copper, Lead, Nickel, P. Sabatier and L. Espil, 551; 
Analysis of Small Quantities of Gas, P. A. Guye, 551; 
Atomic Weight of Iodine, M. Guichard, 552; Addition 
of Hydrogen to Aliphatic Compounds, etc., A. Brochet 
and M. Bauer, 552; Scheme of Semipermeability of 
Living Cells to Ions, P. Girard, 657 

Child, the: its Care, Diet, and Common Ills, 
Mather Sill, 4 

Childhood of Animals, Dr. P. Chalmers Mitchell, 371; 
Childhood of the World, E. Clodd, 426 

Chilka Lake Fauna, Dr. N. Annandale and S. W. Kemp, 


1D aan OF 


473 

Chin, Man’s, D. M. Shaw, 531 

China and Japan: Carnegie Peace Report, C. W. Eliot, 22; 
Chinese Palzontology, Dr. C. D. Walcott, S. Weller, 
H. Girty, F.R.C. Reed, 123 

Chloroform: Action on Metallic Sulphates, A. Conduché, 
261; Chloroform Deaths, Prof. MacWilliam, 595 

Chlorophyll, Action of Light on, H. Wager, 49; Chloro- 
phyll, R. Willstatter and A. Stoll, 451 

Cholera, Liver Defence against, H. Violle, 421; Action of 
Thorium and Lanthanum Salts on Bacillus of, 657 

Chordate Development, Outlines, Prof. W. E. Kellicott, 295 

Christianity, E. McClure, A. E. Crawley, 81; Precursors 
of Christianity, J. G. Frazer, A. E. Crawley, 476 

Circle: Triangle giving Area and Circumference of any 
Circle, and Diameter of Circle equal to given Square, 
T. M. P. Hughes, Prof. G. B. Mathews, 110 

Cirques, Prof. J. W. Gregory, 330 

City and Guilds Institute, 577 

Civil Service: Estimates, 99; 
Book, 180; Royal Commission, 
List Pensions, 485 

Clare Island: Tree Growth, A. C. Forbes, 260; Survey, 
446, 620 

Classification, Zoological, Dr. F. A. Bather, 189 

Clay : Phenomena of Clay Suspensions, B. A. Keen, 321; 
Technical Control of Colloidal Matter of Clays, H. E. 
Ashley, Dr. J. W. Mellor, 363; Vitrification, G. H. 
Brown and others, Dr. J. W. Mellor, 363 

Climate: Climate as tested by Fossil Plants, Prof. A. C. 
Seward, 102; the Change in Climate and its Cause, 
Major R. A. Marriott, 108; Climate, Prof. E. de 
Martonne, 293; Climatic Change, C. E. P. Brooks, 


Blue 
Civil 


Royal Commission, 
Report, 431; 


532; Secular Changes in Arid America, Prof. E. 
Huntington and others, 617; Climatic Factors for 
Health Resorts, Dr. J. v. Hann, 621; Climate of 


Lorenzo Marques, Sir A. de A. Teixeira, 652 
Clouds of California, Dr. F. A. Carpenter, 592 
Coal: Coal Bed Formation, J. J. Stevenson, 119; Structure, 


.W. C. Grummitt and Dr. Hickling, 288; die 
Wichtigsten Lagerstatten der “Nichterze,” Prof. O. 
Stutzer, 348; Solvents of Coal, L. Vignon, 368; 


Synthetic Preparation of Coal Gas, L. Vignon, 447; 
Williams’s Fire Damp Indicator, 461 

Coast Sand Dunes, G. O. Case, 583 

Cobalt in Canada, 568 

Cobar Copper Field, E. C. Andrews, 17 

Cobra Poison, Preservation, M. Calmette and L. Massol, 
551 

Coconut Cultivation and Plantation Machinery, H. 
Coghlan and J. W. Hinchley, 237 

Coleoptera, British, Dr. W. W. Fowler and H. St. J. 
Donisthorpe, 343 

Colour: Colour Inheritance, Prof. W. E. Castle, C. C. 
Little, 142: Photography in Colours, Dr. G. L. John- 
son, 2774; Development of Colour Pattern in Mammals 
and Birds, Dr. G. M. Allen, 591, 651: Colour Vision: 
Colour Sense of Bees, Dr. F. -Stellwaag, 221; 
“Flashing Flowers,” Prof. F. A. W. Thomas, 348; 
Anomalous Trichromatic Colour Vision, Prof. W. 
Watson, 293; Abnormal Types, Dr. Louis Bell, 414; 
Board of Trade Tests, 487 

Combustion, Surface, Prof. W. A. Bone, 202 


L. 


Comets: Halley’s Comet, Prof. E. E. Barnard, 541 ; Comet 
1913f (Delavan), Orbit, 316; 541, 569, 594; Chart, 622, 
671; Comet 1914a (Kritzinger), 121, 144, 223, 250, 
437; Comet 1914b (Zlatinsky), 303, 330; Orbit, Mr. 
Crawford and Miss Levy, 384, 437; Spectrum, Dr. 
Slipher, 653 ; Comet 1914c (Neujmin), 488, 515 

Commemoration of Roger Bacon, 354, 405 

Commercial Geography, Elementary, Dr. H. R. Mill, F. 
Allen, 134 

Commission, Radio-telegraphic, 490; International Com- 
mission on Chemical Analysis of Soils, 598 

Commutator Motors, Single Phase, F. Creedy, 54 

Comparison Spectrum, Dr. J. Lunt, 251 

Composition of Atmosphere, N. P. Campbell, 507 

Concrete: Reinforced Concrete: London Buildings Act 
1909 Amendment, 39; Contraction of Armoured Con- 
crete, M. Considére, 232; Cement, Concrete, and 
Bricks, A. B. Searle, 265; Manual for Masons, Con- 
crete Workers, etc., Prof. v. d. Kloes, A. B. Searle, 
530 

Coueention: Electronic Theories, Prof. W. Wien, 93 

Conductivity of Salt Vapours, S. J. Kalandyk, 523 

Conferences: All India Sanitary, 66; International Phyto- 
pathological, at Rome, go, 167 

Congresses: Americanists, at Washington, October 5-10, 
36, 434; Congress of Engineers at San Francisco in 
1915, 65, 565; Tropical Agriculture, in London, 219, 
416, 489; Irish Technical Instruction Association at 
Killarney, 393; Royal Sanitary Institute at Blackpool, 
517; Archzeological Societies: Ancient Monuments, 668 

Constitution : Constitution of Atoms and Molecules, Prof. 
J. W. Nicholson, 268; Constitution of Alloys, Dr. W. 


Guertler, Dr. C. H. Desch, 605; Constitution and 
Heredity in Relation to Pathology, Prof. F. Martius, 
606 

Continents and their People: South America, J. F. 


Chamberlain and A. H. Chamberlain, 83 

Convection, Rapid, in Stellar Atmospheres, Prof. W. W. 
Campbell, 671 

Convict, the English, Dr. C. Goring, 86 

“Conway” Manual, J. Morgan, T. P. Marchant, and A. L. 
Wood, 660 

Cook Statue in London, 460 

Cookery : Domestic Science, Matilda G. Campbell, 5; a 
Proper Newe Booke of Cokerye, Catherine F. Frere, 53 

Cooperation, Evolution by, H. Reinheimer, A. E. Crawley, 


55 

Copper: Cobar Field, N.S.W., E. C. Andrews, 17; Atomic 
Weight by Electrolysis, G. Shrimpton, 471 

Coppersmiths, Gipsy, Andreas, 57 

Coral: Alex. Agassiz and Funafuti Boring, Prof. J. W. 
Judd, 31, 135; Dr. F. Wood-Jones, 135; Origin of 
Coral Reefs off Florida, Dr. W. Vaughan, 466; Sea- 
fans or Gergonians, 466 

Cotton Fibre, W. L. Balls, 308 

Country Month by Month, (Mrs.) J. A. Owen and Prof. 
G. S. Boulger, 4o1 

Crab causing Galls on Coral, F. A. Potts, 341 

Cremation among Maoris, E. Best, 566 

Crete: Camping in Crete, A. Trevor-Battye, (Caves), 
Dorothea M. A. Bate, 29; Crete Excavations, Miss 
Eee aall e537 

Criminals, Study of, A. MacDonald, 66; 
Crime, Dr. C. Goring, 86 

Crocodile on Zambesi, 666 

Cr6é6 Magnon Man: Imprints of his Hand, Prof. W. J. 
Sollas, 240 

Crustacea: Crustaceans of South Africa, K. H. Barnard, 
119; Antarctic Crustacea Schizopoda, H. J. Hansen, 
149; Stalk-eyed Malacostraca (Scotia’s Voyage), Rev. 

R. R. Stebbing, 207; Crustacea from Falkland 

Isles, Rev. T. R. R. Stebbing, 260 

Cryptogames, Dr. F. Pelourde, 425 

Crystals: Crystalline Structures as Revealed by X-Rays, 
Prof. W. H. Bragg, 124, 494; Mobility of Molecules in 
Solid Crvstal, F. Wallerant, 260; Hematite from India, 
Dr. L. L. Fermor, 472; British Association Address, 
Prof. Pope, 645, 681; New Method of Measurement by 
X-Rays, F. Canac, 657 

Cubic, Twisted, and Cubical Hyperbola, P. W. Wood, 159 

Cuckoos, Dr. J. Rennie, 543 


Criminal and 


XXil 


Cultivation of Oil Palm, F. M. Milligan, 608 

Culture: Kultur der Gegenwart, 423 

Currents in Belle Isle Strait, Dr. W. B. Dawson, 175 
Cyclone in Cheshire, A. H. Hignett, 93 

Cytological Aspects of Heredity, Dr. Doncaster: Dr. Gates 
' and Miss N. Thomas, 175 


Dairying, Chemistry of Cattle Feeding and, J. A. Murray, 


Peed Seismographs, Prince B. Galitzin, 349 

Dams, 530 

Deafness, M. Yearsley, 512 : 

Death under Chloroform, Prof. MacWilliam; Dr. Lewis; 

Deaths : Anderson (Prof. R. J.), 564; Anwyl (Sir Edward), 
618; Ayrton (E. R.), 327; Bailey (Dr. W. W.), 36; 
Barlow (Dr.), 411; Bone (Mrs. W. A.), 618; Burch 
(Dr. George James, F.R.S., 90, 114; Burrows (Dr. 
Harry), 64; Chamberlain (Joseph, F.R.S.), 484; Dean 
(Prof. George), 358; Duncan (Dr. R. K.), 13; Fischer 
(Prof. A.), 194; Fisher (Rev. Osmond), 511; (Dr. C. 
Davison), 535; Fonvielle (Wilfred de), 247; Freund 
(Miss Ida); 299, 327; Gott (John), 36; Gray (Robert 
Kaye), 246; Green (Dr. Joseph Reynolds, F.R.S.), 
(Prof. S. H. Vines, F.R.S.), 379; Harper (Dr. R. F.), 
650; Head (Dr. Barclay V.), 411; Héroult (Paul), 381; 
Hill (Dr. George William), 246; Holden (Prof. E. S.), 
63, 89; Hood (John), 589; Hooper (Dr. Franklin W.), 
649; Houston (Dr. E. J.), 63; Hovey (Rev. Dr. Horace 
Carter), 650; Huber (Dr. J.), 168; Huxley (Mrs.), 140; 
Julkes-Browne (Alfred John, F.R.S.), 649, 667; Julian 
(Henry Forbes), 14; Kronecker (Prof. Hugo, For. 
Mem. R.S.), (Sir L. Brunton), 410; Lieben (Prof. 
Adolf), 411, 534; Mercalli (Prof: G.), 194; Minchin 
(Prof. George M., F.R.S.), 90, 115; Murray (Sir John, 
K.C.B., F.R.S.), 63; (Sir A. Geikie), 88; Nixon (Sir 
Christopher), 536; Peirce (C. S. S.), 246; Pierce (Dr. 
ASHE 365) Boynting (Profs aegis, Bakes). 116, (Sir 
Oliver Lodge), 138; Pye-Smith (Dr. Philip Henry, 
F.R.S.), 326, 356; Reclus (Paul), 589; Russell (Hon. 
Francis Albert Rollo), 116, 140; Salinas (Prof. 
Antonino), 63; Schéney (Dr. L.), 13; Sharman (G.), 
116; Stone (Sir Benjamin), 484; Storer (Prof. F. 
Humphreys), 618; Suess (Prof. Eduard, For. Mem. 
R.S.), 219, (Prof. J. W. Judd), 245; Swan (Sir Joseph 
Wiitson, F.R.S.), 355; Thorp (Thomas), 460; Tieghem 
(M. van), 247; True (Dr. F. W.), 484; Wallace (Alfred 
Russel, O.M., F.R.S.), [see Vol. xcii., 322, 347]; West 
(William), 327; Westinghouse (George), 64; Winchell 
(Newton H.), 274 

Deinocephalia, D. M. S. Watson, 367 

Denmark, Recent Botanical Work, 627 

Densities of Planets, Dr. S. Brodetsky, 33; Densities of 
Minerals at High Temperatures, A. L. Day and 
others, 413 

Dental Diseases and Public Health, Dr. J. S. Wallace, 161 

Descriptive Geometry, Prof. J. C. Tracey and Prof. H. B. 
North, 348 

Destruction of Peafowl in India, Sir H. H. Johnston, 559 

Deto, Prof. C. Chilton, 419 

Devonian of Maryland, A. J. Jukes-Browne, 386 

,Dewlish Trench, 381, 511 

Diabetes, Steps by Government of Madras, 668 

Diamond Fields of South Africa, Dr. P. A. Wagner, 527 

Dictionaries: Dictionary of Applied Chemistry, Sir E. 
Thorpe and others, Dr. J. W. Mellor, 27; Routledge’s 
New Dictionary of the English Language, 453 

Diesel Engine, Prof. G. J. Wells and A. J. Wallis Tayler, 
265 

Diformdiol-neroxide, Dr. H. J. H. Fenton, 303 

Dinosaur, Dwarf Horned, 196 

Disease: Tuberculosis, 18, 30, 314; Deficiency Diseases, 
Prof. T. Johnson, 41-42; Transmission of Plague by 
Fleas, 63; Granuloma venereum, Drs. Aragao and 
Vianna, 142; New Treatment for Anthrax, C. 
Fortineau, 181; Kala-azar, A. Laveran, 207; Tumours, 
Dr. C. P. White, 235; Induced Cell-reproduction and 
Cancer, and other Papers, H. C. Ross, J. W. Cropper, 
and others, 235; Cancer, Dr. Woglom and others, at 
Columbia University, 397, 606; Silica in the Lung, 
Dr. McCrae, 413; Sleeping Sickness, 127, 274, 445, 


# madex 


Dual 


Nature, 
October 1, 1914 


522; Report, 587; Tropical Diseases Research Fund: 
Report, 673 

Diseases of Cattle, Treatment, Major Holmes, 435 

Diseases of Plants: Rice, Dr. Butler, 96; International 
Convention, 167; Diseases of Plants, 226, 264; of 
Tropical Plants, Prof. M. T. Cook, 425 

Dispersion, Lecture Experiment on Irrationality of, Prof. 
S. P. Thompson, tor ; 

Distillery Vinasses, Prof. C. Matignon, 540 

Diurnal Variations of Latitude, J. Boccardi, 172 

Divine Mystery, A. Upward, A. E. Crawley, 81 

Divining Rod and Water in Pipes, M. Marage, 128 

Dogfish, Venous System, Dr. C. H. O’Donoghue, 367 

Dogs Protection Bill, 195, 459; Prohibition of Experiments 
on Dogs, Sir E. A. Schafer, 242 

Domestic: Text-book of Domestic Science for High 
Schools, Matilda G. Campbell, 5; a Proper Newe 
Booke of Cokereye, Cath. F. Frere, 53; Foods and 
Household Management, Prof. Helen Kinne and Anna 
M. Cooley, 83 

Doppler Effect and Carnot’s ley bp 
Callendar, 59, 109 

Dragonflies, Wing-venation, R. J. Tillyard, 525 

Drops: Tate’s Law, and Variation of Size with Speed, P. 
Vaillant, 155 

Phenomenon with X-Rays, I. 
W. F. D. Chambers, 402 

Dublin Gorilla, Prof. G. H. Carpenter, 136 

Durban Museum Annals, 567 

Durham, Glaciology, C. T. Trechmann, 340 

Dyeing : “The Art of Dying,” Prof. W. M. Gardner, 343 

Dynamics: Lecons sur la Dynamique des Systémes 
matériels, Prof. E. Delassus, 28; Theory of Relativity, 
Prof. R. D. Carmichael, 28; Dynamical Units for 
Meteorology, F. J. W. Whipple, 427; Dynamics of 
Vibration, C. V. Raman, 622; Dynamics, Prof. H. 
Lamb, 662; see also Relativity 


Principle, Prof. 


G. Rankin and 


Early Slide Rule, D. Baxandall, 8 

Earth, the: Work of Darwin and Wallace, Dr. A. Strahan, 
76; Figure of the Earth, Dr. W. L. Jordan, 121; Dr. 
Vérronet, 670; Origin of the Moon and the Earth’s 
Contraction, Dr. J. Ball, 188; Rev. O. Fisher, 213 

Earthquakes, Luminous Phenomena of, Count de M. 
de Ballore, 93; Messina, 143; Benguet, Luzon, 
Rev. M. S. Masd, 250; Sicilian Earthquake of May 8, 
Dr. C. Davison, 272; Distribution of Large Earth- 
quakes in Time and Space, Rev. H. V. Gill, 276; 
Earthquake House at Comrie, C. Carus-Wilson, 328; 
Panama, 357; Philippine Islands, 568; see also 
Seismology 

Echidnas, Long-beaked, Dr. Kerbert, 197 

Echinoderma: Permeability of Eggs to Electrolytes, J. 
Gray, 8; Echinoderma of the Indian Museum, Prof. R. 
Koehler, 529 

Eclipse, Total, of Sun on August 21: Electric Waves and 
the Eclipse, 68; Note, 94; in Turkey and Persia, Prof. 
D. Todd, 311; Map of Armenia, 330; Proposed Inter- 
national Magnetic Observations, Dr. Bauer, 507; the 
Total Eclipse (with Maps), Dr. W. J. S. Lockyer, 508; 
Brit. Assn. Comm. Radiotelegraphic Programme, 590, 
618; Notes, 623, 654; Telegrams from Greenwich Party 
and from Father Cortie, 667 

Ecology: Ecology of Plants, Dr. O. Drude, 425; Crypto- 
gams, W. West, 498; Animal Communities in Chicago 
Region, Dr. Shelford, 665 

Economics: Influence of Gold Supply on Prices and Profits, 
Sir D. Barbour, 2947 Social” Insurance} lage Mc 
Rubinow, 294; Investigating an Industry, W. Kent, 
632; Principles of Economics, Prof. H. R. Seager, 632 

Eddies in Atmosphere, G. 1. Taylor, 288 

Education: “Bill’s School and Mine”: Essays, W. S. 
Franklin, 30; Practical Education in Schools, J. 
Wilson, 146; Primary Education and Beyond, 173; 
Education in India, 200; Carnegie Trust, 279; Cam- 
bridge Previous Examination, 440; Technical Educa- 
tion in France and Germany, J. C. Smail, J. H. 
Reynolds, 465; Schools and the Nation, Dr. G. 
Kerschensteiner, C. K. Ogden, 505; Future of Educa- 
tion, F. C. C. Egerton, 583; Rural Education in South 


Nature, | 
October 1, 1914 


Lnadex 


XXIll 


Africa, Prof. G. Potts, 623; Schools and Employers 

in the United States, Miss W. Jevons, 627; the 

Thinking Hand: Practical Education in the Elementary 

School, J. G. Legge, 633; Dr. Montessori’s Own Hand- 

book, 659; Montessori Method and American Schools, 

Prof. F. E. Ward, 659; Path’ to Freedom in the School, 

659; Board of Education Circular on Geometry, 686 

Life-history, Dr. Grassi; Einar Lea; A. Bowman, 

164; Elvers, J. S. Elliott, 249 

Eelworm Disease of Rice, Dr. E. J. Butler, 96; Means of 
Collecting Eelworms, Miss. M. V. Lebour and T. H. 
Taylor, 242 

Egg Laying Competition, 221; Centrifuged Egg of Frog, 
Dr. Jenkinson, 359 

Egypt: Ancient Custom of Killing the King, Miss M. A. 
Murray, 14; Gravity Determinations, P. A. Curry, 17; 
Egyptian Art, Sir G. Maspero, Elizabeth Lee, 210; 


Eel, 


Humphrey Gas Pumps for draining Lake Mareotis, | 


436-7; Egyptian Mummies, Prof. G. 


E. Smith, 566; 
Coptic Cloths, Prof. F. Petrie, 567 


Elastic Limits under Alternating Stress Conditions, C. E. 


Stromeyer, 340; Elasticity and Resistance of Bricks, 
Stone, Mortar, Cement, A. Montel, 609 
Electric Arc: Effect of Variation of Voltage on Arc with 
Alternating Current, M. Hamy, and M. Millochau, 
232; Absorbing Power of Electric Arc for its own 
Radiations, G. Gouy, 207 
Axis of Human Heart, Dr. A. D. Waller, 313 
Currents: Alternating Currents, Dr. Rhodes, 54; Capt. 
Hall, 477; Persistence of Currents without E.M.F. in 
Super-conductors, H. K. Onnes, 481, 524; Measure- 
ment of Alternating Currents of High Frequency, A. 
Campbell and D. W. Dye, 522 
Discharge of Narcine, Dr. W. A. Jolly, 
Emissivity at High Temperatures, Dr. 
and W. F. Higgins, 189, 340, 561 
Engineering : Primer on Alternating Currents, Dr. W. G. 
Rhodes, 54; Single Phase Commutator Motors, F. 
Creedy, 54; Allgemeine Elektrotechnik, Prof. P. Janet, 
F. Suchting and E. Riecke, 54; Electric Power Supply 
in London, 198; Uses of Inductance Coils or React- 
ances, K. M. Faye-Hansen and J. S. Peck, 222; Hydro- 
electric Plant on the Mississippi, 250; Switchgear and 
Control of Circuits, A. G. Collis, 477; Elementary 
Theory of Alternate Current Working, Capt. G. L. 
Hall, 477; Electricity in Mining, Siemens _ Bros. 
Dynamo Works, Ltd., 477; Electric Circuit Theory 
and Calculations, W. P. Maycock, 477; Circular issued 
by Council of Institution of Electrical Engineers rela- 
tive to the War, 650 
Field: Analogy to Zeeman Effect, J. Stark, 280; Effect 
on Spectrum Lines, Prof. Stark and others, 360 
Foam Walls, Prof. Quincke, 198 
Lamps: Thermionic Current in Carbon Filament Lamp, 
Prof. A. S. Eve, 32; Development of the Incandescent 
Electric Lamp, G. B. Barham, 54; Unidirectional 
Currents in Carbon Filament Lamp, F. Ll. Hopwood, 
84; Experiments with an Incandescent Lamp, C. W. S. 
Crawley and Dr. S. W. J. Smith, 367 
Power, London Supply: L.C.C. Report, 566 
Resistance : Changes due to Longitudinal and Transverse 
Magnetisation of Iron, Dr. C. G. Knott, 420; Demon- 
stration of Ampére Molecular Current in a Perfect 
Conductor, Prof. H. K. Onnes, 481, 524 
Traction, Railless, 120 
Waves and the Total Solar Eclipse, 68; Transmission of 
Electric Waves round the Bend of the Earth, Dr. W. 
Eccles, 321, 351 
Electricity : Electrical Condition of a Gold Surface during 
Absorption of Gases, H. Hartley, 75; Null Method of 
Testing Vibration Galvanometers, S. Butterworth, 367 ; 
Cours de Physique Générale, Tome I., H. Ollivier, 
502; Electrification of Water by Splashing, J. J. Nolan, 
522 
Electricity, Atmospheric: Potential Gradient in Industrial 
Districts, D. W. Steuart and I. Jérgensen, 207; Com- 
parisons for Kew and Eskdalemuir, G. Dobson, 588 
Electrolytes : Permeability of Echinoderm Eggs to Electro- 
lytes, J. Grav, 8; Application of Electrolytic Luminosity, 
L. H. Walter, 394; Electrolytic Rectifier, Messrs. 
Tsenthal, 487 


577 
G 


. W. C. Kaye 


Electromagnetism : das Relativitatsprinzip, Leo Gilbert, 56; 
Electromagnet to give Magnetic Field of 100,000 gauss, 
H. Deslandres and A. Perot, 102 

Electronic Theories of Conduction through Metals, Prof. W. 
Wien, 93; Initial Velocities of Photo-electric Electrons, 
G. A. Dima, 395 

Elements of the Seventh Group of the Periodic System, 
Prof. R. Abegg, Dr. F. Auerbach, 184 

Elephant, Malay Race of Indian, R. Lydekker, 
Elephant Protection in Assam, 567 

Elizabeth Linnazus Phenomenon, Prof. F. A. W. Thomas, 
348 

Blizabethan Cookery-book, Cath. F. Frere, 53 

Elvers in the Ouse, J. S. Elliott, 249 

Embryology: Text-book of General Embryology, Prof. 
W.E. Kellicott, 106; Zelien-und Gewerbelehre Morpho- 
logie und Entwicklungsgeschichte, E. Strasburger und 
O. Hertwig, and others, 106; Entwicklungsgeschichte 
der Wirbeltiere, und Entwicklungsmechanik, Dr. O. 
Levy, 106; Terminologie der Entwickelungsmechanik 
der Tiere und Pflanzen, W. Roux, 131; Outlines of 
Chordate Development, Prof. W. E. Kellicott, 295; 
Centrifuged Egg of Frog, Dr. Jenkinson, 359; Leit- 
faden fir das Embryologische Praktikum, Prof. ‘A. 
Oppel, 606; Notes, 619 

Emulsions, Cellular Structure of, Prof. K. Grant, 162; 
Sir joseph, Larmor, 213;) Drs CG. Ha Desch, 7214 7H. 
Wager, 240; Prof. W. M. F. Petrie, 269; C. -R. 
Darling, 376; Clay Suspensions, B. A. Keen, 321 

Engineering: Congress at San Francisco in 1915, 65; 
Engineering Workshop Exercises, E. Pull, 108; Utilisa- 
tion of Ground near Harbours and Stations, H. Ollen- 
dorff, 120; Studies in Water Supply, Dr. A. C. 
Houston, 133; Water: its Purification and Use in the 
Industries, W. W. Christie, 133; Practical Science for 
Engineering Students, H. Stanley, 236; Schilowsky 
Gyroscopic Two-wheeled Car, Prof. Boys, 251; Wooden 
Trestle Bridges and Concrete Substitutes, W. C. Foster, 
267; Mechanical Engineer’s Reference Book, H. H. 
Suplee, 295; Kelvin Medal, 327; Engineering Index 
Annual, 1913, 453; Railways, E. Protheroe, 501; 
Manual for Masons, etc., Prof. v. d. Kloes, A. B. 
Searle, 530; Suspension Bridges, Prof. W. H. Burr, 
609; Technical Mechanics, Statics, and Dynamics, 
Prof. E. R. Maurer, 609; Mechanical Refrigeration, 
Prof. H. J. Macintire, 609; the Human Factor in 
Works Management, J. Hartness, 609; Elasticita e 
resistenza dei corpi pietrosi, etc., Ing. A. Montel, 609 ; 
Vibrations of Structures, due to Earth Tremors, Prof. 
L. Grunmach, 627; see also Electric Engineering 

Engines: Farm Gas Engines, Prof. Hirshfeld and T. C. 
Ulbricht, 265; Diesel Engine, Prof. G. J. Wells and 
A. J. Watlis-Tayler, 265; Fireless Locomotive for 
Explosive Depét, 671 

English Year: Autumn and Winter, W. B. Thomas and 
A. K. Collet, 353 

Enhanced Manganese Lines, F. E. Baxandall, 278 

Entomology : Cocoon of Lyonetia clerkella, 66; Mechanism 
of Suction in Lygus pabulinus, P. R. Awati, 101; 
Heteromerous Coleoptera from New Guinea, K. : 
Blair, tor; Notes, 169; Canadian Entomological 
Service, 226; Termites, T. Petch, 466; Wing-venation 
of Odonata, R. J. Tillyard, 525; see also Insects 

Entropy Formula, Dr. K. F. Herzfeld, 302 

Enzyme Action, H. S. Barendrecht, 39 

Epilepsy Treatment by Snake Poison, A. Calmette and A 
Mézie, 128 

Equations of Fifth Degree, Icosahedron and, Prof. Klein, 
Dr. Morrice, 662 : 

Ergot, Isolation of Acetylcholine from, A. J. Ewins, 9 

Eros Opposition, 488 

Eskimo, My Life with the, V. Stefansson, 400 

Essex River System, Prof. J. W. Gregory, 232 

Ethnology : Gypsy Bibliography, Dr. G. F. Black, 4; Pre- 
historic Cave Paintings, Dr. Capitan, 1’Abbé Breuil, and 
others, Dr. W. Wright, 9; Gipsy Coppersmiths in Liver- 
pool, Andreas, 57; Languages of Borneo, S. H. Ray, 
118; the Golden Bough, Prof. J. G. Frazer, A. E. 
Crawley, 157, 476; Frazer Fund, 312; Africa, Sir H. H. 
Tohnston, 274; Stone Technique of the Maori, E. Best, 
Dr. A. C. Haddon, 298; Chilula Indians, 300; Marriage 


102 ; 


XX1V 


[nex 


Nature, 
October 1, 1914 


Ceremonies in Morocco, Prof. E. Westermarck, A. E. 
Crawley, 319; Urgent Needs, Dr. A. C. Haddon, 407; 
Thompson River, British Columbia, 412; Maya Art, 
H. J. Spinden, 454; New Pacific Ocean Script in 
Caroline Isles, Prof. J. M. Brown, 486; How Man 
Conquered Nature, Minnie J. Reynolds, 505; Spirit 
Belief in Jataka Stories, N. Chalkravarti, 657 

Eugenics, 15; American Laws and Reports, 196; 512; 
Progress of Eugenics, Dr. C. W. Saleeby, 527 

Euschistus: Results of Crossing, Miss K. Foot and Miss 
Be Ge) Strobel 7 

Eutectic Growth, F. E. E. Lamplough and J. T. Scott, 420 

Evolution : Evolution by Cooperation, H. Reinheimer, A. E. 
Crawley, 55; Lectures at Washington, 195; Meaning 
of Evolution, Prof. S. C. Schmucker, 581 

Exhibition of African Big Game, 461 

Explosions: Instrument for recording Pressure due to 
Explosions in Tubes, J. D. Morgan, 231; Photographic 
Analysis of Explosion Flames traversing Magnetic 
Field, Prof. H. B. Dixon and others, 445 

Explosives, Wm. Macnab, 518 


Face de la Terre, Prof. E. Suess, E. de Margerie, 293 

Falcon, Peregrine, F. -Heatherley, 585; W. E. Hart, 
Reviewer, 633 

Falkland Isles, Geology, T. G. Halle, 170 

Faraday Society : Discussion on Rotatory Power, 122 

Farm Gas Engines, Prof. C. F. Hirshfeld and T. C. 
Ulbricht, 265 

Fatigue, Physical and Mental, and Blood Pressure, J. M. 
Lahy, 103, 473 

Feeding Trials with Oxen and Sheep, Prof. Wood and 
GavU.) Yule; ens54 

Ferments: die Gdarungsgewerbe und ihre naturwissen- 
schaftlichen Grundlagen, Prof. Henneberg und Dr. G. 
Bode, Prof. Hewlett, 2; Defensive Ferments of the 
Animal Organism, E. Abderhalden, Dr. Gavronsky and 
W. F. Lanchester, 213; Reactions of Two Ferments, 
J. Giaja, 603 

Fibres, Textile, Dr. Stirm; Dr. J. M. Matthews, 211 

Fire: International Fire Service Council, 434; Emergency 
Fire Service Corps, 618 

Fireballs, W. F. Denning, 384 

Firedamp Indicator, Williams’s, 461 

Fireless Locomotive, 670 

Fish : Pacific Coast Salmon and Halibut, Dr. McMurrich, 
124; Ciliary Mechanisms: in Gills, J. H. Orton, 124; 
Egg of Sea Urchin, J. Gray, 124; Life-history of the 
Eel, Dr. Grassi; E. Lea; A. Bowman, 164; Flat 
Fishes, Dr. Kyle, 201; Plaice,* Prof. Heincke, 201; 
Japanese Fishes and Nomenclature, 225; Distribution 
of Antarctic Fishes, C. T. Regan, 260; Change of 
Depth at Night, S. A. S. Albert, Prince of Monaco, 
368; Venom of Notesthes robusta, L. Kesteven, 473 

Fisheries: Plaice, 169; Reorganisation of Fishery Authori- 
ties, 324; Report of Inshore Fisheries, 324; Scottish 
Fishery Board’s Report on North Sea, 362; Report on 
Sea Fisheries, 462; Hilsa Hatchery, 462; Salmon and 
Smelt : Blue Books, 486; International Fishery Investi- 
gations, 510; New Trawling Ground for Madras, 567; 
Traité Raisonné de la Pisciculture, Prof. L. Roule, 
631; Fluctuations in Yield of Sea Fisheries, Dr. J. 
Hjort, 672 

Fishermen, Technical Education for, 615 

Flashing Flowers, F. A. W. Thomas, 348 

Flax Industry, Revival, Dr. J. V. Eyre, 16 

Fleas, Transmission of Plague by, 63 

Flies: Flies and Disease: Non-bloodsuckers, Dr. G. S. 
Graham-Smith, 653; Feeding Habits of Stable-fly, Dr. 
C. G. Hewitt, 655 

Floating Particles, Movements of, G. A. Reid, 60; Lord 
Rayleigh, 83 

Floods, Forests and, Dr. J. Aitken, 506 

Flow of Sand, etc., Prof. E. A. Hersam, 277 

Flowers: British Flowering Plants, Mrs. Perrin, 65; 
Flower Carvings in Stone, Miss I. M. Roper, 195; 
Flashing Flowers, Prof. F. A. W. Thomas, 348 _ 

Fluids with Visible Molecules, Prof. Jean Perrin, 332 
Fluid Motions: Royal Institution Discourse, Lo rd 
Rayleigh, 364 


Fluorine in Fresh Water, A. Gautier and P. Claussmann, 
368, 

Flying Machine, Langley, 564; Flying Crustacean reported 
from Palawan, 620 

Foam Walls, Electric, Prof. Quincke, 1098 

Food: Vitamines, Prof. T. Johnson, 41; Foods and House- 
hold Management, Prof. Helen Kinne and Anna M. 
Cooley, 83 ; Food Exhibition at Dublin, 565 

Ford Motor-car Works, 515 

Forestry : Saxony State Forests, A. D.. Hopkinson, 38; 
Protection from Fire in Panjab, 67; Logging, Prof. 
R. C. Bryant, 82; State Forestry in Ireland, 273; 
Forestry in New Zealand, 377; Forests and Floods, 
Dr. J. Aitken, 506; Shorea robusta for Railway 
Sleepers, R. S. Pearson, 545; Joint Annual Bea of 
Forestry Branches, 651 

Forged “ Anticipation,” 563 

Fossils: Stanford’s Atlas Plates for Great Britain, 30; 
Fossil Oysters with Ligament, R. W. Pocock, 59; 
Fossil Brachiopods, C. D. Walcott, 62; Climate as 
tested by Fossil Plants, Prof. A. C. Seward, 102; 
Fossil Crinoids from Mississippi, R. S. Bassler, 149; 
Fossil Plants from Kentucky, Dr. D. H. Scott and 
Prof. Jeffrey, 313; Fossil Invertebrates, Prof. K. von 
Zittel, Prof. ©." KR. ‘Eastman (661 ;) sees also 
Paleontology 

Foucault Currents in Soft Iron Core, A. Defretin, 472 

Four-dimensional Model, Dr. D. M. Y. Sommerville, 420 

Fowls, Reproduction, M. R. Curtis; Alice M. Boring and 
R. Pearl, 538 

Fractions, Property of Chain-, Prof. G. B. Mathews, 136 

France, Trade and Education, 465 

Frazer Fund, 312 

French Association at Havre, 533, 595 

Frit-fly, T. R. Hewitt, 368 

Funafuti Boring, Alexander Agassiz and, Prof. J. W. Judd, 
31, 135; Dr. F. Wood-Jones, 135 

Fungi: British Rust Fungi, W. B. Grove, 264; Mildews, 
Rusts, and Smuts, G. and Ivy Massee, 264; Fungi 
which cause Plant Disease, Prof. F. L. Stevens, 264 ; 
Subterranean Parts of Fruit Bodies of Hymenomycetes, 
Prof. A. H. R. Buller, 655 

Fur-trade, 90 


Galegine, Constitution, G. Tanret, 368 

Galls, Animal, C. Houard, 187 

Galvanometers, Null Method of Testing Vibration, S. 
Butterworth, 367 

Game in Zambezia, 665; see also Big Game 

Gannett, J. H. Gurney, 113 

Garden: Chemistry of the Garden, D. R. Edwardes-Ker, 
161; Garden Farming, L. C. Corbett, 553; Horti- 
cultural Notebook, J. C. Newsham, 557 

Gases: Specific Heats, H. N. Mercer, tor; Attempts to 
produce Rare Gases by Electric Discharge, T. R. 
Merton, 522; Gases retained by Iodine and Silver, 603 

Genetics: Tetraploid Plants in Primula sinensis, R. P. 
Gregory, 259; Elemente der Exakten Erblichkeitslehre 
mit Grundziigen Biologischen Variationsstatistik, Prof. 

. W. Johannsen, 581; Selektionsprinzip, Prof. L. Platte, 

©81; Einfithrung in die Vererbungswissenschaft, Prof. 
R. Goldschmidt, 581; Meaning of Evolution, Prof. 
S. C. Schmucker, 581; see Heredity 

Geodesy: Practical Surveying and Elementary Geodesy, 
Prof. H. Adams, 236; Isostasy and a Zone of Weak- 
ness: the Asthenosphere, Prof. J. Barrell, 493 ; Adjust- 
ment of Level Net in United States, 651 

Geography : Antarctic Expedition, Sir Douglas Mawson, 11, 
466; Crete, A. Trevor-Battye, Dorothea M. A. Bate, 
29; Inscriptions left by Navigators in South Africa, 
L. Péringuey, 38; Sir E. Shackleton’s Transantarctic 
Expedition, 36, 65, 450, 536; Commercial Geography, 
Dr. H. R. Mill, 134; Early Norse Visits to North 
America, W. H. Babcock, 136; Carte Internationale au 
Millioniéme, 166; Scottish Antarctic Expedition, 218; 
la. Face de la Terre, Prof. Ed. Suess, Emm. de 
Margerie, 293; Traité de Géographie Phvsique, Prof. 
E. de Martonne, 293; West India Committee Map of 
the West Indies, 320; Bhutan, J. C. White, 328; My 
Life with the Eskimo, V. Stefansson, 400; German 


a 


7 = 


Po. 


Nuture, ] 
October i, 1914 


East Africa, Prof. F. Jaeger, 414; Journey in Central 
Brazil, T. Roosevelt, Dr. J. Evans, 432; Gulf 
Stream, Commander Hepworth, 441; Realm of Nature, 
Dr. H. R. Mill, 450; Junior Geography of the World, 
B. C. Wallis, 453; Exploration of Tsangpo River, 
Capt. Bailey, 460; Sir Aurel Stein in Central Asia, 
460; Wilds of Maoriland, Dr. J. M. Bell, 482; Map of 
United States, 505; Junk’s Natur-Fiihrer: die Riviera, 
A. Voigt, 580; Erdbeben- und Vulkankunde Siid- 
italiens, A. Sieberg, 580; Cambridge County Geo- 
graphies : (1) Merionethshire, A. Morris, (2) Northum- 
berland, S. R. Haselhurst, 580; Madras Presidency, 
Mysore, Coorg, etc., E. Thurston, 580 

Geological Society : Work of Darwin and Wallace : Address, 
Dr. Aubrey Strahan, 76; Geological Society of Glasgow, 
329 

Geology: Alex. Agassiz and Funafuti Boring, Prof. J. W. 
Judd, 31, 135; Dr. F. Wood-Jones, 135; Structural 
Analogies between Rocks and Metals, Prof. Fearnsides, 
44; Petrology, F. P. Mennell, 82; Coal Bed Forma- 
tion, J. J. Stevenson, 119; Red Sea, Cyril Crossland, 
163; Igneous Rocks, J. P. Iddings, 183; the Earth’s 
Contraction, Dr. J. Ball, 188; la Face de la Terre, 
Prof. E. Suess, E. de Margerie, 293; Traité de 
Géographie Physique, Prof. E. de Martonne, 293; (1) 
Varied Type of European Sedimentary Rocks, (2) Alpine 
Faults, W. Deecke, 276; Structure of Coal, W. C. 
Grummitt and Dr. Hickling, 288; Porosity of Karroo 
Rocks, A. L. du Toit, 289; Origin of Black Forest and 
Vosges, P. Kessler, 301; Recent Work in Australasia, 
307; Text-book of Geology, Prof. J. Park, 319; Origin 


of the World, R. McMillan, 320; Relation of Vredefort | 


Granite to Witwatersrand System, F. W. Penny, 341; 
Devonian of Maryland, A. K. Jukes-Browne, 386; 
Sequence of Lavas at North Head, Dunedin, Prof. P. 
Marshall, 394; Igneous Rocks and their Origin, Prof. 
R. A. Daly, 449; Diamond Fields of S. Africa, Dr. 
P. A. Wagner, 527; Capt. Vilkitski’s Arctic Isles, 539; 
Canadian Official Guides, 545; Coast Sand Dunes, 
Spits, Wastes, G. O. Case, 583; Petrographic 
Provinces, M. Stark, 592; New Jersey, 592; Geologic 
Time-table, Dr. Schuchert, 591; Minerals and _ the 
Microscope, H. G. Smith, 610; the Lost Land of 
Agulhas, Prof. E. H. L. Schwarz, 624; Geological Map 
of the Caucasus, Dr. F. Oswald, 632 
of Britain: Stanford’s Geological Atlas of Great Britain 
and Ireland, with Plates of Fossils, Horace B. Wood- 
ward, 30; Geology of Rockall, Prof. J. W. Judd, 154; 
Composition of Rockallite, Dr. H. S. Washington, 154 ; 
Essex River System, Prof. J. W. Gregory, 232; Car- 
boniferous Volcanoes of King’s County, W. D. Haigh, 
260; Carlisle-Solway Basin. Prof. J. W. Gregory, 288; 
Glaciology of South-east Durham, C. T. Trechmann, 
340; Geological Survey of Great Britain, 360; Develop- 
ment of Ammonite from Charmouth, L. F. Spath, 
394; Discoid Limestones simulating Organic Characters, 
G. Abbott, 414: Rocks from Gough Isle, Dr. R. 
Campbell, 420: Ballachulish Fold, Argyllshire, E. B. 
Bailey. 446; Wicklow Lakes, Prof. H. J. Seymour, 
577; Reptiles of Oxford Clay, Dr. C. W. Andrews, 
582; North Cornwall, H. Dewey, 592 
See also Paleontology 
Geometry: Practical Geometry and Graphics, Prof. J. 
Harrison and G. A. Baxandall, 2; Optical Representa- 
tion of Non-Euclidean Geometry, Prof. Bryan, 33; 
Persvective made Easy by Stereoscopic Diagrams, 
C. E. Benham, 108; Triangle giving Area of any 
Circle, T. M. P. Hughes, Prof. Mathews, 110; Plane 
Geometry, Prof. W. B. Ford and C. Ammerman, 159; 
Descriptive Geometry, Prof. JT. C. Tracey and Prof. 
H. B. North, 348; Board of Education Circular, 686 
German Popular Science, 373: German East Africa, Prof. 
F. Jaeger, 414; German Trade and Technical Educa- 
tion, 465 
Germanium from Vichy Water, J. Bardet, 289 
“Ghosts, All Men are,” L. P. Jacks, A. E. Crawley, 81 
Gifts and Grants: Royal Societv, for Experimental 
Research, 2000l., from Mr. J. Dewrance, 12; Army 
Air Service, 1,000,000l. Grant, 36; Shackleton Trans- 
antarctic Expedition, 1o,oool. from Civil Service, 
36; 24,0001. from Sir James Caird, 459; Civil Service 


Lndex 


XAV 


Estimates, 99; Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, 
10,000l., from Lady Wernher, 118; Agriculture in Isle 
of Man, 20,000l., bequeathed by H. B. Noble, 206; 
Government Grants for Education and Science, 259; 
Rockefeller Institution for Medical Research, 510,000l., 
from J. D. Rockefeller, 511; Ainerican Museum of 
Natural History, 1,000,000l., left by Mrs. M. K. Jesup, 
536; Paris Academy, Bonaparte Fund, 572; Yale 
Medical School, 80,o00l., in memory of Mrs. G. 
Lauder, 577; Medical Researches, Government Grants, 
590; Scottish Zoological Park, for housing, 1,o00l., 
from Lord Salvesen, 590; Toronto University Research 
Fund, 3000l. for five years, from Citizens, 656 

Gipsy Bibliography, Dr. Black, 4; Gipsy Coppersmiths, 
Andreas (Mui Shulxo), 57 

Giraffes, Nubian, brought to London in 1836, 329 

Glacial Epoch, Dr. N. O. Holst, 621 

Glaciers, Oscillations of French, 534 

Glands, Internal Secretion of Ductless, P. T. Herring, 650 

Glasgow Electric Tramways and the University, 300 

Glass, Collection of Ancient, Dr. Edith H. Hall, 220 

Gold: Electrical Condition of a Gold Surface, H. Hartley, 
75; Influence of the Gold Supply on Prices and Profits, 
Sir D. Barbour, 294 

Golden Bough: “Balder the Beautiful,” Prof. J. G. Frazer, 
A. E. Crawley, 157; Adonis, etc., Prof. J. G. Frazer, 
A. E. Crawley, 476 

Gonococcus, Vitality of Cultures, A. Lumiére, 447 

Gorilla, Dublin, Prof. G. H. Carpenter, 136 

Government Laboratory Report, 35 

Granuloma venereum, Drs. Aragoa and Vianna, 142 

Grape Must, Nitrogenous Materials of, R. Marcille, 261 

Graphical Methods, Prof. C. Runge, 159 

Grass, Manuring, G. R. Bland, 119 

Gravimetric Survey of Italy, 330 

Gravitation, Kinetic Theory of, Dr. C. F. Brush, 493 

Gravity: Gravity in Egypt and the Sudan, P. A. Curry, 
17; Action of Gravity on Gaseous Mixtures, G. Gouy, 
102; Gravity in United States, 222; Inquiry re Eleva- 
tion of Harton Colliery, E. McLennan, 507 

Greek Surgical Instruments Discovered in Ionia, 117; 
Greek Cosmical Systems, Prof. Duhem, 317; Greek 
Mathematics, Prof. G. Loria, 475 

Green Ray at Sunset, Dr. R. C. T. Evans, 664 

Greenwich, Royal Observatory, 387 

Growth of Hops, Dr. J. Schmidt, 
Growth, Dr. C. P. White, 235 

Guatemala Ruins, 248 

Guinea Pigs, Reversion in, Prof. Castle, 142 

Gulf Stream, Comm. M. W. C. Hepworth, 441 

Gunda ulvae, Influence of Osmotic Pressure on Regenera- 
tion of, Miss D. J. Lloyd, 259 

Gypsum, Dehydration, C. Gaudefroy, 499 

Gypsy Bibliography, Dr. G. F. Black, 4; Gipsy Copper- 
smiths in Liverpool and Birkenhead, Andreas (Mui 
Shuko), 57 

Gyroscopic Two-wheeled Car, 
Boys, 251 


199; Pathology of 


Schilowsky, Prof. C. V. 


Hemoglobins, Spectral Structure, F. Vlés, 261 

Hzemoproteus of Indian Pigeon, Mrs. Adie, Lt.-Col. A. 
Alcock, 584 

Hamburg Observatory in Bergedorf, 121 

Harhours, Suspension Railways for, H. Ollendorff, 120 

Hardening of Steel, Profs. Edwards and Carpenter, Mr. 
McCance, Dr. W. Rosenhain, 626 

Harmonic Analysis, Tables for Use of, Prof. H. H. Turner, 
A62 ? 

Hartley University College, 444 

Harton Colliery, Elevation? E. McLennan, 507 

Harvard College Observatory Report, Prof. E. S. Pickering, 
251 

Havre Meeting of French Association, 533, 595 

Hawaii : Water Resources, 71; Hawaiian. Volcano Observa- 
tory, 462 

Health Renort, 1912-13, 18; Dental Diseases and Health, 
Dr. 1. S. Wallace, 160 

Heart : Inclinations of Electrical Axis of Human Heart, Dr. 
A. 1). Waller, 313; Fibrillation, Dr. Lewis, Prof. 
MacWilliam, 595; Anatomy in Birds, Dr. I. Mac- 
kenzie, 595 


XXVI1 


Heat: Specific Heats of Gases, H. N. Mercer, 101; Surface 
Combustion, Prof. Bone, 202 

_Heloderma suspectum, Vaccination against 
Mme. Marie Phisalix, 657 

Hengistbury Head Excavations, J. P. Bushe-Fox, 412 

Heredity : Result of High Feeding of Ewes before Autumn, 
15; Colour Inheritance in the Rat, Prof. W. E. Castle, 
15; Inheritance of an exclusively Male Character in 
Crosses of Euschistus, Miss K. Foot and Miss E. C. 
Strobell, 76; the English Convict, Dr. C. Goring, 86; 
Note, 92; Hereditary Tolerance of Toxins, C. Richet, 
103; Reversion in Guinea Pigs, Prof. W. E. Castle, 
142; Colour in Mice, C. C. Little, 142; Cytological 
Aspects, Dr. L. Doncaster; Dr. Gates and Miss N. 
Thomas, 175; Colour Pattern of Rats, W. E. Castle 
and J. C. Phillips, 221; Heredity and Sex, Prof. T. H. 


Poison of, 


Morgan, 345; Polygamous Mendelian Factors, Prof. J. ° 


Wilson, 368; Wool of Sheep, A. D. Darbishire and 
M. W. Gray, 420; Hereditary Genius, F. Galton, 453; 
Segregation in First Generation of Ginothera Hybrids, 
Prof. G. F. Atkinson, 492; Elemente, Prof. W. 
Johannsen, 581; Selektionsprinzip, Prof. L. Plate, 581; 
Einfiihrung, Prof. R. Goldschmidt, 581; Meaning of 
Evolution, Prof. Schmucker, 581; Constitution and 
Heredity in relation to Pathology, Prof. F. Martius, 
606; Inaugural Address to the British Association, 
Prof. Wm. Bateson, 635, 674; see also Genetics 

Hexite and Pentite Theory, Drs. W. and D. Asch, A. B. 
Searle, 184 

High-pressure Technique, Dr. Bridgman, 93 

Hilsa Fish, Artificial Increase, 462 

History of Land Mammals, Prof. W. B. Scott, 
of Ancient India, Prof. Rapson, 664 

Holiday Nature-book, S. N. Sedgwick, 58s 

Honours on King’s Birthday, 433 

Hook-swinging in India, J. H. Powell, 668 

Hope Reports, Prof. Poulton, R. Shelford, 10 

Hops, Dr. Joh. Schmidt, 199 

Horniman Museum Penny Handbook, 197 

Horns of Okapi, R. Lydekker, 479 

Horse: the Horse and its Forerunners, Various, 333; Pre- 
historic Remains in Stort Valley, Dr. Irving, 567 

Horse-shoe Arch, Sir H. H. Johnston, 66 

Horticultural Notebook, J. C. Newsham, 557 

Household Management, Prof. Helen Kinne and Anna M. 
Cooley, 83 

Human Progress, Poems of, J. H. West, 374; Human 
Behaviour, Prof. S. S. Colvin and Prof. Bagley, C. 
Burt, 424; the Human Factor in Works Management, 
J. Hartness, 609 

Hydrogen: Rate of Solution by Palladium, Dr. A. Holt, 
76; Wave Lengths of Lines and Series Constant, W. E. 
Curtis, 523 


553 5 


Hydrography: Currents in Gulf of St. Lawrence, Dr. 
W. Dawson, 175; Hydrography, Prof. E. de 
Martonne, 293 

Hydrology in the Pacific, 71 

Hydroplane Floats, Langley Laboratory, 487 

Hygiene: the Child, Dr. E. M. Sill, 4; Elementary 


Tropical Hygiene, H. Strachan, 213; How I kept my 
Baby Well, Anna G. Noyes, 424 

Hypoderma, Reproductive Organs of, Prof. G. H. Car- 
penter and T. R. Hewitt, 127; Hypoderma bovis, A. 
IWcet, 55 


Ice: Latent Heat of Fusion, 93; Effect of Ice on Flow in 
Streams, W. G. Hoyt, 170; Ice Crystals from Switzer- 
land, Dr. L. L. Fermor, 472; Ice Age, Dr. Holst, 621; 
Expansive Force, Prof. H. T. Barnes, 655; Meteoro- 
logical Charts of Southern Hemisphere, 670 

Ichneumonidz, Revision of, C. Morley, 343, 529 

Icosahedron and Equations of Fifth Degree, Prof. F. Klein, 
Dr. G. G. Morrice, 662 

Idiot, Dissection of an, Prof. L. Testut, 6s0 

Igneous Rocks, J. P. Iddings, 183; Prof. R. A. Daly, 449 

Imperial Institute Bulletin, 592 

Incandescent Electric Lamp: Development, G. B. Barham, 
£4; Experiments, C. W. S. Crawley and Dr. S. W. J. 
Smith, 367 

Indexes: Index Kewensis, D. Prain and Staff, 425; En- 


Lndex 


—————$—$—$<$$<$$<$———$—<$—S———— 5 65S ee ES 


Nature, 
tober 1, 1074 


Lo 
gineering Index Annual for 1913, 453; Royal Society 
Catalogue, Subject Index, Physics, 478 
India: All-India Sanitary Conference, 66; Protection of 
Forest from Fire, H. M. Glover, 67; Rainfall, 67; 
Imperial Bacteriological Laboratory at Muktesar, Major 
Holmes, Dr. P. Hartley, 137; Aerological Observatory 
at Agra, 140; Education, 200; Lowson’s Text-book of 
Botany: Indian Edition, M. Willis, 237; Heads and 
Horns of Indian Big Game, Hume Collection, R. 
Lydekker, 343; Fauna of British India, C. Morley, 
343; Indian Geological Terminology, Sir T. H. 
Holland, 359; Famines, A. Loveday, 530; Observa- 
tories, 541; Destruction of Wild Peafowl in India, Sir 
H. H. Johnston, 559; Indian Science Congress, 565 ; 
Girl Child found in Jungle, 566; New Trawling Ground 
on Tanjore Coast, 567; Madras Presidency, etc., E. 
Thurston, 580; Hamoproteus of Indian Pigeon, Mrs. 
Adie, Lt.-Col. Alcock, 584; Palaeontologia Indica, 651 ; 
Date of Chashtana, R. C. Majumdar, 657; Spirit 
Belief in Jataka Stories, N. Chakravarti, 657; Inscrip- 
tion from Jhalrapatan (1086 a.p.), S. Shastri, 658; 
Intermediate Mechanics for Indian Students, F. C. 
Turner and Prof. J. M. Bose, 662; Ancient India to 
First Century a.p., Prof. Rapson, 664; Madras In- 
vestigation into Diabetes, 668; Hook-swinging, J. H. 
Powell, 668 

Indian Ocean, Observations, 170 

India-rubber Laboratory Practice, Dr. W. A. Caspari, 663 

Induced Cell-reproduction and Cancer, H. C. Ross, 235° 

Inductance Coils, Uses, K. M. Faye-Hansen and J. 
Peck, 222 

Inductive versus Deductive Methods of Teaching, W. H. 
Winch, C. Burt, 424 

Industry : Industrial Research in America: Address, A. D. 
Little, 45; Industrial Organic Analysis, Paul S. Arup, 
184; a New Industry: Use of Distillery Vinasses, 540; 
Investigating an Industry, W. Kent, 632 

Infants, Growth of Bottle-fed, MM. Variot and Fliniaux, 


Se 


31 

Infra-red Emissive Power, M. Drecq, 181 

Inorganic “Feeding,” C. R. Darling, 481 

Insects: Japanese Mecoptera, Tsunekata Miyaké, 38; 
Biology of the Bed-bug, A. A. Girault, 169; Insect 
Biographies, J. J. Ward, 214; Habits and Instincts of» 
Insects, O. M. Reuter, A. u. M. Buch, 214; Respira- 
tory Movements, C. Nicholson, L. C. M., 295; In- 
jurious Insects in Ireland, Prof. G. H. Carpenter, 367; 
Frit Fly, T. R. Hewitt, 368; Olfactory Sense in Ants 
and Hornets, Dr. McIndoo, 591; see also Entomology 

Institute of Chemistry: Textile Industry, W. P. Dreaper, 
I 

Tea ate of Metals: Journal Vol. x., 70; Spring Meeting, 
98; Report on Solidification of Metals, Dr. C. .H. 
Desch, 674 

Institution of Electrical Engineers, War Circular, 650 

Institution of Mining and Metallurgy, 117; Theories of 
Ore-genesis, Dr. F. H. Hatch, 176 

Institution of Naval Architects, 148 

Interference Methods in Physics, Prof. C. Barus, 652 

Intermittent Vision, Mr. Mallock’s Observations, 
S. P. Thompson, 522 

International Catalogue Abbreviations, 278 

Interpretations and Forecasts, V. Branford, A. E. Crawley, 
401 

Introduction to Biology, Prof. M. 
Bigelow, 450 

Invar, 483 ry 

Invertebrate Zoology, Dr. G. A. Drew, 80 

Investigating an Industry: Diseases of Management, W. 
Kent, 632 

Iodine Distribution in Tissues, Prof. A. T. Cameron, 655 

Ionisation produced by Heating on Nernst Filament, Dr. 
Horton, 155; Ionisation due to Gas Reactions, S. J. 
Kalandyk, 523 

Ipswich: Flint and Pottery Find, J. R. Moir, 275; Female 
Skeleton found in Boulder Clay, 484 

Irish Follk Lore of Plants and Animals, N. Colgan, 168; 
Irish Elk Remains, 328 


Prof. 


A. Bigelow and Anna N. 


Iron Nitride, G. Charpy, 181; Gore Effect, Dr. E. P. 
Harrison, 473 
Iron and Steel Institute: Hardening of Steel, Profs. 


Nature, ] 
(ctober 1, 1914 


Lndex 


XXV11 


Edwards and Carpenter, and Mr. McCance, Dr. W. 
Rosenhain, 626 

Irritability of Plants, Prof. J. C. Bose, 372 

Isis, Subscription 3ofr., 198 

Isostasy, Prof. Barrell, 493 

Isothermal Layer of the Atmosphere, C. F. Talman, 84 
Italian Society for Advancement of Science, 565; Seis- 
mology and Vulcanology of S. Italy, A. Sieberg, 580 


Japan; Sakura-jima Eruption, 170; Japanese Fishes and 
Nomenclature, 225; New Journal in Japanese, 384; 
Volcanic Activity, 436; Biological Papers, 654 

Jelly-fish Histology, Miss Sophie Krasinska, 486 

June Meteors, W. F. Denning, 480 

Junk’s Natur-Fiihrer: die Riviera, A. Voigt, 580 

Jupiter, 121; Variable Satellites of Jupiter and Saturn, Dr. 
Guthnick, 489; New Satellites of Jupiter, Mr. Nichol- 
son, 623 

Juvenile: In the “Once Upon a Time,” Lilian Gask, 353; 
How Man Conquered Nature, Minnie J. Reynolds, 505 


Kaiser-Wilhelm Institute of Chemistry, 322 

Kala-azar, A. Laveran, 207 

Kangaroo, First Description of, Prof. Tad. Estreicher, 60; 
W. B. Alexander, 664 

Kayaks found in Scotland, Dr. Brégger, 92 

Kelvin Medal for Engineering, 327 

Kew Gardens: Trevor Lawrence Orchid Collection, 244; 
Guide, 248; Index Kewensis, D. Prain, 425 

Kinematography: Practical Kinematography and its Appli- 
cations, F. A. Talbot, 60; Educational Kinematograph 
Association, 339 

Kite and Balloon Ascents, International, E. Gold, 588 


Lancashire Rainfall and Cotton, B. C. Wallis, 472 

Land, Descriptions of, R. W. Cautley, 134 

Langley Flying Machine, 564; Langley Aerodynamical 
Laboratory, 653 

Language Study, Prof. W. Ritchie, 624 

Laryngoscope, New “Suspension,” Prof. G. Killian, 357 

Latest Light on Bible Lands, P. S. P. Handcock, A. E. 
Crawley, 81 

Lathework, Ornamental, C. H. C., 557 

Latitude: Diurnal Variation, J. Boccardi, 172; 
Variation, Prof. Albrecht, 570 

Lava: Sequence of Lavas at North Head, N.Z., Prof. P. 
Marshall, 394; Method of Determining Melting Range 
of Temperature, K. Fuji and T. Mizoguchi, 515 

Lawes and Gilbert Centenary Fund, 165 

Lead: Lead and the Final Product of Thorium, Dr. A. 

“ Holmes, 109; Different Atomic Weights, K. Fajans, 

383; M. Curie, 421; O. Honigschmid and Mlle. St. 
Horovitz, 446; Thorium Lead—an Unstable Product, 
R. W. Lawson, 479; Blood Changes in Lead Workers, 
Dr. Sellers, 517; Atomic Weight of Lead of Radio- 
active Origin, T. W. Richards, 603 

Leaf-fall as a Factor in Soil-deterioration, W. L. Balls, 341 

Legislation and Milk Supply, Prof. R. T. Hewlett, 403 

Lepidoptera Phalznz in British Museum, Sir G. F. 
Hampson, 343 

Level Net in United States, 651 

Lice infesting Mammals, Prof. V. L. Kellogg, 413 

Ligament preserved in Eocene Oysters, R. W. Pocock, 59 

Light : Optical Representation of Non-Euclidean Geometry, 
Prof. G. H. Bryan, 33; Dispersion of a Light Pulse by 
a Prism, Dr. R. A. Houstoun, 76; Irrationality of 
Dispersion : Lecture Experiment, Prof. S. P. Thomp- 
son, 101; Rotatory Power, Faraday Society Discussion, 
122; Brightness of Images, P. G. Nutting, 171; an 
Optical Illusion, J. W. Giltay, 189; Dr. Edridge- 
Green, 214; Improvements in the Binocular Micro- 
scope, Prof. R. T. Hewlett, 217; Extension of the 
Spectrum in Ultra-violet, Prof. T. Lyman, 241; Elisa- 
beth Linné Phanomen (Flashing Flowers), Prof. 
F. A. W. Thomas, 348; Type-reading Optophone for 
the Blind, Dr. E. E. Fournier d’Albe, 394; Refractive 
Index of Small Drop, F. E. Wright, 463; Electric 
Light Circuits, A. G. Collis, 477; Mr. Mallock’s 


Latitude 


Observations on Intermittent Vision, Prof. S. P. 
Thompson. 522; Light Effects about a Kathode, Dr. E. 
Goldstein, 539; Green Ray at Sunset, Dr. Evans, 664 

Lighting : Incandescent Electric Lamp, G. B. Barham, 54; 
Gas Lamp as Secondary Standard, 144; Electric Light 
Circuits, A. G. Collis, 477 ; Natural Lighting of Schools, 
629 

Lightning : Protection from Lightning: Rods, Sir Joseph 
Larmor and J. S. B. Larmor, 287; Globular Lightning, 
Prof. I. Galli, 383 : 

Linalol, P. Barbier, 395 

Lister Memorial, 13 

Litre, C. Lallemand, 314 

Liver, Glycogenic Function, Prof. MacLeod, 595 

Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine: New Ward, 566 

Lizard: New Wall-lizard in Gozo, 328; Lizard Venom, 
Prof. Leob, Dr. C. J. Martin, 123 ; Vaccination against 
Lizard Venom, Mme. Marie Phisalix, 657 

Locomotives, 501; Fireless, 671 

Logarithms: Direct Measurement of Naperian Base, R. 
Appleyard, 231; Napier Tercentenary, 516; Dr. Knott, 


72 

Lee Prof. R. C. Bryant, 82 

Logic, Algebra of, Lydia G. Robinson, 504 

London Electric Power, 198 

Longitude, Photographic Method, G. Lippmann, 155 

Low Temperatures: Heat Capacity of Metals at, Dr. E. H. 
Griffiths and Ezer Griffiths, 523; Persistence of Electric 
Currents in Super-conductors, H. K. Onnes, 481, 524 

Lowell Observatory, 331, 415 


Luminous Vapours distilled from the Arc, Hon. R. J. 
Strutt, 340 

Lunar Formations, Collated List, Miss M. A. Blagg, 361 

Lycopersicin, B. M. Duggar, 39 

Machu Picchu, 97 

Madras Presidency, E. Thurston, 580 

Magnetism: Magnetic Susceptibility of Alloys, E. L. 
Dupuys, 103; Magnetisation of Liquid Mixtures of 


Oxygen and Nitrogen, K. Onnes, 155; Properties of 
Magnetically-shielded Iron and Temperature, Prof. E. 
Wilson, 288; Rapid Methods for Determining Magnetic 
Field, 302; Intrinsic Field of Magnet, Dr. J. R. Ash- 
worth, 313; Changes with Temperature of Electrical 
Resistance and Magnetic Susceptibilities, K. Honda 
and Y. Ogura, 414; Susceptibilities of Minerals and 
Rocks, H. Takagi and T. Ishiwara, 415; Testing 
Magnetic Qualities of Iron in Field of 7500 gauss, Dr. 
Gumlich, 436; Magnetic Study of Iron Oxide, R. 
Wallach, 525; New Theory of Magnetism, Prof. K. 
Honda, 593; Demagnetisation Factors of Cylindrical 
Rods in High Uniform Fields, Prof. B. O. Peirce, 670 

Magnetism, Solar: Thermions and the Origin of Solar and 
Terrestrial Magnetism, S. J. Barnett, 109; Inter- 
national Observations at Solar Eclipse, August 21, Dr. 
L. A. Bauer, 506 

Magnetism, Terrestrial: New Observatory in Swider, near 
Warsaw, 36; Time Measurements of Magnetic Dis- 
turbances and their Interpretation, Dr. C. Chree, 101; 
Magnetograph for Variations in Horizontal Intensity, 
F. E. Smith, 471; Secular Variation in South Africa, 
J. C. Beattie, 499; the 27-day Period, Dr. C. Chree, 
522; Variations, Dr. E. Leyst, 539; Carnegie Institute 
of Washington, Dr. C. Chree, 544 

Magnetite, Thermomagnetic Properties, Hiromu Takagi, 
120) = 

Magneton: Effect in Scattering a Rays, Prof. W. M. 
Hicks, 340 

Maize, Drought-resisting, G. N. Collins, 119 

Malay Aboriginal Tribes, 168—9 

Mammals: African Mammal Fauna, 70; Mammalian 
Spermatogenesis, Prof. H. E. Jordan, 466; History of 
Land Mammals, Prof. W. B. Scott, 553 

Man: Study of Man, A. MacDonald, 66; Cré Magnon 
Man: Imprints of his Hand, Prof. W. J. Sollas, 240; 
Childhood of the World, E. Clodd, 426; Man’s 
Mechanical Efficiency, Prof. J. S. Macdonald, 445; 
How Man Conquered Nature, Minnie J. Reynolds, 505; 
Man’s Chin, D. M. Shaw, 531; see Anthropology 

Manaar Gulf Crustaceans, 249 


XXVI111 
Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society : Crystalline 
Structures and X-Rays, Prof. W. H. Bragg, 124 
Manganous Oxide as Catalytic Agent, P. Sabatier and A. 
Mailhe, 171 

Manks Antiquities, P. M. C. Kermode and Prof. W. A. 
Herdman, 478 

Manuring of Market Garden Crops, 
F. W. E. Shrivell, 553 

Maori: Stone Implements, E. Best, Dr. Haddon, 298 ; Who 
are the Maoris? A. K. Newman, 318; Maoriland, Dr. 
J. M. Bell, 482; Cremation among Maoris, E. Best, 
560 

Maps: International Map of the World on the Scale One 
in a Million, 166; Map of the West Indies, 320; School 
and College Atlas (G. W. Bacon and Co., Ltd.), -427 ; 
United States (Bacon), 505; Geological Map _ of 
Caucasus, Dr. F. Oswald, 632 

Marine Biology, 124, 196; Marine Investigations, 201 ; 
Concentration of Sea-water, 221; Marine Biological 
Association Meeting, 248; Ciliary Mechanisms of In- 
vertebrates, J. H. Orton, 462; Marine Biology in 
Tropics, G. H. Drew, Dr. W. Vaughan, 465; Marine 
Biology at the Cape, 591; see Biology, Marine 

Market Gardens, Manuring, Dr. Dyer and F. W. E. 

Shrivell, 553 

Marriage Ceremonies in Morocco, Prof. E. Westermarck, 

A. E. Crawley, 319 

Mars: Monthly Report, Prof. W. H. Pickering, 94; the 

Riddle of Mars, C. E. Housden, 294 

Marsh Gas, F. L. Ringuet, 446 

Marsupial Enamel, J. H. Mummery, 126 

Masons, Manual for, Prof. J. A. van der Kloes, A. B. 

Searle, 530 

Mathematics: First Book of Practical Mathematics, T. S. 
Usherwood and C. J. A. Trimble, 2; Practical 
Geometry and Graphics for Advanced Students, Prof. 
J. Harrison and G. A. Baxandall, 2; Practical 
Mathematics, N. W. M’Lachlan, 2; Exercices d’Arith- 
métique, J. Fitz-Patrick, 2; an Early Slide Rule, D. 
Baxandall, 8; the Symbol |x] for the Numerical Value 
of x, treated as a Function of x, I. N. Kouchnéreff, 
39; Stereograms for Perspective Teaching, C. E. 
Benham, 108; Triangle giving Area and Circumference 
of any Circle, and Diameter of Circle equal to given 
Square, T. M. P. Hughes, Prof. G. B. Mathews, 110; 
Property of Chain-fractions, Prof. G. B. Mathews, 
136; Plane Geometry, Prof. W. B. Ford and C. 
Ammerman, E. R. Hedrick, 159; Higher Algebra, Dr. 
W. P. Milne, 159; the Twisted Cubic, and Metrical 
Properties of the Cubical Hyperbola, P. W. Wood, 


Dr. B. Dyer and 


159; Graphical Methods, Prof. C. Runge, 159; 
Einfiihrung in die Mathematik fiir Biologen und 
Chemiker, Prof. L. Michaelis, 159; Théorie des 


Nombres, E. Cahen, 159: les Principes de 1’Analyse 
Mathématique, Prof. P. Boutroux, 183; Principle of 
Relativity, P. Carus, 187; Direct Measurement of 
Napierian Base, R. Appleyard, 231;  Text-book of 
Elementary Statics, Prof. R. S. Heath, 236; Shorter 
Algebra, W. M. Baker and A. A. Bourne, 236; Key 
to “New Algebra,” S. Barnard and J. M. Child, 236; 
Practical Surveying and Elementary Geodesy, Prof. H. 
Adams, 236; Practical Science for Engineering 
Students, H. Stanley, 236; Bell’s Outdoor and Indoor 
Experimental Arithmetics, H. H. Goodacre and others, 
236, 662; Models to Illustrate Foundations, C. Elliott, 
250; Compound Interest Logarithmic Tables, M. A. 
Trignart, 277; Double Distributions in Potential 
Theory, J. G. Leathem, 314; Descriptive Geometry, 
Prof. J. C. Tracey and Prof. H. B. North, 348; Four- 
dimensional Model, Dr. D. M. Y. Sommerville, 420; 
Kultur der Gegenwart: die Mathematik im Alterthum, 
H. G. Zeuthen; die Beziehungen d. Mathematik zur 
Kultur, A. Voss; die Verbreitung mathematischen 
Wissens, H. E. Timerding, 423; Least Squares and 
Fourier Method, Prof. C. H. Lees, 471; le Scienze 
Esatte nell’ Antica Grecia, Prof. G. Loria, 475; Ist es 
wahr dass 2x2=4 ist? F. Bon, 475; Algebra of Logic, 
L. Couturat, Lydia G. Robinson, 504; Algebra for 
Preparatory Schools, T. Dennis, 504; Test Papers, 
Elementary, C. V. Durrell, 504; Practical Mathematics 
for Technical Students, T. S. Usherwood and C. J. A. 


Index 


Nature, 
October 1, 1914 


Trimble, 504; Trigonometry, Plane, and Spherical, 
with Tables, Prof. R. E. Moritz, 504; Napier Ter- 
centenary, 516; Dr. C. G. Knott, 572; Princeton 
Colloquium, G. A. Bliss and E. Kasner, 528; le 
Hasard, Prof. E. Borel, 662; Intermediate Mechanics 
for Indian Students, F. C. Turner and Prof. J. M. 
Bose, 662; Junior Trigonometry, W. G. Borchardt and 
Rev. A. D. Perrott, 662; Mathematical Papers for 
Admission into Royal Military Academy and College: 
(1905-13), R. M. Milne, 662; the Theory of Propor- 
tion, Prof. M. J. M. Hill, 662; Dynamics, Prof. H. 
Lamb, 662; Icosahedron and Equations of Fifth 
Degree, Prof. F. Klein, Dr. G. G. Morrice, 662; 
Tables for Use of Harmonic Analysis, Prof. H. H. 
Turner, 662; Geometry Teaching, Board of Education, 
686 

Matterhorn : Whymper Memorial, 565 

Maumbury Rings Excavation, H. St. G. Gray, 195 

Mawson Antarctic Expedition, 10, 466 

May Meteors, W. F. Denning, 250 

Maya Art, H. J. Spinden, 454, 512 

Meal Times, Best, J. Bergonié, 207 

Mechanics: Application of Power to Road Transport, 
H. E. Wimperis, 265; Farm Gas Engines, Prof. 
Hirshfeld and T. C. Ulbricht, 265; Diesel Engine, 
Prof. G. J. Wells and A. J. Wallis-Tayler, 265; 
Mechanical Engineer’s Reference Book, H. H. Suplee, 
295; Technical Mechanics, Statics, and Dynamics, 
Prof. E. R. Maurer, 609; Mechanical Refrigeration, 
Prof. H. J. Macintire, 609 ; Intermediate Mechanics for 
Indian Students, F. C. Turner and Prof. J. M. Bose, 
662 

Medicine: the Child: its Care, Diet, and Common IIls, 
Dr. E. M. Sill, 4; Medicinal Plant Cultivation, 15-16; 
Public Health Report, 1912-13, 18; Anzesthetics, Dr. 
D. W. Buxton, 213; the Physician in English History, 
Dr. N. Moore, 239; Biology: General and Medical, 
Prof. J. McFarland, 267; Administration of Anzs- 
thetics, 385; Riberi Prize of 80o0o0l., 589; Aberdeen 
Meeting of British Medical Association, 595; Treatment 
of the Wounded, General Delorme, 665; Constituents 
in Pentosuria, 670; Tropical Diseases: Report, 673 ; 
see also Disease 

Medusz, Histology, Miss Sophie Krasinska, 486 

Melbourne, British Association: President’s Address, 635 

Mendelian Factors, Polygamous, Prof. J. Wilson, 368 

Mercantile Marine Sight Tests, 487 

Mercury Globules, Evaporation, A. Schidlof, 499 

Merionethshire, A. Morris, 580 

Messina Earthquake, 143 

Metallurgy: Structural Analogies between Igneous Rocks 
and Metals, Prof. Fearnsides, 44; Journal of Institute 
of Metals, 70; Institute of Metals: London Meeting, 
ac: Address, Sir H. J. Oram, os: Nomenclature, 95 ; 
Solidification and Quincke’s Hypothesis, 95; Muntz 
Metal Brasses, Dr. Stead and Mr. Steadman, 95; 
Sampling and Assay of Precious Metals, E. A. Smith, 
157; Autogenous Welding, R. Granjon and P. Rosem- 
berg, D. Richardson, 161; Flow in Metals subjected to 
large Constant Stresses, E. N. D. Andrade, 288; 
Death of Paul Héroult, 381: Reduction by Hydrogen 
of Oxides of Copper and Nickel, E. Berger, 447; 
Demonstration of Ampere Molecular Current, Prof. 
H. K. Onnes, 481, 524; Time Effect on Deformation, 
G. Charpy, 499; Action on Water and Bacteria, Prof. 
Delepine and Dr. A. Greenwood, 517; Capacity for 
Heat at Low Temperatures, Dr. E. H. Griffiths and 
Ezer Griffiths, 523: Conductivities of Rarer Metals, 
T. Barratt, 524: Roberts-Austen: a Record of his 
Work, S. W. Smith, Sir T. K. Rose, 555; Sheet-metal 
Trade: “B.G.” Gauge Legalised, -o7: Metallographie : 
Konstitution des Systemes Eisen-Kohlenstoff, Dr. W. 
Guertler, Dr.’ C. H. Desch, 605; a Decade on the 
Witwatersrand, Prof. G. H. Stanley, 623; Solidifica- 
tion of Metals, Report, Dr. C. H. Desch, 674 

Meteorite from Zululand, Prof. G. H. Stanley, 95; Nickel 
in Baroti and Wittekrantz Meteorites, Dr. G. T. Prior, 
72 

Melee: Upper-air Records at Batavia, Dr. van 
Bemmelen, 5; Meteorology in Netherlands East India, 
96; Meteorological Congress in Venice in September, 


Nature, ‘} 
October 1, 1914 


12, 589; New Units in Aerology, Prof. McAdie, 58; 
R. E. Baynes, 110; Prof. B. Brauner, 136; Dynamical 
Units, F. J. W. Whipple, 427; Weather Forecasting, 
R. M. Deeley, 58; Prof. A. McAdie, 83; A. Mallock, 
349; Weather Forecasts in England, Dr. W. N. Shaw, 
375; R. M. Deeley, 402; Change in the Climate (Gen. 
Drayson’s view), Major R. A. Marriott, 108; Sir John 
Murray’s Will, 118; Meteorological Service on Mer- 
cantile Vessels, Prof. Marini, 120; Reports: Canada, 
Philippines, Chile, Mysore, Batavia, 150; Indian 
Ocean, 170; Superstitions relating to Weather, Dr. G. 
Hellmann, 176; Periodicity of Secondary Maxima and 
Minima in Meteorological Phenomena, Dr. E. van 
Rijckevorsel, 197; Temperature Difference between Up 
and Down Traces, Dr. W. van Bemmelen, 269; W. H. 
Dines, 320; Royal Prussian Meteorological Institute, 
Report, 276; Royal Prussian Meteorological Institute : 


History of Meteorology, G. Hellmann, 374; Atmo- 
spheric Movements, Dr. W. N. Shaw, W. N. Dines, 
280; Conference in Edinburgh, 300; Deutsche 
Seewarte, Hamburg, 302; Upper Air Research: 


Address, C. J. P. Cave, 334; Reduction of Barometer 
Readings in Absolute Units, E. Gold, 341; a Cuban 
Rain Record, A. H. Brown, 341; Thunderstorm of 
June 14 at Dulwich, W. Marriott, 402; Thunderstorm 
on June 14, 411; J. Fairgrieve, 454; Motion of Air in 
Lowest Strata of the Atmosphere, Prof. G. Hellmann, 
414; Sonnblick Society, 436; Bird Migration and 
Weather, Dr. A. Defant, 457; Rain and Cotton in 
Lancashire, B. C. Wallis, 472; Rain and Wind Direc- 
tion, H. J. Bartlett, 472; Panama Canal, Dr. J. v. 
Hann, 487; Forests and Floods, Dr. J. Aitken, 506; 
Climatic Change, C. E. P. Brooks,- 532; Clouds of 
California, Dr. F. A. Carpenter, 592; Seaman’s Hand- 
book of Meteorology, 621; Hourly Values, Meteoro- 
logical Office: Geophysical Section, 621; Present 
Position of Meteorological Science, Dr. Stupart, 655 

Meteors: Curious Meteoric Display, February 9, 1913, 69; 
April, 172, 223; May, 250; Telescopic, 303; Fireballs, 
384; June, 464. 480; Meteor Streaks, 531; Perseids, 
569, 622, 653; all W. F. Denning 

Metric Carat, 248; Metric System, Alex. Siemens, 390; 
Dr. Guillaume, 483 

Metrological Researches, 459 

Mice, Colour Inheritance, C. C. Little, 142 

Microchemistry of Plants, Dr. O. Tunmann, 372 

Micro-organisms, Life without, M. Cohendy, 289 

Microscope: Improvements in Binocular Microscope, Prof. 
R. T. Hewlett, 217; Education in Technical Use, Prof. 
Sims Woodhead, 287; Minerals and the Microscope, 
H. G. Smith, 610 

Migration Routes, H.. Darwin, 4or 

Mildews, Rusts, and Smuts, G. Massee, Ivy Massee, 264 

Military Service Measures at Universities, 656, 685 

Milk : Legislation, 219; Legislation and Milk Supply, Prof. 
R. T. Hewlett, 403; Dr. J. W. Brittlebank, 517; Elec- 
tric Sterilisation at Liverpool, 302 

Mimicry: Birds and Butterflies, Prof. Poulton, 249; Use 
of Snakeskins by Riflebirds, 440; Mimicry, Mr. 
Rothschild, 486 

Minds in Distress, Dr. A. E. Bridger, C. Burt, 424 

Mineralogy : Bornite Nodules in Shale from Mashonaland, 
-F. P. Mennell, 102; (1) Sulph-arsenite of Lead from 
Binnenthal; (2) Phacolite and Gmelinite from co. 
Antrim, Dr. G. 7. Prior, 102: Rockallite, Dr. H. S. 
Washington, 154; Arctic Rocks of Sir J. Franklin’s 
Exnedition for Natural History Museum, 168; Mineral 
Industry of Canada, 216; Determining Densities at 
High Temperatures, A. L. Day and others, 413; 
Childrenite from Cornwall, and Eosphorite from Maine, 
De wea Drusman,, 470+) Santorite, Ik. El. Solly, 471; 
Varicty of Envidote from Sudan, H. B. Cronshaw, 472; 
Philippine Mineral Production, 568; Minerals and the 
Microscope. H. G. Smith, 610; Jenny Island, 
Antarctic, E. Gourdon, 657 

Mining : Cobar Copper Field, E. C. Andrews, 17; Theories 
of Ore-genesis, Address, Dr. F. H. Hatch, 176; Coal 
Devosits, Prof. O. Stutzer, 348; Electricity in Mining, 
Siemens Bros. Dynamo Works, Ltd., 477; Diamond 
Fields of S. Africa, Dr. Wagner, 527 

Mississippi Hydro-electric Plant, 250 


Index 


XX1X 


Modern Substitutes for Christianity, E. McClure, A. E. 
Crawley, 81; Modern Rationalism in Biographies, 
Canon H. Lewis, A. E. Crawley, 81 

Molecular Field in Diamagnetics, A. E. Oxley, 154 

Molecular Physics, see Physics, Molecular 

Molecules : Structure of Atoms and Molecules, A. van den 
Broek, 241; Prof. J. W. Nicholson, 268; Mobility of 
Molecules in a Solid Crystal, F. Wallerant, 260; 
Fluids with Visible Molecules, Prof. J. Perrin, 332 

Mollusca: Mollusca from Dutch New Guinea, G. é 

Robson, tor; Mollusca of New Zealand, H. Suter, 

528; Life of the Mollusca, B. B.- Woodward, 585 

Mont Blanc Observatory Site, M. Hamy, 288 

Monte Bello Islands, P. D. Montague, 471 

Montessori Method: Dr. Montessori’s Own Handbook, 659 ; 

Montessori Method and the American School, 659 

Moon: Origin of Structures on Moon’s Surface, F. J. M. 
Stratton, 84; Origin of the Moon and the Earth’s 
Contraction, Rev. O. Fisher, 213; New Photographic 
Chart, C. Le Morvan, 304; List of Lunar Formations, 
Miss Blagg, 361 

Moose, Agnes Herbert, 353 

Morisonian Herbarium, Prof. 
Druce, 4 

Morocco, Marriage Ceremonies in, Prof. E. Westermarck, 
A. E. Crawley, 319 

Morphology : Morphology of Musculature of Human Ex- 
tremities when Defective, Profs. Meyer and Schwalbe, 
413; “Nuclear Masses in Lower Human _ Brain- 
stem, L. H. Weed, 650; Animal Morphology: Zellen- 
und Gewerbelehre Morphologie und  Entwicklungs- 
geschichte, E. Strasburger, O. Hertwig, and others, 
106 

Mortar, etc., Prof. v. d. Kloes, A. B. Searle, 530 

Mosses of Ireland, Rev. Canon Lett, 260 

Motor Cars and Road Transport, H. E. Wimperis, 265 

Motors, Single-phase Commutator, F. Creedy, 54 

Mount Wilson Solar Observatory, 201 

Movements of Floating Particles, G. A. Reid, 60; Lord 
Rayleigh, 83; Movements on Water Surfaces, E. A. 
Martin; Prof. C. V. Boys, 214 

Mummies: “Mummy Wheat,” 220; Mummy Diminutive 
Heads from the Amazon, H. N. Wardle, 382 ; Egyptian 
Mummies, Prof. G. E. Smith, 566 

Muscular Contraction, Vapour Pressure Hypothesis, H. E. 
Roaf, 445 

Museums: Reports, 43; Durban Museum Annals, 567; 
Museums Association, Swansea Meeting, 625; Muni- 
cipal Museums, C. Madeley, 625 ; Museum and Schools, 
E. Howarth, 625 

Mutations of Bacteria, Prof. R. T. Hewlett, 193 

Mycology: Einftihrung in die Mykologie der Gebrauchs- 
und Abwasser, Dr. A. Kossowicz, Prof. R. T. Hewlett, 
2; die Garungsgewerbe und ihre naturwissenschaft- 
lichen Grundlagen, Prof. W. Henneberg und Dr. G. 
Bode. Prof. Hewlett, 2 

Mysore, Coorg, etc., E. Thurston, 580 


Se lek Wane fine! (C3 (e 


Napier and Logarithms, Prof. 


G. A. Gibson on, 222; 

Napier Tercentenary Celebration, 516; Dr. C. G. 
Knott, 572 

National Physical Laboratory, 428 

Natural History: Bodlev Head Natural History, E. D. 
Cuming, J. A. Shepherd, 353; Common British 
Animals: Vertebrates, Kate M. Hall, 450 

Natural History Museum: Enlarged Models of Insect 


Pests, 669; Types of Dentition, 669; see also British 
Museum 

Naturalist, Theodore Roosevelt as, Sir H. H. Johnston, 79 

Nature Reserves, Sir E. Ray Lankkester, 33; Revelstoke 
National Park, Canada. 299: Nature Reserve in Spits- 
bergen, Prof. G. A. J. Cole, 534 

Nature Study : Theodore Roosevelt as Naturalist : an Auto- 
biography, Sir H. H. Johnston, 7a: Death of Sir Tohn 
Murray, 88; Nature and the Idealist, H. D. Shaw- 
cross, 187; Siam, Dr. C. C. Hosseus, 267; the English 
Year : Autumn and Winter, W. Beach Thomas and A. K. 
Collett, 353; Highways and Bywavs of the Zoological 
Gardens, Constance I. Pocock, 353; the Moose, Agnes 
Herbert, 353; Bodley Head Natural History, E. D. 


XXX 


[naex 


Vature, 
October 1, 1914 


Cuming, J. A. Shepherd, 353; In the “Once upon a 
Time,” Lilian Gask, 353; Moths of the Limberlost, 
Gene Stratton-Porter, 353: “My Game-book,” Alan R. 
Haig-Brown, 353; the Country Month by Month, Mrs. 


J. A. Owen and Prof. G. S. Boulger, 401; the Realm 


of Nature: Outline of Physiography, Dr. H. R. Mill, 
450; First Book of Nature Study, E. Stenhouse, 450; 
Nature in Books, J. L. Robertson, 453; Holiday 
Nature-book, S. N. Sedgwick, 585; Nature Study round 
London, 590; Conservation of Canadian Resources, 
Prof. F. D. Adams, 655; Trail of the Sandhill Stag, 
E. T. Seton, 665; Wild Game in Zambesia, R. C. F. 
Maugham, 665; Animal Communities in Temperate 
America, Dr. V. E. Shelford, 665 

Naval Architects, Institution of, 148; Warship Design, 
T. G. Owens, 148; Wake and Thrust Deduction, W. J. 
Luke, 148; Area Curve and Resistance, G. S. Baker, 
148; Superheated Steam, H. Gray, 148; New Torsion- 
meter, K. Suyehiro, 148 

Navigation: the “Conway” Manual, J. Morgan, T. P. 
Marchant, and A. L. Wood, 660 

Nebula: Rotation of Virgo Nebula, Dr. V. M. Slipher, 
361, 594; Classification of Nebula, G. Bigourdan, 499, 
516 

Negro Race, Antiquity, 90 

Neon, Density and Atomic Weight, A. Leduc, 128 

Neoytterbium, Isolation, J. Blumenfeld and G. Urbain, 630 

New York Catskill Water Supply, 68; L. White, 209 

New Zealand: Camp Fire Yarns of the Lost Legion, Col. 
G. Hamilton-Browne, 28; Social Welfare in N.Z., 
H. H. Lusk, 28; New Zealand Solar Observatory, 95; 
Dr. C. M. Hector, 415; Recent Geological Work, 307; 
New Zealand Survey, J. Mackenzie, 309; Forestry and 
Forest Reserves, 377; Sequence of Lavas at North 
Head, Prof. P. Marshall, 394; Wilds of Maoriland, 
Dr. J. M. Bell, 482; New Zealand Mollusca, H. Suter, 
528 

Nickel Industry of Canada, Dr. Coleman, 216; Change of 
Length in Nickel Wire, Prof. W. Brown, 232 

Nicotine in Tobacco Waste, E. Chuard, 552 

Nigeria, Plants collected in Oban District by Mr. and Mrs. 
P. A. Talbot, Dr. A. B. Rendle and others, 237 

Nitrate Deposits, Chilean, ete., Dr. W. H. Ross, 651 

Nitrogen: Active Nitrogen, Prof. H. B. Baker, Hon. R. J. 
Strutt, 5, 478; Dr. Tiede, E. Domcke, 478; Constancy 
of Composition of Crude Nitrogen, C. Moureu and A. 
Lepape, 120; New Method of Estimating Nitrogen, 
463; Nitrogen Compounds of Rain, Dr. F. T. Shutt, 
655 

Nomenclature: Terminologie der Entwickelungsmechanik, 
WW. Roux, 191 

Non-Euclidean Geometry, 
G. H. Bryan, 33 

North Sea, 197 

Northumberland, S. R. Haselhurst, 580 

Nottingham University College, 207 

Nove : Nova Geminorum No. 2, 172; Nova Persei No. 2, 
331; Nove, Prof. E. E. Barnard, 385 

Nubia, Archeological Survey, C. M. Firth, Prof. G. E. 
Smith, 84 

Nucleic Acid Synthesis, E. Fischer, 68 

Number and Light of Stars, Dr. S. Chapman, tor, 296 

Nutrition: Mineral Elements and Nutrition of Animals, 
383 ; Réle of Carbohydrate, Dr. Cathcart, 595 


Optical Representation, Prof. 


Observatories: New Zealand Solar Observatory, Dr. 
Hector, 95, 415; Mount Wilson, 201: Harvard College, 
251; Cane Observatory, 385: U.S. Naval Observatory, 
464; Solar Phvsics, Cambridge, 594; Allegheny Ob- 
servatory, Dr. F. Schlesinger, 671 

Ocean : the Ocean, Sir John Murray, 585 

Oceanography : North Atlantic, Dr. F. Nansen; O. Patter- 
son and C. F. Drechsel, 541 

tEnothera Hvbrids, Prof. Atkinson, 492 

Oil: Institution of Petroleum Technologists, 14; Oil-seeds, 
Oils, Fats, and Waxes. Report; 171: Chemical 
Fxamination of Organic Matter in Oil Shales, J. B. 
Robertson, 207: Oil Resources of the Empire, Dr. 
F. M. Perkin, 260; Cultivation of the Oil Palm, F. M. 
ea 608 ; Discovery of Oil Well at Muir of Ord, 


Okapi, Horns, R. Lydekker, 478 

Opossum and Kangaroo, W. B. Alexander, 664 

Optical: Optical Representation of Non-Euclidean Geo- 
metry, Prof. G. H. Bryan, 33; Optical Convention, 
65; Optical Rotatory Power, 122; Optical Illusion, 
J. W. Giltay, 189; Optically Active Substances of 
Simple Constitution, Prof. Pope and J. Read, 1098, 
419; Dr. F. W. Edridge-Green, 214; Optical Activity 
of Camphoric Esters, J. Minguin, 289; see Light 

Optophone, Type-reading, Dr. E. E. F. d’Albe, 394 

Oranges, Wild, in Africa, 275 

Orchids : Trevor Lawrence Collection at Kew, 244; South 
African Extra-tropical Orchids, Harry Bolus, 425 

Ordnance Survey, 571 

Ore-genesis, Theories of, Dr. F. H. Hatch, 176 

Organic Chemistry, Text-book of, Prof. A. F. Hollemann, 
Dr. A. J. Waller, Dr. O. E. Mott, 57 

Origin of Structures on Moon, F. J. M. 
Origin of the World, R. McMillan, 320 

Orion Nebula, Radial Velocities and Wave-lengths, H. 
Bourget and others, 289 

Ornamental Lathework for Amateurs, C. H. C., 557 

Ornithological Notes, 439, 543; die Vogel, A. Reichenow, 
585; List of Birds of Australia, G. M. Mathews, 585 ; 
Report on Scottish Ornithology and Migration, Evelyn 
V. Baxter and Leonora J. Rintoul, 669; see Birds 

Oscillations of French Glaciers, 534 

Osmotic Pressure: Influence of Osmotic Pressure on Re- 
generation of Gunda ulvae, Miss D. J. Lloyd, 259; 
Osmotic Compressibility of Emulsions, J. Perrin, 261; 
R. Constantin, 261; Osmotic Deposition of Concentric 
Coats, 414 

Oxford : Commemoration of Roger Bacon, 354, 405 

Oxidation of Copper, E. Berger, 369 

Oxy-acetylene Welding, 161 

Oxygen: New Absorption Spectrum 
violet, L. and E. Bloch, 261 

Oysters, Eocene: Ligament Unaltered in, R. W. Pocock, 


59 


Stratton, 84; 


in extreme Ultra- 


Palzeobotany : Fossil Plants from Waverley Shale of Ken- 
tucky, Dr. D. H. Scott and Prof. E. C. Jeffrey, 313; 
Cryptogames cellulaires et vasculaires, Dr. F. Pelourde, 


425 

Paleolithic Engraving on Bone from Sherborne, Dr. A. 
Smith Woodward, ror 

Palaeontology : Eocene Oysters with Ligament unaltered, 
R. W. Pocock, 59; Cambrian Brachiopoda, C. D. 
Walcott, 62 ; Mammalian Remains from La Colombiére, 
E. T. Newton, 100; Chinese Paleontology, Drs. 
Walcott, Weller, H. Girty; F. R. C. Reed, 123; 
Mammalian Remains in Sebastopol, 275; Jaw of 
Anthropoid Ape from Upper Miocene, A. S. Wood- 
ward, 288; Vertebrate Paleontology, L. M. Lambe, 
€. Schuchert, Dr. R. Broom, Prof. B.C: Case, Dro: 
Reinhardt, Prof. H. F. Osborn, 333; the Horse and 
its Forerunners, 333 ; Deinocephalia, D. M. S. Watson, 
267: Triassic Faunz of Kashmir, Dr. C. Diener, 382; 
Dentition of Cave Antelope found by Miss Bate, 
Myotragus balearicus, 445; Permian S. African Rep- 
tiles, 514; History of Land Mammals, Prof. W. B. 
Scott, 553; German Dinosaurian Finds, 568; Descrip- 
tive Catalogue of Marine Reptiles of Oxford Clay,, Dr. 
C. W. Andrews, 582; Skull of Polymastodon from New 
Mexico, 619; Palaeontologia Indica, 651; Para- 
doxidian Fauna of Stockingford Shales, V. C. Illing, 
656; Trilobite Fauna of Middle Cambrian of St. 
Tudwal’s, Carnarvonshire, T. C. Nicholas, 657; Text- 
book of Paleontology, Prof. K. A. von Zittel, Prof. 
C. R. Eastman, 661 

Palzozoology: Lehrbuch: ii., 
Stromer v. Reichenbach, 266 

Palissy and Scientific Method, 518 

Panama Geological Survey, 15; Panama Canal: Earth 
Slides, W. J. Showalter. 91; Panama Canal Meteoro- 
logy, Dr. J. v. Hann, 487 

Parasites: Minute Animal Parasites, Drs. H. B. Fantham 
and Annie Porter, 501 ; Haemoproteus of Indian Pigeon, 
584 

Paris Subsidences, 427 

Patagonia, Geology, P. D. Quesnel, 170 


Wirbeltiere, Dr. E. F. 


Nature, ] 
October 1, 1914] . 


Index 


XXxXl 


Pathology of Growth: Tumours, Dr. C. P. White, 235; 
Konstitution und Vererbung in ihren Beziehungen zur 
Pathologie, Prof. F. Martius, 606 

Paviland Cave, Prof. Sollas, 274 

Peace, Roads towards, (China and Japan), C. W. Eliot, 22 

Pear-shaped Equilibrium Figures, J. H. Jeans, 522 

Peat, Bacterial Treatment, Prof. Bottomley, 196 

Pellagra, 195 

Pendulum, Modification of Gen. Sterneck’s, 144; Deter- 
mination of Ratio of Times of Two Pendulums, P. Le 
Rolland, 551 

Penguins, Adélie, Surgeon G. M. Levick, 314, 612 

Pentosans, Digestibility of, H. A. D. Neville, 154 

Pentosuria, Constituents in, E. Zerner and R. Woltuch, 670 

Peregrine Falcon at the Eyrie, F. Heatherley, 585; W. E. 
Hart; the Reviewer, 633 

Periodic Law, Radio-elements and the, F. Soddy, 1 

Permeability of Echinoderm Eggs, J. Gray, 8 

Perseids, W. F. Denning, 622 ; 653 

Perspective made Easy by Stereoscopic Diagrams, C. E. 
Benham, 108 

Peru Exploration, Yale Expedition, Prof. H. Bingham, 97; 
New Peru Expedition, 274 

Petroleum Technologists, Institution of, 14; see Oil 

Petrology: Manual, F. P. Mennell, 82; Minerals and the 

~ Microscope, H. G. Smith, 610 

Pharmaceutical Federation, International, at Berne, 565 

Pheasants: Order of Tail Moult, C. W. Beebe, 413 

Phenological Observations, 1913, J. E. Clark and R, H. 
Hooker, 232 

peumena of Conscious and Unconscious, Abdul Majid, 
42 

pepaene Islands: Mineral Production, 568; Earthquakes, 
5 

Philosophy : Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, A. E. 
Crawley, 55; Encyclopedia of the Philosophical 
Sciences: Vol. i., Logic, A. Ruge, W. Windelband, 
and others, B. Ethel Meyer, A. E. Crawley, 55; Evolu- 
tion by Cooperation, H. Reinheimer, A. E. ‘Crawley, 
55; the Socialised Conscience, Prof. J. H. Coffin, 134; 
the British Revolution, Dr. R. A. P. Hill, 427 

Phonetics : Sounds and Signs, A. Wilde, 318 

Photo-electric Effects of Metals, Dr. Wiedmann and Prof. 
Hallwachs, 67; Photo-electric Effect of Carbon, O. 
Stuhlmann and R. Piersol, 454; Photo-electricity, Dr. 
eso: Allen, 502 

Photography: Brightness of Images, P. G. Nutting, 171; 
Seeing and Photographing Faint Objects, P. G. 
Nutting, 480; Action of a Rays, H. P. Walmsley and 
Dr. Makower, 288; Photography in Colours, Dr. G. L. 
Johnson, 374; Photographic Analysis of Explosion 
Flames traversing Magnetic Field, Prof. H. B. Dixon 
and others, 445 

Photometric Tests of Binaries, J. Stebbins, 570 

Physical Chemistry and Psychology: Solvay Awards, 300 

Physical Geography, Prof. E. de Martonne, 293 

Physical Society, 37: First Guthrie Lecture: Radiation of 
Gas Molecules, Prof. R. W. Wood, 43; Visit to Cam- 
bridge, 424 

Physician in English History, Dr. N. Moore, 239 

Physics: Active Nitrogen, Prof. Baker and Hon. R. J. 
Strutt, 5, 478; Dr. Tiede and E. Domcke, 478; Theory 
of Relativity, Prof. R. D. Carmichael, 28; das 
Relativitatsprinzip; die jtingste Modenarrheit, Leo 
Gilbert, 56; Principle of Relativity in Light of Philo- 
sovhy, P. Carus, 187: Relativity, E. Cunningham, 378, 
408, 464; A. A. Robb, aca: Relativity Theory, H. A 
Lorentz, A. Einstein, H. Minkowski, 522; Movements 
of Floating Particles, G. A. Reid, 60; Lord Rayleigh, 
82: Donpler Effect and Carnot’s Principle, Prof. H. L. 
Callendar, toa; Cellular Structure of Emulsions, Prof. 
Grant, 162; Sir J. Larmor, 213; Dr. Desch, 213; H. 
Wager, 240: Prof. Petrie, 269; C. R. Darling, 376; 
Shane of Spherical Drop falling in Viscous Liquid, S. 
Saito, 170; the Sand-blast. T. Young. Lord Rayleigh, 
188; Waves in Sand and Snow, Dr. V. Cornish, 191; 

‘Movements on Water, E. A. Martin; Prof. Boys, 214; 
Textbook of Elementary Statics, Prof. R. S. Heath, 
236: Practical Science for Engineering Students, H. 
Stanlev, 226; le Svsttme du Monde, Prof. P. Duhem, 
317; Luminous Vapours distilled from the Arc, with 


Applications to Spectrum Series, Hon. R. J. Strutt, 
340; Elastic Limits under Alternating Stress Con- 
ditions, C. E. Stromeyer, 340; Spectra of Secondary 
X-Rays, Duc de Broglie, 349, 629; Fluid Motions, Lord 
Rayleigh, 364; Aristotle’s Physics, Capt. Hardcastle, 
428; National Physical Laboratory, 428; Royal Society 
Catalogue, Subject Index, 478; Royal Society Cata- 
logue, 633; Inorganic Feeding, C. R. Darling, 481 ; 
Phase Changes due to High Pressures, P. W. Bridg- 
man, 493; Sound, Dr. Capstick, 502; Brownsche 
Bewegung, Dr. G. L. de Haas-Lorentz, 502 ; Photo- 
electricity, Dr. H. S. Allen, 502; Cours de Physique 
Générale, H. Ollivier, 502; Potential of Ellipsoids and 
Equilibrium Figures of Rotating Liquids, J. H. Jeans, 
522; Production of very soft Réntgen Radiation, Sir 
J. J. Thomson, 523; Electric Emissivity and Directive 
Disintegration of Hot Bodies, Dr. G. W. C. Kaye, 
561; Technical Mechanics, Prof. Maurer, 609 ; Unit of 
Acceleration, Dr. O. Klotz, 611; Ideas in Physical 
Science: Address, Dr. A. Ogg, 623; Absorption and 
Adsorption of Solutions: British Association Address, 
Prof. F. T. Trouton, 642; Interference Methods of 
Measurement, Prof. C. Barus, 652 

Physics, Molecular: Atomic Models and Regions of Intra- 
atomic Electrons, Dr. A. van den Broek, 7; Structure 
of Atoms and Molecules, Dr. van den Broek, 241, 376, 
480; Constitution of Atoms and Molecules, Prof. J. W. 
Nicholson, 268; Method of Dimensions applied to 
Atomic Models, Dr. F. A. Lindemann, 277; Radiation 
of Gas Molecules excited by Light, Prof. R. W. Wood, 
43; Minimum Quantity of Electricity smaller than 
Charge of Electron, F. Ehrenhaft, 207; Interpretation 
of Magnetic Properties of Mixtures of Oxygen and 
Nitrogen, A. Perrier and H. K. Onnes, 207; Mobility 
of Molecules in a Solid Crystal, F. Wallerant, 260; die 
Theorie der Strahlung und der Quanten, A. Eucken, 
263; New Tests of Quantum Theory, Prof. Millikan, 
493; Rayleigh’s Law of Extinction and the Quantum 
Hypothesis, Prof. L. V. King, 557; Quantum Theory, 
J. H. Jeans, 593; Fluids with Visible Molecules, Prof. 
J. Perrin, 332 

Physics, Seismological, G. W. Walker, 158 

Physiography : the Realm of Nature, Dr. H. R. Mill, 450 

Physiology : Permeability of Echinoderm Eggs to Electro- 
lytes, J. Gray, 8; Defensive Ferments of the Animal 
Organism, E. Abderhalden, Dr. Gavronsky and W. 1s 
Lanchester, 213: Prohibition of Experiments on Dogs, 
Sir E. A. Schafer, 242; Action of Drugs on isolated 
Uterus, J. A. Gunn, 259; Cultivation of Human 
Tumour Tissue in vitro, D. Thomson and J. G. Thom- 
son, 313; die sekundaren Geschlechtscharaktere, Dr. J. 
Tandler and Dr. S. Grosz, 345; Sex Antagonism, W. 
Heape, 345; New Laboratory and School at Cam- 
bridge, 417, 438; Vapour Pressure Hypothesis of 
Muscular Contraction, H. E. Roaf, 445; Validity of 
Microchemical Test for Oxygen Place in Tissues, A. N. 
Drury, 445; Effect of Physical and Psychical Fatigue, 
J. M. Lahy, 473; Electrical Discharge of Narcine Fish, 
Dr. Jolly, 577; Internal Secretion of Ductless Glands, 
P. T. Herring, 650; Iodine in Tissues, Profi “AG is 
Cameron, 65; Trematode in Beaver, Miss D. Duff, 
6ss; New Platysomus, L. Lambe, 655; Feeding-habits 
of Stable-fly, Dr. C. G. Hewitt, 655 

Physiology, Plant: Pflanzenphysiologie, R. Kollwitz, 212; 
Plant Physiology, Dr. L. Jost, R. J. H. Gibson, 237; 
Irritability of Plants, Prof. J. C. Bose, 372; Transpira- 
tion, Sir F. Darwin, 492; Physiological Plant 
Anatomy, Prof. G. Haberlandt, M. Drummond, 477; 
New German Edition of Jost’s Lectures, 513; Sub- 
terranean Fruit-bodies of Hyvmenomycetes, Prof. Buller, 
655 

Phytophthora Fungi, Dr. Pethybridge, 226 

Piezometric Sounder, A. Berget, 368 

Pisidium, British, B. B. Woodward, 343 

Pittsburg Smoke, 653 

Plague, Transmission by Fleas, 63 

Plaice, Dr. Johansen: B. Saemundsson, 160: Report, Prof. 
Heincke, 201; Plaice, Prof. D’Arcy Thompson, Dr. 
Fulton, 362 

Plane Geometry, Prof. W. B. Ford and C. Ammerman, 


E. R. Hedrick, 159 , 


XXXIl 


Planets: Densities, Dr. S. Brodetsky, 33; 
Planetary Surface Features, E. Belot, 
beyond Neptune, H. E. Lau, 437 

Plankton of Clare Island District, G. P. Farren, 446 

Plant-autographs : Royal Institution Discourse, Prof. J. C. 
Bose, 546 

Plants: Irish Folk Lore, N. Colgan, 168; Pflanzen- 
physiologie, R. Kolkwitz, 212; Genera of British 
Plants: with Characters, H. G. Carter, 237; Story of 
Plant Life in British Isles, A. R. Horwood, 237; Plants 
collected by Mr. and Mrs. Talbot in South Nigeria, 
Dr. A. B. Rendle, 237; Plant Physiology, Dr. L. Jost, 
R. J. H. Gibson, 237; Plant Life, T. H. Russell, Aerrf 
Pfianzenmikrochemie, Dr. O. Tunmann, 372;  Irrit- 
ability of Plants, Prof. J. C. Bose, 372; Plants and 
their Uses, F. L. Sargent, 372 ; Ecology, Dr. O. Drude, 
425; Accessory Factors in Plant Growth, Prof. W. B. 
Bottomley, 445; Chlorophy!l, R. Willstitter and A. 
Stoll, 451; Biochemie, Prof. F. Czapek, 451; Influence 
of Electric Current on Nutrition, M. Chouchak, 473; 
Physiological Plant Anatomy, Prof. G. Haberlandt, M. 
Drummond, 477; Transpiration, Sir F. Darwin, 4923 
Arsenic and Manganese in Food Plants, F. Jadin and 
A. Astruc, 603; Plant Poisons in S. Africa, Dr. Juritz, 
624 

Plants, Diseases of : International Conference at Rome, 90; 
International Convention, 167; Diseases of Plants, 226; 
Damping-off, J. Johnson, 249; British Rust Fungi, 
W. B. Grove, 264; Mildews, Rusts, and Smuts, G. 
Massee, Ivy Massee, 264; Fungi which cause Plant 
Disease, 264 

Plasma, Variations in Growth of Mammalian Tissue in, 
A. J. Walton, 127 

Plumage: Importation of Birds’ Plumage, 41; Plumage 
Bill, Lieut.-Col. J. Manners-Smith; Sir H. H. John- 
ston, 350; Nepal Birds, C. W. Beebe, 462 ; Brochure 
by J. Buckland, 485; Plumage Bill, 532, 543; Destruc- 
tion of Wild Peafowl in India, Sir H. H. Johnston, 559 

Pneumonia among Natives on the Rand, G. D. Maynard, 
275 

Poems of Human Progress, etc., J. H. West, 374 

Pole, North: Rasmussen Expedition, 433; Stars around the 
North Pole, Dr. F. W. Dyson, 574, s99 

Porpoise Caught at Dungeness, 484 

Port Erin: Annual Report, 196, 221; Easter Work, 227 

Positive Rays: Very Soft Réntgen-rays produced by Impact 
of Positive and Kathode Rays, Sir J. J. Thomson, 523 

Potash and Magnesia, Estimation, M. Duboux, 30 

Potato Diseases due to Phytophthora, Dr. G. H. 
bridge, 226 

Potential : Double Distributions in Potential Theory, J. G. 
Leathem, 314; Potential of Ellipsoids and Figures of 
Equilibrium of Rotating Liquids, J. H. Jeans, 522 

Poultry Laying, 221 

Power, Application to Road Transport, 
265 

Practical: Practical Mathematics, T. S. Usherwood and 
Caen Aa acimbles sor 504; N. W. M’Lachlan, 2; Prac- 
tical Education, J. Wilson, 146; J. G. Legge, 633 


Origin of 
69; Planet 


Pethy- 


H. E. Wimperis, 


Precious Metals, Sampling and Assay of, E. A. Smith, 157 

Prehistoric Times, Rt. Hon. Lord Avebury, Rev. J. 
Griffith, 57; Prehistoric Trade of England and France, 
O. G. S. Crawford, 169 

Pressure : Instrument for recording Pressure Variations due 
to Explosions in Tubes, J. D. Morgan, 231; Phase 
Changes due to High Pressures, P. W. Bridgman, 493 

Prickly Pear Pest, Remedies, 276 ; 

Primary Education and Beyond, Prof. R. A. Gregory, 173 

Primula sinensis, Genetics in, R. P. Gregory, 259 

Princeton Colloquium on Mathematics, G. A. Bliss and E. 
Kasner, 528 

Principles of Economics, Prof. H. R. Seager, 632 

Prism: Dispersion of Light Pulse by a Prism, Dr. R. A. 
Houstoun, 76; Prism Material for Spectrographs, Dr. 
J. S. Plaskett, 65 

Prize Awards: Acton Sentennial, 141; Solvay, for Physical 
Chemistry and Psychology, 300 , ; 

Prizes Offered : by International Geological Congress, 
for Petrography, 141; by Berlin Academy (Auwers 
Jubilee), 247; by Royal Academy of Belgium, 485; 
Riberi, Sool., for Medical Research, 589 i 


47l., 


L[ndex 


[ Nature, 
October t, 1914 


Probability, Prof. Borel, 662 

Prohibition of Experiments on Dogs, Sir E. A. Schafer, 
242 

pronaan, Weight of, J. Timmermans, 103 

Proper Newe Booke of Cokereye, Catherine F. Frere, 53 

Proportion, Theory of, Prof. M. J. M. Hill, 662 

Protista, Nutritive Conditions of Soil, H. G. Thornton and 
G. Smith, 313 

Protoplasm, Synthetic Power, Prof. E. T. Reichert, 491 

Prussian Meteorological Institute, G. Hellmann, 276, 374 

Psychology : a “Sixth Sense,” 118; Commercial Advertising 
Experiments, E. K. Strong, 196; Human Behaviour : 
a First Book for Teachers, Prof. S. S. Colvin and 
Prof. W. C. Bagley, C. Burt, 424; Inductive versus 
Deductive Methods of Teaching, W. H. Winch, C. 
Burt, 424; Minds in Distress, Dr. A. E. Bridger, 
C. Burt, 424; Phenomena of the Conscious and Uncon- 
scious, Abdul Majid, 428; Joint Meeting of Societies : 
Repression in Forgetting, 513 

Public Health Report for 1912-13, 18 

Pueblos, 537 

Pyrometers, Recording, 303 

Pyrometric Method, G. Millochau, 551 


Quantum Theory: Recent Extensions, A. Eucken, 203) 
New Tests and Determination of h, Prof. R. A. 
Millikan, 493; Rayleigh’s Law of Extinction, Prof. 
L. V. King, 557; Quantum Theory, J. H. Jeans, 593 

Quebec Bridge, 569 


Radial Velocities of Stars, 416 

Radiation: Radiation of Gas Molecules excited by Light, 
Prof. R. W. Wood, 43; Doppler Effect and Carnot’s 
Principle, Prof. H. L. Callendar, 59; die Theorie der 
Strahlung und der Quanten, A. Eucken, 263; Radia- 
tion due to Oxidation of Phosphorus, A. Blanc, 369; 
Radiation of the Sun, Prof. C. G. Abbott, 464; Ray- 
leigh’s Law of Extinction, Prof. King, 557; Report on 
Radiation and Quantum Theory, J. H. Jeans, 593 _ 

Radio-activity : Tables, 67; Passage of a Particles through 
Photographic Films; 367; 8 and y Rays and Struc- 
ture of the Atom, Dr. A. van den Broek, 376; Radio- 
activity and Atomic Numbers, Dr. A. van den Broek, 
480; Atomic Weight of Lead of Radio-active Origin, 
Maurice Curie, 421; T. W. Richards and M. E. 
Lembert, 603 ; Electrochemical Properties of Radium-B 
and Thorium-B, Z. Klemensiewicz, 472 ; Thorium Lead 

an Unstable Product, R. W. Lawson, 479 

Radio-elements : Chemistry of the Radio-elements : Part ii., 
Periodic Law, F. Soddy, 1; Lead and Final Product of 
Thorium, Dr. A. Holmes, 109 

Radiology : Local Application of Radium in Therapeutics, 
Prof. J. Joly, 181; Société Belge Papers, 436; Highly 
Radio-active Solutions, Prof. W. Duane, 493 

Radio-telegraphic Commission, 327, 490 

Radio-telegraphy, see Wireless 

Radium: Radium and Quack Medicine, 225; Action of 
Radium Rays on Bakelite, C. E. S. Phillips, 295; 
Radium Institute Report, 413; Reduction of Carbon 
Monoxide in presence of Radium Emanation, O. 
Scheuer, 463; Determining Radium, Thorium, and 
Actinium in Materials, Dr. C. Ramsauer, 487; Springs 
of Evaux-les-Bains, M. Cluzet and T. Nogier, 525; 
Radium Emanation in the Atmosphere, J. R. Wright 
and O. F. Smith, 569; Action on Wireless Crystal 
Detectors, M. Chaspoul, 657 

Railroad Surveying, Text-book on, 
C. C. Wiley, 239 

Railways: Bachelet Levitated, 273 ; Railways of the World, 
E. Protheroe, 501; Timber for Railway Sleepers, 545 

Rain: a Cuban Rain Record, A. H. Brown, 341 ; Thunder- 
storm over London on June 14, W. Marriott, 402; 411; 
J. Fairgrieve, 454; Chemical Composition of Rain, Dr. 


G. W. Pickels and 


Turitz, 463; Rainfall of Southern Pennines, B. C. 
Wallis, 472; Rainfall and Wind Direction, H. J. 
Bartlett. 472; Estimation of Rainfall by Growth of 


Trees, Prof. A. E. Douglass, 539, 617; Visibility as a 
Sign of Rain, 592 

Rare Earths, Constant Presence of, in Scheelite shown by 
Cathodic Phosphorescence, C. de Rohden, 630 


Nature . 
October 1, 1414 | 


Lndex 


XXXI11 


Rationalism in its Biographies, Canon Lewis, A. E. 
Crawley, 81 

Rats, Effects of Selection on Colour Pattern of, W. E. 
Castle and J. C. Phillips, 221 

Ray Society, 117 

Rayleigh’s Law of Extinction and the Quantum Hypo- 
thesis, Prof. L. V. King, 557 

Realm of Nature, Dr. H. R. Mill, 450 

Recurrent Fever, Two Forms of Virus, E. Sergent, 525 

Red Sea Coast, C. Crossland, 163 

Refraction : Atmospheric Refraction and Geodesy, J. de G. 
Hunter, 42; Refractive Index of Small Liquid Drop, 
F. E. Wright, 463; Transmission of Electromagnetic 

’ Waves round the Earth, Prof. J. A. Fleming, 523 

Refrigeration, Mechanical, Prof. H. J. Macintire, 609 

Reichsanstalt, 16 

Relativity: the Theory of Relativity, Prof. R. D. Car- 
michael, 28; das Relativitatsprinzip: die jiingste 
Modenarrheit der Wissenschaft, Leo Gilbert, 56; Prin- 
ciple of Relativity, Prof. H. A. Lorentz, 171; Principle 
of Relativity in Light of Philosophy, P. Carus, 187; 
Principle of Relativity, E. Cunningham, 378, 408, 454; 
A. A. Robb, 454; Relativity, H. A. Lorentz, A. 
Einstein, H. Minkowski, 532 

Religion: Religious Revolution of To-day, Prof. J. T. 
Shotwell, 5; Modern Substitutes for Traditional 
Christianity, E. McClure, A. E. Crawley, 81; Modern 
Rationalism in its Biographies, Canon H. Lewis, A. E. 
Crawley, 81; All Men are Ghosts, L. P. Jacks, 
A. E. Crawley, 81; Latest Lights on Bible Lands, 
P. S. P. Handcock, A. E. Crawley, 81; the Divine 
Mystery, A. Upward, A. E. Crawley, 81; the Syrian 
Goddess, Lucian, Prof. H. A. Strong, Dr. J. Garstang, 
105; the Golden Bough, Prof. J. G. Frazer, A. E. 
Crawley, 157, 476 

Reproduction in Fowls, 538 

Rept'es, Marine, of Oxford Clay, Dr. C. W. Andrews, 582 

Repulsion in Wheat, F. L. Engledow, 154 

Research at Carnegie Institute, Washington, 
“Research Defence” Society, 491 

Resonance Lines of Sodium, L. Dunoyer and R. W. Wood, 
207 

Respiratory Movements of Insects, C. Nicholson; L. C. M., 
205 

Revelstoke National Park, 209 

Reversing Layer of Sun, J. Evershed, 224 


399 5 


REVIEWS AND Our BOOKSHELF. 


Agriculture and Fisheries: 
Brown (Harold), Rubber, 608 


Coghlan (H. L.) and J. W. Hinchley, Coconut Cultiva-- 


tion, 237 

Corbett (L. C.), Garden Farming, 553 

Dyer (Dr. Bernard) and F. W. E. Shrivell, Manuring of 
Market Garden Crops, 553 

Fawcett (W.), the Banana, 608 

Fisheries, International Council’s Reports, 510 


Fisheries, Inshore: Departmental Committee’s Report, 
324, 615 

Fishery Board for Scotland, Fifth Report on the North 
Sea, 362 


Hjort (Johan), Fluctuations in the great Fisheries of 
Northern Europe, 672 

Lock (Dr. R. H.), Rubber and Rubber Planting, 132 

Lohnis (Dr. F.), Vorlesungen iiber landwirtschaftliche 
Bakxteriologie, 605 

Macdonald (Dr. W.), Makers of Modern Agriculture, 556 

Milligan (F. M.), Cultivation of the Oil Palm, 608 

Murray (J. A.), Chemistry of Cattle Feeding and Dairy- 
Ing, 553 

New Zealand Commission on Forestry : Report, 377 

Newsham (J. C.), Horticultural Notebook, 557 

Pearson (R. S.), Economic Value of Shorea robusta, Sal, 


545 
Roule (Prof. Louis), Traité Raisonné de la Pisciculture 
et des Péches, 631 
Anthropology : 
Andreas (Mui Shoko), Gipsy Coppersmiths in Liverpool 
and Birkenhead, 57 
Avebury (Rt. Hon. Lord), Prehistoric Times: as illus- 


trated by Ancient Remains and Manners and Customs 
of Modern Savages, Rev. J. Griffith, 57 

Best (Elsdon), Stone Technique of the Maori, Dr. A. C. 
Haddon, 2098 

Black (Dr. G. F.), a Gypsy Bibliography, 4 

Breuil (l’Abbé H.), Dr. Obermaier, et H. A. del Rio, 
la Pasiega a Puente-Viesgo (Santander), Dr. W. 
Wright, 9 

Capitan (Dr. 
Caverne de 
Wright, 9 

Clodd (E.), Childhood of the World, 427 

Crossland (Cyril), Desert and Water Gardens of the Red 
Sea, 163 

Fewkes (Dr. J. W.), Relics of Lost Culture in Arizona, 
Dr. A. C. Haddon, 570 

Firth (C. M.), Archzeological Survey of Nubia, Prof. G. 
Elliot Smith, 86 

Frazer (Prof. J. G.), the Golden Bough: Part vii. (con- 
clusion), Balder the Beautiful, A. E. Crawley, 157; the 
Golden Bough, Part iv., Adonis, Attis, Osiris, A. E. 
Crawley, 476 

Galton (F.), Hereditary Genius, 453 

Goring (Dr. C.), the English Convict : 
Study, 86 

Hartness (J.), the Human Factor in Works Management, 
609 

Heape (W.), Sex Antagonism, 345 

Kermode (P. M. C.) and Prof. W. A. Herdman, Manks 
Antiquities, 478 

Kunz (Dr. G. F.), the Curious Lore of Precious Stones, 


aye 
Font-de-Gaume 


VAbbé Breuil, 


et D. Peyrony, la 
(Dordogne), W. 


Dr. 


a Statistical 


10 

een: Prof. H. A. Strong, Dr. J. Garstang, the Syrian 
Goddess, 105 

Macnaughton-Jones (Dr. H.), Ambidexterity and Mental 
Culture, 162 

Maspero (Sir Gaston), Elizabeth Lee, Egyptian Art, 210 

Newman (A. K.), Who are the Maoris? 318 

Rapson (Prof. E. J.), Ancient India, from the Earliest 
Times to the First Century A.D., 665 

Reynolds (Minnie J.), How Man Conquered Nature, 505 

Rio (H. A. del), 1’Abbé Breuil, et le R. Pére L. Sierra, 
les Cavernes de la Région Cantabrique, Dr. W. 
Wright, 9 

Rivers (W. H. R.), A. E. Jenks, and S. G. Morley, 
Reports upon the Condition and Needs of Anthropology, 
Dr. A. C. Haddon, 407 

Spinden (H. J.), Memoirs of Peabody Museum: Vol. vi., 
Maya Art, 454 

Stefansson (V.), My Life with the Eskimo, 400 

Strong (Prof. H. A.), Dr. J. Garstang, the Syrian 
Goddess: Translation of Lucian’s “De Dea Syria,” 
with Life of Lucian, 105 

Upward (A.), the Divine Mystery, 81 


Westermarck (Prof. E.), Marriage Ceremonies in 
Morocco, A. E. Crawley, 319 
Biology: 


Abderhalden (E.), Dr. J. O. Gavronsky and W. F. 
Lanchester, Defensive Ferments of the Animal 
Organism, 213 

Andrews (Dr. C. W.), Descriptive Catalogue of the 
Marine Reptiles of the Oxford Clay, 582 

Ash (F. W.), Nature and Origin of Secondary Sex 
Characters, 345 

Bigelow (Prof. M. A.) and Anna N. Bigelow, Introduc- 
tion to Biology, 450 

Bolus (Harry), Figures, with Descriptions of Extra- 
tropical South African Orchids, 425 

Bose (Prof. J. C.), Researches on Irritability of Plants, 
372 

Boulenger (Dr. G. A.), the Snakes of Europe, 585 

Bowman (A.), Distribution of Larvze of the Eel in 
Scottish Waters, 164 

Brown (A. R. Hais), My Game-book, 353 

Brown (Harold), Rubber, 608 

Carnegie Exnedition, 1903-4, 
Vol. iii.: Cambrian Faunas. by C. D. Walcott; 
Ordovician Fossils, bv S. Weller: Upper Palzozoic 
Fossils. by H. Girtv, F. R. C. Reed, 123 

Carter (H. G.), Genera of British Plants: with Characters 
of the Genera, 237 


Research in China: 


XXXIV 


Reviews and Our Bookshelf (continued) : 

Caullery (Prof. M.), les Problémes de la Sexualité, 345 

Coghlan (H. Lake) and J. W. Hinchley, Coconut Culti- 
vation and Plantation Machinery, 237 

Cook (Prof. M. T.), Diseases of Tropical Plants, 425 

Cropper (J. W.) and A. H. Drew, Induced Cell-reproduc- 
tion in Ameoebe, 611 

Cuming (E. D.), J. A. Shepherd, Bodley Head Natural 
History, 353 

Czapek (Prof. F.), Biochemie der Pflanzen, 451 

Defant (Dr. A.), Einfluss des Wetters auf die Ankunfts- 
zeiten der Zugvogel im Friihling, A. Landsborough 
Thomson, 457 


Drew (Dr. G. A.), Laboratory Manual of Invertebrate 
Zoology, 80 
Drude (Dr. O.), die Oekologie der Pflanzen, 425 


Eastman (Prof. C. R.), 
Vol. i., Adapted from German of Prof. K. A. 
Zittel, 661 

Fantham and Porter (Drs. H. B., and Annie), Some 
Minute Animal Parasites, or Unseen Foes, 501 

Fawcett (W.), the Banana: its Cultivation, Distribution, 
and Commercial Uses, 608 

Fowler (Dr. W. Warde) and H. St. J. Donisthorpe, the 
Coleoptera of the British Islands, 343 

Galton (F.), Hereditary Genius, 453 

Gask (Lilian), Patten’ Wilson, In the “Once upon a 
Time,” 353 

Goldschmidt (Prof. R.), Einfithrung in die Vererbungs- 
wissenschaft, 581 

Grassi (Dr. B.), Metamorphose der Murznoiden (Text 
Italian), 164 

Grove (W. B.), British Rust Fungi, 264 

Gurney (J. H.), the Gannet: a Bird with a History, 113 

Haberlandt (Prof. G.), M. Drummond, Physiological 
Plant Anatomy, 477 

Hall (Kate M.), Notes on Natural History of Common 
British Animals: Vertebrates, 450 

Hampson (Sir George F.), Catalogue of the Lepidoptera 
Phalaznz in the British Museum, 343 

Heape (W.), Sex Antagonism, 345 

Heatherley (F.), the Peregrine Falcon at the Eyrie, 58s, 
633 

Henneberg (Prof. W.) and Dr. G. Bode, die Garungs- 
gewerbe und ihre naturwissenschaftlichen Grundlagen, 
Prof. R. T. Hewlett, 2 

Herbert (Agnes), the Moose, 353 

Hjort (Johan), Fluctuations in the Great Fisheries of 
Northern Europe viewed in the light of Biological 
Research, 672 

Holler (K.) and G. Ulmer, Editors, Naturwissenschaft- 
liche Bibliothek fiir pe und Volk, 373 

Hope pea Prof. B. Poulton, Vol. viii., Blattidz : 
Vol. African seine 10 

2S (A. R.), Story of Plant Life in the British Isles, 


Text-book of Palzontology : 
von 


237 

Hosseus (Dr. C. C.), Durch Ké6nig Tschulalongkorns 
Reich: eine deutsche Siam-Expedition, 267 

Houard (C.), les Zoocécidies des Plantes d’Europe, 187 

Jackson (A. B.), Catalogue of Hardy Trees and Shrubs 
growing at Albury Park, Surrey, 237 

Japan: University of Tokyo: Reprints from Journal of 
College of Science, 654 

Johannsen (Prof. W.), Elemente der Exakten Erblich- 
Ixeitslehre mit Grundziigen Biologischen Variations- 
statistik, 581 

Tost (Dr. L.), R. T. H. Gibson, Plant Physiology, 237 

Kammerer (Dr. Paul), Ursprung der Geschlechtsunter- 
schiede, 345 

Kellicott (Prof. W. E.), Text-book of General Embryo- 
logy, 106; Outlines of Chordate Development. 295 

Kew Gardens. Director and Staff of, Index Kewensis: 
Plantarum Phanerogamarum, 425 

Koehler (Prof. R.), Echinoderma of the Indian Museum : 
Part vili.. Echinoidea, 529 

Kollwitz (R.), Pflanzenphvsiologie, 212 

Kossowicz (Dr. A.), Einfiihrung in die Mykologie der 
Gebrauchs- und Abwisser, Prof. R. T. Hewlett, 2 

Lea (Einar), Murzenoid Larvz from the Michael Sars 
North Atlantic Exnedition, 1910, 164 

Levy (Dr. Oscar), Elementares Praktilum der Entwickl- 


Lndex 


Nature, 
October 1, 1914 


ungsgeschichte der Wirbeltiere mit Einfiihrung in die 
Entwicklungsmechanik, 106 

Lock (Dr. R. H.), Rubber and Rubber Planting, 132 

Loeb (Leo) and others, the Venom of Heloderma, Dr. 
C. J. Martin, 123 

Lohnis (Dr. F.), Vorlesungen tiber landwirtschaftliche 
Bakteriologie, 605 

Lowson (Mr.), M. Willis, Text-book of Botany: 
Edition, 237 

Lydekker (R.), Catalogue of the Heads and Horns of 
Indian Big Game: Bequeathed by A. O. Hume, C.B., 
to the British Museum (Natural History), 343 5, (with 
G. Blaine), Catalogue of Ungulate Mammals in the 
British Museum: Vol. ii., 528 

McFarland (Prof. J.), Biology : General and Medical, 267 

McMillan (R.), Origin of the World, 320 

Massee (G.), Ivy Massee, Mildews, Rusts, and Smuts, 264 

Mathews (G. M.), List of the Birds of Australia, 585 

Maugham (R. C. F.), Wild Game in Zambezia, 665 

Meyer (S.), Probleme der Entwicklung des Geistes, A. E. 

Crawley, 55 

Milligan (F. M.), Cultivation of the Oil Palm, 608 

Mitchell (Dr. P. Chalmers), the Childhood of Animals, 

371 

Morgan (Prof. T. H.), Heredity and Sex, 345 

Morley (Claude), a Revision of the Ichneumonidae, 343, 

529; the Fauna of British India, 343 

Moss (Dr. C. E.), E. W. Hunnybun, the Cambridge 


British Flora: Vol. ii., Salicaceze to Chenopodiacez, 


Indian 


579 

Murray (Sir John), the Ocean: a Gaal Account of the 
Science of the Sea, 585 

New Zealand Commission on Forestry, Report, 377 

Newsham (J. C.), Horticultural Notebook, 557 

Oppel (Prof. A.), Leitfaden fiir das Embryo!logische 
Praktikum und Grundriss der Entwicklungslehre des 
Menschen und der Wirbeltiere, 606 

Owen (Mrs. J. A.) and Prof. G. S. Boulger, the Country 
Month by Month, gor 

Pelourde (Dr. F.), Paléontologie végétale : 
25 

Pern (Mrs.), British Flowering Plants, 65 

Plate (Prof. L.), Seleltionsprinzip und Probleme der 
Artbildung, 581 

Pocock (Constance L.), Highways and Byways of the 
Zoological Gardens, 353 

Poulton (Prof. E. B.), 
African Insects, 10 

Praeger (R. L.), S. Rosamond Praeger and R. J. Welch, 
Weeds: Simple Lessons, 450 

Reed (F. R. C.), Cambrian Faunas : 
Upper Palzeozoic Fossils, 123 

Reichenbach, see Stromer 

Reichenow (Dr. A.), die V6gel, 585 

Reichert (Prof. E. T.), Differentiation and Specificity of 
Starches in relation to Genera, Species, etc., 491 

Reinheimer (H.), Evolution by Cooperation, A. E. 
Crawley, 55 

Rendle (Dr. A. B.), and others, Catalogue of the Plants 
Collected by Mr. and Mrs. P. A. Talbot in the Oban 
District, South Nigeria, 237 

Reuter (O. M.), A. u. m. Buch, Lebensgewohnheiten und 
Instinkte der Insekten bis zum Erwachen der sozialen 
Instinkte, 214 

Robertson (J. L.), Nature in Books: 
tion to Natural Science, 453 

RG6seler (Prof. P.) and H. Lamprecht, 
Biologische Uebungen, 606 

Roux (Wilhelm), Terminologie der 
mechanik der. Tiere und Pflanzen, 131 

Russell (T. H.), Plant Life, 237 

Sargent (F. L.), Plants and their Uses, 372 

Schmidt (T.), (1) Growth in Length of Hop-stems and its 
Diurnal Periodicity ; (2) Rotational Movement of Hop- 
stems and its Diurnal Periodicity, too 

Schmucker (Prof. S. C.), Meaning of Evolution, 581 

Scott (Prof. W. B.), History of Land Mammals in 
Western Hemisvhere, 553 

Sedewick (S. N.). the Holiday Nature-boolk, s&s 

Shelford (Dr. V. E.), Animal Communities in Temperate 
America as Illustrated in the Chicago Region, 665 


Cryptogames, 


the Hope Reports : Blattide : 


Ordovician Fossils : 


Literary Introduc- 
Handbuch fiir 


Entwickelungs- 


Nature, ] /n ex XXXV 


October 1, 1914 


Reviews and Our Bookshelf (continued) : 

Sleeper (G. W.), a Forged “Anticipation” of Modern 
Scientific Ideas, Prof. Poulton, 563 

Smallwood (Prof. W. M.), Text-book of Biology: for 
Students, 80 

Stenhouse (E.), a First Book of Nature Study, 450 

Stevens (Prof. F. L.), the Fungi which Cause Plant 
Disease, 264 

Strasburger (E.), O. Hertwig, W. Benecke, R. Hertwig, 
H. Poll, and others, Zellen- und Gewerbelehre Morpho- 
logie und Entwicklungsgeschichte, 106 

Stratton-Porter (G.), Moths of the Limberlost, 353 

Stromer (Dr. E. F., v. Reichenbach), Lehrbuch der 
Paladozoologie: ii., Wirbeltiere, 266 

Suter (H.), Manual of New Zealand Mollusca: with 
Atlas, 528 

Talbot (P. A.), see Rendle ; 

Tandler (Dr. J.) and Dr. S. Grosz, die biologischen 
Grundlagen der selxundaren Geschlechtscharaktere, 345 

Thomas (W. Beach) and A. K. Collet, the English, Year : 
Autumn and Winter, 353 

Tortugas Laboratory Papers on Marine Biology, 465 

Trevor-Battye, Camping in Crete: with Description of 
Caves and their Deposits by Dorothea M. A. Bate, 29 

Tunmann (Dr. O.), Pflanzenmilrochemie, 372 

Vines (Prof. S. H.) and G. Claridge Druce, Morisonian 
Herbarium of the University of Oxford, 4 

Voigt (Alban), Junk’s Natur-Fiihrer: die Riviera (Plant 
Life), 580 

Wager (H.), Notes on the Blue-green Algz, 583 

Walcott (Dr. C. D.), Cambrian Brachiopoda (U.S. Geol. 
Survey), 62; Research in China: Cambrian Faunas, 
F. R. C. Reed, 123 

Ward (John J.), Insect Biographies with Pen and 
Camera, 214 

Wernham (H. F.), British Museum: Monograph of the 
Genus Sabicea, 529 

Westell (W. Percival), Wonders of Bird-life, 585 

Willstatter (R.) and A. Stoll, Chlorophyll, 451 

Woodward (B. B.), Catalogue of the British Species of 
Pisidium (Recent and Fossil) in the Collections of the 
British Museum (Natural History), 343 3 Life of the 
Mollusca, 585 

Zittel (Prof..-K. A= von); Prof: ©. R. Eastman, Text- 
book of Palzontology, 661 

Chemistry : 

Abegg (Prof. R.), Dr. Fr. Auerbach, die Elemente der 
siebenten Gruppe des_ periodischen Systems: aus 
Abegg’s der anorganischen Chemie, 184 

Arup (P. S.), Industrial Organic Analysis, 184 

Asch (Dr. W. and Dr. D.), A. B. Searle, the Silicates in 
Chemistry and Commerce: including Exposition of a 
Hexite and Pentite Theory and of a Stereo-chemical 

- Theory of General Application, 184 
Auerbach, see Abegg 

Casnari (Dr. W. A.), India-rubber Laboratory Practice, 


663 

Christie (W. W.), Water: its Purification and Use in the 
Industries, 133 

Cumming (Dr. A. C.) and Dr. S. A. Kay, Text-book of 
Quantitative Chemical Analysis, 184 

Czapek (Prof. F.), Biochemie der Pflanzen, 451 

Desch (Dr. C. H.), Solidification of Metals, Report to 
Beilby Prize Committee, 674 

Edwardes-Ker (D. R.), Course of Practical Work in the 
Chemistry of the Garden, 161 

Getman (Prof. F. H.), Outlines of Theoretical Chemistry, 


555 

Guertler (Dr. W.), Metallographie: Band i., die Konsti- 
tution, Dr. C. H. Desch, 605 

Haller (Albin), see Lebon 

Hollemann (Prof. A. F.), Dr. A. J. Walker, Dr. O. E. 
Mott, Text-book of Organic Chemistry, 57; Dr. A. J. 
Walker, Laboratory Manual of Organic Chemistry for 
Beginners, 108 

Houston (Dr. A. C.), Studies in Water Supply, 133 

Tones (H. C.), New Era in Chemistry, 555 

Lebon (E.), Savants du Tour: Albin Haller, Biographie, 
Bibliosranhie Analytiaue des Ecrits, 161 

Letts (Prof. E. A.), Some Fundamental Problems in 
Chemistry—Old and New, Prof. R. Meldola, 291 


Mackenzie (Dr. J. E.), the Sugars and their Simple 
Derivatives, 184 

Matthews (Dr. J. M.), the Textile Fibres, 211 

Murray (J. Alan), Chemistry of Cattle Feeding and 
Dairying, 553 

Roberts-Austen (Sir Wm.), Record of his Work, compiled 
by S. W. Smith, T. K. Rose, 555 

Roscoe (H. E.) and C. Schorlemmer, Treatise on 
Chemistry: Vol. ii., the Metals, Dr. J. W. Mellor, 27 

Soddy (F.), Chemistry of the Radio-elements: ii., the 
Radio-elements and the Periodic Law, 1 

Stirm (Dr. K.), Chemische Technologie der Gespinst- 
fasern, 211 

Thorpe (Sir E.), Dictionary of Applied Chemistry, Dr. 
J. W. Mellor, 27 

Tilden (Sir W. A.), Progress of Scientific Chemistry in 
our own Times, with Biographical Notices, 555 

Tunmann (Dr. O.), Pflanzenmikrochemie, 372 

Willstatter (R.) and A. Stoll, Untersuchungen iiber 
Chlorophyll, 451 

Engineering : 

Barham (G. Basil), Development of the Incandescent 
Electric Lamp, 54 

Burr (Prof. W. H.), Suspension Bridges, Arch Ribs, and 
Cantilevers, 609 

Canadian Staff of Mines, Economic Minerals and Mining 
Industries of Canada, 216 

Coghlan (H. L.) and J. W. Hinchley, Coconut Cultiva- 
tion and Plantation Machinery, 237 

Coleman (Dr. O. P.), the Nickel Industry: with special 
reference to Sudbury Region, Ontario, 216 

Collis (A. G.), Switchgear and Control of Electric Light 
and Power Circuits, 477 

Creedy (F.), Single-phase Commutator aot 54 

Engineering Index Annual for 1913, 4 

Erskine-Murray (Dr. J.), Handioole or Wireless Tele- 
graphy, 30 

Foster (W. C.), Treatise on Wooden Trestle Bridges and 
their Concrete Substitutes, 267 

Grunmach (Prof. L.), Messung von Erderschiitterungen, 
627 

Hall, (Capt. G. L.), Elementary Theory of Alternate 
Current Working, 477 

Hartness (J.), the Human Factor in Works Management, 


609 

Hirshfeld (Prof. C. F.) and T. C. Ulbricht, Farm Gas 
Engines, 265 

Janet (Prof. P.), F. Suchting and E. Riecke, Allgemeine 
Elektrotechnik : Hochschul-Vorlesungen, 54 

Macintire (Prof. H. J.), Mechanical Refrigeration, 609 

Maurer (Prof. E. R.), Technical Mechanics, Statics, and 
Dynamics, 609 

Maycock (W. P.), Electric Circuit Theory and Calcula- 
tions: Practical Book for Engineers, etc., 477 

Montel (A.), Elasticita e Resistenza dei Corpi Pietrosi, 
Mattoni, Malte, Calcestruzzi, etc., 609 

Pickels (G. W.) and C. C. Wiley, Text-book on Railroad 
Surveying, 239 

Protheroe (E.), Railways of the World, s5o1 

Pull (E.), Engineering Workshop Exercises, 108 

Rhodes (Dr. W. G.), a Primer on Alternating Currents, 


54 
Searle (A. B.), Cement, Concrete, and Bricks, 265 
Siemens Brothers Dynamo Works, Ltd., Electricity in 


Mining, 47 

Stanley (H.), Practical Science for Engineering Students, 
236 

Suvlee (H. H.), the Mechanical Engineer’s Reference 
Book, 295 


Wells (Prof. G. J.) and A. J. Wallis-Tayler, the Diesel 
or Slow-combustion Engine, 265 

White (Lazarus), Catskill Water Supply of New Yorlx 
City, 209 

Wimperis (H. E.), Principles of Application of Power to 
Road Transport, 265 

Geography: 

Adams (Prof. H.), Practical Surveying and Elementary 
Geodesy, 236 

Babcock (W. H.), Barly Norse Visits to North America, 
136 


XXXVI 


L[ndex 


Nature, 
October 1, 1914 


Reviews and Our Bookshelf (continued) : 

Bacon and Co., Ltd. (G. W.), School and College Atlas, 
427; Excelsior School Map of the United States, 505 

Bell (Dr. J. M.), the Wilds of Maoriland, 482 

Cambridge County Geographies: Merionethshire, by A. 
Morris, 580; Northumberland, by S. R. Haselhurst, 580 

Chamberlain (J. F. and A. H.), the Continents and their 
People : South America, 83 

Crossland (Cyril), Desert and Water Gardens of the Red 
Sea, 163 

Dawson (Dr. W. Bell), the Currents in the Gulf of St. 
Lawrence, 175 

Martonne (Prof. Emm. de), Traité de Géographie 
Physique: Climat— Hydrographie — Relief — Biogéo- 
graphie, 293 

Maugham (R. C. F.), Wild Game in Zambezia, 665 

Mill (Dr. H. R.), F. Allen, Elementary Commercial 
Geography, 124; the Realm of Nature, 450 

Nansen (Dr. Fridtjof), Waters of the North-eastern 
Atlantic, 541 

Pettersson (O.) and C. F. Drechsel, Mémoire sur des 
Recherches dans 1’Atlantique, 541 

Stefansson (V.), My Life with the Eskimo, 401 

Suess (Prof. Ed.), Emm. de Margerie, la Face de la 
Terre, 293 

Thurston (E.), the Madras Presidency: with Mysore, 
Coorg, and Associated States, 580 

Trevor-Battye, Dorothea M. A. Bate, Camping in Crete: 
with Notes upon the Animal and Plant Life of the 
Island: and Description of Caves and their Deposits, 29 

Voigt (Alban), Junk’s Natur-Fihrer : die Riviera, 580 

West India Committee Map of the West Indies, 320 

Winterbotham (Capt. H. St. J. L.), Ordnance Survey : 
Accuracy of the Principal Triangulation of the United 
Kingdom, 571 

Geology: 

Andrews (E. C.), the Cobar Copper and Gold-field, 17 

Canada: Staff of Mines, Economic Minerals and Mining 
Industries of Canada, 216 

Case (G. O.), Coast Sand Dunes, Sand Spits and Sand 
Wastes, 583 

Coleman (Dr. O. P.), the Nickel Industry: with special 
reference to Sudbury Region, Ontario, 216 

Daly (Prof. R. A.), Igneous Rocks and their Origin, 449 

French Hydraulic Service, Etudes Glaciologiques Savoie- 
Pyrénées, 534 

Iddings (J. P.), Igneous Rocks, 183 

McMillan (R.), Origin of the World, 320 

Martin (W. F.) and C. H. Pierce, Water Resources of 
Hawaii, 71 

Martonne_ (Prof. 
Physique, 293 

Maryland Geological Survey, Devonian, A. J. Jukes- 
Browne, 386 

Mennell (F. P.), Manual of Petrology, 82 

Oswald (Dr. F.), Geological Map of the Caucasus, with 
Notes, 632 

Park (Prof. James), Text-bool: of Geology, 319 

Siebergs (A.), Einfithrung in die Erdbeben- und Vulkan- 
kunde Siiditaliens, 580 

Smith (H. G.), Minerals and the Microscope: Introduc- 
tion to Petrology, 610 

Stutzer (Prof. O.), die Wichtigsten Lagerstitten der 
“Nichterze” : Kohle, 348 

Suess (Prof. Ed.), Emm. de Margerie, la Face de la 
Terre, 293 


Wagner (Dr. P. A.), Diamond Fields of Southern Africa, 


Emm. de), Traité de Géographie 


527 

Walcott (C. D.), Cambrian Brachiopoda (U.S. Geol. 
Survey), 62 

Mathematics and Physics: 

Adams (Prof. H.), Practical Surveying and Elementary 
Geodesy, 226 ; 

Allen (Dr. H. Stanley), Photo-electricity : Liberation of 
Electrons by Light, 502 

Baker (W. M.) and A. A. Bourne, a Shorter Algebra, 236 

Barnard (S.) and J. M. Child, Key to “A New Algebra,” 
226 

Bell’s, see Goodacre 

Benham (C. E.), Perspective made Easy by Means of 
Stereoscopic Diagrams, 108 


Bliss (G. A.) and E. Kasner, Princeton Colloquium : 
American Mathematical Society, Sept., 1909, 528 

Bon (Fred), Ist es wahr dass 2x2=4? 475 

Borchardt (W. G.) and Rev. A. D. Perrott, a Junior 
Trigonometry, 662 

Borel (Prof. E.), le Hasard, 662 

Boutroux (Prof. P.), les Principes de 1’Analyse Mathé- 
matique : Exposé Historique et Critique, 183 

Cahen (E.), Théorie des Nombres, 159 

Capstick (Dr. J. W.), Sound: Elementary Text-book, 502 

Carmichael (Prof. R. D.), Theory of Relativity, 28 

Carus (P.), the Principle of Relativity in the Light of 
the Philosophy of Science, 187 

Chree (Dr. C.), Lag in Marine Barometers on Land and 
Sea, 588 

“Conway” Manual, see Morgan 

Cornish (Dr. Vaughan), Waves of Sand and Snow and 
the Eddies which Make Them, A. Mallock, 191 

Couturat (L.), Lydia G. Robinson, the Algebra of Logic, 


Co) 

Be eeen (Prof. E.), Lecons sur la Dynamique des 
Systémes matériels, 28 

Dennis (T.), Algebra for Preparatory Schools, 504 

Dines (W. H.), the Free Atmosphere of the British Isles : 
Calibration of Balloon Instruments and Reading of 
Traces, 588 

Dobson (Gordon), Comparison of Electrical Conditions of 
the Atmosphere at Kew and Eskdalemuir, 588 

Duhem (Prof. P.), le Systéme du Monde: Histoire des 
Doctrines Cosmologiques de Platon a Copernic, 317 

Durrell (C. V.), Test Papers in Elementary Algebra, 504 

Eucken (A.), die Theorie der Strahlung und der Quanten, 
26 

FitzPatrick (J.), Exercices d’Arithmétique, 2 

Ford (Prof. W. B.) and C. Ammerman, Plane Geometry, 


159 

Gilbert (Leo), das Relativitatsprinzip: die jiingste 
Modenarrheit der Wissenschaft, 56 

Gold (Ernest), International Kite and Balloon Ascents, 


Geer (H. H.) and E. F. Holmes, €. F. Noble, P. 
Steer, Bell’s Outdoor and Indoor Experimental Arith- 
metics : (Yearly Courses), 236; Teacher’s Book, 662 : 

Grunmach (Prof. L.), Messung von Erderschiitterungen, 
627 

Guillaume (C. E.), les récents Progrés du Systéme 

‘ métrique, 483 

Haas-Lorentz (Dr. G. L. de), die Brownsche Bewegung, 


502 

Harrison (Prof. J.) and G. A. Baxandall, Practical 
Geometry and Graphics for Advanced Students, 2 

Heath (Prof. R. S.), Text-book of Elementary Statics, 
236 

Hellmann (G.), Veréffentlichungen des kgl. Preussischen 
Meteorologischen Instituts, No. 273: Beitrage zur 
Geschichte der Meteorologie, 374 

Hill (Prof. M. J. M.), Theory of Proportion, 662 

Hinneberg (P.), die Kultur der Gegenwart, 423; see 
Klein (F.) 

Housden (C. E.), the Riddle of Mars the Planet, 294 

Hunter (J. de Graaff), Formule for Atmospheric Refrac- 
tion and their Application to Terrestrial Refraction and 
Geodesy, 42 

Huntington (Prof. E.) and others, the Climatic Factor as 
Illustrated in Arid America, 617 

International Bureau of Weights and Measures: Comité 
internationale, Proces-verbaux: Travaux et Mémoires, 
458 

Jacoby (Prof. H.), Astronomy: a Popular Handbook, 211 

Johnson (Dr. G. L.), Photography in Colours, 374 

Klein (F.), P. Hinneberg, H. G. Zeuthen, A. Voss, H. E. 
Timerding, Kultur der Gegenwart : die Mathematischen 
Wissenschaften, Part iii., Sec. i. (die Mathematilx im 
Alterthum u. im Mittelalter ; die Beziehungen d. Mathe- 
matik zur Kultur; die Verbreitung math. Wissens), 
423; Dr. G. G. Morrice, Lectures on the Icosahedron 
and the Solution of Equations of the Fifth Degree, 662 

Lamb (Prof. H.), Dynamics, 662 

Lorentz (H. A.), A. Einstein, H. Minkowski, das 
Relativitatsprinzip : Collection of Papers, with Portrait 
of Minkowski, 532 


Nature, 
October 1, 1914 


Reviews and Our Bookshelf (continued) : 
Loria (Prof. G.), le Scienze Esatte nell’ Antica Grecia, 


475 

M’Lachlan (N. W.), Practical Mathematics, 2 

Marriott (Major R. A.), the Change in the Climate and 
its Cause, 108 

Maurer (Prof. E. R.), Technical Mechanics, Statics, and 
Dynamics, 609 

Meteorological Office, Geophysical Memoirs, 588 

Michaelis (Prof. L.), Einftihrung in die Mathematil fiir 
Biologen und Chemiker, 159 

Milne (R. M.), Mathematical Papers: for Admission into 
the Royal Military Academy and the Royal Military 
College : for years 1905-13, 662 

Milne (Dr. W. P.), Higher Algebra, 159 

Montel (A.), Elasticita e Resistenza dei Corpi Pietrosi, 
Mattoni, etc., 609 

Morgan (J.), T. P. Marchant, and A. L. Wood, the 
“Conway” Manual: being a complete Summary of all 
Problems in Navigation and Nautical Astronomy, 660 

Moritz (Prof. R. E.), Text-book on Spherical Trigo- 
nometry, 504; Plane and Spherical Trigonometry (with 
Five-place Tables), 504 

Nansen (F.), Waters of the 
Atlantic, 541 

Ollivier (H.), Cours de Physique Générale: Lecons a 
l’Université de Lille: Tome I., Gravitation, Electricité 
et Magnétisme, Symétries, 502 

Pettersson (O.) and C. F. Drechsel, Mémoire sur des 
Recherches dans 1’Atlantique, 541 

Philip (A.), the Reform of the Calendar, 187 

Royal Society of London: Catalogue of Scientific Papers, 
1800-1900: Subject Index, Vol. iii., Physics, 478 

Runge (Prof. Carl), Graphical Methods, 159 

Stanley (H.), Practical Science for Engineering Students, 
236 

Tracey (Prof. J. C.) and Prof. H. B. North, Descriptive 
Geometry, 348 

Turner (F. C.) and Prof. J. M. Bose, Intermediate 
Mechanics for Indian Students, 662 

Turner (Prof. H. H.), Tables for Facilitating the Use of 
Harmonic Analysis, 662 

Usherwood (T. S.) and C. J. A. Trimble, First Book of 
Practical Mathematics, 2; Practical Mathematics for 
Technical Students, Part i., 504 

Walker (G. W.), Modern Seismology, 158 

Wood (P. W.), the Twisted Cubic: with Account of the 
Metrical Properties of the Cubical Hyperbola, 159 


North-eastern North 


Medicine: 


Bridger (Dr. A. E.), Minds in Distress, C. Burt, 424 

Buxton (Dr. D. W.), Anesthetics: their Uses and 
Administration, 213 

Columbia University, Studies in Cancer and Allied 
Subyjects|:) Vols:'i:, i.) ii, 397; Vol. iv:, Salivary 
Glands in Mammalia, 606 

Delorme (Edmond), Blessures de Guerre: Conseils aux 
Chirurgiens, 665 

Green (C. E.), the Cancer Problem, 134 

Holmes (Major J. D. E.), Imperial Bacteriological 
Laboratory, Muktesar, India, Dr. P. Hartley, 137 

McFarland (Prof. J.). Biology : General and Medical, 267 

Martius (Prof. F.), Konstitution und Vererbung in ihren 
Beziehungen zur Pathologie, 606 

Moore (Dr. N.), the Physician in English History, 239 

Noyes (Anna G.), How I Kept my Baby Well, C. Burt, 


424 

Onvel (Prof. A.), Leitfaden fiir das Embryologische 
Praktikum und Grundriss der Entwicklungslehre des 
Menschen und der Wirbeltiere, 606 

Pearson (Dr. S. V.). State Provision of Sanatoriums, 30 

Ross (H. C.), 1. W. Cropper, E. H. Ross, H. Bayon, 
W. Jj. A. Butterfield, E. Jennings, and S. R. 
Moulsavkar, Researches into Induced Cell-reproduction 
and Cancer, and other Papers, 225 

Saleeby (Dr. C. W.), Progress of Eugenics, 527 

es E. M.), the Child: its Care, Diet, and Common 

S. 4 

Sleening Sickness, Report of the Inter-departmental Com- 
mittee on, s87 

Strachan (H.), Lessons in Elementary Tropical Hygiene, 
213 


Index 


XXXVI 


Tandler (Dr. J.) and Dr. S. Grosz, die biologischen 
Grundlagen der sekundéren Geschlechtscharaktere, 345 

Thomas (Prof. F. A. W.), das Elisabeth Linné 
Phanomen (Blitzen der Bliiten) und seine Deutungen, 

8 

aSrsical Diseases Research Fund, Report of Advisory 
Committee, 673 

Wallace (Dr. J. S.), Dental Diseases in relation to Public 
Health, 160 

White (Dr. C. P.), Pathology of Growth: Tumours, 235 

Woglom (Dr. W. H.), the Study of Experimental Cancer : 
a Review, 397 


Philosophy and Psychology: 


Aristotelian Society, Proceedings of the, A. E. Crawley, 


Bemis (H. Jamyn), the Science of the Sciences, A. E. 

_ Crawley, 55 

Colvin (Prof. S. S.) and Prof. W. C. Bagley, Human 
Behaviour: a First Book in Psychology for Teachers, 
C. Burt, 424 

Frazer (Sir J. G.), the Golden Bough: Part iv., Adonis, 
Attis, Osiris, A. E. Crawley, 476; Part vii. (conclusion), 
Balder the Beautiful, A. E. Crawley, 157 

Meyer (S.), Probleme der Entwicklung des Geistes, A. E. 
Crawley, 55 

Ruge (A.), W. Windelband, J. Royce, and others, B. 
Ethel Meyer, Encyclopedia of the Philosophical 
Sciences: Vol. i., Logic, A. E. Crawley, 55 

Shotwell (Prof. J. T.), the Religious Revolution of 
To-day, 5 

Winch (W. H.), Inductive versus Deductive Methods of 
Teaching : an Experimental Research, C. Burt, 424 


Technology : 


Altham (Major-General E. A.), Principles of War, 399 
Anonymous, the Art of “Dying,” Prof. W. M. Gardner, 


Brews (Harold), Rubber, 608 

Bryant (Prof. R. C.), Logging: Principles and Methods 
in the United States, 82 

C. H. C., Ornamental Latheworlk for Amateurs, 557 

Caspari (Dr. W. A.), India-rubber Laboratory Practice, 
663 

Cautley (R. W.), Descriptions of Land: Text-book for 
Survey Students, 134 

Granjon (R.) and P. Rosemberg, D. Richardson, Prac 
tical Manual of Autogenous Welding (Oxy-acetylene), 
161 

Guertler (Dr. W.), Metallographie: Band i., die Konsti- 
tution, Dr. C. H. Desch, 605 

Tohnson (Dr. G. L.), Photography in Colours, 374 

Kinne (Prof. Helen) and Anna M. Cooley, Foods and 
Household Management: Text-book of the Household 
Arts, 83 

Kloes (Prof. J. A. van der), A. B. Searle, Manual for 
Masons, Bricklayers, Concrete Workers, and Plasterers, 


Oo 

Mathews (Dr. J. M.), the Textile Fibres: their Physical, 
Microscopical, and Chemical Properties, 211 

Maurer (Prof. E. R.), Technical Mechanics, 609 

Roberts-Austen (Sir Wm. Chandler), S. W. Smith, 
Roberts-Austen : a Record of his Work, T. K. Rose, 


Smith (E. A.), Sampling and Assay of the Precious 
Metals, 157 

Stirm (Dr. K.), Chemische Technologie der Gespinst- 
fasern, 211 

Talbot (F. A.), Practical Kinematography and its Appli- 
cations, Prof. C. V. Boys, 61 

Woolman (Mary S.) and Ellen B. McGowan, Textiles : 
Handbook for Student and Consumer, Wm. S. Taggart, 
186 


Miscellaneous: 


Barbour (Sir David), Influence of the Gold Supply on 
Prices and Profits, 204 

Board of Education Reports on Practical Education in 
Schools, T. Wilson, 146 

Branford (V.), Interpretations and Forecasts: a Study of 
Survivals and Tendencies in Contemporary Society, 
A. E. Crawley, 401 

Brooks (H. Tamyn), the Science of the Sciences, A. E- 
Crawley, 55 


XXXVIII 


Reviews and Our Bookshelf (continued) : 

Campbell (Matilda G.), Text-book of Domestic Science 
for High Schools, 5 

Christie (W. W.), Water: its Purification and Use in 
the Industries, 133 - 

Coffin (Prof. J. H.), the Socialised Conscience, 134 

Egerton (F. C. C.), the Future of Education, 583 

Franklin (W. S.), Bill’s School and Mine: Essays on 
Education, 30 

Frere (Catherine F.), a Proper Newe Booke of Cokereye, 


53 : 

Giinther (Prof. Siegmund, Editor), Biicher der Natur- 
wissenschaft, 373 

Hamilton-Browne (Col. G.), Camp Fire Yarns of the 
Lost Legion, 28 

Handcock (P. S. P.), the Latest Light on Bible Lands, 81 

Heaton (E.) and J. B. Robinson, Heaton’s Annual, 30 

Hill (Dr. R. A. P.), the British Revolution, 427 

Hosseus (Dr. C. C.), Durch Kénig Tschulalongkorns 
Reich : eine deutsche Siam-Expedition, 267 

Houston (Dr. A. C.), Studies in Water Supply, 133° 

Jacks (L. P.), All Men are Ghosts, 81 

Jevons (Miss Winefrid), Schools and Employers in the 
United States: (Board of Education Report), 627 

Johnson (S. W.), From the Letter-files of, Elizabeth A. 
Osborne, Dr. E. J. Russell, 133 


Keltie (Dr. J. Scott), Dr. M. Epstein, the Statesman’s |! 


Year-book, 531 

Kent (W.), Investigating an Industry: a Scientific 
Diagnosis of the Diseases of Management, 632 

Kerschensteiner (Dr. G.), C. K. Ogden, the Schools and 
the Nation, 505 

Kunz (Dr. G. F.), the Curious Lore of Precious Stones, 


105 

Lebon (E.), Savants du Jour: Albin Haller, Biographie, 
Bibliographie, 161 

Legge (J. G.), the Thinking Hand, or Practical Educa- 
tion in the Elementary School, 633 

Leighton (M. O.) and others, Water Resources of Hawaii, 
71 

Lewis (Canon H.), Modern Rationalism as Seen at Worl: 
in its Biographies, Sr 

Loveday (A.), History and Economics of Indian Famines, 


530 
Lusk (Hugh H.), Social Welfare in New Zealand, 28 
McClure (E.), Modern Substitutes for Traditional 


Christianity, 81 

MacMunn (N.), a Path to Freedom in the School, 659 

Mill (Dr. H. R.), Realm of Nature: an Outline of 
Physiography, 450 

Montessori (Dr. Maria), Dr. Montessori’s Own Hand- 
book, 659 

Postgate (Isa J.), Song and Wings: a Posy of Bird 
Poems, 611 

Potonié (H.), Naturphilosophische Plaudereien, 55 

Roosevelt (Theodore), an Autobiography, Sir 
Johnston, 79 

Routledge’s New Dictionary of the English Language, 


ie 


453 

Royal Society: Catalogue of Scientific Papers (1884- 
1900), 633 

Rubinow (I. M.), Social Insurance: with Special Refer- 
ence to American Conditions, 294 

Seager (Prof. H. R.), Princinles of Economics, 632 

Seton (E. T.). the Trail of the Sandhill Stag, 665 

Sharp (H.), Progress of Education in India in 1907-12, 
200 

Shawcross (H. D.), Nature and the Idealist: Essays and 
Poems, 187 

Smail (T. C.), Trade and Technical Education in France 
and Germany, 465 

Statesman’s Year-boolx, 531 

Tasmania, Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society 
Of, fon 1973, 233 

Temnpsky (F.), G. Freytag (Publishers), Series of Science 
Books for Austrian Secondary Schools, 373 

Teubner “(B. G., n.d., Publisher), aus 
Geisteswelt, 273 

Ward (Prof. F. E.), the Montessori Method and the 
American School, 659 


Natur und 


Lndex 


Nature, 
October 1, 1914 


West (J. H.), Poems of Human Progress and other 
Pieces, 374 

White (Lazarus), the Catskill Water Supply of New 
York City, 209 

Wilde (Archer), Sounds and Signs: Criticism of the 
Alphabet with Suggestions for Reform, 318 

Williams (Rev. G. H.), Careers for Our Sons, 478 


Rhine Valley, Origin, P. Kessler, 301 

Rhodes Fauna, 249 

Rhodesia Scientific Association, 141 

Rice: Eelworm Disease, Dr. E. J. Butler, 96; Fractional 
Liquefaction of Rice Starch, F. J. Warth and D. B. 
Darabzett, 383 

Riddle of Mars, C. E. Housden, 294 

Ringkobing Fjord Fauna, Dr. Johansen, 197 

Riviera, A. Voigt, 580 

Road Transport, Application of Power to, H. E. Wimperis, 
265 

Roberts-Austen, S. W. Smith, Sir T. K. Rose, 555 

Rockall, Prof. J. W. Judd, 154 

Rockallite, Composition, Dr. H. S. Washington, 154 

Rocks, Igneous, J. P. Iddings, 183; Prof. R. A. Daly, 449 

Rontgen-ray Tubes, Modern, C. E. S. Phillips, 270; 
RG6ntgen-rays, see X-Rays 

Rose of Winds, Prof. S. P. Thompson, 621 


‘Roseaceze, Japanese, G. Koidzumi, 654 


Rostherne Mere, Faunal Survey, Dr. W. M. Tattersall and 
T. A. Coward, 128 

Rotating Nebula, 361, 594, 653 

Rotatory Power, Dr. Pickard, Mr. Kenyon, 303 

Routledge’s Dictionary, 453 

Royal Astronomical Society, 
Member, 63 

Royal Canadian Institute, 440 

Royal Commission on the Civil Service, 431 

Royal Geographical Society : Medals, 117; Expedition down 
Rio Duvida, T. Roosevelt, Dr. J. W. Evans, 432; 
Gulf Stream, Comm. Hepworth, 441; Tsangpo River, 
Capt. F. M. Bailey, 460; Australasian Antarctic 
Expedition, Sir Douglas Mawson, 466 

Royal Institution: Long-distance Telephony, Prof. J. A. 
Fleming, 150; Fluid Motions,. Lord Rayleigh, 364; 
X-Rays and Crystalline Structure, Prof. W. H. Bragg, 
494; Plant-autographs, Prof. J. C. Bose, 546; Stars 
around the North Pole, Dr. F. W. Dyson, 574, 599 

Royal Meteorological Society: Address, C. J. P. Cave, 


Miss Cannon elected Hon. 


33 

Royal sobaeltaoey Greenwich, 387 

Royal Society: Elections, Conversazione, 304; Cata- 
logue of Papers 1800-1900, Subject Index, Physics, 
478; Catalogue of Papers, 633 

Royal Society of Canada: Annual Meeting at Montreal, 
655 , 

Royal Society of Tasmania, 333 

Rubber and Rubber Planting Dr. (Roses Mockyergs 
Rubber : Sources, Cultivation, and Preparation, Harold 
Brown, 608; Rubber, Laboratory Practice, Dr. W. A. 
Caspari, 663 

Rural Education in S. Africa, Prof. G. Potts, 623 


125 


i} 


Sabicea, Genus, H. F. Wernham, 529 

St. Lawrence Ouebec Bridge, 569 

St. Simon Stallion, Skeleton, 436 

Salicylic Nitriles,s MM. Cousin and Volmar, 155 

Salivary Glands in Mammalia, 606 

Salmon: Influence of Oxygen in Streams on Migration, 
L. Roule, 315; Salmon and Smelt Blue Books, Dr. 
Masterman, 486 

Sanatoriums, State Provision of, Dr. S. V. Pearson, 30 

Sand: Waves in Sand and Snow, Dr. V. Cornish, 191; 
Flow of Sand. Prof. FE. A. Hersam, 277: Coast Sand 
Dunes, Sand Spits. and Sand Wastes, G. O. Case, 583 

Sand-blast, the, Lord Ravleigh, 188 

Sanitary Institute, Royal: Congress at Blackpool: Action 
of Metals upon Water and Bacteria, Prof. Delepine and 


Nature, ] 
October 1, 1914 


Dr. A. Greenwood, 517; Milk Supply, Dr. J. W. 
Brittlebank, 517; Blood Changes in Lead Workers, 
Dr. A. Sellers, 517; Paper Home Utensils, Dr. S. 
Rideal, 518 

Sarawak Museum, 413 

Sargasso Sea Weed, @. Winge, 170; Prof. Farlow, 493; 
Comm. Hepworth, 499 

Savants du Jour: Albin Haller, E. Lebon, 161 

Scarlet Fever Organism, J. Cantacuzéne, 657 

Scent Organs in Trichoptera, B. F. Cummings, 367 

Schilowsky Gyroscopic Two-wheeled Motor-car, Prof. C. V. 
Boys, 251 

menoolsi: school, Lishting, Dr. Eo HT. Nash, 287; 
Natural Lighting of Schools, 629; Schools and the 
Nation, Dr. G. Kerschensteiner, C. K. Ogden, 505; 
Schools and Employers in the United States, Miss 
Winefrid Jevons, 627; Handbook, Dr. M. Montessori, 
659; Montessori Method and American School, Prof. 
F. E. Ward, 659; Path to Freedom in the School, N. 
MacMunn, 659 

Science : Forthcoming Books, 18, 40, 361; Biicher der Natur- 

’ . wissenschaft, Prof. S. Giinther, 373; aus Natur und 
Geisteswelt (Teubner), 373; Naturwissenschaftliche 
Bibliothek, K. Holler and G. Ulmer, 373; Science 
Books for Austrian Secondary Schools, 373; Science 
and the State, 219, 351, (Morning Post) 411, 536; 
Practical Science for Engineering Students, H. Stanley, 
236; Carnegie Institution of Washington, 309; British 
Science Guild, 331, 536; Royal Society’s Catalogue of 
Scientific Papers, 478, 633; Palissy as Pioneer of 
Scientific Method, 518; Forged “Anticipation” of 
Modern Ideas, 563; Education and Science, Sir J. J. 
Thomson, 603; Scientific Diagnosis of Diseases of 
Management, W. Kent, 632 

Science Abstracts, 16 

Science Progress: “Sweating the Scientist,” 219 

Sclerocheilus, New Species, Dr. J. H. Ashworth, 420 

Scottish Antarctic Expedition, 218; Scottish Universities 
and Carnegie Trust, 279; Scottish Fishery Investiga- 
tions, 362 

Script, New, in Island Oleai, Prof. J. M. Brown, 486 

Sea: Hydrogen-ion Concentration in Sea-water, Prof. B: 
Moore and others, 221; the Ocean, Sir John Murray, 
585; Sea “Monster” Stranded at Birzebbugia, 620; 
Fluctuations in Sea Fisheries, Dr. J. Hjort, 672 

Seal, Close Time for Grey, 299 

Secular Climatic Changes in America, Prof. E. Huntington 
and others, 617 

Seeds, Influence of Carbon Dioxide on, F. Kidd, 313 

Seeing and Photographing Faint Objects, Prof. 
Nutting, 480 

Seiches, Thunderstorm Effects, Messrs. Okada and others, 
222 

Seismographs, Efficiency of Damped, Prince B. Galitzin, 
349 

Seismology: Free versus Damped Pendulums, Dr. Cava- 
sino, 119; Modern Seismology, G. W. Walker, 158; 
Work of Prof. J. Milne, 194; Nomenclature, 514; 
Einfthrung in die Erdbeben- und Vulkankunde 
Stiditaliens, A. Sieberg, 580; Seismometry and En- 
gineering, Prof. L. Grunmach, 627; see also Earth- 
quakes 

Selection : Selektionsprinzip und Probleme der Artbildung, 
Prof. L. Platte, 581 

Selenium, Influence of Tellerium on Sensibility to Light, 
M. Abonnenc, 524 

Series Lines, Prof. Fowler, 145 

Sewage: Mykologie der Gebrauchs- und Abwédsser, Dr. 
Kossowicz, 2; Atmospheric Infection by Sprays in use 
at Bacterial Beds, L. Cavel, 129 

Sex: Increase of Female Lambs due to High Feeding of 
Ewes,-15; Ursprung, Dr. P. Kammerer, 345; die 
biologischen Grundlagen der sekundaren Geschlechts- 
charaktere, Dr. J. Tandler ‘and Dr. S. Grosz, 345; 
Sex Antagonism, W. Heape, 345; Nature and Origin 


12 Gc 


of Secondary Sex Characters, F. W. Ash, 345; les 
Problémes de la Sexualité, Prof. M. Caullery, 345; 
Heredity -and Sex, Prof. T..H: Morgan, 345; 


Mammalian Spermatogenesis, Prof. Jordan, 466 
Shakespeare’s Skull, Prof. A. Keith, 66 


Index 


XXX1X 


Sheep: Inheritance of Characters of Sheep’s Wool, A. D. 
Darbishire and M. W. Gray, 420; Four-horned Sheep, 
435; Wild Sheep of Turkestan, 538 

Sheet-metal “B.G.” Gauge, 593 

Ships, Increase of Load or Velocity due to Increasing Size, 
L. E. Bertin, 207 

Siam, German Expedition, Dr. C. C. Hosseus, 267 

Sicilian Earthquake of May 8, Dr. C. Davison, 272 

Signalling on Railway Trains, 515 

Silica Lung Disease, Dr. McCrae, 413 

Silicates in Chemistry and Commerce, and a Hexite and 
Pentite Theory, Dr. W. Asch and Dr. D. Asch, A. B. 
Searle, 184 

Silicon, Spectrum of Elementary, Sir W. Crookes, 521, 654 

Single-phase Commutator Motors, F. Creedy, 54 

Siwaliks, Dr. Pilgrim, 382 

Sleeping Sickness : Trypanosomes, Sir D. Bruce and others, 
127, 445, 522; Sleeping Sickness in Uganda, 274; 
Administrative Problem: Committee’s Report, 587 

Slide Rule, an Early, D. Baxandall, 8 

Smell in Hymenoptera, Dr. McIndoo, 591 

Smoke Abatement in Europe and America, 69; Smoke 
Committee, 274 

Snakes of Europe, Dr. G. A. Boulenger, 585 

Snow, Waves in, Dr. V. Cornish, 191 

Social: Social Welfare in New Zealand, Hugh H. Lusk, 
28; Socialised Conscience, Prof. J. H. Coffin, 134; 
Social Insurance: with Special Reference to American 
Conditions, I. M. Rubinow, 294; Interpretations and 
Forecasts, V. Branford, 401 

Societies and Academies : 

Asiatic Society of Bengal, 233, 473, 657 
Cambridge Philosophical Society, 24, 154, 341, 419 
Challenger Society, 260, 499 


Geological Society, 76, 100, 154, 232, 288, 340, 394, 446, 
656 
Gottingen, 129 
Institution of Mining and Metallurgy, 50 
Linnean Society, 22, 76, 180, 340, 419, 498 
Linnean Society of New South Wales, 473, 525 
Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society, 77, 127, 
288, 314 
Mathematical Society, 77, 232, 314, 446 
Mineralogical Society, 102, 471 
Paris Academy of Sciences, (weekly) 
Physical Society, 23, 101, 231, 367, 471, 523 
Royal Anthropological Institute, 23 
», Astronomical Society, t1o1 
3x | Dublin Society, 127,181,232, 3675. 577, 
», Irish Academy, 24, 260, 314, 446 
», Meteorological Society, 23, 102, 232, 341, 472 
»» Society, 22, 49, 75, 126, 259, 287, 313, 340, 393, 


445, 521 
», Society of Edinburgh, 127, 207, 420, 629 
», Society of South Africa, 289, 499, 577 
,, Society of Tasmania, 395 
Society for Promotion of Nature Reserves, 35 
Zoological Society, 23, 50, 101, 232, 260, 314, 367, 471 
Sodium Vapour Resonance, .207 ; Correction, 289 ; Resonance 
due to D, alone, R. W. Wood and L. Dunoyer, 368 
Soil: Soil and Crops .in Biggleswade Area, T. Rigg, 154; 
Nutritive Conditions for Fresh-water and Soil Protista, 
H. G. Thornton and G. Smith, 313; Phenomena of 
Clay Suspensions, B. A. Keen, 321; Leaf Fall and Soil 
Deterioration, W. L. Balls, 341; Effect of Soil on 
Bacterial Secretions, 358; Chemistry of Soil, 360; In- 
ternational Commission on Chemical Analysis of Soils : 
Preparation of Soil Extracts for Total Analysis, Dr. 


von Sigmond, Dr. D. J. Hissink, Profs. Rindell, 
Mitscherlich, Ramann, 598; Estimation of Easily 
Soluble Soil Constituents, Prof. Mitscherlich, Prof. 


Ramann, 598; Estimation of Acidity, Dr. Gully, Dr. 
Tacke, sa8; Nitrate Deposits, Dr. W. H. Ross, 651 
Solar Cycle, New, 144 j : 
Solar Eclipse, Total, on August 21, 1914: Electric Waves 
and the Eclipse, 68; Note, 94; in Turkey and Persia, 
Prof. D. Todd, 311; Man of Armenia, 330; Inter- 
national Magnetic Observations, Dr. L. A. Bauer, 507; 
the Total Eclipse of August 21 (with Maps), Dr. 
W. J. S. Lockyer, 508; B.A.C. Radiotelegraphic Pro- 


xl Lndex 


Nature, 
Octcber 1, 1914 


gramme, 590, (cancelled), 618; Kief abandoned, 623, 
654; Telegrams from Greenwich party, and Father 
Cortie, 667 

Solar Energy, Utilisation of, A. S. E. Ackermann, 366 

Solar Observatories: New Zealand, 95, 415; Mt. Wilson, 
201; Solar Physics Observatory, Cambridge, 594 

Solar Radiation, Dr. L. Gorcezynski, E. Gold, 362; Prof. 
Abbott, 464; Influence of Polarisation of Sky Light on 
Solar Constant, A. Boutaric, 395 

Solar Rotation, J. B. Hubrecht, 77 

Solar Spectrum: General Displacement of Lines, J. Ever- 
shed, 69; Displacement of Lines towards Violet, Dr. 
T. Royds, 464 

See also Sun 

Solidification of Metals: Report, Dr. C. H. Desch, 674 

Solutions: Rate of Solution of Hydrogen by Palladium, 
Dr. A. Holt, 76; Processes operative in Solutions, Prof. 
H. E. Armstrong and E. E. Walker, 394; Absorption 
and Adsorption, Prof. F. T. Trouton, 642 

Song and Wings, Isa J. Postgate, 611 

Sonnblick Society, 436 

Sons, Careers for, Rev. G. H. Williams, 478 

Sorby Lecture, 44 


Sound: Sounds and Signs, A. Wilde, 318; Sound: Ele- 
mentary Text-book, Dr. J. W. Capstick, 502 

Sounding-balloon Diagrams, Dr. van Bemmelen, 269 

South Africa: National Botanic Gardens, 190; South 


African Orchids, H. Bolus, 425; Diamond Fields, Dr. 
P. A. Wagner, 527; South African Association for 
Advancement of Science, 623 : Ideas in Physical Science, 
Dr. A. Ogg, 623; Metallurgy on the Witwatersrand, 
Prof. G. H. Stanley, 623; Rural Education, Prof. G. 


Potts, 623; Language Study, Prof. W. Ritchie, 624; 
Spectra of Meteorites, Dr. Lunt, 624; Atmospheric 
Radio-activity, E. Jacot, 624; Lost Land, Prof. 
Schwarz, 624; Kimberley Diamond Pipes, Prof. 


E. H. L. Schwarz, 624; Climate of Lorenzo Marques, 
Sir A. de A. Teixeira, 652 
South America, J. F. Chamberlain and A. H. Chamberlain, 


83 
Space and Time, 532 
Specific Heats of Air, Hydrogen, etc., H. N. Mercer, ror 
Spectrophotography, Quantitative, Dr. H. Ewest, 39 
Spectroscopy: an X-Ray Absorption Band, Prof. W. H. 
Bragg, 31; X-Ray Spectra, G. E. M. Jauncey, 214; 
Experiments upon Origin of Spectra, Hon. R. J. 
Strutt, Dr. Andrade, 59; General Displacement of 
Lines in Solar Spectrum, J. Evershed, 69; Different 
Spectra of Mercury, Cadmium, and Zinc, J. de 
Kowalski, 103; Series Lines in Spark Spectra: 
Bakerian Lecture, Prof. A. Fowler, 145; Spectra and 
other Characteristics of Stars, Prof. H. N. Russell, 
227, 252, 281; Extension of Spectrum in Extreme 
Ultra-violet, Prof. T. Lyman, 241; Convenient Com- 
parison Spectrum, Dr. J. Lunt, 251; Chemical Signific- 
ance of Absorption Spectra, F. R. Lankshear, 314; 
Spectra of Delta Cephei and Zeta Geminorum, 331; 
Spectrum Series, Hon. R. J. Strutt, 340; Spectra of 
Secondary X-Rays, Duc de Broglie, 349; Spectral 
Analysis by Secondary Rays of Réntgen Rays, with 
application to Rare Substances, Duc de Broglie, 629; 
Effect of Electric Field on Spectrum Lines: Analogy to 
Zeeman Effect, Prof. Stark, 280, 360; Band or Swan 
Spectrum in Magnetic Field, H. Deslandres and V. 
Burson, 472; Watts’s Index, 516; Spectrum of 
Elementary Silicon, Sir W. Crookes, 521: Wave- 
lengths of Hydrogen Lines and the Series Constant, 
W. E. Curtis, 523; New Method for Spark Spectra, 
C. de Watteville, 524; Ultimate Lines of Elements 
from various Sources of Light, A. de Gramont, 524; 
Presence of Rare Earths shown by Cathodic Phos- 
phorescence, C. de Rohden, 630; Spectrum of Comet 
1914b (Zlatinsky), Dr. Slipher, 653; Spectrum of 
Silicon, Sir Wm. Crookes, 654 
Spermatogenesis, Mammalian, Prof. H. E. Jordan, 466 
Spherical Trigonometry: (1) Text-book,; (2) Plane and 
Spherical Trigonometry, with Five-place Tables, Prof. 
R. E. Moritz, 504 
Spider Sense, 118 
Spitsbergen: Hot Springs, 


Tse Dr iW eo. Seruces  Ex= 


pedition, 512; Nature Reserve, Prof. G. A. J. Cole, 
534 

Sponges, Tetraxonid, of Japan, F. Liebwohl, 654 

Spoonbill, Roseate, 543 

Squirrels, Pygmy, of Guiana and W. Africa, Affinity, O. 
Thomas, 314 

Stag, Trail of the Sandhill, E. T. Seton, 665 

Stars: Variable Radial Velocities, O. J. Lee, 17; Radial 
Velocities of Stars with Measured Parallaxes, W. S. 
Adams and A. Kohlschiitter, 416; Number and Total 
Light of Stars, Dr. S. Chapman, 101, 296; Relation 
between Spectra, Colours, and Parallaxes, P. Nashan, 
145; Relations between Spectra and other Charac- 
teristics of Stars, Prof. H. N. Russell, 227, 252, 281; 
Enhanced Manganese Lines and a Andromede, 


Baxandall, 278; Spectra of Delta Cephei and Zeta 
Geminorum, Inna Lehmann, 331; Photometric Ap- 
paratus, Dr. Pfund, 361; Stars around the North Pole, 
Dr. Dyson, 574, 599; Rapid Convection in Atmo- 


spheres, Prof. W. W. Campbell, 671 

Stars, Double, etc.: Triple System ¢ Virginis, R. T. A. 
Innes, 289 ; Photometric Tests of Spectroscopic Binaries, 
J. Stebbins, 570; Companion to 7 Argus, R. T. A. 
Innes, 570 

Stars, Variable: Baxendell’s Observations, H. H. Turner 
and Miss Blagg, 101; Nova Geminorum No. 2, 172; 
Nova Persei No. 2, C. R. D’Esterre, 331; Nove, Prof. 
E. E. Barnard, 385; Positions of Variables, etc., dis- 
covered at Lowell, 415 

State: Sanatoriums, Dr. 
the State, 351 

Statesman’s Year-book, Dr. 
Epstein, 531 

Statics, Text-book of Elementary, Prof. R. S. Heath, 236 

Steel: Hardening of Steel, Profs. Edwards and Carpenter ; 
Mr. McCance, Dr. W. Rosenhain, 626; Steel-frame 
Buildings, W. C. Cocking, 39 

Stellar Spectra, Colours, and Parallaxes, Relation, P. 
Nashan, 145; Stellar Radial Velocities, Prof. Kiistner, 
623 

Stereo-chemical Theory, 
Searle, 184 

Stereoscopic Diagrams, Perspective made Easy by, C. E. 
Benham, 108 

Stone: the’Curious Lore of Precious Stones, Dr. G. F. 
Kunz, 105; Stone Technique of the Maori, E. Best, 
Dr. A. C. Haddon, 298; Stone, Bricks, Mortar, etc., 
Physical Properties, A. Montel, 609 

Stonyhurst College Observatory, 302 

Stress, Specification, R. F. Gwyther, 77, 128, 288 

Structural Analogies, Prof. W. G. Fearnsides, 44 

Structure of Atoms and Molecules, A. van den Broek, 7, 
241, 396 

Submarines: Importance in Warfare, Sir P. Scott, 415 

Sugar: Sugars and their Simple Derivatives, Dr. J. E. 
Mackenzie, 184; Sugar Cane in Leeward Isles, 221; 
Multiple Effect Evaporation, Noel Deerr, 415; Estima- 
tion in 2 c.c. of Blood, Dr. MacLean, 595 

“Sumer is icumen in,” 144 

Sun: New Zealand Observatory, 95; New Solar Cycle, 144; 
Absence of Stark Effect, P. Salet and M. Millochau, 
181; Pressure in Reversing Layer, J. Evershed, 224; 
Radiation at Warsaw, Dr. Gorczynski, E. Gold, 362; 
Utilisation of Solar Energy, A. S. E. Ackermann, 366; 
Causes explaining Sun’s Heat, A. Véronnet, 420; 
Radiation, Prof. C. G. Abbott, 464; see also Solar 

Total Eclipse of August 21, 1914: Electric Waves, 68; 

Notes, 94, 623, 654; in Turkey and Persia, Prof. D. 


S. V. Pearson, 30; Science and 


J. Scott Kelties | Draevir 


Drs. We and Ds Asche Ae: 


Todd, 311; Map of Armenia, 330; Magnetic Pro- 
gramme, Dr. Bauer, 507; the Total Eclipse (with 
Maps), Dr. W. J. S. Lockyer, 508; B.A.C. Radio- 


telegraphic Programme, 590, 618; Eclipse Results, 667 
Sunshine in February, 14 
Sun-spots: Internal Motion, W. Brunner, 17; Short-period 
Variation, Elsa Frenkel, 17 
Supernatural Religion, A. E. Crawley, 81 
Superstitions re Weather, Prof. G. Hellmann, 176 
Surface Combustion: Royal Institution Discourse, 
W. A. Bone, 202 
Surgery, Discovery of Greek Instruments, 117 


Prot 


Nature, 
October 1, 1913 


Surveying: Descriptions of Land: Text-book for Survey 
Students, R. W. Cautley, 134; Practical Surveying and 
Elementary Geodesy, Prof. H. Adams, 236; Text-book 
on Railroad Surveying, G. W. Pickels and C. C. Wiley, 


239: New Zealand Survey, J. Mackenzie, 309; 
Triangulation of United Kingdom, Capt. Winter- 
botham, 571 

Suspension Bridges, Arch Ribs, and Cantilevers, Prof. 


W. H. Burr, 609 

Swan Spectrum, H. Deslandres, 472 

Sweating the Scientist, 219, 351 

Switchgear and Control of Circuits, A. G. Collis, 477 

Symbol for Numerical Value of x, I. N. Kouchnéreff, 39 

Synthesis: Synthesis of a Glucosidic Compound of Sugar 
and Purine, E. Fisher, 68; Syntheses by Sodium Amide, 
A. Haller and others, 103, 128, 161, 232, 314, 420, 446; 
Synthetic Power of Protoplasm, Prof. Reichert, 491 

Syrian Goddess, with Life of Lucian, Prof. H. A. Strong, 
Dr. J. Garstang, 105 

Systéme du Monde, Prof. P. Duhem, 317 


Tables: Logarithms: Table auxiliaire d’Intéréts composés, 
M. A. Trignart, 277; Tables for Facilitating Use of 
Harmonic Analysis, Prof. H. H. Turner, 662 

Tactics: Principles of War, Major-Gen. E. A. Altham, 399 

Tapeworms, New, from Wallaby, R. C. Lewis, 314 

Tasmania: Tasmanian Aborigines, Sir Wm. Turner, 127; 
Royal Society of Tasmania: Seventieth Anniversary, 


333 
Teaching, Carnegie Foundation for Advancement of, 418 
Technical: Technical Mycology, Dr. Kossowicz, Prof. 


Henneberg und Dr. Bode, Prof. Hewlett, 2; Associa- 
tion of Teachers in Technical Institutions, 386; Irish 


Technical Instruction, 393; Technical Education 
Abroad, J. C. Smail, J. H. Reynolds, 465; Ornamental 
Lathework, 557; Technical Mechanics, Statics, and 


Dynamics, Prof. E. R. Maurer, 609; Technical Educa- 
tion for Fishermen, 615 

Teeth: Dental Diseases and Public Health, Dr. 
Wallace, 160 

Telephony: Progress in Wireless Telephony, Prof. J. A. 
Fleming, 110, 150; Telephony, Prof. J. A. Fleming, 
360; Long-distance Wireless Telephony, 485 

Telescopes, Large, H. P. Hollis, 437; Great Telescope for 
Canada, Prof. C. A. Chant, 459; 671 

Temperature: Vertical Temperature Distribution in the 
Atmosphere, 6; Electric Emissivity at High Tempera- 
tures, Dr. G. W. C. Kaye and W. F. Higgins, 189; 
Electric Emissivity and Disintegration of Hot Bodies, 
Dr. Kaye, 561; Temperature-difference between Up and 
Down Balloon Diagrams, Dr. W. van Bemmelen, 
269; W. H. Dines, 320; Air Temperatures at Mochudi, 
Mr. Harbor, J. R. Sutton, 289; Low Temperature 
Reports, Prof. Onnes, 330; Ampére Molecular Current 
demonstrated in Metals, Prof. H. K. Onnes, 481, 524; 
Temperature Observations in Loch Earn, Dr. E. : 
Wedderburn and A. W. Young, 629 

Termites, T. Petch, 466 

Terrestrial Magnetism, Dr. C. Chree, 544 

Textile: Research Chemist and Textile Industry, W. P. 
Dreaper, 71; Textiles, Mary S. Woolman and Ellen B. 
McGowan, W. S. Taggart, 186; Chemische Technologie 
der Gespinstfasern, Dr. K. Stirm, 211; Textile Fibres, 
Dr. J. Merritt Matthews, 211; Cotton Fibre, W. L. 
Balls, 308 

Theory of Numbers, E. Cahen, 159 

ee sae Local Application of Radium, Prof. J. Joly, 
181 

Thermions and Origin of Solar Magnetism, S. J. Barnett, 
109 

Thermo-electric Force Curves, Dr. M’Whan, 127 

Thermogalvanometer, New Type, F. W. Jordan, 231 

Thermometer Screens, 143 

Thompsonia, a Crustacean Parasite, F. A. Potts, 341 

Thorium : Lead and the Final Product of Thorium, Dr. A. 
Holmes, 109; Volatility of Active Deposit, T. Barratt 
and A. B. Wood, 367; Thorium Lead—an Unstable 
Product, R. W. Lawson, 479 

Thrips, Biology of, Dr. A. F. Shull, 220 


fo. Sk 


L[ndex 


xli 


Thunderstorm of June 14 at London, W. Marriott, 402; 
41I, 454 

Tiberias, Lake of: Amphipoda and Isopoda, Dr. W. M. 
Tattersall, 233 

Timber for Indian Railways, R. S. Pearson, 545 

Time: Definition by Clock, G. Beauvais, 524 

Toes, Lengths of Human, O. A. M. Hawkes, 435 

Tomato Red Pigment, B. M. Duggar, 39 

Torpedo Fish, Narcine, Electrical Discharge, Dr. Jolly, 577 

Tortoises, Giant, 142 

Total Solar Eclipse of August 21, 1914 (with Maps), Dr. 
W. J. S. Lockyer, 508; Some Results, 667; see also 
Eclipse, or Solar Eclipse 

Tower Telescope to Memory of Secchi, 121 

Trade and Technical Education in France and Germany, 
J. C. Smail, J. H. Reynolds, 465 

Trail of the Stag, E. T. Seton, 665 

Transpiration in Plants, Sir F. Darwin, 492 

Trees at Albury, A. B. Jackson, 237; Tree Growth and 
Rain, Dr. Douglass, 539 

Trematode of Canadian Beaver, Miss D. Duff, 655 

Trestle Bridges, Wooden and Concrete, W. C. Foster, 267 

Trevor Lawrence Orchid Collection at Kew, 244 

Triangle giving Area and Circumference of any Circle, 
T. M. P. Hughes, Prof. G. B. Mathews, 110 

Triangulation of United Kingdom, Principal, Capt. Winter- 
botham, 571 

Trigonometry : (1) Text-book on Spherical; (2) Plane and 
Spherical, with Five-place Tables, Prof. R. E. Moritz, 
504; Junior Trigonometry, W. G. Borchardt and Rev. 
A. D. Perrott, 662 

Trolley Bus, 120 

Tropical Agriculture, Congress, 219, 416, 489 

Tropical Hygiene, H. Strachan, 213 

Tropical Medicine: Expedition to China, 12-13; Sierra 
Leone Laboratory, 247; Marine Biology in the Tropics, 
465; the Sir A. Jones Ward at Liverpool, 566; Report 
of Advisory Committee, 1913, 673 

Tropical Products, 608 

Trypanosome Diseases, Sir D. Bruce and others, 445, 522 

Tsantsas, 382 

Tsetse Fly, R. B. Woosnam, 169 ; 666 

Tuberculosis: Report, Dr. Newsholme, 18; State Sana- 
toriums, Dr. S. V. Pearson, 30; Demonstration of 
Generalised Lymphatic Stage preceding Localisations, 
A. Calmette, 314 

Tumours, Dr. C. P. White, 235; Cultivation of Human 
Tumour Tissue in vitro, D. and J. G. Thomson, 313 

Turbo-dynamos, Appliance used in Testing, 488 

Turquoise in the East, B. Lanfer, 537 

Twisted Cubic, P. W. Wood, 159 

Two and Two make Four? F. Bon, 475 

Tyrian Purple: Dibromoindigo, 569 


Ultra-violet Rays: Ultra-violet Absorption by Fatty 
Diketones, J. Bielecki and V. Henri, 181; Metabiotic 
Action of Ultra-violet Rays, Mme. V. Henri, 181, 193 ; 
M. and Mme. Henri, 657; Dispersion by Organic 
Bodies, V. Henri, 472; Extension of Spectrum, Prof. 
Lyman, 241; Photolysis of Oxalic Acid, D, Berthelot, 
446; Action on White Fur, S. Séserov, 447; Absorption 
of Ultra-violet Rays, M. Massol, 630 

Ungulate Mammals in the British Museum, R. Lydekker, 
G. Blaine, 528 

Unidirectional Currents in Carbon Filament Lamp, Prof. 
A. S. Eve, 32; F. Lil. Hopwood, 84 

Unit of Acceleration, Dr. O. Klotz, 611 

United States: Geological Survey, 62; Gravity, 222; Naval 
Observatory, 464; Excelsior School Map, G. W. Bacon 
and Co., Ltd., 50s: Schools and Employers, Miss W. 
Jevons, 627; Level Net Adjustment, 651 

Units: New Units in Aerology, Prof. Alex. McAdie, 58; 
R. E. Baynes, 110; Prof. B. Brauner, 136; Dynamical 
Units for Meteorology, F. J. W. Whipple, 427 f 

Universities: Careers for University Men, 75; New Uni- 
versity of Ziirich, 224; Universities and the War, 656, 
685 

Upper-air Records at Batavia, Dr. W. van Bemmelen, 5; 
Upper-air Research : Address, C. J. P. Cave, 334 


xlit 


Urea: Use of Urease for Estimation of Urea, Dr. Plimner 
and Miss Skelton, 94; Analysis and Estimation, R. 
Fosse, 207, 603 

Uredinales, W. B. Grove, 357 

Uterus, Action of Drugs on isolated, J. A. Gunn, 259 


Vaccination against Lizard Venom, Mme. Marie Phisalix, 


6 

Vanda and Asphalt, R. M. Bird and W. S. Calcott, 540 

Variable Satellites, Dr. Guthnick, 489 

Venereal Disease, National Council, 536 

Venom of Heloderma, Leo Leob and others, Dr. C. J. 
Martin, 123; Venom of Fish Notesthes robusta, 1B 
Kesteven, 473 

Vertebrates, Common British Animals, Kate M. Hall, 450 

Vertical Temperature Distribution in the Atmosphere, Dr. 
C. Braak, 6 

Vesuvius taneous, Acids and Metals in, 302 

Veterinary Bacteriological Laboratory at Muktesar, India, 
Major J. D. E. Holmes, Dr. P. Hartley, 137 

Vibration, Dynamics of, C. V. Raman, 622 

Vinland, 136 

Virgo Nebula, Rotation, Dr. V. M. Slipher, 361, 594 

Vitamines of Food, Prof. T. Johnson, 41 

Vocabulary of Embryology, W. Roux, 131 

Volcanoes : Sakura-jima Eruption, 170; Volcanoes in Japan, 
436; Carboniferous Volcanoes of Philipstown in King’s 
County, W. D. Haigh, 260; Emanations of Vesuvius 
Crater, 302; Hawaiian Observatory, 462; Vulcanology 
of South Italy, A. Sieberg, 580 


War: Principles of War, Major-Gen. E. A. Altham, 399; 
Treatment of the Wounded, General Ed. Delorme, 665 ; 
Drug Supply Committee, 668; War and the Uni- 
versities, 656, 685 

Warsaw, Solar Radiation at, Dr. Gorezynski, E. Gold, 362 

Washington : Carnegie Institute, 309 


Water: Mykologie der Gebrauchs- und Abwasser, Dr. A. 
Kossowicz, Prof. R. T. Hewlett, 2; Catskill Water 
Supply of New York, 68; L. White, 209; Water 


Resources of Hawaii, 71; Studies in Water Supply, 
Dr. A. C. Houston, 133; Water: its Purification and 
Use in the Industries, W. W. Christie, 133 ; Movements 
on Water Surfaces, E. A. Martin; Prof. C. V. Boys, 
214; Electrification of Water, J. J. Nolan, 522; North 
Atlantic Water, Dr. F. Nansen and others, 541 

Waves in Sand and Snow, Dr. V. Cornish, A. Mallock, 191 

Weather: Weather Forecasts, R. M. Deeley, 58; Prof. 
McAdie, 83; A. Mallock, 349; Canadian Forecasts, 
B. C. Webber, 250; Forecasts in England, Dr. W. N. 
Shaw, 375; R. M. Deeley, 402; Weather Superstitions, 
Dr. G. Hellmann, 176; Birds and Weather, Dr. A. 
Defant, 457; U.S. Weather Bureau, 539 

Weeds: Simple Lessons for Children, R. L. Praeger, S. 
Rosamond Praeger and R. J. Welch, 450 

Weights and Measures, International, 458 

Welding, Practical Manual of Autogenous, R. Granjon and 
P. Rosemberg, D. Richardson, 161 

Wellesley College (Mass,.), Fire at, 141 

West Indies, West India Committee Map of, 320 

Westminster Hall, Damage by Beetles, J. W. Munro, 357; 


463 

Whales of S. Africa, O. Olsen, 
R. Andrews, 514 

Wheat: Repulsion in Wheat, F. L. Engledow, 
lation in Wheat, W. H. Parker, 
Fable, 220 

Whitby Geology, L. Walmsley, 382 

Wicklow Lakes, Prof. Sevmour, 577 

Wild: Wild Life, 38; Wild Game in Zambezia, R. C. F. 
Maugham, 665 

Wind Direction and Rainfall, H. J. Bartlett, 472 

Wineland, W. H. Babcock, 136 

Wings of Aeroplanes, Prof. H. Chatley, 401 

Wireless Telegrapky : Handbook, Dr. J. Erskine-Murray, 
30; Lecture in Rome by G. Marconi, 37; Mr. Marconi’s 


249; Whales of N. Pacific, 


154; Corre- 
154; Mummy Wheat 


Index 


Nature, 
October 1, 1914 


New Apparatus, 64; Hydrodynamical Magnification and 
Registration of Signals, F. Charron, 289 ; Transmission 
of Electric Waves Round the Bend of the Earth, Dr. - 
W. Eccles, 321; Atmospheric Refraction and Trans- 
mission of Waves round the Globe, Prof. J. A. Fleming, 
523; Measurement of Time of Propagation along 
Surface of the Globe, H. Abraham and others, 524; 
International Radio-telegraphic Commission, 327, 490; 
Report of Committee on Wireless Research, 385, 406; 
Recording Rhythmic Time Signals, J. Baillaud, 446; 
Microradiograph, G. Brafas, 524; British Association 
Committee’s Solar Eclipse Programme, 590, cancelled, 
618 

Wireless Telephony, Prof. J. A. Fleming, 110, 150, 360 ; 
French Experiments, 383; Transatlantic, 485 

“Wolf-child” of Naini Tal, 566 

Wood-boring Gribble in Auckland Harbour, N.Z., Prof. € 
Chilton, 620 

Works Management, the Human Factor in, J. Hartness, 
609 

World, Origin of the, R. McMillan, 320 

Wounded, Treatment of the, Gen. Edmond Delorme, 665 


Xestobium tesselatum, 357 
et ok an X-Ray Absorption Band, Prof. W. H. Bragg, 
Application of Laws of Transparency of Matter to 
x Ree to Atomic Weights, L. Benoist and H. Copaux, 
102 ; ‘Crystalline Structures revealed by X-Rays, Prof. 
W. H. Bragg, 124, 494; X-Ray Spectra, G. E. M. 
Jauncey, 214; Summary, W. P. Davey, 223; Modern 
Forms of Tubes, C. E. S. Phillips, 270; Spectral 
Analysis by Secondary X-Rays, Duc de Broglie, 349, 
629; Dual Phenomenon, I. G. Rankin and W. F. D. 
Chambers, 402; Asymmetric Halos with X-Radiation, 
W. F. D. Chambers and I. G. Rankin, 507, 611; 
Production of very soft R6ntgen Radiation by Impact 
of Positive and Slow Kathode Rays, Sir J. J. Thomson, 
523; Electrification by X-Rays, C. G. Bedreag, 551; 
Crystallographic Measurements by X-Rays, F. Canac, 
657 


Yellow Fever Defeated in Iquitos, 358 
Youth, Purpose of, 371 
Yun-nan-fou Railway, 603 


Zambezia, Wild Game in, R. C. F. Maugham, 665 

Zebra, Grévy’s: Naming of, 15 

Zeeman Effect, Electrical Analogy of, Dr. Stark, 280, 360 

Zinc in Bronze, Rapid Estimation of, Dr. T. K. Rose, 171 

Zonitidee, New African, H. B. Preston, 314 

Zoocécidies des Plantes d’Europe, C. Houard, 187 

Zoological: Japanese Names, 67; Zoological Nomenclature, - 
93, 435; Zoological Classification, H. C. Williamson, 
135; Dr. F. A. Bather, 189; Highways and Byways of 
the Zoological Gardens, Constance I. Pocock, 353 

Zoology : 

General : Text-book of General Embryology, Prof. W. E. 
Kellicott, 106; Zellen- und Gewerbelehre Morphologie 
und Entwicklungsgeschichte, E. Strasburger, O. 
Hertwig, and others, 106; Elementares Praktikum der 
Entwicklungsgeschichte der Wirbeltiere mit Einfiihrung 
in die Entwicklungsmechanik, Dr. O. Levy, 106; Prof. 
R. Semon’s Expedition to Malay Archipelago and 
Australia, 119; New Serial at Buitenzorg, 142; Fresh- 
water and other Fauna of Austro-Malay Archipelago, 
Dr.. de Beaufort, 197; Fauna of Ringkobing Fjord, 
Dr. Johansen, 197; Childhood of Animals, Dr. P. 
Chalmers Mitchell, 371; Fauna of Monte Bello Isles, 
P. D. Montague, 471; Marine Fauna of East Africa 
and Zanzibar, ‘A. W. Waters, 471; Fauna of Chilka 
Lake in Orissa, Dr. N. Annandale and S. W. Kemp, 
473 ; Sexual Activity in Marine Animals, G. C. Robson, 
499; African Element in Indian Freshwater Fauna, Dr. 
Annandale, 514; Animal Communities in Temperate 
America, Dr. V. EE. Shelford,- 665; Australian 
Zoologist, 669 


Nature, 
October 1, 1914 


Invertebrate: the Hope Reports: Blattidz, R. Shelford, 
Prof. Poulton, 10; Laboratory Manual of Invertebrate 
Zoology, Dr. G. A. Drew, 80; Papers on Invertebrates, 


149; Animal Galls of Europe, Prof. C. Houard, 187; | 


Amphipoda and Isopoda from Lake of Tiberias, Dr. 
W. M. Tattersall, 233; Means of collecting Eelworms, 


Miss M. V. Lebour and T. H. Taylor, 242; Revision of | 


Ichneumonide, C. Morley, 343, 529; Deto, a Sub- 
antarctic Crustacean, Prof. Chilton, 419; New Free- 
living Nematoda, R. Southern, 446; Marine Ciliary 
Mechanism, J. H. Orton, 462; Eucopepoda from 
Tanganyika, Dr. Cunnington, 471; Parasitic Protozoa, 


Drs. H. B. Fantham and Annie Porter, 501; New 
Zealand Mollusca, H. Suter, 528; Echinoderma of 
Indian Museum, Prof. Koehler, 529; a _ Living 


Phreatoicus, K. H. Barnard, 577; Hzmoproteus of 


Indian Pigeon, Mrs. Adie, Lt.-Col. Alcock, 584; Life | 
Natural | 


of the Mollusca, B. B. Woodward, 585; 
History Report of Terra Nova’s Antarctic Expedition 
in 1910, 650 

Vertebrate: First Description of a Kangaroo, 60; W. B. 
Alexander, 664; African Mammal Fauna, 70; Malay 


L[nder 


xliii 


Race of Indian Elephant, R. Lydekker, 102; Ent- 
wicklungsgeschichte der Wirbeltiere, Dr. O. Levy, 106; 
Dublin Gorilla, Prof. G. H. Carpenter, 136; Mammals 
from Dutch New Guinea, O. Thomas, 232; Outlines of 
Chordate Development, Prof. W. E. Kellicott, 295; 
the Aurochs, 301; Protection of Elephant and Rhino- 
ceros, 329; die biologischen Grundlagen der sekundaren 
Geschlechtscharaktere, Dr. J. Tandler and Dr. S. 
Grosz, 345; Generic Names proposed for Retention at 
Monaco Congress, 435; Facial Vibrisse of Mammalia, 
R. I. Pocock, 471; Catalogue of Ungulate Mammals 
in the British Museum, R. Lydekker, G. Blaine, 528; 
History of Land Mammals, Prof. W. B. Scott, 553; 
Snakes of Europe, Dr. G. A. Boulenger, 585; Colour 
Pattern Development, Dr. G. M. Allen, 591, 651; 
Embryology and Development, Prof. A. Oppel, 606; 
Anatomy and Development of Salivary Glands in 
Mammalia, 606; Wild Game in Zambezia, R. C. F. 
Maugham, 665 
See also Birds, Fish, Insects 


Zululand Meteorite, 95 
Ziirich New University, 224 


lé a ae 
rang war 
tee a Te (are 
( a A voe ta veer 


i. 


u ¥ & 
ee 


> 


Ba J ae At 

RicHARD CLay & Sons, Ltp., .-  ~ 
BRUNSWICK STREET, STA 
AND BUNGAY, 


A \VEBKLY ILLUSTRATED -JOURNAE; OF, SCIENCE: 


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


THURSDAY; «MARCH. . 5; 


1914. 


RADIO-ACTIVE ELEMENTS AND THE 
PERIODIC TABLE. 

The Chemistry of the Radio-Elements. Part ii. 
The Radio-Elements and the Periodic Law. By 
F. Soddy. Pp. v+46. (London: Longmans, 
Geeen and-Co. , 1914+); Pricé ‘2s:) net. 

R. SODDY’S contention that there exist 

sets of elements, incapable of separation 

from each other by chemical means, has much 
experimental evidence to support it, taken from 
the behaviour of some of the radio-active elements. 

At first sight, the argument against such a state- 

ment would appear to be similar to one applicable 

to the “rare elements” of the earth series, 
lanthanum and its congeners, viz., that the methods 
of separation have not yet been found. But a little 
consideration must show this to be untenable. It 
is possible to apply electroscopic tests to. the radio- 
active elements capable of estimating their 
amount with an accuracy of, say, I -per cent. 
Suppose, then, that a certain process of separation 
is applied to a mixture of three elements, one of 
which is radio-active; and ‘suppose. that no 
diminution or increase is noticed in the relative 
amount of the radio-active element in either por- 
tion, it is legitimate to conclude that the radio- 
active element is inseparable from that element 
by the process used. By varying the process, if 
no separation is still effected, it appears a 


legitimate conclusion that separation by a chemical | 


process is impossible. This, of course, does not 
exclude separation by a physical process, sup- 
posing the atomic weights of the ‘“inseparable”’ 
elements to differ; for it is always possible to 
imagine the elements in a state of gas; and it is 
undeniable that a mixture of gases could be 
separated by diffusion into its constituents, pro- 
vided the gases possess different densities. 


NG. G22A VOL, ©3 | 


In this volume Mr. Soddy gives a diagram 
showing the position of the elements of high 
atomic weight; on the assumption that when a 
radio-active element loses an atom of helium, 
weighing 4, it joins a group of inseparable 
elements. Thus, to take an example :—Radium 
F, of atomic weight 210, in losing an atom of 
helium, forms a variety of lead of atomic weight 
206; similarly thorium C, of atomic weight 212, 
gives another element which passes as lead, in- 
separable from lead, of atomic weight 208; 
similarly radium C, of atomic. weight 214, in 
losing an atom of helium, yields radium D, of 
atomic weight 210, inseparable from lead. But 
this is not all; in the B ray changes, the element 
shifts its position by one place in the opposite 
direction to that caused by the loss of an 
a particle, without perceptibly changing its atomic 
weight; thus thorium D, losing a B corpuscle, or 
electron, shifts to another group—the lead group 
-—from the thallium group to which it actually 
belonged, without change of atomic weight. These 
processes are somewhat involved; but they appear 
to me to be a reasonable hypothesis, although 
further proof is desirable. This proof is evidently 
to be furnished by accurate determinations of the 
atomic weight of lead associated with thorium 
one hand and _ with radium 
minerals on the other. Supposing each variety 
of “lead” to be pure, the sample of ‘thorium 
lead” should have an atomic weight of about 208, 
while that of the “radium lead” should be about 
206. Determinations with this object in view are 
now in progress. The word “isotopic” is sug- 
gested as a fitting name for two elements, both 
occupying the same place in the periodic table. 
In his account of the theory, due credit is given 
to Fleck, Russell, and Fajans, the last of whom 


minerals on 


_ stated independently an almost identical hypo- 
' thesis. 


B 


2 NATURE 


The difficulty of two elements having an 
identical spectrum is considerable; it is suggested 
that inasmuch as the spectra are characteristic of 
the movement of the electrons in an element, 
rather than of its mass, two elements in which 
the electrons will have identical motions must 
have the same spectrum. Mr. Aston’s researches 
on two “neons,” which can be separated from 
each other by diffusion, but which show no differ- 
ence in spectrum, are adduced as proof of this 
point of view. It will be remembered that it was 
owing to Sir J. J. Thomson’s finding that ordinary 
neon contains a small proportion of an element 
of atomic weight 22, which led to Mr. Aston’s 
research. Here, again, one can only wonder that 
two elements, neon I. and neon II., of different 
atomic weights, 20 and 22, which can be separated 
by diffusion, according to Mr. Aston, have 
identical vapour-pressures, for they cannot be 
separated by fractional distillation. 

Mr. Soddy has invented a modification of the 
periodic table which represents his new arrange- 
ments; it is three-dimensional. 

Much of the book under review is taken up with 
detailed discussion of the generalisation of which 
a brief account has been given. The concluding 
section on the ‘“‘ Nature of the Argon Gases,” puts 
forward the view that these elements are inactive 
owing to their great affinity for their valency 
electrons. Whereas an atom of sodium, in com- 
bining with an atom of chlorine, loses an electron 
to the chlorine, itself becoming an ion, an atom 
of argon has no such tendency, being very firmly 
bound to its electron. 

This work of Mr. Soddy’s must be termed 
“provisional”; it brings before the reader the 
state of knowledge regarding the sequence of 
radio-active elements, but it does more; it 
elaborates a hypothesis capable of correlating 
these facts; a very ingenious theory which, how- 
ever, its author would be the first to acknowledge 
is still in need of support. WR: 


TECHNICAL MYCOLOGY. 

(1) Einfiihrung in die Mykologie der Gebrauchs- 
und Abwdsser. By Dr. A. Kossowicz. Pp. vii 
+222. (Berlin: Gebriider Borntraeger, 1913.) 
Price 6.60 marks. 

(2) Die Gérungsgewerbe und ihre naturwissen- 
schaftlichen Grundlagen. By Prof. W. Henne- 
berg and Dr. G. Bode. Pp. v+128. (Leipzig: 
Quelle und Meyer, 1913.)) Price 1.25 marks. 

(1) R. KOSSOWICZ surveys the subjects 

of water and sewage purification from 

the bacteriological point of view. To a large 

extent the book summarises researches that have 
NO.=2214= “VOL. 93) 


[Marcu 5, 1914 


been carried out on these subjects, though, on 
account of their number, the summary of each 
research is necessarily very brief. Its chief value 
consists in the contained bibliography—every page 
teeming with references to the literature—and the 
student, engineer, or hygienist desiring a guide 
for his practice will be bewildered by the mass of 
detail. Diagrams and figures of filters and filter- 
beds, sterilising apparatus, sedimentation tanks 
and plant for the biological treatment of sewage 


have been freely introducéd, and form a useful 


feature. 

The earlier chapters deal with the bacterial 
content of waters and the factors which modify 
it, the occurrence of pathogenic microbes in water, 
and the self-purification of water, and in sub- 
sequent chapters the subjects of sand-filters, 
chemical and other methods for the purification 
and sterilisation of water, sewage farms, the bio- 
logical treatment of sewage, and the purification 
of trade effluents are considered. 

(2) This little book gives a brief and simple, 
though at the same time excellent, survey of 
fermentations and the fermentation industries. 
The yeasts, bacteria, and moulds concerned in 
fermentations—alcoholic, souring of milk, acetic 
and butyric acids, etc.—are first described, with 
an account of their structure, development, and 
occurrence. The chemical composition of the 
substances fermented, the nature of the chemical 
changes involved, enzymes and enzyme action are 
next considered, and finally a description is given 
of the industrial processes involved in the pro- 
duction of beer, wine, and spirits, pressed (Ger- 
man) yeast, bread and vinegar, soured milk and 
“sauerkraut,” cocoa and coffee. The text is illus- 
trated with a number of figures of the micro- 
organisms involved and of the industrial plants 
employed in the fermentation industries. 

R., T. HEWLETT: 


HUMAN MATHEMATICS. 
(1) A First Book of Practical Mathematics. By 
T.. S...Usherwood ang:C. J.-A.) Trimble em 


iv+182. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 
TOlgs)) «Price 1s." 6d. 

(2) Practical Geometry and Graphics for Advanced 
Students. By Prof. Joseph Harrison and G. A. 


Baxandall. Enlarged Edition. Pp. xiv+677. 
(London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1973.) 
Price 6s. 

(3) Practical Mathematics. By Norman W. 
M’Lachlan. Pp. viii+184. (London: Long- 


Price 2s. 6d. net. 
Enonces et Solu- 
Avec une Preface 


mans, Green and Co., 1913.) 
(4) Exercices d’Arithmétique. 
tions. By J. Fitz-Patrick. 


5 
we 
* 
if 
ef 


Marcu 5, 1914] 


NATURE 3 


de J. Tannery. 


7. 
Tereenss 


Troisi¢me Edition. Pp. vi+ 
(Paris: A. Hermann et Fils, 1914.) Price 


(1) T N the old days a boy had to reason in 

| geometry “acording to the rules of the 
game.” Many a boy felt that he must put aside 
common sense for fear that it might contradict 
the “rules,” and that he must “play the game 
according to the rules.”” Hence came grotesque 
howlers, and the boy felt it unreasonable that 
grotesque results should be ridiculed, for they 
arose from strict adherence to rules. While in 
the present happy days we have altered that as 
regards geometry, the old method persists in 
algebra; the subject is treated in a purely abstract 
manner, it has no relation to anything in every- 
day life; the student can only commit to memory 
the rules of the game, and do his best to play the 
game. In this case the results also are generally 
abstract, so that appeal to common-sense would 
be impossible even if the boy allowed the validity 
of the appeal. 

Now, however, a brighter dawn is breaking for 
the ill-treated boy. Usherwood and Trimble con- 
nect the algebraic work with the concrete through- 
out. The boy no longer has to play a game with 
rules he does not understand. Each algebraic 
process arises out of concrete instances, which are 
themselves easy of comprehension, and give a 
common-sense meaning to the process. The book 
is thus in the van of the movement to humanise 
algebra as geometry has been humanised, and in 
another generation no headmaster will mourn the 
blighting influence which x+y had upon him. 

The authors approve of the use of contracted 
methods, as do most of the best teachers at the 
present moment. We venture, however, to ques- 
tion whether these authors and teachers do well in 
this matter. It is customary to work to a signi- 
ficant figure more than will be required in the 
result; this generally gives the result to the re- 
quired approximation, but not always. Are we to 
chance the accuracy, or are we to complicate the 
process further by an estimate of the trustworthi- 
ness of the result? Moreover, the estimation of 
the number of figures to be retained, even in the 
normal case, is a matter of no little skill; we have 
frequently known ‘professors and schoolmasters 
of good standing to be at fault. 

There appears to be no educational principle at 
stake, and the question is simply whether con- 
tracted methods conduce to speed and accuracy 
or not. Does the shortness of the contracted 
calculation compensate for the time spent in de- 
ciding how far to contract, and for the chance of 
error by excessive contraction? For the expert 
calculator, like the teacher of arithmetic or the 


NO. 2304. VOL: 93) 


observatory computer, it compensates without 
doubt. For ourselves, and we imagine for most 
people (adults and children), contracted methods 
in their strict form do not compensate. For us 
the best way is to calculate stolidly through, and 
at the end throw away the unnecessary figures, or 
if the numbers get very heavy, to contract to a 
modified extent, keeping, perhaps, two or three 
more figures than a strict contractionist would 
allow. 

(2) Why do the universities so carefully exclude 
Mongian geometry from their “pure” mathe- 
matical courses? To many a pure mathematician 
the happening upon such a book as Harrison and 
Baxandall’s is like the acquisition of a new sense. 
His ideas of solid geometry are those of Euclid’s 
Eleventh Book, in which he is instructed to “draw 
a plane through three given points,” or to carry 
out in three dimensions some construction that has 
been discussed in the plane, and which he had 
imagined was meant to be carried out on a sheet 
of paper with ruler and compasses. On arriving 
at the Eleventh Book he discovers that when 
Euclid says “draw a plane through three given 
points,” he only means that three points determine 
a plane; on the Book I. construction carried out 
in three dimensions he has to put such interpreta- 
tion as he can. 

In course of time he happens upon a book on 
Practical Solid Geometry and regions unknown 
to Euclid and the universities. With what joy he 
finds that it is possible to represent points in space 
upon a sheet of paper, and actually possible to 
draw a plane through them. He wishes he was 
young again so that he might follow up all the 
wonderful consequences, actually carrying out all 
the constructions and not merely talking about 
“how it is done,” as was his custom at the univer- 
sity. And Harrison and Baxandall would be a 
first-rate book to use if he could be young again. 
It contains the most alluring problems, wonderful 
in variety. There are no watertight compart- 
ments, but every branch of mathematics that can 
help is allowed to do so. The language, more- 
over, is excellent, a statement that cannot always 
be made of English mathematical writing. 

Part II]. of Messrs. Harrison and Baxandall’s 
book is Graphics, an admirable subject, neglected 
in pure mathematics in the same unaccountable 
way as Mongian geometry. The story runs that 
Prof. P. G. Tait held that the analytical method 
was always superior to the graphical, and applied 
it to ascertain the stresses in the Forth Bridge. 
Although a man of unrivalled intellectual power 
he failed that time. Those days are gone, the 
schools are learning the value of Graphic Statics, 
and perhaps in time the universities may follow. 


4 NATURE 


(3) Mr. M’Lachlan’s book is mainly a collection 
of exercises in geometry, arithmetic, algebra, and 
trigonometry. They are all good, natural 
questions, straight from the workshop and other 
human sources. For the engineering student (for 
whom they are designed) they are ideal, while 
other students also will find much of value. The 
text is inferior in value, as if the writing of it 
had been a perfunctory task; but there is not much 
text, and the exercises alone are well worth the 
half-crown at which the price is fixed. 

(4) M. book of exercises in 
algebra might have been written for the express 
purpose of enabling English mathematicians to 
thank God that they are not as other men. 
There are 1300 questions, drawn mainly from 
French examination papers. The book contains 
all the old artificial questions which England is in 
process of discarding, and among the whole 
thirteen hundred we have been unable to find one 
natural problem taken straight from human life. 
In one particular, however, it is for the English 
mathematician to drop the réle of Pharisee and 
take up that of Publican. We have nothing but 
praise for the clearness and exactness of the lan- 
guage of M. Fitz-Patrick’s book, while in the first 
and third of the English books now under review 
we find carelessness of language that often pro- 
duces ambiguities, and amounts to 
misstatement. In language we have much to 
learn from France. DBs M. 


Fitzpatrick’s 


sometimes 


OUR BOOKSHELF, 


The Child: Its Care, Diet, and Common IIls. 
By Dr. E. Mather Sill. Pp. viii+207. (New 
York: Henry Holt and Co.) Price 1 doilar net. 

In the modern nursery the mother requires in- 
formation on many questions which used to be 
disregarded or left entirely to the discretion of the 
doctor. She now realises that in her kingdom 
of the nursery, preventive medicine depends to a 
large extent upon her care and foresight. If she 
provides her children with the conditions they 
require for healthy development, they tend to 
remain well and happy, and the services of the 
physician will be required seldom. 

Dr. Sill has had a large experience of children’s 
medicine, and, in this small volume, he has con- 
trived to present, in simple language, much valu- 
able information on the clothing, feeding, general 
hygiene, and minor ailments of children. It is 
an unpretentious book, admirably adapted to its 
purpose as a handbook for young mothers. It 
is well printed, and is supplied with attractive 
illustrations and an index. 

Some useful tables are included, and a few 
recipes for invalid dishes, together with clear 
directions for the preparation of simple domestic 


NO. 2314, VOL. 93] 


[Marcu 5, 1914 
remedies, such as the various kinds of medicated 
baths. The common slight ailments of childhood 
are described, and a list is given of the poisons 
most liable to invade the nursery, together with 
their domestic remedies. 

In every treatise on infant care, the instructions 
for the modification of cow’s milk for bottle-fed 
babies are apt to be involved and lengthy, and 
perhaps in the little volume under review the 
author has not been entirely successful in avoid- 
ing this fault. 

The book closes with advice to parents to tell 
their children some elementary physiological facts | 
about the phenomenon of reproduction and the 
care that they should take of their bodies. This 
wise advice is strengthened by suggestions as to 
the best way of explaining these matters to 
children. 

Dr. Sill’s book is one to recommend cordially, 
as it is certain to be appreciated by those for 
whom it is intended. 


An Account of the Morisonian Herbarium in the 
possession of the University of Oxford. By 
Prof: .S. H. -Vines,) hoRIS;, and Ga @ lances 
Druce.. Pp.. Ixvili+350+plates. (Oxford: 
Clarendon Press, 19147) Price 25s fone 


Aut who take an interest in the history of botany, 
and especially the history of botany in Britain, 
will be glad to see the second work on the 
Oxford Collections, which has just been issued 
under the joint authorship of Prof. Vines and Mr. 
Druce. . These names are a guarantee both of 
accuracy and of erudition, nor will the reader fail 
to discover on every page of the interesting and 
valuable introduction a breadth of acquaintance 
with the old literature, as well as with sources of 
information by no means readily accessible. The 
position of the Bobarts, father and son, in re- 
lation to the carrying out of Morison’s great 
work, is made very clear, and, incidentally, the 
earlier history of the Oxford Botanic Garden is 
well told in the letters and remarks of those who 
were interested in its inception and early progress. 

The bulk of the work is occupied by the 
“Plantarum Historie universalis Oxoniensis, pars 
secunda et pars tertia.”” The second part of the 
‘“Historia”” was issued by Morison, while the 
younger Bobart was entrusted with the com- 
pletion of the third part. In the. present work, 
in which the plants are enumerated, the modern 
reader will find the critical notes incorporated by 
the authors of great service in identifying the 
older names and descriptions. The book is a 
scholarly one, and well worthy of the reputation 
of its authors. 


A Gypsy Bibliography. By Dr. G. F. Black. 
Pp vii+226. (London: Bernard Quaritch, 
1914.) Price’ 15s." (Gypsy), Lore™ “Soctenys, 


Monograph No. 1.) 


For the first time, Dr. G. F. Black, of the New 
York Public Library, has undertaken the difficult 


' task of compiling a comprehensive bibliography 


Marcu 5, 1914| 


of gypsy literature. A preliminary. edition of this 
bibliography was issued for revision by European 
and American scholars in 1g09, and the informa- 
tion thus obtained has been used in the present 
compilation, which includes 4577 entries, accom- 
panied by a good subject index. No attempt has 
been made to sift the chaff from the wheat, and 
many books and articles now included have 
obviously no claim to be regarded as scientific 
authorities. In a new edition it would be well 
to define by special type those publications which 
are really of value. The leading writers on gypsy 
lore have been fully dealt with—Borrow with 103 
entries, Wlislocki, 182, and Bataillard, 41; while 
the work of English authorities like MacRitchie, 
Sampson, Thompson, and Winstedt, is adequately 
recorded. 

The bibliography is prepared on scientific prin- 
ciples, and footnotes to the more important arti- 
cles supply useful information. It is disappoint- 
ing to note that the Oriental material has been 
less carefully examined than that of the West. 
For example, in the case of India, much second- 
rate material is recorded, while the records of 
recent ethnographical surveys, and locally pub- 
lished books and pamphlets have often been 
neglected. It may be hoped that in a new edition 
the libraries of the India Office, Royal Asiatic 
Society, the Imperial Library at Calcutta, and 
other local sources will be more carefully 
examined. 


A Textbook of Domestic Science for High 
Schools. By Matilda G. Campbell. Pp. vii-+ 
219. (New York: The Macmillan Company, 
1913.) Price 4s. net. 

Hap this book been published a few years ago in 

this country it would probably have been described 

in its title as a book of ‘domestic economy.” It 
is concerned chiefly with cookery, which is re- 
garded frankly as an art, and taught as usual by 
recipes. The treatment is not scientific in the 
proper sense, and the few chemical formule and 
statements of fact about chemistry introduced will 

serve only to confuse the student. Under a 

different title, and with some omissions, we should 

have here a good book on practical cookery. 


The Religious Revolution of To-day. By Prof. 
J. T. Shotwell. Pp. ix+162. (Boston and New 
York: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1913.) Price 
1.10 dollars net. 

Pror. SHOTWELL here publishes the William 
Brewster Clark Memorial lectures he delivered last 
year at Amherst College. These lectures are in 
memory of Dr. W. B. Clark, who graduated from 
Amherst in 1876, and their object, a foreword to 
the volume states, is to assist “in throwing light 
in a genuinely scientific spirit upon the relation of 
the research, discovery, and thought of the day 
to individual attitude and social policy.” The 
titles of the lectures are: ‘‘Contrasts,” ‘‘ Devolu- 
tion or Evolution?” ‘‘The Problem and the Data,”’ 
and “The New Régime.” 


NO. 2314, VOL. 93] 


NATURE 


) 
| 


On 


PEEL aRS TO. THE EDINOR: 

[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for 
opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with 
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 
this or any other part of Nature. No notice is 
taken of anonymous communications. | 


Active Nitrogen. 


A FURTHER paper by Tiede and Domcke has appeared 
(Berichte, February 7, 1914) in which it is stated that 
bomb nitrogen passed over copper moderately heated 
(to about 400° C.) is incapable of giving the glow 
characteristic of active nitrogen. This is held to con- 
firm the previous statement by the same authors 
relative to nitrogen prepared by heating a metallic 
azide. In each case the result is attributed to the 
successful elimination of any trace of oxygen. 

We have carefully repeated this new experiment, 
taking every precaution. All parts of the apparatus 
were sealed together by fusion. Its lightness was 
thoroughly tested, both before and after the experi- 
ment, and occluded gases were carefully got rid of. 
The column of copper employed consisted of rolls of 
the finest gauze (ninety threads to the inch), carefully 
reduced from the oxidised condition. Its length was 
50 cm., and its diameter 17 mm. The temperature 
was slowly taken up from 15° C. to 480° C., without 
any distinct change in the intensity of the glow at 
any stage. The experiment has been repeated on 
several occasions before colleagues. A subsequent 
examination of the copper showed that oxidation had 
not proceeded for more than 8 cm. We emphatically 


' dissent therefore from TJiede and Domceke’s conclu- 


sion, in this case, as in the previous one. 

The rest of their paper is an attempt to show that 
some of the characteristic effects can be got with 
oxygen only, in the entire absence of nitrogen. We 
must content ourselves here with saying that we do 
not agree with their observations, but that these would 
not tell against the existence of active nitrogen, even 
if they were correct. The conclusive fact is the 
capacity of the gas to react with, e.g. hydrocarbons, 
to form hydrocyanic acid. This they have not 
attempted to dispute. 

We are glad to see that Koenig and Eléd (Berichte, 
February 21, 1914) are in agreement with us that 
azide-nitrogen gives the glow perfectly well. 

H. B. Baker. 
Re Jj. SrRuDE: 
Imperial College of Science, March 3. 


Remarkable Upper-Air Records at Batavia. 


Two sounding-balloons liberated at Batavia during 
the present rainy season have met with exceedingly 


| low temperatures, when entering the stratosphere at 


the usual height of about 17,000 metres (10-6 miles). 

On December 4, 1913, —90-9° C. (—131-6° F.) was 
registered, and on November 5 —g1-9° C. (— 133-4° F.). 
Though in this last case the clockwork had stopped, 
the register may be accepted without reservation. [ 
believe this air temperature of —g1-9° C. to be the 
lowest on record. 

On December 4 the balloon (weight 2:2 kg.) reached 
a height of 26,040 metres (16-2 miles), and the regis- 
tering, both in the ascent and in the descent, is to be 
depended upon, as will be proved below. What is 


"most remarkable in the temperature record is that 


s ~ fo) 
from 17,000 metres upward an increase from —91-9° C. | 


6 NATURE 


[Marcu 5, 1914 


to —57-:1° C. is shown, the latter agreeing with the 
value which is usually found in Europe. In former 
balloon ascents made at Batavia, temperature records 
have been obtained only twice for heights above 20 km. 
In one of those cases (August 6, 1913), an increase 
similar to that of December 4 was recorded, viz., 
—82-6° C., at 17 km., and —63-7° at 22 km.; in the 
other case, however (October 2, 1912), the temperature 
showed a much smaller increase (—80° C. to 
—75° C.), the balloon reaching 23 km. 

Regarding the trustworthiness of the records, the 
scale-values of the thermo- and barograph may be 
entirely depended upon, the instruments having been 
subjected to thorough verification before the respective 
ascents. 

The only seemingly prejudicial circumstance is that, 
though the balloon was liberated before sunrise, the 
sun rose above the horizon as the balloon entered the 
stratosphere, so that the insolation may have caused 
an apparent rise of temperature, notwithstanding 
the sun was low in the sky. Comparison of the 
temperature records for ascent and descent, however, 
prove that this has not been the case. The balloon 
descended at a quicker rate than it ascended; accord- 
ingly ventilation was more efficient in the downward 
movement, and consequently any heating effect of the 
sun-rays smaller. Thus we should expect higher tem- 
peratures during the ascent, even if we take into 
account that the sun had risen higher in the mean- 
time. On the contrary, however, on December 4 the 
temperatures during ascent were lower than, and on 
August 6 nearly equal to, those recorded during 
descent. The higher temperatures in the descent 
on December 4 are easily explained as an 
effect of sluggishness of the thermograph, especially 
as the sign of the difference between ascent and descent 
changes with the temperature gradient, when going 
from the troposphere to the stratosphere, quite in 
accordance with any effect of sluggishness. The 
values of temperature and ventilation are given here 
for heights from 15 km. upwards :— 


Height ilenmmeratire Hae ete: Ventilation 
inkm. Ascent Descent ge ture aigher — (m.p. sec.) 
in ascent Ascent Descent 
“OR "Gs "GC. . 
15 -76'4 —79°6 —78'0 202 oes 1'6 
155 eNO ue 4 Ok | STkS 50 
16 - $3°1 —89'1 - 86°1 6°0 o>4 1°6 
16°5 — 87°! -90°9 —89'0 Se) 
17 —89°5 -—897 —89°6 o'2 03 0'9 
75s! 8018. — 85:8. ye — 87-3 a0 
18 Org | comran)  $Becges | aso o'4 0°5 
19 On gt) 7420. '— Sore 64 02 06 
20 —74°5 68:0) 9 — 77 —5°6 o'2 06 
2I —69°7 -66°7. —68:2 —3°'0 o'2 O7 
22 —67°8 — 64'2 = 00109 136 oO'2 o'7 
23 —640 -—62°'0 — 63°0 20 o-2 O'7 
24 — 60'0 — 60°0 — 60°0 foe) O'2 On 
25 TOO be OA = 5054 oo o'2 o°2 
26 = 52 S572 =] 0'O o'2 o'2 
As to the temperature gradients, it may be re- 


marked that in the stratosphere they show a succession 
of low and very high (>1-0) values. 

I believe the remarkable behaviour of temperature 
in the tropical stratosphere, revealed by these upper- 
air soundings, will furnish a key to the explanation 
of the two salient features of the stratosphere, viz., 
the lowering of the temperature at its base and its 
rise in height, when proceeding from the poles to the 


equator. W. vAN BEMMELEN. 
Batavia, January 23. 


NO. 2314, VOL. 93] 


The Vertical Temperature Distribution in the 
Atmosphere. 


In the observations described by Dr. van Bemmelen 
in the foregoing letter, the vertical temperature distri- 
bution in the tropics is so typically represented that it 
seems worth while to consider a little more closely the 
essential difference between the curve obtained from 
them and curves obtained in temperate latitudes, and 
to discuss its probable cause. This difference, as Dr. 
van Bemmelen has pointed out already, chiefly relates 
to the greater height of the stratosphere and the large 
and rapid increase of temperature in it. 

As to the vertical temperature distribution in higher 
latitudes, theory has already been able to give account 
of its principal properties. These theories (Hum- 
phreys, Gold, Emden‘), however, deal only with those 
latitudes and not with the particular features of the 
tropical atmosphere. I will briefly formulate the 
results of these researches so far as they will be used 
in the further discussion. 

(1) When convective temperature equilibrium is sup- 
posed to exist and the decrease of water vapour with 
height is taken into account, Gold finds that above 
the isobaric surface of a quarter atmosphere, radia- 
tion has a heating effect, below a cooling influence. 
In Europe this surface has a height of 9500 metres. 
With a slightly different conception as to the distribu- 
tion of water vapour Emden calculates nearly the same 
height for the limit between heating and cooling effect, 
viz., 8950 metres. 

(2) According to Emden, his equations used for the 
lower regions do not hold good in the upper part of 
the troposphcve in consequence of the very small quan- 
tity of water vapour. Taking this small amount of 
vapour into account, he derives a minimum radiation 
temperature of —59° C. Supposing the condition 
in (1) to be gradually changing into those mentioned 
in (2), his theory fully agrees with the facts observed 
over the tropics. 

(3) The equations of Emden show at greater eleva- 
tions a gradual increase of temperature in the strato- 
sphere, in agreement with the results of observation. 

The very low temperatures, observed in the upper 
part of the tropical troposphere, which are about 
30° C. below those observed at the same height in 
temperate regions, must be ascribed to another effect. 
Besides the radiation and the resulting vertical con- 
vection currents, which explain the principal features 
of the gradients in higher latitudes, in the low-pressure 
belt of the tropics the rising air currents of the general 
atmospheric circulation cooperate. They disturb the 
temperature distribution as determined by radiation, 
and shift the troposphere to greater heights. 

Dr. van Bemmelen, who found at Batavia the upper 
limit of the anti-trade winds at about the same level 
as the base of the stratosphere, thereby proved that 
the convection currents reach as high as the upper 
limit of the troposphere. 

Also from a theoretical point of view, it is evident 
that the vertical convection currents do not reach 
higher than the limit of strato- and tropo-sphere, as 
this would be inconsistent with the stability of the 
temperature gradients of the stratosphere; on the 
other hand, it is improbable that their height remains 
much below this limit, for without convection the high 
radiation temperatures would rapidly take possession 
of their dominion. 

At higher levels the conditions in the stratosphere 
will rapidly approach those of the temperate latitudes 
at the same height. Therefore the marked increase 
of temperature, as shown by the observations is 
exactly what might be expected. 


1 R. Emden: Uber Strahlungsgleichgewicht und atmospharische Strah- 
lung. Ein Beitrag zur Theorie der oberen Inversion. Sitz. Ber. d. math. 


| phys. Klasse d. K. B. Akad. d. Wiss. zu Miinchen, 1913, Heft 1. 


Marcu 5, 1914| 


NATURE 7 


The upheaval of the stratosphere in the tropics may 
be demonstrated in a very instructive way bv com- 
parison of its height with the height of the cirrus 
clouds. In my opinion, as indicated below, the base 
of the cirrus fairly well represents the height of the 
hypothetical dividing surface between the cooling and 
lieating effect of radiation for moist air (as mentioned 
in (1)). This surface is one of nearly uniform tem- 
perature, as shown by the temperatures of the cirrus 
level :— 

Bossekop (70° N.L.), height of cirrus 8°3 km., temp. — 45° C. 

Potsdam (52° N.L.), AG 92 se -46° C. 

Batavia (6°S.L.), 5 I1"4 se — 48°C. 

Parallel to this surface runs the base of the strato- 
sphere, the analogous dividing surface for atmo- 
spheric air (that is, for rather dry air as mentioned 
in (2)), with a nearly constant temperature of — 55° 

The deviation from this parallel intercourse, which 
appears in the tropics and subtropics, in consequence 
of a shifting which only affects the upper surface, 
gives a direct measurement of the disturbing influence 
of the vertical convection currents belonging to the 
general circulation. 

In the Meteorologische Zeitschrift of 1913 (Heft 10, 
p- 493) I have already discussed the question of the 
cirrus level as a dividing surface for radiation effects. 
In this paper, which may be referred to here, atten- 
tion was directed to the fact that there exists an 
essential difference between the cloud formation in the 
cirrus level and above it, as compared with the lower 
regions, a phenomenon very evident in the quiet 
tropical atmosphere. The upper part of the high 
cumulus clouds (their height may be estimated at 
about 13 or 14 km.) does not, as the lower part, dis- 
solve rapidly, but assuming a flattened form and 
cirrostratus-like appearance, it remains drifting along 
for a considerable time. 
to a cloud-dissipating (cooling) effect of radiation in 
the lower, and a cloud-forming (heating) effect in the 
upper levels. 

As a fixed amount of water radiates and absorbs more 
strongly in the condensed form than in the gaseous state, 
in the regions where radiation has a cooling effect, as 
in the lower strata of the atmosphere, the cooling 
will be relatively strong in the clouds as compared with 
the surrounding air. But a heating effect will be 
experienced in the clouds in higher levels, where radia- 
tion is heating them more intensely than the surround- 
ing air. When left to themselves, after convection 
has finished, they will descend and dissolve in the 
first case, but, on the contrary, will be upheld or rise, 
and consequently prolong their existence or develop 
in the second case. 

At that time I had not read Emden’s paper. By 
attributing the relatively low radiation temperatures 
of the air at these heights to ozone, I tried to explain 
the circumstance of the different radiation effect ob- 
served either with regard to the cirrus clouds or to 
the air in which they are floating. 

Perhaps such an influence cooperates, but Emden’s 
results mentioned above may also explain the matter. 

It is very probable that his statement (1) may 
be applied to clouds on account of their large amount 
of water in condensed and gaseous form. In this case 
the limit above which radiation has a heating effect 
(8950 metres) is indeed situated just below the cirrus 
level, which at Potsdam has a height of 9200 metres. 

As to radiation, the conditions in the surrounding 
air at this height approach those mentioned in (2), 
and the radiation effect will still remain a cooling one. 

Thus the lower limit of the cirrus clouds may be 
regarded as the level where, for air of abundant water 
contents, the influence of radiation changes its sign. 

Batavia, January 23. C. BRAAK. 


NO. 2314, VOL. 93]| 


This difference I attributed. 


Atomic Models and Regions of Intra-atomic Electrons. 


Tuat, as concluded by Prof. Nicholson (NATURE, 
February 5, p. 630) the atoms of lithium, beryllium, 
and boron cannot consist of 3, 4, 5 electrons rotating 
round a nucleus of 3e, 4e, 5e, respectively, with equal 
angular momenta in one circular orbit, may be con- 
cluded also from the periodic system, as instead of 
I, 0, I, 2, 3 electrons of valency, we should then 
expecta regular increase from o to 5, or no valency 
at all. No atomic model, so far as I know, has suc- 
ceeded in making this difference plausible; but it is 
not essential to the hypothesis, that, independently of 
any atomic model :—(i) Three distinct regions of intra- 
atomic electrons exist, the number of which (say P, 
QO, R) may be calculated for each atom from the 
periodic system; and (ii) on these numbers most, if 
not all, of the non-periodic properties of the elements 
depend, so that (NATURE, December 25, 1913, p. 476) :— 

(i) M=P+Q=(1) the charge on the nucleus on 
Rutherford’s theory; (2) the number of electrons sur- 
rounding that nucleus; (3) the atomic number of an 
element in Mendeléeff’s series. 

P=(1) the number of peripheric electrons (those of 


20 


ipl) 


~ 
os 


_ 
~ 


“ 
Ss 


“ss 
WN 


log of alomic number M 
“Ss 
PS 


™~s 
1S) 


0 05 10 15 20 a5 30 
log tq) Al of characteristic radiation 


valency included); (2) 8r+ f (p being the maximum 
valency and r the number of rows preceding that of 
the element: rare-earth period not counted). 

OQ=(1) the inner electrons, giving probably the char- 
acteristic radiation; (2) the number of aperiodic 
elements (H, He, Co, Ni, &c., and rare-earth elements). 

R=(1) the free nuclear electrons of which part can 
be ejected as 6 rays (Bohr, Phil. Mag., vol. xxvi., 
p. 501, 1913); (2) A/2—M, if the positive part 
of the nucleus consists of a particles for by far the 
greatest part; (3) kP?, as A/2—-M=kRP? for all 
elements (NaTuRE, December 25, p. 476); and that : 

(ii) On M, or some function of it, depend (1) the 
large-angle scattering of a particles (NATURE, Novem- 
ber 27, p. 372) (on M?); (2) wave-number of the 
characteristic radiation for elements from nickel to 
zinc (on (M—1)?) (Moseley, Phil Mag., vol. xxvi., 
p- 1024, 1913); (3) the absorption of the characteristic 
radiation for all elements (see figure); (4) the mini- 
mum velocity of 8 ravs required to produce it (on M 


‘or M—1); (5) for hydrogen M only gives a possible 


8 NATURE 


value for the charge, and normal values for absorption, 
etc., while A/2 does not. 

And (iii) on P, or some power of it depend (see table) 
(1) the percentage of the incident 8 radiation reflected 
for UrX, RaE, Act D); (2) the absorption of kathode, 
or B rays (see Lenard, Ann. d. Phys., vol. lvi., p. 275, 
1895, and Crowther, Phil Mag., vol. xii., p. 379, 1906); 
(3) the number of nuclear electrons and f particles 
ejected (see Soddy, Jahrb. Radioakt. und Elektronik, 
1913, vol. x., p. 193); (4) quanta of energy the 6 par- 
ticle looses on Rutherford’s theory (Phil Mag., vol. 
XXVi., p. 717, 1913) in traversing the non-nuclear elec- 
trons of the atom it came from; (5) probably the 
decrease of velocity of a particles traversing matter 
(Bohe! Pik Mag, vol. (xxv., p. 27, 1913). ~ The table 
gives the number of electrons, causing this decrease, 
in approximate values. 


= | pb TOM |Perc.Refl. Brad., Perc. Refl. @rad./P* N, 
bD NP2 |UrX RaE AcD|} UrX RaK AcD | Bohr 
| 
Al | rx 27° *30, 38482 «9:0 4(1175) 104 
Me |-24 | 6'4- 6°2 7|-41 141. 47+) 8:4. 84° -9°6 
Ni | 24 43) 143,48 819, 8°90, 19°38 
Gun 25) 0 SanOO. Nas iA Se aes 19:0 )) TOA 
Pe 20 N n69550°7 al AS) A5 5 Balh ob) 8.9 ~ 1078 
Agaleqtal)  Si28 503 val 655057 Cone’ 90 99 
Sn 4405 104 1157.02: mior| 37 9'4, “1075: 7-38 
Pi 42500 1 O84h 1559-4) 00), 0879/88" OX 104 
IA Gop NP Geigy oss |) WS CS 7S) ORO eG) aio) 61 
Pb |,60)| 10:8 6°2."| 68" Fo 0 | 8°38 gl 10°3 65 
Bi | 61 OMe OLE OLOmer Onlan elOr 
| 6°2 8°67 8:98 10°19 


From (ii, 2) n=c/A=2-465.10'°(M—1)?; from (ii, 4) 
Vinin=2'24-10°(M—1). Now Vinin>v of the electron 
giving K-radiation, and if this =1-93.10°(M—1), then 

mv? /2n =0-88. 1-93.710— *7/\2.2-465.10 =6-62.10—77 = 

Planck’s h. 
A. VAN DEN BROEK. 

Gorsel, Holland, February 9. 


An Early Slide Rule. 


Dre Morean, in article ‘‘Slide Rule”? in the Penny 
Cyclopaedia, points out that though Gunter first used 
a logarithmic scale, the real inventor of the logarithmic 
slide was Oughtred. ‘‘In the year 1630 he showed 
it to his pupil, William Forster, who obtained his con- 
sent to translate and publish his own description of 
the instrument, and rules for using it. This was done 
under the following title, ‘The Circles of Proportion 
and the Horizontal Instrument,’ London, 1632; fol- 
lowed in 1633, by an ‘ Addition, etc.,’ with an appendix 
having title, ‘ The Declaration of the two Rulers for 
Calculation.’”’ After referring to a republication of 
this work in 1660, he goes on :—‘‘ The next writer 
whom we can find is Seth Partridge, in a ‘ Description, 
etc., of the Double Scale of Proportion,’ London, 1685. 
He studiously conceals Oughtred’s name; the rulers 
of the latter were separate, and made to keep together 
in sliding by the hand; perhaps Partridge considered 
the invention his own, in right of one ruler sliding 
between two others kept together by bits of brass.” 

Prot.) Cajori, in his ibook, “SA (History of the 
Logarithmic Slide Rule,” 1909, the result of an ex- 
haustive inquiry into the literature of the subject, 
quotes De Morgan, and continues (p. 17), ‘‘To 
Partridge we owe, then, the invention of the slide.” 
In an addendum (p. vi.), and in Nature, February 24, 


NOwegId, VOL. 93] 


[MarcH 5, 1914 


1910, p. 489, he refers to a copy of Partridge’s book 
in his own possession, published in 1662, in which it 
is stated that the book was written in 1657. 

Dr. Alexander Russell, in NaTurE, January 30, 1910, 
p. 307 states:—‘‘A few years before 1671, Seth 
Partridge rediscovered the sliding principle, perfected 
it, and gave an almost complete specification for the 
slide rule which is used to-day by engineers. . . . Per- 
sonally, I consider that Seth Partridge is the real 
inventor of the modern ro-in. slide rule.” 

My object in writing is to direct attention to the 
fact that there is in the Science Museum at South 
Kensington a slide rule which is inscribed, ‘t‘ Made 
by Robert Bissaker for T. W., 1654.’’. This proves 
that the slide was invented and in use three years 
before Partridge wrote his pamphlet, and eight years 
before the earliest known date of its publication. 

This very early example of the instrument is of 
boxwood, well made, and bound together with brass 
at the two ends. It is of the square type, a little 
more than 2 ft. in length, and bears the logarithmic 
lines first described by Edmund Gunter. Of these, the 
num., sin., and tan lines are arranged in pairs, 
identical and contiguous, one line in each pair being 
on the fixed part, and the other on the slide. As Seth 
Partridge describes no feature which is not embodied 
in this example of the instrument, it would appear 
that less credit is due to him for invention in connec- 
tion with the slide rule than has hitherto been given. 

In this year of the Napier tercentenary celebration 
it is interesting to know that a slide rule is still in 
existence which was made only forty years after the 
invention of logarithms. Davip BAXANDALL. 

The Science Museum, South Kensington, S.W. 


The Permeability of Echinoderm Eggs to Electrolytes. 

In 1910 J. F. McClendon showed that the electrical 
conductivity of echinoderm eggs is considerably in- 
creased after fertilisation, and inferred from this fact 
that the act of fertilisation causes an increase in the 
permeability of the egg-surface to electrolytes. In his 
recent book (‘‘ Artificial Parthenogenesis and Fertilisa- 
tion’’) Prof. Loeb suggests that the increase in con- 
ductivity is not due to an increase in permeability, 
but would be produced “if in consequence of mem- 
brane-formation the degree of electrolytic dissociation 
of the surface film of the egg should be increased ”’ 
(p. 122). 

I have recently found that the electrical conductivity 
of unfertilised and fertilised eggs is very greatly 
affected by the presence of very low concentrations of 
simple trivalent positive ions; a concentration of 
0-0002M Ce: decreases the conductivity of the unfer- 
tilised eggs of Sphaerechinus granularis by as much 
as 40 per cent. Such solutions likewise affect the 
conductivity of the fertilised eggs, but to a less degree. 
Whereas it is almost inconceivable that these pheno- 
mena are due to a decrease in the electrolytic con- 
tents of the surface-film of the egg, I have found 
considerable evidence in support of the suggestion 
that the electrical conductivity of these eggs is deter- 
mined, at least partially, by the charge on the egg- 
surface. As Perrin, Girard, and Mines have shown, 
this factor also determines the degree of permeability 
of membranes to electrolytes. In short, McClendon’s 
original contention, that the increase in electrical con- 
ductivity of eggs after fertilisation is due to an in- 
creased permeability of the egg-surface, is very much 
more satisfactory than Prof. Loeb’s suggestion. 

J. Gray. 

Stazione Zoologica, Napoli, Italy. 

February 5. 


Marcu 5, 1914] 


NATURE 2 


THE BEGINNING OF ART. 


ee subject of prehistoric art has never failed 
to engage the public interest. It not only ex- 
hibits to us the beginning of all that is now 
embraced under the comprehensive term of Art, 
but it furnishes us with a more clear and precise 
insight into the mind of prehistoric man than can 
be given by any other branch of archeology. The 
authenticity of the records again has never, and 
can never, be seriously questioned by the most 
sceptical or the least learned in these matters. 

For a long time the examples of prehistoric art 
were limited to carvings or gravures, the medium 
being bone, horn, or tooth, but since 1887, and 
particularly since 1901, attention has been more 
directly focussed upon the incised figures found on 
rocks, usually on the walls of caves, and not 
infrequently coloured with ochre. The caves so 
decorated are chiefly found in the Dordogne dis- 
trict of France, and along the Cantabrian coast 
of Spain. 

Although the honour of first appreciating the 
significance of these paintings 
belongs to the late M. Piette, it 
is to the enthusiasm, ability, and 
labours of Abbé Breuil that we 
are chiefly indebted for most of 
our knowledge regarding them. 
A good example of the peculiar 
ability of Abbé Breuil, amounting 
indeed to what might be justifi- 
ably regarded as genius, for see- 
ing things which are hidden from 
less acute observers, is given on 
pp. 146-8 of the volume on “La 
Caverne de _ Font-de-Gaume.”’ 
In May, 1906, Abbé Breuil on 
casually looking through Abbé 
Parat’s collection of ‘pierres 
utilisées,” found on one of them 
what he conceived to be the head 
and fore part of a rhinoceros. 
A further more minute examina- 
tion led him to the opinion that there were two 
silhouettes of a rhinoceros almost superimposed 
upon each other. M. Breuil showed the specimen 
to M. Salamon Reinach, who, however, was only 
able to decipher the two outlines when they were 
traced for him with a pencil. M. Boule was next 
shown the specimen, but expressed himself as 
sceptical on the matter. A few days afterwards 
a galvano-plastic impression was obtained at the 
Musée de Saint Germain, which removed all ques- 
tion of doubt as to the accuracy of the Abbé’s 
opinion, as M. Boule readily acknowledged. 

In the present publication Abbé Breuil has had 
the advantage of the cooperation of MM. Capitan 
et Peyrony for the French caves, and of MM. Rio 


Par le 
Pp. viiit+271+ 


US be Caverne de Font-de-Gaume aux Eyzies (Dordogne).” 
Docteur L. Capitan, l’Abbé Henri Breuil et D. Peyrony. 
Ixv plates, 

“Les Cavernes de la Région Cantabrique (Espagne).” Par H: Alcalde 
del Rio, l’'Abbé Henri Breuil et le R. Pére Lorenzo Sierra. Pp. viiit+265+ 
Ioo plates. : 

“La Pasiega a Puente-Viesgo (Santander).” Par l’Abbé Henri Breuil 
le Docteur H. Obermaier et H. Alcalde del Rio. Pp. 64+xxix plates. 

(Monaco: Imprimerie Artistique VY® A: Chene, 1910-13.) 


NO. 2314, VOL. 93] 


Fic. 1.—Hands, feet and: weapons printed in colour’ on a rockin Australia‘ (after Worsnop). 
“* Les Cavernes de la Région Cantabrique.” 


et Obermaier et Pére Lorenzo Sierra for the 
Spanish caves. Mention is also certainly due to 
M. Lasalle, for the very valuable and highly 
efficient services which he has rendered under 
very great difficulties in photographing the 
‘““paintings.”’ Last but not least, we are indebted 
to S.. A. S. le Prince de Monaco, who has shown 
his appreciation of the value of these records in 
the most practical way by undertaking their pub- 
lication, increasing materially thereby the great 
debt which all archeologists already owe him. 

Those who have seen the previous publications 
under the same auspices will be prepared for 
something as near perfection as anything can well 
be, nor will they be disappointed, for these books 
in matter and form, in text and illustration, leave 
nothing to be desired. 

The caves in which these wall paintings are 
found occur in Cretaceous Limestone, and are 
both very extensive and tortuous. The “pic- 
tures’ begin only after a certain distance has been 
traversed from the entrance, but this is to be ex 
plained, as the authors point out, on the ground 


From 


that those at or near the entrance have become 
blurred and effaced by atmospheric agencies. 

A large number of pieces of flint adapted for 
the purposes of drawing, and pieces of ochre suit- 
able for colouring the figures, have been recovered 
from the caves, and the presumption that they 
were the actual instruments and material used is 
very strong. The date of the “paintings” may 
be assigned to the Aurignacian, Solutrean, and 
Magdalenian periods, possibly even to the end of 
the Mousterian. The pictures themselves are 
nearly all concerned with the portrayal of the 
larger members of the fauna existent at the period, 
the mammoth, rhinoceros, bison, bear, horse, 
deer, goat, wolf, &c. The interest attached to 
them is manifold. There is their intrinsic interest 
as works of art produced at a very remote period, 
there is the interest arising out of the change 
which takes place in the technique, and 
permits of our identification of no fewer than five 
distinct periods. Then there is the zoological in- 
terest, for the animals are so carefully drawn, 


IO 


with such attention to detail, that they afford very 
strong evidence as to the appearance of these 
species now in many cases extinct. Lastly, there 
is the interest attached to the chronological order 
of the paintings as it may be determined by an 
examination of those examples far from rare in 
which one figure is superimposed on another. The 
evidence from this source is not, however, so com- 
plete that we can tell the order in which certain 
animals have become extinct. 
curious caprice that the mammoth, for instance, 
in ‘“‘La Caverne de Font-de-Gaume”’ appears only 
in “paintings” belonging to the first and fifth 
periods. 

There is naturally a special interest in those 
frescoes in which Man himself is the subject. 
Unfortunately there is no clear and full repre- 
sentation of Man. The figure in the cave Hornos 
de la Pefia is almost certainly not that of a man. 
There is, however, a very spirited delineation of 
a human arm in “La Pasiega,” while the number 
of times in which the human hand is depicted is 


PE: 


NATURE 


J 


| Ag he 3 : s 

x ] “ iP Bi oe | 
te ey 

: E ns 
jy 


- Fic. 2.—Fresco of hands, animals and weapons (?) on the wall of the 


remarkable. Representations of the left hand 
preponderate greatly over those of the right hand, 
a fact which is explained no doubt rightly by 
assuming that man had already ceased to be ambi- 
dextrous. It is a very curious coincidence that 
among the native Australians the custom of draw- 
ing or painting the hand on the wall of a cave 
is not infrequently practised. The 
ing figures show how closely related such 
examples may be. In Australia the boomerang 
is often found associated, while in Spain instru- 
ments of a similar shape are also sometimes intro- 
duced. Naturally there are many other markings 
the meaning of which it is difficult to determine, 
“tectiform,” “scutiform,” “claviform” figures. 
It is tempting to think that some of the former 
are meant to represent huts, it is at any rate 
difficult to know what else they could be while 
their resemblance to the homes of primitive people 
in all parts of the world is striking. 

The value of these important books, the great 
labour they have entailed, the vast knowledge 


N@: 23m.) VOL.103| 


accompany- | 


cavern at Castillo. 


| Acrzine Butterflies. 


[Marcu 5, 1914 
they have exacted, will be readily granted when 
it is further noted that they include a “descrip- 
tion raisonée”’ of all the animals depicted, a 
description based on an examination of all the 
art specimens extant representing the animals, 
whether gravure, carving, or “painting.” There 
is again a very careful and scientific comparison 
made between these old examples and those of 


| the modern African Bushman. 
We find by a | 


The books constitute, with the archeological 
books already published from the Monaco press, 
a series of classics which mark an epoch in the 
history of our knowledge of archeology. They 


_ enable us to view the past as through a telescope. 


WILLIAM WRIGHT. 


THE HOPE (REPORTS# 
| hee anyone would undertake the task of writing 
the history of zoological science during the 
past fifty years, an interesting chapter could be 
written on the attitude of the leading authorities 
towards the work of the pure systematist. 


~ SRS ROR RR VS corer | 
| 
a 
§). > tte.) ner 
Wd er 
te sas 
+ wip ¥y <= 
, Z se se var ae 
x a is 
~& 
\ sey ‘ 
DP e PT * : 
— = 2 a | 


From ‘‘ Les Cavernes de la Région Cantabrique.” 


Fewer than fifty years ago every zoologist who 
ventured to express his opinions on the philo- 
sophical questions that gathered round the science 
was a recognised authority on the systematic 
zoology of some one group of animals. Haeckel 
had studied the Radiolaria and Meduse; Darwin 
wrote a monograph on the Cirripedia; Huxley 
contributed to our knowledge of the systematic 
zoology of the Siphonophora. But the time came 
when, for a period, the study of a special group 
was discouraged, and the student, passing from 
his course of general study, started on his investi- 
gations on embryology or morphology, without 
taking the trouble to become acquainted with the 
difficulties of systematic work, or to train himself 
in the observation of minute differences of struc- 
ture upon which the arrangement of animals into 
specific groups must, in so many cases, be based. 

1 The Hope Reports. Edited by Prof. E. B. Poulton, F.R.S._ Vol. vill , 
Appendix, 1890-1910, Including Five Sub-families of the Blattide. ByR. 
Shelford. Vol. viii., 1910-13. With a Separate Appendix. Vol Ix., 1911-13. 


The Natural History and Description of African Insects, especially the 
(Oxford, 1913.) 


Marcu 5, 1914] 


The value of such work was well expressed in 
the letter written by Huxley to Francis Darwin 
(“Life of Darwin,” vol. i., p. 347), which begins 
with the sentence :—‘‘In my opinion your sagaci- 
ous father never did a wiser thing than when 
he devoted himself to the years of patient toil which 
the Cirripede book cost him.” 

The three volumes of the Hope reports that 


have recently been issued may be regarded as an | 


indication of the revival of systematic zoology after 
a period of comparative neglect, and a sign that 
some of our best thinkers are beginning to realise 
that “the great danger which besets all men of 
large speculative faculty is the temptation to deal 
with the accepted statements of fact in natural 
science as if they were not only correct, but 
exhaustive.” 

The entomologists who are associated with Prof. 
Poulton in the Hope Department at Oxford are 
engaged in the study of large and important 
speculative questions, but, as these volumes show, 
their work is based upon the careful detailed study 
and descriptive statement which pure systematic 
work demands. They have the great advantage 
which the rapid growth of the collections in the 
Hope department affords of basing their con- 
clusions upon the study of a very large number 
of specimens that have been sent to the museum 
from various parts of the world by the band of 
skilled collectors and keen observers that Prof. 
Poulton has interested in his work; and whether 
we agree with the conclusions or not, we must 
feel confident that the work has been done with 
a thoroughness and wealth of illustration that has 
probably been unequalled in the history of specula- 
tive zoology. 

Our interest naturally centres, in the first in- 
stance, on the progress that has been made during 
the pericd, of which these volumes form the record, 
in the study of mimicry and protective resem- 
blance. It has been urged so frequently as an 
objection to the theories of Batesian and Miillerian 
mimicry that the insects that are supposed to 
exhibit them are not subject to the attacks of birds 
or other vertebrates gifted with eyes that can see 
or be deceived by colour patterns; and that the 
palatability of their flesh cannot in any way be an 
advantage to them in their struggle for existence ; 
that the experiments in this connection of Mr. 
Pocock on the palatability of British insects, and 
the observations of Mr. Swynnerton on butter- 
flies attacked by birds in Rhodesia are of special 
interest. The negative evidence of observers who 
say they have never seen a particular species of 
insect attacked by birds is really of very little value 
compared with the positive evidence that is 
accumulating, and the onus of proof is now shifted 
from those who support the theory of mimicry 
to its opponents. 

But a still more interesting discussion for the 
general reader upon which these volumes throw 
much new light is on the question of the origin 
of the mimetic forms. Have, for example, the 
four mimetic females of the well-known African 
butterfly Papilio dardanus arisen by sudden 


NO. 2314, VOL. 931 


NATURE 


Il 


mutations, or by the natural selection of small 
variations from a common type? It will be diff- 
cult for Prof. Poulton to persuade the mutation- 
ists that they are wrong, that in this particular 
instance the many transitional forms between the 
dominant mimetic forms that the Hope collections 
include do indicate that it is by the selection of 
slight variations in the right direction that the 
similarity between the mimics and their models 
has been reached, but the gradually accumulating 
series of facts bearing upon this discussion which 
these volumes contain are of extraordinary value 
in giving those who have not yet declared them- 
selves on one side or the other a rich harvest for 
their consideration. 

It is in a discussion such as this that the trained 
eye and detailed knowledge of the systematic 
entomologist is of supreme value, and the weighty 
article by Mr. R.:C. L. Perkins on the colour 
groups of Hawaiian wasps, and the paper by 
Colonel Manders on his temperature experiments 
on Danais and Hypolimnas in Colombo, will be 
read with much interest. 

It is quite impossible in a short notice to do 
justice to the many articles of interest that the 
volumes contain, but special attention may be 
directed to the interesting address by Dr. Dixey, 
as president of the Entomological Society, on the 
effect of external influences on the germ plasm in 
insects, and the evidence it affords bearing on the 
theories of evolution, and to the essay by Mr. 
Guy Marshall on the limitations of the Millerian 
hypothesis. To the morphologist, Prof. Poulton’s 
memoir on the structure of the lepidopterous pupa, 
and Mr. Eltringham’s account of the male genital 
armature of the species of the genus Acraea, and 
to the systematist Mr. Shelford’s elaborate and 
beautifully illustrated memoirs on the Orthoptera, 
Mr. Eltringham’s important contributions to our 
knowledge of the African species of the genus 
Acraea, Colonel Bingham’s memoir on_ the 
Aculeate Hymenoptera and other shorter papers 
will prove to be of interest. 

Prof. Poulton and his colleagues may be 
heartily congratulated on the extensive and im- 
portant contribution to knowledge they have made 
during the period that is covered by these three 
handsome volumes. Sufi wd: 


DR. MAWSCN’S ANTARCTIC 
EXPEDITION. 

R. MAWSON has returned from the Ant- 
arctic to Australia, and readers of his 
message to the Times, recounting his wonderful 
escape after a month’s march alone, when he had 
witnessed the death of two companions, will con- 
gratulate him on the courage and endurance which 
saved him from an end like theirs. The three 
were on a march of exploration south-eastward 
from the main base in Adélie Land, in November- 
January, 1912-13, when Lieutenant Ninnis fell 
with a loaded sledge into a crevasse. Dr. Mertz 
and Dr. Mawson, in the face of starvation owing 
to this disaster, returned to within one hundred 


12 NATURE 


[MarcH 5, 1914 


miles of the base, when Mertz succumbed, and 
Mawson was only saved by the discovery of a 
cache of food left by a search party, after he had 
made a long and dreadful solitary journey. 

Dr. Mawson’s principal object was to explore 
that section of Antarctica which lies due south of 
Australia (Fig. 1). To the east of his own field of 
operations lies the region opened up by the work 
of Scott and Shackleton; to the west of the base 
established by his colleague, Mr, Frank Wild, a 
thousand miles distant in a direct line from his 
own, the German Gauss expedition was at 
work in 1902-03, and gave the name of Kaiser 
Wilhelm II. Land to its sphere of action. The 
intervening area was very little known; landings 
had not been previously made in either of the 
districts covered. by Dr. Mawson and Mr. Wild, 
and the coast-line was only known—and that, as 
the present expedition has proved, by no means 
certainly—at a few points reported by expeditions 


western: base. From the ship valuable results 
have been obtained by deep-sea dredging and 
other means, and the antarctic continental shelf 
has been traced through 55 degrees of longitude. 
It must also be remembered that the work of the 


general scientific programme has been continued 


at the main base through two complete years, 
though through one only at the western base. 


NOTES. 


Tue following fifteen candidates have been selected 
by the council of the Royal Society to be recommended 
for election into the society:—Dr. E. J. Allen, Mr. 
R. Assheton, Mr. G. T. Bennett, Prof. R. H. Biffen, 
Dr. A. E. Boycott, Mr Clive Cuthbertson, Dr. H. H. 
Dale, Prof. A. S. Eddington, Prof. E. J. Garwood, 
Mr. T. H. Havelock, Dr. T. M. Lowry, Prof. D. Noél 
Paton, Mr. S. Ruhemann, Dr. S. W. J. Smith, and 
Dede... Stanton. 


Mr. J. DewRrance has presented 


: eb) te Ox, seas 


’ of governors of the hospital on 
February 26, Prince Alexander of 
Teck announced that the donor was 
Sir John Bland-Sutton. 


Scale of Nautical Miles 
# 0 400 200 wo 


Fic. 1.—Field of operations of the Mawson Antarctic expedition. 


made more than seventy years ago, by Balleny, by 
Dumont D’Urville, and by Wilkes. 

The data are, of course, insufficient to attempt 
as yet any detailed estimate of the scientific value 
of the work of Dr. Mawson’s expedition. But it 
must be substantial. We know something of it 
already from the reports of Mr. Wild and Captain 
J. K. Davis (who commanded the ship of the 
expedition), which they made on returning from 
the Antarctic last March. 

The wireless telegraphic station established on 
Macquarie Island has already proved its worth, 
and may form the first step in a system of 
weather-forecasting, important not only to ship- 
ping in Australian waters, but to agriculturists 
and others in Australia. We hear of the dis- 
covery of minerals, including coal and copper. 
Exploratory journeys over the sea-ice and the con- 
tinental plateau are stated to have covered 2400 
miles from the main base and 800 miles from the 


NO. 2397 VOL. 103 | 


the sum of 20001. to the donation 
fund of the Royal Society. The in- 
come arising from this fund is used 
mainly for the promotion of experi- 
mental researches. 


A YEAR ago announcement was 
made of a gift of 15,0001. to the 
Middlesex Hospital for the purpose 
of building an institute of pathology, 
a department greatly needed in 
order to raise the hospital to the 
standard required by modern scien- 
tific medicine. At the annual court 


In our issue of February 12 
(p. 667) particulars were given of 
the conference of persons interested 


Atkinson, R.N., 


Towrdegmae: if the physical aspects of the study 
of the air, the earth, and the sea, 
to be held in Edinburgh next Sep- 

tember. Sir John Murray is to be the president of the 


conference. We have since received information that 
arrangements are in progress for a Meteorological 
Congress to be held in Venice in the same month, and 
that meteorologists of all countries are to be invited to 
it. The president of the executive committee of this 
proposed congress is Prof, S. Urbani, director of the 
Patriarcal Meteorological Observatory, Venice. 


Tue London School of Tropical Medicine has sent 
an expedition to China to study the mode of dissemina- 
tion of human diseases caused by trematode parasites, 
especially bilharziosis, and the relation of such diseases 
to those occurring in domestic animals. Investiga- 
tions into. ankylostomiasis will also be carried on. 
The members of the expedition are Dr. R. T. Leiper, 
helminthologist of the Tropical School, Surgeon E. L. 
and Mr. Cherry-Garrard. The two last- 
named were members of Scott’s Antarctic Expedition, 
and the name of Surgeon Atkinson is familiar to the 


Marcu 5, 1914| 


-public-as.the leader. of-the.search. party which recovered 

the bodies of Capt. Scott and his companions. Surgeon 
Atkinson also made a large and important collection 
of Antarctic parasites, and since his return from the 
expedition he has been occupied in working out the 
helminths in collaboration with Dr, Leiper. Draw- 
ings of the helminths collected were exhibited by Dr. 
Leiper and Surgeon Atkinson at a recent scientific 
meeting of the Zoological Society. The collection of 
Antarctic Protozoan parasites still remains to be 
worked out. 

THE recent review of the position of Army aviation 
in a statement to Parliament by the Secretary of State 
for War is interesting as showing the progress of 
aviation in England, and also the need for further 
improvement before aeroplanes can be regarded as 
having reached a satisfactory degree of development. 
Six years from the date of the first successful flights 
in Europe, it can be said that in the year just ended 
there were only six flying days on which flights by 
officers and men of the Royal Flying Corps did not 
take place. This is a significant indication of the 
rapidity of development of the science of aviation 
which is made still more noticeable by the statement 
that during this time journeys amounting to more 
than 100,000 miles were made without any loss of life. 
It appears that aeroplanes are being taken out in 
stronger and stronger winds, and a record of nearly 
seventy miles an hour stands to the credit of one of 
the officers of the Royal Flying Corps. In spite of such 
striking performances, it is clear that there is still 
much to be learnt. Colonel Seely pointed out the 
necessity for keeping 200 machines in being, so that 
100 of them may be ready for use at a given time. 
In other words, at least half the life of a modern 
aeroplane is spent in the repair shop. This fact makes 
it necessary to attempt to raise the factor of safety 
of aeroplanes, and an inspection department has been 
organised by the War Office to deal with this aspect 
of the problems relating to aviation. 


THE committee of the Lister Memorial Fund has 
commissioned Sir Thomas Brock, R.A., to execute a 
medallion portrait of the late Lord Lister, to be placed 
in Westminster Abbey. This will form part of the 
international memorial to commemorate the priceless 
services of Lord Lister to the cause of science and the 
alleviation of human suffering. Further subscriptions 
are required to enable the committee to carry out 
adequately the proposed scheme for the establishment 
of an International Lister Memorial Fund for the ad- 
vancement of surgery. Among the subscriptions 
recently received are the following :—American Sur- 
gical Association, 135].; received through Dr. W. W. 
Keen, of Philadelphia, 35]. (second donation); Com- 
mittee of Surgeons in Holland, 1251.; faculty of medi- 
cine, University of Copenhagen, rogl.; members of the 
medical profession in Victoria (Australia), g1l.; Medi- 
cal and Surgical Societies in Japan, 31/.; Union of 
Swedish Hospital Surgeons, 20l.; Newcastle-on-Tyne 
committee and members of the Clinical Society, rr3l.; 
City of Belfast committee, 54]. Donations may be 
sent to the honorary treasurers of the fund (Lord 
Rothschild and Sir Watson Cheyne) at the Royal 
Society, Burlington House, W. 


NOM2314, VOL. 93 | 


NATURE 


25 


Pror. Ernst HAEcKEL’s eightieth birthday (Febru- 
ary 16) has just been celebrated with natural enthu- 
siasm at Jena. The heartiness of the congratulations 
from far and near must have delighted the veteran, 
who has had the great reward of seeing the successful 
development of the evolutionist doctrine of which he 
was an early champion. There were some noteworthy 
addresses summing up various aspects of his work, 
one of the weightiest being that delivered by Prof. 
Maurer, director of the Anatomical Institute, and pub- 
lished by Mr. Gustav Fischer, Jena. He refers to 
Haeckel’s education and the influences of Leydig, 
Kolliker, and Virchow (then inclined to be an. evolu- 
tionist), and still more of Johannes Miiller, the 
‘Origin of Species,” and Gegenbaur. It was in the 
early days of his friendship with Gegenbaur that 
Haeckel wrote his monumental ‘‘Generelle Morpho- 
logie,” in many ways the greatest of his works. We 
have become familiar with much of its teaching, e.g. 
that the individual development is essentially related 
to the racial evolution, or that classification is an 
attempt to discern a genealogical tree, and we are 
thus apt to forget what forceful new ideas these once 
were. Prof. Maurer directs attention to Haeckel’s 
strong historical sense, so well expressed in the early 
chapters of ‘‘The Natural History of Creation,” to the 
permanent influence that his radiolarian work (he 
described some 4000 new species) had throughout his 
life, to the extraordinary success of his educative expo- 
sitory writings, to his exceptional talent as an artist, 
to his unwavering consistency and courage, often 
expressed in polemical writing which gave little hint 
of the charm of his personality, and to the strenuous- 
ness with which he has realised the ever serious pur- 
pose of his life. Since an unfortunate accident a few 


_ years ago, Haeckel has not been able to go about, but 


_it is delightful to hear that he is still youthful in 


spirit, able to follow the progress of science, and even 
to share in it. We would join in the congratulations 
which have been recently offered to him. 


Mr. W. CaMERON Forses is about to start for Cen- 
tral and South America, for the purpose of collecting 
specimens of birds for the museum of Harvard Uni- 
versity. 

THE death is announced, in his seventy-sixth year, 
of Dr. L. Schoney, late professor of pathology and 
clinical microscopy in the New York Eclectic Medical 
College. He had made numerous contributions on 
botany and histology to scientific journals. 


Dr. R. K. Duncan, director of the Mellon Institute 
of Industrial Research, and professor of industrial 
chemistry at the University of Pittsburg, has died at 
the age of forty-five. He was a Canadian by birth, 
and was educated at the University of Toronto. After 
teaching science for several years in various American 
secondary schools, he was appointed in rgo1 to the 
chair of chemistry in the Washington and Jefferson 
College. In 1906 he became professor of industrial 
chemistry at the University of Kansas, where he 
initiated a new scheme of industrial fellowships which 
has since grown to large proportions. His Pittsburg 
appointment dated from tg10. He discovered new 
processes for manufacturing glass and phosphorus. 


14 


He edited the ‘‘New Science Series,’ and was the 
author of ‘The New Knowledge,” ‘‘The Chemistry 
of Commerce,’ and ‘‘Some Chemical Problems of 
To-day.””. Dr. Duncan was popularly known through 
his articles on radio-activity in McClure’s Magazine, 
and on industrial chemistry in Harper’s, for which he 
made special inquiries abroad. 


AmonG the victims of the Titanic disaster in April, 
rg12, was Mr. H. Forbes Julian, whose work as a 
mining engineer, and for metallurgical science, was 
referred to appreciatively at the time in these columns 
(vol Ixxxix, p. 325). On February 24 a memorial 
tablet erected by a committee which included the 
names of many distinguished men of science was un- 
veiled to Mr. Julian in St. Mary Magdalene Church, 
Torquay, by the Ven. Archdeacon of Totnes, in the 
presence of a large congregation. The inscription on 
the tablet is as follows :—‘t Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam. 
This tablet is erected by a wide circle of friends in 
affectionate remembrance of Henry Forbes Julian, 
member of the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy, 
born Ascension Day, 9th May, 1861; married in this 
church 30th October, 1902; passed away 15th April, 
1912. During the whole of his working life he 
laboured at the solution of metallurgical problems in 
three Continents, and both by his writings and prac- 
tical skill exercised an influence which will long 
endure. He was amongst those who gave their lives 
for others in the disaster which befell the R.M.S. 
Titanic. This heroism and self-denial called forth ad- 
miration from the Throne to the cottage. ‘ Greater 
love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his 
life for his friends.’”’ 


Tue duration of bright sunshine at Greenwich in 
February was 106 hours, which is exactly double the 
average of the past thirty years, and is the brightest 
February on record; the highest previous record for 
February was ninety-nine hours in 1899. In February 
this year at Greenwich there were twelve days with 
more than five hours’ sunshine, whilst in July last 
year there were only seven days with more than five 
hours’ sunshine. The total hours of bright sunshine 
in February are ten hours more than in the whole of 
July last year. At Kew the duration of bright sun- 
shine in February was eighty-one hours, at South 
Kensington sixty-nine hours, and in the City, at Bun- 
hill Row, 44 hours, the latter being ten times more 
than in January. The following gives the duration of 
bright sunshine at a few stations in England, chosen 
promiscuously from the reports of the Meteorological 
Office. For the several stations the duration was :— 
Dover, 119 hours; Hastings, 111 hours; Yarmouth, 
108 hours; Margate, 106 hours (the same as at Green- 
wich); Brighton, 103 hours; Torquay, about 80 hours; 
Bath, 70 hours; Liverpool, 66 hours; and Buxton, 


55 hours. The excess of sunshine in and round Lon- 
don is far more striking than in other parts of 


England. 


THE inaugural meeting of the Institution of Petrol- 
eum Technologists was held at the Royal Societv of 
Arts on Tuesday, February 3. Sir Boverton Redwood, 
the president of the institution, who occupied the chair, 

NO. Zama VOL. 40 3'| 


NATURE 


[Marcu 5, 1914 

said, in the course of his opening remarks, that the 
aims of the institution are to enable technologists 
engaged in the petroleum or shale oil industry to 
meet, correspond, and accumulate trustworthy infor- 
mation regarding the production or winning of petrol- 
eum and oil-shale, the conversion of the raw materials 
into manufactured products, and the characters and 
uses of these products, together with their transport 
and storage; and, in the second place, to promote the 
better education of persons desirous of becoming pro- 
fessional consulting petroleum technologists, engineers, 
geologists, or chemists, and to elevate the professional 


| status of those employed in the industry by setting up 


a high standard of scientific and practical proficiency, 
and by insisting upon the observance of strict rules 
in regard to professional conduct. 


At the thirty-sixth annual general meeting of the 
Institute of Chemistry, held on Monday, March 2, the 
president, Prof. Raphael Meldola, who was in the 
chair, referred, in the course of his address, to the 
endeavours of the institute to secure fuller recognition 
for the profession of chemistry. The council of the 
institute, in a memorandum submitted to the Royal 
Commission on the Civil Service, stated that the 
chemical staff in the department of the Chief Inspector 
at Woolwich Arsenal should be controlled by a chemist 
of the highest efficiency. The real expert whose know- 
ledge and experience are of most value to the com- 
munity is the highly trained man who has specialised 
in some particular field. Surely such a man is the 
most competent to control the work of any public de- 
partment which is concerned with his own subject. 
Why, therefore, should there be this tendency to 
subordinate expert scientific service to non-expert con- 
trol? While the medical service takes army ‘rank,’ 
the chemist, whose services are of equal importance, 
not only takes no ‘“‘rank”’ at all, but is made respon- 
sible to superiors having no special knowledge of his 
subject. This state of affairs, rendering as it does the 
public service of chemists an unattractive career to 
the best talent in the profession, is fraught with 
danger to the future well-being of the country, and is 
a shortsighted policy which, in time of trouble, may 
well lead to disaster. Prof. Meldola then dealt at con- 
siderable length with the report of the conference of 
professors of chemistry, held under the auspices of 
the institute in October last, which was attended by 
professors from practically all the principal educational 
centres of the country, the institute thus providing an 
arena for the free discussion of the broad question of 
the education of professional chemists. Sir William 
Ramsay, in proposing a vote of thanks to the presi- 
dent for his address, endorsed the views which had 
been expressed with reference to placing men having 
no technical knowledge in the control of experts, and 
remarked on the absurdity of requiring them to sign 
reports only fully understood by the specialist. 


Miss M. A. Murray discusses, in the February 
issue of Man, the evidence for the custom of killing 
the king in ancient Egypt, in connection with the 


| Osiris cult, as explained by Dr. J. G. Frazer in ‘‘ The 


Golden Bough.’’ She interprets the name of Isis as 
Isé, ‘‘the throne-woman,”’ and Osiris, or Usiri, ‘‘the 


Marcu. 5, 1914] 


NATURE 15 


occupier of the throne, the king.’’ She notes that 
Arab legends of the ancient kings of Egypt mention 
the disappearance of two monarchs, and thus seem 
to preserve the tradition of the divine spirit leaving the 
world. The art evidence begins only from. Roman 
times, and the ceremonial record is less conclusive, 
being connected with the obscure Sed festival, of which 
she offers a new explanation. It seems to be con- 
nected with a fertility cult. But the Egyptian evidence, 
though when the details are taken together, it is 
suggestive, is far from being so clear as the practice 
of king-killing among the Shilluks of Fashoda, which 
was fortunately recorded in time for its use by Dr. 
Frazer in the new edition of his great work. 


Tue January number of Eugénique, which is the 
monthly journal of the Société francaise d’Eugénique, 
is largely occupied by Dr. Saleeby’s lecture on the 
progress of eugenics, which was delivered before the 
society on January 7. In the discussion which fol- 
lowed it, M. March, the head of the French Govern- 
ment Statistical Department, made some interesting 
observations on the relations between biometry and 
Mendelism. He pointed out that Mendel’s laws them- 
selves are statistical laws based on the theory of prob- 
abilities, while biometry is simply the application of 
statistical methods to biological problems. With re- 
gard to the controversy concerning the effect of 
alcoholism on the offspring, M. March condemns those 
as unscientific who criticise the results obtained by 
the Galton Laboratory, on the ground that they render 
weaker the struggle against alcoholism, and says 
further :—‘‘ Temperance societies know well the eternal 
objection made by peasants, ‘ Look at my neighbour ; 
he is eighty years of age, in splendid health, and has 
always drunk.’ On this point, as on all others, 
numerous observations, well conducted and _ well 
analysed, are the best means of reaching the truth.’ 


From an article in the Journal of Heredity, vol. v., 
No. 2, we learn that, as the result of experiments con- 
ducted by Mr. Alexander Graham Bell in Nova Scotia, 
high feeding of ewes just before the autumn pairing 
season results in the production of a much higher per- 
centage of female lambs than ordinary, the proportion 
of this sex in his flock being 72 per cent., whereas 
in those of neighbouring farmers there was a_per- 
centage of 883 males. 


THE first number of a new monthly journal devoted 
to microscopy has been issued. It is entitled The 
Journal of Microscopy and Natural History Mirror, 
and is edited by Mr. Edwards, the secretary of the 
Postal Microscopical Club, Reading. Its object is to 
foster the study of natural history with microscope 
and camera, and to help and instruct the amateur 


microscopist. The present number contains short 
articles on photomicrography, pond-life, mounting, 
and so on. 


BuLLeTIN No. 36 of the Agricultural Research Insti- 
tute, Pusa, India, contains a note by Major Holmes, 
on the McFadyean staining reaction for anthrax 
bacilli. This consists in staining under-fixed films 
with methylene-blue, by which procedure the bacilli 
are stained blue, and appear to be surrounded with a 


NO, 2274,/ VOL. 93] 


pale purple capsule. Major Holmes confirms the 
diagnostic value of this reaction, and makes the in- 
teresting observation that cattle in India rarely die 
of anthrax, even if inoculated with it. 


In The American Naturalist for February, Prof. 
W. E. Castle directs attention to the interest—from 
the point of view of Mendelian colour-inheritance—of 
two new colour-phases of the brown rat, respectively 
known to breeders as the pink-eyed yellow, fawn, or 
cream, and the black-eyed yellow, fawn, or cream. 
The former seems to have first appeared about 1910 
or 1911, while the originator of the second strain, as 
we learn from an appendix to the paper, was brought 
to Liverpool by a ship in 1912. Their special interest 
lies in the fact that yellow phases—due to the sup- 
pression of black and brown pigment—has hitherto 
been unknown in this species. 


A REMARKABLE instance of the needless multiplica- 
tion of technical names in zoology has recently 
occurred in the case of Grévy’s zebra. Some years 
ago Mr. R. I. Pocock pointed out that this species 
was so markedly distinct from other Equide as to 
be worthy of subgeneric separation, although he did 
not suggest a new subgeneric title. In 1912, Dr. 
Max Hilzheimer (Abh. Senckenberg Ges., vol. 
Xxi., p. 85), proposed for this species the sub- 
generic name, Megacephalon, which is preoccupied 
(1846) by a well-known genus of birds. In the same 
year Mr, N. Heller (Smithsonian Misc. Collect., 
vol. Ix., No. 8, p. 1), apparently without knowledge 
of Dr. Hilzheimer’s work, proposed the name Dolicho- 
hippus, in a generic sense. Unaware of this, Dr. 
A. Griffini, in an article on zebras and quaggas, 
orginally published in vol. iv. of Natura (Padua), but 
of which separately paged reprints have just reached 
this country, suggests the name, Ludolphozecora 
(from ‘‘ Zecora,”’ the designation by which Ludolphus 
alluded to the species), to replace the preoccupied 
Megacephalon. 


A copy has been received from Washington of the 
report of the secretary of the Smithsonian Institution 
for the year ending June 30, 1913. We learn from it 
that a plan has been formulated and some progress 
has been made in certain lines of field work for a 
geological survey of Panama, under the joint auspices 
of the Isthmian Canal Commission, the United States 
Geological Survey, and the Smithsonian Institution, 
and a grant has been made from the institution’s funds 
toward the expenses of such investigation. The 
general plan of the survey comprises a systematic 
study of the physiography, stratigraphy, and structural 
geology, geological history and correlation, mineral 
resources (including coal, oil, and other fields), petro- 
graphy and palzontology of the canal zone, and of 
as much of the adjacent areas of the isthmian region 
as is feasible. The biological survey of the canal 
zone, organised by the institution in 1910, was brought 
to a close during the year so far as field work was 
concerned, and some of the results have been referred 
to in these columns. 


Iv has long been recognised that a necessity exists 
for the improvement of the important medicinal plants. 


16 


NAROT TE 


[MarcH 5, 1914 


One of the first steps necessary to inaugurate such 
work is to determine the variation of the active con- 
stituents in individual plants and the extent to which 
such variation is influenced, if at all, by the various 
factors affecting the growth and cultivation of the 
plant. Investigations in this direction have been car- 
ried out with belladonna recently, and are reported 
by Mr. A. F. Sievers to the new Journal of Agricul- 
tural Research (vol. i., No. 2). The variation in the 
alkaloidal content of the leaves throughout the season 
was determined, but no relation appeared to exist 
between the physical appearance of the plant and the 
amount of alkaloid present. It was found advisable, 
however, to aim for a greater yield of young leaves 
of rather lower content than to delay picking until 
higher content and lower aggregate yield is only 
obtainable. The plants experimented with show, 
among themselves, a very great variation in alka- 
loidal content, separation into two groups being pos- 
sible, the content of the one being twice that of the 
other. By selection and cultural means the total pro- 
duction of alkaloids ought to be capable of great 
increase. 


A REPORT by Dr. J. V. Eyre on the possibility of 
reviving the flax industry in Great Britain has been 
published as a supplement to the Journal of the Board 
of Agriculture. <A brief historical review of the subject 
is given, followed by a discussion of the effect of soil, 
manure, climate, and cultivation, on the crop. Har- 
vesting, retting, and subsequent treatment» are de- 
scribed in detail, and the whole forms a valuable guide 
to the condition of the industry in this country. The 
crop has many advantages to recommend its more 
general adoption, especially by the small holder, pro- 
vided that efforts are directed to the preparation of 
high grades of fibre. There certainly is reason for 
believing that the judicious revival of the industry, 
managed according to improved methods, would be 
productive of benefit to British agriculture, and would 
induce people to find regular employment in rural 
districts by creating a demand for skilled labour. 


THE indexes to the Physics and Electrical Engineer- 
ing volumes of Science Abstracts for 1912 have reached 
us. The former volume extends to 750 pages, with 
more than 2000 abstracts, and the latter to 670 pages, 
with nearly 1300 abstracts. The greater average 
length of the electrical engineering abstracts appears 
due to descriptions of installations and appliances. 
The initials of the abstractor at the foot of each 
abstract and a reference to the list of abstractors at 
the beginning of each volume, show that in nearly all 
cases the abstract has been written by one who has a 
special knowledge of the subject, and so long as this 
characteristic of Science Abstracts is maintained, so 
long will it continue to enjoy the confidence of those 
who make use of it. The indexing appears adequate, 
the name-index in the physics volume covering thirty 
and the subject-index fifty-six pages. 


WE have received from the Reichsanstalt a number 
of memoirs dealing with the work done there, which 
have appeared in recent numbers of the Annalen der 
Physik, the Zeitschrift fiir Instrumentenkunde, and 


NO.” 2314) VOL, - 93 | 


| 


! 


other periodicals. One by Dr. F. Henning deals with 
new determinations of the boiling points of oxygen 
and carbonic acid, and the freezing points of mercury 
and other liquids. The temperatures were measured 
by five platinum resistance thermometers, which had 
been previously compared with the constant volume 
hydrogen thermometer. The static method was used 
for the boiling points. The results are :—Normal 
boiling points: Oxygen, —182-97°, carbonic acid, 
— 78-53; freezing points : mercury, — 38-89, ethyl ether, 
—123-6;. melting points, carbon bisulphide, — 112-0, 
chloroform, —63-7, chlorobenzene, —45:5° C. Others 
by Drs. W. Jaeger and H. von Steinwehr deal with 
comparisons of various copies of the ohm amongst 
each other and with the mercury standard, and with 
current measurements with the silver voltameter. They 
show that the German ohm agrees with the English 
to within a few hundred thousandths, and that the 
electromotive force of a Weston cell is 1-01829 volt 
at 20% GC. 


Tue White Star liner Britannic was launched from 
Messrs. Harland and Wolff’s yard at Belfast on 
February 26. The following particulars of this vessel 
are taken from illustrated articles in Engineering and 
the Engineer for February 27. The principal dimen- 
sions are :—Length over all, about goo ft.; breadth, 
extreme, about 94 ft.; depth moulded, 64 ft. 3 in.; 
total height from keel to navigating bridge, 104 ft. 
6 in.; gross tonnage, about 50,o00 tons; propelling 
machinery—reciprocating engines of 32,000 i.h.p. ex- 
hausting into a Parsons low-pressure turbine of 18,000 
shaft-horse-power ; sea speed, 21 knots. Accommoda- 
tion is provided for 2,579 passengers and 950 crew, 
a total of 3,529 persons. The vessel is probably the 
strongest passenger ship structurally constructed up 
to the present time, and is so amply divided by longi- 
tudinal and transverse bulkheads that her destruction 
by any dangers of the sea is incredible. The double 
system of construction is carried up the sides of the 
vessel to a considerable distance above the load water 
line, and the walls are literally honeycombed with 
compartments. None of these compartments will be 
opened on the inner side during a voyage. There are 
sixteen transverse bulkheads, five of which extend to 
a height of more than 4o ft. above the deepest load 
line, and all the others are carried to a height of more 
than 21 ft. above the water line. The bulkheads are 
of very heavy construction. The lifeboat arrange- 
ments will-meet fully the requirements of the recent 
International Convention. 


Messrs, FLATTERS AND GARNETT, LTp., have issued 
a supplementary catalogue of the lantern slides added 
to their stock during 1913. Among these additions are 
a large number of photographs of British wild flowers 
and a series of slides illustrating the commercial geo- 
graphy of the north of England, arranged by Dr. A. 
Wilmore. 


AMONG recent additions made by Messrs. Jack to 
their ‘‘ People’s Books’ are ‘‘ Applications of Elec- 
tricity for Non-Technical Readers,’”’ by Mr. A. Ogilvie, 
and ‘“‘ Wild Flowers,’ by Mr. M. Skene. The first 
book explains in simple language, which takes no 


Marcu 5, I1914| 


NATURE 


~ 


17 


C—O eee. ee EE EEE 


previous knowledge of the science for granted, the 
elementary facts upon which the chief everyday appli- 
cations of electricity are based. The volume on wild 
flowers contains two hundred black and white illus- 
trations of common flowers, and descriptions of these 
and others arranged in chapters according to their 
colours. Thus we have chapters on white, yellow, 
red, blue, flowers, and so on. The price of each 
volume in the series is 6d. net. 


OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 


STARS WITH VARIABLE RapiaL VELOcITIES.—In the 
Astrophysical Journal for January (vol. xxxix., No. 1, 
p- 39) Mr. Oliver J. Lee contributes numerous 
measures of variable radial velocities of stars deter- 
mined in the course of measuring Bruce spectrograms. 
Of the twenty-eight stars to which reference is made, 
eighteen have been previously announced as spectro- 
scopic binaries, but the remaining ten are new. The 
following table is abstracted from the information 
given in the paper, and indicates the star in question, 
position, magnitude, and class :— 


Star ae Dec. Mag. Class 
Bens awh, 

89/ Piscium ib hig +3 5 Bes IN 
Were Celine 228 +8 I 4°3 A 
125 Tauri ... 5 34 +25 50 50 Be 
40 Aurige... 6 0 +38 30 He A 
2anCanss Viennese. 3.30 +49 32 4°6 As 
33 Bootis ... 14 35 +44 50 5°4 A 
27 B Libreze 15 12 - 9 1 2°77 Bg 
BD 25°4165 20 II +25 17 4°8 B, 
332 Aquarii DI —I4 21 4°4 Bg 
18 A Piscium 22037, + I 14 AvOn As 
SUN-SPOTS : THEIR INTERNAL MOTION AND SHORT- 


PERIOD VARIATIONS.—The fifth volume of the Publika- 
tionen der Sternwarte des Eidg. Polytechnikums zu 
Zurich contains two contributions, the first by William 
Brunner, on the investigation of the internal motions 
in sun-spots, and the second by Elsa Frenkel, on 
short-period variations in the frequency of sun-spots. 
The former is a detailed research, carried out in a 
systematic manner, on the internal motions, chiefly 
divergent. The chief result leads the author to asso- 
ciate this divergent motion with the origin and 
development phases of spot groups. The data em- 
ployed were those of the period between January 1, 
1887, and January 1, 1905, and were the result of 
observations made with the refractor of the Zurich 
Observatory. Numerous plates accompany the text. 
The second paper involves the discussion of the Zurich 
observations made during the period 1876-1911. 
Readers must refer to the original publication for the 
detailed account of the research, but the chief con- 
clusions may be stated briefly as follows. The 
author finds a probable period of 200 days, but this 
is not apparent during the last three eleven-year 
periods, when the spot activity went below a certain 
limit. The length is not constant, but varies about a 
mean value of 150 to 200 days. The ordinate of the 
periodigram is about 100 times smaller than the 
eleven-year period, and the amplitude about ten times 
smaller than that of the eleven-year period. Another 
period of 68-5 days was indicated, but this will be 
investigated again at a later date. Attention is 
directed to the lengths of these two periods, namely 
200 and 68-5 days, and the sidereal times of revolution 
of the two inner planets, namely Mercury, 87-9 days, 
and Venus, 224-7 days. The text is accompanied by 
a large number of plates showing the observed and 
smoothed curves of the daily relative numbers. 


NOV 82314, VOL. 93 | 


| 1913, x1. 


DETERMINATIONS OF GRAVITY IN EGYPT AND THE 
Supan.—Survey Department Paper No. 18 (Cairo) 
contains details of the determination of ‘‘ g”’ at eight 
stations in Egypt and the Sudan, carried out by Mr. 
P. A. Curry, in connection with the geodetic survey. 
Almost the whole of the observations and the whole 
of the computational work have been done by Mr. 
Curry himself. The stations range from Helwan to 
Khartoum, nearly 15° of latitude, and the height 
above sea-level varies from 42 to 383 metres, but the 
topographical correction has been nil for each of the 
stations. The Stuckrath pendulum apparatus em- 
ployed was borrowed from the South Kensington 
Museum, where it had been deposited after the return 
of Captain Scott’s first Antarctic Expedition. This 
instrument provides essentially for the determination 
of the time of oscillation of each of a number of in- 
variable pendulums swinging in separate cells of a 
vacuum chamber. Besides the correction due to the 
rate of the chronometer, four instrumental corrections 
need to be determined, namely, for temperature, pres- 
sure, amplitude of vibration, and flexure of pillar. 
Kew was taken as the base and Helwan was made 
the primary Egyptian station. 981-201 cm./sec.? 
(based on the Potsdam system) was adopted as the 
value of ‘‘g’”’ at Kew, and from a discussion of ninety- 
eight separate determinations 979:295 cm./sec.? was 
obtained as the final value of this constant at Helw4n, 
the probable error being +0-0027. The values obtained 
for each of the stations have been reduced to sea-level 
and compared with the theoretical value for the lati- 
tude of the station given by Helmert’s formula (1901). 
Remarkably close agreement obtains, ranging only 
between +0009 and —o-013, whence it is concluded 
that there is nothing very abnormal about the values 
of gravity at these eight stations. 


THE COBAR COPPER FIELD: 


OBAR, on the western plains of New South Wales, 
464 miles by railway from Sydney, is one of the 
most important, though not most profitable, of the 
copper fields in Australia; .it yielded 6500 tons of 
copper in 1911,- and has produced more than 90,000 
tons since its discovery in 1869. The development of 
the field was hampered by its remote position and its 
semi-arid climate, for with a rainfall of only 15 in. 
it is surrounded in dry seasons by a wide, waterless 
tract. In its early days, however, the export of ore 
was once stopped by floods, which inundated the plains 
beside the Darling River for a width of fifty miles. 
Another. trouble was an invasion in 1890 by millions 
of rabbits, which destroyed the vegetation by devour- 
ing the shrubs and ring-barking the trees. 

The rocks of the mining field belong to three main 
divisions.‘ The oldest is the Cobar Series, which 
comprises semi-metamorphic sediments of perhaps pre- 
Silurian age; its most important member consists of 
thick beds of chert, which Mr. Andrews regards as 
a recrystallised organic precipitate. The account of 
these beds suggests theic resemblance to the Heath- 
cotian Series of Victoria, which are of Cambrian age. 
The middle division, the Mallee Tank beds, includes 
fossiliferous limestones, and its age is certainly Silu- 
rian. The upper division is Devonian, and includes 
a varied series of quartzites, shales, and claystones. 
The rocks of all three divisions have been disturbed 
by intense compression due to earth movements at the 
beginning and at the end of the Devonian period. 
The pressure was so powerful that the minimum dip 
observed in the Silurian rocks is 30°, and the Devonian 

1 E. C. Andrews: Report on the Cobar Copper and Gold-field. Part i. 


(Department of Mines, New South Wales, Mineral Resources, No. 17). 
Pp. 207:+-xlv plates++-19 maps in separate portfolio. 


18 


NATURE 


| Marcu 5, I914 


rocks have been overthrust and the pebbles in the | sanatorium benefit, came into operation; the capital 


conglomerates sheared and shattered. | One striking 
feature of this mining field is the rarity of igneous 
rocks; they are represented only by two small pipes 
of orthoclase-porphyry, which appear to have no con- 
nection with the ores. The mineral deposits are attri- 
buted by Mr. Andrews to the post-Devonian earth 
movements. Certain features suggested that they 
might be bedded ores; but, as so often happened with 
ores so regarded, more detailed study has shown that 
they are of secondary origin. They have been formed 
in connection with great fault movements and by the 
replacement of slate by sulphides. This conclusion is 
definitely established by Mr. Andrews’s excellent 
monograph, which includes a detailed account of the 
geology, history, and mines of this field. 

The chief copper-bearing mineral is chalcopyrite, 
and it is associated with pyrrhotite, ordinary iron 
pyrites, and a silicate of iron, which is identified by 
Mr. Card as ekmannite. The ores have undergone 
great secondary concentration, which Mr. Andrews 
attributes, with great probability, to the arid climate 
and prolonged stability of the field. Ever since the 
post-Devonian disturbances the country does not 
appear to have been affected by any earth movements 
except some minor oscillations; and the level has only 
been lowered by denudation about 200 ft., according 
to Mr. Andrews’s estimate, during all later geological 
times. The chemical analyses are of especial value 
owing to the determination of an unusually large 
number of constituents. The description of the field 
is illustrated by a series of plates, some of which are 
coloured, showing the intimate structure of the ores 
and the relation of their constituent minerals; and the 
memoir is accompanied by a portfolio of maps and 
mine plans. All the separate mines are described in 
detail. The discussion of the ores shows wide 
acquaintance with the recent literature on the subject, 
and the author’s conclusions command respect owing 
to the obvious care and accuracy with which the work 
has been conducted. The author’s view that mag- 
netite is formed only under conditions of great heat 
is perhaps too general, and the remark that the 
Murray River enters the sea near Adelaide might mis- 
lead a reader who is not used to judging proximity 
by Australian standards of distance. OWS oe 


PUBEIC “HEALTH. 


WE have received the report, for 1912-13, of the 
Medical Officer of the Local Government 
Board. There is no greater authority than Dr. News- 
holme on all matters of public health, and every page 
of his report should be read by all who care for our 
national health and efficiency. Among many other 
subjects of interest, he directs attention to the practical 
problems of ‘‘typhoid carriers,” the present rather 
threatening facts of cerebro-spinal fever and _polio- 
myelitis, and the contrast of the steady decline of 
scarlet fever, diphtheria, and typhoid, with the 
obduracy of measles. Of smallpox, 121 cases were 
notified during 1912 in England and Wales, but only 
nine died. It may be worth noting that, in one house- 
hold, three small children died, whose parents had 
declined vaccination for them. 

Tuberculosis, naturally, occupies a great part of 
Dr. Newsholme’s report. For, beside the grant of 
some 60,000!. annually for research, the year 1912-13, 
as Dr. Newsholme says, ‘will always stand out as 
a landmark in the history of the administrative control 
of tuberculosis. During this year the Board made 
all forms of tuberculosis compulsorily notifiable; the 
provisions of the National Insurance Act, IQII, as to 


NO. 22m VOL. O3'] 


grant under the Finance Act, 1911, of 13 millions 
sterling for the provision of institutions for the treat- 
ment of tuberculosis in the United Kingdom, became 
available; and the important offer was made by the 
Treasury to defray one-half of the annual cost of 
schemes for the treatment of tuberculosis, proposed 
by local authorities and approved by the Local 
Government Board, which are available for the entire 
population, after deducting any contribution received 
from the local insurance committee or from other 
sources.”’ Other points of interest, in Dr. News- 
holme’s report, touch the work of the Medical Depart- 
ment of the Board; the work of the International 
Health Office, the International Sanitary Conference 
in Paris, 1912, and other services rendered to the 
public by the Medical Department. 

After Dr. Newsholme’s report, come Dr. Bruce 
Low’s admirable and authoritative monographs on 
plague, cholera, and yellow fever, giving a full account 
of the incidence on the world, during 1911 and 1912, 
of these three scourges. Then comes a great number 
of shorter reports. Altogether, this volume is of 
singular value to all who are concerned—and who is 
not?—with the health and safeguarding of our 
country. 


FORTHCOMING BOOKS OF SCIENCE. 


AGRICULTURE. 
A. and C. Black.—The World’s Cotton Crops, Prof. 
J. A. Todd, illustrated. Crosby Lockwood and Son. 
—Agriculture: Extensive and Intensive, Prof. J. 
Wrightson, in conjunction with J. C. Newsham. 


ANTHROPOLOGY AND ARCHZEOLOGY. 


John Bale, Sons and Danielsson, Ltd.—Hausa Folk- 
Tales, Major A. J. N. Tremearne. Chatto and Windus.— 


| A History of Babylonia and Assyria from Prehistoric 


Times to the Persian Conquest, L. W. King, illustrated, 
vol, ii., A History of Babylon from the Foundation of 
the Monarchy to the Persian Conquest, vol, iii., A 
History of Assyria from the Earliest Period to the 
Fall of Nineveh. Constable and Co., Ltd.—Amulets, 
Prof. W. M. Flinders Petrie, F.R.S., illustrated; Kin- 
ship and Social Organisation, Dr. W. H. R. Rivers, 
F.R.S. Macmillan and Co., Ltd.—Knossian Atlas, 
edited by Sir A. J. Evans, F.R.S., vol. i., The Wall 
Paintings, including coloured lithographic plates 
i-xiii., from drawings by E. Gilliéron, with short 
descriptive sketch by the editor (to which are appended 
Lumiere illustrations), and Notes on the Technique of 
the Frescoes by N. Heaton; The Nine Minoan Periods, 
a Summary Sketch of the Characteristic Stages of 
Cretan Civilization, from the Close of the Neolithic 
to the Beginning of the Iron Age, Sir A. J. Evans, 
F.R.S., illustrated; The Eastern Libyans, O. Bates, 
illustrated; Marriage Ceremonies in Morocco, Prof. 
E. Westermarck; The Native Tribes of the Northern 
Territory of Australia, Prof. W. B. Spencer, C.M.G., 
F.R.S., illustrated. The Medici Society, Ltd.— 
Mexican Archzology : An Introduction to the Archzeo- 
logy of the Mexican and Mayan Civilizations of Pre- 
Spanish America, Thomas A. Joyce, _ illustrated. 
Methuen and Co., Ltd.—The Nomads of the Balkans, 
A. J. B. Wace and M.. S. Thompson, illustrated. 
Oxford University Press.—Contributions to Anthro- 
pology : vol. i., Coos Texts, J. Frachtenberg, vol. ii., 
The Ethnology of the Salish Tribes, J. A. Teit. 
G. P. Putnam’s Sons.—The Folk-Ballads of Southern 
Europe, S. Jewett. Williams and Norgate.—The 
Antiquity of Man, Prof. A.. Keith, F.R.S. 


Marcu 5, 1914| 


BIoLoey. 


F. Alcan (Paris).—Transformisme et Créationisme, 
Prof. J. L. de Lanessan. D. Appleton and Co.—Plant 
Breeding, J. M. Coulter. A. and C. Black.—Wild 
Life in the Woods and Streams, C. A. Palmer, illus- 
trated; Common British Beetles, Rev. C. A. Hall, 
illustrated (Peeps at Nature Series). Cambridge 
University Press.—The Cambridge British Flora, Dr. 
C. E. Moss, assisted by specialisis in certain genera, 
illustrated, vol. iit., The Earlier Dicotyledonous Fami- 
lies; The Philosophy of Biology, J. Johnstone; Bird 
Studies, W. P. Westell (Cambridge Nature Study 
Series); Pond Problems, E. E. Unwin (Cambridge 
Nature Study Series); The Annals of the Bolus Her- 
barium, vol. i., part 1, edited by Dr. H. H. W. Pear- 
son. Cassell and Co., Ltd.—The Progress of 
Eugenics, Dr. C. W. Saleeby; Rock Gardening for 
Amateurs, H. H. Thomas, illustrated; Wild Flowers 
as They Grow, H. E. CorkeandG. C. Nuttall, illus- 
trated, Series vi. and vii.; Dogs and All About Them, R. 
Leighton, illustrated. J. and A. Churchill.—The Hor- 
ticultural Record, R. Cory, illustrated. J. M. Dent 
and Sons, Ltd.—A History of Botany, Prof. J. R. 
Green, PRS. Duckworth and Co.—Glossary of 
Botanical Terms, Jackson, new edition. W. Engel- 
mann (Leipzig).—Die Vegetation der Erde, edited by 
Profs. A. Engler and O. Drude, Band ix., A. Engler, 
Die Pflanzenwelt Afrikas insbesondere seiner trop- 
ischen Gebiete, Band iii., Charakterpflanzen Afrikas 
II., Archichlamydeen, Dikotyledoneen, Angiospermen, 
Heft. 1. G. Fischer (Jena)—Die Entstehung der 
Pflanzengallen, Prof. W. Magnus, illustrated; Tafeln 
zum Vergleiche der Entstehung der Wirbeltier- 
embryonen, Prof. A. Greil. W. Heinemann.—Animal 
Life in Africa, Major Stevenson-Hamilton, four parts, 
illustrated, part i., Carnivora. H. Holt and Co. (New 
York).—Essentials of College Botany, Profs. 
C. E. Bessey and E. A. Bessey, eighth edition, entirely 
revised and rewritten of Bessey’s Essentials of Botany ; 
Students’ Handbook of Botany, F. L. Sargent; 
General Zoology, Prof. E. G. Conklin; Economic 
Zoology and Entomology, Prof. V. L. Kellogg and 
R. W. Doane. Hutchinson and Co.—Insect Artisans 
andw them Work, JE. “Step, illustrated. C. H. 
Kelly.—Sea-Side Wonders, and How to Identify Them, 
S. N. Sedgwick, illustrated. Longmans and Co.— 
Flowering Plants of the Riviera, H. S. Thompson, 
with an introduction on Riviera Vegetation, by A. G. 
Tansley, illustrated. Macmillan and Co., Ltd.—The 
History and Theory of Vitalism, Prof. H. Driesch, 
authorised translation by C. K. Ogden, revised 
throughout and in part rewritten by the author for the 
English edition; The Problem of Individuality, lectures 
delivered before the University of London, Prof. H. 
Driesch; A Treatise on Embryology, edited by W. 
Heape, F.R.S., vol. i., Invertebrata, Prof. E. W. 
MacBride, F.R.S., illustrated; Physiological Plant 
Anatomy, Prof. G. Haberlandt, translated by J. M. F. 
Drummond, illustrated; Cocoa, Dr. C. J. J. van Hall, 
illustrated. Methuen and Co., Ltd.—Diversions of a 
Naturalist, Sir E. Ray Lankester, K.C.B., F.R.S., 
illustrated; Some Minute Animal Parasites, Dr. H. B. 
Fantham and Dr. A. Porter, illustrated; Spade-Craft, 
H. A. Day. John Murray.—Trees and Shrubs Hardy 
in the British Isles, W. J. Bean, 2 vols., illustrated ; 
Concerning Animals and other Matters, E. H. Aitken, 
with a memoir of the author, illustrated; The Genus 
Rosa, Ellen Willmott, illustrated, concluding part. 
Quelle and Meyer (Leipzig).—Fauna von Deutschland, 
edited by Dr. P. Brohmer, illustrated; Lehrbuch der 
allgem. Botanik, by R. Heuer, illustrated; Leitfaden 
fir biolog. Schiilertibungen, by Dr. R. Rein, illus- 
trated; Biologische Beobachtungs-aufgaben, by Dr. L. 


NATURE 19 


E. Hahn, Die Stsswasserflora, by Prof. H. Gliick, 
illustrated. Wiliams and Norgate.—All_ About 
Leaves, the late F. G. Heath. 


CHEMISTRY. 

D. Appleton and Co.—Chapters from the History of 
Chemistry .s.A0,  H.  E "Smithy [Ja wangeene 
Churchill—The Synthetic Use of the Metals in 
Organic. Chemistry, A. J. Hale. G. Fischer (Jena). 
Grundztige der chemisch-physikalischen Theorie des 
Lebens, Dr. H. Lundegardh. Longmans and Co.— 
An Introduction to the Study of Organic Chemistry, 
H. T. Clarke. Macmillan and Co., Ltd.—A First 
Book of Chemistry, W. A. Whitton. Methuen and 
Co., Ltd.—A Third-Year Course of Organic Chem- 
istry, Dr. T. P. Hilditch. John Murray.—A First 
Book of Chemistry, W. D. Rogers. University Tuto- 
rial Press, Ltd.—Chemical Calculations, H. W. 
Bausor. 


ENGINEERING. 

Cassell. and Co., Ltd.—Railway Wonders of the 
World, F. A. Talbot, vol. ii., illustrated. Constable 
and Co., Ltd.—Gas Turbines, N. Davey, illustrated ; 
Single-phase Electric Railways, E. Austin. Longmans 
and Co.—Some Considerations Regarding Cast Iron 
and Steel Pipes, J. Sharp, with diagrams. G. Rout- 
ledge and Sons, Ltd.—Railways of the World, E. 
Protheroe, illustrated. Seeley, Service and Co., Ltd. 
—Submarine Engineering of To-day, C. W. Domville- 
Fife. University Tutorial. Press, Ltd.—Electrical 
Engineering, W. T. Maccall. Whittaker and Co,— 
Modern Illuminants and Illuminating Engineering, 
L. Gaster and J. S. Dow; Electrical Measuring In- 
struments, W. H. F. Murdoch and U. A. Oschwald; 
Gas Supply: The Principles and Practice of the Appli- 
cations of Gas to the Purposes of Lighting, Heating, 
Cooking, and the Generation of Motive Power, 
W. H. Y. Webber; Practical Electric Light Fitting, 
S. C. Batstone; Alternating Current Work, W. P. 
Maycock; Telegraphy : A Detailed Exposition of the 
Telegraph System of the British Post Office, T. E. 
Herbert ; Polyphase Currents: A Practical Treatise on 
Polyphase Working for Electrical Engineers, S. Still; 
Practical Ironfounding, J. G. Horner. 


GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. 


E, Arnold.—Kulu and Lahoul: An Account of my 
Latest Climbing Journeys in the Himalaya, Lieut.- 


Col. the Hon. C. G. Bruce, illustrated. G. W. 
Bacon and Co., Ltd.—The Map and its Story; 
Correspondence College Atlas, new edition; Con- 


tour Wall Map of Scotland, 12 in. globe; A New 
Series of Physical Wall Atlases, part i., Asia. A. and 
C. Black.—The Cradle of Mankind: Life in Eastern 
Kurdistan, Dr. W. A. Wigram and E. T. A. Wigram, 
illustrated ; An Intermediate Text-Book of Commercial 
Geography, A. L. Curr, illustrated; Junior Physical 
Geography, H. C. Barnard, illustrated; Geographical 
Pictures, edited by S. M. Nicholls, series ii., Elevation 
and Depression of the Land; Junior Regional Geo- 
graphy of Asia, J. B. Reynolds, illustrated; Pictures 
of Famous Travel, H. C. Barnard, illustrated; School 
Geography of the World, Prof. L. W. Lyde, illus- 
trated, new edition. W. and R. Chambers, Ltd.— 
Concise Gazetteer of the World, new edition. Con- 
stable and Co., Ltd.—The North-Western Tributaries 
of the Amazons, being Notes of a Year Spent Among 
Cannibal Tribes, Capt. T. Whiffen, illustrated. H. Holl 
and Co. (New York).—Industrial and Commercial 
Geography for High Schools, Prof. J. R. Smith. 
Hxtchinson and Co.—Indo-China and its Primitive 
People, Capt. H. Baudesson, illustrated. Macmillan 
and Co., Ltd.—Travels in Turkey, Sir Mark Sykes, 
Bart., M.P., illustrated; The Wilds of Maoriland, 


Spilger, illustrated; Garten und Landwirtschaft, Prof. J. M. Bell, illustrated; Impressions of Canada, F. 


NO 2374, VOL, 93 | 


ne NATURE 


[Marcu 5, 1914 


Parbury, illustrated. Methuen and Co., Ltd.—Modern 
Mexico, R. J. MacHugh, illustrated; Brazil and the 
Brazilians, G. J. Bruce, illustrated; The Upper 
Reaches of the Amazon, J. F. Woodroffe, illustrated ; 
A Guide to South America; A Woman in the Anti- 
podes, M. Hall, illustrated. 


GEOLOGY. 
Cambridge University Press.—Coal-Mining, T. C. 
Cantrill (Cambridge Manuals). H. Holt and 
Co. (New York).—Geology: Briefer Course, 
Prots)> (ae oe Chamberlin “and« RD. Salis: 
bury. Macmillan and Co., Ltd.—The Quaternary Ice 


Age, W. B. Wright, illustrated. T. Murby and Co.— 
Minerals and the Microscope, H. G. Smith, illustrated. 
Quelle and Meyer (Letpzig).—Geologische Wandkarte 
Deutschlands, Prof. J. Walther. 


MATHEMATICAL AND PuysicaL SCIENCE. 

F, Alcan (Paris)—Le Hasard, Prof. E. Borel; 
Henri Poincaré : L’ceuvre scientifique—L’ceuvre philo- 
sophique, Profs. V. Volterra, J. Hadamard, Langevin, 
and P. Boutroux. A. and C. Black.—A First Book of 
Experimental Science for Girls: The House: Hydro- 


statics and Heat, Mrs. Jessie White. Cam- 
bridge University Press.—The Sun, Prof. R. A. 
Sampson (Cambridge Manuals); Photo-Electricity, 
Dr. A. Ll. Hughes (Cambridge Physical Series). 


J. and A. Churchill.—Molecular 
Crowther, illustrated. W. Engelmann (Leipzig) 
—Kristallberechnung und_ Kristallzeichnung, Dr. 
B. Gossner, illustrated; Elemente der Theorie der 
Kristallstruktur, Dr. S. Kreutz, . illustrated. G. 
Fischer (Jena).—Photographisches Worterverzeichnis 
in funf Sprachen : Ido, Deutsch, Englisch, Franzésisch 
und Italienisch, Prof. L. v. Pfaundler. Long- 
mans and Co.—Flying : Some Practical Experiences, 
G. Hamel and C. C. Turner, J. E. Adler will con- 
tribute a chapter on the Physiological and Medical 
Aspects of Aviation, and the Hon. G. Marconi on 
Wireless Telegraphy. and there will be other special 
contributions, illustrated; Flight without Formule : 
Simples Discussions on the Mechanics of the Aero- 
plane, Commander Duchene, translated from the 
French by J. H. Ledeboer, illustrated; The Teaching 
of Algebra (including the Elements of Trigonometry), 
Dr. T. P. Nunn; The Groundwork of Arithmetic, M. 
Punnett; Exercises in Arithmetic, M. Punnett, 
Books I., II., III.; The Teaching of Geometry, 
G. E. St. L. Carson; Slide-Rule Notes, Col. H. C. 
Dunlop and C. S. Jackson; Projective Geometry, 
G. B. Mathews, F.R.S.; Examples in Differential and 
Integral Calculus, C. S. Jackson and S. de J. Len- 
festy; Non-Euclidian Geometry, Dr. H. S. Carslaw. 
Macmillan and Ct., Ltd.—The Theory of Relativity, 
Dr. L. Silberstein. Methuen and Co., Ltd.—The 
Complete Photographer, R. C. Bayley, illustrated, 
new edition; Practical Applied Physics, H. Stanley: 
Preliminary Practical Science, H. Stanley. G. P. 
Putnam’s Sons.—The Call of the Stars, Dr. ot dR 
Kippax, illustrated; Sun Lore, W. T. Olcott, illus- 
trated. G. Routledge and Sons, Ltd.—Photography 
in Colours, Dr. G. L. Johnson, illustrated, new edition 
The S.P.C.K.—A Voyage Through Space, Prof..H. H. 
Turner, F.R.S. 


Pisics; Supls 


MeEpiIcaL_ SCIENCE. 

John Bale, Sons, and Danielsson, Ltd.—Renal 
Diagnosis in Medicine and Surgery, Dr. V. Blum, 
translated by W. B. Christopherson; Acute General 
Miliary Tuberculosis. Prof. G. Cornet, translated by 
Dr. F. S. Tinker; Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 
Dr. C, W. Daniels, with a chapter on Snakes by A. 
Alcock, part ii., Diseases Due to the Metazoa, new 
edition ; Defensive Ferments of the Animal Organism 
Prof. E, Abderhalden, translated by DE jor Gavron- 


NO. 2314, VOL. 93] 


sky, third edition; Lehrbuch der Localanesthesie, 
Hirschel, translated; Die Pathologie und Therapie der 
plotzlich das Leben gefahrdeten Krankheitszustande, 
Lenzmann, translated; Lehrbuch der  Tracheo- 
Bronchoskopie, Mann, translated; Defective Children, 
edited by Dr. Kelynack. Cambridge University Press, 
—The Respiratory Function of the Blood, J. Barcroft; 
Isolation Hospitals, Dr. H. F. Parsons (Cambridge 
Public Health Series). W. Engelmann (Leipzig).— 
Die Diagnostik mittels Rontgenstrahlen in der inneren 
Medizen und den Grenzgebieten, Prof. E. Grunmach, 
illustrated ; Monographien : Anatomische und entwick- 
lungsgeschichtliche, edited by Prof. W. Roux, 3 Heft, 
Remarques sur le mécanisme du modelage des 
embryons humains, Courbes embryotectoniques, Dr. E. 
Bujard, illustrated. A. and C. Black.—Radiography, 
X-Ray Therapeutics, and Radium Therapy, Dr. R. 
Knox, illustrated; Tuberculosis of Bones and Joints 
in Children, Dr. J. Fraser, illustrated; Black’s Medi- 
cal Dictionary, edited by Dr. J. D. Comrie, illustrated. 
Cassell and Co., Ltd.—Hygiene and _ Sanitation 
Manual, Lieut.-Col. S. G. Moores, illustrated; A Sys- 
tem of Surgery, edited by Drs. C. C. Choyce and 
J. M. Beattie, illustrated, vol. iii. (British Red Cross 
Society Manuals). J. and A. Churchill—A Manual 
of Dental Anatomy: Human and Comparative, C. S. 
Tomes, F.R.S., new edition, edited by Dr. H. W. 
Marett Tims and A. Hopewell-Smith, illustrated. 
Constable and Co., Litd.—A Way of Life, Sir W. 
Osler, Bart., F.R.S. G. Fischer (Jena).—Diatetische 
Behandlung innerer Krankheiten, Dr. J. Grober. J. 
Heinemann.—Ophthalmoscopic Diagnosis, Dr. C. 
Adam, translated by Dr. M. L. Foster, illustrated; 
Local Anzesthesia, Dr. A. Schlesinger, translated by 
F. S. Arnold, illustrated; Affections of the Orbit and 
Accessory Cavities, Dr. C. R. Holmes, illustrated; 
Examination and Refraction of the Eye and Eye- 
strain, Dr. W. L. Pyle, illustrated; Medical Ophthal- 
mology, Dr. A. Knapp, illustrated; Ophthalmic Sur- 
gery, Dr. J. Meller, illustrated. H. Holt and Co: 
(New York).—The Nervous System, R. P. Angier. 
T. C. and E. C. Jack.—The Modern Family Doctor. 
H. K. Lewis.—Industrial Lead Poisoning, Sir T. 
Oliver; AZquanimitas, Sir W. Osler, Bart., F.R.S., 
new. edition; Anzsthetics, Dr. D. Buxton, new 
edition; The Ileo-Czcal Valve, Dr. A. H. Rutherford; 
The Value of Tuberculin in the Treatment of Pul- 
monary Tuberculosis, the Medical Staff of the King 
Edward VII. Sanitorium, Midhurst; Health: <A 
Course of Lectures based on the Syllabus of the Lon- 
don County Council, Dr. M. M. Burgess, illustrated. 
Longmans and Co.—Spectrum Analysis Applied to 
Biology and Medicine, Dr. C. A. Macmunn. Mac- 
millan and Co., Ltd.—Diseases of the Arteries and 
Angina Pectoris, Sir J. Clifford Allbutt, K-C.B., 
F.R.S., two vols. John Murray.—Therapeutics of the 
Girculation, Sir GL. Wauder Brunton, Bart/, HoRes. 
illustrated, new edition. Oxford University Press.— 
Plague and Pestilence in Literature and Art, R. Craw- 
furd, illustrated; Case Studies of Mentally and 
Morally Abnormal Types, W. Healy; The Evolution of 
Modern Medicine, Sir W. Osler, Bart., F.R.S. G. P. 
Putnam’s Sons.—A Text-Book of Anatomy and 
Physiology for Nurses, A. E. Pope, illustrated. 


METALLURGY. 


J. and A. Churchill.—Modern Steel Analysis, J. A. 
Pickard. 


TECHNOLOGY. 

A. and C. Black.—Photographs for the Papers: 
How to Take and Place Them, J. Everard, illustrated. 
Cassell and Co., Ltd.—The Amateur Mechanic, edited 
by B. E. Jones, illustrated; Dynamos and Electric- 
Motor Building, edited by B. E. Jones, illustrated; The 


| Commercial Motor Handbook, G. W. Watson, illus- 


Marcu’ 5, 1914| 


NATURE 21 


trated. Constable and Co., Ltd.—Mechanical Tech- 
nology, Prof. Charnock; The Stability and Equili- 


brium of Floating Bodies, B. C.. Laws. W. 
Heinemann.—The Conquest of Oil, F. <A. Tal- 
bot, illustrated. Crosby Lockwood and Son.— 
The Modern Boot Repairer, D. Lawrence-Lord, 


illustrated; Workshop Practice Handbook, E. Pull; 


Electric Wiremen’s Work, J. H. Havelock, 
illustrated; Hand Sketching for Mining Students, 
G. A. Lodge, illustrated. Longmans and Co. 


Mechanics for Builders, E. L. Bates and F. Charles- 
worth, part ii., illustrated; Masonry, G. R. Barham; 
British Factory Administration and Accounts, E. T. 
Elbourne, with contributions on Industrial Works 
Design by A. Home-Morton, and Financial Accounts 


by J. Maughfling. Methuen and Co., Ltd.— 
Gearing: A Practical Treatise, A. E. Ingham, 
illustrated; A Text-Book of Elementary Build- 


igeeeConstruction, “A. R:«Sage and. W. E. Fret- 
well. G. Routledge and Sons, Ltd.—Broadway Text- 
Books of Technology, edited by G. U. Yule and C. 
Hamilton :—Safetv-Lamps and the Detection of Fire- 
Damp in Mines, G. Forster; Electrical Engineering, 
F. Shaw; The Science of Building and Building Mate- 
rials, E. Holden; Applied Mechanics, C. E. Handy; 
Mechanics for Textile Students, D. Hardman; Draw- 
ing for Electrical Engineers, G. W. Worrall; Car- 
pentry, J. E. Marshall; Machine Construction and 
Drawing, Book II., A. E. Ingham; Geometry for 
Builders, F. E. Drury; Building Construction, A. 
Dean; Mathematics, A. E. Young. Scott, Greenwood 
and Son.—The Art of Lithography, H. J. Rhodes; 
The Analysis of Woven Fabrics, A. F. Barker and E. 


Midgley. University Tutorial Press, Ltd.—Manual 
Training, A. H. Jenkins. 
MISCELLLANEOUS. 
F. Alcan (Paris).—L’éducation de l’Effort : Psycho- 
logie, Physiologie, Prof. G. Demeny. A. and C. 


Black.—Salmon-Flies: How to Tie Them, Choose 
Them, and Use Them, Dr..T. E. Pryce-Tannatt, illus- 
trated; The Construction .of Mortality and Sickness 
ables, W. P. Elderton and R. C. Fippard. Cambridge 
University Press —Know Your Own Mind, W. Glover. 
Cassell and Co., Ltd..Wonders of Land and Sea, 
Edited by G. Williams, illustrated, vol. i. Constable 
and Co., Ltd.—Philosophies Ancient and Modern, W. 
James and H. V. Knox. W. Engelmann (Leipzig).— 
Arbeiten zur Entwicklungspsychologie, edited by Prof. 
F,. Krueger, Band i., Heft 1, Ueber Entwicklungs- 
psychologie, Prof. F. Krueger, Band i., Heft 2, Ueber 
die Vorstellungen der Tiere, Dr. H. Vollelt; Gibt es 
denkende Tiere? Dr. S. von Maday. Hutchinson and 
Co.—Aviation, Lieut. M. Calderara, illustrated. Long- 
mans and Co.—Education and Psychology, M. West. 
Macmillan and Co., Ltd.—The History of Greek 
Philosophy,: Prof. J. Burnet, vol. i.; From Thales to 
Plato; An Introduction to Logic from the Standpoint 
of Education, L. J. Russell. YT. Murby and Co.—The 
Mind at Work: A Textbook of Applied Psychology, 
edited by G. Rhodes. G. P. Putnam’s Sons. 
—Glimpses of the Cosmos: A Mental Autobiography, 
Dr. L. F. Ward, 12 vols., vol. i., Adolescence to Man- 
hood, Period 1858-1871, Age 16-30, vol. ii., Scientific 
Career Inaugurated, vol. iii., Dynamic Sociology. 


UNIVER SILEY AND OEDUCATIONAL 
INTELLIGENCE. 


CAMBRIDGE.—An exhibition of 50l. a year tenable for 
two years is offered each year by the governing body 
of Emmanuel College to a research student commenc- 
ing residence at Cambridge as a member of 
Emmanuel College in October. Applications should 
be sent to the master of Emmanuel not later than 
September 24. 


NOMes TAs VOL. 2 | 


: study. 


It is proposed to confer the following honorary de- 
grees on June g, on the occasion of the opening of 
the new physiological laboratory :—Doctor of Law : 
Prince Arthur of Connaught, Viscount Esher, Baron 
Moulton of Bank, and Col. S. M. Benson; Doctor of 
Science : Sir William Osler, Bart., Sir David Ferrier, 
Sir Edward A. Schafer, and Prof. E. H. Starling. 

Dr. Norman Moore has been appointed to the office 
of reader on Sir Robert Rede’s foundation for the 
present year. 

Mr. J. M. Wordie has been appointed demonstrator 
of petrology. 


SHEFFIELD.—Mr. L. Southerns has been appointed 
assistant lecturer and demonstrator in physics, in 
succession to Dr. R. T. Beatty, resigned; and Mr. A. 
Pringle Jameson has been appointed assistant lecturer 
and demonstrator in zoology, in succession to Mr. T. J. 
Evans, resigned. 


Mr. J. Apams, assistant in botany in the Royal 
College of Science, Dublin, has recently been appointed 
to a position under the Canadian Government. 


Lorp CHELMSFORD will present prizes and certifi- 
cates to students of evening classes and day college at 
the South-Western Polytechnic Institute, Chelsea, on 
March 27. Laboratories and workshops will be open 
to public inspection about 9.15 p.m. Tickets of ad- 
mission may be obtained on application at the institute. 


By the will of the late Alderman H. Harrison, 
Blackburn, legacies amounting to 82,6001. are be- 
queathed to public objects, among which are the fol- 
lowing :—r1oool. each to the Imperial Cancer Research 
Fund, the Cancer Investigation Department of the 
Middlesex Hospital, and the Cancer Hospital for 
cancer investigation; 50001. to Manchester University 
for general purposes, and roool. for the Chinese chair ; 
20001. to Blackburn Grammar School for playing- 
fields, and toool. for university scholarships. 


In the House of Commons on February 25 Sir P. 
Magnus asked the Prime Minister whether the Govern- 
ment intended to introduce this session a Bill for the 
reorganisation of the University of London, and, if so, 
whether that Bill would be presented as a separate 
measure or as part of the measure for the develop- 
ment of a national system of education. In reply, Mr. 
Asquith said :—‘‘ Pending the report of the Depart- 
mental Committee on the University of London, I am 
not in a position to announce the intentions. of the 
Government. It will probably be convenient and desir- 
able to deal with this question in a separate measure.”’ 


A sErIES of conferences on the educational value of 
the kinematograph was held in connection with the 
recent International Exhibition in Glasgow. The in- 
augural address at the opening of the exhibition by Sir 
John Ure Primrose was largely devoted to the educa- 
tional possibilities of the kinematograph. The educa- 
tional conferences were begun on February 19, under 
the presidency of the Lord Provost of Glasgow by an 
address from Prof. J. W. Gregory on the kinemato- 
graph as an educational medium, in which he de- 
scribed its value in many fields of educational work, 
and notably in geography and technology. In later 
sessions of the conference Mr. J. Cuthbertson, of the 
Glasgow High School, opened a discussion on the 
kinematograph as an aid to literary studies, Mr. G. 
Eyre-Todd on its use in the teaching of history and 
geography, Mr. D. B. Duncanson, of the Glasgow 
Provincial Training College, on its scientific and in- 
dustrial applications, and Dr. John Smith, chairman 
of the Govan School Board, on its value in nature- 
At the close of the conference a resolution 


P29 


directing the attention of the Scottish Board of Educa- 
tion to the educational value of the kinematograph 
was adopted unanimously. 


IN a pamphlet entitled ‘‘Some Roads Towards 
Peace,” a report to the trustees of the Carnegie En- 
dowment for International Peace, Mr. Charles W. 
Eliot gives an open-minded and businesslike account 
of his sojourn in China and Japan in 1912. The key- 
note of the report is education, modern scientific edu- 
cation, such as Japan has developed and China would 
fain see established. According to his report, the 
well-known and often repeated taunt that the Japanese 
tradesmen are untrustworthy in commercial dealings 
is now quite out of date; and this is plainly due to 
the enlightened educational policy of the leaders of 
Japan during the last generation. His picture of the 
evils attending the introduction and development of 
factories is not pleasing; but it is certainly no worse 
than in Western lands. The influence for good of 
the missionary, and especially the medical missionary, 
is strongly emphasised. Among some of the imme- 
diate outcomes of Mr. Eliot’s official visit to the far 
Orient may be mentioned three memorials which 
appear among the six appendices to the pamphlet. 
One is an appeal from prominent Chinamen to the 
trustees of the Carnegie Endowment for a free public 
library in Peking; the second is an appeal to the 
same trustees for an international hospital for Tokyo, 
signed by leading Japanese and European and 
American residents; and the third is a memorial on 
the subject of the education of the children of foreign 
residents in the Far East—the great need of a well- 
endowed school to take the place of the present in- 
adequate Tokyo Grammar School. There is little 
doubt that by supporting such educational and medical 
needs the trustees of the Carnegie Endowment would 
do effective service in the cause of international peace. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 


LONDON. 

Royal Society, February 26.—Sir William Crookes, 
O.M., president, in the chair.—Lord Rayleigh: The 
diffraction of light by spheres of small relative index. 
—Prof. H. E. Armstrong and Prof. F. P. Worley: 
Studies of the processes operative in solutions. XXXI. 
—Sulphonic acids and sulphuric acid as hydrolytic 
agents: a discussion of the constitution of sulphuric 
and other polybasic acids and of the nature of acids. 
XXXIJI.—The influence of sulphonates on the hydro- 
lytic activity of sulphonic acids: a contribution to the 
discussion on the influence of neutral salts.—Prof. 
H. E. Armstrong, R. T. Colgate, and E. H. Rodd: 
Morphological studies of benzene derivatives. V.— 
The correlation of crystalline form with molecular 
structure: a verification of the Barlow-Pope concep- 
tion of ‘‘valency-volume.’’—Prof. E. Wilson: The 
magnetic properties of iron when shielded from the 
earth’s magnetism. When iron is subjected to a con- 
siderable magnetising force, a species of polarisation 
is produced which has the effect of reducing the per- 
meability and increasing the dissipation of energy due 
to magnetic hysteresis for given values of the mag- 
netic induction. The residual effects can be removed 
by careful demagnetisation or annealing. It was 
thought by analogy that the earth’s magnetic force 
would also have a polarising influence upon exposed 
iron, and this is the subject of the present paper. An 
effort has been made to remove the residual effects of 
the earth’s magnetism by placing the specimen, which 
is of ring form, in a magnetic shield, and carefully 
demagnetising it. The magnetic properties of the 
material were then examined in the usual manner 
with a ballistic galvanometer, and a comparison made 


NO, 2314eesvOL. 92) 


NATURE 


[MarcH 5, 1914 


t 
with those obtained from the exposed or unshielded . 
specimen. It has been found that the permeability of 
freshly demagnetised and shielded iron, corresponding 
| to a given value of the magnetic induction, is con- 
siderably larger than in the case of the unshielded . 
specimen.—Dr. J. N. Pring: The occurrence of ozone 
in the upper atmosphere. In the Alps, at an altitude 
of 2100 metres, the mean concentration of ozone is 
about 2-5 parts by.volume in one million of air, and 
at an altitude of 3600 metres, about five parts in one 
million of.air. In this country the mean quantity 
found between ground-level and an altitude of 20 kilo- 
metres was about two parts by volume in one million. 
No trace of either hydrogen peroxide or nitrogen 
peroxide could be detected in these cases. Measure- 
ments made in the laboratory on the action of ultra- 
violet light on air showed that a definite equilibrium 
amount of ozone is obtained, and that this value 
increases with fall in temperature, but decreases 
rapidly with fall in pressure. The formation of 
hydrogen peroxide or nitrogen peroxide by ultra-violet 
light radiation could not be detected.—W. A. D. 
Rudge: A meteoric iron from Winburg, Orange Free 
State. In this paper some account is given of the 
structure, and mechanical and magnetic properties, of 
the Winburg meteorite, which is stated to have fallen 
in 1881. It appears to be composed of large crystals 
of ferrite with veins and crystals of an iron nickel 
alloy. The total amount of nickel is not more than 
3 per cent.—W. A. D. Rudge: The electrification pro- 
duced during the raising of a cloud of dust. During 
the raising of a cloud of dust a considerable amount 
of electrification occurs. Insulated conductors held in 
a stream of dust become charged to a potential of 
some hundreds of volts. The dust particles seem to 
be charged by friction amongsi themselves, some with 
positive, others with negative, electricity.—Prof. 
W. M. Thornton: The electrical ignition of gaseous 
mixtures. This is an experimental examination of 
the mechanism of ignition of gaseous mixtures by 
electric sparks. It is found that there are two dis- 
tinct types of curve connecting percentage of gas in 
air and the least current which, when broken, causes 
ignition by the break-spark. In one, characteristic 
of continuous currents, the current required is pro- 
portional to the percentage of gas present; in the 
other, of the alternating-current type, it is a quadratic 
function of the percentage, having a minimum, at the 
mixture giving combustion, midway between CO and 
CO,. Ignition by contiauous-current break-sparks 
is largely ionic or electronic, but by alternating 
currents is more nearly a simple thermal process. 
The gases examined were hydrogen, carbon disul- 
phide, benzene, alcohol, and the paraffin series up to 
pentane. 


Linnean Society, February 5.—Prof. E. B. Poulton, 
president, in the chair.—J. Davidson : The mouth-parts 
and mechanism of suction in Schizoneura lanigera, 
Hausm. The object of this paper is to give a detailed 
description of the anatomy and relations of the mouth- 
parts of aphids, with special reference to the working 
of these structures during the processes of feeding.— 
Dr. L.° Cockayne: The vegetation of White Island, 
New Zealand.—W. E. Collinge: The range of varia- 
tion of the oral appendages in some terrestrial Isopods. 
After carefully examining and considering the varia- 
tions described, the conclusion is reached that the oral 
appendages are subject to a considerable amount of 
variation, and for purposes of specific distinction are 
not of the value generally supposed, and certainly not 
so constant as to the form of the head, the meso- 
somatic segments, the antennz, the telson, uropoda, 
and thoracic appendages; they may, however, serve to 

' characterise the larger divisions of the group. 


Marcu 5, 1914| 


February 19.—Prof E. B. Poulton, president, in the 
chair.—Dr. J. P. Lotsy: The origin of species by 
crossing. In all questions of evolution. facts are 
gathered from individuals, because species as well as 
varieties are abstractions, not realities. | Nobody is 
able to show a species or a variety; all he can do is to 
show one or more individuals which he believes to 
belong to the species or variety under discussion. Of 
individuals we know two kinds: homozygotes and 
heterozygotes. The first are stable, the latter segre- 
gate, earlier or later, into new homozygotes. The 
offspring of a homozygote is identical with its parent 
with the exception of mere temporary, non-transmit- 
table modifications. If this be true, selection in the 
progeny of a definite homozygote can have no effect. 
That it has no effect has been proved by Johannsen. 
A homozygote consequently is absolutely stable and 
produces offspring which is genetically identical to it. 
Different kinds of homozygotes may be called geno- 
types, because they differ in genetical constitution, and 
we can then say that the world is populated—with 
the exception of heterozygotes—by a large number of 
sharply defined absolutely stable genotypes. Under 
such conditions evolution may well seem impossible; 
fortunately, the behaviour of the heterozygotes shows 
us that it is very well possible. A careful study of 
the descendants of a heterozygote shows us that it 
segregates in the next or later generations in a number 
of individuals, part of which are heterozygous, but part 
of which are homozygous, and that these homozygotes 
belong to different genotypes. It was submitted that 
the real units of the living kingdom are genotypes; 
that such genotypes can, under proper precautions, be 
kept pure for an indefinite time; and that there is no 
certain evidence that they can be changed in any 
other way than by crossing. What then is the reason 
of the apparent variability of a species in the Linnean 
sense? In the first place the fact that a Linnean 
species is a collection of independent stable Jordanian 
species. The author expressed his firm conviction, as 
explained before, that no transmittable variation exists, 
and that all apparent variability is due to an original 
cross. Finally, the author proceeded to the origin of 
species before sexual reproduction took place. 


‘Physical Society, February 13.—Prof. C. H. Lees, 
vice-president, in the chair.—R. LI. Jones : The moving 
coil ballistic galvanometer.—A. Campbell: Vibration 
galvanometers of low effective resistance. The mathe- 
matical theory of the motion of the moving coil of a 
vibration galvanometer is first given (partly following 
Wenner), and simple relations are shown to hold be- 
tween the two resonance frequencies, the free fre- 
quency, and the amplitude time constant. It is also 
shown how all the constants of the equation of motion 
can be deduced from observations of the direct- and 
alternating-current sensitivities, the alternating voltage 
sensitivity and the ‘‘dead”’ resistance. A complete 
table of the observed and deduced constants is given 
for a series of very small coils, the number of turns 
in these varying from one to forty.—Dr. H. J. S. 


Sand: Vacuum-tight lead seals for  leading-in 
wires in vitreous silica and other glasses. The 
author has found that lead which has_ been 


allowed to solidify in contact with glass will, if free 
from oxide, form a vacuum-tight joint with the latter. 
Owing to the very great firmness with which the 
metal adheres, and owing to its great plasticity, these 
joints can stand temperature changes without damage. 


Zoological Society, February 17.—Prof. E. A. 
Minchin, vice-president, in the chair.—Dr. R. T. 
Leiper and Surgeon E. L. Atkinson: The Helminthes 
collected by the British Antarctic Expedition (Terra 
Nova), 1910-13. The collection contained nine forms 
previously recorded from the Antarctic zone, three pre- 


MOM MetAe Vor. 2/02 | 


NATURE 


92 
ac 0 


viously recorded only from the Arctic regions, and one 
other previously recorded elsewhere and now found in 
the Antarctic zone, and fifteen new species and four 
new genera. Of the forms obtained in tropical and 
temperate zones during the voyage, three had been 
recorded previously and five were new species.—C. G. 
Seligmann and S. G. Shattock : The seasonal assump- 
tion of the ‘‘eclipse’’ plumage in the mallard (Anas 
boscas) and the function of the testicle. Though the 
seasonal change of plumage did not correspond with 
the spermatogenic function of the testicle, its connec- 
tion with the production of an internal secretion could 
only be settled by castration followed absolutely with- 
out regeneration; this could be ensured only by re- 
opening the abdomen under an anesthetic and remov- 
ing any reproduced tissue found.—Dr. F. Wood-Jones : 
Some phases in the reproductive history of the female 
mole (T'alpa europea).—H. C. Chadwick : Notes on an 
imperfectly developed specimen of the sea-urchin 
(Echinus esculentus)—C. F. U. Meek: The possible 
connection between spindle-length and cell-volume. In 
Forficula auricularia, Helix pomatia, and man the 
ratio between the lengths of the mitotic spindle in the 
two spermatocyte metaphases seemed to be identical 
or almost identical with the ratio between the radii of 
two spheres, of which the volume of one is equal to 
twice that of the other; and, since the volume of the 
primary spermatocyte cell in the metaphase is presum- 
ably equal to twice that of the secondary spermatocyte, 
connection was suggested between the spindle-length 
and cell-volume at this stage.—F. F. Laidlaw: A 
further contribution to the study of the dragon-fly 
fauna of Borneo. The paper dealt with the Gomphinz 
and Chlorogomphinz, of which a number of new 
species and subspecies was described. 


Royal Anthropological Institute, February 17.—Prof. 
A. Keith, president, in the chair.—S. MHazzledine 
Warren; The experimental investigation of flint frac- 
ture and problems of early man. ‘The paper describes 
experiments conducted for the purpose of investigating 
the chipping properties of flint, when operated upon 
by forces of measured strength. In the case of 
mechanical concussions the chief method employed was 
by the impact of bodies of known weight falling under 
the acceleration of gravity from a measured height. 
Some striking illustrations of the lines of least resist- 
ance in flint were thus obtained. As an instance of 
this, free chipping was obtainea by blows of an energy 
of o-8 foot-pounds, delivered at a velocity of 15 ft. 
a second, in one direction upon a flint. But, at the 
same time, blows of an energy of 22 foot-pounds, 
delivered at a velocity of 18-8 ft. a second, upon the 
opposite side of the same flint, had no effect except to 
continue chipping in the original direction by the 
back-pressure of the support on which the flint was 
placed for experiment. The lines of least resistance 
depend very largely upon the original shape of the 
piece of flint used for the experiment. It is argued 
that these properties must also have their influence in 
the chipping of flints by natural agencies, and may 
well induce a deceptive appearance of purposeful blows 
having been delivered in one direction only. A series 
of experiments showing the effects of differential 
movement under loads of from 14 to 2:0 Ib. are also 
described. The similarity of these mechanical effects 
to the ‘‘eoliths’’ of Kentish type is pointed out. 


Royal Meteorological Society, February 18.—Mr. 
C. J. P. Cave, president, in the chair.—Dr. W. N. 
Shaw: The interpretation of the results of soundings 
with pilot balloons. The author dealt with the calcula- 
tion of the distribution of pressure and temperature 
from the observed horizontal wind velocity at different 
heights and gave examples of the application of this 
method to certain types of atmospheric structure repre-. 


24 


NATURE 


[Marcu 5, 1914 


sented in Mr. Cave’s book. When we find irregular 
fluctuations in the wind velocity we must look for 
corresponding irregularities in temperature and pres- 
sure differences at the several levels. These irregu- 
larities are obvious characteristics of the observations 
of wind velocity, pressure difference, and temperature 
difference.—G. M. Dobson: Pilot balloon ascents at the 
Central Flying School, Upavon, during the year 1913. 
These balloon ascents are made with the object of 
obtaining information which will be of use for pilots 
in flying. The results given in this paper are based 
upon ninety-seven ascents. It is found that the direc- 
tion of the wind veers from, and its velocity increases 
with, increasing height above the ground, until the 
gradient direction and velocity are reached. The 
gradient velocity is usually reached at a height of 300 
metres, though the gradient direction is not found 
until a height of about 800 metres. At higher altitudes 
the velocity tends to increase, and the direction con- 
tinues to veer, slightly beyond the gradient velocity 
and direction. 
CAMBRIDGE. 


Philosophical Society, February 9.—Prof. Seward, 
vice-president, in the chair.—A. S$. Marsh: The history 
of the occurrence of Azolla in the British Isles and in 
Europe generally. Azolla filiculoides has recently been 
found in Jesus Ditch, Cambridge. This species, which 
is now common in the Norfolk Broads, has been 
several times wrongly described as A. caroliniana, an 
earlier introduction, from which it is distinguished by 
its larger size, different habit, and the microscopic 
characters of the reproductive organs.—R. C. McLean: 
Amitosis in the parenchyma of water plants. The 
author described the occurrence of the direct. or 
amitotic form of nuclear division in the cortical paren- 
chyma of certain water plants. The nuclei show pecu- 
liar sigmoid forms and remain associated in pairs in 
the cells. The phenomenon is most frequent in 
actively growing regions, so cannot be due to senility. 
—Agnes Arber : Root development in Stratiotes aloides, 
L., with special reference to the occurrence of amitosis 
in an embryonic tissue. An account is given of certain 
features of the general development and the cytology 
of the adventitious roots of Stratiotes aloides. The 
various points dealt with include the nature of the 
root-cap, the origin of the lacunz of the middle cortex, 
&c. The greater part of the paper, however, is con- 
cerned with an account of amitosis in the root-cap, 
cortex, and stele of the immature root. 


DUBLIN. 
Royal Irish Academy, February 23.—Rev. Dr. 
Mahaffy, president, in the chair.—M. W. Iho eiAy 
Extension of number by the introduction of the 


symbols +, —, and 7. Recognising that quantities 
of the same kind are divisible into two groups, usually 
styled positive and negative quantities, to distinguish 
the author called a unit to measure quantities of one 
group a, and a unit to measure quantities of the other 
group 8. Two quantities, such as 12a and 98 combine 
to give 3a, and so on. Denoting ordinary numbers 
by a, b, c, he defined +a written in front of any 
quantity ba or bB, to mean that the quantity is to be 
multiplied by a and the unit not altered, and by —b 
that the quantity is to be multiplied by b and the unit 
altered to the other unit, so that +baa=baa, 
—baa=baB, —baB=bac, +baB=baB. The rule of 
signs in this generalised multiplication is then obvious, 
and as bB=~—ba, the symbol B may be dispensed with, 
and any quantity may be expressed in the form xa, 
where x is an ordinary number with the sign + or — 
prefixed to it, and forms a generalised number, or real 
number. From these definitions he developed the 
algebra of real numbers, which is incomplete in the 


NO} 23TAbeV.On. 62 | 


well-known ways. To generalise number further so 
that all operations may be performed, he began with 
a group of four fundamental units a, a’, B, 6’, arranged 
in cyclical order instead of two. Of these four ‘an’ 
opposite pair, a, 8, are a pair of units considered 
before, and the other pair are any other similarly related 
pair whatsoever. Defining ia written in front of any 
quantity ba or ba’, or bB or bf’ to mean that the quan- 
tity is to be multiplied by a and the unit altered to the 
next in cyclical order, it follows that 2?=—1, 2?=—2, 


| 2*=1, and that any quantity aa+bB+ca'+d’ can be 


written in the form (x+7y)o. Thus the further 
generalised quantity is (x+iy)a, and further generalised 
number x+iy. From these definitions he developed 
the algebra of complex numbers. 


Paris. 


Academy of Sciences, February 23.—M. P. Appell in- 
the chair.—E. Guyou;: The homogeneity of equations 
and the simplification of problems when certain quan- 
tities become small.—Paul Sabatier and M. Murat: 
Contributions to the study of benzhydrol: the prepara- 
tion of benzhydrol and _ tetraphenylethane. In the 
preparation of benzhydrol by the Grignard synthesis 
from benzaldehyde or ethyl formate and_ phenyl- 
magnesium bromide the yield of benzhydrol is poor, 
symmetrical tetraphenylethane appearing as the main 
product of the reaction. This has now been traced to 
the conditions of hydrolysis of the organo-magnesium 
compound. During the fractional distillation of the 
ether solution of the reaction products decomposition 
of the benzhydrol takes place, and this has been shown 
to be due to the catalytic action of small proportions of 
impurities in the liquid, since a similar change does 
not occur when pure solutions of benzhydrol are dis- 
tilled. The conditions for obtaining a good yield of 
the benzhydrol are given.—A. Véronnet: The cooling 
of the earth : its evolution and duration. The formula 
established is similar to that of Fourier, but the proof 
is simpler. The time is 2-46 times that given by the 
Fourier hypothesis, but it remains of the order of 
millions of years.—M. Fessenkoff: The capture of 
comets by Jupiter.—J. Guillaume ; Observations of the 
sun made at the Observatory of Lyons during the 
fourth quarter of 1913. Tables are given showing the 
number of spots, their distribution in latitude, and the 
distribution of the faculae in latitude.—_J. Darmois : The 
method of Laplace.—G. Pick: The evaluation of dis- 
tances in functional space. Ph. Franck ; The approxi- 
mate evaluation of the smallest characteristic value of 
some integral equations.—G. Kowalewski: Intrinsic 
geometry and the first fundamental proposition of 
Sophus Lie.—Alfred Rosenblatt : Certain integrals of a 
system of two ordinary differential equations of the — 
first order satisfying initial singular conditions.—Louis 


, Benoist and Hippolyte Copaux : Some new proofs of the 


laws of transparency of matter for the X-rays in the 
special case of complex mineral salts. The substances 
examined included potassium ferrocyanide, cobaltic 
chloropentammine and potassium  silocomolybdate. 
There was a good agreement between the found values 
and those calculated on the assumption that the trans- 
parency to the X-rays is an atomic property.—B. 
Szilard : The measurements of electrical potentials at 
a distance without wires. A disc coated with o-1 milli- 
gram of radium bromide is insulated and: connected 
with a static electrometer. When the disc is placed 
facing a charged conductor it acquires a_ potential 
varying with the distance, and this potential as read 
off on the electrometer can be used to measure the 
potential of the charged conductor. For the instru- 
ment described, the disc being at a distance of one 
metre from the charged plate, the voltage shown by 
the electrometer was about one-twentieth of that of the 
plate. Various practical applications of the method 


MarcH 5, 1914] 


NATURE 25 


are indicated.—S. Ratner: A new form of electric 
breeze.—Jean Bielecki and Victor Henri: The influence 
of the ethylene linkage and the carbonyl and carboxyl 
groups on the absorption of ultra-violet light. Ten 
substances were studied and the results summarised 
on three diagrams.—Eugene Wourtzel: The decom- 
position of gaseous ammonia under the influence of 
the radium emanation and the influence of tempera- 
ture on the chemical effects produced by the radiations 
of radio-active bodies. Ammonia is decomposed solely 
into hydrogen and nitrogen by the radium emanation. 
The quantity of gas formed per unit of emanation 
destroyed increases with the pressure. Rise of tem- 
perature favours the destruction of the ammonia. The 
number of cubic centimetres of ammonia destroyed 
per unit of radiation is nearly doubled at 108° C., and 
more than tripled at 220° C.—F. Leprince-Ringuet : 
Experiments on the absorption of gases by coal. Three 
kinds of coal were treated with a gaseous mixture 
approximating to the fire-damp of a coal mine, and 
the absorption studied at varying pressures. The 
results afford no explanation of the sudden disengage- 
ment of marsh gas in fiery mines.—F. Ducelliez and 
A. Raynaud: The bromination of manganese in 
ethereal medium. Finely divided manganese and 
bromine, if dry, do not react at the ordinary tempera- 
ture: in presence of ether the compound, 


MnBr,.(C.H;).O, 


is readily formed, and this when heated loses ether 
and yields the anhydrous manganese bromide. When 
the bromine is in large excess another bromide is 
formed having the composition MnBr,(C,H,,O),.— 
Maurice Billy: Improvement in the preparation of 
some pure metals. A description of the preparation 
of pure titanium free from iron, by the interaction of 
titanium tetrachloride and sodium hydride. The use of 
sodium hydride as a reducing agent possesses the ad- 
vantage that the reduction takes place at about 400° C., 
and consequently the whole apparatus can be constructed 
of ordinary soda glass.—J. B. Senderens and Jean 
Aboulenc ; The esterification of glycerol by acetic acid 
in the presence of catalysers. As catalytic agents potass- 
ium bisulphate, anhydrous aluminium sulphate, and 1 
per cent. sulphuric acid were used, the latter being found 
to give the best yields.—E. Gourdon: The minera- 
logical constitution of the southern Shetlands (Decep- 
tion Island).—Miramond de Laroquette: Variations of 
food ration and the weight of the body under the 
action of solar radiation at various seasons of the 
year.—G. Marinesco and J. Minea: Culture of the 
spinal ganglia in heterogeneous media. Spinal 
ganglia from the dog and cat were cultivated in the 
plasma of the rabbit, and the mode of growth studied. 
—A. Moutier: Arterial hypertension.—Jean Gautrelet 
and Henri Neuville: The blood of the mammoth. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 


A Laboratory Manual of Organic Chemistry for 
Beginners. By Prof. A. F. Holleman. Edited by Dr. 
A. Jamieson Walker. Secord edition. Pp. xvii+83. 


(New York: J. Wiley and Sons, Inc. ; London : Chap- 
man and Hall, Ltd.) -4s. 6d. net. 
Deutsches Meteorologisches Jahrbuch fiir tgtt. 


Elsass-Lothringen. 
G. Fischbach.) 
De la Pirotechnia. 


Pp. vilit+59. (Strassburg i.E.: 


By V. Biringuccio. Pp. Ixxxv+ 


oe (Bari: Societa Tipografica Editrice Barese.) .3 
ire. 
Kaiserliche Marine. Deutsche Seewarte. III. 


Nachtrag zum Katalog der Bibliothek der Deutschen 
Seewarte zu Hamburg. 1 April, 1899, bis 31 Dezem- 
ber, 1912. Pp. viii+341. (Hamburg.) 

NO. 2314, VOL. 93] 


Government of India. Department of Revenue and 
Agriculture. Agricultural Statistics of India for the 
Years 1907-08 to 1911-12. Vol. i., British India. Pp. 
iii+420. (Calcutta: Superintendent, Government 
Printing, India.) 3s. 9d. 

Canada. Department of Mines. Geological Survey. 
Memoir No. 30. The Basins of Nelson and Churchill 
Rivers. By W. McInnes. Pp. vii+146+xix plates. 
(Ottawa : Government Printing Office). 

The Currents in Belle Isle Strait. From Investiga- 
tions of the Tidal and Current Survey in the Seasons 
of 1894 and 1g06. By Dr. W. Bell Dawson. (Ottawa : 
Government Printing Office.) 

The Co-operation of Science and Industry. By S. 
Roy Illingworth. Pp. 91. (London: C. Griffin and 
Co., Ltd as wadamet. 

A Text-Book of Physics : Electricity and Magnetism. 


| By Dr. J. H. Poynting and Sir J. J. Thomson. Parts i. 


and ii., Static Electricity and Magnetism. Pp. xiv+ 
345. (London: C. Griffin and Co., Ltd.) tos. 6d. 

Chemistry and its Borderland. By) Dr ae WV. 
Stewart. Pp. xii +314+ii plates. (London: Long- 
mans, Green and Co.) 5s. net. 

Union of South Africa. Department of Agriculture. 
Report with Appendices for the Period January 1, 
1912, to March 31, 1913. Pp. 373+plates. (Cape 
Town: Cape Times, Ltd.) 9s. 6d. 

Meteorological Office. Geophysical Memoirs Nos. 5, 
6, and 7. (London: H.M. Stationery Office ; Meteoro- 
logical Office, South Kensington.) 

The Change in the Climate and its Cause. By 
Major R. A. Marriott... Pp. 94. (London: E. Marl- 
borough and Co.) 1s. 6d. 

County Borough of Halifax. | Bankfield Museum 
Notes. Second series. No. 3, The Letter Books of 
Joseph Holroyd (cloth-factor) and Sam Hill (clothier). 


Transcribed and edited by H. Heaton. Pp. 41. (Hali- 
fax : F. King and Sons, Ltd.) 2s. 

The Mechanical Engineer’s Reference Book. <A 
Handbook of Tables, Formulas, and Methods for 
Engineers, Students and Draftsmen. By, be - Ea: 
Suplee. Fourth edition, revised and enlarged. (Lon- 
don and Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Co.) 18s, net. 


Textiles : a Handbook for the Student and the Con- 
sumer. By Mary S. Woolman and Ellen B. 
McGowan. Pp. xi+428. (New York: The Mac- 
millan Co.; London : Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 8s. 6d. 
net. 

Engineering Workshop Exercises. For Technical 
Students and Apprentice Engineers. By E. Pull. Pp. 
viiit+8o0. (London and New York: Whittaker and 
Co:)) stanee. 

Wireless Telegraphy : a Handbook for the Use of 
Operators and Students. By W. H. Marchant. Pp. 
xi+241. (London and New York: Whittaker and 
Co.) asieuete 

Test Papers in Elementary Algebra. By C. V. 
Durell. Pp. viiit+233. (London: Macmillan and Co., 
Ltd.) | *gs.c6. 

Le Leghe Metalliche ed i Principii Scientifici della 
Metallografia Moderna. By Prof. D. Mazzotto. 
(Modena, Italy: G. T. Vincenzi e Nipoti.) 6 lire. 


My Garden in Spring... By E. A. Bowles. Pp. x+ 
308+ plates. (London and Edinburgh: T. C. and 
E. C. Jack.) 5s. net. 


Sexual Ethics : a Study of Borderland Questions. By 
Prof. R. Michels. Pp. xv+296. (London and Felling- 
on-Tyne: Walter Scott Publishing Co.) 6s. net. 

Ministry of Finance, Egypt. Survey Department. 
Meteorological Report for the Year t1g11. Part it., 
Climatological and Rainfall Observations. Pp. xvit+ 
198. (Cairo: Government Press.) P.T.15. 

The Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland. 
Twelfth Annual Report (for the Year 1912-13) sub- 
mitted by the Executive Committee to the ‘Trustees 


26 NATURE 


on February 25, 1914. Pp. iv+188. (Edinburgh: T. | 


and A. Constable.) 

Wissenschaft und Methode. By 
Autorisierte deutsche Ausgabe mit 
Anmerkungen von F. and L. Lindemann. Pp. v+ 
283. (Leipzig und Berlin: B. G. Teubner.) 5 marks. 

Darstellende Geometrie des Geliindes. By Prof. R. 
Rothe. Pp. 67. (Leipzig und Berlin: B. G. Teub- 
ner.) 8o pfennigs. 

Beobachtungen tiber Strandverschiebungen an der 
Kuste des Samlands. By Dr. R. Briickmann. _§iii., 
Palmnicken. Pp. 117-144+plates. (Leipzig und Ber- 
lin: B. G. Teubner.) 3 marks. 

Handworterbuch der Naturwissenschaften. Edited 
by E. Korschelt and others. Lieferung 72 and 73. 
(Jena: G. Fischer.) 2.50 marks each Lief. 

Text-Book on Railroad Surveying. By 9G. IW. 
Pickels and C. C. Wiley. Pp. ix+263. (New York: 
J. Wiley and Sons, Inc.; London; Chapman and Hall, 


He) Poincare: 
Erlauternden 


Ltd.) 10s. 6d. net. 
Canada. Department of Mines. Geological Sur- 
vey. Memoir No..23. Geology of the Coast and 


Islands between the Strait of Georgia and Queen 
Charlotte Sound, B.C. By J. Austen Bancroft. Pp. 
Vili +146+xvii plates. (Ottawa: Government Print- 
ing Bureau.) 

India-Rubber Laboratory Practice. 
Caspari. Pp. viii+196. (London: 
Go.} ‘Ltd.). 5s. net. 

Some Fundamental Problems in Chemistry Old and 
New. -By (Prof. vAC Wetts, Bp. Xili+ 235 + plates. 
(London: Constable and Co., Ltd.) 7s. -6d.. net. 


By (Dr We ok 
Macmillan and 


DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 


THURSDAY, Marcu 5 


RovaL Society, at 4.30.—The Action of Light on Chlorophyll: H. 
Wager.—Formaldehyde as an Oxidation Product of Chlorophyll Ex- 
tracts: C. H. Warner.—The Controlling Influence of Carbon Dioxide 
in the Maturation, Dormancy, and Germination of Seeds: F. Kidd.— 
The Functional Correlation between the Ovaries, Uterus and Mammary 
Glands in the Rabbit, with Observations on the (Estrous Cycle: T. 
Hammond and F. H. A. Marshall.—The Chromaffine System of Annelids 
and the Relation of this System to the Contractile Vascular System in the 
Leech, Hirudo medicinalis: Dr. J. F. Gaskell. 

Roya InstiruTion, at 3.—Heat and Cold: Prof. C. F. Jenkin. 

Cuitp Stupy Society, at 7-30:—The Sense of Humour in Children: Miss 
C. C. Graveson. 

LiInNEAN Society, at 8.—Results of Crossing Euschistus variolarius and 
&. servus with Reference to the Inheritance of an Exclusively Male 
Character : The Misses K. Foot and E. C. Strobell —Short Cuts by Birds 
to Nectaries: C. F. M. Swynnerton.—Buprestida : Ch. Kerremans.— 
Platypodidz and Ipidz from the Seychelles: Lieut.-Col. Winn Sampson. 
—Scatopside and Simuliide: Dr. G. Enderlein.— Heteroneuridze— 
Milichiide: : C. G. Lamb. 


FRIDAY, Marcu 6. 
Juxtor INSTITUTION OF ENGINEERS, at 8.—Maihak Indicator and Bottchers 
Power Counter: F. E. Rainey. 
GEotoctstTs’ AssociaTIoNn, at 8.—A Study of Ballstone and the Associated 
Beds in the Wenlock Limestone of Shropshire : Miss M. C. Crossfield and 
Miss M. S. Johnston. 


SATURDAY, Marcu 7. 
Rovat INsTITUTION, at 3.—Recent Discoveries in Physical Science: Sir 


J. J. Thomson. 
MONDAY, Marcu o. 


Rovar GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY, at 8.3c.—The Nigeria-Kamerun Boundary 

Commission of 1912-13: Capt. W. V. Nugent. 
TUESDAY, Marcu 1o. 
Se INSTITUTION, at 3.—Modern Ships. II. Ocean Travel: Sir John H. 
iles. 

RoyaL ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE, at 8.15.—The Magical Siege of 
Troy : A. Upward. 

INsTITUTION OF Civit ENGINEERS, at 8.—Further Discussion: Rail-steels 


for Electric Railways: W. Willox.—Rail-corrugation and its Causes : 
S. P. W. D’Alte Sellon. 


WEDNESDAY, Marcu 11. 
Rovat Soctety or Arts, at 8.—Bacterial Treatment of Peat, and its 
Application as a Fertiliser: Prof. W. B. Bottomley. 
GEoLocicaL Society, at 8.—An Apparently Palzolithic Drawing on a 
Bone from Sherborne (Dorset): Dr. A. Smith Woodward. 


THURSDAY, Marcu 12. 
Royat Socrery, at 4.30.—Probable Papers : Noteona Functional Equation 
Employed by Sir George Stokes : Sir James Stirling.—The Mercury Green 


Line A=5461 as Resolved by Glass and Quartz Lummer Plates and on its 
Zeeman Components: Prof. J. C. McLellan and A. R. McLeod.—The 


Electrical Condition of a Gold Surface During the Absorption of Gases | 


NO. 2314, VOL. 93] 


[Marcu 5, 1914 


and their Catalytic Combustion: H. Hartley.—The Diffusion of Electrons 
through a Slit: J. H. Mackie.—The Rate of Solution of Hydrogen by 
Palladium: Dr. A. Holt. : 
Roya InstiTuTION, at 3.—Heat and Cold: Prof. C. F. Jenkin. 
ConcrETE INSTITUTE, at 7.30.—Forms for Concrete Work: A. Graham. 
INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—The Design of Rolling 
Stock for Electric Railways: H. E. O’Brien. 


FRIDAY, Marcu 173. 

Rovat INSTITUTION, at 9.—An Indian State: Sir Walter R. Lawrence, 
Bart. 

MALACOLOGICAL SOCIETY, at 8.—Diagnosis of Four New Land Shells from 
German New Guinea: C. R. Boettger.—-Characters of Three New Species 
of Ennea from Southern Nigeria: H. B. Preston.—A Synopsis of the 
Family of Venendz. II.: A. J. Jukes-Browne. 

ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, at 5. ; a 

Junior InstiTuTION OF ENGINEERS, at 8.—Lightning Conductors and 
their Tests: F. H. Taylor. 

ALCHEMICAL SOCIETY, at 8.15.—Roger Bacon: R. Rowbottom. , 

PHYSICAL SOCIETY, at 8.—Time Measurements of Magnetic Disturbances 
and their Interpretation : Dr. C. Chree.—The Ratio ot the Specific Heats 
of Air, Hydrogen, Carbon Dioxide and Nitrous Oxide: H. N. Mercer.— 
The Asymmetric Distribution of the Secondary Electronic Radiation pro- 
duced by X-Radiation: A. J. Philpot. 


SATURDAY, Marcu 14. d ; ’ 
Roya INsTITUTION, at 3.—Recent Discoveries in Physical Science: Sir 
J. J. Thomson. 


CONTENTS. PAGE 
Radio-Active Elements and the Periodic Table. By 


Technical Mycology. By Prof. R. T. Hewlett... 2 
Human) Mathematics?) “By*D=BaMine. ce eee 
Our Bookshelf). 5 24... io oe ae ee 
Letters to the Editor :— 
Active Nitrogen.—-Prof. H. B. Baker, F.R.S.; 
(Hon) RK: Justrutt, PRIS =>: or ed ereyree ae ame 
Remarkable Upper-Air Records at Batavia.—Dr. 
W.. ‘van ‘Bemmiel)len ) icp. 5-i Ga. oe 
The Vertical Temperature Distribution in the Atmo- 
sphere. Dr. jC 2Braak “0 2 ane 1 or ee ee 


Atomic Models and Regions of Intra-atomic Electrons. 
(With Diagram.)—Dr. A. van den Broek .... 7 

An Early Slide Rule-—David Baxandall ..... 8 

The Permeability of Echinoderm Eggs to Electrolytes. 


SS JtGhay Ose Gs pais ear eae cae ae 
The Beginning of Art. (///ustrated.) By Dr. William 
Wright wcaeIne Wetpioarwen isn else er lat Noietedle Reena 
Mhe-Hope Reports... By) S.5)- lay.) ie et 
Dr. Mawson’s Antarctic Expedition. (W2zth Map.) . 11 
Notes dco Gos neeere mn 


Our Astronomical Column :— 
Stars with Variable Radial Velocities. . ...... 
Sun-spots: Their Internal Motion and Short-period 
Variations <4 «32°02 ee ce eee ene ee 
Determinations of Gravity in Egyptand the Sudan . . 17 
ihe CobariCopper Mieldi. aBy a) Vic Geusuncnise eee Z] 


Public tHrealth \: \ \ficdgho nize vo eo seed aoe ee eS 
Forthcoming. 0o0ks) oftScience =. 0a tee ann 
University and Educational Intelligence ...... 25 
Societies_ and Academics) s..aF > sumer e- eeeeeee 
Books*Received': 2) se. p cnerteh re cae on ro ee nS S 
Diaryof Societies: yesesny a. oak eee ee 


Editorial and Publishing Offices: 


MACMILLAN & CO., Ltp., _ 
ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C. 


Advertisements and business letters to be addressed to the 
Publishers. 


Editorial Communications to the Edttor. 


Telegraphic Address: Puusis, LONDON. 
Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830. 


ov 


Ved Ores 27 


THURSDAY, “MARCH: r2, 


IQT4. 


CHEMISTRY FOR ADVANCED 
STUDENTS. 


(1) A Treatise on Chemistry. By H. E. Roscoe, 
F.R.S., and C. Schorlemmer, F.R.S. Vol., ii., 
The Metals. New edition completely revised by 


the Rt. Hon. Sir Henry Roscoe and others. 
Pp. xvit+1470. (London: Macmillan and Co., 
Ltd., 1913.) Price. 30s. net. 


(2) A Dictionary of Applied Chemistry. 
Edward Thorpe, C.B., F.R.S. 
Eminent Contributors. Revised 
edition. In five volumes: Vol. 
830. (London: Longmans, 
1913.) Price 45s. net. 


ies as the leaves of our deciduous plants 
fade away in autumn, and in winter 
perish, so do our science books have their autumn 
and their winter. They cannot live long under a 
régime which changes with the Teens years. 
The publisher’s spring-time brings forth an array 
of fresh books, but none are more welcome than 
some of the Bie. and familiar. forms revitalised 
and newly adapted to the change of environment. 
The reviewer has therefore a pleasing task in 
introducing the new editions of the above-named 
books to readers of Nature, and this the more 
because each book is a familiar friend to chemists 
the world over. 

(1) The new edition of “Roscoe and. Schor- 
lemmer ”’—as it is colloquially called—merits a 
hearty welcome. This book stands on the most 
convenient shelf in the libraries of thousands of 
chemists, and its well-thumbed pages bear eloquent 
testimony to its utility and value. This has con- 
tinued, edition after edition, since 1878, when 
vol. i. was published. The first edition was thus 
born before many of us, in this generation, took 
up- the test-tube and the wash-bottle; and we 
have grown up using “Roscoe and Schorlemmer ” 
as a kind of alkoran. The book, in consequence, 
must have exercised a deep influence on the 
present generation, and it is a book of which 
British chemists have been proud. 

It is interesting to see how the concepts. of 
physical chemistry gradually permeate, modify, 
and illume even so conservative a subject as the 
“ Systematic Description of the Metals and their 
Derivatives.” True enough, there are no very 
marked changes in the descriptive matter ranging 
from pages 224 to 1406, yet the first 223 pages 
are largely occupied by physical chemistry, and 
the last 42 pages have a clear succinct account 
of the present state of our knowledge of that 


NOw2g055, VOL. 93 


By- Sir 
Assisted by 
and enlarged 
wepeeeps Vill + 
Green and Co., 


fascinating subject, ‘“The Radioactive Elements.”’ 
In the chapter on specific heats, a page or two 
might perhaps have been spared for Einstein’s 
work on the atomic heats of solids to show how 
theory has at last given a reasoned explanation 
of the “constancy” of the number 6. The 
chapters on crystallography and on spectrum 
analysis are specially good. The new edition has 
all the strong points of former editions, and it can 
therefore be confidently recommended to advanced 
students as the best text-book extant on descrip- 
tive inorganic chemistry. 

(2) The fifth volume of “Thorpe’s Applied” 
completes the work. The concluding volume 
maintains the high standard of those which pre- 
cede, and the observations on the fourth volume 
in Nature, August 14, 1913, are of equal weight 
here. This volume covers subjects ranging from 
“Sodium to Z.”. The longer articles deal with 
sodium, soils, solutions and _ solubility, specific 
gravity, spectrum analysis, starch, sugar, sulphide 
dyes, sulphur and sulphuric acid, synthetic drugs 
or medical products, tannins, tartaric acid, tea, 
terpenes, thermometers, thermostats, thorium, tin, 
toluene and toluidines, toxins 
triphenylmethane colouring 
matters, tungsten, ultramarine, uranium, urea, 
uric acid, urine, vanadium, varnish, vat dyes, 
vegetable alkaloids, water, waxes, whisky, wine, 
destructive distillation of wood, wool, zinc, zir- 
conium, etc. This list is quite inadequate, and 
gives but a feeble idea of the immense range of 
the subjects discussed in this volume. I am in- 
formed that the whole set of volumes contains 
some six thousand articles—short or long. The 
work is therefore ganz deutsch in its thorough- 
ness. 

As a rough imperfect test, in order to find how 
the fifth volume happens to fit the subjects in 
which I personally am interested, I wrote a list 
containing twenty items, and then consulted the 
“dictionary.” I did not succeed in finding any 
mention of a thermostat for high temperatures 
(say 500°-1100°) for electrically heated muffles ; 
or of p- and A-sulphur and their effect on the 
melting-point of the so-called “pure” sulphur. 
In the remaining eighteen cases the dictionary 
emerged triumphant. This result is very good, 
and illustrates the high probability that the work 
will not be found wanting when occasion demands, 
The dictionary, as a whole, reflects great credit 
on the wisdom and acumen of the editor, on the 
skilful and accurate condensations by the con- 
tributors, and on the enterprise and good taste 
of the publishers. 


titanium, tobacco, 
and  antitoxins, 


MAR 25 1914 
itt Ay 


28 
DYNAMICS: OLD AND NEW. 
(1) Lecons sur la Dynamique des Systémes 
matériels. By Prof. E. Delassus. Pp. xii+ 421. 


(Paris: A. Hermann et Fils, 1913.) Price 14 


francs. 

(2) The Theory of Relativity. By Prof. R. D. 
Carmichael. Pp. 74. (New York: John Wiley 
and Sons, Inc.; London: Chapman and Hall, 
Ltd:, 1913.) Price 4s. 6d. net. 


(1) “HIS volume is the result of an experi- 

x ' ment made by the author to improve 
on the usual methods of introducing students to 
the study of dynamics. The first respect in which 
this has been essayed is in presenting the subject 
from the beginning in a general form, instead of 
beginning with those problems which are geo- 
metrically most simple. Thus the volume has 
rather the appearance of a treatise on what is 
usually known as analytical dynamics. But the 
object which the author has in view is not so much 
the development of the advanced analytical theory, 
which becomes largely a study of differential equa- 
tions, as a unification of method which shall ob- 
viate the feeding of the student on a multiplicity 
of isolated problems in which the dynamical pro- 
perties are essentially of the same type. 

Special attention is paid to the class of systems 
the equations of motion of which can be integrated 
by quadratures. An elaborate study is made of two 
special questions in respect of which the author 
considers wrong notions to be prevalent. The first 
of these is the assumption usually made in respect 
of a unilateral constraint, such as that which occurs 
when a body rolls or slides on another body, that 
the constraint will cease to be conformed to at 
the moment when the force required to maintain 
it vanishes and changes sign; examples are given 
in which the assumption that this is true where 
there is more than one point of contact between 
two bodies leads to wrong conclusions. 

The other point which is called in question is 
the assumption, which the author considers to be 
often tacitly made, that if the constraint imposed 
On a system is realised by means of auxiliary 
bodies of negligible mass, these auxiliary bodies 
have no influence on the motion of the system. 
An example given is that of a heavy particle con- 
strained to move in a horizontal plane by attach- 
ment to an axis bearing two weightless wheels 
which roll and slide respectively on a fixed hori- 
zontal plane. It is clear that if the wheels and 
axis have ever so little inertia and are set in motion 
with a rotation about the vertical, the particle 
cannot describe a straight line, but the example 
points to such an obvious objection to the assump- 


NO."23 05, VOL. 93| 


NATURE 


[Marco 12, 1914 


tion referred to that it is dithcult to believe that 
as a general rule it has really been commonly 
asserted. 

(2) After reading this careful course on classical 
dynamics, it is an abrupt transition to the first 
book published in English on the principle of 
relativity, and to read of a revision of the funda- 
mental concepts, not only of space and time, but 
also of mass. Prof. Carmichael sets out to 
give a popular account of the way in which these 
magnitudes are regarded by the exponents of this 
most up-to-date of generalisations, without going 
into the details of its origin in electrical theory. 

The project is well carried through, but it seems 
doubtful whether even yet the public mind is 
prepared to face the shock of the postulate (p. 20) : 
“The velocity of light in free space, measured on 
an unaccelerated system of reference S, is inde- 
pendent of the velocity of S.”’ But less objection 
seems to be taken to one of the consequences of 
the assumption of the complete relativity of all 
physical phenomena, namely, the dependence of 
the mass of a body upon its velocity, in spite of 
its reducing the status of Newtonian mechanics to 
that of an approximate theory. 

The reason for this is probably that experiment 
seems to have demonstrated without doubt that 
the mass of the electron must be admitted to be 
variable, and we can find no reason for denying 
the possibility of the mass of any body varying 
within the limits of error admitted by astronomical 
theory. 

The real obstacle to the acceptance of the theory 
of relativity is the carrving over of a conception 


| of space and time, which is based on, or rather 


part of, Newton’s dynamical theory into regions 
where that theory is certainly no longer tenable 
in its entirety. Prof. Carmichael’s book deals 
entirely with these fundamental matters and will 
help to make more familiar a more logical and 
less metaphysical view of space and time in their 
physical bearing. 


NEW ZEALAND: THEN AND NOW. 


(1) Camp Fire Yarns of the Lost Legion. By 
Col. G. Hamilton-Browne. Pp. xiii+3or. 
(London: T. Werner Laurie, n.d.) Price 
$25) OA. Met: 

(2) Social Welfare in New Zealand. 
Lusk. Pp. viii+287. (London: 
Heinemann, 1913.) Price 6s. net. 


By Hugh H. 
William 


HESE two hooks present a most vivid pic- 
ture of the progress which has occurred 
in New Zealand during the last fifty years. The 


Marcu 12, 1914] 


NATURE 29 


first is essentially personal, the account of strange 
and curious adventures of individuals; the second 
is largely impersonal, the account of the develop- 
ment of a system of State Socialism. Both works 
tell the story of the reaction between outsiders 
from overseas and the environment which they 
found awaiting them in these distant islands. 

(1) The gallant colonel, typically a frontiersman, 
presents a picture of the Maori wars, and 
demonstrates the dangers of the trackless bush. 
The Maori regarded war as essentially the work 
for men; their curious outlook caused them to 
regard the shot which landed in their “pah” 
during a bombardment and failed to explode as 
the enemy’s method of supplying them. with 
powder with which to continue fighting. Mr. 
Lusk, formerly a member of the New Zealand 
Parliament, states that Maoris nowadays receive 
old-age pensions on the same terms as the white 
men. 

The camp-fire yarns are racy, redolent of the 
soldier’s vocabulary, and make excellent reading ; 
the parliamentarian account (2) of organised atten- 
tion to the well-being of the community as a 
whole community, and not as a congeries of 
classes of society, is calm, dispassionate, careful, 
and on this account eminently readable. 

Steadily, step by step, the State interfered with 
manifestations of private enterprise, prevented the 
permanent establishment of a landed gentry, or 
of a body of yeomen tenant farmers; established 
systems of communication by rail, by telegraph, 
and by telephone, which have contributed greatly 
to a feeling of national unity; freed the country 
from outside influences as regards fluctuations in 
coal prices; secured loans of capital for all the 
people at advantageous rates, so preventing the 
exploitation of the farmers because they were 
necessitous; and, by controlling the development 
of the country, secured a high average of pros- 
perity to all members of the State, without caus- 
ing the growth of either a wealthy or a poverty- 
stricken caste. 

Mr. Lusk is of opinion that New Zealanders 
grew, without definite intention, or without definite 
leadership, to regard the welfare of all as para- 
mount, and he is further of the opinion that New 
Zealand sets an object-lesson to the whole world 
in its regard for all members of the body politic; 
he pays more attention to the principle which 
underlies these progressive movements than to 
the fact that New Zealand is a special case. 
Regarded as a contribution to the knowledge of 
the world, New Zealand’s progress is a striking 
illustration of the unique reaction to its own local 
environment, which occurs in a more 


NO, 2315, VOL. 93] 


or less 


| isolated community. More than a thousand miles 


| zoological 


from its nearest neighbour, with a small popula- 
tion of a million souls, with a large area of cul- 
tivable land, in the happy position of having one 
market only, and that a certain one for its surplus 
of food-stuffs and raw material, almost outside 
the stress and strain of international competition, 
New Zealand has developed along lines which 
were only possible in such comparative isolation. 
But it is hazardous to generalise from so specific 
an example; while, on one hand, it is possible 
to note the fact of New Zealand’s prosperity, it 
is incorrect, on the other, to infer from 
New Zealand’s experience principles of State 
activity which shall be regarded as of general 
application. 

It does not necessarily follow that what is good 
for one million people on the edge of the modern 
business world and mainly occupied and depen- 
dent upon the cultivation of the soil is equally 
good both in method and in result for more than 
forty millions of people, with an industrial popu- 
lation in ratio to that employed on the land of 
roughly four to one, situated at the hub of world 
commerce and the centre of concentration of a 
world-wide competition, B. Ci W. 


Camping in Crete: With Notes upon the Animal 
and Plant Life of the Island. By Aubyn 
Trevor-Battye. Including a Description of Cer- 
tain Caves and their Ancient Deposits. By 
Dorothea M. A. Bate. Pp. xxi+ 308+ plates. 
(London: Witherby and Co., 1913.) Price 
ros. 6d. net: 


Tuts pleasant record of camping experiences in 
Crete falls into two parts. In the body of his 
book Mr. Trevor-Battye, who declines to discuss 
questions of politics and excavations, describes a 
series of tours through the island. With Canea 
as his headquarters, he made trips by steamer 
along parts of the coast, journeyed so far as Sitia 
on the east, traversed the island to Sphakia, and 
again to Retimo, with a long and arduous march 
from Sphakia, vid Mt. Ida, to Candia. The main 
object of these excursions was the collection of 
and botanical specimens, many of 
which have been valuable additions to the South 
Kensington Museum. He succeeded in bringing 
home two ibex kids to the Zoological Society, one 
of which, the male, died from an accident, but the 
female is now at Regent’s Park, and has given 
birth to twins. He gives a delightful account of 
these charming animals. 

He finds that a narrow waist, which appears 
in the Minoan frescoes, is quite characteristic of 
the islanders. He gives useful accounts of the 


| geology, describing the curious high-level plains 


of Homalo and Nidha, Mt. Ida, and Kurnas, the 


30 NATURE 


only lake in the island. He was kindly received 
by the Turkish officials, the monks, and the 
villagers. But it is only the most enthusiastic 
traveller who will risk the privations and difficul- 
ties of journeys over breakneck passes. 

The appendix is one of much scientific interest. 
Miss D. M. A. Bate, one of the best authorities 
on the island, describes the caves, many contain- 
ing animal remains, and gives a list of the mam- 
mals. The birds are catalogued by Mr. Trevor- 
Battye, who also deals with geology, harbours, 
agriculture, industries, and ethnology. The book 
is well illustrated, and is supplied with a good 
index. This account of the island forms a supple- 
ment to the standard authorities—Pashley in 1834 
and Spratt in 1865, both of which, with due 
acknowledgment, are frequently quoted. 


The State Provision of Sanatoriums. By Dr. 
S. V. Pearson. Pp. vili+8o0+iv plans. (Lon- 
don: Cambridge University Press, 1913.) Price 
BS, INS 

Tuis book deals in a practical manner with a 
subject of considerable interest and importance 
at the present time. In the earlier chapters the 
author discusses what is meant by sanatorium 
treatment, the reasons why the State should pro- 
vide this, and what other countries are doing in 
this direction. “Sanatorium” is defined as “an 
institution in the country for the treatment cf 
resident patients suffering from any form of 
tuberculosis,” and such institutions as farm 
colonies are excluded. Valuable suggestions are 
given on the financing, construction (with 
diagrams), and management of sanatoriums, and 
the advantages of sanatorium over domiciliary 
treatment are emphasised. 

The author is a strong advocate for the pro- 
vision of sanatoriums by the State, largely to 
the exclusion of other forms of treatment. We 
do not find, however, any estimate given of the 
number of beds that would be required for the 
necessary sanatorium treatment of tuberculosis in 
this country. The State is the trustee of the 
funds entrusted to it by the taxpayers, and it is 
the duty of the State to expend those funds to 
the best advantage of the community as a whole. 
Whether the erection of a number of substantial 
and costly buildings (the author estimates the 
cost as at least 17ol. a bed) all over the 
country, with their medical and nursing staffs, is 
really the most efficient and economical way of 
dealing with the tuberculosis question is a de- 
batable point, and one on which we _ probably 
have not sufficient data at present to guide us. 
It behoves us, therefore, to move warily, and 
not to launch out into the erection of numbers 
of sanatoriums, a large proportion of which might 
hereafter have to be scrapped, and in the mean- 
while to improve our domiciliary and dispensary 
treatment with the adjunct of a certain number 
of farm colonies and sanatoriums. It must be 
recognised that tuberculosis is now decreasing, 
and it is not always remembered that this decline 
commenced before the institution of any adminis- 
trative measures against the disease ! 


NOM2315.° VOL. 93) 


[Marcu 12, 1914 


Stanford’s Geological Atlas of Great Britain and 
Ireland, with Plates of Characteristic Fossils. 
By Horace B. Woodward. Third edition. Pp. 
Xli+214. 50 plates. (London: Edward Stan- 
ford, Ltd., 1914.) Price 12s. 6d. net. 

Tue first edition of this invaluable atlas was 

reviewed in the issue of Nature for February 2, 

1905; (vol. Ixxi., p.-315), and readers may be 

referred to that notice for particulars of the 

general characteristics of the volume. The late 

Mr. Woodward amplified the present edition by 

an account of the geological features of the 

Channel Islands and by further descriptions of 

facts observable along railways in England and 

Wales. Small corrections have been made, and 

the maps have been revised. 


Bill’s School and Mine: a Collection of Essays on 
Education. By W. S. Franklin. Pp. vii+08. 
(South Bethlehem, Pennsylvania: Franklin, 
Macnutt and Charles, 1913.) . Price 50 cents, 
cloth. 

Mr. FRANKLIN is known on both sides of the 
Atlantic as the author of useful scientific text- 
books, and it is not surprising to find him insist- 
ing in his very readable essays upon the value and 
importance of a training in scientific method in 
a complete system of education. He quotes 
Nietzsche as saying: “The time will come when 
men will think of nothing but education’; it 
may be hoped that the time will soon be reached 
when in this country, in addition to thinking 
about it, people come to believe in it enough to 
pay sufficient for it to secure competent educators 
for the next generation. 


Heaton’s Annual. Tenth Year, 1914. Edited by 
EK: Heaton and J. Bo Robinson. (Ppywcea- 
(Toronto: Heaton’s Agency. London: Simpkin. 
Marshall, Hamilton, Kent and Co., Ltd.) 
Price, British edition, 5s. 

ATTENTION has been directed on previous occasions 

to former issues of this useful work of reference, 

which is described in its sub-title as the “Com- 
mercial Handbook of Canada and Boards of Trade 

Register.” The first half of the volume brings 

together facts about Canada which business men 

are wanting to refer to continually, and the second 
contains, among other useful material, up-to-date 

descriptions of all Canadian towns of any im- 

portance. 


A Handbook of Wireless Telegraphy: Its Theory 
and Practice. For the Use of Electrical Engi- 


neers, Students, and Operators. By <Drs als 
Erskine-Murray. Fifth edition. Revised and 
enlarged. Pp. xvi+442. (London: Crosby 


Lockwood and Son, 1914.) Price’ ros. 6d. net. 
THE general characters of this valuable handbook 
were described in the review of the third edition 
which appeared in the issue of Nature for 
August 24, 1911 (vol..lxxxvii., p. 239). The most 
important additions to the present edition are 
those concerned with the uniform alternating 
current and shock excitation systems. Recent 
measurements of transmitted power have been 


added also. 


Marcu 12, 1914] 


NATURE 31 


LEREBRES -TO) THE EDITOR. 


[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for 
opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with 
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 
this or any other part of Nature. No notice is 
taken of anonymous communications. ] 


Alexander Agassiz and the Funafuti Boring. 


Pror. Poutton has directed attention (NATURE, 
February 26, p: 712) to the fact that ‘‘very little has 
been said’? concerning the evidence on coral-reef 
formation obtained by the boring at Funafuti, and he 
also refers to the views upon the subject held by the 
late Prof. Alexander Agassiz. 

It will be remembered that the very successful 
borings at’ Funafuti were carried out by Profs. Sollas 
and Edgeworth David, and their assistants, under 
the auspices of the Royal Society, with valuable aid 
from the Admiralty and the Government of New South 
Wales. The place for the experiment was selected by 
a committee of the Royal Society, on which every 
shade of theoretical opinion was represented, this 
committee having the invaluable assistance of the late 
Admiral Wharton, who recommended Funafuti as 
perhaps the most typical atoll that could be found on 
the globe. 

The very complete set of cores, with all the other 
materials obtained during these borings, were, by the 
permission of the Board of Education, received in the 
geological laboratories of the Royal College of Science 
at South Kensington, where they were studied by the 
members of the staff, with the invaluable assistance 
of Dr. G. J. Hinde, much aid being also given by 
the officials of the British Museum (Natural History) 
and of the Geological Survey. 

Those who were responsible for the preparation of 
the report on the undertaking, published by the Royal 
Society in 1904, felt it to be outside their duty to 
advocate any particular theory of the origin of coral- 
reefs; their aim was simply to place on record the 
evidence obtained; and it may be added that this 
evidence is always open to examination and criticism 
from the circumstance that the halves of all the cores 
are now deposited in the British Museum, with the 
sections and other specimens, while duplicate halves 
of the cores have been sent to Sydney University. 

During the eight years that the work of studying 
the materials from Funafuti was in progress, I re- 
ceived many visits from my friend, Prof. Alexander 
Agassiz, and gladly profited by his advice and sugges- 
tions. He showed his confidence in the manner in 
which the work was being carried on by entrusting 
to me the materials he collected from the upraised 
coral-reefs of the Pacific, with the request to have 
them examined side by side with the Funafuti cores, 
the result being published at his own expense. 

I should not be justified in trying to reproduce the 
views of Agassiz as communicated to me in our fre- 
quent friendly discussions—everyone who knew him 
will accept my statement that they were always 
candidly and fairly expressed. But, fortunately, in 
the work published since his death, his position in the 
controversy is very clearly indicated. His own re- 
searches had demonstrated that, over very consider- 
able areas in the Pacific, elevation, often to the extent 
of rooo ft. or more, had taken place. Agassiz main- 
tained that the masses of coral-limestone in the up- 
raised islands—which were much altered, like the 
limestones in the lower part of the Funafuti boring— 
were Tertiary rocks, and that the lower cores of 
Funafuti were of the same age. His views are very 
clearly illustrated in a diagram reproduced in the 


, their relation to the views of others, as understood 
| by himself. 

_ I may add that the most careful study of the Funa- 
| futi limestones did not supply any evidence of such a 
change in the fauna as would justify their being 
assigned to any of the Tertiary periods. But even if 
such evidence had been found, the geologist would 
have been justified in arguing that this would only 
prove that subsidence had taken place with extreme 
slowness, or had been subjected to long interruptions. 
On the other hand, the fact, which Agassiz so fully 
demonstrated, that certain areas in the Pacific have 
undergone elevation in recent times, would suggest to 
every geologist, taking into account what we know 
of ‘‘the warping of the earth’s crust,” that other areas 
must simultaneously have been undergoing subsi- 
dence, and this was the view maintained by Darwin. 

We are entitled then to say that a boring, initiated 
and carried out under the direction of representatives 
of all the rival theories on coral-reef formation, was 
attended with brilliant success. In an island selected 
as a very typical atoll, the main boring was carried 
down more than goo ft. below the lowest depth at 
which, as all naturalists agree, reef-forming corals 

-ean flourish. The materials from top to bottom 
yielded only those organisms that thrive near the 


surface of the ocean, often in the position of 
growth. In opposition to the view that the 


boring may have penetrated only a talus on the 
side of the reef, it must be pointed out that two addi- 
tional borings were made in the very centre of the 
lagoon, which revealed, down to the depth of roo ft. 
below their limit of growth, the same reef-forming 
corals. Finally, in this very typical atoll, all idea of 
solution going on at the bottom of the lagoon was 
negatived by the luxuriant masses of the delicate 
calcareous alga, Halimeda, which, with the thinnest 
shelled Foraminifera, everywhere abounded in a per- 
fectly uncorroded state. 

With Prof. Poulton, then, we may fairly say that 
while the theory of subsidence is not of ‘‘ universal 
application ’’—and Darwin in all his later writings 


| candidly admitted that such was the case—yet the 


‘validity’ of this theory of subsidence is fully estab- 

lished in the case of the only atoll in which the test by 

boring has been carried out. Joun W. Jupp. 
Kew, February 28. 


An X-Ray Absorption Band. 


For some time past I have been trying to make 
accurate comparisons of the intensities of the various 
orders of X-ray spectra reflected by crystals. The 
purpose of the inquiry is to make experimental tests 
of the theoretical discussions by Debye and Sommer- 
feld in relation to the influence of molecular motions 
upon reflecting power. Of some of their predictions 
I have found it easy to obtain confirmation which is 
at least roughly quantitative. For instance, the in- 
tensities of the higher order spectra are much more 
affected by rise of temperature than the lower, and 
the amount of the change is of the right order of 
magnitude; also rock salt and sylvine show greater 
changes than fluorspar. 

In one case, however, the results have been puzzling. 
The relative intensities of the spectra of the diamond 
at ordinary temperatures are quantities of much im- 
portance. Now the diamond which I use is a thin 
flake which intercepts only a fraction of the incident 
primary ray, a fraction which diminishes as the dia- 
mond is set at a greater angle to the primary beam in 
order to obtain the higher order reflections. It would 
appear, therefore, to be necessary to make allowance 
for this waste of reflection opportunities, a correction 


“‘Letters and Recollections,” p. 343, together with ; which would not be necessary in the case of the 


NGs 231 5,.VOL..92 | 


32 


other crystals, which are thick enough to intercept all 
the primary rays. Yet the intensity ratios are, to all 
appearances, nearly correct before the allowance 1s 
made, and become quite wrong afterwards. The 
diamond behaves as if, like the other crystals, it were 
quite thick. ; 

I have therefore renewed a search for an effect 
which I have more than once failed to find, a special 
absorption of rays which are undergoing reflection. 
Since the earlier attempts the apparatus has gained 
in sensitiveness and accuracy, and I now find that the 
effect is easily visible. That is to say, when the pencil 
of rays strikes the diamond at the proper angle for 
reflection there is a diminution in the amount trans- 
mitted. 

In the experiment as arranged at present a pencil 
of X-rays from a rhodium bulb passes through a slit 
one-tenth of a millimetre wide, and falls upon the 
diamond, which is mounted on the revolving table of 
the spectrometer. The rays that pass through the 
diamond fall afterwards upon a crystal of rock salt 
so placed as to reflect a pencil into the ionisation 
chamber. When the diamond is turned, a minute of 
arc at a time, through the angle (about 9°) at which 
the diamond itself reflects the principal rhodium ray, 
the intensity of the ray reflected by the rock salt drops 
in the ratio 100 to 70. No doubt this ratio could be 
increased by more accurate arrangement. 

The principal rhodium ray is really a doublet, the 
two constituents of which are separated by an angle 
of four minutes under these arrangements. The 
doublet is resolved not only in the pencil reflected by 
the diamond, but also in the absorption band occurring 
in the reflection from the rock salt. 


The effect is no doubt analogous to the selective | 


absorption shown by crystals of chlorate of potash 
(R. W. Wood, Phil. Mag., July, 1906). 
W. H. Brace. 
The University, Leeds. 


Experiments Bearing upon the Origin of Spectra. 


Ir has been known for some years that a stream of 
luminous vapour can be distilled away from the mer- 
cury arc in vacuo, the vapour still remaining luminous 
when it has passed far beyond the limits of the electric 
field. It is known also that this luminosity is quenched 
when the stream passes near a negatively electrified 
metal surface. 

I have from time to time attempted to extend these 
results to other less volatile metals, and have now 
succeeded in a large number of cases. 

A preliminary account of some of the more signifi- 
cant observations will be given, without dwelling on 
experimental details. 

In the case of sodium under favourable conditions, a 
very curious behaviour is observed. Where the dis- 
tilled luminous vapour leaves the lamp, and where, of 
course, it is most brilliant, the light is yellow, and is 
dominated by the D lines. Further on, it becomes 
green, and the lines of the two subordinate series out- 
shine the D lines. Finally, further still, the D lines 
again predominate. It would seem that if we repre- 
sent the intensity of each series as dependent on time 
by a curve, the curve for the principal series will cut 
that for the subordinate series at two points. It is 
not, however, easy to find a law of decay which seems 
physically probable, and will satisfy this condition. 

Another interesting effect is seen when the luminous 
stream is made to pass through a negatively electrified 
wire net. As in the case of mercury, the glow is 
partially extinguished. But, if the glow is watched 
through a spectroscope while the negative potential is 


NOW 2305, VOL..934 


NATURE 


[Marcu 12, 1914 


applied to the gauze, it is seen that the lines of the 
subordinate series are far more affected than the 
D lines. 

We may regard the distilled glow as due either to 
persistent vibration of the luminous centres originally 
excited in the arc, or to some subsequent interaction 
occurring in the gas, such as molecular association, or 
the neutralisation of ions. Whichever view is taken 


| (and neither view is free from difficulty, as I shall 
/ show in a more complete publication) we must attri- 


bute the action of the electrified gauze to its power 
of attracting and neutralising positively charged ions. 
On either view the experiment cited shows that the 
systems which gave rise to the subordinate series are 
not the same as those which give rise to the principal 
series. 

In the case of potassium, the development of the 
subordinate series in the distilled glow is very strik- 
ing, and the existence of a series relation between 
the lines is visible at a glance, since the series are 
not confused by extraneous lines. The photography 
of this spectrum will be undertaken, and it is hoped 
will lead to an improvement in existing knowledge of 
the series and their convergence point. 

Lastly, I will refer to the behaviour of the glow 
from magnesium vapour, Initially, the colour is 
green, dominated by the triplet b, and the green band 
of the ‘‘magnesium hydride”’ spectrum, upon which 
as a background b lies. As the vapour moves on these 
die out, but the blue flame line at 44571 survives much 
longer. The vapour was passed through a wire gauze 
screen. On electrifying this to —4o volts, all the 
features of the spectrum which have been mentioned 
were seen to diminish in intensity, but the effect on 
the blue line and on the bands of magnesium hydride 
was much stronger than the effect on b. The extinc- 
tion of the band spectrum of magnesium hydride is 
specially significant. Re J. STRwGE 

Imperial College of Science, March 9. 


Unidirectional Currents within a Carbon Filament Lamp. 
Tue following experiments are good illustrations of 


| the thermionic current, or Edison effect, in a carbon 


filament lamp, and require only such apparatus as is 
usually found in a laboratory. 

The type of lamp used is that having two large loops 
in the filament, with the middle of the loop fixed by a 
short wire fused in glass at the top of the lamp. 
If the terminals are earthed and a charged body, either 
positive or negative, is brought near the lamp, then 
the two leaves diverge like two leaves of a simple 
electroscope. The loops may touch: the glass bulb, 
and, if so, they spring back discharged. 

But if the lamp is lighted and a pointed rod, con- 
nected to a Wimshurst, gives a powerful positive dis- 
charge, the loops are not displaced, even if the point 
is close to the bulb. On the other hand, with a nega- 
tive discharge, even a foot or two away, the two loops 
of the filament rapidly and repeatedly strike the glass 
and spring back. Apparently this action will go on 
for a long period, if the point of discharge is continued. 

The action may be explained from the fact that the 
lamp acts like a valve, and that the current can pass 
in one direction only, between the hot filament and 
the interior of the bulb. There can only be a ther- 
mionic current of electrons from the filament to the 
sides, and when there is an equilibrium distribution 
the carbon is at a relatively high positive potential 
compared with the inner wall. If this equilibrium is 
disturbed, it is adjusted by a thermionic current only, 
in one direction, or by movement of the loops only, in 
the other direction. 

Thus if the negatively charged plate of an electro- 


MarcH 12, 1914| 


phorus is brought towards the lamp, the loops will 
diverge and strike the sides. Or if the displacement 
is only partial, the loops will swing back to their 
original place of rest directly the charged plate is 
removed to a distance. If, however, the metal disc 
of the electrophorus, positively charged, is brought 
towards the still lighted lamp, there is no movement 
of the loops. Equilibrium of potential is attained by 
emission of electrons from the filament. But as the 
disc with its positive charge is being moved away the 
loops diverge and may strike the glass. 

What is most remarkable is this, that if the dis- 
placement of the loops is only partial, and not up to 
the glass, then when the disc is removed, the loops 
retain their displaced position and very slowly creep 
back to their original place of rest. It is this last 
phenomenon which clearly indicates the great difficulty 
of negative electricity returning to the glowing fila- 
ment, or of positive ions leaving it. 

The Beta rays from a few milligrams of radium 
near the lamp produce in it an ionisation current which 
accelerates the creep into a rapid motion, to the natural 
position of the filament. 

These experiments with the electrophorus can all be 
carried out through a dry wooden drawing-board more 
than half an inch thick. When projected by a lens 
on a screen the motions of the filament afford interest- 
ing lecture-room illustrations of the thermionic current. 

The valve action inside high vacuum lamps was 
explained by Fleming (Proc. Roy. Soc., 1890, vol. 
xIvii., p. 122). An account of his work is given in his 
well-known book on ‘Electric Wave Telegraphy’”’ 
(second edition, p. 478). 

So far as I know, the experiments described in this 
letter, with an electric force, produced outside the 
lamp, have not been previously published. 

Ages. SVE. 

McGill University, Montreal, January 29. 


The Densities of the Planets. 

THE prominence you give to M. F. Ollive’s note in 
Comptes rendus, tome 157, No. 26, induces me to 
point out that M. Ollive’s so-called empirical formula 
is really a simple statement about the densities of the 
planets. The formula is r?>=kRR'v”?, where r is the 
mean radius of any planet, R its mean distance from 
the Sun, R’ the mean distance of any satellite from its 
primary, and v’ the mean orbital velocity of the satel- 
lite. v’?R’ for any satellite can be replaced by yM, 
where y is the gravitation constant, and M is the mass 
of its primary, since we can ignore the mass of the 
planet as compared with its primary. We get then 
v3 =k'RM, where k’ is a new constant. But M=47p74 
where p is the mean density of a planet. Thus we 
get Rp=constant. This is what M. Ollive’s formula 
amounts to. In other words, his formula does not 
derive any generality by the introduction of the satel- 
lites. The fact that his results for the various satel- 
lites of any given primary agree inter se is merely 
Kepler’s third law. 

The value of M. Ollive’s ‘empirical’ formula is 
thus to be measured by the extent to which the formula 
pR=constant is true of the planets of the solar 
system. As it happens, this is at all approximately 
correct only for Earth, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. 
The densities as generally accepted are, taking the 
planets from Mercury outwards, 0:85, 0-89, I-00, 0-71, 
0-24, 0-13, 0:22, 0-20. The density of the earth is 
taken as the standard. M. Ollive’s formula gives 2-58, 
I-39, I-00, 0-66, 0-19, 0-10, 0:05, 0:03. It is evident that 
M. Ollive’s ‘‘empirical’’ formula is quite wrong for 
all but the four planets mentioned, and even for these 
the agreement is by no means encouraging. 

It may be urged that the densities are not observed 


NO. 2315, VOL. 93] 


NATURE 


22 
rere) 


directly, but are inferred from the masses and the radii 
of the planets, so that a small inaccuracy in the 
observed radius of any planet may well account for a 
considerable error in the inferred density. But I very 
much doubt whether astronomers will be ready to 
admit possible errors of 50 per cent. in the radius of 
Uranus and too per cent. for Neptune. They will 
certainly decline to concede an error of 50 per cent. 
in the radius of Mercury and of 12 per cent. in the 
radius of Venus. SELIG BRODETSKY. 
University of Bristol, March 3. 


An Optical Representation of Non-Euclidean Geometry. 


Let us suppose Euclidean space to be filled with a 
medium of variable refractive index. Then to an 
observer in that medium the curved path of a ray 
of light will present all the appearances of a straight 
line, and, further, if the observer estimates the distance 
between two points by the time light takes to pass 
between them, this path will appear to be the shortest 
distance between the two points. 

Suppose now that one or more such observers con- 
duct an Ordnance Survey of the region occupied by 
the medium, using theodolites to measure angles, and 
imagine them to be equipped with instruments capable 
of measuring the time interval occupied by optical 
signals in transmission from one station to another, 
this interval being used as a measure of the distances 
between the stations. It is clear that these observers will 
obtain what to them must be a convincing proof that 
the sum of the three angles of a triangle cannot 
possibly be always equal to two right angles. And it 
would not be easy for an individual whose methods 
of observation of the geometrical properties of such a 
region were limited to those here assumed to believe 
that the space in which he lived could contain a 
Euclidean geometry. G. H. Bryan. 


NATURE RESERVES. 


ie is Only too true that man is slowly but surely 
destroying the beautiful wild animals and 
plants of the world, and is substituting for them 
queer domesticated races which suit his conveni- 
ence and his greed, or else is blasting whole 
territories with the dirt and deadly refuse of his 
industries, and converting well-watered forest 
lands into lifeless deserts by the ravages of his 
axe. It is not too late to rescue here and there 
larger and smaller areas from this awful and 
ceaselessly spreading devastation. In remote 
lands there are large tracts which may be taken 
in charge by the local government and rescued 
from destruction, and to some extent this has been 
done. Even in our over-crowded European states 


' there are still lovely bits of forest, marsh-land, 
_and down which man has not yet irretrievably 


befouled, and from which he has not yet driven 
by assault nor removed by slaughter the beautiful 


living things which nature has guided and nur- 


tured in their seclusion. There is yet time! 
Some of these little scattered fragments of our 
great mother’s handiwork can still be preserved 
even in England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, 
so that future Britons may not utterly curse us, 
but enjoy, with gratitude to those who saved 
them, the precious living relics of the world as it 
was before man destroyed it. 

There must be many who have in these days 


34 NATURE [Marcu 12, 1914 
learnt to know the difference between “the The main objects of the Society for the Pro- 


country’ and the “wilderness,” and have dis- 
covered the rare and over-powering charm of the 
latter. The “country,” with its manured fields, 
its well-trimmed hedges, and artificial barriers, 
its parks planted with foreign trees and shrubs, 
its roadways stinking of tar and petrol, and its 
streams converted into chemical drains or else 
into over-stocked fish-stews, is only rendered less 
repulsive than the town by the survival here and 
there of a pond or a copse or a bit of ancient 
moor-land (happily too swampy for golfers) where 
nature is still allowed to pursue her own way 
without the arrogant interference of that prodigi- 
ously shameless barbarian, the “civilised”? man. 

Who does not know the charm of the real 
wilderness—far from the madding crowd—still 
accessible, even in southern England, to those in 
the secret? It is perhaps most directly to be 
found on a sea-shore bounded by sand dunes and 
marsh lands, or overhung by rocky cliffs on the 
untamed summits of which strange plants and 
legendary birds still linger. It is the real and 
effective absence of the marplot man which gives 
its vast beauty and fascination to that world 
protected by the great sea which is exposed as 
the tides withdraw from the rocks and _ pools. 
Here the passionate lover of nature seeks the 
unparalleled joy of contact with her, unsullied 
by human trail. And he finds it, too, in the 
desolate marshes, the remote sand-wastes of our 
coasts and estuaries, as well as in tthe still- 
surviving moorlands of the north. Plants of 
many kinds, the insects which depend on them, 
and timid birds—all of which perish in the 
presence of civilised man—are still to be seen 
in these precious and adorable sanctuaries. Even 
an old-time pond, undisturbed by man’s improve- 
ments, is for the naturalist who can use the 
microscope a real “‘nature-reserve”’ full of the 
mystery and beauty of isolation. 

It is proposed to secure by purchase or gift 
the right to preserve from destruction in this 
country as much and as many as possible of 
the invaluable surviving haunts ‘of nature. A 
society has been formed for the promotion of 
nature reserves. It is in cooperation . with 
societies and individuals having a like purpose 
in other European countries and in other con- 
tinents, and has already sent representatives to 
an international conference recently held at Berne, 
which was attended by delegates from eighteen 
countries, and was the means of effecting an 
important exchange of views as to purposes and 
methods. The Speaker of the House of Commons 
is the president of the Society, Mr. Ogilvie Grant 
and the Hon. F. R. Henley are its secretaries. 
Its official address is ‘The Natural History 
Museum, Cromwell Road,” and on its council 
we find such influential public men as Sir Edward 
Grey, and Mr. L. V. Harcourt, the two Secre- 
taries of State, and many of our leading naturalists 
such as Profs. Bayley Balfour, J. B. Farmer, 
Edward Poulton, Sir..David Prain, Sir Francis 
Darwin, and the Hon. Charles Rothschild. 


NO: 235) SVOl. 103) 


motion of Nature Reserves, more explicitly 
stated, are “to collect and collate information 
as to areas of land in the United Kingdom which 
retain their primitive conditions; to obtain these 
areas, and to hand them over to the National 
Trust, and thus to preserve for posterity as a 
national possession some part, at least, of our 
native land, its fauna, flora, and geological 
features.” It is hoped that naturalists and lovers. 
of wild life in every district will keep a watchful 
eye on primitive and unspoilt tracts, and bring 
them to the notice of the society by writing to the 
secretary at Cromwell Road. Often such areas, 
if sought in good time, may be purchased at a low 
rate per acre; often local interest and public spirit 
as well as individual generosity, will facilitate the 
acquirement of the purchase-money, whilst ‘the 
National Trust”? has proved itself a capable 
guardian, and will accept the trusteeship of such 
“reserves” with the necessary conditions imposed 
by the Society as to the absolute preservation of 
their natural conditions. No doubt there may be 
some care needed in arranging for the occasional 
admission of visitors to these reserved lands so as 
to avoid the access to them of too large a con- 
course, or of persons who are merely bent on 
holiday frolics—no less than of those who, -actu- 
ated by the cupidity of the collector, would root 
out and destroy, under the false pretence of being 
naturalists and nature-lovers, all the rarer living 
things, as they have done in so many unprotected 
spots. 

Already a beginning has been made in England. 
A part of Wicken Fen in Cambridgeshire has been 
acquired for the nation; also the shingle and salt- 
marshes of Blakeney in Norfolk. Near Oxford, 
too, there is a ‘‘ Ruskin Reserve.” 

In foreign countries the government has long 
been active in the way of establishing “reserves,” 
especially where, as in the United States, there 
are large tracts of uninhabited country. In Ger- 
many there is a department of State to control 
and assist in the preservation of nature, having a 
very large annual budget. There are already 
Ioo reserves in that country. The yew and the 
holly are protected in the Government forests, and 
none may be cut: whilst the service tree is also 
protected. In this country we have no depart- 
ment of forestry, no knowledge or practice of 
forestry, and we shall very soon have no forests. 
The incapacity and want of authority in this sub- 
ject which has been allowed to grow up in the 
British official world is lamentable, and was char- 
acteristically exhibited in the proceedings of the 
recent commission on Coast Erosion. 

In Germany military exercising grounds and 
rifle ranges are made into nature reserves so far 
as is possible and consistent with their military 
use. The same thing might be, and should be, 
done in this country. There is no Government 
department in this country which can either advise 
or control in such matters. Commons, when taken 
over by public authority for preservation, should 


i not be utterly drained of water and converted into 


Marcu 12, 1914] 


London parks, as has been the case at Hampstead, 
where the small bog above the Leg of Mutton 
Pond, in which grew the Sun-Dew (Drosera) and 
the Bog-bean (I used to visit them there!) might 
well have been left as a bog for the delighted 
contemplation of London naturalists. There was 
plenty of dry ground on Hampstead Heath without 
destroying the bog. There is danger of all such 
open spaces being converted into a common-place 
garden or a football field or a golf course unless 
the new society can extend its protection to them. 

The purpose of this article is to invite all lovers 
of the wilderness, all worshippers of uncon- 
taminated nature, to enter into communication 
with the Society for the Promotion of Nature Re- 
serves, and see how far they can help in promoting 
its most worthy national objects. 

E. Ray LANKESTER. 


P.S.—The following series of inquiries issued 
by the Society for the Promotion of Nature Re- 
serves will enable the reader to appreciate its 
purposes and mode of going to work. 


Answers will be treated as strictly confidential, and 
will be at the disposal of the executive committee 
only. Name of Place. District and county where 
area is situated. Name and address of society or 
person giving information. (A) Is the suggested 
area worthy of permanent preservation as:—(1) A 
piece of typical primeval country? (2) A breeding- 
place of one or more scarce creatures? (3) A locality 
for one or more scarce plants? (4) Showing some 
_ section or feature of special geological interest? 
{B) Is the place recommended primarily for birds, 
insects, or plants? (1) To whom does it belong? 
(2) Would the owner be willing to sell, or could the 
area be leased? (3) Could you get local financial aid 
should it be considered desirable to acquire the area? 
(4) Is the place or site locally popular as a pleasure 
resort? This form should be filled up and returned 
to the secretary, Society for Promotion of Nature 
Reserves, c/o Natural History Museum, Cromwell 
Road, London, S.W. 


GOVERNMENT LABORATORY REPORT.} 


Eee the report of the Government Chemist,! 
issued a short time ago, it appears that the 
work of the Department increased considerably 
during the year 1912-13. The total number of 
samples examined was 209,502, aS compared with 
195,170 in the previous year. 

It is noted that many questions of a consulta- 
tive and advisory nature, apart from those con- 
nected with the examination of samples, are 
referred to the laboratory by various Government 
departments. Above 600 such references were 
dealt with during the year. They included such 
diverse matters as the causes of the deficiency in 
the non-fatty solids of milk; the relation between 
the citric acid solubility and the availability of 
the phosphates in slags; the selection of suitable 
denaturants for growing tobacco; stamps for 
National Health Insurance; and the supply of lime 
juice to the mercantile marine. 

In connection with the attempts 


1 The Report of the Government Chemist upon the work of the Govern- 
ment Laboratory for the year ended March 31, 1913. (Cd. 7001). 


NOt aa, AVOL, 932] 


to cultivate 


NATURE 


JD 


| tobacco and sugar in this country, it is interesting 
to note that 224 samples of home-grown leaf 
tobacco were examined, and also specimens of 
beet-juice, sugar, and molasses from the recently 
erected beet sugar factory at North Cantley. 

Imported dairy produce was generally satisfac- 
tory as regards freedom from adulteration. Thus 
fresh (pasteurised) milk was not below the statu- 
| tory regulations for quality, and contained no 
preservatives or artificial colouring substances. 
Imported butter, of which 1223 specimens were 
analysed, occasionally contained a small excess of 
water, but gave no evidence of the presence of fat 
other than butter fat. 

In connection with the supervision of dangerous 
trades, a large number of lead glazes, dust, and 
other articles were analysed. From works where 
lead poisoning had occurred, fifty-eight specimens 
of lead glaze were taken; in most of these nearly 
the whole of the lead was in a soluble form, and 
therefore readily dissolved by the acids of the 
gastric juice. The principal chemist notes also 
that important investigations were conducted 
during the year for the Home Office Committees 
appointed to consider questions concerning (1) 
celluloid, and (2) the use of lead compounds in 
the painting of buildings and coaches. 

A large part of the report is devoted to an 
account of the work done by the laboratory in 
exercising chemical control over the production 
and sale of dutiable articles. The account is 
accompanied by brief outlines of the reasons for 
this control, and shows how it is exercised. 
For example, it is explained that the duty on beer 
brewed in this country is charged on the wort or 
unfermented saccharine liquid from which the beer 
is brewed; that the basis of the charge is a state- 
ment made by the brewer as to the quantity of 
materials used and unfermented wort produced, 
and that the accuracy of this statement can be 
checked at any time subsequently by analysing 
the fermented wort. That there is some need for’ 
such control is shown by the fact that out of 
11,641 samples examined, 1628 were found to have 
been “declared” at less than their true value. 
In this and numerous similar ways the laboratory 
has become an indispensable ancillary of the fiscal 
departments. 

The report shows steady progress of 
laboratory, and records a useful year’s work. 


the 


NOTES. 


THE meeting of the Royal Society on March 19 will 
be a meeting for discussion, the subject being ‘‘ The 
Constitution of the Atom.” The discussion will be 
opened by Sir Ernest Rutherford. 


Mr. LAuRENCE Brinyon, assistant-keeper in the 
British Museum in charge of the sub-department of 
Oriental Prints and Drawings; Dr. R. M. Burrows, 


Price 3d. 


principal of King’s College, London; and Mr. A. G. 
Lyster, president of the Institution of Civil Engineers, 
have been elected members of the Athenzeum Club 
under the provisions of the rule which empowers the 


re) 


annual election by the committee of a certain number 
of persons ‘‘of distinguished eminence in science, 
literature, the arts, or for public services.”’ 


Tue death is announced of Mr. John Gott, widely 
known among telegraph engineers and electricians 
by his pioneer work in electrical testing and practical 
telegraphy. 


Tue death is reported, in his forty-seventh year, of 
Dr. A. H. Pierce, professor of psychology since 1900 
at Smith College, Massachusetts. He was editor of 
the Psychological Bulletin, and author of “ Studies in 
Space Perception.” 


Dr. W. W. Battey, professor of botany at Brown 
University, Rhode Island, from 1881 to 1906, has died 
at the age of seventy-one. His publications included 
“Botanical Collector’s Handbook,’ ‘‘Among Rhode 
Island Wild Flowers,” ‘‘ Botanical Note-book,” ‘‘ New 
England Wild Flowers,’ and ‘ Botanizing,” as well 
as a volume of poems. 


It is announced that the Government will ask the 
House of Commons to sanction a grant of 13,000l. for 
special investigation into the movements of ice in the 
North Atlantic. The grant is provided for in the 
Estimates for Mercantile Marine Services for 1914-15, 
and represents an increase of 11,000l. on the sum voted 
for this purpose last year. 


In the Civil Service Estimates for the year 1914-15, 
issued a few days ago, it is announced under the 
head of ‘‘Grants in Aid of Scientific Investigation,”’ 
that the sum of 5o0ool. is to be voted this year towards 
the expenses of the British Transantarctic Expedition, 
which Sir Ernest Shackleton is to conduct across the 
south polar continent. Another 5o00l. is to be voted 
next year. This grant of 10,oool. forms part of the 
sum of 50,000l., which was already guaranteed before 
the public announcement of the expedition. 


A NEW magnetic observatory is being established in 
Swider, near Warsaw, in connection with the mag- 
netic researches now being carried on in Poland by 
Dr. St. Kalinowski. The observatory will be provided 
with registering instruments (Adolf Schmidt’s system), 
and for the absolute determinations a large Sartorius 
magnetic theodolite and an earth inductor will be used. 
Dr. Kalinowski hopes that the new observatory will 
be in active operation in the present year. 


In accordance with the resolution adopted by the 
eighteenth International Congress of Americanists, 
held in London in 1912, the Smithsonian Institution 
have made arrangements for holding the nineteenth 
congress in Washington on October 5-10. The 
organising committee, of which the chairman is Prof. 
W. H. Holmes, head of the department of anthro- 
pology, United States National Museum, has already 
drawn up a provisional programme. This includes an 
archeological excursion to the aboriginal quarries and 
workshops at Piney Branch. A feature of the con- 
gress will be an exhibition of rare Americana and 
other objects and a special exhibition in the museum 
of the daughters of the American Revolution. 


NOW ZeNS, ViOlL.93 | 


36 NATURE 


and so on. 


[MarcH 12, 1914 

On Tuesday, March 24, Mr. A. H. Smith, keeper 
of Greek and Roman antiquities in the British 
Museum, will begin a course of two lectures at the 
Royal Institution on landscape and natural objects in 
classical art, and on Thursday, March 26, Dr. C. W. 
Saleeby will deliver the first of two lectures on the 
progress of eugenics : (1) ‘‘ The First Decade, 1904-14,” 
(2) ‘‘Eugenics of To-day: its Counterfeits, Powers, 
and Problems.”’ The Friday evening discourse on March 
27 will be delivered bv Prof, J. A. Fleming on improve- 
ments in long-distance telephony, and on April 3 by 
Sir J. J. Thomson on further researches on positive 
rays. 


Pror. E. NAVILLE, in the Times of March 6, de- 
scribes a remarkable discovery in the course of excava- 
tion at Abydos. Strabo, in his account of what he 
calls the ‘‘ Fountain of Abydos,” speaks of a labyrinth 
with covered ways roofed with enormous slabs resting 
on pillars. Two gigantic colonnades have now been 
discovered not far from Seti’s temple, leading into a 
great hall, now empty, as it has been a quarry for 
centuries. The texts, however, which survive on the 
walls, copies of the Book of the Underworld, show 
that this was the famious tomb of Osiris. Like the 
pyramids in the case of the monarchs of Egypt, this 
splendid building was a fitting tomb for a god. What 
has become of his body, whether only his head was 
preserved, whether the remains were enclosed in a 
sarcophagus—we shall probably never know. 


Tue Army Estimates for 1914-15 provide a million 
pounds sterling for the air service, of which nearly 
200,0001. is for buildings. | Colonel Seely’s memor- 
andum on the Estimates points out that good progress 
has been made during the past year with the develop- 
ment of the Military Wing of the Royal Flying Corps. 
By the end of this month the number of officer fliers 
will have grown to about two hundred. During the 
past year an Inspection Department for Aviation has 
been formed and is finding much scope for its activi- 
ties in inspecting new supplies of all kinds, and also 
in overhauling periodically the aeroplanes, engines, 
and so on of the flying squadrons. A special section 
of the Army Ordnance Department is also, about to 
be formed to deal with the storage and supply of the 
highly technical and complicated matériel used in this 
branch of the service. As a general indication of the 
progress made in the past year, it may be said that, 
as compared with 100 aeroplanes in existence on 
March 20, 1913, there were on February 25 last 161 
on hand, and between those dates 87 had been struck 
off as unserviceable and replaced. 


Some of the recent work at Rothamsted in connec- 
tion with the partial sterilisation of soils has found 
application in the Lea Valley district just north of 
London, where a great market garden and glasshouse 
industry flourishes. So much interest has _ been 
aroused among the growers that they have banded 
themselves together to form an Experiment Station 
where the various problems arising out of the industry 
can be investigated in a scientific manner, and where 
advice may be obtained as to plant diseases, pests, 
The growers have raised a large sum of 


Marcu 12, 1914] 


money among themselves for the erection and main- 
tenance of the station, and, in addition, a substantial 
Government grant has been made, and the county 
councils have also contributed; the financial success 
of the scheme therefore seems assured. The problems 
to be investigated are of great technical importance 
and high scientific interest. A strong committee of 
management has been formed, one-half being prac- 
tical growers, and the other half men of science 
nominated by the committee of the Rothamsted Ex- 
perimental Station. The scientific side of the work 
will, therefore, be amply represented, and there is 
every prospect that a sound programme of work will 
be drawn up. 


Mr. G. Marconr delivered a lecture in Rome on 
March 3 before the King and Queen of Italy, members 
of the Italian Government, both Houses of Parliament, 
and the Diplomatic Corps. He described the progress 
which had been made in wireless telegraphy, and the 
difficulties which had been overcome since his previous 
lecture in Rome in 1903. His voyage to South 
America on board the Principessa Mefalda had illus- 
trated that communication in a north and south direc- 
tion was easier than communication in an east and 
west direction. Mr. Marconi described his new system 
for generating continuous waves, and its use in wire- 
less telephony. He then described the apparatus for 
producing waves, divided into regular groups, and 
dealt with the improvements effected in receivers, 
giving a practical demonstration of the reception of 
messages in the lecture hall from Poldhu, in Cornwall, 
and Tripoli. Mr. Marconi finally described the prac- 
tical applications of radio-telegraphy to all types of 
vessels, including submarines, as well as its uses in 
war and peace. He concluded with an acknowledg- 
ment of the help which he had received from the King 
and Queen of Ita‘y. 


AN appeal on behalf of the Alfred Russel Wallace 
Memorial Fund, signed by the executive officers, Prof. 
R. Meldola, Prof. E. B. Poulton, and Mr. James 
Marchant, was published in the issue of Nature for 
December 11 last (vol. xcii., p. 425). 
sum can be raised, the following memorials are pro- 
posed :—(1) A memorial medallion for Westminster 
Abbey, to which the Dean and Chapter have given 
their consent; (2) a portrait; (3) a copy of the portrait 
for presentation to the nation; and (4) a statue to be 
offered to the trustees of the British Museum for 
erection in the Natural History Museum. It is esti- 
mated that the complete scheme can be carried out 
for 11001. The subscriptions received or promised 
amount to 2001. The medallion for Westminster 
Abbey will, it is estimated, necessitate the expenditure 
of at least 300l., and the executive committee is 
anxious to complete this part of the work as soon as 
possible. The second part of the scheme, the portrait, 
will be proceeded with as soon as an additional sum 
of 3501. is subscribed. The most convenient course for 
intending subscribers to adopt is to send cheques 
made payable to the ‘‘ Alfred Russel Wallace Memorial 
Fund,’ to the manager, Union of London and Smith’s 
Bank, Holborn Circus, London, E.C. It is earnestly 
to be hoped that a sufficient response to the appeal will 


NOW 2305, VOL.' 93 | 


If a sufficient ~ 


NATURE 


o/ 


be speedily forthcoming to enable the executive officers 
to complete what will be worthy memorials of a great 
naturalist. 


THE report of the council of the Physical Society 
(adopted at the annual general meeting on February 
13) states that owing to the improved financial posi- 
tion it is felt that the society’s field of activity should 
be increased; careful consideration has, therefore, 
been given, during the past year, to the possibility 
of introducing new features, such as the issue, from 
time to time, of reports upon certain subjects of 
general interest. The first subject selected for the 
purpose is radiation. Mr. J. H. Jeans, F.R.S., has 
expressed his willingness to write the report upon this 


| subject, and to have it complete during the summer. 


An occasional or annual lecture by some eminent 
physicist will also be arranged. This series of lectures, 
the first of which wi!l be found summarised 
elsewhere in this issue, will be known as the Guthrie 
Lectures, in memory of the late Prof. F. Guthrie, 
through whose efforts the society was founded. A 
committee has been appointed by the council to con- 
sider questions in regard to nomenclature and symbols 
and allied matters, and consists of Prof. H. L. Cal- 
lendar, Mr. A. Campbell, Dr. C. Chree, Dr. W. 
Eccles, Prof. G. Carey Foster, Sir George Greenhill, 
Dr; A. Russell, “Prof. the: Hon.” Ri J Stuntt,” Prot: 
S. P. Thompson, and Prof. W. Watson, with Dr. 
Eccles as secretary and convener. At present the com- 
mittee is discussing electric and magnetic quantities ; 
but reports on mathematical and mechanical nomen- 
clature and symbols, so far as these concern physicists, 
and on heat are also projected. 


A summary of the weather for the past winter in the 
several districts of the United Kingdom, as shown 
by the results for the thirteen weeks ended February 
28, has been issued by the Meteorological Office. The 
mean temperature for the whole period was above the 
average over the whole of the British Isles, the excess 
being greatest in the English districts. The highest 
temperature in any district was 61° in the midland 
counties, and the lowest reading 5° in the east of 
Scotland. In the north-east of England the lowest 
winter temperature fell to 9°, and in all other districts 
it fell below 20°, except in the English Channel district, 
where the lowest reading was 25°. The summary 
shows the rainfall to be less than the average except 
in the north of Scotland and the north of Ireland; 
the greatest deficiency was 2-15 in. in the midland 
counties, where the total rainfall was only 67 per cent. 
of the average. In the north-east of England the 
rainfall was 70 per cent. of the average, in the east 
of England 75 per cent., and in the south-west of 
England 86 per cent. of the average. The greatest 
aggregate measurement for the winter was 19-16 in. 
in the north of Scotland, and the least measurement 
3:83 in. in the north-east of England. There was a 
deficiency in the number of rainy days in all the Eng- 
lish districts. The duration of bright sunshine was 
deficient over the entire kingdom, except in the south- 
east of England, where, however, the excess was very 
slight. 


re) 


29 NATURE 


[Marcu 12, 1914 


In the Annals of the South African Museum, vol. 
xiii., part i., Mr. L. Péringuey, the director, gives an 
interesting list of inscriptions left by early European 
navigators to the East in South Africa. The earliest 
inscribed stone is that of Diego Cao, a.p. 1484. This 
was found in German territory in 1893. By orders 
of the German Emperor, the original has been re- 
moved to Germany; one replica has been erected on 
the spot where the original stood, and a second has 
been promised by the German authorities to the South 
African Museum. The first English record is that of 
Antony Hippon, mate or master of the Hector, dated 
in 1605. The next is that of the Thomas in 1618. 
The paper throws new and interesting light on the 
early history of European discoveries in the East, and 
the evidence now provided will be useful for com- 
parison with the early records in the India Office. 


Tue University Museum of Philadelphia has started 
an interesting experiment for the study of some Indian 
tribes. Mr. L. Shotridge, a full-blood Tlinget, from 
the Chilkat river in south-eastern Alaska, has been 
appointed an assistant on the museum staff. He has 
made for the museum a model of a section of his 
native village, and in this article, in the issue of the 
journal of the museum for September, 1913, he gives 
a detailed account, with plans, of the methods of 
house-construction. Those of chiefs are sometimes 
elaborately decorated, and are looked on with respect, 
because in them are kept the old relics—ceremonial 
costumes, helmets, batons, carved and painted screens 
and posts—which have come down from the family 
ancestor. The house drawings are interesting as 
showing the methods of native architecture and car- 
pentry. 


No. 6 of the fourth volume of the Journal of the 
College of Agriculture of Tokyo is devoted to an 
account by Mr. Tsunekata Miyaké of the Japanese 
insects of the neuropterous group Mecoptera, a group 
of which Japan is already known to possess more 
than forty species, while Europe and America collec- 
tively do not own more than twenty. It was at one 
time supposed that these insects, as _ typified by 
Panorpa, were of value to agriculturists on account of 
their destroying other insects, but their importance 
in this respect appears to have been overrated. 


THE receipt of a copy of the February issue affords 
a welcome opportunity of bearing testimony to the 
high standard of excellence attained, both from the 
zoological and the artistic point of view, of Mr. 
Douglas English’s illustrated monthly journal, Wild 
Life, which has now entered its third volume. Among 
the contents of the present issue an article by Mr. 
C. J. King on the grey seal in the Scilly Isles, illus- 
trated by photographs showing the wonderful differ- 
ence between the coat of the new-born young and 
half-grown individuals, is one of the most interesting. 
Attention may also be directed to the photograph by 
Mr. Seth Smith of the male pigmy hippopotamus 
recently presented to the Zoological Society by the 
Duke of Bedford, which, although taken when the 
animal was too much in the shade, serves to show 
the small head, slender limbs, and widely separated 


NO 2315; .VOE, 93) 


toes distinctive of the species. The ‘society now» 
possesses a pair of these rare animals. 


Tue Transactions of the Royal Scottish Arboricul- 
tural Society, vol. xxviii., part ‘1 (January, 1914), 
contain the concluding part of Mr. A. D. Hopkinson’s 
account of the State forests of Saxony, which are 
perhaps the best managed in Europe, being worked 
upon a strictly commercial basis. These forests, with’ 
an area of 426,105 acres, yielded in 1910 a gross 
return of 790,753!., from which, if the working ex- 
penses, 327,869/., are deducted, there remains a net’ 
annual revenue of 462,8851., or 11. 1s. 9d. an acre. 
The expenses comprise cost of administration, main-’ 
tenance of roads and buildings, cost of felling and: 
planting, etc., and include also such items as 1o44l. 
for research work, and 8035/. for insurance of work- 
men. The main species in cultivation is spruce, 
which is felled at an age of eighty years. Of special 
interest to plant ecologists is Mr. G. P. Gordon’s 
article on the different associations constituting the 
beautiful natural forest of the Zernez district in the 
Engadine, which has lately been made a nature reserve 
by the Swiss Government. Continental forestry is 
further dealt with in the official account of the visit 
of the society to Switzerland in July, 1913, and by 
numerous notes on the forests of I*rance and southern 
Germany. The main article on home forestry deals 
in a practical way with the successful planting of a 
considerable tract of high-lying peat at Corrour, in 
Inverness-shire. The method adopted is a Belgian 
one, which was introduced by Sir John Stirling- 
Maxwell in 1908. 


THERE seems to be some probability of more un- 
favourable ice conditions in the North Atlantic this 
year than existed during 1913. Although bergs were 
sighted throughout the whole of that year, they were 
comparatively few in number, and of small dimen- 
sions on the Transatlantic routes. The meteorological 
charts of that ocean for the present month published 
by the Meteorological Office and by the Deutsche See- 
warte contain useful notes upon the subject. Bergs 
were seen at Belleisle early in January last, and also 
several about 46° N., between 46° and 49° W. On 
January 30, in 482° N. and 48-7° W., the steamer 
Czar had to alter her course considerably to get clear 
of field ice, and some ships bound for Canada have 
had, owing to unfavourable ice conditions, to tale to 
the more southerly route before the usual time agreed 
upon. ‘There was much ice on the west coast of Ice- 
land in the early part of January, and several trawlers 
are reported to have received damage. 


A BIBLIOGRAPHY of the Antarctic, from the earliest 
works to 1913, by J. Denucé, forms a bulky appendix 
to the thin report of the International Polar Commis- 
sion held at Rome in April, 1913 (Bruxelles: Hayez, 
1913). ‘The first outcome of the ambitious projects of 
this scheme was the ‘“‘ Liste des Expéditions Polaires 
depuis 1800,’ compiled in 1908 by the same author, 
and republished in a revised form in 1911. The pre- 
sent bibliography is excellently arranged under various 
subjects, and in cases where the entries are numerous, 
a regional subdivision has been adcpted. The entries 
under each heading are in chronological order, and 


Marcu 12, 1914] 


NATURE 


39 


classified with an index number on the decimal system. 
The division of the Antarctic into four equal quadrants 
is a mistake, as it results in the partition of the Ross 
Sea, but any scheme of division must have its draw- 
backs, especially as the isolated known areas become 
linked by further exploration. M. Denucé has founded 
his work en the polar ‘library which the commission 
is trying to form in Brussels, but he has gone far 
beyond the scope of that collection, and has spread 
his net wide enough to include various important 
reviews of Antarctic works, many newspaper articles, 
and notes in geographical publications, some of which 
inevitably would be lost sight of but for a careful com- 
pilation of this kind. On the other hand, there is 
room for revision and additions. . We have noted a few 
omissions, and some slight errors in references, besides 
the premature inclusion of some papers announced, but 
‘not yet published. However, M. Denucé’s work 
a welcome supplement to Dr. H. R. Mill’s_ biblio- 
graphy in the ‘Antarctic Manual” of 1901. 


is 


THE symbol |x| as applied to real quantities denotes 
the numerical value of x irrespective of algebraic sign. 
In a recent paper (Moscow: I. N. Kouchnéreff and 
€o., 1913), Dr. D. Riabouchinsky, director of .the 
aerodynamic institute of Koutchino, treats this quan- 
tity as a junction of the variable x, and shows how 
this method leads to interesting formula invoiving 
the solution of equations, differentiation, and integra- 
tion. A number of elegant geometrical applications 
are also given, such as equations of broken lines, and 
equations of limited portions of planes, such as a 
square area. 


Tue first number of the Washington University 
NSiudies contains an interesting paper by Mr. Benjamin 
M. Duggar on Lycopersicin, the red pigment of the 
tomato, and the effects of conditions on its develop- 
ment. This red pigment is partially or completely 
suppressed when green fruits are. ripened at a tem- 
perature of 30° C. or above, the inhibition of redden- 
ing being proportional to the temperature above this 
point. The factors for reddening are not destroyed 
by high temperatures, and a return of the fruit to 
normal conditions causes rapid pigmentation. The 
presence of oxygen is necessary to bring about redden- 
ing, and fruits maintained in an oxygen-free atmo- 
sphere fail to redden at the normal ripening tempera- 
ture. The colouring matter of the red peppers and of 
the arils of Momordica exhibit the absorption bands 
of Lycopersicin. 


Tue Photographic Journal for February contains a 
condensed account prepared by Mr. F. F. Renwick of 
Dr. H. Ewest’s thesis on quantitative spectrophoto- 
graphy. After giving a short account of most of the 
methods used previously, the author gives a descrip- 
tion of his own apparatus, and the tests he has made 
in order to see that it is capable of giving trustworthy 
results. The light from a Nernst lamp is condensed 
on the slit of a direct-vision spectroscope, and the 
spectrum is produced on the photographic plate to be 
tested. Immediately in front of the plate is a neutral 
Goldberg absorbing wedge which covers the whole 


| portion of the negative then allows the character of 


| 
| 


the plate to be determined, and the relations between 
the time of exposure, the intensity of the light, and 
the density of the negative in all parts of the spectrum 
to be investigated.. The method seems convenient and 
trustworthy, and should lead to an extension of our 
knowledge in this field. 

AN important paper on the nature of enzyme action 
by Mr. Hendrik S. Barendrecht appears in the Bito- 
chemical: Journal (vol. vii., part 6). In this paper, 
which bears the title, ‘‘Enzyme Action, Facts and 


_ Theory,’ it is pointed out that the researches of the 


past few years on the kinetics of enzyme action have 
brought more confusion than clearness into this field. . 
An attempt is made by Mr. Barendrecht to clear up 
some of the contradictory statements regarding the 
kinetics of some of the most simple enzyme actions. 
As a working hypothesis it is assumed that enzyme 
action spreads like a radiation from an enzyme par- 
ticle as centre; this conception is developed mathe- 
matically for the cases of more or less concentrated 
solution of the substrate, and the effect is considered 
of the products of the action exercising an absorption 
on the active radiations, and hence cn the velocity of 
the change. In this way velocity equations are de- 
rived, which explain certain cases which have appeared 
be abnormal. In particular the special cases of 
the action of invertase on cane sugar, of lactase on 
milk sugar, and of maltase on maltose are considered, 
with especial reference to the effect of the resulting 
sugars on the velocity constants. 


to 


In the course of an interesting and suggestive pape 


on the calculations and details for steel-frame build- 


ings, read at the Concrete Institute on February 26, 
Mr. W. Cyril Cocking urged that all constructional 
engineers and draughtsmen should support the London 
Building Acts 1909 Amendment. It may be thought 
by some that certain amendments to the Act would be 
desirable, but no concessions can be expected unless 
all concerned with its working combine to make the 
best of it as at present framed. Time has shown 
already that the Act has been the means of improving 
considerably the general design of steelwork. The 
rg09 amendment is an Engineer’s Act essentially, and 
the reinforced concrete regulations will be more so, 


| and it seems within the possibilities of the near future 


plate, and is raised with the plate at a uniform rate. | 


The curve separating the opaque from the transparent 
NO. 2315, VOL. 93] 


that, provided the engineer takes advantage of his 
opportunities, he might assume the more important 
position—the architect then confining his attention 
solely to the architectural treatment. Whole-hearted 
cooperation between engineer and architect will tend 
to provide London with buildings in which the archi- 
tecture is more fully developed, and combined with 
sound construction in such a manner that the demands 
of economy and scientific utility are satisfied fully. 

A GENERAL discussion on every aspect of the passivity 
of metals was held at the meeting of the Faraday 


| Society on November 12 last, and was reported in 


the issue of Nature for November 20, 1913 (vol. xcii., 
p. 350). The eight papers read on that occasion, 
together with the discussion upon them, have now 
been reprinted from the Transactions of the Faraday 
Society in book form, and can be obtained at the 


* price of 7s. 6d. 


AO 


Tue following books relating to science are 
announced, in addition to those referred to in our 
issue of March 5 :—In Anthropology—The Ban of the 
Bori: an Account of Demons and Demon-Dancing in 
West and North Africa, Major A. J. N. Tremearne, 
illustrated (Heath, Cranton, and Ouseley); in Biology 
—-The Wonder of Life, Prof. J. A. Thomson, illus- 


trated (A. Melrose, Ltd.); In Nature’s Ways, M. 
Woodward, illustrated (C. A. Pearson, Ltd.); 
British Flowering Plants, illustrated by Mrs. 


H. Perrin, with descriptive notes and an_ in- 
troduction by Prof. Boulger, 4 vols. (B. Quaritch); 
in Chemistry—Chemical Lecture Diagrams, Dr. 
G. Martin; The Wonderland of Modern Chem- 
istry, Dr. G. Martin, illustrated (Sampson Low and 
Co., Ltd.); Elements of Physical Chemistry, J. L. R. 
Morgan, new edition (New York: J. Wiley and Sons, 
Inc.); in Engineering—Modern Practice in Tunnel- 
ling, D. W. Brunton and J. A. Davis; Subaqueous 
Foundations, C. E. Fowler; Influence Lines for the 
Determination of Maximum Moments in Beams and 
Trusses, M. A. Howe (New York: J. Wiley and Sons, 
Inc.); in Geography and Travel—Sport and Science 
on the Sino-Mongolian Frontier, A. de C. Sowerby 
(A. Melrose, Ltd.); Hunting and Hunted in the Bel- 
gian Congo, R. D. Cooper, illustrated; South Polar 
Times, reproduced in facsimile, new volume (Smith, 
Elder and Co.); in Geology-——-A.B.C. of the Useful 
Minerals, A. McLeod; Engineering Geology, H. Ries 
and T. L. Watson (New York: J. Wiley and Sons, 
Inc.); in Mathematical and Physical Science—Science 
and Method, H. Poincaré, translated by F. Maitland 
(T. Nelson and Sons); The Stars Night by Night, 
J. H. Elgie, illustrated (C. A. Pearson, Ltd.) ; Meteoro- 
logical Treatise, F. H. Bigelow; Theory of Numbers, 
R. D. Carmichael; Elementary Theory of Equations, 
L. E. Dickson; Invariants, L. E. Dickson (New York : 
J. Wiley and Sons, Inc.); in Medical Science—Indus- 
trial Gas Poisoning, Prof. Glaister and Dr. D. D. 
Logan (E. and S. Livingstone). 


OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 


Comet 1913f (DELAvAN).—In_ this column for 
February 12 we gave the ephemeris of comet 1913f, 
discovered by Delavan, which was computed by Dr. 
G. van Biesbroeck. This ephemeris is now con- 
tinued here for the rest of the month so far as it is 
published :— 

oh. M.T. Berlin. 


R.A. (true) Dec. (true) Mag. 

ewes iss - } 7 

MAC RU MISe<) 0.2) 47020 +5 53:6 10-7 
eae ah AQ mee 6.28:5° Se Voss 

21 wes 51 44 7 23°7 10-7 

BiGMa ot.) Qs 5A TD +8 92 10-6 


The magnitudes are based on the assumption that 
the comet was of magnitude 11-0 on December 17. 
The current number of the Lick Observatory Bulletin 
(No. 250) contains another computation of the para- 
bolic elements of this comet undertaken by Messrs. 
S. Einarsson and S. B. Nicholson, and an ephemeris 
based on those elements by Miss Julia I. Mackay and 
Mr. C. D. Shane, of the same institution. © The 
elements are very closely similar to those calculated 
by Dr. Biesbroeck, and the ephemeris differs only 


NO. 2315, VOL. 93| 


NATO LOE: 


[MarcH 12, 1914 


slightly. According to the last-mentioned computers, 
it is stated that assuming the brightness of the comet 
to have been 1-00 on December 29 of last year the 
comet may become visible to the naked eye. 

On the other hand, M. R. Goudey contributes to the 
Astronomische Nachrichten (No. 4717) elliptic elements 
of the above comet based on observations extending 
between December 18, 1913, and January 15 of the 
present year. The position he gives in his ephemeris 
for March 21 is almost identical with that stated in 
the foregoing table. 


A LarGe REFLECTOR FOR CANADA.—It is very satis- 
factory to be able to record that Canada will soon be 
equipped with a fine large reflecting telescope, con- 
tracts having been given for its construction. When 
it is mentioned that Messrs. J. A. Brashear and Co. 
will be responsible for the optical parts, and Messrs. 
Warner and Swasey Co. for the mounting, the well- 
known capabilities of these firms should certainly 
secure a fine instrument. Prof. J. S. Plaskett is to 
be congratulated on the successful issue of his en- 
deavour to secure an instrument of large aperture for 
Canada, and his account of the proposed form of 
mounting, programme of. work, etc., contributed to 
the current number of the Journal of the Royal Astro- 
nomical Society of Canada will be read with interest. 
The telescope will have a parabolic mirror of 72 in. 
clear aperture, with a central hole of 10 in., the focal 
length being 30 ft.; it is to be mounted similarly to 
the Melbourne reflector. It will be primarily used for 
spectrographic observations of stellar radial velocities, 
but it is planned to have the telescope available for 
the direct photography of nebula, clusters, etc. One 
of the principal considerations in the design is to 
enable work ‘‘to be done in the most efficient and 
convenient way possible with the simplest possible 
mechanical design.’’ The communication in question 
describes in detail the simplifications with which it is 
intended the instrument shall be equipped. 


THE SMITHSONIAN ASTROPHYSICAL OBSERVATORY.— 
The report of the Astrophysical Observatory for 1913, 
under the direction of the Smithsonian Institution, 
contains a good account of progress made; in fact, 
the director, Mr. Abbot, refers to the work of the 
observatory as ‘“‘uncommonly successful.’’ We notice 
that for the solar work at Mount Wilson there has 
just been erected a Tower telescope, 4o ft. high, for 
use with the spectrobolometer, for the study of the 
distribution of radiation over the sun’s disc. The 
report states many results of the year’s work. Thus 
the mean value of the solar constant of radiation at 
the earth’s mean distance from the sun, from about 
700 observations made at high and low stations be- 
tween 1902 and IgI2 is 1-932 calories per square centi- 
metre per minute. The fluctuation of the ‘‘ solar con- 
stant ’’ values is attributed to the variability of the 
sun, and in addition to the periodicity due to sun-spots, 
there is another ‘irregular, non-periodic variation, 
sometimes running its course in a week or ten days, 
at other times in longer periods and varying over 
irregular fluctuations of from 2 to 10 per cent. of the 
total radiation in magnitude.’”’ Further, a combina- 
tion of the effects of sun-spots and volcanic haze is 
put forward as explaining the principal outstanding 
irregularities in the temperature of the earth for the 
last thirty years. Finally, in the Californian expedi- 
tion, in which sounding balloons were employed, the 
solar radiation values at very high altitudes indicate 
that the direct pyrohelion metric observations gave 
results of the same order of magnitude as the solar 
constant work of 1902-12 by high and low sun observa- 
tions on homogeneous rays, according to Langley’s 
methods. 


Marcu 12, 1914]. 


THE IMPORTATION OF BIRDS’ PLUMAGE. 


T O the Fortnightly Review for March Miss L. Gar- 

diner contributes, under the title, ‘‘ The Fight for 
the Birds,” a timely article apropos of Mr. Hobhouse’s 
Plumage Bill now down for second reading. She 
gives a history of the rise and progress of the contest 
against the slaughter and extermination of so many 
of the most useful and ornate birds of the world for 
the plumassier trade, which has never been more in 
evidence than in the past season or two, during which 
women have ‘“‘so gaily worn the brand of Cain in the 
street.’ Miss Gardiner quotes statistics from brokers’ 
catalogues, mainly of 1911, 1912, 1913, which show 
that, besides others, 132,000 ‘‘ospreys’’ were killed, 
8700 birds of paradise, 22,000 crowned pigeons, 24,000 
humming-birds, 23,000 terns, 162,000 kingfishers, 1200 
emeus, and 4500 condors. It is significant that, as 
the author remarks, ‘‘reports on the quantities now 
sold are no longer published in the Public Ledger 
since the House of Lords inquiry.” 

The outcry against this wholesale slaughter is 
not confined to the lovers of nature and the humani- 
tarians as such, but is loud from the agriculturists of 
the Himalayas, of Madras, and other parts of India, 
of Georgia, Florida, and Carolina, and of Egypt, 
whose crops are devastated by reason of the scarcity of 
the birds that heretofore destroyed the insect pests now 
ruining them. Strong official support has been given 
by the Zoological Society to Mr. Hobhouse’s Bill, and 
also by the British Ornithologists’ Union, although the 
trade journals claim beth societies, as well as quote 
the names of numerous distinguished scientific men, 
many of whose names were authorised under the 
impression that they were supporting the principle of 
the Bill—as in favour, not of the Bill, but as supporters 
of the Committee for the Economic Preservation of 
Birds. Unfortunately, the Zoological Society has been 
made to appear to the general public to support the 
Economic Committee—to which it is absolutely hostile 
—through the secretary of the society having accepted, 
in his private capacity, the chairmanship of the com- 
mittee. The corresponding Economic Committee in 
Paris, as recorded recently in Nature (January 29, 
p- 617), was entirely defeated on its very strenuous 
attempts to check the growing force of opinion ‘in 
France in favour of the protection of birds, fostered 
by the Acclimatisation Society. 

Miss Gardiner’s article should be widely studied 
by all who desire to know the rights and wrongs of 
the plumage traffic. In a letter ‘‘“On the Need for 
Protection of Rare Birds,”’ in the Times for March 3, 
the Hon. Charles Rothschild says he is impelled to 
write ‘‘as there is a danger of the [Plumage (Prohibi- 
tion)] Bill being defeated through the efforts of those 
opposed to the measure, who have formed them- 
selves into . . . the Committee for the Economic Pre- 
servation of Birds.’’ His observations fully corroborate 
what Miss Gardiner has stated about the objects of 
this committee in the Fortnightly Review. ‘One 
thing is certain,’ as Mr. Rothschild remarks, ‘‘ that 
many of the most beautiful birds have never been in 
greater need of protection than at the present time. 
In the Times of March 6 Mr. C. F. Downhan, reply- 
ing to Mr. Rothschild, trails once more the red- 
herring of the ‘“‘dead’’ egret feathers across the ques- 
tion. It has been abundantly proved that the plumes 
offered as “‘dead’’ were wrongly so described to quieten 
public opinion; and if, indeed, any ‘‘dead”’ feathers 
now come to the market, they are brought with the 
same object, and for the reason that the supply from 
slaughtered birds has decreased below the demand, 
not ‘‘because the area of protection is increasing,’’ 
but because the heronries themselves have been so 


NO e235. VOL. 93)| 


NATURE 4n 


depopulated. It is amusing to read Mr. Downham’s 
statement that ‘‘the nuptial plumes of the egret are 
borne by the birds long after the nesting time, and 
that the birds carry their feathers for seven or eight 
months of the year.” 

In the March issue of Pearson’s Magazine 
Mr. Hesketh-Pritchard describes the almost  in- 
credible cruelties perpetrated by the professional 
plume-hunters, the sworn testimony of one of whom 
he quotes, which is directly contradictory of the plume- 
traders’ reiterated declarations that the ‘‘egrets’’ are 
moulted feathers. The Spectator of March 7 has also 
a powerful article on the need for the Plumage Bill, 
from which the following sentences are extracted :— 
‘“. . . the activities of the [economic] committee 
appear at present to be centred hardly so much on the 
protection of birds which are being harassed, as upon 
definite opposition to the Bill which prohibits the 
importation of their plumage. ... The plumage of 
all birds is at its brightest in the breeding season, 
and it is at this season, therefore, that the bird is 
killed. No ‘economic preservation’ will alter that 
fact. The plain issue, in short, is... whether 
traffic in feathers which admittedly involves cruelty 
and which leads inevitably towards the extinction of 
species shall be permitted at all. So far as Great 
Britain is concerned, we hope that a Plumage Act 
will be the answer.”’ 

A public meeting will be held at Caxton Hall, on 
Thursday, March 19, at 5.30, under the patronage of 
the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the 
Zoological Society, the Avicultural Society, the British 
Ornithologists’ Union, the Society for the Promotion 
of Nature Reserves, the Society for the Preservation 
of the Wild Fauna of the Empire, and other bodies, in 
support of the Plumage Bill. When the Bill is passed 
it will be illegal to import the feathers or skins except 
for scientific purposes, for which purpose a_ licence 
will be obtainable from the Board of Trade. It is 
confidently believed that such legislation will have 
far-reaching effects towards the preservation of rare 
and beautiful wild birds. The trade in ostrich feathers 
is specially exempted from the provisions of the Bill. 
Tickets (free) for the meeting may be obtained through 
the secretaries of the patron societies, or from the 
hon sec., Plumage Meeting, 34 Denison House, West- 
minster. 


THE VITAMINES OF FOOD: 


‘LEURENT, in his ‘‘Le pain de Froment,” shows 
that the grain of wheat consists, by weight, of 
the protective coat (15-6 per cent.), the embryo or 
germ of millers (1-4 per cent.), and the white flour 
(83 per cent.). The coat includes, in addition to the 
pericarp and testa, the aleurone layer of the endo- 
sperm, the remainder of which forms white flour. 
The bran of the miller, as removed by the metallic 
roller, includes the aleurone layer, which is not only 
a starchless layer, rich in fats, but contains the newly 
discovered bodies to which C. Funk has given the 
name of vitamines, and of which the first detailed 
authoritative account has appeared this year (‘‘ Die 
Vitamine,” von Casimir Funk, J. F. Bergman, Wies- 
baden, ro14). 

A discussion of their chemical nature would be out 
of place now, and must be left to organic chemists. 
It may be mentioned, however, that they do not con- 
tain phosphorus, they are not fatty bodies, and are 
distinct from lipoids. They are nitrogenous and of 
highly complex structure (e.g. the formula of 
one is C,,H,,O,N,); they are indispensable for 


- Summary of a lecture entitled a ‘Grain of Wheat,’ delivered in the 
National Museum, Dublin, on February 24, by Prof. T. Johnson. 


NATURE 


[Marcu 12, 1914 


42 
life, and no diet is complete without them. 
If the “brain, “one som ethemthree, legs) <0 aiire 
tripod of life,” is starved by a vitamineless diet 
troubles of all kinds—called by Funk deficiency 
diseases—arise, and these may end in.death. The 


muscles dwindle away, the nerves degenerate, and 
heart and bone troubles result. Their absence is a pre- 
disposing cause of tuberculosis. Vitamines are found 
in plants, and especially in their seeds. So far as is 
known at present, animals are incapable of making 
them. Animals, however, obtain them by feeding on 
plants. Thus vitamines occur normally in meat, fresh 
milk, and yolk of egg. They are soluble in water, 
and insoluble, mostly, in ether. They are thermo- 
labile, and are destroyed by exposure for 10-20 
minutes to a temperature of 120°-130° C., as well as by 
extreme dryness. Thus cattle may, following on a 
long drought, suffer from a vitamineless fodder. 

Funk regards vitamines as the mother-substance of 
ferments and hormones, and of vital importance to 
the thyroid and other ductless glands. It is thus 
evident that the diet standards of the text-books must 
be revised in the light of their discovery, which throws 
a flood of light on the milk and other food problems. 
White flours and corn flours are deficient foods because 
the vitamines have been removed in the milling pro- 
cess. 

Wherever any cereal, robbed of its aleurone or 
vitamine layer, forms the chief food of a people, there 
a deficiency disease appears. Rice is eaten by more 
people than any other grain, in the tropical regions 
of both hemispheres. The marked increase of beri- 
beri caused by eating polished rice, claiming thousands 
of victims yearly in Japan, etc., coincides with the 
replacement of the primitive whole-grain stone-milling 
by the modern steel roller. The United States 
Government has already made the polishing of rice 
in the Philippines illegal. Indian corn (Zea mais) 
is largely eaten in north Italy, the Balkan provinces, 
the southern part of the United States, Brazil, etc. 
In all these countries pellagra, which affects the skin, 
digestive organs, and mental powers, is prevalent. 
The disease could be stamped out by adding to the 
diet potatoes, one of the cheapest and most practical 
sources of vitamines. Though the tax of 32s. 6d. a 
ton on potatoes has been removed, the U.S. Govern- 
ment has at the same time closed its ports to European 
potatoes, as a precaution against the introduction of 
potato diseases, such as Spongospora, though pellagra 
is on the increase, and American potatoes are becom- 
ing dearer. 

Rickets, scurvy, osteomalazia, etc., are also deficiency 
diseases caused by the use, as the main articles of 
diet, of such vitamineless foods as sterilised milk, 
condensed milk, cornflours, starch, and sugar. The 
mixed diet of most people protects them from deficiency 
diseases. 

Vitaminous foods are fresh milk and (though less 
rich in them) pasteurised milk, whole grains, potatoes, 
carrots, and other fresh vegetables, lime and other 
fruit juices, beans, peas, lentils, and the like, meat, 
beef-tea, barley-water, yeast, and apparently cod liver 
oil The discovery of vitamines leaves the vexed 
question of the relative values of white bread, standard 
bread, etc., where it was, as the heat of the oven, 
far above that of the autoclave in milk sterilisation, 
probably destroys the vitamines of the wholemeal 
bread. 

Phaseolus mungo, L. (P. radiatus, L.), added to 
polished rice effectively supplies the removed vitamines, 
prevents beri-beri, and has long been regarded by the 
Chinese as a delicacy in the form of vermicelli. A 
veast extract is already available for a similar purpose 
in this climate. 


NO, 2305, VOU. 93) 


ATMOSPHERIC REFRACTION AND GEO- 
DETIC MEASUREMENTS.! 


MONGST the many perplexing problems with 
which geographical surveyors have to deal those 
which concern the determination of altitude are not 
the least. For purposes of practical ability, such as 
the levelling of roads or the laying out of contours 
and gradients where differential altitude is compara- 
tively small and progressive, existing methods are 
quite sufficiently scientific and accurate. It is in the 
determination of the relative altitudes of large geo- 
graphical features, where angular measurements be- 
come necessary, that there arises a series of com- 
plications due to variations in the amount and effect 


| of refraction, or in that of the plumb-line deflection, 


which have been by no means exhaustively investi- 
gated, and which introduce errors of an appreciable 
quantity. These errors are seldom of large practical 
importance, so that an investigation into their origin 
and the scientific methods of their dispersion is more 
or less matter of academic interest to that limited 
public which concerns itself with mountain altitudes 
and is generally content to accept the reading of a 
cheap aneroid as sufficient proof of the correctness of 


a value determined by triangulation. 


By the scientific geodesist, however, Mr. Hunter’s 
investigations will be warmly appreciated. The book 
before us is No. 14 of the Professional Papers of the 
Survey of India, and it contains a careful analysis of 
the chief sources of error which beset the ordinary 
estimates of the amount and effect of terrestrial re- 
fraction. The error due to refraction is usually dis- 
posed of by the assumption that the angle of refrac- 
tion bears a constant ratio to the angle contained by 
the ray of observation at the centre of the earth. 
When reciprocal observations can be taken (i.e. from 
A to B, and from B to A) this ratio can be determined, 
and it is then recorded as the ‘coefficient of refrac- 
tion,’ and is applied to other observations which, not 
being reciprocal, require to be corrected for the effect 
of refraction. This method Mr. Hunter calls a 
‘““makeshift,’”’ and it is with the object of putting the 
consideration of ‘“‘angular measurements affected by 
terrestrial refraction on a more accurate and scien- 
tific basis,” that he has deduced formule from 
his investigation which, in the concrete form of tabu- 
lated corrections, may assist in dispersing the errors 
arising from variations in the density, temperature, 
and atmospheric pressure of the air between the 
station of observation and the point observed. The 
only assumption which he makes is the natural one 
that ‘“‘layers of equal density in the air are concentric 
with the (circular) section of the earth in the azimuth 
of the ray,’’ an assumption which includes that of 
thermal equilibrium. The formula derived in chap. i. 
show that refraction depends very largely on the rate 
at which temperature changes with the height, and 
with the change of this rate, as well as on the differ- 
ential height to which the ray extends. Mr. Hunter 
confirms the accepted rule that refraction is least in 
the middle hours of the day, but he further regards its 
variations as seasonal, i.e. it is least in the springtime 
of the year. 

But when all is said and done, it is the érrors aris- 
ing from the deflection of the plumb-line (not always 
ascertainable at the point of observation), and the 
possible variation in the actual height of the point 
observed (common enough in the case of snow-capped 
peaks), which chiefly affect the accuracy of angular 
determinations of altitude, and it is probably to these 
rather than to the unequal conditions affecting the 


v “ Formule for Atmospheric Refraction and their Application to Terres- 
trial Refraction and Geodesy.” By J. de Graaff Hunter. 


Marcu 12, 1914] 


intermediate stratum of air that we must ascribe 
(exempli gratia) the doubt whether Kinchinjunga or 
K, is to hold the honourable position of second in 
altitude to Everest amongst the world’s highest 
peaks. eer. He 


REPORTS OF MUSEUMS, 


“T’HE report of the Bristol Museum for the year 

ending September 30, 1913, records praiseworthy 
activity, especially in the department of vertebrate 
zoology. Three plates show how attractively some of 
the more important specimens are displayed. A tiger 
shot by the King in Nepal, and presented by his 
Majesty, has been set up by Messrs. Rowland Ward, 
in a crouching attitude among bamboo stems, while 
the background, painted by Mr. Stanley Lloyd, shows 
the shooting-party approaching on elephants in the 
distance. Three springboks are placed near the 
margin of a veldt, on which other animals are brows- 
ing; this background was painted by Mr. G. E. 
Butler. The picturesque group in which pheasants 
are feeding (harmlessly) in the stubble, is backed by 
a view of Ashton Park, with the Clifton Suspension 
Bridge in the distance, composed by Mr. A. Wilde 
Parsons. This utilisation of really competent artists 
is an example to be followed. The geological depart- 
ment has not shared in the general progress, and 
considering the recent work of Vaughan and others 
in the west of England, this fact is rightly deplored 
by the committee. 

With the aid of local naturalists, the small staff 
of the Hancock Museum at Newcastle-upon-Tyne has 
during the past two years accomplished some excel- 
lent work. From a 45-ft. Rorqual (Balaenoptera 
borealis) cast ashore near Amble, the complete 
skeleton, including ear-bones, hyoids, and rudimentary 
hip-bones, was obtained. The larger bones have been 
satisfactorily prepared in a sand-pit; but the smaller 
bones which were macerated as usual in water made 
so little progress that they have now been transferred 
to sand. <A promising beginning was made with 
classes from the elementary schools, each of which 
went through a definite course of six lessons, given 
by the teachers, who were first rehearsed in the lesson 
by the curator, Mr. E. L. Gill. Unfortunately this 
regular system could not be followed in the second 
year, owing to the overcrowded curriculum of the 
schools, and the visits are now of small educational 
value. Perhaps the committee recently appointed by 
the British Association may devise some scheme that 
will overcome this difficulty. 

The report of the Manchester Museum for the year 
1912-13 bears witness to plenty of hard work, but 
contains nothing of outstanding interest. It is, how- 
ever, worth reading in order that one may admire 
the healthy spirit of cooperation as regards museum 
matters that breathes in Manchester. Representatives 
of the University, of the City Council, and of sub- 
scribers among the outer public, constitute the com- 
mitte of management. The City Council has in- 
creased its grant from 4ool. to 8001. per annum. 
Professors of the University supervise and aid the 
museum staff. In the transference of the Egyptian 
antiquities to the new building, which, with its cases, 
was provided by Mr. Jesse Haworth, valuable help 
was given by a number of ladies and gentlemen. 
Several ladies have maintained a supply of fresh 
flowers, and at least four other names are mentioned 
in connection with solid pieces of work of more expert 
character. To a museum combining so many forces 
there naturally flow considerable donations, -both in 
money and in kind. 


NO. 2315, VOL. 93]| 


NATURE 43 


RADIATION OF GAS MOLECULES 
MNGLLED BY LIGHT: 


ieee = first Guthrie lecture of the Physical Society 
was delivered on February 27, at the Imperial 
College of Science, South Kensington, by Prof. R. W. 
Wood, of Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore. The 
lecture has been established in memory of Prof. F. 
Guthrie, who was professor of physics in the Royal 
College of Science, and was founder of the society, 
the first meeting having been held in his lecture 
theatre at the college in 1874. Before Prof. Wood’s 
lecture, Prof. G. Carey Foster gave a short biography 
of Guthrie, who was born in 1833 and died in 1886, 
and Sir Oliver Lodge recalled some personal remini- 
scences of him. Prof. Wood’s lecture is summarised 
in the subjoined abstract, published by the Physical 
Society. 


The emission and absorption of light by molecules 
and the allied phenomenon of dispersion have led us 
to the conception of something within the atom which 
is capable of responding to light waves in much the 
same way as a tuning-fork responds to sound waves 
of the same frequency as its own, and many mathe- 
matical treatments have been built up which explain 
more or less perfectly many of the phenomena in ques- 
tion. These still leave us very much in the dark as 
to what is going on. Helmholtz explained absorption 
by introducing a frictional term into his equations of 
motion for the atom, and though this led at once to 
an expression which represented anomalous dispersion, 
it left us ignorant of how the energy absorbed by 
the molecules was transformed to heat, or how the 
mean velocity of the molecules was increased by the 
excitation of vibrations within them. Planck avoided 


| this difficulty by considering that the energy abstracted 


from the beam of light is re-emitted, though at the 
time the only experimental evidence was to be found 
in selective reflection, which occurs only in liquids and 
solids. 

What becomes of the absorbed energy in the case of 
a gas? This was what he had been asking himself 
for many years. While he did not require a working 
model of the atom, he could not, however, be satisfied 
by an equation in which absorption was represented 
by a frictional term or selective reflection predicted 
by the occurrence of an imaginary quantity. 

The problem of the constitution of the atom is one 
which must be approached from many sides, as it is 
improbable that any single mode of attack will reveal 
the secret. The spectroscope alone has proved itself 
powerless, one great difficulty being that in all known 
methods of exciting spectra one got ‘tthe whole or 
nothing.” 

Flames, arcs, sparks, and vacuum-tube discharges 
set a host of vibrations simultaneously in operation 
within the atom, and resulted in a complex of lines 
which were difficult to interpret. 

His line of attack had been to maintain the mole- 
cules in as calm and tranquil a state as possible, by 
keeping them cool, and then to excite them to radia- 
tion by the application of an alternating electro- 
magnetic field of a definite frequency—usually called 
monochromatic light. That this method has in some 
degree simplified matters was proved by the fact that 
sodium vapour could be made to emit only one of the 
D lines instead of the usual two. 

The conditions necessary to stimulate radiation in 
this way varied considerably with the nature of the 
element studied. He would begin, however, with the 
simplest case, that of a vapour which exhibits a single 


, absorption line and emits radiations similar in every 


respect to the exciting radiations when stimulated by 


AA NATURE 


light of frequency equal to that of the absorption line. 
This condition was perfectly fulfilled by the vapour 
of mercury, which has an absorption line at A=2536 
in the ultra-violet. 

If a beam of monochromatic light of this wave- 
length was focussed at the centre of an exhausted 
quartz bulb containing a drop of mercury at atmo- 
spheric temperature, it was found that the light was 
powerfully scattered by the vapour, photographs of 
the bulb made with a quartz lens showing the cone 
of rays much as if the bulb were filled with smoke. 
The scattered light is invariably much more homo- 
geneous than the incident beam, in which the ‘‘line”’ 
has a finite width, whereas the scattered light corre- 
sponds only with the centre of this line. The rest 
gets through the vapour unaffected. With the light 
thus scattered—the resonance radiation—a photograph 
was made of a quartz bulb containing a minute drop 
of mercury at room temperature. The bulb appeared 
as if filled with ink owing to the opacity of the vapour 
for the rays. 

These phenomena, visible only to the camera, can 
be visually reproduced in the case of sodium vapour 
excited by the light from a sodium flame. If the 
density of the vapour is increased by warming it, the 
distance which the light can penetrate into the bulb 
is diminished and eventually the resonance radiation 
is all emitted from a region so close to the surface 
that it appears as a bright yellow patch on the inner 
surface of the glass. 

If this patch is now used as a lamp, and focussed 
by a concave mirror on the surface of the same globe 
(or another in which the vapour is of sufficient density 
to give the patch effect) so as to fall partly on a sur- 
face whitened by deposited magnesia and partly on 
the enclosed vapour, the brightness of the two con- 
tiguous patches thus formed is practically equal. 

This proves that, under those conditions, at com- 
paratively low densities, true absorption does not exist, 
the light abstracted from the incident beam being re- 
emitted as light of the same wave-length but in all 
directions. 


The factor of true absorption makes itself manifest 


as soon as we admit air or some other foreign gas. 
Even if the pressure is only a millimetre or two the 
effect is very marked. 

Another point which can be brought out by this 
method of attack is whether or not the mechanisms 
the vibration frequencies of which correspond to the 
various lines in a spectrum are independent of each 
other or are interconnected. 

An ingenious method was described whereby a beam 
of considerable intensity, consisting, however, of only 
D, or D, light, could be obtained, and if the sodium 
vapour excited by either of these was examined spectro- 
scopically the emitted light contained only that one of 
the lines which was used to excite it. This shows 
that the D, and D, mechanisms are quite independent. 
In other cases, however, vapours excited by light of 
any one line of their spectrum gave out a resonance 
spectrum of that line and one or more others showing 
that some groups of mechanisms were interdependent 
and could not be excited separately. 

Stimulation by Waves of Very Short Wave-Length. 
—Experiments were then described in which air, 
nitrogen, etc., had been caused to emit ultra-violet 
light when exposed to the action of radiation of wave- 
length less than the Schumann rays, the smallest 
waves hitherto known. Schumann rays were com- 
pletely absorbed by quartz, but would pass through a 
considerable thickness of fluorite, but the rays to 
which he referred could be reduced in intensity by 
98 per cent. by a plate of fluorite 1 mm. thick. : 

Nitrogen was more actively stimulated than air by 


NO, 2305,0ViOL, 93) 


[Marcu 12, 1914 


these rays, as oxygen seemed to have a destructive 
effect on the phenomena. Thus iodine vapour, if 
mixed with nitrogen, emitted a green light under the 
action of the rays, while remaining dark if mixed 
with oxygen. 

He urged the necessity of an exact mathematical 
treatment of the phenomenon of a molecule of vapour 
re-emitting radiation which it has abstracted from an 
incident beam, true absorption being absent. 

At the conclusion of the lecture a number of in- 
teresting experiments illustrative of the subject of the 
lecture were shown. These included the resonance 
radiation of sodium stimulated by D light, of iodine 
vapour stimulated by the light from a quartz-mercury 
lamp, and of the author’s method of extinguishing 
one of the D lines from the light from a sodium flame. 


STRUCTURAL ANALOGIES BETWEEN 
IGNEOUS ROCKS AND METATS: 


T was in Sheffield that the late Dr. H. C. Sorby 
lived and worked. It was to the Sheffield Literary 
and Philosophical Society that, in 1864, Sorby pre- 
sented the first account of his microscopical examina- 
tion of the structures of commercial steel. In Sheffield 
the worth of Sorby’s work is now being recognised, 
and during the presidency of Mr. Arthur Balfour the 
Sheffield Society of Engineers and Metallurgists, an 
active and growing society closely associated with the 
industries of the city, has founded the ‘‘Sorby Lec- 
ture,” to ‘‘mark its progress,” and to perpetuate the 
memory of its late honorary member. 

The first Sorby Lecture, on February 28, was the 
occasion for a large gathering of Sheffield’s leading 
manufacturers and citizens at the Cutlers’ Hall. The 
lecture was delivered by Prof. W. G. Fearnsides, the 
occupant of the Sorby chair of geology at Sheffield 
University, ‘‘On Some Structural Analogies between 
Igneous Rocks and Metais.”’ 

In the first part of the lecture Prof. Fearnsides 
traced the progressive development of the research by 
which Sorby, already trained to a knowledge of optics 
and of chemistry, learned from Williamson the art of 
making transparent sections of hard objects, and 
applied it (1849) to the study of rocks. Limestones 
were the first rocks to claim his attention (1851), then 
slates (1856), and then igneous rocks (1857), and from 
these, through meteorites (1862), he was led to study 
irons (1863-4). The difficulties which Sorby encoun- 
tered and his patient toil, continued in defiance of 
indifference and ridicule, were discussed, and it was 
conjectured that the apathy with which his results 
were received was due to his own inability to appre- 
ciate the difficulties which his refined technique and 
the vector variations of the optical properties of 
minerals presented to other people. 

The recognition of the value of Sorby’s petrographic 
methods grew gradually through the sixties and seven- 
ties of last century, but it was not until after his 
announcement to the Iron and Steel Institute in 
1886, that in the previous year a new microscope had 
enabled him to see the true composite nature of the 
“pearly constituent’’ of steel, that his pioneer work 
on metals attracted any attention. ; 

It was by a fortunate but unforeseen coincidence that 
the first Sorby Lecture was delivered within a few 
days of the fiftieth anniversary of the day on which 
Sorby read the first of all papers dealing with the 
micro-structure of commercial metals, and the sub- 
ject for the lecture was chosen accordingly. 

The second part of the lecture dealt with the modern 
view that igneous rocks and metals are alike products 
derived by progressive partition of components during 
the crystallisation of mixed solutions. Being thus 


4 


Marcu 12, 1914| 


NATURE 45 


homologous in the manner of their origin, it was main- 
tained that a mineralogical nomenclature which is 
properly applicable to the constituents of igneous rocks 
is similarly applicable to the constituents of steel; and 
though a phase rule (temperature-concentration) dia- 
gram affords a ready means for the discussion of the 
behaviour of phases during their partition into other 
pairs of phases, a metallographic description of their 
structure modelled on the nomenclature usual in petro- 
graphy is more manageable when the number of con- 
stituents is large. 

Special analogies between igneous rocks and metals 
were suggested. Segregation of the phosphorus 
and the sulphur in steel ingots was paralleled with 
‘ differentiation-in-situ”’ as it occurs in igneous 
rocks. The time taken in cooling through the tem- 
perature range of active crystal growth was shown to 
control the texture both of igneous rocks and of 
metals. Viscosity as another factor controlling crystal 
growth was considered, and the absence of any 
structures in metals analogous to those developed in 
viscous rock magmas and in devitrifying glass 
‘“‘spherulitic structure ’’—was attributed to essential 
differences in this respect. ‘Skeletal crystals,’’ so 
common in metals, are characteristic of over-rapid 
growth and as a passing stage in the development 
of polyhedra are not unknown in rocks. 

“Eutectic structures’’ in metals are like the 
‘“‘ sraphic’’ and “‘ pegmatitic’’ structures of rocks, and 
their obliteration with slower cooling, both from rocks 
and metals, was noted. 

“Cores”? in ‘‘mixed crystals’’ of metals are 
analogous to ‘‘zonary banding” in non-homogeneous 
isomorphous minerals, and the successive crystallisa- 
tion of distinct phases above and below a change-point 
has its parallel in the ‘‘corona structure’’ of some 
norites. 

Partition of solid solutions always at the margins 
or along the cleavage of pre-existing crystal grains, a 
process so important in the heat treatment of com- 
mercial steels, finds its analogue in the orderly separa- 
tion of the *‘schiller constituents’ within the minerals 
of plutonic rocks. ‘‘Perthitic structure’’ in slow- 
cooled felspars seems to require a similar explanation. 

From analogies such as these it was argued that the 
experience of the geologist may be useful to the metall- 
urgist, and that the knowledge of the structure of 
metals, which for commercial purposes are manufac- 
tured under controlled conditions of temperature and 
of stress, may provide a key of great adaptability with 
which, in conjunction with his map, his hammer, and 
his microscope, the geologist may decipher and inter- 
pret the autobiographical secrets of the record con- 
tained in the rocks 


€.2. 


INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH IN AMERICA.1 


ERMANY has long been recognised as_pre- 
eminently the country of organised research. 
The spirit of research is there immanent throughout 
the entire social structure. This is not the time or 
place, however, nor is it necessary before this audi- 
ence, to refer in any detail to the long record of 
splendid achievement made by German research during 
the last fifty years. It is inscribed in luminous letters 
around the rock upon which Germany now stands 
secure among the nations of the world. 

The virility and range of German research were 
never greater than they are to-day. Never before have 
the superb energy and calculated audacity of German 
technical directors and German financiers transformed 
so quickly and so surely the triumphs of the labora- 


1 From the presidential address delivered before the American Chemical 
Society at Rochester, New York, September g, 1913, by Arthur D. Little. 


NOmeg TS... VOL. 93)| 


tory into industrial conquests. Never has the future 
held richer promise of orderly and sustained progress, 
and yet the pre-eminence of Germany in industrial 
research is by no means indefinitely assured. A new 
competitor is even now girding up his loins and train- 
ing for the race, and that competitor is, strangely 
enough, the United States—that prodigal among 
nations, still justly stigmatised as the most wasteful, 
careless, and improvident of them all. 

To one at all tamiliar with the disdain of scientific 
teaching which has characterised our industry, and 
which still persists in many quarters, this statement is 
so contrary to the current <timate that its general 
acceptance cannot be expe. <. it will have served 
its purpose if it leads to a consideration of the facts 
which prove the thesis. 

The country of Franklin, Morse, and Rumford, of 
McCormick, Howe, and Whitney, of Edison, Thom- 
son, Westinghouse, and Bell, and of Wilbur and 
Orville Wright, is obviously a country not wholly 
hostile to industrial research or unable to apply it to 
good purpose. It is, however, not surprising that 
with vast areas of virgin soil of which a share might 
be had for the asking, with interminable stretches of 
stately forest, with coal and oil and gas, the ores of 
metals, and countless other gifts of nature scattered 
broadcast by her lavish hand, our people entered upon 
this rich inheritance with the spirit of the spendthrift, 
and gave little heed to refinements in methods of pro- 
duction and less to minimising waste. That day and 
generation are gone. To-day their children, partly 
through better recognition of potential values, but 
mainly by the pressure of a greatly increased popula- 
tion and the stress of competition between themselves 
and in the markets of the world, are rapidly acquiring 
the knowledge, that efficiency of production is a 
sounder basis for prosperity than mere volume of pro- 
duct, however great. 

The long-continued and highly organised research 
which resulted in the development of American agri- 
cultural machinery has led to the general introduction 
of machines which reduce the labour cost of seven 
crops 681,000,000 dollars, as measured by the methods 
of only fifty years ago. 

You need not to be reminded that the ubiquitous 
telephone is wholly a product of American research. 
Munchausen’s story of the frozen conversation which 
afterward thawed out is a clumsy fable. Think of 
the Niagaras of speech pouring silently through the 
New York telephone exchanges where they are sorted 
out, given a new direction, and delivered audibly per- 
haps a thousand miles away. New York has, 450,000 
instruments—twice the number of those in London. 
Los Angeles has a telephone to every four inhabitants. 
Why should one care to project one’s astral body when 
he can call up from the club in fifteen seconds? Our 
whole social structure has been reorganised. We 
have been brought together in a single parlour for 
conversation and to conduct affairs, because the 
American Telephone and Telegraph Company spends 
annually for research, the results of which are all 
about us, a sum greater than the total income of many 
universities. 

The name of Edison is a household word in every 
language. The Edison method is a synonym for 
specialised, intense research, which knows no rest 
until everything has been tried. Because of that 
method and the unique genius which directs its applica- 
tion, Italian operas are heard amid Alaskan snows 
and in the depths of African forests; every phase of 
life and movement of interest throughout the world 
is caught, registered, transported, and reproduced, 
that we may have lion hunts in our drawing-rooms 
and the coronation in a five-cent theatre. From his 
laboratory have come the incandescent lamp, multiple 


46 


NATURE 


[Marcu 12, 1914 


telegraphy, new methods of treating ores, and a 
thousand other diverse inventions, the development 
of a single one of which has sometimes involved 
millions. 

Such development as that of the automobile industry 
in America has been based upon and vitalised by an 
immeasurable amount of research, the range and in- 
fluence of which extend through many other indus- 
tries. It has accelerated the application of heat treat- 
ment more than any other agency. One tyre manu- 
facturer spends 100,000 dollars a year upon his labora- 
tory. The research department organised by my asso- 
ciates for one automobile company comprised within 
its staff experts in automobile design, mathematics, 
metallography, and heat treatments, lubrication, 
gaseous fuels, steel and alloys, paints and painting 
practice, in addition to the chemists and physicists and 
assistants for routine or special work. 

The beautiful city the hospitality of which has so 
greatly added to the pleasure and success of the pre- 
sent meeting of our society is the home of two highly 
scientific industries of which any community may well 
be proud. The Bausch and Lomb Optical Company, 
through its close affiliation with the world-famed Zeiss 
works at Jena, renders immediately available in this 
country the latest results of German optical research. 
The Eastman Kodak Company is perhaps more gener- 
ally and widely known than even the Zeiss works, and 
in capital, organisation, value of product, and profit 
of operation will bear comparison with the great Ger- 
man companies whose business is applied science. 
Like them, it spends money with a lavish hand for 
the promotion of technical research and for the funda- 
mental investigation of the scientific bases on which 
its industry rests. As you have happily been made 
aware, this work is carried on in the superb new 
research laboratories of the company with an equip- 
ment which is probably unrivalled anywhere for its 
special purposes. The laboratory exemplifies a notable 
feature of American industrial research laboratories 
in that it makes provision for developing new pro- 
cesses, first on the laboratory scale and then on the 
miniature factory scale. 

To no chapter in the history of industrial research 
can Americans turn with greater pride than to the 
one which contains the epic of the electrochemical 
development at Niagara Falls. It starts with the 
wonderful story of aluminium. Discovered in Ger- 
many in 1828 by Wohler, it cost 90 dollars a pound 
ir 1855. In 1886 it had fallen to 12 dollars. The 
American Castner process brought the price in 1889 
to 4 dollars. Even at this figure, it was obviously stil] 
a metal of luxury with few industrial applications. 
Simultaneously Hall in America and Heroult in 
Europe discovered that cryolite, a double fluoride of 
sodium and aluminium, fused readily at a moderate 
temperature, and, when so fused, dissolved alumina 
as boiling water dissolves sugar or salt, and to the 
extent of more than 25 per cent. By electrolysing the 
fused solution, aluminium is obtained. 

On August 26, 1895, the Niagara works of the Pitts- 
burgh Reduction Company started at Niagara Falls 
the manufacture of aluminium under the Hall patents. 
In 1911 the market price of the metal was 22 cents, 
and the total annual production 40,000,000 Ib. 

A chance remark by Dr. George F. Kunz in 1880 
on the industrial value of abrasives turned the thoughts 
of Acheson to the problem of their artificial production, 
and led to the discovery in 1891 of carborundum and 
its subsequent manufacture on a small scale at 
Monongahela City, Pennsylvania. In 1804 Acheson 
laid before his directors a scheme for moving to 
Niagara Falls—to quote his own words :— ‘ 

“To build a plant for 1000 horse-power, in view of 
the fact that we were selling only one-half of the 


NOL 235 VOE. 93] 


output from a 134 horse-power plant, was a trifle too 
much for my conservative directors, and they one and 
all resigned. -Fortunately, I was in control of the destiny 
of the Carborundum Company. I organised a new board, 
proceeded with my plans, and in the year 1904, the 
thirteenth from the date of the discovery, had a plant 
equipped with a 5000 electrical horse-power, and pro- 
duced more than 7,000,000 lb. of those specks I had 
picked off the end of the electric light carbon in the 
spring of 1891.” 

The commercial development of carborundum had not 
proceeded far before Acheson brought out his process 
for the electric furnace production of artificial graphite 
and another great Niagara industry was founded. 
In quick succession came the Willson process for 
calcium carbide and the industrial applications of 
acetylene, phosphorus, ferro-alloys made in the electric 
furnace, metallic sodium, chlorine, and caustic soda, 
first by the Castner process, later by the extraordinarily 
efficient Townsend cell, electrolytic chlorates and 
alundum. 

Perhaps even more significant than any of these 
great industrial successes was the Lovejoy and Brad- 
ley plant for the fixation of atmospheric nitrogen, 
which was perforce abandoned. It is well to recall, 
in view of that reputed failure, that the present-day 
processes for fixing nitrogen have made little, if any, 
improvement in yields of fixed nitrogen in a kilowatt 
hour over those obtained in this pioneer Niagara plant. 

In the year 1800 a young. assistant of Lavoisier, E. I. 
du Pont by name, emigrated to the United. States, 
with others of his family. and settled on the banks 
of the Brandywine, near Wilmington, Delaware. He 
engaged in the manufacture of gunpowder. To-day 
the du Pont Company employs about 250 trained 
chemists. Its chemical department comprises three 
divisions: the field division for the study of problems 
which must be investigated outside the laboratory, and 
which maintains upon its staff experts for each manu- 
facturing activity, together with a force of chemists 
at each plant for routine laboratory work; second, the 
experimental station, which comprises a group of 
laboratories for research work on the problems arising 
in connection with the manufacture of black and 
smokeless powder, and the investigation of problems 
or new processes originating outside the company; 
third, the Eastern Laboratory which confines itself to 
research concerned with high explosives. Its equip- 
ment is housed in seventy-six buildings, the majority 
being of considerable size, spread over fifty acres. 
Since no industrial research laboratory can be called 
successful which does not in due time pay its way, 
it is pleasant to record that the Eastern Laboratory 
is estimated to yield a profit to its company of 
1,000,000 dollars a year. In addition to the generous 
salaries paid for the high-class service demanded by 
the company, conspicuous success in research is re- 
warded by bonus payments of stock. 

The Gayley invention of the dry air blast in the 
manufacture of iron involves a saving to the American 
people of from 15,000,000 dollars to 29,000,000 dollars 
annually. A modern furnace consumes about 40,000 
cubic feet of air a minute. Each grain of moisture 
in a cubic foot represents one gallon of water an hour 
for each 1000 cubic feet entering a minute. In the 
Pittsburgh district the moisture varies from 1-83 grains 
in February to 5-94 grains in June, and the water an 
hour entering a furnace varies accordingly from 73 to 
237 gallons. In a month a furnace using natural air 
received 164,500 gallons of water, whereas with the 
dry blast it received only 25,524 gallons. A conserva- 
tive statement, according to Prof. Chandler, is that 
the invention results in a 1o per cent. increase in out- 
put and a Ito per cent. saving in fuel. 

Especially notable and _ picturesque 


among the 


Marcu 12, 1914] 


NAT ORE 


47 


triumphs of American industrial research is that by 
means of which Frasch gave to the United States 
potential control of the sulphur industry of the world. 
There is in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, a great deposit 
of sulphur rooo ft. below the surface under a layer 
of quicksand 500 ft. in thickness. An Austrian com- 
pany, a French company, and numerous American 
companies had tried in many ingenious ways to work 
this deposit, but had invariably failed. Misfortune and 
disaster to all connected with it had been the record 
of the deposit to the time when Frasch approached its 
problem in 1890. He conceived the idea of melting 
the sulphur in place by superheated water forced down 
a boring, and pumping the sulphur up through an 
inner tube. In his first trial he made use of twenty 
150-h.p. boilers grouped around the well, and the 
titanic experiment was successful. The pumps are 
now discarded, and the sulphur brought to the surface 
by compressed air. A single well produces about 450 
tons a day, and their combined capacity exceeds the 
sulphur consumption of the world. 

An equally notable solution of a technical problem 
which had long baffled other investigators is the 
Frasch process for refining the crude, sulphur-bearing 
Canadian and Ohio oils. The essence of the invention 
consists in distilling the different products of the frac- 
tional distillation of the crude oil with metallic oxides, 
especially oxide of copper, by which the sulphur is 
completely removed, while the oils distill over as odour- 
less and sweet as from the best Pennsylvania oii. The 
copper sulphide is roasted to regenerate the copper. 
The invention had immense pecuniary value. It sent 
the production of the Ohio fields to 90,000 barrels a 
day, and the price of crude Ohio oil from 14 cents a 
barrel to one dollar. 

Turning from these examples of individual achieve- 
ment so strongly characteristic of the genius of our 
people in one aspect, let us again consider for a 
moment that other and even more significant phase 
of our industrial research, namely, that which involves 
the coordinated and long-continued effort of many 
chemists along related lines. 

Chemistry in America is essentially republican and 
pragmatic. Most of us believe that the doctrine science 
for science’s sake is as meaningless and mischievous 
as that of art for art’s sake or literature for literature’s 
sake. These things were made for man, not for them- 
selves, nor was man made for them. Most of us are 
beginning to realise that the major problems of applied 
chemistry are incomparably harder of solution than 
the problems of pure chemistry, and the attack, more- 
over, must often be carried to conclusion at close 
quarters under the stress and strain induced by time 
and money factors. In these circumstances it should 
not excite surprise that a constantly rising proportion 
of our best research is carried on in the laboratories 
of our great industrial corporations, and nowhere more 
effectively than in the research laboratory of the 
General Electric Company, under the guidance of your 
past president, Dr. Whitney. 

Any attempt to present adequately the enormous 
volume of research work, much of which is of the 
highest grade, constantly in progress in the many 
scientific bureaus and special laboratories of the 
general government, or even to indicate its actual 
extent and range, is utterly beyond the limits of my 
attainments or of your patience. The generous policy 
of the Government toward research is unique in this, 
that the results are immediately made available to the 
whole people. 

The United States is still essentially an agricultural 
country, and agriculture is, in its ultimate terms, 
applied photochemistry. The value of our farm pro- 
perty is already more than 42,000,000,000 dollars, and 
each sunrise sees an added increment of millions. 


NOW 227s.) VOL, 93 | 


Even small advances in agricultural practice bring 
enormous monetary returns. 

Chief, therefore, among the government depart- 
ments, in the volume of industrial research is the 
Department of Agriculture, which includes within its 
organisation ten great scientific bureaus, each inspired 
by an intense pragmatism and aggressively prosecut- 
ing research in its allotted field. 

The research work of the Department of Agriculture 
is greatly augmented and given local application 
through the agency of sixty-four State agricultural 
experiment stations, established for the scientific in- 
vestigation of problems relating to agriculture. These 
stations are supported in part by federal grants, as 
from the Hatch and Adams funds, and for the rest by 
State appropriations. Their present income exceeds 
3,000,000 dollars. All are well equipped; one of them, 
California, includes within its plant a superb estate 
of 5400 acres, with buildings worth 1,000,000 dollars. 

It may be said without fear of contradiction that 
through the combined efforts of the Department of 
Agriculture, the experiment stations, the agricultural 
colleges, and our manufacturers of agricultural 
machinery, there is devoted to American agriculture 
a far greater amount of scientific research and effort 
than is at the service of any other business in the 
world. 

In the United States Patent Office Dr. Hall has 
developed a remarkably comprehensive index to chem- 
ical literature, which now contains 1,250,000 cards, 
and is open to every worker. The Bureau of 
Fisheries devotes 40,000 dollars to a single study, and 
the Geological Survey 100,000 dollars to the investiga- 
tion of the mineral resources of Alaska. 

The Bureau of Mines of the Department of the 
Interior was established to conduct on behalf of the 
public welfare fundamental inquiries and investiga- 
tions into the mining, metallurgical, and mineral in- 
dustries. Its appropriation for the current fiscal year 
is 662,000 dollars, of which 347,000 dollars is to be 
devoted to technical research pertinent to the mining 
industry. 

Perhaps no better evidence could be adduced of the 
present range and volume of industrial research in 
America than the necessity, imposed upon the author 
of such a general survey as I am attempting, of con- 
densing within a paragraph his reference to the 
Bureau of Standards of the Department of Commerce. 
Its purpose is the investigation and testing of 
standards and measuring instruments, and the deter- 
mination of physical constants and the properties of 
materials. To these objects it devotes about 700,000 
dollars a year to such good effect that in equipment 
and in the high quality and output of its work it has 
in ten years taken rani with the foremost scientific 
institutions in the world for the promotion of indus- 
trial research and the development and standardisation 
of the instruments, materials, and methods therein 
employed. Its influence upon American research and 
industry is already profound and rapidly extending. 

I cannot better conclude this cursory and frag- 
mentary reference to governmental work in applied 
science than with the words of the distinguished direc- 
tor of the Bureau of Standards :— 

“Tf there is one thing above all others for which 
the activities of our Government during the past two 
or three decades will be marked, it is its original work 
along scientific lines, and I venture to state that this 
work is just in its infancy.” ; 

The present vitality and rate of progress in American 
industrial research is strikingly illustrated by its very 
recent development in special industries. It has been 
said that our best research is carried on in those labo- 
ratories which have one client, and that one them- 
selves. 


48 


NATURE 


[Marcu 12, 1914 


Twenty-five years ago the number of industrial con- 
cerns employing even a single chemist was very small, 
and even he was usually engaged almost wholly upon 
routine work. Many concerns engaged in business of 
a distinctly chemical nature had no chemist at all, and 
such a thing as industrial research in any proper sense 
scarcely came within the field of vision of our manu- 
facturers. Many of them have not yet emerged from 
the penumbra of that eclipse, and our industrial fore- 
men as a class are still within the deeper shadow. 
Meantime, however, research has firmly established 
itself among the foundation-stones of our industrial 
system, and the question is no longer what will be- 
come of the chemists. It is now what will become of 
the manufacturers without them. 

In the United States to-day the microscope is in 
daily use in the examination of metals and alloys in 
more than 200 laboratories of large industrial con- 
cerns. An indeterminate but very great amount of 
segregated research is constantly carried forward in 
small laboratories, which are either an element in some 
industrial organisation or under individual control. 
An excellent example of the quality of work to be 
credited to the former is found in the development of 


cellulose acetate by Mork in the laboratory of the ° 


Chemical Products Company, while a classic instance 
of what may be accomplished by an aggressive indi- 
vidualism plus genius in research is familiar to most 
of you through the myriad and protean applications of 
Bakelite. The rapidity of the reduction to practice of 
Baekeland’s research results is the more amazing when 
one considers that the distances to be travelled between 
the laboratory and the plant are often, in case of new 
processes and products, of almost astronomical dimen- 
sions. 

Reference has already been made to the highly 
organised, munificently equipped, and_ splendidly 
manned laboratories of the Du Pont Company, the 
General Electric Company, and the Eastman Kodak 
Company. There are in the country at least fifty other 
notable laboratories engaged in industrial research in 
special industries. The expenditure of several of them 
is more than 300,000 dollars each a year. The United 
States Steel Corporation has not hesitated to spend 
that amount upon a single research, and the expenses 
of a dozen or more laboratories probably exceed 
100,000 dollars annually. One of the finest iron re- 
search laboratories in the world is that of the American 
Rolling Mills Company. 

The steel industry in its many ramifications promotes 
an immense amount of research, ranging from the 
most refined studies in metallography to experimenta- 
tion upon the gigantic scale required for the develop- 
ment of the Gayley dry blast, the Whiting process for 
slag cement, or the South Chicago electric furnace. 
This furnace has probably operated upon a greater 
variety of products than any other electric furnace in 
the world. Regarding the steel for rails produced 
therein, it is gratifying to note that after two and 
one-half years or more no reports of breakage have 
been received from the 5600 tons of standard rails 
made from its output. 

Industrial research is applied idealism. It expects 
rebuffs, it learns from every stumble, and turns the 
stumbling-block inte a stepping-stone. It knows that 
it must pay its way. It contends that theory springs 
from practice. It trusts the scientific imagination, 
knowing it to be simply logic in flight. It believes 
with F. P. Fish, that ‘during the next generation— 
the next two generations—there is going to be a 
development in chemistry which will far surpass in its 
importance and value to the human race that of elec- 
tricity in the last few years—a development which is 
going to revolutionise methods of manufacture, and 


NO 2Ba/5,, “Vole "oa || 


more than that, is going to revolutionise methods of 
agriculture ’’; and it believes with Sir William Ram- 
say that ‘‘ the country which is in advance in chemistry 
will also be foremost in wealth and general pros- 
perity.”” 

Modern progress can no longer depend upon acci- 
dental discoveries. Each advance in industrial science 
must be studied, organised, and fought like a military | 
campaign. Or, to change the figure, in the early 
days of our science, chemists patrolled the shores of 
the great ocean of the unknown, and, seizing upon 
such fragments of truth as dritted in within their 
reach, turned them to the enrichment of the intellectual 
and material life of the community. Later they ven- 
tured timidly to launch the frail and often leaky canoe 
of hypothesis, and returned with richer treasures. 
To-day, confident and resourceful, as the result of 
many argosies, and having learned to read the stars, 
organised, equipped, they set sail boldly on a charted 
sea in staunch ships with tiering canvas bound for 
new EI] Dorados. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 
INTELLIGENCE. 


BiRMINGHAM.—The City Council has renewed the 
annual grant to the University. An amendment by a 
Socialist member opposing the renewal, on the ground 
that the elementary education of the city and the 
technical school were being starved, was defeated by 
seventy votes to twenty-nine. 

Dr. J. E. H. Sawyer has been appointed assistant 
to the chair of medicine. 

Mr. H. A. Scarborough has been recommended to 
the Commissioners of the Exhibition of 1851 for a 
research scholarship. 

Prof. Bostock Hill is to represent the University at 
the congress of the Royal Sanitary Institute in July 
next, 


CAMBRIDGE.—The work submitted by Mr. T. W. 
Price, of Clare College, entitled ‘‘ Osmotic Pressure of 
Alcoholic Solutions,’’ has been approved by the Degree 
Committee of the Special Board for Physics and 
Chemistry as a record of original research. 


OxrorD.—Under the existing constitution of the 
University, certain seats in the Hebdomadal Council 
are limited to the heads of colleges and professors 
respectively. A statute providing for the abolition of 
‘orders’ and for throwing the whole of the seats open 
to members of Convocation of five years’ standing,” 
which had been passed by small majorities in Congre- 
gation, was submitted in its final stage to Convoca- 
tion on March 10. The proposed statute was sup- 
ported by Prof. Geldart, and opposed by the rector of 
Exeter, and the warden of Wadham. It was rejected 
on a division by 97 to 83. 

The preamble of a statute providing for the estab- 
lishment of an additional professorship of chemistry, 
to be called ‘‘ Dr. Lee’s Professorship,’’ passed Con- 
gregation without a division. 


THE presentation of the portrait of Sir William Ram- 
say, K.C.B., to University College, London, and of the 
replica to Lady Ramsay, will be made on Wednesday 
next, March 18, at 4.30, in the Botanical Theatre. 


THE appeal made by Girton College for 8000l. by 
January 1, I91t4, to meet conditional promises of 
12,0001. from an anonymous benefactor and 4oool. 
from Rosalind Lady Carlisle, has been completely 
successful, and the purpose of the appeal, which was 
the extinction of a mortgage debt ot 24,000l., has now 
been achieved. The donation, we learn from _ the 


Marcu 12, 1914] 


NATURE 


4G 


Times, included toool. from the Drapers’ Company 
and 5ool. from the Clothworkers’ Company, 


Tue presidency of Johns Hopkins University, Balti- 
more, which has been vacant since the resignation of 
Dr. Ira Remsen in 1912, has been filled by the appoint- 
ment of Dr. Frank J. Goodnow, recently professor of 
administrative law at Columbia University, New York. 
In choosing an expert in this subject to succeed a 
chemist, Johns Hopkins has precisely followed the 
example of Harvard a few years ago, when Prof. A. 
Lawrence Lowell took the place of Dr. C. W. Eliot. 


Tue Local Lectures Summer Meeting will be held 
this year at the University of Cambridge on July 31- 
August 24. The new University examination halls 
and lecture-rooms will be used. The inaugural lecture 
will be delivered at 8 p.m. on July 31 by Sir J. J. 
Thomson. The lectures will be grouped round the 
general subject, **Some Aspects of Modern Life,” and 
among the courses announced we notice one by Dr. 
L. Doncaster on heredity in animals and man. Forms 
of entry and further information about the meetings 
will be supplied by the Rev. Dr. Cranage, Syndicate 
Buildings, Cambridge. 


Last year Messrs. Harrods, Ltd., established a 
scheme of scholarships providing the holders with a 
year’s training at their stores in commercial English, 
handwriting, arithmetic, French or Spanish, short- 
hand, typewriting, business routine, and salesmanship, 
with free meals. The scholarships are awarded on 
the nomination of shareholders; the nominees must be 
between the ages of fifteen and eighteen years, have 
had a fair education, and be able to pass a medical 
examination. They will secure a commercial educa- 
tion in which practice and theory will be combined ; 
for the mornings are given to class instruction, and 
the afternoons to work in the departments, the holder 
of-a scholarship being attached to a different depart- 
ment each month. This arrangement has worked 
admirably during the past year. Fifty scholarships 
will be available in September next, and the test 
examination for the nominees will be held in June or 
July. Messrs. Harrods’ enterprise in establishing this 
system of training young people in the principles and 
practice of business-building is to be commended, and 
we believe it will achieve notable success. 


AN article in the Westminster Gazette of March 3, 
by the Berlin correspondent of our contemporary, 
reveals a growing demand in Germany for more 
universities. It is alleged that existing universities 
are overcrowded owing chiefly to the invasion of 
foreign and of women students, and the more general 
need of university education for officials. The num- 
ber of such institutions is smaller than it was a century 
ago. Cologne, Trier, Duisburg, Helmstedt, Witten- 
berg, Frankfurt-on-Oder, Mainz, Erfurt, Altdorf, and 
Ingolstadt have all been university towns. Since the 
empire was founded the number of students has in- 
creased fourfold. In 1880 there were 30,000 students ; 
in 1905, 42,000; and last year more than 60,000. There 
are 5300 foreign and 3500 women students, and about 
4000 non-student auditors. The agitation for new 
universities came to a head last year when Hamburg, 
Frankfurt-on-Main, Dresden, Posen, Cologne, and 
some smaller towns proposed to establish universities. 
The impulse in some cases was the desire of existing 
special and technical high schools to expand into 
universities with full university status, but with a 
reduced number of faculties. The advocates of new 
universities complain that the universities have recog- 
nised with ill-will the increasing specialisation of 


NO.2405, vor. 93 | 


science; and that specialisation is now hopelessly 
ahead of them. Some reformers want not only 
specialisation within universities, but specialisation of 
the institutions themselves. Each university, while 
keeping its faculties and its general culture system, 
should aim at a predominant position in a particular 
branch of science; and should be specially well sup- 
plied with professorial chairs, seminaries, libraries, 
and collections bearing on its speciality. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 


LONDON. 


Royal Society, March 5.—Sir William Crookes, presi- 
dent, in the chair.—Harold Wager: The action of light 
on chlorophyll. When chlorophyll is decomposed by 
light, at least two distinct substances are formed, one 
of which is an aldehyde or mixture of aldehydes, and 
the other an active oxidising agent, capable of bring- 
ing about the liberation of iodine from potassium 
iodide. The decomposition of chlorophyll appears to be 
due directly to the action of light and is not an after 
effect of the photo-synthesis of carbon dioxide and water. 
It takes place only in the presence of oxygen, and it 
appears to be a case of photo-oxidation, for oxygen 
is used up so completely in the process that chlorophyll 
can be used instead of pyrogallol and caustic potash 
to determine the amount of oxygen in a given amount 
of air. In the absence of oxygen no bleaching takes 
place. Carbon dioxide is not necessary to the photo- 
decomposition of chlorophyll and is not used up in the 
process, even when present in considerable quantities. 
—C. H. Warner: Formaldehyde as an oxidation pro- 
duct of chlorophyll extracts.—Franklin Kidd: The 
controlling influence of carbon dioxide in the matura- 
tion, dormancy, and germination of seeds. Experi- 
ments are described showing that germination of 
seeds can be completely inhibited by carbon dioxide in 
the atmosphere (20-30 per cent., varying with the 
temperatures used). This inhibition is not accom- 
panied by injury. The seeds germinate at once after 
removal from inhibitory CO, pressures. Experiments 
in the field showed that this action of CO, may 
actually occur in nature. If a quantity of green plant 
material is buried deep in the ground, seeds planted in 
the soil over this decaying material are inhibited in 
their germination by the CO, produced beneath them. 
This is of agricultural significance, and the fact that 
in the case of mustard seeds suspension of vitality 
continues, even after the external CO, has been re- 
moved, suggests an explanation of the common occur- 
rence of dormant seeds of this plant in fields, and 
possibly of other natural cases of delayed germination. 
-—J. Hammond and F. H. A. Marshall: The functional 
correlation between the ovaries, uterus, and mammary 
glands in the rabbit; with observations on the cestrous 
cycle.—Dr. J. F. Gaskell: The chromaffine system of 
annelids and the relation of this system to the con- 
tractile vascular system in the leech, Hirudo medi- 
cinalis. The possession of a chromaffine system, con- 
sisting of cells which take a yellow stain with chrome 
salts, is a common property of almost all members of 
the vertebrate kingdom. The presence of this reaction 
is coincident with the secretion of the pressor sub- 
stance, adrenalin, and is probably dependent upon it. 
Even in the lowest vertebrate, Petromyzon, the system 
is well developed, being diffusely though segmentally 
arranged throughout the body. Chromaftine cells 
have also been observed in certain annelids by Sommet 
and Poll, reaching their highest development in the 
Hirudinea; the reaction is given by six nerve cells in 
each segmental ganglion. The conclusion is drawn 


On 
e) 


NATURE 


| MarcH 12, 1914 


that the contractile vascular system of vertebrates and 
its regulators, the chromaffine system and the sym- 
pathetic system, originally arose together in the annelid 
group. 


Institution of Mining and Metallurgy, February 19.— 
Mr. Bedford McNeill, president, in the chair.—H. W. 
Hutchin: The assay of tin ores. The work recorded 
in this paper is the result of a prolonged use and 
study by the author of the well-known Beringer assay 
of tin ores, and the essential modification introduced 
consists in the use of lime as a diluent in place of zinc 
oxide, thus forming calcium stannate, which is more 
readily soluble in warm hydrochloric acid than is 
zinc stannate. Temperature influences the speed of 
the reaction, and the author’s detailed experiments 
showed that the lime modification method was appre- 
ciably quicker than the zinc oxide method at ‘tin 
furnace’? temperatures. Experiments made with 
diluents other than those already mentioned, as, for 
instance, barium carbonate and magnesia, showed the 
general superiority of lime, except in cases where only 
a small proportion of siliceous mineral is present, in 
which event zinc oxide shows a superiority to lime. 
The tests made were varied by differentiating between 
“tin furnace’? and Bunsen burner temperatures, and 
the author’s final opinion is in favour of a large 
Techlu burner used in conjunction with an asbestos 
boss, as giving the best conditions for ignition.—E. A. 
Wraight and P. Litherland Teed: The assay of tin 
ores and concentrates : the Pearce Low method. The 
authors have carried out an exhaustive series of tests 
with regard to the accuracy of this particular method 
of assaying tin, the results of which are embodied in 
their joint paper. As a result they arrived at the 
following conclusions. The degree of fineness of the 
ore must be at least 100 mesh, otherwise a representa- 
tive sample cannot be obtained; nickel crucibles are 
superior to iron ones, and for tailings fusion in an iron 
crucible should be avoided; the amount of hydrochloric 
acid should be about 125 c.c.; the bulk of the solution 
before reduction should be about 400 c.c.; the tem- 
perature of the tin solution at titration should not be 
more than 70° F.; the strength of the standard solu- 
tion should not generally be more than 11 grams of 
iodine and 20 grams of potassium iodide per litre, or 
less than one-third of that strength; before titration 
the calcite should have entirely dissolved; titanium, 
tungsten, and bismuth must be removed; and copper 
and iron should in special circumstances also be 
removed before titration; and nickel should always be 
used for reduction. With the observance of these pre- 
cautions, the authors are of the opinion that the error 
should not exceed 2 Ib. of black tin a ton with rich 
ores, and less with poor ores.—W. P.  Dreaper : 
Formation of mineral deposits: precipitation and 
stratification in the absence of gels. This paper is a 
record of experiments made to determine whether the 
presence of gels is necessary to induce stratification, 
and for this purpose precipitation was conducted in 
capillary tubes, thereby avoiding certain disturbing 
influences. | Under these conditions the author has 
been able to obtain stratification effects in the absence 
of secondary gels added to one of the reacting solu- 
tions. The substances experimented with comprised 
lead chloride, lead ferrocyanide, lead sulphate, barium 
sulphate, barium carbonate, and lead sulphide, and 
the results seem to show that stratification may be 
independent of the presence of gels.—T. R. Archbold : 
A device for filling ore sacks. This is a description 
of a simple device introduced in an out-of-the-way 
district for filling sacks with ore. A drum is divided 
into six compartments, and used in conjunction with 
a hopper, in such a manner that the revolutions of 


NOW 23055 Vor. /93 | 


the drum serve to fill the compartments with a fixed 
amount of ore and deliver it into the sacks, six sacks 
being dealt with in each complete revolution.—E. O. 
Marks: A mining model. A description of a model 
constructed of iron, copper, and brass wire to show 
the direction and the extent of the workings of a 
mine. For convenience the block of ground is divided 
into unit sections of tooo ft. cube, reduced in the 
model to a scale of 100 ft. to the inch, and the skeleton 
cubes representing these units are successively fitted 
with brass and copper wires showing the direction and 
length of shafts, levels, crosscuts, etc. The advan- 
tage of a model of this type, apart from its graphic 
character, lies in the ease of extension as the mine 
undergoes development. 


Zoological Society, March 3.—Prof. E. W. MacBride, 
vice-president, in the chair.—C. Tate Regan: Fresh- 
water fishes from Dutch New Guinea collected by the 
British Ornithologists’ Union and Wollaston Expedi- 
tions. Symbranchus bengalensis was obtained for the 
first time in New Guinea. The collections included 
examples of two species of Melanotaniine Atherinids. 
—H. Wallis Kew: The nests of Pseudoscorpiones : 
with historical notes on the spinning-organs and 
observations on the building and spinning of the nests. 
The paper described the nests in which these animals 
enclose themselves for moulting, for brood purposes, 
and in some cases for hibernation. They are closed 
cells of spun tissue, with or without a covering of 
earthy or vegetable matters. The tissue is of innu- 
merable threads crossed and coalesced irregularly, 
without interspaces, and almost like silk-paper. With 
regard to the spinning-apparatus, confusion has 
existed; but the author’s observations on living animals 
place it beyond doubt that the cephalothoracic glands 
are the organs concerned. Contrary to previous state- 
ments, the ‘‘combs”’ of the chelicerae have nothing to 
do with the silk. The manner in which the nests are 
built and spun was described in detail—H. R. Hogg: 
A collection of spiders. The collection was made by 
Mr. P. D. Montague, supplemented by a few speci- 
mens sent by Mr. T. H. Haynes from the Montebello 
Islands off Onslow, on the north-west coast of Aus- 
tralia. These islands, from geological evidence, were 
part of the old coast-lines, though now about ninety 
miles away. Although the larger specimens are mostly 
widely spread and possibly more or less recent importa- 
tions, the smaller are nearly all new species, showing 
evidence of a much longer separation from their con- 


| generic relations on the mainland. Out of seventeen 


species ten are new, as well as a new genus and two 
new varieties.—D. M. S. Watson : The skull of a Paria- 
saurian reptile and the relationships of that type. The 
skull of Pariasaurus is completely described, with the 
exception of the bony labyrinth of the ear. It is com- 
pared with all the members of the order Cotylosauria, 
which are well enough known to make a comparison 
of any value, and shown to differ in the very impor- 
tant characters of the brain-case from all of them, 
representing an entirely distinct branch.—F. J. 
Meggitt: A tapeworm parasitic in the stickleback 
(Gasterosteus aculeatus).—Dr. W. Nicoll: Trematode 
parasites obtained from animals that died in the 
society’s gardens during 1911-12. ; 


Paris. 


Academy ef Sciences, March 2.—M. P. Appell in the 
chair.—F. Wallerant: The polymorphism of camphor. 
Crystals of camphor deposited at the ordinary tem- 
perature from an alcoholic solution are rhombohedral. 
Fused camphor may take three crystalline forms, so 


| that camphor is at least quadrimorphous.—C. Moureu 


and A. Lepape: The helium from fire-damp and the 


Marcu 12, 1914] 


NATURE 51 


radio-activity of coal. Fire-damp from Anzin has been 
previously shown by the authors to contain 0-04 per 
cent. of helium, and as the amount of crude gas 
evolved a day is estimated at 30,000 cubic metres, this 
corresponds to 12 cubic metres of helium a day. The 
amounts of radium and thorium in the ash of the coal 
have been determined, in this and other coals yielding 
fire-damp containing helium, and do not correspond to 
such large proportions of helium. The larger part of 
the gas is not derived from the radio-active material 
of the coal, and must be regarded as fossil helium.— 
André Blondel: The effect and production of the higher 
harmonics in the transport of electrical energy at high 
potentials.—P. Sabatier and A. Mailhe: The ester 
oxides of carvacrol. A study of the direct dehydration 
of carvacrol by the action of thorium oxide upon the 
vapour at temperatures between 400° and 500° C.—M. 
Gambier: Algebraic curves of constant torsion, real 
and not unicursal.—F. Jager: The application of the 
method of Fredholm to the tides of a basin limited by 
vertical walls.—E. Mazurkiewicz and W. Sierpinski: An 
ensemble superposable with each ofits two parts.—A. 
Pchéborski: A generalisation of a problem of Tchébi- 
scheff and of Zolotareff.—C. Gutton: The specific in- 
ductive capacity of liquids. According to Voigt’s 
hypothesis, the force which acts on an electron de- 
viated from its equilibrium position in an electric field 
should not be exactly proportional to the deviation, 
and hence the specific inductive capacity ought to 
depend on the intensity of the field. In measurements 
made with toluene the deviations observed in the 
specific inductive capacity were of the same order as 
the experimental error. A slight diminution with  in- 
crease of field was noticed with bromonapththalene, 
4-72 to 4-69.—Maurice de Broglie: The spectra of the 
Rontgen rays. Rays emitted by antikathodes_ of 
copper, iron and gold.—J. de Kowalski: An explosive 
luminous phenomenon in _ rarefied nitrogen. The 
author confirms the observations of Strutt that 
nitrogen free from the smallest trace of oxygen is 
transformed into active nitrogen in a discharge in 
electrodeless tubes. A curious explosive phenomenon 
is described which is attributed to a temporary com- 
bination between the active nitrogen and traces of 
mercury vapour unavoidably present to form mercury 
nitride, the latter decomposing spontaneously.—H. 
Labrouste: A molecular transformation of thin layers 
on water.—F. Baud, F. Ducelliez, and L. Gay: A calori- 
metric study of the system water-monomethylamine. 
—H. Gault: A new method of preparation of tricarb- 
allylic acid. Oxalocitric lactone cannot be distilled 
under reduced pressure without decomposition. The 
liquid obtained by distillation is not, as was supposed 
by Wislicenus and Beckh, the unchanged lactone, 
but proves to be ethyl aafy-propane-tetracarboxylate. 
With dilute mineral acids a quantitative yield of 
crystalline tricarballylic acid is obtained.—Enrique 
Hauser: A new method for the detection and deter- 
mination of gaseous hydrocarbons dissolved in mineral 
waters. After adding potash to the water it is shaken 
with air and the latter analysed.—M. Piettre and A. 
Vila: Observations on fibrinogen and the oxalated 
plasma.—W. Kopaczewski: The influence of acids on 
the activity of dialysed maltase. The observed effects 
cannot be explained exclusively by the concentration 
of the acid ions.—Mlle. Jeanne Weill: The amount of 
fatty acids and cholesterol in the tissues of. cold- 
blooded animals.—Paul Fallot: The tectonic of the 
sierra of Majorca.—Emile Belot: An attempt at a 
physical theory of the formation of the oceans and 
primitive continents.—F. Malméjac: The importance 
of the estimation of chlorides for the control and 
evaluation of drinking water.—A. Boutaric: The 
thermal state of the atmosphere. 


NO. 2315, VOL. 93] 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 

Om Forandringer i Ringkobing Fjords Fauna. By 
A. C. Johansen. Pp. 144.- (Kobenhavn: Bianco 
Lunos Bogtrykkeri.) 

Wissenschaftliche Ergebnisse der Deutschen Zentral- 


Afrika-Expedition, 1907-8. Band v. Zoologie iii. 
Lief. “Tn @rihoptera. By J. A. G.'Rehn. Pp. 223, 
(Leipzig : Klinkhardt und Biermann.) 8:40 marks. 


Albin Haller. Biographie, Bibliographie Analytique 
des Ecrits. By E. Lebon. Pp. 120. (Paris : Gauthier- 
Villars; Masson et Cie.) 7 francs 

Cours de Physique.. By Prof. E. Rothe. Premiére 
Partie. | Généralités — Unites — Similitude—Mesures. 
Pp. vit183. (Paris: Gauthier-Villars.) 6.50 francs. 

Theorie Mathematique de !’Echelle Musicale. By 
A. Vaucher. Pp. 68. (Paris: Gauthier-Villars.) 2.25 
Francs. 

The Fleet Annual and Naval Year Book, 
Compiled” by gia * Yexley. Pp: 135. 
Fleet, Ltd:) > 1s. net. 

Progress of Education in India, 1907-12. By H. 
Sharp! Vol ies, Pps xvil-+ 284 xxx. (Calcuttar 
Superintendent Government Printing, India.) 6s. 

The Pigments and Mediums of the Old Masters. 
By Prof. A. P. Laurie. Pp. xiv+192+xxxiv plates. 
(London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 8s. 6d. net. 

Intermetallic Compounds. By Dr. C. H. Desch. 
Pp. vit+116. (London: Longmans and Co.) 3s, net. 

Die Theorie der Strahlung und der Quanten. Edited 
by A.) Huckene. (Bparxii-- 405... (Halle a. S,; 2 ow. 
Knapp.) 15.60 marks. 

Industrial Chemistry for Engineering Students. By 
Prof.. H.-K. Benson. Pp. xiv+431. (London: Mac- 
millan and Co., Ltd.) 8s. net: 

The Mineral Resources of the Philippine Islands for 
the Year 1912. Pp. 76+vii plates. (Manila: Bureau 
of Science.) 

Careers for University. Men. By H. A. Roberts. 
Pp. 22. (Cambridge: Bowes and Bowes; London: 
Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 6d. net. 

The Principles of War Historically Illustrated. By 
Major-General ‘E. A. Altham. Vol. i. Pp. xv+436, 


IgI4. 
(London: The 


and 5 maps to illustrate the volume. (London: Mac- 
millan and-Co., Ltd.) tos. 6d. net. 

Anthropology as a Practical Science. By Sir R. C. 
Temple. Pp. 96. (London: G. Bell and Sons, Ltd.) 
1S. eb: 

Die Stoffwanderung in ablehenden Blattern. By 
Dr. (NogSwanrts Pps (11Ss-v 4 platess) (ifernas 4G: 
Fischer.) 6 marks. 


Kristallberechnung und Kristallzeichnung. By Dr. 
B. Gossner. Pp. vi+128 (Leipzig und Berlin: W. 
Engelmann.) 8 marks. 

Muscular Work. By F. G. Benedict. and. E. P. 
Cathcart. Pp. vi+176. (Washington: Carnegie In- 
stitution.) 


Piebald Rats and Selection. By W. E. Castle and 


J. C. Phillips. Pp. 54+3 plates. (Washington: 
Carnegie Institution.) 
Carnegie Institution of Washington. Year Book. 


No. 12, 1913. Pp. xvi+336. (Washington : Carnegie 


Institution.) 


DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 


THURSDAY, Marcu 12. 

Rovat Society, at 4.30.—Note on a Functional Equation Employed by 
Sir George Stokes : Sir James Stirling. —The Mercury Green Line A=5461 
as Resolved by Glass and Quartz Lummer Plates and on its Zeeman 
Components: Prof. J. C. McLellan and A. R. MclLeod.—The Electrical 
Condition of a Gold Surface During the Absorption of Gases and their 
Catalytic Combustion: H. Hartley.—The Diffusion of Electrous through a 
Slit: J. H. Mackie.—The Rate of Solution of Hydrogen by Palladium : 
Dr. A. Holt.—The Dispersion of a Light Pulse by a Prism: Dr. R. A. 
Houston. 


2 


RovaL INSTITUTION, at 3.—Heat and Cold: Prof. C. F. Jenkin. 
CONCRETE INSTITUTE, at 7.30.—Forms for Concrete Work : A. Graham. 


INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEFRS, at 8.—The Design of Rolling 
Stock for Electric Railways: H. E. O’Brien. 


FRIDAY, Marcu 13. 


Rovat InstiTuTION, at 9.—An Indian State: Sir Walter R. Lawrence, 
Bart. 


MaLacotoeicaL Society, at 8.—Diagnosis of Four New Land Shells from 
German New Guinea: C. R. Boettger.—Characters of Three New Species 
of Ennea from Southern Nigeria: H. B. Preston.—A Synopsis of the 
Family of Veneride. II.: A. J. Jukes-Browne. 


Roya Astronomicat Society, at 5.—(1) Correction of Errors in the New 
Lunar ‘Theory ; (2) The Terms in the Moon’s Motion Depending on the 
Node; (3) The Perigee and Eccentricity of the Moon, 1750—1991 ; (4) The 
Determination of the Node, the Inclination, the Earth's Ellipticity, and 
the Obliquity of the Ecliptic, from Greenwch Meridian Observations of 
the Moon, 1847—1901: E. W. Brown.—Baxendell’s Observations of 
Variable Stars: R. Bootis, R. Cancri, R. Coronz, S. Coron, H. H. 
Turner, and Mary A. Blagg.—Micrometrical Measures of Double Stars in 
1913: Rev. T. ER. Phillips and H. F. Acocks.—The Spectra of 
Hydrogen and Helium: J. W. Nicholson.—The Total Light of the 
Stars : S. Chapman. 


Junior Institution oF ENGINEERS, at 8.—Lightning Conductors and 
their Tests : F. H. Taylor. 


ALCHEMICAL Society, at 8.15.—Roger Bacon : R. Rowbottom. 


Puysicar Society, at 8.—Time Measurements of Magnetic Disturbances 
and their Interpretation: Dr. C. Chree.—The Ratio of the Specific Heat 
of Air, Hydrogen, Carbon Dioxide and Nitrous Oxide: H. N. Mercer.— 
The Asymmetric Distribution of the Secondary Electronic Radiation pro- 
duced by X-Radiation: A. J. Philpot.—A Lecture Experiment on the 
Irrationality of Dispersion: Prof. S. P. Thompson. 


SATURDAY, Marcu 14. 
Roya InstiTuTION, at 3.—Reccnt Discoveries in Physical Science: Sir 
J. J. Thomson. 
MONDAY, Marcu 16. 
ROYAL SOcIETY OF ARTS, at 8.—Surface Combustion. I : Prof. W. A. Bone. 


TUESDAY, Marcu 17. 


Roe INSTITUTION, at 3.—Modern Ships. The War Navy: Sir John H. 
iles.+ 


Royat. SraristicaL Society, at 5.—The Sizes of Businesses, Mainly in 
the Textile Industries: Prof. S. J. Chapman, and T. S. Ashton. 


ZooLocicaL Society, at 8.30.—(1) The Annelids of the Family Nereidze 
collected by Mr. F. A. Potts in the N.E. Pacific in rgtz, with a Note on 
Micronereis as a Representative of the Ancestral Type of the Nereide ; 

(2) The Genera Ceratocephale Malmgren and Tylorrhynchus, Grube: 

L. N. G. Ramsay.—The Structure and Development of the Caudal 

Skeleton of the Veleostean Fish, Plenragramma antarcticus: A. K. 

Totton. —Report on the Mollusca collected by the British Ornithologists’ 

Union Expedition and the Wollaston Expedition in Dutch New Guinea: 

G. C. Robson.—The Mechanism of Suction in the Potato Capsid Bug 

(Lygus pabulinus, Linn.); P. R. Awati.—Coleoptera Heteromera col- 

lected by the British Ornithologists’ Union Expedition and the Wollaston 

Expedition in Dutch New Guinea: K. G. Blair.—The Malay Race ot the 

Indian Elephant : R. Lydekker.—Fauna of Western Australia. I. The 

Onychophora of W. Australia. JI. The Phyllopoda of W. Australia: 

Prof. W. J. Dakin. 


INsTITUTE OF Metats, at 8.—Annual General Meeting.— President's 
Inaugural Address : Sir Henry J. Oram. 


ILLUMINATING ENGINEERING SOcIETY, at 8.—A Comparison between 
Illumination Estimates and Performance in Practice: W. C. Clinton. 


INSTITUTION OF Civil. ENGINEERS, at 8.—Concluding Discussion: Rail” 
steels for Electric Railways: W. Willox.—Rail-corrugation and _ its 
Causes: S. P. W. D’Alte Sellon.—Pafers: Some Recent Developments 
in Commercial Motor-vehicles : T. Clarkson.—Comparative Economics of 
Tramways and Raiiless Electric Traction: T. G. Gribble. 


MINERALOGICAL Society, at 5.30.—An Occurrence of Bornite Nodules in 
Shale from Mashonaland: F. P. Mennell.—Augite from Bail Hill, Dum- 
friesshire : A. Scott.—(1) A Sulpharsenite of Lead from the Binnenthal 5 
(2) Gmelinite and Chabazite from Co. Antrim : Dr. G. T. Prior. 


WEDNESDAY, Marcu 18. 


Royat METEOROLOGICAL SociETyY, at 7.30.—Climate as Tested by Fossil 
Plants: Prof. A. C. Seward. 


AERONAUTICAL SOcIETY, at 8.30.—Lessons Accidents have Taught: Col. 
H. C. Holden. 


Royat Society or Arts, at 8.—House Flies and Disease: E. H Ross. 


INSTITUTE OF METALS, at 10.30 a.m.—First Report to the Beilby Research 
Committee, dealing with the Solidification of Metals from the Liquid 
State: Dr. C. H. Desch.--Bronze: J. Dewrance.—Vanadium in Brass: 
The Effect of Vanadium on the Constitution of Brass containing 50—50 
per cent. of Copper: R. J. Dunn and O. F. Hudson.—The Quantitative 
Effect of Rapid Cooling on Binary Alloys. II: G. H. Gulliver.— 
Crystal Protomorphs and Amorphous Metal: Prof A. K. Huntington. — 
First Report of the Nomenclature Committee.—The Influence of Nickel 
Some Copper-Aluminium Alloys: Prof. A. A. Read and R. H. Greaves. 
—Muntz Metal: The Correlation of Composition, Structure, Heat 
Treatment, and Mechanical Properties, etc.: Dr. J. E. Stead and 
H. G. A. Stedman —The Micro-Chemistry of Corrosion. II: S. Whyte 
and Dr. C. H. Desch. 


ENTOMOLOGICAL SociETy, at 8.—(r) A Contribution to the Life-History of 
Agriades thersites ; (2) A New Form of Seasonal (and Heterogoneutic) 
Dimorphism: Dr. ‘IT. A. Chapman. 


NOM23a05 6 VOI 403) 


NATURE 


[Marcu 12, 1914 


THURSDAY, Marcu 19. 


ROYAL Society, at 4.30.— Discussion: Constitution of the Atom. Opener: 


Sir E. Rutherford. 

Roya InstituTiIon, at 3.—Heat and Cold: Prof. C. F. Jenkin. 

Cuitp Srupy Society, at 7.30.—The Dramatic Impulse in Children: Prof. 
J. J. Findlay. : 

INSTITUTION OF MINING AND METALLURGY, at 8.—Annual Meeting. 


INSTITUTION oF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Discussion on Electric 
Battery Vehicles. 


Royat Society oF ArTS, at 4.30.—Indian Water Gardens; Mrs. Patrick 
Villiers-Stuart. 


LinnNEAN Society, at 8.—The Bearing of Chemical Facts on Genetica] 
Constitution: Dr. E. F. Armstrong. 
FRIDAY, MaRcH 20. 
Roya INsTITUTION, at 9.—Fluid Motions: Lord Rayleigh. 


InstTiTuTION OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—The Chemical and 
Mechanical Relations of Iron, ‘tungsten and Carbon, and of Iron, Nickel, 
and Carbon: Prof. J. O. Arnold and Prof. A. A. Read. 


Junior InstiruTION OF ENGINEERS, at 8.—Aeroplanes as Engineering 
Structures: W.’H. Sayers. 
SATURDAY, Marcu 2t. 


Roya. INsTITUTION, at 3.—Recent Discoveries in Physical Science: Sir 
J. J. Thomson. 


CONTENTS. — es 


Chemistry for Advanced Students. By Dr. J. W 
MCN) Se mmcerons nico cl wanes & ooo oe 
Dynamics: Oldand New. .... 5 US Ee eee 
New Zealand: Then and Now. By B.C. W. ... 28 
Our Bookshelf . a ale paar ; at Sas 26) 

Letters to the Editor :— 

Alexander Agassiz and the Funafuti Boring.—Prof. 
John: W. Judd) CoB ye RiS.) or cca rnin eet 

An X-Ray Absorption Band.—Prof W. H. Bragg, 
UL cl Sts eRe Stones MAL a? <a os oho i 31 

Experiments Bearing upon the Origin of Spectra.— 
On. Re) Jj. Strutt ei Res eee 32 


Unidirectional Currents within a Carbon - Filament 
Wamp:—Prof; “A. SEVel oe ao ee 
The Densities of the Planets.—Dr. Selig Brodetsky 33 
An Optical Representation of Non-Euclidean Geometry. 
Prof, G.-H} Bryans BeRoS. 0) ene 7 ee Be 
Nature Reserves. By sir E, Ray Lankester, K.C.B., 
Government Laboratory Report) ees eS 


Notes ... Sa Shes ES Fe ety We fi 


Our Astronomical Column :— 


Comet 19137 (Delavan)e .)s4 0 .is = sss eee 


Asarce Ivetlectorsom Canadas erie ener en 
The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory . . .. . 40 
The Importation of Birds’ Plumage . . 


The Vitamines of Food. By Prof. T. Johnson... . qi 


Atmospheric Refraction and Geodetic Measure- 
ments. 


Keportsiof Museums), 2-29 ees iit ee 
Radiation of Gas Molecules Excited by Light.— Prof. 
R. W. Wood 43 


Structural Analogies Between Igneous Rocks and 
Metals:—Prof. W. G. Fearnsides ... . Bier eee it 
Industrial Research in America. By Arthur D. Little 45 
University and Educational Intelligence ...... 4d 
Societiesiand Academies). 5.6) eae tee lanl a eAO) 
BooksiiReceivied: \.) fe. yc! enater Be ae) a 
DiaryiOf SOcietiess =) 2. sche cue aes area Bit 


Editorial and Publishing Offices: 


MACMILLAN & CO., Ltp., . 
ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C. 


Advertisements and business letters to be addressed to the 
Publishers. 


Editorial Communications to the Editor. 


Telegraphic Address: Puusis, LONDON. 
Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830. 


By ‘T. HES. eee, ees eee 


“ 


NATURE 53 


THURSDAY, 


a MARCH EQ, TOT: 


AN ELIZABETHAN COOKERY-BOOK. 

A Proper Newe Booke of Cokerye. Edited by 
Catherine F. Frere. Pp. :clxiv+i24. (Cam- 
bridge. Heifer .and Sons, Ltd.,: 1913.) | Price 
7S. 6d: net. 

HETHER cookery-books should rank as 
¥ literature is a question upon’ which 
opinions may well differ. Charles Lamb, we fear, 
‘would have stigmatised the majority of them as 
among the books which are no books. But what- 
ever exceptions he might have been induced to 
make, one of them would certainly have been Miss 
Frere’s work. And this because of his reverence 
for things ancient and of good repute. It would 
have quickened his instincts as a bibliograph, and 
he would have chuckled over the evidence of the 
playful imagination, delicate wit, and subtle 
humour with which the editor has embellished the 
setting of her antique and historic jewel. He 
would have appreciated, too, the element of 
comedy in the fact that although Miss Frere, as 
she frankly confesses, has never had the oppor- 
tunity of acquiring the art of cookery, she should 
yet have been fated to edit no fewer than four 
books on the subject. 

The origin of the present work may be told in 
a few words. The good and learned Matthew 
Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury from 1559 to 
1575, and a former Master of Corpus Christi 
College, Cambridge, from which he had been 
ejected during Queen Mary’s reign, presented a 
great collection of valuable manuscripts, as well 
as many printed books, to his old College and to 
the University Library, concerning which Dr. 
Berne, the then Vice-Chancellor, wrote of “the 
singular beauty that the comely order of Your 
Grace’s books doth bring to the University 
Library, to the great delectation of the Eye of 
Every man that Shall Enter into the Said 
Library.”” Among the ‘printed books given to the 
College is a little volume bound in vellum, in 
which, wedged in between political and learned 
tracts, is a black-letter octavo of twenty-seven 
Paces, entitled “A Proper :Newe .Booke © of 
Cokerye.” This, with the approval of the Master 
and Fellows, Miss Frere has caused to be re- 
printed, furnishing it with an admirable intro- 
duction, many excellent annotations, and a useful 
glossary-index. 

The original Cambridge edition is dateless, but 
was probably published during Parker’s tenure 
of the See of Canterbury. According to Hazlitt, 
the book was often reprinted before 1546, and 
in fact, a recension of the ‘Book of 


NOs 2216.-VOL. 02] 


was, 


Cookery ” of 1500, of which there was a reprint 
by John Byddell about 1530. This was often 
reproduced, with modifications, and under various 
names, down to 1650, much of it being embodied 
in the household books of those days, as, for 
example, in Thomas Dawson’s “Good Huswife’s 
Jewell,” of 1596. 

Of the original author nothing is known, not 
even his, or her, name; but one may surmise that 
the compilation was in all probability the work of 
a monk, to whom the occupation, we may take it, 
would not be uncongenial. Authoresses, especi- 
ally of works on cookery, were not plentiful in 
those days. Even the classical work of Mrs. 
Glasse, a book of a much later date, was, accord- 
ing to Boswell, written by a mere man, Dr. Hill. 

As we turn over the leaves of the “Proper 
Newe Booke,” with its quaint recipes, couched in 
the ‘corrupted phonetic” of the golden age of 
English prose, we gather, as our author says, 
‘a little rushlight illumination on the culinary 
mysteries of the once busy kitchens, roofless and 
empty to-day, and on the hospitalities, feasting, 
and revels of the now silent dining halls of long 
ago.” 

Matthew Parker was a large-minded man, who, 
living in spacious times, did things in a spacious 
way. Although an abstemious man himself, and 
not overburdened with the temporalities of his 
see, he exercised an almost boundless hospitality, 
both at Canterbury and at Lambeth, and we can 
well imagine that Mistress Margaret Harlestone, 
his devoted wife, who, ‘‘for her husband’s credit,” 
says Strype, “had all things handsome about her 
—ordering her housekeeping so nobly and splen- 
didly that all things answered that venerable 
dignity,’ must have been sorely exercised at times 
‘to avoid the shame of her Lord’s table,” especi- 
ally when, as occasionally happened, his Royal 
Mistress, in one of her many Progresses, inti- 
mated her intention of dining with him, together 
with the whole of her Privy Council. We fancy 
at such a time there must have been much search- 
ing through the scanty pages of the “Proper 
Newe Booke.”’ 

But to the general reader of to-day, perhaps, the 
most enlightening, as well as the most interesting 
portion of Miss Frere’s book is her introduction, 
in which she conjures up a vivid picture of 
“the gay company that rejoiced and feasted, 
the fighters and revellers, the grave statesmen, 
prelates, and lawyers, the admirals, bold sea 
captains, knights, and ladies, the great lords and 
princes” that revolved, as about a sun, around 
their imperious Queen, every inch a Tudor, who 
combined all the strength of will and masterfulness 
vomanly 


54 


traits of her luckless mother. Very sympathetic, 
too, is the word-picture Miss Frere draws of the 
great archbishop—of his courage, his loyalty, his 
devotion to duty, his broad catholicism, his stead- 
fastness, integrity, and liberality. It needed such 
a man to steer the reformed Church through those 
troubled times, when practically every ruler in 
Europe was conspiring with a disloyal faction at 


home to bring England once more under the heel | 


of the Papacy. 

But if Miss Frere has an eye for the pictur- 
esque, she has also a pretty wit, and enlivens 
her narrative from time to time with frequent 
sallies of humour and many a good story. We 
shall not anticipate the reader’s pleasure by re- 
peating these, strong as is the temptation. It 
must suffice here to say that Miss Frere, by her 
book, has added to the gaiety of gourmets, if not 
of nations. M. DD. W 


APPEIED? BLECTRICIT Y. 


(1) A Primer on Alternating Currents. By Dr. 
W- Gio Rhodes. > Pp. -vilr-- 145.) -(vendon® 
Longmans, Green’ “and ‘Co., 1912.) Price 
2s. 6d. net. 

(2) Single-Phase Commutator Motors. By F. 
Creedy> Pp: *x-- 113; ~ (london: (Constable 


imand?Co,.vletd., 10s.) erice gs. 0a.) met: 

(3) The Development of the Incandescent Electric 
Lamp. By G. Basil Barham. Pp. vili+ 108. 
(London: Scott, Greenwood and Son, 1912.) 
IPINGe 5 s-anet, 

(4) Allgemeine Elektrotechnik. Hochschul-Vorle- 
sangzen. By Prot. \P.- Janet: Autorisierte 
Deutsche Bearbeitung von F. Suchting and E, 


Riecke. Erster Band. Grundlagen  Gleich- 
strome. Bearbeitet von F. Suchting. Pp. vi+ 
269; f(Keipzie’ “and: Berlin: -B. > G:> Teubner, 


1912.) Price 6 marks. 


(1) R. RHODES’ book can scarcely be 

recommended to those students of 
limited mathematical knowledge for whom it is 
avowedly written. Throughout, the author seems 
to employ trigonometrical functions whenever he 
can get an excuse for doing so, while in many 
cases he omits vector diagrams which would prob- 
ably be of more assistance. The book is open to 
the criticism of being too academic and out of 
touch with real things. For instance, we might 
mention the calculation of iron losses from formule 
instead of reading them off directly from the ex- 
perimental’ curves; the “design” of a trans= 
former by assuming a certain flux density and 
then putting in enough iron to get a_ specified 
iron loss without any regard as to whether that 
iron is required or not; the elaboration of formule 
for the efficiency of synchronous machines taking 


NO: 2216,. VOL. oq 


NATURE 


| tions in the usual manner. 


[MarcH 19, 1914 


| account only of the copper loss; and, finally, the 


combination of the fluxes produced by the different 
coils of a polyphase motor by adding them alge- 
braically, after rectification for some obscure 
reason, instead of taking account of their direc- 
The reader’s confid- 
ence in the remainder of the book is scarcely 
restored by the hazy “due to the influence of the 
rotor currents,” which is advanced as an explana- 
tion of the discrepancy between the known facts 
and the results of this curious proceeding. 

(2) Mr. Creedy writes on a subject which he 
has made his own, and he introduces us to some 
new and fertile ideas in connection with it. His 
book requires a very close study to master it, 
and we cannot but feel that the reader’s path 
would have been much easier if the author had 
given a continuous exposition of his method as 
applied to a single type of machine, instead of 
explaining it in snippets with other matter 
between. 

So far as fluxes are concerned, he makes his 
case fairly clear, but when he applies his ellipses 
to E.M.F.’s he is less convincing. . He employs 
space diagrams to combine E.M.F.’s in series, for 
which only time-phase matters, and although the 
latter does depend on the instantaneous position 
of the coil, his description brings forward no 
reason why his construction should give the correct 
result. The statement as to the equality, at syn- 
chronous speeds, of the transformer and motion 
E.M.F.’s in two mutually perpendicular axes 
should be proved, particularly as the student will 
have some difficulty in imagining a winding which 
will give a constant harmonic distribution about 
a fixed axis while it itself rotates. 

Here and there the book is marred by the use 
of loose expressions which make a difficult subject 
still more difficult. Thus, we have “rotating 
ellipse” to describe a curve which is fixed but 
the radius of which is supposed to rotate. A greater 
attention to the agreement between the lettering” 
of the diagrams and the text, and to the suitable 
juxtaposition of corresponding connection and 
vector diagrams would have been a help to the 
reader. 

In spite of these little defects, we are strongly 
of the opinion that this book should be on the 
shelves of all who are interested in the subject. 

(3) The account of the early incandescent lamps 
and of the carbon and tantalum filaments which 
Mr. Barham gives will be read with much interest 
by many outside electrical circles. If only the 
remainder of the book had been similar, we should 
have had little but praise for it. But the second 


‘half of the book, dealing mostly with tungsten 


lamps, lacks perspective, and wearies the reader. 
Even the author seems to feel, in one place, that 


Marcu 19, 1914] 


the matter is too much an echo of the claims and 
hopes of the various inventors, as recorded in 
their patent specifications, and too little an account 
of processes in actual use in the factories which 
turn out tungsten filaments on a commercial scale. 
In fact, very few even of those readers who wade 
through the whole ninety or so pages about these 
lamps will have gained the faintest idea of these 
processes. A reduction of this portion of the 
book would have given space for a description of 
the Nernst lamp and its properties, which lamp 
certainly deserves more than a casual mention. 

(4) The last of the books before us can be 
recommended to those who would prefer to read 
the matter in German. The ground taken up is, 
for the most part, thoroughly discussed from the 
theoretical point of view, and the British reader 
will probably come across some instructive ideas 
which are new to him. In places there is a ten- 
dency to ignore facts which do not lend themselves 
to a simple theory, and there is a leaning to the 
physical side of the subject rather than to the 
engineering side. There are also some statements 
which give the reader quite a wrong impression, 
because they are not accompanied by a statement 
of the very special conditions to which they apply. 
For instance, we are told that the E.M.F. 
ring armature is 
poles, while the power is proportional to that 
number, in such a way that the reader would take 
the statement to apply to a given armature, 
whereas it would only apply if the size of the arma- 
ture were increased along with the number of 
poles so that each of the latter might be kept 
of a constant size. The book does not contain, as 
a knowledge of English books with equivalent 
titles might lead one to expect, any structural 
details or views of machines. Still, it is well 
worth reading, and certainly merits a more sub- 
stantial binding than the publisher has given it. 

; DR: 


of a 


SCLENCE- AND: ..PHILOSOPHY. 


(1) Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society. New 
Bees. Vol, xii: . Pp: -375-.. (London: Wil-’ 


liams and Norgate, 1913.) Price 1os. 6d. net. 
(2) Encyclopedia of the Philosophical Sciences. 


Vol. i.: Logic. By A. Ruge, W. Windelband, 
J. Royce, and others. Translated by B. Ethel 
Meyer. Pp. x+269. (London: Macmillan and 


Wo wibtdeasons.) Price 7s: 6d. net: 

(3) Evolution by Cooperation. A Study in Bio- 
Economics. By H. Reinheimer. Pp. xiv + 200. 
(London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Triibner and 
(Sp. Lids io1g.). Price. 3s=-6d.:.net. 

NO: 2216, VOL! 93: 


independent of the number of | 


NATURE 


classified facts. 
tion was a philosophical view; so is Bergson’s 


posed to do no harm.” 


ai) 


(4) The Science of the Sciences. By H. Jamyn 


Brooks. Pp. 312+ix. (London: David Nutt, 
n.d.) Price 3s. 6d. net. 

(5) Probleme der Entwicklung des Geistes. Die 
Geistesformen. By S. Meyer. Pp. v-+429. 


Leipzig: J. A. Barth, 1913.) Price 13 marks. 
(6) Naturphilosophische Plaudereien. Bys sEi 
Potonié. Pp. v+194. (Jena: Gustav Fischer, 
1913.) Pricé 2 marks. 
LATO dreamed of a dialectic that should be 
the science of the sciences, and philosophers 
have often assumed that philosophy is the essence 


of knowledge, into which are distilled the results 


of empirical research. Metaphysical logic may be 
considered to assist science by suggesting new 
modes of generalisation, new points of view for 
Darwin’s theory of natural selec- 


estimate of mind. Every -ism is of this nature; 
Wreismannism and Mendelism, neo-Darwinism 
and Pragmatism, are examples. Mathematics is 
equally suggestive of new generalisations; the 
work of Galton and of Karl Pearson are cases in 
point. The ®¢ formula of Mr. William Schooling 
is perhaps the most recent. But it is arguable 
that all such generalisations are ultimately them- 
selves suggested by new facts, and simply show 
the mind’s plasticity of reaction to new environ- 
ments. It is arguable that they are inevitable 
and obvious, once given the particular concatena- 
tion of facts suggesting them, but that the dis- 
covery of new concatenations of facts is not at 
all beholden to philosophical suggestion. It is 


| said that the inductive idea suggested to Bacon 


a new mode of research; on the contrary, it was 
the increase in observed facts and new concatena- 
tions of facts that suggested the inductive idea. 
The study of forms of thought develops with 
the material for thought, witness the developments 
introduced by Poincaré and Bertrand Russell. 
The latter’s analysis, in (1) “The Proceedings of 
the Aristotelian Society,” of the notion of cause 
is a refreshing proof of philosophical vitality. 
The word “cause,” he says, “is so inextricably 
bound up with misleading associations as to make 
its complete extrusion from the philosophical 
vocabulary desirable.” He well points out that 
advanced sciences like gravitational astronomy, 
even physics in general, never employ the term 
“cause.” “The reason why physics has ceased 
to look for causes is that, in fact, there are no 
such things. The law of causality, I believe, like 
much that passes muster among philosophers, is 
a relic of a bygone age, surviving, like the 
monarchy, only because it is erroneously sup- 
What scientific laws do, 


on 


6 NATURE 


[Marcu 19, 1914 


instead of stating that one event A is always fol- 
lowed by another event B, is to state functional 
relations between certain events at certain times 
(these are determinants), and other events at 
earlier or later times, or at the same time. No 
a priori category at all is involved. 

One of the most elementary philosophical ideas 
is that of purpose in evolution. Another is evolu- 
tion. Mr. Arthur Lynch criticises the latter 
(papers of the Aristotelian Society) in an interest- 
ing and anecdotic essay. Very much in point 
is one of his texts, viz., the remark of 
Kirchhoff : “‘ There is only one science (mechanics).” 
But Mr. Lynch’s plea for a wider and deeper 
application of the idea of an all-pervading Purpose 
is unconvincing, though rhetorical. 

The idea of Will dominates the psychology of 
the day; it belongs, of course, to the Purpose- 
idea. We could wish that some critical philo- 
sopher, such as Mr. Russell, would subject it to 
a merciless analysis. The same may fitly apply 
to the philosophy of chance and probability. The 
papers on these subjects read before the Aristo- 
telian Society show the over-elaboration which 
often precedes the simplification of an idea. In 
the first volume of ‘The Encyclopedia of the 
Philosophical Sciences” (2) there is a_ similar 
elaborate treatment of logic. Prof. Losskij thus 
states the ‘‘new conception of consciousness which 
is leading Philosophy out of the cul-de-sac of 
psychological Idealism”: ‘Consciousness is the 
sum-total of everything which stands in a certain 
unique relation to the Ego. Every faeton 
consciousness is made up of at least three 
moments ; every such fact depends for its existence 
upon the presence of an Ego, of a content of 
consciousness, and of a relation between the two.” 
This is the old logic writ large. Prof. Couturat 
more hopefully applies mathematics to the prin- 
ciples of logic. His notion of ‘propositional 
functions ” is worth serious consideration. The 
plan of the Encyclopedia is suggested, no doubt, 
by the inconsistencies of the previous works. It 
consists, “‘not of brief articles summary in char- 
acter, dealing with a great variety of topics, 
but of original and relatively exhaustive discus- 
sions of fundamental aspects of each main sub- 
ject.” The index, significantly, is of authors only. 

(3) Mr. Reinheimer agrees with the late M. 
Novikow in emphasising positive factors in evolu- 
tion against such negative factors as selection by 
survival. 
factor ; 


According to Darwin, death is a main 
nutrition and work, according to Mr. 
Reinheimer, are more important. 
good one; _ biological cooperation, 
economic cooperation, must 

NO.) 2316), VOL. "93)| 


His thesis is a 
to 
into 


similar 


be taken 


| ether, corresponding to material ! 


' human 


account. Nutrition represents stored-up organic 
capital. It is parallel to reproduction. He has 
interesting observations on the fallacy of in-feed- 
ing, which is ‘parallel to in-breeding. The book 
is suggestive, but, as a key, it only unlocks a 
side-door of the subject. Some elaboration of the 
orthogenesis doctrine seems more likely to open 
the main portal. 

(4) Mr. Jamyn Brooks has already received 
careful critical consideration. In “The Science 
of the Sciences” he undertakes to correlate the 
three principal sciences of “Chemistry, Physics, 
and Metaphysics, or Matter, Force, and Mind.” 


| Thus, in his first prefatory sentence, he shows 


confusion, which becomes worse confounded as 
the argument proceeds. If he has a new idea, he 
ought to explain it, but when about to explain 
he goes off at a tangent to something else. The 
one idea I have gathered is the existence of mental 
The author’s 
notion of construction and expansion as primary 
motion, and of translation as secondary, is not 
new. As for the testing of the hypothesis, con- 
tinually mentioned, it fails to materialise. 

(5) Herr Meyer, on the evolution of mind, 
brings together the latest results of animal-psy- 
chology, and treats of them in reference to the 
mind. His expository method has the 
merit of being general; he abstracts the insect’s. 
mental life and applies it, in comparison with 
man’s, to the forms of thought, such as space 
and time. This is a big book, closely reasoned 
and most comprehensive. 

(6) The distinguished botanist, the late Prof. 
Potonié, has written a charming series of “easy- 
chair’’ essays on science. The popularisation of 
science, the art of explanation, the power of habit, 
dogma and criticism, knowledge and _ belief, 
imagination and science, the concept of purpose, 
are old subjects treated with freshness. In sub- 
jects which bring science and society into relation 
he is not afraid to speak out. 

A. E. CRAWLEY. 


OUR BOOKSHELF, 

Das Relativitatsprinzip ; die jiingste Modenarrheit 
der Wissenschaft. By Leo Gilbert. Pp. 124. 
Wissenschaftliche Satyren. Band I. (Brack- 
wede i. W: Dr. W. Breitenbach, 1914.) Price 
3 marks. 

THE satire as a means of propaganda for 

scientific ideas is not of modern usage. Fechner 

was probably one of the last scientific satirists. 

Its revival in the present instance is the result of 

the considerable amount of mystification to which 

the electromagnetic principle of relativity estab- 
lished by Lorentz, Einstein, and Minkowski has 


Marcu 19, 1914] 


NATORE 


given rise. The description of this principle as 
‘the latest fashionable craze in science” is rather 
cutting, but as the book is well written and easily 
read, we can imagine that it will increase rather 
than lessen the general interest in the work of 
those eminent theoretical physicists. That the 
more extravagant conclusions resulting from the 
extreme adaptations of the principle should be 
held up to ridicule is quite wholesome, as it re- 
veals the weak points in the argument and pre- 
vents the unwary from carrying it too far. 

After all, “relativity” is only one among many 
possible interpretations of the result of a more 
or less isolated experiment. It asserts that no 
electrical or optical experiments can ever reveal 
absolute motion, or show any variation in the 
velocity of light. It is Einstein’s merit to have 
pointed out the alarming consequences which 
would result from these two simple propositions. 
Our notions of time and space become almost in- 
terchangeable, and the “present moment” be- 
comes meaningless without considerable restric- 
tion so soon as relative motion is involved. 

Leo Gilbert burlesques these innovations with 
much humour and ingenuity, and will no doubt 
largely prevent them being taken too seriously. 
Since Einstein himself has practically abandoned 
the principle of the apparent constancy of the 
velocity of light in all circumstances, and even his 
mathematical methods have failed to deal with 
accelerated motion, there is little left of the im- 
posing mathematical superstructure, and what 
“craze” there was has given way before a sober 
appreciation of an interesting speculation on its 
merits. While enjoying the fun ‘of the satire, 
we cannot say that the author is at all fortunate 
where he endeavours to furnish an alternative 
explanation. 


Gipsy Coppersmiths in Liverpool and Birkenhead. 
By Andreas (Mui Shuko). Pp. vi+ 66+ plates. 
(Liverpool: H. Young and Sons, 1913.) Price 
rs. net. 

Tuts book is a collection of newspaper articles 

describing the manners and adventures of a band 

of gypsy coppersmiths, which appeared in Liver- 
pool and Birkenhead in 1912. The writer would 
have been better advised not to reprint his material 
in this fragmentary form, but to take the oppor- 
tunity of preparing a connected narrative. These 
people were commonly known in this country as 

Hungarians, but they were really cosmopolitan 

nomads from Eastern Europe. They settled in 

Liverpool, where they claimed superiority over the 

local gypsies, and, though they were lavishly 

supplied with money and jewelry, professed to 
make their living by repairing copper cauldrons. 

They can scarcely be described as attractive. They 

were most unwilling to give estimates of the cost 

of work entrusted to them. Like all Orientals 
they loved bargaining, made preposterous demands 
of payment for work entrusted to them, refused 
to be bound by any contract, and tried to enforce 
their claims by bullying and that form of coercion 
known to Hindus as “sitting dharna.” They 


NO, 2296) VOL) 93 


! 


| stole 


were shameless beggars, and one of their boys 
the ring of their English friend, and 
flourished it in his face as they departed by train 
en route to Buenos Ayres. In spite of all this, 
they had a remarkable sense of personal dignity, 
and their kindness to one of their boys stricken 
with epilepsy, for whose treatment sorcery com- 
bined with the best medical advice was used, was 
remarkable. On the whole, we can _ readily 


_ imagine that the people of Liverpool easily recon- 


| Prehistoric Times: 


' chemical methods. 


ciled themselves to the departure of their visitors. 


as Illustrated by Ancient 
Remains and the Manners and Customs of 
Modern Savages. By the late Rt. Hon. Lord 
Avebury. Seventh edition, thoroughly revised 
and entirely reset. Pp. iii+623. (London: 
Williams and Norgate, 1913.) . Price tos. 6d. 
net. 
Tuis, the seventh edition, “entirely reset,” .was 
revised by Lord Avebury only a few months 
before his lamented death. The author was a 
pioneer in the popularisation of the study of 
archeology. It is pleasant to be reminded: “ This 
(the Drift period) I have proposed to call the 
‘Paleolithic’ Period,” and ‘‘For this (the Stone 


_Age) period I have suggested the term ‘ Neo- 


lithic.’’”’ The present edition is specially enriched 
with coloured illustrations of Palzeolithic paint- 
ings. For the wide range of its information, and 
the fairness with which divergent views are dis- 
cussed, the book well deserves the improved lease 
of life now given to it as a popular text-book of 
archeology. Its defects are those of its class. 


| For certain reasons, one had been led to expect 
that in this edition the author would have set a 
| fashion in works of the kind in including a sum- 


mary of the astronomical evidence which is but 
rarely detached from archeological objects. The 
Stonehenge evidence, it is true, is now too well 
impressed on the popular mind to be overlooked 
(pp. 133-4), but it is severely isolated. It is in the 
‘interests of young readers or teachers of this 


| text-book that one points to the latter half of the 
following passage as a questionable statement. 


“Tn this country we still habitually call the mega- 
lithic monuments ‘ Druidical,’ but it is hardly 
necessary to mention that there ‘s really no sufh- 


cient reason for connecting them with Druidical 
worship ’’ (p. 126). 


JouHN GRIFFITH. 


A Text-book of Organic Chemistry. By Prof. 
A. F. Hollemann. Edited by Dr. A. J. Walker, 
assisted by Dr. O. E. Mott. Fourth English 
edition, partly re-written. Pp. xviii+621. (New 
York: John Wiley and Sons; London: Chap- 
man and Hall, Ltd., 1914.). Price 10s. 6d. net. 


| THe first English edition of this work was re- 


viewed in NatTurE on June 18, 1903 (vol. Ixviii., 
p. 149). One of the chief characteristics of the 
present issue is the additional space allotted to 
the applications in organic chemistry of physico- 
The section on tautomerism 
has been re-written, and the chapters on_ the 
benzene derivatives have been re-arranged. 


58 NATURE 


LETTERS WO RES WED TOI. 


[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for 
opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with 
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 
this or any other part of Nature. No notice is 
taken of anonymous communications. | 


New Units in Aerology. 


In Nature of February 5, p. 629, is a reference to 
the new edition of the ‘‘ Observer’s Handbook”’ of the 
Meteorological Office, and complimentary mention of 
the proposed extension of c.g.s. units. On this side of 
the Atlantic, we have not yet seen the book, but feel 
that Dr. Shaw and his associates have with character- 
istic progressiveness done well in opening the cam- 
paign for the use of rational units. It will be hard for 
the present generation to depart from the old notation ; 
but for those who are to follow, the adoption of these 
units means clearer conceptions of atmospheric motion, 
fewer mistakes, and great ease of compilation. Briefly, 
the units are those proposed by Koppen at Monaco in 
1909, and advocated by V. Bjerknes at Vienna in 1912. 
Temperature is given in degrees Centigrade on the 
absolute scale, and pressure is recorded in bars and 
decimal parts thereof, as decibar, centibar, and milli- 
bar. 

We began using these units at Blue Hill Observa- 
tory, January 1, 1914, and within a fortnight had our 
attention directed by Prof. Kennelly to the fact that 
unknown to meteorologists at home (and presumably 
abroad), the bar was in use and had an established 
meaning among chemists and others. If we continue 
its use without definition we only add to the confusion 
already existing. 

So far back as 1888 the word barad was proposed 
by a committee of the British Association as a suitable 
term for the unit of pressure, one dyne per sq. cm. 
In 1903 Prof. T. W. Richards! independently sug- 
gested that the pressure of one dyne per sq. cm. be 
called a bar. He also suggested megabar for a c.g.s. 
atmosphere. So far as I can ascertain this is the first 
clear-cut definition of an absolute atmosphere. Ostwald 
in 1899 had the idea and advocated the use of one 
million of the units as a standard pressure, but gave 
no name to the large unit. Richards has used the 
bar consistently in his work, likewise Kennelly? and 
others. It has been definitely adopted by the Inter- 
national Congress of Physicists, independently of 
Richards’s proposal under the name barie (see Guil- 
laume’s “‘Récents Progrés du Systéme Métrique,” 
Paris, October, 1904). 

It seems almost unnecessary to argue that the 
smaller bar should be the basic unit and not some 
multiple. And again, it is doubtful if bar is the most 
appropriate designation for the pressure of an absolute 
atmosphere. Aer is a more significant word. Mega- 
bar is not altogether inappropriate, and, as we have 
seen, is established in the literature of chemistry, and 
cannot readily be displaced. The megabar in the nota- 
tion of the aerologist means the pressure of a million 
atmospheres, a magnitude not often dealt with; while 
on the other hand we sometimes need to express pres- 
sures smaller than the millibar of the aerologist. Now 
the bar of the chemist and physicist lends itself nicely 
to the measurement of these feeble pressures, since it 
is divisible down to its millibar, i.e. the thousandth 
of a dyne per sq. cm. 


To contrast the two systems, I have made the fol- 

1 Pub, 7 Carnegie Inst., 1903, p. 433 also Jour. Am. Chem. Soc., vol. 
XXVi., 1904 ; T. W. Richards, W. Kk. Stull. 

~ Am. Inst. Elec. Engineers, June, 1900; Kennelly, Wright, and Van 
Bylevelt. 


NO. 2316, VOL. 93) 


[MarcH 19, 1914 


lowing table, and at the suggestion of Prof. Richards 
have restricted it to the terms in common use. 


Chemist and 


é Aerologist 
(robe an by (To be Remarks 
¥ | abandoned) 


all hereafter) | 


| 

| 
_ | Imegabar | A million atmospheres; beyond 

direct measurement 
The absolute atmosphere ; equal 
to 750°1 mm. Hg, or 0°987 of 
usual sea-level atmosphere. One 
megadyne per sq. cm. acting 
through 1 cubic cm. does 1 


megerg of work. 


I megabar | 1 bar 


I kilobar 1 millibar 1 kilodyne per sq. cm. 
I bar | ? I dyne per sq. cm. acting through 
| I cubic cm. does I erg of work. 


i} 


There could be no objection to giving the term 
megabar or absolute atmosphere some convenient nick- 
name, such as ‘‘ Aer,’’ if megabar seems too ponderous. 
Prof. Richards has also suggested that for historical 
reasons the pressure of ten absolute atmospheres might 
be named after some pioneer in meteorology as 
Guericke or Torricelli or Pascal; but this need not be 
dwelt upon at present. 

Fortunately we can change from the aerologist’s 
system to that of the chemist by writing kilobar for 
millibar, and by substituting ‘‘aer’’ for ‘‘bar.’’ This. 
we are doing in the handy conversion tables now in 
course of preparation at this observatory. 

Now is the time to agree upon a logical and avail- 
able system. The megabar atmosphere seems to me 
to be the more appropriate; but perhaps some of the 
readers of NATURE can suggest something better. 

ALEXANDER McADIE. 


Weather Forecasting. 


Mr. Mattock quotes in Nature of February 26 
(p. 711) a sentence of the late Sir G. Airy concerning _ 
the amassing of millions of useless meteorological 
observations. Unfortunately, in scientific work a vast 
amount of work which is not immediately productive 
has to be done. Indeed, it is not possible to foresee 
with accuracy what the result of any particular in- 
vestigation will bring forth. But I do not think that 
this feeling will deter scientific minds from working, 
for each advance beyond the frontiers which limit our 
knowledge makes up for the disappointment resulting 
from many apparently unsuccessful expeditions. 

It is acknowledged that in this country, indeed in 
this latitude, the weather depends largely upon travel- 
ling cyclones which reach us from the Atlantic. Now 
our knowledge of the nature and origin of cyclones 
is very limited, and recent researches of the upper 
atmosphere have shown that a good deal of accepted 
theory concerning them is unsound. In spite of the 
millions of observations which have been, and are 
being, taken, we have no detailed information con- 
cerning the conditions obtaining in any one cyclone, 
and the changes which have occurred in it during its 
passage over the land or sea. In these circum. 
stances it is not surprising that weather forecasting 
should be difficult and uncertain. Now whilst such 
a lamentable want of knowledge concerning atmo- 
spheric disturbances exists, it surely cannot be main- 
tained that we already have too much information, 
and that further research is undesirable. 

The main question really is as to the direction such 
further research should take. Dines enters a plea for 
further research concerning the condition of the upper 
atmosphere. Considering that it is this kind of worl: 


Marcu 19, 1914] 


NATURE 


3 


which has led to such great changes in our views 


concerning the theory of cyclones, etc., it is reasonable | 


to suppose that still further investigation in this direc- 
tion would lead to further advances, and that, there- 
fore, the work is one which deserves encouragement 
in a practical way. My own plea, which gave rise to 
this discussion, was for better daily charts. At the 
present time millions of observations are practically 
buried so far as the individual meteorologist is con- 
cerned. A large part of these could be put on the 
charts and rendered available for all. My suggestion 
as to the Daily Weather Charts was, that the wind 
provinces should be put in. I found that, even with 
the information now published, it was possible to do 
this with fair accuracy during a period of about ten 
weeks. With a few more wind observations plotted 
on the diagrams it would be possible to do this accu- 
rately. Then the isotherms and humidities of each 
wind province could be put on the chart. The isobars 
run from one wind province to another in continuous 
curves. This is not the case with the isotherms— 
they terminate more or less abruptly, as do the 
humidity curves, at the borders of the wind provinces. 
The winds and isotherms taken together, therefore, 
render it possible to draw the wind provinces with 
some accuracy. 

It seems probable that daily charts with all the 
details that have been enumerated plotted on them 
would not entail great expense, would very likely 
teach us a great deal concerning cyclones and anti- 
cyclonic areas, and prevent so much valuable detail of 
atmospheric change being buried on the shelves of our 
institutions and societies. 

R. M. DEeELey. 

Abbeyfield, Salisbury Avenue, Harpenden, 

February 28. 


The Doppler Effect and Carnot’s Principle. 

So many objections, based on the Doppler effect, 
have been made to my application of Carnot’s prin- 
ciple to each particular frequency in full radiation, 
that it seems necessary to show that the two methods 
are not mutually inconsistent. 

According to the Doppler effect, when a beam of 
light g, per sq. cm. per sec. moving with velocity c 
is directly reflected by a mirror moving with velocity 
nc in the same direction, the frequency of every com- 
ponent in the beam is reduced by reflection in the 
ratio (1—n)/(1+mn), which according to Wien’s dis- 
placement law is also the ratio T,/T, of the tempera- 
tures of the reflected beam q, and the incident beam q,. 
‘The net expenditure of energy by the radiation per sec. 
per sq. cm. is qi—q., which reduces to 4nq,/(1+n)’, 
since the energy density varies on reflection as the 
square of the frequency. Part of this energy 
(g.+4q.)n, is left in the space nc vacated by the mirror 
per second. The remainder, 2nq,(1—n)/(1+n), is 
equal to the work done by the radiation pressure , 
namely, puc per sec. per sq. cm. We thus obtain 
p—29,1,/el,—29,0,/cl,=2q,q./¢, which is true for 
every component separately, and gives in the limit 
p=2q/c when the motion is slow, and the incident 
and reflected beams become equal. 

The energy left in the medium, (q,+4q.,)n, does not 
give rise to a volume of stationary vibration, wnc, 
where u=p=2q/c, as commonly assumed, because the 
frequencies of each component before and after reflec- 
tion are essentially different on account of the Doppler 
effect. In order to find the stationary vibration, or the 
intrinsic energy-density wu in the state of equilibrium, 
we must combine each incident ray with a reflected ray 
of the same frequency, before taking the limit. For 
any component q in the incident beam, the energy- 
stream of the component having the same frequency 


NO. 2316, VOL. 93] 


in the reflected beam is q—(dq/dT),dT, where 
dT=2nT when n is small, and (dq/dT), is the rate 
of increase with temperature of an energy-stream of 
constant frequency v. The net energy supplied of a 
particular frequency is 2nT(dq/dT), per second, and is 
equal to (w+p)nc. But since p=2q/c, this reduces 
in the limit to exact agreement with Carnot’s prin- 


| ciple, T(dp/dT),=u+p; which applies correctly to the 


equilibrium state. H. L. CALENDAR. 


Ligament Apparently Unaltered in Eocene Oysters. 

DurinG the examination of some large specimens 
of Ostrea bellovacina, Lam., from the Woolwich beds, 
sent on February 20 to this office by Mr. A. G. Davis, 
of Beckenham, a very interesting case of the preserva- 
tion of what appears to be organic tissue in an un- 
altered state has come to light. 

The ligament in the two specimens examined has 
a remarkably fresh appearance, and in its aspect 
and texture compares so closely with that of a recent 
oyster as to suggest that the fossil specimen has under- 
gone no change, except that it is somewhat softer and 
the fibres are less coherent. 

The whole of the ligament has been removed from 
one specimen and preserved in spirit, and a portion 
will be embedded in paraffin and sections cut for 
microscopical examination. 

The specimens were obtained from the lowest bed 
of the following section :— 


Excavation for Sewer in the High Street, Beckenham. 


Soil Sit Onin. 
Buff coloured sand with scattered 
Oldhaven P pe cleles : | 
oe ale grey sand with seams of clay, ; 9 ft. o in. 
Blackheath: the lower part ferruginous, with 
Bee wood and iron pyrites 
Cyrena and Ostrea bed with some)|1I ft. oin. to 
pebbles Jette Onm. 
Bluish grey clay with broken Cyrena | Ate Ga 
Weaolwich Bluish grey sandy clay with Ostrea Jf : ; 
Bidet Bluish grey mudstone and muddy | Baton 


sand slightly cemented. 
Modiola, ete. 


See fut through 
The preservation of organic tissue in fossils is so 
extremely rare that this instance is worth recording. 

Further examination is being made. 

R. W. Pocock. 

Geological Survey, Jermyn Street, S.W., March 13. 

Experiments Bearing upon the Origin of Spectra. 

IN connection with Prof. Strutt’s letter under the 
above title in NaTurE of March 12, it may be of interest 
to direct attention to some previous work of Prof. 
Lenard’s which contains results bearing on the same 
subject. Lenard (Annalen der Physik, vol. xvii., 
1905, p- 197), as a result of a study of the light emission 
of the electric are and the Bunsen flame containing 
metallic salts, showed that the principal and sub- 
ordinate series are emitted by different distinct regions 
of the luminous source, and are thus due to different 
centres of emission. Further, he demonstrated that 
the centres emitting the different series behave differ- 
ently in an electric field, and came to the conclusion 
that while the centres which emit the principal series 
are neutral metallic atoms (as has been also contended 
by Wien for the canal rays), the centres of the sub- 
ordinate series are atoms rendered positive by the loss 
of one or more electrons, one for the first series, two 
for the second, and so on. This theory is strikingly 
borne out by Prof. Strutt’s experiments, all of which 
seem to be explicable by it; in any case, this inde- 
pendent confirmation seems to place beyond doubt 
the different electrical state of the centres emitting 
the different series. E. N. pa C. ANDRADE. 

University of Manchester, March 13. 


60 


NATURE 


[Marcu 19, 1914 


The First Description of a Kangaroo. 

I HAVE just read in Nature of February 26 (p. 715) 
a letter by Mr. W. B. Alexander concerning the dis- 
covery of Australia and the first description of a 
kangaroo. It is stated there that the first discovery 
of this animal was made, not by-Sir. Joseph Banks 
on Captain Cook’s first voyage in 1770, but by Pelsart 
in 1629. May I be allowed to point out that a de- 
scription of a kangaroo is to be found at a much 
earlier date, viz., in the ‘‘Decades”’ of Peter Martyr, 
published shortly after 1500. Unfortunately this book 
is not accessible to me at present, so I must only 
point to numerous publications.of Mr. Edward A. 
Petherick, of the Federal Government Library, Mel- 
bourne, concerning the discovery -of Australia, who 
claims this honour for Amerigo Vespucci. According 
to Mr. Petherick, Peter Martyr states that in 1499 a 
southern coast was discovered (probably by Ves- 
pucci) in which trees grew of such magnitude that 
sixteen men standing around one could scarcely en- 
compass it (this would correspond to south-west Aus- 
tralia, between King George’s Sound and Cape Leeu- 
win). Amongst these big trees was found a monstrous 
beast, with the head of a fox, the hands of a man, 
the tail of a monkey, and that wonderful provision of 
nature, a bag in which to carry its young. The beast 
so described was caught alive with its young, but 
during the long voyage both died. The carcase of the 
dam was taken to the Court of Ferdinand and Isabella 
in the year 1500. This description is not as detailed 
as that by Pelsart; nevertheless it cannot easily be 
doubted that it refers to a kangaroo, which seems to 
have been known for the first time so far back as the 
end of the fifteenth century. 

The coast in question is supposed to have been dis- 
covered by Diego de Lepe, whose pilot was Vespucci. 

Tab. ESTREICHER. 
Laboratoire de Chimie IJ., Université de 
Fribourg (Suisse), March 3. 


The Movements of Floating Particles. 

WiLL any physicist be good enough to explain the 
following to an ignorant amateur? If a clean saucer 
be half-filled with a decoction of tea on the surface of 
which bubbles or unwetted shreds of ash (as from 
the consumed paper round the lighted end of a cigar- 
ette) are floating but not in a continuous layer, then 
if the decoction, after coming to rest, be gently. rocked 
the floating particles will partake of its perpendicular, 
but little, if at all; of its lateral motion. Sunken par- 
ticles, on the other hand, will partake of the lateral 
motion. Again, if the saucer be gently tilted the 
fluid will flow away, but each floating particle will 
remain stationary, and will be deposited under its 
original position. 

Why do not the particles partake of the lateral 
motion? Does the surface of the decoction form an 
incompressible, but flexible, film, which (in the saucer) 
may be added to but not subtracted from, under which 
the rest of the fluid slides with little friction. And when 
the fluid flows away does this film remain behind to 
form that portion of the fluid that wets: the saucer? 
Or do solid, but invisible, particles come up and form 
a continuous sheet on the surface? Against the latter 
supposition is the fact that particles dropped on the 
advancing edge of the decoction remain stationary. 
Particles floating on the surface of ordinary tap water 
move with it much more freely; water in which table 
salt has been dissolved behaves like tap water. But 
even in sea water we see froth left. behind by receding 
ripples. G. ARCHDALL REID. 

‘“Netherby,’’ 9 Victoria Road South, Southsea. 

March 3:3. 


NO. 2316, 1VOr1 O23) 


KINEMATOGRAPHY AND ITS 
TIONS. 


R. TALBOT is to be congratulated on having 
produced a book which must appeal 
strongly to the interest of the general reader, 
even though he may. have no intention whatever 
of becoming a “kinematographer.’’ A word here 
on this terrible term. It may be correctly derived 


_APPLICA- 


| from the Greek, while it certainly admits of many 


pronunciations, variously wrong, but the frequent 
collision with these six syllables when otherwise 
interested must impress upon the reader of Mr, 
Talbot’s book the desirability of finding some new 
word of one syllable, not derived anyhow,. such, 
for instance, as the mechanic and the electrician 
have found in the words crank and boost, so that 


; neither attention may be arrested nor printing ink 


and paper wasted. PNR 

The main purpose of the book is to show what 
has been done in. many different fields and the 
nature and cost of the apparatus which an amateur 
would be likely to use, rather than to give instruc- 
tion. in the details of the art. . Incidentally, the 
commercial value of lucky-chance films of. the 


' amateur is pointed out, but it is not very clear 


what the cost of the unlucky-chance miles of: film 
that will be worth nothing is likely to be. 

On first opening the book the reader will see a 
picture of a fine cow which appears to have 
suffered at the hands of the cattle-maiming gang. 
Closer inspection will show that the injury is a 
door in the side of the beast, which, according to 
the legend below, is 15 ft. high. It was made by 
Messrs. Newman of papier-mdché, so that the 
operator might get inside with his camera with ~ 
the intention of taking lions and other beasts 
unawares. Passing on from this testimonial to 
the credulity of the savage beast, we find numer- 
ous full-page or half-page enlargements of single 
pictures taken from the strip, so perfect in focus 
and detail that it is scarcely possible to believe 
that it has all been derived from a miniature 
1x2 in.. only in -size.. A-reference ‘to some of 
these only. will indicate the great variety of 
subject which is open to those who practise this 
new art. There are lions at lunch in the jungle, 
a polar bear diving in the arctic sea, birds feeding 
their young, a vulture preparing to fly, and taken 
at such close quarters that every feather is clearly 
defined, eighteen successive photographs taken 
during a single beat of a pigeon’s wing, and 
fifteen of the opening of a convolvulus, both from 


_the Marey Institute, two X-ray films from the 


same institute by M. Cavallo, one of sixty pic- 
tures showing digestion in the intestine of a frog, 
and thirty of the movements of the gizzard in a 
fowl, and others from the same quarter. 

Then by the aid of the microscope and the 
“ultra-microscope,” smaller forms of life may be 
seen in motion. For instance, there is the head 
of a spiny monster which is nothing more than a 
blue-bottle eating honey from off a needle, and 
there might have been, but are not, illustrations 
By Frederick A. 


1 ** Practical Kinematography and its Applications.” : 
i Price 


Talbot. Pp. xii+262+plates (London: W. Heinemann, 1913.) 
3s. 6d. net. 


Marcu 19, 1914] 


NATURE | ea 


of the blood corpuscles, phagocytes, and microbes 
in- human blood in a state of violent activity and 
warfare. Then there is a group of pictures taken 


from an American film, which was produced with | movement. 


Fic. 1.—Soldiers firing at the ‘‘ Life Target.” 


mechanism. From “ Practical Kinematography and its Applications.” 


the object of showing the actual movements of a 


highly-skilled mechanic, so that those who take | 


too long about their work might learn how to 
avoid useless movements. There is an account of 
the beautiful  in- 
strument of M. 
Bull described in 
Nature of July 28, 
1910 (vol. Ixxxiv., 
f° 112),; by “means 
of which _ stereo- 
scopic pictures may 
be taken at the rate 
of 2000 a_ second 
of such objects as 
a fly flying; and 
the somewhat simi- 
lar apparatus. of 
Prof. Cranz is also 
described. There 
is also an account 
of the most startl- 
ing development of 
kinematography. It 
is called the “Life 
Tareet..”  « Yn" this 
device a moving 
picture is projected 
on the screen; it 
may be, for in- 
stance, of cavalry 
crossing the screen or of an elephant charg- 
ing straight at the spectators. These are pro- 
vided with rifles and shoot at the screen. The 
explosion wave, by suitable mechanism, causes 


NO. 2316, VOL. 93] 


422 


The picture on the screen is thrown from the projector at right, and the 
picture is held stationary by the action of the report of the rifle caught by the microphone (marked X) upon the lantera 


Fic. 2.—The compressed air reservoirs of the ‘‘ Aeroscope ” camera. 1 Gos i 
From “‘ Practical Kinematography and its Applications. 


the film to be arrested for an instant only, when 
the bullet hole is clearly seen as a white spot, 
which disappears when the film continues its 
Other interesting pictures show the 
hi ait chin spon ea 
chick, a fight be- 
tween a lobster and 
an octopus, and 
many other things. 

A very good ac- 
count is given of 
the construction of 
several of the sim- 
pler machines, and 
in particular of the 
“ Aeroscope,” or 
moving - picture 
camera, in which 
air previously com- 
pressed in a light 
tubular reservoir by 
means of a bicycle 
pump’ drives . a 
minute engine and 
so moves the mech- 
anism at the de- 
sired rate, while the 
operator, having 
both hands free, 
may hold _ the 
machine up over 
his head in a crowd and secure at close quarters 
some stirring incident. It is with this instrument 
that Mr. Cherry Kearton has obtained some of 
his most wonderful results. 


<2 nee 


One charge is sufficient to expose 600 ft. of film. 


The methods used for developing and printing, 
of course, are described, but, curiously, no men- 
tion is made of colour work, whether two colour 
such as is so popular at the Scala Theatre, or 


62 


NATURE 


[MarcH 19, 1914 


three colour as represented a year or two ago at 
the Royal Institution by M. Gaumont, with such 
amazing fidelity to the colours of Nature. 

Space is not available for more than a bare 
recitation of some of the things described or illus- 
trated; suflicient, however, has been said to show 
that a most interesting and attractive book has 
been produced. 

On p. 171 reference is made to a difficulty met 
with when photographing live microbes in con- 
sequence of their being killed by the heat from 
the concentrated beam from the powerful arc 
lamp. The use of a water cell in the beam is 
described as a method of reducing this trouble. 
While the ever-repeated fallacy of alum solution 
finds no place here, the author or Dr. Comandon, 
whose work is being described, do not appear to 
have known of the use of freshly-prepared solution 
of FeSO,, of such a strength that its colour is just 
visible, as an effective heat absorber. 


C€-VEXBovst 


EARLY FOSSIL BRACHIOPODS.} 


HE work before us, which treats of the 
Cambrian brachiopods of the whole world, 
must arouse the admiration of all who understand 
the difficulties of a comprehensive paleontological 
study of such magnitude. It is a splendid monu- 
ment to the ability and perseverance of its eminent 
author, whose previous reputation as an investi- 
gator ‘of the Cambrian faunas was so widely 
established as not to need the further proof 
afforded by these two handsome volumes. It is 
a matter both for surprise and congratulation that 
Dr. Walcott has found opportunity, amidst his 
many activities, to bring to-completion a task so 
overwhelming : small wonder that it has occupied 
his available time for ten years or more. 

If the wealth and good preservation of the 
Paleozoic Brachiopoda found in North America 
has provided an abundance of material favourable 
for study, how worthily have the paleontologists 
of the United States utilised their advantages ! 
It may be granted that they owe some measure of 
their success to generous practical support and to 
freedom from conservative traditions in the 
matters of outlook and treatment of their sub- 
jects: these are advantages denied to most 
workers in Europe. Yet no consideration of such 
favouring circumstances can diminish our in- 
debtedness to those brilliant investigators in the 
United States who have contributed so largely to 
the rapid advancement of modern paleontology 
in all its branches. For models of comprehensive 


systematic work, for sueeestive and original 
phylogenetic studies, and for inspiring aid in 
applying the facts of paleontology to many 


problems of philosophic biology, we in Europe 
have become more and more accustomed to look 
westward. Dr. Walcott is one among several of 
his compatriots who have advanced our knowledge 


1 **Cambrian Brachiopoda.” By Charles TD. Walcott. Monographs of 
the United States Geological Survey, vol. li.: part i., pp. €72+76 figs. ; 
part ii., pp. 363-+civ plates. (Washington: Government Printing Office, 
1912. 


NO: 231 0"sviOl. 593) 


of the Paleozoic brachiopods in an extraordinary 
degree. 

It is impossible for a single reviewer either to 
criticise in detail a work of such wide scope as 
the present monograph or to do justice to its 
merits. It must therefore suffice to indicate briefly 
some of its special features. In this book are 
described ‘“44 genera, 15 subgenera, 477 species, 
and 59 varieties of Cambrian Brachiopoda,” and 
‘2 genera, 1 subgenus, 42 species, and 1 variety 
of Ordovician. Brachiopoda.” The descriptive 
part of the text occupies nearly 500 pages; yet, 
bearing in mind that this will remain the standard 
work of reference on the Cambrian brachiopods 
of all countries for many years to come, the author 
appears to have erred on the side of brevity. 
There are instances where the specific characters 
might with advantage have been set out more 
fully and the comparative observations amplified, 
though the appearance of an unduly meagre treat- 
ment may sometimes be owing to limitations in 
the material itself. The whole descriptive portion 
of the work affords ample evidence of the author’s 
extensive knowledge and scholarly thoroughness. 
The 76 figures, chiefly in half-tone process, which 
are scattered throughout the text are clearly re- 
produced, while the letterpress is very well printed 
and edited. 

The various tables in which are set forth 
synonymic references and the geographical and 
stratigraphical distribution of the brachiopods, are 
outstanding features of the work. The table of 
synonyms, giving the names now adopted set in 
a column alongside those previously applied to 
the same species, will be of great service to all 
workers in this field of study. Geographical dis- 
tribution is shown in a synoptic table arranged 
according to continents and faunal provinces 
(pp. 114-122). Another elaborate table, giving 
the detailed stratigraphical distribution of the 
Cambrian and some Ordovician species, occupies 
34 pages. This is arranged alphabetically accord- 
ing to states or countries, and contains a vast 
amount of concisely arranged information. Here 
are included summaries of many local or regional 
sections, with references to individual localities 
which are described in detail on subsequent 
pages: also lists of the brachiopods found at the 
various horizons and certain leading species of 
other classes. 

The section of the work headed “ Zoological 
Discussion ” (pp. 291-326) is of importance to all 
students of the Brachiopoda. Here are to be 
found terminological definitions and an account 
of the morphological characters of the shells; also 
short chapters on evolution and classification, 
which strike us as unduly condensed. The biblio- 
graphy (pp. 13-26) is very full, and should prove 
of great help to other workers. We miss here a 
reference to Mr. F. R. GC. Reed’s memoir on “The 
Cambrian Fossils of  Spiti” (Paleontologia 
Indica), published in the summer of 1910, and the 
species of brachiopods there recorded are omitted 
from the descriptive portion of the text. Pre- 
sumably that work appeared too late to be utilised ; 


Marcu 19; 1914] 


NATURE 63 


but if this be the case, two years seems a too 
generous allowance of time to be occupied in 
passage through the press, to the exclusion of 
belated additions, even in the case of an elaborate 
monograph such as that under review. The 
volume of text concludes with a full and well- 
planned index, while there is the useful luxury of 
a second index at the end of the vclume of plates. 

Special praise must be accorded to the plates, 
upwards of 100 in number, which illustrate this 
work. These are well reproduced in collotype 
process from beautifully executed drawings, 
mainly by Miss Frances Wieser, of the United 
States Geological Survey. The careful and de- 
tailed work of the artist is a fine achievement. 
To many who have little acquaintance with 
the Cambrian brachiopods beyond the scanty 
assemblage found in our own country, the perusal 
of this volume of plates will prove a revelation. 
It is indeed astonishing to find that such a pro- 
fusion of species had been evolved and_ such 
elaborate specialisation had been attained by many 
of them in those remote ages. One can only 
picture in imagination the long and slowly evolv- 
ing lines of precursors of which no trace has yet 
been found. 

Dr. Walcott deserves the warmest thanks of 
all paleontologists and geologists for a treatise 
which must long remain a classic. The public 
department which has issued the work in such 
handsome form is also to be congratulated. What 
higher service can such a department perform 
than thus to give practical encouragement to 
arduous scientific labour ? ets) KX. 


THE TRANSMISSION OF PLAGUE: BY 
FLEAS. 
(ae third Plague Supplement of the Journal 
of Hygiene maintains the high standard both 
of research and of editing set by the previous 
numbers. It contains eight good articles, chiefly 
by S. Rowland and R. St. John Brooks, on the 
bacteriology of plague and by A. W. Bacot on the 
rat flea. ‘he former articles deal with the in- 
fluence of cultivation in serum-containing media 
upon the virulence and immunising properties of 
the plague bacillus; upon the facility with which 
it is ingested by human leucocytes; and upon its 
virulence—all points of importance in regard to 
bacteriology in general. Mr. Bacot’s most labori- 
ous and well-set-out researches upon the influence 
of temperature and humidity upon the pathophores 
and on the effect of vapours as insecticides deserve 
much commendation; but perhaps the most inter- 
esting article is by him and Prof. C. J. Martin on 
the mechanism and transmission of plague by fleas. 
They sum up a very careful paper by the following 
remarks :— 

‘‘Under conditions precluding the possibility of in- 
fection by dejecta it was found that two species of 
rat fleas, Xenopsylla cheopis and Ceratophyllus 
fasciatus, fed upon septicaemic blood, can transmit 
plague during the act of sucking, and that certain 


individuals suffering from a temporary obstruction at 
the entrance to the stomach were responsible for most 


NOM2a16,, VOL. 93)| 


of the infections obtained, and probably for all. In 
a proportion of infected fleas the development of the 
bacilli was found to take place to such an extent as to 
occlude the alimentary canal at the entrance to the 
stomach. The culture of pest appears to start in the 
intercellular recesses of the proventriculus, and grows 
so abundantly as to choke this organ and extend into 
the cesophagus. Fleas in this condition are not pre- 
vented from sucking blood as the pump is in the 
pharynx, but they only succeed in distending an 
already contaminated oesophagus, and, on the cessa- 
tion of the pumping act, some of the blood is forced 
back into the wound. Such fleas are persistent in 
their endeavours to feed, and this renders them par- 
ticularly dangerous.” RR: 


NOTES. 


WE announce with deep regret the death on March 
16, as the result of a motor accident, of Sir John 
Murray, K.C.B., F.R.S., the distinguished naturalist 
and oceanographer. 


THe Right Hon. Sir Francis Hopwood has been 
appointed by the president and council of the Royal 
Society to a seat on the general board and executive 
committee of the National Physical Laboratory, in 
succession to Sir Arthur Rticker, F.R.S., resigned. 


WE notice with regret a Reuter message from New 
York reporting the death on March 16 of Prof. E. S. 
Holden, director of the Lick Observatory from 1888 
to 1898, and author of a number of papers and other 
works on astronomical subjects. 


Tue death is announced, on March 7, at seventy- 
three years of age, of Prof. Antonino Salinas, pro- 
fessor of archeology at the University of Palermo 
and director of the Archeological Museum. 


Pror. J. G. Apami, F.R.S., Strathcona professor 
of pathology and bacteriology, McGill University, 
Montreal, has been awarded the Fothergill gold medal 
of the Medical Society of London for 1914, for his 
work on pathology and its application to practical 
medicine and surgery. 


Tue death is announced, in his sixty-seventh year, 
of Dr. E. J. Houston, one of the inventors of the 
Thomson-Houston system of are lighting. He was 
twice elected president of the American Institute of 
Electrical Engineers, and was the author of more 
than fifty books, mainly on electricity and allied sub- 
jects. 


Pror. F. Keresie, F.R.S., professor of botany, 
University College, Reading, has been appointed 
director of the Royal Horticultural Society’s garden at 
Wisley, with the view of making it of more general 
practical service. Mr. F. Chittenden will remain in 
charge of the educational section, and Mr. S. T. 
Wright will continue to act as superintendent of the 
garden. 


Miss A. Cannon, whose critical examination of 
Harvard College Observatory photographs has led her 
to the discovery of many new variable stars and other 
objects of interest, has been elected an honorary mem- 


64 NATURE 


ber of the Royal Astronomical Society. At the meet- 
ing of the society on Friday last, the president, 
Major E. H. Hills, in announcing the council’s deci- 
sion, remarked that Miss Cannon had acquired re- 
markable skill in distinguishing the type to which a 
star spectrum belongs and had completed the classi- 
fication of 150,000 stars in this way. 


Mr. Marconi appears to have secured some remark- 
able results with his new wireless telephonic appa- 
ratus. According to the daily newspapers, experiments 
have been carried out from Italian warships off the 
Sicilian coast, and on one occasion signals were re- 
ceived from Canada, 4062 miles away, by means of 
wireless telephony. In another experiment communi- 
cation was set up between two ships forty-five miles 
apart, and the connection continued uninterruptedly 
for twelve hours. On March 14 the wireless tele- 
graphic station at Nauen, near Berlin, exchanged 
clear signals with the Windhuk station in German 
South-West Africa, a distance of more than 6000 
miles. 


WE regret to announce the death, on March LSe oll 
Dr. Harry Burrows, senior lecturer on chemistry at 
the Sir John Cass Technical Institute, at the early 
age of forty-two. Dr. Burrows received his academic 
training at the Royal College of Science aiid at Heidel- 
berg University, and was a research schoiar and sub- 
sequently an assistant demonstrator at the Royal Col- 
lege under Sir William Tilden. For the past ten years 
he had been on the staff of the Sir John Cass Technical 
Institute, where his successful work as a teacher was 
valued and appreciated both by the governors of the 
institute and by the students. Dr. Burrows contri- 
buted several papers to the Transactions of the Chem- 
ical Society. 


THE Faraday Society has arranged a general dis- 
cussion on optical rotatory power, to be held in the 
afternoon and evening of Friday, March 27, in the 
rooms of the Chemical Society, Burlington House, 
London, W. Prof. H. E. Armstrong will preside at 
the afternoon session, and will deliver an introductory 
address. Prof. Percy F. Frankland will preside at 


the evening session. Papers on various aspects 
of the subject will be read by Prof. Hans Rupe 
(Basle), Prof. H. Grossmann (Berlin), Prof. Leo 


Tschugaeff (St. Petersburg), Dr. Darmois (Paris), Dr. 
T. M. Lowry, Mr. T. W. Dickson, Mr. H. H. Abram, 
Dis ake dat? Pickard, (Mr: |. Kenyon, sand) Dr. “x iS: 
Patterson. 


Tue Royal Society for the Protection of Birds has 
issued a manifesto signed by the president (the 
Duchess of Portland) and other ladies of distinction 
in favour of the Importation of Plumage Prohibition 
Bill now before Parliament. The manifesto says :— 
‘The present Bill is the result of careful and prolonged 
investigations. The export of the plumage of wild 
birds has been prohibited from India, and from the 
majority of the Crown Colonies. The United States 
of America and the Commonwealth of Australia have 
sifted the question, and passed laws prohibiting both 
export and import. A strong feeling in favour of 
legislation on these lines is growing in Germany, 


NO, 2316, VOl93) 


[Marcu 19, 1914 


France, Austria, Holland, Sweden, Denmark, and Bel- 
gium. Attempts to regulate the traffic would be futile 
on account of the insurmountable difficulties with 
respect to laws and their enforcement in the countries 
from which a large proportion of the birds come; 
therefore, the most effectual way to preserve wild birds 
is by the enactment of laws prohibiting importation in 
support of the regulations which forbid export.” 


THE report of the Royal Society for the Protection 
of Birds, presented to the meeting held at the West- 
minster Palace Hotel on March 5, shows that the 
growth of the society has been well maintained. 
Further funds are required if the society is to do the 
work which lies before it. ‘‘ The watchers’ committee 
is continually asked to undertake fresh work and 
accept new responsibilities; educational worl - could 
proceed far more rapidly were there funds for its sup- 
port; it is probable that the work at the lighthouses 
will demand large additional outlay; and the legis- 
lative work before the society for 1914 is the heaviest 
it has yet had to encounter.’ The work at the light- 
houses, it may be explained, takes the form of erect- 
ing rails on which flights of migrants may perch. 


UnpbErR the powers of the Ancient Monuments Con- 
solidation and Amendment Act, 1913, the following 
Advisory Boards have been appointed for England, 
Scotland, and Wales :—England—Mr.. Lionel Earle 
(chairman), Lord Burghclere, Lord Crawford, Sir 
Aston Webb, Mr. RR: Blomfield Sir ‘©. Her 
cules’ Read, Mr. C.. Py Grevelyan, *Prot. shee 
Haverfield, Prof. ‘W.. RR. -Wethaby. ie ae 
Smith. Scotland—Sir John Stirling-Maxwell, Bart. 
(chairman), Sir Herbert Maxwell, Bart., Mr. A. O. 
Curle, Dr. G. Macdonald, the Hon. Sir Schomberg Kk. 
McDonnell, Sir James Guthrie, Sir Robert Lorimer, 
Mr. J. R. Findlay. Wales—Sir E. Vincent-Evans 
(chairman), Lieut.-Col. W.-E. Ll. Morgan, Mr. W. 
Edwards, Sir E. Stafford Howard, Mr. E. Neil Baynes, 
Prof. R. €. Bosanquet, Dr.-~ W. E. - Hoyle, -Prof. 
J. Edward Lloyd. Mr. C. R.- Peers, Chief Inspector 
of Ancient Monuments, is also. a member of each 


board. 


THE death is announced of Mr. George Westing- 
house, the inventor of the air brake. Born at Central 
Bridge, Schoharie County, New York, in 1846, he 
was educated at public and high schools, and at 


Union College, where he graduated Ph.D. The 
air brake which has made his name famous 
throughout the world was invented in 1868. It has 


been computed that Mr. Westinghouse’s genius as an 
inventor has brought into being undertakings with a 
capital of 130 millions of dollars, giving employment 
to 50,000 skilled artisans. He founded works in many 
American centres, as well as in Manchester and Lon- 
don, at Havre, and in Germany, Russia, Austria, and 
Italy. Among the decorations bestowed on him were 
the Legion of Honour, the Order of the Royal Crown 
of Italy, and of Leopold of Belgium. He was also 
the recipient of the Edison gold medal in 1912, and in 
the following year of the Grashof gold medal, con- 
ferred annually by the engineering profession of Ger- 
many in memory of Franz Grashof. 


Marcu 19, 1914] 


‘A PARAGRAPH in the Times of March 12 records the 
arrival at the Natural History Branch of the British 
Museum of a consignment of specimens illustrating 
the whales of the Antarctic. They were obtained by 
the museum taxidermist who accompanied the late 
Major Barrett-Hamilton to South Georgia, and were 
brought home gratis by Messrs, Salvesan, of Leith, 
their united weight being about 8 tons. The speci- 
mens—which represent three species, namely, the blue 
or Sibbald’s rorqual (Balaenoptera sibbaldi), the 
common finner (B. musculus), and the southern hump- 
back (Megaptera lalandei)—include the whalebone, 
flippers, a trunk-vertebra, and ear-bones. Plaster 
casts of the flippers are now being made, which will 
in due course be placed on exhibition. The blue 
rorqual was the second largest specimen on record, 
measuring close on too ft. in total length. To this 
species pertains the aforesaid vertebra, which is of 
enormous dimensions, largely exceeding those of the 
vertebrae of the sauropod dinosaurs from the Wealden 
of the Isle of Wight. 


THERE is something reminiscent of a Latin-American 
frontier dispute in the controversy which has arisen 
regarding the base in the Weddell Sea of the respec- 
tive Antarctic expeditions of Sir Ernest Shackleton 
and Dr. Koenig, but the parallel unfortunately does 
not hold good so far as to suggest arbitration by an 
impartial umpire. It is admitted on Dr. Koenig’s 
side that, before his expedition was spoken of, Sir E. 
Shackleton had expressed in general terms his hope 
of undertaking a journey from the Weddell Sea to the 
pole. Dr. Koenig, on the other hand, produced de- 
tailed plans before Sir E. Shackleton did so, and the 
question turns simply on a point of opinion whether 
the latter’s previous general statement gives him a 
basis of claim to priority, or not. The Royal and 
Imperial Geographical Society in Vienna has com- 
mitted itself to the negative opinion, and there the 
matter appears likely to rest: either side may claim 
what it will but cannot enforce any claim upon the 
other; so that so far as concerns work in the Weddell 
Sea area (for the published statements do not make 
it clear that a crossing of the Antarctic continent is 
part of the Austrian, as it is of the British, scheme) 
science may be compelled to fall back upon any satis- 
faction and value which it may be possible to derive 
from a comparison between independent sets of ob- 
servations in the same field. 


Tue concluding meeting of the Optical Convention 
was held on Thursday, March 12, in connection with 
the meeting of the Optical Society of that date. The 
report presented contained many points of special 
interest, Conspicuous among which was an experiment 
made by the Board of Education in accommodating 
the exhibition of the Optical Convention in the build- 
ings of the Science Museum at South Kensington. 
The experiment appears to have given complete satis- 
faction to the committee and members of the conven- 
tion. We believe that it is regarded as having been 
successful by the authorities of the museum, and as 
it is very evident that such an employment, when 
practicable, of our public museums must tend mate- 


NO-w2aTo, VOL. 93) 


NATURE 


05 


rially to enlarge their usefulness, it may be hoped that 
the precedent will not be lost sight of in the future. 
From another point of view the report must have 
been equally satisfactory to the members of the con- 
vention, for it appears that in the result the commit- 
tee has been able to wind up the business without 
making any formal call upon its guarantors. The 
most important outcome of the convention was the 
formation of a technical committee charged with the 
duty of establishing an effective cooperation between 
the users of scientific instruments on one_ hand, 
and the manufacturers of such instruments on the 
other. The report of that committee, which was the 
most interesting feature of the proceedings, shows 
that the committee found some very useful work ready 
to its hand in connection with a communication from 
the War Office referring to the standardisation of 
the cells and other parts of telescopes and binoculars. 
A sub-committee has been formed to consider the 
matter, and it is hoped that through the instru- 
mentality of the Optical Society, and with the coopera- 
tion of British manufacturers of telescopes and bino- 
culars, the necessary work of standardisation will soon 
be carried out. 

In connection with the Panama-Pacific International 
Exposition in San Francisco next year, there will be 
an International Engineering Congress, during the 
week September 20-25, 1915, in which engineers 
throughout the world, representing all branches of the 
profession, are invited to participate. The congress 
is to be conducted under the auspices of five engineer- 
ing societies, namely, the American Society of Civil 


Engineers, the American Institute of Mining 
Engineers, the American Society of Mechanical 
Engineers, the American Institute of Electrical 


Engineers, and the Society of Naval Architects and 
Marine Engineers. Colonel G. W. Goethals, chair- 
man and chief engineer of the Isthmian Canal Com- 
mission, has consented to act as honorary president 
of the congress. The general field of engineering to 
be covered by the congress has been divided into ten 
groups or branches, which, together with the special 
field of the Panama Canal, will constitute eleven divi- 
sions or sections, as follows :—(1) The Panama Canal; 
(2) Waterways and Irrigation; (3) Railways; (4) Muni- 
cipal Engineering; (5) Materials of Engineering Con- 
struction; (6) Mechanical Engineering; (7) Electrical 
Engineering ; (8) Mining Engineering and Metallurgy ; 
(9) Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering; (10) 
Military Engineering ; (11) Miscellaneous. The offices 
of the committee of management of the congress are 
at Foxcroft Buildings, San Francisco, Cal., U.S.A. 


Mr. B. Quaritcu, of 11 Grafton Street, London, 
W., is about to publish an elaborate worl entitled 
‘British Flowering Plants,” in four volumes, royal 
quarto, at twelve guineas if ordered before the date 
of publication, March 28, or fifteen guineas after that 
date. The main feature of the work consists in three 
hundred coloured plates, reproduced from water-colour 
drawings by Mrs. Perrin. Copies of the first volume 
of the work, together with the original drawings, and 
the plates for the book, are on view (March 13-27) at 
the Dudley Gallery, 169 Piccadilly, where we inspected 


66 


them on Saturday last, and were equally struck by the 
beauty of the original drawings and the remarkable 
fidelity of the plates reproduced from them. Thirty 
of the plates consist of floral dissections, but those 
inspected were somewhat too small and lacking in 
detail to be of much service to the student; such 
analytical illustrations are usually better done in black 
and white, except where they are on a large scale, as 
in the well-known coloured sections of flowers given 
in Dr. Church’s “Types of Floral Mechanism.” The 
British flowering plants are receiving a large amount 
of attention from artists and photographers at the 
present time, and the appearance of so many attrac- 
tive books is a welcome sign of increasing interest 
in our wild flowers, while it should swell the numbers 
of field naturalists. 


Mr. ArtHur MacDonatp, of Washington, D.C., 
has sent us a leaflet entitled ‘‘ The Study of Man,” the 
object of which is to urge the desirability of labora- 
tories to investigate the bodily and mental character- 
istics of the criminal, pauper, and defective classes. 
This leaflet he has sent to the Home Secretary, Mr. 
McKenna, with a letter directing his attention to the 
importance of such work as a means of throwing light 
on the causation of crime, and as likely to furnish 
a more rational basis for methods of reform. With 
Mr. MacDonald’s object we are in complete agree- 
ment, but in fairness to the Home Office it must be 
said the claims of the anthropological and psycho- 
logical study of criminals have already met with some 
official recognition, as is evidenced by the recent pub- 
lication in the form of a Blue-book of ‘‘The English 
Convict,” by Dr. Goring, the deputy-medical officer of 
Parkhurst Prison. Yet the contents of this memoir 
are perhaps the most convincing indication that could 
be brought forward of the need for the establishment 
of laboratories, each equipped, not necessarily with 
costly and elaborate apparatus, but certainly with a 
properly qualified staff. For Dr. Goring’s results 
clearly demonstrate the importance of the problems 
depending for their solution on work of this nature, 
while at the same time the poverty of the psychological 
data which he had at his disposal indicates the need 
for more advanced experimental work as to the mental 
nature of criminals. 


In the issue of Man for March Sir H. H. Johnston 
discusses the origin of the horse-shoe arch. He sug- 
gests that it and the Mahrab, or holy recess, in the 
Mohammadan mosque, were based on a Phoenician 
sex-cult introduced into the West by Phoenicians, and 
that the horse-shoe arch, under their influence, may 
have arisen independently in southern Spain as it 
likewise arose in Ccele-Syria and southern Tunis. 
‘But if so,” he adds, ‘it is perplexing to find it as a 
pre-Islamic feature in Visigothic buildings of northern 
Spain, whither the Phoenician influence can have 
scarcely penetrated.” 


Pror. ArTHUR KeEITH’s discourse on an anthropo- 
logical study of some portraits of Shakespeare and of 
Burns, delivered at the Royal Institution on February 
20, is printed in the issue of the British Medical 
Journal for February 28. In the case of Shakespeare, 


NO... 2316, VOU; 93) 


NATURE 


[Marcu 19, 1914 


Prof. Keith uses a terra-cotta mask recently found 


_ in one of the midland counties, the bust in the church 


at Stratford, and the Droeshout portrait; for Burns a 
cast of the poet’s skull in the possession of Mr. Bar- 
rington Nash, and portraits by Raeburn and Nasmyth. 
Examination of the head of Shakespeare proves him 
to be a representative example of the short-headed 
type, not of the early British breed, but of the round- 
headed race which entered Britain in the Bronze 
period, about 2000 B.c. His brain capacity was more 
than Ig00 cm., as compared with 1477 in an average 
Englishman. Burns, on the contrary, represents an 
exceptional example of the long-headed type, with a 
brain capacity of 1730 cm., at least 200 cm. above the 
average of his countrymen. His skull displays a close 
analogy with those found by Prof. Bryce in Arran 
cairns. He sprang from families settled round the 
Firth of Clyde, and he is thus a direct descendant of 
the long-headed people who lived in England and 
Scotland during the later Neolithic period. We may 
call Shakespeare a ‘‘Celt”’ in the sense in which this 
term is used on the Continent, while Burns comes 
from the western fringe, usually called ‘‘ Celtic,’’ but 
really pre-Celtic. ‘‘Is it possible,’ asks Prof. Keith, 
‘that we may explain the extraordinary difference in 
the working of their brains by the diversity of their 
racial origin?” 


Tue third All-India Sanitary Conference, held at 
Lucknow on January 19-27, was attended by delegates 
from all parts of India and Ceylon, including the 
Portuguese possessions. Sir Harcourt Butler, in his 
presidential address, reviewed the work that is being 
carried on in the study and practice of Indian sanita- 
tion, but pointed out that progress is necessarily slow 
in a land where the habits and prejudices of centuries 
are arrayed against the sanitary reformer, and where 
it is impossible to benefit fully by the discoveries of 
the secrets of disease and mortality until the people 
are educated to receive and profit by the results of 
scientific investigation. An introductory address to 
the opening meeting of the research section was given 
by Sir Pardey Lukis, Director-General of the Indian 
Medical Service, who reviewed the present state of 
knowledge concerning the etiology and prevention of 
the more prevalent Indian diseases. A number of 
important papers were read before the conference, and 
led to interesting discussions on various problems of 
sanitation and disease, while affording striking 
evidence as to the energy and thoroughness with which 
investigations upon such problems are being carried on 
by the medical officers of our Indian Empire. 


At the last meeting of the Entomological Society 
of London, a communication was received from Mr. 
J. C. Hawkshaw on the subject of the cocoon spun 
by the larva of Lyonetia clerkella, a small moth of the 
family Tineida. The cocoon is slung like a hammock 
between silken threads attached to the surface of a 
leaf. On each side of the area bounded by the sup- 
porting threads, a fine web is spun 3 or 4 mm. wide, 
and very loosely attached to the leaf. If any attempt 
is made to detach the cocoon with the point of a knife 
or similar instrument, the cocoon and webs become a 


Marcu 19, 1914] 


NATURE 67 


shapeless mass, which sticks persistently to the point, 
and is with difficulty transferred to any other object. 
Mr. Hawkshaw suggests that this structure serves as 
a protection against ants, which are constantly seen 
to be searching the trees inhabited by the Lyonetia. 
An ant wishing to seize the cocoon would first have to 
wade through the loose, flattened web, which forms an 
outwork in the defence, and in this its legs would 
become hopelessly entangled. If the ant ventured 
further, its head and antennze would also become 
entangled, and would carry the whole away with it. 
The assailant would probably be quite unable to bring 
its biting apparatus to bear on the cocoon. A speci- 
men was exhibited lin illustration, in which the 
supporting strands and flanking webs were clearly 
seen. 


Tue list of the zoological gardens of the world drawn 
up by Capt. S. S. Flower, and apparently published 
at Cairo by the Egyptian Government, has been re- 
vised, and a new issue printed, bearing date January, 
1914. Inclusive of a few large private collections, 
such as that of the Duke of Bedford at Woburn Abbey, 
the number of establishments of this nature known 
to the compiler is 166. 


AccORDING to an illustrated article by Dr. F. A. 
Lucas in the January number of the American Museum 
Journal, the late Mr. E. T. Booth, whose well-known 
collection of British birds is now the property of the 
Corporation of Brighton, has the best claim to be the 
founder of the plan of exhibiting in museums groups 
of animals mounted amid artificial imitations of their 
natural surroundings. He was followed by Mr. Mon- 
tagu Brown, then curator of the Leicester Museum, 
and soon after by the late Dr. R. B. Sharpe, in the 
Natural History Branch of the British Museum, where 
a group of coots formed the commencement of the 
splendid series of exhibits which is now the delight of 
visitors to the bird gallery. The rise and progress of 
the practice—especially in America—are fully described 
in the article, of which a continuation is promised. 


PAPERS on various groups of insects from the 
Philippines and Japan form the greater part of 
vol. viii., No. 4, of Section D of the Philippine 
Journal of Science. In one of these, dealing with 
Japanese termites, Mr. Masamitsu Oshima _ reproves 
Mr. N. Holmgren for having given new specific names 
to certain members of that group, previously named 
by himself in Japanese. Whether technical names 
proposed in languages unfamiliar in western Europe 
should be accepted may, perhaps, be open to argu- 
ment, although it would be somewhat difficult to 
decide where to draw the line. In papers written in 
Russian the names of new species and genera are 
frequently printed in English characters, which at least 
renders them legible by zoologists of other nationali- 
ties. If this was not done in the case of the Japanese 
papers, the argument for the rejection. of the names 
is strengthened. The names proposed, both by 
Oshima and Holmgren, were published in 1912, but 
only the latter appear in the Zoological Record for 
that year, although some of Oshima’s publications are 
quoted in the volumes for r909 and rort. 


NOI23 10, VOL..93)| 


In an article in The Indian Forester, December, 
1913, p. 568, Mr. H.: M. Glover directs attention to 
the difficulty of protecting the forests of Pinus longi- 
folia in the Panjab from disastrous fires. The accu- 
mulation in a few years of fallen needles, dead wood, 
and old grass render such forests very inflammable; 
and the fires which are inevitable, owing to the care- 
lessness of the natives, are very fierce, and cause much 
damage. Mr. Glover advocates, as the result of 
numerous experiments, the running of a slow fire over 
limited areas in these forests during winter, when the 
soil covering is much less inflammable than in the 
hot weather. Such fires do no harm to pines more 
than 6 in. in diameter, as stems of this size are 
covered with a protective thick bark. This method 
has proved very efficacious, the artificial firing being 
done during December, January, and February, over 
areas well under control, from which young growth 
is absent. Burnt-over sections can be artificially 
seeded, as seedlings come up in profusion when the 
refuse has been destroyed. 


As a supplement to the paper on the monthly and 
annual rainfall normals at Indian stations (NATURE, 
June 26, 1913), the director-general of observatories 
has recently published a volume containing averages of 
the monthly and annual number of rainy days at all 
stations where records for at least five years are avail- 
able. For some purposes this summary is perhaps 
even more valuable than the previous one, as it shows 
whether the monthly amounts were distributed over 
several days instead of possibly being due to torrential 
downpours. In the absence of any discussion of the 
normals it may be interesting to quote the average 
annual number of rain-days referring to some of the 
extreme values at stations quoted in the issue of 
NatuRE above-mentioned :—Cherrapunji (Assam), 
159:1; Malcompeth (Bombay), 122-3; Launglon 
(Burma), 145-6; Rujanpur (Panjab), 7-7; Rohri (Bom- 
bay), 6:3; Jhatput (Baluchistan), 6-1. The definition 
given of a rainy day is one on which o-1 in. or more 
rain is recorded. This differs materially from the 
definition for a rainy day in this country, viz., o-o1 in. 
or more. 


THE January number of Le Radium, which reached 
us at the beginning of the present month, contains a 
valuable collection of tables of radio-active constants 
brought up to date by M. L. Kolowrat. It is proposed ; 
to publish the table annually in order to keep readers 
supplied with the most trustworthy data. References 
to the original authorities are given, and the tables 


are accompanied by a few pages of explanations and 
remarks. 


Part 2 of the Verhandlungen of the German 
Physical Society for 1914 contains a communication 
from Dr. G. Wiedmann and Prof. W. Hallwachs, of 
the Technical High School, Dresden, on the part 
played by the surrounding or absorbed gas in the pro- 
duction of the photo-electric effects exhibited by metals. 
Although the observations of Prof. Hallwachs and his 
pupils have all tended to show that the gas plays an 
essential part in the phenomenon, the idea that the 


| photo-electric process is due to the metal only seems 


68 NATURE 


still to persist. With a view of showing how far such 
an opinion is out of touch with the actual facts the 
authors have by repeated distillations of potassium 
got rid of the large amount of hydrogen dissolved in 
the metal, and have shown that the reduction of the 
gas is accompanied by a decrease of the photo-electric 
action. After the fourth distillation the effect was 
reduced from a current giving 850 mm. deflection to 
one too small to detect. The result amply confirms 
the view that the effect is due to the gas absorbed by 
the metal. 


THE inaugural lecture delivered by Dr. W. C. McC. 
Lewis, the successor of Prof. Donnan in the Brunner 
chair of physical chemistry at the University of Liver- 
pool, has been issued in pamphlet form, with the title, 
‘Physical Chemistry and Scientific Thought.” It is 
mainly devoted to the significance of research from the 
purely scientific aspect, especially in connection with 
some of the problems of physical chemistry. 


SincE Wohler’s first synthesis of a natural organic 
compound, the chemist has succeeded in building up 
nearly all the natural compounds from their constituent 
elements in his laboratory; indeed, the synthesis of the 
sugars, the polypeptides, the alkaloids, uric acid and 
its derivatives are some of the greatest triumphs of 
the chemist. Much of the success in this field is due 
to the genius of Emil Fischer, and though he has cele- 
brated his sixtieth birthday he shows no signs of relax- 
ing his labours, being now responsible for another 
great achievement. The importance of the nucleus in 
the cell needs no emphasis, and therefore the value of 
the recent work, more particularly of Levene and his 
collaborators, in America, on its chemical composition 
has been widely recognised. In brief, the nucleic 
acids are composed of glucosidic compounds of purine 
derivatives combined with the carbohydrates to which 
phosphoric acid is also coupled. The synthesis of such 
a glucosidic compound of sugar and purine has long 
been essayed, but it is only now brought to a success- 
ful conclusion. Once the principle of the method of 
making them has been made clear all kinds of purine 
derivatives can be coupled with the carbohydrates, and 
when phosphoric acid has been introduced into the 
molecule the complete synthesis of the nucleic acids 
will have been achieved. 


Engineering for March 13 gives an_ illustrated 
account of the new water supply scheme for New 
York. The actual water supply is derived from the 
Croton River by impounding this river and_ its 
tributaries thus providing 325 millions of gallons 
a day. The population has increased very rapidly, 
and the present consumption amounts to more than 
500 millions of gallons daily. The additional water 
supply system, now under construction, is derived 
from the various watersheds of the Catskill Moun- 
tains, from which 800 millions of gallons daily could 
be obtained. The Esopus watershed is the only one 
to be developed at present, and has necessitated the 
construction of a great dam at Olive Bridge. This 
dam consists of a central masonry portion 1000 ft. 
long, and rising to a height of 210 ft. above the bed 
of Esopus Creek. Each end of the masonry is flanked 


NO, 2306) VOL, 393] 


[MarcH 19, 1914 


by an earthen wing, which together are about 3600 ft. 
in length. The greatest thickness at the base is 
200 ft., while the top, which is traversed by a road- 


' way, is 26 ft. in width. The up- and down-stream 
faces are formed by concrete blocks of large dimen- 


sions, while the great bulk of the interior masonry is 
made of cyclopean concrete. Expansion joints are pro- 
vided, and run through the entire thickness. The 
roadway on the top of the dam will be 20 ft. higher 
than the water level, and thus will be free from the 
action of ice and waves. 


Tue directors of Messrs. Pathé Fréres have agreed 
to permit the Research Defence Society to hire any 
nine of their excellent medical and biological films for 
the modest fee of two guineas. Nine films afford 
ample illustration for a lecture of an hour’s duration, 
and as a kinema machine can be hired in most large 
towns, it should prove possible, in view of the generous 
concession of Messrs. Pathé Freres, to arrange lec- 
tures in support of the work of the Research Defence 
Society at a comparatively small cost. Further par- 
ticulars of this promising scheme for educating the 
public in the value of modern medical research can be 
obtained from the honorary secretary to the society, 
Mr. Stephen Paget, 21 Ladbroke Square, London, W. 


Messrs. LonGMANS AND Co. announce as in pre- 
paration, ‘* Principles of General Physiology,” by Prof. 
W. M. Bayliss. In the volume special attention will 
be given to reactions in colloidal systems, oxidation, 
action on surfaces, secretion, excitation, inhibition, 
nutrition, etc. Messrs. Longmans and Co, also give 
notice of a new series of monographs on_ physiology 
which will be under the editorship of Prof. E. H. 
Starling. The following volumes are in preparation :— 
‘The Involuntary Nervous System,” Dr. W. H. Gas- 
Ixell; ‘‘ The Physiology of Reflex Action,” Prof. C. S. 
Sherrington; ‘‘The Conduction of the Nervous Im- 
pulse,” Dr. K. Lucas; ‘‘The Physiological Basis of 
the Action of Drugs,’ Dr. H. H. Dale; ‘‘The Secre- 
tion of Urine,” Prof. A. R. Cushny; ‘‘The Contrac- 
tion of Voluntary Muscle,’’ Dr. W. M. Fletcher; 
‘“The Cerebral Mechanisms of Speech,” Dr. F. W. 
Mott; ‘‘The Chemical Mechanisms of Integration in 
the Animal Body,” Prof. E. H. Starling. 


OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 


ELECTRIC WAVES AND THE ComING ToTaL SOLAR 
EcLipsE.—It is hoped that the forthcoming total solar 
eclipse of August 21 will be fully utilised to study the 
effect of the propagation of electric waves, as this 
event affords an exceptional and important opportunity 
of adding to the existing knowledge of the propaga- 
tion of electric waves in sunlight and in darkness and 
across the boundaries of illuminated and’ unillumin- 
ated regions. The total eclipse track passes across 
Greenland, Norway, Sweden, Russia, and Persia to 
the mouths of the Indus; in Russia the duration of 
totality will be a little more than two minutes. A 
circular, distributed by the British Association 
committee for radio-telegraphic investigation sets 
forth details of this special kind of investigation 
and this committee would be greatly aided in the 
organisation of this piece of research if those possess- 
ing the necessary facilities and willing to make ob- 


Marcw 19, 1914] 


servations during the eclipse would communicate with 
the honorary secretary, Dr. W. Eccles, University 
College, London, W.C., at the earliest possible date. 
The committee proposes to prepare and circulate 
special forms for the collection of statistics of signals 
and strays, especially within the hemisphere likely to 
be affected by the eclipse. It will endeavour to 
make provision for the transmission of special signals 
at times to be indicated on the forms. It will also 
offer for the consideration of the authorities control- 
ling stations near the central line a simple programme 
of work. The discussion of the observations, and the 
comparison with meteorological data will be carried 
out by the committee, and digests of the statistics, 
together with the conclusions drawn from the analysis, 
will be published in due course. 


THe Curious Metreoric DispLay OF FEBRUARY 9, 
1913.—A brief account was given in NATuRE of Sep- 
tember 18 last (vol. xcii., p. 87) of what was described 
as an ‘extraordinary meteoric display,’’ which was 
observed over a very extensive line in Canada and 
America. The display took the form of a procession 
of meteors, brilliant and coloured, and was compared 
with a fleet of battleships or airships proceeding at 
night across the sky. The Journal of the Royal Astro- 
nomical Society of Canada for November—December, 
1913 (vol. vii., No. 6, pp. 404 and 438) publishes some 
further information and correspondence relating to 
this extraordinary display which will be read with 
great interest. In the first instance, Mr. W. F. Den- 
ning communicates an interesting discussion, having 
gone over the work again, after Prof. Chant’s inves- 
tigation, with the result of obtaining a good general 
agreement with the latter’s conclusions. Even so ex- 
perienced an observer as Mr. Denning describes the 
fall as ‘‘unique.’’ The further information is supplied 
by Col. W. R. Winter, of Bermuda, who has been 
able to collect additional facts since his first report. 
It shows that the general appearance of the display 
at Bermuda differed considerably from that observed 
in Canada, for most of the large leading bodies had 
disappeared while the number of trailers and groups 
had greatly increased. Prof. Chant discusses these 
various opinions and new observations in the article 
in question. 


THE GENERAL DISPLACEMENT OF LINES IN THE SOLAR 
SPECTRUM.—Some results of a comparison of arc and 
solar wave-lengths of certain iron lines appear in 
Bulletin No. xxxvi. of the Kodaikanal Observatory by 
which Mr. Evershed has been led to a new interpreta- 
tion of the general displacement of lines in the solar 
spectrum towards the red. The completion of the 
electric installation has enabled use of the arc to obtain 
spectra of the sun and laboratory source of light on the 
same plate, thus permitting more accurate determina- 
tion of absolute and relative shifts of the lines in the 


solar spectrum. Some of the plates have been 
measured by the positive on negative method 
recently noted in this column. Mr. Ever- 


shed’s determination of the difference between sun 
and arc agree, in the main, very well with the figures 
which MM. Fabry and Buisson have obtained by the 
interference method. The pressure explanation of 
the origin of the shifts is now found to be quite 
incompatible with the observations in three different 
directions : (1) King’s low-level lines show least shifts 
in the sun; (2) the lines showing greatest shifts under 
pressure in the laboratory show least shift in the sun; 
and (3) the lines in the red do not show the greatly 
increased shifts they would be expected to if Duffield’s 
exponential law were followed. It is found that lines 
in the red show-the least shifts, and that the strong 
(high-level lines) are mest affected. These two facts 


NO. 2316, VOL. 93] 


NATURE 


69 


receive adequate explanation on the supposition that 
in. the higher levels there is.a movement of descent 
with a negative acceleration. |The motion for. the 
strong lines amounts to 0-93 km./sec., while for the 
weak lines it is less than 0-3 km./sec.. The director 
is to be congratulated on the early advantage he has 
taken of the increased facilities afforded by the com- 
pleted electric installation. 


ORIGIN OF ~ PLANETARY SURFACE FEATURES.—M. 
Emile Belot has communicated to the French Academy 
of Sciences a tentative theory of the mode of forma- 
tion of the external features of some planetary bodies, 
more especially those of the earth (Comptes rendus, 
vol. clviii., p. 647). Whilst one does not feel by any 
means compelled to accept all the suggestions there 
put forward, the paper is nevertheless intensely in- 
teresting, and contains some highly original ideas 
regarding the development of the heart-shaped figure 
of the earth and the formation of land areas based 
on the hypothesis of a relative movement of trans- 
lation of the earth (also the moon and Mars, which 
are regarded as resembling the earth) in the primitive 
nebula, the movement being in the direction of the 
axis of rotation from south to north. M. Belot re- 
gards the main land features as cognate with water. 
He supposes, indeed, that they were formed by the 
deposition of material carried by surface torroidal cur- 
rents flowing away from the south pole, completing 
a stupendous circulation generated by the resistance 
offered by the nebula to the movement of translation. 
The vertical cool descending current in the Antarctic 
region marked that as the site of the condensation of 
the water of the ocean. 


SMOKE ABATEMENT IN EUROPE AND 
AMERICA. 
es movement for lessening the evils of smoke, 
both factory and domestic, is extending and in- 


creasing in weight and importance. In our own 


/ country, the health authorities of sixteen cities have 
/ commenced to make accurate observations upon the 
| extent and character of the soot- and dust-fall, by a 


| standard method and apparatus, 


Classes for the instruction of stokers and engineers 
in the scientific principles of combustion are now 
included in the curriculum of the majority of the 
larger technical schools and institutes; and a move- 
ment is in progress to obtain higher wages and a 
better status for the men who have passed satisfac- 
torily through these courses of training, and have 
obtained a certificate of efficiency. Glasgow has made 
most progress in this direction, and has also carried 
on for several winters a series of popular lectures, 
designed to bring home to the general public the losses 
and evils arising from smoke, and the best methods of 
minimising these, both in the works and in the home. 
The classes and lectures have been carried on in 
Glasgow, by the West of Scotland Branch of the 
Smoke Abatement League; in Manchester, Liverpool, 
and other towns and cities, the classes are run by 
the local education authorities. 

In Germany, the Hamburg ‘‘ Verein fiir Feuerungs- 
betrieb und Rauchbekaéampfung ”’ continues to flourish, 
and can show a membership of nearly 500 members, 
the majority of whom own boilers or other heating 
appliances, and are thus large users of fuel. The 
officers of the Verein are now directing their attention 
to the emission of smoke from steamers lying in the 
port of Hamburg, and are seeking to extend the 
benefits of their system of supervision to the Mer- 
cantile Marine. 

In America, the most notable event of the past 
twelve months has been the publication by the Mellon 


70 NATURE 


Institute of Industrial Research in the University of 
Pittsburg of a series of bulletins dealing with the 
results of the inquiry into the black smoke problem 


in that district of the U.S.A. Five bulletins have been - 


issued so far: No. 1 deals with the ‘‘ Outline of the 
Investigation,” No. 2 is a ‘‘ Bibliography,’’ No. 3 dis- 
cusses the ‘Psychological Aspects of the Problem,” 
No. 4 deals with the ‘‘ Economic Cost of the Smoke- 
Nuisance in Pittsburg,’’ and No. 5 with the ‘‘ Meteoro- 
logical Aspect of the Smoke Problem.” 

Bulletin No. 4 contains the following summary of 
the losses annually incurred in Pittsburg, as a result 
of the damage and dirt produced by smoke :— 


(1) Cost to the Sore ae by imper- 


fect combustion ... Bo Poe) BO45O 
(2) Cost to the individual : “laundry and 
dry-cleaning bills ... : ane .+» 450,000 
(3) Cost to the householder : painting, 
cleaning, and decorating 466,400 
(4) Cost to the proprietors of wholesale 
and retail stores: cleaning, lighting, 
depreciation of stock ... 735,000 
(5) Cost to the owners of office buildings, 
hotels, and hospitals 43,400 
Total 41,998,950 


This estimate, it must be noted, covers the losses 
per annum in one American city alone, the population 
of which at the present time is about 350,000. Cal- 
culated for each head of the population, the loss is 
therefore about 5]. 13s. per annum. 

Assuming that London is only suffering pecuniary 
losses from the smoke evil to one-half the extent of 
Pittsburg, the total will represent a loss of well over 
ten million pounds per annum, or more than double 
the estimate given by the Hon. Rollo Russell, in a 
paper read at the Building Trades Exhibition and 
Conference, held in London in 1899. 

J. BaGaks 


THE AFRICAN MAMMAL FAUNA. 


JE eSouy a zoological point of view the year which has 
just come to a close will be noteworthy on 
account of the extraordinary number of new specific 
and subspecific names applied to members of the 
African mammal fauna. In the case of the larger forms 
a great proportion of these names have been proposed 
as the result of the detailed examination of the vast 
series of East African mammals collected during the 
Roosevelt expedition, by Mr. E. Heller, w ho, in 
various issues of the Smithsonian Miscellaneous Col- 
lections, has described as new a number of local races 
of monkeys, antelopes, and Carnivora. To some of 
these reference has been already made in Nature, 
with mention of the very slight differences by which 
many of the new races are distinguished. The same 
naturalist has also, during 1912 and 1913, made 
several well-known antelopes the types of new genera, 
separating, for instance, the lesser kudu as Amm- 
elaphus, and Hunter’s hartebeest as Beatragus, the 
latter term being formed by combining ‘‘ B.E.A.,” 
the initials of British East Africa, with the Greek 
todyos—a combination which would have made the 
classically educated naturalists of a previous generation 
recoil with horror. 
Local races of the arui or North African wild sheep 
have been described in ‘‘ Novitates Zoologice,”” by 


the Hon. Walter Rothschild, who has also, in the 
December issue of the Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., given 
names to various local races of antelopes, among 


these being the Congo representative of the giant 
eland, which appears to be the largest form of “that 


NO; 23116; SViOL- 303 \| 


{Marcu 19, 1914 


species. A new race of the ordinary eland, as well 
as various monkeys, have been named by Dr. P. 
Matschie, respectively in the Sitzber. Ges. nat. 
Freunde and the Revue Zool. Africaine; while several 
local forms of antelopes have received new names 
from Mr. E. Schwarz in the Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. 
Nor does this exhaust the list of antelopes, as Mr. 
Gilbert Blaine, in the journal last cited, has named 
a new gazelle from Erythroea, as well as two races of 
reedbucks. 

Among the smaller mammals particular interest 
attaches to the description of a second species of the 
remarkable insectivorous genus Massoutiera from the 
Algerian Sahara, by Mr. O. Thomas, in vol. xx. of 
the ‘‘ Novitates’’; while various new African bats and 
shrews have been named by the same writer in two 
issues of the Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. By far the largest 
number of additions to the list of African Micro- 
mammalia has, however, been made by Mr. Austen 
Roberts, who, in vol. iv., part 2, of the Annals of the 
Transvaal Museum, has described as new no fewer 
than twenty-eight species and subspecies from the 
Transvaal and neighbouring South African States. 

Although many of the races to which separate 
names have been applied during the year are un- 
doubtedly worthy of recognition and distinction, those 
based on minute and unimportant colour-differences 
make the thoughtful naturalist wonder where the 
splitting process is to end, and what advantage 
accrues to science when it is carried to the excess 
which is now in vogue. 


THE INSDILOLE (OR Mis TALES. 


E have received a copy of the tenth volume of 
the Journal of the Institute of Metals, con- 
taining, principally, an account of the papers read 
and discussions at the autumn meeting of the institute, 
held at Ghent in September last. The volume reflects 
the flourishing state of the institute, which has now 
held its first meeting abroad, and with marked suc- 
cess. 

The most important feature of the volume is the 
second report to the corrosion committee, in which 
Dr. Bengough and Mr. Jones, of Liverpool Univer- 
sity, give an account of their work on. this subject. 
This has included laboratory experiments and also 
trials with an experimental condenser ‘erected with 
the funds collected by the corrosion committee. This 
somewhat costly form of investigation has, however, 
fully justified itself, and its continuance jis assured 
by the further financial support received from 
some of those most interested in condenser-tube corro- 
sion. The report constitutes an important forward 
step in our knowledge of the corrosion of brass by 
the process of ‘‘ de-zincification.’’ It is shown that in 
a simple 70/30 brass this occurs normally in contact 
with sea-water, particularly :f the temperature is 
raised to the vicinity of 4o° C. A white zinc-salt, of 
the nature of a basic chloride, is formed, and acts as 
a species of catalytic agent, leading to the continued 
solution of zinc with constant re-formation of the basic 
chloride. Muntz metal is found much inferior to 
brass in this connection, but a brass containing I per 
cent. of tin, or, better still, 2 per cent. of lead, is 
found to resist this form of corrosion far better than 
a pure zinc-copper alloy. A remarkable result brought 
out by the report is the negligible influence exerted on 
dezincification by local electric cells, such as those 
formed by adherent particles of other metals or of 
carbon. 

Among the other papers may be mentioned a further 
contribution to the theory of an amorphous inter- 
crystalline cement, by Dr. Rosenhain and Mr. D. 


Marcu 19, 1914] 


NATURE 71 


Ewen, which deals with the nature and causes of the 
brittleness of even the purest metals at temperatures 
near their melting points. Mr. H. Garland, of Cairo, 
contributes a paper on the micro-structure of ancient 
Egyptian metal specimens, showing that the meta- 
stable structure of cored solid solutions has persisted 
through many thousands of years. Prof. Hoyt deals 
with the constitution of the ‘‘kalchoids,’’ by which 
repellent name he denotes the alloys of zinc, tin, and 
copper, while Prof. Guertler, of Berlin, contributes a 
discussion of the relation between alloy constitution 
and specific volume. All the papers attain a very high 
standard of scientific and technical interest. 


HYDROLOGY IN THE PACIFIC.! 
T is a “far cry’? to the Sandwich Islands, and 
equally a ‘‘far cry’ to the days of Captain Cook 
with his intrepid crew, pioneers in the exploration of 
Polynesia. Many changes have taken place since the 
black day in 1778 when the renowned navigator came 
to his tragic end on the snowy sand beach of Hawaii. 
The modern traveller who wanders so far will find 
the Hawaii of to-day a fully civilised community, the 
streets of the principal town of which, Hono- 
lulu, besides being laid with tramways and elec- 
tric mains, are so covered with a network of telephone 
Wires as to give the impression of a huge spider’s 
web amid the palm-trees, 

The Sandwich or Hawaiian, Islands are eight in 
number, forming a chain about 4oo miles long, distant 
some 2,000 miles from the North American continent 
and from the United States, of which they constitute 
a territory. The principal unit is Hawaii, which gives 
its name to the group, and is in area more than 
double any of the others. The capital lies on the 
island of Oahu. The industry is chiefly agricultural. 
Practically the whole of the exports—gg per cent.— 
are products of the soil (rice, sugar, taro, etc.), and of 
these 93 per cent. are either absolutely dependent on 
irrigation for growth, or require the application of 
water at some period or other to stimulate their 
development, and produce the most satisfactory yield. 
Such being the case, the administration and conserva- 
tion of the water resources of the islands are matters 
of obvious and fundamental importance, in regard to 
which the United States Government shows no sign 
of neglecting its responsibilities. | The volume just 
published is an account of the investigations made 
during the period 1909-11 into the conditions and 
factors influencing the flow and economic development 
of the surface waters. It is replete with statistical 
data and full of strange names of streams and places, 
the pronunciation of which (Awaawapuhi, Puuwaa- 
waa, Kukuihaele, for instance), though no doubt 
musical enough when correctly rendered, seems to be 
beset with difficulty for the uninitiated. By; 


THE RESEARCH CHEMIST AND THE 
TEXTILE INDOSTR Y.? 


HE textile industry of this country shows a gross 
value amounting to the considerable total of 
333,000,0001.; materials to the value of 235,000,000l. 
were used in their manufacture; and 1,253,000 persons 
were employed in their manipulation. |The power 
used amounted to 1,987,000 h.p., and 77 per cent. of 


the firms engaged in their work made a return that 
they had used during the same period 8,137,000l. 


1 “Water Resources of Hawaii, 1909-11.” Prepared under the direction 
of M. O. Leighton by W. F. Martin and C. H. Pierce. Pp. 552+11 plates 
+3 map-. (Washington. Governient Prirting Office, 1913.) 

* From lectures delivered before the Institute of Chemistry, October and 
November, 1913, by W. P. Dreaper. 


NOZ 2356, VOL. 93| 


worth of coal. These figures indicate that there must 
be under modern conditions an ever-increasing call for 
research chemists in this industry. If the standard 
that one chemist is required for every 2000 persons 
employed in the textile industry were set up, there 
would be room for no fewer than 620 highly trained 
chemists, who would each be dealing with an ‘‘ aver- 
age gross output”’ of the value of more than 500,000. 
per annum. 

When it is remembered that a Continental combine 
in the aniline dye industry employs more than 600 
chemists, the above estimate of ultimate requirements 
cannot be considered unreasonable. The effect of this 
army of chemists working in the interests of the 
textile industry would naturally lead to astonishing 
developments and to considerable improvements in 
detail. 

The student who enters a works on the research 
side, after having received a university education (or 
having equivalent qualifications), will, undoubtedly, 
possess a knowledge of chemistry which will rank as 
an immediate asset. In a way, the college training 
will also have prepared him for actual working con- 
ditions by indicating their nature. 

In addition to this knowledge of theory, the student 
will make immediate use of any experience he may 
have gained in ordinary analytical operations. It will 
often be necessary to devise new methods of analysis, 
or, at least, modify old ones, before they can be utilised 
in industrial investigation. A knowledge of the prin- 
ciples which underlie such work is, therefore, a very 
necessary equipment for the young investigator. This 
also involves a training which has a special value to 
those entering this, and most other, industries. In 
many cases, work will rest on the borderland of indus- 
trial research, where the actual analysis of certain pro- 
ducts can replace actual experiment in very few cases. 
It is the latter which counts. The former is generally 
of secondary value. 

The research chemist will probably enter the works 
at an early age. If he has finished his college course 
at twenty, a year or two of teaching work will do no 
harm. It will consolidate his knowledge of theory 
under the stress of imparting it to others. Better still, 
if it is possible to determine, at that stage, the direc- 
tion of his future work, he may engage in a post- 
graduate course of research. The actual time of 
coming in contact with works conditions should not 
be delayed beyond the age of twenty-two years, for 
the mind must be capable of readily adjusting itself to 


industrial conditions, which are naturally different 
from those surrounding the student in a_ college 
laboratory. 


The introduction of a time factor in its relation to 
cost of production will alone have a great influence. 
Work in the factory may be practically continuous in 
its operation. The young chemist will, therefore, 
quickly realise that he has to deal with entirely new 
conditions. These will at once claim his interest by 
reason of their novelty and importance. He will soon 
be engaged in the attempt to control, or modify, 
operations proceeding on a scale possibly measured in 
tons, or thousands of yards, 

The raw material will enter at one end of the fac- 
tory. «At the other end, it will leave in a more or less 
‘finished ’’ state. This operation may, in some cases, 
take months to complete, during which time the mate- 
rial may be subjected to innumerable processes which 
may possibly modify both its physical and chemical 
properties. The chemist will endeavour to understand, 
and so control, these operations that, during transit 
through the works, material may receive a minimum 
of treatment to produce a maximum effect; for this 
generally means satisfactory working conditions, and 
low cost of production. 


72 


What: general effect can the successful investigator 
have on the methods and processes employed in work 
of this nature?) He must aim at a position under 
which determining methods of working are being 
constantly modified in detail; or even in nature. 
Under the most successful conditions he may, in time, 
find himself working three years in advance of those 
who are not taking full advantage of modern methods 
of investigation. It is difficult for an- industrial 
chemist to hide from his experienced rivals a process 
or method which can be detected in the finished pro- 
duct by ordinary, or even special, means. Many im- 
provements are, however, of such a nature that they 
cannot be detected in this way, and then the above 
condition may be found to apply. In most cases this 
standard is a reasonable one to aim at. More than 
this can scarcely be expected, unless the Patent Law 
comes in to protect ideas and methods for a longer 
period. When this is realised, there is obviously no 
finality to work of this nature, and as a result a con- 
dition of continual change will probably be set up in 
the factory. 

It is surprising to what an extent secret working 
has in some cases secured: a monopoly. Especially 
is this so, when the effect of a process, or use ofa 
machine is not self-evident or easily traced in the 
finished article. Under such conditions, and more 
particularly where an industry has not adopted a scien- 
tific control, a certain sequence of operations has been 
known to remain the monopoly of a firm, or a limited 
number of firms, over many years—as witness the 
Turkey Red industry. 

Even where a close examination of the finished pro- 
duct might suggest, to the experienced investigator, 
the method of treatment employed, its presence is 
often overlooked or unsuspected because of difficulties 
in the way of identification or analysis. A slight and 
inexpensive change in- manufacture may add 10 per 
cent. to the apparent value of a textile material. What 
this means on a large output can easily be imagined, 
as the ordinary net profit on manufacture may be 
somewhere between 20 and 35 per cent. i 

The research chemist is, therefore, constantly trying 
to improve or devise methods. of investigation which 
will enable him to keep in touch with the work of 
those who, for the time being, may be regarded as his 
competitors ; and the methods utilised to this end are 
based more often upon personal experience than pub- 
lished results. Such processes generally deal with the 
recognition of certain physical or chemical changes 
which oceur when the material is subjected to tests 
corresponding to those in actual practice. Owing to 
their value to the investigator, such methods are not 
generally disclosed. Work in this direction, or modi- 
fications in accepted processes of analysis, and in the 
proper interpretation of results, are often carefully 
guarded, until through some change in procedure, 
they no longer retain their original value. Many such 
examples will occur to the technical chemist. 

The aim of the chemist in this respect is'to obtain 
some clue of a physical or chemical nature which will 
suggest to the experienced investigator the nature of 
superior working methods. Such methods of obtain- 
ing an insight into hitherto unknown processes or 
applications are of considerable value.. They can only 
be successfully used by the investigator who has a 
practical knowledge of manufacture in addition to 
an ordinary laboratory experience. Thus, to the in- 
dustrial research chemist, analysis may have a different 
meaning to what it has to the general consulting 
chemist. It is a means to an end which possibly may 
be the discovery of the nature of a process. Analysis 
is also utilised to obtain the correct working conditions 
of a new process, or the better control of an old one. 


NO. 2410, VOL. O32) 


NAT ORE 


{Marcu 19, 1914 


It will be gathered from these remarks that procedure 
must in many cases be empirical in its nature. 

The research chemist often has to watch ordinary 
manufacturing operations over extended periods before 
any plan of control or improvement can be devised. 
Light is sometimes thrown upon such a position by 
the occurrence of irregular results in the daily output, 
or a systematic examination of the effects produced by 
accidental, or predetermined, variations in working 
conditions. Many problems have been successfully 
investigated by such means. Such variations, as they 
occur in everyday practice, may often lead to impor- 
tant improvements, or even suggest new processes. 
Thus, the research chemist will soon realise that his 
right place is in the works. He will use the labora- 
tory mainly to follow up ideas in detail. 

The introduction of new methods naturally calls for 
an immediate re-examination of the conditions of 
working of existing processes. This may often secure 
to them an extended lease of life, as in the case of 
the collodion method of preparing artificial silk. In 
these days of costly apparatus for plant, this factor 
must not be lost sight of. It is the first point to 
consider when the chemist finds he has to deal with, 
and equal, the results obtained, by the introduction 
of a more efficient process, leading to: the production of 
a better or cheaper product. 

The successful worker must, however, go further 
than this. Experience indicates that important results 
have generally been obtained by striking out boldly 
in a new direction. The risk connected with such 
pioneer work can always be minimised by working on 
a moderate scale, and making sure of the details of 
every step as it occurs in a natural sequence. With 
long experience, it is sometimes possible to experiment 
at once on a large scale with a reasonable chance of 
success, but this course should never be folfowed by 
the beginner. Such conditions are comparatively rare, 
and generally governed by some secondary considera- 
tion, such as the prohibitive cost of new apparatus, 
as compared with the utilisation of that already avail- 
able in the works. 

In industrial research, it is sometimes more impor- 
tant to know what not to do than the reverse. This 
restraining influence must be developed equally with 
originality. In this, the worker will naturally be 
guided by instinct, which may be.defined as the tem- 
pering of past experience by an untiring caution. 

Once more, the young chemist may be urged to 
spend most of his time in the works, only working 
in the laboratory. when some work.requires systematic 
investigation. Many manufacturers have objected to 
this procedure in the past, but with tact, such opposi- 
tion, where it still exists, can generally be overcome. 
The industrial chemist who remains in his laboratory 
will be hopelessly left behind in the race for pro- 
gress. 

It is impossible to say how far the chemist should 
experiment in the laboratory, or when he must carry 
out the necessary investigation in the works itself. 
In the latter case, it is well to leave such labour as 
does not entail exact measurement in the hands of the 
workman. The chemist must, however, know how to 
carry on such work, and in cases of difficulty, be able 
to do so under the eyes of the workman. This is 
sometimes a rather trying experience to the novice, 
but it must be faced. 

Be careful, when starting experimental works, and 
reasonably certain that all data which can be obtained 
on a laboratory scale are already secured. Only then 
should the establishment of experimental works be 
attempted. Much can be done in the way of experi- 
mental plant, etc., in the laboratory with rool. An 
experimental works will probably absorb anything be- 


Marcu 19, 1914] 


NATURE 


ma 
ae) 


tween 3oool. and 10,000l. before any important results | gress can only be realised by the more slowly working 


or improvements can be obtained. 

It sometimes happens that preliminary operations 
of a seemingly innocent nature induce material changes 
which cause endless difficulties in subsequent treat- 
ment. These disturbing causes will be entirely over- 
looked if the chemist does not carry his investigations 
back to the raw material and examine processes on 
the broadest lines. 

In the process of mercerising the fibre must be kept 
under a condition of strain during at least one part of 
the process; and a long staple cotton (Egyptian) 
must be used if the treatment is to have its maximum 
effect. The mere chemical operation of mercerising 
was, in itself, ineffective (Figs. 1 and 2). 


Fic. 1.—Cotton fibres ( X 100). 


Thus, it is evident that the modern chemist must 
be prepared to carry his investigation to the extreme 
limits of experiment, or satisfactory results will not be 
obtained. Also that he must extend his work beyond 
the realm of chemistry proper. A more general know- 
ledge and scheme of working are necessary if the 
laboratory is not to remain a mere adjunct to the 
engineering department. The term, ‘‘chemical tech- 
nologist,’’ is one which possibly best describes the 
qualifications of the industrial investigator, and the 
knowledge he must possess. 


Fic. 2.—Cotton fibres after mercerising under tension (x 100). 


When the student considers such processes, he will 
realise that the difficulties and nature of modern 
industrial research are closely concerned with detail. 
This is always so. Many problems of similar import- 
ance undoubtedly still exist in the textile industry, but 
these will be solved only by the trained investigator 
who attends to this essential point. * 

Thus, success is often closely associated with the 
art of carrying existing processes a stage further. 
[t is with the careful working out of additional detail 
that it is associated. 

In numberless cases, progress is only secured by 
following up a seemingly unimportant point. This 
being so, the importance of a training, be it self- 
inflicted or otherwise, which qualifies a man to deal 
with such problems is evident. In its absence, pro- 


NO 2nO. VoL. a2 | 


aid of rule-of-thumb. 

The presence of this factor has given. the rule-of- 
thumb man great power in the past, for he has at 
his command a wonderfully accurate instrument. in 
the trained eye. The chemist with all his apparatus 
is in some cases no match for him. 

The investigator, sooner or later, realises the essen- 
tial value of empirical methods, and if he is wise lets 
the worker know that he does so. In this way, the 
chemist gains, the worker’s confidence, and the latter 
more clearly realises the true aim of research. Once 
this position is established, the workman will natur- 
ally direct attention to any variations in working 


| which may occur, or make suggestions of distinct 
| value. 


The workman has a great advantage. His 
mind is continuously concentrated on one operation. 


| Thus, it often happens that only by a careful study 


of deviations from the normal will the research chemist 
be able to report progress. His aim is to explain and 
control, the workman’s to manipulate. 

Facts which are but “ curiosities’? to the workman, 
and have remained so for many years in some cases, 
must be carefully investigated in detail by the chemist. 
They often represent the starting point for improve- 
ment—a first aid to progress, when all other means 
have failed. Time given to such investigation is never 
lost, for experience in the ways of processes is a com- 
manding asset to the industrial chemist. 

Where operations are conducted on a large scale 
there is a greater chance of recognising such condi- 
tions. An improvement when. applied on a larger 
scale has also a greater value. It is, therefore, better 
for the young chemist to get into a large works; 
unless he is compelled to enter a single department, in 
which case the greater freedom in a small works may 
be more valuable in spite of restricted output. 

Attention may be directed to a list of the probable 
actions which may be involved during dyeing opera- 
tions, which I advanced some time ago. 

(1) A solution state of the dye within certain limits 
of aggregation as determined by the laws of solution. 

(2) A fibre state corresponding to this state of aggre- 
gation and of a permeable nature. 

(3) Localisation of dyestuff within the fibre area 
through surface concentration effects. 

(4) Localisation of salts, acids, etc. (assistants), 
within the fibre area from the same cause. 

(5) The direct entrance of dye aggregates by mole- 
cular migration, with subsequent reformation of 
aggregates within the fibre area. 

(6) De-solution, due to surface concentration effects 
‘salting out’’), or secondary attraction, between the 
fibre substance and the dyes. 

(7) Primary or chemical action, which may play 
seme-part at this stage, and may even in some: cases 
take the place of, or cause, de-solution phenomena. 

(8) De-solution effects in the case of basic dyes, 
which may lead to alteration in constitution, and the 
production of basic salts in a state of high molecular 
aggregation (insoluble) within the fibre area, 

In recent years, Perrin has suggested that the action 
of dyeing is a purely electrical phenomena, and this 
suggestion has been followed up in some detail by 
Gee and Harrison in this country. 

It is only in certain cases that the chemist has a 
voice in the purchase of textile fibres, when certain 
physical or even chemical factors are recognised as 
being in question. 

The need for such supervision may be seen in the 
agitation which has been actively carried on by trade 


| associations and others concerning the methods used 


in South Africa in the dipping of sheep. 
For some reason best known to the authorities, a 
sheep dip is officially recommended which consists of 


74 


a mixture of slaked lime and caustic soda. The effect 
of this on the wool itself is sufficiently injurious, for 
the selling price of South African wool to be mate- 
rially affected, and endless trouble introduced in sub- 
sequent manufacturing processes. 

It is said that the breaking strength tests show a 
loss of 18 per cent. in the treated wool. Although 
wool buyers and English chambers of commerce have 
protested since 1899 against this treatment, it is still 
carried on, and the directions, issued in the Govern- 


> ORO PGS EC EO RO AG AT 
eters 7s st sstatetet cee ee tee, 
PERI SIIS ISIS IK 
PRI OL LOLS LS 
OI MILT LN 
eeeres BREE AE 


ERE 
CO 252 
sieeseeees 


> CO Oe Ga0.% @@, 

O20. O- 9.07920 19 2020.6, 8-2 - On @ , 
KOK PK ORR PRS OD OC HOO OL) 2. O- O28, 
KILO ILI OIL MILL IL LILO 


Fic. .—Artificial cellulos fabric (natural size)- 


ment Journal of the Union of South Africa so recently 
as March, 1913, still recommend its use, and give par- 
ticulars of its preparation. 

This example must be’the only one which can be 
discussed on the present occasion. Many of the 
methods used to determine certain differences in the 
nature of raw materials which count in the subsequent 
‘manufacture, as they have been noted, or even con- 
trolled, by chemists, are considered to be of a more 
or less secret nature. 

Although we are not directly concerned with the 
rebleaching of goods, the use of electrolytic bleaching 
liquors may be strongly recommended for the laundry 
trade. As the sodium hypochlorite leaves the electrolyser 
it gives better bleaching with weak solutions than the 


Fic. 4.—Artiticial silk thread (xX 80). 


older bleaching liquor does with strong ones. Two 
of the best-known types of electrolysers are those of 
Kellner, and that sold by Messrs. Mather and Platt. 
In the modern type, the original salt or brine solution 
passes in a serpentine course between the platinum 
or carbon electrodes. The salt employed in the solu- 
tion is never entirely converted on grounds of economy, 
and care has to be taken to adjust the cost of current 
to that of the salt to secure economical results. Under 


NO: 2206) V.@ie es 


NATURE 


[Marcy 19, 1914 


present conditions, the cost of electrical energy must 
be low, but in view of the many advantages which the 
use of the sodium salt gives the bleacher, the new 
process will obviously be put to more extended use. 
It is a mistake, however, to imagine that the 
chemist’s work in the textile industry is chiefly con- 


Fic. 5 —Crépe de Chine, satisfactory finish (xX 30). 


cerned with the adulteration of material and supply- 
ing the public with something which is not what it 
appears to be. Such work is mainly constructive, and 
its influence has been for good. Extraordinary results 
have been achieved in the last twenty years in the 
direction of actual improvements in manufacture as 
well as in the cheapening of production. 

The manufacture of artificial fabrics direct from a 
solution of cellulose is a case in point (see Fig. 3), or 
that of artificial silk as shown in Fig. 4. 

The use made of the microscope is seen in Figs. 5 


Fic. 6.—Same material, unsatisfactory finish (x 30). 


and 6, where the difference in certain finishing opera- 
tions is clearly disclosed and explained. 

It will be gathered from the 
generally in these lectures that 
moisture, in its relation to the many opera- 
tions of finishing adopted in this industry, is 
paramount. It is probably the most important influ- 
ence which the investigator has to consider. The 
presence of moisture in a fibre gives rise to many 
conditions, which seem to indicate that it is present 
in more than one condition. This materially adds to 


remarks made 
the influence of 


Marcu 19, 1914] 


NATURE 75 


the difficulty in determining its true influence. The 
fact that all the fibres take up moisture, and that this 
influences them in different ways, is one of the most 
perplexing problems met with in this industry. It 
will probably be many years before this matter is 
properly understood. or explained scientifically; but 
when this is achieved, light will undoubtedly be 
thrown on many phenomena which are so obscure 
to-day; and which, under present conditions, can only 
be dealt with on empirical lines. 

The relative position of the chemist and engineer in 
the works has given rise to discussion in the past, and 
still sho. vs signs of not being altogether: understood. 

The opposition to the chemist which is said to exist 
in some quarters has probably been much _ over- 
estimated. In the majority of cases the chemist ob- 
tains all the necessary aid he may require from the 
engineering department. As a matter of fact, the 
engineer always seems interested in the chemist’s 
work. This is due, no doubt, to the different method 
of attack adopted by the latter, which, in itself, fully 
justifies the presence of the chemist in any works. 

Under normal conditions the engineer frankly helps 
the chemist in his experimental work, and this aid is 
of real service in many ways. Quite apart from his 
previous training, the chemist: will pick up a fair 
knowledge on the engineering side in the works, 
which will be particularly useful in cases where he 
subsequently acts as manager of a department, or even 
of the works itself. 

The chemist should be just as anxious to make 
friends with the engineer as with the heads of other 
departments; and the best way to gain experience and 
knowledge in this direction is to keep in touch with 
any new experimental plant which may be in course 
of erection. 

In some cases, work will develop in directions 
which are not naturally covered by any existing de- 
partment. If the operations involved are complicated, 
it may be better for the process to remain under his 
direct management or control. In this case, one or 
more experimental departments may, in time, be asso- 
ciated with the laboratory. | 

It is then necessary to borrow men from the 
engineering department, and to direct their operations. 
When this happens, the work of the chemist becomes 
still more general in its nature, and additional experi- 
ence is gained in the management of men and pro- 
cesses. 

Where experimental work is rapidly translated into 
full-scale operations under normal conditions, the con- 
trol will pass to one of the works departments. This 
should be encouraged, for the chemist is then more 
free to continue research in any other directions which 
may present themselves. But he must always be 
ready, and able, to resume temporary control if things 
go wrong, or where further developments are in pro- 
gress. 

The evidence that a merely chemical training is 
insufficient is fast accumulating, and may be empha- 
sised. The chemist may, for weeks, be working in 
directions which are physical or even mechanical in 
their nature rather than chemical. The important point is 
that his method of attack is based on a past training 
in chemistry; and that, because of this, it will be 
different from that adopted by the engineer. In this 
its value rests. This is the point I have tried to 
emphasise in these lectures. Also that success in 
almost every case depends upon attention to detail. 
Thus, an inferior mind may sometimes succeed when 
once a main idea has been grasped. These are the 
points I would especially bring to the notice of the 
young chemist who is entering the textile industry on 
the research side. 


NOS2grG, Vor. 921! 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 
INTELLIGENCE. 


BrrMinGHAM.—The council of the University has 
appointed Prof. Charles Lapworth emeritus professor 
of geology in recognition of his services during’ his 
occupation of the chair of geology. The Senate re- 
cently signalised his retirement by the presentation of 
an address and a gift of plate, and on March 11 
another presentation was made to him by a large 
number of his old students. Prof. Boulton was in 
the chair, and Dr. Walcot Gibson, who spoke on 


‘behalf of the old students, gave happy expression to 


the affectionate esteem in which Prof. Lapworth is 
held-by all who have had the good fortune to come 
under his influence. 

CamBripGE.—The Observatory Syndicate has ap- 
pointed Prof. A. S. Eddington, Plumian Professor 
of Astronomy, to be director of the observatory. 

Mr. A. V. Hill has been appointed to the Humphrey 
Owen Jones Lectureship in Physical Chemistry. 


Dr. PRaFULLA CHANDRA RAy has been appointed to 
the Sir Taraknath Palit professorship of chemistry in 
the Presidency College, Calcutta, and: .Mr. C. VY. 
Raman to the Sir Taraknath Palit professorship of 
physics in the same institution, 


Ir is announced in the London University Gazette 
that a course of eight lectures on the rate of the 
blood-flow in man in health and disease will be given 
in the physiological laboratory of the University, South 
Kensington, by Prof. G. N. Stewart, professor of 
experimental medicine, Western Reserve University, 
Cleveland, U.S.A., at 5 p.m., on Tuesdays, from May 
5 to June 23 next. The lectures are addressed to 
advanced students of the University and to others 
interested in the subject. Admission is free, without 
ticket. 

AN article on careers for university men, by Mr. 
H A. Roberts, the secretary of the Appointments 
Board in connection with the University of Cambridge, 
contributed to the Cambridge Magazine in 1912, has 
been issued in pamphlet form by Messrs. Bowes and 
Bowes, of Cambridge, at the price of 6d. net. The 
account given of the work of the Appointments Board 
at Cambridge shows the usefulness of such an agency 
in bringing together employers of labour and univer- 
sity men who desire appointments. Graduates will 
find invaluable the information here brought together 
as to public posts open to suitable university men, and 
the facts as to the salaries to be expected at the 
beginning of a career should save much disillusion- 
ment later. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 


LONDON. 


Royal Society, March 12.—Sir William Crookes, presi- 
dent, in the chair.—Sir James Stirling: Note on a 
functional equation employed by Sir George Stokes. 
—Prof. J. C. McLennan and A. R. McLeod: The mer- 
cury green line A=5461 as resolved by glass and 
quartz Lummer plates and on its Zeeman components. 
—H. Hartley: The electrical condition of a gold sur- 
face during the absorption of gases and their catalytic 
combustion. At the suggestion of Prof. W. A. Bone, 
the author has carried out experiments on the elec- 
trical conditions of a gold surface during its absorp- 
tion of hydrogen, carbon monoxide, and oxygen, re- 
spectively, at temperatures between 300° and 400°, in 
order to establish certain data relative to surface 
combustion phenomena. The results have proved (1) 


76 


t 
that the metal acquires a negative.charge during the | 


catalytic combustion of gases in contact with it (thus 
confirming previous unpublished observations by Bone 
and Makower), which effect is probably antecedent to 
the actual combustion, and primarily due to ‘ occlu- 
sion’’ phenomena; (2) that the metal becomes nega- 
tively charged (0-5 to 1-5 volts) during the occlusion of 


the combustible gas (hydrogen or carbon monoxide), | 


and positively charged (0-8 volt) during the occlusion 
of oxygen; and (3) that such electrical effects are 
probably due to occluded gas which is leaving (rather 
than entering) the surface. The experiments indirectly 
lend support to the view that the well-known electronic 
emission from incandescent solids is probably de- 
pendent upon the occlusion of gas.—J. H. Mackie : 
The diffusion of electrons through a slit.—Dr. A. 
Holt : The rate of solution of hydrogen by palladium. 
The rate of solution of: hydrogen at constant (atmo- 
spheric) pressure by palladium in the form of black, 
thin and thick foil has been examined. The rate 
curves in the case of palladium black are simple and 
of continuous curvature, but for the foil a more or 
less pronounced discontinuity of curvature is always 
observed. The discontinuity is accounted for by con- 
sidering that the gas is dissolved in two different forms 
of the metal, the rate of solution being different in the 
two forms. Palladium black is believed to consist 
almost wholly of one form, and hence gives a simple 
rate curve, whilst the foil (which is mainly crystalline) 
contains both varieties of metal, and so gives two 
rates, the first rate passing into the second when solu- 
tion in both forms becomes equally rapid.—Dr. R. A. 
Houstoun ; The dispersion of a light pulse by a prism. 
A light pulse of a form giving the Wien energy dis- 
tribution is incident on a prism, and expressions are 
derived (1) for the disturbance in the region imme- 
diately behind the prism where the different colours 
overlap; and (2) for the disturbance in the focal plane 
of the telescope. The first expression holds only for a 
particular law of dispersion, but the second is for any 
law of dispersion. They are both in accordance with 
results obtained by Lord Rayleigh by considerations 
oi stationary phase and hydrodynamical analogy, but 
they go further. For example, it is definitely stated 
how the amplitude varies in the front and rear of and 
throughout the train of waves given rise to by the 
pulse in the different parts of the spectrum, 


Geological Society, February 20.—Dr. Aubrey Strahan, 
president, in the chair.—Annual General Meeting.— 
President’s address : As his main subject, the president 
referred to that part of the work of George Darwin 
and Wallace which bore on the history and age of the 
earth, and commented on the vagueness of the 
evidence on which estimates of the rapidity of denuda- 
tion in past times are founded. Before attempting 
estimates of primeval time, it should be shown that 
some degree of precision is attainable in calculating 
the amount of denudation effected in post-Glacial 
times, and the time required to effect it. It is now 
possible to distinguish the features in the landscape 
which are due to post-Glacial erosion. River-gorges, 
dissected plateaus, fans, and deltas of gravel are pre- 
sented for consideration. In some there seems to be 
a possibility of estimating the bulk of the material 
which has been moved, and the rapidity with which 
the transporting agents are working. Fans spread on 
the flat bottoms of valleys by tributary streams, or 
deltas formed in lakes, are of common occurrence. 
In all cases it would be of value to determine a rela- 
tion between three factors, namely, the size of the fan 
or delta, the discharge of the stream, and the char- 
acter of the ground from which the material was 


derived. Dammed-up rivers give opportunities for 
observing the amount of material transported by 
NO? 2316) VOL. 92) 


NATURE 


| 


[Marcu 19, 1914 


rolling. The distances over which rivers are now 
transporting material should be ascertainable by ob- 
serving the composition of recent alluvial deposits. 
Few roll gravel directly into the sea, for the sradients 
in the lower parts of their courses are too low for 
transportation and favour deposition. An investiga- 
tion on English rivers has been proceeding for some 
years, with the object of ascertaining (1) the discharge, 
(2) the suspended and dissolved impurities, (3) the rain- 
fall, (4) the areas of the basins, and (5) the character 
of the rocks. The rivers suitable for the investigation 
are limited to those with a single definite mouth. 
Fen-rivers have a number of outlets, and cannot be 
gauged. The amount of material now being rolled 
by the Exe, for example, is determined from records 
of dredgings. Rainfall is dealt with by the British 
Rainfall Organisation, as also the methods of eliminat- 
ing the error in calculating average rainfall, due to 
the preponderance of rain-gauges in the lower ground. 
It was concluded that, although in this country a 
hydrographic survey may not be essential on the 
ground of utility, yet more systematic observations on 
the work of denudation are within the reach of 
geologists. 

February 25.—Dr. A. Smith Woodward, president, 
in the chair.—Rachel W. McRobert: Acid and inter- 
mediate intrusions and associated ash-necks in the 
neighbourhood of Melrose (Roxburghshire). The age 
usually assigned to the igneous intrusions is a late 
period in the history of the ‘‘ plateau-eruptions” of 
Calciferous Sandstone times. The igneous rocks occur 
as laccolites and sills, as dykes, and in volcanic necks. 
The chief rock-types present in the area are porphyritic 
and non-porphyritic sanidine-trachytes, quartz- 
trachytes, riebeckite-felsites, quartz-porphyries, basalts, 
and volcanic agglomerates. The salient features of 
the suite of rocks described are the high content of 
alkalies, and the presence of soda-bearing minerals 
such as riebeckite, e@girine-augite, primary albite, and 
soda-orthoclase. Nepheline was found to be absent 
from most of the rocks.—A. Vaughan: Correlation of 
Dinantian and Avonian. The results are given of 
applying the time-scale deduced from the South- 
Western Province to the Belgian sequence, and shows 
that the faunal succession is practically the same in 
both provinces. If the midland and northern develop- 
ments of England and Wales are compared with that 
of Belgium, striking identities are. observed. The 
lateral variation of Mid-Avonian lithology is exhibited 
in a diagram. Correlation of the Belgian sequence 
with that of the South-Western Province demonstrates 
that the periods of partial emergence took place con- 
secutively and not simultaneously. The palzonto- 
logical section contains descriptions of several gentes 
that are common in Belgium, but. rare in Britain. 
The facts concerning migration and evolution are 
importants results of extending the area of observa- 
tion. 


Linnean Society, March 5.—Prof. E. -B. Poulton, 


president, in the chair—Miss K. Foot and Miss E. C. 


Strobell: Results of crossing Euschistus variolarius 
and I. servus, with reference to the inheritance of an 
exclusively male character. The specific character is 
a distinct black spot on the genital segment of E. 
variolarius, which is wanting in the female, and 
entirely absent from E. servus. The authors ex- 
plained the methods adopted during five consecutive 
summers, for raising these Hemiptera in captivity. De- 
tailed accounts are given of the history of their speci- 
mens, their crossing, and the results in the F, and F, 
generations. The exclusively male character, the 
genital spot, can be inherited without the aid of the 
Y-chromosome or of the X-chromosome. The genital 
spot does not behave as a Mendelian unit; neither the 


NATURE 1, 


I 


Marcy 19, 1914] 


spot nor its absence is dominant in the Ry hybrids ; 
F, generation shows even greater variability.— 
C. F. M. Swynnerton : Short cuts by birds to nectaries. 
Certain birds, and some individuals more than others, 
apparently disliked being besprinkled with pollen, and 
tended always to enter flowers by breaches made by 
themselves or their predecessors. Other birds tried, 
contrariwise, to enter the flowers by their natural 
openings and so to be of use to them for cross- 
fertilisation excepting in the case of individual flowers 
that happen, through inconvenience in their own or 
the bird's position, etc., to offer some difficulty. If 
these were insufficiently protected as well, they were 
often either pierced or the openings already made in 
them by the more indiscriminating birds were utilised. 
Insects also tended to utilise the breaches made by 
birds, and so probably in large part failed to counter- 
act the latter’s discriminative influence. In most 
cases the eliminative effect, if any, of the damage was 
not traced. In two instances it was (for individuals) 
immediate and clear, flowers of a certain type being 
bodily removed. 


Mathematical Society, March 12.—Prof. A. E. H. 
Love, president, in the chair.—Prof. W. Burnside : The 
rational solutions of the equation x*+y%+z°=o in 
quadratic fields.—Prof. H. Hilton and Miss R. E. 
Colomb : Orthoptic and isoptic loci of plane curves.— 
G. H. Hardy: The roots of the Riemann ¢-function.— 
Dr. T. J. I’A. Bromwich: Normal coordinates in 
dynamics. 


MANCHESTER. 


Literary and Philosophical Society, February 10.—Mr. 
R. L. Taylor in the chair.—R. F. Gwyther : The speci- 
fication of the elements of stress. Part II1].—The 
definition of the dynamical specification and a test of 
the elastic specification. A chapter on elasticity. The 
author proposed to simplify the methods current in the 
treatment of stresses in an elastic body in treatises and 
papers on elasticity. The chief point of the paper is 
that full attention should be paid at the outset to the 
dynamical (or Newtonian) conditions and that the 
elastic (or Hooke’s) conditions should not have the 
exclusive prominence given to them which has been 
the established practice. 

February 24.—Mr. F. Nicholson, president, in the 
chair.—M. Copisarow : Carbon: its molecular structure 
and mode of oxidation.—J. B. Hubrecht: Studies in 
solar rotation. An account of a spectrographic deter- 
mination of the solar rotation, as observed at Cam- 
bridge. . Photographs were taken showing the dis- 
placement of the absorption lines due to the rotation 
of the sun. The law which has been found by earlier 
investigators to govern the solar rotation was on the 
whole confirmed. Two new points, however, appear 
to be definitely established for the period of observa- 
tion (fourteen days): (1) that there is a difference in 
the rotation velocities of the northern and southern 
hemispheres of the sun amounting to about 54 metres 
a second; (2) the latitude law expressing the retarda- 
tion of the rotation away from the equator was found 
to be more complicated than usual for the period of 
time in which the observations were made. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 


A Junior Trigonometry. By W. G. Borchardt and 
ime Revs vA. Perrott. Pp. xv+220+Xvii+xx. 
(London: G. Bell and Sons, Ltd.) 3s. 6d. 

Photo-Electricity. By Prof. A. L. Hughes. Pp. 
vili+144. (Cambridge University Press.) 6s, net. 


The Elementary Principles of General Biology. By | 


NO. 2310; “VOL. 93 | 


! Prof. J. F. Abbott. Pp. xvi+329. (London: Mac- 


millan and Co., Ltd.) 6s. 6d. net. 

A History of Japanese Mathematics. By D. E. 
Smith and Y. Mikami. Pp. vii+288. (Chicago and 
London : The Open Court Publishing Company.) 12s. 
net. 

The Respiratory Function of the Blood. By J. Bar- 
croft. Pp. x+320. (Cambridge: University Press.) 
18s. net. 

Memoirs of the Geological Survey of England and 
Wales. Explanation of Sheet 316. The Geology of 
the Country near Fareham and Havant. By H. J. 
Osborne White. Pp. iv+96, map (Sheet 316). (Lon- 
don: H.M.S.O.; E. Stanford, Ltd.) 1s. od. and 
Is, 6d. respectively. 

Odd Hours with Nature. By A. Urquhart. Pp. 
323+plates. (London: T. F. Unwin.) 5s. net. 

Interpretations and Forecasts. By V. Branford. 
Pp v+4r11. (London: Duckworth and Co.) 7s. 6d. 
net. 

Kapillarchemie und Physiologie. 
Freundlich. Zweite Auflage. Pp. 48. 
Leipzig: T. Steinkopff.) 1.50 marks. 

Introduction to Botany. By J. Y. Bergen and Dr. 
C. W. Caldwell. Pp. vii+368. (Boston and London : 
Ginn and Co.) 5s. 

Investigating an Industry. By W. Kent. Pp. xi+ 126. 
(New York: J. Wiley and Sons, Inc. ; London : Chap- 
man ‘and “Halle Mtd:) 4s. \6d. net: 

Mechanical Refrigeration. By Prof. H. J. Mac- 
intire. Pp. ix+346. (New York: J. Wiley and Sons, 
Inc.; London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd.) 17s. net. 

Suspension Bridges, Arch Ribs, and Cantilevers. 
By Prof. W. H. Burr. Pp. xi+417. ( 


by brot. Et 
(Dresden und 


j (New York: 
J. Wiley and Sons, Inc.; London: Chapman and 


Hall, Letd2)19s-.mer. 
The Elements of Electricity. By Prof. W. Robin- 
son. Pp. xv+596. (New York: J. Wiley and Sons, 


Inc.; London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd.) 10s. 6d. 


net. 3 
Die Europaeischen Schlangen. By Dr. F. Steinheil. 
Heft 5. Plates 21-25. (Jena: G. Fischer.) 3 marks. 

The Montessori Method and the American School. 
By: Prof. 2: PE Ward,» Pp. -xvi-- 243. (London : 
Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) » 5s. 6d. net. 

Principles of Economics. By Prof. H. R. Seager. 
Pp. xx+6s0. (London: G. Bell and Sons, Ltd.; New 
York : He Holt’ and Co.)/" 10s) 6d-- net. 

Knowledge. Vol. xxxvi. Pp. viii+ 468. 
42 Bloomsbury Square.) 15s. net. 

British Flowering Plants. Illustrated from Draw- 
ings by Mrs. H. Perrin, with Detailed Descriptive 
Notes and an Introduction by Prof. Boulger. Vol. i. 
Pp. xlv+plates and notes. (London: B. Quaritch.) 
In 4 vols. 12 guineas net, or on and after March 28 
I5 guineas net. | 

South African College. The Annals of the Bolus 
Herbarium.: Edited by Prof: H. H. W. Pearson. 
Vol. i., part 1. (Cambridge University Press.) 5s. 
net. 


(London : 


Henri Poincaré. L’ceuvre Scientifique—L’oeuvre 

Philosophique. By Profs. Volterra, Hadamard, 
Langevin, and Boutroux. Pp. 264. -(Paris: F. 
Alean.) 3.50 francs. 


A Study of Education in Vermont. Prepared by 
the Carnegie Foundation for the’ Advancement of 
Teaching, at the request of the Vermont Educational 
Commission. Bulletin No. 7. Parts 1 and 2. Pp 
214. (New York City.) 

Jahresbericht der Hamburger Sternwarte in Berge- 
dorf ‘fur das Jahr 1912. By’ Dr. R. Schorr. Pp. 33. 
(Hamburg.) 

Astronomische Abhandlungen der Hamburger Stern- 
warte in Bergedorf. Band iii. No. 1. Die Ifam 


78 NATURE 


burgische Sonnen finsternis expedition nach  Souk- 
Ahras (Algerien) im August, 1905. By Dr. R. Schorr. 
Zweiter Teil. Pp. 93+17 plates. (Hamburg.) 

Die Entstehung der Pflanzengallen verursacht durch 
Hymenopteren. By Prof. W. Magnus. Pp. 160+iv 
plates. (Jena: G. Fischer.) 9 marks 

Annual Report of the Board of Scientific Advice for 
India. for. the’ Year. 1912-13: ~ Pp., 190... (Calcutta : 
Superintendent Government Printing, India.) 1s. 6d. 

Progress of Education in India, 1907-12. By H. 
Sharp. Vol. ii. Pp. 292. (Calcutta: Superintendent 
Government Printing, India.) 3s. 

Thirty-Fourth Annual Report of the Director of the 
U.S. Geological Survey to the Secretary of the Inte- 


rior for the Fiscal Year ended June 30, 1913. Pp. 183. 
(Washington: Government Printing Office.) 

The Diamond Fields of Southern Africa. By Dr. 
P. A. Wagner. Pp. xXxXV+347+xxxvi___ plates. 


(Johannesburg : The Transvaal Leader; London: The 
Technical Book-Shop.) 11. 7s. 6d. net. 


DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 


THURSDAY, Marcu 109. 

ROYAL SocIkTY. at 4.30.—Dzscussion : Constitution of the Atom. Opener: 
Sir E. Rutherford. 

Royav Instirution, at 3.—Heat and Cold: Prof. C. F. Jenkin. 

Cuitp Stupy Society, at 7.30.—The Dramatic Impulse in Children: Prof. 
J. J. Findlay. 

INSTITUTION OF MiInING AND METALLURGY, at 8.—Annual Meeting. 

INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Discussion on Electric 
Battery Vehicles. 

Roya Society oF ARTS, at 4.30.—Indian Water Gardens; Mrs. Patrick 
Villiers-Stuart. 

LinneEAN Society, at 8.—The Bearing of Chemical Facts on Genetical 
Constitution: Dr. E. F. Armstrong. 

Rovat. GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY, at 5.—A Geographical Study of Portuguese 
East Africa, South of the Zambezi: E. O. Thiele. 


FRIDAY, Marcu 20. 


Royat Institution, at g.—Fluid Motions: Lord Rayleigh. 

INSTITUTION OF MeEcHaANiCaL ENGINEERS, at 8.—The Chemical and 
Mechanical Relations of Iron, ‘tungsten and Carbon, and of Iron, Nickel, 
and Carbon: Prof. J. O. Arnold and Prof. A. A. Read. 

Junior INstiruTion oF ENGINEERS, at 8.—Aeroplanes as Engineering 
Structures : W. H. Sayers. 


SATURDAY, Marcu 21. 
Royat INsTITUTION, at 3.—Recent Discoveries in Physical Science: Sir 
J. J. Thomson. 
MONDAY, Marcu 23. 
Royat GeoGRaPHIcaL SociEry, at 8.30.—Lost Explorers of the Pacific: 
B. Thomson. 
RoyAL Society OF Arts, at 8.—Surface Combustion : Prof. W. A. Bone. 


TUESDAY, Marcu 24. 

Roya. InstiruTion, at 3.—Landscape and Natural Objects in Classical 
Art. I. Early Greece and its Precursors: A. H. Smith. 

VicroriA INSTITUTE, at 4.30.—The Number of the Stars: Dr. S. Chapman. 

RoyaL ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE, at 8.15.—Bellingshausen’s Visit to 
Ono-i-Lau: Sir Everard im Thurn. 

InstITUTION OF CiviL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Some Recent Developments in 
Commercial Motor-vehicles: T. Clarkson.—Comparative Economics of 
Tramways and Kailless Electric Traction: T. G. Gribble. 


WEDNESDAY, Marcu 25. 


GEOLOGICAL Society, at 8.—'‘Lhe Geology of Rockall: Prof. J. W. Judd. 
—The Composition of Rockallite: Dr. H. S. Washington. 


THURSDAY, Marcu 26. 

Roya. Society, at 4.30. —Probable Papers: The Nature of the Tubes in 
Marsupial Enamel and its Bearing upon Enamel Development: J. H. 
Mummery. Oxidation of Thiosulphate by Certain Bacteria in Pure 
Culture: W. T. Lockett.—The Production of Anthocyanins and Antho- 
cyanidins : A. E. Everest.—Variations inthe Growth of Adult Mammalian 
Tissue in Autogenous and Homogeneous Plasma: A. J. Walton.—(1) The 
Decomposition of Formates by B. coli communis ; (2) The Enzymes which 
are Concerned in the Decomposition of Glucose and Mannitol by B. coli 
communis: EK. C. tsrey.—Description of a Strain of Trypanosoma brucet 
from Zululand. I: Morphology. IL: Susceptibility of Animals: Surg.- 
General Sir D. Bruce, Major A. E. Hamerton, Captain D. P. Watson, 
and Lady Bruce. 

Roya InstiTUTION, at 3.—The Progress of Modern Eugenics. I: The 
First Decade, 1904-1914: Dr. C. W. Saleeby. 

ConcRETE INSTITUTE, at 7.30.—Discussion on Reports of the Science and 
Reintorced Concrete Practice Standing Committees on: (1) A Standard 
Specification for Reinforced Work; (2) Advice to Superintendents of 
Concrete Work; (3) Standard Connections and Joints in Reinforced 
Concrete. 

INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.— Current Limiting React- 
ances on Large Power Systems: K. M. Faye-Hansen and J. S. Peck. 

INSTITUTE OF CHEMISTRY, at 8.—Explosives : W. Macnab. 


NO."/23 16," VOL. 93] 


[MarcH 19, 1914 


: FRIDAY, Marcu 27. : 

Roya InstiTuTION, at 9.—Improvements in Long Distance Telephony : 
Prof. J. A. Fleming. 

Junior Instirution oF ENGINEERS, at 8.—Harmonigraph as Applied 
to Advertising: A. Forbes. 

Farapay Society, at 5.—Discussion on Optical Rotatory Power.— 
Introductory A idress : Prof. H. E. Armstrong.—Some Contributions to 
the Knowledge of the Influence of Certain Groups on Rotatory Power : 
Prof. H. Rupe. — New Studies in the Rotatory Dispersion of Tartaric Acid 
and Malic Acid : Prof. H. Grossman.—The Existence of Racemic Tartaric 
Acid in Solution: Dr. E. Darmois.—Anomalous Rotatory Dispersion z 
Prof. L. Tschugaeff.—Normal and Anomalous Rotatory Disperston: Dr. 
T. M. Lowry and T. W. Dickson. At 8.15.—An Enclosed Cadmium Arc 
for Use with Polarimeter: Dr. T. M. Lowry and H. H. Abram.—The 
Relations between the Kotatory Powers of the Members of Homologous 
Series: Dr. R. H. Pickard and J. Kenyon.—The General Behaviour of 
Optically Active Coinpounds as Regards the Dependence of Rotation on 
Temperature !)ilution, Nature of Solvent, and Wave Length of Light = 
Dr. ‘Il’. S. Patterson. ; 

Puysicat Society, at 5.—A New Type of Thermogalvanometer: F. W- 
Jordan.—An Instrument for Recording Pressure Variations due to 
Explosions in Tubes: J. D. Morgan.—The Direct Measurement of the 
Naperian Base: R. Appleyard.—An Experiment with an Incandescent 
Lamp: C. W. S. Crawley, 


SATURDAY, Marcu 28. 


Roya. InsTiTuTION, at 3.—Recent Discoveries in ,Physical Science : Sir 


J. J. Thomson. 


CONTENTS. 


An Elizabethan Cookery-Book. By M.D. W.... 53 
Applied Electricity.” By Dae Reers ii eee nee 
Science and Philosophy. By A, E. Crawley. ... 55 
Our Bookshelf . mete Saree TINE eS ol io GIT 
Letters to the Editor :— 
New Units in Aerology.—Prof. Alexander McAdie 58 
Weather Forecasting —R. M. Deeley ....... 58 
The Doppler Effect and Carnot’s Principle.—Prof. 


HL. Callendar BsReSso4. “” achyigey l s Meen OE 
Ligament Apparently Unaltered in Eocene Oysters. — 
R. W.. Pocock . . ror becegewe a eee : reste 
Experiments Bearing upon the Origin of Spectra.—Dr. 
KE: N. da’ C, Andradenmi eee se eran 505g 
The First Description of a Kangaroo.—Prof. Tad 
Estreicher 35-3 vy oa 
The Movements of Floating Particles. —G. Archdall 
RVGIG,. |. %.2.awty eps ae ne 2) a A 
Kinematography and Its Applications. (J//ustrated.) 
By Profic. Ve Boys. Pokus eae > le eo 
Early Fossil Brachiopods. By F.L. K. . . 62 


The Transmission of Plague by Fleas. By R. R.. 63 

Notes ME ase is oa eee ee Eh Bb oo. 8 

Our Astronomical Column :— 
Electric Waves and the Coming Total Solar Eclipse . 68 


The Curious Meteoric Display of February 9, 1913 . . 69 
The General Displacement of Lines: in the Solar 
Spectrum ws : : ptab! BO ee OO 
Origin of Planetary Surface Features . _ the RB 
Smoke Abatement in Europe and America. By 
AJpprs eG AK. 16S. . 5) eee on OP 5A) cae 
The African Mammal Paunal By Rik.) 1) 3 7 
Avhe Institute: of Metals." wise. 2 2 «028 
Hydrology in the Pacific. By B.C. . * “shh Joe eee 
The Research Chemist and the Textile Industry. 
(Aiastrates.) By. Wi. PP. Dreaper= es 7.) 2 een 
University and Educational Intelligence ...... 75 
Socieriesjand Academics) sua ene Ree pe 7/5: 
Books Received . ee a SA 77! 
Diary of Societies...) :. 3, one cc 


Editorial and Publishing Offices: 


MACMILLAN & CO., Ltp.,— 
ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C. 


Advertisements and business letters to be addressed to the 
Publishers. mt 


Editorial Communications to the Editor. 


Telegraphic Address: Puusis, LONDON. 
Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830. 


. 
4 
‘ 


THURSDAY, MARCH 


260,* = TOI 4: 


THEODORE ROOSEVELT AS NATURALIST. 
Theodore Roosevelt. An Autobiography. Pp. 
xii+647. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 

Home.) Price 10s, -6ds net: 

HE autobiography of Theodore Roosevelt is 

a very interesting book to the politician or 
to the political anthropologist; but here I am 
rightly restricted to reviewing only that part of the 
book which touches on natural science. 

When Mr. Roosevelt entered upon office as 
President, he found the American Government as 
represented by Congress and the Senate, compara- 
tively indifferent to the conservation of beauty in 
the United States—hbeauty in the form of magnifi- 
cent trees, magnificent wild beasts, remarkable 
and beautiful birds, and romantic landscapes. 
American Senators and Congressmen did not see 
—any more than British Chambers of Commerce 
see—that all such things were assets of great 
national value, of economic importance, indeed. 
The destruction of bird life throughout the United 
States was already causing far-reaching plagues 
of insects, which consumed fruit and vegetables 
on the extravagant scale in which all natural 
movements are carried out in North America. 
American politicians did not appreciate’ the 
frightful damage which was being done to the 
whole North American Continent—Canada as well 
as the United States—by the unchecked forest 
fires and the lumberman’s lust for destruction 
amongst the timber of the United States’ forests, 
without any thought of simultaneous measures 
being taken for reafforestation. 

Mr. Roosevelt was not, of course, the first or the 
greatest pioneer in a movement which has already 
had most beneficial results in the 
of beauty and natural resources, and has cul- 
minated in the attempt of the United States to 
set right the bird question throughout the world. 
Already in the ’eighties and ‘nineties of the 
last century the idea of national parks had 
come into existence. The Yellowstone region 
was set apart as a reserve in which natural 
phenomena, natives trees, and native’ wild 
beasts could continue to exist for the won- 
derment and delight of a new ‘generation. 
The Yosemite Valley and the big trees of Cali- 
fornia had been similarly protected from unreason- 
ing destruction. But Theodore Roosevelt, though 
he had won his spurs as a hunter (and the best 
book that he wrote about wild life, by-the-by, is 
not his excellent work on East Africa, but “ Out- 
decor Pastimes of an American Hunter’’), had, 


NO, 2907, VOL. 93)| 


conservation 


by the time he became Vice-President, conceived 
a great love for the natural beauties of a Jand- 
scape and the presence therein of bird and 
beast. 

During his seven and a half years’ tenure of 
the United States Presidency Mr. Roosevelt 
established, or caused to be established, fifty-one 
national bird reservations in seventeen of the 
United States, as well as in Porto Rico, Hawaii, 
and Alaska. Amongst these reservations was the 
celebrated Pelican Island rookery in Indian River, 
Florida—now world-famous from the beautiful 
scenes depicted by photography and kinemato- 
graphy; the Mosquito Inlet reservation in Florida 
(chiefly for the protection of the manati), the re- 
servation of the Klamarth lake and marsh in 
Oregon (chiefly for the wild ducks, geese, and 
swans of the western United States); the Tortugas 
Quay, Florida, for studying the habits of sea- 
birds and migratory birds; and the great bird 
colonies (for the protection of albatrosses and 
petrels) on the Island of Laisan in the Hawaii 
group, in which direction he intervened after the 
appalling revelations of bird slaughter by the 
plumage hunters were made known through the 
efforts of Dr. Hornaday, Mr. James Buckland, 
and others. His influence brought about the 
creation of five national parks—in Oregon, in 
South. Dakota, Oklahoma, North Dakota, and 
Colorado, and the organisation of four big game 
reserves in Oklahoma, Dakota, Montana, and 
Washington, and.game laws and game reserva- 
tions in the vast territory of Alaska. 

Mr. Roosevelt also secured the enactment of 
measures which in the United States not only 
saved the remains of the bison from extermina- 
tion, but have led to the gradual increase in 
numbers and possible future existence of this 
remarkable bovine. But he has not yet succeeded 
in making the American Republic call the bison 
by its right name, instead of the misleading title 
of buffalo. He is, I fear, rather an advocate for 
the retention or adoption of a whole series of 
American misnomers—elk instead of wapiti; bob- 
cat instead of lynx, mountain-lion instead of puma. 
In most cases these American terms are the more 
to be regretted since, with the exception of the 
puma, nearly all the great mammals of North 
America had representatives in the fauna of tem- 
perate Eurasia, and the English names for these 
creatures (wapiti, it is true, is Canadian) have a 
great ancestry going back to the earliest develop- 
ment of Aryan speech in the days of improved 
stone implements. 

What Mr. Roosevelt did for forest preservation 
is set forth somewhat meagrely in the book under 


80 NATURE 


[Marcu 26, 1914 


review. Since his quitting the Presidency there 
has been a set-back under the four years of Mr. 
Taft, when the recalcitrant party in the Senate 
got its way, and the lumbermen were once more 
permitted to destroy unreasoningly. Mr. Roose- 
velt thoroughly appreciates the fact that the re- 
afforesting of the United States is a matter of 
vital importance for climatic reasons, as well as 
for others, and that the disforesting of these vast 
territories either by the woodman’s axe or by the 
forest fires, would be a legitimate cause of com- 
plaint for the adjoining Dominion of Canada, as 
the climate of Canada would be affected disadvan- 
tageously. 
H. H. JOHNSTON. 


AMERICAN TEXT-BOOKS OF BIOLOGY. 


(1) A Laboratory Manual of Invertebrate Zoology. 
By Dr. G. A. Drew. Second edition, revised. 
Pp.-ix+213. (London and Philadelphia: W. B. 
Saunders Company, 1913.) Price 6s. net. 

(2) A Text-book of Biology. For Students in 
Medical, Technical, and General Courses. By 
Prof. W. M. Smallwood. Pp. xiv +2854 xiii 
plates. (London: Bailli¢re, Tindall and Cox, 
1913.) Price 10s. 6d. net. 

(1) R. DREW’S manual gives directions for 

the study of ninety-two invertebrates. 

The accounts of the various types selected for 

examination are noteworthy for the attention 

devoted to the reactions of the living creatures, and 
for the questions designed to test whether the 
student understands the functions of the several 
organs and comprehends the adaptations exhibited. 

In this second edition, the author has cited, at the 

end of the description of most of the types, a few 

of the chief memoirs dealing with those types. 

This is an excellent feature of the book, for the 

student who follows the lead given will be intro- 

duced to the literature of the subject and to the 
means of becoming acquainted with some of the 
best methods of modern zoological research. Little 
consideration is devoted to the larval stages and 
life-cycles of the types studied, and a detailed 
account of the internal anatomy of many of the 
types is not given; the author’s intention has 
evidently been to single out the external features 
for special study in relation to adaptation. There 
are descriptions of twelve Polychetes, but of only 
two insects—a grasshopper and a bee; an account 
of one of the Diptera, e.g., a mosquito, might 
have been added with advantage. The descrip- 
tions are carefully done, there being very few 
mistakes. In the section on Gregarina, the 
organism is said to encyst and form a_spore- 


NOW 2317, VOL. 93 | 


producing individual—a rather misleading state- 
ment. This portion of the life-cycle might have 
been treated in more detail, and reference made 
to the formation of gametes and of spores and 
sporozoites. The poison ducts of Lithobius open 
on the outer (not on the inner) sides of the second 
maxille. 

An appendix contains precise instructions for 
making permanent preparations of organisms or 
of parts of them, and there is a useful glossary 
of terms employed in the book. 

The student who works intelligently through 


the series of types selected for study will 
j acquire a good general knowledge of the 
structure and chief adaptations exhibited by 


invertebrates. 

(2) Prof. Smallwood has produced an interesting 
and readable volume, intended chiefly for medical 
students. Taking the frog as a convenient type, 
the author describes the physiology of movement, 
digestion, circulation, and metabolism, and then 
proceeds to outline the histology of the tissues, 
the structure of the nervous system, and the 
development (external features only). <A_ brief 
account of Hydra and a very short sketch of the 
Protozoa follow. Succeeding chapters deal with 
the biology of cells and of yeasts and moulds, 
parasitism, some biological factors in disease, 
evolution, variation, heredity, and animal be- 
haviour in its relation to mind. The chapters on 
variation and animal behaviour are especially in- 
teresting, as the illustrative examples are drawn 
from recent literature. The volume ranges over 
a wide field, and the accounts of some of the 
subjects are necessarily brief; in a few cases 
they are too brief to be of much value to the 
average student. The account of malaria will not 
give the student a very clear idea of the life- 
cycle, for, although the author states that the 
number of parasites becomes very great, he does 
not indicate the manner in which this large in- 
crease in number is brought about. But the 
author obviously intends his book to be supple- 
mented by other instruction in the laboratory and 
lecture-room. 

Several mistakes have been allowed to pass, 
e.g., Bothriocephalus is cited as a type of the 
Round-worms, sea-anemones are included under 
Hydrozoa, malaria is stated to oceur in frogs, 
and there are mis-spellings, e.g., Wiederscheim, 
Unchinaria, etc. 

The book contains 243 figures and 13 plates; 
the illustrations are nearly all well chosen and 
excellently reproduced, but the figure of Stomoxys 
represents a fly of entirely different aspect—cer- 


‘tainly not a Stomoxys. 


Marcu 26, 1914] 


NATURE 81 


SUPERNATURAL RELIGION. 


(1) Modern Substitutes for Traditional Christianity. 
By Edmund McClure. Pp. vilit145. (Lon- 
Bon: Shee ine eiol3.) Price 25.: net: 

(2) Modern Rationalism as Seen at Work in its 


Biographies. By Canon Henry Lewis. Pp. x 
Pais. (lemon 5.P.C. Ke T9n3.) Price 4s. 
net. 

(3) All Men are Ghosts. By L. P. Jacks. Pp. 1x 


+ 360. (London: Williams and Norgate, 1913.) 
Price. 5s. nets 

(4) The Latest Light on 
Py S: P..,Gandcock. 
Sab.C. K., 19%.) 


Bible Lands. By 
Pp. xii+ 371. (London: 
Price 6s. net. 


(5) The Divine Mystery. By Allen Upward. Pp. 
xv+ 309. (Letchworth: Garden City Press, 
Hie. Tora jee rice tos. 6d2net. 

HE realities of spiritualistic belief are, 
so far, psychological, subjective. The | 


“ 


pathetic paradox about its “apologetics” (science 
though this styles itself) is that it claims for its 
realities not only an objective, but a physical, 
existence. The apologist who condemns “ mechan- 
istic”? and “materialistic”? conceptions of the 
universe in the same breath introduces a series 
of super-mechanism and super-matter. Science 
can do nothing with spiritual entities until they 
are proved to exist objectively; when this is 
proved, then they become part of the subject- 
matter of -science, and, therefore, part of the 
“stuff”? of the universe. Matter and mechanism 
are good terms, but the spiritualist rages at them. 
The world-substance must be designated by some 
convenient term; one may ‘serve as well as 
another; but it is absurd to object to a term 
because its popular significance suggests solidity 
and excludes mind. 

It is a curious fact that the religion of Western 
Europe, which from its birth has had an uninter- 
rupted career of success, should have been, from 
the first, “‘apologetic.” Christianity certainly 
marked a development of the social consciousness ; 
but it seems as if this apologetic attitude repre- 
sented a certain mistrust of the spiritualistic 
material which this last of the old-world religions, 
and the first and only of the new world, carries 
with it, apparently as an essential! content. The 
religious impulse is a fact of the emotional life, 
and with the majority of men requires expression. 
But Buddhism and Confucianism prove that the 
religious impulse may be satisfied with a subject- 
matter that is not supernatural or spiritualistic. 
If this is so, and if the Christian consciousness is 
at all mistrustful of traditional supernaturalism, 
then there is inevitably an air of insincerity about 
apologetics. 


NO. 2aig, VOL. 93 


(1) Canon McClure, in an interesting sketch of 
some modern variations of the supernaturalist 
point of view, uses the language of science. 
Miracles, for instance, are “like the mutations 
or the ‘sports’ of modern Darwinism.” This is 
good metaphor, but ‘‘ metaphors are not reasons.” 
He quotes an instance of a frequent temptation 
to use new scientific discoveries, which have 
changed our views of matter, as an argument for 
the objective reality of the supernatural :— 

“The very active ‘ things ’ which give the atom 
being are called electrons, and the point of inter- 
est to religiously minded people is this, that we 
have, in these electrons, according to an investi- 
gator of world-wide reputation, the nearest analogy 
to the concept of a disembodied spirit, that is, a 
charge of electricity pure and simple.” 

This seems childish; at least, it has no bearing 
on the argument, and does not help us “to recog- 
nise more fully than before that nature and revela- 
tion are not in antagonism.” The neo-vitalism of 
Bergson is metaphysical, not scientific. It is re- 
garded by Canon McClure, together with James’s 
similar speculations, as a strong buttress to tradi- 
tional Christianity. The old religion is better and 
saner than the modern “substitutes”; why, then, 
should apologists waste time in trying to prove 
the material reality of the subject-matter of its 
creed? The permanence of the religious impulse 
is not, as this author thinks, a proof of the “valid- 
ity” (i.e. material reality) of supernatural entities ; 
it is a proof of the validity of the religious impulse. 
This, surely, is enough. The mysticism of 
Eucken, and the superman of Nietzsche, “ theo- 
sophy”? and “Christian science,” “secularism re 
and “rationalism,” are well described and “re- 
futed.” It is curious that they should need refuta- 
tion by a Christian apologist. 

(2) Canon Lewis treats of the life and death of 
famous “rationalists” or “agnostics” by way of 
showing that the religious temperament produces 
finer characters than does the agnostic. Voltaire, 
Paine, J. S. Mill, Renan, Bradlaugh, Spencer, 


| Nietzsche, Goethe, Schopenhauer, George Sand, 


Shelley, Huxley, George Eliot, Sidgwick, 
Romanes, and others are described, with em- 
phasis on their moments of dissatisfaction and 
despair, and with full details of the meannesses of 
which one or two were guilty. Canon Lewis 
seems to think that disbelief in the objective reality 


| of certain tenets of Christianity proves a lack of 


“heart and soul.” It proves nothing of the kind; 
but merely that the person has thought for him- 
self, instead of taking his thinking at second- 
hand. 

(3) ‘“‘Supernaturalism ” has a permanent interest 
for the imagination. The “ghost story” is as 


ie) 
i) 


NAL ORE 


| Marcu 26, 1914 


popular to-day as it was with primitive man. 
The author of ‘Mad Shepherds” is an artist. 
Possibly he is a “believer” (the term always im- 
plies materialistic belief) in spirits. His stories of 
“Panhandle and the Ghosts,” ‘All Men are 
Ghosts,” and ‘Farmer Jeremy,” are fine art, 
showing an obsession by, and yet a scientific con- 
trol of, the ghost idea. 

““May it not be that Primitive Religion is the 
only religion that has ever existed, or will exist, 
in the world?’ 

‘ Panhandle,’ I cried, ‘ you are a ghost !’ 

“Hush!’ he answered, ‘we never use that 
term in addressing one another. 7 

“The Magic Formula” is an entirely charming 
story of child psychology. 

(4) Certain exigencies of commission make Mr. 
Handcock’s readable account of archeological 
discovery in Palestine, Babylonia, Assyria, Egypt, 
and Syria into a popular illustration of the Hebrew 
tradition. Thus we find such statements as “the 
life of Gilgamesh, the hero of Babylonian folk- 
lore, whose history presents parallels to many 
ideas expressed or implied in the Old Testament.” 

“Khammurabi, probably the Amraphel of the 
Book of Genesis”; “the cause of Israel’s migra- 
tion to Egypt.” It has still to be proved that 
Israel ever was in Egypt; that Khammurabi, and 
many other historical persons, are really men- 
tioned in the Hebrew books; and that the cosmo- 
gony of Genesis is anything more than a digest of 
the Babylonian. The book is an excellent intro- 
duction to Mesopotamian and Egyptian archzo- 
logy, though its particular bias may lead the novice 
to a wrong perspective. The author is fair 
enough; the monuments, he admits, ‘do not do 
more than mention a few isolated facts out of 
all that are recorded in the Bible.’’ With the 
exception of the statement cf Menephthah that 
“Israel is desolated,” the first event in the history 
of Israel or its ancestors certainly attested by the 
inscriptions is “the invasion of Judah by Shishak 
under Rehoboam, and the first Israelites whom 
they mention by name are Omri and Ahab.” 

(5) Mr. Allen Upward has insight, and has 
written a suggestive book on the development 
of religion. The main idea—the Divine Man or 
Genius—and the stages of his career from medi- 
cine man to Messiah, are adaptations from “The 
Golden Bough” ; but the author has had personal 
experience of savage thought and custom in 
Nigeria. He has also a sound knowledge of 
modern thought in general and of the “higher 
criticism” in particular, and his work, though 
eccentric in parts (lexicographers will dispute some 
derivations), has value as an attempt to trace the 
genesis of Christianity. The central theme, the 


NO. 2817, svo20 44) 


idealisation of man and tne practical work of 
prophet, priest, and king, is an interesting inter- 
pretation of history. But that it has been a pre- 
dominant factor in the development of culture 
remains to be proved. A. E.. CRAWLEY. 


OUR BOOKSHELF, 


A Manual of Petrology. By F. P. Mennell. Pp. 
iv+256. (London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 
iiss): Price 7s. 6d. mem 


THE writing of a clear and concise introduction to 
the study of petrology is fraught with extreme 
difficulty owing to the fact that the phenomena 
exhibited by rocks and rock-minerals are seldom 
capable of simple explanation, and thus the author 
is often led to assume a wider knowledge of cog- 
nate subjects on the part of the elementary 
student than is likely to be possessed. This book 
is framed upon a previous work by the same 
author, entitled, ‘““An Introduction to Petrology ” ; 
in fact, a large portion may be regarded as a 
reprint. The author, however, has rejected much 
that was in the older publication, and has added 
new, well-selected matter, but the discussion of 
the phenomena presented by mineral sections 
when viewed in polarised light still leaves much to 
be desired. 

Chapters i. to iii. are elementary in character, 
and deal with the general properties of minerals; 
the introduction of several tables, such as those 
dealing with specific gravity, colour, and refrac- 
tive index, will be helpful to the student. 

In chapters iv. to vil. the general characters of 
the rock-forming minerals are given, and often 
some simple means of differentiating any one from 
others which it resembles superficially. |The 
number of species described, however, is slightly 
larger than is needed in a work of this kind. 

The greater portion of the book deals with the 
classification of igneous rocks and their nomen- 
clature, but mainly with the description of rock- 
types. The nomenclature has been reduced to its 
simplest form, and tedious description of unim- 
portant variations have been avoided. The 
igneous rocks are followed by a brief account of 
sedimentary and metamorphic rocks. 

The book is illustrated with 124 text-figures. 
Many of the illustrations are excellent, but a few 
of the figures, such as 66,77, $6, 119, and =x235 
might be discarded without prejudice. The book 
may be described as well planned and methodi- 
cally carried out ; and it gives a good idea of the 
general nature and scope of the science. 


Logging: the Principles and General Methods of 
Operation in the United States. By Prof. R. C. 
Bryant. Pp. xviiit+590. (New York: John 
Wiley and Sons, Inc.; London: Chapman and 
Hall}-Ltd.,,.1913.),, Priceless amet. 


Tus text-book on forest utilisation, well printed 
and fully illustrated, is a very useful addition to 
the scanty literature on the subject in the English 
language. The author, who is a professor in the 


Marcu 26, 1914] 


NATURE 


83 


Yale Forestry School, had formerly practical ex- 
perience in the lumber camps of the United 
States and Philippines; and in consequence has 
been able to give a readable account of the numer- 
ous logging methods which are actually in opera- 
tion. The book should prove suggestive to owners 
of timber lands in our own Colonies and to Indian 
foresters. 

The first part is general, and comprises chap- 
ters on the resources and protection of the forests 
of the United States. The original woodland area 
is estimated at 850,000,000 acres, containing 
about 433,000,000,000 cubic feet of timber. The 
existing forest has shrunk to 550,000,000 acres, 
estimated to contain 210,000,000,000 cubic feet, 
of which the Federal and State Governments 
control about one-fourth. The second part deals 
with felling of timber, and contains chapters on 
labour, tools, organisation of the camp, careful 
wiiisation of the tree, etc. The third ‘part’ is 
devoted to transport by land, and is very complete, 
giving an account of aerial cables, railways, 
timber slides, and shutes, etc. The rude but effica- 
cious system, by which railroads are often built 
in the forests of the Far West, is carefully de- 
scribed. The fourth part, transport by water, 
treats of floating, rafting, flumes, sluices, etc. 
Another part entitled “Minor Industries,” deals 
with tapping for turpentine, harvesting of tan- 
barks, etc. A glossary of terms used in logging, 
tables of wages, timber values, etc., complete this 
admirable text-book. 


Foods and Household Management. A Textbook 
of the Household Arts. By Prof. Helen Kinne 
and Anna M. Cooley. Pp. xv+4o1. (New 
York: The Macmillan Company, 1914.) Price 


5S; net. 


A FULL treatment is provided in this volume of 
the production, cost, nutritive value, preparation, 
and serving of a great variety of foods. The 
relation of these topics to general. household 
management is made clear, and a careful study 
of household accounts, methods of buying, and 
ordinary housewifery is included. Though some 
parts of the book deal particularly with American 
conditions, most of the chapters make a direct 
appeal to teachers of domestic subjects in this 
country, and the volume deserves their attention. 


The Continents and their Pecple. South America. 
By J. F. Chamberlain and A. H. Chamberlain. 
Pp. ix+189. (New York: The Macmillan 
Company, 1913.) Price 3s. 

Tuis beautifully illustrated reading book will serve 
admirably to supplement the ordinary text-book in 
use by children studying the geography of South 
America. The physical and human aspects of 
geography are presented in such a way as to 
interest young pupils and to encourage them to 
trace the connection between the two. There are 
only three maps in the book; one is an old- 
fashioned coloured plate, another a_photo-relief 
map of the continent, and the third a sketch map 
showing rainfall. 


NO.w2ok7, VOL, 93, 


LERLERS, LO)". THE, EDITOR: 


[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for 
opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with 
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 
this or any other part of Nature. No notice is 
taken of anonymous communications. | 


The Movements of Floating Particles. 


In reply to Mr. Archdall Reid (March 19, p. 60) I 
should say that the effects which he describes are the 
natural behaviour of a contaminated surface. A 
greasy contamination of the right order of magnitude 
tends to spread itself uniformly over the surface. If 
when the liquid in the saucer sways over to one side, 
the surface layer went with it, the contamination 
would be concentrated upon that side and diluted upon 
the other. Such a displacement is resisted. The 
invisible surface contamination remains nearly equally 
distributed, and the fact is witnessed by the visible 
particles floating upon it. R. 


Weather Forecasts. 


In Nature of February 26 Mr. Mallock verifies the 
forecasts for London during 1913. He selects four 
characteristic types accompanying shifts of wind, and 
finds that the verification did not exceed 58 per cent. 
The temperature forecasts were even less accurate, 
being correct only 161 times; and while the given per- 
centage is 52, a truer value, including doubtful and 
‘“no”’ forecasts, would be 44. He then, very properly, 
raises the question, reduced to its simplest terms, ‘Is 
the daily chart with its many entries worth while?” 
Personally Mr. Mallock thinks it extremely improb- 
able that trustworthy forecasts can be made. Many 
meteorologists share this opinion. Two deductions 
can be drawn, either the chart does not contain data 
suitable for trustworthy forecasting, or the men who 
forecast are not competent. The latter we can quickly 
dispose of, for there is no difference of opinion regard- 
ing the honesty and professional skill of the staff of 
the Meteorological Office; and incidentally we may 
acknowledge the steady rise of the office under Dr. 
Shaw’s progressive leadership to a commanding place 
among the meteorological services of the world. 

Then is the weather chart inadequate? Yes. More- 
ever, it will be so for years to come. On the 
other hand, too much may be expected, and a method 
of verification applied that is entirely too rigorous. 
Weather is not the only subject on which forecasts are 
made, and if these were rigorously tested there would 
be many verifications below 50 per cent. Not long 
ago, the writer had gently to remind the editor of a 


' metropolitan daily ‘‘that the forecaster in his state- 


ments concerning things that had not yet happened 
was more accurate than the Press (in general) in its 
statements concerning things that had already hap- 
pened.” Errors in law, medicine, and engineering are 
neither unknown nor infrequent. 

To ask for a definite statement of weather conditions 
twenty-four hours in advance, is asking much in view 
of the number of indeterminate variables that are 
operative. Pressure, temperature, air motion, and pre- 
cipitation are net definite, regular processes, but often 
erratic and complicated. From our knowledge of the 
laws of gases we may indeed work out certain func- 
tional relationships, but we are still far from determin- 
ing actual interferences due to circulation, absorption, 
and radiation. 

Shall the chart then be abandoned, and shall we 


84 


cease troubling ourselves with millions of useless ob- 
servations to be added to millions already existing ? 
No. It is an honest effort, and granting that there 
is surplusage of certain data, the chart is still worth 
while. Besides, there are some by-products of great 
value. To illustrate, a strict verification of the wind 
shifts at San Francisco, a city where the lower air 
circulation is marked, might show a high percentage; 
but this would not be a fair test of the worth of the 
weather chart. Rather, some by-product, as that of 
frost protection. In the first week of January, 1913, 
the general forecaster warned the orange-growers 480 
miles away of impending trouble. Each community 
was warned not once, but day after day, and night 
after night. Fruit worth 10,000,o00l. was in jeopardy. 
Half was saved because of ample, accurate warnings 
coupled with improved methods of heating, covering, 
and protecting. Overtopping the vast saving, was the 
demonstration that protection was effective. The story 
of the campaign against frost extending over a period 
of sixteen years and culminating in the struggle of 
January, 1913, is one of the most inspiring chapters 
in the history of horticulture.. The forecaster not only 
gave warning, but developed the principles of protec- 
tion. At least five basic patents for covering, heating, 
and mixing the air were obtained and donated to the 
public. 

Again, a certain railroad system of the west coast in 
competition with all steam railroads of the United 
States was awarded the Harriman Memorial safety 
medal. In five years not a single passenger’s life has 


been lost through collision or derailment of trains in a: 


total equivalent movement of 8,000,000,000 passengers 
one mile. What has this to do with the weather 
chart ? Only this, that during those five years at 
times of greatest strain, during heavy rains when 
road-beds wash out, and derailments most easily occur, 
the actual head of the whole system kept in closest 
touch with the weather office. Time and time again 
the patrols on thousands of miles of roads were doubled 
on the judgment of the forecaster, based on the 
chart. 

Yet, in San Francisco, it has been known to turn out 
fair when rain was indicated, or some sudden drizzle 
from the sea mar a forecast of fair weather. 

And the conjecture of De Morgan which Mr. Mal- 
lock quotes, ‘‘that Sir George Airy would not have 
given 23d. for the chance of a meteorological theory 
formed by masses of observations,’? remains a con- 
jecture. 

ALEXANDER McADIE. 

Blue Hill Observatory, March 11. 


Origin of Structures on the Moon’s Surface. 


Tue difficulty raised by the Rev. O. Fisher (NATURE, 
February 26, p. 714) with regard to the origin of the 
moon by fission from the earth has been answered 
already in part in Sir George Darwin’s own writings. 
The length of the day when earth and moon revolved 
once a day was calculated by him at first as about 
5 hours, the figure used by Mr. Fisher. Afterwards, 
Darwin showed that taking solar tidal friction into 
account, this period should be reduced to something of 
the order of 24 hours, when the two bodies would be 
almost in contact (see Darwin, ‘Scientific Papers,” 
vol. ii., pp. 323, 364). It may not be amiss to quote 
here his cautious estimate of this result :—‘‘ The whole 
subject is full of difficulties, and the conclusions must 
necessarily remain very speculative.” 

EF. J. M. Strattron. 

Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. 

March 6, 1914. 


NO. 231 7.7 08r 203] 


NATURE 


[MarcH 26, 1914 


The. Isothermal Layer of the Atmosphere. 


Ir is a commonplace observation that ‘truths of 
science, waiting to be caught,’ are often simul- 
taneously and independently ‘‘caught”’ by two or 
more investigators. One of the most remarkable 
coincidences of this kind appears never to have been 
definitely pointed out as such. This is the recent 
Gold-Humphreys (or Humphreys-Gold) explanation as 
to why the stratosphere is vertically isothermal; viz., 
because of equality in that region between emitted and 
absorbed radiation. This discovery is probably 
destined ‘to remain conspicuous in the annals of 
meteorology for two reasons; first, because of its 


| intrinsic importance, and, secondly, because of the 


following remarkable chronological parallelism in its 
independent development by two investigators :— 


Gold. | 


Preliminary account read | 
at the Dublin meeting | 
of the British Associa- 
tion for the Advance- | 
ment of Science, Sep- 
tember 2-9, 1908. 

Preliminary account re- 
ported in © NATURE, 
October 1, 1908. 

Final paper received by 


Humphreys. 


Preliminary account read 
_ at the Hanover meet- 
ing of the American 
Association for the Ad- 
vancement of Science, 
June 29—July 3, 1908. 
Preliminary account re- 
ported’ . an’. Serence; 

August 21, 1908. 
Final paper sent to the 


the Royal Society of | Astrophysical Journal, 
London, October 5, October ?, 1908. 
1908. 


Final paper read before 


Final paper read before 
the Royal Society of 


the Philosophical 


London, December 10, Society of _Washing- 

1908. ton, D.C., October to, 
1908. 

Final paper published in | Final paper published 

the Proceedings of the in the Astrophysical 

Royal Society of Lon- Journal, vol, xxxix., 


don, A 82, February 16, 
1909. | 


It would be difficult to find a more interesting 
chronological parallel. It is particularly pleasant to 


January, 1909. 


add that the principals, who up to the time of the 


publication of their papers were strangers to each 
other, have since then become well acquainted and the 
best of personal friends. 
C. FirzHuGH TaLMan. 
U.S. Weather Bureau, Washington, March 7. 


Unidirectional Currents within a Carbon Filament Lamp. 


DuRING the past two months I have shown to some 
scores of people the effects described by Dr. Eve under 
the above heading, in Nature of March 12. His 
explanation of the slow creep of the displaced filaments 
back to their original positions does not seem to me 
wholly satisfactory. Other factors governing the 
phenomenon are the electromagnetic attractions be- 
tween the current bearing loops and the plastic yield- 
ing of the heated filament. It was a search for the 
latter effect which first directed my attention to the 
other phenomena. 

The negative discharge from a Wimshurst machine 
also alters the luminosity of the filament, and I have 
observed in some cases (using a modified Fleming 
valve), the complete stoppage of the thermionic cur- 
rent. These two latter effects are now being 
systematically investigated. 

F. Liroyp Hopwoop. 

Physics Department, St. Bartholomew’s Hospital 

Medical College, E.C., March 17. 


Marcu 26, 1914] 


THE Sree POLOGICAL SURVEY OF 
NUBIA.} 


Ay eN it was decided to heighten the Aswan 
Dam, the Egyptian Government also made 
provision for the thorough examination of the 
whole tract of country that would be immersed 
in the enlarged reservoir south of the First 
Cataract. An account has already been given in 
Natvre (1911, vol. Ixxxvi., p. 283) of the surprising 
richness of the harvest of historical and archzo- 
logical results, which Dr. Reisner’s precise 
methods and skill in interpretation were able to 
rescue from this unpromising and poverty-stricken 
site during the first six months’ work in 1907-1908. 
For in that short time not only were the main 
outlines of Nubia’s chequered history and strange 
vicissitudes unveiled, but also, incidentally, con- 
siderable light was shed upon many points that 


Fic. 1.—Cemetery 87. sGroups of C-group superstructures. Grave 24, pottery in position at foot of 


superstructure. From ‘‘ The Archeological Survey of Nubia. 
hitherto had been obscure in the history of Egypt 
and the Sudan. 

So successfully was this work accomplished 
during the first season’s work of the Survey 
(where, fortunately, the materials brought to light 
in the neighbourhood of the First Cataract sup- 
plied a summary of the whole history of Nubia) 
that the other three seasons’ work could be de- 
voted to filling in the details of the story. 

It was very fortunate that it was possible to 
put together the historical framework at the very 
commencement of the work, for during the follow- 
ing season Dr. Reisner, who had organised the 
whole undertaking and set the high standard of 
scientific accuracy and thoroughness for his suc- 
cessor to live up to, had to relinquish the personal 
control of the survey in order to resume his work 


1 “The Archeological Survey of Nubia. Report for 1908-9. By C. M. 
Firth. Vol. i., part i., Report on the Work of the Season, 1908-9. Part ii., 
Catalogue of Graves and their Contents. Pp. vit-z09. Vol. ii., Plates and 


Plans accompanying vol. i. 


Cairo : Government 
Press, ror.) 


56 plates+xx plans. 
Price L..E. 2 (fo- the two volumes). 


NO. 2317, VOL. 93] 


NATURE 


85 


in Syria and at the Giza Pyramids for the Har- 
vard University and the Boston Museum. Hap- 
pily Mr. Cecil Firth, who had been intimately 
associated with Dr. Reisner for several years, was 
available to carry on the work in the spirit and 
with the thoroughness with which it was begun. 
In the volumes lately issued the results of the 
second season’s work (mainly Dr. Reisner’s) have 
been fully presented with a conciseness and 
lucidity distinctive of Mr. Firth’s writing. 

The district with which the first season’s work 
was concerned chanced to be especially rich in 


_ Predynastic and Early Dynastic remains, and thus 


enabled us at the outset to begin at the beginning 
and appreciate the condition of Lower Nubia when 


_it was ethnically and archzologically a part of 
| Egypt. 


The second season equally fortunately 


_ yielded most information concerning the succeed- 


Report for 1g08-9.’ 


ing period, when a distinctively Nubian culture 
was manifesting itself; and these 
data, which form the outstanding 
feature of the volumes before us, 
follow naturally upon the Early 
Dynastic and Egyptian phase of 
Nubia’s history. 

From the time of the Third 
Dynasty there was a rapid de- 
cline of Egyptian influence in 
Nubia, associated with a de- 
gradation of its essentially Proto- 
Egyptian culture and the infusion 
of negro blood into its popula- 
fous” ~*‘The. condition’ of -the 
country, owing to its isolation 
from Egypt, had reached a very 
low ebb, perhaps the lowest in its 
history, and it is not surprising 
to find it suddenly displaced by. 
or incorporated in, a new and 
vigorous barbaric civilisation 
which is very obviously southern 
in its origin, and in no way re- 
lated to that of contemporary 
Egypt. It would appear that 
there was a_ considerable  in- 
flux from the south of a slightly negroid 
population, which brought with it a_ peculiar 
culture and art which has very marked 
affinities with that of Predynastic Egypt in 
its earliest istage” a(ppe 13) .andé:14))% - The 
new and precise information concerning this people 
which suddenly made its appearance in Lower 
Nubia “at some time between the Old and the 
Middle Kingdoms,” i.e. roughly about 2500 B.c., 
is the outstanding distinctive feature of this report. 
Both in the physical characters of the people and 
the nature of their culture, which is so admirably 
described in these volumes, this Middle Nubian 
people is nearly akin to the earliest Predynastic 


” 


| Eovotians; but the two branches of the race 


became separated the one from the other, and 
developed independently, one in Egypt, the other 
further south under the influence of contact with 
the negro population of Africa. When the latter 
people, after a separation of perhaps nearly ten 
centuries, moved north and came into contact 


86 


with the Egyptians, their culture seems strangely 
alien, for it retained many features that had been 
extinct in Egypt for centuries, but now reappear 
strongly tainted with the effects of negro in- 
fluence. After reading the masterly interpretation 
of these data relating to the first appearance of a 
distinctively Nubian culture in Lower Nubia, it is 
easy to understand how these puzzling facts have 
so far misled all other recent writers who have 
discussed Nubian archeology. 

A very interesting feature of this report is the 
account of the superstructures that are found in 
association with these Middle Nubian graves, 
sometimes in the form of “a low dome of stone- 
work (Fig. 94), composed of circular corbelled 
courses, somewhat analogous to the mud-brick 
corbel vaults of the Protodynastic period in 
Egypt ” (p. 14), sometimes a simple cairn of stones 
roughly thrown together or more extensive circu- 
lar walls of stone surrounding the grave, often 
with a little ‘chapel’ for offerings on the east or 
north-east side. As the derivation of these types 


Fic. 2.—Cemetery 87. Grave 61. From ‘* The Archeological 


Survey of Nubia. Report for 1908-9. 


of superstructure from known _ Protodynastic 
Egyptian forms is unquestioned, itis very instruc- 
tive to note that precisely similar circular stone 
monuments (with offering chapels) have puzzled 
writers on Algerian archeology (see Maclver and 
Wilkin’s “Libyan Notes,” 1901, Chapter xzii.), 
who have not hesitated to class them with the 
megalithic group of structures in that. region. 

Limitation of space alone prevents a complete 
enumeration of all the other important features of 
these volumes. Further light is thrown upon the 
destruction of this characteristic Nubian culture, 
which flourished between the Sixth and Thirteenth 
Dynasties, by the Egyptian colonisation which 
followed the military expeditions of Usertesen ITI. 
And here, as elsewhere in Mr. Firth’s report, it 
is clearly shown how the facts brought to light in 
these archeological investigations corroborate and 
supplement the known historical evidence. 

There is now much more precise information 
concerning an interesting group of negroid people 
which made its appearance in Nubia between the 
second and sixth centuries a.p. They appear to 


NO. 2317, Oi, 03 || 


NATURE 


[Marcu 26, 1914 


be Nubas from Kordofan, perhaps the Nobadae 
brought into Nubia under Diocletian to check the 
incursions of the Blemmyes, who in turn were 
probably the nomadic kindred or descendants of 
the Middle Nubians who had taken to the Eastern 
Desert. 

The interesting mud-brick forts at Koshtamna, 
built originally somewhere about the time the 
famous Giza Pyramids were being erected in 
Eeypt, and frequently repaired and extended in 
subsequent ages, are fully and lucidly described. 
So also is the fortified Byzantine town of Sabagura. 

There is also much new information concerning 
the Ptolemaic-Roman and Byzantine periods in 
Nubia. 

The main part of the report consists of the de- 
tailed field notes, illustrated by numerous excellent 
woodcuts and a large volume of photographs and 
maps. This magnificent record of Prof. Reisner’s 
and Mr. Firth’s characteristically thorough survey 
of an extensive tract of difficult country will be 
indispensable to everyone who wants to understand 
the real history of the Nile Valley. 

G. ELiiotT SMITH. 


DHE CRIMINAL (AND OAGHE CRM 


R. GORING’S Blue Book on the English 

convict is unquestionably a product of 
immense patience and industry. In a preface 
contributed by Sir E. Ruggles-Brise, it is stated 
that, “In 1go1 Dr. Griffiths, Deputy Medical 
Officer of Parkhurst Prison, formed the idea of 
subjecting a large number of prisoners convicted 
of certain similar offences to accurate measure- 
ments in order to ascertain whether these showed 
any deviation from what may be described as the 
normal, i.e. non-criminal persons.” Under the 
encouragement of the Prison Commissioners, 
especially of Sir Bryan Donkin and Sir H. Smalley, 
and through the labours of several medical officers, 
the work grew in scope and magnitude. Ulti- 
mately it was placed in the hands of Dr. Goring, 
who was detached from duty with the view of 
tabulating the material at University College, with 
the assistance, and under the direction of Prof. 
Karl Pearson. 

“Tt soon became apparent that the scope of the 
work had grown, perhaps inevitably, far beyond 
its original purpose, viz.: the refutation or con- 
firmation, of the various theories that had been 
promulgated concerning the existence of the 
criminal type. It will be seen that the work now 
embraces a wide range, including not only an 
analysis of the physical and mental conditions of 
convicts, but also the data for speculation on 
very difficult and contentious questions as to the 
relative influence of heredity, environment, etc. 
Although the commissioners had not contemplated 
in the first instance a work of this magnitude, 
they feel it only fair to Dr. Goring that the work 
should be published on his own lines, and that 


1 ‘©The English Convict. A Statistical Study.” By Dr. C, Goring 
Pp. 440. (London: His Majesty’s Stationery Office ; Wyman and Sons, 


| Ltd., 1913.) Price gs. 


Marcu 26, 1914] 


NATURE 87 


the public should be in possession of the mass 
of information collated, and _ statistically tabu- 
lated by him, and of the conclusions he draws 
therefrom. It must also be explicitly understood 
that the commissioners are not in a position to 
endorse all the conclusions at which he arrives, or 
to criticise the method employed in attaining them, 
as any attempt in this direction would involve an 
elaborate discussion of matters on which the 
highest scientific authorities differ.” 

Part I. of Dr. Goring’s work is devoted to an 
examination of the theories of the late Prof. Cesare 
Lombroso and his followers. These are shown, 
we think, quite conclusively to be erroneous. 
The matter is one eminently suitable for statistical 
- handling. Lombroso stated that criminals are 
mentally and physically abnormal. A_ large 
number of convicts have been examined, and the 
abnormalities have not been found. 


No evidence has emerged confirming the existence 
of a physical criminal type such as Lombroso and his 
disciples have described... there is no such thing 
as a physical criminal type (p. 173)... there is no 
such thing as a mental ‘‘criminal type” (p. 246). 


In chapter i. of part II. we find another statis- 
tical summary which must be accepted unless, as 
is very improbable, it can be shown that the facts 
are not correctly stated. Convicts as a class are 
physically and mentally inferior to the general 
population. They are, on the average, shorter, 
lighter, and stupider. Thieves, burglars, and in- 
cendiaries are especially defective. Criminals con- 
victed of violence or fraud are little, if at all, 
inferior. A third 


indisputable statistical fact has emerged from the 
investigation. It is that the family incidence 
of crime is not fortuitously distributed, it is not 
entirely independent of lineage; that criminals do not 
occur equally in all families of the general community, 
but tend to be restricted to particular stocks or sec- 
tions of the community: to those stocks tainted with 
criminal ancestry. And we have found that the in- 
tensity of this limitation, the intensity of this parental 
resemblance in criminal propensity, ranges between 
0-45 and 0-6 (p. 364). 

But the greater portion of part II. consists of 
debatable matter. Statistics are not merely sum- 
marised, they are interpreted. The inferences are 
not immediate, but mediate. It is probable that 
the very facts on which Dr. Goring relies would 
be used by opponents as foundations for quite 
contradictory conclusions. Facts very similar 
actually have been so used times without number. 
For instance, a generation ago the British Asso- 
ciation appointed an anthropometric committee to 
ascertain the statures and weights of persons 
engaged in different occupations, in accordance 
with the principle that— 


“The occupation of an individual explains not only 
the direct effects of physical or mental work on the 
constitution of the body, but the kind of nurture or 
sanitary surroundings to which he may have been 
subjected.”” The Committee found ‘‘ the most obvious 
facts which the figures disclose are the check which 
growth receives as we descend lower and lower in the 
social scale.” 


NOmaa07, VOL. 93) 


Dr. Goring’s comment is— 


“The figures disclose no such check upon growth 
as an obvious fact. The facts actually revealed are 
that, as we descend lower and lower in the social 
scale, the means of stature and weight diminish in 
value. ‘There is no evidence that the diminution is 
caused by a check upon growth due to environmental 
conditions. An inference from these facts of equal 
validity with the Committee’s deduction would be that 
descent in the social and economic scales of life is 
associated with a physical inferiority of human stock; 
in other words, that the professional man, labourer, 
and artisan, &c., breed their own kind, who in turn 
pursue the calling of their fathers, i.e. the work most 
suited to their social station, and to their particular 
type of physique” (p. 193). 

Here we have the old dispute as to whether 
nature or nurture is the stronger. Dr. Goring 
sets himself the task of “disentangling the influ- 
ence of heredity from a complication of environ- 
mental influences” (p. 337). 


‘“As seen in the above table, 177, the parental cor- 
relation for sexual crimes and crimes of wilful damage 
to property, is from 0-45 to 0-5; for stealing it is from 
0-48 to 0-58. We would assume then from this 
evidence, that the intensity of the inherited factor in 
criminality is from 0-45 to 0-5, and the intensity of 
criminal contagion is anything between 0-05 and o-1” 
(p- 367). ‘‘Our second conclusion, then, is this: that 
relatively to its origin in the constitution of the male- 
factor, and especially in his mentally defective con- 
stitution, crime is only a trifling extent (if to any) 
the product of social inequalities, of adverse environ- 
ment, or of other manifestations of what may be 
comprehensively termed the force of circumstances ”’ 
(p. 371). 

In these and many other passages, Dr. Goring 
appears to maintain strongly that the criminal is 
born, not made; that parentage counts for much, 
and training for little; that the child of a criminal 
has,2:,yOme wthes savyerase; < the “proclivity.” <or 
‘“diathesis”” so strongly developed that he will 
be a criminal no matter what the circumstances in 
which he is reared. With some surprise, there- 
fore, we read near the end of the work :— 


“But this fact of resemblance does not argue 
absence of the influence of environment in the develop- 
ment of human beings. It is as absurd to say that, 
because criminal tendency is heritable, a man’s con- 
viction for crime cannot be influenced by education, 
as it would be to assert that, because mathematical 
ability is heritable, accomplishment in mathematics is 
independent of instruction; or that, because stature 
is heritable, growth is independent of nutriment and 
exercise. Our correlations tell us that, despite of 
education, heritable constitutional conditions prevail in 
the making of criminals; but they contain no pro- 
nouncement upon the extent to which the general 
standard of morality may have been raised by educa- 
tion. We know that to make a law-abiding citizen 
two things are needed—capacity and training. Within 
dwells the potentiality for growth; but without stands 
the natural right of each child born into the world— 
the right to possess every opportunity of growing to 
his full height’’ (p. 373). 

This passage is a little vague. Probably in- 
stead of “conviction for crime”? Dr. Goring means 
“proclivity for crime,” or “chances of conviction 
for crime.” He seems clearly of the opinion that 
“training” is necessary to make of a normal 


88 


individual a law-abiding citizen. Presumably such 
a man may be trained to lawlessness also. He 
has the capacity for both. In which case the 
special “proclivity” or “diathesis” of criminals 
can be nothing more than mere stupidity, mere 
incapacity to be trained. As expressed by Sir 
Bryan Donkin :— 

‘They are, it seems, innately unable to acquire the 
complex of characters which are essential to the 
average man, and, according to their surroundings, 
they follow the path of least resistance. This path is 
more often than not, but by no means always, the 
path of unsocial or criminal action” (p. 7). 


In conclusion Dr. Goring states :-— 


‘Our tables of figures spealx for themselves, we 
have said; but we do not claim that they utter the last 
word... . A long intimacy with the material dis- 
cussed in the present Report leads us to believe that 
better material could, with the experience now 
attained, be procured; but we are convinced that, at 
least to a first approximation, our data represent the 
fundamental  interrelationships of criminality” 
(p. 373). Ina note he adds :—‘ The inquiry, which of 
all others is most urgently needed, must not be limited 
to an examination of prisoners and their official re- 
cords; but must extend beyond the prison walls, and 
into the homes and haunts of the offenders when at 
large; and into that wide and most interesting field 
of research where the experiments of the modern 
reformatory system are dealing with the child-criminal 
of the race” (p. 373). 


SR OLN IM WARIR AY. KC. Bis Clos. 


HE tragic accident by which Sir John Murray 
lost his life on March 16 has deprived the 
world of one ot the foremost naturalists of the 
day, and has sent a thrill of sorrow through the 
hearts of all who knew him. Though he had 
passed the allotted span of threescore years and 
ten, he still so abounded in youthful spirits and 
enthusiasm, was so active alike in body and mind, 
so full of work and of plans for further enter- 
prise, that it is hard to believe that a career so 
distinguished in its past and bearing such con- 
tinued promise for the future, has been suddenly 
brought to a close. 

Of Scottish parentage, he was bori in Canada 
in 1841, and received there the early part of his 
education. But in his youth he came to Edin- 
burgh, and at the University there, under J. H. 
Baliour- PG.’ Tait, VG. J. Allman, and Avge: 
Brown, he received the training in physical and 
natural science that formed the groundwork of 
his lifelong labours. He soon showed the bent 
of his disposition towards marine studies, and at 
the same time his love of personal adventure, by 
taking, in the year 1868, a voyage in a Peterhead 
whaler to Spitsbergen and the Arctic seas. In 
the same year there began that series of pioneer- 
ing cruises in the Lightning and Porcupine, by 
which, during the summers of 1868, 1869, and 
1870, Wyville Thomson and W. B. Carpenter 
obtained so much new information regarding the 
distribution of life in the ocean. Deep-sea explora- 
tion became then a leading preoccupation among 
the naturalists of this country. 


NO. 22577 VOL. 93) 


NATURE 


{Marcu 26, 1914 


Eventually the general interest in this subject 
found vent in an application to the Government 
for a vessel and funds to prosecute the study of the 
ocean all over the globe. The memorable expedi- 
tion of the Challenger was accordingly organised, 
which lasted from 1873 to 1876. Wyville Thom- 
son, who had been elected in 1870 to the Chair of 
Natural History in the University of Edinburgh, 
was appointed director of the civilian scientific 
staff of the expedition. Recognising the brilliant 
promise of John Murray, he chose him to be one 
of the three naturalists on his staff. To this 
momentous choice the young aspirant to scientific 
distinction owed the opening which led to all the 
varied labours which have made his name so 
widely known. 

When Wyville Thomson died in 1882, Murray, 
who had proved his remarkable qualities during 
the course of the expedition, was charged with 
the editorship of the scientific results of the cruises 
of the Challenger. This was a task the greatness 
of which is probably not generally appreciated. 
No ordinary skill, knowledge, tact, and patience 
were required to allocate the vast pile of collections 
to the different specialists all over the globe, to 
keep these writers up to their engagements, and, 
within reasonable limits of time, to see that the 
printers and engravers were supplied with 
material, to supervise the masses of proof-sheets, 
and, by no means least of all, to battle with an 
unsympathetic Treasury that grudged the heavy 
expense necessarily required for the publication of 
the work of the most completely organised ex- 
pedition that had ever sailed the seas. Year after 
year the labours of the editor went on, until some 
fifty massive quarto volumes were issued. That 
Murray should have emerged with triumphant 
success from so prolonged and so trying an ordeal 
was a striking proof of the strength of his char- 
acter and the vigour of his scientific enthusiasm. 

Besides taking an active part in the dredging 
and the general biological work of the expedition, 
Murray specially devoted his attention to the 
working out of certain parts of the materials 
obtained. He was more particularly interested 
in the investigation of the deposits that are 
accumulating on the floor of the ocean. The 
ample store of materials which he succeeded in 
gathering together was subsequently carefully 
studied by him in concert with the late Prof. 
Renard, of the University of Ghent, and the con- 
joint work of the two observers was published as 
one of the thick quartos of the Challenger Reports. 
This monumental volume possesses a high scientific 
value, coupled with the historical interest that it 
eave to the world the first detailed revelation of 
the nature and distribution of the deposits that are 
gathering on the floor of the deep sea, and the 
impressively slow rate at which some of these 
deposits are being formed. 

A further inquiry arising out of the operations 
of the Challenger expedition was the question of 
the origin of coral islands. The fascinating ex- 
planation of these islands proposed by Darwin had 


| been generally accepted by men of science, though 


Marcu 26, 1914] 


NATURE 


89 


some doubts had been thrown upon its universal | 


application. Murray, who was not always dis- 
posed to accept the conclusions of his predecessors 
without subjecting them to rigorous investigation, 
was led to entertain more than doubts as to the 
general applicability of Darwin’s theory. He 
ultimately came to the conclusion that the exten- 
sive oceanic submergence which the great 
naturalist’s explanation demanded could not be 
proved from coral reefs. He propounded another 
view in which he was supported by the late 
Alexander Agassiz, who undertook many cruises 
over different oceans, visiting most of the coral 
regions and obtaining an unrivalled acquaintance 
with their various features. According to this 
view, coral reefs have grown up on submarine 
voleanic peaks, which in many cases have been 
covered with thick accumulations of calcareous 
organisms, so as to be brought up within the 
limits of the growth of reef-building corals. The 
problem probably cannot be solved by any one 
universally applicable hypothesis. Whether or 
not subsidence has played a part in the forma- 
tion of coral islands there can be no doubt, from 
the full narratives of Agassiz, that proofs of 
elevation are conspicuously obvious in many of 
the groups of these islands. 

Sir John Murray’s latest expedition took place 
only four years ago, when at his request the Nor- 
wegian Government lent him a surveying vessel, 
the Michael Sars, together with its scientific staff, 
for a summer cruise of four months in the North 
Atlantic Ocean, while he himself undertook to 
defray all the other expenses. The cruise proved 
highly successful, but perhaps its most important 
result has been the preparation and’ publication 
of a work on the “ Depths of the Ocean,” the joint 
production of Sir John himself and Dr. Johan 
Hjort. This handsome volume is undoubtedly the 
best and most authoritative treatise on the subject 
to which it is devoted. It places clearly before 
the reader the main incidents in the history of the 
investigation of the deep sea, and it describes the 
methods of research and the general scientific 
results obtained, with fresh illustrations from the 
experience gained in the cruise of the Michael 
Sars. Sir John had already been recognised as one 
of the chief founders of the modern science of 
Oceanography, and in this admirable volume he 
has left what will long be the leading manual on 
the subject. 

It was at his instance that upwards of five-and- 
twenty years ago the British Government was led 
to annex Christmas Island, a lonely volcanic peak 
in the Indian Ocean, which seemed never to have 
been disturbed by man. He sent out some com- 
petent observers to study its geology and natural 
history, and these visitors found it to be rich in 
phosphatic deposits. He thereupon formed a com- 
pany, which obtained a concession to work these 
accumulations. With the wealth that accrued to 
him from this source, he has been a generous sup- 
porter of scientific investigation in many directions. 
One of the undertakings which he set on foot and 
financed was a thorough bathymetrical survey of 
the freshwater lochs of Scotland by practised 


NO! 2417, VOL. 93 | 


observers. The results of this investigation have 
been published in a series of six volumes. There 
is probably no other country of which the depths 
and other features of its lakes have been so tully 
made known. 

Sir John Murray’s devotion to science and his 
sagacity in following out the branches of inquiry 
which he resolved to pursue were not more con- 
spicuous than his warm sympathy with every line 
of investigation that seemed to promise further 
discoveries. He was an eminently broad-minded 
naturalist to whom the whole wide domain of 
Nature was of interest. Full of originality and 


| suggestiveness, he not only struck out into new 


paths for himself, but pointed them out to others, 
especially to younger men, whom he encouraged 
and assisted. His genial nature, his sense of 
humour, his generous helpfulness, and a certain 
delightful boyishness which he retained to the last 
endeared him to a wide circle of friends who will 
long miss his kindly and cheery presence. 
ARCH. GEIKIE. 


PROEK, E..S. HOLDEN. 


ROF. HOLDEN, whose death was anuounced 
with regret in our last issue, was_ better 
known to the astronomers of the last generation 
than the present. He will be remembered as one 
who, by his energy and position, encouraged the 
enterprise and activity that have characterised the 
development of astronomical research in the 
United States. It was his fortune, thirty years 
ago, to be placed at the head of the Lick Observa- 
tory, the optical equipment of which was then 
superior to any that existed. Also the position 
of the observatory had been selected with care 
and at considerable expense. He had to construct 
a programme and to pursue it with such ardour 
and success that the results should justify the 
costly erection of the gigantic refractor in a spot 
remote and difficult of access. In his work as a 
pioneer he had little to guide him, for though tele- 
scopes had gradually increased in power, they 
had been employed mainly in doing more per- 
fectly what small telescopes had attempted. We 
may claim that the Lick telescope in his hands was 
a success. It is, of course, difficult to separate 
the work of a director from that of the sub- 
ordinates selected to carry it into effect. The one 
provides a programme, but the performance must 
be largely in the hands of the lieutenants. 

Prof. Holden was fortunate in the choice of his 
assistants and in the apportionment of their work. 
His assistants all increased their reputation under 
his direction, and demonstrated the capacity of 
the instrument entrusted to their charge. Barnard 
added an inner satellite to the Jovian system; 
Burnham’s double-star work remains unsurpassed ; 
Keeler’s successful demonstration of the meteoritic 
constitution of Saturn’s rings and his determina- 
tion of the motion in the line of sight of the 
planetary nebulz would have made the reputation 
of any observatory. Naturally some credit for 
these successes attaches to Prof. Holden. But his 


mo NATURE 


[Marcu 26, 1914 


ee ee 


own activities contributed not a little to the high 
estimation in which the observatory was_ held. 
Foremost, perhaps, should be placed his mono- 
graph on the nebula of Orion, a useful and pains- 
taking piece of work. Of more originality were 
his studies of the physical constitution of the sun 
and its surroundings, the outcome of several 
eclipse expeditions, some earlier than the appoint- 
ment to the Lick Observatory. Planetary mark- 
ings and close examination of the surfaces of such 
minute discs as those of Jupiter’s satellites or the 
planet Uranus also engaged his attention. The 
helical forms of nebulae were the subject of inti- 
mate study, and in other directions Prof. Holden 
displayed equal energy and ability. 

Considering the difficulty of getting a new 
observatory into efficient working order, increased 
as these difficulties were by the inaccessibility of 
the situation, it will be admitted that the twelve 
years’ direction from 1885 to 1897 accomplished 
much useful work. In the latter year Prof. 
Holden resigned the position of director of the 
Lick Observatory, and his scientific activities 
apparently ceased. WES: 


NOTES. 


Tue Bakerian Lecture of the Royal Society will be 
delivered by Prof. A. Fowler on Thursday next, April 
2, upon the subject of ‘Series Lines in Spark 
Spectra.” 


WE announce with regret the death on March 23, at 
sixty-eight years of age, of Prof. G. M. Minchin, 
F.R.S., formerly professor of mathematics, Royal 
Indian Engineering College, Coopers Hill. 


WE regret to see the announcement of the death on 
February 17, at sixty-two years of age, of Dr. G. J. 
Burch, F.R.S., formerly professor of physics at Uni- 
versity College, Reading, and the author of a number 
of papers upon electrical subjects and physiological 
optics. 


Tue eighth annual meeting of the British Science 
Guild will be held at the Mansion House on Friday, 
May 22, at 4 o’clock p.m., when the Lord Mayor, 
the Right Hon. Sir T. Vansittart Bowater, Kt., will 
preside. The annual dinner will be held at the Troca- 
dero Restaurant on the same date, at 7.30 p.m., under 
the chairmanship of the president of the guild, the 
Right Hon. Sir William Mather, P.C. 


THE enormous drain on the mammalian life of the 
world caused by the fur-trade is strongly emphasised in 
the following extract from an article in the Times of 
March 19 on the London spring fur-sales :—‘* Yester- 
day there were sold in the morning 183,754 skunk 
skins; in the afternoon 136,623 American opossum and 
80,242 raccoons, as well as 3,602 civet cats. To-day 
will be offered 430,401 skunks, and to-morrow 
2,500,000 musquash of various classes. In all there 
will be sold more than 44 millions of musquash skins; 
and it is no wonder that the once familiar musk-rat 
‘houses,’ which used to dot every lake and pond all 
over the United States, looking like great mole-hills 


NO: 220r7— Vel..03)| 


sticking up from among the rushes, are growing 
scarce.” During the three weeks of the sale it is 
probable that 10 or 12 million skins. will have been 
sold. 


Tue discovery of ancient human remains in German 
East Africa by Dr. Hans Reck, of the Geological 
Institute of Berlin University, may prove to be an 
event of some importance to anthropologists. The 
report of the discovery, published in the Times of 
March 19, leaves us in some doubt as to the antiquity 
and racial characters to be assigned to these East 
African human remains, but apparently they are of 
mid-Pleistocene date, and show the distinctive features 
of the negro. If such prove to be the case, we must 
conclude that the negro race was already evolved in 
Africa at an earlier date than is now generally sup- 
posed. The Times report also informs us that the man 
thus discovered had thirty-six teeth—four more than 
is given to human and anthropoid races. The teeth 
are also said to show marks of filing; it would indeed 
be a remarkable fact if the habit of filing the teeth, so 
common in modern African races, should have been 
in use at the early date assigned to these prehistoric 
remains. 


Tue International Phytopathological Conference 
summoned by the French Government in conjunction 
with the Italian Government to meet at the Inter- 
national Institute of Agriculture was inaugurated by 
his Majesty the King of Italy on February 24, and 
was brought to a conclusion on March 5, in the pre- 
sence of all the fifty delegates, who represented the 
thirty-five States which took part in the conference. 
By the proposed International Convention adhering 
States pledge themselves in the first place to take 
whatever legislative and administrative measures are 
necessary to prevent the distribution of all diseases 
of plants in their own countries, but specially to 
organise an effective service of supervision over 
nurseries, gardens, glasshouses, and other establish- 
ments which carry on a trade in living plants. The 
measures which adhering States would pledge them- 
selves to take include (a) the erection of one or more 
institutes for scientific studies and research; (b) the 
organisation of an effective service of supervision over 
nurseries, including the packing and dispatch of 
plants; (c) the issue of phytopathological certificates. 
They would bind themselves only to admit plants 
accompanied by phytopathological certificates issued 
by or from a competent official authority, except in the 
case of plants which are imported for scientific re- 
search at an institute authorised by the Government. 


Marcu bids fair this year to establish a record for 
rainfall, and at Greenwich, where the aggregate rain- 
fall to the morning, March 23, was 3-54 in, the total 
for the whole month has only been greater in two 
years during the last century, from 1815. The 
heaviest record fall.is 4-05 in. in 1851, and in 1905 the 
measurement was 3:57 in.; the latter was exceeded 
by rain during the day, March 23, and there are nine 
days which seem likely to be wet, to secure a total 
of 0-52 in., which will render the present month the 
wettest March on record for the. last one hundred 


Marcu 26, 1914] 


NATURE 


gI 


years. At Greenwich there have: in all only been 
eight years with the March rainfall more than 3 in. 
since 1815. Rain has fallen every day in the month 
to March 23, with the exception of March 1 and 2, 
and on March 8 and g the aggregate rainfall was 
I-43 in., whilst the average for the whole month is 
1-46 in. At Camden Square the total rain for the 
month to March 23 is 4:12 in., which is 0-43 in. more 
than in any previous March during the last fifty-five 
years. On March 22 the shade temperature at Green- 
wich was 29°, which is as cold as any previous read- 
ing since January 25, and the terrestrial radiation 
temperature on March 22 was 18°, which is lower than 
any grass temperature since January 24. The Green- 
wich records for the sixty years 1850-1909 show that 
frost has occurred in thirty-one years on March 22, so 
that the chances are in favour of frost on that day, 
whilst on March 20 frost has only occurred in twelve 
vears, which gives the chance of 5 to 1 against frost. 


A COMPLIMENTARY banquet was given by members 
of the medical profession to Surgeon-General Gorgas, 
sanitary officer of the Panama Canal Commission, on 
Monday, March 23. Sir Thomas Barlow (president 
of the Royal College of Physicians) occupied the chair, 
and the company included many distinguished repre- 
sentatives of medical science. Earlier in the day 
Surgeon-General Gorgas delivered a lecture before the 
Royal Society of Medicine on his sanitary work in 
Panama. In the course of his lecture he said that 
one-third of the canal zone is low and marshy, and 
had the reputation for four hundred years of being 
one of the most unhealthy regions in the world. — It 
is probable that more white men have died there from 
tropical diseases than at any other place: within the 
tropics. The French began work on the canal in 
1880, the Americans in 1904. During the intervening 
twenty-four years it had been discovered that malaria 
and yellow fever are transmitted from one human 
being to another by the mosquito—malaria by the 
anopheles, and yellow fever by the stegomyia. These 
discoveries enabled health conditions at Panama _ to 
be controlled. Had the Americans known no more 
about these two diseases in 1904 than did the French 
in 1880, he did not believe that they could have done 
any better.—The degree of Doctor of Science, honoris 
causa, was conferred upon Surgeon-General Gorgas 
at a special Convocation of the University of Oxford 
on Tuesday, March 24. 


On Wednesday, March 18, a portrait of Sir William 
Ramsay, painted by Mr. Mark Milbanke, was pre- 
sented to the University of London, University Col- 
lege, on behalf of a committee of subscribers, consist- 
ing mainly of former colleagues and past students, 
by Prof. J. Norman Collie. Prof. Collie directed 
attention to the scientific achievements of Sir William 
Ramsay. While an assistant in Glasgow, Sir William 
Ramsay, together with Prof. Dobbie, discovered the 
fact that a certain number of acids obtained by oxida- 
tion of compounds obtained from bone oil and coal 
tar were identical with the products obtained by oxida- 
tion of the alkaloids. After that, when he was pro- 
fessor at University College, Bristol, he brought out 


NOMeg17, VOL..93| 


a very large amount of extremely interesting work in 
physical chemistry. On coming to London and Uni- 
versity College, his first great discovery, made in 
conjunction with Lord Rayleigh, was that of argon; 
and this was followed soon afterwards by the isolation 
of helium from clevite. Following un these two dis- 
coveries, Sir William Ramsay, after five years’ hard 
work with Prof. Travers, succeeded in finally 
obtaining from the atmosphere three more elements 
—neon, krypton, and xenon. After this, Sir William 
Ramsay investigated the emanation that comes off 
from the element radium. This he obtained in the 
pure condition above mercury, and noticed that it 
gradually decomposed and that helium resulted. The 
portrait was accepted by the Vice-Chancellor of the 
University (Dr. W. P. Herringham) and by the chair- 
man of the managing subcommittee of University 
College (Dr. J. Bourne Benson). A replica of the 
portrait was presented to Lady Ramsay, on behalf of 
the subscribers, by the Provost of the college in token 
of the esteem and affection in which Sir William and 
Lady Ramsay are held at University College. The 
gift was briefly acknowledged by Lady Ramsay and 
Sir William Ramsay. 


In the Times of March 17 E. Naville gives a further 
account of his remarkable discoveries at Abydos. He 
has found a great rectangular reservoir, which is 
shown to belong to the period of the temple of the 
Sphinx, when building with enormous stones without 
ornament came into fashion. This he believes to be the 
oldest stone monument, in the architectural sense, in 
Egypt. Some of the pyramids may be older, but, 
except for the inner chambers, they are without archi- 
tectural plan. This reservoir was used for the storage 
of water in high Nile; and it is a remarkable fact that 
the beginning in architecture is neither a temple nor 
a tomb, but a gigantic water-work, showing that even 
in this early period the people had carefully observed 
the laws of the rise and fall of the Nile, and of the 
processes of. irfiltration. 


In the National Geographic Magazine for February 
Mr. W. J. Showalter contributes an interesting article, 
illustrated by a fine series of photographs, showing 
how the opening of the Panama Canal has been 
delayed by the earth slides, particularly in what is 
known as the Culebra Cut. It was only with the 
deepening of the canal bed in 1910 that these obstacles 
became really formidable; in all some thirty million 
cubic. yards of material have been removed. Mr. 
Showalter describes the geological conditions of the 
area, with eleven groups of bedded rock and six of 
igneous formations, the result of volcanic action and 
uplifting of marine strata. The engineers now intend 
to check erosion in the Culebra Cut by covering the 
banks with vegetation, and the ships of the future 
will pass between banks of tropic green, except at 
those places where the living rock defies the efforts of 
the forester. 


In his presidential address to the Society for 
Psychical Research (pubushed in the current number 
of the society’s Proceedings), Prof. Henri Bergson 
asked. ‘‘ what would have happened if modern science, 


60 NATURE 


instead of setting out from mathematics to turn its 
attention towards mechanics, physics, and chemistry, 
instead of bringing all its forces to converge on the 
study of matter, had begun by the consideration of 
mind—if Kepler, Galileo, and Newton, for example, 
had been psychologists.” He answered that our 
psychology would have been almost inconceivably 
different from what it is. ‘‘ Foreign to every mechan- 
istic idea, not even conceiving the possibility of such 
an explanation, science would have inquired into, in- 
stead of dismissing a priori, facts such as those you 
study. Witalism,’’ he continued, ‘‘is a sterile doctrine 
to-day. It will perhaps not be so always, and it prob- 
ably would not have been so had modern science at 
its origin taken things at the other end.” 


Tue current number (February, 1914) of the Journal 
of Genetics contains papers dealing with several 
aspects of the problem of heredity. Mr. R. K. 
Nabours writes on inheritance in Paratettix, an 
American genus of locusts. In addition to P. texanus, 
Hanc., he found eight varieties which differ in their 
colour patterns, and are given new specific names. 
The inheritance of these colour patterns in crosses 
is found to be Mendelian in the sense that segregation 
occurs in the F, offspring, the species P. texanus 
being recessive to all the others. In the F, the colour 
patterns of both parents are equally developed, so 
that there is no phenomenon of dominance. In the 
experiments, five ‘“‘unexpected individuals”’ appeared, 
which seem to have been due to germinal changes. 
Long and short wings were found not to be inherited, 
but to be controlled by environment. Mr. Richardson 
contributes a note on inheritance in strawberries, and 
Mr. ‘Salmon describes sterile male dwarfs in the hop. 
In continuing his studies on the effects of environ- 
ment on parthenogenetic and sexual reproduction in 
Cladocera, Mr. Agar concludes that ‘‘there is no 
justification for retaining the hypothesis of an inherent 
reproductive cycle,’ the transition from one type of 
reproduction to the other being entirely under environ- 
mental control. Dr. C. J. Bond describes an_her- 
maphrodite Formosan pheasant having the secondary 
sexual characters of a male on the left side and of a 
female on the right, and suggests an explanation 
based on hormones. The utility of the paper on 
reduplication series, which deals with highly question- 
able Mendelian hypotheses, is problematical. 


THE revived interest in the study of Thysanoptera 
among English entomologists is shown by the pub- 
lication of two important papers in a recent nuniber 
of the Journal of Economic Biology (vol. viii., No. 4) 
on British species of the order, by Mr. C. B. Williams 
and Mr. R. S. Bagnall respectively. A number of 
new species are described in each paper. Mr. Williams 
also describes some new forms from the West Indies. 


Tue lately issued part of the Bulletin of Entomo- 
logical Research (vol. iv., part 3, 1913) is mostly 
occupied by two papers combining geographical and 
economic interest. Dr. J. J. Simpson describes his 
journeys for entomological research in British West 
Africa, giving much ecological information and a map 
to show the ascertained range of five species of 


NO} 2235 7, avo 193) 


[MarcH 26, 1914 
Glossina in Sierra Leone. Mr. A. D. Peacock dis- 
cusses the ‘“‘Entomological Pests and Problems of 
Southern Nigeria,’ describing the principal insects 
that injure the staple crops of the country—cotton, 
cocoa, maize, yams, and rubber. The stages of the 
red “cotton stainer’’—a heteropterid bug, Dysdercus 
superstitiosus, are described and illustrated with 
coloured figures; excellent illustrations of other harm- 
ful species are also given. 


In the February number of Naturen Dr. A. W. 
Brgégger discusses certain ‘‘kayaks’’ discovered in 
Scotland and the isles—two of them so long ago as the 
seventeenth century—which have been regarded as of 
a Scandinavian, or rather Finnish, type. Dr. Brogger 
states, however, that this is altogether wrong, and that 
the kayaks, together with the associated paddles and 
other implements, closely resemble those used at the 
present day in Greenland. How they reached Scot- 
land and the Orkneys is briefly discussed. 


THE greater portion of the third part of vol. iv. of 
the Annals of the Transvaal Museum is occupied by 
papers on the results of the zoological section of the 
Percy Sladen Memorial Expedition to Great Namaqua- 
land in 1912-13, of which section Mr. Paul Methuen 
was in charge. Mr. Austin Robert supplies the list 
of mammals collected, while the reptiles and amphi- 
bians are discussed by Messrs. Methuen and John 
Hewitt, and the arachnids by Mr. Hewitt. New species 
in each of the three last-mentioned groups are 
described. 


As the result of a fifteen weeks’ sojourn in South 
Georgia during the Antarctic summer of 1912-13, Mr. 
Cushman Murphy (Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., 
vol. xxxiii., p. 63) was led to believe that old males 
of the sea-elephant had become exceedingly scarce, 
and that not sufficient were left to impregnate the 
females. According, however, to the taxidermist who 
accompanied Major Barrett-Hamilton, this was a tem- 
porary deficiency due partly to the visits of a sealing 
vessel belonging to the Compana Argentina de Pesca, 
and partly to an unprecedented slaughter of some 600 
males in a single season. During the past season 
fair-sized and large males are reported to have been 
relatively numerous, 


WE have received from the secretary of the Com- 
mission on Zoological Nomenclature, in conformity 
with the instructions of the congress which require 
that a year’s notice be given before any official excep- 
tions to its rules can be allowed, a memorandum 
praying for the retention of the old generic names 
Doliolum, Pyrosoma, Salpa, Cyclosalpa, Appendicu- 
laria, and Fritillaria, signed by the following workers 
on Tunicata :—C. Apstein, A. Borgert, G. P. Farran, 
G. H. Fowler, R. Hartmeyer, W. A. Herdman, 
J. E. W. Ihle, H. Lohmann, W. Michaelsen, G. Neu- 
mann, C. Ph. Sluiter, F. Todaro. How far the pre- 
sent confusion would be worse confounded by con- 
formity to the new rules may be seen by the fact 
that what every zoologist knows as Pyrosoma would 
be called Doliolum, and a new name would have to 
be coined for the well-known plankton key-form at 
present termed Doliolum. 


— 


Marcu 26, 1914] 


In the Izvestiya of the Imperial Academy of Sciences 
of St. Petersburg (February, 1914) Madame H. I. 
Poplavska publishes some preliminary results of her 
botanical researches in the neighbourhood of Lake 
Baikal. The fauna of the lake exhibits such peculiari- 
ties that Prof. Berg has defined it as a subregion of 
the holarctic region, but the flora has _ hitherto 
aroused little interest. The lake affects the distribution 
of rainfall and the temperature, the summers being 
much colder in the neighbourhood of the lake than in 
the surrounding parts of Siberia. Consequently the 
climate is similar to that of alpine regions and lofty 
peaks, and the flora is adapted to such conditions. 
Madame Poplavska mentions several forms peculiar 
to the Baikal area, some of which differ in so many 
points from their allied forms in other regions that 
they may be considered independent species, while 
others, not having as yet fully adapted themselves to 
local conditions, show few divergences, and can only 
be styled varieties. The habitat of these forms and 
their relation to allied species do not support the view 
that they are a relict flora. 


Count DE MONTESSUS DE BALLORE examines the so- 
called luminous phenomena of earthquakes in a paper 
published in the latest bulletin of the Seismological 
Society of America (vol. iii., pp. 187-90). Referring 
to Galli’s catalogue of 148 earthquakes during which 
luminous phenomena were reported, he shows that 
the time-intervals between these phenomena and the 
earthquakes are very variable and sometimes consider- 
able, the accounts come indifferently from the epi- 
central areas and from distant regions, and the lights 
appear more frequently from the atmosphere than 
from the ground. In the great catalogues of Chinese 
earthquakes, luminous phenomena are never described 
as attending earthquakes. Two cases are examined 
in detail. The lights seen during the Valparaiso 
earthquake of 1906 were probably due to a thunder- 
storm, and those during the earthquake of November 
16-17, 1911, in Germany and Switzerland to meteors. 
The author concludes that, in the present stage of our 
knowledge, the existence of luminous earthquake 
phenomena should be neither affirmed nor denied, but 


that all the facts at our disposal tend to a negative 
conclusion. ; 


THE current number of Symons’s Meteorological 
Magazine contains an interesting account by Mr. 
A. H. Hignett of the peculiar behaviour of a cyclonic 
whirl or tornado which did an immense amount of 
damage in Cheshire on the evening of October 27 
last. It lasted only a few minutes, and its track was 
about 150 yards wide. It was accompanied by vivid 
lightning, heavy rain, and a loud noise, said to re- 
semble that of ‘‘hundreds of motor-cars crashing 
through the trees.’ On entering the county of 
Cheshire from the north of Shropshire and travelling 
in a northerly direction, it seems to have risen in the 
air and passed over about seven miles of country 
without doing any damage, and then to have 
descended and struck a tree standing alone in a field 
smashing it to pieces. It then apparently rose again 
for about 13 miles, and afterwards descended and 
travelled along the foot of the Peckforton 


NO. 2317, VOL. 93| 


NATURE ay 


(600-700 ft. above sea-level), destroying trees and 
buildings in its track, and eventually passed into Lan- 
cashire near Runcorn. The wind is described as 
warm, but in South Wales, where the cyclone occurred 
earlier in the day, it was said to be icy cold. This 
bounding motion of the whirl is probably by no means 
an isolated case, and seems to point to another danger 
to which aviators may be exposed. 


Dr. P. W. Bripeman, of the Jefferson Physical 
Laboratory, Harvard University, whose high-pressure 
research is well known to our readers, has communi- 
cated to the American Academy a paper on the tech- 
nique of high-pressure experimenting which will be 
of great service to all who wish to follow him in 
dealing with physical measurement under pressures 
of ten to thirty thousand kilograms per square centi- 
metre. He gives details of his methods of packing, 
the construction of his pistons and cylinders, and the 
connection of his pipes, valves, and pressure gauges. 
Yhe paper appeared in the February number of the 
Proceedings of the American Academy. 


No. 209 of the Scientific Papers of the Bureau of 
Standards deals with the recent determinations of the 
latent heat of fusion of ice by Messrs. Dickinson, 
Harper, and Osborne, of the bureau. The natural 
or artificial ice was cooled in a cryostat to either 
—o-7° C. or —3-78° C. before insertion in the calori- 
meter. Its weight was determined while suspended in 
the cryostat. Both the electrical method and the 
method of mixtures were used in measuring the heat 
of fusion. The former method allows the temperature 
of the calorimeter to be kept nearly constant during 
the melting of the ice, and the cooling correction is 
therefore small. Ninety-two samples of ice were 
tested, commercial can, plate, and natural ice, and ice 
made in the laboratory from air-free distilled water 
were used, and the heat of fusion found to be the 
same for each to within one part in 1000. The final 
result is 79-63 calories per gram. 


In the third of his six lectures on new problems 
of theoretical physics, recently published (in German) 
by the Ernest Kempton Adams Fund of Columbia 
University, Prof. W. Wien discusses in an illuminat- 
ing manner the various electronic theories of the con- 
duction of heat and electricity through metals. The 
practically infinite conductivity at the absolute zero, 
rendered probable by the researches of Kamerlingh 
Onnes, is explained if we assume that the distribution 
of molecules at the lowest temperatures is perfectly 
regular, so that the displacement of electrons along 
certain lines encounters no resistance. The irregu- 
larity of distribution induced by rise of temperature 
and consequent thermal agitation reduces the free 
path of the electrons, and hence also the conductivity. 
There is some evidence to show that it is only the 
mean free path, and not the number of electrons or 
their mean velocity, which is affected by temperature. 
Indeed, the lecturer inclined to the belief that even at 
the absolute zero all electrons have an irreducible 
kinetic energy, such as is required by the persistence 
of both diamagnetism and photo-electric effects at the 
lowest temperatures, not to speak of the expulsion 


Hills | of electrons by radio-active substances in entire in- 


94 


NATURE 


[Marcu 26, 1914 


dependence of the temperature. The question as to , Enamel Industry and their Chemical Technology, Dr. 


whether canal-ray ions emit light in the charged or 
the uncharged condition is discussed in the sixth lec- 
ture. Barwald showed in 1911 that a magnetic field 
stops but a small. portion of the light emission, 
whereas most of the positive ions are deflected. This 
tells in favour of the view that the luminous bodies 
are uncharged. Even Reichenheim’s observation that 
the whole of the luminous emission from an alkaline- 
earth anode may be deflected does not invalidate this 
view, since in this case the mean free path was very 
small, and every atom was probably charged at least 
once in the course of its passage. 

THE increasing adaptation of enzymes to chemical. 
purposes is well illustrated by the utilisation of 
urease, by Dr. R. H. Aders Plimner and Miss R. F. 
Skelton (Biochemical Journal, vol. viii., p. 70), in the 
rapid estimation of urea in urine. The action of the 
urease of the soy bean has quite recently been shown 
to be entirely specific; in the communication cited 
details are given of a process by means of which a 
rapid and accurate method of estimation is afforded 
of a substance the analytical detesmination of which 
has always presented some difficulty and uncertainty. 

DurINnG the past few years several active principles 
have been isolated from ergot which account for most 
of its peculiar physiological properties; certain other 
effects have, however, been observed which have not 
been satisfactorily explained hitherto. In the current 
number of the Biochemical Journal (vol. viii., No. 1) 
Mr. Arthur J. Ewins describes the isolation from 
ergot of traces of acetylcholine, a base which pro- 
duces a peculiar inhibitor effect on the heart, suggest- 
ing that caused by muscarine, which had been fre- 
quently observed to characterise the use of ergot. 
That this base is responsible for the effect was shown 
not merely by its actual isolation from ergot, but by 
the fact that the synthetic base, prepared from choline, 
has an identical physiological action. 

Tue following books relating to science are 
announced by Gebrtider Borntraeger, of Berlin :— 
“Die wichtigsten Lagerstatten der ‘ Nicht-Erze,’”’ 
Prof. O. Stutzer, Teil. ii., Kohle, Allgemeine Kohlen- 
geologie, illustrated; ‘‘ Ueber die Bedingungen der 
Gebirgsbildung,”’ Dr. K. Andrée, _ illustrated; 
‘‘Beitrage zur chemischen Petrographie,” Prof. A. 
Osann, Dritter Teil; ‘‘Geologischer Fuhrer durch 
Nordwest-Sachsen,” Dr. E. Krenkel, illustrated; 
“Praktikum der chemischen, biologischen und _ bak- 
teriologischen Wasseruntersuchung,”’ Prof. O, Emmer- 
ling, illustrated; ‘‘Geologische Charakterbilder,” 
edited by Prof. H. Stille, illustrated, Heft 18, 19, 20. 

Tue following new books are announced by C. Griffin 
and Co., Ltd.—In Biology.—Practical Field Botany, 
A. R. Horwood, illustrated; in Chemistry—A Text- 
Book of Inorganic Chemistry, edited by Dr. J. Newton 
Friend, in nine volumes; Elementary Practical Chem- 
istry, for Medical and other Students, J. E. Myers 
and J. B. Firth; The Storage of Petroleum Spirit, 
Major A. Cooper-Key; The Petroleum Technologist’s 
Pocket Book, Sir Boverton Redwood and A. East- 
lake, illustrated; Oil Chemists’ Pocket-Book, Dr. H. 
Ingle and J. A. Sutcliffe; The Raw Materials of the 


NO 231 75 ny OL. ..03 | 


J. Griinwald, translated by Dr. H. H. Hodgson; in 
Engineering—An Introduction to Town Planning, J. 
Julian, illustrated; in Geology—A Text-Book of Geo- 
logy, Prof. J. Park; in Medical Science—A Practical 
Handbook of the Tropical Diseases of Asia and 
Africa, Dr. H. C. Lambart, illustrated; in Metallurgy 


| —The Metallurgy of the Non-Ferrous Metals, Prof. 


W. Gowland, illustrated; Practical Assaying, Prof. J. 
Park, illustrated; in Technology—Clay and Pottery 


' Industries, being vol. i. of the Collected Papers from 


the County Pottery Laboratory, Staffordshire, by 
several authors, edited by Dr. J. W. Mellor, illus- 
trated; in Miscellaneous—Roberts-Austen : Addresses 
and Scientific Papers, together with a Record of the 
Work of Sir William Chandler Roberts-Austen, 
K.C.B., F.R.S., compiled and edited by S. W. Smith, 
illustrated; Memorials of Henry Forbes Julian, com- 
piled and edited by his wife, Hester Julian, illus- 
trated. 


OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 


THe ForrHcoMING TotaL SoLtar Ecviirse.—While 
the various official and private expeditions are making 
preparations for observing the total solar eclipse of 
August 21 next, steamship companies are offering 
enticing pleasure cruises which include a brief stay on 
the line of totality on the Norwegian coast. As the 


| last total solar eclipse visible in England took place 


so far back as the year 1724, and as 1927, the time 
for the next one, is as yet some time off, the oppor- 
tunity to view the eclipse of this year should not be 
lost. The Royal Mail Steam Packet Company’s ocean 
yachting steamer, Arcadian, twin screw, and 8939 
gross tonnage, is timed to leave Grimsby on August 
15 and Leith August 16, and will take up a position 
near Alsten, north cf Torghatten Island, well on the 
central line. The Norway Travel Bureau of the Great 
Northern Railway Company has also arranged a special 
cruise. Passengers leave Newcastle-on-Tyne by the ss. 
Venus on August 15, and join the special steamer Mira 
at Bergen on August 17, a position being taken up at 
Stokka on eclipse day. It is stated that if a party 
of seventy-five to eighty members of the Royal Astro- 
nomical Society and the British Astronomical Associa- 
tion would avail themselves of this facility no other 
passengers would be accepted, and the itinerary would 
be varied to meet the requirements of the party, and 
the stay at any place in the eclipse zone prolonged. 


A Monturiy Report oN Mars.—Prof. W. H. Picker- 
ing has commenced the publication of a series of 
monthly reports on the appearance of the planet Mars. 
The first of these was printed in the January number 
of Popular Astronomy (vol. xxii., No. 1, 1914). The 
observations described are made at the Jamaica Astro- 
nomical Station of Harvard College Observatory, 
situated near Mandeville, at an altitude of 2100 ft., 
The instrument employed is an 11-in. Clark refractor, 
and the magnification generally used 660. Prof. 
Pickering states that the changes on Mars cannot be 
described as conspicuous except when the planet is 
viewed under very exceptional conditions, but in their 
general character they may be detected by careful 
study, even by those who are not fortunate enough to 
reside in those portions of the world where the seeing 
is habitually good. It is in order to emphasise this 
constant change, unlike changes seen on Jupiter, but 
resembling more those which occur on our earth, that 
Prof. Pickering proposed the issue of this monthly 


Marcu 26, 1914] 


NATURE, “a 95 


bulletin. The present report describes as an introduc- 
tion the general nature of the nomenclature to be used, 
and this is generally of a meteorological type, the 
observations being described under the four headings, 
snow, clouds, colours and shading, canals and lakes. 
The observations here dealt with cover the interval 
from July 27 to October 30, 1913. 


A METEORITE FROM ZULULAND.—Prof. G. H. Stanley 
gives a very interesting description and analysis of a 
meteorite which fell in the N’Kandhla district of Zulu- 
land (South African Journal of Science, vol. x., No. 5, 
January, 1914). The meteorite was observed to fall on 
August 1, 1912. The first occurrence noted was the 
usual sound of an explosion, which attracted attention 
over a considerable area, and a rapidly moving body 
was seen which left a spiral trail of smoke and at 
the same time appeared to produce a rumbling or 
crackling sound. While possibly more than one was 
found, Prof. Stanley has only been able to locate one 
definitely, and this forms the subject of his communi- 
cation. It fell near the junction of the Buffalo and 
Tugela Rivers, on the Pokinyoni hill in the N’Kandhla 
district, within a few yards of a native woman. The 
meteorite weighs nearly 38 lb., and consists almost 
entirely of nickel-iron alloy, and is therefore classed 
as a siderite; it is coated with a skin of magnetic 
oxide exhibiting flow lines, and shows also a profusion 
of ‘*thumb marks.’’ The communication is accom- 
panied by numerous photographs of the specimen, and 
also several photographic sections. The complete 
analytical results are given in percentages as follows : 
iron, 89-28; nickel, 10-68; silicon, 0-004; sulphur, trace ; 
carbon, 0-030; phosphorus, 0-057; traces of aluminium, 
magnesium, platinum, and chlorine. The presence of 
manganese, cobalt, or chromium could not be detected. 


A SOLAR OBSERVATORY FOR NEW ZEALAND.—In our 
issue of July 3, 1913 (p. 460), we announced that Mr. 
Thomas Cawthron, of Nelson, New Zealand, had 
offered to build, equip, and endow a solar physics 
observatory in New Zealand. From a short article in 
the Times of March 23, we learn that Mr. Cawthron 
is prepared to give 50,o0o0l. for this purpose. Mr. J. 
Evershed, director of the Kodaikanal Solar Observa- 
tory in India, who has visited New Zealand to advise 
as to the erection of the Cawthron Observatory, has 
spoken highly of the suitability of Nelson, from the 
geographical and climatological points of view, for 
the purpose of researches in solar physics. 


THE INSTITUTE OF METALS. 


HE spring meeting of the Institute of Metals was 
held in the building of the Institution of 
Mechanical Engineers on March 17 and 18. The after- 
noon of the first day was devoted to formal business 
and to the delivery of the presidential address by the 
newly elected president, Sir Henry J. Oram, Engineer- 
in-Chief of the Fleet. The morning and afternoon of 
the second day were devoted to the reading and dis- 
cussion of reports and papers. The attendance of 
members at the meetings was unfortunately rather 
small, but a large number assembled for the annual 
dinner, which proved a particularly successful function. 
The presidential address was chiefly devoted to the 
evolution of the Admiralty condenser tube, the various 
steps being described which have led to the present 
satisfactory position, in which the number of failures 
from either corrosion or splitting is as low as one in 
60,099 per annum; the steps in question consisted 
mainly in the imposition of increasingly stringent con- 
ditions and tests, and in inducing manufacturers to 
work to these. Sir Henry Oram also directed atten- 
tion to the steady decrease in the quantity of non- 


NOmeem7, VOL: 93) 


! 
ferrous metals employed in warship machinery, steel 


taking the place of brass, bronze, and copper wherever 
possible. Such a state of affairs points to the need 
of vigorous progress in non-ferrous metallurgy in order 
that alloys may be produced which are capable of 
rendering services to which iron and steel are not 
applicable. 

The nomenclature committee, appointed by the In- 
stitute of Metals, but including representatives of the 
principal technical societies and institutes in this 
country, presented its first report. The committee was 
appointed for the purpose of formulating, if possible, 
a rational system of nomenclature for alloys which 
should abolish the existing confusion. In its first 
report the general lines to be followed are laid down; 
these consist in the construction first of a ‘‘ systematic 
nomenclature,’’ in which every alloy is described by 
the names of its constituent metals, in English, 
arranged in ascending order of their numerical im- 
portance in regard to composition by weight. This 
logical but cumbersome system is not intended for 
ordinary daily use, and for this purposes a system of 
‘practical’? nomenclature is to be set up, the names 
comprised in this system being defined as simple 
verbal. abbreviations of the terms of the systematic 
nomenclature, 

The committee has so far presented definitions only 
of the terms ‘‘brass’”’ and “bronze.’’ Brass is defined 
as an abbreviation for the systematic term “‘zinc- 
copper,” and therefore when used alone denotes an 
alloy consisting substantially of zinc and copper only, 
and containing more copper than zinc. If other 
metals are present in notable proportions, their names 
are to be prefixed, so that an alloy containing, say 
I per cent. of tin, would be called ‘‘tin-brass.’’ Simi- 
larly the term ‘‘bronze”’ is defined as equivalent to 
‘“tin-copper.’” Dr. Rosenhain, as chairman of the 
committee, in presenting the report, claimed that an 
important step would be gained if the recommenda- 
tions in regard to the terms ‘“‘brass”’’ and ‘‘ bronze” 
were widely adopted, because much of the present 
confusion centred around those very terms; he there- 
fore appealed for the steady support of all concerned 
on the ground that even if the system put forward by 
the committee were not the ideally best one, what was 
really essential was uniformity of nomenclature. In 
the discussion, Sir H. J. Oram, on behalf of the Ad- 
miralty, several important manufacturers and _ con- 
sultants, and some professors and teachers of metall- 
urgy promised their cordial support of the committee’s 
recommendations, so that the committee may approach 
its further task of defining other alloy names with 
considerable confidence in the ultimate success of its 
labours. 

Dr. Desch, in his first report to the Beilby Prize 
Committee, presented a valuable and interesting sum- 
mary of existing knowledge on the solidification of 
solids from the liquid state in particular reference to 
the freezing of metals and Quincke’s ‘‘foam cell” 
hypothesis. The report contains a great quantity of 
information and a useful bibliography; Dr. Beilby com- 
mended the impartial and judicial attitude of the re- 
porter, but Dr. Rosenhain likened it to a judge’s 
summing-up, which must, ultimately, be followed by a 
sentence, and this was unlikely to be in favour of 
Quincke’s hypothesis. Thanks to the further 
generosity of Dr. Beilby in providing the necessary 
funds, the committee is in a position to invite a 
further report on fresh experimental work from Dr. 
Desch. 

A paper by Dr. J. E. Stead and Mr. Steadman, on 
the ‘“‘Muntz metal” brasses, dealt with the effects of 
heat treatment. In this respect the paper was shown 
—in the discussion—to have been largely anticipated 
by the much earlier work of Bengough and Hudson, 


96 NATURE 


[MarcH 26, 1914 


but the paper gave rise to an interesting discussion. 
This dealt principally with a brass rod which had 
become disintegrated while in use as a floor-bolt in 
a high-tension electric power station. The bolt passes 
through the floor inside a procelain tube, and electrical 
leakage gives rise to the formation of nitric oxides 
in the air-space of the insulator tube. In the case 
described by Dr. Stead, and also in a similar one 
mentioned by Dr. Rosenhain in the discussion, the 
brass rod either had some minute cracks, due to slight 
hollow drawing, when first put in, or these were de- 
veloped while the rod was in service. The nitric acid 
gases penetrated into these fissures and produced basic 
salts of zinc and copper which, by their increased 
volume, widened the cracks and ultimately led to the 
complete disruption of the rods. An initially sound, 
annealed brass rod suffers no such damage in the same 
conditions. 

Other interesting papers, by Prof. A. Read and Mr. 
Greaves, on the influence of nickel on the alloys of 
aluminium and copper, by Mr. Dewrance on bronze, 
and by Messrs. Whyte and Desch on the micro- 
chemistry of corrosion, were read and fully discussed, 
the eminently successful meeting only terminating late 
in the afternoon. 


AN EELWORM DISEASE OF RICE. 


= appearance of a rice-disease in eastern Bengal 

so serious that in certain districts the cultivators 
were in 1911 on the verge of ruin calls for special 
notice, since rice is, of all important cereals, the one 
perhaps least subject to serious disease. The matter 
is dealt with by Dr. E. J. Butler, mycologist to the 
Agricultural Research Institute at Pusa (Bihar), in a 
recent pamphlet (Bulletin No. 34, ‘‘ Diseases of Rice” ; 
Calcutta : Superintendent Government Printing, India, 
1913). 

The disease in question (called locally ‘‘ufra,”” from 
a word meaning “above,” owing to a belief that atmo- 
spheric conditions are responsible for it) has existed 
long, but has only recently acquired such an intense 
form as to call for a special inquiry. From Dr. 
Butler’s researches the active cause appears to be an 
eelworm, Tylenchus angustus, closely allied to the 
nematode which causes tulip-root in oats and other 
cereals. This Bengal worm, however, differs in its 
mode of attack from the Tylenchus of wheat and oats. 
It never enters the tissues of the rice-plant, but con- 
fines its ravages to epidemic organs wherever these 
are sufficiently soft and unsilicified to allow the 
entrance of the ‘‘spear’’ with which its mouth is 
armed. The inflorescence, the tissue above the nodes, 
and the growing point, are such weak places, and 
here the eelworm, both in mature and in larval stages, 
was abundantly found in all the plants exhibiting 
“ufra.’”’ The results of the attack of such large num- 
bers of Tylenchus are discoloration of the stem and 
leaves, arrest of the _ inflorescence, sterility, and 
mouldiness. The extent of the damage is not accu- 
rately known, but in some districts is estimated to 
amount to half the normal crop. 

This ‘‘ufra” disease is of a highly infectious quality. 
The eelworms swim through the submerged paddy- 
fields from one rice-plant to another, which they 
ascend and attack. Like their allies, these nematodes 
exhibit great powers of resistance to drought, but 
little to continued submergence; and hence it is some- 
what difficult to account for their abundance in such 
flooded districts as the rice-growing lands in the Noak- 
hali (eastern Bengal) district. Further investigations 
are needed on the bionomics of these parasites. 

With regard to preventive measures, the only hope- 


NO 231 7a ViOL- 993 | 


+ 


ful indication at present is the behaviour of trans- 


planted rice in contrast to that of broadcast paddy. 
Dr. Butler shows that the former, though susceptible 
of attack by inoculation, is not attacked under ordinary 
conditions, and advocates an extension of the trans- 
planted crop, the improvement of natural drainage, 
and the more systematic burning of the stubble. The 
importance of taking adequate prophylactic measures 
is seen in the geographical position of the infected 
area. On one side of it is the enormous paddy area of 
Bengal, on the other the Irrawaddy Delta, which 
supplies practically the whole of the export rice of 
India. ‘‘A serious disease of rice,’’ says Dr. Butler, 
“is one of the greatest calamities that could befall 
the people’’ in the infected districts, ‘‘(where nearly 
three-quarters of the cultivated area is under paddy), 
for no other food crop can replace it.” 


METEOROLOGY IN NETHERLANDS’ 
EAST INDIA.! 


HE volume of observations before us contains the 
hourly readings made at the Batavia Observa- 
tory during the year 1910, which is the forty-fifth year 
of this uninterrupted series of hourly observations. 
Investigation of the upper air by balloons and kites 
has been regularly carried on, and important results 
were obtained. Several of the registering balloons 
attained heights exceeding 15 km. The number of 
ascents of pilot balloons amounted to 163; many were 
followed by means of theodolites to a height exceeding 
1o km. The record height reacned was 31 km. (on 
September 12, 1912). 

The observations at secondary stations include (a) 
monthly and annual means of air-pressure reduced to 
the period 1866-1911. The influence of the high 
mountain range of Sumatra is shown in the deflec- 
tions of the isobars in the direction parallel to the 
ridge; in the Indian Ocean, to the south-west of the 
island, there is a relative air-defect in the west mon- 
soon, and an excess of pressure in the east monsoon. 
Dr. v. Bemmelen (director) also points out that in the 
west monsoon the isobars show a remarkable curvative 
over the sea between Borneo and Sumatra. (b) Sun- 
shine observations 1909-11: the tables give distinct 
evidence of the way the cloudiness increases with 
height above sea-level, and that insolation is stronger 
during the east monsoon in East than in West Java. 
A further discussion of results is postponed until more 
data are available. (c) Observations of temperature 
and relative humidity at the agricultural station at 
Tjipetir, Java, 1906-11. Owing to deficiency of sun- 
shine in the afternoon, the maximum temperature is 
shifted towards the morning hours. 

With respect to the climate generally, Dr. van 
Bemmelen remarks that rainfall is the ruling factor in 
the archipelago, as other meteorological elements are 
almost constant; the average yearly rainfall at Batavia 
is a little more than 70 in. The study of changes of 
weather is of little practical importance, as these are 
trifling, while a storm-warning service is unnecessary, 
as cyclones do not pass over the area in question. 
Although it is at present considered unnecessary to 
construct. daily weather charts, the director thinks 
it would be of great scientific interest if the conditions 
could be followed by means of synoptical grouping 
for either weekly or monthly periods. In connection 
with this view, mercury barometers have been supplied 
to several places; it is also proposed to establish 
meteorological stations on a few of the mountains 
possessing relief of simple form. 

1 (1) Observations made at the Royal Magnetical and Meteorological 


Giscwerords vol. xxxiii. (2) Observations made at Secondary Stations 
vol. i. 


Eee 


Marcu 26, 1914| 


BRPEORATION “IN PERU. 
‘THE Yale Peruvian Expedition of 1911 made a 
number of discoveries which, either for lack of 
time or means, could not at that time be given the 
attention they deserved. The most important of these 


NATURE 97 


the auspices of Yale University and the National 
Geographic Society, had for its chiet objects the further 
study of these two discoveries and also the comple- 
tion of certain topographical work planned for 1911, 
but not finished at that time. 


Fic. 1.—Machu Picchu. Sacred Plaza. 
finds were the ruins of Machu Picchu, in the Grand 
Canon of the Urubamba, below Ollantaytambo, and 
a small quantity of human bones apparently inter- 


Fic. 2.—Machu Pichu. Princess group. View of round tower and 


ornamental wall. Shovs in distance the agricultural terraces. 
Copyright by the National Geographic Sociery. 


stratified with what seemed to be glacial gravel near 
the city of Cuzco. 
The Peruvian Expedition of 1912, sent out under 


NOL 52317, VOL. 93 | 


Chief temple, east side, interior. 


Copyright by the National Geographic Society. 


The staff of the second expedition included, besides 
myself as director, Prof. H. E. Gregory, Silliman 
professor of geology in Yale University, geologist; 
Dr. G. F. ‘Eaton, of the Peabody Museum of Yale 
University, osteologist; Mr. A. H.. Bumstead, 
formerly of the United States Geological Survey, chief 
topographer; Messrs. K. C. Heald and R. Stephen- 
son, assistant topographers; Mr. E. C. Erdis, archzeo- 
logical engineer; Dr. L. T. Nelson, surgeon; and 
Messrs: °P. Bestor, (O. ‘Hardy, and J. P. Little, 
assistants. 

The Cuzco Valley was carefully mapped by Mr. 
Bumstead and his assistants, and this map will be 
published in connection with the report on the geology 
of this valley now being prepared by Prof. Gregory. 
The geological work undertaken by Prof. Gregory 
consisted in part of a study ot the gravel deposits 
near Cuzco, and the relation in age and position of 
these gravels to the remains discovered in 1911. The 
result of these researches has not confirmed us in the 
opinion that the human bones found in tgir are of 
very great age. It seems probable, on the other 
hand, that, owing to recent filling and recutting of 
the valley, the bones may be of recent origin. Prof. 
Gregory also carried on a general examination of the 
structure and stratigraphy of the Cuzco Valley with 
a view of constructing a geological map of the area 
tributary to the Huatanay River. The region was 
found to consist chiefly of sedimentary rock of pre- 
Tertiary, Tertiary, and Pleistocene age. . During 
glacial times a lake occupied the upper part of the 
valley. 

Not far from Cuzco, in the Apurimac Valley, near 
Ayusbamba, a small amount of vetebrate fossil mate- 
rial was found and collected by Dr. Eaton. His 
report on these fossils, which include the remains of 
both ancient horse and deer, will be published in the 
American Journal of Science, 

Anthropometric measurements were made of 145 
Indian men in the department of Cuzco, and front 
and side view photographs were taken of each sub- 
ject. The Indians represented sixteen provinces and 
sixty towns. Thirty-eight measurements were taken 
of each subject. Photographs of many Indian women 
were also taken in Cuzco and vicinity. The anthropo- 
logical material collected by Dr. Nelson has 
been placed in the hands of Prof. H. B. Ferris, Hunt 
professor of anatomy in Yale University, who is pre- 
paring a report which will be published in the near 
future. 

The ruins of Choqquequirau, which had been visited 


98 NATURE 


by the present writer in 1909, were reached from the 
north side by Messrs. Heald, Eaton, and Nelson, of 
the expedition. A few boxes of bones and potsherds 
were collected. This party had great difficulty in carry- 
ing out its undertaking owing to the fact that no guides 
could be procured, and the way lay through a very 


Fic. 3.—Machu Picchu. 


rough country, where scarcity of water and a plague 
of flies were added to the many other difficulties. 
Interesting but not highly important ruins were dis- 
covered by the writer near Palcay, in the Aobamba 
Valley, in the vicinity of an impressive group of 
glaciers hitherto unmapped and not 
reported. An interesting feature of 
one of the groups of ruins in this 
valley is that it appears to be 
exactly. oriented; its’ two cross 
streets seem to run on the true, not 
on the magnetic, cardinal points. 
The topographic cross section of 
the Andes along the 73rd meridian, 
begun by Mr. Kai Hendriksen in 
I9II, was completed in the face of 
great difficulties by Messrs. Bum- 
stead, Hardy, and Little, and will 
be published in connection with the 
report of Prof. Isaiah Bowman, the 


geographer-geologist of the 1911 
expedition. 
The most interesting, and _ in 


many ways the most satisfactory, 
results of the 1912 expedition were 
in connection with the ruins of 
Machu Picchu. In torr the present 
writer, while engaged in a search 
for Vitcos, the last Inca capital, 
discovered a number of hitherto un- 
reported groups of ruins in the 
valley of the Urubamba and _ its 
tributaries. The group known as 
near Puquiura, in Vilcabamba, is’ believed to 
be that which the chroniclers called Vitcos, 
the capital where the young Inca Manco, set up by 
Pizarro, fortified himself after his revolt against the 


NO. 2317, VOL. 93) 


Rosaspata, 


Sacred plaza and Intihuatana Hill from boulder caves. 


Fic. 4.—Machu Picchu 
caused by the settling of the east wall. 


[Marcu 26, 1914 


Spanish conquerors. But the ruins of Machu Picchu 
do not appear to have been connected with the later 
history of the Incas. These ruins are located on top 


of a ridge in the most inaccessible part of the Uru- 
bamba Cafion some 2000 ft. above the rapids, and 
some 8000 or gooo ft. above sea-level. 


Copyright Ly the National Geographic Societys 


The presence here, in a wonderfully picturesque 
position, of a remarkably large and well-preserved 
abandoned city practically untouched by the hands of 
the spoiler, and apparently unknown to the Spanish 
choniclers, led us to undertake to clear the city of its 


Chief temple, north wall, int riov, showing the cracking 
Notice the care with which the size of the stones is made 
to decrease gradually in each ascending tier. The main altar stone is rq ft. in len th. Co, yright 
by the National Geographic Society. 


Sacred plaza. 


extensive jungles and to excavate the ruins. Many 
difficulties had to be overcome, but we were eventually 
successful in locating more than one hundred burial 
caves. The excavation yielded a considerable amount 
of anthropological material, including human and 


Marcu 26, 1914| 


NATURE oo 


animal bones, a large number of potsherds and a few 
stone, silver, and bronze implements. Nothing of 
gold was found, and only half a dozen small silver 
pins and pendant discs. 

The city itself contains about two hundred edifices. 
Most of the walls are standing and many of the 
terraces are in good repair. The roofs of the houses 
disappeared long since, and a large part of the city 
was completely overgrown with a_ tropical forest. 
Trees 2 ft. in diameter were found growing on top 
of the walls of the houses, and in some cases on the 
very peaks of the gables.. A majority of the houses 
are of a storey and a half in height with gable ends. 


é ; Notice the lock 
hole containing granite cylinder on left and projecting ring 


Fic. 5.—Machu Picchu. City gate, interior. 


stone over the ‘lintel of the doorway.. The gate, probably of 
wood, was either swung from the ring stone oy fastened to it and 
balanced by a log fastened to the stone cylinders in the lock 
hole on either side of the gateway. A similar device was used 
also in the entrance doors to each isolated group of houses. 
Copyright by the National Geographic Society. 


Perhaps the most conspicuous features of Machu 
Picchu are the number of stairways and the large 
number of windows in the houses. There are more 
than a hundred stairways, large and small, within the 
city. Some of them have more than 150 steps. In 
some cases the entire stairway of from six to ten 
steps was cut out of a single granite boulder. The 
water supply must always have been very scarce. 
We were there during the dry season, and with forty 
workmen found the available springs only barely 
sufficient for cooking and drinking purposes. The 
town may have had a population of two thousand 
people on occasion, 

In the four months of field season, the ruins were 


NOe 2317, VOL. 93] 


practically cleared of all forest growth, and a large 
part of the débris was burned and removed. From 
twenty to forty workmen were kept continuously at 
work under the direction of Mr. Erdis. 

One of the most interesting facts brought out as a 
result of the clearing was that the city was at one 
time divided into wards, or clan groups, each of which 
had but one entrance, a gateway furnished with the 
means of being solidly fastened on the inside. Each 
one of the clan groups has certain distinctive features, 
one having its own private gardens, another being 
distinguished by the ingenuity of the stone work, while 
still another is marked by having monolithic lintels 
over the doorways, and. unusually» steep gables. 
Machu Picchu contains examples of nearly every 
variety of architecture known to the Incas and their 
predecessors on the Peruvian highlands, including fine 
specimens of the most exquisite stone cutting that can 


be found anywhere in the New World. One of the 
most interesting structures is a temple containing 


three conspicuously large windows. Another is com- 
posed of several large blocks of granite, three of them 
being more than 12 ft. in length. These are shown 
in the accompanying photographs. 

Machu Picchu is in a remarkably good state of 
preservation, and its architecture has not become 
confused by Spanish efforts to build» churches and 
villas. The people who lived here were masters of 
the art of stone cutting. They know how to make 
bronzes, and they had considerable» artistic . sense. 
Their pottery is characteristically Inca in form and 
ornamentation, but some of the patterns and shapes 
are practically unknown in European museums. 

Just where Machu Picchu comes in the history of 
the Incas is still a puzzle. It is too early to speak 
definitely. In many ways it appears to be closely 
related to Cuzco. One of the buildings bears a strong 
resemblance to the famous Temple of the Sun, now 
the Dominican Monastery. It is safe to say that 
Machu Picchu was essentially a city of refuge. There 
is no part of the Andes better defended by nature than 
this Grand Cafion of the Urubamba. Granite preci- 
pices, frequently more than tooo ft. sheer, present 
difficulties of attack and facilities for defence which 
cannot be excelled. Furthermore, the natural defences 
were strengthened by the construction of high walls 
and a dry moat. 

A careful survey of the ruins and the neighbouring 
cafion was made by Mr. Stephenson. More than 
seven. hundred photographs of the ruins were taken 
by the writer, who has in hand the preparation of a 
complete report on the ruins and the material collected 
at Machu Picchu. Hiram Bincuam. 


CIVIL: SERVICE ESTIMATES” FOR 
SCIENCE AND EDUCATION. 


‘1’ HE Estimates for Civil Services for the year end- 

ing March 31, 1915, are being issued as a series 
of Parliamentary Papers. The following particulars 
referring. to. the money under this heading to be 
devoted to scientific work and to higher education are 
taken-from the paper entitled, ‘‘Class [V.—Education, 
Science, and Art.”’ 

Under the heading, ‘‘ Scientific Investigation, etc.,” 
we find that the grants in aid for 1914-15 amount to 
100,6971., which represents a net decrease of 11]. on 
the amount voted in 1913-14. 

The grants enumerated under the heading of 
the Royal Society amount for 1914-15 to 25,550l., as 
compared with 27,1501. in 1913-14. This grant in- 
cludes the usual 4oool. in aid of scientific investigation 
and r1oool. for scientific publications; the remainder of 
the amount is for the expenses of the Magnetic Ob- 


100 


servatory at Eskdalemuir, and for the National 
Physical Laboratory. For salaries and other expenses 
of the National Physical Laboratory the grant for 
1914-15 is 7oool., as compared with 12,0001. in 
1913-14; but the grant for the Aeronautical Section 
of the National Physical Laboratory, which is given 
separate mention, is for 1914—15 12,550l., as compared 
with g15ol. in 1913-14. 

The following grants remain as they were in 1913- 
14 :—Meteorological Office, 20,o00l. ; Royal Geograph- 
ical Society, 1,2501.: Marine Biological Association 
of the United Kingdom, roool.; Royal Society of Edin- 
burgh, 600l.; Scottish Meteorological Society, iool. ; 
Royal Zoological Society of Ireland, 5oo0l.; Royal 
Scottish Geographical Society, 2o00l.; International 
Geodetic Association, 300l1.; Solar Physics Observa- 
tory, 3000l.; North Sea Fisheries Investigation, 1250l. ; 
International Seismic Association, 21ol. 

The grant to the Edinburgh Observatory is 1637l., 
an increase of 89]. on 1913-14; and the British Ant- 
arctic Expedition receives 5000l. for the year 1914-15. 

The grants in aid of the expenses of universities and 
university colleges amount for the year under con- 
sideration to 287,000l., precisely the same sum as in 
the previous year. 

The vote for science and art in Ireland reaches 
145,164l., as compared with 140,450l. in the previous 
year, a net increase of 4,714l. The estimate of the 
amount required for grants under the Irish Univer- 
sity Act, 1908, is 124,000l., a decrease of 18ool. 

The estimate of the amount required to pay the 
salaries and expenses of the Board of Education and 
of the various establishments connected therewith is 
14,730,6211., a net increase of 70,5521. Among the 
items included in this large sum the following are of 
interest in this connection :—Technical institutions and 
evening schools, 638,o00l., an increase of 23,2001. ; 
university institutions in respect of technological work, 
48,oool., an increase of 2000l.; Imperial College of 
Science and Technology, 30,o001.; Science Museum, 
21,3221., an increase of 28951.; Geological Museum, 
3925!., an increase of 176l.; and the Geological Sur- 
vey, 16,8281., a decrease of 1047l. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 
INTELLIGENCE. 

GrLascow.—The first award of the Kelvin gold 
medal and prize (founded by Lady Kelvin), for the 
best dissertation in natural philosophy presented for 
the degree of D.Sc. during the three years 1911-13, 
has been made to Dr. A. D. Ross, now professor in 
the University of Western Australia. 

The first award of the William Jack prize (founded 
in honour of Emeritus Professor Jack), for the best 
dissertation in mathematics presented for the degree 
of D.Sc. during the four years 1910-13, has been made 
to Dr. R. J. T. Bell, senior University lecturer in 
mathematics. ; 

Lreps.—Mr. Aldred F. Barker, who has been head 
of the textile department of the Bradford Municipal 
Technical College for twenty years, has been appointed 
to succeed Mr. Roberts Beaumont as professor of tex- 
tile industries. Mr. Barker is an old student of the 
University, having worked under Prof. J. Beaumont, 
the first occupant of the chair to which he now suc- 
ceeds. He has had a considerable experience of actual 
mill work, and his publications are recognised as 
standard works on textiles. 

Mr. Robert Cattley has been appointed honorary 
fellow in pathology, and Mr. Lionel Walmsley as 
honorary curator of the Marine Laboratory, Robin 
Heod’s Bay. ; 


NO! 2317. wioln.@3 | 


NATURE 


[Marcu 26, 1914 


Mr. F. J. Norru, assistant in the geological 
laboratory, King’s College, London, has been 
appointed assistant keeper in the department of 
geology in the National Museum of Wales. 


A course of lectures on arts of East and West, by 
Laurence Binyon, will be given at the Battersea Poly- 
technic, London, S.W., on Wednesdays at 6 p.m., 
beginning May 6. The lectures are intended for ad- 
vanced students; admission is free, and no ticket is 
required. 


Mr. Percy CoLemMan, of the Northern Polytechnic 
Institute, Holloway, who has been appointed adviser 
in technical education and secretary to the National 
Board for Technical Education in the Union of South 
Africa, leaves for South Africa in the R.M.S. Kin- 
fauns Castle on April 11. 


A SvuMMER School in Geography will be held on 
August 2-22 next at the University College of Wales, . 
Aberystwyth. Prof. H. J. Fleure, lecturer in geo- 
graphy at the college, will give ten lectures on a 
regional survey of Europe, and eight on England and 
Wales. Mr. W. E. Whitehouse will give eight lec- 
tures on the teaching of geography by modern 
methods, five on the climate of the British Isles, and 
five on mathematical geography. In addition to the 
courses of lectures, practical work will be taken daily. 
Field classes will be held for practice in the use of 
simple survey instruments, while excursions will be 
made to places of interest, which afford material for 
the study of land sculpture, vegetation, and human 
facts. 


WE learn from the Times that in accordance with 
a resolution passed at the joint meeting of the Ger- 
man and English sections of the King Edward VII. 
British-German Foundation, instituted by Sir Ernest 
Cassel, the German Foundation will again, in the 
year I9gI4-I5, use part of its income in providing 
studentships to enable university graduates of British 
nationality to reside in Germany with the object of 
studying some branch of science or literature, or 
becoming acquainted with the commercial or indus- 
trial life of the country. The work of selection was - 
even more difficult than last year, as the number of 
candidates was far larger, and most of them had 
obtained first-class honours in their universities. 
Studentships of the value of, about 175]. were on 
March 21 awarded to Mr. B. Dickins, Magdalene Col- 
lege, Cambridge; Mr. R. A. Frazer, Pembroke Col- 
lege, Cambridge: Mr. S. W. Rawson, Queen’s Col- 
lege, Oxford; Mr. G. G. Williams, Christ Church, 
Oxford; Mr. F. P. Wilson, Birmingham University 
and Oxford University; Mr. T. Wright, King’s Col- 
lege, London University. Studentships of the value 
of about tool. were awarded to Mr. A. B. Mayne, 
Balliol “College, Oxford; Mr. J. S. Stephens, St 


John’s College, Cambridge. 


SOCGLEITES AN DA GADIEiT ESE 
LONDON. 


Geological Society, March 11.—Dr. A. Smith Wood- 
ward, president, and afterwards Dr. H. H. Bemrose, 
vice-president, in the chair.—E. T. Newton: A series 
of small mammalian and other remains from the rock- 
shelter of La Colombiere, near Poncin (Ain). During 
the year 1913, Dr. Lucien Mayet and M. Jean Pissot 
were working systematically at the prolific deposits of 
this locality, and towards the end of the year made 
known the discovery of a number of incised bones 
and stones, representing the human form as well as 
several animals. The upper part of the deposit is 
referred to the Neolithic and Magdalenian ages; but 


Marcu 26, 1914] 


below this, at a depth of 63 ft., a bed (10 in. thick) 
was found, which yielded the incised drawings above- 
mentioned, as well as numerous mammalian remains 
and flint-implements; and this is regarded as of 
Aurignacian age. Immediately below the _ last- 
mentioned bed a deposit of sand and sinall rock-frag- 
ments was penetrated to a depth of to ft., and this 
deposit, also referred to the Aurignacian, was found 
to contain an enormous number of bones of small 
mammals and other animals. Some twenty species 
have already been recognised by the discoverers.—Dr. 
A. Smith Woodward : An apparently Palzolithic engrav- 
ing on a bone from Sherborne (Dorset). The author 
is indebted to Mr. R. Elliot Steel, of Sherborne School, 
for the opportunity of studying a fragment of bone 
bearing an incised drawing of the fore-part of a horse 
in the style of drawings already well known from 
several habitations of Paleolithic man. The specimen 
was found in an old mound of débris from a quarry 
in the Inferior Oolite near Sherborne. No associated 
specimens of any interest were recovered; but at the 
lower end of the same valley, about a quarter of a 
mile distant, teeth of mammoth and woolly rhinoceros 
have been found. Like the only other British speci- 
men hitherto discovered—that described by Prof. Boyd 
Dawkins from the Creswell caves—the drawing is 
made on a fragment of rib; and the neck of the horse 
is fringed by fine lines, which indicate the short hog- 
mane usual in sketches made by the Paleolithic race. 


Royal Astronomical Society, March 13.—Major E. H. 
Hills, president, in the chair—Dr. F. W. Dyson; 
Greenwich determinations of the photographic mag- 
nitudes of stars brighter than 9-0 m. between declina- 
tion +75° and the pole. The methods employed and 
the results obtained were described.—Dr. S. Chapman : 
The total light of the stars. His results showed that 
the total light of the stars was about equal to that 
which would be given by 630 stars of the first mag- 
nitude. The light given by stars of each magnitude 
somewhat increased down to the tenth magnitude, 
the greater number of stars compensating for the 
decrease of brightness of the individual stars. But 
below the tenth magnitude this was no longer the 
case, the light falling off more and more as we descend 
the scale.—Prof. J. W. Nicholson: The spectrum of 
hydrogen and helium.—H. H. Turner: Baxendell’s 
observations of variable stars, edited by H. H. Turner 
and Miss Blagg. Difficulties had arisen through Baxen- 
dell’s various ways of naming the stars, but a more 
serious matter was that there were so many unfortunate 
gaps in the series of observations. Comparison with the 
Rousdon observations showed discrepancies, which 
might be attributed to the attempt to estimate the 
maximum—always an extremely difficult matter. 


Physical Society, March 13.—Dr. A. Russell, vice- 
president, in the chair,;—Dr. C. Chree : Time measure- 
ments of magnetic disturbances and their interpreta- 
tion. The paper is a sequel to one read in November, 
Ig10, dealing with the times of commencement of 
fifteen magnetic disturbances discussed by Mr. R. L. 
Faris, and supposed by him to support Dr. L. A. 
Bauer’s theory that the commencing movements of 
magnetic storms travel round the globe at rates of 
the order of 100 km. a second. The author suggested 
then that, for an adequate test of Dr. Bauer’s theory, 
data could only be obtained from a number of stations 
encircling the earth. Shortly afterwards Dr. Bauer 
issued a circular requesting magnetic observatories to 
send him their measurements of the times of com- 
mencement of the fifteen magnetic storms. Upwards 
of thirty stations sent in data. A discussion of the 
data derived from the horizontal force curves has been 
published by Dr. Angenheister, whose conclusions are 
unfavourable to Dr. Bauer’s theory. The present 


NO.V2g17, VOL, 93\| 


NATURE 


IOI 


paper deals with the data from the declination and 
vertical force curves as well as those from the hori- 
zontal force curves. The bearing of the data on Dr. 
Bauer’s theory is discussed.—H. N. Mercer: The ratio 
of the specific heats of air, hydrogen, carbon dioxide, 
and nitrous oxide. The object of the experiments was 
to test the accuracy with which y could be measured, 
employing small quantities of the gas, with the view 
of experiments on the variation of y with temperature. 
The method employed was to observe with a platinum 
thermometer of very fine wire the instantaneous’ fall 
of temperature corresponding to a given rapid fall of 
pressure. The apparatus employed was similar to that 


.used by Makower, but it was found that with due 


precautions an equal degree of accuracy was obtain- 
able with a vessel of only 300 c.c. capacity. <A table is 
given showing the values of the specific heat at con- 
stant pressure for the various gases as calculated from 
the present experiments. The values show good 
agreement with direct calorimetric determinations.— 
A. J. Philpot: The asymmetric distribution of the 
secondary electronic radiation produced by X-radiation. 
Prof. S. P. Thompson: A lecture experiment on the 
irrationality of dispersion. Newton’s method of 
crossed prisms throws an oblique spectrum on the 
wall. If the prisms used are of identical kinds of 
glass the oblique spectrum is straight from red to 
violet; but if different kinds of glass are used, the 
spectrum is curved by reason of irrationality of dis- 
persion. If a diffraction grating is used instead of one 
of the prisms, then the curvature observed is that 
resulting from the irrationality of dispersion of the 
particular prism employed. To exhibit these effects 
in the lecture theatre a diffraction grating of 12,000 
lines to the inch is employed to cast a horizontal 
spectrum of the first order, the light from an arc lamp 
being sent through a small hole. On interposing a 
prism to disperse the light vertically upwards, the 
resultant oblique spectrum is finely curved, being 
concave upwards. 


Zoological Society, March 17.—Prof. E. A. Minchin, 
vice-president, in the chair.—L. N. G. Ramsay: (1) 
The annelids of the family Nereidz, collected by Mr. 
F. A. Potts in the N.E. Pacific in 1911, with a note 
on Micronereis as a representative of the ancestral 
type of the Nereidz. (2) The genera Ceratocephale, 
Malmgren, and Tylorrhynchus, Grube.—A. Kynvett 
Totton: The structure and development of the caudal 
skeleton of the Teleostean fish, Pleuragramma ant- 
arcticum.—G. C. Robson: Report on Mollusca from 
Dutch New Guinea collected by the British Ornitho- 
logists’ Union and Wollaston Expeditions. In general, 
the collection appears to endorse Hedley’s views as to 
the Oriental affinities of the Papuan molluscan fauna. 
Though numericaliy small in species and individuals, 
the collection has yielded two genera and three new 
species, the anatomy of all of which is described.— 
P. R. Awati: The mechanism of suction in Lygus 
pabulinus, Linn. This is a Capsid bug injurious to 
the foliage of the potato, on which it feeds. A detailed 
description of the morphology and anatomy of those 
organs of the head concerned in sucking the plant- 
juices is followed by an account of their mode of 
action, in part deduced from their structure and 
arrangement, in part derived from observation of the 
living insect.—K. G. Blair: Report on the Hetero- 
merous Coleoptera collected by the British Ornitho- 
logists’ Union and the Wollaston Expeditions in Dutch 
New Guinea. The most interesting feature of the 
collection, from the point of view of distribution, is 
the occurrence of Cissites maxillosa, Fab., in this 
region. This beetle has been hitherto regarded as 
peculiar to the Oriental region, its range extending 
from Assam to Java, Borneo, and the Philippine 


IO) 


Islands; it has also been found in Ceylon.—R. 
Lydekker: The Malay race of the Indian elephant. 
The author made the young Negri Sembilan 
elephant, formerly living in the society’s gardens, the 
type of a new race, Elephas maximus hirsutus, subsp. 
n., characterised by the square, instead of triangular, 
form of the ear, the early date at which its upper 
margin is bent over, and the presence in the young 
condition—at least, in some cases—of a thick coat of 
black and in part bristly hair.—Prof. W. J. Dakin: 
The fauna of Western Australia : (1) the Onychophora, 
(2) the Phyllopoda. 


Mineralogical Society, March 17.—Dr. A. E. H. 
Tutton, president, in the chair.—F. P. Mennell: An 
occurrence of bornite nodules in shale from Mashona- 
land. The ore-body of the Umkondo mine in south- 
east Mashonaland consists of a bed of shale through 
which are scattered nodules of bornite, most probably 
pseudomorphous after concretionary pyrites. The en- 
closing rocks are of the same age as the Waterberg 
series of the Transvaal, and contain pseudomorphs 
after salt in some of the shale bands. The occurrence 
of copper and salt at nearly the same _ horizon is 
paralleled in the Lower Keuper beds of Europe.—A. 
Scott : Augite from Bail Hill, Dumfriesshire. It occurs 
in crystals, which are black in colour, but yellowish- 
green in thin sections, and of two types, simple and 
twinned, and have the axial constants a:b:c= 
0:5844 : 1: I-:0932, B=105° 48’, and refractive indices 
1-708, 1-713, 1-728. Sections parallel to the plane of 
symmetry show the hour-glass structure characteristic 
of titaniferous augite——Dr. G. T. Prior: A  sulph- 
arsenite of lead from the Binnenthal. Analysis of the 
crystals, on which the prism zone alone was developed, 
showed that the composition corresponded to the 
formula, 3PbS.2As.S,, which is that attributed to 
rathite; crystallographically, however, the crystals 
seem nearer to dufrenoysite.—Dr. G. T. Prior : Phaco- 
lite and gmelinite from co. Antrim. In both instances 
analyses of these minerals, which are varieties of the 
same species, differing in habit of crystal, showed an 
excess of hydrated silica over the composition repre- 
sented by the formula, (Ca,Na,)AI,Si,O,,.6H,O. 


Royal Meteorological Society, March 18.—Mr. C. J. P. 
Cave, president, in the chair.—Prof. A. C, Seward: 
Climate as tested by fossil plants. The difficulty of 
using fossil plants as tests of climate becomes increas- 
ingly great in proportion to the degree of difference 
between the extinct types and their nearest living 
relations. It is from the examination of petrified 
plants, the delicate tissues of which are almost per- 
fectly preserved, that data may be obtained throwing 
light on climatic conditions. This method of inquiry 
is best illustrated by a consideration of some of the 
anatomical features of the leaves, stems, and roots of 
trees which grew in the forests of the Coal period; 
the form and arrangement of cells in the leaves indi- 
cate fairly bright sunlight; large spaces in the cortex 
of roots point to growth in swamps. The geograph- 
ical distribution of plants during the latter part of the 
Paleozoic era affords evidence of the existence of two 
botanical provinces, a northern province characterised 
by a luxuriant flora living under conditions more 
genial than those to which the poorer flora of the 
southern hemisphere was exposed. The presence or 
absence of rings of growth in the petrified stems of 
plants may afford evidence of the occurrence’ or 
absence of seasonal changes. A general survey of the 
Jurassic flora of the world leads to the conclusion that 
the climate was comparatively uniform, and in Arctic 
and Antarctic regions much more genial than at the 
present day. The fossil floras of more recent geo- 
logical periods furnish clear evidence of subtropical 
conditions in Europe; in later times the occurrence 


NO. 231%, VOL. 92) 


NATURE 


/ 


[Marcu 26; 1914. 


of northern types in Britain heralds the approach of 
the Glacial period, and in post-Glacial beds are found 
fragmentary remains of immigrants from neighbour-. 
ing floras which have largely contributed to our pre- 
sent flora. 


Paris. 


Academy of Sciences, March 9.—M. P. Appell in the 
chair.—H. Deslandres and A. Perot: The design of an 
electromagnet capable of giving a magnetic field of 
100,000 gauss. The limits of the magnetic field are 
imposed by the saturation of the iron and the heating 
of the bobbins. By a special method of cooling the 
bobbins and modifying their position with respect to 
the iron core the authors have already obtained a 
field of 51,500 gauss. For the proposed magnet, 
keeping the same concentration of ampere-turns, the 
copper used is to be pure, and strongly cooled petrol to 
be utilised to carry away the heat generated in the 
coil. On account of the large consumption of elec- 
trical energy it will be necessary to set up the magnet 
close to a large generating station to reduce the cost 
of the current.—G. Gouy: The action of gravity on 
gaseous mixtures, notably in the terrestrial atmosphere. 
From a mathematical investigation it is concluded that 
the action of gravity on the composition of air is too 
slow to produce sensible effects except in the in- 
accessible region where the pressure is comparable with 
that in a Crookes tube.—Paul Sabatier and Léo Espil : 


The reduction of nickel protoxide and the exist- 
ence of a _ sub-oxide. The reduction of oxide 
of nickel NiO by hydrogen has been studied 


at varying temperatures, the reaction being fol- 
lowed by weighing the . water formed. Reduc- 
tion is more readily effected on an oxide which 
has been formed at a low than at a high temperature, 
and an increase in the velocity of the current of 
hydrogen also increases the reduction. The velocity 
of reduction is an exponential function of the tempera- 
ture. There are indications of the formation of a sub- 
oxide, Ni,O; this is also reduced but at a slower rate 
than the original NiO.—P. E. Gau: General trans- 
formations of differential systems.—G, Armellini; The 
general theorem on the problem of n bodies.—Victor 
Valcovici: Hydrodynamic resistance in non-uniform 
movement.—Charles Rabut: The calculation of the 
forces developed by the contraction of cement in 
armoured concrete.—Th. De Donder: The kinematic 
interpretation of Poynting’s theorem.—Louis Benoist 
and Hippolyte Copaux: The application of the laws 
of transparency of matter to the X-rays to the deter- 
mination of some contested atomic weights. Cases of 
thorium and cerium. From the opacity to the X-rays 
the values 232 and 140 are found to be the most 
probable atomic weights for thorium and cerium re- 
spectively.—Georges Claude: The light yield of neon 
tubes as a function of their diameter.—B. Szilard: A 
radium lightning conductor. A small dise carrying a 
radium preparation is placed beneath the point of the 
conductor. The electrical effects observed with. this 
in air are described.—H. Parodi: An arrangement of 
rings or brushes capable of replacing the collector in 
dynamos.—E,. Rothé and R. Clarté: The influence of 
the state of the atmosphere on the propagation and 
reception of hertzian waves.—Mme. N. Demassieux : 
Study of the equilibrium between the chlorides of lead 
and sodium in aqueous solution.—Léon Guillet ; The 
alloys of copper, nickel, and aluminium. Measure- 
ments of the elastic limit, breaking strain, hardness, 
and resilience of three sets of alloys containing 60, 
83, and go per cent. of copper, and varying propor- 
tions of nickel and aluminium.—R. Lespieau : Passage 
from the dimethyl ethers of the acetylene glycols to 
the glycols.—E. E, Blaise: The formation of rings 
from the 1:4 diketones.—H. Gault: Oxalacetic ester. 


Marcu 26, 1914] 


NATURE 


103 


—Georges Dupont: The stereochemical isomers of 
some y-glycols.—Paul Brenans ; Jodine compounds ob- 
tained from orthonitroaniline and orthonitrosulphanilic 
acid.—Const. A. Ktenas: Metamorphic phenomena at 
the island of Sériphos.—C, Gaudefroy: The dehydra- 
tion figures of potassium  ferrocyanide.—Louis 
Matruchot ; Progressive cultural variations of Tricho- 
loma nudum.—J. M. Lahy: The objective signs. of 
fatigue in professions not requiring muscular effort. 
The variations in the blood pressure and _ reaction 
time were found to give useful indications of this class 
of fatigue——Louis Lapicque: The economy in food 
realisable by raising the external-temperature. A dis- 
cussion of a recent note on this subject by Miramond 
de: Laroquette.—E. Voisenet: New- researches on a 
ferment contained in waters, the dehydrating agent of 
glycerol—G. de Gironcourt: The milk ferments in 
the Touareg.—Paul Bertrand: Relations of the im- 
prints of Corynepteris with Zygopteris.—E. Bénévent : 
Glacial action.—Ph. Flajolet: Observations made at 
the Lyons Observatory during the hurricane of 
February 22, 1914.—E. A. Martel:The Beatus-Hohle 
(Switzerland) and underground water of limestones.— 
De Montessus de Ballore: Luminous phenomena 
accompanying the earthquake at Rauhe Alb, Novem- 


her 16, ‘Tort. 
March 16.—M. P. Appell in the _ chair.—Ch. 
Lallemand: The twenty-four hours dial. For tele- 


grams and railway time-tables numbering the hours 
from o to 24 has distinct advantages. In the author’s 
opinion there is no advantage, however, in dividing 
the clock dial into twenty-four hours instead of the 
usual twelve.—A. Haller and Jean Louvrier : Syntheses 
by means of sodium amide. Preparation of some of 
the higher homologues of mono- and di-methyl cam- 
phors, as well as the corresponding camphols. The 
sodium amide method has been applied to the prepara- 
tion of ethyl- and diethyl-camphor, methylethylcamphor, 
propyl- and dipropyl-camphor, benzyl- and dibenzyl- 
camphor and ethylbenzyleamphor. All these have been 
reduced to the corresponding camphols, the properties 
of which are described.—Paul Sabatier and M. Murat: 
The direct hydrogenation by catalysis of the diaryl 
ketones and the aryl alcohols. The preparation of 
polyaryl alcohols. Benzophenone is reduced by 
hydrogen in presence of nickel to diphenylmethane ; 
with a more active nickel the reduction can be carried 
to dicyclohexylmethane. The reaction, which is a 
general one, is shown to hold for the higher homo- 
logues of benzophenone.—Charles Richet: Hereditary 
tolerance of toxic substances in the lower organisms. 
The lactic acid ferment was grown in presence of toxic 
substances (potassium arseniate, phosphate, seleniate, 
nitrate), and after several successive cultures was found 
to acquire a resistance to the action of the toxic body 
present.—A. Laveran and G. Franchini: The infection 
of mice by means of the flagellae of the rat flea by 
the digestive tract.—C. Guichard: Asymptotic net- 
works and congruences.—J. Guillaume ;: Observation of 
the partial eclipse of the moon on March 11, 1914, 
made at the Lyons Observatory.—F. Courty : Observa- 
tion of the eclipse of the moon of March 12, 1914, at 
the Bordeaux-Floirac Observatory.—Henry Bourget: 
Observation on the same made at Marseilles.—W. 
Blaschke ; The evaluation of double integrals of convex 
functions.—R. Jentzsch: The extension of a theorem 
of Laguerre.—Henri Frossard: The whispering voice 
and in general the flow of a fluid under pressure in 
a capsulism going from zero to infinity.—Léon and 
Eugéne Bloch: The spark spectra of nickel and cobalt 
in the extreme ultra-violet. Measurements are given 
for wave-lengths between 2100 and 1850.—J. de 
Kowalski: The different spectra of mercury, cadmium, 
and zinc. The metallic vapours were examined at 
different pressures, governed by the temperature of 


NOMS317, VOL: 93 | 


) abscissae.—A. Colani : 


a piece of metal in a subsidiary quartz bulb. The 
discharge was produced without electrodes, by sur- 
rounding the quartz bulb containing the vapour with 
several turns of copper wire carrying a high-frequency 
current. The lines observed varied with the vapour 
pressure of the metal.—Jean Timmermans Pure pro- 
pane: the. weight of a normal litre. Two sets. of 
density measurements were made, the gas in the first 
set being prepared by Lebeau’s method from propyl 
iodide and sodium amide, and in the second set by the 
reduction of propionitrile by sodium. The final puri- 
fication in both cases was effected by fractional dis- 
tillation. The mean result (seventeen observations) 
Was 2:01955 grams per litre—J. Bancelin: The abso- 
lute measurement of adsorption coefficients. . The 
adsorption was studied on known areas of- glass 
plates, and results are given showing the quantities 
adsorbed in grams per sq. cm. at different concen- 
trations of the solution.—Eugeéne Louis Dupuy: The 
magnetic susceptibility of some feebly magnetic 
alloys. Alloys of silver and antimony, lead and tin, 
and zinc and aluminium were studied, and the results 
given graphically, the magnetic susceptibilities being 
taken as ordinates and percentage composition as 
Ferrous and chromous meta- 
phosphates.—Marcel Dubard: The relations of the 
principal genera of Mimusopez between themselves 
and with the Sideroxylez.—J. Beauverie: The chon- 


driome of the Basidiomycetes.—G. Kimpflin: The 
laws of physical growth during childhood and 
adolescence. A continuous study of 200 children from 


the age of eleven to sixteen years. Relations be- 
tween the height, weight, and thoracic perimeter.— 
L. and M. Lapicque and R. Legendre: Change in the 
excitability of nerves caused by an alteration in their 
myeline sheath. The action upon the nerve of the 
frog of chloroform, ether, cocaine, strychnine, sodium 
oxalate, solanine, and morphine is detailed.—A. 
Magnan: The characteristics of the marine birds.— 
Louis Léger: A parasite of the trout, belonging to 
genus Dermocystidium.—Edgard MHerouard: Pzdo- 
genesic pecilogony in Chrysaora isoceles.—Adrian 
Lucet: Researches on the evolution of Hypoderma 
bovis and the means of destroying it.—J. Deprat: The 
presence of the marine Rhetian with coal, on the 
western border of the delta of the Red River, Tonkin. 
—Paul Fallot: The stratigraphy of the Sierra of 
Majorca.—Ph. Flajolet: Perturbations of the mag- 
netic declination at the Lyons Observatory (Saint- 
Genis-Laval) during the fourth quarter of 1913. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 


The Marine Biological Station at Port Erin (Isle of 
Man), being the Twenty-seventh Annual Report of the 
Liverpool Marine Biology Committee. Pp.  7o. 
(Liverpool: C. Tinling and Co., Ltd.) 

Was Wir Ernst Haeckel Verdanken.. Edited by H. 
Schmidt. Bandi. Pp. xv+432. Band ii. Pp. viii+ 
416. (Leipzig: Verlag Unesma G.M.B.H.) 2 vols., 
8 marks. 

- Union of South Africa. Annual Report of the De- 
partment of Agriculture for the Period 1912-13 (Agri- 


cultural Education). Pp. 184. (Cape Town: Cape 
Times eds) ers ‘ite 
Ricerche Sperimentali Sui Raggi Magnetici in 


Diversi Gas e Miscugli Gassosi. By Prof. A. Righi. 
Pp. 36. (Bologna: Gamberiori e Panmeggiani.) | 

Wild Flowers as They Grow. Photographed in 
Colour Direct from Nature. By H. E. Corke. With 
descriptive text by G. C. Nuttall. Sixth series. Pp. 
viii+200+plates. (London: Cassell and Co., Ltd.) 


5S.) Mek. : y 
Technical Mechanics: Statics and@¢Dynamics. By 


104 


Prof. E. R. Maurer. Third edition. Pp. vii+356. 
(New York: J. Wiley and Sons, Inc.; London : Chap- 
man and Hall, Ltd.) 10s. 6d. net. 

Laboratory Manual, Direct and Alternating Current, 
Prepared to Accompany Timbie’s Elements of Elec- 
tricity. By €. E. Clewell. Pp.-vi+1oo. (New York: 
J. Wiley and Sons, Inc. ; London : Chapman and Hall, 
Ltd.) 4s. 6d. net. 

Boden-Bakterien und Boden-Fruchtbarkeit. 
F. Lohnis. Pp. vi+7o. (Berlin: 
traeger.) 1.20 marks. 

La Silice et les Silicates. By H. le Chatelier. 
574. _(Paris: A. Hermann et Fils.) 15 francs. 

A History of British Mammals. By G. E. H. Bar- 
rett-Hamilton. Part xv. (London: Gurney and Jack- 


By Dr. 
Gebriider Born- 


Pp. 


son.) 2s. 6d. net. 

Sounds and Signs. By A. Wilde. Pp. 180. (Lon- 
don: Constable and Co., Ltd.) 4s. 6d. net. 

The Currents in the Guif of St. Lawrence. By Dr. 


W. Bell Dawson. Pp. 46+map. 
ment of Naval Service.) 
KKaiserliche Marine. Deutsche Seewarte. Aus dem 
Archiv der Deutschen Seewarte. xxxvi. Jahrgang 
1913. Nr. 3. Die Temperaturschwankungen 1870- 
1910 in ihrem Verhaltnis zu der II jahrigen Sonnen- 
fleckenperiode. By J. Mielke. Pp. 63. (Hamburg.) 
Igneous Rocks and their Origin. By Prof. R. A. 
Daly. Pp. xxii+563. (New York: McGraw-Hill 
Book Co., Inc.; London: Hill Publishing Co., Ltd.) 


Sen Ulete 


(Ottawa: Depart- 


DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 


THURSDAY, Marcu 26. 

Royat Society, at 4.30.—The Nature of the Tubes in Marsupial Enamel 
and its Bearing upon Enamel Development : J. H. Mummery.— Oxidation 
of Thiosulphate by Certain Bacteria in Pure Culture: W. T. Lockett.— 
The Production of Anthocyanins and Anthocyanidins: A. E. Everest.— 
Variations in the Growth of Adult Mammalian ‘Tissue in Autogenous and 

‘ Homogeneous Plasma: A. J. Walton.—(1) The Decomposition of Formates 
by &. coli communis; (2) The Enzymes which are Concerned in the 
Decomposition of Glicose and Mannitol by B. coli communis: BE. C. 
Grey.—Description of a Strain of 77yfSanosoma brucet from Zululand. 
I: Morphology. II: Susceptibility of Animals: Surg.-General Sir D. 
Bruce, Major A. E. Hamerton, Captain D. P. Watson, and Lady Bruce. 

Roya INSTITUTION, at 3.—The Progress of Modern Eugenics. I: The 
First Decade, 1904-1914: Dr. C. W. Saleeby. 

CoNcRETE INSTITUTE, at 7.30.—Discusston : Calculations and Details of 
Steel-frame Buildings from the Draughtsman’s Standpoint : W. C. Cocking. 

INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 8. Current Limiting React- 
ances on Large Power Systems: K. M. Faye-Hansen and Ja: Pecks 

INSTITUTE OF CHEMISTRY, at 8.—Explosives : W. Macnab. 

SociETY oF Dyers anv Co.ourists, at 8.—I]lumination in Connection 
with the Textile Industries: L. Gaster.—Further Note on the Estimation 
of Prussian Blue in Vextile Fabrics: H. E. Williams and W. P. Dreaper. 


FRIDAY, Marcu 27. 

Roya InstiruTION, at 9.—Improvements in Long Distance Telephony: 
Prof. J. A. Fleming. 

Junior Institution oF ENGINEERS, at 8.—Harmonigraph as Applied 
to Advertising: A. Forbes. 

FARADAY SociETy, at 5.—Discussion on Optical Rotatory Power.— 
Introductory Aidress: Prof. H. E. Armstrong.—Some Contributions to 
the Knowledge of the Influence of Certain Groups on Rotatory Power: 
Prof. H. Rupe. — New Studies in the Rotatory Dispersion of Tartaric Acid 
and Malic Acid : Prof. H. Grossman.—The Existence of Racemic Tartaric 
Acid in Solution: Dr. E. Darmois.—Anomalous Rotatory Dispersion: 
Prof. L. Tschugaeff — Normal and Anomalous Rotatory Dispersion: Dr. 
T. M. Lowry and T. W. Dickson. At 8.15.—An Enclosed Cadmium Arc 
for Use with Polarimeter: Dr. T. M/ Lowry and H. H. Abram.—The 
Relations between the Kotatory Powers of the Members of Homologecus 
Series: Dr. R. H. Pickard and J. Kenyon.—The General Behaviour of 
Optically Active Co:npounds as Regards the Dependence of Rotation on 
Temperature Dilution, Nature of Solvent, and Wave Length of Light: 
Dr. T. S. Patterson. 

Puysicat Society, at 5.—A New Type of Thermogalvanometer: F. W. 
Jordan.—An Instrument for Recording Pressure Variations due to 
Explosions in Tubes: J. D. Morgan.—The Direct Measurement of the 
Naperian Rase: R. Appleyard.—An Experiment with an Incandescent 
Lamp: C, W. S. Crawley, 


SATURDAY, Marcu 28. 
Roya INsTITUTION, at 3.—Recent Discoveries in Physical Science : Sir 
J. J. Thomson. 
Essex Fie_p Cvups (at the Essex Museum, Romford Road, Stratford), at 
6.—Some Notes on Essex Geology at the Close of the Nineteenth 
Century and After : W, Whitaker.—Wasgs and their Ways : C. Nicholson. 


MONDAY, Marcu 30. 
Roya. Society oF Arts, at 8.—Surface Combustion : Prof. W. A. Bone. 
INSTITUTE OF ACTUARIES, at 5.—The Treatment of the Depreciation in 
Assets due to an Enhanced Ratz of Interest: R. R. Tilt. 


NO: 23107, (NOL. 93 | 


NATURE 


[Marcu 26, 1914 


LUESDAY, Marcu 3t. : 

Roya INSTITUTION, at 3.—Landscape and Natural Objects in Classical 
Art: Later Greece and Rome: A. H, Smith. : 

ROVAL SOCIETY OF ARTS,‘at 4.30.—The Oil Resources of the Empire: D. F. 
Mollwo Perkin. } 

INSTITUTION oF CiviIL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Further Discussion: Some 
Recent Developments in Commercial Motor-vehicles: T. Clarkson.— 
Comparative Economics of Tramways and Kailless Electric Traction : 
T. G. Gribble. 

WEDNESDAY, AprRit 1. 

Society oF Pusiic ANaLysTs, at 8.—Damage Caused to Vegetation by: 
Sulphrous and Sulphuric Acids in the Atmosphere: R. R. Tatlock and 
R. T. Thomson. —Abnormal Refraction of Milk Serum: Dr. J. McCrae. 
~—Water of Dorton Spa: C. A. Mitchell. 

AERONAUTICAL SOCIETY, at 8.30.—Aeroplanes. G. de Haviland. 

ROYAL SOCIETY OF ARTS, at 8.—Sarawak: Her Highness The Ranee of 
Sarawak. 

ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY, at 8. 


THURSDAY, Aprit 2. 
ROYAL Society, at 4.30.—Bakerian Lecture : Series Lines in Spark Spectra : 
Prof. A. Fowler. : 
RovaL InstTiTuTION, at 3.—The Progress of Modern Eugenics. II. 
Eugenics To-day: Its Counterteits, Powers, and Problems: Dr. C. W. 
Saleeby. : 
CuiLp Stupy Society, at 7.30.—The Nervous Child : Dr. L. Guthrie. _ 
INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at '8.— The Signalling ofa Rapid 
Transit Railway: H. G. Brown. i 


FRIDAY, Aprit 3. 2 
RoyaL INSTITUTION, at 9.—Further Researches on Positive Rays: Sir 
J. J Thomson. : 
INSTITUTION OF CiviIL ENGINEERS at 8.—East Stirlingshire Waterworks, 
and a Note on Earthen Embankments: O. I. Bell. 


SATURDAY, Aprrit 4. : ? ) 
Roya INSTITUTION, at 3.—Recent Discoveries in Physical Science : Sir 
J. J. Thomson. 3 


CONTENTS. PAGE 
Theodore Roosevelt as Naturalist. By Sir H. H. 
Johnston, GiC.M.G:, 1K C°By fa. &) a: veneer? 


American Text-Books of Biology ........ 80 
Supernatural Religion. By A. E. Crawley. .... 81 
Our Bookshelf oe A ich PES aaa trea a 
Letters to the Editor :— 
The Movements of Floating Particless—R.. . ... 83 
Weather Forecasts.—Prof. Alexander McAdie . . 83 
Origin of Structures on the Moon's Surface.—F. J. M. 


Stratton Ba heh : A ay ea Oa 

The Isothermal Layer of the Atmosphere.—G. 
Fitzhugh Talman . sa gdl pas heey J) she ROE 
Unidirectional Currents within a Carbon Filament 
Lamp.—F. Lloyd Hopwood .... . .. 84 
The Archeological Survey of Nubia. (///ustrated.) ; 
Prof, Gy Elliot Smith, Boke Sseee oie. eens 


The Criminal and the Crime PSU een 
Sir John Murray, K.C.B., F.R.S. By Sir Arch. 

Geikre;/O:M:, K.C. Bs, BoRsSo oa ee 

Profskss: Holden. ) By, Webi ee eee 
Notes i aah FORA a MAL cake 

Our Astronomical Column :— 

The Forthcoming Total Solar Eclipse . ..... -- 94 

A Monthly Report on) Mars) eee ee ee) eon 


AeMieteorite from Zululand) 2y me ee eet OS 
A Solar Observatory for New Zealand. ...... 95 
The Institute of Metals Ps oe eR ote OS 
AneEelworm ‘Disease of Rice = «ene a sie eoO 
Meteorology in Netherlands’ East India .... 96 


Exploration in Peru. (///ustrated.) By Prof. Hira 

Bingham . iter eceat hare Sed Sea rae 
Civil Service Estimates for Science and Education 99 
University and Educational Intelligence. . . . . . 100 
Societies'and Academies > 5) Siege]. eee 
Books Received . PEM eer a ep salem aetc. oo HOR 


Diaryiofesocieties =. 2). 2). 


Editorial and Publishing Offices: 


MACMILLAN & CO., Ltp., 
ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C. 


Advertisements and business letters to be addressed to the 
Publishers. 


Editorial Communications to the Editor. 
Telegraphic Address: Puusis, LONDON. 
Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830. 


ae 


ve 


MAT Cue a 


APR LO 191" 
National muse” 


105 


THe owe, APRIL, (2, 1914. 


THE SYRIAN GODDESS, 


The Syrian Goddess; Being a_ translation of 
Lucian’s “De: Dea Syria” with a Life of 
Lucian. By Prof. H. A. Strong. Edited with 
notes and an introduction by Dr. J. Garstang. 
Pp. xiiitizr. (London: Constable and Co., 


1603... perice 4s net. 

. view of recent excavation upon sites in Syria, 

and of the increased interest the ancient cults 
of that region have for the archeologist, it was 
well worth while to produce an annotated edition 
of the well-known treatise “De dea Syria.” The 
editors accept the traditional ascription of the 
work to Lucian, and there is much to be said 
for this view; for, although the rest of Lucian’s 
works are written in pure Attic Greek, he may 
well in his early youth have adopted the Ionic 
dialect for this treatise in imitation of Herodotus. 
We should then assign its composition to the 
middle of the second century B.c. In any case, 
the record is that of an intelligent traveller who 
is anxious to make known the facts he has been 
able to ascertain as to the strange Oriental rites 
of Syria, and as such it has the very greatest 
value for the archeologist. Its author describes 
the cult and temple of the goddess of North Syria, 
Atargatis, and that of her male consort, at Hiera- 
polis, near Mumbij, on the Euphrates. It has 
long been recognised that Atargatis was a com- 
bination of the Cilician goddess Atheh with Athar, 
the Aramaic form of the goddess Astarte or 
Ishtar. 

In his introduction Prof. Garstang would trace 
her descent from a still more remote antiquity, 
connecting her with the chief goddess of the 
Hittites, the great nature-mother who appears 
in the Anatolian rock-sculptures. One of the 
earliest of her images may well be that mysteri- 
ous and gigantic figure carved in the living rock 
on Mount Sipylus, near Smyrna. The fact that 
Atargatis of Hierapolis is always represented as 
robed upon coins from the site is in favour of 
the Hittite comparison; and the descent of her 
consort from the Hittite and Mitannian weather- 
god Teshub is rendered probable by the fact 
that the author of the treatise, ‘“‘De dea Syria,” 
identifies him with the Syrian Adad. Thus it may 
well be that much of the cult the author describes 
had been inherited from the ritual of the Anatolian 
deity as practised fifteen centuries before he 
wrote. 

Prof. Garstang’s notes and introduction give 


NO.) 2316, VOL; 93| 


evidence of wide reading in the course of his study 
of this interesting theme, and the book will form 


a useful supplement to the collection of material 
he has already published in his larger work on 
“The Land of the Hittites.” Le. Woe 


STONES AND SUPERSTITIONS. 

The Curious Lore of Precious Stones. By Dr. 
G. F. Kunz. Pp. .xiv+406+63 plates, and 
numerous illustrations in the text. (Philadel- 
phia and London: J. B. Lippincott Company, 
1913!) Price 21s.net: 

R. KUNZ’S wide knowledge and experience 

in connection with precious and semi- 

precious stones, and his familiarity the 
voluminous literature dealing with the subject, 
afford a sufficient guarantee to all interested in 
gems and their “curious lore,” that the work he 
has now produced is one of exceptional value. 
On the title-page of this handsome volume the 
subjects to be dealt with in relation to gems are 
enumerated as “their sentiments and folk-lore, 
superstitions, symbolism, mysticism, use in medi- 
cine, protection, prevention, religion, and divina- 
tion, crystal-gazing, birth-stones, lucky stones, 
and talismans, astral, zodiacal, and planetary ’”’— 
and this long list is far from exhausting the mass 
of extraordinary and fanciful ideas treated of in 
the book, and constituting one of the strangest 
illustrations of human credulity and love of the 
marvellous. 

With regard to the disputed question as to 
whether precious stones first came to be prized 
as ornaments or talismans, our author does not 
attempt to give a decision; he justly points out 
that the absence of precious stones in the oldest 
known interments, where shells, etc., appear to 
be used as ornaments, may be accounted for by 
the hardness of the stones which prevents easy 
perforation. Jet ornaments, however, occur with 
Paleolithic remains, both in the caves of Belgium 
and Switzerland, and harder stones are found in 
Neolithic graves. Of the early use of stones as 
fetishes there is no doubt; life, sex, powers of 
reproduction, and many extraordinary virtues and 
influences were ascribed to them at the dawn of 
history. Magic formule concerning stones are 
found alike in the clay tablets of Sumero-Assyrian 
age and in Egyptian papyri of very early date. 
The earliest engraved cylinders of Babylon are 
ascribed to 4000 B.c., and scarabs of Egypt to 
2000 B.c., while amber was found in abundance 
in the graves of Mycene. In classical times 
magical influences were ascribed to the beauti- 
fully engraved gems, partly on account of the 


with 


| materials of which they are composed, and partly 


EF 


106 


from the figures and inscriptions which they bore, 
and when in medieval times the art of gem- 
engraving was lost, the gems were still made 
serviceable by the representations of Greek deities 
being regarded as those of Christian saints, litur- 
gies being composed by means of which—the old 
love of ornament and mysticism remaining—the 
heathen relics were reconsecrated for Christian 
use. 

Of the persistence to recent periods, and even 
to our own day, of fanciful and superstitious 
beliefs concerning precious stones, Dr. Kunz gives 
many amusing illustrations. In a book published 
in Frankfort as late as 1718, an “airship” is 
represented which is raised by the supposed action 
of sunlight upon the “coral-agates”’ in its roof, a 
“magnetic action” being thus produced! Napo- 
leon, when in Egypt, found a carnelian seal 
engraved with Arabic characters, which he wore 
as a talisman until his death, and it was equally 
treasured and carried at all times by Napoleon 
III. The ill-fated Prince Imperial had it on his 
person in South Africa, and it appears to have 
been carried off by the Zulus who stripped his 
body. It is asserted that a well-known noble lady, 
still living, believes that her diamonds not only 
have life and sex, but are capable of reproduction ; 
while a recent trial in Paris showed that a wealthy 
lady became suddenly so overcome by fear of the 
evil influences of an opal-ring she wore that she 
slipped it off and put it on the finger of a poor 
girl who was passing. It is declared that a well- 
known authoress confesses that she habitually 
resorts to “crystal-gazing ”’ to recover the thread 
of a story that she has temporarily lost. 

Many very interesting extracts are given by 
Dr. Kunz from curious and little-known works, 
which illustrate alike the wildly absurd views held 
in all ages concerning the various influences 
exercised by different precious stones on those 
who wear them, and the cures and other wonders 
wrought by them, these ideas prevailing not only 
among the poor and ignorant, but among the 
educated of all classes and religions. The book, 
which is admirably illustrated, is as entertaining 
as it is instructive. TJ Wea 


” 


” 


ANIMAL MORPHOLOGY 
EMBRYOLOGY. 
(1) A Text-book of General Embryology. By Prof. 
W.E. Kellicott. Pp. v+376. (New York: 
Henry Holt and Co., 1913.) Price 2.50 dollars. 
(2) Zellen- und Gewebelehre Morphologie und Ent- 
wicklungsgeschichte. Unter Redaktion von E. 
Strasburger und O. Hertwig. Bearbeitet von 
E. Strasburger, W. Benecke, R. Hertwig, and 


@D) 
NO. 92306, VOL soa) 


AND 


NATURE 


{APRIL 2, 1914 


others. I. Botanischer Teil. Unter Redaktion 
von E. Strasburger. Bearbeitet von E. Stras- 
burger und W. Benecke. Pp. vii+ 338. Price 
to marks. II. Zoologischer Teil. Unter Redak- 
tion von O. Hertwig. Bearbeitet von R. Hert- 
wig, H. Poll, O. Hertwig, and others. Pp, 

Vii+ 538. (Berlin and Leipzig : B. G. Teubner, 

1913.) Price 16 marks. 

(3) Elementares Praktikum der Entwicklungs- 
geschichte der Wirbeltiere mit Einfiithrung in die 
Entwicklungsmechanitk. By Dr. Oscar Levy. 
Pp. vili+183. (Berlin: Gebriider Borntraeger, 
1913.) Price 5.60 marks. 

(t) HIS is an excellent book to place in the 
hands of intermediate students of 

zoology ; it gives a clear and interesting account 
of the more general aspects of embryological 
science. If the hypercritical reader regards it as 
somewhat scrappy and superficial, it must be 
answered that this is unavoidable in a book of its 
size dealing with so large a subject. The book 
does not pose as a work of reference; its function 
rather appears to be to give the student an idea 
of the present-day point of view of biologists 
towards the various problems of which it treats, 
to arouse his interest, and to direct his steps 
towards the fuller expositions to be found in con- 
temporary literature. 

An introductory chapter upon ontogeny is 
followed by excellent chapters on the cell and cell- 
division, the germ cells, and the process of 
maturation or meiosis. In regard to the last- 
mentioned phenomenon a very good and clear 
account of modern views is given. A few obvious 
slips will, no doubt, be corrected in a new edition, 
e.g., in the legend attached to Agar’s figure illus- 
trating the spermatogenesis of Lepidosiren the 
last six words convey an erroneous statement, and 
should be excised. Again, in the description of 
tetrad formation the student will be liable to be 
puzzled, if not misled, by the wording of the 
statement that “each of the newly-organised 
bivalent elements comes out in the form of four 
small bodies, the tetrads.””’ He may find himself 
in a similar position when he reads that in cases 
where tetrad formation takes place “the secondary 
spermatocytes have the diploid number.” Good 
accounts are given of fertilisation, and of the 
general features of segmentation, including “cell- 
lineage,” and these are followed by an excellent 
chapter on the differentiation of the embryo, 
heredity, and sex determination. In this chapter 
we welcome particularly the short and clear and 
critical account of the hypothesis of “ organ-form- 
ing substances,” which will act as a useful correc- 
tive to the somewhat prevalent teaching of this 
hypothesis by uncritical teachers as a well-estab- 


APRIL 2, 1914] 


NATURE 


107 


lished theory. As the author puts it, the localised 
distribution of substances in the egg, upon which 
this hypothesis is based, is to be regarded rather 
as a process or result of development than as a 
primary determining factor of the course of 
development. A good account is given of the 
idiochromosome and its relation to sex, and the 
book ends with a chapter on blastula, gastrula, 
and germ-layers. 

The book is excellently written, and clearly 
illustrated; it fills an obvious gap in the teaching 
literature of zoology, and it deserves to have a 
wide circulation amongst students of that 
science. 

(2) The two biological volumes here under dis- 
cussion fully maintain the high standard of the 
great series of volumes entitled “Die Kultur der 
Gegenwart.” The botanical volume is composed 
of an excellent section on plant histology from 
the pen of the late Prof. Strasburger, followed by 
one on plant morphology and development by 
Benecke. 

The zoological volume forms an interesting 
text-book which will be of use to the senior 
student as a help towards getting a grip of 
the current views regarding some of the more 
important problems of morphology. The volume 
opens with a charming essay by Richard Hert- 
wig upon unicellular organisms, which gives an 
excellent sketch of present-day ideas, together 
with valuable indications regarding future work. 
Hertwig’s essay is followed by a useful sketch of 
modern histology by Poll, and this in turn by an 
admirable chapter by Oscar Hertwig on general 
and experimental morphology and embryology. 
This commences with a masterly account of the 
main features of gametogeny and fertilisation— 
one of the most interesting sections being that in 
which is given an account of recent experiments 
in which gametes or zygotes have been subjected 
to the influence of such substances as radium and 
mesothorium. An excellent chapter is devoted to 
parthenogenesis, and the suggestion is brushed 
aside with scant ceremony that the production of 
parthenogenesis: by artificial means — whether 
chemical or mechanical—gives any clue whatever 
to the ultimate nature of the fertilisation process. 
A witty paragraph is quoted from Bolzmann as 
to Loeb’s work and the exaggerated claims based 
upon it. How important was the discovery that 
a process believed to be so essentially vital in its 
nature was merely chemical! What important 
consequences the discovery might have when 
future developments rendered possible its applica- 
tion to the human race—the emancipation of 
woman to a degree undreamt of by the greatest 
enthusiast for women’s rights ! 


WO. 24707, VOLY.93 | 


The mere man ! 


becomes. superfluous; he is replaced by a 
flask of chemical solution; sex-determination by 
chemical means follows, and males, now mere 
useless curiosities, are produced only as occa- 
sional specimens for zoological gardens ! 

A general description is given of the processes 
of segmentation and gastrulation, and the chapter 
concludes with a short sketch of the chief results 
of experimental embryology. 

About 150 pages are occupied by a really admir- 
able account by Heider of the morphology of the 
invertebrate metazoa. It is most clearly and in- 
terestingly written, and is illustrated by excellent 
figures. Naturally, views are occasionally ex- 
pressed to which some may take exception, but, 
on the whole, we know of no better general 
account of the morphology of invertebrates. The 
subject-matter of the chapter is rightly termed 
morphology rather than comparative anatomy, 
confining itself as it does to really important 
features and ignoring those masses of unimpor- 
tant detail that so usually make a modern text- 
book of zoology an effective stifler of all interest 
in the subject. We notice very few slips. The 
familiar German misuse of the word splanchno- 
pleure when splanchnic mesoderm is meant 
catches the eye of the English reader. The fre- 
quent reference made to the trochosphere type of 
larva as an evidence of phylogenetic affinity will 
not altogether appeal to those who suspect the 
various larve of this type of being simply conver- 
gent adaptations to a pelagic existence, while 
some morphologists of the Cambridge school will 
look askance at the not unfamiliar attitude 
towards the primitive and ancestral nature of the 
iower platyhelminths. But the general opinion 
will be that Heider has produced a very admirable 
sketch of his subject. 

The remaining two chapters—on vertebrate 
embryology by Keibel and on vertebrate morph- 
ology by Gaupp—are less satisfactory. It seems 
an error in planning the book to have two such 
separate chapters, as there can be no morphology 
worth the name without embryology, and no em- 
bryology worth the name without morphology. 
We are glad to see that Keibel is not overawed 
by the sanctity of that—in some respects—most 
highly specialised vertebrate Amphioxus, and that 
he takes the common-sensible position in regard 
to the greatly degenerate character of its head 
region, though we fail to follow him in his some- 
what derogatory remarks regarding its gastrula- 
tion processes. It seems, by the way, regrettable 
that Keibel, like many others who are specially 
interested in the embryology of the higher verte- 
brates, uses the word gastrulation in a sense 
which does not seem to be justified. Strictly 


108 


speaking, the term gastrulation should only be 
used of forms in which an undoubted gastrula 
has been shown to be present; to use it in refer- 
ence to the two-layered condition of a bird or 
mammal in which there is the greatest reason to 
doubt that a true gastrula stage exists at all, is 
simply to court confusion, and leads to such 
absurdities as the statement that “endoderm,” or 
“ectoderm,” is not homologous throughout the 
series of vertebrates. To give a cell-layer, the 
name endoderm in the various types of verte- 
brates is, of course, merely a short way of stating 
that it is homologous in these various types ! 

(3) Dr. Levy’s book affords a short sketch of 
vertebrate embryology written from a_ practical 
point of view. Simple instructions as to labora- 
tory methods are given, stress being. very properly 
laid on the preparation of thick, free-hand_ sec- 
tions of embryos—the great instructiveness of 
which is too often ignored. The chapter on tech- 
nique is followed by an account of gametes and 
gametogenesis, then by chapters on early develop- 
ment in amphibia and in the chick, while the 
remaining half of the book is devoted to organ- 
ogeny and a short chapter on developmental 
mechanics. 


OUR BOOKSHELF, 


The Change in the Climate and its Cause. By 
Major R. A. Marriott. Pp. 94. (London: E. 
Marlborough ‘and Co:, n.d.) Price 1s. 6d; 
cloth’ 25,6: 

Tuis book is a contribution to the great Drayson 

Myth, and as such it may appeal to those with 

whom it is a fair presumption that any theory of 

orthodox science is wrong, and also to those who 
take a curious interest in the vagaries of that class 
of mind. 

Major Marriott, ‘like ‘Sir Ay tdevHorseyy in 
“Draysonia,” complains that Drayson was not 
taken seriously. The fact is perfectly true, but 
the complaint is unjust precisely because General 
Drayson (not without professional precedents) 
failed to take seriously the position he was assail- 
ing. Astronomy is unique among sciences in its 
dependence on a_ single controlling principle, 
gravitation. It is open to anybody to abolish that 
principle and coordinate the facts otherwise—if 
he can. Or he may question the accuracy in 
detail of a mathematical deduction or demonstrate 
a false assumption. What he cannot do is to 
isolate a piece of the whole doctrine, reject the 
operation of the general law in the particular case 
on insufficient grounds, and ignore the effect of 
what he is doing on the whole related theory. 

It would be unprofitable to comment on 
the errors (as we deem them) of the present 
work. It is pleasanter to mention the one per- 
tinent remark which we have come across. This 
is the reference to the theory of “planetary 
inversion” (p. 66). It is quite possible that tidal 


NO. 2318; VOL. 193] 


NATURE 


[APRIL 2: rer 


friction is slowly changing the obliquity of the 
ecliptic, and thus exercising a secular influence on 
climate. But the effect is very slow; it is not 
periodic; and there is little in common between 
the methods of Mr. Stratton and those of General 
Drayson and his followers. 

The book deals largely with changing climatic 
conditions, the evidence of geology, and the bear- 
ing of the so-called astronomical theory of an ice 
age. But why are the possibilities limited by 
the tacit assumption that the radiation of the sun 
has been constant through geological ages, an 
assumption not merely unproved, but even im- 
probable ? | Reed Oe Fs 


Perspective made Easy by Means of Stereoscopic 
Diagrams. By C. E. Benham. (Colchester : 
C. E. Benham, 28 Wellesley Road.) Price 
(post free) 6s. 2d. 

Tuis set of fifteen stereograms is intended as a 
substitute for models as used by teachers and 
students in illustration of some cf the rules and 
principles of perspective projection. When 
viewed in a stereoscope the diagrams exhibit in 
relief, amongst other things, the principle of the 
convergence or parallelism of the projections of 
parallel lines in space; and the rotation into the 
picture plane of horizontal and vertical vanishing 
planes, thus illuminating the constructions relat- 
ing to vanishing and measuring points for hori- 
zontal and inclined lines. An explanation is given 
in a sixteen-page pamphlet which accompanies 
the stereograms. 

The idea of the author is good, but it is not 
very efficiently carried out. The views are not 
always so convincing as they might be, and the 
descriptions are occasionally lacking in mathe- 
matical precision. We also think that the price 
has been fixed too high. Nevertheless, a teacher 
would receive some useful suggestions by a study 
of the diagrams. 


A Laboratory Manual of Organic Chemistry for 
Beginners. By Prof. A. F. Holleman. Edited 
by Dr. A. J. Walker. Second edition; pauihy 
re-written. Pp. xvii+83. (New York: John 
Wiley and Sons; London: Chapman and Hall, 
Ltd., 1913.) Prices4s> 6dsnet: 

A REVIEW of the first edition of Dr. Walker’s 

translation of Prof. Holleman’s little book ap- 

peared in the issue of Nature for May 11, 1905 

(vol. Ixxii., p. 28). New experiments have been 

incorporated in the present edition, and some 

obsolete reactions have been omitted. 


Engineering Workshop Exercises. By Ernest 
Pull. Pp. viii+80. (London: Whittaker and 
Cos, m914:)- Price 25-7 ner 

Tuis little book provides instructions to enable 

technical students and apprentice engineers to 

perform their workshop experiments and exercises 
intelligently, and to obtain practice in the use of 
ordinary engineering tools and appliances.  Pro- 
minence is given to the value of working draw- 
ings, and accuracy is insisted upon consistently. 

A chapter on screw-cutting and notes on materials 

are included in the book. 


APRIL 2, 1914] 


NATURE 


109 


LETTERS “LO THE EDITOR. 

[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for 
opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with 
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 
ihis or any other part of Nature. No notice is 
taken of anonymous communications. ] 


The Doppler Effect and Carnot’s Principle. 


In my letter of Marck 19 I endeavoured to show 
that the latent heat absorbed in the production of unit 
volume of stationary vibration of a particular fire- 
quency in a mixed beam of radiation, is not equal to 
4q/c (where q is the energy stream per sq. cm. per 
sec., and c tne velocity), as would naturally be sup- 
posed, but, in consequence of the Doppler effect at the 
moving mirror or piston, takes the form T(dp/dT), 
as required by Carnot’s principle, where p is the pres- 
sure, or the mechanical work per unit volume, and is 
equal to 2q/c for a directly reflected beam under 
equilibrium conditions. The latent heat, T(dp/dT), 
may be represented as the sum (w+) of the intrinsic 
energy or internal latent heat u and the external work 
p. As a matter of interpretation, u was identified in 
my letter with some form of stationary vibration 
which continued to exist in the medium at the fre- 
quency at which it was emitted. Further analysis 
shows that this is not the case, but that the energy 
left in the medium conforms exactly to the, distribu- 
tion required by the theory of exchanges. The energy 
density is 2q/c in a directly reflected beam, and is 
equal to the pressure, but differs from the energy 
absorbed on emission or evolved on condensation, 
namely, the latent heat, T(dp/dT), which is the quan- 
tity measured experimentally, as previously explained 
een. Mag., October, 1913, p: 787). . 

Similarly in the case of full radiation where the 
energy stream is Q per sq. cm. per sec. in all direc- 
tions, the energy density is 4Q/c, and the pressure 
40/3c for each frequency, but the latent heat per unit 
volume is still T(dp/dT) (in place of 16Q/3c) on 
account of the Doppler effect, and the energy stream 
as measured experimentally is not Q but 47T(dQ/dT). 
With a slight change of viewpoint the consideration 
of the Doppler effect leads to the exact formula and 
numerical relations already detailed in my previous 
note (loc. cit.), which are now seen to be no longer 
in conflict with the electromagnetic theory as was at 
first supposed. H. L. CALLenpar. 

Imperial College of Science, South Kensington, 

March 30. 


Lead and the Final Product of Thorium. 


It is now practically certain that the final product 
of the uranium family of radio-elements is isotopic, or 
chemically identical, with lead. The constancy of the 
ratio between lead and uranium, Pb/U, in the case 
of primary rock-forming minerals of the same geo- 
logical age, and its sympathetic variation in the case of 
minerals of different ages, go far to establish this 
important conclusion. The recent discovery that all 
the final products of radio-active disintegration fall 
into Group iv. B of the periodic classification has 
naturally led to the further suggestion that each one is 
isotopic with lead. 

If lead, or one of its isotopic equivalents, is the final 
product of the thorium series, then the estimates of 
geological time hitherto based on the lead-uranium 
ratio stand in need of a ruthless revision. 

Fortunately this does not appear to be necessary, for 
mineralogical evidence clearly indicates that the pre- 
sence or absence of thorium in a uranium-bearing 
mineral does not affect the Jead content, which can 


NO: 2316, VOL. 93| 


generally be adequately accounted for by the uranium 
alone. 

It is easy to calculate the relative rates at which 
uranium and thorium generate their final products, 
and assuming that the latter are isotopic, to express a 
given amount of thorium in terms of uranium, and so 
to arrive at a ‘“‘total equivalent quantity of uranium,” 
U,, which also takes thorium into consideration. If 
then lead is, chemically speaking, the final product of 
thorium as well as that of uranium, the ratio Pb/U, 
ought to be constant for minerals of the same age, 
and ought to vary in sympathy with the ages if these 
should differ. I have examined a large number of 
analyses of radio-active minerals from this point of 
view, and neither of the above criteria is found to 
hold. In many cases a large percentage of thorium 
may be present, but unless uranium is also present, 
lead is nearly always absent. In the few examples 
where lead and thorium occur alone, the ratio Pb/Th 
is variable and bears no relation to the geological age 
of the minerals. 

However, more fully to demonstrate the bearing of 
evidence of this kind on the problem, Mr. R. W. Law- 
son, of the Radium Institute, Vienna, and myself are 
at present estimating the thorium content of a series 
of Norwegian minerals of Devonian age which had 
already been analysed for lead and uranium (Proc. 
Roy. Soc., A, vol. Ixxxv., p. 248, 1911). Other workers 
are busily engaged on determinations of the atomic 
weights of the lead from uranium and thorium bear- 
ing minerals respectively, and there is therefore some 
likelihood in the near future ot a final settlement of the 
question whether lead is an end-product of thorium or 
not. ARTHUR HOLMEs. 

Geological Department, Imperial College of 

Science, London, March 18. 


Thermions and the Origin of Solar and Terrestrial 
Magnetism. 


PREVALENT opinion seems to favour decidedly the 
hypothesis that the chief part of the magnetism of 
the earth or sun is due to the rotation of all, or a 
considerable portion of, the matter of which it is 
constituted. Theories of the magnetisation of matter 
by rotation fall into two classes: one (a) assuming 
that the substance is magnetic but not necessarily 
charged, the other (b) assuming that the substance 
is charged but not necessarily magnetic. 

(a) If the matter is magnetic, consisting of mole- 
cular systems with individual magnetic moments 
differing from zero, rotation about a given axis will, 
on the electron theory, produce a torque on each indi- 
vidual system, causing it to contribute a magnetic 
moment parallel to the axis of rotation, and thus 
magnetising the whole body, if originally neutral, 
along this axis. 

(b) Gravitation, or electrical forces, acting differen- 
tially on the positive and negative constituents of the 
matter, or differential centrifugal action, or some other 
cause, may give rise to a volume-density of electrifica- 
tion throughout the mass of a rotating body, in which 
case magnetisation, or at least a magnetic field, must 
result from the convection currents thus formed. 

The particular kinds of differential action just men- 
tioned have been proposed before, but I have seen no 
reference to the fact that an essentially steady electric 
volume-density must long ago have been produced by 


| the emission of negative electrons from the heated 


matter of which the earth and sun are composed, and 
the resulting internal electric field. As the emission in- 
creases with the temperature, which increases from 
the surface inward, it is clear that the volume-density 
must be of the proper size to account for the polarity 


of solar and terrestrial magnetism. 


TIO 


NATURE 


[APRIL 2, IQ14 


It seems probable that both classes of effects are 
involved in the actual magnetisation in question, 
though experiment has shown that any effect of 
class (a) is at least exceedingly minute unless the 
magnetic behaviour of the interior parts of the earth 
and sun is quite different from that of matter at 
ordinary temperatures on the surface of the earth. 

S. J. Barnett. 

The Ohio State University, Columbus, 

Ohio, U.S.A., March 12. 


A Triangle that gives the Area and Circumference of 
any Circle, and the Diameter of a Circle equal in 
Area to any given Square. 


Ir is not possible to measure exactly the intermin- 
able fraction required for the line BZ in the following 
figure, but it is quite easy to draw it so nearly that 
the error is practically immensurable. 

First Method.—Draw a line AB=44, 


BZ=22. 


AY will then be short, about 1 in 600,000. 
AX will also be short, about 1 in 300,000. 


and make 


ao a 
“2 =0-5227272, which is a little too long. 


Second Method (with the familiar ratio 333 Make 

I 
a circle with diameter AB=11-3, and let AX=82. Draw 
a perpendicular from X to cut the circle in Y. Join 


AY, and continue the line to Z. 

Then the error in AX, the + circumference, will be 
less than I in 11,780,000 in excess. 

The true angle for the line AZ lies between the lines 
found by the two methods, but the difference is too 
small for measurement, and in any accurate drawing 
the lines will appear to coincide. 

AX being found, equal to an are of 90°, a line for 
any other arc may be found; and the triangle once 
drawn on a sufficiently large scale, is true for all 
circles. 


Z 


ae 


ap if) 


® 


Let AB=1, and at right angles | oe eee 
BZ =0'§227232008 +, join AZ | Bngle A- 27" (35 Ova 


Then, any circle with diameter upon AB and one 
extremity at A, willcut the line AZ (or AZ produced) in 
a point Y, making AY the side of a square equal in 
area to the circle. 

Also, a line from Y perpendicular to AB will cut 
the diameter in a point X, making AX equal to 
x circumference of the circle. 

Again, any square with base upon AB and a corner 
at A, will, with its side opposite to A, cut AZ in a 
point Y, making AY the diameter of an equal circle. 

T. M. P. Huenes. 

5 The Croft, Tenby. 


Tue following remarks may help to explain Mr. 
Hughes’s constructions :— ; 

Let AY be a chord of a circle of which AD is a 
diameter, and let 2 DAY=6. Then if the square on 
AY equals the area of the circle, (2r cos 6)?=7r2, and 
therefore cos ?0=7/4, tan ?6=(4—7)/z, and 

tan 6=0-5227232, 


very nearly, as stated. Now if 
NO, '2318,. VOL. 192)| 


we express this 


approximate value of tan@ as an ordinary continued 
fraction we find the successive convergents, 


1/ Ip, 1/25. 10/20, tales, 23 Aneto, 

where the first of those not written has four digits in 
numerator and denominator. Hence, as Mr. Hughes 
has discovered, 23/44 is a very close approximation 
to the transcendent number /(4—7)/¥z. It seems 
absurd to speak of a mathematical accident, but we 
do seem to have something of the kind here. Suppos- 
ing that a/b is a _ rational approximation to 
V(4—7)/z, we should not expect beforehand a solu- 
tion correct within about 4-10-° for values of a, b, 
each less than 100. 

The second construction is obtained by putting, as 
an approximation, 

AX: AD =7/4=355/4:113,=710/ 5-119 —=65/00-3- 

It would be easy to make a set-square with its 
shorter sides in the ratio 23:44, and this could be 
used for the approximate quadrature and rectification 
of any given circle. It is interesting to see how the 
same figure solves both problems to the same degree 
of exactness (practically). I suppose the error in the 
set-square could be reduced to o-1 per cent., or less; 
the question is, what percentage of error is likely to 
occur in using it. For the rectification we have to 
draw the perpendicular YX; it seems to me that for 
the quadrature we are likely to obtain the most 
accurate results by using a straight edge as well as 
the set-square; that is to say, we should not try to 
adjust the set-square without first placing a straight 
edge along a diameter of the circle. If this is so, the 
graphical solutions of both problems are likely to be 
affected by the same percentage of error; because to 
obtain X, after marking Y, we have only to slide the 
set-square along the straight edge until a shorter side 
goes through Y; and if we repeat the manipulation 
several times, I do not think the error in finding X, 
regarded as a distance from the true position, can be 
so much as five times the error in finding Y, or con- 
versely. Of course, by ‘‘the same percentage of error” 
I mean here that the two errors, on the same scale, 
are of the orders +a:10-", +b-10-", where a, b both 
lie above 1, while neither of them is equal to, or 
exceeds, 5. G. B. MatHews. 


New Units in Aerology. 


WirtH reference to Prof. McAdie’s letter in NATURE 
of March 19, p. 58, I should like to point out that 
throughout my ‘‘ Thermodynamics,” published in 1878, 
a megadyne per square centimetre is used as the unit 
of pressure, and it is termed a c.g.s. atmosphere. 
Ever since 1888, when the B.A. committee (of which 
I was a member), adopted the barad, I have employed 
in my lectures the above pressure unit under the name 
of megabarad. The corresponding unit of work, and 
also of heat, adopted in the book is the megalerg. 
Megerg to my ear is too cacophonous for use. 

Ropert E. Baynes. 

Christ Church, Oxford, March 25. 


PROGRESS IN WIRELESS TELEPHONY. 


As: attention of telephonic engineers has of 
late years been very closely directed to the 
improvement of the line wire in ordinary tele- 
phony. Apart from the imperfections of the tele- 
phone transmitter and receiver, per se, a very 
considerable effect is produced on the transmitted 
speech by the line itself if it is at all long. This 
action, from an electrical point of view, consists 


in the distortion of the wave form of the current 


orca aoe OF 


APRIL 2, 1914] 


NATURE 


III 


as it travels along the cable, and its rapid attenua- 
tion or diminution in amplitude. 

When speech is uttered to the mouthpiece of 
the transmitter, the current flowing into the line 
is modulated in a complicated manner, but this 
variation in virtue of Fourier’s theorem can be 
analysed into the sum of a number of currents 
of simple harmonic or sine wave form placed in 
certain relative phases and having certain ampli- 
tudes. The velocity W, with which any simple 
harmonic current travels along a cable having a 
resistance R ohms, an inductance of L henrys, a 
capacity of C farads, and a dielectric leakance of 
S mhos per unit of length, provided that the 
quantities R/pL and S/pC are small compared 
with unity, can easily be shown to be expressed 
by the formula: 


I I 
VGE S \2 
/ 14 oe ae) 
where p=2m7 times the frequency. 

Accordingly, the greater the frequency, the 
greater will be the wave velocity. In other words, 
short waves travel faster than long. The short 
waves, having also the least energy, attenuate 
most rapidly. 

The result of this is that in the case of tele- 
phony along wires the different harmonic constitu- 
ents of the current get out of step, and degrade 
unequally. Hence the wave form, and _ the 
quality of the received sound, is altered after 
the wave has travelled a certain distance along 
the wire or cable. The result-is to diminish the 
loudness and reduce the clearness of the speech 
heard. Therefore, beyond a certain distance the 
articulate sound becomes unintelligible. 

On the other hand, it is well known that the 
velocity of electromagnetic waves through space 
is independent of the wave length, and there is, 
therefore, in this respect a marked difference 
between the transmission of electromagnetic 
waves guided along wires, and free electromag- 
netic waves diverging through space. As soon 
as the telephonic or aural method of receiving 
Morse signals in wireless telegraphy was substi- 
tuted for the method of employing some form of 
coherer as a relay to actuate a Morse inker print- 
ing them in dot and dash on paper tape, the sug- 
gestion was made that it might be possible to 
transmit articulate speech by space electromag- 
netic waves, and not merely Morse signals com- 
posed of long and short sounds; and hence to 
conduct a wireless or lineless telephony. 

It was at once recognised that before this could 
be done it would be necessary to provide a gene- 
rator of electromagnetic waves giving truly con- 
tinuous waves, and not merely intermittent groups 
or trains of rapidly decadent waves. The dis- 
covery of the power of the continuous current arc 
between carbon electrodes to create high-frequency 
oscillations in a condenser circuit connected be- 
tween the carbons, held out hopes of making such 
a generator. It was not, however, until Poulsen 
discovered the peculiar properties of an electric arc 
formed in hydrogen or coal gas to enable very 


WO. 2316,) VOL. 93/| 


W= 


bole > ae 
high-frequency oscillations to be so generated that 


progress began to be made. The Poulsen arc- 
generator consists, as is well known, of a direct- 
current arc formed with an electromotive force 
of about 500 volts between a carbon and a copper 
electrode in an atmosphere of hydrogen or coal 
gas. A strong transverse magnetic field is also 
applied to the arc. An inductive circuit, con- 
sisting of a coil of wire having in series with it 
a capacity, the capacity and inductance being so 
adjusted that the natural frequency of this oscil- 
lation circuit is not less than about 50,000, or 
preferably much higher, even up to 250,000, is 
then connected between the carbon and copper 
electrodes. Powerful continuous electric oscilla- 
tions are then set up in this condenser circuit. 
These oscillations can be made to set up similar 
oscillations in an open radiative circuit or antenna, 
which is inductively connected with the condenser 
circuit, as in the case of an ordinary wireless 
telegraph transmitter. 

In this manner continuous or uninterrupted elec- 
tric waves of a wave length which is anything 
between 1 and 4 or 5 miles, can be radiated 
from the aerial wire. The reason the hydrogen 
or coal gas is effective in enabling the arc to 
create more powerful high-frequency oscillations 


is that it increases the steepness of the character- 


istic or volt-ampere curve of the arc, and hence 
increases the energy which is conveyed to the 
condenser at each oscillation. 

To transmit speech we have then to modify 
the amplitude of these radiated continuous electric 
waves sent oat from the sending station antenna 
in accordance with the wave form of the speaking 
voice. This is done usually by some form of 
carbon microphone inserted in the base of the 
sending station antenna. When the diaphragm 
of the microphone is acted upon by the voice, the 
carbon granules in it are more or less compressed, 
and the electrical resistance thereby altered. If 
then the high-frequency current in the antenna is 
made to pass through this microphone, the ampli- 
tude of the radiated continuous waves will be 
varied by making speech to the microphone, in 
such a way as to create waves upon waves, or to 
alter the wave amplitude in accordance with the 
wave form of the speaking voice. 

At the receiving end all the arrangements are 
identical with those required in wireless tele- 
graphy when using a telephone and rectifier of 
some kind to receive audible Morse signals. The 
receiving antenna is coupled to a closed condenser 
circuit, and to the terminals of this condenser is 
attached a Bell receiving telephone in circuit with 
some oscillation rectifier, such as a crystal or 
constant detector, viz., carborundum, perikon, 
or zincite-chalcopyrite, or an ionised gas rectifier 
such as a Fleming glow-lamp valve. The tele- 
phone is then not affected by the rectified con- 
tinuous oscillations per se, but it is affected by 
the variations in their amplitude produced by the 
microphone in the transmitter circuits. 

Audible and intelligible speech can thus be re- 
produced at the receiving end. The limitations 


| that present themselves in this transmission are 


roe2 


NAPORE 


[APRIL 2, Tora 


wholly connected with the creation and modula- 
tion of the electric waves emitted by the sending 
station, and chiefly due to the difficulty of design- 
ing a microphone which can carry a sufficiently 
large current without heating. An additional 
trouble is that of devising a generator which shall 
be as simple and easily managed as that of a 
wireless telegraph plant. 

As regards the microphone, most workers have 
employed a number of carbon microphones joined 
in parallel so as to enable a high-frequency an- 
tenna current of, say, 4 or 5 amperes to be passed 
through them without overheating any one. It 
is not easy, however, to divide the current equally 
between the microphones, or to keep them abso- 
lutely in step with each other. Another type is the 
liquid microphone of Majorana, and of Vanni. In 
Dr. Vanni’s microphone a jet of water rendered 
slightly conducting by acid or salts is allowed to 
fall on a fixed inclined metal plate, B, and then 


Fic. 


1.—The liquid microphone of Dr. J. Vanni. 


bounces off on to another inclined metal plate, A, 
which is in mechanical or electrical connection 
with the diaphragm of a speaking mouthpiece (see 
Figs. 1 and 2). Speech, therefore, made to it 
sets the last-named plate vibrating, and thus 
breaks up and varies the resistance of the film or 
column of liquid connecting the two plates. 
Hence, if this liquid column is in the circuit of 
the transmitting antenna, any speech made to the 
diaphragm will vary the electrical resistance in 
the antenna circuit, and change in a_ similar 
manner the amplitude of the. radiated electric 
waves. 

W. Dubilier has also invented a water-cooled 
carbon granule microphone, the main diaphragm 
being moved by the current through a relay 
microphone to which the speech is actually made. 
This microphone can pass 700 watts with clear 
articulation (see Fig. 3). Then with regard to 
generators, a good many modifications of the arc 
generator have been produced. The Moretti are 


NO. 2318, VOL. 93] 


consists of a copper tube kept supplied with water, 
and another copper rod is brought down so as to 
strike the arc against the water. When the arc 
is formed with a continuous current, and is also 
shunted as above described with a condenser 
inductive circuit, high-frequency oscillations are 
set up in the latter. There is a very rapid extinc- 
tion and re-ignition of the arc, possibly due to 
some action like that in the Wehnelt interrupter. 
The writer of this article has also devised recently 
a new form of are generator which requires no 
transverse magnetic field, nor supply of hydrogen 
or coal gas, as in the Poulsen apparatus. We 
have, then, in addition, the high-frequency alter- 
nator method of creating the oscillations. Fessen- 
den experimented at one time very largely with 
such machines, devising a form of Mordey alter- 
nator which could give a frequency of 80,000 or 
100,000. The invention by R. Goldschmidt of a 
means of multiplying frequency by means of a 


Fic. 2.—Arrangements for circulating the liquid by a rotary pump R 
in Vanni's microphone. 


rotating field alternator made a new departure. 
By this machine high-frequency continuous oscil- 
lations are mechanically created, and their ampli- 
tude can be controlled by a microphone placed in 
the exciting circuit of the machine, so that it is 
not traversed by the main current. 

Furthermore, we have the high speed, smooth 
disc generator of Mr. Marconi as a means of 
creating undamped oscillations, and, in addition, 
a telephonic transmitter has been invented by him 
which has not yet been described in detail, but 
was mentioned by him in a recent lecture in Rome. 
It is known that he has recently directed his 
attention closely to invention in connection with 
wireless telephony. 

It is also possible to employ spark discharges 
of a very high spark-frequency, above the limit of 
audition, as a means of creating what are prac- 
tically unintermittent: oscillations, the separate 
trains of oscillations being practically in contact 
with each other. This method depends upon the 


SOO SA OD 


APRIL 2, 1914| NAT OLE iG 


self-extinguishing power of electric arcs produced | frequency alternation it is said that a small 
between certain’ metals which are good conduc- | variation in the exciting current will produce 
tors, such as aluminium and copper. If a pile of | very large variations in the amplitude of the 
plates of these metals with very small air-gaps is | radiated waves. Hence the microphone can 
built up, and a high electromotive force applied | be placed in the excitation circuit, and need 
to it, discharges will take place, or small arcs | only have a current-passing capacity of a 


which, when the discharger is shunted by a con- | few amperes to be able to modulate a_ radia- 
denser, can generate high-frequency oscillations. | tion representing a very large horse-power. 
By the aid of these appliances, their inventors and | To transmit articulate speech across the 
other workers have conducted wireless telephony | Atlantic will necessitate the power of varying 
up to a distance of 1000 kilometres, or, say, five | the amplitude of continuous wave radiation repre- 


hundred or six hundred miles. | senting at least 50 or 100 horse-power. This must 

Thus, Dr. J. Vanni, working at Rome, and | be done by means of some microphone which 
using a Moretti arc generator, his own liquid | passes not more than, say, 10 amperes. These 
microphone, and a form of Fleming oscillation | conditions are not impossible of attainment. 
valve as a receiver, has transmitted and received | Hence Transatlantic wireless telephony may be 
articulate speech between Rome and: the Island | said to be within the range of practical politics, 
of Ponza (120 km.), to Maddalena (260 km.), to | whilst no improvements yet made in submarine 


Fic. 3.—Dubilier water-cooled large current microphone. 


Palermo (420 km.), to Vittoria (600 km.), and telephonic cables hold out hope of being able 
finally between Rome and Tripoli, a distance of | within any reasonable time to speak through an 


1ooo km. Atlantic cable. 

The speech is said to have been clear and singu- The subject of wireless telephony is, therefore, 
larly free from evidence of distortion of wave one which holds out much promise for future 
form. In addition to this, successful experi- achievement, and it is not surprising that it is 
ments in wireless telephony are said to have been attracting the attention of some of the leading 
conducted between Berlin and Vienna, a distance workers in radiotelegraphy. J. A. FLEMING. 
of 375 miles, by the Telefunken Company. The 
stations were the German high-power station at A BIRD WITH A HISTORY.! 


Nauen, to the west of Potsdam, and a receiving 
station on the roof of the Technological and In- 
dustrial Museum at Vienna. The experiments 
were sO promising that it is expected much 
greater distances can be covered. A very invit- 
ing field of work seems to | ening out in : ara Us 

S . . Rae 2 history, at times among the publications of 
connection with the alternator method of genera- it cit ; ‘ : li 
4 =e " ; 3 é 1 ‘‘The Gannet: A Bird with a History.” By J. H. Gurney. Pp. lit+ 
tion. With a suitably designed Goldschmidt high- __ .67+plates. (London: Witherby and Co., 1913.) Price 27s. 6d. net. 


NO. 2318, VOL. 93] 


WELL-KNOWN ornithologist here gives us 

the fruits of many years of careful study 
devoted to a single species. His study has been 
diverse: at times it has lain among etymological 
dictionaries and curious old works on_ natural 


modern scientific societies and technical ana- 
tomical descriptions, and again in the open air 
on those rocky islets where the birds congregate 
in their thousands during the months of the long 
nesting season. 

It is not every bird that deserves to be made 
the subject of a handsome and expensive mono- 
graph, but the gannet, as our author shows, 
makes more than ordinary claims on the interest 
and attention of the naturalist. And it is only 
just that a British naturalist should be the his- 
torian in this case, for of the fifteen breeding 


localities of the gannet, no fewer than nine lie 
off the coasts of our islands. Moreover, of the 


TOI ,O0O 


population of 


estimated total gannet 


Gannets‘on the Bass Rock. From ‘‘The Gannet: a Bird with a History.” 
birds (exclusive of nestlings), 75,000 are allotted 
to these nine haunts. The British colonies are 
Lundy Island (recently abandoned); Grasholm, off 
Pembrokeshire; the Little Skellig and the Bull 
Rock, off the south-west of Ireland; Ailsa Craig, 
in the Firth of Clyde; St. Kilda (three colonies) ; 
Sulisgeir, to the north of the Lewis; the Stack 
of Sule Skerry, to the west of Orkney; and the 
Bass Rock. In the Feer6es there is a colony on 
Myggenes, while off Iceland there are colonies 
in the Vestmann Islands and the Eldey group, 
and a very small one on Grimsey, which is on 
the north coast, and lies within the Arctic Circle. 
Across the Atlantic there are colonies on Bona- 
venture and the Bird Rocks, in the estuary of 
the St. Lawrence; while there, as here, former 
sites, long since abandoned, are also known. 


NO. 723 16,1 VOL. 93) 


NATURE 


eee eee 
——_————_—_— 


[APRIL 2, 1914 
Mr. Gurney points out that these colonies, 
without exception, are on rocky islands, and that 
no mainland site, past or present, is anywhere 
known. Furthermore, the great majority of 


those on this side of the Atlantic lie off westerly 


coasts; the Bass Rock is, indeed, the only British 
exception. Apart from these points, there is an 
interest even in the purely statistical side of the 
careful census, which Mr. Gurney has been able 
to make. There are few species the numbers of 
which can be estimated even approximately, and 
the figures given in this volume should form an 
interesting basis for comparison in the future. 
The book opens with a discussion of the vari- 
ous vernacular and_ scientific names which the 
species has received: “both “Ygannet 7 Yard 
“solan” are dealt with at length. Then come 


} many interesting pages quoting historical refer- 


ences to the gannet, illustrated by quaint figures 
taken from the works of the early naturalists. 
The species is justly called “A Bird with a 
History.” 

Mr. Gurney devotes a chapter to each of the 
important colonies, and shows personal familiarity 
with them in many cases, and an _ exhaustive 
knowledge of their literature in all. History is 
then left for a discussion of the general habits 


1 of the gannet, its nidification and incubation, the 


growth of its nestling, its food and its manner 
of fishing, its powers of diving and its seasonal 
movements, and many another question. Nor is 
its relation to man neglected—its effect on 
fisheries and its use as food. Finally, the 
plumage, osteology, and general anatomy are 
discussed, and appendices are added dealing with 
its allies, its parasites, its fossil remains, and 
the like. 

We may note the omission from the _ biblio- 
graphy of Mr. Kirkman’s recent important con- 
tribution (“The British Bird Book”) to the study 
of the gannet’s habits, but Mr. Gurney has missed 
little that throws light on the interesting bird 
which he has made the object of enthusiastic and 
fruitful study. Many useful maps and beautiful 
photographs are scattered throughout the work. 

A aie 


DR. G.. J. BURGH TRS: 


{EW men of science have had such a varied 
career as Dr. George James Burch, whose death 
we announced with regret last week. Born in 
1852, he went in 1873 to Cheshunt College to 
study for the Nonconformist ministry, and in due 
course became a minister first at Leeds, and later 
at Oxford. But at Oxford his duties became to 
some extent uncongenial to him, and this fact, 
coupled with a very bad breakdown in health, 
induced him to give up his pastorate, and take 
up the study of science for which he always had 
a natural inclination. He was hampered by 
pecuniary difficulties which would have deterred 
most men from such a course, and only by the 
most heroic struggles could he and his newly- 


APRIL 2, 1914] 


NATURE 


115 


married wife keep their heads above water. As 
a means of livelihood he worked for six hours 
every day on the subject catalogue at the Bod- 
leian Library, and only after this work was over 
was he free to study Chemistry for his Oxford 
degree course. In spite of this double call on 
his time, he found opportunity to carry out re- 
search, and in 1886 he began his work on the 
capillary electrometer with the late Sir John (then 
Dr.) Burdon Sanderson, the Professor of Physio- 
logy. From 1887 onwards they did a good deal 
of electro-physiological work together, the 
mechanical details of the apparatus used being 
gradually improved by Burch until the final-present 
day form was evolved. 

Burch also worked out a method for analysing 
the electrometer curves, and in December, 1887, 
wished to publish an account of his discoveries. 
Burdon Sanderson, who was always cautious 
about committing himself, dissuaded him from 
doing so: hence a description of the method was 
not actually published until 1r890, when Einthoven 
independently described his method, and so de- 
prived Burch of some of the credit of the dis- 
covery. In 1892 Burch published a more elaborate 
paper on the time relations of the excursions of 
the capillary electrometer in the Philosophical 
Transactions of the Royal Society, and other 
papers were published later in the Proceedings 
of the society. 

Meanwhile, Burch in 1891 took up lecturing 
under the Oxford University Extension Delegacy, 
and in 1892 he became lecturer, afterwards pro- 
fessor, of Physics at University College, Reading. 
He still lived in Oxford, and went backwards and 
forwards to his work daily. This was a great 
strain on his health, so that in 1909 he broke 
down and had to resign his position, though he 
continued to teach in Oxford. 

In the last eighteen years of his life Burch 
devoted most of his spare time to research in 
colour vision. Among his observations regard- 
ing the physiology of vision were a number 
bearing on the vexed problem of colour sensa- 
tions. He was a convinced adherent of the 
Young theory of colour sense. He _ subjected 
himself to a series of severe experiments in which 
the eye was fatigued to certain colours by pro- 
longed intense stimulation by appropriate parts 
of the prismatic spectrum, and the alteration in 
the colour of other parts of the spectrum when 
observed by the fatigued eye was examined. He 
supplied an interesting memorandum on this 
subject to the’ Board of Trade Committee on 
Sight Tests three years ago. A small book pre- 
senting a practical course of instruction in visual 
physiology embodied the class-work he conducted 
in the subject at the Physiological Laboratory 
at Oxford. It is not only extremely lucid, as was 
everything he wrote, but is stri:kingly original in 
scope and treatment, and contains a number of 
exercises, as, for instance, one on the measure- 
ment of visual acuity, devised entirely by the 
author. His combination of first-hand knowledge 
of physical and physiological experimentation 


NOIZ376, VOLS 93 | 


fitted him to a degree which is quite exceptional 
for success in this branch of scientific study. 

Dr. Burch was elected a Fellow of the Royal 
Society in 1goo. ee DING 


PROG wGs MOM IN CAIN, FiRAS: 


HE death of Prof. George M. Minchin, F.R.S., 

oa March 16, at sixty-eight years of age, 
has deprived science of an earnest and versatile 
investigator, and a wide circle of friends of a 
companion who will be greatly missed. Always 
active in body and alert in mind, Prof. Minchin 
caught the fire of life with both hands, and con- 
veyed its benefits to all around him. 

Prof. Minchin was appointed to the chair of 
mathematics in the Royal Indian Engineering Col- 
lege, Coopers. Hill, in 1875, when he was in his 
twenty-ninth year; and he remained at the College 
until it closed, when he removed to Oxford, where 
he died. He took a leading part in the movement 
for the improvement of geometrical teaching in 
schools; and his little book ‘‘Geometry for Be- 
ginners’’ published in 1898, was an_early and 
very favourable specimen of the methods of the 
reforming party. He was also the author of 
works on “ Statics,” “‘ Uniplanar Kinematics,” and 
‘“Hydrostatics ”; and his treatment of all these 
subjects was original and distinctive. Less well 
known in scientific circles, perhaps, except among 
his friends, is a little volume of verse and prose 
entitled ‘Nature Veritas’ published in 1887. 
His skill in writing verse was of no mean quality ; 
anda humorous example of it will be found in 
Nature of April 14, 1898, in a poem entitled 
“Balnibarbian Glumtrap Rhyme.” He was a 
lover of good English; ‘and this regard for the 
purity of the language made his many contribu- 
tions to our columns clear in expression as well 
as authoritative in opinion. 

Probably the work by which Prof. Minchin will 
best be remembered is that on photo-electricity 
and selenium cells. He began his experiments on 
these subjects in 1877, and was led by them to the 
discovery of many interesting phenomena. He 
observed that electric currents are produced by the 
action of light on silver plates coated with col- 
lodion or gelatin emulsions of bromide, chloride, 
iodide or other silver salts, or with eosin, fluor- 
escein, or other aniline dyes, when the plates were 
immersed in a suitable liquid and one plate was 
illuminated while the other was screened. In 
1891 he exhibited these cells to the Physical 
Society, and also cells made by spreading melted 
selenium on metal plates and immersing them in 
liquids together with an uncoated plate. He 
found that some cells, termed by him ‘‘impulsion 
cells,” had their sensitiveness altered by slight 
impulses or taps, and also by electro-magnetic 
impulses, such as are given by electric sparks or 
a Hertz oscillator at a distance; so that the cells 
embodied the principle of the coherer used for 
the reception of Hertzian waves. 


The form of photo-electric cell afterwards 


NATURE 


[APRIL 2, 1914 


116 
adopted by Prof. Minchin consisted of two 
selenium-coated aluminium wires dipping into 
certain solutions. His ‘* Seleno-aluminium 


Bridges,” described in a paper to the Royal 
Society in May, 1908, consisted of two plates of 
aluminium separated by a very thin flake of mica 
and having a thin layer of sensitive (or conducting) 
selenium spread across one edge of the mica and 
the two adjacent portions of the aluminium plates. 
This further development of his photo-electric 
work was carried out in the electrical laboratory 
at Oxtond: 

Prof. Minchin’s application of selenium cells to 
the measurement of starlight was a notable ex- 
tension of his experiments. In 1894, in conjunc- 
tion with Mr. W. E. Wilson, he used his cells to 
obtain measurable electro-motive forces from the 
light of planets and stars; and he was thus able 
to determine the relative intensities of the light of 
Jupiter, Venus and Sirius. Shortly afterwards, 
an improvement in the construction of the cells 
enabled measurements to be made of the E.M.F.’s 
of the light of Vega, Arcturus, Regulus, Procyon 
and other stars. A comparison of the results 
obtained by photo-electric measures with those of 
photometric measures of stellar magnitude showed 
close conformity. 

Prof. Minchin was an M.A. of Dublin and a 
member of Queen’s College, Oxford. He was 
elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1895, and 
his many friends within the society and without 
join with the widow and his» two children in sym- 
pathetic sorrow that the finger of death has 
touched one who was so rich in the physical and 
intellectual attributes of life. 


NOTES. 


WE announce with deep regret the death on March 
30, in his sixty-second year, of Prof. J. H. Poynting, 
F.R.S., professor of physics in the University of 
Birmingham. 


PRINCE ARTHUR OF CONNAUGHT has been elected a 
fellow of the Royal Society, under the statute which 
provides for the election of Princes of the Blood Royal. 


WE record with regret the announcement of the 
death on March 30, in his sixty-fifth year, of the 
Hon. Rollo Russell, author of a number of works on 
meteorology and other scientific subjects. 


Tue death is announced, at eighty-one years of age, 
of Mr. G. Sharman, for more than forty years 
paleontologist to H.M. Geological Survey at the Geo- 
logical Museum, Jermyn Street, London. 


A HANDSOME brass tablet to the memory of Captain 
Scott and the southern party of the British Antarctic 
Expedition was unveiled at St. George’s Chapel Royal, 
Naval Barracks, Chatham, on March 29, by Admiral 
Sir Richard Poore, Commander-in-Chief at the Nore, 
and dedicated by Archdeacon H. S. Wood, Chaplain 
of the Fleet. 


Dr. C. H. Brownine has been appointed first 
director of the new Institute of Pathology of the 


NO. 23198; VOL: 63] 


Middlesex Hospital, which has been erected as the 
gift of Sir J. Bland-Sutton at a cost of between 
15,0001. and: 20,0001. Dr. Browning is at present 
director of the clinical research laboratories in con- 
nection with the University of Glasgow. 


A STRONG committee, with the Speaker as president, 
has been formed in Cumberland, according to the 
Times of March 27, with the object of affording pro- 
tection to the local fauna. Wherever possible tracts 
of natural ground will be set apart as ‘reserves, one 
such tract, Kingmoor, near Carlisle, having been 
already secured. A ‘‘watchers’ fund,” to provide 
keepers for such reserves, is being formed, and a close 
watch is to be kept on nesting ravens, peregrines, and 
buzzards throughout the county. 


In the Times of March 27 attention is directed to 
the lateness of the arrival in this country of spring 
migratory birds. This lateness is specially notable in 
regard to a great spring flight of immigrants from 
Central Europe, which, as recorded by a Norfolk 
correspondent in the same journal a few days pre- 
viously, reached Yarmouth on March 11. In normal 
seasons such flights are usually over by the beginning 
of the month. A partial explanation may be found 
in the great drop in temperature which occurred on 
the Continent between March to and March 11, when 
there was a fall of 13° in the minimum. 


Tue President of the Local Government Board has 
authorised the following special researches to be paid 
for out of the annual grant in aid of scientific inves- 
tigations concerning the causes and _ processes of 
disease :—(1) An investigation by Dr. Eardley Holland 
into the causes of still-births; (2) a continuation of the 
Board’s inquiry into the cellular contents of milk, by 
Prof. Sims Woodhead; (3) a continuation of the 
Board’s inquiry into the causes of premature arterial 
degeneration, by Dr. F. W. Andrewes; (4) an inves- 
tigation by Dr. M. H. Gordon and Dr. A. E. Gow 
into the etiology of epidemic diarrhoea in children. 
Announcement of further investigations will be made 
at a later date. 


A wisH has been expressed in many quarters that 
the distinguished services which Prof. Charles Lap- 
worth, F.R.S., has rendered to geology should be 
commemorated in some permanent manner. The 
council of the Vesey Club, Sutton Coalfield, of which 
Prof. Lapworth has been a vice-president for more 
than twenty-five years, proposes to make a donation 
from the funds of the club towards such a memorial, 
and to enable members of the club who desire to be 
identified personally with the project to participate 
also, a small committee has been appointed to collect 
subscriptions. The amount subscribed by members 
will be handed over in one sum with a list of names 
only of subscribers. Donations may be sent to Mr. 
H. H. Sherwood, tog Colmore Row, Birmingham. 


In honour of the memory of the late Henri Poin- 
caré, and in order that his name may be associated 
with a fund for the encouragement of research in 
science, the president of the Institute of France, on 
behalf of the institute, is inaugurating an international 


APRIL 2, 1914| 


subscription with the approval of the family, friends, 
and admirers of the great French mathematician. It 
is proposed to arrange for a medal with Poincaré’s 
portrait inscribed on it, and to secure a fund, the pro- 
ceeds of which will be employed to encourage and 
assist young men of science engaged in those branches 
of knowledge with which Poincaré’s name is chiefly 
associated. Donations may be sent to M. Ernest 
Lebon, secretary and treasurer, 4bis Rue des Ecoles, 
Patis, V., 


THE tragic death of the late Dr. H. O. Jones and 
his wife in the Alps in August, 1912, was recorded in 
these columns at the time (vol. Ixxxix., p. 638). We 
note with interest that a tablet bearing the following 
inscription has been placed on the walls of Lewis’s 
School, Pengam :—‘‘In affectionate remembrance of 
Humphrey Owen Jones, M.A., D.Sc., F.R.S., Fellow 
of Clare College, Cambridge. A distinguished worker 
in the field of physical chemistry—a former pupil of 
the school—who while on his honeymoon in the Alps 
was killed with his wife by falling from the Aiguille 
Rouge de Peteret on the 15th August, fg12, at the 
age of 34 years. This tablet is by the staff, boys, and 
friends of Lewis’s School sorrowfully inscribed.” In 
memory of his wife (whose maiden name was Muriel 
Edwards), who was a distinguished student of the 
University College of North Wales, a fund of about 
vol. has been raised by her fellow-students and handed 
over to the college to found a ‘Muriel Edwards’s 
Prize’’ for distinction in chemistry or physics. 


THE annual general meeting of the Ray Society was 
held on March 26; the ‘president, Prof.’ W. C. 
McIntosh, in the chair. The report of the council 
commenced with an appreciative notice of the late 
president, Lord Avebury, and an expression of regret 
at his death, and stated that three volumes, a ‘‘ Biblio- 
graphy of the Tunicata,”’ by the secretary, and vols. i. 
and ii. of the ‘‘ British Parasitic Copepoda,” by T. 
and A. Scott, for 1912 and 1913, had been issued 
during the past year; that the volumes for the present 
year would be vol. iii. of the ‘‘ British Freshwater 
‘Rhizopoda,” by G. H. Wailes, and vol. v. of the 
‘‘ British Desmidiacee,’”’ by W. and G. S. West; and 
that the issue for 1915 would be vol. iii., part 1, of 
the ‘‘ British Marine Annelids,’’ by the president. The 
account of income and expenditure showed that the 
finances of the society were satisfactory... Prof. 
McIntosh was re-elected president, Dr. DuCane God- 
man treasurer, and Mr. John Hopkinson secretary. 


Tue following are the lecture arrangements at the 
Royal Institution, after Easter :—Dr. W. Wahl, two 
lectures on problems of physical chemistry; Prof. W. 
Bateson, two lectures on (1) double flowers, (2) the 
present state of evolutionary theory; Prof. D’Arcy W. 
Thompson, two lectures on natural history in the 
classics; Prof. A. Fowler, two lectures on celestial 
spectroscopy : experimental investigations in connec- 
tion with the spectra of the sun, stars, and comets; 
Prof. Svante Arrhenius, three lectures on identity of 
laws in general and biological chemistry; Prof. Sil- 
vanus P. Thompson, two lectures on Faraday and 
the foundations of electrical engineering; Dr. T. E. 


NO. 2318, VOL. 93] 


NATURE 


WEF 

Stanton, two lectures on similarity of motion in fluids ; 
Prof. C. J. Patten, two lectures on bird migration; 
Prof. J. W. Gregory, two lectures on (1) fiords and 
their origin, (2) fiords and earth movements. The 
Friday evening meetings wiil be resumed on April 24, 
when the Astronomer Royal, Dr. F. W. Dyson, will 
deliver a discourse on the stars around the north pole. 
Succeeding discourses wili probably be given by Prof. 
Karl Pearson, Prof. F. Keeble, Mr. R. Mond, Prof. 
J. C.}. Bose sand Prot) WH. Brace. 


In the Times of March 25 is announced the dis- 
covery at Kolophon, in Ionia, of a remarkable col- 
lection of Greek surgical instruments. They exhibit 
a type of workmanship unequalled in any other extant 
specimens, and generally reveal the high progress in 
surgery which the ancients achieved. With two ex- 
ceptions all the instruments are of bronze, and even 
in the case of those made from steel a piece of bronze 
is added, preserved, apparently for ceremonial reasons 
as a mystic, sacred metal. The collection includes 
polypus pincers for the removal of growths, an 
elevator for raising a piece of depressed bone in the 
skull, a drill-bow for trephining the skull to produce 
an exit for the evil spirits which were believed to 
cause madness and epilepsy, a scoop or cuvette for 
gynecological work, a cautery and probes of modern 
type, scales, and cupping vessels. It is to be regretted 
that this valuable collection has been secured for the 
Johns Hopkins University, and will shortly be taken 
to America. Models, however, are being made, and 
will be on view in London within a few weeks. 


THE royal medals and other honours of the Royal 
Geographical Society have been awarded this year 
as follows :—The Founder’s medal to Prof. Albrecht 
Penck, professor of geography at Berlin University, 
and director of the Oceanographical Institute; the 
Patron’s medal to Dr. Hamilton Rice, of Boston, 
U.S.A., who for ten years has been closely investigat- 
ing a little-known part of the large region of northern 
South America drained by the headwaters of the 
Orinoco and of the northern branches of the Amazon; 
the Murchison grant to Commander H. L. L. Pen- 
nell, R.N.,. who was a member of the Antarctic expedi- 
tion of r910, and was. specially selected by Captain 
Scott to command the Terra. Nova after the landing 
of the shore party; the Gill memorial to Mr. A. E. R. 
Wollaston, who has made extensive journeys in many 
parts of the world for zoological and other work; the 
Cuthbert Peck grant to Dr. J. Ball, of the Geological 
Survey of Egypt, who has carried out a large amount 
of scientific geographical work; and the Back grant 
to Mr. J. N. Dracopouli, for his careful survey and 
other work in the Sonora desert of Mexico in 1911-12, 
and his expedition to the Lorian Swamp and neigh- 
bouring regions in 1912-13. 


THE annual report of the council of the Institution 
of Mining and Metallurgy was presented at the annual 
general meeting of the institution on March 26. The 
report refers to the purchase of the freehold of No. 1 
Finsbury Circus, as a permanent home for the insti- 
tution, and states that the stability of the institution 


118 NATURE 


[APRIL 2, 1914 


and its future progress have been materially assisted 
by the gift of 5000/1. by Lady Wernher, and the 
further gift of 50001. by Lady Wernher and her co- 
executors. This sum of 10,000]. has been invested as 
the ‘Sir Julius Wernher Memorial Fund,’’ and the 
interest accruing is available for the ordinary purposes 
of the institution. The council has established as a 
personal memorial, a ‘Sir Julius Wernher Memorial 
Lecture,’’ to be delivered and published triennially. 
The first lecture will be delivered before the Inter- 
national Congress of Mining, Metallurgy, Engineer- 
ing, and Economic Geology, to be held in London in 
July, 1915. The subject of the lecture will be “‘The 
Metalliferous Mining Industry in its Relation to the 
Development of the British Empire,’” and the name 
of the lecturer and other particulars will be duly 
announced. The total membership on December 31, 
1913, Was 2372, as compared with 2258 in the previous 
year. ‘‘ The Consolidated Gold Fields of South Africa, 
Ltd.,”’ gold medal has been awarded conjointly to Mr. 
A. J. Clark, and Dr. W. J. Sharwood, for their paper 
on the metallurgy of the Homestake ore, and its 
premium of forty guineas to Mr. L. H. Cooke. 

A FEW days before his death Sir John Murray was 
gathering material in the library of the Royal Society 
of Edinburgh in preparation for his presidential 
address at the Meteorological Congress, which is to 
be held in Edinburgh during next September. The 
sudden and tragic end of a project just begun is 
infinitely lamentable, and one naturally asks what will 
become of Medusa Villa as a centre of scientific 
activity. The terms of Sir John- Murray’s will have 
been so far made public as to bring a great relief to 
all who knew and appreciated the work which was 
always being carried on under his direct supervision. 
The books and collections, especially those bearing on 
deep-sea deposits, oceanography, and limnology, are 
to be kept together, along with furniture, instruments, 
fittings, etc., in the Villa Medusa, so that scientific 
work may be carried on there for twenty years. A 
certain number of shares in the Christmas Island 
Phosphate Company (Limited) are to be devoted to 
this purpose, the dividends being applied in scientific 
research or explorations or investigations which are 
likely to lead to an increase of natural knowledge, 
particularly along the lines indicated above. The 
carrying out of this project is left in the hands of his 
children. Very liberal powers are given in regard to 
special schemes, such as a scientific exploration: of 
Canadian lakes or oceanographic expeditions. Should 
a case of substantial expenditure arise, it is suggested 
that the Challenger Society or the Royal Society of 
London or the Royal Society of Edinburgh might be 
consulted. Provision is made for the disposal of the 
collections and the library and the Christmas Island 
shares after the lapse of twenty years; or the arrange- 
ment may be brought to an end at an earlier date if 
the dividends should seriously decrease. In the 
obituary notice last week reference was made to the 
bathymetrical survey of the fresh-water lochs of Scot- 
land. It should have ‘been said that while Sir John 
planned, directed, and assisted financially the survey 
of the lochs, a large part of the expense was defrayed 
by Mr. Laurence Pullar, as a memorial to his son. 


NO. 2318, VOL. 93| 


FOLLOWING an article on ‘‘The Spider Sense,”’ 
several letters upon this subject have appeared in the 
Times (March 18-26). Certain people, we are told, 
are able to detect the presence of a spider (or cat) 
by means of a ‘“‘sixth sense.” The use of the term 
“sixth sense’’ indicates the complete innocence of 
psychology that characterises the whole correspond- 
ence. As to the fact, Prof. Meldola (March 26) is fully 
justified in pointing out that the neglect of the ‘‘ nega- 
tive instance’? makes the proffered evidence totally 
unconvincing. Probably many people believe they 
can tell when they are being stared at from behind, 
but a recent experimental test revealed no such ability. 
On the other hand, such sensitivity does not seem 
a priovt impossible. Sensory acuity varies greatly in 
different individuals and in special conditions. Thus 
some blind persons can perceive objects at a distance. 
This seems to be an abnormal development of a 
normal form of cutaneous sensitivity, the sense-organ 
being the skin of the face and the drum of the ear. 
Again, remarkable degrees of hyperzesthesia occur in 
certain stages of hypnosis, and in the present in- 
stances there may possibly be something of the nature 
of hypnotic auto-suggestion. That smell may play 
some part, as suggested by Mr. Ponder (March 25) is 
possible. This sense is imperfectly understood; how, 
for instance, is a hound able to avoid ‘ backs-track- 
ing’’? Even in the human its potentialities seem very 
elastic. Helen Keller, having lost her sense of smell 
for a few days, says: ‘‘A loneliness crept over me as 
vast as the air whose myriad odours I missed.’’ But 
the existence of the ‘‘sense’’ and its nature should be 
quite simply determinable by experiment. Mr. C. 
Sully, assistant lecturer in psychology at King’s Col- 
lege, London, will be glad to hear of a_ suitably 
endowed person willing to act as subject. 


Tue National Geographic Magazine for February 
reprints an important report by Mr. F. K. Lane on 
the conservation of the national undeveloped resources 
of the United States, particularly in connection with 
Alaska. This State contains the largest area of un- 
used and neglected land in the country. Its resources 
are enormous in minerals, torests, and land available 
for cultivation. Hitherto lack of organisation has 
impeded development; but if the scheme now formu- 
lated is adopted this great national estate will become 
highly valuable. 


Tue fourth part of vol. i. of the Sarawak Museum 
Journal is devoted to an elaborate paper by Mr. Sidney 
H. Ray on the languages of Borneo. This collection 
of tribal glossaries was begun by Mr. Ray when he 
visited Sarawak on his return from the Cambridge 
Anthropological Expedition to Torres Straits in 
1898-9. Additions were made to these by Dr. A. B. 
Meyer, whose papers on his death in 1911 came 
into Mr. Ray’s possession. He has now published 
these glossaries with notes on the geographical dis- 
tribution of the tribal dialects. It may be hoped that 
these collections will form the basis of a comparative 
study of this little-known group of languages. The 
value of the collection, not only to philologists, but 
also to anthropologists, is much increased by the addi- 
tion of an extensive bibliography of books and papers 
on the Borneo tribes and their dialects. 


APRIL 2, 1914] 


NATURE 


119 


In the Report of the Indian Museum, Calcutta, for 
1912-13, Dr. Annandale is enabled to record an in- 
crease in the number of visitors, and likewise to 
chronicle the occupation and installation of the new 
laboratories and offices on the top of the Chowringhi 
side of the main building. The whole of the old 
building has been made over to the Geological Survey. 


IN vol. x., part 7, of the Annals of the South African 
Museum, Mr. K. H. Barnard continues his account 
of the crustacean fauna of South Africa, dealing in 
the first instance with the marine Isopoda, of which 
two genera and numerous species are described as 
new. Of much more general interest is his descrip- 
tion of a new species of the genus Phreatoicus from 
Table Mountain; the genus being the typical repre- 
sentative of a southern terrestrial and fresh-water 
family of the Isopoda, containing three other genera. 
Hitherto the Phreatoicidz have been known .aly from 
Australia, Tasmania, and New Zcaiand, and it is 
therefore of great interest to find it represented in 
South Africa, and that, too, by a member of the 
typical genus. Whether the group will ultimately 
turn up in South America remains to be seen, but the 
new discovery affords additional evidence of the com- 
munity of the fauna of the old ‘* Gondwanaland.”’ 


WE have been favoured with a copy of a summary, 
by Dr. Max Firbringer, of the scientific results of 
Prof. R. Semon’s zoological expedition to the Malay 
Archipelago and Australasia, as worked out by 
specialists in the six volumes of the  well- 
known ‘‘Zoologische Forschungsreisen,’”’ to which 
this ‘‘Schlusstibersicht’’ forms an appendix. Prof. 
Semon started on his journey from Jena in June, 
1891, remaining from the following September until 
January, 1892, in Australia, and spending from 
February until May in visiting Easter and other 
islands, and the south coast of British New Guinea. 
At the end of October, 1892, he arrived in Java, 
whence he proceeded to the Mollucas, Celebes, etc., 
finally returning homeward in April, 1893. On his 
arrival scientific work was commenced with the least 
possible delay, so that the ‘‘ Reisen’? embodies the 
results of some twenty years’ labour. How greatly 
these labours have augmented our knowledge of mar- 
supials, monotremes, Ceratodus, and many _ other 
groups, to say nothing of their bearing on the problems 
of distribution in the Austro-Malay area, is well known 
to every working zoologist. 


AN instructive account of experiments on the manur- 
ing of grass land in Oxfordshire has been prepared by 
Mr. G. R. Bland (Bulletin 15, University College, 
Reading). The work, which was commenced in 19009, 
has, been carried out with special reference to the 
conditions obtaining with soils of different geological 
formations, and, in order to allow of comparison in 
other cases, a geological and a rainfall map of the 
county are included. The scheme of manuring is, if 
anything, rather limited in scope, but the general 
character of the account with regard to yields, profit 
and loss, botanical composition of the herbage and 
photographs of certain of the plots, is of great value, 
and is worthy of imitation by other county workers. 


NOs 24S, VOL, .03 | 


IN a contribution to the Journal of Agricultural 
Research, Mr. G. N. Collins describes a drought- 
resisting adaptation in maize which appears to possess 
considerable economic value for conditions in semi- 
arid regions. Experience has shown that, in the case 
of common varieties, if the seed is planted at the 
customary depth, many seeds fail to germinate from 
insufficient moisture; if planted deep enough ‘to come 
in contact with moist soil, the plants may fail to 
reach the surface. A study of the varieties grown 
by the Hopis and other agricultural Indians shows, 
however, that these varieties possess two special adap- 
tions: (1) a greatly elongated mesocotyl that permits 
of deep planting, and (2) the development of a single 
large radicle that rapidly descends to the moist sub- 
soil and supplies water during the critical seedling 
stage. The productive power of some of these varie- 
ties compares favourably with that of ordinary ‘im- 
prov-~.” varieties even when grown under irrigation 
conditions. On these grounds a further study of some 
of these special varieties seems desirable. 


To restrain a horizontal pendulum from executing 
its own oscillations during the passage of earthquake- 
waves, some method of damping is usually resorted 
to, either the electromagnetic method of Galitzin, the 
air-damping of Wiechert, or the liquid damping of 
other seismologists. After three years’ work in ex- 
perimenting with free and damped pendulums, Dr. A. 
Cavasino concludes (Boll, Soc. Sism. Ital., vol. xvii., 
pp. 89-101) that a damped pendulum still tends to 
oscillate with its proper period; that except with 
violent earthquakes the beginning of the movement 
is retarded, it may be for several minutes, as com- 
pared with that indicated by a free pendulum; and 
that less than one-half of the earthquakes recorded by 
a free pendulum are registered by a corresponding 
damped pendulum. 


In the Proceedings of the American Philosophical 
Society, Philadelphia (vol. lii., No. 208, pp. 31-162), 
Mr. J. J. Stevenson brings to a conclusion his lengthy 
monograph on the formation of coal beds. Parts i. 
and ii. appeared in vol. 1., and part iii. in vol. li., of 
the same journal. Whether geologists accept his 
views or not—and many geologists will do so—all will 
be grateful to him for his great labour in gathering 
together the opinions of others on this much-discussed 
subject, and for the pains he has taken in collecting 
evidence from modern deposits of carbonaceous mate- 
rial and from Coal Measures of all ages in all parts 
of the globe. The author concludes :—‘ The coal beds 
and the associated rocks are of land origin; the 
detrital deposits are those made by flooding waters on 
wide-spreading plains; the coal beds, in all essential 
features, bear remarkable resemblance to peat deposits, 
sometimes to the treeless moor, more frequently to the 
Wald: moor.” But, as he very truly says, many 
matters still await explanation, and he emphasises the 
fact that no extensive coalfield has yet been closely 
studied, for in spite of the imposing array of skeleton 
sections there is an astounding lack of detail respect- 
ing many matters which appear to have no important 
bearing on commerce. Until the topography and geo. 
graphy of the Coal Measures land have been worked 


i) 


out, geologists must be content merely with prob- 
abilities concerning the remarkable bifurcation of some 
coal beds, the variations in subordinate intervals be- 
tween two approximately parallel coal beds, the pre- 
sence of huge blocks of transported rock in coal’ and 
the associated rocks, the immensely long periods of 
stable conditions indicated by the thickness of some 
coals, and with similar probiems. 


AN article, entitled ‘‘ The Meteorological Service on 
Mercantile Wessels,” appears in vol. ix. (1913-14) of 
the Italian Annali Idrografici. The author, Prof. L. 
Marini, chief of the meteorological branch of the 
Hydrographical Institute, points out that although 
meteorological observations have not been neglected 
by vessels belonging to the several important shipping 
companies, they have not hitherto been dealt with on 
the same scale as observations on land. The publica- 
tion of pilot-charts of the Mediterranean has been left 
to other countries, e.g. the United States, Germany, 
and this country. It is now intended that Italy shall 
take her proper place in such work, and with this 
view an earnest appeal was made in a circular to 
the national navigation societies on June 1, 1912, by 
the Minister of Marine, in which he points out the 
provisions made for the successful working of the 
service. A long list of registers received by the insti- 
tute during the succeeding half-year clearly shows 
that the appeal has met with a very favourable recep- 
tion among the seafaring community; we may there- 
fore confidently look forward to some valuable con- 
tributions in due course to the meteorology of the 
Italian seas and adjacent regions. 


In the Popular Science Monthly for March Dr. 
P. G. Heineman advances the view that development 
of automobile traffic will be beneficial to public health 
in two ways: first, by the provision of dust-prdof 
roads, thus minimising the difiusion of disease germs 
which are commonly associated with dust, and 
secondly by doing away with stables which are fertile 
breeding grounds for flies that act as carriers of 
disease. 


Reapers of the Cornhill Magazine for March will 
derive considerable enlightenment from the article 
entitled ‘‘ After the Death of Euclid,’ in which Mr. 
C. H. P. Mayo endeavours to compare the advantages 
and disadvantages of the old and new methods of 
teaching geometry. While admitting that the new 
method is beneficial in many respects, the author 
evidently considers that the sacrifice of logical training 
involved in the change may seriously impair its educa- 
tional value. 


Tue March number of the Transactions of the Insti- 
tution of Engineers and Shipbuilders of Scotland con- 
tains an important paper by Mr. H. Ollendorff on the 
utilisation of ground adjoining harbours and railway 
stations. He shows that by the use of suspension 
railways enabling the goods unloaded from ships at 
the wharf to be taken direct into the factory, the cost 
of transport is so far reduced that the ‘‘ hinterland” 
of a harbour can be profitably utilised to about ten 


NO. 2318, VOL. 93| 


NEAT STE: 


pI 


CAPRI 625° gael 
times the extent it is at present. On this ground he 
advocates the provision of suspension railways by 
public authorities, which at the present time provide 
cranes for service at harbours. 


A paper by Hiromu Takagi on the thermomagnetic 
properties of magnetite, which appears in the third 
part of vol. ii. of the Science Reports of Tohoku 
University, Japan, casts some doubt on the accuracy 
of the results obtained by Prof. Weiss and Foex for 
the variation of the magnetic susceptibility of mag- 
netite with temperature. They found that at about 
680° C. the susceptibility showed a sudden decrease 
which they attributed to some change in the internal 
state of the artificial magnetite used by them. Such 
changes led Prof. Weiss to postulate the existence of 
the magneton or atom of magnetism which a sub- 
stance can possess only in integral multiples. The 
present experiments on natural magnetite show that 
the substance neither follows Curie’s law—suscepti- 
bility inversely as the absolute temperature—nor are 
there any sudden changes in the curve of susceptibility 
as a function of the temperature. 


In the current number of the Comptes rendus MM. 
Charles Moureu and A. Lepape discuss the cause of 
the constancy of composition of crude nitrogen 
(nitrogen with the rare gases) from various sources. 
The ratios between the nitrogen, argon, krypton, and 
xenon have been found to be the same in gases 
derived from fire-damp, thermal springs, petroleum, 
volcanic gases, or the atmosphere. This constancy of 
composition of nitrogen from natural sources is re- 
garded by the authors as having existed from the 
nebular stage of the solar system. The same number 
also contains some measurements by Georges Claude 
on the amounts of hydrogen, helium, neon, and 
nitrogen absorbed by charcoal at low temperatures, 
—182-5° for nitrogen, —195:5° for the other gases. 
The amounts of helium and neon absorbed are much 
smaller than the absorptions of hydrogen and nitrogen. 
The position of hydrogen is anomalous, since it 
deviates from the rule that the lower the boiling point 
the smaller the charcoal absorption. 


RaILLEss electric traction systems, otherwise desig- 
nated the ‘‘trolley-bus”’ or ‘‘trackless-trolley,’’ already 
form in several cities extensions to the tramways sys- 
tems, and there are numerous applications to Parlia- 
ment for the authorisation of similar lines. Mr.T.G. 
Gribble, in a paper on these systems read at the 
Institution of Civil Engineers on March 24, says that 
it requires no more current to carry the passenger by 
railless electric traction than it does by a tramway. 
The author shows that with a traffic density repre- 
sented by a 24 minute service, the economy of con- 
struction in favour of railless electric traction is about 
44 per cent., and in cost of operation about 7 per cent. 
The economy increases inversely with the traffic 
density; with a 30-minute service the economy of 
construction is about 70 per cent., and that of opera- 
tion is about 36 per cent. 


THE annual volume of Knowledge for 1913 is now 
available. The twelve monthly issues of our contem- 


ae, 


APRIL 2, 1914] 


porary together form a handsome book which makes 
a special appeal to readers interested in nature know- 
ledge. Attention may be directed to the excellent 
illustrations, the plates particularly being well pro- 
duced. The price of the volume is 15s. net. 


Soon after the death of Prof. Henri Poincaré, four 
appreciative notices of his work in various depart- 
ments of knowledge were contributed to the Revue du 
Mois by Profs. Vito Volterra, Jacques Hadamard, 
Paul Langevin, and Pierre Boutroux. These studies 
have now been published together in a volume entitled 
* Henri Poincaré: L’ceuvre scientifique, l’ceuvre philo- 
sophique”’ (Paris: Félix Alcan; price 3.50 francs). 


THE annual report of the Board of Scien- 
tific Advice for India for the year  tIg12-13 
has been received from Calcutta. The report 
is divided into sections dealing respectively 
with applied chemistry, astronomy, and meteorology, 
geology, geodesy, botany, forestry, zoology, veterinary 
science, and medical research work. An appendix by 
Dr. W. R. Dunstan contains the report on the scien- 
tific and technical investigations conducted for India 
at the Imperial Institute during the year ended June 
30, 1913. 


Dr. W. LEIGHTON JORDAN writes, with reference to 
a paragraph on the origin of planetary surface features 
and the ‘heart-shaped’ figure of the earth, which 
appeared in our issue of March ig (p. 69), that in 
1866 he applied the term ‘‘cardioid’’ to the earth’s 
shape, and pointed out that the motion of the earth 
through space tends to create high land in the Ant- 
arctic and deep water in the Arctic region. A 
description of Dr. Jordan’s views upon this subject 
will be found in his work entitled ‘“‘The Sling” 
(London: Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent and 
Sos, Ltd.)- 


OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 


ASTRONOMICAL OCCURRENCES FOR APRIL :— 
April 3. 15h. 6m. Mars in conjunction with the 
Moon (Mars 2° o’ S.). 
4. 4h. 28m. Neptune in conjunction with the 
Moon (Neptune 4° 30’ S.). 
23h. om. Neptune stationary. 
19h. om. Mercury at greatest elongation 
W. of the Sun (27° 46’ W.). 
10. 15h. om. Mars at quadrature to the Sun. 
15. Igh. om. Neptune at quadrature to the 
Sun. 
17. 22h. 50m. Uranus in conjunction with 
Moon (Uranus 2° 20’ N.). 
18. 12h. 13m. Jupiter in conjunction with the 
Moon (Jupiter 1° 50’ N.). 
20. 22h. 24m. Mars in conjunction with Nep- 
tune (Mars 2° 34’ N.). 
paws, shy. Mercury in conjunction with 
the Moon (Mercury 5° 30’ S.). 
26. 18h. 20m. Venus in conjunction with the 
Moon (Venus 4° 52’ S.). 
28. 1th. 11m. Saturn in conjunction with the 
Moon (Saturn 6° 22’ S.). 
A New Comer.—A telegram from Prof. Kobold at 
Kiel reports the discovery of a new comet by Dr. 


NO. 2318, VOL. 93| 


NUN 


33m. 


NATURE 


| disc carefully and note the chief features. 


I2I 


Kritzinger at Bothkamp. The comet is of magnitude 
9-5, and was picked up on March 29 at 15h. 29-1m. 
Bothkamp mean time. Its position is given as R.A. 
16h. 11m. 4os., and declination 9° 31’ S., and the 
daily motion as +3m. 8s. in R.A., and — 32’ in declina- 
tion. It is described as having a tail. 


JUPITER VISIBLE BEFORE SUNRISE.—The planet 


| Jupiter can now be well seen in the mornings, and 


it is important that telescopic observers examine his 
Last year 
the equatorial current had increased its rate of move- 
ment, its rotation being gh. 50m. 11s. from a number 


| of spots on the sotith edge of the northern equatorial 


belt. Are these markings still visible, and what is 


| their velocity as compared with that determined during 


the previous opposition ? 

The -great red spot also exhibited a quickening of 
speed in 1914, the rotation period being gh. 55m. 35s. 
It is probable that at the present time the red spot 
precedes the zero meridian of System II. (see 
ephemeris for physical observations of Jupiter in 
Nautical Almanac) about 3h. 4om. It is impossible to 
tell exactly, however, because the planet has been too 
near the sun during the past winter for corrective 
observations to be made. Transits of the red spot 
and hollow in the southern belt may, however, be 
looked for at the following times :— 


hm. hes ot: 
April 14 Et 27 May 3 To 6 
16 Tas 5 8 14 14 
21 TE 12 15 14 59 
26 14 20 
28 Th who 


Some estimated transits would be valuable in order 
to determine what the rate of rotation has been during 
the last six months. 

The great south temperate spot now precedes the 
red spot. The former was no less than about 135° in 
length during last opposition, and it may ultimately 
extend all round Jupiter and darken the previously 


brilliant south tropical zone. 


A PRroposEeD TOWER TELESCOPE.—From Modena we 
have received a pamphlet describing a tower telescope 
to be erected to the memory of Secchi. It is proposed 
to build at Reggio-Emilia in reinforced concrete a 
pyramidal structure 35 m. high. Its memorial char- 
acter is to be expressed by making the work, deco- 
rated in what is described as the Chaldeo-Babylonian 
style, serve as a canopy to a_ seated effigy 
of Secchi, whilst at the four corners of the 
base will be placed gigantic statues of Copernicus, 
Galileo, Kepler, and Newton. The scientific purpose 
is to make the tower carry the heliostat and objective 
of a vertical telescope of the type so successfully em- 
ploved at Mount Wilson. A sum of 500,000 lire 
(20,000l.) is required, of which about 150,000 lire had 
already been collected by a permanent committee. 

This is not the only project now on foot to per- 
petuate the memory of an astronomer. An influential 
international comité d’honneur is inviting subscriptions 
for the erection of a monument to the memory of 
Laplace, at his birthplace, Beaumont en Auge (Cal- 
vados), Normandy. 


ANNUAL REPORT OF THE HamMBURG OBSERVATORY IN 
BERGEDORF.—The report for 1912 of the Hamburg 
Observatory in Bergedorf has just come to hand. It 
shows that great strides have been taken since this 
site was occupied, in spite of various hindrances re- 
garding the larger instruments. Thus the large 
reflecting telescope had to undergo a change in the 
method of mounting the mirror, that used by Common 


22 


NATURE 


[APRIL 2, 1914 


and Ritchey being finally adopted. The report gives 
a brief résumé of the work of the various branches 
accomplished during the year, and an appendix con- 
tains a table giving the corrections to the Norddeich 
and Eiffel Tower wireless time signals. The report is 
accompanied by some good reproductions of some of 
the larger telescopes, and two pictures of the annular 
solar eclipse of April, 1912, secured by Prof. A. 
Schwassmann with the Lippert astrographic instru- 
ment. 


OPTICAL ROTATORY POWER. 


HE Faraday Society has adopted in recent years 
the policy of organising a series of general dis- 
cussions on physico-chemical subjects, to which inves- 
tigators of all countries are invited to contribute. The 
ninth of these discussions, on optical rotatory power, 
was held in the rooms of the Chemical Society on 
Friday, March 27. At the afternoon session the chair 
was occupied by Prof. Armstrong, who contributed 
an introductory address; the evening session was pre- 
sided over by Prof. Frankland. Papers were read 
by Prof. H. Rupe, of Basle, on the influence of certain 
groups on rotatory power, by Prof. H. Grossman, of 
Berlin, on the rotatory dispersion of tartaric and malic 
acids, by Dr. T. M. Lowry and Mr. T. W. Dickson, 
on simple and complex rotatory dispersion, by Dr. 
T. M. Lowry and Mr. H. H. Abram on an enclosed 
cadmium arc for use with the polarimeter, by Dr. 
R. H. Pickard and Mr. Joseph Kenyon, on the rota- 
tory powers of the members of homologous series, and 
by Dr. T. S. Patterson, on the dependence of rotation 
on temperature, dilution, nature of solvent, and wave- 
length of light. Papers were also communicated by 
Prof. L. Tschugaeff, of St. Petersburg, on anomalous 
rotatory dispersion, by Dr. E. Darmois, of Paris, on 
the existence of racemic tartaric acid in solution, by 
Dr. G. Bruhat, of Paris, on the rotatory power of 
tartaric acid, and by Prof. A. Cotton, of Paris, on the 
constitution of liquid mixtures and their rotatory 
power. 

Two distinct schools of research were conspicuous 
in the papers and in the discussion. The attempts to 
find a relationship between chemical constitution and 
the rotatory power of compounds for sodium light 
received its greatest impetus from the theory put for- 
ward in 1892 by Crum Brown and Guye, to whom, 
at the suggestion of Prof. Armstrong, greetings were 
sent from the meeting; this school of research was 
well represented by Prof. Frankland, who had no 
difficulty in showing that results of very great value 
had been obtained from observations made with light 
of one colour only, that of the sodium-flame. Prof. 
Rupe gave a masterly summary of his work on the 
influence of unsaturated groups on rotatory power ; 
this work had also been done mainly with sodium 
light, but there was no reason to suppose that the 
results would have been essentially different if light 
of other: colours had been used. Dr. Patterson, in 
describing his observations on the influence of tem- 
perature and of solvents on the rotatory power of the 
tartrates for sodium light, was able to show that there 
is an essential unity in the effects produced bv these 
two widely different factors; this unity could be ex- 
tended to include some features in the behaviour of 
these liquids towards light of different colours, as 
recorded by Winther and others. 

An element of novelty attached to the description 
of several series of researches which depended on the 
measurements of rotatory dispersion—a subject which 
has come suddenly to the front, both in England and 
on the Continent, during the course of the last two 
or three years. The apparatus required for measur- 


NO? 2308, VO no) 


ing rotatory dispersion was exhibited by Mr. Abram, 
who also succeeded in showing an enclosed cadmium 
arc in actual operation. This arc is likely to be of 
great value in experiments on rotatory dispersion, be- 
cause it provides a pair of lines, Cd 5086 (green) and 
Cd 6438 (red), which can be read with the same 
accuracy as the mercury lines, Hg 4359 (violet) and 
Hg 5461 (green). Thus it has been used to prove that 
a-methylglucoside, a compound which contains five 
asymmetric carbon atoms, obeys strictly the simple 
dispersion law given by the formula, 


This law also holds good for a long series of alcohols 
prepared and described by Dr. Pickard and Mr. Ken- 
yon, the dispersive power of which remains constant 
over wide ranges of temperature, and may persist 
almost unchanged throughout the whole range of a 
homologous series. 

Rotatory dispersion has usually been classified as 
normal when the rotation increases steadily as the 
wave-length diminishes, and as anomalous when in 
any part of the spectrum the rotation diminishes with 
the wave-length. The most familiar examples of 
anomalous rotatory dispersion are (i) tartaric acid, for 
which a remarkable series of data were recorded in 
M. Bruhat’s paper; (ii) ethyl tartrate, studied exhaus- 
tively by Dr. Patterson; and (iii) methyl malate, which 
has been examined by Grossman in nearly one hundred 
different solvents. More recently Dr. Pickard and 
Mr. Kenyon have detected the same phenomenon in 
the simple esters of their optically active alcohols, and 
also in the a-naphthylmethylearbinol, 


C,,H,.CH(OH).CH,, 


when this is examined in the superfused state. 

Dr. Patterson protested against a_ classification 
which represented ethyl tartrate as showing “‘ normal ”’ 
dispersion in some solvents and ‘‘anomalous”’ disper- 
sion in others. He argued that it was merely a 
matter of accident whether the maximum of optical 
rotation occurred within or without the region of the 
spectrum used for the polarimetric observations. This 
contention was supported by Dr. Lowry and Mr. 
Dickson, who were able to quote cases in which the 
camera had revealed a maximum beyond the limits of 
visual observation. They proposed to describe as 
simple rotatory dispersion all those cases to which the 
formula, 


hy 


as 
VAL 
can be applied. All cases in which two or more terms 
are required to express the dispersion, thus— 


hy hy 
a = 
A2—AZ— 2)?’ 


were to be described as complex rotatory dispersion, 
whether the curves were anomalous or apparently 
normal in the region investigated. Simple rotatory 
dispersion may be detected very easily by plotting r/fa 
against ’*, when the experimental data are found to 
fall on a straight line. When two terms, with con- 
stant values of 4,7, and 4,7, are sufficient to express 
the rotatory dispersion of a substance over a wide 
range of experimental conditions, the ‘‘ characteristic 
diagram’”’ of Armstrong and Walker will plot out to 
a series of straight lines, but this will no longer be 
the case if three ‘‘ dispersion-constants,’”’ ,?, A,7, A537, 
are required. 

The cause of anomalous rotatory dispersion was 
discussed by Prof. Tschugaeff. It can be produced 
by mixing two substances of opposite rotatory power 
and unequal dispersion (Biot) or by superposing two 


a= 


APRIL 2, 1914] 


partial rotations, as in the camphorsulphonate of 
menthol (Tschugaeff). It may also be produced by 
an absorption-band in the visible spectrum (Cotton’s 
phenomenon), or, as R. W. Wood has pointed out, bya 
band in the infra-red region. The view that anomalous 
rotatory dispersion is usually caused by the presence 
of two species of optically active molecules in the 
liquid was adopted by Armstrong, Grossman, Pickard, 
and other speakers; in support of the same view, it 
was stated in the discussion that nitrocamphor, which 
exists in two isodynamic forms, gives anomalous rota- 
tory dispersion in acetone, and that ethyl tartrate may 
be fractionated into portions which differ very widely 
in their rotatory power for violet light, although the 
differences are small when green or yellow light is 
used. 


LIZARD VENOM.! 


7] HE results of a comprehensive study of the poison 

of Heloderma, undertaken by several observers, 
under the direction of Prof. Leo Loeb, at the labora- 
tory for experimental pathology, University of Penn- 
sylvania, are published by the Carnegie Institution of 
Washington in the volume before us. 

Heloderma, or the Gila monster, is a lizard attain- 
ing the length of 2 or 3 ft., which inhabits the dry 
regions of Mexico and Arizona. It is of alarming 
appearance, and regarded by the:natives with the utmost 
dread, although the results of a bite from this reptile 
are not very serious to man. The two species of the 
genus are peculiar in that they are the only reptiles 
other than snakes which possess poison glands in 
relation to some of their teeth. Unlike the poison 
glands of snakes, those of Heloderma are situated in 
the lower jaw, and consist of four independent sacs 
on each side, which open into separate cup-like de- 
pressions of the mucous membrane just external to 
the anterior mandibular teeth. | When the jaw is 
closed the corresponding teeth project into these de- 
pressions and thus both upper and lower sets become 
bathed with the secretion. 

The first article contains a good account of the 
anatomy and histology of the poison gland, and is 
followed by one on the histological changes in the 
gland after stimulation by pilocarpine. Then 
follow papers on the general properties and action of 
the venom and on some experiments in immunisation. 
The general lines followed in these studies are those 
previously traversed by various observers with snake- 
poisons, with which Heloderma venom has many 
similarities. The venom is an albuminous fluid, but 
the albumen can be coagulated by boiling without 
destroying the toxic principle. The latter is, however, 
carried down in the precipitate, to which it apparently 
adheres. This toxin seems, in fact, to adhere to 
almost any kind of fine precipitate, and this property 
has led to difficulty in all attempts to separate the 
essential poison. 

The main poisonous constituent of the venom is a 
neurotoxin, and death is caused by gradual paralysis 
and ultimate cessation of respiration. From _ experi- 
ments upon isolated strips of cardiac muscle, the heart 
does not seem to be directly affected and the fall of 
blood pressure following the injection of the venom is 
presumably due to paralysis of the vasomotor centres. 
The nerve cells of animals killed by the venom show 
chromatolytic changes similar to those observed by 
Kilvington and Lamb and Hunter in snake poison- 
ing. The venom has no influence on the coagulation 
of blood, nor does it produce hemorrhages. It does 
not itself hamolyse blood corpuscles, but, if mixed 


1 ** The Venom of Heloderma.” 
a number of workers. 
Washington, 19713.) 


NO. 2318, VOL. 93]| 


By Leo Loeb, with the collaboration of 
Pp. vi+244. (Washington: Carnegie Institution of 


NATURE R23 


with lecithin it gives rise to a hamolytic substance. 
This, as has been shown to be the case with cobra 
venom, is presumably due to the action of the lipase it 
contains upon the lecithin. The subcutaneous injec- 
tion of subminimal lethal doses is followed by a con- 
siderable but temporary leucocytosis. Admixture of 
the venom with leucocytes and staphylococci does not 
hinder phagocytosis. 

The memoir concludes with an account of attempts 
to separate an active principle from the venom, using 
the methods by which Faust obtained a non-nitro- 
genous active body in the case of cobra and crotalus 
venoms. These methods proved to be unsuitable, but 
by dissolving the venom in glacial acetic acid and pre- 
cipitating, first with weak alcohol and then with 
stronger alcohols, and ultimately with ether, it was 
found that the successive precipitates with alcohol 
contained less protein and more active substance, and 
that the final precipitate with ether was protein free, 
but very active. 

The above short résumé gives some idea of the 
extent of these researches, although a number of 
papers included in the volume, of less general interest, 
have not been referred to. 

The work seems to have been carefully planned and 
performed, but the statements about snake venoms 
are occasionally inaccurate, as, for instance, the 
affirmation on p. 56 that the venoms of Hoplocephalus 
and Pseudechis may be heated without injury, and on 
p. 60, that the ‘“‘venom of Viperidz’’ does not pass 
through a Chamberland filter. 

C. J. MarrTINn. 


CHINESE PALASONTOLOGY.! 


HE volume before us contains the palzontological 
results of the Carnegie expedition to China in 
1903-4, and is an important contribution to our know- 
ledge of the Palaeozoic faunas of eastern Asia. The 
principal memoir is by Dr. Walcott, and deals with 
the Cambrian fossils which were found in large num- 
bers. A total of sixty-three genera and 245 species 
are described and figured, and of these thirty-six 
genera and 175 species are trilobites (including five 
genera peculiar to China) and thirteen genera and 
thirty-six species are brachiopods. The oldest fossil- 
iferous rocks are referred to the upper part of the Lower 
Cambrian and contain the Redlichia fauna, so that we 
are now acquainted with this fauna from Shantung, 
Yun-nan, Spiti, and western and southern Australia, 
as well as from the Salt Range where it was first 
found. It is, however, from the Middle Cambrian 
that the richest and most varied fauna was obtained 
in the Chinese provinces of Shantung, Shen-si, 
Shan-si, and in Manchuria, as was the case in the 
central Himalayas. A rapid process of evolution 
under new conditions of environment was originated 
at this period, accompanied by the more or less com- 
plete isolation of parts of the marine area, leading 
to the formation of local faunas. But on the whole 
the affinities of the Asiatic Cambrian fauna prove to 
be with the Cordilleran Province of western North 
America, and with the Upper Mississippian Province 
of the United States rather than with Europe. This 
is emphasised by the absence of the genus Paradoxides 
in western North America, China, and India, though 
other genera connect these areas with the Atlantic 
Province. In the Upper Cambrian a similar relation- 
ship is noticeable. From the evidence now available 
Dr. Walcott recognises three faunal provinces in Asia 
1 “Research in China.” Vol. iii., The Cambrian Faunas of China, by 
C. D. Walcott; A Report on Ordovician Fossils Collected in Eastern Asia 
in 1903-4, by S. Weller; A Report on Upper Paleozoic Fossils Collected in 


China in 1903-4, by H. Girty. Pp. vi+375-+29 plates. (Washington: 
Carnegie Institution of Washington, 1913.) 


124 


NATORE 


[APRIL 2,. 1984 


in Cambrian times, and these he terms respectively the 
Shantung Province (including Manchuria and Shan-si), 
the Punjab Province (including Yun-nan), and the 
Siberian Province. 

Passing to the description of the new genera and 
species from China, we cannot help regretting that 
there is a general absence of individual comparison 
of the new forms with previously established or well- 
known species from other lands. It would have been 
especially valuable to have had their affinities discussed 
by Dr. Walcott, with his ripe experience and world- 
wide knowledge of Cambrian fossils. He indeed ex- 
presses the opinion that the excellent illustrations of 
the new species will enable other investigators to 
pursue such a study as occasion requires; but no 
plates or figures, however good, can remedy such a 
defect in the original descriptions, and this omission 
robs the memoir of much of its value. 

The Ordovician fossils described in the second sec- 
tion by Dr. Weller, have been obtained partly from 
Shantung and partly from Ssi-ch’uan. The former 
are very poor and few in number, and no specific 
determinations were found possible, but their strati- 
graphical horizon is believed to be Middle Ordovician. 
The fossils from eastern Ssi-ch’uan are quite different 
in character and in much better preservation. They 
were obtained from a thick limestone resting con- 
formably on the Cambrian, and consist chiefly of 
brachiopods and trilobites, some species of which were 
described in t901 by Martelli from Shen-si. Richt- 
hofen’s Ordovician fossils from northern Ssi-ch’uan, 
collected more than thirty years ago, are regarded 
as indicating the same geological horizon which Dr. 
Weller correlates with the Mohawkian (Middle Ordo- 
vician) of North America. The fossiliferous Ordo- 
vician beds of the central Himalayas, to which he 
makes no reference, have been regarded as of the 
same age. There is no similarity to the Ordovician 
faunas of eastern Yun-nan and Tonkin or of the 
Northern Shan States, but some species appear com- 
parable or closely allied to Spiti forms; and in south- 
western Yun-nan it is probable that the Ssi-ch’uan 
fauna is represented. A conclusion of special interest 
at which Dr, Weller arrives is that there is a mixture 
of North American and Baltic forms in China, as in 
the Himalayas, where, however, the American element 
seems to be stronger. 

The Carboniferous fauna described by Dr. Girty 
from Shantung, Shan-si, and Ssi-ch’uan is very scanty 
and of peculiar facies, but seems remotely allied to 
Russian and Indian faunas, and is considered to be 
of Upper Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian) age, with the 
exception of a few very doubtful fossils. The rich 
Middle and Upper Carboniferous faunas described by 
Kayser, Loczy, Mansuy, and Deprat from other parts 
of China appear to be unrepresented. 

BR. (CREED: 


MARINE BIOLOGY. 


aes. life-histories of the Pacific Coast salmon and 

the halibut caught off the west coast of North 
America form the subject of two papers just published 
by Dr. J. P. McMurrich in vol. vii. of the Transactions 
of the Royal Society of Canada. In this work the 
author puts the method of scale examination to a 
somewhat severe test. It is fairly certain that. this 
line of investigation must be regarded only as supple- 
mentary to detailed research by means of fishery 
experiments and statistical studies; such is the ex- 
perience of most workers in Europe. Yet Dr. 
McMurrich does not hesitate to describe the conclu- 
sions that may be deduced from the study of the 
scales of twenty-two, or ten, or even three fishes, as 


NO. 2318, VOL. 923] 


‘remarkably definite.’”’ The species of Oncorhynchus 
(the Pacific salmon) spawn only once in their life- 
times. The Pacific halibut becomes mature in its 
eighth year, and then enters upon a period of repro- 
ductive maturity. The ova ripen gradually, and 
‘spawning is not a matter of a few days or even 
weeks, but is prolongea over, it may be, several 
years.’’ This is too exceptional and improbable a 
result to deduce from a microscopic examination of 
the scales of three fishes, especially when the author 
admits that practically nothing is known as to the 
life-history of the halibut in North American waters. 
It is also incorrect to say that planktonic ova of this 
fish have not been found in European waters. Less, 
perhaps, is known about the halibut than most other 
Pleuronectids, but our ignorance is not such an utter 
blank as is suggested in the paper noticed. 

Part i. of the Journal of the Marine Biological 
Association, published in November, 1913, contains 
papers dealing with varied aspects of marine biology. 
Mr. J. H. Orton, in a most useful paper, describes 
the functioning of the ciliary mechanisms on the gills 
of Amphioxus, Ascidians, and Solenomya. English 
writers, apparently accepting as correct the earlier 
work of Fol, have described food collection as occur- 
ring in the endostyle of Ascidians, the solid particles 
being then conducted along the peripharyngeal 
grooves, and so into the dorsal groove. Mr. Orton 
points out that no food-matter at all is taken up by 
the endostyle. The latter secretes mucus, which is 
then driven dorsally over the pharynx to ‘the dorsal 
groove. Essentially the same mode of functioning 
of the ciliary tracts occurs both in Amphioxus and 
Ascidians. The pharynx in these animals, and the 
gills in Lamellibranch molluscs, are not respiratory 
mechanisms, but organs which function as water- 
pumps and food-collectors. In the same number of 
the journal there is an account of some very interest- 
ing experiments made by Mr. J. Gray with the object 
of investigating the chemical and physical changes 
which occur when the egg of the sea-urchin is natur- 
ally fertilised. The entrance of the sperm into the 
egg raises the electrical conductivity of the latter, the 
change attaining a maximum within ten minutes of 
the addition of the sperms to the ripe eggs. The egg- 
membrane in the unfertilised condition is remarkably 
impermeable to electrolytes, its surface being 
polarised. Probably the entrance of the sperm effects 
depolarisation and increases the permeability of the 
membrane to ions, but in some fifteen minutes 
polarisation again occurs, and the egg returns to its 
electrical state prior to fertilisation. Five other papers 
in the journal are written by zoologists of University 
College, Aberystwyth, and deal with sea-anemones, 
with the habits of the Galatheidea, and with the 
littoral fauna of Cardigan Bay. Dr. Th. Mortensen 
writes also on the development of some British 
Echinoderms. This number of ‘the journal is alto- 
gether a very interesting one. tbl b= 


CRYSTALLINE <STRUGLURES Ass, 
REVEALED BY X-RAYS.! 

HE analysis of crystal structure by means of 
X-rays depends on the fact that a pencil of 
X-rays of uniform quality is reflected by a crystal 
face when, and only when, it meets the face at exactly 
the proper angle. As we shall see presently, the 
effect depends on the regularity of the crystal structure 
according to which the atoms of the crystal are 
arranged in planes, which are parallel to the face and 
regularly spaced. There is a certain relation between 


1 From a lecture delivere| before the Manchester Literary and Philo- 
sophical Society on March 18, by Prof. W. H. Bragg, F.R.S. 


APRIL 2, 1914] 


NATURE 


125 


the wave-length of the X-radiation, the spacing of the 
planes, and the proper angle of incidence. If we 
always use the same rays, and measure the angles at 
which they are reflected by the different faces of a 
crystal, natural or prepared, we discover the relative 
spacings of the many systems of planes which can 
be drawn regularly through the atoms of the crystal; 
and hence the actual arrangement of the atoms can 
be deduced. It is in this way that the structure is 
analysed. 

Let us first consider some details of the reflection 
effect. The theory is not entirely strange to us, for 
Lord Rayleigh carefully investigated a “strictly 
analogous phenomenon twenty-five years ago; this 
was the brilliant coloration of crystals of chlorate of 
potash. When white light falls on these crystals 
there is a strong selective reflection of rays the wave- 
lengths of which are confined within very narrow 
limits. R. W. Wood has prepared crystals which 
reflect waves the limits of which are no wider apart 
than the two D lines of sodium. Rayleigh showed 
that the effect was due to the existence of regularly 
spaced twinning planes parallel to the reflecting sur- 
face. He pointed out the analogy to other physical 
problems in sound, and in a Friday evening discourse 
at the Royal Institution he illustrated the effect by 
reflecting a high-pitched note by a series of parallel 
muslin sheets stretched tight and evenly spaced. 

Rayleigh showed that in these and parallel cases the 
reflection must be total provided the number of planes 
was sufficiently great, no matter how feeble the re- 
flection from each plane. In the present case the 
wave-lengths of X-rays are many thousands of times 
smaller than the waves of light which Rayleigh used; 
and the crystal planes being at atomic distances from 
each other are also many thousands of time closer 
than the twinning planes of chlorate of potash. 

It is found that pencils of homogeneous X-rays 
suitable for use in the experiment, are contained in 
the general mass of radiation issuing from an X-ray 
bulb. The antikathode of the bulb emits ‘‘lines’’ or 
rays of definite wave-length which are characteristic 
of the material of which it is made. 

The platinum antikathode gives a spectrum contain- 
ing five sharply defined and intense lines which stand 
out well from the general radiation. The osmium 
spectrum appears to have five similar triplets instead 
of the five lines of the platinum, the head of each 
triplet coinciding with a platinum line. Several 
substances ranging in atomic weight from silver down 
to calcium emit similar spectra consisting each of two 
strong lines, increasing regularly in wave-length as 
the atomic. weight decreases. A large number of 
these have been photographed by Moseley. Bulbs 
having rhodium or palladium antikathodes have been 
exceedingly useful in the crystal analysis, as they last 
well, their line spectra are very intense, and the wave- 
lengths are of convenient magnitude. The principal 
rhodium line is really double; and it will serve to 
illustrate the surprising exactness of the reflection 
effect when it is stated that the two constituents are 
just separated by reflection at the cleavage face of the 
diamond. The glancing angles are then 8° 35’ and 
8 39. 

Let us next consider the application of these prin- 
ciples to the determination of crystal structure. We 
take first, naturally, the large class of cubic crystals 
which are not only of high importance, but also of 
the most simple construction. 

The atoms of a crystal can be arranged in the form 
of a repeated group or pattern. Each group is to be 
supposed to contain as few atoms as possible con- 
sistent with the requirement that the whole crystal 
can be built by packing these groups together, all 
the groups being similar and similarly oriented. If a 


NO. 2318, VOL. 93| 


point is chosen similarly in each group it serves to 


indicate the position of that group relative to other 
groups. An arrangement of points chosen in this 
way shows the basal structure of the crystal, and is 
known as a “space lattice.” 

There are three space lattices which give cubic 
cHatacter to crystals.. In the first the representative 
points are placed at the corners of a cube; the whole 
lattice consistine of a repetition of this arrangement 
in all directions in space. In the second there are 
representative points at the corners of a cube, and the 
centre of the cube; in the third at the corners of a 
cube and at the middle points of the faces. The three 
are called the cubic, the centred cubic, and the face- 
centred cubic respectively. 

These three types of lattice can be at once distin- 
guished from each other by the X-ray method. Sup- 
pose we consider three important types of plane which 
may be drawn through the atoms of a cubic crystal, 
that is to say, planes perpendicular to (a) a cube edge, 
(b) a face diagonal, (c) a cube diagonal. If we draw 
a diagram or build a model we find readily that the 
relative spacings of the three sets are different in the 
different crystals, and this causes corresponding differ- 
ences in the angles of reflection of some standard line. 

Proceeding on these lines we come at once to a case 
of great importance. Rock-salt or sodium chloride 
and sylvine or potassium chloride have long been 
known to be of similar construction, though the nature 
of the construction has been uncertain until now. 
X-ray analysis shows, however, that the former crystal 
has the characteristics of the third class of lattice, 
and the latter of the first. Moreover, it appears that the 
elementary group or pattern contains the same number 
of atoms in each case. There is one obvious way of 
explaining these facts. Suppose that we place chlorine 
atoms at the corners of a cube and at the centres of 
the faces and sodium atoms at the middle points of 
the edges of the cube and at the cube centre, and take 
this to represent the structure of rock-salt. Potassium 
chloride may be derived from sodium chloride by re- 
placing the chlorine atoms of the structure by potass- 
ium. Now it appears from a number of mutually 
supporting indications that the contribution of an 
atom to the reflection effect depends on its atomic 
weight only. The atoms of potassium and chlorine 
are of very nearly the same weight, and can be looked 
on as equivalent. If this is done the structure of 
potassium chloride is in effect the simple cubic. But 
there is a great difference between the weight of 
sodium and chlorine, and the face-centred arrange- 
ment of the chlorine atoms taken separately gives its 
character to the whole rock-salt structure. All this 
agrees with experiment. But there is more. The 
presence of the sodium atoms amongst the chlorine, 
arranged as a matter of fact on a face-centred lattice 
of their own, modify the purely face-centred character 
of the spectra, and experiment shows that the modi- 
fication is exactly such as theory predicts. 

It is impossible in a short account to describe in 
full the work that has or can be done. Moreover, 
description is difficult without the aid of a plentiful 
supply of diagrams or models. It will be sufficient 
to say that the examination of the positions of the 
spectra, and especially of the relative intensities of 
the different orders give information which is gradu- 
ally being interpreted. The simpler crystals have 
already been analysed, and the structure of many of 
the more important cubic crystals is known. The 
more complex structure of the calcite series has been 
determined, and something has been discovered of the 
still more difficult structures of sulphur and of quartz. 
It must be remembered that in all these cases com- 
plete analysis requires not merely the determination 
of the lattice, but, what is far more difficult, the 


126 


NATORE 


arrangement of the atoms in the group which is repre- 
sented by each point on tke lattice. 

We may consider certain points of more general 
interest. The structure of the diamond stands our 
with some prominence. It is interesting to find that 
the carbon atoms are arranged in the most beautifully 
symmetrical pattern, each being at the centre of a 
regular tetrahedron composed of its four nearest 
neighbours. Rings of six carbon atoms are a pre- 
dominating feature. Planes perpendicular to a cube 
diagonal—the diamond is, of course, a cubic crystal— 
are arranged in a curious way, the spacings being 
alternately large and small in the proportion of three 
to one. This leads to the extinction of the second 
order reflection from these planes. The effect can be 
readily illustrated optically by ruling a diffraction 
grating in the corresponding fashion. Zincblende has 
exactly the same structure as the diamond, but the 
alternate planes of the kind just mentioned contain 
alternately zinc atoms alone and sulphur atoms alone. 
This explains the well-known polarity of the crystal. 
Iron pyrites has a rather more complicated structure, 
which explains at once the curious disposition of the 
striations on its faces. Sulphur has eight interpene- 
trating lattices, quartz three of silicon and six of 
oxygen. In each of these two cases there is regular 
spacing of the lattices along the long axis, but not in 
other directions. 

The atoms of a crystal are not, of course, at rest; 
the extent of their movements depends on thermal 
considerations. As the temperature rises the motion 
increases. According to theory, this must tend to 
destroy the intensity of the spectra, particularly those 
of higher order. Experiment confirms the theoretical 
deduction, and gives some promise of being able to 
decide between conflicting hypotheses as to the extent 
of the thermal influence. 
angles of reflection diminish as the crystal expands 
with heat and the spacings of the planes increase. 
The method might even be applied to the measurement 
of coefficients of expansion of crystals. 

Lastly, the study of the X-ray spectra emitted by 
various substances when made the antikathodes of the 
X-ray bulb gives valuable information respecting 
atomic structure, and is most skilfully made use of 
in the investigations which are being conducted in 
the physical laboratory of the University of Man- 
chester. ; 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 
INTELLIGENCE. 

Lonpon.—Prof. H. H. Jeffcott has been appointed 
by the Senate to the chair of engineering tenable at 
University College, vacated by the appointment of 
Prof. J. D. Cormack to a professorship at Glasgow. 
Prof. Jeffcott was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, 
and is now professor of engineering in the Royal Col- 
lege of Science, Dublin. ‘ 

The D.Sc. degree in physics has been granted to 
Dr. E. E. Fournier d’Albe, Royal College of Science 
and Birmingham University, for a thesis on the 
efficiency of selenium as a detector of light. 

Evidence is to be presented, on behalf of the Univer- 
sity, to the Departmental Committee of the Board of 
Education in regard to external students, without 
being restricted to the recommendations of the Royal 
Commission. j 


Mr. C. A. KinG has been appointed professor of 
mechanical engineering in the Civil Engineering Col- 
lege, Sibpur, India. 

A FREE scholarship of the value of 30l., tenable at 
the Northampton: Polytechnic Institute (London) is 
being offered to students. In view of the openings 
which the calling and craft of optics now offer, this 


NO. 2308, VOU. 93] 


It is curious to observe the 


[APRIL 2, 1914. 


‘Aitchison Memorial Scholarship,’ should prove most 
attractive to intelligent youths. The subjects of exam- 
ination include English, mathematics, and elementary 
physics. Full particlars can be had of the hon. 
treasurer, Mr. H. F. Purser, 39 Charles Street, Hatton 
Garden, London, E.C. 


A copy has been received from New York City of a 
volume entitled ‘‘A Study of Education in Vermont 
prepared by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advance- 
ment of Teaching at the request of the Vermont Edu- 
cational Commission.’’ The legislature of Vermont 
on November 19, Ig12, appointed a commission to 
report on the educational responsibilities of the State. 
On February 24, 1913, the commission invited the 


Carnegie Foundation to undertake an expert study of- 


the school system of the State, including the higher 
institutions of learning. The resulting report pro- 
vides much information and enumerates the conclu- 
sions and recommendations of the foundation. Among 
other recommendations the withdrawal of State sub- 
sidies from all higher institutions not owned and con- 
trolled by the State is suggested. Three colleges are 
now subsidised by the State of Vermont, and these 
have some 1026 students, 565 of which are provided 
by Vermont itself, while 400 Vermont students attend 
colleges in other States. There are in every thousand 
of population in Vermont three students of higher 
education. In connection with the University of Ver- 
mont, one of the institutions aided by the State, 
strong courses in the humanities and in the sciences 
are recommended, as well as the development by the 
University of the State Agricultural College. 


THE general and departmental reports for the ses- 
sion 1912-13 of the Bradford Technical College reveal 
a satisfactory growth in the usefulness of the institu- 
tion. There was an increase in the attendance over 
the previous academic year. The arrangement under 
which advanced students in dyeing from the Leeds 
University attend a course in the practical dyehouse at 
Bradford was in work during the session. A number 
of Bradford students also attended special courses of 
lectures at the Leeds University. This reciprocal 
arrangement, having proved satisfactory, is being 
continued. The head of the department of textile 
industries reports that although no large increase in 
the number of day students is to be expected, it is 
worthy of note that attendance in the department 
forms a ready entrance into the higher walks of the 
textile industries in the case of students of ability who 
lack special influence in the trade. He points out 
also that the raising of the standard of attainment 
in the industry is possibly the most important work 
of the college evening classes, and those who have 
followed this development recognise the help which 
the college has rendered to the textile trade of the 
city in this direction. The work of the materials test- 
ing laboratory of the department of engineering is 
growing at a rapid rate, and at the present time more 
than one thousand tests per annum are being made 
for the various Government and corporation depart- 
ments, and for local firms. This has the effect of 
bringing the work of the department into close touch 
with the engineering trade of the district, and a 
number of interesting problems of a practical char- 
acter are forthcoming, in the solution of the majority 
of which the students are permitted to take part. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
LOnpDon. 

Royal Society, March 26.—Sir William Crookes, 
president, in the chair.—J. H. Mummery: The nature 
of the tubes in marsupial enamel and its bearing upon 
enamel development. In the present paper the author 


<a e 


FAPRILA 2, 1914 | 


has endeavoured to show that the tubes are dentinal 
tubes and not an enamel product, and that the pene- 
tration. of the dentinal fibril results from the late and 
imperfect calcification of the cement substance be- 
tween the prisms.—W. T. Lockett: Oxidation of thio- 
sulphate by certain bacteria in pure culture. In the 
course of investigations on the oxidation of thio- 
sulphate on bacterial sewage filters, it was found that 
the oxidation was due largely to the presence of living 
organisms. Experiments were undertaken with a 
view to the isolation of the organism or organisms 
capable of bringing about this oxidation.—A. E. 
Everest: The production of anthocyanins and antho- 
cyanidins. The question of the production of Antho- 
cyan pigments from the yellow pigments of the flavone 
and flavonol class is discussed. Evidence is brought 
forward to show that the Anthocyan pigments must 
be regarded as reduction products of flavone or flavonol 
derivatives, and that they are readily produced as 
glucosides from the glucosides of the yellow com- 
pounds without intermediate hydrolysis.—A. 
Walton : Variations in the growth of adult mammalian 
tissue in autogenous and homogeneous plasma. This 
paper considers the results of experiments performed 
to obtain information as to the presence in plasma of 
substances inhibitory to the growth of tissue. Several 
tissues were used and several plasmata were investi- 
gated.—E. C. Grey : (1) The decomposition of formates 
by B. coli communis; (2) the enzymes which are con- 
cerned in the decomposition of glucose and mannitol 
by B. coli communis.—Surg.-General Sir D. Bruce, 
Major A. E, Hamerton, Captain D. P. Watson, and 
Lady Bruce: (1) description of a strain of Trypano- 
soma brucei from Zululand. Part i.—Morphology. 
Part ii.—Susceptibility of animals. Part iii—Develop- 
ment in Glossina morsitans. (2) The Trypanosoma 
causing disease in man in Nyasaland. Part iii.— 
Development in Glossina morsitans. 

Linnean Society, March 19.—Prof. E. B. Poulton, 
president, in the chair.—Dr. E. F. Armstrong: The 
bearing of chemical facts on genetical constitution. 
The subjects dealt with were :—(1) The relation of 
enzymes to colour inheritance in plants; (2) the nature 
of oxydases; (3) the anthocyan pigments of plants and 
their mode of formation; (4) other plant pigments; 
(5) An hypothesis as to the relation between the 
several members of an epistatic series of pigments. 


DUBLIN. 


Royal Dublin Society, February 24.—Dr. J. H. Pollok 
in the chair.—Prof. G. H. Carpenter and T. R. Hewitt : 
The reproductive organs and first-stage larva of the 
warble-fly (Hypoderma). Descriptions with figures of 
the reproductive organs of both sexes of Hypoderma 
bovis are given, and comparative studies of the ovi- 
positor and external male genitalia in H. bovis and 
H. lineatum have been made, very definite specific 
characters being apparent. The male genitalia of 
Hypoderma are symmetrical, and apparently more 
primitive than the corresponding structures in the 
blow-fly or house-fly, three pairs of gonapophyses 
being well developed. There are evidently ten seg- 
ments in the abdomen of the male H. lineatum. The 
newly hatched larva of the warble-fly is exceedingly 
spiny, and provided with strong mouth-hooks and a 
sharp median piercer connected with the pharyngeal 
sclerites. In this stage the larva offers a marked con- 
trast to the almost smooth second instar which is 
found in the wall of the ox’s gullet.—J. E. Collin: 
Notes on the specimens of Borborida and some 
Ephydride in the Haliday collection in the National 
Museum, Dublin. The paper gives details of Hali- 
day’s type specimens, accompanied with systematic 
and synonymic notes. Many of the specimens are still 
in excellent condition after a lapse of eighty years. 


NOM 228s, VOL AO3 | 


NATURE 


127 


EDINBURGH. 


Royal Society, February 16.—Prof. J. Geilsie, presi- 
dent, in the chair.—Dr. M’Whan: The axial inclina- 
tion of curves of thermoelectric force : a case from the 
thermoelectrics of strained wire. The author found 
that when the thermoelectric force, for a given tem- 
perature difference, between strained and unstrained 
nickel was compared with the load, the relation was 
represented by a parabola the axis of symmetry of 
which was inclined to the coordinate axes, thus obtain- 
ing for the relation between electromotive force and 
longitudinal stress a relation similar to that which 
Mr. Hamilton Dixon had established for electromotive 
force and temperature.—A. R. Fulton; Rupture strains 
in beams and crane hooks. A modified theory as to 
the strains in bending as the elastic limits were ap- 
proached was tested and verified by experiments on 
the rupture of beams and hooks.—Dr. H. A. Haig: 
A description of the systematic anatomy of a Feetal 
Sea leopard (Stenorhynchus leptonyx), with remarks 
upon the microscopic anatomy of some of the organs : 
Scottish National Antarctic Expedition. The foetus 
investigated had attained about one-third of its intra- 
uterine development, and was 122 mm. in length. 
The flippers were well formed, as also the nostrils and 
eyelids. Points of special interest were described in 
connection with the cerebellum, the heart, the position 
of the cecal diverticulum, and the pituitary gland. 
The placentation of the seals resembled that of the cat 
or dog, the placenta being of the zonary type. A 
general survey of the developmental aspects indicated 
that certain organs of brain, internal ear, and pituitary 
were, comparatively speaking, more advanced than 
the same organs of the three-months human _ feetus. 
Further investigation, more especially of the earlier 
stages, would be of great interest in connection with 
the pituitary gland and the kidney. the latter organ 
being of the type in which separate renal pyramids 
are met. 

March 2.—Sir E. A. Schafer, -vice-president, in the 
chair._Sir Thomas Oliver and T. M. Clague : Electro- 
lytic method of treatment for blood poisoning.—Sir 
William Turner : The aborigines of Tasmania. Part iii. 
The hair of the head compared with that of other 
Ulotrichi, and with Australians and Polynesians. The 
paper consisted of a detailed examination of ulotrichous 
hair—that is, woolly or frizzly hair—as it is found in 
various African races, in the aborigines of Tasmania, 
New Guinea, and the Melanesian Islands, and in the 
Negritos of the Malay Peninsula, etc. The com- 
parison was based upon the author’s observations and 
measurements of the specimens which formed the col- 
lection in the anatomical museum of the University 
of Edinburgh, a collection which had been made over 
a number of years for the purposes of anthropological 
study. 


MANCHESTER. 


Literary and Philosophical Society, March 10.—Mr. 
Francis Nicholson, president, in the chair.—Prof. 
Edmund Knecht and Miss Eva Hibbert: /-Pimaric 
acid from French rosin. The authors described a 
method of obtaining lavo-pimaric acid from French 
rosin in a chemically pure state and in considerable 
bulk. Further, the composition, molecular weight, 
and the more important physical constants of the 
acid have been determined. The acid appears to be 
a derivative of the terpene or the camphene series. 
If treated for some time to the temperature of the 
boiling point of aniline (183° C.) the acid is converted 
into an anhydride resembling ordinary rosin in appear- 
ance. On dissolving this in alcohol or glacial acetic 
acid hydrolysis ensues, and an_ optically inactive 
(racemic) acid is obtained, possessing the remarkable 


128 


property of showing in benzene or alcohol solution 
molecular weight of its optical isomer. The racemic 
compound can be resolved into its optically active 
components by means of d-tetrahydroquinaldine.— 
R. F. Gwyther: The specification of stress. Part iv., 
The elastic solution, the elastic stress relations, ques- 
tion of stability, struts, ties, and test-pieces. The 
author proposed a géheral dynamical solution of the 
elastic problem, but admitted that there are special 
cases. Certain hypotheses are made in the solution 
which from the dynamical point of view seem reason- 
able. Treating the statical case, the solution is found 
without the necessity of employing these hypotheses. 
If the statical result is a special case of the general 
dynamical result no question arises. But on intro- 
ducing time-factors into the statical solution, the ques- 
tion arises whether the dynamical equations are gener- 
ally satisfied, whether they are satisfied in some special 
way or whether they cannot in any circumstances be 
satisfied by the variation of the statical solution. The 
relations of stresses when all direct reference to strains 
is eliminated is considered, and it is shown how each 
element of stress can be represented in terms of the 
invariant of the three longitudinal stresses. 

March 24.—Mr. Francis Nicholson, president, in the 
chair.—Faunal survey of Rostherne Mere, Cheshire. 
(1) Dr. W. M. Tattersall and T. A. Coward: Intro- 
duction and methods. The authors gave an account 
of the formation of the mere and its physical char- 
acteristics, pointing out that the mere was a dissolu- 
tion basin formed as the result of subsidence of the 
earth’s surface, consequent on the action of under- 
ground water in dissolving and carrying away rock- 
salt from the underlying strata. Accounts of the tem- 
perature of the lake and of the chemical composition 
of the water were given.—(2) R. S. Adamson: Pre- 
liminary account of the flora. A description of the 
marginal vegetation of the lake.—(3) T. A. Coward : 
Vertebrata. A list was given of the vertebrates which 
occurred in and round the mere. The author included 
only those vertebrates which were in one way or 
another influenced by the presence of the water, and 
were therefore factors in the ecology. Five mammals, 
seventy-six birds, and eleven fish were enumerated.— 
(4) A. W. Boyd: Preliminary list of lepidoptera. One 
hundred and forty-four species, found by the author 
during the last three years, were recorded. Three 
species were new to the Cheshire list. The tendency 
towards melanism, as is usual in the north of Eng- 
land, was noted in a number of species. 


Paris. 


Academy of Sciences, March 23.—M. P. Appell in the 
chair.—A, Haller and Ed. Bauer: Syntheses by means 
of sodium amide. The preparation of allyl ketones 
derived from the alkylacetophenones and_pinacoline. 
It has been shown in a_ previous paper that 
the interaction of sodium amide, iodide or 
bromide of allyl, and acetophenone does not 
give allylacetophenones but only condensation pro- 
ducts. With mono- and di-alkylacetophenones, how- 
ever, the reaction goes normally, and allyl deriva- 
tives are formed. Details of numerous examples of 
this reaction are given.—Paul Sabatier and A. Mailhe : 
The use of manganous oxide for the catalysis of acids. 
The preparation of fatty and aryl ketones. The oxides 
of calcium or of iron, although giving satisfactory 
results in many cases, do not give satisfactory yields 
of ketones from isobutyric and isovaleric acids. A 
study of various oxides from this point of view has 
shown that manganous oxide, MnO, acts well as a 
catalyst, is not expensive, preserves its catalytic pro- 
perties nearly indefinitely, and can be utilised for the 
production of aldehydes as well as ketones. The 


NO. 2318, VOI: 193) 


NATO TES 


[APRIL 2, 1914 


vapours of the acids are carried over a 60 cm. column 
of the MnO maintained at a temperature of 400° to 
450° C. Numerous examples of the excellent yields 
obtained are given.—A. Lacroix: The laterites of 
Guinea.—Charles Moureu and Adolphe Lepape: Crude 
nitrogen (nitrogen and rare gases) in natural gas 
mixtures (see p. 120).—R. de Forcrand; Potassium 
tetroxide. The pure K,O, has been prepared by two 
methods, and its thermochemical constants determined. 
The results are compared with those previously 
obtained for rubidium and czsium.—A. Calmette and 
A. Mézie: The treatment of epilepsy by snake poison. 
The snake poison used was extracted from Crotalus 
adamanteus, injected in gradually increasing doses. 
The number of fits per annum was reduced in all the 
cases detailed, and this improvement was maintained 
after the treatment was stopped.—Lucien Godeaux ; 
Involutions having only a finite number of points be- 
longing to an algebraical surface.—M. Gunther: The 
general theory of systems of partial differential 
equations.—E. Baticle: The partial differential 
equations of the limiting equilibrium of a sandy mass, 
comprised between two surfaces of rectilinear profile. 
—Louis Benoist and Hippolyte Copaux : Application of 
the laws of transparency of matter to the X-rays to 
the determination of some contested atomic weights. 
The case of beryllium. The transparency of beryllium 
to X-rays corresponds to the atomic weight 9-1.— 
Georges Claude: The absorption of gases by carbon 
at low temperatures. (see page 120).;4,A. Leduc: 
The density and atomic weight of neon. Eighteen 
litres of neon containing some helium and nitrogen 
as impurities were purified by treatment with charcoal 
cooled with liquid air. The density found was 0-696, 
or nearly 3 per cent. higher than the value found by 
Ramsay and Travers (0-674). From this is deduced 
that the atomic weight of neon is exactly twenty times 
that of hydrogen, or 20:15 for O=16.—Jean Bielecki 
and Victor Henri: Contribution to the study of 
tautomerism. The quantitative study of the absorption 
of ultra-violet light by the derivatives of acetoacetic 
acid._—L. Moreau and E. Vinet: A method of deter- 
mining traces of arsenic of the order of a thousandth 
of a milligram. The method is based on the produc- 
tion of a silver mirror in a small glass U-tube con- 
taining silver nitrate.—Mil. Z. lovitchitch: The ab- 
sorption of carbon dioxide from the air by chromium 
hydroxide.—A. Joannis ; The constitution of potassium 
carbonyl. By the controlled action of water vapour 
upon the compound KCO obtained by the interaction 
of potassium and carbon monoxide, glycollic acid was 
obtained, according to the reaction, 


K.CO—CO.K+ H,.O=CH,.OK—CO.OK. 


—Félix Bidet: The hydrates of the primary amines. 
Normal and isoamylamines and isobutylamine com- 
bine with water vapour from the air and form well- 
crystallised hydrates, fusible below 100° C., and 
possessing high vapour pressures.—Const. A. Ktenas : 
The petrographical relations existing between the 
island of Seriphos and the neighbouring formations.— 
J. L. Vidal: The adaptation of the vine to the different 
conditions of life created by pruning at different periods 
and its consequences on the evolution of the reserve 
carbohydrates.—M. Marage: The action on certain 
organisms of an artificial current of water. An 
account of some experiments with the divining rod, 
in which the flow of water was controlled. For water 
flowing in pipes the experiments failed, as the person 
holding the divining twig was unable to detect the flow 
of water with certainty.—H. Coutiére: The ‘ocular 
tubercles *’ of podothalmic Crustacea.—P. Benoit : The 
formation of the gonophore in Tubularia indivisa.— 
Bernard Collin: The involution forms of ciliated Infu- 
soria in the renal organ of a Cephalopod.—Theodor 


APRIL 2, 1914| 


NATURE 


129 


Mironescu: The action of some pharmaceutical sub- 
stances on the development of experimental cancer.— 
A. Blanchet ; The activity of the lipodiastase of castor 
oil seeds at a low temperature, Although the diastatic 
activity is reduced by low ering. the temperature it is 
not entirely suppressed at le C.—L. Cavel: The 
transportation of micro-organisms into the atmosphere 
by the pulverisation of polluted water. The sprays in 
actual use in connection with bacterial beds for the 
treatment of sewage give up organisms to the sur- 
rounding air, and may be a source of danger in time 
of epidemics.—Em, Bourquelot and M. Bridel : The bio- 
chemical synthesis of the B-monoglucoside of glycol 
with the aid of emulsin.—Paul Durandin : The possible 
existence of oil-bearing strata in French Indo-China. 
—F. Jadin and A. Astruc: Manganese in some springs 
of the Vosges massif. 


GOTTINGEN. 


Royal Society of Sciences.—The Nachrichten (physico- 
mathematical section), part 4 for 1913, contains the 
following memoirs communicated to the society :— 

May 24.—G,. Angenheister ; The velocity of propaga- 
tion of magnetic disturbances and pulsations (report 
on the instantaneous records of terrestrial magnetism 
in Apia (Samoa), Batavia, Cheltenham, and Tsingtao 
in. September, Igrt). 

June 21.—H. Bohr: The significance of power-series 
of an indefinitely large number of variables in the 
Dirichlet series, =a”/ns.—O. Faust: The internal fric- 
tion of fluids under high pressure. 

July 7.—A. Peter: Injuries to forest-trees by light- 
‘ning-stroke over large areas. 

July 19.—C, Carathéodory ; Boundary-adaptation in 
conformal representation.—L. Foppl and P. Daniell: 
The kinematics of Born’s rigid body. 

August 23.—B. Meese: Some observations on the 
optical constants of potassium and sodium. 

November 1.—L. Bieberbach:; A theorem of Cara- 
théodory.—O. Miigge : Shearing-deformations in phos- 
genite and galena.—R. von Mises: The mechanics of 
solid bodies in the plastic-deformable condition.—G. 
Tammann: The discrimination of racemism from 
pseudo-racemism. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 


Part i. Lines and Planes. 
Bye. woeiracy, Part ii.) Solids By EH. B. North 
aid). Cy inacy. Pp: ix+126.. New York: J. Wiley 
and Sons, Inc. ; London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd.) 
Ss. 6d. net. 

The Horticultural Record. Compiled by R. Cory. 
Pp. xv+500+plates. (London: J. and A. Churchill.) 
As LEU 

Die Welt der Kolloide. By Dr. H. Leifer. 
(Leipzig: P. Reclam, jun.) 80 pfennigs. 

Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tas- 


Descriptive Geometry. 


Pp. r2i. 


mania for the Year 1913. Pp. 337+xxii plates. 
(Hobart : Tasmanian Museum.) 15s. 

Table Auxiliaire d’Intéréts Composés. By A. 
Trignant. Pp. viiit21. (Paris: Gauthier-Villars et 
Cie.) 2 francs. 

Handworterbuch der Naturwissenschaften. Edited 
by E. Korschelt and others. Lief. 74 and 75. (Jena: 


G. Fischer.) 2.50 marks. 

Die mathematischen Wissenschaften. 
von. F. Klein. Zweite Lief., Die Beziehungen der 
Mathematik zur Kultur der Gegenwart. By A. Voss. 
Die Verbreitung mathematischen Wissens und mathe- 
matischer Auffassung. By H. E. Timerding. _ Pp. 
161.  (Léipag und Berlin: B:“G. Teubner.) 6 
marks. 


NO. 2318, VOL. 93] 


Unter leitung” 


Edited 


Handbuch der vergleichenden Physiologie. 
Fischer.) 


by H. Winterstein. Lief: 41. | (Jena:. G, 
5 marks. 


Geological Survey of Alabama. Monograph 8. 
Economic Botany of Alabama. Part 1. Geographical 
Report. bye. “Mi Tlarper. Pp. 228 -plates. 
(Alabama.) 

Antarctie Penguins. By Dr. G. M. Levick. ' Pp. 
x+140+plates. (London: W. Heinemann.) 6s. net. 


University of California Publications in Geography. 


Vol. i., No. 4. The Rainfall of California. By A. G. 
McAdie. Pp. 127-240+plates. (Berkeley, Cal.) 
Eugenics Record Office. | Bulletin toa and_ 1ob. 
The Scope of the Committee’s Work. By H. H. 
| Laughlin. .Pp. 64. The Legal, Legislative, and 
i Administrative Aspects of Sterilization. By H. H. 


Laughlin. (Cold Spring Harbour, Long Island, New 
York.) 20 cents and 60 cents respectively. 

The South aoucen Institute for Medical Research. 
Memoir No An Enquiry into the Etiology, Mani- 
festations, Par Prevention of Pneumonia amongst the 
Natives on the Rand, Recruited from Tropical Areas. 
By G. D. Maynard. Pp. 1o1+xi charts. (Johannes- 
burg : South African Institute for Medical Research.) 

5S. 

; Proceedings of the Rhodesia Scientific Association. 
Vol. xii. Containing Papers Read During 1912-13. 
Pp. 161. (Bulawayo.) 

Nature and the Idealist. 
Pp. xii+186. (London: Sampson Low and Co., 

net. 

Some Minute Animal Parasites or Unseen Foes in 
the Animal World. By Dr. H. B. Fantham and Dr. 


By H. D. Shawcross. 
Ltd.) 


5S. 


A. Porter. Pp. xi+319. (London: Methuen and Co., 
Ltd.) > §sa.met 
| A Third Year Course of Organic Chemistry. The 
Heterocyclic Compounds, Carbohydrates, and Ter- 
penes. By Dr. T. P. Hilditch.. Pp. xii+411. (Lon- 
don: Methuen and Co., Ltd.) 6s. 
Sumer is icumen in. By Dr. J. B. Hurry. Second 
edition. Pp. 53. (London: Novello and Co., Ltd.) 
Structural, Geology... By C.K. Leith.' Pp. vie 
169. (London: Constable and Co., Ltd.) 6s. 6d. 


net. 
A Flora of Norfolk, with Papers on Climate, Soils, 


Physiography, and Plant Distribution, by Members of 
the Norfoll and Norwich Naturalists’ Society. Edited 
by W. A. Nicholson. Pp. viit+214+2 maps. (Lon- 
don: West, Newman and Co.) 6s. 

Life and Human Nature. By Sir B. Fuller. Pp. 
xii+ 399. (London: J. Murray.) gs. net. 

Le. Hasands By Brot. Ee) Borels Pasay see: 
(Paris: F. Alcan.) 3.50 francs. 

The Origin of the World. By R. McMillan. Pp. 

xiii+136. (London: Watts and. Co.) 

Guide to the Geology of the Whitby District. By 


L. Walmsley. Pp. 37. (Whitby: Horne and Son.) 


IS. Mee, 

Grundziige einer _chemisch-physikalischen Theorie 
des Lebens. By Dr. H. Lundegardh. Pp. v+63. 
(Jena: G. Fischer.) 2 marks. 

Ueber die Bedingungen der Gebirgsbildung. By 
Dr. K. Andrée Pp. iviti+ ror: (Berlin : Gebriider 
Borntraeger.) 3.20 marks 

Memoirs of the Geological Survey of India. 
Palzontologia Indica. New series. Vol. v. .Memoir 
No. 1. Triassic Faunz.of Kashmir. By Dr. C. 
Diener. Pp. 133+xiii plates. (Calcutta: Geological 
Survey ; London: K. Paul and Co., Ltd.) 4s. 4d. 


The Synthetic Use of Metals in Organic Chemistry. 


By A: J. Hale. Pp. xit+169. (London: J. and A. 
Churchill.) 4s. 6d. net. 

Modern Steel Analysis. By J. A. Pickard. Pp. 
viiit+128. (London: J. and A. Churchill.) 3s. 6d. 
net. 


130 

School. Lighting: )) iby aie SH:. Ti. Nash.) Pp.),28: 
(London: J. and A. Churchill.) 1s. net. 

Die Mechanik des Geisteslebens By- Prof. M. 
Verworn. Pp. 92. (Leipzig und Berlin: B. G. 
Teubner.) 1.25 marks. 

Tasmanian Bryophyta. Vol. i. Mosses. By L. 
Rodway. Pp. 163. (Hobart: Royal Society of Tas- 
mania.) 55. 


Royal Society of Tasmania. The Foundation and 
Early Work of the Society, with Some Account of other 
Institutions. of Early Hobart. By E. L. Piesse. Pp. 
117-166. (Hobart: Royal Society of Tasmania.) 2s. 

Allgemeine Ergebnisse und Probleme der Natur- 
wissenschaft. Eine Einfithrung in die moderne Natur- 
philosophie. By Dr. B. Bavink. Pp. xiii+ 314. 
(Leipzig : S. Hirzel.) 6 marks. 

Das neue Botanische Institut der Universitat Inns- 
bruck. By Prof. E. Heinricher. Pp. 18+iii plates. 
(Jena: G. Fischer.) 80 pfennigs. 

Mysore Government Meteorological Department. 
Report on Rainfall Registration in Mysore for 1912. 
By N. V._ Iyengar. Pp. xviit+49. (Bangalore : 
Government Press.) 

Paul Ehrlich. Eine Darstellung seines wissenschaft- 
lichen Wirkens. By H. Apolant, H. Aronson, H. 
Bechhold, J. Benario, and others. Pp. viii+668. 
(Jena: G. Fischer.) 16 marks. 


DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 
THURSDAY, Aprit 2. 


Rovat Society, at 4.30.—Bakerian Lecture : Series Lines in Spark Spectra: 
Prof. A. Fowler. 


Rovar InstiTuTION, at 3.—The Progress of Modern Eugenics. II. 
Eugenics To-day: Its Counterfeits, Powers, and Problems: Dr. C. W. 
Saleeby. 

Cuitp Stupy Society, at 7.30.—The Nervous Child: Dr. L. Guthrie. 


INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—The Signalling of a Rapid 
Transit Railway : H. G. Brown. 

LiInNEAN Society, at 8.—Plants, Natives of Australia found growing on 
the Banks of the Rivers Tweed and Gala; also Seeds from Australian 
Wool: Miss Ida M. Hayward.—Lantern Slides of Cape Plants, mostly 
in their Native Habitats. Second Series: W. C. Worsdell.—Mr. W. A. 
Lambourn’s Breeding Experiments upon Acvwa encedon, Linn., in the 
Lagos District of West Africa, 1910-1912 : Prof. E. B. Poulton.—Structure 
of the Wood of Himalayen Junipers: W. Rushton.—A Contribution to 
the Flora of Fiji: W. B. Turrill.—A New Amphipodan Genus and Species 
(Family Dexaminidz) from New Zealand: Prof. C. Chilton. 


FRIDAY, Aprit 3. 


Roya. INSTITUTION, at 9.—Further Researches on Positive Rays: Sir 
J. J Thomson. 


INSTITUTION OF CiviL ENGINEERS at 8.—Fast Stirlingshire Waterworks, 
and a Note on Earthen Embankments: O. I. Bell. 


GroLocists’ AssociaATION, at 8.—The Geology of North Cornwall: H. 
Dewey. 


SATURDAY, Aprriv 4. 


Roya InstiTuTIon, at 3.—Recent Discoveries in Physical Science : Sir 
J. J. Thomson. 


MONDAY, Apri 6. 


Society OF ENGINEERS, at 7.30.—The Utilisation of Solar Energy: A. S. E. 
Ackermann. 

SOcIETY OF Cuemicat Inpustry, at 8.—By-products from Peat: F. 
Mollwo Perkin.—Sulphuric Acid—the Swing of the Pendulum: H. E. 
Armstrong.—Table of Specific Gravities of Spirits for Use with Bedford’s 
Tables: J. N. Rakshit and S. N. Sinha.—The Viscosity of Rubher 
Solution: R. Gaunt. 

ARISTOTELIAN SOCIETY, at 8.—Dzscussion: The Value of Logic: Dr. A. 
Wolf and Dr. F. C. S. Schiller. 

Rovat GEOGRAPHICAL SociETy, at 8.30.—Some Famous Maps in the 
British Museum: J. A. J. de Villiers. 


VicTorIA INSTITUTE, at 4.30.—The First Chapter of Genesis: E. W. 
Maunder. 


TUESDAY, Apriu 7. 


RENEGEN SociETy, at 8.15.—The Energy of the Réntgen Rays: Dr. R. T. 

eatty. 

ILLUMINATING ENGINEERING SociETy, at 8.—The Lighting of Railway 
Carriages and other Public Vehicles: E. K. Scott. 

ZooLocicaL Society, at 8.30.—Contributions to the Anatomy and Sys- 
tematic Arrangement of the Cestoidea.—XIII. Two New Species 
belonging to the Genera Oochoristica and Linstowia, with Remarks upon 
those Genera: Dr. F. E. Beddard.—The Nature of the Lateral Muscle in 
Teleostei: E. W. Shann.—Report on the River-Crabs (Potamonidz) 
collected by the British Ornithologists’ Union Expedition and the 


NO. 2318, VOL. 93] 


NATURE 


See 


[APRIL 2, I914 


Wollaston Expedition in Dutch New Guinea: Dr. W. T. Calman.— 
Report on the Mammals collected by the British Ornithologists’ Union 
Expedition and the Wollaston Expedition in Dutch New Guinea’: Oldfield 
Thomas.—Notes on a Collection of East Africarr Mammals presented to 
the British Museum by G. P. Cosens : G. Dollmian. 

INSTITUTION OF CIvIL ENGINEERS, at 8.—The Transportation Problem in 
Canada, and Montreal Harbour: F. W. Cowie. ‘ 


WEDNESDAY, Apri 8. 


Roya ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, at 5. 

GroLoaicaL Society, at 8.—The Evolution of the Essex River System, 
and its Relation to that of the Midlands: Prof. J. W. Gregory.—The 
Topaz-bearing Rocks of Gunong Bakau (Federated Malay States: J. B. 
Scrivenor. 


THURSDAY, ApRit 9. 
CoNcCRETE INSTITUTE, at 7.30. 


CONTENTS. PAGE 
The Syrian Goddess. By L. W. K. . 1 Fee Lae 105 
Stones and’ Superstitions. | ByiJ. We. Jo. . 5 2. tos 
Animal Morphology and Embryology . 106 
Our Bookshelf 108 
Letters to the Editor :— 
The Doppler Effect and Carnot’s Principle.—Prof. 
HL. Callendap BeRSS 5. 95) sien ae LOL 
Lead and the Final Product of Thorium.—Dr. Arthur 
Holmes a Se hae Raat arc hs eae HGS. 
Thermions and the Origin of Solar and Terrestrial 
Magnetism.—S. J. Barnett .... . | = 3) OG 
A Triangle that gives the Area and Circumference of 
any Circle, and the Diameter of a Circle equal in 
Area to any given Square. (MV2th Diagram).— 
T. M. P. Hughes; Prof. G. B. Mathews, 
jl SRS OO e tO cb EMGI oucn Ghe Omi: oa o ¢ 110 
New Units in Aerology.—Robert E. Baynes . . 110 
Progress in Wireless Telephony. (///ustrated.) By 
Prof. J. A: Pleming; FoRIS, 2 Ea fda > LI: 
A Bird with a History. (J//ustrated.) By A. L. T.. 113 
Ds:.G. J. Burch, F)R.S. «By HeyMie Ve <0) 2) ee 
Prof,G: M. Minchin; BiR iS. (By Ra7Av iG.” ees 
Notes 2.02 ul .e tr Rr a 
Our Astronomical Column :— 
Astronomical Occurrences for April . ...... 121 
A New Comet BS re cs 121 
Jupiter Visible before Sunrise). << ss). =) eee 
A Proposed Tower Telescope. . 121 


Annual Report of the Hamburg Observatory in 
Bergedorf Ngee ink Qeeanel 
Optical Rotatory Power... . 


oP, ee lee 
Lizard Venom. By Dr. C. J. Martin, F.R.S. 123 
Chinese Paleontology. By F. R.C. Reed... . 123 
Marine Biology. By]J.J. .. 124 


Crystalline Structures as Revealed by X-Rays. By 


Proms. HH. Brages Bans Seen lene 124 
University and Educational Intelligence . 126 
Societies and Academies 126 
Books Received . 129 
Drary Of societies - = 2 2). 130 


Editorial and Publishing Offices: 


MACMILLAN & CO., Ltp., 


ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C. 


Advertisements and business letters to be addressed to the 
Publishers. 


Editorial Communications to the Editor. 


Telegraphic Address: Puusis, LONDON. 
Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830. 


NATURE 


\ APR 18 
\ ; I 3 i 
Ae : 


THURSDAY,. APRIL g, ©1914. 


“A VOCABULARY OF EMBRYOLOGY. 
Terminologie der Entwickelungsmechanik der 

Tiere und Pflanzen. NHerausgegeben von Wil- 

helm Roux. Pp. xii+465. (Leipzig: W. Engel- 

mann, 1972.) Price 10 marks. 

HE science of embryology has its own evo- 
Ls lution. Once upon a time it was no more 
than a science of observation; its task was to 
describe the form and structure of the embryo 
during growth, as the naturalist or the anatomist 
had described those of the organism when it was 
grown. Later on, in the light of the cell-theory, 
in the spirit of Darwinism, and with the help of 
Wolff's and Von Baer’s laws, embryology became 
dominated by, even subjugated to, the historical 
method; its chief aim was “to form a basis for 
phylogeny,’ and its chief problems dealt with 
such matters as the retention of ancestral charac- 
ters in embryonic and larval forms, the explana- 
tion on similar lines of functionless or atrophied 
organs, and the discovery of ‘homologies ” 
between cells, germ-layers, and organs, even in 
distantly-related organisms. 

Such, so far as it can be expressed in a sen- 
tence, was Balfour’s attitude towards embryology, 
and so he defined its aims in the preface to his 
great text-book, adding, however, the important 
qualification ‘‘as restricted in the present work.” 
One great problem, or class of problems, he ex- 
pressly excluded, when he spoke of the embryo- 
logical investigations of certain older writers as 
being “mixed up with irrelevant speculations on 
the origin of life.” But inquiries into the charac- 
ter and inner nature of organic processes, and 
speculations on the nature and even the “origin” 
of life, recur continually to men’s minds, and 
upon such inquiries embryological study has a 
bearing, which is by no means to be dismissed 
as irrelevant. So we come to a third, and nowa- 
days important, phase of embryology, in which 
that science has become not merely a morphologi- 
cal, but a physiological, study, and. is accord- 
ingly approached from the side of chemistry and 
of physics, with the aid of the known properties 
of matter and of energy. 

The new and growing conception of embry- 
ology as a ‘dynamic ” .;science,.or series of 
dynamical problems, carries us a long way from 
the older and simpler embryology, with its 
““statical”’ outlook, its concrete description of 
forms and phases of form. It widens out and out 
into ways of experiment and analysis undreamed 
of a generation ago; it leads us, for instance (to 
name but a few names out of many), to the 


NO. 22007 VOL. 93 | 


philosophical inquirtes< of -Piriesch, to the wide 
experimental field of Loeb and his followers, and 
to the general study of ‘developmental mech- 
anics,’’ which has been the life-work of Wilhelm 
Roux. 

But “the house that is a-building is not as the 
house that is built.” In the growth of a young 
science there is a stage when facts are heaped up 
in apparent.confusion, out of which order and 
simplicity presently emerge. For a while, the 
workman is kept busy making his own tools, and 
in the growth of new knowledge and of new ideas 
language itself has to be strengthened by new 
words. 

Common experience, and the Oxford Diction- 
ary, show us how ill the older vocabulary sufficed 
to keep pace with last century’s growth of ideas, 
even in the ordinary affairs of men. To natural 
science Huxley’s generation contributed a new 
language, which we now speak familiarly; and 
once again, in the narrower field of embryology, 
we wake up to find that yet another language has 
become implanted in the old. We had better not 
ask whether all this new nomenclature be essen- 
tial; some of it will doubtless pass away while 
part remains; meanwhile, it has grown -by a 
natural process of evolution, and those must 
learn it who would master the teaching of the new 
schools. So Prof. Roux, with a little band of 
botanists and anatomists, has set himself in a 
true spirit of helpfulness to put in order the new 
terminology, and to teach this new language to 
those who have not learned it by the way. 

His book is a book of reference, a means of 
interpretation, and a bibliographical guide; it is 
a dictionary, and those who find pleasure in the 
reading of dictionaries are few. Yet, after all, 
the book is something more than a book of refer- 
ence or a mere vocabulary, for many of its para- 
graphs amount to short essays, where the student 
will find both information and instruction. This 
is not only the case in some of the larger articles, 
such as ‘“ Entwickelungsmechanik,” ‘“‘Kampf der 
Theile,” etc., but in others also. Take at random, 
for instance, a little paragraph on ‘‘Scherenum- 
kehr,” or “‘ Heterochelie ”’ ; here we have a concise 
introduction to a very singular phenomenon, wit- 
nessed among certain crabs, which ordinarily 
possess, on opposite sides, one large claw and one 
small one; if the former be chopped off, then the 
latter grows into a big claw, and the former big 
claw, after repair, comes to be a little one. The 
crab is perfectly regenerated, but its new form is 
a “mirror-image” of that with which it began. 
The article ends with references to papers wherein 
this phenomenon is discussed in its many curious 
modifications. 


G 


132 


But while we may well be grateful to the writer 
who has tried in this little book to make a very 
difficult subject somewhat less difficult, it must be 
confessed that the book is too condensed, too 
strenuously logical, and, moreover, too much 
occupied by questions of priority, to attract the 
general scientific reader, or, indeed, any but the 
professed student of its own subject. Prof. Roux 
has greater powers than are put in action here. 
Haeckel’s ‘‘Generelle Morphologie” is now prac- 
tically obsolete ; but it marks an epoch in biologi- 
cal science, and it stands as a monument of clear 
thinking and lucid scientific expression. Let us 
hope that some day or other Prof. Roux will give 
us not only a vocabulary, not only isolated re- 
searches, however important, but will crown his 
labours by the writing of a newer and a better 
“Generelle Morphogenie.” Dr SWweed: 


RUBBER AND RUBBER PLANTING. 


Rubber and Rubber Planting. By Dr. R. H. 
Lock. Pp. xilit+t245+x plates. (Cambridge: 
Wniversity ress. 1903.) \Price s.,net. 


R. R. H. LOCK was connected, until re- 
cently, with the Botanic Department at 
Peradeniya, Ceylon. In conjunction with other 
officers of that department, he conducted a series 
of very valuable experiments in connection with 
the tapping of rubber trees. 

The book before us contains much that has 
already been published by the author officially in 
Ceylon. The diagrams and photographs illus- 
trate many interesting features in connection with 
Hevea, Manihot, Castilloa, Funtumia, Ficus, and 
Landolphia, such as is rarely found in a book 
on rubber. 

The book deals with the botanical sources and 
history of rubber, physiology of latex, the usual 
planting and harvesting operations, and the vari- 
ous pests and diseases of rubber plants. Each 
chapter is written in a very easy and popular style, 
and the subject-matter can be easily understood 
by the general reader. 

The special line of work in the book is that 
which relates to tapping operations. When deal- 
ing with the effects of wounding the bark, the 
author lays stress upon the fact that any system 
of tapping which involves the cutting of the whole 
circumference of the tree at one time is bad. 
He suggests that in no circumstances should more 
than one-half of the total circumference of the 
tree be tapped at one time. 

The yield of rubber bears a peculiar relation to 
the volume of bark on the tree. An instance is 
quoted of one tree which in three years yielded 
240 lb. of dry rubber; the rubber was contained 

NO. 2319, VOL. 93| 


NATURE 


[APRIL 9, 1914 


in 70 gallons of latex, equivalent to 20,000 cubic 
inches. This yield of 20,000 cubic inches of latex 
was obtained by tapping an area of bark which 
had contained only 500 cubic inches of latex at 
the beginning of the experiment. The problem, 
therefore, resolves itself into one of the origin 
of the balance of 19,500 cubic inches of latex. 


| The author concludes that the greater part of 


the latex can only have been produced by secre- 
tion of latex in the existing laticiferous tissue, 
thus suggesting that the latter is an organ for the 
actual manufacture, as well as storage, of the 
milky liquid. 

It is common knowledge among experimenters 
in the tropics that the yielding capacity of rubber 
trees exhibits enormous variation. It is this varia- 
tion which renders the majority of the public 
records of experiments valueless. Dr. Lock 
shows in certain experiments that the highest and 
lowest average yields for particular operations 
were respectively 106 and 8 cubic centimetres. 
The yield per unit of bark removed was in the 
ratio of 317 to 25—a variation of 1,000 per cent. 
in yields from trees which to the author appeared 
to be somewhat similar. In addition to this varia- 
tion in yield, there is an equally marked variability 
in composition of the latex according to frequency 
of tapping, season of tapping, altitude, and so 
forth. 

In the middle-East, the majority of planters tap 
the same area on the same day, or on alternate 
days, the intervals between successive tapping 
operations being regarded as sufficient to enable 
the latex to accumulate to the desired quantity 
and degree of concentration. Dr. Lock is prob- 
ably the first experimenter who has continued ex- 
periments for a period of four years, and herein 
lies the great value of his work. The majority of 
tapping experiments have usually lasted a number 
of months, and on that account alone are apt to 
be highly misleading. 

Dr. Lock concludes that, after 34 years’ con- 
tinuous tapping, the yield from trees tapped once 
a week may become as great or greater than that 
from trees tapped at any shorter interval. It was 
this conclusion which gave rise to a controversy 
in the columns of the India-rubber Journal, which 
in turn led the Rubber Growers’ Association in 
London to take up experimental tapping on various 
Eastern estates. Later publications from Malaya 
do not agree with the result obtained from Dr. 
Lock in Ceylon, but this might very well be due 
to the fact that the experiments in Malaya have 
not been continued for the same period of time. 

Altogether, the book can be regarded as being 
of great value, not only to the practical man on 
the estate, but also to investigators in this country. 


Hee W. 


ee a 


APRIL 9, 1914] 


NALURE 


135 


WATER, SUPPLIES. 


(1) Studies in Water Supply. By Dr. A. C. 
Houston. Pp. xii+203. Macmillan’s Science 
Monographs. (London: Macmillan and Co., 


Etd., 1913.) Price 5s. net. 

(2) Water: its Purification and Use in the Indus- 
inves. By W. W. Christie. Pp. xi+ 2109. 
(London: Constable and Co., Ltd., 1913.) Price 
8s. 6d. net, 

(1) R. HOUSTON has gathered together an 

epitome of his own researches, which 
have been scattered among a considerable number 
of reports and papers. In the first chapter, which 
deals with sources of water-supply, he directs 
attention to the remarkably low death-rate from 
typhoid fever in London during the past few 
years, a rate which in the year 1911 amounted to 
only 003 per thousand of the population. After 
discussing the rivers Thames and Lea as sources 
of water-supply, he proceeds in subsequent chap- 
ters to give results of his observations upon the 
purification of water, finally concluding the volume 
by a discussion and description of the methods 
carried out under his direction in the laboratories 
of the Metropolitan Water Board. 

The main conclusions which Dr. Houston draws 
from a large amount of experimental work may 
be summarised as follows :—River water exposed 
to manifold pollutions, and furnishing ample 
chemical and bacteriological evidence of objection- 
able contamination, may fail to show any or 


scarcely any of the microbes of water-borne dis- | 


ease; and he raises the question as to whether 
we have not exaggerated the value, high as it is, 
of the sand filter as a factor in our long-continued 
immunity from typhoid fever, and whether some 
at least of this freedom may not be due to the 
fact that the water was not primarily so noxious 
as it has hitherto been regarded. He is convinced 
that artificially-added typhoid bacilli die fairly 
rapidly in stored water, even when such water is 
of great initial impurity, and that a preliminary 
storage of water is an important factor of safety. 
This purification of water under storage conditions 
is chiefly due to the sedimentation, equalisation, 
and devitalisation of microbes; and he shows that 
by the second week the reduction in the artificially 
cultivated typhoid bacilli added to river water is 
more than 99 per cent. on the average, and that 
storage reduces the number of bacteria of all sorts 
and devitalises the survivors, if sufficiently pro- 
longed. 

Taking the chemical and bacteriological results 
together, Dr. Houston demonstrates that the 
beneficial effect observed in connection with simple 
continuous flow settlement of water may be con- 
siderably enhanced by the use of coagulants, such 


NO. 2319, VOL. 93| 


as aluminoferric, ete. He finds that when a hard 
water is overdosed with lime a considerable bac- 
tericidal effect is produced; and if after a suitable 
interval sufficient untreated water is added. to 
combine with the excess of lime, a much safer 
water for drinking purposes is obtained. Speak- 
ing generally, these experiments demonstrate that 
the bactericidal dose of lime for hard waters would 
appear to be rather less than 1 to 5000, and with 
very soft waters 1 to 50,000. This method is 
especially attractive in cases where a water, bac- 
teriologically impure, has in. any event to be 
softened, and where a contaminated river supply 
has scarcely any available storage accommodation 
prior to sand filtration. 

The author is to be congratulated, not only 
upon the good work to which the volume bears 
testimony, but also upon bringing it together in 
this monograph, and presenting it in a condensed 
and readable form. 

(2) Mr. Christie’s small work is mainly composed 
of a series of articles which appeared in “Indus- 
trial Engineering and Engineering Digest” for 
1910-1911, and it is to be commended more parti- 
cularly for its treatment of the use of water in 
various branches of industry. While much useful 
information is given upon the subject of the puri- 
fication of water which would fit it for drinking 
purposes, this portion of the book is less satis- 
factorily dealt with than that which is concerned 
with the use of water for industrial purposes. 
Indeed, the treatment of the sources of water, its 
analysis and standards of purity, is fragmentary 
and unsatisfactory. It is impossible to deal with 
the subject of the standards of purity of water 
except in regard to the sources from which ‘the 
water is derived. More particularly is this neces- 
sary with reference to chlorine standards; and the 
standard given for chlorine in water, of from 
3 to 10 parts in a million, is useless and mislead- 
ing. Extremely few of the drinking water sup- 
plies of this country would conform to such a 
standard. The chapters on water softening, pres- 
sure filters, oil filters, and boiler waters are the 
best contributions to a work which is exceedingly 
well produced, the illustrations being a noteworthy 
feature of the publication. 


DUR BOOKSHELF. 


From the Letter-Files of S. W. Johnson. 
by his Daughter, Elizabeth A. Osborne. 


Edited 
Pp: 


292. (New Haven: Yale University Press; 
London: Oxford University Press, 1913.) 
Price tos. Gd. .met. 


No teacher of agricultural chemistry can afford 
to do without Johnson’s two books, ‘ How Crops 
Grow,” and ‘How Crops Feed.” - If he tries it, 


34 


he will miss two most valuable sources of help 
for his lectures. The first was written in 1868, 
and instantly achieved a most remarkable popu- 
larity, being translated into French, German, 
Russian, Swedish, Italian, and Japanese, besides 
being revised and adapted for English readers by 
Church; the second appeared two years later, 
and was almost equally successful. Neither book 
is ever likely to get out of date, because each 
deals so fully with the fundamental experiments 
carried out by men who were laying the founda- 
tion of what has since become a great subject. 

The book before us gives an account of the 
life of the writer of these books, and incidentally 
throws much interesting light on the opening 
chapters of the history of agricultural chemistry. 
Samuel William Johnson was born in 1831 at 
Kingsboro, in what was then the new country 
of Northern New York State. In 1849 he had 
saved enough to justify his entering Yale to study 
chemistry under Prof. J. P. Norton; from the 
outset he took a special interest in agricultural 
chemistry. Four years later (in 1853) he went to 
Leipzig to work under Erdmann, and then in 
1854 to Munich to study under Liebig. He then 
came to England for a short time to study gas 
analysis at the Owens College, Manchester. On 
his return to New Haven he did a good deal of 
missionary work among farmers to demonstrate 
the enormous value of chemistry to the agricul- 
turist, and became appointed chemist to the Con- 
necticut State Agricultural Society in 1857. After 
eighteen years of work, the first agricultural ex- 
periment station in the States was founded; in 
the spring of 1875 the Legislature of Connecticut 
State passed a measure securing 700 dollars a 
quarter for two years for the maintenance of a 
laboratory placed at their disposal by the Uni- 
versity at Middletown. 

The history of these pioneer days is well told 
in Johnson’s letters. and they make very inter- 
esting reading. The editor is to be congratulated 
on the way the material has been collected and 


arranged. Eos}: RUSSELE. 
The Cancer Problem: a Statistical Study. By 
C) E- Green; “Third edition: -Pp. 93 plates. 


(Edinburgh and London: William Green and 
Sons, 1914.) Price 5s. net: 
Tuis book belongs to the all too numerous class 
of harmful publications on the subject of cancer. 
The author frankly states he is not a qualified 
medical man, but this fact will have little weight 
with the lay public. The sub-title, “A Statistical 
Study,” conveys an entirely erroneous impression 
as to the scope of the book. It is in reality a 
plea for the infective nature of cancer, and of the 
active intervention of coal-smoke as an augmenter 
of the frequency of the disease. The alleged 
parasite is likened to the well-known Plasmodio- 
phora brassicae, which causes finger and _ toe 
disease or club-root in turnips and ‘cabbages. 
This vegetable parasite is not ‘almost unknown 
to pathologists,” but has had its alleged claims 
to resemble a supposed cancer parasite discussed 
ad nauseam by pathologists and botanists of the 


NO. 2319; VOL. @3)| 


NATURE 


[APRIL 9, 1914 


highest repute. The author argues that coal- 
smoke manures the soil for this “cancer para- 
Siteny 

The error of likening cancer to finger and toe 
disease has been often exposed. As for statistics, 
none are contributed by the author. His figures 
state the number of deaths from cancer as a per- 
centage of deaths from all causes, and he marvels 
that 1 in 7 is from cancer in the Strand district, 
but only 1 in 54 in Stepney. This statement is 
illuminated by photographs of the roofs of these 
two districts. No mention is made of Charing 
Cross Hospital being situated in the Strand 
district. 

The statements as to the cure of cancer are 
deserving of severe condemnation. Only the harm 
the book may do has justified any notice being 
taken of it. It is with regret that the reviewer 
feels obliged to judge thus harshly what the 
perusal of the book proves has been a labour of 
love, carried out with the best intentions; but 
the pursuit of a hobby ought not to be encouraged 
to the public danger. EJ. Be 


The Socialized Conscience. By Prof. J. H. Coffin. 
Pp. vili+247. (Baltimore: Warwick and York, 
1913.) Price 1.25 dollars. 


Pror. CorFIN’s purpose in this interesting book 


is to suggest, using modern psychological and 
sociological terms, a moral criterion by means of 
which the different types of moral situations may 
be met with consistency by ordinary human 
beings. He applies the criterion to a_ great 
variety of questions, including personal relation- 
ships, educational agencies, the State and the 
Church. His chapters are stimulating and 
thought-impelling. 


Descriptions of Land: a Text-book for Survey 
Students. By R. W. Cautley. Pp. 1x+8o. 
(New York: The Macmillan Company, 1913.) 
Price’ 4s. 6d. net. 


ALL students of surveying in Canada before secur- 
ing official recognition are required to pass an 
examination on “descriptions of land,’ which is 
one branch of conveyancing. Many lawyers in 
all countries are ignorant of the elementary prin- 
ciples of surveying, and few surveyors are able 
to understand the intricacies of a complicated 
title. Mr. Cautley has written on the subject in 
a way which should be useful, not only to 
students of surveying, but also to acting lawyers 
and surveyors everywhere. 


Elementary Commercial Geography. By Dr. 
H. R. Mill. Revised by Fawcett Allen. Pp. 
xli+215. (Cambridge University Press, 1914.) 


Price 1s. 6d. net. 


Dr. MILt.’s primer of commercial geography was 
published first in 1888, and is well known to all 
teachers of the subject. It is sufficient to say of 
the latest edition that it has been revised 
thoroughly by the aid of the latest official publica- 
tions, and is enlarged by additions to part i., and 
by more detailed descriptions of countries which 
have shown recent commercial development. 


mn neta erate 


we 
Ee, Se Mme 


APRIL 9, 1914] 


NATURE 135 


LETTERS .TO..THE EDITOR. 


[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for 
opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with 
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 
this or any other part of Nature. . No notice is 
taken of anonymous communications. | 


The Funafuti Boring. 


lr was with great pleasure that I read the clear 
statement of Prof. J. W. Judd (Nature, March 12) 
in reply to the letter of Prof. E. B. Poulton (February 
26) upon this subject. Especially welcome was his 
definite statement that all idea of solution of calcium 
carbonate being the causative factor of lagoon forma- 
tion was negatived by the study of the bore. 

But I would direct a caution to those who might be 
inclined to read into Prof. Judd’s letter a vindication 
of the correctness of Darwin’s theory of atoll forma- 
tion. 9 

Suppose it is definitely proved that an atoll such 
as Funafuti is established upon a basis which has 
certainly undergone a movement of sinking. Such a 
finding can only establish the ‘‘validity’’ of a state- 
ment that a sinking basis may become the site of atoll 
development; it cannot establish the ‘‘ validity”? of a 
theory which demands this sinking as the cause of 
the development of the peculiarities of atoll growth; 
especially in the face of the definite knowledge that 
typical atoll growth may be established upon a basis 
which shows either, no evidence of sinking, or actual 
evidence of rising. It is upon this point that I fear 
the recent correspondence may mislead. 

One other question arises: Has it been definitely 
proved that the site of Funafuti atoll has undergone 
a movement of sinking? 

A bore made upon the extreme windward edge of an 
atoll some ten miles in diameter has so inherent a 
probability of penetrating a talus slope, that the most 
rigid proof should be furnished of its having pene- 
trated anything else. This proof is, I think, not forth- 
coming. 

The lagoon bores are not sufficiently deep to estab- 
lish, beyond dispute, the supposition that there has 
been a movement of sinking. The statement of Prof. 
Judd would leave quite an opposite impression, for he 
says that the lagoon bore extended ‘“‘to a depth of 
1oo ft. below the limit of growth of the reef-forming 
corals.” The lagoon bores extended to 36 and 41 
fathoms below the surface of the water. It is obvious 
that to make Prof. Judd’s statement correct he must 
allow the reef-builders only 244 fathoms as their bathy- 
metrical limit. But 244 fathoms is not the ‘lowest 
depth at which, as all naturalists agree, reef-forming 
corals can flourish.’’ 

It is only necessary to mention the dredgings of 
Basset-Smith on the Lizard and Macclesfield Banks 
in which twelve species of typical reef-forming corals 
were obtained from between 31 and 45 fathoms. On 
open oceanic banks, far from any shore’ line from 
which suspended matter may be carried in the water, 
it is possible that even this may not represent the 
bathymetrical limit of the true reef-builders; but it is 
enough that we have positive knowledge of their pre- 
sence at depths exceeding that of the Funafuti lagoon 
bores to negative any idea that these bores can prove 
a downward earth movement. Atoll formations are 
developed in areas in which upward earth movements 
are evident; they are also developed in areas in which 
downward earth movements are evident (though the 
Funafuti bores cannot be accepted as proving it); and 
in neither case can such movement be invoked as the 
cause of their peculiar features. The Funafuti bores 
showed that ‘solution’? was not the cause of lagoon 


NO A23m9, VOL: <93 | 


a 


formation; they did not show that ‘‘ subsidence "’ was 
the cause. It is the study of the coral zooid and the 
coral colony that alone can reveal the picture of atolls 
caused by ‘‘ sedimentation.” F. Woop-Jones. 


WE are quite ready to admit that the evidence 
obtained at Funafuti does not prove that all atolls are 
formed by subsidence. A stationary volcanic bank, 
eroded down to the level at which reef-forming corals 
could begin to flourish, would serve as well for the 
basis of an atoll as a sinking island; this was well 
pointed out by the late Admiral Wharton. So, too, 
would a deeper bank which had been raised to a 
similar level by the raining down upon it of pelagic 
organisms, if it can be shown that such action is 
capable of producing any considerable thicknesses of 
rock. And there are other conceivable ways in which 
atolls may arise, as was fully admitted by Darwin in 
his correspondence with Semper. 

We claim, however, that Funafuti proves that atolls 
can be formed by subsidence from the following facts. 
The upper part of the main boring, as well as several 
subsidiary borings, show the existing reef to consist 
of corals in their position of growth, their interstices 
being filled with broken fragments of coral mingled 
with smaller organisms. Now, right down to the 
extreme depth reached, the cores were of precisely 
similar character; they showed corals in the position 
of growth surrounded by detritus and small organisms. 
Thus the hypothesis of a talus—which, so far as I 
know, was only suggested after the boring was found 
not to reveal.a substratum of foreign rock—falls to 
the ground. 

Although species of corals belonging to genera 
which are reef-forming have been found at consider- 
able depths, the luxuriant growths of coral, necessary 
for building up a great reef, have never been shown 
to take place below 20 to 25 fathoms. This was a 
conclusion that was certainly accepted by the late 
Prof. Alexander Agassiz, from the results of his wide 
experience, as it has been by so many other natural- 
ists. The ingenious method employed in boring in the 
middle of the lagoon of Funafuti did not admit of 
large cores being brought up, but the borings were 
stopped by hard coral-masses, the fragments obtained 
from these indicating that they belong to reef-making 
forms. It is fair, therefore, to maintain that the 
lagoon borings at Funafuti afford valuable evidence in 
support of that obtained by the main boring. 

J... W;s supp; 


Zoological Classification. 


Zoo.LoGIcaL classification of the present day is un- 
satisfactory, and the reason is not far to seek. This 
condition has resulted from the unnecessary multi- 
plication of genera. 

The real object of classification is being lost sight 
of. The objects aimed at in a classification may be 
put briefly as follows :—(1) To give to each animal a 
name, by which it will be known internationally, and 
(2) to give to animals which resemble one another the 
same name. 

The unit-group of animals bearing the same name 
is the genus. How large may the genus be? There 
are at present independent genera which have been 
created out of a formerly existing single genus. Has 
the diagnosis of the species been rendered simpler by 
breaking up the genus, and by giving to each sub- 
genus a new name? Certainly not in several cases. 

The subdivision of the older genus has resulted from 
the more detailed examination of the various species. 
Such investigation cannot be too minutely carried out, 
for it is necessary both from the morphological and 
the diagnostic point of view. But the mistake has 


136 


NATURE 


[APRIL 9, 1914 


been made of giving to the new groupings of species 
thus revealed names which are so dissimilar from that 
of the orginal genus, and from each other, as to hide 
the genus-relationship. The latter is shown when the 
genera are grouped as a family. 

The subdivision of the animal kingdom into groups 
that receive independent names should not be carried 
further than is necessary to ensure ready diagnosis of 
the species. | When carried beyond that point the 
classification is weakened. 

What is required at present is the extinction of 
probably half at least of the genera. The present 
family-group should in many cases be the genus. 

H. Cuas. WILLIAMSON, 

Marine Laboratory of the Fishery Board for 

Scotland, Aberdeen, March 23. 


The Dublin Gorilla. 

Live specimens of the gorilla are still rarities in 
British zoological gardens, and it is believed that 
except for one that has lived for several years at Stutt- 
gart, there is no example at present to be seen on the 
European continent. A few notes on a young female 
—probably about a year old—that has now lived for 
three months in the ape-house of the Royal Zoological 
Society of Ireland, in Dublin, may therefore be of 
interest to readers of NATURE. 


This litthe ape—‘‘Empress” is her name—was 


brought to Europe in company with a young male 
chimpanzee; in consequence of this companionship she 
is much tamer 


and livelier than captive gorillas 
usually are. In 
the constant 
sports which the 
two young 
creatures enjoy, 
the chimpanzee 
is*, othe aimljonme 
active and 
Spirited, tre 
quently cuffing 
the gorilla play- 
fully or dragging 
her along the 
oor WoL me 
house. The 
gorilla, however, 
is able to hold 
her own, and 
has already 
developed the 
habit of drum- 
ming on her 


chest as a _ challenge; usually she .is good- 
tempered both to her companion and to human 
visitors. She often climbs leisurely but  con- 


fidently to the top of the house. The photograph 
(by Mr. W. N. Allen) shows the little ape in a char- 
acteristic attitude, and brings out the distinctive 
shape and pose of the leg and hindquarters. Her 
eyes are very expressive, and her almost black face is 
a great contrast to the pale pink skin of her com- 
panion chimpanzee. Both the apes have completely 


recovered from an epidemic cold that ran through the: 


house in February, and it is hoped that ‘‘ Empress” 
may survive in the Dublin Gardens for several years. 


G. H. CarpENTER. 
Royal College of Science, Dublin. 


A Property of Chain-Fractions. 
For convenience, let (1; a, b, c, .) mean the 
chain-fraction of which 1/a is the first convergent, and 
a, b, c, etc., are the partial quotients. Consider all 


NO. 2319, VOL. 93] 


such fractions which have no partial quotient greater 
than g: the greatest of these is the periodic fraction 
(03,49), "and the least us (@; 9.1). We have: 


a=(153 1, 9)=(—9+ ¥ 117)/2=0-9083, 

B=(1; 9, 1)=(—9+ ¥ 117)/18=0-1009, 
and any proper fraction outside the limits (a, 8) will have 
at least one partial quotient greater than g. (The con- 
verse is not true.) More generally, one partial quotient 
at least will be greater than an assigned integer n, 
if the chain-fraction represents a quantity outside the 
interval determined by the positive roots of the 
equations :— 


o+na—n=o, nB?+nB—I1=0. 


_ As n increases, a becomes’ more and more nearly equal 


to 1, and 8 more and more nearly equal to o. The 
curious point is that if we take a proper fraction 
sufficiently near to 1 or zero, its chain-fraction expan- 
sion must contain a partial quotient greater than any 
integer assigned beforehand, and we can _ actually 
(when n is given) assign intervals containing such 
fractions and no others. For instance, when n=9 
the intervals are 


uy, (=9-- V1 17)/2 and 19, Cao /117)/18}. 
Thus 0-9089 is within the first of these intervals, and 


itsuexpansion, iS (1; iy Oy sleeyeene ae 
G. B. MaTHEWws.. 


New Units im Aerology. 

In Nature of March 19, p. 58, Prof. McAdie dis- 
cusses the question of the new units in aerology, and 
says that now is the time to agree upon a logical and 
available system, considers the megabar atmosphere 


the more appropriate, and thinks that some of the 


readers of NATURE may suggest something better. 

I have not the ambition to respond to the last sug- 
gestion, but, in order to avoid confusion in the future, 
I beg to direct attention to what has been done in 
this respect very recently. According to an official 
report, M. Pérot has presented to the French Minister 
of Commerce a report upon the reform of the legalised 
measures and weights. In this we find among the 
derived units the Newton as a unit of force 
=Kgm/sec.*, which equals 10° dynes. From this is 
derived another new unit, Pascal, as a unit of pres- 
sure, 10 Newtons per sq. cm. (10 Newtons=1 mega- 
dyne). I may add that the Calorie is proposed at 15° 
and.1-02 Pascal (=765-1 cm.). 

As France may be called the mother-country of the 
c.g.s. system, the question arises, whether the name 
Pascal might not be substituted for the modern mega- 
bar (not for ten absolute atmospheres) ? 

BoHUSLAV BRAUNER. 

Bohemian University, Prague, March 24. 


WINELAND THE GOOD.1 


RE evidence for the pre-Columbian discovery 
of North America by Norsemen depends 
essentially on two sagas: the Saga of Eric the 
Red, the Saga of Thorfinn Karlsefni in Hauks- 
book; both of which are repeated with modifica- 
tions in the Flateybook. The dates of the extant 
MSS. lie between 1300 and 1400 A.D.; the sagas 
themselves were probably composed about a cen- 
tury earlier; the main event, the discovery of 
Wineland by Leif. the Lucky, occurred. in or 


1 “Early Norse visits to North America.” By William H. Babcock. 
Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, vol. lix., No. 19. Pp. iv + 214, 


j x plates. (1913.) 


—_ 


APRIL 9, 1914] 


NATURE iS 


)osg 


about 1000 A.D. Collateral evidence consists 
mainly in the references by other writers to the 
events recorded by the sagas, which, it is plain, 
were regarded as historical narratives. 

The numerous vague rumours of a world in the 
west, as embodied in strange maps and stranger 
stories, have little bearing on the relatively pre- 
cise and plain tales of the Norse sea-kings. Those 
tales which, where not distorted by later fancy, 
are straightforward as a sailor’s log, must be 
checked by reference to the geographical data 
recorded in them. This is the most valuable part 
of the task essayed by Mr. Babcock in his interest- 
ing and well-written volume. He is not the first 
to make the attempt, but the originality and the 
strength of his attack lie in his reconstruction of 
the geographical conditions as they probably were 
nine hundred years ago. Then the seaboard north 
of the Gulf of Maine was lower than now, whereas 
south of that point it was higher. The change, 
which is still in progress, is due to the oscillation 
of the earth’s crust initiated by the withdrawal of 
the great ice-sheet. By taking this movement 
into consideration, Mr. Babcock has been able to 
identify with much plausibility the features and 
localities mentioned in the sagas. 

Let us take only one point in illustration. 
Karlsefni and his wife Gudrid on their southward 
voyage saw to the starboard “a bleak coast, with 
long and sandy shores... they called them 
Wonder Strands, because they were so long to 
sail by.” The interminable sand-dunes of New 
Jersey and Maryland supply a modern parallel to 
these cheerless ‘‘ Furdustrandir,” but the voyagers 
cannot have been further south than Nova Scotia, 
and no such wonder-strands are found there now. 
-“‘Conceive,” however, says Mr. Babcock, “the 
Nova Scotia seaboard lowered by the 25 feet or 
more of its present height, that is, brought down 
to water-level and dipped a little under—with 
slight narrowing of the peninsula in its mainland 
part, and partial obliteration of the eastern side 
of the now hollow insular terminal part called 
Cape Breton Island—and you will have something 
not wholly unlike the long strands of New Jersey 
or the peninsula east of the Chesapeake, only with 
the hill country much nearer. It was the first 
introduction of the surprised northern visitors to 
the characteristic American coast line.” 

By such ingenious but not unwarranted use of 
the scientific imagination does Mr. Babcock 
identify the various localities of the saga, thus 
confirming its essential accuracy. The vines that 
gave a name to Wineland are the fox-grapes of 
to-day and the apparent wheat “self-sown 
wherever there were hollows,” is interpreted as 
wild rice, still a conspicuous feature. 

It is maintained, then, that Leif Ericsson 
chanced on America circa 1000 A.D., and coasted 
as far south as New Jersey; that Eric the Red 
dispatched Thorfinn and Gudrid three years later, 
as leaders of a large colonising party; that they 
passed Helluland (Labrador), Markland (New- 
foundland), the Wonder-strands (Nova Scotia), 
and settled near the mouth of Straumfjord (Bay 


NO. 2319, VOL. 93| 


of Fundy), where Gudrid gave birth to Snorri, 
the first American-born white man. Disappointed 
in the hard winter, Thorfinn and a party sailed 
further south about as far as Mount Hope Bay, 
but were driven back by Indians. After another 
winter at Straumfjord, all returned to Greenland. 


THE VIMPERTIAL,. BACTERIOLOGICAL 
LABORATORY, MUKTESAR, INDIA.} 
ee Imperial Bacteriological Laboratory, situ- 

ated at Muktesar in the United Provinces, 
has been established, and is maintained for the 
investigation of the diseases of stock in India, 
and for the preparation of anti-sera and vaccines 
used for the control of epidemic diseases among 
animals. ‘The history of the laboratory dates 
from 1890, when Dr. Lingard was appointed 
Imperial Bacteriologist, and for some years the 
work in connection with the diseases of animals 
in India was carried out at Poona. It was decided, 
however, to establish a separate institution for 
this purpose in the hills, and in 1895 a laboratory 
and.a few additional buildings were completed. 
This first laboratory was destroyed by fire in 1899. 
The re-building was taken in hand at once, and 
the present laboratory, much larger than the ori- 
ginal structure, was erected and ready for occupa- 
tion in 1901. The work of the laboratory has 
increased very rapidly, and it was found neces- 
sary to add a wing to the main building four years 
ago. In addition to the large laboratory there are 
three smaller buildings for the study of separate 
diseases, and other buildings for the accommoda- 
tion of animals, post-mortem examinations, etc., 
have been added from time to time. 

One of the earliest problems to be studied at 
Muktesar was the preparation of a prophylactic 
for rinderpest. In 1896 Koch visited Muktesar, 
and demonstrated his bile method of inoculation 
against rinderpest. An anti-serum for the disease 
was first prepared in India by Lingard, and it was 
first used in field epidemics in 1899, when about 
2000 doses were issued. Rinderpest anti-serum is 
one of the most effective prophylactics known to 
science, and a striking tribute to its value is to 
be found in the records of the Muktesar Labora- 
tory. Ten years after its introduction into India 
half a million doses were issued annually. In 1910 
improved methods for the preparation of the serum 
were discovered, and in the following year a 
million doses were manufactured. The serum is 
now supplied to all the provinces of India, to 
Burma, Ceylon, and the Native States, to the 
Federated Malay States, and to Egypt. In addi- 
tion to rinderpest anti-serum, a serum and vaccine 
for the control of epidemics of hemorrhagic septi- 
ceemia are prepared, as well as a vaccine for 
black quarter and a serum for anthrax. About 
20,000 doses of mallein are issued annually. 
Pathological specimens are examined, and instruc- 
tion is given to native veterinary graduates in the 
practical application of serum and vaccines. 

1 * A Deseription of the Imperial Bacteriological Laboratory, Muktesar : 


its Work and Products.” By Major J. D. E. Holmes. (Calcutta: Super- 
intendent Government Printing, 1913.) 


138 


The officers of the laboratory have carried out 
numerous investigations in connection with animal 
diseases. Much of the research work deals with 
the study of rinderpest, and the results of Dr. 
Lingard and Major Holmes (the present director 
of the laboratory) in this field have found practical 
application in the preparation of rinderpest anti- 
serum. Investigations on surra were commenced 
by Lingard at Poona, and continued by him until 
1907, when he retired from the service. Holmes 
directed his attention to the problem of the treat- 
ment of surra in equines, and a method has been 
discovered which, in his hands, has given 75 per 
cent. of recoveries. The treatment has been suc- 
cessful in animals experimentally inoculated with 
the disease, and also in cases in which the disease 
has been contracted naturally. Various other sub- 
jects have been studied, and the results of the 
investigations have been published in_ scientific 
journals in India and Europe. 

The problem of dealing with infectious diseases 
of animals in India presents many difficulties which 
arise from the somewhat peculiar local conditions. 
Measures of treatment, segregation, and disinfec- 
tion cannot be imposed without the permission of 
each individual owner. Formerly a good deal of 
opposition to serum inoculation for rinderpest was 
encountered, but this has now almost disappeared, 
a result which is largely due to the repeated prac- 
tical demonstrations of the efficacy of serum inocu- 
lation in the control of rinderpest epidemics. In 
dealing with an outbreak of disease it is essential 
that the measures adopted shall be free from all 
danger to the lives of the animals treated, and 
shall in no way interfere with their work. Under 
these conditions serum therapy has proved to be 
the safest and most efficient method of operation. 
Dead vaccines are also used as a_ preventive 
measure in districts where disease is seasonally 
prevalent. Vaccination by- means of living or 
attenuated organisms is not practised, except in 
the case of black quarter. 

A consideration of the subject matter of this 
pamphlet, and a study of the thirty full-page illus- 
trations, shows that a successful attempt has been 
made to deal with a subject of great economic 
importance, viz., the health and well-being of the 
stock of a great agricultural country. The 
rapidity of the progress made, since the establish- 
ment of the laboratory some twenty years ago, 
is remarkable, and especially so when one con- 
siders the nature of the difficulties which have 
been encountered. PEeRCcIVAL HARTLEY. 


PRG tate. SPO VIN DING, Ae Ro Se 


N the evening of Monday, March 30, sur- 
rounded by his family, John Henry Poynt- 

ing passed quietly away. A memorial service was 
held in Birmingham on the Thursday following, 
and was attended by representatives of many 
universities and learned societies, including Sir 
J. J. Thomson, Sir Joseph Larmor, Dr. Glazebrook, 
Sir William Tilden, Prof. W.-M. Hicks, Dr. 
W. N. Shaw, and of course by many colleagues 


NO. 2319, VOL. 93] 


NATURE 


[APRIL 9, 1914 


and councillors of the University in which he 
occupied a chair, as well as by a large number of 
private citizens and friends. For he was a man 
universally beloved. 

He was born on September 9, 1852, at Monton, 
near Manchester, son of the unitarian minister of 
that place. His first education was at home, but 
the years 1867 to 1872 he passed at Owens College, 
Manchester, graduating B.Sc. at the London 
University, and proceeding, in 1872, to Trinity 
College, Cambridge, where he was_ bracketed 
third wrangler in 1876. 

He was then appointed demonstrator at Owens 
College by Balfour Stewart, and began a life-long 
friendship with Sir J. J. Thomson, who was at 
that time a student. In due time Poynting became 
a fellow of Trinity, and in’¥880 was appointed to 
the professorship of physics at Birmingham, 
which he held to the day of his death. 

The four first professors of the Mason College, 
which was opened by Huxley in 1880 (who de- 
livered, on this occasion, a notable address, re- 
printed as the first of his collected essays), were 
Sir Wm. Tilden, Prof-'M. Jo M. ceil, Dr ae 
Bridge, who died a few years ago, and Poynting. 
In this same year Poynting married Miss M. A. 
Cropper, daughter of the Rev. J. Cropper, of 
Stand, near Manchester. In 1887 he received the 
Sc.D. of Cambridge, and in 1888 the fellowship 
of the Royal Society. In 1891 the Adams prize 
was awarded to him, and in 1899 he presided over 
Section A of the British Association at Dover. 
This meeting was memorable for the clear dis- 
covery of the separate existence of electrons, 
which was announced to Section A by Sir J. J. 
Thomson on an occasion when many members of 
the French Association, meeting simultaneously at 
Boulogne, had come over for friendly fraternisa- 
tion. 

In ro905 Poynting became president of the 
Physical Society, and was awarded a Royal medal 
by the Royal Society “for his researches in 
physical science, especially in connection with the 
constant of gravitation and the theories of electro- 
dynamics and radiation.” In this brief summary 
an immense amount of work is referred to. The 
work for which he is locally best known was his 
determination of the Newtonian constant of gravi- 
tation by the very accurate use of an ordinary 
balance with an adjustable mass under one or 
other of the pans—a determination which is popu- 
larly called “weighing the earth.” His account 
of it appears in the Phil. Trans. for 1891. It is 
a classical memoir of its kind, and very instructive 
to the physical student, but the papers on electro- 
dynamics eclipse it in value. These were “com- 
municated ” to the Royal Society in 1884 and 1885 
respectively, their titles being ‘““On the Transfer 
of Energy in the Electromagnetic Field,” and 
“On the Connection between Electric Current and 
the Electric and Magnetic Inductions in the Sur- 
rounding Field.” 

The memoir on the transfer of energy aroused 
universal attention. The paths by which energy 
travels from an electromotive source to various 


~“—- ,. 


APRIL 9, 1914| 


NATURE 


ee 


parts of a circuit were displayed, and their in- 
tricacies unravelled, for the first time; identity of 
energy might legitimately be urged as a supple- 
ment to conservation; and it is to these papers 
that we owe that fundamental generalisation, con- 
necting mechanical motion with electric and 
magnetic forces, which is known all over the world 
as ‘“ Poynting’s Theorem.” 


The work on radiation appeared partly in the | 


Phil. Trans. for 1904 and partly in the Phil. Mag. 
for 1905. In these memoirs the tangential pres- 
sure of radiation is analysed and demonstrated ; 
and it is shown, both theoretically and experi- 
mentally, that a beam of light behaves essentially 
as a stream of momentum, and gives all the 
mechanical results which may thus be expected, 
though of a magnitude exceedingly minute. 
Nevertheless, he goes,,on to show that these 
radiation-pressures, however small, are of much 
consequence in astronomy, and have many inter- 
esting and some conspicuous results. A  note- 
worthy part of his radiation memoirs, however, 
is independent of considerations of pressure or 
momentum, and gives a means of determining the 
absolute temperatures of sun and planets, and of 
space, in a singularly clear and_ conclusive 
manner. 

It is impossible, in a brief notice like this, to do 
justice to these great treatises, or to the rest of 
Poynting’s scientific work; it must suffice to inen- 
tion the titles of a few of his other papers :— 
“Change of State Solid-Liquid” (Phil. Mag., 
1881); ‘““A Double Image Micrometer” (Monthly 
MOUGCeS a) k.A.S., 1892); \ Osmotic Pressure ” 
(Phil. Mag., 1896); “On a Simple. Form of 
Saccharimeter ” (Proc. Phys. Soc., 1881). 

Among his publications is a series of text-books 
on physics, written in conjunction with his friend, 
Sir J. J. Thomson; but he has also produced 
smaller and more popular books, one on ‘The 
Pressure of Light” (S.P.C.K.), and one on ‘The 
Earth” (Camb. Univ. Press). He also took an 
interest in statistical science, and wrote on 
“Fluctuations in the Price of Wheat,” and on 
““Drunkenness Statistics of Large Towns.” 

His public spirit was shown by his accepting 
the position of a justice of the peace. 

He took some interest also in the philosophical 
aspects of physical science, and his help is acknow- 
ledged by Prof. James Ward in connection with 
the publication of a series of Gifford Lectures. 
Poynting was strongly inclined, almost unduly, 
to limit the province of science to description, and 
to regard a law of nature as nothing but a formu- 
lation of observed similarities. He wished to 
abolish the idea of cause in physics. In some of 
this he may have gone too far, but his rebellion 
against an excessive anthropomorphism which kad 
begun to cling around the notion of natural laws, 
as if they were really legal enactments to be 
obeyed or disobeyed by inert matter almost as if 
it possessed will-power and could exercise choice, 
some substances being praised as good radiators 
while others are stigmatised as bad—most gases 


being admittedly unable to reach a standard of 


NO. 2319, VOL. 93] 


perfection heid out to them as Boyle’s law, though 
a few of excessive merit might surpass it,— 
Poynting’s revolt against this kind of attitude to 
laws of nature, though doubtless more than half 
humorous, was in itself wholesome. His _philo- 
sophic views may be read, as a Presidential Ad- 
dress to Section A, in the Reports of the British 
Association for 1899. 

But I must not delay further on his scientific 
work; the man himself was even more than his 
work. When the Mason College became the 
University of Birmingham Poynting was elected 
Dean of the Faculty of Science; in that capacity 
his quiet wisdom and efficiency were very mani- 
fest, and keen was the regret of all his colleagues 
when, some twelve years later, failing health 
necessitated his yielding this office to another. 
His judgment was as sound as his knowledge, and 
his conspicuous fairness endeared him to colleagues 
and the members of his staff. By the latter it is 
not too much to say that he was regarded with 
affectionate veneration; one of them writes to me 
as follows :— 

“As to his character it is impossible to give 


the right impression to those who did not know 


him well. I consider him a man of very 
extraordinary ability, which might have carried 
him much farther if it had been associated with 
more self-assertion. But it was largely this 
modesty and self-suppression which created a very 
unusual degree of affection in those who had the 
privilege of knowing him intimately. I always 
associate him in my mind with Faraday and 
Stokes.” 

As a lecturer and teacher he was admirable, 
and the respect in which he was held by his peers 
was noteworthy. I am glad to remember that so 
recently as the last meeting of the British Asso- 
ciation, some of the greatest physicists in the 
world, who were staying with me—Prof. H. A. 
Lorentz, Lord Rayleigh, and Sir Joseph Larmor— 
went to his house one evening, and met there in 
his study Sir J. J. Thomson and Dr. Glazebrook, 
who were staying with him; thus constituting a 
remarkably representative gathering, and giving 
him a pleasure which he remembered to the end 
of his life. 

There is much more that might be said; but 
let his position in the world of science be what it 
may, we in the University of his mature life knew 
him well, and know him best as an admirable col- 
league, a staunch friend, and a good man. 

At the Memorial service, the following true 
words concerning him were spoken by the Rev. 
Henry Gow, who knew him well :— 


We remember that he did work to make him famous 
throughout the world of science which gave him a 
high place amongst the discoverers of truth; but we 
remember much more than that. We remember how 
he loved life, how interested he was in little things, 
how he delighted in children, in flowers, and in birds; 
what confidence and affection he inspired, how free 
he was from claims of self and from uneasy egotism ; 
how much happiness he felt and gave. We remember 
his wise judgments, strong character, cheerful 
courage, his delightful humour. and a certain peace- 


140 


ful beauty and childlike joyousness of spirit behind 
all his multifarious gifts. He rejoiced to be the 
friend as well as the teacher of the young. He kept 
his heart free from all bitterness and disillusion which 
come so often to us in our later years. He knew 
and felt always how beautiful and great a thing it 
was to be alive. 
OuivEeR J. Lopce. 


NOTES. 


DrinGe ie brlpsy erort. A Keith. Woks. andes Vin. 
J. Swinburne, F.R.S., have been elected members of 
the Athenzetum Club under the rule which empowers 
the annual election by the committee of a certain 
number of persons ‘‘of distinguished eminence in 
science, literature, the art$, or for public services.” 


By the death of Mrs. Huxley on March 5, in her 
eighty-ninth year, another link with the scientific 
society of the latter half of the nineteenth century has 
been snapped. All who had the happiness of knowing 
Huxley intimately are aware of the reliance which 
he at all times reposed on the advice and judgment 
of his lifelong helpmate. Not only in all domestic 
concerns, but in questions of literary criticism and 
even of scientific procedure, he never took a _ step 
without consulting her, and her wide knowledge and 
keen literary instincts made her aid invaluable to him. 
As is well known, the young surgeon of the Rattle- 
snake found a kindly welcome in the house of Mr. W. 
Fanning, a merchant in Sydney; and the half-sister 
of the merchant’s wife, Miss Henrietta Heathorn, who 
had come out to Australia four years earlier, won his 
affections, though eight years had to elapse before the 
marriage could take place. | Strange to say, Mrs. 
Huxley’s health was a constant source of anxiety to 
her husband; he believed that an Australian medical 
man had so injudiciously treated a complaint from 
which she suffered as to have fatally undermined her 
constitution, but, nevertheless, she has survived Hux- 
ley himself by nearly twenty years. Mrs. Huxley 
wrote some very striking and thoughtful poems, non- 
sense verses, for the amusement of her children and 
grandchildren, and laughable stories, illustrated by 
one of her gifted daughters, with the same object; 
she will, however, be best remembered by the little 
work containing judiciously selected passages from 
her husband’s writings, the admirable ‘‘ Aphorisms 
and Reflections from the Writings of T. H. Huxley.” 


THE Hon. Francis ALBERT ROLLO RusseELL, whose 
death on March 30 we announced with regret 
last week, was the third son of the first Earl Russell. 
He was born on July 11, 1849, and was educated at 
Harrow and at Christ Church, Oxford. As a youth 
he became interested in meteorological phenomena, 
and when about fifteen or sixteen years of age he 
began keeping records of the weather, especially of 
clouds and optical phenomena. He became a fellow 
of the Royal Meteorological Society in 1868; and 
served on the council from 1879 to 1892, and again in 
1914, and was a vice-president in 1893-94. He was a 
fellow. of the Royal Sanitary Institute, and served on 
the council in 1881-82, and again in 1889-92. Mr. 
Russell was the author of several works and papers on 


NO. 2310, VOEMO2| 


NATURE 


[APRIL 9, 1974 


meteorological subjects, and also on matters connected 
with public health. He took a great interest in the 
question of London fogs, and was an advocate for the 
abatement of coal smoke. In conjunction with the 
late Mr. Douglas Archibald, he made a report to the 
Royal Society on the unusual optical phenomena of the 
atmosphere, 1883-6, including twilight effects, coronal 
appearances, sky haze, coloured suns and moons, etc., 
which were due to the volcanic eruption of Krakatoa. 
For his memoir, ‘‘The Atmosphere in Relation to 
Human Life and Health’’ (148 pp.), which was sub- 
mitted to the Hodgkins Fund prize competition of the 
Smithsonian Institution, he was awarded honourable 
mention with a silver medal. Among his other works 
may be mentioned ‘‘ The Spread of Influenza: its Sup- 
posed Relation to Atmospheric Conditions” (1891), 
‘On Hail” (1893), and ‘‘ The, Early Correspondence of 
Lord John Russell,’”? which was published last year. 


THE seventieth birthday, on March 25, of Prof. 
Adolf Engler, the director of the Royal Botanic Gar- 
den and Museum at Dahlem, near Berlin, was cele- 


-brated in the presence of many eminent German and 


foreign botanists, by several functions. On the day 
itself, Prof. Lindau spoke on behalf of the scientific 
staff of the garden and museum. Prof. Pax, rector 
of the University of Breslau, with Profs. Diels and 
Gilg, as its editors, presented to Prof. Engler a copy 
of the Fest-Band of Engler’s ‘Botanische Jahr- 
biicher.”” The volume forms a supplement to the 
fiftieth volume of this well-known publication, and 
consists of more than forty illustrated contributions, 
largely from his pupils, The volume will be a lasting 
memorial of appreciation of Prof. Engler’s botanical 
position, not only in Germany, but also in both hemi- 
spheres. As a further mark of this appreciation, Prof. 
Haberlandt presented Prof. Engler, on behalf of 
hundreds of subscribers, with his life-size marble bust, 
the work of the sculptor, A. Manthe, while Prof. 
Wittmack (to whom we owe these particulars, and the 
celebration much of its success) read the congratula- 
torv address of the Deutscne Botanische Gesellschaft. 
Following similar addresses from the Vereinigung fir 
angewandte Botanik, and from the Freie Vereinig- 
ung, an album of views of all the meeting 
places of the systematists was presented. Prof. 
Warming spoke on behalf of the foreign botanists. 
The presidents of the German Horticulture and 
of the Dendrological Societies added their felicitations, 
and it was announced that Prof. Engler had been 
made an honorary member of several learned societies 
in Germany, Russia, and other countries. On March 
26 there was a banquet at which the official world was 
represented; and on March 27 the monthly meeting 
of the Deutsche Botanische Gesellschaft was converted 
into an ‘‘Engler’’ meeting, and Prof. von Wettstein 
gave, by special invitation, a lecture on the phylo- 
genetic evolution of the Angiosperm flower. 

IN connection with the establishment of a meteoro- 
logical observatory at Agra for upper-air observations, 
the Pioneer Mail states that the Government of India 
has decided that the observatory shall be called the 
‘* Aerological Observatory, Agra,” and that Mr. J. H. 
Field, Imperial meteorologist, while in charge of this 


APRIL 9, 1914] 


work shall be designated the director of the observa- 
‘tory, and Mr. W. A. Harwood, the assistant-director. 


At the suggestion of Mr. R. H. Tiddeman, presi- 
dent of the Yorkshire Geological Society, arrange- 
ments are being made by the society to call a confer- 
ence next autumn, in Leeds, to consider the question 
of the glacial geology of the north of England. The 
conference will last a week, and in addition to papers 
and discussions, excursions will be made during the 
day to various centres of importance in connection 
with the glaciation of the north of England. Glacial- 
ists from all parts of the country will be invited to 
_ attend. A committee has been elected to make all the 
necessary arrangements. 


THROUGH the generosity of M. Spendiaroff, of St. 
Petersburg, the International Geological Congress pre- 
sents at each session a prize amounting to about 450 
roubles (47/.) for the best work in some specified field 
of geology. The next prize will be awarded at the 
session in Belgium in 1917 for the best work in petro- 
graphy giving new light on the general problems of 
the science. Two copies, at least, of any work pre- 
sented for the competition must be sent to the general 
secretary of the last congress, Mr. -R. W. Brock, 
Deputy Minister of Mines, Ottawa, Canada, at least 
one year before the next session. 


THE septennial award under the Acton Endowment 
has this year been made by the Royal Institution to 
Prof. C. S. Sherrington, Wayneflete professor of 
physiology in the University of Oxford, for his work en- 
titled ‘‘ The Integrative Action of the Nervous System,”’ 
being a synopsis of his elaborate paper published 
in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Societyon 
experiments in examination of the peripheral distribu- 
tion of the fibres of the posterior roots of some spinal 
nerves. Previous Actonian awards have been made 
to Sir George Stokes, Miss Agnes M. Clerke, Sir 
William and Lady Huggins, and Madame Curie, for 
achievements in the field of physical science. Prof. 
Sherrington is the first investigator in experimental 
biology to receive this distinction for the third of a 
century. 


WE regret to learn that the recent fire at Wellesley 
College, Massachusetts, though happily unattended 
by loss of life, destroyed the results of several years 
of research work. For the last six years Prof. Marion 
E. Hubbard has been investigating the problem of 
variation and heredity in beetles. The disaster swept 
away in a few moments all her notes and specimens, 
as well as a valuable original apparatus she had con- 
structed for the purpose of her observations. Prof. 
Alice Robertson, head of the department of zoology, 
similarly lost all the specimens and notes relating to 
a collection of bryozoa dredged up by the Albatross 
expedition. Prof. C. B. Thompson, of the same de- 
partment, has lost the results of similar work on 
dredgings by the Bureau of Fisheries and the Univer- 
sity of California, together with the memoranda of 
three years’ experiments on the brains of ants and a 
collection of 4000 slides which had taken eight years 
to prepare. 


NO. 2319, VOL. 93] 


NATURE 


141 


THE programme has just been issued of the annual 
meeting of the Iron and Steel Institute, to be held 
on Thursday and Friday, May 7-8. On May 7 the 
retiring president, Mr. Arthur Cooper, will induct 
into the chair the president-elect, Mr. Adolphe Greiner ; 
the Bessemer gold medal for 1914 will be presented to 
Mr. Edward Riley; the president will deliver his 
inaugural address; and a selection of papers will be 
read and discussed. On May 8 the Andrew Carnegie 
gold medal (for 1913) will be presented to Dr. T. 
Swinden, the award of research scholarships for the 
current year will be announced, and other papers will 
be read and discussed. Among the papers that are 
expected to be submitted for reading and discussion 
are :—‘* The Forms in which Sulphides may Exist in 
Steel Ingots,” Prof. J. O. Arnold and G. R. Bolsover ; 
“The Hardening of Metals, with Special Reference 
to Iron and its Alloys,’ Dr. C. A. Edwards and Prof. 
H. C. H. Carpenter ; “‘ Influence of Molybdenum upon 
the Corrodibility of Steel,” Dr. J. N. Friend and 
C. W. Marshall; ‘‘ The Magnetic and Mechanical Pro- 
perties of Manganese Steels,” Sir Robert A. Hadfield 
and Prof. B. Hopkinson; and ‘‘A New Reagent for 
Etching Mild Steel,’ Dr. W. Rosenhain and J. L. 
Haughton. 


Tue President of the Scientific Association of 
Rhodesia regrets in his annual address for 1913 that 
no attempt has been yet made to organise an anthro- 
pological survey of the State. He suggests the pre- 
paration of tribal and linguistic maps as a preliminary 
measure. Some good work is being done by the 
members under the difficulties which attend research 
in a new country. The report publishes two excellent 
ethnological and sociological papers on the Matabele, 
by Mr. P. Nielsen, and the people of the Zambezi 
valley, by Mr. C. I. Macnamara, which give valuable 
accounts of tribal organisation, initiation ceremonies, 
and marriage rites, which deserve the attention of 
anthropologists. 


THE fine collection of glacial boulders now preserved 
in the grounds of Messrs. Cadbury, at Bournville, 
Birmingham, is described by Prof. C. Lapworth in 
part ii., vol. xviii., of the Proceedings of the Cottes- 
wold Naturalists’ Field Club for 1913. After describ- 
ing the advance of the ice-sheet into the midlands, and 
the numerous boulders conveyed by its action into the 
Birmingham district, the writer states that the col- 
lection at Bournville consists of masses of dark igneous 
Plutonic rock, usually known as felsite or andesite, 
identical with the rock which forms a large part of 
the Arenig mountain ranges, several miles west of 
Bala Lake, in the basin of the river Dee, North 
Wales, and fully fifty miles, as the crow flies, from 
Bournville. 


To the March Zoologist Col. C. E. Shepherd com- 
municates the first part of an article on methods of 
determining the position of the auditory sacculus and 
its contained otoliths in various groups of fishes. 


In an article on the effect of geographical distribu- 
tion on the development of species, published in the 
March number of the American Naturalist, Mr. A. C. 


142 


Chandler enunciates a law that as the distributional 
area of any given group of animals increases, the 
number of species increases in proportion to the 
genera, that of genera to the families, and so on. 
The theoretical explanation of this law involves the 
consideration of problems relating to’ evolution and 
species-development. 


THREE important additrons to the Natural History 
Branch of the British Museum are recorded in the 
March number of the Museums Journal, namely, a 
series of more than goo zeolites collected and pre- 
sented by Mr. F. N. A. Fleischmann, a. collection of 
800 specimens of plants made in the Eket district of 
Southern Nigeria by Mr. and Mrs. P. A. Talbot, by 
whom they were presented, together with descriptions 
and coloured sketches, and, lastly, a collection of more 
than 10,000 specimens of Hymenoptera (including 1500 
types), brought together by the late Mr. P. Cameron, 
and purchased from his. executors. 


THE most interesting feature in the March number 
of the New York Zoological Society’s Bulletin is Mr. 
Townsend’s account of the capture and transport of 
the bottle-nosed dolphins, or porpoises (Tursiops 
tursio) in the New York Aquarium. There is a regu- 
lar fishery of these cetaceans at Cape Hatteras, N. 
Carolina, and in November last a small ‘‘school”’ of 
them was captured and dispatched to New York in 
special water-tanks. Nine reached their destination 
in safety, and of these five were alive and in excellent 
health at the time the article was written. They are 
kept in a salt-water pond of 37 ft. in diameter by 
about 7 ft. in depth, and constitute a unique and 
highly attractive exhibit. 


AMPHIBIANS and reptiles loom large in the March 
number of Douglas English’s Wild Life, Mr. E. G. 
Boulenger communicating an exquisitely illustrated 
article on some of the well-known species of European 
toads, while in a second he figures the first living 
example of the saddle-backed giant tortoise (Testudo 
abingdoni), of Abingdon Island, Galapagos group, 
received alive in this country. In a note regarding 
other giant species the author mentions that about 
1760 no fewer than 25,000 of these chelonians were 
exported from Rodriguez to Mauritius for food in a 
single year. Little wonder that the species of the 
former island soon became exterminated. In connec- 
tion with giant tortoises, it may be mentioned ‘that 
remains of an extinct species from the Pleistocene of 
Minorca are described by Miss Bate in the March 
number of the Geological Magazine. 


NEW serial, of the first number of which we have 
received a copy, has been started at Buitenzorg, under 
the editorship of Dr. J. C. Koningsberger, and pub- 
lished by the Department of Agriculture, Industry, 
and Commerce, with the title of ‘‘Contributions A la 
Faune des Indes Néerlandaises.” It is specially in- 
tended for papers. emanating: from the Zoological 
Museum and Laboratory of Buitenzorg, and the Bio- 
logical Station at Batavia, which have hitherto 
appeared in another local publication. The new issue 
appears, however, as a section of the well-known 

NO. 2319, VOL. 93] 


NATURE 


[APRIL 9, I914 


“’s Lands Plantentuin,’” dating from 1817. Its con- 
tents include an article by Dr. C. P. Sluiter on holo- 
thurians collected by Mr. P. N. van Kampen in the 
Malay Archipelago, and a list of chelonians from the 
Dutch East Indies in the Buitenzorg Museum. 


IN a recent number of the Memorias do Instituto 
Oswaldo Cruz (vol. v., part 2), a memoir, illustrated 
by beautiful coloured plates, is published by Drs. 
Aragao and Vianna on the disease known as Granu- 
loma venereum. The authors deny that a treponeme 
is the cause of the disease, which is quite distinct from 
syphilis. They associate the disease with a peculiar 
bacterium occurring in the cells of the granulomatous 
tissue. The most striking characteristic of this 
organism is the possession of a peculiar capsule, for 
which reason they propose to put it in a distinct genus, 
Kalymmabacterium (or Calymmatobacterium; the 
name is spelt in both these ways in the same para- 
graph). The authors have obtained very remarkable 
success in the treatment of this disease with injections 
of tartar-emetic; they state that this treatment has 
effected a complete cure in every case treated by them, 
and the photographs given of cases before and after 
treatment are quite astounding. Full descriptions are 
given of a number of cases and of the progress of the 
treatment. Incidentally, it is mentioned that injec- 
tions of tartar emetic have been found most efficacious 
in the treatment of leishmanioses in Brazil. 


Tue Carnegie Institution of Washington has pub- 
lished together a paper by Prof. W. E. Castle, 
‘Reversion in Guinea-pigs and its Explanation,’’ and 
one by C. C. Little, ‘‘Experimental Studies of the 
Inheritance of Color in Mice” (Publication No. 179, 
issued September, 1913). Prof. Castle shows that 
some red guinea-pigs when mated with black give 
blacks, black being dominant, but that other appar- 
ently similar reds when mated with blacks give agouti. 
A series of breeding experiments proves that the cause 
of the difference is that some reds contain a factor 
which brings about. striping in the hair. It has no 
effect in the red, from which black pigment is absent, 
but black, in the presence of the striping. factor, 
becomes agouti. Mr. Little’s paper adds some new 
and probably valuable ideas to the already extensive 
literature of coat-colour in mice. He points out that 
yellow, brown, and black pigment are produced by 
three successive stages of oxidation of a chromogen. 
He suggests that. albinos lack the factor Y (yellow) 
which produces the first stage, and that the higher 
factors Br (brown) and B (black) are then unable to 
act. Brown is produced by the presence of Y and 
Br, black by Y, Br, and B. Yellow, which in all 
the cases he has used is dominant to other colours, 
is caused by a factor inhibiting the action of Br and 
B. There are in addition two classes of ‘‘ distribu- 
tive’ factors.” One of these causes full development 
of pigment; its absence causes dilute colour. Another 
is necessary for full development of Br and B; in its 
absence the mice are pink-eyed with pale-coloured 
hair. Both these factors are somewhat variable in 
intensity. The other pair of distributive factors are 
that for the agouti barring of the hair, and that which 
more or less completely inhibits Br and B, giving 


AprIt 9, 1914] 


NAL GIGE 


143 


dominant yellows, The question of piebalding is also 
dealt with, and many pages of tables of experimenta! 
results are included. 


THE unexpected discovery of hot springs and 
evidences of recent volcanic activity in Spitsbergen is 
described and illustrated by A. Hoel and O. Holtedahl 
in Naturen for January, 1913. The occurrences are in 
Wood Bay, on the little visited north coast of the 
main island. The springs have formed characteristic 
travertine basins, in which a species of Chara is 
recorded, with_a moss and twelve algal species which 
are equally new to the high arctic flora. The char- 
acteristic forms in the moving soils of Spitsbergen, 
- with their walls of stones set in circular cracks, are 
described by W. Meinardus in the Sitzungsberichte des 
Naturhistorischen Verein der preuss. Rheinlande u. 
Westfalens, 1912 (published 1913), C, p. 1. A useful 
bibliography is appended. B. Hégbom points out the 
various features in Spitsbergen that indicate the dry- 
ness and the desert-character of present conditions in 
the island (Bull. Geol. Institution of the Univ. of 
Upsala, vol. xi., p. 242), and A. Smith Woodward 
describes Lower Triassic fish-remains from Sassen 
Bay in the same volume. 


Tue Messina earthquake of December 28, 1908, 
originated in two foci, both beneath the Straits of 
Messina, one at its northern entrance, the other be- 
tween Reggio and Messina. Almost exactly four 
years later, on December 22, 1912, a strong earthquake 
occurred, probably within the latter focus. According 
to Dr. Agammennone, who describes the earthquake 
in a recent number of the Rivista di Astronomia, the 
shock was not announced by any early tremors; it dis- 
turbed an area only 135 miles in diameter; but, though 
its intensity at Messina was 7 (Mercalli scale), the 
shock failed to damage buildings erected in accord- 
ance with the new regulations. 


WE are glad to learn that the United States have 
again decided to send revenue cutters to the vicinity 
of Newfoundland Banks for the purpose of reporting 
on the conditions of the ice. The Seneca has already 
taken up her position, and is sending wireless reports 
to the Hydrographic Office in New York, in addition 
to which she will make oceanographic observations 
while cruising in that district. The meteorological 
charts of the North Atlantic issued by the offices at 
London and Hamburg for April show that drift ice 
has recently increased to a considerable extent. Bergs 
or field ice were seen on or before February 15 
nearly so far south as 42° N., and nearly so far east 
as 41° W. Several ships have had to alter their 
course, considerably, off the Newfoundland Banks. 


THE question whether thermometers in the double- 
louvred ‘‘ Stevenson’ screen, now generally used in 
this country give true measurements of air tem- 
perature has been discussed in Symons’s Meteoro- 
logical Magazine for several months past. Mr. 
W. F. A. Ellison considers that the accuracy that some 
observers are striving for is fallacious, and that on 
a sunny day no two adjacent masses of air have the 
same temperature. An important communication from 
Dr. John Aitken appears in the March number. He 


NOM23195. VOL: 93 


! 


considers that, although the whole mass of air is a 
mixture of more or less heated patches, the ther- 
mometers in the screen in question fairly represent 
the mean temperature, but that the screen must always 
read higher than the true temperature, while the sun 
shines. He points out the important fact that some 
of the screens in use in the north and south of the 
country are not similar in construction in all respects. 


ENGLISH readers of Italian scientific journals have 
often been rather puzzled when they have come across 
such names as Giuseppe Larmor, Guglielmo Ostwald, 
or Enrico Poincaré. From a note published in Isis, 
vol. i., part 4, p. 707 (1914),: by- Aldo- Mieli,. we are 
glad to learn that this practice is being discontinued, 
and he now opens the further question as to how 
uniformity can be obtained in the spelling of classical 
names and others possessing different alphabets from 
ours. Here it is suggested that the nominative case 
should be universally adopted, and in the case of 
Greek a uniform system of equivalents for the Greek 
letters should be adopted. In this list he still adheres 
to the custom of replacing the Greek ph by f. 


ARTICLES of a semi-popular character about mathe- 
matics, as distinct from papers on mathematics, are 
not so common as they deserve to be. The February 
number of the new quarterly, Isis (vol. i., part 4) goes 
a long way to supply this want. Mathematics is re- 
presented by three of the five principal articles. M. 
George Sarton writes on modern tendencies in mathe- 
matical history and criticises the recent works of M. 
Leon Brunschvicg (Paris: Felix Alcan, 1g12) and M. 
Pierre Boutroux (Paris: Hermann, 1913-14), both of 
which volumes are also reviewed in this number. In 
Prof. Gino Loria’s paper on the glories of British 
mathematics, which was read at the International Con- 
gress of Historical Studies in London in 1913, the 
author laments the scarcity of literature dealing with 
the history of English mathematics, and expresses the 
opinion that many valuabie and interesting manu- 
scripts are waiting to be unearthed. Mr. P. E. Jour- 
dain writes on the origin of Cauchy’s conceptions of 
a definite integral and of a continuous function. In 
addition there are a number of reviews of mathe- 
matical books. The subscription to Isis is 24 francs 
per annum, and the offices are at Wondelgem les 
Gand, Belgium. Messrs. Max Drechsel, of Berne, 
are agents. 


Tue photographs of the tracks of a and £ particles 
obtained by Mr. C. T. R. Wilson with his cloud 
apparatus illustrate so well the properties of these 
radiations, that many teachers will be glad to know 
the Cambridge Scientific Instrument Company is now 
producing copies of them in the form of lantern slides. 
The clearness of the photographs raises the hope that 
it may be possible to obtain stereoscopic photographs 
which would enable depth to be estimated, or possibly 
kinema views which, when run through the lantern 
slowly, would allow the sequence of events to be 
followed. 


ALTHOUGH the incandescent electric lamp when 
standardised and used with accurate ammeters has 
proved the most trustworthy standard of light, the 


144 NATURE [APRIL 9, 1914 


Bureau of Standards at Washington has selected the 
Harcourt 10-candle pentane lamp as the best of the 
gas-flame lamps to serve as a secondary standard. 
This decision has been arrived at after an extensive 
test of the various lamps, and the conclusions with 
regard to the best method of using the standard are 
embodied in a paper by Messrs, E. C. Crittenden and 
A H. Taylor, which appears in the tenth volume of 
the bulletin. They cover the question of the fuel and 
the effects of pressure and moisture on the candle- 
power. 


A SUCCESSFUL modification of General Sterneck’s 
pendulum apparatus has been designed and em- 
ployed by Sig. Vincenzo Reina and Gino Cassinis 
in the determination of gravity (relative) at Rome, 
Arcetri (Florence), Livorno. and Genoa in Italy, and 
also at Vienna and Potsdam (Memorie R. Acc. 
ince, series. v:, vol.” 1x. No.« ¥7, )pp.. 751=839): 
In the earlier forms, such, for instance, as those used 
in the gravimetric survey of the Indian Peninsula, 
and more recently in Egypt, the pendulum support is 
a solidly constructed tripod resting on and clamped 
to a masonry pillar. Although maximum rigidity is 
aimed at, vet under the alternating strains induced 
by the swinging pendulums the support is found to 
be appreciably yielding, and the determination of the 
effect of flexure constitutes one of the necessary pieces 
of preliminary work. It is obtained by observing the 
oscillation of the invariable pendulum induced by a 
heavier synchronous (variable) auxiliary pendulum 
swinging in the same plane (method of Schumann). 
In the Italian modification the means for applying 
this method is made an inherent feature of the design. 
The trustworthiness of the correction is increased by 
securing (1) greater equilibrium in the distribution of 
parts, (2) that the correction is obtained with the 
invariable pendulum swinging in the position used in 
the actual determinations. These improvements are 
realised by mounting the single perforated agate plate 
on which the knife edges of the pendulums bear when 
they are in motion on two consoles, which can be bolted 
to a vertical surface. Only one invariable pendulum 
is swung at a time. With this arrangement the effect 
of flexure is less than one-tenth of that of the tripod 
type, the maximum correction of nine different groups 
being —3-9x10~-7 secs., whilst the minimum was 
—1I-5 x 10~‘ secs. 


WE have received a reprint of a paper read before 
the eleventh International Congress of Pharmacy, held 
at Scheveningen last September, by Prof. Hans 
Haller, of Leyden, on the application of comparative 
phytochemistry to systematic botany. Illustrations 
are given of the growing importance of a knowledge 
of the chemical substances elaborated by plants in 
elucidating vexed questions of classification and 
in throwing light on phylogenetic relations. dine 
field is one which has as yet been little worked, but 
it will in the future undoubtedly become more and 
more fruitful. 


Tue Societa Tipografica Editrice Barese, of Bari, 
Italy, announces the forthcoming publication of a 
series of reprints of scientific and philosophical classics 


NO. 2319, VOE. 03 | 


under the title, ‘‘Classici delle Scienze e della Filo- 
sofia.” In some respects this series will resemble the 
valuable collection already issued by Ostwald in Ger- 
many, under the title ‘‘ Klassiker der exakten Wissen- 
schaften,’’ but the venture will be on an even more 
ample scale; it will render easily accessible to the 
student of the historical development of science many 
classical papers which have hitherto been obtained 
only with great difficulty. Each volume will contain 
about 300 pages, and will cost about 3 lire. The 
whole series is under the general editorship of Messrs. 
Aldo Mieli and Erminio Troilo. All scientific workers 
will wish success to this praiseworthy enterprise. The 
following are specimens of the titles of volumes already 
issued :—Spallanzani’s ‘‘Saggio sul sistema della 
generazione”’ (1777); Biringuccio’s ‘‘De la Pirotech- 
nia’’ (1540), vol. i., and a translation of Descartes’s 
‘Principia Philosophiz.’”” Amongst those to appear 
at an early date are Francesco Redi’s ‘‘ Esperienze 
intorno alla generazione degli insetti,’’ Galileo’s tracts 
on motion, and several reprints of the scientific works 
of Leonardo da Vinci, Volta, Giordano Bruno, and 
Vico, to mention only a few of those announced as 
already in the press. 


Messrs. NOVELLO AND Co. have published a second 
edition of Dr. Jamieson B. Hurry’s ‘‘ Sumer is icumen 
in.”’ The attractive volume was originally published 
at the time of the unveiling at Reading Abbey of a 
memorial tablet, bearing a facsimile of the canon, 
which, it may be remembered, was written by a monk 
at Reading Abbey, about the year 1420. 


OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 


Comet 1914a (KRITZINGER).—Circular No. 145 from 
the Central Bureau at Kiel contains the following 
elements and ephemeris, communicated by Prof. 
Kobold, deduced from observations on March 29, 30, 
and 31 :— 


Elements. 
T =:914 May 3171816 M.T. Berlin. 
o =67° 0°95" 
=198 36°68 
J 23) U3 Op 


log g =o'09910 
Ephemeris for 12h, M.T. Berlin. 


“ R.A. Decl. Mag. 

April 16 *43 300) aeee = 3,464 20 “aos 
iif 46 56 2 53:8 

10 we, 5024) MP 2550-2 9 2c ose 
II 20% 53 «(54 I 25:4 
ieee ee LON See) —0O 39:9 


The ephemeris shows that the comet is reducing its 
southern declination; it is situated in the constellation 
of Ophiuchus. 


THe NEw Sorar Cycre.—The long period of 
apparent rest which the solar atmosphere has been 
recently undergoing has now been broken by the com- 
paratively large sun-spot which developed during the 
course of last week. The sun-spot activity of the last 
few years has been well summarised in the annual 
report of the council of the Royal Astronomical Society 
(Monthly Notices, February, 1914). In this we are 
told that the past year has been a year of minimum 
activity of sun-spots, more than a century having 
elapsed since the sun exhibited such complete and 


a ee ee 


APRIL 9, 1914| 


prolonged quiescence. The following brief table is 
gathered from the report above mentioned, and brings 
out clearly the exceptional nature of the year 1913 :— 


Wear Days with- Mean daily spotted No. of separate 
out » pots area in millionths groups 
Ig! 183 Gea 47, 02 
1912 246 37 39 
1913 S100 RS 5 15 


It is stated that no year since 1810 has given such 
a barren record as that just elapsed. The new cycle 
was indicated last year by two groups in high latitude, 
the chief criterion for the beginning of a new cycle. 

RELATION BETWEEN STELLAR SPECTRA, COLOURS, 
AND ParattaxEs.—In  Astronomische Nachrichten, 
No. 4722, Herr P. Nashan describe the results he has 
obtained in comparing the colours, spectra, and 
parallaxes of a number of stars. Dealing first with 
1o1 stars, he divides them first into three classes, 
a, B, and y, according as the stars are white, yellow, 
or red; the parallaxes are also grouped with three 
divisions as follows :—o-000” to 0-050", 0-050” to. 0-100", 
and o-100” to 0-200”.. The comparison shows that the 
white stars decrease with increasing parallaxes; on 
the other hand, the red stars increase with increasing 
parallaxes. The fact that there is a close relationship 
between the colour and the spectrum of a star has 
led him to compare-the spectra of 246 stars with their 


parallaxes. The results are best shown as follows :— 
Parallax 

Spectrum | Bee | Bidca—a'0s0 0'050—0'100 0°100—-0'r50 | ors 
| n Ws n % n He nu i, 

B PE 2 | 63°6 | 3.) 2738 iempers |. 0 oO 

A 25) 8:| 28°5 | 8 | aesheeeie25-o), 5 | 18:9 

EB. 59 | 19 | 322 | 22 | 373.) 45) 255 | 3 | S7 

G G4.) 13, | 20 3 | 22 | aeaelezeieae-2 | 29) 371 

K Bahu 13 |.18°6 | 21 | aoremeese|oe-o | 13. | 18°5 

M 4) 3 | 214] 2) 14°35 1357 | 4 | 28°6 


Herr Nashan then couples up the B and A stars 
into a white group, the F and G into a yellow group, 
and the K and M stars into a red group, and con- 
cludes that the relative number of white stars decreases 
with increasing parallaxes, while the relative number 
of the red stars increases with increasing parallaxes, 
a result similar to that obtained with colour alone. 
The communication concludes with the list of the 
246 stars employed, giving their positions for 1900-0, 
parallax, type of spectrum, and colour. 


SERIES LINES IN SPARK SPECTRA.1! 


REVIOUS work on series lines in spectra has 
dealt chiefly with lines produced in the electric arc, 

or in vacuum tubes with discharges of moderate in- 
tensity. The lines discussed in the present communi- 
cation are some of those which are specially developed 
in the condensed spark, belonging to Lockyer’s class 
of ‘‘enhanced lines.’’ The investigation was under- 
taken in connection with the new lines (A 4686, etc.) 
produced in 1912 by passing strong condensed dis- 
charges through helium tubes, which always contained 
an impurity of hydrogen. These lines are of great 
interest in celestial spectroscopy, and, following Ryd- 
berg, they were assigned to hydrogen, to the lines of 
which they seemed to have a simple relation, while 
having no apparent connection with those of helium. 


1 Summary of Bakerian lecture delivered at the Royal Society on April 2’ 
by Prof. A. Fowler, F.R.S. 


NO. 2319, VOL. 93] 


NATURE 


pate: 
| might be reached. 


145 


The evidence for assigning the lines to hydrogen, 
however, was still numerical rather than experimental, 
and further inquiry was called for, especially in view 
of the presence of an intermediate set of lines asso- 
ciated with the Rydberg series. A search for other 
series of this character was therefore instituted in the 
hope that some generalisation with ‘regard to them 
The well-known spark line of 
magnesium, 4481, was subsequently found to be the 
leader of a series of this kind, but no relation to other 
magnesium series was then traced. 

The lines of the ‘*‘ 4686” series have since become 
of increased importance, in connection with theories 
of the constitution of the atom, through the theoretical 
work of Dr. Bohr, who explains them as being pro- 
duced during the first stage in the re-formation of 
helium atoms from which both electrons have been 
removed by the strong discharges employed. The 
‘4686’ and the intermediate series were thus united 
in a single series of a new type, in which the Rydberg 
series constant N(=109675) had four times the value 
associated with hydrogen. A similar modification of 
the usual formula was found to be applicable to the 
magnesium series, and also to some lines of calcium, 
strontium, and barium observed by Lyman in the 
Schumann region. At this stage a valuable contribu- 
tion to the investigation was made by the work of 
Lorenser, from which it results that the enhanced lines 
of the elements named form groups of series similar 
to those found in are spectra. Further calculations 
have shown that these series are best represented by 
the Hicks formula with 4N for numerator. 

A further experimental investigation of mag- 
nesium has resulted in the production of many new 
enhanced (spark) lines, from which it appears that the 
‘‘4481’’ series is the fundamental series of a system 
of narrow doublets, in which the separation of the 
pairs is identical with that calculated for the second 
member of the principal series of wider doublets pre- 
viously known. It has also been shown that the 
‘“4481’’ series consists of very close doublets with 
constant separation. Two well-defined combination 
series related to 4481 -have also been identified. 

From these investigations of enhanced metallic lines 
it follows that two kinds of series must now be recog- 
nised :—(1) Series of the arc type, having Rydberg’s 
“N” for the series constant; and (2) series of the 
spark, or enhanced line, type, having a series con- 
stant equal to 4N. No numerical relations between 
the two sets of series occurring in the same element 
have been traced. 

The ‘‘ 4686” series produced in helium tubes is of 
the spark (4N) type, and can no longer be considered 
to belong to the same group as the Balmer series of 
hydrogen, which is of the are (N) type. It is con- 
cluded that the lines in question are due to helium, 
as indicated by Bohr, and it is suggested that they 
should be designated ‘‘ proto-helium”’ lines in accord- 
ance with the convenient nomenclature of Lockyer. 
The ‘‘Pickering”’ lines associated with the ‘ 4686” 
series probably have a similar origin, in which case 
the series would include intermediate lines nearly 
coincident with the Balmer lines of hydrogen. Observa- 
tional evidence on this point is incomplete, but indirect 
evidence is furnished by the fact that one of the new 
combination series is related to the 4481 series exactly 
as the extended Pickering series would be related to 
the ‘‘ 4686” series of proto-helium. 

Dr. Bohr has shown that the slight differences in 
the observed positions of alternate lines of the 
‘4686’ series and those calculated for the principal 
series of hydrogen by Rydberg are accounted for when 
his theoretical formulz are corrected for the mass of 
the electron (NatTurRE, October 23, -1913). If the 


146 


formula are correct, the inverse calculation provides 
a spectroscopic method of determining the mass of the 
electron. The available observations give the mass of 
the hydrogen atom in terms of that of the electron as 
1836+12, in remarkable agreement with the generally 
accepted value. ; ; 

Until other evidence is forthcoming, it may be con- 
sidered that the line spectrum of hydrogen consists only 
of the Balmer series, with parallel series in the infra- 
red and extreme ultra-violet. The proto-helium spec- 
trum is of the same simple character, and this sim- 
plicity gives the two spectra a special value in theo- 
retical investigations. Bohr’s theory implies that are 
series in general are produced when only one electron 
is removed from the atom by the exciting source, and 
spark series when two electrons are removed. 

The change in the character of the series in passing 
from arc to enhanced lines suggests the possibility of 
series requiring still greater multiples of the ordinary 
series constant, but no such series have yet been 
identified. 


PRACTICAL EDUCATION IN SECONDARY 
SCHOOLS, (TRADE SCHOOLS,” “AND 
CENTRAL SCHOOLS? 


@ee of the most striking features of English educa- 
tion at the present time is the attempt which 
is being made to give a more practical or vocational 
bias to the training of boys and girls between the 
ages of twelve and sixteen years—that is, after the 
completion of the ordinary primary-school curriculum. 
So far as day work is concerned, this tendency is 
operating along two main lines, (a) the modification 
of the traditional secondary-school course by the intro- 
duction in some schools of elementary engineering, 
agriculture, shorthand, typewriting, or of subjects 
grouped under the general name of *‘ educational hand- 
work” (e.g. woodwork, metal-work, domestic sub- 
jects for girls); (b) the development of schools (central 
schools, junior technical schools, trade schools) with a 
pronounced vocational object. 

A. Secondary Schools.—In the year 1911-12, of the 
total. number (39,726) of mew admissions to the 
secondary schools aided by the Board of Education, 
no less than 67-7 per cent. came direct from the 
elementary school. Clearly the great majority of these 
cannot enter one or other of the learned professions, 
but must devote themselves on leaving school to some 
branch of commercial or industrial life. A strong 
public demand has arisen for a modification of the 
curricula of these schools so that the education given 
may be of more direct value to the pupils after leaving 
school. Employers are demanding better trained 
assistance; the parents feel that the additional sacri- 
fices they must make in order to keep their boys and 
girls at the schools after fifteen years of age are not 
sufficiently justified by the benefits to be derived by 
their children from an education which is mainly of 
a literary or classical type. As a_ result, some 
secondary schools have specialised to a certain extent, 
more particularly of course in the higher forms, in 
engineering subjects, others in science (chemistry, 
physics, botany, and biology) as applied to agricul- 
ture, others in commercial and secretarial work, de- 
pending upon the needs and circumstances of the 
locality. Apparently the results of this specialisation, 
where it has been attempted, have been satisfactory. 
The general educational work of the school has gained 


1 (1) Report of the Consultative Committee of the Board of Education on 
Practical Work in Secondary Schools [Cd. 6849]. (Wyman and Sons, ror3. 
Price 1s. 9a. (2) Report of the Board of Education for rgr1i-12 [Cd. 6707]. 
(\Vvman and Sons, 1913.) Price 84d. (3) Regulations for Junior Technical 
Sa eae England and Wales [Cd. 6919]. (Wyman and Sons, 1913.) 

mc2 TI . 


NO: 237O)) VOL 93) 


NATURE 


[APRIL 9, 1914 


in interest and vitality by the increased contact with 
concrete, everyday affairs. Possibly it may help also 
in checking the exodus of the pupils from the 
secondary schools at about the age of fifteen, i.e. 
half-way through their full course. 

The Consultative Committee of the Board of Educa- 
tion issued a short time ago a comprehensive and sug- 
gestive report upon the develapment of ‘‘ educational 
handwork”’ of various kinds (woodwork, metal-work, 
gardening, modelling, and domestic subjects for girls) 
in secondary schools. The report states (p. 5) that 
the evidence of the witnesses ‘‘leaves no room for 
doubt as to the necessity and the practicability of 
giving such work a more definite place in secondary 
education than it has hitherto occupied, and of asso- 
ciating it so far as possible with the rest of the work 
of the school.’? While it is not the function of the 
secondary school to impart technical instruction, it 
should provide those of its pupils whose future call- 
ings may involve manual work or the utilisation and 
control of such work with a foundation on which 
technical instruction may subsequently be built. 
‘Systematic work with the hands is a necessary con- 
stituent of a liberal education.’’ To train deftness of 
hand, although important, is not the sole or even the 
chief aim of handwork teaching. The principal object 
is to influence the mind and character of the pupils 
by developing their common sense, readiness, and 
adaptability. In addition it brings the work of the 
school into close relation with the needs of daily life 
outside the class-room, thus giving school work that 
reality which is so important for arousing the child’s 
interest. Manual training has a valuable steadying 
influence upon the over-quick and excitable child, and 
a stimulating effect upon the child who is naturally 
slow at abstract mental processes. 

The recognition of handwork as a compulsory schoof 
subject has been objected to on the ground that it 
involves the addition of one more item to an already 
overburdened time-table. | Experience shows that a 
reasonable amount of time devoted to handwork does 
not lead to any lowering of attainment in other 
branches of school work, but rather the reverse. 

The Committee lays down the following general 
principles for the teaching of all branches of educa- 
tional handwork. The encouragement of independence 
and initiative is of fundamental importance, hence each 
pupil should be allowed to work at his own pace and 
be encouraged to select his own work. Classes should 
be sufficiently small to permit of individual instruction. 
Constructive practice and theory should go hand in 
hand. The syllabus should be logical, coherent, in- 
teresting, and of a direct culture value. A number 
of syllabuses which are in actual operation in schools 
are given in the report. These will be of great value 
to teachers. 

Handwork should be recognised in any general 
examination scheme for secondary schools. External 
examinations in this subject are particularly undesir- 
able; the assessment of the progress made by the pupil 
should be based upon the work done during the 
course. 

The Committee points out that at the present time 
the educational training, status, and remuneration of 
handwork teachers are unsatisfactory. These teachers 
should be on an equality in these matters with their 
colleagues. This type of teaching should not be 
handed over to artisans, but to men with a good 
general education and a special knowledge of educa- 
tional handwork. The universities should provide in- 
creased facilities for this branch of educatign, and 
adequate recognition of those who complete success- 
fully the prescribed courses of study. 

B. Central Schools, Junior Technical Schools, Trade 
Schools.—In this group of schools the work as a 


v——— 


APRIL 9, 1914| 


whole has a more pronounced practical or vocational 
bias than in the secondary schools, this being most 
marked in the trade schools and least in the central 
schools. The students in these schools are in nearly 
every case drawn from the elementary schools.’ The 
usual age of admission is twelve or thirteen years, 
the courses lasting three to four years. The fees are 
nominal, ranging from ios. to about 2l. 10s. per 
annum. There is usually a generous supply of 
scholarships with maintenance grants awarded by 
the local education authority. 

(1) Central Schools.—The last Board of Education 
report (i.e. for 1911-12) states that central schools 
have been established only in London and Manchester 
as yet. In London there are thirty-one such schools 
containing forty-two departments, fifteen for boys, 
thirteen for girls, and fourteen ‘‘mixed’’; nineteen 
of these departments have a commercial bias, sixteen 
industrial, and seven a ‘‘dual”’ bias. Manchester has 
six such schools, including three boys’ departments, 
two girls’ departments, and three mixed departments. 

These central schools are intended to attract at 
about the age of twelve or thirteen the best boys or 
girls from the local elementary schools, who have not 
previously been drafted off by means of competitive 
scholarships into the secondary schools. The object 
of the schools is to continue the general education of 
the pupils and at the same time to prepare the chil- 
dren to go directly at about the age of fifteen or 
sixteen into business houses or workshops at the 
completion of the course. The training is to be such, 
however, that it will not prevent the pupil proceeding 
by scholarships or otherwise to a place of higher 
education. 

An examination of the curricula of these schools 
reveals comparatively little difference between them 
and those secondary schools which have definitely 
attempted to introduce vocational work into their pro- 
gramme. A typical central school (with a commercial 
bias) provides throughout the whole course, in addi- 
tion to the ordinary subjects, such as mathematics, 
geography, and history, about four hours a week for 
a modern language, four hours a week to English, 
science two hours, manual training two hours, and 
drawing two hours. In the third and fourth years a 
few hours a week are devoted to shorthand, business 
correspondence, office routine, and typewriting. In 
departments with an industrial bias, about ten to 
twelve hours a week are given to practical work 
(laboratory work, drawing, woodwork, and metal- 
work). No attempt is made to specialise for any one 
particular industry. The practical work for girls con- 
sists of elementary science and housecraft. This type 
of school as a whole, though doing excellent work, 
suffers somewhat in the public estimation through 
it being regarded as inferior in prestige to the 
ordinary secondary school. The training given in the 
central schools is probably better fitted to the after 
circumstances of the majority of boys and girls from 
the elementary schools than is that afforded by the 
usual type of secondary schools. 

(2) Junior Technical Schools and Trade Schools.— 
This class of schools suffers from a bewildering variety 
of names—junior technical schools, trades preparatory 
schools, preé-apprenticeship schools, and trades schools. 
Generally speaking, the junior technical schools pro- 
vide a wider training in general education and in 
theoretical work than the trades schools. Again, 
junior technical schools are understood not to specialise 
for one particular trade, but to provide a training 
enabling a boy to enter any branch of a group of 
industries, such as engineering or the building trades. 
The trades schools specialise more severely than this in 
many cases. Actually, the names of the schools are 
often misleading, so-called ‘trades’? schools being 


NO!-2319, VOL:.93| 


NATURE 


147 


really ‘junior technical”’ schools. At the present time 
the general tendency is in favour of the ‘“junior tech- 
nical school,’’ with its wider educational outlook and 
less severe specialisation, rather than the ‘“ trades” 
school proper. 

There are about sixteen junior technical or trades 
schools in London, with about 800 boys and 3000 girls 
in attendance. In other portions of England and 
Wales there are about twenty such schools, with, say 
1200 pupils, and in Ireland twelve schools with 500 
pupils. Scotland relies upon a system of ‘“supple- 
mentary classes,” which in effect is very similar to 
the ‘‘central schools”’ described earlier. 

The provincial schools are usually designed to pro- 
vide only for the engineering, building, and metat 


trades. Manchester has recently’ established a 
Day Trade School of Dressmaking. London 
trade schools cover a wide field of more or 


less specialised instruction, e.g. furniture and wood- 
working trades, book production, silversmith’s work, 
tailoring, bakery and confectionery, cookery (for 
chefs), and many women’s trades. The net annual 
cost of the trade schools maintained by the London 
County Council is approximately 15]. to 21). a 
student. There is no definite provision, except at 
Cardiff, for instruction in commercial subjects along 
junior technical-school lines. 

The curricula of these schools vary considerably.- 
Broadly speaking, each school allows about three to 
four hours a week for English, three to four hours a 
week for mathematics or arithmetic, and of the re- 
maining time, about one-third is devoted to theoretical 
instruction in the theory or sciences, if any, allied to 
the special trade or industry, and about two-thirds to 
the practice of the trade or practical work (including 
drawing office, workshops, laboratory work, or draw- 
ing) connected with the industry. Considerable atten- 
tion is given to continuing the general education. of 
the pupils, with the result that but for the omission of 
a modern language, the boy of sixteen in the better 
type of junior technical school is educationally on a 
level with the average boy of the same age in the 
secondary school. The physical welfare of the children 
is helped through the agency of organised games and 
gymnastics. The pupils are encouraged to organise 
clubs and societies in order to foster the social life 
and corporate spirit of the schools. 

On the whole this type of school has been very 
successful, especially perhaps the trade schools for 
girls in London. Close contact with the trades and 
industries is secured in many of the schools by the 
formation of ‘‘advisory committees,’ consisting — of 
representatives of employers and of labour. The pupils 
are generally keen upon their work, and the tone of 
the schools is good. There is comparatively little 
difficulty in most cases in securing positions in indus- 
trial life for the boys or girls at the completion of 
their course. The work done in these schools gener- 
ally enables the boy or girl to shorten the period of 
apprenticeship very considerably and to obtain higher 
wages than they would otherwise have secured. 

The success of the relatively few junior technical 
schools or trades schools which have been established 
so far points to the probability of a rapid increase in 
the number of these schools in the immediate future. 
Broadly speaking, about half a million boys and girls 
leave the elementary school each year, less than 
one-tenth of these passing forward. to the secondary 
school, and only about 2000 to the junior technical or 
trades schools. Of the remainder, a considerable pro- 
portion would probably amply repay further systematic 
full-time education, not of the customary literary. type, 
but of a more practical character, such as is given in 
the junior technical or trade schools. One point, 


{ however, must be watched. The Board of Education, 


148 . NAT ORE 


in the recent regulations for junior technical schools, 
states that these schools are not intended to furnish a 
preparation for higher ‘‘full-time’’ technical work, 
this being one of the functions of the secondary school. 
This would make the junior technical schools a “‘ dead 
end”’ so far as further day technical work is concerned. 
In science and mathematics, the fundamental subjects 
in technical work, the boy in the junior technical 
school is ahead of the secondary-school boy. The 
junior technical school should be another avenue, 
alternative to the secondary school, by means of which 
the bright boy could pass from the elementary school 
to the technical college. 
in the case of the boy who develops somewhat late 
or whose mental activities only become aroused by 
contact with things rather than with books. 
J. Wizson. 


THE INSTITUTION OF NAVAL 
ARCHITECTS. 


HE spring meeting of the Institution of Naval 
Architects opened on April 1 at the rooms of 
the Royal Society of Arts. The institution’s gold 
medal was awarded to Mr. G. S. Baker, for his paper 
on methodical experiments on mercantile ship forms. 
Premiums were awarded to Messrs. A. Cannon and 
L. Woollard for papers dealing respectively with the 
effect of loose water on the rolling of a ship, and the 
effect of water chambers on the rolling of ships. In 
all fourteen papers were read and discussed during the 
three days over which the meeting extended. 

In a paper dealing with some questions relating to 
battleship design, Mr. T. G. Owens states that the 
present tendency in warship construction and design, 
as exemplified in the later ships of all the principal 
maritime powers, is towards very large displacements, 
with the arrangement of all the guns of the primary 
armament on the centre line, and with the guns of 
the secondary armament placed in an armoured citadel 
on, or immediately below, the deck carrying the 
primary guns. In respect to the above-water armoured 
protection, there is the usual thick armoured belt, 
extending, say from 4 to 6 ft. below the water-line, 
to the height of the main deck, and carried along the 
length of the vessel for such distance as to protect 
the machinery and boiler compartments and the maga- 
zines. The ends of the ship and the citadel have 
armour of reduced thickness. In all modern battle- 
‘ships there are horizontal protective decks. Protection 
against attack from bombs, etc., dropped from air- 
craft is not yet in the region of practical politics. 
‘When the time arrives to arrange measures to meet 
such attack, they will probably take form in the 
method advocated by Sir Trevor Dawson, i.e. to in- 
crease the thickness, and give a greater curvature, or 
whale-back formation, to the armoured deck. 

Mr. W. J. Luke contributed a paper on experiments 
upon wake and thrust deduction, supplementary to 
another paper which he presented to the institution 
in 1910. The present paper has particular reference 
to experiments with contrary-turning screws on a 
common axis, with tandem screws, and also of ex- 
periments with quadruple screws. It appears from 
the experiments that the first-mentioned type of screw 
has not a little to recommend it, and were the 
engineering difficulties connected with its application 
to marine propulsion overcome, it would be well 
worthy of consideration. Tandem screws have nothing 
to recommend them. 

Mr. J. T. Milton read a paper on the present posi- 
tion of Diesel engines for marine purposes, and Prof. 
W. E. Dalby described some results of trials made on 
a small Diesel engine in which accurate indicator 


NO. 2319, VOL. 93] 


This is especially important - 


[APRIL 9, 1914 


diagrams were obtained by means of a-new form of 
optical indicator. 

Mr. G. S. Baker gave an account of a number of 
model experiments made to determine the effect of 
shape of area curve on the resistance at any reason- 
able speed. This paper gives also a brief account of 
the work of the year at the William Froude tank. A 
large proportion of time has been spent-on test work 
for various shipbuilding firms. The resistance of 
at least five large vesseis has been reduced more thar 
10 per cent. by modifications to the form made at the 
tank, and several others have been improved in a less 
degree. The importance and value of these results 
can be seen from the fact that the saving in cost 
of coal per annum fora single one of the above five ships 
would be more than sufficient to support the experi- 
mental tank for the same period. The investigation 
of the resistance and tipping moments experienced by 
aero-hydroplane floats has been continued. Consider- 
able improvement has been effected in the power re- 
quired for their propulsion, the tipping moments due 
to the water forces are now known, and a float which 
is stable in character and of a low water resistance 
has been evolved. Ship models have been tested with 
four different kinds of surface, the paraffin wax being 
(a) bare, (b) freshly coated with shellac varnish, (c) 
the same, with blacklead rubbed into a coating of 
shellac when the latter was ‘‘ tacky,’’ and then allowed 
to harden, (d) coated with red lead paint. The spots 
from the four surfaces were indistinguishable, and 
show that, provided the surface is smooth and free 
from grit, the same result will be obtained. 

Mr. H. Gray gave the results of experience with 
superheated steam, with special reference to economy 
and cost of upkeep, based on more than three years’ 
working in engines of both triple- and quadruple- 
expansion types in the mercantile marine engaged in 
regular trade, voyage after voyage, to Australia vid 
the Cape of Good Hope. The system adopted was the 
Schmidt. None of the steamers have been delayed 
either in port or on the voyage by reason of super- 
heater defects, notwithstanding the fact that the runs 
are long—that of the Port Augusta being forty-five 
days without a call at any port. Lubrication of the 
cylinders and valve faces is of the utmost importance 
with superheated steam, and it is absolutely necessary 
to have a trustworthy system of filtration for the 
feed-water, so as to ensure the abstraction of the oil 
and to safeguard the boilers from the possibility of 
any traces of oil being introduced. The author states 
that the economy of triple-expansion engines of 
2000 i.h.p. after being altered to use superheated 
steam, has been increased about 12 per cent., and of 
quadruple-expansion engines, about 17-8 per cent. 

Mr. C. E. Stromeyer contributed a paper on the 
elasticity and endurance of steam pipes, and a note on 
the Foster strain meter, and some data obtained there- 
with were presented by Mr. W. R. Gerald Whiting. 

Dr. K. Suyehiro, professor of naval architecture at 
Tokio Imperial University, described a new torsion- 
meter which he has devised. This instrument has 
some interesting features. The angle of twist of the 
shaft is measured by the relative rotation of two arms, 
one clamped to the shaft, and the other carried by a 
long tube clamped to the shaft at the end remote from 
the other arm. The first-mentioned arm carries a 
scale having half-millimetres along one edge and a 
reading scale along the other. The scale faces the 
shaft, and mounted on the same arm is a plane mirror, 
situated half-way between the shaft axis and the 
scale. Hence a virtual image of the scale will be 
seen every revolution, coinciding with the shaft 
axis, and therefore at rest. On the other arm is a 
concave mirror which forms an image of the reading 


1 edge of the scale, also on the shaft axis, and side by 


APRIL 9, 1914] 


NATURE 


149 


side with the first image. Both images are picked up 
by a reading telescope, and their relative displacement 
when the shaft is twisted may be read easily. The 
advantage of the instrument lies in the fact that the 
scale, as well as the optical parts, rotates with the 
shaft, and the reading telescope requires but little 
adjustment. Other types in which the scale does not 
rotate, require considerable adjustment in a_ place, 
viz., the shaft-tunnel, where adjustment is not easy 
to carry out. 

Other papers read dealt with the stability of ships in 
damaged conditions, and the rolling of ships. Mr. 
H. E. Wimperis described his instrument for the 
measurement of velocity of roll, which depends for its 

action on a small electrically-driven gyrostat. 


PAPERS ON INVERTEBRATES. 


yan REPORT on the Crustacea Schizopoda, collected 

by the Swedish Antarctic Expedition, 1901-3, 
has been published, in 4to form, by G. E. C. Gud, 
of Copenhagen. In his preface, the author, Mr. H. J. 
Hansen, states that this memoir, which is illustrated 
by six plates, should be regarded as a further con- 
tribution to his account of the Mysidacea and 
Euphausiacea (the two main groups of the Schizo- 
poda) of the world. “A considerable number of new 


From Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus. 


Two Calyces of Scyphocrinus. 


species are named, and revised descriptions of others 
previously known to science given, but as these appeal 
only to specialists, they must be passed over without 
further mention. 

Of more general interest is Mr. R. S. Bassler’s 
description (Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus., vol xlvi., pp. 57-9) 
of a remarkably fine slab of fossil crinoids from the 
Middle Paleozoic strata of the Mississippi Valley, 
north of Cape Girardean, Missouri, which has recently 
been placed on exhibition in the American Museum. 
This slab, measuring 4 ft. by 7 ft., contains eighteen 
complete crowns of Scyphocrinus, two of which are 


NO. 2319, VOL. 93]| 


shown in the accompanying illustration, together with 
a number of bulbs of the so-called Camarocrinus; the 
latter, as pointed out by Dr. Bather, really pertaining 
to the former. In some of the specimens the crown, 
or calyx, retains to some extent its original globular 


' form, but in the majority it has been flattened by 


contact with the Camarocrinus bulbs. The strong, 
many-branched arms, are frequently a foot in length. 

The first American representative of the umbrella- 
shaped sponges of the genus Cceloptychium is de- 
scribed by Messrs. Shimer and Powers in vol. xlvi., 
pp- 155-6, of the Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus., under the 
name of C. jerseyense. As the type specimen was 
obtained from the Upper Cretaceous of New Jersey, 
it is strictly contemporaneous, in the geological sense, 
with the European forms of the genus to which it is 
provisionally referred. The American species is char- 
acterised by the rounded, in place of flattened, margin 
of the umbel. 

Hitherto the number of species of oligochaetous 
annelids known from Jersey was only eleven, all be- 
longing to the earthworm family (Lumbricide). A 
collection, including fresh-water forms, recently re- 
ceived from the island has, however, enabled the 
Rev. H. Friend, in an article published in The 
Zoologist for December, 1913, to raise the number of 
known species to fifty, of which three are described 
as new. Of the fifty species, the Enchytreidz claim 
thirty-one, the Lumbricidz seventeen, and the Lum- 
briculidas and Megascolecida one each. 

Roe 


METEOROLOGICAL REPORTS. 


gi report of the Meteorological Service of Canada 

for the year 1909 (pp. xxi+567 and plates), has. 
been published recently. The large mass of data 
furnished by this extensive system is arranged in 
tables giving (1) monthly and annual summaries; (2), 
bi-hourly and hourly temperature and barometric pres- 
sure; (3) mean and extreme temperature, daily range,, 
rainfall, etc.; (4) daily observations from selected 
stations; and (5) magnetic results at Agincourt Ob- 
servatory. Some of the results of observations at the 
Central Observatory at Toronto were quoted in 
NaturE of September 7, 1911. The report includes 
a brief monthly summary of the weather over the 
whole Dominion, and tables showing the number of 
weather forecasts and percentage of fulfilment in each 
district and month. The general percentage of fulfil- 
ment amounted to 86-8, after making due allowance 
for forecasts only partly verified. 

The annual reports of the Philippine Weather 
Bureau for 1910 (parts 1 and 2), containing hourly 
meteorological observations at Manila, and for 1909 
(part 3), containing observations at secondary stations 
have recently been published. Father .Algué 
states in the preface to part 1:—‘‘Were it not 
for a few exceptions, the history of the Weather 
Bureau for the fiscal year 1910 might have been con- 
densed into the three words, ‘ Everything as usual.’”’ 
This statement practically holds good with regard to 
all the parts; the most interesting details relating to 
typhoons, storm-warnings, earthquakes, etc., are con- 
tained in the Monthly Bulletins, to which we have 
frequently referred. The number of earthquakes felt 
in the Philippines during the fiscal year 1910 amounted 
to 121, exclusive of many microcosmic movements. 
The most important far-distant earthquakes recorded 
were those in Mexico, Baluchistan, and Greenland. 
A new magnetic observatory has been established at 
Antipolo, about eleven miles east of Manila, owing 
to the disturbance caused by the electric railroad at the 


‘ latter place. 


150 


NAL ORE 


[APRIL 9, 1914 


The Central Meteorological and Geophysical In- 
stitute of Chile has issued a volume containing hourly 
observations and means for Santiago for the year 
1g11, including all the principal meteorological 
elements, prepared under the direction of Dr. W. 
Knoche. This is the first time that such values have 
been published in extenso in Chile, and it is intended 
to continue them regularly for Santiago in future. 
There are several other stations in Chile, where hourly 
observations are available; the publication of some 
of these, or at least summaries from them, would be 
very valuable, but the large amount of work entailed 
thereby is said to be more than the limited staff is 
able at present to cope with. 

The nineteenth annual report of ‘‘ Meteorology in 
Mysore’’ for rg11 contains, as usual, daily and 
monthly results of observations for Bangalore and 
Mysore, and 8h, a.m. observations, with monthly 
means for Hassan and Chitaldrug. Synopses of the 
monthly and yearly results made at those observatories 
are carefully arranged as before, for the purpose of 
comparison, by Mr. Iyengar, in charge of the Mysore 
meteorological department. A useful table giving the 
means for the nineteen years 1893-1911 shows that 
the absolute maxima of temperature ranged from 
100:2° at Hassan (3149 ft.) to 103-0° at Chitaldrug 
(2405 ft.). The minima at the same stations were 
42-7° and 51-2° respectively. Yearly rainfall ranged 
from 25:0 in. (ninety-one days) at Chitaldrug, to 
35°8 in. (121 days) at Hassan. The mean relative 
humidity was about 60 per cent. at all stations; 
excessively low readings were observed occasionally. 

The Royal Magnetical and Meteorological Observa- 
tory of Batavia has published the results of rainfall 
observations in the Netherlands’ East Indies for 1911 
(part ii. of the thirty-third yearly series). The volume 
contains the monthly and yearly amounts at a. large 
number of stations, the number of rain-days, greatest 
amounts in twenty-four hours, averages for the period 
1879-1911, departures from those values in 1911, and 
other useful details. These data, in addition to their 
general scientific value, are of great importance locally, 
and it has been pointed out elsewhere by Dr. Van 
Bemmelen that rainfall is the ruling factor which 
determines the weather in the archipelago, because 
the remaining meteorological elements are almost con- 
stant. In Java the yearly amounts for 1911 varied 
from 23 in. at Sitoebondo (long. 114° E.) to 177 in. at 
Pelantoengan (long. 110° E.), and even more in the 
outside possessions. The greatest rainfall in one day 
was 10-2 in. at Padang (Sumatra) in November. The 
fullest information is given respecting the stations, 
but this volume contains no general discussion of the 
results. 


IMPROVEMENTS IN ‘LONG-DISTANCE 
TELEPHONY. 


HE subject of improvements in telephony is one 
in which the general public is very 
interested, and a large audience, including many 
experts, therefore followed with attention the e€Xposi- 
tions given by Dr. J. A. Fleming, F.R.S., at the Royal 
Institution on March 27, in which he described the 
inventions that of late years have enabled a great 
increase in the practicable distance of telephonic com- 
munication to be made, and also rendered possible the 
use of submarine telephone cables over distances not 
hitherto attainable. In his opening remarks, Dr. 
Fleming gave first a_ brief description of the con- 
struction of the modern telephone transmitter and 
receiver, and of the transformations and sources cf 
loss of energy in transmitting electrically articulate 
speech between two places. He stated that he would 
confine attention chiefly to the action of the line of 


NOy 23nO hon 4G. 


closely 


cable, neglecting the imperfections of the transmitter 


and receiver per se owing to limitations of time. 

An experiment was first shown with an instrument 
which projected upon the screen in the form of a line of 
light, the motion of the diaphragm of a telephone, 
when sounds musical or articulate where made near 
it The sound of an open organ pipe was thus seen 
to produce a smooth wavy or simple harmonic curve, 
whilst the less pure sound* of a harmonium reed or 
of the voice uttering a vowel sound produced a com- 
plex curve, and a spoken sentence an irregular wave 
line. 

The use of the oscillograph in recording. photo- 
graphically or visually the wave form of the electric 
current sent into a telephone was next explained, and 
photographs of various vowel and _ syllabic sounds 
shown. 

A few words of explanation were then given con- 
cerning Fourier’s theorem in virtue of which any 
irregular but single valued curve can be resolved into 
the sum of a number of simple harmonic curves of 
various amplitudes and phase differences having fre- 
quencies in the ratio of 1, 2, 3, etc. 

It was then explained that the action of the trans- 
mitter on the line was equivalent to the imposition of 
a complex electromotive force which in virtue of 
Fourier’s theorem could be regarded as the sum of 
a large number of simple harmonic electromotive 
forces of various amplitudes, wave-lengths, and phase 
differences. 

Every telephonic cable has four primary qualities, 
two conservative, viz., its inductance and capacity, in 
consequence of which it can store up kinetic and 
potential energy in the form of a magnetic or electro- 
static field. Also it has two dissipative qualities, viz., 
its conductor resistance and dielectric leakance, which 
convert a part of the energy given to it into heat. 
Hence an electromotive impulse given to the cable at 
one end is propagated along it as a wave. The cur- 
rent in the cable at each point is oscillatory, but the 
current is not, so to speak, at high tide simultaneously 
at all points in the cable, but successively, the maxi- 
mum value travelling along the cable with a certain 
speed. The mode of propagation of a wave along a 
string or wire was illustrated by various wave models. 

In the case of a wire or string of finite length the 
wave is reflected at the far end, and if the time taken 
by the wave to travel to and fro is equal to some 
exact multiple of the periodic time of the impulses, 
stationary waves are produced on the cord or wire. 
These effects, together with a demonstration of the 
laws of string vibration, were proved by the aid of 
Dr. Fleming’s vibrating string apparatus in which a 
light cotton cord has one end fixed to a slide rest 
and the other end twirled uniformly with an irrota- 
tional motion by an electric motor. 

The production of stationary electric waves on wires 
was also beautifully shown by the use of a long wire 
coiled into a helix on an ebonite rod. One end of this 
helix was connected to the earth and the other to a 
high-frequency oscillator. On adjusting the frequency 
of the oscillator, stationary electric waves of wave- 
length equal to some exact multiple or fraction of the 
length of the helix were produced and shown to exist 
by the brilliant glow of a neon vacuum tube held near 
the ventral segments and its non-glow when held near 
the nodes. 


Dr. Fleming then explained that in the case of a 


telephone wire the velocity with which the waves 
travel along it is greater the shorter the wave-length, 
and also that in virtue of the resistance and dielectric 
leakance, these waves attenuate in amplitude at a 
rate which is greater for short waves than for long 
ones. 
frequency currents the wave velocity is the same for 


In the case of the helix operated on by high- 


ee LLG EEA ~ aaa 


APRIL 9, 1914] 


waves of all wave-lengths, and is inversely as the | 


square root of the product of the capacity and induct- 
ance per unit of length. Hence when a complex 
electromotive force, the result of speaking to a tele- 
phone transmitter, is applied to the end of a cable 
-the various simple harmonic waves into which they 
may be resolved travel along the cable with unequal 
speed and attenuation. The shorter waves travel 
fastest, but are worn out soonest. Hence the wave 
form is distorted by the disappearance of the higher 
harmonics and the resulting sound is enfeebled by the 
attenuation. 

Dr. Fleming proved these statements by a new and 
interesting experiment. A complex electromotive force 
comprising a fundamental wave having a frequency 
of about one hundred, and including higher harmonics 
of greater frequency was applied to one end of an 
artificial cable built on Dr. Muirhead’s plan, repre- 
senting a submarine cable fifty miles in length. By 
means of a Duddell oscillograph the wave form of 
this electric oscillation was projected on the screen. 
A second wire on the oscillograph was then employed 
to examine the current in the cable at various dis- 
tances, ten, twenty, thirty, etc., miles from the send- 
ing end, and to project on the screen a second curve 
representing the wave~form at various distances along 
the cable. It was seen that as the distance increases 
the wave form is reduced in height and smoothed out 
so as to show that the higher harmonics are gradually 
extinguished. In the case of a telephone cable this 
would mean that the received sound is not only fainter 
but altered in quality so that the syllable or word is 
no longer recognisable. 

Photographs were then shown, taken by Mr. Cohen 
at the General Post Office Research Laboratory, show- 
ing the distortion of various articulate sounds as trans- 
mitted through certain cables. A remedy for this 
distortion was first suggested by Mr. Oliver Heaviside, 
who proved mathematically more than twenty-five 
years ago that if the four constants of the cable were 
so related that the quotient of the inductance by the 
resistance was equal to the quotient of the capacity 
by the leakance, then waves of all wave-lengths would 
travel at the same speed and attenuate at the same 
rate. 

In all ordinary cables the first-named quotient is 
much smaller than the second. Hence to remove 
distortion we may either increase inductance or leak- 
ance. Heaviside suggested increasing the former, 
and Prof, Silvanus Thompson in 1891 suggested in- 
creasing the latter by providing the cable with in- 
ductive leaks. Practical telephone engineers preferred, 
however, to decrease the resistance of the cable by 
increasing the copper section so far as possible. There 
is, however, a limit to this from the point of view 
of cost. Also the invention of paper-insulated cables 
for telephony assisted matters by reducing the capacity 
of the cable. Nevertheless a very important advance 
was made by Prof. Pupin, of Columbia College, New 
York, in 1899 and 1900, when he proved that Heavi- 
side’s suggestion could be put into practical form by 
loading the cable with coils of wire wound on iron 
wire cores inserted at equal intervals, but so close that 
at least eight or nine coils are included in the distance 
of one wave-length of the average wave frequency 
which is always taken at 800. If the coils are placed 
farther apart relatively to the wave-length they do 
more harm than good. Dr. Fleming illustrated this 
by a very pretty experiment of his own consisting of 
a string loaded at intervals with beads, one end of 
the string being fixed and the other twirled round by 
a motor so as to produce on it stationary waves. 
When the half wave-length was adjusted to be nearly 
equal to the distance between the beads, the cord 
refused to transmit the oscillations. 


Neteearo:: VOL 7826: 


NATURE 


\ 


151 


It was also illustrated by the production of stationary 
electric waves on a series of helices of wire having 
loading coils, or coils of high inductance introduced 
at intervals. 

An experiment was also shown with an artificial 
cable representing forty miles of standard cable into 
sections of which loading coils could be introduced or 
cut out as required. It was shown that when the 
cable was loaded the current flowing out of it at the 
receiving end was greatly increased when constant 
electromotive force was applied at the sending end. 

It is found then that loading telephone wires by 
suitable coils of high inductance placed at proper 
intervals of a mile up to ten or twelve miles accord- 
ing to the cable, greatly reduces the attenuation of 
the waves, although it is difficult to add sufficient 
inductance to cure distortion completely. 

Dr. Fleming gave a mechanical illustration of this 
effect. He said, suppose two similar ships were to be 
launched together side by side down ways of equal 
inclination and allowed to glide out into the sea as 
far as they would go until brought to rest by friction 
of the water. If then one of the ships was loaded 
with ballast so as to make it much heavier than the 
other, then, although entering the water with the 
same speed, the heavily loaded ship would glide out 
further than the other because it would possess a 
greater store of kinetic energy. So it is, he explained, 
with the electric waves on wire. By adding induct- 
ance to the circuit the wave energy is increased, and 
the waves attentuate less for a given distance of 
travel. 

This proposal of Pupin has proved to be a very 
practical solution of the problem of reducing the 
attenuation of telephonic waves. Both aerial lines, 
underground cables,. and submarine cables can be 
‘loaded’? or ‘‘Pupinised’”’ by inserting appropriately 
made inductance coils at equal distances, and the 
result is to reduce the attenuation to half or less than 
a half of that of the unloaded cable, and therefore 
to reduce the enfeeblement of the sound. 

In the case of aerial lines there is no difficulty in 
inserting these loading coils in the run of the cable. 
The coils are contained in iron boxes attached to the 
telegraph posts at intervals of six to twelve miles. 
The coils themselves consist of an iron wire core 
wound over with wire, and have generally an induct- 
ance of about o-2 henry, and a resistance of 6 or 
8 ohms. In the case of underground cables the load- 
ing coils are placed in pits at intervals of two or three 
miles. Such underground cables consist now of 
paper-insulated double metallic circuits; a large 
number of such circuits being included in one water- 
tight lead sheath. The problem of loading a sub- 
marine cable was more difficult to solve because the 
insertion of heavy iron-cased coils was out of the 
question. The cable had to be loaded in such manner 
as not to thicken it up inordinately at any point, and 
to permit of its being laid in the usual manner and 
lifted again if necessary for repairs. This particular 
problem was solved by Messrs. Siemens Bros. by the 
invention of a particular form of cylindrical loading 
coil which could be inserted in the run of a cable of 
the usual double-circuit type at distances of one 
nautical mile or so. When once it had been shown 
that such loading was effectual, telephonic engineers 
in all countries began to adopt it. In the United 
States the American Telephone and Telegraph Com- 
pany has equipped with loading-coils lines up_ to 
2000 miles in length. The longest aerial loaded line 
is that from New York to Denver. It is composed 
of No. 8 hard-drawn copper wires, the circuits being 
twisted to avoid cross talk and loaded every eight 
miles with coils having an inductance of 0-265 henry 
(see Table I.). 


152 


NAT ORE 


[APRIL 9, 1914 


The attenuation constant of the line is thus reduced 
to less than half of that of the unloaded line, and 
good speech is possible from New York to Denver. 
It is the ambition of Mr. Vail, the president, and 
Mr. Carty, the able engineer of the above company, 
to complete a loaded line such that speech will be 
possible from New York to San Francisco, a distance 
of more than 3000 miles. Another long loaded aerial 
line just completed is that from Berlin to Rome. 
This line, with the exception of a short piece of cable 
through the Simplon Tunnel, is an overhead line of 
phosphor-bronze, 4-5 mm. in diameter. It is loaded 
every ten kilometres with loading coils having an 
inductance of 0-2 henry. It runs from Rome to Milan, 
thence to Iselle, then through the Simplon Tunnel to 
Brieg, then to Bale and Frankfurt, and so to Berlin. 


TaBLe I. 
Loaded Aerial Land Lines. 
All values are per mile or per kilometre at 800 


frequency. 
| London (St, Albans) 
Tine New York | Berlin and|Berlin and) and Leeds Trunks 
and Denver Rome Frankfurt | SatSS|=—_ 
| No.6 No. 7 
Length + 2000 miles 2082 kms. | 584 kms. 189 miles | 189 miles 
Coil Spacing... 8 miles 1o kms, 5kms. | 8miles | x12 miles 
Coil Resistance) 65 ohms. | 5 87 6°6 4°70 
Total Resist- | 
tance ... 4°95 ohms. 2°9 11°18 7°58 7°08 
Capacity in, 
mfds. ... 000g 070055 0°0055 o’c098 = |S(o'0008 
Inductance in | 
henrys | 010365 0.022 0°0461 0°037 0'0173 
Attenuation 
Constant 00013 O‘ooIET | o*o0org 0°00283 0°00372 
Total Attenua- 
; tion moo 2°6 2°2 1°12 °'55 o'72 
Conductor ... | Copper | Phosphor 
| Bronze Bronze Copper 
Weight or Size 435 1b. to | 4°5 mm. | 
| mile diameter 2°5 mm. 300 lb. to mile 
| diameter 


Dr. Bon and Dr. di Pirro, who have had the charge 
of the scientific work in connection with it, find the 
actual attenuation is closely in accordance with the 
predicted value, and good speech is possible over the 
whole distance. 

In our own country the longest loaded lines are two 
trunk lines running from London to Leeds, 200 miles, 
which are loaded every eight and twelve miles. 

The engineer-in-chief, Mr. Slingo, states that the 
General Post Office has now in operation 30,000 miles 
of aerial and underground loaded circuits, using 12,448 
loading coils; also 45,645 miles more are in course of 
being loaded, so that before long the G.P.O. will 
have 75,000 miles of circuits loaded with 30,000 coils. 
In the United States up to 1912 there were 103,000 
miles of loaded circuits in all. 

In England one of the longest loaded underground 
lines is that from Hull to Newcastle vid Leeds, 154 
miles in length, which is loaded every 2-5 miles. The 
Post Office has now under construction an under- 


ground loaded line from London to Liverpool vid 
Birmingham, which will contain fifty circuits, and 
render communication independent of storms. In the 


United States a long underground line has been con- 
structed from Boston to Washington, 475 miles, pass- 
ing through New York, Philadelphia, and Balti- 
more. A loaded line underground from Berlin to 
Cologne is in contemplation. 

Turning then to submarine cables, we find that at 
present the General Post Office has three such loaded 
cables, one from England to France, laid in 1910, one 
from England to Belgium, laid in 1911, and one from 
England to Ireland, laid in 1913 (see Table IJ.). An 


NO. 2319, VOL. 93] 


= 


Anglo-Dutch cable of the same type is being manu-: 
factured to-be laid between a point in Suffollk and 
the nearest point on the coast of Holland, a distance 
of 125 miles. 
rae Tas_e II. 

Loaded Submarine Telephone Cables. 


All values are per nautical mile of loop at 800 


frequency. 
= Fs| ral | 
S 2 a 
= hse ‘toe 5 ates 
7 =e SOUTH | woe | EUR 
Cable m ge msng] mee see 
Geen | Bas 6 6.5 Holt 
ae Lao 22H ONT 
88 [88.2] BAO 18s 
< < <a < 
Length in nauts = acc 2 48 48 64 
Coil Spacing in nauts ... oer I I I ie 
Coil Resistance in chms, tes 6°6 II's 4°6 68 
Total Resistance in ohms, 20°9 25°7 are7 21'0 
Capacity in mfds. 0°138 o*162 O°314 0166 
Inductance in eas o'r o'r 0°05 o'r 
Ratio S/C wae : I20 I2 12 12 
Attenuation Constant . 0017 o'o18 0°0173 o'CI5 
Total Attenuation 0°36 0°86 0°83 0°96 
Conductor weight per naut 160 lb. 160 b 320 |b. r€0 |b, 


The Anglo-French uniformly loaded cable has an 
effective resistance of 8-54 ohms at 1000 frequency, a 
Wire-to-wire capacity of 0-176 mfd.,- an inductance 
of o-0135 henry, and an attenuation ‘constant 0-0185. 
The total attenuation is 0-39,, the value of S/C is 
109, and the conductor weighs 300 lb. to the nautical 
mile. 

These cables were all constructed by Messrs. 
Siemens Brothers with the cylindrical coils above- 
mentioned. The Anglo-French and Anglo-Belgian 
were laid under the direction of Major W. A. J. 
O’Meara, C.M.G., when engineer-in-chief of the 
General Post Office, and the Anglo-Irish cable under 
Mr. W. Slingo, now holding the same position. The 
French Government also laid from France to Eng- 
land a uniformly loaded cable made by the Telegraph 
Construction and Maintenance Company, which has 
a copper core of twice the weight of the Anglo-French 
cable, and is loaded by being” uniformly wound over 
with one layer of soft iron wire. Each of these cables 
contains two pairs of wires which can be used as two 
independent circuits, and also by using each pair 
conjointly, as a lead and return, can be used to make 
a third or. phantom circuit. These cross-Channel 
loaded cables have enabled telephonic speech to be 
transmitted from London to Geneva, London to Ber- 
lin, and to cities in the south of France. 

Broadly speaking, we can say that by loading cables 
and lines it has been possible to double or more than 
double the distance of effective telephonic intercourse, 
and to speak for 2000 miles overland, 500 under- 
ground, and up to too miles or more under sea. 

It is possible that submarine communication in this 
manner may be increased to 150 or even 200 miles, 
and overland to 3000 miles. 

Turning then to the question of the abolition of 
the line by so-called wireless telephony, Dr. Fleming 
gave a brief description of the apparatus used. The 
arrangements are closely similar to those employed in 
wireless telegraphy. At the transmitting station there 
must be an antenna in which continuous oscillations 
are set up by a Marconi disc generator, a Goldschmidt 
alternator, or some form of are generator, such as 
that of Poulsen or Moretti. 

In the base of the antenna, or coupled to it, must 
be placed a microphone by means of which the 
speaker’s voice makes changes in resistance of the 
antenna circuit. The continuous electric waves 
radiated must have a wave-length of not much greater 
than five or at most ten miles. If a spark system 


APRIL 9, 1914] 


of wave generation is employed, the spark frequency 
must not be less than about 20,000 a second. 

When the microphone is spoken to, the result is to 
vary the amplitude of the waves emitted without alter- 
ing their wave-length. It produces waves on waves. 
At the receiving end the arrangements are similar to 
those used in wireless telegraphy with a telephonic 
and crystal or valve receiver. In this case, however, 
the receiver hears the words spoken to the distant 
microphone and not merely dot and dash Morse 
signals, 

Using a very ingenious liquid microphone, Prof. 
Vanni, of Rome, has transmitted speech for tooo kilo- 
- metres. In the United States, Fessenden has simi- 
larly telephoned a few hundred miles, and Poulsen in 
Denmark, Colin and Jeance in France, Goldschmidt 
in Germany, and Ditcham in England have covered 
greater or less distances. Mr. Marconi also has re- 
cently devised appliances for wireless telephony with 
which he has conducted demonstrations for the Italian 
Navy lately. All are agreed that the quality of the 
transmitted speech is good. Since electric waves 
through the ether all travel with the same velocity, 
no matter what the wave-length, and attenuate at the 
same rate, there is ne distortion of the wave form. 
The only difficulty that hinders even greater achieve- 
ment is that of obtaining a microphone which will 
carry larger high-frequency currents. 

These then are a few of the achievements which 
have been lately made in covering greater distances 
in telephonic communication. 

We are yet a long way from telephony across the 
Atlantic, whether with cables or by wireless, but pro- 
gress will continue to be made, and it is possible that 
one day speech transmission from England to San 
Francisco with one repetition at New York may be 
an accomplished fact. 

In the thirty-eight years which have elapsed since 
Bell and Edison and Hughes gave us the means of 
commercial telephony much has been done, but there 
is still a wide field open for invention in improving a 
means of communication now so essential to our 
modern life. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 
INTELLIGENCE. 


- SHEFFIELD.—Mr. Wilfred Jevons has been appointed 
to the post of junior lecturer and demonstrator in 
physics, and Mr. A. E. Barnes to the post of lecturer 
in materia medica, pharmacology, and therapeutics. 


Pror. BerGson will begin his Gifford Lectures in 
Edinburgh on Tuesday, April 21. The subject will be 
‘The Human Personality.” 


Ir is announced that Lord Elgin has consented to 
be nominated for the Chancellorship of Aberdeen 
University in succession to the late Lord Strathcona. 


WE learn from Science that Prof. Frederick Slocum, 
who for the past four years has been in charge of the 
solar observations and stellar parallax work at the 
Yerkes Observatory, has been elected professor of 
astronomy at Wesleyan University, Middletown, Con- 
necticut, and will assume his new duties next autumn. 
A new observatory will be erected immediately as a 
memorial to the late Prof. Van Vleck, for many 
years in charge of that department at Wesleyan. 


MuSEUMS are every day being used more generally 
in teaching, and a committee to deal with the subject 
was appointed at the Birmingham meeting of the 
British Association. The Children’s Museum arranged 
by the secretary of the Selborne Society at the Chil- 


dren’s Welfare Exhibition, which opens at Olympia ; Cape Province, to Karoo farming, 


NGmaa10,. VOL. 93] 


NATURE 


| 


| 
| 


ie, 


on Saturday, is therefore of interest. The points to 
be emphasised are, preparation of exhibits especially 
for young people, introduction of a living side, the 
use of microscopes, the need especially of changing 
the specimens at frequent intervals, and the advis- 
ability of not having too many things displayed at 
one time. 


Tue work of the schoolmaster is described in a new 
light by Mr. E. Boyd Barrett in an article in the 
current issue of the British Review. Early in his 
essay, to which he gives the title, ‘‘ How to Complete 
One’s Education,” Mr. Barrett lays it down that 
teaching is worthy of the best minds, and is calculated 
to repay amply the best minds. He goes on to show 
that in all the practical effects of school education— 
character training, intellect training, and the acquisi- 
tion of knowledge—the schoolmaster benefits more 
from the teaching he receives from the boys than 
they do from his. He comes to the conclusion that 
it would be impossible to devise any educational 
system of such a nature that the pupil alone would be 
benefited. To complete his education, every man 
should devote a few years to teaching; university 
education, however well it prepares for cultured 
leisure, does not prepare a man to share his posses- 
sions with others—it is too egotistic. 


Tue Yorkshire Summer School of Geography will 
be held at Whitby on August 3-22. The school was 
instituted last year by the Universities of Leeds and 
Sheffield, in cooperation with Armstrong College, 
Newcastle-on-Tyne, and with the help of the Educa- 
tion Committees of the County Councils of the East, 
North, and West Ridings, and of certain county 
boroughs in Yorkshire. Its object is to provide in- 
struction in the methods of geography and to furnish 
opportunities for the discussion of problems connected 
with teaching it. The course will consist of lectures 
and laboratory and field work. There will be excur- 
sions in connection with the field work. All the 
apparatus used will be simple and inexpensive, and 
methods applicable to school work will be adopted. 
The special subject this year will be the British Isles, 
which will be treated as a whole in a general course 
and in two alternative courses at the choice of each 
candidate : (i) on the agriculture, rocks and soils, and 
(ii) on the oceanography, rivers and river develop- 
ment, and the evolution of transport and communica- 
tion. Prof. Kendall, professor of geology in the 
University of Leeds, will be the director of the school. 


THE annual report of the Department of Agriculture 
of the Union of South Africa for the period 1912-13 
has just been issued by the secretary, Mr. F. B. Smith, 
and is a very interesting document. Necessary as 
agricultural education and research have proved in 
other countries, there is probably no part of the world 
where they are more needed than in South Africa. 
Agricultural problems are very complex; probably 
more numerous and virulent diseases of live stock and 
crops exist there than anywhere else in the world; 
and, owing to the recent occupation of the greater part 
of the country and the methods of farming pursued, 
it is more difficult for young men to acquire a know- 
ledge of up-to-date practical agriculture. A number 
of institutions have been started, and the object of 
the department has been to place them on an equality 
as regards educational and experimental facilities, and 
at the same time to allow them to specialise in the 
branches of farming for which they are particularly 
adapted by virtue of their situation. For instance, 
Elsenburg, in the Cape Province, is particularly 
devoted to horticulture, viticulture, and Turkish 
tobacco; Grootfontein, near Middelburg, also in the 
ostriches, and 


154 


NATURE 


[APRIL 9, 1914 


sheep; Potchefstroom, in the Transvaal, to mealie 
growing, general agriculture, and cattle; Glen, near 
Bloomfontein, in the Orange Free State, to live stock 
and dry-land farming; Cedara, in Natal, to general 
farming and wattle growing. Provision is made at 
each institution for the regular in-college courses of 
instruction, for short courses, extension work, and 
also for experiments and research and the analysis of 
soils, manures, and other agricultural commodities. 
Additional buildings are being erected to meet the 
needs of the institutions, and their equipment gener- 
ally is being improved, while the staffs are being 
strengthened. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 


Geological Society, March 25.—Dr. A. Smith Wood- 
ward, president, in the chair.—Prof. J. W. Judd: The 
geology of Rockall. Rockall is a small isolated rock 
in mid-Atlantic, lying 184 miles west of St. Kilda, 
and, except in the calmest weather, is inaccessible. 
The rock rises from a bank (the ‘‘ Rockall Bank’’) 
upon which there are dangerous reefs. In 1810 Basil 
Hall, obtained a fragment from this rock, which later 
found its way into the collection of the Geological 
Society. More than thirty years afterwards, the 
specimen was recognised; it was then mislaid for 
another thirty years, and in 1895* was brought to the 
author. by the late Prof. T. Rupert Jones. He not 
only studied all the literature connected with Rockall, 
but was able to trace two other specimens of the 
rock, the loan of which he obtained and brought to 
me. They had been procured in 1868 during the 
survey of the North Atlantic. The microscopic study 
of these specimens shows that in Rockall there exist 
rocks of interest, not represented in our islands, but 
which have analogues in the Christiania district of 
Norway. These rocks consist essentially of three 
minerals—quartz, the felspar albite, and the rare 
soda-pyroxene egirite, with its dimorphous form 
acmite. Dredging operations have yielded specimens 
from the Rockall Bank. The abundance of bhasalt- 
fragments among the dredgings suggests the possi- 
bility of Rockall belonging to the same petrographical 
province as St. Kilda, Iceland, the Inner Hebrides, 
and the north of Ireland. The existence of borolanite 
and other alkaline rocks in the northern Highlands 
suggests the possibility of Rockall being the western 
extension of a much older province. Some months 
ago Prof. Iddings and Dr. Washington represented 
to the author the desirability of a detailed analysis of 
this rock. One of the two fragments available was 
sent to America, and the following paper gives the 
result of its study by Dr. Washington.—Dr. Henry S. 
Washington ; The composition of Rockallite. A petro- 
graphical account is given, with reference to the 
influence of the constituent minerals upon the bulk- 
analysis. Rockallite has a_ fine-grained granitic 
structure, and is composed of about equal amounts 
of colourless quartz, alkaline felspar, and _ soda- 
pyroxene. The pyroxene is of two kinds: a bright 
grass-green exgirite and a pale yellowish-brown acmite. 
Some zircon is present. A chemical analysis has 
been made, zirconia and the rare earths being 
especially looked for. Several new points of interest 
have presented themselves. The outstanding features 
appear to be the high percentages of silica, ferric 
oxide, and soda, and the low percentages of alumina, 
ferrous oxide, magnesia, lime, and potash. The in- 
terest of the new analysis, however, lies in the detec- 
tion of zirconia and cerium oxide in large amounts : 
the percentage of cerium oxide being larger than that 
from any known igneous rock, with the exception of 
the nepheline-syenite from Almunge in Sweden. The 


NO; 2310; VOL» 93)| 


norm has been calculated from the old and the new > 
analyses, and the author finds that the rock falls into 
the subrang rockallose with the general symbol 
III. 3. 1. 5. These analyses are the only representa- 
tives of the subrang rockallose among the 8000 
analyses of igneous rocks that the author has now 
collected. It is proved that the zirconia and cerium 
oxide enter into the composition of the pyroxenes. 


CAMBRIDGE. 


Philosophical Society, February 23.—Sir J. J. Thom- 
son in the chair.—Dr. Searle: (1) Determination of 
the effective aperture of the stop of a photographic 
lens; (2) experiments with a prism of small angle.— 
A. E, Oxley: (1) The molecular field in diamagnetic 
substances (preliminary note); (2) the internal mole- 
cular field, which has been shown by the author to 
exist in diamagnetic substances, is applied to account 
for the abnormally high values of the specific heat of 
such substances in the neighbourhood of the fusion 
point.—Major P. A. Macmahon;: The superior and in- 
ferior indices of permutations.—N. Wiener: A simpli- 
fication of the logic of relations.—R. Hargreaves: The 
domains of steady motion for a liquid ellipsoid, and the 
oscillations of the Jacobian figure.—J. E. Purvis and 
E. H. Black: The oxygen content of the river Cam 
before and after receiving the Cambridge sewage 
effluent. 


March 9.—Dr. Shipley, president, in the chair.— 
Prof. Wood and G. Udny Yule: A statistical study of 
feeding trials with oxen and sheep. The authors have 
studied statistically the results of 400 feeding trials 
with oxen and sheep collected and tabulated by Ingle 
in the Journal of the Highland and Agricultural 
Society, 1tg09-1c. They find that as the amount of 
food is increased above that required for maintenance 
the successive increases in live weight become smaller 
until a limiting value is reached.—G. Udny Yule: 
Fluctuations of sampling in Mendelian ratios. The 
author compares the fluctuations observed, e.g. in the 
proportion of recessives in F,, in the seeds borne by 
individual plants, or in individual litters, with the fluc- 
tuations to be expected on the theory of random 
sampling. For the most part the agreement, in the 
examples taken, is good and in some cases striking.— 
M. S. Pease: Inheritance in Brassice.—G. Udny 
Yule and F. L. Engledow: The determination of the 
best value of the coupling ratio from a given set of 
data.—F. L. Engledow: A case of repulsion in wheat. 
The characters concerned are ‘“‘roughness’’ and 
‘blackness "’ of the chaff. In a cross between ‘‘ smooth 
black” and ‘trough white”’ the numbers in the second 
generation indicate a repulsion on the 1: 3: 3: 1 basis. 
—T. Rigg: Soil and crop relations in the Biggleswade 
market garden area. The author has conducted a soil 
and crop survey of this district. The soils have been 
classified and the extent of each soil formation has 
been determined. Maps were shown illustrating the 
relationship of the soil formations to the geological 
formations.—H. A. D. Neville: Digestibility of pento- 
sans. Rats were fed on a basal diet, to which was 
afterwards added a quantity of some pentosan sub- 
stance, such as (a) gum, (b) a vegetable mucilage, or 
(c) the pentosan constituent of a cereal straw. The 
pentosans of (c) almost entirely disappeared in the 
animal, those of (b) were almost wholly rejected, while 
those of (a) occupied an intermediate position. The 
results support the idea that the diverse opinions held 
on the food value of the pentosans have arisen by 
reason of the analytical method used yielding furfur- 
aldehyde from differently constituted substances or 
from substances containing pentose sugar molecules 
differently united in the parent substance.—W. H. 
Parker : A case of correlation in wheat. <A high cor- 


APRIL 9, 1914] 


NATURE 


155 


relation was found to exist between the total rachis 
length and the average internode length in ears of 
wheat. Should the correlation be found to be as high 
in the case of all varieties of wheat, it seems possible 
that the relation between these two characters will 
be found to be the best criterion for classifying wheats 
according to the density of their ears, as this relation, 
in this case at least, is much more constant within a 
variety, than the average internode length.—H. C. 
Pocklington : The factorisation of large numbers.—Dr. 
Horton : The ionisation produced by certain substances 
when heated on a Nernst filament. Experiments have 
been made to test (a) the negative emission from lime, 
(b) the positive emission from sodium phosphate, when 
heated upon a Nernst filament, with a view to ascertain 
whether the effects observed when these substances 
are heated upon platinum are due, as has been sug- 
gested, to contact with the metal. It has been found 
that this is not the case; an enormous negative dis- 
charge can be obtained from lime heated on a Nernst 
filament, even in a very high vacuum, and sodium 
phosphate considerably increases the positive discharge, 
but for the latter test the filament must not be allowed 
to glow brightly or the salt sublimes away. 


Paris. 


Academy of Sciences, \larch 30.—M. P. Appell in the 
chair.—G, Lippmann: A direct photographic method 
for the determination of differences of longitude. 
Photographs of the zenith are taken simultaneously 
at two stations by means of an optical device, and the 
difference of longitude determined by the position of 
the zeniths in the star groups. The method is simple, 
rapid, and accurate.—Armand Gautier ; The minervites. 
Analyses of minervites (complex hydrated aluminium 
phosphates) from different places and a discussion of 
their constitution.—H. Parenty : The freezing of wine, 
milk, and other alimentary liquids.—Emile Yung was 
elected a correspondant for the section of anatomy and 
zoology in the place of E. Metchnikoff, elected foreign 
associate.—J. Clairin: Some Backlund transforma- 
tions.—Jules Drach: Differential equations of the first 
order and first degree.—George Rémoundos; The 
series of multiform functions in a domain.—A. Korn: 
The problem of pulsating spheres and the theory of 
gravitation.—Edouard Canneval: A new arrangement 
of mirrors for lighthouses and other light projectors. 
—P. Vaillant: Tate’s law and the variation of the 
size of the drops with the speed of fall. The weight 
of a drop from a given tube varies with the number 
of drops a minute, and there is a discontinuity in 
the law of variation._—_L. Décombe : The heat of Joule 
considered as the heat of Siemens.—Albert Perrier and 
H. Kamerlingh Onnes: .The magnetisation of. liquid 
mixtures of oxygen and nitrogen and the influence of 
the mutual distances of the molecules of paramag- 


netism. The coefficient of specific magnetisation of 
liquid oxygen increases as the concentration 
diminishes; the additive law fails for mixtures of 


liquid oxygen and nitrogen.—Maurice de Broglie and 
F. A. Lindemann: A new method for rapidly obtaining 
spectra of the Réntgen rays.—V. Auger: The basic 
carbonates of copper.—E, Rengade and N. Costeanu : 
The heats of formation and some other properties of 
the alkaline sulphides. The sulphides of the alkali 
metals can be obtained in the pure state by the action 
of sulphur vapour upon the metals in a vacuum, 
separating the excess of metal by distillation. The 
sulphides of sodium, potassium, and rubidium have 
been studied in the present paper.—Mlle.  H. 
Cavaignac: The precipitation of alumina in presence 
of fluorides. Aluminium cannot be completely separ- 
ated from its solutions by the addition of ammonia-in 


NO, 2319, VOL. 93] 


the presence of fluorides, and this is very marked at 
the boiling point—MM. Cousin and Volmar: The 
salicylic nitriles. Of two-substances which have been 
described as nitriles of salicylic acid, one is shown 
to be disalicylamide and the other trioxytriphenyl- 
triazine. The true nitrile is obtained from salicyl- 
aldoxime.—Michel Longchambon: The primitive struc- 
ture of the Pyrenean dolomites.—Edmond Rosé : Study 
the 


of the gaseous exchanges and variation 
in the sugars and_ glucosides in the course 
of the formation of the anthocyanic pigments 
in the flowers of Coboea scandens. The antho- 


cyanic pigment is not formed at the expense of pre- 
existing glucosides.—Raoul Bayeux and _ Paul 
Chevallier : Comparative estimations of oxygen and 
carbon dioxide-in arterial and venous blood at Paris, 
Chamonix, and on Mont Blanc. High altitude deter- 
mines a variation in the amounts of oxygen and 
carbon dioxide in the blood, the increase in the carbon 
dioxide being greater than with the oxygen. Moun- 
tain sickness does not appear to cause notable modifi- 
cations in the amount of carbon dioxide, but this state 
is accompanied by a marked diminution in the oxygen 
of the venous blood.—J. Bergonié: The variation in 
the energy expenditure of man during the nycthemeral 
cycle._—Edm. Sergent, H. Foley, and Ch. Vialatte : The 
transmission to man and to the ape of exanthematic 
tvphus.—Marcel Belin: The action of oxidising sub- 
stances upon toxins in vivo.—Adrien Lucet : Researches 
on the evolution of Hypoderma bovis, and the means 
of destroying it. The injection of tincture of iodine 
is suggested as a treatment. The larve are killed 
and resorption effected without ill-effects on the 
animal.—E. Sollaud: Researches on the ontogeny of 
the Caridea. Relation between the mass of the nutri- 
tive vitellus of the egg and the order of appearance 
of the abdominal appendages.—M. Warcollier ; Con- 
tribution to the study of a disease of cider called 
‘““verdissement.’-—A. Fernbach and M. Schoen: Some 
products of the decomposition of dextrose in an allxa- 
line medium. Acetic acid is one product of this decom- 
position, and there is evidence that pyruvic aldehyde 
is also formed.—Ch. Dhéré and A. Burdel : The crystal- 
lisation of an oxyhemocyanine from an arthropod. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 


The Cambridge British Flora. By Dr. C. E. Moss, 
assisted by specialists in certain genera. Vol ii. 
Text. Pp. xx+206. Vol. ii. Plates. Pp. vii+206. 
(Cambridge University Press.) 2/. tos. net. 
Grundlagen der Logik, Arithmetik und 
Mengenlehre. By. J. Konig. Pp. vili+ 259. (Leipzig : 
Veit and Co.) 8 marks. 

Die Individualitat der Zelle. By. S. von. Schu- 
macher. Pp. 12. (Jena: G. Fischer.) 60 pfennigs. 

Verhandlungen der Schweizerischen. Naturforschen- 
den Gesellschaft 96. Jahresversammlung vom 7-10 
September, 1913, in Frauenfeld. I. ‘Tiel, “PBpy 213- 
II. Teil. Pp. 249. (Aarau: H. R. Sauerlander und 
Cie.) 

The Flora of the Dutch West Indian Islands. 
Second volume, The Flora of Curagao, Aruba, and 
Bonaire. By Dr. J. Boldingh. Pp. xiv +197 + plates. 
(Leyden: E. J. Brill.) 7s. 6d. 


Neue 


Bijdragen tot de Dierkunde Uitgegeven door Het 
Koninklijk Zodlogisch Genootschap Natura Artis 
Magistra te Amsterdam. 1o¢. Aflevering. Pp. 235+ 
iv plates. (Leyden: E, J. Brill.) 13.50 marks. 

Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of Eng- 
land. Vol. Ixxiv. .Pp. 448+clvi. (London: J. Mur- 
fay.) 10s. 


156 


Handbuch der naturgeschichtlichen Technik fiir 
Lehrer und Studierende der Naturwissenschaften. 
Edited by Prof. B. Schmid. Pp. viii+555. (Leipzig 
und Berlin: B. G. Teubner.) | 15, marks. 

The Eastern Libyans. By O. Bates. Pp. 
298+xi plates. (London: Macmillan and Co., 


Xxii+ 


Ltd.) 


A2Se Met. 
The Viscosity of Liquids. By Dr. A. E. Dunstan 
and F. B. Thole. Pp. vii+o91. (London: Longmans 


and Co.) 3s. net. 


Anales del Museo Nacional de Historia Natural de 
Buenos Aires. Tomo xxv. Pp. 249+xx plates. 
(Buenos. Aires.) 

Dr. Montessori’s Own Handbook. By M. Mon- 
tessori. Pp. viii+136. London: W. Heinemann.) 
3s. 6d. net. 


Yorkshire Type Ammonites. Edited by S. S. Buck- 
man. Part xiii. (London: W. Wesley and Son.) 
3S 3d. net. 


The *‘ Conway ”’ Manual, being a Complete Summary 
of all Pechiee in Navigation and Nautical Astro- 
nomy, etc.. By J. Morgan, T. P. Marchant, and 
Ay Le Woed. Pp. 7a: (London : fs). ePotter) ss. 


Animal Life by the Sea-shore. By Drs. G. A. and 
Cale Boulenger. Pp. xii+83+plates. (London: 
; Countay Lite;” tds) ss. net. 

An Introduction to the Study of Integral Equations. 
By Prof. M. Bécher. Second edition. Pp. 72. (Cam- 
bridge University Press.) 2s. 6d. net. 

Anesthetics: Their Uses and Administration. By 
Dr. D. W. Buxton. Fifth edition. Pp. xiv+ 477+ viii 


plates. (London: H. K. Lewis.) tos. 6d. net. 
The School and College Atlas. (London: G. W. 
Bacon and Co., Ltd.) 3s. 6d. net. 


Animal Flight. By Dr. E. H. Hankin. 
405+index. (London: Iliffe and Sons, Ltd.) 
net. , 


Practical Instructions in the Search for, 
Determination of, the Useful Minerals, 
Rare Ores. By A. McLeod. - Pp. 
York: J. Wiley and Sons, Inc.; 
and Hall, Ltd.) .ss. 6d. net. 

Clean Water and How to Get It. By A. Hazen. 
Second edition. Pp. xii+196. (New York: J. Wiley 
and Sons, Inc.; London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd.) 
6s. 6d. net. 

Continuous and Alternating Current Machinery. 
By J. H.. Morecroft. Pp. ix+466. (New York: J. 
Wiley and Sons, Inc.; London: Chapman and Hall, 
Ltd.) - 7s: 6d. net. 

Forty-Fifth Annual Report of the Trustees of the 
American Museum of Natural History, 191g...) Pp. 
192+plates. (New York.) 

Geologischer Fiihrer durch Nordwest-Sachsen. By 
E. Krenkel. Pp.  viii+202+xiv plates. (Berlin: 
Gebriider Borntraeger.) 4 marks. 

Report of the Danish Biological Station to the 
Board of Agriculture. By Dr. C. G. J. Petersen. 
Pp. 67+6 plates+3 charts. (Copenhagen.) 


Pp. viii+ 
12s. 6d. 


and the 
including the 

ix+114. (New 
London : Chapman 


DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 


TUESDAY, Apriv 14. 
Rovat ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE, at 8.15.—Some Hopi Textiles from 
the Pueblo of Hano: Miss B. F. Marreco. 
WEDNESDAY, Apri 15. 
Roya METEOROLOGICAL SocIETY, at 7-30.— 
AERONAUTICAL SOCIETY, at 8.30. —The Value of Ballconing as a Training 
for Flying: G. Brewer and Major E. M. Maitland. 


Royat Microscopicat Society, at 8.—The Insect Pests of Wheat Crops : 
F. Enock. 


NO. 2319, VOL. 93] 


NATURE 


[APRIL 9, 1914 


THURSDAY, Apri 16. 


ConcRETE INSTITUTE, at 7.30.—The Design of Steel and Reinforced 
Concrete Pillars with special reference to Secondary and Accidental 
Stresses ; O. Faber. 

INSTITUTION oF MINING AND METALLURGY, at 8. 


FRIDAY, Aprit 17. 

MALACOLOGICAL Society, at 8.—Notes on Australian Mactride: E. A. 
Smith.—On the Generic name Martensia, Semper: Some more notes om 
Polyplacophora, part I.:  T. Iredale.—Description of a new recent 
Pholadomya from Tasmania: C. Hedley and W. L. May.—Description 
of a New Helicoid from South Australia: G. K. Grude. 


| Juntor INSTITUTION OF ENGINEERS, at 8.—A Few Typical Carburetters : 
aise 1D 


Ox. 
SATURDAY, Apri 18. 


AssociaTION OF Economic Broxocists (at Royal College of Science), at 
ro a.m.—The Organism cf Common Potato Scab. (Actinonzyces scabies. 
(Thaxter) Giissow): H. T. Giissow.—Potato Diseases: A. orne.— 
Insects causing Blotch on Potato Follaage: A. S. Horne and H. M. 
Lefroy.—Standard Fungicides and Insecticides : A. G. L. Rogers. —Obser- 
vations on Aphis rumicis: J. Davidson.—The Golf Green Fly: A. W. 
Westrop.—Observation on the Winter Stage of the American Gooseberry 
Mildew. (Sphaevotheca mors-Uvae): K.S. Salmon.—The Darkening of 
Oak: P. Groom.—The Phytopathological Conference: A. G. L. Rogers. 
—Apple and Pear Sucker: P. R. AwatiictAn Experiment in House 
Fumigation: H. M. Lefroy.—Life-history and Habits of Aleurodes 
vaporariorum: EK. Hargreaves. 


CONTENTS. PAGE 

A Vocabulary of Embryology. By D. W.T... . 131 

Rubber and Rubber eeaess ae H.W. 132 

Water Supplies . : 133 

Our Bookshelf ris 133 

Letters to the Editor :— 

The Funafuti Boring.—Dr. F. Wood-Jones ; Prof. 

J. W. Judd, C.B., Rak Shae. 135 

Zoological Classification. —H. Chas. Williamson 135 


The Dublin Gorilla, (//dustrated.)—Prof. G. H. 


Carpenter 136 
ee Chee -fractions. —Prof.G. 'B. Mathews, 
F.R.S. 136 
New Units in ‘Acrology. —Prof. Bohuslav Brauner 136 
Wineland the Good . 136 
The Imperial Bacteriological Laboratory, Muktesar, 
India. By Dr. Percival Hartley. . . 137 
Prot. ba , oer F.R.S. By Sir Oliver if 
Lodge, F.R.S. . : 138 | 
Notes See 
Our Astronomical Column :— 
Comet 1914a (Kritzinger) 144 
MibesNew Solari Cycley 3 eee mane han: ence 144 
Relation between Stellar epoca, Colours, and 
Parallaxes S12 owt eee Pee Bost 
Series Lines in Spark Spectra. By Prof. A. Fowler, 
F.R.S. : Stoke: SHmO \) » 145 
Practical Education in Secondary Schools, Trade 
Schools, and Central Schools. By J. Wilson 146 


The Institution of Naval Architects .. LAs 


Papers on Invertebrates. (///ustrated.) By Row 149 
Meteorological Reports . 14G 
Improvements in Long- Distance Telephony — 
Prot ean Hleming., HoRiSs se . 150 
University and Educational Intelligence . 153 


Societies and Academies Aoi fata) hy Aes age 
Booksmkeceived ., | Ave er eben re) te neat mS 
Diary of Societies . hee a eta 


Editorial and Publishing Offices: 


MACMILLAN & CO., Lrp., 


ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C. 


Advertisements and business letters to be addressed to the 
Publishers. 


Editorial Communications to the Editor. 


Telegraphic Address: 
Telephone Number: 


Puusis, LONDON. 
GERRARD 8830. 


NATURE 


157 


THURSDAY, APRIL 16, 10914. 


-TfHE GORDEN -BOUGH > COMPLETED. 
The Golden Bough. Third Edition. Part vii., 
“ Balder the Beautiful.” By Prof. J. G. Frazer. 


Nol; eve ex 346.. Velaiy |. Pp.. xi+ 380. 
(London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1913.) 
Price 205, amet. 


SHE concluding instalment of Prof. Frazer’s 
famous book may be regarded as 
demonstrating in a vivid manner and at an appro- 
priate juncture the qualities both of itself and of 
its author. As has been the case with the other 
editions, this, which, it seems, is final and defini- 
tive, contains more than one change of view. 
It is characteristic of the author’s mind that it 
is receptive of fresh ideas, and grows, instead of 
hardening into dogmatic attitudes. Prof. Frazer 
now, for instance, regards the Aryan god, Zeus- 
Jupiter, as being primarily a god of the sky, as 
the orthodox view has it, and only secondarily 
a personification of the oak. The interesting fact, 
amply proved by statistics, that the oak is more 
frequently struck by lightning than any other 
tree is the chief mediating influence between two 
sets of data. In a similar connection the revised 
account of the lore of the mistletoe shows cause 
for supposing that the parasite was believed to 
be the embodied result of the lightning-flash, “a 
sort of smouldering thunderbolt,” containing 
within itself the seed of celestial fire. 

But it is with a point of extreme importance 
for history and modern sociology that the most 
significant change of view is concerned. Prof. 
Frazer had accepted the explanation of the fire- 
festivals of Europe, which W. Mannhardt had 
suggested—namely, that they were in original 
intention charms to expedite the course and 
ensure the life-giving operations of the sun. But 
Dr. Westermarck’s researches among the Moors 
have convinced the author that the fire-festivals 
are in intention purificatory. This is no mere 
academic or curious conclusion, as by necessity 
much of the substance of “The Golden Bough” 
must be. For “the grand evil which the festivals 
aimed at combating was witchcraft, and... they 
were conceived to attain their end by actually 
burning the witches, whether visible or invisible, 
in the flames.” ‘The wide prevalence and the 
immense popularity of the fire-festivals provides 
us with a measure for estimating the extent of 
the hold which the belief in witchcraft had on the 
European mind before the rise of Christianity or 
rather of rationalism; for Christianity, both 
Catholic and Protestant, accepted the old belief, 
and enforced it in the old way by the faggot and 
the stake. It was not until human reason at 


NO: 2226) VOL. 934 


last awoke after the long slumber of the Middle 
Ages that this dreadful obsession gradually passed 
away like a dark cloud from the intellectual 
horizon of Europe.” Here we have the defect of 
the author’s quality, though we gratefully note 
how well the new theory fits in with modern 
history, and brings, as few other episodes do, 
“The Golden Bough” into touch with living 
humanity. For the fact is that witch-burning and 
heretic-burning (they are essentially the same 
thing, as Westermarck has shown) did not become 
a form’ of social emotionalism until after the 
Middle Ages. Nor is the belief in witchcraft dead 
yet, anywhere in Europe; while its more cultured 
form, resentment against social abnormality, is 
one of the strongest forces in modern life. 

It is a pleasure to see that Prof. Frazer, as he 
lays down his pen, promises us yet other works. 
No man in history has done more for the reason- 
able soul of the human race and its salvation by 
sense. Perhaps he may develop “Psyche’s 
Task” into a treatise which shall give us the 
sociological meaning of religion. In that treatise 
the study of the modern crowd should be an 
essential foundation. A. E. CRAWLEY. 


ASSAY OF PRECIOUS METALS. 


The Sampling and Assay of the Precious Metals: 
comprising Gold, Silver, Platinum, and the 
Platinum Group Metals in Ores, Bullion, and 
Products. By E. A. Smith. Pp. xv+46o. 
(London: C. Griffin and Co., Ltd., 1913.) Price 
15s. net. 

HE advances in the assay of the precious 
ae metals of late years have been directed 
mainly towards improvement in detail, and have 
not resulted in any great change in method or in 
the discovery of new principles. Nevertheless, the 
minor changes have been numerous, great num- 
bers of useful observations have been made, and 
it was high time that a new and complete account 
should be prepared, setting forth the present 
varied practice, with the considerations on which 
it is based. The author of this volume is well 
equipped for such a task, and has produced a 
valuable treatise which may be taken as authori- 
tative. 

Besides gold and silver, Mr. Smith has in- 
cluded the assay of platinum, a course which will 
be convenient to assayers, on account both of the 
importance now attached to the ores of platinum 
and of the increasing use of the metal in jewelry. 
Moreover, platinum is often associated with gold, 
and the methods of assaying gold and platinum 
are so closely allied that they cannot be separ- 
ately treated. Special attention is devoted to 


sampling, a subject hig tia? rreat interest to 
ne Op \ i 
@ 


APR 25 1914 


155 


assayers, although sometimes neglected by them. 
Sampling operations being common ground, and 
by no means peculiar to the treatment of the ores 
or alloys of any one particular metal, all refer- 
ence to them is frequently omitted, both in works 
on metallurgy and in text-books on assaying. 
There is also a chapter on the laboratory work 
in a cyanide mill, and a short but adequate 
account of ore and bullion valuation and sale. 
The book compares favourably with its fore- 
runners, both in respect of completeness and 
accuracy of statement, and the patient care dis- 
played by Mr. Smith in collecting and arranging 
all the available data might well be envied by his 
colleagues. There are few changes which can be 
suggested as desirable in the next edition. It 
would perhaps be of interest to add to the his- 
torical section something as to the evolution of 
the assay furnaces, balances, and implements 
generally, say, from the fifteenth century on- 
wards. Another more important addition would 
be some further discussion on the effects of borax 
when mixed with a crucible charge. According 
to many assayers, this influence is always malign, 
giving low results. Mr. Smith is not precise in 
his directions as to the proportion of borax to be 
reserved for acover to the charge in various cases. 
There is also more to be said as to cupel 
absorption and the use of proofs or checks. 
Bullion assayers have long recognised that the 
determination of the absorption of gold and silver 
by a particular brand or batch of cupels is not 
enough, and that the variations in the tempera- 
ture, amount of draught, etc., appreciably affect 
the loss. Accordingly, they use check assays for 
every determination. Ore assayers are often too 
easily satisfied on this head, or in the alternative 
subject themselves unnecessarily to the inconveni- 
ent course of fusing the cupels. If cupel loss were 
determined by the use of checks for each cupella- 
tion or batch of assays, the ex.ca work would, in 
the opinion of the reviewer, be more than repaid 
by the increase of accuracy. In any case, the 
matter should be faced and fully discussed. 
Lastly, exception may be taken to the statement 
on p. 201 that it is necessary to remove the cupels 
immediately after the button has brightened 
(what exactly does Mr. Smith mean by “bright- 


ened’’?). Experience generally, and especially 
the work of Mr. Wilkes (J. Chem. Met. and 
Min.- Soc., 1905, vol. v.,.p. 237) is not in favour 


of this. contention. 

There: is, however, little to criticise in this 
handsome volume. It may safely be placed in 
the hands of students, and will be of the greatest 
value to assayers as a book of reference. 

Teka 
NO; 2320, VOL: 93, 


NATURE 


[APRIL 16, 1914 


SEISMOLOGICAL PHYSICS. 


Modern Seismology. By G. W. Walker, F.R.S. 
Pp. xii+88+10 plates. (London: Longmans, 
Green) and) 'Co., 19%g5) = Price ss.) nec. 

HE first thing to strike one, on glancing 
through this book, is the absence of an 
index; the second is the absence of footnote 
references; and the third is an introduction which, 
purporting to be a history of the progress of 
modern seismology, contains about as many 
errors, of misstatement and omission, as can be 
crowded into five pages of print. But, once the 
book proper is begun, these unfavourable impres- 
sions disappear, and we find an excellent intro- 
duction to the study of that modern seismology 
which is very remote from earthquakes. 

The author’s qualification to deal with the sue 
ject is said to be his experience in having set up at 
Eskdale Muir, and for a short time taken charge 
of, a set of modern seismographs of various types, 
and the book exhibits at once the drawbacks 
and the advantages of this limited justification. 
On one hand, the author’s acquaintance with the 
literature of the subject is evidently limited; for 
instance, he makes several references to Lord 
Rayleigh’s investigation of surface waves in 
solids, but ignores Prof. Lamb’s later and more 
apposite work, and in more purely seismological 
work the reader might well leave the book with 
the entirely erroneous impression that only three 
names—Wiechert, Z6ppritz, and Galitzin—count 
as really important, and that their importance is 
in the order of mention. On the other hand, the 
recentness and brevity of the author’s acquaint- 
ance with the subject leaves him in close touch 
with the difficulties and doubts which beset the 
beginner, and, being a practised observer in other 
branches of physics, and writing from a first-hand 
and current experience, he has produced a lucid 
and sufficient introduction to the subject. 

Beginning with the general dynamical theory 
and principles of construction of modern seismo- 
graphs, which is a clearly put, concise, but withal 
sufficient, account of the subject, he goes on to 
deal with the character of wave motion recorded 
by them and the interpretation of seismograms, 
traversing practically the whole of the ground 
covered by what is known as the modern seismo- 
logy, and forming an excellent introduction to 
that branch of the science. The book deserves, 
and will doubtless run to, a second edition, when 
the author will be able to revise the references 
to earlier work on earthquakes proper, which are 
almost uniformly erroneous in the present issue. 
In spite of this it may confidently be recom- 
mended, not merely to those who approach the 


APRIL 16, 1914] 


NATURE 


52) 


subject for the first time, but to the attention of 
practised workers, who will find both interest and 
advantage from being brought into contact with 
those elemental principles and difficulties, which 
are apt to be lost sight of as they advance along 
their special lines of research. 


PURE MATHEMATICS. 

(1) Plane Geometry. By Prof. W. B. Ford and 
C. Ammerman. Edited by E. R. Hedrick. Pp. 
iIx+213+xxxi. (New York: The Macmillan 
Company; London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 


#913.) | Price: 35. 6d. “net. 
(2) Higher Algebra. By Dr. W. P. Milne. Pp. 
x1i+ 586. (London: Edward Arnold, 1913.) 


Price 7s. 6d. ‘net. 

(3) The Twisted Cubic: with Some Account of 
the Metrical Properties of the Cubical Hypevr- 
bola. By P. W. Wood. Pp. x+78. (Cam- 
bridge: University Press, 1913.) Price 2s. 6d. 
net. 

(4) Graphical Methods. By Prof. Carl Runge. 
Pp. viiit+148. (London: Oxford University 
Press; New York: Columbia University Press, 
19r2:), Price 6s. 6d. net. 

(5) Einfiihrung in die Mathematik fiir Biologen 
und Chemiker. By Prof. L. Michaelis. Pp. vii 


+253. (Berlin: Julius Springer, 1912.) Price 
7.80 marks. 

(6) Théorie des Nombres. By E. Cahen. Tome 
Premier. Le Premier Degré. Pp. xii+ 408. 


(Paris: A. Hermann et Fils, 1914.) 


(1) HIS text-book, written by two American 

professors, is arranged on lines similar 
to those of modern English text-books. Fewer 
theorems, more experimental geometry, and 
numerous practical applications are its chief char- 
acteristics. In placing properties of areas after 
those of circles and similar figures, the authors 
have adopted a change of order, which we believe 
will eventually become general. The idea of simi- 
larity is so fundamental and at the same time 
presents comparatively so little difficulty, that it 
is in our view regrettable that in many examina- 
tion syllabuses, and consequently in most school 
courses, it should be postponed to a late period. 
In fact, it is probably true to say that many boys 
leave school without any knowledge of what is 
one of the most valuable, practical, and impor- 
tant branches of geometry. 

(2) There are in this volume distinct merits 
and a certain originality of treatment such as will 
appeal to many teachers of the modern school. 
No attempt has been made to develop the subject 
in a rigorous and logical fashion from the funda- 
mental axioms of number, and we agree with 

NO. 2920," VOL... | 


Dr. Milne’s opinion that students at this period 
of their training are ill-fitted for what is almost 
a philosophical discussion. But at the same time 
it is becoming generally recognised that the harm 
done by inculcating incorrect notions of limits, 
convergence, etc., is so serious and so difficult 
to remedy that many teachers have, with little 
assistance from current text-books, been taking 
their scholarship candidates through a course of 
serious analysis. They will undoubtedly welcome 
the publication of this treatise, which with ad- 
mirable clearness and with an abundance of 
detailed explanations and illustrations, sets out 
the lines upon which accurate investigations of 
the existence of limits and the convergence of 
single and double series must proceed. More 
than half the book is occupied with work of this 
character. 

The scope of treatment is best indicated by an 
enumeration of the headings of the chapters :— 
Rational numbers; irrational numbers; summa- 
tion; binomial theorem; permutations and com- 
binations; exponential and logarithmic series; 
continued fractions; theory of equations; deter- 
minants; miscellaneous theorems, In his selec- 
tion and arrangement of material, the author has, 
therefore, departed considerably from the custom- 
ary plan. What little “Theory of Numbers” 
there is, comes in the first chapter; the usual 
account of probability has been considerably cur- 
tailed; diophantine problems and _ inequalities 
receive very brief treatment; and the chapter on 
permutations follows, instead of precedes, the 
binomial theorem. There is a good collection of 
examples at the end of each chapter; we regard, 
however, as unfortunate the omission of any 
intermediate sets. Clearly it is undesirable for a 
student to read the whole of a chapter before 
doing any examples, and the result of grouping 
them at the end is to saddle the teacher with the 
burden of selection. 

The final collection of four hundred miscellane- 
ous problems and a number of questions of an 
essay type call for special notice. Teachers and 
pupils alike will probably feel the need of an 
index. Dr. Milne has produced an essentially 
scholarly work, and we have no kesitation in 
classing it with those books which are exercising 
a wholesome and valuable influence on mathe- 
matical teaching. 

(3) It is curious that no systematic account 
should have been hitherto published of the pro- 
perties of the space curve of the third order, 
although many mathematicians have given their 
attention to the subject, the fruit of which is to 
be found in a number of isolated memoirs and, 
incidentally, in a few treatises, as, for example, 


160 


NAT ORE 


PARRIL bo, BOL! 


in Grace and Young’s ‘Algebra of Invariants,” 
where the invariants and covariants of a binary 
cubic are interpreted in terms of the geometry 
of the skew cubic. This is now remedied by Mr. 
Wood’s tract, which discusses the subject 
ab initio. The first section deals with the projec- 
tive properties of the curve, developed analytically 
with the use of homogeneous coordinates, and 
the second is specially concerned with the cubical 
hyperbola (the case in which the curve has three 
real and distinct points at infinity), and discusses 
the properties of asymptotes, diameters, vertices, 
centre, axis, inscribed and circumscribing 
quadrics, the rectangular cubical hyperbola, etc. 
No one who is interested in geometry can fail 
to appreciate the collection of properties which 
Mr. Wood has made, and many will, no doubt, be 
encouraged by the way in which the initial stages 
have been simplified, to pursue the subject 
beyond the limits which space has here rendered 
necessary. 

(4) The purpose of this book is to supply the 
theoretical basis upon which graphical methods 
rest, and to discuss in general terms the manner 
in which applications may be made to shorten 
the labour involved in the heavy computation with 
which the physicist and engineer are so often 
faced. In many cases special graphical methods 
have been invented to cope with a particular kind 
of problem, and in view of the fact that there is 
little inter-communication between those working 
in different spheres, the opportunity of making 
use in one department of a device that has been 
of value in another is often missed, on account 
of the failure to recognise the generality of the 
principle which has been employed. The subject- 
matter is divided into three sections: the first 
deals with graphical arithmetic, the evaluation of 
integral functions, and the treatment of complex 
quantities; the second with the representation of 
functions of one or more variables, the principle 
of the slide rule, and the idea of conformal repre- 
sentation; and the last with the calculus and the 
solution of differential equations. 

(5) This course of pure mathematics is most 
distinctly a lower limit of the equipment every 
scientific student should possess. The ideas of 
the calculus are at last beginning to find their 
way into the ordinary curriculum, more rapidly 
on the Continent than in England, and the time 
cannot be far distant when it will be impossible 
for boys who specialise in chemistry or physics to 
leave school ignorant of infinitesimal methods. 
The book deals with revision of arithmetic, 
algebra, geometry, and trigonometry ; graphs of 
functions; differential and integral calculus, with 
special reference to expansion in series; and dif- 


NO. 2320, VOL.' 93] 


ferential equations. 
make rather dull reading, little indication being 


gently the original 


The sections of the calculus 


given of the nature of the applications that it 
permits. The systematic treatment of what may 
be called the grammar of the subject should, 
however, enable the reader to acquire some degree 
of facility in performing ordinary operations. 

(6) What is the criterion that distinguishes the 
theory of numbers from other branches of ana- 
lysis? To this question, M. Cahen makes the 
following reply :—-‘‘The Theory of Numbers is a 
science in which division is possible only in special 
cases, whereas elsewhere division is impossible 
only in special cases.” And this statement gives 
in brief the limits he has set himself in this 
treatise. The first eight chapters deal with addi- 
tion, multiplication, subtraction, and divisions of 
integers, H.C.F. and L.C.M., and fractions; the 
next four with systems of diophantine equations 
of the first degree; then follow chapters on linear 
substitution and groups, linear and_ bilinear 
forms, congruences, matrices, prime numbers. 

The treatment is thorough in character, and 
the work is set out so clearly that no student, 
however small his previous knowledge may be of 
the theory of arithmetic, should find it difficult 
to follow the argument; and if he reads through 
this volume carefully and tests his progress by 
working out some of the examples provided, he 
should obtain a firm grasp of this important 
modern subject. Text-books such as these form 
an admirable preparation for the student who 
wishes to make a more specialised study of the 
subject, for, by giving him a sound groundwork, 
they make it possible for him to consult intelli- 
memoirs which mark the 
growth of the theory, and which no text-book, 
however comprehensive, can in reality replace. 


OUR BOOKSHELF, 


Dental Diseases in Relation to Public Health. By 
Dr. J. Sim Wallace. Pp. viii+g90: (London: 
Office of The Dental Record, 1914.) Price 3s- 
net. 

Tuis book consists of three chapters. They are 

addresses given by the author in ‘‘response to 

requests.”’ Chap. i. sets forth in detail the pre- 
valence of dental diseases, the serious effects they 
exercise on general health—especially during 
childhood—and the methods by which such 
diseases may be prevented. There are, however, 
within its pages statements based on loose figures, 
which are ¢alculated to mar the effect the writer 
has in view by causing an impression of exaggera- 
tion of unverified inference. On the strength of 
the statement—itself too wide a generalisation— 
that 75 per cent. of the total population have 
irregularities of the teeth, we have presented to 
us the wild statement that “the number of teeth 


APRIL 16, 1914| 


NATURE 


161 


which are pouring pus into the buccal cavity may 


be estimated, at least has been estimated, at 
200,000.000.”’ 

Chap. ii. contains a fairly wide description of 
the function of mastication, and of the effects of 
saliva on various foods. Chap. ili., on ‘Children 
and Dental Disease,” is to a large extent a repeti- 
tion of parts of chap. 1i., but clothed in different 
language. 

We do not consider these chapters are a serious 
contribution to the literature of public health. 
Careful perusal of them impresses upon us the 
conclusion that, while condemning physiologists 
and medical men for their shortcomings in dental 
hygiene, the author is unduly confident in his own 
exaggerated and unbalanced opinions. He recom- 
mends prevention of dental disease by methods of 
dieting, which “show beyond all doubt that dental 
caries is not only preventable, but that it is easily 
and surely preventable.” 

The enormous benefit bestowed by early treat- 
ment as a method of prevention is not admitted 
by the author, who asserts that, “compared with 
modern methods of prevention, however, treatment 
must be regarded as a failure.” He is equally 
clear that sugar should not be regarded as a whole- 
some and cheap food for children, but as a large 
and important factor in the production of dental 
caries. In these opinions we doubt if many 
physiologists will join him. 


Savants du Jour: Albin Haller, 
Bibliographie Analytique des Ecrits. By Ernest 
Lebon. Pp. 120. (Paris: Gauthier-Villars ; 
Masson et Cie., 1913.) Price 7 francs. 

THERE is something to be said for the publication 

of a man’s biography during his lifetime. He is 

at least able to participate in the pleasant things 
that are said of him. Mr. Ernest Lebon has 
undertaken the task of writing the lives of the 

“Savants du Jour,” and so far he has completed 

seven, the latest of the series being the life of 

Prof. Albin Haller. Son of a joiner and cabinet- 

maker, of Thaun-St.-Amarin, in the Vosges, 

Haller was apprenticed to a local apothecary until 

the outbreak of the Franco-German War, when 

he served as hospital assistant. At-its conclusion 
in 1871, he left his native town to follow the 
fortunes of his teacher, M. Gault.. When the 
staff of the Strasburg University was transferred 
to Nancy, Haller entered as a student of phar- 
macy, and in 1873 became lecture assistant in 
chemistry. He quitted the school of pharmacy in 

1884 in order to fill the chair of chemistry. He 

was elected corresponding member of the Academy 

of Sciences, in 1891, and in 1899 was asked to take 
the chair vacated by the death of Prof. Friedel 
as professor of organic chemistry at the Sorbonne. 

In 1911 he was made commander of the Legion of 

Honour, and since then he has received wide- 

spread recognition by native and foreign scientific 

bodies. 
His principal researches are mainly in the 
domain of organic chemistry. 
In connection with his studies in the camphor 
group, he not only obtained a great variety of 


NO. 2320, VOL. 93] 


Biographie, 


| 


new and interesting derivatives of camphor and 
borneol, but among them the homologue of cam- 
phoric (homocamphoric) acid, which on distillation 
of its lead salt gives camphor, and in this way 
he succeeded in effecting a partial synthesis of 
camphor. The long list of researches which have 
emanated from his laboratory, in addition to his 
numerous literary contributions on scientific sub- 
jects, give evidence of an unusually active and 
fruitful career. EE Be 


A Course of Practical Work in the Chemistry of 


the Garden. By D. R. Edwardes-Ker. Pp. 
40.- (London: -John Murray, 1914.) . Price 
1S._ 6d... nee 


One of the results of the foundation of a diploma 
in horticulture by the Horticultural Society is 
certain to be an improvement in the method of 
education of horticultural experts. The number 
of appointments in this direction tends constantly 
to increase, and now that the Board of Agriculture 
has established a horticultural branch, the com- 
petent expert finds the possibility before him of 

a highly successful career. In order to meet the 

demand for text-books that is certain to arise, 

Mr. Edwardes-Ker has collected a set of experi- 

mental lessons to be carried out in a chemical 

laboratory, and requiring only such limited know- 
ledge of chemistry and of manipulation processes 
as will be available in the circumstances. 

The book is divided into four chapters, headed 
respectively, ‘“‘The Chemistry of Plants,” “The 
Chemistry of Soils,” ‘‘The Chemistry of Manures 
and Fertilisers,” and “‘The Chemistry of Sprays 
and Washes.” The experiments are simple and 
well chosen, and should prove of distinct value 
both to the student and the teacher. They will, 
of course, require to be supplemented by a suit- 
able series of lectures setting forth the bearing 
of the facts thus ascertained on the growth of 
plants, and, in order to bring this out more 
clearly, we should like to see some pot expert- 
ments added. Pot experiments can be made 
quite simple enough for the purpose, and satis- 
factorily demonstrate many important phenomena 
that laboratory exercises alone can never bring 
out. 

A Practical Manual of Autogenous Welding (Oxy- 
Acetylene). With a chapter on the Cutting of 
Metals with a Blowpipe. By R. Granjon and 
P. Rosemberg. Translated by D. Richardson, 
Pp. xxiit+234. (London: C. Griffin and Co., 
Litd:, 19Eg.\yiPeice, Gs. net, 

Autrocenous welding consists in uniting metals by 

fusion without the intervention of solder. Ordinary 

welds may be effected by heating in a forge, but 
the local application of heat by an electric current 
or by the heat of an intense flame is more pro- 
perly called autogenous welding in contradistinc- 
tion to the junction of metals made by solder. 
The work before us treats of welding as done by 
the oxy-hydrogen and oxy-acetylene blowpipe, the 
introductory matter on soldering and electric 
welding being outside the main purpose of the 
work. The oxy-hydrogen weld was used before 
oxy-acetylene, but the latter is now the most 


162 


common. Acetylene burnt with an equal volume 
of oxygen gives a temperature which is 1000° C. 
higher than the oxy-hydrogen flame. For suc- 
cessful welding minute attention to the details of 
construction of the blowpipes is necessary, and 
the author describes the forms of blowpipes used 
and the generators for producing acetylene 
economically. 

The enormous extent to which this form of 
welding is employed in the arts may be gathered 
from the descriptions of iron and mild steel welds 
that can be done in situ on large pieces of struc- 
tures and machinery. From repairing a large 
rudder of a steamer to the delicate junction of 
rose-petals in ornamental wrought iron work, the 
usefulness of the oxy-acetylene blowpipe extends, 
but perhaps the most important application of the 
blowpipe is in the cutting of metals and removing 
rivets. The weakest part of the work is in the 
translation, which in places leaves much to be 
desired. 


Ambidexterity and Mental Culture. By Dr. H. 
Macnaughton- Jones. Pp. , :02.. . (London: 
William Heinemann, 1914.) Price 2s. 6d. net. 

Tue author’s object in this little volume has been 

to state briefly the conclusions that may be drawn 

from the authoritative opinions of physiologists, 
psychologists, and teachers in different parts of 
the world as to the advantages of ambidexterity 
and the desirability of teaching it. Recent ex- 
perience is drawn upon, and accounts’ of 

“Eurythmics” and the Montessori system are 

included. 


LETTERS! OL GEE DEIPOR, 


[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for 
opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with 
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 
this or any other part of Nature. No notice is 
taken of anonymous communications. | 


Cellular Structure of Emulsions. 

WHILE preparing emulsions of radio-active minerals 
in alcohol for a ray examination, my assistant, Mr. 
E. K. Denton, directed my attention to the mottled 
appearance of the surface of the emulsion. Closer 
examination with a lens or low-power microscope 
shows that the surface is divided into numerous poly- 
gonal cells. At the centre of each cell the liquid is 
flowing vertically upwards, on the surface horizontally 
outwards, then downwards at the edges of the ceil 
and horizontally inwards along the bottom; such a 
circulation, in fact, as would be produced by a ver- 
tical doublet at the centre of the cell. The hydro- 
dynamical action of these doublets is no doubt respon- 
sible for the cellular structure, and the flow is main- 
tained by the evaporation of the alcohol at these 
centres. 

The effect may be obtained with an emulsion of an 
insoluble powder in any volatile liquid. I have found 
it, e.g. with carborundum, graphite, and lycopodium 
in ether, alcohol, or molten paraffin. (Certain pow- 
ders, such as rouge, fail to show it.) The accompany- 
ing photograph (graphite in methylated spirits) shows 
the general appearance of the surface, but does not 
give an adequate idea of the sharplv rectilinear char- 
acter of the boundaries of the cells. 

It seems possible that this effect is related to the 


NO; (2320, ViOL2 63 | 


NATURE 


[APRIL 16, 1914 


formation of flocculi in the solar photosphere, and 
even to terrestrial cloud formations of flocculent type. 
I have not been able to find previous reference to it, 


and should be obliged to any of your readers who 

can supply me with such or otherwise comment upon 

it KERR GRANT. 
The University of Adelaide, March 1. 


A Simple Method of Aerating Marine and other Aquaria. 
Tue following method is adapted for aerating 
aquaria, especially those which contain microscopic 
organisms, such as Ameeba, Vorticella, Hydra, 
Desmids, Diatoms, and delicate Algz. Further, the 
method is admirably suited for marine aquaria, and 
when once set up the sea-water does not require to 
be renewed but only maintained at its original level 
in the aquarium by the addition of distilled water. 

The apparatus required is readily obtained and 
fitted up; and as the cost is only a few shillings, it 
should appeal to all teachers of nature-study. Apart 
from the fascination of having several fresh-water and 
marine aquaria maintained in perfect condition, there 
is the educational value to be considered. 

All that is required is a water pump, a Woulff’s 
bottle, some glass tubing, a short length of rubber 
tubing, and one or two screw clips. 

The apparatus is fitted up as shown in the accom- 
panying sketch. 


SCREW CLIP FOR REGULATING AIR INLET AE bie 
AIR OUTEETS SSS A OUTLET 
C 2 ae a 
ert a Foals l| ume 
=] BS EE } 
=== = 
—= l 


WOULFFS. 
| BOTTLE 


i TW 
{i 


Water OUTFLOW 


The pump is connected with the water supply tap, 
and when the water is turned on it passes through 
the pump, dragging air with it into the Woulff’s 
bottle; here the air and water separate, and since 
the water outflow is checked, the air fills the upper 
part of the bottle, and becomes compressed. The air 
being under pressure may either blow the water out 
of the bottle or bubble through the aquaria; the latter 
being the path of least resistance, produces the desired 
result, namely, complete aeration of the aquaria. 

E.tis W. GILDERSLEEVES. 

Physiological Laboratory, Bedford College, 

Regent’s Park, N.W. 


ApRIL 16, 1914] 


NATURE 


163 


Ret ke SEA GOAST:* 
R. CROSSLAND, as marine biologist to 
the Sudan Government, has been resident 


for some years in the neighbourhood of Suakin, 
and has had ample opportunities to become inti- 


mately acquainted, not only with this portion of | 
the Red Sea coast, but also with the inhabitants of | 


this interesting part of Africa. Living in 
the course of his work in close acquaint- 
ance with some fifty or sixty employees, 
among whom were Arabs from Sinai and 
Yemen, Negroes from the. Upper Nile, 
and especially Hamites, the descendants of 
the original inhabitants of north-eastern 
Africa, he finds that they range in intelli- 
gence between much the same limits. as 
the uneducated class of European lands. 
The social and religious conditions of these 
three nationalities are well described and 
illustrated by numerous instances which 
came under the author’s notice, and his 
descriptions of them provide a valuable 
addition to our knowledge of these peo- 
ples. In the arid region which they in- 
habit, the life of the Hamitic nomad tribes 
is a hard one, and the extremely local 
character of the scanty rainfall and the 
consequent scarcity of forage for their 
camels and flocks impose on them the, 
necessity for constantly shifting their en- 
campment. While the Hamites are the 
camel-owners of the district, the Arabs 
and their Negro slaves hold almost a mon- 
opoly of the sea traffic in their coasting 
vessels, ‘‘Sambuks,” in which they cruise 
up and down the Red Sea, and it is on 
the coast-belt that they come into con- 
tact. 

A short chapter on corals introduces us 
to an account of the building of the reefs. 
Here a good account is given of the 
growth of the shore-reefs, with examples 
from the Red Sea and from other places, 
and of the erosion and deposition which is 
going on at various points by the tidal 
currents where these are sufficiently de- 
veloped. At Port Sudan the tidal range is 
extremely small, being rarely more than 30 
cm., but at other parts of the Red Sea 
this is greatly exceeded. The book con- 
cludes with a very instructive chapter on 
the tectonic structure of the Red Sea, 
which is a welcome addition to Suess’s 
general discussion of it, and to the more 
detailed work of Hume, Ball, and Blanc- 
kenhorn in the northern portion. 

Mr. Crossland considers that the sandstone hills 
of the coastal plain were deposited previous to the 
extensive faulting of the Red Sea area, which 
eventually resulted in three parallel fault-blocks. 
Of these the first and nearest to the Red Sea hill- 


1 ** Desert and Water Gardens of the Red Sea.” Being an Account of 
the Natives and the Shore Formations of the Coast. By Cyril Crossland. 
Pp. xv-+158-+x!I plates. (Cambridge University Press, 1913.) Price ros. 6d. 
net. 


SAE 
SSS 


NO. 2320, VOL. 93] 


ranges once formed a barrier reef near the foot of 
the mountain, and a coastal plain was formed 
behind it. Further movements produced an outer 
barrier reef on another fault block, and within this 
now a coastal plain has been built up. The present 
barrier itself is being formed on a third and out- 
lying fault-block, and the deep lagoons so typical 
of this coast le within it. These descriptions, 


Hi 

Hea, 28 
Gaye ast al 
LA 


An elderly Bishari. From ‘‘ Deserts and Water Gardens of the Red Sea.” 


which have largely appeared in the Journal of the 
Linnean Society, show what an interesting field 
awaits the physiographer and the geologist along 
these shores of the Red Sea. The descriptions both 
of the people and of the country are excellently 
true to life, and furnish an interesting and accurate 
account of a little-known region, though the dis- 
comforts of residence there during the hot season 


164 


of the year are made light of, and the difficulties 
which the arid climate offers to the detailed exam- 
ination of an extensive tract of such country have 
to be experienced in order that they may be fully 
appreciated HeeG. 


THE LAWES AND GILBERT CENTENARY 
FUND. 


UST a hundred years ago was born John 
Bennett Lawes, followed three years later by 
his life-long collaborator, John Henry Gilbert; 
together they carried on their scientific work 
until the end of the nineteenth century, and now 
preparations are being made to commemorate 
the year of Lawes’ birth by rebuilding the labora- 
tory in which so much of the pioneer work in 
agricultural science was done. The issue of the 
Annual Report on the Rothamsted Experiments 
reminds us of the historic claims of that institu- 
tion to all the assistance the public can give it. 
Lawes began his agricultural experiments so 
far back as 1838, but though those early essays 
led to the invention of superphosphate and so 
incidentally to the fortune from which he so 
liberally endowed the Rothamsted Station, the ex- 
periments, properly speaking, did not begin until 
1842, when Gilbert became associated with them. 
From that time some of the famous fields began 
to take shape, and by 1852 had settled down to 
that scheme of manuring which has never since 
been changed; in consequence, the plots now 
supply data as to the effect of fertilisers both upon 
the crop and upon the soil which are not merely 
unrivalled in their trustworthiness, but are con- 
stantly being re-interpreted as the science of the 
nutrition of the plant develops. In 1855 the 
laboratory was built from subscriptions raised as 
a testimonial to the value of Lawes’ work, and 
it is this laboratory, now out of date and becoming 
structurally unsound, that the Rothamsted Com- 
mittee seeks to replace. 

Lawes died in 1900, Gilbert in tgo1, and that 
first long and honourable chapter in the history 
of Rothamsted was closed. With the appoint- 
ment of a new Director, Mr. A. D. Hall, in 1902, 
came the desire for a fresh outlook upon the old 
experiments; new points of view had arisen, par- 
ticularly the physical and biological ‘aspects of the 
soil had become important. The first necessity 
was to get together a body of workers, for one 
man could no longer cover so complex a field, and 
to find adequate accommodation for them, because 
the arrangements of the old laboratory, though 
equal to the routine determinations which Gilbert 
needed, were extremely primitive. Unfortun- 
ately, the endowment of the Lawes’ Trust pro- 
vided no margin for extension; still the laboratory 
was reformed, a few voluntary assistants were 
secured and new ground broken. After a time 

J. F. Mason built a new wing for bacteri- 
ology and enabled Dr. H. B. Hutchinson to join 
the staff, and a little later the Goldsmiths’ Com- 
pany added to the endowment so that the services 
of Dr. E. J. Russell could he secured. 


NO. 2320, VOL; 63 | 


NAT ORE 


[APRIL 16, 1914 


Up to that time no assistance came from 
Government, but with the creation of the Develop- 
ment [Fund in 1910, the Rothamsted Station 
became recognised as the Institute for the investi- 
gation of the soil and the nutrition of the plant, 
and received an adequate endowment. The first 
result was that the Committee was able not only 
to add some experienced workers to the staff, but 


; also to take a long lease of the home farm con- 


taining the classic fields and to embark upon the 
erection of an additional laboratory with all 
modern conveniences of electric supply, vacuum 
and air current, etc. At that point Mr. Hall re- 
signed the Directorship, and was succeeded by 
Dr. Russell, who has no sooner got the new 
laboratory opened than he has set about the re- 
placement of the old one which, even were it 
adaptable to modern methods of work, has for 
years been giving trouble owing to original detects 
in construction. 

Subscriptions have been received from all parts 
of the world, the farming societies, large and 
small, in Great Britain, have contributed in a way 
that shows their increased appreciation of research, 
but nearly roool. are still wanted to complete 
the 6o0o0o0l. that it is necessary to raise from the 
public. The laboratory is expected to cost 
12,000l., towards which there is reason to expect 
the Development Commissioners will give a sum 
equal to that raised from other sources, so now 
is the time for everyone interested in the welfare 
of this doyen of institutions for agricultural re- 
search to send along their donations from which 
the Rothamsted Station will reap a double benefit. 


LHE LIFE-HISTORY (OR. THE aie 


M ANY articles in Nature have dealt, during 

recent years, with the above subject; but 
its interest is not exhausted, and we here welcome 
the appearance of three new contributions to the 
long-debated question of the eel. 

Dr. Grassi’s work is the first publication of the 
Italian Royal Commission on ‘“ Thalassography,” 
and in these first-fruits the commission gives 
promise of a great return from its systematic 
exploration of the Mediterranean Sea. Mr. Lea’s 
paper is one of the many beautiful and interesting 
monographs which have already been based on 
the collections made by Sir John Murray and Dr. 
Hjort in the deep waters of the Atlantic. Dr. 
Bowman’s paper is a brief but interesting note, 
based on the work of the Scottish research vessel 
Goldseeker. 

In a long and learned introduction Dr. Grassi 
relates the history of our knowledge of the life- 
history of the eel; and while this history has been 
often summarised, it is here told more completely 
than ever. Dr. Grassi goes back even to Aristotle, 

1 ‘* Metamorphose der Murznoiden: Systematische und Oekologische 
Untersuchungen ‘‘(Text Italienisch). By Dr. Battista Grassi. Pp. x+e2r11 
-+xv plates. (Jena: Gustav Fischer, 1913.) Price 50 marks. 

**Murznoid Larve from the Michael Sars North Atlantic Expedition, 
tg10.” By Einar Lea. In vol. iii. of the Scientific Reports of the Expedi- 
tion. Pp. 59+6 plates. (Bergen: John Grieg, 1913-) 

“The Distribution of the Larve of the Eel in Scottish Waters.” By 


Alexander Bowman, D.Sc. Fishery Board for Scotland, Scientific Tnigestige- 
tions, 1912, No. I] (December, 1913). 


APRIL 16, 1914] 


NATURE 


165 


and, telling us that the Siciliins still call the 
larval eels casentule, that 1s, “earthworms,” 
while the philosopher tells us that the eels spring 
from “earthworms,” yijs évtepa, he inclines to the 
conclusion that Aristotle knew a deal more about 
the biology and development of the eel than is 
actually set forth in his brief recorded references. 
It was Redi, in the seventeenth century, who 
showed, with the utmost clearness, that the eels 
breed out in the open sea, after migrating down 
the rivers “nel rimpunto della luna,” “in the 
dark of the moon.” 

Another chapter of the story opens, just 150 
years ago to a year, when a certain Mr. William 
Morris sent to Pennant, from Holyhead, the curi- 
ous little fish which, in our youth, we used te 
read of in ‘“Yarrell,” under the name of the 
“Anglesey Morris,” or Leptocephalus morrisii, 
as Gronovius had called it. Other similar fishes 
were from time to time described, until in 1856, 
Kaup, in a British Museum catalogue, described 
a number of species, including a certain L. brevi- 
vostris, from the Straits of Messina. A multitude 
of naturalists dealt, during the early part of the 
last century, with these little fishes. Cuvier said 
that their study was ‘une des plus intéressantes 
auxquelles les naturalistes voyageurs puissent se 
livrer.” johannes Miller, with splendid insight, 
declared that they were closely allied to the Mure- 
noids. Carus, in 1861, suspected that they were 
larval forms of some other fish, perhaps Cepola 
or Trichiurus, and in 1864 Dr. Theodore Gill 
asserted that these little Leptocephali were but 
larval eels, a fine instance of zoological prescience. 

A long controversy followed, in which Giinther 
and others maintained that the Leptocephali were 
not an ordinary necessary stage in the life-history 
of the eels, but were abnormal larve, distorted by 
an unnatural habitat. At length it was made clear 
by Dareste, Moreau, and finally and experiment- 
ally by Delage, in 1886, that Leptocephalus 
morrisii was the normal larva of the conger. 
Here begins the series of researches by Grassi and 
Calandruccio, who between 1892 and 1905 con- 
firmed Delage’s account of the metamorphosis of 
the conger, showed that Kaup’s L. brevirostris 
was the larva of the common eel, studied in detail 
the life-history and metamorphosis of a whole 
series of other Leptocephalids, and maintained 
that these little larval fishes were inhabitants of 
the deep waters, from which sometimes, as in the 
Straits of Messina, they were brought up to the 
surface by currents or by whirlpools; just as 
Yarrell told, long before, of a specimen cast up 
in the eruption of Graham’s Island in the Medi- 
terranean. As was foreseen by Salvatore Lo 
Bianco, in 1891, the larve of the common eel are 
inhabitants of the deep sea, and three years later 
Johan Petersen captured the Leptocephalus of the 
common eel, L. brevirostris, out in the Atlantic, 
south-west of the Faeroe Islands. From that date 
onwards, together with Prof. Grassi himself, a 
band of Scandinavian  naturalists—Petersen, 
Hjort, with his pupil Einar Lea, and last but not 
least, Dr. Johann Schmidt—have carried on the 
investigation of the metamorphosis and migra- 


NO. 2320, VOL. 93] 


tions of the eel.2. Schmidt, Hjort, and Lea have 
now shown that the main breeding-place of the 
eel isnot only out in the open Atlantic, but is in 
all probability in the warm and very salt waters of 
the southern part of the North Atlantic, south and 
west of the Azores; and an interesting part of 
Mr. Lea’s paper is one in which he discusses 
the probable duration of the eel’s long voyage to 
its breeding-place, and of the slow return of the 
young larvee home. This point is further eluci- 
dated by Dr. Bowman, who is able to trace the 
Leptocephali of the common eel on their way 
round the west and north of Scotland from about 


| June to August, while by November or December 
| they appear as “elvers” off the coast, and are 


ready to ascend the rivers in March or April. The 
Leptocephali of the conger are found off the east 
coast from December to May. 

But there still remain a few points of doubt, 
and therefore of controversy, on which the learned 
Italian naturalist and his Scandinavian brethren 
do not quite agree. These are questions which 
we would not lightly judge or prejudge, and we 
may simply say that Dr. Grassi seems to state 
his case with great fairness, and -with a 
very open mind. -Among the points still at issue 
we may mention two. First, does the eel breed 
in the Mediterranean? And secondly, are the 
Leptocephali (at least those of the common eel) 


_ inhabitants of the surface-waters, of the bottom, 


or of intermediate depths? Dr. Schmidt believes 
that the eel does not propagate at all in the 
Mediterranean, “‘conclusione molto sorprendente,” 
as Grassi calls it. He holds that for the Mediter- 
ranean eels, as for all those of western and 
northern Europe, the Atlantic is the one great 
breeding-ground, and that inwards, through the 
Straits of Gibraltar, pass the migrating young; 
while Dr. Grassi still inclines to his old belief that 
the deeper parts of the Mediterranean are also 
breeding-grounds. At considerable length Dr. 
Grassi discusses the other problem, and holds that 
it is by no means proved, as Dr. Schmidt would 
have it, that the Leptocephali are dwellers in the 
upper layers. He refers to the habit, which many 
species at least of the Leptocephali have, of 
burrowing in the sand or hiding under stones; he 
states that he has seen L. brevirostris itself actu- 
ally doing so; and he tells us that in captivity 
the little Leptocephali avoid the light, and retreat 
into dark corners of the aquarium. In short, he 
is unwilling to budge from his old opinion, set 
forth twenty years ago, that the Leptocephali 
come only occasionally towards the surface from 
the great depths which constitute their natural 


| home. 


The question is curiously interlinked with the 
too little-known habits of the sunfish, Orthagoris- 
cus mola. Multitudes of Leptocephali are found 
within the stomach of that fish, and would even 
seem to constitute its main, though not exclusive, 
nutriment. Sometimes, and this in itself would 
seem rather to tell against Prof. Grassi’s view, 
they are still actually living when the fish is 


2 See Dr. Schmidt's article in NATURE, August 22, 1912 ; also Dr. Johann 
Hjort’s communication to NATURE of November 24, rg10. 


166 
caught and its stomach opened. Now the sun- 
fish is often seen upon the surface, and is 


harpooned or otherwise captured there; but Prof. 
Grassi will not admit that this is its normal 
habitat, but thinks that it only now and then 
comes up from the greater depths. This is not 
the usual belief, but it was Lo Bianco’s, as Grassi 
tells us, and Lo Bianco’s opinion carries a deal 
of weight. After all, then, the sunfish may be a 
denizen of the deep waters, like Lampris luna. 
But, in the few cases where a sunfish has been 
found to contain other diet than Leptocephali, the 
stomach was found full of Salpz, pteropods, and 
Velella, and they had doubtless been fed upon, 
if not at the surface, at least in the upper layers. 
If we may at all venture an opinion, Dr. Schmidt 
seems to have the better of the argument. A 
minor but curious question is how the sunfish, 
with its tiny mouth and apparently awkward body, 
is able to catch, by hundreds and by thousands, 
these little active, transparent Leptocephali. 
Da Wa 


CARTE INTERNATIONALE DU MONDE AU 
MILLIONIEME. 
HE conference of London, which assembled 
at the Foreign Office in November, 1gog, 
at the invitation of the British Government, drew 
up an elaborate code of rules for the construction 
of an international map on the scale of one in a 
million. In the four years which have passed 
since that meeting about a dozen sheets in all 
have been completed, though not so many have 
been published. It had soon become evident that 
a second conference was required for two reasons. 
Certain of the resolutions of London worked badly 
in practice, and needed modification; while 
several of the Governments which would be called 
upon to undertake a considerable share of the 
work had not been represented in London, and 
desired to be heard before committing themselves 
to the scheme. 

The second international conference met in 
Paris, at the invitation of the French Government, 
in December last, and_ thirty-three countries 
were represented by delegates officially nomin- 
ated, whose resolutions will be submitted to their 
respective Governments for formal ratification. 
This official character of the meeting has much 
practical importance. The scheme had been dis- 
cussed at successive meetings of the International 
Geographical Congress for twenty years; it re- 
mained inoperative until the first official confer- 
ence of 1900. 

The first business of the Paris meeting was 
to decide what parts of the London resolutions 
should stand unchanged, and what was open to 
discussion. A prompt decision to leave as much 
as possible untouched cleared the way for the 
real business of the meeting, which resolved itself 
into three parts—the revision of the conventional 
signs; the improvement of the colour scale for 
the layers, and other details of the representa- 
tion of relief; and the distribution of the sheets 


NO. -2320,) VOU, -93] 


NAT ORE 


[APRIL 16, 1914 


which covered the territory of several Powers. 
The three commissions which were nominated to 
deal with these questions chose as their presidents 
Prof. Penck, Colonel Thiébaut, of the Service 
géographique de l’armée, and Colonel Close, 
respectively. General Bourgeois, chief of the 
Service géographique, presided over the full con- 
ference with admirable firmness and lucidity. 

The work of the first commission involved long 
meetings and animated discussion on the classi- 
fication of towns and the spelling of place names,, 
which affect different countries in very different 
ways. A system of town classification which is. 
good for Europe is hopeless for Africa, while the 
relative claims of population and administrative 
importance lead to difficulties on a single sheet. 
The spelling of place names in Eastern Europe 
is fiercely contestable; the transliteration of 
African names into European equivalents produces 
endless trouble on boundary sheets. On these 
matters no hard and fast agreement was possible ; 
much must be left to the discretion of the estab- 
lishment that makes the sheet. Minor difficulties. 
in the classification of railways, navigable rivers, 
and roads were amicably adjusted, and the result- 
ing conventional signs sheet is in many respects. 
a great improvement on that adopted four years 
ago. 

The work of the second commission was very 
much simplified by the production of experimental 
variants of the Istambul sheet, which had been 
prepared by Colonel Hedley in the Geographical 
Section of the General Staff. Fine black contours, 
instead of brown, were accepted without difh- 
culty. The ugly and unsatisfactory upper tones 
of the London colour scale for layer tints found 
few defenders, and it was not difficult to sub- 
stitute a scale running into orange and red in 
place of the old brown and magenta. Above the 
snow line the layer tint is to be omitted; glaciers 
are to be distinguished by blue form lines or 
hachures, and there is liberty to use shading when 
the contours are not sufficient to bring up the 
form of the snow peaks. In principle the contour 
interval is, as before, 100 metres throughout; 
but this is not always feasible, while the sup- 
pression of contours at discretion leads to un- 
necessary diversity. The remedy was to declare 
certain contours obligatory (courbes maitresses), 
the others being discretionary. 

The third commission laid down the principle 
that the right to produce a sheet belonged to the 
country which owned most territory within its 
limits, and refused to make any pronouncement 
as to sheets lying wholly in territories which have 
no cartographical establishments. The signifi- 
cance of the latter decision was lessened by the 
announcement of the Chinese delegate that topo- 
graphical establishments were now in active 
operation in all the provinces of the Republic. 
The delegates of the South American States came 
to an important agreement among themselves in 
regard to the representation of doubtful 
boundaries. 

In the full sessions the decisions of the com: 


APRIL 16, 1914] 


missions were ratified without excessive re- 
discussion, and there was happily no need to 
settle the awkward question whether delegates of 
countries which had not produced, and never 
would produce, a sheet of the map should have 
an equal voice with others more deeply interested. 

In an enterprise needing so much cooperation 
and exchange of information a central office is 
necessary. The British delegates had the satis- 
faction of being authorised by their Government 
to propose that a central office should be estab- 
lished in England, of which the small expenses 
should be borne by contributions from the con- 
senting Powers in equal shares. The conference 
did England the honour of accepting this proposal 
unanimously, and if the agreement is ratified it 
is probable that the office will be at the Ordnance 
Survey, Southampton, with an auxiliary office 
in London where all information will be available 
for reference. 

It was decided that the official name of the 
map shall be the French name—‘ Carte inter- 
nationale du monde au millioniéme.” A strict 
adherence to this rule is desirable, especially in 
indexing and cataloguing the literature which will 
grow up, in notices, reviews, and lists of published 
sheets. 

The labours of the conference were lightened 
by the excellent arrangements made for its recep- 
tion in the Salle d’honneur at the Invalides, and 
in the rooms of the Service géographique; by 
the cordial attentions of the hosts; and by the 
splendid hospitality, public and private, extended 
to the delegates. 

The British delegates were Colonel Close 
(Ordnance Survey), Colonel Hedley and Captain 
Cox (Geographical Section, General Staff), and 
Mr. Hinks (Royal Geographical Society), repre- 
senting Great Britain; Major Tandy (Survey of 
India) representing India; and Major Richard- 
son, representing New Zealand. 


INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION ON PLANT 
DISEASES. 


a yabiesied after the final sitting of the Inter- 
national Phytopathological Conference, which 
was held at Rome last month, an official statement 
was issued, and extracts from it were given in our 
issue for March 26 (p. go). The text of the draft 
convention which was prepared at this conference 
has now been issued by the International Agri- 
cultural Institute at Rome, and the Governments 
which were represented on that occasion will be 
invited to consider whether they will signify their 
formal acceptance of the proposed agreement. 
Their decision will depend on political and adminis- 
trative reasons with which we are not here con- 
cerned, but the suggestions contained in the docu- 
ment mark an advance in public opinion on the 
subject of plant diseases of great interest to 
men of science, which cannot be entirely over- 
looked. The delegates of thirty independent States 
have decided that it is desirable that a uniform 
procedure should be adopted to control the spread 


NO. 2320, VOL. 93| 


NATURE 


167 
of those diseases which have in the past done so 
much injury to agricultural and horticultural crops, 
and, indeed, are still doing so, and that this pro- 
cedure should include both the scientific study of 
the insect and fungus pests at one or more 
Government phytopathological stations in each 
country, and the application of remedial measures 
by administrative order where these pests exist. 
The official acceptance of this policy would in 
any case give a great stimulus to the study of 
applied biology, and would tend to concentrate the 
attention of entomologists and mycologists on 
economic problems. But the scheme contemplated 
by some of the articles of the convention is 


likely to be productive of even more important re- 


sults. It was evidently felt impossible to prepare a 
list of dangerous diseases applicable to all countries, 
and while, on one hand, it was decided not to 
legislate for those diseases which attack agricul- 
tural crops, such as seeds, grain, potatoes, and 
other “articles de grande culture,” each Govern- 
ment is invited to prepare a list of those diseases 
against which it wishes to be protected. The pre- 
paration of such a list is bound to be difficult, since 
many of the diseases which are comparatively 
harmless in a country where they have been estab- 
lished for many years are apt to assume a virulent 
character when introduced into a country where 
they are unknown. The ravages caused by the 
Brown Tail Moth (Euproctis chrysorrhoea) and 
the Cotton Boll Weevil (Anthonomus grandis) in 
America, by the Vine Louse (Phylloxera vasta- 
trix) and the American Gooseberry mildew 
(Sphaerotheca mors-Uvae) in Europe, are familiar 
examples. The attention of official plant patho- 
logists will have, therefore, to be directed not only 
to the study of the pests of their own country, 
but also to those of other countries the character 
of which is such that they might prove dangerous 
if introduced. 

The field for this kind of research is, of course, 
very wide; but lest an opening should be given 
to unreasonable and alarmist measures likely to 
cause a serious disturbance of trade, it is laid down 
in a very important article what are the con- 
ditions on which the list must be prepared. It is 
wisely declared that the list must be as restricted 
as possible, and must not include any of those 
common pests which are widely distributed in 
almost every country, and are well established 
there. (Les espéces banales, dont la dispersion 
déja ancienne s’étend a presque tous les pays.) 
Moreover, the pest must be epidemic in character, 
and destructive, or at least very injurious, in 
action, as well as be easily capable of being con- 
veyed on living plants, or parts of plants. 

In those cases where the pest is already known 
to be of such a character in its native home or in 
some country into which it has already been intro- 
duced, its inclusion in the list is a foregone con- 
clusion, and there will be little hesitation about 
including the San José Scale (Aspidiotus pernict- 
osus) or the Mediterranean Fruit Fly (Ceratitis 
capitata), the Black Knot (Plowrightia morbosa) 
or the Chestnut disease (Endothia parasitica). 


168 


NATURE 


[APRIL 16, 1914 


But in other cases a difficulty will arise. Where 
experience cannot speak with certainty, a 
scientific reason must be urged, and it will be 
necessary to formulate a series of deductions from 
the life-history of the insect or fungus which would 
justify a presumption that in different surroundings 


the pest might prove epidemic as well as destruc- | 


tive to plant lite, or at least injurious to the crop. 
No doubt it will be possible, in the course of time, 
to declare with more accuracy than at present what 
are the circumstances in which such conditions 
might arise; but it will require a long and careful 
study, not only of plant hygiene, but also of the 
limits of the powers of adaptation to environment 
possessed by parasitic organisms, under the 
stinvlus of altered climatic and cultural con- 
ditions, as well as freedom from injurious influ- 
ences. This article in the proposed convention 
will, if adopted, have a marked influence on the 
trend of economic biology and plant pathology. 


NOTES. 


A COLLECTION of rock specimens of considerable his- 
toric interest has just been presented to the Depart- 
ment of Minerals of the Natural History Museum. 
The specimens in question were collected in Arctic 
North America by Sir John Richardson, who accom- 
panied Sir John Franklin’s Arctic Expeditions of 
1819-1827. They have since that time been kept in 
the museum of the Royal Naval Hospital at Haslar, 
but inasmuch as the fossils collected in the same 
Arctic expeditions are in the National Museum at 
South Kensington, it was felt to be in the fitness of 
things that the rocks should be also preserved there. 
An application was accordingly: made to the Lords of 
the Admiralty to sanction the transfer of the specimens 
from Haslar to Cromwell Road, with the result that, 
as we have stated, they are now in the Department of 
Minerals. 


On Tuesday next, April 21, Dr. Walter Wahl will 
deliver the first of two lectures at the Royal Institu- 
tion on problems of physical chemistry: (1) study of 
matter at high pressures, (2) study of matter at low 
temperatures; on Thursday, April 30, Dean Inge will 
begin a course of three lectures on the last chapter 
of Greek philosophy : Plotinus as philosopher, religious 
teacher, and mystic; and on Saturday, April 25, Dr. 
T. E. Stanton will commence a course of two lectures 
on similarity of motion in fluids: (1) the theory of 
similarity of motion in fluids and the experimental 
proof of its existence, (2) the general law of surface 
friction in fluid motion. The Friday evening dis- 
course on April 24 will be delivered by Dr. F. W. 
Dyson, the Astronomer Royal, on the stars around 
the north pole. 


Pror. E. Heyn, of Berlin, is this year to deliver 
the annual May lecture before the Institute of Metals, 
upon the subject of ‘‘ Internal Strains in Cold Wrought 
Metals, and Some Troubles Caused Thereby.’’ The 
last May lecture, by Sir J. Alfred Ewing, was on the 
subject of ‘‘The Inner Structure of Simple Metals,” 
and previously Dr. G. T. Beilby had lectured on an 
allied subject, ‘‘The Hard and Soft States in Metals.” 


NO. 2320, VOL, 193) 


Prof. Heyn’s discourse will be given in the building 
of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Storey’s 
Gate, Westminster, S.W., under the chairmanship of 
Admiral Sir Henry Oram, president of the Institute 
of Metals, on Tuesday, May 12, at 8.30 p.m. The 
secretary of the Institute, Mr. G. Shaw. Scott, of 
Caxton House, Westminster, S.W., will be glad to 


| forward tickets to any readers who may desire to be 


present at the lecture. 


PRINCE GALITZIN will preside over the fifth meeting 
of the International Seismological Association, to be 
held early next September, in St. Petersburg. The 
exact date of the meeting is not yet fixed, but the 
provisional programme has just been issued. Reports 
will be presented by the committees on microseisms, 
on tides in the earth’s crust, the bibliography of 
seismology, the catalogues of earthquakes prepared 
by the permanent committee, and the uniformity in 
the arrangement of seismological bulletins. It will 
be proposed that a new station shall be founded at 
Bergen, that a reserve supply of seismographs should 
be kept for occasional or temporary use, and it will 
be urged that all seismographs should be provided 
with suitable ‘‘damping”’ arrangements, and that cor- 
rect time should be supplied by telegraphic signals to 
all earthquake observatories. Among the papers pro- 
mised may be mentioned those of the president on 
the analysis of seismograms, the comparative study 
of seismograms from different stations, and on ob- 
servations of the angle of emergence, and of Prof. 
Omori on the tromometric observations made during 
the recent eruptions on the flanks of the Asama-yama. 


News has just reached us of the death on February 
18, in his forty-sixth year, of Dr. J. Huber, director 
of the Museu Goeldi, Para, Brazil. 


Mr. G. H. Martyn, writing from Biarritz, says that 
on March 30, at the end of a bright day with light 
winds, the sun appeared to pass through a clear sky 
and set in the sea, from which it seemed immediately 
to start rising again. ‘‘The reflecting layer of air 
was not wide enough to reflect the whole disc of the 
sun, but a band having a width of a third of the sun’s 
diameter, so that the appearance was of the sun 
rising and passing behind a bank of invisible clouds.” 


In the Irish Naturalist for March Mr. N. Colgan 


contributes an article entitled ‘‘ Field Notes on the 
Folk-lore of Irish Plants and Animals.’’ He shows 
the current traditional knowledge of the trans- 


mogrification of species, and that of sexes in plants. 
Thus, the royal fern is believed to be’ the wild 
rannyock or common bracken, and the spargantium 
or bur-reed the wild shellistring or flagger. The 
people identify a he- and she-bulkishawn or ragweed, 
the latter turning. out to be the common tansy. On 
the Irish coasts the common limpet or patella is firmly 
believed to develop out of the acorn-shell or balanus 
which covers the rocks. The grimmest belief about 
the elder is ‘thus stated by a car-driver: ‘‘ That’s the 
elder tuff. It’s a bad thing to give a man a scelp of 
that. If you do, his hand ’ill grow out of his grave.” 


A CONSIDERABLE portion of the second number of 
vol. v. of the Journal of the Federated Malay States 


APRIL 16, 1914] 


Museums is devoted to various groups of Malay 
aboriginal tribes, Mr. C. B. Kloss communicating a 
number of measurements and photographs of Bidu- 
anda (Mantra) of the Ulu Kenaboi, Jelebu, while Mr. 
J. H. Evans furnishes notes on the same tribe, as well 
as others relating to the natives of Lenggong, Upper 
Perak, and yet others on those of the Ulu Langat, 
Selangor. The Lenggong aborigines, although de- 
rived from a Negrito stock, speak a Sakai dialect, 
like the pure (Negrito) Semang of Grit, from which, 
however, they differ by their lighter colour. Like 
many of the other native tribes, they object, however, 
to be called either Semang or Sakai, the reason for 
this being that both these names are commonly used 
bv ‘he Malays as terms of reproach. The people of 
the Ulu Langat and Ulu Kenaboi, who are all of one 
race, are more or less pure-bred Sakai. 


In the issue of L’Anthropologie. for November- 
December, 1913, Mr. O. G. S. Crawford discusses 
the question of prehistoric trade between England 
and France. He directs attention to the discovery in 
southern England of certain stone celts, vases, and 
bronze palstaves of Continental types. These seem to 
have reached this country from the Cotentin penin- 
sula, in which prehistoric remains, especially hoards, 
are abundant. In support of these views he further 
considers the position of sites in this country sacred 
to the worship of St. Catherine. These lie in the 
western half of our south coast, but are wanting in 
the eastern half.. He suggests that her wheel is a 
symbol of light connected with a Gaulish divinity, 
known as Lhud in Britain, and Nuada in Ireland. 
The cult of St. Catherine, not known in England 
before the Norman Conquest, is believed to have 
arisen in sites sacred to her predecessor, the olden 
Gaulish deity. 


Ar a recent meeting of the Prehistoric Society of 
East Anglia, Mr. J. Reid Moir announced the dis- 
covery of a flint workshop floor in Ivry Street, St. Albans. 
An excavation for building purposes disclosed one 
foot of surface soil and two feet of fine stoneless sand. 
Then came the prehistoric stratum, containing flint 
cores and flakes, calcined flints, fragments of pottery, 
quartzite pebbles used as hammer-stones, and animal 
bones, some of which had been cut through, and, for 
some purpose, incised. Under this stratum lay fine 
sand to an unknown depth. Most of the flints were 
in the form of long flakes, patinated of a light blue 
colour. One had been trimmed for use as a scraper, 
and though it is difficult to attribute these specimens 
to any particular culture, Mr. Moir, judging from the 
length of the flakes, is inclined to assign them to the 
Magdalenian period. The bones found were those of 
a small sheep, teeth of an ox, and a tibia, probably 
that of a red deer. It is curious that another ‘‘find”’ 
of flints recently discovered at Ipswich is assigned to 
the Aurignacian period. If this attribution be 
accepted, we find remains of two Paleolithic periods 
within the confines of this town. 


In Meddelelser fra Kommissionen for Havunder- 
sogelser, Fiskeri, Bd. iv., we have two papers dealing 
with the biology of the plaice. The first of these is 

NO. 2320, VOL. 93] 


NATURE 


169 


by Dr.-A. C. Johansen, on the immigration of plaice 
to the coastal grounds and fiords on the west coast of 
Jutland, and contains some interesting data on’ the 
changes in frequency of young plaice from one year 
to another in the shore zone. The second paper is by 
B. Saemundsson, on marking experiments carried out 
in the neighbourhood of Iceland. These experiments 
yield some results of interest, though they are not 
altogether satisfactory on account of the small num- 
bers of fish dealt with. It is interesting to note that 
by far the largest number of recaptures were made 
by English trawlers from Grimsby and Hull. In the 
same volume there is a useful report by P. L. Kramp 
on fish-eggs and larve collected in 1909 in the Lange- 
lands Belt. 


In the March number of the Journal of Economic 
Biology (of which we notice that Mr. W. E. Collinge 
is now sole editor) Mr. A. A. Girault, of the Univer- 
sity of Illinois, completes his ‘‘ Preliminary Studies on 
the Biology of the Bed-bug (Cimex lectularius),” 
giving details of successive pairings and generations 
with statistics as to the periods of feeding and the 
numbers of eggs laid by the females under observa- 
tion. In summarising the reactions of bed-bugs to 
various stimuli, Mr. Girault states that the insect’s 
usual behaviour of shunning light may be abandoned 
under the stronger stimulus of hunger. ‘‘ Bed-bugs 
will visit a host in daylight or in bright artificial 
lights when hungry . . . as soon as the food-stimulus 
is neutralised by engorgement, however, the negative- 
ness to light becomes dominant again, and the insect 
runs off to hide itself.”’ 


Tue February issue of the Bulletin of Entomological 
Research contains, as usual, systematic papers of.con- 
siderable interest. Mr. F. V. Theobald writes on 
African Aphididz, and is able to record ‘‘ only thirty- 
five species for the whole African continent, about the 
number one can collect in a single afternoon in one’s 
own garden in England,’’ and several of these have 
clearly been introduced with nursery stock from 
Europe. Prof. R. Newstead describes new Coccide, 
and Mr. E. E..Austen new Tabanidz, both papers 
being. well illustrated. Of considerable interest is Mr. 
R. B. Woosnam’s report on a search for Glossina 
(Tsetse-flies) on the Amala River in the southern 
Masai. Reserve, of which he is game-warden. In a 
definitely restricted area along the river and its tribu- 
taries at more than 5000 ft. altitude he found a 
Western species, G. fusca, hitherto unknown in the 
East African Protectorate. The cattle, sheep, and 
goats of the Masai suffer very little from tsetse-borne 
disease, either because the people manage to avoid 
the fly-belt when moving their stock, or because only 
a very small proportion of the flies are infective. 


By publishing reports for two successive years in a 
single cover, the Felsted School Scientific Society is 
enabled to reproduce some of the prize photographs 
taken by its members, the report for 1912-13 conse- 
quently presenting a more than usually attractive 
appearance. Particular interest attaches to the photo- 
graphs of a young cuckoo and its foster-parent, a 
whitethroat. 


170 


In the newly issued vol, xxxiv. of ‘“Botanisk Tids- 
skrift,” Copenhagen, 8. Winge gives an account of 
some new Sagasso Sea investigations. During 
1911-13, the Danish Commission for the Study of the 
Sea organised a collection of plankton samples by 
Danish Transatlantic vessels. This material is now 
to be worked up, and Winge, who is studying the 
distribution and frequency of the Sargasso, finds the 
Gulf-weed consists chiefly of two species (S. bacci- 
ferum and S. vulgare), besides other less common 
forms (Sargassum species and Ascophyllum nodosum). 
The great quantity of Sargasso was met with between 
lat. 37° and 23° N., and long. 35° to 60° W., within 
an oval area about 600 miles broad. As was the case 
with the earlier ‘‘ Sargasso-frequencies”’ of Kriimmel 
and Antze, all the samples show an autumnal simul- 
taneous increase of the quantity of the Sargasso. 
This suggests that the floating Gulf-weed has a long- 
lasting drift and a yearly growth-period in the late 
summer. Sexual reproduction of the drifting Sar- 
gasso is still unknown. 

P. D. QuenseL adds very greatly to our knowledge 
of the geology of western Patagonia in his “ Geo- 
logisch-petrographische Studien in der patagonischen 
Cordillera’? (Bull. Geol. Inst. Univ. of Upsala, vol. xi., 
p. 1). The great group of laccolitic intrusions, vary- 
ing from granite to gabbro, is younger than the 
Cretaceous period, and even cuts the folded structure 
of the chain. As the photographs of scenery show, 
frost-action produces superb crags and pinnacles in 
these young and well-jointed granitoid rocks. 


geologists may be both surprised 
find an elaborate paper in 
English on the geological structure and_ history 
of the Falkland Islands, by Thore G. Halle, 
in the Bulletin of the Geological Institution of 
the University of Upsala (vol. xi., pp. 115-226), accom- 
panied by numerous illustrations and a coloured map. 
The feature of cardinal importance is the discovery 
of Permo-Carboniferous strata, with Glossopteris, and 
a glacial boulder-bed (‘‘til'ite’’) at the base. For this 
series the author proposes the local name Lafonian. 
The Permo-Carboniferous glaciation is thus seen to 
have a very wide extension, and it is interestingly 
pointed out that a laminated clay, and the occurrence 
of annual rings in the Dadoxyla of the local Gond- 
wana flora, indicate a solar control of the climate 
during cold conditions. The laminated clay is figured, 
and bears a remarkable resemblance to those asso- 
ciated with the pre-Cambrian glacial beds in Ontario 
and with post-Pliocene glacial beds in Sweden. 


BRITISH 
and gratified to 


A FULL report of the recent Sakura-jima eruption 
has been issued in Japanese by the Kagoshima 
Meteorological Station; it is especially interesting as 
giving accurate records of the events which preceded 
and followed the great eruption. The actual eruption 
commenced on the morning of January 12, but earth- 
quakes, gradually increasing in intensity and_ fre- 
quency, were felt from early morning on January It. 
The general features of the eruption have been 
already described, but we have now further particulars 
concerning the lava-flow. On January 14, at 7 a.m., 
a lava-stream was seen issuing from the mountain, 


NO. -2320,, VOU,03 | 


NATURE 


{APRIL 16, I914 

but, encountering high ground, it spread out to a 
width of a mile and a half, with a thickness of ‘‘ some 
scores of feet’’; the flow of lava was resumed on the 
following day, several small craters being opened 
along its course, and on January 16 the lava-current 
reached the sea, pushing its way out to one of the 
small islands in the bay. The activity of the volcano 
gradually diminished from this time, but did not 
entirely cease until January 27. The earthquake 
shocks, which became less violent during the eruption, 
increased in number and intensity as the volcanic 
action declined, and then gradually died away. The 


| seismometer recorded no fewer than 418 shocks on 


the day before the eruption, but during the eruption 
the seismometer having been broken, it was difficult 
to distinguish between earth-vibrations and the vol- 
canic rumblings. 


THE Royal Meteorological Institute of the Nether- 
lands has published the third quarter (December- 
February) of a new edition of its very laborious work, 
‘““Oceanographic and Meteorological Observations in 
the Indian Ocean.’’ It consists of two parts: (1) 
tabuiar results for the years 1856-1910, and (2) charts 
constructed therefrom. This issue is much more com- 
plete than that for the previous quarter, owing to the 
inclusion (1) of observations for a longer period, and 
(2) of a large amount of data received from other 
meteorological services. In this latter respect special 
thanks are accorded to our own Meteorological Office. 
These additions, referring partly to routes not usually 
taken by Dutch vessels, have allowed certain areas to 
be more fully represented. The charts, twenty-five in 
number, show the frequency of direction and mean 
velocity of currents and winds, together with the 
general circulation of air and water for each of the 
months in question, isobars, isotherms, etc. On the 
backs of some of the charts details likely to be of use 
to seamen, and based upon all available data, have 
been carefully prepared. Taking into account the pos- 
sible establishment of a direct service between the 
Netherlands’ East Indies and South Africa routes are 
laid down for vessels between those parts, in addition 
to the tracks recommended for other places on either 
side of the Indian Ocean. 


THE shape of a nearly spherical drop falling in a 
viscous liquid of different density forms the subject 
of a paper by Shizumi Saito in the Science Reports 
of the Tokyo Imperial University, vol. ii., No. 5. The 
solution is obtained by harmonic analysis, though the 
method could be shortened by employing the ordinary 
polar equations of motion or Stokes’s stream function. 
The paper leads to the conclusion that the drop may 
be deformed into a prolate or oblate spheroid, the 
distinguishing criterion being in the form of a relation 
connecting the densities and viscosities of the inner 
and outer liquids. 


A VALUABLE report on the effect of ice on the flow 
of streams in the United States has been drawn up 
by Mr. W. G. Hoyt, and forms Water Supply 
Paper 337 of the U.S. Geological Survey. The first 
report on the subject was issued in 1907, and dealt 
mainly with the field operations necessary for the 
estimation of the rate of flow. The present paper 


APRIL 16, 1914] 


NATURE 


it 


goes much further, owing to the work which has 
been done in the interval, and includes a discussion 
of the factors which influence the flow during the 
low-temperature period, and the calculation of the 
flow from the observations taken. 


Tue Journal of the Washington Academy of 
Sciences for March 19 contains a résumé of a paper 
on the brightness of optical images by Mr. P. G. 
Nutting, which is to be published in extenso else- 
where. The results obtained deal principally with the 
transmitting power of various types of photographic 
lenses. The method adopted consists in exposing a 
white magnesia block to a luminous source of 1500 
candle-power enclosed in opal glass, and comparing 
the brightness of the magnesia when _ illuminated 
direct, with the brightness of the image of the source 
when thrown on the same surface by the lens system 
under test. The observed transmissions vary from 
57 per cent. for a Zeiss-Krauss tessar to 92 per cent. 
for a Fuess telescope objective. For several process 
lenses the transmission is 76-78 per cent., showing 
that for the six glass-air surfaces of which they con- 
sist the transmission is quite up to that theoretically 
obtainable. 


Ir is interesting to read in the Revue Générale des 
Sciences (March 15) an elementary discussion of the 
principle of relativity by Prof. H. A. Lorentz, to 
whom, more than to any other, the hypothesis owes 
its origin. After a very clear exposition of some 
simple ideal experiments which illustrate the relative 
nature of the measures of space and time, he dis- 
misses in a single paragraph what is to most physicists 
the greatest objection to the principle, the apparent 
denial of the existence of the ather as they had come 
to think of it. ‘‘ That is, as it seems to me, a question 
towards which each physicist may take the attitude 
which best agrees with the way of thinking to which 
he is best accustomed.” “. . . he must recognise 
that it is impossible for him to know the direction 
and the velocity of the zether (relative to his apparatus), 
and, if he feels the need of not concerning himself 
with his ignorance, he will take the side of M. Ein- 
stein.’’ It is interesting to speculate how far it is 
possible to use these words and at the same time 
to feel convinced of the objective existence of a unique 
zther, which is something more than a convenient way 
of correlating phenomena, but may be described in 
Prof. Lorentz’s own words as ‘‘always remaining at 
rest,” and ‘‘endowed with a certain degree of sub- 
stantiality.”’ 


In the Monist (vol. xxiv., No 1) Mr. Leonard T. 
Troland, under the title ‘‘The Chemical Origin and 
Regulation of Life,’’ combats recent views on vitalism, 
that “cult of incompetence”’ in biology. The position 
taken up is that ‘‘a single physico-chemical concep- 
tion may be employed in the rational explanation of 
the very life phenomena which the neo-vitalists regard 
as inexplicable on any but mystical grounds. This 
conception is that of the enzyme or organic catalyst.”’ 
The thesis is developed along five distinct lines, the 
author maintaining that this conception will ultimately 
prove adequate to resolve such fundamental mysteries 


NO. 2320, VOL. 93] 


as the origin of living matter, the origin of organic 
variation, the problems of heredity, the mechanism of 
individual development, and the nature of physio- 
logical regulation in the mature organism. 


AN important method for the rapid estimation of 
zinc in coinage bronze and similar alloys is described 
by Dr. T. K. Rose, Assayer to the Mint, in a paper 
read before the Society of Chemical Industry 
(vol. xxxiii., No. 4). In this method the zinc is 
volatilised away by heating one gram of the alloy 
in a carbon crucible for two hours at a temperature 
of about 1375° C. Strictly speaking, this is not an 
entirely new method in principle, having been de- 
scribed many years back, but it is a process that has 
never come into general use. Dr. Rose has now 
made the method a perfectly practical one by accu- 
rately defining the conditions which are necessary 
for success. The main advantage of the method lies 
in the great saving of time and the avoidance of 
troublesome chemical manipulations. 


THE use of catalysis in organic syntheses has come 
into increasing use in recent years. In the current 
number of the Comptes rendus (No. .14, April 6) 
additional details are given by MM. Paul Sabatier 
and A. Mailhe on the advantages of manganous oxide 
as a catalytic agent in the synthesis of aldehydes and 
ketones. A fatty acid mixed with an excess of formic 
acid: passed over a column of manganous oxide at a 
temperature of 300° C. to 360° C. gives the aldehyde 
corresponding to the acid, the yields being from 50-70 
per cent. of the theoretical. The authors describe the 
preparation by this method of six aldehydes. With 
the same reagent adipic acid gives cyclopentanone in 
80 per cent. yield, and f-methyladipic acid gives 
8-methylcyclopentanone. Manganous oxide is cheap, 
and preserves its catalytic properties over a long 


| period. 


OIL-SEEDS, oils, fats, and waxes are the subjects 
dealt with in a recently issued collection of ‘‘ Selected 
Reports”? from the Scientific and Technical Depart- 
ment of the Imperial Institute (No. 88, Colonial Re- 
ports—Miscellaneous, Cd. 7260). The publication in- 
cludes all the more important reports on the above- 
mentioned products made to the Colonial, Indian, and 
other Governments during the years 1903 to 1912. A 
large number of seeds and oils have been analysed 
and otherwise tested by the department, the object in 
view being to give information as to the yield and 
nature of the oil obtainable from the seeds, and the 
possibility of utilising the products commercially. The 
reports proper are preceded by a short introduction 
explaining the classification of the oils into groups, 
and the meaning of the analytical terms employed in 
the descriptions. Among the more interesting 
memoirs is one on the utilisation of para rubber seed, 
which contains a drying oil possessing properties very 
similar to those of linseed oil; it is concluded that the 
kernel is a valuable economic product. One of the 
longest reports treats of the palm-oil industry in 
British West Africa. Large areas of oil-palm forest 
still exist almost untouched, and though the native 
processes for extracting the oil are crude and waste- 


172 


NATORE 


ful, it is considered that no failure of supply is likely 
to occur in the immediate future. 


Tue April issue of Mr. C. Baker’s list of ‘‘ Second- 
hand Instruments for Sale or Hire”’ is now available, 
and can be obtained post free on application to 244 
High Holborn, London. The catalogue contains de- 
scriptions of nearly 2000 pieces of scientific apparatus, 
amongst which modern microscopes and objectives, 
telescopes and spectroscopes, take a prominent place. 
The preface to the catalogue points out that every 
instrument is guaranteed to be in adjustment, and 
that customers may in certain circumstances have 
instruments for three days on approval. 


Messrs. DuLau AND Co., LTp., 37 Soho Square, 
London, W., have just issued their Catalogue 65 deal- 
ing with works on recent and fossil ichthyology which 
they are offering for sale. The list contains 1740 
entries, and includes periodicals as well as books on 
every branch of the science concerned. 


OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 


APRIL SHOOTING StTars.—Mr. W. F. Denning 
writes :—On Tuesday night, April 21, there may occur 
a rich return of the April meteoric shower. It is un- 
certain, however, what this year’s aspect of the dis- 
play will be, as the periodic time is not known. There 
were brilliant returns in 1803 and 1851, and there is 
indication that the brighter and more abundant exhibi- 
tions of this stream occur at intervals of sixteen years. 
If so, it ought to be well seen in 1915, but in view 
of the doubts remaining, the phenomenon should be 
watched every year, for negative evidence is sometimes 
useful. The Lyrids probably form a moving radiant 
like the Perseids, the motion being to the eastward 
one degree a day. This feature should be attentively 
looked for, but the shower is usually a very brief one, 
and meteors directed from it are rarely seen before 
April 19 or after April 22. This year the moonlight 
will be almost absent from the sky at the time of the 
maximum, so that with a clear atmosphere the cir- 
cumstances will be highly favourable for its observa- 
tion. 


Nova GEMINORUM No. 2.—A number of observations 
has recently come to enrich the general store of data 
regarding this nova, and some of these later con- 
tributions possess a high degree of importance. ‘This 
applies especially to a memoir appearing in Bulletin 
No. 3 of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, St. 
Petersburg, communicated by M. N. V. Vojtkevié- 
Poliakova, of the Pulkova Observatory. Unfor- 
tunately for English students. this memoir is printed 
in Russian, but it contains an excellent plate giving 
reproductions of eight spectrograms of the new star. 
It is at once apparent that evidence has been obtained 
regarding the transient proemial phase during which 
the nova exhibited a dark-line spectrum showing char- 
acteristics resembling that of Procyon. Although the 
Harvard spectrograms had established beyond any pos- 
sibility of doubt that this nova had indeed passed 
through this so much questioned stage, the value of 
independent confirmatory evidence need not be in- 
sisted on. The series of thirty-six spectrograms dis- 
cussed in the paper extends from March 15, 1912, to 
October 8, 1913, and inciudes two excellent plates 
taken on the first date, ard others for March 16, 17, 
and 18. The wholly dark-line stage so happily caught 
at the Harvard College Observatory was missed at 
Pulkova, but the leading Procyonian features are still 


NO; (2320;..ViOrenO 3] 


[APRIL ‘16, 1914 


predominant in the first two spectra, although: the 
bright-line spectrum is making its appearance, and 
on March 16 predominates, but the H and K lines 
may still be seen quite plainly. 

Another spectroscopic paper comes from the Catania 
Observatory, and is the work of Dr. Vittorio Fontana. 
It appeared in the Memoirs of the Societa Spettro- 
scopisti Italiani, vol. ii., series 2, pp. 201-10. 

Additional observations of the light changes of this 
nova are given in two papers published in No. 4720, 
Astronomische Nachrichten. In the first of these 
von J. Kasansky, Moscow Observatory, presents fifty- 
seven determinations, ranging from the time of the 
discovery (March 14, 1912) to March 27, 1913. The 
observed magnitudes range from 3:58 (H.R.) on the 
former to 8-76 on the latter date. By March 16 the 
brightness of the nova had fallen nearly two mag- 
nitudes to 5-54. The magnitudes for the greater part 
of the series are also stated in terms of the Potsdam 
scale, and can thus be at once compared with the 
values given in the other paper, which is by Sig. 
Eugeni Guerrieri, Capodimento Observatory. | This 
series includes 139 determinations of magnitude be- 
tween March 28, 1912, and April 29, 1913. The light 
curve exhibits the typical characteristics of nova 
variability. For the few common dates the two series 
show good agreement. 


DiuRNAL VaRIATIONS OF LatiruDE.—During last year 
M. Jean Boccardi, in discussing the results of his 
observations for latitude made -by the method of 
Struve, drew the conclusion that an effect of lunar 
attraction was suggested by displacements from the 
vertical. As these displacements were considerably 
greater than those which he could calculate by theory 
he was led to conclude that these latitude variations 
were caused by geological conditions special to the 
place of observation. Having subsequently become 
acquainted with M. Schumann’s researches on latitude 
variations in which he could trace undulatory curves 
showing diurnal variations of latitude, M. Boccardi 
has completed some diagrams showing the march of 
the latitude values. These diagrams are not pub- 
lished in the communication which he sends to the 
Comptes rendus of the Paris Academy of Sciences 
(February 9, 1914, No. 6); tables only are given, but 
he states that the maxima and minima values of the 
latitude obtained with the four stars which he has 
observed follow one another at intervals which corre- 
spond to the movement made by the moon in right 
ascension during the corresponding intervals of right 
ascensions between the stars. Thus the action of the 
moon seems to be demonstrated. 


A PERPETUAL CALENDAR.—We have received a neat 
perpetual calendar, ‘‘Alle Jahreskalender auf einem 
Blatt,” by ‘‘Dr. Doliarius,”’ of Leipzig (B. G. Teub- 
ner). It is of postcard size, and seems well adapted 
to the requirements of clergymen and others. Three 
tables are given: (1) the dates of Easter according to 
the Gregorian calendar, 1582-2000; (2) the correspond- 
ing Julian dates, 1470-2004; and (3) a double enumera- 
tion of the days of the year arranged in thirteen 
columns in such a way that any seven consecutive 
columns are complete in themselves. A separate card 
frame is supplied having a slit which fits over the 
width of seven columns, and as the top of the slit is 
marked with the seven days of the week an annual 
calendar is displayed when the frame is placed over 
table (3). The correct position of the frame is deter- 
mined by a marked space which is adjusted to the 
date of Easter for the year required according to the 
indication of table (1) or (2). The manipulation of 
| the calendar is quite simple, and furnishes the dates 
) of the principal church festivals very readily. 


AprRIL 16, 1914] 


PRIMARY EDUCATION AND BEYOND. 


“HE national system of education adumbrated by 
Lord Haldane and other responsible authorities 
about a year ago has not yet taken shape, but mean- 
while a measure embodying some of the prospective 
reforms in the domain of elementary education has 
passed its second reading in the House of Commons. 
We refer to the Children (Employment and School 
Attendance) Bill introduced by the Hon. R. D. Den- 
man, member for Carlisle. The principal changes in 
the law proposed by this Bill are the grant of optional 
powers to local education authorities to extend the 
age of leaving school from fourteen years to fifteen ; 
no exception from school attendance to be allowed for 
children under thirteen years; the abolition of the 
existing half-time system; the grant to local educa- 
tion authorities of power to require attendance at 
continuation classes; and the prohibition of street 
trading by boys under fifteen and girls under eighteen. 
While we await the complete scheme of national 
education promised by the Government, it may be 
worth while to state the present position as regards 
those points of primary education for which provision 
is made in Mr. Denman’s Bill, particularly in the 
matter of continuation classes, which is likely to be 
given much attention in the near future. Mr. Pease, 
the President of the Board of Education, has recently 
made a personal examination of the continuation- 
school systems in France and Germany; and we may 
expect to hear something of his impressions and con- 
clusions when he makes his next statement to Parlia- 
ment upon the work and outlook of his Board. 

As the law stands in England at present, a child 
can leave school immediately it reaches the age of 
fourteen years, whatever its position in the school may 
be. Partial exemption from school in order to enter 
employment during certain hours of the day can be 
obtained at the age of twelve years, or at eleven in 
agricultural districts, if the standard of exemption 
fixed by the local education authority has been passed. 
This is the ‘‘half-time system’; and since the year 
1907-8 there has been a continued decrease in the 
number of children who have taken advantage of it; 
or rather of whom parents and employers have taken 
advantage by exploiting their labour. The latest 
report of the Board of Education (Cd. 6707) shows 
that there are about 70,000 half-timers, and _ that 
nearly 59,000 of these belong to the districts of Lan- 
cashire and Yorkshire engaged in textile industries. 
As about half a million children normally leave the 
elementary school every year, it is surely not much 
to insist that the seventy thousand partial exemption 
pupils should be compelied to remain like the rest until} 
they have reached at least the age of thirteen years. 
If the age of compulsory attendance at school of all 
children were raised to fourteen years, the nation 
would benefit by the enaction of such a law. 

But whatever may be the leaving age of the elemen- 
tary-school career, the work and influence of the 
school are rendered largely nugatory unless the pupil 
passes at once into a system of continuation classes. 
In the ‘‘unguarded years’’ which follow elementary- 
school life, almost all that has been learnt is for- 
gotten, and when later the thoughtful youth awakes 
to a sense of his deficiencies, he has to pick up in 
evening classes the threads carelessly thrown down a 
few years before. The voluntary attendance at even- 
ing classes in technical and other schools is a measure 
of the desire for further education among youths and 
girls who are arriving at years of discretion. The 
adult who, after a day’s work in the workshop or 
office, devotes several hours a week to classes and 
preparation throughout a session shows by this very 
act that he has the spirit of perseverance and industry 


NO. 2320, VOL. 93| 


NATURE 173 


a 


which leads to success. The number of such students 
is large—about 700,0o00o—but when it is critically 
examined and compared with what it might be, the 
result is disappointing. After the first month. or so 
of a session, when the novelty has worn off, there is 
a steady fall in the attendance at evening classes; and 
about 18 per cent. of the 700,000 students at the begin- 
ning fail to complete the small minimum of attend- 
ances—not more than fourteen hours—required in 
order to enable State grants to be paid toward their 
instruction. The average number of hours of instruc- 
tion received by all enrolled evening students in the 
English county boroughs (including London) is fifty- 
eight, this number being about the same as that of 
the working periods in two weeks of ordinary school 
life. It is evident, therefore, that very many of the 
students who enter evening classes are not likely to 
receive instruction of any substantial value. 

The great bulk of the work done in evening classes 
is of the continuation-school type; and it is with the 
juvenile students attending such classes that we are 
now particularly concerned. Nearly one-half of the 
students are under seventeen years of age, and this 
number—roughly 300,o00o—represents the position of 
continuation classes in England. The Board of 
Education estimates that the juvenile students attend- 
ing evening classes do not make up more than 13 per 
cent. of the population between the ages of fourteen 
and seventeen, after making allowance for those still 
at elementary and secondary schools. The failure of 
the classes to attract anything like a sufficient pro- 
portion of the possible students is regretfully recog- 
nised by the Board as ‘‘one of the weakest links in 
the educational system of the country.” 

The voluntary system of continuation classes breaks 
down just when it is most needed. It is essential 
that children should attend such classes immediately 
upon leaving the day school, and not after several 
years’ interval, as is usually the case at present. On 
account of this break of continuity, many evening 
classes are for adults who have forgotten their early 
schooling, and haye to begin again with elementary 
subjects at atime when they want to take up technical 
studies with the view of advancement or of increased 
efficiency in their respective vocations. If most of 
the 223,000 students above twenty-one years of age 
attending evening classes had received suitable con- 
tinuation education after leaving the elementary 
school, they would be capable of much higher work 
than is possible at present. The commonest complaint 
of teachers in technical institutes is that the students 
lack the basis of elementary knowledge upon which 
advanced technical instruction can be built; and the 
defect is largely due to the absence of a system of 
compulsory attendance at continuation classes. A few 
years ago the City and Guilds of London Institute, in 
conjunction with the Board of Education, took active 
steps to encourage the attendance of young persons 
engaged in different trades at evening continuation 
classes, with the view of their acquiring a competent 
knowledge of English, arithmetic, drawing, and 
elementary science before entering upon their first 
year’s course of training in technology. Notwith- 
standing the establishment of group courses, and an 
increased grant for the attendance of students at 
evening continuation classes, it has not been found 
possible to insist upon evidence of attendance at such 
classes prior to the admission of students to a tech- 
nical school. We have well-equipped technical insti- 
tutes and colleges with teachers capable of giving 
instruction in the highest branches of specialised edu- 
cation, but most of the adult evening students, though 
familiar with the practice of their particular trades, 
are unable to take advantage of the instruction offered 
because they have forgotten what they learnt at school. 


174 


Advance in technical education properly so called 
is thus connected very closely with the problem of 
continuation classes; and the only satisfactory way 
of solving the problem is by a system of compulsory 
attendance at such classes from the time a boy or girl 
Teaves the elementary school up to seventeen or 
eighteen years of age. The main difficulties are to 
decide when the classes should be attended, and to 
devise the means of enforcing attendance. Ought 
the hours of attendance to be in the day and within 
the number of hours of employment of young persons, 
or ought they to be taken out of the juvenile’s own 
leisure time after the day’s work is done? Some 
large firms make it a condition of employment of 
their apprentices that continuation classes should be 
attended for a specified number of hours weekly, but 
unless facilities are given for such attendance the 
objection can be made that the firms are increasing 
the number of working hours sanctioned by Acts of 
Parliament. It is not surprising, therefore, that 
trades unions have come into conflict with this system. 
Assembled representatives of labour, and of teachers, 
have on several occasions expressed their conviction 
that attendance at continuation classes should be 
counted as working hours under the Acts of Parlia- 
‘ment limiting the hours of juvenile labour weekly. 
‘Only the most enlightened employers will be prepared 
to accept these conditions of continuation classes for 
the young persons in their employ, so that even when 
‘the principle of compulsory attendance is accepted the 
-actual establishment of it in practice presents real 
-difficulties. 

Probably the most adaptable plan will be found in a 
modification of the system which has worked success- 
fully in H.M. Dockyard Schools for many years. 
Apprentices in the dockyards have to attend school for 
twelve hours a week (two afternoons and three even- 
ings). The Admiralty gives the apprentices seven and 
a half of these hours, and pays for this time as if it 
were spent in the workshop; the remaining periods 
‘have to be taken from tne boys’ own free time. Both 
employer and apprentice have thus to make some 
sacrifice; and the plan may well be taken as a model 
upon which a compulsory continuation-school system 
could be constructed. 

This principle is embodied in the recommendations 
as to continuation schools drawn up by the education 
committee of the British Science Guild, and adopted 
at the last annual meeting of the guild. The recom- 
mendations represent the most practical scheme with 


which we are acquainted, and they are, therefore, 


here given in full :— 

(1) Local education authorities should be required 
to make provision for the attendance up. to seventeen 
years of age at suitably equipped continuation schools 
of all young persons above the age of fourteen years 
within their respective areas who are not otherwise 
receiving suitable education. In these schools, par- 
ticular attention should be given to the continuance 
-of manual and physical training commenced inthe 
-elementary schools, together with instruction having 
some relation to the occupations of the pupils. 

(2) Employers should cooperate with local education 
authorities with the view of securing the attendance 
at continuation schools for at least six hours weekly 
during forty weeks a year of all young persons in 
their regular employment under seventeen years of 
age. Asa practicable means of ensuring such attend- 
ance, it is suggested that the following conditions 
should be observed :— 

(i) It should be illegal to employ any young person 
under seventeen years of age who is not in regular 
attendance at continuation classes for at least six 
hours weekly unless reasonable cause for absence be 
assigned. 


NOS 2320, VOL. O35) 


NATURE 


[APRIL 16, 1914 


(ii) In order to avoid undue strain upon young 
persons, after working the usual hours during the 
day, employers should grant them at least three hours 
a week out of the ordinary working hours for the 
purpose of attendance at continuation classes. It 
would, however, be most desirable where possible for 
employers to grant the whole six hours during the 
working day. Many young people would undoubtedly 
add evening hours of attendance, actuated by the 
desire for self-improvement. 

(iii) The education authority should notify employers 
of any young persons in their employment who are 
not attending day or evening continuation classes for 
at least six hours weekly, in order that the employers 
may take the necessary steps to ensure attendance at 
such classes. 

This scheme may not satisfy all the demands of 
extreme advocates of compulsory continuation schools, 
but it has the merit of reasonableness on its side, and 
its enforcement is well within the range of practical 
politics. It approaches the standard of requirement of 
continuation schools in many parts of Germany, where 
laws have been passed, and are in active operation, 
for the compulsory attendance for about 240 hours 
per annum, or six to eight hours a week, of all 
children who have left school, and until they are 
seventeen years of age, chiefly in day continuation 
schools, and within the hours normally devoted to 
labour; and its adoption would help to bring us in 
line with progressive educational movements abroad. 

The most complete system of continuation schools 
on the Continent is at Munich, where every boy not 
attending a secondary or other day school is compelled 
to attend continuation classes for eight or nine hours 
weekly, in the daytime, for three or four years follow- 
ing the termination of the elementary-school course 
at fourteen years of age. Munich has an average of 
330 hours annually for the pupils under instruction 
in the continuation schools, under a system of com- 
pulsory attendance. In the county boroughs of Eng- 
land the average number of hours of instruction in the 
evening schools is only fifty-eight, and in the adminis- 
trative counties forty-nine, while, as we have seen, 
18 per cent. of the students receive less than fourteen 
hours’ instruction in the year, and not more than 
13 per cent. of the young people between the ages 
of fourteen and seventeen are in attendance at con- 
tinuation classes. In county boroughs (including 
London) the attendance at continuation classes is 
about 18 per cent. of the available juvenile population, 
and in administrative counties not quite 10 per cent. ; 
but the ratio varies greatly, being only 5 per cent. 
or less in seventy-one county boroughs and forty-nine 
county areas. 

The success attained at Munich is due to the intimate 
connection between the teaching and the trade of the 
pupils; and the provision of workshops and labora- 
tories for practical work as the centre of the entire 
organisation. The continuation schools are of two 
types—a highly organised kind for youths between 
the ages of fourteen and eighteen years during their 
apprenticeship, at which they receive instruction in 
specific relation to their trades, and a central school 
for girls at which three years’ attendance is compul- 
sory after the close of the primary-school career. For 
every trade in which there are thirty apprentices to 
attend continuation schools, special classes are pro- 
vided; and there are at present fifty-six of these trade 
schools, as well as twelve general schools. It is in 
this direction, namely, that of close relation between 
the occupation of the pupil and the work of the con- 
tinuation school, that advocates of compulsory con- 
tinued education in England may hope to obtain the 
cooperation of employers. Our trade preparatory 
schools. which are attended by boys from twelve to 


APRIL 16, 1914] 


fifteen years of age, who will afterwards be engaged 
in trade, represent roughly the type of school in which 
continuation classes can best be carried on. 

It is useless to make continued education of primary- 
school pupils compulsory without the provision and 
adequate equipment of schools for practical instruction 
in close relationship with the occupations of the pupils. 
The schools should thus do something to relieve the 
monotony and extend the outlook of the young work- 
man who, on account of the minute subdivision of 
manual labour, may spend his life upon one small 
detail of some product or process, and learn nothing 
beyond it. Industrial advance demands the produc- 
tion of intelligent and adaptable types of workmen ; 
and practical continuation classes offer a means of 
training them which is impossible under modern con- 
ditions of manual work. Mr. J. C. Smail, organiser 
of trades schools for boys under the London County 
Council Education Committee, has recently studied 
in Germany the compulsory system of continued edu- 
cation for boys from fourteen to eighteen years of 
age; and we may appropriately give here a statement 
of the conclusions arrived at by him with regard to 
such schools, as they have a direct bearing upon the 
foregoing remarks, which were written before the 
report was published :— 

(1) There has been, broadly speaking, a difference 
in ideals between Germany and Britain in the organisa- 
tion of technical courses. Germany is aiming at 
benefiting the nation by training properly all the 
workers through definitely specialised courses. Britain 
has organised so that individuals may secure what 
they think best for their own advancement. 

(2) The fundamental basis of any course of study for 
technical students must be their trade or employment. 
If this is recognised and acted on in the preliminary 
years from fourteen to eighteen there is little danger 
of work at more advanced stages, even if irregularly 
organised, being ineffective. 

(3) Germany is aiming at making good citizens and 
has realised that a gocd citizen must be a good 
workman. 

(4) Germany has come to believe that workshop 
training alone is insufficient to make a sound indus- 
trial nation; that it must be reinforced by adequate 
education specialised to trades. 


(5) This specialised education must include 
specialised calculations, technology, drawing, and 
citizenship. Munich also believes in trade work in 


the compulsory schools, Berlin does not. 

(6) Citizenship must be taught to enable the worker 
to recognise his individual position in the State, his 
position with respect to his employer and his fellow- 
workmen, his family and social duties, the relative 
position of his trade in his own country, and in the 
world’s commerce and industry. 

R. A. GREGORY. 


CYTOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF HEREDITY. 


— current number of the Quarterly Journal of 
Microscopical Science (vol. lix., part 4) will be 
of exceptional interest to students of heredity from the 
cytological point of view. Dr. L. Doncaster contri- 
butes a very useful review of the present state of the 
evidence with regard to the material basis of here- 
ditary transmission and sex-determination, under the 
title, ‘‘Chromosomes, Heredity and Sex.’’ He con- 
cludes that the arguments in favour of the view that 
Mendelian characters are determined by chromosomes, 
though very strong indirectly, are lacking in direct 
evidence. The direct evidence of a relation between 
chromosomes and sex-determination is much stronger, 
and various cases are discussed. The phenomena of 
sex-limited inheritance, now known to occur in various 


NO. 2320, VOL. 93| 


NATURE 


175 


groups of the animal kingdom, taken in conjunction 
with this relation, afford strong support to the view 
that the chromosomes play a very important part in 
the transmission of Mendelian characters, although the 
part played by the cytoplasm must also be taken into 
account. With regard to sex-determination difficulties. 
arise in connection with the fact that this has been 
shown in certain cases to be modifiable by environ- 
mental conditions, and it therefore seems probable that 
the sex chromosome is associated with a particular 
type of cell-metabolism, which in turn is responsible 
for sex-determination. 

A very important contribution to the discussion is 
made by Dr. R. R. Gates and Miss Nesta Thomas in 
“A Cytological Study of Q£nothera mut. lata and 
GE. mut. semilata in Relation to Mutation.’’ These 
authors find that in the ‘‘mutants”’ of the evening 
primrose known as ‘‘lata” and ‘‘semilata,” fifteen 
chromosomes always occur instead of the normal four- 
teen. The peculiar characters of these mutants are 
thus shown to be associated with the presence of an 
extra chromosome, which they are believed to have 
acquired by the abnormal distribution of both chromo- 
somes of one pair to the same daughter-nucleus in the 
reduction division, the actual occurrence of such 
abnormal distribution having previously been demon- 
strated by Dr. Gates. The authors maintain that 
mutations and Mendelian hybrids are not of the same 
nature but must be contrasted with one another, the 
former owing their origin to germinal changes (e.g. 
the presence of an extra chromosome), and the latter 
to recombinations of the parental characters. Dr. 
Gates adds a useful note on the meaning of the term 
‘‘mutation,” and the difference between ‘“mutations ” 
and “ fluctuations.” 


THE CURRENDS IN, BELLE ISLE S@iRATI 
i behaviour of tidal streams and currents in 

Belle Isle Strait, described by Dr. Dawson, 
Superintendent of Tidal Surveys to the Canadian 
Government, in a number of reports. the latest of 
which are before us, affords an example of the manner 
in which the various elements in a complex current 
may be distinguished one from the other. As the 
same may apply to other straits where the conditions 
are similar it should, therefore, be of more than local 
interest. The current in the strait is primarily tidal 
in character, and under normal conditions it will turn 
regularly; the flood running westward, and the ebb 
eastward with equal velocity. When, however, the 
moon is in high declination the resulting diurnal 
inequality causes one flood and one ebb in the day to 
be twice as strong as the other; the difference being 
much greater than that between ordinary or average 
springs and neaps. 

In addition to the tidal fluctuations, the water has 
a tendency to make through the strait in one direction 
more than the other, thus causing a continuous gain 
to eastward or westward, as the case may be. The 
overbalance in one direction which is superimposed 
upon the usual tide elements to which the term element 
of dominant flow is given, introduces complications, 
because larger in relation to the strength of the tidal 
streams, especially at neaps when weak. It may, in 
fact, be so strong as to reverse the ordinary tidal 
streams or prevent them from turning, although the 
fluctuation in velocity be well marked. 

The dominant flow, it is stated, cannot be attributed 
to local wind, because wind would produce merely a 
surface drift, whereas the dominant flow is that of the 
whole body of the water. It is, however, apparently 


1 The Currents in the Gulf of S!. Lawrence. By Dr. W. Bell Dawson. 


(Ottawa: Government Printing Bureau, 1913.) 


176 


due to meteorological causes affecting, it is suggested, 
changes in the Labrador current or in the volume of 
water passing into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, occa- 
sioned by the distribution of barometrical pressure. 
The highest tides have been found to occur with winds 
from between north-east or north-west, and the lowest 
with winds from west or south-west. 

The probable direction of the dominant flow may be 
inferred from the general weather conditions of the 
region, and from the presence or absence of floating 
icebergs in the strait; there being, as a rule, icebergs 
in the offing of the strait. With a dominant westward 
flow, bergs afloat in the offing will drift into the 
strait, whereas with a dominant eastward flow the 
strait is free from floating bergs; for the icebergs near 
either shore are certain to be aground and are there- 
fore no guide; they may have been there for weeks. 
Even in the middle of the strait a berg, if large 
enough, may ground. 

Briefly, the best indications are as follow :—The 
strait being clear of floating bergs, the barometer 
moderately high and rising or high and steady, a 
dominant flow to eastward is probable. There being 
floating bergs in the strait, and a barometric depres- 
sion passing southward, indicated by broken weather, 
a dominant flow to westward is probable; and after 
a gale from north or north-west certain. The tem- 
perature of the water as an indication cannot be relied 
on. 

On the whole the westward flow probably pre- 
- dominates in May and June; and, although less pro- 
nounced, the eastward flow is the more frequent in 
summer; while from September onwards the flow is 
more to the westward than to the eastward. 

As regards the velocity of the current, when the 
moon is at its maximum declination and there is no 
dominant flow; at spring tides the strong flood and 
ebb velocity is 2:27 nautical miles; the weak flood 
and ebb 0-72 mile. At neaps, strong flood and ebb, 
1-04 miles; weak flood and ebb, 0-32 mile. The 
greatest rates of dominant flow, observed during two 
seasons, considered separately, were :—-Westward 
average, 1-69 nautical miles running continuously, but 
fluctuating from 2-65 miles to 0-64 with flood and 
ebb; eastward average, 1-30 miles to 0-50 mile with 
ebb and flood. 

Under combined conditions the highest velocities 
observed were :—Westward during flood period, 3-45 
nautical miles; eastward during ebb, 2-83 miles. : 


SUPERSTITIONS RELATING TO 
WEATHER. 


TX an interesting article in the February number of 

Himmel und Erde, Prof. G. Hellmann, director 
of the Berlin Meteorological Institute, discusses some 
of the widespread notions generally included in the 
above heading. At the same time, he points out that 
some theories long believed in, although afterwards 
proved to be false, cannot be classed among super- 
stitions. 

The subject is divided into three parts, but we can 
here only refer to a very few typical cases. (1) That 
relating to the character and causes of meteorological 
phenomena. This takes us back to mythological 
times when all the forces of nature were personified : 
even to-day Jupiter Pluvius is frequently spoken of. 
Many of the present-day ideas still savour of super- 
stition, e.g. the occurrence of thunderbolts, the return 
of a thunderstorm at a later time of the same day, 
and the belief in equinoctial gales. With regard to 
the latter, the author refers the idea to Greek and 
Roman origin, as such storms are prevalent in the 
Mediterranean regions. 


NO. 2320, VOL. 93] 


NATURE 


[AprIL 16, 1914 


(2) The possibility of predicting weather for any 
period. Many old sayings have been handed down 
from father to son; while most of them are based on 
unsound conclusions, some of them are good, e.g. 
the strengthening cold with lengthening days, the 
coloration of morning and evening sky, etc. Of 
modern sayings, that relating to the “‘ice-saints”’ 
(May 11-13) has been attributed both to cosmical and 
terrestrial sources. Investigations have shown that 
cold periods in May may occur in any of the three 
decades (especially the second), but cannot be referred 
to any special days. The moon’s influence is still 
believed in by millions of people, notwithstanding the 
proofs given to the contrary. 

(3) The possibility of influencing the weather and 
of making any special kind. This idea extends back 
to earliest times, and is still prevalent in some parts. 
One of the principal objects was the warding off of 
hail- and thunder-storms. Modern hail-shooting has 
proved to be ineffectual, but it will in all probability 
return later on in another form. The practice of bell- 
ringing for the prevention of thunderstorms was at 
one time much favoured, and is still in vogue in a 
few alpine districts. The belief in the possibility of 
making weather is very old, but its origin cannot be 
exactly fixed. Unsuccessful attempts at rain-making 
have frequently been made in recent times, but Europe 
appears to have been practically free from this super- 
stition. 

Prof. Hellmann’s researches relating to the early 
history of meteorological questions are always very 
instructive; in this article he points out that at times 
it is not easy to draw a sharp boundary line between 
knowledge, belief, and superstition. 


THEORIES OF ORE-GENESIS.1 


eae subject of ore-genesis is of the greatest import- 
ance to the mining engineer, for it is evident 
that every forecast of the continuity of an_ore-body 
beyond the limits of the ore in sight must, if it is not 
to be entirely empirical, rest on some hypothesis as to 
origin. This field of inquiry has since the beginning 
of this, and during the latter half of the past century, 
riveted the attention of the best mining geologists in 
all parts of the world. In a comparatively small in- 
terval of time, our knowledge has advanced by leaps 
and bounds, and many important principles govern- 
ing ore-deposition have been firmly established. 

It was, however, preceded by a long period, which, 
although fertile in suggestion and hypothesis, was 
not one of real progress because, contrary to the 
Baconian principle, ‘‘ Non fingendum aut cogitandum 
sed inveniendum quid natura faciat aut ferat,’” the 
theories advanced were not founded on ascertained 
facts. 

Prior to the sixteenth century the metallic contents 
of ore-veins were supposed to have been determined 
by their orientation in regard to the planets; and 
Agricola (1494-1555) was the first to formulate a 
reasonable genetic theory. Reduced to its simplest 
terms, Agricola’s view was that ore-channels (canales), 
formed by erosion, had been filled by metallic minerals 
deposited from solution. These solutions, or juices 
(succi), as Agricola terms them, were waters of 
meteoric origin which, under the influence of heat, 
had taken mineral matter into solution. 

From the time of Agricola to the end of the 
eighteenth century the mines of Saxony produced 
nearly all the writers on vein-formation. Such were 
Rosler, Becher, Henckel, Hoffmann, Zimmermann, 
von Oppel, von Charpentier, and von Treba. 

Becher and Henckel, who wrote in the beginning 


1 From the presidential address delivered at the Annual Meeting of the 
Institution of Mining and Metallurgy, on March 26, by Dr. F. H. Hatch. 


APRIL 16, 1914] 


NATURE 177 


of the eighteenth century, supposed the metallic con- 
stituents of veins to have been produced by the action 
on pre-existing stony and earthy matters of subter- 
ranean vapours arising from certain processes of 
‘fermentation ’”’ in the bowels of the earth. 

In 1749 Zimmermann put forward a- hypothesis 
which clearly had in it the germ of the modern theory 
of metasomatism. He ascribed the origin of veins 
to a transformation of the rocks into metallic minerals 
and their accompanying vein-stones, along certain 
directions now marked by the course of the veins, the 
solvents that effected the alteration finding a path 
through innumerable small rents and other openings 
in the rocks. 

But Zimmermann applied his theory indiscriminately 
to explain the origin of all veins, including those that, 
by common agreement, are now considered to have 
been formed by the filling of fissures without replace- 
ment. Von ‘Treba, in supporting Zimmermann’s 
view, insisted particularly on the far-reaching changes 
effected in rocks by circulating waters, especially 
when aided by heat. ‘‘I am persuaded,’ he wrote 
in 1785, ‘‘that there is constantly going on in our 
mountains a variety of transformations, compositions, 
and decompositions, which not only take place at 
present, but will continue to the end of time.” 

According to Gerhard, who wrote in 1781, waters 
circulating through the rocks adjacent to a vein 
become charged with certain of the metallic and earthy 
substances contained in them. Passing through the 
crevices and interstices of the rocks to the larger rents 
and fractures, they deposit their mineral burden in 
cavities which, when filled, become veins. It will be 
seen that Gerhard’s hypothesis must be regarded as a 
precursor of the more modern theory of lateral secre- 
tion. 

To von Oppel belongs the credit of having shown 
that mineral veins were largely the filling of fault- 
fissures, a principle which up to that time does not 
appear to have been clearly recognised. 

At the end of the eighteenth century the mining 
world was dominated in all matters relating to ore- 
genesis by the famous Freiberg professor, Abraham 
Gottlieb Werner, who insisted that all veins, includ- 
ing those that we now term. ‘‘intrusive dykes,’’ had 
resulted from the filling of contraction-fissures open 
above and connected with the primeval universal 
ocean, which according to the Wernerian doctrine 
covered the globe and contained in solution all the 
necessary materials for the formation of its crust. 
These waters, descending into the fissures from above, 
deposited the vein minerals by chemical precipitation. 

This Neptunist view was in the beginning of the 
nineteenth century attacked and finally overcome by 
Hutton and his Plutonist or Vulcanist school. Un- 
fortunately, however, the Plutonists went:to the other 
extreme, and would not allow even ore-veins to have 
any other than an igneous origin: ‘‘The materials,” 
wrote Playfair, ‘‘ which fill the mineral veins were 
melted by heat and forcibly injected into the clefts and 
fissures of the strata.” 

But Hutton’s broad generalisation, even with the 
important modifications of Elie de Beaumont, 
Daubrée, and Durocher to the effect that many of the 
metallic ores had been deposited from vapours and 
solutions. emanating from cooling igneous magmas, 
was soon discarded in favour of the deposition from 
waters of meteoric origin; and an animated discussion 
was maintained for half a century on. the respective 
merits of the descensionist, ascensionist and lateral 
secretionist theories; or, in other words, whether the 
mineral burden ot the circulating waters instrumental 
in vein-formati¢h was derived from superficial rocks, 
from deep-seated sources, or from the wall-rocks of 
the veins themselves. 


NO. 2320, VOL. 93] 


The chief supporters of the modified form of the 
ascension theory here alluded to, which must, of 
course, be distinguished from De Beaumont’s ascen- 
sion by emanation, were Stelzner and Posepny. They 
argued that the ground-water (originating by pre- 
cipitation from the atmosphere) descends by capillarity 
through the interstices of the rocks to deep-seated 
regions, and thus acquires a high temperature and 
pressure, and, consequently, a vastly increased solvent 
power, whereby in its passage through the rocks it 
is enabled to take up certain of the mineral sub- 
stances there disseminated in a minute form. At a 
certain depth the water moves laterally towards open 
conduits, on reaching which it ascends towards the 
surface, depositing its mineral burden in proportion 
to the decrease of temperature and pressure. 

It has been seen that the theory of lateral secretion, 
or the derivation of the mineral contents of veins by 
an aqueous leaching of the country rock, was ad- 
vanced in a crude form as early as 1781 by Gerhard; 
but it remained a mere hypothesis without the support 
of ascertained facts until the middle of the nineteenth 
century, when the chemical work of Bischof, Forch- 
hammer, and Sandberger definitely established two 
important facts in support of the theory, namely :— 
(1) That the gangue of ore-veins varies in correspond- 
ence with the wall-rock; and (2) that the heavy metals 
occur in minute traces in certain of the igneous and 
sedimentary rocks constituting the ‘‘ country ”’ of ore- 
veins. 

Sandberger’s researches were specially directed to 
prove that the heavy metals (gold, silver, copper, lead, 
etc.) are contained in the common ferro-magnesian 
silicates (namely, the micas, hornblendes, and augites) 
of the igneous rocks; and having satisfied himself on 
this point he was led to extend his investigations to 
the sedimentary rocks, with the result that small 
quantities of the heavy metals were found in the sedi- 
ments of all ages, and especially in the slates of the 
older systems. Whether, however, they are there pre- 
sent as constituents of sporadic fragments of ferro- 
magnesian silicates derived from igneous rocks, 
or as. sulphides that were introduced during 
the secondary mineralisation connected with  ore- 
deposition, was not satisfactorily settled by Sand- 
berger’s researches. The more recent work of Don, 
carried out on a great variety of material, tends to 
show that the ferro-magnesian silicates do not carry 
gold or silver in amounts determinable by chemical 
analysis. Where the rocks examined by him were 
found to contain these metals they were present as a 
constituent of sulphides, such as iron pyrites, pyrrho- 
tite, mispickel, chalcopyrite, and galena, which in most 
cases are secondary introductions. 

But long before this the inapplicability of lateral 
secretion: as Sandberger conceived it had become 
apparent; and the theory became the subject of vigor- 
ous attack on the part of Stelzner and Posepny. 

Lateral secretion, in a much more extended sense 
and in combination with the ascension theory, is advo- 
cated by Van Hise. Van Hise’s view may be briefly 
summarised thus: the meteoric waters, after pene- 
trating the surface, are widely scattered through the 
rocks in innumerable small openings as they travel 
downward to great depths in the earth’s crust. With 
steadily increasine temperature and pressure they take 
up mineral matter. The -downward movement ulti- 
mately develops a lateral component, by: which the 
waters are carried to the larger openings. During 
this process, also, the waters continue to take material 
into solution. In the larger openings the waters 
ascend with decreasing temperature and:-pressure, and 
there the ores are deposited. 

It will be seen that this view is a combination of 
the ascension and the lateral secretion theories, and 


178 


NATURE 


[APRIL 16, 1914 


presupposes the existence of a continuous sheet of 
water in circulation between the ground-water level 
and the lower limit of the ‘‘zone of fracture,” no cir- 
culation being admittedly possible in the underlying 
“zone of flowage.’”’ The weak point in Van Hise’s 
assumption of a ‘‘sea of underground water ’’ lies in 
the fact that deep mines are usually found to be dry, 
the drainage being confined to the upper levels. This, 
for instance, is the experience in the copper mines of 
Lake Superior, in the gold mines of the Rand, and in 
those of Bendigo. Van Hise, in reply to this criticism, 
attributes this dry zone to the closing of the passages 
by cementation; but the restriction of the ground- 
water circulation is equally fatal to the meteoric de- 
rivation of deep-seated thermal springs and other 
phenomena connected with vulcanicity. 

In recent years there has been a partial reaction to 
igneous views. Thus certain classes of ore-deposits 
are now held to have been formed by a differentiation 
of igneous magmas prior to consolidation. Such, for 
instance, is the origin ascribed to certain titaniferous 
iron-ores in basic eruptives, chromite in peridotites, 
nickeliferous pyrrhotite in norite, and _ primary 
platinum in ultra-basic rocks. Similarly pegmatites, 
and even some quartz-veins, are considered to have 
originated by the consolidation of the aqueo-siliceous 
residuum of a slowly cooling granite magma. 

But more important in its application to ore-deposi- 
tion than magmatic differentiation is the theory which 
Vogt has founded on the metalliferous emanation 
hypothesis, by which Elie de Beaumont and Daubrée 
sought to explain the origin of tin-ore deposits. 
According to the pneumatolytic theory, certain agents 
minéralisateurs, such as fluorine, chlorine, sulphur, 
phosphorus, silicon, and boron, have the property of 
forming with the metals volatile compounds, which 
escape from the granite-magma as gases with low 
critical temperatures (the aura granitica of Elie de 
Beaumont). These compounds ascend through already 
formed fissures in the overlying rocks, or force their 
own passage by attacking the minerals that compose 
them. In this manner, for instance, cassiterite, 
wolfram, tourmaline, fluorspar, topaz, beryl, axinite, 
datolite, apatite, etc., are deposited either in the 
granite itself, or in the sediments comprised within its 
metamorphic aureole. 

Closely connected with pneumatolysis in the rdle 
ascribed in ore-deposition to the so-called magmatic 
waters, a term that has come into use for water not 
of atmospheric origin, but dissolved or occluded in 
some way in molten magmas, from which it separates 
by liquation and distillation on the fall of temperature 
and pressure. In it are concentrated the substances 
that (at the existing temperature) are more soluble in 
water than in the silicate magma. 

Suess, in an address on the Karlsbad springs, de- 
livered in 1902, directed attention to the connection 
existing between thermal springs, vulcanicity, and 
ore-deposition. He applied the term hypogene or 
juvenile to thermal springs (like those of Karlsbad) 
which, originating in the depths of the earth’s crust, 
bring water to the surface for the first time. Such 
hot springs are, in fact, the last survivors of vul- 
canicity, being the relics of a late stage of fumarole 
activity. Their mineral content comprises readily 
soluble compounds of the alkalies and alkaline earths, 
together with, and partly in combination with, sul- 
phur, chlorine, and carbon dioxide, the less soluble 
metallic compounds having already been deposited as 
ores at lower depths in the earth’s crust. According 
to Suess the after-products of eruption vary with the 
temperature; in the earlier (pneumatolytic) phases of 
emanation the gases are dry and their deposits (such 
as tin-ore and its accompanying boron, fluorine, 
tungsten, and uranium minerals) are the products of 


NO. 2320, VOL. 93| 


sublimation, At a later period, strongly alkaline mag- 
matic waters are given off, and to these are attribut- 
able the sulphide and arsenide phases of vein-forma- 
tion, e.g. the deposition of iron pyrites, chalcopyrite, 
primary bornite and chalcocite, enargite, galena, 
blende, etc. 

But although, as we have seen, waters of meteoric 
origin have been displaced from their pride of place 
as agents of deposition for what we must term the 
primary sulphide ores, they are undoubtedly the forma- 
tive agents for a considerable number of ore-deposits, 
including the products of oxidation, chlorination, and 
reduction above the permanent water level, and the 
secondarily enriched ores usually found immediately 
below the junction of the zone of oxidation with the 
zone of primary sulphides. So important are the 
functions of the vadose waters (to use Posepny’s term 
for the shallow water circulation) in dissolving and re- 
depositing at a lower level the ores of copper in a 
concentrated form, that it has been confidently stated 
that the bulk of the copper production of the world, 
not alone in the past, but also at the present time, is 
drawn from the zone of secondary enrichment. This 
view will, perhaps, appear exaggerated in the light of 
the results recently obtained by Sales at Butte; but for 
the majority of the great copper deposits of the world 
it may still pass unchallenged. 

In the same way, vast deposits of high-grade iron- 
ore have been formed as the result of secondary en- 
richment, but under entirely different conditions from 
those that determine copper-ore enrichment. Thus 
the hzmatite ores of Lake Superior are believed by 
Van Hise to have been derived by the oxidising and 
concentrating action of vadose waers, from a low- 
grade cherty iron carbonate originally deposited under 
water as a chemical sediment; and he draws the 
important conclusion that ‘‘the ore-bodies cannot be 
expected to extend beyond the depth to which the 
descending waters may bear oxygen and precipitate 
iron oxide.’”” He has ‘“‘no doubt that vastly more 
high-grade iron-ore will be taken out in the Lake 
Superior region above the r1ooo-foot level than below 
it.” If this be true, the iron-ores of that district, 
with more than 60 per cent. of metallic iron, are not 
inexhaustible. 

The enrichment of gold-ores also takes place in the 
zone of oxidation; but in their case the action of the 
vadose waters results in an abstraction of the more 
soluble and less valuable metals, leaving behind a 
smaller quantity but a relatively richer material; in 
other words a diminution of the specific gravity of the 
whole material raises the gold tenor. Furthermore, 
there is also an increase in the fineness of the gold, 
due to the removal of a portion of the silver with 
which it is alloyed. The Mount Morgan mine in 
Queensland is a good instance of a gold-ore enrich- 
ment brought about by the vadose circulation; here 
the oxidation of a pyritic copper lode with subordinate 
gold has, by the removal of the sulphides of iron and 
copper, led to the formation of an upper zone of 
cellular quartz, in which the increased ratio of gold 
to vein-stuff was the vera causa of the richness of one 
of the premier gold mines of the world. But, as with 
increasing depth the mine-workings are extended 
below the oxidation-zone, the copper production is 
becoming more important than the gold yield. 

The Witwatersrand Banket is another example. In 
this case the primary ore is auriferous iron pyrites 
disseminated in a quartz-conglomerate on which in- 
tense silicification during cementation has impressed 
the character of a quartz vein. The removal of the 
pyrites from the zone of oxidation, which extends to 
200-300 ft. below the surface, left an enriched free- 
milling ore that gave marvellous returns on the amal- 
gamation plates of the first Rand mills. Since the 


ApRIL 16, 1914| 


exhaustion of this high-grate, free-milling ore early 
in the history of gold mining on the Rand, the mines 
have been worked in low-grade unoxidised pyritic ore; 
and this has shown a gradual but steady impoverish- 
ment with increasing depth—a fact which supports 
the view that the gold of this deposit was precipitated 
by ascending thermal waters in proportion to their 
loss of temperature and pressure. 

One of the most remarkable advances in the science 
of ore-genesis during the period under review is the 


Classification of Ovre-Depostts. 


NATURE 


179 


recognition of the important réle played by meta- 
somatism in the formation of ore-bodies. 
that the rocks adjacent to vein-fillings often contain 
small quantities of metallic ores similar to those com- 
posing the veins themselves, or are altered for some 
distance away from them, was observed at an early 
date; but its significance was very differently inter- 


The fact 


preted. The lateral secretionists pointed on one hand 


Nature of Deposit 


a. Molten Magmas 


Vehicle or Agent of Ore-Deposition 


to ore-disseminations in the wall-rocks as indicating 
the source of the vein-filling, and on the other, to the 


&. Gases and 
Vapours above 
their critical 


c. Deep-seated 
waters, whether 
of magmatic or 


d. Vadose Waters 


e. Mechanical 

Agents such as 

moving water 
and wind 


J. Chemical and 

Bacterial Agents 

in seas, lakes and 
swamps 


Superficiaé 
Fracture-fillings, 
such as_ gash- 
veins in lime- 
stonesandcavity- 
fillings (e.g. the 
heematite-ores of 
Cumberland). 


Zinc Ores: im 
limestones. Tron- 
ores replacing 
limestones (é.g. 
Cleveland), 
Some = ateritic 
trom and man- 
ganese deposits. 
Secondary — en- 
richments of cop- 
per ores. 


Some Lead and 


temperatures meteoric origin 

1. IGNEOUS Certain Massive 
DIFFEREN. | /v07 and Nickel 
TIATES. | Oves associated 
wth basic igne- 
ous  intrustoms 
(e.g. those of 

Sudbury in On- 

tario). ! 

|——_—___—— 

2. CAVITY- Lnjected Tin-\ Pneumatolytic _Hydato- genetic 
FILLINGS. | Oves (e.g. tin-| Cavzty-fillings Cavity - fillings 

pegmatites and| (e.g. tin quartz | (many fissure 
tin-elvans on the | veins). veins). 

margin of gran- 

ite intrusions. 

3. META- Preumatolytic Hydato- genetic 
SOMATIC Replacements Replacements. 
REPLACE- (e.g. tin-greisens (Many veins and 

MENTS. and many con- massive deposits, 
tact-deposits). also the Rand 
Banket). 
4. STRATIFIED Possibly some 
DEPOSITS. Sedimentary De- 
postts in which 
the. cementing 
matertals are 
ores of the 
metals, 


5. RESIDUAL 


DEPOSITS. | 


NO. 2320, VOL. 93] 


Some Lead and| Mechanical Con- 


Copper Ores 
tnterstitialin 
sandstones and 
shales. 


centrates in bed- 
ded depostts (e.g. 
gold and_plati- 
num placers, 
stream-tin, iron- 
sands, detrital 
laterites and 
other metalli- 
ferous gravels 
and sands). 


Chemical and 
Bacterial Sedt- 
ments (e.g. lake- 
and bog - iron 
ores 3 clay-iron- 
stone and other 
sedimentary sid- 
erites ; bog-man- 
ganese-ore and 
other sediment- 
tary manganese 
ores). 


Mantle-deposits 
e.g. pisolitic and 
nodular ores of 
iron (Bilbao and 
Appalachian 
hematites and 
limonites_ of 
manganese (psil- 
omelane) and of 
aluminium(baux- 
ite). 


Eluvial Gravels 
formed near the 
outcrop of veins 


(eg. those of 
gold, cassiterite 
and wolfram, 


galena and zinc- 
ores). 


180 


alteration of these rocks as a concomitant of the 
leaching that collected the filling material. But the 
ascensionists, whether belonging to the school of Elie 
de Beaumont and Durocher or to that of Stelzner and 
Posepny, recognised that the solutions from which 
the materials of the lode were precipitated, whether 
gaseous or liquid, also penetrated the walls and there 
caused certain deposits in the rock itself—metallic ores 
taking the place of some other mineral dissolved, as, 
for example, when cassiterite forms pseudomorphs 
after feldspar in the granite country of tin-veins. 
Much evidence favouring the latter view has since 
been accumulated. Thus Posepny described in 1873 
the replacement of carbonate of calcium by carbonate 
of zinc in the Raibl deposits; and Pumpelly in the 
same year attributed the origin of the native copper 
of the famous Michigan deposits to metasomatic pro- 
cesses. 

In 1881 Emmons showed that the Leadville silver- 
lead deposits had been formed by the replacement of 
limestone by galena, blende and pyrites, an alteration 
which, although chemically complete, left untouched 
the granular texture, joints, and other structural 
features of the original limestone. He pointed out 
that the resemblance of the altered rock to limestone 
was so perfect that, when the faces of the drifts were 
covered with dust, the observer was often completely 
deceived until the breaking of a fresh fragment with 
the hammer revealed the metallic gleam of galena 
beneath. 

In a later paper he showed that many so-called 
fissure veins were not true cavity-fillings, but owed 
their origin to the metasomatic replacement of the 
rock material by substances brought in by solutions 
circulating along fault-fissures, through crush-zones 
or in sheeted zones. In such cases a vein may be 
formed by the replacement of the material enclosed 
between adjacent parallel fractures, true cavity-filling 
being only of a restricted character. Owing to the 
difference in character between replaced sheets of 
country rock and the filling of the fissures that divide 
them, deposits formed in this way sometimes possess 
a banded structure, which, however, is distinguishable 
from the normal “crustification ’’ of vein-fillings. The 
whole subject has been admirably reviewed by Lind- 
gren and by J. D. Irving in their well-known papers, 
in which will be found many illustrations of the 
potency of metasomatic processes in vein-formation. 

Modern views on ore-genesis may be reduced to two 
principal lines of inquiry, one dealing with the 
agent or vehicle by which the metals have been col- 
lected, conveyed to, and deposited in the places where 
they are now found, and the other with the nature 
of the concentrates formed in the course of these 
processes. 

Considering the latter first, ore-deposits are found 
to be either :—(1) Igneous differentiates; (2) cavity- 
fillings; (3) metasomatic replacements; (4) stratified 
or sedimentary deposits; (5) residual deposits. Of 


these, the sedimentary deposits comprise marine, 
lacustrine, and fluviatile accumulations, including 
placers. 


Coming now to the agents or vehicles of ore-concen- 
tration, these are found to be :—(a) Molten magmas; 
(b) gases and vapours above their critical temperature; 
(c) deep-seated waters, whether of magmatic or of 
meteoric origin; (d) vadose waters; (e) chemical and 
bacterial agents in lakes and seas; (f) mechanical 
agents, such as moving water and wind, 

It is possible, by combining the facts elicited by 
these two lines of inquiry, to formulate a genetic 
scheme of classification. For example, cavity-filling 
may be due to igneous injection, to gases and vapours 
above their critical temperatures, to deep-seated waters, 
or to vadose waters; again, metasomatic replacement 


NO. 2320, VOL. 93| 


NATURE 


[APRIL 16, 1914 


may be brough: about by gases and vapours, by deep- 
seated waters, or by vadose waters. By arranging 
these two series of relationships in vertical and hori- 
zontal columns respectively, all the various types of 
ore-deposits are obtained at their intersections; and 
in this way the classification shown in the table on 
p- 179 is obtained. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 
INTELLIGENCE. 


It is announced in Science that provisions for the 
creation of a trust fund, said to be approximately 
100,000l., for the maintenance of male graduates of 
the Williamsport, Pa., high school at Corn<‘l Univer- 
sity are made by the will of Mr. A. D. Hermance. 
From the same source we learn that Mr. E. Palmer, 
a Princeton graduate, has offered to build and present 
to Princeton University a stadium costing 60,o000l. 
Mr. Palmer is a son of the late Mr. Stephen S. 
Palmer, who was for many years a trustee of Prince- 
ton University, and gave large sums to the Univer- 
sity, including the Palmer Physical Laboratory. 


Many important recommendations are made in the 
report of the Royal Commission on the Civil Service 
just issued as a Blue-book (Cd. 7338). It is proposed 
to abolish the grades known as the Second Division, 
the Intermediate Class, the Assistant Clerks, and the 
Boy Clerks, and to substitute for them a new class, 
to be known as the Junior Clerical Class, to be 
recruited at the age of sixteen, at which many boys 
leave the public secondary schools. Another new class 
recommended is the Senior Clerical Class, to be 
recruited at the age of eighteen. In both cases the 
examinations for appointments in these grades are to 
be brought into close relation with the work of the 
schools. Other recommendations are :—(1) Greater 
facilities should be provided, especially in England 
and Ireland, for the progress from the primary to 
the secondary schools, and thence to the universities, 
of pupils capable of benefiting by secondary and uni- 
versity training respectively. (2) There should be 
closer coordination between the educational systems 
of the country and the Civil Service Examinations, 
and to this end the Treasury and the Civil Service 
Commissioners should consult more freely and 
systematically than hitherto with the Departments 
of Education before framing examination schemes. 
(3) The principle of open competition should be adhered 
to, and whenever it is applicable, extended. (4) The 
competitive examinations for recruiting each class of 
officer, administrative and clerical, should be adjusted 
in respect of the age of competitors and the subjects of 
competition to the stages of the educational system 
actually. existing in the country. (5) The examina- 
tions should be directed to testing the natural ability 
of candidates, and the results of their education both 
with respect to acquirement of knowledge and the 
formation of mind and character. It should not be 
directed to testing proficiency in particular subjects 
which lie outside the normal scope of education. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 


LONDON. 

Linnean Society, April 2.—Dr. A. Smith Woodward, 
vice-president, in the chair.—W. Rushton: Structure 
of the wood of Himalayan Junipers.—W. B. Turrill : 
A contribution to the flora of Fiji.—Prof. C. Chilton : 
A new Amphipodan genus and_ species (family 
Dexaminidz) from New Zealand.—Prof. E. B. 
Poulton: Mr. W. A. Lambourn’s breeding experiments 
upon Acraea encedon (Linn.), Poulton, in the Lagos 
district of West Africa, 1910-12. 


AprIL 16, 1914] 


NATURE 


181 


DvuBLIn, 

Royal Dublin Society, March 24.—Dr. J. H. Pollok 
in the chair.—Prof. John Joly: The local application 
of radium in therapeutics. The method now very 
often adopted in treating malignant growths with 
radium or its emanation is to introduce the radio- 
active substance, heavily screened with lead, into the 
tumour. This is a wasteful method, as the lead screen 
causes a loss by absorption of from 25-30 per cent. of 
the rays. The use of the screen is, however, necessary 
in order to cut off the more easily absorbed rays 
which otherwise would produce injurious effects close 
to the tube. If tubes containing much smaller quan- 
tities are used, screening need not be resorted to. 
One strongly charged tube may be replaced by a 
number of small ones, if the latter are in the con- 
venient form of ordinary exploring needles. In con- 
junction with Dr. W. C. Stevenson the author has 
worked. out a system enabling such needles to be 
charged with any required quantity of the emanation 
sealed into capillary glass tubes. By the use of these 
radio-active needles local injury is avoided, and a more 
controllable and uniform radiation is attainable. They 
can be made of any required length to reach more 
deep-seated tumours. An apparatus was exhibited 
permitting any desired number of capillary tubes to be 
sealed off at once, each containing a known charge. 


Paris. 

Academy of Sciences, April 6.—M. P. Appell in the 
chair.—Paul Sabatier and A. Mailhe: The use of 
manganous oxide for the catalysis of acids. The pre- 
paration of aldehydes and pentamethylene ketones. 
Formation of the cyclopentylamines (see p. 171). 
R. de Forcrand: Potassium trioxide and the stability 
of the alkaline peroxides. Pure potassium trioxide 
can be obtained by heating the tetroxide to 580° C., 
the pressure being maintained at about 1 mm. The 
heats of solution and formation of the trioxide were 
determined.—G. Charpy and S. Bonnerot : Iron nitride. 
Iron in very thin foil, heated in a current of ammonia 
at 650-700° C., can be completely converted into the 
nitride Fe,N. At higher temperatures the nitride 
dissociates, and it does not appear possible that this 
nitride could exist in the steel or iron of commerce.— 
A. Schaumasse; Observations of Kritzinger’s comet 
(1914a) made at the Observatory of Nice. Positions 
are given for March 30, 31, and April 4.—Paul Bruck : 
The elements of comet trg914a_ (Kritzinger).—P. 
Chofardet : Observations and calculation of the para- 
bolic elements of Kritzinger’s comet (1914a) made at 
the Observatory of Besancon. Positions are given for 
March 31 and April 4.—J. Guillaume : Observations of 
Kritzinger’s comet made at the Observatory of Lyons. 
Positions given for March 31 and April 4.—M. Esmiol : 
Observations of Kritzinger’s comet made at the Ob- 
servatory of Marseilles. Observation on April 4.—M. 
Coggia: Observations made at the Observatory of 
Marseilles on the same.—P. Salet and M. Millochau : 
The spectra of the chromosphere. The Stark effect 
due to the possible influence of the solar electric field 
is either absent or very small in the sun.—B. 
Fessenkoff : The distribution of the cosmic dust in the 
invariable plane of the solar system.—Arnaud Denjoy : 
Examples of derived functions.—A. Buhl: The integral 
form of the equations of Monge-Ampére.—A. 
Hurwitz : The critical forms of the inverse functions of 
integral functions.—Paul Lévy: The functions of 
Green and Neumann.—M. Hadamard : Remarks on the 
preceding paper.—G. H. Hardy: The zeros of the 
Riemann function € (s).—M. Moulin: The terminal 
curves of spirals: influence of the terms of the second 
order.—H. Bourget, Ch. Fabry, and H. Buisson: The 
atomic weight of nebulium and the temperature of 
the nebula of Orion. The strong’ double ultra-violet 


NO. 2320, VOL. 93] 


line AA 3726, 3729, is attributable to no known gas. 
From a spectroscopic study by interference methods 
the atomic weight of the element, named nebulium, 
is found to be about 3. The temperature of the nebula 
is of the order of 15,000° C.—Maurice Drecq: -The 
determination of the emissive power in the infra-red. 
Details of the construction of a very sensitive silver- 
bismuth thermocouple and of a new form of furnace 
for giving high black-body temperatures are given.— 
Jean Bielecki and Victor Henri: Contribution to the 
study of tautomerism. A quantitative study of the 
absorption of the ultra-violet rays by. fatty diketones. 
The constitution admitted for the second tautomeric 
form of acetylacetone,.CH,.CO.CH : C(OH).CH,, is 
incompatible with the absorption spectra. A more 
probable constitution is CH,.CO.CH,.C(OH) : CH,.— 
A. Portevin: The carbon equilibrium of steels in fused 
mixtures of potassium chloride and cyanide.—R. 
Devisé: The microsporocytes of Larix.—L. Massol : 
The effects of snake poisons on the coagulation of 
the serum of the horse by heating. Differentiation of 
the poisons of Viperideze and Colubridez. The effects 
of cobra poison are consistent with the view that it 
contains two diastases with contrary actions, one re- 
tarding and the other accelerating the coagulation.— 
Mme. Victor Henri: Study of the metabiotic action of 
the ultra-violet rays. The production of forms of 
mutation of the anthrax bacillus. The exposure . of 
spore-bearing anthrax bacilli to ultra-violet light causes 
profound changes in the organism. The surviving 
bacilli are transformed into new forms distinguished 
from normal anthrax bacilli by their morphological, 
biochemical, and biological characters.—Louis and 
Charles Fortineau : The treatment of anthrax by injec- 
tions of sterilised pyocyanic cultures. An account of 
the treatment of nine cases of malignant oedema and 
forty-one of malignant pustule by subcutaneous injec- 
tion of sterilised pyocyanic cultures : the mortality was 
reduced to 10 per cent.—Em. Bourquelot and Alexandru 
Ludwig : The biochemical synthesis of B-orthomethoxy- 
benzylglucoside and of £-metanitrobenzylglucoside. 
These syntheses were effected with the aid of emulsin 
in aqueous acetone solutions.—Adrien Guébhard : The 
tectonic in the neighbourhood of Castellane (Basses 
Alpes).—Sabba Stefanescu ; The origin of the cuneiform 
sheets of the molars of elephants.—Henri Bresson : 
Eight hydrographical maps of the Normandy region. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 


Australian Fossils. By F. Chapman. Pp. 341+ 
map. (Melbourne and London: G. Robertson and 
Co. Propy., Ltd.) 

Canada. Department of Mines. Mines Branch. 
Annual Report on the Mineral Production of Canada 
during the Calendar Year 1912. Pp. 339: By J. 
McLeish. (Ottawa: Government Printing Bureau.) 

Der Geist des Hellenentums in der modernen Physik. 
Antrittevorlesung gehalten am 17 Januar 1914 in der 
Aula der Universitat Leipzig. By Prof. A. E. Haas. 
Pp. 32. (Leipzig: Veit and Co.) 1.20 marks. 

An Account of the Crustacea of Norway. By G. O. 
Sars. Vol. vi., Copepoda. Parts 3 and 4, Cylclopidz 
(continued.) (Bergen: The Bergen Museum.) 

Simple Directions for the Determination of the 
Common Minerals and Rocks. By Prof. W. H. 
Hobbs. Pp. 31. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 
TS Mev 

Botanische Jahrbticher. Fiinfzigster Band. Supple- 
ment-Band. Fest-Band fiir A. Engler. Pp. 672+ xi 
plates. (Leipzig and Berlin: W. Engelmann.) — 55 
marks, 

The South African Institute for Medical Research. 
Specific Serological Reactions with Pneumococci from 


182 


NATURE 


[APRIL 16, 1914 


Different Sources. Pp. 14+plate+ 
charts. (Johannesburg.) 

London County Council. 
Education in France and Germany. Pp. 47. (Lon- 
don: .P: S»Kinevand<Son:) ws. 

Physiological Plant Anatomy. By Prof. G. Haber- 
landt. Translated from the fourth German edition by 
M. Drummond. Pp. xv+777. (London: Macmillan 
and Co., Ltd.) 25s. net. 


By F.-S. Lister. 
BS (oyol. 
Trade and Technical 


The Golden Bough. By Prof. J. G. Frazer. Third 
edition. Part iv. Adonis, Attis, Osiris. Vol. i. Pp. 
XVii+317. Vol. ii. Pp. x+321. . (Lendon: -Mac- 


millan and Co., Ltd.) Two vols., 20s. net. 

Science and Method. By H. Poincaré. Translated 
by F. Maitland. Pp. 288. (London: T. Nelson and 
Sons.) 6s. net. 

Board of Agriculture and Fisheries. Agricultural 
Statistics, 1913. Vol. xlviii. Part 1. Acreage and 
Live Stock Returns of England and Wales, with 
Summaries for the United Kingdom. Pp. 11o. 
(London: H.M.S.O.: Wyman and Sons, Ltd.) 6d. 

Defensive Ferments of the Animal Organism. By 
E. Abderhalden. Third enlarged edition. English 
translation by Dr. J. O. Gavronsky and W. F. 
Lanchester. Pp. xx+242. (London: J. Bale, Ltd.) 
7s. 6d. net. 

Ornamental Lathework for Amateurs. By C. H.C. 
Pp. 121+xxii plates. (London: P. Marshall and Co.) 
3s. 6d. net. 

Klimatographie von Karnten. By Prof. V. Conrad. 
Pp. 139. (Vienna: Gerold and Co.) 

Echinoderma of the Indian Museum. Part viii. 


DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 


THURSDAY, Aprit 16. 

CoNCRETE INSTITUTE, at 7.30.—The Design of Steel and Reinforced 
Concrete Pillars with special reference to Secondary and Accidental 
Stresses; O. Faber. 

InsTITUTION OF MINING AND METALLURGY, at 8.—Notes on Mine Survey 
Records and Calculations: C. G. Priest and W. Whyte.—Collecting and 
Handling Flue Dust: E. Huntley.—A Description of a Portion of 
Equatorial Africa: H. W. Hill. 


FRIDAY, AprRiv 17. 

MALACOLOGICAL Society, at 8.—Notes on Australian Mactride: E. A. 
Smith.—On the Generic name Martensia, Semper: Some more notes on 
Polyplacophora, I. : T. Iredale.—Description of a new recent Pholadomya 
from Tasmania: C. Hedley and W. L. May.—Description of a New 
Helicoid from South Ausiralia : G. K. Grude. 

Junior InstTiTuTION OF ENGINEERS, at 8.—A Few Typical Carburetters: 
R.S. Fox. 

ASSOCIATION OF Economic Biotocists (at Royal College of Science), at 
10 a.m.—The Organism of (ommon Potato Scab. (Actinomyces scabies. 
(Thaxter) Giissow): H. T. Giissow.—Potato Diseases: A. S. Horne.— 
Insect, causing Blotch on Potato Foliage: A. S. Horne and H. M. 
Lefroy.—Standard Fungicides and Insecticides : A. G. L. Rogers. —Obser- 
vations on Aphis rumicis: J. Davidson.—The Golf Green Fly: A. W. 
Westrop.—Observation on the Winter Stage of the American Gooseberry 
Mildew. (Sphaerotheca mors-Uvae): E.S. Salmon.—The Darkening of 
Oak: P. Groom.—The Phytopathological Conference : A. G. L. Rogers. 
—Apple and Pear Sucker: P. R. AwatiicAn Experiment in House 
Fumigation: H. M. Lefroy.—Life-history and Habits of AJleurodes 
vaporariorum: K. Hargreaves. 

SATURDAY, Apri 18. 

ASSOCIATION OF Economic Broxocisrs, at 10 a.m. (See Papers under 
April 17.) 

MONDAY, Apriv 20. 

Junior INsTITUTION oF ENGINEERS, at 8.—Lines of Future Development 
in High Power Diesel Oi) Engines: J. Richardson. 

Victoria INSTITUTE, at 4.30.—The Latest Discoveries in Babylonia: Dr. 


T. G. Pinches. 
TUESDAY, Aprit 21. 

Roya InstTiTUTION, at 3.—Problems of Physical Chemistry. I. Study 
of Matter at High Pressures: Dr. W. Wahl. 

Royal. SratrisTicat Society, at 5.—Rural Population in England and 
Wales A Study of the Changes of Density, Occupations and Ages: Dr. 
A. L. Bowley. 

INSTITUTION OF CiviL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Further Discussion: The 
Transportation Problem in Canada, and Montreal Harbour: F. W. Cowie. 

ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY, at 8.30.—Further Contributions to the Anatomy of 
the Ophidia : Surg. J. C. Thompson.—Crustacea from the Falkland Islands 
Collected by Mr. Rupert Vallentin. II: Rev. T. R. R. Stebbing. — 
Report on the Arachnida and Myriopoda Collected by the Britis!) Orni- 
thologists’ Union Expedition and the Wollaston Expedition in Dutch New 
Guinea: S. Hirst.—The Coloration of the African Hunting Dog 
(Lycaon pictus): Major J. Stevenson Hamilton.—Notes on Avr istens 
goldiez, Macleay, and on some other Fishes from New Guinea: C. Tate 
Regan.—The Courtship-habits of the Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps 
cristatus); with an Addition to the Theory of Sexual Selection; J. S. 
Huxley. 


NO. 2320, VOL. 93] 


WEDNESDAY, ApRIL 22. 

Royat METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY, at 7.30.—Report on the Phenological 
Observations for .1913: J. E. Clark and R. H. Hooker.—A Small 
Anemometer for Tropical Use: A. J. Bamford. 

Farapay Society, at 8.—Recording Pyrometers: C. R. Darling.—The 
Embrittling of Iron by Caustic Soda: J. H. Andrew.—Diffusion and 
Membrane Potentials: Dr. E. B. R. Prideaux.—The Acidic and Colloidal 
Properties of Aluminium Hydroxide: Dr. R. E. Slade and W. G. Polack. 
—‘* Negative’’ Absorption: A. M. Williams. 


THURSDAY, Aprit 23. 

Royat GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY, at 5.—The East African Trough: J. 
Parkinson. 

CuiLp Stupy Society, at 7.30.—Raising the Standard of Child Upbringing 
Rev. J. C, Pringle. 

ConcRETE INSTITUTE, at 7.30.—Sand and Coarse Material and Proportion- 
ing Concrete: J. A. Davenport and Prof. S. W. Perrott. 

INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Electrification of Railways 
as affected by Traffic Considerations : H. W. Firth. 


FRIDAY, Apri 24. 

Roya INSTITUTION, at 9.—The Stars around the North Pole: Dr. F. W. 
Dyson, 

Teak INSTITUTION OF ENGINEERS, at 8.—A Visit to the Iron Districts 
of French Alsace : G. Evetts. 

INSTITUTION OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Application of Electrical 
Driving to Existing Rolling Mills: L. Rothera. 

SATURDAY, Arrit 25. 

Rovat INSTITUTION, at 3.—Similarity of Motion in Fluids. I. The 
Theory of Similarity of Motion in Fluids and the Experimental Proof of 
its Existence: Dr. T. E. Stanton. 


CONTENTS. PAGE 
‘“«The Golden Bough” Completed. By A. E. Crawley .157 


Assayof Precious Metals) | By aK] Roe ena 
Seismological Physics .... 158 
Pure Mathematics «0G Nite st S550 5 teen ene ae ee 
Our Bookshelf. °°). sh oe ee on ve 

Letters to the Editor :— , 
Cellular Structure of Emulsions. (Z2/zstrated.)—Prof.  _, 
Kerr Grant | 162 


A Simple Method of Aerating Marine and other ; 


Aquaria. (Z//ustrated.)—Ellis W. Gildersleeves 162 
The Red Sea Coast. (///ustrated.) By H.G. L.. 163 
The Lawes and Gilbert Centenary Fund... . 164 
The Life-History of the Eel. By D. W. T.. 164) 
Carte Internationale du Monde au Millionieme . 166 
International Convention on Plant Diseases . 167 
IN(OLE SN xc 7s ai aye tone 1 ea eta > Fe eaediate 168 
Our Astronomical Column :— 
Axpril Shooting: Stags s-) +) eee iremen te su isene 172 
Nova Geminorum No. 2. 172 
Diurnal Variations of Latitude 172 
A Pexpetual:€alendare .°~  eeeuhe) =) -0 =) poe a 
Primary Education and Beyond. By Prof. R. A. 
Gregory. 0.4) Soa ee ate ig renee 173 
Cytological Aspects of Heredity ......+.-. 175 
The Currents in Belle Isle Strait. ....... 175 
Superstitions Relating to Weather . erg) a 176 
Theories of Ore-Genesis, By Dr. F. H. Hatc 176 
University and Educational Intelligence . 180 
Societies and Academies 180 
Boskis"Received .  .0 uh a GeeRR ee GO eee 
Diary of. Societies. . 22 acl 0ce ela) 3S Ee ee 


Editorial and Publishing Offices: 


MACMILLAN & CO., Lrtp., 
ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C. 


Advertisements and business letters to be addressed to the 
Publishers. 


Editorial Communications to the Editor. 


Telegraphic Address: Puusis, LONDON. 
Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830. 


We ORE 


avers os 


THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 


1914. 


A TREATISE ON .IGNEOUS ROCKS. 


Igneous Rocks. Composition, Texture and 
Classification, Description and Occurrence. By 
Joseph P. Iddings. In Two Volumes. Vol. i. 


Pp. xi+464+3 plates. (1909.) Price 21s. net. 
Vol. ii. Pp. ix+685. (London: John Wiley 
and Sons, Inc.; London: Chapman and. Hall, 
Ltd., 1973:)* Price 25s. 6d. nets 
NIFORM with the ‘Rock Minerals” of the 
same author, now in its second edition, the 
work which Prof. Iddings has now completed will 
take an assured place as the fullest and most 
comprehensive treatment of the subject in our 
language. Nor is it of the nature of a com- 
pilation, but presents numerous features of origin- 
ality. There are novelties which will be cordially 
welcomed, and others which will probably meet 
a more doubtful reception. The author has not 
shrunk from introducing many debatable ques- 
tions, and has pronounced on them in no un- 
certain tone. Although the spirit is that of the 
missionary rather than the controversialist, this 
somewhat impairs the utility of the work as a 
hand-book for students. 

The first volume, which has been for some time 
in the hands of petrologists, deals with the com- 
position, texture, and classification of igneous 
rocks. It includes a good account of the 
chemical composition of the rocks and of their 
component minerals, a discussion of the chemistry 
and physics of rock-magmas, an admirable and 
well-illustrated chapter on rock-textures, and a 
statement of the problem of magmatic differentia- 
tion. The last three chapters are concerned with 
the thorny subject of nomenclature and classifica- 
tion. Here we have first a historical sketch, then 
an arrangement of the principal igneous rocks in 
~a “qualitative ” mineralogical scheme, and finally 
an exposition of the ‘‘ Quantitative Classification,” 
of which our author is one of the creators. _ 

The second volume, recently issued, deals with 
the description and occurrence of the rocks, and 
is divided into two equal parts. The final test of 


any classificatory scheme is its applicability in | 
practice; and doubtless many petrologists have | 


waited with curiosity to see how the author would 
develop a systematic treatment of igneous rocks 
on the lines of the Quantitative Classification. 
seems that we may now congratulate him on 
recognising the impossibility of the task, for the 
system actually adopted does not differ in general 
plan from others in current use. The rocks are 
first divided into those characterised by (1) pre- 


NOs.@321, VOL. .93} 


It | 


ponderance of quartz, (2) quartz and _ felspar, 
(3) felspar, (4) felspar and felspathoids, (5) fels- 
pathoids, and (6) ferro-magnesian minerals. Under 
each head ‘“phanerites” and “aphanites” are 
separated, while the subdivisions are again based 
on mineralogical characters. To introduce the 


| quantitative element, the author has often re- 


defined terms already in use (a practice which he 
deprecates in others); but he has succeeded in 
producing a working scheme with less disturbance 
of accepted usage than-we had expected. The 
principal relic of the specific ‘‘ Quantitative Classi- 
fication”? is the use of an ideal mineral composi- 
tion (the “norm ’’) instead of the actual composi- 
tion. 

Nevertheless, there are many signs that the 
author is reluctant to abandon the conception of 
a Classification laid down a priori. The precise 
boundaries which he demands are to be fixed by 
arithmetic, not by chemistry. He counts it a 
defect of the current systems that special import- 
ance is attached to the presence of even very small 
amounts of certain minerals, such as nepheline 
and leucite; but, as he has himself pointed out 
(prior to the birth of the Quantitative Classifica- 
tion), the mere appearance of one of these minerals 
shows that we have crossed a significant boundary- 
line in respect of chemical composition. Surely it 
is he, not his critic, who has lost appreciation of 
“the mathematical precision of stochiometric 
chemistry ” (p. 7). 

The second part of the volume we can praise 
without reserve. It is an account, such as has 
never been attempted before, of the geographical 
distribution of igneous rocks over the globe, with 
special reference to their chemical composition. 
This has not been merely compiled in the library, 
but represents the results of much travel and study 
in many lands. It is illustrated by maps of the 
several continents, and by more than 1200 
analyses. We hope that in another edition some 
attempt will be made to distinguish on the maps 
igneous rocks of different. geological ages. 


AG Ea 


MATHEMATICS FOR FRENCH 
FRESHMEN. 


Les Principes de l’Analyse Mathématique: Exposé 
Historique et Critique. By Prof. P. Boutroux. 
Tome Premier. Pp. xi+547. (Paris: A. Her- 
mann et Fils, 1914.) Price 14 francs. 

ROF. BOUTROUX appears to belong to 

the school of the laughing philosophers ; 

for, like many of his distinguished compatriots, 

he has composed a work which is amusing as well 
I 


184 


as learned, His six chapters range from elemen- 
tary arithmetic to differential equations, and touch 
upon such things as friendly numbers, magic 
squares, the transcendency of 7, Tartaglia’s 
rhymed rule for solving a cubic, and so on. Alto- 
gether, the book is written in a light and elegant 
style, reminding us of Lucas; it is neither so 
technical, nor so critical, as its title might sug- 
gest. 

Sometimes we are inclined to think that the 
author is poking fun; for instance (p. 50), he sug- 
gests that o (zero) is the initial letter of 
It is scarcely necessary to say that the Greeks 
adopted the decimal notation, including zero and 
the nine other digits, after it had been invented 
by Eastern (probably Indian) mathematicians ; and 
that our zero is almost certainly an enlargement 
of the dot which is still used by Oriental printers 
(unless the dot is a contraction for an older circle). 

“Bernouilli,” instead of Bernoulli, occurs so 
often that it can scarcely be condoned as a mis- 
print; “Neper” we let pass, as a traditional mis- 
spelling ; otherwise the names of authors seem ta 
be correct. 
important fact is that the author, besides being 


ovoev ! 


This is a small matter; a much more | 
| (5) Die 


interested in the discoveries of the ancients, is | 


fully awake to the merits of the moderns. For 


instance, we have the modern definition of “func- | 
tion”; references to the modern theories of irra- | 


like. 


“débutants en mathématiques.”’ 


it is certainly not one of formule; so it must be 
judged as one of ideas, and since it begins with a 
quotation from Plato’s “ Republic,” we may sup- 
pose that this is what the author means. 


gratulated, because the ideas which he suggests 
are eternal, though the forms under which he 
presents them are merely those which seem for 
the present the most convenient and suitable. One 
great advantage of the historical treatment of 
the subject is that it shows how what we may call 
the machinery of the subject has been improved 
and simplified. 

Prof.. Boutroux promises. us. another volume 
dealing mainly with analytical geometry, mathe- 
matical logic, and infinitesimal calculus; it will 
also deal with complex quantities and_ series. 
Teachers will note that the range of the whole 
work approximately covers the course of general 
mathematics in the science faculties of the higher 
educational bodies in France. 
ele 
NO) 2321, VOE. «924 


tional numbers, of functional equations, and the | 
ee 
It is interesting to see from the preface that 
this book is intended to be a “repertorium ” for | 
As a repertorium | 


of industrial organic analysis. 
_ series of commercial organic products have been 
_ selected, and detailed instructions are given of 


the analytical processes employed in determining 
From this point of view, the author may be con- | 


NATURE [APRIL 22; gom4 


ANALYTICAL AND SYNTHETICAL 
CHEMISTRY. 

(1) Industrial Organic Analysis: for the Use of 
Technical and Analytical Chemists and Stu- 
dents. By Paul S. Arup. With a foreword by 
Prot. J. C. Irvine. Pp. xii-- 3405 (Mendon® 
J. and A. Churchill,1913.)' Pricé 7s: 6d. net: 

(2) A Text-book of Quantitative Chemical Ana- 
lysis. By Dr. A.C) Cumming’ and Dr Se 
Kay. Pp. xi+382. (London: Gurney and 
Jackson; Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd, 1913.) 
Price 7s. 6d. net. 

(3) The Sugars and their Simple Derivatives. By 
Dr. J: E. Mackenzie. Pp. xvi++242. (Londow 
Gurney and Jackson; Edinburgh: Oliver and 
Boyd, tgr3.). Price’7s. 6d. net. 

(4) The Silicates in Chemistry and Commerce: 
including the Exposition of a Hexite and Pen- 
tite Theory and of a Stereo-chemical Theory of 
General Application, By Dr. W. Asch and Dr. 
D. Asch. Translated, with critical notes and 
some additions, by Alfred B. Searle. Pp. xx+ 
456. (London: Constable and Co., Ltd., 1913.) 
Price 21s) mete 

Elemente der  siebenten Gruppe des 

periodischen Systems: aus Abegg’s der an- 

organischen Chemie. Vierter Band. Zweite 

Abteilung. Herausgegeben von Dr. Fr. Auer-_ 

Pp. x+904. (Leipzig: S. Hirzel, 1913.) 

Price 26 marks. 

HIS volume is intended for the use of 
students who, having received a 
grounding in theoretical and practical chemistry, 
are desirous of gaining an insight into the methods 

Eight typical 


bach. 


the industrial value of the materials under con- 
sideration. The subjects chosen include coal and 
coke, coal tar and its distillation products, the 


_petroleums, the fatty oils and fats, soap, milk, 
| butter, starch and its degradation products, flour, 
| barley, malt, and the preservatives and colouring 


matters introduced into foods. One very valu- 
able feature of the book is the references to the 
larger manuals and special monographs given at 
the end of each chapter. 

In the foreword Prof. Irvine deals with the 
controversial topic of the college training of in- 
dustrial chemists. The subject was not new 
thirty years ago, and although the discussion is 


' unending there is really no general problem to be 


faced; still less is there any general solution to be 
provided. Experts differ, and the weighty 
opinions of Prof. Martin (sic) Bogert, President 


MOAPRUL, #235. F144] 


NATURE 


185 


of the Society of Chemical Industry, should be 
balanced against those of Dr. Messel, his prede- 
cessor in this office. The workings of the latter’s 
mind in this. connection are adumbrated in the 
recent creation of two additional Chairs of “pure ”’ 
chemistry in the Imperial College of Science and 
Technology. However, if some degree of techni- 
cal proficiency is insisted on, the student cannot 
do better than to work through a selection of 
Mr. Arup’s thoroughly practical exercises in indus- 
trial analysis. 

(2) The authors have arranged this manual so 
that some knowledge of the principles of quanti- 
tative analysis may be acquired by a practical 
study of the three introductory sections, which 
include general principles, volumetric analysis, 
and gravimetric analysis, including electrolytic 
methods. Owing to its educative value, a thor- 
ough training in volumetric analysis is recom- 
mended when time permits of little or no gravi- 
metric work. The exercises included in the 
volumetric section form a very instructive and 
comprehensive series, involving the use of all the 
ordinary standard solutions. In view of the great 
importance attached by the authors to this side 
of analysis, it is perhaps allowable to suggest 
that a short description of the chemical nature 
of the organic indicators (methyl-orange, methyl- 
red, phenolphthalein) would have made the volu- 
metric section more self-contained. The prelimin- 
ary chapters are followed by sections devoted to 
colorimetric methods, systematic quantitative 
analysis, and the analysis of simple ores and 
alloys. _ Modern methods have been selected, 
among which may be indicated the estimation of 
potassium as perchlorate and the separation of 
iron from allied metals in acid solution by the 
use of “cupferron,’ the ammonium salt of 
nitrosophenylhydroxylamine. The appendix con- 
tains details of the preparation of this useful 
organic reagent. The section on gas analysis 
refers to the use of the simpler forms of appara- 
tus, such as the Lunge nitrometer and the appa- 
ratus devised by Hempel and by Orsat. Water 
analysis is included as an introduction to the esti- 
mation of substances present only in traces. The 
short section on ultimate organic analysis would 
have been rendered more complete by a_ brief 
reference to the Carius method for the halogens 
and sulphur. The determination of molecular 
weights includes details of the vapour density, 
cryoscopic and ebullioscopic methods. 

(3) This treatise is a very readable monograph 
on the sugars and their immediate derivatives, 
based on a course of lectures given at the Birk- 
beck College and in the University of Edinburgh. 
Rightly on account of their intrinsic importance 


NO, 23921, VOL: 93] 


three chapters each are devoted to cane sugar 
and glucose, these sections being a mine of in- 
formation in regard to these well-studied sugars. 
Among the many researches summarised may be 


_ mentioned ithose on the methyl glucoses, the 
| methyl glucosides, and their acetyl derivatives. 


One very interesting chapter is that relating to 
the configuration of the sugars, in which the 


' stereochemical relationships of these compounds 


are fully discussed. Succeeding chapters deal 
with dioses, trioses, tetroses, pentoses, together 
with the naturally occurring mannose, d-fructose 
(lavulose), and raffinose. The less important 
synthetic sugars are also reviewed. A synopsis 
is furnished of the glucosides found in plants, 
and the concluding sections deal with fermenta- 
tion and with the metabolic changes attending 
the use of sugars and allied carbohydrates as 
foodstuffs. References are given throughout to 
original sources of information, and the work is 
provided with complete author and subject 
indexes. 

(4) It is impossible within the space available 
to discuss in detail the hexite—pentite theory 
devised by the authors, in the first instance, to 
explain the constitution of the naturally occurring 
aluminosilicates, and subsequently employed to 
elucidate the chemical structure of clays, ultra- 
marines, glasses, glazes, porcelains, dental 
cements, hydraulic cements, and especially Port- 
land cements. It is assumed that five or six 
molecules of hydrated silica, Si(OH),, unite with 
partial elimination of water to form cyclic systems 
containing five or six silica residues, these com- 
plexes being termed respectively silicon pentite 
and hexite. Aluminium pentite and hexite arise 
in a similar way by the condensation of five and 
six molecules of hydrated alumina, Al(OH)s. 
The mineral aluminosilicates are regarded either 
as complex acids composed essentially of com- 
binations of these silicon and aluminium pentite 
and hexite rings, or as salts of these acids when 
the hydroxylic hydrogens are more or less re- 
placed by metallic elements. The felspars, micas, 
scapolites, etc., need no longer be regarded as 
molecular compounds belonging to different 
mineral groups; they can all be represented as 
unitary atomic compounds of the same class with 
definite structural formule. <A similar hexite— 
pentite hypothesis is employed to explain the 
constitution of vanadic, molybdic, and tungstic 
complexes. 

The translator, who has added several instruc- 
tive and critical notes, doubts whether the authors 
are justified in extending their views to explain 
the plasticity of clays. The authors’ theory has 
already been criticised by several writers, and 


186 


NATURE 


TAPRiL, 23,0104 


the present volume contains many _ polemical 
replies, notably in connection with the constitu- 
tion and hardening of Portland cements. These 
hydraulic cements are considered to be basic lime 
salts of complex aluminosilicic acids containing 
coalesced hexite and pentite rings with calcium 
oxide side-chains replacing the hydroxyls of the 
hydrated silicon complexes, and occasionally con- 
taining alkali metals similarly attached to the 
aluminium hexite ring's. 

It is highly probable that the refractory oxides, 
silica, alumina, and their allies exist in highly com- 
plex molecules, and since among both inorganic and 
organic compounds there exists a certain tendency 
for the formation of five- and six-membered rings, 
it would probably be accepted by most chemists 
as a working hypothesis that such cyclic systems 
occur in the natural and artificial aluminosilicates 
and their derivatives, but it is open to doubt 
whether the authors do not greatly prejudice their 
case by attempting to extend this hypothesis to 
the explanation of the facts of coordination, 
radioactivity, and the constitution of organic sub- 
stances, such as benzene, the artificial colouring 
matters, and the proteins. 

(5) The appearance of this volume is a welcome 
indication that this monumental treatise on inor- 
ganic chemistry will be brought to completion in 
spite of the untimely death of its originator, the 
late Prof. Richard Abegg. There still remain 
for consideration, however, several important 
groups of elements, and the remaining volumes 
of the work are eagerly awaited by all interested 
in the systematic study of the chemical elements. 
A praiseworthy feature of the treatise so far as 
it has yet appeared is the thoroughness with which 
the compilers have accepted the periodic classi- 
fication of the elements; this insures uniformity 
of arrangement, and renders the task of reference 
a very easy one. It is rarely necessary to turn 
to the indexes. The present volume is devoted 
to the halogens and manganese, the elements of 
the seventh periodic group. In the case of each 
element the opening section deals with the deter- 
mination of its atomic weight. The descriptions 
of the physical and chemical properties of the 
elements and their compounds are very complete, 
and include, in addition, the mathematical treat- 
ment of many important examples of chemical 
equilibria, such as the Deacon’s chlorine process, 
the variations in the vapour density of the halo- 
gens and their partition coefficients in various 
solvents. Special sections deal with the colloidal 
chemistry of the halogens and manganese. 

The bibliography is remarkably full, there being 
more than fifteen hundred references for iodine 


N@I628 2 cv OL. O32 | 


and its derivatives alone. Manganese varies con- 
siderably in its habit of combination, and _ its 
compounds are arranged whenever possible under 
the headings of the various valencies of the metal, 
but reference is also made to its alloys, and to 
compounds in which the valency of the metal is 


undetermined. Geiss 


TEXTILES. 
Textiles: a Handbook for the Student and the 


Consumer. By Mary S. Woolman and Ellen B. 
McGowan. Pp. xi+428. (New York: The 


Macmillan Co.; London: Macmillan and Co., 

ed., j1O13.). JPriceyesaodsnet. 

“HIS book . strikes a new note from an 
‘| educational point of view, and repre- 
sents a serious attempt to present a course 
of instruction to students who intend to 
make some branch of textile work their future 
business, or who are, or will be, the buyers 
of textiles for personal or household purposes. 
Whilst its strongest appeal is to students of the 
type mentioned, the matter is so arranged that it 
offers a mass of information to a wide range of 
readers who are out of touch with technical 
methods, and yet are seriously concerned and 
interested about the character of the textile 
materials they sell, purchase, or use. It fills the 
wide gap at present existing in the domestic 
economy course of instruction in our colleges and 
schools, and as it deals with practically all kinds 
of fibres and the textiles into which they are made, 
it presents in a most interesting manner a remark- 
ably concise and exact description of the methods 
and machinery used for producing the various 
materials. 

Unusually full details are given for distinguish- 
ing the constituents of any textile material, to 
detect frauds and to estimate value. The char- 
acter of the various types of dyes and their use, 
together with notes on finishing and laundry work, 
add materially to the value of the book. The last 
three chapters deal with the hygiene of clothing, 
economic and social aspects, and a series of cloth- 
ing budgets, these latter being unusually complete 
and valuable as guides in the laying out of money 
the clothing of families and individuals of various 
degrees of economic status. 

The book represents a well-defined arrangement 
of accurate information gathered from a multitude 
of sources, chiefly of a highly technical nature, 
and rewritten in a simple and interesting manner 
with a very clear view to their utilisation by those 
who are, after all, the consumers of all that is 
produced by the vast number of our textile fac- 
tories and workshops, and on whom these in- 


APRIL 23, 1914] 


numerable industries depend for their existence. | bringing up the total to 7,556! 


In addition to its value as a text-book on domestic 
economy, it is well worthy of a place in every 
textile-worker’s library, and can be recommended 
as a reference book in the household. 

Wo. Scotr TaGcart. 


OUR BOOKSHELF, 


The Reform of the Calendar. By Alexander Philip, 
Pp. xiii+127. ‘(London: Kegan Paul, Trench, 
Tribner and Co., Ltd.,a9may) Price. 4s. 6d. 
net. 

Mr. Puivip reminds us that, apart from = minor 

notes, we have discussed different aspects. of 

calendar reform already in these columns (April 

27 and October 26, 1911). The reader who looks 

for enthusiastic advocacy of some change and an 

account of the various proposals which have been 
put forward in recent years may be referred to 
this little book on the subject. 

We wish to speak of Mr. Philip with some 
respect. Not that we regard calendar-making as 
a high order of achievement, although. Mr. 
Philip’s original scheme was probably as good as 
any other of its class, and.certainly a great deal 
better than some. But he has also the broad mind 
which appreciates objections and prejudices, and 
he has been led to reduce his first proposal to a 
minimum adjustment of the days of the months. 
The week is left undisturbed, and his present 
scheme may be represented thus :— 


Feb. 30 
Aug. 30 Sept. 30 


Mar. 30 April 31 
Oct. 31 


May 30 
Noy. 30 


June 30 (31) 
IDSs Bi 


Jan. 31 


July 31 


Perhaps something might be said in favour of 
interchanging the second and fourth quarters so 
as to bring leap day (when it occurs) to the end 
of the year. But little can be seriously urged 
against a change which makes the months and 
quarters more equal and introduces an approxi- 
mately rhythmic (? dactylic) arrangement. What 
is to be feared rather is that so slight an adjust- 
ment offers so small an advantage, in spite of 
Mr. Philip’s glowing optimism, as to lack the 
necessary driving force for its adoption. Does 
there indeed exist a _ practical middle course 
between the Scylla of traditional prejudice and the 
Charybdis of triviality ? 
Pe... P. 


Les Zoocécidies des Plantes d’Europe et du Bassin 
de la Méditeranée. By C. Houard. Tome 
Troisiéme. Supplément: | 1909-1912. Pp. 
1249-1560. (Paris: A. Hermann et Fils, 1913.) 
Price 10 francs. 

THE rapid progress of cecidology has led Prof. C. 

Houard to publish a supplement to his two in- 

dispensable volumes on the Animal Galis_ of 

Europe. This third volume deals with what has 

been done between 1909 and 1912, and it is as- 

tonishing to find a registration of 1,300 new galls, 


NOw gaa, VOL. Ogi 


NATURE 


SSS j_ 


4 


187 


The author has 
exercised discretion in what he has included, and 
he makes an appeal to those interested in galls— 
and what naturalist. is not?—to refrain from 
rushing into print with new discoveries until they 
have studied them for, say, two successive years ! 
Everything has been done in the way of double 
entry and bibliography to make the catalogue 
serviceable, and both pagination and enumeration 
are in continuity with the previous volumes. 
There are 201 illustrations, and there is an appro- 
priate frontispiece with photographs of Ribsaa- 
men, Kieffer, Massalongo, and the late Prof. 
Giard. 


The Principle of Relativity in the Light of the 
Philosophy of Science. By Paul Carus. Pp. 
105. (London and Chicago: The Open Court 
Publishing Co., 1913.) Price 4s. net. 


Tue author of this work has made up his mind 
in advance that the question of relativity is a 
philosophical problem. It is therefore necessary 
for him to dismiss contemptuously all the history 
of the purely physical principle technically known 
as. ‘‘the principle. of relativity.” . To say as he 
does that the Michelson-Morley experiment 
“assuredly has nothing to do with the principle 
of relativity’ is simply tc say that the principle 
is not what it is. The author refuses to call the 
principle a hypothesis, and asserts “that it is an 
a priori proposition, a postulate of pure thought 
which either holds good universally or has no 
validity whatever.”’ 

Whatever opinion may be held on this point, 
it is impossible to say that to the student of 
dynamics there is no difference in status between 
rotation and translation. If relativity is a require- 
ment of pure thought, why cannot Newton’s 
laws of motion be used equally well for two frames 
of reference, of which one is in rotational motion 
relative to the other? Are those laws wrong, or 
is pure thought irrelevant to dynamics? One as- 
pect of the principle of relativity is that we do know 
whether it is convenient to think of a system as 
having no rotation. This is a matter of common 
experience. If pure thought denies it, it is clear 
that it is thinking about something other than 
the facts with which experiment deals. 


Nature and the Idealist. Essays and Poems. 
By H. D. Shawcross. Pp. xii+186. (London: 
Sampson Low, Marston and Co., Ltd. n.d.) 


Price: ssi mer: 


Tue late Mr. Shawcross died last year at the early 
age of twenty-nine. He was a newspaper journ- 
alist whose work had to be done in a_ busy 
Lancashire town, though all his instincts and his 
love for nature would have taken him into the 
country. His essays and poems reveal much of 
the struggle he continually had and their merit 
suggests that had he lived longer he would have 
become known as a poet and essayist to a wide 
circle of lovers of nature. 


188 


NATURE 


[APRIL 23, 1914 


oe eS Ee Eee ee aa 


LETTERS, TO THE EDITOR. 


[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for 
opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with 
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 
this or any other part of Nature. _No notice is 
taken of anonymous communications. ] 


The Sand-Blast. 


Amonc the many remarkable anticipations contained 
in T. Young’s lectures on natural philosophy (1807) 
is that in which he explains the effect of what is now 
commonly known as the sand-blast. On p. 144 he 
writes :—-‘‘ There is, however, a limit beyond which the 
velocity of a body striking another cannot be increased 
without overcoming its resilience, and breaking it, 
however small the bulk of the first body may be, and 
this limit depends on the inertia of the parts of the 
second body, which must not be disregarded when 
they are impelled with a considerable velocity. For 
it is demonstrable that there is a certain velocity, de- 
pendent on the nature of a substance, with which the 
effect of any impulse or pressure is transmitted through 
it; a certain portion of time, which is shorter accord- 
ingly as the body is more elastic, being required for 
the propagation of the force through any part of it; 
and if the actual velocity of any impulse be in a greater 
proportion to this velocity than the extension or com- 
pression, of which the substance is capable, is to its 
whole length, it is obvious that a separation must be 
produced, since no parts can be extended or com- 
pressed which are not yet affected by the impulse, 
and the length of the portion affected at any instant 
is not sufficient to allow the required extension or 
compression. Thus if the velocity with which an 
impression is transmitted by a certain kind of sound be 
15,000 ft. in a second, and it be susceptible of com- 
pression to the extent of 1/200 of its length, the 
greatest velocity that it can resist will be 75 ft. in a 
second, which is equal to that of a body falling from 
a height of about go ft.” 

Doubtless this passage was unknown to O. Rey- 
nolds when, with customary penetration, in his paper 
on the sand-blast (Phil. Mag., vol. xlvi., p. 337, 1873) 
he emphasises that ‘‘the intensity of the pressure be- 
tween bodies on first impact is independent of the 
size of the bodies.” 

After his manner, Young was over-concise, and it is 
not clear precisely what circumstances he had in con- 
templation. Probably it was the longitudinal impact 
of bars, and at any rate this affords a convenient 
example. We may begin by supposing the bars to be 
of the same length, material, and section, and before 
impact to be moving with equal and opposite veloci- 
ties v. At impact the impinging faces are reduced to 
rest, and remain at rest so long as the bars are in 
contact at all. This condition of rest is propagated in 
each bar as a wave moving with a velocity a, char- 
acteristic of the material. In such a progressive wave 
there is a general relation between the particle- 
velocity (estimated relatively to the parts outside the 
wave) and the compression (e), viz., that the velocity 
is equal to ae. In the present case the relative par- 
ticle-velocity is v, so that v=ae. The limit of the 
strength of the material is reached when e has a cer- 
tain value, and from this the greatest value of v (half 
the original relative velocity) which the bars can bear 
is immediately inferred. 

But the importance of the conclusion depends upon 
an extension now to be considered. It will be seen 
that the length of the bars does not enter into the 
question. Neither does the equality of the lengths. 
However short one of them may be, we may contem- 
plate an interval after first impact so short that the 


NO! 2321, 30L: 92] 


wave will not have reached the further end, and then 
the argument remains unaffected. However short one 
of the impinging bars, the above calculated relative 
velocity is the highest which the material can bear 
without undergoing disruption. 

As more closely related to practice, the case of two 
spheres of radii 7, 1’, impinging directly with relative 
velocity v, is worthy of consideration. According to 
ordinary elastic theory the only remaining data of the 
problem are the densities p, p’, and the elasticities. 
The latter may be taken to be the Young’s moduli 
q, q', and the Poisson’s ratios, 0, 0’, of which the two 
last are purely numerical. The same may be said 
of the ratios q'/q, p’'/p, and 7’/r. So far as dimen- 
sional quantities are concerned, any maximum strain 
e may be regarded as a function of 1, v, q, and p. 
The two last can occur only in the combination q/p, 
since strain is of no dimensions. Moreover, q/p=a’, 
where a is a velocity. Regarding e as a function of 
r, v, and a, we see that v and a can occur only as 
the ratio v/a, and that y cannot appear at all. The 
maximum strain then is independent of the linear 
scale; and if the rupture depends only on the maxi- 
mum strain, it is as likely to occur with small spheres 
as with large ones. The most interesting case occurs 
when one sphere is very large relatively to the other, 
as when a grain of sand impinges upon a glass 
surface. If the velocity of impact be given, the glass 
is as likely to be broken by a small grain as by a 
much larger one. It may be remarked that this con- 
clusion would be upset if rupture depends upon the 
duration of a strain as well as upon its magnitude. 

The general argument from dynamical similarity 
that the maximum strain during impact is independent 
of linear scale, is, of course, not limited to the case 
of spheres, which has been chosen merely for con- 


venience of statement. RAYLEIGH. 
The Earth’s Gontraction. 
THE conclusion of the Rev. Osmond Fisher 


(NaturE, February 26) that if the moon originated as 
a detached portion of the earth, the earth’s radius at 
the time (even allowing for the much more rapid rate 
of rotation indicated by Sir G. H. Darwin’s re- 
searches) must have been about three times its present 
one, leads to a very interesting speculation, namely, 
as to whether the earth’s radius may not have con- 
tracted very considerably within the time represented 
by the known geological formations. There is, I 
think, observational evidence which warrants us in 
believing this to have been the case. 

Prof. Heim estimated the linear compression re- 
quired to produce the Alps at seventy-four miles, 
which means a reduction of the earth’s radius by 
twelve miles, or 0-3 per cent. Taking the whole of 
the existing mountain ranges, we may roughly esti- 
mate a total reduction of ten times this amount, or 
3 per cent., as being indicated since the middle of the 
Tertiary epoch. Yielding of the earth’s crust by 
intense folding has probably always taken place in 
particular areas, but it is a fact that as a whole the 
rocks show more and more folding, faulting, and 
overthrusting the farther back we go into the geo- 
logical record, and the mountains formed in the older 
epochs have long since been removed by denudation, 
which was naturally most active where the plication 
was most intense. Taking the rock-structures alone 
into consideration, would any geologist who has 
worked extensively amongst the oldest fossiliferous 
rocks affirm that the evidences are against a contrac- 
tion of the earth’s radius of the order of 20 per cent. 
since they were deposited? A contraction of this 
magnitude would be accommodated by a continuous 
folding of the crust into anticlines and synclines at 


) angles of 37° with the horizontal, and most accounts 


APRIL 23, 1914] 


of the tectonics of the earlier Palzeozoic rocks describe 
folding and shearing which approach this average, 
though, of course, there are some extensive areas 
where the disturbance has been much less. When we 
come to the Archzean rocks the case is even stronger. 

A very simple calculation shows that the amount of 
contraction suggested above implies only a rate of 
shrinkage so slow that if going on at present it would 
fail to be detected by the most refined geodetic mea- 
surements repeated after a century. A contraction of 
the earth’s radius of only three inches a year, which 
would cause a 20 per cent. diminution of the radius in 
about twenty million years (and this is probably a low 
estimate for the age of the Cambrian strata) would 
only change the absolute length of geodetic lines by 
less than one part in a million in a hundred years. 
Observations of the lunar parallax, which afford 
another theoretical means of detecting changes of the 
earth’s radius, would have to be repeated at intervals 
of twenty-five thousand years in order to detect a 
single second of diminution, even if we could assume 
the moon’s mean distance to be constant throughout 
this period. 

If the hypothesis of a continuous contraction of the 
earth’s radius at an average rate of somewhere about 
three inches a year throughout geological time is 
entertained, it not only furnishes a plausible explana- 
tion of the prevalent folding of the ancient rocks, but 
also tempts one to indulge in a number of other 
speculations, such as, for instance, how far the flying- 
powers of the great Mesozoic reptiles may have been 
influenced by the lesser value of gravity at the earth’s 
surface with a larger terrestrial radius and a greater 
speed of rotation. But collateral issues may well rest 
until the main point has been argued, and as to this 
I should like the opinion of geologists whose experi- 
ence of the older formations has been greater than 
my own. I am at present surveying in a disturbed 
country where I should certainly have had to correct 
my base-line very considerably for dislevelment if I 
had measured it along the planes of stratification of 
the rocks, and this circumstance has suggested the 
question to my mind on reading Mr. Fisher’s letter. 

Joun Batt. 

Wadi Shellal, Sinai, March 31. 


Zoological Classification. 


THE complaint, thus entitled, of Mr. H. C. William- 
son in Nature for April 9, p. 135, is a fairly common 
one just now, and his way of putting it suggests some 
remarks frog the other side. 

The zoological classification of this or any other 
day is ‘‘satisfactory’’ in proportion, first, as the prin- 
ciples of that classification commend themselves to the 
general intelligence of zoologists; secondly, as the 
classification is in agreement with those principles. 
The multiplication of the units to be classified, 
whether subspecies, species, or genera, can have no 
bearing on the validity of the classification. 

The object of classification is the arrangement, but 
not the nomenclature, of the units. 

The older genera have been subdivided, not merely 
because the number of species has proved unwieldy 
(indeed, if the necessary bases be absent, such genera 
cannot be split, however much it be desired), nor 
merely because it has proved possible to group the 
species (for in this case subgeneric divisions are 
adequate), but because study has shown that the 
species formerly included in a genus have not really 
the close interrelationship which such _ inclusion 
implies, but are of very diverse descent. In nomen- 
clature as affected by classification most of the serious 
difficulties which happen to have come under my own 


NOL 2e20, VOL. 93) 


NATURE 


189 


notice are due to our increased, but still imperfect, 
knowledge of origins. 

The real trouble and source of disagreement between 
zoologists is that some (and especially the ‘‘ applied” 
workers) look at taxonomy with the eyes of the old 
school, which regarded only the amount of resem- 
blance in structure, while others follow the new school 
which seeks to express history and relationship. In 
a word, there are two sets of principles, and our 
classification is, if not halting between the two, at 
least passing rather lamely from one to the other. 
And as for nomenclature, the trouble is that the 
Linnean system was devised for a classification on the 
old principles, and one often doubts how far it is 
applicable to the new method. 

When the nature of our difficulties is clearly under- 
stood, nobody will propose to effect progress by such 
retracing of our steps as ‘‘the extinction of half at 
least of the genera.’’ In ordinary writing one prac- 
tical way of getting round the difficulty is half hinted ° 
at in Mr. Williamson’s last sentence; it is to use the 
family name. Thus we can speak of a Cidarid, a 
Terebratulid, a Phacopid, a Pentacrinid. Or the 
transition may be eased by using the old name with 
some such caveat as sensu lato, e.g. Rhynchonella 
(s. 1.), Antedon (s. 1.). In writing the ‘‘ Guide to the 
Fossil Invertebrate Animals in the British Museum”’ 
the conflict between accuracy and intelligibility was 
settled by adding the older better-known name within 
square brackets after the correct or modern generic 
name, e.g. Dalmanites |[Phacops] caudatus. 

F. A. BATHER. 

Natural History Museum, April 11. 


Electric Emissivity at High Temperatures. 

WE have recently conducted at the National Physical 
Laboratory some experiments on the emission of elec- 
tricity from a number of substances at very high 
temperatures—between 2000° C. and 2500° C. The 
experiments were carried out in a carbon-tube resist- 
ance furnace at atmospheric pressure. Among the 
substances tried were the alkaline earths and a num- 
ber of metals. In every instance the temperature was 
sufficient to vaporise rapidly the substance under 
test, and, under these conditions, very large amounts 
of electricity were emitted. For example, barium 
oxide emitted negative currents of the order of 
4 amperes per sq. cm., while boiling tin gave currents 
of about 2 amperes per sq. cm. No external potential 
was applied in any of the experiments. : 

We hope to publish very shortly a full discussion of 


the results. 
G. Wi. ©: Kaya: 
W. F. HiaGIns. 
National Physical Laboratory, Teddington, 
Middlesex, April 22. 


An Optical Illusion. 

SomE days ago I was reading, the sunrays falling 
aslant on my forehead, it being about five o’clock p.m. 
After having read awhile, the letters showed a vivid 
red, the paper itself retaining its white colour. The 
rays did not fall on either of the two sides of the page. 

When I used my hand to shade the eyes, the letters 
immediately became black again. On removing my 
hand, it took them some seconds to change from 
black through dark red to bright red. I may add that 
I am short-sighted, but was reading without spectacles. 

I should feel obliged if some reader of NATURE 
would give me an explanation of this. 

J. W. Gitay. 

Delft, Holland, April 11. 


190 


THE. NATIONAL. BOTANIC GARDENS OF 
SOUTH: AFRICA. 


fe is perhaps difficult to appreciate in their 
due proportion the various factors that have 
been instrumental in founding these National 


Fic. 1.—National Botanic Gardens. 


across the picture. 
1200 ft. above the curator’s house. 


Botanic Gardens. At the same time it 1s necessary 
to make the attempt; for their future development 
must be influenced, if not controlled, by the ideals 
entertained by those who for many 
years have been working for what 
has at length been achieved. 
Among these factors a very im- 
portant place must be assigned to 
the keen interest displayed by al- 
most the whole white population in 
the remarkable vegetation of the 
country. The manifestation of this 
interest has in many cases en- 
dangered the existence of orna- 
mental species. Most districts fur- 
nish examples of the disastrous 
effects of reckless wood-cutting or 
ill-judged burning. Public opinion 
has awakened somewhat tardily to 
the necessity for conservative action. 
Recent legislation has given a 
measure of protection to certain of 
the threatened forms. But it is 
now generally realised that the 
problem is too big to be solved by 
the protection of a few favourites. 
That the reservation of areas is 
more adequate to the circumstances 
than the protection of individual 
species is recognised. And further, there has 
gradually been developed a tendency to adopt 
the positive measure of introducing native 
plants into cultivation in South African gardens. 


NO; 2321) On 193) 


NATURE 


| South African plants, 


Looking westwards from within the eastern boundary. 
Curator’s house on the right; in front of it, part of the Camphor Avenue running obliquely 


The western boundary runs immediately beneath the steep rocks about 


Fic. 2.—National Botanic Gardens, 


[APRIL 23, 1914 


There can be no doubt that the movement to estab- 
lish a national botanic garden has received great. 
impetus from the widely felt desire to see this 
tendency accelerated. Its first mission is to lead 
the way in the preservation and cultivation of 
and in the improvement 
of those of them that, for various 
reasons, are worthy ‘of improve- 
ment. 

Kirstenbosch possesses excep- 
tional facilities for dealing with 
these problems. Of its total area 
of about 600 acres,! approximately 
two-thirds is well-stocked with 
native species, representing all the 
more important plant associations 
of the region. Half this ‘areamie 
clothed with indigenous forest, 
the rest mainly with low bush in> 
which proteas, heaths, orchids, 
restiacee, and many striking com- 
positae and leguminose are con- 
spicuous. This. area 1s admirably 
suited for development into a most 
instructive’ miniatures of . what 
would be called in ‘ America ‘a 
“national park.” M3 

During the six months ending 
on December 31 last, about 1500 
species, the vast majority not. in- 
digenous to Kirstenbosch, have 
been sent in by correspondents 
from various parts of the coast- 
region between Damaraland and Zululand, the 
Karoo and Upper Region, Swaziland, Transvaal, 
Bechuan: iland, Rhodesia, and British East Africa. 


A silver 


Looking westwards near the scuthern boundary. 
tree forest (Leucadendron argenteunt). 


Among these contributions a large proportion are 
succulents. Probably a greater variety of South 


1 Since the establishment of the gardens an additional area of about 200. 
acres has been added at the southern end of the original Kirstenbosch 
estate. 


APRIL 23, 1914] 


NATURE 


19I 


African bulbs and ground orchids than has yet 
been brought together in one place is already 
established in the nursery. Most of these were 
introduced here during the winter rains, which 
have been followed by an _ exceptionally wet 
summer. The results are such that any doubt 
that may have been entertained as to the possi- 
bility of establishing here a representative collec- 
tion of South African—one may almost say African 
—plants is set at rest. 

Most of those who have taken an active part 
in the foundation of these gardens will not be 
satisfied merely with the collection and cultivation 
of South African plants. The educational effect of 
such a collection will nevertheless not be small. 
The great extent of the country and the sharpness 
of its physical divisions militate against the slowly 
growing sense of national unity. The presenta- 


Group of Aloe succotrina. 
plant association about five acres in extent, on a steep slope strewn with large blocks of Table- 


Fic. 3-—National Botanic Gardens. 
mountain sandstone, 1500 ft. s.m. 


moisture-loving annuals, ferns and mosses. 


tion, even on a small scale, of typical representa- 
tives of its regional floras to the view of many who 
of necessity are acquainted with but little of its 
area, must do something towards the obliteration 
of hard dividing lines. 

From a purely scientific point of view, the im- 
portance of the National Botanic Gardens depends 
upon the use that is made of them for purposes of 
investigation. It is clearly realised that they will 
fall short of justifying their existence if they fail 
to make adequate provision for the proper study 
of the material they contain. Whether this. pro. 
vision will come through the much-needed univer- 
sity, or partly or entirely by private benefaction, 
or through some other channel, remains to be 
seen. The work at present in progress is ordered 
on the assumption that such provision will be made 
in the near future. 

Since the publication of Pappe’s “Flore 
capensis Medica Prodromus ” (1850), it has been 


NOjee2n, VOL. 93} 


This is part of a very remarkable 


Associated with the aloes are lichen-covered trees of Olea 
verrucosa, Cunonia capensis, Maurocenia frangularia, Plectronia sp., etc., and a number of 


known that a very large number of native species 
are, or have been, in use locally for medicinal 
or other domestic purposes. Plants yielding 
essential oils and other products of probable or 
possible economic value are numerous. While 
much of the work of acclimatisation, which in tropi- 
cal countries has. been done by the Botanic 
Garden, is here receiving adequate attention in 
the departments of agriculture and forestry, there 
are yet very many exotic plants worthy of atten- 
tion, the possibilities of which await investigation. 
Among these the drug- and perfume-yielding 
species of the Mediterranean region are conspicu- 
ous. The economic garden, for which some twenty 
to thirty acres have been reserved, should there- 
fore become an important part of the establish- 
ment. 

The functions assigned to the National Botanic’ 
Gardens cover a wide range. At 
present much of the equipment 
which will make it possible to 
fulfil them is to seek. But the 
gardens exist in response to a 
popular demand, and popular sup- 
port to make their future secure 
will not be wanting. 


WAVES .IN SAND . AND 
SNOW. 
R., VAUGHAN’. CORNISH 
has written a charming book, 
full of interesting observations. 
He starts with descriptions of 
waves and ripples in blown sand, 
and passes later to the similar 
forms produced under water, giv- 
ing many good photographs to 
illustrate their various character- 
istics. Whether the waves are 
large or small, or whether formed 
by wind or water, it is obvious - 
that the same causes are at work, 
and the author rightly distin- 
euishes these waves from drifts 
and sand banks, the latter having 
their lengths parallel to the direction of the aver- 
age stream, while the ridges of the waves are at 
right angles to it. The origin of the lateral drift 
which gives rise to sand-banks was first explained 
by W. Froude and independently by Prof. James 
Thomson about the same time. 

Snow waves and snow drifts, and other forms 
of accumulations of snow, are described in chap- 
ters iii. and iv., and these also are well shown 
by photographs. The phenomena of snow are 
much more complex than those of sand, both on 
account of the variable size of the snow-flakes 
and particles and of the varying conditions as to 
moisture and temperature in which they are de- 
posited. In some states snow particles cohere on 
contact; in others when the temperature 1s low 
they behave more like a dry powder, and it re- 


1 ‘* Waves of Sand and Snow and the Eddies which Make Them.” By 
Dr. Vaughan Cornish. Pp. 383+plates. (London: T. Fisher Unwin, n.d.) 
Price 1os. net. 


192 


NAITORE 


[APRIL 23, 1914 


quires a pressure applied for some time to make 
them stick together. The resulting forms taken 
by accumulations near obstacles differ consider- 
ably in consequence. 

One of the most interesting observations in the 
book relates to the natural sifting which sand 
undergoes whilst being blown hither and thither 
by the wind, One sample of desert sand was 
passed by the author through a series of wire 
gauze sieves of graduated mesh; a single sieve 
with a 1/48 in. mesh retained 94 
per cent. of the total, the sieve 
above with a 1/24 in. mesh stop- 
ping 2 per cent. and the one below 
with a 1/96 in. mesh stopping 4 
per -cent. Practically, therefore, 
94 per cent. of the sand grains had 
linear dimensions of between 0°02 
and o’or in. 

It would have been of interest 
if this sorting test had been carried 
further, for several phenomena of 
sand, notably “singing sand,” and 
also the extraordinary roar which 
is sometimes heard when a slip 
occurs in a slope of blown sand, 
must depend on the uniformity of 
the size of the grains. Darwin in 
his voyage of the Beagle refers in 
chapter xvi. to a hill in Chile 
known as “El Bramante,”- on 
account of the roaring sound pro- 
-duced by the slipping of sand, and 
also states that the same circum- 
stances are described in detail by 
Leetzen and Ehrenberg as_ the 
cause of the sounds which have 
been heard by many travellers on 
Mount Sinai. I have had a de- 
scription from a friend who, with 
a party, was descending a slope 
of blown sand drifted against a 
cliff in the Nile valley. So far as 
could be seen, only a small surface 
flow of sand started by their foot- 
steps appeared to be in motion, 
but the noise gradually increased 
to a loud roar, and the whole mass 
of the drift seemed to vibrate. 
This implies that each grain was 
doing the same thing at the same 
time for a considerable depth, 
which could scarcely happen were 
there not a fairly close uniformity 
in their size. 

How the sorting is carried out by the wind 
does not clearly appear. Dr. Cornish’s explana- 
tion is that the predominant size of grain is 
reached when mutual attrition ceases. If this is 
correct, it might be possible to determine the size 
in terms of the hardness of the material and the 
mean square velocity of impact. There is no 
doubt a definite size for which the whole work 
of impact could be taken up by elasticity and 
without rupture. The whole question, however, 


NO) 2321p VOL 3) 


BUIGae 


1. —A nine-foot snow-mushroom seen from below. 


of the way in which dust is raised by the wind 
is rather obscure. Presumably the wind in con- 
tact with the ground must move parallel to its 
surface, and it seems probable that particles drift- 
ing along the surface can only be raised above 
it by impact more or less oblique with others 
which are stationary or moving with a different 
velocity. Once they are lifted into the eddying 


current their further distribution does not present 
the same sort of difficulty. 


Poel 


- ves 


From ‘‘ Waves of Sand and Snow.’ 


Any structure which shows a “period” always 
presents interesting problems, but the periods 
and wave-lengths which Dr. Cornish deals with 
must not be confused with those belonging to 
stable systems, such as water waves, etc. The 
latter are definite in the same way and for the 
same reason as the period of a pendulum. 

The sand waves are products of instability, and 
in all quasi-periodic structures which originate 
in this way the amplitude and wave- length are 


APRIL 23, 1914] 


NATURE 


independent. In this they differ from stable 
systems which are isochronous. In the unstable 
systems a change, however small, tends to in- 
crease until a limit is reached at which a break- 
down of some sort occurs. Instances might be 
given in great variety in which instability leads 
to a quasi-periodic motion or arrangement. 
Geysers which boil over. at fairly constant inter- 


Fic. 2.—Aeolian sand-ripples at Southbour e. 


vals, the whistling of the wind (here the period 
is the rate of production of eddies round small 
obstacles), and the ladder-like shavings taken off 
various materials by cutting tools, are all cases 
in point, although drawn from such different 
quarters. 

Notice of many of the matters of which the 


BIG. 


author treats, such as snow mushrooms, and the 
ridges trodden out by cattle, must be omitted 
for want of space, and although it must be said 
that the explanations are not as good as the 
descriptions, the book is to be recommended as 
the most interesting collection of observations 
concerning the whole subject which has yet 
appeared. A. MALLocK. 


NOS 221, VOL: Gail 


From ‘‘ Waves of Sand and Snow.” 


Fic. 2. 


MUTATIONS OF BACTERIA. 


ARIOUS alterations in the morphology and in 
physiological characters of certain bacteria 
have been obtained by many observers. Thus 


Bacillus coli, the plague bacillus, and other organ- 
isms show considerable variation 
the cells 


in the size of 
on different culture media; the Bacillus 
prodigiosus, which forms a brilliant red 
pigment when grown at ordinary tem- 
peratures, completely loses the power 
of pigment production after cultivation 
at blood heat, at which temperature 
(98° F.) it grows as luxuriantly as at 
65° F. Twort and Penfold have “edu- 
cated”’ the typhoid bacillus to ferment 
sugars which ordinarily it does not 
attack, and Revis has obtained marked 
varieties of Bacillus coli, morphological 
and physiological, by prolonged culture 
in various media. Minchin holds that 
if there be no syngamy (sexual repro- 
duction, e.g. conjugation) among bac- 
teria, as seems to be the case, the so- 
called species of bacteria are to be re- 
garded as mere races or strains, capable 
of modification in any direction. 

A marked instance of the artificial 
production of mutations of Bacillus an- 
thracis, a particularly well-defined and 
stable bacterial species (Fig. 1), is de- 
scribed by Mme. Victor Henri (Compt. 
vend. Acad. Sci., vol. clviii., No. 14, 
1914, p. 1032). The method employed 
was to expose an aqueous suspension of sporing 
anthrax in a quartz tube to ultra-violet radiations 
for times varying from one to forty minutes, and 
afterwards subculturing. 

Whereas the majority of the organisms was 
killed by this treatment, the ultra-violet rays being 
markedly bactericidal, a few survived. Of the 


Fic. 3. 


latter, while most presented a normal aspect, a 
few showed characters decidedly different from the 
typical anthrax bacillus. The principal of these 
were (a) coccoid forms (Fig. 2) which remained 
stable during a period of two months; (b) thin 
filamentous forms (Fig. 3), not taking Gram’s 
stain, not liquefying gelatin, nor curdling milk, 
and producing an infection different from anthrax 


194 


NATURE 


[APRIL 23, 1914 


on inoculation. This form remained absolutely 
fixed after daily subculture for more than eighty 
days; but, though stable in vitro, in vivo, after 
passage through an animal, Gram-positive coccoid 
forms made their appearance, and subsequently, 
after subculture in broth, a certain number of 
bacillary forms, approximating to typical anthrax, 
were obtained. These experiments open up wide 
possibilities in the transformation of micro- 
organisms. R. Lv Hewrenr. 


NOTES. 


Tue first of the two annual soirees of the Royal 
Society will be held in. the rooms of the society at 
Burlington House on Wednesday, May 13. 


Tue twenty-second James Forrest lecture of the 
Institution of Civil Engineers will be delivered on 
Tuesday, May 5, by Mr. F. W. Lanchester, upon the 
subject of ‘The Flying Machine from an Engineering 
Standpoint.” 


Pror. C. S. SHERRINGTON, Waynflete professor of 
physiology in the University of Oxford, has been 
elected a member of the Royal Danish Academy of 
Sciences, in the class of natural sciences. 


Tue death is announced, at fifty-eight years of age, 
of Prof. Adolf Fischer, director of the Museum for 
Asiatic art, founded last October at Cologne, and 
consisting almost entirely of collections made by Prof. 
Fischer himself during repeated journey to the Far 
East. 


Tue death on March 19 is announced of Prof. G. 
Mercalli, one of the leading Italian seismologists. 
Mercalli, who was born at Milan in 1850, is known 
chiefly for his researches on regional seismology, for 
his observations on Vesuvian phenomena, and for 
his scale of seismic intensity, which, in Italy, has dis- 
placed the widely used Rossi-Forel scale. In con- 
junction with Prof. T. Taramelli, he issued the prin- 
cipal reports on the Andalusian earthquake of 1884 
and the Riviera earthquake of 1887. In 1897, were 
published his valuable monographs on the earthquakes 
of Liguria and Piedmont, and of southern Calabria 
and the Messinese district. At the time of his death 
he was director of the Vesuvius Observatory and pro- 
fessor of seismology in the University of Naples. 


Two articles on the work of the late Prof. Milne 
have appeared this month, one by Dr. C. Davison, in 
Science Progress, the other by Comte de Montessus 
de Ballore, in the Bulletin of the Seismological Society 
of America (vol. iv., pp. 1-24). The former contains 
a brief account of his life and a summary of the 
principal work accomplished by him. The latter is 
more bibliographical in form. Milne’s papers are 
classified and briefly described under fourteen head- 
ings, such as earthquake-catalogues, earth tremors 
and pulsations, aseismic buildings and practical seis- 
mology, relations between earthquakes and variations 
of the vertical and changes of latitude, etc. Both 
writers claim for Milne the chief share in the growth 
of seismology. 


NO) 23201 aomr@2) 


Tue twelfth annual meeting of the South African 
Association for the Advancement of Science will be held. 
at Kimberley from Monday, July 6, to Saturday, July 11, 
inclusive, under the presidency of Prof. R. Marloth. 
The sections and their presidents will-be as follows :— 
A, Astronomy, Mathematics, Physics, Meteorology,. 
Geodesy, Surveying, Engineering, Architecture, and 
Irrigation, Prof. A. Ogg; B, Chemistry, Geology, 
Metallurgy, Mineralogy, and Geography, Prof. G. H. 
Stanley; C, Bacteriology, Botany, Zoology, Agricul- 
ture, Forestry, Physiology, Hygiene, and Sanitary 
Science, Prof. G. Potts; D, Anthropology, Ethnology, 
Education, History, Mental Science, Philology, Poli- 
tical Economy, Sociology, and Statistics, Prof. W. 
Ritchie. . 


THE precise physical cause which has brought the 
publicity of newspaper paragraphs to the shrinkage 
of the Caspian Sea must be, pending the official inves- 
tigation by Prof. Shokalski, a matter for conjecture. 
That the surface of the sea stood formerly, and at 
no remote geological date, at a much higher level, 
and that its extent was much greater, is well known. 
Again, the level is subject to recognised fluctuations, 
both annually and over longer periods. The discharge 
of the several great rivers into the sea strives con- 
stantly but often unsuccessfully to keep up with the 
loss by evaporation. The level usually stands highest 
in the middle of the year, and lowest at the beginning. 
As to the fluctuations of longer period, observations 
extending from 1851 to 1885 showed maxima of height 
in 1868-69, in 1882, and in 1885, and minima in 1853 
and 1873; these oscillations appear to have had an 
extreme range of some 42 in. The present fall may 
be associated with this phenomenon; a scientific inves- 
tigation towards the close of last century led to the 
conclusion that no perceptible permanent shrinkage 
was in progress. 


A suMMARY of the weather for the first three months 
of the year has been given by the Meteorological 
Office in its Weekly Weather Report for the period 
ending April 4. The mean temperature for the whole 
period is shown to be in excess of the average in 
every district of the United Kingdom. In the east 
and north-east of England the excess of temperature 
amounted to 3°, and in the midland counties and in 
the south-east, north-west, and south-west of Eng- 
land the excess was 2°. In all other districts which 
comprise Scotland, Ireland, and the Channel Islands, 
the excess of temperature was only 1°. There was 
an excess of rainfall over the entire kingdom except 
in the north-east of England, where the fall was only 
95 per cent. of the average. In the south-east of 
England the rainfall for the three months was 160 
per cent. of the average, in the east of England 
145 per cent., in the Channel Islands 143 per cent., 
in the south-west of England 142 per cent., in Ireland, 
north and south, 140 per cent., and in the east and 
west of Scotland 122 and 123 per cent. respectively. 
In the midland counties the fall was only 107 per cent. 
of the average. There was a slight deficiency of sun- 
shine over the whole kingdom, except in the north of 
Scotland, where there was a slight excess. At Green- 
wich the mean temperature for the three months to. 


APRIL 23, 1914] 


NATURE 


195 


the end of March was 42-5°, which is 2-5° in excess 
of the average, and the temperature was above the 
normal on fifty-seven days out of the ninety. The 
aggregate rainfall was 6-92 in., which is 142 per cent. 
of the average, and is 2-05 in. above the normal. The 
duration of sunshine was 216 hours, which is an 
excess of 29 hours. 


Tue first course of a series of lectures arranged by 
the National Academy of Sciences, Washington, under 
the William Ellery Hale foundation, is being delivered 
by Sir Ernest Rutherford, at the National Museum, 
Washington, on April 21 and 23. The series of lec- 
tures is to cover several years on the general subject 
of evolution, the intention being to present a clear 
outline of the broad features of inorganic and organic 
evolution in the light of recent research. The subjects 
of Sir Ernest Rutherford’s lectures are the constitution 
of matter and the evolution of the elements. The second 
course in the evolution series will be given at the 
autumn meeting of the academy by Dr. W. W. Camp- 
bell, director of the Lick Observatory; and a distin- 
guished European geologist will be invited to give 
the third course at the annual meeting of the academy 
next year. Taking the earth from the hands of the 
astronomer, he will show how its surface features 
have been altered in the process of time. Later lec- 
tures, preserving the continuity of the series, will then 
enter the field of organic evolution and illustrate the 
bearing of recent investigations in paleontology, 
zoology, and botany on the evolution of plant and 
animal life. The evolution of man will form the 
subject of another course, and the series will close 
with an account of tke rise of the earliest civilisations, 
coming into touch with the modern times in the life 
of the Nile Valley. In all cases the lectures will be 
given by leading European and American investi- 
gators, whose personal researches have contributed 
largely towards the development of the fields of science 
which they represent. 


THE second reading of a Bill to prohibit experi- 
ments on dogs was carried in the House of Commons 
on Friday last, April 17, by a majority of forty-two, 
the voting being 122 for the second reading and 
80 against. It was stated on behalf of the Govern- 
ment that an amendment will be moved in Committee 
to abolish the proposed prohibition and to allow ex- 
periments only in cases where no other animal but 
a dog is available for the purpose. The Bill was 
brought in by Sir F. Banbury, one of the members 
for the City of London. The motion for the second 
reading was seconded by Colonel Lockwood, member 
for the Epping Division of Essex. Mr. Rawlinson, 
Cambridge University, moved the rejection of the 
Bill; and the amendment was seconded by Sir P. 
Magnus, London University, and supported by Sir 
H. Craik, Glasgow, and Aberdeen Universities. Be- 
fore the second reading was taken, a memorial signed 
by more than three hundred eminent physicians, sur- 
geons, and other scientific investigators, protesting 
against the measure, was addressed to the Home 
Secretary. The memorial is in the following terms :— 
““We desire to express to you our strong conviction 
that the Dogs Protection Bill, which is put down for 


NO! 2321, VOL. 93] 


second reading on Friday, 17th inst., would inflict 
very severe injury, not only on medicine and surgery, 
but also on the study of the diseases of animals. We 
think that we have some right to ask you to oppose 
this attack on the advancement of medical science and 
practice; especially as the Final Report of the Royal 
Commission on Vivisection does not advise the pro- 
hibition of experiments on dogs. We are absolutely 
certain that such experiments are necessary for the 
complete study of many problems of physiology, phar- 
macology, and pathology.” 


Tue discovery of a prehistoric workshop floor, with 
flints, and other fragments, was incorrectly said in a 
note last week (p. 169) to have been made at St. 
Albans, instead of Ipswich, though the latter place 
was mentioned later in the paragraph. 


In the Times of April 11 Mr. H. St. George Gray 
gives his final report of the results of excavations at 
Maumbury Rings, Dorchester. The great earthwork 
has now been investigated. In prehistoric times there 
existed an immense circular ditch, having a medial 
diameter of 169 ft. This was adapted by later Roman 
settlers for use as an amphitheatre. In some respects 
Maumbury resembles Avebury, and the fosse in both 
cases may have been intended to prevent animals and 
the ordinary public from trespassing on a spot reserved 
for ceremonies conducted by the privileged. The ex- 
cavations now in progress at Avebury may result in 
strengthening. a comparison between these two im- 
portant prehistoric enclosures. 


In part i., vol. xxxvi., of the Transactions of the 
Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society for 
1913, Miss I. M. Roper discusses the delineation of 
flowers in stone in Bristol Church architecture. Such 
carvings appear only sporadically in Anglo-Saxon 
work, as at Britford, near Salisbury, and on Acca’s 
Cross at Hexham. But they become numerous at 
the close of the Norman period, from a.D. 1175 to 
A.D, 1200. The designs are naturally conventional, 
but display much appreciation of botanical forms. It 
is possible in some churches to recognise the cam- 
panula, trefoil, and vine-leaf. The magical use of the 
holy herb, now known as yellow avens or herb bennet, 
constantly appears. Such flower ornamentation ap- 
pears on the tower of St. Mary Redcliffe, a.p. 1292, 
and in the choir of Bristol Cathedral, a.p. 1298-1332. 
In the latter the oak-leaf.is a common subject, and 
we also find the maple, beech, ivy, and hawthorn. 
Among herbaceous plants may be recognised the 
yellow water-lily, white bryony, and the buttercup. 
Miss Roper identifies the familiar ball-flower type of 
ornament with the ripe fruit of the juniper. Excel- 
leit as most of the carving is, its best efforts naturally 
bear no more than a coarse resemblance of nature’s 
handiwork. 


WE have received the first progress report of the 
Thompson-McFadden Pellagra Commission. It  in- 
cludes a study of the epidemiology of pellagra by 
Capt. Siler and- Surgeon Garrison, in which it is 
stated that observations on the habitual use of the 
more common foodstuffs failed to discover any points 
of difference between pellagrins and non-pellagrins. 


196 


NATURE 


[APRIL 23, 1914 


THE Journal of the Royal Society of Arts for March, 
1914 (vol. Ixii., No. 3199) contains a paper by Prof. 
Bottomley on the bacterial treatment of peat. The 
raw peat is treated in three stages—first, the raw peat 
is moistened with a culture solution of the special 
‘“humating ”’ bacteria, and the mass is kept at a con- 
stant temperature for a week or ten days; during this 
time the bacteria act on certain organic constituents 
of the peat, and gradually convert a large amount of 
the humic acid present into soluble humates; secondly, 
the “‘humating’”’ bacteria having done their work are 
destroyed by sterilising the peat by live steam; thirdly, 
the sterilised peat is treated with a mixed culture of 
nitrogen-fixing organisms—Azotobacter chroococcum 
and Bacillus radicicola—and after a few days’ incuba- 
tion at 26° C. is ready for use. The material so ob- 
tained possesses astonishing fertilising properties, and 
extensive trials with satisfactory results have been 
carried out at Kew. 


BuLtetins No. 1oA and 10B of the Eugenics Record 
Office contain a report cf ‘tthe committee to study 
and to report on the best practical means of cutting 
off the defective germ plasm in the American popula- 
tion.” The former of these discusses the scope of the 
committee’s work, which indeed covers the whole of 
‘“negative’”” eugenics and extends beyond it. The 
first problem is, of course, to decide what is defective 
germ plasm and how it manifests itself in the life and 
character of the individual who bears it. The com- 
mittee has gathered little fresh knowledge in this 
field, and their treatment of the questions involved 
is rather unsatisfactory. For example, the most con- 
spicuous feature of their discussion on criminality is 
an elaborate classification of crimes, which has not 
the merit of being logical, since qualities such as ‘ in- 
corrigibility ’ and conditions such as “prostitution” 
are included in it, whereas a crime must necessarily 
be an act. Bulletin 10B is a more useful work, as it 
contains an account of the American Sterilisation 
Laws, and of Bills which have been brought forward 
in State legislatures for this end without reaching the 
statute-books. An excellent summary of the laws was 
communicated to the last Eugenics Congress by Mr. 
Van Wagenen, in the form of a preliminary report of 
the committee, but the report now under notice is 
much fuller, and contains, in addition to the items 
mentioned, a record of the legal proceedings which 
have arisen out of the laws. 


THE Psychological Review for March contains an 
interesting paper by E. K. Strong, illustrating the 
application of psychological experiment to problems of 
commercial interest. The special problem under in- 
vestigation was the relative efficacy of the one-page 
advertisement in four months compared with two 
half-page advertisements every two months, and with 
four quarter-page advertisements every month. This 
problem involved the consideration of two distinct 
points: the effect of increase in the size of an adver- 
tisement and the effect of continued repetition of an 
advertisement on the reader’s memory. The advertise- 
ments for the experiment were carefully chosen so that 
they were not likely to be seen save in the test; other 
suitable precautions were also taken. The 288 adver- 


NO, 2321; VOL.) 


tisements selected were divided by the experimenter 
into four sets corresponding to the four monthly issues 
of a magazine. The four sets were shown to the 
subjects at intervals of a month. One month later the 
subjects were tested, by their ability to select from an 
equal number of advertisements previously seen and 
unseen, as to their remembrance of what had been 
shown them. The writer concludes (1) that the value 
of space in advertising as affecting permanent im- 
pressions increases approximately as the square-root 
of the increase in area, (2) that when the intervai of 
time between successive presentations is very long (a 
month), space used in advertising is more effective 
when used in a large advertisement than if presented 
in small advertisements repeated with greater 
frequency. 


THE twenty-seventh annual report of the Marine 
Biological Station at Port Erin records that the 
number of workers in 1913 was seventy-two, and that 
all the available work-places were fully utilised during 
the Easter vacation. Though some relief was obtained 
by converting part of a large apparatus-room into a 
laboratory for bio-chemistry, extension of the labora- 
tory accommodation will evidently be required in the 
near future. Besides the usual work in the laboratory 
and the shore-collecting, the students attending the 
course during the Easter vacation had the advantage 
of demonstrations of oceanographic work on Prof. 
Herdman’s S.Y. Runa. The work of the fish hatchery 
has proceeded as in previous years; more than seven 
and a half millions of plaice !arva were hatched, 
taken out to sea, and liberated, and the difficult work 
of rearing young lobsters has been carried on with 
some success. The report records the captures (many 
of which have already been noticed in the columns of 
Nature) made during the cruise of the Runa in the 
Hebridean Sea in 1913; these include 259 species of 
Foraminifera, several new to Great Britain, a pre- 
liminary list of which is given by Messrs. Heron-Allen 
and Earland. 


WE have received the report of the Rugby School 
Natural History Society for 1913, in which the secre- 
tary takes a thoroughly optimistic view of the present 
position and future prospects of that body. An article 
on the architectural works of Robert Adam and the 
“Adelphi”? affords much interesting reading. 


AccORDING to a statement issued by the Smithsonian 
Institution, the nearly complete skeleton of a dwarf 
horned dinosaur (Ceratopsia) has been discovered re- 
cently in the Montana Cretaceous. The skull measures 
only 22 in. in length, against from 6 to 8, or even 
9 ft., in the larger members of the group, the whole 
size of the new form being only about one-fourth that 
of the latter. 


THE most interesting item in vol. x., part 1, of the 
Records of the Indian Museum is the description by 
Dr. W. M. Tattersall, in an article on Indian 
brackish-water crustaceans of the family Mysidze, of 
a new genus and species from Bombay, for which the 
name Indomysis annandalei is suggested. So distinct 
is the genus that its inclusion in the subfamily to 
which it is most nearly related involves a modification 


APRIL 23, 1914] 


in the definition of that group. It is ‘distinguished 
by the combination of characters afforded by the un- 
jointed antennal scale, the short entire quadrangular 


telson, and the form of the pleopods in the male.” 


AN important contribution to our knowledge of the 
zoology of the Austro-Malay Archipelago is made by 
the appearance in vol. xix. of Bijdragen Tot de Dier- 
kunde of the full scientific results of Dr. L. F. de 
Beaufort’s journey in that region during the years 
1909 and 1910. As we learn from the introduction, 
by Dr. de Beaufort, the main object of the expedition 
was to collect the fresh-water fauna of Buru, Ceram, 
Waigeu, and other islands, and thus complete, so far 
as possible, the work initiated by Prof. Max Weber, 
who was the first to collect systematically the fishes 
and other members of the fresh-water fauna of 
Sumatra, Java, Celebes, and other Sunda islands. 
But collecting, although not indiscriminate, was by 
no means restricted to the rivers and lakes, as may 
be seen by reference to the list of contents, which 
comprises ten articles by specialists, including one, 
with a coloured plate, on the fishes by Dr. de Beaufort, 
with remarks on the zoogeography of the region. 


Tue aforesaid article by Dr. de Beaufort on the 
fishes of the eastern islands of the Austro-Malay 
Archipelago is supplemented by one in the same 
fasciculus on those of Celebes by Prof. Max Weber. 
This issue also contains the results of Dr. C. Kerbert’s 
study of the various local forms of long-beaked 
echidnas of the genus Zaglossus (Proéchidna), to 
which reference has been made previously in NATURE. 
It is illustrated by a plate showing the marvellous 
similarity between the walking pose of these strange 
beasts and that of a giant land-tortoise. 


At the price of one penny, the London County 
Council has issued ‘‘A Handbook to the Collections 
Illustrating a Survey of the Animal Kingdom,” in the 
Horniman Museum and Library, Forest Hill. 
Although the text conveys a large amount of informa- 
tion, it would have been better suited to its purpose 
if a larger use had been made of the vernacular and 
fewer technicalities employed. It would also have 
been well to avoid the misstatement (p. 58) that the 
lower teeth of a dog are equal in number to the 
upper; whilst the merest tyro in natural history ought 
to be aware that Sibbald’s fin-whale (p. 71) does not 
belong to the same genus as the Greenland whale. 
It is, moreover, unnecessary to add to the brain- 
worry of students by introducing so-called orders, like 


Ancylopoda (p. 65), which have long 
abolished. 


since been 


Tue Bulletin Hydrographique of the International 
Council for the Study of the Sea for the year July, 
Igt1, to June, 1912, records the hydrographical ob- 
servations carried out in the North Sea and adjacent 
waters during the period named. The observations 
do not appear to have been carried out upon as exten- 
sive a scale as in former years, and a chart of surface 
salinities for the North Sea is only provided for one 
month, viz., May, 1912. The mean surface tempera- 
tures are more fully shown in a series of charts which 


N@22321, VOL. (93 


NATURE 


ney 


give the surface isotherms for periods of ten days, 


three charts being given for each month. A number 
of sections showing the conditions in the North Sea 
below the surface are also provided, based chiefly on 
Scottish and English work. The Finnish and Danish 
investigators contribute the results of numerous gas 
analyses of sea-water, the measurements given refer- 
ring to the amounts of oxygen present at different 
depths at certain stations in the Gulf of Finland, in 
the Belts and Kattegat, and at the Faroes. 


Tue fauna of the great Ringk bing Fjord, on the 
west coast of Jutland, in the neighbourhood of Holms- 
land, forms the subject of an elaborate memoir by 
Dr. A. C. Johansen, published at Copenhagen in the 
volume entitled ‘‘ Mindeskrift for Japetus Steenstrup,” 
1913. The subject has been treated by several previous 
writers, notably by Rambusch, in his ‘“Studier over 
Ringk@bing Fjord,’’ published in 1900, while a large 
amount of literature relating to the fisheries has 
appeared. Of all these sources of information the 
author has availed himself to the full, especial interest 
attaching to the physical changes recorded as having 
taken place between the middle of the seventeenth and 
the middle of the nineteenth century. 


AN important study in European geography was 
contributed to the Bulletin international de l’ Académie 
des Sciences de Cracovie during 1912 by L. Sawicki, 
entitled ‘‘ Beitrage zur Morphologie Siebenburgens.” 
The explanatory method is followed, and a broad view 
may be gained of the changes that have taken place 
in the eastern Carpathian mass since the coastal plain 
of the Pontian sea was uplifted and a consequent 
system of westward-running rivers was established on 
its slope. This system was greatly interfered with by 
volcanic outpourings ana cone-building in the Hargitta 
region, and the present young gorges of the Maros 
and the Alt are due to the escape of water that was 
ponded back in a series ot lakes, and thus kept for a 
time from flowing westward. The same author 
describes glacial landscapes in the Westbeskiden, 
where the somewhat feeble local ice has left more 
evidence in the way of cirques and moraine-barriers 
than has previously been observed. 


Tue ninth paper by Dr. E. van Rijckevorsel on the 
periodicity of secondary maxima and minima in 
meteorological phenomena appears in No. 16 of the 
Mededeelingen en Verhandelingen of the Royal 
Meteorological Institute of the Netherlands. As any 
subsequent papers on this subject will be continued in 
the same publication, a brief statement of some of the 
results hitherto arrived at is given in the present 
number. In the yearly march of temperature certain 
small maxima were found about every ten or eleven 
days, which were constant in time and space. These 
zigzag curves (‘‘Zacken’’) were also shown to exist 
for air-pressure, rainfall, etc., with important modifi- 
cations relating to the occurrence of maxima and 
minima in different seasons. The author assumes that 
these zigzags are only special cases in a whole series 
of small periodical variations, and he has undertaken 
the laborious task of investigating these variations 
in detail. 


198 


NATURE 


[APRIL 23, 1914 


Ix a recent number of the Annalen der Physik there 
appears an important paper by Prof. Quincke on 
“Electrische Schaumwiinde der Materie.’’ The sub- 
ject-matter is a continuation of the work which has 
been done on the structure of ‘foam’ walls and 
chambers, but in particular he poiats out an analogy 
between these and the electrical ‘‘dust”’ figures, 
which he regards as being due to the formation of 
foam chambers by electrical emanations of positively 
or negatively charged particles. Ordinary foam 
chambers made by precipitation or other methods he 
regards as being of two kinds: (1) those formed 
quickly in viscous fluids, and which may take a 
variety of forms, (2) those formed slowly in less 
viscous fluids, and which consist of globular cells 
connected by tubes. When the charged knob of a 
Leyden jar is presented to a cake of resin, he supposes 
that an electrical emanation of charged particles is 
emitted, and these particles are attracted to the plate 
of resin. By their impact they melt the resin locally 
to form an oil-like substance which solidifies around 
the charged particle, and thus produces a ‘“foam ”’ 
chamber with electrified walls. These chambers are 
rendered visible by dusting with the usual mixture of 
red lead and sulphur. He regards those upon which 
the sulphur is deposited as being similar to type (1), 
and those upon which the red lead settles as being 
similar to type (2). 


Nearty all the optically-active carbon compounds 
that have been prepared hitherto have been substances 
of relatively complex composition. The two simplest, 
lactic acid, CH,.€H(OH).CO,H, and sec.-butyl 
alcohol, CH,.GH(OH).C.H,, contain three and four 
carbon atoms respectively; in each case also three of 
the four radicles attached to the asymmetric carbon 
atom G are compound radicles, and only one ~(the 
hydrogen atom) is simple. Special interest attaches 
therefore to the two simple substances, ammonium 
d- and I-chloroiodomethanesulphonates, 


CHCII.SO,.ONH,, 


which have been prepared and separated in an optic- 
ally-active form by Prof. Pope and Mr. Read (Trans. 
Chem. Soc., 1914, vol. cv., p. 811). In these sub- 
stances three of the radicles are simple, and only one 
is compound; none of the four radicles contains a 
carbon atom, and the percentage of carbon amounts 
to less than 5 per cent. The two acids were separated 
by fractional precipitation from the ammonium salts 
by the addition of brucine; after reconverting into the 
ammonium salt the dextro-acid gave the molecular 
rotation [M]j.0. +43°- The active material is remark- 
ably stable; the optical activity is not changed by 
boiling alone or with acids or alkalis, or by heating 
with water in a sealed tube to 130-150°. 


Engineering and the Engineer for April 17 contain 
articles dealing with electric power supply in London. 
Messrs. Merz and McLellan have investigated this 
subject recently, and have presented a report to the 
London County Council. Apart from traction stations 
there are seventy generating stations at present in 
London, containing 585 engines. The report states 


important economies in electricity generation in Lon- 
don; first, to allow the extension of eight or ten of the 
best existing stations, and gradually to abandon all 
the others; secondly, to abandon all sites in or near the 
metropolitan area, and to concentrate the production 
of electricity for all purposes well. outside. The 
primary distribution system throughout London should 
be standardised. Assuming all existing stations for 
the supply of light and power to be in the hands of 
one authority, the final conclusions are that it would 
pay to shut them all down, sell most of the plant, 
and generate all energy on sites down the river. Con- 
sidering only the central area, it is estimated that the 
saving in working costs with this scheme would be. 
about 18 per cent., or 170,000l. a year. 


Tue editor of the new quarterly, Isis, devoted to 
the history and organisation of science, asks us to say 
that the annual subscription is 30 francs per annum, 
and not 24 francs as stated in a note in Nature of 
April 9 (p. 143). 


A copy has been received of the second supplement, 


| 1911-13, to the catalogue of Lewis’s Medical and 
| Scientific Circulating Library, 136 Gower Street, Lon- 


don, W.C. A classified index of subjects, with the 
names of those authors who have written upon them, 
is included. 


OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 


Comet 1914a (KRITZINGER). — The following 
ephemeris of comet 1914a (Kritzinger) is published by 


Prof. Kobold in Astronomische Nachrichten, 
No. 4727 :— 
12h. Berlin M.T. 
R.A. (true Dec. (true) Mag. 
m. s. = ; 
Aprmbes «:.. 7 2S 0RG +8 45:2 0:5 
24; 42 30 9 40°7 
25 46 27 10 36-6 
26 50 2 II 32-7 9:4 
27 54 23 I2 29-0 
28 17 58 23 13 25:4 
2 OP a3 Om 2ead 14 21:9 
FO" ee 18° 6127 +15 18:3 93 


THE VARIABLE 081041, — 41° 3911, H.V. 3372.—Prof. 
E. C. Pickering communicates some interesting facts 
relative to the spectrum and magnitude of the star 
C. DM. —41° 3911, this star having previously been 
found by Mrs. Fleining to be peculiar, and also later 
independently by Miss Cannon. In identifying this 
object Miss Mackie has found that it is a variable, and 
in this paper the magnitudes are given for the period 
1890 to 1912. The nature of the variation is indicated 
by a curve. Prof. Pickering describes the object as a 
very curious one. At first sight it might appear to 
be a variable star with a period of about twenty years, 
and varying from the eleventh to the fourteenth mag- 
nitude. He points out that ordinary variables of long 
period have a very different spectrum and undergo all 
their changes in less than two years. In this case 
the variations may prove to be irregular and to re- 
semble those of the three stars of the class. of 
R. Corone. The position of the star for rg00 is R.A. 
8h. 10-8m., and declination —41° 24’, and additional 
observations of both its magnitude and spectrum are 
required to settle the peculiarity above mentioned. 


THE SOLAR CONSTANT OF RapraTion.—No one in- 
terested in this subject should fail to read an address 


that there are practically only two ways of effecting | delivered before the Philosophical Society of Washing- 


NO: 2321, VOU. 03) 


Aprin 23, 1914 


ton by Prof. C. G. Abbot, the retiring president, and 
reported at length in Science of March 6. The address 
forms a valuable apercu of the subject from Herschel’s 
pioneer actinometric observations down to the experi- 
ments made late last summer under the joint auspices 
of the Smithsonian Institution and the U.S. Weather 
Bureau on the employment of ballons-sondes in pyr- 
heliometric investigation. With regard to the solar 
constant, the mean value of 690 measurements made 
in connection with the Astrophysical Observatory of 
the Smithsonian Institution during the period 1902-13 
is stated to be 1-933 calories per sq. cm. a minute, a 
value which is probably accurate to 1 per cent. It 
will be noted that this period covers one sun-spot 
cycle, and it is also stated that the Mount Wilson 
measures indicate that the solar radiation is more 
intense at spot maximum than at minimum, the sun 
thus showing affinity with variable stars of the o-Ceti 
type. 

THE ACTION OF GRAVITY ON GaAsEOUS MIXTURES.— 
M. G. Gouy, in a recent communication to the Paris 
Academy of Sciences (Comptes rendus, vol. clviii., 
pp. 664-8) extends to the terrestrial atmosphere his 
researches on gaseous mixtures which during 1912 
led him to the conclusion that pressure could not be 
the cause of the general displacement of the Fraun- 
hofer lines towards the red. We may direct attention 
to the fact that the suggestion he then made that 
perhaps the explanation of this phenomenon would be 
found in the Doppler effect has received striking con- 
firmation on purely spectroscopic grounds very recently 
in the work of Mr. Evershed (Nature, March 10, 
p. 69). The present paper affords a mathematical 
demonstration of the impossibility of stratification 
according to density by the action of gravity on the 
gases in the earth’s atmosphere where the pressure 
exceeds that of a Crookes tube as the final result 
indicates that under these conditions the effect of 
gravity on the composition of the air is too slow to 
produce sensible effects. 


GROWTH AND CULTIVATION OF HOPS. 


TES close attention which is being given in many 

foreign countries to the scientific study of plants 
of economic importance is evidenced in the two reports 
on the hop lately published by Dr. J. Schmidt. 
Although the cultivation of hops in Denmark is at 
present restricted to about 100 acres, Dr. Schmidt, of 
the Carlsberg Laboratory, Copenhagen, was recently 
commissioned to visit this and other countries with 
the object of collecting information on the most 
modern methods of cultivation, and also to collect 
data and material likely to prove of value in the work 
of breeding improved varieties of hops for cultivation 
in Denmark. In t1910 the physiological department 
of the Carlsberg Laboratory began a series of inves- 
tigations on the hop plant (Humulus lupulus, 1.). 
with a view of obtaining information of theoretical 
and practical interest regarding this plant. These 
reports by Dr. Schmidt are the first-fruits of this 
work. 

In the first report, the growth in length of the 
stem and its diurnal periodicity is dealt with. One 
of the first problems for investigation that presented 
itself was to ascertain if the foreign varieties of hops 
obtained from southern regions which are being 
grown in the experimental garden attached to the 
Carlsberg Laboratory have a different rate of growth 

1 Johs. Schmidt: (:) ‘‘The Growth in Length of Hop-stems and its 
Diurnal Periodicity” (Comptes rendus des travaux du Lakoratoire de 
Carlsberg, rome vol., 2me livraison, 1913). 


Ident. (2) “The Rotational Movement of Hop-stems and its Diurnal 
Periodicity” (Z.c., 3me livraison, 1913). 


NOie32T, VOL. 94] 


NATURE 


199 


in the northern climate of Denmark from the wild- 
growing plant of that country. In the course of 
making these investigations, which are not yet con- 
cluded, the experiments detailed in this first report 
were made. 

Dr. Schmidt was at the outset inclined to the belief 
—a belief, by the way, which is firmly held by the 
practical hop-growers of Kent—that the growth of 
the hop stem, or “‘bine,’? would be strongest during 
the night. Observations on a number of plants soon 
showed, however, that the reverse is the case. The 
least growth took place during the six hours 9 p.m. 
to 3 a.m., which proved that darkness was not the 
dominant factor of growth. It might have been ex- 
pected that the growth-promoting factor of darkness 


, would first show itself as an ‘‘after-influence,’’ and 


that consequently the greatest growth would be 
during the following morning period, 3 a.m. to 9 a.m. 


_It was found, however, that the strongest growth 


occurred during the period 3 p.m. to 9 p.m., imme- 
diately preceding the darkest period, the value for 
the rate of growth increasing evenly from the mini- 
mum of the latter period to the maximum of the after- 
noon period. 

In the two main series of experiments, which were 
carried out in 1911 from the end of April, to the end 
of June, and in 1912 during July, the plants, growing 
in an unheated glasshouse, were kept as far as pos- 
sible under natural conditions. The measurements 
were made continuously at 6 o’clock in the morning, 
12 o’clock noon, 6 o’clock in the afternoon, and at 
12 o’clock at night. The diurnal oscillations of tem- 
perature were followed by means of a thermograph. 

Further experiments made seemed to show con- 
clusively that the influence of the temperature on the 
rate of growth under natural conditions predominates 
over the influence of humidity; as the author remarks, 
“the growth-promoting power, which high humidity 
is known to have under natural conditions, is 
‘covered’ by the influence of the temperature, so 
that it appears as if only the temperature was of 
any importance for the rate of growth of hop-stems.”’ 

The results of the investigations are summed up as 
follows :—‘‘ The growth in length of hop-stems under 
natural conditions has a very distinct diurnal period, 
the rate of growth being smallest during the night, 
greatest during the day. This periodicity is deter- 
mined by outer factors, among which the temperature 
has such a predominant influence that under natural 
conditions it determines the rate of growth.” 

The second report deals with investigations into the 
rotational movement of the hop-stem. In experiments 
with vigorous three-year-old hop-plants, in an un- 
heated glasshouse, the stems were found to show, 
during May and June, a rotational movement amount- 
ing on an average for one to two weeks’ observations 
to about 120° an hour, or one-third of the rate of the 
minute hand of the clock. The following table records 
the facts observed with two hop-plants, one (No. 14) 
obtained from Germany, the other (No. 36) from 
England :— 


No. of No. of No. of 
whole days Total rotation No. of turns in degrees 
under ob- __ in degrees turns 24 hours an hour 
servation (Average) (Average) 
Plant No. 14 es ey 
Shoot @... 9 24865 69 iY 115 
bids Obes 9 25875 72 re) 120 
seca C cece men 29810 83 Vas 113 
Plant No. 36 13 37600 104 80 120 


The rotational movement proved to have a very 
distinct daily periodicity, the rate being greatest 
during the day, least at night. This daily periodicity 
is determined by external factors, among which the 
temperature is of such dominating importance that 


200 


its variation under natural conditions is determinative 
for the rate of rotation. 

A graphic comparison of the fluctuations in the rate 
of rotation and degree of humidity showed that there 
was no connection between them under the (natural) 
conditions prevailing when the observations were 
carried out. 

From some laboratory experiments with pot-plants 
it appeared that the rotational movement is not 
different, or at any rate not essentially different, in 
the dark and in scattered daylight. 

An endeavour was made, with the minimum tem- 
perature (which “lies in the neighbourhood of 4°’’) as 
starting point, to obtain an expression of the relative 
quantities of heat, which were of importance for the 
rate of rotation. The numbers obtained, which are 
called ‘‘active quantities of heat,’’ show that there is 
a very complete agreement between fluctuations in 
these and in the rate of rotation, the fluctuations show- 
ing a perfect synchronisation under the conditions 
observed. 

Comparative experiments with twining bean-plants, 
and with Lonicera periclymenum, L., showed that a 
similar daily periodicity in the growth in length and 
rate of rotation of the stem occurred and that tem- 
perature is here also the determining factor. The 
author concludes by remarking :—‘‘It is probable that 
the growth movements in many plants living under 
climatic conditions such as ours, where great tem- 
perature fluctuations occur in a diurnal period, have 
a diurnal periodicity which follows that of the tem- 
perature.” Fe se 


EDUCATION IN INDIA.1 


| the two substantial volumes before us Mr. Sharp 

gives an exceedingly able and comprehensive sum- 
mary of the educational work done in India in the 
period 1907-12. The value of this record is enhanced 
by the inclusion of a Resolution of the Government 
of India dated February 21, 1913, summarising its 
educational policy, and forming a masterly exposition 
of its aims. A member of the Council of the Govern- 
ment of India has now been appointed with special 
charge of education, and the first incumbent of the 
post is Sir Harcourt Butler, who is to be congratu- 
lated on this very able summary. 

The impression gained from the volumes is that 
education in India has now entered on a new and 
hopeful page of its history, for the progress made 
in the past five or ten years has been very great. 
Every effort is being made not only to widen the 
area of education, but also greatly to improve its 
methods, while in the forefront the formation of the 
character of the pupils is rightly insisted on. There 
are also clear signs that in the future efforts will be 
made to raise the status of those engaged in educa- 
tion, and to make their position such that the post 
of a teacher will be much sought after, and not taken 
as a last resource, as is largely the case at the present 
time. 

India is sometimes pictured as a single country, but 
it really shows far greater complexities in education 
than Europe itself. It is computed that there are 
about thirty-eight million children of school-going 
age in the area dealt with in this report, while there 
are only 176,225 educational institutions of all classes, 
and in these six and three-quarter million pupils are 
under instruction. Almost all of these are boys, and 
the most trustworthy figures show that in 1911-12 for 
every mille of population of school-going age there 


1 Progress.of Education in India in 1997-12. Sixth Quinquennial Review, 


by H. Sharp. Vol. i.. pp. xvii+284+index; vol. ii., pp. 292. (Calcutta: 


Superintendent Government Printing, India, 1914.) Prices, vol. i., 6s. ; 


vol. il., 35. 


NO 2321 eVOlwO2i| 


NATURE 


[APRIL 23, ‘1914 


were 268 boys and 47 girls under education. Five 
years previously these figures were 227 and 32 respec- 
tively. This really represents rather rapid progress, 
though compared with civilised Europe, India is still 
very far behind in the education of its masses. 

Until recent years more attention was paid to the 
development of higher education than to that of the 
masses, but this has been largely changed during the 
past ten years, and now primary education is being 
largely fostered. 

The type of higher education at first introduced was 
unpractical, largely literary, and tended to superficial 
knowledge, and in a large proportion of the students 
it did not fit them for their work in after life. 
Various efforts at reform were made, but the first 
effective movement came from Lord Curzon when 
Viceroy of India, who in rg01 summoned a representa- 
tive conference which dealt with the whole subject of 
education from the university down to the primary 
stage. Numerous far-reaching reforms were formu- 
lated, and the history of many of the reforms is illus- 
trated in the work under review. 

One of the results of the conference was the Uni- 
versities Act of 1904, under which regulations were 
framed, which came into force about the begin- 
ning of the period which is dealt with in Mr. Sharp’s 
volumes. This Act was most bitterly opposed, but it 
is now admitted that it has produced a general and 
most important improvement in both university and 
secondary education, for some of the universities in 
India have large powers over the secondary schools 
which prepare candidates for university education, as 
they regulate the courses of study and even have 
powers of inspection, etc. It is probably true to say 
more progress has been made during these five years 
in improving and consolidating secondary and univer- 
sity education than in any previous quinquennium, for 
institutions which were working inefficiently have 
ceased to be recognised and have disappeared, while 
others have been helped and made more efficient. 
Indeed, the report indicates there have been great 
improvements in the courses of instruction in colleges 
and schools, also in thoroughness of study, in the 
more practical requirements in the study of, and 
examination in, science subjects, and finally in con- 
siderable improvements in discipline and in the forma- 
tion of character, due to the students being compelled 
to live in recognised hostels (on which much money 
has been spent) or in messes under proper supervision. 

The reforms due to the Educational Congress of 
1go1 included a large extension and improvement in 
primary education and its more efficient inspection, 
and a recommendation that greater attention should be 
paid to the teaching in and through the vernaculars. 
30th these reforms have made large progress during 
the past five years, and are undoubtedly leading to 
sounder education. Attention is now also being paid 
to manual training and nature-study. An endeavour 


| to obtain more trained teachers in all stages of educa- 


tion is occupying considerable thought, and efforts are 
being made to effect this, but when it is stated that 
there are 215,518 teachers in India, who all ought to 
be trained, the magnitude of the problem is seen to be 
almost overwhelming. 

Increased attention has also been given to female 
education, which, owing to the peculiar difficulties 
arising from the customs of the people themselves, 
has always been, and still is, in a very backward 
condition. As the result of this increased. attention 
during the five years, the number of girls at school 
has increased by 47-7 per cent., but even this large 
increase only brings up the percentage of girls at 
school to the population of girls of school-going age 
to 5-1 per cent. Strenuous efforts are being made to 


APRIL 23, I914| 


render female education more popular and effective, 
and on their success the future progress of India in a 
large measure depends. 

It is remarked that during the five years a very 
great change has taken place in the feeling of the 
population of India towards education, and it is now 
much more popular than it was. Indeed there was a 
proposal to make primary education compulsory in 
India generally, but this has been negatived, though 
it is being adopted in Baroda. 

Much more money is now being spent on education. 
In 1907 the cost of education was said to be 559 lakhs 
of rupees, and in 1912 it had risen to 786 lakhs, of 
which the Government contributed a very large pro- 
portion. With this liberal policy there is no doubt 
very rapid progress will be made, for the cost of 
educating individual pupils in India is still small. 
Thus the annual cost of a primary-school pupil is 
about six shillings, of a secondary-school pupil about 
1l. 12s., and of a pupil reading for a university degree 
about il. 5s., and yet with these small individual 
sums a fair training is being given in the case of 
university and secondary education, though the 
primary education is still very defective. 


THE MOUNT WILSON SOLAR 
OBSERVATORY. 


qt is always difficult to condense in a few lines the 
essence of the work accomplished during a year 
at the Mount Wilson Solar Observatory. The report 
for the past year, just issued by the director, is a 
concentrated essence by itself, and as it covers forty- 
five pages the difficulty of the task will at once be 
grasped. The director commences the report by sum- 
marising the principal results obtained during the 
year, and the brief paragraphs which compose this 
summary, each of which is practically restricted to an 
important piece of research work, number no fewer 
than seventy-two. Space does not permit one to refer 
even to the more important of these, but many have 
already received notice from time to time in our 
astronomical column, and are therefore familiar to our 
astronomical readers. Perhaps the most important 
result is that concerning the magnetism of the sun. 
Observations of the Zeeman effect at various solar 
latitudes have indicated that the sun is a magnet, and 
that the magnetic poles are at or near the poles of 
rotation. Further, the polarity of the sun corresponds 
with that of the earth, a conclusion, as the director, 
Prof. Hale, remarks, which may prove to have an 
important bearing on theories of terrestrial mag- 
netism. The first approximate value for the vertical 
intensity of the sun’s general field at the poles is 
given as 50 gausses, which is about one-hundredth 
of the intensity of the most powerful sun-spot fields, 
and about eighty times that of the earth’s field. 
One of the most interesting items usually associated 
with these reports is the work of construction in hand, 
and this report shows an astonishing amount of work 
in progress. The fact that the 1oo-in. disc has been 
proved to be serviceable for a reflecting telescope has 


given rise to a great increase of activity. The grind- 


ing of the mirror and the 60-in. plane mirror for test- 
ing it have been pressed forward, and the requirement 
for larger shop tools necessitated by the construction 
of many parts of the 1oo-in. telescope mounting and 
the auxiliary instruments to be used with it have even 
demanded an increase in the already large shop floor- 
space. The work involved in the preparation of the 
foundations for this telescope and of the building and 
the eventual transport of the instrument to the moun- 

2 Annual report of the director of the Mount Wilson Solar Observatory 
1913. Carnegie Institution of Washington. 


NOws2321, VOL..ga) 


NATURE 


201 


tain-top has necessitated the adoption of especially 
powerful motor trucks in place of the mule teams. 

Other important work in hand is the construction 
of a large ruling-machine, embodying the general 
principles of Rowland’s successful ruling-machines. 
An idea of the accuracy attained after the grinding 
and polishing of the screw will be gathered from the 
statement that no periodic errors were found greater 
than o-ooooo1 in., and no appreciable error of run 
could be detected. The maximum error in the teeth 
of the wormgear did not exceed o-oo1 in., a quantity 
too small to produce appreciable ghosts. 

To gain a more complete insight into the contents 
of the report the reader must be referred to the report 
itself. The fact that such rapid advances are being 
made in both solar and siellar physics is due to the 
happy combination of an energetic and able director, 
a keen and active staff, a good observing site, and an 
annual grant (for 1913) of 33,1261. for construction, 
investigations and maintenance. 


MARINE INVESTIGATIONS. 


dee report on the Danish Oceanographical Expedi- 

tions, 1908-10, to the Mediterranean and Adja- 
cent Seas, under the superintendence of Johs. Schmidt, 
No. 2, contains two memoirs, one by Dr. Kyle, on flat 
fishes, and one by Dr. Schmidt, on experiments with 
drift-bottles. Dr. Kyle’s paper is an important con- 
tribution, and deals with the following genera in a 
very comprehensive way :—Arnoglossus, Bothus, Solea, 
and Symphurus. The much disputed question as to 
the number of species of Arnoglossus occurring in 
European seas is very elaborately discussed, and Dr. 
Kyle’s conclusions differ in several respects from those 
of previous authors. He recognises five species, the 
specific names being used, however, in a different 
sense from that which has been adopted by recent 
writers on the subject. The species are Arnoglossus 
grohmanni, Bonap., non auctorum, A. thort, nov. 
nom., A. laterna, Will., A. imperialis, Raf., and A. 
riippelli, Cocco. Of these A. thori is the species which 
has generally been called in this country A. groh- 
mannt. Dr. Kyle discusses not only the adult char- 
acters, but also the larval and post-larval stages of this 
genus and of the other genera of which he treats. The 
paper is well illustrated with text figures and plates, 
and will be of the greatest value to future workers. 
An excellent bibliography of the subject is added. Dr. 
Schmidt’s experiments with drift-bottles show that 
there is an easterly drift of the surface water from 
the entrance of the Mediterranean, especially along 
the north coast of Africa, so that water from the 
Atlantic is being constantly carried into the Mediter- 
ranean. The velocity of this drift may reach eighteen 
to twenty miles a day. 

The Central Bureau of the International Council 
for the Study of the Sea has issued vol. xvii. A of the 
‘‘Rapports et Procés-verbaux des Réunions”’ (English 
edition), which contains the first part of Prof. 
Heincke’s long-delayed general report upon the in- 
vestigations on the plaice. This part of the report is 
confined almost exclusively to a discussion of the 
statistics obtained from commercial fishing vessels, 
and is further limited in scope by the fact that the 
English statistics are alone considered. The report 
is, in fact, little more than a renewed attempt to dis- 
cuss the conclusions to be derived from these. English 
statistics, matters which had already been dealt with 
by the officers of the Board of Agriculture and 
Fisheries. It is doubtful whether Prof. Heincke’s 
methods of dealing with the statistics are in any way 
an improvement upon those followed in this country, 
and, probably from want of adequate trained assist- 
ance, it seems clear that the work has not been car- 


202 


ried out with that accuracy of detail which is, we 
believe, attained by the statistical department of the 
English Board. In this connection Prof. Heincke 
states (p. 66) :—‘*‘ The appendix to this report contains 
a number of these tables drawn up by me from the 
Erglish measurements. Close inspection will show, 
that here and there inaccuracies and errors have crept 
in during the preparation of the tables. Thus, in the 
case of large numbers which are the sum of many 
measurements, smaller or larger differences may be 
present between the English data and my _ tables. 
These small discrepancies will perhaps be excused, 
when the enormous amount of calculating work. is 
considered; I do not believe that any essential error is 
present, which might lead to erroneous conclusions.” 
In the opinion of the writer of this note there can be 
no excuse for a slovenly and inaccurate treatment of 
statistical data, and figures should not be published 
until errors such as those alluded to by Prof. Heincke 
have been eliminated. 


SURFACE COMBUSTION. 

URING his researches upon flame,? Sir Humphry 
Davy discovered, in 1817, that the constituents 
of a combustible mixture will combine slowly below 
the ignition temperature; this led him to inquire 
whether, seeing that the temperatures of flames far 
exceed those at which solids become incandescent, a 
metallic wire can be maintained at incandescence by 
the combination of gases at its surface, without actual 
flame. He thereupon tried the effect of introducing a 
warm platinum wire into a jar containing a mixture 
of coal-gas and air rendered non-explosive by an 
excess of the combustible constituents; the wire imme- 
diately became red hot, and continued so until nearly 

the whole of the oxygen: had- disappeared. 

During the twenty years which followed Davy’s 
discovery, several distinguished chemists (William 
Henry and Thomas Graham in this country, but more 
particularly Dulong and Thénard, and independently 
Débereiner in France) experimented upon the slow 
combination of gases at temperatures below the 
ignition point, in contact with hot solids, whereby it 
was established (1) that hot solids, and pre-eminently 
metals of the platinum group, have the power of 
inducing gaseous combustion. at relatively low tem- 
peratures; and (2) that hydrogen is, of ail combustible 
gases, the most susceptible to this action. 

The mechanism of this induced slow surface com- 
bustion formed the subject of a celebrated controversy 
between Faraday and De la Rive in 1834-5. De la 
Rive held the view that it consists essentially in a 
series of rapidly alternating oxidations and reductions 
of the surface; Faraday, on the other hand, contended 
that the function of the surface is to condense both 
the oxygen and the combustible gas, thus producing 
in the surface layers a condition comparable to that 
of high pressure. But, owing to lack of crucial ex- 
periments, no satisfactory theory of the phenomenon 
could be evolved, nor, with the exception of the famous 
‘‘Dobereiner lamp,”’ was there any practical outcome 
of this early work. In 1836 interest in the subject 
suddenly dropped, and was not revived for half a 
century. 

Meanwhile, the researches of Deville upon the dis. 
sociation of steam and carbon dioxide at high tem- 
peratures led to the notion, which was strongly upheld 
by the late Frederick Siemens, that inasmuch as incan- 
descent surfaces promote dissociation, they must neces- 
sarily hinder combustion. This, of course, is falla- 
cious; we now recognise that if, as Deville proved, 


1 From a discourse delivered at the 
February 27, by Prof. W. A. Bone, F.R.S. 
2 Collected Works, vol. vi., p. 8. 


NO. 23245) VOL.03 | 


Royal Institution on Friday, 


NATURE 


[APRIL 23, 1914 


an incandescent surface accelerates the dissociation of 
steam, it must, according to a principle enunciated by 
Ostwald, of necessity accelerate the combination of 
oxygen and hydrogen in like degree, provided always 
that the surface remains chemically unaltered. 

A notable demonstration of the possibility of realis- 
ing a flameless incandescent surface combustion in 
contact with metals other than those of the platinum 
group was given by Thomas Fletcher in a lecture at 
the Manchester Technical School so far back as 1887.° 
He injected a mixture of gas and air on to a large 
ball of iron wire, flame being used at first in order 
to heat the wire to the temperature necessary to induce 
a continuous surface combustion; on extinguishing 
the flame, by momentarily stopping the gaseous mix- 
ture, the combustion continued without any flame, 
but with an enormous increase of temperature. 
Fletcher grasped three important points, namely, (1) 
that ‘‘this invisible flameless combustion is only pos- 
sible under certain conditions’’; (2) ‘‘that the com- 
bustible mixture shall come into absolute contact with 
a substance at high temperature .. .’’; and (3) that 
‘‘in the absence of a solid substance at a high tem- 
perature, it is impossible to cause combustion without 
flame’’; but, so far as I am aware, he did not follow 
up the matter beyond this point, either in its theo- 
retical aspects or practical applications, and his work 
had but little influence upon contemporary opinion or 
practice. 

My own investigations upon surface combustion 
began in 1902 with a systematic attempt to elucidate 
the factors operative in the slow combination of 
hydrogen and of carbon monoxide in contact with 
various hot surfaces (e.g. porcelain, fire-clay, mag- 
nesia, platinum, gold, silver, copper, and nickel 
oxides, etc.) at temperatures below 500°. Into the 
details of these earlier experiments, which preceded 
and led up to the technical developments about which 
I shall speak later, I do not propose to enter; it will 
be sufficient for my present purpose if I say that it 
was proved beyond all question :—(1) That the power 
of accelerating gaseous combustion is possessed by all 
surfaces at temperatures below the ignition point in 
varying degrees, dependent upon their chemical char- 
acters and physical texture; (2) that such an acceler- 
ated surface combustion is dependent upon an 
absorption of the combustible gas, and probably also 
of the oxygen, by the surface, whereby it becomes 
‘“activated’’ (probably ionised) by association with 
the surface; and (3) that the surface itself becomes 
electrically charged during the process. Finally, cer- 
tain important differences between homogeneous com- 
bustion in ordinary flames and heterogeneous com- 
bustion in contact with a hot surface from a chemical 
point of view were established, so that there can be no 
longer any doubt as to the reality of the phenomenon.* 

If hot surfaces possess the power of accelerating 
gaseous combustion at temperatures below, or in the 
neighbourhood of, the ignition point, the same power 
must also be manifested in even a greater degree at 
higher temperatures, and especially so when the sur- 
face itself becomes incandescent. Indeed, there are 
experimental grounds for the belief that not only does 
the accelerating influence of the surface rapidly in- 
crease with the temperature, but also that the differ- 
ences between the catalysing powers of various sur- 
faces, which at low temperatures are often consider- 
able, diminish with ascending temperatures until at 
bright incandescence they practically disappear. 

Such considerations as I have thus briefly explained 


3 Journal of Gas Lighting, 1887, i, p. 168. 

4 Bone and Wheeler, Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., 1906 (A. 206, pp. 1-67), 
also further (unpublished) results (tg05-12) in collaboration with Messrs. 
G W. Andrew, A. Forshaw, and H. Hartley, which are summarised in 


| Berichte der Deutschen Chem. Ges., 1913. 


APRIL 23, 1914] 


convinced me some years ago that if an explosive 
gaseous mixture be either injected on to or forced 
through the interstices of a porous refractory incan- 
descent solid under certain conditions, which will be 
hereafter explained, a greatly accelerated combustion 
would take place within the interstices or pores, or, 
in other words, within the boundary layers between 
the gaseous and solid phases wherever these may be 
in contact—and the heat developed by this intensified 
combustion would maintain the surface in a state of 
incandescence without any development of flame, thus 
realising the conception of flameless incandescent sur- 
face combustion, as a means of greatly increasing the 
general efficiency of heating operations wherever it 
can be conveniently applied. 

There are critics who, whilst admitting the accelerat- 
ing influence of an incandescent surface upon gaseous 
combustion, are sceptical about the process being really 
flameless. The force of such objections largely dis- 
appear when we get into close quarters with the 
phenomenon, and realise how extremely slow a trans- 
action flame combustion really is when considered in 
terms of molecular time. Take, for example, the case 
of such a quick-burning mixture as electrolytic gas 
(2H,+0O.,). When this is ignited at atmospheric pres- 
sure, the flame is initially propagated by conduction 
with a uniform slow velocity of 20 metres a second, 
and during this initial period of ‘‘inflammation,” the 
total duration of chemical change in each successive 
layer is something like the order of 1/50 second, an 
interval of at least one hundred million times as long 
as the average interval between successive molecular 
collisions in the gas. Even after ‘‘detonation’’ has 
been set up in the mixture, when the combustion is 
propagated from layer to layer as a wave of adiabatic 
compression, at a velocity of 2820 metres a second, 
the total duration of chemical change is still of the 
order of 1/5000 or 1/10,000 second, or about a million 
times as long as the interval between successive mole- 
cular collisions. 


The New Processes of Incandescent Surface Com- 
bustion. 


Leaving the theoretical aspects of the subject, I will 
now describe some of the more important features of 
two processes of incandescent surface combustion 
evolved at the works of Messrs. Wilsons and Mathie- 
sons, Ltd., in Leeds, under my direction, with the 
assistance of Mr. C. D. McCourt, in which a homo- 
geneous explosive mixture of gas and air, in the proper 
proportions for complete combustion (or with air in 
slight excess thereof), is caused to burn without flame 
in contact with a granular incandescent solid, whereby 
a large proportion of the potential energy of the gas 
is immediately converted into radiant form. The ad- 
vantages claimed for the new system, now known as 
the ‘‘ Bonecourt ’’ system, are :—(1) The combustion 
is greatly accelerated by the incandescent surface, 
and, if so desired, may be concentrated just where the 
heat is required; (2) the combustion is perfect with a 
minimum excess of air; (3) the attainment of very 
high temperatures is possible without the aid of 
elaborate regenerative devices; and (4) owing to the 
large amount of radiant energy developed, trans- 
mission of heat from the seat of combustion to the 
object to be heated is very rapid. These advantages 
are (as I believe) so uniquely combined in the new 
system that the resultant heating effect is, for many 
important purposes not only pre-eminently economical, 
but also easy of control. ; 


Diaphragm Heating and its Applications. 


In the first process the homogeneous mixture of gas 
and air is allowed to. flow under slight pressure 
through a porous diaphragm of refractory material 


NG..2321, VOL. ea] 


NATURE 


203 


and is caused 
surface of exit, 


from a suitable feeding chamber, 
to burn without flame at the 

which is thereby maintained in a state of red-hot 
incandescence. The diaphragm is composed of 
granules of firebrick, or other material, bound to- 
gether into a coherent block by suitable means; the 
porosity of the diaphragm is graded to suit the par- 
ticular kind of gas for which it is to be used. The 
diaphragm is mounted in a suitable casing, the space 
enclosed between the back of the casing and the dia- 
phragm constituting a convenient feeding-chamber 
for the gaseous mixture which is introduced at the 
back. Such a mixture may be obtained in either of 
two ways, namely, (1) by means of suitable connec- 
tions through a Y-piece with separate supplies of low 
pressure gas and air (2 or 3 in. W.G. is sufficient), 
or (2) by means of an ‘‘injector’’ arrangement con- 
nected with a supply of gas at a pressure of 1 to 2 lb. 
per sq. in.; the gas in this case draws in its own air 
from the atmosphere in sufficient quantity for com- 


Dees 
Fini — a8 
poet 


Fic. 1.—Diaphragm, 


plete combustion, the proportions of gas and air being 
easily regulated by a simple device. 

We will now start up a diaphragm (Fig. 1). Gas is 
first of all turned on and ignited as it issues at the sur- 
face; air is then gradually added until a fully aerated 
mixture is ohtained. The fiame soon becomes non- 
luminous, and diminishes in size; a moment later, it 
retreats on to the surface of the diaphragm, which at 
once assumes a bluish appearance; soon, however, 
the granules at the surface attain an incipient red heat, 
producing a curious mottled effect; finally, the whole 
of the surface layer of granules becomes red-hot, and 
an accelerated ‘‘ surface combustion ’’ comes into play. 
All signs of flame disappear, and there remains an 
intensely glowing surface throwing out a_ genial 
radiant heat which can be steadiiy maintained for as 
long as required. 

Whilst the diaphragm is in operation before you, I 
may point out some of the more striking features of 
the phenomenon which it presents. First, the actual 
combustion is confined within a very thin layer—j to 


204 


z in. only—immediately below the surface, and no 
heat is developed in any other part of the apparatus. 
Kindly observe that while the front of the diaphragm 
is intensely hot, the back of the apparatus is so cold 
that I can lay my hand on it. Secondly, the combus- 
tion of the gas, although confined within such narrow 
limits, is perfect, for when once the relative propor- 
tions of gas and air have been properly adjusted, no 
trace of unburnt gas escapes from the surface. 
Thirdly, the temperature at the surface of the dia- 
phragm can be instantly varied at will by merely 
altering the rate of feeding of the gaseous mixture; 
there is practically no lag in the temperature response, 
a circumstance of great importance in operations 
where a fine regulation of heat is required. Fourthly, 
a plane diaphragm such as this may be used in any 
position, i.e. at any desired angle between the hori- 
zontal and vertical planes. Fifthly, the diaphragm 
method is amenable to a variety of combustible gases 
—coal or coke oven gas (either undiluted or admixed 
with water gas), natural gas, petrol-air gas, car- 
buretted water gas are all well suited in. cases where 
unimpeded radiation is required. Finally, the incan- 
descence in no way depends upon the external atmo- 
sphere. When once the diaphragm has become incan- 
descent, and the proportions of air and gas supplied 
in the mixing chamber at the back have been properly 
adjusted, the surface will maintain its incandescence 
unimpaired, even in an atmosphere of carbon dioxide. 

I need scarcely point out to you the many obvious 
purposes, domestic and industrial, to which “ dia- 
phragm heating”? may be applied. In the domestic 
line the boiling of water, grilling, roasting, and toast- 
ing are at once suggested, and although the best exist- 
ing types of gas fires are thoroughly hygienic and 
efficient, I think that the diaphragm may come in for 
the heating of apartments; at any rate experiments 
are being carried out in that direction, 


Incandescent Surface Combustion in a Bed of Refrac- 
tory Granular Material. 


The second process is applicable to all kinds of 
gaseous or vapourised fuels; it consists essentially in 
injecting, through a suitable orifice at a speed greater 
than the velocity of back-firing, an explosive mixture 
of gas (or vapour) and air in their combining propor- 
tions into a bed of incandescent granular refractory 
material which is disposed around or in proximity to 
the body to be heated (Fig. 2). 

This process is capable of adaptation to all kinds 
of furnace operations, as, for example, to the heating 
of crucibles, muffles, retorts, and to annealing and 
forging furnaces generally. Moreover, it is not essen- 
tial that the bed of refractory material should be very 
deep; indeed a quite shallow bed suffices to complete 
the combustion. Neither is it necessary that the bed 
shall be disposed around the vessel or chamber to be 
heated; for if contact with the burnt products is not 
objectionable, a shallow bed may be arranged within 
the heating chamber itself; or the refractory material 
may be equally well packed into tubes, or the like, 
traversing the substance or medium to be _ heated. 
The last-named modification is, as we shall see later, 
specially important in relation to steam-raising in 
multitubular boilers. 

By means of this process much higher temperatures 
are attainable with a given gas than by the ordinary 
methods of flame combustion without a regenerative 
system, and, as a matter of fact, we have found that 
with any gas of high calorific intensity (such as coal 
gas, water gas, or natural gas) the upper practicable 
temperature limit is determined by the refractoriness 
of the material composing the chamber to be heated 
(i.e. the muffle or crucible) rather than by the pos- 
sibilities of the actual combustion itself. When I tell 


NOD 23218) VOLMO2| 


NATURE 


[APRIL 23, I9E4 


you that in a crucible fired by coal gas on this system 
we have melted Seger-cone No. 39, which according 
to the latest determination of the German Reichsan- 
stahlt melts at 1880° C. (3416° F.), and also that we 
can easily melt platinum, you will appreciate the pos- 
sibilities of the method in regard to high temperatures 
with gas-fired furnaces. 


Surface Combustion as Applied to Steam Raising. 


I now come to an important application of the new 
process to the raising of steam in multitubular boilers; 
not that the application of surface combustion is 
limited to boilers of the multitubular type, but because 
our investigations have so far been ptincipally made 
with these. 

Our first experiments in Leeds were made with a 
single steel tube 3 ft. in length and 3 in. in diameter, 
packed with fragments of granular refractory mate- 
rial, meshed to a proper size, and fitted at one end 
with a fire-clay plug, through which was bored a circu- 


KLLZZ ZZ. 
iVAD20) 
On 


C77? 
Ss. 
ic 


RAE REED 

ya 
Snag 

ng 

"Teena 

‘| 40 =~ 
WS 


HN 
foe) 
x 


eee 


Fic. 2.—Crucible furnace. 


lar hole, $ in. in diameter, for the admission of the 
explosive mixture of gas and air at a speed greater 
than that of back-firing. The tube was fitted into an 
open trough, in which water could be evaporated at 
atmospheric pressure. 

Such a tube may be appropriately termed the funda- 
mental unit of our boiler system, because boilers of 
almost any size may be constructed merely by multiply- 
ing the single tube, and as each tube is, so to speak, 
an independent fire or unit, the efficiency of the whole 
is that of the single tube, or, in other words, the 
efficiency of the whole boiler is independent of the 
number of tubes fired. 

Experimenting with such a tube, it was found pos- 
sible to turn completely a mixture of 100 cu. ft. of 
coal gas plus 550 cu. ft. of air an hour, and to 
evaporate about 100 lb. of water from and at 100° C. 
(212° F.) an hour (20 to 22 Ib. per sq. ft. of heating 
surface), the products leaving the further end of the 
tube at practically 200° C. This meant the trans- 
mission to the water of 88 per cent. of the net heat 


APRIL 23, 1914| 


NATURE 


205 


developed by the combustion, and an evaporation per 
sq. ft. of heating surface nearly twice that of an 
express locomotive boiler. The combustion of the gas 
was completed within 4 or 5 in. of the point where 
it entered the tube, whilst the temperature of the pro- 
ducts leaving the tube was about 200° C. Of the 
total evaporation, no less than 70 per cent. occurred 
over the first linear foot of the tube, 22 per cent. over 
the second foot, and only 8 per cent. over the last foot. 
This points to a very effective ‘‘radiation”’ trans- 
mission from the incandescent granular material in 
the first third of the tube, where the zone of active 
combustion is located, although it should be remarked 
that the loci of actual contact between the incan- 
descent material and the walls of the tube are so 
rapidly cooled by the transmission of heat to the water 
on the other side that they never attain a temperature 
even approaching red heat. The granular material in 
the remaining two-thirds of the tube serves to baffle 
the hot products of combustion, and to make them 
repeatedly impinge with high velocity against the 
walls of the tube, thus materially accelerating their 
cooling, and either preventing or minimising the 
formation of the feebly-conducting stationary film of 


I91I we received an inquiry from the Skinningrove 
Iron Co., Ltd., for a boiler of about ten times the 
capacity of the experimental unit, to be fired by means 
of the surplus gas from their new Otto by-product 


, coking-plant, we had no hesitation in accepting a 
_ commission to install our first large boiler there, under 


a strict guarantee as to its output and efficiency. 

The plant was successfully started up on November 
7, 1911, for a month’s trial run—day and night con- 
tinuously—after which it was opened up for an official 
inspection by the representative of a Boiler Insurance 


_ Company. Everything worked without a hitch during 


this trial; steam was generated at too lb. gauge 
pressure, from a feed-water of about 4° of hardness, 
whilst the average temperature of the waste gases leav- 
ing the feed-water heater was reduced to 80° C. (say 
175° F.), a sure indication of the high thermal 
efficiency of the plant. When, at the conclusion of 
the month’s trial, the boiler was opened up for in- 
spection, the combustion tubes were found to be in 


_ good condition and free from scale; indeed, owing to 
_ the extremely high rate of evaporation, the scaling 


} 


DIAGRAM _OF THE FUNDAMENTAL BOILER UNIT 


1500 


1400° 


DEGREES _CENTIGRADE 


SFE : 
100 CUB FT COAL ¥ . 


GAS PLUS 55) 
CUB FTAIR PEI 
HOUR 


22 8 
% OF TOTAL EVAPORATION FOR EACH LINEAR FOOT 


Fic. 3.—Fundamental boiler unit. 


relatively cold gases which in ordinary boiler practice 
clings to the tube walls, seriously impairing the heat 
transmission. 

Having thus satisfied ourselves of the efficiency of 
the fundamental unit as an evaporator, we proceeded 
to construct our first experimental boiler, made up of 
ten tubes, each 3 ft. long and 3 in. in diameter, fixed 
horizontally in a cylindrical steel shell capable of 
withstanding a pressure of more than 200 Ib. per 
sq. in. The gaseous mixture was forced through the 
tubes under pressure from a special feeding chamber 
attached to the front plate of the boiler; the products 
of combustion, after leaving the boiler, passed through 
a small feed-water heater containing nine tubes, each 
1 ft. long and 3 in. in diameter, filled with granular 
material to facilitate the exchange of heat. 

This combination of boiler and feed-water heater 
proved remarkably successful in every way; its ther- 
mal efficiency was 94 per cent., with an evaporation of 
ae 21 to 33 Ib. per sq. ft. of heating surface per 

our. 


The 110-Tube Boiler at the Skinningrove Ironworks. 


Six months’ continuous experience with our first 
experimental unit gave us great confidence in its 
trustworthiness, so that when in the early months of 


NO. 2321, VOL. 93] 


TOTAL HEAT TRANSMITTED = 87% OF NET CAL VALUE OF GAS . 
TOTAL EVAPORATION = IOOLBS WATER PER HOUR FROM AND 
AT 100°C (2/2°F). 
MEAN EVAPORATION PER SQ FT HEATING SURFACE = 20~ 22 
LBS PER HOUR FROM AND AT 100°C (212°F). 


troubles experienced with other types of multitubular 
boilers appear to be completely obviated, the scale 
being automatically and continuously 
shed from the tube in thin films (about 
1/30 in. thick) as fast as it is formed; 
a very important advantage, as anyone 
who is plagued by scaling troubles will 
appreciate. An independent trial of the 
plant on July 29, 1912, gave a thermal 
efficiency of 927 per cent. 

Within the last few months the firm 
of Krupps have put down a boiler in 
connection with one of their coking 
plants in the Ruhr district of Westphalia, 


10) 


200° from the plans of the Skinningrove 
plant. This boiler has been running 
successfully since October last, and 


‘ 
PR LD A eh a => 
= 


about three weeks ago underwent its 
official steam trials, which were carried 
out by the Bergbauliche Verein. Pend- 
ing the official publication of the results 
in the German technical Press, I am pre- 
cluded from giving any details now, 
but, I am informed, that they have 
entirely confirmed the Skinningrove trial. 

I have perhaps said enough already 
about the boiler and its working 
to convince you that it combines high thermal 
efficiency and concentration of power, in a 
unique degree, and perhaps I may be permitted to 
summarise the other important advantages which may 
be claimed for it. First, from the constructional point 
of view, nothing could be simpler or more compact 
than a cylindrical shell only 4 ft. long by to ft. in 
diameter, traversed by straight tubes, supported on a 
casting, and requiring neither elaborate brickwork 
setting mor expensive chimney flues and_ stack. 
Secondly, it has a further advantage over all multi- 
tubular boilers in that the front plate can never be 
heated beyond the temperature of the water, however 
much the firing may be forced, a circumstance which, 
coupled with the extremely short length of the tubes, 
implies an absence of strain and greatly reduces the 
risk of leaky joints. Thirdly, the high rate of mean 
evaporation obviates scaling troubles, and the very 
steep evaporation gradient along each tube causes a 


PRODUCTS LEAVING 
AT 200°C. 


| considerable natural circulation of water in the boiler, 


a factor of great. importance from the point of view 
of good and efficient working; in this connection I 
may remind you that under normal working condi- 
tions we obtain a mean evaporation of 20 lb. per 
sq ft. of heating surface an hour, and can, if need 
be, force this up to 35°lb.; of this total evaporation, 


2c6 


50 per cent. occurs over the first third length of the 
tube, 22 per cent over the second third, and only 8 per 
cent. over the last third. Fourthly, inasmuch as each 
tube of the boiler is, so to speak, an independent com- 
bustion unit, capable of being shut off or lit up with- 
out affecting the others, and as it only takes five 
minutes after lighting up a cold tube to attain its 
maximum steam output, it is obvious that not only is 
such a boiler highly responsive to rapid variations in 
the load, but also it works with equal efficiency at 
both small and big loads; indeed, within very wide 
limits, its efficiency is practically independent of the 
load. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 
INTELLIGENCE. 


ABERDEEN.—Lord Elgin has: been elected Chancellor 
of the University in succession to Lord Strathcona. 


Lonpon.—The following, courses of advanced lec- 
tures, addressed to students of the University and to 
others interested in the respective subjects, to which 
admission is free without ticket, are announced in 
the issue of the London University Gazette of April 
8 :—Five lectures on the earlier Palaeozoic land plants 
at University College, by Dr. D. H. Scott, on Wed- 
nesdays, May 6 to June 3; two lectures on plant pig- 
ments at University College, by Prof. R. Willstatter, 
professor of chemistry in the University of Berlin, on 
Monday, May 4, and Tuesday, May 5; two lectures, 
in French, entitled ‘‘La Catalyse, et mes divers 
travaux sur la Catalyse,” at King’s College, by Prof. 
Paul Sabatier, of the University of Toulouse, on 
Thursday, May 14, and Friday, May 15; eight lectures 
on the rate of the blood-flow in man in health and 
disease, in the Physiological Laboratory of the Uni- 
versity, South Kensington, by Prof. G. N. Stewart, 
professor of experimental medicine, Western Reserve 
University, Cleveland, U.S.A., on Tuesdays, May 
5-23; eight lectures on oxidation in the tissues, at 
University College, by Dr. C. Lovatt Evans, on 
Fridays, May 8 to June 26; four lectures on the regu- 
lation of the composition and volume of the blood, in 
the Physiological Laboratory of Guy’s Hospital, by 
Dr. J. S. Haldane, on Thursdays, May 7-28; four 
lectures on the gaseous exchanges of the body, in the 
Physiological Laboratory of King’s College, by Prof. 
T. G. Brodie, professor of physiology in the Univer- 
sity of Toronto, on Monday, June 8, Wednesday, June 
10, Monday, June 15, and Wednesday, June 17; three 
lectures on the morphology of the cranial muscles in 
vertebrates, in the Zoological Department, University 
College, by Prof. F. H. Edgeworth, professor of 
medicine in the University of Bristol, on Monday, 
May 4, Tuesday, May 5, and Wednesday, May 6; five 
lectures on the measurement of social phenomena, at 
the London School of Economics and Political Science, 
by Dr. A. L. Bowley, University reader in statistics, 
on Mondays, April 27 to May 2s. 

Among the public lectures, to which admission is 
free without ticket, announced to be delivered at Uni- 
versity College during the third term of the present 
academic year, the following may be mentioned :— 
Four lectures on the ethnology and pathology of the 
ancient Egyptians, by Dr. D. E. Derry, beginning on 
May 5, at 5 p.m.; a lecture on Ptolemy’s map of 
Germany and the Cimbric Chersonese, by Prof. Gud- 
mudd Schiitte, on May 11, at 5 p.m.; an introductory 
lecture on recent discoveries in Egypt, by Prof. 
Flinders Petrie, on May 21, at 2.30 p.m. 


Giascow.—The following doctorates were among 
the degrees conferred on April 20 :—Doctor of Philo- 
sophy (D.Phil.): L. J. Russell; thesis, ‘‘ The Develop- 


NO. 239215 VOLE. 92) 


NATURE 


[APRIL 23, 1914 


ment of the Philosophy of Leibniz, 1666-86.’’ Doc- 
tors of Science (D.Sc.): Margaret B. Moir; thesis, 
‘“The Influence of Temperature on the Magnetic Pro- 
perties of Carbon Steels; Sensitive Magnetic State 
induced by Thermal Treatment and by Strain; Mag- 
netic Properties of Chrome Steels at Ordinary and 
Low Temperatures: Permanent Magnetism of Chrome 
Steels; with other papers.’’ F. Mort; thesis, ‘‘ North 
Arran: a Physiographic Study; with others papers.” 
Maggie M. J. Sutherland; thesis, ‘‘ Camphenanic 
Acid, its Isomers and Derivatives; with other papers.” 


Science states that a contribution of 10,000l. 
from Mrs. E. H. Harriman to the endowment fund of 
Barnard College, Columbia University, is announced 
toward the million dollar fund now being raised for 
the twenty-fifth anniversary of the institution. The 
amount now promised is 110,000l. 


Mr. H. Norman EpGE has been appointed honorary 
lecturer on meteorology to the Lancashire (Navy 
League) and National Sea Training Homes. As in- 
creased attention is now being given to the subject of 
marine meteorology, and a number of vessels keep a 
four-hourly log, the instruction in the keeping of 
the meteorological log to boys being prepared for a 
seafaring life is of real practical value. 


Ir is announced in the Times that the late Mr. 
H. B. Noble, of Douglas, Isle of Man, left practically 
all his large estate for educaticnal and charitable pur- 
poses in the island. The trustees ot his will have 
decided to devote 20,0001. for the fostering of agricul- 
ture in the island. In connection with this gift a Bill 
has been introduced into the Manx Legislature consti- 
tuting a Board of Agriculture for the island. The 
Board will administer the income arising from the 
gift, and will, in addition, have a fund placed at its 
disposal by the Government of the island. 


A COMPREHENSIVE resolution dealing with the age 
of exemption from attendance at school, continuation 
classes, and child labour, was passed by the National 
Union of Teachers at the Lowestoft conference on 
April 15. The resolution, which was moved 
by Mr. G. Sharples, was as _ follows :—That 
all regulations recognising the half-time system, 
labour examinations, and other forms of early 
exemption from attendance at school should be 
abolished ; that no child should be exempt from attend- 
ing under the age of fourteen; that local authorities 
should be empowered to make by-laws requiring the 
attendance of children up to the age of fifteen; that 
all wage-earning work, and particularly all street 
trading, should be prohibited for all children under 
fourteen, both in urban and rural districts; and that 
a system of compulsory attendance at continuation 
classes should be established for children between the 
ages of fourteen and eighteen who are not otherwise 
receiving a suitable education, such a system to be 
accompanied by a statutory limitation of the hours of 
child labour. 


A WEAK point in most of the Continental educa- 
tional systems is that there is no easy bridge by which 
the public elementary and trade continuation class 
pupil can pass into the higher ranks of his vocation 
and complete his studies in the polytechnic or univer- 
sity. The avenue to these higher institutions is almost 
solely through the gymnasial secondary schools. In 
the facilities offered by scholarships for the transfer- 
ence of gifted pupils from primary schools to secondary 
schools and through these to universities and like 
places of advanced learning, we have nothing. to learn 
from Continental methods. The scholarship systems 
of the education authorities of English counties and 
county boroughs provide the means by which any 
elementary-school pupil of little more than average 


APRIL 23, 1914| 


ability can obtain a free-place in a secondary school ; 
and the brilliant pupil can proceed from this stage to 
a higher by means of senior scholarships. We are 
reminded of the efficiency of this educational ladder by 
a return just made to the Somerset County Council by 
the County Education Committee. It appears from this 
report that twenty-five out of the thirty senior county 
scholars referred to in it were enabled by the Educa- 
tion Committee’s system of scholarships to pass froma 
public elementary school to a university or a univer- 
sity college. Many of the ‘senior scholars have had 


remarkably successful careers since their univer- 
sity courses, and some have reached exceptional 
distinction. The return as a whole is very gratifying, 


and the result is due in part at least to the committee’s 
policy of awarding scholarships of any grade only 
when candidates of really satisfactory merit present 
themselves. 


Mr. J. A. Pease, Minister of Education, last week 
received at the offices of the Board in Whitehall, an 
influential deputation representing the civic, commer- 
cial, and educational life of Nottingham, and headed 
by the Duke of Portiana, on the subject of granting 
the status of a university to University College, 
Nottingham. His Grace gave a résumé of the history 
of the college, emphasising the fact that its work 
would bear favourable comparison with that of the 
majority of the modern universities in the country. 
The time had now come when steps should be taken 
to broaden the constitution of the college, to place it 
in the same position as other similar institutions, and 
to establish it definitely as the university centre of the 
east midlands, spreading the responsibility for its 
government and maintenance over the area which it 
serves. Principal Heaton dwelt upon the educational 
work in the college itself, especially its honours, post- 
graduate, and research work, upon the home the col- 
lege afforded to local branches of various national 
associations (such as Classical, Historical, English, 
Workers’ Educational, Chemical Industry), and on 
the increased facilities it now offered for social inter- 
course among the students. The patriotic side of its 
work was well represented by its efficient Officers 
Training Corps, and the fact that it was the first 
college in England to form for women students a 
voluntary-aid detachment of the Red Cross Associa- 
tion. In his reply, Mr. Pease said :—‘‘I appreciate, 
and the Board of Education appreciates, the desires of 
the people of Nottingham, their ambition, their aspira- 
tion, in connection with the formation of what one 
might call a full-blown university. There are schools 
of thought which think provincial universities have 
already been established in enough centres up and 
down our land. I am not one of those who take this 
view; I believe that there is work for additional uni- 
versities, and I for one would be very glad to see a 
provincial university which would meet all require- 
ments in connection with the wants of the people in 
the east midland area.” 


SOCIETIES) AND ACADEMIES. 


EDINBURGH. 

Royal Society, March 16.—Prof. James Geikie, presi- 
dent, in the chair.—Rev. T. R. R. Stebbing : Stalk- 
eyed Crustacea Malacostraca of the Scottish National 
Antarctic Expedition. Most of the fifty specimens 
described were collected by the Scotia at various 
stations during its voyage out and home, so that not 
more than ten could claim to be Antarctic or sub- 
Antarctie in their place of capture. Six new species 
were described, viz., Coryrhynchus algicola, Eupa- 
gurus modicellus, Gennadas kempi, Nauticarus brucei, 
Phye scotiae, P. rathbunae.—D. W. Steuart and 
Ingvar Jérgensen: Note on the atmospheric electrical 


NOw23 27. VOEsOg 


NATURE 


207 


potential gradient in industrial districts. The experi- 
ments were carried out in the neighbourhood of Leeds. 
The chief feature was the magnitude of the potential 
gradient under ‘certain conditions.—J. B. Robertson : 
A chemical examination of the organic matter in oil- 
shales. Thirteen samples had been analysed. The 
carbon hydrogen ratio varied from 6 to 8, the lower 
ratio belonging to the shale yielding the larger amount 
of oil produced from a definite percentage of organic 
matter. The ratios were lower than that of ordinary 
bituminous coal. The organic matter, the main bulk 
of which was insoluble in organic solvents, was the 
product of the decomposition of vegetable substance 
(alga, spores, etc.), similar in nature to what was 
found in peat and cannel coal. 


Paris. 

Academy of Sciences, April 14.—M. P. Appell in the 
chair.—L. E. Bertin: Calculation of the increase of 
load or of velocity obtainable by increasing the dimen- 
sions of ships. A development of some consequences 
of a formula given in an earlier communication.—G. 
Gouy : The absorbing power of the electric arc for its 
own radiations. Confirming results previously ob- 
tained with flame spectra, a complete opacity of the 
vapour for the line it produces is never observed. The 
absorptive power is between 0-5 and o-7 for the very 
strong lines, and less for the weaker - lines.—A. 
Laveran: New facts tending to demonstrate that 
Mediterranean kala-azar is identical with the Indian 
kala-azar. Comparative inoculation experiments were 
carried out on monkeys, dogs, and mice. Macacus 
cynomolgus. rendered immune to the Mediterranean 
kala-azar is refractory to the Indian virus, - whilst 
another animal of the same species, inoculated under 
the same conditions as the first, and serving as a 
control, rapidly contracted a fatal infection. | From 
this it is concluded that the diseases are identical.—A. 
Bilimovitch ; The canonical transformations of the 
equations of motion of a non-holonomial system.—L. 
Dunoyer and R. W. Wood: Photometry of. the super- 
ficial resonance of sodium vapour under the stimula- 
tion of the D lines. Fineness of the resonance lines. 
The magnitude of the resonance lines was of the 
order of o-03 Angstrém.—Félix Ehrenhaft: Minimum 
quantities of electricity and the existence of quantities 
(quanta) smaller than the charge of an electron. The 
electrical charges of particles of mercury and gold in 
the colloidal state were determined, the spherical 
shape of the particles under examination being pre- 
viously proved by the microscope. The minimum 
charge is not the charge of the _electron.—Albert 
Perrier and H Kamerlingh Onnes: The interpretation 
of the magnetic properties of mixtures of oxygen and 
nitrogen. The molecular field varies inversely as the 
third power of the mean distance of the oxygen mole- 
cules.—R. Fosse: The gravimetric quantitative 
analysis of urea. The urea is precipitated from an 
acetic acid solution with xanthydrol, and the com- 
pound weighed. Its composition is definite, and can 
be controlled by analysis.—J. Bergonié: The rational 
distribution of meals in man in the nycthemeral cycle. 
The best times are shown to be 7.30 a.m. for principal 
meal, 4.30 p.m., and 8 p.m. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 


Echinoderma of the Indian Museum. _ Part. viii. 
Echinoidea (1). By Prof. R. Koehler. Pp. 258+xx 
plates. (Calcutta: Indian Museum.) 20 rupees. 

Gibt es denkende Tiere? By Dr. S. v. Maday. 
Pp. xiv+461. (Leipzig and Berlin: W. Engelmann). 
9.60 marks. 

Die wichtigsten Lagerstatten der ‘* Nicht-Erze.” 
By Dr. O. Stutzer. Zweiter Teil. Kohle (Allgemeine 


208 


Kohlengeologie). Pp. xvi+345+xxix plates. 
lin: Gebriider Borntraeger.) 16 marks. 
Ministry of Public Works, Egypt. Zoological Ser- 


(Ber- 


vice. Report on a Zoological Mission to India in 
1913. By Capt. S. S. Flower. Pp. viii+100+xii 
plates. (Cairo: Government Press.) 5s. 


Mysore Geological Department. Report of the 
Chief Inspector of Mines for the Year 1912-13. With 
Statistics for the Calendar Year 1912. Pp. 59+ tables. 
(Bangalore : Government Press.) 2 rupees. 

Nedboriagttagelser i Norge. Utgit av det Norske 
Meteorologiske Institut, Middelvoerdier, Maksima og 
Minima. Pp. xxii+79+79+iv plates+maps.  (Kris- 
tiania: H. Aschehoug and Co.) 3 kroners. 

The Foundations of Character. By A. F. Shand. 
Pp. xxxi+532. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 
12s. net. 

Marriage Ceremonies in Morocco. 
Westermarck. Pp. xxi+422. 
and Co., Ltd.) 12s. net. 

Icones of the Plants of Formosa, and Materials for 
a Flora of the Island. By B. Hayata. Vol. iii. Pp. 
iv+222+xxxv plates. (Taihoku: Bureau of Produc- 
tive Industries.) 

La Cémentation de l’Acier. By Prof. F. Giolitti. 
French translation by M. A. Portevin. Pp. 548. 
(Paris: A. Hermann et Fils.) 16 francs. 

Traité de Physique. By Prof. O. D. Chwolson. 
Translated by E. Davaux. Tome Cinquiéme. Premier 
Fascicule. Champ magnétique variable. Pp. vi+ 
266. (Paris: A. Hermann et Fils.) 9 franés. 

Publications de la Société de Chimie-Physique. vii., 
Le Paramagnétisme appliqué a l’Etude des sels 
Métalliques. By Mile. E. Feytis. Pp. 27. viii., Re- 
lations entre la constitution Chimique et la Coloration 
des Corps Organiques. By M. A. Meyer. Pp. 48. 
(Paris: A. Hermann et Fils.) 1 franc and 2 francs 


By Prof. E. 
(London : Macmillan 


respectively. 
Encyclopédie de Science Chimique Appliquée. 
Tome v. Principes d’Analyse et de Synthése en 


Chimie Organique. By M. Hanriot, Prof. P. Carré, 
A Seyewetz, Prof. E. Charabot, and Dr. A. Hébert. 


Pp. 795. (Paris and Liége: Ch. Béranger.) 30 
francs. 


DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 


THURSDAY, Apri 23. 
RoyaL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY, at 5.—The East African Trough: J. 
Parkinson. 
CuiLp Stupy Society, at 7.30.—Raising the Standard of Child Upbringing 
Rev. JT. C. Pringle. 
CONCRETE INSTITUTE, at 7.30.—The Architect and Structural Engineering : 
W. E A. Brown. 
INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Electrification of Railways 
as affected by Traffic Considerations : H. W. Firth. 
RovaL Society OF ARTS, at 4.30.—The Port_and City of Rangoon: G. C. 
Buchanan. 
FRIDAY, Aprit 24. 
ROvAE INSTITUTION, at 9.—The Stars around the North Pole: Dr. F. W. 
yson. 
Junior INsTITUTION OF ENGINEERS, at 8.—A Visit to the Iron Districts 
of French Alsace: G. Evetts. 
InsTITUTION OF MEcHaAN)cal. ENGINEERS, at 8.—Application of Electrical 
Driving to Existing Rolling Mills: L. Rothera. 


SATURDAY, Apriv 25. 
RovaL InstTiTuTION, at 3.—Similarity of Motion in Fluids. I. The 
Theory of Similarity of Motion in Fluids and the Experimental Proof of 
its Existence: Dr. T. E. Stanton. 
MONDAY, Aprit 27. 
Royat Socirty oF Arts, at 8.—Some Recent Developments‘in the Ceramic 
Industry: W. Burton. , 
Rovart. GEOGRAPHICAL SOcIETY, at 
(Southern Nigeria): P. A. Talbot. 
INSTITUTE OF ACTUARIES, at 5.—Section 72 of the National Insurance 
Act. Some other Features of Friendly Societies and National Insurance, 
including a Note on the Proposed Belgian National Insurance Act : 


E. B. Nathan. 
TUESDAY, Apri 28. 
Roya INsTITUTION, at 3.—Problems of Physical Chemistry. 2. Struc- 
ture of Matter at low Temperatures : Dr. W. Wahl. 
RovaL Socirty oF ARTS, at 4 30—The Administration of Imperial 
Telegraphs: C. Bright. 
RovaL ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE, at 8.15.—Some Hopi Textiles from 
the Pueblo of Hano: Miss B. Freire Marreco. 


NO}/232'1, VO, 3) 


8.30.—The Land of the Ibibios 


NATURE 


[APRIL 23, 1914 


— 


FuGenics EpucaTion Society, at 8.30.—Le Mesure de I'Intelligence: 


Dr. Simon. 
: WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29. 

Roya Society or Arms, at 8.—The Need for a Better Organization of 
Economic and Industrial Resources: C. R. Enock. 

GEoLocicaL Society, at 8.—On the Lower Jaw of an Anthropoid Ape 
(Dryopithecus) from the Upper Miocene of Lérida (Spain) : Dr. A. Smith 
Woodward.—The Structure of ihe Carlislke—Solway Basin and the 
Sequence of its Permian and Triassic Rocks: Prof. J. W. Gregory. 


THURSDAY, APRIL 30. 

Royat Society, at 4.30.—Probable Papers: The lack of Adaptation in the 
Tristichaceae and Podostemaceae: Dr. J. C. Willis.—The Genetics of 
Tetraploid Plants in Przaula sinensis: R. P. Gregory.—The Action of 
certain Drugs on the isolated Human Uterus:. J. A. Gunn.—The Presence 
of Inorganic Iron Compounds in the Chloroplasts of the Green Cells of 
Plants, considered in Relationship to Natural Photo-synthesis and the 
Origin of Life: Prof. B. Moore.—The Influence: of ‘)smotic Pressure 
upon the Regeneration of Guxda ulvae: D. J. Lioyd.—(1) Glossina 
brevipalpis as a Carrier of Trypanosome Disease in Nyasaland. (2) 
Trypanosome Diseases of Domestic Animalsin Nyasaland. Trypanosoma 
pecorum. Part III. Development in Glossina morsitans : Sir D. Bruce, 
Major A. E. Hamerton, Capt. D. P. Watson and Lady Bruce. 

Roya INSTITUTION, at 3-—The Last Chapter of Greek Philosophy: 
Plotinus as Philosopher, Religious Teacher and Mystic; The very Rey. 


W. R. Inge. 
FRIDAY, May 1. ering 
Roya InsTITUTION, at 9.—A Criticism on Critics: E. F. Benson. 
Junior INSTITUTION OF ENGINEERS, at 8.—The Control and Organisation 
of the Engineering Profession: S. T. Robson. 
GEoLocists’ ASSOCIATION, at 8.—A Geological Excursion in Matabele- 
land: F. P. Mennell. 


SATURDAY, May 2. 

RoyaL INSTITUTION, at 3.—Similarity of Motion in Fluids. (2) The 
General Law of Surface Friction in Fluid Motion: Dr. T. E. Stanton..- 
BritisH PsycHoLoGcicaL SociETy.—The Psychology of Play with special 
reference to the value of Group Games in Education: Miss M. J. Reaney. 
—Corresponding points: Prof. C. Spearman.—An attempt at an exact 

Estimation of Character: E. Webb. 


CONTENTS. PAGE 


By AC GEO 183 


A Treatise on Igneous Rocks. ey ee 
By G. B. M.. 183 


Mathematics for French Freshmen. 


Analytical and Synthetical Chemistry. By G.T.M. 184 
Textiles. By Wm. Scott Taggart... oa tes pare 
Our Bookshelf » Wy ey Yaga eee Pee etsy) 
Letters to the Editor :— 
The Sand-blast.—Lord Rayleigh, O.M., K.C.B., 
1d 5 ots Ait rie Ee, Tote : : Rod bes 188 
The Earth’s Contraction.—Dr. John Ball .... 188 
Zoological Classification. —Dr. F. A. Bather, F.R.S. 189 
Electric Emissivity at High Temperatures.—Dr. 
G. W. C. Kaye; W. F. Higgins’). 5°. 3%. 185 
An Optical Illusion.—J. W. Giltay 2 . 189 
The National Botanic Gardens of South Africa. 
(Zilustrated.) . ites hc Sada» ste te Ae 010) 
Waves in Sand and Snow. (///ustrated.) By A. 
Mallock  F.R-S: oo cn: ee. Bheha ds ee 1) 
Mutations of Bacteria. (J///ustrated.) By Prof. R. T. 
UG WIECt i cs, ie. Ge) bem eh phe ie pita Cec. Cm aL 
INOtES@ia a = 2. sy ase eee 194. 
Our Astronomical Column :— 
Gomet "1914a (Kritzinger) 2 3. 2os)5 - > =) cee 
The Variable o8f041, — 41° 3911, H.V. 3372... ... 198 
The Solar Constant of Radiation ......-... ~. 198 
The Action of Gravity on Gaseous Mixture i 199 
Growth and Cultivation of Hops. By E. S. 8S. 199 
EducationinIndia . se : STON ec chatpoenemeecee 
The Mount Wilson Solar Observatory wy 208 
Marine Investigations .... : ae 3 She OE 
Surface Combustion. (///ustrated.) By Prof. W. A. 
BonesheRGS: .: J. bs, 4 Ee MOT nO st. 5 (Or 
University and Educational Intelligence. . . . . . 206 
Societies and Academies... ..'... . Pr 0-10); 
Books Received . Peer Ares A ye, oe co 2O/ 
IDIETSY CHOSE Seeks Sec oo so 9 5 0 < 208 
Editorial and Publishing Offices: 
MACMILLAN & CO., Ltp., 
ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON. W.C. 
Advertisements and business letters to be addressed to the 


Publishers. 


Editorial Communications to the Editor. 


Telegraphic Address: PHusts, LONDON. 
Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830. 


NATURE MAY 12 101 ie 


209 


THURSDAY,: APRIL.,. 30; 


IQ14. 


NEW YORK WATER -SUPPLY. 

The Catskill Water Supply of New York City: 
History, Location, Sub-surface Investigations, 
and Construction. By Lazarus White. Pp. 
xxxli+755. (New York: John. Wiley and 
Sons; London : Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1913.) 
Price 25s. 6d. net. 


ECHNICAL records of important engineer- 
ing undertakings, so far as their accessi- 
‘bility to the public is concerned, are apt to be 
scattered and fragmentary. A paper will usually 
be read before one or other of the leading profes- 
sional societies, giving in condensed form so much 
of the history of the work as is deemed suitable 
for publication. In addition, articles will have 
appeared from time to time in the technical and 
daily Press, authoritative in varying degree, 
giving descriptions in. general terms of the pro- 
gress made. But these, while admirable in them- 
selves, scarcely exhaust the desire for informa- 
tion on the part of the general body of the profes- 
sion, who would often wish to be furnished with 
certain specific details omitted from the condensed 
official accounts. A marked reticence, for in- 
stance, is observed, as a rule, on the subject of 
cost. There seems to be a fear lest the disclosure 
of more than a few figures of comprehensive signi- 
ficance should give rise to criticism of an adverse 
and inconvenient nature. And such details, 
accordingly, are almost invariably withheld, or, 
at best, are obtainable with difficulty. 

These remarks are prompted by the considera- 
tion that the volume before us is quite exceptional 
in its scope and treatment to the experience 
described above. It is a commendably full, clear, 
and complete account of an undertaking of con- 
siderable magnitude, in which a great wealth of 
information germane to the subject is set out in 
much. detail. 

The author, a division engineer engaged on the 
work, has been fortunate ina chief who encour- 
aged him in his task of compilation, and “gave 
him a helping hand throughout.” He was also 
favoured with the cooperation of his colleagues. 
The long list of names mentioned in the preface 
demonstrates a very generous and loyal effort on 
the part of all concerned to produce a trustworthy 
and comprehensive account of the experience 
gained, the difficulties encountered and overcome, 
and the carrying through to a successful. conclu- 
sion of a notable engineering feat. 

The water supply of New York City has long 
been the subject of contention and conflicting 
opinion. It has been derived from many and 


Nose2a29;, VOL. 92) 


| eerie sources. tonal Mie € early days of Dutch 
colonisation it was aha drawn from public and 
private: wells. One well in particular, we are 
told, known as the Tea Water Pump, was so fre- 
qqenten that its neighbourhood became congested 
with water carts, and the spout of the pump had 
to be raised and lengthened to permit pedestrians 
to pass -under it. Wells, however, are not a very 
trustworthy source of supply, and “A the growth 
of the town they became tainted and inadequate. 
Spurred on by the ravages of epidemics which 
visited them, the inhabitants initiated a variety 
of schemes for obtaining a better and purer 
service; but it was not until 1830 that the first 
public waterworks were inaugurated. These con- 
sisted of a shaft, 16 ft. in diameter, sunk 112 ft. 
deep into the solid rock at a point situated at the 
junction of 13th Street and Broadway, with two 
horizontal galleries near the bottom of the shaft. 
The daily yield obtained by pumping was 21,000 
gallons—an utterly inadequate provision for the 
needs of a rapidly-developing town. 

The first really effective undertaking was the 
old Croton overflow weir or dam and aqueduct, 
constructed between 1837 and 1842, the former 
being located about six miles above the mouth of 
the Croton River. The capacity of the aqueduct 
was estimated at from 72 to 95 million gallons 
a day, and the population at this time was about 
300,000. As time went on, it became necessary 
to increase the number and capacity of the storage 
reservoirs, and in spite of efforts made in that 
direction, the city experienced serious shortages 
of water in the years 1869, 1876, 1880, and 1881. 
By this last-named date, the population had in- 
creased to a million and a quarter, while the 
supply, augmented by a connection with the 
Bronx River, did not come to more than 102 
million gallons a day. It was estimated that 
the demand was for 45 million gallons in excess 
of this. And here it may be remarked, in passing, 
that the daily consumption of water per head is 
curiously very much higher: in the United States 
than it is in this country. For six of the largest 
cities in the United Kingdom, the quantity aver- 
ages 35 gallons per head, as compared with more 
than roo gallons in New York, 139 gallons in 
Chicago, and 187 gallons in Philadelphia. 

The new Croton aqueduct from Croton Lake 
was built between 1885 and 1890, and the daily 
consumption of the population of 1,720,000 in 
1890 immediately mounted to 170 million gallons 
—about one-half of the maximum capacity of the 
supply. ~The new Croton dam, commenced in 
1892, was completed as recently as 1907. 

As, owing to the growth of the city, the capacity 
of the Croton watershed showed signs of becom- 

K 


210 


ing exhausted at an early date, a commission was 
appointed, in 1903, to report on the whole ques- 
tion of future policy, and after due inquiry they 
recommended the impounding of the Catskill 
watershed, including the Esopus, Rondout, 
Schoharie, and Catskill creeks. Following this 
report, in 1905, the Board of Water Supply was 
organised, and the necessary sanction having been 
obtained, the field was open for operations to be 
commenced. 

The basins from which the new supply is taken 
lie due north of New York, within a range of 
about one hundred miles from the centre of the 
city. It is calculated that the available yield of 
the total area is about 660 million gallons daily, 
but from this, for the present, at any rate, must 
be deducted the Schoharie watershed (136 million 
gallons), for which powers of incorporation have 
not been granted. 

At this point we must leave the reader who 
wishes to pursue his researches further to do so 
in the volume itself. It will be found replete 
with data and particulars relating to the various 
contracts entered into for the execution of the 
project which has just recently been completed, 
and the author must be complimented on the result 
of his painstaking efforts to produce an account 
worthy of the achievement, which, with its 120 
miles of dams, aqueducts, and tunnels, he proudly 
describes as “hardly second to the Panama 
Canal.” B:G: 


ROMANCE IN ARCHAOLOGY. 
Egyptian Art. Studies by Sir Gaston Maspero. 
Translated by Elizabeth Lee. Pp. 223+ plates. 
(London and Leipzig: T. Fisher Unwin, 1913.) 
Price 215s. net. 


a , two o’clock in the afternoon of February 
12, 1906, while Naville was finishing his 
lunch, a workman came running up to tell him 
that the top of a vault was beginning to emerge 
from the earth.” This is the opening sentence of 
the eleventh section or chapter in Sir Gaston 
Maspero’s latest work, and it may serve as an 
indication of the book’s quality. We here have 
no carefully reasoned presentation of the various 
aspects and problems presented by Egyptian Art. 
Such a work, by the same author, we already 
possess in “Art in Egypt,” which has appeared 
within the year in the Ars una: species mille 
Series. “Egyptian Art” falls into quite a dif- 
ferent category, and will prove an admirable foil 
or supplement to the more formal treatise. 

It consists, in fact, as a sub-title warns us, of 
a collection of “Studies,” written during a period 


NO; 2332.7 VOL. 93) 


NATURE 


[APRIL 30, I914 
of more than thirty years, which have been 
rescued from the pages of old periodicals, and 
are here presented together in an_ attractive 
English dress. Each is a separate essay, complete 
in itself; in some a single piece of Egyptian sculp- 
ture is described; others deal with an allied group 
of pieces, or of goldsmiths’ work, But one char- 
acteristic is common to them all: the subject is 
used as a peg on which the author displays some 
idea or principle, generally of wider application 
than the particular example he selects. So any 
reader who already possesses “Art in Egypt” 
will here find Sir Gaston’s views applied in a 
number of specific instances. The relation of the 
two books is very much that of a treatise on 
algebra to a series of worked-out problems. 

The papers are here translated direct from the 
journals in which they made their first appear- 
ance, and have been subjected to no subsequent 
re-writing. Consequently, describing, as several 
of them do, masterpieces of Egyptian art within 
a day or two of their discovery, they still reflect 
the author’s first enthusiasm, unblunted by later 
familiarity. The reader is transported from the 
atmosphere of a museum to the clear air of the 
Egyptian desert. He watches the diggers at their 
work, and shares something of their excitement. 
If he continues the chapter from which we quoted 
the opening words, he will soon see the head of 
the wonderful Hathor Cow standing out from the 
black recesses of the rock-hewn vault at Deir-el- 
Bahari as the débris of centuries is removed. Or 
turning to chapter xvil. he may, if he will, stand 
with Sir Gaston’s ghafirs as they watch the work- 
men who are making a railway embankment on 
the site of ancient Bubastis. It has been reported 
that jewelry has been found; the police have 
searched the workmen’s houses, and have re- 
covered some of the pieces, but the fellahs have 
kept their secret. Suddenly a workman with his 
pick lays bare several fragments of silver. He 
tries to conceal them, but the ghafirs are too 
quick for him; and soon the Treasure of Zagazig, 
exquisite jewelry and vases of the XIXth Dynasty, 
is uncovered in the sunlight, a heap of gold 
between two layers of silver. 

We have purposely laid stress on the vivid 
character of Sir Gaston’s pages, for they serve to 
restore the element of romance which of late 
years archeology has run some risk of losing, at 
least for the general reader. But in doing so, we 
have left no space to touch on the general prin- 
ciples which the essays are intended to drive 
home, such as the utilitarian character of Egyp- 
tian art and the influence of a fixed purpose on its 
forms and conventions. Nor can we follow the 


APRIL 30, 1914] 


author in his discrimination of the local schools 
of sculpture, each with its own traditions and 
technique. It may suffice to say that in “Art in 
Egypt” the reader will find these subjects treated 
systematically. In the work before us he will 
see Sir Gaston Maspero evolving the principles 
he there explains. A special word of praise must 
be given to the illustrations, the great majority 
of which are admirable reproductions of photo- 


graphs on a large scale. Reo... K.. 
ASTRONOMY. 
Astronomy: a Popular Handbook. By Prof. 
Harold Jacoby. Pp. xiii+435+32 _ plates. 


(New York: The Macmillan Company ; London : 
Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1913.) Price 10s. 6d. 
net. 

N the ‘arrangement of the subject-matter in this 

book the author has attempted to serve a 
double purpose, namely, to provide material to 
satisfy the requirements of the ordinary reader 
who wishes to make himself acquainted with the 
present state of astronomy and also to produce a 
text-book for use in high schools and colleges. 
To attain this end the book consists of two parts, 
the former being a series of chatty discourses on 
astronomical matters devoid of all mathematics, 
the latter, called an appendix, which contains a 
series of notes involving the occasional use of 
elementary algebra, geometry and trigonometry 
so far as the solution of plane right angle tri- 
angles. The first part covers 361 pages and the 
second 58 pages. 

As an introduction the author gives the reader 
a good general idea of the whole universe, at the 
same time pointing out the practical use of astro- 
nomy and its value as a culture study. In the 
subsequent twenty chapters he deals with the 
subject more in detail. The general reader will 
find that the author has been very clear and precise 
in all his statements and presents the matter in 
an easy, readable form. The thirty-two plates and 
numerous figures in the text enhance the value of 
the book considerably, the reproductions being 
principally from the fine negatives secured by 
Barnard and by the astronomers at the Lick 
Observatory. 

In reading the book a few points have come to 
the reviewer’s notice which rather invite criticism. 
In the chapter on solar parallax a good account 
is given of Gill’s determinations, but while refer- 
ence is made to the Eros value, the name of Mr. 
Hinks is omitted. In describing the solar features 
the reader is shown a fine photograph of the solar 

NOW 2322, VOL. 932i 


NATURE 


2 Nell 
disc taken in calcium light by Fox; while the 
bright portions shown in the reproduction are 
referred to as facule, the usual term “ flocculi” 
is not mentioned. 

Of recent years fine photographs of the spectra 
of comets have been secured, but the reference 
to a comet’s spectrum here given is decidedly 
brief, and occupies two lines as follows: “ 
istence of hydrocarbon gas in a luminous state as 
well as a dim continuous spectrum containing 
Frauenhofer lines. . .” Stellar spectra classifica- 
tion is also curtly dismissed, being restricted to 


S top.ss 


| that given by Secchi, the fact that other classi- 


fications have been suggested and are in use 
receiving no mention whatever. 

It may be said, however, that in spite of the 
above minor deficiencies, the book is one that will 
serve a very useful purpose, and should appeal 
to a large circle of readers. 


TEXTILE FIBRES. 


(1) Chemische Technologie der Gespinstfasern. 
By Dri Karl Stirm. Pp. xvi+410. (Berlin: 
Gebriider Borntraeger, 1913.) Price 12 marks. 

(2) The Textile Fibres: their Physical, Micro- 
scopical, and Chemical Properties. By Dr. J. 
Merritt Matthews. Third edition. Pp. xi+630. 
(New York: John Wiley and Sons; London : 
Chapman and Hall, 1913.) Price 17s. net. 

(1) J] T cannot be said that the contents of this 

work quite correspond to its title, for if 
the chemical parts of the subject were left out 
altogether, a very substantial volume would still 
remain. -The actual chemical technology of the 
fibres is inadequately represented, though the 
author may be said to err rather on the side 
of omissions than on that of mis-statements. In 
this latter respect, however, attention should be 
directed to the statement (p. 6) that the tempera- 
ture at which cotton begins to decompose is 
160° C., no mention being made of the time factor 
used in arriving at this result. It is well known 
that by prolonged heating cellulose begins to 
decompose at much lower temperatures than that 
stated. A further statement that caustic potash 
is much less energetic in its action on cellulose 
than caustic soda might well have been qualified, 
for in equivalent strengths there is no difference in 
the mercerising action of the two alkalies. Again, 
the descriptions of the processes of bleaching cotton 
and linen are of the nature of generalisations, and 
are more likely to confuse than to enlighten the 
student. It might have been expected that the 
work of Haller, Lester, Knecht and Allan, Hoff- 


AB O22 


NAT OG 


[APRIL 30, 1914 


meister, and others on the natural impurities con- 
tained in these fibres would at least have been 
mentioned, but such is not the case. On p. 37 
reference is made to the presence in raw cotton of 
resins which withstand the action of alkalies, but 
no mention is made of the source of the in- 
formation nor does the author appear to have 
published any original communication on_ this 
subject. 

Wool and silk are more adequately dealt with 
from the chemical point of view, though here we 
miss a very important property of the former, 
viz., its behaviour on steaming which Breinl has 
shown to account for “ending” in the dyeing of 
piece goods (by which is meant that one end of 
the piece comes out deeper in shade than the 
other). <A fairly good account is also given of 
the artificial fibres. 

The rest of the work (pp. 261-378) contains 
what can scarcely be called more than a rudi- 
mentary account of dyeing and printing, in which 
the chemistry of the products employed and of the 
processes plays a very subordinate part. 

The figures in the work are generally good, but 
it appears strange that in a special work of this 
kind the author has not recognised the import- 
ance of giving the appearance of cross-sections 
of the fibres described. A very large proportion 
of the text is taken up by matter which -is quite 
irrelevant to the subject. Thus, in the case of 
wool no fewer than five pages are taken up by a 
description of the spinning process, while five 
more are devoted to trade statistics. Altogether 
the work is disappointing. It must, however, 
be said in its favour that the author generally 
acknowledges the source of his information, which 
has been largely taken from other German works. 
His copious references to current literature will 
act as a good guide to students and others who 
make use of the book. 


(2) Since the textile fibres constitute the raw 
materials for some of our most important indus- 
tries, a well-planned and conscientiously compiled 
monograph on the subject, in which all the facts 
concerning them are systematised and lucidly dis- 
cussed, should form a welcome addition to our 
technical literature. It has been the endeavour of 
the author, in writing the present volume, to carry 
out this ideal, and though he does not claim to 
have attained it, we have no hesitation in saying 
that he has produced a most useful monograph. 
The subject-matter is well arranged, and _ is 
brought up to date, chiefly in the copious foot- 
notes which give epitomes of the more recent 
researches and patent specifications. The figures 
representing the textile fibres are mostly micro- 


NO, (2322). M01, .03|| 


graphs by the author, and although they are some- 
what rough, they bring out the essential features 
more prominently than many of the photographic 
reproductions that have been published. The 
figure on p. 230 seems to be out of place. 

The last, and not the least, useful part of the 
work (pp. 461-592) gives an account of the various 
methods available for the analysis of textile 
materials. In his classification of the fibres 
(especially bast fibres) and the enumeration of the 
numerous. species of the genus Gossypium 
(cotton), the author is rather too profuse. No 
mention appears to be made of the important 
effect of drying mercerised cotton in decreasing 
its affinity for dyestuffs. While admitting in the 
footnote on p. 283 that cotton begins to decom- 
pose above 120° C., the author seems to place 
the temperature at which decomposition begins at 
160° C. (p. 282), but both are too high. No men- 
tion is made of that excellent reagent paranitro- 
aniline for lignocellulose. The chlorination of 
wool, which is now a most important large-scale 
operation in connection with the production of un- 
shrinkable fabrics, might with advantage have 
been more fully gone into. In spite of these 
shortcomings, the work must be regarded as one 
of considerable merit. That it has supplied a want 
is shown by the fact that within a comparatively 
short period it has gone through two editions. 


OUR BOOKSHELF, 


Pflanzenphysiologie. Versuche und  Beobach- 
tungen an hédheren und niederen Pflanzen 
einschliesslich Bakteriologie und Hydrobiologie 
mit Planktonkunde. By R. Wolkwitz. Pp. v 
+258+xii plates. (Jena: Gustav Fischer, 
1914.) Price 9 marks. 

Pror. KoL_Kwirz tells us that his book has grown 

out of courses of practical instruction in plant 

physiology for university and agricultural classes. 

It is a little difficult to see exactly for whom it 

is designed—students would probably find it a 


| difficult book to use, still the teacher of ordinary 


plant physiology will discover many hints that he 
can utilise with advantage. 

A number of experiments are described, illus- 
trative of the physiology of the higher plants, but 
the greater part of the volume is devoted to the 
lower forms of life. This later portion is an odd 
mixture of systematic description of illustrative 
species, but the accounts given are often so 
meagre as to be practically worthless. Directions 
are given for the culture of some forms, and the 
distribution of certain plankton species is briefly 
discussed. Incidentally, the chief sources of in- 
formation are usefully given, but the whole volume 
suggests that it is a reproduction of the private 
notes of a teacher who has explored a fairly wide 
field himself, and wants the notes to refresh his 


APRIL 30, 1914] 


NATURE 21 


Go 


recollection while conducting a course for students. 
But it is perhaps not often that short notes of 
this kind are of very much service to anyone 
except the man who put them together. 


Lessons in Elementary Tropical Hygiene. By 
Henry Strachan. Pp. xi+116+vi plates. 
(London: Constable and Co., Ltd., 1913.) 
Price Is.het. 


WE heartily recommend this little book. It is, of 


course, quite simple and very elementary; that is | 


what it was intended for. Still, London school- 
teachers will find many useful hints in it. But it 
is written chiefly for the help of school-teachers in 
the tropics, both in Africa and in the West Indies. 
The author has been Principal Medical Officer of 
Lagos and of Southern Nigeria, and for two years 
he was acting as Colonial Secretary in Lagos. 
If he does not know the feel of the white man’s 
burden, who does? And he knows well that the 
way to put things right in this world is to get at 
the children. It is they who will hold the ground 
which our men of science have won in the tropics. 
The victories of protective medicine and of sani- 
tary administration over tropical diseases in Africa 
are, to us older people, still new, still wonderful ; 
to the children, before many years are past, they 
will be old stories retold, facts taken for granted. 


Anaesthetics: their Uses and Administration. By 
Dr. D. W. Buxton. Fifth edition. Pp. xiv+ 
477. (London: H. K. Lewis, 1914.) Price 
tos. 6d. net. 


Tue advances in the knowledge of anesthesia and 
analgesia made it necessary for Dr. Buxton to 
rewrite most of the sections in the previous edition 
of his useful work, to delete obsolete apparatus 
and theories, and to add much new matter. 
Among other new features are the procedures in- 
volved in giving nitrous oxide and oxygen in 


major surgery; of ether by the open method, by | 


intra-vascular infusion, by intra-tracheal and 
pharyngeal insufflation, and by colonic absorption ; 
the methods of local regional and spinal analgesia, 
and the employment of alkaloids in analgesia and 
anesthesia. 


Defensive Ferments of the Animal Organism. By 
Emil Abderhalden. Third enlarged edition. 
English translation by Dr. J. O. Gavronsky 
and W. F. Lanchester. Pp. xx+242. (London: 
John Bale, Sons and Danielsson, Ltd., 1914.) 
Price 7s. 6d. net. 


Tue first German edition of this work by the 
director of the Physiological Institute of the Uni- 
versity at Halle a/S. was reviewed in the issue 
of Nature for September 19, 1912 (vol. xc., p. 66). 
That two further editions were published in Ger- 
many in the following year is good evidence of 
the increasing interest being shown in Abder- 
halden’s methods. The English edition will serve 
to bring these researches within the range of 
English students to whom the German text has 
been inaccessible. 


NOL 2322, VOL. 93'| 


LEDTERS TO THE »: EDITOR: 


[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for 
opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with 
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 
this or any other part of Nature. No notice is 
taken of anonymous communications. | 


Gellular Structure of Emulsions. 


On Prof. Kerr Grant’s letter (p. 162) see for pre- 
vious observations of this striking phenomenon Prof. 
James Thomson, Proc, Glasgow Phil. Soc., February 
15, 1882, reprinted in his collected Papers (p. 136); 
also by reference given in a footnote to the reprint, to 
more detailed and independent investigations by Prof. 
Bénard, of Bordeaux, in Annales de Chimie, 1901, 
and more recent papers, including a recent lecture to 


| the Société de Physique, and to their discussion in 
| connection with the solar phenomena referred to by 


Prof. Grant, by H. Deslandres, in the Annals of the 
Observatory of Meudon (vol. iv., 1910). 
JOsEPH LAaRMOR. 


THE cellular arrangement of convection currents in 
emulsions, described by Prof. Kerr Grant in Nature 
of April 16, was first recorded by E. H. Weber in 
1855, with gamboge suspended in a mixture of alcohol 
and water. It is discussed in O. Lehmann’s ‘“‘ Mole- 
kularphysik.”” The structure is most conveniently 
seen in molten wax or spermaceti, and in this form 
was discovered by H. Bénard. Many papers by 
Bénard, Dauzére, and others have appeared on the 
subject in the Comptes rendus and Journal de 
Physique since 1901, and the possible bearing of the 


_ phenomenon on geological and astronomical problems 


| has been discussed. 


| Dr. Ball upon this writes that I 


| present one.” 


A paper by James Thomson on 
cellular structure due to convection, originally pub- 
lished in 1882, is included in his collected works. In 
this case soapy water was the liquid used. An 
account of the phenomenon, with references, is given 
in the present writer’s report to the Beilby Prize Com- 
mittee, read at the March meeting of the Institute of 
Metals. Ceci, H. DEscu. 
Metallurgical Laboratory, 
University of Glasgow. 


The Origin of the Moon and the Earth’s Contraction. 
In my letter to Nature of February 26, I said that, 


| with the earth’s radius and gravity at their present 


values, and with the speed of rotation assumed to be 
one revolution in five hours, gravitation would exceed 
the centrifugal force until a distance from the surface 
was reached of more than double the earth’s radius. 
‘concluded’ that 
when the moon was detached from the earth, ‘‘ the 
earth’s radius must have been about three times its 
I did not mean to imply this. 

The whole subject of the moon’s origin is highly 
speculative, as Sir G. H. Darwin himself admitted. 
There are two causes that might be invoked to account 
for the separation of her mass from the earth, viz., 
centrifugal force, and the sun’s tidal action. These re- 
quire different speeds of rotation. In Pratt’s ‘‘ Figure 
of the Earth,’ 4th ed., art. 102, he shows that with 
a homogeneous earth the time of rotation which would 
render the centrifugal force equal to gravity would be 
one revolution in two hours and twenty-four minutes. 
I think that if the central parts were the more dense 
the speed would be rather greater. It seems impos- 
sible that a solid crust could have formed at this early 
period, when the spheroid could only just hold to- 
gether. The eccentricity would then have been about 


0:22. 


214 


The other possible cause of separation would be that 
the times of the tide produced by the sun’s attraction 
coincided with the period of gravitational oscillation 
of the mass of the spheroid; that is, that the period 
of free oscillation would be the same as that of the 
forced oscillation due to the solar tide. After this had 
gone on for some while, the tidal protuberances would 
become so large that, in the opinion of Sir G. H. 
Darwin, one (or both) might break away. He con- 
sidered that the rate of rotation in this case would 
have been about one revolution in five hours. And it 
was this rate that I assumed in my letter to NATURE. 
By the time the earth’s rotation had been reduced so 
far as this, it does not seem impossible that a crust 
~ might have been formed. 

If the material which now constitutes the moon was 
in any way detached from the earth, the matter so 
detached cannot have coalesced into a single sphere 
until Roche’s limit was passed, which would be 2-44 
of the earth’s radii from its centre. During this 
initial stage of the moon’s existence the nearest 
analogy seems to be found in Saturn’s rings. But 
the difficulty remains why the matter detached should 
not have fallen back again. 

As regards the formation of mountains by the con- 
traction of the earth, I have discussed the question to 
the best of my ability in my ‘‘ Physics of the Earth’s 
Crust,’”’ and have come to the conclusion that the 
theory is untenable. O. FIsHER. 

Graveley, Huntingdon, April 4. 


Movements on Water Surfaces. 


I HAVE often wondered what is the real explanation 
of the following observation. If on a bath of soapy 
water a skin is allowed to collect on the surface, and 
then lumps of soapy lather be allowed to drop from 
one’s hands on to it, the skin will crack in all direc- 
tions, radiating from the point where the skin was first 
pierced, and this will continue for some time after the 
initial cause of the disturbance has ceased. The 
phenomenon is very striking, and can be repeated 
several times, after which the effect cannot be pro- 
duced. Also if a cake of wet soap be placed on a 
wet level surface, the moisture is repelled from the 
cake, until the latter becomes surrounded by a dry 
patch. These seem to suggest repulsion of similarly 
electrified bodies. EpwarD A. MartIN. 


Mr. MartiIn’s second question is more easily 
answered than his first. The surface tension of clean 
water is about three times as great as that of water 
containing soap, so when the soap touches the wet 
surface the surrounding wet being no longer pulled 
towards the soap as strongly as it is pulled away, 
obeys the latter force as fast as it can. 

I am inclined to think that his first observation may 
relate to a similar phenomenon, but of this I am not 
sure. With oleate of soda a very small quantity re- 
duces the tension to the lower limit at once, and with 
this I do not think the experiment would succeed. I 
can only suppose, but I do not know it as a fact, that 
with the soap used first a scum is formed, and then 
when fresh lather breaks this at a point there is rather 
less surface tension at this point than there is in the 
surrounding surface. If so, the result observed would 
naturally follow. I should not, however, have: ex- 
pected to find this difference in the surface tensions. 
Or, possibly, the lather from the hand is warmer and 
for this reason has somewhat less surface tension. 
I have often shown in a striking way the diminution 
of surface tension with rise of temperature by holding 
the hand steadily against one side of the rainbow cup 
when the film upon it is already thin and highly 


NG.1.2322,4ViOlO 2) 


NALORE 


=f 


[APRIL 30, 1914 


coloured. Almost immediately a circulation is set up 
and a stream leaves the part warmed by the hand, and 
crossing the film diametrically, curls round on either 
side, producing a tree-like pattern in other colours. 
The film is very sensitive to temperature changes. 
ie ey Oras 
66 Victoria Street, London, S.W., April 24. 


X-Ray Spectra. 


J. Herwec (Berichte der Deutschen Physikalischen 
Gesellschaft, Heft 1, 1914) using a crystal of gypsum, 
obtains by means of the photographic method the 
result that the a and £ lines of the tungsten X-ray 
spectrum coincide with the a and f lines of the 
platinum X-ray spectrum, the values of the glancing 
angles being 4° 56’ and 4° 16’ for the a and # lines 
respectively. But there is reason to suppose that the 
wave-length of X-rays characteristic of an element 
varies inversely as the square of the atomic weight 
of that element. If this is so, we can calculate from 
the experimental results for a platinum antikathode 
obtained by Herweg the glancing angles for the 
tungsten X-ray spectrum and we obtain :— 


Tungsten Antikathode (Calculated). 


Spectrum line a B y 8 € 
Glaticing angle 5° 34’ \4° ‘48! “4° 4904S sG as ene 
We thus see that the calculated values of the B and 
6 lines are nearly the same as the experimental values 
found by Herweg for what he calls the a and # lines 
of the tungsten spectrum. G. E. M. JAauncey.~ 
Physical Laboratory, University of Toronto, 
March 30. 


An Optical Illusion. 


I HAveE often noticed the phenomenon mentioned by 
Mr. J. W. Giltay in Nature of April 23 (p. 189). In 
the position in which he was reading the sunlight 
passed through his eyelids and the coats of his eyes, 
and on account of having to pass through a layer of 
blood which acted as a red screen his retinas become 
flooded with red light. The red is not noticed where 
it is diluted with white, but the print appears red 
because red light is falling on the portions of the 
retina which receive the images of the printed letters. 

F. W. EpRIDGE-GREEN. 


SOME LIFE-HISTORIES AND HABITS OF 
INSHETS4 

(1) T N his “Insect Biographies,” Mr. J. J. Ward 

has written a pleasant and popular account 
of the life-history of several of our best-known 
insects. He has contrived to show how full of 
interest are the facts concerning the growth, 
development, and general mode of life of the 
subjects of his pen and camera, without over- 
burdening his pages with technicalities, or, on the 
other hand, being guilty of inaccuracy or loose- 
ness of statement. The photographs with which 
the book is plentifully illustrated have been in 
almost every instance taken directly from living 
specimens in their natural attitudes and surround- 


ings, and their execution must have involved the 


1 (1) ‘Insect Biographies with Pen and Camera.” By John J. Ward. 
Pp. 206+plates. (London: Jarrold and Sons. 1013.) Price 6s. net. 

(2) ‘‘ Lebensgewohnheiten und Instinkte der Insekten bis zam Erwachen 
der sozialen Instinkte.’’ Geschildert von O. M. Reuter. Vom Verfasser 
revidierte Uebersetzung nach dem schwedischen Manuskript besorgt von 
A.u. M. Buch. Pp. xvi+448. (Berlin: R. Friedlander und Sohn, 1913.) 
Price 16 marks. 


APRIL 30, 1914| 


NATURE 


215 


expenditure of much time and patience. They 
form an important feature of the work, and are in 
most cases excellent examples of their kind; some 
of them, however, are too much reduced in size 
for perfect clearness. One of the best jillustra- 


tions shows the extraordinarily indented outline 
of the “Comma” butterfly (Vanessa C-album) 
The 


in its attitude of rest with closed wings. 


5. Larva of the lace-wing fly attacking an aphis. 6. Head of the larva. 


by the larva. 8. Lace-wing fly depositing eggs ona lilac leaf. 
Jace-wing fly and eggs. 5 and 6 are enlarged, and 
“Insect Biogaphies with Pen and Camera.” 


eggs and larve of the common lace-wing fly 
(Chrysopa), valuable for its destructive activity 
among the aphides, form the material of a 
series of figures some of which are here repro- 
duced, while the life-history of another foe 
to the aphid pest, the wasp-like hover-fly or 
syrphid, is also well illustrated on Mr. Ward’s 


NGet 222, VOL, .93} 


7. Cocoons formed 
g. Another view of the 
7, 8, 9, are actual size. 


photographic plates. One of the best chapters in 
the book is that devoted to the subject of the 
tree- and ground-wasps; the construction of the 
nests is clearly explained and_ well figured. 
Another interesting section is that which deals 
with the hornet-like clear-wing moth (Aegeria 
crabroniformis), remarkable in its larval stage for 
its powers of burrowing in the trunks and 
branches of various species of willow. 
Much stress is laid throughout the 
book on the protective value cf the 
forms and colours adopted by many 
of the subjects of illustration, and the 
author has ingenious explanations to 
offer of the meaning of several 
curious instincts, such as the whole- 
sale destruction of wasp larve by the 
workers towards the end of the sea- 
son. Mr. Ward’s bionomic  con- 
clusions are for the most part well 
grounded, but he seems in some 
passages somewhat too ready to ad- 
mit without question the interpreta- 
tion of instinct as inherited habit. 

(2) The name and reputation of 
the late Dr. Odo Reuter were a suf- 
ficient ground for the anticipation 
that his work on the habits and in- 
stincts of insects would be a contri- 
bution to entomological science of 
high value. Such expectations are 
fully borne out by the work before us, 
which has been translated into Ger- 
man by A. and M. Buch from the 
original Swedish. The various heads 
of the subject are treated with great 
care and thoroughness, and the im- 
portance of the book as a work of 
reference is enhanced by the useful 
list of recent literature which con- 
cludes the volume. Among the topics 
dealt with are the various manifes- 
tations of activity and rest, including 
sleep and hibernation, the instincts 
concerned in feeding, in parasitism, 
commensalism, and mutualism. A 
chapter is devoted to the subject of 
migration; and the various methods 
of protection, active and _ passive, 
against unfavourable natural con- 
ditions, and the attacks of insecti- 
vorous foes, receive extended treat- 
ment. Instincts associated with meta- 
morphosis, with pairing, with ovi- 
position, and provision for the future 
needs of the offspring, are also fully 
discussed; and much space is given 
to the nesting and feeding habits of 
the solitary bees and wasps. ‘The treatise con- 
cludes with a consideration of the transition from 
the solitary to the social habit in insects. 

Dr. Reuter brought together for this work a 
great quantity of information gathered from the 
recorded observations of many naturalists in 
different countries. The treatment can scarcely 


From 


216 


be called exhaustive, and it is almost inevitable 
that some parts of so wide a subject should be 
dealt with in greater detail than others of equal 
importance. But the book is a useful storehouse 
of facts, selected with discretion, arranged with 


judgment, and pleasantly recounted. 
Asap nal Ds 


THE MINERAL INDUSTRY OF CANADA.} 


Oe Department of Mines of Canada is doing 
excellent work in distributing information 
concerning the mineral wealth of the Dominion 
by means of publications that appeal both to the 
trained expert and to the seeker after general 
information. A good example of the latter form 
may be found in a pamphlet of some seventy- 
seven pages entitled ‘““Economic Minerals and 
Mining Industries of Canada,” written by the 
“Staff of the Mines Branch,” which gives in clear 
and convenient form a brief review of the occur- 
rences and distribution of all the economic mineral 
products of the Dominion of Canada, together 
with indications of the legislative enactments that 
control the tenure of mineral property, the latter 
being especially important, seeing that each pro- 
vince has its own mining laws. This popular 
description, which, though brief, is clear and 
easily intelligible to anyone interested in mining 
matters, should prove of the utmost value to 
prospectors or others who may be going to 
Canada and are anxious to acquire some general 
knowledge of the more important economic 
minerals that are found in Canada, of the 
districts in which they chiefly occur, and the 
conditions under which their occurrence may 
be looked for with the greatest probability of 
SUCCESS. 

No better example of the opposite extreme, that 
is to say, of publications written essentially for the 
trained mining or metallurgical engineer, can be 
quoted than the monograph on the nickel industry 
of Sudbury by Dr. A. P. Coleman, a work of 
some 200 pages, in which a full account is given 
of these important mineral deposits. The general 
geology of the region is first described in much 
detail, then descriptions of the various minerals 
met with and of typical forms of the ore deposits 
themselves, all of these being very careful and 
apparently very accurate. Dr. Coleman discusses 
the mode of formation of the deposits, and seems 
inclined to adopt the magmatic segregation theory 
in its simplest and most definite form; he cer- 

1 ** The Nickel Industry: with Special Reference to the Sudbury Region, 
Ontario.’ By Dr. O. P. Coleman. (Ottawa: Government Printing 
Bureau, 1913.) 

‘“Annual Report on the Mineral Production of Canada during the 
Calendar Year 1911.” By John McLeish, Chief of the Division of Mineral 
Resources and Statistics. (Ottawa: Government Printing Bureau, 1913.) 

‘‘Economic Minerals and Mining Industries of Canada.” By the Staff 
of the Mines Branch. (Ottawa: Government Printing Bureau, 1913.) 

‘© A General Summary of the Mineral Production of Canada during the 
Calendar Vear 1912.” By John McLeish. (Oitawa: Government Printing 
Bureau, 1913.) 

‘The Production of Copper, Gold, Lead, Nickel, Silver, Zinc, and other 
Metals in Canada during the Calendar Year 1912.”" By Cosmo T. Cart- 
wright. (Ottawa: Government Printing Bureau, 1913.) 


‘“Summary Report of the Mines Branch of the Department of Mines for 
the Calendar Year ending December 31, 1912.” (Ottawa, 1913.) 


NO? 222P ENOL. 02) 


NATURE 


[APRIL 30, 1914 


tainly mentions the researches of Dr. Campbell 
and others which have shown that there is very 
much to be said in favour of the aqueous origin 
of the ores, but Dr. Coleman apparently lays but 
little stress on these. He does not appear to have 
considered the possibility that these conflicting 
views might be reconciled on the hypothesis that 
the ores might have been formed by some form of 
hydrothermal process, in which separation from 
a cooling magma in the presence of water in 
some form or other under conditions of intense 
pressure may have produced the phenomena that 
characterise these ore deposits. Detailed descrip- 
tions of the various mines are given, together with 
some account of the method of mining and an 
outline of the smelting processes in use. The 
value of the monograph is enhanced by a com- 
parison of the nickel occurrences at Sudbury with 
the remaining most important sources of nickel 
in the world. 

The Annual Report on the Mineral Production 
of Canada is a volume that interests both the 
specialist and the seeker after general informa- 
tion, though it must be admitted that it appears 
to cater for the latter rather than for the former 
class of reader, there being throughout evidence 
of a desire to make the figures, especially the 
value of the mineral production of Canada, look 
as large as possible. No doubt the pernicious 
example of its neighbour, the United States, has 
much to do with this striving after inflated figures. 
The unfortunate result is that the figures given 
in the report are not the real value of the mineral 
production of the Dominion, as several items 
appear more than once. Thus in the report on 
the mineral production for 1911 the grand total of 
the value of the mineral production is given as 
103,220,994 dollars ; this is made up of metallic pro- 
ducts, 46,105,423 dollars, non-metallic products (in 
which are included such items as _ arsenious 
oxide, chromite, manganese, ochres, pyrites!), 
34,405,900 dollars, and structural materials and 
clay products, 22,709,611 dollars. Amongst the 
so-called non-metallic mineral products, by far 
the most important is coal, the value of 
which is given as 26,467,646 dollars, or about 
v7 per cent. of the _ wholes. a. very jlacse 
proportion of this coal is, however, used in 
smelting the metals which are included in the first- 
named group and in burning the Portland cement, 
bricks, tiles, and other ceramic goods, and the 
lime included in the last-named group. As the 
value of all these products depends in part, often 
in quite considerable part, upon the fuel used in 
their production, the value of the coal appears 
twice over in the above grand total. Furthermore, 
very large quantities of coal and coke are im- 
ported into Canada, their value in 1911 exceeding 
41,000,000 dollars, and it is certain that a very 
large proportion of this imported fuel is also used 
in manufacturing the metallic and other products 
above referred to, so that the value assigned to 
these includes in no small part the value of the 
imports of coal, etc. In spite of these facts, which 
show that the value of the mineral products of 


; APRIL 30, 1914] 


. 


a 


NATURE 


phy: 


Canada cannot be compared with the mineral 
statistics of other countries unless these causes of 
inflation are taken into account, it is obvious that 
the Canadian mining industry is flourishing, and 
forms an important item in the wealth-producing 
power of the Dominion. 

Important as was the mineral production in 
IQII, it appears to have been quite eclipsed by 
that of 1912, for it may be taken for granted 
that the figures contained in the General Sum- 
mary, just issued, are not likely to be greatly 
modified in the final report. This gives the grand 
total of the entire mineral output, made up as 
it was in IQII, as 135,048,296 dollars, equal to 
an increase of 308 per cent. There is no new 
feature of any importance, except perhaps that 
the gold production shows an increase of. about 
40 per cent., due to the Porcupine district of 
Ontario. The silver output has fallen off slightly 
in Cobalt, but all other metals show an increased 
production. By far the most important mineral 
product is still coal, and as its output has in- 
creased by 28 per cent., this alone would cause 
the year to compare favourably with its predeces- 
sor. All that can fairly be said is that the 1912 
report shows clearly that the mineral produc- 
tion of Canada is steadily growing in import- 
ance. 

It is to be regretted that the scheme of Cana- 
dian mineral statistics takes no account of the 
labour conditions of the industry, and that no 
information is given concerning the number of 
men engaged in the industry, the wages earned 
by them, and of the accidents, fatal or non-fatal, 
that have befallen them during the year. Statis- 
tics on these points ought to be forthcoming in 
order to enable students of the subject to form a 
clearer picture of the course of development of the 
mineral industry of the Dominion. 

The Report upon the production of the various 
metals in Canada may be taken as a final report, 
whilst it at the same time goes into somewhat 
greater detail than is possible in the General Sum- 
mary, and also devotes more especial attention 
to the economic side of the subject. It can only 
be said fully to confirm the impression given by 
the General Summary as to the flourishing con- 
dition of the Canadian mineral industry. 

The Summary Report of the work performed 
by the Mines Branch of the Department of Mines 
forms most interesting reading, and indicates that 
the Mines Branch is carrying out a vast amount 
of research work for the benefit of the mineral 
industry of the Dominion. A report upon the 
metallurgy of cobalt and its alloys, and another 
upon recent progress in the electrical manufacture 
of iron and steel may be named as indicating the 
nature of the work being carried on; it is most 
satisfactory to find evidence of the existence of a 
Government Department equipped for conducting 
such researches upon modern scientific lines, and 
to have such proof that the Canadian Government 
is far-seeing enough to give such excellent assist- 
ance to an important industry. It may fairly be 
said that if Canadian mineral industries are 


NO. 2322, VOL. 93] 


flourishing, the result is due not only to the great 
resources of the Dominion, but to the enlightened 
policy of a Government which devotes its energies 
to turning these resources to the best possible 
account. 


IMPROVEMENTS IN THE BINOCULAR 
MICROSCOPE. 


ICROSCOPISTS long ago appreciated the 

advantages that might accrue could both 

eyes be employed to view the object by means of 

a “binocular ” microscope—the natural method of 

viewing objects with both eyes would be preserved 

and eye-strain lessened, and stereoscopic vision 
may be attained. 

The viewing of an object with both eyes not 
only lessens eye-strain, but there is a summation 
of stimuli in binocular vision, and, even without 
a stereoscopic effect, a better appreciation of the 
object viewed is probably obtained—there is 
greater “‘vividity”’ about the image. 

Three principles have now been applied in the 
construction of the binocular microscope. The 
first of these is the use of two complete micro- 
scopes pointed obliquely at the same object, as in 
| the Greenough binocular. This form has but a 
limited application as it is adapted for low-power 
work only. In the second form, best represented 
by the “Wenham” binocular and its modifica- 
tions, the light coming from a single objective 


FIG. 3. 


Fic. 2. 


is “geometrically” divided, 7.e., the beam is bi- 
sected and half is directed into each eye. This 
is accomplished by interposing one or more prisms 
in the path of the beam as shown in Fig. 1. 

This type of instrument involves the use of long 
tubes and is consequently bulky, resolution is 
diminished by reducing the size of the beam of 
light, and it cannot be used with high powers as 
the dividing prism cannot be placed sufficiently 
close to the back lens of the objective properly 
to bisect the beam before the rays have inter- 
mingled. 

The third form alone embodies correct prin- 
ciples. In this, of which the Powell and Lealand 
and Abbé are the best examples, the beam of light 
is not bisected, but is physically sifted or filtered, 
so that a portion of every part of it goes to each 
eye. This “sifting” or “filtering” is accom- 
plished in the forms mentioned by interposing in 


218 


NATURE 


[APRIL 30, 1914 


the path of the beam a glass plate or prism which 
transmits part and reflects part, as shown in Fig. 2 
(the Powell and Lealand type) where 1 repre- 
sents the glass plate, and 2 is a reflecting prism. 

In this form resolution is unimpaired, but the 
instrument is bulky, and there may be a good deal 
of difference in the amount of light which reaches 
the two eyes. 

A great advance has recently been made in the 
last-named form by Messrs. Beck, in this country, 
and Messrs. Leitz, in Germany, by the use of a 
half-silvered film cemented between two prisms. 
The silvered film is semi-transparent and allows 
part of the light to pass through and part to be 
reflected by the surface of the prism into the 
second tube. 

Fig. 3 repre- 
sents the con- 
struction in 
the Beck 
model, | where 
EA represents 
tite silvered 
film between 
thee t wo 
prisms. 

In both the 
Beck and_ the 
Leitz model, 
resolution is 
unimpaired, the 
illumination 
in, both e¢ye- 
pieces is the 
Sea me; the 
instrument is 
much less 
bulky than 
yhr e o. Lee 
forms, and 
short tube- 
lengths can be 
retained. 

There can be no doubt of the superiority of this 
binocular form over the ordinary monocular 
microscope. Eye-strain is lessened, and there is 
an increased ‘‘vividity’’ about the image, even 
though a true stereoscopic effect is not attained. 
It is particularly valuable in the examination of 
objects with dark-ground illumination; more 
seems to be visible than with the ordinary mono- 
cular microscope. 

There is an important difference between the 
Beck and Leitz models in the adjustment of the 
distance between the two eye-pieces to compensate 
for the varying distance between the two eyes in 
different individuals. In the Leitz model (Fig. 4) 
the tubes carrying the eye-pieces are parallel, in 
the Beck model they diverge (see Fig. 3). The 
inter-ocular distance in the former is adjusted by 
an arrangement which alters the distance between 
the two tubes; in the latter the inter-ocular distance 
is varied by lengthening or shortening the diverg- 
ing tubes. Now the former method entails much 
less alteration of tube length than the latter, and 


NO. (2322 Vion .@2)| 


Fic. 4.—The Leitz binocular microscope. 


inasmuch as the best lenses are corrected for a 


particular tube-length, for critical work we cannot 
help thinking that the Leitz adjustment is de- 
cidedly superior to that which obtains in the Beck 
model. ! R. T. HEWLETT. 


THE SCOTTISH ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION: 


RITISH men of science will notice with keen 
regret the unpromising answer given by the 
Government to the application for 3,800]. to com- 
plete the publications of the Scientific Reports of 
the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition of 
1g02—1904. The application has been supported 
by a very influential body of Scottish scientific 
opinion. The expedition was entirely equipped 
by money privately raised in Scotland, and was 
mostly due to the generosity of Messrs. J. and A. 
Coats. The discovery by the Scotia of Coats 
Land is generally recognised as the most impor- 
tant addition to our knowledge of the boundaries 
of the Antarctic continent that has been made by 
the Antarctic expeditions of this century. It 
added half a million square miles to the previous 
estimates of the area of the continent and settled 
the position of the coast in the one part where 
there was no clue to its situation. 

The Scotia made a series of voyages in the 
least known of the Antarctic seas and, as the 
whole of the energies of the expedition were de- 
voted to scientific work, it made collections and 
oceanographic observations of the highest impor- 
tance. Five volumes of its scientific results have 
been published and three others have been arranged 
owing to a grant previously made by the Govern- 
ment. Four further volumes are required to 
complete the series. The remaining volumes 
would be mainly devoted to description of the 
biological collections, and the memoirs have been 
already prepared by many distinguished British 
and foreign naturalists. The work of these men of 
science has been entirely gratuitous and it is pecu- 
liarly ungracious to the foreign contributors that it 
should be wasted owing to the lack of the compara- 
tively small sum required to complete the publica- 
tion. 17,5001. has been set apart to defray the cost 
of preparing the reports on the scientific work of the 
Terra Nova expedition, which excludes the reports 
on natural history which are being published at 
Government expense by the British Museum; 
hence the expenditure on the Scotia publications 
has not been excessive. Much confusion in bio- 
logical nomenclature may be produced if the 
publication of these reports be delayed, so that 
they appear simultaneously with those prepared 
from the collections of later expeditions. 

The application to the Treasury for a grant for 
the publication -of the results has received very 
influential support; it is accompanied by letters 
from all the leading scientific societies and author- 
ities in Scotland, and by the past and present 


1 In the preparation of this summary, free use has been made of the 
articles by Dr. Jentzsch and Mr. Conrad Beck in the Journal of the Royal 
Microscopical Society, 1914, part 1, pp. 1 and 17, For the loan of the blocks 
from which the illustrations are reproduced, we are indebted to Messrs. R- 
and J. Beck and Messrs. E. Leitz. 


LP OTRO FEN Se 


APRIL 30, 1914] 


NATURE 


219 


Presidents of the Royal Society. There certainly 
seems good grounds for the complaint that the 
Scottish expedition has not received its fair share 
of support from the Treasury. It will be lament- 
able if scientific results of such importance be still 
further delayed in publication, and it is to be 
hoped that the Government will give favourable 
consideration to this reasonable appeal. 


NOTES. 


WE record with deep regret the death in Vienna, on 
April 25, at eighty-three years of age, of Prof, E. 
Suess, foreign member of the Royal Society, and 
emeritus professor of geology in the University of 
Vienna. 


Mr. HERBERT SAMUEL stated in the House of Com- 
mons on Tuesday that he is about to appoint a Com- 
mittee to consider the question of smoke abatement. 
The names of the members will be announced in a 
few days. 


Tue April number of Science Progress contains an 
editorial article of nine pages, entitled ‘‘Sweating the 
Scientist.””. During the past year an inquiry has been 
conducted by our contemporary as to the emoluments 
of scientific workers, and the article referred to is a 
provisional report on the results of this inquiry. As 
might, perhaps, have been anticipated, the replies 
received suffice to prove the ‘‘low scale of payment 
given throughout the British Empire for such work.” 
This result is no doubt due to the law of supply and 
demand, and an interesting sketch is given of the 
conditions which give rise to such a state of affairs. 
Other grievances are also dealt with. ‘Besides the 
low rate of pay, there are, in this country at least, 
many small abuses attached to high intellectual work. 
Large portions of the income of many institutions 
are given to the maintenance of more or less useless 
pursuits. Originality and success in research do not 
receive their due place in selection for appointments. 
The best-paid posts are seldom given for the best 
work done, but rather for qualities which are of little 
account—popularity, eloquence, text-book knowledge, 
private influence, and skill in the arts of time service. 
We appear to judge men, not by the work which they 
have done, but by the work which we may imagine, 
from their appearance, that they may do.’’ The lack 
of financial support afforded by the Government to 
the higher forms of intellectual effort and to higher 
education is also criticised. The article is a timely 
one, and deserves the careful attention of all scientific 
workers, as the question of remuneration is one of 
paramount importance to the future welfare of science 
in this country. Particular reference is made to the 
unpaid services of men of science upon Government 
Committees, and to the custom of Government depart- 
ments going to learned societies for expert advice for 
which no payment is made. ‘In other words, the 
State exploits the man of science on account of his 
enthusiasm for his work and his patriotism.’’ The 
whole subject is one which the British Science Guild 
could take up appropriately and refer to a committee. 


NO: 2322, VOL. 93] 


Dr. Basit T. Parsons-Smitu has been awarded the 
Hunterian Society’s medal for his essay, ‘‘ The Inter- 
mittent Pulse.” 


WE learn from the British Medical Journal that 
sufficient funds have now been collected for the erec- 
tion at Verona of a memorial to Prof, Cesare Lom- 
broso. It is hoped that the monument (which will be 
the work of Leonardo Bistolfi) will be unveiled in 1915 
at the time of the International Congress on Pellagra, 
which is to be held at Verona. 


On Tuesday next, May 5, Prof. W. Bateson will 
deliver the first of two lectures at the Royal Institution 
on (1) double flowers, (2) the present state of evolu- 
tionary theory, and on Saturday, May g, Prof. C. J. 
Patten, of Sheffield University, will begin a course of 
two lectures on bird migration. The Friday evening 
discourse on May 8 will be delivered by Prof. Karl 
Pearson on albinism in men and dogs, and on May 15 
by Prof. F. Keeble on plant animals: a study in 
symbiosis. 


Tue council of the Institution of Civil Engineers 
has made the following awards for papers read and 
discussed during the session 1913-14 :—A Telford gold 
medal to Mr. F. W. Cowie (Montreal); a George 
Stephenson gold medal to Mr. F. E. Wentworth- 
Sheilds (Southampton); Watt gold medals to Mr. 
Thos. Clarkson (Chelmsford), and Mr. Henry Fowler 
(Derby); and Telford premiums to Prof. E. G.. Coker 
(London), Mr. W. A. Scoble (London), Mr. Wm. 
Willox (London), and Mr. S. P. W. D’Alte Sellon 
(London). 


In the House of Commons on April 22, Mr. Astor 
directed attention to the unsatisfactory state of legis- 
lation and administration with reference to the supply 
and sale of milk and cream-in the United Kingdom; 
and moved ‘‘ That fresh legislation is needed to con- 
trol the supply and sale of milk and cream in the 
United Kingdom, and that the existing laws should 
be more thoroughly administered.’ Mr. Herbert 
Samuel, in reply, stated that the Board of Agriculture 
is about to issue a new Order granting more generous 
compensation to the farmers for the cows slaughtered 
for the purpose of checking the spread of tuberculosis, 
and that local authorities are to be assisted in the 
administration of the law. He further stated that he 
hopes shortly to introduce a Milk and Dairies Bill, 
more restricted than its predecessors, which will sub- 
stitute for various codes now administered by local 
authorities the uniform provisions of a general statute. 
He is anxious not to disturb the dairying industry, 
or to raise the price of milk, and the Bill will be framed 
in that spirit. 


FINAL arrangements are now being made for the 
International Congress of Tropical Agriculture, which 
is to be held in London at the Imperial Institute in 
June next, under the presidency of Dr. Wyndham 
Dunstan. Invitations to take part in the congress 
have been issued to foreign countries by H.M. Secre- 
tary of State for Foreign Affairs, and already many 
foreign Governments have nominated delegates to 
represent them at the congress. The cooperation of 


220 

many planters’ associations, commercial museums, 
chambers of commerce, Colonial societies, and similar 
bodies in this country and abroad has also been 
secured, and it is already known that at least forty 
countries will be represented -at the congress, ranging 
from our nearest neighbour France, to such remote 
places as Formosa, Hawaii, and Papua. A notable 
feature of the congress will be the organised discus- 
sions on certain questions of outstanding importance 
to tropical agriculture. Four of these have been 
arranged, viz., technical education in tropical agricul- 
ture; the organisation of tropical agricultural depart- 
ments in relation to research work; the defects. of 
plantation rubber and the means of avoiding them; 
and problems of cotton cultivation. The fact that the 
British Cotton Growing: Association, the International 
Federation of Cotton Spinners, the Egyptian, Indian, 
Nyasaland, Uganda, and Nigerian Government De- 
partments of Agriculture, and the German Colonial 
Economic Committee have each deputed officials to 
contribute papers in the discussion on problems of 
cotton cultivation, indicates the success attained by 
the organising committee fcr the congress in securing 
competent exponents of different points of view on 
these questions. Full particulars of these and other 
arrangements for the congress are given in the pre- 
liminary general circular and the members’ circular, 
copies of which can be obtained on application to the 
congress secretaries (Dr. T. A. Henry and Mr. Harold 
Brown) at the Imperial Institute, London, S.W. 


In the second part of Ancient Egypt Prof. Flinders 
Petrie, the editor, discusses the question of so-called 
“mummy wheat.’’ At Hawara in the Fayum he dis- 
covered a large store of corn of the Roman period, 
some of which was sown, but failed to germinate. 
The ““mummy wheat” legend is based on various 
accidents: some dealers in Thebes sell little pots of 
ordinary corn to tourists; Sir Joseph Hooker noticed 
accidental admixture of fresh raspberry seeds with 
some found in the Laurion Mine; there is, lastly, the 
desire of the gardener to make the experiment success- 
ful. Doubtless from time to time the story of the 
germination of ‘‘mummy wheat’ will be told, and 
only credulous people will continue to believe it. 


In the Museum Journal of the University of Penn- 
sylvania for December last Dr. Edith H. Hall de- 
scribes a fine collection of ancient glass, recently 
increased by numerous specimens from graves in 
Palestine and Italy. It includes fine examples of the 
primitive type, in which the decoration was achieved 
by laying threads of variously coloured glass over the 
surface of the vase while it was still hot, and then 
rolling the whole upon a smooth stone until the 
threads were pressed in. Besides these there is a 
good series of Roman mosaic glass, of which the 
best are the millifiori bowls, so called by the Venetians 
who valued them highly. The rapid increase of the 
art collections in this museum, due to the wise ex- 
penditure of its income and the munificence of 
American citizens, is noteworthy, 


A LARGE portion of the April number of the Irish 
Naturalist is devoted to a memoir, with portrait, of 


NO; 2322) VOL, .03|| 


NATURE 


[APRIL 30, 1914 
the late Major G..E. H. Barrett-Hamilton, by Mr. 
CB. Moffat. » & {4 


To the first part of vol. xxxvi. of Notes from the 
Leyden Museum, Dr..J. H. Vernhout contributes an 


) article on the land and fresh-water molluscs of Suri- 


nam, or Dutch Guiana, a subject which has hitherto 
received but scant attention at the hands of naturalists, 
the only complete list being one published by van 
Martens in 1873. Many new species are described in 
the part now issued. 


At, the conclusion of an article in the April number 
of. the American Naturalist, by Dr. A. F. Shull, on 
the biology .of the Thysanoptera (thrips, etc.), it is 
stated. that Anaphothrips striatus, hitherto known 
almost exclusively by females, recently produced about 
25 per cent. of males at Douglas Lake. This sug- 
gests that the theory of an alternating life-cycle in 
this and certain other members of the group, which 
was at one time formulated but subsequently rejected, 
may have some measure of justification. 


In the February number of the American Museum 
Journal Dr. F. A. Lucas concludes his account of 
groups of animals in museums, with reproductions 
from photographs of a large number of the most 
striking examples selected from various American 
museums. Among these, the great albatross colony 
on Laysan Island in the State University of Iowa and 
the scene illustrating North American mammalian life 
in the museum of Kansas University are perhaps the 
most wonderful. Nothing approaching them is to be 
seen in any English museum. 


THE thorough and exhaustive manner in which the 
German Government explores its colonial possessions 
in Africa is well exemplified by Ergdnzungsheft, 
No. 9a, of Mitteilungen aus den Deutschen Schutz- 
gebieten, which is devoted to the topographical results 
of several exploring expeditions in the southern and 
eastern Cameruns, as well as of one in Togo. Mem- 
bers of the various exploring parties have contributed 
their own notes, well illustrated with photographs of 
scenery, these notes including remarks on the anthro- 
pology, zoology, and botany of the districts traversed. 


WirH the view of improving the Zoological Gardens 
under his care at Giza, Egypt, Captain Stanley Flower 
made a tour of inspection of the establishments of a 
similar or kindred nature in India during 1913, the 
results of which are published, with a number of 
interesting illustrations, in a Report on a Zoological 
Mission to India, issued by the Ministry of Public 
Works, Egypt, as No. 26 of the Zoological Service 
Publications. The author observes that in every 
zoological garden visited in India there were features 
of interest, and in each there were new facts of 
menagerie-technique to be learnt. The gardens at 
Calcutta were notable for the extent of the collection, 
those at Trivandrum for the scientific method on 
which they are arranged, and those at Peshawar for 
the splendid condition of the animals. 


OpriMIsM pervades the report of the council of the 
Zoological Society for 1913, the total number of fel- 
lows and the income from their subscriptions continu- 


APRIL 30, 1914] 


NATURE 


221 


ing to show a steady increase,. while the receipts for 
admission at the gates of the gardens were the highest 
on record. The year will’ be notable for the com- 
mencement of the ‘‘ Mappin Terraces”’ in the gardens, 
now nearing completion, and also for the preparation 
and acceptance of a general plan, made under expert 
advice, for improvements in the arrangement of. the 
gardens as a whole. These alterations, which have 
become imperative owing to the increasing popularity 
of the gardens, will involve the abolition of the old bear- 
terrace, which, although one of the landmarks of the 
gardens, is now hopelessly antiquated and out of date. 
It is satisfactory to learn that plans for new and 
up-to-date salt- and fresh-water aquaria are under 
consideration. Neither has the scientific side of. the 
society’s work been neglected, special attention being 
directed in the report to the society’s share in the new 
mammal survey of British India, which has already 
resulted in the discovery of one new genus and 
several new species of rodents. 


oe 


In the twenty-seventh annual report of the Marine 
Biological Station at Port Erin, Prof. B. Moore and 
his co-workers have summarised important observa- 
tions on the hydrogen-ion concentration of sea-water, 
determining its degree of alkalinity or acidity, which 
does not remain: constant throughout the year but 
varies with the relative activities of vegetable and 
animal organisms, and acts as an index to these 
activities. There are two maxima of alkalinity corre- 
sponding to the two seasonal outbursts of diatoms. 
The change observed indicates a synthesis, at. these 
seasons, of some tons per acre of sea-water of organic 
vegetable matter for the nutrition of the . animals. 
The green plants or diatoms break up the bicarbonates 
present in sea-water and form = organic © com- 
pounds, the amount of the removal of the carbon 
dioxide being shown by the increase in ‘alkalinity in 
the water. It is noteworthy that the spring increase 
in alkalinity is just of the grade formerly found to be 
most favourable to the rapidity of cleavage in the 
initial stages of development of the eggs of the sea- 
urchin (Echinus). 


A RECENT issue of the Naturwissenschaftliche 
Wochenschrift (March 15, 1914) contains an 
article by Dr. F. Stellwaag, of Erlangen, in 


which he directs attention to the apparently 
contradictory results obtained by various observers 
who have experimented on the colour-sense_ of 
bees. Following the methods of Lord Avebury and 
of Forel, von Dobkiewicz came to the conclusion that 
bees are able to distinguish between colours, but 
are only attracted by them when they have learnt by 
experience to associate a given colour with the presence 
of honey. This he considers to accord with the fact 
remarked by Plateau that many colourless and_ in- 
conspicuous flowers are eagerly sought after by bees, 
while many brightly-coloured flowers are unvisited by 
them. These results were to some extent confirmed by 
von Frisch, who concluded further that the colour- 
vision of bees must resemble that of ‘‘red-blind ’’ men. 
Hess, however, disputes the conclusions of both pre- 
ceding experimenters, and considers that bees show 
no indication of being otherwise than totally colour- 


NO. 2322, VOL. 93| 


blind. Stellwaag himself is of opinion that in all these 
experiments an important factor has been overlooked, 
viz. the condition of the bees with regard to the general 
supply of provender. When this is deficient, bees will 
seek it anywhere. 


An interesting paper has been issued by W. E.' 
Castle and J. C. Phillips in Publication No. 195 of 
the Carnegie Institution of Washington (1914), on 
the effects of selection in modifying the pattern of 
piebald rats. The. piebald or ‘‘hooded”’ pattern be- 
haves as a Mendelian recessive to. the - self-coloured 
condition, but within the hooded class there is con- 
siderable variation in the extent of the coloured areas. 
The authors have made continuous selection experi- 
ments, both in the direction of greater and of less 
pigmentation, extending over thirteen generations 
and involving. the breeding of some 25,000 rats. 
Although the hooded pattern behaves as a Mendelian 
unit, selection of either plus or minus - variation 
brought about permanent changes extending far 
beyond the original variation of the race.. In each 
generation the offspring of selected parents tended to 
regress towards the mean of the preceding generation, 
with the result that when, after several generations 
of selection, the selection was reversed, the regression 
was away from the original mean. But by continued 
reversed selection from a race which had become very 
divergent, the mean was brought back nearly to the 
original starting point. Results are described of 
crosses between extreme plus and minus strains, and 
between such strains and self-coloured types. An 
account is also given of an extreme variant which 
appeared as a mutation. The paper shouid be com- 
pared with the recent work of Hagedoorn (Zeitsch. 
indukt. Abstam., xi., 1914, p. 145). . 


A DETAILED account of the twelve months’ poultry 
laying competition at the Harper Adams Agricultural 
College is given in the report of the college for 1913. 
Upwards of six hundred birds were tested, the average 
egg production being 152 for the twelve months 
period. A comparison of the returns obtainable from 
one acre of grass land when stocked entirely with 
poultry and the same area used for milk production, 
shows that a much greater return per acre can be 
produced in the former case, these being respectively 
41l. 13s. 4d. and 4l. 3s. 23d. It must be borne in 
mind that, although the gross return per acre in the 
case of the poultry is so much greater than for cattle, 
the expenses, capital and depreciation of stock, would 
be correspondingly high. Unfortunately, there seem 
to be no available figures which might be utilised for 
purposes of comparison. That the possibilities of eg¢ 
production on commercial lines are great cannot be 
denied, and the actual determination of these, and 
the factors which govern such production, should 
prove an interesting and profitable field for further 
investigation. 


A REPORT On sugar Cane experiments in the Leeward 
{slands which has just been published, contains a 
summary of the varietal trials and work on manuring 
conducted during the last few years. Of the varieties 
which have been under cultivation for some consider 
able time, and of which the relative merits and suita 


Po PII 


NATORE, 


[APRIL 30, 1914 


bility to various conditions are well appreciated and 
recognised, Sealy seedling and B147 have attained 
considerable popularity, while the more recently intro- 
duced varieties, B 4,596 and B1,528, are more promi- 
nent. The importance of incorporating with the soil 
a sufficiency of organic matter, either as pen-manure 
or green crops, is becoming more and more recog- 
nised, and the various bacterial changes concerned in 
the breakdown of these manures are discussed in this 
report in the light of recent investigations. The ex- 
treme rapidity with which such changes proceed in 
tropical climates is indicated by the fact that under 
favourable conditions the humus content of the soil 
may be decreased by as much as 25 per cent. in the 
space of six months. 


SomE interesting observations on the action of 
thunderstorms in giving rise to seiches have recently 
been made by Messrs. Okada, Fujiwhara, and Maeda 
(Proc. Tokyo Math. Phys. Soc., vol. vii., 1914, pp. 
210-221). The measurements of the seiches were 
made with a Honda limnimeter on the shores of 
Lake Biwa in central Japan. The authors indicate 
as important causes of seiches during thunderstorms 
the accumulation of rain-water over a portion of the 
lake, the impulsive action of winds on the surface, 
and sudden changes of barometric pressure; and as 
subsidiary causes the impact of falling raindrops on 
the surface of the lake and the attraction of the electrified 
mass of thunderclouds. They examine in detail the 
effects of a heavy thunderstorm that swept over Lake 
Biwa on April 19, 1912, and estimate that the change 
of barometric pressure (2-7 mm.) would account for an 
amplitude of 66 cm. in the seiches, the rainfall 
(32 mm. in twenty minutes) for an amplitude of 
6-1 cm., while the impulsive action of the wind may 
have contributed an amplitude of 4-5 cm. The sum 
of these amplitudes is 17-2 cm., which is very close to 
the total amplitude observed 


THE two last contributions to the geology of the 
Antarctic Expedition of the Belgica (‘‘ Expédition 
Antarctique Belge: Résultats du Voyage du s.y. Bel- 
gica en 1897, 1898, 1899; Zoologie, Tuniciers, Caduci- 
chordata,” by Ed. van Beneden and Marc de Selys- 
Longchamps, 1913; and ‘‘Géologie, Petrographische 
untersuchungen der Gesteinsproben,’’ part ii., by 
Dragomir Sistek, 1912) include the account of the 
tunicates and a further contribution to the description 
of the rocks collected. The memoir on the tunicates 
was begun by E. van Beneden, and after his death was 
continued and completed by M. Mare de Selys-Long- 
champs. The expedition obtained eight species, of 
which five are new and another is represented by a 
new variety. All the species collected have been de- 
scribed in elaborate detail; the memoir comprises 
120 pages, and is illustrated by seventeen plates and 
some figures in the text. The classification adopted 
is that by Hartmeyer. The new contribution on the 
petrography of the expedition is a description by D. 
Sistek of the rocks collected in the Straits of Magellan 
and the Beagle Channel, which is on the southern 
side of Tierra del Fuego. The rocks are all igneous 
or metamorphic. The most varied collection, includ- 


NO, 123225) VOLmOa|| 


ing granite, diorites, quartz-porphyries, andesite, 
diabase, basalt, gneiss, schists, and clay slate, was 
made at Cape Gregory in the Straits of Magellan. 
The crystalline schists include a varied series. The 
chief rocks are illustrated by a plate of microphoto- 
graphs of unusual clearness. . 


AN important by-product of the adjustment of the 
primary triangulation of the United States was the 
discussion of the deflections of the vertical and 
anomalies of gravity, by Mr. J. E. Hayford, on the 
hypothesis of isostatic compensation of inequalities of 
the earth’s surface. In this way the discrepancies 
between the observed and the anticipated values of 
each was very largely reduced, but, whatever the 
precise form of hypothesis used, there still remained 
an average anomaly of gravity of not less than 
0-020 dyne, which was attributed by Mr. Hayford 
to an imperfection of isostatic adjustment. Prof. 
G. K. Gilbert has taken up the subject in Pro- 
fessional Paper 85-C of the U.S. Geological Survey, 
and shows that the distridution of the anomalies of 
gravity does not indicate any relation to the leading 
features of geological structure, as would be expected 
if they were due to variation in the distribution of 
density, or imperfect isostatic adjustment, within the 
earth’s crust. From this he concludes that they are 
due, at least in part, to variations in the nuclear por- 
tions of the earth, below the limits within which 
isostatic adjustment, and compensation of elevated 
tracts of the earth’s surface, take place. 


Pror. G. A. Grsson, of Glasgow, has issued in 
separate pamphlet form the address he recently gave 
before the Royal Philosophical Society of Glasgow on 
Napier and the invention of logarithms. The 
pamphlet contains a clear picture of the career and 
personality of the great Scottish mathematician, 
bringing together within the compass of twenty-four 
pages the salient facts of his life. The interest for 
the mathematical student is the account given of the 
way in which Napier originally defined the logarithm. 
This does not correspond exactly with what is known 
as the Napierian logarithm, although it is closely 
related to it. There is a passing reference to Biirgi, 
whose ‘‘ Progress Tabulen’’ has probably been seen 
by very few mathematicians in this country. The 
evidence that Napier was in possession of his method 
at least twenty years before he published his tables 
is also referred to; and Napier’s other mathematical 
and arithmetical discoveries have as adequate a notice 
as is possible in such a brief statement. Prof. Gib- 
son’s sketch comes at an opportune time when mathe- 
maticians are preparing to celebrate the tercentenary 
of the publication of the ‘‘Canon mirificus logarithm- 
orum.”’ 


A PAPER by Messrs. K. M. Faye-Hansen and J. S. 
Peck, published in the last issue of the Journal of the 
Institution of Electrical Engineers, deals with some 
interesting uses of inductance coils or ‘‘reactances”’ 
in heavy electrical engineering. These are being used 
to an increasing extent on large power supply sys- 
tems of the order of 100,000 kilowatts for the purpose 
of limiting the current that may flow in various parts 


APRIL 30, 1914]| 


of the circuits in cases of accidental short circuits 
with the view of localising the damage that can be done. 
For example, it is possible by placing reactances in 
the conductors between the generators and the switch- 
board, to limit the current under conditions of short 
circuit on the switchboard or feeders to, say eight 
times, the normal working current, and thus to protect 
the machines from enormously greater rushes of cur- 
rent that would be destructive. The paper discusses 
the relative utility of such reactances in the generator 
leads, in the feeders, and between different sections 
of the main ‘“‘bus-bars,” and suggests various com- 
bined arrangements. These reactances generally take 
the form of large coils without iron in their magnetic 
circuit, but a partial iron circuit is sometimes em- 
ployed. An appendix discusses the effect of bus-bar 
reactance on tke parallel operation of alternators. 


In twelve pages oi the March number of the Journal 
of the Franklin Institute Mr. W. P. Davey, of the 
X-ray laboratory, Cornell University, succeeds in 
giving a most valuable summary of the present state 
of our knowledge of R6ntgen, or X-rays. After 
explaining the production of Réntgen rays by the 
impact of kathode rays on the target of a vacuum 
tube, he shows that they produce fluorescence in 
certain bodies on which they impinge, they affect 
photographic plates and ionise the air through which 
they pass. In each case the laws which have been 
found to hold are stated. When the rays fall on metals 
or on metallic salts they produce in certain cases 
secondary radiations which differ in properties from 
the original rays, and by analogy have been called 
fluorescent Réntgen or X-radiations. The methods 
adopted for the measurement of the quality or pene- 
trating power of the radiations, and the quantity of 
radiation which falls on a given surface in a given 
time, are also described. The article will prove of 
great value tc those who wish to make themselves 
acquainted with the principal facts of the subject 
without entering into details. 


THE Société de Chimie-Physique has issued two 
more numbers of its series of monographs. These 
are vii., ‘‘Paramagnetism Applied to the Study of 
Metallic Salts,’ by Mile. E. Feytis; viii., ‘‘ Relations 
between Chemical Constitution and the Coloration of 
Organic Substances,” by M. André Meyer. The latter 
contains, in addition to a review of the chief types of 
coloured compounds, a bibliography of the subject 
extending over ten pages, and containing more than 
two hundred references to original papers. 


AN interesting illustrated article on charcoal burn- 
ing in the Weald, by Mr. W. R. Butterfield, is con- 
tained in the April number of the Selborne Magazine. 
This primitive industry is still carried.on in the 
Weald, although it has declined considerably during 
the last thirty years, owing to the decreased quantity 
of home-grown hops, for the drying of which the 
charcoal is mainly used. All the charcoal that is re- 
quired is made during the few weeks before hop- 
picking, and the ‘‘collier,’’ as the burner is called, 
and his mate move from farm to farm as required, 
and cover a wide area each season. The burners 


NO. 2222, VOL. 93] 


NATURE 223 


depend wholly upon empirical knowledge, either 
acquired by their own experience or handed on to 
them by their predecessors, and the operation is one 
requiring considerable skill and unremitting vigilance 
day and night. 


THERE is an interesting illustrated article in the 
Engineering Magazine for April, giving an account 
of the workshops and methods of the Ford Motor 
Company. This company turns out 1000 automobiles 
a day at its Highland Park Works in Detroit. The 
other two factories belonging to the company, one at 
Ford, Ontario, Canada, and one at Manchester, Eng- 
land, bring the total Ford car-producing capacity to 
at least 1200 cars a day. The company produces one 
article only, viz., the Ford motor-car, and employs 
rather more than 15,000 hands. 


OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 


ASTRONOMICAL OCCURRENCES FOR May :— 
May 1. ith. 24m. Neptune in conjunction with the 
Moon (Neptune 4° 17’ S.). 
» 20h. 43m. Mars in conjunction with the 
Moon (Mars 1° 37’ S.). 
15. 7h. 4m. Uranus in conjunction with the 
Moon (Uranus 2° 3' N.). 
16. th. som. Jupiter in conjunction with the 
Moon (Jupiter 1° 13’ N.). 
», 2h. 7m. Venus in conjunction with Saturn 
(Venus 2° to’ N.). 
», 20h. om. Uranus stationary. 
»» 23h. om. Mercury in superior conjunction 
with the Sun. 
25. 23h. 5m. Saturn in conjunction with the 
Moon (Saturn 6° 9’ S.). 
26. 2th. 2m. Venus in conjunction with the 
Moon (Venus 3° 21’ S.). 
28. 17h. 57m. Neptune in conjunction with the 
Moon (Neptune 4° 1’ S.). 
16m. Mars in conjunction with 
Moon (Mars 0° 42’ S.). 
»» oh. om. Mercury at greatest heliocentric 
latitude N. 


CoMET 1914A (KRITZINGER).—Recent observed posi- 
tions of comet 1914a (Kritzinger) have enabled Prof. 
Kobold (Astronomische Nachrichten, No. 4729) to im- 
prove the elements of this comet, and consequently 
the ephemeris. The new positions for the current 
week are now as follows :— 


12h. Berlin M.T. 


30, “shi the 


R.A. Decl. Mag. 
eh ie OS P % 
April 30 18 13 21 +26 30-7) (12.9 18:6 
May I TES. Vote. 17 31-9 - 
2 PO BA i ate 18 32:8 
3 27 14 se 1Q 33°3 
4 OSS pes © 29) 3355 
5 GOEAGer ss 21, 3226 
faye Bar JIT PBS (aad | | GN Gey 
2 tats Pt ES AG '9 te 23) 20:0) ines 838 


The comet is situated in that portion of the con- 
stellation of Hercules lying to the south of Vega, and 
it will be noticed that the present calculation makes 
the object brighter by more than half a magnitude 
than that previously given. 


Tue Aprit METEorIc SHOWER.—Mr. W. F. Denning 
writes :—More favourable weather for meteoric ob- 
servations could scarcely have occurred at the period 
of the Lyrid meteors. At Bristol the fourteen successive 


| nights from April 10 to 23 were clear or generally 


224 


NATURE 


[APRIL 30, 1914 


clear throughout. The expected shower of meteors, 
however, failed to display itself in a prominent manner. 
There were a few bright Lyrids seen between April 19 
and April 22, but the return of this year must certainly 
be classed among the failures. A number of other 
streams showed themselves in the absence of the major 
shower, but meteors were rather scarce generally, with 
a great exception on one night, April 22, when they 
were quite abundant, though the Lyrid display was 
scarcely visible. On April 14 there was a remarkable 
dearth of meteors before midnight, though the firma- 
ment was splendidly clear. 

Mr. Denning has computed the real paths of several 


interesting meteors. recently observed at two 
stations :— 
Height Height Velocity Radiant 
1914: G.M.T. Mag. atfirst. atend. Path. persec. Point. 
April) he onl. Miles. Miles. Miles. Miles. : 
2) See Onmage 2m | OA. NAA Se 2 A 167 + 31 
ope gi40 |) 4— 2)  88.\ 64 ag) (35) 130971,01 
peeeulOn22 4 2 T FT. 155 be 213. 205 a0 77 
pie 44, Tk 73e 572 5200 129) Sia OF 
AO Than L457 Se O20 eA OMS ee 2O eG 4 © 
22 e etOws Tt 2 AG6r AA VO? 24 (238-2 
The chief radiant points have been :— 
ie) ° ° ie) 
142 +27 220+ 13 
UO}O ae 7/ 239+ O 
204+ 55 272 + 33 
209— 10 3124+ 61 


The Aquarid meteoric shower, supposed to be con- 
nected with Halley’s comet, is due to reappear on the 
mornings of May 1-6. The radiant point is at about 

On,,0 
337-2 - 

THE PRESSURE IN THE REVERSING LAYER OF THE SUN. 
—In an early number of a Bulletin of the Kodaikanal 
Observatory (No. 18) Mr. Evershed attempted to make 
a rough estimate of the pressure in the reversing layer 
of the sun based on the assumption that those lines 
which were most and least affected by pressure in the 
laboratory were similarly affected in the sun. In a 
more recent Bulletin (No. 36) he suggests a new 
interpretation of the general displacement of the lines 
in the solar spectrum towards the red. He shows 
that taking into consideration probable differences of 
level, the absolute and relative shifts can be quite 
easily explained as due to motion in the line of sight, 
and have very little relation to pressure shifts. While 
the quantities measured are exceedingly small, and, 
as he says, subject to considerable errors, yet he is so 
convinced that pressure is not the main factor in- 
volved that he publishes his results, even although all 
the work of measurement is not yet completed, and 
exact values cannot be submitted. Many interesting 
points are mentioned in the paper, one being that a 
small pressure effect is traceable in the relative posi- 
tions of the solar and arc lines, but that it is a minus 
effect, thus indicating a decidediy smaller pressure in 
the sun than in the are in air. With such a small 
pressure effect he finds the shifts closely related to the 
intensities of the lines, the strong lines showing 
larger shifts than the weax. He arrives also at the 
conclusion that in the higher levels of the sun there 
is a movement of descent which is retarded in the 
lower levels. 


THE NEW UNIVERSITY OF ZURICH. 
N the four days from Friday, April 17, to Monday, 
April 20, Zurich celebrated in a very interesting 
fashion the inauguration of the new University which 
for six years she has been engaged in building at a 


total cost of 5,600,000 francs (224,000l.). As is usual 
on such occasions, the guests were welcomed at a 


NO! 232206 VO 03) 


reception in their honour on the Friday evening. The 
Wetheakt of Saturday morning was held in the central] 
court of the new University, which is covered with a 
roof of tinted glass carried on light iron girders. 
Thither the University authorities and their guests 
marched two and two from the Kunsthalle, the pro- 
cession rendered picturesque by the robes of the foreign 
delegates, for the republican simplicity of Switzerland 
does not admit of academic dress. Many speeches were 
delivered, those of the local officials naturally dwelling 
upon the efforts required to complete the task. 
Amongst those of foreign delegates that of Dr. Macan, 
master of University College, Oxford, was distin- 
guished by its wit and humour, and by the obvious 
pleasure which it gave to the people of Ziirich where 
he had been a student thirty-nine years before. 

The speeches were followed by a cantata written by 
Prof. Alfred Frey, and set to music by the director of 
the Conservatorium, Dr. Hegar. Both words and 
music were well adapted to the occasion, most parts 
of the libretto attaining a high poetic level. A ban- 
quet lasting nearly four hours followed, and for those 
who wished for. more festivity still there was a 
students’ kommers in the evening. Sunday was no 
less full, with a special service in the Fraumunster- 
kirche, a luncheon given by the Guild of Smiths, a trip 
on the lake, and an admirable performance of Gluck’s 
‘“Orpheus,’”’ in the Stadt-Theater in the evening. 
Monday was the annual festival of the Sechselduten, 
where, as of old, the departure of winter was be- 
tokened by the burning of a huge puppet filled with 
fireworks at the end of a procession through the town 
which lasted the whole afternoon. This year the pro- 
cession was developed into a gorgeous pageant of the 
history of learning from its beginnings in Egypt and 
Babylon, through Greece and Rome, troubadours and 
goliards, monks and reformers, to the present day. 
In the evening the trade guilds had their separate ban- 
quets, to which visitors were invited. The entertain- 
ment was followed by visits from the younger members 
of one guild to each of the others in turn. As they 
came in with their band and banner, with lanterns 
hanging from long poles, and the emblems of their 
craft, while their leader exchanged loving-cups with 
the master of the guild visited, and the two made, 
and in turn listened to, speeches at one another’s 
expense, one felt that one had here a custom which 
had known no change since at least the fifteenth 
century. 

Nothing could exceed the hospitality and kindness 
with which the foreign visitors were welcomed. As a 
means of identification the guests were asked to wear 
in the buttonhole a stud with the colours of Zurich 


“(light blue and white), which proved a most useful 


‘“open sesame’’ everywhere. 

This is the third time that the University of Zurich 
has been furnished with buildings since its revival in 
1833. The intermediate edifice was built in 1864. For 
some time back the University has shared in the 
building occupied by the Polytechnic, but by 1907 it 
was felt that the difficulties of accommodation must 
be otherwise provided for. In 1908 architects were 
invited to compete, and ultimately the plan of the firm 
of Curjel and Moser, of St. Gallen and Karlsruhe, 
was adopted. The site on the Ztirichberg was not easy, 
because the slope is very considerable, and from parts 
of it various other institutions had to be removed. 
The buildings, which, of gray stone and many 
windowed, resembles many Germany university 
buildings, consists of two wings with a _ great 
tower between. The northern and lower wing 
is the biological institute, the southern is the 
University proper, in the sense that it contains the 
lecture-rooms, reading-rooms, seminars, libraries for 


APRIL 30, 1914] 


NATURE 


225 


the theological and arts faculties, and accommodation 
for the administration. To it also have been moved 
the archzeological and ethnological collections. Natural 
science and medicine are provided for in the biological 
institute and in other buildings adjacent. 

Apart from the tower, the building is in three storeys 
at present, though in the University proper it will be 
possible, as the numbers increase, to provide more 
accommodation for classes in the attics. With an 
imposing facade on two sides, the rooms are admir- 
ably lighted. Round the central court runs a wide 
passage on each storey, thus giving easy access from 
room to room, and also providing in these passages, 
which can be seated, excellent galleries for such occa- 
sions as that of April 18. The parapet towards the 
court is broken by openings, the superincumbent mass 
being on the first storey supported in each case by 
two Moorish pillars. In the storeys above are roman- 
esque arches, so that the appearance towards the inner 
court is more like that of some southern palazzo than 
could be guessed from its external aspect. The effect 
is heightened by the insertion in the walls of small 
artistic figures. The rooms for the administration are 
well furnished; the desks and seats in the lecture- 
rooms are substantial but simple. 

On the walls of the galleries are frescoes which the 
spectator was asked by notices to believe were not yet 
finished, and which seemed, truth to tell, to represent 
an early stage of art. But the general effect of light- 
ness and airines: was excellent, and the people of 
Zirich and their architect, Mr. Moser, are to be con- 
gratulated on the way in which they have secured an 
admirable result at what, for the accommodation pro- 
vided, seems a minimum of cost. It is to be remem- 
bered that the whole of this is paid for out of the 
rates of the Canton of Ztirich, which not unnaturally 
are very high. But as the inscription above the en- 
trance tells us, all has been done ‘“‘by the will of the 
people,” which, when the first credit was insufficient, 
voted a second. The people of Ziirich are convinced 
of the value of good and cheap education, and nothing 
in the whole celebration perhaps was more interesting 
than to mix with the crowd on Monday morning, 
when the building was thrown open to the public, and 
to hear the approving remarks of tradesmen and 
labourers as they examined the new building which 
they were proud to call their own. Gs 


RADIUM AND QUACK MEDICINES. 


hee view of the fact that a large number of drugs, 

earths, and waters, said to be radio-active, are 
being offered for sale to the general public for the 
treatment of certain diseases, the medical committee 
of the British Science Guild recently instituted an 
inquiry into the question of radium and its therapeutic 
uses. 

The result of the inquiry indicates the urgent neces- 
sity for legislation in order to safeguard the interests 
of the community in the sale of these substances, by 
compelling a written guarantee to be given as to the 
quantity of radium present in the substances offered 
for sale. 

The use of radium in cases of cancer is now widely 
known, but it is necessary to warn the public that no 
definite evidence that cancer is permanently curable 
by radium is yet forthcoming. The immediate effect 
of the treatment of cancer by radium is often highly 
satisfactory, but it must not be forgotten that agents 
other than radium are known to give equally good 
results. It is only by keeping under observation for 
at least five years patients who have been so treated 
that a definite decision can be come to as to the place 


NO.72322,. VOL. Oaq 


Gunther. 


radium-therapy shall take in the treatment of malig- 
nant diseases. 

The great strides that have been made in recent 
years in the use of radium for the treatment of disease, 
and the results obtained, encourage the medical pro- 
fession to persevere with this therapeutic agent. How- 
ever, radium in its application to disease is still but 
little understood, and until more experimental, patho- 
logical and clinical data have been collected to show 
the effect of this agent upon, not only the diseased 
but also the healthy tissues of the body, dogmatic 
statements as to its therapeutic value cannot be made. 

In these circumstances of uncertainty the public is 
warned that there is danger that the claims which 
have been advanced for radium as a curative agent 
may lead to frauds on the credulous section of the 
public, which may be imposed upon by the sale of 
substances or waters in which radium does not exist, 
or may be harmfully treated by persons with no 
medical qualifications. 

The inclusion of radium in the Pharmacopceia would 
be of material benefit to the public, and it is proposed 
to take the steps necessary to secure this end. It has 
also been suggested that radium should be scheduled 
as a poison under the Foods and Drugs Act, which 
would be an additional safeguard against the victim- 
isation of the public. 

The report of the medical committee of the British 
Science Guild contains further valuable and important 
information concerning the sources, etc., of radio- 
active substances, the price of radium, and diseases 
which are treated with radium, and this will be pub- 
lished in full in the annual report of the guild, to be 
issued in May next. 


JAPANESE FISHES AND NOMEN- 
CLATURE, 


Toe latest part of the Journal of the College of 

Science in the Imperial University of Japan 
(vol. xxxiii., article 1, March, 1913) is a catalogue of 
the fishes of Japan, by David Starr Jordan, Shigeho 
Tanaka, and John Otterbein Snyder. It consists of 
497 pages, and has 396 figures in the text. There is a 
very excellent index, and the volume is one which is 
likely to be of considerable assistance to ichthyologists. 
The list is based on the work of Temminck and Schlegel 
(1848 to 1850), on the collections made by David Starr 
Jordan in 1900, the collections of Snyder (1906), and 
the collections in the Imperial University of Japan, 
and the Imperial Museum at Tokyo. It includes all 
records of Japanese fishes made up to February 1, 
1913. 

The fish fauna of Japan appears to be an extra- 
ordinarily rich one, for the present list deals with 1230 
species, while it is pointed out that many additional 
species from the tropics may yet be found in the 
Kuroshiwo (that is, the Japan current corresponding 
to the Atlantic Gulf Stream); the deep-sea species are 
yet imperfectly known; and large accessions to the 
lists may be expected when Hokkaido is explored. 
Japanese names are given for all the species, but full 
synonymies are not given, and this is occasionally 
rather troublesome to the worker unaccustomed to the 
light-hearted manner in which the American systemat- 
ists play fast and loose with generic names, and their 
uncompromising insistence on the rules of priority 
with regard to specific names. 

One example from this catalogue may be given—it 
is not the only one that might be quoted in illustration 
of our complaint; the Japanese sardine called 
‘‘Twashi,” was described by Schlegel in 1846 as 
Clupea melanosticta, and this name was adopted by 
Richardson also described the same fish in 


226 


1846, calling it Clupea caeruleovittata, but Schlegel’s 
description appeared on p. 237 of his book, while 
Richardson’s appeared on p. 305 of his book. There- 
fore Schlegel’s name has “page priority.” | But in 
1901 Jordan and Snyder changed the generic name 
from Clupea to Clupanodon; and then in 1906 Jordan 
(the same worker) and Herre changed it from Clupa- 
nodon to Sardinella. In the present paper Jordan, 
Tanaka, and Snyder discard Sardinella and go back 
to an old generic name Amblygaster, used by Bleeker 
in 1849. So it remains for the immediate present. 

Of course, irritating as all this is, one cannot but 
feel that a rigid adherence to the rules of priority 
(provided that systematists can agree about these) is 
the only way by which we can approach finality in 
matters of nomenclature. 
ever, with regard to generic and family names, and 
one may reasonably urge that so long as large tracts 
of the earth are imperfectly explored, and so long as 
accessions to specific lists may be expected, the older 
generic names should be retained. Even should the 
genus attain ‘“‘ unwieldy” dimensions, it may be broken 
up into divisions of a provisional nature, but the 
temptation to make new genera might be resisted, for 
as a rule these generic changes only burden the 
synonymies. When the same author places a species in 
three genera, almost within the same decade, one does 
not feel confident that the state of our knowledge 
justifies the adoption of the rather fine distinctions on 
which these groupings depend. 


THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGICAL 
SERVICE. 


OEE years ago, in 1884, the Canadian Govern- 
ment appointed a Dominion Entomologist to advise 
agriculturists and others regarding the control of insect 
pests. Two years later, on the establishment of the 
experimental farms system, Dr. James Fletcher, who 
occupied the position, was attached to the new branch 
of the Department of Agriculture in the joint capacity 
of entomologist and botanist, which position he occu- 
pied with conspicuous success until his death in 1908. 
The growth in importance of the subjects necessitated 
their separation, and accordingly divisions of ento- 
mology and botany were created. Dr. C. Gordon 
Hewitt was appointed Dominion entomologist in 1909, 
and entrusted with the work of organising the new 
division of entomology of the Experimental Farms 
Branch of the Department of Agriculture, with offices 
and laboratory at the Central Experimental Farm, 
Ottawa. 

The urgent need of legislation in order to permit 
action to be taken to prevent the introduction into 
Canada and spread within the country of serious insect 
pests and plant diseases was responsible for the 
passage of the Destructive Insect and Pest Act in 
1910. The still greater need of investigations on the 
insect pests affecting agriculture, forestry, and other 
branches of human activity has led to the establish- 
ment of field or regional laboratories in different parts 
of Canada, with trained entomologists in charge to 
study local problems. 

Owing to the consequent expansion of the entomo- 
logical work along investigatory and administrative 
lines, and the fact that such work did not constitute 
a necessary part of the work of the experimental farms 
system, and executively was virtually distinct, the 
Entomological Service has now been separated from 
the Experimental Farms Branch, and has been con- 
stituted an independent branch of the Department of 
Agriculture under the direction of the Dominion Ento- 
mologist. It is proposed to erect a building to provide 


NO, 2322, V0n-03 | 


NATURE 


The case is different, how- | 


[APRIL 30, 1914 


offices and laboratories for the new entomological 
branch. Correspondents are requested to note that all 
official communicaticns and publications should be 
addressed to ‘‘The Dominion Entomologist, Depart- 
ment of Agriculture, Ottawa” 

This reorganisation, which wili also include the 
establishment of a national collection of the insects 
of Canada in the Canadian National Museum (the 
Victoria Memorial Museum) at Ottawa, under the 
care of the Dominion Entomologist, marks an impor- 
tant step in Canadian entomology. It will result in 
a still greater development of the study of Canadian 


insects along scientific and practical lines. 


DISEASES OF PLANTS. 


R. G. H. PETHYBRIDGE, economic botanist to 
the Department of Agriculture and Technical 
Instruction for Ireland, has recently published two 
papers, of considerable scientific as well as economic 
interest, on species of the genus ‘Phytophthora, and 
the diseases which these fungi cause in the potato. 
In the first paper (Sci. Proc. Royal Dublin Soc., 
vol. xiii., No. 35) he describes the rotting of potato 
tubers by a species of Phytophthora having a method 
of sexual reproduction hitherto undescribed, and gives 
in the introductory portion of the paper a useful sum- 
mary of the literature dealing with the chief forms of 
rot previously known to occur in the potato tuber. 
The new form of rot (“pink rot’’) is caused by the 
new fungus Phytophthora erythroseptica, the most 
peculiar feature of which is the fact that the oogonium 
rudiment enters the antheridium at or near its base. 
the female organ then growing up through the male 
and out at the top, expanding there to form the 
oogonium proper in which the oosphere develops. 
The “pink rot” disease is prevalent in the west of 
Ireland, and the losses caused by it, which are con- 
siderable, and in some cases being greater than those 
due to P. infestans, are greatest in crops grown con- 
tinuously on the same land (infection taking place 
from the soil), and can be avoided by a proper rota- 
tion; it is probably transmitted to some extent by 
oospores which adhere to the seed tubers. 

In the second paper (ibid., No. 36) Dr. Pethybridge, 
in conjunction with Mr. P. A. Murphy, describes the 
results of investigations on the common potato blight 
fungus, Phytophthora infestans, and points out that 
much remains to be discovered regarding the life- 
history and modes of transmission of this well-known 
parasite. Thick-walled spores were found in the 
tissues of various parts of the potato plant that had 
been destroyed by P. infestans, and these are probably 
the oospores of this fungus. The two papers are illus- 
trated by beautiful figures, including two plates of 
very fine photomicrographs. 

In connection with the foregoing paragraphs, men- 
tion may be made of a paper received simultaneously, 
dealing with the same group of fungi, entitled 
‘‘Studies in Peronosporacez,’’ by Mr. E. J. Butler, 
Imperial Mycologist, and Mr. G. S. Kulkarni, Myco- 
logical Assistant, Bombay Department of Agriculture 
(Memoirs of the Department of Agriculture in India, 
Botanical Series, vol. v.. No. 5, 1913). The forms 
described in detail by the authors are P. colocasiae 
(parasitic on Colocasia esculenta), the ubiquitous 
Pythium debaryanum, Sclerospora graminicola (para- 
sitic on three Indian cereals and a fodder grass), and 
S. maydis (a very destructive parasite on maize, which 
has apparently reached India recently from Java). 
The four papers included in these careful studies are 
illustrated by fine plates, in some cases coloured, and 
directions are given for treatment of the disease in 
question. F. Ge 


APRIL 30, 1914] 


NATURE 


EASTER VACATION WORK AT 
PORT “ERE 


~HE Easter vacation party at the Port Erin Bio- 
logical Station has this year been larger than 
ever before, and has carried out a longer programme 
of work—both in the laboratory and on the seashore. 
During the last few weeks (March and April) the 
number of researchers and senior students enrolled in 
the books of the station has reached the record total 
of eighty-five, including half a dozen professors and 
a dozen university lecturers and demonstrators, while 
nearly half of the total number were post-graduate 
researchers. Altogether twelve universities or univer- 
sity colleges have been represented. Practically all 
the senior students and post-graduate workers of the 
botanical and zoological departments of the Univer- 
sity of Liverpool, under Profs. Harvey Gibson and 
Herdman, migrated to the Port Erin laboratory for 
the vacation. Prof. Cole brought a considerable con- 
tingent from the University College of Reading, and 
Dr. Stuart Thomson a number from Manchester; Mr. 
Holden came with some students from University 
College, Nottingham, and smaller groups came from 
Birmingham, Cambridge, Oxford, Bristol, Bangor, 
Cardiff, London, and Meibourne. In addition to the 
laboratory work of the students and their collecting 
expeditions on the seashore, the activities of the bio- 
logical station at this time of year are threefold: 
first, the flat-fish hatching (seen at its best during 
March and April); secondly, the plankton investiga- 
tion going on at sea from the s.y. Runa; and thirdly, 
the special investigations of the post-graduate re- 
searchers. 

The spawning of the mature plaice in the open-air 
fish-ponds started at the beginning of February this 
year, at least a fortnight earlier than usual, and it is 
by no means finished yet. Already more than eight 
millions of eggs have been skimmed from the ponds, 
and about seven millions of young fish have been set 
free in the sea round the south end of the Isle of 
Man. 

Work at sea was much hampered by bad weather 
during the earlier part of the time, and it was some- 
times difficult to get the periodic plankton hauls taken. 
This is now the eighth year of Prof. Herdman’s 
scheme of intensive study of the nature and distribu- 
tion of the plankton, of which it is hoped to com- 
plete ten years’ statistics before winding up the inves- 
tigation. Up to the present the phytoplankton this 
spring has been characterised by the prevalence of 
Coscinodiscus. 

In addition to the collecting and recording of rare 
species, both of animals and sea-weeds, which has 
gone on very much as in former years, there has 
been a large amount of special investigation both at 
sea and in the laboratory on the part of those who 
are engaged in the preparation of L.M.B.C. Memoirs, 
and also of others who are at various researches. For 
example, Mr. R. D. Laurie has been making observa- 
tions on the movements of Amphidinium in the sand, 
Mr. S. T. Burfield has been working at Sagitta, Miss 
Gleave at Archidoris, Mr. H. G. Jackson on Decapod 
larve in the plankton, and Prof. B. Moore and Mr. 
E. Whitley on the nutrition of marine animals and 
the variations in the alkalinity of the sea-water. The 
memoir on Echinoderm larve which Mr. Chadwick 
has been engaged on for some years is now in the 
printer’s hands, and wili be published at an early 
date. The pressure on the laboratory accom- 
modation has been very great during this vacation, 
and the need of further extension of the building is 


urgent. 
Wr A. Ths 
NO. 2322, VOL. 93| 


227 


RELATIONS BETWEEN THE SPECTRA AND 
OTHER CHARACTERISTICS OF THE 


SS AWE Ses aes 
Ihe 
Historical. 
] NVESTIGATIONS into the nature of the stars 


must necessarily be very largely based upon the 
average characteristics of groups of stars selected in 
various ways—as by brightness, proper motion, and 
the like. The publication within the last few years 
of a great wealth oi accumulated observational mate- 
rial makes the compilation of such data an easy pro- 
cess; but some methods of grouping appear to bring 
out much more definite and interesting relations than 
others, and, of all the principles of division, that 
which separates the stars according to their spectral 
types has revealed the most remarkable differences, 
and those which most stimulate attempts at a 
theoretical explanation, 

In the present discussion, I shall attempt to review 
very rapidly the principal results reached by other 
investigators, and shall then ask your indulgence for 
an account of certain researches in which I have been 
engaged during the past few years. 

Thanks to the possibility of obtaining with the 
objective prism photographs of the spectra of hundreds 
of stars on a single plate, the number of, stars the 
spectra of which have been observed and classified 
now exceeds one hundred thousand, and probably as 
many more are within the reach of existing instru- 
ments. The vast majority of these spectra show only 
dark lines, indicating that absorption in the outer and 
least dense layers of the stellar atmospheres is the 
main cause of their production. Even if we could not 
identify a single line as arising from some known 
constituent of these atmospheres, we could nevertheless 
draw from a study of the spectra, considered merely 
as line-patterns, a conclusion of fundamental import- 
ance. 

The spectra of the stars show remarkably few 
radical differences in type. More than 99 per cent. of 
them fall into one or other of the six great groups 
which, during the classic work of the Harvard Col- 
lege Observatory, were recognised as of fundamental 
importance, and received as designations, by the pro- 
cess of ‘‘survival of the fittest,’’ the rather arbitrary 
series of letters B, A, F, G, K, and M. -That there 
should be so few types is noteworthy; but much more 
remarkable is the fact that they form a continuous 
series. Every degree of gradation, for example, be- 
tween the typical spectra denoted by B and A may 
be found in different stars, and the same is true to 
the end of the series, a fact recognised in the familiar 
decimal classification, in which Bs5, for example, 
denotes a spectrum half-way between the _ typical 
examples of B and A. This series is not merely con- 
tinuous; it is linear. There exist indeed slight differ- 
ences between the spectra of different stars of the 
same spectral class, such as AO; but these relate to 
minor details, which usually require a trained eye for 
their detection, while the difference between successive 
classes, such as A and F, are conspicuous to the 
novice. Almost all the stars of the small outstanding 
minority fall into three other classes, denoted by the 
letters O, N, and R. Of these O undoubtedly pre- 
cedes B at the head of the series, while R and N, 
which grade into one another, come probably at its 
other end, though in this case the transition stages, 
if they exist, are not yet clearly worked out. 

From these facts it may be concluded that the prin- 


* An address delivered before a joint meeting of the Astronomical and 
Astrophysical Society of America and Section A of the American Association 
for the Advancement of Science, at Atlanta, Georgia, December 30, 1913, 
with a few additions, by Prof. H. N, Rusrell. 


228 NATURE 


[APRIL 30, 1914 


cipal differences in stellar spectra, however they may 
originate, arise in the main from variations in a 
single physical condition in the stellar atmospheres. 
This follows at once from the linearity of the series. 
If the spectra depended, to a comparable degree, on 
two independently variable conditions, we should 
expect that we would be obliged to represent their 
relations, not by points on a line, but by points scat- 
tered over an area. The minor differences which are 
usually described as “‘ peculiarities’? may well repre- 
sent the effects of other physical conditions than the 
controlling one. 

The first great problem of stellar spectroscopy is 
the identification of this predominant cause of the 
spectral differences. The hypothesis which suggested 
itself immediately upon the first studies of stellar 
spectra was that the differences arose from variations 
in the chemica! composition of the stars. Our know- 
ledge of this composition is now very extensive. 
Almost every line tn the spectra of all the principal 
classes can be produced in the laboratory, and the 
evidence so secured regarding the uniformity of nature 
is probably the most impressive in existence. The 
lines of certain elements are indeed characteristic 
of particular spectral classes; those of helium, for 
instance, appear only in Class B, and form its most 
distinctive characteristic. But negative conclusions 
are proverbially unsafe. The integrated spectrum of 
the sun shows no evidence whatever of helium, but 
in that of the chromosphere it is exceedingly con- 
spicuous. Were it not for the fact that we are near 
this one star of Class G, and can study it in detail, 
we might have erroneously concluded that helium was 
confined to the “helium stars.” There are other 
cogent arguments against this hypothesis. For 
example, the members of a star-cluster, which are all 
moving together, and presumably have a common 
origin, and even the physically connected components 
of many double stars, may have spectra of very 
different types, and it is very hard to see how, in 
such a case, all the helium and most of the hydrogen 
could have collected in one star, and practically all 
the metals in the other. A further argument—and 
to the speaker a very convincing one—is that it is 
almost unbelievable that differences of chemical com- 
position should reduce to a function of a single vari- 
able, and give rise to the observed linear series of 
spectral types. 

I need not detain you with the recital of the steps 
by which astrophysicists have become generally con- 
vinced that the main cause of the differences of the 
spectral classes is difference of temperature of the 
stellar atmospheres. There is time only to review 
some of the most important evidence which, converg- 
ing from several quarters, affords apparently a secure 
basis for this belief. ; 

The first argument is based upon the behaviour of 
the spectral lines themselves. To appreciate its full 
force, one must familiarise himself with a multitude 
of details. A typica' instance is that of the heavy 
bands in the region of longer wave-length, which are 
the most characteristic fea‘ure of spectra of Class M, 
appear faintly in Class Ks, and are absent in Class K 
and all those higher in the series. Fowler has shown ! 
that these bands are perfectly reproduced in the spec- 
trum of the outer flame of an electric arc charged 
With some compound of titanium, while the spectrum 
of the core of the arc, though showing conspicuously 
the bright lines of titanium, does not contain the 
bands. Here we are evidently dealing with some 
compound—perhaps titanium oxide—the vapour of 
which is present in the relatively cool flame of the 
arc, and emits a spectrum of the banded type, char- 

1 Proc. Roy. Soc., vol. Ixxii., pp. 219-225, 1904. 


NO.-2322,"yOr-nos| 


acteristic of compounds, while in the hotter core it is 
dissociated, and only the lines of the metal are seen. 
There seems then to be no escape from the conclusion 
that the atmospheres of stars of Class M are cool 
enough to permit the existence of this compound, and 
hence cooler than the core of the arc, and that the 
temperature of its dissociation is approached in 
Class K5, and surpassed in Class K. In general, 
those metallic lines which are relatively strong in the 
spectra produced in the oxyhydrogen flame or the 
electric furnace are also strong in spectra of Classes 
M and K; the lines most prominent in Class G are the 
typical arc lines; and the relatively few metallic lines 
which persist into Classes A and B are those which 
appear exclusively, or with greatly enhanced intensity, 
in the spark spectra of the laboratory. 

The second line of evidence is afforded by the dis- 
tribution of intensity in the continuous background 
of the spectra, the differences of which from type to 
type are obvious to the eye as differences in. the colour 
of the stars. This characteristic is fortunately capable 
of accurate measurement. For the brighter stars, 
spectro-photometric comparisons may be made with a 
terrestrial light-source the energy curve of which is 
known, as has been done visually by Wilsing and 
Scheiner,* and photographically by Rosenberg.? Much 
fainter stars may be reached by the comparison of 
their brightness as measured visually (or on iso- 
chromatic plates with a suitable colour-screen), and 
photographically on ordinary plates. The ‘colour- 
index ’’ so obtained, which expresses, in stellar mag- 
nitudes, the relative photographic brightness of stars 
of equal visual brightness, is found to be very inti- 
mately related to the spectral type, the differences 
within each spectral class being scarcely greater than 
the errors of observation. The results of King,* Park- 
hurst,? and Schwarzschild,® working with different 
instruments and on stars of very different brightness, 
are in excellent agreement, as is shown in Table I. 
The near approach to equality among the differences 
in colour-index from class to class is very remarkable, 
when it is considered that these types were picked 
out somewhat arbitrarily according to the general 
appearance of the photographic spectra. The judg- 
ment of the Harvard observers in selecting the really 
important points of difference was evidently very good. 


TABLE I. 

: Colour-index Temperature 

«Spectrum King Parkhurst Schwarzschild : 
Bo — 0-32 20,000 
Bs —0-17 —0-21 — 0:20 14,000 
Ao 0:00 0:00 0-00 11,000 
A5 0-19 0:23 0:20 9,000 
Fo 0:30 0°43 0-40 7,500 
F5 0-42 0:65 0-60 6,000 
Go 0-72 0-86 0:84 5,000 
Gs 0:98 1-07 I-IO 4,500 
Ko I-10 1-30 1-35 4,200 
K5 1-62 I-51 1-80 3,200 
M 1-62 1-68 3,100 
N 2: 2,300 


If the spectral sensitiveness of the plates used in 
such investigations has been determined (as Park- 
hurst has done) it is possible to calculate the tempera-. 
ture at which a black-body would emit light of the 
same colour as that observed; and similar calculations 
can be made, with greater accuracy, from the spectro- 
photometric data. The last column of Table I. gives 
the effective temperatures thus derived (based mainly 
on the work of Wilsing and Scheiner). The absolute 


2 Potsdam Publications, vol. xix., part 1. 3% A.N., 4628, 1913. 


4 Harvard Annals, vol. lix., p. 179. 
5 Astrophys. Jour., vol. xxxvi., p. 218, 1912. 
6 Gottingen Aktinometrie, Teil B, p. 19. 


APRIL 30, 1914] 


NATURE 


229 


values of the temperatures here given may be con- 
siderably in error, especially at the top of the scale 
(in fact, Rosenberg’s work indicates a much greater 
range), but there can be no doubt about the relative 
order. 

Of a third independent confirmation of the tempera- 
ture hypothesis, based on the determination of the 
surface brightness of the stars, I shall have occasion 
to speak: later. 

It should be expressly stated that the “ tempera- 
tures”’ here spoken of are the effective ‘‘ black-body ”’ 
temperatures corresponding to the spectral distribu- 
tion of the radiation. Unless the surfaces of the stars 
possess decided selective emissivity for certain wave- 
lengths, these effective temperatures should also indi- 
cate with tolerable accuracy the energy-density of 
the flux of radiation which escapes from them. This 
tells us little about the temperature of the deeper 
regions; but it must be the main, if not the only, 
factor in determining the temperature of those outer 
and nearly transparent layers of the atmospheres in 
which the characteristic line absorption takes place. 
If we further assume, in accordance with Abbot’s 
studies of the solar atmosphere,’ that the absorption 
is nearly complete in so small a thickness of the 
atmosphere that wide variations in its depth and 
density would modify its total absorption but little, 
it becomes easy to see how the influence of its tem- 
perature (which presumably determines the relative 
strength of absorption in different lines) may pre- 
dominate so greatly over all that of all other factors 
in determining the spectral type. 

We may now review rapidly some of the relations 
which have been brought to light between other 
characteristics of the stars and their spectral types. 
First, as regards the relative numbers of stars of the 
different classes, we have in Table II, some results 
of counts made at Harvard.® 


Tas_eE Ii. 
Spectrum O B A F G K M N 
No. above 3.25m. 3 52: Semeeeo . 35 21 oO 


‘a 6.25m. 20 696 1885 720 609 1719 457 8 
Percentace in 


Gdlaciic region 100 82 GGg;EyRr8> 56. 54 87 


Classes A and K make up more than half of all the 
stars brighter than 6-25 m—that is, of the stars visible 
to the naked eye. The remaining stars are divided 
fairly evenly among the other four principal classes, 
while only one star in 300 is of Class O, and only one 
in 800 of Class N. The relative proportions of the 
different classes are, however, different in different 
parts of the heavens, as is indicated by the last line 
of the table, which give the percentage of stars of 
each class which lie in a belt covering one-half of the 
celestial sphere, and extending for 30° each side of the 
Milky Way. All the stars of Class O are close to the 
central line of the Galaxy (except for a few in the 
Magellanic Clouds). The stars of Class B are very 
strongly concentrated in the galactic region; those of 
Class A are considerably so; those of the following 
classes very little, except in the case of Class N (for 
which the tabular percentage is derived, not from the 
eight brightest stars of this class alone, but from a 
much lar~er number of fainter ones).® 

The relative proportions of the different classes vary 
also with the apparent brightness of the stars. Among 
the stars brighter than 3:25m., as the table shows, 
Class B has more representatives than any other; but 
the percentage of this type steadily diminishes as 
we pass to fainter stars. The percentage of stars of 
Class A at first increases with diminishing visual 

7 Abbot, “ The Sun,” p. 252, 19rr. 


8 Harvard Annals, vol. Ixiv., p. 134. 
» Harvard Annals, vol. Ixvi., p. 213. 


NO, 2322, VOE. 93] 


brightness; but there is good reason to believe that, 
at least in regions remote from the Galaxy, the rela- 
tive proportion of these too falls off rapidly in the 
neighbourhood of the ninth magnitude !°; and Fath’s 
work on the integrated spectrum of the Milky Way”? 
shows that, even there, the bulk of the very faint 
stars which form the galactic clouds must be of 
Secchi’s second type (F, G, or K). 

Counts of the stars down to any given magnitude 
may, however, be very misleading unless we bear in 
mind the enormous preference which this method of 
observation gives to the stars of great actual 
luminosity, which can be seen afar off, and hence are 
being sought in a much greater volume of space than 
those of small luminosity. <A difference of but five 
magnitudes in the real brightness of two groups of 
stars gives the brighter kind (if both are uniformly 
distributed in space) a thousand-fold better chance of 
getting into our catalogues; and this example under- 
states the actual conditions in some cases. Mere 
counts of stars need therefore to be supplemented by 
such knowledge as we can obtain concerning their 
distances. 

Much intormation can be obtained from the average 
proper-motions of the stars of the various classes, and 
still more by deriving their average parallaxes from 
the mean parallactic drift due to the motion of the 
solar system in space. Studies of this character have 
been made by severa! investigators of the first rank. 
Their results, which are summarised in Table III., 
show certain apparent discrepancies, which, however, 
arise principally from differences in the methods 
according to which the various workers .have selected 
the groups of stars for investigation. 


Tasce III. 
Mean certennial proper- i a 
Spec Saat Hae 5 eee Mean ee a he 
trum Kapteyn Boss % rejected ~*P'©¥ oss EN he A 
“a a“ “ “ “ 
O 1-6 o 0-004 
B 26 24 Oo 0-007 0-007 0-006 oO 
A 58 46 Rg 0-010 0-010 OO016 3 
FE TAPER a7: trie 2 0-012" 0-635" 3 
G 27-O)) R220 0-022 0-008 0022 8 
K TSO 5-7 6 0-010 OOI1I5 9 
M con 5:0, 6 O-OIL 0-008 O-OII 3 
N 3:2 0-0007 


Kapteyn’s data '* represent the mean proper motions 
and parallaxes of all the stars of the fifth magnitude 
of each class, except for Class N, in which, to get 
enough stars, it was necessary to include faint objects, 
so that the average magnitude is here 8-3. His results 
show a conspicuous maximum of average proper-motion 
and parallax for Class G, with a rapid fall on both 
sides of it. The stars of Class N would have to be 
brought about five times nearer to appear as bright as 
the others, but even then they would have the smallest 
mean parallax of all. 

Boss,'* in his investigation of the solar motion, had 
at his disposal very accurate proper-motions of all 
the stars down to 5-7m., and about half as many more 
between this and the seventh magnitude. The average 
magnitude of his stars is therefore nearly the same 
as that of Kapteyn’s. But, for very vood reasons, he 
excluded from his main solution all stars with proper- 
motions exceeding 20” per century. The percentage 
of stars thus excluded (which differs greatly from 
class to class) is given in the fourth column _ of 
Table III. It is natural that this often drastic rejec- 
tion of the large proper-motions, and hence in general 

10 Astronomical Journal, vol. xxvi., p- 153, T1910. 

Ml Astrophys. Journal, vol. xxxvi., pp. 362-367, 1912. 

12 Astrcphys. Journal, vol.-xxx., p. 295 ? vol. xxxll., p. QI, 1909-10. 


13 Astronomical Journal, vol. xxvi.. pp. 187-2c1, 1911. The mean proper- 
motions of the few stars of Classes O and N which appear in Boss's Cata- 


logue have been added by the writer. 


230 


of the nearer stars, should greatly diminish his mean 
values. Among the classes in which the mean proper- 
motion is small, the percentage of exclusion is also 
small, and the results are but little modified. But it 
is noteworthy that the exclusion of 6 per cent. of the 
stars of Class K has reduced the mean proper-motion 
in a greater ratio than that of 28 per cent. of those 
of Class F, and also that the removal of one-fifth of 
the stars of Class G decreases the mean for the 
remainder to less than one-fifth of its initial value. 
It apvears from these results that a large majority of 
the stars of Classes F, G, and K have nearly, if not 
quite, as small parallaxes and proper-motions as those 
of Classes A and M, though they are not quite so 
remote as the stars of Class B. The large mean 
values obtained for all the stars of these classes are 
due to the presence of a relatively small proportion of 
near and apparently rapidly moving stars, of which 
the percentage decreases, but the mean proper-motion 
and parallax increase, from F to K. 

Campbell’s results * are derived from a comparison 
of the radial velocities and proper-motions of nearly 
1200 stars, mostly brighter than the fifth magnitude, 
and averaging about a magnitude brighter than Boss’s 
stars, which would lead us to expect that their mean 
parallaxes should be 40 or 50 per cent. greater. In 
his work, ‘‘a few stars having proper-motions ab- 
normally large for their classes were omitted in 
accordance with definitely set limits’? (which unfor- 
tunately are not described more specifically). |The 
approximate percentage of exctusion is given in the last 
column of the table. It appears on inspection that the 
differences between Campbell’s and Boss’s results for 
stars of Classes A, K, and M arise mainly from the 
greater brightness of Campbell’s stars; those for 
Classes F and G are due mainly to the different per- 
centages of exclusion, and that the only significant 
difference is that Campbell’s B stars, though averag- 
ing much brighter to the eye than Boss’s, havea 
slightly smaller mean parallax, and therefore must be, 
on the average, of greater real brightness. 

Closely allied with these investigations is the deter- 
mination of the mean peculiar velocity of the stars of 
each spectral class. The results of Boss and Campbell, 
reached almost simultaneously, and from quite in- 
dependent data—proper-motions in one case and radial 
velocities in the other—are in extraordinary agree- 
ment. The values found for the average component 
of motion in any arbitrary direction are (in kilometres 
per second) :— 


Spectrum B A F G K M 
Campbell 65 105 144 159 168 17-1 
Boss 6:3... 1025) 16:2. 5218:6 5 Dea) ear 


The rapid increase of the mean velocity from B to 
F is very remarkable. The slow further gain from 
F to M would attract little attention if it were not in 
the same direction. 

It should here be added that the phenomenon known 
as preferential motion, or * star-streaming ’’—the ex- 
cess of the average peculiar velocity of the stars in a 
certain direction above those in the perpendicular 
directions—is almost absent in Class B, very con- 
spicuous in Class A, and somewhat less so in the 
following classes, being partially concealed by the 
greater average magnitude of the velocities. ; 

Another notable difference between the various 
spectral classes may be found in the number of binary 
stars, both visual and spectroscopic, among them. 
We may distinguish two classes of visual double stars: 
binary stars for which orbits have been computed 
(with periods rarely exceeding two centuries), and 
physical pairs, the real connection of which is proved 

M4 Lick Observatory Bulletin, vol. vi., p. 134, IQIt. 


NO. 2322) \VOLN O2)| 


NATURE 


[APRIL 30, i914 


by common proper-motion, but the relative motions 
ot which are slow, and periods long—probably often 
thousands of years. The counts of the two classes 
here given are from a list prepared in the course of 
my work, and include all stars for which the neces- 
sary data could be obtained, including many stars 
for which unpublished observations of spectra have 
been generously furnished me from Harvard. For 
the spectroscopic binaries, Campbell’s counts have 
been taken from his catalogue of 1g1o.!° They in- 
clude all the systems the periods of which were then 
known, and are divided into two groups, one including 
all the periods of which are less than ten days, and 
also all those the periods of which, though not exactly 
known, are described as short; the other all the 
known periods exceeding ten days, and those which, 
though not precisely determined, are known to be 
long. 


TaBLe IV. 

Spectra Visual Physical Spectroscopic binaries 
binaries pairs Short period Long period 
B 0 52 33 15 
A 14 152 15 I4 
F 33 115 Tvs 9 
G 24 74 8 14 
K 12 G28 ls Ol sh gta 
M OWE Soc Tas en On here ® 


It appears that, in Campbell’s picturesque phrase, 
visual double stars of relatively short period ‘‘ abhor” 
Classes B and M, the greatest number being of Class 
F, with G a good second. Among the physical pairs, 
of long period, the most favoured class is A. Class B 
is abundantly represented, and Class M very sparingly. 

The percentage of stars which are found to be 
spectroscopic binaries is very probably greater among 
Classes B and A than lower down the list. As time 
goes on, indeed, more and more of the stars of these 
“later”? types are found to be spectroscopically double, 
but of long period; but among these classes the detec- 
tion of such systems, where the range of velocity is 
small, is much easier than among the stars of the first 
type, the iines of which are diffuse. In any case it is 
certain that short periods are almost confined to 
Classes B, A, and F, and are especially abundant in 
the first of these. |The few short-period stars of 
Class G which appear in the table are all Cepheid 
variables, most of which were selected for observation 
on this account, and would not otherwise have got 
into the list. 

Finally, we may note that, among variable stars, 
those of the eclipsing type, such as Algol or Beta 
Lyre, are for the most part of Classes A and B, 
though there are a number of Classes F and G, and 
one at least of Class K; that the Cepheid variables 
are almost all of classes F and G, with a few A’s and 
K’s; and that almost all the irregular variables, and 
all the variables of long period, are of Classes M or N. 
Stars of Class M the spectra of which show bright 
hydrogen: lines are without exception variable, and 
almost all the stars of Class N are also subject to 
changes in brightness. 


(To be continued.) 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 
INTELLIGENCE, 


CaMBRIDGE.—Dr. James Ward, professor of mental 
philosophy and logic, has been nominated to represent 
the University on the occasion of the celebration at 
Oxford on June 10 of the seventh centenary of the 
birth of Roger Bacon, and Dr. Sorley, Knightbridge 
professor of moral philosophy, to represent the Univer- 

15 Lick Observatory Bulletin, vol. vi., p. 38, rgto. 


APRIL 30, 1914] 


NATURE 


231 


sity at the fifth International Congress of Philosophy 
to be held in London next year. 


EpinsurGH.—It is announced that the honorary 
degree of LL.D. is to be conferred on Dr. F. W. Mott, 
F.R.S., and Dr. Byrom Bramwell on July 3. 


Oxrorp.—The Romanes Lecture for this year will 
be delivered in the Sheldonian Theatre on Wednesday, 
June to, by Sir J. J. Thomson, upon the subject of 
‘“The Atomic Theory.” 


Mr. J. D. ROCKEFELLER has given the sum of 
200,000l, to the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Re- 
search, New York, as an endowment for a new depart- 
ment which is to deal with the diseases of animals. 


Tue following Chadwick lectures have been arranged 
for London :—Thursday, April 30, ‘‘Water Supply : 
Sources, Reservoirs, and Distribution,’ E. P. Hill; 
Wednesdays, May 6, 13, and 20, a course of three 
lectures, ‘Altitude and Health,’’ Prof. F. F. Roget, 
of the University of Geneva; Wednesday, May 27, 
‘“Milk Supply: a Public Health Criticism,’’ Prot 
H. R. Kenwood. Admission to all or any of the lec- 
tures is free. Information concerning future Chad 
wick Lectures may be obtained of the secretary, Mrs. 
Aubrey Richardson, at the offices of the trust, 8 Dart- 
mouth Street, Westminster. 


A University College of Science is shortly to be 
started in Calcutta as the result of generous gifts by 
Sir T. Palit and Dr. Rashbehary Ghose. The services 
of Dr. P. C. Ray, professor of chemistry in the Presi- 
dency College, Calcutta, will be lent by Government 
to the college, and as such he will be made the Palit 
professor of chemistry in the University of Calcutta. 
In a note on this appoinment in Nature of March 19 
(p. 75) it was incorrectly stated that Dr. Ray had been 
appointed to the Palit protessorship in the Presidency 
College, whereas, as is well known, he has been 
professor of chemistry in that college for many years. 
We learn from the Pioneer Mail of April 3 that the 
foundation stone of the new college in connection 
with the Calcutta University was laid on March 27 
last by Sir Asutosh Mookerjee, Vice-Chancellor of 
the University. In performing the ceremony, Sir 
Asutosh said that the scheme was first rendered prac- 
ticable by the execution of a trust deed by Sir Tarak- 
nath Palit, by which he transferred money and land 
for the promotion of pure and applied science among 
his countrymen. A few weeks later Sir Taraknath 
executed a second deed for the purpose of supplement- 
ing the trusts mentioned in the first deed. The Uni- 
versity Syndicate had received Government’s _ per- 
mission to apply 8o0o0l. annually for the maintenance 
of the laboratory, and Dr. Rashbehary Ghose has 
offered 67,0001. for the foundation of four professor- 
ships and eight research studentships: 


Tue Department of Agriculture and Technical In- 
struction for Ireland will, in July, 1914, award a 
limited number of commercial scholarships (not more 
than six) to young men who have had a sound general 
education and some commercial experience. The 
object of the scholarships is to afford facilities for the 
holders to obtain training in some higher institution, 
approved by the Department, with a view to their 
employment as teachers of commercial subjects in 
Ireland. The scholarships are of the value of tool. 
per annum each, and are tenable for two years. Can- 
didates must be at least twenty-one years of age on 
July 1, 1914, and must have been’ born in Ireland, 
or have been resident in Ireland for three years imme- 
diately preceding July 1, 1914. Successful candidates 
will be required to enter into an undertaking that they 


NO. 2322, VOL. 93] 


will engage in the teaching of commercial subjects 
after the termination of their scholarships. Candi- 
dates must fill in Form S. 195 and return it to the 
secretary of the Department not later than May 30, 
1914. Copies of this form may be had on application. 


Tue Standing Committee of the House of Commons 
has now concluded its consideration of Mr. Denman’s 
Children (Employment and School Attendance) Bill, 
and the Bill will be reported to the House for third 
reading. Several important changes have been made, 
and new clauses added. As amended, the Bill pro- 
poses the following changes in the existing law :— 
Limitation of powers of lccal education authorities : 
(1) No exemption from school attendance allowed for 
children under thirteen years of age; (2) restrictions 
in exemption above thirteen. Extension of powers of 
local education authorities: (1) Optional powers 
granted to extend school leaving age to fifteen; (2) 
optional powers granted to make employment by-laws 
for children up to age of sixteen (instead of fourteen as 
at present). Abolition of existing half-time system and 
a restriction on street trading. The Bill renews pro- 
posals passed by Standing Committees of the House 
of Commons in 1912 in the Education (School Attend- 
ance) and the Employment of Children Bills. The 
chief objects of the Bill not contained in those Bills 
are the transference of the duty of approving by-laws 
relating to the employment of children from the Home 
Office to the Board of Education, and the raising to 
fifteen of the school leaving age and the minimum 
age for boys engaged in street trading. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
LONDON. 


Physical Society, March 27.—Sir J. J. Thomson, 
president, in the chair.—F. W. Jordan: A new type of 
thermogalvanometer. The puff of air from an orifice 
in an air chamber when the air within is heated sud- 
denly is utilised to deflect a small suspended vane. 
The current to be measured is made or broken through 
a heater of small thermal capacity in the air chamber 
and the outrush or inrush of air through the orifice 
delivers an impulse te the vane. In one instrument 
the sensibility was 4 mm. per microwatt, and the 
extremity of the throw of the vane was attained in 
two seconds.—J. D. Morgan: An instrument for re- 
cording pressure variations due to explosions in tubes. 
A mechanical oscillograph for recording the pressure 
variations which accompany a gas explosion in an 
open tube. A steel vane of rectangular form is 
employed and is mounted parallel to the explosion tube 
in a cell presenting a lateral opening to the interior. 
Along three edges the vane is free, and along the 
fourth is attached to a torsion wire. The vane fits 
the cell as closely as possible without touching the 
sides of the cell. The diagram is produced by a style 
on smoked paper wrapped round a clock-driven drum, 
and on the strip. is described a time curve. To make 
the instrument dead-beat a dash-pot is mounted on the 
front of the vane ceil and attached to the style.—R. 
Appleyard: The direct measurement of the Napierian 
base. A simple apparatus was described intended to 
convey an idea of the way in which the base e of the 
Napierian logarithms enters into physical problems. 
A length of chain hung from a loop of thread, and the 
remaining part of the chain pulled aside until the 
thread is at 45° to the vertical. The curved portion 
becomes a true catenary when the angle between the 
vertical and curved portions of chain at the attach- 
ment of the loop is 90°. To ensure this, the circle of 
curvature of the catenary at that point is drawn, and 


BP 24D) 
-o- 


NATURE 


| APRIL 30, 1914 


found to have a radius equal to the vertical portion. 
If the vertical length is taken as unity, and its lower 
end as origin, it is shown that e is the sum of the 
y-ordinate at x=1, and the length of the curved chain 
between the point where that y-ordinate cuts the curve 
and the top of the vertical portion. The application 
of this result to the relationship and meaning of 
hyperbolic functions was also shown. 

Zoological Society, April 7.—Prof. E. W. MacBride, 
vice-president, in the chair.—Dr. F. E. Beddard:; The 
anatomy and systematic arrangement of the Cestoidea, 
Two new species of tapeworms belonging to the 
genera Linstowia and Oochoristica were described.— 
E. W. Shann: The lateral muscle of Teleostei. The 
author has undertaken the present work in view of 
the conflicting statements extant as to the nature of 
the lateral muscle in Teleostean fishes; the primary 
object of the paper is to uphold the single-layer theory 
of its composition.—Dr. W. T, Calman: Report on 
the river-crabs (Potamonidz) collected by the British 
Ornithologists’ Union and Wollaston Expeditions in 
Dutch New Guinea. Two new species were described. 
—Oldfield Thomas: Report on the mammals collected 
by the British Ornithologists’ Union and Wollaston 
Expeditions in Dutch New Guinea. The species ob- 
tained numbered thirty-one, of which the types of 
twelve had been brought home by the expeditions. 
The two expeditions had obtained a very valuable 
series of ground-animals, notably of the genus Uromys, 
but there seemed to be, in the part of New Guinea 
explored, a remarkable absence of arboreal species, 
these forming in other parts of New Guinea a large 
proportion of the mammal fauna.—Guy Dollman: 
Mammals obtained by Mr. Willoughby P. Lowe during 
the recent East African Expedition organised by Mr. 
G. P. Cosens. The entire collection, some two 
hundred specimens in all, was presented by Mr. Cosens 
to the national collection. Besides examples of many 
rare and important species, specimens of several new 
forms were included. 


Geological Society, April 8.—Dr. A. Smith Wood- 
ward, president, in the chair.—Prof. J. W. Gregory : 
The evolution of the Essex river-system, and its rela- 
tion to that of the Midlands. The post-Eocene 
geology of Essex must be learnt from its gravels and 
their non-local constituents. In the absence of any 
rock which affords a certain proof of its route, the 
effort was made to determine the direction of trans- 
port by tracing the variations in the proportions and 
size of the non-local constituents; this test shows that 
the quartzites and felsites came from the north-west, 
and the Lower Greensand cherts from the south and 
south-east. The gravels are classified as follows :— 
(1) The oldest series. The Brentwood group, which 
consists of redeposited Bagshot Beds and of local 
materials only. (2) The Danbury Gravel, which was 
deposited before the arrival of the felsites, and at the 
beginning of the arrivai of the Lower Greensand 
cherts. (3) The Braintree Gravel, which is largely 
composed of quartzitic drift, with abundant Lower 
Greensand cherts and some felsites that were probably 
derived from the Lower Greensand conglomerates 
north-west of Essex. (4) and (5) Glacial and post- 
Glacial gravels. Judged from the distribution and 
dates of appearance of the non-local constituents in 
these gravels, the evolution of the Essex river-systems 
is traced. The Lower Thames and Essex river- 
systems appear to be due to the Eocene earth-move- 
ments which formed the London Basin; and_ the 
coeval uplift of the English Midlands started thence 
a radial drainage. The streams to the south-east 
cut the wind-gaps on the Chiltern Hills, and the 
drainage to the south-west flowed along a subsidence 


NO. 23225a700. 03) 


on the north-western side of the Jurassic escarpment 


as the Warwickshire Avon and the Lower Severn.— 
J. B. Scrivenor: The topaz-bearing rocks of Gunong 
Bakau (Federated Malay States), Gunong Bakau is 
a peak, 4426 ft. high, in the main range of the Malay 
Peninsula. It is composed of porphyritic granite, into 
which have been intruded veins of quartz-topaz rock, 
and, at a later date, masses and veins of topaz-aplite. 


Roya! Meteorological Society, April 22.—J. E. Clark 
and R. H. Hooker: Report on the phenological ob- 
servations from December, 1912, to November, 1913. 
This dealt with the dates of the flowering of plants, 
the song and migration of birds, the appearance of 
insects, and also the character of farm crops. Con- 
sidering England as a whole, the main feature of the 
weather, so far as it affected crops, was the cold wet 
summer of 1912, the abundant precipitation during 
the spring, which resulted in a bountiful hay crop, and 
the dry summer.—A. J. Bamford ; A small anemometer 
for tropical use. : 

Mathematical Society, April 23.—Prof. A. E. H. Love, 
president, in the chair.—Major P. A. MacMahon: (1) 
A modified form of pure reciprocants possessing the 
property that the algebraical sum of the coefficients is 
zero. (2) Lattice and prime-lattice permutations. 


DUBLIN. 


Royal Dublin Society, April 21.—Dr. J. H. Pollok in 
the chair.—Prof. W. Brown: Note on the change of 
length in nickel wire due to small longitudinal loads 
and low alternating magnetic fields. It is shown in 
this note that the contraction of the nickel wire is 
from 63 to 44 per cent. greater than for equivalent 
direct continuous magnetic fields. The loads employed 
were from o-1184 x Io to 10° grams per sq. cm., and 
magnetic fields up to 2c9 c.g.s. units. 


Paris. 


Academy of Sciences, April 20.—M. P. Appell in the 
chair.—Mauric2 Hamy and M. Millochau: The effects 
of variations of voltage on the intensity of the radia- 
tions of the arc obtained with an arrangement utilis- 
ing an alternating current. The time of exposure of 
a photographic plate for a constant impression was 
found to be proportional to V-°*, where V is the 
voltage.—A. Haller and Edouard Bauer: The action of 
sodium amide on_ the  allyldialkylacetophenones. 
General method of synthesis of the trialkylpyrrol- 
idones. This ketone does not follow the normal 
reaction, production of benzene and trialkylacetic acid, 
but forms a condensation product, C,H,,ON. The 
reactions of this substance were in agreement with 
those of a 3:3: 5-trimethylpyrrolidone, and this con- 
stitution was confirmed synthetically.—Charles Moureu 
and Jacques Ch. Bongrand: Carbon subnitride. The 
action of ammonia and amines. The nitride, 
CN—C=C-—CN, enters violently into combination 
with ammonia and amines. Ammonia gives amino- 
butenedinitrile, CN.C(NH,)=CH.CN, and homologues 
of this are produced when amines are substituted for 
ammonia.—M., Considére ; The contraction of armoured 
concrete: its influence on the forces developed in 
armoured concrete constructions. A comparison of 
experimental results obtained by Otto Graf at Stutt- 


-gart with some made at the laboratory of the Ecole 


des Ponts et Chaussées at Paris, and a discussion of a 
recent note by M. Rabut on the same subject.—O. 
Lehmann: The suction effects observed in liquid 
crystals in the course of growth (myelinic forms).— 
jf. A. F. Balland: The lowering of the proportion of 
gluten in flour. The bread-making properties of 
Parisian flour have deteriorated during recent years, 
and this is in part due to the decline in the proportion 


APRIL 30, 1914| 


NATURE 


233 


of gluten in the flour. The causes of this decline are 
discussed.—_P. Chofardet: Elements and ephemerides 
of the Kritzinger comet, 1914a.—M. Gunther: The 
general theory of systems of partial differential 
equations.— Marcel Moulin ; Influence of the rachet on 
the concentric development of the spiral springs of 
chronometers.—Jean Bielecki and Victor Henri: The 
calculation of the absorption spectrum of a body from 
its chemical composition. A general formula is given 
for the absorption spectrum of a substance containing 
two chromophores.—F, Dienert : A new nephelometer 
for use in analytical chemistry.—E. Cornec and G. 
Urbain: The application of cryoscopy to the deter- 
mination of double salts in aqueous solution. A study 
of the double salts of cadmium chloride, bromide, and 
iodide with the alkaline haloid salts.—F. Pisani : Some 
calcites showing marked phosphorescence under the 
action of heat.—N. Bezssonoff : Some facts relating to 
the formation of the perithecium and the delimitation 
of the ascospores in the Erysiphaceew.—J. Wolff: The 
mechanism of oxidation and reduction phenomena in 
plant tissues. A study of the oxidation and reduction 
phenomena produced by the oxydase present in the 
apple and pear.—F. Le Cerf: A grub of the family 
Lyczenide raised in Acacia galls by ants of the genus 
Cremastogaster. The grub is fed inside the gall with 
acacia leaves provided by the ants.—L. Joleaud: The 
eastern termination of the Numidian chain (Algeria). 
—Robert César-Franck: The relations between the 
form of the southern coast line of England and its 
geological constitution. 


CALCUTTA. 

Asiatic Society of Bengal, April 1.—A. d’Orchymont : 
Hydrophilidz from the Lake of Tiberias. The hydro- 
philid beetles are represented in Dr. Annandale’s col- 
lection by sixteen specimens, including examples of 
six species.—M. S. Ramaswami: Note on leaf-variation 
in Heptapleurum venulosum, Seem. This paper illus- 
trates the remarkably wide range of leaf-variability in 
the above species. The author shows that the method 
used in ‘‘ The Flora of British India” for differentiat- 
ing between the two sections of the subgenus Euhepta- 
pleurum, namely, the simply digitate or twice digitate 
character of the leaves, is incorrect so far as this 
species is concerned.—Dr. W. M. Tattersall: Amphi- 
poda and Isopoda from the Lake of Tiberias. Three 
species of Amphipoda and three of Isopoda are in- 
cluded in Dr. Annandale’s collection. It seems prob- 
able, on comparing these with the collections made 
by Barrois and by Festa, that the complete fauna of 
the Lake of Tiberias is now known, so far as the 
aquatic and semi-aquatic representatives of the two 
groups are concerned. Of the species in the collec- 
tion, one Amphipod, G. syriacus, and one Isopod, 
A. soxalis, are endemic and have not’so far been found 
outside Syria. The remaining species are distinctly 
‘* Mediterranean ’’ in character, though one (Orchestea 
platensis) is known also from the Atlantic coasts of 
America. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 


Reports upon the Present Condition and Future 
Needs of the Science of Anthropology. Presented by 
W. H. R. Rivers, A. E. Jenks, and S. G. Morley. 
ae ane plates. (Washington: Carnegie Institu- 
ion. 

Department of Marine Biology of the Carnegie 
Institution of Washington. Papers from the Tortugas 
Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution of Washing- 
ton. Vol. v. Pp. 222. (Washington: Carnegie In- 
stitution.) 

King Edward VII. Sanatorium, Midhurst. 


M2322, VOls ga 


Pre- 


| liminary Report on 


the Treatment of Pulmonary 
By Dr. N. D. Bards- 
H. K. Lewis.) 6s: 


Tuberculosis with ‘luberculin. 
well. Pp. xxi+141. (London: 
net. 

Instituto Central Meteorolégico y Geofisico de Chile. 


No. 4, Observaciones Meteor. en la Isla de Pascua. 
Mayo 1g11-Abril 1912. Pp. viiit+180+charts. (San- 
tiago de Chile.) 

A Text-Book of Geology. By Prof. J. Park. Pp. 


xv+598+70 plates. (London: C. Griffin and Co., 
Lid) “155. net. 

The Railways of the World. By E. Protheroe. 
Pp. xx+752+plates xvi. (London: G. Routledge and 
Sons, Ltd.) 7s. 6d. net. 

Handbook and Guide to the British Birds on Ex- 
hibition in the Lord Derby Natural History Museum, 
Liverpool. Pp. ix+69+plates 12. (Liverpool: C. 
Tinling and Co., Ltd.) 6d. 

Ministére de l’Agriculture. Direction Générale des 
Eaux et Foréts. 2°. Partie’ Eaux et Améliorations 
Agricoles. Service des Grandes Forces Hydrauliques 
(Régions des Alpes et du Sud-Ouest). Etudes 
Glaciologiques Savoie-Pyrénées. Tome iii. Pp. 
viii+166+plates xix. (Région des Alpes) Annexe du 
Tome v. Cartes. (No publisher’s name given.) 

Geschichte der Chemie von den Altesten Zeiten bis 


zur Gegenwart. By Prof. E. von Meyer. Vierte 
Auflage. Pp. xiv+616.° (Leipzig: Veit and Co.) 
13 marks. 

Government of India. Department of Revenue and 
Agriculture. Agricultural Statistics of India for the 
Years 1907-08 to 1g11-12. Vol. ii. Pp. ii+123. 
(Calcutta: Superintendent Government Printing, 
India.) 1s. 6d. 


The Antiquity of Man in Europe, being the Munro 
Lectures, 1913. By Prof. J. Geikie. Pp. xx+328+ 
xxi plates and maps. (Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd.) 
TOS= Of. Net. 

Biology, General and Medical. By Prof. J. McFar- 
land. Second edition. Pp. 457+3 plates. (Phil- 
adelphia and London: W. B. Saunders Co.) 7s. 6d. 
net. 


The Bacteriological Examination of Food and 
Water. By Dr. W. G. Savage. Pp. x+173. (Cam- 
bridge University Press.) 7s. 6d. net. 

Isolation Hospitals. By Dr. H. F. Parsons. Pp. 
xiv+27s.. (Cambridge University Press.) 12s. 6d. 
net. 


Country House Electric Lighting. Pp. 50 (South 
Kensington: Rawlings Bros., Ltd.) 

Report of the Advisory Committee for the Tropical 
Diseases Research Fund for the Year 1913. Pp. iv+ 
239. (London: H.M.S.O.; Wyman and Sons, Ltd.) 


2s. 4d. 
Some Desert Flowers Collected near Cairo. By 
G. M. Crowfoot. Pp. 50. (Cairo: F. Diemer.) 
Behavior Monographs. Wolsey NOs. Habit 


Formation in a Strain of Albino Rats of less than 
Normal Brain Weight. By G. C. Basset. Pp. iv+ 


46. (Cambridge, Mass.: H. Holt and Co.) 

Ueber den Mechanismus der Oxydationsvorgange im 
Tierorganismus. By Dr. L. Stern. Pp. vi+ 61. 
(Jena: G. Fischer.) 2.20 marks. 


Grundlehren der Chemie und Wege zur kinstlichen 
Herstellung von Naturstoffen. By Dr. E. Rist. Pp. 
iv+138. (Leipzig and Berlin: B. T. Teubner.) 1.60 
marks. 

Ueber den dermaligen Stand des Krallismus. 
Prof. H. Dexler. Pp. 49. (Prag: D. Kuh.) 

Conférences de Radium-biologie. Faites 4 1’Univer- 
sité de Gand en 1913. Pp. 214. Le 
Severyns.) 6. francs. 

Answers to the Exercises in a School Course in 
Geometry. By W. J. Dobbs. Pp. 16. (London: 


By 


(Bruxelles : 


- Longmans and Co.) 6d. net. 


234 


The Riddle of Mars the Planet. By C. E. Hous- 
den. Pp. xi+69+plates.. (London: Longmans and 
Co.) .35. .6d.. net. 

The Religion of a Naturalist. By H. A. Longman. 
Pp. viii+123. (London: Watts and Co.) Is. net. 

Annuaire de |’Académie Royale des Sciences, etc., 
de Belgique. Quatre-Vingtiéme Année. Pp. 594+ 


plates. (Bruxelles : Hayez.) 
Bell’s Outdoor and Indoor Experimental Arith- 
metics.. By H. H. Goodacre, E. F. Holmes, C. F. 


Noble, and P.. Steer: ‘Teacher’s Book. (Pp. xii+ 377. 
(London: G. Bell and Sons, Ltd.) 3s. 6d. net. 

The Progress of Eugenics. By Dr. C. W. Saleeby. 
Pp. 259) (London’:’ ‘Cassell and ;Co;, Lid) ss° 
net. 

Mathematical Papers for Admission into the Royal 
Military Academy and the Royal Military College for 
the Years ‘1905-13. By R. M. Milne. (London: 
Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 6s. 

Iowa Geological Survey. 
Weed Flora of Iowa. 
Pp. xiiit+g12. 
vey.) 

Baumé and Specific Gravity Tables for Liquids 
Lighter than Water. By N. H. Freeman. Pp. 27. 
(London: E, and F. N. Son, Ltd.) 2s. 6d. net. 

An Elementary Treatise on the Calculus for 
Engineering Students. By J. Graham. Fourth 
edition. Pp. 355. (London: E. and F. N. Spon, 
Ltd.) 5s. net. 

_Flower Favourites: their Legends, Symbolism, and 
Significance. By L. Deas. Second edition. Pp. 
viii+229. (London: Jarrold and Sons.) 3s. 6d. net. 


Bulletin No. 4. The 
By L. H. Pammel and others. 
(Des Moines: Iowa Geological Sur- 


DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 


THURSDAY, Apri 30. 

Royat Society, at 4.30.—The Presence of Inorganic Tron Compounds in 
the Chloroplasts of the Green Cells of Plants, considered in Relation- 
ship to Natural Photo-synthesis and the Origin of Life: Prof. B. 
Moore. —The lack of Adaptation in the Tristichaceze and Podostemacez : 
Dr J. C. Williss—The Genetics of Tetraploid Plants in Primula 
sinensis: R. P. Gregory.—The Action of certain Drugs on the isolated 
Human Uterus: J. A. Gunn.—The Influence of Osmotic Pressure 
upon the Regeneration of Gunda ulvae: T). J. Lioyd.—(1) Glossina 
brevipalpis as a Carrier of Trypanosome Disease in Nyasaland. (2) 
Trypanosome Diseases of Domestic Animals in Nyasaland. Trypanosoma 
pecorum. 11. Development in Glossina morsitans : Surg.-Gen. Sir D. 
Bruce, Major A. E. Hamerton, Capt. D. P. Watson and Lady Bruce. 

Roya INSTITUTION, at 3.—The Last Chapter of Greek Philosophy : 
Plotinus as Philosopher, Religious Teacher and Mystic: The Very Rev. 
W. R. Inge. 

FRIDAY, May «x. 


Roya InstiruTron, at 9.—A Criticism on Critics: E. F. Benson. 

Junior Institution oF ENGINEERS, at 8.—-The Control and Organisation 
of the Engineering Profession: S. T. Robson. 

Gerotoaists’ AssociaTIon, at 8.—A Geological Excursion in Matabele- 
land: F. P. Mennell. 


SATURDAY, May 2. 

Royat InstiruTion, at 3.—Similarity of Motion in Fluids. (2) The 
General Law of Surface Friction in Fluid Motion: Dr. T. E. Stanton. 
British PsycuHo.ocicaLt Society.—The Psychology of Play with Special 
Betrente bonis Value of Group Games in Education: Miss M. J. Reaney. 

—Corresp nding points: Prof. C. Spearman.—An Attempt at Xz 
Estimation of Character: E. Webb. E P aN hag 


MONDAY, May 4. 

Vicrorta InstiruTE, at 4.30.—Frederic Godet, Tutor of Frederick 
Noble: Prof. F. F. Roget. a a 

SOCIETY OF ENGINEERS, at 7.30. 

SOCIETY OF CHEMICAL, InpusTRY, at 8.—Apparatus for the Automatic 
Measuring and Injection of Chemicals: Hon. R. C. Parsons.—Jets for 
Mixing: Dr. Oscar Nagel.—A Reaction of Tetranitromethane: W. R. 

a Hodekincon. . 

RISTOTELIAN SocieTy, at 8.—The Psychology of Dissociated Per- 
sonality: Dr. W. I.eslie Mackenzie. y 

Roya Society or Arts, at 8.—Some Recent Developments in the Ceramic 
Industry: W. Burton. 

TUESDAY, May 5. 

Roya Institution, at 3.—Double Flowers: Prof. W. Bateson. 

ZOOLOGICAL SOcIETY, at 8.30. 

R6NTGEN Society, at 8.15.—X-rays and Crystals: L. W. Bragg. 

INSTITUTION OF Civit ENGINEERS at 9.—Twenty-second “‘ James Forrest” 
ees The Flying Machine from an Engineering Standpoint: F. W. 
vanchester. 


NO. 2322, VOL: 934 


NATURE 


| 


[APRIL 30, I914 


WEDNESDAY, May 6, 


Roya. Society OF Arts, at 8.—Inexpensive Motoring : A. L. Clayden. 
Society oF Pusriic ANaLystTs, at 8.—The Detection of Castor Oil Seeds: 
Dr. G. D. Lander and J. J. Geake.—The Composition of Milk: H. D. 
Richmond.—Note on ‘‘Sharps’’: J. F. Liverseege and G. D. Elsdon. 
AERONAUTICAL SOCIETY, at 8.30.—The Calculation of Aeroplane Wing- 
Spar Stresses: H. Booth. ‘ 
ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY, at 8. 


THURSDAY, May 7. 


Royat Society, at 4.—Election of Fellows.—At 4.30.—Probable Papers: 
(1) Some Calculations in Illustration of Fourier’s Theorem; (2) The 
Theory of Long Waves and Bores: Lord Kayleigh.—Protection from 
Lightning and the Range of Protection afforded by Lightning Rods: Sir 
J. Larmor and J. S. B. Larmor.—The Flow in Metals subjected to 
Large Constant Stresses: E. N. da C. Andrade.—The Properties of 
Magnetically-shielded Iron as Affected by Temperature: Prof. E: Wilson 
—Eddy Motion in the Atmosphere: G. I. Taylor. 

Roya. InsTiTUTION, at 3.—The Last Chapter of Greek Philosophy : 
Plotinus as Philosopher, Religious:Teacher and Mystic : The Very Rey. 
W. R_ Inge. 

Roya Society oF ARTS, at 4.30.—The Punjab Canal Colonies: Sir J. M. 
Douie. 

Cuitp Strupy Society, at 7.30.—Education in Early Childhood before 
School-Age : Miss F. A. Parish and Dr. W. P, Sheppard. 


LINNEAN Society, at 8.—The Botany of the Utakwa Expedition in Dutch * 


New Guinea: H. N. Ridley and Others.—The Genus Lernzodiscus, F. 
Miiller : G. Smith.—The Botanic Gardens at Sibpur (Calcutta), and the 
Government Cinchona Plantations : Major Gage.—A New Natural Order 
of Flowering Plants: Tristichacee: Dr. }. C. Willis.—The Forced or 
Cultural Production of Free, Spherical Pearls; a Preliminary Note on a 
New Method: J. Hornell.—Some Terrestrial Isopoda from New Zealand 
and Tasmania ; with the Description of a New Genus, Notoniscus: Prof. 
C. Chilton. : . 


CONTENTS. PAGE 
New. York Water Supply. “By BCi0. 220). 209 
Romance in Archeology. By L.W.K. ... 210 
Astronomy eC CMe Ore 211 


Textile Fibres . 3. Js Sail Se lpno: Bee 


Our Bookshelf ME Re en ie reer aes. Cao co Le 
Letters to the Editor :— 


Cellular Structure of Emulsions. —Sir Joseph Larmor, 


POR S: « Dr. Cecilie Deschi 1s) cee ra cee 
The Origin of the Moon and the Earth’s Contraction. 
-~Rev; ©; Fisher 2206... eas gee: sone eee aS 
Movements on Water Surfaces. Edward A. Martin; 
Prot..C.i V. Boysiiiois5-0e eae eae eed 
X-Ray Spectra —G. E. M. Jauncey ..:.. .. 214) 
An Optical Illusion.—Dr, F. W. Edridge-Green 214 
Some Life-Histories and Habits of Insects. (//us- 
trated.) By F. A. D. . ;._. Seto ts Zi 


The Mineral Industry of Ganadan nr ca a= A a HAO 
Improvements in the Binocular Microscope. (///us- 


trated.) By Prof. R. T. Hewlett etnies oe Sey 
The Scottish Antarctic Expedition . a) oO 
ly (CSS Siete oh Clenlnh BS vg ydotmagiyd oy oo | 21S) 
Our Astronomical Column:— ~ 
Astronomical Occurrences for May ... . 223 
Gometp1914a (Kritzingen) ease astern een esenite 228 


The April Meteoric Shower neat oils appa ere ctr 5 | 5 
The Pressure in the Reversing Layer of the Sun . . 224 


The New University of Zurich. ByG.. 224 
Radimeand Quack Mediciness 50-5. 2 sees 
Japanese Fishes and Nomenclature. ByJ.J... . 225 
The Canadian Entomological Service Reet a ee: 
Diseases of Plants. By F.C... . 226 


Easter Vacation Work at Port Erin. By W. A. H. 227 
Relations between the Spectra and Other Charac- 
teristics of the Stars.—I. By Prof. H. N. Russell. 227 


University and Educational Intelligence. . . . . . 230 
Societies and Academies | 274 4.2) aa-mene <ls yee etl 
Books Received . a ee! a, Oona ee oe 233 


Diary of Societies . 


Editorial and Publishing Offices: 
MACMILLAN & CO., Ltp., 
Si MARTIN’S . STREET; LONDON, W:C: 


Advertisements and business letters to be addressed to the 
Publishers. 


Editorial Communications to the Editor. 


Telegraphic Address: Puusis, LONDON. 
Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830. 


= moe i 


NATURE 


THURSDAY, MAY 7 e114. 


CANCER. 

(1) The Pathology of Growth: Tumours. By Dr. 
C. :Pi-Wviiess-Pp. xii +238.8boudon: Con- 
stable and Co., Ltd., 1913.) Price 1os. 6d. net. 

(2) Researches into Induced: Cell-reproduction and 
Cancer, and other Papers. Vol. iii. By H. C. 
Ross, J. W. Cropper, E..H. Ross, H. Bayon, 
W. Jj. Atkinson. Butterfield, E. Jennings, 
and S. R. Moulgavkar. .The John Howard 
McFadden Researches. Pp. 149+xvii plates. 
(London: John Murray, 1913.) Price 5s. net. 

(1) HIS- volume seems to promise a series 

on the pathology of growth, under the 

editorship of Prof. A. E. Boycott. The venture 
is a welcome one showing that the move towards 
a closer union between pathology and physiology 
is making progress. Pathology is still so often 
restricted to, or actually confounded with, mere 
morbid anatomy that the wider recognition of 
disturbance of function-——in the case of this volume 
of abnormality of growth—as a department of 
physiology proper, can only contribute both to a 
more wide-visioned outlook on the processes of 
disease, and also equally to a more critical atti- 
tude on the part of those whose sphere of activity 
proper is the investigation of disease, and not of 
normal function or structure. 

For the volume as a whole we have nothing 
but praise, although in. one relating to the patho- 
logy of growth it seems that taking up about 
half of it with the classification and histological 
structure of tumours is a liberal allowance. Es- 
pecially the space devoted to Hodgkin’s disease 
may, with profit, be omitted in future editions, 
since it is doubtful whether it is rightly included 
in a discussion of tumours proper. Since also 
the book is intended for students, it appears that 
some of this space might with profit have been 
yielded to the description of naked-eye appear- 
ances. 

The chapters on growth, hypertrophy, atrophy, 
regeneration, and kindred topics are well and 
lucidly written. The inclusion in a text-book of 
pathology of a full discussion of the statistics of 
cancer is a welcome innovation, to which even 
more space might have been spared from classi- 
fication, since the full significance of the statis- 
tical facts can only be brought out by giving 
detailed consideration to the anatomical or site 
distribution of cancer. Had this been done, the 
author would scarcely have committed himself 
to the general statement that cancer is increas- 


235 


General Register Office show that the question 
of the increase of cancer exists only for certain 
parts of the body, but not for others. 

The book is, notwithstanding these criticisms, 
a valuable one for the student and for all who 
wish to have an objective review of what morbid 
anatomy and histology, experiment, and statistics 
have yielded together in the effort to elucidate 
cancer, 

(2) The modest short title of this volume— 
“Researches into Induced Cell Proliferation and 
Cancer ”—and, indeed, also the full title, do not . 
convey adequately the enormously wide scope of 
the fourteen original papers which form its con- 
tents. The word “cancer” occurs in the title of 
one paper only: “Epithelial cell proliferation”; 
“The cell division of leucocytes demonstrated ”’ ; 
“Fibro-adenomatous nodules induced de novo” ; 
“Cell division figures induced in human blood 
platelets”; “Treatment of wounds”; also-éach 
occur once, and presumably these are the papers 
for which it is claimed that ‘‘ The Howard Mcfad- 
den Researches” into induced cell proliferation 
bear upon cancer. The other eight papers deal 
with scarlet fever, measles, and syphilis, the cul- 
tivation of trypanosomes, a parasite of the earth- 
worm, and the nature of ‘ Kurloff’s bodies ” 
found in the leucocytes of guinea-pigs, etc. 

Each subject taken up is a big one. The extent 
and diversity of the ground covered in this small 
volume of 149 pages will not cause cavil at its’ 
contents being described as researches, on the 
part of anyone not having precise knowledge of 
any of the many subjects of which it treats. In- 
deed, they may well marvel at the versatility 
displayed and the exact statements made about 
pitch, cancer, the classification and nomenclature 
of the “protozoal parasite in syphilis,” and the 
division of polymorphonuclear leucocytes and of 
blood platelets. As regards syphilis, those who 
were present at the last meeting of the Patho- 
logical Society of Great Britain will recall the 
destructive criticism passed upon very similar 
claims regarding what was put forward as the life 
cycle of the cause of syphilis. The statements 
regarding the parasitic nature of Kurloff’s bodies 
have not been confirmed by a recent German 
worker. 

As regards cancer, the more critical reader will 
ask what leucocytes and blood plates have to do 
with it, and if any cancerous growth has been 
known ever to consist of blood platelets or poly- 
morphonuclear leucocytes. _When the statement 
is made that Khangri cancer “affects the women ”’ 
in Cashmere, he will wonder why the men have 
been forgotten. When it is stated that the efforts 


ing, since the last three annual reports of the ; made in the past to explain that “cancerous tissue 


NO j-232 455 VOLS 93) 


L 


226 


is epithelium which has acquired malignant pro- | 


perties . . . have so far lacked the experimental 
support which enables them to rank as theories 
in contradistinction from hypothesis or specula- 
tions,” the critical reader will again wonder if he 
reads aright, because there is absolutely nothing 
new in the particular “experimental support ” 
adduced, namely, the results of subcutaneous 
injection in the ear of the rabbit. The appear- 
ances obtained are duplications of those described 
for the same site after the same procedure by 


Fischer as long ago as 1906, and by many other | 


authors since. Furthermore, these appearances 
have been the subject of years of discussion among 
pathologists, who are agreed they have nothing 
to do with cancer. 

As regards “adenomatous nodules produced 
de novo,” the description of nodules in the ducts 
of the mammary gland of goats is most super- 
ficial and imperfect; but it recalls the papillomata 
in the bile ducts of the rabbit, found in associa- 
tion with coccidiosis, another familiar appear- 
ance having nothing to do with cancer. 

The whole superstructure is raised on the basis 
of the authors’ assumption that they made poly- 
morphonuclear leucocytes divide on a microscopi- 
cal slide in 1909; the result described does not 
separate the cover glass from the slide by its 
surprising amount and rapidity, but only amounts 
to an increase of 10 per cent. of the number of 
leucocytes. This, even if correct, is but a sorry 
achievement when it is sought to explain normal 
or malignant growth, and it is forgotten that 
bacteria add 1000 per cent. to their weight in a 
few hours, and the embryos of rabbits and other 
mammals and birds grow at least 1000 per cent. 
daily, without the assistance of the results of 
researches into induced cell proliferation. 

Bagi s7Be 


PURE AND APPLIED MATHEMATICS. 


(1) A Textbook of Elementary Statics. By Prof. 
R. S. Heath. Pp. xii+284. (Oxford: Claren- 
don Press, 1913-): Price 4s. 6d: 

(2) A Shorter Algebra. By W. M. 
A. A. Bourne. Pp. viii+320+lix. 
G. Bell and Sons, Ltd., 1913.) 

(3) Key to “A New Algebra.” 
and J. M. Child. Vol. ii., containing parts iv., 
v.. and vi. Pp. 447-915. (London: Mac- 
millan and Co., Ltd., 1913.) Price 8s. 6d. 

(4) Practical Surveying and Elementary Geodesy. 
By Prof. Henry Adams. Pp. xii+276. (London: 
Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1913.) Price 4s. 6d. 
net. 

(5) Practical Science for Engineering Students. 


NO. 2323, VOL. 93| 


Baker and 
(London : 
Price 25. 6d: 

By S. Barnard 


NATURE 


[May 7, 1914 

By H. Stanley. Pp. vii+166. (London: 
Methuen and Co., Ltd.; nid-) > Pricesss- 

(6) Bell’s| Outdoor and Indoor Experimental 

Arithmetics. By H. H. Goodacre, and E. F. 


Holmes, C. F. Noble, Poo steers diirsi ieee. 
Course (Standard /im.),, pp.. 30) - Price: 3d and 
4d. Second Year’s Course (Standard iv.), pp. 
32. Price 3d. and 4d, Third Years Course 
(Standard v.), pp. 39. Piice 3d. and 4d. Fourth 
Year’s Course (Standard vi.), pp. 39. Price 4d. 
and 6d. Fifth Year’s Course (Standard viii.), 
pp. 48. Price 4d. and 6d. (London: G. Bell and 
Sons, Ltd., 1913). 
(1) HIS is a delightful book that will rejoice 
the heart of the students of Birming- 
ham and of many another university. No longer 
have we the problem of the elephant balancing 
upon a ball, the ball a foot in diameter and the 
elephant of negligible mass. In place of the old 
artificial kind we have, all the way through the 


| book, entrancing problems from everyday life. In 


method of treatment also Dr. Heath’s sympathies 
are of the widest. We find the link-polygon freely 
used, and that useful lettering device of Bow’s not 
despised. We find graphical methods given their 
due place; we find bending moments duly treated ; 
we find so many good thing's that the book, though 
apparently designed for the pure mathematician, 
ought to be adopted by the engineer also. 

One suggestion we offer for the next edition, 
that kinetic friction, as in a journal (p. 208), should 
be distinguished from static friction, as in the 
freewheel friction clutch (p. 201). 

(2) The Shorter Algebra is a good book of the 
old style. It gets all the tools ready first, begin- 
ning with seven pages of definitions and similar 
fundamentals. The preparation of the tools takes 
six chapters, formal equations come in chapter vil., 


and the first contact with life is found in 
chapter ix., in the application of equations to 
problems. 


The method of this book is quite a good one for 
the able pupil who grasps the rules and enjoys the 
game. We fear it is valueless for the mediocre 
pupil, who does not see that it is a game and can- 
not understand the rules. He learns only to think 
himself a fool, which is often not the case; even if 
it is the case it is a mistake to let him think so. 
Constant contact with life is the only successful 
way to teach an abstruse subject like algebra to 
the mediocre bey. 

The authors sternly refuse, while dealing with 
algebra, to recognise the existence of geometry. 
Two results dropped from the sky appear on 
page 103; do the authors hope to conceal their 
geometrical origin? If the pupils have even a sus- 
picion, the watertight bulkheads are seriously 


May 7, 1914| 


NATURE 


237 


endangered; and the authors write so clearly that 
we fear the pupils will actually know that a jet 
of geometry has pierced the algebra bulkhead. 

But we must not let amusement at these foibles 
hide the real excellence of the book. As is to be 
expected from the ability of its authors, the book 
is one of the best of its kind. As signs of their 
good judgment we may mention that long multi- 
plication and long division are marked for omission 
on a first reading, and that in graphs statistical 
curves come first. 

We do not understand why the authors should 
say that 3°5 is nearer to 4 than to 3. If words have 
any meaning, either 3 or 4 may be given as the 
“nearest integer to 3°5.” 

(3) Barnard and Child’s “Key” is clearly and 
concisely written, printed in very good type and 
nicely set out, and (so far as our sampling shows) 
correct. The good appearance is increased by 
appropriate use of the solidus, a symbol which is 
used by remarkably few writers in proportion to 
its real: value. 

(4) Prof. Adams’s book contains in concise form 
and on the whole well-expressed all that the sur- 
veyor can possibly need for work in the town and 
in the country, for engineering or for railway 
work. We are sorry to see that the recurring 
decimal is still in use (p. 161). In the appendix, 
some questions (e.g., 94, 166, 169) contain refer- 
ences to matter that is not supplied; it would be 
better to omit such questions altogether. 

(5) The Practical Science consists of suitably 
chosen experiments, the printer’s type is pleasing, 
and, except in the introductory chapter, the head- 
ings stand out effectively. The book covers heat, 
mechanics, electricity, and a number of miscel- 
laneous things, and the student who carries out 
the experiments will have a good elementary equip- 
ment. The treatment of friction and the funicular 
polygon deserves special praise; the friction treated 
is kinetic, which for engineers is more important 
than static. The text is in general clear, but 
here and there it is condensed to the verge of un- 
intelligibility. The references to the diagrams 
should be clearer, and the lettering of the diagrams 
be made to correspond to the text. Numerical 
results should be calculated to a suitable number of 
significant figures, and not left in a form involving 
the signs of multiplication, division, and square 
root. 

With a little care in revision, the next edition 
should be really valuable. 

(6) The idea of the Experimental Arithmetics is 
excellent. The pupil trained in this experimental 
way will obtain a grasp of arithmetical operations 
incomparably greater than was possible for the 
average pupil in the bookish days. And the idea 

NO. .23923, -ViOt. 163 | 


is well carried out by experiments to be performed 
indoors and out of doors on the measurement of 
length, area, volume, weight, and angle. 

Some secondary schools follow the rule “every 
lesson an English lesson,” and we should like to 
see this rule adopted in elementary schools. When 
that day comes, the language of these books wiil 
need to be given greater precision; for the present 
time the language is sufficiently clear. 

1D. BL M. 


BOTANICAL CATALOGUES AND MANUALS. 


(1) Catalogue of Hardy Trees and Shrubs Grow- 
ing at Albury Park, Surrey. Compiled by A. B. 
Jackson. Pp. viii+66. (London: West, New- 
man and Co., 1913.) 

(2) Lowson’s Text-book of Botany. 
edition. Adapted by M. Willis. 
face by, Dre Cx Willis: 
(London: W. B. Clive, 1913.) 
net. 

(3) Coconut Cultivation and Plantation Machin- 
ery. By H. Lake Coghlan and J. W. Hinchley. 
‘Pp. xii+128+x plates. (London: Crosby 
Lockwood and Son, 1914.) Price 3s. 6d. net. 

(4) Genera of British Plants: with the Addition of 
the Characters of the Genera. By H. G. Carter. 
Pp. xviiit+121. (Cambridge: University Press, 
igis7)\)  Ericer4ss net. 

(5) The Story of Plant Life in the British Isles. 
Introductory volume. By A. R. Horwood. Pp. 
xiv + 254 + plates. (London: J. and A. 
Churchill, 1914.) Price 6s. 6d. net. 

(6) Catalogue of the Plants Collected by Mr. and 
Mrs. P. A. Talbot in the Oban District, South 
Nigeria. By Dr. A. B: Rendle, E. G. Baker, 
H. F. Wernham, S. Moore, and others. Pp. 
x+157+17 plates. (London: British Museum 
(Natural History); Longmans and Co., 1913.) 
Price 9s: 

(7) Plant Physiology. By Dr. Ludwig Jost. Au- 
thorised English translation by R. J. Harvey 
Gibson. Supplement. Pp. 168. (Oxford: 
Clarendon Press, 1913.) Price 2s. 6d. net. 

(8) Plant Life. By T. H. Russell. Pp. 71. (Birm- 
ingham: Cornish Brothers, Ltd., n.d.) Price 
25.) Od. NEE 

(1) R. JACKSON’S catalogue of the trees 

at Albury is an interesting document, 
especially when considered in comparison with the 
somewhat ‘similar list compiled by him of the 
trees and shrubs at Syon. The value of the 

Albury list is enhanced by notes about particular 

trees and details as to the dates of introduction 

of the various species, characteristics of particular 
plants, uses, hardiness, etc. It is of interest to 


Indian 

With a pre- 
Pp. xii+6o2. 
Price 6s. 6d. 


238 
notice that there are some remarkably fine trees at 
Albury, no doubt due to the soil and sheltered 
situation, a black Italian poplar, for instance, 
being about 150 ft. high, and therefore one of 
the tallest trees in England. The white lime and 
other limes, the London planes and cedars, and 
a special variety, var. alburyensis of the black 
walnut, a specimen of the chestnut oak of North 
America, Quercus prinus, in addition to other 
trees, are worthy of special mention. 

(2) Of Mr. Lowson’s text-book there is not 
much that need be said; it is one of the series 
published by the University Tutorial Press, and 
follows the usual lines of the compressed botani- 
cal text-book. This particular edition has been 
prepared more especially for Indian students, but 
this fact is not very prominent in the text, except 
where the more systematic side of the subject in 
relation to phanerogams is treated. Otherwise, 
both text and figures bear a very familiar, and 
not very inspiring, appearance. 

(3) Messrs. Coghlan and Hinchley are to be 
congratulated on having produced a very useful 
and interesting work on the coconut, which should 
prove of considerable value at the present time 
when so much attention is being directed to the 
cultivation of the coconut palm and the utilisation 
of its products. The book is thoroughly practi- 
cal, and also well illustrated with reproductions of 
photographs, which are explanatory to the text. 
Soil, preparation of the land, seed-nuts, pests, 
copra, and machinery are among the subjects of 
the chapters. Careful estimates are given of the 
profit and loss of coconut planting, from which it 
would seem clear that, provided a suitable site 
has been chosen for the plantation, its ultimate 
success as a paying investment is assured. In an 
interesting chapter on catch crops, the value of 
Coffea robusta is emphasised. Errors appear to 
be few, but one misprint of s. d. for 1. s. in the 
last column of the exchange tables at the begin- 
ning of the book should be noted. 

(4) Mr. Carter’s book is written with the inten- 
.tion of familiarising students of British flowering 
plants and ferns with the genera arranged accord- 
ing to Engler’s system. In dealing with the 
genera of ferns, the arrangement enunciated by 
Bower is followed. 

The characteristics of the natural families are 
set out clearly in detail, and the genera are ar- 
ranged under their tribes in key form. The book 
aims at directing the attention of students to a 
closer study of the genera of plants, a purpose 
which it appears admirably calculated to fulfil. 

(5) Seventy-three photographs, several of which 
are quite pretty, appear to be the raison d’étre of 
“The Story of Plant Life in the British Isles”; 


NOr.2323,, Viol, 02] 7 


NATURE 


[May 7, 1914 
we cannot see otherwise why this discursive 
volume was published. The author in his intro- 
duction is careful to point out the faults which, 
underlie the systems of the great botanists of his- 
tory, and seems to suggest that a study of his own 
work will show the way of salvation. Whether 
the student will really become acquainted with the 
distinctive characters of the different families of 
plants by using this work would seem a matter of 
doubt, but he will find in these pages a consider- 
able amount of miscellaneous information, such as 
the fact that daisies grow in churchyards, that 
there is no need to point out the characteristic 
features of the ivy as ‘“‘any boy or girl can name 
it,’ and so on. A large number of common and 
local plant names are given, which is a feature of 
some interest, and there is a glossary of terms at. 
the end of the volume. 

(6) The Oban district of Calabar, Southern 
Nigeria, has yielded a rich harvest of new species. 
and genera of plants to the indefatigable collec- 
tors, Mr. and Mrs. P. Amaury Talbot. (2fte 
district, botanically, belongs to the Cameroon 
region, and the flora is continuous with that of the 
similar geological country included within German 
territory.. In the British area, however, there is 
a certain admixture of plants from the Gulf of 
Guinea region. The Oban district is‘ densely 
covered with forest, and is the home of a great 
diversity of species of plants; Mr, Talbot con- 
siders there are some four hundred to five. hun- 
dred per square mile. With a rainfall of about 
175 in., and a soil of decomposed granite and 
gneiss, it is scarcely remarkable that the flora 
should be a rich one. A striking feature of these 
forests is the number of cauliflorous trees, many 
of which were previously undescribed, six being 
new species of the remarkable myrtaceous genus 
Napoleona, the flowers of which resemble some- 
what those of the parasitic Rafflesia of the east. The 
collection consists of 1016 species and varieties, of 
which 195 are new, and there are nine new genera. 
The plants have been determined with but few 
exceptions by the staff of the British Museum, 
and the results with various notes by Mr. and 
Mrs. Talbot are presented in the volume under 
review, which form a fitting tribute to the indus- 
try of the collectors. It should be remembered 
that Mrs. Talbot while in the country made a 
remarkable series of water-colour drawings of a 
great number of the plants, and in particular of 
the flowers of the cauliflorous tree, which it is 
to be hoped will soon be published in colour. The 
present volume is illustrated with seventeen plates 
of figures, in which the more striking of the new 
plants are figured. 

The descriptions of new species occupy 119 


May 7, 1914] 


NATURE 


250 


pages, and are followed by a systematic list of 
the plants collected; among these may be noted 
Poga oleosa (Rhizophoracee), hitherto only 
known from the Gaboon, which is an interesting 
discovery, as its seeds are rich in oil. Lists of 
the ferns, mosses, fungi, and lichens which were 
collected by Mr. and Mrs. Talbot complete the 
enumeration. 

(7) The supplement to Jost’s “Plant Physio- 
logy ” consists of a translation of the alterations 
of the second edition of the German original, and 
to be appreciated must be studied hand in hand 
with the translation of the book. Without the 
original translation the supplement is, of course, 
valueless, and even with the book it is a singu- 
larly tiresome way of presenting new information 
or of correcting errors. It would, we should 
have thought, been of more value to produce in 
course of time a complete new edition of Jost’s 
lectures, since it will be impossible to continue to 
bring out further supplements embodying the 
changes in the newer German editions as they 
are published. 

(8) The publication of the little book entitled 
“Plant Life” is the outcome of a desire of those 
who heard these lectures at an adult school to 
have them in permanent form. They have been 
published, therefore, with many of the original 
illustrations, and form a clear, simple, and useful 
account of plant life for an audience such as that 
to whom they were given. No doubt much of 
their value and charm lay in their delivery, and 
we cannot think that any very useful purpose 
has been served by the publication of these lec- 
tures beyond that of honouring the memory of 
one who was, no doubt, as good a teacher as he 
must have been an ardent friend. 


OUR BOOKSHELF. 


The Physician in English History. By Dr. 
Norman Moore. (Linacre Lecture, 1913, St. 


John’s College, Cambridge.) Pp. 57. (Cam- 

bridge: University Press, 1913.) Price 2s. 6d. 

net. 
Tue charm of Dr. Norman Moore’s historical 
writing rests, as such virtue must rest, on many 
qualities; on his wide and curious learning sitting 
lightly upon his pen, his humanity living in his 
biographical gift, and enriched by his retentive 
memory, and his appreciation of the past, always 
informed by his mastery of modern clinical medi- 
eine. As his subject for the last Linacre Lecture 
Dr. Moore chose “The Physician in English 
History”; that is to say, not a string of all the 
physicians of English history, but, like the sheep 
in the painting of the Primrose family, so many 
as the confines of his hour would admit. The 
chosen physicians were either distinguished in 


NO. 2323, VOL. 93] 


themselves or came into note at momentous or 
picturesque occasions, Thus the lecturer gave to 
his audience not a procession of English physi- 
clans, a great story which would indeed be wel- 
come at his hands, but a small gallery of medical 
pictures set in a historical background. With 
the propriety of a lecturer in his university of 
Cambridge, he opened his discourse with Bede’s 
unusually interpretable narrative of the disease 
and death of Ethelreda of Ely. The skill of 
Cynifrid, who, apart from the arid cram of 
Isidore, was probably a _ fairly competent 
“Wundaerzt,” failed to save her life. Probably 
Cynifrid was called in too late, after long courses 
of monastic quackery. 

Next we are taken to the death-bed of William 
the Conqueror, whose mortal malady is illumined 
by the lecturer’s parallel instances from twen- 
tieth-century St. Bartholomew’s. 

The pages given to Linacre himself are by no 
means a perfunctory tribute to the founder, but 
a happy blend of the physician as a man of letters 
moving in pleasant groups amid his brilliant con- 
temporaries of the Renaissance, Erasmus, for 
example, Tonstall, and More. By a deft selec- 
tion of materials from a well-stored memory, Dr. 
Moore thus carries us century by century to the 
middle of the eighteenth, giving us by the way 
bright glimpses of Wadham in the mid-seven- 
teenth; then to the horizon of Swift and Pope 
with the flash of that tantalising meteor Arbuth- 
not, and bringing us at length to the great lexico- 
grapher and Dr. Brocklesby. A dainty entertain- 
ment. May the author in his spare hours give 
us many more of such. 


Text-book on Railroad Surveying. By G. W. 
Pickels and C. C. Wiley. Pp. ix+263. (New 
York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.; London: 
Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1914.) Price 10s. 6d. 
net. 


Tuts book gives a fair representation of American 
practice in railroad surveying. The subject-matter 
includes brief directions for carrying out the pre- 
liminary reconnaissance in various types of country, 
and the location of the best route. Fuller explana- 
tions follow of the setting out of circular and 
spiral transition curves; this section includes 
turn-outs, connections, and crossings. Earthwork 
problems are also treated. Methods are explained 
of shifting the location of curves in the field from 
that shown on the plan in order to secure better 
conditions of cutting or filling. The text occupies 
125 pages, and the remaining 138 pages are taken 
up with tables giving curve functions, logarithms 
of numbers, trigonometrical functions of angles 
and earthwork. Detailed mathematical solutions 
are omitted, and an elementary knowledge of 
surveying is assumed. Judging from the terse 
nature of the contents, the title ‘‘ Pocket-book of 
Railroad Surveying ’ would probably. be more 
appropriate, and would convey to engineers the 
fact that the book will be found to be a useful 


| companion in his field operations. 


240 


LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 


[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for 
opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with 
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 
this or any other part of Nature. _No notice ts 
taken of anonymous communications. ] 


Cré Magnon Man: Imprints of his Hand. 


WuiLe visiting lately the painted caves of the 
Cantabrian Mountains (north Spain) with Prof. Boule, 
who had kindly invited me to accompany him, I took 
advantage of this opportunity to study the imprints 
of the human hands which cccur on the walls of some 
of those caves, notably of Castillo. 

It is well known that at Gargas and elsewhere the 
imprints are those of a small hand, such as might 
have belonged to the Grimaldi race, and one such 
small imprint I observed in the cavern of Altamina. 

But in Castillo—so admirably described and _ illus- 
trated by the Abbé Breuil—I was surprised to find that 
all the impressions indicate an unusually large hand. 
With the permission of Dr. Obermaier, and the kind 
assistance of Mr. Burkitt, I was able to obtain trac- 
ings of seven of these, and two of them are complete 
enough for detailed study. One is 190 mm. in length, 
measured from the tip of the middle finger to the 
wrist, the other about 200 mm. This accords with the 


Fic. 3. 


length of the Cré6 Magnon hand as indicated by the 
description of the skeleton given by Dr. Verneau. 

This, however, is not all. When a tracing of one 
of the Castillo imprints is superposed on a tracing of 
the hand of a living subject (Englishman) having the 
same length, a characteristic difference is at once 
perceived. The fingers of the Castillo hand are 
shorter than those of the Englishman, and the equality 
in the total length is produced by the greater length 
of the palm. But this is a peculiarity which must 
have occurred in the Cré6 Magnon hand, for Dr. 
Verneau has shown that in the Mentone skeletons the 
metacarpals are disproportionately long when com- 
pared with the phalanges. 

I have made some preliminary measurements of 
tracings taken from the hands of twelve tall English- 
men, ranging from 5 ft. 83 in. to 6 ft. 03 in., with a 
mean of 5 ft. 11 in. (thus of about the Cré6 Magnon 
stature). Dividing the length of the middle finger by 
the length of the palm, I obtain 0-87 as the mean 
index, with a range of 0-77 to 1-0; while the most 
complete of the Castillo hands gives 0-765 and the 
next best 0-72 to 0-76. 

Thus the existence of two distinct races in the 
Aurignacian age, already indicated by the Mentone 
skeletons and the carved statuettes, receives additional 


confirmation. W.-J. Sonras: 
Oxford. 


NOn (2323, \,0lL.8 2) 


NATURE 


Ciba eee te a ee ee 


[May 7, 1914 


Cellular Structure of Emulsions. 


In reply to the letter of Prof. Kerr Grant in Nature 
of April 16, similar phenomena to those which he 
describes have been found to occur with minute motile 
organisms in water, and with sediments of various 
kinds in water and other liquids.. I have given an 
account of some of these appearances in my paper on 
the effect of gravity on the movements of micro- 
organisms in the Transactions of the Royal Society, 
series B, vol. cci., pp. 333-390. I have also obtained 
similar groupings with the fine sediment which is 
formed in a hypo-alum bath, used for toning and 
fixing P.O.P. prints. If a small quantity of this is 
poured into a shallow vessel, the particles which are 
at first evenly distributed through the liquid soon 
become aggregated into groups similar to those de- 
scribed by Prof. Grant. 

In the case of Euglena viridis, the living organisms 
in the dark become aggregated into groups as shown 
in Fig. 1, the central dark mass in each group con- 
sisting. of a stream of Euglene moving downwards, 
the lighter peripheral area consisting of Euglene 
moving upwards. Various sediments when allowed 
to settle in liquids become aggregated in a similar 
manner, but without the continuous up and down 
movements. Thus Fig. 2 shows a_ sediment of 
osmium dioxide settling in dilute glycerine, which 
closely resembles the aggregation of the living cells 
shown in Fig. 1 


In all the cases observed by me the regular group- 
ing appears to be preceded by the formation of a net- 
work, as shown in Fig. 3, formed by manganese 
dioxide settling in a solution of gum arabic. Again, 
if a readily oxidisable photographic developer is 
poured into a flat dish to form a layer about 1/16 in. 
deep, the brown oxidised film which forms at the 
surface is at once broken up into a network, Fig. 4, 
which gradually becomes resolved into separate 
groups. 

I have suggested that these groupings are in all 


_ probability cohesion figures, and that they may be 


related to the beautiful cohesion figures described by 
the late Mr. C. Tomlinson in the Philosophical Maga- 
zine for 1861 and 1864. They are probably formed 
whenever we have fine particles free to move, placed 
under such conditions that a force or forces, acting 
in opposition to the cohesion of the particles, can be 
brought into play. Cohesion, surface tension, diffu- 
sion currents, and gravity are among the forces prob- 
ably concerned in the effects observed. 

Prof. Grant’s suggestion that the flocculi in the 
solar photosphere and in cloud formations of floccu- 
lent type may be related to this phenomenon is in- 
teresting. Such flocculent appearances can also be 
observed, under certain conditions, in ponds and pools 
which contain dense aggregations of motile micro- 
organisms, and I have very little doubt that the net- 


May 7, 1914] 


NATURE 


241 


work-like and flocculent appearances so often observed 
in the froth which is formed when the tide breaks on 
the seashore may be explained in a similar manner. 
HaRo_D WaGER. 
West Park, Leeds, April 14. 


An Extension of the Spectrum in the Extreme 
Ultra-Violet. 


Tue researches of Schumann led him to extend 
the spectrum to the neighbourhood of wave-length 
1250, His limiting wave-length was determined by 
the absorption of the fluorite which formed a neces- 
sary part of his apparatus. In 1904 I succeeded in 
pushing the limit to wave-length 1030 by the use of a 
concave diffraction grating. — 

Recently I have renewed the attack on the problem, 
with the result that I have succeeded in photograph- 
ing the spectrum of hydrogen to wave-length 905. 
The extension is due, not so much to any fundamental 
change in the nature of the apparatus as to an im- 
provement in technique consequent on an experience 
of ten years. ; 

It is a characteristic of the region investigated by 
Schumann between wave-lengths 1850 and 1250 that, 
while hydrogen yieids a rich secondary spectrum, with 
the possible exception of one line, no radiation has 
been discovered belonging to the primary spectrum. 
On the other hand, in the new region between the 
limit set by fluorite and wave-length 905, a disruptive 
discharge in hydrogen produces a primary spectrum 
of great interest made up of perhaps a dozen lines. 
These lines are always accompanied in pure hydrogen 
by members of the secondary spectrum, but they may 
be obtained alone if helium containing a trace of 
hydrogen is employed. — 

Results obtained from vacuum tubes when a strong 
disruptive discharge is used, must always be inter- 
preted with caution since the material torn from the 
tube itself sometimes furnishes impurities. In the 
present case, it will be some time before the effect of 
such impurities can be estimated. However, it mav 
be stated with some degree of certainty that the 
diffuse series predicted in this region by Ritz has 
been discovered. The first member at 1216 is found 
to be greatly intensified by the disruptive discharge, 
and the next line at 1026 appears also, though very 
faintly. This diffuse series bears a simple relation to 
Balmer’s formula. Following the same kind of argu- 
ment, a sharp series corresponding to the Pickering 
series might be expected. The new region appears 
to yield two lines belonging to such a relation at the 
positions demanded by calculation. 


THEODORE LyMAN. 
Harvard University, April 20. 


The Structure of Atoms and Molecules. 


SINCE in an elaborate criticism of Bohr’s theory on 
the constitution of atoms and molecules, Prof. J. W. 
Nicholson, as in his letter to Nature (February 5, 
p 630), comes to the conclusion (Phil. Mag., xxvii., 
p- 560, 1914) that the valencies of lithium, beryllium, 
boron, ete., on Bohr’s theory are not in accord with 
experience, and if the electrons in the atoms are to be 
in one plane, we must either abandon Bohr’s method 
of calculating valency—and - (generally) | Bohr’s 
theory of the atoms more complex than hydrogen and 
helium—or give up van den Broek’s hypothesis, that 
the charge of the nucleus of Rutherford’s atom is 
equal to the atomic number (which hypothesis was 
accepted by Bohr as one of his fundamental assump- 
tions), I may be allowed to add some remarks to my 
previous letter on this subject (Nature, ‘March 5, 
1914). 

NO 423, VOLi.93) 


For these atoms at least this hypothesis is a mere 
expression of experimental facts. The hydrogen atom 
is known to lose never more than one electron, and 
the helium atom never more tnan two, and, of course, 
never one to form an electrolytic ion, while lithium, 
beryllium, boron, and carbon can lose, or, in chemical 
combination, dispose of 1, 2, 3, 4 electrons respectively. 
Further, the number of electrons per atom has been 
proved to be nearly equal to half the atomic weight 
(Rutherford, Barkle), and in the case of carbon to be 
six (Rutherford, Phil. Mag., vol. xxvi., p. 711, 1913). 
Since the number of electrons per atom must be 
an integer, here, at least, no other solution seems to 
be possible than that the number of electrons per 
atom surrounding the nucleus, and hence the nuclear 
charge, is equal to the atomic number. 

Further mentioning Moseley’s previous experiments 
on high-frequency spectra (undertaken for the express 
purpose of testing the atomic number hypothesis), and 
criticising the theoretical deductions, derived by Mose- 
ley from these experiments, Nicholson concludes that 
they have shown no relation to Bohr’s theory (loc. cit., 
p- 564). Now in another paper Moseley, from further 
experiments on high-frequency spectra, proves (Phil. 
Mag., vol. xxvii., p. 703, 1914) that the frequency of 
any line in the X-ray spectra is approximately propor- 
tional to A(M—b)*?, where A and 6b are constants for 
each series, and M, the atomic number (called by 
Moseley N) of the element, is identified with the num- 
ber of positive units of electricity contained in the 
atomic nucleus, so that these experiments “‘ give the 
strongest possible support’’ to this atomic number 
hypothesis (loc. cit., p. 712). The number of rare- 
earth elements as given by Moseley is the only excep- 
tion. 

That b is much larger for -he ‘‘L” lines than for 
the “K” lines suggests, according to Moseley (in 
agreement with my own views, Nature, December 
25, 1913) that the ‘‘L”’ system is situated the further 
from the nucleus. If so, b=the number of electrons 
nearest the nucleus, and not=oc,, the term arising 
from the influence of the electrons in a ring on each 
other, and, for the ‘“‘K ’ lines, n, like b, must be 
unity, as calculated by Nicholson on Bohr’s theory. 
For the ““L” lines, according to Moseley, b=7-4, but 
it can easily be seen from the tables that if (M—b) 
be here augmented by o-8 per cent., all values are 
integers (+0-2), and b=7 and n=1 again, but perhaps 
the factor 5/36 in Moseley’s interpretation cannot be 
retained. 

Hence, though this number 7 requires confirmation, 
principally, for the ‘‘K” line at least, Bohr’s 
theory is here in agreement with Moseley’s experi- 
ments, and with the atomic number hypothesis. Not 
only the frequencies, but also the minimum velocity 
of electrons requited to excite this radiation, and the 
absorption of it (in aluminium) have been proved (loc. 
cit.) to depend on the atomic number very nearly, and 
Nicholson’s conclusion that the atomic numbers are 
not correct does not hold, for (M—b), not M, is one 
unit less for the K radiation than the corresponding 
atomic number. But, from analogy, Bohr’s lithium 
atom, as well as Nicholson’s ring of three electrons, 
must be given up, for of three, one electron (b) must 
be very near the nucleus, one (n) near but outside this 
first one, and one as electron of valency must be 
peripheric. 

Further, the velocity of electrons, required to excite 
this radiation, according to Widdington equal to 
10° x atomic weight cm./sec., is more accurately equal 
to 2-24 x 10°(M—1:) cm./sec., than for Cr, Fe, Ni, Cu, 


Zn, and Se; the last formula gives for the constant 


reduced to unity 0-99, 1°04, 1-02, 1-00, 0°97, 1-00, while 
the first gives 0-99, 1-05, 1°06, 0:99, 0:98, 0°94 respec- 
tively. Since the absorbability of the excited radia- 


242 


NATURE 


[May 7, 1914 


tion is only about 3 per cent. greater than that of the 
exciting one, and is about inversely proportional to 
the sixth power of the atomic number, we get 


Vv =2-23 x 10°(M—1) cm./sec., while Bohr finds (M=N):: 


v=2:18x 10°N cm./sec. 


Now from this value of v, and v=2-47 x 10° (M—1)’, 
we can calculate x from xmv?=2hv, which must be a 
constant, because both v? and v depend on (M—1)’. 
As mv?/2 is energy to be, at least in part, radiated 
away periodically, on the right side of the equation, 
not only the number of times energy is radiated away 
per second (v), but also the total time of radiation (t) 
and the mean energy radiated away per period (E) 
must occur, so that xmv?=2tvE, and tE is a con- 
stant (which may mean only that the time during 
which radiation is emitted is inversely proportional, for 
a given frequency, to the quantity of energy that is 
radiated away during each period), Hence 

x =2hv/mv? =2.6-62 x 10-27.2-47 x 1015(M — 1)?/ 
0:88 x 10-?7,2:237 x 101°(M — 1)?=0-748, or 3/4, 
as assumed by Moseley. 

From mv?/a=e?(M—1)/a2 we  can_ calculate 
mav = e?,(M — 1) /v= 4-78? x 10~7°(M — 1) /2-23 x 108(M — 1) 
= 1-03 x 10-27, while h/27=6-62 x 10-77 /27= 1:05 x 1077", 
so that mav=h/2z, as assumed by Bohr, and 

a=5-12 x 10-°(M—1)-? cm. 
All this is in agreement with Bohr’s theory. 

As may be seen from a previous letter (NATURE, 
March 5, 1914, p. 7), some properties of the elements 
depend not on the atomic but on the “periodic” 
number P=8r+6 (r is the number of horizontal rows 
preceding that of the element period of rare-earth 
elements not counted, and p the maximum or posi- 
tive valency). Now the sum of these electrons of 
valency may be easily seen to be for all regular (non- 
elementar) inorganic molecules an integer multiplum 
of eight. Hence the same holds for the sum of all 
P electrons in these molecules (ions and rare-gases- 
atoms included). Affinity is then the tendency to 
build up systems of 8n P-electrons, and, of course, if 
such a molecule breaks up into atoms with each 
similar systems of 8n P-electrons, such ions must be 
formed as known from electrolysis. The great facility 
with which melecules like H,O, NH,, HCl, though 
neutral, are added to such systems, may be due to 
each of them, containing 8 P-electrons. According to 
Bohr, rings of electrons, whether belonging to one or 
to more atoms, may unite if the number of electrons 
in both is equal, so that rings of 2, 4, and ultimately 
8 will be the most probable (16 only if the charge is 
very great). 

Of course, the objections to the 
atom hold for such systems also. Indeed, the 
structure of the periodic system as a_ whole, 
and the curious relation between the number of the 
non-periodic (Q) elements, H, He, Co, Ni, Rh, Pd, 
and that of the horizontal rows in the periodic system : 
2/1, 2/2, 2/3, 4/3, 4/4, 4/5, 6/5, 6/6, 6/7, suggests 
systems of n equal non-coplanar rings of 8 electrons 
surrounding one or more (even n), positive nuclei, 
with m or n+1 electrons in or near the axis, and 
additional rings of electrons of valency, rather than a 
Saturnian atom. But, generally speaking, Bohr’s 
theory is not in disagreement with the atomic number 
hypothesis. A. VAN DEN BROEK. 

Gorsel (Holland), April 15. 


‘* Saturnian ”’ 


Means of Collecting Eelworms. 

Tue rhubarb, when cultivated as a field crop, is 
subject to a wasting disease, which, attacking the root- 
stock and causing it to decay, occasions considerable 
loss to the grower. The diseased tissue, when 


NO. 2323, von. @3i 


examined, is frequently found to be infested with the 
stem eelworm, Tylenchus devastatrix, Kuhn, and, in 
districts where this disease is prevalent, a supply of 
Tylenchus material is at hand which, since the rhubarb 
is a perennial plant, is available not only in summer 
but during winter also. 

When pieces of decaying rhubarb tissue are enclosed 
in a corked tube, any Tylenchus worms that are pre- 
sent migrate to the surface and, provided they have not 
been corked up too long, will, if placed in water, 
remain alive for weeks. Material can be obtained in 
quantity, and with very little delay, by placing pieces 
of rhubarb in a strainer covered with fine gauze, 
and suspended in a vessel of water. The eel- 
worms, forsaking their feeding-ground, wriggle 
through the muslin and accumulate in a writhing mass 
on the floor of the vessel. This water method, it may be 
added, is also useful in examining the eelworm fauna 
of soil samples, and pro- ; 
vides a simple means of 
ascertaining roughly 
what forms are present. 

When thus collected 
from rhubarb, the eel- 
worms are usually 
mixed with sediment, 
but wins defect - cam be %G..07 
remedied by placing the Ring 
material, while still un- 
sorted, in a _ porous 
vessel, such as a candle- 


Cotton-woor 


filter, which, when 

placed in water, allows emt 

only living eelworms to 

pass through. A_ better method of cleansing 


the material, however, is obtained by taking advan- 
tage of the habit that eelworms have of climbing up 
capillary films when these are present. For this pur- 
pose, silk threads are employed, to each of which is 
suspended a blob of cotton-wool, the cotton-wool serv- 
ing as a receptacle for holding the crude material 
obtained from the rhubarb. The upper ends of the 
threads are attached to a glass ring which is supported 
upon the sloping sides of a funnel-shaped vessel con- 
taining water—this shape being chosen in order that 
the blobs may hang clear. 

As the threads become saturated, the eelworms, 
leaving all impurities behind in the cotton-wool, ascend 
amongst the silken strands, and, passing over the 
brim into the water, congregate on the floor of the 
vessel—a feat on their part which, besides providing 
the student with clean material, raises the question 
whether, in respect of their acrobatic accomplishments, 
eelworms vary to any appreciable extent; and, if so, 
whether the rough method here described can be ex- 
tended so as to provide a means of sorting out one 
species from another, when two or more species are 
present in the material employed. 

V. LeEsour. 
a. He Tavier 
The University, Leeds. 


THE PROHIBITION OF EXPERIMENTS ON 
DOGS. 


ate Dogs’ Protection Bill for the second 

reading of which 122 members of Parliament 
were induced to vote the other day is one of those 
measures which are born of ignorance and fostered 
on misrepresentation. All our knowledge of the 
functions of the body is fundamentally based on 
experiments which have been made upon dogs. 
The action of the heart and its nerves; the 


May 7, 1914] 
mechanisms of circulation, respiration, digestion, 
and secretion; the functions of the liver, pancreas, 
and kidney;.the processes of metabolism, the 
causation of diabetes; the utility of the internally- 
secreting glands; the manner in which the organs 
of the body are governed and their functions 
regulated—none of these could have been eluci- 
dated nor could the knowledge which has been 
obtained have been applied to man from experi- 
ments upon animals other than dogs. The prohibi- 
tion of the employment of dogs for these investiga- 
tions would put a complete stop to the progress of 
physiology in Great Britain—which, in this par- 
ticular science, has, from the time of Harvey 
onwards, always held a peculiarly honourable 
position. It would put medicine in this country 
at an enormous disadvantage as compared with 
other countries; and our professors and students 
would have to go abroad to gain that practical 
knowledge of the functions of the body for the 
investigation of which the dog is the only animal 
available. For medicine is founded upon an exact 
knowledge of these functions: without it the 
physician gropes in the dark and works by guesses 
which are generally far removed from the actual 
truth. Moreover many diseases which are common 
to man and animals can only be fully investigated 
in an animal like the dog, unless man himself is 
to be made the subject of experiment. And it is 
scarcely necessary to point out even to our oppo- 
nents that the prohibition they demand would 
prevent any further investigation of the causation 
and treatment of diseases which are peculiar to 
the dog, so that the race they are professing to 
protect would ultimately suffer from such pro- 
hibition even more than mankind. 

The question really at issue is whether a know- 
ledge of the functions of the body in health and 
disease is to continue to be gained at the expense 
of a certaia number of stray and worthless dogs, 
which are in any case condemned by law to be 
destroyed, or at the expense of humanity. 
Nothing is more certain than that important 
branches of medical knowledge if not advanced by 
experiments on these animals can only be ad- 
vanced by taking toll of the lives of patients, who 
would be treated in ignorance of the conditions 
under which remedies should be applied and of 
the results which such remedies are likely to yield. 

It is difficult for a layman to understand the 
full bearing of this question, because he is unaware 
of the extent to which medical knowledge profits 
and has profited by experiments on animals. 
Some doctors even, mostly belonging to what is 
often spoken of as the “old school,’ are unin- 
formed regarding the manner in which their 
knowledge of the functions of the body and of the 
changes which are produced in disease has been 
acquired. It is, moreover, true that the ordinary 
practising physician does not himself make ex- 
periments upon animals: he has as a rule neither 
the time nor the opportunity. But however well- 
trained he may be, it is not the practitioner who 
advances our knowledge of medicine and surgery ; 
or if he does so it is at the expense of the patient 


NO. 2323, VOL. 93| 


NATURE 243 


upon whom he first makes a trial of the remedies 
by aid of which he hopes to cure the particular 
disease he is treating. There are, admittedly, 
operations which have been tried from the first 
upon the human subject and have ultimately 
resulted in singular success, so that cases which 
previously would have been relinquished as hope- 
less are in large numbers restored to health. But 
the toll of human lives required to achieve this 
success is lamentable. Surgeons who devise a 
new method of operation are in the habit of pub- 
lishing statistics regarding the cases which they 
have treated by it. An examination of such 
statistics always shows a relatively large per- 
centage of failures and death in the earlier cases, 
whilst that percentage is greatly reduced or even 
abolished in the later cases. This means that the 
earlier cases have partaken of the nature of ex- 
periments by the aid of which the technique of the 
method has been established. If this technique 
had been worked out in dog's the toll of human life 
required to arrive at the same degree of perfection 
would have been vastly less. 

There are, however, surgeons of the present 
day—and their number is likely to increase in the 
future—who consider it improper to acquire at the 
expense of their patients the technical knowledge 
necessary for the establishment of a new operative 
method and who would vvillingly resort to dog's for 
the purpose of obtaining such knowledge. This 
procedure can, however, be but rarely carried out 
in this country, because the anti-vivisectionist 
legislation of recent years places serious obstacles 
in its path. But in the United States, where a 
more enlightened view is taken of the position of 
mankind in relation to the lower animals, it is the 
recognised method of procedure, and is beginning 
to make itself felt in the extraordinary progress 
which the science and practice of surgery has 
made of late years in America. 

Sir Frederick Banbury has attempted to excite 
sympathy for his Bill by citing the case of a dog 
which had been operated on by an eminent Edin- 
burgh surgeon, with the object of testing a new 
method of inducing union of fractures of bone. 
Surely nothing could be more proper than that a 
new method should be first performed upon a dog 
rather than upon man. Does Sir Frederick Ban- 
bury think that it would have been right for the 
test to be first made upon a patient? Would he 
prefer to have an untried method applied to himself 
before it had been determined, by experiments 
upon dogs, whether it could be successfully per- 
formed or would be likely to yield a good result? 
I think the Edinburgh dog is an unfortunate in- 
stance for Sir Frederick to have selected. And 
I cannot, of course, expect him to see that the 
fact that the dog, which was bought in good faith 
from a known dealer in animals, happened to 
have been picked up in the street by the vendor, 
has nothing to do with the question whether it 
is or is not expedient to employ dog's for this and 
similar purposes. 

Sir Frederick Banbury is commonly believed to 
be impervious to argument and one can well 


244 NATURE [May 7, 1914 


fe) 


understand that this may be so; otherwise he . 
would surely be able to see that the very statistics 
which he gives regarding the number of dogs 
utilised in this country for medical research furnish 
the strongest of arguments against his Bill. Does 
he think that men who are engaged in these re- 
searches prefer to employ dogs, and insist on 
using them, rather than cats or rabbits or guinea- 
pigs—for which Sir Frederick evidently has but 
little sympathy—for no other reason than the sheer 
desire to vivisect them rather than other animals 
which are far cheaper and more easily obtained ? 
Is he not able to understand that dogs are never 
employed and are never likely to be employed for 
experiments unless there is some special necessity 
for using these animals rather than others? At 
any rate he may accept my assurance that it is 
so. And it follows that the greater number of 
dogs he can show to have been used the stronger 
is the argument for the necessity of using them. 
Not that his statistics are of much account, for in 
attempting to strengthen his case for dogs, he 
mixes cats up with them—unless the report of his 
speech is in this respect inaccurate. 

But Sir Frederick Banbury’s inability to assess 
evidence is sufficiently manifested by his argument 
that because the Royal Commission did not speci- 
fically state in its report that it is necessary for 
dogs to be employed it found no evidence 
sufficiently strong to authorise it to make such 
a statement. We know, as a matter of fact, that 
the Commission did discuss the question whether 
the exclusion of dogs might be recommended and 


definitely concluded against the adoption of this | 


course. Is it, perhaps, possible that Sir Frederick 
Banbury—who puts himself forward as a judge 
in this matter—has not himself read the evidence 
which was presented to the Commission on the 
subject? This is the only hypothesis that I can 
suggest to render his position intelligible. But 
this hypothesis cannot be applied to Col. Lock- 
wood, who appears as Sir Frederick’s chief sup- 
porter—since he was a member of the Commission. 
Although he does not dare to say that the evidence 
before the Commission proved that the use of dog's 
is not necessary, he alleges that it did not dis- 
tinctly prove “to anyone with a fair mind” that 
the dog alone is necessary for those “so-called 
scientific experiments ” (sic). And this in spite of 
the fact that it had been proved to demonstration 
before the Commission—what is, of course, well 
known to any person who has any medical know- 
ledge worth speaking of—that most of what we 
know regarding the functions of the body could 
only have been elucidated with the aid of experi- 
ments on dogs. 

Col. Lockwood is, however, good enough to 
inform us by what consideration he is guided. 
He is “not ashamed to say that he is actuated 
by sentiment.” But there is sentiment and senti- 
ment, and we may be permitted to inquire what 
kind of ‘sentiment it is that actuates Col. Lock- 
wood. Sentiment is feeling and Col. Lockwood’s 
feeling is for the lower animals in general, for 
dogs in particular, and probably—if it were to be 


NO; 2323, VOL, 102) 


\ 
| 
! 


still further analysed—most particularly for the 
special dog which, as he tells us, he leads about 
London on a string. His sentiment does not 
extend to humanity. He has no feeling for his 
own species. He prefers that mankind shall 
continue to be ignorant, and shall continue to 
suffer as a result of that ignorance, rather than 
that his feeling for dogs, most of which do not 
in any way suffer, shall be harrowed. 

Sentiment of this sort has no true ring: it is 
false sentiment; and any man—let alone a legis- 
lator—should be ashamed to confess that he is 
actuated by it. 

Further, Col. Lockwood is good enough “not 
to wish to accuse his opponents of not being so 
humane as_ himself.” But Col. Lockwood’s 
humaneness is—like his sentiment—false : it leaves 
humanity out of consideration. He may take it 
from me that his opponents: repudiate this kind 
of humaneness and thank him neither for the com- 
parison nor for his eulogium of their professton. 
Of what value is eulogium coming from such a 
quarter? If he and his 121 fellow-members accept 
the services of medical men, are they not benefit- 
ing by the very experiments they denounce? To 
be consistent they should resolutely decline to call 
in the aid of physician or surgeon and. betake 
themselves to the Christian Scientist or to any 
other quack they may fancy. But it is as hope- 
less to look for consistency from anti-vivisection- 
ists as to expect to gather figs from thistles. As 
for the voters who send such persons to Parlia- 
ment, one may well apply to them Carlyle’s 
estimate of most of his fellow-citizens. But per- 
haps they are, on the whole, not inappropriately 
represented there. E. A. SCHAFER. 


“ce 


THE TREVOR LAWRENCE ORCHID COL- 
LECTION AT THE ROYAL GARDENS, KEW. 
HEN the late Sir J. J. Trevor Lawrence, 
Bart., died, an announcement was made 

that his well-known orchid collection at Burford 
had been bequeathed to Lady Lawrence with an 


_ expression of his wish that such of the plants as 


were especially of botanical interest should be 
presented to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 
This gift has now been made to the national orchid 
collection there, which has received from Lady 
Lawrence a large selection consisting of 580 
plants, belonging to 89 genera, and representing 
350 species mainly, but by no means exclusively, 
of botanical interest. 

The character of the collection brought together 
by Sir Trevor at Burford during many years was 
a matter of general knowledge. It was singularly 
rich in rare and interesting species, owing to the 
fact that Sir Trevor at all times paid especial 
attention to whatever in the natural family was 
striking or unusual from a morphological point 
of view, apart entirely from any decorative value 
which it might possess. The result of this was 
that. the Burford collection was not only 
thoroughly representative of the usual showy 
species and hybrids and .on this account. to. be 


May 7, 1914] 


reckoned with in the horticultural world, but also 
possessed examples of most of the cultivated 
genera, some of which are seldom met with, and, 
on this account, was perhaps as important from 
the scientific as from the gardening point of view. 
It included plants from almost every quarter of 
the globe demanding the most diverse cultural 
treatment. 

The magnificent selection from the collection at 
Burford now transferred to Kew is rich in such 
genera as Bulbophyllum, Cirrhopetalum, Pleuro- 
thallis, Maxillaria, Epidendrum, Eria, Angraecum, 
Dendrobium, and Ccelogyne, and includes many 
species and a few genera not previously repre- 
sented at Kew, some of these being rarely seen 
in cultivation. The genera not previously present 
in the Kew collection include Trichoceros, a high 
Andine genus very difficult to bring home alive 
and very difficult to cultivate afterwards, Nasonia 
and Quekettia, two small American genera, and 
Stereochilus and Sigmatogyne from Northern 
India. The collection also includes a number of 
undetermined species which have not yet flowered ; 
in a few cases the genus to which these belong is 
still doubtful. These unknown plants have been 
derived from various sources; some of them are 
plants contributed to the Burford collection by 
Sir Trevor’s son, Captain C. T. Lawrence, by 
whom they were obtained in West Africa. 


PROF. EDUARD SUESS, FOR.MEM.R.S. 


ati the death of Eduard Suess on April 26, 
Austria loses her most eminent man of 
science, and the world one of its greatest natural- 
ists. The son of a German merchant, domiciled 
in this country, Suess was born. in London on 
August 20, 1831. The family removed, while he 
was still young, first to Prague and then to 
Vienna—but to the end of his life Suess retained 
his affection for what he used to call his “native 
land,” and maintained the most cordial relations 
with his numerous English friends. His univer- 
sity career was commenced at Prague, but com- 
pleted in Vienna, and at the age of twenty-one 
he became an assistant in the geological depart- 
ment of the famous Natural History Museum of 
the latter city. Here he worked for five years on 
the collections, and, as the result of his studies, 
published a number of important papers on grapto- 
lites, brachiopods, and other fossil forms. 

It was in 1857, however, that Suess entered 
upon what was his life’s great work—that of a 
teacher. After serving ten years as an extra- 
ordinary professor in the University of Vienna, 
he was in 1867 appointed to the full professor- 
ship of geology, a post which he held for thirty- 
four years, retiring as emeritus professor in 1901. 
Of his success as a teacher it is needless to 
speak, for he numbered among his _ pupils 
Neumayr, Mojsisovics, Fuchs, Waagen, Penck, 
and other distinguished geologists, many of whom 
caught from their master that grasp of detail, 
combined with powers of generalisation, that so 
eminently distinguished him. The writer of this 


NO. 2323, VOL. 93] 


NATURE 


245 


notice recalls with pleasure the happy time he 
spent with Suess forty years ago, when he had 
the opportunity of witnessing the delightful rela- 
tions that existed between the professor and his 
students. Not only during geological excursions 
in the neighbourhood of Vienna was the charm of 
Suess’s society felt, but in the Wurstel-Prater, 
where we joined the young fellows during hours 
of relaxation—in the beer-gardens, and even on 
the “merry-go-rounds.” Yet, amid all the fun 
and frolic, the signs of affectionate respect and 
devotion to the great teacher were never for a 
moment wanting. 

It was at this time that Suess’s daughter be- 
came engaged to his most distinguished pupil, the 
young Bavarian, Melchior Neumayr. After 
working for a time on the Geological Survey of 
Austria, Neumayr had established a great reputa- 
tion as a paleontologist, and at the age of twenty- 
eight became a colleague of Suess, as professor 
of paleontology inthe Vienna University. Greatly 
impressed by reading the ‘Origin of Species,” 
he entered into correspondence with Darwin, by 
whom his work was held in high estimation, and 
in the end he came to be regarded as the stoutest 
champion of evolution on the geological side. 

Suess’s own researchés ranged over every 
branch of geological science, as may be seen from 
the titles of sixty memoirs and books published 
by him prior to 1875. But in this year there ap- 
peared his remarkable work, ‘“ Die Entstehung der 
Alpen,” to be followed five years later by the first 
part of the still more famous “ Antlitz der Erde.” 
In this great work, which engaged his labours 
during twenty-five years, Suess aimed at no less 
a task than taking a comprehensive survey of all 
that has been accomplished in elucidating the 
geological structure of every part of the globe, and 
drawing general conclusions from that survey. 
How admirably this herculean undertaking was 
performed is told—with an estimate of the great 
merits, the small defects, and the enormous in- 
fluence exerted by this monumental work—by 
Sir Archibald Geikie in a contribution to the series 
of ‘Scientific Worthies” (see NaTurRE, vol. 
Ixxii., May 4, 1905). It will suffice here to 
say that the book will undoubtedly take its place 
as a scientific classic, side by side with Hutton’s 
“Theory of the Earth” and Lyell’s “ Principles of 
Geology.” 

In 1890 there came a sad interruption to Suess’s 
scientific labours. His distinguished son-in-law 
and colleague, Neumayr, died at the early age 
of forty-four, when only the first volume 
of the great work on which he was engaged, 
“Die Stamme des Thierreichs,” had been pub- 
lished. It is very touching, even at this date, to 
read the letters in which Suess wrote of his great 
sorrow to his friends; but fortunately these same 
letters contained the expression of a new hope, 
founded on the fact that his own son had just taken 
his doctor’s degree in geology. Happily, Suess 
lived to see his son become an extraordinary pro- 
fessor in the University. to find him the author 
of valuable geological papers, and, shortly before 


246 


NATURE 


[May 7, 1914 


he passed away, to witness the son installed in the 
chair vacated by -himself only a few years 
previously...» .. 

The great task of his life completed in 1910, 
Suess’s closing years have been happy and restful, 
for only quite recently came the bronchial affection 
which terminated his life in his eighty-fourth year. 

Suess held much the same position among 
German-speaking peoples as did Huxley among 
English and Americans. They both held that, in 
addition to their scientific labours, however exact- 
ing these might be, something in the way of 
service was due to the cities in which they lived 
and the states to which they belonged. In 1862 
Suess had directed attention to the unsatisfactory 
condition of the water-supply of Vienna, and, from 
1863 to 1873, he was called upon to serve as a 
member of the Municipal Council of Vienna; it 
was due to his initiative in this capacity that an 
aqueduct, 110 kilometres long, was built to bring 
water from the Alps to the city, and that other 
great improvements in the sanitary conditions of 
Vienna were undertaken. For more than thirty 
years he was a member of the Lower House of the 
Reichsrath, and proved himself a doughty champion 
against the defenders of political privileges and of 
clericalism. Like Huxley, he declined many offers 
of honours and titles from the State, but was 
amply compensated by the marks of esteem from 
his fellow-workers in science. He was president 
of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, a member of 
the French Institute, Foreign Member of the Royal 
Society since 1894, and member of scientific 
societies in every part of the world. He received 
the Wollaston medal of the Geological Society in 
1896, and the Copley medal of the Royal Society 
in 1903. Joun W. Jupp. 


ROBERT KAYE GRAY. 


i is with deep regret that we have to record 
the death of Mr. Robert Kaye Gray, who 
passed away on April 28, at Brighton, after a 
long illness, at the age of sixty-two. He was 
well known as the managing director of the India- 
Rubber, Gutta-Percha, and Telegraph Works Co. 
at Silvertown, but his interests extended far be- 
yond the range of commerce, and he became assv- 
ciated with many institutions and societies for the 
improvement of natural knowledge, and for the 
welfare of the sick and needy. His attractive 
personality, his quiet way of doing good, his un- 
bounded generosity, the breadth of his mind, and 
his exceptional store of worldly wisdom, made him 
the centre of a multiplicity of activities; and there 
is no doubt that in recent years the constant 
demand made upon his powers and judgment 
hastened the end of his remarkable career. 
Readers of Nature will recall how large a share 
Mr. Gray took in establishing and supporting the 
National Physical Laboratory. He had the satis- 
faction of seeing the laboratory extend in scope 
and usefulness, and his name will always be asso- 
ciated with that of the late Sir William White in 


possibilities. His loss will be keenly felt by the 
Institution of Electrical Engineers, of which he 


| was a past president, by the Royal Society of 


Arts, and the Institute of Metals, to which he 
rendered substantial help. ; 

The cause of technical and university education 
in London has also suffered by the loss of Mr. 
Robert Gray, who gave freely of his time and from 
the fund of his experience to aid in their advance. 
His association with submarine telegraphy brought 
him into touch with engineers and others in every 
quarter of the globe, and it is not too much to 
say that he was universally esteemed and 
honoured. 

From his father, the late Matthew Gray, an 
engineer of high ideals and remarkable strength of 
character, Mr, Gray inherited a mind intent upon 
accomplishing large things by straight means, 
Early in his professional life he set himself to 
master every branch of submarine telegraph 
engineering, including the manufacture, laying, 
and testing of cables.. This knowledge and ex- 
perience was the basis of his subsequent pro- 
fessional work, and it led him ultimately towards 
that field of natural science of a practical kind, 
which afforded him full scope for his energies. In 
the history of the progress of the age through 
which he passed he must be assigned a place as a 
representative man, and as a man of affairs. He 
was representative of the age in which commerce 
became a science, and science a refining influence 
—the age in which science was at last seen to be 
consistent with benevolence. 


NOTES. 
America has lost one of her foremost astronomers 
by the death, in his seventy-seventh year, of Dr. 
George William Hill. He graduated at Rutgers Col- 
lege in 1859, and in 1861 became an assistant in the 
office of the American Ephemeris and Nautical 
Almanack. He afterwards became chief of this pub- 
lication. From 1898 to 1901 he was lecturer in celes- 
tial mechanics at Columbia University, New York. 
In 1887 the Royal Astronomical Society awarded him 
its gold medal for his researches in connection with 
the lunar theory. He was a foreign member of that 
society, and also of the Royal Society, and a corre- 
sponding member of the Institute of France. In 1892 
Cambridge University conferred on him its honorary 
Sc.D. He was president of the American Mathe- 
matical Society from 1894 to 1896. In 1905 the 
Carnegie Institution published a volume of his col- 
lected mathematical works, with an introduction by 
Henri Poincaré. Dr. Hill was also the author of 
a work on ‘The Theory of Jupiter and Saturn,” 


Mr. C. S. S. Prrrce, an American mathematician 
and logician of international reputation, has died at 
the age of seventy-four. He was a son of Prof. Ben- 
jamin Peirce, of Harvard, and was himself educated 
at that University. For a few years he was a teacher 
of logic in Johns Hopkins University, and he gave 
occasional lectures at Harvard, but the greater part 
of his life was devoted to study and research. Since 


the pioneer work of giving direction to its latent | 1887 he had lived in seclusion in a little cabin in the 


NO: 2323, VOR. 103) 


May 7, 1914| 


NATURE 247 


mountains near Milford, Pennsylvania, where he had 
collected what is believed to be one of the, most com- 
plete private reference libraries in the world on the 
subjects in which he was interested. He edited several 
of his father’s mathematical works, and was the 
author of ‘‘ Photometric Researches,’’ as well as of 
numerous papers on logic, the history of science, 
psychology, astronomy, optics, colour sense, map pro- 
jections, chemistry, engineering, early English pro- 
nunciation, library cataloguing,. etc. Mr. Peirce was 
one of the pioneers of symbolic logic, and was the 
first to formulate the philosophical principle which he 
named ‘“pragmatism.”’ He dissented, however, from 
Prof. William James’s development of this principle. 


WE regret to record the death, in Paris, of M. 
Wilfred de Fonvielle. Few men have done more to 
popularise the subject of aeronautics than M. de Fon- 
vielle, who not only wrote numerous books and 
articles, both popular and scientific, upon the sub- 
ject, but also did much practical work, especially in 
regard to balloons. Commencing life as a journalist, 
he joined the staff of a journal, La Presse Scientifique, 
edited by M. Barral. The latter had just been making 
his well-known balloon ascents for scientific observa- 
tion, which greatly interested the young enthusiast 
and started him writing articles on the subject. Since 
then, until recently, his pen had but little rest. His 
principal works are :—‘‘ La Science en Ballon ’’ (1869) ; 
‘Voyages Aériens”’ (with Glaisher and others) (1871), 
translated into English; ‘‘Les Ballons pendant le 
Siége” (1871);. ‘‘Traité Pratique de Navigation 
Aérienne”’’ (1872); ‘‘Aventures Aérienne’’ (1876), 
translated into English; ‘‘La Conquéte de 1’Air”’ 
(1882); ‘‘Notre Flotte Aérienne”’ (1908); and a vast 
number of articles in French and English papers and 
magazines, including many contributions to our 
columns. De Fonvielle’s first balloon ascent was 
made in the great Géant, with M. Nadar, in 1867. 
Numerous other journeys followed, until he became 
considered one of the leading aeronauts in France. 
During the siege of Paris he piloted one of the balloons 
which left that city, descending in Belgium, whence 
he crossed to England. In later years he paid fre- 
quent visits to this country, where he several times 
made balloon ascents. For some years he was presi- 
dent of the Société Francaise de Navigation Aérienne, 


Botanists will learn with regret of the death, at 
seventy-five years of age, of M. van Tieghem, mem- 
ber of the Institute of France, professor at the Natural 
History Museum, Paris, and one of the most eminent 
of modern workers in the field of botany. As a young 
man he worked under Pasteur, and he made 
valuable contributions to science in the domain of 
bacteriology. In 1873 he published, in conjunction 
with his pupil, G. Le Monnier, a monograph on the 
Mucorinez, in which the morphology ‘and physiology 
of the family were carefully studied, and a detailed 
systematic account was given for the first time. Two 
further contributions on the same subject appeared in 
1875 and 1876. But van Tieghem is best known for 
his work on the anatomy and morphology of the seed- 
plants. In 1866 appeared an important paper on the 


NO. 2323, VOL. 93] 


anatomical structure of the Aroidez, and his conclud- 
ing remarks supply the key to’ his work in this field. 
He says:—‘Nos observations semblent démontrer 
aussi par une preuve nouvelle qu’il est indispensable 
de joindre 1’étude anatomique comparée de |l’appareil 
végétatif aA-celle de la fleur, si l’on veut construire le 
systéme idéel a liaisons fixes qui est l’objet. de la 
méthode naturelle.’ The systems of classification 
which he proposed were, however, the least valuable 
part of his work; they indicated lack of appreciation 
of the relative value of characters, and were hampered 
by a cumbersome terminology. On the other hand, 
his work on the comparative anatomy of the female 
flower and fruit of the Gymnosperms was of funda- 
mental value. In 1882 he succeeded Decaisne as 
botanical editor of the Annales des Sciences Naturelles, 
a post which he held until his death, and the long 
series of memoirs in this journal by himself and his 
pupils on the morphology and anatomy of various 
families and genera of seed-plants will form a_ per- 
manent monument of his industry and botanical work. 


Tue Bruce medal of the Astronomical Society of 
the Pacific has been awarded to Dr. O. Backlund, 
director of the Pulkowa Observatory. 


Science announces the retirement, on July 1, after 
twenty-one years’ cornection with the Yerkes Observa- 
tory, of Prof. S. W. Burnham. 


Tue Wellcome Historical Medical Museum is to be 
reopened on May 28, at 54a Wigmore Street, as a 
permanent institution in London. Since the closing 
of the museum in October last the collections have 
been much augmented and entirely rearranged. 


Ir is announced in Science that the amount. sub- 
scribed in connection with the jubilee celebration of 
Dr. A. Auwers has been handed to the Berlin 
Academy for the foundation of a prize (to be known 
as the Bradley Prize) to be awarded once every five 
years. 


AccorDING to the Lancet, it has been decided by 
the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine to estab- 
lish a permanent laboratory. in Sierra Leone for the 
purpose of carrying on research work. It is hoped 
that the laboratory will act as a base from which 
expeditions to other regions of tropical Africa may be 
dispatched from time to time. 


An International Conference of Telegraph Engineers 
is to be held. in Berne from September. 14 to 20 next. 
Among the subjects open. for discussion are the 
prospects of telephony over longer distances, the 
protection of telegraph and telephone wires from other 
electrical conductors, and how far automatic appa- 
ratus in telephone exchange working is desirable. 


THE summer meeting of the Institution of Naval 
Architects will be held in Newcastle-on-Tyne on July 
7-10, at the invitation of the institution by the presi- 
dent and council of the North-East Coast Institution 
of Engineers and Shipbuilders. Meetings for the 
reading of papers will be held, and arrangements will 
be made to visit some of the principal works in New- 
castle and its vicinity. . 


248 


NATURE 


[May 7, 1914 


In order to commemorate the work of Wilbur 
Wright, who, with his brother, Orville Wright, evolved 
the first successful power-driven aeroplane, the Wilbur 
Wright Memorial Fund was created under the 
auspices of the Aeronautical Society for the purpose 
of providing for the annual delivery of a premium 
lecture. ‘The second memorial lecture will be delivered 
by Dr. R. T. Glazebrook, director of the National 
Physical Laboratory, on May 20, at the Royal United 
Service Institution, Whitehall, S.W. The Right Hon. 
Lord Sydenham will preside. 


Mr. A. N. Harty has been appointed Government 
curator of the Ancient Monuments of Rhodesia. 
According to the Geographical Journal, the objects 
under his charge will include not only ruins, but all 
relics wherever found, and also the Bushman paint- 
ings, all of which are in future to be protected from 
vandalism and preventible destruction. The head- 
quarters of the curator will be at Great Zimbabwe, 
but Mr. Hall hopes, it is stated, to spend four months 
of each year in examining or searching for other 
remains. 


Tue Board of Agriculture and Fisheries desires to 
bring to the attention of the public the arrangement 
now established at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, 
whereby a competent guide accompanies visitors on 
weekdays through the gardens and explains the many 
objects of botanical interest. A small charge is made 
for the services of the guide, 6d. for each person 
attending a morning tour, and 3d. for each person 
attending an afternoon tour. The present arrange- 
ments are of the nature of an experiment, and their 
continuance beyond September next will depend on 
the extent of the public demand for the services of 
the guide. A leaflet giving detailed information on 
the subject can be obtained on application to the 
director, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 


Tue thirteenth annual general meeting of the 
Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 
was held in the rooms of the Royal Society on April 
29, Sir E. Ray Lankester, president of the association, 
being in the chair. Dr. P. Chalmers Mitchell and 
Mr. F. A. Potts were elected to fill two vacancies on 
the council. In the annual report reference was 
made to the discovery at Plymouth of the puerulus 
stage of the sea crayfish (Palinurus) by Prof. Bouvier, 
of Paris, to the investigations on eggs and young 
stages of British food fishes, by Mr. R. S. Clark, on 
the feeding habits and rate of growth of invertebrates, 
by Mr. J. H. Orton, and on the culture of plankton 
diatoms, by Dr. E. J. Allen. Mention was also made 
of work carried out at the laboratory by Mrs. 
Matthews on the development of Alcyonium, by Dr. 
Mortensen on the larvae of Echinoderms, by Dr. 
Shearer, Mr. De Morgan, and Mr. Fuchs on the 
hybridisation of Echinoderms, by Mr. J. Gray on the 
electrical conductivity of Echinus eggs, and by Dr. 
Stuart Thomson on the brain of Elasmobranchs. It 
was reported that Mr. D. J. Matthews and Mr. L. R. 
Crawshay had returned to the laboratory from the 
expedition of the Scotia to the coast of Labrador, and 
Mr. E. W. Nelson from the British Antarctic Expedi- 


NO 2323) VOL Osi 


| tion, and that these gentlemen had been employed in 


working up the material which they had obtained. 


At Greenwich the mean temperature for the month 
of April was 50:8°, which is 2-7° above the average. 
This is the warmest April for the last ten years, but 
there have been six warmer Aprils since 1841, the 
warmest being 53-9° in 1865. The mean of the maxi- 
mum temperatures was 61-:1°, and the mean of the 
minimum 40-5°. There were three days with a tem- 
perature of 70° or above; in 1865 there were fourteen 
days above 70°. The total rainfall was 1-12 in., of 
which 1-10 in. was measured during the first ten days 
and only 0-02 in. at Greenwich in the remainder of the 
month. The duration of sunshine at Greenwich was 
231-6 hours, which is 166 per cent. of the average. 
It is the sunniest month at any time of the year since 
the memorable summer of 1911, and has only once 
been surpassed previously in April at Greenwich, 1909 
having 250 hours of bright sunshine. There were 
thirteen days with more than ten hours of sunshine, 
and April 30 was the only day during the month on 
which the sun did not shine. 


In the recent annual report of the Decimal Associa- 
tion there is a reference to the legalisation of the 
metric carat in this country. Although the Order in 
Council came into operation so recently as April 1, it 
is satisfactory to note that the adoption of the new 
unit by dealers in diamonds and precious stones is 
already practically complete, and has occasioned little 
or no inconvenience. The manufacturers of weights 
in this country do not appear to have realised that the 
change would be effected so readily, and in conse- 
quence of this a large proportion of the sets of metric 
carat weights have been imported from the Continent 
to meet the sudden demand. The largest metric carat 
weight legalised is the 500 C.M., which is equivalent 
to 100 grams. Many diamond dealers who have been 
accustomed to use weights up to 5000 carats were 
inclined at first to imagine that such large single 
weights would not be permissible in future, but they 
now understand that above 500 C.M. the ordinary 
metric series, 200 grams, 500 grams, kilogram, etc., 
may be employed, and little difficulty is experienced 
by them in adapting their operations to the new 
conditions. 


THe Peabody Museura of American Archzology 
and Ethnology, Harvard University, publishes a fine 
monograph by Mr. A. M. Tozzer on the prehistoric 
ruins of Nakum, in Guatemala. The museum expedi- 
tions since 1888 have been engaged in exploring the 
Maya area in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and 
British Honduras. Unfortunately, these interesting 
ruins have suffered much from fires lighted by natives 
to clear the ground for cultivation, and from sheer 
vandalism. Quite recentiy some of the sculptured 
stela at Copan were destroyed to make the founda- 
tions for an adobe wall. Several ruined cities have 
been discovered, and it is well that the surveys now 
in progress should be undertaken while the material 
remains undisturbed. 


THE Times of April 25 publishes a_ preliminary 
report on the excavations at the Great Stone Circle 


May 7, 1914] 


NATURE 


249 


at Avebury. The work has extended to the silting 
of the fosse on the east side, and against the solid 
chalk entrance causeway on the south of the great 
circle. A few antler picks and hammers and a finely 
worked flint implement have already been found in the 
chalk rubble, and in the Roman stratum nearer the 
surface a ring and part of a bracelet, both of bronze. 
In the cutting of the vallum have been decovered two 
red deer antlers and an interesting bone pin nicely 
worked and polished. The old surface line has been 
reached in places, and is clearly defined; on it have 
been found several small fragments of prehistoric 
pottery, a flint scraper, and two flint saws, as well 
as clear traces of charcoal. 

AccorpinG to the April number of the Museums 
Journal, the chief loan collections at the twenty-fifth 
conference of the Museum Association, to be held at 
Swansea in July, will comprise Welsh pottery and 
porcelain, paintings by old masters and modern Rouen 
artists, Rouen decorative metal-work, and old Welsh 
furniture and lacquer. 

AMONG questions discussed in Publication No. 2169 
(Opinions 52-56) of the International Commission on 
Zoological Nomenclature is the validity of the names, 
which were edited by Linnzeus, in Hasselquist’s ‘‘ Iter 
Palzestinum’’—published prior to 1757. It is ruled 
that these are invalid, despite the publication of a 
German translation of the volume in 1757, which, it 
had been urged, might justify their recognition. 

THE surface-swimming copepod crustaceans of the 
Gulf of Manaar form the subject of the longest article. 
by Captor. B. S. Sewell, an WNogigs (vol. ix.) of 
Spolia Zeylanica. The account is mainly based on 
two collections—one made between 1906 and 1909 in- 
clusive, and the other in 1913; these embrace a total 
of eighty-seven species and subspecies, of which five 
are described as new. This number also includes the 
second part of a paper by Dr. J. Pearson on the holo- 
thurians of the Indian Ocean, together with a revision, 
by the same writer, of the genera Muelleria and Holo- 
thuria. 

In the introduction to a long reply on certain criti- 
cisms of the theory of mimicry, the greater portion of 
which appears in the January issue of the Proceedings 
of the Academy of Philadelphia, Prof. Poulton remarks 
that more definite evidence than we at present possess 
with regard to the butterfly-eating habit in birds, and 
that some species of butterflies are nauseous to them, 
is urgently required. Such evidence is, however, 
steadily increasing, an important item coming from 
Uganda, where a wagtail, after eating butterflies 
belonging to two groups, rejected one representing a 
third. 

‘“ELVERS,” writes Mr. J. S. Elliott in an article 
on eels and eel-catching in Bedfordshire in the April 
number of the Zoologist, ascend the Ouse and its 
tributaries in swarms from the Wash. From the 
time of Domesday Book most Bedfordshire mills have 
been provided with eel-traps, which in early days 
furnished a considerable instalment of the rent. 
Although apparently less than formerly, the total 
average catch in the county is now about 3 tons 
18 cwt., representing something like 17,500 eels, with 


NGL 2323, VOI: 93} 


[a value, at the local price of 6d. a pound, of prac- 


tically 220l. 


To the March number of Naturen Mr. Orjan Olsen 
contributes an illustrated account of the whales of 
South Africa, and whaling as carried on at Durban 
and Saldanha Bay on the east, and at Port Alexandre, 
Benguela, on the west coast. A considerale amount 
ot space is devoted to Balaenoptera brydei, the new 
rorqual described by Mr. Olsen last year, of which 
169 individuals were taken in 1912. In the following 
year, up to July, 92 common fin-whales and 36 blue 
whales were captured at the Saldanha Bay station. 
The other species taken were the southern humpback 
(Megaptera bodps, or nodosa, lalandei), the southern 
right whale (Balaena australis), which is very rare, 
and the sperm-whale. 


PHotoGrapHs of two recently added animal groups 
appear in the report of the American Museum of 
Natural History, one representing the reptile life of 
the Californian cactus-desert tract, and the other 
showing portions of two piles grown over with mussels 
and sea-anemones from a group illustrating the fauna 
of submerged timber. An item in the report well 
worthy the attention of museum curators in this 
country is a photograph of fireproof cases recently 
installed for the storage of mammal skins. If this is 
worth doing in America, it is still more so in our 
our own Natural History Museum, with its priceless 
series of ‘‘type’’ specimens. Even if the new method 
of storage could not be applied to the whole study- 
collection, it might be employed for types. 


Dr. Enrico Festa has utilised the opportunity pre- 
sented by the Italian occupation of Rhodes to visit 
the island for the purpose of studying its fauna. An 
account of his observations, and reports on his collec- 
tions have recently been published (Bolletino dei Musei 
di Zoologia ed Anat. comp. della R. Universita di 
Torino, vols. xxviii.-xxix). Most of the animals re- 
corded belong to species already known from other 
parts of the Mediterranean region, but a few are new 
or of special interest. A hundred and thirteen species 
of birds were obtained, including a new species of jay 
(Garrulus) and a new species of redbreast (Erithacus). 
There are two new earthworms (Helodrilus), two new 
woodlice (Armadillidium), three new locustids, one of 
which is referred to a new genus, and a new variety 
of the river crab (Potamon edule) of southern Europe. 
The other groups reported upon are the hymenoptera, 
fleas, earwigs, scorpions, and the mosses and _liver- 
worts (these last in Annali di Botanica, vol. xii.). 


An account of work on the control of damping-off 
disease in plant beds has been recently published in 
bulletin form (No. 31, University of Wisconsin Agri- 
cultural Experiment Station). According to the ob- 
servations of the author, Mr. James Johnson, the two 
most common fungi giving rise to the disease are 
Pythium de Baryianum and Rhizoctonia, and these 
have been found on seedlings of a large number of 
different plants, including cress, tobacco, lettuce, 
tomato, etc. The effect of various cultural conditions, 
such as moisture, temperature, aeration on the growth 
and spread of the disease, is discussed, and the results 
of experiments as to preventive measures are given. 


250 


Treatment of infected soils with formalin 1:50 has 
been found efficient in checking the disease, but from 
the point of cheapness and efficiency steam-heating is 
recommended. Certain secondary effects, such as the 
killing of weed seeds and the destruction of insect 
pests in the soil, and greatly increased size and vigour 
of plants grown in treated soils, were also noted. 


In a recent Bulletin of the U.S. Weather Bureau 
the Rev. M. Saderra Masé describes an interesting 
series of earthquakes which occurred in the sub- 
province of Benguet (Luzon) in August and Septem- 
ber, 1913. They were very numerous (about 350 
occurring in little more than a month), as a rule of 
slight intensity, and, even with the strongest, of 
very small disturbed area. It is probable that they 
originated at a very slight depth. As the earth- 
quakes occurred at the close of the rainy season, in a 
limestone district in which the annual rainfall. is 
about 160 inches, and in which there are frequent 
subsidences of the ground, the author concludes that 
the earthquakes are neither tectonic nor volcanic in 
their origin, but probably due to underground rock- 
falls and secondary faults. 


Tue Meteorological Office of Canada has recently 
issued an_ interesting monograph, ‘‘ Canadian 
Weather Forecasting,’? as an addendum to ‘Gales 
from the Great Lakes to the Maritime Provinces,”’ 
covering the years 1905-12, prepared by Mr. B. C. 
Webber, under the superintendence of the director 
of the Meteorological Service. In a preceding mono- 
graph for the period 1874-1904 Mr. Webber suggested 
some aids to assist the forecast officials, and these 
have now been supplemented, and the tables show, 
in addition, the percentages of low-pressure areas 
causing storms in various months and districts and 
the directions in which the depressions moved, to- 
gether with other useful information. November is 
the most stormy month on the Great Lakes during 
the season of navigation, but January and February 
are the stormiest in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and 
the Maritime Provinces; March is not an unusually 
stormy month. Within the eight years in question 
the area of the Canadian weather map has been 
much enlarged, and knowledge of movements of high- 
and low-pressure areas has been enhanced by the 
introduction of a daily meteorological chart of the 
northern hemisphere since January 1, 1912. It is, 
however, reluctantly admitted that the advancement 
of weather forecasting has been more or less dis- 
appointing. The author considers that the study of 
the upper air and of solar physics will eventually 
undoubtedly assist in solving some of the vexed 
problems which confront the meteorologist. 


THE necessity of bringing modern mathematical 
concepts within the range of study of comparatively 
elementary students has led Mr. C. Elliott, of King 
Edward VII. School, Sheffield, to produce a book of 
116 pages, entitled ‘‘ Models to Ilustrate the Founda- 
tions of Mathematics”’ (Edinburgh: Lindsay and Co., 
1914, price 2s, 6d.). It consists of four chapters deal- 
ing respectively with the meaning of correspondences, 
multiplexes, spaces defined as ordered multiplexes, 
correspondence of operands to functions, and multiple 


NO)- 2323, MOL. 931 


NATURE 


[May 7, 1914 


correspondence. Although a selection of classificatory 
models was exhibited at the 1912 Mathematical Con- 
gress, the use of the term ‘‘models’”’ in the title of 
this book may perhaps be rather misleading, for it 
consists mainly of definitions and explanations, and 
the nearest approach to models generally consists in 
mere references to illustrations of classes, like and un- 
like things, correspondences, and so forth, where these 
can be exemplified by objects of everyday life. The 
question as to how far the subject can be understood 
and appreciated by schoolboys is a very interesting 
one. 


Tue first of a series of illustrated articles descriptive 
of a 300,000-h.p. hydro-electric plant on the Mississippi 
appears in the Engineer for May 1. These works are 
situated at Keokuk, on the Iowa side of the river, 
about 130 miles north of the mouth of the Missouri 
River, and 137 miles from the city of St. Louis. One 
purpose of the power development is to deliver cur- 
rent in large quantities to distant points by trans. 
mission lines up to 200 miles in length, and in August 
last the supply of current to St. Louis was com- 
menced. The electric light and tramway company of 
St. Louis has contracted to take 60,000 h.p. for a 
term of ninety-nine years. The works comprise three 
main sections. First, a dam 4700 ft. long, extending 
from the east bank at Hamilton to within a thousand 
feet of the west bank at Keokuk. Secondly, a power- 
house, extending downstream from the end of the 
dam for a length of 1700 ft. Thirdly, a dam extending 
from the lower end of the power-house to the west 
bank, forming the fore-bay and having a large single- 
lift lock for navigation, The total length of mono- 
lithic concrete construction is more than two miles. 
The working head of water available for the machines 
ranges from 23 to 40 ft. 


OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 
May MereorS.—It is hoped that favourable condi- 


‘tions will be experienced for the observation of Coronid 


meteors in May. Mr. W. F. Denning directs atten- 
tion to this shower in Astronomische Nachrichten, 
No. 4726. In recent years he found the chief radiant 
point to be about 246°+ 30° near ¢ Corone, and a few 
degrees west of p Herculis. According to his observa- 
tions in 1903 and 1911, the meteors were white, swift, 
and usually trainless. The most suitable time for 
their observation is between May 18 and 26, and the 
absence of the moon will render the observation more 
easy. 


ComET 1914a (KRITZINGER).—The following is the 
continuation of the ephemeris of comet 1914a (Kritz- 
inger) which was given in this column last week, the 
information being gathered from Prof. H. Kobold’s 


communication to the Astronomische Nachrichten, 
No. 4729 :— ; 
12h, M.T. Berlin. 
R.A. (true) Dec. (true) Mag. 
mss ‘ 4 
May 7 18 46 9 +23 29:0 
Ole Aisa: 50057 Zar 25:0," sae 
Q -«-- 55 45 25 21:9 
10 IQ O 34 26 16-7 
I Caoy 27 10-4 
10 14 28 2:3- «eemoue 
13 15 4 28 53°9 
14 19 29 54 +29 43-6 


May 7, 1914] 


The comet is situated near the boundaries of the 
four constellations, Hercules, Vulpes, Cygnus, and 
Lyra. 


A CoNVENIENT COMPARISON . SPECTRUM.—For _ the 
study of both terrestrial and celestial spectra, it is 
useful for many purposes to photograph a comparison 
spectrum alongside the spectrum under investigation. 
The spectrum of iron is most generally used as the 
lines are well distrubuted along the spectrum, are 
sharp, and their wave-lengths are accurately deter- 
mined. The iron, however, may not be pure, so 
several strange lines may appear in the spectrum, and 
these have to be investigated. Dr. Joseph Lunt, in 
searching for a convenient means of obtaining the 
spectrum of cyanogen has incidentally found that the 
spectrum of lead pencils gives an extremely fine set of 
lines, very sharp, well distributed along the spectrum, 
exhibits a remarkable constancy of spectroscopic com- 
position, and consists of lines which are almost with- 
out exception present in the solar spectrum, the wave- 
lengths of which have been well determined. The 
account of this investigation on the spectra of 
graphites and lead pencils is given in vol. x. of the 
Annals of the Cape Observatory, part iv., and should 
be read by all those who work with the spectroscope. 
A plate reproduces the lead pencil spectrum from 
\ 4071-91 to Aq742-98. The sharp metallic lines are 
for the most part due to iron, titanium, vanadium, 
chromium, and the alkaline earths, barium, strontium, 
and calcium, while the spectrum shows also the pre- 
sence of the rarer elements, gallium, scandium, and 
yttrium, as well as silicon, magnesium, and man- 
ganese. The carrier of a lead pencil thus possesses a 
small portion of the very rare elements gallium and 
scandium. 


Report OF Harvard COLLEGE OBsERVATORY.—The 
report of the director of the Astronomical Observatory 
of Harvard College for the year ending September, 
1913, gives one a good idea of the great field of work 
projected and of the large amount of work accom- 
plished during the past months. It is hoped that 
means will be found to concede to the director’s wishes 
stated in this report by increasing the income of the 
observatory, for the situation is not very satisfactory 
when, as Prof. Pickering states, ‘‘during the last 
twenty years the income of the University has more 
than doubled, while that of the observatory has 
diminished rather than increased.”” The report shows, 
in the first instance, the progress made in the Henry 
Draper memorial department, the revised Draper Cata- 
logue being the principal work. More than _ half 
the sky has been covered, ard 100,155 stellar 
spectra have already been classified. The 11-in. 
Draper telescope, in the hands of Prof. W. H. Picker- 
ing, has produced valuable results, among which may 
be mentioned the periodic changes in form of the 
discs of Jupiter’s satellites. The work of the Boyden 
department at the Arequipa Station, of the Blue Hill 
Meteorological department (recently transferred to Har- 
vard University), etc., are all briefly summarised, and 
indicate the wide range of activities. 


THE SCHILOWSKY GYROSCOPIC TWO- 
WHEELED MOTOR-CAR. 


LARGE two-wheeled motor-car, constructed from 

the design of Dr. Schilowsky, a Russian Doctor 

of Laws, by the Wolseley Tool and Motor Company, 
Ltd., was given a trial run in London last week. The 
car is a six-seated car, and it carried six people as it 
slowly made a circuit of Regent’s Park. The gyro- 


NO72323; VOL. 93) 


NATURE 


251 


scopic mechanism is placed in the cupboard under the 
middle four seats. This consists of a heavy gyrostat 
rotating at the moderate speed of 1100 revolutions 
a minute, and driven by an electric motor of 13 
horse-power. The axis is vertical, and it is mounted 
in a ring supported on transverse trunnions, so that 
it may tilt in a fore and aft plane. As the car is 
necessarily unstable on its two wheels, the gyrostatic 
ring must also be carried unstably for it to have 
corrective influence. ify as a’ ship; the ‘cay 
could have been carried stably, then the gyro- 
static ring would also have to be stably mounted. 
If one is stable and the other unstable then 
the gyrostat operates in the opposite sense to that 
intended. 

The unstably mounted gyrostat will not maintain 
the car in its upright position for long, as the pre- 
cessional oscillations increase in amplitude. Dr. 
Schilowsky counteracts this by an ingenious piece of 
mechanism. Driven by worm-gearing from the gyro- 
stat axle are two spur wheels, each just out of gear 
with a segmental rack, but capable of being brought 
into gear by a heavy pendulum which feels any tilting 
of the car away from the dynamical vertical, This 
is only allowed to engage at such times as the gyro- 
stat ring is approaching the neutral position. During 
this time the engagement causes a hurrying of the 
precession and a consequent steadying of the motion. 
At the moment the neutral position is reached the 
pinion and rack are disconnected by a snap mechan- 
ism reminding one of that used for closing the valves 
of a Corliss engine. One pendulum controls the 
engagement when the gyrostatic ring is approaching 
the neutral position from one side, while the other 
effects the control on the other side of the neutral 
position. Either alone might be used, but the two 
alternate with one another and maintain a more con- 
tinuous control. It is a curious fact that the control- 
ling mechanism is more easily adjusted so as to main- 
tain the equilibrium of the car when it is turning in 
the opposite direction to the rotation of the wheel. 
For turning in the same direction more exact adjust- 
ment is necessary. A working model railway on this 
system has been presented by Dr. Schilowsky to the 
South Kensington Museum, where it may be seen 
by anyone interested. 

The car weighed three tons, having been designed 
for running on a rail, while the engine was one of 
the maker’s standard 16-h.p. engines. This was in- 
sufficient in power to drive the heavy car, as well as 
the motor of the flywheel, more than about four miles 
an hour. At this speed and at rest or moving back- 
wards the car maintained its position with passengers 
jumping on or off. When a new load was applied 
to one side the car moved almost imperceptibly so as 
to raise it and maintain the centre of gravity over the 
line of support as has already been made familiar by 
Mr. Brennan with his monorail. 

It will be interesting to see how the car behaves 
when a more powerful engine is fitted and higher 
speeds are possible. The inventor is, of course, aware 
of the very great couple, ordinarily resisted by the 
four-wheel support of the motor-car when ordinary 
curves and speeds are negotiated together, which he 
will have to contend with in like circumstances. The. 
demonstration in the Regent’s Park did not show that 
the gyrostatic control then existing would be sufficient 
for this, but it did show, and that perfectly, that the. 
first step has been successfully accomplished. It may 
be worth while to add that the bicycle balance is not 
used, the gyrostatic control being independent of speed 
or direction of motion. 


CC; Vi. Boys: 


252 


RELATIONS BETWEEN THE SPECTRA AND 
OTHER CHARACTERISTICS OF THE 
STARS.* 7 

Ue 


Brightness and Spectral Class. 


Eyes thus made a rapid survey of the general 
field, I shall now ask your attention in greater 
detail to certain relations which have been the more 
special objects of my study. 
Let us begin with the rela- 
tions between the spectra and 
the real brightness of the 
stars. These have been dis- 
cussed by many investigators 
—notably by Kapteyn and 
Hertzsprung—and many of 
the facts which will be 
brought before you are not 
new; but the observational 
material here presented is, | 
believe, much more extensive 
than has hitherto been 
assembled. We _ can_ only 
determine the real brightness 
of 2 star when we know its 
distance; but the recent 
accumulation of direct 
measures of parallax, and the 
discovery of several moving 
clusters of stars the distances 
of which can be determined, 
put at our disposal far more 
extensive data than were 
available a few years ago. 
Fig. 1 shows graphically 
the results derived from all 
the direct measures of 


parallax available in the 
spring of 1913 (when the 
diagram was constructed). 


The spectral class appears as 
the horizontal coordinate, 
while the vertical one is the 
absolute magnitude, accord- 
ing to Kapteyn’s definition— 
that is, the visual magnitude 
which each star would appear 
to have if it should be 
brought up to a standard dis- 
tance, corresponding to a 


NATURE 


[May 7, 1914 


dots, representing the results derived from the poor 
parallaxes, should scarcely be used as a basis for any 
argument. The solid black dots represent stars the 
parallaxes of which depend on the mean of two or 
more determinations; the open circles, those observed 
but once. In the latter case, only the results of those 
observers whose work appears to be nearly free from 
systematic error have been included, and in all cases 
the observed parallaxes have been corrected for the 
probable mean parallax of the comparison stars to 


parallax of o-1” (no account 
being taken of any possible 
absorption of light in space). 
The absolute magnitude, —5, 
at the top of the diagram, 
corresponds to a_ luminosity 
7500. times that of the sun, 
the absolute magnitude of 
which is 4-7. The absolute 
magnitude 14, at the bottom, 
corresponds to 1/5000 of the 
sun’s luminosity. The larger 
dots denote the stars for 
which the computed probable error of the 
parallax is less than 42 per cent. of the parallax itself, 
so that the probable error of the resulting absolute 
magnitude is less than +1-om, This is a fairly 
tolerant criterion for a ‘‘ good parallax,’’ and the small 


* An address delivered before a joint meeting of the Astronomical and 
Astrophysical Society of America and Section A of the American Association 
for the Advancement of Science, at Atlanta, Georgia, December 30, 1913, 
with a few additions, by Prof. H. N. Rus-ell. Continued from p. 230. 


NO.) 22235 ViOL.193)| 


teste 


which they were referred. The large open circles in 
the upper part of the diagram represent mean results 


| for numerous bright stars of small proper-motion 


(about 120 altogether) the observed parallaxes of which 
scarcely exceed their probable errors. In this casé the 
best thing to do is to take means of the observed 
parallaxes and magnitudes for suitable groups of stars, 


| and then calculate the absolute magnitudes of the 


typical stars thus defined. These will not exactly 


May 7, 1914] 


ccrrespond to the mean of the individual absolute 
magnitudes which we could obtain if we knew all 
the parallaxes exactly, but they are pretty certainly 
good enough for our purpose. 

Upon studying Fig. 1 several things can be observed. 

(1) All the white stars, of Classes B and A, are 
bright, far exceeding the sun; and all the very faint 
stars—for example, those less than 1/50 as bright as 
the sun—are red, and of Classes K and M. We may 
make this statement more specific by saying, as 
Hertzsprung does,'® that there is a certain limit of 
brightness for each spectral class, below which stars 
of this class are very rare, if they occur at all. Our 
diagram shows that this limit varies by rather more 
than two magnitudes from class to class. The single 
apparent exception is the faint double companion to 
O, Eridani, concerning the parallax and brightness of 
which there can be no doubt, but the spectrum of 
which, though apparently of Class A, is rendered very 
difficult of observation by the proximity of its far 
brighter primary. 

(2) On the other hand, there are many red stars of 
great brightness, such as Arcturus, Aldebaran, and 
Antares, and these are as bright, on the average, as 
the stars of Class A, though probably fainter than 
those of Class B. Direct measures of parallax are 
unsuited to furnish even an estimate of the upper limit 
of brightness to which these stars attain, but it is clear 
that some stars of all the principal classes must be 
very bright. The range of actual brightness among 
the stars of each spectral class therefore increases 
steadily with increasing redness. 

(3) But it is further noteworthy that all the stars of 
Classes K5 and M which appear on our diagram are 
either very bright or very faint; there are none com- 
parable with the sun in brightness. We must be 
very careful here not to be misled by the results of the 
methods of selection employed by observers of stellar 
parallax. They have for the most part observed either 
the stars which appear brightest to the naked eye, or 
stars of large proper-motion. In the first case, the 
method of selection gives an enormous preference to 
stars of great luminosity, and, in the second, to the 
nearest and most rapidly moving stars, without much 
regard to their actual brightness. It is not surprising, 
therefore, that the stars picked out in the first wav 
(and represented by the large circles in Fig. 1) should 
be much brighter than those picked out by the second 
method (and represented by the smaller dots). But if 
we consider the lower half of the diagram alone, in 
which all the stars have been picked out for proper- 
motion, we find that there are no very faint stars of 
Class G, and no relatively bright ones of Class M. 
As these stars were selected for observation entirely 
without consideration of their spectra (most of which 
were then unknown) it seems clear that this differ- 
ence at least is real, and that there is a real 
lack of red stars comparable in brightness with the 
sun, relatively to the number of those 100 times 
fainter. 

The appearance of Fig. 1 therefore suggests the 
hypothesis that, if we could put on it some thousands 
of stars instead of the 300 now available, and plot 
their absolute magnitudes without uncertainty arising 
from observational error, we would find the points 
representing them clustered principally close to two 
lines, one descending sharply along the diagonal, from 
B to M, the other starting also at B, but running 
almost horizontally. The individual points, though 
thickest near the diagonal lines, would scatter above 
and below it to a vertical distance corresponding to 
at least two magnitudes, and similarly would be 


16 A. N., 4422, 1910. 
N@u2323, VOL..O3i 


NATURE 


| knowledge 
| fainter stars. 


23 


thickest near the horizontal line, but scatter above and 
below it to a distance which cannot so far be definitely 
specified, so that there would be two fairly broad bands 
in which most of the points lay. For Classes A and 
F these two zones would overlap, while their outliers 
would still intermingle in Class G, and probably even 
in Class K. There would, however, be left a tri- 
angular space between the two zones, at the right- 
hand edge of the diagram, where very few (if any) 
points appeared, and the lower left-hand corner would 
be still more nearly vacant. 

We may express this hypothesis in another form 
by saying that there are two great classes of stars, 
one of great brightness (averaging, perhaps, a 
hundred times as bright as the sun), and varying 
very little in brightness from one class of spectrum to 
another; the other of smaller brightness, which falls 
off very rapidly with increasing redness. These two 
classes of stars were first noticed by Hertzsprung,'’ 
who has applied to them the excellent names of 
giant and dwarf stars. The two groups, on account 
of the considerable internal differences in each, are 
only distinctly separated among the stars of Class K 
or redder. In Class F they are partially, and ‘in 
Class A thoroughly, intermingled, while the stars of 
Class B may be regarded equally well as belonging 
to either series. 

In addition to the stars of directly ,measured 
parallax, represented in Fig. 1, we know with high 
accuracy the distances and real brightness of about: 
150 stars which are members of the four moving 
clusters the convergent points of which are known, 
namely, the Hyades, the Ursa Major group, the 
61 Cygni group, and the large group in Scorpius, 
discovered independently by Kapteyn, Eddington, and 
Benjamin Boss, the motion of which appears to be 
almost entirely parallactic. The data for the stars of 
these four groups are plotted in Fig. 2, on the same 
system as in Fig. 1. The solid black dots denote the 
members of the Hyades; the open circles, those of 
the group in Scorpius; the crosses, the Ursa Major 
group; and the triang'’es, the 61 Cygni group. Our 
lists of the members of each group are probably very 
nearly complete down to a certain limiting (visual) 
magnitude, but fail at this point, owing to lack of 
regarding the proper motions of the 
The apparently abrupt termination of 
the Hyades near the absolute magnitude 7-0, and of 
the Scorpius group at 1-5, arises from this observa- 
tional limitation. 

The large circles and crosses in the upper part of 
Fig. 2 represent the absolute magnitudes calculated 
from the mean parallaxes and magnitudes of the’ 
groups of stars investigated by Kapteyn, Campbell, 
and Boss, concerning which data were given in 
Table III. The larger circles represent Boss’s results, 
the smaller circles Kapteyn’s, and the large crosses 
Campbell’s. 

It is evident that the conclusions previously drawn 
from Fig. 1 are completely corroborated by these 
new and independent data. Most of the members of 
these clusters are dwarf stars, and it deserves par- 
ticular notice that the stars of different clusters, which 
are presumably of different origin, are similar in 
absolute magnitude. But there are also a few giant 
stars, epecially of Class K (among which are the 
well-known bright stars of this type in the Hyades); 
and most remarkable of all is Antares, which, though 
of Class M, shares the proper motion and _ radial 
velocity of the adjacent stars of Class B, and is the 
brightest star in the group, giving out about two 
thousand times the light of the sun. 


17 Zeitschrift fiir Wissenschaftliche Photographie, vol. iii., p. 442, 1905- 


254 


NATURE 


[May 7, 1914 


It is also clear that the naked-eye stars, studied 
by Boss, Campbell, and Kapteyn, are, for the. most 
part, giants. With this in mind, we are now in a 
position to explain more fully the differences between 
the results of these investigators. 

All the stars of Class B are giants, and, so far as 
we may judge from the Scorpius cluster, they do not 
differ from one another very greatly in absolute 
brightness. It is therefore natural that the results 
of all three investigators are 
in this case fairly similar, B A 
though Campbell, in em- 
ploying stars that averaged 
brighter to the eye than 
did the others, has evidently 
been working with — stars 
that are really brighter. In 
Class A the giants and 
dwarfs differ so little, and 
are so. thoroughly _ inter- 
mingled, that the situation 
is about the same. In 
Class M, even the nearest 
and brightest of the dwarf 
stars are invisible to the 
naked ‘eye :. “hence: the 
stars of this class studied 
by the three investigators 
are all giants, and once 
more their results agree. 

A number of the dwarf 
stars of Class K are visible 
to the naked eye; _ but 
these all lie very near us, 
and have such large proper 
motions that they are ex- 
cluded as ‘abnormal’ by 
both Campbell and_ Boss. 
The results of the two agree 
in indicating that the stars 
studied by them are typical 
giants. The few dwarfs, 
however, have such large 
parallaxes and proper-motions 
that their inclusion more 
than doubles the mean 
proper-motion, and presum- 
ably, also, the mean parallax 
of the whole, as shown by 


Kapteyn’s figures in Table 
WUE For eeGlass Gy «the 
dwarf stars average much 
brighter, and a much greater 
number of them is~ visible 
to the naked eye. These 
have large parallaxes and 


proper-motions, and raise the 
average for all the stars 
of this class to greater 
values than for any other. 
But Boss’s rigorous limita- 
tion to small proper-motions 


weeds them practically all 
out, leaving giant stars 
once more. Campbell’s less drastic procedure 
omits only the nearer of the dwarfs (to be 
precise, those with the larger proper-motions), 


and his result lies about half-way between the others. 
In ‘the case of Class F, the dwarf stars are still 
brighter—intermingling, in fact, with the giants. 
We can therefore see them farther off, and we get 
more of them in our catalogues, in proportion to the 
giants, than in any other class. Their mean parallax 


NO. 232357 VOL@.03 | 


is, however, smaller than for the dwarfs of Classes G 
and K, and hence the mean proper-motion and 
parallax of all the stars of this class is less than 
for Class G. Campbell’s criterion here excludes very 
few stars, and even Boss’s admits a good many of 
the remoter and slower moving dwarfs, causing his 
mean parallax and proper-motion to be considerably 
greater for this class than for any other. 

It should finally be added that Kapteyn’s discussion 


F G K M N 


shows that the siars of Class N are exceedingly 
bright, possibly surpassing any of the other giant 
stars. 

We are now in a position to define more precisely 
the brightness of a typical giant or dwarf star of a 
given class of spectrum, and also to obtain a measure 
of the degree of divergence of the individual stars 
from this typical brightness. Taking first the stars 
of Class B and the dwarf stars of the other classes, 


May 7, 1914] 


NATURE 


259 


we find, for the mean absolute magnitudes of all the 
stars of each class, the following values :— 


TABLE V. 
Mean Absolute Magnitudes. 


Stars of measured parallax Stars in clusters 


Spectrum no “Abs. mag. Formula O-C No. Abs.mag. Formula O-C 


m. m. 
Ba — —_ — —= 20 See eT — Or 
B8 — _— = — $8 +03 +02 +0'! 
Ao 6 +14 +1.4 oOo 13 o'5 06 -O'! 
A4 7 225 2°3 | +052 «26 Tie7. Tas) Gt Ona 
‘Fo — — = aS 2°4 227. = O33 
iP ee) 3,7 O'S — Pe = 
Be: 15a =a = ae 7 SiS SiG o"0 
Pa Come 9 4°5 .—-0°2 =) ee a = 
' F8 8 Bal bea 0%) 6 a5 4°2 44 -0'2 
Go 29 5°7 56 +01 18 50 48 +02 
ae es «8906-00. Oa So 07 
Biko - 28 7px 777-06 9g 6°4 6°9 -0O'5 
K4 19 92 8°06 -FO'6) 7 eyaOme-t a7 — 087) 
Ma 10 +99 +68 +01. — —_ _— — 


- The rate of decrease of brightness with increasing 
redness is very nearly the same for the stars with 
directly measured parallaxes and the stars in clusters, 
but the latter appear, with remarkable - consistency, 
to be about o-8m. brighter than the former. This 
seems at first sight very puzziing,. but it is un- 
doubtedly due to the way in which the stars observed 
for parallax were selected. Most observers, in pre- 
paring their working lists, have included mainly those 
stars’ which were brighter than a given magnitude 
and had proper-motions exceeding some definite limit. 
Of the stars above this limiting magnitude, those of 
greater actual luminosity will be, on the average, 
farther away, and have smaller proper-motions, than 
those of small luminosity, and selection by proper- 
motion favours the latter. The limitation of our 
present lists to stars the parallaxes of which have 
been determined with a probable error not exceeding 
42 per cent. of their own amounts, though necessary 
to diminish the effects of casual errors of observation, 
works in the same direction, for, among the stars of 
any given visual magnitude, those of greatest 
luminosity have the smallest parallaxes, and are least 
likely to pass the test. The difference shown in our 
table need not therefore alarm us, but it is clear that 
the stars in clusters, rather than the others, should 
be taken as typical of the dwarf stars as a whole. 
For both sets of stars the absolute magnitude appears 
to be very nearly a linear function of the spectral 
class (if B is regarded as 1, A as 2, etc.) The 
columns headed ‘formula’? in Table V. give the 
values calculated from the expressions M=1-4m.+ 
21m. (Sp.—A) for the stars of directly measured 
parallax, and M=o-6m.+2-:1m. (Sp.—A) for the stars 
in clusters. The residuals from these empirical 
formule, for the mean absolute magnitudes of the 
observed stars of different classes, average +0-33m. 
in the first case and +0-29m. in the second. They 
appear to be accidental in character, though in some 
cases (notably in Class G5) the residuals for the stars 
of the two sets are similar in sign and magnitude. 
The large negative residuals for Classes K and K5 
in the clusters arise from the fact that in the Hyades, 


which contribute most of these stars, only the brighter ; 


ones have had their proper-motions determined, and 
get into our lists, as is clear from examination of 
Big 2: 

Among the dwarf stars, therefore, a. typical star 
of any spectral class is about seven times fainter than 
one of the preceding class, and seven times brighter 
than one of the following class. 

The giant stars of all the spectral classes appear 
to be of about the same mean brightness, averaging 
a little above absolute magnitude zero, that is, about 


Nigu'9393,) VOR, G3] 


| 


; 
| 
’ 


a hundred times as bright as the sun. Since the 
stars of this series which appear in Fig. 2 have been 
selected by apparent brightness, which gives a strong 
preference to those of the greatest luminosity, the 
average brightness of all the giant stars in a given 
region of space must be less than this, perhaps con- 
siderably so. 

By tabulating the residual differences between the 
absolute magnitudes of the individual dwarf stars and 
the values given by the formulz just described, we 
find that the average difference, regardless of sign, 
for the stars of measured parallax is +0-88m. for 
spectra A to F8, +1-02m. for spectra G and Gs, end 
+1-15m. for K and M. For the stars in clusters, the 
average differences are +0-7om. for spectra BO to 
Bg, +0-66m. for A and As5, +0:56m. for spectra F 
to F8, and +0-80m. for G and G5. 

These differences are larger for the stars of 
measured parallax than for the others (probably on 
account of the greater average uncertainty of the 
individual parallaxes and spectra in this case), but 
show no marked systematic variation with the class 
of spectrum. Their distribution follows very approxi- 
mately the law of accidental errors, as is shown by 
Table VI., in which the observed numbers lying 
between certain limits are compared with those given 
by this law 

TaBieE VI. 


Distribution of Differences from the Typical Absolute 
Magnitudes. 


Stars with measured parallax Stars in clusters 


Limits Observed Theory Limits Observed Theory 
ml. m. m. m. 
+0'0 to +08 65 61 +0'0 to +0°5 59 58 
+0°8 to +1°6 41 44 +o0°5 to +1°0 42 42 
+1°6 to +2°4 21 23 +1°0 to #1°5 21 24 
a22-A tOp==ae2 10 9 +2155, toy 4270 10 8 
+3°2 to £4'0 3 3 =t2'0) towats 245 4 4 


The theoretical distribution for the stars in clusters 
corresponds to a probable error of +0-61m., and that 
for the others to one of +0-94m. Correction for the 
known influence of uncertainties of the parallaxes and 
spectra would reduce the latter to about +0-75m. It 
appears, therefore, that the absolute magnitude of a 
dwarf star can be predicted with surprising accuracy 
from a mere knowledge of its spectrum. Half of all 
the dwarf stars are not more than twice as bright 
or as faint as the typical stars of their spectral classes. 
The corresponding uncertainty in the estimated 
parallax would be about one-third of its amount. 

The parallaxes of the giant stars are so small, in 
comparison with the errors of even the best present 
methods of observation, that direct observations are 
not well adapted to determine to what degree they 
differ in brightness among themselves. An indirect 
method of determining this is, however, practicabie, 
among those classes in which all the naked-eye stars 
are giants, by comparing the parallactic motions of 
those. stars the proper-motions of which at right 
angles to the direction of the parallactic drift are 
larye and small. A discussion by this method of the 


| typical case of Class M (the tetails of which will be 


given elsewhere) shows that, if the distribution of 
the absolute magnitudes of these stars also follows 
the “law of errors,” the probable error correspond- 
ing to it is approximately +0-6m.—almost exactly the 
same as has already been found for the dwarf stars. 
The mean absolute magnitude of all the stars of this 
class which are visible to the naked eye is —o-5, and 
that of all the stars in a given region of space 1s 
406. This method can scarcely: be applied to the 
naked-eye stars of the other spectral classes (unless 
some way can be devised for weeding out the dwarf 
stars from among the giants); but it seems probable 


256 


that they do not differ greatly from the stars of 
Classes B and M as regards the degree of their 
similarity to one another in brightness With such 
a probable error of distribution of the absolute magni- 
tudes as has here been derived, the giant and dwarf 
stars would overlap perceptibly in Class G, be just 
separated in Class K, and widely so in Class M, as 
the observational data indicate. 

The questions now arise: What differences in their 
nature or constitution give rise to the differences in 
brightness between the giant and dwarf stars? and 
Why should these differences show such a systematic 
increase with increasirg redness or “advancing” 
spectral type? 

We must evidently attack the first of these ques- 
tions before the second. The absolute magnitude (or 
the actual luminosity) of a star may be expressed as 
a function of three physically independent quantities 
—its mass, its density, and its surface-brightness. 
Great mass, small density, and high surface-bright- 
ness make for high luminosity, and the giant stars 
must possess at least one of these characteristics in 
a marked degree, while the dwarf stars must show 
one or more of the opposite attributes. 

A good deal of information is available concerning 
all these characteristics of the stars. The masses of 
a considerable number of visual and _ spectroscopic 
binaries are known with tolerable accuracy, the densi- 
ties of a larger number of eclipsing variable stars 
have recently been worked out, and the recent in- 
vestigations on stellar temperatures lead directly to 
estimates of the relative surface brightness of the 
different spectral classes (subject, of course, to the 
uncertainty whether the stars really radiate hike black 
bodies, as they are assumed to do). We will take 
these matters up in order. 

First, as regards the masses of the stars, we are 
confined to the study of binary systems, which may 
or may not be similar in mass to the other stars. 
There appears, however, to be no present evidence at 
all that they are different from the other stars, and 
in what follows we will assume them to be typical 
of the stars as a whole. 

The most conspicuous thing about those stellar 
masses which have been determined with any 
approach to accuracy is their remarkable similarity. 
While the range in the known luminosities of the 
stars exceeds a millionfold, and that in the well- 
determined densities is nearly as great, the range in 
the masses so far investigated is only about fiftyfold. 
The greatest known masses are those of the com- 
ponents of the spectroscopic binary and eclipsing 
variable V Puppis, which equal nineteen times that 
of the sun; the smallest masses concerning which we 
have any trustworthy knowledge belong to the faint 
components of ¢ Herculis and Procyon, and are from 
one-third to one-fourth of the sun’s mass. These are 
exceptional values, and the components of most 
binary systems are more nearly similar to the sun in 
mass. 

There appears, from the rather scanty evidence at 
present available, to be some correlation between mass 
and luminosity. Those stars which are known to be 
of small mass (say, less than half the sun’s) are all 
considerably fainter than the sun. On the other 
hand, Ludendorff'* has shown conclusively that the 
average mass of the spectroscopic binaries of spec- 
trum. B (which are all of very great luminosity) is 
three times as great as that of the spectroscopic 
binaries of other spectral types, and may exceed ten 
times that of the sun. Further evidence in favour of 
this view is found in the fact that the components of 
a binary, when equal in brightness, are nearly equal 


18 4. N., 4520, 1¢11. 
NO. 2323, (VOL. 493) 


NATURE 


[May 7, i914 


in mass, while in unequal pairs the brighter star is 
almost (if not quite) always the more massive, but 
the ratio of the masses very rarely exceeds 3: 1, even 
when one component is hundreds of times as bright 
as the other. Very large masses (such as-one hundred 
times the sun’s mass) do not appear, though they 
would certainly be detected among the spectroscopic 
binaries if they existed. It is equally remarkable 
that there is no trustworthy evidence that any visible 
star has a mass as small as one-tenth that of the sun. 
The apparent exceptions which may be found in the 
literature of the subject may be shown to arise from 
faulty determinations of parallax, arbitrary estimates 
of quantities unobtainable by observation (such as the 
ratio of the densities of the two components of Algol), 
and even numerical mistakes. 

It follows from this similarity of mass that we can 
obtain a very fair estimate of the parallax of any 
visual binary (called by Doberck the hypothetical 
parallax) by guessing at its mass, and reversing the 
familiar relation between mass and parallax. If we 
assume that the mass of the system is twice that of 
the sun (about the average value), our hypothetical 
parallaxes, as the existing evidence shows, will 
usually be well within 40 per cent. of the truth, and 
the deduced absolute magnitudes of the components 
will rarely be more than one magnitude in error. 
We may thus extend our study of the relation between 
absolute magnitude and spectrum to all the visual 
binaries for which orbits have been computed. The 
hypothetical absolute magnitudes which we will obtain 
for them will indeed be somewhat in error, owing 
to the differences in their masses; but, for our present 
purpose, the hypothetical values are actually more 
useful than the true values would be. This sounds 
remarkable; but it is easy to show that, if we assume 
that the brighter components of the systems have all 
the same mass (say that of the sun), the resulting 
hypothetical absolute magnitudes will be the actual 
absolute magnitudes of stars identical in density and 
surface-brightness with the real stars, but all of the 
assumed mass. In other words, the effects of differ- 
ences of mass among the stars are eliminated from 
these hypothetical absolute magnitudes, leaving only 
those of differences in density and surface-brightness. 
(This is simply a statement in different form of a 
theorem which has been known for many years.) 
It is therefore desirable to extend our study to as 
many binary stars as possible. The number for 
which binary orbits have been computed is relatively 
small, but by a simple statistical process we may 
include all those pairs which are known to be con- 
nected really physically, however slow their relative 
motion may be.?°® 
Consider any pair of stars, of combined mass m 
times that of the sun, at a distance of v astronomical 
units, and with a relative velocity of v astronomical 
units per annum. By gravitational theory, we have 

v7 =(27)?m(2—17/a)=39-7m(2—1/a), 
where a is the semi-major axis of the orbit Now 
let « be the parallax of the system, s the observed 
distance in seconds of arc, w the observed relative 
motion in seconds of are per annum, and 7, and i, the 
angles which r and v make with the line of sight. 
Then s=rrsini,, w=vrsini,, and our equation 
becomes 
Sw? = 39-775m sin t, sin7t,(2—1/a). 
In the individual case, the last three factors of the 
second member are unknown, and we are no wiser 


19 An outline of this method was given by the speaker at the meeting of 
the Astronomical and Astrophysical Society of America at Ottawa, August 
25, 1911, and published in Sczenxce, N.S., vol. xxxiv., pp- 523-25, October 20, 
tgtt. A similar method was worked out quite indenendently and almost 
simultaneously by Hertzsprung, and published in 4. V., December 19, 1911 
(the date of writing being October r1, 1911). ; 


ot ond 


May 7, 1914] 


than at the start; but the average value which their 
product should have, in a large number of cases, and 
the percentage of these cases in which it should lie 
within any given limits, may be computed on the 
principles of geometrical probability. It is thus 
found that the formula z'=sw?/14-6m gives values 
for the hypothetical parallax the average for a large 
number of cases of which will be correct, and that, 
while in individual cases these values will be too large 
or too small, half of them will be within 19 per cent. 
of the true values, and the 

numbers of larger errors will B A 
fall off in very nearly the 
manner corresponding to this 
probable error. If we com- 
pute absolute magnitudes 
from these parallaxes, their 
average for all the stars will 
be a little too bright (since 
the cases in which the com- 
puted parallax comes out too 
small have more _ influence 
than those in which it is too 
large). This may be allowed 
for by adding o-15m. to all 
the hypothetical magnitudes 
so computed—an amount 
almost negligibly small for 
our present purpose. 

We thus obtain a series: of 
hypothetical absolute mag- 
nitudes the average for a 
large number of cases of 
which will be correct. In 
59 per cent. of the individual 
cases the error arising from 
the statistical process—that 
is, from the substitution of a 
mean value of 

sin #, sin 7i,(2—r/a) 

for the true value—will affect 
the deduced magnitude by 
less than +0-5m., and in 
89 per cent. of all cases the 
error will not exceed +1-om. 
The approximation is there- 
fore quite sufficient for our 
purpose. It should, however, 
be noted that, while the error 
of the statistical! process can 
never make the computed 
absolute magnitude of any 
star too faint by more than 
r5m., it may in rare cases 
make it too bright by any 
amount whatever—more than 
20m. in one case in sixty, 
more than 3-0m. once in 250 
cases, and so on. 

We may now proceed to 
compute hypothetical abso- 
lute magnitudes for all 
the physical pairs which 
show even a trace of frela- 
tive motion—including many 
which are ordinarily described as ‘fixed,’ but, on 
careful study of the observations, show very slow 
relative change. With the aid of the splendid collec- 
tion of observational data contained in Burnham’s 
great catalogue and other recent works on double 
stars, and of many observations of spectra made at 
Harvard in generous response to requests for in- 
formation, it has been possible to derive results for 
more than 550 stars. Assuming that the brighter 


NOn2323,, WOl.94| 


NATURE 


257 


component of each of these (which is usually the only 
one of which the spectrum is known) is equal in 
mass to the sun, estimating that of the fainter com- 
ponent on the basis of the difference of brightness 
(with the data for the systems in which the mass- 
ratio is known as a sufficient guide), and proceeding 
as indicated above, we obtain the data plotted in 
Fig. 3. The co-ordinates have here the same mean- 
ing as in the previous diagrams, and the figure shows 
at a glance the relations which would exist between 


the absolute magnitudes and spectra of these 550 
stars if all differences of mass were eliminated, leav- 


ing only those of density and surface-brightness 
operative. Binaries for which orbits have been com- 
puted are shown by solid dots, and physical pairs, to 
which the statistical process has been applied, by 
open circles. 

Our new diagram is strikingly similar in appear- 
ance to the previous ones, even in its minor details. 


258 


The two series of giant and dwarf stars appear once 
more; the giants are all of about the same brightness, 
except that those of Class B are brighter than the 
rest; the dwarf stars diminish in brightness by about 
two ‘magnitudes for each spectral class; the two series 
overlap up to Class G and ‘separate at Class K, and 
so on. We have clearly come, for the third time, 
and again from independent data, upon the same 
phenomena as before; and, with the more extensive 
observational material, some of the characteristics 
and relations of the two groups are shown better than 
ever. 

But this new evidence does much more than to con- 
firm that which we have previously considered—it 
proves that the distinction between the giant and 
dwarf stars, 
ness and spectral types, do not arise (primarily at 
least) from differences in mass. Even when reduced 
to equal masses, the giant stars of Class K are about 
one hundred times as bright as the dwarf stars of 
similar spectrum, and for Class M the corresponding 
ratio is fully tooo. Stars belonging to the two series 
must therefore differ greatly either in surface bright- 
ness or in density, if not in both. 

There is good physical reason for believing that 
stars of similar spectrum and colour-index are at 
least approximately similar in surface brightness, and 
that the surface brightness falls off rapidly with in- 
creasing redness. Indeed, if the stars radiate like 
black bodies, the relative surface brightness of any 
two stars should be obtainable by multiplying their 
relative colour-index by a constant (which is the ratio 
of the mean effective photographic wave-length to the 
difference of the mean effective visual and_photo- 
graphic wave-lengths, and lies usually between 3 and 


4, its exact value depending upon the systems of 
visual and photographic magnitude adopted as 
standards). Such a variation of surface brightness 


with redness will evidently explain at least the greater 
part of the change in absolute magnitude among the 
dwarf stars (as Hertzsprung and others have pointed 
out), but it makes the problem of the giant stars 
seem at first sight all the more puzzling. 

The solution is, however, very simple. If a giant 
star of Class K, for example, is one hundred times as 
bright as a dwarf star of the same mass and spec- 
trum, and is equal to it in surface brightness, it must 
be of ten times the diameter and 1/1000 of the density 
of the dwarf star. If, as in Class M, the giant star 
is one thousand times as bright as the dwarf, it must 
be less than 1/30,000 as dense as the latter. Among 
the giant stars in general, the diminishing surface 
brightness of the redder stars must be compensated 
for by increasing diameter, and therefore by rapidly 
decreasing density (since all the stars considered have 
been reduced to equal mass). 

But all this rests on an assumption which, though 
physically very probable, cannot yet be said to be 
proved; and its consequences play havoc with certain 
generally accepted ideas. We will surely be asked, 
Is the assumption of the existence of stars of such 
low density a reasonable or probable one? Is there 
any other evidence that the density of a star of Class 
G or K may be much less than that of the stars of 
Classes B and A? Can any other evidence than that 
derived from the laws of radiation be produced in 
favour of the rapid decrease of surface brightness 
with increasing redness ? 

We can give at once one piece of evidence bearing 
on the last question. The twelve dwarf stars of 
Classes K2 to M, shown in Fig. 2, have, when re- 
duced to the sun’s mass, a mean absolute magnitude 
of 7-8—three magnitudes fainter than the sun. . If of 
the sun’s surface brightness, they would have to be, 


NO. 23225 VOL: .93)| 


NATURE 


and the relations between their bright- } 


[May 7, 1914 


average, cf one-fourth its radius, and their’ 
mean density would be sixty-four times that of the 
sun, or ninety times’ that of water—which is 
altogether incredible. A body of the sun’s mass and 
surface brightness, even if as dense as platinum, 
would only be two magnitudes fainter than the sun, 
and the excess of faintaess of these stars beyond this 
limit can only be reasonably ascribed to deficiency in 
surface brightness. For the four stars of spectra 
K8 and M, the mean absolute magnitude of which, 

reduced to the sun’s mass, is 9:5, the mean surface 
brightness can at most be one-tenth that of the sun. 


(To be continued.) 


on the 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 
INTELLIGENCE. 


CAMBRIDGE.—The office of superintendent of the 
museum of zoology will shortly become vacant by the 
resignation of Dr. Doncaster. The stipend at pre- 
sent attached to the office is 200]. per annum. 

Applications to occupy the University’s table in the 
Zoological Station at Naples, and that in the labora- 
tory of the Marine Biological Association at Plymouth 
should be addressed to Prof. Langley, The Museums, 
Cambridge, on or before June 4. 

Mr. C. G. Darwin, eldest son of the late Sir George 
Darwin, has been appointed mathematical lecturer 
at Christ’s College. 

GiLascow.—lIt is announced that honorary degrees 
are to be conferred on Dr. Archibald Barr, late regius 
professor of civil engineering and mechanics in the 
University, Colonel Sir William B. Leishman, 
BeR-S., ese: of pathology in the Royal Army 
Medical College, and Sir Ernest Hi. Shackleton;: 
C.V.O. The degrees will be conferred on Com-’ 
memoration Day, June 23, when an oration on Lord 
Lister will be delivered by Sir Hector C. Cameron. 


Lonpon.—The Page-May Memorial Lectures for 
the current session will be delivered by Dr. Keith 
Lucas, whose subject will be ‘‘ The Conduction of the’ 
Nervous Impulse.’’ The course will be held at Uni- 
versity College, on Fridays, beginning on May 15. 
The lectures are open to all internal students of the’ 
University of London and to such other persons as 
are specially admitted. Applications should be ad- 
dressed to the secretary, University College, London 
(Gower Street, W.C.). 

OxrorD.—Congregation on May 5 passed a statute 
authorising the establishment of an additional pro- 
fessorship in chemistry, to be called Dr. Lee’s Pro- 
fessorship of Chemistry. In the same Congregation 
the statutes providing for the establishment of Dr. 
Lee’s Professorships of Anatomy and Experimental 
Philosophy, in place of the existing Lee’s Readerships, 
passed their first stage. Should these statutes be 
finally approved, the University will be relieved of its 
present contribution of 1470l. towards the stipends of 
the professors of human anatomy and experimental 
philosophy, and will gain an additional professor of 
chemistry, the consequent charges being borne in all 
these cases by Christ Church. 

The Halley Lecture for 1914 will be delivered by. 
Colonel C. F. Close, director of the Ordnance Survey, 
at the Examination Schools at 8.30 p.m. on May 20. 
Subject, ‘“‘The Geodesy of the United Kingdom.” 

The celebration of the seven hundredth anniversary 
of the birth of Roger Bacon will be held on Wednes- 
day, June to. 


Rhode Island, is to receive a 
H. Bragg, 


Brown UNIVERSITY, 
visit in “November next from Prof. W. 


May 7, 1914] 


NATURE 259 


of Leeds University, who will deliver a course of four 
lectures on ‘‘ X-Rays and Crystals.” 


Dr. R. S. Rocers, a graduate of Edinburgh Uni- 
versity, has been appointed lecturer on forensic medi- 
cine in the University of Adelaide, and Dr. Swift 
succeeds Dr. W. T. Hayward as lecturer on clinical 
medicine in the same University. 


THE committee of Livingstone College have decided 
to appoint Dr. L. E. Wigram to succeed Dr. C. F. 
Harford as principal of Livingstone College when the 
latter resigns his post at the end of July. Dr. Wigram 
was educated at Harrow School, Trinity College, 
Cambridge, and St. Thomas’s Hospital, and he is a 
graduate in medicine and arts of the University of 
Cambridge. He was formerly a medical missionary 
at Peshawar, on the north-west frontier of India, 
under the Church Missionary Society. 


In the House of Commons on Monday, the Chan- 
cellor of the Exchequer explained his Budget pro- 
posals. The education grant is to be reconstituted 
on the principle of making a distinction between the 
richer and the poorer areas, and between the areas 
that spend much and those that spend little on educa- 
tion. The increased cost to the Exchequer of the 
education grant will be 2,750,o00l., but this year the 
grant will be confined to the necessitous school areas. 
The Government is to contribute one-half of the cost 
of the feeding of hungry school children, and also to 
make grants for physical training, open-air schools, 
maternity centres, and technical, secondary, and 
higher education. Referring to these grants, Mr. 
Lloyd George said:—‘t‘The grants for technical, 
secondary, and higher education are to make it more 
accessible to the masses of the children, and to extend 
its sphere of influence where children show any 
aptitude to take advantage of it. We compare very 
unfavourably with Germany and the United States of 
America in this respect. There there is adequate pro- 
vision for technical training, secondary and higher 
training for every child who shows any special gift 
for taking advantage of it, and I consider that this 
fact is a greater menace to our trade than any 
arrangements of tariffs. We propose that there 
should be a very substantial grant for this purpose 
which will include a grant for pensions for secondary- 
school teachers in order to attract the best men to 
that most important profession. There will be a 
grant for the special training of teachers already in 
schools in subjects specially appropriate to rural areas, 
manual instruction, cookery, physical exercise, and 
commercial subjects. The total cost for the first year 
will be 560,o00l. for these grants, and 282,o00l. for 
the other grants which I mentioned. That will be 
for the first full year, and will be for England and 
Wales.” There will be a special grant of 750,o00l. 
for public health purposes in connection with tuber- 
culosis, nursing, and pathological laboratories. Upon 
the subject of laboratories, Mr. Lloyd George said :— 
‘“Another deficiency has been exposed in our 
health service by the operation of the Insurance Act. 
There is no provision for the scientific diagnosis of 
disease. In Germany, in almost every town, and I 
think in France, you have pathological laboratories 
which are of enormous assistance to doctors in ascer- 
taining the real character of a disease when they are 
in any doubt upon the subject. There are a few 
boroughs in the United Kingdom where something 
has been done—even in London—but we propose to 
make a grant for the purpose of aiding the local 
authorities to set up these laboratories throughout the 
United Kingdom.” 


sNOneea2 2, VOL. 793i 


‘ 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 


LONDON. 


Royal Society, April 30.—Sir William Crookes, O.M., 
president, in the chair.—Prof. B. Moore; The presence 
of inorganic iron compounds in the chloroplasts of the 
green cells of plants, considered in relationship to 
natural photo-synthesis and the origin of life.—Dr. 
J. C. Willis: The lack of adaptation in the Tris- 
tichaceze and Podostemacee.—R. P. Gregory: The 
genetics of tetraploid plants in Primula sinensis. The 
paper describes results of experiments with two giant 
races of Primula sinensis, which have been shown to 
be in the tetraploid condition—that is, the plants have 
4x (48) chromosomes in the somatic cells and 2x (24) 
chromosomes in the gametic cells, whereas in the 
ordinary (diploid) races of the species the numbers are 
2x (24) and x(12) respectively. The result of most 
general interest is the discovery that reduplication of 
chromosomes has been accompanied by reduplication 
of series of factors, so that, whereas in the diploid 
zygote each factor is represented twice, AA; in the 
tetraploid zygote it is represented four times, AAAA ; 
and there are three distinct hybrid types, namely, 
AAAa, AAaa, and Aaaa. The reduplication is made 
manifest by the occurrence of F2 ratios in the form 
15D :1R, when in the diploid races the ratio is 
3D :1R. This result recalls those obtained by Nilsson- 
Ehle in oats and wheat, and by East in maize, but 
in the tetraploid Primulas the reduplication affects not 
merely the factors for isolated characters, but all the 
factors which it has been possible to study.—J. A. 
Gunn: The action of certain drugs on the isolated 
human uterus. It has been found that the involun- 
tary contractile tissues (such as the heart, intestine, 
and uterus) of mammals can be kept exsected in 
Locke’s solution at ordinary room temperatures for 
many hours, while still retaining the power of execut- 
ing normal rhythmic movements when subsequently 
placed, under the proper conditions, in oxygenated 
Locke’s solution at body temperature. With this 
knowledge, it is possible, without difficulty, to perform 
experiments on certain isolated human tissues, re- 
moved in the course of surgical operations; and those 
experiments can be made under similar conditions to, 
and therefore entirely comparable with, experiments 
made on corresponding tissues of those mammals 
ordinarily used for investigation. In this paper this 
method of investigation has first been utilised to deter- 
mine the response of the isolated human uterus to 
certain drugs.—D. J. Lloyd: The influence of osmotic 
pressure upon the regeneration of Gunda ulvae. G. 
ulvae is capable of living indefinitely in water having 
an osmotic pressure of more than 2 and less than 33 
atmospheres. The rate of regeneration of the pos- 
terior end in G. ulvae depends on the osmotic pressure 
of the medium. This osmotic pressure has “an 
optimum value for regeneration at 18 atmospheres, 
i.e. just below that of sea-water, and limiting values 
at 5 and 33-5 atmospheres. Restoration of lost parts 
in G. ulvae is brought about entirely by the undiffer- 
entiated parenchyma cells which migrate to the region 
of the wound and build up the lost parts.—Surg.-Gen. 
Sir D. Bruce, Major A. E. Hamerton, Capt. D. P. 
Watson, and Lady Bruce: (a) Glossina brevipalpis as a 
carrier of trypanosome disease in Nyasaland. (b) 
Trypanosome diseases of domestic animals in Nyasa- 
land. Trypanosoma pecorum. Part iii_Develop- 
ment in Glossina morsitans.—H. E. Armstrong and 


H. W. Gosney: Studies on enzyme action, XXII.— 
Lipase. (IV.).—The correlation of synthetic and 


hydrolytic activity. 


260 


NATURE 


[May 7, 1914 


Zoological Society, April 21.—Dr. Henry Woodward, 
vice-president, in the chair.—Surgeon J. C. Thompson : 
Further contributions to the anatomy of the Ophidia. 
—Rev. T. R. R. Stebbing : Crustacea from the Falk- 
land Islands. At intervals during a period of some 
fifteen years Mr. Rupert Vallentin has used prolonged 
opportunities for collecting, among other things, the 
crustacean fauna of the Falkland Islands. An initial 
report on this subject was made to the society in the 
year 1go0. In January of the present year Dr. 
Thomas Scott, in the ‘“‘Annals and Magazine of 
Natural History,’ has discussed some of the Cope- 
poda.. The contribution now offered has to do chiefly 
with the Malacostraca. Five new species are pro- 
posed.—J. S. Huxley: The courtship of the great. 
crested grebe; with an addition to the theory of sexual 
selection.—S. Hirst: The Arachnida (other than 
spiders) and Myriopoda obtained by the British 
Ornithologists’ Union and Wollaston Expeditions to 
Dutch New Guinea. The collection is only a small 
one, but contains two new species of Acari parasitic 
on mammals and three new species of millipedes. 
A new species of parasitic mite collected by Prof. F. 
Forster on various mammals in German New Guinea 
is also described.—Major J. Stevenson Hamilton: The 
coloration of the African hunting-dog (Lycaon pictus). 
—C. Tate Regan: Note on Aristeus goldiei, Macleay, 
and on some other fishes from New Guinea.—Miss A. 
Carlsson: Two species of fossil Carnivora, from the 
Phosphorites of Quercy, contained in the collections 
of the Zootomical Institute at Stockholm. 


Challenger Society, April 29.—Prof. E. W. MacBride 
in the chair.—Prof. E. W. MacBride: Conditions of 
cross-fertilisation in the sea. The factors hindering 
crossing between different species of Echinoderms 
were discussed.—C. Tate Regan: The distribution of 
antarctic fishes. It was pointed out that the distri- 
bution of coast fishes south of the tropics calls for 
the recognition of three zones—south temperate, sub- 
antarctic, and antarctic. The subantarctic zone in- 
cludes the Magellan and Antipodes districts; the 
antarctic zone the Glacial and Kerguelen districts. 
Nearly all the antarctic fishes are Nototheniiformes, 
and nearly all the genera and species are peculiar to 
the zone; in the subantarctic zone Nototheniiformes 
are present, but there is also a number of south 
temperate types. 

DUBLIN. 

Royal Irish Academy, April 27.—Rey. J. P. Mahaffy, 
president, in the chair.—Rev. Canon Lett: A census 
catalogue of the mosses of Ireland. Part i. This 
paper gives a short account of all deceased botanists 
who have paid any attention to the mosses of Ireland, 
together with a note of all known publications on the 
subject, from the Fev. John Ray, whose synopsis 
(1690) is the earliest work in which Irish mosses are 
mentioned, down to the present day. The list given 
by the writer contains the names of 636 mosses indi- 
genous to Ireland, and with each is given the first 
known and the latest records, together with the date 
and name of the collection.—W. D. Haigh: The 
Carboniferous volcanoes of Philipstown, in King’s 
County. This paper deals with the small volcanic 
district of Croghan Hill, north of Philipstown, in 
King’s County. In an area of about four square 
miles a number of volcanic necks breaks through the 
Carboniferous Limestone. The ash is interbedded 
with the limestone at and above the cherty zone which 
separates the Lower from the Middle Limestone.. The 
volcanic activity was thus contemporaneous with the 
major outbursts in the Limerick district. The latter 
portion of the paper deals with the petrography of 
the igneous rocks, which consist chiefly of dolerites 
and basalts passing into the more basic variety, lim- 


NO, #2323. VOL: 03 || 


| burgite. Glomero-porphyritic structure is a common 
feature of these intrusive rocxs.—A,. C, Forbes: Tree 
growth (in connection with the Clare Island Survey). 
Although no plant worthy of the name of tree now 
exists on Clare Island, abundance of scrub, consist- 
ing of oak, birch, mountain ash, holly, hazel, willow, 
etc., occurs on the east side of the island, suggesting 
that at no very distant date woodland was more or 
less general botn over Clare Island and the adjacent 
islands and mainland. ‘Tree remains in the bogs show 
that pine and birch were originally common on the 
lower parts of the island, followed at a later’ date by 
oak, which is found under mountain peat up. to an 
altitude of 4oo ft. The disappearance of this wood- 
land was primarily due to a lowering of the summer 


times. The original forest flora of the island un- 
doubtedly dates back to a time when a connection 
with the mainland existed on the south-east, which 
was probably not interrupted until oak, hazel, and 


other species had established themselves, and sup-. 
pressed or took the place of the pine of an earlier 


period. The most remarkable omissions from the pre- 
sent forest flora of the island are ash and elder, the 
latter being not only common on the mainland, but 
difficult to eradicate from grazed or uncultivated land.— 
G. P. Farran: Tunicata and Hemichorda (in connec- 
tion with the Clare Island Survey). The paper sum- 
marised the published records of the group, together 
with some additional records added: in the course of 
the Clare Island Survey. 


Paris. 


chair.—The President announced the death of. Prof. 
Suess, foreign associate.—H. Deslandres : 
mental research of a solar electrical field. Stark has 
recognised. a new effect of the 
on the light emitted by the canal rays; the. bearing 


nitrate is fused between two glass plates and allowed 
to solidify. 
below its melting point, and slightly compressed by 
pressure at one point of the plate. New crystals 


appear which grow at the expense of the original. 


crystal, and there is no relation between the orienta- 
tions of the new and the old crystals. 
the author is led to modify his views on the poly- 
morphism of camphor, which he now holds to be tri- 
morphic and not quadrimorphic.—F. Becke was elected 


A mirror astrolabe. .The prism of the ordinary in- 


half silvered. The arrangement possesses the follow- 
ing advantages: homocentricity of the two rays, 
increase of power of definition, possibility of construct- 
ing large astrolabes cheaply, and the suppression of 
the difficulties arising from the want of homogeneity 
of the glass of the prisms.—J. Clairin: Certain 
systems of partial differential equations of the second 
order with two independent variables.—W. Blaschke : 
New evaluation of distances in functional space.— 
Marcel Riesz: An interpolation formula for the differ- 
ential of a  trigonometrical polynomial.—Bertrand 
Gambier : The surfaces susceptible of being formed in 
several different ways by the displacement of an 
invariable curve.—Louis Roy: The motion in three 
dimensions of indefinite viscous media.—F. Jager: 
The application of the method of Ritz to certain 
problems of mathematical physics, and in particular to 


4 


temperatures, and an increase of wind off the sea, 
probably brought about by a higher sea-level in recent | 


Academy of Sciences, April 27.—M. P. Appell in the 
Experi-. 
electric field — 
of the Stark effect on the study of the solar radiations | 
is fully discussed.—Fred Wallerant: The mobility of | 


the molecules in a solid crystal. A crystal of potassium , 


It is now heated to a temperature well. 


From this. 


a correspondant for the section of mineralogy in the. 
place of the late M. Rosenbusch.—Henri Chrétien : | 


strument is replaced by two mirrors placed at an. 
angle of 60°, one being fully silvered and the other. 


——”,* 


a 


May 7, 1914] 


NATURE 


261 


the tides.—Léon and Eugéne Bloch: A new absorp- 
tion spectrum of oxygen in the extreme ultra-violet. 
The absorption of air in the extreme ultra-violet com- 
mences at a wave-length of 1957, and is shown by a 
spectrum of regular bands, most probably belonging 
to oxygen. It is shown that these bands are due to 
absorption and not to fluorescence.—Thadée Peczalski : 
The differential scale of temperatures.—André Léaute : 
The propagation of surges along a heterogeneous 
electric line.—Jean Perrin: The osmotic compressi- 
bility of emulsions considered as fluids with visible 
molecules. In a previous communication it has been 
shown that the gas laws apply to dilute emulsions 
composed of particles of the same magnitude. In the 
present paper this conception is applied to strong 
emulsions, making use of Van der Waals equation.— 
René Constantin: The experimental study of the 
osmotic compressibility of emulsions. | The experi- 
mental work of the preceding paper. The work was 
done with: uniform spherical grains of radius 0-33 p. 
Instantaneous photographs were taken of a column 
of emulsion 3 to 5 thick, with a horizontal micro- 
scope, sufficient time, three to four days, having been 
allowed for a state of equilibrium. Up to a certain 
concentration the fluid follows the law of Van der 
Waals, but above 2-4 per cent. the internal pressure 
diminishes, corresponding to a repulsive action be- 
tween the grains.—A. Portevin: Re-heating and 
annealing after tempering of the alloys of copper and 
tin and copper and zinc.—Georges Baume: Remarks 
on the mechanism of the chemical reaction.—Auguste 
Conduché: The action of chloroform on metallic sul- 


phates. Method of preparation of anhydrous chlorides. 


At temperatures above 300° C. chloroform vapour 
converts the sulphates of various metals into the 
anhydrous chloride. The reaction with copper sulphate 
at 300° C. gives pure cupric chloride; other metals 
require a higher temperature.—Georges Tanret: An 
alkaloid extracted from Galega officinalis. The alka- 
loid is called galigine, and has the composition 
C.H,,N.. The base is crystalline, and gives crystal- 
lised salts. M. Picon: The preparation of pure butine. 
Pure butine (ethylacetylene) has been prepared by the 
action of ethyl iodide upon sodium acetylide in liquid 
ammonia at a temperature of —40° C. It was 
purified by fractional distillation, boils at 8-3°, and 
melts at —137° C. Its density at 11° €. was found 
to be 2-47, as against 2-41 theoretical.—M. Lespieau : 
Some derivatives of octadiine-2:6-diol-1:8. The 
addition products with bromine, iodine, and hydrogen 
are described. Hydrogen in the presence of platinum 
black gives a mixture of the saturated glycol and 
primary octyl alcohol—E. Léger: The optical 
isomerides of homonataloin and of nataloin and their 
reciprocal transformations.—J. L. Vidal: Cultural ex- 
periments on the vine.—Jacob Eriksson: Rust in the 


. seeds of cereals.—R. Marcille: The nitrogenous mate- 


rials of grape must. Both fixed organic nitrogen and 
volatile ammoniacal or amino-nitrogen are present in 
relative and absolute proportions which are extremely 
variable. The quantities are sufficient to ensure regu- 
larity in the fermentation.—E. Maurel: The influence 
of climate and season on food requirements. The 
amount of food required becomes less as the external 
temperature rises, on account of the smaller heat 
losses by the skin.—Etienne Rabaud: Researches on 
telegony. From experiments on mice the author is 
inclined to conclude that telegony is a_ purely 
imaginary phenomenon.—Fred Vlés: Remarks on the 
spectral structur= of hamoglobin substances. There 
are indications that the bands given by this class of 
substances can be represented by a series similar to 
that shown by Deslandres to hold for the nitrogen 
bands.—M. Vasticar: The internal auditive region of 


N@we2g23,. VOL...93| 


Corti’s organ.—O. Laurent: Nervous accidents pro-. 
duced at a distance by projectiles used in war. A 
discussion of the possibility of nervous diseases being 


| produced by shock without actual wounds by the pro- 


jectile.—Gabriel Bertrand ; Silver as a possible stimu- 
lant of growth in Aspergillus niger. In connection 
with the effects of traces of zinc and others metals 
on the growth of moulds, the theory of toxic stimula- 
tion has been put forward. Silver salts are known 
to exert a poisonous action on moulds, and experi- 
ments are here described to see if there is a critical 
concentration at which silver salts exert a stimulating. 
effect on the growth. At no concentration was a 
stimulating effect observed, and the author contends 
that the theory of toxic stimulation is improbable.— 
M. Javillier: The utility of zine for the growth of 
Aspergillus niger, cultivated in deep media. It has 
been alleged that when this mould is cultivated in 
deep instead of in shallow layers the favourable effect 
of zinc vanishes. Experiments are described by the 
author proving that this is not the case.—Em. 
Bourquelot and M. Bridel; The biochemical synthesis 
of the a-monoglucoside of glycol, by the aid of 
a-glucosidase. Starting with a solution of d-glucose, 
glycol, and an aqueous extract of low yeast, only’ the 
monoglucoside was obtained. Its purification and 
properties are given in detail.—Charles Jacob and Paul 
Fallot: The geology ot Montsech, in Catalonia.—F. 
Roman: The Rhinoceridz of the Mainz basin. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 


The Science Reports of the Tohoku Imperial Uni- 
versity, Sendai, Japan. Second series. (Geology.) 
Voli. Now. Volii,JNoi5. (Sendai; Japan: Zab, 
Maruya and Co., Ltd.) 

Conseil Permanent International pour |’Exploration 


de la Mer. Rapports et Procés-Verbaux des Réunions. 
Vol. xx. Rapports. Pp. iv+228 Bulletin Statis- 
tique des Péches Maritimes des Pays du Nord de 
Europe. Vol. vii. Pour l’Année 1910. (Copen- 
hague: F. Host et Fils.) 

New Zealand. Department of Mines. Geological 


Survey Branch. Bulletin No. 16 (new series). The 
Geology of the Aroka Subdivision, Hauraki, Auck- 
land. By J. Henderson, assisted by J. A. Bartrum. 
Pp. vii+127+plates. (Wellington: J. Mackay.) 

Canada. Department of Mines. Geological Sur- 
vey Guide Books. No. 1 (two parts), Nos. 2, 3, 4, 
5, 8 (three parts), 9 and 10. (Ottawa: Government 
Printing Bureau.) 

The Principles of Inorganic Chemistry. - By W. 
Ostwald. Translated by Prof. A. Findlay. Fourth 
edition. Pp. xxxiii+836. (London: Macmillan and 
Cas,, ids) a aisss mete 

Bulletin of the Argentine Meteorological Office. 
No. 2. First part. The Laws of the Evaporation of 
Water from Pans, Reservoirs and Lakes, Sand, Soils, 
and Plants. - By Prof. F: H. Bigelow. Pp. 147. 
No. 3. The Thermodynamics of the Circulation and 


the Radiation of the Earth’s Atmosphere. By Prof. 
F. H. Bigelow. Pp. 106. (Buenos Aires.) 
Elementary Theory of Equations. By Prof. L. E. 
Dickson. Pp. v+184. (New York: J. Wiley and 
Sons, Inc.; London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd.) 
7s. 6d. net. 
Cape Astrographic Zones. Vol i. Commenced 


under the direction of Sir David Gill. Completed and 
prepared for press under the supervision of S. S. 
Hough. Pp. li+430. (London: H.M.S.O.; Wyman 
and Sons, Ltd.) rss. 


Manual of the New Zealand Mollusca. By H. 
Suter. Pp. xxilit+1120. (Wellington, N.Z.: J. 
Mackay.) 


262 


Grosse Biologen. By Prof. W. May. Pp. vit 201+ 


plates. (Leipzig and Berlin: B. G. Teubner.) 3 
marks. 

Das Elisabeth Linné-Phanomen. By Prof. F. A. W. 
Thomas. Pp. (Jena: G. Fischer.) 1.50 marks. 


ae 

Field-Studies 3 Some Rarer British Birds. By J. 
Walpole-Bond. Pp. x+305. (London: Witherby and 
Co.) 75s. 6d. net. 

Wild Flowers as They Grow, Photographed in 
Colour Direct from Nature. By H. E. Corke, with 
descriptive text by G. C. Nuttall. Seventh series. 
Pp. viii+204+ plates. (London: Cassell and Co., 
Witds) 5s= net: 

The English Year. Spring. By A. B. Thomas 
and A. K. Collett. Pp. ix+334+plates. (London 
and Edinburgh :°P. C.-and’E.-C.. Jack.) os. 6d. net. 

People’s Books :—Bacteriology. By Dr. W. E. C. 
Dickson. Pp. 95. Anglo- Catholicism. By aA. EB. MM. 
Moster. bp. 604: Robert Louis Stevenson. By -R. 
Masson. Pp. 94. Canada. By F. Fairford. Pp. 94. 
Tolstoy. By L. Winstanley. Pp. 96. Greek Litera- 
ture. By H. J. W. Tillyard. Pp. 92. (London and 
Edinburgh: T. C. and E. C. Jack.) 6d. net each. 


Telegraphy. By the late Sir W. H. Preece. New 
edition. | Revised and partly re-written by W. L. 
Preece. Pp. x+422. (London: Longmans and Co.) 


7SesOde net. 
Nucleic Acids. 


By Prof. W. Jones. Pp. viii+118. 
(London : Longmans and Co.) 


85.00. Net. 


DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 


THURSDAY. May 7 

Royat Society, at 4. —Election of Fellows.—At 4.30.—(1) Some Calcula- 
tions in Illustration of Fourier’s Theorem; (2) The Theory of Long 
Waves and Bores: Lord Rayleigh.—Protection from Lightning and the 
Range of Protection afforded hy Lightning Rods: Sir J. Larmor and 
J. S. B. Larmor.—Newcomb’s Method of Investigating Periodicities and 
its Application to Briickner’s Weather Cycle : Prof. A. Schuster.—The 
Flow in Metals subjected to Large Constant Stresses: E. N. da C. 
Andrade.—Eddy Motion in the Atmosphere: G. I. Taylor.—The Proper- 
ties of Magnetically-shielded Iron=as Affected by Temperature: Prof. E. 

ilson. 

Roya INSTITUTION, at 3.—The Last Chapter of Greek Philosophy: 

Plotinus as Philosopher, Religious«Teacher and Mystic : The Very Rev. 


W. R. Inge. 

ROVAL Society OF ARTS, at 4.30.—The Punjab Canal Colonies: Sir J. M. 
Douie. 

Cuitp Stupy Society, at 7.30.—Education in Early Childhood before 
School-Age: Miss E. A. Parish and Dr. W. P. Sheppard. 

LINNEAN SOCIETY, at 8.—The Botany of the Utakwa Expedition in Dutch 
New Guinea: H. N. Ridley and Others.—The Genus Lernzodiscus, F. 
Miller : G. Smith.—The Botanic Gardens at Sibpur (Calcutta), and ‘the 
Government Cinchona Plantations : Major Gage.—A New Natural Order 
of Flowering Plants: Tristichacee: Dr. 7. C. Willis.—The Forced or 
Cultural Production of Free, Spherical Pearls ; a Preliminary Note on a 


New Method: J. Hornell. —Some Terrestrial Isopoda from New Zealand 
and Tasmania ; with the Description of a New Genus, Notoniscus: Prof. 


C. Chilton. 
FRIDAY, May 8. 

MALACOLOGICAL Society, at 8.—Description of a New Helicoid from the 
Red Crag, Ramsholt: B. B. Woodward and A. S, Kennard.—The Radula 
of British Helicids. IV.: Rev. E. W. Bowell.—(1) Five New Species of 
Melania from Yunnan, Java, and the Tsushima Islands ; (2) Description 
a New Species of Strophocheilus, from Peru: H. C. Fulton. 

ALCHEMICAL SOCIETY, at 8.15. —Some Mystical Aspects of Alchemy: Dr. 
E. Severn. 

PuysIcaL Society, at 8.—A Graphic Treatment of the Rainbow and 
Cusped Wave-fronts: W. R. Bower.—Gyrostatic Devices for the Control 
of Moving Bodies: Dr. J. G. Gray. 

Roya ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, at 5.—Baxendell’s Observations of Variable 
Stars, III: U Cygni, R Delphini, S Delphini, T Delphini. Edited by 
H. H. Turner and Mary A. Blagg.—The Resolution of a Compound 
Periodic Function into Simple Periodie Functions; J. B. Dale.—The 
Periodogram Analysis of the Variations of SS Cygni: aD, Gibb.—A System 
of Photographic Magnitudes for Southern Stars: J. Halm.—Note on the 
Double Star OF 137: W. S. Franks.—Prodable Paper: The Nebular 
Line A3729: J. W. Nicholson. 

SATURDAY, May 9. 
Roya. INSTITUTION, at 3.—Bird Migration: Prof. C. J. Patten. 


MONDAY, May 11. 

Royat. GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY, at 8.30.—The Condition and Prospects of 
the Panama Canal: Dr. Vaughan Cornish. 

Roya. Society OF ARTs, at 8.—Some Recent Developments in the Ceramic 
Industry: W. Burton. 

Society OF ENGINEERS, at 7.30.—Notes on the Water Supply of Greater 
New York: W. T. Taylor. 

Roya InsTiTuTION, at 3.—The Last Chapter of Greek Philosophy: 
ee as Philosopher, Religious Teacher and Mystic: The Very Rev. 

Inge. 


NO! 2323, VOU.N93i| 


NATURE 


[May 7, 1914 


TUESDAY, May 12. 


Roya InsTITUTION, at 3.—The Present State of Evolutionary Theory 
Prof. W. Bateson. 

RovaL Society oF ArTS, at 4.30.—The Singing of Songs: Old and New 
I. : Folk Songs: H. Plunket Greene. 

RovaL ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE, at 8.15.—Colour Blindness and 
Race: Dr. W. H. R. Rivers.—Standing Stones and Stone Circles in 
Yorkshire: A. L. Lewis. 


WEDNESDAY, May 1:3. 


o 


Roya Society oF Arts, at 8.—Glass Painting in Medieval and Renais 
sance Times: J. A. Knowles. 

GEoLoaicat Society, at 8.—The Scandinavian Drift of the Durham Coast, 
and the General Glaciology of South-East Durham: C. T. Trechmann.— 
‘The Relationship of the Vredefort Granite to the Witwatersrand System : 
F. W. Penny. 

THURSDAY, May 14. 


Royat Society, at 4.30.—P?o0bable Papers: The Various Inclinations of 
the Electrical Axis of the Human Heart. Ia.: The Normal Heart. 
Effects of Respiration : Dr. A. D. Waller.—Fossil Plants showing Structure 
from the Base of the Waverley Shale of Kentcky: Dr. D. H. Scott and 
Prof, E. C. Jeffrey.—The Controlling Influence of Carbon Dioxide in the 
Maturation, Dormancy, and Germination of Seeds. II.: Franklin Kidd. 
—The Cultivation of Human Tumour Tissue 22 vitro: D. Thomson and 
G. J. Thomson.—The Nutritive Conditions Determining the Growth of 
Certain Freshwater and Soil Protista: H. G. Thornton and G. Smith. 

Roya INstiTruTION, at 3.—Identity of Laws in General and Biological 
Chemistry : Prof. Svante Arrhenius. 

ConcRETE INSTITUTE, at 7.30.—Sand and Coarse Material and Propor- 
tioning Concrete: J. A. Davenport and Prof. S. W. Perrott. 

Society oF Dyers anp Co.LouristTs, at 8.—Notes on the Chemistry of 
Starch and its Transformations: W. A. Davis.—The Analysis of Malt 
Extracts: W. P. Dreaper.—Temperature and Concentration as Affecting 
Hydration and Soda Absorption during the Process of Formation of 
Cellulose Mouofils: Clayton Beadle and H. P. Stevens. 


CONTENTS. PAGE 
Cancer. By E.F. B. . : 235 
Pure and iAcpied Mathematics. By DB Nees 236 


Botanical Catalogues and Manuals .... kes 
Our Bookshelf | io 

Letters to the Editor :— 
Cro Magnon Man: Imprints of his Hand.—Prof. 
W. J. Sollas, F.R.S. . 240 


Cellular Structure of Emulsions, — (Ulustrated. se 
Harold Wager, F.R.S. : 240 
Extension of the Spectrum in the Extreme Ultra- 
Violet.—Prof. Theodore Lyman .. . 241 
The Structure of Atoms and Molecules.—A. van den 
Broek Pkt aed Suey (age. MR AS 
Means of Collecting Eelworms. ' (Zllustrated.)—Miss 
M. V. Lebour; T. H. Taylor Rnens ee 
The Prohibition of Experiments on Dogs. By Sir 
Hepa spschafer, FIRS. 242 
The Trevor Lawrence Orchid Collection at the 
Royal Gardens, Kew ACE Si Ot, io} Sul 
Prof. Eduard Suess, For.Mem.R.S. By Prof. 
Jonny. Judd, C. Beh Ri Sara rienei ey is ca nenenenneo ets 
Reig Ye GPAY 00 tea en i ae 
Notes .. Ay Sater Win) 5: DEES) 
Our Astronomical Column :— 
May Meteors. . . Be oc. ONG 250 
Comet 1914a (Kritzinger) : 250 
A Convenient Comparison Spectrum 5 251 
Report of Harvard College Observatory . . 251 
The Schilowsky Gyroscopic Two-Wheeled Motor- 
Car by, Prof, C. V. Boys Hoan. 251 
Relations between the Spectra and Other Charac- 
teristics of the Stars.—II. Tee) BUS Prof. 
H.N. Russell . 252 
University and Educational Intelligence . 1 & 258 
Societiesiand Academies 2). eee oe EG 
Books Received . PPM os oleate oo Bi 
Diary of Societies. .... 262 


Editorial and Publishing Offices : 
MACMILLAN & CO., Ltp., 


ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON. W.C. 


Advertisements and business letters to be addressed to the 
Publishers. 


Editorial Communications to the Editor. 


Telegraphic Address: Puusis, LONDON. 
Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830. 


cl = PTD 


NATURE 


263 


THURSDAY ;* MAY “1a; 1974. 


RECENT EXTENSIONS OF THE QUANTUM 
HYPOTHESIS. 

Die Theorie der Strahlung und der Quanten. Mit 

einem Anhange tber die Entwicklung der 

OQuantentheoric vom Herbst 1911 bis sum Som- 


mer 1913.’.° Edited by A. Eucken. Pp. xii+ 
405. (Halle) a. S.:~ Wilhelm Knapp,” 1914.) 
Price 18.60 marks. 


A. SHORT account was given in NaTuRE in 
4 November, rgt1, of a meeting of the prin- 
cipal authorities on radiation questions held in 
the autumn of that year in Brussels, under the 
auspices of M. Ernest Solvay. The present work 
is the German edition of the papers read at that 
congress, together with the discussions which took 
place on them. In the course of the last two 
years the subject has developed very considerably, 
and the opinions expressed at Brussels would only 
give a very incomplete view of the present state 
of the theory, but this defect has been corrected 
by the editor, Prof. Eucken, who provides at the 
end of the book a fairly detailed sketch of the 
chief advances up to the summer of 1913. 

This section provides extraordinarily interesting 
reading. Though no solution has yet been found 
of the central problem, several new phenomena 
have been brought under the quantum régime, and 
the position of the theory of specific heats under 
that régime has been completely altered. The 
older theory of Einstein and Nernst (an account 
of which is given in the earlier part of the book), 
supposed that every atom ina solid vibrates with 
a certain definite frequency, and so by the quan- 
tum principle can only take up energy in certain 
definite amounts. The resulting value for the 
specific heat agrees only very roughly with ex- 
periment at low temperatures. The new theory, 
developed independently by Debye and by Born 
and Karman, applies the quantum principle not 
to the separate atoms, but to the elastic waves 
which can be propagated through the body. The 
agreement with experiment is very greatly im- 
proved, and there can be little doubt that the work 
provides the right basis for a theory, though the 
mathematical difficulties have so far prevented its 
being worked out completely. Debye’s applica- 
tion of the quantum principle directly to waves 
instead of merely to vibrating electrons is one of 
the most important changes of aspect which have 
come over the subject. Since energy in a wave 


is not localised in one spot, the new aspect makes 


the physical comprehension of the quantum even 


harder than it was before, but in spite of this — 


there is a gain in generality, and it should prob- 
NON23245 VOL; .93) 


| 


ably be counted as a distinct advance towards the 
final elucidation of the problem. 

Another question which has become very pro- 
minent is ‘‘Nullpunktsenergie ’—residual energy 
at the absolute zero of temperature. This first 
arose in connection with Planck’s second radiation 
hypothesis, according to which a vibrating elec- 
tron absorbs energy following the ordinary laws, 


| but can only emit it when its total energy has 


reached one of a definite series of values. Thus 
near the absolute zero a vibrator may have quite 
a finite amount of energy, since it cannot emit at 
all the energy which it is slowly absorbing. Ac- 
cording to a very important paper by Poincaré— 
almost his last published work—there is grave 
difficulty in accounting for the observed radiation 
formula in this way; but in spite of this the ques- 
tion of residual energy has been the subject of a 
good deal of discussion, ,and it has been invoked 
with some success though in a very speculative 
way, to account for several phenomena. In con- 
sidering the evidence on these points Prof. Eucken 
concludes that each separate one might be ex- 
plained in another way, but that the sum of 
all gives some probability in favour of the ex- 
istence of residuai energy at the absolute zero. 
According to a suggestion of Debye the reflection 
of X-rays may be made to throw light on this, 
since it may be possible to discover in what way 
the atoms of the reflecting crystal vibrate. So 


_ perhaps this important question may be decided 


soon. 

The most striking development, to which Prof. 
Eucken refers, is the application of the quantum 
to the rotation of gas-molecules. Hitherto it had 
only met with success when applied to vibrations. 
In a rotating gas-molecule we have a periodic, but 
not a vibrational motion, and it must be of funda- 
mental importance that the quantum applies to 
this. The most remarkable result of all is the 
work of Eva von Bahr, who finds that the absorp- 
tion of infra-red light by water-vapour may be 
taken to indicate that the molecules are rotating 
only with multiples of two definite angular veloci- 
ties. By the use of the quantum it is possible to 
calculate two moments of inertia for the molecule, 


| and the values deduced are of the size which would 


be expected from its known dimensions. When 


| further developed this work may be expected to 


throw light not only on the meaning of the quan- 
tum, but also on the structure of the molecule. 
It is unfortunate that the book came out Just 


; too early to include a mention of Bohr’s theory of 


spectra. This theory is very speculative, but un- 


like any of the previous theories it does give a 
simple reason for the observed_series in spectra. 


Regd nlial these 


Perhaps his most striking 
oe 
MAY 23 10 


264 


evaluation of Balmer’s constant with extraordinary 


closeness from Planck’s constant and the electron 
constants. Bohr’s work may prove very valuable 
in the solution of the central problem of the quan- 
tum; for it has the merit of carrying the principle 
of Planck, already hard to understand physically, 
logically to a very extreme point, and it is by the 
accentuation of difficulties that their solution is 
usually brought about. 

It would be impossible within the limits of this 
notice to discuss the rest of the book adequately. 
It is sufficient to say that it deals with all the 
more firmly established developments in_ this 
branch of physics, and that the names of the 
writers are a guarantee of its value. C. G. D. 


BOOKS ON PLANT DISEASES, 


(1) The British Rust Fungi. By W. B. Grove. 
Pp. xii+412. (Cambridge: University Press, 
1913.) -Piice 4s. net: 

(2) Mildews, Rusts, and Smuts. By George 
Massee, assisted by Ivy Massee. Pp. 229+ 
iv plates. (London: Dulau” and (Co¥) Lid; 
LOZ) raices7s: Od. net. 

(3) The Fungi which Cause Plant Disease. By 
Prof, F. L.. Stevens. Pp. vii-+75q. . (New 
York: The Macmillan Co.; London: Macmil- 
lansand Co., Ltd:, 191g.) . Price 37s. net. 


(1) HE twenty-four years which have elapsed 

since Dr. Plowright published his 
classic monograph of the British Uredinez and 
Ustilaginez have seen great progress in our know- 
ledge of the biology and classification of the 
former group—the rusts. Their hetercecism was 
a recognised fact; the life-history of Puccinia 
graminis was familiar to most botanical students, 
but the subject has broadened considerably in the 
last quarter of a century; P. gvaminis itself has 
been shown to include several species easily 
separable by form and colour; and, further, bio- 
logical differences have been demonstrated, em- 
bodying a close adaptation between fungus and 
host, and the recognition of “ physiological races.” 
In this connection Mr. Grove utters his protest 
against the excessive multiplication of “species ” 
by “biological” nomenclators :—‘ Physiological 
unaccompanied by morphological distinctions 
should never be allowed to constitute a difference 
of species, unless it be as a temporary measure in 
cases which have not been investigated.” The 
difficulty arising in the case of hetercecious species 
from the existence of distinct names for the 
various phases of the same species has been over- 
come by the rule agreed to at the Brussels Con- 
gress to give preference to the earliest name given 
to the perfect (in this case the teleutospore) stage. 


NOW 22324. .ViOlsIo8) 


NATURE 


| misleading. 


[May 14, 1914 


The book consists of a general and a system- 
atic part. The former comprises a useful account 
of the variously complicated life-history of the 
Uredinales, Puccinia caricis, the nettle and sedge 
rust, a species more accessible to students than 
P. graminis, the aecidum stage of which is now 
rarely found in this country, is taken as a general 
type, but full accounts of other species are also 
given. A chapter on the sexuality of the group 
supplies a review of the work done in recent 
years by Blackman and others, and its impor- 
tant bearing on the systematic relationships and 
phylogeny of the group. A chapter on special- 
isation gives some account of the “biological 
races ’’ above mentioned, and also severely criti- 
cises the mycoplasma theory of Eriksson. There 
is also a discussion of the phylogeny of the group 
and of the reasons for deriving it from the red 
algee. 

The systematic portion contains working de- 
scriptions of about 250 species, representing 
twenty-two genera and five families. The species 
in the larger genera, Uromyces (38 species) and 
Puccinia (137 species) are arranged in the order 
of the families and genera of their host-plants. 
An adequate synonymy is given, and the spores 
of a large proportion of the species are figured. 
At the end of the text are a short glossary, a 
bibliography, an index of host-plants, and a 
general index. 

(2) In the small volume, ‘“ Mildews, Rusts, and 
Smuts,’’ the author supplies in handy forrn a 
synopsis of the families Peronosporacee, Ery- 
siphacee, Uredinacee, and Ustilaginacez in so 
far as the species have been met with in Britain 
as parasites on native or cultivated plants, or are 
likely to occur, in so far as they are parasitic on 
host-plants, indigenous to this country. Some 
of the latter, by the way, have already arrived. 
The many years which Mr. Massee has devoted 
to the study of British fungi should be a guaran- 
tee of value and of accuracy, and students of our 
native fungus-flora from an economic or purely 
scientific point of view will find the book a useful 
companion. Keys are. given’ to. the) (genes 
and species, and under each species there is an 
ample description and a list of host-plants. The 
numerous species of Puccinia are arranged under 
the orders and genera of the host-plant or one 
of the host-plants, a method which is sometimes 
Thus the well-known hollyhock 
fungus, for instance, will not be found under 
Altheea, but under Malva, and in the hetercecious 
species one host only is cited, that bearing the 
teleutospores. A coloured illustration of the life- 
history of Puccinia graminis makes an attractive 


| frontispiece, and there are also four black and 


May 14, 1914] 


NATURE 


265 


white plates, mainly illustrating spore-forms 
the end of the book. 


(3) Dr. Stevens’s book is a systematic descrip- 


at 


economic plants in the United States, and to some 
extent a companion volume to his “Diseases of 
Economic Plants,” in which the effect of the 
disease on the host-plant and methods of preven- 
tion and cure are described. The term “fungi” 
is used in a broad sense, and includes myxomy- 
cetes and bacteria, as well as true fungi. Under 
the myxomycetes the author includes the para- 
sitic plasmodiophorales; otherwise this group 
is a saprophytic one, and innocuous apart from 
occasional injury owing to the plasmodium over- 
growing other plants. The chapter on bacterial 
disease is also a short one, and the great bulk of 
the volume deals with parasitic fungi. The 
arrangement is under the three classes: phyco- 
mycetes, ascomycetes, and basidiomycetes, fol- 
lowed by the fungi imperfecti. Under each class 
keys are given to the orders and families, and 
class, order and family are concisely described. A 
key to the genera follows the description of each 
family. Individual species are described at vary- 
ing length according to their importance, and 
many which are not yet known in the United 
States are briefly mentioned, especially the more 
important, or those which are likely to invade 
America. There are text-illustrations of most of 
the species, and each section is followed by an 
extensive bibliography; there is also a good 
glossary at the end of the volume. 


MECHANICAL AND CHEMICAL 
ENGINEERING. 

(1) The Principles of the Application of Power 
to Road Transport. By H. E. Wimperis. Pp. 
xiv+130. (London: Constable and Co., Ltd., 
1913.) Price 4s. 6d. net. 

(2) Farm Gas Engines. By Prof. C. F. Hirshfeld 
and T. C. Ulbricht. Pp. vii+239. (New York: 
John Wiley and Sons, Inc. ; London: Chapman 
and Hall, Ltd., 1913.) Price 6s. 6d. net. 

(3) The Diesel or Slow-combustion Engine. By 
Prof. G. James Wells and A. J. Wallis-Tayler. 
Pp. xvi+286. (London: Crosby Lockwood and 
Son, 1914.) Price 7s. 6d. net. 

(4) Cement, Concrete, and Bricks. By Alfred B. 
Searle. Pp. xi+412. (London: Constable and 


Co., Ltd., 1913.) Price 1os. 6d. net. 
(1) | N this work Mr. Wimperis has made avail- 

able in an expanded form the substance 
of a series of lectures delivered in 1913 at the 
Finsbury Technical College on the application of 
power to road transport. 


NO. 2324, VOL. 93] 


| 


to the measurement of power, the author de- 
scribes fully the principles of construction, and 


_ the method of using the ingenious accelerometer, 
tive account of the fungi which cause diseases of | 


In the chapter devoted 


which he invented in 1909; by means of this 
instrument many measurements have now been 
made of the tractive effort exerted in moving 
motor-cars and wagons at various speeds, both 
on the level and on grades, and thus valuable 
experimental data have been accumulated as a 
basis for the design of motor vehicles. In a later 
chapter Mr. Wimperis shows by actual examples 
how the data obtained by such an instrument and 
from bench tests of engines may be utilised to 
design a motor vehicle from prescribed conditions ; 
both motor wagons and touring cars are dealt 
with, and this chapter should prove of great 
assistance to designers of motor-cars. 

In appendix ii. the author has reprinted the 
report on the brake horse-power tests carried out 
at Brooklands in July, 1912, and discusses the 
values obtained for the brake mean pressure, and 
the effects of air resistance. Mr. Wimperis has 
produced a notable little book, of interest to the 
amateur and of value to the expert. 

(2) In this book the authors have attempted the 
somewhat difficult task of acting as a guide to the 
farmer who proposes to purchase an internal com- 
bustion engine for any power purpose. Though 
the book is entitled ““Farm Gas Engines,” it is 
really mainly concerned with engines using liquid 
fuel, such as gasoline and kerosene. Of necessity 
but little theory is given, and the main part of the 
book is wisely devoted to discussions of the 
essential points in the design of the working parts 
of these engines. When a non-expert is consider- 
ing the suitability of any particular type of engine 
for his purposes, there are certain details of con- 
struction to which he should devote especial atten. 
tion, and on this matter excellent advice is given 
in this little book. Though practically only Ameri- 
can types of farm engines are discussed by the 
authors, nevertheless the information and advice 
given in the chapters devoted to details of engine 
construction will be found useful by any British 
farmer who has already obtained, or thinks of 
obtaining, an internal combustion engine of any 
type. 

(3) It is just twenty years since Dr. Rudolph 
Diesel published a pamphlet in which he dealt 
fully with the principles govern 
engine design when the object aimed at is to 
secure the maximum possible thermal efficiency, 
and now the Diesel engine has become such a 
serious rival of the steam engine that it has even 
been utilised for locomotive work; it only 
natural, therefore, that special text-books should 
be devoted to the theory and construction of the 


which must 


1s 


265 


NATURE 


[May 14, 1914 


Diesel or slow-combustion oil 
authors term it. 

The authors, in addition to original 
matter, have brought together into convenient 
form for reference the results of experimental 
work and the information in regard to construc- 
tive details published in the columns of the 


much 


technical Press of the past ten years, or embodied | 


in the numerous papers read before the leading 
engineering societies of the world; for this 
reason alone the book will prove invaluable both 
to the many engineering firms which now build 
these engines, and to the engineers who have 
installed them in power stations, factories, and 
ships. 

The first four chapters deal with the theory of 
the laws of perfect gases, the work which can be 
obtained from a given volume of gas when ex- 
panding under given conditions, and the applica- 
tion of the well-known entropy diagrams to the 
study of the internal combustion engine. The 
next chapter deals with oil fuels suitable for these 
engines, their physical properties and methods of 
transport, and storage; in this connection the 
authors refer to the vast shale deposits in Australia, 
and to their utilisation for the production of oils for 
power purposes in that continent. In connection 
with the question of the cost of power generated 
by Diesel engines, it may be mentioned that in a 
test of a 200 b.h.p. two-cylinder four-stroke cycle 
engine, Mr. Eberle obtained under full load a 
thermal efficiency of 34°2 per cent. reckoned on 
the b.h.p., a wonderfully good result. In connec- 
tion with the testing of Diesel engines the authors 
give some useful advice as to the care and atten- 
tion necessary in order to maintain a high state 
of efficiency. 

In view of the importance to designers of 
Diesel engines of a thorough knowledge of the 
theory and practice of air compression, the 
authors have wisely devoted a whole chapter to 
this subject, and have done their work admirably. 
The ninth chapter deals with the data and calcula- 
tions needed in the design of cylinders, crank- 
shafts, valves, flywheels, and reversing gears, 
while the concluding chapter is devoted to an 
account, well illustrated, of a number of recently- 
constructed Diesel engines for all classes of land 
and marine work; it is in connection with marine 
work that the greatést advance has taken place 
in the last two or three years. In an appendix 
the authors give a most useful abridgment of 
the principal patents connected with this remark- 
able motor and its developments. 

(4) In this volume, which forms one of a series 
of text-books on the chemistry of the national 


industries, Mr, Searle deals with the three impor- | 


NO: .2324° VOL, 93) 


engine, as_ the 


tant building materials—cements, concrete, and 
bricks. The importance of a knowledge of chem- 
istry in the manufacture of cement has been long 
recognised, and to this fact is due the great 


_ advance this industry has made during the past 


twenty years, but it is only recently that the value 
of chemical research to the brickmaker has been 
fully realised. In the first five chapters the 
author deals with cement, most attention being 
given naturally to Portland cement; he discusses 
fully the necessary properties of the raw mate- 
rials, and the various methods of manufacture; 
Mr. Searle is of opinion that with equal care and 
skill both the older wet process and the modern 
dry process produce good results. The chemical 
and physical changes which occur both in the 
manufacture and in the setting of cements are 
most fully and thoroughly discussed, especially the 
chemical relations between the lime, alumina, and 
silica. In chapter v. the question of the testing 
of cement is taken up, the various methods 
adopted are fully explained, and the importance 
of cement-sand tests is clearly brought out, the 
author expressing his opinion that tensile tests 
of neat cement are largely futile; in dealing with 
the tests for soundness it is shown that this is a 
test which it is difficult to carry out with accuracy, 
and that, as a matter of fact, the majority of the 
Portland cements now on the market will pass all 
the ordinary tests for soundness. 

Two chapters are devoted to the components of 
concrete and its preparation, and much excellent 
practical advice is given; then follows a chapter 
en reinforced concrete; the author points out that 
many of the formule now used in calculation 
work contain constants, which in the hands of the 
experienced man are safely used, but when used 
by a beginner may lead to serious blunders. The 
remainder of the book is devoted to brickmaking ; 
the chemical and physical properties of the raw 
materials are fully discussed, the various pro- 
cesses of manufacture described, and the proper- 
ties of finished bricks of various classes explained. 
Mr. Searle has written a thoroughly sound, valu- 
able text-book, which ought to prove of great 


service to manufacturers, builders, and archi- 
tects. T. Habe 


OUR BOOKSHELF. 


Lehrbuch der Paléozoologie. Teil ii., Wirbeltiere- 
By Dr. E.:F. Stromerivy Reichenbachh eep: 
ix+32. (Leipzig and Berlin: B.‘G. Teubner, 
1912.) Price 10 marks. 

THE second part of Dr. Stromer’s text-book of 

paleozoology deals with the fossil vertebrates in 

the same concise and philosophical manner as his 
previous account of the invertebrates. The 


May 14, 1914] 


descriptive sections comprise only just such con- 
spicuous families and genera as are needed by a 
student who seeks a broad view of the subject; 
and at the end of the chapter on each class there 
is a brief summary of the leading features in tie 
geological distribution and evolution of the class 
as a whole, with a table of diagnoses of its larger 
subdivisions. A useful list of the principal papers 


and books published during the last few years is | 


also appended. The text throughout is well illus- 
trated with drawings of more than usual artistic 
merit, and although the majority of them are 
taken, with acknowledgment, from _ various 
original works, Dr. Stromer himself has fre- 
quently amended them to bring them up-to-date. 
Some, indeed, are in advance of their formal 
publication, such as the drawing of the skeleton 
of the strange clawed ungulate mammal Moropus, 
contributed by Dr. W. J. Holland. 
new to a text-book that their appearance is quite 
refreshing. 

In a work designed for elementary teaching it 
is generally advisable to incline towards conserva- 
tism, and Dr. Stromer evidently holds this opinion. 
Among fishes, for instance, he still recognises 
the “orders”? Ganoidei and Teleostei, though his 
so-called diagnoses do not define them; and his 
treatment of the early paleozoic Arthrodira and 
Ostracodermi is not altogether satisfactory from 
the modern point of view. His references to the 
literature, however, will enable the student to 
examine other views if he wishes to do so. 

The last sixty pages of the book are devoted 
to the general principles of paleontology, and we 
can recommend this able summary to any zoologist 
who desires to understand the present position of 
those who study fossils. ALS. W. 


A Treatise on Wooden Trestle Bridges and their 
Concrete Substitutes. By Wolcott C. Foster. 
Fourth revised and enlarged edition. Pp. xix + 
440. (New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc. ; 
London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1913.) 
Price 215s. -net. 


In the present edition of this work, which was 
first published in 1891, will be found a very full 
account of the construction, erection, maintenance, 
and preservation of timber trestle bridges. The 
book is profusely illustrated, and contains work- 
ing drawings showing the details of the standard 
trestles used on the principal American railroads. 
Wooden trestles may be disappearing gradually 
from main lines of heavy traffic, but the increased 
growth of branch lines, or feeders, and of trestles 
at manufacturing plants and for electric railways, 
have probably more than kept pace with its aban- 
donment on main lines. There is, on the average, 
about too ft. of bridges and trestles to each mile 
of railroad in the United States. The wearing out 
of wooden trestles and the increasing cost and 
scarcity of timber suitable for their replacement 
has taxed the ingenuity of railroad officials to find 
suitable structures to take their place. In some 
cases iron or steel structures have been employed, 
but there are numerous districts where local con- 


NO. 2324, VOL. 93| 


So many are | 


NATURE 


IMenSs 


267 


ditions make these methods so expensive as to be 
prohibitive. 

In the past few years a number of roads have 
used concrete trestles iin replacing those con- 
structed of timber, and the author gives full par- 
ticulars of reinforced concrete trestles and slabs 
which form a structure closely in line with the 
main features of the timber trestle. The book pro- 
vides a great deal of valuable information regard- 
ing the strength, durability, and preservation of 


| timber under all kinds of practical conditions, and 


therefore will be of service to British engineers, 
despite the fact that timber bridges do not occur 
often on British railways. 


Durch Kénig Tschulalongkorns Reich. Eine 
deutsche Siam-Expedition. By Dr. Carl C. 
Hosseus. Pp. xii+219+plates. (Stuttgart: 


Stecker and Schroder, n.d.) Price 15 marks. 


Dr. C. C. HosseEus, who visited Siam in 1904-06, 
gives us in the present volume an account of his 
journey and scientific observations. The route lay 
up the Maping, and at various halting-places ex- 
cursions were made to the neighbouring country. 
Chiengmai appears to have been his chief base, 
and from there Doi Intanon, Chieng Dao, Pahom- 
buk, and Chiengrai, to mention only a few of the 
more important, were visited. 

Zoologists, geologists, ethnologists, geograph- 
and other naturalists will all find much to 
interest them in the book; for quite a casual glance 
through its pages will suffice to show that the 
author was ever on the alert to note points of 
interest in any branch of science. But it is un- 
doubtedly to the botanist that the author has in 
the first place appealed. 

Previous to this work the author had published 
lists of his botanical collections, so that here we 
have no complete catalogue, but references are 
given to the new species found and to many others 
interesting for some morphological detail or for 
their associations. Here it may be noted that the 
index, copious though it may appear, is not a 
complete index to afl the plants mentioned. 

A word of praise is due for the numerous ex- 
cellent illustrations included at the end of the 
book. All who are interested in Asiatic botany 
must feel indebted to Dr. Hosseus, to whom must 
be attributed the credit of being the first scientific 
traveller and collector on a large scale north of 
Bangkok, for supplementing his previous lists 
with such an interesting book. 


Biology: General and Medical. By Prof. Joseph 
McFarland. Pp. 457, with 160 illustrations. 
Second edition. (Philadelphia and London: 
W. B. Saunders Co., 1913.) Price 7s. 6d. net. 


Tue first edition of Prof. McFarland’s book ap- 
peared in 1910, and was reviewed at length in the 
issue of Nature for March 23, 1911 (vol. Ixxxvi., 
p. 106). In the present edition the author has en- 
deavoured to eliminate defects discovered in the 
book, and without much increasing its size to 
introduce the new matter necessary to bring it 
up to date. 


LETTERS: LO THES EDITOR: 


[The Editor does not hold himselj responsible for 
opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with 
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 
this or any other part of Nature. No notice 1s 
taken of anonymous communications. | 


The Constitution of Atoms and Molecules. 


DR. VAN DEN BROEK’s letter (NATURE, May 7, p. 241) 
contains one or two misapprehensions of the views 
put forward in my paper (Phil. Mag., April, 1914), 
and I shall accordingly endeavour to make my mean- 
ing clearer. The paper does not purport to show that 
Dr. van den Broek’s hypothesis is incorrect—in fact, 
in my own belief, it is fundamentally correct, though 
not necessarily in complete detail—but only to show 
that it is incompatible with the present form of Bohr’s 
theory. Any atomic theory has two main things to 
explain in connection with optics—the X-ray spectra 
investigated by Moseley and the ordinary light spectra 
of atoms. The fact that coplanar rings are mathe- 
matically impossible is conclusive against them, 
whether on Bohr’s theory or the present dynamical 
one. This must be admitted, in the face of any other 
evidence which appears to support them. There can 
be rings of electrons in an atom provided that they 
are not coplanar, but they must be of the same order of 
radius. There is only one case in which coplanar 
rings are possible—the case in which bound electrons 
do not repel each other, which is considered in detail 
in a paper to be published shortly, but such a supposi- 
tion is in complete contrast to the present form of 
Bohr’s theory. 

As my letter to NATuRE pointed out, we do not 
require an inner ring in order to explain X-rays having 
lengths of the order 10-*. They can come from an 
ordinary ring of atomic size if the nucleus is of 
strength 10 or more, and the Balmer lines can be con- 
sidered as an X-ray spectrum of hydrogen. X-rays 
can even come from the confines of a_ structural 
nucleus. Many physicists have not yet realised that 
the size of the wave-length given by a ring bears no 
fundamental relation to its radius alone. The angular 
velocity of the ring is the important deciding factor. 
If we suppose that the frequency of a line is the 
frequency of the vibration of the ring about its steady 
rotation, dynamics shows that it is of the same order 
as the frequency of rotation, w. If C is the velocity 
of light, the wave-length is of order C/w, and a ring 
of any radius can give any wave-length if it rotates 
with the proper angular velocity. So also can any 
portion of a structural nucleus, and, coplanar rings 
being impossible, the X-rays can come from the 
nucleus. The wave-lengths on Bohr’s theory are also 
determined by the order C/w, and not in any funda- 
mental way by the radius, as may be seen by an 
examination of Bohr’s mathematics. : 

Although it is the only published attempt, Bohr’s 
theory does not constitute the only one which can be 
suggested to deal with Moseley’s results. The writer 
has obtained, for example, a simpler explanation of 
them by more ordinary dynamics, which will shortly 
be published, by attaching a definite structure to the 
nucleus—a structure which can explain a great deal 
more in connection with such phenomena as the 
velocity of emitted a particles. In this method, the 
meaning of N is essentially the same as in Dr. van den 
Broek’s hypothesis. The difference is in detail only. 
Tt is not possible to dispute Moseley’s contention that 
there is a fundamental number which changes by 
steps of I in passing from one element to another 
in the table, nor that it is an ‘“‘atomic number” 


NO.. 2324, VOL. 93] 


NATURE 


—— 


[May 14, 1914 


related to the charge on the nucleus. But there is an 
assumption—perhaps correct—made in identifying it 
with the exact place occupied by an element in the 
table as we now know it, and Bohr’s theory is in- 
compatible with this assumption. For the paper 
showed that if the atomic number of lithium, for 
example, is 3, it must (1) have no valency on Bohr’s 
theory, and (2) it must have all its electrons in one 
ring, or moving in a manner prohibiting any two of 
them from forming a ring. ‘The radii of the orbits 
of the two inner electrons cannot be more nearly 
equal than in the ratio 12 to I. 

Again, as in another paper (Monthly Notices of R.A.S., 
April, 1914), no approach to the ordinary helium spec- 
trum can be obtained from Bohr’s theory if the atomic 
number of helium is 2. These are only illustrations 
of much more decisive results. Thev have related, in 
the work published already, to the supposition that the 
laws of force between bound electrons are those used 
by Bohr. But they are equally valid for other laws of ~ 
force. The one case in which the coplanar rings can 
exist—when bound electrons experience no force from 
each other—is the only avenue towards the extension 
of the theory. But it has difficulties, and, in par- 
ticular, it gives no place to Moseley’s constant b, 
which is then zero in all atoms. The K radiation then 
leads to the conclusion that the atomic number usually 
differs by 1 from the place of the element in the table. 
Dr. van den Broek lays stress on the fact that N—b 
changes from one element to another, and not N. But 
we must repeat, quite definitely, that b is zero in the 
only modification of Bohr’s theory which can have 
more than one coplanar ring. By this statement, 
however, we do not imply that b has no existence in 
fact. Its different values for K and L radiation 
demonstrate that it is real. The theory would demand 
an identity of these radiations even if they came from 
different rings, when such rings can exist. A recon- 
ciliation with experiment can only be obtained by 
putting the electrons as a constituent part of the 
nucleus itself, or by supposing that X-radiation comes 
from the confines of the atom—the K type from a 
neutral atom, and the L type perhaps from an atom 
which has lost an electron. But this latter alterna- — 
tive is quite at variance with Dr. van den Broek’s 
hypothesis, when calculations are performed, and the 
first has no relation to Bohr’s theory. 

The strongest argument in favour of Dr. van den 
Broek is the recent generalisation of the periodic table 
put forward by Soddy and Fajans, against which 
mathematical considerations cannot be raised; in fact, 
they tend to support it. This generalisation, however, 
in no case demands a strict identity between the 
nucleus charge, and the place in the table. The other 
phenomena depending on the atomic number could 
depend equally well, within the order of accuracy, on 
a number which differed from it by 1 or 2. In con- 
clusion, so far as the table is concerned, Dr. van den 
Broek may be completely correct, but, if so, Bohr’s 
theory cannot be modified to take account of X-ray 
spectra. The periodic table, however, is not a suffi- 
cient test. Astrophysical spectra demand, as proved 
in many papers in the Monthly Notices, the existence 
of simple ‘‘elements” the spectra of which can be 
calculated, which not only agree with actual 
spectra, but also have actually led to the discovery 
of several lines which the formule predicted. The 
atomic weight of one of these, with 6 electrons, is 
2-94, as calculated theoretically. By an application of 
their interference method to a line in nebula, MM. 
Bourget, Buisson, and Fabry (Comptes rendus, April 
6, 1914) have verified this value for the mass of the 
atom which emits the line. They have also made 
preliminary experiments on another element, and 
found results which support the theoretical value of 


May 14, 1914] 


NATURE 


269 


the atomic weight, 1-31. Very simple elements can 
exist therefore in which the atomic number differs 
from the number of electrons, and Dr. van den Broek’s 
hypothesis cannot be a complete principle, although 
perhaps satisfactory for the stable terrestrial elements. 
Nevertheless, if it is satisfactory in this range, Bohr’s 
theory is not. J. W. NicHOLsoN. 
King’s College (University of London). 


Temperature-Difference between the Up and Down 
Traces of Sounding-Balloon Diagrams. 


In his paper on the daily temperature change at 
great heights (January issue of the Quart. Journal of 
the Roy. Met. Soc.), Mr. Dines deals with the double 
traces shown by the diagrams of registering-balloons. 
He ascribes the difference for a great deal to the 
heating effect of the balloons, as the instruments swim 
in the wake of dead but heated air that follows the 
ascending balloon. 

He rejects as a possible cause any thermal lagging 
of the instrument, because the double trace is most 
apparent in the isothermal layer, and also because it 
meastly occurs by day and not by night. 

Receiving this number of the Quart. Journal, it just 
happened that I had made a synopsis of this kind of 
temperature-difference for the Batavian ascents, 
which throws another light on this question. 

At Batavia the balloons are of a larger type than 
those used in England; also the string between balloon 
and instrument is much longer, measuring 30 m. and 
more. Moreover, it has been observed in numerous 
cases that up to the greatest heights the whole system 
of balloon-parachute-instrument often swings strongly. 
Accordingly any heating effect by the air in the wake 
of the balloon seems most improbable. 

The instruments are of the pattern usual on the con- 
tinent and made by Bosch (Strassburg); they are 
provided with clockwork. When possible the heights 
have been calculated separately for the ascent and 
the descent; thus, when the downward temperatures 
were found to be lower than the upward, the corre- 
sponding heights became lower, and accordingly the 
difference of temperature for the same calculated 
height in the ascent and the descent was increased. 
In half of the thirty ascents which up to the present 
have been made, the balloon was liberated 1-13 hours 
before, and in the other half 1-134 hours after sunrise. 
Thus, in the first cases only the latter part of the 
descent took place at an hour that solar radiation 
begins to be active. 

The mean differences found are :— 


Temperature Higher in the Ascent than in the 


Descent. 
Before After 
Heicht sunrise sunrise Number of cases 
in km. aC. Le Before After 
To pace GG o4 16 14 
2 Oi O-4 18 14 
3 0-4 0-9 18 16 
4 0:2 1-4 18 16 
5 Gz 5 i 15 
6 74 2-4 16 15 
7 1-0 3:0 7 12 
8 1-2 3°3 I5 13 
9 1-3 3-2 15 12 
10 2:2 4:4 15 II 
II 2:7 4:6 15 Il 
12 3:0 4:3 15 II 
13 3°4 5:0. 15 10 
14 38 3°6 13 9 
i) 3°3 ae, 12 9 
16 3°5 25 6 5 
NO. 2324, VOL. 93| 


| 
| 


| 9:2°. 


| only, 


affected by a systematic error. 


The prominent fact, demonstrated by this table, is 
that up to 13 km. the differences before sunrise are 
much smaller than those after sunrise. 

The synopsis teaches, that before sunrise negative 
values occur in all heights, especially below 7 km. 
In one case up to the stratosphere the difference was 
negative in all heights. 

On the contrary, in another ascent it went up to 
After sunrise no ascent, with negative values 
occurred, and in one case the _ differences 
amounted to 11-2°. 

For the stratosphere, only in eight cases a set of 
these differences was obtained, its height being so 
great in these low latitudes that only part of the 
balloons reach its layers. Only in one of these cases 
(after sunrise) the descent-temperatures in the strato- 
sphere exceeded those of the ascent, and in another 
case (before sunrise) higher temperatures alternated 
with lower. 

In the five other cases (before sunrise) the sign of 
the differences in and below the stratosphere were 
contrary. It must be borne in mind that scarcely any 
isothermal state prevails in the tropical stratosphere, 
but that the temperature increases with the height (cf. 
my letter in Nature of March 5, p. 5). 

However, in the above-mentioned case of alternating 
positive and negative values, isothermal condition was 
met with up to 23 km. 

The reversal in sign of the difference, which accom- 
panies the reversal of the temperature gradient, strongly 
points to a thermal lagging of the instrument. Its 
heavy parts, and the basket also, will lag strongly 
and will influence the thermograph. In the ascent 
the lesser the ventilation the greater the heating. 
Thus the influence will increase with the height, as 
the ventilation decreases. In the descent the ventila- 


| tion in most cases was greater than in the ascent, and 


accordingly the negative lagging less. After sunrise 
the thermal lagging of the basket will be enhanced 
in the ascent by sun-radiation, which easily explains 
the fact that the differences are larger after than 
before sunrise. 

Perhaps the English instruments, being smaller 
than the German, have a smaller thermal lag 
than the latter. Thus Mr. Dines’s explanation may 
be applicable to the facts observed in England, and 
mine to those met with in Java. From them I think 
the following lessons may be learnt, which applies to 
most Continental ascents made in a similar way and 
with the same pattern of instruments :— 

(1) The temperatures of ascent and descent should 
be averaged. 

(2) When descent or ascent is available only, a 


| mean correction, to be derived from a large number 
_ of corresponding cases, should be applied. 


(3) The temperatures and heights taken from the 


publication of the International Committee, in which, 


in most of the cases, ascents only are given, are 


W. van BEMMELEN. 
Batavia, March, 1914. 


Gellular Structure of Emulsions. 


THE same arrangement that is shown by Fig. 2, in 
Nature of May 7 (p. 240), may be seen in an emulsion 
of Oriental finely powdered coffee suspended in milk 
and water. I have supposed that it is connected with 
a strange phenomenon which I reported in NATURE 
about forty years ago. Sooty rain-water, after stand- 
ing for some hours, will develop clear planes of 
water, as much as 10 cm. long and only 1 or 2 mm. 
wide. These planes are most readily seen by candle 
light when vertical, but may develop at any inclina- 


270 
tion, and change inclination. Such a_ straight 
segregation of clean water shows that no self- 
attraction of the suspended solids can be the 
cause. In a recent. point of view it looks 


like a liquid crystal arrangement of water expelling 


the powder as foreign matter, especially when we- 


remember the habit of ice crystals in very thin plates. 
The question then arises, Are all these emulsion 
figures due to the clear liquid segregating and expell- 
ing the suspended matter ? 

‘ W. M. Fiinpers PETRIE. 


—— 


MODERN FORMS OF RONTGEN-RAY 
TUBES. 
Ls spite of many obstacles, medical technique 
in the application of Réntgen rays has made 
steady progress during recent years. But there 
still remain certain primary difficulties which are 
often a source of hindrance and confusion. The 
demand for a more trustworthy method of work- 
ing than exists to-day is the natural outcome of 
wider radio-therapeutic experience, but what is 
required above all is an accurate means of measur- 
ing the output of the tube. 
The solution of this problem clearly requires 


that we shall have at our disposal an apparatus 
capable .of emitting a specific type of ray in 


definite quantity; and were it not for some ex- | 
periments by Dr. Lilienfeld, and more recently | 


by Mr. Coolidge, of New York, there would be 
little prospect of actually realising this result in 
practice. I shall refer to their work more in 
detail later. 

Meanwhile, it is worth noticing that the modern 
X-ray tube, with all its imperfections, is a tri- 
umph: of craftsmanship. It is the result of 
numberless costly and difficult experiments carried 
out by manufacturers and others to meet a demand 
which grows more exacting every year. The 
collection of historical X-ray tubes brought 
together some time ago by the R6ntgen Society, 
and now on view in the Science Museum at South 
Kensington, contains the first bulb which em- 
bodied the chief features adopted universally up 
to the present time in the construction of X-ray 
tubes. That bulb was made by Prof. Herbert 
Jackson in 1896, and measures only 3 in. across. 
The diameter of those in use to-day is, however, 
usually twice or three times as great, the elec- 
trodes being heavy and the vacuum carefully 
adjusted. 

The successful working of the apparatus de- 
pends so largely upon this last factor that decrease 
in pressure of the residual gas, invariably accom- 
panying prolonged use, has to be compensated 
for. The devices employed for regulating the 
vacuum may be divided into three main classes, 
viz., those :— 

(1) In which a few discs of mica, a piece of 
carbon or asbestos, etc., fixed within the bulb, 
offer an alternative path for the discharge, so 
that gas is, when necessary, liberated by the heat 
generated, as the electric current follows the line 
of least resistance. 

(2) In which a fine palladium tube stopped up 
at one end has a small tubular extension of 


NO. 2324, VOL. 93] 


NATURE 


| tive. 


[May 14, 1914 
platinum soldered to it for sealing into the X-ray 
bulb. A gas flame brought near so as to heat the 
palladium enables hydrogen to enter by osmosis, 
and so lower the vacuum. All the tubes used 
in the X-ray treatment cubicles at the London 
Hospital, for instance, have these “Osmo” regu-: 
lators. 

(3) In which air is allowed to enter through the 
pores of a piece of unglazed porcelain, which is 
usually sealed with mercury until by a pneumatic 
contrivance it is momentarily uncovered. 

But none of these methods is free from objec- 
tions. The regulation is generally too insensi- 
The tube often outlives the supply of gas 
from the first sort, and the others are only trust- 
worthy in skilled hands. The mica disc regulator 
is shown in the diagram (Fig. 1), which other- 
wise is self-explanatory. 

Messrs. C. H. F. Muller describe some eighteen 
types of tubes of this character in their recently 


Water Bulb--...---}._... 


Waterslubes 2 oe y. --- -.---Anode Cap 


Saecno-ete Anode 


Seed ica Regulator 
CS) Mica Regul 
AEN »-------Carbon Regulator 


(..._Regulator Cap 


Biihee 
Antikathode____ 


Marget—— £5 


Kathode Head_______- 
Kathode Neck_..._--_- 
Kathode Stem____.._.._- 


~-------Regulator Wire 


Karhode Cap 


Fic. 1.—Showing the terms in common use to denote the different 
parts of the instrument. 


published catalogue, and give precise instructions 
for the adjustment and use of each kind. There 
are in addition five coloured plates showing the 
appearance of X-ray bulbs in action, and a great 
amount of useful information besides. Fig. 2 
(Muller) may be taken as representing a typical 
example of modern heavy discharge X-ray tube. 

The cause of the disappearance of gas with pro- 
longed use has given rise to much speculation. 
It has been suggested that the ions produced by 
the discharge are driven actually through the 
walls, and so escape; there is proof at least that 
the glass takes up a large part of the residual 
gas under these conditions, and that lead glass 
absorbs more than Jena. 

Since the degree of vacuum controls the resist- 
ance of the tube, and this in turn determines the 
current that passes with a given potential differ- 
ence between the electrodes, it is evident that 
the pressure of the residual gas is the chief factor 
which defines the type and quantity of rays to be 


rents 


r 


May 14, 1914] 


NATURE 


271 


obtained. Moreover, the kathode itself must 
carry a rninute trace of gas to facilitate the trans- 
fer of electricity from the metal to the surround- 
ing space. Further, the great heat often gener- 
ated at the antikathode raises the temperature 
of the walls to such an extent that gas is set free 
there, and the balance of working conditions 
upset. A new tube, in fact, generally requires 
“maturing ” until its vacuum when at work will 


keep practically 


constant, and yet 


be neither too 
high nor too 
low. This calls 


for much care 
and patience on 
the part of the 
operator. A 
bulb may in this 
way be coaxed to 


Garry) 5 milli- 
amperes for 
bawrs at a 
stretch, and be 


of great service 
ime. treatment.” 
In most cases, 
however, the 
current does not 
exceed 2. milli- 
amperes for that 
purpose. But in 
radiographic 
work the usual 
practice is to 
employ a heavy 
current—2o milliamperes—for a few seconds or 
even a fraction of a second. The length of ex- 
posure is, of course, determined by a number of 
considerations, but with such a large current it 
cannot exceed a few seconds on account of the 
enormous heat generated at the antikathode by 
the impact of electrons. 

The same difficulty is met with in the treatment 
tubes, quite apart from the disengagement of gas, 


egrets 


NS 


Fic. 2.—Heavy-discharge X-ray tube. 


Fic. 3-—Heavy discharge radiator tube. 


for a longer exposure has to be given now than 
would be necessary if more current could be 
carried with regularity and safety. 

Under existing conditions the antikathode stem 
is usually made hollow, so as to enable water 
or air to flow in and carry off the heat, or an 
actual radiator may be fitted, as shown in Fig. 3 
(Cossor). The osmosis regulator is also repre- 
sented in the same illustration. Otherwise, even 


WOutge ea. VOL. O3\ 


the hardest substance used as target would melt 
or become pitted by the impinging electrons. As 
an example of what occurs, the photomicrograph 
(Fig. 4; for which I am indebted to Dr. Rodman) 
of a plate of platinoid-nickel which has served as 
target may be of interest. In all cases except for 


very light work, the antikathode is made of stout 


copper faced with platinum-iridium or pure iridium, 


tantalum, etc., at the place where the kathode 
rays impinge upon it. The uncertain variation of 
vacuum, together with the development of exces- 
sive heat at the antikathode, constitute the most 
serious objections to the present system of work- 
ing. The first difficulty especially hinders pro- 
gress towards the attainment of an accurate 
method of measuring or describing the radiation 
dealt with, for it may change from day to day, 
or even during an exposure. But there are, in 
addition, many minor ailments which develop with 
the age of the tube. Thus a deposit comes gradu- 
ally upon the inner surface of the walls. It is 


biG. 4.—Photomicrograph of eroded target. 


mainly metallic, and occludes gas; but it also 
provides electrified areas which disturb the normal 
streams of electrons. Occasionally, too, patches 
of bright fluorescence appear on the glass, due to 
specks of foreign matter sticking to the kathode. 
The direction of the discharge will sometimes 
reverse in the tube from no apparent cause. In- 
deed, the behaviour of a bulb is so erratic at 
times that a superstitious person might be ex- 


_cused for regarding it with distrust. 


However, with care and experience, and in 
spite of many disadvantages, splendid work is 
being done with this super-sensitive apparatus. 
But it is none the less necessary to make every 
effort towards placing X-ray therapeutics upon an 
accurate quantitative basis, and to simplify the 
technique. With existing appliances the prospect 
of so doing is remote indeed. 

But we are on the eve of great improvements ! 
Dr. Lilienfeld, of Leipzig, has already constructed 
a Réntgen tube which is so highly exhausted that 
the residual gas plays no part in the working 


QMG )S) 
-/= 


NATORE 


| May 14, 1914 


of the apparatus. The first description of this 
new departure was given in the Fortschritte auf 
dem Gebieie der Réntgenstrahlen for June, 1913, 
and more recently a further account has appeared 
in a later issue (Band xviii., p. 256). 

Dr. Lilienfeld creates an electric field in the 
neighbourhood of the antikathode between an 
aluminium tube and a white-hot wire. The work- 
ing potential difference is then applied to the main 
electrodes and a discharge immediately passes. 
Since the current taken by the tube depends upon 
the temperature of the so-called priming device, 
the operation is under control. 

But Mr. Coolidge? has simplified this design 
still further by placing a small spiral of tungsten 
at the centre of the kathode; heating this by an 
independent current he obtains a supply of elec- 
trons which are repelled and driven against the 
target with such speed as to produce copious 
X-rays where they strike. Thus, given a power- 
ful induction coil and noting that the bulb is so 
well exhausted that 100,000 volts at its electrodes 
produce no discharge, the spiral is heated and the 
current that then passes is simply a function of 
the temperature. Variation of the potential differ- 
ence would mean an alteration of the speed at 
which the electrons are driven against the target. 


The quality of the X-rays produced can therefore | 


be varied, irrespective of their quantity. This is 
not possible with any other type of X-ray tube. 
Its importance cannot be over-rated. It places 
in the hands of X-ray operators an instrument 
of precision. Many questions are still outstand- 
ing; it is not even claimed yet that this apparatus 
is beyond the experimental stage. Meanwhile, 
however, it may be of interest to point out that 
the Coolidge tube has already given some remark- 
able results. The most successful bulb so far 
made measured 18 cm. in diameter, and was 
blown from German glass; it carried a current 
of from 1°7 to 36 milliamperes with the spiral 
heated to a temperature varying between 2010° 
and 2240° absolute. It was run for fifty minutes 
continuously on one occasion with 25 milliamperes 
passing. There was, of course, great heat 
developed in the antikathode, but the regularity 
of the action seems to have been unaffected. No 
fluorescence appeared upon the glass of this bulb, 
and the starting and running voltages were identi- 
cal. The tube is also its own “rectifier,” and 
may be run off an alternating circuit without any 
additional device to suppress one phase. 

The prospect of being able to speed up the 
electron so much that it may give rise to a radia- 
tion with a wave-length equal to, or even shorter 
than, that of the Gamma ray from radium, offers 
great therapeutic possibilities. 

It remains so far to improve the means of 
supplying electricity to the tube that a steady 
potential difference may be maintained at its 
electrodes. Then, since reversal seems impossible 
with the Coolidge system, it should be feasible to 
produce pencils of approximately homogeneous 


1 A good summary is published in the Archives of the Réntgen Ray, for 
February, p. 340 
2 Physical Review, December, 1913. 


NO. 23224.) Vi0l 93) 


a Se 


X-rays in definitely measurable quantity and of 
a quality expressed in terms of the coefficient of 
absorption in some agreed substance. 

An attempt to construct a tube upon the new 
principle is at present being made in the physics 
laboratory of the Cancer Hospital, and experi- 
ments will be taken in hand there as soon as 
possible to test the types of ray obtainable by 
this means. Cuar.Les E. S. PHILLIPS. 


THE SICILIAN EARTHQUAKE OF MAY wa: 


| ape earthquake which visited the south-east 
flank of Etna on May 8 is evidently one of 
the strongest of the local shocks which occur so 
frequently within the bounds of the volcano. 
Unlike the Messina earthquake of 1908, the shock 
was heralded by many slight tremors in the sur- 
rounding district, several having been felt every 
day since April 25. But for these warnings, the 
loss of life might have been far greater than it 
was, though more than 150 persons are reported 
to have been killed and about 500 injured. The 
villages of Linera, Passapomo, Pennisi, and Zer- 


‘bati are completely ruined; Cosentini, S. Caterina, 


and S. Maria Vergina are half-destroyed; while 
about a dozen other villages from Zafferana and 
S. Venerina on the north to Trecastagni on the 
south are seriously damaged. 

The epicentre of the earthquake is clearly at 
and near Linera. The details at present known 
are insufficient to determine the boundary of the 
meizoseismal area, but its greatest dimension can 
scarcely exceed two or three miles. For the same 
reason, nothing more is known as to the extent 
of the disturbed area beyond the fact that it was 
small considering the violence of the shock near 
the epicentre. Probably the disturbed area is far 
less than that of some of the weakest of British 
shocks. This alone proves how rapid was the 
decline in intensity from the central region. At 
Acireale, only four miles south of Linera, the 
damage to property was slight. At Catania, 
seventeen miles to the south, the shock was felt, 
and excited some alarm. These two facts—the 
great intensity near the epicentre and the rapid 
decline in strength outwards—show that the focus 


_ must have been quite close to the surface. 


It is, however, in its relations with previous 
earthquakes in the same region and with the 
eruptions of the neighbouring volcano, that the 
interest of the earthquake chiefly lies. Two and 
a-half years before, on October 15, 1911, a simi- 
lar, though less destructive, earthquake occurred 


| in the immediate vicinity. The meizoseismal area 


in this case was a narrow band, four miles long 
and about a-third of a mile wide, extending from 
Fondo Macchia to Guardia, and passing about a 
mile and a-half to the north-east of Linera. On 
this occasion twelve persons were killed and forty- 
eight injured. On July 19, 1865, the same dis- 
trict was ruined by an earthquake, by which 
seventy-four persons were killed and _ fifty-six 
injured. Other shocks visited the same or 
neighbouring villages on July 11, 1805, and Janu- 


May 14, 1914| 


ary 26, 1859; while, from 1893 to 1900, twenty- 
seven strong shocks were felt, six of them being 
of ruinous strength. 

Many of these earthquakes were closely con- 
nected as regards time with Etnean eruptions. 
The earthquake of 1805 occurred after, and that 
of 1859 during, a period of activity. The earth- 
quake of 1865 took place eighty-eight days after 
the conclusion of a violent eruption; and that of 
1911 twenty-two days after the close of the last 
eruption, which began on September 10 of that 
year and lasted for twenty-three days. The recent 
shock occurred about two years and eight months 
after the end of the same eruption. 

The same phenomena seem to characterise all 
the earthquakes of this district. The disturbed 
area is small, the intensity of the shock great in 
its central portion, and the isoseismal lines ex- 
tremely elongated in form. In some cases the 
axes of the isoseismal lines are directed towards 
the central crater; in others (as in the earthquake 
of 1911) in a perpendicular direction. The small 
depths of the foci, their situation within the 
Etnean boundary, the direction of the meizoseis- 
mal bands, and the close connection of many of 
the earthquakes with eruptions of Etna—all these 


phenomena point clearly to the volcanic origin of | 


the earthquakes, their immediate cause being 
probably local slips along radial and peripheral 
fissures. ! C. Davison. 


THE BACHELET LEVITATED RAILWAY. 


“THE daily Press, or rather a section of it, has 

been greatly excited during the past week 
by the exhibition of a model railway, the inven- 
tion of M. Emile Bachelet, in which a metal car- 
riage is levitated in the air above the rails in a 
model railway, and then flung forward with very 
great speed through a.series of solenoids. The 
reporters for the daily Press have discovered new 
and tremendous possibilities in a scientific prin- 
ciple entirely new to them, but which has been 
perfectly well known to every electrician and 
physicist for the last twenty-five years. 

The repulsion of a metal plate or ring by an 
electromagnet or coil carrying an alternating 
current was discovered independently by Dr. J. A. 
Fleming and by Prof. Elihu Thomson. In 1887 
Dr. Fleming invented and described in the Elec- 
trician of March 25, 1887, an alternating current 
galvanometer, in which a copper disk suspended 
in the interior of a coil carrying an alternating 
current was repelled and deflected. On June 10, 
1887, Prof. Elihu) Thomson published in the 


Electrician a lecture on novel phenomena of alter- , 


nating currents, in which he described the repul- 
sion of copper disks and rings by an alternating 
electromagnet. Prof. Thomson’s apparatus was 
exhibited at the Paris Exhibition in 1889, and the 
experiments shown by Prof. Fleming to the Royal 
Society of Arts in a lecture in May, 1890, and 
also at a Royal Society soirée in the same year, 


1 M. Baratta, I terremoti d'Italia, 1901, pp. 829-33; A. Ricco, Boll. Soc. 
Sis. Ital., vol. xvi., 1912, pp. 9-38. 


WO: 2324, VOL. 93] 


NATURE 


273 


as well as at a Friday evening discourse at the 
Royal Institution in March, 1891. 

Dr. Fleming expounded the whole matter with 
numerous striking illustrations. Heavy copper 
rings were made to float in the air, or were shot 
up into the air with great velocity. This repulsion 
is due to the repulsion between the currents in 
the magnet coil and the eddy curents set up by the 
alternating field in the plate or ring. 

The principle was applied by Prof. Elihu Thom- 
son in the invention of an alternating current 
electric motor, and it has been developed in the 
well-known compensated repulsion motor of 
Winter and Eichberg. It is also applied in several 
forms of rotating and recording electric meter. 
The phenomena known as “electromagnetic re- 
pulsion”’ are therefore perfectly familiar to elec- 


| trical engineers, and except in the ingenious 


application to the support of a model railway car- 
riage there is nothing new. Press reporters and 


_ others who have been astonished by the exhibi- 


tion of this force are merely learning afresh facts 
which were publicly exhibited and described by 


| Profs. Fleming and Elihu Thomson nearly a 


quarter of a century ago. Careful experiments 
and quantitative measurements will, however, be 
necessary before any valid opinion can be formed 
whether. the principle admits of economical appli- 
cation in the propulsion of real railway trains. 
Nevertheless M, Bachelet deserves credit for his 
highly ingenious application of this well-known 
principle of electromagnetic repulsion. 


NOTES. 


Lorp Lamineton, G.C.M.G., G.C.I.E., has con- 
sented to be president of the Research Defence 
Society, in succession to the late Sir David Gill, 


| ROC TBs, Kak S- 


On the recommendation of the council and of the 


' special committee on the Hayden award, the Academy 
| of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia has this year 


conferred the memorial gold medal on Dr. Henry 


| Fairfield Osborn, in recognition of his distinguished 


work in vertebrate palzontology. 


Ar the annual meeting of the Irish Forestry Society 
on April 23, it was stated by Prof. Campbell that the 
department hoped to secure 15,000 acres tor State 
forestry in Ireland. A grant had been obtained from 
the Development Commissioners of 31,430l., spread 
over fifty-two years, for a scheme of forestry in Cork, 
and the department is applying for a further grant of 
45,0001. It is thus evident that State forestry in 
Ireland has broken ground in earnest, and this makes 
it all the more remarkable that State forestry in 
England and Scotlarfd should still be waiting to start. 


THE sixtieth general mecting of the Institution of 
Mining Engineers will be held in London, on Thurs- 
day, June 4, in the rooms of the Geological 
Society, under the presidency of Sir William E. 
Garforth. The following papers will be read, or 
taken as read :—Sinking and equipment of Blackhall 
Colliery for the Horden Collieries, Ltd., J. J. Prest 


274 


NATURE 


| May 14, 1914 


and J. Leggat; development of the internal-combus- 
tion engine for power generation at collieries, J. 
Davidson; the geology of the Kent coalfield, Dr. E. A. 
Newell Arber. In addition, certain papers which have 
already appeared in the Transactions of the society 
will be open for discussion. 


Tue death is reported, in his seventy-fifth year, of 
Mr. Newton H. Winchell, State Geologist of Minne- 
sota from 1872 to 1900, and professor of mineralogy 
at the University of Minnesota from 1873 to 1900. 
In 1888 he founded the American Geologist, which he 
continued to edit until 1905. He was the author of 
‘“Geology of Ohio and Minnesota,” ‘‘The Iron Ores 
of Minnesota” (in collaboration with his son, Mr. 
Horace V. Winchell), ‘‘ Elements of Optical Minera- 
logy,’ and ‘“‘The Aborigines of Minnesota.’’ Mr. 
Winchell was three times elected to the presidency of 
the Minnesota Academy of Sciences, of which he was 
the founder. Since 1906 he had been archeologist 
to the Minnesota Historical Society. 


Tue President of the Local Government Board has 
appointed a Departmental Committee ‘“‘to consider 
the present state of the law with regard to the pollu- 
tion of the air by smoke and other noxious vapours, 
and its administration, and to advise what steps are 
desirable and practicable with the view of diminishing 
the evils still arising from such pollution.’”” The Com- 
mittee will consist of :—The Right Hon. Russell Rea, 
MEP) Mr: S: Brevitt,--Prof--]. 1B. “Cohen, +E RS: 
Colonel H. Hughes, C.B., Mr. J. F. MacCabe, the 
Right Hon. Lord Newton, Captain H. R. Sankey, Mr. 
B. Duncomb Sells, Mr. P. C. Simmons, Mr. E. D. 
Simon, Mr. W. B. Smith, Mr. H. O. Stutchbury, Mr. 
Christopher Turner, and Sir Aston Webb, C.B. Mr. 
E. A. Faunch, of the Local Government Board, will 
act as secretary of the Committee. 


In an article published in the Times of May 8 
attention is directed to the great practical difficulties 
presented by the problem of the prevention of the 
spread of sleeping sickness in Uganda, and especially 
to that of obtaining the cooperation of the natives in 
carrying out preventive measures. Whatever the 
chiefs, wishing to stand well with the administration, 
may profess to believe, there can be no doubt that 
the native equivalent of ‘‘the man in the street’’ has 
no faith at all in the assertion of European science 
that the tsetse-fly is responsible for the spread of the 
disease; he points to the indisputable fact that the fly 
was there long before the disease, and he asks why, 
amongst the many hordes of biting flies, mosquitoes 
and other insects, should the tsetse alone be blamed ? 
The further fact that the disease did not appear in 
the country until the Pax Britannica permitted natives 
to make long journeys in safety, and thus enabled 
persons infected elsewhere to enter the country, infect 
the fly, and so start the deadly epidemic, lends colour 
to the sinister suspicion that the Europeans introduced 
the disease into the country in order to establish 
effectually their dominion over its inhabitants. The 
writer in the Times refers to the comparative freedom 
from natural enemies enjoyed by the adult tsetse-fly, 
by reason of its alertness and swiftness of flight, but 


NO. 2324, VOL. (93) 


he seems to have forgotten that the insect passes a 
not inconsiderable period of its existence as a helpless 
pupa, buried close to the surface of the soil, and 
therefore much more easily destroyed. 

An account of some of the discoveries of expeditions 
to Peru in 1911-1912 was given by Prof. H. Bingham 
in Nature of March 26. A new expedition has just 
started for the same region. As in 1912, the expedi- 
tion is under the joint auspices of Yale University and 


| the National Geographic Society. Unlike former ex- 


peditions, it will cover a period of two years, instead 
of being confined to one field season. The plan of 
work will include the making of a topographical map 
of the region north-west of Cuzco, between the 
Apurimac and Urubamba rivers; a _ detailed geo- 
graphical reconnaissance of the more lofty portions 
of the mountains, including a study of the large 
undescribed glaciated region; the establishment of 
two meteorological stations at different elevations for 
the taking of systematic records for two years; a 
study of the distribution and history of food plants 
of this region; the collection of data respecting the 
forms and distribution of vertebrates, particularly 
mammals and reptiles; a survey of the present Indians 
inhabiting this region, including a study of their 
dialects, the collection of anthropometric data, and 
the collection and study of the skeletal remains; an 
archeological reconnaissance of the entire area, and a 
continuation of the studies begun by the first expedi- 
tion, looking toward a geographical interpretation of 
the Spanish chronicles of the era of discovery and 
exploration, with particular reference to the identifica- 
tion of ancient place names, the story of Macchu 
Pichu, and its connection with the history of the 
Incas. 


THE issue of the Journal of the Royal Anthropo- 
logical Institute, July-December, 1913, is largely de- 
voted to the ethnology of Africa. Sir H. H. Johnston 
contributes a masterly survey of the general question. 
One of his most important suggestions is that the 
cattle-keeping communities of the Central Sudan and 
of Bantu Africa owe much of the slight Caucasian 
element in their blood and almost all their culture to 
infiltration from ancient Egypt, rather than to influ- 
ences from Galaland and Somaliland. In the same 
connection Prof. Seligmann’s elaborate article on some 
aspects of the Hamitic problem in the Anglo-Egyptian 
Sudan deserves attention. He supports the suggestion 
made by Dr. J. G. Frazer in the recent edition of his 
‘“Attis, Adonis, Osiris,’ that the killing of the Shilluk 
rain-maker or divine king can best be understood in 
connection with the yearly renascence of vegetation. 


THe Huxley Memorial Lecture, by Prof. W. J. 
Sollas, published in the July-December, 1913, issue 
of the Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 
is devoted to an account of the exploration of the 
Paviland Cave at the base of the limestone cliffs of 
Gower, looking over the waters of the Bristol Channel. 
It belongs to the Aurignacian period, and the hunters 
who found shelter there were men of large stature. 
members of that Cré-Magnon race which occupied 
during that period the greater part of habitable 
Europe. They possessed highly developed brains, and 


May 14, 1914] 


NATURE 


275 


had acquired such simple mechanical arts as are 
essential to primitive man. They had little artistic 
ability, and have left no recognisable drawings on 
ivory or bone, the red stripes discovered by Abbé 
Breuil and Prof. Sollas in the neighbouring cave of 
Bacon Hole being the only attempts at mural decora- 
tion which this race is known to have left behind in 
Wales. They wore rude ornaments, doubtless exer- 
cised some magical arts, and they respected their 
dead sufficiently to provide for them a ceremonial 
burial. Whether the Mousterians, their predecessors, 
occupied this cave is doubtful, nor is it certain that 
they were followed here by the Solutrians or Mag- 
dalenians. Prof, Sollas has thus opened up a new 
and interesting chapter in the prehistoric archzology 
of Great Britain. 

DurinG the last two months excavations have been 
carried on in a brickfield to the north of Ipswich with 
the object of discovering and collecting flint imple- 
ments of probable Lower-Middle Aurignac-Palzolithic 
age, which are known to occur at a_ well-marked 
‘‘occupation level’’ at varying depths round the sides 
of the small valley in which the brickfield is situated. 
Mr. J. Reid Moir informs us that on April 30 digging 
was commenced at a spot on the south side of this 
valley, and a section was exposed consisting of 2 ft. 
of sandy surface material with 2 ft. 3 in. of undis- 
turbed sand below it. At the base of the section the 
solid London Clay was met with, and on the surface 
of this clay, under the compact, undisturbed sand 
many fragments of pottery, calcined flints, and the 
remains of a hearth were found. A large piece of 
pottery was found and photographed in situ. The 
pottery was carefully removed, and has been for- 
warded to the British Museum, Bloomsbury, where 
it is being examined. It was in an extremely soft 
_and friable condition, contains many fragments of 
“white quartz, and is of a primitive and rudimentary 
kind. 

THE first memoir issued by the South African Insti- 
tute for Medical Research is an inquiry, by Mr. G. D. 
Maynard, into the etiology, manifestations and pre- 
vention of pneumonia amongst natives on the Rand 
recruited from tropical areas (published by the insti- 
tute, Johannesburg, price 5s.). © Mr. Maynard has 
availed himself of modern statistical methods and 
finds, among other interesting results, that the attack 
and death-rates from pneumonia are influenced by the 
country of origin of the natives, that the highest 
attack-rates are found among the gangs which have 
the lowest physique, and that the prophylactic inocu- 
lations with a pneumococcus vaccine appear to reduce 
the incidence of pneumonia during a limited period. 
Mr. Maynard’s results appear to show that the effect 
of such immunisation is transitory, the period during 
which some protection is afforded not exceeding four 
months, and that little reduction of the case 
mortality is attained. The paper should be read 
in conjunction with those of Sir Almroth Wright and 
his colleagues, who approach the subject from a some- 
what different point of view. 


WE have been favoured with a separate copy of 
an illustrated article, by Mr. A. Gallardo, from vol. 
xxvi. of the An. Mus. Nac. Hist, Nat. Buenos Aires, 


NO. 2324, VOL. 93] 


on the new museum of natural history it is proposed 
to erect in Buenos Aires, for which a considerable 
amount of money has been voted already. The build- 
ing, which is to comprise all the essential features of 


| an up-to-date museum, is to be in a modification of 


the Louis XVI. style, and will comprise a basement, 
a ground-floor, and a first-floor. 

ALTHOUGH isolated mammalian remains of 
Sarmatian age have been known for some time 
from the Crimea, it was not till 1908 that a regular 
deposit of these was discovered, and this, too, in the 
very heart of Sebastopol itself during certain municipal 
works. The fauna, a part of which is described by 
Mr. A. Borissiak, with great wealth of illustration, in 
the Mém. Com. Géol. St. Pétersbourg, ser. 2, 
livr. Ixxxvii., 1914, appears to show indications of 
affinity with the Pikermi fauna on one hand, and 
that of the Bugti Hill and Siwaliks on the other. An 
interesting item is a giraffe-like ruminant, regarded 
as representing a new genus and species, under the 
name of Achtiaria expectans. 

Tue fourth part of vol. viii. of Records of the 
Indian Museum contains seven articles, by as many 
writers, on the specimens of various groups of, for the 
most part. invertebrate, animals collected during the 
Abor Expedition of 1911-12. Among these, it must 
suffice to refer to a preliminary note on certain groups 
of the Mollusca by Col. Godwin-Austen, who states 
that the collection as a whole ‘is one of the finest 
and most interesting from the eastern frontier I have 
ever looked over, containing as it does so many 


| genera and new species, and so many that are quite 


distinct from land Mollusca at present known from 
the most western part of Assam.” Descriptions of 
two new species appear in this part, and those of 
others are to follow. 

MIssIONARIES and pioneer explorers of equatorial 
Africa long ago reported the finding of wild oranges 
and wild lemons; if the fruits were green, they re- 
sembled small limes and lemons, but if ripe their 
sweet flavour caused them to be classed as oranges. 
The plants yielding this fruit form the subject of an 


| investigation by Mr. W. T. Swingle and Miss Maud 


Kellerman, of the United States Bureau of Plant In- 
dustry, which is published in No. 5 of vol. i. of the 
Journal of Agricultural Research. It is now clear 
that these plants have been wrongly classed in the 
Asiatic genus Limonia, and are more closely related 
to the Citrus; it is proposed to establish a new genus 
for these African oranges by raising to generic rank 
the section Citropsis of Engler. A detailed study is 
given of the different species of this genus. Interest- 
ing results have been obtained as regards the grafting 
and hybridisation of these plants, and an investigation 
is being made of their possible uses as a fruit. It is 
probable that Citropsis will show immunity to diseases 
and adaptations to soil and climate not possessed by 
the stocks upon which citréus fruits are usually 
grafted. 

THE growing importance of the prickly pear pest in 
South Africa and Australia has given rise to a search 
for remedial measures, two of which, the one bio- 
logical and the other chemical, are described in the 
March number of the Agricultural Journal of the 


270 


Union of South Africa. The first paper, by Dr. 
Ernest Warren, describes infection experiments with 
a species of cochineal insect (Green’s Coccus cacti, 
var. ceylonicus) which showed that, of the two species 
of prickly pear common in South Africa, the long- 
spined Opuntia monocantha and the small-spined O. 
tuna, only the former succumbed to the attack of the 
insect, some substance probably being present in the 
sap of the latter which is injurious to the cochineal 
insect, since even a wounded surface is not attacked. 
The second paper, derived from the Queenslander, 
describes a method introduced by Mr. O. C. Roberts, 
in which treatment consists in the action of arsenious 
trichloride vapour, at the rate of three quarts of the 
compound per acre of bush, Up to the present this 
has only been tested on several hundred acres of land, 
but the results are said to be sufficiently promising to 
warrant much more extensive operations in the near 
future. 


Stupents of palaobotany will note with pleasure a 
folio memoir in German on certain fossil calcareous 
algae from Japan and China, by Dr. H. Yabe (Sci. 
Rep. Tohoku Imp. University, Sendai, Japan, vol. i., 
No. 1). Only three species are described, but two 
represent new genera, Metasolenopora and Petro- 
phyton, and the author’s well-known care in micro- 
scopic details leads to their adequate illustration. 


UnpER the title of ‘‘Les plus jeunes volcans de la 
France,’”’ Prof. Glangeaud, of Clermont-Ferrand, con- 
tributes a well-illustrated account of the chain of the 
Puys to the Revue générale des Sciences, 25° Année 
(1914), p- 50. The trachytic domes, which are more 
common in the Mont-d’Or region, are compared with 
those of the Montagne Pelée and Guadeloupe. Reyer’s 
descriptions of those in Bohemia may provide, how- 
ever, examples nearer home. A remarkable amount 
of modern information, including an explanation of 
the puzzling Puy Chopine, is compressed into this 
single article. 


In vol. xx. of the Bevichte der naturforschenden 
Gesellschaft zu Freiburg-im-Breisgau (1913), W. 
Deecke discusses the frequent variation in type to be 
found in European sedimentary rocks of all ages, and 
concludes that deep marine basins and shallow waters 
lay side by side, and that the European area always 
showed, as now, an interlocking of sea and land. 
Continuous oceanic deposits seem wanting, and the 
acceptance of this view helps to account for the near 
association of different sedimentary facies, which other 
writers have ascribed to the importation of one type 
over another during lateral thrusting. It may be 
noted that the author regards the fucoids of the Alpine 
Flysch, not as alga or worm-tubes (see NATURE, 
vol. Ixxxv., p. 284), but as sponge-bodies indicative 
of deep water. In a later paper on ‘‘ Die Bedeutung 
salzfiahrender Schichten ftir tektonische Vorgange,”’ 
Deecke ascribes the anomalous position of some of the 
Alpine masses to gravitational slipping over Triassic 
strata, from which solution has removed sulphates and 
chlorides. Such solution takes place easily when the 
beds are lifted above the usual water-table and are 
exposed to free percolation, and the author asks for 
caution before the faulted relation of any overlying 


NO; 2324, WOL..93)| 


NATURE 


[May 14, 1914 


mass to its support is ascribed to overthrusting from 
a distant source. It will be seen that these two 
papers have a common philosophic aim. 

Tue Rev. H. V. Gill has sent us a reprint of his 
paper read at the last meeting of the British Associa- 
tion on the distribution of large earthquakes in time, 
and space. Mr. Gill’s theory is that a great mass- 


| displacement of the crust, such as occurs during a 


violent earthquake, gives rise to a “‘wobble”’ or un- 
evenness in the rotation of the earth, which is 
neutralised by other mass-displacements occurring 
either in a distant region or regions symmetrically 
placed along the great circle through the origin, or 
of displacements in the opposite direction in the neigh- 
bourhood of the origin. To test this view, he has 
examined the distribution of the 889 world-shaking 
earthquakes recorded by the seismological committee 
of the British Association. He finds that 674 (or three 
out of every four) great earthquakes occurred in 
groups, successive members of which were separated 
by a week or less, while the remaining 215 were 
isolated disturbances. Of the former, 163 (or 18-6 per 
cent. of the whole) belonged to groups of two or more 
earthquakes occurring at different places symmetric- 
ally situated with reference to the origin of the first 
earthquake of a group; 511 (or 57-1 per cent.) were 
members of groups occurring at or near the same 
place. No attempt, however, is made to show that 
the displacements of individual groups of the latter 
class occurred in opposite directions. 


THE annual report of the Hampstead Scientific 
Society for 1913 naturally refers with gratification 
to the favourable reception which was accorded to 
the publication, ‘‘ Hampstead Heath: its Geology and 
Natural History.’’ The membership of. the society 
has attained a ‘record figure”’ of 374, with a net 
increase of thirty for the year. The report contains 
brief notices of the many valuable papers which have 
been read to the society, and a summary of the 
meteorological statistics for the Hampstead Observa- 
tory for 1913. ‘‘The combination of meteorological 
circumstances in July was most unusual; coupled with 
a remarkable cloudiness of eighty-two and an ex- 
tremely deficient sunshine of only 109 hours were a 
mean pressure of 30-087 in.—a figure some way in 
excess of the average—and a rainfall an eighth of an 
inch below the normal, falling on only eleven days.” 
For the first time, average meteorological data are 
included in the report; this action marks the fact 
that the station has been at work for five years. From 
these preliminary averages it would appear that 
Hampstead is the coldest, rainiest, snowiest, and 
frostiest, as well as almost the sunniest and foggiest 
of the stations in the neighbourhood of London. 


THE report of the Royal Prussian Meteorological 
Institute for the year-igt3 (director, Prof. G. 
Hellmann) exhibits great activity in useful work, 
relating chiefly to land meteorology and special re- 
searches. Arrangements have been made for the pre- 
paration of an important work on the climate of 
Germany, and a special department has been created 
for the purpose. Among the researches made at the 
Potsdam Observatory may be mentioned the compari- 
son of different sunshine recorders, and the investiga- 


May 14, 1914] 


NATURE 


277 


tion of unexplained differences which occasionally exist 
in the indications of ordinary and _ self-registering 
rain gauges. The report is accompanied, as in pre- 
vious years, by several interesting scientific papers. 
One of these, by Dr. Hellmann, ‘‘On the determina- 
tion of air temperature,” bears particularly on the re- 
cent discussion on that subject in this country 
(Nature, April 9, p. 143). Comparisons of readings 
in a ‘*Stevenson’”’ screen with those of an aspiration 
thermometer showed that on a sunny day the tempera- 
ture by the latter might change more than ign OF 
within a minute, while the readings in the screen 
are not so quickly affected by sudden changes. The 
results seem to indicate, as was also inferred by Dr. 
J. Aitken, that the screen readings give trustworthy 
mean values for short intervals (say two to three 
minutes); a closer agreement than this in the time 
of observing, as Dr. Hellmann remarks, can scarcely 
be expected. 


A new form of Gauss’s principle of least constraint 
forms the subject of a short note by Dr. H. Brell, of 
Graz, in the Vienna Sitzungsberichte, vol. cxxii., 
p. 7, in which the author obtains a single formula 
for Appell’s equations. 

An addition to the numerous tables of logarithms 
and anti-logarithms that have been published by 
various writers for special purposes is the ‘‘ Table 
auxiliaire d’Intéréts composés” of M. A. Trignart 
(Paris: Gauthier-Villars, 1914, price 2 francs). This 
table gives the various powers of the base, 1-001, 


for all integral indices from 1 to 1000, for 
indices in ‘‘thousands’’ from 1000 to 100,000, 
and for the ten indices completing the range 


from 100,000 to 1,000,000. In the first two tables the 
anti-logarithms to this base are calculated to fifteen 
decimal places. Those in the third table are given to 
twenty significant figures. It will be observed that 
to all intents and purposes these anti-logarithms differ 
from those of the natural system of logarithms in that 
the fundamental base differs from unity by 1 in 10,000 
instead of by an infinitesimal quantity; at the same 
time it would appear that a similar difference existed 
in the case of the original logarithms of Napier. The 
present table is obviously adapted to meet require- 
ments of a special character, such as might perhaps 
occur in actuarial computations. 


AMONG the reports of recent investigations at the 
Imperial Institute the first quarterly issue of vol. xii. 
(1914) of the Bulletin includes papers on the little- 
known economic products of Somaliland, and on the 
composition of monazite, which is used extensively 
in the manufacture of incandescent gas mantles. An 
illustrated article describes an important plant of 
rubber-testing machinery set up at the Institute for 
the purpose of carrying out a systematic investiga- 
tion of samples of plantation Para rubber specially 
prepared in Ceylon in different ways, in order to 
secure accurate data for comparison. <A note of 
agriculture in the Gold Coast states that the cultiva- 
tion of cocoa is still being extended, and that the 
crop in 1913 was valued at nearly two and a half 
millions sterling. The interesting fact, probably not 
commonly known, is stated that more than one-third 


NO. 2324, VOL. 93] 


of the world’s production of cocoa is produced under 
the British flag. 


In part vi. of the Verhandlungen of the German 
Physical Society Dr. F. A. Lindemann shows how the 
simple method of dimensions may be applied to the 
construction of atomic models which shall have many 
of the properties of the actual atoms. Taking the 
frequency of the electronic oscillations in such an 
atom to depend only on the distances between the 
negative and positive charges, the mass of the carriers 
of the charges, the force between the charges at unit 
distance apart, and on Planck’s constant h, he shows 


| that if the frequency is proportional to the nth 


power of the force, it must also be proportional to 
the (n—1)th power of the mass, the (n—2)th power of 
the distance and to the (1—2n)th power of h. Taking 
n in succession equal to 0, 1, and 2, he shows how far 
the model will represent the behaviour of an actual 
atom without further hypothesis, and what additional 
hypotheses must be brought in to reproduce given 
atomic properties. In this way he arrives at the 
relations previously given by Balmer, Moseley, Bohr, 
Gehrcke, and others, as holding for the actual atoms. 


Tue flow of sand and other fine materials through 
openings of various shapes and in different circum- 
stances is not 2 subject which has received much 
attention from experimentalists, although it is of con- 
siderable practical importance. We welcome therefore 
the recent work of Prof. E. A. Hersam, of the Uni- 
versity of California, on sands of various degrees of 
coarseness, on crushed slate, crushed shale, mustard 
seed, and lead shot. From Prof. Hersam’s paper in 
the April number of the Journal of the Franklin Insti- 
tute we gather that the following are his principal 
results. The velocity of flow is determined mainly 
by the size of the particles and of the opening, but 
is slightly diminished by angularity of the particles 
or by moisture on them. The specific gravity of the 
particles, the height of the material above the open- 
ing, and the shape of the upper contour of the mate- 
rial have little effect. If D is the diameter of the 
opening, d that of the particles, both in inches, the 
mean velocity of flow V in feet per second is given 
with sufficient accuracy for most practical purposes 
by the equation, V=(D—2d)/¥7D. 


WE have received a report by Prof. Ph. A. Guye 
on the unification of the bibliographic abbreviations in 
chemical memoir: which was presented at the third 
session of the council of the ‘Association inter- 
nationale des Sociétés chimiques,” held at the Institut 
Solvay at Brussels in September, 1913. The author 
points out the inconvenience which arises from the 
same periodical being represented by several different 
abbreviations, and suggests that a uniform system 
should be adopted by scientific societies and by authors 
of chemical works. It appears there are only two 
systematic methods at present in use, namely, those of 
the Internationa! Catalogue of Scientific Literature 
and of the Conciiium Bibiiographicum de Zurich. 
Neither of these lists is complete, but the author is 
in favour of adopting the system of the International 
Catalogue, which is under the control of the Regional 


278 NATURE 


Bureaus of twenty-six States and of five societies, and 
is therefore truly international. The International 
Catalogue has four regulations for the abbreviation 
of titles: (a) the abbreviated title must be intelligible 
without a key; (b) in the abbreviated title the words, 
whether entire or abbreviated, must follow each other 
in the same order as in the original title; (c) titles 
of proceedings, reports, or scientific periodicals in 
general which are edited or published by learned 
societies, academies, etc., must, however, begin with 
the name.of the place where the society resides; (d) 
in the case of other periodicals the name of the town 
where they are edited follows the abbreviated title. 
The regulations of the Consilium Bibliographicum 
contain the first two rules of the International Cata- 
logue, but the names of towns are used only when 
necessary to avoid confusion. It would be a great 
convenience to readers of chemical works if a uniform 
system could be adopted, and it is to be hoped that 
Guye’s suggestions will be carried out. 


Engineering for May 8 gives particulars of the 
arrangements made at the Royal Air-craft Factory, 
Farnborough, for the aeroplane engine competition 
instituted by the British Government, and now pro- 
ceeding. The engines are to be of British manu- 
facture throughout (magneto excepted), and in view 
of the successful performances of British aeroplanes 
fitted with foreign engines, it is satisfactory to note 
that there has been a good entry, and that a large 
number of engines has actually been delivered for 
test. The test-house has been arranged with six test- 
beds and friction brakes, each contained in a separate 
cubicle, and supplied with a wind current of sixty 
miles an hour. The brakes are the latest pattern of 
Heenan and Froude’s water dynamometer. The War 
Office proposes to publish a report at the conclusion 
of the trials. 


Tue new Cunard linerAquitania was towed success- 
fully from the Clydebank yard of Messrs. John Brown 
and Co., Ltd., to Greenock on Sunday, May io. 
After her trial trips this week,’ she will proceed to 
Liverpool to be prepared for her maiden voyage to 
New York on May 30. Engineering for May 8 con- 
tains an illustrated article dealing with the propelling 
machinery of this ship. There are twenty-one 
cylindrical double-ended boilers, each having eight 
furnaces. The turbine machinery driving the four 
propeller shafts has been arranged to work on the 
triple system. The high-pressure ahead _ turbine, 
which, along with a high-pressure astern turbine, 
occupies a separate compartment on the port-wing 
turbine-room, receives boiler steam direct, which is 
passed in turn to the intermediate-pressure turbine, 
occupying, along with a high-pressure astern turbine, 
a similar compartment on the starboard wing. Two 
low-pressure ahead turbines on the two inner shafts 
recéive their steam from the intermediate-pressure 
turbine. Some idea of the enormous size of these 
turbines may be obtained from the diameter of 
15 ft. 4 in. over the tips of the blades of the low- 
pressure turbine. The combined weight of the low- 
pressure ahead and astern turbines on one shaft is 
445 tons. 


NO, 2324, VOL. 93] 


[May 14, 1914 


OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 


A REGISTERING MICROPHOTOMETER.—In 1912 Dr P. 
Paul Koch described a registering microphotometer 
designed by himself; the apparatus records photo- 
graphically the varying intensities of a series of objects 
such as the lines in a spectrum or a set of interference 
rings and show their distance apart. The principle 
involved is to move the negative to be measured 
slowly in front of an opening through which a beam 
of light from a constant source is passed, and the 
resulting changes in the intensity of this light are 
recorded on a moving photographic plate. Dr. Koch 
now describes (Contributions from the Mount Wilson 
Solar Observatory, No. 77) an application of this in- 
strument to the study of certain types of laboratory 
spectra, and displays in diagrams the resulting curves 
obtained. Thus, there are types of curves for furnace 
lines for different temperatures, for lines displaced by 
pressure, reversed lines, tube-arc lines, etc. While the 
observations described are stated to be only preliminary 
and very limited in scope, they are sufficient to indicate 
the usefulness of the instrument in those branches of 
spectroscopy in which it is desired to investigate quan- 
titatively measures of line-intensity and structure. 


VARIABLE STAR OBSERVATIONS.—NoO. iii. of the Publi- 
cations of the Vassar College Observatory contains a 
most useful series of variable star observations made 
during the period 1901 to 1912, totalling in all 4797 
observations. In the publication two points in par- 
ticular have been aimed at, namely, first to reduce all 
magnitudes to a uniform standard, that of the Har- 
vard photometry; and secondly, to give the original 
observations with the exact identification of the com- 
panion stars, in order that they may be reduced to 
any other desired photometric scale. In the intro- 
ductory remarks, written by the present director, 


| Caroline E. Furness, a detailed account is given of 


the instruments used, methods of observation em- 
ployed, etc. Table I., which occupies the~ greater 
portion of the publication, gives the details of th: 
observation of each variable; Table II. deals with some 
photometric observations; Table III. gives the magni- 
tude on the Harvard photometric scale for every tenth 
grade of the Hagen, while the observed maxima and 
minima are compared with the ephemeris in Table IV. 


ENHANCED MANGANESE LINES AND a ANDROMED.— 
The spectrum of a Andromedz displays peculiarities 
which have rendered it difficult to couple it up with 
other stars in stellar classifications. Both the Har- 
vard and the South Kensington classifications have 
indicated this star as an anomaly. The lines which 
are responsible for this peculiarity have now been run 
to earth by Mr. F. E. Baxandall, and he finds that 
in the main they are due to a form of manganese 
known as proto-manganese (Monthly Notices R.A.S., 
vol. 74, No. iii., p. 250). In his paper, Mr. Baxandall 
publishes three independent sets of measures of the 
stellar lines, and he states that while there is no proto 
manganese line which does not agree in position— 
within the limits of error in measurement—with an a 
Andromedz line, this long succession of close agree- 
ments leaves little or no doubt that the two sets are 
identical. Attention is directed to the interesting fact 
that while in « Cygni and a Canis Majoris the 
enhanced lines of iron, chromium, and titanium are 
strongly shown, and the proto-manganese lines are 
| comparatively weak or lacking, on the other hand, in 
a Andromedz the case is the opposite. It will thus 
be seen that important criteria are being accumulated 
to help in the task of stellar classification, a former 
prominent case of another proto-substance being that 


of chromium in the spectrum of e Ursz Majoris shown 
, at South Kensington. 


May 14, 1914] 


NATURE 


279 


tite CARNEGIE TRUST .+ 

Wa Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scot- 

land has been in operation for twelve years, and 
it is now possible to draw some general conclusions 
as to the success which has attended its working. No 
other scheme for the endowment of higher education 
and research in this country has been planned on such 
a large scale as that indicated in the present report 
and its predecessors, and the progress of an experi- 
ment of such magnitude has been followed with in- 
terest by all who have to do with University affairs. 

The financial statement for the year 1912-13 shows 
that the annual income of the trust amounts to rather 
more than 100,000l., and after defraying the expenses 
of administration there is left about 99,0001. as the 
net revenue available for distribution under the two 
main heads of the scheme. Half of this sum is ear- 
marked annually for the payment of students’ fees, 
while the other moiety is devoted (a) to the better 
equipment of the Scottish universities and colleges by 
the foundation of additional chairs and lectureships, 
and by the provision of new laboratories and _per- 
manent equipment, and (b) to the endowment of re- 
search. Of course, the equipment section of the ex- 
penditure also plays its part in the advancement of 
research work, as it furnishes places in which inves- 
tigations can be carried on and also helps to provide 
posts for men who become directors of research in 
their various departments. It will be seen that the 
operations of the trustees are financially on a grand 
scale; for the funds at their disposal annually repre- 
sent a sum equivalent to about 60 per cent. of the total 
Government grant in support of the higher educa- 
tional institutions in England and Wales. 

In the allocation of the funds, the trustees have 
been guided by two main considerations. First, they 
decided that their assistance to the four universities 
and their kindred colleges should be given under a 
quinquennial scheme, so that each step forward has 
been based upon the allocation of approximately half 
a million sterling. Secondly, a general rule was laid 
down that the trust would not hamper its income by 
paying salaries for new posts year by year out of the 
annual revenue, but instead, any new chair or lecture- 
ship is endowed fully at the start, so that its subse- 
quent career entails no further draft upon the funds 
of the trustees. In this way, each chair on its founda- 
tion disappears from the books of the trust, and the 
next quinquennial distribution can be devoted to entirely 
fresh needs. 

Any visitor to the Scottish universities in recent 
years must have been struck by the progress which 
has been made in the provision of new laboratories 
and departments of all kinds; buildings have sprung 
up until the older part of the fabric appears to be lost 
in the new. But buildings alone are of little value, 
and the influence of the trust is equally marked in 
the large increases of staff which have been rendered 
possible. 

These, however, though they represent the major 
part of the trust’s expenditure, are by no means the 
most striking monument which the trustees have 
raised, for their endowment of research and post- 
graduate study has been on an equally far-reaching 
scale. A system of scholarships and fellowships has 
been founded, which is supplemented by a series of 
grants in aid of research to Scottish graduates resident 
in Scotland; and this part of the trust’s work has 
been of equal, if not greater, importance to the Scot- 
tish university system. Thus from the time a student 
enters the University to the day he leaves Scotland 
he finds a helping hand extended to him should he 
wish to grasp it. 

1 Twelfth Annual Report of the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of 
Scotland, 1912-13. 


NO. 2324, VOL. 93] 


country. 


During his undergraduate career, he may obtain 
payment of his university fees; later, he may aspire 
to carry out researches, in which case he may apply 
for a scholarship or a fellowship. The research 
scholarships are conferred upon students on the recom- 
mendation of experts—usually the persons under 
whom the beginner in research will have to take his 
first steps in original work. Research fellowships are 
meant for men who have already accomplished some- 
thing, and they are allocated on the merits of the work 
which the candidate has already published. In neither 
case is there any competitive examination, nor do the 
trustees bind themselves to furnish a fixed number of 
scholarships or fellowships in a given year. This is 
one of the most desirable features of their policy; 
for, as any teacher knows, an institution may turn 
out, say twenty first-class men in a given year, whilst 
in the following year only one or two may appear, so 
that the granting of a fixed number of scholarships 
per annum simply means that in some years a first- 
class man may not secure an appointment to a scholar- 
ship which in the following year will fall to the lot of 
a much inferior man owing to there being a dearth 
of candidates. It should be pointed out that the 
trustees retain all these appointments in their own 
hands, so that graduates of all the four universities 
are dealt with on equal terms. The scholarships are 
of the value of tool. per annum, and are tenable for 
one year with a possibility of extension or of the 
holder’s promotion to a fellowship; the fellowships are 
of the value of 150l. per annum, and are normally 
tenable for two years, though further renewals are 
possible. 

The facts given in the report with regard to the 
subsequent careers of scholars and fellows go to prove 
that the research training they have undergone has 
fitted these men for the most varied appointments ; 
and it must be remembered that the actual output of 
research work during the tenure of a scholarship or 
fellowship is not by any means the full index of the 
success of the scheme. Most of the men continue 
their investigations after they have severed their 
actual connection with the trust, and their later work 
must to some extent be placed to the credit of the 
trustees. 

The impetus to research which has been produced 
by the work of the trust can be gauged from an 
example chosen from one science, chemistry. In the 
eight years 1903-11, the trust appointed in this depart- 
ment forty-five scholars, twenty-five fellows, and 
thirty-one grantees. The work of these has resulted 
in the publication of more than 130 original communi- 
cations to scientific journals. Now, in 1912, the con- 
tributions of the whole British chemical world to the 
Transactions of the Chemical Society amounted to 
only double this number, 266, so that it is evident that 
the Carnegie Trust, by its encouragement of research, 
has indirectly in the course of eight years produced a 
series of results equal to half the annual output of 
the whole Empire at the present time. This, it must 
be remembered, represents only a single department 
of the trust’s activities; for, in addition to chemistry, 
work is being carried out in physics, biology, medi- 
cine, economics, history, and languages. 

One final point deserves note. In dealing with a 
machine of this magnitude, it is, of course, impos- 
sible to proceed without laying down some general 
rules; but the Carnegie Trustees have hitherto 
avoided the pitfall of too great rigidity, and the 
flexibility of their system is one of its most valuable 
features. There can be no doubt that Dr. Andrew 
Carnegie’s experiment has resulted in brilliant success 
in the development of the research talent oleae 


280 


LAWS OF ATMOSPHERIC MOVEMENTS.! | 


fee ee motion of the upper layers of the atmosphere 
is discussed in these two papers by Dr. W. N. 
Shaw, recently published. It is difficult in a short 
space to give a clear idea of the conclusions reached, 
but some of the main points may be here summarised. 

In the paper published by the Scottish Meteoro- 
logical Society it is shown that if p denote the pressure 
in millibars, and 6 the absolute temperature (C.), and 
Ap and Aé@ the changes that occur in passing hori- 
zontally from one place to another, then the rate of 
increase of pressure difference in millibars per 
metre of height is 0-0342 p/@ (A@/@—Ap/p). It is then 
shown that from about 1 km. to g km. the values 
of Aé and Ap have in general the same sign, so that 
the term in brackets is small, and hence pressure 
differences, i.e. the barometric gradient, are main- 
tained without much alteration up to g km. Above 
1o or 11 km. A@ and Ap have in general a different 
sign and the magnitude of the gradient rapidly falls 
off. The effect upon the wind at various altitudes is 
then considered, and special cases where simultaneous 
observations over England, Scotland, and Ireland are 
available are taken. 

In the paper published by the Royal Society of Edin- 
burgh, Dr. Shaw gives five axioms or laws of atmo- 
spheric motion, two lemmas or postulates, and six 
propositions. His first law reads thus :— 

‘In the upper layers of the atmosphere the steady 
horizontal motion of the air at any level is along the 
horizontal section of the isobaric surfaces at that level, 
and the velocity is inversely proportional to the separa- 
tion of the isobaric lines in the level of the section.” 

The whole discussion turns upon the truth of this 
law, and Dr. Shaw confesses that observation is at 
present incapable of proving or of disproving it. 
There can be very little doubt that it is approximately 
true, for except near the equator pressure differences 
come into existence and persist for days or even weeks. 
These differences could not continue even for an hour 
if there were not some compensating horizontal 
acceleration acting on the air from the low towards 
the high pressure, for otherwise the inevitable rule 
which makes the surface of a liquid horizontal would 
come into play, and a depression would be filled up 
almost as soon as it was formed. Some opposing 
acceleration must therefore act whenever and wherever 
there is a barometric gradient, and we can conceive 
of no other possible source of this acceleration 
save that given in law I. But in the upper strata 
there must be a certain small amount of flow outward 
across the isobars from low to high pressure to com- 
pensate for the inverse flow that occurs close to the 
earth, where frictional resistances prevent the re- 
quisite velocity along the isobars from being attained. 
The other laws and the two lemmas will probably be 
accepted with the small reservations given by the 
author without demur. i 

The propositions follow from the laws and postu- 
lates. They are of great interest, but are too long to 
be quoted here. It will suflice to say that Dr. Shaw 
finds that a current flowing east or west will be stable, 
but a current flowing north or south is more or less 
unstable, and must lose or gain air as it goes. Also 
his suggestion about the flow of air up or down the 
land slopes from the interior of the continents to the 
sea is very pertinent, and, to my mind, affords a 
better explanation of the winter anticyclone over Asia 
and North America than that commonly given. 

H. Dings. 


1 (x) ‘‘ Upper Air Calculus and the British Soundings during the Inter- 
national Week (May 5-10), ro13." From the Journal of the Scottish 
Meteorological Society. Third series. Vol. xvi. No. xxx. 

(2) “‘ Principia Atmospherica : a Study of the Circulation of the Atmo- 
sphere.” (Proc. Roy. Soc. Edin., vol, xxxiv., 1914, pp. 77-112). 


NO. 2324, VOL. 93] 


NATURE 


| battery. 


| May 14, 1914 


AN ELECTRICAL ANALOGY OF THE 
ZEEMAN EFFECT. 

(p82 discovery, announced by J. Stark in Nature 

of December 4, 1913, that when hydrogen in a 
state of luminescence is placed in an electric field of 
suitable strength and direction, the spectral lines are 
resolved into three or more components, is evidently 
a fact of prime physical importance. It will place in 
the hands of physicists another method of investigat- 
ing the internal structure of the atom, and, in con- 
junction with the Zeeman effect, will no doubt be of 
immense service in the discovery of further regularities 
in spectral series, and in the attempts now being made 
by Bohr, Nicholson, and others to explain the origin 
of spectra on a dynamical basis. In this connection a 


| series of papers in the Rendiconti della R. Accad. dei 


Lincei by Garbasso, Lo Surdo, and Puccianti will 
be of great interest to readers of NATURE. 

The effect appears to have been observed independ- 
ently by Lo Surdo whilst working on the retrograde 
positive rays in the neighbourhood of the kathode. 
An account of his first observations is given in a 
paper read on December 21, 1913. A cylindrical tube 
20 cm. long and 4 mm. in diameter was used. It 
carried disc electrodes which completely filled the sec- 
tion, and it was excited by means of an accumulator 
In these circumstances it was found that the 
electric field in the Crookes dark space was of itself 
sufficient to produce resolution of the lines. The ob- 
servations were made with a four. prism quartz spectro- 
graph. By suitable modifications the tube was varied 
so that the line of sight was either along or per- 
pendicular to the field. The two outer components 
are polarised with the electric vector parallel to the 
field, the remainder in a perpendicular plane. When 
observations are made along the lines of force the 
outer components are missing. In a later paper, using 
a tube 1-5 mm. in diameter, Puccianti finds that the 
effect can readily be seen in the well-known Hilger 
wave-length spectroscope with constant deviation 
prism. The lines of the hydrogen spectrum show an 
interesting series of regularities; these are displayed 
in the following tabie (after Lo Surdo). Writing the 
Balmer formula in the form, 1/A=a—4a/n?, n has 
the values 3, 4, etc., for the different lines. 


H H, ial jas 
n ah fe ane 3 4 5 6 
Total no. of components 3 4 5 6 
Order) of line in the 
SGMESM EM gen fics. as Ist. ead |. Bra 4th 
Component with electric 
vector | to the field... I 2 3 4. 


Appearance of resolved) | | _ | 


Vas! 23) as | | 


Pot Nal | 
I HT 

It is seen that the number of components in a given 
line is the same as the corresponding value of n in the 
Balmer formula, and that the number of internal 
components is the same as the order of the given line 
in the spectral series. According to the measurements 
of Puccianti the separation of the outer components 
for Hg and H, are in the ratio 1-49, or, expressed as 
fractions of the corresponding wave-lengths, 


2s fb. 


In a paper of December 21, 1913, Garbasso dis. 
cusses the matter theoretically, to. arrive at the con- 
clusion that the Thomson model atom is incapable of 
explaining the (earlier) observations, except by the 
introduction of improbable hypotheses. 

R.S W, 


1 The components placed above have the vector parallel to the field. 


May 14, 1914] 


NATURE 281 


RELATIONS. BETWEEN THE SPECTRA AND 
OTHER CHARACTERISTICS OF THE 
STARS. * 

Lvs 

“FS proceed farther we must have recourse to the 
study of eclipsing variable stars. Methods for 

computing their orbits have been developed at Prince- 
ton during the last few 
years,*° the main motive for 
the investigation being the 
astrophysical importance of 
the results. Dr. Shapley, using 
the methods devised by the 
speaker, has obtained 
elements for eighty-seven such 
systems," for each one of 
which the density of the com- 
ponents may be calculated. 
The values here employed are 
those which result from the 
assumption that the stars pre- 
sent discs darkened toward 
the edge, like the sun, but to 
a still higher degree, and the 
principal uncertainty of the 
results (which in any case 
cannot be very serious) arises 
from our present ignorance of 
the actual degree of this 
darkening. For our present 
purpose, they may be best 
utilised by computing the 
absolute magnitudes which 
the brighter component of 
each system would have if its 
mass and surface brightness 
were equal to those of the 
sun, leaving outstanding the 
differences due to density 
alone. 

The results for the eighty 
eclipsing variable the elements 
and spectra of which are 
known are plotted in Fig. 4, 
on the same system as in the 
preceding figures. The black 
dots represent those stars for 
which the photometric data 
are most trustworthy, the 
open circles those of less pre- 
cision. We are once more 
greatly indebted to Prot. 
Pickering and Miss Cannon 
for information regarding the 
spectra of these stars. To the 
absolute magnitude 4-0 on 
this diagram corresponds a 
density 1/3 that of the sun; 
torsaeunis: to 2-0, 1/45 5"t0 
1-0, 1/180 of the sun’s density, 
and so on. 

This diagram bears at first 


sight but small resemblance to the previous 
ones, but a _ litile study brings out severai 
important things. . First, though the majority 


~ An address delivered before a joint meeting of the Astronomical and 
Astrophysical Society of America and Section A of the American Association 
for the Advancement of Science, at Atlanta, Georgia, December 30, IQ13, 
with a few additions, by Prof. H. N. Russell. Continued from p. 258. 7 

*0 Astrophys Jour., vol. xxxv., p. 315, and vol. xxxvi., pp. 54, 239, 395; 
1912. 

*l Astrophys. Jour., vol. xxxviii., pp. 159-73, 19013. 


NO. 2324, VOL. 93] 


of these eclipsing variables are of Class BA 
every class from B to K is represented, and there 
are eight stars of Class G or redder. Secondly, all 
but one of these eighty stars are less dense than the 
sun, though but few of them are of less than 1/100 
the sun’s density. Thirdly, the stars of Classes A 
and B are fairly similar to one another in density, 
the great majority having densities between 1/3 and 
1/45 of the sun’s; those of Class F show a compact 


oe 


ne 
a 


Fic, 4. 


group of high density, and an isolated star of low 
density ; but in Classes G and K the range of density 
is enormously great—from nearly twice that of the 
sun (W Ursz Majoris) to one-millionth of the sun’s 


| density (W Crucis, at the top of the diagram). 


Fourthly, among the stars of density less than 1/200 
that of the sun (corresponding to about +1-om. on 
the diagram), only one of the seventy-one stars of 
Classes B to F appears, while four of the eight stars 


282 


of Classes G and K are included. We may now 
answer decisively, and in the affirmative, the first two 
questions which were put. a few moments ago. 
Some stars actually have densities quite as low as 
any that might be required to explain the great 
brightness of the reddest giant stars; and these stars 
of low density show a very marked preference for 
the ‘‘later’’ spectral classes, while practically all 
the stars of ‘‘earlier’’ type are far denser. 

We can answer the third question as well, and in 
a quantitative fashion, if we are willing to assume 
that the eclipsing binaries, and also the telescopic 
double stars, of the various spectral classes are 
typical of the stars of these classes as a_ whole. 
Though this may not be rigorously true, there is 
good reason to believe that it is not seriously in error. 
We find, from Fig. 4, that the fifty eclipsing stars of 
Class A, if they all had the sun’s mass and surface 
brightness, but their own densities, would, on the 
average, be of the absolute magnitude 3:06. Now, 
referring to Fig. 3, we find that the mean absolute 
magnitude which the 115 visual double stars of Class 
AO there recorded would have, if they were equal in 
mass only to the sun, but had their own surface 
brightness as well as density, would be 1-07. The 
only difference between these two groups (if they are 
both typical of the stars of Class A in general) is 
that one has been reduced by computation to the 
sun’s surface brightness, while the other has not. 
It is therefore evident that the stars of Class A must, 
on the average, for equal surfaces, be two magnitudes 
brighter than the sun. Apart from the uncertainty 
whether the two groups compared are exactly typical, 
the probable error of this determination should be 
less than one-tenth of a magnitude. 

In similar fashion, we find that the mean absolute 
magnitude of fifty-two visual pairs of spectra Oeces 
to Bg, reduced to the sun’s mass, is —o-4, while that 
of twelve eclipsing binaries of similar spectrum, 
reduced to the sun’s mass, and surface brightness, is 
+2-8, which makes the surface brightness of an 
average star of Class B greater by 3-2m. than that 
of the sun. Again, for the stars of Class F, we get 
+26 for the mean reduced absolute magnitude of the 
sixty-nine visual pairs, and +3-7 for that of the nine 
eclipsing pairs, the difference of 1-1m. being approxi- 
mately the effect of surface brightness (somewhat 
more uncertain here, on account of the apparently 
different proportion of giant stars in the two groups). 

It appears, therefore, that in passing down the 
spectral series from B to G, the surface brightness 
of the stars decreases by about one magnitude from 
each class to the next; and we have previously found 
that. among the dwarf stars, the decrease in surface 
brightness in passing from G to M must be at least 
2} magnitudes more. Ail this has been shown with- 
out making any use whatever of the physical mean- 
ing of the spectra, which have simply been used as 
svmbols in classifying the stars into groups. The 
results are obviously in accordance with the view 
that the differences of spectral type arise from differ- 
ences of temperatur2. Indeed, they constitute new 
and important evidence in its favour. How well they 
agree with other independent lines of evidence is 
shown by comparing the relative surface brightness 
just computed with the colour-index for the various 


classes. Taking A as a standard, we have :— 
Spectrum B A F G K M 
Surface bright- 
ness aile2) (OO) OLO 2250) —— ans (at least) 
Colour-index... -0°3 0°O +0°3 +0°7 4+1'°2 +1°6 


The computed differences in surface brightness are 


NO. 23245 MOL. 03] 


NATURE 


[May 14, 1914 


in all cases about three times the colour-indices, in 
good agreement with the theoretical ratio. 

We may now estimate the density of the redder 
giant stars. It appears from Fig. 3 that the mean 
absolute magnitude of the giant stars, if reduced to 
the sun’s mass, is +0-6 for Class G. +0-5 for Class k, 
and oo for Classes K5 and M. The differences 
between these values are small, and we may well take 
the general mean, +0-44, as typical of the whole. 
This corresponds to about fifty times the sun's 
luminosity. Such a giant star of Class G, if of the 
sun’s surface brightness, would have to be of about 
seven times the sun’s radius, and of 1/350 of its 
density. If we assume, on the basis of the foregoing 
study of the dwarf stars, that the surface intensities 
of the giant stars of Classes K and M are respectively 
I'5 and 3 magnitudes fainter than that of the sun, 
we find that their densities must be 1/2800 and 
1/25,000 of the sun’s density. The observed densities 
of several eclipsing variables of Classes G and K are 
of just the order of magnitude here found, so that 
there is direct observational evidence in favour of all 
our conclusions, except the very low density assigned 
to the giant stars of Class M (among which no 
eclipsing variables have yet been found, so that their 
densities cannot be directly determined). But there 
is nothing improbable about so low a density, for we 
know of at least one star—W Crucis—the density of 


which is still smaller. 
Before leaving these diagrams we should notice 


that, by comparing the data of Fig. 3 with those of 
Figs. 1 and 2, we may obtain the average masses of 
the stars of the various types. Consider, for example, 
the stars of spectra B to B5. From Fig.-3 we see 
that, if these stars were reduced to the sun’s mass 
without changing either their surface brightness or 
density, their mean absolute magnitude would be 
—o-6. But the actual mean absolute magnitude of 
the stars of this spectral class is —2-0 according to 
Campbell, or —o-8 according to Boss. Taking the 
mean of these determinations, we find that these stars 
are, on the average, 2-1 times as bright as stars of 
unit mass, but of the same surface brightness and 
density, would be, from which it follows that their 
average surface area must be 2-1 times that of the 
latter stars, and their average mass 3-0 times that of 
the sun. The uncertainty whether the groups of 
stars which we are comparing are really exactly 
similar is here more serious than usual; if Campbell’s 
stars are taken as typical, the mean mass comes out 
seven times that of the sun. It should be noticed 
that the ‘‘average’’ mass here obtained corresponds 
approximately to the average of the logarithms of the 
individual masses, and hence to their geometrical 
mean, which will be somewhat smaller than their 
arithmetical mean, and that we are here dealing with 
the mass of the brighter component of each system 
only. For the twelve spectroscopic binaries of spec- 
trum B, which are available for comparison, the mean 
mass of the brighter components is about 9, and the 
geometrical mean probably about 7-5, times the sun’s 
mass. As the observational selection in this case 
undoubtedly favours the larger masses, there is no 
serious discrepancy between the two results. 

Proceeding similarly for the stars of the other 
spectral classes, we obtain the results collected in 
Table VII. The observed absolute magnitudes of the 
stars in clusters have been taken in preference to 
those of the stars of directly measured parallax, for 
the reasons already stated, and for the giant stars the 
mean of the results of Boss and Campbell has been 
used (except for Class G, for which Boss’s value alone 
really represents them). 


May 14, 1914] 


TaBLeE VII. 


Mean Masses of Bright Components of Double Stars. 
Observed Abs. mag. reduced Resulting 


Spectrum absolite mag. tosun’s mass average mass 
B2 —14 —o-6 3:0 
AO san2 +0°5 +11 2-3 
As, dwarf +155 + 1-6 1-2 
Rogue c:: we $24 +28 1-7 
Fo ae 1 BS +371 0:8 
F8 and Go +48 +4-0 0-5 
G5, dwarf ... +5:1 +4:2 0-3 
oe ee .. +6-4 +5:5 0-3 
Ks and M, dwarf +89 +7°7 0-2 
G and G5, giant —o0-2 +0-6 3:0 
Ko, giant Sas OR +0°5 I-5 
Ks5 and M, giant —03 0-0 15 


The general similarity in mass among the stars of 
such widely different characteristics is very striking. 
In view of the small numbers of stars in some of the 
groups, the differences between the individual values 
should not be greatly stressed, but the gradual de- 
crease of average mass among the dwarf stars is in 
accordance with the results of direct measurement. 
The geometrical mean of the computed masses of the 
bright components of the eight visual binaries of 
spectra A to F5, the parallaxes of which have been 
determined with tolerable accuracy, is 1-8 times the 
sun’s mass; for the ten similar stars of spectra F8 
to K it is 08. The greater mass of the stars of 
Class B is scarcely shown by these figures, but on 
this matter the testimony of the spectroscopic binaries 
deserves much the greater weight. The important 
conclusion which may be drawn from Table VII. is 
that, although the range in mean luminosity among 
the various groups. of stars exceeds ten-thousandfold, 
the range in the mean masses probably does not 
exceed twenty-, or at most thirty-fold. 

We may now summarise the facts which have been 
brought to light, as iollows :— 

(1) The differences in brightness between the stars 
of different spectral classes, and between the giant 
and dwarf stars of the same class, do not arise 
(directly at least) from differences in mass. Indeed, 
the mean masses of the various groups of stars are 
extraordinarily similar. 

(2) The surface brightness of the stars diminishes 
rapidly with increasing redness, changing by about 
three times the difference in colour-index, or rather 
more than one magnitude, from each class to the 
next. 

(3) The mean density of the stars of Classes B and 
A is a little more than one-tenth that of the sun. 
The densities of the dwarf stars increase with in- 
creasing redness from this value through that of the 
sun to a limit which cannot at present be exactly 
defined. This increase in density, together with the 
diminution in surface brightness, accounts for the 
rapid fall in luminosity with increasing redness 
among these stars. 

(4) The mean densities of the giant stars diminish 
rapidly with increasing redness, from one-tenth that 


of the sun for Class A to less than one twenty- 
thousandth that of the sun for Class M. This 
counteracts the change in surface brightness, and 


explains the approximate equality in luminosity of 
all these stars. 

(5) The actual existence of stars of spectra G and 
K, the densities of which are of the order here 
derived, is proved by several examples among the 
eclipsing variables, all of which are far less dense 
than any one of the more numerous eclipsing stars 
of ‘‘early’’ spectral type, with the sole exception of 
B Lyre. 


NO. 2324, VOL. 93] 


NABOIGE 


falling temperature.*? 


| advanced. 


283 


Evolution. 


These facts have evidently a decided bearing on the 
problem of stellar evolution, and I will ask your 
indulgence during the few minutes which remain for 
an outline of the theory of development to which it 
appears to me that they must inevitably lead. 

Of all the propositions, more or less debatable, 
which may be made regarding stellar evolution, there 
is probably none that would command more general 
acceptance than this—that as a star grows older it 
contracts. Indeed, since contraction converts poten- 


| tial energy of gravitation into heat, which is trans- 


ferred by radiation to cooler bodies, it appears from 
thermodynamic principles that the general trend of 
change must, in the long run, be in this direction. 
It is conceivable that at some particular epoch in a 
star’s history there might be so rapid an evolution 
of energy—for example, of a radio-active nature— 
that it temporarily surpassed the loss by radiation 


|/ and led to an expansion against gravity; but this 


would be, at most, a passing stage in its career, and 


| it would still be true in the long run that the order 


of increasing density is the order of advancing evolu- 
tion. 

If, now, we arrange the stars which we have been 
studying in such an order, we must begin with the 
giant stars of Class M, follow the series of giant 
stars, in the reverse order from that in which the 
spectra are usually placed, up to A and B, and then, 
still with increasing density, though at a slower rate, 
proceed down the series of dwarf stars, in the usual 


| order of the spectral classes, past the sun, to those 


red stars (again of Class M), which are the faintest 
at present known. There can be no doubt at all that 
this is the order of increasing density; if it is also 


| the order of advancing age, we are led at once back 


to Lockyer’s hypothesis that a star is hottest near 


| the middle of its history, and that the redder stars 


fall into two groups, one of rising and the other of 
The giant stars then repre- 
sent successive stages in the heating up of a body, 


| and must be more primitive the redder they are; the 
| dwarf stars represent successive stages in its later 


cooling, and the reddest of these are the farthest 
We have no longer two separate series to 
deal with, but a single one, beginning and ending 
with Class M, and with Class B in the middle, all 


_ the intervening classes being represented, in inverse 


eye, except perhaps in Class’ F, are giants; 


order, in each half of the sequence. 

The great majority of the stars visible to the naked 
hence for 
most of these stars the order of evolution is the 
reverse of that now generally assumed, and the terms 
“early”? and ‘late’’ applied to the corresponding 
spectral types are actually misleading. 

This is a revolutionary conclusion; but, so far as 
I can see, we are simply shut up to it, with no 
reasonable escape. If stars of the type of Capella, 
y Andromedz, and Antares represent later stages of 
development of bodies such as 6 Orionis, a Virginis 
and Algol, we must admit that, as they grew older 
and lost energy, they have expanded, in the teeth ot 


| gravitation, to many times their original diameters, 


even 
we 


and have diminished many hundred-, or 

thousand-fold in density. For the same reason 
cannot regard the giant stars of Class K as later 
stages of those of Class G, or those of Class M as 
later stages of either of the others, unless we are 
ready to admit that they have expanded against 
eravitv in a similar fashion. We may, of course, 


| take refuge in the belief that the giant stars of the 


2 Phil. Trans., vol. clxxxiv., p. 688, rq02; Proc. Roy. Soc., vol. Ixv., 
p. 126, 1899. 


284 


NATURE 


[May 14, 1914 


various spectral classes have no genetic relations 
with one another—that no one class among them 
represents any stage in the evolution of stars like 
any of the others—but this is to deny the possibility 
of forming any general scheme of evolution at all. 

We might be driven to some such counsel of despair 
if the scheme suggested by the observed facts should 
prove physically impossible; but, as a matter of fact, 
it is in conspicuous agreement with the conclusions 
which may be reached directly from elementary and 
very probable physical considerations. 

There can be very little doubt that the stars, in 
general, are masses of gas, and that the great 
majority of them, at least, are at any given moment 
very approximately in stable internal equilibrium 
under the influence of their own gravitation, and very 
nearly in a steady state as regards the production 
and radiation of heat, but are slowly contracting on 
account of their loss of energy. Much has _ been 
written upon the behaviour of such a mass of gas 
by Lane, Ritter, and several later investigators,”* 
and many of their conclusions are well established 
and well known. So long as the density of the 
gaseous mass remains so low that the ordinary “ gas 
laws”’ represent its behaviour with tolerable accuracy, 
and so long as it remains built upon the same model 
(i.e., so long as the density and temperature at geo- 
metrically homologous points vary proportionally to 
the central density or temperature), the central 
temperature (and hence that at any series of homo- 
logous points) will vary inversely as the radius. This 
is often called Lane’s law. If, after the contraction, 
the star is built only approximately on the same 
model as before, this law will be approximately, but 
not exactly, true. 

The temperature of the layers from which the bulk 
of the emitted radiation comes will also rise as the 
star contracts, but more slowly, since the increase in 
density will make the gas effectively opaque in a 
layer the thickness of which is an ever-decreasing 
fraction of the radius. The temperature of the outer, 
nearly transparent gases, in which the line absorp- 
tion takes place, will be determined almost entirely 
by the energy density of the flux of radiation through 
them from the layers below—that is, by the ‘‘ black- 
body ’’ temperature corresponding to this radiation as 
observed at a distance. 

As the gaseous mass slowly loses energy and con- 
tracts, its effective temperature will rise, its light will 
grow whiter, and its surface brightness increase, 
while corresponding modifications will occur in the 
line absorption in its spectrum. Meanwhile, its 
diameter and surface will diminish, and this will at 
least partially counteract the influence of the increased 
surface brightness, and may even overbalance it. It 
cannot therefore be stated, without further knowledge, 
in which direction the whole amount of light emitted 
by the body will change. ; 

This process wili go on until the gas reaches such 
a density that the departures of its behaviour from 
the simple laws which hold true for a perfect gas 
become important. Such a density will be first 
reached at the centre of the mass. At the high 
temperatures with which we are dealing, the principal 
departure from the simvle gas laws will be that the 
gas becomes more difficultly compressible, so that a 
smaller rise in temperature than that demanded by 


the elementary theory will suffice to preserve equil- | 


ibrium after further contraction. The rise in tempera- 

ture will therefore slacken, and finally cease, first at 

the centre, and later in the outer layers. 

contraction will only be possible if accompanied by a 

fall of temperature, and the heat expended in warm- 

ing the mass during the earlier stages will now be 
23 An exc: Ilent summary mav be f nd in Emden’s Gaskugeln. 


NO. 2224, (MOL. "931 


Further | 


gradually transmitted to the surface and liberated by 
radiation, along with that generated by the contrac- 
tion. During this stage, the behaviour of the mass 
will resemble, roughly, that of a cooling solid body, 
though the rate of decrease of temperature will be far 
slower. The diameter and surface brightness will 
now both diminish, and the luminosity of the mass 
will fall off very rapidly as its light grows redder. 
It will always be much less than the luminosity of 
the body when it reached the same temperature while 
growing hotter, on account of the contraction which 
has taken place in the interval, and this difference 
of luminosity will be greater the lower the tempera- 
ture selected for the comparison. Sooner or later, 
the mass must liquefy, and then solidify (if of com- 
position similar to the stellar atmospheres), and at 
the end it will be cold and dark; but these changes 
will not begin, except perhaps for a few minor con- 
stituents of very high boiling point, until the surface 
temperature has fallen far below that of the stars of 
Class M (about 3000° C.). 

The ‘‘critical density’’ at which the rise of tempera- 
ture will cease can only be roughly estimated. It 
must certainly be much greater than that of ordinary 
air, and (at least for substances of moderate mole- 
cular weight), considerably less than that of water. 
Lord Kelvin,** a few years ago, expressed his agree- 
ment with a statement of Prof. Perry’s that ‘‘ specu- 
lation on this basis of perfectly gaseous stuff ought to 
cease when the density of the gas at the centre of the 
star approaches one-tenth of the density of ordinary 
water in the laboratory.” 

It is clear from the context that this refers rather 
to the beginning of sensible departures from Lane’s 
law than to the actual attainment of the maximum 
temperature, which would come later; and it seems 
probable, from the considerations already mentioned, 
that the maximum temperature of the surface would 
be attained at a somewhat higher density than the 
maximum central temperature. 

The resemblance between the characteristics that 
might thus be theoretically anticipated in a mass of 
gas of stellar dimensions, during the course of its 
contraction, and the actual characteristics of the 
series of giant and dwarf stars of the various spectral 
classes is so close that i* might fairly be described as 
identical. The compensating influences of variations 
in density and surface brightness, which keep all the 
giant stars nearly equal in luminosity, the rapid fall 
of brightness among the dwarf stars, and the ever- 
increasing difference between the two classes, with 
increasing redness, are all just what might be ex- 
pected. More striking still is the entire agreement 
between the actual densities of the stars of the various 
sorts and those estimated for bodies in the different 
stages of development, on the basis of the general 
properties of gaseous matter. The densities found 
observationally for the giant stars of Classes G to M 


' are such that Lane’s law must apply to them, and 


they must grow hotter if they contract; that of the 
sun (a typical dwarf star) is so high that the reverse 
must almost certainly be true; and the mean density 
of the stars of Classes B and A (about one-ninth that 
of the sun, or one-sixth that of water) is just of the 
order of magnitude at which a contracting mass of 
gas might be expected to reach its highest surface 
temperature. 

We may carry our reasoning farther. Another deduc- 
tion from the elementary theory (as easily proved as 
Lane’s law, but less generally known) is that, in two 
masses of perfect gas, similarly constituted and of 
equal radius, the temperatures at homologous points 
are directly proportional to their masses. As in the 
previous case, the effective surface temperature of the 

24 NaTuRE, vol. Ixxv., p. 368, 1907. 


E 


May 14, 1914] 


more massive body will be the greater, though to a 
less degree than the central temperature. A large 
mass of gas will therefore arrive at a higher maxi- 
mum temperature, upon reaching its critical density, 
than a small one. The highest temperatures will be 
attained only by the most massive bodies, and _ all 
through their career these will reach any given 
temperature at a lower density, on the ascent, and 
return to it at a higher density, on the descending 
scale, than a less massive body. They will there- 
fore be of much greater luminosity, for the same 
temperature, than bodies of small mass if both are 
rising toward their maximum temperatures. On the 
descending side the difference will be less con- 
spicuous. Bodies of very small mass will reach only 
a low temperature at maximum, which may not be 
sufficient to enable them to shine at all. 

All this, again, is in excellent agreement with the 
observed facts. The hottest stars—those of Class B 
are, on the average, decidedly more massive than 
those of any other spectral type. On the present 
theory, this is no mere chance, but the large masses 
are the necessary condition—one might almost say 
the cause—of the attainment of unusually high 
temperature. Only these stars would pass through 
the whole series of the spectral classes, from M to B 
and back again, in the course of their evolution. 
Less massive bodies would not reach a_ higher 
temperature than that corresponding to a spectrum 
of Class A; those still less massive would not get 
above Class F, and so on. This steady addition of 
stars of smaller and smaller mass, as we proceed 
down the spectral series, would lower the average 
mass of all the stars of a given spectral class with 
“‘advancing’’ type, in the case of the giants as well 
as that of the dwarfs. This change is conspicuously 
shown among the dwarf stars in Table VII., and 
faintly indicated among the giant stars. The average 
masses of the giant and dwarf stars appear, how- 
ever, to be conspicuously different, which at first 
sight seems inconsistent with the theory that they 
represent different stages in the evolution of the same 
masses. But the giant stars which appear in these 
lists have been picked out in a way that greatly 
favours those of high luminosity, and hence, as we 
have seen, those of large mass, while this is not the 
case among the dwarf stars. The observed differ- 
ences between them are therefore in agreement with 
our theory, and form an additional confirmation of it. 

It is now easy, too, to understand why there is no 
evidence of the existence of luminous stars of mass 
less than one-tenth that of the sun. Smaller bodies 
presumably do not rise, even at maximum, to a 
temperature high enough to enable them to shine 
perceptibly (from the stellar point of view), and hence 
we do not see them. The fact that Jupiter and 
Saturn are dark, though of a density comparable with 
that-of many of the dwarf stars, confirms this view.?° 


25 In the foregoing presentation of the theory, to avoid interference with 
the progress of the main arcument, no mention has been made of certain 
considerations which should be discussed here. 

(1) It is probable that at stellar temperatures the gaseous matter is very 
considerably dissociat d and ionised. But this will not affect its gaseous 
nature. For our present purpose it amounts to little more than a diminution 
of the mean molecular weight. This will lower the temperature correspond- 
ing to a given density and pressure, and so tend to lower the maximum 
attainable temperature; but as the deeree of dissociation is likely to vary 
gradually with the temperature, it should not affect the orderly sequence of 
changes which form the basis of the previous arguments. 

(2) It is also probable that the available potential energy of a star is not 
entirely gravitational, but partly, if not mainly, of radio-active or similar 
atomic origin. If, as in the relatively very small range accessible to experi- 
mental investigation, the rate of liberation of this energy is independent of 
the temperature and pressure, it would simnly supply a constant annual 
addition to the energy derived from gravitational contraction, and the only 
difference in the course of events would be that a star, on cooling, would 
approach, not complete extinction, but a steady state, of very long duration, 
in which as much energy was annually radiated away as was supplied by 
atomic disintegration. !f the rate of disintegration is increased under the 
extremely violent molecular collisions which must occur in the interior of a 
Star, a great liberation of energy may occur when the interior his got hot 


NO. 2224, VoL. 92] 


NATURE 


285 


We may once more follow the lead of our hypo- 
thesis into a region which, so far as I know, has been 
previously practically untrodden by theory. It is well 
known that the great majority of the stars in any 
given region of space are fainter than the sun, and 
that there is a steady and rapid decrease in the number 
of stars per unit volume, with increasing luminosity. 
The dwarf stars, especially the fainter and redder 
ones, really greatly outnumber the giants, the pre- 
ponderance of which in our catalogues arises entirely 
from the egregious preference given them by the 
inevitable method of selection by apparent brightness. 

What should we expect to find theoretically? To 
get an answer, we must make one reasonable assump- 
tion, namely, that the number of stars, in any suffici- 
ently large region of space, which is, at the present 
time, in any given stage of evolution, will be (roughly 
at least) proportional to the lengths of time which it 
takes a star to pass through the respective stages.*° 
While a star is growing hotter it is large and bright, 
is radiating energy rapidly, and is also storing up 
heat in its interior; while, on account of its low 
density, contraction by a given percentage of its 
radius liberates a relatively small amount of gravita- 
tional energy. It will therefore pass through these 
stages with relative rapidity. Its passage through its 
maximum temperature will obviously be somewhat 
slower. During the cooling stages its surface is 
relatively small and its rate of radiation slow; it is 
dense, and a given percentage of contraction liberates 
a large amount of energy, and the great store of heat 
earlier accumulated in its interior is coming out again. 
It must therefore remain in these stages for ‘very 
much longer intervals of time, especially in the later 
ones, when the rate of radiation is very small. 

This reproduces, in its general outlines, just what 
is observed—the relative rarity of giant stars, the 
somewhat greater abundance of those of Class A near 
the maximum of temperature, and the rapidly in- 
creasing numbers of dwarf stars of smaller and 
smaller brightness. The well-known scarcity of stars 
of Class B, per unit of volume, is further accounted 
for if we believe, as has been already explained, that 
only the most massive stars reach this stage. 

In this connection we will very probably be asked, 
What precedes or follows Class M in the proposed 
evolutionary series, and why do we not see stars in 
still earlier or later stages? With regard to the 
latter, it is obvious that dwarf stars still fainter than 
the faintest so far observed (which are of Class M) 
would, even if among our very nearest neighbours, be 
apparently fainter than the tenth magnitude. We 
cannot hope to find such stars until a systematic 
search has been made for very large proper-motions 
among very faint stars. The extreme redness of such 
stars would, unfortunately, render such a search by 
photographic methods: less profitable than in most 
cases. 

But a giant star of Class M, a hundred times as 
bright as the sun, certainly cannot spring into exist- 
ence out of darkness. In its earlier stages it must 
have radiated a large amount of energy, though 
perhaps less than at present. But as the tempera- 
ture of a radiating body falls below 3000° C., the 
energy-maximum in its spectrum moves far into the 
infra-red, leaving but a beggarly fraction of the whole 
radiation in the visible region. Stars in such stages 
enough, thus increasing the maxima temperature and prolonging its duration. 
But, even on this hypothesis, the number of the violent collisions which 
liberate the atomic energy would increase gradually as the temperature of 
the interior rose, and the general character of the evolutionary changes, 
including the relation of the mass and density of the body to the time of 
their occurrence, would not be radically altered. ) 

It seems, therefore, probable that the previous reasoning would require no 


essential modification on account of either of these factors in the problem. | 
26 Hertzsprung, Zeitschrift fiir Wissenschaftliche Photographie, vol. iii, 


|p. 442, 1905. 


286 


would therefore emit much less light than they would 
do later, and stand a poor chance of being seen.*’ 
We know, as yet, very little about the colour-index 
and temperature of stars of those varieties of Class M 
(Mb and Mc) which are evidently furthest along in 
the spectral series, and it may well be that a star 
usually reaches the temperature corresponding to 
these stages by the time that it begins to shine at all 
brightly. In any case, stars in these very early stages 
should be of small or moderate luminosity, and rare 
per unit of volume, and hence very few of them would 
be included in our catalogues. 

The great luminosity and extreme redness of the 
stars of Class N suggest that they belong at the 
beginning of the series of giant stars; but the rela- 
tions of this very distinct spectral type to the others 
are not yet quite clear, and it would be premature to 
give it a definitive place in the sequence. It seems 
clear, however, that these stars must be in a very 
primitive condition, rather than in a very late one, as 
believed by Lockyer. The stars of Class O (Wollf- 
Rayet stars) are of very great average luminosity, 
and probably lie beyond those of Class B at the apex 
of the temperature scale, as Lockyer supposes. But 
in the absence of data concerning their masses, densi- 
ties, and the like, we cannot place them definitively, 
except that Oe5 and Oe come almost certainly just 
above Be. 

One further application of the theory may be very 
briefly mentioned. If we have a large number of 
contracting masses of gas endowed with various 
moments of momentum, more and more of them will 
split up into pairs as they grow denser, and the pairs 
latest formed will have the shortest periods. A large 
percentage of spectroscopic binaries, especially of 
short period, is therefore direct evidence of a fairly 
advanced state of evolution, and the occurrence of 
this condition among the stars of Classes B and A 
supports—indeed, almost by itself compels—the view 
that they are far removed from a primitive condition. 
Most of the stars which have been investigated for 
radial velocity are giants, and the absence of spectro- 
scopic binaries of short period among the redder stars 
is in agreement with the view that they are in earlier 
stages of evolution. 

The distribution of the visual binaries and physical 
pairs among the various spectral classes depends 
mainly upon a quite different factor, namely, the 
resolving power of our telescopes, which allows us to 
separate the closer pairs of short period only among 
the nearer stars, so that the systems for which orbits 
have been determined are nearly all dwarf stars. 

I have endeavoured in the past hour to set before 
you the present state of knowledge concerning the 
real brightness, masses, densities, temperatures, and 
surface brightness of the stars, and to sketch the 
theory of stellar evolution to which the study of these 
things has led me. This theory is inconsistent with 
the generally accepted view. Its fundamental prin- 
ciple is identical with that of Lockyer’s classification, 
but it differs radically from the latter in the principles 
according to which it assigns individual stars, and 
even whole classes of stars, to the series of ascending 
or descending temperature. (For example, Lockyer 
puts such conspicuously giant stars as Canopus. 
Capella, Arcturus, and 8 Cygni, and all the stars of 
Class N, into the descending series, and places 
8 Hydri and 6 Pavonis (which are clearly dwarf stars) 
in the ascending series.) 

Two things have gone farthest to convince me that 
it may be a good approximation to the truth—the 
way in which it explains and coordinates character- 
istics of the different spectral types which previously 
appeared to be without connection or reason, and the 


27 Russe'l, Sczexce, N.S. 


NO, 2224. VOR. 498K 


Vol. xxxvii, p. 646, 1973. 


NATURE 


[May 14, 1914 


way in which a number of apparent exceptions to its 
indications have disappeared, one by one, as more 
accurate information concerning spectra, orbits of 
double stars, and the like, became available, until 
only one doubtful case remains. 

I have purposely made no attempt at this time to 
touch upon certain other interesting matters, such as 
the difference of the mean peculiar velocities of stars 
of the various spectral classes, although, with the aid 
of simple and very reasonable assumptions, they may 
be added to the list of things explainable by the new 
theory. My reason for this has been less for lack 
of time than because there is at present no definite 
reason, assignable from general considerations in 
advance, why we should expect an old star to be 
moving faster or slower than a younger one, while 
there is such a reason why we should suppose that a 
dense star is in a later stage of evolution than one of 
low density. It seems better to find out what we 
can about the order of evolution from data of the 
latter kind, and then apply our results to the study of 
problems of the former sort, than to attack them 
without such aid or by means of unproved assump- 
tions. The assumptions that are necessary on the new 
theory are simple and probable enough, but they do 
not form an integral part of the theory, and cannot 
be established directly from general considerations, 
and so I will not discuss them now. 

The new theory will not explain everything about 
the stars—I should be rather afraid of it if it did; for 
example, it leaves the phenomena of preferential 
motion, or ‘‘star-streaming,’’ as puzzling as ever. I 
have only tried to interpret some of the facts most 
obviously capable of evolutionary explanation, on the 
fundamental assumption that the properties of matter, 
and the forces in operation, among the stars, are the 
same as those with which we are familiar in the 
laboratory. He would be a bold man indeed who 
would assert that this assumption is entirely true, but 
it seems clear that it should be thoroughly tried out 
before the existence of new forces can legitimately 
be postulated. 

If the ideas to which you have so kindly listened 
to-day shall prove of any help toward removing the 
need for belief in unknown forces, and extending the 
domain of those already known, my labour will be 
far more than repaid; but it should not be forgotten 
that the real labourers have been those who, through 
long and weary nights, accumulated bit by bit, and, 
through monotonous days, prepared for the use of 
others the treasures of observational knowledge with 
which it has been my pleasurable lot to play in the 
comfort of my study. 

I need scarcely add that, if what I have said proves 
of interest to any of you, your frank and unsparing 
criticism will be the greatest service which vou can 
render me. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 
INTELLIGENCE. 


BIRMINGHAM.—At its last meeting the University 
council passed the following resolution :—‘* That the 
council desires to record its deep sorrow at the death 
of Prof. Poynting, who so faithfully served the Mason 
College and the University for thirty-four years. 
During his distinguished career as professor of physics 
he was not only an inspiring teacher and investigator, 
but bore a considerable part in the development of 
the college and of the University. His keen interest 
in all that concerned the University, its staff, and its 
students, his genial and attractive personality, will 
be long .and affectionately remembered; his death 
leaves a gap which it will be most difficult to fill.” 


i f 


May 14, 1914] 


NATURE 287 


Mr. Frank E. Huxley has resigned his lectureship 
in dental surgery. 

Dr. L. G. Parsons has been appointed assistant to 
the chair of forensic medicine and toxicology. 

A full-time lectureship in classics, ancient history, 
and archeology is being established. 

Miss M. Le Bour has been appointed to undertake 
a special investigation in helminthology in the depart- 
ment of agricultural zoology. 


Campripce.—Mr. E. R. Burdon has been appointed 
University lecturer in forestry. 

The Anthony Wilkin studentship in ethnology and 
archeology will be available at the end of the Easter 
term. Applicants should send their names, qualifica- 
tions, and a statement of the research which they 
wish to undertake, to the Vice-Chancellor before 
June 1. 

Mr. H. C. Haslam, of Gonville and Caius College, 
has been approved by the General Board of Studies 
for the degree of Doctor of Science. 


THE governors of the South Wales and Monmouth- 
shire University College at Cardiff have accepted 
the generous offer of an anonymous donor to provide 
funds for the erection of a great school of preventive 
medicine. The money value of this gift, together 
with that of Sir William James Thomas to erect a 
school for other branches of medicine in connection 
with the college, is estimated at 180,o000l. 


Two lectures entitled ‘‘La Catalyse et mes divers 
Travaux sur la Catalyse,’’ will be given by Prof. Paul 
Sabatier, of the University of Toulouse, at King’s 
College, W.C., on May 14 and 15, at 5 p.m. Special 
interest is attached to these lectures as the subject- 
matter is one with which Prof, Sabatier is particu- 
larly associated, and one from which he has obtained 
important results in the synthetical preparation of 
organic substances. 


Ir is announced in the issue of Science for May 1 
that the Catholic University of America, Washing- 
ton, will receive the greater part of the estate of 
200,000l. left by the late Mr. Theodore B. Basselin, 
of Croghan. From the same source we learn that 
Mr. James Deering, in a letter addressed to the 
trustees of North-western University and of Wesley 
Hospital, announces a gift of 200,000l. to the hospital. 
It is provided that Wesley Hospital shall be a teach- 
ing hospital under Northwestern University. The gift 
is made in honour of the donor’s father and of his 
sister. 


Pror. Sims WoopueaD, in his presidential address 
to the Royal Microscopical Society (Jour. Roy. 
Microscop. Soc., 1914, part 2, p. Iog), suggests that 
too little attention is paid in our medical schools to 
the education of the students in the technical use of 
the microscope. He urges that there should be sound 
teaching on the optical and mechanical principles on 
which are based the construction and use of the micro- 
scope, and that the best students, at any rate, should 
have some opportunity of acquiring facility in the 
use of the various types of substage condenser, dark- 
ground illumination, monochromatic illumination, 
methods of measurement, ultra-microscopic work, 
micro-spectroscopy, polarisation, and the like. 


FREE vacation courses in scientific instrument- 
making and glass-blowing will again be held this 
year at the University of Leyden. The course in 
instrument-making will include practice with modern 
machine tools, such as lathes, milling machines, etc., 
and will extend from August 20 to August 29; it will 
involve the cutting of screw threads, turning spheres, 


NO. 2324, VOL. 93] 


copying divided discs, and grinding various hardened 
objects. The course o1 elementary and advanced 
glass-blowing, from August 20 to September 2, will 
include the manufacture of vacuum tubes, vacuum 
flasks, and various other forms of apparatus used in 
physical and chemical investigation, and the manipula- 
tion of high-vacua pumps. The director of the course 
is Prof. Kamerlingh Onnes, and the secretary Dr. 
C. A. Crommelin, to whom all communications should 
be addressed at the Physical Laboratory, Leyden, 
Holland. : 


Tue Medical Officers of Schools Association from 
time to time issues pamphlets on problems connected 
with conditions of health in schools. ‘The latest of 
these useful publications deals with ‘‘ School Light- 
ing,’’ and is a reprint of a paper read before the asso- 
ciation by Dr. E. H. T. Nash. The author puts the 
difficulties of the problem of daylight illumination, 
and rightly asks that the Government should either 
subsidise further research or conduct a thorough in- 
quiry through the Board of Education. In the present 
regulations of the Board we read: “The light so far 
as possible should be admitted from the left side of 
the scholars. This rule will be found greatly to 
influence the planning.’’ So far all authorities agree, 
but there is great diversity of opinion and _ practice 
as regards bilateral and overhead lighting, the shape 
of class-rooms, the relative areas to be assigned to 
windows. These matters have an important influence 
on the health of the children, the class-room efficiency, 
and the expenditure of public money on school build- 
ings. As regards artificial lighting, the problem is 
vastly more simple, and Dr. Nash gives an instance of 
efficient and economic lighting by incandescent gas, 
the cost for a class-room being rather more than 3d. 
an hour. In this case the illumination at the desks 
ranged from 3-5 foot-candles to 5 foot-candles, as com- 
pared with the usually recommended minimum of 
2 foot-candles. The pamphlet is illustrated with 
diagrams, includes an account of the discussion which 
followed the reading of the paper, and is published 
by Messrs. Churchill at 1s. 


LONDON. 

Royal Society, May 7.—Sir William Crookes, presi- 
dent, in the chair.—Lord Rayleigh: (1) Some calcula- 
tions in illustration of Fourier’s theorem. (2) The 
theory of long waves and bores.—Sir Joseph Larmor 
and J. S. B. Larmor: Protection from lightning and 
the range of protection afforded by lightning rods. 
On modern ionic views discharge in the atmosphere 
should originate at a place of maximum intensity of 
electric field and spread both ways from it along a 
line which should be roughly the line of force. The 
explanation of branching, zigzag, and multiple light- 
ning discharges is to be sought on these lines. The 
introduction of a narrow linear conductor cannot 
sensibly disturb a steady field of force, and not at all 
if it is transverse to the field. Thus it would seem to 
be the top of the building itself, not of the lightning 
conductor, that attracts the discharge, and the function 
of a single rod can only be to lead it more safely away. 
But a number of rods distributed over the area of the 
roof, and effectively connected to earth by a conductor, 
can, by their joint action, lift the intensest part of the 
field from the top of the building to the region around 
their summits, and so obviate or much mitigate the 
danger of discharge from above to the building which 
they cover.- In illustration, diagrams are given of a 
vertical field of force as disturbed by vertical pillars 
of semi-ellipsoidal form and of various breadths, or by 


288 


NATURE 


[May 14, 1914 


an earthed conducting region overhead, such as might 
be originated by gradual discharge from a pointed rod. 
—Prof. A. Schuster; Newcomb’s method of investigat- 
ing periodicities and its application to Briickner’s 
weather cycle—E. N. Da C. Andrade: The flow in 
metals subjected to large constant stresses. The law 
connecting the extension with time for wires of 
various metals subjected to large stresses has been 
examined at different temperatures. The stress was 
kept constant throughout the flow by the device of a 
hyperbolic weight employed in former experiments. 
The different types of flow observed for . different 
metals at room temperature are only particular cases 
of one general law governing the flow of all single 
metals, and can ail be found for one metal by choosing 
an appropriate temperature; thus, soft iron at 450° C. 
behaves similarly to lead at 15° C.—G. I. Taylor: 
Eddy motion in the atmosphere. The paper contains 
a theoretical discussion of the function of eddies in 
conveying heat and momentum through a fluid. It 
is shown also that measurements of the temperature 
of the air over the Great Bank of Newfoundland made 
by the author last year, lead to the conclusion that 
eddies extend upwards over the sea to a height of at 
least 800 metres; and that there is no appreciable 
diminution in their size or intensity at this height. 
On the assumption of a uniform amount of eddy 
motion, the velocity of the wind at various heights 
above the ground is calculated, and shown to agree 
with the most recent observations carried out over 
Salisbury Plain.—Prof. Ernest Wilson: The properties 
of magnetically-shielded iron as affected by tempera- 
ture. In a paper recently read before the Royal 
Society, it is shown that if stalloy in ring form’ is 
shielded from the earth’s magnetism and subjected to 
a considerable magnetising force at atmospheric tem- 
perature, the permeability can be increased. The pre- 
sent experiments deal with the effect of allowing 
Stalloy to cool down through the temperature at which 
it regains magnetic quality when in a shield and when 
under the influence of a magnetising force due to a 
continuous current. Two specimens have been sub- 
jected to this treatment, and in each case the maxi- 
mum permeability has a value of above 10,000 when 
the specimen is at atmospheric temperature. 


Geological Society, April 29.—Dr. A. Smith Wood- 
ward, president; and afterwards, Mr. W. Hill, vice- 
president, in the chair.—A. S. Woodward: The lower 
jaw of an anthropoid ape (Dryopithecus) from the 
Upper Miocene of Lérida (Spain). The greater part 
of a mandibular ramus and symphysis of Dryopithecus 
fontani is described. The specimen is the latest jaw 
of an anthropoid ape hitherto discovered in Europe. 
The relatively small size of the’ first molar is to be 
regarded as a primitive character, lost in all modern 
anthropoids except some Gibbons. The shape of the 
mandibular symphysis is remarkably primitive, with 
the surface of insertion for the digastric muscle nearly 
as large as that of the ancestral Macaques. The 
anterior face of the symphysis slopes directly upwards 
from the front edge of this insertion, as in the 
Macaques, some Gibbons, and very young individuals 
of the chimpanzee, gorilla, and orang. It thus differs 
from the mandibular symphysis in adult individuals 
of these existing apes, in which the lower portion 
of the slope curves backwards into a4 flange or shelf 
of bone, while the digastric insertion is reduced in 
extent. So far as its lower jaw is concerned, Dryo- 
pithecus is a generalised form from which modern 
anthropoid apes and man_ have diverged in two 
different directions.—Prof. J. W. Gregory: The struc. 
ture of the Carlisle-Solway Basin, and the sequence 
of its Permian and Triassic rocks. The Carlisle- 
Solway basin has been generally represented as a 


NO. 2324,70n, 502 | 


syncline, with the Solway resting on a great thick- 
ness of Triassic rocks. A boring made near Gretna 


| in 1794 shows, on the contrary, that Lower Carbon- 


iferous rocks crop out thereat the surface. This 
boring shows that the basin is not a simple syncline. 
The evidence derived from the boring necessitates 
reconsideration of the Permo-Triassic sequence in 
north Cumberland, as to which the Geological Survey 
maps and memoirs are not in agreement. Arguments 
are given to show that the evidence for the existence 
of the St. Bees Sandstone at the bottom of the Abbey- 
town and Bowness borings is quite inconclusive, and 
the fact is improbable. The view adopted by the 
Geological Survey map that the area west and north- 
west of Carlisle consists of Keuper deposits, is also 
improbable. 
MANCHESTER. 

Literary and Philosophical, April 7.—Mr. ie Nichol- 
son, president, followed by Prof. F. E. Weiss, vice- 
president, in the chair.—W. C. Grummitt and Dr. 
H. G, A. Hickling : A preliminary note on the structure 
of coal. It was suggested that the essential con- 
stituent of coal is a homogeneous substance, red or 
orange in colour when thin enough to be transparent. 
This material under the microscope frequently shows 
evidence of ‘flow,’ and was doubtless a _ liquid 
vegetable decomposition product. This, in its purest 
form, constitutes the ‘“‘bright’’ layers of coal; with 
strongly developed ‘cleat’? or cleavage. Vegetable 
structures are preserved in coal in two forms: (1) in 
a ‘‘carbonised’’ condition, as is found pure in 
‘‘mother-of-coal,’” and is quite opaque even when 
less than 1 m thick; (2) impregnated with the 
transparent material described above, spores being 
the most readily distinguishable parts preserved in 
this manner. The ash from the various coals con- 
sists largely of fibrous material which is clearly an 
incombustible residue of vegetable structure and closely 
resembles the ash obtained by burning wood. The 
spores from certain coals can be isolated by macera- 
tion with Schultz solution. { i : 

April 28.—Mr. F. Nicholson, president, in the chair. 
—R. F. Gwyther: Specification of stress. Part v., An 
outline of the theory of hyper-elastic stress. The 
author dealt with the mathematical conditions of a 
body from the time of exceeding the elastic limit and 
when approaching to the conditions of rupture.—H. P. 
Walmsley and Dr. Walter Makower : The photographic 
action of a rays. Each a particle on striking a grain 
of silver in a photographic film affects that grain in 
such a manner as to be capable of photographic 
development. The path of the ray is thus apparent 
under the microscope. 

Paris. 

Academy of Sciences, May 4.—M. P. Appell in the 
chair.—The President announced the death of M. van 
Tieghem, perpetual secretary.—Maurice Hamy: The. 
position to be given to the astronomical observatory on 
Mont Blanc. Various possible sites have been 
examined from the points of view of uninterrupted 
horizon, accessibility and stability, and the advantages 
and disadvantages of each site discussed. The best 
position would appear to be the Petit Flambeau (3435 
metres).—Emile Picard: Some- reflections on certain 
results of Henri Poincaré concerning analytical 
mechanics.—Pierre Termier: Eduard Suess, the man 
and his work.—C,. Guichard: Certain special congru- 
ences of circles and spheres.—René Baillaud : A photo- 
graphic astrolabe.—N. E. Nérlund: Series of faculties. 
—Ernest Esclangen: The quasi-periodic integrals of 
linear differential equations.—Michel Fekete: A lower 
limit of the changes of sign of a function in an 
interval.—N. Lusin: a problem of M. Baire.—Lucien 
Godeaux : Double algebraic surfaces having a finite 


May 14, 1914| 


number of points of ramification.—Louis Roy : Quasi- 
waves in three dimensions.—L. Dunoyer and R. W. 
Wood: Correction to our note entitled photometry of 
the superficial resonance of sodium vapour under the 
stimulation of the D lines. A correction of an error 
of calculation in the determination of the width of 
the resonance lines—F. Charron; A hydrodynamical 
arrangement for the magnification and registration of 
radio-telegraphic signals. | The telephonic receiver is 
modified so that the vibrations are concentrated on the 
orifice of a vertical capillary tube. A stream of gas 
is flowing out of the capillary tube with a velocity 
just below that of turbulent flow. Sounds in the tele- 
phone produce disturbances in the flow of the gas 
through the jet, and these can be utilised to form a 
record without using a Morse receiver.—H. Bourget, 
H. Buisson, and Ch. Fabry: Interferential measure- 
ments of the radial velocities and wave-lengths in the 
nebula of Orion. The mean radial velocity of the 
nebula is + 15-8 kilometres a second with respect to the 
sun, that is, the distance between the sun and the 
nebula is increasing at that rate. The wave-lengths 
of the characteristic double ultra-violet line had been 
determined and found to be 3726.100 and 3728.838. 
These lines are not emitted by any known element.— 
B. Fessenkoff: The law of reflection of light by matt 
surfaces.—J. Minguin and R. Bloc: The influence of 
solvents on the optical activity of the camphoric esters. 
The optical activity of the allo-acids is the same in 
alcoholic, benzene, or toluene solutions: the ortho- 
acids give higher rotations in benzene or toluene than 
in alcohol.—Marcel Delépine: Lithium chloro-iridate 
and chloro-iridite.—Jacques Bardet: The extraction of 
germanium from Vichy water. Germanium had been 
previously detected spectroscopically in Vichy water, 
and an attempt was made to isolate germanium com- 
pounds from this source. The starting point was the 
mixture of insoluble carbonates deposited on heating 
the water, and 0-06 gram of germanium oxide was 
prepared from 100 kilograms of deposit, representing 
about 250,000 litres of mineral water. The method 
of separation is given in detail—M, Vasticar: The 
apparatus of support of the internal acoustic region. 
—Michel Cohendy and Eugéne Wollman : Experiments 
on life without micro-organisms. Aseptic growth of 
guinea-pigs. These experiments prove that it is pos- 
sible to raise guinea-pigs under strictly aseptic condi- 
tions, development and utilisation of food being in no 
way prejudiced by the absence of micro-organisms.— 
Louis Cruveilhier ; Treatment of blennorrhagia by the 
method of sensitised virus vaccines.—Auguste Lumiére 
and Jean Chevrotier: Some new considerations con- 
cerning the culture of gonococci.—P. Macquaire: The 
amylolytic diastase of the pancreas.—L. Cayeux: 
Eastern prolongation of the ferruginous formation of 
the May (Calvados) synclinal. 


Care Town. 

Royal Society of South Africa, April 15.—Mr. S. S. 
Hough in the chair.—T. Muir: (1) Note on a theorem 
of Ph. Gilbert, regarding the differentiation of a 
special Jacobian. (2) Note on Rosanes’s functions, 
resembling Jacobians.—R. T. A. Innes: The triple 
stellar system ¢ Virginis and % 1757. These two 
stars, although a considerable distance apart, consti- 
tute a system as they are moving through space with 
almost identical velocities and directions.—G. A. H. 
Bediord: A curious mosquito.—A. L. du Toit: The 
porosity of the rocks of the Karroo system. Deter- 
minations are given of the porosity of more than 
ninety rocks, the majority being from borehole cores. 
It was found with the three-fold division of the Beau- 
fort beds the mean porosity of the Sandstone was 
2-9 per cent. for the lower, 5-2 per cent. for the middle, 


NO. 2324, VOL. 93] 


NATURE 


| 
| 


289 


and 5:5 per cent. for the upper division. The figures 
for the Transvaal phase of the Karroo were much 
higher. The effects of weathering in increasing the 
porosity are discussed and analysed.—J. R. Sutton: 
A note on the temperatures of the air observed at 
Mochudi. The ncete gives a brief account of some 
points of interest in the results of temperature observa- 
tions by Harbor at Mochudi in the Bechuanaland Pro- 
tectorate. The extremes of temperature are con- 
siderable, the greatest range so far observed being 
from 108° F. to 28° F. The mean maximum tempera- 
tures depend upon the sun’s meridian altitude in 
much the same way as they do at Kimberley. The 
annual cold wave of the middle of July is felt at 
Mochudi like it is elsewhere further south. 


BOOKS RECEIVED: 


The Simpler Natural Bases. By Prof. G. Barger. 


Pp. viiit+215. (London: Longmans and Co.) 6s. 
net. 
Department of Marine and Fisheries. Report of 


the Meteorological Service of Canada, Central Office, 


Toronto, for the Year ended December 31, tIg!o. 
Vol. i. Introduction and Parts i.-iii. Pp. xxiii+341. 
Vol. ii. Parts iv—vi. and Appendix. Pp. 342-604. 
(Ottawa: C. H. Parmelee.) 

The Therapeutic Value of the Potato. By H. C. 
Howard. Pp. 31. (London: Bailliére and Co.) 1s. 
net. 


Ernahrungsphysiologisches Praktikum der hédheren 
Pflanzen. By Prof. V. Grafe. Pp. x+494. (Berlin: 
P. Parey.) .17 marks. 

American Mathematical Society. Colloquium Lec- 
tures. Vol. iv. The Madison Colloquium, 1913. i., 
On Invariants and the Theory of Numbers. By L. E. 
Dickson. ii., Topics in the Theory of Functions of 
Several Complex Variables. By W. F. Osgood. Pp. 
vi+230. (New York : American Mathematical Society.) 

Smithsonian Institution. Bureau of American Eth- 
nology. Bulletin 56. Ethnozoology of the Tewa 
Indians. By J. Henderson and J. P. Harrington. 
Pp. x+76. (Washington: Government Printing 
Office.) 

Lehrbuch der vergleichenden  mikroskopischen 
Anatomie der Wirbeltiere. Edited by Prof. A. Oppel. 
Achter Teil. ~ Pp. x4+-168, ” «(fena:- G.” Fischer). 8 
marks. 

The British Academy. Palissy, Bacon, and the Re- 
vival of Natural Science. By Sir T. Clifford Allbutt. 
Pp. 15. (London: Oxford University Press.) 1s. net. 

Bulletin of the Illinois State Laboratory of Natural 
History, Urbana, Ull.,U:S:A. “Vol. x., Article 3: 
Studies on the Enchytroeidce of North America. By 
Dr. P;, (S. S Welchs! > Pp. 232-¢ Platéss | -vitixit, 
(Urbana, Iil.) 

British Museum (Natural History). A Monograph 
of the Genus Sabicea. By H. F. Wernham. Pp. v+ 
82+xii Plates. (London: British Museum.) 6s. 

A Revision of the Ichneumonidz. Based on the 
Collection in the British Museum (Natural History). 


Part iii. By C. Morley. Pp. xi+148. (London: 
British Museum.) 5s. 6d. 
British Museum (Natural History). Report on 


Cetacea stranded on the British Coasts during 1913. 


By Dr. S. BS Harmer. “Pp: zz. (London: British 
Museum.) ts. 6d. 

Elements of Algebra. By G. St. L. Carson and 
Prof. D. E. Smith. Parti. Pp. v+346.. (London: 


Ginn and Co.) 3s. 
Journal of the British Fire Prevention Committee. 


No. ix. (Special subject.) Table G. The Fire 
Resistance of Partitions. Pp. 8+1 Table. (London : 
The British Fire Prevention Committee.) tos. 6d. 


290 


NATCORE 


Annuaire Général de Madagascar et Dépendances, 
1914. Pp. x+745. (Tananarive.) 

X-Rays: an Introduction to the Study of Réntgen 
Rays: By Dr. G. W.-C. Kaye. Pp. x-+252, °(Lon= 
don: Longmans and Co.) 5s. net. 

I Minerali. By Prof. E. Artini. Pp. xv+ 422+ 40 
Plates. (Milano: U. Hoepli.) 9.50 lire. 

Beitrage zur Kenntnis der Land- und Sitisswasser- 


fauna  Deutsch-Stidwestafrikas. Edited by W. 
Michaelsen. Lief. i. Pp. 182+ 4 Plates. (Hamburg: 


L. Friederichsen and Co.) 12 marks. 
Beitrage zur Kenntnis der Meeresfauna Westafrikas. 
Edited by W. Michaelsen. Lief 1. Pp. 84+2 Plates. 
(Hamburg: L. Friederichsen and Co.) 6 marks. 
Lectures Introductory to the Theory of Functions of 
Two Complex Variables. By Prof. A. R. Forsyth. 


Pp. xvi+281. (Cambridge: University Press.) tos. 
net. 

Kinetische Stereochemie der  Kohlenstoffverbin- 
dungen. By Dr. A. von Weinberg. Pp. viii+ 107. 


(Braunschweig: F. Vieweg und Sohn.) 3 marks. 

Canada. Department of Mines. Memoir No. 18 E. 
Bathurst District, New Brunswick. By G. A. Young. 
Pp. 96+9+Maps. Memoir No. 26. Geology and 
Mineral Deposits of the Tulaween. District, B.C. By 
C. Camsell. Pp. vii:+188+10+maps. (Ottawa.) 

Photography in Colours. By Dr. G. L. Johnson. 
Second (Revised) Edition. Pp. xiv+243+13 Plates. 
(London: G. Routledge and Sons, Ltd.) 3s. 6d. net. 

Common British Beetles. By Rev. C. A. Hall. Pp. 
viii+88+16 Plates. (London: A.- and C.. Black.) 
rs. 6d. net. 


DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 


THURSDAY, May 14. 


Rova Society, at 4.30.—The Various Inclinations of the Electrical Axis 
cf the Human Heart. Ia,: The Normal Heart. Effects of Respiration : 
Dr. A. D. Waller.— Fossil Plants showing Structure from the Base of the 
Waverley Shale of Kentucky: Dr. D. H. Scott and Prof. E. C. Jeffrey.— 
The Controlling Influence of Carbon Dioxide in the Maturation, 
Dormancy, and Germination of Seeds. IT.: F. Kidd.—The Cultivation 
of Human Tumour Tissue 2% vito: D. Thomson and J. G. Thomson.— 
The Nutri ive Conditions Determining the Growth of Certain Freshwater 
and Soil Protista: H. G. Thornton and G. Smith. 

Rova InsvTiTuTion, at 3.—Identity of Laws: in General: and Biological 
Chemistry : Prof. Svante Arrhenius. 

CONCRETE INSTITUTE, at 7.30.—Sand and Coarse Material and Propor- 
tioning Concrete: J. A. Davenport and Prof. S. W. Perrott. 

Society oF Dyers anp Co.ourists, at 8.—Notes on the Chemistry of 
Starch and its Transformations: W. A Davis.—The Analysis of Malt 
Fxtracts : W. P. Dreaper.—Temperature and Concentration as Affecting 
Hydration and Soda Absorption during the Process of Formation of 
Cellulose Mouofils: Clayton Beadle and H. P. Stevens. 


FRIDAY, May 15s. 
Rovar InstiTuTION, at 9.—Plant Animals: A Study in Symbiosis : 
F. Keeble. 


Prof. 


SATURDAY, May 16. 
RovAL INSTITUTION, at 3.—Bird Migration: Prof. C. J. Patten. 


UONDAY, May 18. 
RoyAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY, at 3.—Anniversary Meeting. 
Junior InstiruTION OF ENGINEERS, at 8.—-Static Transformers, the 
Design and Application: F. R. Peters. 
VicroriA INSTITUTE, at 4.30.—The Composite of Races and Religions in 
America: Rev. Dr. S. B. McCormick. 


TUESDAY, May 1o. 

Roya InstiruTion, at 3.—Natural History in the Classics. I.: The 
Natural History of the Poets, Homer, Virgil, and Aristophanes : Prof. 
D'Arcy W. Thompson, C.B. x 

ROVAL STATISTICAL SociETy, at 5—Suggestions for Recording the Life 
History and Family Connections of Every InJividual: W. Hazell. 

ZOOLOGICAL Society, at 8.30.—Notes on the Circulatory System of 
Elasmobranchs, I.: The Venous System of the Dogfish (Sey@léinm 
cantcula: Dr. C H. O'Donoghue.—Scent-organs in Trichoptera : B. F. 
Cummings.—Notes on Plumage Development in the African Wood-stork : 
G. Jennrison.—A New Cestode from an Albatross (Diomedea irrorata): 
H. A. Baylis. —The Deinocephalia, an Order of Manmal-like Reptiles : 
D. M. S. Watson.—The Species of the Genus Paralastor, Sauss, and some 
other Hymenoptera of the Family Eumenidz: Dr. R. C. L. Perkins. 

RovaL Socirty oF ARTS, at 4.30.—The Singing of Songs: Old and New. 
II. : Classical Songs: H. Plunkett Green. 

WEDNESDAY, May 20. 

AERONAUTICAL SOCIETY, at 8.30.—Wilbur Wright Memorial Lecture: Dr. 
R. T. Glazebrook. 

Rovat METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY, at 4.30.—The Reduction of Barometer 
Readings in Absolute Units, and a New Form of Barometer Card: E. 
Gold.—A Cuban Rain Record and its Application: A. Hampton Brown. 


NO. 2324, VOL. 93] 


[May 14, 1914 


Rovat Society or Arts, at 8.30.—The Channel Tunnel and its Early 
History: J. C. Hawkshaw. 
Royat Microscoricar Society, at 8.—Exhibition of Microscopic Aquatic 


Life. 
THURSDAV. May 2x. 

Rovav Society, at 4.30.—/robable Papers : The Effect of the Magneton 
in the Scattering of a Rays: Prof. W. M. Hicks.—Luminous Vapours 
Distilled from the Arc, with Applications to the Study of Spectrum Series 
and their Origin. I.: Hon. k. J. Strutt.—The lTonisation of Gases by 
Collision and the Jonising Potential for Positive Ions and Negative 
Corpuscles: W. T. Pawlow.—The Determination of Elastic Limits under 
Alternating Stress Conditions: C, E. Stromeyer.—The Emission of 
Electricity from Various Substances at High Temperatures: G. W. C. 
Kayeand W. F. Higgins. 

RoyaL InstiruTion, at 3.—Identity of Laws: in General: and Biological 
Chemistry: Prof. Svante Arrhenius. 

Royat. GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY, at 5.—The Gulf Stream: Commander . 
Campbell Hepworth. 

INSTITUTION OF MINING AND METALLURGY, at 8. 

Roya Society oF ARTS, at 4.30.—The Indian Census of r1g11: 
graphy and Occupations: E. A. Gait. 


FRIDAY, May 22. 

RovAL INSTITUTION, at 9.—The Mortuary Chapels of the Theban Nobles : 
R. Mond. 

Puysicat Sociery, at 5.—Volatility of Thorium Active Deposit: T. 
Barratt and A. B. Wood.—The Passage of a-Particles through Photo- 
graphic Films: H. P. Walmsley and Dr. W. Makower.—A Null Method 
of Testing Vibration Galvanometers: S. Butterworth.—Experiments with 
an Incandescent Lamp: C. W. S. Crawley and S. W. J. Smith. 


SATURDAY, May 23. 
Rovat InstiruTiIon, at 3.—Fiords and their Origin. 
Distribution of Fiords: Prof. J. W. Gregory. 


Ethno- 


I. : The Nature and 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

Recent Extensions of the Quantum Hypothesis. 
By C. G. D. 34 os Saco ace a os Se » 263 
Books on Plant Diseases . 264 


Mechanicaland Chemical Engineering. ByT.H.B. 265 
Our Bookshelf + RE Deitel Ren erg. CRONE EE eRe a ame Cone 
Letters to the Editor :— 
The Constitution of Atoms and Molecules.—Prof. 
GeV. Nicholson ess Sp eet oe eee 
Temperature-Difference between the Up and Down 
Traces of Sounding-Balloon Diagrams.—Dr. W. 
van Bemmelen . . . © as Sout ae hot Ras) Pape Oe 
Cellular Structure of Emulsions.—Prof. W. M. 


Flinders Petrie, F.R.S. nog) ty 3) eign ee 
Modern Forms of Rontgen-Ray Tubes. (///ustvated.) 
By Charles E. S, Phillips . 270 


The Sicilian Earthquakeof May 8. ByDr.C. Davison 272 
The Bachelet Levitated) Ratlway 4.2 2s) su.) ney 


INIOtES ks, 8, 6 SOR emcee MUQ Ue) An nn scene 
Our Astronomical Column :— 
A Registering Microphotometer ........ . 278 
Variable Star Observations. . . . ers 


Enhanced Manganese I.ines anda Andromed2. . . 278 


The Carnegie Trust. By A. W. S.. ; Pi 
Laws of Atmospheric Movements. By W. H. 
Mimes, F.R SS. 0s pee ag: sine hee 
An Electrical Analogy of the Zeeman Effect. By 
a | ee ae WS PCerm e 
Relations between the Spectra and Other Charac- 
teristics of the Stars.—III. (W2zth Diagram.) By 
Prof. H. N. Russell . o: Xe 


University and Educational Intelligence. .. .. . 286 


Societies and Academies: .@)°, . . :./'. 5 . ween 
Books Received . . aces 289 
Diary of Societies . a RTS Te cme. ALIS. 


Editorial and Publishing Offices: 
MACMILLAN & CO., Ltp., 
ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON. W.C. 


Advertisements and business letters to be addressed to the 
Publishers. 


Editorial Communications to the Editor. 


Telegraphic Address: Puusis, LONDON. 
Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830. 


NATURE 


291 


THURSDAY, MAY 1914. 


21, 


CHEMISTRY: ANCIENT AND MODERN. 
Some Fundamental Problems in Chemistry—Old 
and New. By Prof. E. A. Letts. Pp. xii+ 
235 + plates. (London: Constable and Co., 

Lfd:) “Baee 756d. net. 

HOSE chemists whose memories can carry 
them back for a period of about half 
a century will have experienced several phases in 
the development of the science which, at their 
respective periods, were regarded as marking a 
transition from an older to a newer chemistry. 
The writer of this notice began his reading when 
was HO and so forth. Then came the 
“new notation” resulting from the proper recog- 
nition of Avogadro’s law, the doubling of certain 
atomic weights, and the reconstruction of our 
formule. This was the ‘new chemistry” of that 
period. Next arose the more complete elabora- 
tion of the conception of constitution or structure 
based on valency, due to Frankland and Kekule, 
and we had a yet newer chemistry—a develop- 
ment which was so extraordinarily prolific in the 
way of results that chemists were inclined to hug 
themselves into the belief that they had come to 
close quarters with the inner mechanism of mole- 
cular structure, and the very weaknesses of the 
theory, which had shown signs of breaking down 
in certain directions, afterwards became corner- 
stones of strength .in the light of the brilliant 
hypothesis of van’t Hoff and Le Bel, which in- 
augurated the then new science of stereochem- 
istry. Moreover, about the same period when 
structural chemistry was undergoing these develop- 


water 


ments, attention was being more systematically 
concentrated upon the relationships of the chem- 
ical elements among themselves, these studies 
culminating that periodic classification 
sociated with the names of Newlands, Mendeléeff, 
and Lothar Meyer. From that great generalisa- 
tion arose a still newer chemistry which system- 
atised the whole treatment of the science, both 
theoretically and practically, and dominates our 
present Another “new” chemistry 
must be added to this record—the application of 
purely physical methods to the study of chemical 
phenomena in the foundation of 
‘physical chemistry’ as a distinct subject. 

All these phases are familiar to the modern 
student of the history of the science, and they 
fall into the category of what the author of the 
present work would term the. older chemistry. 
Dr. Letts does not, however, deal with all: these 
developmental epochs; the older chemistry- 
distinguished from ancient chemistry—is limited 


NO. 2325, VOL. 93| 


in as- 


teaching. 


resulting 


as 


| 


by him to the discussion of the methods and re- 
sults of atomic weight determinations by the older 
as well as by the most recent workers in this field, 
and to a very full consideration of the periodic 
law and its consequences. The reader will find no 
reference to those fundamental problems relating 
to chemical and dynamics which the 
physical chemists have formulated as the results 
of their familiar terms as mass 
action, Osmotic pressure, electrolytic or ionic dis- 
sociation, stereochemistry, etc., do not appear in 
the index. This criticism amounts simply to the 
statement that the author professes to deal only 
with certain of the fundamental problems, and 
within the limits thus assigned, he handles his 
subject in a very lucid and suggestive way. Fis 
treatment of the periodic law, for example, to 
which two chapters are devoted, goes far beyond 
the arid description found in the ordinary text- 
books and may be commended as worthy of most 
serious consideration by all students. Workers 
on the look-out for new elements may take courage 
from Dr. 
cording to which there remain either thirty-eight 
twenty-five gaps the periodic table now 
waiting to be filled up (p.,60). Another valuable 
feature of this section is the new “atomic volume ” 
curve, constructed by the author from the most 
recent available data, and, for the first time, com- 
prising the group of “inert” elements. As_ will 
be seen on reference to the original work, this 
curve differs in some important particulars from 
that first given to our science by Lothar Meyer in 
1870, and opens up some interesting suggestions 
with respect to missing elements. 

Although the older chemistry is treated of in 
the present work within the limits specified, the 
reader will gather from the subsequent chapters 
that these older workers—and happily for our 
science that generation has not yet become ex- 
tinct—have passed on to the newer school a very 
goodly heritage. By the “newer chemistry ” Dr. 
Letts understands that great body of observed 
facts and theoretical deductions which have been 
accumulated since the study of the action of the 
electric discharge upon highly attenuated, gaseous 
matter was seriously taken in hand by physicists 
and chemists, and since the discovery of radio- 
activity and the radio-active elements. How much 
of this newer knowledge will be passed on as 
canonical to future generations it would be very 
rash to predict. It is, however, certain that 
chemistry, by the discovery of unexpected pheno- 
mena, and by the utilisation of novel methods of 
attacking the ultimate components of matter, has 
now entered upon a new era in its history—a 
state of affairs which both students and teachers, 

N 


statics 


studies; such 


Letts’s suggested classifications, ac- 


or in 


292 


whether of the older or newer school, must per- 
force take into consideration. 

From this last point of view the present work 
presents certain special advantages which may be 
summed up by the statement that the author 
handles his subject as a chemist. The day has 
passed away when workers with parochial views 
of their science can hope to impose upon the 
present generation stupidly narrow limitations 
by “method ”—to insist that the evidence based 
upon “purely chemical” methods is alone of 
weight to chemists, and that the results achieved 
by “purely physical”? methods must be received 
with suspicion. But for the chemist it certainly 
is of importance, in view of the bewildering 
rapidity of the development in this newer domain, 
to have the results, by whatever method achieved, 
co-ordinated and fitted in to that older structure 
with which we were all familiar in the days of 
our own studentship. Dr. Letts may be con- 
gratulated upon having accomplished this task 
with conspicuous success within the compass of 
his brief. His historical records, which are fairly 
given, are as up-to-date as can reasonably be ex- 
pected, and the descriptive portions are sum- 
marised at the end of the chapters with a clear- 
ness which shows that the author has a thorough 
grasp of his subject. Perhaps it may be urged 
by extreme critics that he is not sufficiently 
critical—that he appears to accept as established 
truths and without comment published statements 
concerning “‘transmutation,” about which there 
is conflict of evidence. But the present work pro- 
fesses to be but a literary production, and the 
author, perhaps wisely in the present state of 
knowledge, simply sets forth the evidence and the 
suggested interpretations of that evidence. All 
who have watched the development of this “ newer 
chemistry ” have thoroughly realised the extra- 
ordinary practical difficulties which confront the 
experimenter at every stage. The infinitesimal 
quantities of material which have to be dealt with 
and the extreme delicacy of the methods of at- 
tacking the new problems offered by a subject 
which is still “in the making” are such as to 
give much scope for apparently conflicting evi- 
dence. The future writer of the history of chem- 
istry will find ample matter for marvel at the 
results which have even now been achieved in 
spite of the difficulties referred to. That Dr. 
Letts is himself appreciative of the skill which has 
surmounted so many of these obstacles is apparent 
in many pages of the volume under consideration. 

It is now a matter of ancient history that on the 
discovery of spectrum analysis chemistry and as- 
tronomy entered into partnership. But the new 
chemistry, as understood in the present work, has 


NO, 2325. VOL, (93 | 


NATURE. Vf 


| ary 


[May 21, 1914 


also widened the horizon of the science to an ex- 
tent that renders necessary the consideration by 
chemists of problems of a cosmical order in a 
much more definite and concrete form than has 
hitherto been customary. It is obvious that ques- 
tions concerning the constitution of the atom and 
the evolution or disintegration of matter cannot be 
confined within terrestrial limits. On the first of 
these questions the author has something to say, 


| and in the ninth chapter will be found a succinct 


account of the electron theory, with reference 
more especially to the work of J. J. Thomson. 
Now it is precisely on this question of the present 
position of the electron theory that chemists are 
awaiting further light from the physical side. So 
far, with the exception of Sir William Ramsay’s 
preliminary attempt, this theory cannot be said 
to have been brought seriously within the domain 
of practical chemical politics. It is not mere 
curiosity that prompts the chemist to ask whether 
the atom is to be regarded as a complex mechan- 
ism composed entirely of electrons or whether 
there may not be other components. Dr. Letts 
thus answers the question :— 


“From spectroscopic and other evidence it 
would appear to be certain that electrons are uni- 
versal constituents of atoms, but on the other 
hand, there appears to be no sufhcient evidence 
for the assumption that electrons are the sole con- 
stituents of these atoms. all but about one- 
thousandth of its mass is associated with the posi- 
tive part of an atom, which would tend to show 
that an altogether exaggerated réle has been at- 
tached to the electron in the constitution of 
matter.” 


This at any rate was the view held by the writer 
of the section on radioactivity in the Annual Re- 
ports of the Chemical Society in 1906, from whom 
the author takes his information. 

With reference to the other question—the evo- 
lution and dissolution of matter—the reader will 
find in the tenth chapter a good summary of the 
observations and conclusions of Lockyer, as set 
forth in his ‘Inorganic Evolution” and other 
publications. One result of the “new chemistry ” 
is thus to bring us back to what may be termed 
the presentation of the case from the astrophysical 
side. There is distinct evidence of this reaction- 
influence of the new chemistry upon the 
pioneering work of Lockyer now to be found in 
many recent treatises besides the volume under 
consideration, in which some twenty pages are 
devoted to the subject. The “disintegration” 
theory of radio-activity, which now holds the field, 
has brought into modern chemistry certain very 


concrete notions concerning what may be defined 


as down-grade evolution. It is but natural to 
ask with Dr. Letts (p. 190) whether the reverse 


May 21, 1914! 


NATURE 


293 


or up-grade process of evolution from elements of 
low atomic weight to elements of higher atomic 
weight occurs anywhere in the cosmos. If evolu- 
tion is universally true in principle some process of 
this order must have occurred in the past and may 
be occurring now. Laboratory results which are 
indicative of “transmutation” in the sense of 
degradation are becoming more and more incor- 
porated with modern chemical doctrine, but ex- 
perimental evidence of the opposite process can 
scarcely be considered at present conclusive. The 
notion of utilising the energy of degradation of 
radium emanation for transmutational purposes 
was presumably based on the expectation of de- 
gradation rather than of aggregation. 

The question of the evolution of the chemical 
elements is an old one, and the suggestion of 
evolution offered by the periodic law has been 
taken up by many writers whose speculations are 
no doubt familiar to chemists. The author of the 
present work does not discuss any of these specu- 
lative attempts to trace the lines of descent, 
although he gives some very useful tables sum- 
marising existing knowledge with respect to the 
disintegration products of the radio-active ele- 
ments. But in directing attention once again to 
the evidence of evolution furnished by the study 
of stellar spectra by that comparative method 
which will always be recognised as the work of 
Lockyer and his school, Prof. Letts does good 
service by reminding chemists that the newer 
developments of their science have enhanced the 
importance of astrophysical (why not astrochem- 
ical?) work to an extent quite undreamt of at the 
time when the spectroscope was first brought to 
bear upon these problems. 

If any justification for undertaking the part of 
a critic is required on the present occasion it 
may be permissible to express regret that the 
author should have devoted so much space to re- 
printing long extracts from the original writings 
of the authorities quoted. All the books and 
papers referred to are easily accessible, and Dr. 
Letts gives evidence of being such a very clear 
thinker when he deals with his subject in his own 
way that we should much have preferred to read 
his own version and criticisms. This particularly 
applies to the last chapter, which is devoted to an 
account of the views of Arrhenius in his now well- 
‘known book on ‘Worlds in the Making” pub- 
lished-in 1908. The direct bearing of the views 
set forth in that work on the fundamental prob- 
lems of modern chemistry are not very obvious, 
and we should have been glad if Dr. Letts could 
have given less space to the extracts from the 
said book and more space to the discussion of the 
special reasons for including the subject in his 


NOw325, VOL: 93! 


| own volume. 


The main contribution to purely 
“astrochemical”’ thought which must be credited 
to Arrhenius would appear to be the recognition 
of heat as an associative as well as a dissociative 
agency. In theories of cosmical evolution, this 
point may have been insufficiently realised, al- 
though the possibility of endothermic combination 
between certain elements under high pressure in 
the sun and stars cannot be generalised into a 
universal process for all kinds of matter without 
further evidence. 

Enough has been said, however, to warrant the 
statement that the author has produced a most 
useful and suggestive little volume which may be 
profitably read by chemists of both the older and 
younger generations. R. MELpbota. 


GEOLOGY AND GEOGRAPHY. 

(1) La Face de la Terre. (Das Antlitz der Erde.) 
By Prof. Ed. Suess. Traduit de: 1l’Allemand 
avec 1’Autorisation de l’Auteur et Annoté sous 
la Direction de Emm. de Margerie. Tome 3. 
(3 Partie.) Pp. xit+957—1360. (Paris : Armand 
Colin, ‘congs) Price 12’ frances. 

(2) Traité de Géographie Physique. Clmat— 

Hydrographie—Relief du Sol-—Biogéographie. 

By Prof. Emm. de Martonne. Deuxieéme 

Edition. Pp. xii+922. (Paris: Armand Colin, 

roLg.)\) Hace: 22. francs: 

HE two volumes before us strikingly illus- 

trate the principle that scientific geography 
as distinct from mere geographical description 

—must be based on the deductions of geology and 

the physical sciences; and no less do they indicate 

how much geology looks to gain from the study 
of the present features of the earth’s surface, and 
of terrestrial processes now going on upon it. 

(1) That M. Margerie’s French edition of the 
great work of the distinguished Austrian geologist 
is not a mere translation has been already pointed 
out in the pages of Nature. The judicious notes, 
bringing the text up-to-date, with the exhaustive 
references to recent literature and the numerous 
additional illustrations, make the book an absolute 
necessity in every scientific library. In this third 
part of vol. iii, M. Margerie has reached the 
penultimate section of his great task, and an 
additional coloured plate, with eighty new illus- 
trations in the text, give a measure of the import- 
ant additions which have been made to the original 
work. 

(2) Nor are the additions which have become 
necessary to the comprehensive volume of Prof. 
de Martonne less abundant and important. Since 
the first edition appeared four years ago, the author 
reminds us that geographical research has added 


largely to our knowledge—not the least striking 


294 


NAT ORE 


additions being the visits paid for the first time to 
both the poles within that period! No fewer than 
216 pages, with four plates and fifty figures in the 
text, have been added to the book to bring it 
thoroughly up-to-date. The present edition main- 
tains the character of the original one, as an 
invaluable work of reference upon the subjects of 
which it treats. Je oWeonle 


WORKS ON ECONOMICS. 

(1) The Influence of the Gold Supply on Prices and 
Profits. By Sir David Barbour. Pp. xil+104. 
(London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1913). 
Priceugs. Od senet. 

(2) Social Insurance. With Special Reference to 
American Conditions. By I. M. Rubinow. 
Pp. vii+525. (New York: Henry Holt and 
Co.,.1913.) Price 3.00 dollars net. 

(1) IR DAVID BARBOUR’S long experience 

RR in connection with the finances of India 

gives great weight to his conclusions on questions 
of currency and of the standard of value, in which 
he holds a position of authority. In the present 
work he undertakes to show in what way the 
quantity of money affects prices, and what are the 
limitations to the theory that its influence upon 
them is substantial. This is a question of real 
importance, because variations in price exercise a 
“profound and subtle influence ” on human affairs. 
‘““A general fall in prices sets up stresses in the 
social fabric which search out the weak points in 
the structure. A general rise in prices smooths 
away many difficulties, but may create others.” 
The author puts his theory in the form that ‘other 
things being equal, the level of prices is propor- 
tionate to the quantity of money.” The question 
arises, What are the “other things” that are re- 
quired to be equal, in order that this generalisation 
may be supported? It is important to consider 
the modern system of credit, as affecting the 
amount and efficiency of the work money has to 
do. Sir D. Barbour rightly deprecates the dan- 
gerous practice, which apears to be growing, of 
attempting to remedy by legislation the evils that 
are due to a rise or fall in prices. 

(2) Mr. Rubinow’s work is an elaborate study 
of a subject which has of late years acquired 
great importance in England and other European 
countries, and an urgent plea for general adoption 
of a policy of social insurance in the United States 
of America. The expression “social insurance ” 
is, indeed, one of comparatively recent introduc- 
tion, and is used as distinctive from commercial 
insurance, though there is no real difference of 
principle between them. The difference in practice 
arises when voluntary insurance develops into sub- 
sidised insurance, and that again into compulsory 


NOL 2325. Ol WO aq 


[May 21, 1914 


insurance. Under these heads the author describes 
what has been done in Europe towards insurance 
against industrial accidents, against sickness, 
against old age, invalidity and death, and against 
unemployment; and necessarily devotes much 
attention to the history of the movement in those 
directions in Germany and in England. In neither 
country does he consider that all the branches of 
social insurance have been adequately developed. 
All leave unrelieved many exceptional cases. The 
relief is, in general, insufficient. The question of 
cost becomes a material one if this is to be 
remedied. Here, we think, Mr. Rubinow takes 
too optimistic a view. He estimates the burden 
of the British insurance system as between 85 and 
100 million dollars, and compares it with the 160 
million dollars that the United States have been 
(we fear, improvidently) spending for war pensions. 
Estimating that the wealth of that country in- 
creases annually by 5000 million dollars, after all 
truly wasteful expenditures, both private and 
public, have been allowed for, he thinks it un- 
necessary to discuss whether it can afford the 
expense of a social insurance system. 

Both these works are valuable contributions to 
the study of economics. 


OUR BOOKSHELF. 


The Riddle of Mars the Planet. By C. E. Hous- 
den. Pp. xi+69+plates. (London: Long- 
mans, Green and Co., 1914.) Price 3s. 6d. net. 

THERE are many who have read with real pleasure 

Dr. Percival Lowell’s pleasant diversions based 

upon his assiduous and careful observations of 

the planet Mars, which the magnificent equipment 
of his well-placed observatory have made possible. 

Whether they have followed him to all his con- 

clusions is immaterial, they have admired his skill 

and industry, his beautiful photographs, his im- 

agination and the charming way in which he has 

presented his case. Among his followers the 
author of the present work is one who is not 
content with merely following Dr. Lowell, but, 
being apparently of a constructive turn of mind, 
he has gone in considerable detail into the 
engineering works that are obviously required to 
help the water of the melting snow caps to the 
parts of the planet where it is wanted for the 
growing crops. By the use of a coloured plate 
or diagram on which the colour changes in differ- 
ent latitudes in the course of the Martian year 
are represented, the author develops the engineer- 
ing problem of moving the water, using open 
canals or closed pipes where water is pumped 
over or to high ground. He wants for this pur- 
pose 2,500,000,000 N.H.P.; 170,000 6-ft. pipes, 
each 1400 miles long, with ten pumping stations 
of 1150 N.H.P. to each to account for part of the 
total power required. Oil engines are suggested, 
the oil being obtained from wells as on earth, 
but possibly sun power in the clear sky is used 


May 21, 1914| 


NATURE 20 


On 


asin Egypt. The author goes into details in other 
directions which it seems unnecessary to follow, 
and he estimates the area requiring irrigation and 
producing crops twice a year by a consideration 
of the colour changes. 


The Mechanical Engineer’s Reference Book. By 
H. H. Suplee. Fourth edition, revised and 
enlarged. Pp. xii+964. (London and Phila- 
delphia: J. 3B. Lippincott Company, n.d.) 
Pricé 26s. et. 

THE first edition of this well-known book was pub- 

lished in 1903. Sections are included giving 

mathematical formule and tables, information on 
mechanics, materials, machine design, heat, air, 
water, fuels, steam boilers and engines, internal 
combustion motors, and electric power. While 
much of the information supplied is good, and 
renders the book of service to engineers, there is 
a considerable amount of space taken up with 
matter which is surely unnecessary in an engineer- 
ing reference book. Some of the very elementary 
geometry given on p. 107 et seq. might be elimin- 
ated. There are few engineers who would require 
to consult a reference book in order to find out 
how to bisect a line by another line at right 
angles. The tables given on pp. 432 and 433 face 
one another, but the book has to be inverted before 
the second table can be read. On p. 274 there is 

a table giving the heights traversed by a falling 

body to seven significant figures. The American 

nomenclature in several places makes it somewhat 
difficult to obtain the precise meaning. 

The real test of the value of an engineering 
reference book is the up-to-dateness of its con- 
tents, otherwise the book will be used probably 
for the sake of the tables of areas and circum- 
ferences of circles, logarithms, etc. The presen‘ 
edition is by no means up-to-date in several ‘of its 
sections; those dealing with the strength and 
elasticity of materials and the properties of steam 
may be speciallv mentioned in this respect, where 
very little mention is made of the valuable develop- 
ments which have taken place during the last 
ten years. 


Outlines of Chordate Development. By Prof. 
W. E. Kellicott. Pp: v+471. (New York: 
H. Holt and Co., 1913.) Price 2.50 dollars. 

Pror. W. E. Ketuicotr’s introduction to the 

study of chordate development begins with Am- 

phioxus, which “affords in simple diagrammatic 
style, the essentials of early chordate ontogeny ”’ ; 
it lingers over the frog; it treats the chick more 
briefly, but lays emphasis on the embryonic mem- 
branes and the early stages; it ends up with the 
mammal, with particular reference to the early 
stages, the foetal membranes and the placenta, 


and the development of the external form. The 
book is well arranged, carefully and _ clearly 
written, and effectively illustrated. We _ think 


that it might have been made more interesting 
and distinctive by being more definitely correlated 
with phylogeny and comparative anatomy; but 
that, of course, is a big business. The well- 
selected bibliographies point the way. 

NO. VOL. 93] 


9 ~ 
2325; 


| placed in radium 


LETTERS. TO-THE EDITOR. 


[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for 
opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with 
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 
this or any other part of Nature. No notice is 
taken of anonymous communications. | 


Action of Radium Rays on Bakelite. 
A pisc 4-2 mm. thick of the light yellow variety of 


| transparent Bakelite was cut from a rod, polished and 


radiated with 8 and y rays from radium. The colour 
of the disc darkened to a wine-red after three days, 
and exhibited an absorption band A=5700—6000, 
which was not visible at first. The spectrum beyond 
A=4900 A.U. was also obliterated. A similar disc 
emanation became also rapidly 
coloured. The coloration extended to a depth of 
2 mm., and it could be completely removed by expo- 
sure to a temperature of 100° C. for about three hours. 

In order to see whether ozone played any part in 


_ the action a Bakelite disc was exposed to the gas for 


| work. 


six hours both alone and with radium near. Not the 
slightest coloration occurred. A portion of a rod was 
coated with paraffin wax and the radium rays caused 
to radiate the rod partly through the wax layer. There 
was no diminution in the rate of colouring under the 
wax. The effect, therefore, appears to be due to the 
direct action of B rays upon the Bakelite, for it would 
extend much deeper were it due to the y rays. This 
new substance may prove to be a useful filter for 
therapeutic use, especially as it is cleanly and easy to 
CHARLES E. S. Priuips. 
Physics Laboratory, Cancer Hospital, 
May 14. 


Respiratory Movements of Insects. 


THE concertina-like movement observable in the 
abdomen in the case of wasps and bees is, | believe, 
the visible evidence of the act of pumping the air in 
and out for respiratory purposes, and a similar pheno- 
menon may be seen in dragon-flies, except that in the 


| latter the movement is lateral and slow, whilst in 


wasps and bees it is axial and rather quick. I have 
not noticed any such movement in other groups of 
the Hymenoptera, and it is apparently absent in the 
Diptera, except Eristalis tenax, the common drone-fly, 
which obviously mimics the hive bee and other small 
species. If this movement really is due to respiration 
can any reader say why it is so comparatively re- 
stricted in the insect world? One would have expected 
soft-bodied insects, such as Diptera, to exhibit it more 
obviously than the more chitinous species amongst the 
Hymenoptera. I, and probably others, should be glad 
of any information throwing light on this matter. 
C. - NICHOLSON. 


Mr. NicHotson has hit upon an interesting inquiry, 
and will probably not be surprised to find that it has 
already received a good deal of attention. The re- 
spiratory movements of insects were experimentally 
investigated by the late Prof. Felix Plateau, of Ghent 
(‘Recherches Expérimentales sur les Mouvements 
Respiratoires des Insectes,”” Mém. Acad. Roy. de Bel- 
gique, tome xlv., 1884), who contributed a short sum- 
mary of his results to Miail and Denny’s ‘“‘ Cockroach ” 
(pp. 159-64). Respiratory movements can be demon- 
strated in dipterous flies, but in them the enlarged 
thorax is alternately contracted in different directions 
by the action of two sets of muscles, which are 
figured in Miall and Hammond’s “ Harlequin Fly,” 
(pp 1oo-ro2). Far more space than Nature could 


296 


grant would be required to discuss the mechanism of 
respiration in different insects. I do not recollect that 
any notable progress has been made with the inquiry 
during the last thirty years, and a new observer would 
find that much remains to be discovered; it is, how- 
ever, indispensable that he should employ precise 
methods of investigation. OS Sele 


THE NUMBER AND LIGHT OF THE STARS. 


pee number of stars visible to the naked eye 
ona clear night, in the whole sky, is roughly 
5,000—a very moderate total indeed, in spite of 
the universal custom of using the number of the 
stars, in common with that of the sands of the 
sea, aS synonymous with infinity. In all ages 
mankind in general has rightly preferred rather 
to admire and wonder at the stars than to count 
them. In the great problem of the structure of 
the sidereal universe, however, which astronomers 
are now attacking with much energy and success, 
one of the essential data is the number of stars 
in the different regions of the sky, classified ac- 
cording to their brightness or magnitude. ; 

The telescope early revealed the fact that the 
stars which by reason of their superior brightness 
force themselves upon our unaided vision shine 
forth beyond a host of fainter luminaries, the 
number of which has never yet failed to show an 
increase aS an augmentation of telescopic or 
photographic power has enabled us to pierce 
depths of greater and greater obscurity. These 
fainter stars enormously outnumber the naked- 
eye stars, which may be compared with an 
oceanic island, the tiny, outstanding peak of a 
great mountain growing ever broader beneath 
the water level. 

The bright stars have been divided into six 
traditional classes or magnitudes, the brightest 
being called first magnitude stars, and the faintest 
visible being termed of the sixth magnitude. 
Pogson placed this classification on a scientific 
basis, so that it could be extended to telescopic 
stars of all degrees of faintness. On the con- 
ventional standard scale the ratio of the intensities 
of two stars differing in magnitude by the amount 
m is 10-%4™, The determination of the magni- 
tude of a star on this scale is not an easy matter, 
as it involves the measurement of the relative 
brightness of stars often differing much in 
luminosity. 

Photographic methods have been found most 
suitable for the purpose; the results are rather 
different from those obtained by visual methods, 
especially for stars of different colour, since 
the photographic plate is more sensitive than 
the eye to blue rays, and less sensitive to 
red. Magnitudes determined by ordinary photo- 
graphic methods are called “photographic mag- 
nitudes.”’ ; . 

During the past three years the fine series of 
star charts obtained by the late J. Franklin-Adams 
has been used in the investigation of the number 
of stars of determined photographic magnitudes 
in all parts of the sky. Franklin-Adams, using 
a specially-designed Taylor-Cooke to-in. lens 


NO. 2325 SVOU8g3}| 


NATURE 


| 


[May 21, 1914 


covering a wide field, photographed the whole sky 
on 206 plates each 16 in. square, the scale being 
20 mm. to 1°; the photographs were taken (the 
northern set in England, the southern in South 
Africa) with exposures of from two to two and a 
half hours, which sufliced to show stars down to 
the seventeenth magnitude on most of the plates. 
From a star of this magnitude we receive only 
one-millionth as much light as from a second mag- 
nitude star. On each plate the stars in twenty- 
five uniformly distributed sample areas have been 
counted and classified according to the size and 
greyness of their images; altogether, therefore, 
sample counts have been made on more than 5000 
regions of the sky, at intervals of 3° apart. The 
areas examined were of different sizes, being 
chosen, in accordance with the star density in the 
particular region, so that about sixty stars should 
be counted ineach. The stars could not be classi- 
fied according to their photographic magnitude 
directly from the plates, as stars of different mag- 
nitudes might show images, identical in size and 
greyness, on different plates, owing to inequality 
of the atmospheric transparency during the ex- 
posures on the two plates. The photographic 
magnitudes of a selection of the stars counted on 
each plate needed, therefore, to be determined 
directly, which was done by comparing them with 
the stars of the North Polar Sequence, a set of 
stars the magnitudes of which have been given 
very accurately by Prof. E. C. Pickering of Har- 
vard. Auxiliary photographs for this purpose 
were taken with the 30-in. reflector at Greenwich. 
After the application of corrections depending on 
their position on the Franklin-Adams plates it was 
then possible to classify all the stars counted, 
upon a true magnitude basis. This complete re- 
duction has so far been effected for thirty out of 
the 206 plates counted; the results from the 750 
areas for which sample counts were thus afforded 
have recently been published.1 

The first point of importance which will be 
mentioned as one on which the evidence derived 
from this work is decisive is that of the relation 
between the condensation of the stars towards the 
galaxy, and their magnitude. While the very 
brightest stars show little regularity of distribu- 
tion (to their irregular grouping, indeed, much of 
the beauty of the constellations is due), the fainter 
naked-eye stars show a distinct concentration 
towards the plane of the Milky Way, their density 
in the galactic belt of the celestial sphere being 
about twice that near the poles of the Milky Way ; 
still fainter stars down to the ninth magnitude 
show this phenomenon in a more marked degree, 
the density of these stars in the galaxy being three 
or four times that at the galactic pole. The 
galactic plane is a fundamental one in modern 
representations of the sidereal universe, which, 
following Sir W. Herschel’s ideas, picture the 
stellar system as formed of a large central cluster 


1 Chapman and Melotte: The number of stars of each photographic 
magnitude down to 17‘om., in different galactic latitudes. Memoirs of the 
RGA Sen ixe ads 

Chapman: On the total light of the stars. 


Monthly Notices of the 
R.A.S., Ixxiv. 


a, 


May 21, 1914| 


NATURE 


297 


of stars in the form of an oblate spheroid, equa- 
torially surrounded by a belt of irregular star- 
clouds composing the Milky Way. In connection 
with such a theory it is of obvious importance to 
know whether the condensation towards the galaxy 
shown by the stars of magnitudes five to nine 
persists for still fainter stars, and in what degree. 
Very different views have been held on this matter. 
In regard to the stars classified according to their 
visual magnitudes, Kapteyn concluded that the 
galactic condensation increases very much with 
diminishing brightness, giving its value for all 
the stars brighter than 17” as 45. Pickering, on 
the contrary, found no marked change in the 
relative densities in the galaxy and at its poles, 
down to the thirteenth magnitude (the limit of his 
data). The counts on the Franklin-Adams plates, 
based on a photographic magnitude classification, 
lead to a similar result ; the density of all the stars 
brighter than 17” in the galaxy does not exceed 
six times that at the galactic poles, and the ratio 
is perhaps not more than four. Although it is 
possible that there may be a systematic change 
of colour of the stars with increasing faintness, 
different in different galactic latitudes, which 
would make results derived from counts of stars 
of determined visual magnitudes differ systematic- 
- ally from those based on photographic magnitudes, 
yet such evidence upon the point as already exists 
renders it probable that the galactic condensation 
is in either case nearly constant from the sixth 
to the seventeenth magnitude. 

On this account the rate of increase in the 
number of stars per magnitude will be nearly 
constant all over the sky, so that this rate may 
conveniently be studied from a table giving the 
numbers of stars in the whole sky brighter than 
each magnitude m; this will be denoted by Nn. 
All the best available data have been embodied 
in the following table, giving N,» for values of m 
down to 17. The values of An(=log Nmn+1/Nm) 
are also given, as they provide a measure of the 
geometric ratio of increase in the number of the 
stars. 


Taste I.—The Number of Stars in the Whole Sky 
Brighter than Magnitude m. 


mt Nom log Nm Am 
2 38. © is. Bene 
3 ETI. ‘sen Seem 0-47 
4 300 2-48 0-43 
5 950 2-98 0-50 
6 3,150 3°50 0°52 
7 9,810 3°99 0-49 
8 32,360 4°51 0°52 
9 97,400 4:99 0-48 
10 271,800 5°43 0-44 
II 698,000 5°84 O-41 
I2 1,659,000 6-22 0:38 
13 3,682,000 6:57 0:35 
14 7,646,000 6-88 0-31 
ors 15,470,000 7-19 0-31 
16 29,510,000 TAT 0:28 
17 54,900,000 774 0°27 


The data for the stars of magnitudes 2 to 6 
are somewhat uncertain, which accounts for the 
irregular run of the first few values of An, but 


NOh 2925.5 VOL..193)| 


beyond this point the steady decrease in A, is 
very noticeable. This clearly shows that modern 
photographic telescopes now penetrate to regions 
of space where the stars begin to thin out in 
numbers to a quite considerable extent, for it is 
easy to prove that if the stars were distributed 
uniformly throughout space, A,, should preserve 
the constant value o'6. This assumes, what 
appears to be fairly correct, that any possible 
absorption of light in space does not materially 
diminish A,. 

Irom the numbers in the foregoing table, the 
following simple rational formula can be derived, 


aN ‘ 
log —"=a+bm—cm?, 
am 


or, in an equivalent form, 


Nea! Pe "Biw2 — oo) 
iat 


The latter formula, which is the integral of the 
error curve, implies that the total number of the 
stars is finite, and this is now generally accepted 
as true; A represents this total number, while C 
denotes the magnitude which divides all the stars 
into two equal groups, those brighter being equal 
in number to those fainter. A, B, C can be 
deduced from a, b, c, which are readily obtained 
from the observed values of Nm, but A is not 
narrowly determined—its value seems to be not 
less than tooo million, and probably not greater 
than 2000 million, so that the total number of the 
stars 1s comparable with the population of the 
earth (this is roughly estimated as 1600 million). 
The constant C is more closely determined, and 
is approximately 23 or 24. Stars of this magni- 
tude could just be photographed, with many hours 
exposure, with the largest telescope in the world, 
the 60-in. reflector at the Mount Wilson observa- 
tory. There remain, therefore, beyond our present 
powers of exploration still fainter stars equal in 
number to all those which could possibly be 
examined at the present time. 

These impressive numbers shrink into a smaller 
compass when the total light of the stars is con- 
sidered. It may readily be shown that if the 
formula for Nm is correct, the total intensity I, 
of all the stars brighter than magnitude m can be 
represented by an expression identical in form 
with that for Nm; but whereas the peak for the 
error curve, the integral of which represents N,, 
or In, is in the former case (C=23 or 24) beyond 
the limits of the observed data, in the case of Im 
it is well within these limits—in fact, half the 
total light of the stars comes from those brighter 
than about 9°5”. Up to this point the light re- 
ceived from all the stars of magnitude m to m+1 
increases; beyond this it diminishes rapidly, the 
increase in the number of the faint stars, great 
though it is, being insufficient to counterbalance 
their diminished brightness. Owing to the formula 
for Nm giving too small a number of bright stars 
(a defect of little moment for most values of m, in 
the case of Nn, but of serious importance when the 


298 


total light of the stars is under consideration) , 
the following table has been constructed from 
Table I., in order to give the actually-observed 
light of the stars so far as magnitude 17, the 
formula being used only beyond this point, where 
it is quite sufficiently accurate for the purpose. 
The light is given in terms of the number of first 
magnitude stars of equivalent intensity. Three 
very bright stars are given individually. 


Tas_e II.—The Equivalent Light of the Stars. 


Equivalent Totals to 
Magnitude Number number of rst magnitude 
magnitude stars mt 
-1-6 Sirius II — 
—0':9 ... oa Carine 6 — 
—0-0 ... a Oentauri 2 — 
m m 
0-0-1:0 00 Oly a hevsnammndey 33 
I-0—2-0 Ea. Dh ond. Bar paeer 50 
2:0-3°0 a 73 18 68 
3:0-4-0 ae 189 19 7 
4:0-5:0 a 650 26 113 
FO—0:0) 6) iiae BD DOOR, each S85 g tee ae 
6-0-7-0 bbe 6,600) | 52. 2 gs I OHOO 
7-0-8:0 22,550 56 246 
8-0-9-0 65,000 65 grim 
9:0-10-0 T7AROOO ) sve OOl Ato, wee 
10-0-I1-0 426:000. 455. 108, . 0s) (ARS 
II-O—12-0 965,000 4 1)... 7 760 508 
12-0-13-0 2,020,000 51 559 
13:0-14:0 3,900,000") 1 .-5 140 599 
14:0-15;0 72 O20,000. 4) =e) 3 ase) ORO 
15:0-16-:0 14 ;O40;0000. en. 22790) MGGe 
16:0-17-0 25,400,000 16 668 
17-0-18-0 38,400,090 10 67 
18:0-19-0 54,600,000 6 684 
I9:0-20:0_... 76,000,000... 3 687 
All stars fainters than ZOO NES ies 3 690 


It appears that the total light of the stars is 
approximately equal to that of 700 first magnitude 
stars. Previous estimates of this number have 
greatly erred on the side of excess (more than 
three times the present value having been given, 
though these estimates should be reduced by about 
20 per cent. for comparison with the present one, 
since they have been expressed in terms of first 
magnitude stars on the visual scale). The present 
value can scarcely be much affected by our ignor- 
ance as to the exact numbers of stars fainter than 
17m, as it is a fairly safe deduction from the 
above formule that the stars fainter than 15m 
contribute less than one-eighth of the total light. 
Indeed, the fainter half of the stars, several 
hundred millions in number, account for only 
¢ per cent. of the total light, about equal to that 
of four second magnitude stars. It may be of 
interest, in conclusion, to express the total light 
of the stars in terms of the light of the full moon 
and of the standard candle; using some Harvard 
data for the brightness of these. two sources of 
light, it appears that the full moon is very nearly 
one hundred times as bright as a star of magni- 
tude —6'1, the light of which would equal the 
combined light of all the stars, while light of the 


same intensity would be received from an ordinary | 
16-candle-power electric lamp at forty-five or fifty 


vards distance. S. CHAPMAN. 


NON 2325, VOL. 93) 


NATURE 


| been introduced by Europeans. 


[May 21, 1914 


THE STONE TECHNIQUE OF THE 
MAORI.* 


qpee Maori have long been famous as past 
masters in the art of working stone, the 
ornaments and implements of the beautiful 


nephrite (‘jade’) of New Zealand being especi- 
ally noteworthy. It is, therefore, with peculiar 
pleasure that we welcome the appearance of a 
monograph which deals in an adequate manner 
with this important subject; indeed this is the 
only complete account we have of stone technique 
in Oceania. The student must not overlook, 
however, the beautifully-illustrated monograph 
on “Ancient Hawaiian 
Stone Implements,” by 
W. T. Brigham (Mem. 
Bernice Pauahi Bishop 
Museum, vol. i., No. 4, 
1902), in which many 
implements from New 
Zealand are figured. 
The preparation of the 
present memoir could 
not have been entrusted 
to a more competent 
student, as Mr. Elsdon 
Best has gained a de- 
servedly high reputation 
for his intimate and 
sympathetic knowledge 
of the ancient lore of the 
Mor. . and- foreeiais 
acquaintance with | the 
literature of all that per- 
tains to New Zealand. 
An authoritative account 
is given of the native ter- 
minology for the various 
kinds of implements and 
of the stones employed 
for the blades, as well as 
of the methods for the 
manufacture of the Fic. 1.—Unfinished adze-blade of 
Ordinary stone tools, the ~ vey fne-aramed Biackaee 
ne - y illustrating the fine symmetrical 
information being culled for attained under the processes 
from numerous published 


of flaking (or chipping) and 
bruising, without any grinding 


sources and from. the whatever, The tool. could be 
: ie utilised as an adze if only the 
natives themselves lower part of the blade were 
Where’ is a certain:amount \) /eorns. Pere 
is also a common Hawaiian 


of tapu pertaining to the type. 
task of cutting nephrite 
and no woman was allowed to come near the 
workers, but there was no tapu in connection with 
the working of any other stone. Holes were drilled 
in stone by means of the cord drill, but the bow 
drill (with or without a mouthpiece) and the pump 
drill seem to have been unknown to the Maori 
in pre-European times. The same appears to 
hold good for Polynesia, though it is not easy to 
see how the pump drill of New Guinea could have 
Having chipped 
and bruised his implement into the desired form, 
1 Dominion Museum Bulletin No. 4. 


Maori. By Elsdon Best. (Wellington: 
1912.) 


The Stone Implements of the 
J. Macay, Government Printer, 


May 21, 1914] 


NATURE 


299 


the Maori had then to smooth the surface by 


rubbing it on a piece of sandstone, usually in a 
longitudinal manner, as he had no knowledge of 
a rotatory stone for this purpose. 

The methods of hafting the implements are de- 
scribed and evidence is adduced to show that, 
contrary to what was formerly believed, the Maori 
did use tools helved as axes, but they were not 
nearly so numerous or commonly used as were 
tools hafted and used as adzes. 

All the available information about nephrite 
and the tools made from it is summarised by 
Mr. Best. Many legends have grown up in con- 
nection with this precious stone, for this there 
has been ample time, since ‘Polynesians, or a 
mixed people, must have been settled in New 
Zealand for at least one thousand years, and 
possibly for a longer period. It is also highly 
probable that the old-time people of these isles, 
who here flourished long before the immigration 
of ciyca 1350, were acquainted with nephrite of 
the South Island, and also that they worked it 
to some extent.” The memoir is illustrated by 
fifty-one plates which leave nothing to be desired. 

A. C. Happon. 


NOTES. 


THE annual visitation of the Royal Observatory, 
Greenwich, will be held on Saturday, June 6. 

Tue Faraday lecture of the Chemical Society will 
be delivered by Prof. Svante Arrhenius in the theatre 
of the Royal Institution on Monday, May 25, upon the 
subject of ‘‘ Electrolytic Dissociation.” 

Dr. Rospert CHopat and Dr. Richard Wettstein, 
Ritter von Westersheim, have been elected foreign 
members of the Linnean Society. The council of the 
society has decided to award the Linnean medal at the 
forth coming anniversary meeting on May 25 to Prof. 
Otto Bitschli, of Heidelberg. 

A RevuTER message from Ottawa states that an 
Order in Council has been passed setting aside as a 
national park an area of ninety-five square miles 
situated within the railway belt of British Columbia, 
in the vicinity of Mount Revelstoke, on the line of the 
Canadian Pacific Railway. It will be known as the 
Revelstoke National Park. 

Tue death is announced, on May 15, of Miss Ida 
Freund, late staff lecturer at Newnham College, and 
author of several papers on chemical subjects, as well 
as of a valuable work published in 1904, entitled ‘‘ The 
Study of Chemical Composition: an Account of its 
Method and Historical Development.”’ 

Dr. J. C. KONINGSBERGER, director of the Botanic 
Gardens—’s Lands Plantentuin—Buitenzorg, Java, 
informs us that the new laboratory for foreign scien- 
tific visitors is now open. The laboratory is conse- 
crated to the memory of his predecessor, the late Prof. 
Melchior Treub, and consequently bears the name 
““Treub Laboratorium.” We are asked to announce 
that, as hitherto, the director and staff of the gardens 
welcome visitors, and will do all that is in their power 
to make a scientific voyage to Java and a stay in 
Buitenzorg as profitable as possible. 


NOWSS25;- VOL. 93] 


THE annual meeting of the British Science Guild 
will be held at the Mansion House to-morrow, May 
22, at 4 p.m., the Right Hon. the Lord Mayor presid- 
ing. Sir Ronald Ross, K.C.B., will deliver an address, 
and other speakers will be the president of the guild 
(the Right Hon. Sir William Mather), Sir Boverton 
Redwood, Bart., the Right Hon. Lord Blyth, Sir 
William Beale, Bart., Mr. C. Bathurst, M.P., Major 
O’Meara, C.M.G., Mr. Alexander Siemens, and Mr. 
Carmichael Thomas. The dinner of the guild will be 
held on the same date, at 7 p.m., at the Trocadero 
Restaurant, under the chairmanship of Sir William 
Mather. 

Tue President of the Board of Agriculture and 
Fisheries has appointed a Departmental Committee to 


consider and report upon the effect of the 
present arrangements for the sale of the small- 
scale maps of the Ordnance Survey. The Com- 


mittee consists of Sir Sydney Olivier, K.C.M.G., 
Permanent Secretary of the Board of Agricul- 
ture, chairman; Mr. F. Atterbury, C.B., Controller 
of his Majesty’s Stationery Office; and Colonel C. F. 
Close, C.M.G., Director-General of the Ordnance Sur- 
vey. Mr. J. L. Bryan, of the Board of Agriculture, 
will act as secretary to the Corvmittee. 


THE young of the grey seai (Halichoerus grvpus) 
are stated to differ from those of all other European 
seals by their inability to swim until several weeks 
after birth; and as they are born above high-water 
mark on rocks and skerries in the open sea, they are 
peculiarly liable to destruction by those acquainted 
with the haunts and habits of the species. Despite 
the small value of the pelt of the pup and of the oil 
of the parent, expeditions have of late years been 
made to the breeding-places of these seals on the 
British coasts, with the result that the species is in 
jeopardy of imminent local extermination. To put 


| matters on a better footing a Bill has been introduced 


in the House of Lords to enact an annual close time 
for these seals from October 1 to December 15; it 
recently passed the third reading in the Upper 


| House. 


At the beginning of this year the Biologische Ver- 
suchsanstalt at Vienna passed into the possession of 
the Imperial Academy of Sciences. The institution is 
for the experimental investigation of organisms, 
especially experimental morphology and developmental 
physiology; also of comparative physiology and the 
borderlands of biophysics and biochemistry. The 
Academy of Sciences has appointed a committee of 
trustees for the institution. A limited number of tables 
is exempt from fees, and may be awarded by the direc- 
tor of the Anstalt or directors of its departments. The 
Austrian Ministry of Education has reserved four 
tables of which as a rule one is to be awarded in 
every department. Applications for research tables 
may be addressed to the director of the Anstalt, or to 
one of the following directors of departments :— 
Botany, W. Figdor ance L. v. Portheim; Physical 
Chemistry, W. Pauli (until December 31, 1914); 
Physiology, E. Steinaich; Zoology, H. Przibram. 


THE annual meeting of the Société Helvétique des 
Sciences naturelles is to be held at Berne on August 


300 


31-September 3 next. Prof. E. Fischer is the presi- 
dent for the year, and Dr. H. Rothenbiihler is the 
secretary of the committee of management. The 
following addresses to general meetings of the society 
have been announced :—Dr. Bluntschli, of Zurich, on 
the biology and ontogeny of the primates of the New 
World; Prof. E. Hugi, of Berne, on the geology of 
the Gaster range and the Létschberg tunnel; Prof. 
Kohlschiitter, of Berne, on physico-chemical factors 
in the origin of natural forms; Prof. Noelting, of 
Mulhouse, on the synthesis of colouring matters; and 
Prof. H. Sahli, of Berne, on the influence of natural 
science on modern medicine: The Swiss Mathe- 
matical, Physical, Chemical, Geological, Botanical, 
and Zoological Societies will also hold their annual 
meetings at Berne on September 2. Members desirous 
of presenting papers at any of the meetings of sec- 
tions should communicate with Prof. Fischer, 
Kirschenfeldstrasse, 14, Berne, before July 1. 


On Monday last a Committee of the House of Lords 
threw out a Bill promoted by the Glasgow Corpora- 
tion under which they sought powers to make an 
electric tramway with a double line of rails along 
University Avenue, which for nearly half a mile forms 
the northern boundary of Glasgow University and of 
the Infirmary. The University opposed the Bill on 
the ground of magnetic disturbance and vibration, 
which would adversely affect the physical, botanical, 
and biological laboratories. Technical evidence was 
given in support of the opposition by Profs. Gray, Kerr, 
and Bower, of Glasgow University, Prof. Nuttall, of 
Cambridge, and by Mr. C. V. Boys and Mr. Sellon. 
This decision is one of the first importance for the 
protection of our universities from encroachments 
upon their amenities and the quiet which they have 
enjoyed; it is necessary for their welfare, and will 
establish a useful precedent when town councillors 
and other promoters are trying to force their schemes 
regardless of the injury which they would do. 


In the issue of the Revue générale des Sciences for 
December 30, 1909, an article by M. Ernest Solvay 
was published dealing with ‘‘ Physical Chemistry and 
Psychology.” In that article M. Solvay propounded 
ten» questions which opened up numerous researches ; 
and to encourage investigation in these directions he 
announced that he would devote 2o00ol. to the award of 
prizes for work designed to answer his questions. The 
theses had to be sent in by January 1, 1914, to the 
Institut Solvay de Physiologie in Brussels. The 
awards were made by a commission consisting of Prof. 
L. Fredericq, of Liége, Prof. J. Verschaffelt, of Brus- 
sels, and Prof. O. Dony-Hénauit, of Mons, and were 
announced in the issue of our contemporary for April 
30. The prizes were awarded as follows :—To Prof. 
G. Bredig, of the Technical High School, Karlsruhe, 
for his researches on catalysis; to M. G. De Meyer, 
of the Institut Solvay, for his work on muscular 
action; and to M. J. Boselli, of Paris, for his research 
on the speed of reaction in heterogeneous systems. 


Tue plans for the Meteorological Conference which 
is to be held in Edinburgh in September next are 
taking definite shape. A strong general committee 


NOR 2 32/5 Olt 


NATURE 


(Nay 23, 1604 


with seventy-six members has been formed. The 
lamented death of Sir John Murray has left the office 
of president vacant. The other officers of the con: 
ference are the following: Vice-presidents: C. J. P- 
Cave, president of the Royal Meteorological Society ; 
J. Mackay Bernard, of Dunsinnan, president of the 
Scottish Meteorological Society ; Major-General Ruck, 
president of the Aeronautical Society; Dr. W. N. 
Shaw, director of the Meteorological Office; Dr. 
H. R. Mill, director of the British Rainfall Organisa- 
tion; Sir William Turner, principal of Edinburgh 
University; the Right Hon. Robert K. Inches, Lord 
Provost of Edinburgh. Treasurer: Captain H. G. 
Lyons. Hon. Secretary: F. J. W. Whipple, Meteoro- 
logical Office, South Kensington, S.W. Convener, 
Edinburgh committee: Dr. E. M. Wedderburn, 2 
Glenfinlas Street, Edinburgh. The programme of 
the conference, which will open on Tuesday, Septem- 
ber 8, includes general discussions on meteorological 
questions, such as the use of pilot balloons for fore- 
casters and aeronauts, wireless telegraphy in relation 
to forecasting, the electricity of thunderstorms,’ and 
evaporation and rainfall, as well as two evening lec- 
tures, which will probably be open to the public, a 
reception to which the members have been invited by 
the Lord Provost of Edinburgh, demonstrations with 
sounding balloons, and an excursion to Eskdale 
Observatory. Further particulars may be obtained 
from the hon. secretary, at the Meteorological Office, 
South Kensington. 


In the University of California’s Publications on 


American Archeology and Ethnology, vol. x., No. 6, 


Mr. P. E. Goddard contributes notes on the Chilula 
tribe of Indians, who up to recent times inhabited 
the banks of Redwood Creek, Humboldt County, 
California. They have now ceased to exist as a 
separate people, and if a full account of the tribe 
were possible its chief interest would be found in 
the deviations from the Hupa type of culture due 
to environmental differences, and certain transitional 
features. A curious discovery is that of a pond round 
which the girls during their adolescence ceremonies 


used to run in a direction contrary to the course of 


the sun. If the girl was able to run once round 
without drawing breath it was assumed that she would 
be a good basket-maker. 


In the April number of Bedrock Prof. G. Elliot 
Smith replies to certain criticisms tending to belittle 


_ the morphological importance of the Piltdown skull 


(Eoanthropus dawsoni). After remarking that, in 
spite of his relatively high brain-development, his face 
still retained many ape-like traits, the author goes 
on to observe that ‘‘the Piltdown man is the nearest 
approximation that has yet been discovered to the 
direct ancestor of the genus Homo, and all of its 
many varieties that made their appearance in Pleisto- 
cene and more recent times.’”’ In a later passage he 
adds that ‘‘it must be regarded as definitely settled, 
with as high a degree of probability as any question 
of phylogeny can be said to be settled, that the genus 
Eoanthropus represents the immediate ancestor of the 
genus Homo.” 


May 21, 1914| 


In Man for May Mr. Eldon Best discusses the 
question of the peopling of New Zealand. He thinks 
it is going too far to speak of two distinct races in 
the island; but we have certainly the blending of two 
races : the fair-skinned Polynesian, with good features, 
and the swart, thick-lipped, flat-nosed Melanesian 
type. The former has hair with a slight wave in it; 
the hair of the latter, if allowed to grow, has the 
frizzy and bushy appearance of that of the Fijians. 
Between them is an intermediate type, the result of 
blending. Besides these, again, in the Urukehu 
strain we find a fair-haired, light-skinned type, the 
origin of which is still a mystery. Cannibalism, he 
supposes, was by no means a common custom in the 
Society group, whence the Maori came to the island ; 
but it was well established in Fiji, and was probably 
introduced by the Maruiwi—a folk with pronounced 
Fijian affinities—and was thus acquired by the Poly- 
nesian Maori, or rather, was inherited by the mixed 
descendants of these two peoples. 


Tue current number of the Quarterly Review con- 
tains an interesting account of the family of Sadi 
Carnot from the pen of Mr. James Carlill. Sadi him- 
self was a captain of engineers, and died in 1832 when 
only thirty-six, having published his ‘ Reflexions 
sur la puissance motrice du feu” in 1824. 
He was the eldest son of General] Lazare 
Carnot, the ‘organiser of victory” of the first 
Republic, and member of the Committee of 
Public Safety. His younger brother Hippolyte be- 
came Minister of Education in, and his nephew Sadi 
President of, the French Republic (1887). His uncle 
Feulint was almost as distinguished a soldier as his 
father, and three other uncles became judges, one of 
the Cour de Cassation. His grandfather was q dis- 
tinguished notary of Nolay in Burgundy, and his 
grandmother a woman of great beauty. Families of 
ten, twelve, or fourteen members are common in his 
pedigree. According to the author, the family mind, 
which enabled the Carnots for a century and a half to 
supply men to fill the highest offices in the State, was 
the normal brain encouraged from childhood to take 
an active interest in everything, and invigorated by 
constant use. 


Tue fishes collected during the Duke of Mecklen- 
burg’s first expedition to Central Africa are described 
by Messrs. P. Pappenheim and G. A. Boulenger in 
vol. v., Zoologie iii., Lief. 2, of the Wissenschaftliche 
Ergebnisse of the expedition, published at Leipzig by 
Klinkhardt and Biermann. A new genus (Schubotzia) 
of cichlids and a number of new species of various 
groups are named. The same publishers are also 
issuing the scientific results of the Duke’s second 
expedition (‘Ergebnisse der Zweiten Deutschen Zen- 
tral-Africa Expedition, 1910-11,” etc., etc.), of which 
we have received Lief. 2 of the zoological section of 
the first volume, dealing with the copepod and clado- 
cerotine crustaceans. 


- Tue whole of vol. xxv. of Anales del Museo Nacional 
de Historia Natural de Buenos Aires is devoted to 
the mammalian Tertiary faunas of the ‘‘ Araucanian"’ 
formations of Argentina, as specially represented by 


NQs2425, VOL. 93] 


NATURE 301 


those of Monte Hermoso and the Rio Negro, the 
monograph being illustrated by thirty-one plates and 
ninety-two text-figures. The author, Sefior Cayetano 
Rovereto, records a very large number of species, 
some of which are described as new, and likewise 
names several new genera. Most, at any rate, of 
the forms belong to types already familiar through 
the works of Ameghino, Dr. W. B. Scott, and others, 
and it may be a question whether at least some of the 
generic types described as new are not based on trivial 
characters or on those due to immaturity. 


Or late years it has been very generally accepted 
both in this country and on the Continent, that the 
name ‘‘auerochs,”’ or ‘‘aurochs,’’ belongs of right to 
the extinct wild ox, or ur (Bos taurus, primigenius), and 
not to the bison (B. bonasus). This, we believe, was 
first definitely pointed out in this country on p. 14 of 
a paper on the zoology of ancient Europe read by the 
late Prof. A. Newton before the Cambridge Philo- 
sophical Society in 1862, and published later on in the 
same year by Messrs. Macmillan in pamphlet form. 
The writer’s actual words are that the ur or urus 
‘‘has been so very commonly confounded by writers 
with the zubr, or European bison (B. bonasus)—the 
aurochs, as it is commonly, although erroneously, 
called in France and England, that it is not easy to 
make out anything with certainty with regard to it.” 
A similar view, adopted by others of his countrymen, 
was subsequently expressed in Germany by the late 
Prof. A. Nehring, who considered that the name 
auerochs was gradually transferred centuries ago to 
the wild ox, as the latter became exterminated. Re- 
cently Dr. B. Szalay, of N.-Szeben-Hermanstadt, in 
an article published in vol. vi. of Zoologische Annalen 
(p. 54), controverts this view, and maintains that the 
term auerochs properly belongs to the bison or zubr. 
To discuss the merits of the question in this place 
is impossible, but we may quote the legends to Herber- 
stein’s sixteenth-century pictures of the wild ox and 
the bison, which are respectively as follows :—‘ Ich 
bin der Urus welchen die Polen Thur nennen, die 
Deutschen Auerox, die Nichtkenner Bison,’ and ‘‘ Ich 
bin der Bison, welchen die Polen Subr nennen, die 
Deutschen Wysent, die Nichtkenner Urochs.” Again, 
we have the statement by Herberstein, as summarised 
by Prof. A. Mertens (Abh. Mus. Magdeburg, vol. i., 
p. 7, 1906), ‘‘dass der Ur, der dort mit einheimischen 
Namen Thur genannt wird, bei den Deutschen 
Auerochs heisst.”’ 


ATTENTION was directed to the interesting excur- 
sions of the Oberrheinischer geologischer Verein in 
Nature of May 30, 1912 (vol. Ixxxix., p. 328). The 
Jahresbericht of the society for March, 1914, gives the 
programme of an April visit to the Vorarlberg area. 
The same number contains a paper on the origin 
of the Black Forest and the Vosges, by Paul Kessler, 
which will be welcomed on account of its systematic 
treatment of a long series of events. The thirteen 
sections, illustrating the region now occupied by the 
trough-valley of the Rhine, from the close of 
Devonian times to the present day, are worthy of 
reproduction as diagrams for class-instruction. The 
most mountainous condition of the region, when it 


302 


NATURE 


[May 21, 1914 


resembled the present Alpine chain, is shown as re- 
sulting from the Armorican folding. Immense intru- 
sions of igneous rocks then took place, and some of 
the gneisses of the Vosges and the Black Forest are 
now recognised as granites of Carboniferous age. 
While the great lowering of the Rhine-trough by 
down-faulting dates from Middle Oligocene times, 
and while this was emphasised by the Miocene uplift 
of its flanking walls, it is interesting to reflect that 
the Rhine itself played no part in the modification of 
the valley until it flowed for the first time northward 
at the opening of the Glacial epoch. 


StncE the description by Prof. Malladra, in May, 
I9g12, of the existence of a practicable’ path 
by which the bottom of the Vesuvian_ crater 
can be reached, several observers have availed 
themselves of the opportunity of making investi- 
gations concerning volcanic action under these 
unique conditions. In the Geologische Rundschau 
(Band v., Heft 2, 1914) a very interesting account of a 
visit to the crater is given by Mr. Max Storz, of 
Munich. Among the valuable results published as 
the outcome of this visit, we may direct attention to 
the temperature observations, made by means of 
metallic wires with different melting points, and to 
the determination of the acids and bases present in 
the emanations. The acids found were hydrochloric 
and sulphurous-acid gases, and indications of the 
following metals were detected—lead, copper, calcium, 
magnesium, potassium, and sodium. Useful plans of 
the crater and of the bocca at its bottom are given, 
together with photographs which are similar in every 
respect to those obtained by Mr. Burlingham, three 
of which appeared in Nature of February 5. 


Tue Californian earthquake of 1906 originated in a 
movement along the San Andreas fault-rift extending 
over a distance of 290 miles. Since that year three 
slight earthquakes have been traced to slips along the 
same fault. The first, on September 12, 1912, occurred 
near the south end of San Francisco Bay; the second, 
on October 25, 1913, to the. north-west of Berkeley ; 
the third, on January 23, 1914, in an intermediate posi- 
tion close toSan Bruno. The epicentre of the last was 
determined by Mr. E. F. Davis (Bull. Seis. Soc. 
America, vol. iv., pp. 25-28) by means of Omori’s 
formula for local shociks from the duration of the 
preliminary tremors at the Lick, Santa Clara, and 
Berkeley Observatories. 


THE report for 1913 of the Stonyhurst College Ob- 
servatory (Lancs.) has been received from Father 
Sidgreaves, and contains inter alia mean and extreme 
meteorological values at that important station for 
the last sixty-six years. The observatory has recently 
severed its principal connection with the Meteoro- 
logical Office (as explained in the last annual report 
of the meteorological committee), but it still furnishes 
the latter body with weekly reports; the automatic 
recorders remain at Stonyhurst, and their continuous 
registrations are uninterrupted. 


THE yearly report for 1913 of the Deutsche Seewarte 
(Hamburg) bears witness to the great activity of that 
useful institution with regard especially to (1) mari- 


NO. 2325, VOL. 93] 


| several recent improvements, 


| time meteorology, (2) weather telegraphy, and, 


generally speaking, to all matters connected with the 
welfare of the seafaring community. Much attention 
is given to the proper installation of the mariner’s 
compass, and to the application of the theory of mag- 
netism to navigation; these matters also engaged 
the earnest attention of the late Dr. v. Neumayer. 
During the year the number of complete sets of ob- 
servations received from observers at sea exceeded 
three-quarters of a million. These are utilised in the 
preparation of monthly meteorological charts, sailing 
directions, and daily synoptic weather charts of the 
North Atlantic. The daily report has undergone 
and it now includes 
small charts showing separately the changes of air- 
pressure during the preceding day and night by 
lines of equal values of these changes (isallobars) ; 
these values are fully discussed by Dr. N. Ekholm in 
No. Ixiv. of the publications of the international 
council for the study of the sea (NATURE, September 
18, 1913). 

BoLttzMaNn’s formula for entropy considered in 
relation to the theory of probability has recently been 
made the basis of many of our modern radiation 
theories; but objections have been raised by Einstein 
and others, in particular to the validity of the formula 
when applied to systems other than isolated systems 
the energy of which is constant. A short note on 
this question is published by Dr. Karl F. Herzfeld in 
the Vienna Sitzungsberichte for 1913 (recently re- 
ceived), in which the author confirms the more general 
formula according to which the entropy in any state 
is proportional to the logarithm of the number of pos- 
sible cases plus a constant, but the value of this con- 
stant is not definite, as it was in the usual Boltz- 
mann formula. 


A sHoRT time ago Mr. Jenkins described (Philo- 
sophical Magazine, vol. xxvi., p. 752) a method devised 
by Prof. Hicks for determining a magnetic field, in 
particular the horizontal component of the earth’s 
field, by a method which reduced the measurement to 
that of an electric current. In the case of the earth’s 
field a solenoid through which a measured current 
flows is used to reverse that field. The state of the 
joint field is judged by the time of oscillation of a 
small magnet at the centre of the solenoid. In the 
March number of Terrestrial Magnetism, Prof. 
Schuster describes a similar method which he has had 
tested at the National Physical Laboratory. It seems 
probable that when the coil is wound with the degree 
of accuracy used in current-measuring instruments, 
the accuracy of a determination will be at least as 
great as with the Kew magnetometer, and the time 
required will be five minutes instead of an hour. 


AN electrical sterilisation process has been in suc- 
cessful operation at one of the milk depédts of the 
Liverpool City Corporation for the past six months, 
and a report on this process drawn up by the city 
bacteriologist, Prof. Beattie, was presented last month 
to the Health Committee of the City Corporation. 
The process depends upon the use of an alternating 
current of high potential for destroying, by shock, the 
bacteria contained in the milk. The sterilising appa- 


May 21, 1914| 


NATURE 


625 


ratus consists of a long tube with copper electrodes 
inserted in tube-shaped depressions at suitable points, 
the milk being passed continuously through this tube, 
from a raised tank, at a predetermined rate of flow. 
The current used varies from 2 to 3 amperes at an 
E.M.F. of 3900 to 4200 volts, and each unit quantity of 
milk is exposed to the action of this current for such 
a brief period of time, that no heating effects are pro- 
duced. Details of the bacteriological results: are given 
in the report, from which it is seen that Bb. coli and 
the ordinary milk-souring bacteria have been invari- 
ably absent from the eiectrically-treated milk, and that 
the average percentage reduction in the number of 
total bacteria, over a period of fifteen days’ operation 
of the plant, was 99-93 per cent. The electrical steri- 
lising apparatus in use at the Earle Road Milk Depét 
of the Liverpool Corporation has a- capacity .of 125 
gallons of milk a day, and this quantity is distributed 
in 3000 bottles. The question of extending the plant 
is now being considered. 


A PAPER on recording pyrometers, read by Mr. C. R. 
Darling at a meeting of the Faraday Society on 
April was accompanied by a full display of the 
most recent types of instruments. The marked im- 
provement which has been effected in the accuracy 
of these instruments was attributed by the author, 
and by several speakers in the subsequent discussion, 
to the admirable work of the» National Physical 
Laboratory as an impartial standardising agency. 
Some recent advances include (1) the introduction of 
electric power to operate the pyrometers, either by 
means of relay-circuits or in place of clockwork, in 
such a way that the automatic control of large techni- 
cal furnaces may easily be provided for; (2) arrange- 
ments whereby the same instrument may be used 
either with a resistance thermometer or with thermal 
couples; (3) automatic switches with the help of which 
the records from several furnaces may be recorded by 
the same machine. 


PA? 


a<) 


Tue Chemical Society’s journal for April contains 
two papers by Dr. Pickard and Mr. Kenyon. on the 
dependence of rotatory power on chemical constitu- 
tion. The first paper, recalling the monographs of 
Sir William Perkin on magnetic rotatory power, con- 
tains a description of no fewer than seventy-three 
optically-active esters of the fatty series. Unlike the 
alcohols from which they are derived, which ex- 
hibit the simplest type of rotatory dispersion at all 
temperatures, the esters show marked deviations from 
the simple law when the temperature is raised; in 
certain solvents they even exhibit anomalous rotatory 
dispersion. The second paper includes a description 
of the optical properties of naphthyl methyl carbinol 
C,,H,.CH(OH).CH,. This substance obeys the simple 
dispersion law at temperatures above 160°, but shows 
anomalous rotatory dispersion in the superfused con- 
dition at temperatures below about 10°. It is sug- 
gested that the anomalous dispersion is caused by the 
actual presence in the superfused liquid of two of the 
hypothetical varieties of the naphthalene nucleus 
which have long been postulated by organic chemists. 


Tue. transportation problem in Canada, and Mon- 
treal Harbour, were discussed in a paper read at the 


Nome e255. VOL. 92) 


| 


Institution of Civil Engineers on April 7 by Mr. F. W. 
Cowie. It appears that the farmer receives for his 
wheat 67 per cent. of the price paid by the consumer ; 
the remaining 33 per cent. represents the cost of 
transportation, handling, and selling profits. It is 
important that the latter percentage should be reduced 
to the lowest possible figure, so that the farmer may 
receive the full due for his toil, and the cost of liv- 
ing in Great Britain may not be unduly enhanced. 
Montreal Harbour handled sixty million bushels of 
grain in 1913, and nearly a hundred million bushels 
of Canadian grain were shipped in the same year 
through Buffalo in the United States. The loss to 
Canadian transportation and selling organisations by 
reason of the latter shipments amounts to about 
18,000,000 dollars. The magnificent railway systems be- 
tween New York and Buffalo are the most powerful 
rivals of the ‘‘all Canadian’’ routes. Great efforts 
are being put forth by the Canadian Government and 
others interested to improve facilities and render avail- 
able Canadian routes. The author is of the opinion 
that the advantages for future transportation should 
lie. with the St. Lawrence route. It is believed that 
improvements for the storage and handling of grain 
in the ports of Great Britain are not advancing in 
measure equal to the Canadian ports. 


Stx new volumes have been added to ‘‘ The People’s 
Books,’’? which Messrs..T. C. and E. C. Jack are 
publishing at sixpence net each. The additions fully 
maintain the high standard of this excellent series, 
which is bringing within the reach of all readers the 
results of modern studies in many branches of human 
knowledge. Particular attention may be directed to 
Dr. W. E. Carnegie Dickson’s little book on bacterio- 
logy, and Mr. Ford Fairford’s on Canada. Dr. Dick- 
son, in the sub-title to his volume, ‘‘Man’s Microbe 
Friends and Foes,”’ sufficiently describes the point of 
view from which he has written. He gives a brief 
historical summary of the growth of the science, ex- 
plains the relation between health and disease, de- 


scribes some of the commoner organisms which 
produce disease, and explains the importance of 
bacteria in the arts and industries. Mr. Fairford’s 


book should prove of service to students of commercial 
geography, and interest general readers in an im- 
portant part of the Empire. 


OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 


A New Comer.—A Kiel telegram, dated May 17, 
reports the discovery of a new comet, stated to be 
of the fourth magnitude, by Zlaitinsky. On May 15 
the comet was situated close to 7 Persei, while on the 
following day it was recorded as being half a degree 
north of a Persei. 

A further telegram from Kiel communicates an 
observation by Prof. Schorr. On May 16)" abt 
1th, 12-9m. Bergedorf mean time, the comet was of 
the 4th magnitude, and its position was R.A. 
3h. 17m. 37s., declination + 49° 51’ 7’. 

TeLEescopic METEoRS.—One of the interesting con- 
tributions to the Observatory for May is an account 
by Mr. W. F. Denning of observations of telescopic 
meteors. Thirty years ago Mr. Denning directed 
attention to the importance of making combined ob- 


304 


servation of these bodies, for he and others were of the 
opinion that these faint shooting stars were at vastly 
greater distances than those visible to the naked eye, 
for their slowness of movement and diminutive size 
suggested such remoteness. While ordinary meteors 
rarely become visible at a greater height than about 
too miles, these telescopic objects require distances of 
1000 to nearly 2000 miles to explain their appearance 
assuming as standard the ordinary velocity and length 
of flight of naked-eye meteors. From four objects 
Mr. Denning: inferred heights of 1260 to 1820 miles, 
and these he states were ‘‘only examples of a class 
and not rarities... The whole question is interest- 
ingly summarised in this contribution, and the author 
describes in detail observations extending over the 
period 1881 to 1902, and reproduces numerous dia- 
grams of various forms of trails observed. 


A New PuHotoGraPHiIc CHART OF THE Moon.—In the 
April number of L’Astronomie, M. Camille Flam- 
marion gives an account of the new photographic 
chart of the moon, which has recently been prepared 
by M. C. Le Morvan. M. Le Morvan during the last 
eighteen years has been associated with the production 
of all the plates for the great atlas of Loewy and 
Puiseux, and this important and unique collection of 
clichés, taken with the Paris equatorial coudé, pro- 
vides him with a rich assortment of material. The 
object of the work is to provide in a more convenient 
form as perfect a representation of the lunar surface 
as is possible in every detail. The plates are repro- 
duced in héliogravure, and are issued in two parts, 
each part consisting of twenty-four sections, and re- 
presenting increasing and decreasing phases respec- 
tively. The publication of this chart is rendered pos- 
sible by a grant of 4ooo francs out of the Bonaparte 
funds by the Académie des Sciences. M. Le Morvan 
communicates also a brief account of the construction 
of lunar charts. 


THE ROYAL SOCIETY .CONVERSAZIONE. 


HE annual May conversazione of the Royal 
Society was held on Wednesday, May 13, and 
was, as usual, largely attended. During the evening 
demonstrations were given in the meeting-room by 
Prof. J. P. Hill and Mr. P. Schilowsky. Prof. Hill 
gave a short account of the work of the Percy Sladen 
Expedition to Brazil, 1913, illustrated by lantern- 
slides of material collected and regions visited; and 


Mr. Schilowsky demonstrated the application of gyro- 


scopes to locomotion on land, on sea, and in air. 
The gyroscope’s stabilising property can be applied to 
unstable bodies like monorail cars or monotrack auto- 
mobiles, making them stable; that property can be 
used for stable but oscillatory bodies like ships, sub- 
marines, flving machines, preventing their rolling 
movement and rendering them perfectly steady. A 
description of the application of the system to a two- 
wheeled motor-car appeared in. Nature of May 7 
(p. 251). Dr. J. G. Gray exhibited gyrostats with 
accessories for showing the more obvious properties 
of the gyrostat, and a series of what may be called 
‘“animated’’ gyrostats. The latter consist of gyro- 
static acrobats, bicycle riders, and gyrostatic motor- 
cars, both two-wheeled and four-wheeled. A two- 
wheeled car was provided with a _ gyrostatic 
‘“‘chauffeur,’’ which stabilised the car and presided 
at the steering wheel. This car illustrated the action 
of directing and stabilising apparatus for use on tor- 
pedoes, airships, and aeroplanes. A further form of 
two-wheeled car demonstrated methods of stabilising 
and manceuvring an airship by means of forces derived 
from the propellers, which apply a direct push to the 
moving body. Dr. Gray’s bicycles and motor-cars 


NO, 2325; VOL. .o2i 


NATURE 


[May 21, 1914 


can be steered by the wireless transmission of elec- 
trical action. There were many other exhibits of © 
objects and devices of scientific interest, and we give 
descriptions, from the official catalogue, of some of 
the most interesting grouped according to related 
subjects. 

The Astronomer Royal: Transparencies of the 
Milky Way (selected from the Franklin-Adams chart). 
The whole sky was photographed on 206 plates by. 
the late J. Franklin-Adams. The plates have been 
presented to the Royal Observatory, and the number 
of stars of different magnitudes from the 12th to the 
17th have been determined. There are altogether 
fifty-five million stars on the plates, and from the 
sequence of the numbers for different magnitudes it 
is shown (S. Chapman and P. J. Melotte, Mem. 
R.A.S., vol. lx.), that the total number of stars in the 
sky is not less than 1000 millions, and cannot much 
exceed twice this amount, and that half the stars are 
brighter than the 23rd or 24th magnitude. Mr. 
George H. Cobb: A terrestrial globe, dated 1620, 
constructed to serve as a timepiece; supported by a 
gilt bronze figure of Atlas. Inside the globe is a 
movement of the verge type, so geared to the axial 
spindle that the globe revolves once in twenty-four 
hours. 

The National Physical Laboratory (Mr. F. E. 
Smith): Photographic record of the variations in the 
horizontal intensity of the earth’s magnetic field at 
the National Physical Laboratory. The record shows 
the variations in H from 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 109, 
to II a.m. on Sunday, April 20. The time scale 
(abscissa) is 43 cm. to the hour (7 mm. to the minute), 
and the intensity scale (ordinate) is 2-5 mm. for 2 
change in H of ty (o-oooo01 c.g.s. unit). The sudden 
variations are principally due to the earth currents 
produced by the London United Electric Tramway 
system. These sudden changes are not in general 
greater than 5y. Mr. W. A. Douglas Rudge: Electri- 
fication produced during the raising of a cloud of 
dust. During the raising of a cloud of dust by almost 
any method, considerable charges of electricity are 
produced. A charge of one sign is found upon the 
dust itself, and another charge of opposite sign, either 
upon the air, or else upon fine particles of dust which 
remain suspended in the air. Generally, dust of an 
acidic nature, such as silica or molybdic acid, give a 
negative charge to the air, metallic oxides and organic 
bases give positive charges to the air. 

Dr. J. A. Fleming: An apparatus for the production 
of stationary vibrations on strings, loaded and un- 
loaded. Various arrangements have been employed 
for the production of stationary vibrations on strings 
to illustrate the laws of wave motion. The apparatus 
exhibited consists of an electric motor having on one 
end of its shaft a counting mechanism, and on the 
other a disc to which is fixed a pin carrying the end 
of a rocking lever. This fever has on it a hook to 
which a string can be attached. The other end of 
the string is fixed to a slide rest arrangement, by 
means of which any required tension can be put on 
the string. When the motor revolves it gives to one 
end of the string an irrotational motion in a circle 
and propagates waves along the string. Bv adjusting 
the tension these waves can be made stationary. By 
employing a cotton cord, either single or multiple, 
in various degrees, it is easy to prove the fundamental 
laws of wave motion along cords. By using strings 
loaded with glass beads the effects of reflection at 
loads, or the laws of vibration of loaded cords, can be 
shown. Mr. W. Duddell: Water model of the electric 
arc. One of the essential properties of the electric arc 
is that, when the current through the arc increases, 
the potential difference between its terminals de- 
creases. The model exhibited consists of a mushroom 


May 21, 1914| 


NATURE 30 


ietq| 


valve. The pressure tending to reseat the valve is so 
arranged that it diminishes very rapidly as the valve 
lifts. In this way, when the flow of water 1s in- 
creased through the valve, the difference of pressure 
between its two sides decreases and thus represents 
one of the properties of the electric arc. When a 
steady flow is established and a column of water 
having a definite periodic time is connected to the 
valve oscillations can be set up similar to those 
obtained with an electric arc. Other properties of the 
arc discharge can also be demonstrated. 

The Cambridge Scientific Instrument Co.: An aero- 
dynamic balance. Designed for the experimental in- 
vestigation of the stability of aeroplanes. The main 
part of the balance consists of three arms mutually 
at right angles, each arm being counterbalanced. 
These arms meet in a point at which a steel centre is 
fixed, and the weight of the balance is taken on this 
point. The vertical arm passes through the under- 
side of a wind channel and supports the model under 
test. The horizontal arms are arranged respectively 
parallel and at right angles to the wind direction. 
The arrangements allow of the measurement of the 
forces on the model along three fixed rectangular 
axes, and also of the three moments about these axes 
for any angle of incidence of the wind on the model. 
Mr. F. W. Asten: A simple microbalance for the 
determination of the densities of small quantities of 
gases. The balance is made entirely of fused quartz, 
and consists of a beam of the simplest possible con- 
struction, bearing at one end a small closed bulb and 
at the other a solid counterpoise. The whole is sup. 
ported by a knife edge working on a polished quartz 
plate. The system is made to balance in air at some 
convenient pressure, and its sensitiveness made ex- 
tremely high, turning at about one-millionth of a milli- 
gram. The gas is admitted to the balance case and 
the pressure determined at which it causes the beam to 
balance in a given position. The corresponding pres- 
sure for a gas of known density (e.g. oxygen) is ¢hen 
measured, the ratio of the pressures giving the in- 
verse ratio of the densities. 

Mr: E. Leitz: A new binocular microscope. The 
body consists of a flat casing containing the system 
of prisms. At the upper end are situated two eye- 
pieces the distance apart of which can be regulated 
to suit the eyes of the observer by means of a milled 
head which actuates two levers inside the casing. 
The interpupillary distance can be varied between 54 
and 70 mm. The eyepiece tubes slide in guides so 
that dust cannot enter the prism casing. The left 
eyepiece tube is provided with an independent adjust- 
ment to accommodate eyes of unequal vision. All 
kinds of eyepieces and objectives may be used, and 
the instrument can be employed for the same purposes 
as the ordinary monocular microscope. An important 
feature in this microscope is the parallel eyepieces 
which obviate the actions of accommodation and ad- 
justment for convergence as is necessary in binocular 
microscopes constructed hitherto. Prof. A. W. Bicker- 
ton: The polyscope. A kaleidoscope rendered so 
optically perfect that a hundred reflections of a point 
or object may be seen. The angles of one are 30°. 
60°, and 90°; of the other, two angles 45° and one of 
go°. They produce two classes of patterns, one suit- 
able for textile fabrics, cretonnes, etc., the other suit- 
able for floor cloths, tiles, ete. The Polychromide 
Company (The Dover Sreet Studios, Ltd.): Instan- 
taneous photographs on paper taken in natural colour 
by the polychromide system. The optical separation 
of the natural colour of the object photographed is 
accomplished by means of the Hamburger-Conrady 
colour separation camera, which exposes three plates 


NO. 2325, VOL. 93| 


simultaneously—representing the red, yellow, and blue 
sensations in the superposed positives on gelatino- 
silver emulsions, which constitute the complete colour 
records exhibited. 

The National Physical Laboratory (Dr. W. Rosen- 
hain and Mr. J. L. Haughton): A new reagent for 
etching mild steel for microscopic examination. The 
reagent consists of an acid solution of ferric chloride 
containing small proportions of chlorides of copper and 
tin. Iron or steel sections exposed to this solution 
become covered with a very thin adherent layer of 
copper by a process of electrochemical substitution. 
This film of copper is deposited upon and thus darkens 
the ferrite areas, leaving the pearlite areas white, this 
effect being the reverse of that obtained with other 
reagents, such as picric acid. 

Prof. E. W. MacBride and Mr.°H. G. Newth: 
Double tadpoles of the frog, and double sea-urchins. 
The duplicity in the frog larve is of varying degree, 
and was produced experimentally. _Fertilised eggs 
were inverted immediately upon the completion of the 
first cleavage-furrow, and were kept inverted until 
gastrulation was complete. The duplicity in the sea- 
urchin larvz consists in the development of an urchin- 
rudiment on both sides, or of pedicellariz on both 
sides, whereas the normal larva has its rudiment on 
the left, its pedicellariz on the right. Dr. W. T. 
Calman: Bathynella natans, a Crustacean of the order 
Anaspidacea. This minute Crustacean has hitherto 
been known only from a solitary specimen obtained 
in 1882, by Prof. Vejdovsky from a well in Prague. 
It has recently been re-discovered in a well near Basle 
by M. Chappuis, by whom specimens have been sent 
to the British Museum (Natural History). It is a 
blind and otherwise degenerate member of. the 
Anaspidacea, an ancient and primitive order of Crus- 
tacea represented by fossils in carboniferous rocks of 
Europe and America, and by three other recent species 
in Australia and Tasmania. The Zoological Depart- 
ment of the British Museum (Nat. Hist.): Cast of the 
‘‘paddle”’ or fore limb of a humpback whale. The 
humpback is the species of whale which has been 


' most hunted during the last few years in Subantarctic 


waters. Immense numbers of these animals have 
been killed annually, and it can scarcely be doubted 
that the number will be enormously reduced unless 
steps are taken to control the rate of destruction. 
The late Major G. E. H. Barrett-Hamilton was sent 
to South Georgia by the Colonial Office, at the end of 
1913, in order to obtain information with regard to 
whales and whaling in the far south. He died during 
the progress of his investigations. The cast shown 
measures 14 ft. 6 in. in length, and illustrates one of 
the most striking peculiarities of the humpback, the 
paddles of which are exceptionally long. 

Dr. H, Eltringham: Preparations showing the 
urticating apparatus in Porthesia similis (gold tail 
moth). The female insect has long been known to 


| possess urticating properties similar to those of the 


larva. It has lately been proved that the moth 
deliberately collects the spicules shed by its larva, and 
by means of a special apparatus stores them in the 
anal tuft. Thev subsequently serve as a protection 
for the eggs. Prof E. B. Poulton: A family of 
Papilio dardanus, bred by Mr. W. A. Lamborn, near 
Lagos, S. Nigeria. The family was bred from a cap- 
tured female of the hippocoon form—the black and 
white butterfly, which is by far the commonest female 
form of this species in the locality. Six previous 


| families, bred by W. A. Lamborn from the same 


female form, contained hippocoon females and no 
others. This, the seventh, contains approximately 
equal numbers of hippocoon and dionysus, a non- 


306 


mimetic female form occurring, but in very small pro- 
portions, along the tropical west coast. The facts are 
best explained by supposing that hippocoon is a Men- 
delian recessive, dionysus a dominant, and that the 
male parent was a heterozygote. 

Dr. Vaughan Cornish: Photographs illustrative of 
landslides and upheavals on the Panama Canal. The 
photographs were taken in 1910, 1912, and Ig14. 
That of the Culebra Cut in 1910 shows: an upheaval 
of the solid rock of the canal bottom due to un- 
balanced pressure of the banks. That of the Naos I. 
breakwater, taken in 1912. shows the upheaval of the 
sea bottom at a distance from the subsiding mass of 
the breakwater. The photographs of the Cucuracha 
slide, in 1914, show the downward flow of inclined 
strata. The ground is broken for a height of 580 ft. 
above canal bottom. 

Mr. Charles Dawson: Lower canine tooth of the 
Piltdown man (Eoanthropus dawsoni). This canine 
tooth was found on August 30, 1913, near the spot 
where the right mandibular ramus of Eoanthropus was 
discovered in r912. As it is a lower canine of the 
right side, is of a new form, and has been much worn 
by mastication, it presumably belongs to the same 
jaw. It is relatively large, and is shown to have 
completely interlocked with the upper canine, as in 
the apes. Mr. R. Eliiot Steel: Paleolithic engraving 
of a horse on a bone from Sherborne, Dorset. The 
bone is part of the rib of a horse, and was found in 
an old heap of débris from a quarry in the Inferior 
Oolite, near Sherborne. It was probably derived from 
a rock-shelter destroyed by quarrying. Mr. W. N. 
Edwards: ‘“‘Paper coal’? from the Coal Measures of 
Central Russia. The ‘‘paper coal’’ forms a_ bed 
3-4 ft. thick, over an area of several square kilo- 
metres. It is composed exclusively of the practically 
unchanged cuticles of a Lepidodendroid plant, with a 
certain amount of carbonaceous matter. It has been 
suggested that the preservation of the cuticles alone 
was due to selective bacterial action, and Renault con- 
siders that a species of micrococcus is present. 


CATALYSIS’ IN ‘ORGANIC, CHEMISTRY. 


Y the invitation of the University of London, Prof. 
Paul Sabatier, of Toulouse, delivered two lec- 
tures on catalysis at King’s College on May 14 and 15. 
On Wednesday evening, May 13, he was entertained 
by the Faraday Society at a complimentary dinner, at 
which Prof. Arrhenius and Prof. Heyn, of Berlin, 
were also present as guests. The two lectures were 
delivered in French, and were illustrated by a series 
of experiments in which the catalytic action of nickel, 
of copper, of alumina, of zinc oxide, of titanium 
dioxide, and of thoria were shown in actual operation. 
Prof. Sabatier is a whole-hearted advocate of the chem- 
ical as opposed to the physical theory of catalysis. 
He holds that in all cases intermediate compounds are 
formed, e.g. PtO in catalytic oxidations in presence 
of platinum, and NiH, in catalytic reductions in 
presence of finely divided nickel. | He finds ample 
support for his views in the totally different effects 
that are often produced by catalysts which are almost 
identical in their physical properties. | Thus formic 
acid vapour is decomposed wholly into hydrogen and 
carbon dioxide when passed over zinc oxide, but into 
water and carbonic oxide when passed over titanium 


dioxide :— 
ZnO TiO» 
Ho+ €O;, ~—— H-€0.0H —— H,0+ CoO: 


Ethyl alcohol in like manner may be converted into 
aldehyde and hydrogen by finely divided copper, or 
into ethylene and water by alumina :— 


NO, 2325. sO 2) 


NATORE 


[May 21, 1914 


Cu Al203 
H, EGH..CHO <—— Cll, Ch,0H—— FO © re 


Different catalysts also differ very wideiy in their 
efficiency in promoting any given chemical change. 
Alumina can be used very effectively to convert alcohol 
into ethylene and water, but it becomes clogged with 
tarry matter which cannot be burnt off without 
destroying the catalytic properties of the oxide; thoria, 
on the other hand, becomes contaminated less readily, 
and can be purified by ignition without losing its 
activity. Again, thoria is a very useful catalyst for 
converting acids into ketones, e.g. :— 


2CH,.CO.OH —> CH;.CO.CH,+CO,+H,0O; 


but titanium dioxide is so efficient and acts at so low 
a temperature that it can also be used to prepare alde- 
hydes from mixtures of fatty acids with formic acid, 
and esters from acids (such as formic acid) or alcohols 
(such as the secondary and tertiary alcohols), which 
lose water so easily that it is difficult to esterify 
them without decomposition. On the other hand, 
the best catalyst for preparing ketones and other 
derivatives from benzoic acid is ordinary chalk. A 
very important catalyst is manganous oxide, which can 
be prepared easily and cheaply from manganous 
carbonate, and can be used in almost every case for 
the preparation of ketones in place of thoria_ or 
titanium dioxide. 

Prof. Sabatier laid stress on the reversibility of 
catalytic actions. Thus nickel will promote dehydro- 
genation as well as hydrogenation, and very small 
differences of conditions are required to cause the 
reversal of actions such as those which are shown by 
the equations :— 

C,H,O+ H, => C,H,O 
CoH¢ + 3H y= Ce Apo. 


An interesting account was given of the way in 
which acetylene in contact with nickel at different 
temperatures and in presence of varying proportions 
of hydrogen gives rise to complex products which are 
in every respect identical with natural petroleums. By 
varying the conditions the product can be made to 
resemble the four chief natural types as derived from 
North America, from the Caucasus, from Galicia, and 
from Roumania. These observations suggest a theory 
of the origin of petroleum that has a far higher claim 
to acceptance than most of those that have been put 
forward hitherto. 

Prof. Sabatier touched only lightly on the technical 
applications of his new methods. The vast industry 
which has sprung up within the last two or three 
years, in this country, on the Continent, and in 
America, was illustrated by two small samples of oils 
that had been hardened by the action of hydrogen in 
presence of finely divided nickel; reference was 
also made to the fact that in the process of hardening 
the disagreeable taste and smell of the fish-oils are 
completely removed. 

It is not too much to say that Prof. Sabatier has 
introduced a new era in organic chemistry. The ad- 
vantages of catalytic methods are obvious: the cata- 
lyst will last for an indefinite period unless its activity 
is destroyed by overheating, which is generally fatal, 
or by “poisonous ”’ impurities, such as sulphur or the 
halogens which quickly arrest the catalytic hydro- 
genation of organic compounds by nickel. The only 
materials required are those which are essential con- 
stituents of the products, and in almost every case 
the first effect of the successful introduction of catalytic 
methods is to bring about a great reduction in the cost 
of production. The rapid extension of these methods 
is therefore a matter of great scientific and technical 
importance. TM 


May 21, 1914] 


NATORE 307 


o 


RECENT GEOLOGICAL 
AUSTRALASIA. 


>HE Australian Commonwealth Bureau of Meteoro- 
logy at Melbourne, in its Bulletin No. 8, publishes 

a memoir by Griffith Taylor on the physiography of 
Eastern Australia, in which it is urged that a repeated 


WORK IN 


shifting of the divide between the eastern coast- 
streams and those running towards the Darling or 


the interior has occurred during Cainozoic times. The 
former streams have in consequence been able to 
lengthen themselves by captures in the region of the 
divide, and a very considerable reversal of drainage, 
assisted by the outpouring of lavas, has taken place. 
The author pictures the rise of eastern Australia on 
an earth-wave that proceeded westward from the New 
Zealand area. The large amount of ‘‘unreduced 
plateau”’ on the crest of the wave is well seen in 
E. C. Andrews’s model of New England (New South 
Wales), which is described and illustrated by him in 
Proc. Royal Society N.S.W., vol. xlvi., p. 143. 
Andrews directs attention to the agricultural possi- 
bilities of the inland slopes of Eastern Australia. 

The Bulletins of the Geological Survey of Western 
Australia include, in No. 50, a general account of 
“The Geology and Mineral Industry of Western Aus- 
tralia,’ by A. G. Maitland and A. Montgomery, which 
is reprinted from a cyclopedia issued in Adelaide. 
The preparation of authoritative essays of this nature 
is one of the best functions of a public survey, since 
the ordinary citizen cannot piece together the history 
of his country from detailed memoirs. From _ the 
price-list given in this bulletin, which unfortunately 
mentions it as in preparation, we conclude that it can 
be obtained for about 2s. A geological sketch-map is 
included. 

The West Australian goldfields are described in 
Bulletins 41 (West Pilbara), 42 (East Coolgardie), 
43 (North Coolgardie and East Murchison), 46 (Yil- 
garn and North Coolgardie, southern portion)‘ and 
47  (Kanowna). The quartz-reefs that penetrate 
crushed and metamorphosed conglomerates in these 
areas are in close relation with intrusive quartz- 
porphyries, and E. S. Simpson and C. G. Gibson 
remark (No. 42, p. 64) that at Kalgoorlie sulphur and 
potash were introduced with gold, silver, mercury, 
and tellurium, through the influence of a late igneous 
intrusion which may or may not have reached the 
surface. It is pointed out that a solution of potassium 
sulphide dissolves both gold and tellurium. The 
illustrations of thin sections of the actual ore-materials 
are well produced and are of considerable petrographic 
interest. T. Blatchford and J. T. Jutson (No. 47) 
give a detailed account of the sheared conglomerates 
of Kanowna, and R. A. Farquharson discusses (p. 58) 
numerous types of igneous rocks, including a quartz- 
fuchsite-carbonate rock. This is believed to represent 
a former peridotite, of which chromite and fuchsite 
are the only unaltered relics. The type is also de- 
scribed in Bulletin 43, ‘‘ Petrological Contributions to 
the Geology of Western Australia.” It is clear that 
the official petrologist will render important service 
in determining the relations of the very interesting 
series of intrusive rocks, among which the ores have 
reached the surface. 

Among recent publications of the Geological Survey 
of South Australia, general interest attaches to L. 
Keith Ward’s Bulletin (No. 2) on the possibility of 
the discovery of petroleum on Kangaroo Island and 
Eyre’s Peninsula. The author concludes (p. 25) that 
the asphaltum thrown up on the’ beaches is brought 
from’ an unknown source by oceanic currents. 
‘‘Coorongite,’’ on the other hand (p. 15), which is not 
proved to be in any way connected with petroleum, 


NO 2325. Vor 63] 


_ appears to be still accumulating from local sources 


as a scum on lagoons, being left behind when a 
shrinkage of the water takes place. Incidentally, we 
learn from this inquiry that Kangaroo Island is be- 
lieved to have been isolated from the mainland by a 
system of Cainozoic fractures. ; 

J. E. Carne describes the somewhat fitful antimony 
mining industry of New South Wales (Geol. Survey 
N.S.W., Mineral Resources, No. 16, price 2s.). : 

The Geological Survey of Queensland in Publication 
No. 234 deals with the Etheridge Goldfield, near 
Einasleigh, where barren areas of granite, composite 
gneiss (p. 7), and Upper Cretaceous sandstone occur 
along the Copperfield River. Here again, as in 
Western Australia, quartz-porphyry dykes appear to 
have some relation to the gold-bearing quartz veins; 
but the latter areon the whole richer in the more per- 
meable adjacent rocks than in the porphyries them- 
selves (p. 13). L. C. Ball (Publication 237) describes 
the Mount Mulligan Coalfield, about fifty miles west 
of the port of Cairns on the Cape York Peninsula. 
The Coal. Measures, lying unconformably in gently 
sloping synclinals on uptilted grits and slates, are 
associated with the Glossopteris flora, and no Meso- 
zoic plants have been found. The field is roughly 
estimated to contain 84,000,000 tons of somewhat 
friable coal. 

The Geological Survey Bulletins issued by the De- 
partment of Mines in Tasmania now number thirteen, 
beginning with that by W. H  Twelvetrees, the 
Government geologist, ‘‘ The Mangana Goldfield,’’ in 
1907, and extending to ‘‘ The Preolenna Coal Field and 
the Geology of the Wynyard District,” by Loftus 
Hills, published in 1913. They are printed, like those 
of Western Australia, in a convenient small octavo 
form, with folding maps, and are in the main devoted 
to mining considerations. The gold ores seem to have 
been deposited in the veins that accompanied intru- 
sions of granite, and these occurred at the close of 
an epoch of folding between Silurian and Permo- 
Carboniferous times. The principal folding in Tas- 
mania is thus probably contemporaneous with the 
Caledonian movements of the European area. Bulletin 
No. 5 contains (p. 35) an interesting correlation of 
the Cambrian beds of Railton with those of Britain 
and America, and the Government geologist regards 
this north-western district as adding largely to our 
knowledge of the Older Palaeozoic rocks of Tasmania. 
In Bulletin 8, ‘‘ The Ore-bodies of the Zeehan Field,” 
an interesting problem is raised (p. 42) by the occur- 
rence of a glacial conglomerate dipping under 
‘“Cambro-Ordovician’’ beds, but probably as an in- 
verted layer of Permo-Carboniferous age. Bulletin 9 


introduces the excellent plan followed by the 
Survey of New Zealand, by showing on a 
sketch-map the position of the area described 
in relation to the region as a whole. W. H. 
Tweilvetrees, in considering the more basic and 


hornblendic envelope of the Scamander granite (p. 19), 
concludes that it is a product of differentiation rather 
than of assimilation. The memoir on the Tasmanite 
shale fields of the Mersey district (No. 11, 1912) pro- 
vides a valuable review of the literature on tasmanite, 
which is shown to be a resinous and somewhat sul- 
phurous shale in the Permo-Carboniferous (Glosso- 
pteris) series. The seam was formed in sea-water 
(p. 47), and its spore-like contents may be washed- 
down spores of land-plants or algae deposited with the 
silt. Pp. 40-54 embody a thoughtful account of the 
mode of occurrence and relationships of the material, 
and two photographs of thin sections are appended. 
The Mersey district, with its range of rocks from 
Pre-Cambrian schists to Cainozoic basalts, is made 
still more ‘interesting by the maps and sections pub- 


4 ) 
308 


lished as a supplement to the bulletin. The Preolenna 
Coalfield (Bulletin 13, 1913) contains Permo-Carbon- 
iferous seams amounting in the aggregate to 6 ft. 
6 in., situated under the Campbell Range some fifteen 
miles south-west of the north coast at Wynyard. 
Prospecting by diamond-bores is advised. No coal is 
to be expected near Wynyard (p. 71). 

The Geologicat Survey Branch of the Department 
of Mines of New Zealand continues its handsome 
series of quarto publications. Petrographers may be 
disappointed with Bulletin No. 12, ‘‘The Geology of 
the Dun Mountain Subdivision,” since the exception- 
ally fresh olivine-rocks of Dun Mountain have made 
the district famous for half a century. The biblio- 
graphy on pp. 6-8 perhaps explains why little more 
need be written on their nature and alliances. The 
authors, J. M. Bell, E. Clarke, and P. Marshall, 
describe a new rock-species, Rodingite, on p. 31. This 
consists of grossularite and diallage, the percentage 
of silica being 40, of lime 31, and the specific gravity 
being as high as 3-4. The authors do not see their 
way towards explaining this rock either by absorption 
of the Maitai limestone or by differentiation in the 
ultrabasic mass. The main object of the present 
bulletin has been a review of the prospects of the 
associated copper ores. The mineral from which the 
more superficial ores are derived (p. 44) is a cupri- 
ferous pyrrhotine, containing traces of gold, silver, 
cobalt, and nickel. This is interestingly associated 
with serpentinised peridotites. The chromite in the 
peridotites has not been mined since 1865. Dun 
Mountain, a rounded mass supporting little vegeta- 
tion, is figured on plate iv. 

Bulletin No. 13, by P. G. Morgan, who is now 
director of the Survey, describes the Greymouth sub- 
division of North Westland, where coal-seams occur, 
conformably overlain by marine Eocene strata. The 
Pleistocene glacial gravels are worked for gold, and 
there is said to be a probability that the Kotuku oil- 
field will prove profitable on further exploration. The 
petroleum occurs in various Cainozoic rocks above the 
local Coal-Measure series, and its source is at present 
unknown. 

Bulletin 14, by E. Clarke, is also concerned mainly 
with petroleum, in the New Plymouth subdivision of 
the Taranaki division, on the jutting promontory of 
the west coast of the North Island. The iron-sands 
that compose the Recent sand-dunes and beaches are 
also considered, owing to their well-known richness 
in magnetite and ilmenite. Bulletin 15, by J. M. Bell 
and C. Fraser, takes us to the Hauraki division of 
the North Island, where the town of Waihi, pictur- 
esquely situated, and illustrated in a folding plate, is 
the active centre of gold and silver mining. The ore 
is electrum for the most part, and the veins occur 
in altered Cainozoic andesites or dacites resembling 
the propylites of Hungary. Deposition is believed 
to have taken place from hot solutions, which brought 
up silica also, and to have been promoted by a fall 
of temperature near the surface (p. 179). Siliceous 
geyser-deposits occur in the middle of the volcanic 
series, and cinnabar has been found in them at 
Mackaytown (p. 59). The physiography of the rugged 
country is well described, and its irregular structure is 
attributed to the occurrence of epochs of denudation 
between those of volcanic deposition (p. 27). 

R. Speight, L. Cockayne, and R. M. Laing have 
made an interesting study of the Mount Arrowsmith 
district, on the eastern slope of the Southern Alps in 
Canterbury (Trans. New Zealand ‘Institute, vol. xliii., 
Pp. 315), in which the physiography described by the 
firstnamed author is used by his colleagues as a 
basis for a report on plant-distribution. The paper, 
with its details of glacial sculpturing and deposition, 


NO. 2325, VOL. 93] 


NATORE 


J 


[May 21, 1914 


is a good example of modern geographical inquiry into 
the origin of surface-forms. The rivers of Canterbury 
are held (p. 320) to radiate from a lost highland to the 
west, which has been cut away by denudation, and 
formed the higher part of the peneplain on which they 
originally flowed. Gr. Ac Ay Mee 


THE DEVELOPMENT AND PROPERTIES 
OF THE COTTON FIBRE. 


HE standard accounts of the cotton fibre are 
curiously inaccurate. Mr. W. Scott Taggart has 
directed attention to some of the more glaring errors 
in his ‘‘Cotton Spinning” (vol. i., 1896; London: 
Macmillan and Co., Ltd.), as did also the present 
writer independently in 1905 (Khedivial Agricultural 
Society’s Yearbook, 1905), when the cytology of the 
fibre was traced up to a week after the opening of the 
flower. Some additions to this account were outlined 
in my ‘Cotton Plant in Egypt”? (London: Macmillan 
and Co., Ltd., 1912), and a serious attempt was then 
made to ascertain how and when environmental 
effects operated on the properties of the fibre during 
maturation, and also to elucidate the real nature of 
the infinitesimal differences which the ‘sixth sense ”’ 
of the expert classifier of lint cotton can perceive. 

(1) By pickling a complete series of bolls from 
flowering to maturation in 1912 we showed definitely 
that the first half of the maturation period is occupied 
in the lengthening of the lint, and in the enlargement 
of the capsule and seed. Thickening processes take 
place in the second half of the maturation period. 
Thus a fibre may be short, but subsequently thicken 
satisfactorily, or conversely. Bad weather or soil in 
the latter half of maturation may weaken the fibres, 
but cannot affect the “‘ predetermined ’’ length. 

(2) A number of open flowers in a wide-sown pure 
strain were marked every day for sixty days in 1912 
and allowed to ripen normally. Each sample was 
then combed, measured, and ginned, weighed to deter- 
mine various constants, tested for breaking strain of 
the fibre on an automatic invention, and graded for 
strength; the results were examined statistically and 
graphically. They confirmed the developmental 
evidence; on shifting the breaking-strain curve back- 
wards over thirty days’ displacement, it was found to 
be substantially identical with the lint-length curve. 

The cause of fluctuation in ginning-out-turn (ratio 
of lint to seed-cotton) has long been a puzzle. With 
this material it was traced provisionally to fluctuation 
in the number of lint-hairs which sprout from the 
seed-coat ; its determination is therefore effected when 
the flower is about to open, which was, a priori, the 
least likely time. 

Plotting breaking-strains against ‘“‘strength”’ as 
determined in hand-pulling by an expert (Mr. H. C. 
Thomas, of Alexandria), the two were found to be 
completely independent; the expert unconsciously 
integrates breaking-strain with sectional area; samples 
of the same pure strain with respective breaking- 
strains of 12 grams and 2 grams were both graded as 
“SS” in a scale of seven grades. This leads on to 
a new definition of ‘‘fineness’’ in cotton fibre; it is 
not due primarily to differences in fibre-diameter, but 
to differences in the thickness of the lint cell-wall. 
‘*Weakness’’ of a sample is thus mainly irregularity 
in breaking-strain. a 

Determinations of fibre-weight with a micro-balance 
showed incidentally that an ordinary seed of Egyptian 
cotton bears about 10,000 fibres, and that weight is 
closely related to breaking-strain. The spinning into 
yarn introduces fresh complications, with which we 
have not dealt. 

It should be obvious to those familiar with the sub- 


May 21, 1914] 


ject that the discovery of this phenomenon of pre- | 


determination has shattered almost all accepted beliefs 
about the fibre of cotton, and has at the same time 
coordinated the old data afresh into a straightforward 
story. The practical applicability of the results is 
slight, since every boll passes through a different life- 
history, on account of the continuous fruiting of the 
plant. 

In 1913 a series of daily pickings was made 
from a group of pure-strain plants growing in field- 
crop conditions, over a period of ninety days, with 
parallel records of flowering, etc. The examination 
of these having keen delayed by unavoidable circum- 
stances, the present note has been prepared. It should 
be noted that this last material is unique in the 
history of long-staple cotton. 

These results were obtained incidentally during my 
tenure of the post of botanist to the Khedivial Agri- 
cultural Society, and to the Egyptian Government at 
the Giza Cotton Experiment Station, 1904-13. 

W. LAWRENCE Batts. 


NEW ZEALAND SURVEY.! 


a Be report before us gives a full account of the 
work of the Department of Lands and Survey, 
New Zealand, for the year ending March 31, 1913. 
As in previous years, not only surveying, but also the 
direction of the magnetic observatory falls within its 
purview. Most of the work dealt with in the report 
has been undertaken in connection with cadastral 
requirements, and the higher grade work, which is 
termed ‘‘standard”’’ survey, is in great request in 
town and suburban holdings, where land that could 
probably have been purchased sixty or seventy years 
ago for a mere trifle is now reported as having a value 
of 12001. a foot. Under such conditions work of 
the highest precision is essential, but the new 
secondary triangulation is as yet available for a 
small part of the country only. This triangulation is 
the equivalent of second order triangulation, since the 
triangular error is kept below 6”, and is usually con- 
siderably less. This is as much as can be expected 
from the instrument used, a 1o-in. vernier theodolite, 
and the Conference of Surveyors-General supported 
the New Zealand Survey in the opinion that a modern 
instrument of higher class was indispensable. A 
standard bar of nickel-steel 1o links long has 
been obtained from the Société Genevoise, Geneva, as 
well as a comparator from the Cambridge Instrument 
Company for use with it. Both of these have been 
examined and verified at the National Physical 
Laboratory. Four bases, from 5-2 to 11-5 miles in 
length, have been measured since 1909, but only two 
are as yet part of the finally accepted triangulation. 
In the magnetic observatory a new set of Eschen.-. 
hagen-Toepfer magnetographs wére received at the 
end of 1912, and were installed at Amberley, thirty- 
four miles north of Christchurch. ‘ 
Considerable assistance was given to the officers and 
scientific staff of the British Antarctic (Terra Nova) 
expedition, who took magnetic observations and deter- 
minations of gravity as controls to the work carried 
out in the Antarctic. The report also publishes ten 
seismograms of those recorded during the year by the 
Milne seismograph. Maps showing the progress of 
the work and extracts from Conference of the Sur- 
veyors-General of the Commonwealth of Australia, 
which was held at Melbourne in May, 1912, complete 
a report which is of much interest, and contains a 
record of much valuable work. Ride? Ge IL. 


1 Report on the Survey Operations for the Year r912-13. Department of 
Lands and Survey, New Zealand. By James Mackenzie, Surveyor General 
Pp. 77+6 maps+5 diagrams. (Wellington, 1913.) : 3 


Waw2325, VOL..93)| 


NATURE 


399 


THE ENCOURAGEMENT OF RESEARCH 
BY THE CARNEGIE INSTITUTION 
OF WASHINGTON. 


aieo Year Book for 1913 of the Carnegie Institu- 

tion of Washington is now available. The in 
formation provided in its 336 pages shows convinc- 
ingly that there has been no relaxation of effort on 
the part of the trustees of the institution to administer 
wisely the funds placed at their disposal for the 


| encouragement of scientific research, and that the re- 


sults arrived at by the men of science who have 
received assistance are as promising and as full of 
interest as in previous years. 

The following list shows the amounts of the grants 
made for the present year and the purposes to which 
they are being devoted :— 


Administration 10,000 
Publication ae - 12,000 
Division of Publications 2,000 
Departments of Research - 1273020 
Anthropology 4,000 
Embryology 5,380 
Minor Grants 18,980 
Index Medicus 2,500 
Insurance Fund ... 5,000 
Reserve Fund See Bee w+. 50,000 

Exhibit at Panama-Pacific  Inter- 
national Exposition 2,000 
£249,789 


The next table shows the departments of scientific 
investigation to which the larger grants were made by 
the trustees for the financial year 1912-13, and the 
amounts allotted from these grants by the executive 
committee during the year :— 


cS 
Department of Botanical Research ... 7,601 
Department of Experimental Evolution 19,028 
Geophysical Laboratory Sy sac) 5000 
Department of Historical Research ... 5,920 
Department of Marine Biology 6,378 
Department of Meridian Astrometry... 5,036 
Nutrition Laboratory ee eee KORs nO 
Division of Publications (office ex- 
penses oa 1,800 
Solar Observator nee ad see) BaRlZO 
Department of Terrestrial Magnetism 42,053 
Researches in Anthropology 1,400 
Researches in Embryology 3,000 
150,252 


The following extracts from the résumé of the in- 
vestigations of the year included in the report of the 
president of the institution, Dr. R. S. Woodward, will 
give some indication of the work which has been 
initiated and encouraged :— 

All the departments of research of the institution are 
now well-defined organisations, each of them inde- 
pendent of and more or less isolated from the others, 
and each of them devoted to a field which, while in 
some cases related to, does not encroach upon, the fields 
of others. Each of them possesses a degree of auto- 
nomy which calls for a corresponding degree of 
freedom in the character of their annual reports and 
accounts of progress. 

Studies of the Salton Sea, carried on during the past 
seven years by the department of botanical research in 
collaboration with a number of contributing specialists, 
have been brought together during the year in a 
volume now in the press under the title ‘‘The Salton 
Sea: A Study of the Geography, the Geology, the 
Floristics, and the Ecology of a Desert Basin.” 


alo 


NATURE 


| Maveot. <19n4 


Among many researches carried on by the director, 
mention may be made of his cultivation of second and 
third generations of mutants arising from  ovarial 
treatments of plants and resulting in further note- 
worthy morphological and physiological departures 
from the original parent stocks. 

The work of the year in the department of experi- 
mental evolution records, among many other advances, 
additional contributions to the laws of human inherit- 
ance; the results of further and more conclusive 
studies of the transmission of traits in plants of the 
genera Bursa and Cfnothera; and some preliminary 
indications of specially instructive investigations in 
the field of biochemistry. The director has divided his 
time between researches based on breeding experi- 
ments carried on at his station and studies of data 
bearing on human heredity collected under the 
auspices of the Eugenics Record Office, of which he 
is also the directing head. 

In his annual report the director of the geophysical 
laboratory gives instructive accounts of the effects of 
pressure in the formation of minerals, of progress in 
the perfection of adequate appliances for calorimetric 
measures of minerals, of the factor of temperature in 
optical studies of crystals, of the results thus far 
obtained in volcano studies, and of the important 
economic investigations of the secondary enrichment 
of copper sulphide ores. It had been hoped that the 
signal success attending the studies of Kilauea a year 
ago might be followed up during the past year, but in 
this the staff has met disappointment, for the volcano 
has been inactive and gives no warning of renewed 
opportunities. 

When the laboratory of the department of marine 
biology was established on Loggerhead Key, Dry 
Tortugas, Florida, now nearly ten years ago, Fort 
Jefferson, on an adjacent island, was an important 
base station of the United States Navy, and trans- 
portation to and from points on the Gulf coast was a 
matter of daily occurrence. In the meantime, how- 
ever, this station has steadily diminished in import- 
ance, and is now virtually abandoned as a naval base. 
This change of conditions shifts the burden of trans- 
portation between the laboratory and the nearest port, 
Key West, about thirty miles distant, wholly upon the 
department; and the resulting increased cost and in- 
convenience have led the director to recommend a 
gradual transfer of his laboratory and activities to a 
more favourable site. Preliminary investigations indi- 
cate that such a site may be had in Jamaica, where 
health conditions and transportation facilities have 
been much improved in recent years, where the cost 
of labour and subsistence is low, and where such an 
international scope as best befits marine biology could 
be readily developed. It may be anticipated that 
definite plans for an advantageous change of site will 
be matured during the present year, and ready for 
submission to the board of trustees in December, 
1914. 

The extensive computations. essential in the deriva- 
tion of the great number of stellar positions observed 
at the temporary observatory at San Luis, Argentina, 
are going forward in the department of meridian 
astrometry at a favourable rate, so that the inclusive 
catalogue of precise positions for stars in both hemi- 
spheres may be expected in due time. Some instruc- 
tive results of these computations, showing the 
stability of the San Luis meridian mark (mire), the 
diurnal variation of the clock corrections, and the 
changes of personal equation for day and night ob- 
servations are given in the report. As in most lines 
of fruitful research, the work of this department is 
noteworthy for its by-products, or for contributions it 
is making to allied lines of inquiry. Obviously, a first 
requisite to a knowledge of stellar motions lies in 


precise determinations of stellar positions at different 
epochs. The so-called proper motions of stars are thus 


| brought to light, and from these it is possible to deter- 


mine also the motion of our solar system. But now 
comes the surprising discovery that these proper 
motions, hitherto supposed to be of a random char- 
acter, are of a systematic nature dependent in large 
degree, apparently, on the stage in evolution any 
individual star has reached and on the group to 
which it belongs. A new and peculiarly fascinating 
field is thus opened to astronomers of all kinds, and 
the by-products referred to seem destined to prove not 
less important than its primary object in positional 
astronomy. The world of astronomy, however, is 
anxiously awaiting the attainment of this object, as is 
well shown by the fact that the preliminary catalogue 
issued by the department three years ago is already 
out of print. 

One of the noteworthy events of the year for the 
department of terrestrial magnetism is the com- 
pletion of the second cruise of the non-magnetic 


ship Carnegie. She arrived in New York in 
February last, having been continually in ser- 
vice. Since’ June 20, 1910.. The aggregate, dis- 


tance traversed in her two cruises is in round 
numbers 100,000 miles. The corresponding distance 
covered by the chartered ship Galilee, in the Pacific 
Ocean during 1905-8 is 60,000 miles. Thus the total 
distance traversed up to date in the magnetic survey 
of the oceans is 160,000 miles, or about six times the 
circumference of the earth. Accurate magnetic data 
have been obtained thereby in all of the oceans be- 
tween the parallels of 50° north and 50° south latitude, 
or near the courses usually followed by vessels. By 
reason of the expedition attained in deriving from 
these surveys the results of chief interest to mariners, 
it has been practicable for chart-publishing establish- 
ments to make prompt revision of defective sailing 
charts or to issue corrections thereto; and a distinct 
improvement in these aids to navigation is already 
noticeable in the charts issued by the leading mari- 
time nations. In the near future it is considered that 
the Carnegie should make surveys in areas not yet 
covered and along some stretches already traversed 
where cloudy or stormy conditions have prevented the 
securing of adequate observations. She will at the same 
time cross her previous tracks as often as practicable in 
order to determine for such intersections the informa- 
tion now most needed by chart-makers, namely, the 
annual changes in the magnetic elements. 

In the near future it is anticipated that the depart- 
ment will have sufficient data to permit the con- 
struction of a new set of magnetic charts, including 
all three magnetic elements (declination, dip, and 
intensity), especially for that part of the globe in- 
cluded between the parallels of 50° north and 50° 
south of the equator. It will then be practicable to 
study the general problem of the earth’s magnetism 
by aid of a large mass of homogeneous data surpass- 
ing in definiteness any mass hitherto available for this 
purpose. In anticipation of the need of experimental 
facilities for studies of this problem and others closely 
related thereto the office and laboratory building of 
the department was authorised a year ago and has 
recently been completed. 

From the date of its establishment nine years ago 
the solar observatory has been one of the most im- 
portant of the enterprises fostered by the institution. 
It has called for heavy annual appropriations; it has 
grown with extraordinary rapidity and with equally 
extraordinary productivity ; and it is now an organisa- 
tion of which the staff of investigators, research 
associates and collaborators, constructors, computers, 
designers, mechanicians, and operators includes up- 
wards of sixty individuals. The report of the director 


May 21, 1914| 


of the observatory has been described already (April 
23, p. 201) so it need not be summarised here. 

The complexitv of the relations which research asso- 
ciates and collaborators sustain to the institution is so 
great as to preclude any comprehensive explanation 
within the limits allotted to an annual administrative 
report. Their work embraces a wide range of sub- 
jects, and varies in its conduct from individual inde- 
pendence to intimate collaboration with the depart- 
ments of research and with the division of publica- 
tions. During the past year more than twenty dis- 
tinct fields of research have been cultivated, and a 
total of more than one hundred investigators have 
contributed to the output. Summaries of the work 
of associates proceeding independently are given by 
them in the Year Book. 


THE Bei ECLIPSE Oj gorp In TURKEY 
AND PERSIA. 


N account of the untavourable weather prognos- 

tications for the approaching total eclipse of the 

sun throughout the European countries traversed by 

the tracks of totality, it seems particularly desirable that 

stations should be occupied beyond the Black Sea, 

nearer the sunset limit of eclipse, in eastern Turkey 
and western Persia. 

The central line of the eclipse passes very nearly 
through Baiburt and Bitlis, just a few miles to the 
west of Lake Van, in the former country. In Persia 
it passes through Kermanshah and Khorremabad, to 
the south-west of Teheran, and through a point about 
midway between Persepolis and Dehbid, and slightly 
to the north-east of Shiraz, only a few miles distant 
from Bushire, a port in the north-east of the Persian 
gulf. 

The desert character of a large part of this region 
would indicate that the probability of a cloudless after- 
noon sky in August is very good. Most of this region 
traversed by the shadow is quite elevated, some of it 
being as much as five or six thousand feet above sea- 
level; and this would, in large measure, if not entirely, 
compensate for the lesser altitude of the afternoon sun 
at local totality. Throughout the Turkish region the 
approximate local time of totality is 3h. 50m. p.m., 
the duration of total eclipse being about 120s. 
Throughout the Persian region the time is about 
4h. 50m., with totality shortened to about 105s. As 
very little of the European track has a likelihood of 
less than 50 per cent. of cloud, it seems highly desir- 
able that some of the observers now contemplating 
European location should undertake the extra journey 
into Turkey, at least in order to diminish, if possible, 
the chances of entire failure of the eclipse, such as 
befell astronomers in 1887, and was nearly repeated in 
1896. 

The region of western Persia is not especially diffi- 
cult to reach by way of Batum, at the east end of the 
Black Sea, thence through Tiflis to Baku on the 
Caspian, thence to Resht on the south-west coast of 
the Caspian, whence Kermanshah is easy by caravan 
through Kazbin; or, better, first to Teheran to receive 
Government authority and facilities. _ Most of the 
roads of Persia would permit the use of wheeled 
vehicles only with difficulty. Allow four weeks from 
London or Paris to Teheran, and two weeks thence 
to Kermanshah. Camping outfit and subsistence for 
the most nart should be taken along, as only chicken, 
fruits, and similar edibles can be depended on for the 
last stage of this journey. Roads are in part built, in 
part old roads and trails. From Teheran the best 
route is to Kum, and thence to Sultanabad and Ker- 
manshah; also Bourodjird, quite a large town with a 
telegraph station, and the chief city of Turistan. 


Niggee 325, VOL. 92) 


NATURE 


311 


Summer clouds are said to be highly improbable. 
From Bushire to Shiraz and Persepolis is rather 
more than 100 miles by caravan, the particular draw- 
back at this season being the intense heat, which 
renders travel exceedingly uncomfortable, except at 
night. There are telegraph lines traversing this region 
which would make it feasible for the eclipse observer 
arriving early in the field to check up his longitude 
as well as latitude, so as to make sure of being within 
a few miles of the line of central eclipse. Bushire is 
very accessible ; the steamers of the British India Com- 
pany are scheduled to sail from Bombay every Thurs- 
day; from Karachi every Saturday, and are due in 
Bushire on Wednesday. The Bombay steamers of the 
P. and O. are due to arrive at Bombay on Friday, 
and there is direct rail connection for Karachi, and 
while the British India steamers are scheduled to sail 
from Karachi on Thursday, if the English mails are 
late, the steamers will be held pending their arrival. 
Transportation from Karachi to Bushire is approxi- 
mately 151. 

The Turkish region is very accessible from Tre- 
bizond. The eclipse is total at Trebizond itself, the 
line of exact centrality intersecting the coast a_ few 
miles west of Trebizond, about midway between that 
port and Tereboli. While at the coast towns them- 
selves, including Plattana, Eskiefe, and Jaueboli, the 
chances of clear weather are not at all good, one can, 
by ascending the cliffs and entering the elevated table- 
land of the interior, select observing stations which 
apparently decrease in probable cloudiness, the farther 
inland one goes. Of course, there are no railways ; 
but travelling so far as Erzerum, about 150 miles 
south-east of Trebizond, is not particularly arduous, 
because it is the first section of the early caravan 
route through Tabriz to Teheran. Wheeled vehicles 
are now possible so far as Erzerum, and packages of 
any size and weight required by the eclipse astronomer 
are not prohibited. 

Probably the most detailed map of this region is 
Richard Kiepert’s ‘‘ Karte von Kleinasien,”’ on a scale 
of 1:400,000, published in 1902 by Dietrich Reimer, 
Berlin. The sheets which should be consulted are 
AVI, Tirabzon, and BVI, Erzirum. Another good 
map is the ‘‘Map of Eastern Turkey-in-Asia, Syria, 
and West Persia,’ published by the Royal Geograph- 
ical Society, 1910, and is accompanied by notes. Con- 
sult also ‘‘Zug des Zenophon bis zum Schwarzen 
Meere”’ (Karte ii.), Entworfen von E. v. Hoffmeister, 
accompanying ‘‘Durch Armenien und der Zug Zeno- 
phons” (1911t) and ‘‘Wandkarte des Osmanischen 
Reiches,’”’ von W. v. Diest and Dr. M. Groll (Gea- 
Verlag, Berlin W. 35, 1911); scale 1: 1,250,000. 

Erzerum itself is within the belt of totality, though 
not far from the north-eastern edge of it, so that 
totality would not last more than a very few seconds 
there. Besides this, Erzerum is quite likely to be 
cloudy; and the same might be said of Bitlis itself, 
which is located in a sheltered valley. But about 
fifteen miles west of Bitlis begins the elevated table- 
land of Moush, which, according to the best informa- 
tion I have been able to secure from those resident in 
Bitlis, would probably be cloudless. At the time of 
the eclipse, this whole region rarely experiences any 
rain from the latter part of June until the middle of 
September. The atmosphere is very clear, being only 
a trifle cloudy during that season, and clear skies 
can be depended upon, although it is extremely hot. 

Officers of the Turkish customs are not inclined to 
cause trouble over the baggage of travellers, and it 
is probable that the English and American Consuls 
would be able to get instruments passed without 
examination, especially if the observer brought a letter 
vised by the Turkish Consul nearest his home. 

It would be highly desirable, before leaving home, 


Bio 


NAT ORE 


to pack all parcels of instruments with especial refer- 
ence to caravan travel, as otherwise repacking in 
Trebizond would be necessary and much delay occa- 
sioned. Two hundred pounds is too heavy, and it is 
better if no package exceed 150 Ib., as a mule must 
carry two of them; the average load is about 300 lb. 
As a mule must have a perfectly balanced load, it is 
well to have the paraphernalia so divided that pairs 
of packages will be of the same weight. The nearer 
a parcel approaches a cube, the easier it is to handle, 
though moderately oblong packages are not particu- 
larly troublesome. Packing must, of course, be done 
much more thoroughly than for transit by railway and 
steamship, as the continued motion of a pack animal 
will cause screws and delicate parts of instruments to 
disconnect themselves. I have found nothing better 
for packing than granulated cork, such as Malaga 
grapes are packed in. 

As before said, travel so far as Erzerum can be 
accomplished in fairly comfortable carriages, and even 
a rubber-tyred vehicle is possible. Baggage might go 
in a species of lumber wagon, or springless vehicle; 
but beyond Erzerum carriages would not go, except 
at great expense. From Trebizond to Erzerum eight 
days of travel should be allowed, by starting promptly 
every morning. From Erzerum to Bitlis would require 
eight or nine days; and before leaving either Tre- 
bizond or Erzerum, it is necessary to make the drivers 
or muleteers agree to arrive at the desired place on a 
certain day; then, in addition to this, the traveller 
must keep prodding them to see that they make their 
schedule. They much prefer to travel in the very early 
morning, starting from three to five o’clock. The 
journey from Erzerum to Bitlis cannot be called an 
easy one; but the country and its people are very 
interesting. 

The eastern end of the plain of Moush is a day’s 
journey from Bitlis on the route to Erzerum, and on 
this plain at this time of year the American residents 
of Bitlis usually spend two or three quiet and health- 
ful months in camp. 

To the west of Bitlis and far outside the path of 
totality, although in the same generally elevated region 
of Turkey, is Kharput, where records of cloudiness for 
the month of August have been kept for many years 
past. The average for five years gives 70 per cent. 
of the afternoon observations in August entirely cloud- 
less, with not a single record of a sky totally overcast. 
Most of the cloudiness is of the order of: 0-1 or 0-2, 
only occasionally an afternoon being largely overcast. 
These afternoon observations were taken at 2.30, and 
there is a slightly greater chance of cloudiness at 4. 

For most of the foregoing information I am indebted 
to the Rev. Dr. Henry H. Riggs, of Kharput, Dr. 
Harrison A. Maynard, of Bitlis, Rev. Robert A. Staple- 
ton and Dr. Edward P. Case, of Erzerum, and Rev. 
L. S. Crawford, of Trebizond. All are greatly in- 
terested in the coming eclipse, and are ready to assist 
in observing it so far as possible. ‘ 

Prof. A. G. Sivaslian, of Anatolia College, Marso- 
van, will proceed eastward to the Trebizond region to 
observe the eclipse. He is an astronomer trained at 
the Northfield Observatory in Minnesota, and will be 
of great assistance to whatever party of observers he 
may join; also Prof. A. H. Joy, of the Syrian Pro- 
testant College at Beirut, is expecting to join the 
ranks of the eclipse observers, but he may go to the 
Crimea instead of Trebizond. j 

Of course, it is well known that Trebizond is very 
accessible. The easiest route from western Europe is 
vid Marseilles, whence a weekly steamer of the Mes- 
sagerie leaves for Trebizond without change at Con- 
stantinople or elsewhere. The same from Trieste 


WOt 2325. mViOlenOe || 


[May 21, 1914 


also, by the Austrian Lloyd. From Paris the through 
rate by rail to Marseilles, and thence by steamer to 
Trebizond is about 14l. first class. From Constanti- 
nople steamers leave every Friday and Saturday, 
reaching Trebizond the following Tuesday and Wed- 
nesday mornings. 

Fuller information regarding the Persian region 
can be obtained from the house of Messrs. Lynch 
Brothers in Lonaon, and concerning Armenia the 
standard work is by the late senior member of this 
firm, Mr. H. F. B. Lynch, recently published in two 
fine volumes by Lcngmans. Davip Topp. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 
INTELLIGENCE. 


CaMBRIDGE.—The completion of the third edition of 
“The Golden Bough” has suggested to the many 
friends and admirers of Dr. J. G. Frazer that the 
present is a suitable time to offer him some token in 
recognition of his great services to learning. It is pro- 
posed that a Frazer Fund for Social Anthropology be 
established to make grants to travelling students of 
either sex, whether connected with a university or 
not, with a view of their investigating problems in 
the culture and social organisation of primitive 
peoples, a department of anthropology which Dr. 
Frazer has always been eager to promote. Contribu- 
tions to the fund may be sent either direct to the secre- 
tary and treasurer, Mr. F. M. Cornford, Trinity Col 
lege, Cambridge, or to the ‘‘ Frazer Fund Account,” 
Messrs. Barclay and Co., Mortlock’s Bank, Cam- 
bridge. 

Lonpon.—Presentation Day on May 13 passed off 
without special incident. The Principal reported a 
slight falling off of examinees, particularly for matri- 
culation. Of the 1807 candidates for degrees 900 were 
internal and 907 external; 1301 degrees and diplomas 
were granted, and the total number of internal 
students is now 4888. Sir Philip Magnus, M.P. for 
the University, in his speech after the presentation of 
graduates, suggested that a committee of the Senate 
should be appointed to consider without prejudice or 
bias the recommendations of the Royal Commission on 
University Education in London with the view of 
deciding which of them should be adopted with or 
without legislation. 


Mr. ALFRED E. CAMERON, Board of Agriculture 
scholar in entomology, of Manchester University, has 
taken up economic work in the United States, where 
he is temporarily attached to the entomological depart- 
ment of the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment 


| Stations, New Brunswick, New Jersey. 


Mr. Matcorm E. MacGrecor, of Trinity College, 
Cambridge, has recently been appointed collaborator 
with the U.S. Bureau of Entomology, to join the 
Robert M. Thompson Pellagra Commission (formerly 
the Thompson-Macfadden Pellagra Commission), at 
Spartenburg, South Carolina, to study the possible 


role played by insects in the transmission of the 
disease. 
WE learn from the Paris correspondent of the 


Chemist and Drug gist that the council of the Univer- 
sity of Paris has just decided to distribute 36o0l., 
being interest of a bequest by the late M. Loutreuil 
for the encouragement of scientific laboratories of 
French universities. The Chemical Institute of Nancy 
University is receiving 4ool. for extension and en- 
largement, and Toulouse 8ool. for the foundation of a 
similar establishment. Montpellier University will 


May 21, 1914] 


NATURE 


get 160l. for its biological laboratory, Rennes 320l. for 
the botanical and physical science laboratories, Lille, 
Clermont, and Grenoble are getting goodly sums for 
electrical equipment, and Paris tool. for the herbarium 
of the Academy of Sciences. 


Tue Association of Teachers in Technical Institu- 
tions will hold its eighth annual conference at Liver- 
pool during Whitsuntide, May 30-June 3. The open 
meetings begin on Monday, June 1, when the chair- 
man of the Liverpool Education Committee, Councillor 
J. W. Alsop, will welcome the conference to Liver- 
pool, and the president, Mr. P. Abbott, will deliver his 
presidential address. During the conference papers 
will be read by Mr. W. Hewitt, director of technical 
education for Liverpool, Prof. Haldane Gee, Mr. W. E. 
Harrison, Mr. Laurence Small, Mr. W. R. Bower, 
and others. Sectional meetings will be held on the 
afternoon of June 2, when papers of special interest to 


.the various sections of technical education will be read. 


Resolutions on matters of educational and professional 
interest will be discussed at the various meetings. 


A LIMITED number of free places at the Imperial 
College of Science and Technology, South Kensington, 
S.W., will be awarded by the London County Council 
for the session 1914-15. The free places will be 
awarded on consideration of the past records of the 
candidates, the recommendations of their teachers, 
the course of study which they intend to follow, and 
generally upon their fitness for advanced study in 
science as applied to industry. Candidates will not 
be required to undergo a written examination. It is 
possible that the free places may be extended to two 
or more years. Parents (or guardians) of candidates 
must be resident within the administrative county of 
London, except in the case of self-supporting candi- 
dates above twenty-one years of age on July 31, 1914, 
who must themselves be resident within the county. 
Application forms (T. 2/268) may be obtained from the 
Education Officer, L.C.C. Education Offices, Victoria 
Embankment, W.C., and must be returned not later 
than Saturday, May 23. 


In addition to much other matter of interest and 
importance, the recently published Report of the Board 
of Education for the year 1912-13 (Cd. 7341), contains 
particulars as to the main provision for full-time educa- 
tion in connection with the industries of the country. 
This has been provided in the past either by means 
of advanced courses known as technical institution 
courses at the larger technical schools, or by means 
of day technical classes, which, as a rule, take younger 
pupils and give more elementary instruction. There 
are twenty-six institutions giving technical institution 
courses, the total number of separate courses in these 
institutions being eighty-one in 1911-12. But of these 
twenty-two were courses in preparation for matricula- 
tion. Fifty-four were courses in engineering, chem- 
istry, and subjects connected with the building, min- 
ing, textile, and leather trades. Five were purely 
scientific courses. The number of students taking full 
courses was 1246, of whom 528 were in their first 
year, 414 in their second year, 245 in their third year, 
and fifty-nine in later years of their courses. The 
number of day technical classes recognised in 1911-12 
was in all 324, and these were held in 111 institutions. 
The students in attendance numbered 12,041. One 
hundred and fifty-four of the courses were full-time 
day schools, and these will in future receive aid from 
the State to a degree more commensurate with their 
importance. The report may well point out that the 
provision for full-time education in applied science is 
regrettably small in bullk compared with the industrial 
development of the country. 


NO. 2325, VOL. 93] 


| maturation, 


| the same result. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
LonbDon. 

Royal Society, May 14.—Sir William Crookes, presi- 
dent, in the chair.—Dr. A. D. Waller; The various 
inclinations of the electrical axis of the human heart. 
Part Ia.—The normal heart.—Effects of respiration. 
Continuation of previous observations (Phil. Trans., 
1889, p. 169) in which the electrical effects of the 
human heart were first demonstrated, and the dis- 
tinction made between favourable and unfavourable 
leads dependent upon the obliquity of the cardiac axis, 
and of subsequent observations (Proc. R.S., B, 
vol. Ixxxvi., p. 507, 1913) to determine the angular 
value of the inclination of the electrical axis.—Dr. 
D. H. Scott and Prof. E. C. Jeffrey: Fossil plants 
showing structure from the base of the Waverley 
Shale of Kentucky. The specimens were collected by 
Prof. -C. R. Eastman and Mr. Moritz Fischer, near 
Junction City, Boyle County, Kentucky. The nodule 
iayer containing the plants is described by Prof. East- 
man as lying at the base of the Waverley (Lower 


| Carboniferous) and immediately above the Genessee 


Black Shale of Upper Devonian age. The anatomical 
structure is, on the whole, well preserved.—F. Kidd : 
The controlling influence of carbon dioxide in the 
dormancy, and germination of seeds. 
Part ii. The inhibitory effect of carbon dioxide on 
the germination of seeds previously described is dealt 
with in relation to temperature and oxygen supply. 
In relation to temperature the result obtained is un- 
usual, the inhibitory action being more pronounced at 
low temperatures than at high. At 3° C. complete 


| inhibition was obtained with 4 per cent. CO,; at 


17° C. as much as 24° C. had to be employed to obtain 
Varying partial pressures of oxygen 
also effect the inhibitory action of carbon dioxide, but 
to a less degree than temperature. Thus with 5 per 


| cent. oxygen, 15 per cent. CO, produced inhibition ; 


with 20 per cent. oxygen, 27 per cent. CO, was 


' necessary. The author emphasises the fact that the 


adjustments of the moist seed by which it is enabled 


| to continue dormant in the presence of oxygen and 
| water, rather than those of the dry seed, are likely to 


have formed the central problem of seed life in nature. 
A low temperature and a decreased oxygen supply are 
often the natural conditions of a seed’s environment 
in the soil. Correlating the results obtained in this 


' and in a former paper, the author strongly emphasises 


tumour tissue in vitro. 


the controlling influence of carbon dioxide in the 
biology of seeds. It appears that the normal resting 
stage of a seed is primarily a phase of narcosis.—D. 
Thomson and J. G. Thomson : The cultivation of human 
Small portions of tissue from 


' two human tumours, (a) intracystic papilloma of the 
_ ovary, and (b) carcinomatous lymphatic gland, have 


been cultivated successfully in a medium composed of 


| fowl blood plasma+ extract of embryonic chick. This 


proves that human tissue can be grown in vitro ina 


| medium obtained entirely from a bird. This is con- 


trary to what was previously believed, since it was 
considered that the tissue of a certain animal could 
only grow in a medium composed of the blood plasma 
of the same species of animal.—H. G. Thornton and 


|G. Smith: The nutritive conditions determining the 
| growth of certain fresh-water and soil protista. 


Ex- 
periments made on the growth of Euglena viridis in 
artificial media showed that, in addition to’ those 
inorganic constituents necessary for the growth of a 
green plant, which were supplied by Miguel’s formula 
for growing diatoms, a certain quantity of organic 
material, e.g. infusion of hay, was necessary. In 
order to determine the constituent in this organic 
material which stimulated growth, various pure sub- 


314 


NATURE 


[May 21, 1914 


stances, such as carbohydrates, tartaric acid, sac- 
charin, allantoin, peptone, and various amido-acids, 
were used in dilute solutions. Of these, only very 
weak solutions of amido-acids favoured a really strong 
growth, the most favourable substances being tyrosin 
and phenyl-alanine, which are very slightly soluble in 
water. Experiments with soil flagellates, especially 
Prowazekia terricola (Martin), showed that they could 
be cultivated in many solutions in which bacteria 
flourished, the flagellates feeding on several different 
kinds of bacteria. Samples of various types of soil 
and water were tested for the presence of bacterial- 
feeding flagellates, and these were found in all the 
samples, being most abundant in highly manured soil. 
The wide distribution and abundance of these soil 
flagellates, and their very rapid growth in the pre- 
sence of bacteria, suggests that they are of importance 
in the economy of the soil. 


Zoological Society, May 5.—Dr. Henry Woodward, 
vice-president, in the chair.—Surgeon G. Murray 
Levick: Manners and customs of Adélie penguins 
(Pygoscelis adeliae). The penguins were observed at 
the Cape Adare rookery while the author was with 
Scott’s Antarctic Expedition. Their mating habits, 
the making of their ‘‘nests,’’ hatching of the e ss 
and rearing of the young were described.—R. C. 
Lewis: Two new species of tapeworms from the 
stomach and small intestine of a wallaby from Her- 
mite Island, Monte Bello Islands. The parasites 
belong to the genus Cittotzenia, having two full sets 
of genital glands in each proglottis.—Oldfield Thomas : 


A remarkable case of affinity between animals in- 
habiting Guiana, West Africa, and the Malay Archi- 


pelago. The case referred to was that of the pygmy 
squirrels (Nannosciurinz), known to the natives of 
West Africa and the Malay Archipelago, and of which 
Mr. Thomas was now abie to state that the Guianan 
Sciurus pusillus was also a member. It was suffi- 
ciently distinct to need generic separation (Sciurillus, 
gen. nov., was suggested as a nave tor it), but was 
unquestionably assignable to the Nannosciurina, and 
not to the Sciurinz, to which all ne other American, 
all the European, and all the Asiatic continental 
squirrels belonged.—H. B. Preston: Diagnoses of new 
general and species of Zonitidae from equatorial Africa. 
The material on which the paper is based was recently 
collected from many localities in British East Africa, 
Uganda, and the Belgian Congo, by Messrs. A. Blay- 
ney Percival, Robin Kemp, and C, W. W oodhouse, 
and descriptions are given of seventy-six new species, 
two new varieties, and eight new genera of Zonitide, 
to which latter a number of hitherto described forms 
are also referred. 


Mathematical Society, May 14.- 
president, in the chair.—Prof. W. H. Young and Mrs. 
Young: The reduction of sets of intervals.—Prof. 
H. M. Macdonald: Diffraction by a straight edge.—J. 
Proudman : Diffraction of tidal waves on flat rotating 
sheets of water.—H. F. Moulton : Quadratic forms and 
factorisation of numbers.—F. S. Macaulay : The alge- 
braic theory of modular systems. i 


=|2eovis Ne 1S Ile ILionre 


MANCHESTER. 


Literary and Philosophical, May 12.—Mr. F. Nichol- 
son, president, in the chair.—F. R. Lankshear: The 
chemical significance of absorption spectra and a new 
quantitative method of measuring them. The author 
reviewed. the history of the study of the relation be- 
tween chemical constitution and absorption spectra, 
and the various theories as to the cause of absorption 
bands. He pointed out that for further progress to be 
achieved quantitative methods were necessary.—Dr. 
J. R. Ashworth ; Note on the intrinsic field of a magnet. 


NO. 2325, VOL. 93] 


An experiment on the electromotive force between 
magnetised and unmagnetised iron in a solution, from 
which an argument was drawn in favour of the view 
that in the interior of a magnet there is an enormously 
strong field acting on the molecular magnets. 


DUBLIN. 


Royal Irish Academy, May 11.—Rev. J. P. Mahaffy, 
president, in the chair.—J. G. Leathem: Doublet 
distributions in potential theory. The paper discusses 
the eon of the problem of irrotational liquid 
motion as a double-sheet problem. In connection with 
the hydrodynamical application it examines some as- 
pects of doublets and doublet distributions, and the 
manner in which these and their fields fit into Kelvin’s 
theory of inversion. A surface concentration of tan- 
gential doublets is also considered, and an account 
is given of the convergence or semi-convergence of 
the potential and force integrals associated with it. 
J. R. D. Holtby: Some human bones from an ancient 
burial ground in Dublin. The paper dealt with a 
collection of human bones discovered about a year ago 
buried deeply under the basement of the City Hall 
These were considered to represent inhabitants of 
Dublin about the twelfth tc fourteenth centuries. 
Apart from the worn condition of the teeth, found in 
almost all ancient remains, the chief interest lay in 
the form of the bones of the lower limbs and in the 
impressions or them. These were such as to sug- 
gest full and frequent flexion at the hip, knee and 
ankle joints, such as would occur in squatting 


Paris. 


Academy of Sciences, May 11.—M. P. Appell in the 
chair.—Ch. Lallemand ; The question of the litre. For 
scientific purposes the author considers the definition 
of the litre as the volume of a kilogram of water at 
4° C., and 76 cm. pressure should remain. The cor- 
rection to a cubic decimetre is +27 millionths (0-027 
gram).—Mme. Ramart-Lucas and A.’ Haller : Syntheses 


by means of sodium amide. The action of the 
epihalohydrins on the diallkylacetophenones. Oxy- 
propylene-dimethylacetophenone and its derivatives. 


The dialkylacetophenones treated with sodium amide 
and epihalohydrins give substitution products in which 
the halogen is replaced in a normal manner, whilst 
with acetophenone itself only tarry reaction products 
Landrieu: Re- 


are obtained.__E. Jungfleisch and Ph. 
searches on the acid salts of the dibasic acids. 
Oxalates. From the experiments detailed the con- 


clusion is drawn that acid potassium oxalate should 
be represented as (K,C,O,.H.C.O,) .and not as 
KH.C.,O,. The results are analogous with those pre- 
viously obtained for the acid camphorates. —Charles 
Richet : General anaphylaxy. Phosphorus poisoning 
and chloroform. It has been shown in a preceding 
note that a dog chloroformed for the first time never 
subsequently shows leucocytosis, but that a month 
later the same dog, although in perfect health, if 
submitted a second time to chloroform, always subse- 
quently shows leucocytosis. It is now shown that an 
animal, after treatment with non-toxic doses of a 
phosphide, and then a month later submitted to 
chloroform, presents the same phenomenon. This 
entails a modification of the generally accepted view 
of the specific nature of anaphylaxy.—A, Calmette and 
V. Grysez: A new experimental demonstration of the 
existence of a generalised lymphatic stage preceding 
localisations in tuberculous infection It is shown 
that whether the tubercle bacilli enter by the eye, 
throat, alimentary canal, skin, or lungs, before local 
lesions appear, the bacilli can be proved to be present 
in the tracheo-bronchial, submaxillary, and mesenteric 
ganglia, in the spleen and blood.—H. Parenty: A 


May 21, 1914] 


NATURE 


315 


regulator for the flow of water in streams and reser- 
voirs with constant level_—J. W.: Nicholson: The 
atomic weights of the elements of nebula. A_dis- 
cussion of the results recently published by MM. 
Bourget, Fabry, and Buisson on the spectra of nebule. 
—A. Buhl: The geodesic torsion of closed contours.— 
N. E. Nérlund: Series of faculties and the methods of 
summation of Cesard and Borel.—Léopold Fejér : The 
number of changes of sign of a function in an interval 
and its moments.—Léon Brillouin: The diffusion of 
light by a homogeneous transparent body.—André 
Léauté ; The mathematical theory of the working of 
electric lines formed of two. different trunks.—J. de 
Kowalski: The oscillating spark as an economical 
source of ultra-violet light.—Alexandre Dufour: A 
kathodic oscillograph.—René Constantin ; Fluctuations 
of concentration in a _ colloidal emulsion.—André 
Helbronner and Gustave Bernstein: The vulcanisation 
of solutions of india-rubber by ultra-violet light.— 
(échsner de Coninck and M. Gérard: The determina- 
tion of the atomic weight of nickel. The figure 58-57 
was obtained as a mean of five determinations of the 
amount of nickel obtained by the reduction of. the 
hydrated oxalate.in hydrogen at 270° C.—M. Picon : 
The preparation of normal pentene. Remarks on the 
inelting and boiling points of the first terms of the 
true normal acetylene hydrocarbons. This hydro- 
carbon has been prepared by the interaction of normal 
propyl iodide and an ammoniacal solution. of mono- 
sodium acetylene at —20° C. Its physical constants 
are given.—Georges Dupont: The synthesis of the 
acetylene y-diketones. Good yields are obtained by 
the oxidation of the acetylene y-glycols by chromic 
acid in acetic solution. Three examples of the reaction 
are given.—Andre Brochet: The catalytic hydrogena- 
tion of liquids under the influence of the common 
metals at moderate temperatures and pressures.— 
Charles Tanret: The plurality of the starches.—R. 
Souéges : New observations on the embryogeny of the 
Crucifereze.—Paul de Beauchamp: The evolution and 
affinities of the genus Dermocystidium.—MM. Variot 
and Fliniaux: Tables of the comparative growth of 
infants raised at the breast or by the bottle during the 
first year of life. Contrary to current ideas, there is 
a very small difference between the size and weight 
of children raised at the breast or by the bottle, if the 
food in the latter case is properly made up.—Louis 
Roule: The influence exercised on the migration of 
salmon (Salmo salar) by the proportion of dissolved 
oxygen in the streams. On the coast of Brittany it 
has been noticed that the salmon select certain rivers 
in preference to others and for no obvious reason. 
Determinations of the proportions of dissolved oxygen 
in the river waters shows that the salmon select those 
in Which this proportion is highest.—Rémy Perrier 
and Henri Fisher: The existence of spermatophores in 
some Opisthobranchs.—Ch. Gravier: The Madrepores 
collected by the second French Antarctic Expedition 
(1908-ro0).—A. Malaquin and A. Moitié: Experimental 
observations and researches on the evolutive cycle of 
Aphis euonymi, destructive to the beetroot.—R. Fosse : 
The simultaneous presence of urea and urease in the 
same plant.—Em. Bourquelot and Alex. Ludwig : The 
bicchemical synthesis of — B-anisylglucoside.—L. 
Lematte: The estimation of the monoamino-acids in 
the blood. The albumenoids and ammonia are pre- 
cipitated by phosphotungstic acid, neutralised with 
soda and the excess of the phosphotungstic acid pre- 
cipitated by calcium chloride, and excess of the latter 
by oxalate. The solution then contains the amino- 
acids, and can be determined by the formol method.— 
Louis Mengand: The tectonic of the neighbourhood of 
Infiesto, Arriondas and Rivadesella (Asturia).—M. 
Dalloni : The Neocomian in the west of Algeria. 


NWomeea25, VOL. 93] 


| ending June 30; 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 

Plague and Pestilence in Literature and Art. By 
Dr. R. Crawfurd. fp. vili+222+31 Plates. (Oxford: 
Clarendon. Press.) 12s. 6d. net. 

Ministerio de Fomento. Boletin del Cuerpo de 


Ingenieros de Minas del Peru. No. 8c. Estadistica 
Mineraen, 1912.. By C. P. Jimenez. Pp. 125. (Lima.) 


Report of the Agricultural Research Institute and 
College, Pusa, 1912-13. Pp. 3+119. (Calcutta.) 8d. 

The Forty-Second Annual Report of the Board of 
Directors ot the Zoological Society of Philadelphia. 
Pp. 51. (Philadelphia.) 

Sammlung Vieweg. Heft 1, Die Lichtelektrischen 
Erscheinungen. By Drs. R. Pohl and R. Pringsheim. 
Pp. v+114. Heft 4, Die Lichtbrechung in Gasen als 
Physikalisches und Chemisches Problem. By Dr. St. 
Loria. Pp. vit+o2. Heft 5, Die Radioaktivitat von 
Boden und Quellen. By Prof. A. Gockel. Pp. v+ 


108. (Braunschweig: F. Vieweg und Sohn.) Each 
3 marks. 

Sammlung naturwissenschaftlicher Praktika. Band 
iv. By Prof. O. Emmerling. Pp. viit+200. (Berlin: 


Gebriider Borntraeger.) 7.20 marks. 

Lehrbuch der Anthropologie in systematischer Dar- 
stellung. By Prof. R. Martin. Pp. xvix1181+Taf. 
iii. (Jena: G. Fischer.) 35 marks. 

The West India Committee Map of the West Indies. 


(London: G. Philip and Son, Ltd.) Mounted, 
tos. 6d. 
The University of Colorado Studies. | Vol. xi. 


No. 1, Fishes of Colorado. By Dr. M. M. Ellis. 
136+xii plates. (Boulder, Colorado.) 50 cents. 

The Modern Method of Photographing Furniture. 
Pp. 16. (London: Kodak, Ltd.) 3d. 

Union of South Africa. Province of the Cape of 
Good Hope. Marine Biological Report, No. 1, for the 
Year Ended December 31, 1912, and for the Half-Year 
1913-. Pp. tii-+7o-+it-+ plates. ii. 
(Cape Town: Cape Times, Ltd.) 

Canada. Department of Mines. Mines Branch. 
Researches on Cobalt and Cobalt Alloys,  con- 
ducted at Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, for 
the Mines Branch of the Department of Mines. Part i. 
Preparation of Metallic Cobalt by Reduction of the 


Pp. 


Oxide. By Dr. H. T. Kalmus and others. Pp. x+ 
36+plates viii. (Ottawa.) 

Beitrage zur Geschichte der Meteorologie. By G. 
Hellmann. Nr. 1-5. Pp. 147. (Berlin: Behrend and 
Co.) 5 marks. 


Constructive Text-Book of Practical Mathematics. 
By H. W. Marsh. Vol. iv., Technical Trigonometry. 


Pp x.+232. (New York: J. Wiley and Sons, Inc. ; 
London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd.) 6s. 6d. net. 
The Theory of Numbers. By Prof. R. D. Car- 


michael. Pp. 94. (New York: J. Wiley and Sons, 

Inc.; London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd.) 4s. 6d. net. 
The Wilds of Maoriland. By Dr. J. M. Bell. Pp. 

xiii+253+plates. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 

ERS. 

The Schools and the Nation. 


By Dr-G. Kerschen- 
Ge 1K 


steiner. Translated — by Ogden. Pp: 
xxiv+351+plates. (London: Macmillan and Co., 
Litd;)) sas. ner 

Hereditary Genius. By F. Galton. Reprint. Pp. 


xxviii+379. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 


The Quaternary Ice Age. By W. B. Wright. Pp. 
xxiv+464+xxiii plates. (London: Macmillan and 
Co:, (Lids) a n7s-enet. 

Marine Engineering. By Engineer-Captain A. E. 
Tompkins. Fourth edition. Pp. viii+812. (London : 
Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 15s. net. 

The Childhood of the World. By E. Clodd. New 
edition. Pp. xiii+240. (London: Macmillan and 
Coin Ria ise 6d. ret. 


316 | NATURE 


[May 21, 1914 


Canada. Department of Mines. Geological Sur- 
vey. Memoir 25. Report on the Clay and Shale 
Deposits of the Western Provinces. (Part ii.) By H. 
Ries and J. Keele. Pp. 105. Memoir 44, No. 37, 
Geological Series. Clay and Shale Deposits of New 
Brunswick. By J. Keele. Pp. viiito4+xvi plates. 
Memoir 48, No. 2, Anthropological Series. | Some 
Myths and Tales of the Ojibwa of South-eastern 
Ontario. Collected by P..Radin. Pp. v+83. Museum 
of the Geological Survey, Canada. Archzxology. The 
Archeological Collection from the Southern Interior 
of British Columbia. By H. I. Smith. Pp. ii+40+ 
xvi plates. (Ottawa: Government Printing Bureau.) 

Theory of the Atom. By Prof. T.. Mizuno. (In 
Japanese.) Pp. 3+285+6. (Tokyo: Maruzen Co., 
Lid: 

Bass into Induced Cell Reproduction in 
Amoebe. By J. W. Cropper and A. H. Drew. (The 
John Howard McFadden Researches, vol. iv.) Pp. 
m2), (london: J). Murray.) 5s. 

A Path to Freedom in the School. 
Munn. Pp. 162. 
So TELE 

The History and Economics of Indian Famines. 
By A. Loveday. Pp. xi+163. (London: G. Bell and 


By N. Mac- 
(London: G. Bell and Sons, Ltd.) 


Sons, Ltd.) 2s. 6d. net. 

Effetti dei Fulmini Globulari. By Prof. J. Galli. 
Pp. 70. (Roma: Tipografia Pontificia.) 

The World Set Free. By H. G. Wells. Pp. vi+ 


286. .(London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 6s. 
How to Understand Aeroplanes. By S. L. Walk- 
den. Pp. xiiit+tgg. (London: P. Marshall and Co.) 
Is. net. . 
The Horticultural Note Book. Compiled by J. C. 
Newsham. Third edition. Pp. xx+ 418. (London: 
Crosby Lockwood and Son.) 4s. 6d. net. 

Lehrbuch der vergleichenden  mikroskopischen 
Anatomie der Wirbeltiere. Edited by Prof. A. Oppel. 
vil. Teil. Pp. x+417.. (Jena: G. Fischer.) 18 marks. 

Handbuch der vergleichenden Physiologie. Edited 
by H. Winterstein. 42 Lief. Band iii. Halfte 1. 
Pp. 1447-1598. (Jena: G. Fischer.) 5 marks. 


DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 


THURSDAY. May 21. 

Roya Sociery, at 4.30.—The Effect of the Magneton in the Scattering of 
a Rays: Prof. W. M. Hicks.—Luminous Vapours Distilled from the 
Arc, with Applications to the Study of Spectrum Series and their Origin. 
I.: Hon. R. J. Strutt.—The Ionisation of Gases by Collision and the 
Ionising Potential for Positive Ions and Negative Corpuscles: W. T. 
Pawlow.—The Determination of Elastic Limits under Alternating Stress 
Conditions: C. E. Stromeyer.—The Emission of Electricity from Various 
Substances at High Temperatures: G. W. C, Kaye and W. F. Higgins. 

Roya InstiTuTion, at 3.—Identity of Laws: in General: and Biological 
Chemistry: Prof. Svante Arrhenius. 

Rovat. GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY, at 5.—The Gulf Stream: Commander 
Campbell Hepworth. 

INSTITUTION OF MINING AND METALLURGY, at 8.—Notes on the Leaching 
of Oxidized Copper Ores by Modified Dorr Classifiers at the Butte-Duluth 
Mine: C. S. Herzig.—(1) A Graphic Method for Recording Grading 
Analyses ; (2) The Application of Kick’s Law to the Measurement of 
Energy Consumed in Crushing: S. J. Speak.—Notes on Mine Contract 
Work in Mexico and the Argentine Republic: A. Livingstone Oke.—The 
Ore Veins of the Fundkofel Gold Mine near Oberdrauburg in Carinthia: 
F. W. Penney. 7 

Rovat Society oF Arts, at 4.30.—The Indian Census of 1911: Ethno- 
graphy and Occupations: E. A. Gait. 

ILLUMINATING ENGINEERING Society, at 8.—The Nomenclature and 
Definitions of Photometric Quantities: A. P. Trotter. 

HRIDAY, May 22. 
Rose LS EB TION, at 9.—The Mortuary Chapels of the Theban Nobles: 
- Mond. 

Puysicat Sociery, at 5.—Volatility of Thorium Active Deposit: T. 
Barratt and A. B. Wood. The Passage of a-Particles through Photo- 
graphic Films: H. P. Walmsley and Dr. W. Makower.—A Null Method 
of Testing Vibration Galvanometers: S. Butterworth.—Experiments with 
an Incandescent Lamp: C. W. S. Crawley and S. W. J. Smith. 

Junior InstiruTION OF ENGINEERS, at 8.—-The Neglected Steam Car: 


-R. S. Box. 
SATURDAY, May 23. 
Roya INSTITUTION, at 3.—Fiords and their Origin. I.: The Nature and 
Distribution of Fiords: Prof. J. W. Gregory. 
MONDAY, May 25. 
LINnNEAN SOCIETY, at 3.—Anniversary Meeting, 
ROVAL Society OF ARTS, at 4.30.—The Economic Development of British 
East Africa and Uganda: Major E. H. M. Leggett. 


NOx 2325, MOlsOau 


CHEMICAL Society, at 6.—Faraday Lecture: Electrolytic. Dissociation > 


Prof. Svante Arrhenius. - 
TUESDAY, May 26. 


Roya INsTITUTION, at 3.—Natural History in the Classics. II.: The- 


Natural History of Aristotle and of Pliny : Prof. D'Arcy W. Thompson. 
RoyaL ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE, at 8.15.—The Ravhas of Assam: 
J. E. Friend-Pereira. 
RoyaL Society OF ARTS, at 4.30.—The Singing of Songs: Old and New. 
III. : Modern Songs; H. Plunkett Green. 


WEDNESDAY, May 27. 

GroLocicaL Society, at 8.—The Development of Tvagophylloceras 
Zoscombi (Sow.): L. F. Spath.—The Sequence of Lavas at the North 
Head, Otago Harbour, Dunedin (New Zealand) : Prof. P. Marshall. 

ROYAL SOCIETY OF ARTS, at 8. é 


THURSDAY, May 28. 

Roya. Society, at 4.30.—/7obable Papers: Studies of the Processes 
Operative in Solutions. XXIX.: The Disturbance ot the Equilibrium in 
Solutions by ‘‘Strong”’ and ‘“‘ Weak” Interfering Agents: Prof. H. EF. 
Armstrong and E. E. Walker.—A Type-reading.Optophone: Dr. E. E. 
Fournier d’Albe.—An Application of Electrolytically-produced Luminosity 
forming a Step towards Telectroscopy: L. H. Walter.—The Convection 
of Heat from Small Cylinders in a Stream of Fluid and the Determination 
of the Convection Constants of Small Platinum Wires, with Applications. 
to Hot-wire Anemometry: L. V. King. 

Roya INsTITUTION, at 3.—Identity of Laws: in General: and Biological 
Chemistry : Prof. Svante Arrhenius. 

CONCRETE INSTITUTE, at 4.30.—Annual General Meeting. 


FRIDAY, May 209. 
Royat INSTITUTION, at 3.—Plant Autographs and their Revelations: Prof. 


J. C. Bose. 
SATURDAY, May 30. 


Roya. INSTITUTION, at 3.—Fiords and their Origin. II.: Fiords and 
Earth Movements: Prof. J. W. Gregory. 
CONTENTS. PAGE 


Chemistry: Ancient and Modern. 
Meldola, F.R.S. 291 


Geology and Geography. By J. W.J. ..... . 293 
Wiorksson HE; conomics 2 8) 2022 sn cure) eaten CEO 
@OursBookshelf . ..:. % a asus ae eet EE 


Letters to the Editor :— 
Action of Radium Rays on Bakelite.—Charles E. S. 


By Prof. R. 


Phillips Mera tet itaks Fe SG set a 2ISNS 

Respiratory Movements of Insects. —C. Nicholson ; 

eae Ce Ms eee SE aap sey yh 215); 
The Number and Light of the Stars. By Dr. S. 

Giiaporan. . 2... os aR 
The Stone Technique of the Maori. (///ustrated.) 

By Dr. A. C. Haddon, F.R.S. fs" a 
WICC : etree Ps mtorr, A aso ic oo ZSIS 
Our Astronomical Column :— 

veNiew, ‘Comet «24, sues cog el eiaree ne pe SOE 
Telescopic Meteors . : . 303 


A New Photographic Chart of the Moon. . ... . 304 
The Royal)Society Conversazione = {72 2. 
Catalysis in Organic Chemistry. By T. M.L.. . . 306 
Recent Geological Work in Australasia. By. 


(C15 72 he (ol CRE re oe a ee Boren sse ce RO 
The Development and Properties of the Cotton 

Fibre. By W. Lawrence Balls’ .|. .) = 4s 2 suse 
New Zealand Survey. By H.G.L...... 300 


The Encouragement of Research by the Carnegie 


Institution of Washington —% 2.9.92 5 792. = es) sseg 
The Total Eclipse of 1914 in Turkey and Persia. 

Bygbrot, David: Todd) i.) (Same simemeui-tart cae see 311 
University and Educational Intelligence. . . . . . 312 
Soacieticsvand Academies {epi ice.) ee Ce 
Books Received . PPP Rae Aner o8 oO iS 
Drarytof societies |. . .. |= eae eme cn ose 


Editorial and Publishing Offices: 
MACMILLAN & CO., Ltp., 
ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON. W.C. 


Advertisements and business letters to be addressed to the 
Publishers. 


Editorial Communications to the Editor. 


Telegraphic Address: Puusis, LONDON. 
Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830. 


NATURE 


°"° 


LORY 


THURSDAY, MAY 28, tor. 


GREEK PHYSICS AND DYNAMICS. 
Le Systéme du Monde: Histoire des Doctrines 
Cosmologiques de Platon & Copernic. By Prof. 
Pierres Duhem. Tome Premier: ~ Fp. 
(Parise A. Hermann ep pitiless; 1913.) 
18.50 francs. 


Bis 


HIS book contains a good deal more than 

one might expect from the title. It not only 

gives an account of the cosmical systems of the 
Greeks from Pythagoras to Ptolemy, but dis- 


cusses in considerable detail the views of the 


different schools of the same period as to the con- | 


matter, and their principles of 
As was to be expected from the 
author’s previous publications on the history of 
natural philosophy, he shows himself well ac- 
quainted with ancient literature, and also (with a 
few exceptions) with the very extensive modern 
literature of monographs on Greek science. The 
most recent editions of the classical writers are 
always quoted, but with one notable exception, 
Diels’s edition of the Doxographi Greci not 
having been made use of. 

The astronomical chapters, which fill less than 
half the book, do not call for any extended notice, 
as the subject treated in them has been dealt with 
in more than one book accessible to English 
readers, the last being Sir Thomas Heath’s book 
on Aristarchus, published only a year ago. 
the origin of the heliocentric idea, the author 
follows in the main the theory of Schiaparelli, that 
it was really due to Herakleides, fifty years before 
the time of Aristarchus, and he seems uncon- 
vinced by the weighty arguments brought forward 
against it by subsequent writers. 

The most valuable part of M. Duhem’s book 
is undoubtedly that dealing with the physics and 
dynamics of the Greeks, especially of Aristotle, 
and it gives a very clear and thorough account 
of this difficult subject. While Plato’s views on 
nature were characterised by doubts as to facts 


stitution of 
dynamics. 


learned by perception, as the immutability which | 


is regarded as the essence of things is not re- 
vealed thereby, Aristotle rehabilitated experience 
and observation, though often led astrxy by pre- 
conceived notions. In his dynamics the idea of 
mass does not enter; every moving body is neces- 
sarily subject to two forces, a power and a 
resistance ; without a power it would not move at 
all, without resistance the motion would be 
accomplished in an instant. The velocity with 
which the body moves depends both on the mag- 
nitude of the power and on that of the resistance ; 


NO.A2 226, VOL.’ 93) 


Price | 


As to | 


| if both are constant the resulting motion 1s 
supposed to be uniform; if the resistance 
| decreases the velocity will increase, if the same 
| power be employed to move resisting bodies, the 
velocities which it communicates to them 
inversely proportional to the resisting weights. 

Velocity is therefore proportional to the ratio 
_of power to resistance, and yet, how can motion 
| cease when they become equal? Aristotle secs 
| this difficulty and tries to get over it by remarking 
that because a certain power moves a_ body 
through a certain length it does not follow that 
any fraction of the power will move the body 
| through the same fraction of the length. A bedy 
falling through air or water represents © to 
Aristotle the simplest motion we can conceive ; 
the power is here the weight of the body, while 
| the resistance is caused by the medium i! 
| traverses, and the velocity of the fall is propor- 
tional to the weight. On the other hand, by the 
fundamental principle of Aristotelian dynamics, 
the velocity is inversely proportional to the resist- 
ance, and Aristotle seems to admit that this re- 
sistance is proportional to the density of. the 
medium. But he maintained that if a fall 
empty space were possible (which he denies), 
bodies of different weight would not fall with the 
same . velocity.. ‘‘This,” he says (‘ Physics.” 
iv. 8, p. 216a), “is impossible, for what should 
then cause one body to move faster? This 
is necessarily. the case in a medium because 
the body which has the greater power divides 
the medium more quickly, but in the void all 
bodies would have the same velocity, which is 
impossible.” 

The author also discusses very fully the theories 
prevalent after Aristotle so far as John Philoponus 
| in the sixth century. In opposition to Aristotle, 
Philoponus taught that weight is something which 
belongs to a body and represents the downward 
motion it would have in empty space; the resist- 
ing medium prolongs the time of the fall, but if 
the resistance is diminished to zero the fall docs 
/ not become instantaneous, the limit of 
| velocity being that with which it would fall 
| through empty space. This doctrine, so differei' 
| from that of Aristotle, was not accepted in the 
Middle Ages, though it was not without some 
influence on the views of Simplicius, who other- 
wise was a severe Critic of Philoponus. We shall 
look forward with interest to M. Duhem’s second 
volume, in which he will doubtless discuss the 
views of Thomas Aquinas and other philosophers 
of the Middle Ages, which did not always coincide 
completely with those of Aristotle. 


are 


Jui 


ihe 


Je: Le Es Ds 
12) 


NAT ORE 


[May 26, Tom. 


A MODIFIED ALPHABET FOR ENGLISH. 


Sounds and’ Signs: a Criticism of the Alphabet 
with Suggestions for Reform. By Archer 
Wilde. Pp. 180. (London: Constable and Co., 
Lid. 2914.) Piice.4s. od. net. 


HE main object of this book is to advocate 
modifications in our present alphabet, so 

as to make it suitable for representing English 
sounds. On plates facing pp. 142 and 144 the 
suggested alphabet is portrayed; the capitals are 
practically identical with the small letters, but 
slightly more ornate. A characteristic is that no 


letter projects above or below the line; nor are | 


parts of each letter thicker or thinner than others; 
the character is what is termed “Doric.” The 
uniformity in height of the letters makes it pos- 
sible to bring the lines of print closer together, 
and so to save space. But, in the opinion of the 
reviewer, legibility is therebv sacrificed; Russian 
type, in which the general effect is that of printing 
in capitals, is not so quickly read by Russians as 
is English or French by Englishmen or French- 
men. In the example given on p. 20, of printing 
in Doric capitals, the effect is to dazzle the eyes; 
it is not easy reading. The author is not sanguine 
as to the adoption of his scheme; but he opens 
the interesting question whether if our alpha- 
bet is to be modified, convenience is to be 
increased by carefully choosing the form of the 
letters. 

He is a strong advocate of spelling reform, 
and looks on the proposals of the Simplified 
Spelling Society as good, having regard to the 


restrictions with which they have limited them- | 


selves, viz. no accents; no new letters; and as 
little change as may be, provided consistency is 
attained. The system of Ellis and Pitman, phono- 
type as it was called, narrowly escaped achieving 
success in the ’seventies; had Ellis’s health not 
broken down, and had his type not been destroyed 


by a fire, it is not unlikely that steps might have | 


been taken to introduce its use into schools. The 


type is easily read; it is also easily written, for ma 
| Who 


the script hand is not difficult; and there is a 


saving of nearly 20 per cent. in space compared | 


with ordinary spelling and alphabet. One of the 
most remarkable pieces of evidence in its favour 


is an account of an experiment by an Edinburgh | 


schoolmaster, Mr. Williams, who “proved that 
children averaging five years of age could learn 
to read printed books in phonetic type in one-third 
or one-fourth the time in which children of six 
or seven years of age could, without the inter- 
vention of the phonetic system, learn to read the 
common ‘Romanic’ books; and 


NO: 2326, VOL. 93 


when these 


_ younger children had been one session (between 


ten and eleven months) learning to read through 
the phonetic system, they could read books printed 
in the ‘Romanic’ type quite as well as the elder 
class which had been engaged durine two sessions, 
or double the time, learning to read without the 
intervention of the phonetic sys.em.” 

A considerable amount of space is occupied in 
a discussion of the English phonetic alphabet ; 
that is, what English sounds should be charac- 
terised by separate characters. The point of view 
is that of a southern Englishman; it is too often 
forgotten that among English speakers they are 
in a small minority. A large majority, for in- 
stance, retain at all events some reminder of a 
trill at the end of the word “star,” although in 
America, if the South be excluded, the “r” may 
be described as a buzz, rather than a trill. 

In Mr. Wilde’s vowel system different symbols 
are given to the “a” in “alms” and the “a” in 
“at,” and quite correctly; the difficulty arises 
when it is realised that it is indifferent whether 
the first or second sound of the “a” be used in 
such words as “castle” or “dance.” And this 
involves the question of a standard pronunciation, 
about which few people will agree. In the re- 
viewer’s opinion (to take the instance given), it 
is better to retain the one symbol “a” for both 


| sounds, leaving it to individuals to pronounce the 


«e ” 


a” as they are accustomed to do. Again, many 
English speakers make no distinction between the 
wo sounds of “oo” “im “boot” and) oot a 
here, again, it would appear advisable to let one 
symbol represent both sounds. 

This book is well written, and puts a case for 
a view of spelling reform which is not usually 
considered; if it should commend itself to the 
public to adopt new characters, no decision ought 
to be taken without attention to what Mr. Wilde 
has brought forward. 

Wises 


THE INDIAN ORIGIN OF THE MAORI. 


By Alfred K. Newman. 
(Christchurch, Melbourne, 
Lites 


are the Maoris ? 
Pp. 303+plates. 
and London: Whitcombe and Tombs, 
n.d.) Price 7s. 6d. net. 

HE origin of the Polynesians has long been 
ae discussed by more or less qualified persons, 
and a general agreement has been arrived at. 
Mr. A. K. Newman takes up the problem where 
it had been left by Mr. Percy Smith, the author 
ul “Hawaiki,” and adduces a great deal of evi- 
dence to prove that the cradle-land of the race 
was northern India—a view, by the by, which has 


May 28, 1914] 


NATURE 3 


been held for some time by other students. He 


says, “By the word ‘ Maori’ I mean the brown- 
skinned race called Polynesian by European 
writers. Maori was their own word, should 


always be used... The Maoris were the first 
people to discover the Pacific islands . Some 
writers talk of other races who inhabited these 
islands prior to their discovery by Maoris. I 
assert that there were never any people in these 
islands except the Maori.’ The Maori were, he 
claims, an ““Aryan-Naga people”; he agrees they 
are dominantly Caucasian, but is convinced they 
have a large infusion of Mongolic blood, which 
they received, according to him, before their emi- 
gration, since he classes the Kolarians and Santals 
as Mongolic. He says, “centuries before India was 
invaded by Aryans there was an invasion from the 
north-west by Mongolic peoples called Scythians, 
Turanians. These Mongols conquered the 
black aborigines and extended their dominion all 
over northern India. Their principal tribes were 
called Takkes or Nagas, Kolarians, and Santals.”’ 
It is a pity that he gives no references in support 
of these wide statements. “In India the word 
Maori was variously spelt—Mauri, Maurea, Maori, 
Maoli, Mauli, Baori, Baoli, Kaori, Waori,” for 
most of which he finds parallels in the Pacific, 
and he gives a large number of place- and tribal 


or 


names, mainly in Bengal, which are similarly 
equated. 
The author is evidently unaware of the lin- 


guistic researches of Father W. Schmidt, who 
showed in 1906 (“Die Mon-Khmer-Voélker’’) that 
the Polynesian, Melanesian, and Indonesian are 


dialects of the Austronesian group of the Austric | 


linguistic family, of which the Austroasiatic was 
the other group. The latter group includes the 
Munda, Khasi, Mon-Khmer and other languages. 
The Nagas may be “dropped colonies of Maoris,”’ 
but surely allusion should have been made to the 
IXKhasis, who alone in Assam speak an Austric 
language. 

Religion, mythology and various arts and crafts 
are alike impressed to bear witness to the Indian 
origin of the Polynesians and their migration 
through the East Indian Archipelago. There is 
certainly a great deal to be said in favour of the 
main thesis, and doubtless many of the facts 
adduced may support it, but the entire absence of 
references makes it impossible to gauge their value 
unless the reader happens to know the authorities. 
A number of parallels are cited which would 
equally prove an African or American affinity with 
the Maori. There is a good deal of repetition 
this badly-arranged book, and there is no 
index. 


NOm2326, VOL; 93) 


in 


| 
| 
| 
| 


OUR BOOKSHELF. 
Marriage Ceremonies in Morocco. By Prof. E. 
Westermarck. Pp. xii+422. (London: Mac- 
millan and Co., Ltd., 1914.) Price 12s. net. 


_ It is to be hoped that Dr. Westermarck will one 


_ day 


give us a general work on the origin and 
development of social ceremonies. Ceremony is a 
sort of material complement to social ideas, an 


_ action-language embodying and expressing, if 


not imitating ‘and compelling, the social will. Its 


' roots are in thie same soil as magic. 


' none of which is unimportant. 


_ shows, 


_ bride-price, the preparation of the trousseau, 
| arrival and reception of the bride, the meeting of 
bride and bridegroom (as a rule they have never 


This very complete study, by. the historian of 
human marriage, of the marriage ceremonies of 
the Moroccan peoples, includes a mass of detail, 
The wealth of 
ceremonial possessed by Arab and Berber folk- 
custom is extraordinary..- But in most cultures 
marriage tends to be more ceremonialised than 
any human happening. Even modern Germany, 
as Reinsberg - Diringfeld’s ‘‘ Hochzeitbuch” 
is in this respect nearly the equal of 
Morocco. Most of these -are what anthropolo- 
gists ten years ago styled customs, but the formal 
“solemnity” of practically all social. and most 
individual acts in semi-civilised societies has now 
been well established. It is the main character of 
the “religious” or “magical” stage of culture. 

The betrothal, the negotiations about dowry or 
the 


set eyes on one another), these. and other scenes 


_ are set off by continuous and.minute ceremonial. 


The preservation of so many ‘thousand {details by 
I 


oral tradition is an astounding feat’ ofgmemory, 


which deserves the attention of psychologists. 

In dealing with the ideas embodied in these 
ceremonies, the author refers to the magical 
theory advanced by the present writer in ‘The 
Mystic. Rose,” and to Mr. Van Gennep’s theory 
of rites de passage, rites de séparation, and rites 
d’aggregation. But he recognises the extreme 
probability that they may have a mixed origin. 
Some may be prophylactic or purificatory, others 
mere expressions of emotion, others again may 
be positive and intended to promote welfare. The 
author does not aim at a general philosophy of 
ceremony; but the many points of view which the 
material and the comment suggest should lead to 
important conclusions. 

The work is a splendid monograph, worthy of 
its author. A. E. CRAWLEY. 


A Text-book of Geology. By Prof. James Park. 
Pp. xv+598+Ixx plates. (London: Charles 
Griffin and Co., Ltd.,-1914.)- Price 15s. net. 

Pror. PARK’s mining researches have increased 

rather than lessened his interest in the wide fields 

of geology, and the present text-book adequately 
covers the range required for students of mining 
colleges and secondary schools. It is systemati- 
cally divided into paragraphs, headed in_ thick 
type; facts are concisely stated, and the author’s 


personality is not permitted to intrude. 


320 


Already, however, in history for college stu- 
dents—witness Prof. Bury’s recent single volume 
upon Greece—there is a tendency to keep in view 
the philosophy of the subject as a higher stratum 
based upon the facts; and something of the kind 
may be possible in our text-books of science as 
time goes on. At present one would like to re- 
commend a pupil to read no text-book, but to buy 
a number of the shilling volumes written by 
specialists on the lines and subjects that attract 
themselves. This, however, would not enable 
the student to meet the requirements of a uni- 
versity degree. Prof. Park is well aware of this, 
and has kept himself within traditional bounds. 
At the same time he makes good use of recent 
work, including even the Piltdown skull (p. 480) ; 
and his references to New Zealand and the 
southern hemisphere introduce a welcome series 
of examples. The illustrations are numerous and 
well chosen, though those of ammonites lead to 
the retention of a somewhat old classification. 
Formule might have been more freely utilised to 
show the composition of the  rock-forming 
minerals, which are here rather loosely described. 
The absolutely, essential boron would then have 
appeared: as a constituent of tourmaline, and the 
rhombic pyroxenes would not have been defined 
merely as “variable silicates.” ‘‘Titanite” (pp. 
197 and 108) is not a synonym for the titanic iron- 
ores. The explanation of technical terms founded 
on Greek words ‘is a very useful feature through- 
out the book, | ** GAAS 


The West India Committee Map of the West 
Indies..” Seale 55 miles=1 in. Size 3 ft. 9 in. by 


2 ft. roin. (London: George Philip and Son, 
Ltd., 1914.) Mounted on cloth and varnished 
with rollers, ros. 6d.; on sheet, unmounted, 
So) OGL: 


/ 
Tue object of the West India Committee in issuing 
this» map‘isto stimulate interest in the British 
West ‘Indies.” No attempt has been made to 
give the land relief and other physiographical 
features of the individual islands—the relative size 
of the islands in relation to the parts of the main- 
land shown making such a course impracticable. 
Prominence given to railways, sea routes, 
cables, and other data of commercial importance. 
Three inset maps are provided: one shows the 
routes and distances between Canada and _ the 
United States and the West Indies, another a plan 
of the Panama Canal, and a third a graphic repre- 
sentation of the.areas and populations of the 
islands. 


The Origin of the World. 
By R. McMillan. Pp. xiii+136. (London: 
Watts and Co., 1914.) Price 2s. net. 

THE object of this little book is to explain, in lan- 
guage simple enough for an intelligent child to 
understand, the steps in the evolution of our 
planet, of plant and animal life, and of the human 
race. The book is written in a pleasant style 
which should appeal to young readers, arrest their 
attention, and engender a desire for fuller know- 
ledge. 


NO. 2326, VOL. .93]| 


1S 


A Book for Children. 


NATURE 


[May 28, 1914 


LETTERS TO THE: EDITOR. 

[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for 
opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with 
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 
this or any other part of Nature. No notice ts 
taken of anonymous communications. | 


Temperature-Difference between the Un and Down 
Traces of Sounding-Balloon Diagrams. 


Dr. VAN BEMMELEN’S letter in Nature of May 14 is 


| - 
/ 


of great interest to me, and seems to prove an appre- 
ciable amount of lag in the instruments he uses. 
Every thermometer must as a matter of course have 
a certain amount of lag, but I have not been able in 
the records of the English instruments to detect any 
sign of it, although there is a marked distinction 
between records obtained at night or when the sun is 
low, and those obtained when it is high. 

In the diagram, A is the ordinary type of a night 
ascent, B that of a day ascent. The double trace, one 
made on the ascent, the other on the descent, is 
apparent in about every record obtained. It is not 
often apparent to the naked eye, and hence the dia- 
gram is an exaggerated one, but under the micro- 
scope by means of which the records are read, the 
traces in type A can be seen to cross each other here 


| B 


and there, in tvpe B, on the other hand, the traces 
are distinct throughout, but the distance between them 
is plainly variable, ranging often from about 1° to about 
3- C. It is very seldom that differences so large as 
4° C. are found. In three cases out of four type A 
will occur at night, and type B when the sun’s aiti- 
tude exceeds 10°, but now and then type B occurs at 
| night, and seems then to indicate an actual change of 
| temperature during the ascent. 

| In the English instruments the thermograph de- 
| pends on the temperature of a very thin strip of 
German silver; this is kept stretched by a small invar 
tube. The expansion of the invar is nil, and therefore 
its temperature is of no consequence; the German 
silver is 0:03 mm. thick, and exposed on both sides to 
the air current. It is therefore very sensitive as a 
thermometer ; cettainly much more so than the Bour- 
don tube or ordinary metal couple. 

I have always accepted the Continental records 
made in the winter as being free from any systematic 
error, but have iong felt that their summer ascents 
show temperatures that aic persistently too high. 

The policy of making all ascents at a fixed time, 
a.m. G.M.T., seems to me a most unfortunate one 


May 28, 1914] 


NATURE 321 


tts advantage is that it is the time of the morning 
weather chart, and hence the results can be plotted on 
the chart with the knowledge that all the observations 
shown are simultaneous. But the objections are two- 
fold. In many cases figures obtained at great expense 
have to be rejected, because they are obviously falsified 
by solar radiation. This must happen if the balloon 
does not burst, and the sun is high, whereas if the sun 
is near to or below the horizon it is of no consequence 
if the balloon does or does not burst. This gives 
cause for doubt also about some of the printed figures 
since it is not too clear in all cases as to what may be 
accepted and what must be rejected. Secondly, it is 
impossible to get the annual or the daily variation 
from observations at a fixed hour. The daily variation 
is, of course, hopeless, and not knowing the law of 
the daily variation, it is uncertain whether the same 
correction for the hour should be applied both summer 
and winter. The result is that the annual variation 
above 12 km., as shown_by the English ascents, many 
of which were made at sunset before the international 
time of 7 a.m. was fixed, differs by 3° C. from the 
Continental value, but it is very improbable that there 
is any real difference. A plan has now been adopted 
by which the string carrying the instrument uncoils 
after the balloon is started, and since last winter a 
very much longer string has been employed in the 
English ascents. This avoids the difficulty of starting 
with a long string in rough weather, and it will be 
interesting to see what effect the plan will have on the 
records. The change of length is from 44 to 132 ft. 
W. H. Dives. 
May 20. 


‘ 
Transmission of Electric Waves Round the Bend of 
the Earth. 


IN a paper on the transmission of electri: waves 
round the earth’s surface, read by Prof. H. M. Mac- 
donald before the Royal Society on February 12, some 
conclusions are recorded which cast new light on the 
problem of long-distance wireless telegraphy. Prof. 
Macdonald’s point of view is that of simple diffraction, 
and the paper is the latest one of a notable series of 
attempts by a number of eminent mathematicians. 
in the present paper the author reduces his formulz 
fo figures, and thus makes comparison wiih experi- 
ment easy. The most extensive quantitative experi- 
ments yet made over great ranges are those of L. W. 
Austin in 1910 (Bulletin Bureau of Standards, vol. vii., 
No. 3), and those of J. L. Hogan in 1913 (Electrician, 
August 8, 1913). From the former experiments Austin 
and L. Cohen deduced a formula which has been 
corroborated by Hogan’s results. This formula may 
be written :— 

Z=ce-ax/VA/ (Ax), 

where 7 is the current in amperes in the receiving 
antenna at the distance x kilometres for the sending 
station, Ais the wave-length of the radiation in kilo- 
metres, a@ has the value o-o015, and c, like a, is a 
quantity which does not depend on A or x. This 
formula was deduced from daylight experiments ex- 
tending over larger ranges of A and x than those 
used in the table below. 

By aid of this formula Prof. Macdonaid’s calcula- 
tions can be quickly compared with the results of 
experiment. In the following table the first column 
contains the number of miles between sender and 
receiver, and the remaining columns contain the ratios 
of the effect at various distances to that at 419 miles. 
R, is the ratio, calculated on the diffraction theory. 
between the electric fields, R,, is the ratio found by 
measurement between the currents in the same re- 


NO. 2326, VoL. 93] 


| 


| rather, is contradicted by 


ow = 


_ for rather long ranges. 
'borne out by the experience of wireless telegraph 


ceiving antenna when moved to the successive dis- 
tances in turn. 


Miles} A=320m. A625 m. | A=1220m. | A=2560 m. | A=5c00 m. 

| 

(ia, me = 

Wh Petonets ay | Ra | Re | Rm | Ra | Rm | Ra | Rm 

| | ty } : a 

| | | | 
419 I Tee ts Aare: ier 1 I I I | Dy ei vz I 

536 | 07304 | 0481 | 0.392 | 07554 |0°464 | 0°605 |0°537 | 0660 | 0°585 | 07693 
675 0°128 | 0°286 | 0184 | 0°349 | 0 256 0°418 | 0°315 | 0°467 
814 | 0°9764| 0218 | 0128 | 0'282 | 0°178 | 0°336 
1970 | 0°0392| 0°148 | 0°0637| 0°184 
1257 | - | 00321) 0°134 


From the table it seems fair to draw the conclusion 
that diffraction accounts for a large proportion of 
the observed effects up to distances of, perhaps, 2000 
miles. The proportion is much larger than has 
hitherto been demonstrated, and compels the admission 
of diffraction into the list of phenomena contributing 
to the practical success ot wireless telegraphy. 

But the Austin-Cohen formula expresses a remark- 
able experimental fact which is not explained, but, - 
the diffraction theory; 
namely, that for each distance there is a best wave- 
length. The formula indicates that this’ optimum 
wave-length is given by 4A\=a*x*, and, consequently, 
that under the best condition 


b= Ab te)> -X —° S047 (XK 214006 10", 


These equations are, broadly, 


engineers. ‘The equation for A shows that as the 
wave-length is increased the effect at a given place 
first increases and then decreases. Here the theory 
of diffraction appears to fail, for the diffraction effect 
at any fixed point should increase steadily with in- 
crease of wave-length. On the other hand, the hypo- 
thesis of the refraction of electric waves in the atmo- 
sphere when it is ionised by sunlight seems more 


| promising. For while radiation of; very short wave- 
| length is lost into space by the rays suffering too 


little bending, radiation of great’ wave-length, by 

being too strongly refracted, is lost in the ground 

b ~eer, the oscillator and the receiver; and thus an 

opti sum wave-length is easily conceivable, 
W. ECccLEs. 

University of London, University College, May 18. 


Some Phenomena of Clay Suspensions. 


THE interesting letters in Nature on the cellular 
structure of emulsions induced me to test the be- 
haviour of clay which I have been accumulating for 
some time for evaporation experiments. The clay is 
>tained by the usual sedimentation method, and is 
tnat fraction of the soil which does not settle in 
“venty-four hours in a beaker containing dilute 
«a nonia to a depth of 85 cm. The suspension is 
{ mn ~aporated to dryness in vacuo. 

if some of this dried clay be well shaken up with 
strong ammonia solution and poured. into a_ Petri 
dish, the usual network, mentioned by Mr. Wager 
in Nature for May 7, gradually develops. Occa- 
sionally a different pattern appears, only the angles of 
the network are formed, and the surface thus has a 
pitted appearance. 

The pattern persists for a few minutes and then 
orally becomes blurred. The two cases are shown 
in F..s. 1 and 2 respectively. In neither case are 
groups of cells formed. Although the structure 1s 
« ite sharp to the eye, the lack of contrast makes 
the photographic difficulties considerable. [T am in- 


- 


BOD NATURE 


[May 28, 1914 


debted to Dr. H. B. Hutchinson and. Mr. A. 
yard for the photographs here reproduced. 

A suspension of clay in alcohol gives the opposite 
effect; in this case the preliminary “network does not 
seem ‘to appear. Isolated groups or single cells form 
active centres, from which other cells grow until the 
surface is covered. The cells are nearly hexagonal 
and sharply rectilinear, and frequently measure half 
cm. in diameter. There is a light spot in the middle 


Apple- 


of each, and the particles can be seen flowing up at 
The 


the middle and down at the sides of the cells. 


Fic. 1. Fic. 2. 
pattern persists for a few seconds and then fades 
away, only to reappear after a short interval. This 


periodic reappearance is very fascinating to watch. 
In all probability it is caused by small air currents 
flowing over the surface of the liquid, disturbing the 
rate of evaporation. 

I have occasionally noticed another very curious 
phenomenon in the beakers containing the clay sus- 
pension in dilute ammonia. Usually, “after the lapse 
of a few hours, the brown coloured mixture increases 
in opacity from top to bottom of the liquid. In the 


This stratification will persist indefinitely. The 
rings remain unbroken and gradually sink, at a rate 
‘below one cm. in twenty- four hours, as the suspen- 
sion slowly clears. The phenomenon seems to be 
quite fortuitous, and I have not been able, up to the 
present, to reproduce it at will. 

It is possible that it may be related in some manner 
to those forces producing the cellular structure, and | 
should be glad if some reader could supply me with 
information or references to it. 

B. A. KEEN. 


Rothamsted Experimental Station, Harpenden. 


THE KAISER-WILHELM INSTITUTE OF 
CHEMISTRY. 


DESCRIPTION of the objects of this Insti- 

tute has already been given in Nature of 
Feb. 23, 1911, in the report of a lecture delivered 
at the inauguration of the Kaiser-Wilhelm Gesell- 
schaft by Prof. Emil Fischer on January 11 of 
that year. 

The institute was formally opened by the Em- 
peror on Oct. 23, 1912. It is divided into sections 
each of which is under the direction of specialists 
with a consultative committee of experts. 
Beckmann is director of the chemical section and 
is assisted by Dr. Willstatter, who is head of the 


organic laboratories, and Dr. O. Hahn, who is 
engaged upon the study of radioactive substances. 


The institute is situated at Dahlem, not far 
from Berlin, and it forms a_three-sided block 
consisting of three floors and a basement. The 


top floor is occupied by Dr. Beckmann and has 
accommodation for about a dozen. workers, the 
first floor is apportioned to Dr, Willstatter, and 


Main building, with director’s and porter’s houses, of the Kaiser-Wilhelm Institut, Berlin, Dahlem. 


case mentioned this graduation is broken by one or 
two colourless horizontal rings, which appear round 
the side of the beaker. Thus, there is an increase in 
opacity from the surface to a depth of one or two 
cm., until the first ring is reached. The layer imme- 
diately below seems to be less opaque than the layer 
immediately above the ring, but chis may be purely 
an optical illusion. ~The liquid below the ring in- 
creases in opacity until the second ring is reached, 
when the appearance already mentioned is repeated. 


NO. 2326; Vorno3i| 


the ground floor to Dr. Hahn. In the basement 
are installations for vacuum and __ pressure 
machines, electric motors and accumulators, liquid 
air plant and cold storage rooms. The ventilating 
exhausts are in a chamber under the roof where 
distilled water is prepared. The main buildings 
are shown in the accompanying illustration. 

The first volume of researches issued by the 
institute and covering the period from April, 1912 


Die 


Re eet 


cee a 


= 


May 28, 1914] 


NATURE 


228) 


to October, 1913, has recently been issued, and 
its chief contents are here summarised. 

The first paper is a contribution by Dr. Beckmann 
on the use of various solvents, 


(SO,, SO,(OH)CI, CrO.Cl,, SO.Cl,), 


for ebullioscopic determinations. He finds that many 
organic compounds give normal results in sulphony! 
chloride; but that for one reason or another the 
others are unsuitable. In a second paper the same 
author describes a Bunsen burner of porcelain, its 
object being to prevent the coloration of the flame 
by metallic incrustations in analytical examinations, 
and so masking the presence of small quantities of 
salts. In a third paper the constant for iodine when 
used as a solvent in cryoscopic determinations, was 
estimated, the value found for a large number of metals 
and metallic iodides, varying between 200 and 211. 
As an ebullioscopic solvent iodine gave a constant of 
102 to 107. Taking 105 as the mean, the formule 
for aluminium and ferric chloride were found to be 
Al,I, and Fe.I,. As in the case of the cryoscopic 
method, the alkaline iodides gave abnormally high 
molecular weights. 

In a further paper a new sodium lamp is described. 
It is so constructed that a spray of sodium hydroxide 
or carbonate is driven into a bunsen burner supplied 
at the orifice with oxygen. The spraying is produced 
by nickel electrodes let into the vessel near the bottom 
of the burner. In another paper which is in reality 
a continuation of the above, a method is described for 
spraying salt solutions by dropping the solutions on 
to a horizontal revolving disc, and has been utilised 
for obtaining a steady colour intensity in the flame. 
In collaboration with R. Hauslian, Beckmann has 
studied the molecular weight of selenium, which had 
been previously found to correspond to Se., as deter- 
mined by its cryoscopic effect on iodine, whereas in 
methylene iodide and phosphorus it is Se,, and Se, 
respectively. They found that the dissociation of the 
molecule in iodine is not due to any thermal effect 
as sulphur has the molecular weight of S, under 
similar conditions, nor is-there any union with the 
iodine. — 

The series of papers published by Dr. R. Willstatter 
begins with an account of the interesting hydrocarbon 
cyclooctatetrene which he has recently prepared. 

It behaves like an ethenoid compound inasmuch as 
it is rapidly oxidised by permanganate; is readily 
reduced by hydrogen in presence of colloidal platinum 
to cyclooctane, and combines with.-a molecule. of 
bromine and hydrogen bromide. to-form C,H,Br,: and 
C,.H,Br respectively.. Moreover it cannot. be. nitrated 
either by nitric acid or. benzoyl nitrate. It therefore 
is very unlike an aromatic compound such as benzene. 
Like benzene, however, it exhibits no exaltation of 
molecular refraction nor of dispersion for Hg — H,, 
but, in consequence of a higher dispersion in the 
violet regions, shows. distinct exaltation. for. H,—~H,. 
It shows. no absorption bands but selective general 
absorption. The pure substance has a yellow colour, 
and solidifies . at to a pale yellow crystalline 
mass. In another paper Willstatter and King describe 
the preparation of dihydronaphthalene and its reduc- 
tion products with hydrogen and platinum. It be- 
haves like benzene with an unsaturated side-chain 
such aS styrene, C,H;.CH=CH., inasmuch as’ the 
partly reduced ring in dihydronaphthalene is much 
more rapidly reduced than the other. In this respect 
naphthalene is sharply distinguished. from. dihydro- 
naphthalene, for in the former case no tetrahydro- 
derivative is obtained at whatever stage the reduction 
is interrupted, but the decahydro-compound with 
larger or smaller quantities of the unaltered hydro- 


NO. 2326, VOL. 93] 


949 
oe 


carbon. They still leave the formula of naphthalene 
an open question. 
In conjunction with Wirth, Willstatter has further 


_ extended the method of exhaustive methylation which 


he has successfully used in the preparation of dihydro- 
benzene, dihydronaphthaiene, cyclobutene,  cyclo- 
heptene, and cyclooctene, to the formation of vinyl- 
acetylene, CH:C.CH:CH,., from the dibromide of 
butadiene. It is a gas boiling at 2-3°, and forms a 
greenish-yellow copper salt, and a colourless crystal- 
line silver salt. ; 

The memoir on chlorophyll by Willstatter and 
Forsén, which follows, has already been published 
in extenso in Liebig’s Annalen, vol. ccexcvi., and is 
a continuation of previous work on the same subject. 
It is concerned with methods for introducing mag- 
nesium into the porphyrin molecule by Grignard’s 
reaction and into other chlorophyll derivatives by heat- 
ing with magnesium oxide and an alcoholic potash 
solution under pressure. 

A memoir of equal importance and closely related 
to the one on chlorophyll is on the structure of haemo- 
globin, the red colouring matter of the blood,.-by 
Willstatter and M. Fischer. The subject. has already 
been studied by Kuster, Piloty, H. Fischer, and others. 
Haemoglobin readily breaks up into hamatin, which 
is a coloured body and globin, a- colourless. protein. 
From hematin by heating with hydrochloric acid, 
hemin is obtained in reddish-brown crystals having 
the formula, C,,H,;,0,N,FeCl, which loses its atom 
of iron on treatment with hydrobromic acid giving 
haematoporphorin, If the latter is treated with 
alcoholic potash it yields hamoporphorin, which with 
soda-lime loses carbon dioxide and forms aetio- 
porphorin, a substances identical with the product of 
disintegration of the chlorophyll molecule. The rela- 
tion of hamoporphorin to aetioporphorin is repre- 
sented by the formule, C,,H,,O,N, and C,,H,,N,. 
As Fischer stated in his inaugural address, “this 
fact denotes a species of consanguinity between the 
animal and vegetable kingdoms. This must, how- 
ever, be of great antiquity, that is to say, to date 
from remote times when the animal and vegetable 
kingdoms were as yet not distinct.’’ As aetioporphorin 
can be broken down in successive stages to dimethy] 
ethyl pyrrole, it is possible to devise a_ structural 
formula which, according to Willstatter, takes the 
following form :— 


CH: 
Fetal 
CHE GiGHs yl—C 
Pag se! 
GAs is C—€g >C—CH 
SC xe 
CAHEKG < JO.Cs 
NH IiN 
eich ut Soc 
Chi. C€—@- Gri. €rH,.€—E. CH. 
Aetioporphorin 


Other papers by Willstatter° and Zechmeister de- 
scribe the hydrolysis of cellulose by. strong hydro- 
chloric acid containing -40-42 per cent. of the gas 
(sp. gr. 1:2). The cellulose rapidly and easily dissolves 
in the strong acid, and after a time the solution con- 
tains only glucose. A meihod of oxidation of olefinic 
compounds such as_ tetrahydrobenzene, limonene, 
menthene, etc., by the use of osmium in presence of 
oxygen gas is the subject of a paper by Willstatter 
and Sonnenfeld. 

In the radio-active section of the institute Drs. Hahn 
and Meitner have studied the question of radio- 
actinium and its position in the periodic system. As 
the radio-element evolves both a and Bf rays, and there- 
fore indicates a mixture, an attempt was made, 


; though unsuccessfully, to discover the second con- 


324 


NATURE 


[May 28, 1914 


stituent. In order to explain the production of both 
kinds of rays, the authors suggest that the series 
may branch at uranium-X into UrX, and Act, with 
the discharge of B rays, and that in one series so 
produced the #-ray change is followed by the a-ray 
change, and in the second the reverse takes place. In 
a second paper th:v confirm the discovery of UrX, 
by Fajans and Cchring, and describe a simple method 
for its preparation, which consists in filtering the 
UrX, solution ‘through a layer of moist tantalic acid. 
The latter retains the UrX., whilst the UrX, remains 
in solution with the thoriun. This process is based 
upon the relations of UrX, and UrX, in the periodic 
table. Bae 


THE REORGANISATION OF THE FISHERY 
AUTHORITIES.1 
"] HIS report presents the results of the latest 
of a long series of inquiries into the produc- 
tivity and administration of the British Sea 
Fisheries. In many ways it is the most important 
document of its: kind presented to Parliament 
during the last twenty years. Former fishery in- 
quiries usually considered the fishing industry as 
it is carried on on the high seas, and international 
questions so greatly complicated any possible 
action, both with regard to scientific investigation 
and administration, that might have been taken 
that little in the way of legislation resulted from 
them. The Committee now reporting was ap- 
pointed little more than a year ago; it has con- 
sidered domestic, rather than international fishery 
matters; and there is every indication that its 
utterance represents an official desire for legislative 
action. Altogether the recommendations are of 
greater significance than those of any Committee 
or Commission since 1885. 

These recommendations are almost revolu- 
tionary. They presuppose a coordinated and 
reasoned scheme of scientific investigation of the 
fisheries of the three kingdoms, and at the same 
time they urge the establishment, in England, of 
a public Department possessing the status, 
personnel, and equipment now enjoyed by the 
fishery authorities of Scotland and Ireland. In 
these countries there are strong central fishery 
departments regulating and investigating the 
national industries with the assistance of money 
directly voted by Imperial Parliament. The 
English Department possesses no power actually 
to regulate the fisheries, and until a few years ago 
it carried out no scientific investigation. Regula- 
tion was entrusted, in 1888, to local committees 
created on the initiative of county and borough 
councils, and deriving their revenue from local 
rates levied on the maritime counties. Eleven of 
these local committees exist at the present time, 
but, with the exception of the Lancashire body, 
they have done little to regulate methods of s< 
fishing, and nothing at all to investigate and de- 
velop the industry. Only by the cordial cocvera- 
tion of the wealthy inland boroughs, and by 
amalgamation with neighbouring counties h-s 
Lancashire been enabled successfully to rey ate 


1 Report of the Departmental Committee on Inshore Fisheries. Vols. 1. 
and ii., Report, Appendices, and Minutes of Evidence. [Cd. 7373 anc 7374.] 
(x914.) 


NO* 2320, VOL+ oa) 


and investigate its local fisheries, and even there 
scientific work has been carried on precariously 
and with little promise of continuity... Two lines 
of advance were suggested to the departmental 
committee, first, the amalgamation of the local 
authorities on the south-west, south, and east 
coasts into two or more bodies similar to the Lan- 
cashire committee, and secondly the abolition of 
the local committees and the transfer of their 
powers of regulation to the Fisheries Branch ot 
the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries. 

The latter course is that recommended. The 
local bodies are to continue to exist as small ad- 
visory councils deprived of the power of rating, 
or of appointing officers. Their staffs are to be 
transferred to the Board, along with the power 
of initiating and enforcing restrictions and pro- 
hibitions of methods of fishing. Local resident 
inspectors will be appointed to supervise the work 
of regulation, and to place the fishermen in touch 
with the local advisory committees on one 
hand, and the Board on the other. To all these 
functions will be added that of the organisation 
and development of inshore fishing. How this 
work of development will be carried out is only 
vaguely suggested in the report, but in the first 
place a Fisheries Organisation Society, on the 
lines of the Agricultural Organisation Society, will 
be founded, and will be financed by public funds. 
This body will promote the idea of cooperation 
among fishermen, will assist them in marketing 
their produce, in securing better means of trans- 
port, and in obtaining credit for the provision of 
boats, motors, and other gear. Its work will be 
largely propagandist at first. The Central Depart- 
ment itself will undertake the task of improving or 
constructing fishery harbours and piers, and better 
channels and breakwaters ; of organising the shell- 
fisheries by means of regulating and _ several 
orders, and the provision of plant whereby such 
molluscs as mussels and cockles can be freed from 
dangerous pollution; of intervening where the 
rights of fishermen are threatened; and of the 
dissemination of intelligence of value in the dis- 
posal of the produce of the fisheries. 

Scientific investigation will be maintained and 
amplified where it exists and instituted on those 
parts of the coasts where it is not yet carried out. 
This will be controlled and coordinated by the 
Board, and it is now generally known that a scheme 
for the adequate investigation of the fisheries of 
all three countries has been prepared, and only 
awaits sanction and the provision of very large 
initial and annual grants of money by the Develop- 
ment Commissioners before it is put in operation. 
That the importance of research and statistical in- 
vestigation has been recognised by the Committee 
is apparent, but that it is all-important before be- 
ginning the task of repealing and simplifying 
regulations, or of the further development of the 
shell-fisheries, or the working-out of an exhaustive 
system of obtaining fishery statistics, has not been 
clearly apprehended, we think. Yet experience of 
the huge mass of futile restrictive legislation built 


| up in the past should have taught them to he 


i 


NATURE 325 


May 28, 1914] 


averse to making further radical change, or con- 
structive legislation, before attaining much more 
knowledge of the natural history of the marine 
economic animals than we yet possess. 

The weakest part of the Report is that dealing 
with the better education of the fishermen. It 
does not appear to us that the Committee has re- 
ceived sufficient evidence on this question, or that 
it made itself acquainted with the educational 
machinery already in existence, or even that it 
properly considered the admirable memorandum on 
this subject by the Board of Education, which is 
printed in the report. The Committee distin- 


for the inshore, and that which is necessary for 
the deep-sea fishermen, a distinction which it will 
be impossible to maintain in practice, since 
one class is continually being recruited from the 
other. The deep-sea man urgently requires in- 
struction in working methods of navigation—much 
more instruction than is at present recognised 
except by the Board of Trade, which tends con- 
tinually to raise the standard of its Fishery 
Examinations. The inshore man requires a know- 
ledge of his technique, net-making, fish-curing, 
and the management of small boats at sea, for 
instance, and how this is to be acquired except by 
actually practising it ander the instruction of older 
men we do not know. Both kinds of men require 
above all a much sounder elementary educatioh 
than they at present possess—without this the 
further instruction will surely fail in its object. 
The Committee recommends supplementary 
courses in the elements of navigation, the natural 
history of the sea (without biology !), practical 
ropework, sail-mending, signalling, carpentry and 
metalwork, all for boys attending sea-board 
primary schools. It recommends evening con- 
tinuation school courses in the same subjects, but 
with the addition of fish-curing for girls, and 
motor-mechanics for boys, these without restric- 
tion of age. It recommends occasional lectures 
in fishing centres in order that a knowledge of the 
natural history of fishes might be imparted, 
that the necessity for restrictions on methods of 
fishing might be explained, and that the resent- 
ment of fishermen to these restrictions on their 
operations might be obviated. 


It is difficult, and there is no space at our 
disposal, to consider these recommendations 
seriously. They do not matter since the whole 


organisation of the elementary and _ technical 
education of fishermen, inshore and offshore, is at 
present being actively developed by the Board of 
Education and by the local authorities, and will 
work itself out in a satisfactory manner all the 
sooner under the stimulus of a reorganisation of 
the fishery authorities. 

Apart from these defects (due obviously to the 
desire of the Committee to report without delay, 
and to the fact that its primary concern was with 
industrial development) the report is a statesman- 
like piece of work. We cannot help feeling that 
now or never is the time for the reorganisation 


ae 


guishes between the instruction that is necessary | 


alternative lines suggested in the evidence, and 
for the strengthening and adequate equipment of 
the Central Department. It is also sincerely to 
be hoped that investigation in the widest sense, 
scientific and statistical and industrial, will at all 
steps accompany this reorganisation in order that 
the failures of past fishery legislation may be 
avoided. J J. 


AUSTRALIAN MEETING OF THE BRITISH 
ASSOCIATION. 


August draws nearer the organisation of the 
first Australian meeting of the ‘British Asso- 
ciation is gradually approaching completion. The 
overseas party will number, roughly,. 350, and will 
for the most part leave England at the end of June 
or the beginning of July. The’ Blue Funnel liner 
Ascanius is to convey a considerable proportion of 
the advance party for Western Australia, while 
the main body of the visitors will leave later in 
the Aberdeen liner Euripides ,(on her maiden 
voyage), and the Orient mailboat Orvieto. The 
latter will take on board at Fremantle the advance 
party, and will arrive at Adelaide on the same day 
as the Euripides, viz., August 8. Other lines and 
other routes will bring Sapa detachments of 
members. 

A special arrangement has Reea completed with 
the Customs Department in Australia for the 
speedy handling of luggage at ports of entry. 
Clearance will “be effected very rapidly of all 
baggage certified to contain only personal effects. 
Members bringing with them anything subject to 
taxation will be required to make the usual state- 
ments and payments. 

The matter of overland conveyance in Australia 
of the overseas party is one of not inconsiderable 
difficulty. To the lively satisfaction.of, the Federal 
Council and the various committees controlling 
arrangements, it was decided at a conference of 
the Premiers of the different States, held at the 
beginning of April, that the hospitality of the 
several State railways should be offered to all 
visiting members without distinction. The desire 
is very strong in Australia that there shall be the 
least possible amount of distinction made between 
the various members of the visiting party. Where 
differential treatment does come in, it is simply 
because the numbers in the party put equal treat- 
ment beyond the ability, though not the wishes, of 
Australia. 

The Federal Handbook, a volume of 600 pages, 
is now published and about to be distributed to the 
visiting party by the High Commissioner for the 
Commonwealth prior to the party’s departure. 
The book is the work of leading authorities of the 
country, and neither trouble nor money has been 
spared to make it worthy of the occasion of ‘its 
issue. It is the intention of the Commonwealth 
Government to present a copy not only to each 
visiting member of the Association, but’ also to 
each member of its General Committee. 

State handbooks, supplementary to the larger 


of the fishery authorities on one or other of the | and more general work, are practically all com- 


NO. 2326, VOL. 93] 


-—r 


? t~ 


326 
pleted, and will shortly be made available in 
England. Western Australia and Tasmania have 


decided, at a later stage than the other States, also 
to issue suitable books, but these will probably not 
be distributed before the departure of the party. 

As the full programme of the meeting is still 
subject to amendment, it may be withheld for the 
present. The- presidential address will be divided 
between Melbourne and Sydney, and the sectional 
presidential addresses will be distributed in the 
following way : 

Adelaide : Geography and Agriculture (part i.). 

Melbourne: Mathematics and Physics, Chemistry, 
Zoology, Economics and_ Statistics, Physiology 
(part i.). 

Sydney: Geology, 
Botany, and Education. 

Brisbane: Physiology 
(part ii.). ; 


Engineering, Anthropology, 


(part ii.) and Agriculture 


For ordinary business the sections will meet only 
in Sydney and Melbourne. Australian papers will 
occupy one-third of the available time in all 
sections, except those dealing with geology, 
zoology, geography, anthropology and botany, in 
which the proportion will be one-half. Perhaps 
the most important of all the local contributions 
will be an account by Dr. Douglas Mawson of the 
scientific results of the recent Australian expedition 
to Antarctica. Dr. Mawson is generously post- 
poning his announcement until this meeting: it 
will add a very distinctively Australian element to 
the proceedings of several sections, particularly 
of that concerned with geography. 

Citizens’ lectures are being undertaken in each 
centre, either by the Workers’ Educational Asso- 
ciation, Trades-Hall or University Extension 
Board, or a joint committee of two or more of 
these bodies. The following lectures and dis- 
courses are to be delivered during the meeting : 


Perth, W.A.: .July 28, Why: we 
the. ocean; Profs) VW.) As erdman': \ uly an, 
Stars and their. movements, Prof. A. S. Edding- 
ton; August 2, The primitive methods of making 
fire, and their survival for ceremonial pur- 
poses, H. Balfour; August 3, The electrical action of 
the human heart, Dr. “A. D. Waller. Kalgoorlie : 
School inspection : a review and retrospect, or Mining 
education in England, C. A. Buckmaster. Adelaide : 
August 10, The zther of space, Sir Oliver J. Lodge; 
August 11, Ancient-hunters, Prof. W. J. Sollas. 
Melbourne : August 17, Mimicry, Prof. E. B. Poulton ; 
August 18, The Greenwich Observatory, Dr. F. W. 
peecn: Sydney: August 21, Primitive many IPror 

Elliot Smith ; August 24, Atoms and electrons, Sir 
S nest Rutherford. Seaicpenee August 28, The mate- 
rials of life, eae EUaE: Armstrong ; Wireless Tele- 
graphy, Prof. W. O. Howe; August 31, The place 
of wae aditey cn general chica om. Sie TS ene 
Schafer. Public lectures (to which members 
of the association are not admitted as _ such) 
will also be delivered as _ follows :—Adelaide : 
“Saving and Spending,’ Prof. E. C. K. Gonner. 
Melbourne: ‘‘Brown Earth and Bright Sunshine,” 
Prof. B. Moore; ‘‘The Making of a Big Gun,” Dr. 
W. Rosenhain. Sydney: ‘‘Comets,” Prof. H. H. 
Turner; ‘‘Clocks,” Sir H. H. Cunynghame. Bris- 
bane: .‘“‘The Decorative Art of Papua,” Dr. A. C. 
Haddon. 


NO. 2326, VOL. 93] 


investigate 


NATURE 


[May 28, 1914 

Excursions will form an exceedingly important 
part of the meeting. In Sydney, for example, half 
the total available time is devoted to them. With 
the exception of the special trips in Western 
Australia and Tasmania, and to Broken Hill, 
members will not be asked before their departure 
to make any selection. On arrival at each centre, 
however, they will be requested to fill in a form 
stating in order their preferences for particular 
excursions. A definite number of visitors will 
have been arranged for on each excursion, and 
allotment will be made on the basis of the prefer- 
ences submitted. With the possible exception of 
a few of the more lengthy trips, it may now be 
taken for granted that no charges will be made 
upon excursions to members of the overseas party. 

The fulfilment of the promise to extend private 
hospitality to most of the visitors in each centre 
is already assured. To the committees dealing 
with this matter, and in fact to all concerned with 
the organisation of the meeting, the high and in- 
creasing interest which is being taken by the 
general public in Australia is a source of very great 


satisfaction. An enthusiastic and successful 
meeting 1s certain. 
NOTES. 


WE greatly regret to see the announcement of the 
death on Saturday, May 23, in his seventy-fifth year, 
of Dr. P. H. Pye-Smith, F.R.S., lately vice-chancellor 
of the University of London and consulting physician 
to Guy’s Hospital. 


THE death, at the age of seventy-five years, is 
announced in the issue of Science for May 15, of 
Prof. Newton H. Winchell, formerly State geologist 
of Minnesota and professor of mineralogy and geology 
at the University of Minnesota. 


Invitations have been issued by the president of 
the Royal Society, chairman of the General Board of 
the National Physical Laboratory, to meet the board 
at the laboratory on Friday, June 19, when the 
various departments will be open and apparatus will 
be on view. 


THE sixth informal spring foray of the British Myco- 
logical Society will be held in the Forest of Dean from 
Friday, May 29, to Tuesday, June 2. Daily forays will 
be made, from the Saturday to the Tuesday inclusive, 
and the various places to be visited will be selected 
on the previous evening. 


Tue council of the Institution of 
Engineers has appointed Mr. W. Duddell, 
F. Bailey, Mr. K. Edgcumbe, Mr. 
son, and Prof, J. T. Morris as delegates to the British 
National Committee of the International Illumination 
Commission, and will contribute equally with the 
Institution of Gas Engineers towards the expenses of 
the committee. 


Electrical 
ERS ie 
Haydn T. Harri- 


An exhibition of photographs by Mr. A. Radclyffe 
Dugmore, the African traveller and author of many 
works on photographing big game in their native 
haunts, is being held at the house of the Royal Photo- 


at amt a 


ee a ee ee ee ee nn 


+ Aig 


rn 


May 28, 1914| 


NATURE 


327 


graphic Society, 35 Russell Square, W.C., from May 
27 until June 13 (Whit Monday and Tuesday excepted), 
between the hours of 11 a.m. and 5 p.m., free to the 
public on presentation of visiting card. 


Tue value of the discovery of flint implements of a 
very primitive type by Mr. Reid Moir at Ipswich has 
been widely recognised. The work of exploration has 
hitherto been carried on by the aid of a grant from 
the Royal Society. An appeal, which we trust will 
meet with adequate support, for a fund to assist the 
work has been issued by Sir A. Geikie, Sir Ray Lan- 
kester, Sir A. Evans, Sir H. Read, Prof. Marr, and 
Messrs. W. Whitaker and Henry Balfour. Sir Ray 
Lankester, whose address is 331 Upper Richmond 
Road, Putney, S.W., has consented to act as treasurer 
of the fund. 


WE regret to announce the death by drowning in 
Ceylon of Mr. E. R. Ayrton, the Archeological Com- 
missioner of the island. Mr. Ayrton was a valued 
officer of the Egyptian Exploration Fund, in which he 
served with Prof. Petrie at Abydos, with M. Naville 
and Mr. H. R. Hall at Dér-el-Bahri, and then with 
Mr. Thomas Davis at the Tombs of the Kings, con- 
tributing largely to his success. He afterwards re- 
sumed explorations at Abydos, and elsewhere for the 
Egyptian Exploration Fund, by the members of which 
he was held in great respect. After a course of studies 
in Indian languages, he was appointed on , the 
Archeological Survey of Ceylon, where he cooperated 
with Mr. H. C. P. Bell in his archzological work. 
His untimely death will be regretted by all students 
of Ceylonese antiquities. 

On Tuesday next, June 2, Prof. A. Fowler will 
begin a course of two lectures at the Royal Institu- 
tion on celestial spectroscopy; on Thursday, June 4, 
Prof. Silvanus P. Thompson will deliver the first of 
two lectures on Faraday and the foundations of elec- 
trical engineering; and on Saturday, June 6, Mr. S. 
Goetze will commence a course of two lectures on 
studies on expression in art. The Friday evening 
discourse on June 5 will be delivered by Prof. W. H. 
Bragg on X-rays and crystalline structure, and on 
June 12 by his Excellency the Hon. Walter Hines 
Page (the American Ambassador) on some aspects of 
the American democracy. 


AFTER the erection of the memorial window to 
Lord Kelvin in Westminster Abbey, there was a 
balance in hand from the fund collected for this 
purpose. This is to be disposed of by the establish- 
ment of a Kelvin gold medal to be awarded triennially 
as a mark of distinction achieved in engineering work 
of the kinds with which Lord Kelvin was especially 
identified. The award will be made on each occasion 
by a committee consisting of the presidents of the 
Institutions of Civil, Mechanical, and _ Electrical 
Engineers, the Institution of Naval Architects, the 
Iron and Steel Institute, and the Institution of Mining 
and Metallurgy, after the consideration of recom- 
mendations to be invited from the principal engineer- 
ing societies in all parts of the world. 


THE first meeting of the International Scientific 
Radio-Telegraphic Commission was held in Brussels 


NO. 2326, VOL. 93] 


on April-6,. “Mx. -W. Duddelh,¥.R.S.,, Dr. We 4. 
Eccles, and Dr. E. W. Marchant representing Great 
Britain. The other members of the British National 
Committee are Prof. G. W. O. Howe, Sir Oliver 
Lodge, F.R.S., Sir Henry Norman, M.P., and Prof. 
Silvanus P. Thompson, F.R.S. It will be remembered 
that this International Scientific Radio-Telegraphic 
Commission was founded in October last for the pur- 
pose of carrying out scientific experiments in wireless 
telegraphy, and that by the generosity of Mr. Gold- 
schmidt, of Brussels, the use of a large wireless 
station and the sum of 50,000 francs was placed at | 
the disposal of the commission. Measurements are 
being made of the strength of the signals sent out 
from Brussels. The National Committee of each 
country represented on the commission organises the 
method of making the measurements, and arranges 
with experimenters to carry them out. 


A CORRESPONDENT writes :—‘‘ By the death of Miss 
Freund (Nature, May 21, p. 299), for many years 
lecturer in chemistry at Newnham College, Cam- 
bridge, science has lost a devoted follower, chemistry 
an enthusiastic and original teacher, investigator, and 
writer, and her friends a wise, warm-hearted, and 
gentle woman. During most of her life Miss Freund 
laboured under a great physical disability; but she 
was always in her laboratory, guiding, encouraging, 
directing her students; whenever she had a_ spare 
hour or two she was pursuing some piece of investiga- 
tion, and for many years she spent much time in the 
vacations in writing that remarkable book on ‘Chem- 
ical Composition,’ which made her well known to all 
chemists. Miss Freund was a genuine student of 
science ; her work is marked by thoroughness, lucidity, 
sound judgment, suggestiveness, and grasp of the 
relative importance of different classes of facts. It is 
known to her friends that she was preparing a book 
on practical chemistry; should the manuscript be 
sufficiently advanced for publication to be possible, not 
a few teachers of chemistry will welcome the book 
with enthusiasm, not a few will be astonished at the 
thoroughness and the boldness of it.”’ 


Mr. WitiiamM West, of Bradford, died on May 14 
at his residence in Bradford from heart failure. He 
was a native of Woodhouse, Leeds, where he was 
born February 22, 1848, so that he was in his 
sixty-seventh year. He was brought up as a phar- 
maceutical chemist, carrying on business in Little 
Horton Lane, Bradford, in which town he settled 
about 1872. More than a decade later he gave up 
that business on becoming lecturer in botany, 
biology, pharmacology, and kindred subjects at the 
Bradford Technical College. He was a most suc- 
cessful teacher, and his students kept up their attend- 
ance at his classes even after the completion of their 
necessary courses. It is stated that his. success in 
sending up students to the Royal College of Science. 
was remarkable, and it is largely owing to his 
influence, example, and teaching that Bradford pos- 
sesses an unusual number of investigators in natural 
science. His elder son, William West, jun., a most 
able botanist, died of cholera in India within a fort- 
night of landing to take up a biological appointment ; 


228 


NATURE 


[May 28, 1914 


and the younger son, George S. West, is the present 
professor of botany in the University of Birmingham. 
Mr. West was a keen and accomplished all-round 
botanist, with a special preference for the crypto- 
camia. Of late years, in association with his son 
George, he concentrated upon the study of Des- 
midiaceze from all parts of the world, their papers, 
severally and jointly, being very numerous. The 
monograph of British Desmidiacee is in course of 
publication by the Ray Society. 


Last Friday the directors of the Cambridge Scien- 
‘ific Instrument Company entertained a large company 
at their works, among whom were many of the lead- 
ing men of science in Cambridge and their lady 
friends. The occasion marked the completion of a 
further extension of the works, by which an additional 
floor area of 6,740 sq. ft. is provided to meet the grow- 
ing necessities of the business. The works were 
thrown open to the visitors, who availed themselves of 
the privilege of passing through the various depart- 
ments and inspecting the process of manufacture from 
raw material to finished product. A very interesting 
and instructive exhibit of instruments was provided, 
and many were to be seen in operation, and were 
explained by members of the staff to interested groups. 
We cannot do more than touch upon a few of the 
instruments displayed amongst a wide variety which 
attracted merited attention. An aerodynamic balance, 
which has been made for the new aeronautical labora- 
tory of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 
possesses the latest refinements for investigating the 
reactions upon aerofoils, a form of instrument which 
is sure to play a large part in the study of these 
problems. The string galvanometer with double 
vibrator arranged for electro-cardiographic work was 
seen in operation, the action of the heart being shown 
on ascreen. Another instrument shown was the crack 
micrometer, for determining the movement taking 
place in cracked masonry. Two steel pins are 
cemented into the masonry, one on each side of the 
crack, and the micrometers are applied to ascertain 
the relative displacement in three dimensions. ‘This 
instrument is used in St. Paul’s Cathedral. A very 
comprehensive series of pyrometers was shown, includ- 
ing the Féry radiation and absorption pyrometers, and 
(he Whipple-Féry closed tube pyrometer, also an auto- 
matic temperature regulator for maintaining the tem- 
perature in a gas-heated molten metal bath. Among 
other instruments of precision were the Darwin ex- 
tensometer, Boys’s radio-micrometer, and  galvano- 
meters and electroscopes of various types, Besides many 
other instruments in great variety. 


THE issue of the National Geographic Magazine 
for April is chiefly devoted to a singularly interesting 
account by Mr. J. C. White of the little-known State 
of Bhutan in the lower Himalaya. A fine series of 
photographs adds to the value of this contribution. 
The writer gained the confidence of the present ruler, 
Maharaja Sir Ugyen Wang Chuh, who provided 
ample facilities for exploration. Mr. White gives an 
nthusiastic account of the people and their country, 
with its varied scenery and flora, the latter including 
rare varieties of orchids. He shows 


NO: 2326,/ VOL. 93] 


ample reason 


for rejecting the views of a high Indian official, who, 
so late as 1890, wrote :—‘‘No one wishes to explore 
that tangle of jungle-clad and fever-stricken hills, 
infested with leeches and the pipsa-fly, and offering 
no compensating advantages to the most enterprising 
pioneer. Adventure looks beyond Bhutan. Science 
passes it by as a region not sufficiently characteristic 
to merit special exploration.” 


Mr. C. Carus-WILSoN described in Nature of Sep- 
tember 28, 1911 (vol. Ixxxvii., p. 415) the ‘“‘ Earthquake 
House”’ erected at Comrie in 1872 through the com- 
bined efforts of the British Association and Mr. Drum- 
mond. He has now sent us a photograph of the 
house, and it is reproduced in the accompanying illus- 


at Comrie. 


The “ Earthquake House” 


tration. It may interest seismologists to know that 
Mr. Carus-Wilson is exhibiting a model of the early 
form of seismometer used in the ‘‘ Earthquake House”’ 
in the Science Section of the Anglo-American Exhibi- 
tion at Shepherd’s Bush, where the details may be 
studied. 


In the May number of the Irish Naturalist Dr. H. 
Stokes records the result of digging for remains of 


| the “Irish elk’? in bogs at Howth and Ballybetagh, 


County Dublin. In the latter locality no fewer than 
twenty-two more or less imperfect skulls, together 
with a number of broken bones, were discovered; but 
at Howth, which had been previously worked, only 


three skulls and three skeletons were obtained. In 
Mulligan’s Bay, County Wicklow, two skeletons, six 
skulls, and five shed antlers were dug up. 


Tue Malta Chronicle of May 1 announces the dis- 
covery on “Il Gebla tal General,’ otherwise known 
as ‘“‘Fungus Rock,” in the island of Gozo, of a new 
local form of the wall-lizard, which has been named 
(where not stated) by Dr. G. Giulia Lacerta muralis, 
var. generalensis. It is stated to have the back black 
with yellowish-green spots, the flanks bluish, the 
under-parts brick-red, the legs black, and the tail 
maroon, with a black tip. Specimens of the Gozo 


May 28, 1914] 


NATURE 


329 


wwall-lizard are, we understand, desiderata in the Wits issued by the British Museum (price 1s. 6d.) 


Natural History Museum. 


In the Field of May 23 is reproduced a lithograph, 
drawn by G. Scharf, and printed by Hullmandel in 
1836, representing the four Nubian giraffes brought to 
London in May of that year by Mr. Thibaut, the 
agent of the Zoological Society, and his party of Arab 
attendants, all of whom are included in the picture. 
In the heading to the accompanying letterpress it is 
stated that these were the first living giraffes received 
in England; but the writer has evidently forgotten 
‘George IV.’s giraffe, received at Windsor in 1827, 
of which an account is given by Mr. Lydekker in the 
Zoological Society’s Proceedings for 1904 (vol ii., 


P- 339): 


As reported in the Times of May 21, an international 
conference was held last week at the Foreign Office, 
with Lord Chelmsford as president, for the purpose of 
‘devising more efficient measures for the protection of 
elephants and rhinoceroses in Africa The conference, 
which included representatives of all European States 
possessing territory in Africa, was summoned at the 
instigation of Mr. Woosnam, the game-warden of 
British East Africa. Existing regulations for the pro- 
tection of elephants and rhinoceroses are, it appears, 
not observed equally throughout African territories; 
and without such equality it is obvious that their 
efficiency must be greatly impaired. One of the points 
in which revision of existing legislation is imperative 
relates to the size of elephants’ tusks for export. 
According to the Times of May 26, the conference is 
understood to have finished its labours and to have 
arrived at an agreement, which, when ratified by the 
Governments concerned, will prove a distinct step in 
advance. The recommendations to the respective 
Governments are believed to include the formation and 
maintenance of sanctuaries for elephants and rhino- 
ceroses in suitable localities. The shooting of these 
animals is to be permitted only on licences, the con- 
ditions of which are to be made as nearly as possible 
identical in the different territories. In the case of 
rhinoceroses, absolute protection is recommended for 
a number of years, and, as regards ivory, the standard 
weight for export is to be raised to 10 kilos, or more 
than 22 lb. 


THe Board of Trade and the Natural History 
Branch of the British Museum are to be congratulated 
on the results of their joint efforts to obtain a census 
of the number of cetaceans stranded annually on the 
British coasts. The scheme was initiated in 1912 by 
the issue of a circular to Receivers of Wrecks, in- 
structing them to report by telegraph to the museum 
all cases of stranded whales, porpoises, and dolphins 
that came under their notice. This was followed by 
the issue in 1913 to coastguard officers of a leaflet 
intended to aid in the identification of species, and 
to indicate the essential points of distinction between 
a porpoise and a shark—animals which, strange to 
say, are frequently confounded with one another by 
non-scientific persons. The results of the census are 
summarised by Dr. S. F. Harmer in a ‘Report on 
Cetacea Stranded on the British Coasts during 1913,” 


NO. 2326, VOL. 93] 


The total number of stranded cetaceans reported 
during that year was seventy-six, a few of which 
were, however, sharks. The identification of species, 
as might have been expected, was not very satisfac- 
tory, but the inquiry, as shown in maps accompanying 
the report, has brought out very clearly the fact that 
the great bulk of the strandings occurs on the east 
coast, especially in Norfolk and Lincolnshire, during 
the late summer and autumn. To what extent this 
is dependent on the migrations of herrings is a ques- 
tion which cannot at present receive a decisive answer. 
Incidentally, the census has been the means of secur- 
ing a certain number of specimens of the rare species 
for the museum. 


DurINnG the fivé years it. has been in existence, the 
International Institute of Agriculture has performed a 
useful function by publishing monthly a bulletin of 
agricultural intelligence and plant diseases. In -addi- 
tion to a very large number of abstracts of ‘scientific 
papers with an agricultural bias, the current number 
(vol. v., No. 3) contains original articles by recognised 
authorities on agricultural education in the Argentine, 
moor cultivation in Germany, entomological work in 
Hungary, and the cattle industry in Britain. The 
latter paper, by Prof. Robert Wallace and Mr. J. A. S. 
Watson, raises several interesting points on the rise 
and fall in the number of the different classes of live 
stock during the period for which trustworthy data are 
available. Since 1878 the number of cattle in the 
United Kingdom has shown a steady increase from 
9¢ millions to almost 12 millions, while the number of 
sheep in the same period has shown somewhat rapid 
fluctuation without any marked tendency either in one 
direction or the other. There is a large export trade 
in pedigree cattle from Great Britain, and during the 
five years 1906-10, this averaged almost 5000 head, 
of which rather more than 3000 were breeding animals 
of an average value of about 601. On the other hand, 
a very large importation of young store animals and 
others ready for fattening is carried on, the extent 
of which may to some extent be judged from the 
fact that Ireland supplies about half a million stores 
annually. The increased attention which is being 
devoted to the improvement of dairy stock is reflected 
in the very rapid development of milk record societies 
and also in the greatly increased prices that are now 
being paid for pedigree dairy stock. 


THE Geological Society of Glasgow has always 
been noted for the original researches published in its 
Transactions, and it is fortunate in the cooperation 
of professional workers and keen local amateurs. 
The discussions are reported, and this is usually a 
stimulus to debate. In part i. of vol. xv., published 
in 1914, Alexander Scott reviews the pitchstones of 
Arran, and shows that the order of crystallisation of 
the constituents and the occurrence of tridymite raise 
questions of interest in view of modern researches on 
silica and the silicates. A. Stevens takes us as far as 
Stornoway, and suggests that the coarse con- 
glomerate, so well seen east of the town, and gener- 
ally regarded as a relic of Torridonian strata, may be 
in reality of Triassic age. G. W. Tyrrell, dealing with 


330 MAT ORE 


the Carrick Hills near Ayr, iurnishes one of his care- 
ful studies in petrography. J. W. Gregory, attracted 
towards geographical subjects, uses the Campsie Fells 
as a text for an essay upon cirques. Matthes’s ob- 
servations on ‘‘nivation,’”’ which leads to the sinking 
of a snow-patch into a hollow worked out by frost 
and thaw upon its margins, might well be added to 
those quoted in favour of the ‘meteoric theory” of 
the origin of cirques. The edges of certain plateaus 
in Spitsbergen, as Prof. Gregory knows better than 
most geologists, afford excellent evidence of the 
potency of ‘‘nivation.”” This paper will lead to the 
further consideration of one of the commorest and 
most puzzling surface-forms of our British highlands. 


A very elaborate gravimetric survey of Italy has 
been undertaken by Prof. V. Reina and Dr. G. 
Cassinis, the observations being ite e the 
Memorie della R. Accademia dei Lincet, vol. ix., p. 5. 
The apparatus used consisted in a sodtheateee of 
Sterneck’s pendulum, the apparatus being connected 
with a wall table with a bipendular support. The 
stations chosen were Rome, Leghorn, Arcetri, Genoa, 
Vienna, and Potsdam, the two latter serving as bases 
of comparison. The uncorrected values observed for 
g at these stations exceeded 980 by 0-367, 0-534, 0-491, 
0-557, 0-860, and 1-275 cm./sec.?, and the corrected 
values reduced to sea-level by the use of various 
formule are in every case, except one in excess of the 
values, calculated for the corresponding latitude from 
the Potsdam formula, the excesses being in every 
case less than o-1 cm./sec.’. 


THE present year marks the tenth anniversary of the 
Aerodynamic Institute of Koutchino, which was 
founded on the initiative of its director, Dr. D. P. 
Riabouchinsky, for the purpose of researches on fluid 
pressures and other problems connected with aerial 
navigation. The main laboratory is equipped with 
wind tunnels, whirling tables, apparatus for testing 
propellers, and, in short, all the necessary appliances 
for experimental work, while attached to the institute 
there is a hydrodynamic laboratory where use is made 
of a small river called the Pékhorka. The staff con- 
sists of Dr. Riabouchinsky, three assistants, six 
mechanics, and several workmen. ‘The _ published 
work alone includes investigations on propellers, rota- 
tion of plates and oscillation of pendulums in a cur- 
rent, and effects of the size of tubes on air currents 
passing through them, as well as papers of a more 
mathematical character. A descriptive pamphlet has 
been published in connection with the present occa- 
sion. It is printed by J. N. Kouchnereff, of Pimeno- 
skaia, but is probably obtainable from the director. 
It might, however, Fave been safer if Dr. Riabouchin- 
sky had left the question of locomotion through inter- 
planetary space to M. Jules Verne and Mr. H. G. 
Wells. 


THREE communications from the physical laboratory 
of the University of Leyden which have reached us 
are of exceptional interest. The first is a reprint of 
the address which Prof. Onnes delivered before the 
Swedish Academy on the receipt of the Nobel Prize for 
It describes the apparatus and the methods 


NO, -2320.eV0L. 03] 


IQT3. 


,May 28, 1914 


adopted for the production of extremely low tempera-_ 
tures at Leyden, and is well illustrated. The second 
is a report by Prof. Onnes to the third international 
congress on refrigeration held at Washington and 
Chicago last year. It deals with the work done in the 
professor’s laboratory since the last meeting of the 
congress in Vienna. The chief results relate to radio- 
activity, magnetic susceptibility and electrical resist- 
ance at temperatures down to 2° or 3° absolute. 
Radio-activity remains unchanged, the susceptibility 
of paramagnetic substances decreases below the Values 
given by Curie’s law of variation inversely as the 
absolute temperature, and in some cases reaches a 
maximum and decreases for temperatures lower still. 
The resistivities of metals decrease and almost dis- 
appear at temperatures 10° or 20° above the absolute 


zero. The third paper is a report to the same con- 
gress on low-temperature thermometry by Prof. 
Onnes. He advocates the substitution of the helium 


for the hydrogen thermometer as the standard scale 
for low temperatures. If the nitrogen thermometer 
has to be substituted for the hydrogen thermometer 
at high temperatures, he would suggest that the 
helium scale should extend up to 100° C., and the 
nitrogen scale begin at that point. As auxiliary 
thermometers for low temperatures he recommends 
platinum or gold resistance thermometers, but in both 
cases it is necessary to calibrate the resistance ther- 
mometer by comparison with a helium thermometer 
at a considerable number of points on account of the 
strong curvature of the resistance-temperature curve 
at very low temperatures. 

AS a supplementary note to the article on the 
“Total Eclipse of 1914 in Turkey and Persia,’ which 
appeared in last week’s NarurkE, attention should be 
directed to the Map of Armenia by the late H. F. B. 
Lynch, on the scale of 1: 1,000,000, published by Mr. 
Edward Stanford, Ltd. The map is in a very useful 
and portable form, and covers the whole country from 
Trebizond to Tabriz. It can be obtained apart from 
Mr. Lynch’s book. 


OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 


ComET 1914b (ZLATINSKy).—A Kiel circular. dated 
May 20, and an appendix to Astronomische Nach- 
richten, No. 4736, give the following elements and 
ephemeris, calculated by Prof. H. Kobold, of Zlatin- 
sky’s comet (1g14b), based on observations on M: aS 
16, 17, and 18 :— 


Elements. 
T =:914 May 8°3618 Berlin M.T. 
wo =116° 17°85’ | 
8 = 32 43°22 7 
36 31 | 
log 9 =9'7 3478 
Ephemeris 12h, 


1914°0 


Berlin M.T. 


R.A. Dec. Mag. 
hs “mi 3s ? 
May 27 7 12 Az +31 30:6 58 
28 7 25 55 28 37-9 ; 
2!) 7 34 42 2549'S O-1 
30 748 8 23 7-4 6-2 
St < SE_32 ZOD) 
June 1. 8 I 18 7-6 
j Pree Ss: 7 
2 3913) 19 I5 51-1 : 
3 S 20,2 13 43°7 0-7 
4. S a2 Ones +1f 45:0 


May 28, 1914| 


NATURE 


aoF 


At the time of discovery this comet was observed to | other hand, the curve representing the relative, inten- 


be of the fourth magnitude, so it is rapidly diminish- 
ing in brightness. It is situated in the constellation 
of Gemini, not far from Castor and Pollux. Owing 
to an error in the original telegram from the dis- 
coverer, his name was wrongly recorded. 


Nova No. 2, Perset.—Some very interesting ob- 
servations relating to the changes of magnitude of 
Nova No, 2, Persei, have recently been communicated 
to the Monthly Notices of the R.A.S. (vol. 
Ixxiv., No. 6, April) by Mr. C. R. D/’Esterre. 
This observer uses comparatively small instru- 
ments, his largest aperture being 15 in. (re- 
flector), yet with two hours’ exposure and most 
careful following he can photograph stars down to 
magnitude 19-3. From observations extending from 
September 1911, to April of the present year, he has 
been able to establish an interesting degree of vari- 
ability in the light of the above nova, duplicate expo- 
sures with other instruments corroborating his state- 
ments. While the mean magnitude of this object 
during the above period is given as 12-3 mag., there 
has been a range of variation between 11-7 mag. and 
3:2 mag. The fluctuations are described as irregular 
and rapid, but these have now decreased, and the 
nova is staying at almost a constant but fainter mag- 
nitude. The decline in magnitude has not been accom- 
panied by any marked change of colour. Mr. 
D’Esterre publishes the individual observations in the 
paper so that they form a valuable series to link up 
with those of other observers. ‘ 


OBSERVATIONS AT THE LOWELL OBSERVATORY.— 
Lowell Observatory Bulletin No. 59 summarises in 
thirty-one brief paragraphs the visual and _ photo- 
graphic work that has been carried on during the 
period April, 1913, to April 14, 1914. The list is too 
long to refer to in detail, but the following notes may 
be given. Confirmation and completion of the detec- 
tion of spoke-like markings on Venus, making them 
a distinguishing feature of the topography of the sur- 
face. Determination of the rotation period of Mars 
giving 24h. 37m. 22-57s. Observations of the canals 
and oases as fine geometrical lines and dots with the 
full aperture of the 4o-in. reflector. Variability in 
brightness of the third or fourth satellites of Saturn 
and measures of the planet’s ball, ring, and satellites. 
Numerous deductions are next given from the photo- 
graphs taken with slit and slitless spectrograms of 
the nebulz in the Pleiades, Cygnus, gaseous nebule, 
nebula, and globular clusters, etc. Velocity of ap- 
proach to the sun of the nebula of Andromeda is given 
as 300 km. a sec. Spiral nebule as a class have a 
much higher order of velocity than have the stars. 


THE SPECTRA OF 6 CEPHEI AND ¢ GEMINORUM.—A 
study of the relative changes of intensity in 
the lines (dark) in the spectra of 8 Cephei and 


¢ Geminorum is described by Inna Lehmann 
in the Bulletin de lAcadémie Impériale des 
Sciences de St. Pétersbourg (No. 6, 1914, p. 423). 
The spectra of the two. stars discussed were 
taken at the Pulkowa Observatory, and_ there 


were available thirty-three plates of 8 Cephei and 
thirteen of ¢ Geminorum. The method of procedure 
was to select one plate as a specimen, and then to 
compare each of the others with it by means of a 
spectro-comparator, and thus determine the relative 
intensity of selected lines. For both stars details are 
given as to the lines chosen, their wave-lengths, the 
resulting comparisons, etc. Forming the normal 
values of the intensities estimated, and comparing 
them with the light phases, it is found that in the case 
of 6 Cephei when the lines are best visible the star 
is at a minimum brightness and wice versd. On the 


NG? 2326, VOL. 193] 


sity-change of the lines in the spectrum of ( Gemin- 
orum are not parallel with the light fluctuation of the 
star. Four days after the minimum, when the light 
curve is at a maximum, there is an undoubted diminu- 
tion in the intensity of the lines. 


THE BRITISH SCIENCE GUILD. 


gree eighth annual meeting of the British Science 

Guild was held at the Mansion House on Friday, 
May 22, the Lord Mayor presiding over a distinguished 
and representative gathering. The report of the 
year’s work was presented by Sir Boverton Redwood, 
who directed attention to matters of special importance 
dealt with by the committees of the guild. 

Amongst other matters the medical committee had 
prepared a well-considered report on the subject ot 
venereal diseases which had been presented to the 
Royal Commission now considering the matter. Also. 
a warning had been issued to the general public 
against the danger of fraud in connection with the 
sale of substances or waters as curative agents, in 
which radium is said to exist, and the danger otf 
being harmfully treated by persons with no medical 
qualifications. 

The report of the Canadian Committee attracted 
special interest. Amongst other matters attention was 
directed to the serious effect of the wholesale slaughter 
of native insect-eating birds in view of the destruction 
of agricultural and forest products by insect and other 
pests. Insects disseminate malaria, yellow fever, 
typhoid, and other pernicious diseases. Nevertheless, 
millions of people engage in destroying the birds that 
eat destructive and disease-spreading insects. In this 
connection it is satisfactory to note that, in this 
country, the Bill to prohibit the importation of the 
plumage of wild birds has just passed the Committee 
stage of the House of Commons. 

Mr. Charles Bathurst, M.P., the chairman of the 
Select Committee on the Ventilation of the House ot 
Commons, expressed his indebtedness to the guild for 
its valuable help in connection with the scientific 
investigation of the matter. 

A feature of the meeting was an address by Sir 
Ronald Ross on the encouragement of discovery, in 
which he sought to show that of all the labours which 
man can undertake those which issue in discovery have 
conferred the greatest benefits upon mankind. He 
maintained that in the encouragement of science the 
public omits the main consideration, namely, the pur- 
chase of genius. Our universities are largely paid for 
by private individuals, and the money spent by them 
is spent more upon teaching than upon discovery. 
Sir Ronald Ross deprecated the inadequacy of the 
steps taken to persuade the individuals capable of 
making discovery to devote themselves to this great 
task. This could only be done by making it worth 
their while. If the nation wishes to stimulate dis- 
covery, which includes science, to the utmost, it should 
not only provide universities, institutes, and research 
laboratories, but should endeavour also to attract by 
adequate material recognition the most capable men 
to a field of work which yields the most valuable 
results to humanity. 

The annual dinner of the guild was held in the 
evening at the Trocadero Restaurant, with Sir William 
Mather in the chair. The chairman, in proposing the 
toast of ‘Science and Industry,’’ commended a spirit 
of optimism, and said that the twentieth century 
might probably reveal still greater wonders than the 
nineteenth. Sir Alfred Keogh, who responded, said 
that the public administration of this country owed a 
great deal to science and particularly to Sir Ronald 


332 


NAT ORE 


[May 28, 1914 


Ross in regard to his discoveries in connection with 
deadly tropical diseases. Science was everything to 
industry, and man found that money profits could be 
made by taking advantage of the advances of science. 
He was an optimist about industry, but he could not 
be an optimist when he looked round and saw mem- 
bers of his profession who had laboured for nothing, 
scarcely even the thanks of the public, certainly with- 
out those rewards for which those engaged in industry 
rightly and properly looked. He referred also to the 
fact that the headmasters of the public schools gener- 
ally were clergymen, and deprecated the lack of pro- 
vision made in those schools for scientific instruction. 

Sir William Byrne (Home Office), in proposing the 
toast of ‘The British Science Guild,’’ said that he 
agreed with the statement in the annual report of the 
guild, that Government Departments used the services 
of scientific men without remuneration. The charge 
was irrefutable. Virtue might be its own reward, 
but science rarely was. He sympathised with them, 
and promised that so far as he was concerned he 
would do his best to alter this state of things. 


FLUIDS WITH VISIBLE MOLECULES. 


ROF. JEAN PERRIN (of the University of Paris) 
in his recent course of lectures at King’s College, 
London, dealt with aggregates of suspended particles 
regarded as fluids consisting of visible microscopic 
molecules. The Brownian movement of such particles 
appears to be due to molecular agitation, suggesting 
that particles in suspension function as enormous 
molecules. If this is so, the laws of gases extended 
by Van’t Hoff to solutions apply also to dilute emul- 
sions consisting of uniform grains, and from a know- 
ledge of the osmotic pressure of this “ gas of visible 
molecules,”” one can calculate, using Avogadro’s law, 
the ratio of the masses of the grains to those of the 
molecule of any gas, an indefinite vertical column of 
emulsion in equilibrium having the properties of a 
miniature atmosphere. 

Suitable emulsions are prepared by isolating uniform 
particles of precipitated resin by fractional centri- 
fugalisation. Such emulsions obey the laws of gases 
and give the correct value for Avogadro’s number N, 
whatever the size of the particles. 

Since dilute emulsions obey the laws of gases con- 
centrated emulsions should behave analogously to 
compressed fluids, and the equation (P+a/V?) 
(V—b)=RT, be applicable, where V represents the 
volume of the emulsion, b is four times the volume of 
the grains present, and a a constant which in Van der 
Waals’s equation corresponds to cohesion. | Experi- 
ment, while verifying the prediction, shows the in- 
teresting peculiarity that in the case of emulsions 
the cohesion constant is negative, the grains repelling 
one another appreciably. This result allows the ex- 
perimental determination of the thickness of the 
double layer of electrification by contact, and throws 
light on the properties of colloidal solutions. 

The Brownian activity of a grain is defined as 
E?2/t, where E? is the mean square of the displacement 
in the time t. An emulsion should diffuse as a solu- 
tion of visible molecules with a speed proportional to 
the speed of the molecules which compose it. It can 
be shown that the speed of diffusion D is 1/6 E?/t, and 
since in the steady state as many molecules pass 
upward through any level by diffusion as pass down- 
ward through the level by gravitation, Einstein’s 
equation holds, viz. :— 

Payee oP 
t N wars 


NO, 2326, VOL..03)| 


where r¢ is the radius of the grains and z the viscosity 
of the intergranular fluid. Thus both by measuring 
the rate of diffusion and by measuring the displace- 
ment Avogadro’s constant has been determined. 

Emulsions were prepared of such a nature that those 
grains touching one side of the retaining vessel be- 
came attached and the emulsion progressively weaker 
by diffusion, the variation with time in the number of 
grains captured giving a measure of the rate of 
diffusion. 

By selecting relatively large spherules it was found 
possible to measure their rate of rotation, and thus 
verify Einstein’s formula for the Brownian movement 


‘of rotation. 


These theories also apply to grains suspended in a 
gas except that Stokes’s law is no longer applicable, 
but by applying an eleciric field to the charged par- 
ticles LTownsend’s equation for the diffusion of ions 
relates the charge on the granule with Avogadro’s 
number and the activity of its Brownian movement. 


SRE Uv _6RT DD 


Ne : 
H 1 SI 


The values of N, the number of molecules in a cubic 
centimetre of a gas under standard conditions, de- 
duced by these various methods, exhibit a remarkable 
concordance. Prof. Perrin concluded his lectures with 
a critical comparison of the results of his measure- 
ments of N with the values which have been deduced 
from determinations of the charge of an electron, 
from counting alpha particles, and from the theory of 
radiation. : 


\ CONTRIBUTIONS TO VERTEBRATE 
PALHONTOLOGY. 


a HE skull of a remarkable new generic type of 
horned dinosaur (Styracosaurus albertensis), from 
the Cretaceous of the Red Deer River, Alberta, is 
described and figured by Mr. L. M. Lambe in the 
Ottawa Naturalist for December, 1913 (vol. xxvii., 
pp. 109-16, plates x.—xii.). It was found by the well- 
known collector. Mr. C. H. Sternberg, last summer. 
The skull is long, depressed, and wedge-shaped, with 
a single nasal horn of somewhat unusual shape; but 
its chief peculiarities are the large size of the supra- 
temporal fossze, and the production of the hind border 
of the great occipital flange into four pairs of spines, 
of which the three innermost on each side are very 
long. Although the Alberta horned dinosaur may 
be generically identical with an imperfectly known 
species from the Cretaceous of Montana, referred by 
Cope to the genus Monoclonius, under the name of 
M. sphenocerus, it is considered that the two are 
specifically distinct. 

According to an article by Mr. C. Schuchert on the 
dinosaurs of German East Africa, published in the 
American Journal of Science for 1913 (vol. xxxv., 
pp. 33-8), the largest representative of the genus first 
described as Gigantosaurus, but now known, on 
account of the preoccupation of the original name, as 
Tornieria, is believed to have been about twice the 
length of Diplodocus, or at least 150 ft. The neck 
appears to have exceeded that of the American species 
by a length of about 15 ft. It is hoped to set up a 
skeleton of this gigantic reptile in the Berlin Museum. 

At the conclusion of a note on the relationship 
between the Permian reptiles of South Africa and 
those of Russia, published in the Journal of Geology 
for November and December, 1913 (vol. xxi., pp. 
728-30), Dr. R. Broom expresses the opinion that the 
dicynodonts of the Durna valley represent the Ciste- 


a 


= =e 


——— os 


May 28, 1914| 


NATURE 


229 
III 


cephalus zone in Africa, which contains dicynodonts 
of very similar type. If this be so, the Cistecephalus 
zone will be topmost Permian, and the underlying 
Pariasaurus zone Middle Permian. 

In an article in the February number of the 
American Naturalist Prof. E. C. Case shows that the 
“ sail-backed ” reptile, Edaphosaurus crucifer, of which 
a restoration is given, is perfectly distinct from the 
genus Dimetrodon, with which it had been incorrectly 
identified. So far from the two being identical, 
Dimetrodon was carnivorous, whereas Edaphosaurus 
probably subsisted on molluscs or insects, with perhaps 
an occasional vegetable meal. Unlike most of its 
reptilian contemporaries, its head was small in pro- 
portion to the body; the dentition consisted of a mar- 
ginal series of sharp conical teeth, and of crushing 
teeth on the palate, the latter opposed by a corre- 
sponding series on the inner side of the lower jaw. 

We have received a corrected copy of a reprint from 
Dr. L. Reinhardt’s ‘‘ Vom Nebelfleck zum Menschen” 
(second edition), issued as an appendix to Dr. H. 
Hallier’s ‘‘Der Stambaum des Pflanzenreiches” 
(Munich), which is being completed by Dr. Reinhardt 
himself. This appendix, in addition to a table ex- 
hibiting the geological succession of the leading groups 
of plants and animals, as exemplified in central 
Europe, contains a number of phylogenetic “‘ trees ”’ illus- 
trating the evolution of animals and of plants, as well 
as of many of their classes and orders. Many criticisms 
of these ‘‘trees’’ might be made, but it must suffice to 
mention that the author regards the toothed whales as 
descended from early carnivorous, and the whalebone 
whales from primitive herbivorous mammals. Mam-, 
mals themselves he derives from Permian ‘ Urrep- 
tilien,’”’ which in turn gave rise to ‘‘ Sauromammalien,”’ 
a group from which the carnivorous theriodonts are 
expressly excluded. 

In an article published in the Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. 
Hist. for 1913 (vol. xxxii., pp. 261-274) Prof. H. F. 
Osborn shows that a skull from the Eocene of 
Wyoming described by Cope in 1884, and referred to 
the genus Triplopus, under the name T. amarorum, 
really belongs to the Chalicotheriida, or perisso- 
dactyles with edentate claws, of which it is the 
earliest known representative. It is consequently 
made the type of a new genus, Eomoropus, which is 
believed to be a specialised offshoot from the stock 
which gave rise to the titanotheres, on one hand, 
and to the forerunners of the horse group on the 
other. 

Three publications dealing with the horse family 
and its extinct forerunners have been issued recently 
in America. The first, entitled the ‘‘ Evolution of the 
Horse,”’ takes the form of a fully illustrated guide to 
the members of the group exhibited in the American 
Museum of Natural History. In the first part, Dr. 
W. D. Matthew discusses the evolution of the horse 
group in nature, while in the second Mr. S. H. Chubb 
deals with the origin of the domesticated breeds of the 
horse, and the structure, growth, and succession of 
the teeth, this latter section forming a really valuable 
contribution to science. In a memoir published by the 
irving Press, New York, under the title of ‘‘The 
Horse, Past and Present,’’ Prof. H. F. Osborn treats 
of the same collection, and also of the members of the 
norse family now living in the New York Zoological 
Park. In the third publication, which is in the form 
of a guide-book to the remains of extinct perisso- 
dactyles allied to the existing horse group preserved in 
Yale University, Dr. R. S. Lull records the various 
expeditions—starting from 1870—which have contri- 
buted to the collection, and concludes with a brief 
summary of the equine pedigree. 


NOguaea0; VOL, 193, 


THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF TASMANIA. 
oF Ress commemorate the seventieth anniversary of the 
foundation of the Royal Society of Tasmania 
the secretary, Mr. E. L. Piesse, has prepared a valu- 
able sketch of its history. The society dates from 
October 24, 1843, and therefore from a quarrelsome 
epoch of Tasmanian history. Its founder, Sir John 
Eardley Wilmot, had landed as Governor before 
arrival of the news of Sir John Franklin’s recall; 
and an uncomfortable situation was relieved by Wil- 
mot’s undertaking a tour in the northern part of the 
island until Sir John Franklin had time to vacate 
Government House. Sir John Franklin in 1838 had 
established a Society for the Promotion of Natural 
History in Tasmania, and after a nameless existence 
it adopted in 1842 the title of ‘‘The Tasmanian 
Society.”’ With characteristic generésity Lady Frank- 
lin established a Franklin Museum about three miles 
from Hobart, and endowed it with aro acres of land, 
A museum building in a classic style of architecture 
was erected, but in consequence of uncertainty as to 
the ownership, owing to vagueness in the deed of gift, 
Lady Franklin’s ideas have not been carried into 
effect. Shortly after his arrival, Eardley Wilmot 
determined to reconstitute the Tasmanian Society; but 
its members were mostly Franklinites, and all but 
five of them withdrew from the meeting, owing to 
disputes over unimportant details. . 

The Governor and those who remained then estab- 
lished a new society under the name of the Botanical 
and Horticultural Society of Van Diemen’s Land. 
Its main objects, according to the charter, were ‘to 
develop the physical character of the island and illus- 
trate its natural history and productions.”” Next year 
Queen Victoria became the patron of the society. It 
accordingly became the Royal Society of Van Diemen’s 
Land, a title which was necessarily changed in 1855, 
when the name of the colony was altered to Tas- 
mania. The older Tasmanian Society was merged 
in the Royal Society in 1848, and in the same year 
the society established the Tasmanian Museum, and 
in the next year commenced the publication of its 
Papers and Proceedings. In 1860 the site of the pre- 
sent museum in Hobart was given to the society by 
the Government, and the new museum was finished in 
1862, and extended in 1886 and 1go1. The society 
has done excellent work by the formation of valuable 
Tasmanian collections and by the publication of its 
papers and Proceedings, which are one of the main 
storehouses of information on the natural science of 
Tasmania. 

Mr. Piesse’s paper is published in the volume for 
1913, which also includes a series of valuable contri- 
butions to knowledge of Tasmania. Mr. Rodway, 
the Government botanist, contributes a monograph 
on the Tasmanian mosses, including short summaries 
of all the species known in the island. These belong 
to 114 genera 

Mr. Beattie reprints with explanatory notes a list of 
words used by the Oyster Bay tribe; the list was 
compiled in 1824, and has only recently been dis- 
covered. Dr. Noetling describes a section near 
Hobart, and insists that all the fossiliferous beds of 
southern Australia, which have long been generally 
assigned to the Eocene, are at the earliest Miocene. 
This conclusion is further supported by the description 
of a fossil whale from Wynyard on the northern coast 
of Tasmania, by H. H. Scott. Mr. Piesse contributes 
two papers on proportional representation, which 
is adopted in Tasmania. . Wi Ge 


1 Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania for the Year 
JQ13- 337 Pp., 1 text-fig. 22 plates, 1 map. (Hobart, 1914). Price iss. 


NATURE 


UPPER AIR RESEARCH} 


“HERE are several ways of obtaining a knowledge 

of the free air: the observer himself may go up 
‘na balloon and take readings of his instruments; or 
he may send up recording instruments in a kite, a 
captive balloon, or a free balloon; in the latter case, 
he must take the chance of the balloon and the instru- 
ments being found after they come to earth. 

The first actually to use a kite for scientific pur- 
poses was Dr. Alexander Wilson, of Glasgow, who, in 
1749, raised thermometers by this means; he used 
several kites distributed along the line, and he says 
that on one occasion the top kite ‘‘reached an amaz- 
ing height, disappearing at times in the white summer 
clouds.” Three vears later, Benjamin Franklin made 
his famous experiment with a kite. 

Kites with thermometers attached were used in 
Arctic voyages in 1821, and again in 1836; and in 
1847 a kite was flown at Kew Observatory with which 
it was hoped to measure temperature and wind 
velocity. But these were isolated attempts, and it 
was not until the last quarter of the nineteenth century 
that the method was systematically adopted. The 
modern exploration 
may be said to 
begin with the late 
Mr. Douglas Archi- 
bald, who saw all 
the possibilities of 
the method, though 
his own work was 
confined to observa- 
tions on wind velo- 
city. He was the 
first to use steel 
piano wire for kite- 
flying, and he was 
able thus to get far 
greater heights 
eas than was possible 

with a linds«. In 

1885, and the years 

immediately follow- 

ing, observations 
on electric potential 
were made by 
means of kites in 

Germany and in 
Eddy, in America, 
thermometers 


Fic. 1.—Kite-flying, Pyrton Hill, 
America. About 1890 Mr. 
devised a _ tailless kite, and raised 
by its means; but the great advance came 
when the box-kite, invented by Hargrave, of 
Sydney, was used instead of the older  pat- 
tern. Since 1895 the Hargrave kite, or some modifi- 
cation of it, has been almost exclusively used in scien- 
tific Ixite-flying. One of the pioneers of upper air 
research was Prof. Lawrence Rotch, of Blue Hill 
Observatory ; he adopted the Hargrave kite, and used 
steel piano wire in 1895, and in the following year 
he raised instruments to a height of Sooo -ft. The 
United States Weather Bureau was so impressed with 
the success of the Blue Hill kite flights that they 
organised seventeen stations, and hoped to make daily 
flights for the construction of synoptic charts at a 
height of a mile. The experiment failed owing to the 
light winds in summer, but a large number of observa- 
tions were taken extending over several months. 

From this time onward the work spread rapidly ; 
it was taken up by M. Teisserenc de Bort at his 
observatory at Trappes, near Paris; by Dr. Assmann 
in Germany; and subsequently by many others; it has 


1 From a presidential address delivered before the Royal Meteorological 
Society on January 21 by Charles J. P. Cave. 


NO. 2326; OL2193 | 


[May 28, 1914 


now become part of the ordinary routine work of any 
observatory that deals with the upper air. 

In this country, however, we lagged behind. It 
was not until 1901 that a joint committee of the 
British Association and of this society took up the 
work. Prof. Rotch had shown that it was feasible to 
fly kites from a steamship, and in the summer of 1902 
Mr. Dines, at the request of the joint committee, flew 
kites from a steamship on the west coast of Scotland, 


Fic. 2.—Kites (Dines pattern) ready for use. 


using a kite of his own, a modification of the Har- 
grave pattern. 

In point of time kites for meteorological purposes 
preceded balloons, but serious work began soon after 
the invention of thé balloon in 1783. In 1784 Dr. 
Jeffries made an ascent and took with him a_ baro- 
meter, a thermometer, and a hygrométer, besides 
bottles filled with water, which were to be emptied 
at various heights, 
ads cotked ~ up 
again to obtain 
samples of air. In 
1804 both the St. 
Eeeceisenr Ss) bw rs 
Academy and _ the 
French Academy of 
Sciences arranged 
balloon ascents for 
scientific purposes. 
Very remarkable 
were the experi- 
ments of Thomas 
Forster’ in 1800. 
He filled a number 
of small balloons 
with ‘inflammable 
gas,’’ and watched 
their movements; 
we must certainly 
look on him as the 
pioneer of pilot 
balloon observers, 
and it is strange 
that his method of observation was neglected for 
three-quarters of a century. 

In ‘the middle of the last century there was a con- 
siderable increase in the interest taken in the upper 
air. John Welsh, of the Kew Observatory, made 
several ascents in 1852, and used the aspirated ther- 
mometer for the first time. Then came Glaisher’s 
famous ascents, twenty-eight in all, some in a balloon 
made by Coxwell, a famous aeronaut, some in public 
balloons, in which Glaisher went as an ordinary pas- 
senger. Only seven ascents were specially high, and 
one on September 5, 1862, was the highest ever made 


Fic. 3.—Kite folded for carrying. 


_— 


May 28, 1914] 


NATURE 


on 


22 
JI 


until recent years. The estimated height was 


37000 ft., but Glaisher lost consciousness for thirteen 
minutes, and his estimate is therefore uncertain; the 
highest point may not have been much more than 
30,000 ft. 

In 1875 the French Academy of Sciences arranged 
ascent, 5 


for an and M. Gaston Tissandier and two 


companions 


ascended to a 
great height; 
im Spite of 
oxygen  in- 
ipanteat io mS. 
however, his 
1wo co m- 
panions lost 
their lives, 


and Tissandier 
himself barely 
eos ¢ a p-e.d 
as phy xiation 
when the 
balloon 
mesa ci ie d 
a height of 
28,000 fetes 
This disaster 
prevented any 
very high 
ascents for 
some _ years, 
but in 1894 
Po Bier son 
made the first 
of his series of 
ascents that 
have — eclipsed 
all previous 
records. In’ July, 1g01, Berson actually took a 
reading of the barometer corresponding to a height of 
34,500 ft. or 103 km., and in spite of oxygen inhala- 
tion, he, too, became unconscious This may be taken 
as the highest ascent yet made by man. ~ 

The danger to life at great elevations led to another 
method of research. In 1891 M. Bonvallet sent up a 
number of paper balloons carrying post-cards asking 


Fic. 4.—Dines winding-gear for kites. 


Fic. 5.—Balloon meteorograph with Bourdon tube barometer and 
bimetallic thermometer, 


the finder to post them, with a note of the time and 
place of finding. The experiment was repeated by 
MM. Hermite and Besancon with larger balloons and 
simple recording instruments. One of these balloons 
having reached a height of 30,000 ft., they made a 
still larger one, provided with a better recording in- 
strument. This was the earliest registering balloon, 


NO. 2326, VOL. 93] 


| cannot count on Govern- 


_ graph he has made one 


and it made its first ascent on March 21, 1893, reach- 


ing a height of 15 km., or nearly g3 miles. In Ger- 
many these experiments were soon repeated, Under 


the auspices of the German Society for the Promotion 
of Aerial Navigation, Dr. Assmann sent up a balloon 
which rose to a height of about 22 km., or 135 miles. 
These were sensational experiments, but they seem 
to have attracted little attention in this country. 

In the very early days of kite-flying ordinary mini- 
mum thermometers used to be sent up; but when the 
study began seriously, special instruments had to be 
designed. In the ordinary pattern, pens, actuated by 
some form of barometer, thermometer, and hygro- 
meter, trace a record on a revolving cylinder. — For 
the barometer an ordinary aneroid box was used at 
first, but this has given place in most of the instru- 
ments used on the Continent to a tube which acts in 
the same way as the Bourdon tube pressure gauge. 
The same system was used for the thermometer, the 
tube being filled with spirit, the expansion or con- 
traction of which changed the shape of the tube. But 
a bimetallic thermometer has also been much used; 
this consists of a coil of metal made of two pieces 
which expand or contract at different rates with rise 


or fall of temperature. In both thermometers the 
resulting motion is 
communicated to the 
pen by levers. 
In this country we 
are badly situated for 


balloon work; many of 
our free balloons are 
lost in the sea, and we 


ment support in the re- 
search as can some of 


our more fortunate 
neighbours. I think 
I am not overstating 


the case if I say that 
but for the ingenuity of 
Mr. Dines we should 
have had practically no 
upper air research in 
this country. In_ his 
light balloon meteoro- 


of the most 
meteorological 
ments. It 
shillings what 
pounds; and, 


striking 
instru- 
costs in 
the other 
weighing as_ it 


Fic. 6.—Dines light meteorograph. 


in 
two 


instruments cost 
does under 


| ounces with its case, it can be sent up with quite 


small balloons. An aneroid box, as it expands with 
decrease of pressure, carries two pens across a copper 
plate; the thermometer pen is moved by the relative 
contraction of a strip of German silver compared with 
an invar steel bar. Two lines are thus scratched on 
the copper plate; the length of the lines from the 
origin represents the pressure, and their distance apart 
the temperature. The trace is very minute, the whole 
plate being about the size of a postage stamp, and it 
has to be read under a microscope; but the expansion 
and contraction of the thermometers used in the Con- 
tinental meteorographs have to be magnified mechanic- 
ally, and, as Mr. Dines has pointed out, the optical 
magnification is perhaps less liable to error. The 
instrument is so small that some who had used th: 
other instruments looked on it as a toy rather than 
as a serious instrument. But it was soon found to 
give as good results as the other forms; and when at 
Manchester University twenty-four balloons carrying 
these instruments were sent up in the space of twenty- 
four hours, one each hour, it made a considerable 


336 NATURE 


impression. Such an achievement with the larger 


instruments would have cost more than 5ool. in in- 
struments alone. 
When sending up one of the Continental instru- 


ments it is usual to have two balloons made of rubber 
fabric, one being givenrather more lift than the other 
the instrument, placed on a bag of nickel paper, 


open 


FiG. 7-—Trace and cali- 
bration marks, Dines 
meteorograph. 


Fic. §.—Sounaing balloon with parachute. 


at both ends, to protect it from the direct rays of the 


sun, is slung below the balloon. The balloons ascend 
until one of them bursts; the remaining balloon 


cannot support the instruments, but it has sufficient 
lift to allow them to descend gently and without 
injury to the earth’s surface. In the case of ascents 
made at sea a float is attached below the instruments, 
and the unburst balloon, which has not been given 
enough lift to support the float and the instruments, 
has sufficient lift to keep the instrument clear of hie 
water. The unburst balloon, whether on land or at 
sea, is a signal to show where the instrument has 
descended. Sometimes only one balloon is used, but 
in this case it is necessary to have a parachute so 
arranged that when the balloon bursts the parachute 
will come into action and bring the instruments down 
in safety. Mr. Dines’s meteorograph is so light that 
the fabric of the burst balloon is sufficient to check 


‘Teisserenc de Bort’s observa- 


Fic. 9.—Captive balloon at M. 
tory at Trappes 


the velocity of descent; and these instruments have 
over and over again fallen from heights of ten miles 
or more with no ill result whatever. 


M. Teisserenc de Bort used paper balloons; and 


that they might ascend at a regular pace they carried 

a sandbag with a hole in it, so that the balloon was 

always dropping ballast. In order that the balloon 

might not float at the greatest height attained, there 
NOY 2326. -vOl 203) 


was an arrangement actuated by clockworl whereby 
after a certain time a hook tore a rent in the lower 
part of the balloon, while the upper part became 2 
parachute which allowed the instruments to fall 
slowly. 

Small captive 
for lifting instruments 
desired to explore t 
or so; but they cannot attain 
as they have to lift the wire 


balloons have been used with success 
in calm weather, when it is 


the air up to heights of a kilometre 
any very great height, 
that holds them; 


they 


Fic. 10.—Landing the captive balloon. 


are apt to become very unmanageable if even a slight 
wind gets up while the flight is in progress. In 
Germany and Austria the balloon-kite has been used 
with success; it is a captive balloon of a form so 
designed that the wind lifts it instead of depressing it, 
as it does an ordinary captive balloon, 

A balloon in its ascent gives us more information 
than merely the temper ature and pressure of the air 
through which it rises. If we watch it we see it 
moving in varying directions as it passes through 
different currents of air 
in its ascent. We have 
only to watch the 
balloon through the tele- 
scopes of theodolites to 
obtain its real path 
through the atmosphere, 
from which may be de- 
duced the wind velo- 
cities and directions in 
the various layers. For 
this purpose we may 
use balloons — scarcely 
larger than a_ child’s 
air-ball, and, given a 
clear sky, we - may. 
follow such balloons up 
to heights of 5 or 6 km. 
The larger balloons used 


. ee Fic. 11.—Austrian military balloon 
for carrying instruments kite. 


can be followed with the 


and I have 
of. ten 
a hori- 


eater distances ; 
burst at a height 


theodolite for 
myself seen a_ balloon 
miles above the surface of the earth and at 
zontal distance of forty miles. 

For observing balloons in this way a special theodo- 
lite is advisable, for the ordinary pattern, when used 
for high angular altitudes, necessitates extremely un- 
comfortable attitudes on the part of the observer. 

Various ingenious pieces of apparatus have been 


much gre 


a 


May 28, 1914] 


NATURE 


designed in connection with upper air research. I 
should like to mention two of them. M. Teisserenc 
de Bort made an apparatus for collecting air at great 
altitudes. In this instrument (Fig. 13) a small weight 
is released electrically, when a lever connected with a 
barometer makes contact with a metal stud; the 
guillotine drops on to the finely drawn out end of a 
glass tube, which has been exhausted and sealed up; 
thus air admitted to the tube. As the balloon 


is 


Fic. r2.—Duquervain theodolite for observing pilot 
balloons. 


ascends higher the baronieter moves the lever still 
further until it makes contact with another stud 
which allows an electric current to flow through a 
platinum wire coiled round the remaining part of 
the fine end of the tube, thereby melting the glass 
and sealing up the tube. M. Teisserenc de Bort 
collected samples of air in this way. 

The second piece of apparatus which I will describe 
was designed by Dr. Assmann (Fig. 14). It is meant 
to measure the 
temperature of 
the air over 
the sea, desert 
countries, or in 


Po 


vite 
E 
A 


Fic, 13.—Teisserenc de Bort’s. apparatus for col- 
lecting air at great altitudes. 


ordinary way. An 
meter completes an 


Arctic or Ant- 
arctic regions, 
when there is 


little chance of 
recovering . the 
balloon. The 
balloon is 
Mae uh: ed 
through  theo- 
dolites, and its 
height, from 
fiw the to 
minute is cal- 
culated in’ the 
arm attached to a_ thermo- 

electric circuit. at a pre- 
determined temperature, say at freezing point; the 
electric current explodes a firework hung below the 
balloon, and the observer sees a puff of smoke as soon 
as the balloon has entered a layer of air in which 
the temperature is at the freezing point. Other fire- 
works can be exploded in turn at predetermined tem- 
peratures, and it can be arranged that the fireworks 
connected with the various temperatures should show 


NO. 2326, VOL. 93]| 


! . & 
smoke of various colours, so that in the event of any 


particular firework accidentally failing to explode the 
colour of the next puff of smoke will show the tem- 
perature. 

In the first part of this address I gave a short history 
of upper air research up to the year 1896. Before 
that time the research 
had been tentative and 
spasmodic; susequently 
it has been regular and 
organised. In 1896 the 
International Meteoro- 
logical Committee _con- 


stituted an auxiliary 
committee under the 
name of the  Inter- 


national Commission for 
Scientific Aeronautics, 
with Prof. Hergesell, of 
Strassburg, as its presi- 
dent. It was agreed 
that simultaneous ob- | 
servations should be 
made with kites, regis- 
tering balloons, and 
manned balloons. The 
first of these  inter- 
national ascents was 
made on November 14, 
1896, and on that 
day three registering 
balloons and 6 five 
manned balloons 


ascended in France, ., f 

Gar 2 eae iG. 14.—Assmann’s apparatus for 
aET many, anc % uSSIa. Measuring temperature at great 
Since that time the heights over the sea. 


werk has gradually ex- 
tended; and at the present time international ascents 
are made on the first Thursday in each month, on 
three successive days three times a year, and once a 
year balloons are sent up on each day for a week. 
Meanwhile congresses have been held at Strassburg 
in 1898; at Paris in 1900; at Berlin in 1902; at St. 
Petersburg in 1904; at Milan in 1906, at Monaco in 
1909; and at Vienna 
in 1912. he next 
conference is to be 
held in England in 
1915, and it is to be 


hoped that in this 
country we shall do 
as much, for -:our 


meteorological guests 
as they have done for 
us when. we have 
visited them. 
Meanwhile the 


work of exploring 
the upper air has 
been __ progressing. 
steadily, and other 
countries joined. the | 
three which began 


Fic. 15.—Sounding balloon at _Ditcham, 


the research. .In this 
: January 25, 1907. 


country, however, we 


were again behind. 

In 1903, the year after Mr. Dines had com- 
menced flying kites, Mr. P. Y. Alexander ob- 
tained the apparatus for registering balloon 
ascents, and about half a dozen balloons were 


sent up from Bath under the superintendence of 
Dr. Mansergh Varley. Nothing more was done in 
this country until 1907, when Mr. Dines had made 
the instrument that I have described. The first record 
to come back was from a balloon which Mr. Dines 


338 NATURE 


| May 28, 1914 


himself sent up on June 5 of the same year. By the 
end of July the first international week took place, 
during which special efforts were made to get observa- 
tions in the upper air, not only at the regular observa- 
rories, but by special expeditions to suitable localities. 
The number ot foreign Government expeditions sent 


out to take observations in the international weeks in- 


1907 and 1908 is remarkable; it is also remarkable 
that England, the geographical position of which 
makes her more dependent on weather than many 
Continental States, and which has a larger navy than 
any, was entirely unrepresented officially, and would 
have been unrepresented altogether had it not been for 
private effort. But by the time of the first inter- 
national week Mr. Dines had perfected his meteoro- 
gtaph and several observers had made themselves 
familiar with balloon work, and therefore this country 
was fairly well represented. 

There are now many observatories in all parts of 
the world which take part in the organisation. Among 
others that have recently been established may be 
mentioned Simla, under Dr. Walker; Helwan, in 
Egypt; Teneriffe; and a station in Uruguay. Par- 
ticularly to be noted, also, is the station in Spits- 
bergen, where German observers remain not only in 
the summer, but through the winter also, to study 
the atmosphere in the Arctic regions; and also the 
station at Batavia, in Java, where Dr. van Bemmelen 
is doing such excellent work on the winds in the 
upper air over the equatorial regions. 

The most complete observatory for upper air re- 
search is that at Lindenberg. This observatory was 
founded under the direct personal interest of the 
Kaiser, and under the direction of Dr. Assmann has 
carried out an immense amount of work with kites, 
captive balloons, and registering balloons. Ascents of 
one sort or another are made on every day in the 
year, and on the international days a large number of 
ascents are made on each day. You will realise the 
immense amount of work done when I mention that 
in 1912 there were twenty-six ascents of registering 
balloons, 262 of captive balloons, and 516 of kites. 
The Kaiser has also shown his interest in the subject 
by giving to the International Commission a_ trans- 
portable observatory that, in the first instance, has 
been erected on the Peak of Teneriffe, where the 
Spanish Government now proposes to build a_per- 
manent observatory. 

The Blue Hill Observatory, near Boston, which 
belonged to Prof. Rotch, has since his death been 
carried on by Mrs. Rotch; the observatory is now to 
be carried on for five years under the direction of 
Prof. McAdie, who is to take up the post of professor 
of dynamical meteorology at Harvard. It is to be 
hoped that some permanent arrangement will be come 
to whereby the observatory at Blue Hill may continue ; 
for it was here that so much pioneer work was done 
by Lawrence Rotch, whose untimely death was such 
a loss to science and to his friends. 

Another pioneer and a charming personality has 
also died, when it might have seemed that many 
vears were before him to carry on his favourite study ; 
I mean Léon Teisserenc de Bort, who only a few 
years ago received the Symons gold medal from this 
society. His death leaves his observatory at Trappes 
without a director. I believe, however, that arrange- 
ments have now been made by which it will be taken 
over by the French Government in connection with 
aviation. 

But it is not only in the permanent observatories 
that work is being done. No expedition for scientific 
exploration would be complete to-day without some 
means of studving the upper air. Dr. Simpson 
worked with balloors in the Antarctic in Captain 


NO. 2326, VOL. 93] 


Scott’s expedition; and both Captain Amundsen anc 
the Danish Expedition to Greeniand propose to study 
the upper air. 

Many expeditions have been dispatched for the sole 
purpose of aerological research. M. Teisserenc de 
Bort and Prof. Rotch chartered a steamer, which, in 
the years 1905, 1906, and 1907, traversed various 
parts of the eastern Atlantic, between the temperate 
zone and the equator, and obtained most interesting 
results from their observations. The Prince of 
Monaco made several cruises in his yacht, the Prin- 
cess Alice, in company with Prof. Hergesell, notably 
to the neighbourhood of the Canaries and to Spits- 
bergen. 

As Lindenberg is the most complete aerological 
observatory, so it has sent out what was perhaps the 
best equipped expedition; this was organised by Dr. 
Assmann for the study of the upper air in tropical 
Africa. Under the charge of Dr. Berson twenty-three 
ascents of registering balloons were made from a 
steamboat on the Victoria Nyanza from July to Sep- 
tember, 1908; great heights were reached, and valu- 
able results obtained: much work was also done with 
kites and pilot balloons. In the international week 


Fic. 16.—The Windlass House at Lindenberg. 


in July of the same year Prof. Palazzo made some 
ascents with registering balloons from an_ Italian 
cruiser in the neighbourhood of Zanzibar. 

The most recent aerological expedition is one 
organised by Mr. P. Y. Alexander to study the upper 
air over the valley of the Amazons; this, too, has 
been put under the charge of Dr. Berson. 

The Scotia, which was sent out to the parts of the 
North Atlantic where ice is frequent, also carried 
balloons and kites, and Mr. °G. I. Taylor was able to 
carry out observations in a pari of the globe where 
upper air work had not been tried before. 

I have attempted to give you a short history of 
upper air research up to the point it has reached 
to-day; I have refrained from giving you the results 
that have been gathered from the research. 

From this brief and necessarily incomplete account 
you will realise that upper air research is a cooperative 
study. The single observer out of touch with others 
can do little; more perhaps than in most sciences, it 
is the trained and united army that succeeds. And 
this is not the least of the charms of the science. I 
can personally testify how English and American, 
French and German, Russian and Scandinavian are 
all ready to help each other. There is no jealousy in 
the upper air. International barriers are broken down. ' 


1 The author is indebted to Prof. Assmann, Director of the Lindenberg 
Observatory, for the photographs reproduced in Figs. ro and 16, 


i; 
: 
" 
9 


sory 


May 28, 1914| 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 
INTELLIGENCE. 

Lonpon.—The Higher Education Subcommittee 
have presented to the London County Council Educa- 
tion Committee an important report on the recom- 
mendations of the Royal Commission on University 
Education in London, generally approving the pro- 
posals of the Commission with reference to the govern- 
ment of the University. “he subcommittee considers 
that the Senate should have full and effective control, 
both educational and financial, over the proposed con- 
stituent colleges, without reference to the provisions 
of existing Acts and Charters. Upon this under- 
standing, it is regarded as essential that the Imperial 
College of Science and Technology should become a 
constituent college of the University. The appoint- 
ment of a small Senate, non-representative in character, 
is also approved, but exception is taken to the pro- 
posed constitution of the Committee of Pechnology, 
particularly in regard to the representation of con- 
stituent colleges on such committee. isecommenda- 
tions are also made as to widening the representation 
of teachers in the membership of the re-organised 
faculties. ‘ 

At the meeting of the Senate on May. 20, 
Prof. E. G. Coker was appointed to the chair of 
civil and mechanical engineering, tenable at Univer- 
sity College, in place of Prof. Jeffcott recently ap- 
pointed to the chair. Dr. Coker is at present professor 
at the Finsbury Technical College, and formerly held 
an appointment at the Gill University. 

Dr. Frank Horton has been appointed to the chair 
of physics tenable at Royal Holloway College. 

The D.Sc. degree in botany has been granted to 
E. J. Schwartz, an external. student. 

The result of the poll for the election of a member 
of the Senate by graduates in science shows that Dr. 
M. O. Forster, who was. elected, obtained 796 votes, 
against 293 cast for his opponent, Dr. Forster Morley. 


MANCHESTER.—It is ‘proposed to ‘confer the follow- 
ing honorary degrees :—Litt.D.: Prof. E. K. Gonner, 
University of Liverpool; Prof. A. Feuillerat, Univer- 
sity of Rennes. D.Sc.: Prof. W. H. Bragg, Univer- 
sity of Leeds; Prof. W. J. Pope, University of Cam- 
bridge; and Dr. J. E. Stead, Middlesbrough. 


Tue honorary degree of Doctor of Engineering has 
been conferred upon Commerzienrat Carl Paul Goerz, 
the head of the well-known Goerz Optical Works, by 
the Technical High School in Charlottenburg, in 
recognition of his efforts in the development of the 
German optical industry in the advancement of photo- 
graphic optics, and in the construction and technical 
improvement of optical and measuring instruments. 


We learn from the issue of Science for May 15 that 
the gifts to Oberlin College for various purposes 
during recent months amount to nearly 38,oool., 
apportioned as follows :—For campus improvement, 
5000l.; for a new art building, 25,oool.; for a new 
organ in Finney Memorial Chapel, 5oool.; subscrip- 
tions toward the new athletic field, 28601. A large 
number of gifts, mostly anonymous, go to make up 
the 25,0001. for the new art building. 


lr was announced in several daily papers last week 
that the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, 
had received a gift of 75,o00l. for the establishment 
of a school of music. We are informed that the 
report was unauthorised and inaccurate, and that the 
facts are that a donor who does not wish his name 
to be made public has agreed to guarantee the sum 
of 30001. per annum for a period of five years in order 


NO. 2326, VOL. 93] 


NATURE 


| Windle, 


| adopted, subject to revision by a sub-committee. 


aoe 


_ to enable the college to found a school of instrumental 
music. The school will be opened next October. 
| Tue council of the University of Birmingham invites 
applications for the chair of physics, vacant by the 
death of Prof. J. H. Poynting. The stipend offered 
is 750l. a year. The regulations state that it will be 
the duty of the professor appointed to contribute so 
tar as in him lies to the advancement and diffusion 
of knowledge, especially by the prosecution and _ pro- 
motion of original research; to give instruction in 
accordance with the curriculum prescribed by his 
faculty and the Senate in his subject; to undertake 
| necessary examining work; and to take part in the 
organisation of the work of the University. Applica- 
_ tions should be sent to the secretary of the University 
on or before October 15 next. 

PROF. JOHN Perry, F.R.S., has recently retired 
_ from the staff of the Imperial College of Science and 
_ Technology, and a fund is being raised for the pur- 
| pose of giving expression to the appreciation of his 
services to the teaching of mathematics and_ to 
| engineering education. An appeal for subscriptions 
_has been issued to his former students and colleagues 
/ at the Imperial College and at Finsbury Technical 
_ College, but there are doubtless many others who 
have benefited by his published works and will 
_ desire to subscribe to the testimonial fund. It is to 
_be hoped that there will be a ready response, so that 
the committee will be able to commemorate his work 
in a fitting manner. Past and present students of 
the Imperial College should also notice that another 
fund is being raised for a testimonial to Prof. J. 
_ Harrison. Subscriptions should be sent to the hon. 
treasurer, Mr. P. T. Wrigley, Royal College of 
Science, South Kensington. 

MUNIFICENT gifts to the University College of South 
_ Wales and Monmouthshire were announced a few 
weeks ago, and were referred to in Naturg of May 14 
| (p. 287). We understand that the facts connected 
| with the recent donations to the college are as fol- 
| lows:—Last year Sir William James Thomas, of 
Ynyshir, undertook to build and present to the college 
on a site contiguous to the old buildings in Newport 
| Road a complete physiological department, so con- 
structed as to form a part of a scheme for a complete 
medical school on the same site. This year a donor, 
| who wishes at present to remain anonymous, has 
offered to build the whole of the buildings necessary 
| not only for a medical school, but also a school of 
preventive medicine, at an estimated cost of 60,000l. 
One of the conditions attached to the latter gift, how- 
| ever, is that the funds supplied by the Treasury should 
be sufficient for the upkeep of the complete school ; 
| and it remains to be ascertained whether this condi- 
| tion can be fulfilled. 
THE movement inaugurated a few months ago to 
| develop as completely as possible the educational side 
of the kinematograph made definite headway on 
| Wednesday, May 20, when the Educational Kinemato- 
| graph Association was formed at a meeting in London. 
| Among those who have ioined the council of this 
| body are Sir H. A. Miers, Rt. Hon. Sir Horace 
| Plunkett, Dr. C. W. Kimmins, Prof. R. A. Gregory, 
Prof. “(7 We Greson. «Mita. © .1pathurst.) Moe. Dr. 
(eyttelton,, “Mig. ie tGraves, Prot. Darroch,, Sir 
| Edward Anwyl, Sir Harry R. Reichel, Sir Bertram 
Sir Albert Rollit, and Gen. Sir R. Baden 
Powell. At the meeting a report was presented by 
the secretary, Mr. Morley Dainow, on behalf of the 
provisional committee, suggesting that the work of 
the association should be to encourage the best types 
of kinematograph production and develop a completely 
educational plan for their use. The report was 


The 


34° 


NATORE 


[May 28, 1914 


following officers were elected vice-presidents :—Sir 
Wm. Chance, Dr. Kimmins, Col. Sir J. R. D. Smith, 
Sir Albert Rollit. An executive committee representa- 
tive of educational and social welfare associations, 
was also appointed, and Mr. Morley Dainow was 
elected secretary ; communications should be addressed 
to him at 22-24 Great Portland Street, London, W. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 


LonpDon. 

Royal Society, May 21.—Sir William Crookes, presi- 
dent, in the chair.— Prof. W. M. Hicks: The effect of 
the magneton in the scattering of a rays. The pre- 
sence of a magneton in an atom must exert some effect 
in scattering a or f particles passing through the 
atom. In order to test the order of magnitude of the 
effect, the orbits of charged particles moving in the 
equatorial plane of a magneton are discussed, and it is 
seen that the scattering produced is very considerable. 
The nearest approach of an a particle to the centre of 
the atom is of the same order as in’ Rutherford’s 
theory. The electrostatic repulsion of an a particle 
combined with the magnetic field of the atom will 
therefore be more effective, as the diminished velocity 
will render the particle much more susceptible to the 
magnetic forces.—Hon. R. J. Strutt : Luminous vapours 
distilled from the arc, with applications to the study 
of spectrum series and their origin.—I. (1) It is 
known that mercury vapour distilled away from the 
arc in vacuo remains luminous for some distance away 
from the region of discharge. It is now shown how 
to observe brilliant effects of the same kind from a 
large number of other metals. (2) As the luminous 
vapour moves away from tne region of discharge, the 
rate at which different constituents in the spectrum 
die out is not always the same. Both the subordinate 
series of lines in the sodium spectrum die out at the 
same rate, but the principal series dies out more 
slowly. The lines belonging to any given series always 
die out at the same rate, but another series may or 
may not die out at the same rate as the first. (3) In 
some cases the glowing vapour distilled from the are 
shows a band spectrum. The alkali metals show a 
continuous band beyond the limit of the subordinate 
series like that seen in absorption in the hydrogen 
stars.—W. T. Pawlow: The ionisation of gases by 
collision and the ionising potential for positive ions 
and negative corpuscles.—C. E. Stromeyer: The deter- 
mination of elastic limits under alternating stress con- 
ditions. The present paper deals exclusively with the 
question of endurance or fatigue qualities of metals. 
The apparently incongruous results obtained by pre- 
vious experimenters, including those by Wohler, made 
it appear probable that samples taken from different 
parts of a bar or plate might differ so much in quality 
that the law of fatigue would be masked by local 
variation of quality. The test pieces of the present 
first series (bending) were therefore shaped in such a 
manner that consecutive pieces were separated from 
each other in the original plate by only one inch. 
The test results were found to be very consistent and 
could be expressea by the formula S,—=FI1+C(10°: N)s, 
where S, is the nominal alternating stress which will 
cause fracture after N repetitions, Fl is the fatigue 
limit found by extrapolation from a series of tests 
resulting in fracture. and C is a constant. A com- 
parison was made of previous tests with the help of 
this formula, and it was found to agree well with those 
of Wohler, Baker, and Eden, Rose and Cunningham. 
The torsion fatigue tests were made with the same 
materials as used in the above tests, and the results 
also agreed very closely with the above formula, 
except that new values for Fl and C were found. The 


NO. 2326, VOL. 93] 


inquiry was extended to the measuring of the heat 
generated during fatigue tests. G. W. C. Kaye and 
W. F. Higgins: The emission of electricity from 
various substances at high temperatures. — Experi- 
ments have been conducted at temperatures from 
2000° to 2500° C. within a carbon-tube furnace at 
atmospheric pressure. Under these conditions the elec- 
trical emissions, in the absence of any applied poten- 
tial, have been measured for a number of substances 
(including the alkaline earths and the metals tin, 
aluminium, iron, and copper) on their introduction into 
the furnace. During their rapid volatilisation the- 
substances gave out large amounts of electricity 
which, with one exception, were negative in sign. For 
example, barium oxide and alumina generated nega- 
tive currents of the order of 4 amperes per sq. cm., 
boiling tin about 2 amperes per sq. cm., and boiling 
iron about 1 ampere per sq. cm. Boiling brass, on 
the contrary, produced a positive current of about 
0-5 ampere per sq. cm. The results have interest in 
connection with the problems of solar magnetism. 


Linnean Society, May 7.—Prof. E. B. Poulton, presi-. 
dent, in the chair.—H. N. Ridley: The botany of the 
Utakwa Expedition, Dutch New Guinea. The exten- 
sive collection of plants made by Mr. C. B. Kloss 
during Mr. Wollaston’s expedition to Mt. Carstensz, 
Dutch New Guinea, in 1912-13, is the most important 
collection of New Guinea plants brought to this 
country.. In spite of the large collections made by 
Dutch and German collectors, there are upwards of 
five hundred new species and eight new genera in the 
collection, many of great interest. The plants were 
collected at various heights from sea-level to an alti- 
tude of about 13,000 ft., where vegetation ceased. 
The areas explored may be divided into four botanical 
regions :—(1) The coastal region, where the flora was 
largely of Malayan affinity. (2) The foot-hills, rang- 
ing from 500 to 3000 ft. elevation, an area of dense 
forest, the flora still typically Malayan but containing 
a distinct Australian element. (3) The frontal moun- 
tain belt from 3000 to 8000 ft. elevation, the begonia 
and balsam region. Here cultivation ceased. Palms 
disappear, and the first of the Palaearctic forms are 
met with, such as Viola, Ranunculus, Hypericum, and 
Galium. (4) The main mountain range. Here the 
big forest trees disappear, and herbaceous plants show 
a marked increase.—G. W. Smith: The genus Lernao- 


discus, F. Miller, 1862.—Dr. J. C. Willis: A new 
natural order of flowering plants: Tristichacez, 
separated from Podostemacez.—Prof. C. Chilton ; 


Some terrestrial Isopoda from New Zealand and Tas- 
mania; with the description of a new genus, Noto- 
niscus.—G. CC. Champion: Curculionidz from _ the 
Indian Ocean. 


Geological Society, May 13.—Dr. A. Smith Wood-. 
ward, president in the chair.—C. T. Trechmann; The 
Scandinavian drift of the Durham coast, and the 
general glaciology of South-East Durham. Evidence 
relating to the pre-Glacial levels and contours of the 
land in the Permian and Triassic areas has been col-- 
lected and examined, and supports the conclusion that, 
immediately prior to the oncoming of glacial con- 
ditions, the land stood at not less than 100 feet above 
its present level. The fissures and depressions of the: 
Middle and Upper Magnesian Limestones have been 
instrumental in preserving relics of the material 
brought by the earliest ice-sheet. This material proves 
to be devoid of the ordinary glacial erratics of the 
North of England and Scotland. The Seandinavian 
drift proper occurs about midway between Hartlepool 
and Seaham Harbour. It is represented by a trans- 
ported shelly clay containing a fauna of Arctic 
affinities, which recalls that of some of the basement 


May 28, 1914] 


clays of Flamborough and Holderness. All the stones 
{between 300 and 4oo) found in this clay were collected 
and examined. ‘The greater part are well-glaciated 
crystalline rocks, many of which (the typical Chris- 
tiania eruptives) certainly are of South Norwegian 
origin. ‘The apparent absence of any East Scan- 
dinavian rocks in Durham is noticed, and an explana- 
tion offered. Later than the fissure-filling material 
are certain water-deposited gravels and sands, which 
occupy shallow depressions underlying the main drift 
seen on the coast. The main drifts of S.E. Durham 
are described, and also the conspicuous kaimes de- 
veloped about the village of Sheraton and others, 
associated with the Cheviot drift—F. W. Penny: 
the Relationship of the Vredefort Granite to the Wit- 
watersrand System. The Vredefort Granite has always 
been considered as a member of that ‘‘old granite”’ 
group, which everywhere in the Transvaal and in the 
Orange Free State is found emerging from beneath the 
Witwatersrand Series. Evidence is bought forward to 
prove the intrusive character of the Vredefort Granite, 
both into the Witwatersrand Beds and into the basic 
intrusion associated with them. Along its margin the 
granite has removed varying amounts of the sediments 
from point to point; it reacted with the basic intru- 
sions in the sedimentary beds, with the consequent 
production of hybrid rocks. In one place, a subsidiary 
intrusion of granite occurs in the middle of the diabase. 
The granite, where it comes into contact with the slate 
members of the Witwatersrand Series, has induced 
definite metamorphism in them, producing a mag- 
netite-actinolite-staurolite rock, which is of an entirely 
distinct type from that induced by the basic intrusion 
associated with the Witwatersrand Beds, a micaceous 
phyllitic rock. It is suggested that the Vredefort 
Granite, instead of being ‘‘Archzan,” is of a post- 
Pretoria-pre-Karoo age, if not contemporaneous with, 
at least connected with, the same epoch of igneous 
activity as the ‘‘Red Granite” of the Northern 
Transvaal. 


Royal Meteorological Society, May 20.—Mr. C. J. P. 
Cave, president, in the chair.—E. Gold: The reduction 
of barometer readings in absolute units, and a new 
form of barometer card. The Meteorological Office 
having now employed the c.g.s. units in its publica- 
tions, this has necessitated the preparation of new 
tables for the reduction of the barometer readings and 
for the adjustment of the effect of difference between 
the standards of temperature 62° F. and 273° A.— 
A. Hampton Brown; A Cuban rain record and its 
application. The author dealt with the rainfall re- 
cords of the Belen College Observatory, Havana, for 
the period 1859 to 1912, and gave particulars of the 
monthly, yearly, and seasonal rainfall. The average 
yearly rainfall for the fifty years 1861-1910 .is just 
under 50 in., but during the past fifteen years there 
has been a marked tendency to diminished amounts. 
The rainfall year can be divided into two seasons: a 
wet from May to October, and a dry from November 
to April. During the former, 35-36 in., or 71 per cent. 
of the rain falls, the remaining 14-60 in., or 29 per 
cent., being recorded in the dry months. The author 
has endeavoured to trace the connection between the 
wet season at Havana during May to October, and 
the precipitation in England, south-west, and South 
Wales, during the three months, January to March 
following, and he has found that from 1878 onwards, 
when the first reports for this country are available, 
that an excess rainfall in Havana during May to 
‘October was generally followed by a deficient rainfall 
in England, south-west, at the beginning of the next 
year, and vice versd. For the eight years 1888-95, 
when the rainfall at Havana was continuously in 
excess, in England, south-west, the figures with one 


NG 2326, VOL: 92] 


| as a factor in soil-deterioration. 


NATURE 341 


exception were the reverse. During the next five 
years, 1896-1900, there was a deficiency at the Cuban 
station, and, excepting 1897, an excess in this country. 
There were many years where the application failed, 
but the general continuance of the see-saw movement 
was so persistent that it could scarcely be regarded 
as merely coincidental. 
CAMBRIDGE. 

Philosophical Society, May 4.—Dr. Shipley, president, 
in the chair.—W. L. Balls: (1) (a) A note on leaf-fall 
Described two cases 
where soil was rendered infertile through the shedding 
of leaves from tree-cottons over several years, and by 


.very heavy shedding from rank growth of ordinary 


(b) Specific salinity in the. cell-sap of pure 
strains. Followed from investigating the salt rela- 
tions of the previous note. Egyptian cotton was 
shown to be a. facultative halophyte, and different 
pure strains of the same were found to differ in salt 
content when growing with interlacing root. (2) 
Predetermination of fluctuation. kknvironmental 
factors which act at, or near, the time when a char- 
acter is manifest in an organism, are rarely of much 
importance in determining the development of thai 
character. Such factors merely exercise a subsidiary 
deforming influence upon a predetermined scaffolding, 
which was constructed at a much earlier stage in the 
life of the organism. A conception of discontinuity 
is thus introduced into the study of fluctuation. 
Simple illustration is provided by the development of 
the cotton fibre. A most complex example is the 
flowering of the cotton plant.—J. T. Saunders: The 
ammonia content of the waters of small ponds. ‘The 
free ammonia that exists in small ponds is very con- 
siderably reduced in amount after heavy rains, a reduc. 
tion that is out of all proportion to the amount of rain 
that has entered the pond. This reduction in the 
ammonia content adversely affects the nannoplankton, 
which decreases after heavy rains.—F, A. Potts: 
(1) Thompsonia, a little-known Crustacean parasite. 
Thompsonia is a Rhizocephalan cirripede, character- 
istic of the Indo-Pacific area, parasitic on various 
Decapods. (2) The gall-forming crab, Hapalocarcinus. 
Hapalocarcinus causes the curious bodies known as 
‘“oalls’? on branching corals like Pocillopora and 
Seriatopora. The female alone is responsible for the 
gall building; growth of a coral branch is modified by 
her respiratory current. The male is less than one- 
sixth the size of the adult female, and apparently 
wanders from gall to gall. 

BOOKS: RECEIVED: 

Zur Lehre von den Zustanden der Materie. By 
Prof. P. P. von Weimarn. Band i. Text. Pp. x+ 
190. Band ii. Atlas. Tafel lii, (Dresden and Leip- 
zig : T. Steinkopff.) 7 marks. 

Annual Report of the Zoological Society of Scotland 


cotton. 


for the Year Ending March 31, 1914. peo: 
(Murrayfield, Midlothian.) 
Department of the Interior. Weather Bureau. 


Annual Report of the Weather Bureau for the Year 
1g1t. Pp. 166. (Manila.) 

A Critical Revision of the Genus Eucalyptus. 
By J. H. Maiden. Vol. ii., part 10. Pp. ii+291-312 
+ plates 85-88. Vol. iii, parti. Pp. 11+1-22+plates 
89-92. (Sydney: W. P. Gullick.) 2s. 6d. each. 

Mémoires de la Société de Physique et d’Histoire 
Naturelle de Genéve. Vol. xxxviii. Fasc. 1. Rap- 
port du Président de la Société pour 1914. Les 
Cothurnidés Muscicoles. By E. Penard. Pp. 66+5 
plates. (Genéve: Georg et Cie.) 7 francs. 

My Garden in Summer. By E. A. Bowles. Pp. 
viii+316+plates. (London and Edinburgh: T,. C. 


and sb Gack.) sss net. 


342 


NATURE 


[May 28, 1914 


Notes on Elementary Inorganic Chemistry. By 
F. H.° Jeffery. Pp: ss. (Cambridge University 
Press.) 2s. 6d. net. 

Plants and Their Uses. By F. L. Sargent.. Pp. 
x+610. (London: Constable and Co., Ltd.) 5s. net. 

The Wonders of Wireless Telegraphy. By Prof. 
J. A. Fleming. Second edition, revised. Pp. xi+28o. 
(London ?>S. 2: G.K..). tas i6d, -net. 

Molecular Physics. By J. A. Crowther. Pp. viii+ 
167. (London: J. and A. Churchill.) 3s. 6d. net. 

Makers of Modern Agriculture. By Dr. W. Mac- 
donald. Pp. ix+82. (London: Macmillan and Co., 
Ltd.) 2s. od. net. 

Coast Sand Dunes, Sand Spits and Sand Wastes. 
By GG. O) Case - Pp. 162. _(Gonden :/ St. Brdes 
Press, Ltd.)) 5s. net. 

Handworterbuch der Naturwissenschaften. Edited 
by E. Korschelt and others. Lief. 76 and 77, 78. 
(Jena: G. Fischer.) Each 2.50 marks. 

Lunar Nomenclature Committee of the International 
Association of Academies. Collated List of Lunar 
Formations Named or Lettered on the Maps _ of 
Neison, Schmidt, and Madler. Compiled and Anno- 
tated for the Committee by M. A. Blagg, under the 
direction of the late S. A. Saunder. Pp. viii+ 182. 
(Edinburgh: Neill and Co., Ltd.) 

A Manual of Practical Physical Chemistry. By Dr. 
F. W. Gray. Pp. xvi+211. (London: Macmillan 
and Co., Ltd.) 4s. 6d. 

The Naturalist at the Sea-Shore. 
Pp. viiit+86+plates. (London: A. 
Is. 6d. net. 

Das Herzflimmern§ seine Enstehung und Bezieh- 


By R. Elmhirst. 
and C. Black.) 


ung zu den Herznerven. By D. L. Haberlandt. Pp. 
13. (Jena: G. Fischer.) 50 pfennigs. 
Die Erregungsleitung im Wirbeltierherzen. By 


Prof. E, Mangold. 
1.20 marks. 

Board of Education. Special Reports on Educa- 
tional Subjects. Vol. xxviii. School and Employ- 
ment in the United States. Pp. iv+225. (London: 
H.M.S.O.; Wyman and Sons, td yr asd. 

The British Revolution. By Dr. R. A. P. Hill. 
Pp. xii+116. (Cambridge University Press.) 2s inet 

Elementary Logic. By A. Sidgwick. Pp. X-+F250. 
(Cambridge University Press.) 3s. 6d. net. } 

John Napier and the Invention of Logarithms, 
By Prof. E. W. Hobson. Pp. 48. 
versity Press.) 1s. 6d. net. 

Cambridge Tracts in Mathematics and Mathe- 
matical Physics. No. 15. Complex Integration and 
Cauchy’s Theorem. By G. N. Watson. Pp. os 
(Cambridge University Press.) BS. aRee: 

Pp: 


Pp. 36. . (Jena: G. Fischer) 


1614. 
(Cambridge Uni- 


Ancient and Medieval Art. By M. H. Bulley. 


XXX +- 328+ plates xxvi. (London: Methuen and Co., 
Lid:). ss. net: 

A Manual of X-Ray Technic. By -Capi wae: 
Christie.. Pp. viii+ 104. (Philadelphia and London : 


J. B. Lippincott Co.) 8s. 6d. net. 


DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 
THURSDAY, May 28. 

Roya Society, at 4.30.—Anomalous Trichromatic Colour Vision : Prof. 
W. Watson.—Formaldehyde Perhydrol: Dr. H. J. H. Fenton.—Studies 
of the Processes Op-rative in Solutions. XXIX.: The Disturbance of 
the Equilibrium in Solutions by ‘Strong’ and ‘ Weak” Interfering 
Agents: Prof. H. E. Armstrong and E. E. Walker.—A Type reading 
Optophone: Dr. E. E. Fournier d’Albe.—An Application of Electrolytically- 
produced Luminosity, forming a Step towards Telectroscopy: L. H. 
Walter.—The Axial Chromatic Aberration of the Human Eye: P. G. 
Nutting.—The Convection of Heat from Small Cylinders in a Stream of 
Fluid and the Determination of the Convection Constants of Small 
Platinum Wires, with Applications to Hot-wire Anemometry : L. V. King. 

Roya InstitruTion, at 3.— Identity of Laws : in General: and Biological 
Chemistry : Prof. Svante Arrhenius. 

ConcRETE INSTITUTE. at 4.30.—Annual General Meeting. 


Rova ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE, at 8.15.—The Tribes of Togoland : 
Major H. Schomburgk. x 5 ogolanc 


NO. 2326, VOL. 93] 


' 


! 


FRIDAY, May 209. 
Royat INsTITUTION, at 3.—Plant Autographs and their Revelations: Prof. 


J. C. Bose. : 
SATURDAY, May 30. . 
Roya. InstiruTion, at 3.—Fiords and their Origin. II.: Fiords anc 
Earth Movements: Prof. J. W. Gregory. 


TUESDAY, Tune 2. 
Roya INnsTITUTION, at 3.—Celestial Spectroscopy : Prof. A. Fowler. 


WEDNESDAY, June 3. 

Society or Pusiic ANALYSTS, at 8.—The Insoluble Bromide value of 
Oils and its Determination : A. Gemmell.—The Determination of Iridium 
in Platinum-Iridium Alloys: C. O. Bannister.—(1) The Symbolical Repre- 
sentation of Analytical Operations ; (2) The Properties of some Chlor- 
hydrocarbons and their Uses in Chemical Analysis. II. : L. Gowing- 
Scopes.—The Changes in the Character of Fats during the Process of 
Cooking : Helen Masters and H. Ll. Smith.—The Chief Source of the 
Loss of Sulphuric Anhydride and of Chlorine by Ashing Substances 
containing these Constituents : J. O'Sullivan. 


“ENToMOLOGICAL SOCIETY, at 8. 


THURSDAY, June 4. 
Roya INSTITUTION, at 3.—Faraday andthe Foundations of Electrical 
Engineering : Prof. S. P. Thompson. 
FRIDAY, June s. 
RovaL INSTITUTION, at 9.—X-rays and Crystalline Structure: 
W. H. Bragg. 
Geotoaists’ ASSOCIATION, at 8.—Prehistoric Problems in Geology: R. A. 


Smith. 
SATURDAY, June 6. 
Roya INSTITUTION, at 3.—Studies on Expression in Art. 
Development : Sigismund Goetze. 


Prof. 


I.: Origin and 


CONTENTS. PAGE 


Greek Physics and Dynamics. ByJ.L. E.D. . . 317 
A Modified Alphabet for English. By W.R.... 315 
The Indian: Origin of the Maori © 7.7. © 2) ee ee Lo 
OurvBookshelf 3 orc tee te cme 


Letters to the Editor :— 
Temperature-Difference between the Up and Down 
Traces of Sounding-Balloon Diagrams. (With Dia- 


gram.)—W. H. Dines, F.R.S. . . se aie Ree 
Transmission of Electric Waves Round the Bend of 
the Earth.—Dr. W. Eccles . Nein d eh 
Some Phenomena of Clay Suspensions. (Z/dstvrated.) 
—B. A. Keen. RAS eye oe 2 ea 
The Kaiser-Wilhelm Institute of Chemistry. (///us- _ 
tqared) By.J. /B. Coan ear 322 


The Reorganisation of the Fishery Authorities. By 
Australian Meeting of the British Association. . . 32 
Notes. (///ustrated.). . . 3 
Our Astronomical Column :— 


@omet 19146 (Zlatinsky)aee ee te eee 330 
Nova: No. 2, Perse peer 331 
Observations at the Lowell Observatory 331 
The Spectra of 6 Cephei and ¢ Geminorum . 331 
The British Science Guild 331 
Fluids with Visible Molecules ate 332 
Contributions to Vertebrate Paleontology . 332 
The Royal Society of Tasmania. By J. W.G.. 333 

Upper Air Research. (///ustrated.) By Charles J. P. 
Cavers”. Meera, Ge : OES Ec eenaras, 42 334 
University and Educational Intelligence. . ... . 339 
Societies and Academiesm. ss eyeen-) pe 
Books Received . PPT t i oe RM TE AGG Gg ull 
Diary of Societies . 342 

Editorial and Publishing Offices: 
MACMILLAN & CO., Ltp., 

ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C. 

Advertisements and business letters to be addressed te the 


Publishers. 


Editorial Cammuntications t- tne &ditc». 


Telegraphic Address: Puztcis, LGNBCN. 
Telephone Number: GRRRARD 8830. 


NATURE \, 


TERI RSDAY , JUNE aye tora: 


; _ MEDIEVAL TECHNOLOGY. 
The Art of Dying. 
(Stratford-on-Avon: The 
ood.) Sce gs 200. net, 

HIS is not a medical or theological dis- 
quisition on.the most desirable route to 

Valhalla, but a reprint, in the original spelling, 

of a book first published in 1705, on.the methods 

then in vogue for colouring textile materials. 

It was written for the instruction. “of the lovers 
of the Noble Art of Dying,’’ and the “Ingenious 
Reader” is informed that the anonymous author 
was a “Jealous Votary to Physical. and Experi- 
mental Knowledge” who “ purchased the Receipts 
at a very dear Rate.” By means. of the book 


fe. F350: 
Tapestry Studio, 


In two parts. 


“the Candid Peruser is cheaply obliged with the | 


Select Practical Secrets of several Nations.” 

In all probability the receipts here collected 
really represent the best practice of the times, 
but they now appear very quaint, and a large 
number of the ingredients were obviously useless. 
For example, a black on silk was dyed in a vat 
containing no fewer than twenty-one ingredients, 
including senna, gentian, marjoram, hocxey, 
brandy, antimony, silver, gold, verdigris, copperas, 
and locksmith’s filings. . On the other hand (p. 
93), ‘“The manner of making a Fatt and_pre- 
paring hot Suds to dye Woolen blew”. gives a 
description of setting. an indigo vat, which would 
almost stand good for a fermentation vat of the 
present day. 

The second part of the book gives “A Perfect 
Description of Pot and Weed Ashes,” with in- 
structions “how to chuse the best sorts.” In 
this portion there is some very quaint information 
for the “lovers of Mathematicks” and others: 
e.g. “Take two Fatts, take them to Pieces and of 
the Planks make one Fatt and it will be found 
to make four of the other Fatts” (in capacity). 

Shipwreck of the vessels in which barrels of 
ashes were imported was evidently a common 


experience, as the art of fishing up the barrels 


with poles made for the purpose is fully described. 
Possibly, however, the poles were to be borrowed 


from the smugglers who had frequent occasion | 


to use them for the purpose of recovering the 
casks of brandy sunk on the approach of the 
preventive men. 

The recrudescence of handcrafts is due to a 
healthy revolt from present-day industrial con- 
ditions and results, but nothing would really be 
gained, either from the artistic or the economic 
point of view, by reverting to the old natural 


NO. 2327, VOL. 93| 


| . . 
medicines. 


( §JUN13 1914 


—Stonat Muse 
colouring matters. “As~well might we go back 


to burnt swallows or desiccated snakes for our 
The old-world charm of the’ stage- 
coach should not prevent us from making use of 
the convenience of the motor car, and a refusal 
to make use of modern scientific products would 
be an unnecessary limitation of the artistic possi- 
bilities of hand-made fabrics or other materials. 
The book is, however, an interesting historical 
record. WALTER M. Garpner. 


TAXONOMIC ZOOLOGY. 

(1) Catalogue of the British Species of Pisidium 
(Recent and Fossil) in the Collections of the 
British Museum (Natural History). With Notes 
on those of Western Europe. By B. B. Wood- 
ward. Pp. ix+144+xxx plates. (London: 
British Museum (Natural History); Longmans, 
Green, and’ Go., 1914.) Price- tos2 bas >” 

(2) The Coleoptera of the British Islands. By Dr. 
W. Warde Fowler and H. St. J. Donisthorpe. 
Pp. xiii+351+plates. Vol. vi. (Supplement). 
(London: Lovell Reeve and Co., Ltd., 1913.) 
Price 18s. net. 

(3) A Revision of the Ichneumonidae. Based on 
the Collection in the British Museum (Natural 


History). Part ai., Tribes Rhyssides, Fckthr-: 
morphides, Anomalides and Paniscides.. By 
Claude Morley... Pp: x+140. (London: 


British Museum (Natural History); Longmans, 
Greem and €o., Ltd), 1923.) Price 5s..6d=" ¢— 

(4) Catalogue of the Heads and Horns of Indian 
Big Game. Bequeathed by A. O. Hume, C.B., 
to the British Museum (Natural History). By 
R. Lydekker. Pp. xvi+45. (London: British 
Museum (Natural History); Longmans, Green 
and, CO: tata. 1GL3.))) tice. 25. 

(5) The Fauna of British India. Including Ceylon 
and Burma. Hymenoptera’ Vol. ii., Ichneu- 
monide: 1. Ichneumones Deltoidei. By 
Claude Morley. Pp. xxxvi+531. (London: 
Taylor and Francis, 1913.) Price 20s. 

(6) Catalogue of the Lepidoptera Phalaenae in the 
British Museum. Vol. xiii. By Sir George F. 
Hampson, Bart. Pp. xiv+60g9+xviil plates. 
(London: British Museum (Natural History) ; 
Longmans, Green and Co., Ltd., 1913.) Price 
16s. 

(1) HIS excellent monograph deserves a niche 

to itself; not, indeed, because of the 
inherent splendour of its raw material, for it em- 
bodies only the exuvie of a few species of small 
fresh-water Mollusca, but by reason of its form, 
its style, and its finished technique. Its quality 
and dignity are enhanced by the fact that it takes 
in not only the present condition and past history 

1g 


344 


of the genus Pisidium, but also the geological 
relations of the British species. 

All taxonomic work on fresh-water Mollusca— 
perhaps all taxonomy of fresh-water invertebrates 
—is difficult, even when no obfuscation has accrued 
from the fitful labours of commentators, because 
of the infinite little diversities of environment to 
which fresh-water species are exposed; but the 
genus Pisidium offers peculiar difficulties, on ac- 
count of the small size of the shells and the 
obscurity of their specific features. 

There can be little doubt that this fine mono- 
graph, with its critical treatment of history and 
synonomy, its concentrated attention upon crucial 
hinge characters, its graphic summaries of specific 
distribution, its exhaustive bibliography, and its 
copious wealth of figures, will make the way easy 
for students of the British species of the genus 
Pisidium. But it is doubtful whether any but an 
experienced veteran will appreciate the immense 
labour and unwearied application which this work, 
involving close examination of many thousands of 
specimens, recent and fossil, represents. 

(2) The sixth volume of this important and use- 
ful work consists partly of concise descriptions— 
accompanied by exact records of distribution— 
of species added to the British list since the publi- 
cation of the fifth volume in 1891, and partly of 
miscellaneous notes and records compiled by Mr. 
Donisthorpe. There is an interesting introductory 
chapter by the senior author, in which classifica- 
tion and some other matters of general interest 
are discussed. For classification he repeats his 
division of the Coleoptera into three suborders: 
Adephaga, Polycerata, and Lamellicornia, the 
Polycerata including the Staphylinoidea and five 
big groups (Clavicornia, Serricornia, Heteromera, 
Phytophaga, and Rhynchophora), which some 
entomologists still regard as suborders. 

The species question is briefly alluded to in a 
few very sensible words, Dr. Fowler apparently 
not being addicted to the belief that species are 
entities that sprout into existence ready-made. 

(3) In this volume the four tribes Rhyssides, 
Echthromorphides, Anomalides, and Paniscides 
are reviewed, the first two tribes being briefly 
characterised and the last tribe being fully defined, 
while the limits of the third (Anomalides) are 
merely indicated by the constituent genera. There 
are 298 species included, and these are distri- 
buted in 30 genera, 71 of the species and 8 of 
the genera being named and defined as new to 
knowledge. All the genera and species are differ- 
entiated in neat and concise, yet adequate, tables; 
and beyond this the limits of each genus are critic- 
ally discussed, and in the case of species the 

NO. VO -93)| 


2327; 


NATURE 


[JUNE 4, 1914 


synonomy and geographical distribution, and 
usually the salient specific attributes, are fully con- 
sidered. It is a model of a revision, and the only 
word that can be breathed against it is that in the 
geographical grouping of the species of the larger 
genera political instead of zoological divisions of 
the globe are adopted—which is rather a pity, as 
the geographical distribution of many of the 
genera is very suggestive, and deserves to be 
emphasised. It is to be hoped that in taking this 
course the author has not been influenced by those 
extremists of the convergence school who try to 
flout the systematist out of his calling. 

(4) A portrait and an appreciative biographical 
sketch of the original of this bequest—a man dis- 
tinguished alike for his ardour in natural history 
and. sport, his culture, and his generosity—take 
this small volume quite out of the roll of common 
museum catalogues. 

The material catalogued includes ninety-seven 
picked specimens of Indian big game trophies, 
making a collection such as, to quote Mr. 
Lydekker, “it would nowadays be impossible to 
bring together.”” Every specimen is meted and ap- 
praised acording to mode. No fewer than twenty- 
four of them have a place in the front rank, four 
of these—to wit, of the Shou (Cervus wallichi), 
the Tibetan Antelope, the Himalayan Serow, and 
the Lahul Ibex—being ‘records’; while eight 
more—namely, of the Yak, the Bharal, the Sind 
Wild Goat, the Nilgri Tahr, the Blackbuck, the 
Yarkand Gazelle, the Yarkand Stag, and the 
Chital—are, severally, proxime accesserunt. 

Modest as are its limits, the work bears the 
author’s hall-mark. 

(5) This volume, dealing with a group of insects 
of approved economic value, is a noteworthy 
addition to the fauna of British India. But if it 
satisfies expectations it excites them no less, since, 
though all the great component parts of the 
Ichneumon family are defined and correlated, it is 
only an instalment in which about half the known 
specific forms are arranged and described. 

The author’s preface, wherein he quotes with 
full appreciation the saying of Agassiz, that “the 
purpose of systematic work must be to increase 
our knowledge of the relationship of animals,” at 
once inspires confidence. This confidence is 
strengthened by the judicious management and 
scholarly tone of the introductory chapter, in 
which a historic account of the family is followed 
by sections, as clear as they are concise, treating 
of metamorphosis, structure, and classification. 
After this, the author’s statement that concise 
tabulation is very difficult, on account of the extra- 
ordinary instability of species in this family—an 


JUNE 4, 1914] 


—— 


instability in which, among other contributing 
factors, cross-breeding may perhaps play a part— 
arouses little misgiving. 

The definitions of genera, of which there are 
140, and of species, of which there are 406, are 
polished, and can be read without fatigue, and 
conspicuous attributes and suggestive relations 
are effectively summarised. The text-figures illus- 
trating genera are for the most part very clear and 
good. 

(6) The construction of this monumental work 
goes steadily on, to the infinite honour of its 
author. 

This thirteenth volume, of more than 600 pages, 
represents two subfamilies, and part of a third, of 
the great group Noctuide. The species included 
are of Catocaline 379, bringing up the total 
number for the subfamily to 1022, of Momine 74, 
and of Phytometrime 226. 

The key to the Catocaline is reprinted from 
vol. xii., for convenience. This key, with its clear 
dichotomies for no fewer than 10g genera, as well 
as similar keys to the species of the larger genera, 
embracing some 26, some 40, and one even Io1 
species, enables the casual critic to form some idea 
of the prodigious amount of attentive labour em- 
bodied—one might almost say enshrined, when one 
considers that this is an ordered part of a monu- 
ment dere perennius, pyramidum altius—in this 
volume. 

The illustrations are on a generous scale; in 
addition to 455 beautiful coloured figures, in 
eighteen plates separately bound, there are 130 
figures in the text, so that every genus is repre- 
sented at least once. 


SIX ESSAYS ON SEX. 

(1) Ursprung der Geschlechtsunterschiede. By 
Dr. Paul Kammerer, in Fortschritte der Natur- 
wissenschaftlichen Forschung. Herausgegeben 
von Prog (Emil Abderhalden. hd. V-, pp. 1— 
240. (Berlin and Vienna, Urban and Schwarzen- 
berg, 1912.) Price 15 marks. 

(2) Die biologischen Grundlagen der sekundéren 
Geschlechtscharaktere. By Dr. J. Tandler and 
Dr. S. Grosz. Pp. 169. (Berlin: Julius Springer, 


1913.) Price 8 marks. 
(3) Sex Antagonism. By Walter Heape. Pp. 217. 
(London: Constable and Co., Ltd., 1913.) 


Price 75. 6d.° net. 

(4) The Nature and Origin of Secondary Sex 
Characters. By F. W. Ash. ‘Trans. North 
Staffordshire Field Club. xlvii. (1913), pp. 
SEB 

(5) Les Problémes de la Sexualité. By Prof. 
Maurice Caullery.. Pp. 332. (Paris: Ernest 
Flammarion, 1913.) Price 3.50 francs. 

NO. 2327, VOL. 93| 


a 


NATURE 345 


) 


(6) Heredity and Sex. By Prof. T. H. Morgan. 
Pp. ix+282. (New York: Columbia University 
Press ; London: Oxford University Press, 1913.) 
Price 7s. 6d. net. 


(r) Ian KAMMERER has made all students 

of the biology of sex his debtors by 
taking a scholarly and critical survey of most of 
the recent contributions to the subject, and of the 
experimental work in particular. His treatise is 
a model of fairness and thoroughness, and must 
have involved a prodigious industry. He deals 
with the determination of sex, the theories of sex 
dimorphism, the results of experiments in castra- 
tion, regeneration, transplantation, breeding, and 
environmental influence, and at very considerable 
length with the recent work on the internal secre- 
tions of the reproductive organs. The bibliography 
occupies twenty-three pages of small type! An 
attempt may be made to indicate Kammerer’s 
general conclusions. The first important step in 
the evolution of sexual reproduction was_ the 
specialising of germ-cells as distinguished from 
body-cells. The second was the differentiation of 
macrogametes and microgametes, which are con- 
trasted in their assimilation capacities, amount of 
cytoplasm, size, and activity. The factors that 
condition maleness (‘‘mikrogametismus’’) or 
femaleness (“makrogametismus”’) are ultimately 
assimilation differences—the thesis, it may be re- 
called, of “The Evolution of Sex’’ (1889), to 
which no reference is made in text or bibliography. 
The differentiation of sex doubtless occurred very 
early in phylogeny, and the determination of sex 
occurs correspondingly early in ontogeny. During 
maturation the gametes are probably in varying 
degrees susceptible to environmental influence, so 
that their predisposition to one sex or the other 
may be changed, but the higher the animal the less 
is its susceptibility. Only in plants and in the 
lower animals can we now succeed in experiment- 
ally changing the progamic predisposition, activa- 
ting the tendency which should otherwise remain 
latent. 

Removal of the essential gonads changes the 
metabolism of the body, and is usually followed 
by a degeneration of the subsidiary sex characters. 
But it is practically impossible to draw a definite 
line between sex characters and body characters. 
It seems as though the body were ‘“‘ sexed ” through 
and through. The castration, however early, 
never prevents the appearance of the embryonic 
primordium of any character; it merely exerts a 
quantitative influence on the development. When 
the essential gonadial substances are introduced by 
transplantation or injection into a_ castrated 
animal, the effects of castration are alleviated or 
reversed, and what can be done with ovarian sub- 


346 


NALORE 


[JUNE 4, 1914 


stance can also be done with testicular substance. 
It is an extraordinary fact that injection of the 
gonadial substance, or even cerebral substance, of 
animals in heat (of males especially), may be fol- 
lowed in castrated animals by sexual excitement 
and symptoms of heat. The eroticised brain is to be 
regarded as a regulator, which quickens or retards 
the growth of certain parts by its effect on the 
blood-vessels, and also affects the tonus of other 
ganglia. 

Kammerer goes on to show that sex characters 
behave in inheritance like specific or racial charac- 
ters; they illustrate either blended or alternative 
inheritance. Indifferent systematic characters may 
come to be sex-linked; all sex characters are 
fundamentally species characters, and all species 
characters are also sex characters. As we shall 
point out later, this appears to us to be a sound 
idea exaggerated into an extravagance. Nor can 
we accept Kammerer’s general Lamarckian 
theory, for which no convincing evidence is ad- 
duced, that sex differences have been environment- 
ally impressed on the passive organism or func- 
tionally acquired by the active organism. Our 
only other criticism of a monumental piece of work 
is that the author seems to be just a little in a 
hurry to accept conclusions in regard to the 
efficacy of the gonadial hormones. Some of Mr. 
Geoffrey Smith’s recent work, which is of the 
highest importance, seems to indicate that we are 
not shut up to one interpretation. 

(2) The fine work of Tandler and Grosz is in 
many ways like Kammerer’s, but it deals in the 
main with man and mammals. The authors regard 
the differentiation of dimorphic gametes as the 
first and fundamental step in the evolution of sex ; 
somatic dimorphism was a later acquisition. The 
criterion of a sex character is not so much that it 
has to do with reproduction, but that it responds 
variably to the stimulus of the internal secretion 
of the gonads. Sex characters are not novelties, 
but specific, or generic, or other systematic charac- 
ters which have been brought into close correla- 
tion with the glands of internal secretion, and with 
those of the gonads in particular. This thesis is 
supported by masterly argument, and one is not 
disinclined to admit that, not only in regard to 
sex characters, but also in regard to other adaptive 
characters, it has been the method of evolution to 
get apparently new things out of the most ancient 
materials. It will be remembered that Dohrn 
elaborated this idea in his theory of ‘‘ Funktions- 
wechsel.”” But it appears to us that Tandler and 
Grosz have over-generalised. _ It may be that the 
antlers of the stag are masculine exaggerations of 
a systematic character once common to both sexes 
(and still shared by both in the reindeer), but we 


NO, 222757 VOLE. 03) 


think there are many cases, especially among in- 
vertebrates (where we know little of internal 
secretions), which will not. admit of a_ similar 
interpretation. Is the pouch of the female marsu- 
pial, or the pouch of Nototrema, or the shell of the 
female Argonaut referable to a _ systematic 
character originally common to both sexes? The 
claspers of Selachians are evolved from portions of 
the pelvic fins, and to that extent from a character 
common to the two sexes; but is there any warrant 
for supposing that ancestral female Selachians had 
anything definitely corresponding to “claspers ” ? 
The same kind of remark may be made in refer- 
ence to many similar cases, such as the extra- 
ordinarily specialised tips of the pedipalps in male 
spiders. And what shall we say of such familiar 
sex characters as the scrotum of most male 
mammals or the ovisacs of many’ female 
Copepods ? eck, 
(3) Mr. Heape is well known as an embryo- 
logist and investigator of the physiology of repro- 
duction, and his conclusions on the relations of 
the sexes are entitled to careful consideration. 
He is of opinion that the male sexual instincts 
and requirements are quite different from those 
of the female; environmental changes affect the 
two sexes differently ; antagonism arises when the 
natural requirements of the two sexes clash. 
Thus he regards the present phase of the woman’s 
movement (‘‘the present sex war,” he calls it) as 
primarily a biological phenomenon. “It is obvious 
that the driving force is engendered by desire to 
alter the laws which regulate the relations, and 
therefore the relative power of the sexes.” At 
present the male is disturbed and damaged by 
being compelled to repress his strong generative 
impulse; the female is disturbed and damaged be- 
cause she is leaving, or is forced to leave, the 
straight path of maternity. This seems to us an 
exaggeration of the sex factor, and we adhere to 
the belief that the driving force with the great 
majority of women interested in the wholesome 
unrest of to-day is the deliberate and conscious 
desire to alter those social, economic, and political- 
conditions which have tended in the past to pre- 
vent large numbers of women from taking their 
due share in citizenship. We think that Mr. 
Heape has done good service in emphasising the 
deep constitutional differences between man and 
woman, and we heartily agree with his conclusion 
that ‘‘a woman’s usefulness, her value in society, 
and therefore her power and her happiness, depend 
not on her likeness to, but on her dissimilarity from 
man.” We maintain, however, that the threads 
of sex have been caught up and intertwined with 
so many others that, although the importance of 
no set of threads can be disregarded, the attempt 


JuNE 4, 1914] 


NATURE 


347 


to refer this or that movement to purely physio- 
logical, or purely psychological, or purely 
economic factors is a false abstraction. 

Of great interest and value, as it seems to us, 
is the author’s contribution to the theory of 
exogamy and totemism. In a discussion with 
Dr. Frazer—a model expression of vigorous differ- 
ence of opinion—Mr. Heape maintains that the 
origin of exogamy, the cause from which the 
habit arose, is to be looked for in “the natural 
desire of the male to seek for his mate outside his 
own family or clan; while totemism, in so far as 
it is a more or less elaborate system of restricting 
the wanderings of the errant male, was probably 
derived from the opposite sex.” To the male the 
sexual gratification is of more moment; the 
strange woman is more stimulating; hence exo- 
gamy. To the female the consequences of sexual 
consummation are of more moment; she is at 
heart a mother with a family; hence totemism, a 
product of the feminine imagination, which has 
aided enormously in the consolidation of the 
family. According to Dr. Frazer, .it was 
ignorance of. the physical significance of paternity 
that the primitive: mother explained to herself the 
quickening of the child in her womb as due to the 
entrance of a child-spirit from some external object 
a tree or fruit, a beast or bird—the totem. 
Mr. Heape points out the difficulties in the way 
of accepting this theory, and especially the diffi- 
culty of believing in a primitive ignorance of the 
part the male plays in generation. He suggests 
that the superstition was the outcome of the 
pregnant mother’s desire, hope, and finally belief 
that the virtue of something she admired in the 
outer world might pass into her child and endow 
it. This is, of course, the merest indication of 
the author’s thesis, which is admirably defended. 

(4) Mr. F. W. Ash propounds the view that 
male secondary characters are, in general, charac- 
ters of “abandoned function,” corresponding to 
parts which were functional and developed in both 
sexes in the comparatively recent ancestry; they 
develop in the adult male because there is nutritive 
material to spare, they do not develop in the 
female because “the surplus growth energy is 
more directly diverted to provide for a fresh 
generation.” The first part of this theory corre- 
sponds to the view of Tandler, Grosz, and 
Kammerer, that’ sex characters are derived from 
systematic characters once common to both sexes ; 
the second part of the theory corresponds to the 
much-discussed ‘“‘surplusage theory” of Hesse 
and Doflein. Towards the end of his paper the 
author maintains that the differences between the 
sexes depend on. differences in nutrition—which 
favour anabolic or katabolic preponderance—an 


NO. 2327, VOL. 93| 


in 


interpretation argued for by the authors of ‘The 
Evolution of Sex” (1889), and recently rehabili- 
tated by others. 

(5) If one wishes a descriptive account of the 
facts of sex, brought well up to date, one has it in 


Prof. Caullery’s volume. He discusses’ the 
gametes, hermaphroditism, sex dimorphism, 
sexual selection, castration, internal secretions, 


the determination of sex, Mendelism and sex, 
parthenogenesis, sex and asexual multiplication, 
sex in plants, and sex in the simplest organisms. 
We are not impressed with the arrangement of 
the book (the author has his own views on this 
subject), but we are impressed with its clearness, 
carefulness, and scepticism. It almost overdoes 
objectivity, and we are not left with an evolutionist 
picture—probably because the author thinks the 
times are not ripe. He is convinced, however, 
that sex is an aspect of the whole organism— 
dependent primarily, though not always finally, 
on the physico-chemical constitution of the fertil- 
ised ovum; and he leaves us with the conundrum : 
Does the germ determine the sex of the soma, or 
does the sex of the soma determine the differentia- 
tion of the germ? The answer is that the ques- 
tion is wrongly put. 

(6) Prof. T. H. Morgan seeks to link together 
the results of experimental and _ cytological 
analysis. Some of his general positions may be 
summed up:—Sexual reproduction has been 
utilised in evolution in the building up of new 
combinations, but it does not furnish materials for 
progressive advance; sex determination depends 
on an internal mechanism, which appears to be 
the same as that which regulates the distribution 
of Mendelian characters ; sex is due, like any other 
character, to some factor or determiner contained 
in the sex chromosomes, of such a kind that when 
present in duplex it turns the scale so that a female 
organism results, and that when present in sim- 
plex, a male results; sex-linked characters, while 
following Mendel’s principle of segregation, are 
also undeniably associated with the mechanism 
of sex—that is, with the behaviour of the chromo- 
somes at the time of the formation of the germ- 
cells; Darwin’s theory of sexual selection is open 
to serious criticism, for there is no clear proof 
of choice, and there is lack of evidence that selec- 
tion could effect the sex differences, which may be 
due to mutations; the secondary sex characters 
are not all on the same footing (in insects, for 
instance, their development is independent of the 


_ reproductive organs), and it is not likely that their 


evolution can be explained by any one theory. 
The author also deals with gynandromorphism, 
hermaphroditism, and special cases of sex inherit- 
ance; and one of the most valuable chapters in 


348 


NATURE 


[June 4, 1914 


the book is a discussion of fertility and sterility 
in the light of recent advances. We have to 
thank Prof. Morgan for these lucid and scholarly 
lectures on heredity and sex, which express his 
characteristic combination of critical judgment and 
synthetic appreciation. The reader is assisted by 
the numerous illustrations, many of which are very 


fresh and interesting. fc: 
OUR BOOKSHEEF. 
Das Elisabeth Linné-Phdnomen  (sogenanntes 


Blitzen dey Bliiten) und seine Deutungen. By 

Proi dae.) Wee lhomas. “Pp. 953. Se ieuae 

G) Fischer, 1914.) Price. a 50 marics. 
Tuts small work has the two-fold object of direct- 
ing the attention of nature-lovers to the pleasing 
phenomenon of “Flashing Flowers,” which is 
more exactly defined as the Elizabeth Linnaeus 
Phenomenon, and of giving a scientific explana- 
tion of its cause. 

Perhaps the most interesting feature of the in- 
vestigation is the names with which it is asso- 
ciated, - beginning with Elizabeth Linnzus 
(daughter of the great Swedish botanist), who first 
observed the flashing of Indian Cress flowers at 
twilight in her father’s garden at Hammarby, 
near Uppsala, and published her observation with 
a comment from Linnzeus himself. Her discovery 
interested a number of scientific men, who 
ascribed the appearance to electricity, phosphor- 
escence, etc., or rejected it as imaginary and only 
visible to those who could see ghosts. High 
above them all stands Goethe, who answered 
Elizabeth Linnzeus’s pertinent question ‘‘ whether 
the flashing is in the flower or in the eye,” by 
referring to the effect upon the eye of brilliant 
complementary colours, and by pointing out that 
the flashing is only seen in a flower which comes 
sideways into the field of vision. 

Prof. Thomas gives an explanation of the 
phenomenon. It is perceived, he says, in twi- 
light, which makes red brighter and green duller 
than they appear in full daylight. As the image 
of the red flower moves from the peripheral part 
of the retina, where the rods are red-blind, to 
the fovea, the red is perceived somewhat more 
vividly than before, and this image coincides with 
the Purkinje after-image of the surroundings, 
giving the impression of a flash. How 


Die Wichtigsten Lagerstétten der “ Nichterze.” 
By Prof. O. Stutzer. Zweiter Teil: Kohle (All- 
gemeine Kohlengeologie). Pp. xvi+ 345 +xxix 
plates. (Berlin: Gebriider Borntraeger, 1914.) 
Price 16 marks. 

Tuts second part of Dr. Stutzer’s encyclopaedic 

work is entirely devoted to coal and other carbon- 

aceous deposits. The first, or petrographical, 
division of the volume deals with the chemical and 
physical characters of coal and the results of its 
microscopical examination, with a discussion of 
the theories of the origin of coal. The aim of the 
author is to bring together the observations and 
conclusions of all who have written upon the 


views of his own. The second division of the 
work is stratigraphical, and an immense amount 
of valuable information is collected and classified 
concerning coal-seams—their modes of occurrence 
and the indications which they exhibit of opera- 
tions taking place during and subsequently to 
their deposition. The third division of the book 
is statistical, dealing with coal-supply and coal- 
production in all parts of the globe, full use being 
made of the important work on ‘The Coal Re- 
sources of the World,” which was inaugurated at 
the meeting of the Geological Congress at Toronto 
and published last year. Throughout the work 
before us no effort seems to have been spared by 
its author in making the information complete and 
up-to-date. Among the numerous wood-cuts are 
given many graphic illustrations, which are of the 
greatest assistance to the reader, as well as copies 
of figures derived from the works of a great 
number of different authors. Taken altogether, 
this second part of Dr. Stutzer’s monograph fully 
realises the high expectations which must have 
been formed by all who have used his earlier 
volume. 


Descriptive Geometry. Part i., Lines and Planes. 
By Prof. John C. Tracey. Part ii., Solids. By 
Prot. H. B.. North, and’ Prot.J> Gx. foaeess 
Pp. x+126. (New York: John Wiley and 
Sons, Inc. ; London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 
7914.) Price 8s,.6d- eet. 


Peruars the most notable feature of this work is 
its logical development of the subject. Beginning 
with the point in space we are shown its plan, 
front elevation, and side elevation, when situated 
in the various positions relatively to the three 
planes of projection. Then follows an equally ex- 
haustive treatment of the line and plane. A very 
complete system of notation, specially suitable for 
oral instruction as well as for private reading, 
is carefully defined and strictly adhered to through- 
out. Also, in the authors’ scheme is a unique 
system of triple columns. In the first column the 
problem is stated in general terms along with the 
principles and previous problems involved. In the 
other two parallel columns we have an illustrative 
particular case, accompanied by a figure, or by a 
series of figures exhibiting the successive steps in 
the solution. The authors give special prominence 
to three fundamental constructions on which most 
of the subsequent work is based. 

A student who has thoroughly mastered the first 
part of the book should have little difficulty with 
the second, which deals with some of the simpler 
geometrical solids; their projections when situ- 
ated in easy and in difficult positions ; their sections 
by vertical, inclined, and oblique planes; the 
development and intersection of their surfaces ; and 
the determination of lines and planes tangential 
to them. 

The general treatment is purposely somewhat 
abstract, being unrelieved by practical problems 
or applications. The authors, however, propose 
to issue later a complete set of exercises for use 
with this verv thorough and sound work on 


subject, rather than to advocate any particular | descriptive geometry. 


NO.) 2327) Vile @3 || 


June 4, 1914] 


NATURE 


349 


LETTERS. LO THE EDITOR. 


[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for 
opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with 
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 
this or any other part of Nature. No notice is 
taken of anonymous communications. ] 


Efficiency of Damped Seismographs. 


In Nature (April 2, 1914, p. 119) I found reprinted 
a statement of Dr. Cavasino, concerning the influence 
of damping on recording seismographs, which I think 
is based upon a misunderstanding. 

There is no doubt that when damping is introduced, 
until the limit of aperiodicity is attained, the proper 
period of the instrument exists as such. But it is not 
that point at all which is important, but the fact that 
more or less heavy damping diminishes the influence 
of the proper motion of the instrument on the record 
and enables one to obtain a much more trustworthy 
picture of the true motion of the ground. 

Further, if you have an instrument of low sensitive- 
ness and simply introduce a heavy damping you will 
make a very bad seismograph; but nobody proceeds in 
this way. When damping is introduced, one must 
simultaneously provide to augment the magnification, 
be it by introducing magnifying levers like those in 
Wiechert’s instruments, or by using galvanometric 
registration as in the aperiodic seismographs. The 
lengthening of the proper period of the instrument also 
gives good results for the longer seismic waves. 

If these precautions are taken, heavily damped in- 
struments give absolutely the same moments for the 
commencement of both first preliminary phases of an 
earthquake as undamped ones; moreover, the three 
different components give absolutely the same results. 
There can be no question of a difference of several 
minutes, not even of seconds, as Cavasino states. The 
difference in the times of arrival of the first longi- 
tudinal waves for the aperiodic instruments of the 
Pulkovo seismological station for the three components 
of the movement of the ground differ from another 
only by a fraction of a second. 

Cavasino’s assertion, that damped pendulums give 
fewer records of earthquakes than undamped ones only 
depends upon the way in which the damping is intro- 
duced, and as a general statement does not hold good. 
In fact, the aperiodic instruments in Pulkovo regis- 
tered in 1912, 671, and in 1913, 576 earthquakes; the 
number of azimuths of the epicentre determined at 
Pulkovo were, in 1912, 137, and in 1913, 103. 

In 1913 the number of earthquakes registered by 
aperiodic instruments were :—In Tiflis, 456; Irkutsk, 
738; and Taschkent, 954. 

I doubt whether any other. seismological station 
using undamped seismographs has approached these 
figures. B. GatitTzin. 

Laboratoire de Physique de l’Académie 

Impériale des Sciences, St. Pétersbourg, 
May II. 


Spectra of Secondary X-Rays. 


HirHerto all X-ray spectra have been obtained by 
using the body, the spectrum of which is to be 
examined, as an antikathode inside the tube. - All the 
trouble of exhausting the tube, etc., can be avoided by 
illuminating the substance of which the spectrum is 
to be determined with the primary rays from a tube 
of any of the usual types, and only allowing the 
secondary rays to enter the spectrograph. I have 
photographed the secondary spectra of copper, zinc, 
mercury (amalgam of zinc), ete., by this method with- 


NO. 2327, VOL. 93] 


out any trouble. Zinc amalgam, for instance, shows 
five rays, two due to zinc, one due to some impurity— 
probably iron—and two due to mercury. 

If a quantity of the substance to be examined is 
placed in a thin paper bag, the experiment is par- 
ticularly striking. Using zinc oxide, for instance, the 
presence of zinc was evident immediately, so that the 
chemical analysis of a substance inside a _ closed 
envelope without in any way touching or manipulating 
it is no longer beyond the bounds of possibility. 

The method promises to be particularly useful for 
any experiment in which the rays emitted under 
various conditions are to be examined, such as those 
on the effect of an electric or magnetic field upon the 
spectra, with which I am now engaged. 

MaurRIcE DE BROGLIE. 

29 Rue Chateaubriand, Paris, May 30. 


Weather Forecasts. 


At the conclusion of my former note on this subject 
(NaturE, February 26, 1914, vol. xcii., p. 711) I said 
that it seemed improbable that trustworthy forecasts 
of the weather for twenty-four hours in advance ever 
would, or could, be made for latitudes far removed 
from the equator, and in the present communication 
I give the reasons for that opinion. 

Enough is now known concerning the average weather 
conditions on the globe to show that were it possible 
to make the surface wind currents visible and to 
observe their distribution from a distance, the appear- 
ance would be 
very much like 
that given in 
the accompanying 
figure, provided 
that the surface 
was level and 
uniform in 
quality; - 7.¢./.. ail 
land or all sea. 

The wind cur- 
rents on the actual 
earth if viewed 
in this way would 
no doubt be seen 
to be considerably 
affected by differ- 


ences in the 
nature of the 
surface over 


which they passed, more particularly where that 
surface was mountainous, but the general character 
of the flow would still be that given in the figure, 
namely, that round. the equator (leaving seasonal 
variations out of account), there would be a region of 
calms bordered on each side by fairly regular trade 
winds extending roughly to latitude 30° N. and S.; 
whilst outside this region again, the whole surface 
would be covered by eddies of various sizes in which 
the direction of circulation was left-handed in the 
northern, and right-handed in the southern hemi- 
sphere. 

If pressure could be observed, as well as the direc- 
tion of the wind, the central parts of the eddies would 
always appear as regions of low barometer. Were 
the observations extended over a few hours, it would 
be seen that the eddies themselves (i.e. their centres) 
were in motion travelling on the whole to the N.E. 
and S.E. in the northern and southern hemispheres 
respectively. 

Continuing the observations for days or weeks, it 
would be found that the eddies were mostly short- 
lived, few lasting more than two or three days, and 
that although their average course was N.E. or S.E., 


33° 


as stated above, yet individuals among them moved 
in different directions and with very different speeds. 

It would be found also that the variations from the 
mean with respect to the duration of each eddy, the 
path of the centre, and the intensity of the circulation 
about it, were matters of chance; so that the ordinary 
laws of chance might be applied to determine the prob- 
ability that in a given place and for a given time the 
departure from the mean should lie within assigned 
limits. 5 

Experience ovet the temperate and polar regions 
of the world has proved that on the whole certain 
types of weather are associated with certain surface 
winds, although the particular relation of each to the 
other may vary in different places. 

In order, therefore, accurately to predict the 
weather, it is a matter of foremost importance to 
know what the direction and character of the wind 
will be at the time and place for which the prediction 
is issued. 

This, however, requires not only a knowledge of the 
surrounding conditions at the time of issue, but also 
of the rate at which the conditions are changing, and, 
since the rate follows no known law, predictions 
cannot be held to be trustworthy for more than the 
short time during which the rate may be considered 
to be constant or to change uniformly. 

How long this ‘‘ short time”? may be when reckoned 
in hours or days varies with the type of eddy or 
pressure disturbance. When the depressions are large 
and deep they may retain their life for several days or 
even more, and in such cases their rate of change may 
remain regular for a considerable fraction of that 
time. 

It is in these comparatively rare conditions that the 
best forecasts can be made. Ordinary weather, how- 
ever, is the accompaniment of shallow depressions of 
small intensity and short duration, the regularity of 
the path and rate of change of which cannot be 
counted on for more than a few hours. In such cir- 
cumstances any forecast made for a day in advance 
is almost as likely to be wrong as right, and since 
the shallow depressions are chief occupants of the 
temperate and polar regions it seems that even the 
most complete knowledge of their present state and 
previous history gives very little information as to 
what their condition will be even a few hours later. 

This leads to the conclusion given in the previous 
note, namely, that the information furnished by daily 
weather charts gives a small, but-only a small, advan- 
tage in favour of forecasts made on the strength of 
it over the simple guess that the weather will remain 
as it is. 

In some places, though not in England or its imme- 
diate surroundings, the diurnal variations are more 
important than the general pressure distribution, and 
in mountainous regions impending weather changes 
can often be foreseen from the behaviour of clouds 
about the hills. 

Success, however, in such cases depends essentially 
on local experience and not on general knowledge. 

A. MALLocK. 


The Plumage Bill. 


My attention has been directed to an article in 
Nature of December 11, 1913 (No. 2302, vol. xcii.), 
entitled ‘‘ The Plumage Bill,’”’ by Sir H. H. Johnston, 
in which the following statements are made regarding 
the destruction of bird-life in Nipal :— 

(1) ‘‘ Originally the Nipalese respected almost reli- 
giously the fauna of their native land, like most Indian 
peoples. But of late they have become infected with 
a truly British love of life destruction. | They are 


NO. 2227, OE: oa) 


NATURE 


[JUNE 4, 1914 


incited to this by the agents of the plumage trade in 
Calcutta and other places, and, of course, find it a 
lucrative business.”’ : 

(2) Nipal . . . ‘tis permitted to import and export 
goods through British India under its own Customs” 
seals, intact and unquestioned. 

“Consequently, though the laws of British India 
forbid on paper the export of wild birds’ plumes or 
skins, the State of Nipal monthly exports from Cal- 
cutta to the feather markets of the world—principally 
London—thousands of bird skins. The Nipalese have 
nearly exterminated the Monal pheasant, the Trago- 
pan, and several other gallinaceous marvels.” 

In replying to the above extracts from the article 
in question | am concerned mainly with the implica- 
tion that the Nipal Government, to which I am and 
have for the last eight years been the accredited 
British Representative, are concerned with the destruc- 
tion of bird-life for trade purposes, and are, in fact, 
the principals in the trade of bird feathers and skins. 

Neither the Nipal Government nor any of its 
officials is privileged to export goods through British 
India under the Customs’ seals of the State, and any 
traffic in bird feathers and skins such as is described 
in the article, if it is being carried on at all, must 
necessarily be done in contravention of the British 
Indian Customs Regulations, as no exceptions are 
made in favour of Nipal goods passing through our 
ports. 

The Prime Minister in Nipal, who has seen and read 
the article, has authorised me to state explicitly that 
the Nipal Durbar have no interest whatever in the 
export of feathers from Nipal, and that such export 
is contrary to the laws of the State. 

As regards extract No. (1), it is doubtless true that 
in old days there were fewer birds and animals 
destroyed in the country than at present. Originally 
the religion of the ruling race in the Nipal Valley and 
of a considerable part of what is now the modern 
State of Nipal was Buddhism, in which life is held 
sacred; whereas now the prevailing religion is Hindu 
‘‘Shivaism,”’ and the worship of Durga. Old-fashioned 
bows and arrows have also given way to firearms, 
while the sporting instinct of the Gurkha has in no 
way lessened with the improvement of the weapons 
at his disposal. 

Mv own observation, however, in the hills surround- 
ing the Nipal Valley does not confirm the very wide 
statement that the Monal pheasant, the Tragopan, 
and other gallinaceous marvels of this secluded country 
are in any danger of extinction at present. 

J. MANNERS-SMITH. 

The Residency, Nipal. 


My statements as to the destruction of rare 
pheasants in the kingdom of Nipal were based, first, 
on facts which came to my notice when on or near 
the frontiers of Nipal in 1895, but a good deal more 
on the recent allegations made in the Calcutta Press, 
on the reports of an American ornithologist, and on 
other matter published in the pamphlets of Mr. James 
Buckland, or read by him at his public lectures. 
Much of this evidence was before me when the articles 
(to which Lieut.-Col. Manners-Smith takes exception) 
were written. But as it is difficult for one who writes 
a good deal and on many subjects (and has, moreover, 
in the months that have elapsed been undergoing the 
inconvenience of alterations to his writing-room) to 
keep such evidence so that it can remain always at his 
right hand, I have preferred to take the course of writ- 


| ing to all the persons who furnished these original 
| accounts, asking them to instruct me once again, or 


_ lowed up. 


at any rate to give me references which can be fol- 
As this necessitates writing to America 


— 


June 4, 1914] 


NATURE 


351 


and to India, as well as to persons in London, some 
weeks may. elapse before I am able to answer the 
main points in Lieut.-Col. Manners-Smith’s letter. 

I would, however, inform Lieut.-Col. Manners- 
Smith that Mr. James Buckland, who had collected 
all or much of such evidence affecting the Government 
of Nipal, sought to lay this before his Highness the 
Prime Minister of that country, when Maharaja Sir 
Chandra Shamsher Jang visited this country not long 
ago, but Mr. Buckland was not accorded an interview 
and not permitted to submit, with all due respect, the 
case of the rare birds of Nipal, either to the Maharaja 
or to his English advisers. 

I am sincerely glad that any article of mine should 
have directed the attention of the Government and 
British Resident of Nipal to the preservation of the 
Nipalese avifauna, even though that Government may 
‘have already dealt effectively with the question. This 
large independent Himalayan State contains within 
its limits some of the most wonderful birds 
in the world, none of which are in any degree 
whatever harmful to man, and most of which are of 
exceptional interest and beauty. The whole of 
the fauna of Nipal stands out as being perhaps the 
most remarkable of any Asiatic State. The independ- 
ence of Nipal is scrupulously respected by the British 
Government, the country is not thrown open to access 
on the part of foreigners, and it might well be the 
national ambition of the Nipalese Government that 
their land should become a refuge for the wonderful 
birds and mammals still existing in tropical Asia, 
which are rapidly being exterminated elsewhere. So 
soon as | have the information asked for, I will for- 
ward it for publication in the columns of NATURE. 

H, H. Jonnston. 


Atomic Yolume Gurves of the Elements. 

In his interesting review of Prof. Letts’s book on 
‘‘Some Fundamental Problems of Chemistry,’ in 
NaturE of May 21, Prof. Meldola states that an 
atomic volume curve which includes the inert elements 
is there published for the first time. 

Will you allow me to say that in our book on 
‘Systematic Inorganic Chemistry,” first published in 
1906, Dr. Lander and I included an atomic volume 
curve in which the inert elements were shown; and 
that in our 1g1r edition the curve was amended to 
indicate the position of helium, then recently liquefied, 
so that lithium was seen no longer to occupy the crest 
of the first wave. I may add that in Kipping and 
Perkin’s ‘‘ Inorganic Chemistry ” (1911) a curve similar 
to ours appears. M. Caven. 

University College, Nottingham, May 2s. 

[ aM sorry inadvertently to have done an injustice 
to Drs. Caven and Lander, whose claim for priority 
over Dr. Letts for having constructed an atomic 
volume curve comprising the inert elements is cer- 
tainly justified. At the time of writing the review I 
was remote from libraries, and I had an impression that 
the Letts curve had been published by its author 
long before its inclusion in the work noticed, in which 
it is referred to as the ‘‘new curve” (p. 63). 

R. MELpota. 


Transmission of Electric Waves Round the Bend of 
the Earth. 


I BEG leave to amend a sentence in my letter which 
appeared in Nature of May 28. I wrote that the exist- 
ence of a most favourable wave-length for transmission 
to a given distance appeared to be contradicted by the 
diffraction theory. A more leisurely study of Prof. 
MacDonald’s paper shows me that I have in this 


NOw2327;, VOL.93)| 


respect misinterpreted his integrals, and that it is not 
impossible that the existence of an optimum wave- 
length may yet be explained by his analysis. ‘This 
emendation in no way affects the table of ratios I 
gave or the wording of the conclusion drawn there- 
from. W. Ecc es. 
University of London, University College, 
June tr. 


SCIENCE AND THE STATE. 
At a time when our Government is embarking 
on large schemes of social legislation at a 
heavy cost to the community, it seems a fitting 
Opportunity to direct attention to one branch of 
the public service which has hitherto failed to 
obtain official recognition or financial support. 

It is difficult to realise what our state of civil- 
isation would have been were it not for scientific 
researches conducted mainly at their own ex- 
pense by private individuals. The progress which 
has changed the conditions of our life from those 
prevailing in the so-called barbaric ages has been 
effected largely at the expense of a body of re- 
formers who have sacrificed their own prosperity 
for the benefit of the community in a way which 
no modern Cabinet Minister would dream of 
doing, and who have been rewarded for their 
enthusiasm by neglect and discouragement. 

The position of these workers has been ably 
put forward in the article on “Sweating the Scien- 
tist,” which appeared in Science Progress for 
April, and was mentioned in the Notes column 
of NaTurE on April 30 (p. 219). A further con- 
tribution on the same subject appeared in the 
form of correspondence by Sir Ronald Ross in the 
British Medical Journal from February 7 to March 
28. Let us take Sir Ronald Ross’s experiences 
first, and let us then extend the case to the uni- 
versity workers mainly considered in Science 
Progress. 

Sir Ronald Ross was in the Indian Army Medi- 
cal Service from 1881 to 1899, and not only did 
he discharge his official duties efficiently, but, 
at great trouble and expense to himself, he insti- 
gated his series of investigations on malaria 
and its transmission by mosquitoes—a task which 
prevented him from accepting a civil post which 
was offered him. The success of his researches 
led to the foundation in 1899 of the schools of 
tropical medicine in London and Liverpool, and 
though the scheme received every encouragement 
from Mr. Joseph Chamberlain and Mr. Austin 
Chamberlain, practically the whole of the money 
was raised by private subscription, although we 
do read of at least one Government grant of 
3,550l. in 1899. As against this, we contrast 
the action of the German Government in financing 
the Hamburg Tropical School. 

Sir Ronald Ross became chief lecturer of the 
Liverpool School, and thus had to resign his 
Indian commission on a small pension of under 
3001. The work of the school was of an alto- 
gether exceptional character, involving expedi- 
tions to West Africa, teaching of students, publi- 
cation of reports, and maintenance of experts on 
Government committees. In the expeditions Sir 


on 


di 


Ronald Ross met with considerable local opposi- 
tion from officials, but repeated efforts have finally 
resulted in the Indian and African Government 
departments taking action which has vastly im- 
proved the public health, and thus caused a large 
saving of life and of the financial resources of the 
countries. 

In view of these facts, Sir Ronald Ross applied 
to the India Office for a pension on the higher 
scale, but this has been refused, and he has thus 
not only received no reward for his services to 
the country, but has been penalised by losing the 
pension which he would have received after full- 
time service. 

We cannot help comparing this treatment to 
that which was meted out to the Pied Piper by 
the people of Hamelin, and the story is not 
unlikely to have a somewhat parallel sequel in the 
withdrawal of young enthusiasts from the field of 
scientific research. : The © Liverpool. Tropical 
School is, we are told, in some danger of losing 
its staff because they are beginning to lose en- 
thusiasm now that they realise that their duties 
offer them no prospects for the future, and no 
recognition of their work. The highest salaries 
now paid are 6ool. a year with no fees, and much 
of the work is done voluntarily, or for a small 
honorarium. Had these people engaged in clini- 
cal work their possible incomes, if successful, 
would have been far greater. 

Passing to the discussion in Science Progress, 
we are glad to see that that journal is instituting 
an inquiry into the salaries of university teachers 
and other persons holding paid appointments for 
work in science. The junior posts range gener- 
ally from about 1201. to 200!., with a minimum of 
8s5l. and maximum of 300l. For full professor- 
ships the most that a candidate has a reasonable 
prospect of securing is about 600l., with a small 
contributory pension on compulsory retirement at 
the age of sixty-five. In the colonies, salaries 
are not much higher, and not higher in propor- 
tion to the cost of living. 

It must also be remembered that these salaries 
are in every case paid for teaching and lecturing 
work to classes of students, and the necessary 
routine work associated with the performance of 
these duties. The only way in which research 
can be benefited is by the appointment to such 
chairs of men of scientific distinction, and the pro- 
vision of assistant lecturers sufficient in number 
to reduce the actual teaching of the professor to 
a limit that will allow him free time for under- 
taking scientific investigations outside the lecture 
hours. It is only when supervising and initiating 
work for research students that his scientific work 
can be included in the duties for which he receives 
direct payment. If the classes become larger 
without a corresponding increase in the college 
finances, his facilities for research are reduced. 
And such appointments are often only obtained 
after many years’ waiting or tenure of junior 
appointments, a not inconsiderable portion of the 
salary of which has been spent in printing testi- 
monials. A further burden on the junior lecturers 


NO. 2327, VOL. 93] 


2 NATURE 


[JUNE 4, 1914 


is the necessity of writing researches or even 
books published at great expense with a view to 
the better recognition of their claims for the 
senior posts. 

Many professors do no research, and these 
probably secure the largest numbers of examina- 
tion successes and the smallest numbers of pupils 
who distinguish themselves after leaving college. 
A professor with fifteen hours a week lecturing 
may manage in a summer holiday to contribute a 
short note on a new application or modification of 
a known principle. With six or eight hours a 
week he may do more substantial work, but he 
will still cling to the development of known fields 
of study rather than proceed to the initiation 
of new fields. But occasionally a scientific worker 
lights on such a new and far-reaching idea that 
its development is incompatible with even three 


efficient lectures a week, not because of the time 


taken, but because it monopolises his brain to the 
exclusion of other thoughts. He has the alter- 
native choice between abandoning the research or 
postponing it indefinitely or living on a reduced 
income in changed conditions of life calculated to 
unfit his health for the task he has taken. 

Now there are undoubtedly many researches 
which can be delayed without any very obvious 
immediate loss to the community, but once an 
investigator has lighted on a well-defined plan of 
attacking such a problem as the- spread of 
malaria, it becomes an enormous waste of national 
efficiency to allow anything to stand in his way of 
solving it at the earliest possible instant. He 
should have all facilities and appliances provided 
by the State, and it is the further duty of the 
State to reimburse him for any loss of salary 
which he has incurred by abandoning his previous 
career with this object in view. 

The State grant in aid of scientific investigation 
is. 4000]. a year to one learned society, and 
toool. for publications! The grants are, we be- 
lieve, in every case contingent on returns of 
expenditure being made, and the actual scientific 
workers are unpaid. The money all goes into 
the pockets of mechanics, instrument makers, and 
printers who receive union rates of pay. The 
mechanism which drives the whole of the machin- 
ery receives nothing ; and not only does he receive 
nothing, but, as our contemporary points out, he 
is often asked to give the Government gratuitous 
advice on scientific points without receiving any 
thanks for his services :— 


For example, a Government department wishes for 
expert advice on some matter—it ought to form a 
commission of its own and honestly pay the expert 
members of it. Instead of doing this, the Govern- 
ment department goes to some learned society and 
asks it to advise on the scientific question at issue. 
The society is honoured by the request, and obtains 
the advice gratis from its own members. Thus the 
Government gets what it requires for nothing; the 
learned body is overpowered with the honour rendered 
to it; and the unfortunate worker is the loser. 


No system of emoluments could ever be suffi- 
cient to induce properly informed students to take 


June 4, 1914] 


up scientific work merely as a remunerative pro- 
fession; unhappily some are now induced by 
scholarships to do so, and find out their mistake 
too late. What is required is that those who 
pursue scientific work with a well-defined object, 
and with a reasonable prospect of benefiting the 
State by their efforts should receive at least the 
remuneration which they would obtain if they left 
the work undone. 


POPULAR NATURAL HISTORY.! 

(1) WE. give a hearty welcome to “The English 
Year”’—a series of charming studies in 

the Natural History of Autumn and Winter by 
W. Beach Thomas and A. K. Collet. There 
should be a shelf of these seasonable books—for 


Ostrich Displaying. From 


there is a score of them already—in every country- 
house; and we should like to see a selection of 
them in every country school. For they are the 


1 (x) ‘* The English Year. Autumn and Winter.” By W. Beach Thomas 
and A. K. Collet. Pp. ix+408+plates. (London and Edinburgh: T. C. 
and E. C. Jack, n.d.) Price ros. 6d. net. 

(2) ‘‘ Highways and Byways of the Zoological Gardens.” 
I, Pocock. Pp. xii+192+plates. 

5. net. 

(3) “‘ The Moose.” By Agnes Herbert. With 8 full-page illustrations by 

Patten Wilson. Pp. viii+248. (London: A. and C. Black, 1913.) Price 
5. net. 
x (4) ‘‘ The Bodley Head Natural History.” By E. D. Cuming. With 
illustrations by J. A. Shepherd. Vol. ii., British Birds, Passeres. Pp. 122. 
(London : John Lane, 1914.) Price 2s. net. 

(s) ‘Inthe ‘Once upon a Time’.” By Lilian Gask. Illustrated by Patten 
Wilson. Pp. 288+plates. (London: George G. Harrap and Co., n.d.) 
Price 3s. 6d. net 

(6) ‘* Moths of the Limberlost.”” With Water Colour and Photographic 
Illustrations from Life. By Gene Stratton-Porter. Pp. xiv+370. (London : 
Hodder and Stoughton, 1012.) Price ros. 6d. net. 

(7) ‘My Game-Book” By Alan R. Haig Brown. Pp. xvi+239+plates. 
(London: Witherby and Co., 1913) Price 5s. 


NO. 2327, VOL. 93] 


By Constance 
(London: A. and C. Black, 1913.) Price 


NATURE 


ef $n. Bee 


« ~ € 
ai! tienuedths 2 ast 


353 
best approaches to nature-study. The authors of 
this beautiful volume take nature as they find it— 
a moving pageant—and they discourse pleasantly 
and competently, in excellent style, on coveys of 
partridges, scattering seeds, cocoons of insects, 
migrant birds, withering leaves, fruitful hedge- 
rows, showers of gossamer, winter visitors, 
hibernation, struggle with cold, trees in winter, 
the hailing of far summer, the salmon’s journey, 
the early songs of birds, and much more besides. 
Some season-books (we hope for another volume 
of this one) are too enthusiastic, precious, and 
impressionist; others go to the opposite extreme 
of matter-of-fact-ness, and are rather dull 
““naturalist’s calendars”; but the authors have 
found an effective middle way which is admirable. 
There are some characteristic notes on Norfolk 


Eee | SEE. 
d (Rat Ponape 2a 
‘‘ Highways and Byways of the Zoological Gardens.” 


ah, 
3 


¢. 
eee? 
rege 


by Mr. A. H. Patterson. The text is enlivened 
with numerous very interesting drawings by 
A. W. Seaby who has caught the spirit of things: 
and it is adorned by a series of reproductions in 
colour of the work of Sir Alfred East, Harry 


| Becker, C. W. Furse, Buxton Knight, and Hal- 
_ dane Macfall. 


The whole book is capital value 
for its price and a credit to its publishers as well 
as to the authors and artists. We hope that it 
will have the success it deserves, and that it will 
help to stimulate the growing interest in seasonal 
natural history. 

(2) Mrs. Pocock has attempted “to carry the 
Zoological Gardens to those who are unable to 
go to them,” and if she has not achieved this en 
bloc, she has certainly succeeded with particular 


a) 


NATORE 


[June 4, 1914 


‘corners. As is always the way when a writer has 
a good story to tell and knows how to tell it, the 
book convinces and interests us, and we ask for 
more. Mrs. Pocock tells us about animals she 
has watched with an attentive and sympathetic 
eye, and her range is no restricted one—from 
orang-utans to millipedes, from the elephant to 
the elephant-shrew—and she throws in quaint 
items of information which will be fresh to many. 
If anyone wishes to know how apes received Prof. 
Boys’s soap-bubbles, or what the mynah says to 
‘old gentlemen who peer into his cage, or how the 
ostrich woos his mate, or how the Old World por- 
cupines advertise their presence, or of the vagaries 
of a snail that was wont at times to get out of 
its shell, let him read Mrs. Pocock’s delightful 
book. She has been fortunate in securing un- 
surpassable photographs which adorn her tale, 
and one is here reproduced by the courtesy of the 
publishers. 

(3) The story of the moose by Agnes Herbert is 
an effective biography, worked out with careful 
and convincing realism and not too obtrusively 
anthropomorphic. From the start when we read 
of the calf’s enormous ears that “turned this way 
and that, one after the other, almost automatically, 
listening, listening. . . . (‘it was as if the great 
flaps were so pleased with an hitherto unknown 
accomplishment that they could not but practise 
iter els. . to the end when we see the lynx 
sitting ‘‘in the lustrous, first light of day washing 
his glossy coat”. . . . (“and as the big bull stood 
up stiffly, the cat leered over his shoulder and then 
went on licking fur”). . . . we have to do with 
scientific and artistic workmanship. There are 
eight excellent full-page illustrations by Patten 
Wilson. 

(4) We have already expressed our apprecia- 
tion of the Bodley Head Natural History, the 
second volume of which—on British Passeres— 
is now in our hands. Mr. Shepherd’s clever 
drawings give us delightful glimpses of the be- 
haviour. and character of the birds, and Mr. 
Cuming’s text is clear and interesting. We like 
some of his touches :—‘“the grasshopper warbler 
remains in. the mind as a veritable mouse in 
feathers’; ‘the song, so-called, low and not un- 
musical, gives the impression that the dipper is 
singing to himself”; “your abiding impression of 
the tree-creeper is one of vanishing round the 
corner.”. The two little volumes we have seen are 
delightful, but we do not understand the dragging 
in of rarities like the subalpine warbler, Pallas’s 
willow warbler, the greenish willow warbler, or 
even the wall creeper. What is the use of it in 
books. of this kind? 

(s) In the “Once upon a Time,” Lilian Gask 
has been very successful in making a learned pro- 
fessor tell an active-minded boy about extinct 
animals and primitive man. The stories of “the 
ancient lords of land and sea,” of man’s life in 
the trees, of the finding of fire, of ancient hunters, 
and the like are told with accuracy, simplicity, and 
vividness. .We have tried the book on a boy of 
twelve who thoroughly approved of it. The iflus- 


NO. 2327, VOL +93) 


SS 


— SS — 


J 


trations by Patten Wilson are full of interest and 
vitality. The preface stands badly in need of 
revision. ses . 

(6) The gorgeous work entitled “The Moths of 
the Limberlost”’ tells of studies made around a 
now dwindled swamp in north-eastern Indiana. 
The most living moths we ever saw fly about the 
pages, and the photographs are only surpassed 
by the water-colour drawings. The work must 
rank very high among beautiful ‘‘ Nature-books,” 
and there is good material in it too in the way of 
careful observation by a _ well-trained eye. It 
seems to us, however, that the text has been far 
too much diluted with talky stuff that is often 
utterly unimportant. There is also a regrettable 
and discordant ‘“‘chathng” of technical books and 
the mistakes they sometimes make. But the 
author is a true nature-lover who knows _ her 
moths and can depict them with unusual skill. 

(7) In his “Game Book” Mr. Allen R. Haig 
Brown confesses that the love of the chase is 
worth more than all civilisation can offer and pro- 
tests against the sentimentalism that credits 
animals with much in the way of pain or fear. 
He gives us an analysis of his grand total of 5,510 
head in ten years, and tells us that he kills because 
he likes to, and because he wishes to keep the 
last remnants of nature from finding their way 
into “the maw of civilisation.” He writes in a 
pleasant, straightforward way of ferreting and 
pike-fishing, of dogs and hares, of grouse and the 
“Trossacks,”’ of fish that should be dead becoming 
lively again, and of other strange occurrences. 
There are numerous, pretty illustrations through- 
out the volume, but the insertion of the verses 
shows a surprising lack of humour. The book is 
a naive expression of ‘‘the exquisite pleasure that 
there is to be gathered from the birds and beasts 
of the chase in the pleasant places of our own 
dear land.” 


THE ROGER BACON COMMEMORATION 
AT OXFORD. 


ee arrangements for the commemoration of 

the seven hundredth ‘anniversary of the birth 
of Roger Bacon are now well advanced. The day 
appointed for the ceremony is Wednesday, June 
10; the place, as is fitting, being Oxford. Pro- 
ceedings will begin at noon with the unveiling, by 
Sir Archibald Geikie, of Mr. Hope-Pinker’s statue 
of the great Franciscan, and its reception by Earl 


Curzon on behalf of the University. Addresses 
will be presented by delegates representing 


various bodies who have joined the movement, 
and the public orator, Mr. A. D. Godley, will 
deliver a Latin oration. All this will take place 
at the university museum. The delegates and 
some other visitors will be entertained at lunch 
by the Warden and Fellows of Merton College, 
and doubtless other lunch parties will be arranged. 
At three o’clock all visitors will have the oppor- 
tunity of attending the Romanes lecture. This 
will be given in the Sheldonian Theatre, the lec- 
turer being Sir J. J. Thomson, of Cambridge, and 


ct 


June 4, 1914] 


NATURE | nee 


co) = 


his subject the atomic theory. From one to four 
o’clock various manuscripts and other objects 
of interest in connection with Roger Bacon and 
his successors will be on view in the Bodleian 
Library, and from four to half-past six a garden 
party will be held at Wadham College. 

At the ‘approaching celebration the Vatican 
library will be represented by Mgr. Ratti, the 
Institut de France by the Comte d’Haussonville, 
the University of Paris by Prof.- Picavet, the 
University of Cambridge by Prof. James Ward, 
the Order of Friars Minor by Dr.. P. Hickey, 
Provincial, and Prof. Paschal -Robinson, the 
Capuchin Order by Fr. Albert (vicar-provincial), 
and Fr. Cuthbert. Rae 

Much has been done of recent years te establish 


the importance of the work of Roger Bacon in) 


the history of Western thought. His-eminence as 


a linguist, an educational reformer,-a mathema- | 


tician, and physicist was well brought. out in:the 
discourse lately delivered by Sir. John Sandys 
before the British Academy.» The late Prof. 
Adamson, speaking of his works, both edited. and 
at present existing only in manuscript, .wrote as 
follows in the “Dictionary. of National Bio- 
graphy ” :— Es ; 

It is much to be desired that a more thorough and 
detailed study of the known manuscripts and a more 
extensive search for others which doubtless exist should 
be undertaken. Some portions are in a condition suit- 
able for publication, and it is well-nigh an obligation 
resting on English scholars to continue the good work 
begun by the late Prof. Brewer. | Bacon’s works 
possess much historical value, for his rigorous think- 
ing and pronounced scientific inclinations are not to be 
regarded as abnormal and isolated phenomena. He 
represents one current of thought and work in the 
Middle Ages which must have run strongly though 
obscurely, and without a thorough comprehension of 
his position our conceptions of an important century 
are incomplete and erroneous. 

Prof. Picavet, of the Collége de France, adds 
his testimony as follows :— 

L’autorité et le raisonnement ne valent, pour Roger 
Bacon, qu’en fonction de l’expérience. C’est elle qui 
doit prononcer en dernier ressort sur les affirmations 
des anciens comme sur nos propres conceptions. .. . 
Roger Bacon a donc entre les mains l’instrument qui 
a rendu possibles toutes les conquétes de la science 
moderne. 

Subscribers of one guinea and upwards to the 
Roger Bacon commemoration fund will be entitled 
to take part in the ceremonies at Oxford, and 
also to receive the memorial volume, which will 
contain essays dealing with various aspects of 
Roger Bacon’s work, written by specialists in the 
various subjects. Subscriptions should be sent to 
Col. W. H. L. Hime, 20 West Park Road, Kew. 


SIR. JOSEPH WILSON SWAN, F.R.S. 


WE regret to announce the death, in his eighty- 
sixth year, of Sir Joseph Swan, at War- 
lingham, Surrey, on May 27. Swan came from a 
stock exceptionally endowed with inventive abilities 
on both the paternal and maternal sides, his father 
and his maternal uncle, Robert Cameron, having 
both been inventors of note.. He was born at 


NO. 2327, VOL. 93] 


Sunderland on October 31, 1828, and there he 
received his. education... He was removed from 
school at-an early age, and having shown a de- 
cided taste for chemistry, was apprenticed by his 
father in the chemical business of Mawson, of 
Newcastle; of this firm Swan subsequently be- 
came a partner, the firm’s name being changed 
to that of Mawson and Swan. At the commence- 
ment of his career Swan turned his attention more 
particularly to the manufacture of photographic 
supplies, and it is owing to his enterprise that the 
business of his firm was largely extended in this 
direction. ; 

The nature of the business with which young 
Swan was thus associated enabled him to turn to 
account his inventive talent in bringing about im- 
portant-advances in photography. His patent for 
carbon printing, being the first commercially prac- 
ticable process of the kind, was filed in 1862; 
later he. described it in a-paper read by him before 
the Photographic Society in April, 1864. Al 
though the process has been simplified and im- 
proved. by subsequent workers, in its essential 
features Swan’s invention remains the basis of 
some of the methods of photographic reproduction 
still largely in use at the present day. An original 
investigation made by Swan on the effect of heat 
in increasing the sensitiveness of a gelatino- 
bromide silver emulsion led to the production by 
him of extremely rapid dry plates in 1877, and two 
years later he invented the bromide printing 
process. 

Swan is, perhaps, better known to the public in 
connection with his invention of the incandescent 
carbon filament lamp than in connection with his 
discoveries in the field of photography. As a 
lad he had, in 1845, seen the experiment carried 
out of heating platinum-iridium wire to incan- 
descence by means of an-electric current, and this 
principle was applied by him, so far back as 1860, 
in the construction of an electric glow lamp, in 
which strips of carbonised paper or card mounted 
within an exhausted glass globe were raised to a 
red heat by an electric current obtained from 
primary batteries. At that date the method avail- 
able for obtaining a vacuum was not entirely 
satisfactory, and in consequence the life of the 
earliest type of glow lamp was exceedingly short. 
However, when Sprengel’s mercury pump for 
producing vacua made its appearance in 186s, 
Swan again turned his attention to the problem 
of producing a marketable electric glow lamp. 
Experiments carried out by him showed that high 
vacua were necessary to prolong the life of the 
incandescing filaments of which he «had been 
investigating the properties. 

In February, 1879, Swan exhibited his im- 
proved electric glow lamp at a meeting of the 
Newcastle Chemical Society, and the first public 
demonstration on any considerable scale of this 
new method of illumination was given before the 
Newcastle Literary and Philosophical Society in 
October, 1880. In the following month Swan 
read a paper before the Institution of Electrical 
Engineers on “The Subdivision of the Electric 


35 


Light,” in which the suitability of the electric glow 
lamp for domestic lighting was dealt with. 

Swan played a considerable part in connection 
with the introduction of the improvements in the 
manufacturing processes which have resulted in 
the successive reductions in the price of the glow 
lamp. To him was due the introduction of the 
‘““‘parchmentised thread” filaments formed by 
treating ordinary crochet cotton-thread with sul- 
phuric acid and then carbonising the same; later 
he devised the process whereby filaments of ex- 
ceedingly small diameter and great uniformity 
were obtained by squirting artificial cellulose by 
hydraulic pressure through a die; the latter being 
first shown to the public at the Inventions Exhibi- 
tion in 1885. It is only very recently that this 
process of manufacture has given place to the 
newly developed metal filament lamps. 

Swan’s activities in the field of electro-chemistry 
resulted in the invention by him of a rapid process 
of depositing copper, due to the discovery made 
by him that the addition of a suitable quantity of 
gelatine to the solution in the electro-depositing 
bath much improved the quality of the deposited 
metal. The process admits of the utilisation of 
currents of from 1000 to 1500 amperes per square 
foot of kathode, pure copper wire being at once 
reeled off from the bath through a die. Swan 
devoted his attention also to apparatus for mea- 
suring electric current, and the improvement of 
secondary batteries; his activities in the field of 
invention resulted in the filing of some sixty 
patent specifications, some in his name alone and 
others in the joint names of himself and his eldest 
son, 

A recognition of Swan’s services to applied 
science came first from France when, in 1881, he 
was appointed Chevalier of the Legion of Honour. 
In 1894 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal 
Society, and ten years later received a knighthood. 
The University of Durham also conferred upon 
him the honorary degrees of M.A. and D.Sc. He 
was the recipient, in 1903, of a gold medal from 
the Society of Chemical Industry, and, in 1904, 
of the Hughes medal from the Royal Society. In 
1906 the Royal Society of Arts awarded him its 
Albert medal, “for the part he took in the inven- 
tion of the incandescent lamp and for his invention 
of the carbon process of photographic printing,” 
the medal being presented to him by King George 
(at that time Prince of Wales). 

The career of Swan demonstrates that a scien- 
tific training and the possession of inventive 
faculties are not, as some suppose, necessarily 
incompatible with the possession of sound busi- 
ness capacity; and, indeed, the subject of this 
memoir gave ample evidence by his life work that 
it is possible for a man to be a productive in- 
ventor and at the same time successful as a com- 
mercial manager. 

In Sir Joseph Swan the nation has lost not only 
a venerable investigator, whose labours did much 
for the material progress of civilisation, but one 
who was also possessed of a charming personality 
which deservedly endeared him to a large circle of 
friends and acquaintances. WAS Owe 


NO}2327,, VOL193 || 


NATURE 


[JUNE 4, 1914 


DiS Po A. “PVRESMIT Hee tokens 


-DHILIP HENRY . PYE-SMITH was. .born 

August 30, 1839, at Billiter Square, “E.C. 
He was the eldest son of Ebenezer Pye-Smith, 
FLR.C-S:,,. and. the: grandson of =the, anew. 
Dr. John Pye-Smith, F.R.S., the principal of 
the Homerton Theological College, well known, 
nearly a century ago, both as a geologist and 
theologian. He belonged to a medical family, for 
his father was a surgeon in the city, his brother 
Rutherford John Pye-Smith is emeritus professor 
of surgery at the University of Sheffield, and a 
nephew is also in the profession. 


Dr. Pye-Smith was educated at Mill Hill 
School, and in 1858 took the B.A. of the 
University of London. He then entered Guy’s 
Hospital Medical School and attained his 
M.D. in 1864; he gained the gold medal, 
thus outstripping two future distinguished 


colleagues, Moxon and Sir Thomas Stevenson. 
After a year at continental schools his teaching 
began by his being appointed demonstrator of 
anatomy. In 1871 he became assistant physician 
to Guy’s Hospital, and full physician in 1883. 
He retired from the active staff in 1899, as in 
that year he reached the retiring age of sixty. 
He then became consulting physician to the hos- 
pital. During the earlier part of his assistant 
physiciancy he lectured on comparative anatomy, 
then on physiology, and when he was full phy- 
siclan on medicine. For many years he took 
charge of the department of diseases of the skin, 
and was regarded everywhere as one of. the 
highest authorities in this branch of medicine. 

In 1870 Pye-Smith was elected a Fellow of the 
Royal College of Physicians, and he later became 
examiner, a member of the council, and a censor. 
From 1900-9 he represented the college on the 
senate of the University of London, and held the 
office of vice-chancellor from 1903 to 1905. He 
was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1886, 
and served on the council of the society in 1891- 
92. In 1899 he was appointed by the British 
Government joint representative with Sir Heron 
Maxwell at the International Congress on Tuber- 
culosis in Berlin. He was a member of the 
General Medical Council and treasurer from 
1901-7. He gave the address in medicine at the 
meeting of the British Medical Association at 
Ipswich in 1900. He was an hon. M.D. of the 
University of Dublin, an honorary fellow of the 
Royal College of Physicians of Philadelphia, and 
of the Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland. 

In 1883 his colleague Fagge died, leaving by his 
will the manuscript of his famous book on medi- 
cine to Pye-Smith for him to complete and see 
through the press. Pye-Smith greatly appreciated 
this act of his friend; he worked hard at the task, 
and was the means of giving to the world one of 
the best and most original books on medicine. He 
kept it up to date and edited the subsequent 
editions, so that it gradually contained more and 
more of Pye-Smith’s writing, and the later 
editions were published as under the joint author- 
ship of Fagge and Pye-Smith. This was his out- 


pJUNE 4, 1914] 


NATURE 


sve 


standing work, but he wrote many medical 
papers, publishing the chief of them in the Guy’s 
Hospital Reports. He contributed the article on 
Harvey in the “Encyclopedia Britannica,” and 
delivered the Harveian oration in 1893. He was 
an admirable speaker, always saying just the right 
thing in just the right way. Nothing could have 
been better than the speech he made at the dinner 
given to Sir Samuel Wilks by his many admirers 
when he became a baronet. 

Pye-Smith’s honesty, his high ideals, his 
geniality, his affection for all learning—modern 
or ancient, medical or non-medical—and his many 
kindnesses especially to younger members of the 
profession, gave him troops of friends, and no one 
took more pleasure than he in getting them around 
him. All who knew him admired and liked him. 
Unhappily, illness kept him in retirement for 
several years before his death on May 23. In 1894 
he married Gertrude, the youngest daughter of the 
late Arthur Foulger. She and their only child— 
a son—survive him. 


NOTES. 


Tue Croonian Lecture of the Royal Society will be 
delivered on Thursday, June 11, by Prof. E. B. Wil- 
son, of Columbia University, on the bearing of cyto- 
logical research on heredity. 


Tue Institution of Electrical Engineers will hold a 
conversazione at the Natural History Museum, South 
Kensington, on Thursday, June 25. A conversazione 
of the Institution of Civil Engineers will be held at 
the institution on Thursday, July 2. 


Pror. Metcunikorr, of the Pasteur Institute, is to 
be presented with a ‘“‘ golden”’ book to celebrate his 
scientific jubilee and his seventieth birthday. — Prof. 
Metchnikoff, whose scientific work in zoology and 
microbiology is of a high order, is best known to the 
general public as the author of ‘“‘ The Prolongation of 
Life’’ and ‘‘The Nature of Man.” 


At the Laryngological Section of the Royal Society 
of Medicine on May 27, Prof. Gustav Killian, of Berlin, 
demonstrated his method of examining the larynx and 
its annexes by means of a new instrument, the ‘ sus- 
pension”’ laryngoscope. At the same time, a case of 
cancer of the throat was shown which had been 
treated by high-frequency electric currents—so-called 
diathermy—with promising results. 


THE triennial Parkin prize of tool. in the gift of the 
Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, has been 
awarded to Dr. Johnston-Lavis. The subject set 
was, ‘““On the Effects of Volcanic Action in the Pro- 
duction of Epidemic Diseases in the Animal and in 
the Vegetable Creation, and in the Production of 
Hurricanes and Abnormal Atmospherical Vicissitudes.”’ 
The prize essay will be published in book form by 
Messrs. Bale, Sons and Danielsson, Ltd. 


SEVERAL important earthquakes have occurred during 
the past week. On May 26 a violent earthquake, the 
centre of which may have been in Central or South 


NG.72327, VOL/:93] 


America, was recorded in European observatories. 
On May 27 another strong shock was felt at Panama, 
but again without damaging the canal works. On the 
same day an earthquake of unusual intensity, which 
seems to have originated near Tonga, was recorded at 
Sydney, the disturbance lasting for three hours. 


Mr. W. B. Grove, writing from the University of 
Birmingham, says that any person interested in the 
study of the Uredinales may obtain a supply of the 
rare and remarkable parasite, Puccinia vincae, in a 
fresh condition, by sending a stamped and addressed 
envelope, or other suitable covering, to him at 46 
Duchess Road, Birmingham. The specimens show 
an abundance of the curious debatable bodies called by 
Plowright ‘‘ aecidia.”’ 


THE seventh congress of the International Associa- 
tion for Testing Materials will be held under the 
patronage of H.M. the Czar of Russia, in St. Peters- 
burg, on August 12-17, 1915. Four days will be 
devoted to the discussion of the most important prob- 
lems on testing materials. After the congress ex- 
tensive excursions in the interior of Russia have been 
arranged. The offices of the British section of the 
Association are at the Iron and Steel Institute, 28 
Victoria Street, London, S.W. 


TuE council of the Royal Society of Edinburgh has 
awarded the following prizes :—(1) The Neill prize 
for the biennial period 1911-12, 1912-13 to Dr. W. S. 
Bruce, in recognition of the scientific results of his 
Arctic and Antarctic explorations; (2) the Keith prize 
for the biennial period 1911-12, 1912-13 to Mr. J. Rus- 
sell, for his series of investigations relating to magnetic 
phenomena in metals and the molecular theory of 
magnetism, the results of which have been published 
in the Proceedings and Transactions of the society, 
the last paper having been issued within the period. 


Mr. James W. Munro, Wolfe-Barry student in ento- 
mology at the Imperial College of Science and Tech- 
nology, South Kensington, who is engaged in working 
out the life-history of Xestobium tesselatum with re- 
gard to the roof of Westminster Hall, will be glad to 
be informed of any timber known to be affected with 
this beetle, and whether it would be possible for him 
to obtain it by purchase or to examine it for living 
beetles. He adds :—‘‘ Owing to the precarious condi- 
tion of Westminster Hall roof, it is desirable that my 
investigations be carried out as soon as possible and a 
large supply of living beetles is the first essential.” 


SENSATIONAL paragraphs on seeing by wire have 
been going the rounds of the daily Press, but there is 
no indication in these accounts of anything funda- 
mentally different from the plans that were put for- 
ward in the early days of the Physical Society, when 
the late Mr. Shelford Bidwell, Prof. Ayrton, and others 
were experimenting with selenium. At that time 
mosaics of selenium were going to do all that is pro- 
mised now, but they never did. It may be that Dr. 
A. M. Low, whose apparatus has been described in 
perfervid terms in the daily Press, has made some 
progress, but the published accounts of the invention 


as ‘“‘the latest scientific discovery’ are absurd. 


358 


NATURE 


[JUNE 4, 1914 


Tue trustees of the Ray Lankester Fund are pre- 
pared to appoint the ‘‘Ray Lankester Investigator ”’ 
for 1914. The fund has been founded in connection 
with the Marine Biological Association of the United 
Kingdom, and enables the trustees torent a table at 
the Plymouth Laboratory of the association, and from 
time to time to appoint to it an investigator for twelve 
months. The investigator appointed will be expected 
during the year to spend a total of five months, which 
need not be continuous, carrying on his researches at 
Plymouth. The biologist appointed receives from the 
trust 7ol., of which half is to be paid to him when 
he enters into occupation of his table, and the other 
half when the five months’ research is completed. 
Applications should be addressed to the director of the 
laboratory at Plymouth. 


WE notice with regret the death, in his fifty-first 
year, of Prof. George Dean, Regius professor of 
pathology in the University of Aberdeen. After a 
distinguished career as a student in the Universities 
of Aberdeen, Berlin, and Vienna, Prof. Dean became 
University assistant to the professor of pathology at 
Aberdeen. In 1897 he was appointed bacteriologist 
in the serum department of the Lister Institute, and 
became senior bacteriologist in 1906. He was the 
author of numerous medical articles and of contribu- 
tions to the Proceedings of the’ Royal Society and the 
transactions of other learned societies. He also intro- 
duced a rapid method of immunisation used in the 
preparation of diphtheria antitoxin. He was a mem- 
ber of the War Office Commission on Typhoid Inocu- 
lation. 


THE tragic ramming and sinking of the steamer 
Empress of Ireland in the St. Lawrence River, result- 
ing in the loss of more than one thousand human lives, 
gives particular interest to the article on the Aquitania 
in Engineering for May 29. This article deals at 
length with the subdivision of the ship by bulkheads 
and the effect on the buoyancy of flooding several 
compartments at either bow or stern, or wing com- 
partments. Diagrams and curves are given showing 
that five compartments from the bow or five from the 
stern, including the three turbine rooms, may be 
flooded and still leave a satisfactory margin of safety. 
With all the wing compartments on one side of the 
ship flooded (taking 5320 tons of water), the ship 
would heel to the extent of 26°, which is not in any 
way excessive, although the contingency of such flood- 
ing is so remote as to be declared almost impossible. 
The fore-and-aft bulkheads on each side of the space 
occupied by the boilers extend for a distance of 450 ft. 
and are 18 ft. from the ship’s skin, thus securing prac- 
tically a ‘‘ship within a ship.” The Aquitania left 
Liverpool for her maiden voyage on Saturday, May 
30. 


At the meeting of the Cambridge Philosophical 
Society held on May 18 the following were elected 
honorary members of the society :—Dr. H. E. Arm- 
strong; Prof. J. Bordet, the University, Brussels; 
Madame Curie, the Sorbonne, Paris; Prof. F. Czapek, 
the German University, Prague; Prof. T. W. Edge- 
worth David, the University, Sydney; Colonel W. C. 


NO, 923275. Vale Op 


Gorgas, Medical Corps, U.S.A. Army; Prof. P. H. 
von Groth, the University, Munich; Prof. Jacques 
Hadamard, the College of France, Paris; Dr. G.- E. 
Hale, director of the Mount Wilson Solar Observa- 
tory; Dr. Francois A. A. Lacroix, Natural History 
Museum, Paris; Prof. C. Lapworth, late professor of 
geclogy, the University, Birmingham; Prof. H. 
Lebesgue, the Sorbonne, Paris; Dr. Jacques Loeb, the 
Rockefeller Institute, New York; Prof. Arthur Looss, 
the Government School of Medicine, Cairo; Prof. 
H. A. Lorentz, the University, Leyden; Prof. M. 
Planck, the University, Berlin; Lieut.-Col. Leonard 
Rogers, the Medical College, Calcutta; Prof. 
Gustay Schwalbe, the University, Strassburg; Dr. 
Karl Schwarzschild, the University, Berlin; Dr. D. H. 
Scott, foreign secretary, Royal Society; Prof. E. B. 
Wilson, Columbia University, New York; A. F. Yar- 
row, Blanefield, Glasgow; Prof. P. Zeeman, the 
University, Amsterdam. The society will celebrate in 
tg1g the centenary of its foundation. 


In Peru To-day (December, 1913) an interesting 
account is given of the anti-yellow fever campaign in 
Iquitos. This principally comprised measures for the 
destruction of the mosquito-carrier of this disease, the 
Stegomyia. Previously 500-600 deaths occurred 
annually from yellow fever, but since the institution 
of these measures not a single death from yellow fever 
occurred during the first seven months of 1913. The 
cost has been about 3001. a month. 


“‘OrGaANIsMsS and Origins’? is the title of Prof. 
Dendy’s presidential address to the Quekett Micro- 
scopical Club (Journ. Quekett Microscop. Club, April, 
I914, p. 259). The origin of life was dealt with, and 
reference was made to Dr. Charlton Bastian’s experi- 
ments. While admitting that Dr. Bastian’s a prion 
position is a strong one, Prof. Dendy doubts if com- 
paratively highly organised beings can be evolved so 
rapidly as seems to be the case in Dr. Bastian’s 
solutions. 


A course of three public lectures on altitude and 
health has recently been delivered by Prof. Roget, of 
Geneva, under the Chadwick Trust. The lecturer 
directed attention to the changes which occur in the 
blood at high altitudes, to the relative freedom of the 
air from micro-organisms, and to the richness of the 
solar light in violet and ultra-violet rays. Exposure 
of the unclothed body to the bniliant alpine sun of 
winter exercises a marked curative effect on tuber- 
culous conditions. 


WitH reference to the mutations of Bacillus 
anthracis induced by exposure to ultra-violet rays 
(Nature, April 23, p. 193), attention may be directed 
to the power which bacteria possess not only of 
secreting enzymes, but also of adapting the enzyme 
they secrete to the soil on which they are growing. 
Thus a bacterium which has been secreting peptonis- 
ing enzymes on a protein soil will secrete a diastatic 
enzyme when transferred to a carbohydrate soil, as 
was demonstrated by Sir Lauder Brunton and the 
late Dr. Macfadyen (Proc. Royal Soc., vol. xlvi.). 


In the issue of Folk-lore for March, recently issued, 
Mr. W. Crooke discusses the remarkable vernal fire 


JUNE 4, 1914] 


NATURE 


S09 


festival of the Hindus, known as the Holi. A _ primi- 
tive form of the rite is the burning of a tree or pole, 
apparently symbolising the burning of the old year. 


To this are added various observances—fire-walking, 


swinging, burning of bush-fruits—which seem to ke 
connected with the cult of fertility. 


Ar the last meeting of the Society of Antiquarians 
of Scotland, Mr. Ludovic Mann discussed certain 
elaborately carved balls of stone, of which some two 
hundred examples are known. It was believed that 
they were found in interments of the bronze and 
stone ages; but the style of decoration points to the 
conclusion that they range through the first two or 
three centuries of our era. Mr. Mann produces some 
strong evidence to show that they were used as 
movable poises or weights on weighing beams. He 
believes that they originated with the Roman statera, 
and that they throw light on the conditions of com- 
merce in Scotland some two thousand years ago. 


SINCE oceanography is a subject in which Nor- 
wegian physicists and naturalists have taken a pro- 
minent part, it is appropriate that a full memoir 
upon this branch of science appears in the April 
number of Naturen. 


SUGGESTIONS with regard to the establishment of 
special rooms for children in museums are contributed 
by Mr. W. R. Butterfield, of the Hastings Museum, 
to the May issue of the Museums Journal. To any- 
one who has watched the aimless manner in which 
parties of children wander through the galleries of 
the Natural History Museum, the need and advisa- 
bility of such special rooms—if only they can be made 
to attract the class for whom they are intended—will 
be self-apparent. 


Tue Zoological Society of Scotland is to be heartily 
congratulated on the complete success attending the 
first year’s working of the Zoological Park, Edin- 
burgh, of which a full account is given in the report 
of the council for the year ending March 31, a report 
notable on account of the number and beauty of the 
illustrations. Among donations to the menagerie 
mention may be made of a consignment of antarctic 
seals and penguins from Messrs. Chr. Salvesen and 
Co., of Leith, several antelopes and deer from the 
Duke of Bedford, and an elephant from the Maha- 
raja of Mysore. 


A PHOTOGRAPH of the pair of young sea-elephants, 
or elephant-seals, recently presented by the Duke of 
Bedford to the Zoological Society forms one of the 
most striking features in the May number of Mr. 
Douglas English’s Wild Life. It is to be regretted 
that in the accompanying letterpress no mention is 
made of their place of origin, and the statement that 
‘‘Head”’ Island (instead of Heard Island) is one of 
the breeding places of the species is misleading. It 
may also be mentioned that ‘‘neoteny”’ (p. 16) is not 
a term likely to be familiar to the class of readers 
for whom this publication is intended. 


SEVERAL observers have in recent years experi- 
mented on the eggs of various animals by means of 
the centrifuge, with the view of determining the 


NOEN2327, VOL..93) 


effects upon development of a redistribution of the 
various constituents of the cytoplasm. The latest con- 
tribution to this particular branch of the science of 
experimental embryology is a long memoir by Dr. 
J. W. Jenkinson, ‘‘The Relation between the Struc- 
ture and the Development of the Centrifuged Egg of 
the Frog,’ published in the Quarterly Journal of 
Microscopical Science (vol. Ix., part 1). This author 
finds that, as a result of centrifuging, the constituents 
of the cytoplasm are driven past one another in oppo- 
site directions, and that this disarrangement brings 
about distortion of development, or even prevents it 
altogether. Normal development appears to be con- 
ditioned by a definite arrangement of the visible cyto- 
plasmic constituents, with the exception of the pig- 
ment. The yolk, glycogen, and fat, not being living 
substances, cannot, however, be properly termed 
organogenetic, and no evidence of the existence of 
distinct organogenetic bodies in the living protoplasm 
was obtained in the case of the frog’s egg. Dr. 
Jenkinson arrives at the general conclusion, however, 
that the causes upon which the primary differentiation 
of the embryo depends are located in the cytoplasm. 
He maintains that the cytoplasm transmits those char- 
acters which determine the large group to which an 
organism belongs. Generic, specific, and varietal 
characters, on the other hand, are supposed to be 
carried by the chromatin substances of the nucleus, 
which, however, depends upon differences in the cyto- 
plasm for the manifestation of its activities. 


ACCORDING to investigations by Mr. J. N. Currie 
on the flavour of Roquefort cheese (Journal of Agri- 
cultural Research, vol. ii., No. 1) it has been found 
that a considerable amount of the fat is hydrolysed 
during the ripening period. The chief factor in this 
process would appear to be Penicillium roqueforti, 
which produces a water-soluble lipase, and thus leads 
to the accumulation of the acids of milk fat in both 
the free and combined forms. Of these acids, caproic, 
caprylic, and capric, and their readily hydrolysable 
salts, have a peppery taste, and are responsible for the 
characteristic burning effect of Roquefort cheese upon 
the tongue and palate. 


Sir T. H. Ho.iuanp provides a very valuable biblio- 
graphical and critical index to ‘‘ Indian Geological Ter- 
minology’”’ in vol. xliii., part 1, of the Memoirs of the 
Geological Survey of india. Such lists are seldom 
readable, being intended only for reference; but in this 
case a student, going through these well-written pages 
with a map of India at his side, will learn a great 
deal about the geology of the country, and, incident- 
ally, about the men who have developed our know- 
ledge and the principles of stratigraphical research. 


THE Geologists’ Association furnishes in its Pro- 
ceedings much useful information as to districts 
visited on excursions, and many of the descriptive 
papers serve to bring our text-book knowledge up to 
date. In recent issues a valuable series of papers has 
appeared on the Aberdeen and Arbroath area 
(vol. xxiii., part 5). The picturesque regions of southern 
Mayo and Sligo, still too little known, are described 
in vol. xxiv., part 2, with eight photographs of scenery 
and rock-structure; while the Mesozoic beds round 


360 


Nottingham are excellently illustrated in vol. xxv., 
part 2. In this last part, moreover, H. Dewey and 
R. A. Smith sustain the view that the sequence of 
Palawolithic culture at Swanscombe, in Kent, is 
identical with that established in France and Belgium. 
The publications of local societies also bear witness 
to the activity of geological observers, and especially 
of the amateurs who add so much to scientific know- 
ledge in England. H. C. Beasley thus continues 
the description of the remarkable Triassic footprints 
at Storeton (Proc. Liverpool Geological Society, 
vol. xi., part iv.), and D. Woolacott furnishes an 
important paper on the stratigraphy and tectonics of 
the Permian of Durham (Proc. Univ. of Durham 
Philosophical Society, vol. v., part 5). 


.THE recent memoirs of the Geological Survey of 
Great Britain, each of which describes a sheet of the 
series of colour-printed maps, include ‘‘The Country 
‘around Newton Abbot,’? by W. Ussher and other 
authors, and ‘“Fareham and Havant,” by “Hl J. 0: 
White. In the former, Clement Reid confirms Heer’s 
correlation of the Bovey Tracey Beds with continental 
representatives now classed as highest Oligocene. The 
map (Sheet 339) includes the edge of the Dartmoor 
granite, and the seaside resorts of Exmouth, Dawlish, 
and Teignmouth, and, with the memoir, should be 
of great service to visitors in this very varied region. 
The Havant map and memoir pleasantly continue the 
series devoted to the Downs and the Cainozoic synclines 
of south-eastern England. Scotland furnishes Memoir 
and Sheet 82, on Central Ross-shire, and Memoir and 
Sheet 92, on the Fannich Mountains and Strath 
Broom.’ The names of B. N. Peach and J. Horne 
appear among the authors of both these publications, 
which deal with wild districts of pre-Cambrian and 
Cambrian rocks. Despite their moderate price (2s. 3d. 
and 2s. 6d.), both works are illustrated with land- 
scapes which are chosen with the eye of a geologist, 
but which will equally delight any lover of the high- 
lands. The many students of thrust-structure and 
mountain-building will find new diagrams and new 
material in both these interesting memoirs. 


’ 


‘Tye Oil Resources of the Empire’ formed the 
subject of an address by Dr. F. M. Perkin, recently 
delivered before the Society of Arts, and published in 
the Journal of the society (vol. Ixii., No. 3204). It is 
not generally realised how vast is the consumption of 
mineral oils in the United Kingdom, and how small 
a proportion is supplied from within the Empire itself. 
Out of a consumption of more than four million 
gallons only 2-67 per cent. was derived from British 
sources. It is hoped that by systematic surveys new 
sources of supply may be located, and valuable sources 
of oil may in future be found in the great shale beds 
of Tasmania. Much, too, remains to be done in in- 
creasing the supply of vegetable oils, more particularly 
of linseed oil, which might with advantage be pro- 
duced extensively on British soil. One of the most 
striking features of recent years has been the rise of 
the soy oil industry, and in view of the fact that the 
crushing industry has now fallen largely into Japanese 
hands, it is suggested that attempts. should be made 
to cultivate the soy plant in British territory. 


NO, (2327, ViOLeagail 


NATURE 


[JUNE 4, 1914 

AMONG recent American papers on the chemistry of 
soils the following may be noted. Mr. G. W. Wilson, 
in the Biochemical Bulletin (vol. ii., No. 10), reports 
a series of experiments on the effect of heating the 
soil on plant growth. It appears that heating the 
soil to a temperature of 95° C. caused slight accelera- 
tion of growth, but a higher temperature (135° to 175°) 
brought about a marked retardation; plants grown 
on the heated soil were more susceptible, however, to 
attack by parasitic fungi. In the same number of the | 
Biochemical Bulletin, Mr. A. W. Thomas gives a 
convenient summary of the methods adopted by 
Schreiner and Shorey for isolating and detecting 
arganic soil constituents, whilst in the Journal of 
Agricultural Research (vol. i., No. 5, p. 357) Mr. E. C. 
Shorey describes the isolation of certain derivatives of 
benzene from samples of sandy soil from Florida at 
present devoted to orange culture. These compounds 
were benzoic acid (350 lb. per acre foot), metahydroxy- 
toluic acid (800 Ib.), and vanillin (40 Ib.), of which the 
latter at least appears to exist in the soil in the free 
state, probably being an unchanged residue of plant 
débris. 

VoL. Ltxvu. of the Annalen der Physik contains an 
important series of four papers, one by Prof. Stark 
alone, and three by him in cooperation with others, 
on the effect of electric fields on spectrum lines. 
Since the discovery of the magnetic change of radia- 
tion frequency by Zeeman, various physicists have 
tried to discover an analogous electric effect. Prof. 
Stark has succeeded in affecting the spectrum lines 
emitted by canal rays in a vacuum tube by submitting 
them to an electric field, ingeniously arranged between 
a perforated kathode and an auxiliary electrode at 
a few millimetres’ distance. The field intensity 
amounts to 30,000, and in some experiments even to 
47,000, volts per cm. When the observation is made 
at right angles to the field, the spectrum lines are split 
up into polarised components under the action of the 
field, which proves to be rather homogeneous. The 
separation of the components is proportional to the 
field intensity. The hydrogen, helium, and lithium lines 
are studied in detail. For the line Hg (4861 A.U.) the 
separation of the outer components, which vibrate 
parallel to the field, becomes about 8 A.U. in a field 
of 28,500 volts per cm. In a direction parallel to the 
electric field the components of the resolved lines are 
unpolarised. The analogy between the Zeeman effect 
and the electric effect consists in the spectrum lines 
being resolved by both kinds of fields; but in all 
details there are great differences. The magnetic 
resolution is, with some limitations, the same for all 
lines belonging to the same spectrum series, and it 
decreases toward the violet end of the spectrum. The 
electric resolution is different for succeeding lines of a 
series, and the effect increases with decreasing wave- 
lengths. Diffuse lines are most strongly affected by 
the electric field. The two yellow sodium lines show 
only a very small electric effect. The mechanism of 
the magnetic effect is certainly understood in its main 
features, but the exact meaning of the electric effect is 
still obscure. 


Last week’s Times Engineering Supplement con- 
tains an excellently written article by Prof. J. A. 


June 4, 1914] 


Fleming on recent scientific research in telephony. 
It is a description of the practical developments 
which have been the outcome of mathematical inves- 
tigations (originated in the first place by Mr. Oliver 
Heaviside) into the effect of inductance in telephone 


circuits, followed much later by painstaking 
experiment and trials on a _ large scale. A 
quarter of a century ago, Heaviside’s insistence 


that the solution of the problem of long-distance tele- 
phony lay in the distribution of inductance throughout 
the line met with a cold reception by the engineering 
department of the Post Office. Heaviside would do 
no more than expound his theory in his own way, and 
with his own mathematical notation, leaving its de- 
velopment to the “practicians’’; but the practicians 
of those days were lacking either in the ability or 
the inclination to study his writings. It is one of the 
saddest things in the history of British science that 
Heaviside’s work should then have been regarded as 
possessing no more than an academic value, and that 
his suggestions did not take practical effect in this 
country until they had been revived by an American 
many years later, and sent back to us as a new in- 
vention. Prof. Fleming clearly explains the present 
application of distributed inductance in enabling us 
to telephone over enormous distances; he describes 
the ‘‘phantom”’ circuit which permits two pairs of 
lines to be employed for three conversations simul- 
taneously; he has remembered to mention the effect of 
reflection at junctions between overhead and under- 
ground lines, and concludes with a plea for further 
systematic investigation; but he has forgotten one 
thing : Oliver Heaviside’s name does not appear once 
in the article. 

Tue June issue of the catalogue of Mr. Francis 
Edwards, 83 High Street, Marylebone, London, W., 
is concerned with miscellaneous literature, and gives 
a clearance list of second-hand books in a great variety 
of subjects. The sections dealing with alpine studies, 
birds, and general natural history are of special 
interest. 

Pror. WALTER RIPPMANN, who has been for some 
time actively associated with the movement for spell- 
ing reform, asks us to state that though he could 
subscribe to most of what is said in the review of 
Mr. Archer Wilde’s ‘‘Sounds and Signs,” signed 
“W. R.,” in Nature of May 28, the review should 
not be attributed to him. 


The following are among the forthcoming books of 
science announced by the Cambridge University 
Press :—The Royal Society’s Catalogue of Scientific 
Papers, vol. xili., covering the letters A and B; The 
Life, Letters, and Labours of Francis Galton, com- 
piled by Prof. Karl Pearson, 2 vols; The Philosophy 
of Biology, by Dr. J. Johnstone; Ancient India, by 
Prof. E. J. Rapson; English Follx-Song and Dance, 
by F. Kidson and M. Neal; Perception, Physics, and 
Reality, by C. D. Broad; Philosophy: What is it? 
by Dr. F. B. Jevons; Mechanical Drawing, by 
J. 'H: Dales.;’ Household. Seteaee,-by .C.:W. Hale; 
The Place-Names of Sussex, by R. G. Roberts; 
Geography of the British Isles, by Dr. Mort; Pond 


NATURE 


361 


| W. P. Westell; the Oxford University Press will pub- 


lish shortly The Oxford Survey of the British Empire, 
in six 8vo volumes, edited by Prof. A. J. Herbertson 
and Mr. O. J. R. Howarth, in collaboration with 
seventy-three contributors; and Messrs. Rivingtons 
give notice of A Course of Geometry—Theoretical and 
Practical, by A. H. Bell, and a cheaper edition of 
Machine Drawing and Design, by Dr. W. Ripper. 


OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 


Roratinc Nevut#.—In the Daily Mail of May 27 
the following cablegram addressed to Prof. Lowell 
was published :—“ Flagstaff, Arizona. Spectrograms 
show Virgo nebula rotating. Slipher.’’ Up to the 
time of writing no further information is at hand, and 
it is not certain which is the nebula in question. The 
discovery is one of extreme importance, because, 
although the majority of nebule are of the spiral 
form, and such shape suggests a motion round a 
centre, a direct determination of the velocity of move- 
ment puts this question of movement beyond doubt. 
The observation is a most delicate one and requires all 
the resources of modern instrumental equipment and 
the best of observing conditions. 


CottateD List oF Lunar Formations.—Seleno- 
graphers will welcome the issue of the collated list of 
lunar formations, named or lettered in the maps of 
Neison, Schmidt, and Madler, which has been com- 
piled and annotated by Miss M. A. Blagg, under the 
direction of the late Mr. S. A. Saunder. It was due 
to Mr. Saunder’s energy that a lunar nomenclature 
committee of the International Association of 
Academies was formed. Finding that lunar nomen- 
clature was in an unsatisfactory state he desired to 
remedy the defect by having a nomenclature adopted 
once and for all by universal assent. This publication 
therefore forms the basis on which the names of the 
formations can be adopted. The preparation of an 
accurate map of the moon in mean libration was also 
undertaken by Messrs. Saunder and Franz, and it is 
hoped that this chart will soon be completed. Prof. 
Turner, in the introduction to the volume, directs 
attention to the severe losses by death of the com- 
mittee, namely, Loewy, Newcomb, Saunder, and 


‘Franz, necessitating the nominal direction of it being 


placed in his hands. 


Tue Licut or Srars.—The March number of Le 
Radium, which reached us a few days ago, contains 
a paper by Dr. A. H. Pfund, of Johns Hopkins 
University, in which he describes some preliminary 
tests he has made of a new apparatus for measur- 
ing the light of a star. The work was done at the 
Allegheny Observatory, the Keeler 3o-in. reflector 
being used. In the focus of the telescope, either of 
two small blackened discs which formed the junctions 
of a thermo-circuit could be placed. The wires used 
for the thermo-element were alloys of bismuth and 
tin, and of antimony and bismuth respectively. They 


| were enclosed in an evacuated capsule closed at one 


end by a plate of fluorite and substituted for the eye- 
piece of the telescope. The thermo-current was 
measured by a moving-coil galvanometer. The sensi- 
tiveness of the arrangement was such that a candle 
at a distance of eight miles would give a deflection 
of one millimetre. The deflections obtained from 
celestial objects were: Vega, 7-5; Jupiter, 3:0; Altair, 
2.0 mm. The author hopes by using a more sensitive 
galvanometer and other materials for his thermo- 
elements, to increase the sensitiveness considerably, 
and in this way to open up a new field of astrophysical 


Problems, by E. E. Unwin, and Bird Studies, by | research. 


Nies2 327, VOL. 93) 


362 


NATURE 


June 4, 1914 


THE SPECTRUM OF 9 CARIN (y ARGUS).—The study 
of the spectrum of the well-known variable » Carine, 
or as perhaps known better under the name of 7 Argus, 
has been undertaken by numerous workers, but the 
latest research on this star forms No. 252 of the 
Lick Observatory Bulletin, and is contributed by 
Messrs. J. H. Moore and R. F. Sanford. The spectro- 
grams here described and studied were secured with 
the one-prism spectrograph of the D. O. Mills Expedi- 
tion, at Santiago, Chili. The iron are was used as a 
comparison spectrum, and the spectrograph was pro- 
vided with a constant temperature case. The authors 
reproduce a plate showing the spectrum secured on 
March 28, 1913, and give tables of wave-length 
determinations, with comparisons with the chromo- 
sphere, laboratory spectra, and Nova Aurige. A brief 
summary of their results is as follows :—The spectrum 
is essentially a bright-line spectrum, a number of these 
lines being identified with the enhanced lines of iron, 
titanium, and chromium. The titanium and chromium 
lines show a greater displacement towards the violet 
than do the iron lines, the latter indicating a velocity 
of approach of 28 km. a second. The iron lines are 
in general the stronger lines, those of titanium and 
chromium being classed among the weaker lines. The 
origins of several strong lines are still unknown, and 
notable absentees are the lines of helium, the nebular 
lines, and 4481 A magnesium. Some evidence sug- 
gests the doubling of the hydrogen lines. The authors 
conclude that the spectrum of 4 Carine is closely 
associated with that of nove at an early stage, and 
that possibly » Carine is a nova. Its position in a 
great nebula further supports this conclusion. 


SCOTTISH FISHERY INVESTIGATIONS.! 


H HEE Vifth Report (Northern Area) on Fishery and 

Hydrographical. Investigations in the North 
Sea and Adjacent Waters”’ is the last of a series of 
reports, issued by H.M. Stationery Office during 
recent years, which have contained the detailed 
accounts of work done in this country in connection 
with the international fishery investigations. |The 
whole series appearing under the above general title 
comprises five Blue-books dealing with the northern 
area (Cd. 2612, 3358, 4350, 4893, and 6950), where the 
work has been carried out by the Fishery Board for 
Scotland, and five dealing with the southern area 
(Cd. 2670, 3837, 4641, 5546, and 6125), where the 
work was done by the Marine Biological Association 
of the United Kingdom. Other reports dealing with 
the English statistical side of the international work 
have been published by the Board-of Agriculture and 
Fisheries (Cd. 4227, 4738, 5362, and 5686). 

In the introductory statement to the volume under 
review the Scottish Fishery Board announces that the 
results of future investigations will find publication 
among the Board’s ordinary scientific reports. As the 
southern work is now entirely conducted by the Board 
of Agriculture and Fisheries, it is to be presumed that 
the reports dealing with it will be issued in a similar 
way by that Board. It may therefore be hoped that 
this change in the mode of publication marks the 
establishment of the investigations upon a permanent 
footing instead of their being regarded as merely tem- 
porary as heretofore. From the commencement it has 
been obvious that such work could only accomplish its 
full purpose when continued over a long series of 
years, and the Scottish Fishery Board, and especially 
Prof. D’Arcy Thompson, its scientific member, under 
whose superintendence the northern investigations have 
been carried out, are to be congratulated not only 


1 Fishery Board for Scotland. Fi‘th Report (Northern Arez) on Fishery 
and Hydrographical Investigations in the North Sea and Adjacent Waters 
1908-11. Cd. 6950. 


NO. 2327, VOL. 93] 


upon the completion of the five volumes of the present 
series of reports, but still more upon the future pros- 
pects of the undertaking. 

The first four volumes issued under the direction 
of the Scottish Board dealt chiefly with hydrographical 
and statistical researches. In this fifth report, in 
addition to these subjects, we have accounts of some 
of the results of the more biological investigations 
carried out by the research steamer Goldseeker. Prof. 
D’Arcy Thompson is responsible for the first memoir, 
in which he deals chiefly with the sizes and the dis- 
tribution of plaice on the basis of the hauls of the 
research steamer and on the Aberdeen market statis- 
tics. A further report on the plaice and other flat 
fishes, by Dr. T. W. Fulton, based on special statistics 


_ of individual catches of Aberdeen trawlers extending 


over a period of ten years (1901-10) treats of the dis- 
tribution and seasonal abundance of these fishes in 
the different areas of the North Sea fished by the 
trawlers. Dr. Fulton also divides the statistics into 
two periods of five years, 1901-5 and 1906-10, and con- 
trasts the quantities of field yielded in a hundred hours’ 
fishing in the first and second periods. It is shown 
that in the case of plaice the weight landed per unit 
of fishing is less in the second period than in the 
first, but that whilst this decrease is marked in the 
case of large and medium-sized fish, there is an actual 
increase in the weight of small plaice landed during 
the second period as compared with the first. 

The same feature is also brought out by the Aber- 
deen market statistics for the years 1905-11, which 
show a progressive decrease in the average catch per 
voyage of large and medium plaice, but a progressive 
increase in the catch of small. In dealing with the 
question of the increased landing of very small plaice, 
Prof. D’Arcy Thompson expresses the opinion. that 
their destruction is detrimental to the fishery, and that 
it yields no commensurate benefit to the trade, a view 
which supports the recommendation of Prof. Heincke, 
which will come under the consideration of the Inter- 
national Council, that an international size limit of 
19 in. should be enforced for plaice. 

A second memoir by Dr. Fulton deals with the 
plaice-marking experiments. Unfortunately the num- 
ber of fish marked in Scottish waters has not been 
large; indeed, it has not been sufficiently large to give 
results of a very definite kind. There can be no doubt 
that such experiments, when carried out upon a suffi- 
ciently extensive scale, are capable of yielding informa- 
tion of quite exceptional value, and we are glad to 
learn from the Board’s introductory statement that 
since the period covered by the experiments here dealt 
with, others have been conducted upon a much larger 
scale. 

The volume concludes with a memoir by Dr. A. J. 
Robertson on the hydrographical investigations for 
tgog-10. No new features of a striking character 
were found during the two years dealt with, but the 
work has now been carried on over a sufficient period 
to show what is the ordinary, normal distribution of 
salinities and temperatures in the area dealt with, and 
a useful summary of these conditions is given. 


Bly 


THIRTEEN YEARS’ MEASUREMENTS OF 


SOLAR RADIATION. 


EN a paper entitled ‘‘ Valeurs Pyrheliométriques et 
les sommes d’insolation 4 Varsovie,’ Dr. Ladislas 
Gerezynski discusses the measurements which he has 
made at Warsaw with actinometers and_pyrhelio- 
meters during the thirteen years 1901-1913. The 
results are to some extent of a provisional character, 
and they have been published chiefly with a view of 
assisting the Commission on Solar Radiation in its 


JUNE 4, 1914] 


inquiry into the exceptional character of the latter half | 


of the year 1912. During that period the intensity of 
solar radiation appeared generally to be considerably 
below the values previously found; the decrease was 
indeed so marked that it could be detected in the 
records from the Campbell-Stokes instrument which is 
designed primarily for the registration of duration of 
sunshine. The diminution has been attributed to the 
presence in the atmosphere of an exceptional amount 
of fine dust arising from the volcanic eruption of 
KXKatmai, in Alaska, at the end of June, 1912. 

An ingenious explanation of the way in which the 
dust may stop the solar radiation without keeping 
in the earth’s radiation to anything like the same 
degree has been put forward by Humphreys, in the 
Bulletin of the Mount Weather Observatory. The 
particles of dust have a diameter almost certainly 
greater than the wave-lengths of the most intense 
solar radiation, and smaller than the wave-lengths of 
terrestrial or atmospheric radiation, sc that they would 
reflect the former but merely scatter the latter; and 
Humphrey’s calculations show that the reflection 
would be much more effective than the scattering. 
Thus the effect on the temperature at the earth’s sur- 
face is the reverse of that due to an increase in the 
absorbing power of the atmosphere, such as would be 
produced by increasing the water vapour or carbon 
dioxide in it. The theory is both novel and important ; 
it indicates a method by which purely terrestrial 
agencies may profoundly affect the mean temperature 
of the globe, which may be sufficient justification for 
this digression. 


The measurements at Warsaw bear out those found’ 


at other places; the intensity of radiation was slightly 
above the average for the earlier months of 1912, 
but from July to the end of the vear it was nearly 
20 per cent. below the average. The amount of the 
deficiency decreased in the first three months of 1913, 
and thenceforward the radiation appears to have been 
about normal. The latest values given are those for 
July, 1913. 

The only other year in the period during which the 
records show a deficiency comparable with ‘that for 
1912 was 1903 (and the last two months of 1902), after 
the eruptions of Mont Pelée, Santa Maria, and 
Colima. It will be remembered that 1903 was a year 
remarkable in this country for its excessive: rainfall 
and its disturbance of meteorological ‘statistics and 
theories of periodicity. 

The results of the whole series of measurements 
are discussed very fully for different altitudes of the 
sun, different times of day, and different conditions 
of the atmosphere, especially as regards humidity. 
The main text is in Polish, but the headings of the 
tables are given also in French, and there is a sum- 
mary in French at the end of the paper. 

; E. Gop. 


AMERICAN RESEARCH ON CLAYS.! 


CONSIDERABLE amount of interesting work 

in connection with clays and the clay industries 
has been done in recent years in Germany and in 
America, and no one has worked more enthusiastically 
than Messrs. Ashley and Bleininger. - In Germany, 
too, Drs. Rieke and Endell are doing really fine work. 
The untimely death of the writer of the first-named 
pamphlet—Mr. H. E. Ashley—was a sad loss which 
must have considerably retarded: subsequent: develop- 
ments. The clay industries the world over owe the 
Bureau of Standards, etc., in the United States a debt 


1H. E. Ashley, Technical Control of the Colloidal’ Matter of Clays; 
G. H. Brown, The Function -of Time in the Vitrification of Clays; A. V. 
Bleininger and E. T. Montgomery. Effect of Overfiring upon the Structure 
of Clays. Three ‘Vechnological Papers of the Bureau of Standards, 
(Washington, D.C., U.S.A , 1913.) 


NO. 2327, VOL. 93| 


NATURE 393 


of gratitude for having set aside such men as Messrs. 
Ashley and Bleininger to devote their whole time to 
this work, and the results must be a source of satisfac- 
tion to the authorities responsible for the innovation. 

The posthumous pamphlet by Mr. Ashley, together 
with his ‘‘The Colloidal Matter of Clay and _ its 
Measurement’’ (1g0g9), form a kind of monograph, or 
rather a brief advocating the colloidal theory as an 
explanation of the many curious properties of clays. 
Mr. Ashley was an extremist, and in consequence we 
beve here probably the best possible statement of the 
theory without those doubts and difficulties which 
perplex and hamper less enthusiastic temperaments. 
For that reason, Mr. Ashley’s brief is particularly 
valuable, even though it is certain that some of the 
applications of the colloidal theory will not be able 
to stand, in their present form, before adverse criticism. 

The colloidal theory has been mainly directed to 
explaining the plasticity of clays. The argument 
appears to run somewhat as follows :—The plasticity 
of clays is determined by the contained colloidal 
matter (and also by the degree of fineness of the 
constituent particles of the clay). The greater the 
plasticity, the greater the proportion of colloids. 
Colloids are always present in clays in unknown quan- 
tities, and the proportion of colloids in clays of differ- 
ent plasticity varies in accord with theoretical require 
ments! The amount of colloidal matter in a clay is 
assumed to be proportional to the dye-absorptive power 
of the clay, and this, in turn, is stated to be propor- 
tional to the plasticity. 

As a matter of fact, the real plasticity of a clay. is 
not. so easily measured. The potter’s thumb is the 
ultimate test, and any process of measurement must 
express by number those complex sensations which the 


| potter ‘feels’? when he estimates the plasticity of a 


clay. If measurements of the dye-absorptive power 
and of the fineness of the grain of a clay will do this, 
then the problem is solved in a most simple and in- 
teresting manner. Unfortunately, the method breaks 
down completely in practice. Consequently, we cannot 
really go further than this: the known facts favour 
the colloidal theory as the best qualitative explanation 
of plasticity yet suggested, but no one has. succeeded 
in satisfactorily demonstrating the theory quantita- 
tively. Thus we return to the view held by a writer 
in the eighteenth century, who stated that ‘the plas- 
ticity is due to the presence of a greasy medium 
between the particles of the clay.’ It is difficult to 
see how the plasticity of clays can be measured unless 
it be treated as a mechanical problem; and to the. 
present writer, Zschokke’s analysis of plasticity is far 
and away the greatest advance that has yet been 
made. 

The two other pamphlets seem to be an application 
to American clays of some ideas suggested by the 
present writer in several papers a few years ago: “‘On 
the Speed of Vitrification of Clays,” etc. Clays are 
made up of a heterogeneous mixture of particles of 
different sizes and composition; when clay. products— - 
bricks, etc.—are being fired, the more refractory par- 
ticles start dissolving in the matrix formed by those 
which melt first. In the extreme case, the whole 
would form a homogeneous vitreous mass. The firing 
is stopped before this condition is reached. The stage 
at which the process of vitrification is arrested is deter- 
mined by the nature of the required products—porce- 
lain, firebricks, ete.—and on the character of the par- 
ticular clay ‘‘body” being used. Each clay has its 
own specific character, and this explains how a fire- 
man. with no sound principles to guide him—but a 


: triumph of empiricism with one, or maybe two, types 
/ of clay—often fails ignominously when he is_trans- 


ferred: from one district to another, using a different 
type of clay. J. W. MELLor. ~ 


364, 


FLUID MOTIONS.} 


Le is apparent that in dealing with a large and 
interesting class of fluid motions we cannot go 
far without including fluid friction, or viscosity as it 
is generally called, in order to distinguish it from the 
very different sort of friction encountered by solids, 
unless well lubricated. In order to define it, we may 
consider the simplest case where fiuid is included be- 
tween two parallel walls, at unit distance apart, which 
move steadily, each in its own plane, with velocities 


which differ by unity. On the supposition that the’ 
the viscosity is 


fluid also moves in plane strata, 
measured by the tangential force per unit of area 
exercised by each stratum upon its neighbours. When 
we are concerned with internal motions only, we have 
to do rather with the so-called ‘‘ kinematic viscosity,”’ 
found by dividing the quantity above defined by the 
density of the fluid. On this system the viscosity 
of water is much less than that of air. 

Viscosity varies with temperature; and it is well to 
remember that the viscosity of air increases while 
that of water decreases as the temperature rises. Also 
that the viscosity of water may be greatly increased 
by admixture with alcohol. I used these methods in 


1879 during investigations respecting the influence of 


viscosity upon the behaviour of such fluid jets as are 
sensitive to sound and vibration. 

Experimentally the simplest case of motion in which 
viscosity is paramount is the flow of fluid through 
capillary tubes. The laws of such motion are simple, 
and were well investigated by Poiseuille. This is the 
method employed in practice co determine viscosities. 
The apparatus before you is arranged to show the 
diminution of viscosity with rising temperature. In 
the cold the flow of water through the capillary tube 
is slow, and it requires sixty seconds to fill a smati 
measuring vessel. When, however, the tube is heated 
by passing steam through the jacket surrounding it, 
the flow under the same head is much increased, and. 
the measure is filled in twenty-six seconds. Another 
case of great practical importance, where viscosity 
is the leading consideration, relates to lubrication. 
In admirably conducted experiments Tower showed 
that the solid surfaces moving over one another should 


be separated by a complete film of oil, and that when. 


this is attended to there is no wear. On this basis a 
fairly complete theory of lubrication has been de- 
veloped, mainly by O. Reynolds. But the capillary 
nature of the fluid also enters to some extent, and 
it is not yet certain that the whole character of 
a lubricant can be expressed even in terms of both 
surface tension and viscosity. 

It appears that in the extreme cases, when viscosity 
can be neglected and again when it is paramount, we 
are able to give a pretty good account of what passes. 
It is in the intermediate region, where both inertia 
and viscosity are of influence, that the difficulty is 
greatest. But even here we are not wholly without 
guidance. There is a general law, called the law of 
dynamical similarity, which is often of great service. 
In the past this law has been unaccountably neglected, 
and not only in the present field. It allows us to infer 
what will happen upon one scale of operations from 
what has been observed at another. On the present 
oceasion I must limit myself to viscous fluids, for 
which the law of similarity was laid down in all its 
completeness by Stokes so long ago as 1850. It 
appears that similar motions may take place provided 
a certain condition be satisfied, viz., that the product 
of the linear dimension and the velocity, divided by 
the kinematic viscosity cf the fluid, remain unchanged. 


1 From a_ discourse delivered at the Royal Institution on March 20 by 
the Right Hon. Lord Rayleigh, O.M., F.8.S. 


NO: (2327, VOL. 03) 


NATURE 


| 


[JUNE 4, 1914 


Geometrical similarity is presupposed. An example 
will make this clearer. If we are dealing with a 
single fluid, say air under given conditions, the kine- 
matic viscosity remains of course the same. When 
a solid sphere moves uniformly through air, the char- 
acter of the motion of the fluid round it may depend 
upon the size of the sphere and upon the velocity 
with which it travels. But we may infer that the 
motions remain similar, if only the product of diameter 
and velocity be given. Thus, if we know the motion 
for a particular diameter and velocity of the sphere, we 
can infer what it will be when the velocity is halved 
and the diameter doubled. The fluid velocities also 
will everywhere be halved at the corresponding places. 
M. Eiffel found that for any sphere there is a velocity 
which may be regarded as critical, 7.e. a velocity at 
which the law of resistance changes its character 
somewhat suddenly. It follows from the rule that. 
these critical velocities should be inversely proportional 
to the diameters of the spheres, a conclusion in pretty 
good agreement with M. Eiffel’s observations.* But 
the principle is at least equally important in effecting 
a comparison between different fluids. If we know 
what happens on a certain scale and at a certain 
velocity in water, we can infer what will happen in air 
on any other scale, provided the velocity is chosen 
suitably. It is assumed here that the compressibility’ 
of the air does not come into account, an assumption, 
which is admissible so long as the velocities are small 
in comparison with that of sound. 

But although -the principle of similarity is well 
established on the theoretical side and has met with 
some confirmation in experiment, there has been much 
hesitation in applying it, due perhaps to certain dis- 
crepancies with observation which stand recorded. 
And there is another reason. It is rather difficult to 
understand how viscosity can play so large a part as 
it seems to do, especially when we introduce numbers, 
which make it appear that the viscosity of air, or 
water, is very small in relation to the other data 
occurring in practice. In order to remove these doubts 
it is very desirable to experiment with different vis- 
cosities, but this is not easy to do on a moderately 
large scale, as in the wind channels used for aero- 
nautical purposes. I am therefore desirous of bring- 
ing before you some observations that I have recently 
made with very simple apparatus. 

When liquid flows from one reservoir to another 
through a channel in which there is a contracted 
place, we can compare what we may call the head 
or driving pressure, i.e. the difference of the pressures 
in the two reservoirs, with the suction, i.e. the differ- 
ence between the pressure in the recipient vessel and. 
that lesser pressure to be found at the narrow place. 
The ratio of head to suction is a purely numerical 
quantity, and according to the principle of similarity 
it should for a given channel remain unchanged, pro- 
vided the velocity be taken proportional to the kine- 
matic viscosity of the fluid. The use of the same 
material channel throughout has the advantage that 
no question can arise as to geometrical similarity, 
which in principle should extend to any roughness 
upon the surface, while the necessary changes of 
velocity are easily attained by altering the head and 
those of viscosity by altering the temperature. 

The apparatus consisted of two aspirator bottles 
(Fig. 1) containing water and connected below by a 
passage bored in a cylinder of lead, 7 cm. long, fitted 
water-tight with rubber corks. The form of channel 
actually employed is shown in Fig. 2. On the up- 
stream side it contracts pretty suddenly from full 
bore (8 mm.) to the narrowest place, where the 
diameter is 2:75 mm. On the down-stream side the 


2 Comptes rendus, December 30, 1912, January 13, 1913. 


JUNE 4, 1914] 


NATURE 365 


expansion takes place in four or five steps, corre- 
sponding to the drills available. It had at first been 
intended to use a smooth curve, but preliminary trials 
showed that this was unnecessary, and the expansion 
by steps has the advantage of bringing before the 
mind the dragging action of the jets upon the thin 
layers of fluid between them and the walls. The 
three pressures concerned are indicated on mano- 
meter tubes as shown, and the two differences of 
level representing head and suction can be taken off 


Fic. 1. 


with compasses and referred to a millimetre scale. 
In starting an observation the water is drawn up in 
the discharge vessel, so far as may be required, with 
the aid of an air-pump. The rubber cork at the top 
of the discharge vessel necessary for this purpose is 
not shown. 

As the head falls during the flow of the water, the 
ratio of head to suction increases. For most of the 
observations I contented myself with recording the 
head for which the ratio of head to suction was exactly 
2:1, as indicated by _ propor- ; 
tional compasses. Thus on 
January 23, when the tempera- 
ture of the water was 9° C., 
the 2:1 ratio occurred on four 
trials “atifxag,; 130, 123,,' 526, 
mean 125 mm. head. The tem- 
perature was then raised with 
precaution by pouring in warm 
water with passages backwards 
and forwards. The occurrence 
of the 2:1 ratio was now much 
retarded, the mean head being 
only 35 mm., corresponding to a 
mean temperature of 37° C. The ratio of head to 
suction is thus dependent upon the head or velocity, 
but when the velocity is altered the original ratio 
may be recovered if at the same time we make a 
suitable alteration of viscosity. 

And the required alteration of viscosity is about 
what might have been expected. From Landolt’s 
tables I find that for 9° C. the viscosity of water is 
0:01368, while for 37° C. it is 0.00704. The ratio of 
viscosities is accordingly 1-943. The ratio of heads is 
125:35- The ratio of velocities is the square-root 


NGie2327, VOL. 93) 


| 


| for a time. 


ee Mudd: 


of this, or 1-890, in sufficiently good agreement with 
the ratio of viscosities. 

In some other trials the ratio of velocities exceeded 
a little the ratio of viscosities. It is not pretended 
that the method would be an accurate one for the 
comparison of viscosities. The change in the ratio 
of head to suction is rather slow, and the measure- 
ment is usually somewhat prejudiced by unsteadiness 
in the suction manometer. Possibly better results 
would be obtained in more elaborate observations by 


several persons, the head and_ suc- 
tion being recorded separately and 
referred to a time scale so as to 
facilitate interpolation. But as they 
stand the results suffice for my 
purpose, showing directly and con- 
clusively the influence of viscosity 
as compensating a change in _ the 
velocity. 


In conclusion, I must touch briefly 
upon a part of the subject where theory 
is still at fault, and I will limit myself 
to the simplest case of all—the 
uniform shearing motion of a viscous 
fluid between two parallel walls, 
one of which is at _ rest, while 
the other moves. tangentially with 
uniform velocity. It is easy to prove 
that a uniform shearing motion of the 
fluid satisfies the dynamical equations, 
but the question remains: Is this motion 
stable? Does a small departure from 
the simple motion tend of itself to die 
out? In the case where the viscosity is 
relatively great, observation suggests an 
affirmative answer; and O. Reynolds, 
whose illness and comparatively early 


death were so great a _ loss to 
science, was able to deduce the 
same conclusion from theory. Reynolds’s method 
has been improved, more especially by Prof. 


Orr of Dublin. The simple motion is thoroughly 
stable if the viscosity exceed a certain specified value 
relative to the velocity of the moving plane and the 
distance between the planes; while if the viscosity 
is less than this, it is possible to propose a kind of 
departure from the original motion which will increase 
It is on this side of the question that 


there is a deficiency. When the viscosity is very 


ZI 


Us 


Fic. 2. 


small, observation appears to show that the simple 


_ motion is unstable, and we ought to be able to derive 


this result from theory. But even if we omit viscosity 
altogether, it does not appear possible to prove in- 
stability a priori, at least so long as we regard the 
walls as mathematically plane. We must confess that 
at the present we are unable to give a satisfactory 
account of skin-friction, in order to overcome which 
millions of horse-power are expended in our ships. 
Even in the older subjects there are plenty of problems 
left ! 


366 


NATURE 


[JUNE 4, 1914 


THE *UTILISATION, OF (SOLAR VE NENG ies 


FTER naming the principal workers in this field, 
the author gives determinations of the solar con- 
stant and deals fully with the varving percentages of 
this quantity that are available throughout the day for 
power purposes. He then describes four types of 
Shuman sun heat absorbers and gives in great detail 
the results of his forty-eight trials of these absorbers, 
the latest pattern (that erected near. Cairo, Egypt) of 
which gave a maximum thermal efficiency of no less 
than 40-7 per cent., and a maximum output of steam 
of -1442 lb. an hour at a pressure of 15-8 lb. per 
sq. in. abs. The results of these types of absorbers 
are compared by means of tables and curves, and from 
these the author has constructed a formula by means 
of which it is easy to calculate for a given type and 
size of absorber the total output of steam an hour 
if three things are known: (1) the time of day; (2) the 
humidity; and (3) the steam pressure. It has been 
known that humidity adversely affects the quantity of 
solar radiation arriving at the earth’s solid surface, 
but this is the first time that its effect on solar steam 
production has been quantitatively determined, ' 


The Meadi Absorber. 


Looking .N.E. and showing the reflectors in the mid-day position. 


showing that the Shuman engine is the more 
economical. The steam consumption of one of these 
engines was only 22-1 lb. per B.H.P. hour, when the- 
output was 945 B.H.P., and the steam pressure only 
16-2 Ib. per sq. in. abs. The thermal efficiency of, 
the engine compared with an engine working on the 
Rankine cycle was‘ 54:75 per cent. In the case of a 
Shuman high-pressure non-condensing engine with. 
an output of 29 B.H.P., the steam consumption was. 
238 lb. per -B.H.P. hour, and the relative thermal 
efficiency 71-7 per cent. 

Finally the author gives the results of his trials of 
the complete sun power irrigation plant at Cairo, and 
describes his design of a special form of weir tank 
for measuring greatly differing quantities of water. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 
INTELLIGENCE. 


CamBRIDGE.—Dr. W. H. R. Rivers has been ap- 
pointed to represent the University at the nineteenth 
International Congress of Americanists to be held ‘at 
Washington, U.S.A., in October next. 


There are 5 reflectors each 205 ft. long, 


and 13 ft. 5 in. wide at the top. 


The difference between the thermal efficiency of the 
solar boiler and the commercial value of the steam 
produced is ingeniously brought out, the author 
making it clear that in the case of such low-pressure 
boilers a high thermal efficiency is not necessarily the 
same thing as the most economical conditions of 
working, and he shows that, up to a certain limit, the 
higher the steam pressure, the more economical the 
working, though the thermal efficiency is then lower. 
Two of the types of absorber did not move with the 
sun, and one did. The greater constancy of output of 
steam in the case of the latter is very marked. | 

In order to utilise the low-pressure steam economic- 
ally, Mr. Frank Shuman designed a special engine 


which has also gone through several stages. This 
engine is fully described with drawings, and the 


author gives the results of his fourteen trials of the 
several engines and compares their results with those 
of exhaust steam turbines and the low-pressure 
cylinders of compound- and triple-expansion engines, 


1 Summary of a paper read before the Society of Engineers (Incor- 
porated) on April 6, by Mr. A. S. E. Ackermann. 


NO. 2327 s:ViOrsto3 | 


The Special Board fer Biology and Geology has 
nominated Dr. Shipley as the representative of the 
University on the council of the Marine Biological 
Association. 

The Sudbury Hardyman prize offered for an original 
dissertation by a graduate member of Emmanuel Col- 
lege under the standing of M.A., has been awarded 
to Mr. G. Matthai, for a treatise entitled ‘‘ A Revision 
of the Recent Colonial Astraeidae Possessing Distinct 
Corallites.”’ 

OxrorD.—The Halley Lecture in 1915 will be de- 
livered by Dr. F. W. Dyson, F.R.S., late fellow of 
Trinity College, Cambridge, Astronomer Royal. 

The Hon. Bertrand A. W.. Russell, F.R.S., late 
fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, has been elected 
Herbert Spencer lecturer for the year 1914-15. 

The Romanes Lecture, as previously announced, 
will be delivered by Sir J. J. Thomson, O.M., F.R.S., 
on June 10, at 3 o’clock. . Subject, ‘‘The Atomic 
Theory.’ 


Dr. C. W. CHAMBERLAIN has been inaugurated presi- 


Jone 4, 1914] 


dent of Denison University, Ohio. From 1991 to 1908 
Dr. Chamberlain occupied the chair of physics in that 
institution. Since the latter date he has held the 
professorship of that subject in Vassar College. 


Dr. B. T. GaLtoway has resigned his position as 
assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Agri- 
culture in order to accept the post of dean of the 
Agricultural College of Cornell University. 


Tue London County Council Education Committee 
has had under review the scheme for the reorganisa- 
tion of the council’s evening school system which was 
adopted last winter. The object of the reorganisation 
was to remedy certain serious defects of enrolment, 
attendance, and organisation, and to infuse freshness 
and attractiveness into the system. Among other 
arrangements made was a relief from fees as an award 
for good attendance, important changes in the per- 
sonnel and duties of the inspectorate, and changes of 
a far-reaching character in the staffing, so as ulti- 
mately to obtain a separate staff for evening schools. 
Public attention was at the beginning of the session 
directed to the classes in many ways. Though a de- 
crease of 30,000 pupils was anticipated in the total 
attendance, happily this was not realised. The com- 
mittee is of opinion that in the main no change in the 
fundamental principles of the organisation appears to 
be advisable. Extension of the main features of the 
organisation are recommended, and some modifica- 
tions of detail are suggested. It is proposed in a few 
instances to convert free schools into fee-paying under 
the ordinary conditions. The most important pro- 
posal, however, is to charge a registration fee of six- 
pence at all ‘‘free’’ institutes. It is. felt that. the 
immediate outlay of sixpence on joining an institute 
will be some guarantee that the student is serious, 
while it will not really interfere with the ‘‘free”’ 
character of the schools. The committee proposes to 
make provision for 120,000 students in these classes 
next year. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
LONDON. 


Zoological Society, May 19.—Mr. R. H. Burne, vice- 
president, in the chair—Dr. C. H. O’Donoghue : 
The venous system of the dogfish. The general dis- 
position of the main trunks in Scyllium is similar to 
that described in other Elasmobranchs, but the details 
differ considerably.—B. F, Cummings: Scent-organs 
in Trichoptera. An account of the remarkable 
development of the palpi of the first maxilla in a 
male caddis-fly, Sericostoma personatum. Instead of 
being 5-segmented, the palpus consists of a single 
swollen segment carrying an enormous tuft of long, 
silky hairs, at the bases of which unicellular scent- 
glands are situated.—H. A. Baylis: A new species of 
Cestode collected from an _ albatross (Diomedea 
irrorata) by Dr. H. O. Forbes in Peru.—D.~M. S. 
Watson: The Deinocephalia, an order of mammal- 
like reptiles. The skull of a Tapinocephaloid is 
almost completely described. The fact that whilst in 
the skull Deinocephalia agree with the American 
Pelycosaurs, but in the post-cranial skeleton they 
resemble South African Therapsids, shows that the 
American forms must be included in the same great 
group, super-order, as the South African mammal-like 
reptiles.—Dr. R. C. L. Perkins: Species of the genus 
Paralastor and some other Hymenoptera of the family 
Eumenidz. All the described species are enumerated 
therein, together with the descriptions of many new 
forms.—G. Jennison: Notes on colour-development in 


NO. 2327, VOL. 93| 


NATURE 


367 


the Indian wood-stork (Pseudotantalus leucocephalus). 
—Dr. Ph. Lehrs: A new lizard from the Canary 
Islands, recently discovered by Dr. Caesar Boettger on 
Hierro. 


Physical Society, May 22.—Dr. A. Russell, vice- 
president, in the chair.—T. Barratt and A. B. Wood : 
Volatility of thorium active deposit. On heating 
thorium active deposit to accurately measured _tem- 
peratures up to about 1250° C. it is found that B and 
C each commence to volatilise at 750° C., but the 
volatilisation is not complete until 1200° C. is reached. 
The C curve is peculiar, being similar to two of the 
B curves placed end to end, the inflexion occurring 
between 750° C. and goo® C., where about 35 per cent. 
of the a activity is removed. When measured by 
B radiation, C is not volatile until a temperature of 
goo® C. is reached. D commences to volatilise at 500° 
C.. It is assumed that the part of C which produces 
B rays, viz., Cg, is a separate product, which is not so 
readily volatile as Ca.—H. P. Walmsley and Dr. W. 
Makower : The passage of a particles through photo- 
graphic films. Kinoshita has shown that when an 
a particle strikes a grain of silver halide, that grain 
is subsequently capable of photographic development. 
It seemed probable that the path of an a particle pro- 


| jected tangentially to a photographic film should, after 


development, be visible under a microscope. This was 
shown to be the case, and photomicrographs showing 
the tracks of a particles through a photographic plate 
have been obtained.—S. Butterworth : A null method of 
testing vibration galvanometers. By extending the 
theory of the vibration galvanometer it is shown how 
the constants may be determined by methods which 
involve only the measurements of one deflection. The 
remaining measurements are carried out on an alter- 
nating-current bridge. The principle of the method 
depends on the fact that a vibration galvanometer 
behaves as a parallel combination of a conductance, a 
capacity and an inductance, in_ series with a resist- 
ance._C. W. S. Crawley and Dr. S. W. J. . Smith: 
Experiments with an incandescent lamp. The first 
experiment was due to Mr. Addenbrooke who, using 
a too-volt lamp filled with paraffin oil as a high 
resistance in a 200-volt circuit, noticed that some 
of the bubbles forming on the filament behaved in 
a curious way. Instead of rising.at once to the 
surface they ran down the legs of the filament, against 
gravity, and escaped at the leading-in wires. Dr. 
Smith, repeating the experiment, discovered another 
striking phenomenon. Placing the 1oo-volt lamp in a 
roo-volt circuit in series with a variable resistance it 
was found possible to obtain a single bubble upon the 
wire. Instead of escaping at either terminal, the 
bubble travels backwards and forwards between the 
two, ‘looping the loops”’ of the filament during every 
journey. A rapid fall of temperature from the wire 
through the liquid, in the region through which the 
bubble moves, is an essential condition of the pheno- 
menon. 
DUBLIN. 

Royal Dublin Society, May 26.—Prof. W. Brown in 
the chair.—Prof. G. H. Carpenter: Injurious insects 
and other animals observed in Ireland during the year 
1913. The more noteworthy records are larve of 
Bibionidz feeding in potato tubers, and the presence 
of all three species of apple Aphis—A. pomi, A. sorbi, 
and A. fitchi—in Ireland. Observations and experi- 


| ments by T. R. Hewitt on the infestation of narcissus 


bulbs by eelworms (Tylenchus) and their migration 
through the soil are described. Copper sulphate in 
weak solution (5-73 per cent.) is safe and effective for 
soaking the bulbs. A mature larva of Hypoderma 
extracted from the back of a mare may be confidently 


368 


referred to the common H. bovis.—T. R. Hewitt : The 
iarva and puparium of the frit-fly. The author de- 
scribes the external features of this destructive larva 
in greater detail than has yet been attempted, direct- 
ing attention to sensory organs in the head region, 
the mouth hooks, and the spiracles.—Prof. J. Wilson : 
Polygamous Mendelian facters. In papers on the 
colours of horses published in 1910 (Roy. Dublin Soc. 
Proc, ‘vol; -xii:,9p-, 331))and, 1912) (:bid., vol, 2am, 
p. 184) it was observed that each of the colours was 
the result of a single factor which was polygamous. 
That is to say, the factor for one colour can mate 
with the factor for any of the others, one at a time. 
When the observation was made, however, it was not 
realised to be unusual or extraordinary, but was 
assumed to be a phenomenon which might occur fre- 
quently; consequently stress was not laid upon the 
observation. It was eventually seen, however, that 
the phenomenon is very unusual, and with the data 
collected, together with additional data to be found 
in Dr. Walther’s ‘‘ Beitrage zur Kenntniss der Vererb- 
ung der Pferdefarben,’’ the phenomenon is now demoh- 
strated. It would be inferred from Dr. Walther’s 
data if the ‘“‘absences’’ which his analysis requires 
were eliminated, and the conditions which they stand 
for substituted in their stead. 


Paris. 

Academy of Sciences, May 18.—M. P. Appell in the 
chair.—Armand Gautier and P, Clausmann:; Fluorine 
in freshwater. An application of the method pre- 
viously described for determining traces of fluorine to 
the examination of water from rivers, glaciers, and 
springs. No potable waters examined contain more 
than 0-6 milligram of fluorine per litre. In Paris 
water the amount of fluorine taken a day per indi- 
vidual is about 0-12 mgr., or less than a quarter the 
amount daily excreted.—Charles Moureu and Georges 
Mignonac: A new class of nitrogen compounds, the 
ketisoketimines. This name is applied to substances 
of the type R.CR’: N.CR: CH.R", obtained by the 
action of heat upon the ketimines.._L. Maquenne and 
E. Demoussy : The mobility of potash in plant tissues. 
—J. Delauney : The times of revolution of the satellites 
of a given system presenting certain relations between 
themselves.—W. Goloubeff: Functions with discon- 
tinuous singularities.—Marcel Moulin: The position of 
the centre of gravity of spiral springs furnished with 
theoretical terminal curves.—Albert Turpain: A photo- 
graphic self-recording microammeter and the measure- 
ment which it furnishes. The apparatus described has 
given good records of messages from the Eiffel Tower 
at Poitiers, 300 km. distant. The instrument is of 
use in geodesic operations.—G. Gouré de Villemontée : 
The propagation of electricity through paraffin oil.— 
Léon and Eugéne Bloch: The spark spectra of some 
elements in the extreme ultra-violet. Wave-lengths 
are given of the lines for arsenic, antimony, tin, bis- 
muth, aluminium, and cadmium for the range 2134 to 
1855.—R. Marcelin : The evaporation of slightly super- 
heated liquids and solids. Results are _ given for 
nitrobenzene, naphthalene, and iodine.—Léo Vignon : 
The solvents of coal. Coals of different origin were 
extracted with alcohol, ether, benzene, toluene, aniline, 
nitrobenzene, pyridine, and quinoline. The soluble 
and insoluble portions of the coals were analysed. 
Bituminous coals gave a high aniline extract.—J. 
Bougault : The process of saponification of esters and 
of amides by strong sulphuric acid.—Georges Tanret : 
The constitution of galegine. This alkaloid was ex- 
tracted from the seeds of Galega officinalis, and has 
the composition C,H,,N,. Its most important re- 
action is the formation of methyl-3-pyrrolidine and 


NO...2327,. VOL. 93 | 


NATURE 


[JUNE 4, 1914 


| urea by hydrolysis with baryta water.—E. Carriére , 
The equilibrium at the ordinary temperature of the 
enol and aldehyde forms of ethyl formylsuccinate and 
ethyl formylethylsuccinate.—R. Fosse: The chemical 
activity of xanthydrol and its application to the esti- 
mation of urea.—Robert Douin: The development of 
the - fruit-bearing apparatus of Marchantia.—M. 
Marage: The sensibility. of the. physiological ear for 


certain musical. sounds.—A.. Moutier: The _ inter- 
dependence of peripheral. arterial hypotension and 
visceral arterial hypertension.~-A. Trillat and M. 


Fouassier : The action of cooling on microbial droplets. 
—J. Nageotte : Some peculiarities of the nerve fibre of 
batrachians and on the so-called alterations of the 
myeline sheath, considered as causing changes of 
excitability of the nerves.—M. Vasticar: The nuclear 
formations of the internal auditive cell—_Mme. Marie 
Phisalix : Poisonous properties of the parotidian saliva 
of Coronella austriaca.—L. Germain and L. Joubin: 
The Chetognaths of the cruises of the Prince of 
Monaco.—Gabriel Bertrand and M. Rosenblatt: The 
thermo-regeneration of sucrase. A study of the 
changes in the hydrolysing power of sucrase from 
yeast produced by exposure to varying temperatures. 
—F. Kerforne: The presence of Calymmene blumen- 
bachi in the Gothlandian of Brittany.—N. Arabu: The 
Trias of Ismid.—Léon Bertrand and Antonin Lanquine : 
New observations on the tectonic of the south-west 
slopes of the Maritime Alps.—E. A. Martel: The 
chasms of the Tertiary formations in the neighbour- 
hood of Vertus (Marne).—Alphonse Berget: A piezo- 
metric sounder. Use is made of the compressibility 
of water contained in a tube silvered internally. The 
water is in contact with mercury, and. the contraction 
of the water is measured by the amount of the silver 
removed as amalgam. The sensibility is practically 
constant at increasing depths, and gives an accuracy 
of 10 metres at a depth of about 6000 metres.—Ernest 
Esclangon: An instrument for recording the intensity 
of rainfalls.—Gabriel Guilbert : Weather prediction. 


May 25.—M. P. Appell in the chair.—Fred. 
Wallerant : Contribution to the study of polymorphism. 
Experimental details concerning the polymorphism of 
malonic acid, monochlorocamphor, benzyl cinnamate, 
benzaldoxim, paratolylphenylketone and _ trinitrometa- 
cresol.—sS. A. S. Albert, Prince of Monaco: The third 
campaign of Hirondelle IJ. (twenty-sixth of the com- 
plete series). In the course of bathypelagic work it 
has been found that certain organisms, more especially 
fishes, are only found during the daytime at a depth 
not less than 1000 metres, but are commonly obtained 
during the night at a depth of 200 metres. This 
corresponds to a change of pressure of too atmo- 
spheres.—M. Jacques Loeb was elected a correspondant 
for the section of anatomy and zoology in the place of 
the late Lord Avebury.—A. Schaumasse : Observations 
of the Zlatinsky comet (1914b) made with the 
equatorial at the Nice Observatory. Data given for 
May 18, I9, 20, 21, 22, 23. Changed from 6th mag- 
nitude on May 18 to 8-7 magnitude four days later.—~- 
Louis Fabry: The problem of the minor planets.—P. 
Chofardet: Observations of the new comet 1914b 
(Zlatinsky) made at the Observatory of Besancon. 
Four positions given for May 19-22. Was estimated 
to be of the 5th magnitude on May 19.—L. Ballif: 
The surfaces developed in two different manners by 
the motion of an indeformable curve.—W. de Tannen- 
berg: A functional equation and curves of constant 
torsion.—T. H. Gronwall: Laplace’s series.—R. W. 
Wood and L. Dunoyer: The optical resonance of 
sodium vapour under the stimulation of one only of 
the D lines. It has been proved that the resonance 
1ediation excited by the line D, alone contains that radia- 


JuNnE 4, 1914] 


NATURE 


369 


tion only.—A. Blanc: A radiation accompanying the 
oxidation.of phosphorus. The oxidation of phos- 
phorus is accompanied by the production of an ionis- 
ing radiation of very slight penetrating power, and 
resembling the y rays of radio-active substances.— 
M. de Broglie: The spectroscopy of the secondary 
rays emitted outside R6ntgen tubes and the absorp- 
tion spectra.—L. Bouchet : A manometric arrangement 
for studying very small deformations of indiarubber.— 
Ch. Fabry and H. Buisson; The experimental verifica- 
tion of the Doppler-Fizeau principle.—R. Swyngedauw : 
The control of the insulation of a triphase network.— 
Ernest Berger: The oxidation of copper: the influence 
of temperature and pressure. The oxidation of copper 
by dry oxygen can be traced down to a temperature 
of 15° C. The velocity of oxidation is tripled for 
each 10° rise of temperature.—Jules Roux: Study of 
the limit of some reactions by means of the hydro- 
static balance. Examples of the application of a 
quartz float to determine small changes of density.— 
Victor Henri and Venceslas Moycho: The action of 
monochromatic ultra-violet rays on the _ tissues. 
Measurement of the energy of radiation corresponding 
to sunstroke.—G. Courtois: Some organic uranium 
salts of the monoacids of the fatty series.—P. Lebeau 
and M. Picon: The hydrogenation of the cyclic hydro- 
carbons by sodammonium. The preparation of naph- 
thalene tetrahydride. Naphthalene and powdered 
sodium are treated with liquid ammonia, naphthalene 
tetrahydride, and sodium amide are produced.—G. 
André ; The development of the bud in a living plant 
(chestnut).—W. Kopaczewski: Researches on the com- 
position of Scilla maritima. A toxic glucoside, not 
containing nitrogen, has been isolated from the scilla. 
—Raoul Bayeux and Paul Chevallier: Comparative 
researches on the concentration of the arterial blood 
and venous blood at Paris, Chamonix, and Mt. Blanc, 
by the refractometric study of the serum.—J. Tissot : 
Destruction of serum activity by heat.—Robert Dollius : 
Trochicola enterica, a parasitic Eucopepod of the in- 
testine of the Trochida.—M. Herlant: The existence 
of a periodic rhythm in the determination of the first 
phenomena of experimental parthenogenetic develop- 
ment in the sea-urchin (Paracentrotus lividus).— 
Ch. A. Rolland: Contribution to the study of the con- 
stitution. of bovine vesicular bile and of its lipoid 
portion.—Maurice Gignoux and Paul Combay: The 
history of the last rhodanian glaciations in the Belley 
basin.—L,. Cayeux: The existence of numerous traces 
of perforating algz in French oolitic iron minerals.— 
H. Fonzes-Diacon and M. Fabre: The detection of 
boron in mineral waters.—Albert Baldit: A case of 
globular lightning. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 


Western Australia. Geological Survey. Bulletin 
No. 44. A Geological Reconnaissance of a Portion of 
the South-West Division of Western Australia. By 
E. C. Saint-Smith. Pp. 80. Bulletin No. 49. Geo- 
logy and Mineral Resources of the Yilgarn Goldfield. 
Part 1. Southern Cross. By E. C. Saint-Smith and 
R. A. Farquharson. Pp. 193+plates. 

The Teaching of Mathematics in Australia. By 
Prof. H. S. Carslaw. Pp. 79. (Sydney: Angus and 
Robertson, Ltd.; London: Oxford University Press.) 

The Call of the Stars. By Dr. J. R. Kippax. Pp. 
XViii+431+xliii plates. (New York and London: 
G. P. Putnam’s Sons.) tos. 6d. net. 

Die Stisswasser-Flora Deutschlands, O6esterreichs 
und der Schweiz. Edited by Prof. A. Pascher. Heft 6. 
Chlorophycee, III. By W. Heering. Pp. iv+250. 
(Jena: G. Fischer.) 6 marks. 


NO. 2327, VOL. 93] 


(Perth, W.A.) | 


Chimie Physique Elémentaire. By E. Ariés. Tome 
Premier. Pp. xxx+212. (Paris: A. Hermann et 
Fils.) 4 francs. 

Der Bau des Weltalls. 
Vierte Auflage. Pp. iv+ 132. 
ner.) 1.25 marks. 

Vegetationsbilder. Edited by Drs. G. Karsten and 
H. Sehenck. Zwolfte Reihe. Heft 2 and 3. Pp. 
iv+ Tafel 7-18. (Jena: G. Fischer.) 8 marks. 


I.K. Therapy, with Special Reference to Tubercu- 
losis. By Dr. W. E. M. Armstrong. Pp. x+83. 
(London: H. K. Lewis.) 5s. net. 

A Contribution to the Flora and Plant Formations 
of Mount Kinabalu and the Highlands of British 
North Borneo. By L. S. Gibbs.. Pp. 240+ plates 1-8. 
(London: Linnean Society.) 

The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of 
Teaching. Eighth Annual Report. of the President 
and of the Treasurer. Pp. vi+158.- (New York 
City.) 

Annual Report of the Meteorological Observatory of 
the Government General of Korea for the year 1912. 
Pp. iv+120+20. (Chemulpo.) 

Manks Antiquities. By P. M. C. Kermode and 


By Prof? “J. “Schemes: 
(Leipzig : B. G. Teub- 


Prof. W. A. Herdman. Second ‘edition. Pp. 150. 
(Liverpool University Press.) 3s. net. 

| Memorabilia Mathematica, or the Philomath’s 
Quotation-Book. By Prof. R. E. Moritz. Pp. x+ 410. 


(London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 12s. 6d. net. 


Twenty-sixth Annual Report of the Purdue Univer- 
sity Agricultural Experiment Station, Lafayette, 
Indiana, for the Year Ending June 30, 1913. Pp. 88. 
(Lafayette, Ind.) 


Aeronautics. Technical Report of the Advisory 
Committee for Aeronautics for the Year 1912-13 
(with Appendices). Pp. 416. (London: H.M.S.O.; 
Wyman and Sons, Ltd.) tos. 


Spectrum Analysis Applied to Biology and Medicine. 
By the late Dr. C.. A. MacMunn. Pp. xiv+112. 
(London : Longmans and Co.) 5s. net. 


By F. Enriques. Translated 
by K. Royce. Pp. xvi+392. (Chicago and London:: 
Open Court Publishing Co.) tos. net. 


The Country Month by Month. By J. A. Owen 
and Prof. G. S. Boulger. New edition. Pp. x+492+ 
plates. (London: Duckworth and Co.) 6s. net. 

The Latest Light. on Bible Lands. By P. S..-P. 
Handcock. Second edition. Pp. xii+371. (London: 
S.P.C.K.)) -6s: net. 

Royal Society of London. Catalogue of Scientific 
Papers, 1800-1900. Subject Index. Vol. iii. Physics. 
Part ii. Electricity and Magnetism. Pp. xv+551-927 
+vii. (Cambridge University Press.) 15s. net. 


Amulets Illustrated by the Egyptian Collection in 


Problems of Science. 


University College, London. By Prof. W. M. 
Flinders Petrie. Pp. x+58+liv plates. (London: 
Constable and Co., Ltd.) 21s. net. 


A Practical Treatise on Sub-Aqueous Foundations. 
By C._E. Fowler. . Third edition. Pp, xliii+814. 
(New York: J. Wiley and Sons, Inc.; London : Chap- 
man and Hall, Ltd.) 31s. 6d. net. 

The Science of Knitting. By E. Tompkins. | Pp. 
Rili+330. (New York: J. Wiley and Sons, Inc. ; 
London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd.) 12s. 6d. net. 

Chemical Examination of the Blood and its Tech- 
nique. By Prof. A. Pappenheim. Translated by R. 
Donaldson. Pp. ix+87+ii plates. (Bristol:, J. 
Wright and Sons.) 3s. 6d. net. 


3/2 


NATURE 


[JUNE 4, 1914 


The Statesman’s Year-Book. Edited by Dr. J. Scott 
Keltie, assisted by Dr. M. Epstein. Pp. Ixxix+ 1500. 


(London : Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) os. 6d. net. 
The Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. By L. H. 
Bailey. Pp. xx+602+xx plates. (London: Mac- 


millan and Co-, Ltd.) 25s.)inet: 
The Institute of Chemistry of Great Britain and 
Ireland. Lectures on -Explosives. By W. Macnab. 
Pp. 68. (London: 30 Bloomsbury Square.) 
Twelfth Report of the Sarawak Museum, 
By J. C. Moulton. Pp.-ii+47. (Sarawak.) 
Poems of Human Progress. By J. H. West. Pp. 
xii+ 328. (Boston: The Tufts College Press.) 1.50 
dollars net. 
Preliminary Practical Science. 


1913. 


By H.. Stanley. 


Pp. viiit128. (London: Methuen and Co., Ltd.) 
1s. 6d, 
Gearing. By A. E, Ingham. Pp. xi+181. (Lon- 


don: Methuen and Co., Ltd.) 5s. net. 


DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 


THURSDAY, Jone 4. 


Roya INSTITUTION, at 3.—Faraday and the Foundations of Electrical 
Engineering : Prof. S. P- Thompson, 


LiInnEAN SocIETY, ‘at 8.—The Botanical Results of a Recent Expedition to 
Turkestan: Dr. B. Fedtschenko.—Darwin’s Alternative Explanation of 
the Origin of Species wzthout the Means of Natural Selection: Prof. G. 
Henslow.—A Collection of Land and Freshwater Gastropods from 
Madagascar, with Descriptions of a New Genus and New Species: G. C. 
Robson.—Sections showing the Entire Vertical Thickness of a Seam of 
Coal: J. Lomax. —Notes on the Morphology of Certain Structures con- 
cerned in Reproduction in the Genus Gnetum: Prof, H. H. W. Pearson, 
—Curculionide from the Indian Ocean, (Percy Sladen Expedition): 
G..C. Champion.—Deto, a Subantarctic Genus of Terrestrial Isopoda : 
Prof. C. Chilton. 


FRIDAY, June 5. 


Royat INSTITUTION, at 9.—X-rays and Crystalline Structure: 
W. H. Bragg. 


GEoLoaisTs’ ASSOCIATION, at 8.—Prehistoric Problems in Geology: R. A, 
Smith. 


Prof. 


SATURDAY, June 6. 


Roya. INSTITUTION, at 3.—Studies on Expression in Art. 
Development : Sigismund Goetze, 


MONDAY, June 8. 


ARISTOTELIAN SOCIETY, at 8.—The Treatment of History by Philosophers: 
D. Morrison. 


SociETY OF CHEMICAL INDUSTRY, at 8.—The Dickson Centrifuge System 
of Sewage Jreatment: E. H. Tripp.—Studies on the Reduction of 
Uranium Oxide : E. K. Rideal.— Contribution to the Discussion on Paper, 
Bleaching of Chemical Pulp, by Baker and Jennison, and Bleaching 
Efficiency considered in connection with Suggested Standard for Testing 
Bleaching Qualities of Chemical Wood Pulp: C. Beadle and H. P. 
Stevens. 


INSTITUTE OF ACTUARIES, at 5.—Annual Meeting. 


I.: Origin and 


Royat GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY, at 8.45.—The Australian Antarctic Expedi- 
tion: Dr. D. Mawson. 


TUESDAY, Jone go. 
Roya. INSTITUTION, at 3.—Celestial Spectroscopy: Prof. A. Fowler. 


ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY, at 8.30.—A Report on the Fauna of the Monte Bello 
Islands: P. D. Montague.—Cephalopoda from the Monte Bello Islands: 
G. C. Robson.—Stalk-eyed Crustaceans collected at the Monte Bello 
Islands: Miss M. J. Rathburn.—Report on Mollusca collected at the 
Monte Bello Islands: T.. Jredale.—Zoological Results of the Third 
Tanganyika Expedition conducted by Dr. W. A. Cunnington, 1904-1905. 
Report onthe Parasitic Eucopepoda: Dr. W. A. Cunnington.—Contribu- 
tions to the Anatomy and Systematic Arrangement of the Cestoidea. 
XIV. A New Species of Rhabdometra and on the Paruterine Organ in 
Otiditenia: Dr. F. E. Beddard.—The Marine Fauna of British East 
Africa, from Collections made by Cyril Crossland, in the Years.1991-1902 : 
A. W. Waters. —(1) The Facial Vibrissz of Mammals ; (2) The Feet and 
other External Characters of the Urside# and Canidz: R. I. Pocock. — 
Procolophon trigoniceps : a Cotylosaurian Reptile from South Africa : 
D. M. S. Watson.—A Second Collection of Batrachians and Reptiles 
made by Dr. H. G. F. Spurrell, in the Choco, Colombia: Dr. G. A. 
Boulenger. 


R6NTGEN SOCIETY, at 8.15.—Annual General Meeting. 


WEDNESDAY, June to. 


GEOLOGICAL SocIETY, at 8.—The Geology and Glaciology of the Antarctic 
Regions: Dr. D. Mawson.—The Ballachulish Fold at the Head of Loch 
Creran (Argyllshire): E. B. Bailey. 


NO! 2327, VounGa\ 


THURSDAY, June 11. 
Roya Society, at 4.30.—Croonian Lecture: The Bearing of Cytological 
Research on Heredity: Prof. E. B. Wilson. 


Roya InstiruTion, at 3.—Faraday and the Foundations of Electrical 
Engineering: Prof. S, P. Thompson. 


FRIDAY, June 1. 


Roya. InstiTuTION, at 9.—Some Aspects of the American Democracy : 
The Hon. W. H. Page. 


Roya ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, at 5. 


Puysicat Society, at 8.—Note on the Connection between the Method of 
Least Squares and the Fourier Method of Calculating the Co-efficients of 
a Trigonometrical Series to Represent a Given Function or Series of 
Otservations: Prof. C. H. Lees. —A Magnetograph ior Measuring Varia- 
tions in the Horizontal Intensity of the Earth’s Magnetic Field: F. E. 
Smith. —The Atomic Weight of Copper by Electrolysis: A. G. Shrimpton. 
—Note on an Improvement in the Einthoven String Galvanometer : 
W. H. Apthorpe. 


MALACOLOGICAL SOCIETY, at 8.—Suleobasis concisa, Fer., and its Nearest 
Allies : C. R. Boettger.—Note on the radula and maxilla of O7vthalicus 
zebra, Miiller: Rev. E. W. Bowell.—(1) Invalid Molluscan Generic 
Names ; (2) A New Cassid: T. Iredale.—The Relative Claim to Priority 
of the Names Helix cavduelis, Schulze, and Helix fruticum, Miiller : 


G. K. Gude. 
SATURDAY, June 13. 


Royac InstTiTUTION, at_3.—Studies on Expression in Art. I 
Expression in Modern Conditions : Sigismund Goetze. 


I.: Right 


CONTENTS. PAGE 
Medieval Technology. By Prof. Walter M.Gardner 343 
Taxonomic Zoology . SRE 6 85 343 
Six Essays on Sex. BY J. ALT. d Aveo se BAS 
Our Bookshelf : Peennterneee Vi) te cs Sie: 
Letters to the Editor :— 
Efficiency of Damped Seismographs.—Prince B. 
Galitzin : + 349 
Spectra of Secondary xe Rays. —Duc de Broglie . . 349 
Weather Forecasts. (W2th Déiagram.)—A. Mallock, 
aks Re eartrne Rieee 2y. 0s) 
The Plumage Bill. —Lieut,-Col. if Manners-Smith; 
Sir H. H. Johnston, G.C.M.G.,K.C.B. . . 350 
Atomic Volume Curves of the Elements.—-Dr. R. M. 
Caven; Prof. R. Meldola, F.R.S. .. 351 
Transmission of Electric Waves Round the Bend of 
the Karth.—Dr. We Eccles) 4 2 25) 0.) eal 
Screncerand the«State ss: ieee eer 
Popular Natural History. (J///ustrated.) ..... . 353 
The Roger Bacon Commemoration at Oxford . . . 354 
Sir perere Wilson Swan, F.R.S. ey W. A. sees O’M. 355 
Drab. Pye-Smith, URS... : 356 
Notes .. af tictdowe at ge OA ar assgeren eOe 357 
Our Astronomical Column :— 
Rotating Nebule .. . sv diss, vo yies pga 
Collated List of Lunar Formations . . Beh tr aS 
The Light of Stars . . Sigie 6: YS eae S OL 
The Spectrum of 7 Carine (n ‘Argus) HEROES ee ee 362 
Scottish Fishery Investigations. ByE. J. Ae 362 


Thirteen Years’ Measurements of Solar Radiation. 
Bye. Gold... . . See, Bes ae She 


American Research on Clays. "By Dr. if W. Mellor 364 
Fluid Motions. (With Diagrams.) By Lord ney 
leigh O7M.. FR.S) 2 ee 364 
The Utilisation of Solar Energy. (Zilustrated.) . 366 
University and Educational Intelligence. . . . . . 366 
societiesiand+Academicsie.. meen ee OZ 
Books Received . Pe ion ao Eee ard a fot: 3355) 
Diary of Societies . 370 


Editorial and Publishing Offices: 
MACMILLAN .& CO., Ltp., 
ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C. 


Advertisements and business letters to be addressed to the 
Publishers. 


Editorial Communications to the Editor. 
Telegraphic Address : 
Telephone Number: 


Puusis, LONDON. 
GERRARD 8830. 


eA Lier 


371 


LEAURSDAY, JUNE Mii ior. 


THE PURPOSE OF VOULH. 
The Childhood of Animals. By Dr. P. Chalmers 
Mitchell. Pp. xiv+269+plates. (London: 

W. Heinemann, 1912.) Price 10s. net. 

HIS remarkably fine book is a work of dis- 
tinction—both of style and insight. When 
an author has a story of his own to tell and knows 
how to write, the outcome is often a book of de- 
lightful descriptive natural history, but Dr. Chal- 
mers Mitchell has much more to give us than that. 
He has succeeded in making us read biology with- 
out knowing it. With a charming subject to start 
with, with a wide experience to draw from, with 
an infectious sympathy for youth, and with a well- 
thought-out biological system, he has given us a 
really big book—and happy are those who have 
found it. A great pleasure it is to discover:a 
work with so many interesting facts and so whole- 
some a salting with ideas, written in a style that 
is individual and charming. We congratulate 
the author on achieving a conspicuous success. 
Most naturalists like their natural history “dry,” 
and few of them have much use for popular ex- 
positions, but “The Childhood of Animals” is a 
book by itself, which takes a grip. The author 
has been extraordinarily fortunate in his artists; 
the Japanesque colour-studies are revelations of 
character and the black and white drawings are 
also very pleasing and effective. 

Without insisting on it too much, the author 
divides animals into three sets—those which have 
no youth, such as amoebe (but is it not rather 
that they never grow up?); those which are quite 
different from their parents when they are young 
and on a different line of life, such as caterpillars, 
tadpoles, and other larve; and those which are 
born in the likeness of their parents, but have a 
very distinct youthful period, such as most higher 
vertebrates. He contrasts the various kinds of 
life-history; and shows that in relation to par- 
ticular conditions one chapter is often lengthened 
out and another shortened down. Adult life may 
be condensed into a few days or even hours; it 
may even be lost altogether, as in padogenesis. 
Larval life may be so hazardous, on the other 
hand, that it is all, as it were, telescoped into 
the egg. Part of the tune may be played very 
slowly, part very quickly, and another part left 
out altogether; and all this is, on the whole, 
adaptive, the result of selecting out temporal 
variations in reference to the conditions of life. 
In some cases, perhaps, it works the other way 
round, that a type born, as it were, old, seeks out 
conditions of life suitable for this kind of con- 


NO) 2228, VOL. 93] 


1 


stitution 


parasitism for choice. But our author 


| does not go into this. 


Irom the treasury of interesting things that the 
book contains it is difficult to select, but we may 
refer to three. The first is the masterly treatment 
of the coloration of young animals. Starting 
with the sound idea that the pigments are prim- 
arily by-products of the metabolism, and the 
patterns expressive of growth-rhythms, Dr. 
Chalmers Mitchell shows how in one case they 
are tolerated, and in another toned down, and in 
another specialised. Young animals tend to show 
the more primitive types of coloration—a_ spotti- 
ness, for instance, which corresponds to the par- 
ticulate character of the skin, and while this is 
often very useful, it requires no special utilitarian 
interpretation. Later on, the spots may combine 
into bands and stripes, or the pattern may be 
blurred and toned down, or it may be overlaid by 
a new pattern, often of ruptive vividness, which 
breaks up the natural outlines and makes the 
animal inconspicuous, or forms. startling and 
attractive sex-decorations. It is in interpreting 
the post-juvenile coloration that we must call in 
the aid of the selection theory. 

Another subject well dealt with is the progres- 
sive reduction of the number of offspring. In the 
lower reaches of the animal kingdom there is. pro- 
lific multiplication and high mortality. But it has 
been one of the great steps in evolution to econo- 
mise life by parental care, of which affection is a 
consequence. ‘‘The mere toleration of the young 
by the mother is a new beginning in life, and is 
the foundation of many of the highest qualities 
displayed by the highest animals and by man 
himself. ” The relations of the young to the 
mother “are a continuation of the organic relation 
by which the young are born of the body of their 
mother, and they exist and become, so to speak, 
a habit before the individuality, the physical 
powers, and the senses and aptitudes of the young 
are really awakened.”’ 

Perhaps, however, the most prominent thesis 
of the book concerns the purpose of youth. This 
is in a word self-expression. Why as we ascend 
the scale of being is there this lengthening of the 
period of youth? Why are the young creatures 
fed, protected, freed from care, dowered with 
energy, and given full scope for play? The pur- 
pose of youth is to give time for the breaking 
down of rigid instincts, and their replacement by 
actions controlled by experience and memory—by 
remembered results of experiment. Youth is 
perilous, but the risks run have been justified— 
are continually being justified—in the complexi- 


| fying co-ordinations established by the brain-cells. 


This means the growth of intelligence and the 


Q 


37 2 


NATURE 


[JUNE II, I914 


deepening of feeling. And if natural history is 
asked to give hints to the human edvcationist, 
one of them is this: ‘Youth should be spent in 
blunting (a term apt to be misunderstood?) every 
instinct, in awakening and_= stimulating every 
curiosity, in the gayest roving, in the wildest 
experiment. The supreme duty of youth is to try 
all things.” 


MANUALS OF BOTANY. 
(1) Pflanzenmikrochemie. Ein Hailfsbuch beim 
mikrochemischen Studium pflanzlicher Objekte. 


By Dr. O. Tunmann. Pp. xx+631. (Berlin: 
Gebriider Borntraeger, 1913). Price 18.50 
marks. 

(2) Researches on Irritability of Plants. By Prot. 


J. C. Bose. Pp. xxiv+376. (London: Long- 
mans, Green and Co., 1913.) Price 7s. 6d. net. 


(3) Plants and their Uses. An Introduction to 


Botany. . By BK. AL... Sargent. Pp: |x G20: 
(New York: Henry Holt and Co., 1913.) 
(r) OTANISTS who have not kept in touch 


with the more recent advances in the 
microchemistry of plants will be surprised at the 
size of this work with its 600 closely-printed pages. 
The book is divided into a general and a special 
part. In the first part we have, first, sixty pages 
dealing with methods of preparing and preserving 
material and with various other special methods 
such as filtering, centrifuging, sedimentation, 
micro-sublimation (a method of great value in 
many cases), clearing, swelling, bleaching, macer- 
ation, etc. In the second part the methods of 
recognising the various elements of the ordinary 
inorganic substances of the plant are considered, 
and later the various classes of organic substances 
are dealt with fully. The author, however, does 
not stop here, but in the last 200 pages passes in 
review the microscopical characters and_ the 
chemical nature of protoplasm, cell-wall, and cell- 
inclusions generally; this section includes details 
of fixing and of the staining reactions of the 
various cell elements. It will be seen that the 
author interprets his subject very broadly as, in 
fact, coextensive with botanical microtechnique. 

The need for such a book is very obvious since 
the last work covering such a field was very much 
smaller and was published in 1892. Dr. Tun- 
mann has made many contributions himself to the 
study of plant microchemistry, and no one could 
be better fitted to prepare such a work. 

The literature of the subject has been worked | 
up in a way which must have taken years to 
complete and nearly every page bristles with re- 
ferences; the work is, however, no mere compila- | 


tion, for the physiological aspects of the different | 


NO. 2328, VOL. 93] 


| substances are briefly dealt with and many methods 


critically discussed. Of course, it is impossible 
to read and criticise this book as a whole, but 
when tested in relation to a number of diverse 
substances, such as the microscopical recognition 
of potassium, of formaldehyde, of sugars, etc., it 
has proved to be thoroughly up-to-date. Botanists, 
plant biochemists, and those who have to deal with 
the recognition of vegetable tissues and drugs 
used in pharmacy are under a heavy debt of grati- 
tude to the author. The book should be on the 
shelves of every botanical, biochemical, and 
pharmaceutical library. 

(2) This volume is the fourth of the series of 
books in which Prof. Bose has applied the delicate 
methods of the physical laboratory to the study 
of the irritable responses of plants and animals. 
As his previous work has shown, the author looks 
upon the plant as a very peculiar machine of which 
the sole source of energy is that which plays upon 
it directly from without! Such views, however, 
should not blind plant physiologists, and animal 
physiologists interested in the neuro-muscular 
electrical response, to the solid value of many of 
the results obtained and to the usefulness of the 
ingenious and delicate apparatus devised by the 
author. His resonant recorder is a beautiful piece 
of apparatus in which the recording lever is made 
to vibrate to and fro and so to make only an 
intermittent contact with the recording surface ; 
the friction between the lever and blackened sur- 
face is thus enormously reduced. By means of 
this apparatus and of another ingenious instru- 
ment, the oscillating recorder, the delicate move- 
ments of the leaves of Mimosa and Biophytum 
have been recorded for the first time without dis- 
tortion, and so the latent period and the rate of 
transmission of a stimulus carefully measured. 
Very good reasons are given for the belief that 
in Mimosa an impulse cannot pass through dead 
tissues, in the manner commonly accepted, as a 
mere hydro-mechanical disturbance, but only 
through living protoplasm, the mode of trans- 
mission being essentially similar to that of a 
nervous impulse. 

There is much other work of importance, es- 
pecially in connection with electrical responses, 
and one is glad to note that startlingly unorthodox 
views are much rarer than in previous works. 
Prof. Bose, however, must be unaware of, or 
careless of, the prejudices of biologists or he 


| would not put forward, without the support of 


further experiments, the conclusion that in a bean 
leaf “‘on account of fatigue, the death point was 
lowered from the normal 60° C. to 37°C.” 

(3) This book is described as an introduction to 
botany. The plan of the work is based on the 


JUNE I1, 1914] 


NATURE 


B/S: 


view that the beginner in botany should first learn | 


about economic plants and classify them scientific- 
ally and later deal with other aspects of the 
subject. In accordance with this view it begins 
with a preliminary chapter on the way in which 
botany arose, how plants are named, and the 
nature of varieties, species, and genera. In the 
next chapter, thirty-four pages are devoted to the 
cereals; the characteristics, floral and otherwise, 
of the various forms are described, maps of their 
probable origin and present distribution are given, 
and their suitability to various habitats pointed 
out. At the end of this chapter, the nutritive 
value of the grain of various cereals is considered, 
and the nature of carbohydrates, proteids, and fats 
briefly indicated. In the third chapter, other food 
plants are considered, such as nuts, pulse, earth- 
vegetables, herbage-vegetables, fruit-vegetables, 
and miscellaneous food-products. After this re- 
view of the chief food-plants a discussion of food 
as a fuel and building material is provided, and 
the energy available in fats, carbohydrates, and 
proteids is considered, leading finally to the ques- 
tion of the composition of a suitable ration. Then 
we have chapters on flavouring and beverage 
plants, on medicinal and poisonous plants, and on 
industrial plants, i.e. plants yielding fibres, wood, 
gums, fuel, etc. Then follow chapters on classi- 
fication, and on the parts of a flowering plant, and 
a chapter on evolution, adaptation, and natural 
selection. At the end of the book the chief groups 
of alge, fungi, liverworts, mosses, and _ pterido- 
phyta are all surveyed in no more than eighty 
pages. Finally we have a chapter on the plant’s 
place in nature, which includes a_semi-philo- 
sophical discussion of the distinction between the 
living and the non-living. 

This brief statement of the contents of the book 
will show that the author has great faith in the 
powers of mental digestion of beginners, and does 
not hesitate to provide them with plenty of “fine, 
confused feeding.” The earlier chapters of the 
books might perhaps be usefully read by an 
advanced student interested in the economic side 
of the subject and in classification, but they are 
almost too full of information to be used other 
than for reference. As an introduction to botany, 
however, the book is an anachronism. It might 
have been so used when classification practically 
embraced the whole subject, but nowadays it is 
generally agreed that the student should gain as 
early as possible a clear conception of the plant 
as a working whole. But in this book the student 
may peruse 500 pages without gaining any clear 
idea of the function of the parts of the plant. 
There is no description of the internal structure 
of a stem, root, or leaf of a flowering plant, or 


NO. 2328, VOL. 93] 


| the reviewer has ever met. 


any mention of a chloroplast, or any description 
of a cell of a higher plant. Useful as the earlier 
chapters may be to other readers, the book appears 
to be quite unsuitable for a beginner, who should 
not be plagued too severely with information, but 
by proper selection of material should be led to 
acquire sound general views of his subject. The 
author states that he has “tried to write such a 
book as I believe would have been most useful to 
me as a beginner.” If the author has really suc- 
ceeded in recapturing his impressions as a tyro 
in the subject, his needs must have been very 
different from that of any elementary student that 
V2 HB: 


GERMAN POPULAR SCIENCE. 

(1) Biicher der Naturwissenschaft. Edited by 
Prof. Siegmund Giinther. 21 vols. (Leipzig: 
Philipp Reclam, jun., n.d.) Price 1 mark each. 

(2) Aus Natur und Geisteswelt: Sammlung 
wissenschaftlich-gemeinverstdndlicher Darstell- 
ungen. 442 vols. (Leipzig: B. G. Teubner, 
n.d.) Price 1.25 marks each. 

(3) Naturwissenschaftliche Bibliothek fiir Jugend 
und Volk. Edited by Konrad Héller and Georg 
Ulmer. 23 vols. (Leipzig: Quelle und Meyer, 
n.d.) Price 1.80 marks each. 

(4) Series of Science Books for Austrian Secondary 
Schools. Published by F. Tempsky, Vienna, 
and G. Freytag, G.m:b.H., Leipzig. Price 2 
to 5 kronen each. 

(x) HE idea underlying Dr. Giinther’s series 

is to select a limited area of some scien- 
tific subject, and to treat it in a modern and 
popular manner which combines attractiveness 
with accuracy. Some of the latest volumes of this 

series are Lampert’s ““Vom Keim zum Leben,” a 

very readable account of plant and animal develop- 

ment; Prof. Wieleitner’s “Schnee und Eis der 

Erde,” nicely illustrated with photographs of 

‘‘penitenis” and other remarkable ice formations ; 

Dr. Hempelmann’s ‘‘Der Wirbeltier-Kérper,” a 

useful though rapid summary of comparative 

vertebrate anatomy; Prof. Pahde’s “ Meeres- 
kunde,” in which the latest results, such as those 
of the hydrodynamical theory of ocean currents, 
are clearly brought to bear; Dr. Speter’s 

“Chemische Verwandtschaft,” and Heinrich 

Leiser’s “ Welt der Kolloide,” the latter a fascina- 

ting presentation of the rapidly growing science 

of colloids; and an excellent little manual on heat 
by the late Robert Geigel. 

(2) Teubner’s “Natur und Geisteswelt” series 
is an exceptionally large undertaking of the same 
kind. Among typical recent volumes may be 
cited a very valuable booklet by Max Verworn 


374 


entitled ‘Die Mechanik des Geisteslebens,” in 
which the modern theory of neurons is brought to 
bear upon a wide range of nervous and psychical 
processes, from memory and will to fatigue, sug- 
gestion, and hypnosis. Among other works of 
this series we may mention a charming volume 
on the origin of the universe and the earth ac- 
cording to legend and science, by M. B. Wein- 
stein; several anatomical volumes by K. von Bar- 
deleben; a useful volume on the microscope by 
Prof. W. Scheffer; a book on radium by Dr. 
Centnerszwer; some volumes on steam and heat 
engines by Prof. Vater; and a very readable and 
up-to-date volume on aeronautics, ‘Die Luft- 
fahrt,” by Dr. R. Nimfihr. 

(3) The ‘“ Naturwissenschaftliche Bibliothek” is 
frankly intended for juvenile readers. The books 
are very attractively produced, and some of them 
leave nothing to be desired as regards simplicity 
and clearness. This is notably the case in Hahn’s 
“Chemisches Experimentierbuch” and _ Heller’s 
“Das Aquarium.” Otto Krieger’s “Wie ernahrt 
sich die Pflanze?” is well written, but more 
adapted to adults, and this may be said more 
emphatically of Gothan’s ‘“Vorgeschichte der 
Pflanzen” and Reukauf’s “ Mikroskopische Klein- 
welt unsrer Gewasser.”” The special volumes on 
aquatic insects (Ulmer), bees and wasps (Scholz), 
and singing birds (Voigt) are very readable books, 
without any striking or original features. 

(4) Messrs. Tempsky’s manuals are intended 
for the various stages of the gymnasien, madchen- 
gymnasien, realschulen and realgymnasien of the 
complex German and Austrian system of second- 
ary education. In some of them, such as Graber’s 
“Leitfaden der K6rperlehre und Tierkunde,”’ 
coloured plates are judiciously supplemented by 
colouring specially important illustrations in the 
text, an innovation which deserves to be more 
widely adopted. The volumes form a highly credit- 
able set of schoolbooks, covering geology, miner- 
alogy, botany, zoology, chemistry, and hygiene. 
Unlike the other three series, they are printed 
in Roman type. 


OUR BOOKSHELF. 
Veroffenilichungen Preussischen 


des Kéniglich 


Meteorologischen Instituts, No. 273. Beitrage 
zur Geschichte der Meteorologie. Von G. 
Helinann Nr wi—5. Pp. 148. \ (Berime 


Behrend and Co., 1914.) Price 5 marks. 
FoR many years past meteorological bibliography 
has been greatly enriched by the laborious and 
painstaking researches of Prof. G. Hellmann on 
the origin of observations and instruments. The 
volume now before us forms No. 273 of the 
“Publications of the Royal Prussian Meteoro- 
logical Institute,’’ and contains five contributions, 


NO. 2328, VOL, 03) 


NATURE 


| 
( 


(JUNE“I1;. 19m4 
the first of which occupies ninety-eight quarto 
paves, with many facsimile extracts and plates, 
and refers to the reign of astro-meteorology. A 
masterly account is given of the extraordinary 
literary controversy caused all over Europe by 
J. Stéffler’s prediction of a deluge in February, 
1524, due to an unusual number of conjunctions 
of the planets in the Constellation Pisces. This 
prediction was contained in the Almanach nova, 
published at Ulm in 1499, with ephemerides in 
great detail down to 1531 (thirty-two years in 
advance). Needless to say, the prophecy was not 
fulfilled ; some of the astrologers maintained, how- 
ever, that it was correct in: theory, and the Arab 
doctrines required amendment to take into account 
the promise made to Noah. The two following 
articles refer to the oldest meteorological obser- 
vations in Germany (Hanover, 1678), and the 
oldest printed description of aurora borealis (1527), 
both of which dates are a few years earlier than 
previously stated. These are followed by a first 
attempt at arranging the combined literature of 
meteorology and theology, in so far as the titles 
give aclue to the contents, e.g. special sermons, 
etc. The last contribution is a very interestirg 
account of the predecessors of the Mannheim 
Meteorological Society (1780-95), the first really 
successful establishment of an_ international 
meteorological system of observations. The first 
attempt was due to Ferdinand II, Grand Duke of 
Tuscany, about 1654. 


Photography in Colours. A Text-book for 
Amateurs and Students of Physics: with a 
Chapter on Kinematography in the Colours of 
Nature. By Dr. G: \L.” Johnson) sSecend 
edition. Pp. xv+243. (London: George Rout- 
ledge and Sons, Ltd., 1914.) Price 3s. 6d. net, 


A REVIEW of the first edition of Dr. Johnson’s 
book will be found in the issue of Nature for 
February 23, 1911 (vol. lxxxv., p. 539). The volume 
has been subjected to a thorough revision. Most 
of the best-known colour processes are described ; 
an extra chapter has been added dealing with the 
“Utocolor”’ process of printing in colour direct 
from colour photographs; and an outline of 
modern views as to the nature of light and colour 
is now included. 


Poems of Human Progress and Other Pieces: 
including One Hundred and Fifteen Sonnets. 
By J. H. West. Pps xii-328)) (Boston ime 
Tufts College Press Publishers, 1914.) Price 
1.50 dollars. 

Tue first of Mr. West’s poems, ‘‘ Man’s Triumph- 

Era,” was the Phi Beta Kappa poem read at 

Tufts College, in 1906, at a meeting of the Delta 

Chapter of Massachusetts, and depicts a walk with 

college men, with discourse on human progress. 

The second extended effort, ‘““The Epic of Man,” 

was read in 1908 in Boston, at the annual conven- 

tion of the Free Religious Association of America. 

The poems and sonnets may be commended as 

affording a favourable example cf contemporary 

American verse. 


JUNE 11, 1914] 


LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 


[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for 
opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with 
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 
this or any other part of Nature. No notice is 
taken of anonymous communications. ] 


Weather Forecasts in England. 


Mr. MaLtock’s position in the scientific world is 
one of distinction and his letters on the subject ot 
weather forecasts in England, which appeared in 
Nature of February 26 and June 4, can, accordingly, 
scarcely fail to be regarded by many who are un- 
familiar with the circumstances as_ reflecting  in- 
juriously upon the department of the public service 
which is in my charge. I ought, therefore, not to let 
them pass unnoticed. 

Let me say that the method of checking forecasts 
employed by Mr. Mallock as described in the letter of 
February 26 would be scouted in the Meteorological 
Office, whatever the result might be, partly because 
the classification of the weather adopted therein is 
quite inadequate, and partly because the conditions at 
a single hour of the day (7 a.m. only) are used as an 
indication of the weather comprised within the period 
of twenty-four hours extending from noon to noon. 
In the Meteorological Office, for checking forecasts, 
the practice was to use three maps for each day in 
conjunction with the schedules of observations col- 
lected for the daily and weekly reports. For the last 
year or two these observations have all been charted, 
so we now use ten maps for each day. Specimens 
were exhibited at the last soirée of the Royal Society. 
The stricter examination is sufficiently encouraging to 
the forecaster. 

No one can wonder that Mr. Mallock revives and 
cherishes an objection to the accumulation of observa- 
tions, because the picture which he draws of the state 
of the atmosphere, and upon which, in his second 
letter, he founds his gloomy forecast of the future of 
forecasting, will not stand comparison with the facts 
of observation. There is no belt of north-east or 
south-east winds all round the globe, as represented 
in Mr. Mallock’s diagram; that notion is a survival 
of times long gone by, and is inconsistent with Buys 
Ballot’s law, as well as the facts set out, for example, 
in Hildebrandsson and Teisserenc de Bort’s ‘‘ Les 
Bases de la Météorologie Dynamique : Historique— 
état de nos connaissances,’’ or, more simply, in ‘‘ The 
Barometer Manual for the Use of Seamen.”’ 

The notion of a collection of eddies in a quiescent 
atmosphere covering the temperate and polar regions 
was also quite familiar to the meteorologists of thirty 
years ago when the vortex theory was as fashionable 
as the quantum theory is now. It derives much sup- 
port from the study of the water of a flowing stream, 
or near a moving ship; only, unfortunately, in the 
atmosphere there are no huge moving ships to cause 
eddies of any diameter up to a thousand miles or 
more; and if there is a flowing stream Mr. Mallock 
does not describe it. There is no machinery round 
the tropic of Cancer, like the popular lecturer’s smoke- 
box, for launching a succession of vortices on a brief 
career of degradation. The theory that cyclonic de- 
pressions are vortices has never led to any real advance 
in our comprehension of the atmosphere, outside the 
region of tropical revolving storms; whereas the close 
study of observations such as those of the Daily 
Weather Report has led, and is leading, slowly but 
surely towards understanding the physics of the 
phenomena. 3 

I should like to suggest to Mr. Mallock and other 


NO. 2328, VOL. 93] 


NATURE 


375 


distinguished men of science who are kind enough to 
take an interest in meteorology, that to stick a pike 
through the front rank of the fighting line in the 
manner recently represented by *‘ Mr. Punch,” is not 
very helpful to the promotion of natural knowledge. 
If they in their turn feel bored by observations, let 
them help us to attack some of the citadels for the 
reduction of which we have very few observations to 
help us. I cannot offer them the surface or the tropo- 
sphere for the purpose; the observations are too 
numerous. But the all-embracing stratosphere is open 
to their imagination with very few observational re- 
strictions. Let me set out my own imperfect idea of 
the problem with the object, not of prolonging this 
correspondence, but of eliciting a valuable contribution 
to knowledge, in the shape of a paper, or even a book. 

Imagine a shell of upper atmosphere containing no 
water-vapour, separated from the moist lower atmo- 
sphere by a smooth surface which, for the time being, 
we will suppose a “level surface.’”” The shell under 
consideration is isothermal or increases in temperature 
upwards, until a region of approximately uniform 
temperature is reached. It is imperfectly transparent 
to radiation, but it has no convection of the ordinary 
local character, and is supposed not to be affected by 
convection from below. In this environment, con- 
siderations of stability may lead us to conclude that 
locally cooled air will find its way over the smooth 
surface towards the equator and locally warmed air 
towards the polar regions. So, we shall get primarily 
a concentration of cold air over the equator and warm 
air over the poles. That, apparently, does really 
occur. The wandering of the air poleward will even- 
tuate in an eastward circulation, the wandering 
towards the equator in a westward circulation. Out- 
side the equatorial region horizontal pressure-differ- 
ences will be balanced by the easterly motion, the 
lines of flow, in the temperate and polar stratosphere, 
being at once isobaric lines and isothermal lines; 
so far as we are able to tell, low pressure is warm 
and high pressure cold. 

What will happen in consequence of the alternate 
solarisation and sky-radiation of this stratosphere by 
day and night I must leave the theoretical theorist to 
say; observation has not yet told us. I will, how- 
ever, venture to suggest that the air cap of the winter 
pole must get colder and colder; ultimately so cold 
that it will wobble and get displaced by warmer air; 
and, yielding to the centrifugal influence, it will slide 
towards the reservoir of cold air over the equatorial 
regions. On its journey it may give rise to easterly 
or northerly currents in the temperate stratosphere 
which are occasionally observed, and which are, at 
present, unexplained. 

Some of the suppositions in the statement which is 
here presented are based on observations with which 
I am familiar, though the guidance that can be got 
from observations in this matter is woefully incom- 
plete; but one, at least, is frankly hypothetical, and 
my question is, whether, from the mathematical point 
of view, the picture may be regarded as true to life 
and, if not, how it should be emended. The problem 
is quite simple compared with that presented by the 
observations of the Daily Weather Report. There is 
no water-vapour, no convection in the ordinary sense, 
and no surface friction. If some philosopher, who 
thinks observations unnecessary, will give us a work- 
ing solution, he will be a real benefactor to meteoro- 
logy; because we know that the stratosphere exerts a 
dominant influence upon the distribution of pressure 
at the surface, which controls our weather, and we 
have no working outline of what happens up there. 
Theory might help us; perhaps Mr. Mallock will 
oblige. 


376 


NATURE 


[JUNE II, 1914 


His letters do not, | think, entitle him at present 
to be placed in the category of benefactors, because 
his checking is unsound and his theory is out of date. 
Even if he had succeeded in what appears to be his 
immediate object, and had cooked the forecaster’s 
goose, it would have made a sorry meal. Those who 
are acquainted with the history of meteorology in this 
or any other country know that whatever may 
be the merits of the bird herself, as long as she lives 
she may lay golden eggs which are very sustaining 
for the progress of science. 

Official forecasts for twenty-four hours in advance 
are often right and sometimes wrong, but the study of 
the daily weather by means of maps has a fascination 
which increases year by year as the observations be- 
come more precise and the area covered becomes wider 
and wider. ‘‘Age cannot wither nor custom stale 
its infinite variety.” The subject is so complex and 
so varied that it is mere vanity to think of taking up 
the whole of it at once and producing a complete 
solution applicable to the whole of time. We must 
take the pieces which our intelligence, such as it is, 
enables us to tackle. Quite apart from the practical 
utility to the public, of which others must judge, and 
which is not quite a single-valued function of accuracy, 
the daily forecast is absolutely indispensable for the 
student of atmospheric physics. The daily map serves 
also a variety of useful public purposes of which the 
forecasts are only one. 

Notwithstanding Mr, Mallock’s theory, the forecasts 
for twenty-four hours are gradually getting more 
accurate; but, even if his contention were valid, I 
should still ask to be allowed to continue the study of 
the daily observations, as my predecessors did from 
1867 to 1879, when the issue of forecasts was, once 
before, suspended in deference to the representations 
of the learned. W. N. SHaw. 

June 5. 


Cellular Structure of Emulsions. 


THE letters and photographs published on_ this 
subject do not make it quite clear whether the cellular 
structure observed is confined to the surface, or exists 
in the interior of the emulsion. Superficial cellular 
structure is by no means uncommon, and is shown 
to advantage by thin layers of heavy tar-oil or 
benzaldehyde on the surface of water. If the pheno- 
menon under discussion is restricted to the surface, it 
probably falls, as suggested by Mr. Harold Wager, 
under the heading of the “cohesion figures’? first 
studied by Tomlinson. If, however, the cellular 
structure extends throughout, some further explana- 
tion is necessary, and it would be interesting to know 
whether any such cases have been observed. 

Cuas. R. Dartine. 

City and Guilds Technical College, 

Finsbury, E.C. 


£8 and y Rays and the Structure of the Atom 
(Internal-Charge Numbers.) 


IN a previous letter to Nature (December 25; LOR, 
Pp. 477) it was suggested that ‘‘a cluster of a particles 
only may be at the centre of the atom,” and that, 
though the innermost electrons “‘ may have no influence 
at all on the properties of the elements, and for an 
electron (or a particle) penetrating from without will 
belong to the nucleus (see Nature, November PAG pe 
1913, P. 372), a B particle ejected from near that 
cluster must pass all other electrons and excite radia- 
tion different for each, as dependent on the (succes- 
sively changing) charge within.” 


NO. 2326, VOU-703] 


The word ‘‘ring’’ has here been purposely omitted ; 
for from the wave-lengths of the soft y rays (L radia- 
tion) of radium B (Rutherford and E. N. da C. 
Andrade, Phil. Mag., vol. xxvii., 1914, p. 861), and of 
the B-ray spectrum of this substance (Kutherford and 
Robinson, Phil. Mag., vol. xxvi., 1913, p. 724), it may 
be seen that these frequencies are nearly equal to the 
square of (probably all) integers from P, the periodic 
number to A/2, half the atomic weight, multiplied by 
a constant (3-942 x 10'*/sec.), and that the B-ray spec- 
trum contains only velocities equal to (probably all) 
integers from P to A/2, multiplied by a constant 
(3-175 x 10° cm./sec.), so that all the radii of the inner 
electrons should be different, and these electrons must 
‘“be moving in a manner prohibiting any two of them 
from forming a ring,’’ but not ‘either form a single 
ring or rings in parallel planes”? (J. W. Nicholson, 
Nature, May 14, p. 268, and Phil. Mag., April, 1914, 
Pp. 557, respectively), forming a ‘‘planetary’’ rather 
than a ‘“‘Saturnian”’ atom. (P=the periodic number 
=the number of peripheric electrons; see NATURE, 
December 25, 1913, p. 477, and) March 5) rata) pore 
and the periodic system in Table IT.) 


Taste I. 
1 II. WG LN V. Vil. 
Charge A.To8 | Af gatia=?) ele, B Ng 
107—99 es sa =, 
98 0-793 1945 980 
97 0-809 1-926 97:0 
g6 zi, = = 
95 0838 1-892 95-3 
94 o853 S77 ewes 
93 =a = aa, 
gi 0-917 1-809 gil 
go aa oe <3 
89 0053. | ean esos 
88 0-982 1-748 83-0 
87 1-000 1-727 87-0 
86 1-029 1-708 86-0 
85 1-055 1-687 85:0 
34 1-074 1-670 84:1 
2 1-100 1-650 83:1 
82 I-I4I 1-620 81-6 
81 1175 1597 804 
80 1-196 1-583 798 
BS c 250 1-569 Woe 
78 1266 1539 7-5. 0°823 7738 
Dei 1-286 1528 77-0 — -- 
70 1-315 1510 76-0 0-805 76-0 
75 eae) 1-499 152 0-797 1S 
74 1305 48207460 0-787 ThA 
78) =a aes 
72 0-762 72:0 
7: OFae 720 
70 ae ai 
69 A 0-731 69-1 
68 = 0-719 68-0 
67 = ot Cee 
66 = 0-700 66-5 
65 “a a a 
63 — — 
62 0-656 62-0 
61 — — 
60 0-635 60:0 


I. The possible charges for each electron. 
Il. The wave-lengths of the y rays of RaB. 

Ill. The square root of these y-ray frequencies. 
IV. The possible charges calculated from ITI. 
V. The velocities of the so-called 8 rays of RaB. 
VI. The possible charges calculated from V. 


JUNE I1, 1914] 


NATURE 


oad 


From the K radiation lines (Moseley, Phil. Mag., 
April, 1914, p. 706), the very penetrating y rays of 
radium B may be expected to have frequencies equal 
to the square of (probably all) integers from P=60 to 
A/2=107, multiplied by 2-4& x 101*/sec. Hence for 
uranium frequencies up to 2-85 x 10'*/sec. might exist. 
Of course, on this view different elements must have 
partly equal 6 and y rays, and the so-called B-ray 
spectra be those of electrons expelled by the f particle, 
and not of the £ particles themselves. 

As “there is also a large group of faint lines be- 
tween 14° and 22° which do not permit of accurate 
measurements ”’ (loc. cit., p. 859), it may be observed 
that 22° corresponds to a charge of 64, so that all lines 
fall within the limits given above. 


trees, the “Kauri pine” (Agathis australis) is 
among the most valuable timbers of the world, 
and though it is still fairly abundant, its distri- 
bution is limited to the northern portion of the 
North Island, it is very inflammable, and it takes 
from six hundred to about three thousand years 
to attain its full size. Besides yielding the valu- 
able copal-like resin which is largely exported to 
the United States and to this country, the Kauri 
produces timber which is unrivalled for ship- 
building and for other purposes to which it is 
adapted, owing, above all, to its freedom from 
knots—a condition secured through the function 


Taste II1.—The ‘ Condensed” Periodic System with (1-70) the Periodic Numbers. 


1Li 2Be 3B 4C 
gNa 10oMg 11Al 12Si 
17K 18Ca 19Sc 20Ti 
25Cu 26Zn 27Ga 28Ge 
33Rb 34Sr Bw! 36Zr 
41Ag 42Cd 43In 44Sn 
49Cs 5oBa 51La, etc. 52 Lece 
57Au 58Hg 59Tl 60Pb 
65— 66Ra 67Ac 68Th 


It would seem that there is no reason, why such a 
structure, though not observable by lack of y, radia- 
tion, should not belong to all elements. But it is 
perhaps not compatible with Bohr’s atomic model. 
With Moseley’s formula for the L radiation A(N—7-4) 
it is not; but if here (N—7-4) be multiplied by 1-008, 
all values for (N—7) are integers (+0-2) also, and the 
same holds for all Moseley’s series, so that, if N=M, 
v=A(M+#n), and n is any number of electrons between 
certain limits. 

A. VAN DEN BROEK. 

Gorsel (Holland), May 19. 


FORESTRY AND FOREST RESERVES IN 
NEW ZEALAND.} 


HE recently-published report of the New 
Zealand Commission on Forestry contains 
much that is of general interest, apart from the 
aspects of the forestry problem affecting that 
Dominion in particular. New Zealand has mag- 
nificent forests, especially of conifers and southern 
beeches, with a present area of about twelve 
million acres. The forest area has been reduced 
by nearly one-half since about 1830, and during 
the last ten years the annual cut has doubled, so 
that despite the steps that have been taken since 
about 1875 to prevent waste and to afforest suit- 
able areas, the forest capital is dwindling at an 
alarming rate. 

Since the New Zealand forest flora includes a 
number of species which are of unusual interest 
as representing the most primitive types of 
gymnosperms, particularly among the families 
Araucarineee and Podocarpinee, it is gratifying 
from the botanical as well as from the economic 
point of view that vigorous steps are now being 
taken by the Dominion Government to conserve 
the native trees, as well as to inaugurate a far- 
reaching scheme of afforestation. Of the endemic 


1 Report of the Royal Commission on Forestry. 
Zealand: John Mackav, Government Printer, r9r3.) 

Report on Scenery Preservation. New Zealand Department of Lands. 
(Wellington, rgr2.) 


NO» 2328, VOL. 93} 


(Wellington, New 


oH—He 
5N 60 7F 8Ne 
13P 14S 15Cl 16Ar 
21V 22 ier 23Mn 24Fe—Co—Ni 
29As 30Se Sue 18ye 32Kr 
7Nb 38Mo 39— 40Ru—Rh—Pd 
45Sb 46Te 471 48Xe 
3Ta 54W 55— 560s—Ir—Pt 
61Bi 62— 3— 64N 
69—- 70Ur 71 — 72— — — 
of an absciss-layer causing self-amputation of 


branches. The other New Zealand conifers, in- 
cluding timber trees of great value, also suffer, 
though in a smaller degree, from this drawback 
of slowness of growth, and it is therefore neces- 
sary to plant introduced trees which are found to 
grow four to ten times as rapidly as the native 
species. 

As we learn from this report, the forestry 
problem is being faced in a systematic manner 
by the New Zealand Government, and forestry 
promises to develop into one of the most impor- 
tant and permanent industries of the Dominion, 
which, though precluded by its geographical posi- 
tion from becoming to any appreciable extent a 
contributor to the world’s supply of timber, can, 
at any rate, meet its own wants, and probably 
continue in an increasing degree to assist Aus- 
tralia, where the shortage of structural (conifer- 
ous) timber is now leading to a steady annual 
rise in the amount imported from Europe and 
North America, as well as from New Zealand. 
About 60,000 acres have already been afforested, 
but this will be greatly increased in the near 
future, since it is estimated that at the present 
rate of consumption the indigenous forests will 
be exhausted in about thirty years. 

While much of the report is, naturally, con- 
cerned -with the special needs of New Zealand— 
a large section being devoted, for instance, to the 
question of suitable wood for butter-boxes, in 
view of the important and increasing dairy indus- 
try—there are various matters of general interest, 
among which we may note particularly the forma- 
tion of climatic and scenic reserves. 

A climatic reserve may be defined as a nature 
reserve selected for the purposes of protection of 
soil, prevention of denudation, water conserva- 
tion, prevention of floods, and shelter from winds. 
In relation to its area, few countries in the world 
are in greater need of an adequate forest covering 


378 


NAT ORE 


[JUNE Ir, 1914 


on their high lands than is New Zealand. The 
lofty mountain ranges which traverse both islands, 
and the excessively broken nature of the land over 
large areas, together with an average high rain- 
fall, lead to the presence of innumerable streams, 
and offer ideal conditions for denudation; hence 
the mountains would, if not forest clad, be a 
constant source of danger to the farm lands on 
which the prosperity of the country so largely 
depends. The original covering of forest, which 
—except where soil or climatic conditions were 
adverse—occupied the whole land, and extended 
to a height of between 3000 and 4500 ft., has now 
been enormously reduced, and there has been 
nuch unnecessary destruction extending to the 
steep slopes of hills, and even to the upper alti- 
tudinal limits of the forest; hence the head- 
waters of many streams are no longer provided 
with tree cover, and the general watersheds of 
the larger rivers have lost their original efficient 
protection. The commission strongly recommend, 
therefore, that these mountain forests should be 
strictly preserved against further interference, 
and that every factor which is destructive to the 
forest undergrowth should be rigorously re- 
pressed—this will entail the restriction of deer 
and other destructive animals to limited enclo- 
sures. 

The importance of scenic reserves, which in- 
cludes several distinct classes of reserve, is fully 
realised by the enlightened Government of the 
Dominion, which is annually adding large areas 
to its already long list of such reserves, and is 
in this respect setting a splendid example to older 
countries. In this connection it may be noted 
that of the seventeen hundred species of trees, 
shrubs, herbs, ferns, and fern allies included in 
the New Zealand flora, more than three-fourths 
are found nowhere else in the world, and that this 
vegetation is, except where disturbed by human 
occupation, of a truly primitive type. In 1903 
Sir Joseph Ward, then Minister in charge of the 
Tourist Department, introduced the Scenery Pre- 
servation Act, which provided for a Royal Com- 
mission to report upon all areas possessing scenic 
or historic interest, or on which there were 
thermal springs, and submit recommendations for 
the acquisition of such as seemed desirable, 
whether Crown, freehold, or native. After this 
commission had worked for two years, it was 
terminated by an amending Act substituting a 
small permanent advisory board of Government 
officials, the Scenery Preservation Board, which 
investigates and reports from time to time on all 
areas worthy of inspection, and by a further Act 
passed in 1910 the whole of the reserves were 
made sanctuaries for the flora and fauna, so that 
no firearm may be discharged on a scenic reserve, 
nor may any bird or game be killed thereon. The 
reserves now set aside for scenic purposes number 
518, and there are also five national parks consist- 
ing for the greater part of extremely steep land, 
much of which is at a high altitude and more or 
less barren, while three islands have been set 
apart for the protection of New Zealand birds. 


NO. 2328, Vol, 92] 


The Forestry Commission recommend the consti- 
tution of a further series of scenic reserves. 

The report for 1912 of the Scenery Preservation 
Board shows that during the year ended March 
31,5, 1912, there were acquired no fewer than 
ninety-six additional reserves, with an aggregate 
area of 94,000 acres, at a total cost to the 
Government of less than 6o0o0ol., the latter figure 
including as the two heaviest items the expendi- 
ture involved in survey and the compensation paid 
for private and native lands acquired. Be tGe 


WEE. PRINCIPLE -O}ayhaie i iave 
Lid 


ERHAPS the most comprehensive generalisa- 
tion in physical science since Newton’s 
enunciation of the law of gravitation is the con- 
ception of an all-pervading ether, the medium of 
transmission of light and of electrical and mag- 
netic disturbances. From the time when Maxwell 
adopted this conception from Faraday and es- 
tablished the identity of light and electric waves, 
the ‘‘ether”’ has become a fundamental element 
of our thought about the physical world. 

But it has been a standing puzzle for many 
years to find out whether the ether is pushed 
and carried along by the earth as it moves or 
whether it is of such a nature that it can pass 
through solid matter so that we may think of it 
as undisturbed by the motion of bodies through it. 
Without going over the history of the controversy 
it may be stated that by the beginning of this 
century it had been almost universally accepted 
that the simplest way to think of the ether was 
to suppose it to be stagnant and immovable. 
Thus there seemed a possible solution to an older 
puzzle, that of the failure of mechanics to specify 
a unique and universal frame of reference for the 
motion of bodies. The ether promised to supply 
one. But, unfortunately, when experiments were 
devised to determine the velocity of the earth 
relative to the ether, they one and all failed. Thus 
came into being the principle of relativity, which 
is simply the hypothesis that we never shall know 
or be able to define what is the exact velocity of 
the earth or any other body relative to the aether. 

Of course, this must not be taken as a dogmatic 
assertion or a philcsophic doctrine, but as a 
working hypothesis, the consequences of which 
are to be examined and verified at every possible 
point by comparison with experiment. But the 
boldness of the hypothesis requires a little justi- 
fication. It arose, as a matter of fact, directly 
out of the theory built. up by Lorentz and 
Larmor on the basis of a stagnant ether for the 
purpose of explaining the failure of the experi- 
ments that have been referred to. This theory 
was so comprehensive that it distinctly predicted 
the failure of ali conceivable experiments designed 
for the purpose of identifying the ether as a frame 
relative to which the velocities of bodies might be 
measured; just as the comprehensive dynamical 
theory of Newton, though at the outset it postu- 
lates a standard of absolute position, involves the 


f 
$ 


ve ene 


JUNE 11, 1914] 


consequence that this standard cannot be a unique 
one. When, for example, Lord Rayleigh conceived 
and carried out in 1902 an experiment in which 
he sought to find evidence of double refraction in 
a plate of glass owing to its motion through the 
ether, Sir Joseph Larmor gave it as his opinion 
that the negative result was to be expected on 
theoretical grounds. 

It may be taken indeed as proved that in so 
far as matter is electrically constituted, the form 
of the equations which embody the theory is such 
that effects due to the motion of bodies as a whole 
through the ether must always be concealed. 

But is matter of purely electromagnetic con- 
stitution? Are existing theories able to give a 
complete account of those phenomena which have 
actually been experimentally investigated ? 

The classical experiment of Michelson and 
Morley may be taken as an example on which 
to test these questions. It is generally admitted 
that this experiment shows that we cannot 
detect a difference in the velocity of light rela- 
tive to the earth in two directions at right angles 
one of which may be thought of as_ parallel 
and the other perpendicular to the motion of the 
earth through the ether. Such a difference must 
exist if light is thought of as being propagated 
with the same velocity in all directions relative to 
the ether. 

The only suggestion that could be made to 
reconcile the failure of the search for this differ- 
ence with the theory of a stationary ether was 
that of FitzGerald, that the motion of the appa- 
ratus through the ether so modifies its internal 
constitution that it automatically contracts to an 
extent which exactly neutralises the effect which 
would otherwise be observed. It was in the effort 
to give a reason for this contraction that the 
theory that has been referred to was developed. 
But whether we take the presentation given by 
Larmor or Lorentz we find that the general equa- 
tions of the electromagnetic field have to be 
supplemented at some point by a hypothesis as to 
the nature of the electrons which are the ele- 
mentary constituents of matter, in order to make 
the scheme sufficient to determine the way in 
which they will move. Now the length of a 
body, thought of as constituted by electrons, de- 
pends upon the motions of those electrons. If we 
are to think of any piece of matter whatever as 
contracting according to FitzGerald’s hypothesis, 
we are bound to think of the paths of the electrons 
within the body as being modified in some corre- 
sponding way. Thus the hypotheses that may be 
adopted as to the nature of the electron are not 
arbitrary, but must be such as will lead to the 
contraction hypothesis as a consequence. 

Similarly, if we consider the experiment of 
Rayleigh referred to above, the refracting proper- 
ties of glass are conceived to be due to the licht 
waves falling upon electrons which have inertia 
and which have to be moved by the electrical 
forces produced by the light. If we were to 
assume that the electrons have a definite mass in 
the Newtonian sense, then Rayleigh’s expectation 


NG 2328, VOL. Q3 


NATURE 


379 


of a double refraction when the glass is moving 
would be justified. Lorentz is able, however, by 
assuming among other things that the electron is 
a spherical nucleus which itself is subject to the 
FitzGerald contraction, to extend his argument to 
cover the null result of this experiment. But the 
special assumptions which he makes were all made 


,; with an eye towards the result, namely, the failure 


of experiment to give a positive evidence of motion 
through the ether. They were hypotheses ad 
hoc, and to that extent they were really, though 
the name had not been invented, applications of 
the principle of relativity. It cannot be shown 
from the form of the general equations of the 
electromagnetic field alone that null effects are to 
be expected, for the experimental results most 
certainly extend into regions where these equa- 
tions are insufficient; they do not cover, for in- 
stance, the whole theory of refraction, of con- 
duction of electricity, or of the exterior configura- 
tion of a given body. 

It is for this reason that the hypothesis that the 
fact of motion relative to the aether must be for ever 
concealed, becomes of importance as a general and 
independent principle. It becomes a criterion and a 
guide, for example, as to the form that is to be 
chosen for the constitutive relations which connect 
the electric force and displacement, the magnetic 
force and induction, and the current in moving 
bodies. It leads us to the conclusion that the 
Newtonian conception of a constant mass needs 
some revision if the hypothesis is true, and at 
this point comes into touch with the experiments 
on the variation of the apparent inertia of a 
negative electron with its velocity, and in fact 
is here confirmed. 

But although experiment suggested and has so 
far confirmed the validity of the hypothesis, yet 
two serious objections are raised against it. The 
first is that it conflicts with our simplest ideas as 
to the measurement of space and time, and the 
second is that it abolishes the ether as a unique 
and objective medium, the seat of all electrical 
activity. In a succeeding article an attempt will 
be made to indicate what position in regard to 
these two very important points the adoption of 
the hypothesis requires us to take. 

E. CUNNINGHAM. 


DRO REV NOEDS (GREEN, UPR AS. 


HE announcement of the death of Dr. Rey- 
nolds Green, on June 3, will have been re- 
ceived with unfeigned regret by all his scientific 
fellow-workers, whether botanists or physiolo- 
gists. For those who, like myself, have known 
him throughout his career with a considerable 
degree of intimacy, regret amounts to a deep 
sense of personal loss. It is some consolation to 
me to have this opportunity of writing a few words 
in appreciation of him who was so closely associated 
with me first as pupil, then as collaborator, always 
as friend. 
Joseph Reynolds Green came up to Cambridge 
in t880 as a scholar of Trinity College, in which 


380 : NATURE 


[June LI; 19%, 


year he also took the B.Sc. degree in the Univer- 
sity of London. In 1883 he duly gained a first-class 
in the Natural Sciences Tripos, part 1., a success 
which was followed in 1884 by a first class in part 
ii., his subjects being botany and animal physio- 
logy. After taking his B.A. degree, there was 
some uncertainty as to which science he would 
pursue, but his inclination was to botany, his first 
scientific contribution being a paper on the glands 
of the Hypericaceee, which appeared in the Journal 
of the Linnean Society, 1884. Circumstances, 
however, led him to devote himself for a time to 
animal physiology; in 1855 he was appointed 
senior demonstrator in that subject by the late Sir 
Michael Foster, a position which he held for two 
years. Nevertheless, he was engaged, during 
that time, in botanical research, the results of 
which were published in two papers read before 
the Royal Society: the one on the proteid sub- 
stances in latex (Proc. Roy. Soc., 1886); the 
other, larger and more important, on the changes 
in the proteids in the seed which accompany 
germination (Phil. Trans., 1887), in which he 
confirmed for the Lupin the discovery by von 
Gorup-Besanez (1874) of a proteolytic enzyme in 
the seeds of the Vetch. These papers indicated 
the direction in which his future work was to lie. 

His appointment, in 1887, as professor of 
botany to the Pharmaceutical Society of Great 
Britain enabled Green to devote himself entirely to 
botany, and this he did whole-heartedly. During 
the twenty years that he held this office, his 
literary output was voluminous. The first twelve 
volumes of the Annals of Botany (1888-08) con- 
tain a number of papers by him on various points 
in the biochemistry of plants; and he contributed 
several articles to the first series (1894-8) of 
Science Progress. Perhaps the most important 
of his investigations during this period were, that 
on the germination of the seed of the castor-oil 
plant (Proc. Roy. Soc., 1890), in which he detected 
the fat-splitting enzyme (lipase), a subject to which 
he returned years afterwards (Proc. Roy. Soc., 
1905); that on the germination of the pollen-grain 
(Phil. Trans., 1894), proving the presence and 
activity of amyloclastic enzymes both in the grains 
and in the tissue of the style; and that on the 
action of light on diastase (Phil. Trans., 1897), 
where the effect of light on diastase is investigated 
and it is shown that whereas the red and the blue 
rays favour the formation of the enzyme, the 
green, the indigo, the violet, and especially the 
ultra-violet rays destroy it; and the striking sug- 
gestion is made that “vegetable structures have a 
power of absorbing radiant energy, which is not 
connected with the presence and activity of chloro- 
phyll.” 

In addition to these papers and articles, Green 
found time to write three considerable books: “A 
Manual of Botany based upon that of the late R. 
Bentley, 1895-6; “An Introduction to Vegetable 
Physiology,” 1900; and ‘The Soluble Ferments 
and Fermentation,” 1899. All three went on toa 
second edition, but the last was the most suc- 
cessful and important of them; a German transla- 


NO. 2328, VOL. 93] 


| tion of it, by Windisch, was published. They are 


characterised by the lucidity of exposition that he 
possessed in a high degree. 

Owing to failing health, Green resigned his pro- 
fessorship in 1907, and undertook the less onerous 
duties of the Hartley lectureship on vegetable 
physiology in the University of Liverpool, still, 
however, residing at Cambridge. He was com- 
missioned by the delegates of the Clarendon Press, 
Oxford, to write a continuation, published in 1909,, 
of Sachs’s “ History of Botany ” (1530-1860), to. 
bring the record up to the end of the nineteenth 
century; a difficult task which he performed with 
as much success as the circumstances permitted. 
He became so interested in work of this kind that 
he planned, and I believe completed, a history of 
botany in England, which, unfortunately, has not 
yet been published. 

A few personal details in conclusion. Green 
proceeded M.A. at Cambridge in 1888, D.Sc. in 
1894; he became a Fellow of the Linnean Society 
in 1889, and was elected to the Royal Society in 
1895. He was president of Section K (botany) at 
the Belfast meeting of the British Association in 
1902; and in the same year he was elected Fellow 
of Downing College, Cambridge. 

S: (2 Vinese 


Tue June conversazione of the Royal Society will be 
held on Tuesday next, June 16. 


Str Witi1aM OsLeR, F.R.S., Regius Professor of 
Medicine in the University of Oxford, has been elected 
a foreign Associate of the French Academy of 
Medicine. 


Pror. A. Lacroix, professor of mineralogy at the 
Paris Natural History Museum, has been elected per- 
manent secretary of the Paris Academy of Sciences 
in succession to Prof. Van Tieghem. 


Dr. R. S. Lut, professor of vertebrate palaeontology 
at Yale, will this summer conduct another western 
expedition from the Peabody Museum for the purpose 
of securing skeletons of prehistoric horses. 


THE council of the Royal Society of Arts, with the 
approval of the president, H.R.H. the Duke of Con- 
naught, has awarded the Albert medal for the current 
year to Chevalier Guglielmo Marconi, ‘‘for his ser- 
vices in the development and practical application of 
wireless telegraphy.”’ 


Tue Khedive has conferred the third class of the 
Order of the Medjidieh upon Mr. W. Lawrence Balls 
on the occasion of his retirement from the service of 
the Egyptian Government. This is, we. believe, the 
first decoration given for agricultural work since the 
foundation of the Department of Agriculture in 1910. 


Pror. H. HerGeserr, of Strassburg, has been 
appointed to the direction of the Royal Prussian Aero- 
nautical Observatory at Lindenberg, near Berlin, and 
desires that communications intended for him or the 
International Commission for Scientific Aeronautics, 
of which he is president, should be addressed to the 


ee 


JUNE 11, 1914] 


NATURE 


381 


K6nigl. Preussisches Aeronautisches Observatorium 
Lindenberg (Kreis Beeskow). 


Dr. F. J. Brcke, professor of mineralogy in the 
Imperial and Royal University of Vienna (Austria) ; 
Dr. T. C. Chamberlin, professor of geology in the 
Iniversity of Chicago (Illinois), U.S.A.; Dr. F. J. 
Loewinson-Lessing, professor of mineralogy and geo- 
logy in the Polytechnic Institute of St. Petersburg 
(Russia); Dr. A. P. Pavlow, professor of geology and 
palzontology in the Imperial University of Moscow 
(Russia); and Dr. W. B. Scott, professor of geology 
in the Princeton University, Princeton (New Jersey), 
U.S.A., have been elected foreign members of the 
Geological Society of London. Dr. P. Choffat, Geo- 
logical Survey of Portugal, Lisbon, and Dr. Charles R. 
Van Hise, president of the University of Wisconsin, 
Madison (Wisconsin), U.S.A., have been elected 
foreign correspondents of the society. 


Tue Elliott Cresson medals have been presented by 
the Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, this year as 
follows :—To Prof. Karl P. G. Linde, for his scien- 
tific investigations of the processes of refrigeration 
and the liquefaction of gases, and his inventions of 
machinery for applying these processes in the manu- 
facture of ice and for the purposes of cold storage; to 
Dr. E. F. Smith, for his work in the field of electro- 
chemistry, his contributions to the literature of chem- 
ical science, and his service in university education ; 
to Prof. J. M. Eder, for his researches in photo- 
chemistry and his contributions to the literature of 
that science and of the graphic arts; to Mr. Orville 
Wright, for the work accomplished by him, at first 
together with his brother Wilbur and latterly alone, 
in establishing on a practical basis the science and 
art of aviation. 


Tue Dorset Field Club intends this month to re- 
open the Dewlish Trench, about which there has been 
much discussion. This trench is in chalk, and is 
filled with fine sand below, and above by loam with 
bones of Elephas meridionalis. An open gash in soft 
chalk is so exceptional as to lead the Rev. Osmond 
Fisher to suggest lately that this must be an artificial 
elephant-trap; other geologists take it to be natural, 
though formed in some way not clearly understood. 
Should it prove to be an elephant-trap, several inter- 
esting questions are raised. Elephas meridionalis is 
not definitely known as Pleistocene; it occurs in 
Pliocene or pre-Glacial strata, and seems to have 
disappeared from Britain at the incoming of the cold. 
The association of this elephant with man would be 
a new point, though some supposed ‘‘eoliths’’ have 
been picked up near the trench. The infilling of the 
trench is peculiar. The bones belong to several in- 
dividuals, and if they were trapped it seems to have 
been for the meat alone, for the tusks remain. Below 
the elephant-layer is fine dust-like desert sand, with 
highly polished flints. The circular sent to us by the 
Earthworks Committee of the Dorset Field Club 
shows that the work will be properly done. Mr. 
Charles Prideaux will camp on the spot, which will 
be carefully enclosed. The trench will be opened 
from end to end, until the undisturbed challk-bottom 
reached. All fossils and flints will be carefully 


NO. 2328, VOL. 93] 


is 


| collected and examined. The Dorset Field Club pro- 


poses to visit the trench on June 30. 


THE Amnauer Hansen, of Bergen, a vessel of about 
fifty tons, but replete with all up-to-date apparatus 
for the investigation of the hydrography of the sea, 
started from Plymouth on June 2 on a two months’ 
cruise in the Atlantic. The scientific work of the 
cruise will be conducted under the direction of Prof. 
Helland-Hansen, director of the Marine Biological 
Station at Bergen, and he will also have the advan- 
tage of the advice of Prof. Fridtjof Nansen, who, with 
his son, accompanies the party. The vessel, which is 
only some 25 yards in length, is worked partly by 
motor and in part by sail. It has been built to stand 
any weather, being constructed somewhat after the 
plan of the Norwegian lifeboats. From Plymouth the 
Amnauer Hansen will proceed in a _ south-westerly 
direction across the Atlantic for approximately five 
hundred miles, and then return eastward to Lisbon, 
where the party expects to arrive in a fortnight. 
From Lisbon the vessel will proceed to the Azores, 
and thence return, according as time permits, either 
by way of the English Channel or along the west 
coast of Ireland and Scotland, and vid the FarGées to 
Bergen. During the cruise a detailed survey will be 
made in regard to such hydrographical factors as 
temperatures, currents, circulation, salinities, dissolved 
gases, penetration of light, points which in due time 
will prove to be not only of theoretical but of practical 
importance. The boat is manned by a crew of six 
and the scientific staff consists of Messrs. Grein, 
Grondahl, Gaarder, and Birkeland. The expenses of 
the cruise have been partly defrayed by the Nansen 
Fund. 


By the death of the great French electrometallurgist, 
Paul Héroult, which took place at Antibes on May 9, 
at the early age of fifty-one, modern metallurgical 
industry loses a figure of outstanding importance. 
Héroult’s fame chiefly rests on the invention of the 
process which bears his name for the manufacture of 
aluminium, an invention which had the effect of 
creating a new industrial metal, but his work in the 
field of the electrometallurgy of steel, though less 
widely known, is scarcely less important. Héroult’s 
early interest in aluminium was concerned with 
aluminium-bronze, for which it was supposed there 
might be a ready market, and his first patent in this 
direction was taken out in 1886. It was in 1888 that 
he tackled the problem of making pure aluminium, 
in conjunction with Dr. Kiliani, and in that year 
were founded the first aluminium works at Neu- 
hausen.  Héroult’s master-discovery was that of a 
suitable solvent for alumina, and this he found in 
fused cryolite, 3NaF.AIF;. The establishment of the 
works of la Société Electrométallurgique frangaise at 
Froges (Isére), followed soon after that of the Swiss 
works, and since then the manufacture of aluminium 
by the Héroult process. has become an established 
industry in most of the chief countries of Europe. 
Héroult commenced his work on the manufacture of 
steel in the electric furnace in 1899, and in the follow- 
ing year a small trial furnace of 3000 kg. capacity 
was working successfully at La Praz. The part 
Héroult has since played in the development of the 


382 


NATURE 


[JUNE II, 1914 


electrometallurgy of steel may be conveyed most con- 
vincingly by merely stating that more Heéroult 
furnaces are in use than are those of any other type; 
no fewer, indeed, than thirty-one, consuming some 
19,000 kw., out of a total of 129 furnaces taking 
50,000 kw., a capacity, moreover, which will be 
doubled in the near future, when the large 22-25-ton 
Héroult furnaces now in course of erection will be 
put into operation. If the foundations of the new 
method have now been firmly laid, to Héroult can 
justly be accorded the chief share of the credit. 


In the February issue of the Proceedings of the 
Academy of Philadelphia for 1914 Mr. H. N. Wardle 
describes and figures two specimens of the diminutive 
mummified human heads prepared by the Jibaro 
(Jivaro) tribes dwelling in the eastern valleys of the 


oye 


A “‘Tsantsa,” or diminutive mummified head of a Jibaro Indian. 
From Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia. 


Andes around the head-waters of the Amazon, by 
whom they are called tsantsa. Although such mum- 
mies have been known to science since the year 1862, 
when one was described by Dr. Moreno-Maiz, in the 
Bull. Soc. Anthrop., Paris (vol. iii., p. 185), they are 
still so rare that each merits a separate description. 
Of the two specimens described by Mr. Wardle, one 
(figure here reproduced) has been recently acquired 
by the Philadelphia Academy; it was formerly in the 
Museum Umlauf, Hamburg. The second is in the 
private collection of Mr. S. Castner, of Philadelphia, 
by whom it was purchased at a sale in 1903, and 
wrongly stated to have come from Oceania. Accounts 
vary as to the method by which these heads—of which 
two examples are shown in the Natural History 
Museum—were prepared. 


NWOs/ 2325, VO O23) 


To vol. xliii., part 4, of the Rec. Geol. Surv. India, 
Dr. G. E. Pilgrim contributes an article on the cor- 
relation of the Siwaliks with European mammaliferous 
horizons, in which it is concluded that while the top- 
most conglomerates of the former (with remains of 
camels and Indian buffaloes) represent the Upper 
Pliocene, the Bugti beds correspond to the Lower 
Burdigalian or Upper Aquitanian of Europe. Several 
forms, including two genera of macherodont tigers, 
and a genus of bear, are described as new. 


Papers recently received on American faunas. in- 
clude one, by Mr. N. de Witt Betts, on the birds of 
Boulder County, Colorado (Univ. Colorado Studies, 
vol. x., no. 4); a second, by Mr. M. M. Ellis, on the 
fishes of Colorado (ibid., vol. xi., no. 1); and a third, 
by Dr. P. S. Welsh, on the North American worms 
of the family Enchytrzidz (Bull. Illinois State Lab. 
Nat. Hist., vol. x., art. 3). The last-named group, 
which has hitherto received scant attention from 
naturalists, comprises sixteen genera and many 
species (inclusive of several described as new by Dr. 
Welsh), ranging over America and Europe, and re- 
ported to occur in Siberia, N. Africa, and New Zea- 
land, but mainly restricted to cold areas, including 
even glaciers. Allied in many respects to ordinary 
earth-worms, in others the Enchytraeidz display affini- 
ties with the lower Oligocheta. 


Mr. L. WavmMsLey has written a concise illustrated 
‘Guide to the Geology of the Whitby District ’’ (Horne 
and Son, Whitby, price 1s.), which should be useful 
to the hundreds of summer visitors who go forth 
with hammers in their hands. We hope that this 
edition will be appreciated, since we are promised in 
that case a subsequent one on a somewhat fuller scale. 
A reference to the colour-printed drift map of the 
Geological Survey, Sheets 35 and 44, would seem 


desirable. The variety of Ammonite types, St. Hilda’s 
‘“headlesse snakes,”’ is well brought out in the illus- 
trations. 


Dr. C. DIENER’s description of the ‘‘ Triassic Faunze 
of Kashmir’’ appears as one of the folio memoirs of 
the Geological Survey of India (‘‘ Palzontologia 
Indica,” vol. v., Mem. 1, price 4s. 4d.). In dealing 
with the fine series of ammonites, the author abandons 
his genus Danubites in favour of Waagen’s Xeno- 
discus, of which several species are described. A new 
genus, Kashmirites, is introduced, allied to Xenodiscus 
and Sibirites. The Ceratite group is well represented 
in the zones corresponding to the European Muschel- 
kalk. Although a passage is proved from the Tethys 
(Mediterranean) marine region to that of the Hima- 
layas, communication was evidently restricted through- 
out the whole Triassic period, so far as cephalopoda 
are concerned. 


THE connection between ice and fog is well known, 
and within little more than two years both have taken 
a disastrously heavy toll of life. Both conditions are 
necessarily frequently referred to in the monthly 
meteorological charts of the North Atlantic published 
by the United States, Germany, and this country. 


|} Among the chief causes of ocean fog formation 


JUNE 11, 1914] 


NATURE 


383 


(quoted in the American charts) may be mentioned 
the mixture of masses of moist air of different tem- 
peratures, and the direct cooling of moist air coming 
into contact with icebergs or cold northern waters. 
The Meteorological Office chart for June points out 
that near the Banks of Newfoundland the risk from 
fog is about eight times greater in midsummer than 
in midwinter; in May and June the fog zone stretches 
from Europe to America. The German chart for 
June states that up to May 19 numerous bergs and 
extensive icefields were met with to the east of the 
Newfoundland Banks between 47° and 50° W. longi- 
tude. In some cases bergs were sighted so far south 
as 42° N. latitude. The southerly advance of drift 
ice usually ceases about the middle of June, and by 
the middle of July the ice limit rapidly recedes. 

A summary of the weather for the past spring as 
shown by the results for the thirteen weeks ended 
May 30 has been issued by the Meteorological Office. 
The mean temperature for the period is above the 
average in all districts of the United Kingdom, the 
excess being as much as 3° in the north-east of Eng- 
land, 2-5° in the east of England, and from 1°2° in 
all other districts. The south-east and the east of 
England are the only districts where the absolute 
temperature tose to 80°. The rainfall is only 85 per 
cent. of the average in the north-east of England, and 
the only other districts with a deficiency of rain are 
the midland counties with 97 per cent. of the average, 
and the north-west of England with 99 per cent. of 
the average. The greatest excess of rain is 140 per 
cent. of the average in the south-east and south-west 
of England, and 131 per cent. in the Channel Islands. 
In the east of England the rainfall is 113 per cent. 
of the average, and in the north of Ireland 112 per 
cent. The absolutely largest rainfall is 10-82 in. in 
the north of Scotland, and 10-21 in. in the south-west 
of England, whilst the least is 4-26 in. in the north- 
east of England. The mean temperature at Green- 
wich for the spring months, March, April, and May 
is 49:7°, which is 1-7 in excess of the average; it is 
precisely the same as in the spring of last year, but 
18° colder than in rorz2. 

No. 5 of vol. iii. of the Memoirs of the Department 
of Agriculture in India contains a study by Messrs. 
F. J. Warth and D. B. Darabzett, of the ‘ Fractional 
Liquefaction of Rice Starch.” It is shown that 
different specimens of rice show very different be- 
haviour as regards the temperature at which lique- 
faction of their starch occurs. The method adopted 
consisted in estimating the percentage of starch lique- 
fied at intervals of temperature of 5°. The results 
published in this paper show that the cooking quality 
of rice is distinctly correlated with its starch quality, 
and that there is also a certain parallelism between 
these features and the ease with which the different 
samples undergo disintegration by dilute alkalis. 
Some kinds of grain contain a variety of starch which 
is far more resistant than that of others. 

THE importance of the mineral elements in the 
nutrition of farm animals has recently begun to re- 
ceive recognition, and Research Bulletin No. 30 of the 
Agricultural Experiment Station of the University of 


NO. 2328, VOL. 93] 


eS 
——<$<$<$<———_——$——$$ 


Wisconsin, by Messrs. E. B. Hart, H. Steenbock, and 
J. G. Fuller, deals with the relation of the supply of 
calcium and phosphorus in the ordinary farm feeds to 
the animals’ requirements; from the data considered 
a number of interesting conclusions are drawn. 
Grains in particular are deficient in calcium but rich 
in phosphorus, and rations wholly made up of grains 
will supply to the growing animal an amount of 
calcium dangerously near the critical level of intake. 
The supply of calcium also becomes an essential factor 
when continuous and high milk production are aimed 
at, and the diet must be suitably adapted in order to 
achieve this result, if necessary by the artificial use 
of calcium carbonate and phosphate. 


Pror. 1GNAzio Gait has published in the memoirs 
of the Pontifical Academy of the Nuovi Lincei, of 
Rome, a fourth memoir on globular lightning, and on 
its effects on trees and on grass. The memoir quotes 
in an uncritical manner an enormous number of 
reputed instances of lightning of globular form, most 
of which were recorded by wholly untrained observers, 
and extend over several centuries. Prof. Galli adds 
little to the facts collected by Flammarion and other 
writers. He directs attention to observations which 
seem to show that the lightning stroke following a 
spiral path is usually dextrorsum in horse-chestnuts, 
cherry-trees, apple-trees, and willows, but sinistrorsum 
in plum-trees, whitethorns, oaks, and sycamores; in 
beech-trees sometimes one way, sometimes the other. 
He discusses whether this is due to inherent spiral 
structure of the fibre of the wood or to some special 
gyratory property of the discharge. Most of the ob- 
servations are of such ancient date that critical dis- 
cussion of them is out of the question. 


AN article in the Paris Matin was referred to by the 
Paris correspondents of several London daily papers 
last Saturday. It relates to some interesting experi- 
ments in wireless telephony carried out by Captain 
Colin, of the French Navy, who has been at work on 
the subject for some years in collaboration with 
Lieutenant Jeance. The details of the apparatus are 
not given, but it would appear that some improvement 
has been made in the direction of maintaining steady 
and continuous oscillations at the transmitting end. 
Speech, it is stated, has been transmitted from Paris 
to Finisterre, a distance of 300 miles, and a type of 
field apparatus with a mast about oo ft. high has, it is 
said, been developed, which can be unloaded from a 
motor-car and set to work by a crew of six men in 
twenty-one minutes, and will transmit without diffi- 
culty over a distance of from 60 to 120 miles. 


THE most interesting communication brought before 
the meeting of the Bunsen Gesellschaft fiir ange- 
wandte physikalische Chemie at Leipzig on May 
21-24 was a paper by K. Fajans on the different 
atomic weights of lead. According to a line of 
reasoning simultaneously . developed by Fajans and 
by Soddy during the last few years, lead derived from 
radium and lead derived from thorium by the loss 
of five and six atoms of helium respectively should 
be identical except in atomic weight. Throughout 
the past year Dr. Fajan’s assistant, Dr. Lembert, has 


oO 


a NATURE 


[JUNE 11; 1974 


been working in Richard’s laboratory at Harvard in 
order to obtain atomic weights of as high a degree of 
trustworthiness as possible. The differences established 
by the series of determinations announced at the 
meeting by Fajans amount to about 0°3 per cent. 
(Soddy and Hymans read a paper before the London 
Chemical Society on May 7, in which they likewise de- 
scribed experiments which showed a difference between 
thorite lead and ordinary lead of o0’5 per cent.) The 
keen discussions which followed the various papers 
showed quite clearly that the chief subjects at present 
of general interest to physical chemists in Germany 
are: (1) applications of the theory of quanta; (2) the 
nature of sorption; (3) the photochemistry of gases; 
and (4) the generalisation made by Bredig and 
Snethlage, in extension of the work of numerous 
other investigators, as to the parallelism between the 
catalytic activity of undissociated acids and_ their 
strength. A striking illustration of the wide bear- 
ing of some of the (at first sight) apparently un- 
interesting special investigations were afforded by 
E. Cohen’s paper on unstable modifications of pure 
metals. His results demonstrate that most measure- 
ments hitherto made of physical constants of metals, 
such as density and Hall effect, have not been carried 
out on chemical individuals, but on unknown mix- 
tures of these unsuspected metastable forms, so that 
they require to be revised. 


WE have received the catalogue of microscopes, 
etc., made by C. Reichert, of Vienna, for which 
Messrs. Angus and Co., of Wigmore Street, are the 
British agents. Since the foundation of the firm in 
1876, 55,000 microscopes have been produced. The 
catalogue comprises microscope stands of varying 
complexity, achromatic and apochromatic objectives, 
comparison eye-pieces and other accessories, polari- 
meters, and microtomes Both workmanship and 
prices compare favourably with those of other well- 
known makers. 


WE have seen the March issue of Gendai no Kagaku 
(Scientific Gazette)—a new Japanese journal similar 
to Nature, printed in Japanese characters. It has 
been designed to meet an increasingly felt need for 
a serious and authoritative general organ for the 
growing body of men of science and students of 
research in Japan. The journal is well printed, and 
its contents are written and edited by professors of 
the Tokyo and Kyoto Imperial Universities. The 
issue before us contains special articles on insects and 
their pup, the relation between zoology and medicine, 
great men of science, and inertia and relativity; 
reviews of books; notes and abstracts classified under 
the various sections of astronomy, physical geography, 
biology, chemistry, and applied sciences ; meteorological 
reports and ephemerides of celestial phenomena, and 
proceedings of societies. In the last-named section 
no fewer than eight learned societies of Tokyo are 
represented. ‘The illustrations include a collotype por- 
trait of Prof. Simon Newcomb, and a star chart, to 
be continued serially. The publication is to be wel- 
comed as a sign of the increase of interest in scientific 
subjects in Japan. 


NO; 2326, VOL. 93] 


| the S:-E. horizon in 281°—25°. 


Pror. W. Bareson’s work on-‘‘ Mendel’s Principles 
of Heredity’? has been translated into German by 
Alma Winckler, and published with an introduction 
by Prof. R. von Wettstein, under the title, **‘ Mendel’s 
Vererbungstheorien,”” by Mr. B. G. Teubner, Leipzig 
and Berlin, at the price of 12 marks. Another trans- 
lation just received from the same publisher is ** Pflan- 
zenanatomie,”’ translated by Dr. S. Tschulok from the 
fifth Russian edition of Prof. V. I. Palladin’s work. 
We have also received a volume entitled ‘‘ Theory of 
the Atom,” by Prof. T. Mizuno, of Kyoto Imperial 
University, Japan, published by the Maruzen Co., 
Ltd., Tokyo, but as it is in Japanese characters it is 
intelligible only to a few European men of science, and 
no useful purpose would be served by reviewing it in 
these columns. 


OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 


ASTRONOMICAL OCCURRENCES FOR JUNE :— 


June rr. oh. om. Jupiter stationary. 

» 15h. 33m. Uranus in conjunction with the 
Moon (Uranus 1° 48’ N.). 

12. 12h, 32m. Jupiter in conjunction with the 
Moon (Jupiter 0° 44’ N.). 

18. 20h. om. Mercury at greatest elongation 
(24° 55' E.). 

om. 8h. §5m. ‘Sumi enters “Sign” of Canter 
Summer commences. 

22. 12h. 24m. Saturn in conjunction with the 
Moon (Saturn 6° i’ S.). 

25. 21h. 9m. Venus in conjunction with the 
Moon (Venus 0° 46’ S.). 

27. 15h. 58m. Mars in conjunction with the 
Moon (Mars 0° 36’ N.). 

Comet 1914b (ZLATINSKy).—Astronomische Nachrich- 
ten, No. 4737, publishes the elements and ephemeris 
of the comet discovered by Zlatinsky (1914b) calculated 
by Mr. Crawford and Miss Levy. These agree very 
closely with those computed by Prof. H. Kobold, and 
published in this column on May 28 (p. 330). A 
further communication to this number by Prof. E. C. 
Pickering states that Dr. Perrine cables the similarity 
of Zlatinsky’s comet with comet 1790 III., Caroline 
Herschel. The following ephemeris has been calcu- 
ie by Dr. Ebert, and appears in Das Weltall for 
May :— 


R.A. Dec. 
iby 5 SS. 5 ; 
June 11 Ke Susan si Se ee 7 05 
1S) ae = OF 505 
US) ne Do ei et 2S 
17 eee QO 11887 a 4 26-1 
19 566 9 15 44 ws —5 56:2 


FIREBALLS.—Mr. W. F. Denning writes that on 
June 3 at about 10.30 p.m., and June 4 at 11.7 p.m., 
brilliant meteors were observed by Mrs. Fiammetta 
Wilson, of Bexley Heath. The former had a path 
from 80°+46° to 33°+509°, which it traversed in 
6; seconds, carefully timed by stop-watch. The latter 
was placed near the N.W. horizon, close to the stars 
Castor and Pollux, and seemed to explode with a 
flash brighter than Venus. 

The fireball of June 3 was seen at Bristol, and a 
comparison of the pair of observations shows its 
height to have been about fifty-one to forty-eight miles. 
It flight was almost horizontal from a radiant near 
Path about 160 miles 
long, velocity twenty-five miles per second. It began 
over The Wash and ended over the county of Durham. 


— 


= 


JUNE 11, 1914] 


The radiant point in Sagittarius represents a well- 
known June and July meteoric shower. 

Further observations of the large meteors seen on 
June 3 and 4 are required. Many observers must have 
noticed them in the north of England. 


OBSERVATIONS OF Nov.—Prof. E. E. Barnard con- 
tinues to keep watch on the behaviour of nove with 
the large Yerkes instrument after they have passed 
out of reach of ordinary telescopes, and communicates 
some further observations concerning the Nove 
Geminorum 1 and 2, and Nova Persei 2. With regard 
to Nova Geminorum 2 (Enebo), he states that this nova 
seems to have changed its focus and general appear- 
ance back again to the normal. This rapid change 
to the abnormal and back to the normal focus sug- 
gests a resemblance to that of Nova Persei 2 (Ander- 
son), this object having been examined frequently by 
him. In the case of Nova Geminorum 1 (Turner), 
which was examined in February of this year, the 
star was faint but not difficult. The estimation of its 
magnitude would make the object 16:8; it is still 
fading, but Prof. Barnard hopes to be able to follow it 
with the 4o-in. refractor for another year at least. 


REPORT OF THE CaPE OBSERVATORY.—The report of 
his Majesty’s Astronomer at the Cape of Good Hope 
to the Secretary of the Admiralty for the year ending 
1913 has just been issued. In the eight pages we are 
introduced to a large programme of work which has 
either been accomplished or is in progress. Among 
the observations with the reversible transit circle were 
6948 meridian transits, 1330 observations of meridian 
marks, 6670 determinations of zenith distance, 690 
nadir determinations, etc. The 8-in. transit circle has 
had a self-registering micrometer mounted at the eye 
end, and worked in conjunction with a special chrono- 
graph. The combination is for the determination of 
stellar parallax, and after preliminary trials a regular 
programme of observations was commenced. The 
heliometer has been employed on the major planets 
at the times of opposition, and 177 observations were 
made. The Victoria telescope was chiefly occupied in 
securing stellar spectra for radial velocity determina- 
tions, and 151 plates were obtained. During a por- 
tion of the year the spectroscope was dismounted and 
photographs were taken of Jupiter and the Galilean 
satellites near the epoch of quadrature of the planet. 
The astrographic telescope was for the main part used 
for the magnitude*plates, while with the photohelio- 
graph 634 negatives of the sun, taken on 311 days, 
were secured for inclusion in the Greenwich series. 
The report concludes with statements concerning the 
reductions, publications, time signals, and personal 
establishment. 


THE ADMINISTRATION OF 
ANASTHETICS. 

EATH under anesthesia is always a most lament- 
able occurrence, and these accidents fall into 
three categories : first, those which no human skill can 
avert, for example, in unsuspected cases of status 
lvmphaticus; secondly, those due to want of knowledge 
on the part of the medical practitioner; and, thirdly, 
those which occur in the practice of unqualified per- 
sons. The second class of cases can be met by ensur- 
ing that instruction in anesthetics is an essential part 
of medical and dental education, and this has been 
in a measure secured by recent alterations in the 
regulations of examining bodies. The deaths which 
occur under the third heading can only be prevented, 
and the public protected, by making the administration 
of anzsthetics by unqualified persons illegal. There 


NOnWw2g26, VOL. 93] 


NAT ORE 


| 


a 


385 

is reason to believe that such accidents occur more 
frequently than reports in the public Press would lead 
one to suppose, but statistics are obviously difficult to 
obtain. A Government measure, regulating the ad- 
ministration of anzesthetics and prohibiting their use 
by unqualified persons, was suggested by a Depart- 
mental Committee of the Home Office some years ago, 
but this has never come to fruition, and private bills 
introduced into Parliament have shared the usual fate 
of private bills. The question, however, has been kept 
alive by the energy of Sir Frederick Hewitt, Prof. 
Waller, and others, and year by year fresh evidence 
has accumulated shov ing the urgent need of legis- 
lation ; since the introduction of cocaine the evil has in- 
creased. We are glad to learn that the council of the 
British Association, at its last meeting, passed a 
resolution (inspired by the anzesthetic committee of the 
association) by a large majority, asking the Govern- 
ment to introduce a measure limiting the use of these 
dangerous drugs to properly qualified persons, or to: 
those acting under their immediate supervision. The 
council is to be congratulated on thus fulfilling one of 
the objects of the association, namely, to attempt to 
remove disadvantages of a public kind. We can only 
trust that Parliament, having got the burden of its. 
three large measures off, or nearly off, its shoulders, 
may now find time to do so some really useful work. 


WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY RESEARCH. 
"rE HE report of the committee appointed by the Post- 

master-General *‘to consider and report how far 
and by what methods the State should make provision 
for research work in the science of wireless telegraphy,,. 
and whether any organisation which may be estab- 
lished should include problems connected with ordinary 
telegraphy and telephony,’’ has just been published 
(Cd. 7428, price 13d.). We propose to deal later with 
the scheme put forward for the appointment of a 
national committee for telegraphic research, and the 
establishment of a national research laboratory in 
connection with it; and here limit ourselves to a state- 
ment of the conclusions arrived at from a considera- 
tion of the research work undertaken in the United 
States and Germany. (1) That it is desirable to estab- 
lish some body or institution to initiate and control 
research in matters of general principle which cannot 
conveniently be investigated in departmental labora- 
tories, to coordinate so far as may be the work now 
undertaken by the Post Office, Admiralty, and War 
Office, respectively, in connection with experiment 
and research in wireless telegraphy, so as to prevent 
work undertaken by one department overlapping work 
undertaken by another, and thus secure economy, and 
to discuss any difficulties arising in practice. (2) That 
the work now being done by the departments should 
be continued and extended, opportunities being also 
found for the departmental engineers to carry out such 
experiments and tests as may be approved by the body 
or institution to be established for the purposes above 
referred to, and may require high power and service: 
conditions. (3) That it is desirable to establish a 
research laboratory (as distinguished from thg exist- 
ing departmental laboratories and service stations), in 
which research work bearing on the practical needs of 
the services should be carried out under the guidance 
of the body or institution above referred to. (4) That 
though the work to be undertaken by the new body 
or institution and in the new laboratory, the establish- 
ment of which we recommend, will principally concern 
wireless telegraphy, it is undesirable to exclude there- 
from the problems of ordinary telegraphy and _ tele- 
phony. 


386 


NATOTRE 


[JUNE II, 1914 


ASSOCIATION OF) TEACHERS IN 
PECHNICAT Gi STILO TIONS: 


iif HE eighth annual conference of the Association of 

Teachers in Technical Institutions was held at 
the Central Technical School, Liverpool, during Whit- 
suntide, and was very successful from every point of 
view. 

In the course of his presidential address Mr. P. 
Abbott reviewed the recent developments in educational 
and professional matters. He submitted that the 
education of the adolescent was the first problem of 
the century, and one closely associated with the 
future of technical education. The State must recog- 
nise its responsibility for the complete education of 
the youth; it had so far failed in its duty by bringing 
the education of the child to a dead end at the age 
of thirteen or fourteen. It was not with our elemen- 
tary education that the fault was to be found. There 
must be an extension of the age of full-time instruction 
to fourteen or fifteen, followed by compulsory part- 
time instruction to eighteen or twenty, aided by com- 
pulsion on employers to diminish the hours of work 
to a corresponding degree. The Denman Bill now 
before Parliament would be welcomed as a step for- 
ward, giving, as it does, power to the local authority 
to extend the leaving age to fifteen, to compel attend- 
ance at continuation classes to sixteen, to restrict 
hours of child labour, and to restrict street trading 
for young people. The Bill was defective in its per- 
missive qualities, but represented an advance in educa- 
tional reform. 

We were in the midst of a movement to free tech- 
nical education from the thraldom of external exam- 
inations the results of which, as the President of the 
Board of Education had felicitously expressed it, 
might be called ‘‘ snap-judgments.”” The true function 
of an examination should be one of several factors— 
attendance, home work, laboratory work, etc.—by 
means of which the teacher could satisfy himself that 
the pupil had worked satisfactorily through the 
course. It is not the examination that matters: it is 
the course that is all-important, and the training 
received during the course. 

In an age of continuous progress and change it was 
essential that technical education should possess 
elasticity, flexibility, and adaptability. If teachers 
were expected to mould their work to the requirements 
of a cast-iron syllabus—such as obtained wherever 
external examinations prevailed—these properties could 
not exist. 

It was to the credit of the Board of Education that 
it had taken the initiative by abolishing some of its 
own external examinations. Some remain, and _ it 
was difficult to see what good was obtained by their 
retention. Unfortunately, the abolition of the Board’s 
examinations had induced the growth of certain unions 
of institutions so far beyond their original and osten- 
sible purpose, that they were seeking to impose their 
systems of external examinations upon technical insti- 
tutions and to deprive them of that freedom so neces- 
sary for the proper development of their work. The 
examinations of such bodies were the worst kind of 
external examinations; and these unions, which 
jealously exclude the practising teacher from their 
councils, had become the attractive centres of those 
who still cling to the fallacy that external examina- 
tions are an integral part of technical education. No 
svstem of external examination prevails in America, 
Germany, France, Austria, or Switzerland, and yet 
their technical education is so highly efficient that 
the results cause apprehension in our British indus- 
tries. 

Papers on internal examinations were read by Prof. 
Haldane Gee, and Messrs. Harrison, Bower, and 


NO. 2328, VOL. 93] 


THE 


Small. Mr. W. Hewitt, the director of technical edu- 
cation for Liverpool, read an interesting paper on a 
retrospective glance at the rise of scientific and tech- 
nical education in England. 

Resolutions welcoming the formation of the 
Teachers’ Register and approving the report of the 
Departmental Committee on the. superannuation of 
secondary and technical teachers were carried unani- 
mously, as were those welcoming the Denman Bill, 
and advocating the formation of advisory boards com- 
posed of representatives of teachers, local authorities, 
inspectors, employers, and employees, to draw up 
courses of work, and to assist institutions in the con- 
duct of their internal examinations. 


DEVONIAN OF MARYLAND. 


HE three volumes before us comprise, in the first 

volume, an introduction on the general relations 

of the Devonian (67 pp.), an account of the Lower 

Devonian strata, their stratigraphy (122 pp.), and their 

palzontology (322 pp-), with descriptions of all the 
fossils, whether new or previously known 

The second volume treats of the Middle and Upper 
Devonian, the stratigraphy of the former occupying 
II4 pp. and its paleontology 224 pp. The Upper 
Devonian stratigraphy occupies 196 pp., and the de- 
scriptions of the fossils 165 pp. The third volume is 
filled with plates, seventy-three in number, showing 
all the species which have been found in the Devonian 
of Maryland. 

It will be seen, therefore, that a large amount of 
space is given to the descriptions and figures of fossils. 
The stratigraphy is described from a purely scientific 
point of view; there is no chapter on economics, but 
perhaps that part of the subject is reserved for a 
special memoir. 

The introductory chapter includes a section on the 
palzogeography of the Devonian in North America, 
with eight maps of successive phases, contributed by 
Dr. Ch. Schuchert, but this seems somewhat out of 
place; for the Appalachian portion of Maryland is very 
narrow, and includes but a very small part of the 
long Devonian outcrop in the range, so that as the 
author himself says, ‘if restricted to maps of the > 
State, the palaogeography of Maryland would teach 
very little.” In other words, the State does not 
furnish any basis for such restorations; moreover, 
Dr. Schuchert’s method of restoring ancient lands 
and seas are very different from those employed in 
Europe. 

The authors of this memoir review the classification 
of the Devonian in America; they divide the Lower 
Devonian into two stages, the Helderberg (limestones) 
and the Oriskany (sandstone and shale), this series 
being only about 7oo ft. thick. The Middle Devonian 
consists mainly of shales, in three divisions—the 
Onondaga Shale, the Marcellus Shale, and the 
Hamilton Beds—the average thickness being 1600 ft. 
The Upper Devonian consists of two different types 
of sediment, a lower marine type, which they call the 
Jennings formation, and an upper “‘ continental”’ type, 
called the Catskill formation. The former is com- 
posed of variously coloured shales and sandstones, and 
is from 4000 to 4800 ft. thick, the latter of red and 
grey standstones and shales, from 2000 to 3800 ft, in 
which no fossils have yet been found. 

From the above it will be seen that the Appalachian 
Lower Devonian is a concentrated and largely cal- 
careous formation, the Middle Series of a normal 
varied composition, while the Upper (though marine) 
Text. 


1 © Maryland Geological Survey.” Middle and Upper Devonian. 


Pp. 720+vi plates. Lower Devonian. Text. Pp. 560+xvi plates. 
Rene Plates xvii-Ixxiii. (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press, 
TQ13- 


JUNE 11, 1914] 


NATURE 387 


re) 


must have been deposited near a large area of land. 
In this connection it is noticeable that beds of coral- 
iferous limestone are repeatedly called ‘‘coral-reefs,”’ 
without a tittle of evidence that they ever formed true 
coral-reefs. : 

Dr. Schuchert correlates the Lower Devonian fauna 
with that of the Konieprus Limestone (F*) of Bohemia. 
It is rich in corals, echinoderms, bryozoa, and brachio- 
pods, with a fair number of mollusca and trilobites. 
Most of the species are different from those of the 
European equivalent, and even the form hitherto 
known as Pentamerus galeatus is now distinguished 
as coeymanensis. The orthids, Dalmanella and Rhipi- 
domella, are specially abundant in the Helderberg 
limestones. 

In the Middle Devonian, corals and bryozoa are 
rare, and no echinoderms are found, so that the fauna 
has a different aspect from that of the European 
series, consisting chiefly of brachiopods and pelecypod 
mollusca, with a few gasteropoda, cephalopoda, and 
trilobites. It is noteworthy that Bactrites and Agonia- 
tites make their appearance. 

The Upper Devonian fauna is more interesting, not 
only because it includes species of Tornoceras and 
Bactrites, Buchiola and Styliolina, but also because 
some of the species are European, such as Spirifer 
disjunctus, Atrypa reticularis, Buchiola retrostriata, 
and Schizophoria striatula. 

In conclusion, it may be mentioned that the figures 
of fossils are well executed, and that the whole work 
is creditably produced, though owing to the use of 
thick paper the volumes are very bulky and heavy. 
Such tomes may be liked in America, but in this 
country we prefer more handy and less weighty pro- 
ductions. A. J. JukEs-BROWNE. 


tae ROYAL VCbSaeArORY , 


GREENWICH. 
N Saturday last, June 6, the Astronomer Royal 
presented his report at the annual visitation of 
the Board of Visitors of the Royal Observatory. The 
report refers to the year commencing May 11, 1913, 
and exhibits the state of the observatory on May to 
of the present year. 

Reference is first made to the new building, which 
has been erected in the magnetic enclosure in the 
park for the purpose of housing a set of modern in- 
struments for recording the variations of the magnetic 
elements. The significance of the building consists 
in the fact that it is composed of a thickly walled 
outer room, containing an inner room well insulated by 
a considerable air-space, the constancy of the tempera- 
ture of the latter being controlled by electric heaters 
regulated by a thermostat. After reference to the 
principal moveable instruments at the observatory or 
on loan from or to the observatory, we are informed 
that a silver-gilt inkstand presented to Sir G. B. Airy 
in 1852 by the River Dee Company has been presented 
to the observatory by his son, Mr. Osmund Airy. A 
portrait of Sir William Huggins has also been pre- 
sented by Lady Huggins, and Sir William Christie has 
given one of himself. 

Turning to the astronomical observations we find 
that with the transit circle the following observations 
have been made :— 


Transits =o ie Ssh. aoe 

Determinations of collimation and level 
error 65 ea 

Circle observations Jen oe 

Determinations of nadir point and re- 
flection observations of stars (in- 
cluded in the number of circle 
observations)... oe 


NO.w2328, VOL. 93] 


16,423 


311 and 632 


16,455 


607 and 417 


With the altazimuth the following observations have 
been made :— 


Meridian transits ... ah 1862 
Meridian zenith distances 1031 
Extra meridian observations ... poe 72 
Determinations of collimation and level 

error - was yes Kies ; 252 and 184 
Determinations of nadir point Me 152 

The travelling-wire micrometer has been used 


throughout the year for the determination of right- 
ascensions, and it is intended to replace the present 
eye end of the transit circle also by a travelling-wire 
micrometer which is now under construction. 

The excess of the number of observations of R.A. in 
relation to those of N.P.D. is due to the inclusion in 
the working list of a number of faint and bright stars 
for comparison with the transit circle, and the deter- 
mination of the magnitude equations of the observers 
with the latter instrument. The N.P.D.’s having 
been observed with the new printing micrometer, an 
interesting table is given of the comparison with 
Newcomb’s catalogue for different periods. 

The mean error in right ascension of the moon’s 
tabular vlace for 1913 is given as —o-81s. from 
meridian observations and —o-87s. from extra-meridian 
observations of the moon’s limb, and —o-S1s. from 
meridian observations of the crater Mésting A. The 
transit circle gives 0-832s. Attention may be directed 
to the reat increase in recent years of the mean 
tabular error of the moon’s longitude. From 1883, 
when Newcomb’s empirical correction was introduced 
into the Nautical Almanac, the values (all reduced to 
the same equinox) are : 


“l “ 

1883 =OROB I EOOG ees 2:18 
1884 —0O-16| Ig00 - ... nits — 2-69 
1885 —0-09 | IgoI — 2-77 
1886 —o-11 | 1902 — 3-15 
1887 +0:2T | 1903 — 3-08 
1888 +0:76 | 1904 — 3-16: 
1889 —0-38 | 1905 — 5-29 
1890 — 0-27 | 1906 —591 
I8gI O72 1gO7 — 5:96 
1892 +0°79 | 1908 SOT 
1893 —0-06 | 1909 —6-41 
1894 —I-20'| 1970 —7°85 
1895 —3-47 | 1911 — 8:34 
1896 — 1-68 1912 —9:79 
LSO7 ess: a TN LOS 118: 
Te {0fS) cee so — 3:03 | 

After a short reference to the observations made 


with the Cookson floating zenith telescope and the 
equatorial observations, mention is next made of the 
28-in. refractor which has been employed on all known 
double stars showing appreciable relative motion, and 
a few other stars for special reasons. The measures 
have consisted of 105 pairs with separation less than 
0-5"; 110 pairs with separation between 0-5" and 1-0"; 
123 pairs with separation between 1-0” and 2:0"; 
125 pairs with separation greater than 2-0". 

While the early publication of the mean results is 
communicated each year to the Royal Astronomical 
Society, the measures from 1893 to 1915 will be formed 
into one catalogue, each separate observation being 
given. This catalogue will contain 3000 double stars 
and notes on the more interesting stars. 

The work with the Thompson equatorial has been 
confined to parallax and photometric determinations, 
the 26-in. refractor being used throughout. For the 
parallax observations an exposure of the same plate at 
two different epochs, approximately six months apart, 
is required. During the year the first exposure has 
been given to 292 plates, and a second exposure to 
219 plates. The work of the measurement of these 


388 


plates is well advanced, and in the report the 
parallaxes of seven stars have been determined and 
indicate the high standard obtained. 

Photographic magnitudes determined with the 6-in. 
astrographic triplet are next dealt with and we notice 
that great progress has been made with the work in 
hand. The same may be said of the work on the photo- 
graphic magnitudes with the 26-in. refractor on the 
Kapteyn areas and the central regions of the Franklin- 
Adams charts, and of the astrographic equatorial for the 
determination of photographic magnitudes of stars in 
the Greenwich section of the Astrographic Catalogue 
by comparison with the standard magnitudes of the 
stars round the north pole. 

With regard to heliographic observations, photo- 
graphs of the sun were secured on 258 days, and of 
these 515 have been selected for preservation. Photo- 
graphs were received from the Royal Observatory, 
Cape of Good Hope, to March 1, 1914; from Dehra 
Din, India, to December 7, 1913, and from Kodai- 
kanal, India, to December 13, 1913, the series for the 
year 1913 being made up from the four contributing 
observations. The mean daily spotted area of the sun 
has been eight millionths of the sun’s visible hemi- 
sphere during 1913, as against thirty-seven in 1912, 
and sixty-four in 1911. The appearance of a moderately 
large spot in March pointed to the end of this very iow 
minimum of solar activity. 

An expedition is in preparation to proceed to Minsk, 
in Russia, to observe the total solar eclipse visible on 
August 20-21. The programme is stated to be similar 
to that attempted in Brazil in 1912. 

Coming now to the magnetic observations, we find 
that the mean values of the magnetic elements for 
1913 and three previous years from observations in the 
magnetic pavilion are as follows :— 


Declina- Horizontal force Dip (3-inch 
Year tion W. in C.G.S units needles) 

° ‘ ° rf “ 
NGUO! Gs LS 4ac2 018532 66 5257 
MGWIE gan SBR) 0-18529 66 52 
1O E25 24-8 0:18528 66 51 46 
UO sae Sigel 0-185 14. 66 50 27 


In 1913 there were no days of great magnetic dis- 
turbance; one day was classified as of lesser disturb- 
ance. The new magnetic house being now complete, 
will shortly receive the new instruments to be set up 
in it; these are briefly described in the report. 

A short résumé regarding the present state of the 
meteorological reductions is followed by a summary 
of the weather conditions for the period covered by this 
report. 

The mean temperature for the year 1913 was 50:5°, 
or 1-0° above the average of the seventy years, 1841- 
tgt0. Kor the twelve months ended April 30, 1914, 
the mean temperature was 508°. During the twelve 
months ended April 30, 1914, the highest temperature 
in the shade (recorded on the open stand in the enclo- 
sure of the magnetic pavilion) was 87-1° on June 17. 
On eight days the highest temperature in the shade 
equalled or exceeded 80°, but five of these days occurred 
in May and none in July. The lowest temperature of 
the air recorded during the same period was 19-9° on 
January 24. 

The mean daily horizontal movement of the air in 
the year ended April 30, 1914, was 288 miles, which is 
four miles above the average of the previous forty-six 
years. The greatest recorded daily movement was 
759 miles on April 6, and the least seventy-nine miles 
on October 24. The greatest recorded pressure to the 
square foot was 26:0 Ib. on December 26, and the 
greatest velocity in an hour forty-four miles on March 
16 and April 6. 

The number of hours of bright sunshine recorde® 
during the twelve months ended April 30, 1914, by the 


NO: 2328, VOL» 03] 


NATORE 


[June tr, 114 


Campbell-Stokes instrument, was 1446 out of a pos- 
sible 4457 hours, giving a mean. proportion of 0-325, 
constant sunshine being represented by 1. This is not 
far below the average amount, a very fine April nearly 
counterbalancing an exceedingly dull July. 

The rainfall for the year ended April 30, 1914, was 
22-30 in., being 1-82 in. less than the average for 
the period 1841-1905. The number of rainy days 
(0-005 in. or above) was 164. January with o-50 in. 
was the driest month, and March with 3-93 in. the 
wettest. 

The sections dealing with the chronometers, clocks, 
and time service indicate a considerable state of 
activity. Thus under the first-named, it is stated that 
in the year ended May 10, 1914, the average daily 
number of chronometers and watches being rated was 
712, the total number received was 2094, the total 
number issued was 2110, and the number sent to 
repair 934. 

An interesting table is that showing the times sent 
out from the time-distributing centres, namely, the 
Eiffel Tower and Norddeich, as recorded at the ob- 
servatory. These signals are regularly received and 
compared: with the Greenwich time. The results to 
May 10, 1914, using the impersonal micrometer of the 
altazimuth as the standard for the personal equations 
of the Greenwich observers, are as follows :— 


Eiffel Tower. 


No. of Signallate Personal Mean dis- 
PServer obs. on G.M.T. — equation cordance 
Ss. Ss. s. 
L (Morn.) .. Jon 94D 0 002 _- +0-110 
WB (Morn.) - -.. .§39 0 044 —- tO-114 
eee st BTS — —0:057 + 0-060 
Rhythmic signals 175 0-041 — +0-065 
W B (Night) >. 256 0-050 — + 0-122 
Norddeich. 
Morn.) ... .2 e880 0-016 _- 0-225 
WeBe(Morn.) ... 526 0-060 --- + 0-209 
L—W BB ..... So) OO — —0:051 +0:075 
Rhythmic signals — — — — 
WeB (Night) ... 242 0-062 — +0:214 


In the Astronomer Royal’s general and concluding 
remarks he states:—‘‘The excellent spirit which 
animates both the permanent and temporary staff of 
the observatory is shown by the large number of 
observations and by the extent to which measurements, 
computations, and other work are kept up to date. 
Attention may be directed to the improvement in the 
altazimuth observations by the introduction of the 
impersonal micrometer and new eye-end to the instru- 
ment, to the success which has so far attended the 
observations for stellar parallax, and to the changes 
which are in progress in the magnetic observations.” 

The reader shou'd be reminded that the above brief 
summary of the Astronomer Royal’s report to the 
Board of Visitors only conveys a very general idea of 
the work carried on during the past year. anites 
original report should undoubtedly be read to gain a 
proper indication of the great amount of work sum- 
marised in the brief but concise paragraphs which 
compose it. 


THE DEVELOPMENTAOFP THE 
AEROPLANE.! 

R. GLAZEBROOK dealt mainly with the work of 
experiment and scientific research in the develop- 

ment of the aeroplane, referring especially to the work 
of Dr. Stanton, Mr. Bairstow, and their coileagues 
at the National Physical Laboratory. The experi- 
ments are conducted in an air channel in which a 


1 Abstract of the second Wilbur Wright Memorial Lecture, delivered 
before the A-ronautical Society of Great Britain on May 20, by Dr. R. T. 
Glazebrook, C.B., F.R.S. 


JUNE II, 1914] 


NATURE 389 


model of the aeroplane or the part of the aeroplane 
the behaviour of which it is desired to study, is sup- 
ported on the arm of a balance by means of which 
forces and moments acting on it, when a current of 
air is produced in the channel by a suitable fan, can 
be measured. The velocity of the air current is 
measured by a Pitot tube, and a constant distribution 
of velocity across nearly the whole of any section of 
the channel is secured by special arrangements. At 
the National Physical Laboratory there are now two 
channels, one 3 ft. square and the other 4 ft. square, 
in daily work. A third channel, 7 ft. square, is 
nearly complete. The results of lift and drift experi- 
ments on the same aerofoil, when measured by 
different observers in the two channels recently, were 
found to be practically identical. 

As to the means of stepping from the model to the 
full-scale aeroplane—the force on a surface due to the 
wind may be written as KSV*, where S is the area 
of the surface, V the speed of the wind, and K a 
quantity which for two similar surfaces similarly 
placed is approximately a constant, independent, that 
is, of the velocity and the area. Experiment proves 
that the force is not strictly proportional to the square 
of the speed. Curves are given in the paper showing 
that as a result of determinations of the lift and drift 
coefficients for an saerofoil at speeds changing from 
10 to 50 ft. per sec., it appears there is a growth in 
the coefficients as the speed increases. Lord Rayleigh 
has pointed out that if K be not constant for similar 
surfaces it must be expressible as a function of VL/v, 
where V is the velocity of the current, L some linear 
dimension of the surface, and v the kinematic viscosity 
of the air. From experiments on model and full-sized 
aerofoils, it appears that at the highest value of VL 
yet reached in the model experiments the value of the 
lift/drift ratio is somewhat less than for the full-scale 
experiments, but that values for the coefficients found 
from the 50 ft. per sec. observations in the channel 
do not differ greatly from those belonging to the actual 
machine. This point will be checked more fully when 
the large wind channel is complete. 

A method of checking the accuracy of the model 
work is to calculate the forces on an aerofoil from the 
pressure distribution. This has been done at the 
N.P.L., and in the case of the lift the agreement is 
complete; in the case of the drift the calculated results 
are too low, which is to be expected, as in the calcula- 
tions, air friction on the surface is neglected. Refer- 
ence is made to the fact that in designing a wing, the 
shape of the upper surface is more important than the 
lower. 

The results are given of measurements made on a 
model of a monoplane of ordinary type, of the forces 
and moments produced in the plane of symmetry when 
the attitude of the machine changes, but without 
yawing; and the forces and moments produced by 
yawing without alteration of the angle of pitch, so 
that flight is horizontal. Curves are also given of the 
pitching moment of a biplane model for various set- 
tings of the elevator. As the result of experiments 
of this kind it appears that the wash from the main 
planes reduces the moment on the tail very greatly. 
The curves given show that on comparing the moment 
about the C.G. of the machine as calculated from a 
knowledge of the shape and position of the tail, the 
elevators being at a small positive angle, with the 
measured moment, the latter is of only half the cal- 
culated amount. Further study is being made to 
determine the best position for the tail. 

Mathematical Investigation into the Stability of an 
Aeroplane.—Mr. Bairstow and Mr. Nayler, of the 
National Physical Laboratory, have recently deter- 
mined the coefficients for the monoplane model pre- 
viously mentioned, and used them to determine its 


NO. 2328, VOL. 93] 


motion in a variety of circumstances, and some 
account of their results is given. The effect of a single 
horizontal gust in the direction of motion is first taken. 
The results of the calculations are given in curves 
which show that the particular machine when struck 
by a horizontal gust loses longitudinal speed at first, 
and after passing through a series of changes of 
velocity, settles down after a few oscillations in less 
than a minute to its original speed relative to the 
wind. The initial loss of speed is accompanied by an 
increase of normal velocity; the machine rises for a 
fraction of a second, acquiring a rapid positive angular 
velocity, but these motions soon change sign and die 
away like the horizontal velocity. The nose of the 
machine rises for 5 sec., at first rapidly, then more 
slowly, and the pitching oscillation thus started dies 
down in the same manner as the others, the motion 
being stable. 

The effect of a single downward gust in the plane 
of symmetry is next described. The curves show that 
relatively to the air the machine acquires an upward 
velocity which dies down in about one second and is 
followed by the slow oscillations as before. The 
changes in the other quantities are shown in the 
curves, and the motion of the machine can be traced 
as before. By combining the results, the effect can be 
found of a change in the direction of the wind or an 
alteration in the propeller thrust or thé position of 
the elevators. 

Two cases of lateral disturbance are next considered. 
This motion in the particular machine dealt with is 
unstable. Curves are given showing the effect of a 
side-wind striking the machine on the left-hand side. 
The machine quickly picks up the velocity of the wind 
After about 7 sec. the relative sideways motion 
is very small, but it gradually increases, and after 
40 séc:( has. reached. some’) 9 ‘per ‘cent. “of the 
original disturbance. Unless the controls are altered 
the side-slipping will continue to increase. A large 
angular velocity of roll is started almost immediately 
and at first this gradually dies down, but after 6 sec. 
or so the divergence term begins to tell and the rolling 
increases unless checked by the pilot. The velocity of 
yaw is at first negative, the machine yaws to the left, 
a motion opposite to that which corresponds to the 
bank. After a time this is reversed, and the yaw and 
bank increase together. 

In another series of curves is recorded the effect 
of sudden banking. After 40 sec. the angle of bank- 
ing exceeds its original value by 63 per cent., while 
the velocity of yaw also increases rapidly, as does the 
side-slipping velocity, which takes place in the nega- 
tive direction. Thus the machine turns to the right, 
increasing the angle of banking, and_ side-slipping 
inwards and downwards at the same time. 

In the descriptions above it has been assumed that 
the controls are not touched, but a comparison of 
the curves referred to above with the curve obtained 
when the effect of warping or of turning the rudder 
are considered, shows that the control of such an 
unstable machine is not easy. 

Messrs. Bairstow and Nayler have in this way 
solved the following problems :—An aeroplane is in 
flight in the air. (1) At a given instant the wind 
changes either in speed or direction, or both, and 
the new conditions remain for a time steady. The 
motion of the aereplane is determined by the curves 
given in the paper: (2) at a given instant the controls 
of the aeroplane are altered. The ensuing motion is 
defined by other curves: and (3) by a suitable com- 
bination of the curves the effect of change of wind 
and change of control occurring simultaneously can 
be determined. 

If the motion of an aeroplane when moving through 
successive gusts is analysed for a few minutes it can 


ogo 


be determined whether either the safety of the machine 
or the comfort of the passenger requires a modification 
of the stability. 

Messrs. Bairstow and Nayler’ have analysed the 
motion for a complete minute of an aeroplane moving 
over the ground with steady speed of 60 ft. per sec. 
in a wind as registered on an open-scale record of velo- 
city. changes, obtained at Kew Observatory. The 
velocity of the wind ranged from 11 to 33 ft. per sec., 
the average being 20 ft. per sec. Curves are given in 
the paper showing the changes in the wind velocity 
during the minute, and the variation in the velocity 
of the air relative to the machine during the same 
minute. The similarity of the two curves is marked. 
Curves are also given which show that if the speed of 
the aeroplane over the ground in still air is taken as 
80 ft. per sec., its speed relative to the gusty air (as 
shown in the anemogram referred to) varies from 
70 to 94 ft. per sec. The aeroplane has not time to 
respond to the rapid changes in the wind. While the 
changes in the actual horizontal velocity of the aero- 
plane are considerable, they occur much more slowly 
than in the wind-velocity curve; the minor alterations 
are wiped out; a rise in the wind velocity causes a 
fall in the velocity of the machine, provided the 
changes are sufficiently prolonged, but a very rapid 
rise and fall of the wind velocity is scarcely noticeable. 
It is assumed that the controls have not been touched 
while this motion is in progress. Curves are, how- 
ever, also given, showing the effect of altering the 
elevator during the gust, and it appears that the 
elevator can without difficulty be so manipulated as 
practically to cancel the effect of the gust. The curves 
deal only with the longitudinal motion of the machine. 
Messrs. Bairstow and Nayler are now engaged in the 
similar problem for the lateral motion of the machine, 
and when this is completed, propose to attack in the 
same way the motion of a biplane of standard form. 

The practical outcome of work of this kind is shown 
in the Army aeroplane R.E.1. The importance of this 
machine arises from the fact that it was designed 
to have inherent stability as the result of calculations 
based on scientific experiments, such as have been 
described in this lecture. 

The Advisory Committee for Aeronautics has given 
much attention lately to the consideration of the 
stresses to which a machine may be subject in flight. 
The normal stress coming on any part of the machine 
is usually taken as that which it has to bear in steady 
horizontal flight, produced, that is, by a loading equal 
to the weight of the machine; if the breaking stress 
is N times this, N, according to present usage, is 
called the factor of safety. A machine, however, in 
its ordinary use may frequently have to carry a load 
much in excess of what it bears in steady horizontal 
flight. It would be more consistent with engineering 
practice to estimate what is the maximum stress the 
machine in its daily use may have to bear, and then 
take as the factor of safety the ratio of the breaking 
stress to this maximum stress. The factor of safety 
would thus take account of imperfections of workman- 
ship or of material, not of varying load. If the 
maximum stress to be allowed for is taken to be equal 
to a loading N, times the weight of the machine (the 
normal loading in horizontal flight), and the breaking 
stress is n times this, then the ratio of the breaking 
stress to that occurring during steady horizontal flight 
is mN,. This is called N, so that N=nN,, and N, 
not n, is the factor of safety as ordinarily but mis- 
takenly used in aeronautics. ; 

The value of N has been determined by calculation 
and, in some cases, by direct experiment, for a number 
of machines, and: appears to range from 3 to 7 or 
more. It is shown that a sudden gust may cause 
stresses on a machine four times as great as those 


NO. 2328, VOL. 93] 


NATURE 


| 


[JUNE II, 1914 


occurring in steady horizontal flight at maximum 
speed. Another cause of serious sudden increase in 
loading is rapid flattening out after a dive, and cal- 
culation shows that stresses from eight to ten times 
those due to normal loading may be experienced due 
to this. From a consideration of these figures it is 
clear that it is essential to make an effort to strengthen’ 
machines so that N,, the load factor, is at least six. 
Giving n the value of two (although an engineer 
would certainly think it too low for his work) the 
value of N would be twelve. There are great difficul- 
ties in attempting to reach so high a value at present, 
but it is not thought that the degree of safety specified 
is beyond reach. 


THE METRIC SYSTEM.* 

INCE its introduction into the United Kingdom 
the metric system or question has had its ups and 
downs. Surely it is very curious that, although in 
1862 a Parliamentary Commission recommended its 
introduction—a recommendation since repeated two or 
three times—and that a Bill was actually passed by 
the House of Lords, the metric system has not been 
adopted in this country. Why do people go on agitat- 
ing? Well, the reason is the necessity for such a 
system. The facilities for intercommunication between 
various countries have a great deal to do with the 
continual agitation to introduce an_ international 
system of weights and measures. You may say the 
first person who put this down in black and white was 
James Watt. Writing to a friend in 1783 he said it 
was very awkward that the scientific results of workers 
in various countries could not be compared readily 
because of the measurements and weights being so 
different, and he proposed that they should agitate 
for the adoption of an international unit of weights 
and measures for scientific purposes. He wrote to 
French savants on the subject, and the result of the 
agitation was that in 1790 Prince Talleyrand brought 
in a Bill before the Legislative Assembly of France 
proposing that a Commission should be nominated to 
deliberate on this subject. It was a provision of that 
measure that the Royal Society of London and the 
French Academy should nominate the members of the 
Commission because it was agreed that the Com- 
mission ought to be an international affair and not 
merely a national one. The Royal Society would not 
agree to it because, as you know, England and France 
were at war at that time. Eventually, however, some 
other countries joined and constituted a Commission. 
Another feature of the metric system was also sug- 
gested by Watt. He suggested that the unit of 
length should be cubed, a vessel constructed, filled 
with water at its greatest density, and that that should 
be the unit of weight. This cube should be the unit of 
capacity. In carrying out this idea insuperable diffi- 
culties have arisen of an absolutely mechanical nature, 
and so a kilogram is not any more a decimetre cubed 
and filled with water, but it is a piece of platinum 
kept in Paris at a certain temperature and at a cer- 
tain barometric pressure. But the difference is very 
slight and does not affect the value of this co-relation 
between length, capacity, and weight. That is just 
the same as the standard of British measure—in fact, 
the real standards of English weights and measures 
were burned in 1835 in the Houses of Parliament 
and had to be reproduced afterwards as best they 
could. Secondary standards have now been made 
and have been distributed over the country, so that 
there is no danger of the standards being lost again. 
After giving you this short history of the beginning 

1 From a report published by the Decimal Association of an address to 


the members of the Bradford Textile Society and of other Trade Organisa- 
tions at Bradford, on November 17, 1913, by Mr. Alexander Siemens. 


JUNE 11, 1914} 


NATURE 


391 


of the metric system, I wish to direct your attention 
to the greatly different circumstances of communica- 
tion between the various countries from what formerly 
existed. The interchange of products between the 
various countries has increased very much, and it is 
to the interests of everybody that this interchange 
should be facilitated as much as possible. One of the 
greatest facilities is that the same weights and 
measures should be used everywhere. Now the real 
requirements of such an international system are two 
in number. One is that the measures and weights 
should have the same base ratio throughout; that 
means to say one pound in the English system should 
be 16 oz.; one ounce should be 16 drams; one foot 
16 in.; one yard 16 ft., and so on. That would be a 
system with the same base ratio throughout. Only 
16 is not a good one. I am, of course, aware that 
people say 12 is a good ratio because there are so 
many aliquot factors in 12—three times four, twice 
six—and that consequently 12 is handy. We are, 
however, faced by the fact that all people on earth 
who count, count by tens, and that has fixed the base 
ratio for any international system. If you attempt to 
put in any other ratio it would lead to confusion, 
and would not be so convenient. Therefore the base 
ratio of Io is essential. 

Now as regards a little more of the history of the 
metric system. In 1861 the old Federation of German 
States instructed a Commission to propose a national 
system of weights and measures, and after they had 
deliberated a short time they came back to the Federa- 
tion and said, ‘‘We must say that the only sensible 
thing ’’—the only thing that would justify the up- 
setting of the old measures which were very confusing 
in Germany at the time—‘‘the only reason for dis- 
turbing people and introducing new weights and 
measures can be to have an international system.’ At 
that time the metric system was not as widely intro- 
duced as now, and the Commission very carefully 
went into the question whether they should adopt 
the English or the French system of weights and 
measures. It must be remembered that the superiority 
of England at that time was still very overpowering. 
It was a little less so than in 1850, but still it was 
preponderant. The United States and Colonies of 
England all had the English system of weights and 
measures, so this Commission, consisting of sensible 
men, might have thought: ‘We will go with the 
majority of the manufacturing people and adopt their 
weights and measures.’’ But when ‘they saw the 
English weights and measures and went into them 
they unanimously decided that the metric system 
was the only possible international system. In the 
metric system there is the same base ratio and divi- 
sions everywhere, so you have to learn nothing. It is 
the same base ratio as you use in calculation. I re- 
member in 1895 I had to give evidence before the Par- 
liamentary Committee on Weights and Measures, and 
I handed in a German school-book on arithmetic. 
The Committee said, ‘‘ How many pages are devoted 
to the metric system?” I showed them that on the 
back cover there was a note: ‘‘ Remember a hectolitre 
is too litres; a kilogram is 1000 grams.’’ The other 
things were so self-evident that it was considered 
unnecessary to say anything about them. 

The Commission instituted by the old Federation of 
German States submitted their proposals to the Reich- 
stag in due course; then came the year 1866, which 
delayed the introduction somewhat, but in 1868 the 
Act was passed that the metric system should be 
permissible from January 1, 1870, and compulsory 
from January 1, 1872. This disposes of the idea that 
the metric sytem can only be introduced in times of 
great commotion and so on. The date of the intro- 


NG, 2328, VOL. 93] 


duction of the metric system was decided upon long 
before anybody knew anything about the Franco. 
Prussian War, and was, therefore, introduced rather 
in spite of it than as a consequence of it. About the 
same time a Committee was appointed by the Eng- 
lish Parliament to report on the introduction of the 
metric system, and after hearing all sorts of witnesses, 
they reported in 1862 that ‘“‘in their opinion it would 
involve almost as much difficulty to create a special 
decimal system of our own as simply to adopt the 
decimal metric system in common with other nations.” 
Furthermore, if we did so create a national system 
we would in all likeiihood have to change it again 
in a few years into an international system owing 
to the increase of commerce and intercourse between 
nations.” 

More than fifty years ago the upshot was that the 
Committee said it would be a waste of energy to 
introduce a special English system because owing to 
the ever-increasing intercourse between nations the 
nations would be forced into the adoption of an inter- 
national system whether they lilked it or not. That is 
the real reason why the Decimal Association believes 
that the metric system is coming. It may be coming 
slowly, especially here in England—we cannot help 
that—but if you consider this point of view, that the 
international intercommunication is ever increasing, 
that the nations are becoming more and more de- 
pendent upon the produce of other nations, you will 
see—you must come to the conclusion that an inter- 
national system of weights and measures is desirable, 
and that the refusal of such a system will impede 
progress. 

What are the objections? The first that is made 
is to the decimal point. Owing to the base ratio 
being 10, and 10 throughout, there is no necessity 
to use a decimal point. For instance, anybody making 
drawings puts all the dimensions on the drawings in 
millimetres. That has two advantages. You need 
not put millimetres every time as you put feet and 
inches (’, "), and it avoids a lot of misunderstanding 
if the drawing has not been very carefully figured. 
1’ 1” is often taken for 11 in., 2’ 4” for 24 in., and 
all that sort of thing, but if you use millimetres you 
have not that difficulty. 

The decimal point objection is really non-existent 
because you always take the next lower unit if you 
find that what you want to express is less than the 
higher unit, and that is generally quite sufficient. 
The second objection taken is the size of the unit. 
That really is an argument that shows into what 
desperate straits the opponents of the system have 
reached to find an objection, because I cannot for the 
life of me see that the metre and the yard are so very 
much different. Nor are a half-kilogram and a pound 
so very unlike each other. 

The next thing is that the opponents of the com- 
pulsory introduction of the metric system say :— 
“Well, you have got all you want, you have per- 
mission to use the metric weights, the Board of Trade 
will verify them for you; they have the standards— 
so what more do you want?’’ That is just it. Do 
not these people see that in compelling manufacturers 
and traders to have two standards, one for home 
consumption, and one for dealing with metric coun- 
tries, they handicap the manufacturers and_ traders 
here? And there is another point of view. There 
was a discussion before the Institute of Inspectors 
of Weights and Measures on the metric system; they 
are the people who go about among all the trades- 
people and have to verify weights and measures, and 
they ought to know their business. One inspector 
said that ‘‘from the inspector’s point of view there is 
one point which advocates should not favour, and that 


392 


NATURE 


[JUNE II, 1914 


is the argument that the proposed general Act should 
be permissive. To have two sets of weights on the 
shop counter at the same time is not wise. We know 
what it would be to have a 14-lb. set and a kilogram 
set alongside the scale; the changes would be rung. 
The kilogram is very near the size of a 2-lb. weight; 
the metre near the length of the yard, and the litre 
near the size of a quart. With these facts before us 
the Act should, in our opinion, be compulsory.” 

These are the two arguments :—So long as it is 
permissive, people who deal with metric countries 
have to have two standards, and they are handicapped 
in that way, and poor people are exposed to the danger 
of being defrauded. 

The last objection is on the ground of cost. In 
order to have a fair idea of what the cost would be 
it is preferable to examine in detail how various 
interests would be affected if the metric system were 
made compulsory after a transition period of, say, two 
years. Taking first the case of the retail trader with 
whom the general public have most of their dealings. 
I think it fair to quote an inspector of weights and 
measures who spoke in the discussion just now alluded 
to. He said:—‘‘The change to the metric weights 
and measures would really be very little cost to the 
shopkeeper, but he does not realise that this is the 
case. The shopkeeper imagines that the whole of the 
weighing machines and weights have to be changed, 
and it is the weighing instruments that are the 
greatest factor with him. The effect so far as weights 
and measures are concerned is very small in- 
deed. It does not cost much to change either his 
weights or his measures, and J refer to measures of 
length as well as to those of capacity. With regard 
to the changing of lever machines, we know as in- 
spectors that it is a very common thing for a weigh- 
ing-machine maker to have to change the whole of 
his steel-yard markings and to have to rub out the old 
markings and to mark it anew. In this case it would 
be a very easy thing to change the markings, which 
would also apply to platform machines and counter- 
poise weights. The cost would be very small indeed.”’ 
We may take it on the authority of the persons whose 
business it is to know everything about the weights 
and measures of the retail trade that the cost of the 
change would not be an insuperable obstacle. 

The next interest to consider is the textile trade. 
Here, the opponents of the system contend, the cost 
of the change would be appalling because all present 
looms would become obsolete and would have to be 
replaced by new ones adapted to produce metric 
widths of fabrics. I had better take that with the 
engineering trade, because about that the same is 
said. I say in reply to all these arguments, ‘‘ What 
are you doing now? Are you not exporting to metric 
countries, are not engineers exporting to metric coun- 
tries? Have not we in our works plenty of metric 
dimensions to manufacture to; have we ever found 
any difficulty in doing it? Have we ever had to intro- 
duce new machinery specially to make a metric thing ? 
Never!” Even leading screws of English pitch can 
be used to produce screws of French pitch and vice 
versa. You must put in one wheel with 127 teeth 
which makes the changes right. You will find you 
are absolutely correct. When before a Parliamentary 
Committee I was asked :—‘‘ Seeing that in the cotton 
trade the standard make is what is called 79 in., 
372 yards, 8} Ib. shirting—which is known all the 
world over—would it not in some way damage the 
reputation of the shirting if the figures had to be re- 
calculated in all the markets of the world?” Well, at 
the time I had not sufficient time in which to make 
the calculation. What do you get when you re- 
calculate? Seventy-nine inches are 2 metres within 


NO, 2328, VOL, 93] 


a 2 


one-third of 1 per cent.; 37-5 yards are equal to 
34 metres to within one-third of 1 per cent.; and 
8i lb. are 33 kilograms. So you see you have been 
entertaining angels unawares. You have been manu- 
facturing to metric measure. So why say it is diffi- 
cult? The general experience is that wherever the 
metric system has been introduced it has at once been 
accepted as by far the simplest and easiest to com- 
prehend, while it has the great advantage of being 
international, which is more and more necessary 
nowadays where the intercourse between countries is 
increasing. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 
INTELLIGENEE. 


BirMINGHAM.—At ‘a 


meeting of the council on 
June 3, a letter from Sir George Kenrick was 
read, in which the offer was made to endow 


the Chair of Physics by placing in the hands of the 
treasurer securities the income from which should 
be used exclusively for the salary of the professor 
and objects intimately connected with the Chair, the 
latter to bear in future the title of the ‘‘ Poynting 
Chair of Physics.’”’ It was proposed by the vice- 
chancellor, seconded by Principal Sir Oliver Lodge, 
and unanimously resolved: ‘* That the council most 
gratefully accepts the generous offer of Sir George 
Kenrick to endow the Chair of Physics as a memorial 
to the late Prof. John Henry Poynting. The council 
desires to record its great appreciation of this act 
of munificence which follows so many other proofs 
of Sir George Kenrick’s interest in the welfare of the 
University; . . . Tnat the Mason Chair of Physics 
be henceforth called the Poynting Chair of Physics.”’ 
It is proposed that the title of ‘‘ Mason Professor” 
shall be transferred to another Chair specially asso- 
ciated with the late Sir Josiah Mason. We under- 
stand that the endowment will consist of securities 
of the value of 18,oo0ol. 

Under the will of the late Mr. J. Tertius Collins a 
sum of 2001. has been given to the University, the 
interest to be applied to the founding of a yearly prize 


or prizes for proficiency in chemistry or metallurgy _ 


or some kindred object in science. 

Profs. Boulton, Cadman, and Turner have been 
appointed delegates to represent the University at the 
International Congress of Mining, Metallurgy, 
Engineering, and Practical Geology. 

Dr. W. E. Fisher has resigned his demonstrator- 
ship in mechanical engineering on his appointment to 
the engineering department of the Staffordshire 
County Institute at Wednesbury. 


CAMBRIDGE.—During the Michaelmas term Dr. 
Myers will give a course of lectures in the psycho- 
logical laboratory on general and _ experimental 
psychology, considered especially in relation to medi- 
cine. 

The Vice-Chancellor has published a summary of 
benefactions received by the University during the 
year ended December 31, 1913. The total amount 
of the benefactions acknowledged by Grace is 20,8611., 
and this included an anonymous gift of 10,o00l. for the 
endowment of a professorship of astrophysics, 36611. 
from subscribers to the Humphrey Owen Jones Fund, 
to establish a lectureship in physical chemistry, and 
1500l. from Mr. C. E. Keyser, for the building fund 
of the new museum of archeology and of ethnology. 
In addition a sum of 240961. has been received in 
smaller sums by the Cambridge University Associa- 
tion. 

A studentship on the Arnold Gerstenberg foundation 
will be offered for competition in the Michaelmas term 
of 1915. The studentship will be awarded by means 


re 


— 


as ie ~e 


JUNE 11, 1914] 


of essays; it will be of the annual value of nearly gol., 
and will be tenable for two years. 

Prof. Nuttall has received the following benefactions 
with which to further the research work that is being 
conducted in the Quick Laboratory :—Sir Dorabji J. 
Tata, 2501.; Mr. P. A. Molteno and Mrs. Molteno, 
4ool., of which the sum of tool. is to help toward the 
expenses of publishing the scientific work from the 
laboratory; the advisory committee of the Tropical 
Diseases Research Fund (Colonial Office), tool., to 
serve as a stipend for a helminthologist, and 3ool. 
to enable the Quick professor to send his assistant, 
Mr. E. Hindle, on an expedition to East Africa. 

At the Congregation on May 30 new regulations 
for the diploma in anthropology received the approval 
of the Senate. Up to the present time, a candidate 
has had to keep certain terms and to prepare a thesis, 
and upon the latter if approved the diploma was 
awarded. The new regulations provide an examina- 
tion as an alternative method of acquiring the diploma, 
and the examination is divided into parts, which may 
be taken separately or collectively. Moreover, the con- 
ditions of residence have been modified specially with 
reference to officers of various services, whether 
Colonial or other. 

The new physiological laboratory was opened on 
June 9 by Prince Arthur of Connaught. The follow- 
ing honorary degrees were conferred in connection 
with the proceedings:—LL.D.: Prince Arthur of 
Connaught, Lord Esher, Lord Moulton of Bank, and 
Colonel Benson, master of the Drapers’ Company. 
Sc.D.: Sir William Osler, Sir David Ferrier, Sir 
Edward Schafer, and Prof. E. H. Starling. 


Lonpon.—Prof. J. Millar Thomson, F.R.S., is 
retiring at the end ot this session from his position as 
vice-principal of King’s College, London, and head of 
the chemical department of the college. Prof. Thom- 
son’s retirement marks not only the close of a personal 
connection with King’s College as a member of its 
teaching staff for forty-three years, but also the end 
of an unbroken association with education in Great 
Britain where members of his family have held univer- 
sity professorships for a period of 130 years. 

A lecture entitled ‘‘Some Problems in’ Cardiac 
Physiology’’ (being contributions to a study 
of the relations which exist between the various 
chambers of the Mammalian heart) will be given in 
the Physiological Laboratory of the University, South 
Kensington, S.W., by Prof. A. F. Stanley Kent, on 
Thursday, June 18. The lecture is addressed to ad- 
vanced students of the University and others inter- 
ested in the subject. Admission is free, without ticket. 


WE learn from Science that Prof. Rudolf Tombo, 
jun., of Columbia University, died on May 22. He 
was known for his articles on university registration 
statistics, to which attention has been directed in 
NATURE On many occasions. 


Pror. D. K. Picken, of Victoria College, Welling- 
ton, University of New Zealand, has been appointed 
master of Ormond College, Melbourne University. 
He has held the chair of mathematics at Wellington 
since 1907, and has taken a prominent part in the 
university reform movement in connection with which 
a New Zealand Parliamentary Committee held an 
inquiry last autumn. Arrangements are to be made 
through the High Commissioner for New Zealand for 
receiving applications in London for the professorship 
of mathematics (pure and applied) vacated by Prof. 
Picken. 

A cuTTinG from the Wellington Evening Post, New 
Zealand, of April 21, announces the award of a 
Martin Kellogg fellowship in the Lick Astronomical 
Department of the University of California to the 


NO. 2328, VOL. 93] 


NATURE 


393 


Government Astronomer, Mr. C. E. Adams. The pur- 
pose of the fellowship is to provide opportunities for 
advanced instruction and for research to students who 
have already received the degree of Doctor of Philo- 
sophy or the equivalent, or to members of staffs of 
observatories. The fine instrumental equipment of the 
Lick Observatory offers opportunities to research 
students which can scarcely be equalled at other 
observatories, and the valuable experience derived from 
a stay there will be sure to imbue Mr. Adams with new 
energies and ideas for work on his return to New 
Zealand. 


Tue thirteenth annual congress of the Irish Tech- 
nical Instruction Association was held at Killarney 
on May 26, 27, and 28, under the presidency of Prin- 
cipal Forth, of the Municipal Technical Institute, Bel- 
fast. The congress was very largely attended, dele- 
gates being present from practically every technical 
instruction committee in Ireland. ‘The president, in 
his opening address, reviewed the developments which 
had taken place in technical instruction in Ireland 
during the past twelve months. He stated that on 
all hands there was a fixed determination to place 
the work of technical instruction in the most intimate 
and most helpful relationship to the industrial require- 
ments of the country. He also dealt with some of the 
problems which await solution if technical instruction 
is to realise its fullest aims and ambitions; and he 
dwelt upon the decline which takes place in attend- 
ances at evening classes as the session progresses, 
giving some reasons why this wastage in numbers 
occurs, and indicating methods by which it could be 
checked. During the course of the congress an 
important address was given by Mr. T. P. Gill, and 
a number of valuable papers were presented, amongst 
which the following may be cited :—‘‘ The Technical 
Training of Skilled and Unskilled Workers in France 
and Germany,” Dr. Garrett; ‘‘ Technical Instruction 
for Small Holders,’ Mr. U. U. Humphrey; ‘‘ Technical 
Instruction in the Woollen Industry,’’ Mr. J. F. Crow- 
ley; ‘‘ The Relation between Employers and Technical 
Instruction Committees,” Mr. A. Williamson; ‘* Co- 
operation between Counties, County Boroughs, and 
Urban Technical Instruction Committees,’ Mr. John 
Pyper. A paper on the problem of small industries, 
read by Mr. G. Fletcher, was illustrated by lantern 
slides, and also by kinematograph films which had 
been specially prepared to illustrate the working of 
machines for making embroidery. A highly instruc- 
tive illustrated lecture was given by Mr. T. Macartney- 
Filgate, upon ‘‘ An Industrial Survey of Ireland.” The 
town of Larne, in the county Antrim, was fixed as 
the place of meeting for the congress in 1915. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 


LONDON. 

Royal Society, May 28.—Sir William Crookes, presi- 
dent, in the chair.—Prof. W. Watson: Anomalous 
trichromatic colour vision. It is shown from the 
results of measurements made on some forty subjects 
that anomalous trichromates are sharply divided into 
two distinct classes, and two experimental methods 
of distinguishing these classes are described.—Dr. 
H. J. H. Fenton: Diformdiol-peroxide. The condi- 
tions of coexistence, and the mode of interaction, of 
hydrogen dioxide and formaldehyde are of some in- 
terest in connection with certain theories which have 
been advanced in order to account for the photo- 
synthesis of carbohydrates in the living plant. During 
the course of some experiments in this direction, it 
has been found that, under appropriate conditions, 
these two substances combine to form a compound, 
2H.CHO.H,.O., which crystallises in large transparent 


394 


NATURE 


[JUNE II, 1914 


plates or prisms. The general behaviour of the sub- 
stance indicates that it is to be regarded as an 
‘atomic’? compound, in the ordinary sense of the 
term, rather than as a compound containing hydrogen 
dioxide of crystallisation.—Prof. H. E. Armstrong and 
E. E. Walker: Studies of the processes operative in 
solutions. XXIX.—The disturbance of the equi- 
librium in solutions by ‘strong’ and by “weak ”’ 
interfering agents. The effect of a large number of 
substances on the optical rotatory power of an aqueous 
solution of fructose has been measured and the views 
put forward in No. XXVI. of these studies with 
regard to the action of interfering agents have been 
confirmed and elaborated. ‘‘Strong”’ solutes, such as 
the sugars and metallic salts, increase the negative 
rotatory power of fructose, whereas ‘‘ weak ’’ solutes, 
such as the alcohols, ketones, and ethers, decrease it. 
The observed effect of the added substance (‘‘the 
interfering agent’’) is regarded as the algebraic sum 
of two opposing factors :—(1) A diluent effect causing 
dissociation of hydrates and other complexes in solu- 
tion; (2) an influence, opposite in effect to the first, 
depending on the reciprocal chemical attractive powers 
of the molecules of solvent and interfering agents 
promoting association. A simple mathematical ex- 
pression involving these two factors has been developed 
by means of which (2) has been evaluated. This value 
is denoted by A. Thus calculated, A is found to be 
very nearly proportional to the number of atoms of 
oxygen in the molecule.—Prof. H. E, Armstrong and 
E. H. Rodd: Morphological studies of benzene deriva- 
tives. VII.—The correlation of the forms of crystals 
with their molecular structure and orientation in a 
magnetic field in the case of hydrated sulphonates of 
dyad metals.—Dr. E. E. Fournier d’Albe: A_ type- 
reading optophone. A description is given of a new 
construction of the ‘‘optophone,’’ an instrument 
capable of translating light action into sound, and 
so making light recognisable by means of the ear. 
The new instrument is intended to enable totally blind 
persons to recognise and ‘‘read”’ ordinary letterpress 
by means of the ear. It consists essentially of a 
rapidly rotating disc perforated like a siren disc with 
several concentric circles of holes. A Nernst lamp is 
placed behind the disc with its filament stretched 
radially across the circles. The light, shining through 
the holes, gives regularly recurring flashes which, 
when of suitable frequency, can be detected by means 
of selenium and a telephone. An image of this line 
of intermittently luminous dots is thrown upon the 
type to be read, and the light diffusely reflected from 
the type is received on a selenium bridge. As each 
dot has a characteristic note, the sound heard in the 
telephone will vary with every variation in the reflect- 
ing power of the surface under examination. As the 
letterpress is moved on in the direction of the line of 
type, the sound changes rapidly with every 
change in the shape of the letters, and with 
some) practice’ the: latter can’ be. “read aby 
ear. Type 5 mm. high can be thus read by means 
of an ordinary high-resistance telephone receiver. The 
effect becomes rapidly fainter as the type diminishes in 
size, but ordinary newspaper type is readable with the 
help of a highly sensitive Brown telephone relay.— 
L. H. Walter: An application of electrolytically- 
produced luminosity, forming a step towards a form 
of telectroscopy. The author has investigated the con- 
ditions under which it should be possible to make 
practical use of the luminosity of anodes of alloyed 
aluminium forming part of a “valve” cell arrange- 


ment. The alloy known as ‘‘duralumin”’ is found to 
give the best results, and with sodium tungstate 
solution as_ electrolyte, corrosion is practically 


eliminated when this alloy is used as the anode. The 
arrangement permits of the construction of an appa- 


NO: 2325, 0VOl. nog 


ratus having a multiple anode, comprising a vast 
number of equal units in quite a small compass, each 
such unit being capable of being rendered luminous 
in any order or sequence desired and at a speed of 
some hundreds of times per second. Such an appa- 
ratus is capable of being employed as a receiver in 
phototelegraphy for the reproduction of pictures, etc., 
especially where these are received as electrical im- 
pulses.—P. G. Nutting : The axial chromatic aberratioa 
of the human eye.—L. V. King: The convection of 
heat from small cylinders in a stream of fluid, and the 
determination of the convection constants of small 
platinum wires, with applications to hot-wire 
anemometry. 


Geological Society, May 27.—Dr. A. Smith Wood- 
ward, president, in the chair—L. F. Spath: The 
development of Tragophylloceras loscombi, Sow. 
During his investigation of the Charmouth Lias, Mr. 
W. D. Lang collected fossil material with reference 
to its exact stratigraphical horizon. In the material 
Tragophylloceras loscombi, Sow., is represented by 
hundreds of specimens (chiefly young), and a study is 
given of the ontogeny of this ammonite. A number 
of specimens were dissected back to the protoconch, 
and their development traced in detail. Tables of 
measurements are given, and the other species of the 
genus are reviewed. The evolution of the suture-line 
was worked out in detail, and an important point 
brought out was the demonstration of a_ simple 
Psiloceras-like suture-line persisting to a late and post- 
constricted stage. The development of the suture-line 
in Psiloceras and Rhacophyllites is given for com- 
parison.—Prof. P. Marshall: The sequence of lavas at 
the North Head, Otago Harbour, Dunedin (New 
Zealand). The North Head forms a precipitous cliff 
ranging from 300 to 530 ft. in height; it presents a 
clear section of a succession of lava-flows, including 
trachyte, trachytoid nhonolites, kaiwekites, trachy- 
dolerites, and basalts. It appears that all the lavas 
were erupted from the same vent. Each sheet is 
covered by a bed of scoria, the coarseness of which 
proves that the centre of volcanic activity was not far 
distant. The lowest lava is a trachyte composed 
entirely of anorthoclase-felspar, and is succeeded by a 
phonolite in which sanidine is the conspicuous mineral. 
This is followed by a series of ten basalts of moderately 
basic character. The next flow is a kaiwekite, a lava 
of entirely different type, in which a hornblende allied 
to barkevikite forms the largest crystals. The basalts 
are succeeded by a phonolite which contains a few 
phenocrysts of anorthoclase. It is pointed out that in 
the lowest trachyte lime and magnesia are practically 
absent, but that the phonolite, although still deficient 
in these constituents, shows a distinct advance. The 
basalts as a whole are low in magnesia and above 
the average ia alkalies. In the kaiwekite the alkalies 
advance, and there is an increase in silica and decrease 
in lime and magnesia. The higher basalts are some- 
what richer in alumina and poorer in lime than those 
which occur lower in the section. The majority of 
the rocks fall into well-known and readily recognised 
groups. The porphyritic rocks of intermediate com- 
position may have formed from an _ undifferentiated 
magma. The chemical composition of the inter- 
mediate lavas, as well as their mineral composition, 
would suggest that the original magma was that of 
essexite. It is important to note that in the Island 
of Tahiti, where there is a similar assemblage of 
alkaline and basic lavas, the reservoir has been laid 
bare by denudation and contains essexite as the 
dominant rock. 

Paris. 

Academy of Sciences, June 2.—M. P. Appell in the 
chair.—L. E. Bertin: The instability in steamers re- 
sulting from a collision. A statement of the advan- 


NATURE 


395 


JUNE 11, 1914] 


tages of horizontal watertight compartments.—E. L. 
Bouvier ; New observations on viviparity in Australian 
Onychophores. It is shown that in spite of their 
name all the Ooperipatus are not oviparous.—M. 
Considére ; Deformation and fatigue of reinforced con- 
crete. Application to arched roofs. In the present 
state of knowledge it is impossible to calculate the 
total pressure at any given point of an arch.—Ph. 
Barbier and R. Locquin: The constitution of linalol. 
This alcohol was reduced by hydrogen at the ordinary 
temperature in the presence of platinum black. The 
resulting saturated alcohol was proved to be 
(CH,),.CH.(CH,),-C(OH)(CH;)(G3Hz). This leads to 
the constitution for linalol proposed by Tiemann and 
Semmler.—J. Guillaume; Observation of the occulta- 
tion of the planet Mars on May 30, 1914, made at the 
Observatory of Lyons.—J Guillaume ; Observations of 
the Zlatinsky comet (1914b) made at the Observatory 
of Lyons. Positions given for May 29 and 30. The 
comet appeared circular, about 2’ in diameter, and 
with a condensation round a nucleus of the 1oth mag- 
nitude.—Georges Meslin: The inclination of the spec- 
tral lines and the equatorial acceleration of the solar 
rotation. A revision and correction of a formula of 
Cornu.—Patrick J. Browne: A direct formula for the 
solution of an integral equation of Abel.—G, Armellini : 
The problem of two bodies of variable masses.—Léon 
Bouthillon and Louis Drouét: Experimental study of 
the telephone receiver. The theory explaining the 
sound produced by the telephone simply by the trans- 
versal vibrations of the whole membrane is in good 
agreement with the results given by experiment.— 
G. Gouré de Villemontée : The propagation of electricity 
through paraffin oil. The influence of the thickness 
of the dielectric and of charges of very short duration. 
—G. A. Dima: The initial velocities of the photo- 
electric electrons. An apparatus for determining the 
initial velocities is figured and described*in which the 
disturbing influences due to the reflection of light and 
the electrons are reduced to a minimum. The results 
for tin, zinc, aluminium, and magnalium are in agree- 
ment with*those of Richardson and Compton.—M. and 
Mme. Chauchard; The action of monochromatic ultra- 
violet rays on amylase and lipase from the pancreatic 
juice. The amylase is attacked only by rays with 
wave-length smaller than 2800, the action increasing 
very rapidly as the wave-length diminishes. Lipase is 
destroyed by rays for which A=3300, the amylase not 
being affected.cHenri Wohlgemuth: Researches on 
the acyclic y-halogen acids. These acids are obtained 
by the action of hydrochloric, hydrobromic, and 
hydriodie acids upon y-valerolactone. The yield and 
purity of the products depend on details of manipula- 
tion which are given in full. Examples of the 
chemical behaviour of these acids are also given.—M. 
Tiffeneau ; The migration of a methoxyl group in the 
course of the decomposition of a quaternary ammonium 
hydrate by Hofmann’s method.—G,. Chavanne and Mlle. 
J. Vos: The ethylenic isomerism of the acetylene 
di-iodides. A mixture of the two iodides was obtained 
by the action of acetylene upon iodine at 150°-160° C. 
From a study of the rate of elimination of hydriodic 
acid the cis configuration is attributed to the liquid 
isomer.—J. Giraud : New observations on the eruptive 
rocks of the south and west of Madagascar.—R. 
Fosse: The quantitative gravimetric analysis of urea 
in urine. The method is based on the insoluble com- 
pound formed by the interaction of urea and xanthydrol 
in acetic acid solution.—Emile Fleurent : Remarks on 
the diminution of the gluten in French wheats. Dis- 
cussion of a recent paper by M. Balland on the same 
subject.—L. and M. Lapicque and R. Legendre: The 
alterations of the myeline sheath produced by various 


NO. 2328, VOL. 93] 


nerve poisons. Reply to a recent note by M. Nageotte. 
—C. Levaditi and A. Marie: The organism of general 
paralysis. Reasons are adduced for the view that 
there is a marked biological dissimilarity between the 
virus of general paralysis and that of cutaneous and 
mucous syphilis.—Pierre Thomas: The relations be- 
tween the proteid substances of yeast with sucrase.— 
A. Boutaric: The influence of the polarisation of 
diffused light by the sky on the values obtained for the 
solar constant. The value of the solar constant varies 
inversely with the polarisation. This invalidates the 
usual extrapolation for deducing the solar constant.— 
J. Deprat: The tectonic accidents and the zones of 


| crushing of the Black River (Tonkin). 


Hoparrt. 

Royal Society of Tasmania, April 15.—Sir William 
Ellison-Macartney in the chair.—Prot. A. McAulay : 
Quaternions applied to physics in non-Euclidean space. 
1.—An outline of methods, for elliptic space and for 
hyperbolic space, to be used in subsequent papers.— 
J. H. Maiden: Notes on some Tasmanian eucalypts. 
In a paper read before the society in 1912, R. T. 
Baker and H. G. Smith proposed certain species on 
the basis of essential oils obtained by distillation. The 
author criticises these species, and discusses the rela- 
tions between essential oils (and other accessory char- 
acters) and the species which yield them.—H. Stuart 
Dove: Stone implements used by the aborigines of 
Tasmania. The author describes some examples of 
the disc-shaped stones, sometimes called ‘‘ hammer- 
stones,’’ found in the middens of the extinct aborigines 
of Tasmania, and discusses their use. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 


The Care of Home Aquaria. By Dr. R. C. Osburn. 
Pp. 63. (New York: N.Y. Zoological Society.) 
Biologen-Kalender. Edited by Drs. B. Schmid and 


C. Thesing. Erster Jahrgang. Pp. ix+513. (Leip- 
zig and Berlin: B. G. Teubner.) 7 marks. 
Die Kultur der Gegenwart. By A. Voss. Pp. vi+ 


148. (Leipzig and Berlin: B. G. Teubner.) 5 marks. 

Arithmetische Selbststandigkeit der europaischen 
Kultur. By Prof. N. Bubnow. Translated by Prof. J. 
Lezius. Pp. viiit285. (Berlin: R. Friedlander und 
Sohn.) tos. 

The Fixation oi Atmospheric Nitrogen. By Dr. J. 
Knox. Pp. vii+112. (London: Gurney and Jack- 
SOl-) 2s mets 

Luxor as a Health Resort. 
G. V. Worthington. Second edition. 
don 2 His Ke Eewiast)) “rs: 6ds net: 

Smithsonian Institution. U.S. National Museum, 
Bulletin 87. Culture of the Ancient Pueblos of the 
Upper Gila River Region, New Mexico and Arizona. 
by W. Hough. Pp. xiv+139+plates 29. (Washing- 
ton: Government Printing Office.) 

Les Hypotheses Cosmoganiques Modernes. By Dr. 
A. Véronnet. Pp. iii+171. (Paris: A. Hermann et 
Fils.) 

La Forme de la Terre et sa Constitution Interne. 
By On wewecromner. Pp. 324) (Paris: A. Tlermann 
et Fils.) 

Die Typen der Bodenbildung, 
und geographische Verbreitung. 
Pp. iv+365. (Berlin: Gebriider Borntraegcr.) 
marks. 

Routledge’s New Dictionary of 
Language. Edited by C. Weatherly. 
(London: G. Routledge and Sons, Ltd.) 


By W. E. N. Dunn and 
Pp. 36. (Lon- 


ihre Klassifikation 
By Dr. K. Glinka. 
10 


the English 
Pp. viii+ 1039. 
3s. 6d. 


396 


Syllabus of the Lessons on Marine Biology and 


Navigation for Fishermen, given at the Marine 
Laboratory, Piel, Barrow-in-Furness, by the Lan- 


cashire and Western Sea-Fisheries Joint-Committee. 
Third edition. Pp. 105+xiv plates. (Liverpool: C. 
Tinling and Co., Ltd.) 

Report for 1913 on the Lancashire Sea-Fisheries 
Laboratory at the University of Liverpool and the 
Sea-Fish Hatchery at Piel. Edited by Prof. W. A. 
Herdman. Pp. 376. (Liverpool: C. Tinling and Co., 
Ltd.) 

The Microscopy of Drinking Water. By Prof. G.C. 
Whipple. Third edition. Pp. xxi+4og+plates xix. 
(New York: J. Wiley and Sons, Inc.; London : Chap- 


man and Hall, Ltd.) 17s. net: 

Nature in Books. By J. L. Robertson. Pp. 156. 
(Oxford University Press.) 2s. 

_ Evolution and the Need of Atonement. By S. A. 


McDowall. Second edition. Pp. xx+183. (Cam- 
bridge University Press.) 4s. 6d. net. 


Perception, Physics, and Reality. By C. D. Broad. 
Pp. xii+388. (Cambridge University Press.) ros. 
net. 

The Philosophy of Biology. By Dr. J. Johnstone. 
Pp. xv+391. (Cambridge University Press.) gs. net. 

Memoirs of the Geological Survey of Great Britain. 
Paleontology. Vol. i. Part 4. The British Carbon- 
iferous Producti: i., Genera Pustula and Overtonia. 
By Dr. I. Thomas. (London: H.M.S.O.; E. Stan- 
ford, Ltd.) 6s. 


New Zealand Department of Mines. New Zealand 
Geological Survey. Paleontological Bulletin. No. rt. 
Materials for the Palezontology of New Zealand. By 
Dr. J. A. Thomson. Pp. 104. (Wellington, N.Z.: 
J. Mackay.) 


DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 


THURSDAY, June 11. 
Roya Society, at 4.30.—Croonian Lecture: The Beari i 
Research on Hereding : Prof. E. B. Wilson. Te ot ee 
Roya Instirution, at 3.—Faraday and the Foundations of Electrical 
Engineering : Prof. S, P. Thompson. 
Farapay Society, at 8.—Presidential Address: Advances in the Metal- 
lurgy of Iron and Steel: Sir R. Hadfield. 


FRIDAY, June 12. 


Rovat InsTITUTION, at 9.—Some Aspects of the American J: 
The Hon. W. H. pager : eae 
Royat AstTrRonomicat SociEry, at 5.— Magnitude of y Argtis, and Dis- 
covery of a Close Companion to it: R. T. A. Innes.—A New Variable 
Star in Carina: H. E. Wood.—The Nebula HV 25 Ceti: Mrs. Isaac 
Roberts. —Comparison of Hill’s and Le Verrier’s Tables of Saturn: H. H. 
Turner.—An Area of Long-continued Solar Disturbance, and Associated 
Magnetic Storms: Rev A. L. Cortie.—Correction to Note on Spectro- 
scopic Binaries and the Velocity of light: R. S. Capon.—Note on the 
Number of Components of a Compound Periodic Fun: tion: J. B. Dale.-- 
Three Variable Stars in the Region of x Persei: Dunsink Observatory.— 
Note on the Velocity of Light and Doppler’s Principle: H. C. Plummer. 
—Dimensions Of Saturn and his Rings, as Measured on Prof. Barnard’s 
Photograph of ig11, November 19: the Transparency of Ring A and 
other Details shown on the Photograph: P. H. Hepburn.—Nebulz seen 
on Mr. Franklin-Adam’s Plates: J. A. Hardcasile.—Note on the Star 41 
Virginis: E. W. Barlow. Probable Paper: Periodic Inequalities in the 

Epochs of Sun-spot Maxima and Minma: J. B. Dale. 

‘-Puysica Society, at 8.—Note on the Connection between the Method of 
Least Squares anc the Fourier Method of Calculating the Co-efficients of 
a Trigonometrical Series 10 Represent a Given Function or Series of 
Otservations: Prof. C..H. Lees.—A Magnet graph .or Measuring Varia- 
tions in the Horizontal Intensity of the Earth's Magnetic Field: F. E. 
Smith. — The Atomic Weight of Copper by Electrolysis: A. G. Shrimpton. 
—Note on an Improvement in the Einthoven String Galvanometer : 
W. H. Apthorpe. 7 

MALACOLOGICAL SocIETY, at 8.—Swleobasis concisa, Fer., and its Nearest 
Allies: C_R. Boettger.—Note on the radula and maxilla of Orthalicus 
zebra, Miiller: Rev. E. W. Bowell.—(z) Invalid Mollu-can Generic 
Names ; (2) A New Cassid: T. Iredale.—The Relative Claim to Priority 
of the Names Helix carduelis, Schulze, and Helix Sruticum, Miiller: 


G. K. Gude. 
SATURDAY, June 13. 


Roya INSTITUTION, at 3.—Studies on Expression in Art. II: Right 
Expression in Modern Conditions : Sigismund Goetze. 


NO+2328, VOL. 93) 


NATURE 


[JUNE II, 1914 


TUESDAY, Yount 16. 


MINERALOGICAL SOCIETY, at 5.30.—Childrenite from Crinnis Mine, Corn’ 
wall, and Eosphorite from Poland, Maine: J. Drugman.—Sartorite : 
R. H. Solly. —Red-terminations of Nickel in the Baroti and Wittekrantz 
Meteorites : G. T. Prior. 

RovaL ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE, at 8.15.—The Cheddar Man, a 
Skeleton of Late Palzolithic Age: Profs. C. G. Seligmann and F. G 
Parsons. 

ROYAL STATISTICAL SOCIETY, at 5.—Economic Relations of the British 
and German Empires: E. Crammond. s 

Royal. GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY, at 8.30.—An Expedition in Brazil: Hon. 

. Theodore Roosevelt. - ; 

WEDNESDAY, June 17. ; 

Rovat METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY, at 4.20.—Vhe Rainfall of the Southern 
Pennines: B. C. Wallis.—The Relation between Wind Direction and 
Rainfall: H. J. Bartlett. 


THURSDAY, June 18. 


Roya Society, at 4.30.—Po0bable Papers: (1) Trypanosome Diseases of 
Domestic Animals in Nyasaland. 77yfJanosoma Caprae (Kleine). IIIT: 
Development in Glossina morsitans ; (2) Trypanosomes found in Wild 
Glossina morsitans and Wild Game in ‘the “ Fly-Belt’’ of the Upper 
Shire Valley; (3) Tbe Food of Glossina morsitans ; (4) Infectivity of 
Glossina morsitans in Nyasaland during 1912 and 1913: Sir D. Bruce, 
Maj. A. E. Hamerton, Capt. D. P. Watson and Lady Bruce.—The 
Relation between the Thymus and the Generative Organs, and on the 
Influence of these Organs upon Growth (With a Note by G. U. Yule): 
E. T. Halnanand F. H. A. Marshall.—The Vapour Pressure Hypothesis 
of Contraction of Striated Muscle: H. E. Roaf.—The Validity of the 
Microchemical Test for the Oxygen Piace in Tissues: A. N. Drury.— 
Man’s Mechanical Efficiency: Prof. J. S. Macdonald.—The Colouring 
Matters in the Compound Ascidian Drazona violacea, Savigny: Dr. A. 
Holt. 


= 


CONTENTS. PAGE 


The Purpose of Youth : titel ce dap a eee ees al 
Manualsiof Botany...) Byy Vo Be we) ones 
German Popular Science aM csi oot Sida» oh oat log cep ae TI 
Our Bookshelf ; aed tes sh So OV” pint ee ES 
Letters to the Editor :— 
Weather Forecasts in England.—Dr. W. N. Shaw, 
| shad RSs He eR oe 2 Ge ieee : 3 375 
Cellular Structure of Emulsions.—Chas. R. Darling 376 
Band vy Rays and the Structure of the Atom (Internal 


Charge Numbers.)—Dr. A. van den Broek . 376 
Forestry and Forest kKeserves in New Zealand. By 
B..C2 5 any 


The Principle of Relativity.—I. By E.Cunningham 378 
Dra j., Reynolds Green; JRaR@S: eBy) Profesare.. 


Wanes. FR. S...::-- = scamagee = meee ints pea TO 
Notes: «.(///ustrated:) .c/. i. Sin ths ed 
Our Astronomical Column :— 

Astronomical Occurrences for June ....... » 384 
Comet'19140 (Zlatinsky)a20-) eee) eee et 
Fireballs - . . : bite: De Pag et) sa. igh ES OEE 
Observations of Nove... Aida SSMS screen ¢ Shai 
Report of the Cape Observatonys.ms eee) eine 385 


The Administration of Anesthetics ...... . 385 
Wireless Telegraphy Research ete Ret re o ayols 
The Association of Teachers in Technical Institu- 

HONS) is) 3 @0 See cnt) gaues ae os 
Devonian of Maryland. By A. J. Jukes-Browne, 

Hee Se F : : Ata. A he 33° a eae ee 
The Royal Observatory, Greenwich. ...... . 387 
(The Development of the Aeroplane. © = . 2%). 2938 
The Metric System. By Alexander Siemens .. . 390 
University and Educational Intelligence. . . . . . 392 


sacicticsiand Academies {jase tts Cee OR 
Books keceived . PET Bo Go 6 Renee co FIR 
Branyvor Societies. . . . 2 cle eee) cee 


Editorial and Publishing Offices: 
MACMILLAN & CO., Ltp., 
ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C. 


Advertisements and business letters to be addressed to the 
Publishers. 


Editorial Communications to the Editor. 
Telegraphic Address: Puusts, Lonpon. 
Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830. 


IATUR LE: 397 


THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 10914. 


STUDIES IN CANCER. AND ALLIED 
SUBJECTS. 

Studies in Cancer and Allied Subjects. Vol. i., 
The Study of Experimental Cancer: a Review. 
By Dr. W. H. Woglom. Pp. xi+288. . Vol. 
li., Pathology. Pp. vi+267. Vol. ii., From 
the Departments of Zoology, Surgery, Clinical 
Pathology, and Biological Chemistry. Pp. 
ix +308. Conducted under the George Crocker 
Special Research Fund at Columbia University. 
(New York: Columbia University Press. 
1913.) Price 5 dollars net each volume. 

OTH the late Mr. George Crocker and his 
wife are reported to have died of cancer, 

and it may be recalled that an action was brought 
against Mr. Crocker for the recovery of a larger 
fee than had originally been agreed on for the 
surgical treatment of his wife. Thus, perhaps, 
it came about that Mr. Crocker left property to 

Columbia University which on partial realisation 

yielded somewhere about 300,000]. When he 

made his first donation for the investigation of 
cancer it was decided by those who had the matter 
in hand that, until a form of organisation was 
decided on, the money could best be expended by 

_ making grants to special workers in the depart- 

ments of anatomy, zoology, surgery, pathology, 

and biological chemistry of Columbia University 
and the College of Physicians and Surgeons, 

New York. 

Leaving vol. i., which is a monograph of xi+ 
288 pp., by Dr. W. H. Woglom, for special 
reference later, the outcome has been the publica- 
tion of sixty-six papers, which are collected in 
vols. ii. and ui. Of these papers twelve have not 
been published before, two are reprinted with ex- 
pansion, and the rest are merely reprinted. Use- 
ful introductions are supplied to the papers by the 
professors in several departments (notably for 
zoology by Calkins, pathology by MacCallum, and 
bio-chemistry by Gies). In these introductions 
are set forth the points of view from which work 
has been directed. It is impossible to review the 
separate papers which have interest mainly for 
those actually engaged in similar work, who will 
be glad to have the papers in collected form. 

Calkins and his fellow-workers have thrown 
their main strength in the direction of studying 
the phenomena of growth. He claims nothing 
could be more clearly demonstrated than the need 
for “team work,” or the joint activity of patho- 
logist, chemist, surgeon, clinician, biologist, from 
the results of two years’ work. The underlying 
biological principle activating the researches on 
growth, and binding them into a consistent whole, 


NO,. 2429; VOL.. 93 | 


was for Calkins ‘the physiological balance with 
self-regulation perfect in normal conditions 
thrown out of adjustment in cancer.” Experi- 
ments were done on the effect of mutilating uni- 
cellular organisms. The thyroid and thymus 
glands were removed from rats, in order to study 
any possible consequences on the growth of 
tumours. The effects of chemical and mechanical 
irritation on mammalian tissues were studied, and 
extracts of glands injected with a view of observ- 
ing any stimulating or inhibitive effects on the 
growth ‘of transplanted tumours. Except the 
work on Paramcecium and Uronychia by Calkins 
himself, the experiments appear to have been con- 
ducted on too small a scale, and therefore it is 
not surprising they are for the most part stated to 
be negative or inconclusive and requiring expan- 
sion. They were admittedly conducted with a 
view to finding a point of attack, and it would be 
unfair to offer any criticism. 

MacCallum’s introduction is an interesting and 
very instructive review of present knowledge from 
the point of view that it is, perhaps, the poverty 
of our knowledge as to the factors which influence 
the energy of growth, and, indeed, growth in 
general, which is responsible for our inability to 
arrive at a satisfactory explanation of the develop- 
ment of tumours. 

“The intolerance of the body 'for the dis- 
arrangement of its tissues is quite as wonderful 
as the growth of tumours and its study as illumin- 
atiOgse ‘““We must determine the causes of 
the growth of cells in general and the factors 
which underlie the increase in the energy of their 
growth as well as those which limit and hold it in 
check and render it practically impossible for 
normal tissue to continue its growth when dis- 
placed from its normal relations, or when in ex- 
cess of the amount necessary for the body’s needs. 
One side of this problem seems quite as important 
as the other; for in the development of an in- 
vasive tumour, we have the subversion of the 
ordinary laws which we assume to govern the 
proportions and proper relations of tissue 
growth.” 

These sentences embody points of view to 
which many will readily subscribe. It is unfor- 
tunate that the worker on the reactions leading to 
resistance to the growth of cancer and also of 
normal tissue (as the immunity reactions may be 
more correctly described), and who contributes 
no fewer than fourteen articles out of twenty- 
seven in vol. ii., had not diverted some of this 
industry to acquiring an accurate knowledge of 
the work of others so as to present their views 
correctly and himself avoid possible pitfalls in ex- 
perimentation. His presentations of Ehrlich’s 
atreptic or starvation theory of immunity have 
already called forth a vigorous protest on the part 

R 


398 


NATURE 


[June 18, 1gi4 


of the latter, but the misstatements are not cor- 
rected even by so much as a foot-note in the 
reprint in the present volume. Equally distorted 
statements are made by writing :— 

“Bashford in his conceptions of immunity in 


cancers of mice and rats, denies that there is any 


direct influence of the host upon the inoculated 
cancer cell,” and, to take only one other example, 
by asserting, “Bashford, Russell, and Da Fano, 
in describing the connective tissue and vascular 
scaffolding of the cancer cells, mean primarily the 
layer of fibrous tissue which surrounds and encap- 
sulates the graft.”” On the contrary, the mere 
conception of a scaffolding for the cancer cells is 
intended to exclude this idea. What is meant is 
the penetration of the connective tissue and 
vascular cells between the cancer cells in such a 
way that the original arrangement is accurately 
reproduced in normal animals, but not in 
immunised animals. It would not have been 
worth raising the point now had it not been that 
the power of the cancer cells to elicit a specific 
form of stroma in the normal animal, and the 
paralysis of their power to do so in immune 
animals, are as yet the only trustworthy mani- 
festations of the regulation of growth on which 
MacCallum rightly lays so much stress. 

The tentative character of several of the papers 
is necessarily the result of the system of giving 
grants to workers for a particular line of research 
for a determinate period, and can only be avoided 
by adopting a system enabling men with wide 
knowledge and training to become intimately 
acquainted over a long period with such highly 
specialised work as cancer research has now be- 
come. Thus, MacCallum writes on the basis of 
the work criticised above on resistance to growth, 
that in an immune animal the portion of tumour 
implanted is surrounded by connective tissue as 
though it were a mere foreign body; and in spite 
of this abundant stroma reaction, or perhaps on 
account of it, the tumour fails to grow. The 
important facts are not only the surrounding of a 
graft in these circumstances by a connective tissue 
which differs from that in normal animals, but also 
the failure of the reacting tissues to penetrate into 
the graft so as to supply it with a new charac- 
teristic stroma or scaffolding. Similarly, the 
occasional finding that resistance has been pro- 
duced after the inoculation of tissue from a 
strange species, or by autolysed tissues, or that 
it is possible to convey passive immunity, cannot 
be employed against the enormous preponderance 
of observations to the contrary. 

It would be ungenerous not to admit that mis- 
takes are unavoidable at the outset of inquiry 
planned as were these preliminary investigations 

WO! 2320), VOE. 93] 


of the Crocker Fund, and MacCallum himself 
generously acknowledges the progress being made 
by experiment in a brief summary. ‘When it 
became apparent that tumours of animals could 
be transplanted, and thus used in experimental 
studies, great hopes were roused, and, indeed, in 
the past years great things have been accom- 
plished. When we sift the facts impartially, 
however, we find that we have still some of the 
greatest problems before us.’”’ Of the individual 
papers, reference may be made to those on the 
cultivation of tissues, in which due credit is given 
to Ross Harrison for initiating the method. 

Gies, in introducing the bio-chemical investiga- 
tions, says he believes that “the essential factor in 
the etiology of cancer is a stimulus to cell division 
of intra-cellular origin, and that complete under- 
standing of the disease awaits more definite deter- 
mination of the constitution of protoplasm, and 
the reaction tendencies and functional alignments 
of the substance peculiar to cells.” 

“Injury causes different kinds of disease be- 
cause different discoordinations of intra-cellular 
constituents result therefrom. . . Tumours 
may result from intra-cellular derangements, from 
discoordinations of functionally related cellular 
constituents. More closely defined a dis- 
turbance in the production of all the anti-bodies 
directed against the cells or proteins of other 
individuals of the same species might be of prime 
importance as an etiological factor in cancer Iso- 
cells.”. Unfortunately, Gies’s programme could 
not be carried through owing to the difficulties 
placed in his way. ‘‘ Without tumourous animals, 
without cancer patients, and without carcino- 
matous supplies, all our plans for direct chemical 
attack on the cancer problem had to be sus- 
pended.” All three volumes are well indexed. 

Reverting to vol. i, it is correctly described in 
the sub-title as a review of “The Study of Experi- 
mental Cancer,” and is a compilation by Dr. 
W. H. Woglom of all that has been done on ex- 
perimental cancer. Incomplete reviews are avail- 
able in Germany by Karl Lewin and in France by 
Contamin, but there existed up to the appearance 
of the present volume no complete or, indeed, ex- 
tensive review of the more recent experimental 
investigation of cancer. Dr. Woglom has now 
supplied this want in a most admirable and com- 
plete The literature of experimental 
cancer has grown at a great rate, and is already 
so enormous that only those who have been in 
the midst of this work from the beginning can 
take a comprehensive survey of the subject. To 
them, however, the book must prove an indis- 
pensable book of reference, but it will be even 
more welcome to others who wish to take up 


manner. 


. 


Sedition. hl ee eee 
oe ye pb eeinsnie mmm eaterireed 


JUNE 18, 1914| 


NATURE 


oe) 


the threads of research now or later. 
précis is not attempted, because so much of the 
work is too new to permit of fair criticism and 
evaluation. The results which are likely to prove 
permanent are set forth in a final chapter. 

The volume is written in a remarkably clear 
style. Contradictory results and deductions are 
set forth with the utmost effort at impartiality, so 
that the reader can readily find points of attack 
for fresh work should that be his object. The 
indices, both of subjects and of authors, are very 
full, and the literature given is probably as com- 
plete as it can be. It is within the knowledge of 
the reviewer that Dr. Woglom made especial 
effort to consult personally all the originals and 
verify each reference. It is but natural, since 
Dr. Woglom was for some years a highly-valued 
assistant of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund, 
that this fact, and the close association with his 
colleagues, have led to full recognition of the 
work of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund; but 
it was Dr. Woglom’s aim that no injustice should 
thereby be done to any other worker or centre 
of cancer research. 

Vol. i,,uplike vols...11., in. sand av-, has been 
issued not only as a large quarto, but fortunately 
in octavo form at the same price. This is really 
a boon, because by simply cutting off the large 
margins Dr. Woglom’s book has been reduced by 
more than two pounds dead weight, viz., from 
more than four to less than two pounds. 

It is noteworthy that throughout the three large 
volumes reviewed, the question of the etiology of 
cancer is nowhere seriously raised from the view- 
point of a possible “cancer parasite.” Cancer 
is regarded as a problem of growth, and the 
question of a stimulus to growth (a growth hor- 
mone in Starling’s sense), is frequently and often 
ably discussed. But in the light of experiment 
it appears to the reviewer that the question should 
also be considered from the point of view of the 
absence or withdrawal of resistance to growth, 
of “chalones” in Schafer’s sense, if it be justifi- 
able so to extend the term. er. oD. 


A NEW TACTICAL TREATISE. 

The Principles of War. By Major-General E. A. 
Altham. With an Introduction by General Sir 
H. L. Smith-Dorrien. Vol. i. Pp. xv+436+ 
maps. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 
DOI4.). Serica tos. net. 

“~ ENERAL ALTHAM has produced the first 
XZ of a series of volumes on major tactics, 

under the title of “The Principles of War.” 

Although the fundamental principles of war are 

neither very numerous nor in themselves very 

abstruse, their application is difficult. War is not 
NO. 2329, VOL. 93] 


€ 


A critical | 


an exact science, and cannot be reduced to a 
series of mathematical formule. All that can be 
done is to deduce from actual experience certain 
broad principles, and leave it to study and to 
practice to create an instinct in the mind of the 
soldier for their correct application to the circum- 
stances of the moment. 

But tactics are constantly affected by the pro- 
gress of. science, and disaster may ensue if its 
effect is not correctly appreciated. In peace there 
is no means of putting modern appliances to the 
ultimate test of battle, and imagination must 
necessarily play so large a part in peace prepara- 
tion for war, that there is always a danger of 


' fundamental principles being obscured by an ex- 


aggeration of the effect of new inventions. Thus 
General Altham ascribes the French defeats in 
1870 to the false theory they had formed that the 
improvement in the rifle favoured defensive tactics, 
a theory which ignored the national characteristics 
of the Frenchman, and committed the French 
armies to a fatal cult of positions. 

General Altham’s object in this volume is to 
illustrate from history the doctrine which the 
General Staff has laid down for the guidance of 
the Army, and thus constantly to remind students 
of the necessity for assigning due importance to 
the lessons of the past in these days of rapid and 
far-reaching changes in war material. 

Field Service Regulations and the training 
manuals, which contain this doctrine of the 
General Staff, while entirely complete in them- 
selves, are. necessarily somewhat condensed in 
form. Field Service Regulations, Part 1, in par- 
ticular—a 220-page summary of the art of war— 


| every word of which has been carefully weighed, 


and no single sentence of which could be removed 
without material loss, may seem to be strong 
meat to many, and is apt to cause a species of 
mental indigestion if taken in too large doses. 
The senior officers of the army will  re- 
member, possibly with gratitude, that they were 
more gently nurtured on the pages of Home and 
Clery. 

General Altham’s work bids fair to take the 
place of these authors on the bookshelves of the 
younger generation of soldiers. His method is 
to take a series of texts from Field Service 
Regulations, and to preach a sound and simple 
sermon on each of them, impressing his lessons 
on the mind by one or more graphic illustrations 
drawn from the campaigns of the last half century. 
En passant, we express the hope that he may 
be able, both in his subsequent volumes, and in the 
later editions of this one, to draw more extensively 
for illustration upon the recent operations in the 
Balkans. 


400 


NATURE 


The book commences with a chapter which 
should appeal particularly to officers of the British 
Army, for it discusses those moral qualities which, 
as a factor of success in war, count for so much 
more than mere numbers. The bulk of the volume 
is occupied by ten chapters on the characteristics 
of the various arms of the service; within these 
will be found some interesting remarks on mounted 
infantry, the réle of the cyclist, and the possibilities 
of aircraft. The remaining chapters deal with 
such subjects as inter-communication, orders, 
movements, and billets, all of which will be of 
particular interest to officers serving, or aspiring 
to serve on the staff. 

But though we are satisfied that General Altham 
has supplied a much-felt want, we are constrained 
to sound a note of warning. He expresses the 
opinion that the study of military history is but 
imperfectly appreciated by the army at large, and 
the purpose of his book is doubtless to stimulate 
officers to read and re-read the campaigns of the 
great commanders, and that too with greater 
profit to themselves than in the past. His pur- 
pose is wholly commendable. At the same time, 
we cannot conceal from ourselves the danger, in- 
herent in any volume of this character, that it may 
be regarded by some as a convenient gold mine 
of “nuggets” from which to cram for examination 
purposes, and that, in so far as these officers are 
concerned, the volumes of military history which 
are to Be found in the well-stocked shelves of 
every garrison library, may continue to lie there 
even more neglected han General Altham says 
they do at present. We trust, howev er, that our 


fears on this point may prove to be entirely 
groundless. 


LIFE AMONG THE ESKIMO. 
My Life with the Eskimo. 
son. 


By Vilhjalmur Stefans- 
Pp. ix+538+plates. (London: Mac- 
millan and Co., Ltd., 1913.) Price 17s. net. 

HE expedition conducted by Mr. V. Stefdns- 

son and Dr. R. M. Anderson along the 
Shores of the Arctic Ocean is remarkable in the 
fact that for four years they lived on the country, 
as the Eskimos do, and trusted little to any stores 
procurable in Canada, except ammunition. Mr. 
Stefansson had prepared himself for this under- 
taking by a previous journey during which he 
lived with the Eskimo, supported himeen on their 
food, and learned their language. The result was 
satisfactory, though even his cheery account of 
their adventures shows that they were exposed to 
much danger and privation. Only exceptional 
travellers can survive under such conditions. 


NO. 2329, Wel, 93)| 


[JuNE 18, 1914 


John Rae, he remarks, wintered in this manner at 
Repulse Bay, within a decade of the time when 
Sir John Franklin’s party perished from want in 
a country occupied by Eskimo, who existed in 
comparative plenty, unaided by the muskets and 
other implements which the English possessed in 
abundance. 

The country explored by this expedition extends 
from Point Barrow in North Alaska, including the 
valleys of the Yukon and Mackenzie rivers, to 


_ Victoria Island, where the most interesting dis- 


covery was made. This region was crossed along 
the seaboard in various directions; large collec- 
tions of ethnological material, and of the minerals, 
flora, and fauna were made. These collections are 
described in a special appendix by Dr. R. M. An- 
derson, which deals with many interesting and 
novel specimens. Many of the charts of this 


region were found to be untrustworthy, and Mr. 
| Stefansson’s surveys furnish a basis for more 


correct delineation of the coast-line and of the 
river deltas than was hitherto available. He gives 
also a useful account of the Eskimo language and 
its dialects. 

The most important part of the book is the 
account of the comparatively fair tribe of Eskimos 
encountered in Victoria Island. Some individuals 
have blue eyes, light brown beards, and dark 
brown or rusty-red hair. They are clearly dis- 
tinguished from the true Eskimos by the facial 
index, which in the latter is about 1o1, while in 
the Victoria Island tribe it falls to 97. Mr. 
Stefansson discusses in detail the origin of this 
remarkable tribe. He dismisses the supposition 
that they can be derived from survivors of the 
Franklin or other European expeditions, or from 
Russians in the Alaska region. He traces the 
Scandinavian settlements in Greenland from the 
time of Eric the Red at the close of the tenth 
century of our era. The route from Greenland 
to Victoria Island occupies a year by boat, two 
years by sled. There is thus no objection to a 
westward movement of half-blood Eskimos. On 
the whole, he seems to regard this solution more 
probable than the supposition that this blond> 
type may have been accidentally produced, while 
the influence of environment cannot account for 


: the facts. 


This book will take a high place in the literature 
of Arctic adventure. It is written in a graphic, 
modest way, and the tact and endurance of the 
two explorers deserve hearty recognition. The 
route map might be improved by the addition of 
the European to the Eskimo place-names, but the 
photographs really assist in realising the condi- 
tions of the enterprise. 


June 18, 1914] 


NATURE 


401 


OUR BOOKSHELF. 


Interpretations and Forecasts: a Study of Sur- 


vivals and Tendencies in Contemporary Society. 
By Victor Branford. Pp. v+411. (London: 
Duckworth and Co., 1914.) Price 7s. 6d. net. 
“THE city,” said Aristotle, ‘exists for the sake 
of the good life.” But only by the good life is 
the ideal city, the perfect state, to be realised. In 
other words, social organisation is necessary for 
individual achievement, but individual achieve- 
ment reacts creatively upon the social organisa- 
tion. Mr. Victor Branford, one of the founders 
of the Sociological Society, has with his spiritual 
father, Prof. Geddes, done much to illustrate this 
essential interaction, and still more to infuse a 
sense of enthusiasm into our appreciation of it. 
He shows in these lectures the spirit of the 
medieval guildsmen, who knew themselves to be 
citizens of no mean city. On their work and 
ideals he writes a delightful and instructive essay. 
The text of the whole book is Aristotle’s theory 
of the city. The author well shows how, as a 
result of the statecraft of the Renascence and 
subsequent centuries, a “capital literary fraud” 
was perpetrated upon that theory. Aristotle saw 
the city as “‘a process in which four types of social 
operation tended to co-adjustment. He saw the 
Labour of the People, who maintain the outer life 
of the city; he observed the Public Functions of 
the citizens, who direct the polity of the city; he 
perceived the Meditations of Philosophers, who 
study and compare the polities of cities in order 
to discover the ideal polity; he recognised the 
Efforts of Teachers to educate for citizenship. In 
proportion as all these—the four natural elements 
of civic life—work together harmoniously, the city 
comes into being and creates for its citizens the 
conditions of the good life.” The fraud per- 
petrated upon this. theory is the substitution of 
‘ state” for 5 city”; “politician” for “citizen”; 
_ Constitution” for “polity”; “political’’ for 
civic”; and “for the science and art of Civics 
they have substituted Politics.” A reaction to- 
wards the original and sounder view is to be seen 
in the decentralising movement of to-day. The 
author is familiar with the life both of North 


and South America, and his comparisons of the | 


working of a new spirit in the western republics 
and in European countries are marked by insight. 
The place of education in developing the ideal and 
therefore most efficient relation between man and 
society, in 1ts most practical because closest and 
best realisable form, the city, is very fully worked 
out. 

The book is an eloquent example of the practical 
application of sociological theory. 

A. E. Craw ey. 


The Country Month by Month. By J]. A. Ow 
and Prof. G. S. Boulger. Pp. ies (Por. 
don: Duckworth and Co., 1914.) Price 6s. net. 

Twenty years ago Mrs. Owen, better known, 

perhaps, by her works under the signature “A Son 

of the Marshes,” prepared, with Prof. Boulger, a 

series of twelve volumes in which the natural 

characteristics of the country month by month 


NO. 2329, VOL. 93] 


_ of the British Association in 1912? 


were described. The series was published in a 
single volume in 1901, and was given an apprecia- 
tive notice in these columns (vol. Ixv., p. 125). 
The late Lord Lilford sent the authors a number 
of valuable notes which were added to the original 
work, and are also included in the present volume. 
The new edition has been revised, and is embel- 
lished with twelve coloured plates and twenty half- 
tone plates reproduced from photographs. The 
result is a very attractive book on popular natural 
history. Many similar books have been published 
in recent years, but for pleasantly-written descrip- 
tion of country life, interesting alike to the general 


| reader and the working naturalist, this volume is 


among the best. In its present form the book 
should be acceptable to a wide circle of readers. 


LETTERS FO’ THE EDITOR. 


[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for 
opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with 
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 
this or any other part of Nature. No notice is 
taken of anonymous communications. | 


Migration Routes. 

On November 27, 1913, Nature published a letter 
from me in which the suggestion was made that birds 
when migrating may find it advantageous to follow 
coast lines or rivers, because of the up-air currents 
produced by the difference of temperature of the sur- 
face of the land and water. 

Mr. McLean has recently flown up the Nile, and 
he tells me that the vertical air currents were fre- 
quently very marked. | When the wind was only 
slightly different in direction from the line of the river 
there was a down current on the side from which the 
wind came and an up current on the other side. When, 
however, the river split up into several channels the 
air was generally descending over the whole neigh- 
bourhood and was disturbed. These down currents 
were at times so strong that his aeroplane when 
climbing at its greatest speed would descend steadily 
at 3 ft. per second. He estimates that the maximum 
rate of climbing of his machine in still air was 4 ft. 
per second. This observation is of great interest as 
showing that a down current may exist of about the 
velocity of 4-8 miles per hour. 
Horace Darwin. 
The Orchard, Cambridge, June 8. 


Aeroplane Wings. 

In connection with the apparently growing practice 
of constructing the wings of aeroplanes so that their 
inclination can be modified (a scheme which I recom- 
mended in the first edition of my book, ‘‘ The Problem 
of Flight,’ published in April, 1907), may I direct 
attention to my paper read at the Dundee meeting 
Therein I referred 
to the fact that the propeller axis (to which the in- 
clination is, or should be, referred) does not run hori- 
zontal so that the propeller thrust has a vertical com- 
ponent. The use of a mechanism by which the wing 
inclination can be varied enables this vertical com- 
ponent to be annulled, i.e. the propeller axis can be 
kept horizontal, thus greatly increasing the efficiency. 

With reference to the question of acceleration in the 
air and its effect on the reactions, which was discussed 
some time ago in NATURE in connection with Mr. 
Walkden’s book, a recent paper of mine in Flight on 
oscillating wings may be of interest. It was shown 


| therein that if the reactions during oscillation of the 


402 


air current vary as the square of the relative velocity, 
the mean reaction is greater than that due to the 
mean velocity considered as steady. 
HERBERT CHATLEY. 
Chinese Government Engineering College, 
Tangshan, North China, May 24. 


Weather Forecasts in England. 

Mr. MALLock, in giving his reasons for believing 
that correct weather forecasts are not likely to. be 
possible even for twenty-four hours in advance, 
touches upon many very debatable meteorological 
theories. 

His diagram purporting to show the surface wind 
currents for an earth, the surface of which is level 
and uniform, requires for its prediction a much better 
knowledge of the actual cause of wind distribution 
than we possess at present. Indeed, at the present 
time, it would appear that the wind conditions he 
shows are more nearly those of the northern than the 
southern hemisphere, and rather are the result of the 
irregular distribution of land, sea, and mountain than 
to uniform surface conditions. In the southern hemi- 
sphere the conditions, as near the equator, approxi- 
mate more to belt than to cyclonic conditions. 

An inspection of the daily weather charts issued 
by the Meteorological Office will also show that the 
general directions of the winds over the northern 
hemisphere are by no means as Mr. Mallock shows. 
A cyclone is a much more complex affair than the 
whirls of his figure. Cyclones are generally rather the 
result of the common action of several winds moving 
in different directions. Not only is this the case, but 
we have no accepted theory as to the cause of cyclones 
and the source from which they derive their energy. 

If it were a simple matter of the passage and rapid 
appearance and disappearance of cyclones, as Mr. 
Mallock supposes, I take it that the weather condi- 
tions would be rapid alternations of sunshine, cloud, 
and rain.. But such is not the case. We have long 
periods of fine weather, long periods of wet, un- 
settled weather, and spells of heat and cold. We must 
recognise the fact that on the earth we have regions 
where the weather conditions vary regularly with the 
seasons, and we also have insular and oceanic weather 
conditions. The boundaries of these areas are not 
always the same. The one is apt to encroach upon the 
other, and it is probable that by obtaining a know- 
ledge of such general movements, weather forecasting 
for considerable periods of time will be possible. 

So long as the old ideas of cyclones and anti- 
cyclones held sway, weather predicting really seemed 
hopeless; but fortunately we find that these old 
theories, though expressing important truths, require 
considerable modification in detail. Mr. Mallock’s 
contention that useful forecasting will never be pos- 
sible seems premature in face of the fact that there 
are so many things taking place in weather changes 
the theoretical reasons for which are unknown. 

With improved weather charts will come a better 
knowledge of the theory of cyciones and anticyclones. 
However, it may never be possible to predict, from the 
to-be-discovered laws of the winds, the course of 
weather changes with the certainty the movements 
of the members of the planetary system can be pre- 
dicted by the application of Newton’s laws. 

R. M. DEELEY. 

Abbeyfield, Salisbury Avenue, Harpenden. 


The Thunderstorm of June 14, at Dulwich. 
My observations on the thunderstorm of Sunday, 
June 14, at Dulwich, may perhaps be of interest. 
Thunder was first heard a little before 12.30 p.m., 
and lightning was seen from about 12.45. These 


NO:2320; VOL. 93 | 


NATURE 


[JUNE 18, 1914 


continued more or less throughout the afternoon until 
quite 5 o’clock, the lightning being very brilliant and 
rather frequent. Heavy rain iell from 12.50 until 
I.J0, and from 1.15 to about 2.20. Some white hail 
fell about 1.45. 

At 2 p.m. there was a heavy fall of big hailstones 
as large as marbles, which lasted about five minutes. 
Many of these hailstones were like large acid tablets, 
about an inch long, half an inch broad, and more 
than a quarter of an inch thick. The hailstones were 
composed of perfectly clear ice, and did not contain 
any white opaque substance. Hailstorms are usually 
accompanied by gusts or squalls of wind; in this 
storm, however, there was but little wind. 

When the big hailstones fell the leaves were torn 
off the trees, and so the pavements immediately be- 
neath them became quite green with the fallen leaves. 
The heavy rain, however, quickly washed these away, 
so that they were carried-into the gutters and soon 
stopped up the drains, with the result that the roads 
were flooded. 

A minute or two after the big hailstones had fallen, 
a mist arose above the roads and pavements to a 
height of about 4 ft. This clearly showed how the 
fogs were formed near the Banks of Newfoundland 
owing to the mixing of the cold and warm sea cur- 
rent. 

Rain came on again about 3.15, and continued until 

-m, 
“ it was not able to get to my rain-gauge in Alleyn 
Park until atter 5 o’clock, as the lawn was flooded 
and the water had not subsided sufficiently for me to 
get into the garden. I found the rainfall to be 
2-15 in., and of this amount I believe that about 1-60 
to 1-75 in. must have fallen in three-quarters of an 
hour, from 1.30 p.m. to 2.15 p.m. 
Wn. Marriorir. 
Royal Meteorological Society, 70 Victoria Street, 
London, S.W., June 16. 


A Dual Phenomenon with X-Radiation. 


SINCE our paper on the ‘‘ X-Rays and Concentra- 
tion,’’ and our exhibition of models and negatives at 
the annual general meeting of the Roéntgen Society 
on June 9, we have obtained further results which 
favour the hypotheses then suggested. 

For instance, if a radiograph be taken at any inci- 
dence (except o° and go®°) of a ring of rectangular 
cross-section made in ebonite, its circular edges will 
be distinctly visible as black and white semi-circles. 
These alternate for the top and bottom outer rings, 
and they are in the reverse order for the inner circles. 
These differences were predicted from the generalisa- 
tion we gave in the paper. We think it would be 
advantageous to repeat the conclusion of the paper for 
those who were not present at the exhibition :— 

‘‘Generalising our results, it would seem that when 
X-rays are incident (or emergent) simultaneously upon 
two surfaces having a common boundary, this will be 
marked by a white or black band according as the 
dihedral angle of the solid is greater or less than 180°. 
If, however, the rays are incident upon one of the 
surfaces only, and emergent from the other, the order 
is reversed. In the third case, where the rays are 
incident upon one surface but parallel to the other 
(as with single laminae) the two bands appear in close 
association, and are observable with difficulty without 
the aid of suitable magnification.”” Tangential radia- 
tion has given a black or white band according as the 
surface was convex or concave. 

I. G. Rankin. 
W. F. D. CHAMBERS. 

90 Gordon Road, Ealing. 


JuNE 18, 1914] 


NATURE 


403 


LEGISLAMION. AND -‘THE MEEK. SUPPLY. 
NMC legislation, as represented by the Milk 
and Dairies Bills of 1909 and 1912, has 
so far been characterised by a want of definiteness 
which has probably been the cause of much of 
the opposition which it has aroused. This opposi- 
tion has come about both from the peculiar 
character of the requirements laid upon the 
medical officer of health in connection with the 
inspection, ete., of dairies and cowsheds, and 
also from the trade itself, on account of the omis- 
sion of any practical attempt in the earlier Bull 
to deal with some of the evils which everyone 
desires to see put right, and from a feeling of 
uncertainty as to what might happen under the 
rather extensive powers which that Bill gave to 
public health authorities. For these reasons the 
President of the Local Government Board found 
himself assailed both by the medical officer of 
health and by representatives of the trade, with 
the result that in both cases the Bill was even- 
tually dropped. Many of the controversial features 
of the earlier Bill to which attention was directed 
were rectified, to a certain extent, in the Bill of 
1912, but the powers, etc., of the medical officer 
of health were not made particularly clearer, and 
there was still no definite assurance that reforms 
would be carried out in a satisfactory manner. 
The chief objection which was raised to both these 
Bills was that with regard to the principal evils 
for the rectification of which legislation is so 
greatly needed, amendment was left in the hands 
of the Local Government Board by the issue of 
regulations after the passage of the Bill, and 
apparently without consultation with anybody. 
The problem of drafting a satisfactory Bill is 
likely to be more difficult than previously, for the 
conditions of milk supply have changed consider- 
ably during the last five years, and the attitude of 
the farmer must be considered for the successful 
issue of any milk legislation. It is probably a 
necessary concomitant of all legislation that it 
should largely deal with pains and penalties to- 
wards those who do not carry out its require- 
ments, but legislation ignores the fact that those 
so threatened may clear themselves from the fear 
of such penalties by ceasing to come under the 
legislation in question, and this is exactly the 
situation which it is necessary to realise has arisen 
of late in the milk trade. The farmer, at the pre- 
sent time, is probably rather independent as to 
whether he produces milk or not. In any case, a 
large quantity of milk is being produced for 
purposes other than ordinary milk supply, and 
these diversions of milk are becoming greater, 
and it may not be necessary that the same care 
should be taken with regard to milk which is 
used for such purposes, as would be the case if 
the milk were directly used as food material. 

To those who are accustomed to deal with 
farmers on a business basis, it is evident that any 
attempt to carry out drastic or theoretical altera- 
tions in connection with the production of milk 
would simply result in intense opposition, and a 
great increase in price for the article supplied. 


NQMC 326; VOL. +93 


There is at the present time almost a_ trades 
unionism among farmers, by means of which the 
wholesale price of milk, for no justifiable reason, 
has been gradually increasing during the last 
three or four years, and as there appears to be no 
power which may be invoked which will prevent 
the farmer increasing his price indefinitely, he 
would be only too pleased to have some really 
sound reason to bolster up his present attitude. 
For this reason the provisions in the earlier Bills 
which make it incumbent upon the medical officer 
of health and the sanitary authorities to carry out 
farm inspection is probably a mistake. The 
medical officer of health, as a rule, will have little 
knowledge of farms, cows, and their surround- 
ings, and there usually will be a lack of sympathy 
between him and the farmer. One looks upon the 
other as an ignoramus, and the latter regards the 
former as a theoretical person who knows nothing 
about the farmer’s business. Though the pro- 
duction of a new type of official is to be 
deprecated, if a special course in sanitary 
science were added to the ordinary veterinary 
course, On lines similar to the post-graduate 
courses which enable a medical man to obtain 
the diploma in public health, there is no reason 
why the younger generation of veterinary sur- 
geons should not become amply qualified to carry 
out farm inspection, while their training would 
gain for them the respect and sympathy of the 
farmer. 

It is quite certain that much of the present con- 
dition of milk production in the country arises 
more from ignorance than from deliberate inten- 
tion, and certainly for a year or two after the 
introduction of any legislation dealing with the 
production of milk, it would be desirable to pro- 
ceed with caution, and on the lines of advice and 
help, rather than upon those of compulsion. 
Among the younger generation of farmers there 
are many who will be better able to appreciate 
the requirements of modern milk production than 
their forefathers; but as they will probably in- 
herit the typical British obstinacy of the farmer, 
it would be necessary that they should be led 
rather than driven. 

It must not be forgotten also that the question 
of improvement of milk production, particularly 
as regards premises, water supply, etc., is much 
complicated by the attitude of the owners of the 
farms, who may be disposed to get rid of farmers 
from their premises rather than to carry out any 
very considerable improvements which might be 
required of them in connection with milk produc- 
tion for food. 

It is important in any Bill that the prohibition 
of the addition of colouring matter and preserva- 
tives of any kind should be made, as well as of the 
addition of skimmed milk to ordinary milk; and 
with this last might be coupled a further regulation 
that notices to the effect that such admixture is 
illegal should be posted in all dairies, in order that 
employees as well as employers should fully under- 
stand that such a regulation is in force. At the 
present time, a large amount of skimmed milk is 


4o4 
added to ordinary milk, and such a practice is 
likely to continue if the present wholesale price oi 
milk holds. Such admixture makes it exceedingly 
dithcult tor the honourable trader to compete witn 
his less scrupulous rivals. 1t would also be well 
if some regulation were introduced dealing with 
the question of pasteurisation, and it should be 
made compulsory that all milk which is pasteurised 
for sale and constitutes more than, say, 25 per 
cent. of the total quantity of mixed milk sold, 
should be labelled “ pasteurised,” or the knowledge 
that it has been pasteurised in some way Con- 
veyed to the consumer. There is no doubt that 
the practice of pasteurisation is spreading on 
account of the more independent and careless 
attitude of the farmer. 

It should also be possible for distributors re- 
ceiving milk from farmers to ask the public 
authorities to take samples of any farmer’s milk, 
which for any reason is believed to be adulterated, 
at the stations on arrival, and for such samples 
to be analysed, and the proceedings taken against 
the farmer when necessary, without in any way 
the name of the distributor being brought into the 
question, as the present conditions of milk supplv 
have brought about a position such that the 
farmer may, if troubled too much by any particu- 
lar distributor, refuse, on a future occasion, to 
supply milk to him, and may also very probably 
notify farmers in the neighbourhood that such 
and such a buyer is an exacting person or con- 
cern, with the result that those distributors who 
are endeavouring to preserve a high standard may 
become boycotted. 

There appears to be at the present moment a 
favourable attitude towards the idea of grading 
milk. However well this may work in America, 
the result of selling milks of different grades in 
England will be that milk will deteriorate to the 
lowest grade, with the exception of quite a small 
quantity which a few people who wish for milk of 
a better quality will take. There is plenty of 
evidence at the present time that the general 
public buys milk simply on a basis of its price, 
and without any regard to its quality or source, 
and it would be most unfortunate if the sale of a 
low-grade milk were possible. History would re- 
peat itself in this as it has in the case of water 
in butter, which, since it was made legal to sell 
16 per cent. of water in butter, has gradually 
risen to this limit, though previously the greater 
number of high-class butters had a considerably 
smaller percentage of water than 16 per cent. 
The ordinary householder does not want to be 
bothered to consider what grade of milk he ought 
to purchase; he desires to obtain milk which is a 
reasonably sound commodity which he can con- 
sume, without cause for serious apprehension, in 
the raw state in which he generally prefers it. 

A further, and what may prove a _ serious, 
obstacle to the improvement of the milk supply 
looming in the near future, results from the fact 
that a trades union of milk carriers has recently 
been formed. One of the principal planks in their 
platform is that there should be only one delivery 


NO. 2329, VOL. 93] 


NALTORE 


[JUNE 18, 1914 


on Sundays, which, though quite a laudable idea 
in itself, would inevitably lead to great deteriora- 
tion in the bacteriological quality of the milk sup- 
plied on Mondays; and from the general attitude 
of the labour mind, if this point were achieved, 
it would doubtless occur to them that one delivery 
every day might also be sufficient, with disastrous 
results so far as the ordinary milk supply is 
concerned, 

It is one thing to legislate and quite another 
thing to put such legislation into operation when 
there are such determined labour forces opposing 
progress, There is no more regrettable feature 
of the labour world to-day than the steady decay 
of high principle and honesty of purpose which 
is making it all but impossible to carry out satis- 
factorily such rules and regulations as are so 
necessary in the handling of milk. It is necessary 
to sue as a favour for that which ought, with 
right-minded men, to be expected or demanded as 
a right. This careless attitude, combined with 
an ignorance of the elementary rules of cleanliness, 
render the handling of milk a source of constant 
and harassing worry to the managers of large 
dairies. 

There is also a great lack of cohesion among 
milk dealers themselves which makes any com- 
bined effort for good very difficult of accomplish- 
ment, and it must be said with regret that there 
is also a lack of a right and high ideal in many 
quarters. 

Reverting to the question of legislation, it is 
desirable that measures should be taken to put a 
stop to the type of dairyman who carries on his 
business surreptitiously, who emerges from 
obscurity when there seems a chance of making 
some profit at the expense of the legitimate trader, 
peddles a liquid which has a quite uncertain rela- 
tion to the cow (and would never be bought by 
anyone if it were not sold cheaply), and retires 
again into obscurity when it becomes unprofitable 
to continue. 

With regard to regulations concerning the pro- 
cedure to be observed in the milking, etc., of 
cows, the greatest simplicity is essential if there 
is to be a chance of such procedure being 
carried out in any real sense, as the times and 
seasons at which milking has to be done are not 
conducive to the development of any great en- 
thusiasm with regard to care on the part of the 
milker. It is hard enough to obtain milkers at 
the moment, and any great addition to the labour 
of milking might easily result in a very real 
dearth of such men. This is, again, a case for 
careful and patient education rather than for the 
thunders of legislative pains and penalties. 

No Milk Bill has yet shown the least attempt 
to bring the railway companies into a proper state 
of mind as to the necessary care and expedition 
in the carriage of milk. 

Since the above was written a new Bill has 
been introduced into the House of Commons by 
Mr. Herbert Samuel. Its principal clauses, like 
its predecessors, are those requiring reculations 
to be made by the central authority with regard 


rr 


June 18, 1914! 


NATURE 


405 


to the inspection of cows, cowsheds, and milk 
shops, the prevention of infection and contamina- 
tion of milk, the mixing of milk with separated 
milk or other substances, and conditions of 
storage and transit. These regulations appar- 
ently are to be enforced by a new set of authori- 
ties—the county councils instead of the district 
councils—which is a step in the right direction, 
and by means of a staff which, in addition to the 
medical officers of health, is to include veterinary 
officers and bacteriologists. A sound principle is 
likewise adopted by making each authority re- 
sponsible for the milk produced in its own area, 
and also by enabling the authorities in the town 
to requisition action by the authorities in the 
country as a result of bacteriological or other 
sufficient evidence against the milk. .A clause in 
the Bill introduces a drastic change in the practice 
of dealing with adulterated milk. Milk is now 
to be regarded as genuine, however low the per- 
centage of fat, provided it can be proved that it 
has not been tampered with after leaving the cow. 
Though not perfect, the present Bill is un- 
doubtedly an improvement on its predecessors, 
but there seems little prospect of its passing 
during the present session of Parliament. 
Rete Hewlett. 


THE COMMEMORATION OF ROGER 
BACON AT OXFORD. 


ae the year 1214 saw the birth of Roger 
Bacon is rather a matter of probable infer- 
ence than of certainty. There is, however, good 
evidence that he died in 1292, and was buried on 
St. Barnabas’ Day (June 11) in the precincts of 
the Grey Friars at Oxford, a quarter of the city 
which is now known as Paradise Square. Hence 
there was sufficient reason for the celebration at 
Oxford on June 1o of what was called the ‘seventh 
centenary” of the great Franciscan, and for the 
gathering together of representatives from many 
parts to do honour to the memory of one who, as 
the unflinching advocate of experimental science 
as against authority, was held by Humboldt to 
be “the most important phenomenon of the Middle 
Ages.” 

No record appears to exist of the characteristics 
of Bacon in form and feature. In the statue, 
however, which was unveiled at the University 
Museum on June 10, Mr. Hope Pinker has con- 
trived to give the impression of alertness, shrewd- 
ness, and pugnacity—qualities which his subject 
most certainly possessed in full measure. The 
face also carries a suggestion of humorous depre- 
ciation, which sits not inappropriately on the effigy 
of the man who professed to be able to teach any- 
one to read Greek in three days, and who would 
fain have burned all the then existing translations 
of Aristotle. But whether the sculptor has or has 
not succeeded in reconstructing the bodily aspect 
of the real Roger, a point which can never be 
decided, there is no doubt as to the accuracy of 
his presentment of the Franciscan garb, or of the 
astrolabe held in the strenuous grasp of the friar. 

In his speech preparatory to the unveiling, Sir 


NO. 2329, VOL. 93] 


Archibald Geikie laid due stress on the greatness 
of Roger Bacon as a pioneer of the experimental 
method in science. ‘‘Dispensing with the futile 
disputational subtleties of the schoolmen of his 
day, he strove to concentrate attention on things 
rather than words. He led the way towards the 
conception of science as the inductive study of 
nature, based on and tested by experiment.” A 
similar note was struck by Lord Curzon, who in 
his capacity of Chancellor accepted the statue on 
behalf of the University of Oxford. After recount- 
ing the various branches of learning which Bacon 
had studied and on which he had written, a list 
which includes not only nearly all that we under- 
stand by physical science, but also moral and 
political philosophy, the Chancellor went on to 


Roger Bacon Statue in the University Museum, Oxford. 


point out that in these sciences Bacon was not 
a mere amateur. “He did not dabble with them, 
so to speak, in holiday hours, but studied them 
profoundly.” Moreover, he wrote with intense 
conviction about their essential interdependence 


one on the other. 


Following the ceremony of unveiling, an address 
was delivered by the Public Orator of the Uni- 
versity, Mr. A. D. Godley, of Magdalen College. 
In elegant Latin periods the orator paid tribute 
to the diligence and fearlessness which had enabled 
Roger Bacon to accomplish a great work in the 
face of difficulties. Turning towards the statue, 
he exclaimed :— 

Welcome, Friar Roger, on your return to Oxford! 
You here behold the fruit of your labours. . . . Hence- 
forth may your bodily likeness stand in that shrine of 
science where we witness the fulfilment of your prayers 


4c6 


and wishes. May the spirit that inspired you abide 
with us everywhere and always: may it preserve our 
understanding from the bonds of error, and by its 
presence strengthen and confirm us in the pursuit of 
the truths of nature. 

The ceremony at the museum concluded with 
the presentation of addresses from the University 
of Cambridge and from the Franciscan Order of 
Friars Minor, the former by Prof. James Ward, 
the latter by Fr. David Fleming. 

At a luncheon which was given by Merton 
College, the Warden presiding, the memory of 
Roger Bacon was proposed by the Bodleian 
Librarian (Mr. F. Madan), who took occasion to 
mention the west-country origin of the subject of 
the toast, and the encouragement which he re- 
ceived from Pope Clement IV. This was sup- 
ported in an eloquent speech by M. F. Picavet, 
representing the University of Paris. The other 
delegates were welcomed by the Chancellor, and 
replied to the toast of their health in speeches of 
great interest. The delegate of the Vatican 
Library, Monsignor Ratti, speaking in Latin, an- 
nounced the recent discovery of a new Baconian 
manuscript. The Comte d’Haussonville and M. 
Henneguy, both members of the French Academy, 
answered respectively on behalf of the Institut and 
of the Collége de France. Fr. David Fleming 
spoke for the Franciscan Order, and Prof. James 
Ward for the University of Cambridge. Sir W. 
Osler conveyed the thanks of the company to the 
Warden and Fellows of Merton College. 

Many of the visitors attended the Romanes 
lecture on “The Atomic Theory,” given by Sir 
J. J. Thomson. Others proceeded to the Bodleian, 
where the librarian had arranged an exhibition of 
Baconian books, prints, and manuscripts. This 
comprised MSS. of the Opus Majus, the Opus 
Tertium, and fragments of the Opus Minus, 
together with many other MSS. of interest, in- 
cluding the curious treatise “de retardandis senec- 
tutis accidentibus.” The volume of memorial 
essays lately published under the editorship of Mr. 
A. G. Little was also on view. 

The events of the commemoration ended with a 
party in the garden of the Warden of Wadham 
College. APD: 


ADDRESS TO THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD. 


The following is the address written by the 
Public Orator of the University of Cambridge, 
and presented by Dr. James Ward at the celebra- 
tion :— 

Gratulamur Universitati vestrae, viri litterarum et 
scientiarum omnium amore nobis coniunctissimi, quod 
annum septingentesimum ex quo natum est scien- 
tiarum et litterarum lumen illud vestrum, Rogerus 
Bacon, mense proximo vosmet ipsi, cum aliis quibus 
alumni vestri memoria cara est, celebrare constituistis. 

Viri tanti fama ad posteros quam tarde pervenerit, 
non ignotum.  Scilicet anni intercesserant trecenti, 
cum libellus de mirabili potestate artis et naturae ab 
eo conscriptus, typis expressus est; quadringenti sexa- 
ginta sex, cum eiusdem Opus Maius publici iuris 
factum est; prope sescenti denique, cum Opus Minus 
et Opus Tertium diei lucem primum viderunt. Opera 
autem eius tam multa tamque late dispersa fuisse 


NO, 2320, VOL.593| 


NATURE 


| gentia.”’ 
| auspiciis vestris verum redditum est. 


sss ee 


] 


[June 18, 1914 


perhibentur, ‘ut facilius sit Sibyllae folia colligere,” e 
quibus nonnulla, vixdum nota, vosmet ipsi, cum aliis 
coniuncti, in lucem mittere decrevistis. Atqui, etiam 
in libris eius, quos iamdudum habemus, luce clarius 
est, quanto litterarum Graecarum, Hebraicarum, 
Arabicarum, quanto scientiarum omnium amore 
flagraverit, qui, quanquam scientiae uni potissimum 
investigandae annos decem dedicavit, ceteras nequa- 
quam neglexit, scientias omnes inter se connexas esse, 
et mutuis sese fovere auxiliis, non immerito arbitratus. 

Idem quam multa, quae nostra demum invenit aetas, 
mente sagaci prospexit, Senecae sui verbis illis prae- 
claris usus :—‘‘veniet tempus quo ista quae nunc 
latent, in lucem dies extrahat et longioris aevi dili- 
Vaticinium etiam alterum nunc demum 
Etenim, abhine 
annos plus quam trecentos, poéta quidam Canta- 
brigiensis praedixit, fore aliquando, ut Anglia et 
Europa Baconis vestri famam admirarentur, atque ut 
Oxonia praesertim alumnum suum statuarum honore 
in perpetuum celebraret. Ergo etiam posteros iuvabit 
Historiae Naturalis in Museo vestro iuxta Baconis 
nostri imaginem etiam Baconis vestri statuam non 
sine reverentia contemplari. 

Has litteras benevolentiam et observantiam nostram 
testantes legato maxime idoneo, philosophiae e Pro- 
es nostris altero, ad vos perferendas tradimus. 

alete. 


THE COMMITTEE ON WIRELESS 
TELEGRAPHY RESEARCH. 

ae appointment of the committee on wireless 

telegraphy research, and its report, referred 
to in last week’s issue of NaTurRE (p. 385), are 
indications that the somewhat fierce light that the 
Marconi inquiry brought to bear upon the un- 
scientific methods of the Post Office is at length 
having some effect. No longer is it possible that 


a high Post Office official should annotate a - 
memorandum, prepared by a very responsible tech- 


nical officer, recommending the appointment of 
some engineers destined to form a skilled wire- 
less staff, with a paragraph to the effect that 
““common-or-garden” engineers are good enough 
for wireless telegraphy. To the Marconi com- 
mittee, however, Sir Alexander King, secretary of 
the Post Office, admitted that the office could not 
undertake the design and erection of the imperial 
wireless stations for the reason that they had in 


their employment no one with the necessary know- 


ledge and experience, surely a very humiliating 
position for the State department which controls 
the whole of the national telegraphs, with a large 
technical staff, and snends thereon huge sums of 
public money. 

Since then it is satisfactory to note some change 
in the official mind, first in the appointment, some 
months ago, of Mr. Duddell to assist the tele- 
graph department with technical advice, and 
secondly in the appointment of the very repre- 
sentative committee of which the report is now 
under review. 

The report now published is in favour of estab- 
lishing, near to the National Physical Laboratory 
at Bushey, a special national research laboratory 
where work on wireless telegraph problems will 
be carried on, while investigations in connection 
with ordinary telegraphy and telephony will not 
be excluded. The laboratory is to be controlled 


ee 


June 18, 1914| 


NATURE 


407 


by a national research committee consisting partly 
of representatives of the Post Oflice, Admiralty, 
War Office, and Treasury, and partly of paid 
members nominated for short terms of years by 
the Royal Society and the Institution of Electrica] 
Engineers, together with the director of the 
National Physical Laboratory. 

As the capital cost of the laboratory is estimated 
at only 7,300l., and the total annual expense, both 
of laboratory and committee, at only 4,8ool., 
sums which are very small in comparison with 
the possible savings that such a research labora- 
tory ought to be able to assist in effecting in the 
vast annual expenditure on the national telegraph 
service, the proposals cannot be considered in 
any way extravagant. Indeed, if anything, they 
appear to err on the side of insufficiency. For 
instance, the secretary of the proposed research 
committee, who, in addition to possessing the 
usual qualifications for such a post, including a 
knowledge of French and German, is to be a man 
of technical training and experience, is only to 
divide 300l. per annum between himself and a 
clerk. Again, the principal assistant, who must 
obviously be a first-class technician, as he is to 
have complete charge of the laboratory under the 
director of the National Physical Laboratory, is 
only to get a salary of 4ool. 

Further, it is suggested that the honorarium 
given to each of the paid members of the proposed 
committee for their attendance at meetings is to 
be fixed at ten guineas a meeting, it being pro- 
posed that during the first two years there will 
probably be fifteen meetings per annum, and after 
the first two years ten meetings. No doubt 
eminent men of science will be found ready to 
give their time to the State at this rate of re- 
muneration, as equally would they no doubt be 
found to do so for nothing; but it may be pointed 
out that this amount of pay suggested for the 
committee, presumably for men of the highest 
scientific capacity and experience, is only about 
one-half what the average company director, who 
may have no special experience or training, com- 
monly obtains for attending the board meetings 
of medium-sized companies in the City of London. 
The fact that Sir Alexander King, the secretary 
of the Post Office, and Mr. R. Wilkins, of the 
Treasury, are of opinion that the payments sug- 
gested are on too liberal a scale, is significant 
evidence of the low value that non-technical 
Government officials attach to scientific attain- 
ments, 

However, the recommendations contained in the 
report, if adopted by the Government, will be a 
beginning in the right direction, and it is satis- 
factory to know that similar arrangements in con- 
nection with the advisory committee for aero- 
nautics, established in 1909, of which the research 
work is carried out in the National Physical 
Laboratory, are working well. It will always be 
open to the research committee, when once it is 
established and has had time to prove the value of 
its work, to point out that with ampler resources 
it could do more. 

A. A. CAMPBELL SWINTON. 
NO. 2329, VOL. 93| 


) 


THE URGENT NEED FOR. ANTHROPO- 
LOGICAL INVESTIGATION.} 


HE Carnegie Institution of Washington has 

taken the wise step of inviting certain experts 

to report on the special needs of anthropological 

investigation, and have printed the reports of Dr. 

Wii aver iverss UR S.,,Prof. A. i. Jenks sas 
Mr. S. G. Morley in a sumptuous brochure. 

Dr. Rivers lays particular stress on the special 
urgency of the needs of anthropology, due to the 
character of its material, this factor of urgency 
being wholly or almost without importance in other 
branches of science. Only exceptionally can the 
investigation of archeological problems be re- 
garded as urgent, and he believes that science will 
gain in the long run by delaying archeological 
exploration. He contrasts with this the case for 
ethnology, and adds, “In many parts of the world 
the death of every old man brings with it the loss 
of knowledge never to be replaced.” He contrasts 
“survey work” with “intensive work,” and proves 
the importance of the latter. The most favourable 
moment for ethnographical work among any given 
people is discussed, and the different kinds of 
agencies by which ethnographical work is now 
being carried out, his remarks on investigations by 
officials and missionaries being both just and sym- 
pathetic. 

Preliminary training in scientific methods is 
essential, and Dr. Rivers agrees with Friederici 
that investigators working alone seem to obtain 
more valuable results than expeditions comprising 
a whole staff of experts. “The work of an expedi- 
tion will attain its highest efficiency if it seeks to 
combine the advantages of individual enterprise 
with the work of specialists where this seems in- 
dispensable.” Collecting expeditions for the en- 
riching of museums rarely accumulate any intimate 
knowledge of the natives that is of much value; 
indeed their tendency is unconsciously in the 
opposite direction. Everything which the inten- 
sive worker obtains will have an infinitely wider 
and deeper meaning than anything which can be 
obtained by the cursory visitor, and the processes 
of manufacture can be collected, which are even 
more important than the finished article. 

Physical anthropology can be postponed till a 
later stage of the inquiry. It follows that the 
prime need of anthropology is for the intensive in- 
vestigation of those living examples of human 
culture which are most likely to disappear or suffer 
serious decay. Dr. Rivers then makes a brief 
survey of different regions of the globe outside 
America, with the object of ascertaining the 
urgency of the needs, and how far these needs are 
being met by existing agencies. ‘Perhaps the 
most urgent needs for Europe are for the study of 
the existing cultures of Lapland in the north, and 
of the countries of its south-eastern corner, and 
especially of Albania.” The pressing need for re- 
search in South Africa “stands beyond all ques- 
tion.” The ethnological problems of Asia, except 


1 Reports upon the Present Condition and Future Needs of the Science of 
Anthropology. Presented by W. H. R. Rivers, A. E. Jenks, and S. G. 
Morley. Pp. gt+14 plates. (Washington, D.C. : Carnegie Institution of 
Washington, 1914.) 


408 


perhaps in a few places, are regarded as presenting 
no special urgency. The same applies on the 
whole to Malaysia, where very little intensive work 
has been done as yet. Parts of New Guinea and 
the larger islands of Melanesia can well be left for 
the present, others require immediate investiga- 
tion, as do all the smaller islands. ‘There is prob- 
ably no part of the world where a larger amount 
of valuable material can be saved during the next 
few years than in Melanesia, and yet at the present 
moment little or nothing is being done.” Much 
work and this of great urgency remains to be 
accomplished in Australia. “A thorough survey 
of Polynesia will yet provide material of the utmost 
value to the ethnologist.” “In Micronesia the 
conditions are more satisfactory . .. but there 
still remain . . . islands, such as the Gilbert and 
Ellice Groups, about which our existing knowledge 
is trivial.” He concludes by saying: 

“Two regions, southern Africa and Oceania, 
combine an extreme degree of the urgency of their 
needs with very inadequate attempts to meet those 
needs. Of these regions it is suggested that 
Oceania should have the preference. It includes 
places where interesting and important examples 
of human culture are on the verge of extinction 
and other places which are in a condition especially 
suited for intensive work, so that a large mass of 
valuable material can be obtained with relative 
ease. Through its insular character Oceania pre- 
sents conditions of especial importance in the study 
of certain theoretical problems, and it has a special 
interest in that its culture stands in close relation 
to that of the American continents. It is sug- 
gested that the study of a region allied in culture 
to that of America may react on the study of 
American ethnology, and may prove the best 
means of reaching positive conclusions concerning 
the exact nature of the indigenous culture of 
America.” 

Prof. Jenks gives a brief account of the subject- 
matter and present status of anthropology. In 
a section entitled “Research problems and oppor- 
tunities in Anthropology,” he deals solely with 
the Indo-Pacific and American areas. For the 
former he takes as his main theme the problem 
of the origin and spread of the Pacific islanders 
and their culture, and remarks that ‘‘ Churchill re- 
cently has largely solved the Polynesia migration 
problem in the Pacific Ocean.” He suggests that 
in Polynesia “a true knowledge of the genesis of 
the speech of man” possibly may be discovered, 
and quotes from Churchill that the Polynesian 
languages are of “the most elemental character,” 
and the “parts of speech have but just begun to 
make their appearance.” Churchill even says 
positively that ‘we find ourselves engaged with a 
language family in which we can discover the be- 
ginnings of human speech.” These statements 
are very remarkable if it be true, as other linguists 
assert, that the Melanesian variants of the 
Austronesian languages exhibit more primitive 
features than the Polynesian (Codrington definitely 
states that the Polynesian group of languages is 
“late, simplified, and decayed” as compared with 


NO, 2229, VOU. 92] 


NATURE 


[JUNE 18, 1914 


the Melanesian), and if we are to look for. the 
“primeval home” of the Polynesians in the. 
Ganges Valley. One would like to have the 
evidence for Churchill’s statement that “the 
Tongafiti migration has left absolutely no trace of 
its passage in Melanesia.” Prof. Jenks refers to 
certain problems, such as the decay and loss of 
culture forms, and to prehistoric stone remains, 
and he recommends further excavations at Trinil 
for Pithecanthropus erectus, and a study of the 
individual and communal life of the orang-utan. 

The antiquity and origin of man in America, 
and the origin and spread of aboriginal American 
culture are put forward as special questions re- 
quiring to be decided. The solution of the problem 
of the ‘“‘extra-American origin of culture... 
would contribute not only to the present subject, 
but to the anthropological world-problem of cul- 
ture similarities—whether similar cultural expres- 
sions in isolated areas had a common origin, or 
independent origins, or are due to transmission.”’ 
Three of the most important modern anthropo- 
logical problems of the Western hemisphere and 
the Pacific islands, of which Prof. Jenks advo- 
cates the study, are ethnic heredity, influence of 
environment on mankind, and human amalgama- 
tion, and he proposes that a permanent laboratory 
should be established eventually in connection with 
these studies. 

Mr. Sylvanus G. Morley makes a strong appeal 
in his beautifully illustrated essay for a prolonged 
and thorough investigation of the great group of 
ruins at Chichen Itza in northern Yucatan. It is 
his belief ‘that no other archzological field in the 
New World offers such rich promise as the region 
occupied by the ancient Maya, and, at the same 
time, no equally important field has been so in- 
adequately studied.” 

The facts and arguments adduced by Dr. Rivers 
and Prof. Jenks point clearly to Oceania as being 
probably that part of the world which most 
urgently needs ethnographical investigation, and 
if the Carnegie Institution could see its way to 
organise a commission for the intensive study of 
as many portions of that area as possible, com- 
bined with an investigation of the more general 
problems of racial and cultural movements, it 
would confer an incalculable boon on all present 
and future students of the history of human cul- 
ture. If this be not attempted very soon the 
opportunity will pass away for ever. 

A. C. Happon. 


THe PRINCIPLE OR REI LIVit ye 

1a. 

T the root of what are generally thought of 
A as our intuitive notions of space and time 
lies the conception of simultaneous instants at 
different points. The sensations by which we 
actually perceive bodies are, strictly speaking, not 
distributed through space; but the mental picture 
which we construct of the phenomena is. ordered 


| under the categories of time and space, and in 


1 Continued from p, 379- 


June 18, 1914] 


NATURE 


409 


. 


this way of ordering the idea of simultaneous 
events at different places is essential. 

Now the very. first thing that appears, if we 
accept the hypothesis of relativity, is that it is 
impossible for us to determine uniquely whether 
two events are or are not simultaneous. This can 
be best illustrated by a simple ideal experiment. 
Retaining for the present the conception of a 
unique stationary zther, let us suppose that two 
points A, B, are moving relative to it with the 
same velocity v, and let c be the velocity of light. 
Now imagine a ray of light to be sent out from 
A at,an instant ¢,, in the direction AB. Let this 
ray arrive at B at the instant f,. Let it then be 
reflected back to A, arriving there at the instant 
t,. - Now if the distance A B is J, since the relative 
velocity of the light on the outward journey is 
(c—v), we have . 

i, —t, =1/(c —2), 
and similarly since the relative velocity on the 
return is (c+v), 
ts—tg=1/(c +). 
From these equations we obtain 
tp=t, + ts/2+lu/(c?—v"). 

Now if the velocity v were zero, we should 
have the result that the moment of reflection at 
B is simultaneous with the moment 3(t,+ts), that 
is, with the moment at A midway between those 
of emission and return of the ray. But if the 
velocity v is unknown, which is the hypothesis 
with which we are dealing, then we cannot say 
from this experiment what instant at A is simul- 
taneous with the instant ft, at B. 

Now no man of science should say, of course, 
that because he does not know, or cannot deter- 
mine a thing, that, therefore, it does not exist. 
We have no right to say that, because we cannot 
determine our velocity relative to the «ther that 
therefore the ether cannot exist. So we do not 
say that the conception of “simultaneity” is an 
absurdity ; what we do say is that the notion is not 
an intuitive one, forced upon us with a unique 
significance apart from all material phenomena; 
but that it is a convenient element in our ways 
of thinking about phenomena, and is really in- 
separable from the whole body of thought about 
them, that is, from the laws by which we con- 
veniently describe their sequences. 

In the light of the simple experiment described 
above, therefore, we find that the conception of 
“simultaneity ”’ does not become definite until we 
have assigned a definite velocity to a certain 
point, which may conveniently be our own point 
of observation. 

The next thing we may notice is that the notion 
of the “length of a body” becomes indefinite 
along with the term “simultaneous.” For in our 
usual ways of thinking, the length of a body is 
the same as, is in fact defined to be, the distance 
between two points of our universal frame of 
reference, with which the ends of the -body 
““simultaneously coincide.” Until we have made 
the last phrase definite, the length of a body is 
either indefinite, or else it must be defined in some 


NO. 2329, VOL. 93] 


other way, in which case we might have a con- 
tradiction between the definition of length and the 
derived concept of measurable space. 

In the light of these difficulties we may be pre- 
pared to reconsider our preconceived notions of ' 
the measures of space and time and what is 
implied in respect of them by the laws which we 
find to be the best expression of the order which 
we have disentangled from the complex of physical 
phenomena, including among those laws the 
principle of relativity. 

As was stated at the beginning, this includes 
the statement that it is impossible for an observer 
to detect a difference between the velocities of 
light in different directions, whatever may be his 
own motion. In other words, the propagation of 
light through space is supposed to be expressible 
as a uniform propagation in all directions with 
velocity c whatever velocity the observer supposes 
himself to have. This is a_ self-contradictory 
assumption if we adhere to the space and time 
which we use in Newtonian dynamics, where the 
relative velocity of two points is just their dif- 
ference. But if we grant that our measures of 
space and time are, as has been suggested above, 
modes of thought inseparable from the laws into 
which they enter, then we realise that what we 
have been in the habit of looking upon as assured 
and permanent elements in our thought may, 
with the development of our knowledge of the 
physical world, come to require modification, 

If now we start from the fundamental law that 
there is a definite physically-determined velocity, 
that of light, an invariant element in the physical 
world, we can proceed by an algebraic process 
to examine what variety is possible in the quan- 
tities by which we measure space and time. This 
is a problem capable of complete solution, and 
when it is carried out we find that there is a 
large degree of. arbitrariness. It appears that 
out of all the possible systems of measurement 
so obtained we can always find one such that 
all points at rest in this system have an arbi- 
trary uniform velocity in any other given system. 
If this velocity is v and if two simultaneous 
events as estimated in the time variable of the 
first system occur at two points at distance 1 
apart on a line parallel to v, then. as estimated 
in the second space-time system, they occur at 
instants separated by a time lIv/c(c?—v?)?, at 
points the distance apart of which is cl/(c?—v?)}. 

The remarkable thing is that when we have 
developed this infinite number of ways of measur- 
ing space and time out of the single hypothesis 
of the universal value of the velocity of light, we 
are able to show further that the whole set of 
laws of the electromagnetic field may be retained 
in the same form whichever of the systems of 
measurement we adopt. Thus we find that not 
only space and time, but the physical quantities, 
electric and magnetic intensity, and the force on 


“ec 


a charged body, are quantities which are “re- 


lative,” that is, which are only uniquely defined 


after the choice of the system of reference has 


} been made; that is, after we have stated in ad- 


410 


vance what velocity we assign to some one par- | 


ticular point of the moving bodies. 

It appears too that the acceleration of a moving 
point has a relative magnitude, and so we find that 
the ratio of the force on a small charged body to 
the acceleration produced in it, is also a quantity 
which depends on the particular frame of reference 
used; the directions of the force and the accelera- 
tion cannot even be taken to be the same in 
all systems of measurement; that is, the accept- 
ance of our fundamental hypothesis makes it 
impossible to maintain the Newtonian conception 
of “constant mass.” The modifications required 
in the dynamical laws are, however, borne out 
by the results of the well-known experiments on 
the variable inertia of the negative electrons which 
constitute the kathode rays and the B rays, par- 
ticles the velocities of which are so great that 
the deviation from the ordinary laws are con- 
siderable. . 

A more important question even than that of the 
mass of the electron is that as to whether this 
modification in dynamical laws is allowable in 
the light of the enormous mass of support 
which the older theory receives from its agree- 
ment with the facts of planetary motion. All 
that can be said here is that with the modified 
conception of mass, and a modification of the 
law of gravitation which attributes to it the 
velocity of light and a deviation from the inverse 
square rule of such a kind as to make it con- 
sistent with the relativity of forces, de Sitter has 
shown that there is complete accord between 
existing observations and the demands of the 
hypothesis of relativity. 


The Aether. 


It was emphasised above that the stationary 
gether as it is commonly conceived is in reality 
nothing more than a mathematical frame of 
reference. Now we have seen that this frame of 
reference is not unique. Does the ether, there- 
fore, not exist? We can certainly say that, if it 
exists, it is not to be identified with the frame of 
reference. What we want is to be able to recon- 
cile the idea of a unique medium, which is the 
mechanism by which electrical effects are trans- 
mitted, with the mathematical equations which do 
not determine a unique frame of reference. This 
cannot be done except by attaching some con- 
crete significance to the electrical magnitudes in 
terms of the constitution, motion, or distortion of 
this medium. As we at present know them, the 
terms “electric intensity,” ‘‘magnetic force,” 
“motion of the ether,” have only a relative sig- 
nificance. If we contemplate an objective ether 
it might be possible to construct out of relative 
quantities depending on the motion of the ether 
a quantity which would have exactly the same 
kind of relativity as the electric intensity for 


example; that is, the electric intensity might be ! 


put into unique definition in terms of the ether, 
though both are only expressed relatively in terms 
of the frame of reference. 


NO.0 2320; VOL. 63) 


NATURE 


| the interpretation of an individual. 
_ do is to emphasise the insufficiency of the existing 
| conceptions of the ether, and to set up a criterion 


[June 18, 1914 


The principle of relativity then does not deny 
the existence of an ethereal medium; that is only 
What it does 


by means of which suggestions as to the nature 
of the ether may be examined. 
E. CUNNINGHAM. 


— 


PROF, HUGO KRONECKER, FOR.MEM.R.S. 


N Saturday, June 6, Hugo Kronecker, one of 
the first rank of living physiologists, died 
suddenly of apoplexy. Although he was seventy- 
five years of age, his intellect was as keen, his 
energy as great, and- his unselfishness as un- 
bounded as at any time in his life. This is saying 
much, for these characters had been his in no 
ordinary measure. His life’s work consisted 
chiefly of investigations into the contractility of 
muscle, the movements of the heart, and the effect 
upon it of rarefied air. He discovered almost 
simultaneously with Marey the curious fact that 
during one period of its cycle the ventricle will not 
respond to stimuli. To this time Marey gave the 
name of refractory period. He found also that 
there is a point generally known as Kronecker’s 
point in the heart, puncture of which causes the 
heart to stop at once and permanently. His in- 
vestigations on the effect of rarefied air upon the 
circulation convinced him that the ascent even to 
considerable altitudes if unaccompanied by 
muscular strain is without danger, and on_ his 
report to this effect the building of the well-known 
Jungfrau Tunnel was begun and is now nearly 
completed. 

Kronecker was at one time private assistant to 
the great physician, L. Traube, and thus possessed 
a knowledge of medicine quite unusual amongst 
mere physiologists. 
most esteemed pupils and dearest friends, and was 
at one time his assistant. At Leipzig and else- 
where he became acquainted with almost every 
physiologist of note, and his linguistic powers, his 
extensive knowledge of an encyclopzedic character, 
his geniality, kindness, and trustworthiness con- 
verted every acquaintance he made into a friend. 

Like Ludwig, Kronecker published a great deal 
of his work under the names of his pupils, amongst 
whom may be mentioned Dr. Gustav Hamel, father 
of the aeronaut, whose untimely death-the world 
has recently had to deplore, and Prof. Meltzer, of 
the Rockefeller Institute. His influence in stimu- 
lating others was enormous, and as director of 
the Marey Institute in Paris, as professor in Berne, 


_ and as an actual participator in most of the physio- 


logical congresses, he put at the service of every- 
one who was willing to work his knowledge, his 
time, and his energy without stint. 

The esteem in which Kronecker was held is 
shown by the Universities of Glasgow, Aberdeen, 
St. Andrews, and Edinburgh having conferred 
upon him the degree of LL.D., and Cambridge that 
of D.Sc. The number of distinctions conferred upon 


| him by foreign universities and learned bodies is 


ee 


He was one of C. Ludwig’s - 


ie 


JuNE 18, 1914] 


too great to mention. He served during the cam- 
paign of 1866 and the war of 1870-71, and 
obtained the decoration of the iron cross. His 
death is a great loss to physiology, and will be felt 
as a personal sorrow by physiologists throughout 
the world. LAUDER BRUNTON. 


NOTES. 

WE regret to announce the death on June 6, at 
seventy-eight years of age, of Prof. Adolph Lieben, 
emeritus professor of general and pharmaceutical 
chemistry in the University of Vienna, and foreign 
member of the Chemical Society. 


Tue death is announced, in his seventy-first year, 
of Dr. Barclay V. Head, correspondant of the In- 
stitute of France, corresponding member of the Royal 
Prussian Academy of Sciences, and keeper of the 
Department of Coins and Medals at the British 
Museum in 1893-1906. 


PortsMOUTH has been selected as the place of meet- 
ing for the autumn conference of the Institute of 
Metals. The conference, which will be presided over 
by the president, Sir Henry J. Oram, K.C.B., F.R.S., 
will be held on Thursday, September 10, and Friday, 
September 11, in the Municipal College, a number of 
important papers being read each morning. 


THE annual June conversazione of the Royal Society 
was held at Burlington House on Tuesday. Most of 
the exhibits of apparatus and specimens were the same 
as were shown at the May conversazione, of which an 
account was given in Nature of May 21 (p. 304), and 
others have been described in our reports of the pro- 
ceedings of societies and academies, so that no further 
reference need be made to them here. 


Tue Aero Club of America has appointed a com- 
mittee of seventy, with Admiral Peary as its chair- 
man, to supervise the preparation of a map of the 
permanent air currents over the United States. The 


committee will begin by formulating rules for making - 


aerial observations at points to be agreed upon in 
various parts of the country. Local aero clubs will 
then make the observations by means of balloons and 
aeroplane flights. The committee will also prepare a 
topographical map _ indicating convenient landing 
places for airmea 


A SERIES of severe thunderstorms passed over the 
southern area of the metropolis on Sunday afternoon, 
June 14. The lightning was exceptionally severe and 
prolonged, and torrents of rain fell with much hail at 
times. Six persons, of whom four were children, were 
killed at about one o’clock, whilst sheltered under two 
different trees on Wandsworth Common, and several 
persons were injured, one of whom has since died. 
Many buildings were struck by lightning, and 
immense damage was sustained by,flooding due to the 
heavy rain. The damage was almost wholly limited 
to an area stretching from east to west, from Black- 
heath and Lewisham through Streatham and Wands- 
worth to Wimbledon and Kingston. At Streatham 


Hill thunder was first heard at 12.30 p.m., and the 


NO. 2329, VOL. 93] 


NAT ORE 


AII 
storms continued with more or less intensity until 
after 5 p.m. There were four distinct disturbances 
moving from east to west, and apparently subsidiary 
to the low-pressure area over France and Germany. 
The heaviest downpour of rain and hail occurred at 
Streatham Hill for a quarter of an hour, from 1.30 
p-m.; at 2 p.m. the rainfall measured 1-10 in., at 
4 p.m. an additional 0-45 in., and at 6 p.m. 0-05 in., 
giving an aggregate 1-60 in. At Wandsworth Common 
the rainfall by 3 p.m. measured 1-23 in., and at 
4.30 p.m. an additional 0-65 in. was measured, giving 
an aggregate 1:88 in. At Kew the rainfall was 
1-34 in., at Greenwich 0-32 in., South Kensington 
0:23 in., Westminster 0-16 in., Camden Square, 0-04 in., 
at Hampstead nil. 


Tue address upon the relation of science to the 
modern State, and the inadequate encouragement given 
to the scientific discoverer, delivered by Sir Ronald 
Ross at the annual meeting of the British Science 
Guild on May 22 has produced a valuable and interest- 
ing correspondence in the Morning Post during the 
past few weeks. Sir Ronald Ross’s main thesis was 
that however good the educational and laboratory 
opportunities may be, discoveries are not likely to be 
made so frequently if they impoverish the workers, or 
at least confer no benefits upon them, as is the case 
in Great Britain at present. He also pointed to the 
injustice of the treatment of scientific men by the 
State in accepting great services with little or no com- 
pensation, whereas for far less valuable services from 
other professional men high fees are paid. Readers of 
Nature know how persistently the claims of scientific 
investigation to adequate recognition have been urged 
in these columns, and that an article upon the subject 
appeared in our issue of June 4. The letters pub- 
lished in the Morning Post, most of them by well- 
known men of science, should be the means of making 
a large section of the general public acquainted with 
the poor prospects, measured by monetary standards 
or worldly success, offered by a career devoted to 
scientific research in comparison with those of pro- 
fessions which do not demand exceptional qualities 
of originality and genius. The State may not be able 
to select and endow a race of discoverers, and it 
cannot assess the ultimate value of a discovery, but 
what it can and should do is to see that the men and 
women who are contributing to the advancement of 
knowledge are given the most generous encourage- 


ment and the fullest opportunities of carrying on their 
work. 


AmonGst the terrible loss of life in the Empress of 
Ireland disaster in the St. Lawrence River recently 
there comes as a shock to all geologists and mining 
men interested in the occurrence of ore-deposits in the 
Archean crystalline rocks of Canada the loss of 
one who, for the past thirty years, took a most 
active part in the deciphering of the structure of the 
earth’s crust in the great crystalline areas of North 
America. In Dr. Barlow, Canada had the last court 
of appeal on the genesis of its ore-deposits. Trained 
first at home in Montreal, Barlow studied at McGill 
University under Sir William Dawson, Dr. Harring- 
ton, and other geologists, and was asked to join the 


412 


NATURE 


[June 18, 1914 


technical staff of the Geological Survey in 1883 at 
Ottawa, under Dr. A. R. C. Selwyn. Filled with 
energy and enthusiasm for the science of geology, he 
entered the field in the province of Quebec, and later 
on worked hard at the nickel- and copper-bearing 
deposits of the Sudbury region in Ontario. In the 
Cobalt silver-mining areas of Ontario, throughout the 
Lake Timiskaming areas of crystalline rocks, in the 
iron-ore region of Lake Timagami, as well as in the 
gold-bearing areas of the Porcupine district on the 
Montreal River, and in the Haliburton and Bancroft 
region of southern Ontario, throughout the Hastings 
series, besides the special district of Dungannon, where 
corundum deposits are found, Dr. Barlow was the 
worker who, with unceasing energy and devotion to 
the solution of the difficult problems presented in these 
various fields, characterising nearly as many petro- 
graphical provinces, has left a record of noteworthy 
achievement to the science. At the March (1914) 
meeting of the Canadian Mining Institute, held in 
Montreal, he was the retiring president, and he did 
much for the institute and the mining fraternity to 
bring about close relations between the thorough-going 
geologist and the practical mining engineer. 


THE archeological section of the Victoria Museum, 
Ottawa, the national museum of Canada, contains a 
valuable collection from the Thompson River region 
in the southern interior of British Columbia. In 
1897, with the aid of funds contributed by Mr. 
Morris K. Jesup, of New York, Mr. Harlan I. Smith 
was enabled to make important discoveries in this 
little known region. The material thus obtained, 
which is of considerable anthropological value, has 
now been catalogued and described by Mr. Smith in 
Memoir No. 1290 of the Geological Survey of Canada. 
The catalogue is provided with a good series of 
illustrations, and is an important contribution to the 
ethnology of North America. 


Dr. Asupy, Director of the British School at Rome, 
has recently delivered a lecture before the Malta 
Historical and Scientific Society on recent discoveries 
in the island. A large Roman villa has now been 
thoroughly examined, which shows rooms grouped 
round a central peristyle, with fluted columns of Malta 
stone, and an underground water channel leading 
from the great cistern of Medewict, which was ex- 
cavated in 1881. The problem of the connection of 
the two has not, however, been determined. Opposite 
the villa is the Ghar Dalam cave, the exploration 
of which has been resumed. On the upper layer 
of earth pottery, both prehistoric and Punic, was dis- 
covered, mixed with the smaller bones of hippopotami 
and other animals, showing that the stratification 
had been destroyed probably by the percolation of 
water through the cave, which is not very far below 
the surface, and is even now full of moisture. These 
animals lived in the island while it formed part of a 
larger continent, and their bones were probably 
washed into the cave in their present state of disorder 
when the continent was submerged, 


Mr. J. P. Busus-Fox reported 
the Society of Antiquaries 


NO. 2329, VOL. 93] 


at the last meeting 


of the results of 


excavations at Hengistbury Head, lying east 
of Bournemouth, and forming the south side of 
Christchurch Harbour. The place was occupied from 
Neolithic times, and interments supplied Bronze age 
pottery, an incense cup, gold, amber, and _ bronze ° 
articles. In England it had hitherto been extremely 
difficult to fill in the gap between the end of the 
Bronze age and the period immediately preceding 
the Roman occupation; but the discovery at Hengist- 
bury Head of a complete series of pottery linking 
up with the Hallstatt and La Téne periods is of 
great value. Perhaps the most interesting discovery 
was of more than 4000 gold, silver, and bronze coins, 
most of them British, and a large number of new 
types. The coinage of Gaul and Britain was largely 
copied from Greek originals, principally a coin of 
Philip of Macedon, about the middle of the fourth 
century B.c. The head and chariot on this coin had 
become so degraded by copying that the original 
pattern had been entirely forgotten. Most of the 
Hengistbury coins belong to the last stage of this 
type, and many of them are covered with little more 
than dots and lines. With them were associated 
Roman coins dating as late as the middle of the 
second century A.D. As many of the British examples 
were in mint condition, this part of the country had 
evidently been little affected by the Roman occupa- 
tion of more than a century before. 


Mr. Crarence B, Moore records in vol. xvi. of the 
Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Phil- 
adelphia, 1913, under the title of ‘‘Some Aboriginal 
Sites in Louisiana and in Arkansas,” the results of 
his archzological investigations of 1912-13. He 
covered ground previously unexplored by archzeologists, 
but unfortunately the finds were very meagre and on 
the whole uninteresting, partly because’ the area in 
question is subject to floodings, and therefore the 
destruction or the impairment of mounds is not per- 
missible. Nevertheless, the district had to be inves- 
tigated in order to complete the scheme which Mr. 
Moore has imposed on himself, despite the fact that 
he knew he would be unlikely to get many specimens. 
It is this attitude of mind, the patient accumulation 
of data irrespective of their intrinsic worth and dis- 
regard of sensational results, that gives Mr. Moore a 
distinguished place among archzeologists. Many of 
the mounds are quadrangular, with the sides facing 
the cardinal points, frequently they are about 15-20 ft. 
in height, and have a square flat summit, sometimes 
too ft. or more in diameter. In addition to the usual 
wealth of excellent figures of pottery, etc., there are 
two coloured plates, one of a large effigy-pipe of 
earthenware, the other of irregular earthenware objects 
of unknown significance. Those that are biconical 
may have been used in the ‘“‘hand-game,” a gambling 
game universally spread over North America, possibly 
some of the other objects may have been used for 
similar purposes; at present they remain a mystery. 
The memoir closes with a short report on a collection 
of crania and bones by Dr. A. Hrdlitka. The skulls 
were slightly deformed artificially, and ‘‘are remark- 
ably like the less narrow type of crania among the 
Siouan people and the more southern Iroquois.” 


June 18, 1914] 


NATORE 


413 


Tue Milk and Dairies Bill passed the second reading 
on June 9. On the whole a favourable opinion was 
expressed with regard to it, though Mr. Astor thought 
there was a real fear that it might seriously diminish 
the quantity of milk available, and so tend to increase 
its price. He also urged the grading of milk. 


THE annual report of the superintendent of the 
Brown Institution (Mr. F. W. Twort) has been issued. 
Some 6000 animals were brought to the institution, of 
which 565 were treated as in-patients. In addition to 
its hospital, important research work is carried out in 
the laboratories of the institution—investigations on 
Johne’s disease of cattle, by Dr. C. Twort; the func- 
tions of the thyroid gland, by Mr. Edmunds; infantile 
diarrhoea, by Dr. Mellanby and the superintendent, 
etc. 


As is well known, those engaged in occupations in 
which much siliceous dust is produced (e.g. potters, 
certain miners, etc.) suffer from a form of lung 
disease. Dr. ‘McCrae has analysed the lungs from 
such cases occurring in the Witwatersrand mines, 
South Africa. He finds that from 2-8 to 9-6 grams of 
silica may be present, compared with 0-55 gram in a 
normal lung. Microscopical examination of the 
siliceous particles showed them to be angular, and 
the majority have a diameter of less than 1 » (South 
African Institute for Medical Research, 1913). 


WE have received from the publisher, Mr. Gustav 
Fischer, Jena, ‘‘Studien zur Pathologie der Entwick- 
lung’’ (Band i., Heft 3, 1914), edited by Profs. R. 
Meyer and E. Schwalbe. The principal contribution 
is by Dr. L. Kech on the morphology of the muscu- 
lature of the human extremities when defective (pp. 
428-539), containing a summary of published examples. 
Abstracts of papers published elsewhere, as well as 
original communications, are included in the volume, 
which should be of considerable service to those en- 
gaged in this branch of research. 


A REPORT of the work of the Radium Institute for 
the year 1913, by the director, Mr. Hayward Pinch, 
has been issued. In all, 860 cases have been treated, 
of which about half were cases of cancer. A number 
of the latter improved more or less, but it is too early 
yet to determine whether they be cured or not. It 
would seem that in cases of cancers of the skin the 
outlook is very hopeful, but that in tumours of the 
tongue and mouth it is less hopeful—though the 
method of burying the radium tube in the tumour has 
been successful in some cases. Tumours of the womb 
vield gratifying results, of the breast fair results. 
Intestinal tumours, though difficult to reach, do well 
in a relatively smail number of cases. Tumours of 
bone, if taken early, do well. In most cases pain and 
irritation are relieved. Besides the direct application 


of radium in the institute, tubes of radium emanation 


and radio-active water are supplied for use outside. 


In his report for 1913 the curator states that the 
Sarawak Museum has made steady progress, the 
number of additions during that year being above the 
average, and articles based on the collections more 


NO. 2329, VOL. 93] 


numerous than usual. The crying need of the moment 
seems to be the expansion and (when necessary) de- 
scription of the large collection of Bornean beetles. 


WirH its June issue the Entomologist’s Monthly 
Magazine celebrates its jubilee, the first number, under 
the editorship of Messrs. Stainton, McLachlan, Rye, 
Blackburn, and Knaggs, having appeared in June, 
1864. Of the contributors to the first volume, eight 
well-known entomologists—Messrs. A. G. Butler, F. 
Enock, C, Fenn, G. Lewis, G. B. Longstaff, G. F. 
Mathew, D. Sharp, and G. O. Waterhouse are still 
with us to testify to the healthfulness of ‘ butterfly- 
hunting.”” Since its commencement, the magazine 
has added no fewer than 2992 species to the British 
fauna. 


Lice (Anoplura) and biting-lice (Mallophaga) infest- 
ing mammals form the subject of an article in the 
May issue of the American Naturalist by Prof. V. L. 
Kellogg, of Stanford University, Colorado. In a 
previous communication on the Mallophaga of birds it 


| has been shown that the evidence of these parasites 


frequently confirms that of other factors in respect to 
the near affinity between hosts that are widely sun- 
dered geographically. Similar evidence is afforded by 
the study of the mammal-infesting types, the author 
remarking that, in spite of the incompleteness of our 
knowledge, ‘‘it is surprising how repeatedly the com- 
monness of parasite species to two or more related, 
although geographically well separated, host-species 
is illustrated. All through the order (f.e., class) from 
Marsupials to Quadrumana this condition is again 
and again exemplified.’’ 


As the result of collecting trips in the Middle and 
Far East, followed by technical work in the chief 
museums of Europe, Mr. C, W. Beebe has evolved a 
scheme of classification of the pheasants and their 
relations, based on the order in which the tail-feathers 
are moulted, a feature he believes to afford the most 
trustworthy indication of genetic affinity. In this he 
is in agreement with the work of Dr. Bureau on the 
tail-moult in partridges, although he was unacquainted 
with those researches until his own were nearly com- 
pleted. On this basis Mr. Beebe (whose article ap- 
peared in the April issue, vol. i., No. 15, of Zoologica) 
divides the pheasant family (Phasianidz) into four sub- 
families. In the first of these (Perdicinz) the tail- 
moult commences with the inner pair of feathers, 
while in the second (Phasianinz) the outermost pair 
are the first to be shed; in the other two sub-families 
an intermediate condition exists. 


A NEW method for determining the densities of 
minerals and rocks at high temperatures is described 
by A. L. Day, R. B. Sosman, and J. C. Hostetter, in 
the American Journal of Science, vol. xxxvii. (1914), 
p. 1. The substance is held down by weights under 
an inverted crucible of graphite, which is immersed 
in a bath of molten tin or silver. Tin has the con- 
veniently low melting point of 232°. The measure- 
ments are made by noting the weight required to pull 
down the crucible and the assay to a given depth 
marked on a stem connected with the crucible. The 
graphite is protected from oxidation by an atmosphere 


414 


of nitrogen and carbon monoxide. The density-curve 
of the metal used and the expansion-coefficient of 
graphite are, of course, factors in the calculation of 
the results. One of the most interesting of these is 
that as: the temperature (575°) at which a-quartz 
passes into B-quartz is approached, a striking increase 
occurs in the rate of expansion. 


THE area of German East Africa to the south-east 
of the Victoria Nyanza and south of the frontier of 
British East Africa was explored in 1906-7 by Prof. 
Fritz Jaeger, Professor of Colonial Geography in 
Berlin, and his report on the Riesenkrater Highlands 
includes a detailed account of the interesting area 
which he investigated. It has been issued in the 
Mitteilungen aus den Deutschen Schutzgebieten, 
Erganzungsheft, No. 8 (1913, 4to, 213 pp., 12 pl., 3 
maps). The most interesting general problem in 
the area is the course across it of the Great Rift 
Valley of East Africa. The western wall of this 
valley continues southward, forming the western 
scarps above lakes Magadi, Manyara, and Balangda; 
but the eastern wall disappears in a wide volcanic 
belt which extends westward from the extinct vol- 
canoes of Kilima Njaro, and Meru. In the same 
district a series of faults branches off from the western 
wall of the Great Rift Valley and trends south- 
westward; these faults give rise to a series of rift 
valleys of which the largest includes the plains of 
Wembere and Lake Njarasa; a smaller one, Prof. 
Jaeger has called the MHohenlohe-Graben. These 
valleys may be really off-branches, and the main 
valley probably continues southward; its eastern 
wall may be represented by some faults, with a throw 
of more than 600 ft., which lie along the southern 
extension of the eastern side of Lake Manyara. The 
memoir includes a detailed account of the volcanic 
_ highlands to the north and west of Lake Manyara, 
which Prof. Jaeger has called the Riesenkrater 
Hochland. 


R. E. LieseGANG’s suggestions and experiments as 
to the osmotic deposition of concentric coats in 
chemical and mineral aggregates have received con- 
siderable attention among geologists, and notably 
from Mr. G. Abbott (Narure, vol. xcii., pp. 607 and 
687). Mr. Abbott has now published in the Pioneer 
(March 20 and 27, 1914) a further study of the discoid 
limestones which simulate organic characters in the 
concretionary beds of Permian age at Sunderland, 
and suggests that we must not ignore processes of 
mineral growth ‘even in the evolution of well-known 
organisms, such as corals.’’ We must not, he urges, 
“remain blind to what the alkaline earths can of 
themselves do in the formation of the skeletons of 
higher structures, in the roll of living things.” 
Mr. E. A. Martin, Hon. Curator of the Museum of 
the Borough of Croydon, South Norwood, writes to 


us on the same subject, pointing out that the 
secretion of carbonate of lime or silica by marine 
organisms may be ‘‘immensely assisted by the 


believes to have 
coralloid growths 
‘*Has this, too,” 
reason why some 


osmotic action which Mr. Abbott 
been the cause of the discoid and 
of the limestones of Fulwell Hill.’’ 
he asks, “‘anything to do with the 


NG: (2329, VOL @3 | 


NATURE 


| 


[JUNE 18, 1914 


shells are spiral, discoidal, bivalve, and so on?” Here 
the question appears to be one for the zoologist, 
who may be able to indicate a cause in the grouping 
of the soft parts of the animal, by which the external 
skeleton is controlled. 


A FIRST communication on the motion of the air in 
the lowest strata of the atmosphere, by Prof. G. Hell- 
mann, appeared in the Sitzungsberichte of the Prus- 
sian Academy of Sciences of April 2. As pointed out 
by the author, of all the meteorological elements deter- 
mined by instruments, none lacks comparability be- 
tween one place and another like wind velocity. This 
is due to some extent to instrumental defects, but more 
particularly to the extraordinary differences of expo- 
sure, especially height above the ground. Experiments 
are being carefully made by the Berlin Meteorological 
Institute at heights of 2, 16, and 32 metres, the results 
of which show an annual mean increase in velocity 
of 48 per cent. between 2 and 16 metres, but only 
14 per cent. between 16 and 32 metres; it is proposed 
to erect additional instruments at greater heights. 
Little variations in the increase of velocity with height 
were found to exist during the monthly periods, except 
at the lowest level, owing to friction with the surface. 
Some very interesting and unexpected results are 
referred to with respect to the completely opposite 
behaviour of the daily range of velocity in light and 
strong winds. The systematic study of the vertical 
wind components, such as those now in question, is 
of great importance at the present time. 


In the May number of the Proceedings of 
the American Academy, Dr. Louis Bell gives 
an account of an investigation of the types of 
abnormal colour vision he has commenced with the 
aid of the Rumford Fund. His spectroscopic 
apparatus allows him to classify his cases very 
rapidly. It depends on matching a synthetic yellow 
and a synthetic blue-green, which lie at the points of 
intersection of 
sensation curves for the normal eye, by a pure spec- 
trum which occupies the lower, while the synthetic 
colour occupies the upper half of the field of view. 
Of the twenty-six types of abnormality, Dr. Bell has 
already investigated the six possible types character- 
ised by deficiency or excess of sensitivity to one of 
the three fundamental colours, five of the twelve 
possible cases in which two of the fundamental sensa- 
tions are affected, and four of the eight possible cases 
in which three of the sensations are abnormal. He 
points out that the direction in which we must look 
for remedial measures is that of reducing the stronger 
sensation or sensations by means of coloured spec- 
tacles till the three are in the normal ratio. This can 
only be done in the deficiency cases at the expense 
of the general luminosity. 


PART. 3 2of vol. 11. 
the University of Sendai, 
important magnetic papers. The first, by Messrs. 
K. Honda and Y. Ogura, deals with the rela- 
tion between the changes with temperature of the 
electrical resistances and the magnetic  suscepti- 
bilities of iron, steel, and nickel. The materials were 
tested in the form of wires about a metre long and a 


of the Science Reports of 
Japan, contains two 


the red-green and the blue-green | 


ee ee ee 


June 18, 1914] 


NAT ORE 


415 


millimetre in diameter. The magnetic field of about 
160 was produced by coils, and the magnetisation 
measured by the magnetometer method up to tempera- 
tures of 800° or goo° C. The results show that the 
changes of conductivity and susceptibility occur to- 
gether, and that both are due to gradual changes of 
the properties of one of the phases rather than to any 
change of phase of the constituents. The second 
paper, by Messrs. H. Takagi and T. Ishiwara, gives 
the susceptibilities of a large number of minerals and 
igneous, aqueous, and metamorphic rocks, tested by 
the non-uniform field method up to fields of 2600. 
In general, igneous rocks are strongly paramagnetic, 
and their susceptibilities decrease with the field, while 
the other rocks are weakly paramagnetic or dia- 
magnetic, and their susceptibilities nearly independent 
of the field. 


Bu.LietIn No. 42 of the experiment station of the 
Hawaiian Sugar Planters’ Association contains an 
account by Mr. Noél Deerr of an experimental study 
in multiple effect evaporation. From these experi- 
ments it appears that the temperature difference in the 
first cell is a rough index of the rate of evaporation, 
and that the vapours in a multiple effect evaporator 
are superheated. The heat economy of quadruple 
effect evaporators as found in practice compared with 
a computation on ideal lines lay between o-8 and o-9, 
the latter figure being obtained with well protected, 
and the former with unprotected, or badly protected 
apparatus. A vertical submerged tube apparatus with 
5-lb. gauge pressure in cell No. 1 (227° F.), and not 
less than 26-5 in. vacuum in the last cell (127° F.) 
should evaporate not less than g lb. of water per 
sq. ft. an hour, with juice entering at 212° F., and 
should evaporate 4-2 lb. of water per lb. of steam. If 
these results are not realised, foul heating surfaces, 
too slow evacuation of condensed waters, or incon- 
densible gases may be looked for. A horizontal tube 
film evaporator had a much greater rate of evapora- 
tion than vertical submerged tube evaporators. 


THE recent pronouncement of Sir Percy Scott that 
the importance cf submarines has not been fully 
recognised, and that it has not been realised how 
completely their advent has revolutionised naval war- 
fare forms the subject of articles in Engineering and 
the Engineer for June 12. Sir Percy has said that, 
in his opinion, as the motor vehicle has driven the 
horse from the road, so has the submarine driven the 
battleship from the sea. These statements have en- 
countered a good deal of criticism, and neither of our 
contemporaries advocates the interpretation that we 
should discontinue the building of battleships. It 
cannot be said that Sir Percy has adduced convincing 
reasons for the complete change in naval policy which 
he advocates. It has not been established that the 
torpedo, practically the only weapon of the submarine 
boat, would be effective. Again, the radius of action 
of such boats when submerged is very limited, not 
much more than one hundred miles, so that in taking 
a considerable voyage they would have to proceed 
‘‘awash,”’ and would then be subject to attack by 
torpedo-boat destroyers and other surface craft, and 
by aerial vessels. 


NO. 2329, VOL. 93] 


Memerrs of the British Asscciation about to proceed 
to Australia for the meeting in August next, and 
students of geography generally, should examine the 
large scale map of Australia just published by Messrs. 
G. W. Bacon and Co., Ltd. The size of the map is 
72 in. by 56 in., and it can be had in four sheets, 
mounted to fold in neat cloth case for the bookshelf, 
at the price of 25s. The map is constructed on 
Clarke’s Perspective Projection, and the scale is 
I : 2,500,000, or 39:5 miles to the inch. Rivers, lakes, 
and similar physical features, are shown and named 
in blue, while black type is used for place-names, 
mountains, and so on. Roads, tracks, and telegraph 
lines are marked in red. Inset maps on the same 
scale are provided of Tasmania and Papua. The map 
is also published mounted on cloth with rollers, in 
which form it will prove very useful in the office and 
study. 


Mr. S. J. BarNETT writes from the Ohio State Uni- 
versity, U.S.A., to say that the word “size” in the 
penultimate line of the second column of p. 109 of the 
current volume of Nature, on which a letter from 
him is printed, should be ‘‘sign.”” We have examined 
Mr. Barnett’s original MS., and in view of the in- 
distinct character of the handwriting understand how 
the misprint occurred. 


OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 


Tue New ZeALAND Soar OsservaTory.—In an 
address to the members of the Wellington Philo- 
sophical Society, by the president, Dr. C. Monro 
Hector, the subject dealt with was the present state 
of affairs as regards the Cawthron Solar Observatory. 
Referring first of all to the approval of all 
the leading authorities in both Europe and 
America for the establishment of such an_ ob- 
servatory, he points out the suitability of the neigh- 
bourhood of Nelson as the site. The records show 
that this region has 20 per cent. more sunshine and 
33 per cent. less rain than at the Kodaikanal Observa- 
tory in India. Several excellent sites about Nelson 
are available, but that on the Port Hills, within easy 
reach of the town, has so far proved the best from 
an observational point of view; if this be eventually 
selected, it will be a means of saving much money in 
initial outlay and running expenses. Mr. Thomas 
Cawthron has promised the 50,oool. for a beginning, 
being the estimated minimum for establishing the 
observatory on a continuous and permanent basis; a 
suggested deed of trust has been drawn up, and a 
suggested board of trustees has been submitted to him 
and approved. The proposed constitution of the board 
is as follows :—Mr. Thomas Cawthron, one member 
nominated by each of eight institutions, the Govern- 
ment Astronomer, and two others elected by the rest 
of the board. 


Tue PosITIONS OF VARIABLES AND ASTEROIDS Dis- 
COVERED AT THE LoweLL OssEervatory.—Bulletin 
No. 61 of the Lowell Observatory contains a com- 
munication by Mr. C. O. Lampland with reference to 
the positions of variables and asteroids discovered on 
photographs of star fields taken with the 4o-in. re- 
flector of the Lowell Observatory. During the past 
year about 800 negatives have been made and 
examined, and measures were made with a Zeiss 
comparator equipped with a Blink Mikroskop. All 
the areas were photographed in duplicate, and the 
exposures were from two to three days apart on the 
average. The settings at the telescope were made on 


416 


NATURE 


[JUNE 18, 1914 


the intersections of the hour-circles and parallels of 
declination (at intervals of four minutes in R.A. and 
1° in declination) in Schonfelds and Gould’s Durch- 
musterung charts, so the plates (7x5 in.) in their 
longest direction have considerable overlap, the linear 
scale of the negatives corresponding to one degree of 
arc being 38 in. Mr. E. C. Slipher was a co-worker 
at the telescope, and with the examination of the 
negatives, but Mr. Lampland is responsible for the 
magnitudes and determinations of position which 
accompany the paper in the form of tables. Nearly 
all the objects dealt with are of magnitude about 
12 or fainter. 


RapiaL VELOCITIES OF 100 STARS WITH MEASURED 
PARALLAXES.—Messrs. W. S. Adams and Arnold Kohl- 
schutter contribute a valuable paper to the May num- 
ber of the Astrophysical Journal (Contributions from 
the Mount Wilson Solar Observatory, No. 79) relative to 
the radial velocity determinations during the past three 
years of stars fainter than magnitude 5-5 on the visual 
scale for which observations of parallax are available. 
The photographs were secured with the 60-in. reflector 
in conjunction with the Cassegrain 
adapted for use with one prism, but for stars from 5-5 
to o-5 magnitude a camera lens (Brashear special 
triplet) of 102 cm. focal length was used, while for 
stars fainter than 6-5 a lens (Cooke astrographic type) 
of 46 cm. focal length was employed. Briefly sum- 
marising some of the conclusions derived from this excel- 
lent piece of research work, the first to be mentioned 
is the enormous radial velocities of a few of the stars 


observed. Thus Lal. 1966 and Lal. 15290 indicated - 


velocities of —325 and —242 km., the first of these 
being the highest recorded radial velocity among any 
of the stars. Four other stars exceeded 100 km., and 
several between 75 and 100 km. A notable fact is the 
great preponderance of large negative over large posi- 
tive velocities, no less than 75 per cent. of the large 
velocities observed being negative. The following in- 
teresting table shows the stars exceeding radial velo- 
cities of 50 km. with their spectral types, showing 
that nearly all classes of the latter are involved :— 


Positive (5) Negative (15) 
Groom. 864. Go +100 Lal. 1045 Kr —58 
Groom. 1281 Fog $4 Lal. 1966 F3 319 
20 Leo. Min GI 54 Lal. 4855 Go 103 
33 Virginis Kr 56 Lal. 5761 A3P 151 
Lal. 30694 G5 57 Lal. 15290 F7 250 
Lal. 21185 Ma 85 
Lal. 27744 Gog 58 
OF 298 Ko 55 


WB: 1shy20,' sG 
Lal. 28607 is 133 
72 @ Herculis Go 59 
316 Aquila G7 80 
Lal.37120=1) (G2 143 
Lac. 8381 K6 50 
Pi 23h 164 F3" = 59 
It will be noticed that the two stars with the largest 


proper velocities are of types F3 and F7, and the two 
succeeding stars are of the A type. 


THIRD INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF 
TROPICAL AGRICULTURE. 


TES congress will be held at the Imperial Institute 

on June 23-30. Meetings will commence each 
week-day at 10.30 a.m., except on Saturday, which will 
be devoted to special visits. The mornings, as a rule, 
will be devoted to discussions, and the afternoons to 
papers on special subjects. Only a few of the more 


NO. 2320, VOL." 93) 


spectrograph | 3+ which Mr. Shuman will describe the “Utilisation of 


important matters to be dealt with can be mentioned 
here, and those interested should consult the general 
programme, which can be obtained on application to 
the general secretaries at the Imperial Institute, South 
Kensington, S.W. 

At the inaugural meeting on June 23, the president, 
Prof. Wyndham R. Dunstan, will receive the delegates 
of the foreign and colonial Governments, and will 
deliver the presidential address. In the afternoon he 
will preside at a discussion on ‘Technical Education 
in Tropical Agriculture,” to which Mr. Dudgeon 
(Egypt), Dr. Francis Watts (West Indies), Mr. Lyne 
(Ceylon), Mr. McCall (Nyasaland), and others will 
contribute. 

An interesting feature of the congress will be a 
series of four special papers to be given on certain 
afternoons. On Tuesday, June 23, Mr. J. A. Hutton, 
chairman of the British Cotton Growing Association, 
will describe the work of that association. The Earl 
of Derby, president of the association, will tale the 
chair, and Lord Emmott, Under-Secretary of State for 
the Colonies, will speak. In the same series Sir Louis 
Dane will preside at a meeting on Thursday afternoon, 


Sun-power for Irrigation and Other Purposes’’; on 
Friday afternoon Prof. Wallace will lecture on ‘‘ The 
Caracul Sheep’”’; and on Monday afternoon, June 29, 
Mr. Wigglesworth will describe ‘‘The Fibre Industry 
of British East Africa.’’ 

On Wednesday morning, June 24, two discussions 
will be held; the first, presided over by Sir Ronald 
Ross, will deal with ‘‘Hygiene and Sanitation on 
Tropical Estates,’’ and the second, at which Sir Sydney 
Olivier will take the chair, will be concerned with 
“Legislation against Plant Diseases,’’ to be introduced 
by a paper from Mr. A. G. L. Rogers, of the Board 
of Agriculture. 

On Thursday morning the president will introduce 
a discussion on ‘‘ The Factors which Determine Varia- 
tion in the properties of Plantation Rubber, with 
Special Reference to its Uses for Manufacturing Pur- 
poses,’’? to which planters, manufacturers, and others 
will contribute. In the afternoon Sir E. Rosling will 
preside, and papers on rubber will be read. 

On Friday morning the first discussion will be 
on ‘Agricultural Credit Banks and Cooperative 
Societies,’ at which Sir Horace Plunkett will preside. 
The second will be on ‘‘The Organisation of Agri- 
cultural Departments in Relation to Research,’’ and 
at this the President will take the chair. 

On Monday, June 29, Viscount Kitchener will take 
the chair at a discussion on ‘‘The Improvement of 
Cotton Cultivation,” at which papers will be read by 
Mr. Dudgeon (Egypt), Prof. Todd (Nottingham Uni- 
versity), Mr. Arno Schmidt (International Federation 
of Cotton Spinners), and Mr. McCall (Nyasaland). 
The afternoon will be devoted to sectional meetings 
for papers on ‘‘Cotton’’? and on ‘“‘Jute and Hemp 
Fibres.’’ 

Tuesday, June 30, will be the last day of the con- 
gress. Two sectional meetings for ‘‘Cotton’’ and 
‘Miscellaneous’ papers will be held in the morning, 
and the final meeting of the congress will be held at 
3.30 p.m. in the afternoon. 

His Majesty the King has graciously consented to 
become patron of the congress, and His Majesty’s 
Government will give a reception for the delegates 
and members of the congress at the Imperial Institute 
on Tuesday, June 23, at 9.30 p.m. Receptions will 
also be given by the Royal Colonial Institute (June 
24) and by the Rubber Growers’ Association (June 30). 

The subscription for membership, including all 
publications of the congress, is 11. 


June 18; 1914 | 


NATURE 


417 


OPENING OF THE NEW PHYSIOLOGICAL 
LABORATORY AT CAMBRIDGE. 


Honorary DEGREES CONFERRED. 


HE Public Orator (Sir John Sandys) delivered the 
following speeches in presenting to the Chan- 
cellor (Lord Rayleigh) the several distinguished 
recipients of the honorary degrees conferred on the 
occasion of the opening of the new physiological 
laboratory at Cambridge on June 9 :— 


Hon. LED 


H.R.H. Prince ARTHUR OF CONNAUGHT, K.G., K.T., 
GG .O: 


Gratias, quae Principi feliciter ad nos advecto patria 
in lingua feliciter redditae sunt, etiam Academico in 
sermone eidem libenter reddimus. _Salutamus Vic- 
toriae Reginae et Principis Alberti, Cancellarii nostri, 
nepotem acceptissimum, Ducis Arthuri filium unicum, 
Principem patriae devotissimum, Principem in luce 
publica plurima cum laude versatum. Regis nostri 
in nomine olim ad extremam Orientis oram honoris 
causa plus quam semel missus est; Regia artium in 
Academia nuper pictoribus nonnullis consilia sobria, 
consilia sana, commendavit; nostram denique ad 
litterarum et scientiarum Academiam hodie allatus, 
aedificium novum physiologiae studiis dedicatum 
auspiciis optimis mox inaugurabit. Physiologiae inter 


leges memoratu dignum est Horatianum  illud :— 
‘fortes creantur fortibus et bonis.” Iuvat igitur 
Ducis fortissimi et optimi, abhinec annos undecim 


Doctoris nosfri nominati, heredem dignissimum laurea 
eadem hodie coronare. 


THE RicHut Hon. Viscount ESHER, G.C.V.O., 
G.C.B., M.A., Trinity College. 


Sequitur deinceps iudicis summi, alumni nostri, 
filius, vir et inter’ Etonenses et in Collegio nostro 
maximo educatus, deinde regni totius senatoribus 
suffragio electis per quinquennium additus, Ducis 
Devoniae Cancellarii nostri filio, postea Cancellario 
nostro, fere eodem tempore adiutor acerrimus. Nuper 
etiam Academiam nostfam magnopere adiuvit, et 
aliorum in nos liberalitatem generosissimam excitavit. 
Viri huius ductu prospero, aureus ille donorum rivus 
Academiae nostrae in silvas defluxit; eiusdem auxilio, 
etiam in clivo quodam saluberrimo salutis templum 
illud nuper aedificatum est, ubi hereditatis (ut aiunt) 
leges professor noster novus investigabit, cuius cathe- 
dra alumni nostri magni nomine in perpetuum orna- 
bitur, Arthuri Balfour. Ergo, in colle nobis propinquo, 
a professore nostro, etiam in aliis rerum naturae pro- 
vinciis, Horatianum illud verum esse comprobabitur :— 

est in iuvencis, est in equis patrum 


virtus, neque imbellem feroces 
progenerant aquilae columbam. 


Tue Ricgut Hon. BARON MOULTON oF Bank, M.A., 
F.R.S., Honorary Fellow of St. John’s, and late 
Fellow of Christ’s. 


Adsurgit proximus Collegii Divi Ioannis alumnus, 
vir abhinc annos quadraginta sex in studiis mathe- 
maticis locum omnium summum adeptus, qui, Christi 
in Collegio socius electus, etiam iuris in provincia 
honorum publicorum ad culmina summa _pervenit. 
Olim in legibus ad scientiam machinalem _pertin- 
entibus inclaruit; nuper etiam medicinae de scientia 
illo die praeclare meritus est, quo experimenta quae- 
dam generis humani saluti necessaria esse luculenter 
comprobavit. Ergo non modo Archimedis sed etiam 
Aesculapi alumnis iure optimo erit acceptissimus. 
Ceterum haec omnia, peritis non ignota, hodie neque 
(ut Tullius ait) ad vivum resecanda, neque (ut mathe- 


‘NO. 2329, VOL. 93] 


matici dicunt) ad infinitum producenda. Inter omnes 
constat iudicem tam conspicuum iuris doctorem hodie 
merito creari. 


COLONEL STARLING MEUx BENSON, Master of the 
Drapers’ Company. 


Inter societates illas Londinienses, quae divitiarum 
amplitudine et liberalitatis laude excellunt, una est 
quae propterea nostrum omnium animis identidem 
obversatur, quod non modo agri culturae studium 
inter nos magnopere adiuvit, sed etiam, munificentia 
hodie imprimis memorabili, aedifictum novum physio- 
logiae studiis dedicatum nobis donavit. Ut in socie- 
tatem illam munificam animum nostrum gratum 
aliquatenus indicemus, societatis totius magistrum 
titulo nostro libenter decoramus, virum qui, olim inter 
milites spectandus, linteonum (ut aiunt) in societate 
liberalissima, pacis in artibus iam dudum__ floruit. 
Hodie saltem ‘‘cedant arma togae,”” dum militum 
tribunum, etiam pacis in artibus praeclarum, purpura 
nostra honoris causa vestimus. 


Hones SiG) 


Sir WiLt1aM OSLER, Bart., M.D., F.R.S., 
Regius Professor of Medicine, Oxford. 


Caritatis vinculo triplici nobiscum est coniunctus 
medicus illustris, vir inter fratres nostros Canadenses 
et inter consobrinos nostros transmarinos medicinam 
praeclare professus, et inter sororis nostrae venerabilis, 
sororis nostrae Oxoniensis silvas, professoris medi- 
cinae regio munere ornatus. Peritis nota sunt ea, 
quae, aut solus aut cum aliis consociatus, in magna 
voluminum serie de medicina disputavit. | Pluribus 
loquuntur ea quae de animo aequo, de consiliis ad 
vitae finem perfectum spectantibus conscripsit. Nobis 
autem idcirco potissimum dilectus est, quod medicinae, 
litterarum renascentium in saecculo, studiis devotis- 
simus, inter nosmet ipsos egregie laudavit virum et de 
Oxoniensibus et de Cantabrigiensibus praeclare 
meritum, regiae medicorum societatis conditorem 


illum, Thomam Linacre. 


Sir Davip Ferrier, M.D., F.R.S., 


Emeritus Professor of Neuropathology, 
King’s College, London. 


Progreditur deinceps vir inter Aberdonenses, Edin- 
enses, Heidelbergenses olim educatus, inter Londini- 
enses denique et ‘‘neuropathologiam” (ut aiunt) et 
artem medendi praeclare professus. Viri huius et 
collegarum eius peregre docentium experimentis didi- 
cimus, cerebri duplicis corticem non totum corporis 
totius motus moderari, sed partem aliam ad aliam 
corporis partem pertinere; cerebri in parte una videndi 


sensum, in alia sensum audiendi collocari. Tali 
autem ex scientia morborum  varietates quaedam 
melius inter sese dignoscuntur, vitaeque humanae 


dolores multum minuuntur. Abhine annos quattuor 
et triginta inter doctores nostros honoris causa libenter 
numeravimus generis humani amicum illum, losephum 
Lister: hodie vero, saeculo in novo, etiam alium 
generis humani amicum titulo nostro non minus 
libenter decoramus. 


Sir EpwarpD ScuHirer, F.R.S., 
Professor of Physiology, Edinburgh. 


Urbis Edinensis, Athenarum illarum Caledonicarum, 
Academia ad nos misit physiologiae professorem illus- 
trem, cuius opera, ad histologiae et physiologiae 
scientiam pertinentia, physiologiae et medicinae 
studiosis iam dudum cognita sunt. Omnibus autem 
nota sunt experimenta illa, per quae homines in 
fluctibus submersi, respiratus artificiosi auxilio, ad 
vitam revocantur. Olim rex ipse Olympi Aesculapio 


418 


NATURE 


[June 18, 1914 


propterea invidisse dicitur, quod, Hippolyto ad vitam 
revocato, iura Plutonis imminuisset. Nunc autem 
omnibus penitus persuasum est, nihil quod hominum 
saluti prosit, summo Patri posse displicere. | Non 
immerito igitur illos in honore habemus, quorum 
auxilio mortis imperium inter terminos artiores con- 
tractum vidimus. 


Mr. ErNnesT HENRY STARLING, M.D., F.R.S., 
Professor of Physiology, University College, London. 


Agmen nostrum claudit hodie Universitatis Londini- 
ensis in Collegio quodam illustri professor insignis. 
Physiologis notum est sanguinis nostri partem quan- 
dam e venis quibusdam subtilissimis per corporis telas 
propinquas textu tenuissimas exsudare, et co1pori 
alimenta quaedam ova ministrare. Viri huius prae- 
sertim experimentis sudoris illius ratio universa expli- 
cata est, qui etiam vitam corporis iam mortui in corde 
et pulmonibus conservatam, et partium superstitum 
motus, investigare potuit. Talium virorum ingenio, 
vocabulo quodam a lingua Graeca derivato, quod hor- 
mone dicitur, res quaedam chemica patefacta est, 
quae, ex alia corporis parte intima, parti alii stimulos 
addit, hine illuc velut nuntia quaedam transmissa. 
Etiam physiologiae in studio quicquid novi aliunde ad 
nos advectum est, etiam nobis novos stimulos addit. 
Ergo etiam hunc virum, rerum exterarum nuntium 
ad nos advectum, decoramus, qui tot collegas suos non 
modo industriae et laboris sed etiam gloriae et honoris 
stimulis concitavit. 


est 


THE CARNEGIE FOUNDATION FOR THE 
ADVANCEMENT OF TEACHING. 


eee annual report of the president of the Car- 

negie Foundation for the Advancement of 
Teaching shows a total endowment of 3,065,000l., and 
an expenditure for the year ending September 30, 
1913, of 131,6861. Of this 103,888/. were distributed 
in retiring allowances to professors, and 16,1501. in 
pensions to their widows. Thirty-three allowances 
were granted during the year, making the total in 
force 403, the average annual payment to an individual 
being 340l. The total distribution from the beginning 
has been 587,3851. The educational work of the 
foundation was separately endowed in January, 1913, 
by a gift of 250,c0ol. from Mr. Carnegie through the 
Carnegie Corporation of New York. This body, 
which is endowed with 25,000,000l. for ‘‘ the advance- 
ment and diffusion of knowledge and understanding,”’ 
has five ex-officio trustees, of whom one must always 
be the president of the Carnegie Foundation for the 
Advancement of Teaching. 

In connection with the foundation’s work as a 
centre of information concerning pensions, the presi- 
dent, Mr. H. S. Pritchett, discusses pension systems 
that are maintained by half a dozen colleges, the 
development of new systems at Brown University, the 
Rockefeller Institute, and the American Museum of 
Natural History, the new federated pension system 
of the English universities, and the proposed system 
for the clergy of the Episcopal Church. Among pen- 
sions for public-school teachers the report discusses 
the New York City system and the new State system 
in Massachusetts. ; 

At the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research 
the pensions are stipendiary in character, being three- 
quarters of the last annual salary to those retiring at 
the age of sixty-five, after fifteen years of service. 
Retirement is also permitted at the earlier age of 
sixty, after fifteen years of service, the pension in this 
event being one-half of the last annual salary, plus 
10 per cent. for each year of service in excess of 
fifteen. These pensions are offered only to members 


NO: 2320, VOL. O32) 


and associate members of the institute, of whom there 
are now twelve. The maximum for retiring allow- 
ances is high, being set at 200ol. The rules repeat 
the rule of the University of Chicago, that ‘the 
obligation to pay retiring allowances will be neither 
greater nor less than the obligation to pay salaries; so 
that if misfortune shall compel a percentage reduction 
of salaries, retiring allowances may be reduced in the 
same proportion.” 

Much of the report is devoted to the development of 
the educational work of the foundation into a separate 
division of educational inquiry. Its recent work in- 
cludes a study of education in Vermont at the request 
of the Vermont Educational Commission, of legal 
education at the request of a committee of the 
American Bar Association, and of engineering educa- 
tion at the request of a joint committee representing 
the national engineering societies. Plans for the study 
of engineering education are now being completed. 

The earlier educational work of the foundation is 
continued in the report by commendation of the pre- 
sent tendency of college entrance requirements toward 
both elevation and flexibility. The need for further 
improvement is shown by the fact that only 55 per 
cent. of the students now in American colleges are 
high-school graduates. The decrease in the number 
of medical schools in the country from 162 in I910 
to 115 in 1913, and the rapid improvement of the 
better schools are commented upon with appreciation. 
A general study of the problems of the State regula- 
tion of higher education is provided. 

An interesting tabular statement is provided which 
sets out the total number of students in 807 universi- 
ties and colleges in the United States, and also the 
number of these, who, having passed college entrance 
examinations and requirements, rank as collegiate 
students. In the 807 institutions there are in all 
330,832 students, of whom 183,089 are students of 
college grade. In each of ten States there are up- 
wards of 10,000 students registered in these places of 
higher education, and the following extract from the 
table shows the number of students of college standing 
in each case. 


Total Students 

State Institutions number of of college 
students grade 

Illinois... ... GO Seay ease 14269 
New York ++ GOAT tS gna men 19365 
Pennsylvania... 40 23633 13279 
Ohio ae nd Ae 22704 14126 
Indiana ... = 14635 7653 
Massachusetts ... 17 14341 13859 
Iowa sie oe FAG 13251 6607 
Texas sis ses ae 12653 4405 
Iansas ... 15 11563 5654 
California oie Meal) BIG7 7864 


There has been in the last five years a marked re- 
crudescence of State activity with regard to higher 
institutions of learning. In a number of States the 
president of the State university has been dismissed, 
whether justly or unjustly, in a peremptory manner. 
In other States there has been legislation with respect 
to the differentiation of State institutions. In. still 
others the regulation of degree-granting powers has 
occupied the attention of legislators. On the whole, 
the last five years have been distinctly marked by the 
activity of legislative authorities concerning the State 
institutions, and by the evidences of some awakening 
as to the need for the regulation of all higher institu- 
tions of learning. Whatever may be the immediate 
outcome of this movement, it is probably a hopeful 
sign of the beginning of a successful effort to differen- 
tiate State institutions and to bring within fair limits 
the degree-granting powers of endowed institutions. 

The report further presents a study of the financial 


June 18, 1914] 


NATURE 


419 


status of college teachers as compared with the situa- 
tion presented in a similar study published five years 
ago. The ordinary salary of a full professor in the 
institutions associated with the foundation is now 
6ool. During the last five years the salaries of in- 
structors have risen by about 16l.; those of junior pro- 
fessors show a gain of from 24l. to 45/.; those of full 
professors show an increase from 25/. to 7ol. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 
INTELLIGENCE. 


Ir is announced in Science that Lafayette College 
is a beneficiary under the will of the late Mr. William 
Runkle to the amount of 20,000l. 


News has been received by cable that Prof. T. R. 
Lyle, F.R.S., is shortly to resign his professorship in 
the University of Melbourne, and that in consequence 
the chair of natural philosophy will become vacant. 
The salary attaching to the post is about roool. per 
annum, and the new occupant of the chair will be 
expected to take up his duties in February next, which 
is the beginning of the session. 


Tue following gifts to higher education in the 
United States are announced in the issue of Science 
for June 5 :—20,000l. anonymously for the erection of 
the first of Cornell University’s residential dormi- 
tories; an unrestricted gift to Harvard University of 
10,0001. by Mr. Nathaniel H. Stone; 5o00ol. under the 
will of Miss Elizabeth S. Shippen to the University 
of Pennsylvania; and 4oool. and a contingent interest 
in one-third of a to,oool. fund to the Hampton Normal 
and Agricultural Institute by the late Mr. Robert C. 
Ogden. 


Lorp Rosepery has been elected president of the 
University of London Club, and the following have 
been elected vice-presidents :—Sir Thomas Barlow, Sir 
Robert Blair, Sir John Rose Bradford, Dr. Sophie 
Bryant, Sir Edward H. Busk, Mr. Clifford B. Edgar, 
Lord Emmott, Sir Rickman Godlee, Sir Alfred Pearce 
Gould, Dr. W. P. Herringham, Prof. M. J. M. Hill, 
Sir Alfred Hopkinson, Sir Joseph Larmor, Sir Oliver 
Lodge, Sir Philip Magnus, Sir Henry A. Miers, Lord 
Moulton, Sir William Ramsay, Sir Henry E. Roscoe, 
Sir William A. Tilden, Prof. H. H. Turner, and the 
Right. Hon. T. McKinnon Wood. The committee 
has elected g10 original members of the club, 709 men 
and 201 women. Mr. T. LI. Humberstone has been 
appointed the first secretary of the club, and it is hoped 
that the club-house at 19 and 21 Gower Street will be 
open in July or soon afterwards. 


THE annual report for the present year of the Nan- 
tucket Maria Mitchell Association has been received. 
One of the most useful of the activities of the asso- 
ciation has been the provision from time to time of an 
astronomical fellowship, to which Miss M. Harwood 
was reappointed in March, 1913. Her research work, 
executed at the Harvard College Observatory, has 
included a study of several variable stars of the Algol 
type, for the purpose of determining accurate periods 
and the forms of their light curves. It is desired by 
the association to establish a permanent fellowship 
yielding annually trool., which will enable recent 
graduates of women’s colleges to devote themselves 
for a year or more to advanced work in astronomy. 
A portion of the year may be spent at the Maria 
Mitchell Observatory and a part at Harvard College 
Observatory. It is hoped that one or more of these 
fellowships may be established by some former pupil 
of Miss Mitchell, open to graduates of Vassar, and 
that similar fellowships may be endowed for graduates 
of other colleges. 


NO. 2329, VOL. 93| 


A REPORT on the teaching of mathematics in Aus- 
tralia, by Prof. H. S. Carslaw, presented to the 
International Commission on the Teaching of Mathe- 
matics, has just been published (Sydney : Angus and 
Robertson; London: Oxford University Press). The 
problem of mathematical teaching stands in much 
the same position now in Australia as it stood at home 
a few years ago. Reformers are struggling to im- 
prove school teaching, and they find the chief obstacle 
to be the externai examination held by a body with 
a limited knowledge of the schools. New South 
Wales has cut the knot by deciding to substitute 
examinations: by its own Department of Public In- 
struction, and Queensland and Tasmania are follow- 
ing suit. It is a pleasing sign that some of the 
examining bodies are acting on the Mathematical 
Association reports on teaching. The decision of the 
Mathematical Association Committee that the con- 
gruence theorems and the condition of parallelism 
should be taken as the axiomatic basis of logical 
geometry was not available when Prof. Carslaw’s 
report was written, and we read that the Board 
of Education Circular 711 advocating much the same 
treatment is condemned by the New South 
Wales education authority. It is permissible to hope 
that this authority, which is the most open-minded 
in Australia, and has a high regard for the Mathe- 
matical Association, may by this last decision of the 
association be induced to reconsider its condemnation. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 


LONDON. 


Linnean Society, June 4.—Prof E. B. Poulton, presi- 
dent, in the chair.—Rev. G. Henslow: Darwin’s alter- 
native explanation of the origin of species, without the - 
means of Natural Selection.—G. C, Robson: On a col- 
lection of land and freshwater gastropods from Mada- 
gascar, with descriptions of a new genus and new 
species. The affinities of the species examined were 
found to be mainly Oriental and not African.—Prof. 
H. H. W. Pearson : Notes on the morphology of certain 
structures concerned in reproduction in the genus 
Gnetum. This is an account of an investigation of 
(1) androgynous and pseudoandrogynous spikes of 
Gnetum gnemon; (2) the young embryosac of G. afri- 
canum.—Prof. C. Chilton: Deto, a subantarctic genus 
of terrestrial crustacea. Deto is a genus of terrestrial 
isopoda, established in 1837 by Guérin for the species 
D. echinata from the Cape of Good Hope. The genus 
shows a typical subantarctic distribution and empha- 
sises the close connection between the faunas of New 
Zealand and South America. 


CAMBRIDGE. 


Philosophical Society, May 18.—Dr. Shipley, president, 
in the chair.—Prof. Pope and J. Read: Optically active 
substances of simple molecular constitution. Not- 
withstanding numerous attempts, it has not hitherto 
been possible to prepare an optically active substance 
containing fewer than three carbon atoms in the 
molecule, and the assumption has therefore been 
made that a considerable degree of complexity is 
necessary to enable the molecule to exist in stable 
enantiomorphous forms. After unsuccessful attempts 
to resolve chlorosulphoacetic acid and chlorobromo- 
methanesulphonic acid the preparation and investiga- 
tion of chloroiodomethanesulphonic acid were under- 
taken with a similar object in view, and eventually 
the resolution of this substance was effected with d- 
and I-hydroxyhydrindamine, strychnine and_ brucine. 
The purest optically active ammonium salt of this acid 
yet obtained, having [M],...+43-7° in dilute aqueous 


420 


NATURE 


[JuNE 18, 1914 


solution, was prepared by repeated fractional pre- 
cipitation with brucine, followed by decomposition of 
the brucine salt with ammonia; but the separation of 
the substance in a state of optical purity presents 
great difficulty. It is remarkable that the optically 
active ammonium salt, which, containing only one 
carbon atom in the molecule corresponding to less 
than 5 per cent. of carbon, is the simplest optically 
active substance known, retains its activity with great 
persistence, and cannot be caused to racemise by any 
of the ordinary agents employed for that purpose.— 
Dr. Fenton: Note on the detection of malonic acid.— 
F. E. E. Lamplough and J. T. Scott: Some further 
experiments on eutectic growth. The method of 
‘‘guenching”’ an alloy during the solidification of the 
eutectic has been used to ascertain the character of 
the eutectic during its growth. Resulting from the 
investigation it has been possible to classify eutectics 
into two classes: (1) those of spherical radiating 
growth, (2) those exhibiting definite crystal contours. 
The former are always produced when both primaries 
are of rounded contour, the latter if one primary is 
of crystal shape. The cause of ‘‘halos’’ surrounding 
primary crystals has been demonstrated.—W. H. Mills, 
H. V. Parker, and R. W. Prowse: The resolution of 
5-nitrohydrindene-2-carboxylic acid. With the object 
of obtaining an optically active derivative of benzene 
in which to account for the optical activity it would 
be necessary to take into consideration the relative 
distribution in space of the groups attached to the 
benzene nucleus 5-nitrohydrindene-2-carboxylic acid 
(III) has been prepared, and has been shown to be 
resolvable into two optically active components.— 
R. D. Kleeman: (1) The nature of the internal work 
done during the evaporation of a liquid. (2) The work 
done in the formation of a surface transition layer 
of a liquid mixture of substances.—N. Wiener: A con- 
tribution to the theory of relative position. 


EDINBURGH. 


Royal Society, May 4.—Prof. James Geikie, presi- 
dent, in the chair.—Dr. D. M. Y. Sommerville: De- 
scription and exhibition of a four-dimensional model. 
The analogue of the icosahedron in three-dimensional 
space is the four-dimensional figure bounded by six 
hundred regular tetrahedra. The model showed a pro- 
jection of this figure in three dimensions, one vertex 
being used as the centre of projection. The model 
showed the successive zones of vertices which surround 
any vertex.—Dr. C. G. Knott: Changes of electrical 
resistance accompanying longitudinal and transverse 
magnetisation in iron and steel. |The experiments 
established for iron and steel results very similar to 
those previously obtained with nickel. Thin ribbons 
about 2 cm. wide were used. It was found that the in- 
crease of resistance under a given longitudinal field was 
diminished when this longitudinal field was superposed 
upon a steadily maintained transverse field. In high 
transverse fields the increase due to the superposed 
longitudinal field was barely measurable; but in no 
case did the change become a decrease, as was noticed 
in the case of nickel. Again, the diminution of resist- 
ance due to the action of a transverse field became 


markedly increased when the transverse field was 
superposed upon a_ steadily maintained transverse. 
This curious result had also been obtained 


with nickel.—Dr. R. Campbell: Rocks from Gough 
Island, South Atlantic (Scottish National Antarctic 
Expedition). The specimens, which were collected by 
Dr. J. H. Harvey Pirie, were, with the exception of a 
small piece of limestone, all igneous, being mainly 
soda trachytes, trachydolerites, basalts, an essexite, 
and tuffs. The collection showed that the rocks of 
Gough Island had all becn derived from a soda-rich 


NO) 2320, Vil. O32] 


alkali magma, and that in all probability they had had 
a common origin with the rocks of the other volcanic 
islands in the Mid-Atlantic. 

May 25.—Dr. B. N. Peach, vice-president, in the 
chair.—A. D. Darbishire and M. W. Gray: The in- 
heritance of certain characters of the wool of sheep. 
The results, which dealt chiefly with thickness of 
fibre, were obtained with two crosses: (1) between the 
Southdown and the wild sheep of the island of Soay, 
(2) between the Southdown and the black-face. With 
regard to thickness of fibre, Southdown was almost 
completely dominant over the Soay sheep; and in the 
second case the cross with the Southdown had the 
effect of entirely cutting out the long coarse fibres of 
the black-face fleece. The mean character of the first- 
cross wool was almost exactly intermediate between 
those of the two parents of the cross.—Dr. J. H. 
Ashworth : A new species of Sclerocheiius, with a revi- 
sion of the genus. There were only two known valid 
species, S. minutus, Grube, and §. antarcticus, the 
latter a new species represented by two specimens, 
one obtained by the Scottish National Antarctic Expe- 
dition at the South Orkneys, the other (Eumenia 
oculata, Gravier) by the second French Antarctic Ex- 
pedition at Petermann Island, Graham Land. The 
external features of both species were described and 
figured, and the diagnosis of the genus amended. 
S. minutus was recorded for the first time from 
Ireland, Blacksod Bay and Clew Bay, co. Mayo. 


Pazis. 


Academy of Sciences, June 8.—M. P. Appell in the 
chair.—G. Humbert and Paul Lévy: Singular Abelian 
functions of three variables——A. Haller and R. 
Cornubert: Syntheses by means of sodium amide. 
Derivatives of $-methylcyclopentanone. The pre- 
liminary introduction of an a-methyl group is neces- 
sary, before sodium amide can be usefully employed 
for further methylation. The final product is 
aaBa'a’-pentamethylcyclopentanone. — Charles Moureu 
and Georges Mignonac : The diagnosis of the primary, 
secondary, and tertiary bases. An ethereal solution of 
ethylmagnesium bromide serves as a reagent ; secondary 
and primary bases giving off a molecule of ethane for 
each replaceable hydrogen molecule, whilst tertiary 
bases give no gas evolution.—Amand Gautier and Paul 
Clausmann: Fluorine in mineral waters. Fluorine is 
present in all mineral waters, hot or cold, in amounts 
ranging from o-3 to 6-3 milligrams per litre. Waters 
of volcanic origin contain the largest proportion of 
fluorides.—André Blondel: The harmonic analysis of 
alternating currents by resonance.—A, Lacroix was 
elected perpetual secretary for the physical sciences in 
the place of the late Ph. van Tieghem.—M. Coggia : 
Observation of the comet 1914b (Zlatinsky) made at 
the Observatory of Marseilles. Position given for May 
28.—J. Guillaume; Observations of the sun made at 
the Observatory of Lyons during the first quarter of 1914. 
—Alex. Véronnet : Some causes explaining the heat of 
the sun. The hypotheses regarding the source of the 
sun’s heat—chemical action, radio-activity, attraction 
of meteorites—are critically examined and shown to 
be insufficient. The Helmholtz theory of the heat 
being due to the work of contraction is shown to be 
best in accord with facts, although even this view 
gives a shorter life for the sun than is required by 
geology.—Maurice Gevrey : The analytical properties of 
the solutions of partial differential equations.—Richard 
Suppantschitsch : A development in series of the powers 
of a polynomial.—Frédéric Riesz’: “Trigonometrical 
polynomials.—Serge Bernstein: The absolute converg- 
ence of trigonometrical series.—T. H. Gronwall : Some 
methods of -summation and their application to 
| Fourier’s series.—B. Bouliguine: A property of the 


June 18, 1914] 


NATURE 


A2L 


Riemann function &(t)—F. La Porte: The compensa- 
tion of a quadrilateral—H. Pelabon ; Thermo-electric 
study of selenium-antimony mixtures. The existence 
of the definite compound Sb,Se, was proved by these 
measurements.—Paul Pascal: Uranyl sulphocyanide.— 
R. Marcelin: The exchange of material between a 
liquid or a solid and its saturated vapour.—Maurice 
Curie : The deviations of atomic weights obtained with 
lead arising from different minerals. The atomic 
weight of lead derived from uranium minerals is lower 
and from monazite slightly higher than that of lead 
from galena. These results are in agreement with 
those predicted from the theory of radio-active trans- 
formations.—Philip E. Browning: The action of 
bromine on the hydroxides of lanthanum and 
didymium. These hydroxides, in suspension in dilute 
alkali solutions, dissolve in bromine with unequal 
velocities, the solution of the lanthanum being more 
rapid. A description is given of the application of 
this fact to a new and rapid method of separation of 
these two metals.—Edouard Bauer: The action of 
sodium amide upon some 1: 5-diketones. Study of pro- 
ducts of the reaction between sodium amide and the 
two ketones, benzaldiacetophenone and _ dibenzoyl- 
I : 3-propane.—Milivoye Losanitch: The susceptibility 
of the ethylene lactones for fixing sodium derivatives 


of methylene compounds.—E. E. Blaise: The 
hydroxylamine derivatives of 1:4-diketones and 
N-oxy-2 : 5-dimethylpyrrol. The reaction between 


hydroxylamine and diacetylsuccinic ester is not com- 
parable with that of the same reagent and 1:4 
diketones. In the latter case only mono- and di-oximes 
are formed.—G. Courtois: Uranyl glycolate, and lac- 
tate and some uranyl salts of the polyacids of the fatty 
series.—Charles Dufraisse: The two  stereoisomeric 
forms of benzoylphenylacetylene dibromide. The two 
isomers have been isolated, one of which is coloured 
and the other colourless.—Mlle. H. Van Risseghem : 
B-Pentene and scme of its derivatives.—G. Chavanne : 
._ The ethylene isomerism of the a-bromopropenes.— 
Mme. E. Bloch: The modifications produced in the 
structure of roots and stems by an external com- 
pression. In all plants grown under compression 
there is an abundant liquefication of the medullary 
parenchyma.—F. Gérard: Three new species of 
Chlanacee.—P. Hariot: Two new Chytridiacez.—J. 
Tissot : The mechanism of the inactivation of sera by 
dialysis. The conditions governing the dissociation of 
the soaps in the serum.—H. Violle: The pathogeny of 
cholera. The cholera bacillus only develops in a 
limited zone of the intestine, and only then if this 
zone is free from all biliary secretion. The liver is 
thus one of the natural defences of the body against 
cholera.—Th. Nogier and Cl. Regaud: The decrease 
in the radio-sensibility of malignant tumours treated 
with successive doses of X-rays. Auto-immunisation 
against X-rays.—M. Lécaillon: The phenomena of 
natural rudimentary parthenogenesis produced in 
Turtur risorius.—H. Stassano and M. Gompel: The 
considerable bactericidal power of mercuric iodide. 
Mercuric iodide has much greater power in killing 
bacteria than either mercuric cyanide, benzoate, or 
chloride. It is ten times as active as 
sublimate.—A. Fernbach and M. Schoen: New observa- 
tions on the production of pyruvic acid by yeast.— 
Jean Groth: The Sierra Morena.—M. Dalloni: The 
tectonic of the Catalan Pyrenees and the supposed 
‘“nappe de Montsech.’’—Léon Lutaud: The raised 
beaches of the coast of Estérel.—Robert César-Franck : 
The relations between the geological constitution of 
the Isle of Wight and the form of its coast line.— 
Philippe Flajolet: Perturbations of the magnetic de- 
clination at Lyons (Saint Genis Laval) during the first 
quarter of 1914. 


NO. 2329, VOL. 93| 


corrosive | 


| Browne. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 


Meteorology in Mysore for 1912. By N. V. lyen- 
gar. Pp. xi+56. (Bangalore: Government Press.) 

Report on the Lepidoptera of the Smithsonian 
Biological Survey of the Panama Canal Zone. By 
H. G. Dyar. Pp. 139-350. (Washington: Govern- 
ment Printing Office.) 

Report on the Progress of Agriculture in India for 
1g12-13. Pp. iiit+69. (Calcutta: Government Print- 
ing Office.) 8 annas. 

Department of Lands and Survey, Western Aus- 
tralia. Handbook for Surveyors and Draftsmen. 
Compiled by N. S. Bartlett. Pp. ii+110 and Appen- 


dices. (Perth, W.A.: F. W. Simpson.) 

Mendels Vererbungstheorien. By W._ Bateson. 
Translated by A. Winckler. Pp. x+375. (Leipzig 
and Berlin: B. G. Teubner.) 12 marks. 

Pflanzenanatomie. By W. I. Palladin. Translated 


by Dr. S. Tschulok. Pp. iv+195. 
lin: B. G. Teubner.) 4.40 marks. 

The Social Guide. By Mrs. H. Adams and E. A. 
Pp. 264. (London: A. and C. Black.) 
250d. Met: 

The Elements of Chemistry. By H. L. Bassett. 
Pp. xii+368. (London: Crosby Lockwood and Son.) 
s. 6d. 
: L’Harmonie Tourbillonnaire de l’Atome. By F. 
Butavand. Pp. 52. (Paris: Gauthier-Villars et Cie.) 
2 francs. 

Chemical Calculations. 


(Leipzig and Ber- 


By H. W. Bausor. Pp. iv 


+136. (London: W. B. Clive.) 2s. 

Chemical Calculations. (Advanced Course.) By 
H. W. Bausor. Pp. iv+48. (London: W. B. Clive.) 
Is, 


Fortschritte der Mineralogie, Kristallographie, und 
Petrographie. Edited by Prof. G. Linck. | Vierter 
Band. Pp. iv+384. (Jena: G. Fischer.) 12 marks. 


Lehrbuch der Biologie fiir Hochschulen. By M. 
Nussbaum, G. Karsten, and -M. Weber. Zweite 
Auflage. Pp. viiit+598. (Leipzig and: Berlin: W. 
Engelmann.) 12 marks. 

Hypnose und Katalepsie bei Tieren. By Prof. E. 
Mangold. Pp. 82. (Jena: G. Fischer.) 2.50 marks. 

Die Mechanistischen Grundgesetze des Lebens. By 
A. Cohen-Kysper. Pp. viiit+373. (Leipzig: A. 
Barth.) 7 marks, 

Modern Substitutes for Traditional Christianity. By 
E. McClure. Second edition. Pp. viii+224. (Lon- 
don 2: S23 ©) 22s. 6d nee: 

Philosophy: What Is It? By Prof. J. B. Jevons. 
Pp. viit+135. (Cambridge: University Press.) 1s. 6d. 
net. 

Know Your Own Mind. By W. Glover. Pp. ix+ 
204. (Cambridge: University Press.) 2s. net. 

Bacon’s Large-scale Map of Australia. In four 
sheets mounted on cloth to fold in cloth case. (Lon- 
don: G. W. Bacon and Co., Ltd.) 25s. 

Psychopathology of Everyday Life. By Prof. Se 


Freud. Authorised English edition, with Introduction. 
By Dr. A. A. Brill. Pp. vii+342. (London: T. 
Fisher Unwin.) 12s. 6d. net. 

The Pursuit of Natural Knowledge. By Prof. J. R. 
Ainsworth-Davis. Pp. iv+284. (Cheltenham: Nor- 
man, Sawyer and Co., Ltd.) 1s. net. 

Minerals and the Microscope. By H. G. Smith. 
Pp. xi+116. (London: T. Murby and Co.) 3s. 6d. 
net. 

The History and Theory of Vitalism. By Prof. H. 
Driesch. Translated by C. K. Ogden. Pp. viii+ 2309. 
(London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 5s. net. 

The Thinking Hand: or Practical Education in the 
Elementary School. By J. G. Legge. Pp. x+217. 
(London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 8s. 6d. net. 


422 


Memorials of Henry Forbes Julian. Written and 
edited by his Wife, Hester Julian. Pp. xix+310. 
(London : C. Griffin and Co., Ltd.) 6s. net. 

Alcoholic Fermentation. By Dr. A. Harden. 
Second edition. Pp. vii+156. (London: Longmans 
and Co.) 4s. net. 

Memoirs of the Department of Agriculture in India. 
Entomological Series. Vol. v., No. 1., Life-histories 
of Indian Insects; v., Lepidoptera (Butterflies). By 


C. C. Ghosh. Pp. iv+72+ix plates. (Pusa:  Agri- 
cultural Research Institute.) 3s. gd. 
The Natural History of the Farm. By Prof. J. G. 


Needham. Pp. 348. (Ithaca, N.Y.: Comstock Pub- 
lishing Co.) 1.50 dollars. 

Edinburgh and East of Scotland College of Agri- 
culture. Investigation into the Disease of Sheep called 
“*Scrapie ”’ (Traberkrankheit ; La Tremblante), by Dr. 
J. BP.) M’Gowan.- — Pps ux+a76:- - (Edinburgh) Sw. 
Blackwood and Sons.) 

Cambridge Manuals of Science and Literature: The 
Making of Leather. By H. R. Procter. Pp. x+153. 


The Sun, by Dr. R. A. Sampson. Pp. viii+141. Coal 
Mining. By T. C. Cantrill. Pp. viii+3s9. (Cam- 
bridge University Press.) 1s. net each. 

Lehrbuch der Meteorologie. By Prof. J. Hann. 
Dette \Auflage, ~Wief, 45) 2-6, 45. “Pp. 289-6401 
(Leipzig: C. H. Tauchnitz.) 3.60 marks each. 

The Oxford Survey of the British Empire. Edited 


by Prof. A. J. Herbertson and O. J. R. Howarth. The 
British Isles and Mediterranean Possessions. Pp. xii+ 
596+7 maps. Asia, including the Indian Empire and 
Dependencies, Ceylon, British Malaya, and Far 
Eastern Possessions. Pp. x+505+5 maps. Africa, 
including South Africa, Rhodesia, Nyasaland, British 
East Africa, Uganda, Somaliland, Anglo-Egyptian 
Sudan and Egypt, etc. Pp. xvit+547+5 maps. 
America, including Canada, Newfoundland, the British 
West Indies, and the Falkland Islands and Depen- 
dencies. Pp. x+511+6 maps. Australasia, including 
Australia, New Zealand, the Western Pacific, and the 
British Sector in Antarctica. Pp. xii+584. General 
Survey, including Administration, Legal Problems, 
History, Defence, Education, Acclimatisation, Map- 
ping, Commerce, Communication, Migration. Pp. viii 
+386+1 map. (Oxford: Clarendon Press.) 14s. net 
each. 


DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 


THURSDAY, June 18. 


Roya Society, at 4.30.—(t) Trypanosome Diseases of Domestic Animals 
in Nyasaland. Trypanosoma Caprae, Kleine. II]: Development in 
Glossina morsitans ; (2) Trypanosomes found in Wild Glossina morsitans 
and Wild Game in the “ Fly-Belt” of the Upper Shire Valley ; (3) The 
Food of. Glossina morsitans ; (4) Infectivity of Glossina morsitans in 
Nyasaland during 1912 and ror3: Sir D. Bruce, Maj. A. E. Hamerton, 
Capt. D. P. Watson and Lady Bruce.—A Description of the Skull and 
Skeleton of a Peculiarly Modified Rupicaprine Antelope J7yotragus 
balearvicus, Bate: Dr. C. W. Andrews.—The Relation between the 
Thymus and the Generative Organs, and on the Influence of these Organs 
upon Growth (With a Note by G. U. Yule): E. T. Halnanand F. H. A. 
Marshall.—The Vapour Pressure Hypothesis of Contraction of Striated 
Muscle: H. E. Roaf.—The Validity of the Microchemical Test for the 
Oxygen Place in Tissues: A. N. Drury.—Man’s Mechanical Efficiency : 
Prof. J. S. Macdonald.—The Colouring Matters in the Compound Ascidian 
Diazona violacea, Savigny: Dr. A. Holt.—Some Accessory Factors in 
Plant Growth and Nutritition: Prof. W. B. Bottomley.—A Photographic 
Analysis of Explosion-flames Traversing a Magnetic Field: Prof. H. B. 
Dixon, C. Campbell, and W. E. Slater. 

Linnean Society, at 8.—Reports on the Marine Biology of the Sudanese 
Red Sea: The Brachyura: R. Douglas Laurie.—A Revision of the 
Recent Colonial Astraide Possessing Distinct Coralites: G. Matthai.— 
Two Lithens: Lecanora isidioides, Nyl., from the New Forest ; and 
Parmelia revoluta var. concentrica, Cromb., from Seaford Downs: R. 
Paulson.—Ecological Notes, chiefly Cryptogamia ; the late W. West.— 
Life-histories and Descriptions of Australian A°schine. (With a Descrip- 
tion of a New Form of Velephebia by H. Campion): R. J. Tillyard.— 
The life-history avd Structure of Tedephorus lituratus : Miss Olga G. M. 
Payne. - Cucujidz, Cryptophagidz, avec une Description de la larve et 
de la nymphe de Protominia convexiuscula, Grouvelle: A. Grouvelle.— 
Mallophaga, Aphaniptera, and Diptera Puparia. (Percy Sladen Expedi- 
tion): H. Scott.—Short Cuts to Nectaries by Blue Tits: C. F. M. 


NO:/2329, VOL.93 | 


NATURE 


[June 18, 1914 


Swynnerton.—-Photographs of Large-tailed Sheep of the Punjab: Dr. G. 
Henderson. Shs (Me? ; 
Royat GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY, at 5:—Final Report on the Rivers Investi- 

gation: Dr. A. Strahan and Others. 


MONDAY, June 22. { 

Royvat GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY, at 8.30.—Exploration in the Unknown 
Brahmaputra Region on the North-Eastern Frontier of India: Captain 
F. M. Bailey. 3 sane ’ 

VicTorIA INSTITUTE, at 4.30.—Annual Address: Jerusalem, Past and 
Present : Sir C. M. Watson. ; 


WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24. 
GroLocicat Society, at 8.—The Trilobite Fauna of the Abbey Shales, 
near Hartshill: V. C. Illing.—Notes on the Trilobite Fauna of the Middle 
Cambrian ofthe St. Tudwal’s Peninsula(Carnarvonshire) : T. C. Nicholas. 


THURSDAY, JUNE 25. : 

Roya Society, at 4.30.—P20bable Papers: Note on Mr. Mallock’s Obser- 
vations on Intermittent Vision : Prof. S. P. Thompson.—The Variation of 
Electrical Potential across a Semipermeable Membrane: Prof. F. G. 
Donnan and G. M. Green.—The Potential of Ellipsoidal Bodies and the 
Figures of Equilibrium of Rotating Liquid Masses: J. H. Jeans.—The 
Twenty-seven-Day Period in Magnetic Phenomena: Dr. .C. Chree.— 
Electrification of Water by Splashing and Spraying: J. J. Nolan.— 
Attempts to Produce the Rare Gases by Electric Discharge: T. R. Merton. 
—The Analysis of Gases after Passage of Electric Discharges: O. C. G. 
Egerton.—And other Papers. 


CONTENTS. PAGE 
Studies in Cancer and Allied Subjects. ByE.F. B. 397 
A New Tactical Treatise . gh ah oe ee GO 
aiteeAnion's: the E.skimiol s5 sp. een LOC! 
@GuriBookshelf ......: sa ae rence Ane Dsig' 'c, COL 
Letters to the Editor :— 
Migration Routes.—Horace Darwin, F.R.S. . . . 401 
Aeroplane Wings.—Prof. Herbert Chatley.... 401 


Weather Forecasts in England.—R. M. Deeley . . 402 
The Thunderstorm of June 14 at Dulwich.—Wm. 

Wiarriott: \.. Saeed : oe 6 ein ie CL 

A Dual Phenomenon with X-Radiation.—I. G. 

Rankin; W.F. D. Chambers _ . . ce 

Legislation and the Milk Supply. By Prof. R. T. 

Hewlett . ne So weil tsy Mop to day 403 
The Commemoration of Roger Bacon at Oxford. 


402 


Wizsizated.) By F. As Degen ne ese neem lg 
The Committee on Wireless Telegraphy Research, 
By.A. A. Campbell Swinton Boe Re) ee 
The Urgent Need for Anthropological Investigation. 
Byer ALC) Haddon hekis.s) eee ee -"e 4Oz 
The Principle of Relativity.—II. By E. Cunning-' 
EVGA) SED oo. Sash te 0a cl A Oe et 
Prof. Hugo Kronecker, For.Mem.R.S. By Sir 
Lauder Brunton, Bart., F.R.S. : » 5 eee 


INDE Sw). | 2 Se ere 
Our Astronomical Column :— 


The New Zealand Solar Observatory «int ME, teen 
The Positions of Variables and Asteroids Discovered ) 
at the Lowell Observatory .. . 415 


Radial Velocities of 100 Siars with Measured Parallaxes 416 
Third International Congress of Tropical Agricul- 

(Ob hn ener Mi ie) eee ek AUG 
Opening of the New Physiological Laboratory at 

Cambridge. Honorary Degrees Conferred ... 417 
The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of 


BEACH es 1-77). eee ike Memb te Lite 
University and Educational Intelligence. . i GLO: 
Societies and Academies .@ . 5 2°) 3°. . eee 
ooks*Receivéed . .. . 4). ya. eee 
Diam or msocietics . . 23, Ran ene oe . 422 


Editorial and Publishing Offices: 
MACMILLAN & CO., Ltp., 
ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C. 


Advertisements and business letters to be addressed to the 
Publishers. 


Editorial Communications to the Editor. 


Telegraphic Address: Puusis, LONDON. 
Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830. 


£ AO Pele 


423 


THURSDAY, JUNE 25,° 1914. 


MATHEMATICS AND CIVILISATION. 
Die Kultur der Gegenwart. Edited by P. Hinne- 
berg. Die Mathematischen Wissenschaften, 

unter Leitung von F. Klein. Part ili., section i. 

Fascicles i., ii. (i. H. G. Zeuthen: Die Mathe- 

matik im Alterthum u. im Mittelalter; ii., A. 

Voss: Die Beziehungen d. Mathematik sur 

Kultur d. Gegenwart, and H. E. Timerding : 

Die Verbreitung mathematischen Wissens uw. 

math, Auffassung. Berlin and Leipzig: B. G. 

Teubner, 1912-14.) Price 3 marks each. 

“HESE three monographs are agreeably 
ei different, as well as complementary; and 
even where they overlap, the variety of treatment 
is interesting. The first section is the most de- 
tailed and (comparatively) technical; its author, 
as might be expected, gives an excellent and well- 
balanced account of Greek and medieval Euro- 
pean mathematics. Something more might have 
been said about the earlier Indian inventions; 
‘only a very brief paragraph is devoted to China, 
and apparently nothing is said about Japan. 

Mr. Voss’s article is extremely interesting and 
well-arranged. He shows how mathematics have 
influenced, and been influenced by, technical crafts, 
physical theories, and philosophy; and he has the 
courage to make high, but legitimate, claims for 
a science which seems to be as unpopular in 
Germany as it is with us. He points out that 
mathematics is pre-eminently a creation of the 
spirit of man; that it is his least restricted field 
of activity; and that we are under a moral obliga- 
tion to cultivate it. It is very refreshing to find 
these truths stated with such decision and clear- 
ness; and no one who is convinced of them should 
neglect a seasonable opportunity of repeating 
them. The popular attitude towards mathematics 
is exceptionally unfair. The ordinary man does 
not despise a physician, or a judge, or a divine, 
because he himself is ignorant of medicine, or 
law, or theology; but it is very rarely that he 
regards mathematics as anything more than a set 
of rules for calculation, or mathematicians more 
than computers at best, and at worst harmless 
cranks who waste their time on puzzles, quite use- 
less to the practical man. The most exasperating 
folk of all are those who have to use mathe- 
matical formule for technical purposes, and adopt 
towards the science which serves them, while they 
do not understand it, a sort of silly, patronising 
attitude, such as that of a good-natured merchant 
to one of his junior clerks. 

To put the main argument in a form which may 
appeal to a man of common sense, we affirm, with- 

NO. 2330, VOL. 93] 


out fear of refutation, that the history of culture 
is a history of intellectual development, in which 
the main feature is a change of habits of thought ; 
instead of vague fancies, irrational dogmas, crude 
superstitions, we are gradually acquiring clear 
concepts, consistent theories, and some sort of 
ethics worthy of the name. Towards this whole- 
some change nothing whatever has contributed 


| so much as the study of pure mathematics; its 


inclusion, for instance, in a school curriculum is 
amply justified by its power of exposing intellec- 
tual dishonesty—what Smith minor calls “fudge”’ 
—to the practice of which we are all more inclined 
than we should like to admit. 

To take an illustration of what we mean. In 
the second Book of Samuel (ch. xxiv.) it is stated 
that David’s sin in numbering his people was 
punished by a heaven-sent pestilence which killed 
70,000 men. Christians having adopted the Jew- 
ish Canon as an inspired document, the prejudice 
created by this story was so great that no Chris- 
tian census was taken before 1700 A.D.; and no 
trustworthy census dates before the first year of the 
nineteenth century. Even now there are people 
who resent the census, and by making false entries 
do their best to make it untrustworthy; but there 
must be few who really think an act of simple 
enumeration sinful, and a good many who under- 
stand the value of the census for insurance 
purposes, at any rate. 

The interest of Mr. Timerding’s essay is of a 
more pedagogic kind. Among other interesting 
things we may note the references to Jacobi, his 
mode of teaching, and views about intuition (pp. 
128-30); “blackboard physics” (p. 137); and 
especially the account of recent changes in mathe- 
matical teaching in Germany. Near the end of the 
article the author makes a statement which (with 
due reservations) we are inclined to challenge. 
He maintains that in technical schools (fachliche 
Schulen) the aim of mathematical teaching is 
“entirely different”? from what it is in the general 
schools; adding, in effect, that the attention of 
technical students should not be diverted from 
such applications of mathematics as they are likely 
to have to make. We believe, on the contrary 
(and not without experience), that technical 
students (such as engineers, or accountants, or 
draughtsmen), can be interested, rather more 
easily than ordinary students, in the principles of 
mathematics, by taking them in the right way. 
This, we believe, is by beginning with definite 
numerical examples of the kind they will meet 
with in their profession, and then proceeding, by 
an inductive method, to the general formule and 
theories which solve all such problems, [In this 
way, an engineer becomes interested in electricity, 

iS) 


424 


or thermodynamics, as the case may be, an ac- 
countant in the theory of errors, a draughtsman in 
projective geometry. By adopting the opposite 
course a very great risk is run; that of stifling 
the speculative instinct of a really gifted pupil. 
Suppose Hertz or Heaviside or Helmholtz had 
been debarred from all but “technical” sources 
of information! No doubt the teacher will oc- 
casionally talk over the heads of half his class; 
but if he does not do this too often no great harm 
is done. And the chance of securing for human- 
ity areal thinker is sucha glorious one that nobody 
who understands the meaning of such a success 
will hesitate for a moment in advancing so far as 
he can, and so far as he dare, from the vulgarity 
of technique to the culture of theory. G. B. M. 


PSYCHOLOGY AND CHILD HYGIENE. 

(1) Human Behaviour: a First Book in Psychology 
for Teachers. By Prof. S. S. Colvin and Prof. 
W. C. Bagley. Pp. xvi+336. (New York: 
The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan 
and Co., Ltd., 1913.) Price 4s. 6d. net. 

(2) Inductive versus Deductive Methods of Teach- 
ing: an Experimental Research. By W. H. 
Winch. Pp. 146. (Baltimore, U.S.A.: War- 
wick and York, Inc., 1913.) Price 1.25 dollars. 

(3) How I Kept My Baby Well. By Anna G. 
Noyes. Pp. 193. (Baltimore, U.S.A.: War- 
wick and York, Inc., 1913.) Price 1.25 dollars. 

(4) Minds in Distress. By Dr A. E. Bridger. 
Pp. xi+181. (London: Methuen and Co., Ltd., 
1913.) Price 2s. 6d. net. 

N their text-book on “Human Behaviour,” 
Prof. Colvin and Prof. Bagley have en- 

deavoured to formulate the main principles of 

psychology in terms of conduct. For the im- 

mature and inexperienced teacher they believe that 

a “functional” viewpoint is the more helpful. 

The topics they have selected are those most 

closely related to the practical work of the school- 

room. 


(1) 


Memory, habit, instinct, feeling, emotion, 
attention, economical learning, higher thought- 
processes—these are discussed far more fully than 
is usual in teachers’ text-books. The treatment 
is throughout concrete. Each principle is formu- 
lated with a lucidity that is almost dangerous; and 
enforced with a wealth of illustration that is 
almost too convincing—drawn as it is from class- 
room practice or from everyday life more often than 
from the psychological or educational laboratory. 
Experimental work is by no means ignored. But 
detailed references to it are rare in the text and 
rarer in the bibliography. The “immature and 
inexperienced teacher” might easily gain the im- 
pression that a few simple and uncontrolled ob- 
NO. 2330, VOL. 93] 


NATURE 


[June 25, 1914 


servations, followed by many clear and plausible 


' inferences, are the surest guide to final generalisa- 


' of Educational Psychology Monographs. 


/ model for future observations. 


tions upon the most complex problems of human 
and animal behaviour. Of its class, however, this 
book is undoubtedly one of the best. 

(2) Mr. Winch’s book upon “Inductive versus 
Deductive Methods,” is the second he has con- 
tributed to Professor Whipple’s admirable series 
It is a 
record of a series of experiments, carried out in 
five London schools, to test the relative value of 
the two methods in teaching. When tested upon 
new material, it was found that in all the schools 
the children taught inductively did better than 
those taught deductively. When tested upon the 
old material that formed the medium of what they 
had been taught, the children did. differently in 
different cases. In three of the schools they did 
better when working by the ‘deductive and 
memoriter”’ method. In other cases, especially 
where the children were older, the inductive 
method proved equally successful; and there were 
indications that, when the test was applied after 
a long interval, it was even more successful. The 
subject-matter of the investigation was geometrical 
definition; and although laboratory and ‘intro- 
spective controls were perhaps of necessity omitted, 
in other respects the work may well serve as a 
model for further investigations dealing with other 
subjects of the school curriculum. 

(3) Like the Journal that he edits, Prof. 
Whipple’s series of monographs proposes to in- 
clude problems of child hygiene as well as child 
psychology. Mrs. Noyes’ contribution is the 
story of how she kept her baby well during the 
first two years of its life. As a record of physical 
health during this period, and as a statement of 
the means used to maintain it, her work is more 
complete than any that has yet been published. 
Once more we are presented with an excellent 
With a number of 
records as thorough as this, we should at last 
have a sound basis for a scientific description of 
the physical development of young children. 

(4) Dr. Bridger’s treatment of his subject is of 
a different character. In his book “‘ Minds in Dis- 
tress’ he maintains that the origin of functional 


_nervous diseases depends upon two fundamental 


principles: first, “that mental comfort depends 
upon a state of balance between two main factors,” 
namely, “‘common sense” and ‘new  impres- 
sions”; secondly, “that there are the ‘ masculine ’ 
and the ‘feminine’ types.’’ Loss of balance in 
the “masculine” type results in such disorders as 
neurasthenia; loss of balance in the “feminine ” 
type, in such disorders as hysteria. In a chapter 
on “Mental Formule” he gives, in quantitative 


- 
; 
d 


JUNE 25, 1914] 


NATURE 


425 


and tabular form, the composition of the mind in 
the various cases. ‘Thus, in the “normal average 
masculine type of mind” we learn that 30 per cent. 
of the mental energy is distributed to “ideas re- 
lating to self,” 15 per cent. to “ideas relating to 
others,” and so on; in the “normal average 


feminine type of mind” the percentages are 20° 


and 5 respectively. His “elementary formule” 
Dr. Bridger admits are somewhat inexact. But 
his two fundamental propositions he believes to be 
“principles that are of universal acceptance, free 
of speculative theory, and reducible to the simplest 
terms.” His proof throughout is “an appeal. . . 
to the common experience of humanity.” The 
generalisations of James, Titchener and Wundt 
he dismisses on the first page as too metaphysical ; 
and, for the rest, he does not refer to well-known 
writers on the subject, because, as he rightly 
says, “they all approach it from an _ entirely 
different point of view.” Cyrit Burt. 


RECENT BOTANICAL WORKS, 

{1) Paléontologie végétale. Cryptogames cellu- 
laires et Cryptogames vasculaires. By Dr. F. 
Pelourde. Pp. xxviii+360. (Paris: O. Doin 
et Fils, 1914.) Price 5 francs. 

(2) Die Oekologie der Pflanzen. 
Drude. Pp. x+308. (Braunschweig: F. 
Vieweg and Son, 1913.) Price 10 marks. 

{3) The Diseases of Tropical Plants. By Prof. 
M. T.- Cook. Pp. xi+317. (London: Mac- 
millan and Co., Ltd., 1913.) Price 8s. 6d. net. 

(4) Icones Orchidearum — Austro-Africanarum 
Extra-Tropicarum; or, Figures, with Descrip- 
tions of Extra-Tropical South African Orchids 
By Harry Bolus. Vol. iii. 100 plates. 
(London: W. Wesley and Son, 1913.) Price 
30s. net. 

(5) Index  Kewensis. Plantarum 
gamarum. Supplementum Quartum. 
1g10.) Ductu et Consilio D. Prain. 


By Dr. Oscar 


Phanero- 
(1906— 
Pe 92. 


(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1913.) Price 36s. 
net. 
(1) R. FERNAND PELOURDE, prépara- 


teur at the National Museum of Natural 
History, is publishing, under the auspices of the 
Encyclopédie Scientifique, an account of palzo- 
botany in accordance with present knowledge. 
In this, the first volume, he deals with cellular 
and vascular cryptogams; in two subsequent 
volumes he will deal with gymnosperms and 
angiosperms, and will also formulate general 
conclusions from botanical and geological points 
of view. M. R. Zeiller, to whom the volume is 
dedicated, has written the preface. The text 
comprises a short introduction on the methods of 
preservation of fossil plants and a classified list 


NO. 2330, VOL. 93| 


| as an adaptation to climatic phases. 


of geological strata. The great plant-groups are 
then studied in order beginning with bacteriacee, 
including reference to their work in formation 
of coal. The chapter on the cellular cryptogams 
occupies only twenty-two pages, but the reader 
is -referred to numerous papers dealing especially 
with fossil alge. The groups of vascular crypto- 
gams are considered in the following order : equi- 
setales, sphenophyllales, lycopodiales, filicales. 
The little volume, which presupposes some know- 
ledge of general botany, especially anatomy, gives 
a somewhat condensed review of the subject, but 
will enable the student of botany to form an idea 
of the present position of our knowledge of the 
groups considered so far as concerns extinct 
forms. A useful feature is the bibliography which 
follows the subject matter. 

(2) Dr. Oscar Drude’s handbook on the ecology 
of plants forms one of the “ Die Wissenschaft” 
series of volumes on natural science and _ tech- 
nique. In 1904 Dr. Drude was invited to lecture 
before the International Science Congress at St. 
Louis on the development and position in modern 
science of botanical ecology and_ the present 
volume is an outcome of the work done in that 
connection. The subject is considered under four 


headings. Section I. is entitled “Die physiog- 
nomischen Lebensformen der Pflanzen.” The 
author first gives a _ historical review of the 


attempts to classify plants according to their 
“physiognomic”’—a term originated by Hum- 
boldt—relations, that is to say, their general 
structure and manner of growth as determined by 
the external conditions to which they are subjected. 
After discussing the principles underlying such 
a system, he proposes a system of classification 
of plants based on their habit. Vascular plants 
are arranged in two great groups: I. Aerophytes, 
and II. Hydrophiles and Hydrophytes. The 
former includes thirty-eight classes, beginning 
with (1) monocotyledonous ‘“ Schopfhaume ”’— 
the palm, pandanus, and xanthorrhcea type, em- 
bodying a pillar-like stem bearing a crown of 
leaves followed by (2) palm-bush type and palm 
lianes, (3) short-stemmed dwarf palms, (4) tree- 
ferns and cycads, (5) conifer-type, followed by the 
various types of dicotyledonous woody plants, 
climbers, epiphytes, perennial and _ short-lived 
herbaceous types, etc., concluding with sapro- 
phytes and parasites. Waterplants include six 
classes and cellular plants twelve. 

Section IIJ., entitled climatic influences, perio- 
dicity, and leaf-character, deals with nutrition as 
a function of the leaf, and periodicity in plant-life 
Section III., 
“Physiographic Ecology, discusses _ briefly 
various factors which determine the formation of 


” 


426 


plant-communities and associations, with a classi- 
fication of types of vegetation as_ ultimate 
physiographical units. Section IV., “ Ecological 
epharmosis and phylogeny,” includes a brief dis- 
cussion of the relation or absence of relation 
between plant-habitat and natural relationships, 
eurychory and stenochory, the behaviour of nearly- 
allied species in the fight for space, and similar 
questions, with finally a short discussion on muta- 
tion of species and evolution. Explanatory notes 
and a bibliography are appended to the first sec- 
tion, and also in the form of a general appendix 
at the end of the book, and the eighty block illus- 
trations form a helpful addition to the text-matter. 

(3) The purpose of Dr. Cook’s work is to direct 
attention to some of the most common and most 
destructive diseases of tropical plants; to give as 
practical a knowledge as possible of plant diseases 
in general and their causes; and to give the most 
common remedies and methods of prevention. 
Since the eastern and western tropics have each 
their own peculiar problems, the writer notes that 
his own experiences have been restricted entirely 
to the American tropics. The first chapter deals 
with the nature and symptoms of diseases; the 
second contains a very brief account of the general 
structure of a seed-plant, and of fungi as sources 
of disease, and their modes of reproduction. 
Chapter III. is a classified account of the fungi 
which cause plant disease; in chapter iv. other 
causes of plant diseases are briefly considered, 
whether due to plant- or animal-organisms or 
physical environment.» These chapters are brief 
and admittedly very general. The most impor- 
tant part of the book is a description of the 
diseases which attack the various plants cultivated 
in the tropics, with suggestions for prevention or 
cure. The book closes with two short general 
chapters on prevention and control of disease and 
fungicides and spraying apparatus, followed by a 
useful classified bibliography. 

(4) The third volume of the late Dr. Bolus’s fig- 
ures and descriptions of South African orchids has 
the appearance of a posthumous work. The nature 
of the authorship is explained in the preface by 
Mrs. H. M. L. Bolus who, as Miss Kensit, was 
intimately associated with Dr. Bolus in his 
botanical work; but for bibliographical purposes 
her share in the work might appropriately have 
been indicated on the title-page. The volume 
represents the fulfilment in part of a trust be- 
queathed by the author of the previous volumes. 
Of the hundred plates, thirty-six have already 
appeared in the “Orchids of the Cape Peninsula,” 
now out of print, nine have been drawn by Mr. F. 
Bolus, and the remaining fifty-five are from finished 
or incomplete drawings by Dr. Bolus; in the latter 

NO, .22220)eyiOL 102) 


NATRGRE 


tion has been added to the citations. 


/ which 


[JUNE 25, 1914 


case, additions having been made by his son, 


Mr. F. Bolus. The form of the book is uniform 
with that of previous volumes; the descriptions 
are in both Latin and English, and the plates in- 
clude full and clear analyses of the flowers with 
careful indications of the colour of the parts. The 
announcement that Mr. and Mrs. Bolus propose 
to proceed with the illustration of African orchids 
is a most welcome one. 

(5) It is not extravagant praise to say that no 
botanical publicatiqn is more eagerly expected, 
or more keenly welcomed on its appearance, 
than the five-yearly supplement of the Index 
Kewensis. The working systematist has now 
ready to hand a record of the names of the 
genera and species of flowering plants from the 
initiation of the binominal system in 1753 to the 
end of 1910, a record which only those who re- 


|/member the time when there was no Kew Index 


can fully appreciate. The present supplement 
marks a great improvement on the earlier-issued 
portions of the work in that the date of publica- 
We note 
also a considerable number of references to species 
have previously been overlooked. New 


combinations as distinguished from newly de- 


| tion is properly left to the worker. 


_of Kew and his willing staff. 


| German, 


scribed species are indicated by reference to the 
earlier name. Further, the names indexed are all 
in the same type; presumed synonyms are not 
printed in italics: the book admirably fulfils its 
obligations as an index, but botanical discrimina- 
In view of the 
periodical appearance of supplements the question 
naturally arises as to the intercalation of the 
supplements with the original work; a question 


| which must, without doubt, have occurred to those 


responsible for the compilation. But it is also 


_matter for consideration whether the onus of such 


a work and its continuation indefinitely—a work 
of such supreme importance to the whole botanical 
world—should be the unaided task of the Director 
A. Bo ie 


OUR BOOKSHELF. 


The Childhood of the World. A Simple Account 
of Man’s Origin and Early History. By E. 
Clodd. New edition, re-written and enlarged. 
Pp. xilit240. (New York: The Macmillan 
Co. ; London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1914.) 
Price 45. 6d. net. 


A Book which has maintained a large and unin- 
terrupted circulation for forty-one years, which has 
been printed in Braille character for the use of 
the blind, and translated into Dutch, French, 
Italian, Sekwana, and Swedish, well 
deserves the honour of a revised edition. 

It falls into three parts: “Man the Worker,” 
a record of the origin and life of early man; “Man 


JUNE 25, 1914] 


NATURE 427 


the Thinker,” describing the evolution of his re- 
ligious belief ; “‘ Man the Discoverer and Inventor,” 
treating of the progress of science. ‘The treat- 
ment is essentially popular, and the wide know- 
ledge of the writer, his pleasant style, and his 
skill in weaving into the narrative a store of in- 
teresting allusion and anecdote, render it an 
admirable introduction to the study of anthro- 
pology in its varied aspects. A series of well- 
selected illustrations, including the recently dis- 
covered frescoes in the French caves, with a 
useful bibliography, adds to its interest and value. 
The present revision of the book is, on the 
whole, satisfactory. Detailed discussion of the 
complex problems of the past and future of man 
cannot be expected in a manual. But when men- 
tion is made of “the most ape-like” Piltdown 
skull, we might have anticipated at least a refer- 
ence to the discoveries at Galley Hill and Ipswich. 
Some of the derivations, like those of “ship” and 
“oold” might be improved from Sir J. Murray’s 
Dictionary. If he supposes that the modern Naga 
tribe in India are, like their forerunners of the 
same name, serpent worshippers, he is mistaken; 
and the taboo on the use of dry wood as fuel does 
not extend to the people of Berar, but to a single 
sacred grove. A curious press error gives the 
name of the Hindu sun-god Surya as “Sueya.”’ 
On the whole, this veteran anthropologist is to 
be congratulated on a book which, in its revised 
form, is certain to secure a new lease of popularity. 


The School and College Atlas. One hundred and 
-three maps, physical, political and commercial. 
‘Index. (London: G. W. Bacon and Co., Ltd., 

fed:) Price 35. 6d. ‘net. 

Tuis Atlas is curiously unequal, for it contains 
a mixture of old style and new style maps; some 
maps are overcrowded with names, others are of 
striking simplicity. The summary maps dealing 
with temperatures are in some cases much too 
complicated. The colour-printed maps, showing 
relief on the layer system, indicate by the defec- 
tive fit of the contours how difficult such carto- 
graphic work really is. For an atlas of this size 
the index is much too small. 

The vegetation, annual and seasonal rainfall 
maps should prove of value, and the isotherms for 
the British Isles are based on actual temperatures 
and embody the latest official figures of the 
Meteorological Office. BC. W 


The British Revolution. By Dr. R. A. P. Hill. 
Pp. xii+116. (Cambridge: University Press, 
1914.) tice 25. net. 

Tue most striking feature of most political discus- 
sions is, Dr. Hill considers, an entire lack of first 
principles, and he proceeds to enunciate a “syn- 
thetic” principle,” which he claims stands alone in 
uniting individualism and socialism, home rule 
and imperialism, actuality and the ideal, and many 
other opposed views. He also remarks that one 
of his objects is to supplant Herbert Spencer’s 
synthetic philosophy, or rather to supplement it 
by the principles of the German school. 


NO: 2330; VOL: 93] 


LETIERS, TO; THE EDILOR. 


[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for 
opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with 
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 
this or any other part of Nature. No notice is 
taken of anonymous communications. | 


Dynamical Units for Meteorology. 


In the current number of the Quarterly Journal of 
the Royal Meteorological Society I have put forward 
a proposal for a name for a unit of acceleration, and 
shown how the introduction of such a unit leads up to 
the unit of potential which is required in the discus- 
sion of certain problems in aerodynamics. It has 
been suggested to me that as the proposal does not 
concern meteorologists alone it should be canvassed 
in a journal which is read by other physicists. I have 


; written the following notes in the hope that you will 


be able to find room for them in NATURE. 

The convenience of special names for such units as 
the radian, the erg, and the volt, is universally ad- 
mitted. No apology is therefore needed for bringing 
forward a proposal for the adoption of a special name 
for a unit of acceleration. The particular unit for 
which a name is, | think, required is one decametre 
per second per second. This unit is slightly greater 
than the acceleration due to gravity at any point on 
the earth’s surface, but so slightly that there is no 
difficulty in getting a clear conception of it. In this 
way it compares favourably with such units as one 
centimetre per second per second, or one foot per 
second per second. In accordance with the custom of 
honouring the pioneers of science by attaching their 
names to the units which occur in the branches 
which they discovered, it would be natural to name 
the unit of acceleration after Galileo. Unfortunately 
so long a name could not be used in forming com- 
pound names; I propose, however, to preserve the 
association of ideas by calling the unit a “‘leo.” 
Accordingly I define the leo as the acceleration one 
decametre per second per second, 

The acceleration of a falling body due to gravity 
and the earth’s rotation is less than one leo by about 
2 per cent.; the magnitude of the acceleration for 
various latitudes is shown in terms of the leo in the 
following table :— 


Acceleration at the equator 0:9780 leo. 


a in latitude 45° 0-9806 leo. 
i at London 0-9812 leo. 
ee at the poles 0-9832 leo. 


Smaller accelerations may be expressed in terms of 
the same unit or in terms of smaller derived units; 
thus a vehicle which attains a velocity of Io metres 
per second in 10 seconds from rest has an average 
acceleration o-1 leo or 1 decileo. The unit of the 
c.g.s. system, 1 cm./sec.” is, of course, identical with 
the millileo. 

Turning to units of force, we find it natural to call 
the force which gives an acceleration of one leo to the 
mass one gram, a leogram. The leogram is identical 
with the kilodyne, but the new name makes the unit 
easier to realise, as it is seen to be slightly greater 
than the weight of one gram. In the same way the 
names, leokilogram and leoton, speak for themselves 
much better than megadyne and kilomegadyne. 

For pressure, units with simple names, the bar and 
its sub-multiples exist already, but it is mot very easy 
for meteorologists who have not devoted much atten- 
tion to theoretical dynamics to realise the meaning 
of the standard definition 1 bar=1 megadyne per 
sq. cm. Perhaps the phrase 1 leokilogram per sq. cm. 
will be found easier to grasp. The millibar, which 


428 


NATURE 


is the most convenient unit for stating barometric | 


pressures, is 1 leogram per sq. .cm. The c.g.s. unit 
of pressure is the microbar, which is equal to 1 leo- 
milligram per sq. cm. 

Prof. McAdie, in the issue of Nature of March 10, 
1914, referred to the use by chemists of the word bar as 
a name for this c.g.s. unit of. pressure. The bar of 
the chemist is the millionth part of the unit, men- 
tioned in the last paragraph, which has been taken 
into use by Bjerknes and other meteorologists under 
that name. I do not wish to discuss here the merits 
of the question raised by Prof. McAdie. It is perhaps 
a matter for some international assembly attended by 
representatives of both chemistry and meteorology. 

Coming now to units ot work, we see that there is 
no difficulty in defining the leogrammetre as the work 
done by a leogram when its point of application moves 
through a metre. Names of this sort can be used 
in explaining the terms which are in use already for 
quantities of energy. Thus the leomilligramcenti- 
metre is identical with the erg, the c.g.s. unit. The 
theoretical unit of electric energy, the joule, is 1 leo- 
kilogramdecimetre, whilst the commercial, or “‘ Board 
of Trade’ ‘unit, defined’ as 1 kilowatthour, is 
3600 x 1000 joules, or 360 Jeotonmetres. 

Finally, we have to consider units of gravitational 
potential. The usual. definition of potential is poten- 
tial energy per unit of mass. The change of poten- 
tial of 1 gram moved through one metre against a 
field of force sufficient to produce in it.an acceleration 
one leo is one leogrammetre per gram, or briefly, one 
leometre. The difference in potential between two 
horizontal surfaces a metre apart depends on the lati- 
tude; it is o-9780 leometre at the equator, and 0-9832 
leometre at the poles. 

The name leometre is proposed as an alternative to 
Prof. Bjerknes’s ‘‘dynamic metre”; accordingly, it 
may not be out of place to conclude this letter by 
quoting the professor’s note from the Quarterly 
Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society :— 

‘““Names may be attacked from many points of 
view, and, even if left in peace during six years, they 
may be attacked in the seventh. Therefore a change 
in terminology contains a great risk. Still, I am 
willing to take the risk, if some guarantee can be 
obtained securing the prospects of. the new ter- 
minology. I therefore take this opportunity to re- 
quest everyone intending to attack the ‘ leometre’ not 
to postpone the’ attack, but to execute it at once.” 

F.- J.:W. WiaHiprce. 

Meteorological Office, South Kensington, S.W. 


Aristotle’s Physics. 


THE review of Prof. Duhem’s new book, ‘Le 
Systeme du Monde,” over the initials, J. L. E. D., in 
NaturE of May 28, contains what purports to be a 
correct and intelligible summary of  Aristotle’s 
dynamics. It begins with the surprising words, ‘In 
his dynamics the idea of. mass* does not enter,’ and 
speaks loosely of motion as though Aristotle was 
treating of a varying velocity. 

Sir George Greenhill and I both wrote to you on 
January 2, 1914 (vol. xcii., p. 584), pointing out that 
Aristotle throughout treats only of the motion of pro- 
jectiles, and of that only in a resisting medium, and 
then only of that part of the vertical motion when 
the projectile has attained that constant speed known 
to ballisticians as “terminal velocity,” which can be 
as readily observed in rising smoke as in falling rain. 

The equation on which Aristotle really bases his 


ballistics is :— 
fe ae = 
J (22 t 


NO; 2330, VOU" O23] 


a a 


[JUNE 25, 1914 


where H is the Newtonian terminal velocity, w is the 
weight of the projectile, A is the cross section of the 
projectile, + is the density of the medium, k is the 
coefficient of shape. 

In modern ballistic tables we write for the unit 
projectile :— 

pau 
g 

Aristotle put equal to unity. 

We now know that there can be no simple equation 
for vertical motion in a resisting medium except by 
assuming that n=I or 2. 

Whilst he was in England last week for the Roger 
Bacon celebrations at, Oxford, I mentioned this sub- 
ject to Father David Fleming, O.F.M. He gave me 
permission to say that during his tenure of the chair 
of philosophy at the Franciscan House of Studies in 
the University of Ghent, he taught the equation as | 
have given it as the obvious and only true meaning 
of Aristotle’s own words. J. H. Harvucast ie. 


Phenomena of the Conscious and Unconscious. 


Nor very long ago the province of psychology was 
supposed to be confined to the study of the phenomena 
of consciousness. Recently, however, its narrow 
limits have been allowed to be transcended; but even 
now the vast majority of psychologists is so exclu- 
sively occupied in inquiring into the effect of the 
conscious on the unconscious that scarcely any amount 
of justice has been done to the study of the influence 
of the unconscious on the conscious. Yet this latter 
inquiry is by no means insignificant. In fact, it 
counts for more and more. It is not merely that some 
actions, unconscious in the beginning, gradually become 
conscious through the constant interference of volition, 
and vice versa. It is that the entire range of con- 
scious activity is in essence reflex. The conscious, 
which is the superstructure of our mental life, has 
for its underground substratum the unconscious which 
moulds its shape and guides its course. Thus the con- 
scious, which, superficially viewed, seems to control 
and modify reflexes is, in fact, itself a species of 
reflex, 

The bare statement of this doctrine may look rather 
crude; but the grounds which substantiate it are 
rather of a speculative nature, and to dwell on them 
would not be quite appropriate in this journal. My 
aim, however, is different. I am not unaware of the 
rival theory which maintains that all human actions 
are essentially voluntary and have become reflex only 
by practice in the lifetime of the individual or of the 
race. What I desire by publishing this letter in NaTuRE 
is to elicit the opinions of physiologists as to the merits 
of the latter theory. To expect exact scientific evidence 
here is, of course, absurd. But are there even the 
remotest indications in the human and animal 
organism that favour this theory ? 

ApBpuL Majrp. 

Gola Gunj, Lucknow, India. 


THE NATIONAL PHYSICAL LABORATORY 
IN 1913-14. 

© eee annual report of the National Physical 

Laboratory for 1913-14 was presented to 
the general board at the visitation day of the 
Royal Society on June 19. The report forms 
another and a conspicuous testimony to the 
remarkable growth of the laboratory and the 
importance and volume of the work with which 


JUNE 25, 1914] NATURE 


it has to deal. In its early career the existence 
and future of the laboratory were a source of 
some anxiety to its supporters, but no one can 
now deny the position it has won. It will be 
readily conceded by those who have followed its 
fortunes how much the laboratory owes to its 
director, Dr. Glazebrook, to whose ability and 
energies the great success of the institution will 
be a lasting monument. A notion of the present 
extent of the laboratory buildings may be got 
from the panoramic view shown in Fig. 1. The 
laboratory staff now approaches 200 in number, 
of whom more than 60 have had a university 
training. 

We observe that during the year under review 
the income of the laboratory amounted to more 
than 43,0001, an increase of more than 11,000l. on 
the previous year’s working. Excluding a special 
grant of about 5oool., which is ear-marked for 
aeronautics research, and is separately adminis- 
tered, we notice that only 7oool. is  con- 
tributed by the State towards this income; 
the greater part is derived from fees for 
tests, of which nearly 65,000 were carried 
out during the year, this total including all classes 
of work large and small. Some idea of the 
magnitude and importance of this work may be 
gathered from the fact that the value of the goods 
sent in for test approached 300,o000l, for the year. 

It is not without grave concern that the Royal 
Society views the financial responsibilities attend- 
ant on sums of this magnitude, but it is a tradi- 
tion of political life in this country, and one un- 
fortunately not frowned at by public opinion, that 
parsimonious State support should be given to 
public institutions which, however useful, do not 
by their very nature lend themselves to political 
aggrandisement. But he who runs may read, and 
the briefest scrutiny of the report before us offers 
abundant evidence of the intimate relations of the 
laboratory not only with the general public, but 
with the various departments of the Government 
itself. The board of control of the laboratory 
will have the warm approval of our readers in its 
efforts to get the grant-in-aid from the Treasury 
increased from 7oool. to a modest 12,000l. per 
annum. 

There is an over-abundance of work waiting to 
be done, of problems to be solved, and it is both 
expedient and proper that much of this investi- 
gatory work should be financed by public funds 
rather than by levying a burdensome toll on the 
fees which the routine test-work affords. 

There are many who urge that a National 
Physical Laboratory should act as a sort of head- 
quarters for each and every branch of inquiry in 
physics, and that while its primary object is the 
application of science to industry, it should be 
prepared to lead the way in exploring new fields 
which are possibly and quite probably not imme- 
diately remunerative. But all these things cost 
money, and if public support is inadequate, it is 
_ the pure investigatory side which suffers rather 
than the utilitarian problems set by industry and 
commerce. The marked superiority of the State 
support in Germany and the States has greatly 


NO. 2330, VOL. 93] 


BS 
Ss 
Ne) 


ngineering Buildings, 


ny 
J} 


the F 
| main Laboratory Building of Bushy 


gineering Buildings ; the new Buildings 


portion of the En 
ildings, the origina 


Behind this, in the centre, is the Wernher Building (Metallurgy), while on the 
In the rear of these again are, on the North, 


g. 
, partly visible only behind the southernmost 


vatory Dome); and South-east of this and largely hidden behind the new Bu 


g weaving-shed roof of the Tank Buildin 


To the South (right) is the Metrology Building. 


gine room chimney ; the Electrotechnics Buildin 


ptics (with Obser 


he Buildings. 


O 


In the foreground appears the lon 


periments in the rolling of alloys. 
to the en 


erected for ex 


g for the 7-ft. air channel 


June, 1913, for Administration and 
Bushy House extend to the South of t 


left (North) is the small new buildin 
extending from the buildin 
opened by Mr. Balfour in 

The grounds of 


Fic. 1.—General view of the National Physica Laboratory. 
House. 


430 


NALORE 


[JUNE 25, 1914 


fostered the development of research in their re- 
spective national laboratories. 

The National Physical Laboratory has taken 
part during the year in various international 
matters, such as the establishment of a practical 
scale of high temperature, the standardisation of 
screw-threads, and the questions underlying 
photometric measurements. The director served 
on Lord Parker’s committee, which advised the 
Government on systems of long-distance wireless 
telegraphy; he is also a member of the committee 
appointed by the Postmaster-General to deal with 
the question of organised research in telegraphy 
and telephony. The new wireless laboratory 


Fic. 2.—The new library of th2 National Physical Laboratory ; 


which this committee has recently recommended 
should be established at Teddington, will work in 
close association with the National Physical 
Laboratory. In addition, the laboratory has 
taken a prominent part in the investigatory work 
incidental to the Home Secretary’s committee (of 
which the director is chairman), which is con- 
cerned with the lighting of factories and work- 
shops. 

As mentioned above, the laboratory has been 
called on largely during the year to undertake 
important investigations for a number of Govern- 
ment departments. Among these may be men- 
tioned an inquiry into the viscous behaviour of 


NO.’ 2330, VOL, 93] 


oil fuels for the Admiralty, and an investigation 
(for the Local Government Board) into methods 
of preventing glare from motor-car headlights. 
The work conducted for the Board of Trade and 
the Admiralty on ships’ lights has been continued, 
while observations on the vibrations of St. Paul’s 
Cathedral were made for the Home Office. Other 
investigations were carried out for the War Office, 
the Post Office, the India Office, the Crown agents, 
and the various Colonial Governments. 

To turn to the research side of the work, Mr. 
I’. E. Smith has completed a very important in- 
vestigation on the absolute measurement of elec- 
trical resistance by means of an elaborate appar- 


seo% eee se #6 


a memorial to the late Sir William White. 


atus of the Lorenz type. The final value he 
obtains is that the ohm in the usual mercury units 
has a length of 106°245 +0°004 cm., which is dis- 
tinctly less than the mean of previous results. 
Mr. Campbell has overcome with his well-known 
skill a number of difficult problems of measure- 
ment associated with the high frequencies used in 
wireless telegraphy, for an account of which refer- 
ence must be made to the report. Mr. Paterson 
and Mr. Dudding have completed an inter-com- 
parison of the photometric standards of the prin- 
cipal standardising laboratories of the world. 

The heat division has contributed a series of 
interesting papers on the subject of the electric 


JUNE 25, 1914] NATURE 431 
emissivity and disintegration of matter at high ROYAL COMMISSION ON THE CIVIL 
temperatures. An inquiry into the thermal and SERVICE. 


secular behaviour of various well-known thermo- 
meter glasses has been carried out, and some ex- 


periments on the thermal conductivities of certain © 


highly insulating materials, which have been in 
progress for some time, are approaching com- 
pletion. 

Among the work of the metrology division we 
note some measurements on the silica standard 
metre constructed a few years ago. These fully 
bear out the high hopes which were originally 
entertained of this substance for the purpose. 

An important new departure is the testing of 
radium preparations. The new department, which 
has been placed in charge of Dr. Kaye, has already 
proved a boon to the radium-buying public. 

The engineering department has completed the 
work on wind pressure, and Dr. Stanton and Mr. 
Pannell have published a comprehensive and im- 
portant paper on the frictional flow of fluids in 
pipes. In this work the authors have been able 
to rationalise the results over a wide range of velo- 
cities (20-6000 cm, per sec.) and for fluids with 
viscosities so far apart as those of air and water. 
The well-known index-law of frictional resistance 
was found to be inadequate over the large range 
of velocities employed. 

The work of Mr. Bairstow and his colleagues 
in the aeronautical division has proved of the 
utmost value. The researches on stability and 
the gradual development of an aeroplane of com- 
plete stability (see NATURE, June 11, p. 388) have 
excited great popular interest and approval. A 
rolling-mill to deal with light alloys and a large 
7-ft. wind-channel are approaching completion. 


The results obtained in the laboratory of the | 


road-board have already justified its existence. 
Some useful mechanical and endurance tests on 
various types of road mixtures have been carried 
out under many conditions. 

The record of the metallurgical department is 
one of continued progress. The work on alloys 
research has proceeded apace, and much attention 
has been paid to the installation of the new equip- 
ment. We notice the proposed use of a kathode- 
ray furnace as a means of melting metals free 
from contamination. 

The year has seen a great increase in the 
utilisation by various shipbuilders of the facilities 
offered by the national tank. It is gratifying to 
learn that the alterations in design suggested by 
the tests resulted in a considerable diminution in 
the power required, amounting on an average to 
10 per cent. or more in the seventy odd models 
tested. 

It is impossible in a short notice of this char- 
acter to give anything more than the merest in- 
dication of a few of the fifty or more original 
papers which are reviewed in this report. Many 
of these are incorporated in the forthcoming 
eleventh volume of the “Collected Researches ” of 
the laboratory. We notice an attractive list of 
researches proposed for the next twelve months’ 
work. 


NO. 2330, VOL. 93] 


uae report (Cd. 7338, price 1s. 4d.) of Lord 


MacDonnell’s Commission on the Civil 
Service is now published, and its chief recom- 


mendations were referred to in our issue of 
April 16 (p. 180); they may be summarised as 
follows :— 


(1) That boys should be recruited only for per- 
manent service, and no longer as temporary boy 
clerks. 

(2) That in certain cases for which competitive 
examination is unsuitable, the appointment should be 
made by a selection committee. 

(3) That a greater number of women should be 
employed, their appointment to be made by suitable 
means distinct from that used for men of. similar 
grade. 

(4) That the method of open competition should be 
maintained, and more closely coordinated with the 
educational system of the country. 

The second of these recommendations concerns 
scientific and other professional appointments ; 
though patronage is often wisely exercised, such 
appointments will in future be made by a suitably 
and regularly constituted committee. The Com- 
mission expresses no opinion as to whether the co- 
ordination of examinations and education will give 
increased weight to science.’ For the lower ex- 
aminations the matter is left to the Treasury 
and the Civil Service Commissioners. For the 
Class I. examination the appointment of a com- 
mittee is recommended to consider the coordina- 
tion of the examination with university studies. 

On the plan of the Commission there will be the 
following four 


Methods of Appointment. 


1. OPEN CoMPETITION.—To be applied to most o1 
the clerical posts (the higher among them to be 
now called Administrative Posts), and to profes- 
sional appointments when the appointing age is 
less than twenty-seven. This involves some ex- 
tension of the method in the case of professional 
and technical appointments. There is a nut for 
the Civil Service Commissioners to crack in the 
recommendation that character is to be tested by 
written examination—or perhaps the recommenda- 
tion implies an interview. 

2. DirEcT APPOINTMENT BY THE Crown.—This 
method is at present used for high adminis- 
trative posts and for some professional posts. 
Under the proposals of the Commission, only high 
administrative posts will be filled in this way, and 
when such a post is filled by the appointment of a 
man from outside the Service, the appointing 
minister will lay before Parliament a statement of 
his name and qualifications. 

3. APPOINTMENT BY SELECTION COMMITTEE.— 
This method will be applied to professional posts 
when the appointing age is more than twenty- 
seven. There'will be public advertisement of the 
vacancy, a picked number of the applicants (or 
perhaps all the applicants if the number is small) 
will be interviewed by an appropriately con- 
stituted committee, and the most suitable thereby 


432 


selected. This method is adopted by the Com- 
mission from the Board of Trade, which used it 
for the recruitment of the Labour Exchanges. 
In the circumstances it is curious that instead of 
acknowledging their debt the Commissioners find 
fault with the method adopted for the Labour 
Exchanges. 

4. Quatiryinc Examination.—This method is 
used for subordinate posts tor which educational 
attainments are of less importance than other 
qualities, postmen for instance. More than half 
of the posts in the Service are filled in this way, a 
greater number than by open competition. The 
Commission proposes that the Treasury should 
consider how to ensure that the patronage neces- 
sarily involved in the selection of these men shall 
be suitably exercised. 


The General Civil Service. 


A problem with which many have struggled is 
the finding of employment for the ex-boy-clerk, 
a problem which has resulted from a desire to 
spare the pocket of the taxpayer without sufficient 
regard to other circumstances. The boy is at 
present taken on and employed for a few years 
and then, in many cases, turned adrift. Many 
civil servants have laboured to find employment 
for the ex-boy-clerk. Their labours have, how- 
ever, effected only an alleviation of the evil, and it 
is satisfactory to have the Commission decide that, 
in future, boys must be taken on only with a view 
to permanent employment provided their work 
proves satisfactory. 

An aggravation of the evil was that in spite of 
the published regulations, many boys and their 
parents imagined that a boy selected by open 
competition for the Civil Service was made for 
life. The boy-clerk method of recruiting is to be 
replaced by a new class to be called the Junior 
Clerical Class, who will be recruited at the age of 
sixteen for permanent service. These boys are 
thus made for life in some sense, since provided 
they give satisfaction they may remain in the 
service and attain to a salary of 200]. It ought, 
however, to be made quite clear to this Junior 
Clerical Class that the bulk of them will be hewers 
of wood and drawers of water all their lives and 
never pass the 2ool. limit. The staff posts . to 
which these men may be promoted and the rare 
chances of promotion to a higher class will be 
small in numbers compared with the total numbers 
of the Class, and the bulk of the Class should be 
discouraged from looking forward to such promo- 
tion. Even so it will be difficult for a man who 
attains his maximum salary at thirty-six years of 
age to work on contentedly for thirty years more 
on that salary. 

The General Civil Service will in future be re- 
cruited in three classes: 

1. The Junior Clerical Class, appointed at six- 
teen at the close of the Intermediate School 
Course, 

2. The Senior Clerical Class, appointed at 
eighteen at the close of the Secondary School 
Course. 


10. 2330) VOL. O32 | 


NATURE 


[JUNE 25, 1914 

3. The Administrative Class, appointed at the 
close of the University Course. 

As already stated, the chief change is in the first- 
mentioned class which replaces the temporary boy- 
clerks. In course of time, when the Second Divi- 
sion Clerks have ceased to exist, their work will 
doubtless fall to the Junior Clericals. The second 
and third classes mentioned above are practically 
the Intermediate Class and the Class I. Clerks 
under new names. In all three classes, the con- 
ditions as to age and subjects are to be coordi- 
nated more closely than at present with the corre- 
sponding school epoch. It is, for instance, high 
time to abolish the test in copying manuscript 
which now stands in the examination schemes of 
the Boy Clerks and Second Division Clerks. The 
importance of the test to the Departments must 
be much reduced now that good handwriting is 
required of the Class I. Clerks. 


MR. ROOSEVELT IN BRAZIL. 


psn a special meeting of the Royal Geographical 
Society on Tuesday, June 16, Mr. Roosevelt 
gave an account of his recent journey in Central 
Brazil. In his opening remarks he alluded to the 
excellent work of the Telegraphic Commission 
under Col. Rondon in exploring the sandstone 
plateau which, under different names, extends 
west-north-west through northern Matto Grosso 
towards the cataracts of the Rio Madeira, and 
separates the drainage basins of the Paraguay and 
the Guaporé from those of the Xingu, Tapajos, 
and some of the tributaries of the Madeira. To 
the west of the affluents of the Juruena, the 
western fork of the Tapajos, they met with two 
considerable streams which they named _ the 
Ananaz and the Duvida; the ultimate courses of 
these were uncertain, hence the name, meaning 
“doubt” given to the latter. Beyond was an- 
other stream, which was descended and demon- 
strated to be the Gi-parana, which enters the 
Madeira a little below San Antonio. 

On Mr. Roosevelt’s arrival in Brazil it was 
arranged that he and Col. Rondon should conduct 
an expedition down the Rio Duvida. Besides the 
two leaders, the personnel included Mr. Kermit 
Roosevelt, two American biologists, a Lieutenant 
of the Brazilian Engineering Corps, who deter- 
mined the positions by astronomical observations, 
and a Brazilian army surgeon. 

The expedition started in dug-outs from the 
bridge constructed by the Commission across the 
river, and for the first four days good progress 
was made, but then a succession of cataracts was 
met with, and forty-two days were occupied in 
covering one degree of latitude. All the 
cataracts had to be reconnoitred before they were 
negotiated, and in some cases the canoes had to be 
transported by land. At two points where low 
ranges of hills were traversed in narrow gorges 
the canoes had to be warped through with ropes. 
If, as was no doubt the case, these dug-outs were 
of the same type as those with which the writer 
was familiar on the Paraguay near its source, 


June 25, 1914] 


NATURE 


ma) 


any craft less suited for descending rapids could 
scarcely be imagined. Mr. Roosevelt recom- 
mended future explorers to use Canadian birch- 
bark canoes in their place. When the last catar- 
act had been left behind, about latitude 10° 50’ S., 
the first rubber worker was soon encountered, and 
others were met with at intervals down the river 
to its junction with the Madeira about latitude 
B20: 

Mr. Roosevelt remarked on the fact that, 
though this was by far the most important 
tributary of the Madeira below the junction 
of the Beni and Mamoré, it did not appear 
on any map, except as a short and unimportant 
creek. It remains to be seen whether the whole 
of the water of the river takes this course. 
It seems quite possible that, when the river is 
high, some may pass into the Madeira by other 
routes, or may find an outlet into the Amazon by 
way of the Canuma channel, a lateral branch of 
the Madeira. 

There is no doubt that the expedition has accom- 
plished a valuable piece of work, and has, in Mr. 
Roosevelt’s own words, placed a river comparable 
in size to the Elbe for the first time on the map. 
It is probably the most important achievement in 
river exploration in tropical South America since 
1880, when Heath descended the Beni from 
Rurenabaque and showed that it united with the 
Manutata (Madre de Dios) and Mamoré to form 
the Madeira. 

The collections made by the expedition should 
prove of interest, especially the rocks of the 
cataracts, which are on the line of strike of the 
crystalline rocks of the Madeira cataracts de- 
scribed by the writer. It was in descending the 
rapids that Mr. Roosevelt contracted fever, so that 
they appear to have the same malarial character 
as many other cataracts in South America, pre- 
sumably because they offer facilities for the 
breeding of Anopheles in rock pools. 

Joun W. Evans. 


NOTES. 


THE list of honours conferred on the occasion of 
the celebration of the King’s birthday on Monday, 
June 22, includes the names of a few men of distin- 
guished eminence in the scientific world, and of others 
who, while belonging to various departments of the 
public service, have done notable work for science. 
Among the new peers is Sir Leonard Lyell, Bart., a 
nephew of Sir Charies Lyell, and formerly a professor 
of natural science in the University College of Wales. 
Colonel S. G. Burrard, F.R.S., Surveyor-General in 
India, has been appointed a K.C.S.I., and Mr. 
R. A. S. Redmayne, C.B., Chief Inspector of Mines, 
Home Office, has been promoted to the rank of 
K.C.B. The new knights include :—Dr. J. G. Frazer, 
author of ‘‘ The Golden Bough’’; Dr. W. P. Herring- 
ham, Vice-Chancellor of London University and 
physician to St. Bartholomew’s Hospital; Dr. W. H. 
St. John Hope, archeologist; Dr. W. Milligan, 
known by his investigation into the connection of 
human and animal anthrax; Lieut.-Colonel Leonard 


NO. 2330, VOL. 93] 


Rogers, Indian Medical Service, professor of 
pathology, Medical College, and _ bacteriologist to 
Government, Calcutta; Dr. T. Kirke Rose, chemist 
and assayer to the Royal Mint; Dr. S.. J. 
Sharkey, lecturer on medicine at St. Thomas’s Hos- 
pital; and Mr. J. F. C. Snell, president-elect of the 
Institute of Electrical Engineers. The honour of 
Knight Bachelor has been conferred upon Dr. Douglas 
Mawson, the Antarctic explorer, and Prof. T. P. 
Anderson Stuart, dean of the faculty of medicine at 
Sydney University. Mr. R. Meredith, Director of 
Telegraphs, India; Mr. A. Howard, imperial economic 
botanist at Pusa, Bengal; Major E. D. W. Greig, 
assistant director, Central Research Institute, Kasauli; 
Dr. T. Summers, late Bombay Public Works Depart- 
ment; and Mr. R. H. Tickell, chief engineer, Central 
Provinces, have received the honour of C.1.E. Dr. 
H. R. D. Spitta, bacteriologist to his Majesty’s House- 
hold, has been appointed M.V.O. (Fourth Class). 


At the meeting of the London Mathematical Society 
on June 11 it was announced that the de Morgan 
medal had been awarded to Sir Joseph Larmor. 


By the will of Sir David Gill, the Royal Astro- 
nomical Society is bequeathed the sum of 25o0l. to be 
employed by the council of the society in aid of 
astronomical research in remembrance of the like sum 
paid out of the funds of the society in aid of his 
expedition to Ascension in 1876. 


WE learn from the Lancet that the Emile Chr. 
Hansen prize for 1914, which consists of a gold medal 
and 2000 kroner (approximately 100 guineas), has been 
awarded to Prof. Jules Bordet, director of the Institut 
Pasteur of Brabant, in recognition of his original 
medical work in microbiology. 


THE president of the British Science Guild (the 
Right Hon. Sir William Mather), and Lady Mather, 
have arranged to give a garden party to the members 
of the British Science Guild on Wednesday, July 8, 
at the Garden Club of the Anglo-American Peace 
Centenary Exposition, Shepherd’s Bush. 


THE work done on behalf of tropical medicine by 
Mr. Joseph Chamberlain and Mr. Austen Chamberlain 
has been commemorated by placing their portraits in 
bronze relief in the Albert Dock Hospital of the Sea- 
man’s Hospital Society. The tablets were unveiled 
on Tuesday by Mr. Harcourt, Secretary of State for 
the Colonies. 


Mr. G. A. Hicur writes from Samer, Pas de Calais, 
giving particulars of the storm experienced on June 14. 
The rainfall measured at Samer during the storm 
between 12.50 and 2.45 p.m., was 3-86 inches, and 
nearly all fell before 2.15 p.m. The most remarkable 
feature of the storm was its local character, for in 
villages only two or three miles to the south of Samer 
there was no rain. During the storm the tempera- 
ture fell from 70° to 61° F. 


ACCORDING to a Reuter telegram from Copenhagen, 
Mr. Ole Olsen, the Danish millionaire, has offered to 
place sufficient funds for the fitting out of a north pole 
expedition at the disposal of M. Knud Rasmussen, 
the Danish explorer who has travelled much in Green- 


434 


NATURE 


[JUNE 25, 1914 


land and among the Eskimo. The expedition, which 
will take provisions for two years, will be provided 
with all modern appliances, and will be accompanied 
by a scientific staff. The base will be at Cape York, 
in Greenland. The expenses are estimated at about 
15,000l. A start will probably be made in the summer 
of 1915. 

Our contemporary, the British Journal of Photo- 
graphy, is this year celebrating its diamond jubilee. 
The journal has been published continuously since 
1854—that is, from the very early days of the wet 
collodion process—so that in its pages the history of 
photography is recorded as the events took place, with 
the exception of the still earlier daguerreotype period. 
It is fitting, therefore, that the diamond jubilee num- 
ber, just issued, should contain a short history of the 
journal with portraits of its successive editors, and 
portraits of twelve ‘‘veterans of photography,” the 
qualification for which class is an age of seventy or 
more, and a lifelong association with photography. 
With the special number is included a twenty-four 
page supplement, which gives an excellent summary 
of the history of photography, with many portraits 
and other interesting illustrations. Among the por- 
traits is one of two of the ‘‘veterans,”’ Sir William 
Crookes and Mr. John Spiller, taken fifty-nine years 
ago. 

Tue council of the Aeronautical Society of Great 
Britain has awarded the gold medal of the society to 
Prof. G. H. Bryan, F.R.S., for the great services he 
has rendered to aeronautics by his development of the 
theory of the stability of aeroplanes. Prof. Bryan is 
an old member of the society, to which in 1903 he 
communicated, in conjunction with Mr. Ellis Wil- 
liams, a paper on the longitudinal stability of aero- 
plane gliders, containing the beginnings of the theory 
of stability he has since developed and published in 
his monograph, “Stability in Aviation”? (1911). The 
previous recipients of the gold medal of the society, 
which is the highest award of British scientific aero- 
nautics, are Wilbur and Orville Wright (1909), and 
Octave Chanute (1910). The official presentation of 
the medal to Prof. Bryan will take place next session 
at a date to be announced later. 


THE nineteenth International Congress of American- 
ists (for the study of the ethnology and archeology 
of the Americas), wiil meet at Washington, October 
5-10, under the patronage of the President of the 


United States and with the cooperation of the Smith- 


sonian Institution, the universities, and other learned 
bodies. A full programme has been issued of the 
meetings, entertainments, and of a highly interesting 
excursion for the foreign members, to last rather more 
than two weeks. The principal cities and_ their 
museums will be visited and also New Mexico for the 
cliff-dwellings and pueblos. The Universities of Ox- 
ford and Cambridge have appointed delegates, and it 
is hoped that Great Britain may be fully represented, 
especially as the eighteenth congress was held in Lon- 
don, May, 1912. Members’ fees, 11., and associates, 
Ios., may be sent. by money order to Dr. A. Hrdliéka, 
National Museum, Washington, D.C., U.S.A. The 
proceedings will be issued to members only. 


NO. 2330, VOL. 93]| 


Ir is proposed to erect, by international - subscrip- 
tion a monument to the memory. of Nicolas Louis 
de la Caille, at Rumigny (Ardennes). Among astro- 
nomers who have contributed substantially to the ad- 
vancement of knowledge of the universe, de la Caille 
claims a distinguished place. He was the principal 
collaborator with the third Cassini in the measurement 
of the arc of meridian from north to south of France, 
with the view of settling the question as to whether 
the figure of the earth was oblate or prolate. He 
went on a mission to the Cape of Good Hope, and 
while there determined the positions of ten thousand 
stars, measured an arc of meridian in South Africa, 
thus starting the triangulation to connect the Cape 
with Cairo, his observations, combined with those of 
astronomers in the northern hemisphere, giving in- 
creased accuracy to the determination of the moon’s 
distance. His work, completed in less than four 
years, was commemorated by the Royal Society of 
South Africa in 1901 by the erection of a tablet on 
the house in which he lived in Cape Town. 
He was one of the leading lights of the eighteenth 
century, and his work merits the monument which it 
is proposed to erect. The president of the executive 
committee which is appealing for subscriptions is M. 
Baillaud, director of the Paris Observatory, and the 
members of the honorary committee include many dis- 
tinguished astronomers in France and elsewhere. 


THE International Fire Service Council’s executive 
held a series of meetings in London on June 15-19, 
at the invitation of the British Fire Prevention Com- 
mittee. The meetings have been honoured by his 
Majesty wishing the council success; the delegates 
have been received on behalf of his Majesty’s Govern- 
ment, who have entertained them at luncheon, when 
the Earl Beauchamp, presiding, took the opportunity 
to express his appreciation of their work and its 
beneficial influence, and the London County Council 
has entertained the visitors and afforded them 
numerous facilities. The work of the International 
Council, which was presided over by Commandant 
Meier, of Amsterdam (president of the council), in- 
cluded the technical arrangement of the proposed 
International Fire English-French-German Dictionary 
of 5000 technical terms, which the council will now 
be able shortly to issue, thanks to the liberality of 
an English donor who has offered to bear the cost of 
its production. Arrangements were made for the 
holding of a full meeting of the council and an Inter- 
national Fire Congress at Copenhagen in 1915, when 
questions relating to celluloid dangers, fire on board 
ship, petroleum dangers, and the formation of county 
or district motor fire brigades are to be under con- 
sideration. 


Last Saturday, June 20, the Physical Society held a 
meeting at Cambridge. A party of about one hundred 
travelled from London, and proceeded to the works 
of the Cambridge Scientific Instrument Co. After 
inspecting the works, the members and their friends 
were entertained by the company at a luncheon in the 
hall of St. John’s College. The president, Sir J. J. 
Thomson, in expressing the thanks of the society for 


the company’s hospitality, directed attention to its’ 


i ree Se 


JUNE 25, 1914] 


NATORE 


430 


excellent work, and to the part it played in putting 
into a commercial form the crude ideas of the pure 
physicist in developing new instruments. Mr. Horace 
Darwin, chairman of the company, in responding, 
remarked that it aimed at turning out not only well- 
finished instruments, but also instruments that would 
last owing to good design. In referring to the presi- 
dent of the society, Mr. Darwin directed attention to 
the remarkable succession of professors at the Caven- 
dish Laboratory, namely, Clerk Maxwell, then Lord 
Rayleigh, and now Sir J. J. Thomson. He concluded 
by thanking the master and fellows of St. John’s 
College for permitting the lunch to be held in the hall. 
After a reply by Dr. G. D. Liveing, the members 
visited some of the colleges and proceeded to the 
Cavendish Laboratory, where Sir J.J. Thomson read a 
paper on the production of very soft Rontgen radia- 
tion by the impact of positive and slow kathode rays, 
and Mr. F. W. Aston read a paper on the homo. 
geneity of atmospheric neon. This was followed by 
tea by invitation of Sir Joseph and Lady Thomson, 
and experimental demonstrations in the laboratory. 


Dr. Wo rpacH and Mr. Binger describe two new 
spirochete organisms (S. elusa and S. biflexa) from 
pond-water. The former was cultivated in hay infu- 
sion; it is very minute, and is filterable through a 
Berkefeld filter (Journ. Med. Research, vol. xxx., 
No. 1, 1914). 


BuLtetTIn No, 92 of the U.S. Department of Agri- 
culture gives an account of experiments by Dr. White 
on the destruction of germs. of __ infectious 
bee diseases by heat. Temperatures of 63° C. 
for European foul brood, 98° C. for American foul 
brood and 58° C. for sacbrood and Nosema disease, 
with an exposure for ten minutes, were found effec- 
tive. These data may be of practical service in pre- 
venting the ravages of these diseases. 


In the Memoirs of the Department of Agriculture 
in India (Veterinary Series, vol. ii., No. 3, 1914) Major 
Holmes details tests of the curative value of iodine 
and of carbolic acid on haemorrhagic septicaemia and 
rinderpest, two important cattle diseases, in which the 
mortality is about 90 per cent. Iodine treatment 
reduced the mortality in haemorrhagic septicemia to 
about 50 per cent., and in rinderpest to about 67 per 
cent. Of ten rinderpest animals treated with carbolic 
acid, three survived, a mortality of 70 per cent. 
Potassium permanganate was found to have no cura- 
tive value in either disease. 


In the Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science 
for June (vol. Ix., part 2), Prof. Arthur Willey gives 
a description of the blastocyst and placenta of the 
beaver, having been fortunate enough to obtain much 
younger stages than any hitherto known. In the same 
number Prof. G. C. Bourne describes a remarkable 
new type of Alcyonartan, to which he gives the: name 
Acrossota liposclera. The specimen was collected by 
Prof. Willey near British New Guinea, and differs 
from all other known Alcyonarians in the possession 
of simple, unbranched tentacles. The tentacles are, 
however, always eight in number, and in other respects 


NO. 2330, VOL. 93] 


also the species is typically Alcyonarian. A new 
family, the Acrossotidz, is proposed, and placed in the 
order Stolonifera of Hickson. 


EXcELLENT photographs illustrative of the breeding 
habits of the pratincole and the Kentish plover form 


one of the striking features in the June number of 
Wild Life. 


WE are indebted to Dr J. Ritchie for a copy of an 
article in the May number of the Scottish Naturalist 
on early references to the occurrence of four-horned 
sheep in Scotland. The earliest of these is in a work 
on Scottish affairs by Bishop Leslie, published in 
Rome in 1578. 


TuHE care of home aquaria is one of two titles given 
to a small illustrated pamphlet by Dr. R. C. Osburn, 
published by the New York Zoological Society. In 
the United States small aquaria, both marine and° 
fresh-water, appear to be much more common at the 
present day than they are in this country; and the 
tract is intended for the use of beginners in the cult. 
Dr. Osburn emphasises the importance of a proper . 
balance between animal and vegetable life in the tank, 
and, when this is established, the harmfulness of 
frequent change of the water. 


Mr. O. A. M. Hawxegs has devoted a large amount 
of time and labour to the study of the relative lengths 
of the first and second toes of the human foot, from 
the point of view of occurrence, anatomy, and here- 
dity, the results of which are published, with a 
number of sciograph and other illustrations, in the 
April number of the Journal of Genetics. Three chief 
types are noticeable, in the first and most common 
of which the ‘‘great” toe is longer than any of the 
others; in the second type the maximum length occurs 
in the second toe, while in the third, and rarest, type, 
the first and second toes are equal in length and longer 
than any of the other three. 


At the Monaco International Zoological Congress 
it’ was resolved that a certain number of well-known 
generic names of animals which, on grounds of priority 
or for other reasons, are liable to replacement, might 
be submitted to the International Commission on 
Nomenclature for retention by ‘fiat.’ A list—signed 
by Messrs. K. Andersen (Denmark), E. Lénn- 
berg (Sweden), A. Cabrera (Spain), R. Lydekker 
(England), P. Matschie (Germany), O. Thomas 
(England), and E. L._ Trouessart (France)—of 
sixteen mammalian names recommended for con- 
servation in this manner has now been 
up with the yiew of presentation to the com- 
mission. The scheduled names are Anthropo- 
pithecus (chimpanzi), Cercopithecus (guenon monkeys), 
Chiromys (aye-aye), Ccelogenys (paca), Dasypus 
(six - banded  armadillos), Dicotyles  (peccaris), 
Echidna (spiny ant-eater), Galeopithecus (flying- 
lemur), Gazella (gazelles), Hapale (marmosets), Hippo- 
tragus (sable and roan antelopes), Lagidium (moun- 
tain chinchilla), Manatus (manatis), Nycteris (certain 
African bats), Rhytina (Steller’s sea-cow), and Simia 
(orang-utan). Hyrax (rock-conies) might well have 
been added. It is to be hoped that not only will the 
commission issue the “fiat,” but that naturalists will 


drawn 


430 


make a point of accepting the names thus legalised. 
In many instances their rejection.involves the trans- 
ference of names from one genus to another (as, for 
instance, Simia from the orang-utan to the chimpanzi, 
and Cynocephalus, so long used for the dog-faced 
baboons, to the flying-lemur), which is the worst of 
all evils in zoological nomenclature. Echidna will 
have to be disused in ichthyology. 


AMONG recent additions to the Natural History 
Branch of the British Museum, the following speci- 
mens are of general public interest :—The skeleton of 
the thoroughbred stallion, ‘‘St. Simon,” presented by 
the Duke of Portland, which is not yet on exhibition, 
but is, we understand, to be placed alongside the 
skeleton of his son, ‘‘ Persimmon,” presented by his 
late Majesty King Edward VII. ‘St. Simon” was 
foaled in 1881, and was never beaten on the Turf. 
Another highly interesting skeleton is that of the 
Egyptian Eocene two-horned ungulate, Arsinoé- 
therium, which has just been set up in the fossil 
mammal gallery. As a matter of fact, this skeleton is 
a restoration in plaster, but as nearly all the elements 
have been modelled from actual bones, it is practically 
as good as if an original. As mounted, the skeleton 
is about 113 ft. in length from the muzzle to the root 
of the tail, a striking feature being the very wide 
interval between the limbs of opposite sides. The 
precise affinities of this strange beast are still un- 
known. In the upper mammal gallery the attention 
of the public has been riveted on a gigantic specimen 
of the eastern race of the gorilla (Anthropopithecus 
gorilla beringeri), from the neighbourhood of Lake 
Tanganyika, recently presented by the Rowland Ward 
Trustees. In addition to its huge size, this race is 
characterised by the great development of long black 
hair on the head, shoulders, and buttocks, and the 
restriction of the grey band on the back to the loins. 
On entering the museum the visitor should inspect a 
segment of the trunk of a fossil conifer from the Trias 
of Arizona, presented by Mr. Arthur Pearson, and 
placed by one of the pillars on the right side of the 
hall. This specimen, which weighs about 23 tons, 
has an adventitious interest on account of the brilliant 
colours presented by the silicified wood, as is admir- 
ably shown in the polished upper surface. 


THE report of the Sonnblick Society for the year 
1913 contains, in addition to the usual meteorological 
observations at the summit of the Sonnblick, Salzburg 
(3105 metres), and at other alpine stations, two papers 
of considerable interest. The first deals with the force 
of gravity on the Sonnblick, and with general con- 
siderations on the earth’s gravity, by Major L. Andres. 
It was intended that General v. Sterneck, who was 
greatly interested in the subject, and had made numer- 
ous determinations in various parts, and had also 
designed a simple, portable pendulum instrument, 
should superintend the work, but this was prevented 
by his death in 1910. The second paper relates to 
recent scientific research at the Hochobir Observatory 
(2043 metres) in connection with the determination of 
the effect of difference of height on the magnetic 
elements, and with experiments on atmospheric elec- 
tricity. Good results are here being obtained with 


NO. 2330, VOL: 92] 


NATURE 


[JUNE 25, 1914 


| pilot balloons, which can be followed to very great 


| 


| 


“articles on 
acuvaty ‘by Prof. . J. de 


heights, owing to the clearness of the air. 


SINCE 1783 there has been no great eruption of the 
Asama-yama, and chief volcano of Central Japan, 
though the minor explosions and frequent earth- 
tremors of the last few years seem to point to an 
approaching period of activity. During the summer 
months the tremors are recorded at the observatory of 
Yuno-taira, which lies 1900 ft. below the summit on 
the south-west slope of the mountain. Prof. Omori, 
who has studied these records (Bull. Imp. Earthq. 
Inv. Com., vol. vi., 1914, pp. 149-226), shows that 
the tremors belong to two classes. Those of the first 
group (1065 in number, of which one in six were 
sensible) consist of quick vibrations, are generally of 
short duration, and never occur during eruptions. The 
tremors of the second group (1688 in number) consist 
of slow and always insensible movements, which are 
of comparatively long duration, and invariably accom- 
pany eruptions. In 1911 the average daily number 
of tremors was eight, and in 1912 eleven. 


La Société BELGE DE RADIOLOGIE has issued (L. 
Severeyns, Brussels, price 6 francs) a _ series of 
the medical applications of  radio- 
Nobele, University of 
Ghent, MM. Paul Giraud, Jacques and Gaston 
Danne, and Dr. Henri Coutard, of the Laboratoire de 
Radio-activité de Gif, prés Paris, entitled ‘‘ Conferences 
de Radiumbiologie; faites a 1’?Université de Gand en 
1913.”’ The publication deals chiefly with the work 
at M. Danne’s private laboratory at Gif, and is pro- 
vided with numerous illustrations of the laboratory 
and the various apparatus there employed. A number 
of sufficiently striking illustrations, in M. Giraud’s 
article, show the healing of various growths success- 
fully treated with radium. Dr. Coutard contributes 
a very full and valuable bibliography dealing with the 
biological side of radio-activity, which occupies sixty 
pages. 

In the Verhandlungen of the German Physical 
Society for May 15. Dr. E. Gumlich describes a modi- 
fication of the isthmus method of testing the magnetic 
qualities of iron in fields of the order of 7500 gauss, 
which has been found to work very well at the Reichs- 
anstalt. The specimen to be tested consists of a 
cylindrical rod 06 cm. diameter, 35 cm. long, which 
passes through the 0-6 cm. diameter central holes in 
two soft iron cylinders of 2-5 cm. outer diameter and 
17 cm. length. Between the two cylinders the testing 
coils, 1.2 cm. wide, are placed. These coils are wound 
in four layers, so that from the throw given by a 
ballistic galvanometer connected either to the inner 
layer or to two consecutive layers in opposition, the 
induction or the magnetising field outside the specimen 
can be determined. A slight modification of the 
arrangement allows transformer sheet to be tested in 
the same way, the magnetising coil necessary to pro- 
vide the magnetic flux through the yoke connecting 
the two cylinders in either case being comparatively 
small. 


WE learn from the Engineer for June 19 that a 
very large installation of Humphrey gas pumps has 


been ordered by the Egyptian Government for the. 


JUNE 25, 1914] 


drainage of Lake Mareotis at Mex, near Alexandria. 
When completed, there will be eighteen pumps, each 
capable of delivering 100,000,000 gallons a day 
through a lift of 20 ft. The present order comprises 
the first ten pumps, together with the necessary gas 
producers, Venturi meters, etc. The great size of 
the pumps may be judged from the fact that their 
capacity will be between two and three times that of 
the pumps installed at the Chingford Reservoir. The 
combustion chambers will have a maximum internal 
diameter of 8 ft. 8in., and a height of 14 ft. approxi- 
mately. Each water valve box will be 8 ft. 8 in. in 
diameter, and 7 ft. high, and will have 100 valves of 
the hinged type, specially designed to enable any 
valve to close upon an obstruction without throwing 
undue stress upon the hinges. On the next stroke, 
when the obstruction has been removed by the rush 
of water, the valve will readjust its position auto- 
matically and close fairly upon its seat. 


Tue accidental subsidences which occurred in Paris 
a few days ago on one of the Paris Metropolitan lines 
now in course of completion form the subject of an 
article in Engineering for June 19. The driving of 
the new underground line appears to have been the 
immediate cause of the catastrophe. The existing 
masonry sewers seem to have been shored up over the 
tunnel driven to take the line; they appear to have 


broken down at parts during the violent storm 
of June 15, and the water, by flowing into 
the tunnel, led to undermining and to. the 


caving-in of the tunnel arch by carrying away 
the earth and stone on which the arch rested 
temporarily, and aiso by carrying away at intervals 
the masonry walls which formed its final support. It 
is quite evident that the excavation work, which the 
construction of the new lines involves, is surrounded 
with most serious difficulties, carried out as it is in the 
very soft earth which constitutes the subsoil of Paris, 
amongst a most complicated network of sewers and 
pipes, and very frequently through bodies of under- 
ground water. It is too early to draw conclusions 
from the disaster, but one point would seem to stand 
out clearly, and this is to the effect that no precaution 
and no reasonable amount of timbering should be 
deemed superfluous when driving a large network of 
tunnels in a treacherous subsoil like that of Paris. 


OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 


Comet Notes.—Zlatinsky’s comet (1914b) is gradu- 
ally becoming fainter and getting further south, but 
the following ephemeris, calculated by Prof. Schwass- 
man (Astronomische Nachrichten, No. 4739) of Berge- 


dorf, will permit of it being followed with larger 
instruments :— 


ann (true) Dec. (true) Mag. 
June 24 0 24. .10;2) eae ~9 3 Is sae POO 
25 25499 «=. 9 36 3 
26 27 20:2) 0), a. igen a) 35 
27, 28- 47-6 en Oe aTS P21) 9:1 
28 GO. 12-20 Siew eee aa 
29 31 344 --- IT 34 42 
30 32 SA 4 nee, woe ear 
FulyoueT 9 34 12-2 i eHAO hs. G4 


NO.—23 30," VOL. 03) 


NATURE 


437 


The comet discovered by Kritzinger (1914a) is @ 
circumpolar object due to its large positive declina- 
tion. An ephemeris is published in Astronomische 
Nachrichten, No. 4739, by M. P. Chofardet, and the 
following are the positions for the current week :— 


R.A. Dec. 
Ire, WIDisw-Ss 5 i 
femegen tn 22000 Gol) to aag 
27 Sesore? Fee te Oo) 
29 Tog 2) 2.2 4 ASG 
d UG Sas ote eee LA E2 cba te BAL AR 
Ae Mae) ms ie aay . +44 36-7 


Elements and ephemeris for Delavan’s comet (1913f)) 
are also given in the same number of the Astro- 
nomische Nachrichten. This comet is now about the 
gth magnitude, and is brightening up considerably, 
but cannot yet be observed owing to its nearness to 
the sun. It will be picked up, however, somewhere 
about the latter end of July. 


Larce TeLescopes.—Mr H. P. Hollis publishes 
(Observatory, June) a very interesting list of large 
refractors and reflectors, either under construction or 
already set up -in observatories. In the case of re- 
fractors, the lower limit of aperture of the object glass 
is taken as 20 in., and the same limit is also taken 
in the case of the reflecting telescopes. Of the thirty- 
eight refractors about which details are given, the 
largest objective is that of 49-2 in. made for the 
Paris Exhibition of 1900. As this is out of use, the 
largest working objective is that of the Yerkes Ob- 
servatory at Wisconsin, U.S.A. Of the refractors. 
under construction the following may be mentioned :— 
A 32-in. for the Nicolaieff Observatory, Russia; a 
26-in. for the Union Observatory, Johannesburg ; three 
24-in. for the following observatories: Argentine 
National Observatory, Cordoba, Chili National Ob- 
servatory, Santiago, and the Detroit Observatory, 
Michigan, U.S.A., and a 20-in. for the Chabot Ob- 
servatory, Oakland, California. The Earl of Ross’s 
72-in. reflector holds the field for the largest reflector 
(metallic speculum), while Dr. Common’s 60-in. (silver 
on glass), now at the Harvard Observatory, U.S.A., 
comes second. Of those under construction, two 
giants are in hand, namely, one of too in. for the 
Mount Wilson Solar Observatory, and one of 72 in. 
for the Dominion Observatory, Canada. Others under 
construction are a 4o-in. for the Simeis Observatory, 
Crimea, and two of 30 in., one for the Helwan Ob- 
servatory, Egypt, and the other for Mr. D’Esterre’s 
observatory, Surrey, England. It is interesting to 
note that the number of instruments in each list is 


about the same, namely, thirty-eight refractors and 
forty reflectors. 


A PLaneTtT BeyonD NepruNe.—Mr. H. E. Lau con- 
tributes to the June number of L’Astronomie a short 
account of his researches on the perturbations of Nep- 
tune and Uranus leading him to suggest a case for a 
planet beyond Neptune. He produces some interest- 
ing and suggestive curves showing the apparent irre- 
gularities of the movement of Uranus according to 
the errors of the tables after Newcomb, Gaillot, and 
himself. As regards the conclusions he draws at the 
end of his article he states that they should only be 
accepted with extreme reserve. The researches made 
by M. Gaillot and himself, ‘‘établissent seulement 
que l’hypothese des deux planétes transneptuniennes 
n’est pas en conflit avec les faits observés de sorte 
qu’il peut exister deux ou plusieurs grosses planétes 
au dela des limites actuelles du systéme solaire.” 


RECENT Procress or AstRoNomy.—In the Annuaire 
de V’Observatoire Royal de Belgique for 1914 Prof. 


438 


Paul Stroobant contributed a large section dealing 
with the progress of astronomy during the year IgI2. 
This section has now been issued in a small book 
form, and wiil be found very handy and useful for 
reference. 


NEW PHYSIOLOGY SCHOOL AT 
CAMBRIDGE. 


Oe June 9, H.R.H. Prince Arthur of Connaught 
opened the new physiological laboratory erected 
by the Drapers’ Company, and presented by it to 
the University of Cambridge. A comparison of the 
old laboratory with the new illustrates the remarkable 
increase in complexity that has taken place in recent 


New Physiology School, Cambridge. 


NAT ORE 


[JUNE 25, 1914 


and the current can be taken direct from this when 


arc lamps are in use 
Compressed air is supplied to the research rooms, at 
a pressure of 25 Ib. to the sq. in.; the compressor has 


an automatic switch which starts the motor when the 


pressure drops to 12-15 lb. to the sq. in. The com- 
pressed air, besides its other uses, is employed for 
aerating the water in the canks of a small room fitted 
up as an aquarium. Some of the tanks contain sea- 
water for marine animals, and by the method em- 
ployed, the sea-water only requires renewal about once 
in three months. 

There is a special boiler for supplying hot water to 
the sinks, and a destructor for burning animals killed 
in the laboratories. On the ground floor is a refrigera- 


View from N.W. The large lecture room and the biochem.cal department wil form a wing on 


the E. side of the entrance door. 


years in physiological investigation. The old labora- 
tory, the last part of which was built in 1891, was 
for some years amongst the best in the country, yet it 
had no electrical supply, and the research rooms 
simply afforded space without any adaptation + for 
special purposes. The following account of the chief 
features of the new laboratories will show how the 
conditions have altered. The building is 162 ft. long 
and 44 ft. broad. The eastern half consists of five 
storeys, the western half has the fourth and fifth 
storeys thrown together to form one large room with a 
gallery. Electric light is throughout. The rooms are 
supplied with 4-volt and r10-volt current from a 
storage battery, and in many of the rooms the cur- 
rent can be taken from plugs hanging from the 
ceiling. The battery has a capacity of 480 ampere- 
hours; it is charged from an external power station, 


NO! 2230, VOIo3s | 


tor plant keeping a small room above it on the first 
floor at 0°-3° C. 

Two rooms are fitted up for research in electro- 
physiology, each having a dark room, so that photo- 
graphic records of the electrometer, and string gal- 
vanometer, can be taken. These are on the ground 
floor, which is 5 ft. below the surface; the stone slabs 
on which the instruments rest are practically devoid 
of vibration. Two rooms on the same floor are 
arranged for thermo-electric research, and a continuous 
record can be taken of the heat given out by small 


| animals over a period of several days. Two communi- 
| cating rooms are designed for surgical operations; 
one of these, and some of the experimental rooms, | 


have a special arrangement of hot-water pipes for 
heating to 75° C. Adjoining these are experimental 
rooms with kymographs. 


There are three dark 


a 


ee ee ee ee ee a ee 


a ee ee ee 


> 


June 25, 1974] 


NATURE 


439 


rooms, one for developing photographs, one for visual 
observations, and one for X-rays. The ordinary table 
for X-ray observations has been modified for work on 
anesthetised animals. An ultra-microscope is in- 
stalled in the room devoted t» research on colloids. 
On the north side of the second floor are 
rooms for microscopic and experimental neurology. 
Three rooms are specially fitted for blood gas analysis. 
The laboratory also contains a large library well sup- 
plied with physiological books and periodicals. 

The class-rooms occupy the fourth and fifth floors; 
there are two large experimental rooms, one for 
elementary and the other for advanced work, and a 
histology room with places for 150 students. Adjoin- 
ing is a small demonstration room, holding about 
fifty, and on the first floor is a larger demonstration 
room, holding about eighty. This latter room has 
dark blinds, moved up and down by a motor, which 
can be set in action from the lecturer’s table. It is 
fitted with epidiascope and with kinematograph. 

The architect of the building is Sir Thomas Jackson. 
In the wing to be built later on the north side will 
come the large lecture room and some additional 
rooms and offices. 


ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES. 


Ae the February number of British Birds the Rev. 

F. C. R. Jourdain and Mr. Clifford Borrer con- 
tribute an article on erythrism in the eggs of British 
species, that is to say, eggs in which the normal 
type of colouring has been replaced by one in which 
the markings are of various shades of red or reddish- 
brown; in other words, those in which the pigment 
consists solely of odrhodein; but the range of colour- 
variation in the species includes eggs coloured with 
bile-pigment (biliverdin), either alone or with other 
pigment, to form the various greens and blues. For 
this reason the eggs of the Accipitres, which, although 
really erythristic, seldom show traces of other colour- 
ing matter, are excluded As might have been ex- 
pected, the erythristic variation generally extends to 
the entire clutch. Whether individual birds which lay 
erythristic eggs in one season, do so always, is a 
point to which no reference is made. 

In the Selborne Magazine for February. members 
of the Committee for the Economic Preservation of 
Birds direct attention to species of which the plumage 
may be used without involving any destruction other 
than would normally occur, as in the case of game- 
birds, or without any destruction at all, as in the case 
of the ostrich, rhea, and, it is said, the peacock. 
On the other hand, it is urged that the slaughter of 
mischievous species, like many of the grain-eating 
parrots, is justifiable, and therefore that their plumage 
may be worn. 

The feature of the winter number (1913) of Bird 
Notes and News is a coloured plate by Mr. Lodge 
of some of the species most severely persecuted by 
the plumage-trade. Statistics of the numbers of skins 
of various species offered at the London auctions are 
given, in connection with the Plumage Bill. 

Bird-Lore (D. Appleton and Co., Harrisburg and 
New York) for January and February is a good num- 
ber, containing two coloured plates, and the four- 
teenth annual census of the local migrations of well- 
known American species. One of the results is to 
show that during the past season “ chickadees,’’ which 
seldom come so far south as Massachusetts, reached 
Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Rhinebeck. 

From a paper by Mr. H. Victor Jones in the 
February number of the Zoologist on certain para- 


NO. 2330, VOL. 93| 


_ hopes 


sites of birds, we learn that while rooks and the 
diurnal birds-of-prey—probably owing to the strength 
of their gastric juices—are practically free from intes- 
tinal infestations of this kind, curlews show, on the 
average, no fewer than 49:5 per head. As there seems 
to be a connection in many species between the num- 
bers of external and internal parasites, it is suggested 
that some of the former may serve as hosts for the 
latter during the earlier stages of their development. 

As one of the results of bird-protection, there are 
that kites may soon be seen in districts 
from which they have long since disappeared. During 
the last few years these birds have increased consider- 


, ably in numbers in Wales, and it is probable that the 


pair recorded by Messrs. Hale and Borrer in the 
March number of British Birds to have bred in 
Devonshire in the spring of 1913 were emigrants from 
that colony. Kites arealso recorded in the same issue, 
on more or less satisfactory evidence, to have been 
seen during 1913 in Somersetshire, Derbyshire, and 
Buckinghamshire. 

According to the January number of the Emu, 
it is expected that an Act for the reservation of 


| 300 acres to serve as a bird-sanctuary in Kangaroo 


Island will be passed by the Commonwealth Govern- 
ment next session. Lyre-birds, formerly abundant in 
very similar country in the Blackall Ranges, would 
probably flourish there. It is also recorded that at the 
annual congress of the R.A.O.U. a resolution was 
unanimously carried calling on the Government to 
pass a local Act on the lines of the British Plumage 
Prohibition Bill. 

In the Field of March 28 Mr. Seth Smith directs 
attention to the remarkable cry uttered by the king 
penguin in the Zoological Gardens. The bird is shy 
of going through the performance, but if gently 
stroked on the throat by its keeper will gradually 
raise its head and stretch its neck to the utmost, then, 
throwing out its chest, it emits a series of loud, 
trumpeting sounds which last for some seconds; the 
bird on the utterance of the last note suddenly drops 
its head, as if bowing to the audience. The “song” 
and the concluding gesture are probably the “ display ”’ 
of the penguin, for in bowing it exhibits to the best 
advantage the brilliant golden patches on the sides of 
the head. As these patches are not confined to the 
male sex, it is probable that both sexes “ display.”’ 

The feeding habits of the South African ground- 
hornbill (Bycanistes buccinator), as exemplified in a 
pair of tame specimens, form the subject of a note by 
Mr. C. F. M. Swynnerton in the Journal of the South 
African Ornithologists’ Union for December, 1913. 
Their extreme voracity, the lightning-like rapidity 
with which they would seize rats in a barn, and the 
small size of many of the insects upon which they 
fed, were some of the most noticeable features of 
these great birds. After devouring half a score of 
rats at one meal, these birds would be ready for a 
second meal an hour later; and they would seize and 
eat house-flies with the same apparent zest as they 
devoured rats. 

The beaks of crossbills are not always crossed in 
the same manner, the upper half in some individuals 
crossing to the bird’s own right, while in others the 
reverse condition obtains. Examination of 171 
specimens has enabled Mr. Miller Christy to state, in 
the April number of British Birds, that, so far as this 
evidence goes, the numbers of the two types are 
approximately equal—eighty-four of one type and 
eighty-three of the other, with four specimens indeter- 
minable. This, it is suggested, is an indication that 
the crossing of the beak is of recent origin, and there- 
fore probably not a Mendelian feature. 


440 


The following extract is from a letter received by 
the editor from the London. correspondent of the 
North Queensland Gazette, relating to an alleged re- 
markable habit on the part of those birds of paradise 
commonly known as rifle-birds (Ptilorhis) :— 

“The birds collect sloughed snake-skins for use in 
connection with their nests. When the construction 
of the nest is finished, they place these skins around 
the outside of the structure in such a natural manner 
as to convey the impression to a casual observer that 
a living snake is coiled there....A hawk, eagle, 
or crow, observing what it takes to be a nest with 
a snake coiled about it, is not likely to desire closer 
acquaintance.” 


THE ROYAL CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 


STABLISHED in 1849 at Toronto, then Upper 
Canada, through the energy and activity of a 
rising young engineer, Mr. (now Sir) Sandford 
Fleming, as secretary, the ‘‘Canadian Institute” was 
incorporated by Royal Charter on November 4, 1851, 
and the title ‘‘Royal’’ has recently been conferred 
upon it. From the first this institute discussed 
questions and published memoirs of world-wide in- 
terest, under the able guidance of men of the type 
of Sir Sandford Fleming, Kivus Tully, Sir William E. 
Logan, E. Billings, Henry Youle Hind, Thomas 
Ridout, J. C. Browne, and others. 

The objects of incorporation included the encourage- 
ment and general advancement of all the sciences, 
arts, and manufactures; in fact, for promoting all 
branches of knowledge dealing with the resources and 
development of a new country, not forgetting indus- 
trial productions and commerce, besides the establish- 
ment of a museum to promote the purposes of science 
and the general interests of the society. For sixty-five 
years these objects have been pursued by the institute, 
and with a membership of sixty-four in 1850, the 
number has increased to nearly 400. The institute 
has published volumes of Transactions that are a 
credit to its good name, both in its earliest days and 
of recent date. The institute has also materially 
assisted Sir Sandford Fleming in his publications on 
the zone system of time reckoning, which has been 
adopted the civilised world over. In its library there 
is found excellent reference material in many depart- 
ments of special research work. In 1913 the number 
of exchanges received by the Royal Canadian Insti- 
tute was 2180, whilst the publications received annually 
now reached 4oo00. Weekly meetings take place 
during the season, when leaders of thought in science, 
history, and literature are invited to take part in the 
reading of papers, and delivery of lectures. These 
meetings are open to the public. 

It was on April 2 of this year that the title ‘‘ Royal” 
was conferred on the Canadian Institute of Toronto 
by his Majesty King George V., recognition of the 
same having been intimated to the institute through 
his Royal Highness Field-Marshal the Duke of Con- 
naught, Governor-General of Canada. Besides send- 
ing a personal message to his Honour, Sir John 
Gibson, Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario, conveying 
his warmest congratulations to the Royal Canadian 
Institute on the recognition and honour conferred 
upon them by H.M. the King, his Royal Highness 
showed his interest in the institute and its progress 
by accepting the post of patron. A communication 
was read from Sir Sandford Fleming (Ottawa), and 
congratulatory speeches and addresses were given, in 
which Sir Edmund Walker, President Falconer, Prin- 
cipal Peterson, Dr. Coleman, F.R.S., and the presid- 
ing officer, Mr. Frank Arnoldi, K.C., took part. Voit 
Sandford Fleming was unanimously elected honorary 


NO. 2330, VOLN 93) 


NATURE 


| president of the new ‘‘ Royal Canadian Institute,’ 


5 5858505850850565050505060595 6 


: 


and 
his three sons, Sandford, Walter, and Hugh, were 
formally elected members under the new title. 

Ho MM. Ami 


THE CAMBRIDGE “ PREVIOUS” 
EXAMINATION. 


“THE syndica-e appointed by the Senate on May a, 
1913, to ‘“‘consider what changes, if any, are 
desirable in the regulations relating to the Previous 
Examination, in the mutual relations of the Previous 
Examination and the examinations held by the 
Highest Grade Schools Syndicate and the Local Ex- 
aminations and Lectures Syndicate,’ has reported on 
somewhat drastic lines. 

_ The syndicate has considered carefully the regula- 
tions and arrangements for the existing Previous 
Examination, and other examinations which are 
accepted as exempting from the Previous Examina- 
tion, and has consulted the representatives of the 
Board of Education, the Headmasters’ Conference, 
the Incorporated Association of Headmasters, and the 
Assistant-masters’ Association, as well as certain 
members of the University of Oxford, who are con- 
cerned with analogous inquiries. 

Two hundred headmasters of public and secondary 
schools sent replies to questions which were addressed 
to them by the syndicate. The syndicate is of opinion 
that the existing Previous Examination is an unsatis- 
factory test, and is not adapted to the present situa- 
tion in secondary education, and it therefore recom- 
mends the introduction of changes, both administra- 
tive and educational. 

The administrative change advocated is the estab- 
lishment of a new syndicate which shall be called the 
Examinations Syndicate, which would take over the 
work of the present Local Lectures and Examinations 
Syndicate, so far as examinations are concerned, and 
of the Highest Grade School Examinations Syndicate. 
The new syndicate would control the whole of the 
‘““pass’’ examinations of the University. 

The educational changes, proposed in the report, 
endeavour .to coordinate the examinations which 
qualify for study at the University with the entrance 
examinations to the various professions; and through- 
out the deliberations the scheme of the Board of 
Education which is designed to assist such coordina- 
tions has been kept in view. 

The syndicate proposes to abolish the distinction 
which now exists between the examination for candi- 
dates for honours and that for the ‘‘pass” degree. 
The additional subjects will be done away with. 

The compulsory subjects which remain are divided 
into three groups, each of which may be _ taken 
separately. The first group consists of languages; 
two papers will be set in each of the following :— 
Latin, Greek, French, and German. Greek is no 
longer to be compulsory, but Latin must be one of 
the languages offered. 

The second group consists of mathematics and 
science: algebra and arithmetic, geometry, physics, 
and chemistry, or experimental mechanics. : 

The third group consists of English: essay and 
fiécis writine, selected books, and outlines of English 
history. 

The examination will be held four times a year at 
Cambridge only. ; 

The report will be discussed by the Senate at the 
beginning of the October term. So far as can be 
gathered, the resident opinion is in general favour- 
able to its findings, though there is sure to be some 
criticism as to detail by the much-enduring college 
tutors who will find the task of entering their pupils 
complicated. \ 


[JuNE 25, 1994 


EE 


JUNE 25, 1914] 


NATURE 


441 


THE GULF STREAM.!} 


ANY theories have been advanced to account for 
4 ocean currents in general and for the Gulf 
Stream in particular, ‘heir causation has been 
attributed by various writers to:—(1) Differences in 
the temperature and density of the sea in widely 
separated geographical positions. (2) Differences in 
level due to inequalities in different regions of 
evaporation and precipitation; and to the outflow of 
great rivers. (3) To convection currents. (4) To the 
rotation of the earth on its axis. (5) To the direct 
action of persistent winds. 

Wind is the prime cause of all currents; persistent 
winds the motive power to which all the great ocean 
streams may be assigned. If anyone be in doubt as 
to the fact, let him place tracings of maps on which 
the direction of the principal currents ot tne globe in 
the different months or seasons of the year are in- 
dicated, over maps on the same scale on which wind 
distribution, referable to the same months or seasons, 
is shown ;and it will be seen how closely the cur- 
rents follow the direction of the wind, and how 
quickly the former respond to changes in the direction 
of the latter. 

In this connection the course of the equatorial cur- 
rent of the Indian Ocean, on the western side of 
the Arabian Sea, may be cited as a striking example. 
During those months when the north-east monsoon 
prevails the current in that region turns to the south- 
ward and joins the Mozambigue current, but as soon 
as the change in the direction of the wind occurs, 
and even before the south-west monsoon is estab- 
lished, the current swings round and flows in the 
new direction of the wind, tc the northward and 
eastward. 

All winds by friction cause some movement of the 
water surfaces over which they blow, while the 
Waves, and even the wavelets they raise, add im- 
pulse to the motion; the stronger the wind the greater 
being its effect at the time. This surface movement 
caused by wind is gradually imparted to the water 
layer below it, and when the wind persists in the 
same direction for long, the motion is transmitted 
from layer to layer to a considerable depth. 

Under the influence of the trade winds, the currents 
when nearing equatorial regions probably extend to 
a depth of from 200 to 4oo ft. 

Although the principal currents are produced and 
maintained by the action of persistent winds, their 
direction is largely controlled by the rotation of the 
earth on its axis and by variation in temperature and 
in density, also in evaporation and precipitation in 
different geographical positions, but these exert only 
slight local modifying effects. Moreover, as regards 
the Gulf Stream and its causation, it was found by 
the officers of the United States Coast Survey that 
the Atlantic Ocean at Sandy Hook was 3 to 4 ft. 
lower than the waters of the Guif of Mexico at the 
mouth of the Mississippi. This difference of level, 
which is said to have been ascertained by accurate 
measurements, doubtless is caused by the heaping 
up of water in the gulf by the equatorial current; 
and the power requisite for maintaining the constant 
flow of the Gulf Stream through the Strait of Florida 
must in a large measure be attributed to this agency. 

The warm, relatively high salinity water which 
undoubtedly exercises an ameliorating effect upon 
the climate of our islands and upon that of north- 
western Europe generally is mainly of equatorial 
origin, and is directly attributable to the agency of 
the Gulf Stream. 

In support of this belief, let me refer you, in the 


1 From a lecture delivered before the Royal Geographical Society on 
May 21, 1914, by Commander M. W. Campbell Hepworth, C.B. 


NO. 2330, VOL. 93] 


| 


first place, to a chart of surtace temperature of the 
North Atlantic in order to show what evidence the 
distribution of mean annual surface temperature will 
reveal. 

The effect of the collision between the Gulf Stream 
and the cold Labrador current is boldly marked by 
the steep temperature gradient from 40° to 46° N. 
Now trace the course of the isotherms onward. The 
isotherm of 50°, which on the s5oth meridian is in 
43° N. lat., on the 28th meridian is in 60° N.; the 
isotherm of 52°, which on the s5oth meridian is 
situated only a few miles south of the 50° isotherm, 
on the roth meridian is in 57° N.; but the isotherm 
of 60°, which on the 5oth meridian is in about 
413° N., reaches the coast of Portugal, after making 
a curve northward, in about the same latitude. In 
other words, the surface temperature of the Atlantic 
between the 43rd and 6oth parallels, and the 4th 
and 32nd meridians is the same as that which is 
found on the 5oth meridian between the qgist and 
43rd parallels, where the Gulf Stream and Labrador 
current meet. 

Now let us see what corroborative evidence a chart 
of average salinity will afford. 

The northern portion of the North Atlantic, the 
southern portion of the Greenland sea, and the part of 
the Barents Sea which are enclosed by the 35 and 36. 
isohalines, are filled with water of the same salinity 
as that which we find in the Gulf Stream between 
Cape Hatteras and its place of meeting withthe 
current from the north. 

Whether the relatively warm saline stream or any 
part of its waters which flows north-eastward from. 


ithe region south of the Great Bank is derived from 


that stream which issues for the most part from the 
Gulf of Mexico, or, as some aver, is an independent 
stream which takes its origin in the former locality, 
is a question which must remain unsettled until the 
results of further investigations are available. This, 
at the least, we know, that from the Strait of Florida 
northward and north-north-eastward to the edge of. 
the Bank; thence north-eastward, as well as east- 
ward, across the ocean, aided, no doubt, by the pre- 
vailing westerly and south-westerly winds, there 
exists throughout the year a continuous flow of warm 
saline or relatively warm saline water to the north- 
easterly branch of which these islands owe much of 
their salubrity. 

The salubrity of our climate is, of course, largely 
due to its comparatively mild and even temperature. 
The relatively small annual range of temperature that 
obtains normally results from our insular position; 
the warmth we owe also in a large measure to the 
surrounding sea, which receives much of its heat 
from that ocean stream, the course of which we have 
been following. 

I will endeavour to show you by means of diagrams 
the somewhat frequent correlation of sea temperature 
with the air temperature over our islands during the 
decade 1903-1912. In order to confine within manage- 
able limits that portion of the inquiry which relates to 
sea-surface temperature, the North Atlantic is repre- 
sented by a broad zone situated between Florida Strait 
and Valencia in the south-west of Ireland. It hap- 
pens that the changes in surface temperature, which 
may be regarded as of premier importance in this 
connection, occur in this zone. 

In the diagrams relating to sea temperature in this 
Florida-Valencia zone, the excess or defect in the 
surface temperature is expressed by the number of 
degrees of longitude in which the 70°, 60°, and 
55° isotherms are east or west of their average limit 
for the month. 

Air temperature over our islands is represented, 
roughly it must be admitted, by the temperature 


442 NATURE | JUNE 25, IQI4 


registered at three stations, widely separated : which was nearly 9° of longitude to the east of its 
Valencia, Sumburgh Head, ir the Shetlands, and | average limit at the end of May, again advanced, and 
North Shields. The curves exhibiting changes in | was 7° east of it in October, and 9° in December ; 
but retreating rapidly to- 
i9il. wards .the ‘close of (the 
month. Increased activity 
suave [Ser [Oct] Nov] Dec] of the Labrador Current in 
AiR TEMPERATURE. aN © 42 the two closing months of 
the year reduced the sea 
* temperature for the most 
Melee S ay. part below the normal in 
= / the northern portion of the 
ocean, although south of 
the 44th parallel it tem- 
porarily rose more than 2° 
above. 

As regards air tempera- 
ture during the year IgII, 
in the months of January 
and February, from the 
close of April to the close 
of September, and again in 
December, the temperature 
of the air over Great 
Britain and Ireland was in 
excess of the average; 
moreover, during the 
months of May, July, 
August, and December it 


a 
ae 
was greatly in excess. In 


[Fee [War pew [wa [one 
October the temperature 


temperature at these places show departures from the | was about the same as the average, and in March, 
normal in degrees Fahrenheit, by reference to the April, and November only can it be said to have been 
scales above and below a line which represents the | in defect. 

average of numerous ob- 

servations extending over 1912. 

a period of thirty-five 
years. 

The salient features ex- 
hibited in the years) 1911 
and 1912 are as _ fol- 
lows :— 

Sea temperature in the 
northern half of the ocean 
is shown to have been 
slightly in excess of the 
normal in January; but, as 
indicated by the 70° iso- 
therm, in defect, but in- 
creasing, in the southern 
half. Subsequently it in- 
creased to above the 
normal in the  south- 
western Atlantic until the 
end of February, and 
declined to the north-east- 


JUNE 


se Qeparture from the Normal. 


pa Fe 


= ie 


Mean _| 
35 Yeers 


© 


© 
° 


BIA, TEMPERATURE. 


\ 
Florida to Valencia. 


O-NWAUDND 
Longitude. 
East of Normal. 


| East of Normal 


—=O- No SURV 
Degrees of 


Degrees of Longitude 
West of Norma/ 


West of Normal. 
ODMVOMSHON 
ODBVYAWSON 


AIR TEMPERATURE. 


+4" 


Departure from the Normal, 


Mean _| 
35 Yeare 


° 
= 


SEA TEMPE RATU 


Greenland to Orkney Islands. 


Insufficient 


lusufficient 


Data. 


ward during that month. 

The conditions were re- 2 i 
versed in March, a fall in a3 ara 
temperature taking place | g2& eas 
to the south-west, and a 2s 3 oat 
rise to the north-eastward. | $3? aa a 
Over the area represented [-s—°— a : 0% 
by the 60° and 70° iso- | 332 pe: 223 
therms temperature rose in | 93 + J eq 258 
April, but declined to the | “y é ats 
north-eastward. After April Se ii a £ 
sea temperature was in Bia wes: EES : 4 Eig 
excess of the normal until Fes. | Mar ]apri | May |June | 


October, except in the 
south-west portion of the 
ocean, when the 70° isotherm retreated to the west of Throughout the greater part of the yea1 1912 the 
its average limit in August. The temperature in this | curves of air temperature resemble, in a marked 
part, however, quickly recovered, the 70° isotherm, | degree, those relating to sea-surface temperature. 


NOi12330, VOl032]| 


JUNE 25, 1914| 


NATURE 


443 


Sea Temperature.—The temperature of the sea sur- 
face, which fell below the normal at the close of the 
previous year, continued in defect during the first 
three months of the year under notice, except in the 
south-western portion of the North Atlantic, where 
it rose above the normal after the middle of February. 
The temperature then increased so quickly that in 
less than a month the 70° isotherm was charted 8° to 
the east of its average limit for March. In the more 
northern portions of the ocean, the surface tempera- 
ture, although in defect until after March, rose from 
the middle of February until April, and in that month 
the charted results exhibited, for the most part, an 
excess of temperature over the North Atlantic gener- 
ally. The abnormally warm water, of equatorial 
origin, that was advancing north-eastward, and had 
been most noticeable in the south-western Atlantic in 
March, and between the goth and soth parallels of 
latitude in the following month, reached the north- 
eastern Atlantic in May, flooding the coastal waters 
off our southern shores, while a decided reduction of 
surface temperature was taking place in other parts 
of the. ocean. 

At the end of May, and in the beginning of June, 
the 70° isotherm had retreated 6° to the west of its 
average limits for those months, but a slight tem- 
porary recovery of temperature was observed between 
the goth and soth parallels up to the middle of the 
latter month, when under the cooling influence of 
the Labrador Current the surface temperature rapidly 
declined; the 60° isotherm in August having retreated 
as much as 13° of longitude to the west of its average 
limit.. In the south-west arm of the ocean the tem- 
perature rose during June and July, reaching the 
average towards the close of the latter month, when 
it declined, but recovered in September. It again 
declined during the two months that followed, in the 
latter of which it became considerably in defect; and, 
although the sea surface temperature increased in the 
second half of November, it continued to be below 
the normal to the end of the year. 

To the north-eastward the isotherm of 60°, and 
subsequently that of 55°, indicated a decided defect 
in surface temperature to the end of the year: albeit 
fluctuations are shown which harmonise with the 
temperature of the surface water to the south-west- 
ward, as indicated by the 70° isotherm. 

For the zone between South Greenland and the 
Orkneys sufficient data are wanting for the purpose 
of comparison with normal results, until March, when 
the surface temperature is shown to have been 
slightly above the normal. It declined during the 
following two months, when it stood 13° below the 
normal; but it rose to, and remained, 3° below the 
normal in June and July; fell under the influence 
of the East Greenland Current in August; recovered 
somewhat in the month following; and exhibited 
similar fluctuations as those which obtained in August 
and September during the two remaining months, for 
which sufficient data are available. 

The air temperature over the British Isles during 
the summer and autumn of 1912, in contrast with that 
prevailing during the same seasons of the previous 
year, is found, therefore, to have been below the 
normal in June to November inclusive, except at the 
northern station in July and October and at the south- 
western station in November, at which places it rose 
slightly above in the respective months. It was above 
the normal in February to May inclusive, except at 
Valencia, when the excess did not obtain until March; 
equal to, or nearly equal to, the normal in January, 
and above in December; at Valencia above in Novem- 
ber also. 

There appears to be no justification for the assump- 


NO. 2330, VOL. 93] 


tion that important changes have taken place in the 
circulation of the North Atlantic during historic 
times. The velocity and volume of the Gulf Stream 
exhibit modifications that are non-periodic as well as 
seasonal—modifications that may occur during any 
month in any year. When the Stream is abnormally 
active, its resistance to the Labrador current is 
probably carried farther north than usual, with the 
result that its north-easterly branch pursues its course 
in higher latitudes than obtains normally, and its 
relatively warm saline waters penetrate to the north- 
westward of their average limits. When, on the 
other hand, the Gulf Stream is weaker than is usual, 
according to the season, the converse happens; the 
north-easterly branch of the Stream commences its 
new course after its collision with the arctic current, 
in lower parallels than those in which it commonly 
starts, and, possibly, the easterly branch is augmented 
at the expense of the former; so that the influence of 
the Stream may be restricted in two ways. 

In connection with an investigation undertaken at 
the Meteorological Office, having for its object a com- 
parison of the changes in the strength of the trade 
winds of the Atlantic? with average results, and of 
changes in the surface temperature of the North 
Atlantic with normal values, there was found to be 
some evidence to prove that departures from the 
average strength of the two trade winds during a 
series of months, and at times during even so short 
a period as one month, were roughly reflected in 
deviations from the normal through the agency of 
the equatorial current and Gulf Stream in the average 
distribution cf surface temperature in the North 
Atlantic in the corresponding series of months or 
month, as the case may be, of the succeeding year, 
notwithstanding the existence of many other causes 
affecting the temperature of the surface water, which 
must tend towards masking the appearance of such 
connection. 

Proof may, therefore, be claimed, resting on a 
chain of evidence, that many of the climatic changes 
to which our islands are subject owe their origin to 
modifications in the trade winds of the Atlantic, 
communicated through the agency of the equatorial 
current and its giant offspring the Gulf Stream. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 
INTELLIGENCE. 


CamBripce.—Mr. F. E. E. Lamplough, of Trinity 
College, has been appointed an additional demon- 
strator of chemistry for the five years ending Septem- 
ber 30, 1919. 

The Special Board for Biology and Geology has 
approved a grant of 1ool. from the Balfour Fund, made 
by the managers to Mr. George Matthai, of Em- 
manuel College, in aid of his research entitled, ““A 
Revision of the Meandroid Astraide.” 


EpINBURGH.—Important changes are imminent in 
regard to several of the chairs in the University. At 
the present moment three chairs are vacant owing to 
the resignations of Prof. Niecks (music), Prof. Donald 
Mackinnon (Celtic), and Prof. Geikie (geology). Prof. 
James Geikie became professor in 1882 in succession 
to his brother, Sir Archibald Geikie, who was its first 
occupant. During the last twenty years, since the 
subject was included in the recognised curricula for 
degrees in arts and science, it has gained in import- 
ance, and attracts every year large numbers of 
students of pure science and of engineering, agricul- 
ture, and forestry. It must assume a still greater 
importance when the new degree in mining has been 

2 ‘The Trade Winds of the Atlantic Ocean.’ 


444 


NATURE 


[JUNE 25, 1974 


fully established. Prof. Geikie’s contributions to the 
literature of geology are of the highest value, and in 
his translations of Heine’s lyrics he has shown 
literary gifts in quite another direction. It is be- 
lieved that, freed from the official duties of a univer- 
sity chair, he will be able to carry out further literary 
work which he has had in his mind for some years. 
The filling up of the vacancy created is in the hands 
of the Crown. The music chair is in the patronage 
of the University Court, and the chair of Celtic 
language and literature in the patronage of the 
curators. 


Lonpon.—A resolution was adopted by the Senate 
on June 17 requesting the Vice-Chancellor to inform 
H.M. Government that the Senate, having considered 
various sites which have been suggested for the head- 
quarters of the University, is of opinion that it is un- 
desirable to proceed further with such consideration 
unless, and until, H.M. Treasury intimate its willing- 
ness to provide accommodation more suitable in 
situation, more convenient in character, and on terms 
not less advantageous as regards tenure, etc., than 
those attaching to the present occupation at South 
Kensington. 

Official information has been received that the 
Government cannot contemplate the diversion of 
Somerset House, which has been suggested as a pos- 
sible headquarters for the University, from its present 
purposes. 

Prof. A. W. Crossley, F.R.S., has been appointed 
to the University chair of chemistry, tenable at King’s 
‘College. 

Following the resignation of Prof. J. M. Thomson, 
Prof. H. Jackson has been appointed head of the 
chemical department at King’s College, with the title 
of Daniell professor of chemistry in the University. 

The D.Sc. degree in chemistry has been granted to 
Mr. A. J. Ewins, South-Western Polytechnic Insti- 
tute and Goldsmiths’ College; and to Mr. R. T. Col- 
gate, Mr. E. H. Rodd, and Mr. E. E. Walker, of the 
City and Guilds College; and the D.Sc. degree in 
botany to Mr. H. F. Wernham, an external student. 

At the meeting of the council of the East London 
College, held on June 22, it was announced that the 
Court of the Drapers’ Company had resolved to defray 
the cost of the erection and equipment of the new 
chemical laboratories of the college. The cost will 
amount to approximately 15,o00l., and it is hoped that 
the laboratories will be available for the use of students 
at the commencement of the new session in October 
mext. 


Dr. H. J. S. Sanp, of University College, Notting- 
ham, has been appointed lecturer on chemistry at the 
Sir John Cass Technical Institute, London, E.C., in 
succession to the late Dr. Harry Burrows. 


At the Convocation of McMaster University, 
‘Toronto, held on May 6, the honorary degree of 
Doctor of Laws was conferred upon Mr. David 
Hooper, late economic botanist of the Botanical Sur- 
vey of India, and curator of the industrial section, 
Indian Museum, Calcutta. 


THE trustees of the Beit Scientific Research Fellow- 
ships, founded and endowed by Mr. Otto Beit, in Sep- 
tember, 1913, have elected three fellows for the ensuing 
year, namely, Mr. R. S. H. Boulding, Mr. L. H. 
Parker, and Mr. L. N. G. Ramsay. The fellowships 
are tenable at the Imperial College of Science and 
Technology, South Kensington. Mr. Boulding is a 
post-graduate student in engineering at the City and 
Guilds (Engineering) College, and the joint author of 
a paper on the shape of the pressure wave in electrical 
machinery. Mr. Parker is a research student in 


NO. 2330, VOL. 93] 


chemistry at the Imperial College, joint author of a 
paper on the interaction of sodium amalgam and 
water, and author of papers on the action of variously 
treated waters on sodium amalgam, and reactions by 
trituration. Mr. Ramsay is an assistant in zoology 
at the University of Aberdeen, and the author of 
‘“Note on the Oviposition of Rhyssa,’’ ‘* Polychzeta 
(Nereidze) of the Scottish National Antarctic Expedi- 
tion,” ‘‘Ornithology of tke Scottish National Ant- 
arctic Expedition,’’ and other papers. 


AN anonymous donor has made a gift of 10,0001. 
to the general endowment of the Royal Technical 
College, Glasgow, on condition that another sum of 
15,0001. is promised within a year. A good beginning 
is thus made to the endowment of the college for, or 
towards, research purposes, which are _ specifically 
mentioned in the letter announcing the gift, and it is 
hoped that other benefactors will come forward to 
increase the funds available for the furtherance of 
research to such an extent as to place the college in a 
position in this respect comparable with that of like 
institutions in the United States and Germany. Dur- 
ing the last couple of years, for example, the Massa- 
chusetts Institute of Technology has received gifts 
amounting to more than one and a half million 
pounds; and the benefactions to university and tech- 
nical education in the United States reach nearly five 
million pounds a year. No college completely fulfils 
its function unless it can make suitable provision for 
research and retain the services of men and women 
capable of undertaking it. We hope, therefore, that 
the sum of 10,0001. promised to the Royal Technical 
College will be a nucleus which will attract to itself 
many similar gifts until it grows to a substantial sum 
for the promotion of technical education in its best 
sense, namely, the creation of new knowledge. 


New buildings for the Hartley University College, 
Southampton, were opened by Lord Haldane on June 
20. In the course of his address, Lord Haldane said 
the four universities in Scotland to which the demo- 
cracy sends the children have sent out all over the 
world a large number of young men and a good many 
young women who have been able to help themselves 
to the cream because of superior skill in getting at it. 
The old notion that capital is a monopoly of the few 
and that the working classes never can get access to 
it has all gone. The real monopolist is the man who has 
got a trained brain. It is the workman who is 
educated who gets the best wages. The new class 
that is growing up is an educated class, and if the 
democracy wishes to get its share in the new things 
that are going, then the democracy will have to take 
advantage of the chances of education. To insist on 
equality of opportunity in education is the great way 
to solve the problem of labour and capital. Later, 
Lord Haldane said :—‘‘I have never known a town 
or city develop its university without finding some- 
thing quite new and different come to it. Places that 
do that add a cubit to their stature. I am not in the 
least afraid of the invasion of German arms, but I 
am very much afraid of the invasion of people who 
have been trained in the German universities and 
schools. It is time we woke up if we are to keep the 
position we hold in commercial supremacy.’’ 


As a result of the debate in the House of Commons 
on Friday last on the report stage of the Children 
(Employment and School Attendance) Bill, it may 
fairly be said that Lancashire as represented by its 
textile industry blocks the way of any advance in 
respect of measures having for their object the satis- 
factory education of the children of the nation. It 
will neither consent to the permissive extension of 
the school age until fifteen by local authorities, nor. 


oa 


ee 


June 25, 1914] 


NATURE 


445 


to the abolition of by-laws which permit a child to 
leave school so early as twelve, and in the rural dis- 
tricts even earlier, to work as a half-timer. In view 
of the factious opposition the Bill has evoked, it is 
clear that only a Government measure will meet the 
necessities of the case and provide for the raising of 
the whole-time school age until the age of fourteen, 
and for the continued effective education of the pupil 
on leaving school, and within the normal working 
hours, until at least the completion of his seventeenth 
year. Only by measures of this kind can the great 
expenditure on elementary education be justified and 
its fruits assured. Nothing short of this will enable 
the country to maintain its position amongst civilised 
nations. The remarkable industrial and commercial 
advance of Germany has been secured under condi- 
tions of an extended whole-time school age far beyond 
those prevailing in this country, together with pro- 
visions for continued compulsory education within the 
normal hours of employment on leaving school up to 
the age of eighteen, of the most effective character. 
The measures proposed in the Bill have had the 
strong support of the Manchester Chamber of Com- 
merce and of the Manchester and Salford Trades and 
Labour Council, and of experienced educationists and 
social reformers. No so-called industrial exigencies 
ought to stand in the way of the welfare of the 
children. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
LONDON. 

Royal Society, June 18.—Sir William Crookes, presi- 
dent, in the chair.—Sir D. Bruce, Major A. E. 
Hamerton, Captain.D. P. Watson, and Lady Bruce: 
(1) Trypanosome diseases of domestic animals in 
Nyasaland. Trypanosoma caprae, Kleine. Part III. 
—Development in Glossina morsitans; (2) trypano- 
somes found in wild G. morsitans and wild game in 
the ‘‘fly-belt’’ of the Upper Shiré Valley; (3) the 
food of G. morsitans; (4) infectivity of G. morsitans 
in Nyasaland during 1912 and 1913.—Dr. C. W. 
Andrews; A description of the skull and skeleton of a 
peculiarly modified rupicaprine antelope, Myotragus 
balearicus, Bate. M. balearicus, Bate, is a peculiarly 
modified rupicaprine antelope, remains of which were 
discovered by Miss D. M. A. Bate in cavern deposits 
in Majorca and Minorca. The dentition is very re- 
markable. Instead of having three incisors and a 
canine on each side of the mandibular symphysis, as 
is usual in the Bovide, the canines and the two outer 
pairs of incisors are wanting, while the median incisors 
are enormously enlarged rodent-like teeth, growing 
from persistent pulps. The premolars are reduced in 
number and the molars have very high crowns. The 
feet are remarkable for the shortness and stoutness 
of the metacarpals and metatarsals, which are quite 
similar to those of the Takin (Budorcas). The animal 
seems to have been adapted for climbing on steep 
crags and cliffs, and probably lived on very hard 
vegetation.—E. T. Halman and F. H. A. Marshall : 
The relation between the thymus and_ the 
generative organs, and the influence of these 
organs upon growth. With a note by G. U. Yule.— 
H. E. Roaf: The vapour pressure hypothesis of con- 
traction of striated muscle. Two objections have been 
urged against muscular contraction being due to 
movements of water from one portion of the muscle 
fibre to another. These are: (1) that an osmotic 
model of muscle cannot cause a sufficient degree of 
shortening ; and (2) that the movement of water would 
require a longer time than the muscle takes in con- 
tracting. The extent of contraction possible for an 
osmotic model and the time required for this con- 
traction has been calculated for structures of the 


NO. 2330, VOL. 93] 


dimensions of frog’s sartorius. It is found that the 
extent of contraction can be explained by the osmotic 
model, and that the time required is less than 0-03 sec., 
and frog’s sartorius requires at least 0-04 sec. for com- 
plete contraction.—A. N. Drury: The validity of the 
microchemical test for the oxygen place in tissues. 
Experiments were made to show that the micro- 
chemical test with rongalit white, used by Unna to fix 
the position of the oxygen place in tissues, could be 
obtained on a surface entirely free from oxygen. A 
further extension of the work showed that the con- 
densation of a solute on to a surface is markedly 
influenced by the previous treatment of, or by the gas 
condensed on, that surface.—Prof. J. S. MacDonald : 
Man’s mechanical efficiency. The rate of heat-produc- 
tion, QO, associated with cycling at a uniform rate but 
with varied performances of mechanical work, is 
expressed in the following form, x+Ey=Q, where 
x represents the heat-production associated with the 
uniform rate of movement, y the rate of work-perform- 
ance. It is shown that E varies inversely with W?/*. 
It follows that, putting on one side x, the energy- 
transformation entailed by the movements per se, 
the additional energy-transformation required for any 
definite rate of work-performance is less the greater 
the weight, W, of the worker; and the mechanical 
efficiency measured in this fashion varies directlv with 
W?/*. It is also shown, however, that x varies ap- 
proximately with W*/?, and thus that the energy- 
transformation associated with the mere production of 
movement is much greater the greater the weight.— 
Dr. A. Holt: The colouring matters in the compound 
Ascidian, Diazona violacea, Savigny.—Prof. W. B. 
Bottomley : Some accessory factors in plant growth and 
nutrition. Plant growth-stimulating substances are 
formed in sphagnum pea: when it is incubated with a 
liquid culture of certain aerobic soil bacteria for a fort- | 
night at 24° C. These substances are soluble in 
water and in alcohol, and are active in very small 
amounts, two applications of water-extract of 0-18 
gram treated peat doubling the size of Primula mala- 
coides seedlings over untreated plants in six weeks’ 
time. They appear to be similar to so-called accessory 
food substances essential for nutrition of growing 
animals, first studied in connection with the deficiency 
diseases beri-beri and scurvy. The production of these 
substances appears to be associated with formation of 
soluble humates in peat by bacterial action. They are 
not formed when peat is treated with alkalies. Cul- 
tures of Azotobacter chroococcum grown with exiract 
of ‘‘bacterised’’ peat gave an increase of 18 milli- 
grams of nitrogen in eight days, whilst extract of 
chemically-treated peat gave no increased fixation. 
The active substance is precipitated from aqueous 
solution of alcoholic extract of ‘‘ bacterised’’ peat by 
phosphotungstic acid, and can be further separated 
by decomposing with baryta, reprecipitating with 
silver nitrate and decomposing with hydrogen sul- 
phide. Wheat seedlings in sand culture with Detmer’s 
complete food solution gave an increase of 22-7 per 
cent. with the phosphotungstic fraction, and 17-7 per 
cent. with the silver fraction. Water-culture experi- 
ments with wheat seedlings in Detmer’s solution pre- 
pared from pure salts in physiologically pure distilled 
water showed that these substances are essential for 
assimilation of inorganic food constituents.—Prof. H. B. 
Dixon, C, Campbell, and W. E. Slater: A photographic 
analysis of explosion-flames traversing a magnetic 
field. The authors have carried out a suggestion made 
by Sir J. J. Thomson that the explosion-wave in gases 
should be photographed on a rapidly moving film 
while it traverses a strong magnetic field, to determine 
whether the emission of electrons in front of the wave 
‘‘prepares the way” by ionising the gases. Using a 
very powerful magnet lent them by Sir E. Rutherford, 


446 


NATURE 


[JUNE 25, 1914 


the authors have photographically analysed the explo- 
sion-wave in different mixtures of gases before it 
enters, while traversing, and as it leaves, the magnetic 
field. In no case did the magnetic field alter the 
character or velocity of the flames. 


Geological Society, June 10.—Dr. A. Smith Wood- 
ward, president, in the chair.—E. B. Bailey: The 
Ballachulish fold near the head of Loch Creran 
(Argyllshire). The purpose of the present paper is to 
direct attention to two phenomena strikingly illus- 
trated by the local evidence :—(1) The complexity of 
the slides affecting the Ballachulish Core, and’ the 
correlated (quite exceptional) occurrence of more 
groups towards the close of the fold, south-east of the 
River Creran, than towards the gape, north-west of 
the same; (2) the intense secondary refolding of the 
Ballachulish Fold, and the resultant sinuous outcrop 
of the Ballachulish Core.—Dr. Douglas Mawson: 
Geology and glaciation of the Antarctic regions. 


Mathematical Society, June 11.—Prof. A. E. H. Love, 
president, in the chair.—R. H. Fowler: A problem of 
diophantine approximation.—G. H. Hardy: Some 
theorems by Mr. S. Ramanujan.—G. H. Hardy and 
J. E. Littlewood: Proof of the general Borel-Tauber 
theorem.—Prof. E. W. Hobson: Theorems relating to 
functions defined implicitly, with applications to the 
calculus of variations.—J. G. Leathem : The differentia- 
tion of a surface-integral at a point of infinity.—R. E. 
Powers : Mersenne’s numbers.—J. Proudman : Free and 
forced longitudinal tidal motion in a lake. 


DvuBLin, 

Royal Irish Academy, May 8.—Dr. R. F. Scharff, 
vice-president, in the chair.—R. Southern - Free-living 
Nemathelmia, Kinorhyncha, and Chetognatha (in 
connection with the Clare Island Survey). A large 
number of new free-living nematoda were described, 
belonging to the families Anguillulida, Desmoscole- 
cide, and Cheetosomatide. One species of Gordius 
was found on Clare Island. Of the Kinorhyncha 
(Echinoderes) five species were described, two being 
new species. Two species of the Cheztognatha were 
found in the plankton of Clew Bay.—J. N. Halbert : 
Acarina (in connection with the Clare Island Survey). 
In this paper are recorded certain of the terrestrial and 
marine Acarina collected during the Clare Island Sur- 
vey. The following families are represented :— 
Gamasidez, Oribatidz, Halaconidz, and the Trom- 
bididaee. Some new species are described, including 
interesting forms found between tide-marks on the 
seashore.—G. P. Farren: Notes on marine plankton 
(in connection with Clare Island Survey). The plank- 
ton of the Clare Island district is boreal neritic, and 
may be subdivided into three groups : open-sea plank- 
ton, plankton of the intermediate offshore region, and 
plankton of the bays and harbours. The open-sea is 
characterised by the comparatively small number of 
species, a few of which, notably Calanus helgolandicus, 
occur at times in very great abundance. The number 
of species in the bays and harbours js large, many of 
them being only temporarily planktonic forms derived 
from the bottom. The intermediate region contains 
elements derived from both the other groups, but a 
few species, e.g. Aurelia aurita, find optimum condi- 
tions in it. 

Paris. 

Academy of Sciences, June 13.—M. P. Appell in the 
chair.—A, Haller and R. Cornubert - Syntheses by 
means of sodium amide. The alkylcyclopentanones 
obtained by the addition of hydrogen to unsaturated 
derivatives. Details of the reduction in presence of 
nickel as catalyst of dibenzylidene-6-methylcyclo- 
pentanone and Bo’-dimethyl-aaa'-triallylcyclopentanone. 
The paper concludes with a summary of the results 


NO. 2330, VOL. 93| 


: A 
obtained on the substituted cyclopentanones and pub- 


lished in this and preceding communications.—J. 
Boussinesq : The calculation by successive approxima- 
tion of the continuous velocities in a uniform state by 
polynomials, in a prismatic tube of square section.— 


' Charles Richet: The non-hereditary accommodation 


of micro-organisms in slightly nutritive media. The 
lactic bacillus can be grown accustomed to poisons, 
but becomes weakened by generations of growth in 
media deficient in food. Such weakened strains sup- 
plied with a normal amount of food are still less 
vigorous than the ordinary strain of bacillus.—M. 
Considére : Measurement of the contraction, strains, 
the elasticity, and the resistance of the concrete in 
reinforced concrete constructions.—R. de Forcrand : 
The preparation of the hydrates of manganese sulphate. 
—V. Grignard and Ch, Courtot : Derivatives of cyclo- 
pentadiene and its dimer. Cyclopentadiene in toluene 
or petroleum ether solution reacts with magnesium 
methyl iodide, giving methane and a magnesium 
compound. ‘The latter compound is very reactive, but 
the substances obtained are mostly derivatives of the 
dimeric C,,H,..—J. Renaut : The isochromaticity of the 
hard segregation grains of rhagiocrine connective cells 
and the figured collagen formations of the conjunctive 
tissue.—M. Angelesco: A generalisation of Hermite’s 
polynomials.—P. Appell: Observations on the preced- 
ing communication.—Charles N. Moore; The relation 
between certain methods for the summation of a 
divergent series.—Leonida Tenelli: A direct method in 
the calculus of variations.—Paul Renard: The mode 
of construction of flexible airships.—Jules Baillaud : 
A simple arrangement for recording rhythmic time 
signals. A heavy pendulum is arranged to make an 
electrical circuit, arranged to produce taps in the 
telephone receiving the wireless signals, and these are 
brought into exact coincidence by displacing the con- 
tact-maker.—M. Maldiney: A colour reaction exhibited 
by solid hydroquinone. Solid hydroquinone and 
potassium carbonate, rubbed together, give a char- 
acteristic blue coloration.—Paul Jégou: An arrange- 
ment. for studying the strength of the oscillations 
received in wireless telegraphy. An electrolytic 
detector without any external electromotive force is 
used in conjunction with a transformer with movable 
coil. The detector is of low sensibility but high con- 
stancy in its indications, and hence is not easily 
affected by parasitic waves. A_ series of twelve 
measurements taken every two hours throughout the 
day clearly shows the favourable action of darkness 
on the wave propagation.—Maurice de Broglie: Direct 
spectrum analysis by the secondary Roéntgen rays.— 
R. Ladenburg and F. Reiche: The distribution of 
energy in the D lines of sodium.—Daniel Berthelot : 
The various modes of photolysis of oxalic acid by the 
ultra-violet rays of different wave-length. Solid 
oxalic acid with ultra-violet rays of middle and very 
short wave-length gives carbon dioxide and formic acid 
as the primary products of decomposition, some carbon 
monoxide and hydrogen being present as secondary 
products, probably arising from the action of the rays 
on the formic acid. In aqueous solution the 
secondary products appear in larger proportion.—F. 
Leprince Ringuet: The limits of inflammability of 
marsh gas. A study of the influence of moisture, 
pressure, diameter of the explosion tube, and direction 
of the explosion (from above or below) on the explo- 
sive properties of mixtures of methane and air.—O. 
Honigschmid and Mlle. St. Horovitz: The atomic 
weight of lead from pitchblende. According to recent 
theories the final disintegration product in the 
uranium radium series, known as Radium-G, and 


' isotopic with lead, should possess a different atomic 


weight. The average result of a series of atomic 
weight determinations carried out on a sample of lead 


JUNE 25, 1914| 


extracted from pitchblende was 206-74, or 0-4 less 
than the atomic weight of ordinary lead. This figure 
confirms the theoretical indications.—E. Berger: The 
reduction by hydrogen of the oxides of copper and 
nickel in presence of a dehydrating agent. 
reduction of these oxides is strongly accelerated when 
the water vapour is removed as fast as it is formed. 
The reduction of copper oxide is continuous, but there 
are indications of the existence of a nickelous oxide, 
Ni,O.—Jacques Joannis: The oxidation and reduction 
of copper.—L. Gay, F. Ducellier, and A. Raynaud : The 
bromination of benzene and its homologues. The 
catalytic action of manganese. Metallic manganese 
exerts a marked accelerating action in the bromina- 
tion of benzene and toluene. If the reagents are dry 
the metal is unchanged.—Marcel Godchot: Thujone 
and thujamenthone. The direct passage from one to 
the other. Thujone and hydrogen in the presence of 
nickel give a good yield of thujamenthone.—Léo 
Vignon: The synthetic preparation of a coal gas. 
A scheme for the conversion of a mixture of coal gas 
and water gas, or water gas alone, into a gas possess- 
ing approximately the heating value of ordinary coal 
gas and free from carbon monoxide. It is based on 
the use of lime, nickel, and other catalytic agents.— 
Georges Friedel: A layer of iodargyrite in France. 
This rare mineral has been found in cavities in a 
vein of campylite at Les’ Montmans, near Echassiéres. 
G. André: The velocity of hydrolysis and of displace- 
ment by water of the nitrogenous and mineral mate- 
rials contained in leaves.—Charles Nicolle and Georges 
Blanc: Are the spirilla of recurrent fever virulent 
during the successive stages of their evolution in the 
flea? Demonstration of their virulence at an invisible 
stage.—]J. E. Abelous and C. Soula: Modifications of 
the cerebral action in anaphylaxy. An experimental 
study in the changes in the cerebral metabolism result- 
ing from the injection of a non-fatal dose of urohypo- 
tensine.—Auguste Lumiére and Jean Chevrotier: The 
vitality of cultures of gonococcus. It would appear 
from the experiments’ described that the poisonous 
substance to which the rapid sterilisation. of gono- 
coccus cultures is due is an oxidation product of the 
exotoxines secreted by the organism. Consequently 
by working under anaerobic conditions the vitality of 
gonococcus cultures can be increased.—Louis Roule : 
The deep-water fishes belonging to the family of the 
Eurypharyngideze.—Gabrie! Bertrand and M. Rosenblatt : 
The thermo-regeneration of the various diastases of 
yeast.—S,. Sécerov: The influence of ultra-violet light 
on the coloration of the fur of rabbits and guinea- 
pigs. The white fur of these animals becomes yellow 
or reddish under the action of ultra-violet light.—H. 
Bierry and Mlle. Z. Gruzewska: The estimation of 
sugar materials in the liver.—M. de Lamothe: The 
ancient alluvial sheets and terraces of the Rhéne and 
Isére, near Valence.—G. Gardet: New fossiliferous 
horizons in the upper Muschelkalk in the neighbour- 
hood of Bourbonne-les-Bains.—M.'de Montessus de 
Ballore: The probable epirogenic origin of earth- 
quakes in New Zealand. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 


Canada. Department of Mines. Geological Survey 
Branch. Memoir 31: Wheaton District, Yukon Terri- 
tory. By D. D. Cairnes. Pp. x+153. Memoir 43, 
No. 36, Geological Series: St. Hilaire (Beloeil) and 
Rougemont Mountains, Quebec. By J. J. O’Neill. 
Pp. vit+108. Memoir 52, No. 42, Geological Series : 
Geological Notes to accompany Map of Sheep River 
Gas and Oil Field, Alberta. By D. B. Dowling. 
Pp. ii+26. (Ottawa: Government Printing Bureau.) 

Beitrage zur Naturdenkmalpflege. Band iv., Heft 2. 


NO. 2330, VOL. 93] 


( 
\ 
| 
! 


NATURE 447 
Ueber den Schutz der Natur Spitsbergens. By H. 
Conwentz. Pp. 65-138. (Berlin: Gebriider Born- 
traeger.) 

Odontologische Studien II. Die Morphogenie der 

The | Primatenzahne. By -Prof. L. Bolk. Pp. viii+181. 


(Jena: G. Fischer.) 7 marks. 
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of 


London. Series B., Vol. 205: Some Notes on Soil 
Protozoa. By C. H. Martin and K. R. Lewin. 
Pp. 77-94. (London: Royal Society.) 


The Leather Trades’ Year Book. 
Lamb and.J. G. Parker. » Pp. 210. 
American Technical Co., Ltd.) 3s. 

Storied Windows. By A. J. de 
Pp. xi+338+plates. (Edinburgh and London: 
Blackwood and Sons.) 15s. net. 

Morocco the Piquant. By G. E. Holt. 
(London: W. Heinemann.) 6s. net. 

A’ Natural History of Bournemouth and District. 
By the Members of the Bournemouth Natural History 
Society. Edited by Sir D. Morris. Pp. xiv+4oo. 
(Bournemouth: The Natural Science Society.) 2s. 6d. 
net. 

The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and 
Burma: Orthoptera (Acridiida). By W. F. Kirby. 
Pp. ix+276. (London: Taylor and Francis.) tos. 

Simplification Studies. I.: Stellar Aberration. 
Part i. By M. Niles. Pp. too. (Brunswick, Maine: 
Brunswick Publishing Co.) 

The Theory of Relativity. By Dr. L. Silberstein. 
Pp. viii+295. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 
Ios. net. 

A First School Calculus. 
Pp. xii+288. (London: E. Arnold.) 4s. 6d. 

Berichte der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft zu 
Freiburg i Br. Zwanzigster Band 1913 u. 1914. Heft 


Edited by M. C. 
(London: Anglo- 


H. Bushnell. 
W. 


Pps X12 2424 


By R. Wyke Bayliss. 


2. Edited by Prof. W. Schleip. Pp. v+182. (Naum- 
burg.) 
Livingstone College Year Book, 1914. Pp. 136. 


(Leyton: Livingstone College.) 

Board of Agriculture and Fisheries. Fishery In- 
vestigations. Series II. Sea Fisheries. Vol. i., 
Part i., Report on Market Measurements in relation 
to the English Haddock Fishery during the years 


1909-1911. Pp. iv+133. (London: H.M.S.O., 
Wyman and Son, Ltd.) 4s. 6d. 

The Romanes Lecture, 1914. The Atomic: Theory. 
By Sir J. J. Thomson. Pp. 30. (Oxford: Clarendon 


Presst)) is. 6d./net: 

Roger Bacon: Essays contributed by various writers 
on the occasion of the Commemoration of the 
Seventh Centenary of his Birth, collected and edited 
by A. G. Little. Pp. viiit+426. (Oxford: Clarendon 
Press:), ‘16s. "net. 

Der Sdugetierorganismus und seine Leistungen. 
By Prof. E. T. v.\ Bracke. Erster Teil. Pp: 192+ 
plates. Zweiter Teil. Pp. 173. (Leipzig: P. Reclam, 
jun.) Two parts in one volume. 1.75 marks. 

The Unconscious. By Prof. M. Prince. Pp. xii+ 
549. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 8s. 6d. net. 


The Essence of Astronomy. By E. W. Price. 
Pp. xiv+207.. (New York and London: G. P. 
Putnam’s Sons.) tos. 6d. net. 

Studies in Economic and Political Science. Edited 
by Hon. W. Pember Reeves. Kinship and Social 
Organisation. By Dr. W. H. R. Rivers. Pp. vii+96. 


(London: Constable and Co., Ltd.) 2s. 6d. net. 

Studien in der Geophysik und der Kosmischen 
Physik. By O. Pettersson. Pp. 31. (Berlin: E. S. 
Mittler und Sohn.) 

Ancient Egypt. By Prof. E. J. Rapson. Pp. viiit 
199. (Cambridge: University Press.) 3s. net. 

Smithsonian Institution. U.S. National Museum. 
Bulletin of the U.S. National Museum. No. 50, The 
Birds of North and Middle America. Part vi. By 


448 


R. Ridgway. Pp. xx+882+xxxvi plates. (Washing- 
ton: Government Printing Office.) 

University of Pennsylvania. The Museum Anthro- 
pological Publications. Vol. iii. No. 3. Excavations 
in Eastern: Crete--Vrokastro. By E. H. Hall. Pp. 
75-185+plates xvii-xxxv.° (Philadelphia: University 
Museum. ) 

Smithsonian Institution. U.S. National Museum. 
Bulletin 84. A Contribution to the Study of 
Ophiurans of the United States National Museum. 
By Prof. R. Keehier. Pp. vii+173. (Washington : 
Government Printing Office.) 


The Journal of the Institute of Metals. Edited by 
G. Shaw Scott. Vol. xi. Pp. ix+437.° (London: 
Institute of Metals.) 21s. net. 

International Meteorological Committee. Report of 
the Tenth Meeting, Rome, 1913. Pp. 98. (London: 


H.M.S.O.; Wyman and Sons, Ltd.) 2s.. 

Les Coordonnées intrinséques Theorie et Applica- 
trons. - By» Dr; ° uv. Braude,.- Pp. 160. -(Panise 
Gauthier-Villars et Cie.) 

An Introduction to the Study of Organic Chemistry. 
By Dr. H. T. Clarke. Pp. viii+484. (London: Long- 
mans and Co.) 6s. 6d. 

The Theory of the Solid State. 
Nernst. Pp. viiit104. (London: 
Stoughton.) 2s. 6d. net. 

Yorkshire Type Ammonites, Edited by S. S. Buck- 
we Part xiv. (London: W. Wesley and Son.) 
3s. 6d. 

Australasian Fossils. By F. Chapman. Pp. 341 
and map. (Melbourne: George Robertson and Co., 
Ltd.; London : Dulau and Co., Ltd.) 7s. 6d. net. 

Die Pendulations-Theorie. By Prof. H. Simroth. 
aoa Auflage. Pp. xv+597. (Berlin: K. Greth- 
ein. 

Naturwissenschaftliche Bibliothek fiir Jugend und 

Volk: Vulkane und Erdbeben. By Prof. R. Brauns. 
Pp. vit+168. Aus Seen und Biachen die niedere Tier- 
weldt unserer Gewdsser. By Dr. G. Ulmer. Pp. 
ix+149. Der deutsche Obstbau. By F. Meyer. Pip: 
rae (Leipzig: Quelle und Meyer.) 1.80 marks 
each. 
_ The Life and Work of Roger Bacon: An Introduc- 
tion to the Opus Majus. By J. H. Bridges.. Edited, 
with Additional Notes and Tables, by H. G. Jones. 
(London : Williams and. Norgate.) 3s. net. 

_The Beginner’s Garden Book. By A. French. Pp. 
vilit+ 402. (London: Macmillan /and Co., (etd?) 
4s. 6d. net. 

Native Tribes of the Northern Territory of Australia. 
By Prof. Baldwin Spencer. Pp. xx+516. (London: 


By “Profs: W. 
Hodder and 


Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 21s. net. 

Greek Philosophy. Part i. Thales to Plato. By fe 
Burnet. Pp. x+360. (London: Macmillan and Co., 
Ltd.) “10s. net. 


The British Empire Beyond the Seas. By Dr. M. I. 


Newbigin. =. Pp. ‘xii+3sr. (London: G. Bell and 
Sons, Ltd.) 35. 6d. 

The Future of Education. By .F. .C. C. Esertone 
Be 303. (London: G. Bell and Sons, Ltd.) 35: Gas 
net. 

An_ Introduction to Celestial Mechanics. By Prof. 
F. R. Moulton. Second edition. Pp. XVi + 437. 
(London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd), “rgsoinetarae 


The Rose of the Winds: the Origin 
ment of the Compass-Card. By Pre 
son. Pp. 31+6 plates. ( 
net. 

A New Analysis of Plane Geometry, Finite and 
Differential. By A. W. H. Thompson. ° Pp. xvi+120. 
(Cambridge University Press.) 7s. net. 

Bird Studies. By W. P. Westell. Pp. xii+ 152. 
(Cambridge University Press.) 2s, 6d. net. 


NO. 12320," VOL. 03) 


and Develop- 
Prof. S. P. Thompe 
(London: H. Milford.) 4s. 


NATURE 


[June 25, 1914 


DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 


THURSDAY, June 25. 


Roya. Socirty, at 4.30.—The Spectrum of Elementary Silicon: Sir W. 
Crookes —Note on Mr. Mallock’s Observations on Intermittent Vision : 
Prof. S. P. Thompson.—Attempts to Produce the Rare Gases by Electric 
Discharge : [. R. Merton.—The Analysis of Gases after Passage of Elec- 
tric Discharges: O. C. G. Egerton.—Dilute Solutions of Aluminium in 
Gold: C. T. Heycock and F. H. Neville.—The Variation of Electrical 
Potential across a Semipermeable Membrane: Prof. F. G. Donnan and 
G. M. Green.—The Potential of Ellipsoidal Bodies and the Figures of 
Equilibrium of Rotating Liquid Masses: J Jeans.— the Twenty- 
seven-Day Period in Magnetic Phenomena: Dr. C. Chree.—Electrifica- 
tion of Water by Splashing and Spraying: J. J. Nolan.—Effect of Pressure 
upon Arc Spectra. V.: W. G. Duffield.—Measurement of Alternating 
Electric Current of High Frequency: A. Campbell and D. 


And other Papers. 
FRIDAY, June 76. 


Puysicar Society, at 5.—Atmospheric Refraction and its Bearing on the 
Transmission of Electromagnetic Waves Round the Earth’s Surface : 
Prof. J. A. Fleming.—Atmospheric Electricity Observations made at Kew 
Observatory : G. Dobson.—Thermal and Electrical Conductivities of some 
of the Rarer Metals and Alloys: T. Barratt.—‘The Measurement of the 
Temperature Coefficient of Young’s Modulus for Metallic Wires, with 
Special Application to Nickel: Prof. E. P. Harrison—Some Investiga- 
tions on the Arc as a Generator of High Frequency Oscillations: F. 
Mercer, 


W. Dye.— 


THURSDAY, Jury 2. “ 
Royat GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY, at 5.—Lithological Map of the British 
Isles: Alan G. Ogilvie. 


CONTENTS. PAGE 
Mathematics and Civilisation. By G. B. M. 1423 
Psychology and Child Hygiene, By Cyril Burt ... 424 
Recent Botanical Works. By A.B.R.... > 25 
Our Bookshelf 3 éon,' geval ate ee Om 


Letters to the Editor :— 


Dynamical Units for Meteorology.—F. J. W. 
Whipple PA Sy Meee S15 EDA GAM Sb a e 427 
Aristotle’s Physics. —Capt. J. H. Hardcastle 428 

Phenomena of the Conscious and Unconscious.— 
Abdul: Majid = jesus Shae Shai e ee Sebi aes 428 

The National Physical Laboratory in 1913-14. 
fetesrraea)\. 2 >). 4) anes a ds ', VE ees 
Royal Commission on the Civil Service ..... 431 
Mr. Roosevelt in Brazil. By Dr. John W. Evans: 432 
INGGOS1 4 hy. oe) ca aid th pe eee 433 

Our Astronomical Column :— 

Womet Notes. \h! 125 a arene ate Pc 437> 
jeange’ Telescopes.) *.* ig) 41a as eeen tee ee 437 
mel lanet Beyond INepttness satan ne-nt ene 437 
Recent Progress of Astronomy, 3 ay. =.) -l +) eon 
New Physiology School at Cambridge. (J//ustrated.) 438 
Ornithological Notes. By R. L. Lae! be BPS 
The Royal Canadian Institute. By Dr. H. M. Ami 440 
The Cambridge ‘‘ Previous”” Examination ... . 440 

The Gulf Stream. (With Diagrams.) By Com- 
mander M. W. Campbell Hepworth, C.B..... 441 
University and Educational Intelligence. ..... 443 
Societies and Academies ........ 445 
Books Received). -> 5°.) Sigal cio ee 447 
DiarysoriSocieties |;".. 2... Sse eno 448 


Editorial and Publishing Offices: 
MACMILLAN & CO., Ltp., 
ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C. 


Advertisements and business letters to be addressed to the 
Publishers. 


Editorial Communications to the Editor. 
Telegraphic Address: Puusis, LONDON. 
Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830. 


CO eeeeaEeEeyuyuyaayEeeEeEeESGu0ueEeEeeeeee 


MPeRSDAY,~ PULY 25 


QRIGIN OF IGNEOUS ROCKS. 
Igneous Rocks and their Origin. By Prof. R. A. 

Daly. Pp. xxii+563. (London: Hill Pub- 

lishing Co., Ltd.; New York: McGraw-Hill 

Book Go., Inc., 1914.) Price .17s.net. 

ROF. DALY is a man of ideas. A few facts 
observed in the field suggest to him a 
hypothesis which he then proceeds to test by 
searching for other facts which must exist if the 
hypothesis be of any value for scientific purposes. 
He is perhaps most widely known as the author 
who, more than any other, has developed the 
theory of ““magmatic stoping.” Large masses of 
plutonic rock—such, for example, as the granites 
of Devon and Cornwall—can be proved by field 
evidence to fill spaces that must formerly have 
been occupied by other rocks. In the case re- 
ferred to the displaced rocks consisted largely of 
folded sediments. What has become of them? 
According to the theory in question, the roof of 
the magmatic chamber has been shattered, and 
the detached fragments have in general sunk in 
the rising plutonic magma. This theory is ex- 
plained and illustrated in the present volume, and 
much use is made of one of its probable conse- 
quences—namely, the development of secondary 
magmas by “syntexis’’; or, in other words, by 
the solution in the rising magma of the masses 
detached from the walls and roof of the magma 
chamber. This action is believed to account 
directly or indirectly for many varieties of igneous 
rock, 

But the theory of magmatic stoping is only a 
subsidiary feature of the work. Its main object 
is to explain the known facts of igneous geology 
by a few general assumptions as to the composi- 
tion, structure, and physical condition of the 
planet, and whatever view is taken as to the 
validity of the assumptions, there can be no doubt 
that in working out their consequences the author 
has produced a most interesting work, full of 
information on the present-day aspects of igneous 
geology, and eminently calculated to stimulate 
thought. 

the book is divided into three parts. The first 
deals with the composition and mode of occur- 
rence of igneous rocks, the relative abundance of 
the different types at the surface of the earth, and 
the phenomena of active volcanoes. Rosenbusch’s 
classification is adopted with slight modifications. 
The classification based on the “norm” is dis- 
carded as being useless for the object which the 
author has in view. The second part deals with 
abyssal injection, magmatic stoping, assimilation, 


Neesast, VOL. 93) 


449 


eee, 
¥! sqaure o's ; - 
erentilationy- the mechanism of volcanic 
vents, and concludes with a statement of what 
the author terms an eclectic theory of igneous 


rocks. By the term eclectic he means to imply 
that in framing the theory he has selected and 
appropriated whatever seemed to him best in the 
earlier theories relating to the same subject. The 
third part is devoted to applying the general 
theory to igneous rocks, which, for this purpose, 
are divided into seven great groups or clans: the 
gabbro-clan, the granite-clan, the diorite-clan, the 
granodiorite-clan, the syenite-clan, the alkaline- 
clans, and the peridotite-clan (including magmatic 
ores). 

The eclectic theory may be briefly summarised 
as follows :—The earth, regarded as a planet, is 
roughly stratified according to density, but the 
three outer shells are alone involved in the pro- 
duction of the igneous phenomena with which 
geologists have to deal. The outer shell is com- 
posed of sediments, with an admixture of volcanic 
material, and is discontinuous. The second shell, 
represented by the Canadian and Fennoscandian 
“shields,” approximates to granite in composition. 
It is probably continuous under continental areas, 
but may not be present under all the oceanic areas, 
These two shells collectively form the “crust” of 
the earth. Beneath them is a third shell or sub- 
stratum of basaltic composition which alone, 
“since an early pre-Cambrian period (typified in the 
Keewatin) has been not enough for spontaneous 
eruption.” It may be discontinuous, but, if so, 
parts of it underlie both oceanic and continental 
areas. Abyssal injection implies the rise of the 
material of the substratum in magmatic wedges 
which are superheated at the higher levels and 
therefore capable of dissolving the rocks of the 
crust to a variable but large extent. Both the 
primary basaltic magma and each of its solutions 
with crust-rocks are subject in certain conditions 
to magmatic differentiation, this giving rise to 
various magmas by the freezing of which the dif- 
ferent types of igneous rock have been produced. 
A few illustrations of the way in which the author 
applies the theory will now be given. 

_ The composition of the primary basaltic magma 
is regarded as that of a basalt containing only a 
moderate amount of olivine. From such a magma 
basalts and gabbros rich and poor in olivine may 
be derived by gravitative differentiation to which 
the author attaches great importance. Peridotites 
and anorthosites may be regarded as the extreme 
phases of the differentiation of the primary 
magma. Quartz-basalts and related rocks which 
are now known to be widely distributed in con- 
tinental areas, though apparently absent from 
oceanic areas, probably owe their origin to the 
Ts 


450 


NATURE 


[JULY 2, 1914 


slight acidification of the primary magma through (3) Botany... By. Prof: E. Brucker: ~ Pp. xv--1385. 


the solution of siliceous crust-rocks. 

In discussing the origin of the rocks forming 
the granitic clan, the author describes at con- 
siderable length cases in which granites are found 
in association with thick intrusive sheets or sills 
of basalt or gabbro. Thus the Purcell sills of 
British Columbia, which vary in thickness from 
roo ft. or less to’ about 1500 ft., are intrusive 
in thick felspathic and micaceous quartzites of 
Cambrian or earlier date. In several instances 
the top of a sheet consists ‘‘of a true biotite- 
granite (rarely hornblendic) passing downward 
into hornblendic gabbro.” Inclusions of quartzite 
surrounded by syntectic material occur in the 
gabbro, and the author maintains that the granite 
of these sills is the gravitative differentiate of a 
quartzite-gabbro syntectic. |The post-Cambrian 
batholithic granites are supposed to have been 
formed in a somewhat similar way. They are 
regarded as differentiates of crust-material dis- 
solved in large abyssal wedges injected from the 
basaltic substratum. The author, however, hesi- 
tates to extend his theory to all the large pre- 
Cambrian batholiths, and suggests that some of 
these may be re-fused portions of a primitive crust 
of granitic composition, the necessary heat having 
been supplied by radio-activity. Although he 
refers more than once to radio-activity, this is the 
only case in which he appears to regard it with 
any degree of favour as a source of the thermal 
energy manifested in igneous action. 

The origin of each of the other clans is dis- 
cussed at length, and the chapter dealing with 
alkaline rocks which are regarded as differentiates 
of syntectics of primary basalt and carbonates is 
of special interest: The concluding chapter deals 
with the application of the general theory to the 
igneous phenomena of the North American Cor- 
dillera. 

The book represents an interesting attempt to 
solve a problem of great complexity with the aid 
of our present knowledge, which is probably quite 
insufhcient for the purpose. 


INTRODUCTIONS TO NATURAL SCIENCE. 


(1) The Realm of Nature. An Outline of Physio- 
graphy. By Dr. H. R. Mill. Second Edition, 
largely re-written. Pp. xii+404. (London: 
John Murray, 1913.) Price ss. 

(2) Introduction to Biology. An Elementary Text- 
book and Laboratory Guide. By Prof. M. A. 
Bigelow and Anna N. Bigelow. Pp. ix +424. 
(New York: The Macmillan Company; London: 
Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1913.) Price 6s. 


NO42335, VOE. O3)| 


(London: Constable and Co., Ltd., 
Price 25. net. 
(4) A First Book of Nature Study. By E. Sten- 
house. Pp. 148. (London: Macmillan and Co., 

Eickarors) ‘Price =1saieds 
(5) Weeds. Simple Lessons for Children. — By’ 

R. L. Praeger. With illustrations by S. Rosa- 

mond Praeger and R. J. Welch. Pp. x-4108. 

(Cambridge -University. Press,’ 1913.) Price 

6d. net. 
(6) Notes on the Natural History. of Common 
British Animals and some of their Foreign Re- 
lations. Vertebrates. By Kate M. Hall.) Pp: 
xli+289. (London: Adlard and Son, 1913.) 
ince, 35.~6d. net. 

“INCE 1891 Dr. Mill’s “Realm of Nature ” 

has been well known as one of the very 
best introductions to the study of the physical as- 
pects of the world we live in. Along with a few 
other books, such as Huxley’s “ Physiography,” it 
has occupied the first rank among text-books, and 
that place this new edition will retain. The 
reasons for this are to be found in the author’s 
quite remarkable clearness of head and _ style 
(which everyone who has heard him lecture has 
admired and envied), in his competence to deal 
with the many sides of the synoptic science of 
physiography, and also, we think, in the success 
with which he has made his facts illustrate prin- 
ciples. The book deals with the earth, the atmo- 
sphere, climate, weather, the ocean, the action of 
water on the land, the record of the rocks, the 
continents, the distribution of organisms, and man 
in nature. It has been thoroughly revised and 
brought up to date, but we are relieved to find 
that it remains in essence as we have known it 
for nearly a quarter of a century—with the same 
grip and terseness, the same absence of loose ends 
and dark corners—along certain lines one of the 
most educative books we have read. Though in 
a new dress it is an old friend, and we may be 
allowed with heartiness to wish it and its author 
well. 

(2) The introduction to biology proposed by 
Prof. Maurice A, Bigelow and Anna N. Bigelow 
is one which the authors have tested and found 
serviceable. It is an introduction to biological 
facts and ideas, and it is distinctive in selecting 
those facts and ideas which have a direct bearing 
on daily life. Thus we find much attention paid 
to the structure and functions of the human body, 
the biology of personal hygiene, organisms that 
affect human health, the economic relations of 
organisms, the reproduction of organisms, and so 
on. To our thinking, this is a partial introduction 


1913.) 


TS. 


(1) 


Juby 2, 1914 | 


NALURE 


451 


to biology, but the authors know this as well as 
we do; they have chosen their path and their book 
has a strong character of its own, which is more 
than can be said of many. We have previously 
referred to the ‘Teachers’ Manual” by the same 
authors, and we see that there is another com- 
panion volume entitled ‘Applied Biology.” 

(3) We referred some time ago to Prof. E. 
Brucker’s “Zoology” in the “Threshold. of 
Science” series, and now we have his “ Botany.” 
Its conspicuous features are the simplicity of the 
style, the experimental introduction to the life of 
the plant, and the way in which the reader is led 
on from one cohort of natural orders to another. 
Referring plants to their natural orders is an 
educative discipline of sorts, but it seems to us to 
occupy far too large a part of this introductory 
book. There are many English introductions to 
the study of botany, and we do not see any reason 
why this translation should have been added to 
the list. A new introduction, to justify itself, 
should be in some way fresh and distinctive. The 
simplicity that we have alluded to does not always 
come off, as we may show by a couple of sen- 
tences :—" Once they have developed, even very 
dissimilar living things appear the more alike the 
younger the states at which they are compared,” 


and “Algz, mushrooms, bacteria and_ lichens 
form the four classes of the type of algae.” We 
protest against two of the lesson titles—‘ Begin- | 


nings of Vhilosophy” and “ Philosophical Con- 
siderations Again.” Needless to say, there is no 
philosophy in the lessons, nor should there be. 
The book is well illustrated. 


(4) If a book of nature-study is to be used by | 


junior pupils, which seems to us, in most cases, 
undesirable, Mr. Stenhouse’s can be recommended 
as one of the best of its kind. It is simply and 
clearly written, and it is not much too informative. 
It prompts inquiry, not only in its questions and 
practical work, but also in its style; and this is 
a great’ virtue. The subjects dealt 
common British mammals, plants as food-makers, 
flowers and fruits and common trees, pond-life, 
burrowing animals, flying animals, the work of a 
river, and common stones and fossils. Mr. Sten- 
house shows his good sense in keeping, on the 
whole, to common things and to phenomena which 
can be readily verified. 

(5) Those who are never tired of criticising the 
modern efforts to lead school children into an in- 
telligent and appreciative acquaintance with the 
world round about them should take account of 
a book like Mr. R. Lloyd Praeger’s “Weeds,” 
which appears to us very educative—in the truest 
sense—for the teacher. And happily it does not 


NO. 2331, VOL. 93] 


with are | 


| in very interesting information. 


stand alone. Those teachers who wish to make 
themselves at home with some good subjects for 
nature study would do well to take a leaf. from 
Mr. Lloyd Praeger’s book. The root-idea is here, 
and the stem and its leaves and flowers are here 
too; for the author has shown that in the study 
of “weeds,” which are always with us, you can 
get the brain-stretching discipline of precision, the 
mind-awakening. appreciation of fitnesses, the 
naturalist’s vision of inter-relations in the web of 
life, and more besides. 
well done, but it is for teachers—especially for 
teachers with a way with them. 
much too difficult; it is not in the right key. 
might become a holy terror. 

(6) Miss Kate M. Hall has written a useful and 
often skilful introduction to mammals, especially 
British mammals; but she should not have allowed 
her “good publisher” or herself to entitle the 
book externally—‘‘Common_ British Animals.” 
Mammals, to which the book is quite legitimately 
restricted, form a very small proportion of 
common British animals; so the title and title-page 
are quite misleading. Miss Hall knows how to 


The book is uncommonly 


For children it is 


It 


’ 


teach, and we find on many a page an educative 


lesson; but too often this gift has been smothered 
We think that a 
series of somewhat simpler studies on British 


/ mammals would have made a more effective book. 


But we recognise that part of the idea was to 
compare British with foreign forms. 


CHEMIS DRY. Ol OF IAIN LS: 

(1) Untersuchungen iiber Chlorophyll. Methoden 
und Ergebnisse. By Richard Willstatter and 
Arthur Stoll. Pp. viiit+424+xi plates. (Ber- 
lin: Julius Springer, 1913.) Price 18 marks. 

(2) Biochemie der Pflanzen. By Prof. Friedrich 


Czapek. Zweite umgearbeitete Auflage. 
Erster Band. Pp. xix+828. (Jena: Gustav 


Fischer, 1913.) Price 24 marks. 


(1) 


HE paper cover in which the former of 


the above books is issued contains 


| advertisements of the monographs by Emil Fischer 


on the amino-acids and proteins, on the purine 
substances, and on the carbohydrates, which are 
issued by the same publisher. The book 
Willstatter and Stoll under review is a worthy 
successor of these classical works, and will be ex- 
tremely welcome to all who have followed the 
publications during the last eight years of the re- 
searches of Willstatter and his pupils in Liebig’s 
Annalen; they will be especially grateful for the 
full experimental details given in the description 
of the various preparations. 


of 


452 


The monograph is not merely a reprint of the 
numerous papers from Liebig’s Annalen, but 
starts, in the first chapter, with a useful summary 
of all the results obtained up to the date of issue, 
and the relationship of the various substances iso- 
lated during the course of the researches is clearly 
indicated in tabular form. The book concludes 
with a description of some researches, most of 
which receive their first publication in this volume, 
on the pigments of the blood and their derivatives, 
and throw further light on the chemical relation- 
ship between the green pigment of plants and the 
red pigment of the blood, amplifying in a striking 
manner the earlier investigations of Hoppe-Seyler, 
Schunck, Nencki, and others. 

It is difficult to select from such a mass of new 


material points for special mention in a short re-. 


view. As an example, however, of the immense 
amount of patience and skill required in the pre- 
paration of chemically-pure preparations, the 
separation of chlorophyll into its components a 
and b, described on p. 163 et seq. may be cited; 
to obtain only a preliminary separation of the two 
substances contained in 8 grams of a mixture, no 
fewer than fourteen extractions of the solution in 
light petroleum with methyl alcohol were required, 
and 2 litres of the alcohol were employed for each 
extraction. Experimental details of this character 
are of interest, in that they illustrate the great 
technical difficulties of modern biochemical re- 
search, and the necessity of a somewhat costly 
equipment for laboratories devoted to this object; 
it is doubtful, indeed, whether the talent of a Will- 
statter would have availed in accomplishing what 
is described in this monograph, had there not 
been, in the first place, ample funds for the supply 


of the necessary material and apparatus, and in |! 


the second place, the cooperation of several ac- 
complished students. The book contains many 
other examples of brilliant experimental technique, 
and for this reason alone it is well werthy cf 
perusal by all chemists whose work entails large- 
scale laboratory operations. 

Of the results of scientific interest, attention 
may, in the first place, be directed to the confirma- 
tion of the statement of Stokes, published in 1864, 
based on spectroscopic examination, that the 
chlorophyll of land-plants contains no fewer than 
four pigments. To this investigator and to 
Kraus and Sorby are due the principles of the 
method which, in the hands of Willstatter and his 
pupils, has finally led to the isolation of all the 
four pigments in a chemically-pure form. 

Of great interest also, is the discovery of the 
fact that magnesium is an essential part of the 
chlorophyll molecule, just as iron forms an_ in- 


NO: 233 Taal Ot 


NATURE 


_ presence of chlorophyll still 


[JuLy 2. 2@r4 


tegral part of the molecule of the blood-pigment. 
No less interesting is the discovery of the alcohol, 
phytol, and of the enzyme phytase, an example of 
a new species of ferment capable of acting in 
alcoholic solutions. Mention must also be made 
of the mysterious change, designated by Will- 
statter ‘“‘allomevisation,” which takes place, ap- 
parently under the influence of some catalyst in 
alcoholic solution the exact nature of which has 
not yet been explained. . 

Although the results so far obtained do not 
warrant the assignment of a definite formula to 
the two chlorophylls, the general character of these 
pigments and of hemin appears to be fairly well 
established. The recent valuable work of Piloty, 
Hans Fischer, and others on the synthesis of 
various pyrrole derivatives has also materially 
aided in the elucidation of the complex formule 
of these pigments. It is to be hoped that the 
publication of the researches on chlorophyll in 
their present form will afford a stimulus to re- 
search on plant physiology. The vexed question 
as to the mechanism of the sugar synthesis in the 
remains unsolved, 
and the fact that it is now possible to obtain the 
separate pigments of the leaf free from all con- 
taminations should materially assist in the solution 
of this problem. Certain interesting suggestions 
as to the relationship of the pigments to one an- 
other, and as to their biological functions, are 
made in this monograph, which opens great vistas 
of future research. 

(2) It is now nine years since the first edition 
of Prof. Czapek’s two bulky volumes on the 
general chemistry of plants was issued, and it 
may be regarded as a favourable sign that a com- 
plete new edition of a work of this magnitude 
should be called for so soon. The first 240 pages 
of the present issue deal chiefly with general bio- 
logical problems, including those relating to the 
physical structure of the cell, a subject which has 
received much attention from plant physiologists 
in recent times as a result largely of Prof. Cza- 
pek’s own researches. The remainder of the 
volume is devoted to the special biochemistry of 
the sugars, fats, and lipoids, which are treated 
both from the more nurely chemical and the 
physiological point of view. Books of reference 
of this description are indispensable nowadays to 
workers on biological chemistry, when the results 
of recent investigations are dispersed amongst so 
many journals. We owe, therefore, a great debt 
of gratitude to Prof. Czapek for his labours in 
collecting together a heterogeneous mass_ of 
material and issuing it in a form in which it can 
be readily reviewed. Ss: Be 


fur, 1974 | 


NATURE 


fo 


OUR BOOKSHELF. 


A Junior Geography of the World. By B. C. 
Wallis. Pp. x+310+maps. (London: Mac- 
millamgand Go.,, Ltd, 19619.) ieice.2s. 6d. 


Turis book possesses many merits; its language is 
always clear, its accuracy, so far as can be judged, 
unimpeachable. It is arranged on the plan of a 
long introductory section dealing with the prin- 
ciples of geography, followed by a treatment of 
the continents in detail, in which the order fol- 
lowed is the unusual (and not obviously advan- 
tageous) one of Australia, Africa, the Americas, 
Asia, Europe. A final separate section deals with 
the British Isles. The volume is entitled a junior 
geography, but, to juniors, parts of it (such 
as that on map-making, or some of the sec- 
tions which deal with the quantitative analysis 
of products) may be found difficult; while, ex- 
cellent as the geographical principle of regional 
comparison is, it is open to question whether it 
should be followed from the very beginning. In 
this department, the text possibly tends to be over- 
weighted with examples. Each section contains a 
number of questions, in many cases based upon 
examination questions selected with great care 
from a wide range of papers. 

The illustrations, whether maps, diagrams, or 
pictures, are clear and good, but we cannot 
conceive that the extremely small type employed 
is justifiable on any standard. The index is 
remarkable. It is stated to be “intentionally 
short”; in point of fact, it contains about 
sixty references under eight headings, and the 
student is charged to make a full index for him- 
self on the lines indicated. Is modern educational 
practice to demand of the student that he should 
index all his text-books ? 


Hereditary Genius: An Inquiry into its Laws and 
Consequences. By F. Galton. New edition. 
Pp. xxix+379. (London: Macmillan and Co., 
Etdwaors.)  Price-5s. net, 

“HEREDITARY GENIUS ”’ was first published in 1869 
and comes second in the series of works in which 
Galton’s investigations on inheritance were given 
to the public, being preceded in 1865 by the papers 
in “Hereditary Talent and Character” which 
appeared in Macmillan’s. Magazine. A second 
edition appeared in 1892 from which the present 
issue has been reprinted. That after forty-five 
years there should still be a demand for this book 
is no source of wonder. It is the work of a 
master and for that reason one shrinks from 
praising it. But coming back to it after an in- 
terval one is struck again by its freshness, its 
readableness, and the wealth of apt comparison 
with which it is illustrated. Of the social signifi- 
cance of the subject it is also needless to speak. 
As Galton shows it bears on most things of interest 
to the human race from the doctrine of original 
sin to the vigorous growth of new colonies, and 
it led him in the last chapter to express views-on 
individuality and the place of the individual in the 
living universe, which seem to be echoed in much 
modern sociological teaching on the subject. 


NO. 2331, VOL. 93| 


The publishers have earned our gratitude in 
again making this book available, but it is to be 
regretted that economy in the matter of margin 
has given the printed pages a rather unattraciive 
appearance. 


The Engineering Index Annual for 1913. Pp. 
508. (New York: The Engineering Magazine 
Co., 1914.) Price 2.00 dollars. 

Tuts volume of the Engineering Index is the 

twelfth since the work first appeared and is the 

eighth since the appearance of annual issues. It 
comprises the monthly instalments published in 

1913 in the Engineering Magazine and covers the 

field of serial literature in engineering up to 

October, 1913. The purpose of the volume is to 

aid the searcher for information on any specific 

subject connected with engineering to obtain 
quickly the names and dates of issue of periodicals, 
etc., containing articles dealing with the subject. 

The matter is classified under the main headings 

of civil engineering, electrical engineering, in- 

dustrial economy, marine and naval engineering, 
mechanical engineering, mining and metallurgy, 
railway engineering, and street and electric rail- 
ways. These again are subdivided into sections, 
thus facilitating the process of obtaining all pub- 
lished information on any given subject. Each 
reference gives, in addition to the name and date 
of the periodical, a brief summary of the contents 
of the article or paper, sufficient in most cases to 
enable the searcher to decide whether it is worth 
while to pursue his inquiries further. Owing to 
the great mass of engineering matter published 
annually throughout the world, the need for such 

a volume is evident, and the’ present work can be 

recommended as a successful attempt to give a 

concise and complete index of last year’s publi- 

cations. 

Routledge’s New Dictionary of the English Lan- 

Pp. Vili. 


guage. Edited by C. Weatherby. 
1039. (London: George Routledge and Sons, 
Lidywreu4qs\briceegs,ad- 


Tus attractively produced dictionary claims to 
include all the principal new scientific, technical, 
industrial, sporting, colloquial, slang, and other 
words, both English and American, as well as 
pronunciations and etymologies. _Prolonged use 
alone enables one to pronounce judgment on a 
dictionary; but it may be said that this has an- 
swered successfully numerous test appeals made 
to it. 


A Literary Introduction to 
By Jol Robertson. Pp. 
The University Press, 1914.) 


Nature in Books. 
Natural Science. 
156. «(Oxtord:: 
Price,2s: 

THE primary object of this little book is to kindle 

in young readers an interest in, and love for, 

Nature and her works. The author’s idea is to 

lead pupils from the descriptions of Nature by 

our great writers to the world of wonder itself. 

We echo his hope that the book will take many 

of its readers to “the open,” and that there they 

may become open-eyed and intelligent first-hand 
observers. 


454 


LETTERS.TO THE EDITOR. 


[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for 
opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with 
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 
this or any other part of Nature. No notice is 
taken of anonymous communications. ] 


The Princinle of Relativity 


In reading through Mr. Cunningham’s article on 
‘“The Principle of Relativity,” I have been struck by 
several points which seem to require some elucidation. 

Whether these difficulties are inherent in the ** prin- 
ciple of relativity’? as it is generally understood, or 
whether it is merely owing to the fact that for some 
time I have been accustomed to look at the matter 
from a different point of view, which I believe solves 
these difficulties, and that, on this account, I am 
rather obtuse towards other views, I cannot say. 

Some of these points may be best indicated by Mr. 
Cunningham’s own words, as follows :— 

(es ‘Now the very first thing that appears, if we 
accept the hypothesis of relativity, is that it is impos- 
sible for us to determine uniquely whether two events 
are or are not simultaneous.” 

(2) ‘‘ We find that the conception of ‘ simultaneity ’ 
does not become definite until we have assigned a 
definite velocity to a certain point.”’ 

Query—What is a ‘definite velocity’’? Is it to be 
defined in terms of length and time in the usual way, 
and, if so, how are length and time to be measured ? 


For, as Mr. Cunningham remarks :— 
(3) *““The next thing we may notice is that the 


notion of the ‘length of a body’ becomes indefinite 


along with the term ‘ simultaneous.’ ”’ 

(4) “If now we start from the fundamental law that 
there is a definite physically-determined velocity, that 
Otalpe tag a 

Query—What does Mr. Cunningham mean by a 


“ definite Pep seye -determined velocity ’ 
statements (1), (2), and (3)? 

Things apparently indefinite :—(1) ‘* Simultaneity ’ 
(2) mode of measuring length; (3) mode of mez isuring 
time intervals; (4) meaning of velocity. 

Query—What are Mr. Cunningham’s fundamental 


concepts ? A: A: Ross. 
Cambridge, June 20. 


in view of 


Ir should be fairly clear that the articles referred to 
by Mr. Robb were written with the intention of show- 
ing the need for a revision of the common ideas about 
space and time, which discussions on the principle of 
relativity have shown to be deeply ingrained. Mr. 
Robb would be the first to admit that such a revision 
is a necessity. The passages quoted above—(1), (2), 
(3)— were written to emphasise it. 

To Mr. Robb’s first query it must be replied that 
in the conceptual scheme of relations which we have 
evolved out of the data of perception, velocity 
defined in terms of length and time in the usual way 
but unfortunately experiment has not enabled us to 
think out a unique way of ‘measuring ”’ space and 
time. 

To the second query it need only be said that it is 
universal to think of light as being propagated in 
time, that this propagation is determined by physical 
considerations, and that it is at any rate a possible 
hypothesis that in the conceptual representation of 
the phenomena this propagation takes place always at 
a definite rate. j 

To the third query the reply is that the fundamental 
“concepts’’ in the representation of physical pheno- 
mena are oe and time. 


2331, VOL. 6O3) 


is 


NALURE 


[ JULY. 2, 19—4 


But the articles did not profess to describe in detail 
a logical scheme of the universe of motion. Mr. 
Robb’s forthcoming work in which this is attempted 
is anticipated with much interest. Ewe. 


Distribution of Rainfall on Sunday, June 14. 


I aM endeavouring to trace out the distribution ot 
the rainfall on Sunday, June 14, in a similar manner 
to that in which I investigated a thunderstorm some 
three years ago. May I ask anyone who is interested, 
and has not already communicated with me, to send 
as full details as possible either to me or to the 
British Rainfall Organisation, 62 Camden Square, 
N.W., unless they would report in due course to the 
Meteorological Office or to the Royal Meteorological 
Society ? 

Especially should I like information on the following 
points :—When the rain began; when it fell or did not 
tall; whether there was hail; if so, when and for how 
long; whether there was wind, and from what direc- 
tions. It would add to the value of the facts if the 
precise point of observation were stated. 

Information is desired as to the weather outside the 
storm area, as well as to the vee Jegs where rain 
fell. 

Any observations, however slight, even if they refer 
only to one particular time, will be welcome and useful. 

J. FATRGRIEVE. 

London Day Training College (University of 

London), Southampton Row, London, 
- June 26. 


WC. 


The Photo-electric Effect of Carbon as Influenced by 
its Absorbed Gases. 

THE existing contradictory 

electric effect: of carbon 


results on the photo- 
can be explained by means 
of the quantity and quality of the gases absorbed 
by the carbon. The infituences of ammonia, hydrogen, 
air, and carbon dioxide were investigated. The most 
consistent results were obtained ‘from carbonised. 
bamboo and hydrogen. Saturation curves showed 
ammonia to be the most active,.and carbon dioxide 
the -least. Distribution of velocity curves were ob- 
tained for bamboo and hydrogen. The maximum 
initial velocity was found to be independent of the 
quantity of hydrogen -absorbed, while the maximum 


current was proportional to the quantity of gas 
absorbed. : O. STUHLMANN. 


R. PIERSOL. 
University of Pennsylvania, June 17. 


MAYA ART-.! 


XCEPTING the splendid labours of A. P. 
Maudslay, embodied in four volumes of 
beautiful illustrations, with a descriptive text, the 
study of old Maya civilisation is almost entirely 
German-American, and it became a_ science 
through Foerstemann, who, with marvellous in- 
tuition, was the first to read some of the glyphs. 
It is a study quite self-contained, fascinating, 
but leading apparently nowhere. When_ the 
Spaniards conquered Middle America, the Maya 
glory was already a thing of the past, whilst the 
Mexican civilisation was at its height. This also 
has vanished without in the slightest degree 


1 Memoirs of the Peabody Museum of American Archeology and Ethnology, 
Harvard University. Vol. vi. A Study of Maya Art: Its Subject Matter and 
Historical Development. By H. J. Spinden. Pp. xxiii+285+29 plates+ 
map. (Cambridge, Mass; Peabody Museum, 1913.) 


julia ToT 4 | 


having influenced the present civilisation, which is 
entirely Spanish, certainly. Latin. The natives 
neither know nor care anything about the monu- 
ments of their ancestors, more often than not 
they do not even consider them as ancestral, but 
merely as relics of the olden times. Christianity 
—and they are nearly all nominal Christians— 
has smothered, or ruthlessly destroyed, the old 
life and its traditions. Idolatry being forbidden 
by law, it is practised more or less secretly, and 
many old heathen rites have been cleverly woven 
into the orthodox practices of the Church, especi- 
ally with the celebrations of the numerous feast 
days. 

The ancient eastern civilisations from Egypt to 
India and China are more or less akin, have in- 
fluenced each other, and their effect lasts into our 
own present-day life. Almost any Mesopotamian 


NATURE 


455 


and Yucatan, south of the Isthmus of Tehuan- 
tepec, besides Guatemala and Honduras. To the 
north and west this larger Maya area adjoins those 
of the Zapotecan (Mitla) and Nahoan or Mexican 
civilisations. 

It seems most probable that the mysterious 
Toltecs were those Mayas in a wider sense, who, 
in prehistoric times, had extended on to the plateau 
of Mexico, raising there the great pyramids of 
Wegunwscan: Cholula, ete. Then the Nahoa, 
coming originally from the north and west, drove 
out the Toltecs, and themselves gradually became 
civilised, building upon the inheritance, the longer 
they remained in contact with the Toltec-Maya 


crafts, arts, and science, which continued to 
flourish in the far south-east. Even so late 
as shortly before the Spanish conquest the 


Aztecs or Mexicans proper were sending military 


e ‘*Chuich”’ 


find is sure to throw some light upon the history 
of the European-Asiatic communities. Nothing 
of the kind applies to America. If it had been 
found uninhabited by the Europeans, that would 
in the long run have had no effect upon the culture 
and thoughts of the rest of the world. As it hap- 
pened that there were natives, they have been 
used as beasts of labour. They were sweated, 
but not more than the Aztecs had sweated and 
raided the other tribes. 

Dr. Spinden is a pupil of the active and flourish- 
ing School of American Archeology, under the 
guidance of Dr. Tozzer, at Harvard University. 
His most noteworthy contribution in the present 
volume is the exposition of the archeological 
sequence of the Maya monuments. 

Who are the Mayas? Maya-speaking people 
inhabit the Mexican States of Tabasco, Chiapas, 


- NO. 2331, VOL. 93] 


_ colonies down to Nicaragua. 


at Chichen Itza in Yucatan. 


Spinden accepting 
this view, considers the pre-Aztec monuments on 
the plateau as contemporary with what he desig- 
nates as the brilliant period of building in Maya- 
land; the fine Aztec and Zapotec buildings arose 
later. 

The ethnology is very doubtful; anything be- 
fore 1325, the generally accepted date of the 
foundation of the city of Mexico, is fictitious. 
The Codices, illuminated manuscripts, are picture- 
writings, a compound of idiograph-pictures, and 
phonetic writing, just on the verge of the in- 
vention of an alphabet. It is a highly developed 
art of pun-drawings, or rebus. Whilst the Nahoa 
codices—they were nearly all almanacs, or memo- 
randa of accounts—are easy to read, so far as 
names of places and numbers are concerned, those 
of the Maya had far advanced, the pictures having 


456 


been condensed into much conventionalised signs, 
and nothing but cyphers and sums have been made 
out with some certainty. The rest is guesswork, 
run wild. 

The Nahoa, Zapotecs, and Tarascans had risen 
to kingships, but the Maya were split into many 
small tribes, independent, and each under its own 
hereditary chief, a condition of things which makes 
it difficult to account for the splendour and size 
of the temples and other public buildings, unless, 
as Spinden suggests, the old Maya, like the 
Greeks, were religiously and artistically a nation, 
but politically anumber of small sovereign States. 
Little is known about their religious ideas. They 
worshipped many deities—above all, one repre~ 
sented by the plumed serpent, with endless sym- 
bolic variations. The ceremonials centred in 
processions, incense-burning, and human. sacri- 
fices, the victims being supplied by raids. The 
ritual, the appeasement of the many deities in 
their various phases and imagined manifestations, 
necessitated a most elaborate calendar, which, to- 
gether with their complicated chronology, implied 
a considerable amount of astronomical know- 
ledge. 

Foremost in the field of work at Mayan anti- 
quities is the Peabody Museum. “ Maya art was 
on a much higher scale than any art in America, 
except, possibly, the textile art of Peru,” “Ube 
ancient masterpieces of Yucatan and Central 
America show a fine technique and an admirable 
artistic sense, largely given over to the expression 
of barbarous religious concepts, and they furnish 
many analogies to the early products of the classic 
Mediterranean lands. Indeed, upon such tech- 
nical grounds as fore-shortening, composition, and 
design, Maya art was in advance of the art of 
Assyria and Egypt, and only below that of Greece 
in the list of great national achievements.” But 
whilst the Greeks apotheosised the human form, 
the Maya gods and heroes had fundamentally the 
characteristics of reptiles, birds, and beasts, more 
or less humanised grotesque figures, often 
smothered, overpowered by the detail of sym- 
bolical attributes. 

Painting in colours upon paper and excellent 
plaster, carving in wood and stone, modelling 
in clay and stucco, low and high relief, and full 
round, were much practised, and these people 
would have accomplished more if they had risen 
to iron and bronze chisels, instead of implements 
of stone and obsidian, and if the country had 
supplied them with marble instead of a coarse and 
uneven limestone. 

Our author has arranged the numerous principal 
monuments of Copan in Honduras upon a pri- 
marily stylistic principle. They fall into four 
chronologically successive stages, but it is to be 
remembered that a new type of stela, for instance, 
was well begun before the old type was aban- 
doned, so that there is a considerable overlap; 
provided always that their Maya dates have been 
correctly interpreted, which is by no means 
always the case. 


NOM 28 21, NViOLanOay 


NATURE 


[JULY 25% Tom 


First: the stela show glyphs of archaic form, 
and in low, flat relief. Altars are drum-shaped, 
plain, or with rudely carved ornamental symbols. 

Second : the stele are sculptured, with gradualiy 
higher relief. The face of the figure is that of 
an animal. The head-dress of the figure consists 
of the face of an animal. The heels stand to- 
gether, with toes turned outward, forming an 
angle of 180°. 

third: the stele are sculptured. 
faces with turban-dress. 

Fourth: stele sculptured, practically in full 
round, with considerable modelling of face and 
limbs, which assume a less awkward position., 
Elaborate head-dress with feather-drapery. The 
altars represent two-headed dragons or serpents, 
a turtle, or a couple of grotesque jaguars. 

The whole development at Copan comprised 
only 276 years, beginning with the 11th tun of the 
4th Katun, and ending with the roth year of the 
18th Katun of the oth cycle; according to 
Spinden’s assumption from about 250 A.D. to 
525 A.D. 

For Guatemala and Honduras, where, besides 
others, the famous monuments of Tikal, Quirigua, 
and Copan are situated, he distinguishes, after a 
proto-historic period, an archaic period from 160— 
755 A.D., upon which follows the great or brilliant 
period which lasted to about 600 A.p. For no 
particularly binding reasons this is supposed to 
include the wonderful monuments of Palenque in 
Tabasco. After some transitional period a Nahoa 
period in Mexico is fixed at from the year 1195 
onwards, 

From this it will be seen that the tendency to 
assign a sensational age to the Central American 
monuments has given way to more reasonable 
views, although our author goes quite far enough 
back when he puts the beginning of the gth cycle 
at 160 A.D., whilst others are satisfied with a 
date several hundred years later. 

It may not be amiss to make a few explanatory 
remarks about this Maya chronology. They had 
a ceremonial almanac of 260 days; twenty sec- 
tions of thirteen days each; twenty day-signs of 
animals and other natural objects, combined in a- 
certain order with the numerals 1~13, so that every 
one of these 260 days had an absolutely fixed 
name, number, and position. They reckoned 
by scores, whilst the number 13, as Foerstemann 
discovered, is based upon the fact that eight years 
of 365 days are exactly five years of the planet 
Venus, which they worshipped. This curious 
almanac is, in fact, based upon a combination of 
terrestrial and Venus years. 

They had further a civil year of 360 days, called 
a tun; twenty tuns are a katun, and twenty katun 
a cycle or big period. Now, if every score of 
years is designated by a name-day of the cere- 
monial almanac. 260 katuns can be fixed with- 
out repetition, i.e. 5200 years of 360 days. If 
this unwieldy number is subdivided by a score 
of scores, 400, there result thirteen cycles. 
Foerstemann has further discovered that the zero 


Grotesque 


JuLy 2, 1914] 


NATURE 


of the whole reckoning system refers to a day 
which in this almost perpetual calendar is a 4 
Ahau katun, which begins with the eighth day of 
the score called Kumku. This has therefore been 
called the normal or zero date, from which all the 
monumental dates reckon in days, scores of days, 
years, scores of years, and cycles. Astronomers 
do not seem to have taken up the question whether 
this zero-date, which lies somewhere near 3000 
B.C., may possibly refer to some remarkable plane- 
tary configuration. It may, however, be alto- 
gether fictitious. Very little is known about their 
cosmogony, and it is not known why they should 
have considered themselves in the ninth cycle of 
their world’s history when they constructed the 
Quirigua and Copan monuments. This mode of 
reckoning was still used at the Spanish conquest, 
but as they had not invented a leap-year correction 
they occasionally shifted their new year’s day to 
make the religious feasts tally with the actual 
seasons. But since it is not known when such 
shifts were made, and since the various nations 
did not interpolate alike, none of the numerous 
dates can be determined. 

Most of this American archeology is still in the 
descriptive stage. For instance, the less there is 
known about the reason why the chief deity, or 
hero, Kukulcan or Quetzacoatl, the Great 
Plumed Serpent, is thus represented, the more 
minutely he is described and figured wherever a 
fragment of him is found. We can see that it is 
a snake. But the answer to the pertinent ques- 
tion: Why aserpent? That there is no particular 
reason except that ‘“‘the body of a snake combines 
readily in art with certain characteristic parts of 
other animals,” that it lends itself especially well 
to design and ornamentation, is rather disappoint- 


ing. 


BIRDS AND WEATHER. 


HE difficult question of the influence of 
meteorological conditions on the phenomena 
of bird migration has fortunately been very 
thoroughly studied as regards the British area, 
but we are none the less glad to welcome the 
recent labours of Dr. Defant on this subject. 
Dr. Defant as a meteorologist has submitted to a 
critical examination the data collected some years 
ago regarding the spring arrival in Austria of 
some thirty species of birds. He has selected 
four species for special treatment, and the data 
cover a period of seven seasons (1897—1903). 
The published weather reports have supplied all 
the necessary meteorological data for the corre- 
sponding periods. 

At the outset of his paper Dr. Defant points 
out that, while all meteorological factors must be 
taken into account, the relation of all other con- 
ditions to that of atmospheric pressure renders 
possible a concentrated attention on the latter. 
A comparison of the ornithological data with the 


1 “Der Einfluss des Wetters auf die Ankunftszeiten der Zugvigel im 
Friihling.” By Dr. A. Defant, Vienna. Reprinted from Schwalée, new 
series, vol, ili., 1913, pp. 135-56, and charts. | 


NO. 2331, VOL. 93] 


457 


temperature records gave.a purely negative result, 
no direct relation being discoverable. Dr. Defant 
also rightly insists on the importance of consider- 
ing the weather of the whole of southern Europe, 
the conditions prevailing in the actual area of 
arrival being obviously less important than those 
in the regions immediately to the south through 
which the migrants must pass. 

The spring immigration of the starling and the 
lark are treated together, these species showing 
a detailed similarity in this aspect of their seasonal 
movements. Tables are given showing that 
there is an annual variation both in the earliest 
date of arrival and in the duration of the influx. 
The period of heavy immigration usually lasts 
about eight days and the average date of maxi- 
mum arrival for the seven years was February 23, 
while the average dates for particular years varied 
from February 12 to March 3. 

With the partial exception of one year out of 
the seven it was found that the periods of maxi- 
mum immigration coincided with periods of low 
atmospheric pressure in the west and north-west 
of Europe and higher pressure in the south, south- 
east, or east. These conditions give southerly or 
south-easterly winds in Austria and the countries 
immediately to the south, and usually rising tem- 
peratures. The immigration was all the greater 
when these favourable conditions had been im- 
mediately preceded by a prevalence of high pres- 
sure in the north and north-west (or north-east) 
and low pressure in the east or south-east; such 
conditions usually entail low temperatures and 
northerly or north-westerly winds. 

Dr. Defant then considers the average daily 
pressure for the three regions into which he 
divides southern Europe. These are A =western 
Asia Minor, the Balkan Peninsula, the Adriatic 
Sea, and southern Italy; B=the remaining greater 
part of Italy, the western Mediterranean and 
northern Africa; and C=Spain and Portugal. 
The last-named region is soon shown to be irre- 
fevant, and Dr. Defant’s second conciusion results 
from a comparison between A and B. He finds 
that strong immigration in Austria occurred when 
the pressure in these regions was relatively higher 
than on the days immediately before and after 
and when the pressure in A was higher than in B. 
The east to west pressure gradient thus formed 
when coupled with the effect of the earth’s rota- 
tion produces the south-easterly winds character- 
istic of the type of weather already described as 
favourable to migration. 

The cuckoo and the house martin are then 
treated in like manner (not jointly as in the pre- 
vious case, but simultaneously to economise space 
in tables and graphs). The same two conclusions 
are arrived at for these immigrations occurring 
much later in the season than that of the starling 
and the lark. A second type of weather was also 
found favourable in the case of the cuckoo, 
namely, extended high pressure over the whole 
of central and southern Europe, usually with weak 
easterly or north-easterly winds. In seasons 


458 


NATURE 


[uLy 2,° roe4 


in which the strongest immigration occurred 
under such conditions the period of the chief 
movement was protracted to about nineteen 
(instead of about nine) days. 

Dr. Defant has clearly proved that a certain 
type of weather is peculiarly favourable for the 
spring immigration of Austrian birds. He is to 
be congratulated on his clear and well reasoned 
treatment of very unwieldy data and on having 
made a valuable contribution to a difficult subject. 

His further speculations are, however, open to 
serious criticism. He believes that the important 
factor in this type of weather is the wind and that 
birds prefer to fly with it behind them. His 
reasons as to why birds should do so seem to us 
to be wholly beside the point, and as the much 
more comprehensive results already obtained in 
this country are entirely opposed to Dr. Defant’s 
theory, we cannot accept it, however temptingly 
obvious it may seem, on such very slender 
grounds. 

The alternative theory is that “the winds and 
the performance, or non-performance, of the 
migratory movements are the effects of a common 
cause—namely, the particular type of weather 
prevailing at the time, which may be favourable 
or unfavourable for the flight of birds. 2 
(Eagle Clarke, “Studies in Bird Migration,” 1912, 


Pitt 78) eau 
In the British area there are certain types of 
weather favourable respectively for migration 


between the British Isles and northern Europe, 
between the British Isles and Iceland, and be- 
tween the British Isles and south-western Europe. 
The winds accompanying these types of weather 
may or may not be in the same direction as the 
movements concerned. Jurthermore, the same 
types of weather favour these movements both in 
autumn and in spring, the direction of flight being 
reversed, while the prevailing winds remain the 
same. 

In Dr. Defant’s simpler case it so happens that 
the favourable type of weather he has discovered 
produces a wind in the same direction as that of 
immigration from the Balkan Peninsula (his 
region “A”’) to Austria; but the immigration from 
the south-west (““B”’) probably forms a large part 
of the movements which were the subject of in- 
vestigation. It is unfortunate that only the spring 
migrations have been dealt with. Should the 
same type of weather with its accompanying 
winds prove to be favourable to the autumn emi- 
gration (as in the case of the British movements), 
Dr. Defant’s theory would be quite untenable. 

In the meantime, Dr. Defant’s selection of wind 
as the important factor is purely speculative, and 
his view entails an entirely different relation be- 
tween birds and weather im Austria from that 
existing in the British Isles. While rejecting his 
theory of the importance of wind as unproven and 
improbable, we feel grateful for the. new facts 
which he has added to our knowledge of bird 
migration by his most laborious and thorough 
research. A. LANDSBOROUGH THOMSON. 


NO. 1; WOLSIQ3) 


922 


—0)ro) 


METROLOGICAL RESEARCHES.} 


(eke volumes referred to below contain par- 
-ticulars of recent metrological researches 
made at the international bureau of weights and 
measures. As the result of a long series of in- 
vestigations on the length of invar wires used for 
geodetical measurements, it has been found that 
wires made of metal taken from the same tapping 
or ladle and treated in the same manner have 
practically the sarne coefficients of expansion; 
the differences from the mean lying . within 
+o°03 x 107% If the same coefficient of expan- 
sion were adopted for all such wires it would need 
a difference of temperature of 30°C. to introduce 
an error of one part in a million. There is now 
no difficulty in procuring invar wires having a 
coefficient of expansion as small as o'r x 107°, 

At the fifth general conference on weights and 
measures held in Paris in October last, a resolu- 
tion was passed to the effect that in view of the 
fact that the force of gravity is not precisely the 
same at sea-level for all places having the same 
latitude, it was undesirable that the value adopted 
for the normal force of gravity (viz., 980°665 
em. sec.~*) should continue to be defined as that 
corresponding to a particular latitude (45°). In 
the reduction of observations the theoretical factor 
given by Clairaut’s formula in.the amended form 
now. usually adopted should no longer be em- 
ployed, but merely the numerical ratio of the 
normal force of gravity to that,at the place of 
observation, the latter being determined directly 
if possible. 

The normal scale of temperature hitherto 
adopted at the international bureau of weights 
and measures has been that of hydrogen at con- 
stant volume. The fifth general conference re- 
solved that the absolute thermodynamic scale 
shall be substituted for the hydrogen scale as soon 
as the table of reduction from one scale to the 
other has been determined with sufficient cer- 
tainty. It was also recommended that a number 
of thermometric fixed points be ascertained with 
as great accuracy as possible, in order to facilitate 
the calibration of thermometers. A meeting of 
the principals of the various national laboratories 
is to be arranged at Sévres for the purpose of 
deciding what these fixed points shall be and how 
they are to be determined, as well as to promote 
their general recognition. 

The question of the determination of the length 
of the metre in terms of wave-lengths of light 
was considered at the fourth general conference. 
It was decided that investigation on this subject 
had not then reached the stage for the conference 
to adopt any particular number of wave- -lengths 
as representing the metre. Further researches 
made by physicists will be carefully studied at 
the international bureau with the view of ob- 
taining in the course of time a fundamental 


1 Comité internationale des poids et mesures. 
Deuxiéme série, tome vii., session de 1913. 
Villars, 1913.) 

Travaux et Mémoires da bureau international des poids et mesures: 
Tome xv. (Paris: Gauthier-Villars, 1913.) 


Procés-verbaux des séances® 
Pp. v+140. (Paris : Gauthier- 


JULY 2, 1914] 


NALORE 


459 


relation between the metre and a suitable wave- 
length of light. 

All who have been brought into contact with 
Dr. René Benoit, for so many years director of 
the international bureau, will regret to hear that 
he will be retiring from that position at the end of 
the present year. Dr. Benoit has been identified 
with all the principal researches which have been 
undertaken at that institution during the last 
thirty-six years. In this country his services in 
connection with establishing the relations between 
the units of the British and the metric systems 
of weight and measure will be especially 
remembered. 


AWGREAT TELESCOPE, FOR CANADA. 
NOLABLE addition is to be made to the 
equipment of the Dominion Astronomical 
Observatory at Ottawa, Canada. At present its 
chief instrument is a 15-in. refractor. This has 
been used mainly for radial velocity determina- 
tions, and for some time its limitations have been 
keenly felt. Using low dispersion, spectrograms 
of fifth magnitude stars could be obtained, but 
beyond this it was ineffective, and it was recog- 
nised that further progress demanded a more 
powerful instrument. Supported by various scien- 
tific societies and representative astronomers, the 
chief astronomer, Dr. W. F. King, appealed to 
the Dominion Governmént for improved equip- 
ment, and the request was successful. 

Contracts have been made for the construction 
of a 72-in. reflector. The optical parts will be 
made by the John A. Brashear Co., of Pittsburgh, 
Pa., and the mounting by Warner and Swasey, 
of Cleveland, Ohio. The cost will be about 
90,000 dollars (18,000l.). 

The focal length of the great mirror will be 
30 ft., with a hole ten inches in diameter at its 
centre to allow for a Cassegrain combination. 
For this purpose a convex hyperboloidal mirror, 
with an aperture of 19 in, and a focal length of 
10 ft., will be placed 23 ft. above the main mirror. 
The resulting focal length will be 108 ft. 

The mounting will resemble those of the Mel- 
bourne and Ann Arbor reflectors. The skeleton 
tube will be at one side of the long polar axis, 
nearly midway between its bearings, the balance 
being restored by the declination mechanism and 
counterweights on the other side of the axis. It 
is hoped to have the telescope completed within 
two years. 

The instrument will be used primarily for spec- 
trographic determination of radial velocities. For 
the brighter stars it will be used in the Casse- 
grain form just described, the spectrograph being 
attached in the axis of the tube, below the 10-in. 
Opening in the mirror. For the fainter stars a 
low-dispersion spectrograph will be attached at 
the principal focus. Direct photography ot 
nebule, clusters, and other small areas of the sky 
will also be attempted. 

To be used effectively, such an instrument de- 
mands a suitable position, and for more than a 


Nama 337, VOL..93| 


| and reading rooms will also be erected. 


year Mr. W. E. Harper, of thé observatory staff, 
has been investigating the astronomical possi- 
bilities of various regions ranging from Ottawa 
to the Pacific coast. Of all those tested, Victoria, 
B.C., showed a decided superiority in good ‘“see- 
ing” and small nocturnal range of temperature, 
and accordingly that place was chosen. The pre 
cise site is on Saanich Hill (elevation 732 ft.), 
about seven miles north of the city, from which it 
is easily reached by electric railway and carriage 
road. 

The great dome will be 66 ft. in diameter and 
60 ft. high. A building to contain offices, library, 
The total 
cost of buildings and equipment will be about 
200,000 dollars (40,000l.). All the plans and 
specifications have been made by Dr. J. S. 
Plaskett, after consultation with many experts, 
and he will be in charge of the station. 


C. A. CHANT. 


NOTES. 


Dr. F. W. Dyson, Astronomer Royal, has been 
elected a correspondant of the Paris Academy of 
Sciences, in the section of astronomy. 


VicE-ADMIRAL SiR EpMOND J. W. Stabe, K.C.1.E., 
K.C.V.O., has consented to act as president of the 
Meteorological Conference to be held in Edinburgh 
next September. 


Tue Bill introduced in the House of Commons by 
Sir Frederick Banbury, to prohibit experiments on 
dogs, was withdrawn on Tuesday, June 30, after a 
number of amendments to the principal clause had 
been carried in the Standing Committee appointed to 
consider the Bill. 


Mr. W. O. Repman Kine, lecturer in zoology at 
the University of Leeds, has been appointed Ray Lan- 
kester investigator at the Marine Biological Labora- 
tory at Plymouth, in succession to Prof. E. L. Bouvier, 
of Paris. The investigator is required to undertake 
research work of his own choosing at the laboratory 
for a period of five months, the emolument being 7ol. 


Sir James Catrp, of Dundee, has given 24,o00l., 
free of any conditions, to Sir Ernest Shackleton’s 
Imperial Trans-Antarctic expedition. This gift relieves 
Sir Ernest of anxiety as to the financial side of the 
expedition, which will now be able to start well 
equipped in about a month’s time. Further subscrip- 
tions would, however, be not unwelcome, and would 
be used to obtain accessories for increased efficiency. 


Tue Geologists’ Association has arranged a long 
excursion to the Rhenish Westphalian Upland, in- 
cluding the volcanic districts of the Eifel, Siebenge- 
birge, etc., on September 4-19 next. The various 
daily excursions will be attended by Prof. G. Stein- 
mann, Dr. Tilman, and others as directors. The 
official party will leave Charing Cross on September 4, 
at g p.m. The excursion secretary is Mr. E. Montag, 


\ 18 Woodchurch Road, Prenton, Birkenhead. 


At the annual meeting of the Royal Society of Arts, 
held on Wednesday, June 24, the Duke of Connaught 


460 


was re-elected president. A new by-law was adopted 
authorising members of the society to call themselves 
fellows. Since its foundation in 1754 the society has 
consisted of members only, but as most of the younger 
societies use the term fellow, many members of the 
society have expressed a wish that this title should 
also be used by members of the Royal Society of Arts. 


Tue Institute of Archeology in connection with the 
University of Liverpool, has arranged, in the rooms 
of the Society of Antiquaries, Burlington House, 
Piccadilly, on July 7-25, a special exhibition of anti- 
quities, discovered at the excavations at Meroé, Sudan, 
during the past five seasons. The council of the 
University of Liverpool, we notice, has approved the 
acceptance by Prof. John Garstang, director of the 
excavations, of an invitation from the Sudan Govern- 
ment to be their honorary adviser to the Service of 
Antiquities of the Sudan. 


THE statue of Captain Cook, the explorer, executed 
by Sir Thomas Brock, R.A., is to be unveiled on July 
7 at noon. The statue has been placed on the Mall 
side of the Admiralty Arch, at the end of the Pro- 
cessional Road. It will be remembered that a statue 
of Captain Cook presented to the town of Whitby by the 
Hon. Gervase Beckett, M.P., was unveiled in that 
town on October 2, 1912. The erection of a fitting 
memorial to the great explorer in the capital of the 
Empire is largely due to the activity of the British 
Empire League. 


In a paper read before the Royal Geographical Society 
on June 22, Captain F. M. Bailey described his ex- 
ploration of the Tsangpo, or Upper Brahmaputra 
river. The main results of the expedition were as 
follows :—The mapping of some 380 miles of the 
Tsangpo, which had previously been done by un- 
trained or untrustworthy explorers; the mapping of 
the lower course of the Nagong Chu; the discovery 
of Gyala Peri, a snow-peak 24,460 ft. in height, and 
its glaciers. 
through the Himalayas some information regarding 
its enormous drop has been gained, and the falls 
reported to be 150 ft. in height have been proved to 
be merely an exaggerated rapid of 30 ft. The upper 
waters of the Subansivi have been discovered, and 
it is proved that this river rises north of the Hima- 
layas, and breaks through the range. Many new 
snow-peaks, ranges, and rivers have been discovered, 
and a small collection of mammals, birds, and butter- 
flies, among each of which were new species, was 
made. ° 


INFORMATION has reached the Royal Geographical 
Society of the further work accomplished by Sir 
Aurel Stein in his new Central Asian expedition since 
he wrote at the end of last year. His objective was 
the region round Lop-nor, at the other extremity of 
the Tarim Basin, and various considerations obliged 
him. to travel vid Khotan. Pursuing a route hitherto 
largely unsurveyed, he moved to Maralbashi along the 
southernmost range of the Tien-shan, where he found 
some ruined Buddhist shrines, and thence towards the 
desert hills of the Mazar-tagh, the most forbidding 
ground he had hitherto encountered in the Takla- 
makan. Crossing the Tarim, he reached Niya, where 


NON,233 1, VOL, 93) 


NATURE 


By observing the river where it breaks’ 


[JuLy.2; TO ig 
he discovered an important sand-buried settlement 
with numerous documents inscribed on wood in the. 
Indian language and script, furniture, household im- 
plements, etc. Meanwhile his Indian surveyor had 
resumed the triangulation along the Kun-lun range, 
thus connecting his observations with the Indian Trigo- 
nometrical Survey beyond the actual Lop-nor. Ample 
evidence of Chinese occupation, in the shape of a 
well-built fort and relics of the silk trade, which we 
know to have been a chief factor in opening the 
earliest route for Chinese direct intercourse with Cen- 
tral Asia and the distant West, was discovered. The 
ancient caravan route was marked by hundreds of 
early Chinese copper coins and unused arrow-heads 
dropped during the night marches. The difficulties 
were over when some scanty vegetation was reached, 
and the various parties reunited at Kumkuduk. A 
short halt at Tunhuang towards the end of March 
refreshed men and beasts, and after a renewed visit to | 
the ‘‘ Halls of the Thousand Buddhas,” Sir Aurel Stein 
at the time of writing was starting to move into 
Kan-su for the work of the spring. 


Many readers of this journal will learn with deep 
regret of the death on June 13 of Mr. Thomas Thorp, 
whose name is widely known in connection with his 
transparent celluloid replicas of Rowland’s and other 
diffraction gratings, whereby spectroscopes of high 
dispersion may be produced at a trifling cost. Born 
at Whitefield, near Manchester, and educated at the 
Manchester Grammar School, Mr. Thorp was appren- 
ticed to a firm of architects and surveyors. Soon, 
however, he evinced a strong mechanical and scientific 
bent, and, happily combining a wonderful scientific 
ingenuity with a keen appreciation of the practical 
application of his inventions, he was able to follow 
his inclinations, to the great benefit of science and 
of industry. A much larger world owes to him the 
first ‘*penny-in-the-slot’’ gas-meter. | While every 
mechanical device was an object of fascination, optical 
instruments were most constantly in his thoughts. <A 
keen amateur astronomer, he made _ himself several 
telescopes and took up the manufacture of small 
mirrors. His replica gratings were invented many 
years ago, but he constantly returned to the subject, 
producing silvered replicas, applying them to direct- 
vision spectroscopes, and especially applying the trans- 
parent replicas to colour-photography, for which last 
invention he was awarded the premium under the 
Wilde Endowment Fund by the Manchester Literary 
and Philosophical Society. Almost his latest inven- 
tion was an ingenious method of varnishing telescope 
mirrors to prevent tarnish—a feat which he accom- 
plished without sensibly impairing the definition. At 
the time of his death he was engaged on a machine 
by which he hoped to rule gratings superior to any 
yet produced. Mr. Thorp became a member of the 
Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society in 
1896, and was one of the most valued members of its 
council from i902 until his death. The Manchester 
Astronomical Society was similarly indebted to him. 
| A man of sterling quality, beloved by all who knew 
him, some regret must be felt that an aversion to 
| publication hindered the spread of his richly deserved 


' reputation. 


JuLy 2, 1914] 


A very interesting exhibition of African big-game 
trophies, organised by Country Life, was opened on 
June 25 at the Royal Water Colour Society’s Gallery, 
5a, Pall Mall East, and will remain open until July 11. 
The total number of exhibits is 312, the greater 
portion of which are antelopes, the remainder com- 
prising a couple of East African giraffe heads, some 
elephant tusks, a few rhinoceros heads, and heads of 
wart-hog, ibex, wild sheep, etc. The specimens are 
arranged, in the main, in zoological order, and are 
grouped, as a rule, in species, without recognition of 
races, and without scientific names, the same plan 
being followed in the catalogue. It is, however, diffi- 
cult to understand why Diggle’s hartebeest, which is 
but a local race of the tora, is widely separated from 
the typical race of that species, while the Sudani race 
of the bohor reedbuck, which is so remarkably different 
from the typical form of that species, is not distin- 
guished from the latter. A similar remark is applic- 
able to the separation of Buffon’s kob from the white- 
eared kob, both these being merely races of a single 
variable species; it also applies, in a less degree to 
the sundering of the red lechwe from Mrs. Gray’s 
black lechwe. As regards the trophies themselves, 
they include some of the finest representatives of their 
respective kinds, the gems of the whole series being 
perhaps three magnificent sable antelope skulls, each 
with horns of more than 60 in:,-and in one case 
reaching 623 in. in length. Especially fine, too, are 
three heads of the giant eland of the Bahr-el-Ghazal, 
and a bongo head, in spite of its somewhat battered 
condition, is of special interest on account of its un- 
usually dark colour, which is doubtless an indication 
of age. A western hartebeest head is noticeable for 
the great development of a light spectacle-mark, re- 
calling that of Hunter’s hartebeest. A number of 
other interesting specimens well deserve mention, but 
limitations of space prevent more than directing atten- 
tion to the magnificent series of East African buffalo- 
heads. The exhibition reflects great credit on. its 
organisers, although if might have contained a few 
more ‘‘ records.” 

On Friday last a demonstration of Williams’s Fire- 
damp Indicator was given at the Hotel Cecil. Instru- 
ments for detecting firedamp have been based on two 
broadly different principles. Some have depended 
upon the physical properties of the gas, in particular 
on its density, but these have suffered from want of 
sensitiveness and also from actual error unless the 
carbonic anhydride present is absorbed. <An_ instru- 
ment of this class, in which the musical notes emitted 
by two pipes, one containing normal air and the 
other the air of the mine to be tested, but with the 
heavy and disturbing CO, removed, which gave rise 
to beats in the presence of a notable quantity of 
firedamp, has recently attracted some attention in 
Germany. The other class depends upon the heat of 
combustion of the gas present when helped by extra- 
neous heating. This system is the more satisfactory, 
as there is so much more available and possible éffect. 
A highly satisfactory instrument of this class was 
“made about 1877, invented by E. H. Liveing, the 
well-known mining engineer; but. though it would 


NO. 2331, VOL. 93| 


NATURE 


461 


certainly show the presence of } per cent. firedamp, 
while 3 per cent. was highly conspicuous, and _ it 
required nothing more than the turning of a handle 
to operate it, colliery engineers and proprietors at the 
time did not in general care to have it about the mine. 
The instrument invented by Mr. Williams belongs to 
this general class, but Prof. S. P. Thompson’s report 
does not indicate that progress has been made in the 
direction either of simplicity or of delicacy. Shortly, it 
depends on the excess of temperature set up in one of 
two little balls of porous material containing platinum 
black, which are heated by an electrical current, and 
one of which is exposed to the air of the colliery. 
This one becomes the hotter of the two, and the 
excess of temperature is determined by electrical 
means. If, when the instrument is manufactured, it 
is found to work in an easy and satisfactory manner, 
it is to be hoped that the thirty-seven years which 
have elapsed since the construction of the Liveing 
instrument will have brought about some change in 
the attitude of those whom it is hoped to benefit. 


THE question of the admissibility of evidence in 
criminal cases to prove the facts of detection of crime 
by bloodhounds has been at last raised in the Courts 
of Law. In a case before the High Court, Allahabad, 
reported in the Pioneer Mail of May 22, evidence 
was called to show that a cap and turban were 
found in the room of a murdered woman, and on 
these being shown to the dog, he guided the police 
to the house of the accused. The counsel for the 
defence objected to the admission of this evidence, 
on the ground of the impossibility of cross-examining 
the animal. This question was not actually decided; 
but the judge remarked: ‘‘I feel no hesitation in 
saying that the employment of trained intelligence 
of an animal of this description as an aid to detective 
work should, so far as possible, be confined to the 
detection of crime or the tracing down of an individual 
whose whereabouts are unknown, rather than for 
probative purposes. If the court is asked at the trial 
to draw inferences of vital importance from the con- 
duct of an animal, it then becomes necessary that 
the court should have before it expert evidence of the 
very best description.in order that it may feel justified 
in drawing them with certainty.” 


IN a paper recently read before the Royal Anthropo- 
logical Institute, Profs. Seligmann and Parsons dis- 
cussed a skeleton from one of the Cheddar caves dis- 
covered by the late Mr. R. C, Gough in 1877, and 
associated with bones of extinct animals, including 
bear, hyzena, bison, rhinoceros, and Irish elk. Stone 
implements found close to the skeleton are recognised 
by M. Breuil as belonging to the Magdalenian cul- 
ture, the latest stage of the Paleolithic period. The 
prognathism of the skull is slight, and the Cheddar 
man did not possess the beetling brows of the Mous- 
terian period. He seems to belong to the River-bed 
race, but this race is at present indistinguishable to 
the anatomist from the Neolithic people who, at a later 
period, buried their dead in the long barrows. - 

THE committee of the Castle Museum, Norwich, in 
their report for 1913, records a most successful year, 
the attendance and gate-money being remarkably 


462 


NATURE 


[JULY 2, 1914 


good, and the list of additions large. Among the 
latter are a number of specimens of Indian and African 
big game, inclusive of a proportion on loan. Nature- 
study exhibitions formed a feature of the year’s work. 


In the report of the council of the Natural History 
Society of Northumberland, Durham, and Newcastle- 
upon-Tyne, for 1904-10, published in vol. iv., part 1, 
of.the new series of Transactions, attention is directed 
to the serious falling off in the number of members, 
which at that date was only 395. Had it not been 
for the Crawhall bequest of 6000l., the position of the 
society would have been serious, and the maintenance, 
to say nothiag of the improvement, of the museum 
jeopardised. 


Various hls of interesting ‘‘animals”’ and birds 
in the Zoological Gardens form the subject of an illus- 
trated article in the July number of the Children’s 
Magazine, issued by the publishers of the ‘ Children’s 
Encyclopedia.”” Most striking of all is a photograph 
of the long-beaked echidna of New Guinea, despite 
the circumstance that the creature is referred to 
merely as the ‘‘egg-laying echidna,” without regard 
to the fact that it represents a genus apart from the 
ordinary echidna, and also that it is alluded to “‘as a 
link with the ancient 1eptiles before the mammals 


” 


came. 


AccorDING to the Annual Report on Sea-Fisheries, 
issued, in two parts, on June 19, the value of the catch 
landed in England. and. Wales during 1913 was no 
less than 10,337,000l., an increase of considerably more 
than a million over that of the previous year, which 
was the highest on record. Exclusive of “ shell-fish,’’ 
the weight of the food thus gathered amounted to 
something like 16,000,000 cwt., a very considerable 
proportion of the increase over 1912 being due to the 
prodigious take of herrings. A portion of this 
immense food-supply was diverted from the British 
Isles to go to foreign—mainly Dutch—ports, where a 
brisk and increasing trade in this commodity has 
sprung up of late years. 


ALBEIT reported to be somewhat unwholesome, hilsa 
(Clupea ilisha) is by far the most succulent and tasty 
native fish served, during the rainy season, at Cal- 
cutta tables. With a view of increasing the supply, 
attempts at artificial propagation of the species were 
made in Bihar in the autumn of 1911 and 1g12, when 
the fish are ascending the big rivers. These, however, 
according to a report by Mr. T. Southwell in a recent 
issue of the Bihar Agricultural Journal, proved un- 
successful, partly owing to the lack of ripe fish, and 
partly to the fact that the natural breeding places have 
not yet-been discovered. Other attempts, on the lines 
of the shad-hatcheries in the United States, are to be 
attempted. 


Mr. J. H. Orton, one of the naturalists of the 
Marine Biological Association’s Laboratory at Ply- 
mouth, has for some time past been engaged in a 
comparative study of the ciliary mechanisms of various 
invertebrates and protochordates, and his latest con- 
tribution to the subject appears in a recent number of 
the Journal of the association (vol. x., No. 2). Mr. 
Orton shows that the ‘ gill’’ in such widely separated 


NO 233 vOlnogy 


animals as Crepidula, Lamellibranchiate’ Mollusca, 
Ascidians, and Amphioxus, is in the main an organ: 
for collecting food and passing it to the alimentary 
canal. His views with regard to the mechanism of 
the process differ somewhat from those of certain 
earlier observers. Apparently the endostyle serves. 
merely to secrete mucus and sweep it into the gill 
filaments, not as a food channel. One of his most 
interesting results is the discovery of an ‘' endostyle” 
in the gasteropod Crepidula, which histologically 
closely resembles that of Amphioxus, and thus con- 
stitutes an extremely interesting case of convergent 
evolution. 


In Nature of June 4 (p. 350), Lieut.-Col. Manners- 
Smith challenged some statements as to the destruction: 
of bird-life in Nipal, made by Sir H. H. Johnston in 
an article on ‘‘ The Plumage Bill,’’ contributed to our 
issue of December 11, 1913. Sir Harry Johnston 
based his remarks partly upon reports by Mr. C. 
William Beebe, curator of birds, New York Zoological 
Society; and he has now sent us a letter from Mr. 
Beebe, from which we print the following extract :—‘‘ In’ 
that part of my pheasant monograph which deals with 
the pheasants and tragopans of Nipal, I have spoken 
of the havoc which the Nipalese shepherds are work- 
ing, at least in the eastern part of the country. This 
I know from my own observations. There seems 
practically no way to put an end to the trapping of 
these men which goes on throughout the year. When 
I was in Calcutta, I was shown large boxes and bales 
of pheasant and other skins being exported for sale to 
milliners. The British officials told me that they 
were powerless to interfere, as the freight was sealed 
by the Rajah of Nipal’s Government, and they, of 
course, had no authority to stop the exportation of 
goods from an independent country.”’ 


Tue Hawaiian Voleano Observatory, which was 
built in 1812 on the edge of the crater of Kilauea, 
near the well-known Volcano House, is doing most 
useful work under the direction of Dr. T. A. Jaggar. 
Every week a bulletin appears giving an account of 
all changes taking place within the crater, and the 


varying activities of the several vents within it. The 
observatory was built, and is supported by, sub- 


scribers belonging to the Massachusetts Institute of 
Technology, and by other voluntary helpers in the 
Hawaiian Islands. The Whitney Laboratory of Seis- 
mology, which is established in the basement of the 
observatory, is furnished with the improved Omori 
seismometers and tromometers, their records being 
published in the same weekly bulletin. Scientific men 
desirous of carrying on vulcanological investigations 
are welcomed by the board of directors, and recently 
the facilities afforded at the observatory have per- 
mitted of very valuable observations being made on 
the gases emitted from the vents. The bulletin, of 
which, in its collected form, a second volume is being 
published, can be supplied to annual subscribers and 
to workers in vulcanology and seismology, as well as 
to scientific libraries in exchange for other publica- 
tions. 


Ir may be interesting to note that while, generally 
speaking, the second half of April last was ‘very 


— - Somer 


joryvee sro 14 | 


NATURE 


463 


dry’ in this country, very heavy rains accompanied 
by much flooding occurred generally over the Argen- 
tine Republic. An article by Mr. R. C. Mossman in 
Symons’s Meteorological Magazine for June states that 
between April 21 and 27 from 8 to 14 in. of rain fell 
during a cyclone in the northern parts of that country, 
the maximum daily falls being from 83 to 9g in. Mr. 
Mossman states that although similar intensity has 
occurred locally in previous floods, it is not thought 
that such a widespread rainstorm has occurred before. 
Owing to difficulties of road transit it has been impos- 
sible in many instances to get the maize crop to the 
railway stations, with the result that an enormous 
deficit is already apparent in the receipts of the various 
railway companies. 


In the Journal of the Washington Academy of 
Sciences for June 4, Mr. F. E. Wright, of the Geo- 
physical Laboratory, gives a résumé of the methods 
hitherto available for the determination of the index 
of refraction of a small drop of a liquid, and describes 
some interesting improvements he has introduced. One 
of these enables the index to be determined with an 
ordinayy petrographic microscope to one unit in the 
third decimal place. It depends on the use of a stage 
refractometer made from a small sheet of optically 
dense lead glass, the upper surface polished, the lower 
parallel surface matt, and the edge bevelled to make 
an angle of 60° with the former surfaces. The sheet 
is cut in two by a plane perpendicular to the bevelled 
edge, one-half turned over, and the two bevelled edges 
brought together. Between them the drop is placed, 
and the boundary between the transmitted and totally 
reflected portions of the field, is read on the eyepiece 
scale, which is calibrated by the help of standard 
liquids. A simple device which enables the Abbe- 
Pulfrich refractometer to be used with light incident 
at the grazing angle, even with a small drop of liquid, 
is also described. 


In the Atiz de: Lincei (vol. xxiil., p. 523) Prof. WL. 
Marino and F. Gonnelli describe a modification of the 
ordinary Kjeldahl method for estimating nitrogen 
based on the pronounced catalytic activity of vana- 
dium oxide. It is shown that, by carrying out the 
ordinary decomposition process with sulphuric acid in 
presence of potassium sulphate and a trace of vana- 
dium pentoxide exact results are obtained in a large 
number of cases. The process suggested is recom- 
mended when the ordinary Gunning process is carried 
out with difficulty, or in cases where the use of mercury 
gives rise to mercury-ammoniacal compounds which 
resist decomposition. It is shown by special experi- 
ments that vanadium, even when present in quantity, 
does not retain even traces of ammonia. 


Tue South Africa: Journal of Science (March, 1914) 
contains a paper by Dr. C. F. Juritz on the chemical 
composition of rain in the Union of South Africa. 
This forms part of a scheme for the world-wide and 
systematic examination of rain-water from the point 
of view of both composition and total rainfall, and 
more particularly as regards the nitrogen brought into 
the soil in the form of rain. The data are as yet 
somewhat incomplete, but it appears that in general 


NOs 2231, VOL. 93) 


more nitric nitrogen is brought down by the summer 
than by the winter rains, and the same is true of the 
nitrogen in the form of ammonia, although the rule 
is sometimes reversed. The total nitrogen per acre 
in the rainfall of South Africa ranged from 1-5 to 
6-2 Ib. per annum. The chlorine was abnormally high 
in some instances, amounting in the Durban districts 
to 60-70 |b. per acre. 


In the current number of the Comptes rendus of 
the Paris Academy of Sciences is a paper by Otto 
Scheuer on the reduction of carbon monoxide by 
hydrogen in the presence of radium emanation. Start- 
ing with 240-122 c.c. of a mixture of these two gases 
containing 43-71 per cent. of hydrogen, after nineteen 
days the volume was reduced to 217-332. c.c.,. repre- 
senting a loss of 1-8 c.c. per Curie-hour.. The analysis 
of the residual gas gave figures consistent with the 
assumption of the formation of methane, with pos- 
sibly a little ethane. The gaseous mixture contained 
neither methyl alcohol nor formaldehyde, but from the 
appearance of a minute solid deposit in a second 
experiment the author concludes that formaldehyde 
may be the primary reduction product, this being 
finally reduced to methane. The reaction is accom- 
panied by the formation of water. 


Engineering for June 26 contains an_ illustrated 
article dealing with Mr. F. Baines’s report on. the 
condition of the roof timbers of Westminster Hall. 
Mr. Baines demonstrates the necessity of large and 
effective repair, and discusses the proper treatment 
that will give to the roof the necessary strength and 
support without injuring its historical character or 
archeological features. Tender regard for the ancient 
work overthrows all proposals for securing the roof 
by piecing up defective members, and a system of 
steel reinforcement has been approved as the most 
suitable course. Supposing the timber decay to con- 
tinue, the loads would be borne by the steel reinforce- 
ment, and the possibility of complete collapse would 
be eliminated. An entire truss of steel will be added 
to the existing timber work, of sufficient strength to 
support the whole of the present roof, together with 
the weight of the steel-work itself, so as to bring the 
total weight of the, strengthened roof to a safe and 
satisfactory bearing on the walls. Both walls and 
foundations are strong enough to bear the additional 
weight of the steel and to resist any possible outward 
thrust such a weighty reinforcement might produce. 
The work will take six years to execute. 


A SECOND edition of Dr. A. Harden’s monograph on 
‘Alcoholic Fermentation’? has been published by 
Messrs. Longmans, Green and Co. The first edition 
was reviewed in the issue of Nature for June 20, 
tgiI (vol. Ixxxvi., p. 579); and though no change has 
been made in the scope of the work, the rapid pro- 
gress of the subject has rendered necessary many 
additions to text, and an increase in the bibliography. 
—The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge 
has published a second edition of Canon McClure’s 
“Modern Substitutes for Traditional Christianity.’ 
The first edition was reviewed in Nature on March 
26, 1914 (vol. xliii., p. 81), and it will be sufficient 


464 


eee 


to say of the present edition that it has been revised 
and has added to it a chapter on modernism, which 
is also issued separately, price 6d. net. 


A SECOND edition of their List No. 52 has been issued 
by Messrs. A. Gallenkamp and Co., Bids. ot sun 
Street, Finsbury Square, London, E.C. The cata- 
logue deals in an exhaustive manner with charts, 


diagrams, lanterns, and _ lantern slides, botan- 
ical and hygenic models, and other require- 
ments of lecturers and teachers. The list brings 


together in a convenient manner the publications, and 
so on, of a great variety of firms, and will save 
intending purchasers much time and trouble. Even 
a glance through these well-illustrated 200 pages is 
enough to show the wealth of pictorial illustration 
now at the disposal of lecturers. 


OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 


ASTRONOMICAL OCCURRENCES FOR JULY :— 


July 2. 1th. om. Earth at greatest distance from 

the Sun. 

8. 23h 27m. Uranus in conjunction with the 
Moon (Uranus 1°.42’ N.). 

g. igh. 14. Jupiter in conjunction with the 
Moon (Jupiter 0° 32’ N.). 

16. 6h. om. Mercury in inferior conjunction 
with the Sun. 

20. 2h. 43m. Saturn in conjunction with the 
Moon (Saturn 5° 50’ S.). 

21. 2h. om. Neptune in conjunction with the 
Sun. 


». Igh. 46m. Mercury in conjunction with the 
Moon (Mercury 8° 37’ S.). 


22. 1oh. som. Neptune in conjunction with the 
Moon (Neptune 3° 43 S.). 

25. 18h. 24m. Venus in conjunction with the 
Moon (Venus 1° 52’ N.). 

26. 4h. 33m. Mars in conjunction with the 
Moon (Mars 2° 7’ N.). 


» 17h. om. Mercury stationary. 


Tue RapIATION OF THE SuN.—The Journal of the 
Franklin Institute for June (vol. clxxvii., No. 6, p. 641) 
publishes an article on the ‘* Radiation of the Sun,” 
being an address presented by Prof. C. G. Abbot at 
the meeting of the section of physics and chemistry, 
The article is popularly written, and displays the 
general nature of the problem of solar radiation, and 
the different researches which have and are being 
pursued to elucidate the knotty points. Interesting 
photographs, diagrams, and curves accompany the 
text, and the name of the distinguished author is a 
guarantee of the accuracy of the information given. 
Articles such as the above are most valuable to those 
whose work in astronomy lies along other lines, but 
who keenly desire to be posted on the progress of 
the researches of workers in other branches of the 
subject. 


DISPLACEMENT OF THE LINES TOWARDS THE VIOLET 
IN THE SOLAR SpeEctruM.—Dr. T. Royds, acting 
director of the Kodaikanal Observatory, gives the 
results of his researches (Bulletin No. 38) in the form 
of a preliminary note on the displacement to the 
violet of some lines in the solar spectrum. While the 
majority of the metallic lines in the solar spectrum 
are shifted towards the red when compared with their 
positions in the electric arc, there are, however, many 
exceptions, and some of these are specially dealt with in 
this paper, the iron arc spectrum being compared with 


NG} 2331, VOL.VO3) 


NATURE 


| 


beautifully clear during the night. 


[JuLy: 27 vera 


that of the sun’s centre. A full list of the wave-lengths 
of the lines employed and their intensities in long or 
short ares, with other data, accompany the discussion. 
Summarising briefly the results, it may be stated 
that the iron lines which are unsymmetrically widened 
to the red in the arc are displaced to the violet in 
the sun relative to a short iron arc, and those un- 
symmetrically widened to the violet are displaced to 
the red. Symmetrical lines give normal displacement 
to the red. The change of wave-length of certain 
classes of iron lines is caused in a way other than 
by pressure or motion in the line of sight. The un- 
symmetrical iron lines are displaced in the short are 
compared with the long arc. Those widened towards 
the red are displaced to the red in the short arc, and 
those widened towards the violet to the violet, whilst 
symmetrical lines have mostly small displacements. 
Differences in the density of vapour is suggested as a 
possible cause of the displacement between the different 
kinds of arc; but the matter, as Dr. Royds remarks, 
requires further investigation. The longer the iron 
arc, the more nearly do the conditions approach those 
in the reversing layer of the sun. Lines of other 
elements than iron also have sun minus arc displace- 
ments, which cannot be explained as due to pressure or 
line of sight motion. 


METEORS ON JUNE 25-26.—Mr. W. F. Denning 
writes us that, though meteoric phenomena are seldom 
displayed abundantly on a June night, he observed 
some strikingly brilliant and interesting meteors on 
Thursday, June 25. At 10.39 a 2nd magnitude was 
seen nearly stationary, and close to its radiant at 
269°+ 46°. At 10.52 a fine meteor, exceeding 1st mag- 
nitude, crossed 7 Herculis and 6 Draconis in a rapid 
flight, and left a transient streak. Radiant at 
260°— 24°, and height of object forty-eight to forty- 
four miles; path, fourteen miles, and velocity twenty 
miles a second. At 11.28 a bright meteor equal to 
Venus fell about 6° to the right of a Andromedz, and 
left a streak. Its radiant was at 342°+309°, and its 
height fifty-one to twenty-five miles, path forty-five 
miles, and velocity thirty miles a second. At 11.52 a 
meteor equal to Jupiter glided down the eastern sky 
about 2° to the left of a~8 Pegasi, its flight being 
as nearly as possible parallel with those stars. Grace- 
ful, slow motion, there was no trace or streak, yellow 
nucleus. Radiant at 354°+77°, and height fifty-nine 
to twenty-three miles. Path, forty-six miles; velocity, 
eighteen miles a second. At 11.58 another meteor 
equal to Jupiter shot swiftly upwards in the eastern 
region of Cygnus, leaving a bright phosphorescent 
streak for several seconds. Its radiant was on the 
eastern horizon at 350°—8°, and its height sixty-seven 
miles; path, fifty-two miles, and velocity, about fifty- 
two miles a second. At 12.57 a 3rd magnitude meteor 
with a streak was directed from a radiant at 24°+42°, 
and at 12.58 a very slow 2nd magnitude was seen in 
Camelopardalus moving from the direction of Ursa 
Major. Others were observed, and the sky remained 
1 The heights, etc., 
of the several meteors given are computed from dupli- 
cate records obtained by those enthusiastic observers, 
Mr. and Mrs. Wilson, of Bexley Heath, Kent. 


REPORT OF THE U.S. Nava OBSERVATORY FOR 1913. 
—The report of the superintendent of the U.S. Naval 
Observatory for the fiscal year 1913 forms Appendix 2 
to the annual report of the chief of the Bureau of 
Navigation, 1913. Commencing with the interesting 
statement that ‘‘this observatory, being the first insti- 
tution in the world to have its time signals regularly 
transmitted by radio-telegraphy,’’ the superintendent 
proceeds to describe the part played by the delegates 
appointed to represent the United States at the Inter- 


Jury 2, 1914] 


NATURE 


465 


national Time Conference which was held in Paris in 
October, 1913. Reterence is next made to the arrange- 
ments for the determination of the difference of longi- 
tude between the observatories of Paris and Washing- 
ton using the Eiffel Tower and Arlington as the radio 
stations for the transmission of the signals. A sug- 
gestion is made that owing to the great range of. the 
signals to be sent out from Arlington, advantage will 
be taken of these signals by other institutions to 
determine their own longitude. The replies to the 
issue of a circular letter giving information concern- 
ing the special signals have indicated that a number 
of institutions widely scattered in the United States 
will utilise the opportunity offered. The report then 
describes the work carried out during the past year 
in the different instrumental divisions. These relate 
to the g-in. transit circle, 5-in. altazimuth instrument, 
6-in, transit circle, 26-in. and 12-in. equatorials, photo- 
heliograph, etc. The reduction work is next sum- 
marised, followed finally by that of the department 
of compasses, chronometers, and other nautical and 
surveying instruments, 


TRADE AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION. IN 
FRANCE AND GERMANY.! 
“PT HE interesting and important report recently pre- 
sented to the Education Committee of the 
London County Council by one of its officers, specially 
deputed to make the inquiry, on recent developments 
in the provision of continued and specialised educa- 
tion in France and Germany, deserves the closest 
attention of all who are seriously concerned with the 
educational well-being of the children of the United 
Kingdom, and with the conditions necessary to the 
maintenance in the highest state of efficiency of our 
industries and commerce. 

The report confines itself to the educational activities 
of four great cities, namely, Paris, Munich, Leipzig, 
and Berlin, dealing especially with measures having 
for their object the continued education of the child 
on leaving the elementary school, the thorough techni- 
cal training of the apprentice, and the adequate pre- 
paration of the capable young workman or business 
man for positions of responsibility and leadership. 

The question of the higher scientific and technical 
training is only incidentally treated, its ample pro- 
vision, especially in the case of Germany, being fully 
recognised. 

The report is, therefore, devoted in the main to the 
facilities offered in specialised and  monotechnic 
schools, whether day or evening, dealing with specific 
trades and industries, of which the city of Paris 
affords abundant illustration in its apprenticeship 
schools and in its schools of applied design, the work 
of which was a most interesting feature of the educa- 
tional section of the Paris Centennial Exhibition of 
1900. 

But the chief interest of the report is to be found 
in its description of the provision made, in the three 
important German cities named, for the continued 
effective education of German youth on leaving the 
elementary school and entering upon their respective 
occupations, ‘blind alley’’ or otherwise. 

Much stress is laid upon the successful working of 
the Imperial Law of Industry, establishing compul- 
sory continuation schools, applying especially to all 
boys on leaving school at fourteen years of age and 
requiring attendance from six to nine hours a week 
over a session of forty weeks during a period of three 
or four years—-time for which must be provided by 
the employer within the usual hours of labour. 


1 Trade and Technical Education in France and Germany. Report by 
J. C. Smail, Organiser of Trade Schools for Boys, London County Council. 
(Westminster: P. S. King and Son.) Price 1s. 


NO. 2331, VOL. 93] 


The result has been, notably in Berlin, Munich, and 
Leipzig, that provision has been made for almost every 
class of occupation, skilled and unskilled—the instruc- 
tion dealing not only with vocational needs, but also 
preparing the boy for his future responsible domestic 
and public duties. 

Evidence is forthcoming that after a period of doubt 
and difficulty employers are beginning to appreciate 


,the value and advantage of this continued education 


and training, though it is somewhat disconcerting to 
learn that in 1912 in Berlin there were proceedings 
pending, either on account of school neglect or of 
offences against school laws under this Act number- 
ing 6,448. 

In England, not to speak of the girl population, 
only 13 per cent. of the boys between fourteen and 
seventeen years of age are continuing their education, 
and even this small percentage attends the continua- 
tion classes on the average only fifty-eight hours per 
annum, whilst in Munich virtually all boys engaged 
in occupation are in the continuation classes and 
receive 375 hours’ instruction per annum for a period 
of four years. Much praise is given to the admirable 
facilities existing, especially in the cities of Munich 
and Leipzig, for the effective training of the com- 
mercial and industrial rank and file. 

The leaders of German thought and business enter- 
prise are persuaded that in the best interests of the 


nation all ranks of the industrial army must be 
thoroughly trained, not only vocationally, but as 
citizens. They do not fear that they will be less able 


to compete with their industrial rivals, but, on the 
contrary; and unless we are prepared to better their 
example we cannot hope to maintain the industrial 
and commercial pre-eminence we now enjoy. 

We have still to abolish half-time for young children 
now at school, and to adapt our factory and work- 
shop organisation to conditions which shall secure the 
educational well-being of the children employed 
therein. J. H. ReyNoLps. 


MARINE BIOLOGY IN THE TROPICS;} 


6) pe 2 Department of Marine Biology of the Carnegie 

Institution of Washington has issued in this fifth 
volume of contributions from its laboratory on the 
Tortugas, near Florida, a number of important papers. 
Three of these deal with the origin of Oolitic rocks, 
such as those of the Bahamas and of Florida, and 
inferentially with the origin of oolitic structure in 
other deposits. The first paper is the last work of a 
brilliant English investigator, Mr. G. H. Drew, whose 
recent death has deprived marine biology of one of the 
most original and fertile workers, and to whose 
memory the director of the department, Mr. A. G. 
Mayer, contributes a sympathetic and appreciative 
notice. Drew’s memoir deals with the action of de- 
nitrifying bacteria in the tropical seas, and also with 
the precipitation of calcium carbonate by marine bac- 
teria. Though necessarily incomplete, the results are 
a fine contribution to the difficult subject of marine 
bacteriology. They show that the reason why marine 
plankton is less abundant in the tropics than in tem- 
perate seas lies in the rapid and complete action of 
the denitrifying organisms in the warmer parts of the 
ocean; and Drew was able also to point to the extra- 
ordinary interest and importance of Bacterium calcis 
in inducing such precipitation of the calcium carbon- 
ates as to give rise to nodules of chalk. He suggests 
that chalk and oolitic rocks have been formed in 
shallow seas and are being produced round the 
Bahamas by this peculiar bacterial action. 


1 Papers from the Tortugas Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution of 
Washington. Vol. v. Pp. 222+plates+maps. (1914 ) 


466 


NATURE 


fjuLy 2 Pom 


This mode of rock origin was suggested by Dr. 
Wayland Vaughan in 1912, and he contributes a 
further paper on the subject, and on the geology of 
the Bahamas in the present volume. It appears there- 
fore as a companion paper to the work of Drew, and 
both should be read by those who wish to realise how 
bacteriology and marine research are throwing light 
on the problems of geology. Dr. Vaughan also con- 
tributes a memoir on the origin of the coral reefs on 
the Florida coast with especial reference to the origin 
of the atolls of that district. His main conclusion is 
that atolls are formed ‘‘not by solution of an interior 
mass of limestone, but by constructional geologic pro- 
CeSsses: | 

Careful systematic studies of the Polyzoa of the 
Tortugas Islands and of Jamaican Echinoids have been 
made, and the result should be of interest to 
systematists. Of more general importance is a study 
of mammalian spermatogenesis, curiously out of place 
in a publication of this kind, and therefore likely to be 
overlooked by werkers on this subject. Prof. H. E. 
Jordan, who contributes this paper, comes to the con- 
clusion that in several mammals examined the sperma- 
tozoa are not all alike, but, as in certain other groups 
of animals, fall into two classes. Amongst the mam- 
mals exhibiting this important peculiarity are white 
mice, sheep, horse, mule, bull, and dog. In man the 
evidence is at present contradictory and difficult 
properly to assess. The importance of this subject 
lies in its bearing on the theory of sex determination. 

The last paper we have space to refer to concerns 
the habits and power of regeneration in sea-fans or 
Gergonians, a group of corals which have been little 
studied in a living state. The establishment of a 
marine laboratory in the tropics now permits these 
and many other neglected subjects to be more fully 
investigated, and under the directorship of Dr. A. G. 
Mayer there is every reason to believe that important 
biological advances will be made. 


TERMITES AND THEIR HABITS. 


WO interesting papers on termites and_ their 
habits, by Mr. T. Petch (reprinted from the 
Annals of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya, 
November, 1913), have reached us. The author has 
already made a special study of the fungi which grow 
in termite nests, and not only serve as food for the 
insects, but are also frequently cultivated by the latter, 
and undergo remarkable changes in form and mode 
of growth as the result. The first paper deals with a 
supposed association of white ants with a mushroom- 
like fungus, and though the facts are not vet definitely 
established, it would seem probable that after a period 
of cultivation in the termite nest this fungus loses its 
vigour, and in order to remedy this defect the termites 
carry spherical masses of the fungus up to the surface 
and plant them out in places where they will develop 
spores, which the termites convey back to the nest as 
‘““seed’’ for a new fungus crop. 

The second paper is an extended study of the habits 
of the Ceylon black termite (Eutermes monoceros), 
which usually builds its nest in hollow trees. The 
nest contains a single comb, and consists of thin, 
tortuous plates, irregularly united to form a sponge- 
like mass with wide passages separated by thin walls; 
its substance is composed of excrement, fragments of 
the epidermis of various plants, fungus threads, and 
spores, and crystals, and the same mixture is found 
in the stomachs of the workers and soldiers. After 
describing the process of nest-building, the remark- 
able organised foraging processions, etc., the author 
states that lichens form the staple food of the black 
termite, and that they prefer lichens with loose texture 


NO. 2331, VOL. 93] 


i 


and powdery surface (crustaceous lichens); they prefer 
algz, but as the supply of these is small in comparison 
with the extensive growths of lichens on tropical trees, 
they evidently eat the lichens for the sake of the con- 
tained algae, and not the fungal constituent, since they 
rarely touch fungi even when no other food is avail- 
able. 


THE AUSTRALASIAN ANTARCTIC 
EXPEDITION, “roi t=142 


of object of the expedition was to investigate the 

Antarctic regions to the southward of Australia, 
a locality where the hypothetical Antarctic Continent 
was supposed to extend far to the north, but concern- 
ing which only the most meagre information was at 
hand. Most of the expeditions of late years have had 
as their objective the South Pole. Consequently, in 
order to secure the most promising route, their geo- 
graphical fields have much overlapped, and the area 
of the unknown has not diminished commensurably 
with the magnitude of those undertakings. 

There is still a vast unknown at the southern ex- 
tremity of the globe, and, now that the Pole is reached, 
it is hoped, in the interests of science, that no further 
consideration will arise to cause future expeditions to 
follow upon each other’s tracks, until at least a super- 
ficial knowledge of the whole has been attained. F 

It was our intention to land several self-contained 
wintering parties at widely separated points between 
longitude go° E. and 150° E., each to make continu- 
ous scientific records at the base-station, and to in- 
vestigate the surrounding region by sledge journeys. 
On the southward voyage, a party was also to be left 
at Macquarie Island, a little-known possession of the 
Commonwealth. Wireless telegraphy was to be used 
for the first time in Polar exploration, our Macquarie 
Island station transmitting Antarctic news to Hobart. 

The vessel selected and fitted for the work was the 
Aurora, with a carrying capacity of about 600 tons. 

The ship sailed from Hobart on December 2, Ig11. 

Macquarie Island, a sub-Antarctic possession of 
Tasmania, situated in the same latitude as South 
Georgia, was sighted on December 11. There exists 
there but one main island around the shores of which 
are many rocky reefs and islets. Rocks also appear 
for many miles to the north and south rising from a 
submarine ridge, which is the submerged continuation 
of the main island itself. The habitable island has a 
length of more than 20 miles and greatest breadth of 
33 miles. The chief vegetation is tussock grass and 
Kerguelen cabbage, but it abounds in a truly won- 
derful population of birds and animals. 

At one time the island was a favourite haunt of the 
valuable fur seal, but for fifty years or more only 
odd specimens have been seen. The ruthless slaughter 
of the early sealers is responsible for this almost com- 
plete extermination. Sea elephants, however, are 
numerous, the bulls being met with up to 20 ft. in 
length and weighing probably some 2 tons. 

Very little accurate information was known con- 
cerning the island, and the only available map pre- 
ceding Blake’s survey was a sketch made by a sealer. 
Rumours of the existence of wingless parrots and 
other continental forms of life indicated that perhaps 
Macquarie Island was the last remaining summit of 
a vast sunken southern land. Other evidence also 
suggested that probably at one time such a land 
existed uniting Australia with the Antarctic Continent. 
There was, indeed, an interesting field for scientific 
work. 

Steaming south from Macquarie Island, the first ice 


1 From a paper read before the Royal Geographical Society on June 9 by 
Sir Douglas Mawson. 


2 


T+ ca” 


a ey 


a 


JULY 2, 1914| . 


NATURE 


467 


was met in lat. 64° S., and in lat. 65” 40’ S., the pack 
became impenetrable. 

Progress to the south was made when the conditions 
permitted. During the afternoon of January 6 an ice 
cliff loomed up ahead, extending to the horizon in 
both directions. This proved to be an immense barrier 
tongue—afterwards named the Mertz glacier—pushing 
60 miles out to sea from a great ice-capped land. This 
land, along which we steamed during the next two 
days, had never before been seen. Its continuity with 
Adelie Land was subsequently proved, and it was then 
decided to include our new discoveries under the same 
title. , 

The land rose up everywhere from the sea to form 
a plateau. Only rarely did portions of the rocky plat- 
form break through the ice-sheet. Numerous rocky 
islets fringing the coastline were a notable feature, and 
these formed admirable breeding grounds for marine 
birds. 

At a point some miles from the nearest portion of 
D’Urville’s Adelie Land a suitable spot was discovered 
for a wintering station. This was a rocky outcrop, a 
little more than a mile in extent, henceforth known as 
Cape Denison. In this locality rocks projected from 
under the ice-sheet within a sweeping indentation of 
the coastline, which we named Commonwealth Bay. 

Although summer was at its height, the weather 
proved little better than a succession of gales directed 
off the land, veering between south and south-east. 
This state of things greatly hindered landing opera- 
tions. We were fortunate in finding an excellent boat 
harbour at Cape Denison, between which and the ship 
the invaluable motor launch continually plied when- 
ever the weather was propitious. By January 19 the 
whole of the stores and gear of the main base were 
transferred to the shore. 

The Aurora steamed west for a day along the coast 
seen by D’Urville and Wilkes in 1840, until the limit 
of open water was reached. This stretch of navigable 
water we named the D’Urville Sea. Later we dis- 
covered that its freedom from ice is due to the per- 
sistent gales setting off the land in that locality. 

The coast of Adelie Land could be traced in a 
westerly direction, but, on account of heavy pack, the 
vessel could not follow along the coast, the only 
course being to skirt the heavy ice to the north and 
west. At this point Capt. Davis expected to sight the 
high land reported by the United States Squadron 
(1840) as lying to the west and south-west, but no 
land was seen. 

In long. 132° 30’ E., they were able to stand south 
again and shortly afterwards passed over the charted 
position of D’Urville’s Céte Clarie. 
Capt. Davis’s report: ‘*The water here was clear of 
pack ice, but studded with bergs of immense size. 
The great barrier which had been followed for 60 miles 
by the French ships in 1840 had vanished—nothing 
remained to mark its former position except a_ col- 
lection of huge bergs. 

‘““At Io a.m., having passed to the south of: the 
charted position of Cote Clarie, we altered course to 
S. 10° E. true. Good observations placed us at noon 
in 65° 2’ S. and 132° 26’ E. with a sounding of 160 
fathoms on sand and small stones. We sailed over 
the charted position of land east of Wilkes’ Cape Carr, 
the weather was clear and there was no trace of land 
to be seen in this locality.”’ 

A few hours afterwards, still steaming south, new 
land was sighted to-the south—icy slopes rising from 
the sea similar to those of Adelie Land, but of greater 
elevation. } 

To this discovery we gave the name of Wilkes Land, 


to commemorate the name of a navigator whose daring 


NO. 2331, VOL. 93| 


Quoting from 


was never in question, though his judgment as to the 
actuality of terra firma was untrustworthy. 

It was not until noon on January 31 that the atmo- 
sphere was sufficiently clear to see any distance. The 
ship was then pushing south amongst heavy pack ice 
in the vicinity of Sabrina Land. A portion of Balleny’s 
Sabrina Land was sailed over, and there was no in- 
dication of land in the vicinity. Finally a point was 
reached 7 miles from a portion of Wilkes’s Totten’s 
Land, reported to be high land. A sounding gave 
340 fathoms. The weather was clear and high land 
would have been visible at a great distance. It was 
therefore apparent that Totten’s Land either does not 
exist at all or is situated some distance from its charted 
location. The pack was too heavy for the ship to 
penetrate further to the south, so a course was set to 
the west. Heavy pack barred the way to the south. 

Some days after, the vicinity of Knox Land, of 
Wilkes’ charts, was reached. With the exception of 
Adelie Land, which the French sighted some days 
previous to the Americans, the account by Wilkes con- 
cerning Knox Land is more convincing than any of his 
other statements relating to new land. 

If not already disembarked, we had counted on 
settling our Western Base in this place. It was, there- 
fore, very disappointing when heavy pack ice barred 
the way, at a point still north of Wilkes’s furthest 
south in that locality. Repulsed from his attack upon 
the pack ice in that vicinity, Captain Davis decided to 
go still further west. The course made carried the 
ship to the north-west. Early on the morning of 
February 8, in foggy weather, a wall of ice about 8o ft. 
high appeared across the bows extending in a north- 
westerly direction. Following this along, the weather 
cleared, and it: was recognised to be the face of an 
extensive flat-topped mass of floating ice. Rounding 
a cape to the west, and passing through loose ice, open 
water was reached to the south. Fifty miles in that 
direction the sea was found to shallow rapidly and a 
maze of large grounded bergs was entered. The 
bottom was found to be very regular, ranging between 
110 and 120 fathoms. 

The last of the obstructing ice was negotiated on 
February 13, and the ship steamed into a broad sheet 
of water still stretching to the south.. This open sea 
inside the pack-ice belt we ascertained, later, to be 
a permanent feature of that vicinity, and to it I gave 
the name of the Davis Sea, after the intrepid captain 
of the Aurora. 

One hundred miles further to the south, in lat. 
66° S. and long. 94° 23! E., the icy slopes of new land 
were seen extending east and west as far as the eye 
could reach. The sphere of operations of the German 
Expedition of 1902 was.now near at hand, for their 
vessel, the Gauss, had wintered frozen in the. pack 
about 125 miles to the west.. The land to the south, 
which the Germans visited by sledge journey over 
the pack ice, was eventually proved by one of our own 
sledging parties to be continuous with the new land 
now sighted by the Aurora. The ‘high land” in the 
direction of Wilkes’s Termination Land, seen by the 
Germans during a balloon ascent, we found to be a 
high ice-sheathed island about nine miles in diameter. 
To this we gave the name of Drygalski Island. . The 
position marked for Termination Land on Wilkes’s 
charts we found to be occupied by pack-ice and @ 
barrier-ice formation (marginal shelf ice). 

The formation in question, trending about 180 miles 
to the north from the newly discovered land just 
referred to, was found to be very similar in character 
to the well-known Ross Barrier over which lay part 
of Scott’s and Amundsen’s journeys to the south pole. 
This we named the Shackleton Ice Shelf. Its height 
is remarkably uniform, ranging between 60 and tu9 


468 


or more feet. Making allowance for the average 
specific gravity, this indicates an average total 
thickness of perhaps 600 ft. In area it occupies many 
thousands of square miles. 

This wonderful block of ice originates fundamentally 
from the glacier-flow over the great plateau-land to 
the south. Every year an additional layer of: con- 
solidated snow is added to its surface by the frequent 
blizzards. These annual additions are clearly marked 
on the dazzling white face near the brink of the ice- 
cliff. However, there is a limit to this increasing 
thickness, for the whole mass is ever moving slowly 
to the north, driven by the irresistible pressure of the 
land-ice behind. Its northern face is crumbling away 
before the action of the sea, breaking down into bergs 
and brash-ice. 

Its present limits are, no doubt, in a state of tem- 
porary equilibrium, in which the crumbling keeps pace 
with the yearly advance. During the third voyage of 
the Aurora, we had the unique experience of witness- 
ing this crumbling actively at work. This happened 
as we were steaming along within 300 yards of the 
cliff face. Suddenly a mass weighing perhaps a 
_ million tons broke away, first sinking down into the 
sea. Then followed an interval of a few minutes, 
during which it majestically rose and sank alternately 
accompanied by a rapid splitting up. At the end of 
five minutes only small bergs and brash-ice remained. 

A position for the landing of the western party was 
chosen on the Shackleton ice shelf. The spot selected 
was about seventeen miles from the land itself—the 
nearest approach possible by the ship. 

At the main base station in Adelie Land, the hut 
was quickly erected and self-recording instruments 
housed and set running without delay. The average 
wind velocity in Adelie Land proved to be far beyond 
anything previously known. The charts of the self- 
recording instruments show the average for the whole 
year to be fifty miles an hour. Average hourly velo- 
cities of one hundred miles and more were common, 
and twenty-four hourly averages of more than ninety 
miles were recorded. Frequently the air travelled for- 
ward in a series of cyclonic gusts, near the foci of 
which momentary velocities were reached very much 
higher than the averages mentioned, Thus, pebbles 
were lifted and structures not buried in the névé 
thrown down. 

Fortunately, the hut was soon drifted over to such 

an extent that only a portion of the roof remained 
above ground. Entrance to the interior was effected 
in fine weather by a trap-door in the roof; at other 
times through tunnels in the névé. 
_ For months the drifting snow never ceased, and 
intervals of many days together passed when it was 
impossible to see one’s hand held at arm’s length. 
The drift-snow became charged with electricity, and 
in the darkness of the winter night all pointed objects 
and often one’s clothes, nose, and finger-tips glowed 
with the pale blue light of St. Elmo’s fire. Add to 
this, the force exerted upon the body, the indescribable 
roar of the hurricane, the sting of the fury-driven 
ice particles, and the piercing cold, and some idea js 
got of the conditions under which the routine of out- 
door observations was maintained. Such weather 
lasted almost nine months of the year. Even in the 
height of summer, blizzard followed blizzard in rapid 
succession. : 

It was not until November 7 that there was sufficient 
moderation in the weather for a final start. Five 
diverging parties worked simultaneously, so that a 
maximum of new. ground was covered during the 
comparatively short sledging season. 

The Near-East Journey.—Stillwell, assisted bv Close 
and Laseron. mapved in the coastline to the east as 
far as the Mertz Glacier. Stillwell’s map illustrates 


NO. 2331, VOL. 93] 


NATURE 


| PULY: 25 you. 


the immense number of rocky islets that fringe the 
mainland in that vicinity. There silver petrels, 
Antarctic petrels, Wilson petrels, snow petrels, cape 
pigeons, etc., were found nesting in large colonies. 

The Eastern Journey.—Further east Madigan, 
assisted by McLean and Correll, continued the work, 
reaching 67° 14'S. lat., and 150° 21’ E.long. Eastward 
of the Mertz Glacier they found the sea frozen, and 
travelled over it for the remainder of the journey, 
crossing the fifteen miles wide tongue of the Ninnis 
Glacier and visiting several headlands by the way. 
In the vicinity of the Horn Bluff there is a sweep of 
coastline bounded by rocky cliffs, tooo ft. high. There 
they discovered coal and carbonaceous shaies out- 
cropping at an elevation of several hundred feet, asso- 
ciated with Red Sandstone and capped by an immense 
thickness of columnar dolerite. Madigan made fre- 
quent determinations of magnetic dip and azimuth. 
Nearer to winter quarters only gneiss and schists are 
exposed. The new land east of the Mertz Glacier we 
have received his Majesty’s gracious permission to 
name King George V. Land. 

The Far-East Journey.—It was across King 
George V. Land that Ninnis, Mertz, and I made the 
sledging journey that ended so unfortunately in the 
deaths of my two companions. It was our intention 
to cross rapidly the coastal highlands to the south of 
the tracks of Madigan’s party, and to pick up the 
coast beyond where they could expect to reach. On 
December 14, when we had travelled outwards 311 
miles, and were crossing the coastal highlands in 
68° 54’ S. lat., 151° 33’ E. long., Ninnis, with his dog 
team and sledge, broke through the roof of a névé- 
covered crevasse and fell into an unfathomable depth 
below. About midnight on January 7-8 Mertz passed 
away, after having been in a delirious and unconscious 
state for some hours. 

My own condition was such as to hold out little 
hope, but I determined to push on to the last, antici- 
pating that at least a record might be left near Aurora 
Peak, a place likely to be visited by search parties. 
On January 11, after spending three days, during 
which particularly bad weather prevailed, in arranging 
everything to facilitate forward progress, I resumed 
the march alone. After three weeks’ creeping forward 
wherein most providential escapes from crevasses were 
experienced, I had the good fortune to stumble upon 
a cache of provisions. Stimulated by good food, the 
march was resumed. Eventually the 53 mile cave 
was reached. Then a strong blizzard, reaching a 
velocity of eighty miles an hour caused further delay. 
The wind fell off on February 8. Descending the ice 
slopes to the hut, the Aurora was visible on the 
horizon, outward bound. 

The Southern Journey.—Of summer sledging —par- 
ties from the main base, one was led by Bage to the 
south, inland over the plateau, and another led by 
Bickerton over the highlands to the west. Bage’s 
companions were Webb and Hurley. Murphy, Hunter, 
and Laseron formed a supporting party accompanying 
them for sixty-seven miles. After leaving the coast 
no sign of rock was seen, their track lying over a 


desolate wind-swept plateau. The wind seldom 
ceased, and drifting snow was the rule. This con- 


stant flow of air has cut in the plateau surface deep 
sastrugi, of such dimensions as are not met with 
elsewhere. Over those obstacles they dragged their 
sledges into the face of the wind for 300 miles out 
from the hut, tc a point within a few miles of the 
magnetic pole. There an elevation of 6500 ft. was 
reached. On one occasion they made a march of 
forty miles. The magnetic data’ from that journey are 
particularly valuable, for Webb took full sets of ob- 


_ servations for dip and azimuth at regular intervals. 


The Western Journey.—Hodgeman and Whetter,, 


Juny 3 19174 | 


with Bickerton, formed the western party. The 
western journey was conducted for the most part at 
an elevation of about 4000 ft., and proved very dreary. 
"Wind and drift were the rule, notwithstanding the 
fact that it was then the height of summer. The 
average wind velocity for the period of the whole 
journey, as calculated from the daily records, was 
thirty-four miles an hour. 

The party passed over the highlands of the Adelie 
Land seen by D’Urville, coming close to the coast in 
lat. -667°35'5. long., 137° 58 E.,..where*they saw 
frozen sea to the west. One of the points of special 
interest connected with this journey was the finding 
of a piece of rock? a pound or two in weight, lying 
on the surface of the inland ice sheet far from any 
nunataks. 

Seven of us remained in Adelie Land for a second 
vear. Wireless communication was established with 
Macquarie Island about the middle of February, 1913, 
and we were able to apprise the world of the happen- 
ings before even the Aurora herself had reached 
Hobart. The wireless proved a success and a boon 
throughout the year, though temporary stoppages, 
however, occurred, owing to unusual difficulties 
arising chiefly from the constant hurricane. For 
example, it was found difficult to keep the aerial up; 
difficult to hear the messages on account of the 
muffled roar of the wind; and often impossible to 
work on account of the heavy electrical discharge 
from the atmosphere. 

On December 2, the Aurora arrived, picking up 
Ainsworth, Blake, Sandell, and Hamilton en route, 
to relieve us in Adelie Land. With them they brought 
three new men down to carry on the meteorological 
and wireless station on account of the Commonwealth 
Government, by whom the station is to be maintained 
in the future. 

The result of the labours of Ainsworth and his party 
is that complete scientific information regarding 
Macquarie Island is now available. Besides the 
routine work, many new _ problems have _ arisen 
enriching biological, meteorological, and geo- 
logical literature. 

Commonwealth Bay was reached on December 13. 
Visits were paid to outlying islets, and a considerable 
programme of oceanographical work and dredging 
on the continental shelf carried out. Steaming west- 
wards, a new addition was made to the western ex- 
tremity of Adelie Land. Oceanography and an exam- 
ination of the Shackleton ice shelf occupied us until 
February 7, when the pack was finally left behind. 
On the return jcurney a line of soundings was 
secured, completing a section of the ocean floor be- 
tween Western Australia and Queen Marv Land. 
Adelaide was reached on February 26, 1914. 


SUMMARY OF SCIENTIFIC OPERATIONS. 
I. TERRESTRIAL MAGNETISM. 


A. Field Work. 

(a) Dip determinations at Macquarie Island, on 
the eastern and southern journeys from the 
main base, and on a short journey from the 
western Antarctic base. 

(b) Declination by theodolite observations was 
determined at Macquarie Island and at inter- 
vals on all sledging journeys in the Antarctic. 

(c) Rough observations made daily on the ship. 


B. Station Work. 
(a) Regular magnetograph records were kept at 
the main base for a period of eighteen months. 
A system of term days for quick runs was 


3 This rock is quite unusual in appearance and may prove on examination 
to be a stony meteorite. 


NO# 2331, VOL. 93} 


NATURE 


469 


also followed; Melbourne, Christchurch, and 
other stations cooperating. In connection with 
the magnetograph work, Webb conducted 
regular absolute observations throughout the 
year. His worl: was admirably done in the 
face of remarkable difficulties in the matter 
of weather. 

(b) At the western base Kennedy kept term days 
through the winter, using a magnetometer 
and dip circle. 


BIroLoecy. 


1. Station Collections. 

(a) At Macquarie Island, Hamilton worked for 
two years amongst a rich fauna. The forms 
discovered are not merely those of oceanic 
types; amongst other things a new native 
finch has been discovered. 

(b) At the main base, Hunter, assisted by Laseron, 
secured a large collection, notwithstanding 
the obvious disadvantage of bad weather. 
Dredgings down to 50 fathoms were made 
during the winter. The eggs of practically 
all the flying birds known on Antarctic shores 
were obtained, including those of the silver- 
grey petrel and of the Antarctic petrel not 
before known; also a bird and its eggs of an 
unrecorded species. 

(c) At the western base, the eggs of the Antarctic 
and other petrels were obtained, and a large 
rookery of Emperor penguins located. Harri- 
son did a little marine work from floe, work- 
ing with inadequate gear in 250 fathoms of 
water. In this way he succeeded in trapping 
some interesting fish. 


2. Ship Collections. 

(a) A collection made by Mr. Waite on the first 
sub-Antarctic cruise. 

(b) <A collection made by Prof. Flynn on the 
second sub-Antarctic cruise. 

(c) A collection made by Hunter, assisted by 
Hamilton, in Antarctic waters during the 
summer of 1913-14. This comprises a num- 
ber of deep-sea dredgings working down to 
1800 fathoms, also regular tow-nettings, fre- 
quently serial, to depths of 200 fathoms. Six 
specimens of the rare Ross seal were secured. 


GEOLOGY. 


(a) A geological examination of Macquarie Island 
by Blake. The older rocks were found to be 
all igneous. The island has been overridden 
comparatively recently by an ice-cap_ travel- 
ling from the west. 

(b) Geological collections at the main base. In 
Adelie Land the rock outcrops are meta- 
morphic sediments and gneisses. In King 
George V. Land there is a formation similar 
to the Beacon sandstones and dolerites of the 
Ross Sea. Carbonaceous shales and coaly 
strata are associated with it. 

(c) Stillwell collected a fine range of minerals and 
rocks from the terminal moraine at winter 
quarters. Amongst them is abundance of red 
sandstone, suggesting that the Beacon sand- 
stone formation extends also throughout 
Adelie Land, but is hidden by the ice-cap. 

(d) Collections by Watson and Hoadley at the 
western base. Again gneiss and schists are 
the dominant features 

(e) A collection of erratics brought up by, the 
dredge in Antarctic waters. 


470 


GLACIOLOGY. 


(a) Observations on the pack-ice. 
(b) Observations on sledging journeys of the in- 
land-ice, 
(c) Observations on the coastal glaciers, tongues, 
and shelf-ice. 


METEOROLOGY. 


(a) Two years’ observations at Macquarie Island 
by Ainsworth. 

(b) Two years’ observations at Adelie Land by 
Madigan. ; 

(c) A year’s observations at Queen Mary Land 
by Moyes. 

(d) Ship’s observations on each of the voyages. 

(e) Observations on sledging journeys. 


BACTERIOLOGY. 


In Adelie Land Dr. McLean 
months of steady work. 


carried out many 


TIDES. 


Self-recording instruments were run at Macquarie 
Island by Ainsworth, and at Adelie Land by Bage. 


WIRELESS AND AURORAL OBSERVATIONS. 


Very close watch was kept upon auroral phenomena 
with interesting results, especially in their relation to 
the permeability of the ether to wireless waves. 


GEOGRAPHY. 


(1) The successful navigation by the ship of the 
Antarctic pack-ice in a fresh sphere of action, where 
the conditions were practically unknown. This  re- 
sulted in the discovery of new lands and islands. 

(2) Journeys have been made over the sea-ice and 
the continental plateau in regions never before sledged 
over. At the main base journeys aggregating 2400 
miles were made, and at the western base journeys of 
800 miles. These figures do not include depdt 
journeys, supporting parties, or relay work. The land 
has been followed through 33° of longitude, 27° of 
which were covered by sledging parties. 

(3) The fixing of a fundamental meridian in Adelie 
Land, using wireless telegraphy. 

(4) By soundings the continental slopes, and in most 
cases the shelf itself, have been indicated through 55° 
of longitude. Ohe 


(5) The mapping of Macquarie Island. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 
INTELLIGENCE: 


Liverpoo,.—Mr. T. B. Abell has been appointed 
to the Alexander Elder chair of naval architecture, 


rendered vacant by the resignation of his brother, 
Prof: W. S. Abell. 


Lonpon.—The. University College Committee will 
shortly proceed to appoint a lecturer and demonstrator 
in anatomy at a salary of 3501. Applications must 
reach the secretary of University College on or before 
July 11. 

MANCHESTER.—Dr. Niels Bohr, of the University of 
Copenhagen, has been appointed reader in mathe- 
matical physics. | For some time Dr. Bohr was en- 
gaged in research in the physical department of the 
University of Manchester, and has made a close study 
of mathematical physics. He has contributed a series 
of important original papers on the constitution of 
atoms, molecules, and the origin of spectra. This 
work. has attracted much attention, and has formed 


the starting point of numerous research now in pro- 
gress. 
Sa 


NATURE 


i 


[JULY 2, 1914 


SHEFFIELD.—The council of the University - has 


appointed Mr. H. J. W. Hetherington to the post or 


lecturer in philosophy, in succession to Mr. T. Love- 
day, resigned. 


On their way home from Australia, the following 
men of science who are attending the British Asso- 
ciation meeting, will, the Pioneer Mail states, lecture 
on the subjects named for the University of Cal- 
cutta :—Prof..H. H. Turner, on pure mathematics; 
Prof. Ernest W. Brown, on applied mathematics ; 
Prof. H. E. Armstrong, on chemistry; Prof. W. M. 
Hicks, on physics; and Prof. W. Bateson, on biology. 


WE have received the Livingstone College Year 
Book for 1914. This college, which has now reached 
its twentieth session, is doing good work in giving a 
training in the elements of medicine and first aid to 
missionaries. The principal, Dr. Harford, has re- 
signed, after twenty-one years’ service, and Dr. Loftus 
Wigram has been appointed to succeed him. An 
appeal has been issued for 10,0001. in order to clear 
off the debt and to effect improvements to the college 
property. 

WE learn from Science that the Shefheld Scientific 
School, Yale University, has received a_ provisional 
gift from one of its graduates of 20,0001. This gift is 
contingent upon an additional 20,0001. being secured. 
From the same source we learn that the Gustavus 
Adolphus College, St. Peter, Minnesota, has com- 
pleted an endowment fund of 50,0001. The two largest 
contributors were Mr. J. J. Hill, of St. Paul, and Mr. 
C. A. Smith, of Minneapolis, each of whom gave 
10,000. 

In reply to questions asked by Sir Philip Magnus 
in the House of Commons on June 29, Mr. Pease said 
that the Government certainly contemplates the re- 
constitution of the University of London, but not a 
new London University, distinct and separate from 
the present University. Mr. Pease does not suppose 
the Departmental Committee appointed to frame a 
Bill to give effect to the recommendations of the Royal 
Commission on University Education in London will 
be able to submit its report before the close of the 
session. 


-On the occasion of the tercentenary of the founding 
of Groningen University, the following honorary de- 
grees have been conferred :—Doctor of Medicine, Sir 
Edward Schafer (Edinburgh) and Prof. J. N. Langley 
(Cambridge); Doctor of Letters, Prof. W. M. Lindsay 
(St. Andrews) and Principal Peterson (McGill Univer- 
sity, Montreal); Doctor of Dutch Letters, Prof. A. S. 


Napier (Oxford); Doctor of Geology and Mineralogy, 


Dr. A. L. Day (Washington); Doctor of Botany and 
Zoology, Prof. S. J. Hickson (Manchester); and 
Doctor of Political Science, Lord Reay and Mr. 
Carnegie. 


Ir is announced in the issue of Science for June 12 
that Mr. Andrew Carnegie has added, presumably 
from the income of the Carnegie Corporation, 400,000l. 
to the endowment of the Carnegie Institute of Pitts- 
burgh, to be equally divided between the institute and 
the school of technology. Mr. Carnegie’s gifts to 
these institutions now amount to 4,800,0001. From 
the same source we learn that by the will of the late 
Judge J. F. Dillon, Iowa State University receives 
2000ol. and Iowa College and Cornell College 2o0l. 
each. An additional gift of 50001. has been received 
by Oberlin College for carrying out the general build- 
ing plans and the improvement of the grounds. The old 
students of the University of Illinois are planning to 


erect a 30,000!. building as a memorial to Dr. J. M.. 


Gregory, first president of the University. 


=? 


JuLy 2; 1914] 


Tue Board of Agriculture and Fisheries proposes to 
award the following scholarships, tenable for three 
years from October 1 next. Three agricultural science 
scholarships of the value of 150/. per annum, open to 
students who have graduated with honours in science 
at a British University; two veterinary research 
scholarships of the value of 1501. per annum, open to 
students who have obtained the diploma of the Royal 
College of Veterinary. Surgeons; three veterinary 
scholarships of the value of tool, per annum, open to 
students who have graduated with honours in science 
at a British university, and tenable for three years at 
a veterinary college in the United Kingdom. Applica- 
tions for any of the foregoing scholarships must be 
made not later than July 17, on a form to be obtained 
on application from the secretary, Board of Agricul- 
ture and Fisheries, Whitehall Place, London, S.W. 


Tue Education Committee of the London County 
Council has recently had under consideration the 
recommendations of the Royal Commission on Univer- 
sity Education in London. Two questions in particu- 
lar have received careful attention : the constitution of 
the governing body of the University and its relation 
to the teaching institutions, and in particular to the 
Imperial College of Science and Technology; and the 
provision to be made for the education and examina- 
tion of persons who are unable to devote their whole 
time to study. The committee approves generally the 
proposals of the Commission with reference to the 
government of the University of London, and is of 
opinion that no scheme for the reorganisation of the 
University will be satisfactory which does not provide 
that the Senate shall have full and effective control 
over the work of the University in the constituent 
colleges. The committee considers it essential that 
the Imperial College of Science and Technology 
shall become a constituent college of the Uni- 
versity. It is also of opinion that the University 
of London should continue to confer degrees in 
honours as well as ordinary degrees on all British 


‘subjects in all faculties other ‘than the faculty of 


medicine on the results of examination only, without 
regard to the course of training the candidate has 
pursued, or in the case of the higher degrees, on the 
submission of original work. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 


LONDON. 


Zoological Society, June 9.—Prof. E. A. Minchin, 
vice-president, in the chair.—P. D. Montague; Report 
on the fauna of the Monte Bello Islands. The islands 


are barren limestone with a limited vegetation and 


some mangroves. The collections prove conclusively 
the entire dependence of the islands for their fauna 
on the neighbouring continent. Partial depopulations 
of the islands owing to drought are suggested, suc- 
ceeded by repopulations by means of wind-borne forms 
from the south.—Dr. W. A. Cunnington: Parasitic 
Eucopepoda collected by the third Tanganyika Expedi- 


tion in 1904-5. The collection consisted: of a very 
small number of specimens, these forms being 
evidently much rarer than the Argulide, which are 


also external parasitic Copepods infesting fish—Dr. 
F. E. Bedaard: A new species of avian Cestodes and 


a further discussion of the paruterine organ in 
Otiditaenia—R. I. Pocock: The facial vibrisse of 
mammalia. In all the principal orders of the class, 


with one or two exceptions, the following groups of 
vibrisse are present in some genera :—Mystaciale on 
the upper lip, submental on the chin and lower lip, 


superciliary over the eyes, gonal on the cheeks, and’ 


interramal on the throat behind the symphysis of the 
NGe2a31, VOI .O3 | 


NATURE 


471 


jaw. Within the limits of the orders these tufts are 
present in the primitive genera, but more or fewer of 
them may be lost in the more specialised types. This 
fact, coupled with their prevalence in widely different 
types, points to the arrangement of the vibrissee above 
indicated being exceedingly primitive.—R. 1. Pocock : 

The feet and “other external features of the Canidz 
and Urside. The paper dealt with the rhinaria, the 
facial vibrissze, and the pads and interdigital integu- 
ment of the feet in many of the genera of Canidz and 
all the admitted genera of Urside.—Dr. G. A. 
Boulenger : A second collection of batrachians and rep- 
tiles made by Dr. H. G. F. Spurrell in the Choco, 
Colombia.—D. M. S. Watson: Procolophon trigoniceps, 
a cotylosaurian reptile from South Africa.—A. W. 
Waters: Marine fauna of British East Africa and 
Zanzibar, from collections made by Cyril Crossland 
in the years 1901-2: Bryozoa—Cyclostomata, Cteno- 
stomata, and Endoprocta. Out of the twenty-four 
species from these three groups, four are new; and, 
as the species mentioned are all from to fathoms or 
under, it will not occasion surprise that the number 
of Cyclostomata is but small. 


Physical Society, June 12.—Prof. T. Mather, vice- 
president, in the chair.—Prof. C. H. Lees: Note on 
the connection between the method of least squares 
and the Fourier method of calculating the coefficients 
of a trigonometrical series to represent a given func- 
tion or series of observations. In view of the number 
of alternative methods which have been suggested for 
calculating the coefficients of the terms of a Fourier 
series to represent a number of observations of a 
variable quantity, the author points out that the 
Fourier method gives the most probable values of the 
coefficients, since it makes the sum of the squares of 
the errors at the points of observation a minimum.— 
F. E. Smith: A magnetograph for measuring varia- 
tions in the horizontal intensity of the earth’s mag- 
netic field. In the case of unifilar instruments for 
recording variations in H, if @ is the angle which the 
magnetic system makes with the magnetic meridian, 
M the moment of the magnet, and H the horizontal 
intensity of the earth’s field, equilibrium results w hen 
when MH sin @=T¢, where ¢ is the torsion on the fibre 
and T is a constant. In the instrument described 9 
may be made great or small, but high sensitiveness is 
secured by making @ gre eae = es Shrimpton : The 
atomic weight of copper by electrolysis. Four copper 
cells separating two silver cells were run in series. 
The areas of the four copper kathodes increased from 
to to 50 s.cs. By plotting the weights of the copper 
deposits against the cor responding areas of the 
kathodes, and extrapolating to zero area, the weight 
of the deposit is corrected for under experimental con- 


ditions. The atomic weight of copper 
corrected weight of Cu 
= : x 107-88 x 2. 
mean weight of Ag 
The mean atomic weight for ten determinations + 
63-503 imi, aa. mean) error (ols, +0.003——-W../ 7H; 
Apthorpe : Note on an improvement in the Einthoven 


string galvanometer. 


Mineralogical Society, June 16.—Dr. A. E. H. Tutton, 
president, in the chair.—Dr. J. Drugman: Childrenite 
from Crinnis mine, Cornwall, and eosphorite from 
Poland, Maine. Analyses of childrenite from Crinnis 
mine showed it to contain even less manganese than 
the specimens from George and Charlotte mine. 
Eosphorite from Poland is ‘ticher ‘in manganese than 
that from Branchville, the only occurrence previously 
known. It is well crystallised, unlike the Crinnis 
mine childrenite.—R. H. Solly: Sartorite. From a 
goniometrical examination of two hundred crystals it is 
concluded that Dr. Trechmann’s crystals, Nos 1 


472 


and 2, belong to a new species closely allied to sar- 
torite and smithite. Many new forms for sartorite 
were found.—Dr. G. T. Prior: Re-determination of 
nickel in the Baroti and Wittekrantz meteorites. Pre- 
cipitation with ammonia was found not to separate 
iron from nickel completely, however often the opera- 
tion was repeated. Re-determination showed that the 
proportion of. iron to nickel in the case of both the 
meteorites in question was nearer 6:1 than 10:1, as 
previously stated.—Dr. L. L. Fermor: Ice crystals 
from Switzerland. Last winter the surface of the 
snow in shady situations near Zweisimmen and Lenk 
was often characterised by a dense growth of hollow 
prisms formed of a thin shell of ice coiled spirally 
parallei to the face of a hexagonal prism.—Dr. L. L. 
Fermor: Hematite from the Kallidongri manganese 
mine, India. The crystals, which had the habit of 
corundum, and were marked with three sets of stria- 
tions due to twin lamellation parallel to 100, showed the 
forms 111 and 614 well developed, together with 100, 
221, 28.28.13 (a new rhombohedron), 513, 715, and 
101, less prominent.—H. B. Cronshaw: A variety of 
epidote from the Sudan. A mineral discovered by 
Mr. G. W. Grabham in a pegmatite vein closely re- 
sembles allanite in appearance, but is free from rare 
earths and agrees in composition with epidote; in its 
pleochroism and negative sign it also resembles the 
latter, but has an abnormally low optic-axial angle of 
about 54°. In thin section it presents a well-marked 
zonal structure. 


Royal Meteorological Society, June 17.—Mr. C. J. P. 
Cave, president, in the chair.—B. C. Wallis: The 
rainfall of the southern Penninés. This inquiry had 
been undertaken with the view of attempting to find 
a scientific justification of the claim made for the 
wetness and humidity of Lancashire suitable to the 
manufacture of cotton. In summarising the distribu- 
tion of the rainfall of the Pennine district, the author 
said it may be asserted that the west is wetter than 
the east on the whole and as a rule, although the 
difference between the two areas is least marked 
during the dry season from March to May. In June 
and July, however, the lowland of the Trent and 
Ouse valleys receives a relative excess of rainfall 
which is compensated by the relative dryness in 
December and January. The uplands are absolutely 
wetter than the neighbouring lowlands, and_ the 
western slopes are wetter than the eastern slopes, but 
the difference in rainfall between upland and lowland 
is least marked during the warm weather and most 
marked during the cold weather. Throughout the 
whole district, on the average, the rainfall decreases 
in intensity from January until April, increases from 
April to August, shows a drop in relative quantity 
for September, rises to a maximum in October, and 
then declines until December. The local relief of the 
Pennine uplift gives to the cotton towns their char- 
acteristic climate, and is the dominant factor which 
has made Lancashire supreme in the cotton industry. 
—H. J. Bartlett: The relation between wind direction 
and rainfall. This was a discussion of wind and rain 
records at the four observatories Valencia, Aberdeen, 
Falmouth, and Kew for the ten-year period 1go1-r1o. 
It was shown that a large proportion of the total 
rainfall falls with winds in the south-east and south- 
west quadrants, except in the case of Aberdeen, where 
the amount in the north-west quadrant is relatively 
high. The greatest amounts at Kew and Falmouth 
are, with a south-west wind, respectively 22 and 28 
per cent. At Aberdeen the south-east wind brings 
the highest amount, 20 per cent., while Valencia 
receives 30 per cent. with south, 20 per cent. with 
south-east, and 15 per cent. with the south-west wind 
during the year. At each observatory there are two 


NOL 2331, OL. wos] 


NATURE 


[JULY 2paerg 


months curing the year when the proportion of rain 
occurring normally in one or more quadrants diminishes 
considerably. For Valencia, Falmouth, and Kew this 
feature is strongly marked in June and September, 
while for Aberdeen, where it is less obvious, the 
months are May and November.—E. H. Chapman: 
Barometer changes and rainfall: a statistical study. 


Paris. 


Academy of Sciences, June 22.—M. P. Appell in the 
chair.—G. Humbert: Some remarkable numerical 
functions.—J. Boussinesq: The mean velocity, or the 
flow and the maximum or axial velocity, in a prismatic 
tube, of regular section with any number (m) of sides. 
—H. Deslandres and V. Burson: The exact study of 
band spectra, the so-called Swan spectrum, in the 
magnetic field. The division and polarisation of the 
lines of the spectrum. The study of the Swan band 
spectrum kas given results in general agreement with 
the work previously published on other band spectra. 
Comparing with line spectra the deviation of the 
Zeeman components is much smaller and the circular 
vibrations do not show the negative effect exclusively, 
but, nearly as often, the positive effect. These facts 
can be explained by assuming the presence of both 
positive as well as negative particles, of a mass much 
larger than the electron. A very powerful magnetic 
field is necessary in these researches.—Charles 
Depéret : The reconstitution of a skeleton of Felsino- 
therium serresi, from the Montpellier sands. A photo- 
graph is shown of the skeleton which has been recon- 
structed from the remains of several individuals. It 
is slightly longer than the present dugong.—P. 
Chofardet : Observations and remarks on the Kritzinger 
comet, 1914a, made at the Observatory of Besancon. 
Positions given for May 22, June 17 and 20. The 
peculiarities in the variations in magnitude of this 
comet are discussed.—Ch. H. Miintz: A property of 
Bernoulli’s polynomials.—C. Popovici: A functional 
equation.—]. E. Littlewood: The distribution of the 
prime numbers.—Ludwig Schlesinger: Integro-differ- 
ential equations.—K. Bartel: A geometrical method 
of formation of some ruled surfaces of higher order.— 
G. Koenigs : A new formula expressing the power indi- 
cated by a four-cycle motor as a function of the 
experimental elements. A recalculation of some re- 
sults by M. Lumet.—Jacques Duclaux ;: The mechanism 
of light radiation and the entropy quantum.—F. 
Bourcier : The propagation of Hertzian waves along a 
wire wound eas a helix.—A. Defretin; The Foucault 
currents in a soft iron core and the influence of 
hysteresis. The effective value of the mean induction 
for a given ring and magnetising current varies in- 
versely as the square root of the frequency, if this is 
moderately large.—Otto Scheuer: A reduction of 
carbon monoxide by hydrogen caused by the radium 
emanation (see page 463).—Z. Klemensiewicz: The 
electrochemical properties of radium-B and thorium-B. 
The method is based on the determination of the dis- 
tribution ratio of a radio-active body between an 
amalgam of the metal supposed to be isotopic with it 
and an aqueous solution of one of these salts.. It was 
found that the normal electrolytic potentials 
Ex=0-029 log P of radium-B and of thorium-B are 
equal to that of lead within 2-10-° volt. This con- 
firms the view that the radio-active metal and _ its 
isotope are chemically inseparable.—Victor Henri: 
Study of the dispersion of the ultra-violet rays by 
organic bodies. For the numerous organic substances 
studied it was found that for a wave-length up to 
about A=2600, the radio-active power of CH, is as 
additive as in the visible spectrum; for shorter waves 
the additivity subsists only as a first approximation.— 
Paul Pascal: The diamagnetic properties of the 


uy 319 14 | 


IAL UT Tee 


473 


elements follow a periodic law.—H. Pélabon; The 
thermo-electric power of the selenides of tin. The 
curve representing the thermo-electric power of the 
tin-selenium alloys as a function of the composition 
shows a marked angular point corresponding with 
the compound SnSe, but there is no discontinuity at 
the composition SnSe,.—R, Cornubert ; The allylcyclo- 
hexanones and the methylallylcyclohexanones. <A 
tabulated statement of the physical properties of nine- 
teen substituted cyclohexanones.—E. Léger: A new 
method of transformation of barbaloin into B-barbaloin. 
The conversion is readily effected by heating with 
acetic anhydride in the presence of sodium acetate.— 
E. Gourdon: The mineralogical constitution of the 
Southern Shetlands (Antarctic)—M. Chouchak: The 
influence of a continuous electric current on the 
absorption of nutritive substances by plants. Under 
the action of an electric current the velocity of absorp- 
tion of nutritive materials by plants depends on the 
concentration of the nutritive materials and on the 
electric state of the roots of the plants. The facility 
with which the last factor can be altered has an 
important practical application on plant growth,—E. 
Bataillon: A reagent of activation and fecondation on 
the eggs of Batrachians cleaned with cyanide.—J. M. 
Lahy : The comparative effects on the blood pressure 
of physical fatigue produced by a long walk and 
psychical fatigue resulting from work requiring close 
attention. With soldiers performing long marches 
there is no notable increase in the blood pressure, but 
with work requiring concentrated mental attention 
there is an increase.—Mlle. G. Koenigs: Researches 
on the excitability of the motor pigment fibres.—J. E. 
Abelous and C. Soula: The modifications of the urine 
in anaphylaxy.—Pierre Robin; Circumduction cannot 
exist in  temporo-maxillo-dental articulation.—Y. 
Manouélian : Cytological researches in human tetanus. 
A histological study of the modifications caused by 
tetanotoxin in the peripheral motor neurones.—J. 
Tissot : The function of the dissociation of soaps in the 
mechanism of the inactivation of serums by the addi- 
tion of salts, dilute acids, carbonic acid, and globulin. 
—Edm. Sergent and H. Foley: The latent periods of 
the spirilla in the patient attacked by recurring fever. 
M. Lécaillon ; The existence of phenomena of rudimen- 
tary natural parthenogenesis in the common toad, Bufo 
vulgaris.—L. Bordas; Propulsive vibration. Gliding 
and beating flight in birds.—Maurice Piettre ; Crystal- 
lised tyrosine in microbial fermentations. The pre- 
sence of tyrosine in the muscles or in other organs 
not normally containing products of digestion: is an 
indication of putrefaction of the meat.—J. Blayac : The 
sands of the Landes in their relations with the Adour 
terraces. Contribution to the study of their origin 
and age.—Michel Longchambon ; The distinction of the 
two secondary series of strata superposed in the neigh- 
bourhood of Vicdessos, Ariége.—E. Maury: The tec- 
tonic signification of the folds between Nice and 
Mentone.—Jean Groth: The tectonic of the Sierra 
Morena. 


New Soutu WALES. 


Linnean Society, March 25.—Mr. W. S. Dun, presi- 
dent, in the chair.—R. J. Tillyard: The study of zoo- 
geographical regions by means of specific contours, 
with an application to the Odonata of Australia. 
H. J. Carter: Revision of the subfamily Tenebrioninz 
(family Tenebrionidz). Australian species: with de- 
scriptions of new _ species of Tenebrionine and 
Cyphaleine. 

April 29.—Mr. C. Hedley, vice-president, in the 
chair.—L. Kesteven : The venom of the fish, Notesthes 
- robusta. Tenison-Woods (‘‘Fish and Fisheries of 
New South Wales,” 1882, p. 48) has given a fairly 


Wamwest, VOL 93) 


accurate account of the symptoms following upon 
wounds inflicted by the spines about the head of this 
fish. The opportunity of treating professionally a 
number of cases of persons suffering from such 
wounds, has enabled the author to confirm and amplify 
Tenison-Woods’s statements that the symptoms are 
not compatible with non-toxic wounds, but are un- 
doubtedly venomous (contrary to the contention of 
Ogilby).—G, I. Playfair; Contribution to a knowledge 
of the biology of the Richmond River.—A. G. 
Hamilton : The xerophilous characters of Hakea dacty- 
loides, Cav. (N.O. Proteacez). 


CALCUTTA. 

Asiatic Society of Bengal, June 3.—Dr. N. Annandale 
and S. W. Kemp: Fauna of the Chilka Lake in Orissa 
and Ganjam. The Chilka Lake is a shallow lagoon 
on the east coast of India, some thirty miles long and 
ten miles broad. It is connected with the sea by a 
narrow mouth which opens into a channel separated 
from the main body of the lake by a series of penin- 
sulas and islands running parallel to the coast. The 
salinity of the water differs greatly at different seasons, 
but that of the outer channel is always much higher 
than that of the rest of the lake. The fauna consists 
of a mixture of marine and fresh-water types with a 
certain element that appears to be peculiar to brackish 
water.—Dr. E. P. Harrison: The ‘Gore effect’’ in 
iron. An anomaly in the expansion coefficient of iron 
at a dull red heat was discovered by Gore in 1869. 
The phenomenon is attributed to an obscure structural 
change in the metal and is probably closely associated 
with changes in magnetic quality and in electric resist- 
ance which are known to occur at high temperatures. 
A similar peculiarity affects the expansion coefficient 
of nickel. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 


Ancient India. By Prof. E. J. Rapson. Pp. viii+ 
199. (Cambridge University Press.) 3s. net. 

Die Insekten Mitteleuropas insbesondere. Deutsch- 
lands. Edited by Prof. C. Schroder. Band_ iii. 
Hymenopteren (Dritter Teil). Die Gallwespen (Cyni- 


pide). By Prof. J. J. Kieffer. Die Blatt- und Holz- 
wespen (Tenthredinoidea). By Dr. E. Enslin. Pp. 
viiit+213+8 plates. (Stuttgart: Franckh.) 7.20 
marks. 

Argyllshire and Buteshire. By P. Macnair. Pp. 
x+161. (Cambridge University Press.) 1s. 6d. net. 


A Practical Handbook of the Tropical Diseases of 


Asia and Africa.. By Dr. H. C. Lambart: Pp. xv+ 
324+plates. (London: C. Griffin and Co., Ltd.) 
8s. 6d. net. 

The Examination and Thermal Value of Fuel: 


By J. H. Coste and 


Gaseous, Liquid, and Solid. 
(London: C. Griffin 


E. R. Andrews. Pp. xvi+278. 
ands @or ee etds) Gs. nick. 

The Metallurgy of the Non-Ferrous Metals. By 
Prof. W. Gowland. Pp. xxvii+496. (London: C. 
Griffin and Co., Ltd.) 18s. net. 

Tierbau und Tierleben in ihrem Zusammenhang 
betrachtet. By Profs. R. Hesse’ and F. Doflein. 
Band ii. Das Tier als Glied des Naturganzen. By F. 
Doflein. Pp. xv+960+plates. (Leipzig and Berlin: 
B:. G. Teubner.) 20 marks. 

A Reconstruction of the Nuclear Masses in the 
Lower Portion of the Human Brain-stem. By L. H. 
Weed. Pp. 76+vi plates. (Washington, D.C. : Car- 
negie Institution.) 

The Climatic Factor, as Illustrated in Arid America. 
By Prof. E. Huntington and others. Pp. vii+341. 
(Washington, D.C. : Carnegie Institution.) 


474 


NATURE 


[JULY 2, 1914 


Size Inheritance in Rabbits. By E. C. MacDowell, 
with a Prefatory Note and Appendix by W. E. Castle. 
Pp. 55. (Washington, D.C. : Carnegie Institution.) 

The -Daily March of Trancpuadae in a Desert 
Perennial. By E. B. Shreve. Pp. 64. (Washington, 
D.C. : Carnegie Institution.) 

Guide to the Materials in London Archives for the 
History of the United States since 1783. By C. O. 
Paullin, and .Brof. Fo L..” Paxson. \) Ppre xt-- 642: 


(Washington, D.C. : Carnegie Institution.) 
Tasmania. Department of Mines. Geological Sur- 


vey. Bulletin No. 14. The Middlesex’ and Mount 
Claude Mining Field... By W. H. Twelvetrees. Pp. 
iv+131 and maps and sections. (Hobart: J. Vail.) 

Lehrbuch der Physikalischen Chemie. By Dr. K. 
Jellinek. Vier Bande. Erster Band. Die Lehre von 
den aggregatzustanden. (J. Teil.) Pp. xxxvi+732. 
(Stuttgart: F. Enke.) 24 marks. 

Bacon’s eee School Map of the United States 
(London: G. W. Bacon and Co,, Ltd.) 15s. 

Geologic: z Excursions round ondodt By G. Mac- 
Donald Davies. Pp. v+156.. (London: T. Murby 
and Co.) 13s: 6d. net. 

The Great Society : 


a Psychological analysis. By 


G. Wallas. Pp. xii+406. (London: Macmillan and 
Cos,” litds)> 475. Gd? net; 
Catalogue of Scientific Papers. Fourth Series 


(1884-1900). Compiled by the Royal Society of Lon- 
don. Vol. xiii., A-B. Pp. xeviii+gs5r. (Cambridge 
University Press.) al. 1os.- net. 

Prof: F.... Frech; 
(Leipzig and Berlin: 


Allgemeine Geologie, iii. By 
Dritte Auflage. Pp. iv+124. 
BuG:; Teubner). 125 marl. 

Impurities of Agricultural Seed. 
son and G. Smith. Pp. 105+xxxviii plates. (Ash- 
ford, Kent, and London: Headley Bros.) 3s. net. 

The British Isles. By Dr. F. Mort. Pp. xi+231. 
(Cambridge University Press.) 3s. 

The [leo-Czecal Valve: By Dr. A. H. Rutherford. 
Pp. vii+62+plates:; (London:: H. K. Lewis.) 6s. 


By S. T.. Parkin- 


net. 
Careers for our Sons.. Edited by the Rev. G. H. 
Williams. -New edition. Pp. xii+564. (London: A. 


and C. Black.) 5s. net. 


Board of Agriculture and Fisheries. Annual Report 
of the Education Branch on the Distribution of Grants 
for Agricultural Education and Research in the Year 


1913-14. Pp.  viiit.149. © (Londom: H.M.S.O.; 
Wyman and Sons, Ltd.) 83d. 
Memoirs of the Geological Survey.. England and 


Wales. Explanation of Sheet 112 and the Southern 
Part of Sheet 100. The Geology of the Northern 
Part of the Derbyshire Coalfield Bad Bordering Tracts. 
By Dr. W. Gibson and C. B. Weed. Pp. yiii+ 186. 
(London: H.M.S.O.; T. Fisher Unwin.) 3s. 


The Rubber tedustey in Brazil and the Orient. By 


C, E. Akers. Pp. xv+320. (London: Methuen and 
Co., Ltd.) 6s. net. 
Arithmetic. By 


H. Freeman. Pp. vitit+231+xxxi. 


(London: G. Bell and Sons, Ltd.) 2s. 6d. 

Statics. “Part i. By. R. C. Fawdry. Pp. vii+ 16s. 
(London: G. Bell and Sons, Ltd.) 2s. 6d. 

Modernism and Traditional Christianity. By Rev. 
Canon, E. McClure, . Pp. 147-226. . (London: 
SoBe GIK=)) Gd. met: 

A Treatise on Differential Equations. By Prof. 
A, Ro (Porsyth: Fourth edition. Pp. xvili+ 584. 
(London : Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 14s. net. 

Dialogues concerning Two New Sciences. By 
Galileo Galilei. Translated by H: Crew and A. 

NO! 2321, 1 Volo 


de , 


' Salvio.. Pp. xxi+300. (London: Macmillan and Co., 


(lgtde) 8s; 6d.) net. 


Song and Wings: a Posy of Bird Poems for Young 


and Old. By I. J. Postgate. “Pp. xi+50.. (London = 
A. Moring, Ltd.) zs. 6d. net. 
Smithsonian Institution. U.S. National Museum. 


Report on the Progress and Condition of the U.S. 
National Museum for the Year Ending June 30, 1913. 
Pp. 201. (Washington: Government Printing Office.» 

Clay and Pottery Industr‘es, being Vol. i. of the 
Collected Papers from the County Pottery Laboratory, 
Staffordshire. Edited by Dr. J. W. Mellor. Pp. 
XVilit+ 411+plates iv. (London: C. Griffin and Co.. 
eiae) oT gs. net. 


DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 


THURSDAY, Jvty 2. 
Royat GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY, at 5.—Lithological Map of the British 


Isles: Alan G. Ogilvie. s 
FRIDAY, Jury 3. 
Geovoaists’ AssociaATION, at 8.—A Geologist’s Visit to Canada: Dr. J. W. 
Evans. > 


CONTENTS. PAGE 
Oxicin! of Igneous ~ROCKS ee ere ern unsere TL 
Introductions to Natural/Science > 5. . 2) 137 ago 
Chemistry of Plants. By S.B2S2 0) 29...) oe) 
Our Bookshelf 2c oe anaes 1 yet ee an 


Letters to the Editor :-— 
The Principle of Relativity.—A. A. Robb; E.C.. . 454 
Distribution of Rainfall on Sunday, Junet4 ... . 454 


The Photo-electric Effect of Carbon as Influenced by 
its Absorbed Gases.—O. Stuhlmann, R. Piersol. 454 


Maya Art. (///ustrated.) By H.G. . . 454 
Birds and Weather. ByA. Landeboronen ‘Thomsen 457 
Metrological Researches . . : . 458 
A Great Telescope for Canada ipy ‘Prof C. 7 
nanb) 3. 2 ep. 2 Sh oieres eae ae are 
Notes). .: ene) Rete Sk Ciuc isin cen oe 
Our Betrononicals Column: — 
Astronomical Occurrences for July. <4 Scl ” tees eee en 
The Radiation of the Sun era ts 464 
Displacement of the Lines towards the V colele in the 
Solar:Spectrum; <4 gece ba eee nae ee 
Meteors on June 25-26 . . -2b,) 404 


Z 


Report of the U.S. Naval Ghanaian Kat fore ote) GO 
Trade and Technical Education in France and 


Germany. By J. Hi ReynoldSi 214) scales 
Marine Biology in the) Dropics js ee 465 
Termites and their Habits Si gee eta att 466 
The Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911 ve 

By Sir Douglas Mawson . . Ais Sa ee 
University and Educational [ntelieence”: 5 SAO 
Societiesiand Academies) =. 4). nee ee ea 471 
Books Received . ere, names 5 0.7/3! 
Diary of Societies . Jog ey ee Aga: 


Editorial and Publishing Offices: 
MACMILLAN &-CO., Ltp., 


ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C. 


Advertisements and business letters to be addressed to the 
Publishers. 


Editorial Communications to the Editor. 
Telegraphic Address: 
Telephone Number: 


Puusis, LONDON. 
GERRARD 8830. 


NATURE 


THURSDAY, ~FUEY: «9; 1974: 
HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY “OF 
MATICS. 

(1) Le Scienze Esatte Nell’ Antica Grecia. By 
Prof. G. Loria. Second edition. Pp. xxiv+ 


MATHE- 


970. (Milan: Ulrico Hoepli, 1914.) Price 
g.50 lire. . 

(2) fst es wahr dass 2x 2=4 ist?» By Fred Bon. 
Vol. i. Pp. xxvili+523. (Leipzig : Emmanuel 


Reinicke, 1913.) 
1) |e 1889 Prof. Gino Loria’s’ notice was 
directed to a prize offered for the best 
history of mathematics. On turning his attention 
to this subject the author tells us that he became 
so interested in the study of the ancient Greek 
mathematicians that he decided to devote his atten- 
tion to this instead of the more general subject. 
His previous writings have been published in the 
transactions of the academies of Turin and 
-Modena, the latter between 1893 and 1902, and it 
is largely on these that the present volume is 
based. 

The work treats mainly of geometry and arith- 
metic, but applied mathematics is dealt with in 
one of the five books, in so far as it relates to 
astronomy, geodesy, and spherical geometry. 
Prof. Loria divides the history of Greek geometry 
into three periods—the pre-Euclidean period of 
Pythagoras, Socrates, and Plato; the ‘golden ”’ 
period of Euclid, Archimedes, Eratosthenes, and 
Apollonius, and a third period which is described 
as the “silver”? or Graeco-Roman age, of which 
Pappus of Alexandria forms. one of the central 
figures. 

In the section dealing with arithmetic and theory 
of numbers, great interest centres round the work 
of Diophantus, the discussion of which occupies 
eighty pages. The list of equations solved. 1- 
this remarkable mathematician, stated in the nota- 
tion of modern algebra, alone occupies twelve 


pages, and Prof. Loria has been throughout very | 


careful in connecting these old problems with their 
present-day equivalents. 

It is a great mistake that the Greek mathe- 
maticians in this book are only described by their 
modern Italian names. Such names as Erone, 
Tolomeo, Anassagora, Omero, will not convey 
much idea to foreign readers. The least the 
author should have done would have been to give 
the correct names in the index at the end, but this 
he has not done. 

For a treatise of this character the small-sized 
pages of the Manueli Hoepli are a serious dis- 
advantage. A pocket-book, the letterpress pages 
of which are a little larger than a quarter-plate 
negative, but smaller than “post-card” size may 


NOrn2 222, VOL. 93] 


475 


be \uitable Is this as a ne ee of publication for 
such Or yes buildings, diseases 
of pigs,~ Y rming, acetylene, or even 
calculus for engineers. But for a subject so teem- 
ing with points of historical and mathematical 
facts to be condensed into these tiny pages, closely 
printed in small type, renders the book very diffi- 
cult reading indeed. The strain involved in 
reading the letterpress greatly increases the diff- 
culty of assimilating the subject-matter. 

(2) The inquiring reader who wishes to ascertain 
the truth, or otherwise, of the statement that two 
and two make four will not find Bon’s attempts 
to enlighten him on this matter cramped by want 
of space. When he has come to the end of these 
520 octavo pages he will only have learnt what the 
author has to say regarding the nature and mean- 
ing of concept, judgment, and truth, and he will 
have seen that this is only the first volume of Bon’s 
work. He certainly will not yet have arrived at 
any definite conclusions as to whether two and 
two really make four or five, for that matter. 
This volume is divided into three parts, dealing 
with the nature and meaning of a concept, a 
decision, and of truth, with the object of examin- 
ing what these mean, and under what conditions 
it is possible to assert that a decision is true. 

In the chapter on the definition of a concept, 
the author starts with the statement that concepts 
are words, and arrives at the following kind of 
definition. 

By concept we understand a word which has 
a meaning for one or more individuals, or, by 
concept we understand a word which is understood 
by one or more individuals. — This attempt to 
identify a concept with a word will certainly not 
meet with unanimous acceptance, even in spite of 
the detailed discussions, extending over more than 
230 pages, which follow. It might surely be 
objected that a concept can exist independently 
of words, and that it is not the word itself, but 
its meaning, or something which is associated 
with the word, which constitutes the concept. Of 
course, the author has to examine what is under- 
stood by meaning, by understanding, by words, 
or by a definition, whether a concept is definable 
or not, and if so, how far this is possible; at the 
same time, it is evident from what has been said 
that the author’s will not meet with 
universal acceptance. 

In. the definition of a decision or judgment 
(Urteil) (p. 261) the author again uses language 
as the basis of his definition, regarding a decision 
as a sequence of words which has a_ meaning 
independent of the meanings of the separate 
words and is understood by one or more definite 
individuals. 


views 


U 


470 


NATURE 


[JuLy 9, 1914 


Chapter xii. contains some interesting para- | Europe two thousand years ago, a.continuity was 


doxes, especially those dealing with infinity. One 
of these may be briefly cited (pp. 241-243). If we 
suppose that a straight line is bisected and 


each half again bisected, and so on, and if we 
imagine that a limit exists when the segments be- 
come indivisible, we obtain, according to the 
author, an impossible result when we apply the 
method to the repeated bisection of a side and the 
diagonal of a square. Here, again, the present 
reviewer does not consider that the author of 
this book has quite arrived at the right explana- 
tion. If aline is made up of indivisible elements, 
this would seem to mean that it consists of a series 
of points, and unless the number of such points is 
an exact power of two the process of successive 
bisection will stop short long before the infinite- 
simal elements have been reached. 

In the section dealing with “truth” the author 
classifies the various kinds of truth under different 
headings, such as that which is accepted as true, 
that which has been proved to be true by one or 
more experimental tests, that which has never 
been shown to be false, that which is in agree- 
ment with our laws of thought or with assump- 
tions. He also devotes a whole chapter to the 
discussion of “half truths.” 

In expressing a doubt as to how far the author 
has succeeded in getting “nearer the truth,” it 
must be admitted that the author has every right 
to attempt to place the remarks of the reviewer 
in one of his following categories: ‘‘The decision 
is true,” “The decision is not true,”’ ‘‘ The decision 
is half true,” ‘The decision is only true under 
certain conditions.” But an equal right is pos- 
sessed by any student of philosophy who will read 
the book, and it will probablv be better if this 
test is applied to the book itself rather than to the 
very superficial and impressionistic description of 
a work of 523 pages which has been possible in the 
present limited space. 


PRECURSORS OF CHRISTIANITY. 
The Golden Bough: a Study in Magic and Reli- 
sions) Byi Poof. J. Gt Prazer. ,oThicd \ediiom 
Part iv., Adonis, Attis, Osiris: Studies in the 
History of Oriental Religion. Third edition, 
revised and enlarged. Vol. i., pp. xvii+317. 
Vol. ii., pp. x +321. (London: Macmillan and 

Co: , ‘Ltd-,51914.). Pree, 2 .vols:, 2es! met: 
HE historical applications of Prof. Frazer’s 
researches in early religion may be said to 
culminate in his study of the distinctive cults of 
ancient Syria, Phrygia, and Egypt. For 
through the agency of these three worships, 
spreading as they did through Greco-Roman 

WO. 2232, -VOLa. 931 


| it, the Christian religion. 


established between the barbarism which was past 
and the civilisation which was coming. The link 
thus formed was, not to put too fine a point upon 
Prof. Frazer regards 
the founder of Christianity as a historical person- 
age, like Buddha, and both religions, so similar in 
their ideals, as ethical revolutions, aiming at a 


| higher life than was possible for the majority of 


mankind. 
“Both systems were in their origin essen- 
tially ethical reforms, born of the generous 


ardour, the lofty aspirations, the tender compas- 
sion of their noble Founders, two of those beau- 
tiful spirits who appear at rare intervals on earth, 
like beings come from a better world to support 
and guide our weak and erring nature. Both 
preached moral virtue as the means of accom- 
plishing what they regarded as the supreme object 
of life, the eternal salvation of the individual soul, 
though by a curious antithesis the one sought that 
salvation in a blissful eternity, the other in a final 
release from suffering, in annihilation.” 


The author goes on to describe the process of 
accommodation— 


“but the austere ideals of sanctity 
inculcated were two deeply opposed, 


which they 
not only to 


the frailties, but to the ‘natural imstmcis or 
humanity ever to be carried out in practice by 
more than a small number of disciples. . . . If 


such faiths were to be nominally accepted by 
whole nations or even by the world, it was essen- 
tial that they should first be modified or trans- 
formed so as to accord in some measure with the 
prejudices, the passions, the superstitions of the 
vulgar.” 

This is much in the style of Gibbon, and has a 
similar, though more sympathetic, spirit. The 
Protestantism of the early Christians was 


“exchanged for the supple policy, the easy toler- 
ance, the comprehensive charity of shrewd 
ecclesiastics, who clearly perceived that if Chris- 
tianity was to conquer the world, it could only 
do so by relaxing the too rigid principles of its 
Founder, by widening a little the narrow gate 
which leads to salvation.” 

One great lesson of these volumes is what may 
be called the permanent appeal of the elements 
of primitive superstition; another is the way in 
which Christianity has taken up those elements 
and transmuted them. It is the eternal com- 
promise between the primitive and the modern 
in man. 

“Yet it would be unfair,” the author well adds, 
“to the generality of our kind to ascribe wholly 
to their intellectual and moral weakness the 
gradual divergence of Buddhism and Christianity 
from their primitive patterns. For it should 
never be forgotten that by their glorification of 
poverty and celibacy both these religions struck 
straight at the root, not merely of civil society, 


a a 


JULY 9, 1914] 


NATURE 


477 


but of human existence. The blow was parried 
by the wisdom or the folly of the vast majority 
of mankind, who refused to purchase a chance of 
saving their souls with the certainty of extin- 
guishing the species.”’ 

The substance of ‘Adonis, Attis, Osiris’’ is 
the story of how their faiths provided the machin- 
ery for Christianity. The moral of it is the his- 
torical appraisement of Occidental religion in 
modern culture which the student who runs may 
read. A. E. CRAWLEY. 


HABERLANDT’S PLANT ANATOMY. 
Physiological Plant Anatomy. By Prof. G. Haber- 


landt. Translated from the fourth German 
edition by Montagu Drummond. Pp. xv+ 777. 
(London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1914.) 


Price 25s: net. 


NATOMY, whether of animals or of plants, is 
apt to prove dull reading if treated merely 
from the descriptive point of view. Such. books 
we know; some have even been translated into 
English—it is hard to say why, for they are mere 
repositories of dry facts, and the individual dry 
bones, one would have thought, could well enough 
have been dug out of the original treatises when- 
ever they were wanted. It is only when it is 
related to, or becomes part of, a larger and more 
philosophical scheme that anatomy becomes 
attractive to the ordinary scientifically minded 
reader who is not a specialist in the subject. 

The great charm of Prof. Haberlandt’s book has 
always lain rather in the circumstance that the 
anatomical facts had there been welded into a 
coherent theme of which the leit motiv was Func- 
tion. It is true that speculation sometimes usurps 
the place of proof, and that teleology now and 
then breaks out, cloaked but thinly in the disguise 
of physiology. But it is a great book, and the fact 
that it has passed through four German editions, 
each an improvement on its predecessor, is a testi- 
mony to its intrinsic value. 

Now that it is accessible to the English reader 
who happens to be unacquainted with German, its 
influence will be more widely felt amongst the 
students of botany in English-speaking countries. 
It deserves to be well received, for Mr. Drummond 
has discharged his task with ability, and by de- 
ciding on a somewhat free style of translation he 
has succeeded in producing a very readable volume 
which contains but little trace of its exotic origin. 

In so far as we have tested the translation, we 
have lighted upon remarkably few errors of any 
importance ; but perhaps it is not altogether super- 
fluous to point out one instance in which a closer 
adherence to the text would have been of advan- 
tage. On p. 550, in discussing the relations 


Nene 2332, VOL. get 


| 


existing between the assumed micellar structure 
and differential imbibition, the micella are said to 
“cohere with different intensities in different tan- 
gential planes.” By translating the German word 
richtungen (directions) as planes, the meaning of 
the passage is obscured, and a situation already 
sufhciently complicated is. rendered less intelligible. 
It may be questioned whether any good purpose 
has been secured by placing all the notes at the 
end of the book, instead of grouping them with 
the chapters to which they severally belong, as 
they appear in the German edition. But this is, 
after all, a trifling matter, and at the most de- 
tracts but little from the excellent form in which a 
valuable and indeed classical work has been pre- 
sented to the English reader. vibe 


ELECTROTECHNIES. 


(1) Switchgear and the Control of Electric Light 
and, Power Circuits. By A. .G. Golhs. Pp.rcs- 
(London : Constable and Co., Ltd., 1913.) Price 
US2 MeL: 

(2) Elementary Theory of Alternate Current W ork- 

By Capt. GL Halli Sep witeagce 
(London: The Electrician Printing and Publish- 
me Cot.) Lid ad.) Puce 3s.7 Gd. net. 

(3) Electricity in Mining. With plans and illus- 
trations. Siemens Brothers Dynamo Works, 
Ltd. Pp. xiv+201. . (London: .C. Griffin:and 
Co;, Lid., 1913:) Price tos. 6d. «net. 

(4) Electric Circuit Theory and Calculations: a 
Practical Book for Engineers, Students, Con- 
tractors, and Wiremen. By W. Perren May- 
cock. Pp. xiv+355- (London and New York: 
Whittaker and Co., 1913.) Price 3s. 6d. net. 


ing. 


(1) TN the preface to this manual the reader is 

referred for further information to the 
author’s larger work on the subject. The present 
book would have been more valuable had it been 
carefully prepared. Some of the diagrams of the 
connections are inaccurate, and it is very difficult 
to make out what they mean. 

(2) This work can be well recommended to 
those who are seeking the elementary theory of 
the subject. It has been compiled with accuracy 
and care, and forms a good introduction to the 
larger works on the subject of alternate current 
working. The latest developments are dealt with, 
and the whole treated in a simple manner without 
the aid of advanced mathematics. 

(3) The novelty attaching to this work lies in 
the fact that it is compiled by a firm of electrical 
engineers. It is not a mere catalogue or descrip- 
tion of electrical apparatus, but goes further, and 
deals with the technical part of the subject. The 
illustrations are good, and the book is well pro- 
duced. 


478 


(4) This is one of Mr. Maycock’s many works 
on electrical subjects, and is intended to deal with 
the requirements of Grade I. and the final exam- 
inations in electric wiremen’s work of the City 
and Guilds of London Institute. It is therefore 
essentially a book for beginners, and as such can 
be recommended. It contains a number of ques- 
tions and their solutions. 


OUR BOOKSHELF. 


Careers for Our Sons. A Practical Handbook to 
the Professions and Commercial Life. Edited 
by the Rev. G. H. Williams. Pp, xii+ 564. 
Fourth edition. (London: A. and C. Black, 
1914.) Price 5s. net. 

Tuat this book has reached a fourth edition since 
its first appearance ten years ago is an indication 
of its usefulness to parents and guardians. There 
are few more baffling tasks than to find a suit- 
able opening for a boy whose school and college 
training are completed, but who has no clear idea 
of what he desires to do to secure a livelihood. 
To those who are face to face with the problem 
this complete and well-arranged compilation may 
be recommended confidently. Mr. Williams is an 
old schoolmaster who has supplemented his own 
wide experience by much valuable information 
gathered from «a large number of experts. 


By P. M. C. Kermode and 
Second edition. Pp. 
Press,’ 1614.) 


Manks Antiquities. 
Prof. W. A. Herdman. 
150. (Liverpool: University 
Price 35. (net: 

TuE first edition of this book, which was out of 

print for some time, was reviewed at length in 

the issue of NarureE for June 14, 1906 (vol. Ixxiv., 

p- 152). During the ten years since the original 

appearance of the work, the authors have ex- 

plored several additional prehistoric sites, and a 

systematic survey of the antiquities of each parish 

has been undertaken by a committee of the Isle 
of Man Natural History and Antiquarian Society. 

From these and other sources much new material 

has been worked into the present edition of the 

book, which will prove of interest and service to 
the people of the island and their summer visitors. 


Royal Society of London. 
Papers, 1800-1900. Subject Index. Vol. iii., 
Physics. Part II., Electricity and Magnetism. 
Pp. xv+927+Vvii. (Cambridge: The University 
Press, 1914.) Price 15s. net. 


Catalogue of Scientific 


In the review of the first part of the third volume 
of the Royal Society’s catalogue of scientific 
papers, which appeared in Nature on May 22, 
1913 (vol. xci., p. 289), the general plan and scope 
of the work were described. It will be sufficient 
to say of this part that it completes the subject 
index on physics, deals with electricity and mag- 
netism under the registration numbers 4900 to 
6850, and contains 23,300 entries. This makes 
in all 56,644 entries for the subject physics for 
the years 1800-1900 inclusive. 


NO. 2232) VOl. 5o3)) 


“A143 


NATURE 


ESS 


es 


[JuLty 9, 1914 


LETTERS TO) JE” EIR. 


[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for 
opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 
can he.undertake to return, or to correspond with 
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 
this or any other part of Nature. No notice is 
taken of anonymous communications. | 


Active Nitrogen. 


In view of the apparently inexplicable contradiction 
between the results of Tiede and Domcke (Ber., 1913, 
46, 340 and 4095) and Baker and Strutt (Ber., 1914, 
47, 801 and 1049) on this subject, Tiede and Domcke 
offered to visit London with their apparatus, and it 
was arranged that each pair of experimenters should 
repeat their experiments in presence of the other. 
This was done, and as a result it was agreed that 
Tiede and Domcke were justified in their statement 
that the addition of a trace of oxygen to the azide 
nitrogen increased the intensity of the glow. With 
the form of discharge vessel and the electrical equip- 
ment used by them it was possible to diminish the 
afterglow considerably, and then to restore the bril- 
liancy of the glow by the addition of an infinitesimal 
trace of oxygen, liberated by gentle heat from silver 
oxide. When the amount of oxygen added exceeded 
this very small quantity, the glow entirely disappeared, 
as all former experimenters have agreed. 

On the other hand, employing the form of discharge 
vessel used by Baker and Strutt, which has not been 
described in detail, but is better designed for obtaining 
the glow, it was not found possible to observe any 
distinct diminution in the intensity of the glow, even 
when the vessel was washed out several times with 
nitrogen prepared by Tiede and Domcke with their 
own materials, as used in the previous experiment. 
It is always possible that if the experiment had been 
more prolonged a different result might have been 
obtained. 

It appears, therefore, that a sample of nitrogen may 
be made to give the glow moré easily if it is mixed 
with a trace of oxygen. On the other hand, the 
purest nitrogen with which we have worked in our 
joint experiments in London is capable of giving a 
brilliant glow under the experimental conditions used 
by Baker and Strutt. 

It seems possible that the effect of the infinitesimal 
trace of oxygen is to alter the conditions of discharge 
so as to make it more suitable for the production of 
active nitrogen. Prof. Warburg’s observations of the 
effect of traces of oxygen on the kathode fall in 
nitrogen tends to confirm this idea. Possibly other 
substances than oxygen may be found eventually to 
produce the same effect. 

H..B. Baksrr. 
EricH TIEDE. 
R-~ J. “STRODE: 
Emit Domcke. 
Imperial College of Science and Technology, 
London, July 2. 


The Horns of the Okani. 


HirHERTO it has been considered that the horns of 
the male okapi, with the exception of the bare antler- 
like terminal caps, are permanently covered with hairy 
skin, like those of giraffes. The skin and skeleton 
of an old male okapi recently sent to Messrs. Gerrard, 
of Camden Town, by Dr. Christy, seem, however, to 
indicate that, extraordinary as it may appear, true 
horn-sheaths, like those of antelopes, are developed in 
at least some individuals. The skull, which, from 
the condition of the teeth, indicates an animal at least 


JULY 9, 1914] 


as old as the oldest of those figured in the respective 
memoirs of M. Fraipont and Sir Ray Lankester, 
carries the usual pair of conical bony horn-cores, which 
appear to have been devoid of terminal antler-like 
caps. In place of these being covered with hairy skin, 
the specimen, as mounted by Messrs. Gerrard, shows, 
however, that they were invested with (so far as I was 


able to determine) true horny sheaths, resembling 
candle-extinguishers, and_ recalling the terminal 


sheaths surmounting the hair-covered horn-cores of a 
prongbuck with newly developing horns figured by Dr. 
Sclater on p. 540 of the Proc. Zool. Soc. for 1880. 
Messrs. Gerrard were positive that the sheaths came 
with the skin, and as they appear to correspond in 
size with the bony cores, I see no reason to doubt the 
statement, more especially as the sheaths cannot 
apparently have pertained to any adult antelope. 

Were it not for the fact that Dr. Christy is at pre- 
sent somewhere in the Belgian Congo, collecting on 
behalf of the Museum at Tervueren, I should have 
deferred making any statement on the subject until I 
had communicated with him. But as jit may be 
months before I get a reply to a letter just dispatched 
(even if it ever reaches its destination), 1 have con- 
sidered it advisable to put my observations on record, 
without, however, for the present, making them the 
basis of any deductions or speculations. 

R. LyDEKKER. 


Thorium Lead—An Unstable Product. 


Tue work of Boltwood and Holmes some years ago 
on the occurrence of lead and uranium in minerals 
rendered it very improbable that the end product of 
thorium could be lead. From recent generalisations, 
however, in respect to radio-elements and the periodic 
law, it is to be expected that the end products of the 
radio-active elements should all be isotopic with lead. 
One method of attacking the problem is the deter- 
mination of the atomic weight of lead extracted from 
uranium and thorium minerals. On the assumption 
that radium G and thorium E are stable, a know- 
ledge of the composition of the mineral from which 
the lead has been extracted enables one to calculate 
the expected value for the atomic weight of the lead. 
Comparison of this value with that found experiment- 
ally gives a means of testing whether radium G and 
thorium E are stable or not. 

Using this method, Soddy and Hyman (Trans. 
Chem. Soc., 1914, vol. cv., p. 1402) obtained a result 
for lead from a thorite rich in thorium and. poor in 
uranium, which indicates that thorium E is stable. 
On the other hand, Richards and Lembert made a 
determination on lead extracted from thorianite, which 
points to the instability of thorium E (see Fajans, 
Heidelberger Sits. Ber. A., 1914, Abh. 11). Holmes 
(Nature, April 2, 1914) came to a similar conclusion 
by an examination of the ratio Pb/U, for a series of 
analyses of radio-active minerais. 
stable, this ratio should be constant for minerals of 
the same geological age, but it should increase with 
the age of the mineral. 
fied. In order to examine, the question more fully, 
Holmes and the present writer examined the lead, 
uranium, and thorium contents of a series of radio- 
active minerals of Devonian age, from the same 
locality in Norway. The results of this investigation, 
shortly to be published, indicate very strongly that 
thorium E is unstable, and that it cannot therefore 
be regarded as the end product of thorium. 

The present letter indicates how the above results 
have been applied by the writer to determine the half 
period value of thorium E, and the method has the 


oapee3 2, VOLet Ogi 


If thorium E be |! 


Neither criterion was satis- | 


NATURE 


479 


advantage that it is quite independent of whether 
thorium lead (thorium E) is stable or not. A more 
detailed discussion of the question and its consequences 
will be published in the near future. 

Amongst the minerals analysed by Holmes and the 
writer were several thorites and orangites, rich in 
thorium, and well adapted for an examination of the 
question of the stability of thorium E. These minerals 
being all of the same age, the total lead present may 
be regarded as the sum of the following three con- 
stituents: (1) Original lead (Pb,), (2) uranium lead, 
(3) thorium lead. Further, whether uranium lead and 
thorium lead are stable or unstable, we can express the 
above statement as an equation thus :— 


Pb=Pb,+A.Th+«.U. 


Here Pb, U, and Th represent the content of the 
mineral in lead, uranium, and thorium respectively ; 
X\ is the amount of thorium E in equilibrium with 
1 gram of thorium, and « is the amount of uranium 
lead present in the mineral per gram of uranium. 
This last factor «x is constant for minerals of the same 
age, and varies in sympathy with the age of the 


| mineral—this indicating that radium G is a stable 
| product. 


The amount of original lead was assumed 
constant, since the minerals used were similar and 
from the same locality. Using the results of the 
analyses of three minerals, three equations are obtained 
by substitution in that above, and from these equations 
the values of A, x, and Pb, can‘be calculated. This 
calculation was performed with three different mineral 
combinations, and consistent results were obtained. 
The value of X found was 4x 10-° gram. The value of 
x found was 0-042, a result known to be correct from 
other considerations. Now it can readily be shown 
that the lead-producing power (calculated from the 
helium generation) of thorium is about 0-4 that of 
uranium. Whence, if thorium E is stable, the value 
of X should be 0-4x0-042=0-017. The low value 
(4x 10-°) actually obtained seems to prove beyond 
question that thorium lead is unstable, and that it has 
a half period equal to 4x 10o-° times that of thorium, 
or 4.10=5 x 1-5.10%°=6.10° years. It does. not seem 
likely that thorium lead (thorium E) emits a rays, for 
these should have a range of about 3 cm., and would 
have been detected. If, on the other hand, it emits 
B rays, it is to be expected that bismuth would prove 
to be the end product of thorium. In any case, the 
systematic examination of radio-active minerals for 
bismuth seems highly desirable, for if it is the stable 
end product of thorium, the ratio Bi/Th will be found 
constant for minerals of the same geological age, and 
this ratio will vary in sympathy with the age of the 
mineral. ‘Thus this ratio could be used for the deter- 
mination of geological time just as that of lead to 
uranium has hitherto been used by Holmes (‘* The 
Age of the Earth,’ London; 1913) for the same 
purpose. If the bismuth isotope from thorium is un- 
stable, the method indicated in this letter could be 
used to find its half period, and thus further informa- 
tion could be gathered as to the direction of the 
succeeding disintegration, i.e., whether an a ray 
change brings the end product into Group III.B 
(Thallium) or a f ray change carries it still further to 
the Polonium Group (VI.B). 

The one doubtful assumption in the present treat- 
ment is that in the minerals used for the calculation 
of X, the percentage of original lead present is the 
same. This assumption is not without foundation, 
and in a forthcoming publication the writer will adduce 
evidence in support of the assumption in the case of 
the minerals used. Ropert W. Lawson. 

Radium Institute, Vienna. 


NATURE 


[JuLty 9, 1914 


SS 


Radio-activity and Atomic Numbers. 


LET Th,;, Ra;, Acr be the periods of half-change of 
corresponding members of the thorium, radium, and 
actinium family respectively, M the atomic number, 
M(Pb) that of the lead-group, and c a constant (+4°5); 
then for all substances emitting a rays— 


Th,= Ray. Ac;/cM-M(®b) 


For analogous #-radiators Ra;.Ac;/Th*,;, though not 
unity for group BIV. is >1 for B III., and <1 for 
BV. (the only three groups in which comparable 
values are known). 

The only exception here, as in all similar relations, 
is thorium-X (or actinium-X). For radiothorium, 
where a few months as well as two years are given 
for the period of half-change, the formula gives the 
first value. Of course, very accurate results cannot 
be expected from values like 2 min., 3 min., 0-002 sec., 
etc., but the differences are nowhere greater ‘than 
what from this lack of precision must be expected. 


Periods ot half-change: Calculated Experimental 
Radiothorium ... .., V 365 X10"19's/4°58 ad =6s days A few months 
Thorium emanation... V 3°86 x 85400 x 3°9/4°54 s =56'4 sec. 53 sec. 
Thorium A... : V 180 X0'002/4'52 § =0'134SeC. o'r4 sec 
Thorium Cf V 45 X24 X0'0333/4°5 =2°83 hours 2°87 hours 
Tonium... crf ars) 84e550Cb52/50 76 d =10° years Io years 
Radium emanation ... 4°54 532/3°9 5 =342days 3°86 days 
Radium A ... 475% X o'r 42/0002 S =3°31 min 3 min. 
Radium Cf... 4°5 X2°872/0'0333 hk =46°4 days 45 days 
Radio-actinium ... 4°58 X 652/365 X 109 @ =19'5 days 19's days 
Actiniumemanation... 4°54 532/3"84 86400 s =3°5 sec. 39 Sec. 
Actinium A... 4°52 X0'1 42/180 S =0°0022 Sec. 0°002 Sec. 
Actinium Cy 4°52X 1022/10 6 s =2"10-15 sec, ? 
Actinium C¢ 4°5X2°872/45 X 24 mt =2°03 min. 2 min. 


A. VAN DEN BROEK. 


Gorsel, Holland, June 26. 


Seeing and Photographing Very Faintly Illuminated 
Objects. 

THe question frequently arises, particularly among 

astronomers, whether it is possible to photograph 


Height Height Velocity 


apparatus), at the other end of which a 6 inch F/573 
telescope objective formed an image on the plate 
tested, or, with an ocular, on the retina. 

The results obtained are tabulated below :— 


Int. atsource On plate On retina Min. exp. Vision 

(1) 86 m.c. 0°24 m.c. 0'69m.c. 16sec. Comportable 

(2) 0°33 0°0092 0°026 7 min. Distinct,  un- 
adapt. 

(3) 0°0127. =—-0'00035 =: O GOIO2 2) late Distinct, after 
3 min. 

(4) 0700049 +0'000014 0°000039 over 50 hr. Invisible, adapt. 


In experiment (3) the plate illumination was just 
sufficient to produce a distinct image on a Seed 
30 plate after an exposure of three hours, while the 
illumination on the retina as viewed was three times 
as great, the source being just easily visible after 
resting the eye about three minutes in total darkness. 
In other words, an image on the retina just visible 
after partial adaptation to darkness would just produce 
an image on a photographic plate after an exposure 
of one hour. The retina fully adapted to darkness is 
still a thousand times more sensitive than this. 

P. G, NUTTING. 

Rochester, N.Y., June. 


June Meteors. 


A PARAGRAPH referring to some brilliant meteors 
observed at Bristol on June 25 appeared in Nature of 
July 2 (p. 464), and I am induced to send a few details 
of our June results, for they appear to me to exceed in 
importance and interest any obtained in any other 
month for a long period. There are a large number 
of double observations of the same objects, and I have 
been enabled to compute the real paths of fourteen, 
particulars of which are given in the subjoined table. 
They were all observed by Mr. S. A. Wilson and Mrs. 
Fiammetta Wilson (marked ‘‘W.’’), and some were 
recorded by Miss A. Grace Cook and some by myself. 
The very persevering and accurate observations by 
Mrs. Wilson and Miss Cook have been very successful 
in this branch of astronomy in the last few years. 


Radian 
Dae cor ean T. Mee. ae os 2 pee a : Observers Meteor appeared over 
{h. m miles miles miles miles 3 \ 
June 3 10 30 g 51 48 160 25 281-25 W. and others The Wash to Durham 
15 II 4% 4-1 60 52 26 19 260-22 W.and W.F. D. Alton to W. of Reading 
” IT) os 2 87 62 68 35 279-13 W.and W. F. D. Wilts to Ross 
” II 32 6-4 69 53 27 41 315+21 W, and W. F. D. Tunbridge Wells to Dorking 
16 II oO 2-1 69 43 29 29 270+50 W.andF. Denning Selsey Bill (nearly vertical) 
21 II 22 3-4 72 48 37 37 293+10 W.and A. G. C Sea 34m. E. of Broadstairs 
25 10 513 >I AS: Pan 14 20, 260-24 W. and W. F. D 12m. W. of Bristol to Usk [Harwich 
” Il 273 9 Bie, 25 45 30 342+39 W. and W. F. D. 12m. N.W. Chelmsford to 6m. N.W. 
> II 46 5-4 68 48 39 25 258+2 W. and W. F. D. 15m. W. Aldershot to Henley 
» DeS2y I= a 59 23 46 18 354+77 W. and W. F. D. Iom. S. W. Luton to $m. S.E. Reading 
» Il 573 rl Gye) 167 52° §2 9) 350-8 SeWe and W: F. D 4m. N.W. Salisbury to Axbridge 
26 II 114 4-2 78 67 II 25 260+70 W.and A. G. C S. of Bedford (nearly vertical) 
’ Il 173 4-2 WS 56 22 44 320+61 W. and A. G. C Halstead to Bishops Stortford [Hants 
29 II, 25 I 64 53 19 26 320+19  W. and W. F. D Eng. Chan. 32m. S. of Christchurch, 
objects too faintly illuminated to be seen. At the Now that the most attractive and prolific season for 


suggestion of Dr. Mees, the writer, assisted by Mr. 
Huse, has made some observations with measured 
illuminations giving comparative sensibilities of the 
human retina and an extra rapid photographic plate. 

The source used was a sort of artificial moon con- 
sisting of a 1o-candle Tungsten lamp in a metal box 
over the front of which were placed several layers 
of dense opal glass. The normal light flux from this 
surface measured equivalent to 86 metre candles. 
This intensity was further reduced by neutral filters 
transmitting 1/26 of the light. This source was placed 
at one end of a 20 ft. tube (our plate resolving power 


NOW 332.) VOL. .O34 


meteoric work is at hand I trust that some readers 
of NaturRE may be inclined to watch the sky and 
record the apparent paths of such meteors as may 
appear. They are usually unduly plentiful between 
the middle of July and middle of August, and the 
great Perseid shower can be favourably traced during 
nearly the whole of the period named. 

Any observations may be forwarded to the Rev. M. 
Davidson, director of the Meteoric Section of the 
British Astronomical Association, or to myself. 

: W. F. DENNING. 

44 Egerton Road, Bristol, July 6 . 


Juuy 9, 1914] 


Inorganic ‘‘ Feeding.’’ 


Ar the January meeting of the Physical Society, 
and also at the recent conversazione of the Royal 
Society, I showed an experiment in which one globule 
oi liquid (dimethyl aniline), floating on the surface 
of water, captures and absorbs other floating globules 
(orthotoluidine), the movements resembling those of 
an amoeba. I have now succeeded in ph_tographing 
the process, and in the accompanying print the larger 
globule is seen in the act of engulfing the smaller 
and darker-coloured one. 
To secure contrast, 
the orthotoluidine was 
coloured with indigo. 

An interesting exten- 
sion of this experiment 
is provided by placing a 
small drop of quinoline 
on the surface after the 
absorption of the ortho- 
toluidine is nearly com- 
plete. This drop ap- 
proaches the large 
globule and makes con- 
tact, when it is violently 
repelled ; it again approaches, and is then repelled with 
less force; and this alternate attraction and repulsion 
continues until the quinoline drop. appears to be 
nibbling at the edge of the large globule, into which 
it is finally absorbed. The interesting feature of this 
process is that at each contact a mutual! interchange 
of liquid occurs; and only when the quinoline has 
become mixed with a considerable quantity of the 
liquid composing the larger globule does absorption 
take place. Cuas. R. Dartinc. 

City and Guilds Technical College, 

Finsbury, E.C. 


EXPERIMENTAL DEMONSTRATION OF AN 
AMPERE MOLECULAR CURRENT IN A 
NEARLY PERFECT CONDUCTOR. 

T has long been known that the electrical re- 
sistance of metals falls with a reduction of 
temperature in an approximately straight line law, 
indicating that, in the neighbourhood of absolute 
zero, there would be no resistance whatever. 
Prof. H. Kamerlingh Onnes, of Leyden, has 
carried experiments on this subject down to ex- 
tremely low temperatures, and has found that 
it is at a point a few degrees above absolute zero 
that the resistance of certain pure metals practi- 
cally vanishes. His later experiments illustrate 
the properties of these almost resistanceless 
‘bodies, or, as he terms them, “super-conductors,” 
in a very striking way. Taking a closed coil of 
lead wire, he cooled it down by immersion in 
liquid helium to a temperature at which its resist- 
ance is of the order of 2x 10-1 that at normal 
temperatures. He then induced a current in the 
coil, which, instead of ceasing with the E.M.F., 
vas shown to persist with scarcely sensible 
diminution for as long a period as the coil could 
be kept cold. As there was practically no resist- 
ance, there was practically no dissipation of 
energy, and the system behaved like the imagined 
molecular currents of Ampére, and realised the 
conception of Maxwell as to a conductor without 
resistance. 
The little coil in question was made of 1,000 


Nees 332, VOL. Gai 


NATURE A81 


turns of lead wire 1/70 mm. diameter, wound 
on a brass bobbin, and with its ends fused to- 
gether. Its resistance at a normal temperature 
was 734 ohms, and it was calculated that the 
induced current would then only persist for 
1/70,000th of a second after removal of the 
E.M.F. When cooled by liquid helium to 1°8° K. 
(abs.) the “relaxation time,” according to previous 
determination of the resistance, should be a matter 
of days. The limiting value to which the current 
might be raised before the ordinary resistance 
suddenly makes its appearance had also been cal- 
culated, and found to be o’8 amperes at 1°8° K. 
The coil was contained in a suitable vessel intro- 
duced between the poles of a large electromagnet, 
which was excited before the liquid helium was 
poured in. After the coil had been cooled down, 
the current was cut off from the magnet and a 
current thus induced. The unexcited magnet was 
then removed, and the persistence of a current of 
about o'6 ampere in the lead coil was demon- 
strated by a magnetometer arrangement. During 
an hour no decrease in the magnetic moment pro- 
duced could be observed, although the tempera- 
ture had risen to 4°26° K. (that of helium boiling 
at atmospheric pressure). When the coil was 
lifted out of the helium the current ceased imme- 
diately as the temperature rose above 6° K., which 
is the “vanishing point ” of the resistance of lead. 

The experiment was repeated with the windings 
of the coil parallel to the field, to prove that the 
effect was not due to some magnetic property of 
the material of the wire or bobbin, which might 
only appear at these temperatures; and only a 
slight effect, such as might be accounted for by 
asymmetry of the coil, was observed. Further 
experiments were tried to measure the actual rate 
of falling off of the current due to the residual 
micro-resistance, and a falling off of less than 
I per cent. per hour (somewhat less than had been 
calculated) was all that could be observed. Other 
experiments finally disposed of all idea of direct 
magnetic action, and the actual presence of a 
continuing current was proved independently by 
attaching galvanometer leads to the points on the 
coil, and suddenly cutting the wire between them 
under the helium, when a swing of the galvano- 
meter needle was observed, while the magneto- 
meter immediately went to zero. 


MEMORIAL STATUE OF CAPT. COOK. 


N Tuesday, July 7, Prince Arthur of Con- 
naught unveiled a statue of Captain Cook, 
which stands on the Mall side of the Admiralty 
Arch, at the end of the Processional Road. The 
proposal to erect the statue was made in 1908 by 
Sir J. H. Carruthers, who pointed out that there 
was no memorial of Captain Cookin London. The 
matter was taken up by the British Empire 
League, and a general committee, under the presi- 
dency of the Rt. Hon. Herbert Samuel, M.P., was 
formed to promote the erection of a statue. The 
necessary funds were raised, and in 1911 Sir T. 
Brock, R.A., was commissioned to execute the 
memorial. One hundred and thirty-five years 


482 NATURE 


[Jury 9, 1914 


have elapsed since Cook met his death at the 
hands of savages in the Sandwich Islands, and it 
is remarkable “that no monument to his memory 
should have been erected in the capital of the 
Empire. But if the statue is late it is undoubtedly 
adequate. The British Empire League deserves 
the gratitude of all citizens of the empire for its 
public spirit in raising so worthy a monument 
to one who extended the imperial bounds. 

But James Cook (1728-1779) was more than 
this. He was a geographer of no mean standing 
and his name will go down to posterity as one of 
the earliest of British discoverers. His three 


(A. Burchell, kulham. 
Statue of Capt. Cook. 


Photo. 


voyages, all of them scientific, are well known by 
now. The first (1768-1770) was undertaken at the 
instance of the Admiralty, which was moved 
thereto by the Royal Society, for the purpose of 
prosecuting geographical researches in the Pacific 
Ocean. Several well-known men of science ac- 
companied Cook on his voyage, on which, among 
other things, he struck the coasts of New Zealand 
and Australia. Round the former he sailed with 
complete success, examining it in detail; his name 
is associated with the channel which separates 
North from South Island (Cook’s Strait). Of both 
New Zealand and Australia he took possession for 


NO.)2332,. VOLMosi| 


Great Britain. The second voyage (1772-1775) 
had for its object the supposed southern continent 
in the Pacific, and Cook was able to prove finally 
that no such continent existed. It is worthy of 
note that on this second journey he reached lati- 
tude 71°49' S. The third expedition was fitted out 
in 1776, and was principally to settle the question 
of the North West passage. It was on this 
voyage, in 1779, that Cook was killed. 

Besides his contributions to geography, Cook 
was also an astronomer and mathematician. His 
skill as a geographical surveyor he had already 
shown as early as 1760, when he sounded and 
surveyed the St. Lawrence river and published a 
chart of the channel from Quebec to the sea. This 
activity he continued when, in 1763, he was ap- 
pointed ‘“‘ Marine Surveyor of the Coast of New- 
foundland and Labrador.” It was shortly after 
this appointment that the Royal Society elected 
him one of its Fellows, on his giving an account 
of an eclipse of the sun which he had observed on 
the south coast of Newfoundland. 


LHE WILDS: OF NEW, ZEALAND? 

D* J. M. BELL was for six years the director 

of the Geological Survey of New Zealand, 
and during his service there his duties and inclina- 
tions carried. him into several of the most remote 
and ‘least .settled .areas. . A’ series of valuable 
memoirs on New Zealand geology has already 
testified to the enthusiasm and cnEey with which 
he threw himself into his work. In this volume 
he records his general reminiscences of his travels, 
and describes his numerous adventures by the 
flooded rivers, on the mountains, and in the bush, 
and narrates various incidents in the early his- 
tory of the dominion. He was greatly impressed 
by the rich variety in both the’ topography and 
geology of New Zealand, and was delighted with 
its superb scenery, which is illustrated by a well- 
selected collection of excellent photographs by 
the Government Tourist Department, and by a 
series of artistically coloured sketches by his 
companion, Mr. C. H. Eastlake. 

One of the first chapters deseribes the north- 
western province of the North Island, where Dr. 
Bell went to inspect the diggings for Kauri gum, 
which by 1912 had yielded produce to the value 
of more than 16,000,000!. In connection with his 
visit to the Thames goldfield, he summarises its 
mining history, and in connection with the vol- 
canic fields of the North Island, describes his 
winter ascent of the volcano Ngauruhoe, a climb 
rendered difficult as the snow around the base 
was loose and soft, while that-on the final slope 
was dangerously hard and steep. He also de- 
scribes again the famous eruption of Tarawera, 
but the Black Geyser, Waimangu, it may be re- 
marked, ceased to. discharge daily six months 
earlier than the time mentioned by, Dr. Bell: > Bhe 
most adventurous journey described in the volume 
was an attempt with Prof. Marshall, of Dunedin, 
to reach Mt. Arthur in Karamea, the north- 


1 ** The Wilds of Maorilan?.” By Dr. J. M. Bell. 
London: Maemillan and Co., Ltd., 1914.) Price 15s. 


Pp. xiili+253+plate 


JULY 9, 1914] 


western part of the South Island, when, owing 
to the roughness of the way and a wrong route, 
four days’ provisions had to serve for seven, and 
the party might not have survived except foi some 
chance birds that were killed by stones. 

The last chapters describe Dr. Bell’s journeys 
in the Southern Alps, and give a brief summary 
of the geography and climate of New Zealand. 
Most of the author’s results have been stated in 
his geological papers, and as the present work 
is essentially popular he has excluded technical 
matter; but he writes of different areas with the 
intimate knowledge gained in the course of his 
surveys. The book gives an interesting account 
of the author’s journeys, and is a useful record 
of the present conditions of some of the less- 


Mount Balloon, near the track to Milford Sound. From ‘ The Wilds of 
Maoriland.” 


known parts of New Zealand; it conveys a good 
impression of the magnificence and variety of New 
Zealand scenery, but indicates that the conditions 
of travel there are exceptionally rough and the 
accommodation often poor. 


RECENT PROGRESS OF THE METRIC 
SYSTEM. 


E have received a copy of a report on the 
progress of the metric system which was 
presented by Dr. Guillaume at the meeting of the 
fifth general conference on weights and measures 
held in Paris in October last. A previous report 


1 ‘Les récents Progrés du Systéme métrique.” By Ch. Ed. Guillaume. 
Pp. 118. (Paris: Gauthier-Villars, 1913.) Price 5 francs. 


NOs 2332, VOL. 93] 


NATURE 


483 


by Dr. Guillaume on the same subject was re- 
viewed in these columns in 1908 (April 30). In 
the first part of the present work the author deals 
with the question of standards of measure and 
weight. As regards the use of vitreous quartz or 
silica for the construction of standards of length 
he points out that recent investigations tend to 
show that this material is unsuitable for the pur- 
pose, owing to inconstancy of length. A _ his- 
torical account is then given of the attempts made 
at the international bureau to find an appropriate 
material for the construction of standards of 
length for use in the laboratory, where the ques- 
tion of cost prohibits the employment of iridio- 
platinum. These efforts led to the important 
series of investigations with respect to the metro- 
logical properties of the alloys of nickel and steel, 
and to the discovery by Dr. Guillaume of the alloy 
of minimum expansion, now well known as 
“invar.” The feeble expansion of invar would 
render this alloy an ideal material for standards 
of precision were it not.for its tendency to in- 
stability. In spite of this drawback, however, its 
use for secondary standards deserves careful con- 
sideration in cases. where an accuracy of one part 
in a million is sufficient. 

Researches have also been made with the view 
of finding suitable alloys to replace iridio-platinum 
for the construction of secondary standards of 
weight. Various non-magnetic alloys of nickel 
were investigated. Of these constantan was 
found to be unsuitable, owing to its lack of 
durability, but ‘‘baros,’’ formed by the addition 
of small quantities of chromium and manganese 
to commercial nickel, has proved to be more 
satisfactory. Tungsten, in virtue of its hardness, 
high density and durability, promises to be a very 
suitable material, especially as it seems likely that 
this metal will soon be obtainable at a relatively 
low price. Dr. Guillaume also discusses the re- 
sults of recent researches with reference to the 
employment of wave-lengths of light in metrology, 
and points out that the gases krypton and neon 
both afford special advantages as regards inter- 
ference measurements. 

A section is devoted to legislation with respect 
to the metric system in various countries since 
the fourth general conference. During the past” 
six years the system has been made obligatory in 
several countries, notably Denmark, Siam, the 
Belgian Congo, and certain of the republics of 
Central America. Dr. Guillaume considers that 
the difficulties standing in the way of the adoption 
of the system in Great Britain and the United 
States have been greatly exaggerated by its 
opponents. He urges that in the engineering 
trade, for example, the proposed innovation would 
not, as is. often alleged, necessarily put out of use 
all machines the dimensions of which could not 
be expressed in convenient figures in terms of 
metric units; the first reform would be simply to 
give the metric equivalents of the quantities 
hitherto expressed in Imperial units; later on, 
when the machines were being replaced by new 


| ones in the usual course, any slight modifications 


required might be introduced. 


484 


NOTES. 


Tue death of Mr. Joseph Chamberlain on July 2, 
at seventy-eight years of age, deprives the nation of 
a statesman who was not only a great political leader 
in the affairs of his country and Empire, but also gave 
notable assistance to the advancement of science and 
education. A few days ago the work done by him 
and his son, Mr. Austen Chamberlain, was com- 
memorated by the unveiling of portraits of them in 
bronze relief in the branch hospital at the Royal Vic- 
toria and Albert Docks connected with the London 
School of Tropical Medicine; and the University of 
Birmingham, of which he was Chancellor, is a suffi- 
cient monument to what he did to promote national 
efficiency through education and research. Mr. Cham- 
berlain began his public work in the city of Birming- 
ham as an educational reformer and took an active 
part in the work of the first School Board there, while 
the University was practically founded. by him. 
Speaking at a meeting of the council last 
week, the Vice-Chancellor, Mr. Gilbert Barling, said 
that Mr. Chamberlain guided the formation of the 
University and influenced its constitution in the most 
liberal and broad-minded manner. He obtained most 
of the funds for its building and equipment, and took 
the warmest interest in its welfare during the whole 
of his life after its foundation. The council of the 
University has expressed its high appreciation of Mr. 
Chamberlain’s services in this direction by passing 
the following resolution :—‘‘ The council hears with 
profound sorrow of the death of Mr. Joseph Chamber- 
lain, first Chancellor of the University, to whom the 
University owed its existence. His liberal and broad- 
minded views permeated its constitution, his judgment 
guided its policy from the commencement, and by his 
personal effort he secured munificent contributions to 
the funds for the buildings and equipment. The 
Chancellor’s death will be felt by all members of the 
council and Senate, and indeed by the whole of the 
University, as a great personal loss.’’ Few statesmen 
show such zeal for education and science as Mr. Cham- 
berlain did; and we join with representatives of other 
national interests in mourning the loss of one who 
understood so well the business of government of a 
modern State. Mr. Chamberlain was admitted a 
fellow of the Royal Society in 1882, under the rule 
which permits the election of persons who “either 
have rendered conspicuous service to the cause of 
science, or are such that their election would be of 
signal benefit to the society.” 


By the death of Sir Benjamin Stone, on July 2, at 
seventy-six years of age, there has passed from us one 
of the most enthusiastic and energetic of amateur 
photographers. Although photography was his re- 
creation, he made a business of it in the sense of 
always working towards a definite end, namely, the 
getting of pictorial records of the details of the life of 
to-day. He did not initiate what is now well under- 
stood as ‘record work,’ but in 1897, when he was 
sixty years of age, he established the National Photo- 
graphic Record Association, which did excellent work 
for twelve years, when it was disbanded so that the 
work might be carried on more effectively from local 


NO5'2322% VOU, Noa 


NATURE 


[JuLy 9, 1914 


centres. During the whole life of the association Sir 
Benjamin Stone was its head, and we believe contri- 
buted personally a greater number than any other 
member of the nearly five thousand prints which are 
now deposited in the British Museum. These photo- 
graphs represent interesting buildings of all kinds, 
remains of ancient buildings, manuscripts, portraits, 
ceremonies, customs, such as coronations, the distribu- 
tion of Maundy money, fairs, and indeed anything 
that is likely to be of interest, especially when it has 
ceased to be. 


Carr. J. F. Parry, R.N., assistant hydrographer, 
has been appointed to succeed Rear-Admiral Herbert 
E. P. Cust, C.B., as hydrographer of the Navy from 
August 16 next. x 


_ Tue president and council of the Royal Society have 
awarded the Mackinnon studentship on the biological 
side to Mr. G. Matthai, of Emmanuel College, Cam- 
bridge, for a research on the comparative anatomy of 
the Madreporaria. The studentship on the physical side 
has not yet been awarded, and the date for receiving 
applications has been extended to September 21. 


Pror. J. H. Appleton has retired from the chair of 
chemistry at Brown University, Rhode Island. He 
graduated at that University in 1863, and has ever 
since been a member of its faculty, holding succes- 
sively the status of assistant instructor, instructor, and 
professor. Dr. J. E. Bucher, at present assistant 
professor, is to succeed him in the headship of the 
department of chemistry. 


THE death is reported of Dr. F. W. True, assistant 
secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington. 
Born in 1858, Dr. True graduated at New York 
University in 1878, and in the same year entered the 
service of the U.S. Government, of the exhibits of which 
he was custodian at the Berlin Fisheries Exhibition 
of 1880. From 1883 to 1911 he held curatorships at 
the National Museum, of which he had _ previously 
been librarian. His publications included ‘‘A Review 
of the Family Delphinide,” ‘‘The Whalebone Whale 
of the Western North Atlantic,’”? and ‘‘An Account of 
the Beaked Whales of the Family Xiphiide.”’ 


Tue Board of Agriculture and Fisheries is informed 
that on May 26 a porpoise was caught in a kettle net 
at Dungeness and transferred to Brighton Aquarium, 
where she arrived in good condition. She was noticed 
to be in an advanced stage of pregnancy when placed 
in a tank, and on the afternoon of May 31 gave birth 
to a young male, which was stillborn. The young 
was perfectly formed, and measured 2 ft. 2 in. in 
length, and weighed approximately 7 Ib. Unfor- 
tunately the mother died on June 1o. 


In the course of excavations to reach the base of 
the Red Crag at Thorington Hall, Wherstead, near 
Ipswich, Mr. Reid Moir has found the skeleton of a 
young female, about seventeen years of age, at a 
depth of 6 ft. from the surface of the ground. The 
Crag at this spot is capped by a hard, compact, loamy 
material, in all probability decalcified Boulder Clay, 
and the bones had been buried in a grave which was 
plainly visible in the loam.. The body, of which nearly 


Jory 9, 1914] 


every bone has been recovered, had evidently been 
buried upon the back, and in the contracted position, 
the head being turned over the left shoulder and facing 
due west. On the right-hand side of the skeleton the 
fragments of an urn were found, which has now been 
rebuilt, and found to be an elaborately ornamented 
drinking vessel of the late Neolithic or early Bronze 
periods. No implements or ornaments of any sort 
were found with the remains. Both the human bones 
and the pottery are at present in the care of Prof. 
Keith at the Royal College of Surgeons, Lincoln’s 
Inn Fields, W.C. 


Tue Royal Academy of Belgium has issued its pro- 
gramme of prizes to be awarded during 1915. Among 
the subjects in mathematical and physical science for 
theses on which prizes from 35]. to 4ol. are offered 
may be mentioned: the absorption of light in inter- 
stellar space; the viscosity of liquids and gases and 
the properties of fluids near the critical temperature ; 
the organo-metallic compounds of one or more metals 
of the chromium group; infinitesimal geometry of 
curved surfaces; and conic systems in space. In the 
natural sciences, prizes of the same value are offered 
for researches in the following subjects: the signifi- 
cance of various inflections of the electrocardiogram ; 
the spermatogenesis of burrowing hymenoptera; the 
subalpine flora of Belgium; a petrographical and geo- 
logical description of some metamorphic region of the 
Ardennes; and descriptions of certain groups of Bel- 
gian minerals. The memoirs should be written in 
French, Flemish, or Latin, and be sent, post paid, to 
M. le Secrétaire Perpétuel, au Palais des Académies, a 
Bruxelles, before August 1, 1915. The bulletin from 
which the above particulars are taken also gives in- 
formation concerning the various permanent prizes 
to be awarded during the years up to 1918. 


THE list of Civil List pensions granted during the 
year ended March 31 last includes the following grants 
for scientific services :—Mr. A. J. M. Bell, in recogni- 
tion of his valuable contribution to geology and 
paleontology, 60l.; Mrs. Traquair, in consideration 
of the services to science of her husband, the late Dr. 
R. H. Traquair, F.R.S., and of her own artistic work, 
5ol.; Mrs. Gray, in recognition of the valuable con- 
tributions to the science of anthropology made by her 
husband, the late Mr. John Gray, 5ol.; Mrs. Wallace, 
in consideration of the eminent services to science of 
her husband, the late Dr. Alfred Russel Wallace, 
O.M., F.R.S., 120l.; Mrs. Alcock, in recognition of 
the valuable contributions to the study of physiology 
made by her husband, the late Prof. N. H. Alcock, 
5ol.; Mrs. Ward, in recognition of the eminent ser- 
vices of her husband, the late Prof. Marshall Ward, 
F.R.S., to botanical science 4ol.; Dr. Oliver Heavi- 
side, F.R.S., in recognition of the importance of his 
researches in the theory of high-speed telegraphy and 
long-distance telephony, in addition to his existing 
pension, 1ool.; Miss Hearder, in consideration of the 
contributions to electrical science and telegraphy of her 
late father, Dr. J. N. Hearder, 7ol.; Miss Willoughby, 
in consideration of the services of her late father, Dr. 
E. F. Willoughby, in connection with questions of 
public health, 3ol. 


Nemes 22, VOL. 03) 


NATURE 


485 


Ir is curious that whereas transatlantic telegraphy 
by submarine cables was accomplished many years 
before transatlantic wireless telegraphy, the reverse 
order of things appears more likely in the case of 
telephony. The great difficulty in long-distance cable 
telephony is the attenuation and distortion of the cur- 
rent waves in the cable by the effect of its capacity, 
and in an Atlantic cable it would—at any rate, with 
our present knowledge—be too expensive to com- 
pensate for by “loading” with artificial inductance. 
In wireless telephony, on the other hand, there is no 
such distortion depending on the distance. The diffi- 
culties are mainly concerned with finding a source of 
waves with a sufficiently high group frequency in the 
case of discontinuous waves, or of sufficient steadiness 
in the case of continuous waves, and constructing a 
microphone able to deal with the heavy currents neces- 
sary at the transmitting end. Successful experiments 
overcoming these difficulties to a greater or less extent, 
and in various ways, have been made by several in- 
vestigators over moderate distances, and it would 
appear that it is now only a question of time to pro- 
duce perfected apparatus of greater power, so that a 
longer range may be covered. Now that the large 
wireless station near Carnarvon is complete, Mr. Mar- 
coni hopes to succeed in telephoning to New York, 
and, according to a statement made by Mr. Godfrey 
Isaacs, chairman of the Marconi Company, before the 
Dominions Royal Commission last week, hopes to do 
so by the end of this year. 


“THe Plumage Bill: What it Means,” is the title 
of a timely brochure by Mr. James Buckland—who 
may well be called the birds great protector—written 
with the object of influencing public opinion and 
stimulating the supporters of the Bill to further exer- 
tions in restoring those of its clauses which have been 
rendered almost nugatory by changes in Committee. 
In it we find a restatement of the evidence of credit- 
able authorities and eye-witnesses—among them of 
A. H. Meyer, “himself a one-time plume hunter” 
and ‘‘thoroughly conversant with the methods em- 
ployed in gathering ’’ them—of the ‘‘horrors of the 
plume-trade,”’ in Florida, Oregon, Australia, Lysan 
Island, New Guinea, India, and elsewhere, in which 
egret, grebe, pelican, albatross, kingfisher, and bird 
of paradise are immolated in millions to gratify the 
vanity of those women who will be feather-decorated 
whatever be the cruel methods by which their orna- 
ments are obtained. Mr. Buckland emphasises the 
economic aspect of the question, and the enormous 
value of birds to the agriculturist in America, Jamaica, 
Russia, South Africa, and Australia, in which insect 
pests and rodents—all forming food of birds—are 
destructive almost beyond computation. Mr. Souef 
has ascertained by investigation that in a field attacked 
by a horde of grasshoppers in Australia, a flock of 
ibises, spoonbills, and cranes which hurried to the spot, 
were responsible for the destruction daily of 482,000,000 
of the marauders. The devastation wrought by them 
would be infinitely greater if these birds should become 
exterminated. We commend this pamphlet to all in- 
terested in the wanton destruction of birds; and we 
trust that when the Bill comes up again before the 
House the ‘‘amendments”’ will be rejected and that 


486 


the Bill in its original form may reach the statute- 
book: before the close of this session. 


In Man.. for June Prof. J. Macmillan Brown 
announces the discovery of a new form of Pacific 
Ocean script in the little island of Oleai or Uleiai, 
one of the most westerly of the Caroline group. The 
chief, Egilimar, furnished a list of fifty-one characters, 
each of which represents a syllable. 
nection with any other well-known alphabets, the only 
other script known in the groups or islands of the 
Pacific being that of the Easter. Island tablets, which 
are ideographic. The Oleai syllabic script is a stage 
further than these in the development of an alphabet. 
The script is at present known only to five men on the 
islet : but it is probably a relic of a wide usage in the 
archipelago. A similar commercial script is that used 
in the island of Yap. This Oleai script is manifestly 
the product of long ages for the use of a highly 
organised community; in other words, it must have 
belonged to the ruling class of an empire of some 
extent that needed constant record of the facts of 
intercourse and organisation. 


Tue Commonwealth of Australia, in connection with 
the approaching visit of the British Association, has 
issued a ‘‘ Federal Handbook,’’ describing the con- 
tinent in its scientific and historical aspects. This 
book contains in a compressed, but readable, form 
more information than is elsewhere accessible. Among 
the more important articles may be noted that on 
history by Prof. Ernest Scott, on physical and general 
geography by Mr. Griffith Taylor, and a very useful 
account of the culture and beliefs of the aborigines 
by Prof. Baldwin Spencer. The book is at present 
issued only in a limited edition, and it may be hoped 
that it will be re-issued to meet the wants of a wider 
public. The value of a new edition would be increased 
by a more adequate supply of maps, that of Aus- 
tralasia in particular being on such a small scale, 
with the names printed in such small type, as to be 
of little use for practical purposes. 


A COLLECTION of fishes from the Rupununi River, 
British Guiana, is catalogued by Mr. H. W. Fowler 
in the April issue of the Proceedings of the Phil- 
adelphia Academy. A number of species are described 
as new, a few of which are referred to new genera or 
subgenera. 


THE second part of the first volume of the new 
series of the Transactions of the Vale of Derwent 
Naturalists’ Field Club contains one article by the 
president, Mr. R. S. Bagnall, on the woodlice of 
Northumberland and Durham, and a second on the 
centipedes and other myriapods of the Derwent Valley. 


SPECIES-BUILDING by hybridisation and mutation is 
the title of an article contributed by Prof. J. H. 
Gerould to the June number of the American Natural- 
ist. No evidence, it is urged, that species breed 
absolutely true on a large scale is at present forth- 
coming, and the assertion that hybrids between well- 
defined species are invariably infertile inter se is far 
from representing the true facts of the case. 


NG, 12322; )'ViCl. oa 


It has no con- 


NATURE 


| 


[Jury 9, 1914 
Mimicry and protective resemblance was the subject 
chosen by Mr. Rothschild for his presidential 
address at. the anniversary meeting of the Hert- 
fordshire Natural History Society, held at Watford on 
February 26. As reported in vol, xv., part 3, of the 
society’s Transactions, the president considers natural 
selection to be the only adequate explanation of the 
phenomenon. ‘‘If a variable species happens to occur 
together with one or. more species which are protected 
in some way, those individuals of the variable species 
more or less resembling the protected species have a 
greater chance of surviving and propagating than the 
individuals which are not similar to some protected 
form of animal. The result will be that in the course 
of generations the offspring will become more and 
more similar -to the mbddels, and the dissimilar 
examples will gradually be weeded out.” 


STUDENTS of invertebrate histology will find much 
to interest them in Miss Sophie Krasinska’s memoir, 
‘“ Beitrage zur Histologie der Medusen,”’ in a recent 
number of the Zeitschrift fiir wissenschaftliche 
Zoologie. (Bd. 109, Heft 2). Zoologists are accus- 
tomed to look upon the histological structure of the 
jelly-fish as of a very simple character, and, although 
the discovery is not a new one, it is surprising to find 
them provided with striated muscle fibres which seem 
to resemble so closely those of arthropods and verte- 
brates. The memoir is beautifully illustrated, and 
shows how much we may still hope to add to our 
knowledge of the microscopic structure of invertebrate 
animals by the application of modern methods of in- 
vestigation. 


A NEw series of blue books dealing with Fishery 
Investigations is now being issued by the Board of 
Agriculture and Fisheries. Series I. relates to salmon 
and freshwater fisheries, and vol. i. is now before us. 
It contains two reports by Dr. A. T. Masterman, of 
which the first is on investigations upon the salmon 
with special reference to age determination by the 
study of scales. The material examined consisted of 
records of salmon captured in the Wye in the nettings 
made by the Wye Fisheries Association, including 
special experimental nettings made during the close 
season. The most important data deal with the year 
I9gII, commencing in the month of April. The scales 
of a large number of fish were secured and were 


| specially studied from the point of view of age deter- 


mination. Dr. Masterman concludes that the majority 
of Wye smolts remain for two years in the river, but 
a small proportion remain three years. The scale 
may be used as a fairly accurate gauge of the age of 
individual fish up to and including the grilse stage, 
but is not available for estimation of the period of time 
spent in the river after the return of the fish. The 
author regards age estimates of spawned fish from the 
scales as being of very doubtful value. Dr. Master- 
man’s second report deals with observations on the 
smelt (Osmerus esperlanus). The scales of the smelt 
are specially suitable for age determination on account 
of the clear and definite arrangement of the ridges 
upon them, and the study of these scales is of con- 
siderable value in connection with the general question 


Jury 9, 1914] 


NATURE 


Ne eee ee 


of the trustworthiness of the method of age-determina- 
tion by means of scales. 


VoL. exxiii. of the Sitzungsberichte of the Vienna 


Academy of Sciences contains a paper presented on: 


March 26 by Dr. J. v. Hann on the daily range of 
meteorological elements at the Panama Canal, based 
on hourly or two-hourly. observations. made at 
several stations. The harmonic analysis of 
the data (pressure, temperature, and humidity) is 
preceded by tables of monthly and yearly means. The 
latter show that the highest mean temperature and 
lowest relative humidity occur in’ March and April, 
and the lowest temperature in November. From May 
to October the humidity is uniformly high, and 
especially so from January to April, while Colon. (on 
the Atlantic coast) is much damper. Rainfall in- 
creases from the Pacific to the Atlantic shore, January 
to March being very dry. The wettest months on the 
Pacific slope are May, October, and November; on 
the Atlantic coast July and October are wettest. With- 
out entering into detail here respecting the results of 
the laborious calculations entailed in computing the 
harmonic constituents, we may note that both the 
whole-day and half-day periods show that an increase 
of 10° C. in temperature corresponds to a decrease of 
about 36 per cent. in the relative humidity. Dr. v. 
Hann remarks that this relation between the two 
elements is exceedingly regular. 


Messrs. ISENTHAL AND Co. have produced an im- 
proved type of electrolytic rectifier. The older forms 
of the aluminium rectifier or ‘“‘valve”’ for converting 
alternating into continuous current were never very 
popular; trouble was experienced due to heating of the 
electrolyte, and the arrangement of the four cells, 
usually of glass, necessary for rectifying both half- 
waves of the alternating current, was not always a 
convenient one. In the new design the electrodes, 
which are in the form of grids protected from action 
of the electrolyte at the surface level of the liquid, are 
placed in a solid seamless steel tank, instead of in 
four separate glass vessels. The trouble due to tem- 
perature rise appears to have been overcome, and the 
whole apparatus is in a compact and workmanlike 
form. 


Tue Board of Trade has now issued a report on the 
new sight tests used in the Mercantile Marine. This 
report covers the period of April 1 to December 31, 
1913. An improved wool test in which the candidate 
has to match five colours, and a lantern test, were 
used. The cases of colour-blindness are divided into 
those definitely rejected by the local examiners and 
those referred for a special examination, the local 
examiner being doubtful. Of the 286 definitely 
rejected in the local examination 148 failed in both 
the lantern and the wool test, and 138 failed in the 
lantern test only; there was no failure with the wool 
test which passed the lantern test. Of the 286, 93 
appealed, 26 being successful. Of 125 referred cases, 
20 were referred on both the lantern and wools, 1o1 
on the lantern only, three on the wools only, and one 
on form vision as well. Of this number there were 
thirty failures; three of these were referred on both 


NO. 2332, VOL. 93] 


| vibration galvanometers. 


the lantern and wool test, twenty-six on the lantern 
only, and one on form vision as well. Those referred 
on the wool test alone were passed. 


In the April number of Le Radium, which has just 
reached us, Dr. C. Ramsauer, of the Radiographic 
Institute of the University of Heidelberg, describes a 
simple method of determining the amounts of radium, 
thorium, and actinium present in materials, even when 
the amounts are very small. The method consists in 
heating the materials to 1150° C, for four minutes, so 
as to drive out the radio-active emanations accumu- 
lated in the material, condensing it on a cold surface, 
and then studying the decay of activity of the material 
condensed. By a comparison of the decay curve with 
the decay curves obtained in the same way from the 
three radio-active substances separately, he finds he 
can deduce the quantities of the three present in the 
material tested with an accuracy of about 20 per cent. 
A test of the Kreuznach waters by this method led to 
a result in agreement with that previously obtained 
by the more accurate method of Becker which, how- 
ever, determines the radium content only. 


THE June number of the Proceedings of the Physical 
Society of London contains several papers of excep- 
tional interest. In the first instance, there is the 
Guthrie lecture by Prof. R. W. Wood, on his recent 
work on resonance spectra, which he hopes will do 
something towards unlocking the secret of molecular 
radiation. This lecture, which is the first given, is 


' very suitably introduced by a historical note from Prof. 


G. C. Foster relating to Prof. Guthrie, to whom the 
Physical Society owes its foundation. A second paper, 
by Dr. J. G. Gray, describes a number of new gyro- 
static devices for manoeuvring and stabilising a variety 
of moving bodies from torpedoes to airships. This 
paper is well illustrated. Mr. W. R. Bower shows 
that the problem of the rainbow may be treated by 
geometrical methods with great advantage, and Mr. 
S. Butterworth describes a zero method of testing 
In two papers on radio- 
active problems, Messrs. T. Barratt and A. B. Wood 


| furnish grounds for the belief that thorium-C. consists 


of two substances, one giving the o and the other the 
B radiation, and Messrs. H. P. Walmsley ‘and  W. 
Makower show that the path of an a particle projected 
along a photographic plate is visible on development, 
and may be used to study the scattering of the par- 
ticles by matter. Shits 


A PAPER dealing with the design of floats for hydro- 
aeroplanes has been issued from the recently reopened 
Langley Aerodynamical Laboratory, and relates to 
experiments carried out on models in the naval tank 
at Washington. The results confirm those obtained 
elsewhere, and show that the float requiring least 
power for leaving the water is one with a V-shaped 
bow. Such a bow sends up a remarkable sheet of 


| water which must be turned down again by the 


shoulder of the float if the best results are to be 
obtained. All the experiments were carried out with 
floats having a single step, and it is stated that the 


| step should be well ventilated; air was allowed access 


488 


NATURE 


[Jury 9, 1914 


to the step through one or two passages from the upper 
surface of the float, but without the assistance of cowls 
to increase the air pressure, an assistance which has 
been found advantageous in the case of experiments 
made elsewhere. Reference is also made in the paper 
to the pitching moments which arise when a float 
having a single step is used, and it is pointed out 
that whilst getting up speed the air controls are 
ineffective at first, and to reduce the period of lack of 
effective control it is proposed to put the step near 
to the centre of gravity. Certain disadvantages of 
another kind are thereby introduced, and for various 
reasons the above position has not yet been accepted 
as the best by all designers of hydro-aeroplanes. 


We have received from Washington a “ Classified 
List of Smithsonian Publications Available for Dis- 
tribution, April 25, 1914,” published by the Smith- 
sonian Institution. The papers included in the list 
are distributed gratis, except as otherwise indicated. 
Applicants for the publications are asked to state the 
grounds for their requests, as the institution is able 
to supply papers only as an aid to the researches or 
studies in which applicants are especially interested. 


Tue Congress of Naval Architects at Newcastle 
during the present week is marked in Engineering 
for July 3 by a number of articles descriptive of Tyne- 
side engineering and shipbuilding works. | Among 
these is a description of the appliances used in testing 
turbo-dynamos at the Heaton works of Messrs. Par- 
sons, the success of the Parsons turbine-driven electric 
machinery being largely a consequence of the experi- 
mental work carried out by aid of this installation, 
which now admits of extensive and accurate testing 
work being done. Provision is made for testing at 
full load for several hours continuously turbo-dynamos 
having an output of more than 3000 kw. There are 
three large water-tube boilers and one Lancashire 
boiler and a network of pipes arranged so that steam 
may be supplied to any of the numerous test-beds. A 
separately fired superheater is used, so that almost 
any desired degree of superheat can be obtained. 
There are two independent condensing plants. Two 
powerful Heenan and Froude water-brakes have been 
installed, with which geared turbines may be tested 
up to 3000 brake-horse-power. 


Tue eleventh volume of the Journal of the Institute 
of Metals has now been issued. The volume runs to 
437 pages, and is divided into three sections. The 
first contains minutes of proceedings, and is concerned 
largely with the annual meeting held in London last 
March. The presidential address by Sir Henry J. 
Oram, K.C.B., is printed in full, and the papers read 
at the annual meeting are also included, together with 
reports from the institute’s committees. The second 
section is made up of a valuable collection of abstracts 
of papers relating to the non-ferrous metals and the 
industries connected therewith. The third part con- 
tains the memorandum and articles of association and 
a list of members. The volume has been well edited 
by the secretary of the institute, Mr. G. S. Scott, and 
is published by the institute, Caxton House, West- 
minster, at the price of 215s. net. 


NOW 2332, VOL O83) 


OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 


A Faint NEw Comet (1ig14c).—A Kiel telegram, 
dated July 1, announces the discovery by Neujmin of 
a new comet on June 29 at 13h. 35-3 Simeis mean 
time. It is stated to be of magnitude 12, and its 
position is given as R.A. 18h. 5m, 24s., and declination 
12 oS. 

A further telegram from Kiel, dated July 2, gives 
Dr. Graff’s observation of this comet on July 1 at 
1th. 56-4m. Bergedorf mean time. Its magnitude is 
given at 12-5, and its position, R.A. 18h. 3m. 17-5s., 
and declination 12° 26’ 44” S. A supplement to the 
Astronomische Nachrichten (No. 4747) gives some fur- 
ther positions. Aitken and Tucker observed the object 
with the 36-in. refractor on July 1 at 12h. 13-1m. 
Mount Hamilton mean time, and gave the position 
RA. a8h. 2m. 52-5s., and declination® 12°21 20"sr 
Graff and Schorr on July 2, at 1th. 36-5 Bergedorf 
mean time, state the object to be of magnitude 12:5, 
and situated at R.A. 18h. 2m. 13-2s., and declination 
12° 12’ 53”. The comet is at present situated in the 
constellation of Serpens, and is a little south of Eta. 


OpposiITION OF EROS (433) THIS YEAR.—While the 
opposition of Eros, which will occur on September 18 
of the present year, is not a very favourable one as 
regards its distance from the earth, Prof. E. C. 
Pickering directs attention to the occasion for 
pursuing a photometric study (Harvard College 
Circular, No. 183), By the courtesy of Prof. 
Cohn, director of the  Recheninstitut, Prof. 
Pickering publishes the ephemeris and other data 
concerning this object from June 30 to the end of 
the year, to assist those making observations. The 
author publishes the interesting statement regarding 
a reduction now in hand of a large series of observa- 
tions made by the late Oliver C. Wendell, which has 
indicated a new fact in the photometry of asteroids. 
It appears that Eros in 1898 was more than a magni- 
tude fainter than in 1900. Similar changes occurred 
in other asteroids, as was shown in the case of 
Juno (3) (Har. Ann., xlvi., 201). When all the cor- 
rections are applied for distances from the sun and 
earth, for phase, and for variation due to rotation, 
another large source of variation is still apparent the 
cause of which is difficult to explain. Prof. 
Pickering emphasises this as an additional reason 
why observations both of the relative and absolute 
magnitude of Eros should be made this year. 


RECENT PUBLICATIONS OF THE ALLEGHENY OBSERVA- 
Tory.—Dr. Frank Schlesinger and Mr. Charles J: 
Hudson give the results of a preliminary investigation 
(vol. iii., No. 9) regarding the determination of star 
positions by means of a wide-angle camera. The 
object of the research was to find a method of charting 
stars which would overcome the difficulty of in- 
sufficient comparison stars; the employment of a 
wide-angle camera will permit of a larger area of the 
sky being photographed on one plate. So far as the 
investigation has gone, the doublet used is considered 
well adapted for cataloguing purposes, and it covers 
a field of 25 square degrees, as compared, for example, 
with the 4 square degrees in the case of the plates for 
the Astrographic Catalogue. In another number 
(vol. iii., No. 11) Dr. Schlesinger gives a description 
with two plates of a large serew-measuring engine 
designed for taking plates of all sizes up to 8x Io in., 
and adapted to the measurement of stellar and solar 
spectrograms, as well as ordinary celestial photo- 
graphs. The engine seems to have given great satis- 
faction, both for its convenience and accuracy of per- 
formance. Nos. 10 and 12 of the same publication 
give the orbits of the variable stars 18 Aquila and 


JuLY 9, 1914] 


88d Tauri respectively, the individual authors being 
Mr. F. C. Jordan and Mr. Zaccheus Daniel. 


THE VARIABLE SATELLITES OF JUPITER AND SATURN.—- 
Astronomische Nachrichten (No. 4741) is composed 
almost wholly of a long communication by Dr. P. 
Guthnick on the variable satellites of Jupiter and 
Saturn, treated as planetary analogies of variables of 
the 6 Cephei type. The photometric observations here 
discussed deal with the observations he has made since 
the end of the year 1904 at the Bothkamp, and later 
at the Berlin, Observatories. The satellites included 
the four old ones of Jupiter, and Enceladus, Tethys, 
Dione, Rhea, Titan, and Iapetus of Saturn, in all ten 
objects, measured with the Zoéllner photometer on re- 
fractors of 6-, 9-, and 11-in. aperture. Dr. Guthnick 
accompanies his paper with thirty-five curves of nine 
satellites, and compares them with each other. Among 
the deductions he draws may be mentioned that the 
inner satellites of both systems, Jupiter I. and II., 
Tethys and Dione, exhibit a principal maximum about 
the time of easterly elongation; in fact, all the light 
curves are very similar in their chief features. The 
outer satellites of both systems, Jupiter IV., and 
especially Iapetus, show, on the other hand, a very 
pronounced maximum in the neighbourhood of the 
westerly elongation. The middle satellites, Jupiter 
III., Rhea, and Titan, belong partly to the first and 
partly to the second group, or, in other words, exhibit 
an uncertain type. Dr. Guthnick refers at some 
length to the observations and deductions of Auwers, 
Engelmann, Pickering, Searle, Upton, Wirtz, etc., 
and gives some interesting tables, including one dis- 
playing the mean brightnesses at opposition, values of 
the albedo, masses and densities of the satellites of 
Jupiter and Saturn. 


THIRD INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF 
TROPICAL AGRICULTURE: 


gts congress opened at the Imperial Institute on 

Tuesday, June 23, and sat daily, except on 
Saturday and Sunday, until Tuesday, June 30. The 
number of Governments and societies represented by 
delegates were forty-two and forty respectively, and 
the total number of members and delegates was about 
four hundred. In these respects and also as regards 
the number and quality of the papers read, the London 
Congress showed a very great advance on the previous 
congresses, held in Paris and Brussels. 


Education and Research in Tropical Agriculture. 


Perhaps the most interesting tendency exhibited by 
those who read papers and took part in the discussions 
was that of insisting on the necessity for a better 
organisation of education and research in tropical 
agriculture. This note was struck in Prof. Dunstan’s 
presidential address, but it was particularly satisfac- 
tory to hear it not only from a man of science such as 
the president, but also at meetings afterwards from 
practical planters and manufacturers, and from men 
who have held high administrative posts in the tropical 
colonies. The necessity for higher education in 
tropical agriculture was felt so strongly, that at its 
concluding meeting. the congress passed unanimously 
a resolution instructing the general committee of the 
congress to cooperate with the London committee, 
which is now promoting the establishment of a higher 
Agricultural College in the British tropics. 

On the question of better provision for research in 
tropical agriculture, the congress contented itself with 
appointing a committee to collect. precisé: information 
regarding the organisation, work, and cost of agri- 
cultural departments in the tropics, with a view to 


Noen2332, VOL. 93 | 


NATURE 


489 


more definite recommendations being made at a future 
congress. 


A British Institute of Tropical Agriculture. 

Closely connected with these questions of education 
and research is that of providing a permanent organi- 
sation to promote and safeguard the interests of those 
engaged in the higher branches of tropical agricul- 
tural work, and the congress cordially endorsed the 
suggestion made in the president’s address that a 
British Institute of Tropical Agriculture should be 
founded. At the concluding meeting a resolution in- 
structing the general committee of the congress to 
take the action necessary to this end, was adopted 
unanimously. 


Social and Economic Questions. 


The social and economic problems which arise in 
the practice of tropical agriculture are even more 
difficult and complex than those with which everyone 
in this country is familiar in connection with the home 
agricultural industry. The Brussels Congress gave 
special attention to the question of the supply of native 
labour in the tropics, and the reports on this subject 
collected for that congress are now in the press. The 
London Congress discussed two problems of this kind, 
viz., ‘‘Agriculturai Credit Banks and Cooperative 
Societies,’ and ‘‘ Sanitation on Tropical Estates.’ Sir 
Horace Plunkett took the chair at the former dis- 
cussion, and a very interesting paper was read by 
Sir James Douie, giving an account of his experience 
of the working of such banks and societies in India, 
and more particularly in the Panjab. This formed the 
basis of a discussion which terminated in the adoption 
of a resolution by the congress to collect information 
and prepare a report on the working of such banks 
and societies in tropical countries. A paper on tropical 
hygiene and plantation work in the Federated Malay 
States, by Dr. Sansom and Mr. F. D. Evans, formed 
the basis of the second discussion, at which Sir Ronald 
Ross presided. In this case also the congress decided 
to appoint a committee to collect information and 
prepare a report, on the preventive measures possible 
against ankylostomiasis, cholera, dysentery, malaria, 
smallpox, and other diseases prevalent amongst native 
labourers on tropical estates. 

On the same morning the congress also discussed 
the relation of the Phytopathological Convention of 
Rome to tropical agriculture, on a paper read by Mr. 
A. G. L. Rogers, of the Board of Agriculture. A 
considerable number of entomologists and mycologists 
working in agricultural departments in the tropics 
were present, and some of them were of opinion that 
the convention was not altogether suitable for adoption 
in the tropics. The discussion on this. subject was 
resumed at the concluding meeting of the congress on 
a motion by Mr. E. E. Green (late of Ceylon) and Dr. 
Gough, of the Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture, that 
the congress should appoint a committee to consider 
how far the proposals in question are applicable to 
tropical countries, and on the suggestion of M. 
Brenier, of Indo-China, a rider was added to this 
motion that the Government delegates present should 
communicate this resolution to their Governments as 
soon as possible. 

An interesting discussion also took place on a motion 
by Sir James Wilson and Sir Sydney Olivier on the 
subject of the support of the International Institute 
of Agriculture at Rome by tropical countries, in which 
a large number of members took part. A resolution 
was finally adopted, by which the congress decided to 
ask the committee of the congress to consider the 
whole question of cooperation with the International 
Institute of Agriculture. 


490 


Technical Problems. 

The tropical crops which chiefly claimed the atten- 
tion of the congress were rubber and cotton, one day 
being devoted wholly to the former and one and a half 
days to the latter. A good deal of discussion took 
place with regard to the alleged variation in the 
properties and quality of plantation Para rubber. The 
discussion made it clear that at present each manu- 
facturer seems to have set up for himself an empirical 
standard of quality for plantation rubber, and that it is 
very desirable that some generally accepted standard 
should be adopted. A number of papers on the cul- 
tivation of Ceara, Castilloa, and other rubber-yielding 
species in various countries were also read, and 
Messrs. Petch and Green contributed interesting and 
useful papers on the tapping of Hevea and on the 
insect pests of Hevea respectively. 

A series of papers on cotton was read dealing with 
almost every phase of this important subject, such as 
the breeding of new cottons, the selection of cotton- 
seed, the technical qualities which manufacturers re- 
quire in new cottons, the methods of investigating 
cottons, and so on. One of the most interesting con- 
tributions on cotton was that by Lord Kitchener 
describing the successful reclamation of a large area 
of salt land in the Egyptian delta and its utilisation 
for cotton growing. Equally useful was the address 
delivered by Mr. Harcourt, Secretary of State for the 
Colonies, describing the work of the Imperial Insti- 
tute, the British Cotton Growing Association, the 
Colonial Departments of Agriculture and other bodies, 
which under the direct control of the Colonial Office, 
or with its active sympathy and support, now further 
in every possible way the cultivation of cotton within 
the Empire. 

The various subjects alluded to above occupy such 
an important place in every tropical country that a 
large proportion of the time of the congress was 
devoted to them, but time was also found for the 
discussion of a number of subjects which are of special 
importance to certain countries. Thus Prof. Carmody, 
of Trinidad, contributed a most interesting account of 
the experiments on cocoa cultivation and preparation 
now in progress in that island, and useful contributions 
on this subject were also made by Messrs. Johnson, 
Tudhope, van Hall, Booth and Knapp, and others. 

Wheat is as yet scarcely regarded as a tropical crop, 
and Mr. A. E. Humphries’s paper on the possibilities 
of wheat production in the tropics, no less than that 
of M. Baillaud on the wheats of Tunis and Algeria, 
was a revelation to many members of the congress 
of new and unsuspected areas suitable for wheat cul- 
tivation. 

Herr Hupfeld’s paper on the oil palm in the German 
colonies was another contribution of which special 
mention may be made, since it gave an authentic 
account of the actual operation of European machinery 
in West Africa in the extraction of palm oil, an innova- 
tion which is likely to revolutionise this immense 
industry, which has hitherto been conducted by natives 
using most primitive and wasteful methods. 

In conclusion mention may be made of the hos- 
pitality extended to the members and delegates. H.M. 
Government gave a dinner to the foreign delegates 
and a reception for all the members and delegates on 
the evening of June 23. Both these functions took 
place at the Imperial Institute. On Saturday, June 
27, a selected party of members and delegates was 
invited by the Duke of Bedford to visit the Woburn 
Experimental Farm, and by the Lawes Agricultural 
Trust to visit Rothamsted. The party exhibited great 
interest in the experiments in progress at both stations, 
which were explained to them by Mr. S. U. Pickering 


NOL 2232 WOLTOsl 


NATURE 


[JuLy 9, 1914 


and Dr. Russell. A party also visited Kew on the 
same day on the invitation of Sir David Prain. During 
the week receptions were held by the Royal Geo- 
graphical Society, the Royal Colonial Institute, and 
the Rubber Growers’ Association, all of which were 
largely attended by members and delegates of the 
congress. 


INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION FOR 
SCIENTIFIC RADIO-TELEGRAPHIC 
RESEARCHES. 


oe idea of forming an International Commission 
for the scientific study of questions relating to 
wireless telegraphy arose from a conversation between 
Prof. Schmidt and Mr. Goldschmidt, at the Inter- 
national Time Conference in Paris in 1912. Repre- 
sentatives from various countries held a meeting in 
Brussels in October, 1913, at which a provisional com- 
mittee was appointed and the general lines of the 
scheme for the organisation of the working were 
drawn up. 
power station at Laeken, near Brussels, radio- 
telegraphic emissions at regular intervals, and that 
these emissions should be observed and measured by 
experimenters in Belgium and in other countries. 

The commission held a sitting on April 6 at 
Brussels, under the presidency of Mr. Duddell, at 
which the commission was constituted definitely. The 
results already obtained were discussed and arrange- 
ments made for future experiments. 

National committees, which formed part of the 
organisation of the International Commission, have 
been constituted in Belgium, France, and Great 
Britain. In Germany, many stations have agreed to 
receive the signals, and a more complete organisation 
will be formed soon. National committees are also 
in course of formation in Austria, Russia, Italy, 
Switzerland, etc. 

At the last meeting it was decided to cooperate so 
far as possible with the work of the Committee for 
Radio-telegraphic Investigation of the British Asso- 
ciation, and the scope of the work was set out. 

A demonstration of the methods 6f emission and 
measurement in use at the high-power station at 
Laeken, Brussels, took place before the commission, 
and reports were read on changes that had been made 
and on future alterations. The improvements con- 
sisted mainly in the use of a new spark-gap having 
a great damping, and in increasing the extent of the 
antenna and of the amount of energy radiated. 

Arguing from a comparison of the signals received 
from Brussels, Norddeich, and Paris, Prof. Wien 
pointed out that there appeared to be difficulties with 
the present spark circuit, and he expressed the wish 
that tests should be made with the continuous-wave 
system. The commission decided that a small high- 
frequency alternator should be acquired, considering 
that larger machines are not developed sufficiently 
yet to warrant the expense. 

Reports were read on the photographic registration 
of signals and other subjects. The reports led to a 
discussion on the strength of the signals received at 
the various receiving stations, and the commission 
expressed the wish that the experimenters should send 
in, with the results of their experiments, the char- 
acteristics of their antenna, and that, whenever pos- 
sible, they should employ photographic registration. 

Mr. Duddell read a paper with regard to the 
methods and instruments to be employed at the 
different stations, and other communications were 
dealt with. 


It was decided to send out from the high- : 


TOK AG - 


So OP ae 


Juty 9, 1914] 


The officers of the commission, provisionally elected 
at the first meeting, were confirmed as follows :— 
President, Mr. Duddell; vice-president, Mr. Wien; 
general secretary, Mr. Goldschmidt; assistant secre- 
tary, Mr. R. Braillard. 


THE RESEARCH DEFENCE... SOCIETY. 


HE annual general meeting of the Research 
Defence Society was held last week at the Royal 
Society of Medicine. About 160 persons were present, 
among them Sir William Osler, Sir John Tweedy, Sir 
David Ferrier, Prof. Cushny, Sir James Reid, Sir 
Charles Dalrympie, Sir John Brunner, Sir Hugh Bell, 
and Sir Francis Champneys. Expressions of regret for 
non-attendance were received from Mr. Waldorf Astor, 
Mr. Arthur Balfour, Lord Bath, the Dean of Canter- 
bury, Lord Hugh Cecil, Lord Cromer, Sir Francis 
Darwin, Lord Faber, Lord Farrer, Bishop Frodsham, 
Mr. Walter Guinness, Lord Claud Hamilton, Sir John 
Prescott Hewett, Lord Kilmorey, Sir Norman Lockyer, 
Mr. Walter Long, Prof. Howard Marsh, Lord North- 
brook, Sir Gilbert Parker, Sir Frederick Pollock, Sir 
William Ramsay, Lord Rayleigh, Sir Henry Roscoe, 
Lord Salisbury, Lord Sheffield, Sir Edgar Speyer, the 
Bishop of Stepney, Sir Frederick Treves, and Mr. 
Henry S. Wellcome. The chair was taken by the 
president, Lord Lamington. 

Lord Knutsford, chairman of committee, presented 
the reports of the society. He referred to the Dogs 
Protection Bill, pointing out that such a Bill might 
have prevented the discovery of a cure for distemper ; 
and he directed attention to the educational work of 
the society. ‘‘We are trying, trying, to make the 
truth understood.” 

The president then gave his address. After a refer- 
ence to his predecessors in office, Lord Cromer and 
the late Sir David Gill, ‘‘Our society,” he said, ‘‘is 
really a protecting guard for science, in its noblest 
form, against those who, whilst we can respect their 
feelings and desires, are led by their emotions rather 
than by their reason.’’ We should look around, to 
see what other nations were doing. All nations were 
engaged in research involving experiments on animals, 
and that, in most instances, without any legal restric- 
tion. ‘‘That is a system of which I am sure this 
country would not approve. Our desire is to reduce 
human and animal suffering, and on no account to 
encourage any practice which could possibly tend to 
permit callousness or indifference to the pain suffered 
by others. I cannot help thinking that it is this idea 
which is at the back of the mind of anti-vivisectionists : 
it is the dislike of seeing human beings engaged in 
any undertaking involving pain, and the fear of its 
thereby hardening or debasing human character. It 
is not merely the fact of pain being inflicted upon the 
animal, but the fear of the reactive effect on the mind 
of the person who inflicts the pain. For instance, we 
should term a farmer, who chose a pet lamb to be 
killed, rather than one out of his flock, a man of 
brutal character; yet the pain to the animal would be 
alike in either case.”’ 

Speaking of pain in the animal world, ‘‘I may be 
wrong,” he said, ‘‘but I am honestly convinced that 
it is not physical pain that causes the greatest amount 
of suffering to animals; it is when their instinct of 
self-preservation takes alarm that they suffer. Any- 
one who has seen wounded wild animals must have 
noticed how, when unalarmed, they appear indifferent 
to their wounds. It is only when their instinct of self- 
preservation is aroused, and they become aware of 
their disablement, that they seem to suffer... . 

‘“T wish here to say, most emphatically, that the 
chief business of our society is not mere fighting. It 


NO. 2332, VOL. 93]| 


NATURE 


491 


is the quiet, steady educating of public opinion as to 
the true character and method of experiments on 
animals in this country, and the great advantages 
which these experiments give, not only to human life, 
but to the life and health of the higher domestic 
animals.’’ 

A vote of thanks was proposed by Sir Reginald 
Talbot, seconded by Dr. Sandwith. After the meeting, 
there was a demonstration with the kinematograph of 
living germs of cholera, typhoid, sleeping sickness, 
eles 


DHE, SYNTHETIC POWER ..OF 
PROTOPLASM.} 


PrOM the point of view of the biological chemist 

the phenomena of life are manifestations of inter- 
actions of colloidal and crystalline materials in a 
peculiarly organised solution; over and above this 
every form of protoplasm, existent in any organism, 
is stereochemically ordered in specific relationship to 
that organism, so that the products of synthesis have 
an impressed structure and manifest optical activity. 
It has been suggested by Prof. Armstrong that the 
protoplasmic complex may be regarded as built up of 
a series of associated templates which serve as patterns 
against which change takes place in the various 
directions necessary for the maintenance of vital pro- 
cesses. This view is based on the well-known rela- 
tionship between an enzyme and its hydrolyte; the 
synthetic enzymes, it may be supposed, serve as pat- 
terns for the elaboration of complex materials of 
definite pattern from the simple units. 

In speculating on the origin of organic life from 
inorganic material Prof. B. Moore has ignored this 
stereochemical aspect of the question. His use of the 
well-known synthesis of formaldehyde from carbon 
dioxide and water in presence of an inorganic catalyst 
—in his case a colloid—can lead only to optically 
inactive material, and there is no justification even 
for the mention of the term life until evidence of 
directed synthesis is adduced. 

The stereochemical hypothesis enunciated has been 
advocated by Prof. Reichert, of Pennsylvania, in his 
researches on haemoglobin, in which he showed that 
this substance is modified in specific relationship to 
genus and species. He now extends the hypothesis 
to the study of starch, expecting that the peculiarities 
of the protoplasm in different species of plants will 
occasion the formation of different types of starch. 
The variations in the starch granule with origin are, 
of course, well known, and they are of industrial 
importance. They are now shown to be absolutely 
diagnostic in relation to the plant and to constitute 
a strictly scientific basis for the classification of plants. 
In addition to recording the microscopic characters 
of the starches an attempt has been made on a large 
scale to characterise them chemically, and although 
these tests are admittedly crude and leave much to 
be desired, they do mark a great advance in the 
treatment of the subject. 

It may be regarded as established that starches of 
different origin vary both visibly and in chemical pro- 
perties; moreover, plants of closely’ allied species 
contain starches with similar properties, and 
it is logical that such variations must be 
attributed to the differences of protoplasmic influence 
under which the starch granules are formed. It must 
not be overlooked, however, that starch granules are 
made up of three kinds of substances, namely, the true 

1 “ The Differentiation and Specificity of Starches in Relation to Genera, 
Species, etc.” Stereochemistry Applied to Protoplasmic Processes and 
Products, and as a Strictly Scientific Basis for the Classification of Plants 


and Animals. By Prof. F. ‘1. Reichert. In two parts. Pp. xvii+goo+roz 
plates. (Washington, D.C.: Carnegie Institution of Washington, 1913 ) 


492 


starch degradable to maltose, which forms the bulk of 
the granule, amylocellulose or amylopectin, and a 
small proportion of carbohydrate, possibly crystalline, 
soluble in cold water. It is probable that these are 
present in different proportions in the various starches, 
and so give rise to such differences as Reichert has 
observed. 

Some valuable observations on the characters of 
hard and tender barleys, published H. C. A. Vine in 
the Journal of the Institute of Brewing, may be men- 
tioned in this connection. A barley corn may contain 
starch granules of all sizes, the variation being due 
to the conditions under which it develops. Mal- 
nutrition of barley leads to a high ratio of small 
starch granules which are more resistant to enzyme 
action, to moisture, and to heat than the normal 
mature granules. Those granules which have the 
more favourable position in the enclosing cell are 
able to appropriate a large proportion of the nutriment 
supplied by the protoplasm, and so become normal 
large starch granules, each consisting of many layers 
containing much granulose, tender and readily acted 
upon. 

Similar observations were made by the writer some 
years back when it was pointed out that there is 
considerable variation in the proportion of large to 
small granules in wheat starch. Those types of flour 
which are the best for certain purposes contain the 
greatest proportion of large granules, the property 
being quite characteristic. 

Hence it would seem that, over and above species 
variation, differences due to environment and nurture 
may appear in the starches, and it is possible that 
the further study of such a substance as starch may 
provide material for the solution of many vexed 
problems. 

In addition to the detailed account of the tests 
applied to each starch, which are recorded also in 
the form of a curve which is shown to be character- 
istic for each individual, Prof. Reichert includes in 
his book a beautiful series of photomicrographs taken 
in ordinary and polarised light. These enhance very 
materially the value of the work, although they must 
have increased greatly the cost of publication. The 
author has further been at pains to. summarise at 
some length previous work on starch, both on the 
chemical and on the botanical side. His account is a 
valuable one if only.as showing how much uncertainty 
exists at present in the knowledge of starch and its 
transformations. HD. oye 


TRANSPIRATION IN PLANTS. 


ewe paper by Sir Francis Darwin (Proceedings 
of the Royal Society, B, vol. Ixxxvii.) mark an 
important advance in the study of the process of trans- 
piration in plants. Hitherto, although transpiration 
is perhaps more directly under the rule of external 
physical conditions than any other physiological func- 
tion of plants, there has been no complete experimental 
demonstration of the relation ‘between the loss of 
water-vapour from leaves and the relative humidity of 
the air or of the effect on transpiration of variation 
in the illumination to which the leaf is subjected. 
These lacunz are due to the fact that transpiration 
depends largely on the opening and closing of the 
stomata, the aperture of which varies in area with 
varying external conditions. To eliminate from the 
problem the varying stomatal aperture, the author 
blocks the stomata by smearing the leaf with cocoa- 
fat or vaseline, and then makes incisions which place 
the intercellular spaces in communication with the 
atmosphere; by measuring the thickness of the leaf 
and making incisions of a certain total length, the 


NO, 2232, Wil Gal 


NATURE © 


[Jury 9, 1914 \ 


area thus exposed is made to correspond with the area 
of the stomatal apertures under ordinary conditions. 
By using this ingenious method, the author finds that 
the line joining the abscissze representing the trans- — 
piration for different degrees of atmospheric humidity 
is practically straight, but that the transpiration begins 
at about 5 per cent. above saturation, and from calcu- 
lation of the vapour pressures at saturation and this 
degree of supersaturation, it appears that the internal — 
temperature of the leaf which can distil off vapour in 
saturated air is about 1° C. above that of the air, this 
increased temperature being attributable to respira- 
tion. 

The second paper gives the results obtained by 
applying this method to the investigation of the effect 
of light on transpiration. In April the transpiration 
of ivy was the same in diffused daylight and in dark- 
ness, while a month later the transpiration in light 
was double that in darkness, but the average ratio for 
transpiration in light and darkness was 135 : 100, 
though between May 14 and June 16 the laurel gave 
an average 150: 100, The cause of the increased 
reaction fo illumination in early summer as compared 
with spring is not completely explained, the author 
having no evidence as to whether the increased per- 
meability of the leaves to water is a periodic effect, or 
connected with the age of the leaf, or with the bright- 
ness of the summer sky, as compared with illumina- 
tion earlier in the year. 


THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL 
SOCIETY. 


a te annual general meeting of the American 
Philosophical Society was held in Philadelphia 
on April 23-25 inclusive, when numerous papers em- 
bodying the results of original researches were read. 
It is possible here to refer only to the more important 
and to those of wide scientific interest. 

The president, Dr. William W. Keen, was in the 
chair at the opening meeting, and among the papers 
presented was one on the segregation of ‘‘unit 
characters”’ in the zygote of GEnothera with twin and 
triplet hybrids in the first generation, by Prof. G. F. 
Atkinson, Cornell University. The segregation of 
several distinct hybrid types in the first generation 
of a cross between two species is a rare phenomenon. 
In Prof. Atkinson’s experimental studies, the two 
parents are Ctnothera nutans and CE. pycnocarpa, wild 
species of the evening primrose in the vicinity of 
Ithaca, N.Y. They differ by more than thirty easily 
recognisable contrast pairs of ‘‘unit characters,”’ or, 
in terms of the ‘‘presence and absence’’ hypothesis, 
there are more than sixty ‘‘factors’’ or recognisable 
characters which meet in the fertilised egg of the 
cross between the two parents. These characters 
relate to the habit and colour of the adults, features © 
of the rosettes, foliage, and inflorescence. When 
pycnocarpa is the mother, two distinct hybrid types — 
are segregated in the first generation, and have been 
brought to maturity. These are ‘‘twin hybrids.” 
When nutans is the mother, the same twin hybrids 
appear, and, in addition, a triplet which at present is 
in the rosette stage. 

The analysis of the hybrids shows a distinct linking 
or association of certain characters. Examples of this 
linking of characters are as follows :—First, habit 
characters; secondly, colour characters; thirdly, petal 
characters; fourthly, broadness and toothedness of 
rosette leaves; fifthly, narrowness and cutness of 
rosette leaves; sixthly, crinkledness, convexity, and 
red-veinedness of rosette leaves; seventhly, plainness, 
furrowedness, and white-veinedness of rosette leaves. 

The following hypotheses are considered :—(1) De 


Jory 9, 1914] 


Vries’s hypothesis of twin hybrids from mutating 
species; (11) theory of a differential division in the 
zygote; and (iii) the reaction theory. 

A paper on the vegetation of the Sargasso Sea was 
contributed by Prof. W. G. Farlow, of Harvard Uni- 
versity. The Sargasso Sea is characterised by the 
scattered masses of gulf weed which float on the 
surface of the ocean in patches from 50 to 1oo ft. in 
diameter. Some consider that the gulf weed, Sar- 
gassum bacciferum, is merely a mass of sterile 
branches of some species of Sargassum, which grows 
attached in the region of the West Indies, and truits. 
Others believe that in its present floating form it is 
a distinct species which has lost the power of fruiting 
and increases only by offshoots. In recent years the 
species of Sargassum growing in different parts of the 
West Indies have been studied, and a comparison with 
the floating gulf weed shows that mixed with it are 
found fragments of at least two species known to grow 
in the West Indies. In only one instance has there 
been found mixed with the gulf weed a seaweed which 
must have come, not from the American coast, but 
from Africa or southern Europe. There is reason to 
think that the gulf weed is derived from some Sar- 
gassum growing in the West Indies, fragments of 
which are carried by the Gulf Stream to the Sargasso 
Sea. 

On April 24 a paper on phase changes produced by 
high pressures was read by Mr. P. W. Bridgman, of 
Harvard University. Pressures as high as 30,000 or 
40,000 kgm. per sq. cm. were employed. Examina- 
tion of the melting of a number of liquids over a wide 
pressure range has shown that the theories hitherto 
proposed do not hold at high pressures. So far as 
can be judged the melting curve continues to rise 
indefinitely, so that a liquid may be frozen by the 
application of sufficient pressure, no matter how high 
the temperature. A number of results are also ob- 
tained for the reversible transition from one crystal- 
line form to another. Several new solid forms have 
been obtained; of particular interest are the new forms 
of ice which are denser than water. In addition to 
these changes, which are completely reversible, one 
example has been found of an irreversible reaction 
produced by high pressure; yellow phosphorus may be 
changed by 12,000 kgm. and 200° to a modification 
in appearance like graphite, which is 15 per cent. 
more dense than the densest red phosphorus. 

Prof. R. A. Millikan, of the University of Chicago, 
read a paper on some new tests of quantum theory 
and a direct determination of h. It has been known 
for twenty-five years that when light of sufficiently 
short wave-length fails upon a metal, it has the power 
of ejecting electrons from that metal. It has been 
known for seven years that the kinetic energy 
possessed by the electrons thus ejected is larger the 
higher the frequency of the light which ejects them. 
Whether or not the energy of ejection is directly pro- 
portionate to frequency has been a matter of some 
uncertainty. Prof. Millikan’s work furnishes proof 
that there is exact proportionality between the energy 
of the ejected electrons and the frequency of the light 
which ejects them, and that the factor of proportion- 
ality between the energy of the ejected electrons and 
the frequency of the incident light is the same quantity 
as the fundamental constant which appears in Planck’s 
theory of the discontinuous or explosive character of 
all radiant energy of the electromagnetic type. This 
constant is known as Planck’s h, and its value is 
directly determined with an error which does not 
exceed I per cent. 


Dr. Charles F. Brush, of Cleveland, discussed ‘tA 
Kinetic Theory of Gravitation : (1) Gravitation is Due 
to Intrinsic Energy of the A®ther; (2) Transmission of 


NO. 2332, VOL. 93] 


NATURE 


ao 3 


’ 


Gravitation cannot be Instantaneous.’’ He employs 
illustrations to show that the energy acquired by fail- 
ing bodies has some external source, and that it must 
be etherial energy or energy of space; and he holds 
that the term “ potential energy of position,’’ as applied 
to a system of gravitating bodies, implies the energy- 
endowed ether as a necessary part of the system. As 
a corollary, he explains how bodies falling toward 
each other by reason of their mutual attraction, and 
thus accelerating—that is to say, absorbing energy from 
the wther—cannot rigidly obey Newton’s law of in- 
verse squares of distance. In the second division of 
the paper the premises from which Laplace drew his 
famous conclusion that gravitation is transmitted with 
infinite, or virtually infinite, velocity, are described, a 
dogma which, said Dr. Brush, ‘‘for more than a 
century has blocked the path of fruitful thought on 
the physics of gravitation.’’ It is concluded that, even 
if the velocity of transmission is no. greater than that 
of light, the moon’s mean motion will be retarded a 
very few seconds of are only, in a century; and the 
retardation will be correspondingly less if the velocity 
is greater than that of light. This retardation, of 
course, adds to the unexplained acceleration, if any, 
of the moon’s motion; but the author further hopes 
that this retardation, plus the outstanding accelera- 
tion, will be explained by a particular deviation from 
Newton’s law described. 

Prof. W. Duane, of Harvard University, presented a 
contribution on highly radio-active solutions. The 
advantage in using these solutions in studying the 
effects produced on tissues is that after injection 
the radio-active substances come into intimate contact 
with the tissues, and thus the full power of the alpha 
rays is utilised. If a solution of radium itself is in- 
jected, the process is not only costly, but dangerous, 
on account of the long life of the radium. The solu- 
tions do not have these objections, for the radium is 
not wasted in producing the solutions, and the activity 
lasts for only a short time. If the injection is made 
subcutaneously, a large fraction of the activity remains 


in the neighbourhood of the point of  injec- 
tion, and the rest is carried off in the lymph 
and blood streams. The rapidity with which 
the activity gets into circulation is astonish- 


ing. A drop of blood taken from another part of the 
body only a few seconds after the injection is more 
radio-active than carnotite or pitchblende ores. It 
would seem that this might prove to be a delicate 
method of studying the flow of fluid through the 
tissues. On making tests by means of the gamma 
rays an hour or an hour and a half after the injection 
it was found that there was very little activity in the 
brain and lungs, but that there was a tendency for 
the substances to deposit out in the liver, spleen, and 
kidneys. 

‘“‘The Relations of Isostasy to a Zone of Weakness 
—the Asthenosphere,’’ was the subject of a paper by 
Prof. J. Barrell, of Yale University. The mass of 
every mountain tends to deflect the plumb-line slightly, 
so that the measured latitude and longitude of any 
locality will differ as it is determined by triangulation 
or by astronomic determination of the point in which 
the observed vertical pierces the celestial sphere. But 
Hayford has shown that the deflections of the vertical 
are actually only one-tenth of the deflections calculated 
as due to the terrestrial relief. This is a quantative 
test of the degree of isostasy. Dynamically it implies 
a state of flotation of the crust upon the inner earth 
analogous to the flotation of an iceberg in the ocean. 
Yet the earth as a whole is known to be as rigid as 
steel; the nature of earthquake vibrations transmitted 
through the earth shows it to be solid throughout and 
more incompressible and rigid at great depths than 
near the surface. How, then, shall the geodetic 


494 


evidence poinung toward a general flotation of the 
crust near to equilibrium be reconciled with this other 
evidence of great rigidity and strength? It has been 
supposed that a mobile zone may explain the apparent 
contradiction, but the necessity of postulating such a 
zone becomes greater as the accumulated evidence of 
weakness on one hand, of strength on the other, 
diverges more and more. By means of a study of the 
areas of the surface loads and their degree of depar- 
ture from isostatic equilibrium this zone is located far 
deeper than other estimates have placed it, the level 
of minimum strength being thought to lie as much 
as 150 to 200 miles deep. The maximum strength is 
probably at a depth of ten to twenty miles, and falls 
off rapidly below. 

“The Geologic and Biologic Results of a Study 
of the Tertiary Floras of South-eastern North 
America’’ were presented by Prof. E. W. Berry, of 
Johns Hopkins University. The results of many years of 
study of the rich Tertiary floras of south-eastern North 
America were announced for the first time. Their 
botanical relationships and their bearing on the evolu- 
tion of types and upon geographical distribution were 
summarised. The studies have afforded for the first 
time fossil floras of fixed stratigraphic position for 
comparison with the floras of the Rocky Mountain 
province on the border between the Cretaceous and 
Tertiary, the age of which has caused much con- 
troversy. They also afford means for correlation with 
the type of section of the Paris basin. 

During the afternoon of April 24 a portrait of the 
late Dr. S. P. Langley, who was a former vice- 
president, was presented to the society by Dr. C. Adler 
on behalf of a number of members. On April 25 the 
following new members were elected as the result of 
balloting,—Mr. C. G. Abbot, Washington; Dr. J. W. 
Bright, Baltimore; Dr. B. M. Davis, Philadelphia ; 
Dr.,T. McCrae, Philadelphia; Dr. W. D. Matthew, 
New York; Dr. A. G. Mayer, Washington; Dr. 
5:2 J-, Meltzer, (News: York« Dr, J..iC) Merceaan 
Berkeley, Cal.; Prof. R. A. Millikan, Chicago; Prof. 
W. A. Noyes, Urbana, Ill.; Dr. Stewart Paton, 
Princeton; Dr. R. M. Pearce, jun., Philadelphia; Dr. 
P. C. Ricketts, Troy; Dr. Harold A. Wilson, F.R.S., 
Houston; Dr. F. E.° Wright, Washington; Dr. 
Shibasaburo Kitasato, Tokyo; Prof. H. Kamerlingh 
Onnes, Leyden; and Dr. Vito Volterra, Rome. 

At the concluding session of the meeting a medallion 
portrait of the late Sir Joseph D. Hooker was un- 
veiled by Prof. W. G. Farlow, of Harvard University. 


A-RAYS AND CRYSTALLINE 
STROCTURE.» 

qawo years have gone by since Dr. Laue made his 
surprising discovery of the interference effects 
accompanying the passage of X-rays through crystals. 
The pioneer experiment has opened the way for many 
others, and a very large amount of work, theoretical 
and practical, has now been done. As the preliminary 
exploration of the new country has proceeded our 
first estimate of its resources has grown continuously ; 
we have learnt many things which help us to a better 
understanding of phenomena already familiar, and 
we have seen avenues of inquiry open out before us 
which as yet there has been little time to follow. 
The work is full of opportunities for exact quantita- 
tive measurement, where precision is sure to bring its 
due reward. There is enough work in sight to absorb 
the energies of many experimenters, and there is sure 
to be far more than we can see. When we consider 
the wideness of the new field, the quality and quan- 
tity of the work to be done in it, and the importance 


1 Discourse delivered at the Royal Institution on June 5 by Pro® W. H. 
Bragg, F R.S. 


NOW :23 32, VOL. ©3)| 


NATURE 


| irreconcilable 


[JuLy 9, 19144) 


of the issues, we are scarcely guilty of over-statement 


| if we say that Laue’s experiment has led to the 


development of a new science. 

The experiment itself—to put it very briefly—con-— 
stitutes a proof that X-rays consist of extremely short 
zther waves. In order to appreciate the value of this 
demonstration, we must bear in mind the present 
conditions of our knowledge of the laws of radiation 
in general. 
whole matter stood when the new work was begun. 

When X-rays were first discovered eighteen years 
ago it was soon pointed out that they might consist 
of electromagnetic disturbance of the zther analogous 
to those supposed to constitute light. It was true 
that the new rays seemed to be incapable of reflec- 
tion, refraction, diffraction and interference which 
were familiar optical phenomena. But it was pointed 
out by Schuster. (Nature, January 23,. 1896) 
that these defects could be explained as natural 
consequences of an extremely small wave-length. 
The positive evidence consisted mainly in the 
knowledge that the impact of the electrons on the 
antikathode of the X-ray bulb ought to be the occasion 
of electromagnetic waves of some sort, and in the 
discovery by Barkla that the X-rays could be polarised, 
which last is a property also of light. 

As experimental evidence accumulated, a number of 
results were found which the electromagnetic theory 
was unable to explain, at least in a direct and simple 
manner. They were mainly concerned with the trans- 
ference of energy from place to place. In some way 
or other the swiftly moving electron of the X-ray 
bulb transfers its energy to the X-ray, and the X-ray 
in its turn communicates approximately the same 
quantity of energy to the electron which originates 
from matter lying in the track of the X-ray, and 
which is apparently the direct cause of all X-ray 
effects. Experiment seemed to indicate that X-ray 
energy travelled as a stream of separate entities or 
quanta, the energy of the quantum differing accord- 
ing to the quality of the X-ray. It looked at one 
time as if it might be the simplest plan to deny the 
identity in nature of X-rays and light, to describe the 
former as a corpuscular radiation, and the latter as 
a wave motion. Otherwise it seemed that the electro- 
magnetic hypothesis would be torn to pieces in the 
effort to hold all the facts together. 

But it appeared on a close examination of light 
phenomena also, though in much less obvious fashion, 
that the very same effects occurred which in X-rays 
were so difficult to explain from an orthodox point of 
view. In the end it became less difficult to deny the 
completeness of the orthodox theory, than the identity 
in nature of light and X-rays. Modern work on the 
distribution of energy in the spectrum, and the de- 
pendence of specific heat upon temperature have also led 
independently to the same point of view. It has been 
urged with great force by Planck, Einstein, and others 
that radiated energy is actually transferred in definite 
units or quanta, and not continuously: as if we had 


| to conceive of atoms of energy as well as of atoms of 


matter. Let it be admitted at once that the quantum 
theory and the orthodox theory appear to stand in 
opposition. Each by itself correlates 
great series of facts; but they do not correlate the 
same series. In some way or other the greater theory 
must be found, of which each is a partial expression. 

The new discovery does not solve our difficulty at 
once, but it does two very important things. In the 
first place, it shows that the X-rays and light are 
identical in nature; in fact, it removes every differ- 
ence except in respect to wave-length. The question 
as to the exact place where the difficulty lies is 
decided for us; we are set the task of discovering 
how a continuous wave motion, in a continuous 


Let us consider very shortly how the ¥ 


Juty 9, 1914] 


medium can be reconciled with discontinuous trans- 
ferences of radiation energy. Some solution there 
must be to this problem. The second important thing 
is that the new methods will surely help us on the 
way to find that solution. We can now examine 
X-rays as critically as we have been able to study 
light by means of the spectrometer. The wave-length 
ot the X-ray has emerged as a measurable quantity. 
The complete range of electromagnetic radiations 
now lies before us. At one end are the long waves 
of wireless telegraphy, in the middle are, first, the 
waves of the infra-red detected by their heating 
effects, then the light waves and then the short waves 
of the ultra-violet. At the other end are the extremely 
short waves that belong to X-radiation. In the com- 
parative study of the properties of radiation over this 
very wide range we must surely find the answer to 
the greatest question of modern physics. 

So much for the general question. Let us now 
consider the procedure of the new investigations, and 
afterwards one or two applications to special lines of 
inquiry. 

The experiment due to Laue and his collaborators 
Friedrich and Knipping has already been described 
in this lecture-room, and is now well known. A fine 
pencil of X-rays passes through a thin crystal slip 
and impresses itself on a photographic plate. Round 
the central spot are found a large number of other 
spots, arranged in a symmetrical fashion, their 
arrangment clearly depending on the crystal struc- 
ture. Laue had anticipated some such effect as the 
result of diffraction by the atoms of the crystal. His 
mathematical analysis is too complicated to describe 
now, and indeed it is not in any circumstances easy 
to handle. It will be better to pass on at once to a 
very simple method of apprehending the effect which 
was put forward soon after the publication of Laue’s 
first results. I must run the risk of seeming to be 
partial if I point out the importance of this advance, 
which was made by my son, W. L. Bragg. All the 
recent investigations of X-ray spectra and the exam- 
ination of crystal structure and of molecular motions 
which have been carried out since then have been 
rendered possible by the easy grasp of the subject 
which resulted from the simpler conception. 

Let us imagine that a succession of waves con- 
stituting X-radiation falls upon a plane containing 
atoms, and that each atom is the cause of a secondary 
wavelet. In a well-known manner, the secondary 
wavelets link themselves together and form a reflected 
wave. Just so a sound wave may be reflected by a 
row of palings, and very short sound waves by the 
fibres of a sheet of muslin. : 

Suppose a second plane of atoms to lie behind the 
first and to be parallel to it. The primary wave, 
weakened somewhat by passing through the first 
plane, is again partially reflected by the second. When 
the two reflected pencils join it will be of great im- 
portance whether they fit crest to crest and hollow 
to hollow, or whether they tend to destroy each other’s 
effect. If more reflecting planes are supposed, the 
importance of a good fit becomes greater and greater. 
If the number is very large, then, as happens in many 
parallel cases in optics, the reflected waves practically 
annul each other unless the fit is perfect. : 

It is easily seen that the question of fit depends on 
how much distance a wave reflected at one plane 
loses in comparison with the wave which was reflected 
at the preceding plane; the fit will be perfect if the 
loss amounts to one, two, three, or more wave-lengths 
exactly. In its turn the distance lost depends on the 
spacing of the planes—that is to say, the distance 
from plane to plane—on the wave-length and on the 
angle at which the rays meet the set of planes. 


NOw2g32, VOL. 93| 


NATURE 


495 


The question is formally not a new one. Many 
years ago Lord Rayleigh discussed it in this room, 
illustrating his point by aid of a set of muslin sheets 
stretched on parallel frames. The short sound waves 
of a high-pitched bird-call were reflected from the set 
of frames and affected a sensitive flame; and he 
showed how the spacing of the planes must be care- 
fully adjusted to the proper value in relation to the 
length of wave and the angle of incidence. Rayleigh 
used the illustration to explain the beautiful colours 
of chlorate of potash crystals. He ascribed them to 
the reflection of light by a series of parallel and regu- 
larly spaced twinning planes within the crystal, the 
distance between successive planes bearing roughly the 
same proportion to the length of the reflected wave 
of light as the distance between the muslin sheets _ 
to the length of the wave of sound. fies 

Our present phenomenon is exactly the same thing 
on a minute scale; thousands of times smaller than 
in the case of light, and many millions of times 
smaller than in the case of sound. 

By the kindness of Prof. R. W. Wood I am able 
to show you some fine examples of the chlorate of 
potash crystals. If white light is allowed to fall 
upon one of them, the whole of it is not reflected. 
Only that part is reflected which has a definite wave- 
length or something very near to it, and the reflected 
ray is therefore highly coloured. The wave-length is 
defined by the relation already referred to. If the 
angle of incidence is altered, the wave-length which 
can be reflected is altered, and so the colour changes. 

It is not difficult to see the analogy between these 
cases and the reflection of X-rays by a crystal. Sup- 
pose, for example, that a pencil of homogeneous 
X-ravs meets the cube face of such a crystal as 
rocksalt. The atoms of the crystal can be taken to 
be arranged in planes parallel to that face, and regu- 
larly spaced. If the rays meet the face at the proper 
angle, and only at the proper angle, there is a 
reflected pencil. It is to be remembered that the re- 
flection is caused by the joint action of a series of 
planes, which in this case are parallel to the face; it 
is not a reflection by the face itself. The face need not 
even be cut truly; it may be unpolished or deliberately 
roughened. The reflection takes place in the body of 
the crystal and the condition of the surface is of little 
account. 

The allotment of the atoms to a series of planes 
parallel to the surface is not, of course, the only one 
possible. For example, in the case of a cubic crystal, 
parallel planes containing all the atoms of the crystal 
may also be drawn perpendicular to a face diagonal 
of the cube, or to a cube diagonal, or in many other 
ways. We may cut the crystal so as to show a face 
parallel to any series and then place the crystal so 
that reflection occurs, but the angle of incidence will 
be different in each case since the spacings are 
different. It is not necessary to cut the crystal except 
for convenience. If wave-length, spacing, and angle 
between ray and plane are rightly adjusted to each 
other, reflection will take place independently of any 
arrangement of faces. 

This is the ‘reflection’? method of explaining the 
Laue photograph. W. L. Bragg showed in the first 
place that it was legitimate, and in the second that 
it was able to explain the positions of all the spots 
which Laue found upon his photographs. | The 
different spots are simply reflections in the different 
series of planes which can be drawn through the 
atoms of the crystal. The simpler conception led at 
once to a simpler procedure. It led to the construc- 
tion of the X-ray spectrometer, which resembles an 
ordinary spectrometer in general form, except that the 
grating or prism is replaced by a crystal and the 


490 


NATURE 


[JuLy 9, 1914 


telescope by an ionisation chamber and an electroscope. L ewe or three or any number of atoms of each 


In use a fine pencil of X-rays is directed upon the 
crystal which is steadily turned until a reflection leaps 
out; and the angle of reflection is then measured. 
If we use different crystals or different faces of the 
same crystal, but keep the rays the same we can 
compare the geometrical spacings of the various sets 
of planes. If we use the same crystal always, but 
vary the source of X-rays we can analyse the latter, 
measuring the relative wave-lengths of the various 
constituents of the radiation. 

We have thus acquired a double power :— 

(1) We can compare the intervals of spacing of 
the atoms of a crystal or of different crystals, along 
various directions within the crystal; in this way 
we can arrive at the structure of the crystal. 

(2) We can analyse the radiation of an X-ray bulb; 
in fact, we are in the same position as we should 
have been in respect to light if our only means of 
analysing light had been by the use of coloured 
glasses, and we had then been presented with a 
spectrometer, or some other means of measuring wave- 
length exactly. 

We now come to a critical point. If we knew the 
exact spacings of the planes of some one crystal we 
could now by comparison find the spacings of all other 
crystals and measure the wave-lengths of all X-radia- 
tions. Or if we knew the exact value of some one 
wave-length we could find by comparison the values 
of all other wave-lengths, and determine the spacings 
of all crystals. But as yet we have no absolute value 
either of wave-length or of spacings. 

The difficulty appears to have been overcome by 
W. L. Bragg’s comparison of the reflection effects 
in the case of rock-salt or sodium chloride and sylvine 
or potassium chloride. These two crystals are known 
to be ‘isomorphous’; they must possess similar 
arrangements of atoms. Yet they display a striking 
difference both in the Laue photograph and on the 
spectrometer. The reflections from the various series 
of planes of the latter crystal show spacings con- 
sonant with an arrangement in the simplest cubical 
array. The smallest element of pattern is a cube at 
each corner of which is placed the same group, a 
single atom or molecule or group of atoms or mole- 
cules. In the case of rock salt, the indications are 
that the crystal possesses a structure intermediate 
between the very simple arrangement just described 
and one in which the smallest element is a cube 
having a similar group of atoms or molecules at every 
corner and at the middle point of each face. The 
arrangement is called by crystallographers the face- 
centred cube. The substitution of the sodium for the 
potassium atom must transform one arrangement into 
the other. 

This can be done in the following way, if 
we accept various indications that atoms of equal 
weight are to be treated as equivalent. Imagine an 
elementary cube of the crystal pattern to have an atom 
of chlorine at every corner and in the middle of each 
face, and an atom of sodium or potassium as the case 
may be, at the middle point of each edge and at the 
centre of the cube. We have now an arrangement 
which fits the facts exactly. The weights of the 
potassium and chlorine atoms are so nearly the same 
as to be practically equivalent, and when they are 
considered to be so, the arrangement becomes the 
simple cube of sylvine. But when the lighter sodium re- 
places the potassium, as in rock-salt, the arrangement 
is on its way to be that of the face-centred cube, and 
would actually become so were the weight of the 
sodium atoms negligible in comparison with those of 
chlorine. 


Of course, 


the same result would follow 


NOW2 332) VOL oa 


were 


sort to take the place of the single atom, provided 
the same increase was made in the number of the 
atoms of both sorts. We might even imagine two 
sorts of groups of chlorine and metal atoms, one 
containing a preponderance of the former, the other 
of the latter, but so that two groups one of each kind 
contained between them the same proportion of chlorine 
and metal as the crystal does. We must merely have 
two groups which differ in weight in the case of rock- 
salt and are approximately equal in weight in the case 
of sylvine. But it was best to take the simplest sup- 
position at the outset; and now the evidence that the 
right arrangement has been chosen is growing as 
fresh crystals are measured. For it turns out that in 
all crystals so far investigated, the number of atoms 
at each point must always be the same. Why, then, 
should it be more than one? Or, in other words, 
if atoms are always found in groups of a certain 
number, ought not that group to be called the atom? 

So soon as the structure of a crystal has been found 
we can at once find by simple arithmetic the scale on 
which it is built. For we know from other sources © 
the weight of individual atoms, and we know the 
total weight of the atoms in a cubic centimetre of the 
crystal. In this way we find that the nearest distance 
between two atoms in rock-salt is 2-81x10—-§ cm., 
which distance is also the spacing of the planes 
parallel to a cube face. 

From a knowledge of this quantity the length of 
any X-ray wave can be calculated at once so soon as 
the angle of its reflection by the cube face has been 
measured. In other words, the spectrometer has now 
become a means of measuring the length of waves of 
any X-radiation and the actual spacings of the atoms 
of any crystal. 

From this point the work branches out in several 
directions. It will not be possible to give more than 
one or two illustrations of the progress along each 
branch. ; 

Let us first take up the most interesting and im- 
portant question of the ‘‘characteristic’’ X-rays. It 
is known that every substance when bombarded by 
electrons of sufficiently high velocity emits X-rays of 
a quality characteristic of the substance. The interest 
of this comparison lies in the fact that it displays 
the most fundamental properties of the atom. The 
rays which each atom emits are characteristic of its 
very innermost structure. The physical conditions 
of the atoms ot a substance and their chemical asso- 
ciations are largely matters of the exterior; but the 
X-rays come from the interior of the atom and give 
us information of an intimate kind. What we find is 
marked by all the simplicity we should expect to be 
associated with something so fundamental. 

All the substances of atomic weight between about 
30 and 120 give two strongly defined ‘lines’; that 
is to say, there are found among the general hetero- 
geneous radiation two intense, almost homogeneous, 


sets of waves. For instance, rhodium gives two 
pencils of wave-lengths approximately equal to 
0-61 x 10-* cm. and 0-54 x 10-® cm. respectively. More 


exactly the former of these is a close doubtlet having 
wave-lengths o619x10-* ‘and o614x10~-§. The 
wave-lengths of palladium are nearly 0-58x10~-* and 
0-51 x10—*; nickel, 1-66 10-* and 1-50x 107°. Lately 
Moseley has made a comparative study of the spectra 
of the great majority of the known elements, and has 
shown that the two-line spectrum is characteristic 
of all the substances the atomic weights of which 
range from that of aluminum, 27, to that of silver, 
108. These X-rays constitute, there is no doubt what- 
ever, the characteristic rays which Barkla long ago 
showed to be emitted by this series of substances. 


- . Jury 9, 1914] 


NATURE 


497 


Now comes a very interesting point. When Moseley 
sets the increasing atomic weights against the corre- 
spondingly decreasing wave-lengths, the changes do 
not run exactly parallel with each other. But if the 
wave-lengths are compared with a series of natural 
numbers everything runs smoothly. In fact, it is 
obvious that the steady decrease in the wave-length 
as we pass from atom to atom of the series in the 
periodic table implies that some fundamental element 
of atomic structure is altering by equal steps. There 
is excellent reason to believe that the change consists 
in successive additions of the unit electric charge to 
the nucleus of the atom. We are led to think of the 
magnitude of the nucleus of any element as being 
simply proportional to the number indicating the place 
of the element in the periodic table, hydrogen having 
a nuclear charge of one unit, helium two, and so on. 
The atomic weights of the successive elements do not 
increase in an orderly way; they mount by steps of 
about two, but not very regularly, and sometimes they 
seem absolutely to get into the wrong order. For 
example, nickel has an atomic weight of 58-7, whereas 
certain chemical properties, and, still more, its be- 
haviour in experiments on radio-activity indicate that 
it should lie between cobalt (59) and copper (63-6). 
But the wave-lengths, which are now our means of 
comparison, diminish with absolute steadiness in the 
order cobalt, nickel, copper. Plainly, the atomic num- 
ber is a more fundamental index of quality. than the 
atomic weight. 

It is very interesting to find, in the series arranged 
in this way, three, and only three, gaps which remain 
to be filled by elements yet undiscovered. 

Let us now glance at another and most important 
side of the recent work, the determination of crystal- 
line structure. We have already referred to the case 
of the rock-salt series, but we may look at it a little 
more closely in order to show the procedure of crystal 
analysis. 

The reflection of a pencil of homogeneous rays by a 
set of crystalline planes occurs, as already said, at a 
series of angles regularly increasing, giving, as we 
say, spectra of the first, second, third orders, and so 
on. When the planes are all exactly alike, and equally 
spaced, the intensities of the spectra decrease rapidly 
as we proceed to higher orders, according to a law 
not yet fully explained. This is, for example, the case 
with the three most important sets of planes of 
sylvine, those perpendicular to the cube edge, the face 
diagonal and the cube diagonal respectively. An 
examination of the arrangement of the atoms in the 
simple cubical array of sylvine shows that for all these 
sets the planes are evenly spaced and similar to each 
other. It is to be remembered that the potassium 
atom and the chlorine atom are so nearly equal in 
weight that they may be -onsidered effectively equal. 
In the case of rock-salt the same may be said of the 
first two sets of planes, but not of the third. The 
planes perpendicular to the cube diagonal are all 
equally spaced, but they are not all of equal effect. 
They contain alternately, chlorine atoms (atomic 
weight 35-5) only, and sodium atoms (atomic weight 
23) only. The effect of this irregularity on the intensi- 
ties of the spectra of different orders is to enhance 
the second, fourth, and so on in comparison with the 
first, third, and fifth. The analogous effect in the 
case of light is given by a grating in which the-lines 
are alternately light and heavy. A grating specially 
ruled for us at the National Physical Laboratory shows 
this effect very well. This difference between rock- 


‘salt and sylvine and its explanation in this way con- 


stituted an important link in W. L. Bragg’s argument 
as to their structure. 
When, therefore, we are observing the reflections 


NO. 2332, VOL. 93] 


in the different faces of a crystal in order to obtain 
data for the determination of its structure, we have 
more than the values of the angles of reflection to help 
us; we have also variations of the relative intensities 
of the spectra. In the case just described we have an 
example of the effect produced by want of similarity 
between the planes, which are, however, uniformly 
spaced. ; 

In the diamond, on the other hand, we have an 
example of an effect due to a peculiar arrangement of 
planes which are otherwise similar. The diamond 
crystallises in the form of a tetrahedron. When any 
of the four faces of such a figure are used to reflect 
X-rays, it is found that the second order spectrum 
is missing. The analogous optical effect can be 
obtained by ruling a grating so that, as compared 
with a regular grating of the usual kind, the first and 
second, fifth and sixth, ninth and tenth, alone are 
drawn. To put it another way, two are drawn, two 
left out, two drawn, two left out, and so on. The 
National Physical Laboratory has ruled a special grat- 
ing of this kind also for us, and the effect is obvious. 
The corresponding inference in the case of the diamond 
is that the planes parallel:to any tetrahedral face are 
spaced in the same way as the lines of the grating. 
Every plane is three times as far from its neighbour 
on one side as from its neighbour on the other.. There 
is only one way to arrange the carbon atoms of the 
crystal so that this may be true. Every atom is at 
the centre of a regular tetrahedron composed of its 
four nearest neighbours, an arrangement best realised 
by the aid of a model. It is a beautifully simple and 
uniform arrangement, and it is no matter of surprise 
that the symmetry of the diamond is of so high an 
order. Perhaps we may see also in the perfect sym- 
metry and consequent effectiveness of the forces which 
bind each atom to its place an explanation of the hard- 
ness of the crystal. 

Here, then, we have an example of the way in 
which peculiarities of spacing can be detected. There 
are other crystals in which want of uniformity, both 
in the spacings and in the effective values of the 
planes, combine to give cases still more complicated. Of 
these are iron pyrites, calcite, quartz, and many others. 
It would take too long to explain in detail the method 
by which the structures of a large number of crystals 
have already been determined. Yet the work done 
so far is only a fragment of the whole, and it will 
take no doubt many years, even though our methods 
improve as we go on, before the structures of the most 
complicated crystals are satisfactorily determined. 

On this side then we see the beginning of a new 
crystallography which, though it draws freely on the 
knowledge of the old, yet builds on a firmer foundation 
since it concerns itself with the actual arrangement 
of the atoms rather than the outward form of the 
crystal itself. We can compare with the internal 
arrangements we have now discovered the external 
forms which crystals assume in growth, and the modes 
in which they tend to come apart under the action of 
solvents and other agents By showing how atoms 
arrange and disarrange themselves under innumerable 
variations of circumstances we must gain knowledge 
of the nature and play of the forces that bind the 
atoms together. 

There is yet a third direction in which inquiry may 
be made, though as yet we are only at the beginning 
of it. In the section just considered we have thought 
of the atoms as at rest. But they are actually in 
motion, and the position of an atom to which we have 
referred so frequently must be an average position 
about which it is in constant movement. Since the 
atoms are never exactly in their places, the precision of 
the joint action on which the reflection effect depends 


498 


suffers materially. The effect is greater the higher 
the order of the spectrum. When the crystal under 
examination is contained within a suitable electric 
furnace and the atoms vibrate more violently through 
the rise of temperature, the intensities of all orders 
diminish, but those of higher order much more than 
those of lower. The effect was foreseen by the Dutch 
physicist Debije, and the amount of it was actually 
calculated by ‘him on certain assumptions. I have 
found experimental results in general accord with his 
formula. In passing, it may be mentioned that as the 
crystal expands with rise of temperature the spacing 
between the planes increases and the angles of reflec- 
tion diminish, an effect readily observed in practice. 

This part of the work gives information respecting 
the movements of the atoms from their places, the 
preceding respecting their average positions. It is 
sure, like the other, to be of much assistance in the 
inquiry as to atomic and molecular forces, and as to 
the degree to which thermal energy is locked up in 
the atomic motions. 

This brief sketch of the progress of the new science 
in certain directions is all that is possible in the short 
time of a single lecture; but it may serve to give some 
idea of its fascination and its possibilities. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 
INTELLIGENCE. 


BIRMINGHAM.—The death of the Chancellor of the 
University, the Righ Hon. Joseph Chamberlain, cast 
a gloom over the annual Degree Congregation, and 
the festivities which had been arranged in connection 
therewith were all abandoned. 

Mrs. Poynting has presented the scientific library of 
the late Prof. J. H. Poynting to the physics depart- 
ment of the University. The gift is a valuable one in 
itself and in its associations, and the spirit in which it 
is given is highly appreciated. 

The opposition of the University to the proposal of 
the City Council to run a tram line past the front of 
Mason College has resulted in a compromise whereby 
the line is not to be used for the conveyance of pas- 
sengers, and cars are only to be run along it during 
vacations or before 9.30 a.m. or after 6 p.m. on 
ordinary days, or on occasions of special pressure or 
emergency to be mutually agreed upon. 

Dr. J. S. Anderson has been appointed assistant 
lecturer and demonstrator in physics for one year in 
succession to Dr. Fournier d’Albe. Mr. W. Hulse 
has been appointed demonstrator in mining in succes- 
sion to Mr. Clubb. 
appointed a member of the staff of the agricultural 
research section of the zoological department. 

The degree of D.Sc. has been conferred on H. B. 
Keene and F. W. Aston, and the degree of M.D. on 
E. W. Assinder and O. M. Holden. The official 
degree of M.Sc. has been conferred on Prof. F. C. 
Lea and that of M.Com. on G. H. Morley, who has 
been secretary of Mason College and of the University 
since its foundation. 

Tue University of Liverpool has conferred on Mr. 
T. F. Wall, D.Sc., the degree of Doctor of Engineer- 
ing. 


Pror. D. T. GwyNNE-VAUGHAN, professor of botany 
in the Queen’s University, Belfast, has been appointed 
to the chair of botany at University College, Reading, 
vacant by the resignation of Prof. F. W. Keeble, who 
has been appointed director of the experiment station 
and gardens of the Royal Horticultural Society at 
Wisley. 


NO.) 2632,, VOL.u@32) 


NATURE 


Mr. Gilbert Johnson has been, 


[JuLy 9, 1914 


WE learn from Science that with the close of the 
present term at the Massachusetts Institute of Tech- 
nonology, Prof. R. H. Richards will retire from the 
active work of teaching which he has followed for 
forty-six years. He has been made professor emeritus 
and receives the benefits of the Carnegie Foundation. 
Prof. Richards has been identified with the institute 
since its beginning. In 1871 he was appointed to the 
chair of mineralogy in the department that afterwards 
developed into that of mining, engineering, and 
metallurgy. 


THE first Aitchison Memorial Scholarship is to be 
awarded next September. The scholarship was estab- 
lished by his friends and colleagues as a memorial of 
the late Mr. James Aitchison. Its value is 3o0l., and 
it is tenable in the full-time day courses in technical 
optics at the Northampton Polytechnic Institute. Ap- 
plications must be received by September 1 by Mr. 
Henry F. Purser, 35 Charles Street, Hatton Garden, 
London, E.C., from whom full particulars can be 
obtained. 


Ir is announced in the issue of Science for June 26 
that at the celebration of the centenary of the founda- 
tion of the Yale University Medical School, large gifts 
were announced in addition to the 100,o00l. from the 
General Education Board of the United States. These 
donations included a provisional gift of 100,o0o0l. for 
the Anthony N. Brady foundation, and 120,000l. from 
donors not officially named. Our contemporary also 
states that by the will of the late Mr. James Campbell, 
the St. Louis University Medical School will receive 
his entire estate after the death of his heirs, who have 
a life interest in it. The present value of the estate 
is estimated to be from three to eight millions sterling. 
Also that by the will of the late Mr. Thomas W. 
Holmes, of Troy, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is 
bequeathed the sum of 10,oo0ol. From, the same 
source we learn that Miss Susan Minns has given 
10,0001, to the department of botany of Wellesley 
College, in memory of Susan M. Hallowell, the former 
head of the department. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
LONDON. 


Linnean Society, June 18.—Prof. E. B. Poulton, 
president, in the chair.—R. D. Laurie: Reports on 


the . marine biology of the Sudanese’ Red 
Sea.—On the Brachyura.—G. Matthai: A_ revision 
of the recent Colonial Astrzide possessing  dis- 
tinct corallites—C. F.  M. Swynnerton: Short 


cuts to nectaries by blue tits. The author referred to 
his previous account of African ornithophilous flowers, 
read on March 5 last, and showing photographs of 
injured shoots of Ribes on the screen.—W. West: 
Ecological notes, chiefly cryptogamic. This paper 
was the outcome of a suggestion by Prof, Engler, 
that whilst abundance of observations existed of 
ecological facts regarding phanerogams, the crypto- 
gams had been neglected. It was intended as the 
first of a series, which has been cut short by the death 
of the author. 
of Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and the Lake District.— 
R. J. Tillyard : Life-histories and descriptions of Aus- 
tralian Aischninaz, with a description of a new form 
of Telephebia by Herbert Campion.—Miss Olga G. M. 
Payne: The life-history and structure of Telephorus 
lituratus.—A. Grouvelle: Cucujida, Cryptophagide, 
avec une description de la larve et de la nymphe de 
Protominia  convexiuscula, Grouvelle.—H. Scott: 


Mallophaga, Aphaniptera, and Diptera Puparia. 


The observations extend over parts 


JuLy 9, 1914] 


Challenger Society, June 24.—Dr. A. E. Shipley 
in the chair.—Commander Campbell Hepworth: The 
origin of the Gulf weed. Commander Hepworth 
initiated a discussion by referring to a form of Sar- 
gassum found in the central part of the Sargasso Sea. 
Seed-like bodies were stated to have been seen from 
which small leaves sprouted in various stages of 
growth up to 4 or 5 in. long. It was suggested that 
these might represent a mode of reproduction not 
hitherto recognised in Sargassum.—G. C. Robson: 
Lo Bianco’s work on the periods of sexual activity in 
marine animals. The lists compiled by Lo Bianco 
from observations over a period of thirty years on the 
animals of the Gulf of Naples were analysed, and an 
attempt was made to discover causes for the differ- 
ences of breeding period in various species, genera, 
and larger groups. It was concluded that while in 
certain cases it seemed possible to correlate these 
differences with the mode of life of the animals, in 
other cases the differences appeared to be non-adaptive. 


Paris. 


Academy of Sciences, June 29.—M. P. Appell in the 
chair.—G,. Bigourdan: The various classifications of 
nebule and star clusters and the abbreviations em- 
ployed for describing these objects. A_ historical 
account of the systems of classification and the corre- 
sponding abbreviations due to J. Herschel, Schultz, 
Kobold and Wirtz, Wolf, S. I. Bailey, Stone, and 
Merecki. The author proposes a system partially based 
on these, and gives a list of the principal abbreviations 
which he suggests might be universally adopted.—J. 
Meyeringh and A. Haller: Dimethylallylacetophenone 
and its oxidation products. Careful oxidation with weak 
alkaline permanganate gave the glycol, 


C,H,.CO.C(CH,).CH,.CH(OH).CH,.OH, 


or 2-benzoyl-2-methyl-4 : 5-pentanediol. The reactions 
of this glycol with benzoyl chloride and phenyl iso- 
cyanate have been studied, and the products are de- 
scribed.—André Blondel; Analysis of the induction 
reactions in alternators.—C, Guichard; Surfaces such 
that the osculating spheres to the lines of curvature 
of a series form an O or a 2lI_ system.—-Georges 
Charpy: The influence of time on the rapid deforma- 
tions of metals. In testing metals by shock, the 
variation of the time of deformation was varied from 
oor to o-oor second, and this variation produced no 
practical differences in the work absorbed by the 
breaking.—H, Parenty: An experimental law for the 
flow of gases and steam through orifices.—F. W. 
Dyson was elected a correspondant for the section of 
astronomy, in the place of the late Sir David Gill. 
—<A. Buhl: The normal curvature of closed contours.— 
R. J. Backlund: The zeros of the function ((s) of 
Riemann.—Theodor Poeschl: An evaluation of poten- 
tials—Leonida Tonelli: A direct method for the cal- 
culus of variations.—Harald Bohr: The function ((s) 
of Riemann.—André Léauté: The problem of two 
electric lines branched in series.—A. Schidlof and A. 
Karpowicz: The evaporation of globules of mercury 
maintained in suspension in a gaseous medium. It 
was found in experiments designed to measure the 
elementary charge on fine mercury particles in sus- 
pension that the velocity of fall diminished con- 
tinuously, an effect. possibly due to evaporation. This 
phenomenon would vitiate the conclusions drawn by 
Ehrenhaft from his experiments.—Mlle. Paule Collet : 
The variations of resistance of crystals and residual 
electromotive forces.—J. Minguin and R. Bloc: The 
influence of solvents on the optical activity of the 
ortho- and allo-acid methyl camphorates and _ the 


NO. 2332, VOL. 93] 


NALORE 


1 


499 


neutral camphorate. The solvent exerts a very con- 
siderable influence on the optical activity. Thus the 
ortho-methyl camphorate in formic acid gave a=8-16°, 
in cinnamene, o=13-46°, numerous other organic sol- 
vents giving intermediate values.—M.  Leprince- 
Ringuet : The inflammability of mixtures of methane 
and various gases.—F. Ducelliez and A. Raynaud ; The 
bromination of cobalt and nickel in presence of 
ethyl ether. The compounds, CoBr,(C,H,,O) and 
NiBr.(C,H,,O), are produced. These are decomposed 


by heat and give the anhydrous bromides.—O. 
Hoénigschmid: Revision of the atomic weight of 
uranium. Analyses. of the bromide gave 238-175 as 
the mean value of fourteen determinations.—C. 
Gaudefroy: The dehydration of gypsum. The trans- 
formation of the hemihydrate into the soluble 


anhydride is reversible. This accounts for the different 
temperatures. given by various observers as that at 
which the anhydrous calcium sulphate is produced 
the temperature depends on the hygrometric state of 
the air in the oven.—E. Gley: The function of the 
suprarenal capsules in the action of vaso-constrictive 
substances. Indirect vaso-constrictive substances.—]. 
Chaine: A fairly frequent error of interpretation in 
comparative anatomy.—A. Vayssiérre and G. Quintaret : 
A case of hermaphrodism in Scyllium — stellare.— 
Maurice Caullery: The Siboglinidee, a new type of 
invertebrates collected by the Siboga expedition.— 
MM. Bonnefon and Lacoste: Experimental researches 
on the grafting of the cornea.—H. Busquet and M. 
Tiffeneau : The rhythmic oscillations of the tonicity of 
the ventricles on the isolated rabbit’s heart.—T. 
Bézier ; The existence of a Carboniferous flora, possibly 
Westphalian, at Melesse (Ille-et-Vilaine).—R. Tron- 
quoy: Some new data concerning the geology and 
petrography of the Congo.—Jacques Deprat: The 
Palzozoic strata and the Trias in the region of Hoa- 
Binh and of Cho-Bo (Tonkin).—J. Giraud: The sedi- 
mentary strata of the south and west of Madagascar. 
—Maurice Lugeon: The extent of the Morcles strata. 
—Jean Chautard; Contribution to the study of the 
origin of petroleum.—Pereira de Sousa: The effects in 
Portugal of the earthquake of November 1,. 1755. 
The results of the study of a document by the Marquis 
de Pombal, recently discovered in the national archives 
of Lisbon. 
Care Town. 


Royal Society of South Africa, May 20.—The president 
in the chair.—T. Muir: Properties of Pfafhans and 
their analogues in determinants.—J. C. Beattie: The 
secular variation of the magnetic elements in South 
Africa during the period t1goo-13. The annual 
changes in the. magnetic declination vary from an 
average decrease of 1:5’ of westerly declination at 
Mauritius during 1900e-g—a change which has turned 
into an increase of 1-4’ a year between 1907-g—to a 
decrease of 14’ a year in the neighbourhood of Dur- 
ban; from the latter place the decrease becomes less 
as we go in a north-westerly direction, and attains a 
value of 5’ at Loanda; the decrease as we go west or 
south-west is also quite definite, though not so great, 
and at Cape Town has the value of 8’. It appears 
also that the absolute value of the decrease is increas- 
ing all over South Africa at the present time. A com- 
parison of the results given in the paper with those of 
the American and British Admiralty declination charts 
for approximately the same epoch shows no continuity 
between the land values of the secular change and 
those over the sea, the high values over the land find 
no place over the sea except in the case of the result 
obtained from the Gauss and Carnegie observations. 
The greatest annual change of dip is found in the 


500 


south-western part of the continent in the neighbour- 
hood of Cape Town; it amounts to an increase of 
southerly dip of 8’ a year. The line of no change 
passes through Madagascar; east of that there is a 
decrease of southerly dip. The annual change in the 
horizontal intensity shows a decrease in absolute mag- 
nitude towards the north; over the greater part of the 
Union it has a value of from 80 y to 100 y yearly, and 
is a decrease. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 
Historical Sketches of Old Charing. By Dr. J. 


Galloway. Pp. 82. (London: John Baile, Ltd.) 
10s. 6d. net. 
Le Musée d’Histoire Naturelle Moderne. Sa Mis- 


sion, son Organisation, ses Droits. By G. Gilson. 
Pp. xii+256. (Bruxelles: Académie Royale.) 
A First Course in Plant and Animal Biology. By 


W. S. Furneaux. Pp. viii+232. (London: Univer- 
sity Tutorial Press, Ltd.) 2s. 


Die Europaeischen Schlangen. 
Sechstes Heft. Tafel 26-30. 
marks. 


By Dr. F. Steinheil. 
(Jena: G. Fischer.) 3 


Handbuch der Pharmakognosie. By A. Tschirch: 


Mii: .35,- 30.) ar (Leipzig : C. H. .Tauchnitz.);) 2 
marks each Lief. 


Berliner Botaniker in der Geschichte der Pflanzen- 
physiologie. By G. Haberlandt. Pp. 29. (Berlin: 
Gebriider Borntraeger.) 1 mark. i 


eee der Weltpolitik in der Gegenwart. By 
Je Ruedorfier. Pp. xiii+ 252. (Stuttgart and Ber- 
ie Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt.) 


Principles of Metallurgy. By A. H. Hiorns. Second 


edition. Pp, XIV + 389. “(L ondon : Macmillan and Co., 
Bid MGs: 

The Continents and their People. Africa. By J.-F 
and A. H. Chamberlain. Pp. vii+210. (London : 
Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 3s. 

Every Child’s Sues: How Man Conquered Nature. 
By M. J. Reynolds. Pp. v+249. (London: Mac- 
millan and Co., Ltd.) 1s. 8d. net. 

The Happy Golfer. By H. Leach. Pp. vii+ 414. 
(London: Macmillan and Co. std.) 6s. met. 

The. School Algebra. - By A. G. Cracknell. Pp. 
Vill + 568 + Ixxvii. (London: University Tutorial 
Buessi td.) 5s, : 

Pond Problems. By E. E. Unwin. Pp. xvi+119. 
(C ambridge University Press.) 2s. net. 

Handbuch der Morphologie. Edited by <A. Lang. 
Vierter Band. Arthropoda. Vierte Lief. Pp. 421- 
640. (Jena: G. Fischer.) 5 marks. 

Roberts-Austen : a Record of his Work. Compiled 
and edited by S. W. Smith. Pp. x+382+4 xxiii plates. 


(London : C. Griffin and Co. y Ltd.) 25st inet 


Historical Account of Ghee Cross Hospital and 
Medical School. By Dr. W. Hunter. Pp. xxi+309+ 
x] plates. (London: J. Murray.) 21s. 


County Borough of Halifax. Bankfield Museum 
Notes. Second series. No. 4. Coptic Cloths. By 
PoE Start. ep sr. (Halifax : King and Sons.) 
2S. OG. 

Memoirs of the Geological Survey. England and 
Wales. The Water Supply of Nottinghamshire from 
Underground Sources. By G. W. Lamplugh and B. 


NO! 2332, VOL. 93] 


NATURE 


[Jury 9, 1914 


(London: H. 


Smith. + Pp. 
Office.) 5s. 


Memoirs of the Geological Survey. 
Progress of the Geological Survey of Great Britain and 
the Museum of Practical Geology for 1913. Pp. iv+ 
107. (London: H.M, Stationery Office.) ts. 


iv+174. M. mee vite 


CONTENTS. PAGE 
History and Philosophy of Mathematics ... . 475 
Precursors of Christianity. By A. E. Crawley. . 476 
Haberlandt’s Plant Anatomy. Pade BaP.) < %s) oeeeeay 
Electrotechnics . 4 :-5.5 asec é ay fea apt is: ape AR 
Our Bookshelf £5 een 2 ee aS 
Letters to the Editor :— 5 

Active Nitrogen.—Prof. H. B. Baker, F.R.S., 


Dr. Erich Tiede, Hon. R. J. Strutt, F.R.S., 

Emil Domcke 
The Horns of the Okapi.—R. Lydekker, F. R. s. . 478 
Thorium Lead-—-An Unstable Product.—Robert W. 


awson..) a tepiey iy eine besiel fe neal ae en 479 
Radio-activity and Atomic Numbers —Dr. A. van 

den,Broek . ./\):-e See eae eee 480 
Seeing and Photoerpeane ety, Fainly Illuminated 

@bjects. — Prof. P= Ga Nuttinigssssce) /eee 480 

June Meteors.—W. F. Denning. .... . -. 480 
Inorganic ‘‘ Feeding.” (Z¢/zestrated.)— 2 Ghas’ Re 

Dy ae . PPh ie fied BANar OR SS 481 
Experimental Demonsenaide of an Ampere Mole- 

cular Current in a Nearly Perfect Conductor .. 481 


Memorial Statue of Capt. Cook. (///ustrated.) . . . 481 


The Wilds of New Zealand. (J//lustrated.). .. . . 482 
Recent Progress of the Metric System .. . pare isi 
INOtCS 02%). °2 |... (8) 2 ee eee re . eS Gee On 
Our Astronomical Golacint — j 
A Faint New Comet (19140) 2 5s 2. 4 2G . » thes 
Opposition-of- Eros (433) this Year..°. ... . .. 14. 488 
Recent Publications of the Allegheny Observatory... 488 
The Variable Satellites of Jupiter and Saturn. . . . 489 
Third International Congress of Tropical Agri- 
GUIPETe™. 5 \S » : ee eee 489 
International Gommiasion for Scientific. Radios 
telesraphic, Researches as een ane - 490 
The Research Defence Society .. . 491 
The Synthetic Power of Protoplasm. "By E. F, We 49t 
Piaeanspiration iin Plantssc a eee eee 2 eAOe 
The American Philosophical Society ....... 492. 
X-Rays and Crystalline Structure. By Prof. W. H. 
Brace; F.RS.... 5. i cae ences el ae 494 
University and Educational Intelligence. . . . . . 498 
Societies and Academies ........ Wah ner a \(Cje° 
BookssReceived...  -.° jicses nee nee taT ; = te A§OO: 


Editorial and Publishing Offices: 
MACMILLAN & CO., Ltp., 


ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C. 


Advertisements and business letters to be addressed to the 
Publishers. 


Editorial Communications to the Editor. 
Telegraphic Address: 
Telephone Number: 


Puusis, LONDON. 
GERRARD &830a. 


Siaapee of 


i 


vi A BORE 


501 


THURSDAY, 


JOLN. 06; rere. 


LOCOMOTIVES AND RAILWAYS. 

The Railways of the World. By Ernest Protheroe. 
Pp. xx+752+xvi plates. (London: George 
Routledge and Sons, Ltd., n.d.) \ Price 7s. 6d. 
net. 


OYS of to-day are indeed fortunate in their 

literature ; books are available on most sub- 

jects, written to interest them—not merely fairy 

tales, but dealing with many themes in a scientific 

way and in language free from technical terms 
likely to worry the young mind. 

The volume under notice is certainly one of the 
best of its kind, “ Every Boy’s Book of Railways 
and Steamships” by the same author was most 
interesting, but ‘The Railways of the World” is 
alluring ; and as most boys love a locomotive and 
study railway working, they will indeed be de- 
lighted with the contents of this book and hasten 
to possess a copy. / 

To commence with, the usual account of the 
early locomotive and railway is dealt with: and, 
of course, Stephenson is given the lion’s share of 
the credit. It is a pity that the earlier pioneers 
are being overlooked and forgotten. For instance, 


the Liverpool and Manchester and many other 


railways were projected and surveyed by William 
James, called by many “ The Father of Railways,” 
before Stephenson appeared on the scene. Again, 
the famous locomotive “The Rocket” was fitted 
with a multitubular boiler, the very soul of a loco- 
motive, by the Stephenson’s—this boiler being of 
William H. James’s design, and used by Messrs. 
Losh and Stephenson, as recorded in an agreement 
dated September 1, 1821. 

In a volume of this nature it is possible to deal 
with much interesting matter. In chapter iii. we 
find the locomotive past and present well treated. 
Stroudley’s “Gladstone ”’ awakens many remin- 
iscences and we are only too pleased to find on 
page 421 that the author considers that “ William 
Stroudley proved himself one of the cyclopean 
knights of locomotive engineering who have left 
their mark on British railway practice.” With 
this we can cordially agree. Stroudley was the 
first locomotive engineer to pay attention to the 
details of locomotive design and his master hand 
can even now be recognised on many British 
railways. 

Reference is made to the famous Caledonian 
engine No. 123, which did such remarkable work 
in “the race to the North” in 1888. This engine 
was built by Neilson and Co. of Glasgow, and not 
by the railway company as stated. 

Chapter iv. is most interesting. Locomotives 


NO. 2323, VOL. 93] 


of to-day are described in a capable way, but as 
the space at our disposal is limited, detailed com- 
ment is impossible. We cannot, however, agree 
that “a built-up crank axle is screwed together,” 
see page 102. The parts are heated and shrunk 
together, and sometimes have the additional 
security of a screwed plug in the joints. 

It is interesting to note that our author refers 
to certain notable cases of heredity in locomotive 
engineering ; many are, of course, interesting, but 
if the subject were pursued to the bitter end 
perhaps the records would not be so conclusive. 

On page 358 the old fairy tale of building a six- 
coupled goods engine and tender in ten working 
hours is served up, but nothing is said as regards 
its cost. The inconvenience of specially pre- 
paring and arranging the work at the expense of 
disorganising the whole works for the time being 
is not referred to. If there was any economy the 
practice would be common, but, as a matter of 
fact, this is not the case. 

The chapters dealing with Scottish railways are 
far too short. The locomotive history of the 
Caledonian railway is one of intense interest. The 
late Mr. Dugald Drummond of the London and 
South Western Railway became famous there, and 
more recently the magnificent locomotives, de- 
signed by Mr. J..F. McIntosh, have been the 
delight of locomotive connoisseurs; ‘The Dun- 
alastair”’ being the first of his creation, the first 
with “the big boiler,” a practice carefully followed 
ever since. ‘‘The Highland Chief,” a fine sample 
of North British practice, and an_ excellent 
example of the big boiler policy is illustrated— 
facing page 482. 

The volume concludes with interesting descrip- 
tions of Continental practice and that of other 
parts of the world, and the work has been well 
done. Nominally written for boys, the language 
used is sufficiently non-technical to be clear; on the 
other hand, the book will be found very interesting 
to the railwayman. The information is sound, 
the illustrations good, and the general appearance 
excellent. Nop. E 


PARASITIC “PROTOZOA. 


Some Minute Animal Parasites, or Unseen Foes 
in the Animal World. By Drs. H. B. Fantham 
and Annie Porter. Pp. xi-319. (London: 
Methuen and Co., Ltd., 1914.) Price 5s. net. 

HIS volume gives an account of the principal 

Protozoa which produce disease in man and 

in animals associated with man, e.g. domestic 

animals, game, bees, etc. As the book is in- 

tended to be of service to different classes of 

readers it Dagon nveyen in a semi-popular 
kg Oy x 


/ 


("  juLe7i914 | 


502 


style, and technical terms have been used spar- 
ingly. There is, however, no reason why the 
term “flea larve ” should not have been employed 
instead of “tiny fleas” (p. 48), which is rather 
misleading. The introductory chapter deals with 
the structure and characters of the chief classes of 
Protozoa, and the ways by which the parasitic 
forms gain access to their hosts. The next 
chapter is on trypanosomes and their relation to 
tsetse-flies, and is followed by an account of the 
life cycles of the flagellate parasites Crithidia and 
Herpetomonas, which occur normally in the gut 
of fleas, lice, etc., and are liable to be confused 
with certain phases of blood-parasites. In the 
section on Spirochztes considerable attention is 
devoted to the vexed question of the shedding of 
granules. The authors have studied the granules 
in the large Spirochetes from molluscs and re- 
gard them as “spores,” and consider “that the 
balance of evidence is somewhat in favour of the 
inclusion of the Spirochetes among the Pro- 
tozoa.”” 

In the account of malaria the interesting state- 
ment is made that within the last few years the 
authors have seen malarial parasites in the blood 
of children suffering from ague in the Fens, and 
have been able to secure specimens of Anopheles 
maculipennis “in whose stomachs cysts occurred 
and whose salivary glands teemed with sporo- 
zoites [of malaria].”’ 

Eimeria (Coccidium), the organism of cocci- 
diosis in birds, is fully described, and measures 
are indicated for preserving domestic poultry and 
hand-reared game-birds from the attacks of this 
parasite. The following chapters deal with 
Entameeba in man, Babesia (Piroplasma) in relation 
to “red water” in cattle, Theileria—the organism 
of East Coast fever in cattle in Africa, Leishmania 
in relation to kala azar, infantile kala azar and 
Oriental sore, microsporidiosis of bees (Isle of 
Wight bee-disease), various Protozoa parasitic in 
fish, the nasal parasite (Rhinosporidium) of man, 
and the parasite (Sarcocystis) of striped muscle. 
The two concluding chapters contain interesting 
accounts of the relations of parasitic Protozoa 
with their environment, their effects on their 
several hosts, and the economic importance of the 
study of Protozoa. 

Throughout the work the authors have con- 
sidered preventive measures, and have pointed out 
their prime importance in the fight 
parasitic Protozoa. 

The volume is illustrated by clearly-drawn text- 
figures; the magnifications of these figures might 
have been stated, as in the absence of such state- 
ment the general reader is apt to acquire an ex- 
aggerated idea of the size of, say, a Spirochete. 


NO. 2333; VOL.)93] 


against 


NATURE 


1 


| much at ease. 


[JuLy 16, 1914 


The authors, who have themselves taken a con- 
siderable share in the investigation of several of 
the organisms described, have succeeded in giving 
a clear, accurate, and interesting account of the 
principal Protozoa which have been proved to 
exert so malign an influence on man and to limit 
his activities in ways innumerable. 


GENERAL AND “SPECIAL, - PHVSIES 

(1) Sound. An Elementary Text-book for Schools 
and Colleges. By Dr. J. W. Capstick. Pp. 
vli+296. (Cambridge University Press, 1913.) 
Price 4s. 6d. 

(2) Die Brownsche Bewegung und einige ver- 
wandte Erscheinungen. By Dr. G. L. de Haas- 
Lorentz. Pp. 103. (Braunschweig: F. Vieweg 
und Sohn, 1913.) Price 3.50 marks, 

(3) Photo-Electricity. The Liberation of Elec- 
trons by Light. By Dr. H. Stanley Allen. Pp. 
xi+221. (London: Longmans, Green and Co., 
rgr3.. Price 7s-Gd.met: 

(4) Course de Physique Générale. Legons pro- 
fessées a la Faculté des Sciences de lV’ Université 
de Lille. By H. Olfivier.. Tome Premier 
Unités. Gravitation. Electricité et Magné- 
tisme.. Ions et Electvons. Symétries. Pm 
716. (Paris: A, Hermann et Mls aqug 
Price 18 francs. 

(1) HIS text-book is one that many 

teachers will find suitable for recom- 


| mending to students in their degree courses pre- 


paring for examination in sound. It is always 
gratifying to find the writer of a text-book on 
sound with some considerable knowledge of the 
fundaments of music. Dr. Capstick certainly does 
pay attention to this aspect of the subject and from 
this point of view there is nothing but praise to 
be said of it. In his first chapter he introduces the 
idea of intervals, and later he gives some very 
interesting chapters on consonance, musical 
instruments, and scales and temperaments. 

In the parts that relate more especially to the 
physics of the subject, readers will not be quite so 
There is a tendency for the 
theoretical treatment to lack clearness, and stu- 
dents reading for the first time will often be driven 
to consult a teacher. The same cannot be said of 
the descriptive parts of the subject, for these are 
treated in a very interesting way. In a book of 
this scope though, it is questionable whether it is 
a wise plan to follow Barton in consigning all 
account of acoustical measurements to one chapter. 
These would be much more in place if treated 
separately in connection with the theoretical treat- 
ment to which each applies. The descriptions in 
this chapter are undoubtedly good, and it is inter- 


JuLty 16, 1914] 


NATURE 


503 


esting to find there some account of intensity and 
audibility measurements and also of experiments 
to test the theories of vowel sounds. 

The value of the book is increased greatly by 
an excellent collection of examples. 

(2) This work on the Brownian movements is 
the outcome of a dissertation of the author, which 
was an account of a new method of attacking the 
theory of the subject. This method in itself seems 
to open a very promising field, for it can be applied 
to various branches of physics. Its application to 
Brownian movements consists in putting down the 
equation of motion of a particle in the form 


m du/dt= —wu+F, 


where w is given by Stokes’s formula, w=67 (a, 
and F is a force which alters in direction in an 
irregular manner due to collisions with the mole- 
cules of the liquid. The mean velocity of a particle 
is calculated after n collisions, and it is shown how 
the influence of the initial motion diminishes in 
importance as n increases. Then the mean dis- 
tance that a particle gets from its starting point in 
time t is calculated, and this comes to be exactly 
the same as that calculated by Einstein, whose 
formula has been experimentally verified. 

An example of the application of this method 
is to calculate the energy of a magnetic needle at 
the centre of the coil of a tangent galvanometer 
due to a succession of small impulses of current 
in the coil. Some other applications are given, 
one of which has been worked out by Prof. H. A. 
Lorentz. 

The work includes an account of the history of 
the development of our knowledge of the Brownian 
movements. The methods and results of the most 
important experimental researches on the subject 
are given and the theories of Einstein, Smolu- 
chowski, and others discussed. The work of 
Millikan and others on the Brownian movements 
in gases is given a prominent place. 

The new method of treating this interesting 
subject will be found instructive. Also from the 
point of view of a general treatment it can be 
recommended to all seeking a connected account 
of work on Brownian movements. 

' (3) Under the heading Photo-Electricity, is 
usually understood the emission of electricity from 
a metal surface when light falls on it, and the 
present volume is the first to be published which 
is devoted almost entirely to that subject. Dr. 
Allen, however, also includes in his book certain 
other subjects that are allied to the main one, such 
as fluorescence and phosphorescence, photo-chemi- 
cal actions, and photography. Other relations 
between electricity and light such as the alteration 


NO2ae3, VOL: 93 | 


of the resistance of selenium by light are not 
discussed. This is quite easy to understand, 
for the author had quite a large task without 
that. 

Anyone who wishes to obtain a good account of 
the photo-electric effect ought to read this book. 
The subject is treated historically so far as pos- 
sible, and a very clear account of the principal 
experimental work on the subject is given. The 
whole subject is so vast that the author is to be 
congratulated for having collected such a mass of 
results as he has done. There is a clear account 
of the methods for measuring the photo-electric 
current and the velocities of the electrons. The 
chief results for metals and solids and fluids gen- 
erally are given. An _ exceedingly interesting 
chapter on the effect for gases comes about the 
middle of the book, and the importance of this in 
general physics is indicated, such as, for instance, 
the ionisation of the upper atmosphere. 

Perhaps the most difficult task for the author 
was to give an account of the theories which have 
been advanced, and to decide on one as the most 
probable. In the present state of the subject Dr. 
Allen has taken the wisest course in deciding that 
the selective effect points to a resonance between 
the light and the electrons in the molecules, and 
indicating that the normal effect is most probably 
due to the same cause. 

Readers will find the chapter on fluorescence and 
phosphorescence very interesting. A very clear 
account of Stark’s and Lenard’s views on these 
subjects are given. So also will praotical photo- 
eraphers be interested in the chapter on photo- 
graphy. But the chief importance of the book is 
its value to the physicist who has not time to read 
through all the literature on photo-electricity and 
wishes to get a connected account of it. 

(4) This is the first of three volumes which give 
in book-form the substance of a course of lectures 
on general physics at the University of Lille, 
1911-13. The present volume is devoted chiefly to 
electricity and magnetism, which is treated under 
the headings Electrostatics, Magnetism, Current 
Electricity, and Electrons and Ions. In addition 
there are chapters on Gravitation and the Sym- 
metry of Systems. Every part is treated so as to 
introduce the newest results. New work like the 
diffraction of X-rays by crystals, Barkla’s work on 
X-rays, C. T. R. Wilson’s photographs of the 
paths of single ions, and the magneton theory 
follow so logically each in its place, that one does 
not find it strange to see these newest develop- 
ments in a general text-book. Many students will 
find the book of value because of the very clear 
account given of the most modern work in physics. 


504 


One new subject introduced is the symmetry 
of systems, which is really a summary of the work 
of P. Curie, and English readers will be thankful 
for having so easy a means of acquiring a know- 
ledge of this important subject. 

The book does not pretend to be an encyclo- 
pedia of physics, but it treats of the whole sub- 
ject so as to bring students up to a standard 
when they can feel confident in taking up research 
on some definite subject. In other words, it meets 
the requirements of the standard of the Honours 
B.Sc. Examination. The whole book is clearly 
written, and teachers will have no hesitation in 
leaving students alone with it. 

Another excellent feature is the treatment 
of a gravitational field first, and then later 
an electrostatic field where it is only necessary 
to give analogies with the former case. Here, 
generally, the Cartesian notation is used, but the 
Vector notation is explained without much use 
being made of it. 

One of the most striking drawbacks of the book 
is the lack of an index. (ieaRe 


LOGIC, TEACHING AND PRACTICE IN 
MATHEMATICS. 

(1) The Algebra of Logic. By Louis Couturat. 
Authorised English Translation by Lydia G. 
Robinson. With a Preface by P. E. B. Jour- 
dain. Pp. xiv+98. (London and Chicago: 
The Open Court Publishing Company, 1914.) 
Price..3s. 6d. net: 

(2) An Algebra for Preparatory Schools. 
Trevor Dennis. Pp. viii+155. 
University Press, 1913.) Price 2s. 

(3) Test Papers in Elementary 
C..V. Durell. Pp. viii+ 233. ~ (London: Mae- 
millan and Co., Ltd., 1914.) Price 3s. 6d. 

(4) Practical Mathematics for Technical Students. 
Panticlc, By PsS)-Usherwood andy@.) yee 
Trimble. Pp. 370. (London: Macmillan and 
Cor atd. voi.) SPriceigsaiod: 

(5) 4 Text-book on Spherical Trigonometry. By 
Prof. R. E. Moritz. Pp. vi+67. (New York: 
John Wiley and Sons, Inc. ; London: Chapman 
and Hall, Ltd., 1913.) Price 4s. 6d. net. 

(6) Plane and Spherical Trigonometry (with Five- 
Places Tables)... «By~Prof. “Ro Ey Montz ep: 
xvi+357+67+96. (New York: John Wiley 
and Sons, Inc.; London: Chapman and Hall, 
Ets, 1913.) Price wos. xod..net: 

(1) HIS is an excellent translation of M. 

Couturat’s well-known “Algébre de la 
Logique.” The conciseness and modernity of 
M. Couturat’s book is very apparent when we 

NOLP2233, VOL.) oi 


By 
(Cambridge 


Algebra. By 


NATURE 


[JuLY 16, 1914 


compare it with the first two volumes of Schréder’s 
bulky, prolix, and somewhat antiquated work. 
The book under review is, as is remarked in the 
preface (p. viil.; cf. pp. 92-93), an exposition of 
the beautiful and simple calculus of symbolic 
logic, regarded as a branch of universal algebra. 
Leibnitz distinguished the two most important 
aspects of a symbolic language designed for pur- 
poses of reasoning, under the names calculus ratio- 
cinator and characteristica universalis : the latter 
indicates broadly the route taken by Frege, Peano, 
Russell, and Whitehead; the former the route 
taken by Boole, Jevons, Venn, Schréder, and 
others, and is that described in the present work. 
Between these two routes, the “logic of rela- 
tions” lies, and this is not dealt with here; but 
we are given a complete presentation of the im- 
portant modern work of Whitehead (1898, 1901), 
Johnson (1901), Poretzsky (1899—1904), and 
Huntington (1904) on the logic of classes and 
propositions. Miss Robinson has added several 
valuable notes to her translation. The volume is 
neat and handy, and is an important addition to 
our English mathematical literature. 

(2) “The development of the subject is based 
on psychological rather than logical principles.” 
Here we have a sensible admission of the relation 
in which a text-book should stand to a scientific 
treatise, which the text-books of the past helped 
to obscure. The book consists of a series of 
graduated papers which exactly follow the lines 
of the syllabus issued by the curriculum committee 
of the Headmasters’ Conference, and. approved 
by the general committee of the Mathematical 
Association for all boys, except mathematical 
specialists, in public schools. There is no “book- 
work,” and the subject is developed wholly by- 
means of examples; but some attempt has been 
made to give the pupil an impression of the exis- 
tence of foundations of the subject and some sense 
of their nature. The very first question of the 
book is rather characteristic: ‘““A boy has 5d. and 
is given 3d. How much has he now? How 
much has he if he had 5d. and receives x pence? 
.”’, and soon. The last question of this paper 
is: ‘Make up more questions like these and give 
the answers.” This is an excellent way of 
teaching, and there is a freshness about the 
book. 

(3) This is a collection of papers designed 
primarily for out-of-school work, and _ conse- 
quently includes only few graphical questions. 
The papers follow the traditional course of ele- 
mentary algebra, along the thorny path of quad- 
ratics, logarithms, the progressions, combinations, 
and easy probability, up to the giddy heights of — 


JuLy 16, 1914] 


NATURE 


mathematical induction and the binomial theorem. 
The place assigned, as is usual in text-books, to 
mathematical induction shows how broad is the 
gulf between psychology and logic. The collec- 
tion should prove useful. ; 

(4) It is pleasant to read such a practical book 
as this one. The authors have dealt only with 
those parts of mathematics which seemed to them 
to be of real value in practical work, and the 
whole book is pervaded by the spirit of Prof. 
Perry. The very form of the questions is re- 
freshingly non-academic: we are concerned with 
the important things of life—with ‘ kilowatts, 
gearing, and Whitworth standard nuts. It would 
seem to be a mistake to give (as on p. 257) 
areas and volumes of certain figures, and then 
remark : 

“The formule are proved most conveniently by 
the aid of more advanced mathematics than need 
be given in this volume.” It warms one’s heart 
to see (p. 5): “A formula is practically the simple 
single statement in general terms of a whole series 
of particular facts.’ It seems to us that Prof. 
Perry and his school are doing much incidentally 
to help the development of mathematics by open- 
ing our eyes to the fact that what Boole called 
“‘a premature converse with abstractions” is 
ruinous for a boy’s whole mental life. 

(5) Is simply a reproduction of the second part 
of (6) with a new preface. Whereas the preface 
of (6) gives a list of the “distinctive features” of 
the book, (5) states somewhat ambiguously : 
“Whatever unusual merit the book possesses 
must be largely sought for in the following 
points: a.” 

In (6), then, we find that, -both in plane and in 
spherical trigonometry, triangles are solved in 
detail by graphical methods before analytical 
methods are presented, and there are many other 
innovations—thus, Napier’s rules are proved and 
the three fundamental formule for the spherical 
triangle are derived simultaneously. Having read 
(p. v.): “The references to algebra are limited 
to those with which every beginner may be reason- 
ably assumed to be familiar,” we are surprised 
to find (p. 278) the imaginary unit defined shortly 
as the solution of the equation x2+1=0, no evi- 
dence having been given that this equation has 
a solution. After this, we cannot be surprised 
that there is not the slightest attempt either to 
point out to the student the very great and funda- 
mental difficulties that there are in the theory of 
convergence (see especially p. 312) or even to treat 
the subject correctly. The historical references 
are sometimes faulty: Wessel was a Dane and 
not a German; the trigonometrical form of a 
complex number is due to Euler and not to Cauchy 
(p. 285). . 

NO. 2332, VOL. 93] 


505 
OUR BOOKSHELF. 
The Schools and the Nation. By Dr. Georg 
Kerschensteiner. Authorised translation by 
C.K. . Ogden... Pp. xxiv+351. ~“(London- 


Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1914.) Price 6s. net. 


Tuis is a book of exceptional interest for all who 
are engaged in the work of education and for 
those who are seriously concerned with the future 
social and economical well-being of the children 
of the nation. : 

It is a record of the aims and of the achieve- 
ments of Dr. Kerschensteiner, of Munich, during 
the past twenty years in the sphere of continued 
education for the youth of that city. As a con- 
sequence of his assiduous enlightened effort, 
coupled with the ultimate goodwill of employers 
and employed, he has been able to establish a 
complete system of continued trade education for 
practically all the industries of Munich providing 
not only for the continued general education up 
to the close of their eighteenth year of the children 
leaving the elementary schools, but also for their 
technical training in industry and commerce com- 
bined with instruction bearing upon their daily 
life and duties and in relation to their future 
responsibilities as citizens. 

The system has been gradually developed, but 
always in close cooperation with the City Trade 
Guilds, and its success has been assured by the 
adoption by the municipality of compulsory 
measures requiring the attendance of all appren- 
tices and others engaged in employment at the 
courses provided within the usual working hours. 

Special buildings have been erected providing 
for about fifty-six various industries, chiefly handi- 
craft, many of them demanding much artistic 
knowledge and skill. This concrete illustration 
of the successful treatment of the problem of con- 
tinued education deserves the most serious study. 


How Man Conquered Nature. By Minnie J. 
Reynolds. Pp.’ v+249. (New York: The 
Macmillan Company, 1914.) Price 1s. 8d. net. 

THE style of this little book will appeal to children. 
The language is simple without being babyish. 
Man’s development is traced from the time when, 
realising the “opposition of the thumb,” he threw 
his first stone, down to his use of a flying 
machine. Not unnaturally, perhaps, Miss Rey- 
nolds, in the first part of the book especially, gives 
great prominence to woman’s part in the civilising 
process. We are told, for instance, “woman was 
the first harvester,” “the first miller,” “the first 
baker,” “the first salt maker,” “the first furrier,”’ 
and so on. 


Excelsior School Map of the United States. In 
four sheets. Size 62 in. by 48 in. (London: 
G. W. Bacon and Co., Ltd.) Mounted to hang, 
with rollers and varnished; or mounted, cut to 
fold, with eyelets. With political colouring, 
15s.; the same with contour colouring, 16s. 


Tus wall map is constructed on a conical pro- 
jection on a scale of 1: 3,200,000, or 50°5 miles 
to an inch. It is provided with an inset map of 


506 


NATURE 


[JuLty 16, 1914 


the Philippines on a scale of 1 : 7,500,000. The 
coast-line, rivers and lakes are in blue; the rail- 
ways and sea-routes, with distances, are in red; 
and town names are printed in black. The general 
effect is excellent, and the map should meet the 
needs of the class-room satisfactorily. 


LETTERS VO Tae EDITOR: 


[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for 
opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with 
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 
this or any other part of Nature. No notice is 
taken of anonymous communications. | 


Forests and Floods. 


SOME time ago the question of the effect of forests 
in checking floods was discussed in the pages of 
Nature. The subject was lately recalled to my recol- 
fection while watching gardening operations in the 
vegetable borders. I was then much struck by the 
different conditions, after rainfall, of newly dug 
ground and ground that had lain undisturbed for a 
year. The gardener was proceeding to put in plants 
in the newly dug part, but found it much too wet to 
be worked in. It was suggested he might continue 
the digging of the rest of the border and leave the 
planting until later. On breaking up the undisturbed 
ground, it was found to be fairly dry and in quite 
good condition for digging. These conditions 
seemed to indicate that newly disturbed ground holds 
a much greater proportion of the rainfall than does 
consolidated ground in which the soil particles are 
more closely packed together. In the latter the water 
seems to pass much more freely through it than in 
the former, possibly due to there being a continuous 
water film from the surface to the water table. It 
not only passes more quickly to the lower level, but 
much more of it passes, while the disturbed ground 
retains a much greater proportion of it to the benefit 
of the vegetation. 

Experiments might be made to get further informa- 
tion on this point by means of proper water-tight 
tanks filled with earth, and comparative readings 
taken of the drainage water in tanks in which the 
soil had become consolidated by rainfall and those 
in which the soil had been recently disturbed. As 
this would take a long time to accomplish, it has 
not been done, but perhaps some others may be in- 
duced to make the tests, as the knowledge of the 
subject may be useful in agricultural operations. It 
does not directly bear on dry farming, as that is a 
question mostly of surface soil mulch produced by 
stirring the surface soil and so breaking the water film 
connecting it with the subsoil. But it would seem 
to indicate that before dry farming can be started, 
the surface soil, to a depth sufficient to hold the 
rainfall, should first be thoroughly pulverised to 
prevent the rainfall passing downwards and beyond 
the range of the roots. 

Though satisfactory tests have not been made yet 
I had an .opportunity of making some experiments 
on somewhat similar lines. There were three pots 
full of soil lying out in the garden. These had pre- 
viously been in use in some experiments with plants. 
The soil in all of them was alike, having been taken 
from the kitchen garden. These pots and soil had 
been lying out for more than a year; and as the soil in 
them was thoroughly consolidated, the question was 
put to them. First, the pots were all weighed; as 
the weather had been fine for some time, the soil was 


NO. 2333, VOL. 93| 


pretty dry. The pot having the medium weight was 
then selected, the soil emptied out, broken up, and 
returned to the pot. Water was now poured slowly 
over the soil in all the pots in 4-0z. doses at a time. 
The first thing noticed was that the water entered the 
soil of the undisturbed pots more slowly than 
the other, and, secondly, that the water came more 
quickly through the soil in these pots than through the 
other. Water was added to the pots until they ceased 
to take up any more. After draining, they were 
weighed again, and the result is given in the table :-— 


Weights in Pounds and Ounces of the Three Pots. 


No. 1, No. 2. No. 3. 

Consolidated Pulverised Consolidatcd 
soil soil soil 
Ib. oz Ib. oz lb. oz. 
Dry 7 (95 FiglO Tas 
Wet au hea, Joe LO 9 64 9 I 
Water held by soil I o% Liz Pia 


It may be further mentioned that it was thought 
that some of the soil in the consolidated pots might 
not have got thoroughly wetted, owing to the water 
running quickly through them; the three pots were 
therefore afterwards put in a vessel of water to soak ; 
they were then drained and weighed, but the result 
showed but little change, showing that all the pots 
had got as much water as the soil would hold. An 
examination of the above table shows that the dis- 
turbed soil holds a much greater amount of water 
than the consolidated soil. No definite conclusion can 
be drawn from these figures as to the relative retain- 
ing powers of the soil in the two conditions, as no 
two soils are likely to be equally affected. The only 
thing to be noted is that the pulverised soil has a 
much greater power of holding water than the con- 
solidated. 

It may be asked: what has all this to do with forests 
and floods? If we are correct in supposing that soil 
by becoming consolidated and the particles close 
packed, by the action of the rainfall, causes it first 
to resist the entrance of heavy rainfalls, and secondly, 
after it has entered the soil, to facilitate its passage 
through it to depths beyond the range of being of use 
to vegetation. If this be so, then anything that 
breaks up the close packing of the grains and stirs 
the soil will tend to enable the water to enter the soil, 
and will also tend to enable it to retain it. Now the 
roots of trees in forests, by their constant growth and 
expansion, stir the soil and prevent it getting consoli- 
dated. The soil under trees will therefore always be 
in the best condition for absorbing and retaining the 
rainfall. And the surplus is only slowly parted with 
to feed the drainage, whereas on bare soil, or soil 
on which the vegetation is poor, tends to reject the 
rainfall, causing the water to run off the surface, and 
what enters is quickly passed downwards to swell the 
drainage water. From the above it would appear 
that bare and poorly cultivated land will tend to cause 
floods by speedily getting quit of its rainfall, while 


| forest land will retain and only slowly part with it. 


The decaying vegetation on the surface under trees 
has also a beneficial effect, as it absorbs water and 
acts as a mulch, preventing drying. 

It is well known that rains in early summer, unless 
when torrential, give rise to small amounts of flboding 
compared with winter rains of the same amount. 
There are a number of reasons for this which our 
space does not admit of treating, but it is probably 
in part due to the stirring action on the soil of the roots 
of grasses and other plants, as that is the season 
when root action is most active. 

Ardenlea, Fallxirlx. 

June 29. 


Joun AITKEN. 


JuLy 16, 1914] 


NATURE 


507 


Proposed International Magnetic and Allied Observa- 
tions during the Total Solar Eclipse of August 21, 
1914 (Civil Date). 


IN response to an appeal for simultaneous magnetic 
and allied observations during the coming total solar 
eclipse, cooperative work will be conducted at stations 
along the belt of totality in various countries and also 
at some outside stations. 

The general scheme of work proposed by the Car- 
negie Department of Terrestrial Magnetism embraces 
the following :— 

(1) Simultaneous magnetic observations of any or 
all of the elements according to the instruments at 
the observer’s disposal, every minute from August 21, 
1914, Itoh. a.m. to 3h. p.m. Greenwich civil mean 
time, or from August 20, 22h., to August 21, 3h. 
Greenwich astronomical mean time. 

To ensure the highest degree of accuracy, the 
observer should begin work early enough to have 
everything in complete readiness in proper time. See 
precautions taken in previous eclipse work as described 
in Terrestrial Magnetism, vol. v., p. 146, and vol. vii., 

16. Past experience has shown it to be essential 
that the same observer make the readings throughout 
the entire interval. 

(2) At magnetic observatories all necessary pre- 
cautions should be taken to ensure that the self- 
recording instruments will be in good operation, not 
only during the proposed interval, but also for 
some time before and after, and _ eye-readings 
should be taken in addition wherever it is 
possible and _ convenient. It is recommended 
that, in general, the magnetograph be run on 
the usual speed throughout the interval, and that, 
if a change in recording speed be made, every pre- 
caution possible be taken to guard against instru- 
mental changes likely to affect the continuity of the 
base line. 

(3) Atmospheric-electric observations should be made 
to the extent possible with the observer’s equipment 
and personnel at his disposal. 

(4) Meteorological observations in accordance with 
the observer’s equipment should be made at convenient 
periods (as short as possible) throughout the interval. 
It is suggested that at least temperatures be read 
every fifth minute (directly after the magnetic reading 
for that minute). 

(5) Observers in the belt of totality are requested to 
take the magnetic reading every thirty seconds during 
the interval, ten minutes before and ten minutes after 
the time of totality, and to read temperatures also 
every thirty seconds, between the magnetic readings. 

It is hoped that full reports will be forwarded as 
soon as possible for publication in Terrestrial Mag- 
netism and Atmospheric Electricity. 

L. A. Bauer. 

Washington, June 23. 


Asymmetric Haloes with X-Radiation. 


A RADIOGRAPH of a lead dise 2-5 mm. thick, raised 
above the plate, does not, as might be expected, appear 
of an even intensity, but gives well within its shadow 
a distinct white ring. The area inside this ring is 
grey, and the annular space outside it dark. Experi- 
ment has shown that its brightness, width, and 
diameter vary with the distances of the disc from the 
_ plate and antikathode. It also changes from a com- 
plete circle to almost a semi-circle, the position and 
dimensions of the absent arc depending upon the 
orientation of the bulb. 

The ring is found to be complete when the X-rays 
are in the plane of the kathode rays and the normal 


of the antikathode, and from 10° to 15° within the , 


NG: (2433, VOL: 93 || 


angle of true reflection, i.e. that at which light sub- 
stituted for kathode rays would be reflected. Diverg- 
ing from this direction the circle becomes increasingly 
incomplete, the break in the curvature being always 
on the side furthest from it. 

Apertures, cubes, cylinders, solid and hollow, 
spheres, etc., of various materials give analogous re- 
sults, the form of the white area depending upon 
the shape of the object. Thus an ebonite cylinde: 
gives this effect in addition to the peripheral bands 
and alternating semicircles described in former letters. 

This phenomenon cannot be attributed to ordinary 
secondary radiation, since the ring is not dispersed by 
strong magnetic fields. Scattering, unless at some 
definite angle, is precluded by the sharpness of out- 
line, and the asymmetry would seem to dispose of 
diffraction and polarisation, since the dark and light 
parts of the ring are opposite, and not at right angles. 

It appears, therefore, that the X-radiation has been 
differentiated into two main types, one of which may 
consist of disparate doublets (magnetic); the polarity 
being distributed radially round a position which coin- 
cides with that of maximum intensity (Kaye). This 
phenomenon bears a close analogy to that of unilateral 
conductivity in crystals. 

W. F. D. CHAMBERS. 
| I. G. Ranxin. 
go Gordon Road, Ealing. 


The Composition of the Atmosphere. 


Mr. A. ParKER (Jour. Chem. Soc., April, 1914) in a 
study of the inflammation of mixtures of methane 
with oxygen and nitrogen, has found that inflamma- 
tion can be brought about more easily in mixtures 
containing nitrogen than in pure oxygen. In fact, 
the mixture which requires for ignition a minimum 
of methane contains only about 23 per cent. of oxygen. 
This unexpected result is traced to the difference in 
the specific heats of oxygen and nitrogen, and not to 
any property of methane. If one may assume that 
combustions at other temperatures behave in a similar 
manner, perhaps all slow combustions can be main- 
tained with a minimum expenditure of energy in a 
mixture of oxygen and nitrogen containing about 23 
per cent. of oxygen. 

The close proximity of this proportion to that of 
atmospheric air is remarkable. Is it possible that 
living matter on the earth’s surface has evolved its 
own atmosphere, as it were, so that the dissipation 
of the energy of metabolism may be a minimum? 
The temporary stimulation of animals by pure oxygen 
is not necessarily contrary to this hypothesis. I should 
be glad to know if the-estimated total amount of 
carbon in organic matter, including coal, is equivalent 
to an amount of oxygen at all comparable with that 
in the atmosphere; or, in other words, if a large 
increase or decrease in the amount of organic matter 
on the earth could alter appreciably the proportion of 
free oxygen in the air. N. P. CAMPBELL. 

Trinity College, Kandy, Ceylon, June 24. 


Elevation of Mouth of Harton Colliery. 


WiLL some reader of Nature kindly inform the 
writer, through this journal, what the elevation above 
sea-level and the location of Harton Colliery are, 
where Sir G. B. Airy made his pendulum observations 
on the force of gravity at the mouth and bottom of 
that mine in 1843, and also if the result of those 
observations is still generally accepted as correct. 

Evan McLennan. 

Corvallis, Ore., U.S.A., June 20. 


508 


NATURE, 


[JuLy 16, 1914 


THE. FORTHCOMING TOTAL GSO EAT 
ECIVPS EH, AUGUSTE, 21. 


WING to the great strides made in the study 
of the physics of the sun, the importance of 
the occurrence of a total eclipse of the sun is not 
so great as it was towards the latter end of last 
century. Nevertheless, there are still some prob- 
lems to be solved, the data for which can only be 
obtained on these occasions, thus necessitating 
the organisation and dispatching of observers to 
several stations lying on the path traced out by 
the cone of the moon’s shadow as it sweeps over 
the earth’s surface. 

The present year presents us 
with a total eclipse as near at 
home as that which occurred in 
“they year? 19065: in fact, these 
eclipses belong to the same 
family, and it is likely that the 
event in August next will be as 
well attended by both amateur 
and profess.onai astronomers as 
was its forerunner. It is hoped, 
however, that weather conditions 
will be more favourable for suc- 
cessful observation, for it will be 
remembered that on the _ last 
occasion the only party that was 
fortunate enough to come home 
with results was that which took 
up a station in Novaya Zembla. 

European observers will be 
especially favoured by the posi- 
tion of the path of the moon’s 
shadow, because the greater 
portion of the accessible track 
cuts Europe diagonally through 
its central position. Thus, with 
comparatively little journeying, 
very favourable stations for ob- 
servation can be reached. 

The accompanying: illustration 
(Fig. 1) shows the general posi- 
tion of the line of central eclipse. 
It will be seen that the eclipse 
begins at a point situated in 
north latitude about 714° and 
ends in a latitude a little greater 
than 234°. The moon’s shadow 
fitstwestm@es, (the: earth) in. far 
north Canada, passing a little 
south of the Parry Islands, and 
pursuing its course just above Baffin’s Bay. There 
it enters Greenland, and sweeps across this 
sparsely-inhabited region and emerges into the 
Arctic Ocean. Taking a south-easterly trend, it 
enters Norway near the island of Vega, and 
passes out of Sweden near Hernésand, and then 
crosses the Gulf of Bothnia and the Baltic Sea. 
The track then enters Russia at Riga, and passes 
near Minsk, Kiev, and the eastern part of the 
Crimea, crossing the Black Sea and reaching the 
opposite coast at Trebizond. It then traverses 
eastern Turkey and western Persia, and terminates 
its course on the north-west coast of India. 


NOG /2 333; <V.Ol.4o3)| 


There is little doubt that the first portion of the 
eclipse track—that is, the part that crosses the 
islands north of Canada and Greenland—will not 
be occupied by special observers. From Norway 
south-eastwards the case will be different, for 
there the sun will be at a useful altitude and the 
eclipse of long duration. On the west coast of 


_ Norway the sun will have an altitude of a little 


over 35°, and the duration about 126 seconds. On 
the east coast of Sweden the altitude will be 
more than 36°5°, and the duration 128 seconds. 
In the region about the Gulf of Riga the sun’s 
altitude will be about 39°5°, and the duration 133 


London 


seconds. By the time the Crimea is reached the 
altitude will be somewhat reduced, namely, 
36° 40’, and the duration diminished to 129 
seconds. An excellent large-scale chart of the 


whole track of the eclipse across Europe accom- 
panies Count de la Baume Pluvinel’s article which 
appeared in the March number of the Bulletin de 
la Société Astronomique de France, and this 
should be consulted by all who wish to take up a 
suitable position on the track. Those who proceed 
to Norwegian stations will find some useful data 
published recently in the Observatory by Prof. 
H. Geelmuyden. There it is stated that among 


JuLy 16, 1914] 


NATURE 


509 


stopping places for the ordinary coast steamers, 
going out from Bergen or Trondhjem, may be 
named Sannessjéen, situated on the north end of 
the Alsten Island, from which stations near the 
central line will be easily accessible, either on the 
same island or (by motor boat or local steamers) 
on some other islands towards the north-west. 
From Mosjéen, situated at the end of the deep 
Vessen Fjord, stations near the central line in the 
Vessen valley may be reached by carriage. 
Br6énné is a stopping place not far from the 
southern limit, and Bodo is a little outside the 
northern limit. Details concerning the path of the 
shadow track across Turkey and Persia and the 


accessible places for forming camps in these coun- 


tries have been described by Prof. David Todd | 


in these columns (vol. xciii., p. 311, May 21), so 
that further reference to these regions becomes 
unnecessary. 

With regard to the weather conditions that will 
be experienced, the probability of fine weather 
seems to increase the further east along the track 
the station is taken up. According to the informa- 
tion that is to hand, most of the main official ex- 
peditions will be located along the Russian portioa 
of the line, where the good weather chances are 
more promising, but this should not deter others 
from occupying Norwegian or Swedish stations, 


NO. 2333, VOL. 93| 


for the more scattered the observers are the more 
chance there is of some results being secured. 
As to the actual expeditions that are in active 


preparation, the following statements may be 
made, and the accompanying map (Fig. 2) will 


help to indicate the positions of the stations which 
will be utilised. Dealing first with the British 


| parties, the joint permanent eclipse committee of 


the Royal and Royal. Astronomical Societies is 
sending out five observers. Three of these ob- 
servers, namely, Prof. Fowler, Mr. W. E. Curtis, 
and Major Hills, will be stationed near Kief in 
Russia, and will undertake the photography of 
the spectrum of the chromosphere during the 


ENGLISH MILES 
200 100 O 


40 
Stantords Geog! Estab! London. 


partial phases, using the iron arc as a comparison 
spectrum. For this purpose a grating will be used 
giving much higher resolving power than any 
previously employed during an eclipse. Fathers 
Cortie and O’Connor are being sent to Hernésand 
in Sweden and will undertake direct photographs 
of the corona and photographs of the spectrum of 
the corona with special regard to the yellow and 
red regions. They will be accompanied by 
Messrs. J. J. Atkinson and G. J. Gibbs as volun- 
teer helpers. 

From the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, two 
observers, Messrs. Jones and Davidson, will take 
up their station at Minsk, in Russia. The pro- 


510 


gramme of. this party will consist in securing 
large-scale photographs of the corona, the spec- 
trum of the corona and chromosphere, more 
especially in the ultra-violet region, and photo- 
graphs of the corona through ‘“‘mercury-green ” 
glass for investigation of the distribution of 
‘“coronium.”” Near Feodosia, in the Crimea, the 
party from the Solar Physics Observatory, at 
Cambridge, namely, Prof. Newall, Mr. Stratton, 
and Mr. C. P. Butler, will take up their stations. 
The work that will be undertaken includes small- 
and large-scale direct photographs of the corona 
for extensions and details respectively, objective 
grating photographs of the chromosphere for com- 
parison with the slit spectra taken by Prof. 
Fowler’s party, and lastly, polariscopic observa- 
tions. 

Feodosia will also be the observing station of 
two German expeditions, namely, one from the 
Astrophysical Observatory at Potsdam, and a 
second from the Royal Observatory in Neubabels- 
berg, near Berlin. Near Feodosia, at Starg 
Krym, an expedition from the Hamburg Observa- 
tory in Bergedorf will take up its position. The 
programme of the work to be undertaken by this 
expedition, kindly communicated by the director, 
Prof. R. Schorr, includes photographs of the 
corona with telescopes of focal lengths of 4, 10, 
20, and 40 metres, with and without screens, a 
search for intermercurial planets, and _ photo- 
graphs of the spectra of the chromosphere and 
corona. 

In addition to the above, Prof. Miethe, of the 
photochemical laboratory of the Technical High- 
school in Berlin, is going to Sannessjéen, Alsten 
Island, in Norway, and it is quite possible that 
parties from other German cbservatories may 
swell the number of expeditions. 

Feodosia will also be the selected spot for three 
French missions, details about which have been 
kindly communicated by Count de la Baume 
Pluvinel. Count de la Baume Pluvinel himself 
leads a private expedition, with Messrs. Senouque 
and Rougier as his assistants. Their instrumental 
equipment will consist of a two-mirror coelostat 
worked in conjunction with objectives of 12 and 
3 metres for the photography of the corona. 
slit spectroscopes and two prismatic cameras with 
flint and quartz prisms will also be used, and 
measures will be made of the intrinsic brightness 
of different portions of the corona. 

A second expedition is that which will set out 
from the Nice Observatory under the direction of 
M. H. Chrétien. M. Chrétien will be: accom- 
panied by M. Lagrula, and they will take up a 
position at Feodosia. Their main instrument will 
be a coelostat with two mirrors, one of which will 
feed an objective of 6 metres focal length, for 
securing photographs of the partial phases and of 
the corona, the other supplying light to a slit 
spectroscope for the study of the rotation of the 
corona. M. Chrétien proposes also to make 
photometric measures during the partial phases. 
M. Jekhowsky will also join this party, and will 
use a concave grating of 6 in. diameter and 7 


NO! 2333, VOL. .93| 


NATURE 


Two 


[Jury 16, 1914 


metres radius of curvature for the study of the 
spectrum of the chromosphere in the ultra-violet. 

M. Salet, of the Paris Observatory, is also 
going privately to Feodosia. He will use both an 
equatorial and a coelostat, and his chief endeavoui 
will be the photographic study of the polarisation 
of the light of the corona. 

Feodosia is also the station that Dr. Perrine 
will observe from, and of the expedition being 


| organised by the Lick Observatory under Prof. 


W. W. Campbell one section will proceed to Kief 
while the other will occupy Feodosia. A Russian 
party under Dr. Donitch will also take up 
quarters at the latter pluce. 

While most of the expeditions are concentrating 
at Feodosia, it is hoped that other intending ob- 
servers will take up positions further north. No 
doubt several amateurs, both British and foreign, 
are completing their plans for the event. 

The eclipse committee of the British Astro- 
nomical Association, of which Mr. G. F. 
Chambers is chairman, have been endeavouring to 
organise parties for different stations. From 
information received, it seems likely that the 
Royal Mail Company’s Arcadian will convey 
numerous members to Norwegian coast stations, 
while Hernésand, on the coast of Sweden, is 
likely to claim about a dozen; and Riga, in Russia, 
perhaps a somewhat larger number. It is prob- 
able also that a small number will go to the 
Crimea, enticed by the more favourable prospects 
of possibly finer weather conditions. It is inter- 
esting to note that while a total solar eclipse does 
not offer very much scope for the use of colour 
photography, yet several attempts are going to 
be made with small instruments. Writing from 
the Nikolai chief observatory at Pulkovo, Prof. 
Backlund (Astr. Nach., No. 4740) states that, 
after a conference with the Minister of Finance, 
every facility will be offered by the Govern- 
ment to further the interests of the various 
expeditions proceeding to Russia, and that all 
instruments will be customs free provided 
observers return with them. 

WitiiaMm J. S. LOckyYEr. 


INTERNATIONAL FISHERY INVESTIGA- 
TIONS.} 


ae official reports on the work of the Inter- 
national Council for the study of the sea 
contained in the three volumes now under review 
mark a definite and important stage in the history 
of that undertaking, since for the first time re- 
commendations on a considerable scale are put 
forward for international legislation dealing with 
the fisheries of the North Sea. From the com- 
mencement of the international undertaking par- 
ticular attention has been directed to the plaice 
fisheries, and it is in connection with these that 
we now have not only a considerable part of 
Prof. Heincke’s general report, but also a series 
of resolutions agreed to by the whole Council, 
which may be supposed to have resulted from 


1 Conseil permanent international pour |’exploration de la mer. Rapport 


et Procés-Verbaux des Réunions, vols. xvi., xviii., and xix. 


JuLy 16, 1914] 


a consideration of that report. It must, however, 
be admitted that both the report and the resolu- 
tions are in many ways disappointing. The former 
has already been referred to in the pages of 


dations put forward are that, as an initial measure, 
a minimum international size-limit of 20 centi- 
metres (8 in.), below which it would be illegal 
to land plaice, should be imposed, and that during 
the spring and summer months (April 1 to Sep- 
tember 30 in each year) this limit should be in- 
creased to 22 centimetres. A perusal of the re- 
ports suggests that the council itself scarcely 
contends that such a small size-limit can produce 
any very marked result, since, as a matter of 
fact, a very small percentage of fish under these 
sizes is at present landed. The idea seems to be 
that by commencing with a small size-limit it 
will be possible to raise it gradually without pro- 
ducing any serious disturbance of the fishing in- 
dustry. The recommendations are, however, 
really an admission that a size-limit which would 
be effective in preventing the great destruction of 
small plaice by steam trawlers on the eastern 
grounds of the North Sea is not practicable from 
the point of view of the fishing industry as a whole, 
which is very much the conclusion arrived at by 
the various Parliamentary committees which have 
inquired into the matter in this country in past 
years. So far as one can see, the only practical 
effect of the present proposals will be to harass 
the very poorest class of fishermen, generally 
old men who get a precarious living by working 
in a small way in estuaries and inshore waters, 
and do an infinitesimal amount of damage com- 
pared with what is done by the large trawlers. 
Whether the proposals will, or ought to meet 
with greater favour at the hands of our Parlia- 
mentary legislators than their predecessors have 
done, is open to very considerable doubt. 

Apart from the question of plaice, the most im- 
portant reports in the volumes we are consider- 
ing are those by Dr. Johs. Schmidt on eel investi- 
gations for 1913, by Dr. Ehrenbaum on the 
mackerel, and by the late Dr. P. P. C. Hoek, 
whose recent death will be a cause of deep regret 
to all fishery investigators, on the pilchard or 
sardine. With regard to Dr. Ehrenbaum’s re- 
port on the mackerel, it must be admitted that the 
the new facts and observations brought forward 
are not extensive, and the fact that the author 
is dealing throughout with the reports and 
writings of other observers rather than with a 
fishery of which he has himself any great per- 
sonal knowledge somewhat detracts from its 
value. The same criticism applies to a large 
extent also to Dr. Hoek’s report. Any weakness 
of the reports due to this cause would seem to be 
due to the policy of the International Council in 
spending considerable sums of money each year 
in having such reports produced, money which 
one would imagine could be better employed in 
carrying out original investigations in the areas 
where the fisheries take place. 

In conclusion, we may direct attention to the 


N@wse3, VOL. 93] 


NATURE 


| which constitutes pp. 1-83 of vol. xvi. 
Nature (April 23, 1914, p. 201). The recommen- 


pe 
summary of the work done by the International 
Council during the ten years 1902~12, edited by 
Commander Drechsel, the general secretary, 
This 
should be of use to those who are interested in 
the work which the international cooperation has 
accomplished. 


NOTES. 


WE regret to learn of the death, on Sunday last, 
July 12, of the Rev. Osmond Fisher, the well-known 
geologist, in his ninety-seventh year. 


THE honorary freedom of Newcastle-on-Tyne was 
conferred on the Hon. Sir C. A. Parsons on July to 
in recognition of his achievements in science, particu- 
larly as the inventor of the steam turbine. It had 
been decided to confer a similar honour on Sir Joseph 
W. Swan, but he has since died. The symbols of the 
freedom—a scroll and casket—have, however, been pre- 
sented to a representative of his family. 


A RUMOUR, based on a misunderstanding of a tele- 
gram from Captain Bartlett, who is at Nome, Alaska, 
reached London last week, announcing a disaster to 
the Stefansson Arctic Expedition, which left Canada 
last year with the object of exploring the vast un- 
charted regions between the north of Canada and 
Siberia and the north pole. A party, including three 
members of the scientific staff, was said to be missing. 
Later information received from Captain Bartlett 
shows that he is not aware that any disaster has 
occurred. 


THE excavation of the Dewlish elephant-trench is 
still unfinished, but when the excursion of the Dorset 
Field Club took place on June 30 it was clear that the 
‘trench’ was not artificial. Instead of ending below 
in a definite floor it divides downwards into a chain 
of deep narrow pipes in the chalk. A few bones of 
Elephas meridionalis had been found, but no clear 
trace of man. We shall wait with interest the com- 


| pletion of this work, which is proving more arduous 


than had been expected. 


In order to provide opportunities for the more com- 
plete investigation of the nature and causes of human 
disease and methods of its prevention and treatment, 
Mr. John D. Rockefeller has just given 510,0001. to 
the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research. This 
gift is in addition to a special fund of 200,000l. which 


| Mr. Rockefeller has provided in order that the insti- 


tute may establish a department of animal pathology. 
Mr. Rockefeller’s previous gifts to the institute 
amounted to about 1,800,000l1., exclusive of real estate 
in New York City, so that the endowment of the in- 
stitute amounts now to more than 2,500,0001. 


On Thursday last, Sir Clements Markham unveiled 
at Cheltenham a statue of Dr. Edward Adrian Wilson, 
who was born in that town, and perished with Captain 
Scott on the great ice barrier in March, 1912. The 
statue, which stands in a prominent position on the 
Promenade, was designed by Lady Scott, and executed 
under the superintendence of Messrs. Boulton, a local 


512 


firm of sculptors. It represents Dr. Wilson in polar 
dress, hands on hips, in a natural, careless attitude, 
and is an excellent likeness. A brass plate let into the 
stone base bears an inscription recording the heroism 
of the members of the expedition who perished with 
him. 


Mr. J. FostER STACKHOUSE has sent us a copy of a 
circular letter relating to the British Antarctic and 
Oceanographical Expedition being organised by him. 
The circular states that the expedition will leave 
England towards the end of the year for the following 
purposes :—(1) To investigate reports of mariners as 
to the existence of dangerous uncharted rocks, shoals, 
reefs, islands, etc., on the trade routes of the world; 
(2) to discover the extent and position of the coast 
line still left unmapped on the continent of Antarctica ; 
(3) to make a scientific survey of the sea in general. 
This programme, we need scarcely point out, is 
ambitious enough for half a dozen expeditions, and 
we should be glad to know the names of men of 
science associated with it, either as members of Mr. 
Stackhouse’s advisory committee or of the proposed 
undertaking. 


Dr. W. S. Bruce left Edinburgh on Thursday, 
July 9, on an expedition to Spitsbergen. The object of 
the expedition is hydrographic and geological research 
in Wybe Jansz Water, or Stor Fiord, where the coast 
is little known, and where there are practically no 
soundings. Geological investigations will form an 
important item in the programme. Dr. Bruce is to be 
assisted by Mr. J. V. Burn Murdoch, who has pre- 
viously twice accompanied him to Spitsbergen, by Mr. 
R. M. Craig, of the geological department of the 
University of St. Andrews, and by Mr. J. H. Koeppern, 
zoologist. He will be himself responsible for the con- 
duct of the hydrographic work. The expedition is 
expected to be absent for about two months. It is 
supplied with instruments by the Admiralty and the 
Scottish Oceanographical Laboratory, and is also 
supported by the Royal Geographical Society and the 
Prince of Monaco. 


At the twelfth annual general meeting of the British 
Academy, held on July 10, Lord Bryce, who was in the 
chair, urged that the academy should have the means 
of encouraging and aiding inquiries of real value which 
cannot be materially profitable to those who undertake 
them, and of paying for the publication of works 
needed by students but which cannot be expected to 
command a remunerative sale. Ample justification, he 
said, for such grants would be found both in the prac- 
tice of the chief nations of Continental Europe and in 
that followed as respects scientific inquiries, grants for 
which are made to the Royal Society to be adminis- 
tered by that body. Lord Haidane, Lord Fitzmaurice, 
and Mr. John W. Mackail were elected new fellows 
by ballot, and the following were elected correspond- 
ing fellows :—M. Charles Bémont, Mr. C. W. Eliot, 
M. Omont, and Signor Pasquale Villari. Lord Bryce 
was re-elected president, and Canon Charles, Prof. 
Percy Gardner, Sir Courtenay Ibert, Prof. W. P. Ker, 
and Prof. W. R. Sorley were appointed members of 
the council. 


NO! (2232.0 VON Osi 


NATURE 


[JuLy 16, 1914 


Tue annual meeting of the British Medical Asso- 


ciation will be held this month at Aberdeen. The 
president’s address will be delivered on July 28 by Sir 
Alexander Ogston, K.C.V.O. The address in medicine 
will be given by Dr. A. E. Garrod, and that in surgery 
by Sir John Bland-Sutton. Prof. J. Arthur Thomson 
will deliver the popular lecture. The scientific busi- 
ness of the meeting will be conducted in sixteen sec- 
tions, which, with the names of the presidents, are as 
follows :—Anatomy and Physiology, Prof. R. W. 
Reid; Dermatology and Syphilology, Dr. A. Eddowes ; 
Diseases of Children, including Orthopzedics, Dr. J. 
Thomson; Electro-Therapeutics and Radiology, Dr. S. 
Sloan; Gynaecology and Obstetrics, Dr. F. W. Nicol 
Haultain; Laryngology, Rhinology, and Otology, Dr. 
H. Lambert Lack; Medical Sociology, Dr. J. Gordon; 
Medicine, Dr. F. J. Smith; Naval and Military Medi- 
cine and Surgery, Surgeon-General W. M. Craig; 
Neurology and Psychological Medicine, Dr. F. W. 
Mott; Ophthalmology, Mr. C. H. Usher; Pathology 
and Bacteriology, Dr. W. S. Lazarus-Barlow; Phar- 
macology, Therapeutics, and Dietetics, Prof. J. T. 
Cash; State Medicine and Medical Jurisprudence, Prof. 
Matthew Hay; Surgery, Mr. J. Scott Riddell, Tropical 
Medicine, Prof. W. J. R. Simpson. 


Tue Eugenics Review for July (vol. vi., No. 2) con- 
tains many articles of general interest. Mr. Nettle- 
ship reviews the results of consanguineous marriages, 
and concludes that those between cousins are as safe 
from the eugenic point of view as any other mar- 
riages, provided the parents and stock are sound. 
Mr. Macleod Yearsley deals with the problem of deaf- 
ness and its prevention. The chief causes of acquired 
deafness are meningitis, fevers and other infective 
diseases, such as tuberculosis and syphilis, and 
adenoids and similar throat conditions. The preven- 
tion of acquired deafness therefore largely rests with 
efficient treatment in the fever hospitals and with 
medical inspection and treatment of school children. 


In the third part of that excellent periodical, Ancient 
Egypt, the editor, Prof. Flinders Petrie, gives an 
authoritative account of the discovery of the famous 
treasure of Lahun, in a tomb which had been already 
plundered, probably in the decadence of the kingdom 
before the Hyksos. The splendid diadem and two 
pectorals, one bearing the cartouche of Senusert II., 
the other that of Amenamhat III., are specially note- 
worthy. The same scholarly explorer contributes the 
first part of an article which, by reference to the work 
of recent travellers, provides material for the com- 
parison of Egyptian funerary rites with those of the 
modern Bantu and other African races—a piece of 
work which throws important light on many anthro- 
pological problems. 


In the review of ‘‘ Maya Art’? in Nature of July 2 
(p. 456), in referring to Maya chronology, the state- 
ment was made that the number 13 ‘‘is based upon 
the fact that eight years of 365 days are exactly five 
years of the planet Venus.” Mr. A. E. Larkman 


\ writes from Southampton to suggest that there is a 


discrepancy in this statement. The reviewer regrets 


| having omitted to say that the five years of the planet 


a 


rc ata os 


La ee em a 


rahot se 


OAS LO RT EN. es 9 to = 
engi 2erreseenaee aia —_ 


—ahey 


“ Aaa Neawrcex TEOMA 


JuLy 16, 1914] 


NATURE 513 


od 


Venus refer to its synodic (not sidereal) revolutions of 
583-9 days each, the only ‘‘ Venus year’? which the 
Mayas could appreciate, unless they had knowledge 
of the heliocentric system (8 x 365 =5 x 584=2920). The 
justification of the number 13 as given on p. 456 is 
therefore good enough for a people who were great 
worshippers of the morning and evening star, of the 
representations, symbols, and attributes of which their 
almanacs are full. This and further detail is discussed 
fully in Foerstemann and Seler’s collected and trans- 
lated papers, published by the Smithsonian Institution, 
Washington, 1904. 


A JOINT meeting of the British Psychological Society, 
the Aristotelian Society, and the Mind Association was 
held at Durham on July 3-6. A discussion of con- 
siderable interest to psychology took place on the 
réle of repression in forgetting. In it was considered 
Freud’s view that in forgetting, even among normal 
people, an important part is played by the factor which 
he terms ‘‘repression.”’ There appeared to be distinct 
agreement among the speakers that forgetting, both of 
the ordinary and the pathological kind, while some- 
times attributable to defects of retention, is frequently 
incapable of explanation without the assumption of 
positive factors which prevent recall of the retained 
matter. The nature of these positive forces, as they 
are treated by Freud, was discussed at length. Mr. 
Pear held that two kinds of forgetting should be dis- 
tinguished, one due to failure to retain (the conditions 
for which may be purely physiological in character), 
the other to failure to recall. The latter condition may 
be due to psychological factors, some of which are 


possibly of the kind described by Freud. Dr. Wolf’s . 


paper criticised the use of the term ‘‘repression.’’ Dr. 
Mitchell expounded in detail Freud’s theory of 
hysterical amnesia, while Prof. Loveday criticised 
Freud’s general conceptions, especially that of uncon- 
scious thought, pointing out the defects which were 
entailed by an adherence to the old doctrine of asso- 
ciationism. Dr. Ernest Jones and Dr. Crichton Miller 
supported Freud’s theory by facts from clinical experi- 
ence. Among other speakers were Mr. W. 
McDougall, Prof. T. P. Nunn, Prof. G. F. Stout, and 
Dr. H. Wildon Carr. 


WE have received from Mr. H. Swithinbank and 
Mr. G. E. Bullen a copy of a paper entitled ‘‘ The 
Scientific and Economic Aspects of the Cornish Pil- 
chard Fishery: ii., The Plankton of the Inshore 
Waters in 1913 considered in Relation to the Fishery.’’ 
Samples of plantkon were taken at twelve stations in 
Mevagissey and St. Austell Bay, at eleven stations in 
Mount’s Bay, and at six stations in St. Ives Bay, on 
June 1-3, 1913, and similar collections were made at 
a number of these stations in August of the same year. 
The principal species found in the samples have been 
identified and recorded. The paper also contains some 
notes on the pilchard fishery during the season. 


THE reports of the Albany Museum, Grahamstown, 
for the years 1910-13 are issued in a single cover. In 
that for 1910, the director reviews the condition of 
the building and collections at the time he assumed con- 
trol, in the course of which he compliments the late 


Wane g205,.VOL. 62) 


director and his staff on their efforts to improve the 
museum, although hampered by insufficient funds. 
On a later page the preparation and publication of 
a series of works on the entire South African fauna is 
urged, those at present in existence being more or less 
obsolete. In the report for 1913 large additions to the 
collections are recorded, which render the need of 
extension of the building more pressing than ever. 


To prevent the deaths of migrating birds from ex- 
haustion while fluttering around the lanterns of light- 
houses, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds 
a short time ago placed perches near the lan- 
terns. at St. Catherine’s and the Caskets. The 
perches are made in the form of a small ladder of 
wood and iron within view of the light, but so placed 
as not to obstruct it. Observations have shown that 
these perches were crowded every night during the 
migrating season. Trinity House has now permitted 
the society to furnish other lighthouses with similar 
accommodation, and the next so to be treated are the 
South Bishop, off Pembrokeshire, and that at Spurn 
Head, where the work will be completed this summer. 


A NOTICE of the English supplement, based on the 
second edition of ‘‘Jost’s Lectures on Plant Physio- 
logy,’’ appeared recently in these pages on May 7, 
and we now direct attention to the publication, by 
Mr. Gustav Fischer, of the third German edition of 
this work. The forty-two lectures which comprise . 
the volume occupy 744 pages of text, and the various 
branches of the subject have been thoroughly revised 
up to the date of publication. Attention may be more 
particularly directed to the full treatment of hybridisa- 
tion and plant-breeding in lectures 29 and 30 of this new 
edition. The work is on the whole so comprehensive 
and representative that it is a matter of regret that 
the subject. of protoplasmic connections is somewhat 
inadequately treated, but it must be admitted that 
blemishes such as this are rare. Jost’s lectures hold 
the position of pre-eminence as a standard presenta- 
tion of the science of plant physiology, and the book 
is all the more valuable since the facts are presented 
in a particularly interesting manner. 


WE have received the first part of the Annals of 
Applied Biology, the newly-founded official organ of 
the Association of Economic Biologists. Prof. Max- 
well Lefroy, assisted by a strong committee, acts as 
editor, and the magazine is published by the Cam- 
bridge University Press. The number contains a 
varied selection of articles; perhaps the most important 
is Mr. A. E. Cameron’s detailed account of the life- 
history of Pegomyia hyoscyami, known most widely by 
one of its several synonyms—P. betae—the mangel- 
fly. The leaf-mining maggot is here described in its 
successive stages. Mr. F. V. Theobald writes on the 
green spruce aphis (A. abietina), an insect very de- 
structive in England and Ireland, but apparently rare 
on the Continent, and not certainly known in Scotland. 
All naturalists, whether specially interested in 


' ““economic’’ questions or not, should read Prof. F. W. 


Gamble’s suggestive article on impending develop- 
ments in agricultural zoology. 


514 


At the conclusion of an article on the African 
element in the fresh-water fauna of India, published 
in the report of section 4 of the Compte rendu of the 
ninth International Zoological Congress, held at 
Monaco in 1913, Dr. Annandale remarks that the 
existence of this African element is more pronounced 
among lower invertebrates than in other groups. 
Admitting the existence in late Cretaceous and perhaps 
early Tertiary time of a land-bridge between the Mala- 
bar coast of India and East Africa, and of a second 
connecting Africa with South America, he argues that 
at this period India, Africa, and South America doubt- 
less possessed a very similar fresh-water fauna, of 
which Africa formed the central area. Any land- 
passages from India to South America must almost 
certainly have included Africa; and the occurrence of 
similar generic types only in the two former areas 
must be explained by their dying-out in the third. 
Madagascar, if ever united with the tri-continental 
tract, must have been separated at an earlier date 
than the other constituents. 


For some years past Mr. Roy Andrews has been 
engaged in investigating the whale and whale-fisheries 
of the North Pacific; and it has been decided to pub- 
lish the results of these investigations in a series of 
monographs in the Memoirs of the American Museum 
of Natural History. In the first of these (ser. 2, 
vol. i., part 5) the author deals with the grey whale 
(Rhachianectes glaucus), of the Californian and 
Japanese seas, which is the sole representative of its 
genus, and is now shown to be the most archaic type 
of whalebone-whale in existence. Its most strikingly 
primitive features include the presence of scattered 
hairs over the whole head, the small number, short- 
ness, thickness, and wide separation of the plates of 
whalebone, the persistence of a wide strip of the 
frontal bones on the vertex of the skull, and the 
length of the nasals, the retention of stout neural 


arches by the first two cervical vertebrae, which, like © 


the other five, are completely free, the length and 
straightness of the humerus, and the large size of the 
remnants of the pelvis. In several of these respects 
the genus, which Mr. Andrews considers should repre- 
sent a family by itself, approximates to Plesiocetus of 
the European Pliocene. 


To the April number of the American Museum 
Journal Prof. H. F. Osborn communicates a note on 
the collection of Permian South African reptiles just 
acquired by the museum from Dr. R. Broom. The 
author remarks that these reptiles represent the climax 
of development of the amphibian stock, and the first 
attempts at progression on land. Reptiles of this 
early type are common to South Africa, Texas and 
New Mexico, and part of Russia, those from the first 
and last localities being much more nearly related 
than are those from America to either. ‘The 
Texan reptiles continued to crawl close to the ground, 
but in South Africa we find that in many of the 
groups, through a powerful development of the limbs, 
the body is raised well off the ground—a distinct 
advantage which gave the start that resulted in the 
development of mammals.’’ In the course of a letter 
in the same issue on the werk: of field-collectors, Col. 


NO; #2333. .viOl. 93) 


NATURE 


[JuLy 16, 1974 


Theodore Roosevelt remarks that he particularly 
wishes ‘“‘to avoid seeing growing up in the United 
States the type of scientist who merely supplies the 
nomenclature and technical descriptions for specimens 
furnished him by field-observers.’” No mention is 
made of the sportsmen, who, on the strength of the 
merest smattering of zoological knowledge, nowadays 
feel themselves qualified to discuss the affinities and 
nomenclature of game animals. 


Tue importance to science of accurately expressed 
terms and definitions could scarcely be enforced more 
clearly than in the case of seismology. Mallet, for 
instance, bequeathed to us the term seismic focus. 
Later writers have used the word hypocentre as an 
equivalent term, and epicentre for the projection of 
the hypocentre on the surface. All three terms imply 
that the region within which an earthquake originates 
is a point, or practically a point. Yet Mallet himself 
did not hold this view, for he regarded the focus of 
the Neapolitan earthquake of 1857 as a vertical frac- 
ture several miles long in both directions. The sub- 
ject has lately been discussed by Dr. G. Martinelli 
in an interesting paper (Mem. della Pont. Accad. Rom. 
dei Nuovi Lincei, vol. xxxi., 1913). Dr. Martinelli 
also considers some recent inquiries as to the form 
of the hypocentre, and concludes that the ‘ Herd- 
linien’’ of Harboe and the ‘‘seismotectonic lines” of 
Hobbs have little, if any, physical meaning. He is in 
favour, however, of retaining the term hypocentre as 
denoting the limited region within which the initial 
disturbance takes place. 


Tue Director-General. of Observatories (India) has 
issued a memorandum (dated Simla, June 8) on the 
meteorological conditions prevailing before the advance 
of the south-west monsoon. Records of the past show 
that the monsoon rainfall of India is affected by pre- 
vious conditions over various parts of the earth, e.g. 
high barometric pressure during March—May in Argen- 
tina and Chile, and low pressure in May in the Indian 
Ocean are favourable conditions, while high pressure 
in India in May is advantageous for Malabar, and 
possibly Mysore, but unfavourable for other parts. 
Among the inferences drawn from available data are: 
(1) that, on the whole, the total monsoon rainfall this 
year will probably be somewhat less abundant than 
usual, at any rate in the earlier part of the season; 
(2) as regards geographical distribution, during the 
first half of the monsoon period, while local conditions 
are favourable for the Malabar coast, they are some- 
what unfavourable for several other parts. 


WE have received from Prof. A. McAdie, director 
of the Blue Hill Observatory (Massachusetts), an 
appreciative review of the scientific work of the late 
Prof. A. L. Rotch, published (apparently) in the Annals 
of Harvard College. Many of the facts referred to 
are already known to our readers; Prof. Rotch was 
the founder, and for more than twenty-seven years 
director, of the observatory. The upper-air records 
obtained by him have been of great service in the study 
of various meteorological problems, and a list of 183 
of his principal articles and memoirs are given in Prof. 
McAdie’s notice. 


_Juty 16, 1914] 


NATURE 


515 


A CONVENIENT method of determining the melting 
or solidifying range of temperature of a lava or 
similar substance, which on account of its want of 
homogeneity must be tested in bulk, is described by 
Messrs. K. Fuji and T. Mizoguchi in the March 
number of the Proceedings of the Tokyo Physical 
Society. The material to be tested is placed in the 
form of powder in an earthenware crucible of about 
50 c.c., and is heated in an electric resistance furnace, 
The temperature is measured by a_ standardised 
platinum platinum-rhodium couple, and the electrical 
conductivity by the current sent by an alternating 
electromotive force applied to two spherical platinum 
electrodes immersed in the molten material. The 
apparatus is standardised by the use of fused sodium 
chloride. According to the measurements made by 
the authors, the conductivity of molten lava may 
exceed o0’5 reciprocal ohms per centimetre cube, and 
may therefore influence the propagation of electric 
waves over that part of the earth’s surface beneath 
which it is present. 


In the July number of Science Progress the editorial 
article entitled ‘‘ Irrationalism”’ is a strong condemna- 
tion of the position taken up by the anti-vivisectionist. 
‘“Trrationalism,” it is truly urged, ‘‘is generally the 
enemy of humanity. In the form of crankism it 
clings shrieking to the hands of science just when 
she is engaged upon her most difficult but beneficent 
labours, and, in the form of political party, it paralyses 
the efforts of the wisest legislators.’’ The age of the 
earth is discussed by Prof. J. Joly, whilst Mr. H. S. 
Shelton, dealing with the same subject, brings for- 
ward arguments, with which probably most chemists 
will agree, to show that sea-sait data are unsatisfac- 
tory as a basis of calculation of geologic time. Mr. 
Arthur Holmes considers the terrestrial distribution 
of radium, which bears upon the same problem. 
Articles of general interest are contributed by Dr. 
J. J. Jenkins on scientific research and the sea- 
fisheries, by Mr. W. R. G. Atkins on some recent work 
on plant oxidases, and by Mr. R. Steele on photo- 
graphic and mechanical processes used in the repro- 
duction of illustrations. 


Tue fourth article on the Ford motor-car works in 
the Engineering Magazine for July describes the 
methods adopted for assembling motors and their com- 
ponents. It is common practice in these works to 
place the most suitable component on elevated ways 
or rails, and to carry it past successive stationary 
sources of component supply, and past successive 
groups of workmen who fix the various components 
to the principal component, until the assembly is com- 
pleted and ready to leave the assembling line. <A 
slow-moving chain is used in certain cases to drive 
the assembly in progress along the rails. The follow- 
ing figures will illustrate the saving in time effected : 
Motor assembling on separate benches gave, in Octo- 
ber, 1913, 1100 men working 9 hours to assemble 1000 
motors. On_ full-length motor-assembling lines, in 
May, 1914, 472 men working 8 hours assembled 1000 
motors. It will be understood that elaborate systems 
of making all parts to gauge and of rigid inspection 


WOn 2333, VOL. 93] 


of the finished components contribute largely to these 
results. 


AMONG the papers read at the Paris meeting of the 
Institution of Mechanical Engineers last week is one 
on signalling on railway trains in motion, contri- 
buted by the engineers of six of the French railways. 
On the Nord, a fixed ramp is set in the centre of the 
track parallel to the rails, and at a distance from the 
signal varying from the foot of the signal to 200 
metres. The oak beam forming the ramp carries a 
cover-plate of brass; a stout square piece of copper 
is riveted to the plate and is connected to the wire 
from the battery. Cushions of tarred felt are placed 
between the ramp and the sleepers so as to reduce 
vibrations due to trains passing. The locomotives 
carry an electro-automatic whistle, the steam or com- 
pressed-air valve of which is operated by a strong 
spring and a Hughes electromagnet. A brush on the 
locomotive formed of a series of small brooms of 
hard elastic copper, wire connects the electromagnet 
through the ramp to the battery; the other wire goes 
to earth through the wheels and rails. The signal 
vane is provided with a switch which controls the 
position of the signal vane as well as releases the 
whistle. All the installations described in the paper 
must be regarded as being in the experimental stage. 


WE have received a copy of ‘‘The Leather Trades 
Year Book,” the official publication of the United 
Tanners’ Federations of Great Britain and Ireland. 
The year-book is published at 3s., and can be ob- 
tained from the hon. editors, 176 Tower Bridge Road, 
London, S.E. It contains a large number of statis- 
tical data for the last five years of hides, tanning 
materials, and leather-made goods, and a series of 
illustrated articles dealing with the science and prac- 
tice of the leather industry. 


AMONG recent additions to the ‘‘ Cambridge Manuals 
of Science and Literature,” published by the Cam- 
bridge University Press at is. net each, the following 
deserve mention. One by Dr. R. A. Sampson, Astro- 
nomer Royal for Scotland, has the title, ‘‘The Sun,’ 
and provides in its 141 pages a brief statement of the 
present position of fact and theory relating to the sun. 
The second is by Mr. T. C. Cantrill, and deals with 
coal mining. He outlines the evolution of the in- 
dustry from its primitive beginnings, and indicates 
some of the far-reaching effects it has had on domes- 
tic and mechanical affairs. The third book, ‘The 
Making of Leather,” is by Mr. H. R. Procter, who 
gives a sketch of the methods and some discussion of 
what is a very ancient industry, involving in its ex- 
planation some difficult branches of human knowledge. 


OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 


Comet 1914c (NEujmIN).—Prof. H. Kobold contri- 
butes to a supplement to Astronomische Nachrichten 
(No. 4748) the elements and ephemeris of the comet 
most recently discovered, namely, comet 1914c (Neuj- 
min). The observations of July 1, 2, and 3 were 
utilised and a parabolic system of elements was com- 
puted. The elements are as follows : — 


516 
Elements. 
T =1914 Feb. 117518 Berlin M.T. 
@—J200" 920. 
(2 =265° 45°3' ;1914'0 
z= 36° 19°3' 


log g =0°13179 
The comet is getting very faint, but for those with 
larger telescopes the following ephemeris may be use- 
ful :— 


ah (true) Decl. (true) Mag. 

July 16 V7) 50) 22 ee OMsGo 12-9 
Typ ae acd 49 24 21-6 
TO) aaete ASPAS |) ae 12:9 

LOW Janos WSmige kas eGy 6 S455 13:0 
Z2ONeerae AT EAIMG eo R50 
PR ce Ng RON Racks 48:5 
PAE Wc AG EL Mkt 41-0 

Be 817-40 Th Seon ag 13:1 


Comet 1913f (DELAVAN).—For the last few months 
comet 1913f (Delavan) has been lost in the sun’s rays, 
but it will soon now become visible again, and it is 
expected that it may appear as a naked-eye object. 
Numerous elements, both parabolic, elliptic, and hyper- 
bolic, have been computed by different workers. Thus 
Dr. G. van Biesbroeck advocates parabolic elements 
(Astronomische Nachrichten, No. 4739) as follows :-— 


T=1914 Oct. 26°3000 Berlin M.T. 
@=—977 28 17°4 | of 
Q=59° 8’ 46:4”; I1910°0 (Osc. 1914 Sept. 280) 
Z =68° 1’ 46-4") 
log g =0°0430113 
Herr E. E. Kiihne calculates his ephemeris (Astro- 
nomische Nachrichten, No. 4739) on the basis of 
elliptic elements, which he gives as follows :— 


T =1914 Oct. 26°5626 Berlin M.T. 


@ =97° 27’ 87") 
(HE Forno, 104) 9- 19040 
7 =68° 6! 230") 
log g =0'043697 
€ =0'999655 


Messrs. S. B. Nicholson and C. D. Shane (Lick 
Observatory Bulletin, No. 255) do not consider a para- 
bolic orbit to be included within the range of possible 
solutions, and so advocate a set of hyperbolic elements 
on which their ephemeris is based. The following are 
the elements they give :— 


l= 07 2500 
O56: U2 Az Tog: 
z =68° (00: 36'9" | 


The following ephemeris for the current week is 
based on the computations of Dr. G. van Biesbroeck : 


R.A. (true) Decl. (true) Mag. 
hewamMe GiS- Say a 
fitlysaOR ee ee Ghe2nste yicn 33, 52" Oana ie. 6:8 
1] ZAR ER aay TON IG 
18 27 14 SBA) 28526 - 6-7 
19 29 38 ss «= 34.47 4 
2 BA () . Godt B54 ke 
ar SOD eno abe at 
22 Be Mee Bh AS LOM ter. 6-6 
23 5 3042 = 307 2 16 


Attention may be directed to a communication to the 
Royal Academy of Belgium (Bulletin de la Classe des 
Sciences, 1914, No. 2, p. 101) by Dr. G. van Bies- 
broeck. In this the author discusses in detail the 
elements and positions of the comet, and gives an 


NO. 2323) VOlLeo3 i 


NATURE 


[ Juny 16, rQi4 


interesting chart of the positions of the comet in the 
sky (with the sun’s positions) extending from Septem- 
ber 1, 1913, to July 1, 1915. 

CLASSIFICATION OF NEBUL AND STAR CLUSTERS.— 
Those who have observed or photographed a large 
number of nebula and star clusters have no doubt 
experienced the difficulty of classifying them briefly 
without having to describe. each in detail. Nearly 
every astronomer who has had to deal with a large 
number of these objects has either adopted a previous 
system of nomenclature or has formed one of his own 
based partially on one previously selected. The time 
seems to have arrived when a universal method of 
nomenclature should be adopted, and M. G. 
Bigourdan, in the Comptes rendus (No. 26, June 20, 
1914, p. 251), discusses the whole question from this 
point of view. He reviews the systems of W. 
Herschel, J. Herschel, Schultz, Kobold, Wirtz, Max 
Wolf, Bailey, etc., and finally submits a scheme which 
while embodying the chief points and notations of 
previous classifications appears to be simple, brief, 
and comprehensive. This scheme should serve as a 
good basis for discussion, and, even if modified, M. 
Bigourdan will have done a good service by bringing 
this subject of classification to a head. 


Watts’s ‘‘ INDEX OF SPECTRA.’’—The “ Index of Spec- 
tra’? by Dr. W. Marshall Watts is a publication fami- 
liar to all spectroscopists, and completes and brings 
up to date in the forms of appendices the wave-length 
determinations of the elements. Appendix W, the 
second of a new series, has just made its appearance, 
and contains the spectra of chromium, cobalt, copper, 
dysprosium, erbium, europium, and fluorine, conclud- 
ing with additions and corrections to Appendix V. 


THE NAPIER TERCENTENARY. 


ee Napier tercentenary celebration, to be held in 

Edinburgh under the auspices of the Royal 
Society of Edinburgh, will open formally on the after- 
noon of Friday, July 24, when the Right Hon. 
Lord Moulton will deliver the inaugural address. The 
same evening the Lord Provost and magistrates will 
give a reception in honour of the event. On the after- 
noon of Saturday, the governors of Merchiston Castle 
School will entertain the members of the congress, 
who will thus have an opportunity of seeing the very 
room which John Napier occupied as his study. The 
divine service in St. Giles’ Cathedral on the afternoon 
of July 26, and the farewell reception given by the 
president and council of the Royal Society of Edin- 
burgh, form the remaining gatherings of a general 
nature. 

The other meetings will be essentially mathematical 
in character, and will be held on Saturday forenoon 
and on the greater part of Monday, in the University, 
the rooms of the mathematical department, and a 
number of other rooms and halls in the immediate 
vicinity being utilised for the purpose. 

The general arrangement of the programme is to 
devote Saturday forenoon to papers and discussions 
of an historical character. Dr. Glaisher, F.R.S., Prof. 
Cajori, Prof. Eugene Smith, and others are expected 
to take part. 

On the Monday the communications will refer mainly 
to the construction of mathematical tables and the 
methods of calculation. Prof. Andoyer, of Paris, Prof. 
Bauschinger, of Strassburg, Prof. d’Ocagne, of Paris, 
and M. Albert Quiquet, the secretary of the Actuarial 
Society of France, have all agreed to read papers on 
the subjects with which their names are identified, and 
well-known representatives from America and the 
United Kingdom will also be among the speakers. 


4 


PULL Gs. 19144 


NATURE 


Some points of practical interest have been suggested 
for discussion, @.g. a facsimile reprint of the original 
edition of the ** Descriptio,’ the construction of a table 
of co-logs to seven figures, the publication of part of 
Dr. Sang’s great volumes of manuscript tables of 
logarithms and sines. 

A particularly interesting feature of the congress 
will be the exhibits of books, instruments, calculating 
machines, Napier relics, etc. These are to be arranged 
in the large examination hall of the University, close 
to the mathematical department. From Lord Napier 
and Ettrick and other representatives of the Napier 
family some interesting portraits and other relics have 
been received; and Mr. Lewis Evans’s remarkable 
collection of ‘‘ Napier’s Bones,’’ or ‘‘ Numbering Rods,”’ 
will form a valuable exhibit in itself. Mr. J. R. Find- 
lay has set out a large selection of portable sundials 
_ dating from the sixteenth century. John Napier’s own 
works and the other early editions of logarithmic 
tables published both in Great Britain and the Con- 
tinent will be of great interest to all mathematical 
students. Mr. Roberts has undertaken to set up his 
tide-predicting machine, and have it in action during 
the time of the Napier Congress and the succeeding 
mathematical colloquium. Slide-rules, arithmometers, 
integraphs, and many other forms of calculating 
machine, will be of special interest to the practical 
calculator. 

These and many other exhibits are being described 
in an illustrated handbook which every member of the 
congress will receive with his membership card. 

It is expected that the exhibition will be open to 
members on Thursday, july 23, or on Friday morning 
at the latest, so that there will be ample time to view 
it before the meetings begin. 

All members of the congress will have the privilege 
of using the rooms of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. 
They will also be elected honorary members, for the 
time being, of the Edinburgh University Students’ 
Union, where luncheon and other club privileges may 
be enjoyed. 

It should be mentioned in conclusion that the 
Napier tercentenary celebration has received a remark- 
able degree of support from individuals and from 
educational institutions over the whole civilised world. 
In virtue of this support, the committee has felt 
justified in preparing beforehand for distribution a 
handbook full of mathematical lore. In the memorial 
volume valuable communications will be published, 
and the salient features of the congress will be 
recorded. 

To all who have thus aided in making the ter- 
centenary celebration of the publication of the first 
book of logarithms a real success, I wish now to 
convey the cordial thanks of the general committee of 
the Napier celebration, and of the council of the Royal 
Society of Edinburgh, among whom the project first 
took shape. C. G. Knorr. 


PHETROVAL SANITARY INSTITUTE 
CONGRESS AT BLACKPOOL. 


i Roe 2 twenty-ninth Congress of the Royal Sanitary 

Institute, held at Blackpool on July 6-11, was 
well attended, and the addresses, papers, and discus- 
sions were well above the average in interest and 
importance. 

Lord Derby, who opened the congress on the Mon- 
day, pleaded for greater attention being given to 
physical and military drill as an aid to hygiene, basing 
his argument upon the improved physique of. the 
Army, as compared with that of fhe classes from 
which they were drawn. ; 


NiG2 2233, VOL. 93] 


517 
A paper upon the action of some _ metals 
upon certain water and other bacteria, presented 
by Prof. Delepine and Dr. A. Greenwood, 


gave an account of the recent results of the investiga- 
tion of the above subject, carried on in the pathology 
and public health laboratory of the University of Man- 
chester. The detailed results are contained in a series 
of tables printed in the original paper, and are sum- 
marised in the conclusions at which the authors arrive 
as follows :— 

Pure platinum, gold, and tin, which do not seem 
to be appreciably acted upon by water, or by the 
organic media used in the experiments, did not appear 
to have any action on the four kinds of bacteria experi- 
mented upon. 

Lead, aluminium, and iron, which were distinctly 
acted upon, were either without appreciable effect 
(lead), or had only a_= slight inhibitory action 
(aluminium and iron). 

Copper, silver, zinc, and mercury had a powerful 
inhibitory action, and also showed evidence of being 
acted upon by the media, and of forming certain 
compounds the nature of which will be discussed else- 
where. In all cases where a niarked inhibitory action 
was produced it was noticed that in reduced doses 
the metals were also capable of an excitatory action 
which resulted in increased growth of bacteria. 

It will be noticed that all bacteria were not affected 
in the same way and to the same extent. The action 
of soft water upon copper and upon lead is very 
rapid; but while the passage of lead into the water 
does not appear to affect the bacterial contents, that 
of copper is attended with complete, or almost com- 
plete, sterilisation in about half an hour. 

Dr. J. W. Brittlebank, veterinary officer to the Sani- 
tary Committee of the Manchester City Corporation, 
delivered an address to the Veterinary Section of the 
congress, in which he dealt chiefly with the milk sup- 
ply and the provisions of the new Milk Bill, now 
before the House of Commons. His own views are 
summed up in the following paragraphs :— 

‘Public attention has been directed for many years 
past to the question of the milk supply, and there is 
little doubt that considerable progress and improve- 
ment has been made in the general conditions; but 
there is, I am afraid, a coastant danger of allowing 
ourselves, when considering the question, to drift into 
one of its side-issues, namely, the elimination of 
tuberculous milk. Doubtless this is a most important 
question, perhaps the most important aspect, but in 
considering this we are apt to forget the other branches 
of the problem. 

‘‘Our aim should be to put within the reach of every- 
body a supply of good, clean, disease-free raw milk, 
which may be consumed in any quantity with safety. 
It is perfectly true that many are so unfortunately 
situated, as to be able to purchase only the most 
meagre amounts, but they have just as much right to 
protection as their more fortunate brethren. 

“The whole question teems with difficulties, and 
requires great qualities of statesmanship in its hand- 
ling. The business aspects of the question are impor- 
tant, inasmuch as the price of the article to the con- 
sumer is of paramount importance. Certain it is that 
improvement in conditions cannot be obtained without 
enhancing the value of the article produced, and it 
behoves all concerned to restrict the requirements asked 
for, within such limits as may be regarded to be the 
minimum of safety.” 

In the Preventive Medicine Section, Dr. Arthur 
Sellers, lecturer on comparative pathology in the Uni- 
versity of Manchester, read a paper on the blood 
changes in lead workers, giving the results of inves- 
tigations carried on in the public health laboratory 
of that University. The chief object of this investiga- 


’ 


5138 


tion was to obtain some first-hand information con- 
cerning the blood changes in workers in lead, 
especially as regards the significance of the presence 
of basophile granules in the red corpuscles (the 
‘erythrocytes ponctués’’ of French writers), and the 
conditions under which they occur. 

The men examined were all adult males. Most of 
them were employed at the works of the Chloride Elec- 
trical Storage Co. at Clifton Junction, in various ways 
involving contact with lead. Three men were un- 
doubted cases of lead-poisoning, not employed by the 
Chloride Company, but sent to the works to obtain 
bath treatment. 

The conclusions arrived at were as follows :— 

(1) The presence of basoohile granules in the blood 
of lead workers affords very strong evidence of lead 
absorption, but in itself is no absolute proof of lead 
poisoning. It would appear wrong to exclude such 
cases from following their ordinary work, but they 
should be regarded as a special class, and kept under 
close observation. The knowledge of the existence of 
such cases in a factory would certainly facilitate the 
work of inspection. 

(2) Blood examinations are of great value in cases 
where the clinical symptoms are doubtful, and in 
cases of suspected malingering or imaginary illness. 
In such cases a positive finding would at all events 
go to show that. lead absorption had occurred. A 
negative result is of less significance, though it has a 
certain value. 

Dr. S. Rideal, of London, in a paper read before the 
Domestic Hygiene Section of the congress, discussed 
the use of paper utensils in the home as a sub- 
stitute for glass and china or earthenware. The argu- 
ment for the use of paper plates, cups and saucers, 
which can be destroyed after use, was based chiefly on 
the fact that recent scientific investigation has proved 
that cups taken from schools, stores, and hotels have 
been found infected with several pathogenic forms of 
bacteria (including those of diphtheria, pneumonia, 
and influenza), even when supposed to be clean and 
ready for use. At one of the largest hospitals there 
is a regulation that all crockery, cutlery, glass, etc., 
should be rinsed in a disinfectant before being used 
again. In these days of typhoid and diphtheria ‘‘ car- 
riers,” the public are entitled to expect the adoption 
of similar precautions in places of refreshment; but 
this, of course, involves expense and labour. 

Samples of the following articles, made in paper, 
were exhibited at the close of the address, which 
aroused much interest and a keen discussion :— 
Cups: automatic dispenser; collapsing. Plates, 
table-covers; handkerchiefs; towels (various); blind; 
spitting-cup; formaldehyde generator (home-made). 
Bags: coke bag; moth bag; bags for cookery. 


PALISSY. ASA. PIONEER OF .SCIENTIFIG 
METHOD. 


EVERYONE is familiar with the dramatic story of 

Bernard Palissy, the potter, and how he fired 
a kiln with his household furniture in order to produce 
sufficient heat to melt his glazes, but his scientific 
work is rarely mentioned. A paper on ‘ Palissy, 
Bacon, and the Revival of Natural Science,’ by Sir T. 
Clifford Allbutt, published in the Proceedings of the 
British Academy (vol. vi.) is therefore a welcome con- 
tribution to the history of science. 

Palissy shares with Galileo and Gilbert the credit of 
being a pioneer ot modern scientific method. Born in 
1519, in Périgord, he was apprenticed to the art of 
glass painting, and in 1539 saw the cup of glazed 
faience which inspired him to produce a similar glaze 
upon ware. After he had succeeded, he found his way 


NOL 28330 VOUWwes| 


NATURE 


[JuLy 16, 1914 


to Paris, where he wrote books on many scientific sub- 
jects; and during the years 1575-84 he exercised great 
influence upon society in the city. He lectured on 
agriculture, chemistry, mineralogy, and geology, and 
illustrated his lectures with demonstrations of natural 
objects from his museum. “‘Into the faces of the 
learned of his time he thrust his facts; he urged the 
might of the verified fact, the tests of practical experi- 
ence, the demonstration of the senses; and these in a 
keen and original way.’’ Among the physicians who 
attended his lectures was no less a _ person than 
Ambrose: Pare. 

By observation and experiment Palissy combated the 
prevailing notion that springs originated in the perco- 
lation of sea-water into the earth; and he showed that 
they were formed at the junction of permeable and 
impermeable strata. He collected fossils widely and 
understood their nature; and both Buffon and Réaumur 
bore testimony to the correctness of his judgments 
upon this and other geological subjects. At the age of 
eighty Palissy was thrown into the Bastille as a dan- 
gerous heretic, and he died there after enduring about 
a year’s imprisonment. 

Sir Clifford Allbutt suggests that Francis Bacon, who 
went to Paris in 1576, and resided there for three years, 
must have been influenced by Palissy’s Museum or lec- 
tures, though. no mention of them is found in any 
existing work. ‘‘ What is certain is that Palissy was 
then teaching ‘practically the methods which a few 
years afterwards Bacon propounded at length; and 
not only so, but was teaching them, if with a far 
inferior literary capacity, yet with a sounder grasp of 
their methods.”’ ; 

Bacon constructed an imposing philosophical system 
of rules by which natural facts and phenomena were 
to be studied, but it was Palissy, Gilbert, and Galileo 
who were the real founders of the experimental method 
of inquiry upon which the superstructure of modern 
science has been built. 


EX PLOSIVES.+ 


AS explosive 1s a body which, under the influence 

of heat or shock, or both, is, speaking popularly, 
instantaneously resolved entirely, or almost so, into 
gases. 

Practical explosives consist either of bodies such as 
nitroglycerine and nitrocellulose, which are explosive 
in themselves, or mixtures of ingredients which 
separately are, or may be, non-explosive, but when 
intimately mixed are capable of being exploded. 

Explosives are exploded either by simple ignition, 
as in the case of black gunpowder, or by means of a 
detonator containing mercury fulminate. 

The molecules of an explosive may be regarded as 
in a state of unstable chemical equilibrium. A stable 
state of equilibrium is brought about by the sudden 
decomposition of the original compounds with the 
evolution of heat. An explosion is thus an extremely 
rapid decomposition, accompanied by the production of 
a large volume of gas and the development of much 
heat. 

There are two well-defined modes of explosion which 
can be described as combustion and detonation. In 
the former case, the explosive is simply ignited and 
combustion takes place by transference of heat from 
layer to layer of the explosive. The rapidity with 
which the combustion proceeds depends not only on 
the physical form of the explosive, but also on the 
pressure under which the decomposition takes place. 


‘When in the form of fine grains, combustion pro- 


+ From a course of lectures delivered before the Institute of Chemistry, at 
King's College, |London, by Mr. William Macnab, and published by the 
nstitute 


JuLy 16, 1914] 


ceeds much more quickly than when the grains are 
large, and the powder maker takes advantage of this 
fact in preparing powder for rifles and the various 
sized large guns. 

Detonation, on the other hand, has to be started by 
a sufficiently strong impulse, such as the explosion of 
a charge of mercury fulminate ; it proceeds much more 
rapidly and is due to the formation of an explosion 


NATURE 


519 


oxidation, the products are carbon dioxide, carbon 
monoxide, hydrogen, water, and nitrogen, but the 
relative proportions vary with the pressure developed. 
When such an explosive is fired in a closed vessel 
under different densities of charge, that is, different 
quantities of explosive in the same volume, the volume 
and composition of the gas varies with the pressure 
developed by the explosion. The carbon dioxide and 


Fic, 1.—Blast at Lord Penrhyn’s slate quarries. 


wave that has. a velocity of thousands of metres a 
second. 

Black gunpowder and allied explosives, as well as 
the smokeless powders, belong to the first or combus- 
tion class, and they are commonly designated ‘‘low”’ 
explosives. 

‘“ High ”’ explosives indicate those, such as dynamites 
and nitrate of ammonia explosives, which detonate 


Fic. 2.—Berthelot calori-metric bomb. 


and have a greater shattering action than the former. 

The volume and composition of the gas produced, 
both in regard to the power of the explosive, and, in 
the case of mining explosives, the health of the miner, 
are of great importance. These gases are largely 
determined by the original composition of the explo- 
sive. 

When there is insufficient oxygen for 


NOl 2333, VOL. 93| 


complete 


hydrogen increase and the carbon monoxide and water 
diminish as the pressure increases; also, at high pres- 
sures, considerable amounts of methane are formed. 
In the foregoing, it has been assumed that complete 
explosive decomposition has taken place. 

When a high explosive burns, instead of explodes, 
the chemical changes are not only very much slower 
and the disruptive effect practically nil, but the char- 


nner 


iH 
ABBE 


b 
a 
: 
& 


Be 
2 


Fic. 3.—Ballistic pendulum, Home Office testirg 
station. 


acter of the gases is entirely changed, large volumes 
of poisonous nitrous fumes along with other gases 
being produced. 

The temperature developed by an explosive is of 
importance, because the higher the temperature the 
greater the erosion of the guns. 

Nearly all blasting explosives, except black powder, 
are fired by means of a detonator. Fulminate of 


520 


NATGRE 


[JuLy 16, 1914 


mercury is the most widely employed constituent of 
the detonator charge; sometimes it is used alone, 
but more usually with an admixture of 20 per cent. of 
potassium chlorate. 

Trinitrotoluene, picric acid, and tetranitromethyl- 
aniline, each with a small quantity of fulminate as 
primer, have also been used for charging detonators. 

More recently lead azide prepared from the sodium 
salt of hydrazoic acid N;H, by means of a lead salt, 
has also been used, as it has a greater power of 
initiating detonation, so that less azide is required to 
detonate an organic explosive than would be required 
of fulminate. Its manufacture, however, is more 
delicate than fulminate, and the formation of large 
crystals must be avoided, as they have the unpleasant 
property of sometimes exploding spontaneously. 

Another new explosive body which appears likely 
to play an important part as a charge for detonators is 
tetranitroaniline, manufactured by nitrating meta- 
nitroaniline, It combines an exceptional explosive 
power with aromatic stability and has a high density. 

It can be easily detonated, even when highly com. 
pressed, and has such a high percentage of oxygen 
that it can be detonated without residue or smoke. 

In blasting operations, gunpowder and detonators 
are either fired by a time fuse or electrically. The 
time fuse consists of a thin but continuous core of 
black powder covered by a case of twine and tape and 
varnish. It is made to burn at a known uniform rate, 
generally 2 ft. a minute, in order that a sufficient length 
can be used to allow the shot-firer, after lighting the 
fuse, to reach shelter before the explosion takes place, 

The instantaneous fuse, which burns at the rate of 
100-300 ft. a second. affords a mean of firing many 
charges simultaneously. 

Occasionally it happens that a coil is defective, 
generally through discontinuity in the powder core. 
C. Napier Hake, late Chief Inspector of Explosives 
for Victoria, ingeniously employed X-ray photography 
to examine suspected coils, and, in this way, was able 
to recognise those which were defective. 

One of the most interesting recent productions is the 
“detonating fuse,’”’ a soft metal tube filled with trinitro- 
toluene which detonates with greater velocity than 
most explosives. When placed alongside the cartridges 
in a deep borehole, it is considered to give an enhanced 
blasting effect by causing the whole charge to go 
off more simultaneously than when the column of 
explosive’ is fired at one end by a detonator in the 
usual way. 

With the object of preventing accidents so far as 
possible, and minimising the loss of life should an 
explosion occur, a number of rules and regulations 
have been drawn up by the Explosives Department 
of the Home Office which have to be followed in the 
construction and working of explosive factories. 

The object of the restrictions is to allow only limited 
quantities of explosive material and a limited number 
of workpeople in one building at a time, and, further, 
to place the different buildings at such distances from 
each other, or surround them by protecting earth 
mounds, that in the event of an explosion the effect 
is localised as much as possible and the explosives in 
the adjacent buildings are not “set-off.” 

The manufacture of guncotton and the other forms 
of nitrocellulose is carried out in the first stages in 
the non-danger part of the factory. . 

The most interesting development of the nitration 
process is the method devised by J. and W. Thomson, 
of the Royal Gunpowder Factory, Waltham Abbey. 

The composition of the acid mixture is of the 
greatest importance and largely determines the char- 
acter of the product. The ratio between the nitric 
and sulphuric acids and the water must be accurately 
adjusted, j 


NO! 2333, VOL. O39) 


' contents. 


It must also be remembered that the cotton is by 
no means a definite chemical body, and its physical 
state plays an important part. Samples of different 
cottons, under the same conditions in a bath of the 
same composition, while yielding nitrocelluloses con- 
taining practically the same percentage of nitrogen, 
may vary in solubility in ether-alcohol from 25 per 
cent. to 70 per cent. : 

Turning now to the production of nitroglycerine, 
this manufacture is much simpler than that of nitro- 
cellulose; at the same time, it is much more 
dangerous. 

The plant which is at present most employed is 
known as the nitrator-separator. It was developed at 
Waltham Abbey by Sir Frederic Nathan and W. 
Rintoul, and is a great advance on the former 
methods, 

The nitrator-separator is a cylindrical leaden vessel 
with a coned top; inside are placed leaden coils, 
through which cooling water circulates, and pipes, 
through which compressed air is blown to mix the 
The glycerine is introduced in the form of 
a fine spray under the acid by means of a special 
injector, worked also by compressed air. 

When everything goes right, the nitration of the 


bic. 4.—‘‘ Mounded ” house, Cotton Powder works. 


charge is usually completed in about one hour; the 
agitation with the air is discontinued and the separa- 
tion of the nitroglycerine from the acids takes place 
being lighter it comes to the top. <A pipe, in which 
a glass window is fitted, leads from the top of the 
nitrator-separator to a pre-washing tank; by allowing 
waste acid from a previous operation to enter at the 
bottom, the nitroglycerine is forced over into the 
washing tank; and the flow of acid is stopped when- 
ever all the nitroglycerine has passed into the washing 
tank, which can be observed through the window. _ 

With the object of preventing explosions of gas or 
coal-dust in mines, our Government, in common with 
many others, has instituted a test which explosives 
have to pass before they are put on the “ permitted”’ 
list, and are available for use in fiery or dusty mines. 
This test has varied in the different countries, and 
a change has been introduced recently, since the 
transference of the testing station from Woolwich to 
Rotherham. Much difference of opinion still exists 
as to the best means of carrying out such a test. 

One of the chief factors in determining the ignition 
is the temperature developed by the gases of explosion. 
Owing to lack of data, the temperature cannot be 
calculated with sufficient accuracy, and other condi- 


JULY, ab;-1914] 


NATURE 


521 


tions obtain which make a practical test more helpful. 
Nevertheless, the temperature is of great importance 
and many means are employed of lowering it, such 
as adding salts which absorb heat on volatilisation. 

The rapidity of detonation, the length of the flame, 
and the heat evolved, all influence the readiness with 
which explosives ignite gas or coal-dust; but in this 
connection knowledge and progress have been chiefly 
promoted by direct experiment at the various testing 
stations here and abroad. 

The filling material for shells has been the subject 
of much experiment and trial by the different coun- 
tries. Picric acid, under the various names of 
melinite, lyddite, shimose powder, etc., has been ex- 
tensively tried and found wanting. Ammonal, con- 
taining ammonium nitrate, with a large percentage 
of trinitrotoluol and finely divided aluminium, is a 
very safe and powerful explosive, and has _ been 
adopted as the charge for shells by the Austrian 
Government. It has the disadvantage of containing 
the hygroscopic ammonium nitrate as an ingredient, 
and must consequently be specially protected against 
moisture. At present, trinitrotoluol is the body which 
has commended itselt to most of the Governments as 
the best bursting charge for shells, torpedoes, and 
general military blasting work, and has just been 
adopted by our own Government. 

Experience in America, South Africa, and Australia 
has shown that the fruit-grower has a real friend 
in explosives, and it seems to me that, in this country 
also, we must wake up to this beneficent aspect of 
explosives and the means they offer of attaining 
results otherwise impossible. 

In the case of tree planting, it is not the mere 
comparison of the cost of the excavation of the hole 
in which to place the tree which has to be considered. 
When an explosive is employed, the soil is shaken up 
and fissured for. a comparatively wide area beyond 
the hole actually required for the tree. When, as 
often happens, there is a hard and impervious subsoil 
beyond reach of the spade, this is also opened and 
fissured, and experience has shown that trees planted 
in ground prepared by explosives make a much more 
vigorous and rapid growth than when planted in the 
ordinary way. Some trees have begun bearing after 
four years, while others similarly situated but spade 
planted did not yield fruit until six years: 

In the case ot existing orchards little can be done 
in the ordinary way to aerate or render the soil more 
pervious to the roots and moisture, but a_ small 
cartridge inserted at some depth below the tree, or a 
larger one exploded at a depth of 3 ft. or so below 
the surface and midway between trees planted about 
15 ft. apart, has a most beneficial effect in loosening 
the soil without injuring the trees. The roots have 
less resistance to overcome, the soil is aerated, the 
moisture retaining properties improved, and a new 
lease of life is thus given to an old orchard; the trees 
become more vigorous and productive, and indeed are 
rejuvenated. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 
INTELLIGENCE. 


Lreeps.—The following appointments have been 
made :—Mr. Howard Priestman to be lecturer in tex- 
tile industries; Dr. A. M. Pryce to be demonstrator 
in bacteriology; Dr. H. E. Woodman to be research 
assistant in animal nutrition; Mr. H. A. Wyllie to be 
additional assistant lecturer and demonstrator in agri- 
culture. 

The second annual Yorkshire Summer School of 


WG) 2433, VOL: 93] 


| Geography will be held at Whitby on August 3-22. 
The work of organisation has again been undertaken 
by the University of Leeds, and the director of the 
school will be Prof. Kendall. The special subject this 
year will be the British Isles, treated in a general 
course, dealing with land forms and structure, meteoro- 
logy and economic geography. ‘There will be alter- 
native courses av the choice of each student on (1) 
agriculture, rocks and soils, and (2) oceanography, 
rivers and river development, and the evolution of 
transport. As in last year’s course, special attention 
will be paid to practical and field work. 


Lonpon.—The council of Bedford College has made 
the following appointments :—Assistant-lecturer in 
mathematics, Mr. C. Clemmow; demonstrators in 
physiology, Miss G. Hartwell and Miss N. Tweedy ; 
demonstrators in chemistry, Miss E. Field and Miss 
B. M. Paterson; demonstrator in geology, Miss I. 
Lowe. 


Dr. F. R. Miter, of the department of physiology, 
McGill University, Montreal, has been appointed pro- 
fessor of physiology in the Western University, Lon- 
don, Canada. 


Tue distribution of prizes at the Horticultural Col- 
lege, Swanley, Kent, will be held on July 23. The 
prizes will be presented by Lady Reid, and Sir George 
Reid, G.C.M.G., High Commissioner for Australia, 
will give an address. The chair will be taken at 
4 p.m. by Sir John Cockburn, K.C.M.G. 


Tue governors of the Imperial College of Science 

and Technology have appointed Dr. A. N. Whitehead, 
F.R.S., to the newly constituted chair of applied 
mathematics, and Dr. C. G. Cullis to the professorship 
of economic mineralogy. These changes form part of 
the general scheme of development of the Imperial 
; College ‘‘for the provision of the fullest equipment 
| for the most advanced training and research in various 
branches of science, especially in its application to 
industry.” 


THREE issues of the Undergraduate, the University 
of London magazine, published by the Students’ Repre- 
sentative Council, have been received. The first issue 
announced in December last that four numbers of the 
magazine would be published during the current ses- 
sion, and gave the last day for receiving contributions 
for the next issue as ‘‘1gth January, 1914.” Yet the 
second number bears the date May, 1914, and it says 
nothing of the number of issues during the session. 
The third issue is dated July, 1914. Sir Henry Miers 
writes in the December issue :—‘A magazine which 
will represent the University as a whole, and will give 
to all its members a medium of free expression upon 
the numerous and increasing matters of University 
interest will . . . satisfy a very real need.” We trust 
that the magazine will meet with the success to which 
the variety and interest of its contents entitle it. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 


LONDON. 
Royal Society, June 25.—Sir William Crookes, 
president, in the chair.—Sir W. Crookes: The 


spectrum of elementary silicon. The author has tried 
in vain for years to get pieces of fused silicon in an 
approximate degree of purity. Lately the Carborun- 
dum Co. at Niagara Falls sent him three samples 
giving an analysis of 99°56, 99'86, and 9998 per cent. 


522 


NATURE 


[JULY 16, 1914 


of silicon, the impurities being titanium, iron, and 
aluminium. This material has been used in the 
present research. The paper gives a complete list 
of silicon lines from A 2124163 in the ultra-violet to 
A 6371'032 in the extreme red, with some remarks 
referring to missing or doubtful lines.—Prof. S. P. 
Thompson: Note on Mr. Mallock’s observations on 
intermittent vision. In his paper of December, 1913, 
on intermittent vision, Mr. Mallock discussed the 
phenomena observed when a rotating disc of twelve 
black sectors painted on a white ground is viewed 
while a slight mechanical shock is given to the body 
or head. He concluded that a mechanical acceleration 
imparted thus to the nerve structures on which vision 
depends produces a momentary periodic paralysis. 
The author, repeating Mr. Mallock’s experiments, 
finds that effects of precisely the same kind appear 
when, on viewing the rotating sector disc in a mirror 
mounted elastically on a support, slight mechanical 
shocks are given to the mirror instead of to the 
observer. He therefore attributes the effects, both in 
Mr. Mallock’s original experiments and in his own, 
to momentary minute displacements of the image on 
the retina, stimulating rods and cones which are 
relatively unfatigued and which therefore are momen- 
tarily of greater sensitiveness.—T. R. Merton: 
Attempts to produce rare gases by electric discharge. 
An investigation has been made of the apparent pro- 
duction of neon and helium by electric discharges in 
vacuum tubes. An apparatus has been designed in 
which protection from atmospheric contamination can 
be secured by a mercury seal throughout the experi- 
ment. It has been found that the presence of argon 
in the residual gases furnishes an exceedingly sensi- 
tive test for atmospheric contamination, and that a 
mercury seal can only be relied on if precautions are 
taken to ensure that the mercury and glass are 
scrupulously clean. The author has not been success- 
ful in reproducing the conditions necessary for the 
production of neon and helium.—A. C. G. Egerton: 
The analysis of gases after passage of electric dis- 
charges.—C. T. Heycock and F. H. Neville: Dilute 
solutions of aluminium in gold.—Prof. F. G. Donnan 
and G. M. Green: The variation of electrical potential 
across a semipermeable membrane.—J. H. Jeans: The 
potential of ellipsoidal bodies and the figures of 
equilibrium of rotating liquid masses. Sir G. 
Darwin was convinced that the pear-shaped series 
of figures of equilibrium discovered by Poincaré 
was initially stable, while M. Liapounoff had 
with equal conviction announced that it was 
unstable. The present investigation was under- 
taken primarily in the hope of deciding between these 
two views. The main conclusion arrived at is some- 
what disappointing. It is that, in spite of the labours 
of Poincaré, Darwin, and Liapounoff, we have still 
no definite knowledge as to the stability or instability 
of the pear-shaped figure. All these investigators 
have worked at the question of the stability of the 
pear-shaped figure carried so far as the second order 
of small quantities. The present paper indicates that, 
so far as second-order terms, there is a doubly- 
infinite series of such figures which can, of course, 
be broken up into linear series in as many ways as 
we please. So far as can be seen, Sir G. Darwin has 
concerned himself with only one of these series, while 
M. Liapounoff has presumably dealt with a different 
series. It appears that the true linear series demanded 
by the general theory of Poincaré (Act. Math., vii., 
p- 259) only reveals itself when the computations are 
carried so far as the third order of small quantities, 
a conclusion which is confirmed by the result of a 
previous investigation on the figures of equilibrium of 


NO. 2336, WVOL.493)| 


rotating cylinders (Phil. Trans., A. 200 (1902), p. 67).— 
Dr. C, Chree: ‘Lhe 27-day period in magnetic pheno- 
mena. ‘he author has dealt in two previous papers 
in the Philosophical Transactions with data which 
seemed to confirm the reality of a period of about 
27 days in magnetic phenomena, in the sense that 
it any particular day is more than ordinarily dis- 
turbed, or more than ordinarily quiet, the day which 
is 27 days later shows a decided bent in the same 
direction. In these investigations use was made 
almost entirely of magnetic ‘character”’ figures. As 
international “character” figures do not exist for 
| years prior to 1906, and as ‘‘character’’ figures 
assigned at one station are open to certain objections, 
it appeared desirable to ascertain whether or not the 
27-day period is clearly shown in the average year by | 
the amplitude of the daily ranges of the magnetic 
elements. This is investigated in the present paper, 
use being made of the Kew declination horizontal 
force and vertical force ranges from 1890 to 1900, 
treated independently. The period is found to be 
clearly shown by the range of each element.—J. J. 
Nolan: Electrification of water by splashing and 
spraying. Water is broken into fine drops—(1) by 
allowing it to fall into a horizontal air stream of high 
velocity; (2) by spraying. The size of the drops and 
the charge per c.c. of water are measured. The 
conditions of the experiments enabled measurements 
to be made for drops of different sizes. It is found 
that the charge is positive and inversely proportional 
to the radius of the drops. This result follows if we 
assume that there is a constant charge produced per 
unit area of new water surface formed. The value 
of this constant is approximately 2°7x 107° electro- 
static units for distilled water, the splashing and 
spraying methods giving identical results.—W. G. 
Duffield : Effect of pressure upon arc spectra. No. 5.— 
A. Campbell and D. W. Dye: The measurement of 
alternating electric currents of high frequency. As 
the accurate measurement of currents larger than 
I ampere at high frequencies presents considerable 
difficulty, the authors have investigated the accuracy 
obtainable in the use of air-core current transformers 
(suggested by Mr. T. L. Eckersley). It is found that, 
' with proper design, such transformers allow of the 
measurement of currents up to 50 amperes or higher, 
at frequencies from 50,000 up to 2,000,000 per second, 
with an accuracy of 1 or 2 parts in 1,000. Over the 
same range of frequency it is also found that iron- 
cored transformers can easily be designed so as to 
give very accurate results.—Sir D. Bruce, Maj. A. E. 
Hamerton, Capt. D. P. Watson, and Lady Bruce: 
(1) The trypanosome causing disease in man in Nyasa- 
land. The Liwonde strain. Part i.—Morphology. 
Part 1i.—Susceptibility of animals. (2) The naturally 
infected dog strain. Part ii—Morphology. (3) Sus- 
ceptibility of animals to the naturally infected dog 
strain. (4) Morphology of various strains of the 
trypanosome causing disease in man in Nyasaland. 
The human strain. vi.—x. (5) The trypanosome 
causing disease in man in Nyasaland. ii.—The wild 
game strain. iiii—The wild Glossina morsitans 
strain. Part 1i.—Susceptibility of animals. (6) The 
naturally infected dog strain. Part iii. Development 
in Glossina morsitans. (7) The naturally infected dog 
strain. Part iv—Experiments on immunity.—Dr. F. 
Horton: The origin ot the electron emission from 
glowing solids.—W. A. D. Rudge: Some sources of 
disturbance of the normal atmospheric potential 
gradient.—Prof. J. Joly: A theory of the nature of 
cancers and of their treatment by radio-therapy.— 
| C. S. Mummery: Morphological studies of benzene 
derivatives. VI.—Parasulphonic derivatives of chloro-, 


JuLy 16, 1914] 


bromo-, iodo-, and cyano-benzene.—F. H. Newman: 
Absorption of gases in the discharge tube.—Miss 
M. P. FitzGerald; Further observations on the changes 
in the breathing and the blood at various high alti- 
tudes.—W. E. Agar: Experiments on inheritance in 
parthenogenesis.—C. S. Myers: The influence of 
timbre and loudness on the localisation of sounds.— 
S. J. Kalandyk: (1) The conductivity of salt vapours. 
(2) The ionisation produced by gas reactions. The 
experiments described in (1) show :—1. The conduc- 
tivity of the salt vapours is due to the processes 
occurring in the vapours themselves. 2. The vapours 
of carefully dried salts conduct the electric current. 
Therefore the conductivity cannot be ascribed to the 
chemical action of water vapour in the salt vapours. 
However, the presence of water vapour increases the 
current passing in salt vapours. 3. When cadmium 
iodide was very carefully dried it was possible to 
observe a current which was practically independent 
of time. 4. The connection between the current i 
and the temperature 6 may be expressed with ccn- 
siderable accuracy by the formula i=ae—b/6 where 
a and b are constants. 5. The ionising potential cal- 
culated from the energy of dissociation is consider- 
ably less than for the ordinary gases. 7. The dissocia- 
tion of vapours is not always accompanied by ionisa- 
tion.—H. Richardson: The excitation of y-rays by 
B-rays.—F. E. E. Lamplough and J. T. Scott: The 
growth of metallic eutectics—W. E, Curtis: Wave- 
lengths of hydrogen lines and determination of the 
series constant. (1) The wave-lengths in I.A. of the 
first six lines of the hydrogen series have been deter- 
mined with an accuracy of about o’oo1 A.U. (2) 
Balmer’s formula has been found to be inexact. The 
results may be represented by a modified Rydberg 
formula containing only two. constants, thus :— 


4 (m+p)? 
where 
N = 109, 679'22 
and 


= +0-0;69. 


(3) An accuracy of o’oo1 A.L. is attainable in the 
third ,order of a 1o-foot concave grating if the ex- 
posures are short (say less than half-an-hour). With 
longer exposures accurate determinations become very 
difficult if the temperature of the instrument cannot 
be controlled. (4) The tertiary iron arc standards 
determined by Burns were tested in the special 
regions under investigation, and found very satis- 
factory.—A. Compton: Constancy of the optimum 
temperature of an enzyme under varying concentra- 
tions of substrate and of enzyme.—Dr. E. H. Griffiths 
and Ezer Griffiths: The capacity for heat of metals 
at low temperatures. An account is given of an in- 
vestigation into the capacity for heat of some metals 
at various points in the range 0° to —160° C. A new 
method of obtaining constant temperatures is described 
in which the Joule-Thomson cooling effect on expan- 
sion of air is utilised. The formulz of Einstein, 
Nernst and Lindemann, and Debye are compared 
with the experimental results over a very extended 
range of temperature. None of the formule, how- 
ever, can be regarded as completely representing the 
experimental results.—T. Lewis, J. Meakins, and P. D. 
White: The excitatory process in the dog’s auricle.— 
Dr. P. J. Cammidge and H. A. H. Howard: (1) Ob- 
servations on the composition and derivatives of 
urinary dextrin. (2) The so-called lavulose met with 
in urine. Communicated by Dr. A. E. Garrod.—T. M. 
Lowry: The silver voltameter. Part iii.—The sol- 


NO. 2333, VOL. 93] 


NATURE 


373 


vent properties of silver nitrate solutions.—A, Mallock : 
Fog signals.—Areas of silence and greatest range of 
sound.—W. R. Bousfield: The osmotic data in rela- 
tion to progressive hydration.—Dr. S, Chapman; The 
lunar diurnal variation of the earth’s magnetism at 
Pavlovsk and Pola (1897—1903).—W. Barlow: The 
interpretation of the indications of atomic structure 
presented by crystals when interposed in the path of 
X-rays.—Prof. J. C. McClennan: The fluorescence of 
iodine vapour excited by ultra-violet light.—A. E. 
Oxley: The influence of molecular constitution and 
temperature on magnetic susceptibility. Part iii.— 
On the molecular field in dia~-magnetic substances.— 
A. Holt: Diffusion of hydrogen through palladium. 


Physical Society, June 20.—Sir J. J. Thomson, presi- 
dent, in the chair.—Sir J. J. Thomson : Production of 
very soft Réntgen radiation by the impact of positive 
and slow kathode rays. Réntgen and his pupils held 
that light waves are identical in nature with electrical 
waves produced by mechanical means, but there is a 
gap between the longest infra-red radiation and the 
shortest electrical wave that can be produced mechanic- 
ally. The work already done on X-rays has demon- 
strated the existence of two separate rings of electrons 
in the atom, one within the other. These rings are 
responsible for the K and L types of radiation respec- 
tively. The L radiation is so much softer than the K 
that if a third ring of electrons exists, the radiation 
from which is proportionately softer than that of the 
L type, this radiation will fall well within the gap. 
In an experiment described a special form of discharge 
tube was employed. The positive rays passed through 
a tubular perforation in the kathode and impinged 
obliquely on a metal target. A photographic plate of 
the Schumann type was situated at the further end of 
a branch tube so that no solid obstacle interposed be- 
tween the target and the plate. When the discharge 
passed the photographic plate was affected. An in- 
tense transverse electrostatic field between two metal 
plates situated between the kathode and the target 
completely stopped the effect, showing that this was 
not due to stray radiation reflected from the target. 
Hence the passage of positive particles from the 
kathode to the target was essential. A strong trans- 
verse electrostatic field in the branch tube had no 
effect, showing that a radiation was passing between 
the target and the plate, which was not, therefore, 
merely affected by positive particles rebounding down 
the side tube after impact on the target. The proper- 
ties of this radiation were intermediate between 
ordinary X-rays and Schumann waves. They were 
susceptible to reflection by metal surfaces, and their 
penetrating power was small. They were stopped by 
the finest collodion film obtainable. The quality of the 
radiation did not depend on the energy of the moving 
particles which gave rise to it, but on the velocity. 
Hence equally soft rays should be produced by kathode 
particles if these were travelling as slowly as the posi- 
tive rays. The velocity of impact was varied over a 
large range, and radiations were obtained varying in 
quality from hard X-rays to the so-called Schumann 
waves. It is hoped by the study of these radiations 
to determine not only the number of rings of electrons 
within the atom, but the number of electrons in each 
ring.—F. W. Aston: The homogeneity of atmospheric 
neon. 

June 26.—Dr. A. Russell, vice-president, in the chair 
—Prof. J. A. Fleming : Atmospheric refraction and its 
bearing on the transmission of electromagnetic waves 
round the earth’s surface. The conditions under 
which true atmospheric refraction would be sufficient 
to carry a ray of light or electromagnetic radiation 


524 


NATUPE 


[JuLy 16, 1914 


sent out horizontally from any ‘point on’ the earth’s 
surface round the earth parallel to its surface are con- 
sidered. Pure diffraction is insufficient to account for 
all the phenomena of long-distance wireless telegraphy, 
but some action of the atmosphere which tends to 
curve the radiation round the earth has to be postu- 
lated. The theory of ionic refraction, based on the 
theoretical conclusion that in ionised air the velocity 
of long electric waves is increased, has been put for- 
ward. The atmosphere decreases in density as we 
rise, and this alone produces a decrease of refractive 
index and an increase in velocity. Formule are de- 
duced expressing the variation of density with heights 
taking into account the known temperature variation 
with increase of height. At a height of 100 km. the 
terrestrial atmosphere must consist substantially of 
hydrogen and helium. An expression is obtained for 
the radius of curvature at any point of a ray of light 
sent out horizontally from the earth’s surface. This 
radius at the starting point is given by p=y,(98Aq,°), 
where w, and q, are the refractive index and density 
at the surface, and A is the Gladstone and Dale con- 
stant for the gas which forms the atmosphere. For 
air p is four times the earth’s radius, for 


hydrogen 136 times, and for krypton equal 
to the earth’s radius. If the terrestrial atmo- 
sphere consisted wholly of krypton a_ ray 


sent out horizontally would be refracted round the 
earth, and wireless telegraphy to the Antipodes would 
be possible. For the same atmospheric density and 
constant A this circular refraction would result if the 
earth were twice its present diameter. The sugges- 
tion is made that perhaps neon and krypton are manu- 
factured at great atmospheric heights by electric dis- 
charges occurring in the rarefied hydrogen atmosphere. 
Also that by their ease of ionisation they contribute 
to produce the ionised layer demanded by the theories 
of Heaviside and Eccles to account for the actual 
achievements of long-distance wireless telegraphy. 
Our earth is perhaps unique in being the only planet 
on which long-distance radio-telegraphy is possible. 
—G. Dobson; Atmospheric electricity observations 
made at Kew Observatory. Observations were made 
(1) using the standard Wilson instrument on a stand 
according to the usual practice, and (2) using an 
experimental apparatus level with the ground, which 
was assumed to give correct results. A comparison 
was made of the electric conductivity of the air as 
measured by Mr. Wilson’s apparatus and that de- 
signed by Prof. Ebert.—T. Barratt : Thermal and elec- 
trical conductivities of some of the rarer metals and 
alloys. A new method of the ‘stationary tempera- 
ture’’ type is employed for measuring the thermal 
conductivities of some of the rarer metals, including 
tantalum, molybdenum, rhodium, iridium, and tung- 
sten, at air temperatures and at 100° C.—F. Mercer : 
Some investigations on the arc as a generator of 
hgh-frequency oscillations. Experiments on the 
copper-carbon arc when used as a generator of high- 
frequency oscillations. The first experiments deal 
with the effect of varying the arc length, and also the 
arc current, on the magnitude and frequency of the 
shunt current. The effect on frequency arises from 
a change in the resistance of the arc. The second 
refers to the effect on the shunt. current of altering 
the ratio of inductance to capacity. 


Paris, 

Academy of Sciences, July 6.—M. P. Appell in the 
chair.—Arnaud de Gramont: General observations on 
the ultimate lines of elements from. various sources 
of light. It is pointed out that the strongest lines 
in the spectrum of a simple body, the ‘‘ Hauptlinien ”’ 


NO. 2333, VOL. 93] 


of the German physicists, are not identical, the ulti- 
mate lines persisting in the condensed spark, and the 
work of Hartley and Moss is criticised from this point 
of view. Arranged in decreasing order of temperature 
the sources of light used were ‘the condensed spark 
with self-induction, condensed spark without self- 
induction, non-condensed spark, electric arc, oxy- 
acetylene blowpipe, oxygen-coal gas flame. — Experi- 
ments were carried out on forty elements, and a 
general summary of the results is given.—M. de 
Forcrand : The thermochemical study of some hydrates 
of manganese sulphate. The values obtained for the 
hydrates with 2, 3, and 4 H.O are not in accord with 
Thomsen’s data for the same salts. There would 
appear to be two isomers of the anhydrous sulphate.— 


P. Chofardet: Observations of the new comet 19g14c 


(Neujmin) made at the Observatory of Besancon. 
Position given for July 4. The comet appeared as a 
round nebulosity, about 15” diameter, with a slight 
central condensation. About 12:5 magnitude.—G. 
Beauvais: The definition of time given by a clock. 
A study of the clock installed in the cellars of the 
Paris Observatory, by means of Abraham’s photo- 
graphic chronograph. It was found that a double 
second might easily be 0-008 sec. too long or too short, 
with occasional rare deviations amounting to 0-02 sec. 
The effect of this on the comparison of two pendulums 
by the method of coincidences and upon the definition 
of time is discussed. Georges J. Remoundos: Series 
of functions and the singularities of differential 
equations.—Th, De Donder and O. De Ketelaere: The 
electromagnetic field of Maxwell-Lorentz and _ the 
gravitation field of Einstein.—Gustave le Bon: The 
principle of relativity and intra-atomic energy.—Léon 
Brillouin; The calorific conductivity and viscosity of 
monatomic liquids.—C. de Watteville : A new method of 
studying spark spectra. It is known from the work 
of Hemsalech that when a spark passes between two 
conductors the initial spark is followed by the produc- 
tion of metallic vapour, and the latter remains 
luminous for an appreciable time. A new form of 
apparatus is described which permits of the separation 
of the luminous effects of the spark and the metallic 
vapour.—G, Brafas: The microradiograph. <A descrip- 
tion (with diagram) of a new self-recording Morse 
apparatus for radio-telegraphic signals. With this 
apparatus installed at Madrid records of messages sent 
from Paris, Poldhu, and Norddeich have been regis- 
tered.—H. Kamerlingh Onnes: The persistence of 
electric currents without electromotive force in super- 
conductors. From a study of the resistance of metals 
at low temperatures attainable with liquid helium it 
was concluded that the resistance of mercury would 
be measurable at 4:25°, but would become negligible 
at 2°. This conclusion has been verified experiment- 
ally, but with the unexpected result that the resistance 
disappears suddenly, for mercury at 4-:19°. In a mer- 
cury thread at 1-7°, current can be passed with a 
density of 1000 amperes per sq. mm. without a 
measurable difference of potential (limit of accuracy 
0-03 x 10° volt) at the extremities, and without develop- 
ing heat. (See article in Nature, July 9, p. 
481).—H. Abraham, A. Dufour, and G. Ferrié: A 
method of direct measurement of the time of pro- 
pagation of the waves of wireless telegraphy on the 
surface of the globe. The chronographic method 
ultilised permits of the absolute measurement of a 
time interval with a precision of o-o0001 sec. The 
velocity of propagation found for the Hertzian waves 
between Paris and Washington was 296,000 km. per 
sec., slightly less than the velocity of light.—M. 
Abonnenc ; The influence of tellurium on the sensibility 
of selenium to light. Carefully purified selenium was 


ae 


Jpny-16; 1914 | 


mixed with 1, 3, 4, 5, and 7 per cent. of tellurium, 
and the changes of resistance caused by exposure to 
light measured. Pure selenium was most sensitive to 
white light; with red rays the cell with 1 per cent. 
of tellurium gave the largest change of resistance.— 
M. Boulouch: Systems of dioptres of revolution round 
the same axis.—L. G. Stokvis: The creation of third 
harmonics in alternators as a result of a want of 
equilibrium of the phases.—Ruby Wallach: The mag- 
netic study of iron oxide. Three forms of precipitated 
ferric oxide were studied, and the magnetic suscepti- 
bility of each determined as a function of the tem- 
perature. The results are given graphically.—R. 
Portevin: The velocity of transformation of steels on 
heating and on the specific electrical resistance of 
iron.—P. Chevenard: The specific volumes of nickel 
steels.—H. Guilleminot ; The coefficient of diffusion of 
the X-rays by substances of low atomic weights, 
especially organic substances. Some new facts in 
support of the conclusions given in an earlier paper.— 
André Kling, D. Florentin, and P. Huchet: Properties 
of Recoura’s green chromium sulphate. For twenty- 
four hours after their preparation solutions of the 
green chromium. sulphate contain no sulphate ions 
precipitable by benzidene chlorhydrate; on standing 
sulphate ions are gradually formed, an equilibrium, 
depending on the temperature and concentration, 
being ultimately reached.—L. Tschugaefi and W. 
Ichlopine: Some compounds of monovalent nickel. 
Nickel salts treated with a mixture of sodium hydro- 
sulphite and nitrite give a violet compound, in which 
the nickel appears to be monovalent, since caustic soda 
gives a hydroxide NiOH, convertible by sodium sul- 
phide into Ni,S.—Jacques Joannis : The catalytic influ- 
ence of copper oxide on the combination of oxygen 
with hydrogen. Iron wire at 300° does not act cata- 
lytically on the combination of hydrogen and oxygen, 
but the two gases react in presence of CuO at the 
same temperature. The water vapour formed exerts 
a considerable influence on the catalysis.—A. Villiers : 
Sulphide of manganese and the estimation of this 
metal. A study of the conditions necessary for the 
precipitation of the green form of manganese sulphide. 
—P. Lebeau and M. Picon: Some hydrogenations by 
sodammonium : hydrocarbons. With this reducing 
agent acenaphthene takes up four atoms of hydrogen 
—anthracene two, phenanthrene four, diphenyl four, 
and stilbene two. Amylene, benzene, toluene, and 
cymene, on the other hand, are unaffected.—H. Gault : 
The conversion of oxalacetic ester into a-pyrone deriva- 
tives.—R. Cornubert: The allylcyclohexanols, methyl- 
allylcyclohexanols, propyl- and methylpropyl-cyclo- 
hexanones, and cyclohexanols.—Henri Wohlgemuth : 
Syntheses by means of the mixed organometallic 
derivatives of zinc. The y-chloro-ketones and corre- 
sponding products of hydrolysis.—J. Bougault: The 
dioxytriazines.—Léon Lutaud: The Senonian of 
Mazougues (Var).—-E. A. Martel: The torrential origin 
of peduncular rocks.—Emile Belot: An attempt at the 
verification of the new physical theory of the forma- 
tion of oceans and primitive continents.—M. Cluzet 
and Th. Nogier : The physical analysis of some springs 
of Evaux-les-Bains. The water from three springs 
and the gas from one were examined. Measurements 
are given of the temperature, density, electrical resist- 
ance and radio-activity. The César spring gives a 
high figure for the radium emanation, 80 millimicro- 
curies per litre of gas at the spring.—Henri Lecomte : 
The constitution of the seeds of Musa.—H. Guillemard 
and G, Regnier: Observations on the physiological 
action of the climate at high altitudes.—Paul Godin : 
A series of laws of growth based on 2000 observations 
of children, 300,000 measurements, 1891—1893-1914.— 


N@4233 3, VOL. 93 


NATORE 


| 544- 


oS 
André Mayer and Georges Schaeffer : Constancy of the 
concentration in lipoids containing phosphorus of the 
whole organism; concentration in lipoids in course of 
growth, Application to biometrics—Emile F. 
Terroine : Constancy of concentration of whole organ- 
isms in fatty acids and cholesterol. Evaluation of the 
reserves of fats.—Georges Tanret : Some physiological 
properties of the sulphate of galegine. The alkaloid 
leads to paralysis of the spinal column and nerve 
centres.—Mme. Marie Phisalix: Vaccination against 
experimental hydrophobia by the cutaneous mucous 
secretion of Batrachians, followed by snake poison.— 
E. Bataillon: The electrical conductivity of. the eggs 
of virgin Batrachians.—M. Lécaillon ; The reproduction 
of Galerucella luteolai—Ed. Sergent and H. Foley: 
The period of latency of the spirillum in the bug 
infected with recurrent fever. The virus of recurrent 
fever, besides the spirillum form, can assume another | 
form, very minute, but equally virulent.—L. Lindet ; 
The influence of the mineral content of caseins upon 
their solubility.—Pierre Thomas and Robert C. Moran: 
The proteid substances of Aspergillus niger. 


New SoutH WALES. 


Linnean Society, May 27.—Mr. C. Hedley, vice- 
president, in the chair.—R. J. Tillyard : Some problems 
concerning the development of the wing-venation of 
Odonata. As a result of a study of the tracheation of 
the developing wings of a very large number of 
dragonfly nymphs, several problems have been 
elucidated. It is claimed that the Zygoptera are un- 
doubtedly reduced descendants of broader-winged 
dragonflies. The primary cause of all the peculiarities 
in Odonate wing-venation is traced back to the 
change made by an originally land-dwelling larva to 
fresh water, and the consequent development of a 
flow of oxygen in the tracheal system from the anal 
end of the body.—E. W. Ferguson: Revision of the 
Amycterides. Part iii—Notophes, Amycterus, and 
genera allied to Talaurinus. A number of the smaller 
genera are dealt with, partly for convenience, partly 
because they are mostly related to Talaurinus. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 


A First Book of Chemistry. By W. A. Whitton. 
Pp. viit+1go. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 
Ts.) 0d. 

The Pupil’s Class-Book of Geography. The British 
Isles. By E. J. S. Lay. Pp. 118. (London: Mac- 
millan and Co., Ltd.) 6d. 

Physics of the Household. By Prof. C. J. Lynde. 
Pp. xi+313. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 
5s. 6d. net. 

The Farm Woodlot. 
J. P..Wentling. Pp. xii+343.- 
and Co., Ltd.) 6s. 6d. net. 

The Man of Genius. By Dr. H. Tiirck. Pp. vit+ 
483. (London: A. and C, Black.) «2s. 6d, net. 


Boletin do Museu Goeldi (Museu Paranese) de His- 
toria Natural e Ethnographia. Tome viii., 1911-12. 
Catalago das Aves Amazonicas. By Dr. E. Snethlage. 
Pp. iv+531. (Para, Brazil.) 

Index of Spectra. Appendix W. By Dr. W. M. 
Watts. (London: Wesley and Son; Manchester: A. 
Heywood and Son.) 

Summary Report of the Geological Survey. 
ment of Mines. For the Calendar Year 1912. 
(Ottawa.) 20 cents. 


By E. G. Cheyney and Prof. 
(London: Macmillan 


Depart- 
Pp. 


526 


Proceedings of the South London Entomological and 
Natural History Society, 1913-14. Pp. xvii+158+ 
plates. (London.) 4s. 


Engineering Geology. By Prof. H. Ries and Prof. 
T. L. Watson. Pp. xxvi+672. (New York: J. Wiley 
and Sons, Inc.; London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd.) 
17S. net. 


Rapid Methods for the Chemical Analysis of Special 
Steels, Steel-making Alloys, and Graphite. By C. M. 
Johnson. Second edition. Pp. xi+437. (New York: 
J. Wiley and Sons, Inc.; London : Chapman and Hall, 
Ltd.) 12s. 6d. net. 


Geological Map of the Caucasus. With Explanatory 
Notes. By Dr. F. Oswald. (London: Dulau and 
Go.) Iss. net. 


Marine Biological Association of the West of Scot- 
land. Annual Report, 1913. Pp. 125. (Glasgow.) 


Nature and Development of Plants. By Prof. C. C. 
Curtis. Third edition. Pp. vii+506. (New York: 
H. Holt and Co.) 2.50 dollars. 


Introductory Geology: a Text-Book for Colleges. 
By T. C. Chamberlin and R. D. Salisbury. Pp. xi+ 
708. (New York: H. Holt and Co.). 2 dollars. 


Die Raumorientierung der Ameisen .und das 
Orientierungsproblem im Allgemeinen. By Dr. R. 
Brun. Pp. viiit+234. (Jena: G. Fischer.) 6 marks. 


Handbuch der vergleichenden Physiologie. Edited 
by H. Winterstein. Lief. 44. Band iii. Erste 
Halfte. Pp. 1761-1922. (Jena: G. Fischer.) 5 
marks. 


U.S. Department of Agriculture. Weather Bureau. 
Report of the Chief of the Weather Bureau, 1912-13. 
Pp. 252. (Washington : Government Printing Office.) 


Union of South Africa. Mines Department. Geo- 
logical Survey. The Geology of the Pilandsberg and 
the Surrounding Country. An Explanation of Sheet 
12. With Sheet 12) By-Dr. W. A. Humphrey. The 
Geology of the Haenertsburg Goldfields and Surround- 
ing Country. An Explanation of Sheet 13. With 
Sheet 13. By A. L. Hall. (Pretoria: Government 
Printing Office.) 2s. 6d. net. 


Bibliotheca Geographica. Jahresbibliographie der 


geographischen Literatur. Band xviii. Jahrgang 
I909 und i910. Pp. xviit+483. (Berlin: W. H. 
Kuhl.) 

Wild Life. Vol. iv. No. ,3. . July. (Kingsway : 


Wild Life Publishing Co.) 2s. 6d. net. 

Elektrische Spektralanalyse chemischen Atome. 
Dr. J. Stark. Pp. viii+ 138. 
5 marks. 


By 
(Leipzig: S. Hirzel.) 


Monistische Bausteine. Edited by W. Breitenbach. 
Zweites Heft. Pp. viii+252. (Brackwede-i-W.: Dr. 
W. Breitenbach.) 3 marks. 

Die Umwelt des Lebens eine Physikalisch-Chemische 
Untersuchung. By Prof. L. J. Henderson. Pp. 
XViii+170. (Weisbaden: J. F. Bergmann.) 5 marks. 


Quarterly Journal of Experimental Physiology. 
Vol. viii. Nos. 2 and 3. Pp. 103-302. (London: C. 
Uviffin and Co., Ltd.) 15s. net. 

Mind. New series. No. 91. July. (London: 
Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 4s. ; 


Smithsonian Institution. 
Museum. Contributions from the United States 
National Herbarium. | Vol. xviii. Part I. Classifica- 
tion of the Genus Annona. By W. E. Safford. Ep: 


ix+68+plates. (Washington: Government Printing 
Office.) 


NOs2338VOL..92) 


United States National 


NATURE 


[JuLy 16, 1914 


Norwegian Self-Taught, with Phonetic Pronuncia- 
tion. By C. A. Thimm. Pp. 128. (London: E. 
Marlborough and Co.) 2s. 


Machine Construction and Drawing. By A. E. 
Ingham. Book ii. Pp. xiit+180. (London: G. Rout- 
ledge and Sons, Ltd.) 3s: net. 


The Physical Society of London. Report on Radia- 
tion and the Quantum-Theory. By J. H. Jeans. 
Pp. iv+o0. (London: The Electrician Publishing 
Co., Ltd.) 6s. net. 

The Journal of Egyptian Archeology. 
part iii. . July. . Pp. 159-232. 
ploration Fund.) 6s. net. 


Vol: i, 
(London: Egypt Ex- 


CONTENTS. PAGE 
Locomotives and Railways. ByN.J.L...... 501 
Parasittc, Protoz0a | .. Serena en ene) tne 501 
General’ and) Special Physicsm eB yalpiteqn ene 502 
Logic, Teaching and Practice in Mathematics. - 
eS rab eo oli lo. a co 504 
GurBookshelf : jo..ehcihe? Ole ee a eee 505 
Letters to the Editor :— 
Forests and Floods.—Dr,. John Aitken, F.R.S.. . 506 
Proposed International Magnetic and Allied Observa- 
tions during the Total Solar Eclipse of August 21, 
1914 (Civil Date).—Dr. L. A. Bauer. ..... 507 
Asymmetric Haloes with X-Radiation.—W. F. D. 
@hambers). 1.:G. Rankin; Siac ee 507 
The Composition of the Atmosphere.—N. P. 
Campbell oe es anos eee 507 
Elevation of Mouth of Harton Colliery.—Evan 
Moennan’ .,\:.) arcu cee eee chee Pn 507 
The Forthcoming Total Solar Eclipse, August 21. 
(With Maps.) By Dr. William J. S. Lockyer . . 508 
International Fishery Investigations ...,.. 510 
|S CC CE peered Sac Hamat Med cog = 5Ir 
Our Astronomical Column :— 
Gomet Lor4e (NE€vjpmi) yo) serene ee eee 515 
Gomet!1913/ (Delavan)... cecueu ae en 516 
Classification of Nebule and Star Clusters... .. 516 
Watt’s ‘‘ Index of Spectra” cfs aia e Panes 516 
The Napier Tercentenary. By Dr. C. G. Knott. . 516 
The Royal Sanitary Institute Congress at Blackpool 517 
Palissy as a Pioneer of Scientific Method 518 
Explosives. (///ustrated.) By William Macnab 518 
University and Educational Intelligence. ..... 521 
Societies'and: Academies. .=.. 4.) ee eee 521 
moons Received... .: 425 Geass eee e 525 


Editorial and Publishing Offices: 
MACMILLAN & CO., Ltp., 
ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C. 


Advertisements and business letters to be addressed to the 
Publishers. 


Editorial Communications to the Editor. 
Telegraphic Address: Puusts, LONDON. 


Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830. 


NATURE 


THURSDAY, JULY 23, 1913. 


SOUTH AFRICAN DIAMONDS. 

The Diamond Fields of Southern Africa. By Dr. 
P. A. Wagner. Pp. xxv+347+xxxvi plates. 
(Johannesburg: The Transvaal Leader; Lon- 
don: The Technical Book-Shop, 1914.) Price 
27s. 6d. ‘net. 

HIS book is a greatly enlarged edition, in 
English, of Dr. Wagner’s “Die Diamant- 
fiihrenden Gesteine Sudafrikas,’” which was pub- 
lished five years ago. The author states in his 


preface his aim to be that the book should ‘“‘con- | 


tain all that is- worth knowing ”’ concerning the 
subject of which it treats. If he has not altogether 
realised his ambition—and it is only necessary to 
glance at the list of 255 titles of works in his 
bibliography to realise the impossibility of doing 
so in a book of fewer than 350 pages—we may 


_ taining all that it is most important for prospec- 
tors, diggers, mining engineers, and investors, to 
- whom the work is specially addressed, to know. 
Geologists also will find in it a good résumé of the 
work done in connection with the rocks containing 
the diamonds. 

The first 250 pages of the book are devoted to 
an account of the primary occurrences of the dia- 
monds in South Africa. The gems were first 


discovered at the Cape in 1868, and in 1874 the | 
late Prof. Maskelyne showed that the rock in | 


which they occur is a “peridotite” containing 
olivine, enstatite, and other minerals, for which 
the late Prof. H..Carvill Lewis, in 1887, proposed 
the name of “kimberlite.” Much interest was 
aroused in 1899 by the fact established by Prof. 
Bonney, from the study of specimens obtained 
by 
actually exist embedded in masses ot “eclogite,” 
a rock made up of garnet and augite, minerals 
which are found in the kimberlite. Since that date 
much discussion has taken place as to whether 
these masses of eclogite (which have received the 
local name of “griquaite”) are nodules derived 
from a pre-existing rock or have been formed, 
like many other inclusions in the kimberlite, by a 
segregative action. Dr. Wagner suggests that a 
combination of the two hypotheses is possible and 
will best explain all the facts. 

In the second division of the book, sixty pages 
are devoted to an account of the detrital deposits 
-containing diamonds, including both those due to 
fluviatile and those due to marine action. 
latter, occurring in German South-West Africa, 
are of especial interest to geologists. At points 


Sir William Crookes, that the diamonds | 


The | 


extending along the coast for 270 miles, but no- ! 


NO. 2334, VOL. 93] 


527 


where more than twelve miles from the sea, dia- 
monds have been found. The district is nearly 
rainless and of most inhospitable character, but 
in certain valleys and depressions masses of sand 
and gravel occur yielding the diamonds—those 
obtained from these sources during the year 1913 
being of the value of nearly 3,000,000]. Among 
the geologists who have studied the district, there 
appears to be much difference of opinion as to 
whether the rocks that have yielded the diamonds 
are in the “hinterland” or are now buried be- 
neath the sea. It is. interesting to note that 
certain guano islands off the coast have yielded 
diamonds, but, up to the present, not in sufficient 


| numbers to pay the cost of prospecting. 


The third portion of the book, which deals with 
‘“Diamond Mining Companies,” does not call for 


| remark from us, but the whole work may be 


recommended as a trustworthy and up-to-date 


| treatise on the subjects with which it deals. 
admit that he has certainly produced a work con- | 


THE POPULARISATION OF EUGENICS. 


The Progress of Eugenics. By Dr. C. W. 
Saleeby. Pp. x+259. (London: Cassell and 
Go.) Etd:. 19145)) “Pree ss: set. 

R. SALEEBY divides eugenics into natural 
or primary and nurtural or secondary. 

Natural eugenics is further sub-divided into posi- 

tive, negative, and preventive. Few eugenists 

would support him in classing as eugenics much 
that he includes under the heading “nurtural,” 
yet they would agree with him in general as to the 
desirability of making as favourable as possible 
the external conditions which influence nurture 

before and after birth, and of making education a 

real preparation for all that is important in life, 

including parenthood. 

Positive eugenics means “the encouragement of 
worthy parenthood,” negative eugenics “the 
discouragement of unworthy parenthood,” and 
preventive eugenics the combating of “racial 
poisons,” venereal diseases, alcohol, and lead. In 
treating these subjects Dr. Saleeby says, “We 
must be scientific or we are lost,” and it is cer- 
tainly true that he would have succeeded better 
if he had himself maintained a more scientific 
attitude. He falls short of it in particular in that 
he appears to judge of the validity of scientific 
work by the conclusions it arrives at. When the 
conclusions seem to him desirable, the work is 
accepted readily and uncritically, as, for example, 
that of the American Eugenics Record Office on 
the inheritance of epilepsy and feeblemindedness ; 
when the conclusions seem undesirable, the work 
receives a very different treatment. Nevertheless, 
there is much contained in the book that is sensible 

x 


528 


NATURE 


and is presented with considerable force and 
literary skill, and this circumstance makes its 
faults all the more regrettabie. Besides that to 
which allusion has already been made there are 
two others, first the obtrusive egotism of the 
writer, and secondly his habit of misrepresenting 
people from whom he differs in opinion. To say 
that “for years the chief object of the biometrical 
laboratory at University College has seemed to be, 
and now clearly is, to prove the inheritance of 
this or that human character is ‘not Mendelian’ ” 
is little short of libellous. Nor is it just to assert 
“Newton was a weakly baby, prematurely born, 
and would promptly have been condemned as not 
worth keeping had the statistical school been in 
power in his day.” 

Finally we should like to know what eugenists 
maintain that “a high birth-rate and a high infant 
mortality rate are to be commended because of 
their ‘selection value,’” or that “slums are de- 
fensible on the ground that in the course of time 
there is bred in them a slum race which withstands 
and even thrives in such conditions.” 


‘ 


A PRINCETON COLLOQUIUM ON 
MATHEMATICS. 

The Princeton Colloquium: Lectures on Mathe- 
matics, delivered September 15 to 17, 1909, 
before Members of the American Mathematical 
Society in connection with the Summer Meeting 
held at Princeton University, Princeton, N.]. 
By G. A. Bliss and E. Kasner. Pp. iii+ii+ 
107+i1+117. (New York: American Mathe- 
matical Society, 1913.) 

HE first of the courses contained in this 
volume deals mainly with the theory of a 

set of implicit functions y;, defined by a set of 
equations, fj =o (i=1, 2,...mn), each involving the 
implicit functions and also the independent vari- 

ABIES, “44, Xo, In its general character the 

treatment is similar to that invented by Cauchy; 

but it is noticeable how the analysis has been 

simplified, and the results generalised, by im- 

provements made quite recently. In particular, 

attention may be directed to the elementary char- 
acter of the proot (by MacMillan) of what Prof. 

Bliss calls the preparation theorem of Weierstrass 

(p. 50): other illustrations might be given of a 

similar kind. 

In carrying out the methods and ideas of Weier- 
strass, the principal result is that we obtain ex- 
pansions for the y; valid “in the neighbourhood 
of a point (a, b).” Prof. Bliss himself points out 
that one main object of his course is to deduce 
from the initial solution (a, b) something more 
than solutions of which we can merely say that 
they are valid very close to (a, b). 

NO, (22 245 eviome@e0 


5 Ghote 


By means of 


‘ 


what he calls ‘‘a sheet of points” he is able to 
deduce from any initial solution (at an ordinary 
point) a sheet of solutions which only fail at “ex- 
ceptional points,” so we have something more or 
less analogous to Weierstrass’s “analytical con- 
tinuation”’ of a branch of a curve. 

There are various interesting paragraphs on 
transformations from one plane region to another ; 
a partial discussion of the singularities of the yj, 
and a final lecture on existence-theorems connected 
with a set of differential equations. 

Prof. Kasner’s course on dynamics presents 
many features of novelty and interest. Broadly 
speaking, it is a quasi-geometrical study of trajec- 
tories with the aid of analytical (mainly contact) 
transformations. Many of the results obtained 
are of a remarkably elegant character: for in- 
stance, in the constrained motion of a particle on 
a surface under the action of positional forces, we 
have the theorem that the «! trajectories starting 
from a given lineal element have osculating 
spheres, at the common point, the centres of 
which lie on a conic in the plane normal to the 
element. A problem of more interest to physi- 
cists is this: given a system of curves in space, 
to find the condition that they may be trajectories, 
and to deduce the field of force from the set of 
curves when the proper condition is satisfied. This 
problem is fully discussed in chap. i., and the 
conditions for a conservative field are put into a 
remarkable geometric form. 

We have also a section on least action, one on 
the space-time transformation used by Lorentz in 
the relativity theory, and various special illustra- 
tions of the general results. 

Both these courses are so advanced that it is 
not easy to do them justice in a review: but from 
what has been said some idea may be gained of 
their general scope. Lectures of this kind are 
very valuable because they focus, so to speak, 
various lines of research upon a limited subject, 


and give an account of the really important results 
obtained. G.AB we 


NATIONAL MUSEUMS AND SYSTEMATIC 
BIOLOGY. 

(1) Manual of the New Zealand Mollusca. With 
an Atlas.of Quarto Plates. By H. Sutersaee: 
xxli+1120. (Wellington, N.Z.; J. Mackay, 
1913.) 

(2) Catalogue of the Ungulate Mammals in the 
British Museum (Natural History). Vol. i1., 
Artiodactyla, Family Bovide, Subfamilies 
Bubalinee to Reduncine (Hartebeests, Gnus, 
Duikers, Dik-Diks, Klipspringers, Reedbucks, 
Waterbucks, etc.). By R. Lydekker, assisted by 
G. Blaine. Pp. xvi+295. (London: British 


[Jury 23, 1914 


ted 


JuLy 23, 1914] 


NATURE 529 


Museum (Natural’ History); Longmans, Green 
and Co., 1914.) Price 7s. 6d. 

(3) A Revision of the Ichneumonidae based on the 
Collection in the British Museum (Natural His- 
tory). Part ii. Tribes Pimplides and Bassides. 
By C. Morley. Pp. xi+148. (London: British 
Museum (Natural History); Longmans, Green 
and Co., 1914.) Price 5s. 6d. 

(4) British Museum (Natural History). A Mono- 
graph of the Genus Sabicea. By H. F. Wern- 
ham. Pp. v+82+xii plates. (London: British 
Museum (Natural History); Longmans, Green 
and Co., 1914.) Price 6s. 

(5) Echinoderma of the Indian Museum. 
Vill,, Echinoidea (1)° “Am” Account ‘of the 
Echinoidea.”” By Prof. R. Koehler. Pp. 258+ 
xx plates. (Calcutta: Indian Museum, 1914.) 
Price 20 rupees. 


Part 


IE publication of these volumes justifies, we 

think, the view held by a large number of 
biologists, that one of the most important func- 
tions of a national museum is to act as a centre 
of research in systematic biology. These institu- 
tions alone possess collections sufficiently adequate 
in number of specimens and wide enough in scope 
for the successful accomplishment of such work, 
and besides collecting and storing such collections, 
it is clearly their duty to have them studied and 
classified. 

Mr. Morley’s work is a particularly forcible ex- 
ample of the importance of systematic biology, 
and of the responsibilities which rest on the 
nation of having such work done and published. 
At a time when the study of economic entomology 
is so much to the fore, and when it is ‘more than 
ever established that the one successful method 
of controlling insect pests is by means of their 
natural parasites, a revision of the most important 
group of parasitic insects is doubly needed, for 
it is imperative that parasites should be correctly 
identified before remedial measures, based on their 
use as controlling agents, are introduced. We 
are glad to note that our National Museum is 
alive to its duties in this connection. 

(1) We congratulate the New Zealand Govern- 
ment on its enterprise in publishing Mr. Suter’s 
manual, and the author on the successful accom- 
plishment of an enormous task. The extensive 
additions to our knowledge of the molluscan fauna 
of New Zealand during the last thirty years had 
rendered a re-issue of Hutton’s manual of 1880 
imperative. The latter work enumerated 447 
valid species, whereas the present volume deals 
with 1079 species, besides 108 subspecies and 
varieties. Mr. Suter brings our knowledge of the 
mollusca of New Zealand right up to date, and 
by giving useful keys to the genera and species 


WO» 2324, VOL. 93 | 


renders his work invaluable to students and 
specialists alike. His manual, moreover, pos- 
sesses one advantage over Hutton’s in that it is 
accompanied by a volume of plates. Mr. Suter 
does not, we think, correctly interpret the rules of 
priority in zoological nomenclature. The fact that 
a specific name is unaccompanied by a figure is 
not, in our opinion, sufficient excuse for the rejec- 
tion of that name, provided the description is 
sufficiently clear for identification purposes. 
Otherwise Mr. Suter’s work contains few serious 
errors or misprints, more especially as he had no 
opportunity of revising the later proof sheets. 
The name of the genus to which our common peri- 
winkle belongs is, however, surely misspelt. The 
use of ten different qualities of paper in the pro- 
duction of this volume may have been unavoid- 
able, but it does not enhance the appearance of 
the book. 

(2) In this volume dealing with certain sub- 
families of African antelopes, Mr. Lydekker con- 
tinues his valuable catalogue of the Ungulata in 
the British Museum collections. The work is 
provided liberally with useful keys for the identi- 
fication of families, genera, species and _ sub- 
species, and is accompanied by a number of useful 
photographs of heads and horns. We are very 
glad to notice that Mr. Lydekker has given special 
prominence to external characters, more particu- 
larly to the horns, for, besides rendering the work 
more readily acceptable to sportsmen, it is made 
of greater service to the museum curator who, 
more often than not, has only heads and horns at 
his disposal. 

(3) We congratulate Mr. Morley on the rapid 
progress he is making with his important and 
much-needed revision of the Ichneumonide. This 
part follows the same general lines as the two pre- 
ceding, and introduces nearly fifty species as new 
to science. Valuable as Mr. Morley’s work is, it 
is as yet merely a collection of critical notes on 
species which the author has had the opportunity 
of examining. We think that such work would 
be more fittingly published in the Transactions of 
some learned society, or in some other serial pub- 
lication, and this leads us to suggest that the 
British Museum authorities should consider the 
advisability of issuing a serial journal of their own 
for the publication of research such as Mr. Mor- 
ley’s, reserving their book publications for com- 
plete monographs, of the nature of those which 
are usually associated with their name. There is 
an abundance of work done under the auspices of 
the British Museum to justify such a periodical, 
and to keep it going. We hope that Mr. Morley’s 
revision is but the necessary prelude to a fuller 


| monograph. 


eyes 


(4) This monograph is based on a close ex- 
amination of all the material of the genus con- 
tained in the principal European Herbaria, and 
the exhaustive nature of Mr. Wernham’s work 
may be judged from the fact that he adds no fewer 
than sixty-two new species to the forty-four 
already known. All the species are briefly but 
concisely described, and there is an extremely 
useful key for their ready determination. The 
monograph, which is illustrated by twelve care- 
fully lithographed plates, will be indispensable to 
all students of the Rubiaceze and to curators of 
Herbaria who desire to have their material cor- 
rectly labelled. 

(5) In this memoir Prof. Koehler continues his 
valuable studies on the Echinodermata in the 
collections of the Indian Museum, and publishes 
the results of his examination of the Irregular 
Echinoids of the Spatangus group. Two genera 
and seventeen species are described as new to 
science. Several of the species had been given 
provisional new names by Anderson, and though 
they were unaccompanied by any kind of descrip- 
tion, Prof. Koehler has, with characteristic 
courtesy, retained Anderson’s names in all cases. 
The descriptions appear very clear and detailed, 
and are throughout accompanied by a wealth of 
illustrations. The work maintains the high stan- 
dard set by Prof. Koehler the “six, earkier 
memoirs in this series, of which he is the sole or 
part author. WL ae 


in 


OUR BOOKSHELF. 


A Manual for Masons, Bricklayers, Concrete 
Workers and Piasterers. 
der Kloes. Revised and adapted to the require- 
ments of British and American readers by 
Alfred B: “Searle.” Pp. xii+-235.. (Loadene 
J. and A. Churchill, 1914.) Price 8s. 6d. net. 

In this book will be found much useful informa- 

tion regarding the composition of various kinds of 

mortar, together with the effects of mortar of un- 
suitable composition. These subjects occupy prac- 
tically the whole volume. The book opens with 
some physical and chemical principles, among 
which we note that the scaling of stone, brick and 
concrete structures is ascribed to osmotic pressure 
caused by the expansion of material in the pores. 

A valuable feature of the book is the number of 

photographs included showing defects in existing 

continental structures—similar defects may be 
found in many British buildings. ; 

In the section dealing with dams it is pointed 
out that engineers generally have confined them- 
selves to the results of tensile and crushing tests 
of the mortar employed, notwithstanding the fact 
that a mortar strong under test may become the 
cause of disintegration of the structure in conse- 
quence of its bad composition. Many of the dams 
built in the last half-century will be found to be 


NO. 2334, VOL. 93] 


NATUPE 


| leaking if they are examined carefully. 


By Prof. J. A: ‘vans 


[JuLy: 23, 1914 


The 
author gives photographs showing the defects in 
the Gileppe dam, near Verviers, in Belgium, and 
quotes it as the worst example known to him. 
This dam was built in 1870-75 and has a height 
of 157 ft.;.the thickness at the base is about 
220 ft. and the breadth at the top is 50 ft. Sand- 
stone and limestone from neighbouring quarries 
were used and the mortar was composed of five 
measures of hydraulic lime from Tournai, one 
measure of trass and four measures of sand, so 
that four to five times too much lime was used. 
The leakage at first amounted to 5570 gallons. a 
day, and after four years the outside of the dam 
remained permanently wet. In May, 1911, the 
upper part of the dam showed dry incrustations, 
lower ‘down the masonry was wet under the in- 
crustations, and at the lowest part of the steps 
the dripping water was like a small waterfall. 
We have probably quoted enough from the book 
to indicate the value of its contents to the engineer, 


| architect, builder, and student; it is, however, 


a matter of regret from the student’s point of 
view that the price of this useful volume has been 
fixed rather high. 


The History and Economics of Indian Famunes. 
By A. Loveday. Pp. x+163. (LondenaaG 
Bell and Sons, Ltd, ‘1914.) Price 2s-96d>.net. 


| Tue literature of Indian famines is so extensive 
that Mr. Loveday has had no light task in com- 
piling the main historical facts and formulating 
_the conclusions contained in this enlarged prize 


| essay. 


Famines are rightly regarded as natural 
calamities, caused by failures or irregularities of 
the monsoons. Indian. historians record their 
occurrence under native rule. The policy of the 
native rulers was rather prevention (by wrong 
methods) than cure: the mortality was fearful. 
Under the East India Company the famine policy 
was uncertain and unsuccessful, the systems of 
famine-relief were inadequate, the economic con- 
ditions different from the present. After 1858 the 
Government adopted, in the great famine of 1860 
in Upper India, a famine relief organisation which 
has been greatly developed but never abandoned. 
The Orissa failure, 1866-7; the excessive expendi- 
ture accompanying the success in Bengal, 1874; 
the great mortality in Madras, 1877, led to the 
Famine Commission of 1878-80. Since then 
Famine Codes have been framed for famine-relief 
administration. With subsequent experience, mis- 
takes have been corrected and the Codes perfected, 
so that now famines—of work rather then of food 
—are managed effectively. Mr. Loveday de- 
scribes briefly the various stages of policy, e.g. 
importation, emigration, poor houses, etc., etc. ; 
the later tendency has been to greater generosity 
and decentralisation. Irrigation works (when 
possible) to grow food are being extended; and 
“cailways to transport it to distressed tracts. 
Meanwhile the economic condition of India is vary- 
ing, changes must be recognised, protective mea- 
sures and the wider economic problems—indebted- 
ness, agriculture, cooperative societies, etc., etc. 
—must be considered together. B. 


JuLy 23, 1914] 


NATURE 


ou 


The Statesman’s Year-Book: Statistical and His- 
torical Annual of the States of the World for 
the Year 1914. Edited by Dr. J. Scott Keltie, 
assisted by Dr. M. Epstein. Fifty-first annuai 
publication. Revised after Official Returns. 
Pp. Ixxix+1500. (London: Macmillan and 
Comaora.) Price ros. 6d. net. 

As the years go by, the growth in size and usefui- 
ness of this welcome summary of the world are 
signs not only of the value of the contents, but 
of the carefulness which marks its compilation. 
Much wants more, and many readers would, no 
doubt, appreciate the extension of the introduc- 
tory tables to include world surveys of other com- 
modities than coal, gold, etc. The maps this year 
deal with new political boundaries in Balkania and 
Mongolia, the extension of railway communica- 
tions in America, and the position and number 
of the wireless stations of the world. Many por- 
tions of the main text have been subjected to a 
thorough revision by competent authorities, and 
no effort seems to have been spared to bring the 
fifty-first issue thoroughly up-to-date. The com- 
plete bibliographies add specially to the usefulness 
of this indispensable year-book. 


BELTERS TO THE EDIFOR. 


[The Editor does not hold himself responsible ‘for 
opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with 
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 
this or any other part of Nature. No notice is 
taken of anonymous communications. ] 


Man’s Chin: a Dynamical Basis for Physical and 
Psycho-physiclogical Utilities. 

To account for the presence of man’s chin at least 
three different explanations have been brought forward 
and discussed :—(1) That the chin has been evolved 
by sex selection for its zsthetic value; (2) that it was 
needful for the development of the genio-glossal muscle 
and speech; (3) that with man’s erect posture the 
chin has been chiefly useful in affording room for 
important structures in the throat, and in protecting 
them during combat, etc. These explanations have so 
far met with very little acceptance. 

A conception of the chin as a dynamical factor in 
both mastication and speech does not appear to have 
received attention. An engineer examining the dental 
mechanism as a type of machine new to him would, 
on finding there was a considerable bulk of con- 
structional material projecting from the chief moving 
member, be nearly certain to ask—What does this do ? 
The chin mass is situated at the outer end of the jaw 
lever, where its momentum is greatest. It is built up 
in the heavier material used in the general construc- 
tion. There is another point, too, that one should not 
too readily dismiss as a mere coincidence. Every 
rotation movement of the mandible during its elevation 
or shutting has combined with it a movement— 
obliquely upward and backward—of translation. The 
combined movements are so directed that at some 
parts of the jaw the resultant velocity is less than 
would exist if either component were to act alone; and 
at about a point situated between the jaw angle and 
the condyle, the resultant velocity is so small that 
some observers mistakenly believed it to be nil. At 
the chin, on the other hand, the directions of the com- 
ponent movements are such that the resultant velocity 
reaches nearly its maximum acceleration. 2 


NO. 2334, VOL. 93] 


My suggestion is not quite that the chin is simply 
man’s masticating hammer; something rather less 
crude than a purely percussive function is condi- 
tioned by the momentum of the chin. No doubt the 
momentum of the chin may appear to be a very small 
contribution to the considerable muscular force often 
used in chewing. Yet on the teeth themselves many 
morphological details that have been preserved as dis- 
tinct specific features are so small that we do not yet 
know what the particular utilities are that determined 
their shape and survival. Further, there is another 
peculiarity in the mandible movement that may have 
some significance in this connection. During a (sup- 
posable) uniform movement of rotation about the 
condyle as horizontal axis, the accompanying trans- 
lation movement is not uniform, but relatively varied— 
slow or small in the beginning, quicker in the middle, 
and slower again towards the end of the condyle path. 
This is favourable to the normal rhythmical movement 
of the jaw by giving in some degree a pendulum-like 
character to its swing. And it so happens that the 
position of maximum velocity (and momentum) coin- 
cides with the position of greatest resistance and food- 
strain in chewing—that is, when the cutting-edges of 
the external blades of the lower cheek teeth are just 
about to pass their upper opponents in the inward-and- 
upward shearing thrust. The chin momentum 
operates most strongly just about the point where it 
is most useful in preserving the rhythmical movement 
of mastication, so as to render less necessary any 
consciously-directed variation in the muscular effort 
put forth in any single chewing stroke. 

Then, in the numerous smaller chewing movements 
for the finer reduction of food morsels, the chin mass 
(by both inertia and momentum) has at least some 
value as a ‘‘balance,’’ controlling and guiding the 
niceties of direction in the thrust. The utility of 
balance influences the construction of many man-made 
implements (pen- or brush-holder, razor handle, spear, 
etc.) in the use of which some precision is required ; 
this feature in construction has usually been adapted 
and has survived quite independently of any conscious 
or theoretical estimation of its special function. The 
obvious objection that animals manage the “niceties” 
of mastication without a chin could be met only by 
going more fully into the dynamics of the subject. This 
much at least can be stated here as being susceptible 
of proof—that as compared with the prognathous 
savage or the ape, the dental apparatus of modern 
civilised man is the ‘‘finer’’ machine, in so far as it 
is the better adapted for those shearing stresses by 
which tough foodstuffs are comminuted with economy 
of effort. 

The above suggestion of ‘‘balancing”’ and ‘‘ steady- 
ing ’’ utilities can also be applied to the rapid and yet 
delicately controlled movements of the mandible in 
speech. The man who wrote a book on ‘‘ The Speech 
of Monkeys”? might possibly have had hope of more 
success in interpretating the “language” of these 
animals if only he could have subdued and steadied 
their jibberings and chatterings by providing them 
with good weighty chins. D. M.) SHAW: 

Eltham, S.E. 


Meteoric Streaks and Trains. 


Pror. C. C. TRowBRIDGE, of New York, has been 
conducting an interesting investigation, during recent 
years, into the heights and velocities of the streaks 
and trains of meteors. He has been collecting old 
records of these phenomena, and will be glad to 
receive any new materials which may be gathered 
during this year’s Perseid shower. Every year brings 
us some brilliant Perseids leaving durable streaks, and 
it is important that when these appear the drift 


Do 
amongst the stars should be noted at short intervals. 
In the case of a streak enduring ten minutes, a series 
of diagrams showing the positions -of the streak and 
neighbouring stars every two minutes would be valu- 
able. 

There is a-large amount of data available from past 
observations, but it is for the most part of very rough 
imperfect character, and we require more exact and 
complete records before we can determine the exact 
heights of the streaks and the motions of the outer 
atmosphere. However, the discussion so far as it 
has gone proves that the streaks are usually from 
fifty to sixty miles high, and that their motion is 
often more than one hundred miles an hour. A very 
destructive hurricane on the earth’s surface would 
about equal this, so that it is certain that the upper 
tenuous air is influenced by currents of far swifter 
character than the atmosphere immediately overlying 
the earth. 

If observers of meteors will only carefully record 
meteoric streaks and trains whenever they are seen we 
shall soon be in a position to ascertain more trust- 
worthily and definitely the behaviour of these curious 
afterglows. From balloon ascents it has been con- 
cluded that the general drift of the air in the region 
of ten or fifteen miles altitude is to E. and S.E., and 
this precisely accords with the direction of the majority 
of meteoric trains between about fifty and sixty miles 
high. W. F. DENNING. 

Bristol, July 13. 


Glimatic Change. 


I HAVE just seen the translation of Prof. Albrecht 
Penck’s lecture on ‘‘ The Shifting of the Climatic Belts,” 
printed in the Scottish Geographical Magazine for 
June, 1914. The main line of the author’s argument 
is that certain lakes—e.g, Lake Chad in the Sahara, 
the lakes of Mexico City, and of the Titicaca basin, 
being very slightly salt, indicate an increasing pre- 
cipitation, and during the so-called ‘ pluvial period” 
were drier than at present, owing to a shifting of the 
arid belt equatorwards. 

Surely it is more reasonable to attribute the com- 
paratively slight salt content to the fact that the 
basins have only recently ceased to have an outlet, 
owing to a decrease in the precipitation. A slow 
fluctuating decrease in the rainfall of Mexico has been 
practically proved by Prof. Ellsworth Huntington 
(e.g. ‘The shifting of climatic zones as illustrated in 
Mexico,” Bull. Amer. Geogr. Soc., vol. xlv., LOM 
Jan._Feb., and also his recent memoir on _ the 
“Climatic Factor ’’). In the case of Lake Chad, 
K. v. Zittel, an accomplished observer, describes 
evidence of a former greater extent (Palaconto- 
graphica, vol. xxx., 1883, p. 39). Information as to 
whether the lake has an old outflow channel would be 
valuable. 

So long ago as 1876 A. Agassiz, in his ‘‘ Hydro- 
graphic Sketch of Lake Titicaca’’ (Proc. Am. Acad., 
vol. xi., 1876, p. 268), wrote: ‘‘The whole of this 
district is receiving a much smaller waterfall than in 
former times.” 

Prof. Penck is unfortunate in his examples; the 
weight of evidence against him, pointing to a former 
moister period on the equator side of the arid belts, 
is too great to be ignored. And as he admits desic- 
cation on the poleward sides of these belts, the facts 
suggest that the dry area may vary in breadth as 
well as in position, and that the “ pluvial period’’ had 
a real existence—outside the glaciated regions, 

Cuas. E. P. Brooks. 
Roseleigh Avenue, Highbury, N. 
July 17. i 


NO. 2334, VOL. 93]| 


ae 7 ” 
Homeleigh,”’ 3 


NATURE 


[Jury 23, 1914 


THE PLUMAGE PROGIBITION BILL. 

poe” these lines are published the fate 

of the Plumage Prohibition Bill may have 
been decided. It seems little to our credit that 
London should be the chief market for the nefari- 
ous traffic which this Bill was framed to abolish; 
and this view was surely endorsed by the House 
when, on the second reading, the Bill was passed 
by a majority of nearly three hundred. Neverthe- 
less, during the committee stage the Bill was 
virulently opposed by a_ small, well-organised 
minority, including some actually engaged in the 
sale of plumage for millinery purposes. 

Unfortunately, the hands of the opposition hav 
been strengthened by the action of “The Commit- 
tee for the Economic Preservation of Birds ””—a 
committee which, strangely enough, does not con- 
tain the name of a single ornithologist of repute. 
So completely have these opposing forces con- 
trived to play into one another’s hands that it is 
probable that, to save the Bill, it will have to be 
modified. For total prohibition a schedule will 
have to be substituted, which must be so framed 
as to secure the safety of such species as are at 
present in actual danger of extermination. 

It would be useless to urge the need of preserv- 
ing these threatened species because of their im- 
mense value as living witnesses of the evolution 
theory; for science, and scientific problems, have 
little weight in this country. But, if for no other 
reason than that of its inhumanity, this ghastly 
traffic should be ended. 

The contention that if this Bill passes a large 
number of workpeople will be thrown out of em- 
ployment has been shown, on figures furnished 
by the trade itself, to be without justification. 
Equally groundless is the assertion that the plac- 
ing of the Bill on the Statute Book will simply 
divert the trade to Paris without saving the life of 
a single bird. If there were any sort of founda- 
tion for this, the French Chamber of Commerce 
would not have implored the British Government 
to throw out this Bill. Furthermore, we are 
assured that if this Bill passes, Germany will 
follow our lead. This done, the plume-trade in 
Europe is dead. 

If only an emasculated Bill succeeds in running: 
the gauntlet of trade interests a step in the right 
direction will have been achieved. If, on the 
other hand, the present Bill is defeated, then it 
is fervently to be hoped that a new Bill will be 
introduced at the earliest possible moment; and 
having regard to the voting on the second reading 
of the present Bill, there is every reason to regard 
its success as assured. 


SPACE AND TIME.} 
iE ROM this time forth space and time apart 
from each other are become mere shadows, 
and only a kind of compound of the two can have 
any reality.” So spoke Herrmann Minkowski in 
1908. But his statement has not yet been realised. 


1H. A. Lorentz, A. Einstein, H. Minkowski: Das Relativitatsprinzip. 
A Collection of the Classical Papers in the Deve'opment of the Theory of 
Relativity, from 1895 to 1910. Pp. 89, with portrait of Minkowski. 
(Leipzig : B. G. Teubner, 1913.) Price 3 marks. 


Jury 23, 1914] 


NATURE 


Dad 


It is still the elect to whom it is given to escape 
from the bondage of their own consciousness so 
completely that they can think of time as nothing 
more than the most convenient means of ordering 
events. Sir Oliver Lodge was voicing the feeling 
of the man in the street when, at Birmingham, 
he said: “Surely, we must admit that space and 
time are unchangeable: they are not at the dis- 
posal even of mathematicians.” 

It is not so long since a similar divergence of 
view existed in respect of the other fundamental 
dynamical magnitude mass. But here the con- 
troversy has subsided; the mass of a body is 
still something more than a shadow, though no 
teacher of dynamics would to-day think of defining 
it as “the quantity of matter” in it. Rather the 
conception has gained in concreteness through its 
separation from the crude intuitive notion of heavi- 
ness, through the realisation that no precise de- 
finition is possible apart from the uniformity which 
is expressed in the laws of motion. 

A reader of “The Grammar of Science” might 
well have exclaimed: “From this day forth mass 
is amere shadow.” But no one now would assert 
that mass as a measurable quantity is ana priori 
and obvious concept, independent of the pheno- 
mena of motion. 

Now, apart altogether from the particular 
assumption of the principle of relativity that elec- 
trical phenomena cannot reveal an absolute 
motion, it was implied by its founder that as 
measurable quantities space and time are on ex- 
actly the same footing as mass, in that they 
are inseparable from the uniformities which they 
are used to describe. They are no more at the 
disposal of the metaphysician than of the mathe- 
matician. The psychologist is within his pro- 
vince in endeavouring to elucidate the nature of 
the consciousness of duration, but in the region 
of exact physical measurement this aspect of time 
is eliminated, so that only experiment can say 
whether there is, for instance, a unique sense in 
which two events at different places are simul- 
taneous. It is exactly this which experiment 
has failed to do. Whether it will ever do. so 
cannot be foreseen; the principle of relativity 
seeks to examine some of the consequences of 
assuming that it will not. But it is for the 
present generation to decide whether it is a sound 
scientific principle that time, like other physical 
concepts, is dependent for its significance on the 
observation of uniformity in physical processes, 
and that the reality of it to our minds is only due 
to the unbroken regularity of these processes. In 
this sense we may surely say with Sir Oliver 
Lodge that space and time are unchangeable, but 
at the same time we must leave it to nature to 
tell us what they are, and not foist upon the 
measures of them a metaphysical significance 
borrowed from a conceptual scheme which has 
been outgrown by experiment as the dynamical 
universe conceived by Laplace has been. The 
small volume before us embodies the classical 
papers, in which the gradual transition from the 
Newtonian thought about space and time to this 
point of view is developed. 


NO. 2334, VOL. 93| 


ae 


THE HAVRE MEETING OF THE FRENCH 
ASSOCIATION. 

"THE arrangements are now complete for the 

visit of members of the British Association 
who have been unable to take part in the meeting 
in Australia, to the congress of L’Association 
Frangaise pour l’Avancement des Sciences at 
Havre, beginning on Monday, July 27, and end- 
ing Sunday, August 2. Nearly one hundred mem- 
bers have intimated their intention of availing 
themselves of the courteous and kindly invitation 
with which they have been honoured by the French 


| society. Among them are about fifty delegates of 


the associated and affiliated societies which are 
in correspondence with the British Association. 
The council of that association has approved of 
the holding of a meeting of the conference of dele- 
gates at Havre during the present year, to be 
followed later on, if necessary, by a meeting in 
London for any formal business that may still 
require to be done. 

The session of the conference of delegates will 
be held at Havre on Tuesday, July 28, at 2.45 
p-m., and as it forms part of the accepted pro- 
gramme of the French Association, it is hoped 
that it may be attended by many members of that 
association. It will be presided over by Sir 
George Fordham, who will deliver an address, in 
which he will direct attention to the work of the 
conference, since its establishment in 1885, and 
that will be followed by a discussion, in which 
the functions of local societies will, it is hoped, 
be considered from an eminently practical point 
of view. There is, it is understood, a strong 
feeling among scientific men in France in favour 
of the organisation of local societies in that 
country upon similar principles, and it would be 
very satisfactory if one result of this joint meet- 
ing should be to facilitate the movement in that 
direction. 

At the opening meeting of the congress, to be 
held in the Grand Theatre, Place Gambetta, on 
Monday, July 27, at 2.30, Sir William Ramsay 
will speak as the principal representative of the 
British Association. In the sectional meetings 
on the four following days, several papers will be 
contributed by the English visitors. On Friday, 
July 31, at 2.30, a general Anglo-French meeting 
will be held, at which it is proposed that the 
subject of the Channel Tunnel should be discussed, 
and on the evening of the same day a discourse 
will be delivered by a member of the British Asso- 
ciation in the Grand Theatre. Thursday, July 30, 
will be devoted to an excursion to Rouen, and 
the congress will conclude with a cruise and visit 
to Cherbourg on the Transatlantic steamer La 
Touraine. 

The committee to which the council of the 
British Association has entrusted the making of 
these arrangements owes much gratitude to Dr. 
A. Loir, who two years ago conveyed the invita- 
tion of the French Association to the meeting at 
Dundee, and has been most assiduous in his care 
for the comfort of the English visitors. The invi- 
tation is felt to be a very graceful act on the part 
of the French Association. 


Oo 


NATURE 


[JuLy 23, 1914 


OSCILLATIONS OF FRENCH GLACIERS | A NATURE-RESERVE IN SPITSBERGEN. 


Tee part of the valuable publication issued 
by the French Government, is chiefly de- 
voted to the glaciers of Savoy, because, though 
those of the Pyrenees have been studied with the 
same thoroughness, they have not attracted so 
much notice in the past, and thus less information 
was obtainable. In Savoy also the history of the 
glaciers of the Mont Blanc range is far more com- 
plete than in the Maurienne, because, fewer than 
seventy years ago, these districts were but rarely 
visited by travellers. Careful search in the ar- 
chives and libraries of Annecy, Geneva, and 
Chamonix has discovered more than could have 
been anticipated about the history of the Mont 
Blane glaciers, and that of the Glacier du Bois 
has been traced back with fair completeness for 
more than three centuries. 

The earliest maps, restricted to northern Savoy, 
are dated 1555 and 1562, but these are practically 
worthless, and the first on which the glaciers are 
indicated is as late as 1742. They are, how- 
ever, mentioned in some detail in documents 
written in 1580 and 1605, during which time a 
notable advance of the ice evidently did serious 
damage to property in the valley of Chamonix. 
After this the information is for a time less com- 
plete, but it rapidly improves with the coming of 
travellers, and from about 1780 illustrations pro- 
vide another source. Several of them are repro- 
duced in this publication, and though often rude, 
they form valuable records of the extent of the 
ice at particular dates. The glaciers of which in- 
formation has been obtained—not in all cases 
equally complete—are six in number, and their 
oscillations show a general, though not an exact 
correspondence. Including the glaciers of the 
Maurienne, their advances and retreats indicate 
a certain periodicity. From 1605 to 1894 (inclu- 
sive) there have been seven of the former, the 
longest interval being forty-four years and the 
shortest thirty-one years, giving an average of 
forty years in 284 years; of these, the advances 
about 1610, 1716, and 1822 were exceptionally 
great, and these maxima are 106 years apart. 
Numerical correspondences are also noted between 
two other groups of oscillations, with the result 
that the figures suggest general periodicities of 
about thirty-six years, and special of three times 
that amount. 

The mean temperature and rainfall, of which 
records aré given, must produce effects on these 
movements, and it is remarkable that the former, 
between 1773 and 1860, rose steadily by 0'871°C. 
and has since then declined by 0°698° C. The re- 
mainder of the volume is devoted to glaciers in 
the Pyrenees, but we must be content to mention 
these, as the information is more imperfect, and 
only to direct attention to another part (Annexe du 
Tome v.) of the same publication, which contains 
a valuable series of maps of the hydrography of 
the river-basins of the Bréda, the Arc, and the 
Durance. Ve Gee: 


1 Ministére de l’Agriculture: Direction Générale des Eaux et Foréts. 
2® Partie, Faux et Améliorations Agricoles. Service des Grandes Forces 
Hydrauliques (Régions des Alpes et du Sud-ouest). Etudes Glaciologiques 
Savoie-Pyrénées. Tome iii., 1712. 


NO. 2334, VOL. 93| 


fy ieee question of the government of the Arctic 
isles of Spitsbergen is occupying an inter- 
national commission, and meanwhile Prof. H. 
Conwentz opportunely directs attention to the 
need for the demarcation of a Polar natural his- 
tory reserve. In the second part of vol. iv. of 


his Beitrage zur Naturdenkmalpflege, he brings 


together the views of a number of scientific men 
who have visited Spitsbergen, and points out the 
wanton destruction of reindeer, polar bears, and 
other animals, that is encouraged by many of the 
pleasure-expeditions to the north. The establish- 
ment of a recognised government would enable 
such ‘“‘sport”’ to be rigorously held in check. As 
Prof. Penck reminds us in his contribution, a 
traveller may land in summer on Spitsbergen, may 
see the antlers of reindeer and their tracks in the 
soil, and yet may never come across a single 
individual. The accessibility of Spitsbergen 
makes it especially attractive to the geologist and 
the naturalist, and the scale of its scenery pro- 
vides an admirable illustration of our own islands 
during the waning of the Quaternary ice-age. 

A complete nature-reserve is now proposed for 
the region north-west of the Ice-fjord, leaving the 
coal-mining area of Advent Bay and the whale- 
fisheries of Green Harbour in a larger area over 
which partial control may be effected. Anyone 
who has seen the fog roll like a curtain from the 
ice-flecked water, and the great panorama of 
peaks and glaciers appear as a first vision of the 
Arctic world, will assuredly give sincere support 
to those who would limit the private exploitation 
of Spitsbergen. Prof. Sapper has the foresight 
to propose the prohibition of hotels in proximity to 
glaciers of special beauty. He directs attention 
to such geographical features as the polygonal 
soils and the hillsides grooved by arid erosion, and 
to the marring effect that factories might have 
upon landscapes of such exceptional interest. We 
may add that the driving of a road across the 
boulder-clay of the von Post Glacier would deprive 
geologists of one of the most valuable “modern 
instances.”’ The conditions along the vales from 
which the ice has shrunk away are those amid 
which our palezolithic ancestors founded man’s 
dominion in European lands. If scientific workers 
seek to preserve Spitsbergen from the fate that 
has overtaken Switzerland, it is in no selfish spirit. 
but in the desire to retain for all an intellectual 
heritage. GRENVILLE A. J. COLE. 


DR. ADOLF LIEBEN. 

Sas LIEBEN, whose death occurred on June 6 

at the age of seventy-eight, was born on 
December 3, 1836, at Vienna, and was the son of 
a merchant in that city. Until the age of twelve 
his education was entrusted to the care of Moritz 
Hartmann, who was later to make a name as a 
poet. Later young Lieben began to interest him- 
self in chemistry, and attended lectures at the 
university under Redtenbacher and SchrGtter. In 
1855 he entered the University of Heidelberg, and 
worked in Bunsen’s laboratory, where he met 


JuLy 23, 1914] 


NATURE 


535 


many students—Beilstein, Baeyer, Landolt, L. 
Meyer, and Roscoe—who were destined later to 
become distinguished in the science of chemistry. 

After taking his doctorate in 1856, he left 
Heidelberg, and studied for a time in Paris. On 
the recommendation of Dumas he entered the 
alkali works of Kuhlmann in Lille; but industrial 
chemistry had no attractions for him, and in 1859 
he was back again in Vienna in Schr6tter’s labora- 
tory, where he remained until 1861. In 1862 he 
made a second visit to Paris, where he met Can- 
nizzaro, who offered him a post in the laboratory 
at Palermo, where he ultimately became profes- 
sor. In 1867 he was elected to the chair of 
chemistry at Turin, and remained there until 1871, 
when he was appointed to a professorship at 
Prague. in 1875, on the death of Rochleder, he 
was called to fill one of the two recently created 
chairs at the new University Institute at Vienna, 
where he remained for thirty years, actively en- 
gaged in teaching and research, until his failing 
health obliged hin: to retire. He is described as a 
lucid lecturer and brilliant experimenter, and his 
lectures were largely attended by students, many 
of whom later became secondary-school teachers 
or obtained important positions in various chemi- 
cal industries. 

.The esteem in which Lieben was held by them 
and by his colleagues is shown by the celebrations 
which attended his fiftieth jubilee and seventieth 
anniversary in 1906, and by the numerous honours 
‘and distinctions which were conferred upon him 
in his later years. His researches cover a wide 
field, and include important investigations in in- 
organic and physical chemistry; but his principal 
contributions lie in the domain of organic chem- 
istry. He was among the earliest investigators to 
adopt Kekulé’s new structural formule. 

One of his first researches was carried out in 
Wurtz’s laboratory in Paris (1856-1859) on the 
action of chlorine on acetaldehyde, alcohol, and 
ether, which led to the discovery of the chloro- 
acetals and dichloro-ethers ; but his most produc- 
tive period was during the time he held the chairs 
at Turin and Vienna, where he became associated 
with Rossi and later with Zeisel and with Hai- 
tinger. In Turin he began his investigations on 
the synthesis of the alcohols by the method of 
Piria and Limpricht by heating the calcium salts 
of the fatty acids with calcium formate, and thus 
obtaining aldehydes which on reduction yielded 
the alcohols. In this way he prepared a series of 
alcohols from methyl alcohol to hexyl alcohol. 
This was followed by a study of the aldol and 
crotonic aldehyde condensation, which he applied 
to.a variety of aldehydes, and obtained by reduc- 
tion new glycols and alcohols. It was at this time 
that he discovered the iodoform reaction for ethyl 
alcohol which goes by his name. But one of his 
most interesting contributions which he carried 
out with Haitinger during 1883-85 is on the 
structure of chelidonic acid (a constituent of the 
yellow juice of the greater celandine), which was 
recognised as a pyrone derivative, and was con- 
verted into a hydroxypyridine carboxylic acid by 
the action of ammonia. 


NG. 2334, VOL. .93)| 


Lieben also interested himself in what is now 
termed biochemistry. By the aid of the iodoform 
reaction he was able to detect small quantities of 
alcohol in urine, and also gave some attention to 
the reduction products of carbon dioxide under 
the influence of light in an attempt to elucidate 
the process of plant assimilation. }. Bee 


THE REV. OSMOND FISHER. 
ULL of years, but with interests unabated and 
working until within a few days of the end, 
the veteran geologist, Osmond Fisher, passed 
away on July 12, at the age of ninety-six. 

He was born on November 17, 1817, at Os- 
mington, in Dorset, of which place his father, the 
Rev. (afterwards the Ven.) John Fisher, was 
vicar. Educated at Eton under Dr. Keate and at 
King’s College, London, he proceeded in 1836 to 
Jesus College, Cambridge, from which he gradu- 
ated as eighteenth wrangler in 1841, the year in 
which Stokes was senior. He was ordained 
deacon in 1844, and priest the following year. 
After a short period of clerical work at Writhling- 
ton, near Radstock, and Dorchester, he returned 
to Cambridge in 1853 as tutor of Jesus College, 
but left after four years’ work on his presentation 
to the college living of Elmstead, near Colchester. 
In this year, also, he married Maria Louisa, 
daughter of Mr. Hastings N. Middleton, of Ilsing- 
ton House, near Dorchester. In 1867 he was 
presented to another college living, that of Harl- 
ton, near Cambridge, and here he resided until his 
retirement in 1go6. The last eight years of his 
life were spent in the home of his eldest son, the 
rector of Graveley, near Huntingdon. He lies 
buried in the quiet Harlton churchyard, within 
sight of his forty years’ home. 

From his childhood, Mr. Fisher was a geolo- 
gist. Fossils collected from the Coral Rag before 
he was fifteen are now in the Sedgwick Museum. 
His contributions to pure geology relate to beds 
of Cretaceous or more recent date. Among them 
may be mentioned his papers on the Bracklesham 
beds, the phosphatic deposits of the Cambridge 
Greensand, and the mammaliferous deposits of 
Barrington, as well as those on the “trail”? and 
the denudations of Norfolk. 

It is, however, as a physical geologist that 
Mr. Fisher is most widely known. His originality 
in this branch of geology is shown by the facts 
that in 1841 the contraction theory of mountain- 
formation occurred to him, and that in 1855 he 
attributed the Visp earthquake of that year to the 
growth of a fault. That he was by no means a 
slave to his own theories is equally manifest, for 


| by 1873 he had abandoned the contraction theory, 


believing the cause invoked to be incapable of 
producing the known inequalities of the earth’s 
surface. With the contraction theory went also 
his belief in the practical solidity of the earth’s 
interior, and from this time dates his champion- 
ship of the hypothesis of a liquid substratum be- 
tween the solid crust and core of the earth, and 
of the well-known theory of mountain-building 
with which his name will always be connected. It 


536 


is not too much to say that the leisure of his 
last forty years was spent in developing this 
theory, and in meeting, with unfailing courtesy, 
the objections which from time to time were urged 
against it. On the whole, his work failed to 
attract the attention and criticism of mathemati- 
cians in this country, but by geologists, both here 
and abroad, it has always been highly valued. 
The Geological Society, ever ready to welcome the 
aid of mathematicians, awarded him a grant from 
the Lyell fund in 1887, the Murchison medal in 
1893, and the Wollaston medal in 1913. 
CHARLES DAVISON. 


NOTES. 

Ar the thirty-third annual meeting of the Society 
of Chemical Industry held in Nottingham last week 
it was announced that the society’s medal had been 
awarded to Sir Henry Roscoe, the first president, for 
his services to science, education, and the society. 
In his presidential address, which was read in ‘his 
absence, Sir William Crookes said that the world is 
still greatly in need of able researchers, perhaps more 
so now than at any previous time in its history. Dis- 
coveries of vast importance are waiting their Newtons. 
But is not the attitude of the public towards inves- 
tigators lacking in understanding and imagination, 
and do not the authorities treat scientific exploration 
in a niggardly spirit? Scientific research is being 
starved. The allotment of public moneys to the fur- 
therance of scientific work, the tangible recognition of 
the services of scientific men, the provision of oppor- 
tunities for all kinds of investigations of scientific 
problems without reference to their immediate com- 
mercial value—these are the benefits which should be 
looked for at the hands of the Government and of the 
nation. On the same day that Sir William Crookes’s 
address was read, Mr. Cowan asked the Prime Minister 
in the House of Commons whether any existing fund 
is available out of which men of science may be 
compensated for losses incurred by them in doing un- 
remunerative scientific work when such work has 
proved to be of advantage to his Majesty’s Govern- 
ment and subjects; and whether, if no such fund is 
available, he would consider the advisability of pro- 
viding funds for meeting such cases? In his reply, 
Mr. Asquith mentioned that nine civil list pensions 
were awarded for scientific services last year, and he 
said: ‘“‘I am not satisfied that further provision is 
necessary.”’ A list of these pensions was given in 
our issue of July 9 (p. 485), but we suggest that such 
grants, made partly on account of inadequate means 
of support, do not give a satisfactory answer to Mr. 
Cowan’s question or provide the encouragement of 
research to which Sir William Crookes referred. 


Tue death is announced, in his sixty-sixth year, of 
Sir Christopher Nixon, ex-president of the Royal Col- 
lege of Physicians of Ireland, and Vice-Chancellor of 
the National University of Ireland. He was the 
author of a number of books on medical subjects and 
also the first president of the Royal Veterinary College 
of Ireland. 


NO! 9233 4.) ViOl..O3i| 


NATURE 


[Jury 23, 1914 


THE Royal Agricultural Society of England is offer- 
ing a medal, together with life membership of the 
society, for a monograph or essay, which has not been 
previously published, giving evidence of original re- 
search in any agricultural subject or any of the cog- 
nate agricultural sciences applicable to British farm- 
ing. Intending candidates should forward their essays 
to the secretary of the society at 16 Bedford Square, 
W.C., not later than July 25. 


Tue American Museum of Natural History has re- 
ceived 1,000,o00l. under the will of the late’ Mrs. 
Morris K. Jesup, who died on June 17. According to 
Science, Mrs. Jesup made other bequests to public 
institutions amounting to 690,o00l., including 60,o00l. 
to Yale University. Mrs. Jesup’s husband, who died 
in 1908, became president of the Museum of Natural 
History in 1882, and devoted a large part of his time 
and energy to its interests. In his lifetime Mr. Jesup 
gave more than 200,000]. to the museum, and under 
his will it inherited an additional 200,o00l. 


WE understand that a National Council is about to 
be formed for the purpose of combating venereal 
disease. The preliminary arrangements are being 
made by Sir Thomas Barlow, president of the Royal 
College of Physicians, Sir Rickman Godlee, until re- 
cently president of the Royal College of Surgeons, Sir 
Francis Champneys, president of the Royal Society of 
Medicine, the Bishop of Southwark, and Major 
Leonard Darwin, president of the Eugenics Education 
Society. A meeting has been held at which, besides 
those mentioned above, those present included Sir 
Clifford Allbutt, Sir W. Osler, Sir A. Pearce Gould, Sir 
Henry Morris, Sir Wilmot Herringham, and Mr. 
Charters Symonds. 


At the recent July meeting of the executive com- 
mittee of the British Science Guild, Sir Norman Lock- 
yer, K.C.B., F.R.S., in the chair, a special committee 
was appointed to inquire into and report upon the ques- 
tion of the provision, in this country, for veterinary 
research. <A special committee, consisting of the presi- 
dent, the Right Hon. Sir William Mather, Sir Norman 
Lockyer (chairman), Lieut.-Colonel Sir Chas. Bedford, 
Hon. Sir John Cockburn, Prof. Meldola, Major 
O’Meara, Sir Boverton Redwood, Sir Ronald Ross, 
and Prof. Silvanus P. Thompson, was appointed to 
consider and report upon various matters arising in 
connection with science and the State and the en- 
couragement of discovery referred to in the address 
delivered by Sir Ronald Ross at the annual meeting 
of the guild, at the Mansion House, on May 22. A 
report was received from the technical optics com- 
mittee dealing with the inadequate provision for, and 
the unsatisfactory state of, technical training in optics 
in this country, and proposals for the establishment 
of a British Institute of Technical Optics were con- 
sidered. 


Tue following list of members of the Imperial 
Transantarctic Expedition has been officially an- 
nounced :— Weddell Sea Party : Sir Ernest H. Shackle- 
ton, leader of the expedition; Mr. Frank Wild, second 
in command; Mr. G. Marston, Mr. T. Crean, Captain 
Orde Lees, Lieut. F. Dobbs, Lieut. Courtney Brockle- 


JuLy 23, 1914] 


hurst, Mr. J. Wordie, geologist; Mr. R. W. James, 


physicist and magnetician; Mr. L. H. Hussey, 
assistant magnetician and meteorologist; Mr. F. 
Hurley, photographer and kinematographer; Mr. V. 
Studd, geologist; Lieut. F. A. Worsley, in navigating 
command of the Endurance on the voyage from Lon- 
don to Buenos Aires and the Weddell Sea, and after- 
wards to take part in the surveying and exploring of 
the coast; Mr. Jeffreys, Mr. Hudson, and Mr. A. 
Cheetham. Ross Sea Party: Lieut. Aeneas Mackin- 
tosh, leader and meteorologist; Mr. E. Joyce, 
zoologist; Mr. H. Ninnis; Mr. H. Wild; and Dr. Mack- 
lin, surgeon. There only remain two vacancies, and 
these are to be filled by another doctor and a biologist. 
The arrangements for the Ross Sea ship Aurora are 
not yet quite complete, but the Endurance, with the 
Weddell Sea party, will sail in a few days. 


One half of the present summer has gone, and the 
weather so far has been generally fine. The weekly 
weather reports issued by the Meteorological Office 
for the first six weeks of summer, ending July 11, 
show that the mean temperature for the period is in 
excess of the average over the whole of the United 
Kingdom, except in the north of Ireland, where it is 
normal. The greatest excess is 2° in the east and 
north-east of England. The rainfall differs very mate- 
rially in the various districts. In the north-east of 
England the aggregate rainfall is 166 per cent. of the 
average, in the midland counties 144 per cent., in the 
south-west of England 138 per cent., in the Channel 
Islands 110 per cent., and in the north-west of Eng- 
land 103 per cent. of the average; in all other districts 
of the United Kingdom there is a deficiency. The 
least rainfall for the six weeks in any district is 2 in. 
in the west of Scotland, which is 49 per cent. of the 
average. In the north of Ireland the rainfall is 60 per 
cent. of the average, in the north of Scotland 62 per 
cent., in the south of Ireland 67 per cent., in the east 
of Scotland 82 per cent., in the south-east of England 
84 per cent., and in the east of England 96 per cent. 
of the average. The duration of bright sunshine is 
in excess of the average over the eastern section of 
the kingdom, but it varies somewhat in the western 
section. At Greenwich there have already been twelve 
days since the commencement of June with a shade 
temperature of 80° or above, whilst the average for the 
three summer months in the last seventy years is only 
thirteen. The rainfall is decidedly deficient of the 
average, whilst the sunshine is largely in excess of 
the average. 


Tue University of Pennsylvania Anthropological 
Publications (vol. iii., No. 3) is devoted to an account 
of excavations at Urokastro, in eastern Crete, by Miss 
E H. Hall. The importance of this investigation lies 
in the fact that while the work of Sir A. Evans and 
others has hitherto been mainly devoted to the culture 
of the Bronze age, little has been systematically done 
to work out the Iron-age culture. This raises impor- 
tant ethnological problems; and the writer ventures 
the theory that in the remains discovered it is possible 
to recognise, in order, three great invasions of Crete 
from the north: those of the Mycenzans, Achzeans, 
and the Dorians. 


NO. 2334, VOL. 93] 


NATURE 


537 


In the Perthshire Society of Natural Science Trans- 
actions, vol. v., the Rev. G. A. Frank Knight directs 
attention to a little-known series of ancient fortifica- 
tions on the western side of Ben Scallaidh at a height 
of about 2000 ft. above the sea, and fully two-thirds 
of the way up the Kirkton Glen. He counted in all 
eight lines of fortifications which reveal enormous 
labour and no small skill in construction. In some 
respects they present features resembling the well- 
known prehistoric forts of Peeblesshire which have 
been described by Dr. D. Christison (Proc. Soc. Antig. 
Scot., xxi., 1886-7, p. 13f.). The writer justly re- 
marks that this remarkable series of ancient fortifica- 
tions should be investigated by a skilled archzologist, 
who, preferably, is also a trained military strategist. 


Dr. J. E. Pour, mineralogist in the U.S. National 
Museum of Washington, has been engaged in collect- 
ing material for a monograph on the turquoise, from 
the mineralogical, historical, and ethnological points 
of view. Mr. B. Lanfer, associate curator of Asiatic 
ethnology, was invited to cooperate in the work. As 
the publication of Dr. Pogue’s monograph has been 
delayed, Mr. Lanfer has now published ‘‘ Notes on 
Turquoise in the East,”” as Publication No. 169 of the 
Field Museum of Natural History. He discusses in 
detail all available information regarding the stone in 
India, Tibet, and China. He has collected much 
interesting information which he publishes, with full 
references, in this well-illustrated and scholarly mono- 
graph. The turquoise, from its power of repelling 
evil spirits, has always been valued in the East, and 
we have here a full account of the stone from the 
economical as well as the religious point of view. 


By the liberality of Mr. P. G. Gates the United 
States Museum was enabled in 1905 to resume the 
investigations conducted by Dr. J. W. Fewkes into 
the culture of the ancient Pueblos of the Upper Gila 
river region in New Mexico. Immense numbers of 
specimens, particularly of perishable objects found in 
caves, render it possible to throw much light on an 
archeological area hitherto not scientifically explored. 
A remarkable series of specimens illustrates the cult 
of fire, fire-sticks, invested with a sacred character, 
being apparently offered, when worn out, in shrines. 
Numerous ceremonial cigarettes, consisting of sec- 
tions of arrow-reed, tightly filled with artemisia and 
other aromatic herbs, were found in the ceremonial 
caves, and in the inhabited houses a number of “ cloud- 
blowers,”’ stone tubes of various sizes, used for blow- 
ing clouds of incense smoke during the tribal 
rites. These people were ignorant of metal-working, 
in one case only a lump of raw copper, rubbed and 
smoothed like a stone, having been found. The 
results of his expedition are well described by Mr. 
Walter Hough, ethnological curator of the museum, 
in Bulletin 87 of the Smithsonian Institution. 


‘““Man and the Microbe” is the title of an article 
by Prof. Winslow in the Popular Science Monthly for 
July, in which he describes the various ways by which 
infective diseases are spread, and discusses some of 
the means of prevention. To show how much has 
been done in the last-named direction, he points out 


Oo 


5 


that in every twenty-four hours there are 200: death- 
beds in New York; had the death-rate of twenty 
years ago persisted there would be 130 more! 


AccorDING to the report for 1913, the Rhodesia 
Museum, Bulawayo, is arranging an economic section 
for the display of the natural products of the country, 
which it is hoped will aid in the development of the 
latter. Thanks to an annual grant voted by the 
British South Africa Company, the staff has com- 
menced to collect specimens for exhibition which will 
represent the raw products of the country and the 
preparation they have to undergo before being con- 
verted into finished commercial products. Despite an 
insufficiency of funds, of floor-space, and of exhibition- 
cases, certain departments of the museum—notably the 
herbarium—continue to make satisfactory progress. 


In the annual report of the Field Museum of Natural 
History, Chicago, for the past year it is stated that 
the energies of the staff have been largely occupied in 
preparing exhibition material for the new building. 
The result of this has been a crowding of cases in 
some of the exhibition galleries ‘‘to a degree that. must 
be confusing to visitors, as it certainly is most un- 
satisfactory to the management.” So great, indeed, 
is the pressure, that it is suggested it will be necessary 


Skeleton of the South American Marsupial Czenolestes, believed to be the 
only one on exhibition. About one-third natural size. From the Report 
of the Field Museum 


to.close some of the public galleries and use them as 
storage rooms. An important item in the museum’s 
progress was the return of an expedition, under Dr. 
Lewis, which for three years has been collecting 
ethnological subjects in the islands of the South 
Pacific, and has brought back a vast series of speci- 
mens. An interesting feature of the report is a figure 
(herewith reproduced) of the skeleton of the South 
American marsupial, Czenolestes, the sole survivor of 
the Tertiary family Epanorthide. This skeleton is 
claimed to be at present unique, no other museum, it is 
believed, having a specimen. 


In the report of the U.S. National Museum, Wash- 
ington, for 1913, after reference to the great labour 
involved in the installation of the cases and specimens 
in the new buildings, and a notice of the work that 
has been accomplished in -he anthropological section, 
attention is directed to the exhibits illustrative of the 
geographical distribution of animals—a_ subject to 
which special attention is being devoted in the public 
galleries. The chief faunas illustrated are those of 
North and the Palzarctic, Oriental, 


NO. 2334, VOL. 93| 


America and 


8 NATURE 


“I9I4). 


[JuLy 23, 1914 
Ethiopean regions, a smaller: amount of space being 
assigned to those of South America and Australasia. 
Most striking of all appears to be the exhibit of groups 
of African big game, these including a family of lions, 
another of Cooke’s hartebeest, and a third of the 
Lado white rhinoceros, as well as of the African 
buffalo (incorrectly termed the ‘‘ water-buffalo”’’) and 
Grévy’s zebra. 


In-No. 11 of the Bull, Ac. Sct., St. Petersburg, for 
1914, Dr. N. Nasonov proposes the name Ovis severt- 
zovi for the wild sheep inhabiting the low range on 
the Turkestan frontier of Bokhara, variously known 
as the Karatau, Nuratyntau, Nuratanyntu, Nurata, 
Nuratau, or Nuratadagh. In the Field for 1909 this 
sheep was identified by Mr. Douglas Carruthers with 
Severtzow’s O. nigrimontana, typically from the other 
Karatau, in the province of Syr Daria, on the right 
bank of the river of that name, eastward of the city of 
Turkestan; but Dr. Nasonov, from the evidence of 
specimens in the St. Petersburg Museum, is enabled 
to show that the two are distinct. O.. severtzovi, 
which is the smaller, approximates, as pointed out 
by Mr. Carruthers, to the O.. vignei (arkar) 
group, especially in the presence of a distinct, although 
narrow, throat-ruff, while O. nigrimontana comes 
nearer to the poli type. In referring to it as O. 
poloi nigrimontana, Dr. Nasonov alters Blyth’s name 
poli, which is the genitive of polus, the Latinised form 
of polos. It may be added that, owing to a confusion 
between the two ‘“‘ Karataus,’’ Mr. Lydekker has given 
Bokhara as the typical locality of O. nigrimontana. 


From the Maine Agricultural Experiment Station two 
important studies on reproduction in domestic fowls have 
lately been issued. Maynie R. Curtis writes on double 
and triple-yolked eggs (Biol. Bulletin, vol. xxvi., No. 2, 
Some young pullets are found to produce 
double-yolked eggs when they first begin to lay, about 
20 per cent. of those which lay before the age of seven 
months producing among their first eggs one or more 
with two yolks. Mature birds rarely produce these 
abnormal eggs, and no single bird under observation 
ever produced more than a few of them. Of triple- 
yolked eggs only three were laid in six years among 
more than three thousand birds; in each case the 
abnormality was one of a young pullet’s first progeny. 
Various disturbances of the normal processes of egg 
production may bring two yolks together in the ovi- 
duct, and double-yolked eggs do not always represent 
simultaneous ovulations. The other paper is by Alice 
M. Boring and Raymond Pearl (Journ. Exp. Zool., 
vol. xvi., No. 1, 1914), and deals with the nature of 
the ‘‘odd chromosome,” described by M. F. Guyer in 
1909 in the spermatogenesis of the chick. The exist- 
ence of such a chromosome would suggest that the 
male is heterozygous for sex, whereas crossing experi- 
ments with breeds of domestic poultry and other birds 
that show sex-limited characters seem to indicate 
clearly that the female and not the male is hetero- 
zygous. Guyer worked with ‘‘ Langshan”’ birds, Bor- 
ing and Pearl have used ‘‘ Barred Plymouth Rocks.”’ 
They find in about 12 per cent. of the first spermato- 
cytes, and 3 per cent. of the second spermatocytes, a 


Jory 23, 1914] 


NATURE 


539 


piece of chromatin like that described as an “odd 
chromosome” by Guyer. As the structure is present 
in spermatocytes of both orders, and varies in shape, 
size, and number, the authors conclude that it cannot 
be an ‘odd chromosome” at all. 


In the Izvestiya of the Eastern Siberia branch of 
the Russian Geographical Society, Mr. M. Nikitin 
gives some results of the levelling operations carried 
out by Captain Kremlyakof in connection with the 
Siberian railway. The mean height of Lake Baikal 
is calculated to be 1485 ft. Other figures are Irkutsk 
(railway station), 1410 ft.; Mysovaya, 1514 ft.; 
Verkhneudinsk, -1763 ft.; Petrovski Zavot, 2627 ft. ; 
Chita, 2150 ft. 


Tue geology of the islands in the Arctic Ocean, 
discovered by Captain Vilkitski (vol. xcii., p. 456), 
is described by Messrs. Baklund and Tolmachef in 
the Bulletin of the Imperial Academy of Sciences of 
St. Petersburg (No. 10, 1914). The island General 
Vilkitski is connected as regards its geological 
structure with the adjacent New Siberia islands, 
while those lying off the Taimyr peninsula 
are similar to the latter. Thus the specimens 
collected on Emperor Nikolas II. Land are 
of rocks found on Cape Cheliuskin, and also 
found by the expedition on the eastern coast of the 
Taimyr peninsula. Emperor Nikolas Land is there- 
fore a northern continuation of the peninsula, now 
separated from it by a strait some tens of miles in 
breadth, in which lies the island Tsesarevich Alexis, 
built up of detritus from the Taimyr peninsula, 
especially from the western coast. The Emperor 
Nikolas Land is, however, known at present only 
at two points, and future investigations may materially 
modify present conclusions. 


AN interesting article by Dr. A. E. Douglass, on 
a method of estimating rainfall by the growth of 
trees, was published in the May number of the Bulletin 
of the American Geographical Society. The author 
reasons that the rings of a tree measure its food 
supply, and that the latter, especially in the dry 
climate of the plateau of Arizona, which is dealt with, 
depends largely upon moisture. With the cooperation 
of other men of science curves of tree growth were 
prepared, and the connection with rainfall and 
possibly with astronomical phenomena was _in- 
vestigated. Dr. Douglass states that the method 
of measurement consisted of determining the 
thickness of each annual ring in millimetres 
along some typical radial line. The average 
age of the trees (yellow pine) was 348 years, with two 
extending to 520 years. The total number of indi- 
vidual measurements exceeded ten thousand. For any 
detailed description of the laborious investigation we 
must refer to the original article; the conclusion states 
that the purpose of the work has been accomplished, 
a connection has been found between tree growth and 
rainfall, as well as indications of association between 
meteorological and astronomical phenomena. With 
regard to the latter point due reference is made to 
investigations at Eberswalde (Germany) and elsewhere 
in connection with tree growth. 


Wel ag34; VOL: 93) 


A copy has reached us of the report for 1912-13 of 
the chief of the Weather Bureau of the U.S. Depart- 
ment of Agriculture. Referring to the aerial inves- 
tigations in charge of Prof. W. R. Blair, the report 
states that the temperature distribution up to about 
the 1-5 km. level shows the same type of diurnal 
variation as is observed at the earth’s surface. In 
the region near the 1-5 km. level a second maximum 
of temperature appears after midnight, while the 
3 p-m. to 4 p.m. maximum practically disappears. 
Above this region the 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. maximum is 
the principal, the minimum for the day being found 
at 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. or earlier. There is some varia- 
tion with the season in the times given for these 
maxima and minima. As regards the solar radiation 
investigations of which Prof. H. H. Kimball has 
charge, the report says the most interesting feature 
of the observational data for the year is the marked 
decrease in solar radiation intensities and in the 
polarisation of skylight, which was noticed first at 
Mount Weather in the observations of June 12, 1912. 
The intensity of the direct solar radiation with the 
sun 60° from the zenith averaged only about 85 per 
cent. of its normal value during the second half of 
1g12, and but little more than this during the first half 
of 1913. The polarisation of skylight averaged about 
66 per cent. of its normal value during the second 
half of 1912, and about 75 per cent. of the normal 
during the first half of 1913. 


In the Verhandlungen of the German Physical 
Society for June 15, Dr. E. Goldstein describes in 
detail some light effects he first noticed in 1902 about 
a kathode freely suspended in a gas through which 
an electric discharge was passing. In addition to 
the canal rays, which are generally observed by 
allowing them to pass to the back of the kathode 
through a small hole in it, Goldstein shows that ‘from 
a kathode consisting of two regular polygonal plates 
close together, bundles of canal rays are projected 
outwards from the middle of the sides or from the 
angles of the polygons according as they have an_ 
even or an odd number of sides. By taking circular 
electrodes from which strips have been cut at the 
edges or into the edges of which notches of various 
shapes have been cut, he is able to show that these 
outwardly directed canal rays are due to the focussing 
of inwardly directed canal rays within the two sheets 
of the kathode and to the strong ionisation produced 
at the focus. Their direction is that of the minimum 
path from the focus to the edge of the kathode. 


Tue Bulletin of the Imperial Society of Naturalists 
of Moscow for 1913 contains a paper of 225 pages by 
Dr. Ernst Leyst, entitled ‘‘ Variations and Disturb- 
ances of Earth-magnetism.’’ The first part deals with 
the results obtained when. the arithmetic mean is 
replaced by the ‘‘central value,’’ defined as that 
having as many positive departures from it as 
negative. The latter part of the paper discusses dis- 
turbance phenomena, mainly at Paviovsk. Dr. Leyst 
treats as disturbed all days having a range not less 
than twice as large as that of the average day of the 
average year. The qualifying ranges thus obtained 
were 29'0' in declination, 130y in horizontal force and 


540 


NATURE 


[Jury 23, 1914 


zoy in vertical force. Attainment of the limit in any | since 1783,’’ by Dr. C. O. Paullin, of the Carnegie 


one of the three elements qualifies. Taking the 
twenty-four years, 1885 to 1908, at Pavlovsk, the 
greatest and least annual numbers of disturbed days 
were respectively 90 in 1892 and 6 in 1go1. The 
months of greatest and least disturbance were respec- 
tively March, with an average of 49 days, and 
December, with an average of 2:2. There is an 
interesting comparison of the diurnal variation on 
the days immediately before and after selected dis- 
turbed days, the disturbed days themselves, and 
normal days. The paper is full of tables of numerical 
results representing much labour, as to the signi- 
ficance of some of which opinions are likely to differ. 
Dr. Leyst apparently adheres to an earlier conclusion 
of his that the secular change of declination is least 
during sunspot minimum years. This conclusion is 
scarcely likely to obtain general acceptance in view of 
the remarkably large secular variation of declination 
observed in western Europe since 19I0. 


THE artificial preparation of an important plant 
constituent which has hitherto resisted chemical syn- 
thesis has just been accomplished by Messrs. H. 
Wieland and R. S. Wishart (Berichte, 1914, p. 2082) 
in the case of inositol. This substance, it is shown, 
can be readily obtained by reducing hexahydroxy- 
benzene with hydrogen gas in presence of finely- 
divided palladium black. As the potassium compound 
of hexahydroxybenzene is formed by the action of 
carbon monoxide on potassium, a simple method 
exists for the direct synthesis of inositol from its 
elements The artificially obtained substance is 
identical in all respects with the naturally occurring 
compound. 


THE association of vanadium with petroleum and 
asphalt and its relationship to the formation of asphalt 
deposits, is dealt with by Messrs. R. M. Bird and 
W. S. Calcott in a paper published in the Bulletin of 
the Philosophical Society, University of Virginia. 
From the experiments recorded in this communication 
it is suggested that the Peruvian deposits of vanadium 
sulphide and oxide, which occur in alternate layers 
with asphalt, are probably formed in the following 
way. Vanadates in solution in ground water come 
into contact with oils bearing hydrogen sulphide, and 
thus yield vanadium sulphide, which may travel with 
the oil and be deposited by meeting with carbon dioxide, 
In presence of atmospheric oxygen the vanadium 
sulphide acts as an oxygen carrier, and converts the 
accumulating mass of oil into asphalt. That this 
latter change may rapidly occur is shown by actual 
experiment in presence of oxygen, but no ‘‘asphalt- 
ing’’ of mineral oil occurs when oxygen is excluded. 
The formation of asphalt thus appears to be essentially 
an oxidation process in which active catalytic agents, 
such as vanadium, play a part. 


Tue Carnegie Institution of Washington has now 
added to its series of ‘‘ Papers of the Department of 
Historical Research,’’ which are being produced under 
the editorship of Mr. J. Franklin Jameson, a volume 
of 642 pages entitled ‘‘Guide to the Materials in 
London Archives for the History of the United States 


NO. 12334, ViClNO3i 


Institution, and Prof. F. L. Paxson, of the University 
of Wisconsin. The book extends, in respect of almost 
all portions of the British archives, from 1783 to 1860. 
The scope of the volume is confined to the Public 
Record Office, the archives of the offices of the Central 
Government of Great Britain in London, and the 
manuscript department of the British Museum. The 
book is one of a series of guides to the materials 
for American history in foreign archives which have 
been published or are to be published by the Carnegie 
Institution. Volumes relating to the materials in the 
archives of Canada, Mexico, Cuba, Spain, Italy, and 
Germany have been issued already, and noticed in 
these columns from time to time. The group con- 
cerned with English archives consists of four volumes, 


| of which the present is in logical order the fourth. 


In the Bulletin de la Société d'’Encouragement 
(vol. cxxi., p. 425) Prof. Camille Matignon gives, under 


| the title, ‘‘A New Industry—The Rational Utilisation 


of Distillery Vinasses,”’ an interesting account of the 
Effront process for the recovery of the nitrogen and 
potash values of the waste liquors remaining after 
distillation of the alcohol from the fermented liquors 
prepared from grain or the molasses of the beetroot- 


| sugar industry. The Effront process has been work- 


ing experimentally on the large scale during the past 
three years, and many of the practical difficulties have 
already been overcome. It consists in subjecting the 
vinasses to fermentation by a butyric organism isolated 
from soil. The fermentation takes place in distinctly 
alkaline solution and converts the whole of the 
nitrogen of amino-acids or amides, such as glycine, 
asparagine, or glutamic acid, completely into 
ammonia; the betaine is transformed into trimethyl- 
amine, and the residues of the acids into free fatty 
acids, such as acetic acid and its homologues, succinic 
acid, malic and tartaric acids. Processes have been 
devised for separating the ammonia and the trimethyl- 
amine, the latter of which is decomposed by heating 
at 1000° into methane and hydrogen cyanide; the 
methane is used as a source of energy, and the 
hydrogen cyanide is absorbed as sodium cyanide. The 
experimental factory already produces 6 tons of acetic 
acid and 1 ton of butyric acid each day; the latter 
acid, a new technical product, has already found appli- 
cation in tanneries, and at the moment the demand 
exceeds the supply. 


A COMPLETE set of catalogues of the Société Gene- 
voise pour la Construction d’Instruments de Physique 
et de Mécanique has been received from Mr. O. Paul 
Monckton, of 87 Victoria Street, Westminster, who is 
the sole agent for Great Britain and the Colonies. The 


/ seven lists are beautifully produced, excellently illus- 


trated, and arranged in a manner which makes refer- 
ence to them easy. Among the subjects dealt with in 
different catalogues may be mentioned : exact measur- 
ing machines for industrial and laboratory use, general 
measuring instruments, including kathetometers, 
micrometers, dynamometers, goniometers, and so on; 
apparatus for the study of general physics and 
mechanics; microscopes, spectrometers; and electro- 
magnets. 


fULY 23; 1024] 


OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 
Comet 1913f (DeLavan).—The following is a con- 
tinuation of the ephemeris of Delavan’s comet (1913f) 
as given by Dr. G. van Biesbroeck in Astronomische 
Nachrichten, No. 4739 :— 


R.A. (true) Decl. (true) Mag. 
hee Usa: p ee 
ilys23) 7%. 5. 39.42 FeG gs 16... 66 
ty Mes 42 19 21 24 
a ae: “ey qo 39 
oy ep as e743 eee a 8. | GG 
sg)” OE 50 29 1g 32 
=o) ieee 53 18 39 9 
AG leep eae 56 10 58 54 
Pore 5 59. 6 +38 18 44... 63 


OBSERVATIONS OF HaLLey’s Comet.—The June num- 
ber of the Astrophysical Journal (vol. xxxix., No. 5) 
contains a communication by Prof. E. E. Barnard on 
the visual observations of Halley’s comet in 1g10, 
made by him at the Yerkes Observatory. Numerous 
fine illustrations from photographs accompany the 
text. In the first instance he points out that Halley’s 
comet at its return in 1910, though a brilliant and 
interesting object to the naked eye, especially in May, 
was nevertheless a disappointment when considered 
from a photographic point of view. Photographically 
its light was relatively slow, and there were few or 
no remarkable phenomena. After mentioning the 
probable encounter of the southern branch of the tail 
with the earth on or about May 18 or 19, he directs 
attention to the presence of the double tail overlooked 
by observers in the northern hemisphere. Observa- 
tions made with the 4o-in. are next described, and 
special attention is directed to the long mass in the 
tail receding from the head. The appearance is beau- 
tifully shown in three photographs taken in June at 
Yerkes, Honolulu, and Beirut. Prof. Barnard then 
brings together all his visual observations made from 
the first to the last appearance of the comet, for he 
was determined, as he says, ‘‘to prepare as faithful 
an account as possible of its appearance to the naked 
eye for the benefit of observers at future returns,”’ 
since he was much disappointed ‘‘at the meagreness 
of the records” at its appearance in 1835, when he 
was seeking published information concerning its 
“appearance. 


REPORTS OF INDIAN OBSERVATORIES.—A recent pub- 
lication gives the report of the Director-General of 
Observatories of the Observatories of Kodaikanal, 
Madras, Bombay, and Alibag for the year 1913, and 
this includes the reports of the individual direc- 


tors. As regards Kodaikanal, Dr. G. T. Walker 
states that the output of this observatory is 
at present limited by the amount of measuring 


that can be accomplished, and this is being altered 
by the training of the new assistants. He also makes 
the important statement that when Mr. Evershed 
was in Srinagar in Kashmir in 1913 he found that the 
air there was extraordinarily good for solar and stellar 
work, and it is now being considered whether the 
observatory at Kodaikanal should be totally or partially 
removed there. The only drawback, apart from the 
question of cost, is the chief disadvantage of the small 
amount of sunshine in Januaty and February, the 
months when other solar observatories are labouring 
under disadvantages, while at Kodaikanal the seeing 
is at its best. As the chief astronomical work at the 
Madras Observatory is the determination and distribu- 
tion of time this will now be closely associated with 
the distribution of the time by the new powerful radio- 
station that is to be erected in India, forming a link 
between Aden and Singapore. The idea is for the 
radio-station to be equipped with two good clocks, and 
to send special time signals to Madras, so that the 


NO. 2334; VOL. 93] 


NATURE 


541 


clock-errors can be determined and wired back to the 
radio-station previous to the distribution of the general 
time signals. The usual routine observations were 
carried out at Bombay (Colaba and Alibag), but damp, 
and white ants, caused great anxiety regarding the 
walls for the self-registering variation instruments at 
Alibag. 


RECENT PHYSICAL INVESTIGATIONS IN 
THE NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN. 


she recent publications summarise more or less 
thoroughly our present knowledge of the 
physical features of the waters of the North Atlantic 
Ocean. One gives an account by Dr. Fridtjof Nansen 
of recent researches carried on especially by the Nor- 
wegians, and the other, by Prof. Otto Pettersson and 
Commander C. F. Drechsel, urges united international 
effort to carry on further research in these waters. 

Dr. Nansen gives a detailed account of oceano- 
graphical investigations in the north-eastern part of 
the North Atlantic Ocean made in July, 1910, on 
board the Norwegian gunboat, Frithjof, under the 
command of Capt. Caspar S. Erlandsen. 

Dr. B. Helland-Hansen and Dr. Nansen had noted 
that ‘‘variations in the temperature of the Atlantic 
current from one year to another, were followed by 
corresponding variations in the winter climate of 
Norway, and alse by variations in the fisheries of the 
North Sea and at Lofoten, etc.”” The question was 
as to whether the observed annual variations in the 
volume and temperature of what Dr. Nansen terms 
the Norwegian Atlantic current ‘‘‘ were due to varia- 
tions in the physical conditions of the North Atlantic, 
south of the Wyville Thomson Ridge and the Faeroe- 
Iceland Ridge, or to other causes, e.g. variations in 
the East Icelandic Arctic current.” 

The cruise of the Frithjof lasted fifteen days, leav- 
ing Belfast on July 6, 1910, Seydis Fiord, Iceland, 
was reached on July 13, and Bergen on July 21. On 
the basis of these observations, which are duly tabu- 
lated, five sections have been drawn. These observa- 
tions were taken with carefully selected instruments 
supplied by Dr. Nansen. The automatic insulating 
water-bottle seems to have been at times untrust- 
worthy, but otherwise the instruments gave satisfac- 
tory results. Dr. Nansen suggests that it is very desirable 
always to use two thermometers for the determination 
of deep-sea temperatures. All water samples were 
collected in rubber washered bottles with lever fasten- 
ing, holding 200 c.c. and 500 c.c. each. Titrations 
were carried out by Dr. Helland-Hansen, or under his 
supervision at Bergen. The titrations were checked 
in the ordinary way by ‘‘normal water’? from the 
International Bureau in Copenhagen. 

The observations made resulted in showing that 
vertical convection currents reached depths of 600 
metres. Dr. Nansen is of opinion that this vertical 
circulation is of great importance in heating the atmo- 
sphere of this region during the winter. It was 
estimated that direct absorption of heat from the 
sun’s rays may be felt to a depth of too metres. 

In the region traversed by the Frithjof precipitation 
is greater than evaporation, not only in winter, but 
evidently also on the average during summer. From 
the observations of Mr. Donald J. Mathews, as well 
as those of the Frithjof, it appears that in this region 
the sea-surface has its maximum salinity at the end 
of the winter or in the spring, and its minimum 
salinity at the end of the summer or in the autumn. 
Prof. Martin Knudsen has found similar seasonal 
variations. Knudsen suggests that the most probable 


1 (1) ““ The Waters of the North-eastera North Atlantic.” By Fridtjot 
Nansen. 

(2) “‘ Mémoire sur des Recherches dans 1’Atlantique avec programme 
By O. Pettersson and C. F. Drechsel. 


542 NATURE 


[Jury 23, 1914 


explanation of this periodical variation would be, that 
the Gulf Stream kas a maximum velocity in the spring 
and a minimum period in the autumn, but Dr. 
Nansen is of opinion, that it is self-evident that the 
dilution of the surface water due to the precipitation 
during the summer in connection with vertical circu- 
lation during the winter, gives the simplest explana- 
tion of this seasonal variation. 

Krummel has termed that part of the Gulf Stream 
passing Section I. of the Frithjof cruise across the 
Rockall Channel and the Rockall Bank, the ‘Irish 
current.” Its waters are easily distinguished by the 
comparatively high salinities and temperature. “The 
section proves that the greater part of the water- 
masses, carried north-eastwards by the Irish current, 
passes through the Rockall Channel, between the 
continental shelf off Icelanc and the Rockall Bank, 
while only a small portion of the water with the 
highest salinities (above 35:30 per cent.) occurs west 
of the Rockall Bank, and seems to have no distinct 
northward movement.’’ It is obvious that it is a 
continuation of this current through the Rockall 
Channel which flows through the Faeroe-Shetland 
Channel. Amundsen’s observations in June and July 
also bear this out. These important recent Nor- 
wegian observations are confirmatory of the Porcu- 
pine observations of 1869. Dr. Nansen states that 
the Scottish series of salinity observations in August, 
1910, from the Faeroe-Shetland Channel, taken in the 
same month, have often some “‘inaccurate values,” 
and may be too high. Authority for this statement 
would have been desirable and also for the further 
criticism of the Scottish stations 19C and 14A of 
May, 1910, for it does not always follow that even 
‘very great irregularities ’’ indicate erroneous observa- 
tions, however inconvenient they may be to our 
theories. 

It is a fashion of the present day to attempt 
to obliterate the general term ‘‘Gulf Stream,” 


and Dr. Nansen follows this plan, but the 
fact remains that there is a continuous move- 
ment of the surface waters of the sea which 


is capable of carrying an object from the West 
Indies to Spitsbergen, and ‘‘Gulf Stream’’ remains a 
useful name for this continuous flow of water, called 
by recent investigators by different names in different 
regions. There is no doubt that the “Gulf Stream” 
is due to many factors, and not solely due to that 
initial impulse the waters have as they leave the Gulf 
of Mexico, but why not continue to use this useful 
term which defines this remarkable series of pheno- 
mena as a whole, at the same time recognising the 
different factors that cause it to exist. The statement 
that the Gulf Stream off western British coasts ‘‘is 
to a very great extent a current coming from the 
south, along the continental slope west of Europe,” 
is by no means new, and does not obliterate the main 
phenomenon referred to. The point of interest in the 
Norwegian observations is not that the current de- 
scribed by Rennell in 1793 flows northward, but that 
this current flows at quite a considerable depth, and 
not only at the surface, a very important addition to 
our knowledge of the Rennell current; also, that it 
seems to consist very largely of Mediterranean water. 

But in this connection, it should not be forgotten 
that about twenty years ago Buchan pointed out that 
the influence of the warm undercurrent from the 
Mediterranean is clearly apparent in the Atlantic Ocean 
at a depth of soo fathoms, and that ‘‘ beyond this 
depth, its great influence is felt over nearly the whole 
breadth of the Atlantic to at least about 1000 
fathoms.” ? 

It is a sweeping statement to say that ‘‘most lead- 


‘ = : 
2 Report on Ocean Circulation. 
Reports, 1895.) 


NO. 2334, VOL. 93] 


By Dr. Alex. Buchan. (Challenger 


ing oceanographers have taken it for granted that the 
currents of the surface layers were practically the 
same, at least as to direction, as those of the deeper 
strata,’ and that they study chiefly surface observa- 
tions, and think ‘‘ that all oceanic currents are chiefly, 
if not entirely, created by the winds,” that they do not 
understand the effect of the earth’s rotation, and have 
not appreciated the value of vertical sections of the 
ocean to elucidate horizontal movements of the water.” 
Carpenter, before the Challenger sailed, strongly 
advocated the doctrine of vertical ocean circulation 
sustained by opposition of temperature, and while 
Buchanan used vertical sections so early as 1877* ina 
paper entitled ‘‘ Distribution of Salt in the Ocean as 
Indicated by the Specific Gravity of its Waters,” where 
a vertical section through the Atlantic Ocean from 
30° N. to 30° S. is given. Subsequently Buchanan 
used vertical sections in his report on the specific 
gravity of ocean water, which was published in 1884 
in vol. i. (Chemistry and Physics) in the Challenger 
reports. In the same volume there appears a ‘‘ Report 
on Deep Sea Temperature Observations,”’ obtained by 
the officers of H.M.S. Challenger, where there are 
258 plates all representing vertical sections. In fact, 
no efficient oceanographer considers these physical 
questions without the use of vertical sections; neither 
would he assert that all oceanic currents are entirely 
created by wind, nor will he deny that they are very 
largely created by wind. Wind, specific gravity, tem- 
perature, and rotation of the earth are all among the 
many factors which influence oceanic circulation, both 
vertical and horizontal, and none of these should be 
considered apart from the others if satisfactory results 
are to be arrived at. 

Dr. Nansen considers it difficult to draw any certain 
conclusions as regards the annual variations in the 
temperature of the Irish current owing to insufficient 
material of observations from previous years. The 
observations seem, however, to prove that there have 
been no great variations in those few years. 

The temperature of the Irmiger current to the west 
of Iceland was warmest in 1896, less warm in 1895, 
1904, and 1903. There are also similar variations in 
the sea south of Iceland, but the conclusions are less 
trustworthy, because the sea is shallower and the 
frequent variations in depth may have a great influ- 
ence upon temperature even at short distances. These 
variations Dr. Nansen considers have an effect on the 
climate of Iceland. 

There appear to be continually very great changes 
in the position of ithe waters of the Faeroe-Shetland 
channel. Drs. Heiland-Hansen and Nansen conclude 
that great sub-surface boundary waves probably occur 
in the sea, and that ‘‘waves’’ seen in the many 
vertical sections of the Norwegian Sea may be due 
partly to such boundary waves, partly to horizontal 
vortex movements. 

The paper is a useful summary of all the observa- 
tions taken in these waters, besides those of the 
Frithjof expedition. ; 

Prof. Otto Pettersson and Commander C. F. Drech- 
sel urge systematic hydrographical and biological in- 


| vestigations of the whole of the Atlantic Ocean as 


one of the most important scientific and practical 
tasks of the future. As a beginning, synoptical recon- 
naissances at different seasons down to a depth of 
1000 metres, are recommended. The programme is 
drawn up in two heads :—(1) Investigation of coastal 
seas; (2) Transatlantic investigation cruises. Simul- 
taneous quarterly cruises are recommended, because 
this method of investigation has been recommended by 
recent geographical congresses, and has served as a 
basis for the investigation of northern seas and the 
Adriatic, for obtaining a comprehensive view of the 
3 Proc. R. G. S., March 12, 1877. 


| 


a ee 


JULY 23, 1914] 


NATURE 


943 


conditions of the Atlantic in winter and summer. It 
is pointed out that the opening of the Panama Canal 
in 1915 gives a great opportunity for the different 
countries sending vessels to represent them of taking 
simultaneously an extensive series of observations 
from Europe to America. It is to be hoped that the 
different Governments will be induced to take part 
in carrying out this important work, and thus mark 
the union of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans by a 
unique effort to add to our knowledge of the sea. 
NV... 5: B. 


ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES. 
Ses spring number (vol. vi., No. 1) of Bird Notes 
and News is devoted exclusively to the Plumage 
Bill, and its effect, if passed on workers in the feather- 
trade in this and other countries. It includes a good 
report of the debate which took place when the Bill 
came up for second reading, together with the divi- 
sion-list on that occasion. Individual opinions from 
various persons on the matter, as well as the views of 
scientific bodies, are also quoted. It is added that the 
vast number of bird-skins (many of them representing 
rare species of the paradise group) offered for sale at 
auctions in London affords fresh testimony of the need 
for prohibitive legislation. 

The March-April number of Bird-Lore records some 
of the steps which are being taken to enforce the 
recent regulations of the U.S. Federal Government 
with regard to the slaughter of game-birds and their 
transport from one State to another, special attention 
being directed to the seizures of long guns carrying 
half a pound of powder and a pound of shot. One 
of the iilustrations shows the costly monument recently 
erected in Salt Lake City to commemorate the gulls 
which saved the crops of the first Mormon settlers by 
devouring the grasshoppers by which they were being 
devastated. As the gulls had “the time of their 
lives,’ it is not apparent why a monument was 
required. 

The roseate spoonbill (Ajaia ajaja) of tropical 
America forms the subject of an article, illustrated by 
a coloured plate, in the issue of Bird-Lore for May 
and June. So long ago as 1858 it appears that the 
pink curlews, as they are locally called, on Pelican 
Island, Florida, were the prey of plume-hunters, some 
of whom are reported to have killed upwards of sixty 
a day, and from that time to this these beautiful birds 
have been persecuted by every man who could lay his 
hands on a shot-gun. Now, however, the National 
Association of Audubon Societies has succeeded in 
establishing reservations in Florida, where the spoon- 
bills may breed unmolested. 

An article on the stilt and another on the moorhen 
are among the more noteworthy contents of the April 
number of Wild Life, the former an account of the 
author’s success in photographing such a rare and 
shy species, and the latter for the beauty of the pic- 
tures. 

In view of the probable extermination of the species 
at no very distant date, owing to the introduction of 
foxes, an article by Mr. J. G. O’Donoghue, in the 
Victorian Naturalist for May, 1914, on the habits of 
the Victorian lyre-bird has a claim to more than 
ordinary interest. 

A paper by Prof. J. E. Duerden, published in the 
Agricultural Journal of the Union of South Africa for 
October, 1913, deals with the mode of development 
of the feathers of ostriches, and the entire absence of 
cruelty to the birds in clipping them, at the proper 
season, for market. 

Bird-lovers in South Africa owe a debt of gratitude 
to Mr. Alwin Haagner for the issue of the first part 


of a concise descriptive list of South African birds, * 


NO. 2334, VOL. 93| 


published as No. 3 of the bulletin series of the publica- 
tions of the South African Ornithologists’ Union. 
This part includes the ostrich, of which the South 
African representative is regarded as a distinct species, 
the penguins, divers, petrels, gulls, and terns, cor- 
morant tribe, ducks and geese, and the plover group. 

An article by H. W. Heushaw on birds commonly 
to be seen in town or country in the United States, 
illustrated by sixty-four small portraits in colour, 
forms one of the most attractive features of the May 
number of the National Geographic Magazine. Of 
more general interest are two pictures, taken by Mr. 
R. E. Croker, representing a colony of something like 
100,000 pelicans on the easternmost island of the Lobos 
de Afueva group, off Peru. Unhappily this vast 
colony, which had been unmolested for several years, 
has not escaped the attention of the guano-seekers, 
and, on a second visit, Mr. Croker found scarcely any 
pelicans near the old colony. “It isone. of the 
tragedies,” he remarks, ‘‘of the guano-industry that 
this important bird has received so little considera- 
tion.” 

It has been asserted that the Australian short-tailed 
petrel, or ‘‘mutton-bird”’ (Puffinus brevicaudus), takes 
no fewer than eight weeks to incubate its eggs. 
According, however, to a a note by Mr. J. Gabriel in 
the April number of the Victorian Naturalist, one 
out of a clutch of eight eggs placed under a domes- 
ticated hen was hatched in forty-six days, the re- 
mainder of the clutch being either broken or infertile. 

In his annual summary of bird-life in Norfolk, pub- 
lished in the May number of the Zoologist, Mr. J. H. 
Gurney records that spoonbills were seen last year at 
Breydon Broad at intervals from May 1 to August 16. 
As the result of a comparison of previous observa- 
tions, it appears that these birds generally reach Nor- 
folk during the prevalence of north-east winds, which 
are probably unfavourable to their northward migra- 
tion. 

As the result of an exhaustive study of the extensive 
series of cuckoos’ eggs and the foster-clutches with 
which they were associated (some three hundred in 
number) included in the fine collection of eggs re- 
cently presented by Mr. R. H. Fenton to Aberdeen 
University, Dr. J. Rennie, in an article published in 
vol. xix., No. 5, of the Proceedings of the Royal 
Physical Society of Edinburgh, arrives at the conclu- 
sion that the theory of the existence of different 
strains of cuckoos, severally characterised by laying 
eggs of distinctive types of colouring, will not hold 
good. According to this theory, as enunciated by the 
late Prof. A. Newton, one of these strains—‘‘ hedge- 
sparrow cuckoos’’—generally lays eggs assimilating 
in colour to those of hedge-sparrows in the nests of 
that species; while ‘‘ wagtail-cuckoos’’ act in an 
analogous manner in the case of the species from 
which they take their name, and so on. In the opinion 
of the author, the clutches in the Fenton collection 
lend no support to the theory of the existence of such 
strains, at all events in this country. This conclu- 
sion, it is urged, receives further support from the 
polyandrous habit of female cuckoos, as individual 
hens may mate at one time with a cock of the ‘‘ hedge- 
sparrow,’’ and at another with one of the ‘‘ wagtail”’ 
strain. The author, it may be added, alludes to these 
supposed strains as ‘‘subspecies,’” which is certainly 
a misuse of that term. 

The remarkable changes in the length and colour- 
ing of the beak and in the colour of the plumage 
undergone by the white ibis (Guira alba) during its 
development from the nestling to the adult stage are 
graphically illustrated in a coloured plate accompany- 
ing an article by C. W. Beebe, forming No. 12 of the 
first volume of Zoologica (New York. Zool. Soc.). In 
the nestling the short beak has dark barrings, and 


544 


NATORE 


[JuLy.23, 1@14 


the head and neck are darker than the back; later on 
the head and neck become lighter than the back, but 
by the time the bird has become adolescent the whole 
body is almost completely white, the head and neck 
alone being flecked with brown; the beak has 
increased inordinately in length, with the assumption 
of a pink tinge. Finally, in the case of the cock, the 
whole plumage becomes pure white, while the long, 
sickle-shaped beak, together with a large bare area at 
its base and in the orbital region, has become brilliant 
crimson. Although the article is headed ‘‘ Notes on 
the ontogeny of the white ibis,’’ no clue to the real 
meaning of these changes in form and colouring is 
suggested. 

In the June number (vol. viii., p. 2) of British Birds, 
Messrs. Hans Stadler and Cornel Schmidt direct atten- 
tion to the general neglect of the study and interpre- 
tation of the notes of birds in Great Britain, as com- 
pared with what is being done in Germany. Apart 
from the lack of musical appreciation or musical 
education, three main difficulties—namely, the deter- 
mination of the pitch, the admixture of non-musical 
sounds with the notes of birds, and the “colouring ”’ 
of these notes, which is often widely different from 
that of the human voice or ordinary musical instru- 
ments—have hitherto materially hindered this branch 
of study. The authors now demonstrate how these 
difficulties may be overcome. 

Prof. R. Ridgway is to be congratulated on the 
publication (after an interval of three years since the 
appearance of its predecessor) of the sixth volume 
(Bull. U.S. Nat. Mus., No. 50) of his invaluable 
monograph of the birds of North and Middle America. 
This volume not only completes the Passerines, but 
also includes the Picarians and related groups, as well 
as the owls. In the latter group it is a matter for 
regret to see the barn-owls figuring as Tyto, while 
Strix, following the classification of the late Prof. 
Newton, is transferred to the tawny owl. This is 
eminently a case for the intervention of the “fiat” of 
the International Commission on Zoological Nomen- 
clature. In most other respects Prof. Ridgway’s 
latest effort is worthy of high commendation. 

In a handbook and guide to the British birds ex- 
hibited in the Lord Derby Museum, Liverpool, it is 
claimed that a coot mounted amid an imitation of its 
natural surroundings in 1865 was the first exhibit of 
this kind shown in this country, if not in the world. 
Groups of all species nesting in the Liverpool district, 
together with a few others, are now exhibited in the 
museum, and of a dozen of these groups photographs 
are reproduced in the guide. The nomenclature is 
much the same as in Newton’s ‘ Yarrell,’’ but it seems 
illogical to use the name Lagopus lagopus for the 
willow-grouse, and yet to retain Perdix cinerea tor the 
partridge. 

We have to acknowledge the receipt of a copy of a 
nonee fram the March number of the Ottawa Natural- 
ist, by Dr. C. G Hewitt, on local bird-protection ; also 
of a catalogue of more than 1400 publications on 
ornithology offered for sale by Messrs. John Weldon, 


oO 


38 Great Queen Street, London, W.C. Ry ok: 


TERRESTRIAL MAGNETISM. 


HE present activity of the department of terrestrial 
magnetism of the Carnegie Institution of Wash- 
ington and the largeness of its future aims are alike 
illustrated in the annual report for 1913, by the direc- 
ton, Dr. Ue AL Bauer, andwineay-sprogressmneponts 
which he contributes to the latest (March) number of 
Terrestrial Magnetism. The department, which has 
lately entered on its eleventh year, has under construc- 


NO. 2334, VOL. 93] 


tion new buildings at an estimated cost, including 
site and equipment, of about 25,oool. The main 
structure, which is already completed, is shown in the 
accompanying figure. It has a length of 1o2 ft., a 
width of 52 ft., and from basement to roof a height of 
62 ft. Besides ample accommodation for observers 
and computers, engaged on the reduction and dis- 
cussion of observations, it includes several lJabora- 
tories, an instrument-maker’s shop, and store places 
for instruments. A detached building for tests and 
researches requiring a non-magnetic environment will 
shortly be completed. 

Of late years the energies of the department have 
been mainly devoted to a magnetic survey of the 
earth, including the oceans. In the financial year 
which ended on October 31, 1913, the expenditure of 
the department, apart from building, reached 22,000l. 
In addition to important work at sea by the surveying 
vessel Carnegie, it had land observations in progress 
in many quarters of the world. One party observed 
at seventy-two stations in the Sahara between Algiers 
and Timbuctoo. Another party in Australia observed 
in Queensland, Victoria, and New South Wales. A 


as a, Raa eee Nat ape 


ill, ii i il 


Sea eat 


em inn ny 


Main building of the Department of ‘Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie 
Institution of Washington. 


third journeyed some 2000 miles by canoe in remote 
parts of Canada. South America engaged three par- 
ties, observing in Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Venezuela, 
British Guiana, Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, and 
Uruguay. It is expected that by 1915 data will have 
been obtained adequate for the construction of satis- 
factory magnetic charts for the epoch January I, Igo, 
extending from 50° N. to 50° S. latitude. 

The work of the department is not confined to 


terrestrial magnetism. In future more _ atten- 
tion is’ to be given than in the past to 
atmospheric electricity. Dr. W. F. G. Swann, 
lete of Sheffield University, has been engaged 


as chief physicist, and is devoting special attention to 
this subject. One of the objects to which much atten- 
tion continues to be devoted is the improvement of 
magnetic instruments. Dr. Bauer’s article in Terres- 
trial Magnetism is largely devoted to a discussion of 
the degree of accuracy reached with existing types of 
magnetometers, and the prospects of obtaining supe- 
rior results with electrical methods of measuring the 
direction and intensity of the earth’s field. While 


ae 


| 


JuLy 23, 1914] 


recognising the high accuracy now attained in elec- 
trical measurements, he concludes that much experi- 
. ment will be necessary before we can hope to introduce 
electrical methods with advantage in place of mag- 


netometers, more especially for field work. 
C. CHREE. 


TIMBER FOR RAILWAY SLEEPERS.' 


ay VALUABLE contribution to the literature on 
‘ Indian timber trees, containing the preliminary 
results of experiments and inquiries initiated at the 
Dehra Dun Institute some three years ago, has lately 
been issued. Research work on timber from an 
economic point of view is necessarily a slow business, 
and years must elapse before final conclusions can be 
reached, but the information already obtained during 
this inquiry indicates clearly that the final results are 
likely to prove of great economic value. 

The memoir is divided into five sections, which 
deal in turn with the physical and mechanical pro- 
perties of Sal timber, its durability, its uses, as well 
as those of the minor products of the tree, the quality 
of the charcoal and fuel, and the yield and prices. 
One point of special interest will illustrate the nature 
of the work in progress and its prime importance. 
Sal is one of the chief timbers employed for railway 
sleepers, and in these days it is surprising to find that 
the majority of the sleepers on Indian lines undergo 
no previous treatment with preservatives—all the more 
so, when one knows how abundant are the insect and 
fungus pests, and how rapid their powers of growth 
and reproduction. This apparent indifference on the 
part of Indian railways to the great economy effected 
in other countries by treatment of the sleepers is not 
easy to explain. It may in part be due to the methods 
used in temperate climates having proved less satis- 
factory when the sleepers are exposed to the hot sun 
of India. But it is also probably due to the natural 
durability of sal, teak, deodar, pyinkado, and other 
woods of this class, which last so long in the natural 
condition, that any extension of their lives by treat- 
ment with preservatives would probably result in the 
resistance to decay becoming greater than the resist- 
ance to mechanical wear and tear, and in this event 
a large proportion of the cost of treatment would be 
money thrown away. 

‘But it is open to question whether such valuable 
woods should be employed for sleepers at all. During 
the past forty years it has been pointed out again 
and again that India possesses several species of 
lower-grade timbers which appear to possess all the 
necessary qualifications for sleepers. Their natural 
durability is low, but this defect can be overcome by 
artificial methods. The fact brought out at the end 
of this memoir, that India is now beginning to import 
Jarrah sleepers from Australia, shows the urgent need 
for testing these lower-grade timbers to see whether 
by treatment they can be rendered equally as service- 
able as sal, teak, deodar, etc. This question is being 
investigated at Dehra Dun on a practical scale, and 
if any of these timbers can be brought into general 
use the economic value of the work will be enormous. 
India will not only be enabled to continue the pro- 
duction of her own sleeper requirements, and to 
employ timbers for the purpose which have no special 
outlet in other directions, but she will also economise 
her more valuable forests of sal alone to the extent 
of some two and a half million cubic feet per annum, 
to say nothing of teak, deodar, pvinkado, and the 
jarrah from Australia. 


1 “On the Economic Value of Shorea robusta, Sal.’ Ry R. S. Pearson. 
Indian Forest Memoirs, Economy Series, vol. ii., part 2, Pp. 70. (Calcutta: 
Superintendent Government Printing, 1913.) Price 35. 


NO. 2334, VOL. 93] 


NATURE , 


345 


Although there is at present little market for sal 
outside India, the steady diminution of the world’s 
timber supply renders it certain that there will be a 
market in the future, when the sdl forests recover 
from past maltreatment, and come into full bearing. 
These facts indicate the importance of the work at 
Dehra Dun, which is being organised on lines that 
must appeal to everyone who has the country’s interest 
at heart. ERA 


OFFICIAL GUIDES FOR GEOLOGICAL 
TRAVELLERS. 


“THE International Geological Congress of 1913 

was indeed fortunate in the reception and sup- 
port accorded to it by the official geological surveys of 
Canada. The guide-books issued for the excursions 
were in reality memoirs on the districts traversed, 
and formed, with their coloured maps and _illustra- 
tions, works of reference for scientific libraries. They 
have now been re-issued for the general public, and 
seven of these handy volumes have reached-us from 
the Department of Mines in Ottawa. 

No. 1, in two parts, covers Eastern Quebec and the 
Maritime Provinces, and is largely of stratigraphical 
interest. No. 2 deals with the eastern townships of 
Quebec and eastern Ontario, including the amphi- 
bolites and limestones of the Bancroft area. The 
metamorphic origin of amphibolites from both igneous 
rocks and limestone, as recognised by Lacroix 
and others in .Europe, is here concisely de- 
scribed. No. 3 is concerned with the neigh- 
bourhood of Montreal and ~~ Ottawa, including 
areas of interesting igneous allkali-rocks, and the 
original locality of the serpentinous marble known as 
Eozoén. No. 4 describes excursions in south-western 
Ontario (where the interest for most geological visitors 
centres in Niagara Falls) and the history of the great 
lake system. No. 5 deals with Ordovician and 
Gotlandian beds in the western peninsula of Ontario, 
and contains a fine illustration of a mass of bedded 
limestone overthrust by ice-pressure on the flank otf a 
Glacial drumlin. We are informed that Nos. 6 and 7, 
on the Toronto region and the rich mining districts 
of Ontario respectively, are issued by the Bureau of 
Mines, Toronto. The Dominion Department of Mines 
in Ottawa, however, is also responsible for No. 8, in 
three parts, and No. 9, which describe the whole 
transcontinental routes from Toronto to Victoria, and 
for No. 10 on Northern British Columbia, the Yukon 
Territory, and the North Pacific Coast. Nos. 8 and 
9, on the Canadian Pacific, Grand Trunk, Canadian 
Northern, and National Transcontinental lines, should 
meet with especial appreciation. 

Such guidance as is here provided for those who 
may be styled ‘‘ post-graduate” visitors shows how 
official surveys may aid in opening up a country 
Seeing that conference with workers from other fields 
is highly stimulating to those who must devote them- 
selves to special areas of their homelands, the encour- 
agement given to strangers is sure to bring a full 
reward. Even in our well-explored islands, descrip- 
tions of districts which have become classical in the 
history of geoloryy might with advantage be issued 
for those visitors who can devote only a few days to 
the ground. We are apt to leave some clever teacher 
or some local enthusiast to extract such matter from 
our detailed official memoirs, and thus to produce a 
compact and reasonable guide. The union of our 
geological surveys, both in Great Britain and in Ire- 
land, with departments concerned with public educa- 
tion suegests that the encouragement of geological 
travel may well lie within their scope. 


PLANT-AUTOGRAPHS AND THEIR 
REVELATIONS.! 


i answering the questioa whether there is a funda- 

mental unity in the response of plant and animal, 
we have first to find out whether sensitiveness is 
characteristic of only a few plants or whether all 
plants and every organ of every plant is sensitive. 
Then we have to devise apparatus by which visible 
or invisible reactions are detected and_ recorded. 
Having succeeded in this, we have next to survey the 
characteristic reactions in the animal, and observe 
whether phenomena corresponding to these may also 
be discovered in the plant. . 

Thus, when an animal is struck by a blow, it does 
not respond at once. A certain short interval elapses 
between the incidence of the blow and the beginning 
of the reply. This lost time is known as the latent 
period. In the plant is there any definite period which 
elapses between the incident blow and the responsive 
twitch? Does this latent period undergo any variation 
as in the animal, with external conditions? Is it pos- 
sible to make the plant itself write down this exces- 
sively minute time-interval ? 

Next, is the plant excited by various : 
irritants which also excite the animal? a 
If so, at what rate does the excitatory ima) 


coe ia 
impulse travel in the plant? In what | w 
favourable circumstances is this rate of 
transmission. enhanced, and in what ! 


other circumstances is it retarded or 
arrested? Is it possible to make the | 
plant itself record this rate and_ its y) 
variation? Is there any resemblance 
between the excitatory impulse in the 
plant and the nervous impulse in the 
animal ? 

The characteristic effects of various 
drugs are well known in the case of the 


animal. Is the plant similarly suscep- 

tible to their action? Will the effect of 
poison change with the dose? Is it ii 

possible to counteract the effect of one Ao | 

by means of another? ACN 


In the animal there are certain auto- 
matically pulsating tissues like the 


[JULY 23, 1914 


detection and record of the actual response of the 
organism to a questioning shock. By the invention 
of different types of recorders, I have succeeded in 
making the plant itself write an answering script to 
a testing stimulus. Thus the plant attached to the 
recording apparatus is automatically excited by a 
stimulus absolutely constant. In answer to this it 
makes its own responsive records, goes through its 
period of recovery and embarks on the same cycle 
over again, without assistance at any point from the 
observer (Fig. 1). 


The Resonant Recorder, 

In obtaining the actual record of responsive move- 
ments in plants we encounter many serious difficulties. 
In the case of muscle-contraction, the pull exerted is 
considerable and the friction offered by the recording 
surface constitutes no essential difficulty. In the case 
of plants, however, the pull exerted by the motile 
organ is relatively feeble, and in the movement of the 
very small leaflets of Desmodium gyrans or the tele- 
graph plant, for instance, a weight so small as four- 
hundredths of a gram is enough to arrest the pulsa- 
tion of the leaflets. Even in the leaf of Mimosa the 
friction offered is enough to introduce serious errors 
into the amplitude and time-relations of the curve. 
This error could not be removed as long as the writer 
remained in continuous contact with the writing sur- 
face. I was finally able to overcome the difficulty by 
making an intermittent, instead of a continuous con- 
tact. The possibility of this lay in rendering the 
writer tremulous, this being accomplished by an in- 
vention depending on the phenomenon of resonance. 


heart. Are there any such spontaneously Fic, r.—Diagrammatic representation of automatic plant-recorder. Petiole of Mimosa, attached 


beating tissues in the plant? If so, are 
the pulsations in the animal and the 


a similar manner? What is the real 
meaning of spontaneity ? 

Growth furnishes us with another example of auto- 
matism. The rate of growth in a plant is far below 
anything we can directly perceive. How, then, is this 
growth to be magnified so as to be rendered instantly 
measurable? What are the variations in this infini- 
tesimal growth under external stimulus of light and 
shock of electric current? What changes are induced 
by giving or withholding food? What are the con- 
ditions which stimulate or retard growth? 

And, lastly, when by the blow of death life itself is 
finally extinguished, will it be possible to detect the 
critical moment? And does the plant then exert itself 
to make one overwhelming reply, after which response 
ceases altogether ? 

Plant-Script. 

The plant is acted upon by storm and sunshine, 
warmth of summer and frost of winter, drought and 
rain. What coercion do they exercise upon it? What 
subtle impress do they leave behind? These internal 
changes are entirely beyond our visual scrutiny. 
I'he possibility of these being revealed to us lies in the 
ats Neca RE Ad at ae delivered at the Royal Institution 


NO. 2334, VOL. 93] 


by thread to one arm of lever L; writing index W traces on smoked glass plate G the 
responsive fall and recovery of leaf. P, primary, and S, secondary, of induction coil. 
E ee Exciting induction shock passes through the plant by electrodes E, E’. A, accumulator. 
plant affected by external conditions in C, clockwork for regulating duration of tetanizing shock. 
completed by plunging rod K dipping into cup of mercury M. 


Primary circuit of coil 


|The principle of my resonant recorder depends on 
_ sympathetic vibration 
_ are exactly tuned, then a note sounded on one will 


If the strings of two violins 


cause the other to vibrate in sympathy. We may 
likewise tune the vibrating writer V, with a reed C 
(Fig. 2). Suppose the reed and the writer are both 
tuned to vibrate a hundred times per second. When 
the reed is sounded the writer will also begin to vibrate 
in sympathy. In consequence of this the writer will 
no longer remain in continuous contact with the 
recording plate, but will deliver a succession of taps 
a hundred times in a second. The record will there- 
fore consist of series of dots, the distance between one 
dot and the next representing one-hundredth part of a 
second. With other recorders it is possible to measure 
still shorter intervals. It will now be understood 
how, by the device of the resonant recorder, we not 
only get rid of the error due to friction, but make 
the record itself measure time as short as may be 
desired. The extraordinary delicacy of this instrument 
will be understood when by its means it is possible to 
record a time-interval as short as the thousandth part 
of the duration of a single beat of the heart. In find- 


Juty 23, 1914] 


ing the best mode of applying quantitative stimulus 
to the plant an interesting discovery was made about 
the extreme sensitiveness of certain plants to the 
stimulus of electric current. The most sensitive organ 
by which an electric current can be detected is our 


= 


SHARAN 


MUAH 


ae py 


SSS 
OQ’ 


we 


SSS 


SS 


WS 


RAAAQVW 


Fic, 2.—Upper part of resonant recorder (from a photograph), Thread from 
clock (not shown) passes over pulley P, letting down recording plate. 
S’, screw for adjustment of distance of writing-point from recording 
plate. S, screw for vertical adjustment. T, tangent screw fur exact 
adjustment of plane of movement of recorder, parallel to writing-surface. 
V, Axis of writer supported perpendicularly at. centre of circular end of 
magnet. C,coercer. M, micrometer screw for adjustment of length of 
coercer. 


tongue. An average European, according to Laser- 
stein, can perceive by his tongue a current as feeble 
as 6-4 microamperes—a microampere being  one- 
millionth part of the unit of current. This value 
might be subject to certain variation, depending on 
racial characteristics. One might expect that the 
tongue of the Celt would be far more excitable than 


Ure wir’ 


Fic. 3.—Hourly record for twenty-four hours, exhibiting diurnal variation of excitability 


(spring specimen). 


that of the stolid Anglo-Saxon. In any case, the 
superiority of man has to be established on founda- 
tions more secure than sensibility; for the plant 
Biophytum, I find, is eight times more sensitive to 
an electrical current than a human being. With re- 
gard to the stimulus of induction shock, Mimosa is 
ten times as sensitive. 


NO. 2334, VOL. 93| 


NATURE 


The Sleep of Plants. 

In studying the effect of a given change in the 
external condition, an assumption has to be made that 
during the time of experiment there has been no 


spontaneous variation of excitability. Is the plant 
equally excitable throughout day and night? If not, 


is there any particular period at which the excitability 
remains uniform? Is there again a different time 


during which the plant loses its sensibility—going, as 
it were, to sleep? 
formation has been available. 


On these points no definite in- 
The fanciful name of 


Fic. 4.—Effect of carbonic acid gas. 


sleep is often given to the closure of leaflets of certain 
plants during darkness. These movements are brought 
about by variation of turgor, and have nothing what- 
ever to do with true sleep; for similar closure of 
leaflets takes place under the precisely opposite con- 
dition of strong light. 

In order to find out whether Mimosa exhibits diurnal 
variations of sensibility, I made it record its answer 
to uniform questioning shocks, repeated every hour 
of the day or night. The amplitude of the answering 
" twitch gave a measure of the ‘‘ wakeful- 
ness’? of the plant during twenty-four 
hours. The results obtained were quite un- 
expected. The plant is found to keep up 
very late, and fall asleep only at the early 
hours of the morning. It makes up for its 
late hours by gradually waking up by noon 
(Fig. 3). It then remains in a condition 
of uniform sensibility all the afterncon. 
This period of uniformity is chosen for in- 
vestigations on the effect of changed ex- 
ternal conditions on excitability. 

Effect of Air, Food, and Drugs. 

The plant is intensely susceptible to the 
impurities present in the air. The vitiated 
air of the town has a very depressing effect. 
According to popular science, what is death 
to the animal is supposed to be life for the 
plant; for does it not flourish in 
the deadly atmosphere of carbonic 
acid The record (Fig. 4) shows that, 
instead of flourishing, the plant gets suffocated 
just like a human being. Note the gasp of relief 
when fresh air is introduced. Only in the presence 
of sunlight is this effect modified by photosynthesis. 
In contrast to the effect of carbonic acid, ozone renders 
the plant highly excitable. Sulphuretted hydrogen, 


gas? 


548 


NATURE 


[Jury 23, 1914 


even in small quantities, is fatal to the plant. Chloro- 
form acts as a strong narcotic, inducing a rapid 
abolition of excitability. |The ludicrously unsteady 
gait of the response of plant under alcohol could be 
effectively exploited in a temperance lecture! The 
record (Fig. 5) is in the nature of an anticlimax, where 
the plant has drunk (pure water!) not wisely but too 
well. The gorged plant is seen to have lost all power 
of movement. I was, however, able to restore the 
plant to normal condition by extracting the excess of 
liquid by application of glycerin. 


Fic. 5.—Abolition of motile excitability by excessive absorption 
of water, and subsequent restoration by withdrawal of excess. 


It may be urged that the various reactions of irrit- 
ability may hold good only in the case of the particular 
plant Mimosa, and that the majority of plants were 
quite insensitive. I have, however, been able to demon- 
strate in this very hall thirteen years ago, through my 
discovery of electric response in ordinary plants, that 
every plant and every organ of the plant is sensitive.? 
The difficult problem of finding the time taken by the 
plant to perceive and respond to a blow was solved by 
the employment of my resonant recorder, in which 
the writer was tuned to vibrate two hundred times a 
second. The successive dots are thus at intervals of 
1/200 part of a second apart. Ina 
particular experiment there are 15-2 
intervals between the application of 
stimulus, represented by a vertical 
line, and the initiation of response 


(Fig. 6). The latent period, there- 
fore, in this case is 0-076 of a 
second. The reaction time of the 


plant becomes very sluggish under 
fatigue. 


Excitatory Impulse in Mimosa. 

I next take up the question of 
transmission of excitation in plants. 
It has hitherto been supposed in 
Mimosa the impulse caused by irri- 
tation is merely hydro-mechanical, 
and quite different from the nervous 


impulse in the animal. According to this hydro- 
mechanical theory, the application of mechanical 


stimulus is supposed to squeeze the tissue, in conse- 
quence of which the water forced out delivers a 
mechanical blow to the contractile organ of the plant. 
Such hydromechanical transmission is in no way 
affected by any physiological agencies as warmth or 
cold, or the application of various anzesthetics or 
poisons. 

In strong contrast to this is the transmission of 


2 ate : 3 
* Bose: Friday evening discourse, May 10, root. 


NO. 2334, VOL. 931] 


Fic. 6.—Record showing the latent period of Mimosa. 
The time-interval between successive dots is here o’oo05 sec. 


nervous impulse, which is a phenomenon of passage 
of protoplasmic disturbance from point to point. Here 
under favourable physiological conditions, such as 
warmth, excitatory impulse is transmitted with a 
quicker speed. There are certain agents again which 
paralyse the conducting tissue for the time being, 
causing a temporary arrest of the impulse. Such 
agents are known as anesthetics. There may again 
be poisonous drugs which permanently abolish the 
conducting power. The nature of an impulse may 
thus be discriminated by several crucial tests. The 
impulse must be physiological, or of a nervous char- 
acter, if physiological changes affect the rate of con- 
duction; absence of such effect, on the other hand, 
proves the mechanical character of the impulse. 

Of the various physiological tests, Pfeffer employed 
that of the narcotic drug. Chloroform applied on the 
surface of the stem of Mimosa failed to arrest the 
impulse. This result, at first sight, appears most 
convincing, and has been universally accepted as a 
disproof of the existence of nervous impulse in 
Mimosa. A little reflection will, however, show that 
under the particular conditions of the experiment, the 
conducting tissue in the interior could not have been 
affected by the external application of the narcotic, 
the task being, in fact, as difficult as narcotising a 
nerve-trunk lying between muscles by the application 
of chloroform on the skin outside. 

The question of nervous impulse in plants has thus 
to be attacked anew, and I have employed for this 
purpose twelve different methods. They all prove con- 
clusively that the impulse in the plant is identical in 
character with that in the animal. Of these I shall 
give a short account of two ditferent modes of inves- 
tigation. It is obvious that the transmitted impulse 
in Mimosa must be of an excitatory, or nervous 
character :— 

(1) If it can be shown that physiological changes 
induce appropriate variation in the velocity of trans- 
mission of the impulse. 

(2) If the impulse in the plant can be arrested by 
different physiological blocks by which nervous impulse 
in the animal is arrested. 

For the last two investigations the research resolves 
itself into the accurate measurement of the speed with 
which an impulse in the plant is transmitted, and the 


The recorder vibrates 200 times per second. 


variation of that speed under changed conditions. A 
portion of the tissue at C may, for example, be sub- 
jected to the action of cold, or of a poisonous drug 
(Fig. 7). In order to find the speed of normal trans- 
mission, we apply an instantaneous stimulus, say, of 
an electric shock, at B, near the pulvinus. <A short 
interval, the latent period, will elapse between the 
application of stimulus and the beginning of respon- 
sive movement. After the determination of the latent 
period, we apply stimulus once more at A, and observe 
the time which elapses between the application of 


ae 


JuLy 23, 1914] 


NATURE 


549 


stimulus and the response. The difference between 
the two periods gives us the time required for the 
excitation to travel from the point of application of 
stimulus at A, to the responding organ at B; hence 
we obtain the speed of impulse in the plant. The 
experiment is repeated once more, after the applica- 
tion of a given agent at C. If the speed undergoes 
any variation, it must be due to the action of the 
given agent. 


Fic. 7.—Experimental arrangement for determination of velocity of trans- 
mission and its variation. Record is first taken when stimulus is applied 
near the pulvinus at B (latent period) and then at a distant point on the 
leaf-stalk at A. Difference of two gives time for transmission from A to 
B. The band of cloth C is for local application of warmth, cold, anzs- 
thetics, and poison. 


Determination of Speew of Excitatory Impulse in 
Plants.* 


As relatively long intervals have to be measured in 
the determination of velocity, the recorder has its 
frequency adjusted to ten vibrations per second; hence 
the space between successive dots represents an in- 
terval of one-tenth of a second. In Fig. 8 is given 
a record for determining the velocity of transmission. 


The two 


Fic. 8.—Determination of velocity of transmission in Mimosa. 
lower records are in response to stimulus applied at a distance of 30 mm. ; 
the upper record exhibits latent period in response to direct stimulus 


applied on the pulvinus. Successive dots in this and following records 
are of intervals of one-tenth part of a second. 


The two lower figures give practically identical results 
of successive experiments when stimulus was applied 
at a distance of 30 mm. _ The uppermost is the record 
for direct stimulation. From these it is seen that the 


3 For a more detailed account consult :— 

Bose : ‘An Automatic Method for the Investigation of Velocity of Trans- 
mission of Excitation in Mimosa.” Phil. Trans. Royal Society, Series B, 
vol. cciv. 

Rose: ‘‘ Plant Response.”” (Longmans, Green, 1906). 

Bose: ‘‘ Researches on Irritability of Plants.” (Longmans, Green, 1913.) 


No.8 2334, VOL. 93) 


} 


| 


| leaflets of which dance up and down. 


| 


interval between stimulus and response is 1-6 seconds, 
and that the latent period is o-1 second. Hence the 
true time for the excitation to travel through a dis- 


| tance of 30 mm. is 1-5 seconds, the velocity being 


20 mm. per second. 

The velocity of nervous impulse in the plant is 
slower than those of higher, but quicker than those of 
lower animals. The speed of the impulse is, however, 
subject to variation under different conditions. One 
significant result that came out was that while a plant 
carefully protected under glass from outside blows 
looked sleek and flourishing, yet as a complete and 
perfect organism it proved to be a failure. Its con- 
ducting power was found atrophied or paralysed. 
But when a succession of blows rained on this effete 
and bloated specimen, the stimulus canalised its own 
path of conduction, and it became more alert and 
responsive, and its nervous impulses became very 
much quickened. 


Effect on Physiological Agencies on Velocity. 

A decisive experiment to discriminate between the 
theories of mechanical and nervous transmissions, 
consists in the determination of the effect of tempera- 
ture on the speed of transmission. Temperature has 
no effect on mechanical propagation, whereas a 
moderate variation of it profoundly affects the rate of 
nervous transmission. In the case of the plant, I find 
that the velocity is doubled by rise of temperature 
through 9° C. When a portion of conducting petiole 
is subjected to cold the speed of conduction is re- 
tarded. Excessive cold temporarily abolishes the con- 
ducting power. 

As an after-effect of the application of intense cold, 
the conducting power remains paralysed for a con- 
siderable length of time. It is a very interesting and 
suggestive fact that I have been able to restore the 
conducting power quickly by subjecting the paralysed 
portion of the plant to a measured and moderate dose 
of electric shock. 

Various physiological blocks can be made to inhibit 
the excitatory impulse in the plant, precisely as in the 
case of animal nerve. The nervous impulse in plants 
may thus be arrested by electrotonic block or by the 
action of poisons. By applying solution of potassium 
cyanide I have been able to abolish the conducting 
power in the plant in a time as short as five minutes. 
This investigation on the simplest type of plant-nerve 
is expected to cast a flood of light on the very obscure 
phenomenon of nervous impulse in general, and the 
causes operative in bringing about the degeneration 
of the normal function of the nerve. 


Spontaneous Pulsation. 


In certain animal tissues, a very curious pheno- 
menon is observed. In man and other animals, there 
are tissues which beat, as we say, spontaneously. 
So long as life lasts, so long does the heart continue 
to pulsate. There is no effect without a cause. How 
then was it that these pulsations became spontaneous ? 
To this query, no fully satisfactory answer has been 
forthcoming. We find, however, that similar spon- 
taneous movements are also observable in plant 
tissues, as in D. gyrans, or the telegraph plant, the 
The character- 
istics of the automatic pulsations in the plant could 
not be determined on account of the apparent impossi- 
bility of obtaining a record. The leaflets are too 
minute and the pull exerted too feeble to overcome 
friction of the recording surface. This difficulty has 
been obviated by the device of my oscillating re- 
corder (see pulse-record, Fig. — 9). From the 
records thus obtained, I am enabled to say that the 
automatic movements of both plants and animals are 
guided by laws which are identical. Thus I find, as 


99 


NATURE 


with the pulsating heart, so also with the pulsating 
leaflet, the rhythmic frequency is increased under the 
action of warmth, and lessened under cold, increased 
frequency being attended by diminution of amplitude, 
and vice versd. Under ether, there is a temporary 


arrest, revivai being possible when the vapour is blown 


Fic. 9.—Record of automatic pulsations in Desmodium gyrans. 


off (Fig. 10). More fatal is the effect of chloroform. 
The most extraordinary parallelism, however, lies in 
the fact that those poisons which arrest the beat of the 
heart in a particular way, arrest the plant-pulsation 
also in a corresponding manner, the arrest produced 
being either at systole or diastole, depending on the 


Fic. 10,—Arrest of pulsation of Desmodium under ether ; restoration of 
pulsation on blowing off ether. The arrow indicates the time of appli- 
cation. 


characteristic reaction of the poison. Taking advan. 
tage of the antagonistic reactions of specific poisons, 
I have been able to revive a poisoned leaflet by the 
application of another counteracting poison 


Instantaneous Record of Growth. 

As a further example of automatic activity we may 
take the phenomenon of growth. The rate of growth 
is so extremely slow that even the proverbial pace of 
the snail is two thousand times quicker! It would 
take an average plant two hundred years to cover the 
short distance of a mile. This extreme slowness is a 
serious drawback in the investigation on growth. For 
even with the existing magnifying growth-recorders 
it would take many hours for the variation of growth 
to be recorded under a changed condition in 
the environment. The results thus obtained are sub- 
ject to errors brought about by the variation ct 
grewth which takes place spontaneously in the course 
of a few hours. Growth can be assumed to remain 
constant only for a short time; on this account it is 
necessary to conclude an experiment in the course of a 
few minutes. 

The difficulties have been overcome in my high 
magnification crescograph, which records the absolute 
rate of growth in a time so short as the single beat 
of the pendulum. The various magnifications avail- 
able are a thousand or ten. thousand times. For 
demonstration purposes I have been able to secure a 
magnification of a million times. ~The infinitesimal 
gcrowth thus becomes magnified so as to appear rush- 
ing forward as if in a race. The actual rate of growth 
and its variations under the action of drugs, of food- 
materials, of various electrical and other forms of 
stimuli, are thus recorded in the course of a few 
minutes. The great importance of this method of 
investigation in agriculture is sufficiently obvious. 

The Plant’s Response to the Shock of Death. 

A time comes when, after an answer to a supreme 
shock, there is a sudden end of the plant’s power to 
give any further response. This supreme shocks is the 

NO. VO eO2d 


De 3 28 A cy 


[Juv 23, 1914 


shock of death. Even in this crisis there is no imme- 
diate change in the placid appearance of the plant. 
Drooping and withering are events that occur long 
after death itself. How does the plant, then, give 
this last answer? In man, at the critical moment, a 
spasm passes through the whole body, and similarly 
in the plant I find thata great contractile spasm 
takes place. This is accompanied by an elec- 
trical spasm also. In the script of the death- 
recorder the line, that up to this point was 
being drawn, becomes suddenly reversed and 


then ends. This is the last answer of the 
plant. 

The plant has thus been made to 
exhibit many of the activities which we 
have been accustomed to associate only 
with animal life. In one case, as in the 


other, stimulus of any kind will induce a responsive 
thrill. There are rhythmic tissues in the plant which, 
like those in the animal, go on throbbing ceaselessly. 
These spontaneous pulsations in one case, as in the 
other, are affected by various drugs in an identical 
manner. And in one case, as in the other, the 
tremor of excitation is transmitted with a definite and 
measured speed from point to point along conducting 
channels. The establishment of this similarity of 
responsive actions in the plant and animal will be 
found of the highest significance; for we now realise 
that it is by the study of the simpler phenomena of 
irritability in the vegetal organisms that we may 
expect to elucidate the more complex physiological 
reactions of the animal. 


UNIVERSITY AND, EDUCATIONAL 
INT ELEIGEN CE 

BiRMINGHAM.—The recent endowment of the Poynt- 
ing chair of physics by Sir George Kenrick fulfils the 
purpose of perpetuating the memory of the late Prof. 
Poynting; but it is known that a number of friends 
and admirers would welcome the opportunity of con- 
tributing to a memorial of a somewhat more personal 
kind. A circular is, therefore, being issued by a 
representative committee, inviting contributions to a 
Poynting Memorial Fund. The proposed objects of 
this fund are (a) the execution of a portrait of the late 
professor, either as a painting or as a medallion; (b) 
the publication of his collected scientific papers; and 
(c) the formation of a fund from which assistance can 
be given to research students in physics. Donations 
and promises to the amount of about 350]. have been re- 
ceived already, but it is hoped that at least 1oool. will 
be realised. The hon. secretary is Mr. G. H. Morley, 
and the hon. treasurer Dr. G. A. Shakespear, to 
whom contributions may be sent. 


Lonpon.—At the meeting of the Senate on July 15, 
the last of the present session, the D.Sc. degree was 
conferred on the following students:—Mr. David 
Segaller, of the South-Western Polytechnic, in chem- 
istry; Mr. J. H. Orton, of the Royal College of 
Science, in zoology; and Mr. H. Chatley and Mr. 
G. S. Coleman, external students, in engineering. 

Mr. T. S. Moore was appointed to the University 
chair of chemistry tenable at Royal Holloway College. 
Since 1907 Mr. Moore has been tutor in chemistry at 
Magdalen College, Oxford. A 

In response to a request from the Board of Control 
for suggestions as to methods of encouraging scientific 
research into the causes and treatment of mental 
diseases and mental defect, it was decided to recom- 
mend that individual grants should be given to a few 
thoroughly trained observers for the investigation of 
fundamental problems. 


A FURTHER gift of 10,0001. has been made to the 
Medical School of University College, Cardiff, by the 


es 


VULVA23, 1904 | 


NATURE 


551 


anonymous donor who has already undertaken the 
erection of the Medical School Buildings. The gift is 
conditional on certain contributions by the Treasury 
to the upkeep. 

Mr. H. S. Rowe t has been appointed to the posi- 
tion of senior lecturer in mechanical engineering at 
Bradford Technical College, and will commence his 
duties in September next. 


Mr. FREDERICK Soppy, lecturer in physical chem- 
istry in the University of Glasgow, has been appointed 
to the chair of chemistry at the University of Aber- 
deen, in succession to Prof. F. R. Japp. 


Pror. J. S. Macponatp, professor of physiology in 
the University of Sheffield since 1903, has been ap- 
pointed Holt professor of physiology in the University 
of Liverpool, in succession to Prof. C. S. Sherrington. 


Dr. T. J. Jenu, lecturer on geology at the Univer- 
sity of St. Andrews, has been appointed Murchison 
regius professor of geology and mineralogy in the 
University of Edinburgh, in succession to Prof. James 
Geikie, who lately resigned the chair. 


Tue Extensior Lecture scheme of the Selborne 
Society has become so successful that it has been 
found possible this year to issue a handbook of fifty 
pages giving particulars of nearly two hundred lec- 
tures. The addresses are mainly of a popular char- 
acter, and are by lecturers who command high fees as 
well as by those who will accept a small honorarium, 
or in exceptional cases merely their travelling ex- 
penses. The society hopes that in this way it may be 
of considerable assistance to societies and schools, 
whether large or small, by enabling them to secure 
the services of competent lecturers. There are many 
local societies which cannot afford big fees, and plenty 
of county people who are glad to arrange lectures in 
their villages, and to these the handbook should prove 
most useful. The Selborne Society during the coming 
winter will arrange courses of these lectures in Lon- 
don and the provinces. Particulars can be obtained 
from the Extension Lecture Secretary, Mr. Percival J. 
Ashton, 37 Walbrook, London, E.C. 


AN appeal on behalf of the Equipment and Endow- 
ment Fund Committee of University College, Gower 
Street, W.C., has been issued by the Hon. Rupert 
Guinness, M.P., who is the chairman of the executive 
committee. The committee has been engaged. for 
some years in endeavouring to collect funds to meet 
the capital expenditure which has become necessary 
for the proper development of ‘several departments of 
the college work. These efforts have already met 
with much success. The London County Council has 
made a grant of 30,000l., and this grant has encour- 
aged the committee to renew the endeavour to obtain 
the money required to complete work already in hand 
and necessary to enable the college to discharge with 
proper efficiency its present functions. The sum 
immediately required is about another 30,0001. The 
money is wanted for four main purposes :—(i) About 
10,0001. to complete the equipment of the new chem- 
ical laboratories, especially that for physical chemistry. 
(ii) A large hall to serve as an examination room, for 
ceremonial assemblies and for public lectures. For 
this, about 12,0001. is required. (iii) A benefactor 
has erected, at a cost of 35,000l., buildings to accom- 
modate the University School of Architecture and the 
Department of Applied Statistics and Eugenics. To 
complete this part of the college about G6oool. is re- 
quired. (iv) The college libraries contain about 
130,000 books and more than 17,000 pamphlets, but 
the proper custody and arrangement of the books and 
manuscripts, as well as the use of them by readers, 
are interfered with by want of space. To remedy 


NO. 2334, VOL. 93] 


——— —____ 


| these disadvantages will cost 2500l. 


: provided for fully. 


The current work 
of the college is hampered badly, and much-needed 
developments are arrested, until these four objects are 
The Equipment and Endowment 
Fund Committee, of which Prince Arthur of Con- 
naught is president, consequently feels that, in urging 
the claims of University College on the favourable con- 
sideration of all who recognise the importance of pro- 
viding facilities for advanced study and investigation, 
it is doing work of national value. We trust the 
efforts of the committee in their public-spirited work 
on behalf of higher education in London will soon be 
rewarded, and that the funds needed so urgently will 
be speedily forthcoming. Contributions may be sent 
to the president or to the chairman of the executive 
committee, at University College, Gower Street, Lon- 
don, W.C. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
Paris. 

Academy of Sciences, July 13.—M. P. Appell in the 
chair.—Paul Sabatier and Léo Espil: The reduction of 
the oxides of copper, lead, and nickel. Using calcium 
carbide as an indicator of the production of water, the 
reduction of cupric oxide in dry hydrogen is clear at 
120° C. For lead dioxide, the corresponding tempera- 
ture is 150° C. Nickel oxide, NiO, on reduction at 
low temperatures gives a mixture of metallic nickel 
and a suboxide of doubtful composition.—A. Haller and 
Mme. Ramart-Lucas: Syntheses by means of sodium 
amide. The oxide of propylenedimethylacetophenone 
and some of its derivatives. A new method of pre- 
paration of the y-ketonic acids.—Charles Moureu and 
Georges Mignonac: Additional examples of the class 
of compounds described in a recent paper, and con- 
taining the grouping RR’C=N—CRR". On hydro- 
lysis, ammonia and a ketone are the products.—M. 
Calmette and L. Massol: The preservation of cobra 
poison and its antitoxin. Cobra poison slowly loses 
its toxic power on keeping; the antitoxin is absorbed 
not only by the toxic substance of the snake poison, 
but also by other substances accompanying it. The 
antitoxin serum preserves its power for at least six 
years.—Ph. A. Guye and F. E. E. Germann: The 
analysis of very small quantities of gas; application 
to the analysis of air. The apparatus illustrated is 
based on the application of a modified MacLeod 
gauge. An example of an analysis of air with the 
apparatus is given, in which the initial volume was 
only 0:25 c.c..Maurice Paschoud: Application of the 
method of Walther Ritz to the problem of the uniform 
régime in a tube with square section.—J. Boussinesq : 
Observations on the preceding note of M. Paschoud. 
Farid Boulad bey: A new theorem on elastic displace- 
ments and its application to the simplification of the 
direct calculation of reactions of the supports of con- 
tinuous beams.—E. Estanave: The exteriorisation of 
the photographic image by the autostereoscopic plate. 
—P. Le Rolland: The determination of the ratio of 
the times of oscillation of two pendulums. A modifi- 
cation of the photographic method described by Lipp- 
mann in 1897. For a period of comparison of only 
three minutes the ratio of the times can be determined 
with an accuracy of one part in a million. The photo- 
graphic method possesses several advantages over the 
method of coincidences, especially if the difference 
between the times of oscillation of the two pendulums 
is small.—C. G. Bedreag : Electrification by the X-rays. 
The square of the maximum velocity of the electrons 
emitted is proportional to the frequency of the incident 
X-radiation.—G. Millochau: A new pyrometric method 
based on the absorption of some substances for the 
integral radiation. The determination of a tempera- 


3a 


NATURE 


[JuLy 23, 1914 


ture with the Féry pyrometer is extended to cases in 
which the image of the opening in the hot.body is 
smaller than the blackened disc fixed to the thermo- 
electric couple. Readings are taken of the deviations 
with and without the interposition of absorptive plates 
of mica, glass, or celluloid.—MM. Massol and Faucon : 

The ultra-violet spectra of aqueous solutions of nitric 
acid, metallic nitrates, and particularly of copper 
nitrate.—P. Chevenard: The expansion of ferro-nickels 
over a large range of temperature. Measurements 
were made of the expansion between —195° C. and 
750° C., for a series of alloys containing increasing 
proportions of nickel. The results are given in the 
form of diagrams.—B. Bogitch: The ternary alloy of 
zine, silver, and lead.—F. Taboury : Glucinum sulphate 
and its hydrates.—]. Clarens : The chlorometric method 
of Penot.—Marcel Guichard: A new method 
of determination of the atomic weight of 
iodine. The method is based on the use of 
purified iodine pentoxide, and its decomposition 
into iodine and oxygen by a high temperature. These 
elements are weighed separately. The general mean 
of the experiments was, for O=16, I= 126: -92, identical 
with the value currently accepted.—L, Tschugaeff: A 
new method of preparation of the complex compounds 
of bivalent platinum. 
Bauer: The addition of hydrogen to aliphatic com- 
pounds with ethylene linkages in presence of nickel 
under moderate pressure. The reactions were carried 
out at the ordinary temperature under hydrogen pres- 
sures of fifteen atmospheres or less. Descriptions of 
the reduction of J-octene, cinnamic acid, sodium cinna- 


mate, methyl cinnamate, piperonylacrylic acid, 
eugenol, sapol, and isoeugenol are given.—Maurice 
Lugeon: The autochone strata below the Morcles 


layer.—Emile Haug : New observations on the tectonic 
of the valley of Saint Pons, near Gémenos (Bouches- 
du- Rhéne).—P . Idrac: The ‘irregularities of the wind. 
—Julien Loisel : The nomographic representation of 
the reduction of the barometer to  sea-level.—O. 
Lignier: New contributions to the knowledge of the 
flower of the Fumarieze and the Crucifereze.—Edgar 
Zaepiiel: The distribution of the stomata in the 
plantules of some graminaceous plants.—E. Chuard 
and R. Mellet: Nicotine in the by-products of the 
culture of tobacco. The waste products of tobacco 
culture contain sufficient nicotine to be of commercial 
value in the preparation of insecticides.—J. Kunckel 
d’Herculais: Correlation between the mortality of 
Ailanthus glandulosa and the disappearance of Samia 
cynthia.—Em. Bourquelot and Al. Ludwig: The bio- 
chemical synthesis of the B-monoglucosides of meta- 
and para-xylene glycols. ; 


BOOKS REC EIVED. 


Monographien aus dem Gesamtgebiet der Physiologie 
der Pflanzen und der Tiere. Band i. Die Wasser- 
stoffionen-Konzentration.. By Prof. Dr. L. Michaelis. 
Pp. xiv+210. (Berlin: J. Springer.) 8 marks. 

Journal: of: Genetics. ‘Vol. iv. No, 1. June.’ Pp: 
107. (Cambridge University Press.) tos. net. 


The Biochemical Journal. Vol. viii. No. 3. June. 
Pp. 217-280. (Cambridge University Press.) 7s. 
net. 

Grundztige der Mengenlehre. By Prof. F. Hans- 
dorff. Pp. viiit+476. (Leipzig: Veit and Co.) 18 
marks. 


Catalogue of the Ungulate Mammals in the British 
Museum (Natural History). Vol. iii. Artiodactyla, 
Families Bovide, Subfamilies A=pycerotine to Trage- 
laphinz (Pala, Saiga, Gazelles, Onyx Group, Bush- 
bucks, Kudus, Elands, etc.) Antilocapridee (Prong- 
buck) and Giraffide (Giraffes and Okapi). By R. 
Lydekker. Pp. xv+283. (London: British Museum 


NOs"23345 “VOLS 92] 


(Natural History), and Longmans, Green and Co.) 


4S. +Gd., 

Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological 
Society. ~ Vol. xl. No. a7. july.” Bp. 185-256" 
(London: E. Stanford, Ltd.) 5s. 


Botanische Jahrbucher ftir Systematik Pflanzen- 
geschichte und Pflanzengeographie. Edited by A. 
Engler | Band’ li. ~ goatee ya lett. sip se 225 oe 
(Leipzig and Berlin: W. Engelmann.) 18. marks. | 


Gegenbaurs Morphologisches Jahrbuch. Edited by 
Prof.c¢G; «-Rugeée.- Band odix? “Eleftisis *Bpremze: 
(Leipzig and Berlin: W. Engelmann.) 13 marks. 


Zeitschrift fiir wissenschaftliche Zoologie. Edited 
by Prof. E. Ehlers.. Band.cix. Heft 3. Pp. 349- 
530. , 43) marks. . Band cix.. (Heft 4. Pp. gg1 ea0- 
It marks. -Band cx.:, Heft, 1. _Pp.-149. 05) mags. 
Band cx. Heft 2. Pp. 150-301. 10 marks. (Leip- 
zig and Berlin: W. Engelmann.) 

Woburn Experimental Fruit Farm. Fourteenth 


Report of the Woburn Experimental Fruit Farm. Pp. 
151. (London: Amalgamated Press.) 2s. od. 
Department of Commerce.’ U.S. Coast and Geo- 
detic Survey. Hypsometry. Fourth General Adjust- 
ment of the Precise Level Net in the United States 
and the Resulting Standard Elevations. Special Pub- 
lication No. 18. By E. Bowie and. H. G. Avers. 


Pp. 328. (Washington : Government Printing Office.) 
CONTENTS. PAGE 
South African Diamonds . : «go dale “sean eae 
The Popularisation of Eugenics . . GEG 
A fences Colloquium on Mathematics. | By 
GB. : lepteets) 
eee Museums and Systematic Biology. By 
WLC (sid er EMM P esc Ta ee le ta 528 
Our Bookshelf Anon See 


Letters to the Editor :— 


Man’s Chin: a Dynamical Basis for Physical and 
Psycho-physiological Utilities. —D. M. Shaw . . 531 
Meteoric Streaks and Trains. —W. F. Denning . . 531 
Climatic Change.—Chas. E. P. Brooks .... . 532 
The Plumage Prohibition: Bill, 2.4 ayascnae 532) 
Space and Time ; oe hg 
The Havre Meeting of the French Association . 533. 
Oscillations of French Glaciers. By T.G.B. .. 534 

A Nature-Reserve in Spitsbergen. ee Prof. Gren- 
willervAr |. Cole . 6 brad's ; 8 ee! 
Dr. Adolf Lieben. By J. BAG. 534 
The Rev. Osmond Fisher. ae Dr. Charles Davison 535 
INNotess: ((///ustrated.)) «\\c1b) Werle eee een 536 

Our Astronomical Column :— 

Comet 1913/ (Delavan) sires ia eee 541 
Observations of Halley’s Come soit ake 541 
Reports of Indian Observatories. 541 

Recent Physical Investigations in the North At- 
lantics Ocean! ~ By) VV. Sie emt _. See a 
Ornithological Notes. By R. Beers ae ae 543 

Terrestrial Magnetism. See By “Dra. 
Chree; FE R=S. Sie 5 oy anes 544 
Timber for Railway Sleepers. Byv.o Ri2 Bane ae 
Official Guides for Geological Travellers. . . . 545 

Plant-Autographs and their Revelations. (/¢us- 
trated.) By Prof, J.C. Bose. . . thy ba eee 
University and Educational Intelligence . 550° 
Societies;and Academies) 27. «8. en 551 
Books Received . 552 

Editorial and 1 Publishing Offices : 
MACMILLAN & CO., Ltp., 
ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C. 


Advertisements and business letters to be addressed to the 
Publishers. 


Editorial Communications to the Editor. 
Telegraphic Address: Puusits, LONDON. 
Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830. 


WATURE 


4 
re) 


Can 


ae R SONY ,- [ULYiso, prog. 


~ MAMMALIAN EVOLUTION. 


A History of Land Mammals in the Western 


Hemisphere. .By Prof. W. By Scott. Pp.xiv 
+693. (New York: The Macmillan Company ; 
London: Macmillan and’CGo., Ltd., 1913.) 


Price 21s. net. 


“THIS important work is, perhaps, the most 
successful attempt that has yet been made 
to bring within the reach of the lay reader a 
general account of the past history of the mam- 
malia, a history for the reconstruction of which 
a vast amount of material is now available. It 
may be regretted that the author has found it 
necessary to confine his work to the mammals of 
the Western Hemisphere, but since the successive 
faunas inhabiting that region, particularly the 
northern half, are far better known than those of 
the Old World, none of the main lines along 
which evolution has proceeded within the group 
is left without adequate illustration. The much 
greater degree of completeness of our know- 
ledge of the mammals of the New World is not 
merely due to the occurrence there ot a more 
nearly continuous series of mammal-bearing ter- 
tiary deposits, but also to the systematic collect- 
ing that has been carried out, both in the north 
and south, by expeditions organised by the 
museums and universities. Prof. Scott has him- 
self led such expeditions on several occasions. 
The plan of the work is excellent, especially 
from the point of view of the general reader. The 
earlier chapters give a simple summary of the 
methods of investigation, both from a geological 
and paleontological point of view. A valuable 
chapter is added giving a brief, but clear, account 
of the mammalian skeleton and dentition; this 
with the accompanying figures should render the 
descriptions given in the later part of the work 
easily understood. A chapter on the living mam- 
mals of America is followed by a history of the 
succession of mammalian to the 
earliest Eocene, being 
omitted. 
an introduction to mammalian paleontology gen- 
erally. In the succeeding part of the work the 
evolution of each group is traced in detail from its 
earliest appearance onwards, and it is this section 
which will be a revelation to those who are un- 
acquainted with the enormous amount of material 
for the history of the phylum that has accumulated 
during the last quarter of a century. All zoolo- 
gists who, from various points of view, are 


NOW2335; VOL. 93] 


faunas’ back 
the pre-Tertiary forms 


So far the volume may be regarded as | 


| 


dealing with the question of the manner in which 
evolution has taken place, should read this sum- 
mary of results, in which much light is thrown on 
such points as the occurrence of parallel and 
convergent evolution and on the origin of poly- 
phyletic groups. 

It is often forgotten that in paleontology we 


| are dealing with what actually has happened, and 


nowhere is this better known than in the case of 
the mammalia. Prof. Scott himself seems to be 
somewhat unduly pessimistic as to the present 
state of paleontology, comparing it with the con- 
dition of philology in the time of Voltaire, whose 
famous remark: ‘‘L’étymologie est une science 
ou les voyelles ne font rien et les consonnes fort 
peu de chose,” he quotes. The fact that it has 
been possible to write this book seems to be suf- 
ficient proof that matters are not so bad as he 
appears to believe. 

A large number of excellent illustrations are 
given, many being restorations of extinct mam- 
mals, a considerable number now appearing for 
the first time. A useful glossary and a very 
complete index are appended. CC. WA: 


THE PRODUCTION AND UTILISATION 
OF. CROPS: 

(1) The Manuring of Market Garden Crops. 
Dr. Bernard Dyer and F. W. E. Shrivell. 
Edition. Revised and brought up to date. 
149. (London: Vinton and Co., Ltd. 
Price Is: pigs 

(2) The Chemistry of Cattle Feeding and Dairying. 
By J. Alan Murray. Pp. xii+343. (London: 
Longmans, Green and Co., 1914.) » Price 6s. 
net. 

(3) Garden Farming. By L. GC.) Corbett. Ep. 
x +473. (Boston and London: Ginn and Co., 
n.d.) Price 8s. 6d. 

(1) HE first book on our list, by Dr. Dyer 

TT and Mr. Shrivell, is now well-known 
to all who are concerned in the raising of market 
garden crops. It gives the results of a series 
of trials at Golden Green, Hadlow, Tonbridge, 
which were begun in 1894 and have been system- 
atically carried out since, so that they are now 
in their twentieth year. 

When the experiments began little was known 
as to the effect of the various artificial manures 
on market garden crops. Many trials had been 
made with ordinary farm crops, but not much had 
been done with fruit and practically nothing with 
ordinary vegetables. The market gardener still 


By 
New 
Pp. 
1913.) 


| used large quantities of stable manure and looked 


with more or less suspicion on all the purchased 
Z 


254 


NATORE 


| JULY 30, 1914 


artificials which were offered to him. However, | leges at present; undoubtedly the students do 


the supply of stable manure tends to decrease, and 
twenty years have seen very considerable dis- 
placement of horse traffic by motor traffic and 
electric tramways so that, instead of being able 
to bring out large quantities of stable manure 
from the cities at a very low price or even for 
no‘hing, the market gardener has been compelled 
to buy at prices which show an uncomfortable 
tendency to rise. Indeed, the authors go so far 
as to predict that at no distant time town stable 
manure will be for many of its long-accustomed 
users an unattainable luxury. 

The authors, therefore, laid out a series of ex- 
periments to see what would be the effect of arti- 
ficial manures on market garden crops, and 
whether the same sort of results would be obtained 
as on ordinary agricultural crops. The results 
were as might have been expected; the artificials 
exerted their full effect and gave crops as large 
as those obtained in the ordinary way, sometimes 
even larger. A certain foundation of organic 
manure is necessary in order to give satisfactory 
tilth to the soil and to increase its water-holding 
capacity. But this does not necessitate the large 
quantities which had formerly been used, and the 
authors make some useful suggestions as to the 
way in which stable manure may be supplemented 
by artificials so that considerably increased crops 
may be obtained. 

(2) Mr. Alan Murray is well known as a careful 
and painstaking teacher who takes a good deal of 
trouble over the preparation of his lectures and 
of his books. 

In the volume before us he gives a very in- 
teresting account of the chemistry of cattle feeding 
and dairying drawn up for the students at agri- 
cultural colleges and elsewhere. It is divided 
into four parts. The first deals with the chemistry 
of plants and animal constituents and includes 
chapters on the carbohydrates, the fats, proteins, 
etc.; the second deals with the physiology of 
nutrition and milk production; the third with the 
properties of feeding stuffs, and the fourth with 
dairying. It is obviously a good deal to expect 
of one man that he should cover so wide a range 
of subjects, and we hope the time is not far dis- 
tant when teachers of agricultural chemistry will 
not be under the necessity of giving preliminary 
courses of advanced organic chemistry and ele- 
mentary physiology. 

We think, perhaps, Mr. Murray would have 
done wisely to have made more use of the series 
of bio-chemical monographs edited by Plimmer 
and Hopkins, instead of the less recent books 
that he quotes. Probably some such method would 


be a simple way out of the difficulty at the col- | 


NO? 2325, VOLE os] 


need these preliniinary courses in organic chem- 
istry and physiology, but it is unreasonable that 
the agricultural chemist should be required to give 
them. 

Passing on to the more strictly technical side, 
the descriptions of the feeding stuffs and methods 
of compounding rations are very well done, and 
a graphic method is given for working out some 
of the practical problems which will greatly 
facilitate the work of teacher and _ student. 
There is also an interesting chart showing the 
composition of the foods. Altogether the book 
is one that cannot fail to be useful. 

(3) This book is frankly technical and written 
for the American grower. It, therefore, natur- 
ally appeals much less to the English reader than 
to those in the States. The general reader, how- 
ever, will find an interesting account of the culti- 
vation of certain crops. Beans play a large part 
in American dietaries, and large areas are given 
up to their cultivation in certain sections of the 
States, particularly in New York and Michigan. 
Indeed, in some parts beans have become as 
much a staple crop as wheat was a quarter of a 
century ago, and have largely displaced it. 

The growth of sweet corn is also dealt with at 
length, the methods of cultivation, of harvesting, 
and the varieties being fully described. At present 
80 per cent. of the seed corn is grown in Nebraska, 
but large amounts are raised in the other States 
for the canning industry, the requirements of 
which are enormous. 

The ordinary potato is described as the Irish 
potato in contradistinction to a wholly different 
crop, the sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas); it re- 
ceived this name from the fact that it is one ot 
the standard foods of the Irish people. ‘“‘ Because 
of its enormous yields,” the author states, “and 
its easy cultivation, it has grown to be an im- 
portant economic factor in the maintenance of the 
dense population of that country.” Potatoes as 
a farm crop bulk largely in the north-eastern sec- 
tion of the States, where the method of growth 
is not unlike ours and the same sort of troubles 
seem to arise. There is one pest, however, from 
which we have fortunately been free: the Colorado 
potato beetle, described as being the most serious 
insect enemy of the potato. 

Each crop is carefully described, and there are 
maps showing their distribution in the States. 
Altogether, it is a book that the American grower 
is not likely to be able to dispense with, and so 
far as one can judge, the information seems to 
be very sound; it is certainly well put together 
and illustrated with plenty of good photographs. 

[Bey apse 


— 


1 
. 
i} 
a 


JULY 30, 1914] 


NATURE 5 


5 


on 


ROBERTS-AUSTEN. 
Roberis-Austen: a Record of his Work. Being a 

Selection of the Addresses and Metallurgical 

Papers, together with an Account of the Re- 

searches of Sir William Chandler Roberts- 

Austen. Compiled and edited by S. W. Smith. 

Pp. xii+ 382. (London: C. Griffin and Co., 

bid onera) Price 215. ‘net: 

T is pleasant to see that one of Roberts- 

Austen’s former assistants has been willing 
to devote himself to the preparation of this record 
of the work of the most distinguished metallurgi- 
cal chemist of his day. It is pleasant, too, to find 
that the handsome volume which is the result of 
Mr. Smith’s labour of love is a memorial in every 
way worthy of his old professor’s fame. In well- 
chosen, felicitous language, Mr. Smith traces Sir 
William’s career from his student days at the 
Royal School of Mines to his death at the age of 
fifty-nine, when he was still actively engaged in 
many directions. For the most part, however, the 
biographer leaves him to speak for himself. 

A large part of the book is taken up with a 
reprint of lectures and addresses delivered to his 
students, to the British Association, to the Society 
of Arts at the Royal Institution, and as president 
of the Iron and Steel Institute. These addresses 
are the best expression of Roberts-Austen’s per- 
sonality. They reveal how very much “worth 
while” he found metallurgy-to be. They show 
the enthusiasm with which he sought to open out 
ways for the escape of what he felt to be “im- 
prisoned splendour.” The papers giving the re- 
sults of Roberts-Austen’s own experimental re- 
searches have been usefully summarised by Mr. 
Smith, who has made their spirit live without en- 
cumbering his pages with details. No work has 
been entirely omitted. The record is complete. 

Roberts-Austen’s life was largely given to the 
Mint. As the assayer for more than thirty years, 
he was responsible for the accuracy of the com- 
position of more than 150,000,000]. of gold and 
31,000,0001. of silver coins. In his hands the 
scientific reputation of the Mint was maintained 
at a high level. He was also for many of these 
years the professor of metallurgy at the Royal 
School of Mines. His numerous researches on 
the properties of metals and alloys were so im- 
portant as to obtain immediate recognition from 
the scientific world. His work on government 
committees was almost unceasing. If, however, 
an opinion may be expressed by one of his ad- 
mirers, it is that he will be best remembered for 
the impetus which he gave to the scientific study 
of metals at a time when it was beginning to be 
understood that empiricism must give place to 
system even in metallurgy. 


NO. 9g5, VOL. 93] 


| 


industries are paying more and more attention to 
the need of applying scientific principles in their 
practice, the movement is largely due to Roberts- 
Austen’s initiative and enthusiasm. 

Ti" K..Rose; 


NEW BOOKS ON CHEMISTRY. 

(1) Outlines of Theoretical Chemistry. By Prof. 
F. H. Getman, Pp. xi+467. (New York: 
John Wiley and Sons, Inc.; London: Chap- 
man, and. Hall,-Ltd., 1913.) Price 15s. net. 

(2) A New Eva in Chemistry. By H. C. Jones. 
Pp. xii+326. (London: Constable and Co., 
Ltd., 1913.) Price.8s., 6d. -net: 

(3) The Progress of Scientific Chemistry in our 


own Times, with Biographical Notices. By 
Sir William A. Tilden. Second edition. Pp. 
xii+ 366. (London: Longmans, Green and 


Cox, 19n3.)) “Price 756d. net 

(1) S an introduction to the study of physical 

A chemistry Prof. Getman’s ‘“ Outlines ” 
may be warmly recommended. It follows the usual 
order and arrangement of such subjects, dealing 
mainly with the physical properties of substances. 
It is carefully and clearly written, and most of 
the subjects are treated in a sufficiently simple 
fashion to enable a student who has completed an 
elementary course on chemistry to understand them 
without difficulty. The only question which has 
arisen in reading the book is whether the very 
brief and necessarily superficial accounts which 
are given of some of the topics are worth the 
space devoted to them. It is not merely that the 
account is incomplete; it has no beginning, and 
leads nowhere. It conveys as much information 
as a worn strip of ground to the lost traveller 
who is doubtful whether it is a pathway or not. 
We refer more particularly to the discussion of 
the properties of liquids, such as molecular volume, 
refraction, magnetic rotation, and so forth. The 
reply might, of course, be made that it is better 
for a student to know of the existence of such 
properties, even if they tell him little or nothing, 


_ than to remain entirely ignorant of them; but in 


a small book like this (which, by the way, seems 
very expensive for its size) we are of opinion that 
the space might be better utilised. One excellent 
feature of the volume is the set of problems intro- 
duced at the end of each chapter. 

(2) The title of Mr. H. C. Jones’s book, rea 
New Era in Chemistry,” seemed to promise at- 
tractive reading; but we must confess that the 
promise has not been fulfilled. The book, which 
covers a period from 1887 to the present time, is 
partly historical, partly explanatory, and partly 


If the metallurgical | philosophical. The year 1887 is selected as mark- 


556 


NATURE 


[JuLy 30, 1914 


ing the advent of a new era in consequence of | and theories of chemistry in historical sequence, 


the appearance of the first volume of the 
Zeitschrift fiir physikalische Chemie. This year 
affords, no doubt, an excellent point of departure ; 
but to qualify it as “the beginning of the transi- 
tion from a system into a science of chemistry ” 
(p. 17) is surely incorrect. Granted the profound 
development which has taken place in the direction 
of physical chemistry during this period, it would 
be a gross misconception of the word “science ”’ 
to deny the term to chemistry during the greater 
part of last century. If, as the author truly re- 
marks, it is the generalisations or laws which 
transform chemistry from a system into a science, 
he assuredly contradicts his assertion when, for 
example, he develops the laws connected with the 
history of mass action. But, apart from this, 
there are many other statements which are equally 
inaccurate. One would scarcely venture to 
describe Stas’s method as “crude” (p. 3), or to 
regard Prouts’s hypothesis as correlating atomic 
weights with the physical and chemical properties 
of the elements (p. 4), or to represent Kekulé’s 
benzene formula as a triangle with the carbon 
and hydrogen groups occupying the corners and 
middle points of the sides (p. 12), or to state that 
Le Bel’s advance on Pasteur’s theory consisted 
in showing “‘that optical activity is the expression 
of asymmetry, but that this asymmetry is of the 
chemical molecule”; for it was precisely what 
Pasteur did suggest, as anyone who has read his 
lectures on molecular asymmetry can scarcely fail 
to remember. 

Sufficient has been stated to show a certain 
amount of carelessness in the handling of his- 
torical details; and, in regard to the elucidation 
of complex problems, we doubt whether any 
student who was not already familiar with the 
subject would follow the account of, for example, 
Berthollet’s contribution to the law of mass action, 
or Le Chatelier’s rule (p. 80), or the explanation 
of osmotic pressure (p. 90). The expressions “ to 
arrest attention to the importance of,” “the 
method was to cut and try to see what result 
was obtained,” are not exactly elegant English, 
and the frequent repetition of the same word, such 
as “generalisation,” 
in seven pages, point to hurried and slovenly com- 
pilation. The book is, on the whole, disappoint- 
ing. 

(3) The first edition of Sir William Tilden’s 
book on the progress of scientific chemistry is too 
well known and appreciated for any special recom- 
mendation of the new edition, which merely bring's 
the subject up-to-date, to be necessary. For those 
who may not have seen or read the earlier volume, 
it may be stated that it sets forth the main facts 


NO. 2335, VOL. 93] 


and traces the development of the various branches 
of the science down to the present time. The 
subjects are not discussed with any great detail 
or elaboration, but the style is fresh and attrac- 
tive, and the explanations clear and incisive, so 
that the merest tyro in chemistry can easily follow 
all that he reads. With one notable exception 
it would be difficult to find anyone at the present 
day whose long association with chemistry both 
as teacher and investigator, and whose personal 
contact with many of the great chemists of this 
and the latter part of last century, could better fit 
him for the task of a historian, and the volume will 
furnish not the least valuable of the many con- 
tributions to chemistry of its distinguished author. 


J; Ba: 
OUR BOOKSHELF. 
The Makers of Modern Agriculture. By Dr. W. 
Macdonald. Pp. 82. (London: Macmillan 


and Co., Ltd, 19r4.)) Price 2s. Ga. met 


In this little book Dr. Macdonald has given a 
very pleasant and readable account of five of the 
makers of modern agriculture, viz., Jethro Tull, 
Coke of Norfolk, Arthur Young, John Sinclair, 
and Cyrus H. McCormick. He has carefully 
examined the best biographies available, and has 
given a summary of the lives and works of his 
subjects, which cannot fail to be of wide interest 
to all concerned in the development of agricultural 
science. If we have a fault to find, it is that the 
title is too comprehensive: Lawes and Gilbert 
are not mentioned, yet they must surely stand 
among the makers of modern agriculture, for it 
was they who worked out the application of arti- 
ficial manures to agricultural practice. Three of 
the five are Englishmen, one is Scotch, and one 
American. Tull and Coke are in some ways the 
most interesting of the five. 

Tull was born at Basildon in Berkshire in 1674, 
and did his best work in the same county. His 
claim to fame is that he invented the method of 


| drilling seed, which has now displaced the older 


method of broadcasting or dibbling. He was 
thus able to secure an opportunity for cultivating 
land even while the crop was growing. In con- 


' sequence, bare fallow could be dispensed with, 


which occurs twenty times | 


and the land could be utilised throughout the 
whole of the rotation. The principles that he laid 
down are wonderfully accurate, while his methods 
have changed only in detail and not in essentials. 

Coke of Norfolk is well known for his remark- 
able work in the development of light, sandy soils. 
It is unfortunate that no satisfactory account of 
his agricultural experiments has yet been pub- 
lished, and one can only hope that this oversight 
on the part of agricultural writers will soon be 
remedied. His experiments at any rate were well 
known in his own day, and the practices he intro- 
duced have been widely followed ever since. 


JuLy 30, 1914] 


The Horticultural Notebook. Compiled by J. C. 
Newsham, Third edition, thoroughly revised. 
Pp. xx +418. (London: Crosby Lockwood and 
Son, 1914.) Price 4s. 6d. net. 


Tue fact that this work of reference has reached 
its third edition, and that its price has been re- 
duced, proves that its usefulness is now generally 
recognised. It is, indeed, a book of convenient 
size and shape, which anyone whose interests are 
largely bound up in horticulture will find useful 
to have on his writing-table. As everyone knows 
who follows this pursuit, minor problems are crop- 
ping up almost every day of one’s life. The 
strength of an insecticide or a manure, some 
simple way of ascertaining the height of a tree 
without climbing it, the right dimensions of a lawn 
tennis court, how to make a grafting wax: these 
are samples of the kind of question for which 
those concerned with gardens are constantly need- 
ing an answer. This the “Horticultural Note- 
Book ” sets out to supply, and we do not find that 
it often fails. 

Although the serious student will need some- 
thing more detailed than is here furnished, the 
book is not devoid of scientific teaching. A 
synopsis of the natural orders of plants, for in- 
stance, is concisely and conveniently arranged and 
helpful in “running down” a plant. It is not, 
however, in this direction (which suggests too 
much a shilling encyclopedia) that the value of 
the book consists, so much as in the collection of 
garden recipes and rules, and in much tabulated 
information. The ancient and remarkably per- 
sistent error that the plane tree of the streets is 
the American Platanus occidentalis is once more 
repeated here (p. 368), although it has ‘several 
times been pointed out in these columns that the 
tree is really the Old World P. acerifolia. 


Ornamental Lathework for Amateurs. By 
C. H. C. Pp. 121+xii plates. (London: Per- 
cival Marshall and Co., n.d.) Price 3s. 6d. net. 


PLAIN turning is carried out in an ordinary lathe 
by revolving the work and operating on it by tools 
held in the hand or in a slide-rest. In ornamental 
turning, an object already subjected to plain turn- 
ing processes is ornamented by further operations 
carried out on it by cutters which are made to 
revolve independently of the lathe mandrel. Orna- 
mental turning is an exceedingly beautiful art, and 
the object of the little book before us is to awaken 
the interest of those who have adopted turning as 
a hobby, and to show how simply an ordinary 
turning lathe may be modified so as to be capable 
of producing beautiful examples of ornamental 
turning. While many examples are given and 
illustrated by photographs, it is not the author’s 
intention that these should be used as designs to 
be worked out, but rather to stimulate the worker 
to devise new designs and methods for himself. 
Drawings of many useful types of tools are given, 
mostly of a simple character. The book can be 
recommended as a useful introduction to any 
amateur turner who has not yet taken up this 
fascinating branch of his art. 


NO. 2335, VOL. 93] 


NATURE 


| 


I 


LETTERS. TO THE EDITOR. 


[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for 
opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with 
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 
this or any other part of Nature. No notice is 
taken of anonymous communications. ] 


Rayleigh’s Law of Extinction and the Quantum 
Hypothesis. 


Tue bearing of Rayleigh’s law of gaseous extinction 
on some of the fundamental aspects of radiation theory 
does not seem to have been sufficiently emphasised in 
recent reports and publications on modern molecular 
physics. The coefficient of attenuation « of radiation 
of wave-length A travelling through a gas containing 
n, molecules per unit volume was given by Rayleigh ' 
so long ago as 1871 in the form x=$2°(u?,—1)?A-*/no, 
uo being the refractive index of the gas. It is of 
importance to notice that the law in question is one 
of the most fundamental results of molecular dynamics, 
its final expression being an invariant with respect to 
the theories of the zther or of the molecule employed,’ 
while in its derivation there is no need to draw on 
resources outside classical dynamics and continuous 
energy-flow. From the point of view of elementary 
electromagnetic theory, the above expression for k is 
very easily derived along lines suggested in a problem 
set in part ii. of the ‘‘ Mathematical Tripos ”*; use is 
made of the conventional electrical doublet set into 
forced vibrations by a train of electromagnetic waves; 
by making use of the radiation formula for accelerated 
charges and Poynting’s theorem, the flow of energy 
from the doublet is easily calculated in terms of the 
amplitude of vibration; the oscillations of the doublet 
contribute a term to Maxwell’s displacement current, 
enabling the amplitude to be expressed in terms of the 
refractive index of the gas; by considering the deple- 
tion of energy from the original beam as a result of 
this scattering, and eliminating the amplitude, the 
above expression for x is easily obtained. In a recent 
paper, Natanson * has subjected the derivation of Ray- 
leigh’s law to minute criticism on the grounds of the 
classical electromagnetic theory, allowing for a damp- 
ing term arising from the mechanical reaction due to 
radiation, and taking into special consideration the 
summation of the aggregate radiation from the 
random distribution of doublets which are supposed to 
constitute the molecules of the gas; the final result is 
a vindication of the above expression for the coefficient 
of attenuation to a very high order of accuracy. It 
may be noticed in passing that the same electro- 
magnetic system forms the basis of Planck’s® theory 
of ‘tblack-body” radiation, the interpretation of ex- 
periment in this case, however, necessitating the hypo- 
thesis of discontinucus energy-flow, or the emission 
of energy by ‘‘ quanta.” 

For an adequate experimental verification of Ray- 
leigh’s law recourse must be had to observations on 
the extinction of solar radiation of different wave- 
lengths by the earth’s atmosphere. The importance 
of the observations of the Smithsonian Astrophysical 
Observatory on atmospheric transmission recently car- 
ried out by Abbot and Fowle® in connection with 
their determinations of the solar constant at Mount 
Wilson, in furnishing material for a study of mole- 

1 Rayleigh, PAz. Mag., xli., pp. 107, 274, 447 (1871); ‘‘ Collected Works,” 
i., pp. 87, 104, 518. 

2 Schuster, ‘‘ Theory of Optics,” 2nd ed. (1909), p- 325- 

3 Mathematical Tripos, Part ii., lune 2, 1906. 

4 Natanson, Bull. Luter. de lV Acadéniie des Sciences de Cracovie 
January 5, ror4. 

5-Planck, ‘Theory of Heat. Radiation” (Trans. by Masius, Blakiston’s, 
Philadelphia, 1914). part iv., chap. ili. p. 165. 

6 Annals of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Washington > 


| vol. ii. (1908) ; vol. iii. (1913). 


558 


NATURE 


[JULY 30, 1914 


cular scattering was first pointed out by Schuster’; |*terms of the zenith transmission a, for the most part 


the question was examined in further detail by Natan- 
son ® and independently by the writer.° 

If S refer to the intensity of wave-length 2 outside 
the earth’s atmosphere, and E(x) to the intensity 
normal to the sun’s rays reaching a level x above the 
sea from a zenith distance ¢, we have E(x) =Se-€z see. ¢ 
where C, is the coefficient of attenuation at the station 
in question. If allowance be made for the conversion 
of radiant energy into heat, it is shown by the writer 
that C, may be expressed in the form C,=y+ fA-‘; 
f is proportional to the pressure of the atmosphere, 
so that if 8, refer to standard conditions of pressure 
and temperature we have 8,=£p,/p, where p is the 
barometric pressure at the station at the time of 
observation. Finally, in terms ot the refractive index 
of air under standard conditions, it is shown that 
By = §7°(v?,—1)?H,/n,, where H, is the height of the 
“homogeneous atmosphere”’ calculated at o° C., and 
n, the number of molecules of air per cm.*? under 
standard conditions. It may be remarked that these 
relations may be obtained in a.very general manner 
independently of any assumptions regarding the atmo- 
spheric gradients of temperature and pressure, pro- 
vided that the planes of equal density be parallel to 
the earth’s surface. 

The accuracy of the experimental measure of the 
zenith transmission, a=e-©2, rests ultimately on the 
ratio-of two galvanometer deflections, or the measure- 
ments of two ordinates of a bolograph record, quan- 
tities measurable to well within 1 per cent. Owing 
to the occurrence of the ratio only, corrections due to 
the imperfect reflecting powers of mirrors, absorption 
by prisms, slight reflection from the bolometer-strip, 
etc., do not appear. The determination of the re- 
maining observed quantities, zenith distances of the 
sun, wave-lengths, and barometric pressures are all 


over a range of ten wave-lengths, avoiding regions of 
selective transmission. The average zenith trans- 
mission, a, is determined for a large number of days 
each year; unfortunately it is not quite exact to derive 
the mean coefficient of attentuation as log, a; the 
error committed is difficult to estimate beforehand, 
but will be negligible only when the attentuation 
coefficients are small or when they deviate very little 
from their mean value; actual trial shows that the 
error committed may amount to as much as 2 or 3 
per cent. In addition, there is the probability that the 
constants 6 and y are independent variables; for these 
reasons it seemed advisable to the writer to determine 
B and y independently from each day’s observations 
from the constants of the line of closest fit (calculated 
by least squares) corresponding to the formula 
C,=y+fA-*, taking as variables C, and A~* measured 
in units chosen according to a suitable scale. The 
computations were very ably carried out by Mr. A. A. 
Scott and Mr. Etienne S. Bieler, both of McGill Uni- 


versity, working under a grant from the Rumford ~ 


Fund of the National Academy of Sciences. The daily 
determinations of 8 and y have now been extended to 
all the transmission observations as yet published by 
the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. | Com- 
parison with theory is most conveniently made by cal- 
culating n, according to the preceding formula. For 
each selection of wave-lengths a value of (u?,—1)? 
weighted according to A~* was employed, while the 
barometric pressures at the times of observation were 
obtained through the courtesy of Dr. Abbot. 

Pending full publication and a more detailed dis- 
cussion of the results obtained, a summary of the 
mean values of 6 and y, together with the correspond- 
ing determinations of ,, and the probable deviation 
from the mean is given in the following table :— 


Constants of Atmospheric Absorption. 


Mount Whitney, California. 
Annals, vol. Table No. 


lil. 46 4 


Days 
(1909-10) 


Mean y 
0°014+0'003 


Bassour, Algeria. 


ill. 46 9 (1911-12) 
ill. 46 2 (1912) 


o'080+0'012 
0°27 +0°'OI 


Elevation, 4420 Metres. 
Mean B 
0°0049 +O0‘OOOI 


Average Barometer, 446-7 mm. 


Wave-lengths 
10 wave-lengths, 


0°3274 to 0°574u 


Mean zo 


(2°84 +0°06) x 1o!9 { 


Elevation, 1160 Metres. Mean Barometer, 664-6 mm, 


0°00723 +0°0002 
0700696 £0'0001 


(2°85-£0°:07) x10! ff 


{ Io wave-lengths, 
(2°96+0°03) it 


0°340m to 0°5324 


The marked increase of y in the second series at Bassour is due to the presence of volcanic haze from 
the Mount Katmai eruption, June 6-7, 1912. 


Mount Wilson, California. 


Elevation, 1780 Metres. 


Mean Barometer, 623-5 mm. 


ii. 14 59 (1905) © 052+0'002 0'00673 +0'0001 (2°82+0°'04) x 10!9 4 wave-lengths, 
ll. 4 Oe (1906) 0°058+0'002 0 006134000006 (3°10+0°03) O°40u O'45u O'SOp 
ill 33 114 (1908) 0°076+0'002 000691 +0°00006 (2°75 £0'02) | and 0°60" 

iil : : pee ka : 4 ; ; ( 9 wave-lengths, 
1, 34 96 (1909) 0°031+0'001 0°00687 +0'00008 (2°80+0'03) | us Cane 

iil. 35 15 (1910) 0°023+0'00I 0°00696 £0°00908 (2°76+0°02) J 35é@ O°4Ou O°45u 
a 2 az = ie O'50u 0°70" O'8ou 
iil. 30 113 (1911) 0'022+0°001 0°00606 +0°00005 (2'76+0'02) | (oop t'20p uF6OE 


The mean value of n, obtained by combining the results of Tables 34, 35, 
Hence we obtain for Avogadro’s number the value N=(6+23+0-03) x 102°, 


gives n,=(2-°78,+0°01,) x 162°. 


and 36 (324 days, 1909-11) 


and for the charge on the electron e=(4+64+0:02) x 10-?° e.s. units. 


measurable to a high degree of accuracy, so that it | 


does not seem too much to say that the zenith trans- 
mission can be determined over a considerable range 
of wave-lengths to an accuracy well within 1 per cent. 
Data on atmospheric extinction recently made avail- 
able by the publication of vol. iii. of the Annals of the 
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory are given in 
f Schuster, NaTure, July 22, 1909: ‘‘ Optics,” 2nd ed., 1909, Pp. 370. 
Natanson, Bu/l. Inter. de l' Académie des Sciences de Cracovie, 


December 13, T9QCQ. 
*: King, Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., 212 A, P. 392, 1912. 


NO. 2335, VOL. 93] 


The above determination of n, compares favourably 
with Rutherford’s '° 2-78, Planck’s™ 2-77, and Milli- 
kan’s ?* (2-705+0-005), while the value recently ob- 
tained by Fowle'* from a somewhat different treat- 
ment of the Mount Wilson data gave 2-56. 

10 E, Rutherford and H. Geiger, Roy. Soc. Proc., A, vol. Ixxxi., Igo 
p. 171. 

ll Planck, Zoc. céz., p. 172. 

12 Millikan, Phys. Rev., ii., ser. 2, pp. 109-143, August, 1913: Prys. 
Zeitschrift, xiv., pp. 796-812, September 1, 1913. 

13 Fowle, Astrothysical Journal, xxxviii., No. 4, p- 398, November, 
1Q13. 


JuLy 30, 1914] 


NATURE 


aa he, 


= 
Although the above reductions of a series of self- 


contained observations on atmospheric extinction yield 
a determination of n, to an order of accuracy not very 
much less than that of the best existing determina- 
tions, their chief interest lies in the fact that they con- 
stitute as rigorous an experimental test of Rayleigh’s 
law as may be expected in view of the practical impos- 
sibility of securing absolutely perfect atmospheric con- 
ditions. From the value of y may be calculated the 
fraction of radiant energy converted per cm. of path 
into thermal molecular agitation; taking a value of 
Yo=0-032 for air under standard conditions, it is easily 
shown that in a stream of radiation corresponding to 
the solar constant the rate of increase of temperature 
amounts to 0-015° C. an hour.'* As the above value 
of y, even for the comparatively dust-free air above 
Mount Wilson, includes to a certain extent the effect 
of volcanic haze, it follows that in a pure gas parti- 
tion of energy cannot take place at a rate greater 
than is represented by the above-mentioned rate of 
increase of temperature. We have in this case an 
excellent illustration of two interpenetrating dynamical 
systems (the zthereal system of electromagnetic waves 
and the molecular gaseous system) allowing of parti- 
tion of energy, it at all, at an excessively slow rate 
compared with the rate of equalisation of energy dis- 
tributions which is capable of being realised in each 
system considered separately. It is interesting to 
notice also that this rate is enormously increased by 
the presence of constrained molecular systems (matter 
in the solid or liquid state, such as dust-particles, 
water droplets, etc.). 

Further, the experimental verification of Rayleigh’s 
law to a high degree of accuracy is interesting in that 
its final expression is a result of classical dynamics and 
continuous absorption and re-emission of energy; 
from this point of view it seems to the writer 
that the hypothesis of emission by ‘‘quanta’’ cannot 
be universally applied to radiating molecular 
systems. 

In this connection it is interesting to notice that 
in the recent theory of specific heats as proposed by 
Debye,’® Born and Karman,'® and now generally 
recognised as an adequate interpretation of experi- 
mental results, the interpretation of Planck’s constant 
h has been transferred from association with the indi- 
vidual atom to the process whereby energy is inter- 
changed between molecular systems vibrating under 
those intramolecular forces and constraints which in 
their integrated form determine the elastic properties 
of the solid state. Similarly in view of the above- 
mentioned verification of Rayleigh’s law it is difficult 
to see how Planck’s ‘‘quantum’”’ can be associated 
with the individual molecule, at any rate for that 
system of vibrations which enter into the forced oscil- 
lations with consequent re-emission of radiant energy 
thus constituting the phenomenon of molecular scat- 
tering. In the opinion of the writer one might with 
advantage seek for the interpretation of Planck’s h 
in the problem of ‘‘black-body”’ radiation in the fact 
that the radiating units probably perform vibrations 
under the intramolecular forces and constraints which 
determine the solid state, while at the same time the 
reaction of the total aggregate of radiating systems 
must profoundly modify the character of the radiation 
from the original sources before it emerges from the 
interior of the solid into free space for experimental 
examination. 

Louris V. Kine. 

McGill University, June 6, 1914. 


14 King, doc. cit., p. 394. 
15 Debye, Ann. der Phys., iv., 39, p. 789. (1912.) 
16 Born and Karman, Phys. Zeztschr., xiv., p. 153 also p. 65. (x913-) 


NO. 2335, VOL. 93] 


The Destruction of Wild Peafowl in India. 


May I direct attention to the subjoined extract from 
the Englishman of Calcutta. of June 4 last? It will 
give some idea of the degree to which wild peafowl 
are being destroyed in India so long as the open 
market for foreign plumage exists in the maritime 
countries of Europe. Of course, there is no objection 
whatever to the use of peacocks’ feathers in any form 
of art, but sufficient for the purpose should be ob- 


| tained from the millions of domesticated peafowl in 


Europe, Asia, America, and North Africa, without 
pursuing a war of extermination against the wild 
species still remaining in India. The peacock sheds 
his wondrously beautiful tail feathers every summer 
or early autumn, but I have reason to think that the 
bulk of the peacocks’ plumes exported from India are 
derived from wild birds shot for the purpose. Mr. 
C. William Beebe, of the New York Zoological Society, 
has already directed attention to the extent to which 
the peafowl of India and Burma are being eliminated 
from the woodland. One would only ask in this case 
control of the destruction within reasonable limits. 
H. H. JOHNsTON. 


‘On Tuesday, the Calcutta Customs authorities 
seized forty-four large cases containing peacock 
feathers on one of the steamers. These cases were to 
be delivered at Hamburg. By a mere chance, they 
escaped detection when first presented before shipment 
at the Customs office, but when they had been placed 
on board the steamer, information reached the Cus- 
toms authorities as to their contents. Promptly, 
Customs officers were sent to bring back the cases 
to the office, where on examination they were found 
to contain peacock feathers. 

“The feathers will of course be confiscated and the 
exporter, whose name was not disclosed, will, if found, 
be fined heavily. This consignment of feathers, in a 
way, constitutes a record. A feather which costs half 
an anna in India brings in a very considerable sum 
in Germany. 

“It is stated that cases of smuggling feathers are 
now again becoming very common, and the Customs 
officers are almost daily making seizures of the con- 
traband article. In spite, however, of their vigilance 
in some cases, the smugglers succeed in sending away 
feathers. The smugglers employ ingenious methods; 
in many instances they send the feathers under 
assumed names; then the consignee’s name is also 
very difficult to ascertain and in some cases, where 
valuable feathers are concerned, the smugglers send 
them by post in letters or as registered parcels. 

‘“There is at the present moment a large demand 
for peacock feathers in Europe, and the majority of 
the consignments detected in Calcutta contained 
feathers.”—The Englishman, June 4, 1914. 


THE AUSTRALIAN MEETING OF THE 
BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 


ORE than three hundred members of the 
i British Association (including some forty 
foreign and colonial members) are on their way to 
Australia to attend the eighty-fourth annual meet- 
ing, which begins in Adelaide on August 8. The 
Australian organisation has found it possible to 
offer hospitality to the whole party without dis- 
tinction, and the State Governments are providing 
all the visitors with passes over their respective 
railway lines during the time of the official meet- 
ing. A number of leading members have already 
been for some time in the country for purposes of 


560 


research, and others will remain for some weeks | the plans for the new federal capital have been 


or months after the proceedings terminate in Bris- 
bane on September 1. In the desire that the 
visitors should spend their few week-ends in ac- 
quainting themselves with extra-metropolitan 
activities and possibilities, a heavy programme of 
tours has been arranged, and upon these all 
members from overseas will be the guests either 
of the particular central State organisation con- 
cerned or of a committee in the locality visited. 
It is unfortunate from many points of view that 
it has been necessary to hold the meeting in one 
of the Australian winter months, for much of the 
pleasure of the excursions will depend upon the 
chances of the weather. 

The Western Australian advance party of 
seventy began work in Perth on July 28. Ina 
previous article a summary was given of the 
places to be visited by the various divisions of the 
party. Public lectures will be delivered by Profs. 
W. A. Herdman (Liverpool) and A. S. Eddington 
(Cambridge), Dr. A. D. Waller (London), Mr. 
Henry Balfour (Oxford), and Mr. C. A. Buck- 
master (London). 

On August 8 the whole party from overseas 
will assemble in Adelaide. Twenty mineralogists 
and chemists will leave at once for Port Pirie 
and Broken Hill, the most famous smelting and 
mining centres in Australia. As guests of the 
manager of the Broken Hill Proprietary Company 
and of the Broken Hill Mining Managers’ Asso- 
ciation they will spend four very strenuous days 
before rejoining their colleagues in Adelaide. At 
the first evening discourse to be delivered by the 
retiring president, Sir Oliver Lodge, the chair will 
be taken by the Governor of South Australia 
(vice-president), who will officially welcome the 
Association to the State. Sir Oliver Lodge has 
taken as his subject “The Aéther of Space.” The 
second discourse will be by Prof. W. J. Sollas 
(Oxford), while Prof. E. C. K. Gonner (Liverpool) 
will deliver a Citizens’ Lecture. Sectional presi- 
dential addresses will be given in geography and 
agriculture. The social engagements of the stay 
in Adelaide include a reception by the Governor 
and a ball by the mayor. 

The sectional work proper begins in Melbourne, 
where the party will arrive in three special trains 
on August 13. Presidential addresses will be de- 
livered in the sections of physics and mathematics, 
chemistry, zoology, economics, and physiology. 
Both here and in Sydney the sectional sessions 
will be devoted largely to discussions upon broad 
problems. Among the subjects to be brought 
forward are the structure of atoms and molecules, 
metabolism, the nature and origin of species, wire- 
less telegraphy, the physiography of arid lands, 
some antarctic problems, mimicry in Australian 
insects, town planning, is Australian culture 
simple or complex?, the study of native culture 
in relation to administration, climate from the 
physiological point of view, anzsthetics, the ori- 
gin of the angiosperms, the literary side of educa- 
tion, vocational education, irrigation and dry 
farming. Town planning will be a leading fea- 
ture of the work of the economics section, and 

NO.6 22235 000102) 


NATURE 


[JuLy 30, 1914 


lent to the section by the Commonwealth Govern- 
ment. To those economists whose interests lie 
in current practical politics, the fact that Australia 
will, throughout the meeting, be preparing for a 
General Election early in September may offer 
some attraction. 

Melbourne being the temporary seat of Govern- 
ment, its social functions include a reception by 
the Governor-General and the Federal Ministry, 
to be held on the first night of the meeting. In 
addition, the State Governor and Government 
and the Lord Mayor will entertain the Association. 
Prof. Bateson will deliver the first part of his 
presidential address, and discourses will be given 
by Prof. E. B. Poulton (Oxford) and the Astro- 
nomer Royal, and Citizens’ Lectures by Prof. 
H. B. Dixon (Manchester) and Dr. W. Rosenhain 
(National Physical Laboratory). 

The long journey of 600 miles to Sydney will 
be made during the night of August 19, and on 
the evening of the following day will be delivered 
the second part of the presidential address. The 
public lecturers in Sydney are Sir Ernest Ruther- 
ford, Prof. Elliot Smith (Manchester), Prof. Ben- 
jamin Moore (Liverpool), and Prof. H. H. Turner 
(Oxford). In the sections, besides discussions and 
papers there will be presidential addresses in 
geology, engineering, anthropology, botany, and 
education. The lighter side of the programme 
includes a luncheon by the State Government and 
entertainments by the State Governor and the 
Senate of the University, and a ball by the Lord 
Mayor. 

After the Sydney session the overseas party 
divides. Some seventy proceed to New Zealand, 
while some 200 travel further north on a twenty- 
eight hours’ journey to Brisbane. Here Mr. A. D. 
Hall (agriculture) and Prof. E. W. Brown, of 
Yale (cosmical physics), will address their sec- 
tions, and public lectures will be given by Profs. 
H. E. Armstrong and G. W. O. Howe (London), 
Dr. A. C. Haddon (Cambridge), and at the last 
meeting, Sir Edward Schafer. Social entertain- 
ments have also been arranged. It is likely that 
in most of the capital cities the universities will 
confer degrees honoris causa upon a few of the 
leading members of the visiting party. 

It is not possible adequately and briefly to sum- 
marise the excursions programme. The organisa- 
tion has endeavoured to include those localities 
most suitable from the point of view of the pro- 
fessional interests of the guests, at the same time 
not failing to include some places of chiefly scenic 
attraction. The limits imposed by the necessity 
for easy accessibility and by the exceedingly short 
time at disposal in any one State, have made the 
task very difficult. A wide and probably rather 
embarrassing choice will be open to the visitor, 
but except for those members who can remain in 
Australia after the meeting it will seldom be pos- 
sible to journey very far from the coastline. The 
names of most of the places to which excursions 
have been planned have already been mentioned 
in a previous article. 

Literature in abundance has been prepared for 


JULY 30, 1914] 


NATURE 


Eiesae 


the use of members. The Federal 
gives general accounts of the scientifically impor- 
tant aspects of the country, and it was some time 
ago placed in the hands of prospective visitors. 
It is the intention of the Commonwealth Govern- 
ment also to present a copy to each member of the 
general committee and to each foreign corre- 
sponding member. An admirable supplement to 
this work is given by the handbooks issued by the 
respective States, and by booklets which deal 
specifically with the localities chosen as objects of 
excursions. 


the time which members can spare from their 
work in Great Britain must be spent on the ocean ; 
but it may be conceded that the proposed arrange- 
ments in Australia, if successfully carried through, 
will have offered to the visiting party as full and 


jects of a colonial meeting of the British Associa- 
tion as it is possible to obtain in the short space 
of three and a half weeks, devoted to visiting four 
cities distributed along a stretch of railway line 
1800 miles in length. 


THE ELECTRIC EMISSIVITY AND THE 
DIRECTIVE DISINTEGRATION OF HOT 
BODIES, 
aoe department of physics which concerns 

itself with the electrical and kindred pro- 


Handbook ; 


thermionic currents were due to a kind of “elec- 
tric evaporation” of the unattached electrons ir 
the solid. 
Treating the problem from this point of view, 
Richardson derived his well-known expression :— 
J =abhe- 4%, 


where I is the saturation current, @ the absolute 
temperature, and a and b are constants for any 
particular material. As will be seen, the formula 
(which is identical in type with that of Kirchoff 
for vapour-pressure, and shares its peculiar 


ae PAN a a 
It is a misfortune that so great a proportion of | elasticity "} contemplates the electric emission 
_ as due solely to the effect of temperature. 


It was not until 1912 that doubts were first cast 
on the adequacy of this explanation. Pring and 
Parker (Phil. Mag., January, 1912), working in Sit 
Ernest Rutherford’s laboratory at Manchester, 


well-chosen an opportunity for achieving the ob- | took especial pains to purify and free from gas a 
| sample of carbon rod, and in consequence of these 


precautions found that the thermionic emission 
from the rod in a high vacuum was reduced to a 
value of the order of a million times smaller than 
was indicated by Richardson’s formula. Later, 


| Pring (Proc. Roy. Soc., November, 1913) con- 
_ tinued and refined these experiments, and suc- 


ceeded in further reducing the ionisation currents. 
Clearly, Richardson’s constants for carbon 


_ needed amending, as he himself readily recog: 
_nised, though the two investigators still find them- 


perties of incandescent bodies has recently at- | 


tracted a good deal of controversial attention. 
From the outset, the subject aroused great in- 
terest, possibly in view of its speculative possi- 
bilities for solar physicists and others, and 
numerous workers have carried its development 
into great detail andsome complexity. In a short 
résumé of the two phenomena specifically men- 
tioned in the title of this article, we can do no 
more than touch on general outlines. Of the 


selves in disagreement (Richardson, Proc. Roy. 
Soc., May, 1914) as to the extent of the correc- 
tion which is afforded by Pring’s experiments. 
This point remains at issue, but the further 
observations of Pring on the effect of introducing 
traces of different gases into the vessel containing 
the carbon strongly favour his contention that 


| the thermionic currents owe their origin, at any 


several aspects, the electrical one, now generally | 


” 


known as ‘‘thermionics,” calls for first mention. 
) 


Eleciric Emissivity.—It was Guthrie in 1873, at | 
the Royal School of Mines, who did pioneer work | 
on what we now know to be a characteristic | 


feature of incandescent bodies, and that is, to put 
it simply, their property of emitting an excess 


of positive electricity at a red heat, and at higher | 
| Soc., February, 1912), at the National Physical 
_ Laboratory, had approached the question from 


temperatures, a much larger excess of negative. 
The positive electrification, we have reason to 
believe, is carried chiefly by atoms or molecules 
of either occluded gas (such as CO), or impurities 
such as the alkali metals. 


The degree of the negative emissivity at high | 
| emissions of unparalleled magnitude from carbon 


temperatures was shown by subsequent workers, 


Elster and Geitel among others, to depend not | 
only on the body and its temperature, but also on | 


the nature and pressure of the surrounding gas. 
Sir J. J. Thomson established the fact that no 
matter what the nature of the hot body, the elec- 
tron was the prime agent in the transport of the 
negative electricity; and later, Prof. O. W. 
Richardson (then a student at the Cavendish 
Laboratory), in his early work on a subject now 
associated with his name, concluded that these 


NO. 2425, VOL. 93| 


rate in great part, to an interaction, probably of 
a cyclic character, between the carbon and the 
surrounding gas. Pring tried a number of gases 
—helium, argon, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, etc.— 
and found that the ionisation effects at very low 
pressures followed closely the order of the known 
chemical activities. It may be noted that Freden- 
hagen, working about this time on sodium and 
potassium in a high vacuum, also concluded that 
the thermionic effect was a chemical one. 

In the meantime, Harker and Kaye (Proc. Roy. 


quite another point of view. With the object of 
accentuating these high-temperature currents, they 
had recourse to the carbon-tube resistance furnace. 
Under these conditions they obtained electrical 


at atmospheric pressure, no electromotive force 


being applied. At temperatures approaching 
3000°C. the thermionic current attained a 


value of several amperes, and readily lit up a nest 
of small glow-lamps; it was no longer a question 
for electrometer or sensitive galvanometer. These 
investigators concluded that the effect in their 
experiments was largely conditioned by the 
furnace-gas and the expulsion of the impurities 
present in the carbon. In more recent work, 


562 


Kaye and Higgins have extended these furnace 
experiments to the case of the alkaline earths 
and a number of metals. When these substances 
were suddenly introduced into the furnace, even 
more remarkable electric currents were recorded, 
amounting at 2500°C. to about 4 amperes per sq. 
cm. with barium oxide, about 2 amperes per sq. cm. 
with boiling tin, and rather less with boiling iron. 

Without a doubt, the emission with baryta is 
one owing its magnitude in great part to chemi- 
cal action; and this view, it may be noted, tallies 
with the opinion now generally held that the 
activity of this substance (and of lime) in the 
Wehnelt kathode, is effected largely through the 
intermediary of the residual or occluded gas, or 
possibly of the platinum kathode. 

These conclusions as to the part played by the 
surrounding gas are on all fours with the results 
of recent work by Fredenhagen and Kistner 
(Phys. Zeit., January 15, 1914), and Hallwachs 
and Wiedmann (Berl. Ber., January, 1914) on the 
photo-electric effect. These observers took steps 
to renew continuously (either by scraping or dis- 
tillation) the surface of a metal (Zn and K respec- 
tively) in a vacuum of exceptional excellence, and 
then found that, if elaborate precautions were 
taken to remove any occluded gas as fast as it 
was released, no electronic emission such as is 
ordinarily produced by ultra-violet light could be 
detected. The inference is that chemical action 
plays a prominent part in photo- Peco ay ihe as 
in many thermionic experiments. 

But ‘there are certain. cases described by 
Richardson and his coadjutors, and more recently 
by Langmuir (Phys. Rev., December, 1913), where 
the temperature factor is apparently competent to 
explain. quantitatively the observed phenomena; 
and the present position appears to be that several 
effects may be concerned in tke generation of 
electricity by hot bodies, viz. 

(1) That due purely to Epa anes: 

(2) That due to chemical reaction; 
ably 

(3) That due to a change of state—volatilisation 
and possibly liquefaction. 

It does not follow that all the various causes 
will conspire to help each other. For example, 
Kaye and Higgins noticed that boiling brass gave 
out at 2500° C. a large emission of positive elec- 
tricity, and it may be that in this case the vapor- 
isation effect was positive and sufficiently great 
to mask completely the negative emission due to 
other causes. 

The part played by volatilisation has not re- 
ceived so much attention as the others, but the 
experiments at the National Physical Laboratory 
offer support in favour of this view, which, after 
all, is but an extension of what is well known in 
cases of bubbling and splashing of liquids at 
moderate temperatures. 

The Directive Volatilisation of Metals.—Evid- 
ence of the volatility of metals at temperatures 
well below their melting points is of long stand- 
ing. A familiar illustration is furnished by the 
blackening of tungsten and carbon filament lamps. 


NO: 2325, OL.«03)| 


and_prob- 


NAT GORE 


[JULY 30, 1914 


| : Ae : 
| Deposits of definite outline can often be detected 


on the bulbs of the lamps, and the blackening 
frequently takes the form of a parallel band of 
deposit which is confined to the glass immedi- 
ately opposite the windings of the filaments. The 
fact seems to point to the projection of particles 
in definite directions from the filament. 

We are led to the consideration of a number of 
researches, which have established the fact that 
the particles which are given off from the surface 
of a metal during volatilisation tend to travel in 
straight lines at right angles to the surface. This 


rectilinear emission appears to have been first — 


noticed by Dunoyer (Comptes rendus, 152, p. 
592) at Paris in 1911. In his experiments a piece 
of sodium metal was placed at the bottom of a 
vessel which was highly exhausted. Above the 
scdium were mounted two parallel screens, in 
each of which was a small hole, the one being 
vertically above the other. The sodium was 
heated to about 400° C., so that the liquid metal 
was vaporising freely, though not actually boil- 
ing. Dunoyer found that if a small obstacle was 
placed above the upper diaphragm a _ shadow 
(with umbra and penumbra) was clearly traced 
out in the deposit of sodium condensed on a 
screen above the upper diaphragm. Evidently the 
metal was propagated in straight lines, and 
Dunoyer looked to the individual molecules as the 
carriers of the metal, these molecules being able 
to maintain a straight course owing to the low 
gas pressure. 

But similar experiments carried out by Reboul 
and de Bollemont (Journ. de Phys., July, 1912) 
cannot be quite so simply explained. These ex- 
perimenters mounted vertically within an electric 
furnace two small sheets of metal facing each 
other and a few millimetres apart. One sheet 
(which was usually of platinum) acted merely as 
a receiving screen, while the other consisted of 
the metal the volatilisation of which was being 
studied. With the furnace below 400° C., no 
results were obtained; but at temperatures be- 
tween 400° C. and goo® C. it was found that if 
the volatilising sheet was of copper or silver, a 
black deposit, which closely followed the shape of 
the emitting metal, was obtained on the screen. 
The extent of the effect increased rapidly with 
the temperature. In air at atmospheric pressure 
the best results were secured at about 1 mm. dis- 
tance, 3 mm. being the greatest distance at which 
definite deposits were secured. 

Fig. 1 shows the cruciform deposit obtained in 
air at atmospheric pressure from a copper sheet 
cut in the form of a small cross. In this example, 
the furnace temperature was 850° C., the range 
1 mm., and the time of exposure 30 secs. 

Reboul and de Bollemont repeated the observa- 
tions under various conditions. In oxygen the 
effect was enhanced; in a vacuum, the deposit 
gained in sharpness of outline. Curiously 
enough, in hydrogen, the edges of the strip 
seemed to be the only active regions, so that the 
deposit merely reproduced the outline of the 
strip. 


‘ 
£ 
4 


Juty 30, 1914] 


NATORE 


562 


Kaye and Ewen (Proc. Roy. Soc., June, 1913), 
using an arrangement not very dissimilar to that 
of Dunoyer, obtained some interesting “shadow” 
deposits with iron. One of these, illustrated full 
size in Fig. 2, shows the image obtained by the 
normal interposition of two square-holed dia- 
phragms between a screen and a strip of iron 
heated electrically in a vacuum to 1ooo° C. for a 
few hours. 

This rectilinear projection is probably closely 
associated with what is sometimes termed sput- 
tering, 1.e., the expul- 
sion of molecules, not 
singly, but in relatively 
large aggregates, from 
the surface of hot metals. 
These projected particles 
would, owing to their 
greater mass, be less 
liable to scattering at 
high pressures by the 
surrounding gas mole- 
cules, and so would pre- 
serve their direction of 
flight longer than parti- 
cles with dimensions not 
far from molecular. 

Fig. 3 is a photomicrograph (taken by Mr. 
Ewen, Zeit. f. Metallographie) showing the pits 
which developed in the surface of a specimen of 
wrought iron when heated for about 4 hours at 
1000° C. in a vacuum. 

There are grounds for suspecting that the 
mechanism of sputtering is partly electrical, for 
it was found that the passage of the heating 
current through the specimen itself predisposed 
the metal to more rapid disintegration than if it 


Fic, 1.—D.pysit cast _y heated 


copper strip, cruciform in 
shape, on screen 1 mm, away. 


Fic. 2.—Photograph of diaphragm (on left) and iron 
deposit cast by it. Full size. 


were heated under the same conditions in a 
furnace. 

The practical study of high-temperature 
furnace experiments on thermionics finds raison 
d’étre, if such were needed, in its applicability 
to the problems of solar electricity. If it may be 
regarded as legitimate to extrapolate from the 
results obtained over the range of temperatures 
(up to 3000° C.) possible in the carbon resistance 
furnace, then it would appear that at the esti- 
mated temperature of the sun (5500° C.) the elec- 


NOM2335, VOL. O32] 


| 


trical emissions would amount to many millions 
of amperes. Thus, notwithstanding the gigantic 
areas of sun-spots, there is no difficulty in ac- 
counting for the enormous Currents necessary to 
produce the magnetic fields (from 2000 to 5000 
gauss), which Hale has shown to be associated 
with the whirlpools in sun-spots. On the same 
lines, we may seek to explain also the sun’s 
general magnetism, the vertical component of 
which at the poles is estimated by Hale at about 
50 gauss. 

In conclusion, we may refer briefly to two 
practical developments of the study of the molar 
and electric emissions from hot metals. The half- 
watt lamp and the new Coolidge X-ray tube are 
first-fruits culled by observers equipped with a 


knowledge of the results of pure research, and 
| 


- t 


Fic. 3.—Photomicrograph of surface of iron strip which has 
been heated zz vacuo, showing pits produced by volatilisa- 


tion. X1400. 

an ability to apply them to industrial require- 
ments. The work, carried out at the General 
Electric Co.’s research laboratory in Schenectady, 
is worthy of the attention of those among us 
who, severely practical and immediately utili- 
tarian, seek to deprecate the study of pure science 
in this country. G. W. C. Kave. 


A FORGED “ANTICIPATION ” OF MODERN 
SCIENTIFIC IDEAS. 


Te the 1913 presidential address to the Linnean 
Society, noticed in Nature for January 22, 
1914, Prof. Poulton gave an account of an Ameri- 
can booklet by G. W. Sleeper, dated 1849. The 
work, if genuine, was an extraordinary anticipa- 


564 


NATURE 


[JULY 30, 1914 


tion of many modern conclusi=ns on evolution and | 


the germ theory of disease. The booklet itself had 
been’ sent, early in. 1913, 10 the: later. AL Uke 


Wallace by a Mr. B. R. Miller, who stated that ~ 


he had bought it at a second-hand book store in 
1891 or 1892. Prof. Poulton had also heard of 
the existence of three other copies in the posses- 
sion of the author’s son, Mr. J. F. Sleeper. It 
was pointed out in last year’s address that the 
work was not registered, as stated; that the word 
“agnostic,” introduced by Huxley in 1869, was 
used in its pages; and that there was no reference 
to it in an undoubtedly genuine but commonplace 
pamphlet published by the author in _ 1860. 
Nevertheless, the get-up of the booklet appeared 
to be so genuine and the style so convincing that 
many critical authorities were by no means con- 
vinced that it was a forgery. 

Prof. Poulton, having directed attention to the 
subject, felt that he must make every effort to 
produce a body of evidence which would finally 
decide the question. The investigation, which 
could not be hurried, was only complete by Easter 
of the present year, and its results were communi- 
cated to the Linnean Society in the anniversary 
address on May 25 last. The evidence then pre- 
sented to the Fellows will doubtless lead to the 
undisputed conclusion that the work is a forgery, 
and probably a very late forgery. 

The Type.—Mr. J. W. Phinney, manager of the 
American Typefounders’ Company, Boston, after 
an exhaustive inquiry, concluded that it was “im- 
possible that the title-page could have been set at 
the date claimed for it.” 

The Contract with the Printer.—This document, 
forwarded by Mr. J. F. Sleeper, satisfied many 
authorities, but aroused the suspicions of Prof. 
C. H. Firth and afterwards of Sir Frederick 
Kenyon and Sir George Warner. The printer’s 
signature, dated 1890, kindly sent by his daughter, 
Mrs. Endicott, was similar to that appended to the 
contract. It was submitted to Sir George 
Warner, who thought it “very remarkable that 
after so long an interval as forty years the signa- 
tures should be so precisely identical,” and con- 
sidered it “‘almost easier to believe that the early 
one is a forgery from a considerably later ex- 
ample.” ») An ‘litthe. later Mirs: 


1856 and 1858, in both of which the B of Bense 
was very differently formed. It was evident, as 
Sir George Warner had predicted, that the signa- 
ture of the contract had been copied from a late 
signature of the printer, W. Bense. 

Other evidence of falsification was also sub- 
mitted to the meeting, and will appear in the 
pages of the Society’s Proceedings. It was sug- 
gested in conclusion that the author, self-deceived 


as to the importance of his own ideas, really be- | 


lieved that he had forestalled many conclusions of 
modern science. In this way he might defend the 
falsification of evidence as the only means by 
which justice could be done not only to himself 
but to the history of thought. 


NO: 22235 0,02) 


Endicott succeeded | 
in finding another late signature also similar to | 
that of the contract, and two early ones, dated | 


A similar interpretation might be offered if we 
suppose—and many reasons were given for the 
belief—that the forgery was committed after the 
author’s death by one who knew his feelings and 
shared his delusion that he was the victim of 
injustice. 


THE LANGLEY FLYING MACHINE: 


3 XPERIMENTS. made in May last, at Ham- 
~ mondeport, U.S.A., recall the great share 
which Prof. S. P. Langley had in the development 
of aviation, the occasion being the testing of a 
power-driven man-carrying aeroplane designed 
and constructed by Langley many years ago. The 
aeroplane was completed in 1903, and in Septem- 
ber and December of that year two attempts were 
made to launch it from the top of a house-boat on 
the Potomac River, but owing to defective appa- 
ratus the aeroplane and pilot fell into the river. 
The experiments were discontinued owing to lack 
of financial support, and the rescued flying 
machine was carefully cleaned and preserved in 
the Smithsonian Institution. Now, eleven years 
later, with floats added to replace the launching 
apparatus, actual flight has been obtained on the 
aeroplane substantially as designed except for the 
floats. The engine weighed only 125 lbs., and 
actually developed 52 horse-power, a relation of 
weight to horse-power roughly equivalent to 
that of the first successful Gnome engine. 

The actual flights have so far not exceeded 
ten seconds, and cannot therefore be considered as 


| conclusive evidence of the satisfactory nature of 


the Langley design; the results must, however, 


| be considered in reference to the alterations made 
| this year preparatory to the new tests. The design 


was for a man-carrying aeroplane having a total 
weight, including pilot, of 830 lbs., whilst the 


_ addition of floats and the necessary structure to 
| support them raised the weight to 1170 lbs., and 


appreciably increased the head resistance. If a 


_ launching device of the character first used by the 


Wright Brothers had been adopted, it is probable 
that to Langley would have gone the credit for 
the first successful aeroplane. 


NOTES. 


WE regret to have to record the death, in his sixty- 
sixth year, of Dr. R. J. Anderson, professor of 
Natural History, Geology, and Mineralogy at 
(Queen’s) University College, Galway. 

Lorp WELBy has been elected president of the Royal 
Statistical Society for the session 1914-15. 


Mr. Marconr has had the order of the Honorary 
Grand Cross of the Victorian Order conferred upon 
him. 


Tue Council of the Royal Society of Arts has re- 
ceived from Mr. R. Le Neve Foster a donation of 


| tool. for the purpose of founding a prize in memory 


of his father, the late Mr. Peter Le Neve Foster, who 
was secretary of the society from 1853 to 1879. 


cman pap eee os 


“naowert. 


JULY 30, 1914] 


Ir was decided at a meeting of alpinists held at 
Zermatt on Saturday last to commemorate the 5oth 
anniversary of the first ascent of the Matterhorn 
(falling on July 14 next) by the erection of a marble 
statue of Mr. Edward Whymper at the age he was 
when he first climbed the Matterhorn. The pedestal 
is to be of granite taken from the Matterhorn and 
the monument is to face the peak. The memorial 
will also commemorate Lord Francis Douglas, Mr. 
Hadow, the Rev. C. Hudson, and the guides, Michel 
Croz and the two Tangwalders. The cost will be 
borne by subscriptions. Mr. Justice Pickford, presi- 
dent of the Alpine Club, is to be invited to become 
the honorary president of the memorial committee. 
Dr. A. Seiler was appointed treasurer, and Mr. J. 
Grande, of Berne, honorary secretary. 


Tue gold medal of the Royal Institute of Public 
Health for the present year has been awarded to Dr. 
James Niven, of Manchester. The medal is conferred 
annually on a public health official at home or abroad, 
in recognition of conspicuous services rendered to the 
cause of preventive medicine in the British Empire. 


Tue first presentation of the Savill medal of the 
West End Hospital for Nervous. Diseases has been 
made to Dr. Knowles Boney. The medal has been 
instituted to commemorate Dr. T. D. Savill, who died 
in 1910, whose work in investigating nervous diseases 
is well known. 


Tue Toronto correspondent of the Times states that 
the revenue cutter Bear, with Captain Bartlett, master 
of the lost Karluk, on board, left Nome on July 23 in 
the hope of reaching the survivors of the Stefansson 
expedition, who are believed to be still marooned on 
Wrangel Island. The Bear carries provisions for the 
relief of the marooned party, as it is calculated that 
their food supply will be exhausted by the middle of 
next month, after which they will have to depend on 
game. 


Tue sixth International Dental Congress—the first 
to be held in this country—will take place in London 
next week. It will be formally opened by the Right 
Hon. Herbert Samuel on Tuesday next, and the 
meetings of the sections, of which there will be ten, 
will be held on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. 


A MEETING of the International Pharmaceutical 
Federation is to take place at Berne on August 7 


and 8 under the presidency of Prof. L. van Itallie. | 


According to the Chemist and Druggist the following 
are among the subjects to be discussed :—The report 
of the International Committee on Pharmacopceias ; 
a suggestion to appoint a committee to report on the 
question of the unification of the nomenclature of 
pharmacopeeias; a proposal to publish a uniform 
table of the specific gravities of mixtures of alcohol 
and water; a report on pharmaceutical education; the 
need of a permanent commission to take charge of the 


organisation of the International Congress of Phar- | 


macy; organisation of a Press bureau; and a con- 
ference having for its object the standardisation of 
formulz produced for the purpose of replacing pharma- 
ceutical specialities. 


NOwm23g5, VOL. 93 || 


| Goethals. 
| will be the reading of a number of papers dealing 


| International 


Griese 
NATURE \ AvG#iI 565 
oz | = u 
Tue eighth meeting df ithe Italian Society for the 


Advancement of Science will meet at Bari on October 
8-13, 1914, under the presidency of Prof. Camillo 
Golgi. The secretary is Prof. Vincenzo Reina. The 
congress is divided into three classes: Class A, 
physical and mathematical. sciences; Class B, bio- 
logical sciences; Class C, moral sciences. The 
opening meeting will be held in the hall of the Piccinni 


| Theatre, when Prof. G. Cuboni. will deliver an in- 


augural address on ‘‘The Problems of Southern Agri- 
culture.’’ Addresses will be delivered before the 
conjoint sections by Prof. Coletti on ‘‘ Tripoli and its 
Social Structure’; by Prof. Nasini on ‘‘What has 


. disappeared and what. has been retained or trans- 


formed in chemical. theories of the past century”; 
and by Prof. Sergi on ‘‘Eugenics in relation to 
biology and_sociology.’?- Amongst the papers to be 
read before the special sections, the following may be 
noted: The exploration of the upper atmosphere, by 
P. Gamba; practical generators of electro-magnetic 
waves, by Q. Majorana; the progress of dynamics in 
engineering technics; immunity, by M. Ascoli; 
muscular contraction, by F. Bottazzi; the progress 
of psychiatry, by A. Cerletti; internal secretion and 
anatomical structure, by R. Fusari; vaccinotherapy in 
typhoid, V. Pensuti; the origin and significance of 


_ alternation of generations in plant ontogeny, by R. 


Pirotta; the chlorophyllian pigments, by F. Plate; 
internal secretions from the physiological standpoint, 
by I. Solvioli; the war against harmful insects, by 
F. Silvestre; a series of papers in political and moral 
science, by different authors, is also included in the 
provisional programme. 


THE seventh International Aeronautical Congress is 


_ to be held at the Lyons Exhibition from September 27 
_ to October 1 next, under the presidency of Lieut.-Col. 


P. Renard. 


THE second annual meeting of the Indian Science 
Congress is to be held, under the auspices of the 


_ Asiatic Society of Bengal, in Madras on January 14-16 
; next. 
| Bannerman. 
| Dr. J. L. Simonsen of the Presidency College, Madras, 
' and all 
| should be addressed to him. 


The president will be Hon. Surgeon-Gen. 


The secretary of the local committee is 
communications the 


respecting congress 


A coNGRESS of engineers is to take place on 
September 20-25, 1915, at San Francisco, Cal., 
U.S.A., in connection with the Panama-—Pacific Ex- 
hibition. It will be presided over by Col. G. W. 
One of the chief features of the congress 


with the Panama Canal. These contributions will 
be presented under twenty-two heads, and will include 
a general report by Col. Goethals. 


NExT year’s conference of the British Pharma- 
ceutical Society is to be held at Scarborough under 
the presidency of Mr. Saville Peck. 


AmonG the exhibits in the food section of the Civic 
Exhibition now held in Dublin is one of great in- 
terest. It was originally shown at the Dresden 
Health Exhibition in 1911 and repre- 


566 


NATURE 


[JuLy 30, 1914 


sents, in actual proportions, the cleavage products 
(bausteine) obtained by Prof. Abderhalden from several 
proteins such as caseinogen, gliadin, globulin, etc. 
It was lent by Prof. Abderhalden, of Halle, to Prof. 
W. H. Thompson, who is in charge of the food section 
of the Exhibition. It has never been out of Germany 
before, and is of such value that it is scarcely likely 
to visit this country again. The Exhibition will close 
at the end of August. 


An exhibition of gyroscopic mechanism is being 
organised at the Science Museum, South Kensington, 
and a private view was given on Tuesday last. 


AccorDINnG to Science, the American Ornithologists’ 
Union has appointed a committee on the classification 
and nomenclature of North American birds. The 
members of the committee are Messrs. Allen, Brewster, 
Chapman, Dwight, Grinnell, Merriam, Nelson, Ober- 
holser, Palmer, Richmond, Ridgway, and Stone. 


Tue new Sir Alfred Jones ward of the Liverpool 
School of Tropical Medicine at the Liverpool Royal 
Infirmary was opened by. Lady Derby on Thursday 
last, and was followed by a luncheon at which Sir 
Thomas Barlow spoke highly of Sir Alfred Jones. 
He said the numerous expeditions of the school, 
carried to the very homes of death and disease, had 
afforded records full of real actual romance. ‘Those 
expeditions, and protracted researches in the school, 
had been justified up to the hilt by actual improve- 
ment in the health conditions of the districts concerned 
from carrying out the lessons enforced by research. 
One great achievement of the school had been its 
instruction given in tropical medicine and hygiene to 
post-graduates. 
man how he could profitably begin and make pro- 
visional improvements while the larger schemes were 
getting under way. They had the first stage of re- 
search which happily went on, and the second stage 
of post-graduate teaching which would continue, and 
they were to take on a third function—that of bringing 
the study of tropical disease within the curriculum 
of the medical undergraduate within the school itself. 
The association of the study of tropical diseases with 
that of general medicine could not be too close and 
intimate. The real justification of this step was the 
bringing of the laboratories and the sick man close 
together, so that there might be the readiest possible 
facilities for identifying the real cause of the disease 
and preparing the quickest and most trustworthy 
methods of cure. There was no higher scientific task 
than to cure a sick man. 


THE Special Electricity Committee of the London 
County Council has presented a report to the Council 
based upon the report prepared by Messrs. Merz and 
McLellan (see Nature, April 23, 1914, p. 198). The 
committee recommend the promotion by the Council 
of a Bill in the next session of Parliament to establish 
a new undertaking and a new authority for the 
purpose of controlling its operations, which would 
actually be carried out by a private company, the 
present means of supplying electricity in and around 
London having been found unsatisfactory. According 


NO!,/2235; Vor: 93) 


Instruction in tropical hygiene told a | 


| 4 2 
| to the Times the details of the scheme are, in brief, 


| of India. 


as follow :—A new electricity authority is recom- 
mended consisting of thirty-one members, of whom 
the majority would represent the London County 
Council and the rest the surrounding county councils 
and county boroughs. The new authority will be 
empowered by Parliament to set up a new undertaking 
with a two-fold object : (1) The gradual establishment 
of large generating stations down the river from 
which supplies in bulk will be given to such existing 
undertakings as wish it. (2) The new authority 
will have the right to acquire by agreement existing 
undertakings, whether municipal or company, and 
combine them so as gradually to bring about one 
unified scheme. The area covered is 964 square miles, 
with a population of 73 millions. It contains 7o 
existing undertakings, and about 80 electric gen- 
erating stations; 60 per cent. of the electricity sold in 
this area is at present produced within the county of 
London. 


oe 


Many instances are on record of so-called ‘‘ wolf- 
children,’’? said to have been found in the jungles 
A strange story is now reported from 
Naini Tal, the summer capital of the United Provinces 
of Agra and Oudh, of a female child about nine years 
old found in this neighbourhood, and unable to eat 
anything except grass and chapatis or native griddle 
cakes. She has a great mat of head hair and a thick 
growth on the sides of her face and spine. She bears 
marks of vaccination and is clearly a child who had, 
years ago, been abandoned or strayed into the jungle. 
Her capture is attributed to the fact that she was 
suffering from an ulcerated foot, and she had also 
deep scars on her head and knees. The case has 
attracted much attention, and it will be interesting to 
learn the result of the physical examination of the 
girl which is now being made. 


In the Journal of Egyptian Archzology (vol. i., 
part iii.), Prof. G. Elliot Smith discusses the question 
of Egyptian mummies. It has been generally sup- 
posed that the history of mummification was as old as 
Egypt itself, and many examples of prehistoric remains 
were believed to have been embalmed. But when 


| Prof. Elliot Smith found that the Cairo Museum con- 


tained no mummy earlier than the period of the seven- 
teenth dynasty, the problem attracted his attention. 
There were indications from the discoveries of the so- 
called ‘‘canopic’’ jars, that the practice was very 
ancient; and recent discoveries confirm this supposi- 
tion. We now possess examples of embalming of the 
tenth and twelfth dynasties, and a specimen in the 
museum of the Royal College of Surgeons is proved 
to date from the fifth dynasty, or possibly even earlier. 
The custom, in spite of Christian teaching, lasted 
until the coming of the Mohammedans in the seventh 
century of our era. The methods used and the 
gradual degeneration of the art are described in this 
interesting contribution. 


In the issue of Man for July Mr. Elsdon Best 
examines the occurrence of cremation among the 
Maori tribes of New Zealand. It was never practised 


| as a general custom to the exclusion of other methods 


ares 4 


Juty 30, 1914] 


NATURE 


567 


for the disposal of the dead. It was used in excep- 
tional cases, as, for instance, when a tribe occupied 
open country where fo suitable places for the final 
disposal of the bones after exhumation were avail- 
able; when a raiding party, or even a gang of peace- 
ful travellers, lost one of their members by death 
outside the tribal boundaries; and it was occasionally 
practised to stay epidemic disease. At the time of 
the cremation wands were set up near the pyre as a 
refuge for the separable soul. The custom no longer 
prevails, though cases are known where the corpses 
of British dead were burned by the natives during the 
last Maori war. 


In No. 4 of the second series of Bankfield Museum 
Notes, issued by the Halifax Corporation, Miss L. E. 
Start describes a collection of Coptic cloths presented 
by Prof. Flinders Petrie. The paper deals with 
Egyptian dress from the earliest times, and the evolu- 
tion of the art of weaving is illustrated by excellent 
sketches from the monuments and by a description 
of the methods and appliances used. The cloths fall 
into five groups, of which those representing the period 
320-620 A.D. are the most interesting in the series. 


NORTHERN Europe has experienced a spell of un- 
usually hot weather during July and the thermometer 
has, in places, been high almost throughout the 
month. The type of weather has been anticyclonic 
over Scandinavia and the adjacent regions, and winds 
have been very light. The observations used for the 
following comparisons have been culled from the 
daily weather reports of the Meteorological Office and 
a few missing readings have been interpolated. 
Daily temperatures for July 1 to 24 have been dealt 
with. The mean temperature for the whole period 
at Haparanda, at the head of the Gulf of Bothnia, 
and in close proximity to the Arctic Circle, is 66-4°, 
which is 1-6° warmer than the mean in London, and 
38° warmer than the mean at Bath. At Stockholm 
the mean temperature for July 1 to 24 is 73-0° and 
at St. Petersburg 71-1°, whilst the mean at Nice is 
724°, and at Paris only 65-6°, or o-8° warmer than 
London. The mean maximum or highest day tem- 
perature at Stockholm is 82-1° and at St. Petersburg 
80:2°, whilst in London, where the temperature has 
been in excess of the average, every day at Green- 
wich, from July 1 to 22, having a temperature above 
70°, the mean maximum at Kew was 72-9°. Hapar- 
anda was warmer than London on 15 days out of 
the 24, and St. Petersburg was warmer than London 
on 21 days, and on two days the sheltered thermo- 
meter touched go°. On five consecutive days, July 
3 to 7, the temperature at Bodé, within the Arctic 
Circle, exceeded that in London, and was above 80° 
from July 5 to 7. Stockholm was warmer than Bath 
on 23 days. The colder weather which was being 
experienced over the British Isles during the closing 
week of July had also extended somewhat to most 
other parts of Europe, and the highest day tempera- 
ture in the northern regions had dropped to about 
7Ou: 

ActTING on the advice of the French resident, the 
King of Annam has recently issued an order pro- 


NO. 2335, VOL. 93] 


hibiting the slaughter of the wild elephant in the 
protectorate of Annam. The capture, domestication, 
and sale of these animals will be permitted under 
certain regulations. 


Dr. ALEXANDER IRvING has reprinted, from the 
Transactions of the Hertfordshire Natural History 
Society (vol. xv., part 3, May, 1914), an account of 
recent discoveries of prehistoric horse remains in the 
valley of the Stort. He concludes that the specimen 
discovered has the vertebral column of the zebra and 
of the forest type of horse, and differs in this respect 
from all four skeletons in the Museum of the College 
of Surgeons, as well as from the Prejevalsky horse of 
Mongolia and from horses of the Plateau type. 


Annats of the Durban Museum is the title of a new 
zoological journal, of which the first number, edited 
by the curator, Mr. E. C. Chubb, was published on 
June 1. Subsequent numbers are to be issued after 
such successive intervals as may be found convenient. 
Of the four articles in the present issue, the longest 
is one by the editor on a collection of some 2500 South 
African birds’ eggs, representing 308 species, brought 
together by the late Mr. A. D. Millar; it is illustrated 
by a coloured plate. In a second article, on the bottle- 
nosed dolphins, or perpoises, of the genus Tursiops, 
Mr. F. W. True directs attention to the fact that the 
proper name of the typical species is T. truncatus, and 
not T. tursio, the latter specific designation having 
been originally applied to a larger cetacean from 
Greenland waters, where there is no evidence of the 
occurrence of a bottle-nose of any kind. 


Tue June number of Naturen contains a fully illus- 
trated description of the up-to-date hatchery for sea- 
fishes, which has recently been established at Flode- 
vigen, on the Skagerak, and is now in full working 
order. In addition to the more important apparatus 
used in the hatchery, the illustrations include photo- 
graphs of very young torsk at various stages of 
development. Many millions of these valuable food- 
fishes were hatched last year. 


As the result of two exploring cruises, Mr. James 
Hornell is enabled to report (in Bulletin No. 8 of the 
Madras Fisheries Bureau) the existence off the Tan- 
jore coast of Madras of a trawling-ground of far 
higher value than any of those off the coast of Ceylon. 
It comprises a large plateau lying within the hundred- 
fathom line otf Cape Comorin, and appears to be the 
resort of numerous bottom-feeding food-fishes, which 
are at present fished only in a desultory manner by 
natives with the line. Among these fishes are vast 
shoals of the great oyster-eating ray (Rhinoptera 
javanica), which inflicts such serious damage to the 
pearl-oyster banks. In a second article in the same 
issue Mr. Hornell shows that these and other fishes 
(most of which devour only the immature molluscs) 
are the real cause of the great periodic fluctuations in 
the fertility of the pearl-oyster beds of the Gulf of 
Manaar, which have long puzzled experts. Sugges- 
tions for dealing with the evil are appended. 


EXPERIMENTS on the inheritance of bodily size in 
tame rabbits form the subject of an article by Mr. 
E. C. Macdowell, published by the Carnegie Institu- 


568 


tion of Washington. The details are, however, so 
complex and involved that it is impossible to give a 
summary of the results within the limits of a para- 
graph. 


Tue Scottish Zoological Park has received a collec- 
tion of East African animals, for the most part 
antelopes, the gift of Mr. H. S. Pullar, of Bridge-of- 
Earn. 


In his presidential address to the annual meeting on 
January 22 (as reported in the society’s Proceedings 
for 1913-14) Mr. A. E. Tonge was enabled to con- 
gratulate the South London Entomological and 
Natural History Society on its flourishing condition, 
the number of new members added to the roll during 
1913 being about double those removed. The attend- 
ance at the field and ordinary meetings was, on the 
whole, satisfactory; an important addition has been 
made to the society’s collection of British Lepidoptera ; 
and the number and quality of the papers read (which 
are illustrated by nine plates) were considerably above 
the average. 


CONSIDERABLE additions to the British fauna are 
made in the July number of the Entomologist’s 
Monthly Magazine, Dr. Sharp adding a Continental 
chrysomeline beetle (Dorcatoma punctulata), taken 
near London, Mr. James Edwards several new species 
of the minute insects of the family Typhlocybide, 
chiefly from Nottinghamshire, and Mr. A. E. J.-Carter 
three species of Diptera hitherto known only from the 
Continent. 


In an article published in Naturwiss. Wochenschrift 
of July 5, Dr. E. Hennig directs attention to the extra- 
ordinary number of dinosaurian remains obtained in 
Germany and her East African colonies during the last 
lustrum. The most important of these discoveries 
have been made in the Keuper of Halberstadt and 
the corresponding formation of Trossingen and 
Pfaffenhofen, Wurttemberg, and in the Jurassic and 
Cretaceous strata of Tendaguru and other parts of 
German East Africa. To the remains from Tenda- 
guru reference has been made already on more than 
one occasion. The dinosaurian finds from the Swabian 
Trias formed the subject of a communication made by 
Dr. E. Fraas at the eighty-fifth Versammlung 
deutscher Naturforscher und Aerzte in September, 1913, 
and Dr. O. Jaekel has described the discoveries at 
Halberstadt in vols. i. and ii. of Paléontol. Zeitschrift. 
According to the latter communication, the removal 
of some 100,000 cubic metres of rock has brought to 
light at least one hundred dinosaurian skeletons. It 
may be added that two important papers on the origin 
and morphology of dinosaurs, by Dr. von Huene, have 
been published, respectively, in the Neues Jahrb. f. 
Min. and the Zentralbl. f. Min., 1914. 


In the July number of Wild Life Mr. F. Russell 
Roberts, who is both a great hunter and an 
expert photographer, commences a series of illus- 
trated articles on his experiences among the big 
game of Western and Eastern Africa, dealing in 
this case with the elephant. His photographs of 
herds of these great animals in the jungle are admir- 


NOs, 2335.0 VOlennO) 


NATURE 


[JULY 30, 1914 


able, and well calculated to arouse in stay-at-home 
persons an intense desire to behold such wonderful 
sights. It is a pity that the locality of each photo- 
graph is not given, as if this had been done the pic- 
tures would have been of value to the naturalist in the 
determination of the local races of the species. If we 
might hazard a guess, we should regard the topmost 
of the two photographs facing p. 120 as representing 
the big sharp-eared elephant of the White Nile, and 
the one facing p. 112 as a central or western race. 


A REPORT upon the mineral production of the Philip- 
pine Islands during the year 1912 has been issued by 
the Division of Mines of the Bureau of Science of the 
Government of the Philippine Islands. This publica- 
tion is interesting both for its contents and as evidence 
of the progress that our American friends are making 
in their self-imposed task of civilising the Philippine 
Islands. From the economic point of view the 
mineral production is not important, its total value 
being given as 3,514,745 pesos (356,120l.), two-thirds 
of which is made up of such items as clay pots, bricks, 
lime, sand, gravel, etc., which are not usually in- 
cluded amongst mineral productions. The only 
mineral of any real importance is gold, of which 
27,582 fine ounces were produced, valued at 118,794l., 
this being treble the production of the previous year. 
It is interesting to note that there is a small produc- 
tion (141 tons) of charcoal pig-iron, consumed in 
making castings, such as pots and ploughshares, for 
the local market. It is greatly to be regretted that 
the coal output shows a very serious falling off from 
20,000 tons to 2720 tons. The fact that the report is 
issued uncut is presumably due to the still rudi- 
mentary stage of civilisation so far attained in the 
Philippines. 


The Canadian Department of Mines is conducting 
an elaborate investigation into the preparation and 
properties of metallic cobalt and its alloys, with the 
object of increasing the demand for this metal, and 
thus giving greater economic value to the large 
deposits containing it at Cobalt, Ontario. The re- 
searches are being conducted under Dr H. T. Kalmus 
at Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, and the 
results of the first portion of the investigation have 
just been published in a bulletin of the Department 
of Mines. This portion deals entirely with the pre- 
paration of metallic cobalt by the reduction of the 
oxide, the reducing agents employed being respec- 
tively carbon, hydrogen, carbon monoxide, and 
aluminium. The results of the experiments are given 
with great—perhaps with excessive—detail, and show 
that, as might have been expected, all the above 
agents can reduce oxide of cobalt completely under 
suitable conditions; there is thus little that is new, 
except that the temperatures at which the reactions 
take place have been carefully recorded. 


THREE out of every five great earthquakes occur 
along the borders of the Pacific Ocean, and, in the 
western and more active margin, one of the most 
sensitive districts is that consisting of the Philippine 
Islands. During the year 1913 there were, according 
to the Rev. M. Saderra Masd, 160 shocks important 


f 


Juty 30, 1914] 


enough to be timed. Two of those which occurred in 
eastern Mindanao (on March 14 and April 18) were 
registered all over the world, and were followed by 
after-shocks too numerous to chronicle. Two other 
earthquakes (on August 23 and September 4) were also 
recorded at Formosa and Zikawei. 


No. 8 of vol. ii. of the Economic Proceedings of 
the Royal Dublin Society contains a lecture delivered 
by Prof. G. T. Morgan before the Royal Dublin 
Society on ‘‘Modern Dyes and Dyeing.” This gives 
an interesting review of the history of modern dyes 
and synthetic colouring matters. Amongst other 
matters, it is stated that more than go per cent. of 
the world’s demand for indigo is now met by the 
synthetic product. A recent discovery of great in- 
terest is that made by Friedlander, who has shown 
that the antique dye, ‘“‘Tyrian Purple,’? which was 
extracted by the ancients from several species of sea- 
snails, found in the Mediterranean, and was highly 
prized in Italy and Greece, is in reality dibromoindigo. 


_ A VALUABLE contribution to our knowledge of the 
distribution of radium emanation in the earth’s atmo- 
sphere is made by Messrs. J. R. Wright and O. F. 
Smith, of the University of the Philippines, in the 
February number of the Philippine Journal of Science. 
Working in Manila and on Mount Pauai at an alti- 
tude of 2460 metres, they found by the charcoal ab- 
sorption method that the average amounts of emana- 
tion present during the eight months of observation 
in terms of its radium equivalent were 82x 10-12 
grams at sea-level and 19 x 10-!? grams on the moun- 
tain. In both cases the ratio of the greatest to the 
least amount observed was 4 to 1, and the changes 
were closely related to the weather. Fair weather 
gave high, and heavy rain low content which was 
especially low during typhoons. As the authors pro- 
pose to continue their observations, it is to be hoped 
that they will attempt to trace the paths traversed by 
the winds which give the high and low values 
respectively previous to their arrival at the islands. 


WE learn from the Engineer for July 24 that work 
on the reconstruction of the Quebec bridge over the 
St. Lawrence River is making very satisfactory pro- 
gress. The entire substructure was completed last 
season, and the coming season will see considerable 
progress on the erection of the superstructure. The 
superstructure is constructed partly of carbon steel and 
partly of nickel steel, the floor members being con- 
structed of the former, and the truss members of the 
suspended span, together with the greater part of the 
cantilever arms, of the latter material. Drawings 
giving the arrangement and principal dimensions of 
the superstructure are included in the article. The 
bridge is designed for 5000 lb. per lineal foot. Wind 
load is assumed at 30 lb. per square foot of exposed 
surface of the two trusses and 1-5 times the elevation 
of the floor, and 300 Ib. per lineal foot as a moving 
load on the exposed surface of the train. In consider- 
ing temperature stresses, the following conditions 
were assumed: a variation of 150° F. in the tem- 
perature of the whole structure. A difference of 50° F. 
between the temperature of steel and masonry. 


NO. 2335, VOL. 93]| 


NATURE: 569 


difference of 25°F. between the temperature of a 
shaded chord and the average temperature of a chord 
exposed to the sun. A difference of 25°F. between 
the outer webs exposed to the sun and the inner webs 
of the compression members. 

Messrs. E. Merck, of 66 Crutched Friars, London, 
E.C., have issued a pamphlet containing a list of the 
Merck chemicals now stocked in London. Consider- 
able additions have been made to the number of 
articles which are kept regularly in stock, especially 
as regards ‘‘ Merck’s Guaranteed Reagents.”’ Special 
labels are attached to the latter, which show the 
impurities from which these reagents have been shown 
to be free, when tested according to the well-known 
Merck standards. The list of stock now includes 
about 650 articles, and about goo subdivisions, so that 
immediate delivery can be guaranteed for all the more 
important pharmaceutical and analytical preparations. 


' OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 


Comet 1913f (DELAvAN).—The ephemeris of Dela- 
van’s comet (1913f) given below is the continuation 
of that published by Dr. G. van Biesbroeck in Astro- 
nomische Nachrichten, No. 4739 :— 


a (true) Decl. (true) Mag. 

July go... «9559 63. «... +38 18 445 63 
av cess, nOsr, Bie Se 38 41-9 
Aug. I 2; 5 82 58 45:2 
2 8 146 39 18 54:3 

3 Ir 24:8 39 «86 6:2 
4 14390 59 2777 
5 YT 5G Sh. 22 4 TOS O9 

6 6 21 19-9 . +40 40 17-9 6-1 


The comet is situated in the region about @ Aurige. 


AstRONOMICAL Notes FOR AuvuGusT, 1914.—The 
planet Jupiter will be a fine object for observation, 
being in opposition to the sun on August 10, and 
visible during the whole night. 

‘The great red spot and hollow in the southern 
equatorial belt should be observed and the times of 
their transits across the central meridian of Jupiter 


taken. These may be expected to occur at the follow- 
ing approximate times :-— 
he) mM: hay sim: 
AMIE ui, 2.2, O30 Aug. 20 Q, 125 
10 Gr io 22 it 
13 8 38 25 8.27 
15 10 16 27 9 
17 Tis 54 29 E47 
18 yess) BOi, Kiss af) oe 
The spot is now in longitude about 205°. Its 


accelerated motion since the middle of the year 1914 
has caused it to lose 153° of longitude, which repre- 
sents a westerly drift of about 105,000 miles. The 
rotation period derived from the motion of the spot 
was in 1910 equal to 9h. 55m. 37°4s., in 1913 it was 
gh. 55m. 35°9s. 

Tue Meteoric SHOWER OF PerRsEIDS.—During the 
past few years not many of the Perseids have been 
observed. This year they commenced early, Miss 
Cook at Stowmarket saw them on July 14. The 
maximum will probably occur on August 11, but there 
will also be many meteors on August 12. The moon 
will somewhat interfere with the success of the obser- 
vations, as she rises on August 11 at 9.1 p.m., and on 
August 12 at 9.14 p.m., but she will be nearing third 
quarter, and her light will therefore not be strong. 


A ! Observers should ascertain, by counting the horary 


570 NATURE 


numbers, when the maximum occurs, and the brighter 
meteors, both Perseids and non-Perseids, should be in- 
dividually recorded as regards their apparent paths 
amongst the stars and their durations of flight. 


PHotomMetric TEsts OF SpEcTROscoric BINARIES.— 
Mr. Joel Stebbins gives an account of his photometric 
tests of spectroscopic binaries (Astrophysical Journal, 
vol. xxxix., No. 5), and it is interesting to note that 
the attempt has been successful. His first experiments 
were made in 1904, with a visual photometer ; but, not 
succeeding in finding any new variables, he laid the 
problem aside for a time. The perfection of the 
selenium photometer has led him to renew the tests 
and the results are described in his paper. Using a 
telescope of 12-in. aperture, he has limited himself 
in the first instance to stars brighter than third mag- 
nitude, and arranged his programme of binaries so 
as to observe them at the proper times. Then he 
computes from the spectroscopic elements the instants 
when the longitude from the node is equal to 90° or 
270°, and observes at these times. The observations 
are most difficult because of the exacting requirements, 
and only work on the very first-class nights is pos- 
sible. Mr. Stebbins has considered that the most 
favourable cases for inquiry are the systems of short- 
period and large range of velocity, or those which have 
a large value: for m*, sin *i/(m,+m,). So. far his 
observations have led him. to discover four eclipsing 
stars, while sevet: other stars are considered as con- 
stant. The following table summarises his results :— 


Eclipsing Stars. 


Star Period @ Spectrum mia sin’ 7 
; (724 +72)? 
B Auriga 55 jes 2-00." 4.2.6" si AO - & (O:5e 
Oy @rionis —..., 25:5 (Be hot aes Oe] Bs) wae’ 4 0:00 
a Virginis eae AOU 9 este? Jas @ "OO 
e Corone . 1 MeL ies oy tee cA) sae j 10°06 
Constant Stars. 
a Andromedz 9667-22. Ao ae OATS 
a Aurige . 1O2:02. '%..28' eGo ao Ones 
z Orionis ... 29740. YOES Soe e Lote 
a, Geminorum ... 2:93 “i. Ao +» 0:0097 
a, Geminorum ... 0:22". ca AG 22th  OFOOR5 
¢ Ursz Majoris... 20:54 — 22.0 Ap J.5))) VOrAG 
2 -Scorpiie.. £0 he. 6339" San ot Jo Toe 


LaTITUDE VARIATION 1913-0 TO 1914-:0.—Prof. Al- 
brecht communicates to the Astronomische Nachrich- 
ten, No. 4749, provisional results of the International 
Latitude Service for the period 1913-0 to 1914-0. The 
information is presented in a form similar to those 
previously published, and so is familiar to readers of 
this column. Since 1912 the amplitude of variation 
has become rapidly reduced. A useful diagram 
accompanies the communication displaying graphic- 
ally the track of the pole from 1909-0 to the beginning 
of the present year. 


A CLosE COMPANION TO 7 ArGus.—Mr. R. T. A. 
innes publishes in the Monthly Notices for June (vol. 
Ixxiv., No. 8, p. 697) some details about the magni- 
tude of » Argus and the discovery of a close com- 
panion. The former observations were made as it 
was reported that this star had become a naked eye 
object in 1913, but it is shown here that since 1899 
the magnitude (7-7 about) has not changed, no varia- 
tion greater than the errors of estimation being 
detected. On June to Mr. Innes found that » Argus 
was not a single star, but had a faint companion 
north following (74°, 1”, mags. about 8-0 and 10-5). 
Mr. Innes recalls an observation of his made in 1go0, 
when he found the star single, and he refers to Prof. 
See’s unsuccessful search in 1897 for duplicity. Thus 
he concludes that there is a fair a priori probability 


NOs 232 5,uNOL. OR) 


[JuLy 30, 1914 


that the companion is in orbital movement, and sug- 
gests that the outbursts of light which have occurred 
in the past have been caused by periastral grazings. 
Two other observers corroborated the presence of this 
companion, and it was further noticed at the same 
time that » Argus appeared fuzzy, it being impossible 
to focus this star sharply while neighbouring stars 
of much the same hue, as well as. those both redder 
and yellower, could be sharply focussed. 


RELICS OF A: LOST (CULTURE, IN; 
ARIZONA. 


ne J. WALTER FEWKES gives a detailed and 
fully-illustrated account of his archzological 
investigations of the Casa Grande, and in the Upper 
Verde River and Walnut Creek valleys, Arizona, in 
the Twenty-eighth Annual Report of the Bureau of 
American Ethnology, 1g06-7 (1912). Immediately 
after the discovery of Casa Grande by Father Kino 
in 1694, there arose a legend, which became _per- 
sistent, that it was one of the halting-places of the 
Aztec .on their way south. There is, however, no 
evidence to connect the inhabitants of this building 
with any of the tribes of the Mexican plateau. 

The ruins consist of four compounds and several 
‘*clan houses.’’ The compounds are surrounded by a 
rectangular wall and contain numerous buildings; in 
one there is a large castle-like building, the Casa 
Grande. The builders evolved two distinct types of 
architecture: (1) ‘‘great houses,’’ with thick walls, 
apparently constructed by many persons—features 
which point to these structures as devoted to public 
purposes; (2) one-room habitations with wattle walls, 
provided with a central fire-place in the floor, and with 
a doorway in the middle of one of the long sides. 
The presence of stone idols (of which many are 
figured) indicates a well-developed ceremonial system. 
While the inhabitants possessed effective weapons in 
the form of spears and bows and arrows, they were 
essentially agricultural, cultivating fields of maize, and 
possibly beans, squashes, and the like. They also 
gathered mesquite beans. They wove various fibres 
into coloured belts and cloth, and raised cotton. They 
made basketry and unglazed pottery, which they 
decorated with symbols. In disposing of their dead 
they practised both cremation and inhumation. 

Dr. Fewkes concludes that the whole drainage 
system of the Gila river was inhabited by an agricul- 
tural people in a homogeneous stage of culture. 
Throughout this region existed minor divisions of a 
common stock. The Pima aame Hohokam, or 
Ancients, may be adopted to designate this ancestral 
stock, to whom may be ascribed the erection of the 
casas grandes on the Gila. These ‘‘ great houses” 
were places of refuge, ceremony, and trade. They 
were inhabited by, and ruled by, chiefs, whose names 
are known to the present Pima. The people lived in 
small huts of perishable character, not unlike the 
Pima jacales of historic times. In the course of time 
a hostile faction bent on pillage came into this region 
from the east and west and drove the agriculturists 
out of their casas grandes, or, at least, broke up the 
custom of building such structures. But, although 
dispersed, the ancient house builders were not exter- 
minated ; some of them became refugees and migrated 
south into Mexico, some followed the course of the 
Verde and the Tonto into. the northern mountains; 
but others, perhaps the majority, gradually lost their 
former culture, and remained in the Gila valley, 
becoming the ancestors of the present Pima, Papago. 
and Kwahadt (Quahatika). Those who went north- 
ward later built pueblos, now in ruins, in the Little 
Colorado valley. Their descendants ultimately joined 


De ete Ry! ae 


ee a 


Jury 30, 1914] 


NATURE 


571 


the Zufi and the Hopi, according to their legends, 
with whom they still live. 

Although Dr. Fewkes refers to the Hohokam as 
being ‘‘ homogeneous,”’ the fact that they practised two 
forms of burial would lead one to suppose a mixture 
of two cultures. He also points out that whereas the 
Hohokam dwellings were rectangular, those of the 
Pima are circular in form, but some of the Pima 
houses are rectangular; also the Pima do not burn 
their dead. Dr. Fewkes concludes by saying: ‘In 
considering the prehistoric migrations of agricultural 
peoples in the south-west, especially with respect to 
changes in culture and to diminution of population, 
we must not lose sight of the influence of increased 
salinity due, directly or indirectly, to long-continued 
prehistoric irrigation. This cause was perhaps more 
effectual than human enemies or increased aridity [as 
Ellsworth Huntingdon claims] in breaking up the pre- 
historic culture. If barrenness of the soil, due to the 


This new base was measured near the town of 
Lossiemouth, on the southern shore of Moray Firth, 
and the operations have been described in Professional 
Paper, No. 1, 1912, where the probable error of the 
final value is given as 1 in goo,ooo. The original 
triangulation was computed in terms of the, 1o-ft. 
standard bar of the Ordnance Survey, and a useful 
chapter of this paper places on record the relations 
between this bar, the French legal metre, and the 
international metre of the Bureau International des 
Poids et Mesures. The three stations—Corriehabbie, 
Mormon Hill, and Knock of Grange—in the principal 
triangulation were selected near the Lossiemouth 
base for the work of verification; but some difficulty 
was experienced on account of the observation points 
not having been marked originally in as permanent 
a manner as is now employed, wooden pickets having 
been used. All triangulation points that are now 
being occupied and those of the test triangulation are 


Bird's-eye view of Compound A, from the east. 


cause mentioned, led to the abandonment of populous 
aboriginal compounds, this fact has an important bear- 
ing on the future of the white farmers in the Gila and 
Salt River valleys.” A. C. Happon. 


THEAORRINCIPAL TRIANGULATION. OF 
THE UNITED KINGDOM.! 


ites publication of the Ordnance Survey deals 
with a subject of especial interest, since it sets 
forth the operations which were undertaken in 1910, 
Ig11, and 1912, in order to test the accuracy of a 
portion of the principal triangulation of the United 
Kingdom, and discusses the results obtained. This 
triangulation, which was observed during the seventy- 
two years, 1783-1855, comprises 552 triangles, and the 
mean error of an angle as given by Ferrero’s formula, 


2 
m=4/*4 is +1-8”, a value which is somewhat larger 
than that of recent first order triangulation. This 
raised the question whether the triangulation was suit- 
able for incorporation with recent Continental geodetic 
work. It was therefore decided to measure a new 
base in a part remote from the principal bases of the 
triangulation at Lough Foyle and on Salisbury Plain, 
and to re-observe a portion of the principal triangula- 
tion in its neighbourhood. 


1 Ordnance Survey. Professional Papers, new series, 2. ‘‘ An Investiga- 
tion into the Accuracy of the Principal Triangulation of the United 
Kingdom.” By Capt. H. St. J. L. Winterbotham. With an Introduction 
by Col. C. F. Close. Pp. 20+v plates. (London: H M. Stationery Office ; 
Wyman and Sons, Ltd., 1913.) Price 2s. 


NO. 2335, VOL. 93| 


marked with bronze bolts set in rock or in a thick 
foundation of concrete. 

The angles were measured with a 12-in. theodolite 
constructed for this work by Messrs. Watts and Sons, 
the horizontal circle being read by means of three 
microscopes. Eight arcs were observed, and the mean 
error of an angle in the twenty-nine triangles is given 
as +0:517". 

For marking the points to be observed both lamps 
and heliostats were provided, the pattern being the 
same as that used in the measurement of the arc of 
meridian in Uganda; but it was rarely possible to use 
the heliostats even during the exceptionally fine 
summer of 1911, and practically all the observations 
were made on lamps. ‘The theodolite is briefly but not 
exhaustively described, and a detailed investigation of 
it would be of much interest. The readings of the 
horizontal circle are to single seconds, and to tenths 
of a second by estimation; the vertical circle is only 
6 in. in diameter, and is read to one minute of arc, 
being merely intended for setting to any known angle 
of elevation. 

A special plumbing telescope, which is screwed into 
the upper horizontal plate, and can be focussed to view 
marks at from 3-20 ft. distant, provides the means 
for accurately centring the instrument over the station 
mark. Concrete observing pillars were used at each 
station, and were made with a central vertical shaft 
over the station mark, this being illuminated through 
horizontal view-holes provided in the base of the pillar. 

A large triangulation error which was found in the 


We 


NATURE 


[ JULY. 30, 1914 


base extension is discussed, and the conclusion is 
reached that it was probably due to lateral refraction 
caused by a cairn near to which the doubtful ray 
passed. 

The alterations which this check triangulation would 
produce in the sides which were revised were from 
I in 39,000 to I in 94,000, and the angular corrections 
from 0-989" to 1-066". 

Captain H. Winterbotham proceeds to discuss the 
accord between the bases which have been measured 
at Salisbury Plain, Lough Foyle, Lossiemouth, and 
the French base at Paris, calculated through the side 
Cassel les Harlettes, and investigates the accuracy of 
the triangulation as shown thereby. Four other bases 
which were measured with Ramsden’s steel chains at 
the beginning of the eighteenth century are also com- 
pared, though they were not used in the reduction of 
the triangulation, and are in good agreement with 
the other results. 

The general result is to show that the alteration 
which would probably be caused by the re-measure- 
ment of an arc in the United Kingdom would be small, 
and that the agreement between the calculated and 
computed lengths of the Salisbury Plain and Lough 
Foyle bases was not accidental, since the other bases 
here used indicate an accuracy of triangulation of the 
same order. 


THE BONAPARTE FUND. 


puke Committee appointed by the Paris Academy 
_of Sciences to allocate the amount placed at 
its disposal by Prince Bonaparte, makes the following 
proposals for grants during 1914. 
_ 2000 francs to Dr. Pierre Breteau, for the con- 
tinuation of his researches on the use of palladium 
in analysis and organic chemistry; 2000 francs to 
M. Chatton, to enable him to continue his researches 
on the parasite Peridinians; 3000 francs to Dr. Fr. 
Croze, for the purchase of a concave diffraction 
grating and a 16 cm. objective, to be used in work 
on the Zeeman phenomena in line and band spectra ; 
6000 francs to Dr. Hemsalech, for the purchase of a 
resonance transformer and battery of condensers, to 
be used in his spectroscopical researches; 2000 francs 
to P. Lais, for assisting the publication of the photo- 
graphic star map; 2000 francs to M. Pellegrin, to 
assist him in pursuing his researches and continuing 
his publications concerning African fishes; 2000 
francs to Dr. Trousset, to assist him in his studies 
of the minor planets; 2000 francs to M. Vigouroux, 
to enable him to continue his researches on silicon 
and its different varieties; 3000 francs to M. A‘luaud, 
to assist the publication (with Dr. R. Jeannel) of the 
scientific results of three expeditions to eastern and 
central Africa; gooo francs divided equally between 
MM. Pitart, de Gironcourt, and Lecointre, members 
of the Morocco expedition, for scientific study, 
organised by the Société de Géographie; 2000 francs 
to M. Vasseur, for the continuation of his geological 
excavations in a fossil bearing stratum in Lot-et- 
Garonne; 3500 francs to Dr. Mauguin, for the con- 
tinuation of his work on liquid crystals and the re- 
markable phenomena presented by these bodies when 
placed in a magnetic field; 2000 francs to Dr. Anthony, 
to defray the cost of his researches on the determinism 
of morphological characters and the action of primary 
factors during evolution; 4000 francs to M. Andover, 
to assist the publication of his new set of trigono- 
metrical tables; 4ooo francs to M. Bénard, to enable 
him to continue, on a larger scale, his researches on 
experimental hydrodynamics; 2000 francs to Dr. 
Chauvenet, for the continuation of his researches on 


NO, 723355 VOlMmOg| 


zirconium and the complex combinations of that ele- 


ment; 2000 francs to Frangois Franck, for the chrono- 
graphic study of the development of the embryo, with 
special examination of the rhythmic function of the 


| heart; 2000 francs to M. Sauvageau, for the pursuit 


! 
| 


| 


of his studies on the marine alge. 

The Committee recommends these eighteen grants 
after considering close upon sixty applications for 
assistance. The amount allocated for the year is 
54,500 francs. 


NAPIER TERCENTENARY CELEBRATION. 
pes Tercentenary Celebration of the publication 
of Napier’s Description of the Wonderful Canon 
of Logarithms opened formally on July 24 under the 
auspices of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. On 
Thursday at two o’clock, however, the Committee 
was able to open to the members of the congress the 
exhibition of books, calculating machines, mathe- 
matical models, relics of Napier, portraits, and other 
objects of mathematical interest. A fair number of 
visitors had already arrived in the city, and on the 
Friday morning the examination room of the Uni- 
versity, in which the exhibition was arranged, was a 
lively scene. The tide-predicting machine under the 
charge of Mr. Edward Roberts attracted a large 
amount of attention. Many forms of arithmometers 
and calculating machines, from the abacus of the 
East and Napier’s ‘‘ Bones’? down to the beautiful 
instruments of the present day occupied a large part 
of the hall. Each member received, along with his 
membership card, the handbook of the exhibition, a 
large octavo of 340 pages, which contained, not only 
a descriptive catalogue of. what was on exhibition, 
but also sustained scientific articles on sun-dials, slide 
rules, integraphs, planimeters, harmonic analysers, 
nomograms, mathematical models, etc., etc. The 
articles were contributed mainly by members of the 
mathematical departments of the Universities of 
Edinburgh and Glasgow, under the editorship of 
E. M. Horsburgh. 
The opening meeting of the congress was held in 
the debating hall of the University (Students’) Union. 
The Lord Provost of Edinburgh occupied the chair 


and introduced Lord Moulton in a brief speech, re-- 


calling the main facts of Lord Moulton’s mathematical 
career. Among the audience which filled the fine hall 
may be mentioned Prof. Andoyer, Prof. Bauschinger, 
Prof. Cajori, Sir William Bilsland, Dr. Dugald Clerk, 
Prof. Conway, Dr. Glaisher, Dr. J. P. Gram, Prof. 
Hill, Prof. Hobson, Prof. Macdonald, Major Mac- 
Mahon, Dr. Conrad Miller, Sir Alexander Napier, 
Prof. Nielsen, Prof. d’Ocagne, Prof. Putnam, Berke- 
ley, Cal., Dr. Sheppard, Prof. Stekloff, limiting the 
list to a few of the representative men from a 
distance. 

Lord Moulton, in his inaugural address, endeavoured 
to trace the origin and growth of the ideas which 
finally took form in Napier’s Descriptio. Emphasis 
was laid upon the fact that Napier’s first table is a 
table of logarithms of sines. This seemed to indicate 
that Napier’s intention was to facilitate trigono- 
metrical calculation, although in the Descriptio itself 
this limitation soon disappears from view. Lord 
Moulton divided what he judged to be the course of 
discovery into three stages. The first stage was to 
create tables which would enable numbers to be 
multiplied together without actually performing the 
calculation. For this purpose they must proceed in 
an order resulting from continued multiplication. 
The word logarithm seems to preserve the trace of 
this stage. for there can be little doubt that the word 
means ‘‘the number of the ratio.’? The second stage 


Juty 30, 1914) 


NATURE 


J73 


consisted in passing from the idea of figures to the 


geometrical representation of the quantity by a line, | 
the repeated operations being perfectly represented by | 
repeatedly cutting off the same fraction of the dimin- | 


ished length. This led Napier to establish the 
proposition that the logarithms of proportionals are 
‘equally differing.”’ Napier felt fully the importance 
of this proportion, and he literally revelled in it, 


showing how it enabled us to find mean proportionals | 


of all kinds, extract roots, calculate powers. In the 
third stage he boldly applied his principle to con- 
tinuous motion. Napier was now ready to calculate 
his table. We give Lord Moulton’s own ~ words. 
‘*He (Napier) takes the radius and forms from it a 
geometrical series where the reduction between suc- 
cessive terms is one-hundredth. Say he takes 60 
terms of such a series. 
all these terms and he writes them over against the 
number. These are widely separated by intervals 
commencing with 100,000 and diminishing as_ they 
proceed. He then takes each of these numbers as the 


first terms of a geometrical series, where the reduc- | 


tion is 5000 out of the million, i.e., one two- | 
thousandth. He knows the logarithms of all these 
numbers. . . . Thus he has 1200 numbers fairly well 


distributed over the field, and of these he knows the 
logarithms. . . . They are to serve as his measuring 
posts. He therefore takes the table of sines which 
gives the numbers of which he wished to calculate 
the logarithms. Taking each sine he sees where it, 
regarded as a number, comes in the scale. It cannot 
be far from a measuring post. His method enables 
him to make a proper allowance in its logarithm for 
this small difference in fact, and as the logarithm of 
the measuring post is known the logarithm of the 
sine is known also... . I have now given you, as 
I read it, the line of discovery which led up to 
Napier’s table of logarithms. What deeply impresses 


me is his tenacity of aim combined with his recep- | 


tivity of new ideas for attaining it. From first to 
last it was a table of logarithms of sines that he 
proposed to make and he did not permit himself to 
be turned aside from that purpose till it was com- 
pleted. His concepts evidently widened as he _ pro- 
ceeded. . . . As soon as the discovery had actually 
seen the light... . Napier proceeded justifiably to 
destroy the scaffolding which had been so serviceable 
in the erection of the building. For example, the 
plan of taking the radius as the starting point had 
been of inestimable service in keeping up the con- 
tinuity of his methods. Before his tables were pub- 
lished he had seen that this was unnecessary and he 
proclaimed it to be so in the Descriptio. We know 
that at this time he had seen that it would be better 
to start from unity as the number the logarithm of 
which should be zero... . A still more remarkable 
change which he himself proposed was to follow up 
the last proposal by fixing unity as the logarithm of 
10. That this could be safely done could scarcely 
have been seen by him until the completion of his 
work. From the top of the mountain he could see 
how the climb might be made easier by deviations 
which to the climbers might well seem to be courting 
unnecessary difficulty. . . . Napier took twenty years 


to do the work—many of which, probably the greater’ 


part of which, were spent in arriving at his method. 
[t would be sad to think that most of this was wasted 
because the solution came by a lucky chance at the 
last. In my view all these years did their share, 
and I have tried to show how gradual and continuous 
was his progress. As to the greatness of the achieve- 
ment it is needless to speak. Logarithms have played 
well nigh as important a part in mathematical theory 
as in practical work. We know infinitely more of 
their nature than Napier or any man of Napicr’s age 


WO 2335, VOL..93) 


He knows the logarithms of | 


| 


| paper on 


could have done. We have means of calculating them 
so effective that if all the logarithmic tables in the 
world were destroyed the replacing them would be 
the work of a few months. But not all the three 
centuries that have elapsed have added one iota to the 
completeness or the scope of the two and only existing 
systems of logarithms as they were left by the genius 


| of John Napier of Merchiston.”’ 


On the Saturday forenoon the members met in one 
of the class-rooms of the University to discuss chiefly 
historic questions relating to the discovery of log- 
arithms. Prof. Hobson was voted to the chair, and 
Dr. Glaisher opened the discussion by an interesting 
certain aspects of Napier’s work. He 
pointed out how difficult it is for us with our con- 
venient notations and modern notions, to realise what 
a supreme intellectual effort it must have been for 
Napier to do what he did. The problem solved by him 
would be expressed now-a-days in terms of a simple 
differential equation. The interesting view which 
Lord Moulton had brought forward the previous day 
was worth our consideration, although he himself had 
never thought of getting behind the beautiful geo- 
metrical approach given in the Descriptio. 

Prof. Eugene Smith, of New York, read a paper 
on the law of exponents in the works of the sixteenth 
century; Prof. Cajori discussed algebra in Napier’s 
day and the alleged prior inventions of logarithms; 
Lieut. Salih Mourad, of the Turkish navy, gave a 
short account of the introduction of logarithms into 
Turkey; and in a brief note from Dr. Vacca, of Rome, 
it was pointed out that a compound interest rule 
given in an Italian work of the fifteenth century 
virtually contained the approximate calculation of the 
Napierian logarithm of the number 2. Prof. Gibson 
communicated a careful discussion on the question of 
Napier’s logarithms and the change to Briggs’s 
logarithms. These historic papers raised a good deal 
of discussion, in which the authors already named, 
the chairman, and Dr. Conrad Miller took part. Dr. 
Glaisher agreed very emphatically with Prof. Cajori 
that it was dangerous to take information second 
hand. An error carelessly made by one historian was 
copied by others, and once the error got started it 
was difficult to get rid of it. It was not always easy 
to reach first sources. He had, for example, never 
seen a copy of Biirgi’s antilogarithmic table (as it 
would be called now) until the day before, in the 
exhibition, when, through the kindness of the Town 
Librarian of Dantzig, a copy had been placed on view. 
The other side of Napier’s mathematical work was 
represented by a paper by Dr. Sommerville on Napier’s 
rules and trigonometricaily equivalent polygons, with 
extensions to non-euclidean space. 

On the Friday night the Lord Provost of Edinburgh 
and the Town Council gave a brilliant reception in 
the new Usher Hall. On Saturday afternoon the 
members were received at a garden party by the 
governors and headmaster of Merchiston Castle 
School, and were shown the small room at the top: of 
the battlemented tower where Napier used to think 
and work. On Saturday evening the members and 
their friends met for social enjoyment in the hall of 
the University Union. 

A memorial service was held in St. Giles’s Cathedral 
on the Sunday at 3.30 p.m. The officiating clergyman 
was the Rev. Dr. Fisher, of St. Cuthbert’s Parish 
Church, of which church John Napier had been an 
elder, and in the graveyard of which his body lies 
buried. A special feature of the service was the 
presence of the masters and boys of Merchiston Castle 
School. They numbered 260, and filled the transept 
of the Cathedral 

CG: 


G. Knorr. 


574 


NAIURE 


[JULY 30, 1914 


THE STARS AROUND THE NORTH POLE. | 


N KNOWLEDGE of distances of the stars is of 
fundamental importance in any attempt to 
describe the stellar universe It is required, before 
answers can be given to questions on the average 
distances of stars from one another, their brightness 
compared with the sun, and the extent to which they 
reach in space. There are not more than 100 or 150 
stars of which the distances have been measured with 
any degree ot accuracy. Although this number is being 
steadily increased, it is only the stars which are com- 
paratively near to the sun whicn can be treated 
individually. For the greater number we have 'to be 
content with average values which apply to groups 
of stars. 

A map or a photograph of the stars gives only their 
bearings—that is to say, their directions as seen from 
the earth. It gives no information whatever about the 
distances. One star may be a hundred times as far 
away as its neighbour on the map. But if two maps 
are made, separated by a sufficient interval of time, 
some differences will be found in the relative positions 
of the stars. These indicate movements either of the 
stars themselves or of the point from which they are 
viewed. But the movements which are observed are 
merely changes of angular position. We cannot tell 
directly from them either the actual velocities or dis- 
tances of the stars, but only the ratio between these 
quantities. It is, however, from the geometrical study 
of these small angular motions, supplemented by the 
information obtained from the spectroscope as to the 
velocities of stars in the line of sight, that cur know- 
ledge of their distances is derived. 

The problem is in many ways analogous to one 
which has been completely solved. In the early days 
of astronomy the movements of the wandering stars 
or planets were noted. ‘The essential characteristics 
of the movements were embodied in geometrical 
formule by the Greeks. In the course of time 
Copernicus showed that these formula could be most 
simply interpreted on the assumption that the earth 
revolved round the sun. His purely geometrical 
arguments were, it is true, powerfully reinforced by 
the revelations of Galileo’s telescope. Nevertheless, 
the planetary system as formulated by Copernicus and 
Kepler resulted from the observation of the angular 
movements of the planets and the attempt to give them 
the simplest possible geometrical interpretation. 

Further study of the planetary system has been 
guided and controlled by the law of gravitation. But 
the observational data on which our very complete 
knowledge of the solar system is based, the distances, 
sizes, and movements of all its members, are a long 
series of measures of the angular movements as seen 
from the earth. Linear measurements are only re- 
quired to obtain the form and dimensions of the earth 
itself, and thus supply a base line to determine the 
scale of the system. 

The fixed stars present us with a very similar 
problem. From the study of their small angular 
movements, supplemented by spectroscopic observa- 
tions, it is required to construct as far as possible a 
model of the stellar universe. Such a model would 
give for each star :— 

(i) Its actual position in space, measured along three 
axes with the sun as origin. 

(ii) The velocity in kilometres a second in each of 
these directions. 

(iii) The brightness or luminosity, taking the sun as 
unit. 

(iv) The mass. 

(v) The size. 

(vi) The physical and chemical constitution. 


1 Dise urse delivered at the Royal Institution on Friday, April by 
Dr. F. W. Dyson. F.R.S. a Same > 


NO; 2335, VOL. 93] 


Of these elements the mass is at present only deter- 
muinable tor double stars, and the size for eclipsing 
variables. The physical and chemical constitution are 
known trom spectioscopic observations tor a consider- 
able number of stars. But the distance and absolute 
brightness can be tound only tor a limited number of 
the nearer stars. Average results can, however, be 
obtained for the more distant stars, which tell us :— 

(1) The number within certain limits of distance 
from the sun. 

(2) The mean velocities of these stars, and what per- 
centage are moving with given velocities, say, for 
example, between 10 and 20 kilometres a second. 

(3) Whether these velocities are irregular or show 
anything in the nature of streaming in particular 
directions. 

(4) What proportion of the stars are comparable with 
the sun in intrinsic brightness, and what proportion 
are ten times or one-tenth as bright, and so on. 

Such a description of the stellar system is, to a large 
extent, within the powers of astronomers, and we 
nurse the perhaps extravagant hope that generalisa- 
tions will be discovered which will lead to the formula- 
tion of dynamical laws on the constitution of the 
stellar universe. 

A small area round the pole has been chosen as a 
sample, because this part of the sky has been observed 
more fully than any other of equal extent. It forms a 
small cap extending to a distance of 9° from the pole, 
and covering about 1/160 of the whole sky. In the 
years 1855-6 Carrington, an English amateur 
astronomer, well known from his observations of 
sun-spots, using a very small transit instrument, 
observed the positions of all the stars in this part of 
the sky from the brightest down to very faint stars 
between the toth and 11th magnitudes. He thus 
constructed a catalogue, giving with great accuracy 
the positions of 3700 stars for the year 1855. About 
the year 1900 these stars were re-observed at Green- 
wich by a combination of visual and photographic 
observations. By comparison with the positions as 
given in Carrington’s Catalogue, the angular move- 
ment of each of these 3700 stars in forty-five years is 
determined. These angular movements, or ‘‘ proper 
motions ’’ as they are technically called, are the data 
available for obtaining the actuai positions and move- 
ments of the stars in space. We have to solve the 
geometrical problem of making these stars stand out 
in three dimensions, so that we may see them as we 
see a picture in a stereoscope. 

Now the proper motions of stars are very small. 
The star of largest proper motion moves only 870" 
a century. An idea of the smallness of this motion 
may be obtained from the tact that it will take two 
centuries to move a distance equal to the apparent 
diameter of the sun or moon. There is no star 
among those near the North Pole with a _ proper 
motion so great as this. The following table gives 
an abstract of the proper motions of the 3726 stars 
under consideration :— 


Taste I. 

Limits of Number 
Proner Motion. of Stars. 

> 40" a century a8 2 
20°—40" 4, , eae 39 
IO—20° we 134 
See os a sis 574 
34 ee wee 977 
Oi ea alae ‘ed 2,000 


It is clear that the stars with large proper motions 
must either be moving fast or must be comparatively 
near. These are the alternatives, but for an individual 
star it is impossible to decide between them. 

The table shows how largely the proper motions 
of stars vary in amount. They differ just as widely 


*thwe ee 


Jury 30, 1914) 


in direction. Some signs of irregularity in the direc- 
tions were first detected by Sir William Herschel, 
who found that the movement of seven quick-moving 
stars situated in different parts of the sky were 
approximately directed to one point. He observed 
that this would result if the proper motions arose not 
from the movement of the stars themselves but from 
that of the point of observation in an opposite direc- 
tion, and concluded that the solar system was moving 
towards a point in the constellation Hercules. This 
conclusion was not universally admitted for some 
time, but researches by Argelander, Airy, Bessel, and 
others demonstrated a regular drift among the stars, 
such as would arise if on their otherwise irregular 
movements were superposed this common motion. A 
large number of researches have been made on the 
exact direction of the sun’s motion, and it is now 
established with some certainty that it is towards a 
point in right ascension 18h. and declination 35° N., 
not far in direction from the bright star Vega. The 
speed of the sun’s motion through space has been 
determined by spectroscopic observations. On _ the 
average, stars near Vega appear to be approaching 
us, stars in the opposite direction to be receding 
from us. In this way Prof. Campbell has found from 
the observed velocities of 1500 stars that the solar 
system is moving at the rate of 195 km. a second. 


/ 


Fic. 1 


The fact that the sun is moving with a velocity of 
195 km. a second in a known direction supplies us 
with a means of determining the average distances 
of groups of stars. This velocity carries the sun 
forward in a century a distance equal to 412 times 
the sun’s distance from the earth. It-at the beginning 
of the century the sun is at S, and at the end has 
moved to S/, the angular distance of a star situated 
at P, and having no motion of its own, will have 
increased from ASP to AS’P. The difference of these 
angles, which is the proper motion of the star, is 
SPS’, and it follows that the distance (SP) can readily 
be deduced. We cannot, however, say that any 
individual star is at rest, but if we take a sufficiently 
large group of stars it is legitimate to suppose that 
in the average the peculiar movements of the separate 
stars are eliminated, and the mean distance of the 
group can be inferred. 

During the last twenty or thirty years the proper 
motions of many stars hive been determined by the 
comparison ot modern with earlier observations. 
Particularly the reduction by Dr. Auwers of Bradley’s 
observations made in 1755 led to the accurate deter- 
mination of the angular movements of the brighter 
stars. The proper motions of fainter stars have been 
found by comparison with observations made in the 
first half of the nineteenth century. These have all 


NO. 2335, VOL. 93] . 


NAIURE 


aS 


| been utilised to determine the direction and angular 


amount of the dritt produced in the stars by the 
motion of the solar system through space. ‘lhe results 
were very puzzling, because aitlerent mathematical 
methods and different groups of stars gave widely 
ditterent directions for the solar motion. ‘lhe cause 
was discovered about ten years ago by Prof. Kapteyn, 
who found in the proper motions ot the stars another 
indication of regularity, or perhaps it might be called 
a systematic irregularity smaller than the one dis- 
covered by Herschel, but unmistakable when once 
pointed out. He interpreted these systematic irre- 
gularities to mean that the stars are divisible into two 
groups streaming through one another in opposite 
directions in space. Prof. Kapteyn’s discovery has 
been submitted to mathematical analysis by Prof. 
Eddington and Prof. Schwarzschild. Their researches 
have illuminated the whole subject of stellar motions ; 
and though they are not in entire agreement, they 
leave no doubt of the existence of a preferential move- 
ment among the stars towards the north part of 
Orion and the diametrically opposite direction in the 
constellation of the Serpent. 

We must next consider the motus peculiares—the 
irregular movements of the stars themselves. From 
observations of the velocities of stars in the line of 
sight, especially from those made at the Lick 
Observatory under Prof. Campbell’s direction, it is 
known that a few stars are moving with great 
velocities, such as 109 km. a _ second, while 
others are moving very slowly. The following 
analysis of Campbell’s results for one class of stars 
—those of spectral type A—(taken from a paper by 


Prof. Eddington) shows the proportion of slow- 
moving, moderate, and quick-moving stars :— 
Tasce II. 
Velocities Number of stars Number of stars 
observed given by error law 
o—5 kil/sec_... 55 oes 534 
5—10 bce 47 13s 46°2 
1o—16 she 30 fe 38°3 
16—25 at 30 aA 27°4 
25—4o soe 10 Soc 67 
> 40 ete fe) aa fo) 


Comparison with the third column of the table 
shows that the velocities are distributed in accord- 
ance with the law of errors. The law is identical with 
that found by Maxwell for the velocities of the 
molecules of a gas. In the case of a gas, this dis- 
tribution of velocities results from the frequent col- 
lisions. For the stars there is no evidence that it 
has resulted from their interaction. It must be regarded 
as an observational fact which permits us to say that 
the distribution of the velocities of the stars is stated 
concisely by this simple mathematical formula. 

The three movements—the movement of the solar 


| system in space, the streaming of the stars— and their 


irregular movements are all shown in their proper 
motions. The figure (taken from a paper by Mr. 
Jones—Monthly Notices of the RAGS nVOlamiextiver 
p. 196) exhibits the proper motions of some of the 
brighter stars situated near the North Pole. If the 
stars had all been placed at the origin they would in 
a century have spread out as shown in the figure. 

This spreading out has been caused by :— 

(i) The solar motion, which has shifted the centre 


of gravity of the swarm towards 180°. 


(ii) The peculiar motions of the stars themselves, 
which have spread them out in the directions towards 


| go° and 270°. 


" (iii) The streaming in the direction 0° to 180°, 
which, combined -vith the peculiar motions, has made 
the spreading out much greater in this than in the 
perpendicular direction. In this part of the sky the 


576 


NAT ORE 


[JuLy 30, 1914 


streaming happens to be in the direction of and 
opposite to the solar motion. 

Let us now consider the proper motions of the 
3700 stars observed by Carrington in the light of 
these discoveries. The shift of the centre of gravity 
caused by the solar motion is 1°44” a century. As we 
know how far the sun has moved in a century, this 
gives the average distance of these stars as fifty 


270° 


90° 
fic. 2.—Proper Motions of Group A5-F9. 


When suitable allowance is made for the accidental 
error in these observations, it is found that the number 
less than any given amount 7 can be represented by 
the following algebraical formula :— 


‘e 
3700 == oe 
ee ea) 

The distribution of the angular velocities is 


shown in Fig. 3 (A), the total 
number being represented by 
the area of the curve; the num- 
ber, for example, between 2” 
and 3” a century is given by 
the shaded portion. 

Now suppose that all these 
stars were actually moving 
with the same velocity, say 
10 km. .a second, then their 
distance could be calculated, 
those with proper motion 1’ 
a century being forty million 
times as distant as the sun, 
those with proper motion 2” 
a century twenty million times, 
those of 4” a century ten million 
times, and so on, the larger the 
proper motion the nearer the 
star to us. 

This is only an_ illustration ; 
the velocities of the stars are 
not all the same, but are dis- 
tributed according to the law 
of errors. If the distance of 
each star were known, then by 


180 


million times the distance of the sun from the earth. | dividing the velocity by the distance the proper 
Turning now to the proper motions in a direction | motion would be found. We have to find 
perpendicular to that of the sun’s motion, which arise | how many are at one distance, how many at 
from the moius peculiares of the stars themselves. | another, so that the proper motions will be 
Counting these cross proper motions, we find them | distributed in accordance with the law found 
divided as shown in Table III. from the observations. 
o! i" 2" 3" a" 5" 6" 7" PER CENTURY. 0 10 20 30 40 50 oy [he SEC 
A.—Distribution of angular velocities. Fic. 3. B.—Distribution of linear velocities. 
Tas_e III. Fig. 3 (B) shows the distribution of linear veloci- 


are greater than 15'0’ a century 
lie between 10°0” and 150” a century 


<1) 

33.05) 9 80 ” ikeme) ss 
GGmrs a (ko) So : 
IQI |, > AOS 5, 7) OO : 
873 ’ ” 2°0 % 40 a 
2504 ,, As Clon. 2°0 Fic 
NO:/ 2335.) VOlLu Gal 


ties, the shaded portion, for example, giving the 
| proportion moving between 30 and 4o km. a second. 
Now the distribution of angular velocities is shown in 
(A), and the question arises: How must the stars be 
_ distributed in distance for these twe laws to har- 
| monise ? 
(To be continued.) 


JuLy 30, 1914] 


NATORE 


577 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 
INTELLIGENCE. 


CAMBRIDGE.—The following awards for post-gradu- 
ate research have been made at Emmanuel College :— 
A studentship of 150l. to J. Morrison for contin:1a-ion 
of research on the igneous rocks of the English Lake 
district; a grant of 25]. to G. Williams for study in 
animal nutrition; and a grant of 5ol. to \V. D. 
Womersley for investigation of the specific heat of 
gases at high temperatures. 


Lonpon (University CoLiece).—Dr. T. B. John- 
ston, lecturer on anatomy in the University of Edin- 
burgh, has been appointed lecturer and demonstrator 
of anatomy in the faculty of medical sciences, and Mr. 
G. N. Watson, fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, 
has been appointed a member of the staff of the 
department of pure mathematics for the session 
1914-15, in succession to Dr. A. N. Whitehead, who 
has resigned. 


Dr. D. Starr Jorpan, . Chancellor of Leland Stan- 
ford University, has been elected president of the 
National Education Association. 


Tue biennial Huxley lecture will be delivered by 
Sir Ronald Ross, K.C.B., F.R.S., at the Charing 
Cross Hospital Medical School on October 1. 


Tue University Court of Edinburgh University has 
received and approved a proposal from the honorary 
secretaries of the Royal Victoria Hospital for Con- 
sumption for the foundation of a chair of tuberculosis. 


, Mr. A. J. MarGetson, at present assistant professor 
at the City and Guilds (Engineering) College, Ken- 
sington, has been appointed to the professorship of 
civil and mechanical engineering at the Technical 
College, Finsbury, in the place of Prof. E. G. Coker. 


THE sum of 400,000 dollars has recently been given 
to the Yale Medical School of Yale University for the 
foundation of a fund to be known as the ‘‘Anna 
M. R. Lauder Fund,’’ in memory of the late Mrs. 
George Lauder. The donors stipulate that a memorial 
professorship in public health be established for the 
benefit of the state of Connecticut. 


THE report for 1914 of the Council to the members 
of the City and Guilds of London Institute has now 
been published. It deals fully with the work of the 
City and Guilds. (Engineering) College, the City and 
Guilds Technical College, Finsbury, the South I.ciidon 
Technical Art School, the Department of Technology, 
and the Leather Trades’ School. During the past 
session 4559 classes in technological subjects were 
registered by the Department of Technology in 315 
towns. These classes were attended by 54,510 
students, showing an increase of 511 on ::st year’s 
numbers. The examinations were held in 74 techno- 
logical subjects, for which 21,878 candidates entered 
from centres in the United Kingdom alone. In- 
cluding the candidates from India, and the Overseas 
Dominions and the candidates for special examina- 
tions and for teachers’ certificates in manual training 
aud domestic subjects, the total number examined 
was 25,339. Examinations were held this year in 
the following parts of the Empire outside the United 
Kingdom :—India, New Zealand, South Africa, 
Jamaica, Malta, and Singapore. The number of 
Indian candidates continues to increase and this year 
reached the total of 343; the number of candidates 
from New Zealand was 327. During the past session 
232 new names have been added to the Institute’s 
register of teachers in technology; 91 centres were 
visited by the Institute’s inspectors; and in numerous 
other ways the department has been extending its 


NO. H2g25, VOL. -93,| 


activities. There can be no doubt, says the report, - 
that the teaching of technology has greatly improved 
during the past few years; but it is noted that the 
examiners have still to direct attention to the in- 
sufficient knowledge that some candidates possess of 
the principles of their subjects, and to the lack of 
practical knowledge shown by others, and they cannot 
escape from the conclusion that the unsatisfactory 
answers in certain groups of papers indicate faulty 
teaching as the source. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
DUBLIN. 

Royal Dublin Society, June 23.—Prof. William Brown 
in the chair.—Prof. H. J. Seymour: Preliminary notes 
on the bathymetric survey of some Wicklow lakes. 
Those dealt with were the two lakes at Glendalough, 
and the larger of the two loughs Bray. The latter, 
which is a typical moraine-dammed corrie lake, is at 
an elevation of about 1200 ft. above sea-level and 
has a maximum depth of about 150 ft. A noteworthy 
feature is the occurrence in one part of the lake of 
a steep cliff, about 54 ft. high, the upper edge being 
go ft. below the surface of the water. The shape 
suggests that it is composed of rock and not of 
moraine. The large lake at Glendalough, about one 
mile long and a quarter of a mile broad is shallower 
and more uniformly contoured than the above. The 
deepest sounding obtained was approximately roo it. 
There is fairly satisfactory evidence that the trough 
in which the lake lies is ‘‘overdeepened.’’—Prof. J. 
Joly: Experiments on the presence of thorium in 
Moss: (1) The preparation of 


cancers, etc.—R. J. ; 
radium emanation for therapeutic purposes. (2) The 
reduction of radium sulphate. 
Care Town. 
Royal Society of South Africa, June 17.—Dr. L. 


Péringuey, president, in the chair.—Dr. W. A. Jolly : 
The electrical discharge of narcine. Curves of the 
electrical discharge of a fish of the Torpedo family 
(species not yet determined) were exhibited. The 
curves were photographically recorded by the string 
galvanometer. The direction of the current through 
the fish is from the ventral to the dorsal surface. The 
deflections which make up the shock occur with a 
rhythm of about 50 a second.—K. H. Barnard ; Living 
Phreatoicus. Although in most respects an_Isopod 
Phreatoicus has peculiar features which link it on to 
the Amphipods. So far the only members of this 
family have been found in Australia, New Zealand, 
and Tasmania. Last year, however, another species 
was discovered on Table Mountain. This is further 
evidence of a former land connection between the 
southern continents.—L. Péringuey: Bushman paint- 
ings from Southern Rhodesia. The tracings throw 
quite a different light on the technique and probably 
the mental evolution of the Bush people who executed 
them. As usual, animals abound, but they are much 
more skilfully delineated than those from the Cape 
Colony, Orange Free State, Natal, etc. ; the graceful 
attitude and outline of some of them make those of 
the latter look commonplace. For instance, the spiral 
of the horns of the koodoo is very plainly indicated, 
which is not the case in any of the numerous transfers 
from the Cape, etc., known to the author. Then the 
representation of the human figure is of a much supe- 
rior type, and seems to indicate a slight phase of 
transition with the hieratic style of Egypt.—Prof. 
Roseveare : (1) A proof by elementary methods, without 
complex quantities, that every algebraic function (with 
real coefficients) has factors of the form x*—px+q 
(p, q real). (2) Malet’s proof that every equation has 
roots, real or imaginary, equal in number to its degree. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 


Publications of the United States Naval Observa- 
tory. Second series. Vol. viii. Pp. xxxvii+46s. 
(Washington: Government Printing Bureau.) 

Wookey Hole. Its Caves and Cave Dwellers. By 
H. E. Balch. Pp. xiv+268. (London: Oxford Uni- 
versity Press.) 25s. net. 

On the Effects of Volcanic Action in the Production 
of Epidemic Diseases in the Animal and in the 
Vegetable Creation, and in the Production of Hurri- 
canes and Abnormal Atmospherical Vicissitudes. By 
Dr. H. J. Johnston-Lavis. Pp. xii+67. (London: 
John Bale, Sons, and Danielsson, Ltd.) 3s. net. 

The Pupil’s Class Book of Geography. The British 
Isles.. By E. J. S. Lay. Pp. 118. (London: Mac- 
millan and Co., Ltd.) 6d. 

The Elements of Non-Euclidean Geometry. By. Dr. 
D. M. Y. Sommerville. Pp. xvi+274. (London: G. 
Bell and Sons, Ltd.) ss. 

An Elementary Treatment of the Theory of Spinning 
Tops and Gyroscopic’ Motion. By H. Crabtree. 
Second edition. Pp. xv+193. (London: Longmans, 
Green and Co.) 7s. 6d. net. 

Oxygen and Cancer: A Biological and Bio-chemical 
Study. By L. Cresswell. Pp. 43.. (Bradford: Mat- 
thews and Brooke.) 1s. net. 

Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. 
Part ii. Vol. xxxiv. Session 1913-14... Pp. 113-208. 
(Edinburgh: R. Grant.) 6s. 4d. 

Meteorological Office. The Seaman’s Handbook of 
Meteorology. A Companion to the Barometer Manual 
for the Use of Seamen. Pp. vi+191. (London: 
H.M. Stationery Office; Wyman and Sons, Ltd.) 2s. 

Supplement to the Indian Journal of Medical Re- 
search. Proceedings of the Third All-India Sanitary 
Conference held at Lucknow, January 19-27, 1914. 
Vol. i. Discussions and Resolutions. Pp. ix+367. 
(Calcutta : Thacker, Spink and Co.) 

Die vorzeitlichen Saugetiere. By O. 
V+309. (Jena: G. Fischer.) 8.50 marks. 

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of 


Abel: = Pp: 


London. -Series Bi Volk cev.- On the Floral 
Mechanism of Welwitschia mirabilis, Hooker. By 
Dr. As THs °Church: * Pp. 115-151. (London: Royal 


Society.) 
Complex Ions in Aqueous Solutions. 


By Dr. A. 


Jaques. Pp. vi+1s5r1.- (London: Longmans, Green 
and Co.) 4s. 6d. net. 

Wild Life in the Woods and Streams. By Coe 
Palmer. Pp. xv+206. (London: A. and C. Black.) 
3s. 6d. 


Institute of Metals. First Report to the Beilby 
Prize Committee of the Institute of Metals on the 
Solidification of Metals from the Liquid State. By 
Deel Deseh —Pp.:.57—-1718) (London.) 

Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scot- 
land. Session 1913-1914. Some Causes of Injury to 
Steel after Manufacture. By Dr. C. H. Desch. Pp. 
33-, (Glasgow.) 

Akta Parlan Eller Lifsgatan vid Dagsljus Lost 
Medelst Sanning of Sanning. Pp. 100. (Goteborg.) 

An Introduction to the Study of Plants. By Dr. 
Be Beiischeand wp. J. Salisbury. Pp. viii+ 
397. (London: G. Bell and Sons, Ltd.) 4s. 6d. net. 

Optical Rotatory Power. Reprinted from the 
Transactions of the Faraday Society, Vol. x., Part i. 
Pp. 96. (London: Faraday Society.) 7s. 6d. 

Solutions of the Exercises in Godfrey and Siddons’s 
Shorter Geometry. By E. A. Price. Pp. viii+ 160. 
(Cambridge University Press.) 4s. 6d. net. 


Linear Algebras. By Prof. L. E. Dickson. Pp: 
viii+72. (Cambridge University Press.) 3s. net. 
Geological Literature added to the Geological 


NO“2335, VOL. Q3i| 


NATURE 


[Jury 30, 1914 


Society’s Library during the Year ended December 
31, 1912. Pp. 266. (London: Geological Society.) 
28. 

A Little Book on Map Projection. By Mary Adams. 
Pp. viii+ 108. (London: G. Philip and Son, Ltd.) 2s. 

Liverpool Marine Biology Committee. L.M.B.C. 
Memoirs on Typical British Marine Plants and 
Animals. XXII. Echinoderm. Larve: By H. C. 
Chadwick. Pp. viii+32+ix plates. (London : 
Williams and Norgate.) 2s. 6d. 

Meteorological Office. Hourly Values from Auto- 
graphic Records: Geophysical Section, 1912. Pp. 83. 
(Edinburgh: H.M. Stationery Office; London: 
Meteorological Office.) 3s. ( 

The Practice of Navigation and Nautical Astron- 


omy. By Lieut. H. Raper. _Twentieth _ edition, 
revised and enlarged. Pp. xxv+934+41. (London: © 
J. D. Potter.) 
CONTENTS. PAGE 
Mammalian Evolution. By C. W..A>. . 2... .. 553 
The Production and Utilisation of Crops. By 
Beye R. . . . LSM bee dh ular semen emae 553 
Robperts=Apsten. , BysSire la KepROsey eee 555 
New Books: on Chemistry7 Byles, Cale) ee 555., 
Our Bookshelf ; Sees SG! £04 0 ¢ ee ere 556 


Letters to the Editor :— 
Rayleigh’s Law of Extinction and the Quantum Hypo- 


thesis. —Prof. Louis V. King. . . “dea 
The Destruction of Wild Peafowlin India.—SirH. HH. |. 
johnston, G:C MiG wk CiBe ee » aa 
The Australian Meeting of the British Association 559 
The Electric Emissivity and the Directive Disin-. 
tegration of Hot Bodies. (/d/ustvated.) By Dr. 
GAs .C. Kaye) i) 6. yh tee ire A seme Boats 561 
A Forged ‘‘ Anticipation” of Modern Scientific 
Ideas TPS Ce tema: gee Se aS fo 563 
mheslcangley Flying Machine: 5... ans) > pce 564. 
IWOTES ft i Ars ie A eee aera 564 
Our Astronomical Column :— 
Comet: 19137 (Delavan). 2) eile ete tn eee 569 
Astronomical Notes for August, I91g4 ....... 569 
The Meteoric Shower of Perseids. . . .... + -- 569 
Photometric Tests of Spectroscopic Binaries 570 
Watitude Variation 1Ons"Osto LOl4:O}. ss ee 570 
BuGlose Companion tomPpAT aus seer enn ne mete E570 
Relics of a Lost Culture in Arizona. (Jl//ustrated.) 
By Dr. A. C. Haddon, F.R.S. Pee «ltt ON 
The Principal Triangulation of the United King- 
Gkoveol pelehgye CRO a cus a4 td olo Bt oc « 571 
mhesbonaparte’ Hund eee Se si/e 
Napier Tercentenary Celebration. By Dr. C. G. 
Knott . Ret 6 eae ; os ob se ee 2 
The Stars Around the North Pole. (W2zth Diagrams.) 
ByeDr ok. W. Dyson; FURsS: 5 02) fone Cue 574 
University and Educational Intelligence. ..... 577 
Societies and Academies >) > 78°. =] 4. 577 
Bookstiveceived’. |<. 5° gwen seer eee mee 578 
Editorial and Publishing Offices: 
MACMILLAN & CO., Ltp., 
ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C. 
Advertisements and business letters to be addressed to the 


Publishers. 


Editorial Communications to the Editor. 


Telegraphic Address: Puusis, LONDON. 
Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830. 


NATURE 


THURSDAY, AUGUST 6,” 1914. 


THE NEW BRITISH FLORA. 

The Cambridge British Flora. By Dr. C. E. 
Moss. [Illustrated from drawings by E. W. 
Hunnybun. Vol. ii., Salicacee to Cheno- 
podiacee. Pp. 206+ 206 plates. (Cambridge: 
University Press, 1914.) Price 2l. ros. net. 

HERE can be no difference of opinion as to 
the need for a new, comprehensive, and 
authoritative British flora. Our knowledge of 

British plants has increased and broadened to an 

extent which renders the ‘English Botany ” quite 

inadequate for critical work. Sir J. E. Smith’s 

“English Botany,” with the admirable illustra- 

tions by James Sowerby, goes back to the early 

years of last century; and the third edition, with 
its much inferior illustrations, is, from the point 
of view of the modern worker, almost equally out 
of date. One of the most important changes 
which has influenced British botany during the 
last half-century is the comparative study of our 
flora and that of other European countries. Prof. 

C. C. Babington was one of the first to appreciate 

the importance of this relation, and his manual, 

now in its ninth edition, is still regarded as the 
most critical presentation of the botany of the 

British Isles. It is appropriate that Babington’s 

successor in charge of the 

arium, and the Cambridge University Press, 
should be jointly responsible for a comprehensive 
and up-to-date presentment of the same subject. 

It goes without saying that Dr. Moss has 
entered upon a difficult piece of work. The treat- 
ment adopted, as illustrated by the one volume 
which has already appeared, shows that the work 
is to be no mere compilation, but that it will 
record the results of a thorough critical study of 
each group. The full meaning of this will be 
realised only by those who have followed the 
detailed study of the flora of north and central 
Europe, of which our own forms a part, during 
the past few decades. Dr. Moss has special quali- 
fications for this work, but to bring such an under- 
taking to a satisfactory completion within reason- 
able time is more than one man’s task, and we are 
glad to note that Dr. Moss has promise of help 
from various botanists who have made a speciality 
of certain groups. We trust that he will make 
use to the fullest extent possible of this expert 
assistance. 

The plan of the book is fully explained in 
the introduction. The systematic arrangement 
of the groups is that of Engler’s ‘“ Syllabus,” 
an arrangement which is now in general use 
on the continent of Europe and also in 


NO. 2336, VOL. 93] 


Cambridge Herb-- 


579 
| ; ; , 
America. Following the recommendations of 
the International “Rules of Nomenclature,” 


Dr. Moss uses the term “family” in place 
of “natural order,” while the “order” is a group 
of higher rank—an aggregate of families. Ex- 
cept in a few minor points, Dr. Moss follows the 
“Rules,” to a discussion of which he devotes 
several pages. He does not, however, fully 
appreciate the advantage of rules, namely, that 
you follow them, but sometimes goes out of his 
way to assert an individuality in matters of trifling 
importance. Short but adequate descriptions are 
given of the orders, families, and genera; those of 
the species are generally longer, the length vary- 
ing with the needs of the case; under the species 
the different varieties and forms are sufficiently 
described; subspecies are not recognised. Syn- 
onymy, references to published figures and ex- 


-siccata are quoted in so far as these are helpful 


to the student of British plants; and the distribu- 
tion in the British Isles and also the general 
distribution are given. British distribution is in 
many cases illustrated by outline maps. In his 
concept of species Dr. Moss has steered a middle 
course between the larger view as typified by 
Bentham’s work and the petit espéce of the 
French botanist, Jordan. 

In the present volume (vol. ii.) the earlier orders 
of Dicotyledons are treated, comprising the 
catkin-bearing families, which, with Ulmacee, 
Cannabacee, and Urticaceze, form the subclass 
Amentiflore, Santalacee, Loranthacez, Aristolo- 
chiaceze, and Polygonacez, forming the subclass 
Petaloideee, and Aizoacee, Amarantaceze and 
Chenopodiacez, forming a portion of the subclass 
Centrosperme. As this list indicates, plants are 
included which, though not indigenous, are more 
or less definitely naturalised, such as Mesem- 
bryanthemum edule (Aizoacez), a native of the 
southern hemisphere, and the American Amar- 
antus retroflexus. The accurate recording of the 
occurrence of plants of this category is of special 
interest with a view to their future behaviour as 
items of our flora. The genus Betula has been 
elaborated by the Rev. E. S. Marshall, and in 
the family Chenopodiacee Dr. Moss has had the 
assistance of Mr. A. J. Wilmott (Atriplex), Mr. 
C. E. Salmon (Salsola), and Dr. E. J. Salisbury 
(Salicornia). 

The text is very clearly printed, and the contrast 
of type is well-selected and helpful. A little more 
space might with advantage have been allowed 
between each family, and the typographical subor- 
dination of the genus-name is somewhat discon- 
certing until one gets used to it; but the general 
effect is dignified. A good portrait of John Ray 
forms a fitting frontispiece. 


eens A 
Lage 


Sy 


A 


550 


The plates are a special feature of the work. 
The generous gift to the university by Mr. Hunny- 
bun of his series of pen-and-ink drawings of 
British flowering plants was, we believe, the 
immediate cause of its inception. A characteristic 
is that each drawing is made from an individual 
plant in the fresh state—no attempt has been 
made to give an abstract idea of the form, variety, 
or species figured. The drawings have been re- 
produced by photography and are remarkably 
clear, and sometimes very delicate representations 
of the whole or part of the plant; the details of 
floral structure are, however, often too small or 
incomplete. The wealth of illustration may be 
judged from the fact that the present volume con- 
tains no fewer than 206 plates. 

The work is to be completed in about ten 
volumes, which, so far as is practicable, will be 
issued annually; each volume may be had in two 
parts, text and plates respectively, or, at a some- 
what higher price, in one part, with the plates 
mounted on guards and interspersed with the 
text. Vol. i. has been set apart for conifers and 
ferns, and mosses, hepatics, and charas may also 
be included. AaB ake 


GEOGRAPHICAL GUIDES. 


(1) Junk’s Natur-Fiihrer. Die Riviera. By 
Alban Voigt. Pp. vi+466+vi plates. (Ber- 
lin: W. Junk, 1914.) Price 7 marks. 

(2) Einfiihrung.in die Erdbeben- und Vulkan- 
kunde Siiditaliens. By August Sieberg. Pp. 
vi+226. (Jena: Gustav Fischer, 1914.) Price 
4 marks. ° 

(3) Cambridge County Geographies. 
shire. By A. Morris. Pp. ix+166+2 maps. 
Northumberland. By S. Rennie Haselhurst. 
Pp. xi+181+2 maps. (Cambridge University 
Press, .1923.): Price. 1s.. 6d.. éach. 


Merioneth- 


(4) The Madras Presidency. With Mysore, 
Coorg, and the Associated States. By E. 
Thurston. Pp. xii+293. (Cambridge Univer- 


sity Press, 1913.) Price 3s. net. 


(1) HE first of Junk’s Natur-Fihrer, Dalla 

Torre’s volume devoted to Tirol,. was 
reviewed in this journal in December, 1913 (vol. 
xcil., p. 471). Alban Voigt’s treatment of the 
Riviera differs entirely from the method adopted 
by his predecessor. In Tirol we were given 
minute references to the objects of interest along 
roads and footpaths, so that the scientific traveller 
alighting at an inn might look round before dinner 
for rare birds or for the traces of historic earth- 
quakes. The guide-book to the Riviera is almost 
entirely devoted to a comprehensive review of the 
plant-life of the country, and the index contains 

NO: 2336; VOr- 303) 


NATURE 


[AucusT 6, 1914 


plant-names only. Due stress is laid (p. 284) on 
Sir Thomas Hanbury’s garden at La Mortola, a 
hamlet between Ventimiglia and Mentone, and 
135 pages are occupied with an account of the 
cultivated plants, though these are not native to 
La Mortola. The geology of the district is treated 
in fifteen pages, and twelve more are given to the 
famous prehistoric caves of Mentone. It is clear 
that the greater part of this “guide-book ”’ will be 
quite as useful in the library as in the field, 
and the description of the native flora in relation 
to its environment makes an appeal to every 
modern botanist. As examples of the author’s 
historical method, we may mention the disquisi- 
tion on Ferula nodiflora, the source, according to 
Martial, of scholastic “ferules” (p. 123), and the 
account of the recent immigration of Lepidium 
draba (p. 211), a steppe-plant that, like the Huns, 
has followed the Danube and then descended into 
Roman territory. The appearance of this book 
in Junk’s series may herald further surprises. 
Will the promised Swiss volume prove to be an 
authoritative work on mountain-structure ? 

(2) The visitor in Italy cannot fail to become 
interested in volcanoes, and A. Sieberg’s review 
of the volcanic and earth-shaken areas might well 
be translated into several languages. The author 
is on the staff of the seismological institute at 
Strassburg. He shows clearly how the volcanic 
zone is connected with the folded structure of 
Italy as a whole, and with the fractured and 
sunken basin that is now flooded by the Tyr- 
rhenian Sea. The review of the recent history 
of Vesuvius is exactly what the intelligent visitor 
requires, and the form of the mountain is shown 
to depend on a series of events going back to the 
building of Monte Somma, which is the “first 
phase” indicated by Johnston-Lavis. F. A. 
Perret’s beautiful photographs are used for many 
of the illustrations, and those of eruptions on Etna 
are especially welcome. The author’s own pic- 
tures are admirable, though he has, with unusual 
self-denial, converted some of them into diagrams. 
Personal observations, such as those on the poly- 
gonal soil formed by moving ash (p. 155), add to 
the interest throughout a very readable book. 
The A£olian Islands are effectively included; J. W. 
Judd’s papers, published in the Geological Maga- 
gine about 1876, should be mentioned in the 
useful bibliography. While accepting steam as a 
constituent of lava-flows, the author wisely re- 
frains from dogmatising as to the gases of 
paroxysmic outbursts. 

(3) The Cambridge County Geographies are 
continued with Merionethshire and Northumber- 
land. Their only defect is that no single author 
can deal equally with the geological basis, with 


————————— 


AvucustT 6, 1914] 


the topography, with the antiquities, and with the 
“roll of honour.” Mr. Morris, for example, as- 
signs the magnificent examples of igneous sills, 
lava-flows, and tuffs, that contribute so much to 
the scenery of Merionethshire, to the Archean 
era. The great scarp of Cader Idris, appropri- 
ately figured, is ascribed to ash. The memoir of 
the Geological Survey on North Wales would have 
supplied accurate information. The wealth of 
historic features in the county is weli illustrated ; 
the noble roadways are properly extolled; and the 
charmingly printed landscapes should send many 
a visitor southward from the better-known dis- 
trict of Snowdonia. 

In Northumberland Mr. Haselhurst has a still 
more attractive field. We turn with equal pleasure 
to his descriptions of Bamburgh, the superb valley 
of the Tyne, and the Roman Wall, “as much a 
road as a wall,” as he well remarks. For us, 
Northumberland centres in Hexham, within shelter 
of the Wall, and the land beyond seems wild and 
Pictish. Others, however, will prefer Rothbury 
or Alnwick; and it is hard to remember that the 
rich lands from Coldstream to Berwick are part 
of the border country, equally with Cheviot and 
Carter Fell. Northumberland has preserved much 
of its ancient character; the women workers in 
the fields (p. 71), who are so noticeable to the 
stranger, may be a tradition from a time when 
every man was employed in arms. The smoke 
of Newcastle is merely a displeasing local episode 
in a county that includes Corstopitum and “the 
strength and help of Joyous Gard.” 

(4) The Cambridge University Press has placed 
a series of “Provincial Geographies of India”’ 
under the editorship of Sir T. H. Holland, which 
is in itself a sufficient guarantee. The mode of 
production and the illustrations are in every way 
worthy of the publishers, and make the low price 
seem more surprising. A feature of our age 
which too often passes unnoticed is that the cost 
of good books has steadily gone down. Such a 
volume as this on Madras should be in the library, 
not only of geographers, but of teachers of im- 
perial history. Anthropological details are abun- 
dant, and a tale of the suspension of two dacoits 
in iron cages, apparently under British rule, finds 
its way somehow into a chapter on mountains, 
while the demon Biraiya figures in that on rivers. 
The author has the power of sustaining interest ; 
he knows the country and the people, and we 
are glad to know them in his company. The 
quaint Ostracion cornutus (p. 33), the fish that 
was once a cow, until its grazing-ground was 
converted into an island, shows how legends may 
record actual earth-changes. Mr. Thurston has 
the invaluable gift of sympathy, which makes him 


NO. 2336, VOL. 93] 


NATURE 


a  —— —  ———e 


581 


write of “the delightful group of baby elephants ” 
in a seventh-century bas-relief, and allows him to 
touch on native customs without a trace of the 
old-time condescension. The modesty of the 
editor, to whom the term charnockite is due, may 
account for the absence of any explanation of the 
special characters of this rock (p. 57). 
on Gae Anas en 


GENETICS. 
(1) Elemente der Exakten Erblichkeitslehre mit 


Grundsiigen Biologischen Variationsstatistik. 
By Prof. W. Johannsen. Zweite Deutsche 
Ausgabe in 30 Vorlesungen. Pp. xi+723. 


(Jena: Gustav Fischer, 1913.) Price 13 marks. 
(2) Selektionsprinsip und Probleme der Art- 
bildung. Ein Handbuch des Darwinismus. By 
Prof. Ludwig Plate. Vierte Auflage. Pp. xv 
+650. (Leipzig and Berlin: W. Engelmann, 


1913.) Price 16 marks. 

(3) Einfiihrung in die Vererbungswissenschaft. By 
Prof. R. Goldschmidt. Zweite Auflage. Pp. 
xli+546. (Leipzig and Berlin: W. Engel- 
Maun, 19139.) ) Prices13 marks, 

(4) The Meaning of Evolution. By Prof. S. C. 
Schmucker. Pp. 298. (New York: The 


Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan and 
Co:,; Ltd. 1914.) . Price,6s 4.605 net 


HE great interest taken at the present time 
in the subjects included under the compre- 
hensive term ‘genetics ”’ is illustrated by the fact 
that second or later editions of three standard 
works in German on the subject, each consisting 
of more than 500 pages, were published in 1913. 
It is inevitable that books of this kind should over- 
lap to some extent, but they do so much less than 
their titles might lead one to expect. That they 
are so different is due partly to the great extent 
of the subject, which makes it possible for books 
to deal with different sides ot it without encroach- 
ing on one another to any great extent, and partly 
to the wide differences of opinion which still exist, 
resulting in very different treatment of similar 
classes of facts. 

(1) The first German edition of Johannsen’s 
“Elemente der exakten Erblichkeitslehre ”’ (1909) 
was reviewed in NaturE of October 7, 1909, before 
the author’s work on inheritance in “pure lines” 
had received the widespread recognition which has 
since been accorded to it. The book is now 
generally known to students of heredity, and our 
account need only describe the changes in the 
second edition. It has been enlarged from twenty- 
five to thirty lectures (from 515 to 723 pages), and 
as the illustrations are confined to a few diagrams, 
it has become a very big book. New chapters 


Roe NAIORE _ PAUGUST “6, p01 


7 PO ee peer 


weed 


‘ : ; | : 
have been added on inheritance in pure lines, and ! twenty-two lectures, and is based, as the preface ; 


on the effects of environment, besides a large 
amount of new matter in the old chapters. A 
considerable part of the added matter refers to 
the more recent developments of Mendelian work ; 
four lectures on this subject are almost entirely 
new, and include discussions of such matters as 
sex-limited inheritance and sex-determination, 
genetic coupling and repulsion, sterility, ete. 
Papers published during 1913 are referred to, but 
although up-to-date, the book is far more than 
a mere compilation, it rather presents the author’s 
view of the subject illustrated by examples chosen 
from the work of many investigators. It is, of 
course, impossible that in so large a book, dealing 
with matters which are still the subject of contro- 
versy, there should not be much with which many 
readers will disagree. But of the book as a whole 
our chief criticism is that it is too long ; although 
one could ill spare the many half-humorous touches 
which reveal the author’s kindly personality and 
enthusiasm, yet 7oo pages of closely printed 
German are more than the majority of us have 
time to read. As a book of reference it should 
be accessible to every student, but it is written to 
be read, rather than referred to. 

(2) The third edition of Plate’s “Selektions- 
prinzip und Probleme der Artbildung” has also 
been reviewed in Nature (October 15, 1908), so 
that in this case also only the changes introduced 
in the fourth edition need be referred to, As men- 
tioned in the preface, the chief alteration is the 
omission of the section on alternative inheritance, 
since this is dealt with in the author’s “Verer- 
bungslehre mit besonderer Beriicksichtigung des 
Menschen ” (reviewed in Nature, May 22, 1913). 
This omission is counterbalanced by a great en- 
largement of the chapter on inheritance of acquired 


characters, so that the total size of the book is | 


increased by more than I50 pages and many 
figures. This enlargement is due, to a consider- 
able extent, to a full account of the experiments 
of Kammerer and others, which have been pub- 
lished since the previous edition was issued. The 
author’s general attitude is illustrated by his state- 
ment in the preface that “de Vries has mis- 
represented the views of Darwin, and that his 
mutations are identical with Darwin’s individual 


variations”; and “dass nur Lamarckismus und ! 


Selektionismus zusammen die Entstehung der 
Anpassungen und der Arten verstindlich machen.” 
The book is very valuable as a summary, but 
appears to us insufficiently critical in the case of 
some of the examples cited. 

(3) Goldschmidt’s “Einfiihrung in die Ver- 
erbungs Wissenschaft’ (second edition) belongs 
to a somewhat different category. 


NO. 2336, VOL. 93] 


subject. 


| pression of haste, 
| impruved if fewer examples were described, and 
| these ireated more fully. 


tribution to the subject. 


tells us, on the author’s. university course on the 
It has the merits and defects of this — 
kind of treatment; that is to say, its title correctly — 
describes it as an introduction to, rather than a 
treatise on, genetics. It is expository rather than 
critical, and in places leaves an unsatisfactory 
sense of not getting to the bottom of the subject. 
It covers a wide range of subjects, is well illus- 
trated, has a useful bibliography, and throughout 
contains much valuable matter. This is especially — 
the case where it deals with the author’s special — 
branch of the subject, the inheritance of secondary — 
sexual characters. In particular, the author’s 
hypothesis of varying “potency” of the factors 
for secondary sexual characters, and of the sex- 
factors themselves, is perhaps the most interest-~ 


| ing section of the book (lecture xviil.).° He con- 


siders that in certain circumstances a zygote 
which contains factors which would normally pro- 
duce one sex may develop into a hermaphrodite, 
or even an individual of the other sex in con- 
sequence of ‘‘ Potenzverschiebung”’ of the sex- 
factors. Lack of space prevents our giving an 
adequate account of the hypothesis, which may 


have important bearing on the theory of sex-deter- 


In places the book conveys the im-— 
and it would perhaps be 


mination. 


(4) Prof. Schmucker’s “ Meaning of Evolution ” 
belongs to quite a different class. It is a popular 
book on the general principles of the evolution 
theory, and makes no claim to be an original con- 
One of its objects is to 
show that there is no necessary inconsistency be- 
tween a belief in organic evolution and religion. 
It is in general pleasantly written, but does not 
differ conspicuously from other books of the same 
type. 


OUR BOOKSHELP. 


A Descriptive Catalogue of the Marine Reptiles 
of the Oxford Clay. Based on the Leeds Collec- 
tion in the British Museum (Natural History). 


Part ii. By Dr. C. W. Andrews. Pp. xxiv+ 
206+xui plates. (London: British Museum 
(Natural History). Longmans, Green and Co., 
rgi3.) Price 25st 


THE scientific value of the remains obtained by 
Messrs. Leeds from the Oxford Clay near Peter- 
borough is exemplified by the groups forming the 
subject of the present, and concluding, volume of 
this excellent and exhaustive catalogue. In order 
to realise this, a visit is almost essential to the 
Natural History Museum, where a mounted skele- 


: ton of the pliosaurian Peloneustes will come as a 
It consists of | revelation to those unacquainted with the state of 


AucusT 6, 1914] 


583 


preservation of many items in the Leeds collec- 
tion. 

At the epoch of the Oxford Clay pliosaurs (to- 
gether with their cousins the elasmosaurs) and 
the marine crocodiles of the families Teleosauride 
and Geosauride were at the zenith of their de- 
velopment, and therefore too advanced to afford 
clues to the relationships and origin of the order 
to which they pertain. Nevertheless, the point is 
not passed over by Dr. Andrews, who, after re- 
jecting the theory of an affinity between plesio- 
saurs and pliosaurs on the one hand and tortoises 
and turtles on the other, supports the opinion 
that the two former are descended from the carni- 
vorous mammal-like reptiles of the Permian and 
Trias. As regards Oxfordian crocodiles, the 
author merely affirms that while the stereosaurs 
(Veleosauridz) are derived from the mystriosaurs 
of the Lias, the species of Metriorhynchus (Geo- 
sauride), on account of differences in the structure 
of the base of the skull, had a different origin. 

As the Oxfordian crocodiles appear to have 
been more aquatic than any existing members of 
their order, while the contemporary ichthyosaurs, 
elasmosaurs, and pliosaurs were completely so, the 
Jurassic seas must have swarmed with a medley of 
reptilian forms of life, in striking contrast to the 
more uniform type presented by their cetacean 
supplanters of to-day. With their large heads and 
short necks, the Oxfordian plesiosaurs appear to 
have been better adapted to a pelagic existence 
than the contemporary elasmosaurians; and it is 
of interest to note that in respect of food they 
appear to have presented a parallelism to ceta- 
ceans, some having subsisted on cephalopods, 
while others attacked and devoured larger and 
more formidable prey. mL. 


The Future of Education. By F. C. C. Egerton. 
Pp. 303200.-onden: G. Bell and@Sons, Ltd., 
1914.) Price 3s. 6d. net. 


Tuis is a book provocative of serious thought in 
these days of educational misgiving and unrest. 
The author raises a strong indictment against 
present educational aims and methods, and ad- 
duces in support of his contentions some extra- 
ordinary incidents which have come within his 
immediate experience. 

‘ Especially is he wroth with our system of ele- 
mentary education, and declares with emphasis :— 
“There is only one word that adequately describes 
the state of education in this country, and that is 
‘chaos,’ and further remarks that “as a sys- 
tem it is absolutely rotten from beginning to end,” 
and that “what is said with regard to the elemen- 
tary school applies with nearly equal force to the 
secondary school—the same narrowness of out- 
look, the same lack of adjustment to the require- 
ments of life, the same unreality and artificiality 
characterises both types of schools.” 

He declares that “our organisation is entirely 
disjointed. Each elementary school is conducted 
haphazard, each secondary school is a law unto 
itself, and the public schools and universities go 
their own way, good or bad.” The only comfort 
we receive is in the fact that “it is quite true that 


NO. 2336, VOL. 93] 


NATURE 


other countries stand in exactly the same posi- 
tion.” 

Much stress is properly laid upon the import- 
ance of the elementary school, public and private, 
through which ninety-five out of every hundred 
men and women pass. ‘It is the hope of the 
country, and it has in its power to lay the founda- 
tions of many noble lives.” The writer condemns 
formal and disciplinary methods of education, and 
directs strong attention to Montessorian aims and 
methods, and the need for the child to be allowed 
fully to realise itself. In spite of some extrava- 
gance of statement, the book is well worthy of 
serious study. Nfl gee 


Coast Sand Dunes, Sand Spits and Sand Wastes. 
By iG).O2 Case.) Pp) xi-pr62., 9(London': St, 
Bride's Press; tds, 1914.) / Piece gs.-net. 

THE object of this book, as stated by the author 
in the preface, is to direct attention to the advan- 
age of controlling the blown sand dunes on the 
sea-coast so as to make them act as a protection 
to the land behind from erosion by the sea; to 
prevent them from advancing inland and destroy- 
ing existing vegetation, and to enable sand wastes 
where they exist to be reclaimed and planted with 
trees. : 

The book does not contain any, or very little, 
information that is not already given in the work 
on “The Sea Coast” published in Longman’s 
Engineering Series, or in the report of the Royal 
Commission on Coast Erosion. The information 
on the subject dealt with is, however, given in a 
handy form, and will be found useful and in- 
structive to those interested in coast geology or 
having charge of land bordering on the sea shore. 

The subjects dealt with are: the area of land 
covered by sand dunes in Europe, the transporta- 
tion of sand by wind action and formation of 
dunes, description of existing dunes in this and 
other countries, devastation caused by inland 
movement of dunes, methods for preventing dunes 
moving inland, protective works for face of dunes, 
and the reclamation of sand wastes. 


Notes on the Blue-Green Algae. By Harold 
Wager. Pp. 48. (London: A. Brown and 
Sons, Ltd., 1914.) Price 2s. 6d. net. 

Tus little book should be of considerable service 
to those who desire to study systematically this 
group of plants, which is characterised by the 
presence of a bluish-purple colouring matter, 
phycocyanin, in addition to chlorophyll, in the 
cells. The cell-membrane is not composed of 
cellulose and glycogen takes the place of starch 
in the protoplasm. Mr. Wager first gives a 
eeneral introduction on the structure, reproduc- 
tion, and classification of the group, then keys to 
the orders and families, a key to the genera of 
the Oscillatoriacee, and finally a key to those 
species of Oscillatoria and Phormidium which are 
fairly well determined. In the latter it would 
have been of service if the localities in which they 
have been found tad been mentioned. The book 
concludes with a glossary and references to mono- 
graphs and blank pages for notes. 


534 


NATURE 


[AuGUST 6, I9I4 


LETTERS .TO THE: EDITOR. 


[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for 
opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with 
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 
this or any other part of Nature. No notice is 
taken of anonymous communications. | 


The Hzmoproteus of the Indian Pigeon. 


In the course of a letter, which was brought by the 
last Indian mail, my friend, Colonel J. R. Adie, im- 
parts the very interesting information that Mrs. Adie, 
working at Kasauli, has recently obtained very strong 
presumptive evidence that the przter-vertebrate life- 
history of the Hzmoproteus of the Indian pigeon 
agrees with that discovered by Ross for the Proteo- 
soma of the Indian sparrow and for the malaria 
parasite, the intermediary in the case of the Hzmo- 
proteus being a species of Hippoboscid fly of the 
genus Lynchia. 

Mrs. Adie obtained from Amballa some pigeons 
which were heavily infected with the blood-parasite 
and abundantly infested with the fly. In sixteen or 
seventeen individuals of the fly (Lynchia), out of 
twenty-six examined, she found either zygotes, or 
cysts, or sporozoites—the last swarming’ in _ the 
salivary-glands, and in some cases coursing down the 
salivary-ducts. In one case a cyst in the wall of the 
gut was observed to burst and liberate hundreds of 
sporozoites. 

Mrs. Adie’s observations will be published as soon 
as the exact experiments which were in progress at 
the time Colonel Adie wrote are concluded; but her 
observations are in several ways so interesting that I 
think they ought to be made known at once. 

A. ALCOcK. 

Belvedere, Kent, July 28. 


Radio-activity and Atomic Numbers. 


MR. VAN DEN BRoEk’s letter in NaTurE of July y 
shows the importance of the charge upon the nucleus 
in radio-active phenomena. The cause of this may 
possibly be sought in considerations similar to the 
following. 

If one assumes that an atom breaks up when all 
the nuclear charges are in a given relative position 
and that they are in rotation with an average fre- 
quency v=E/h, where E is their energy and h the 
element of action of the quantum theory, then each 
particle will pass through the critical position v times 
per second. The probability that M particles should 
be in the unstable region simultaneously is (kv)M, or 
if only relative position is involved (kv)M-1, where k 
of course defines the size of the critical region. 
One would therefore expect a relation between the 
average life of an atom and the energy of its particles 
of the form 

A= (by)M-1—= (SE, 
h 
where A is the radio-active constant. According to 
Geiger the range in air is given by the formula 


wv rae 
a SO) (oe) 
1,24°1077 4505 


Introducing this value one finds 
x = (2,77'1018%) KM -1) RM -1) 
or 
log A=3(M —1) (log £+18,44)+3(M_ 1) log R. 
Putting M=8s, which would be the average value 


for radio-active substance, one finds the approximate 
formula logA=56(log k+18, 44)+56 log R. Geiger 


NO. 2336, VOL. 93] 


found empirically log A= —36,7+53,3 log R. Accord- 
ing to this k would be about 10-', i.e. of about the 
order 1/v. In any case the close agreement between 
the theoretical and observed values of the coefficients 
of log R would seem to show that the original hypo- 
thesis is correct in its main outlines, i.e. that integra- 
tion occurs upon the fortuitous coincidence of n events. 
the probability of which is proportional to E=hv, and 
that n is of the order of the atomic number M. One 
cannot say as yet though whether the n particles, the 
relative positions of which determine the stability are 
the positive particles or the electrons. 
Mr. van den Broek’s formula 


(Arn)? M-—8e 
See ASD 
ARarA : 
would reduce to 
yg M-=82 2 M-82 
ES ene or PLL Joa 
Era : JING VRa-VAc 


The simplest interpretation of this would be that the 
atoms of corresponding elements of the different series 
are geometrically similar and differ only in their linear 
dimensions. A change of the attractive force with the 
nuclear charge is obviously probable, and Mr. van den 
Broek’s formula will certainly be of the first import- 
ance when we attempt to determine the function 
representing the nuclear forces in terms of the charge 
and perhaps also of the distance. 
F. A. LINDEMANN. 
Berlin, July 26. 


Circulatory Movements in Liquids. 


From a manuscript by Christiaan Huygens, con- 
taining the description of his microscopical observa- 
tions in the year 1678, I quote the following pas- 
sages :— 

‘“s Sept. Et ayant mis de petites goutes rondes de 
cette urine sur le talc’? (we read at another place: 
‘““ayant pris de cette eau et mis dans le microscope 
entre le verre et le talc”’), ““Je remarquay avee le 
microscope que ces ceufs, et sans doute la liqueur 
mesme avec eux, 
avoient un mouve- be 
ment continuel par e* ave. ee 
lequel ils montoient Re 


dans le milieu AB ral mea 
de la goute et puis ool cote ican ene 

D cee Gar, J aan. ~ 
descendoient par les . ; pau 
deux costes CD, et Cale alee my ' 
montoient ensuite ! 


encore par AB, et 
ainsi toujours, car [: me 9” ns seh 
eLsulvois ces a aa es : 
Bidres, et vis que er . = y A Pct D 
c’estoient les mes- a ‘ 

mes qui montoient 
et descendoient. 

“Cette  continua- 
tion de mouvement est estrange et ressemble a celle 
de la matiere qui passe a travers l’aimant’’ (accord- 
ing to Huygens’s theory of magnetism, which will 
be published in one of the volumes of his ‘t £uvres 
Completes”’). ‘‘ Je mis par 3 fois des gouttes nouvelles 
et vis toujours la mesme chose. Les jours suivants ce 
mouvement n’estoit pas si manifeste. 

‘“‘g Sept. Dans du jus de resins blancs, et noirs, mis 
en expérience le jour d’auparavant, rien de vivant, 
mais bien de parties grasses et heterogenes, par les- 
quelles je remarquay le mouvement dans ce jus que 
j’avois vu dans l’urine le 5 Sept. 


‘to Sept. Jus de resins rien de vivant. Le mesme 


| mouvement y estoit. 


i 


Aucust 6, 1914] 


NATURE 


585 


‘““tz1 Sept. Dans le jus de resins rien de vivant, le 
mouvement de circulation de mesme que le Io€.”’ 

Have such phenomena been observed by other micro- 
scopists? Any suggestions about their precise cause 
would be very welcome. 

The manuscript will be published in the next volume 
of Huygens’s ‘** GEuvres,’’ which is in an advanced state 
of preparation. 


Amsterdam. D. J. KorTEwEGc. 


NATURAL HISTORY AND THE OCEAN.! 
(1) HIS is a new work on birds by the distin- 
guished ornithologist, Dr. Anton 
Reichenow, of Berlin, which when completed will 
consist of two volumes. This, the first, contains a 
general review of the class Aves, followed by a 
systematic account of the Ratite, Natatores, 
Grallatores, Cutinares (Deserticole, Crypturi, 
Rasores, Gyrantes), Raptatores, and Fibulatores. 
Excellent line sketches illustrating special diag- 
nostic characters are imbedded pleasantly in the 
text. Each family, with the genera included in 
it, is concisely characterised and its geographical 
distribution indicated, while of the species the 
more important are enumerated often with remarks 
on those of special interest. When finished “ Die 
Vogel” will form, if not a “handbook,” at least a 
compact and useful synopsis of systematic ornitho- 
logy. Unfortunately, like so many German publi- 
cations it can scarcely be said to be “bound,” for 
with very little provocation it collapses into an 

inchoate mass of sheets. 
_ (2) This will prove an invaluable book of refer- 
ence for all who may have to study the avifauna 
of not only Australia, but of the southern hemi- 
sphere, notwithstanding that many of Mr. 
Mathews’s co-workers will probably disagree with 
him in the distinctness of the numerous, and, as 
we think, too numerous subspecies he describes. 
The introduction provides us with a very interest- 
ing ornithological history of Australia, and an 
important discussion of the faunal regions into 
which the continent appears to be divided from the 
point of view of its birds. We observe that he 
recognises, as we believe rightly, the existence in 
Australia of an element derived from, or once 
forming, part of an ancient antarctic continent, 
then possessing a climate very different from that 
now existing. The nomenclature adopted by the 
author follows the several rules of strict priority 
formulated by the different international zoological 
congresses of recent years, and of necessity, there- 
fore, sweeps away many names which we cling 
1 (1) ‘Die Végel.” Handbuch der Systematischen Ornithologie. By 


Apton Reichenow. Zwei Rande. Erster Band. Pp. viiit529. (Stuttgart: 
Ferdinand Enke. 1913.) Price 15 marks. : 


(2) ‘A List of the Birds of Australia.” By G. M. Mathews. Pp. xxvii+ 
4£3- (London: Witherby and Co., 1913.) Price ros. net. 

(3) ‘“‘ The Wonders of Bird-life.” By W. Percival Westell. Pp. 128. 
(Manchester : Milner and Co., n.d.) Price rs. net. 

(4) ‘‘ The Snakes of Europe.” By Dr. G. A. Boulenger. Pp. xi-+269+ 
plates. (London: Methuen and Co., 1913.) Price 6s. 

(5) ‘‘ The Life of the Mollusca.” By B. B. Woodward. Pp. xi+158+ 


plates. (London: Methuen and Co., 1913.) Price 6s. 

(6) ‘‘ The Peregrine Falconat the Fyrie.” By F. Heatherley. Pp. x+78. 
(London: Country Life, 1913.) Price ss. net. 

(7) ‘‘ The Holiday Nature-book.” By S. N. Sedgwick. Pp. 355+plates. 
(London: C. H. Kelly, n.d.) Price 3s. 6d. 

(8) ‘* The Ocean: A General Account of the Science of the Sea.” By Sir 
John Murray. Pp. 256+xii plates. (London: Williams and Norgate, n.d.) 
Price 1s. Home University Library. 


NO. 2336, VOL. 93]| 


to from being familiar to us for more than half a 
century, and which we relinquish, if relinquish 
them we must, with the deepest reluctance. 

Mr. Mathews’s “List” represents an amazing 
amount of the hardest and driest kind of work 
(to all appearance done once for all), which only 
those who have some experience in threading the 
mazes of synonymy can appreciate, and for this 
ornithological literature must be grateful to him 
in saecula saeculorum. 

(3) This is a very disappointing book, full of 
loose and unqualified dogmatic assertions, such, 
for example, as: ‘“‘ Many [sea-birds] have for so 
long a time resorted to rocks . . . that though 
they may be active enough as swimmers and divers 
when upon or in the water, they are strangely 
laborious upon the wing. .’ How about 
gannets, pelicans, many cormorants, terns, guille- 
mots? The illustrations are very rough repro- 
ductions of pen-and-ink drawings. 

(4) Dr. G. A. Boulenger is too well known an 
authority on the reptilia for anyone to be in doubt 
as to the value of this volume. ‘‘ There is no work 
in the English language,” the author informs us 
in the preface, “dealing with the reptiles of 
Europe. I have, therefore, endeavoured to supply 
this desideratum so far as the snakes are con- 
cerned.” His account of the species found in 
Europe is preceded by a concise and very excellent 
introduction, summarising what is known of 
snakes generally, dealing with their external 
characters, their anatomy, reproduction, habits, 
distribution—of which one remarkable fact stated 
is that the zoogeographical regions into which 
the world is usually divided do not lend themselves 
any better than the ordinary divisions of physicai 
geography to the study of the distribution ot 
snakes—and finally, their relation to man. The 
systematic account is illustrated by a_ beautiful 
figure of each species, drawn by Prof. Sordelli, of 
Milan, for his own and Prof. Ian’s “ Iconographie 
Générale des Ophidiens,” and reproduced in this 
volume with his permission. 

(5) Mr. B. B. Woodward’s “Life of the Mol- 
lusca”’ is another addition to the same excellent 
series being issued by Messrs. Methuen, to which 
Dr. Boulenger’s belongs. The work gives 
a succinct account of the history, relationships, 
and everyday life, with general notes on the 
anatomy, classification, and distribution of this 
group of the animal kingdom. The classification 
here given is based mainly on conchological 
characters; but in the Mollusca this is never felt 
to stand on quite the same certain basis as 
that in other zoological groups, inasmuch as 
so many of the species are determined upon 
the house they inhabit, and not on the in- 
habitants themselves. A very remarkable 
instance of such a discrepancy was recently dis- 
cussed in a paper before the Zoological Society, 
in which the conchological relationships of a new 
species of Papuina from New Guinea disagreed 
with those indicated by its anatomical characters. 
The volume is well illustrated by more than thirty 
| plates, most of the figures of which originally 


586 


appeared in the late Dr. S. P. Woodward’s well- 
known ‘“‘Manual of the Mollusca.”’ 

(6) In this volume Mr. Heatherley describes 
minutely and illustrates fully by a wealth of pic- 
tures taken—during successive seasons—from hour 
to hour during daylight from an adjacent but con- 
cealed observation shelter, the intimate nesting 
history of the Peregrine Falcon from the time 
the eyrie was tenanted and the eggs laid until the 
young hatched out and were fed to maturity. The 
monograph forms an interesting and very valuable 
record of a long watch pursued with great con- 


NATURE 


FAUGIIST ib: 1914 


state that the illustrations—one of which is repro- 
duced, by the courtesy of the publishers—are wy 
to the high standard that we are accustomed 
in that journal. It is a pity, we think, that 7 
a work of this character some of the pages shoul 
be furnished with very frivolous headlines. 

(7) The next volume on our list is written fot 
the “increasing number of people, young and old,” 
who “are interested in popular nature-study.’ 
Nearly half of its contents deals with objects of 
the sea-shore; the remainder is devoted to birds 


of the garden, spiders, beetles, and moths. Two 


Young Peregrine Falcons, twenty-nine days old. 


scientiousness and endurance, regardless of the 
many discomforts which it entailed, by the author 
and his friends who from time to time mounted 
guard in his place. Mr. Heatherley notes as a 
previously “unrecorded fact that after the first 
few days the falcon turned over to the tiercel the 
duties of her sex, spending his time abroad hunt- 
ing and bringing the quarry to the tiercel who 
remained at home to feed and look after the 
young.” As the book is one of the series of 
studies issued by Country Life, it is needless to 


NO.2336, VOL hos 


| 


From ‘‘The Peregrine Falcon at the Eyrie.” 


chapters are given up to nature photography and 
how to photograph small objects. A specimen 
nature calendar, with the chief notabilia for eack 
month of the year, partly filled up and left to 
be completed by the reader, is included. So far 
as sampled, the information is accurate, and| 
is conveyed in language understandable by those 
for whom the book is designed. Some of the} | 
photographic reproductions might be improved] 
upon. | 
(8) A book on the ocean by Sir John Murray 


AucusT 6, 1914] 


the greatest investigator of the deep and the 
highest authority on all that concerns the science 
of the sea—would seem to require no more in the 
way of review and recommendation than the men- 
tion of that fact. Yet it may be well to state 
that within the compass of 256 pages of thirty 
lines each we have perhaps the most concise and 
the most scientific account of this immense sub- 
ject that has yet been written, set forth in 
language that the reader most unfamiliar with 
the subject can grasp with perfect facility. In 


being, alas! the final contribution to science, we | 


believe, from John Murray’s pen, it is sadly appro- 
priate as a summing up of the work to which his 
long, arduous, and brilliant scientific life was 
devoted. Its various chapters deal with the 
methods and instruments of deep-sea research, 
the depths of the ocean, the physical characters of 
its waters, oceanic circulation, life in the ocean, 
marine deposits, and the geospheres. A glossary, 
a concise bibliography, and a sufficient index close 
the volume. It is more fully illustrated than most 
of its predecessors. There are twelve plates, of 
which six are coloured maps by Bartholomew of 
wonderful clearness notwithstanding their size, 
showing the deeps, the salinity, the surface tem- 
peratures, the currents, the surface density, and 
the deposits of the ocean. 


THE ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEM OF 
SLEEPING SICKNESS. 


Be Report of the Inter-Departmental Com- 
mittee on Sleeping Sickness (Cd. 7349, price 
3d.), recently published, is a most valuable summary 
of present knowledge on the subject. The committee 
have taken the evidence of all the leading authori- 
ties on the subject, both British and foreign, and 
the enormous mass of evidence put before them 
(printed separately as Cd. 7350) has been’ very 
carefully sifted and analysed in the Report, which 
is signed by all members of the committee with 
certain reservations by two of them (Dr. W. A. 
Chapple, M.P., and Mr. J. Duncan Millar, M.P.), 
who have appended a separate memorandum em- 
bodying their opinions with regard to the game 
question. 

The following are some of the opinions or re- 
commendations expressed by the committee with 

' regard to controversial questions either of scientific 
knowledge or practical administration. 

The problems which arise with regard to try- 
panosomiasis in man in Nyasaland and Rhodesia 
are wholly distinct from the problems which arise 
in Uganda. Nyasaland trypanosomiasis is caused 
by T. rhodesiense and conveyed by Glossina mor- 
sitans; it is a very small factor in the general 
bill of mortality ; it is probably an old and endemic 
disease, and there appears to be no evidence to 
indicate that it is likely to become epidemic. On 
the other hand, Uganda trypanosomiasis is caused 
by T. gambiense and conveyed by G. palpalis ; it 
has been known on the west coast of Africa for at 
least one hundred years, but was first introduced 


NO. 2336, VOL. 93] 


NATURE 


587 


into Uganda at the end of the last century, prob- 
ably by infected native porters coming from the 
Congo, and it is believed to have destroyed about 
200,000 natives between 1898 and 1906. There is 
a general agreement among experts that Uganda 
trypanosomiasis is not endemic beyond the range 
of G. palpalis. T. rhodesiense infection is much 
more virulent than T. gambiense infection. All 
authorities believe the diseases to be distinct, 
though allied. 

The committee considers that the elimination of 
Glossina as the carrier must be the principal 
object of all efforts to check or get rid of the 
disease. The evidence all points to the conclusion 
that if the tsetse-fly could be eliminated or removed 
from contact from human settlement, sleeping 
sickness would practically disappear, infection 
conveyed by other flies being a negligible factor 
in the spread of the disease. For this reason the 
committee attach great importance to a proper 


| and sufficient equipment of entomological research 


into the bionomics of the incriminated tsetse-flies. 
This form of research has, in, their view, been in- 
sufficiently pursued. up to the present time. In 
this form of research there-is a large element of 
chance; accident may at any time lay bare a result 
which may lead to the solution of the problem, 
and the multiplication of the workers is the multi- 
plication of chances. 

With regard to the vexed question of the re- 
servoir and the advisability or otherwise of game- 
destruction :—(1) As regards Uganda trypano- 
somiasis, there is abundant evidence that human 
beings, infected but able to get about, serve as 
reservoirs of the virus, maintaining the endemicity 
of the disease, and that they may in travelling 
distribute it widely. There is also evidence that 
in the absence of men wild animals may be a 
source of the virus. It is doubtful how much im- 
portance should be attached to the antelope as 
a reservoir of T.. gambiense. The part this reser- 
voir plays is probably small in comparison’ with 
infected man, and to a less extent his domestic 
animals; for cattle, sheep, and goats have been 
known to harbour this trypanosome and take no 
harm. 

(2) As regards Nyasaland trypanosomiasis, the 
committee consider the identity of T. rhodesiense 
with. the’ similar trypanosome found in game, in 
the same districts, as unproven. The wild animals 
in question are undoubtedly reservoirs of the 
trypanosomes pathogenic to stock; but the evi- 
dence is conflicting as to whether the wild animals 
which are a reservoir of the disease affecting 
domestic stock are a danger to man. Knowledge 
of the disease, its cause, and its remedies, is still 
in the making, and hasty and imperfectly con- 
sidered action of a drastic character such as the 
attempt to effect a general destruction of wild 
animals is not justified by the evidence before the 
committee. In Nyasaland and Rhodesia the in- 
cidence of the disease on the population is slight 
and it is not increasing. ; 

The proposed experiment of removal of wild 


588 


animals from a selected area may produce valuable 
results, both as regards knowledge of the habits 
of the fly, and as to the extent to which the in- 
fectivity of the fly and subsequently the infection 
of man or stock is derived from wild animals. The 
result of this experiment cannot be confidently 
anticipated, but, nevertheless, the committee think 
there is sufficient to justify an expectation of useful 
results and recommend that if a suitable locality 
can be found where an experiment can be carried 
out at a reasonable cost, it should be undertaken. 


RECENT STUDIES OF THE ATMOSPHERE:! 


tee German Meteorological Society offered a 
prize for the best essay on the results of the 
International Kite and Balloon ascents, and the 
prize was won by Mr. Gold in 1912 by the memoir 
which is now published by the Meteorological 
Otfice. The results mostly refer to ascents which 
took place prior to December, 1909, but in the 
case of some stations observations are included 
up to November, 1911. From an exhaustive con- 
sideration of the temperature in the free air and 
its relation to pressure at sea-level, geographical 
position, and season, it appears that in Europe 
August is, in general, the warmest month in the 
troposphere, and March the coldest, except close 
to the surface; thus, the temperature lag is 
greater for the minimum than for the maximum, 
which, as is pointed out in the memoir, is to be 
expected, for convection can carry warmth up- 
wards, but not cold. 
from the study of the upper air that a cyclone is 
colder than an anticyclone, and this is borne out 
by Mr. Gold’s figures; he finds that a cyclone is 
colder than an anticyclone up to ten kilometres, 
that is, up to the,level of the stratosphere. 

The height at which the stratosphere is found, 
and its temperature, are known to vary with the 
surface pressure; the higher the pressure the 
higher is the lower limit of the stratosphere and 
the lower the temperature of the layer. Mr. Gold 
has investigated this point in detail and gives 
diagrams showing the changes in the stratosphere 
in height and in temperature through areas of 
high and low pressure, both in winter and summer. 
The places where sounding balloons fall show that 
the general drift of the wind over Europe is from 
the north-west in the upper air. Balloons sent 
up in easterly winds usually fall to the east of 
the starting place in winter, showing that at this 
season an easterly current is shallow, the pressure 
gradient above being reversed by the gradient of 
temperature from south to north. Mr. Gold dis- 
cusses many questions of the winds and the 
dynamics of the atmosphere, but it is impossible 


1 Geophysical Memoirs (Meteorological Office) :— 

No. 5. The International Kite and Balloon Ascents, By Ernest Gold. 
(1913.) Price 1s. 6d. 

No. 6. The Free Atmosphere in the Region of the British Isles (Third 
Report). ‘The Calibration of the Balloon Instruments and the Reading of 
the Traces. By W. H. Dines, F.R.S. (1914.) Price 3a. 

_No. 7. A Comparison of the Electrical Conditions of the Atmosphere at 
Kew and Eskdalemuir, By Gordon Dobson. (1914) Price &d. 

No. 8. Lag in Marine Barometers on Land and Sea. By Dr. Charles 

Chree, F.R.S. (ror4.) Price 4d. 


NO. 2336, VOL. 93] 


It has become apparent: 


NATURE 


[AucusT 6, 1914 


in a short notice even to indicate every point in 
the work; it should be read by all interested in 
dynamical meteorology. 

Almost all the observations in the upper air in 
this country are made with Mr. W. H. Dines’s 
light meteorograph. In Geophysical Memoir, 
No. 6, Mr. Dines describes very fully the method 
of calibrating, preparing the instrument for the 
ascent, and working up the trace. With these 
instructions and those given in a former publica- 
tion of the Meteorological Office (M. O. 202) an 
observer should be able to use the instrument to 
full advantage 

Electrical observations of the atmosphere at 
the new observatory at Eskdalemuir are discussed 
by Mr. Dobson in the Geophysical Memoirs, and 
compared with those at Kew. Conditions differ 
in several respects, being far more disturbed at 
the northern station. The diurnal curves of the 
potential gradient for the two stations are similar 
during the winter, but differ markedly in the 
summer; at this season the potential at Eskdale- 
muir is high at night and begins to fall in the 
early morning when it is rising to a maximum at 
Kew. The mean absolute value of the potential 
gradient.is always higher at Kew than at Eskdale- 
muir, which Mr. Dobson attributes chiefly to the 
abnorm«zlly low conductivity of the air at Kew. 
The small and uncertain difference in the number 
of ions between summer and winter at Eskdale- 
muir is remarkable. The station has not been 
long established, and the account given in this 
memoir will, no doubt, be amplified when a 
longer series of observations from Eskdalemuir is 
available. 

The constriction in the tube of the marine baro- 
meter, made to avoid oscillations of the mercury, 
causes a lag which is discussed by Dr. Chree in 
No. 8 of the Geophysical Memoirs. The theory 
was considered by Stokes, who found that the 
marine barometer had a certain “lagging time.” 
If the sluggishness were due to the constriction 
alone the lag should be too small to affect read- 
ings in practice. But Dr. Chree has investigated 
the problem by the consideration of the readings 
of a number of barometers tested at Kew, and 
finds the lag to be considerably greater than 
according to Stokes’s formula. Further obser- 
vations with the same result were made with two 
barometers which were subsequently put on board 
ship, and read every four hours by the ship’s 
officers during a number of voyages across the 
Atlantic; the lag at sea was found to be much 
less than on land, and was almost entirely con- 
fined to cases where the barometer was “ pump- 
ing.” No explanation is put forward to account 
for “the extraordinary difference between land 
and sea results.” Dr. Chree is not of opinion 
that it can be explained by uncertainties of read- 
ing at sea. Further observations are hinted at, 
and it is certainly desirable to find out why on 
land the lag should be ‘enormously greater ” 
than given by Stokes’s formula, while at sea it is 
“exceedingly small.” 


AucusT 6, 1914] 


NATURE 


589 


NOTES. 


Tue Endurance, with Sir Ernest Shackleton and 
the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition on board, left 
London on Saturday last. The vessel will leave Ply- 
mouth for the Antarctic on Saturday next with a crew 
of seventeen, and six or eight members of the Weddell 
Sea-shore party. The remaining members of this 
party will sail in the middle of September by mail 
steamer for Buenos Aires. 

WE learn from the Times that the Scottish Spits- 
bergen Expedition, under the leadership of Dr. W. S. 
Bruce, director of the Scottish Oceanographical 
Laboratory (referred to on p. 512 of NATURE, July 16), 


left Tromso on the morning of July 24. Dr. Bruce 


has chartered the sailing ship Pelikane, and is pro- 
ceeding to Wybe Jansz Water, where he will land a 
party under the direction of Mr. R. M. Craig on the 
east. coast of the mainland. From there he will go 
with the ship to Green Harbour, Ebeltoft Harbour, 
and Prince Charles Foreland. Dr. Bruce will return 
with the Pelikane to Wybe Jansz Water to continue 
the hydrographic survey of the loch, while Mr. Craig, 
it is hoped, will be able to carry on the geological 
researches, which he will have begun during Dr. 
Bruce’s absence in the west. 


An expedition under the leadership of Miss M. A. 
Czaplicka, who holds a travelling fellowship of Somer- 
ville College, Oxford, is being sent out by the Uni- 
versities of Oxford and Moscow, for the purpose of 
studying the tribes of the Yenesei region. The other 
members are Mr. H. A. Hull, of Philadelphia Uni- 
versity, in charge of physical anthropological work ; 
Miss Haviland, zoologist and ornithologist; Miss 
Curtis, photographer. The tribes which will be in- 
vestigated are the Tungus and Ostiak of the Yenesei, 
both with Mongoloid affinities, though physically 
distinct. The question of group marriage, peculiari- 
ties of the tribal wizard, and their religion are in- 
cluded in the scope of the inquiry. The expedition 
will be absent for about a year, and is supplied with 
carefully selected equipment and provisions. 


It is stated in Science that Mr. C. Boden Kloss 
and Mr. H. C. Robinson, director of museums, 
Federated Malay States, are engaged in an expedition 
to Mount Indrapura or Korinchi in Central Sumatra 
—a volcano 12,700 ft. high, and the highest summit 
in the island. The objects of the expedition are 
zoological and botanical, but it is hoped to ascend to the 
summit of the mountain and make observations of the 
crater and the present activity of the volcano. 


WE learn that the committee of the Capt. Scott 
Memorial Fund has accepted the offer of the Admiralty 
of a site at Greenwich Hospital for the erection of 
the memorial to the explorers who lost their lives 
in the Antarctic region. It has been stipulated by 
the Admiralty that the memorial shall harmonise with 
the architecture of neighbouring buildings. 

Tue death is announced, at the age of sixty-seven, 
of M. Paul Reclus, who was largely instrumental 
in making general the use of cocaine as an anzs- 
thetic in surgery. He was elected a member of the 
Paris Academy of Medicine in 1895. 


NOb 2336, VOL: 93! 


; and 3. 


Mr. JoHN Hoop, whose recent death, at an ad- 
vanced age, is announced from Dundee, was well 
known to many zoologists and microscopists as a 
collector of the more minute forms of fresh-water life 
and especially of the Rotifera. The study of these 
attractive little animals was the hobby of his life, and 
though he published little under. his own name, he 
gave very important assistance to many other workers. 
It is only necessary to turn the pages of Hudson and 
Gosse’s great Monograph to see how largely they 
were indebted to him for the material on which they 
worked, and his name is quoted on almost every other 
page as authority for some statement regarding the 
bionomics or occurrence of a species. He was especi- 
ally successful in obtaining new and curious forms 
of the sessile Rotifers forming the group Rhizota, 
which in recent years have been somewhat neglected 
in favour of the more easily collected free-swimming 
species. Mr. Hood was a mechanic by trade, and in 
his later years, when laid aside from work, he was in 
straitened circumstances, and sometimes perilously 
near actual privation. Only a year ago, a small pen- 
sion from the Murdoch Trust, obtained at the instance 
of some of his scientific friends, brought ease of mind 
and some comfort to his last days. Probably very 
few of his numerous correspondents knew him person- 
ally, but those who did know that he represented a 
particularly fine type of the ‘‘working-man natural- 
ist,’’ a type which is, perhaps, commoner in the north 
country than in the south, and which was more char- 
acteristic of the nineteenth century than it promises 
to be of the twentieth. 


As already announced (see Nature, December 18, 
1913), an International Congress of Meteorology is to 
be held in Venice in September next. From a circular 
just received, we learn that the Congress will take 
place on September 17, 18, and 19, and will be divided 
into three sections, dealing respectively with. climat- 
ology and agrarian meteorology; aerology; general 
and maritime meteorology. The communications and 
discussions are to be in English, French, German, or 
Italian, and those intending to take part must send 
their applications and subscriptions to the secretary 
of the executive committee (Osservatorio Patriarcale 
della Salute, Venice) before August 31. The sub- 
scription will be to lire (8s.). 


Tue fourteenth French Congress of Medicine is to 
be held at Brussels on September 30, October 1, 2, 
The president will be Prof. Henrijean, of 
Liége, and the general secretary Prof. R. Verhvogen, 
22 rue Joseph II., Brussels. Among the subjects to 
be discussed are cardio-vascular syphilis; vaccino- 
therapy in general, and in particular vaccinotherapy 
of cancer and typhoid fever; the therapeutic value of 
artificial pneumothorax; lipoids in pathology. 


An illustrated lecture on the modification of response 
in plants under the action of drugs is to be delivered 
on October 30 before the Royal Society of Medicine 
by Prof. J.C. Bose, of Calcutta. 


Tue thirteenth competition for the Riberi prize, the 
value of which is 8o0o0l., is now open. It is to be 


| awarded for scientific researches in medical science, 


590 


NATORE 


[AucustT 6, 1914 


and is given under the auspices of the Royal Academy 
of Medicine of Turin. Names of competitors will be 
received until December 31, 1916. Entry forms may 
be obtained from Dr. V. Oliva, secretary of the Royal 
Academy of Medicine, 18 Via Po, Turin. 


LorpD SALVESEN, the president of the Scottish 
Zoological Society, has intimated his willingness to 
bear the cost (estimated at about roool.) of the erection 
of a house in the Zoological Park for the accommoda- 
tion of the smaller and more delicate mammals. 


A City GuiLp has been established at Coventry 
having as its object the preservation of historic build- 
ings and places of natural beauty. It will work upon 
the same lines as the society as Stratford-on-Avon 
which, though only two years old, has already done 
good work. 


WE have received from the British Association 
Committee for Radiotelegraphic Investigation copies 
of the programme of observations to be made during 
the total solar eclipse of August 21 next, and of the 
three forms, A, B, and C, which have been issued 
by the committee for use during the eclipse. Form A 
is for records of the measurement of signal strength; 
form B_ gives instructions and explanatory remarks 
concerning graphic records; and form C_ is for ob- 
servations on strays. It should be mentioned that on 
the occasi n of the eclipse, five high-power wireless 
telegraph stations in Europe will each make a series 
of special emissions to provide facilities for the obser- 
vation of strays, and for the measurement of the 
strength of signals—hence the issue of the above- 
named documents. It is requested that experimenters 
in wireless telegraphy possessing such apparatus of 
precision as will enable them to make accurate meas- 
urements will communicate with Mr. W. Duddell, 
56, Victoria Street, S.W. Prospective observers, 
willing to make aural estimates of signal strength, 
or to make observations on strays (either by the 
graphic record method, or by the method of register- 
ing the number heard during every thirty seconds), 
should intimate their willingness and state which 
portion of the observations they can undertake, to 
the honorary secretary, British Association Radio- 
telegraphic Committee, 88, Gower Street, W.C. 
They should also state the number and the names of 
the five sending stations with which it would be most 
convenient for them to work. 


THE report of the Astronomer-Royal to the Board of 
Visitors has been issued as a White Paper. In it it 
is stated that the old time ball at the Royal Observa- 
tory, Greenwich, is to be replaced by a new aluminium 
ball. The time ball was first erected in 1833. An 
electric current from the clock was first used to drop 
it at 1 o’clock in 1852. In 1855 the ball was blown 
down into the courtyard. Some repairs were made in 
1895, when the chain broke during winding, and 
again, in August, 1913, some temporary repairs were 
made to the ball. 

THE President of the Local Government Board has 
authorised the following researches to be paid for out 
of the annual grant voted by Parliament in aid of 
scientific investigations concerning the causes and 

NO. 2336, ‘VOL. 93] 


| * o 
processes of disease. 


These are in addition to the 
investigations already announced :— (1) an investiga- 
tion of the details of the technique in carrying out 
Wassermann’s reaction for the diagnosis of syphilis. 
Major Harrison, acting in collaboration with a sub- 
committee of the Pathological Section of the Royal 


Society of Medicine, will carry out this investigation. 


(2) An investigation by Mr. H. J. Gauvain, in collabora- 
tion with the Board’s pathological staff, into the 


cutaneous tuberculin reactions of cases of tuberculosis 


of bones and joints of bovine and human sources. 
(3) A continuance of the investigation of Drs. Twort 
and Mellanby on infantile diarrhoea, with special 
reference to. the conditions governing the absorption 
of toxic substances from the alimentary canal. (4) A 
further investigation into the causes of still-births by 
Drs. C. J. Lewis and Dale. 


An extremely interesting presidential address on 
“The Service of Medicine to Civilisation’? was de- 
livered by Prof. Victor Vaughan before the American 
Medical Association in June (see Science, July 3, 1914). 
One statement of importance is made, viz., that in- 
fectious disease picks out the fit rather than the unfit, 


and therefore does not benefit the race by the elimina- 


tion of the unfit. Prof. Vaughan claims increased 
state-aid for scientific investigation, and says that he 
has no sympathy with the idea that medical research 
should be largely relegated to special non-teaching 
institutions, for the man who is devoid of the spirit 
of scientific investigation should have no place in 
medicine as student, practitioner, or teacher! 


WE have received No. 4 of the Indian Journal of 
Medical Research, which completes the first volume 
of this important publication. It contains a number 
of papers on tropical research, and is well produced 
and illustrated. 


Two circulars which we have received serve as an 
illustration of what can be done, and is being done, 
in the study of nature in and around London. One 
is from Prof. Flinders Petrie, president of the Hamp- 
stead Scientific Society, pointing out the danger of 
extermination of the majority of the animals and 
plants in the parts of North London which are now 
being rapidly built over, and appealing for assistance 
from residents in and visitors to the district in the 
attempt of the Hampstead Scientific Society to compile 
a complete record of the natural species still to be 
found within three miles of the flagstaff on the sum- 
mit of Hampstead Heath, communications to be made 
with the secretaries of the society at 32 Willoughby 
Road, Hampstead. The second circular is from the 
curator of the Whitechapel Museum, 77 High Street, 
E., and consists in a description of the arrangements 
made for visits of school classes to this museum and 
to the Nature-Study Museum, both being controlled 
by the borough of Stepney. Nearly two thousand 
school classes have visited the museums mentioned 
during the last four years, while both are available 
for school visits, the Nature-Study Museum confines 
itself mainly to the display of living plants and 
animals, the grounds containing many fine trees and 
also a wild flower garden with a large collection of 
growing British plants labelled by their common 


Avucust 6, 1914] 


NATURE 


RoR: 


names, and in addition to an observation bechive, a 
large vivarium with reptiles and batrachians, and a 
collection of the score or so of wild birds which visit 
or nest in the grounds, there are about seventy fresh- 
water and marine aquaria, containing a fine series 
of aquatic plants and insects, mollusca, anemones, and 
fishes. +4 


Mr. W. W. SmitH has contributed to the Records 
of the Botanical Survey of India (vol. iv., No. 7) an 
interesting account of the alpine and subalpine vegeta- 
tion of south-east Sikkim, more especially that of the 
ridges lying between the two passes, Cho-La and 
Tanka-La. The list of the 925 species of flowering 
plants and ferns collected is preceded by an exceed- 
ingly interesting general description of the flora of 
this high region, with reference to the climatic and 
other conditions of the area, one of the wettest in the 
Himalayas. 


We are glad to learn that the marine biological in- 
vestigations at the Cape of Good Hope, which were 
suspended, in part at any rate, for some years, have 
again been resumed under the direction of Dr. J. D. F. 
Gilchrist. The Marine Biological Report, No. 1, has 
now been issued, and contains two papers of con- 
siderable economic interest. The first of these is on 
the Cape crawfish and the crawfish industry. The 
somewhat changeable history of the industry is re- 
corded, and the prospects of future development dis- 
cussed. The main part of the paper is, however, 
devoted to a study of the natural history of the species, 
which leads up to a consideration of the possible ways 
_ in which the industry may be preserved. The second 
paper contains an account of the various species of 
the herring and allied families, which live in Cape 
waters. The number of these is considerable, but it 
does not seem probable that many of them offer a 
prospect of a successful fishery. 


To the July number of the American Naturalist 
(vol. xlviii., p. 385) Dr. Glover M. Allen contributes 
the first part of a remarkably interesting and original 
article on the development of colour-pattern in mam- 
mals and birds, dealing in this instance almost exclu- 
sively with the development of semi-albinism in domes- 
ticated mammals. In the opinion of the author, 
mammals and birds have five paired centres of maxi- 
mum development, and a single azygous frontal centre. 
Where these areas come into contact with one another, 
that is to say, on their peripheries, the intensity of the 
pigmentation is, of necessity, much less than at the 
centres. A consequence of this is the tendency to the 
development of non-pigmented areas at the lines of 
junction, such light tracts being denominated ‘‘ primary 
breaks.’’ One of such unpigmented areas occurs on 
the middle line of the lower surface of the body; there 
is another between the ear-patches, and a third on the 
side of the neck. In piebaid horses and cattle 
an unpigmented tract is very generally situated in the 


neighbourhood of the shoulder, and another in the 
lumbar region, one or both of which may embrace 


the associated limb. How very closely the colour- 
pattern of horses agrees in this respect with that of 


| article is illustrated, and it will not fail to be noticed 


that the two main light tracts approximately follow 
the lines of the limb-girdles, as was pointed out years 
ago by a writer to whom the author appears to make 
no reference. ‘‘Dappling’’ in horses, which has been 
regarded as an archaic feature, is considered by Dr. 
Allen to be more probably a secondary development. 


Dr. RoitrF WITTING continues to carry out most 
valuable hydrographical work in the Gulf of Finland, 
and in Finlanddéndische Hydrographisch-Biologische 
Untersuchungen, No. 12, the observations for the year 
1g12 are published. As in former years, salinity and 
temperature observations have been made on special 
cruises, as well as more continuous series of observa- 
tions on lightships. The ice conditions are also fully 
recorded. Finland is to be congratulated upon having 
carried out its hydrographical work for a number of 
years in a thorough and systematic way, being in 
many respects considerably ahead of some of the larger 
countries that took up this work in 1903, in connection 
with the International Fishery investigations. 


To the April issue of the Proceedings of the Phil- 
adelphia Academy Dr. N. E. McIndoo contributes a 
long article on the olfactory sense in Hymenoptera, 
as exemplified by ants and hornets. The special object 
of the experiments on which the article is based was 
to establish, in the first place, the relative sensibility 
of these insects to various odours; secondly, to ascer- 
tain the situation of the olfactory organs; and, thirdly, 
to determine how other Hymenoptera compare with 
ants and hornets in the perception of scents. Various 
opinions have been held with regard to the seat of 
smell in insects, but the general view at the present 
day is that this is situated in the antenna, although 
it has been pointed out that since these appendages 
are coated with hard membrane, they are ill-fitted to 
receive and assimilate olfactory stimuli. Dr. McIndoo 
finds that the so-called olfactory pores of the legs 
and wings are the true smelling organs, and that the 
antenne take no part in the olfactory function. 


PuBLIcATION No. 192 of the Carnegie Institution 
includes (p. 263) a contribution by Dr. Ch. Schuchert 
on the ‘‘Climates of geologic time,’? in which much 
attention is paid to the occurrence of glacial epochs 
from the ‘‘proterozoic”’ periods to recent times. The 
author regards crustal deformations, which may 
possibly be rhythmic, as the most potent cause’ of 
climatic change. Dr. Schuchert, in association with 
Prof. Barrell, has just issued another paper of wide 
import, ‘‘A revised geologic time-table for North 
America”? (Am. Journ. Sci., vol. xxxviii., 1914, p. 1), 
which also emphasises the conception of rhythmic 
movements of the surface. These produce marked 
changes in the fauna, especially on land. The table 
summarising our knowledge of pre-Cambrian history 
will be useful to many teachers. 


Pror. W. H. Hoszs has published, through the 
Macmillan Company of New York (price Is.), a 
pamphlet on ‘‘ Simple Directions for the Determination 
of the Common Minerals and Rocks,”’ with an appen- 
dix on geological maps and models; the use of wooden 


cattle is made apparent by the figures with which the | blocks, the inclination of which can be varied, to 


NO. 2336, VOL. 93| 


592 


represent the outcrop of strata is distinctly suggestive. 


A student of geology should know much more about 
the foundations of mineralogy than is here given; 
but these pages were originally drawn up as a supple- 
ment to the author’s physiographic work on ‘Earth 
Features and their Meaning.” 


Mr. H. Dewey’s well-illustrated account of the 
geology of Nortn Cornwall, in the Proceedings of the 
Geologists’ Association, vol. xxv. (1914), part iii., will 
aid many visitors to the county. The conspicuous 
plain that cuts across the structure of the country 
at 300 to 400 ft. above the sea is regarded as due to 
marine denudation occurring in Pliocene times. A 
steep bluff represents the coast-line limiting this plain. 
Mr. T. C. F. Hall adds a petrological study of the 
St. Austell granite, in which the important problem 
of kaolinisation is discussed. 


GEOLOGISTS may note in Fortschritte der Miner- 
alogie, for 1914, an elaborate review, by M. Stark, 
with a bibliography of 534 entries, on the question 
of petrographic provinces. From the work of Judd 
in 1876, who is quoted in the bibliography as ‘‘W. 
Iudd,’’? we are brought through a large number of 
regions where relationships have been claimed for ig- 
neous rocks of diverse characters. As a result of this 
survey, two main groups, already unfortunately named 
by Becke Atlantic and Pacific, are held to be well 
established, and we are led to understand that an 
original magma combining these materials no longer 
exists as an important feature of the crust. The 
author concludes that the Pacific type dominated in 
early geological ages, while the Atlantic type has been 
brought almost to an equality with the Pacific since 
Eocene times, and will ultimately prevail completely 
over it. 


Tue Geological Survey of New Jersey, under the 
care of Dr. H. B. Kiimmel, has issued a ‘‘ Geologic 
Map” of the State on the scale of 1: 250,000. The 
general strike of the beds, whether Palzozoic or 
Mesozoic, is north-east and south-west, and influences 
one great feature of the country, the course of the 
Delaware River, which forms the frontier for fifty 
miles along the foot of Cretaceous escarpments. The 
Hudson on the east similarly works down along the 
strike under the famous Triassic dolerite ‘‘ palisades.”’ 
The choice of colours gives a highly artistic character 
to the map. 


Ir is frequently observed that in certain conditions 
of the atmosphere unusual visibility of distant objects 
exists. In Symons’s Meteorological Magazine for 
December last, Mr. S. Miller referred to the pheno- 
menon and asked what are the physical conditions 
that produce it, and whether it is admitted to be a 
prognostic of rain. An interesting discussion followed, 
in which several well-known men of science have 
taken part. Opinions as to the prognostic are about 
equally divided. Mr. W. H. Dines (Mag. for June) 
thinks visibility is more prevalent in rainy weather, 
but after, just as much as before, rain. Also, that 
haziness is dependent on the character of the district 
from which the air comes; smoke from the London 


NO. 2336; VOUsg:y 


NATURE 


| established in Nyanza Province. 


[AuGcuST 6, 1914 


or Clyde districts can be traced for a hundred miles. 
Dr. John Aitken (Mag. for July) concludes, from a 
large number of observations at Falkirk (Stirling), 
that transparency is adversely affected (1) by humidity, 
and (2) by the density of the population in the direction 
from which the wind blows. There is, however, no 
doubt as to the general popularity of the rain prog- 
nostic; a former careful observer (Rev. G. T. Ryves), 
referring to the well-known rhymes sometimes ascribed 
to Dr. Jenner, and including the line: ‘‘The distant 
hills are looking nigh,’’ remarks that visibility is 
“one of the most generally accepted signs of rain.’’ 


StncE their systematic classification by Luke 
Howard in 1803 and the modifications introduced by 
international agreement in recent years, the observa- 
tion of the forms and motions of clouds has become 
one of the most important aids to successful weather 
study, and Prof. W. Davis remarks in his excellent 
‘‘Elementary Meteorology”? that ‘‘if the observer 
wishes to learn something of atmospheric processes 
tor himself, he should give at least as much time 
to cloud observations as to all other records put to- 
gether.”. We therefore welcome an_ interesting 
address to the Occidental College on the clouds of 
California by Dr, F. A. Carpenter, local forecaster of © 
the U.S. Weather Bureau. Although occupying only 
eighteen pages it contains much useful information 
on the composition and formation of clouds. To the 
usual nomenclature he adds a local form: el velo, 
sometimes known as ‘‘high fog,’? which occurs 
morning and evening between May and September 
along a large part of the coast. Storm clouds: are 
most frequent over the northern portion of the State, 
where cloudless days average less than 100 in a year; 
in the southern part, e.g., at San Diego, there are 
nearly 300 cloudless days. Notwithstanding the pro- 
verbial sunny skies of California, the author states 
that most of the known varieties of cioud can be 
observed there. 


THE current Bulletin of the Imperial Institute 
(vol. xii., No. 2) contains among the reports of recent 
investigations by the scientific and technical staff the 
results of the examination of soils from Nyasaland, of 
penguin guano from the Falkland Isles, and of flax 
from the East Africa Protectorate, where there is 
every prospect of the cultivation of this fibre becoming 
Other reports relate 
to cocoa from Nigeria, copals from British West 
Africa, and cohune nuts from’ British Honduras. 
Coffee cultivation in Uganda is dealt with by Mr. W. 
Small, botanist of the Department of Agriculture in 
this colony. Coffee is now the staple crop of European 
planters in Uganda. The area is being extended, and 
large increases in the exports of coffee may be shortly 
looked for. An article on the utilisation of fish and 
marine animals as sources of oil and manure discusses 
the composition and uses of fish oils, their sources and 
preparation, and describes the present position of the 
whaling industry. Fur farming in Canada and the 
tin resources of Malaya and India are dealt with in 
separate articles. Considerably more than half of the 
world’s supply of tin is now produced within the British 


AucustT 6, 1914] 


Empire; the output in 1911, the latest year for which 
final figures are obtainable, was: British Empire 
60,497 tons, foreign countries 54,051 tons. 


No. 3 of vol. viii. of the Biochemical Journal con- 
tains two papers, emanating from the Lister Institute, 
of great general interest. The first, by Mr. Evelyn 
Ashley Cooper, deals with the curative action of auto- 
lysed yeast on avian polyneuritis ; the solution obtained 
retains its curative power for at least eight weeks, 
and is apparently quite non-toxic. The autolysis of 
brewers’ yeast should therefore afford a simple, in- 
expensive method of preparing a solution suitable for 
the oral treatment of human beri-beri. The second 
paper deals with the bases of gas-works tar, which 
are believed to be the predisposing cause of pitch- 
cancer, with special reference to their action on 
lymphocytes, and a method for their inactivation. The 
bases which are capable of exciting cell-division are 
found to occur in the anthracene fraction of the tar, 
and two bases of this kind have been isolated in the 
form of picrates, but have not yet been identified satis- 
factorily. A simple method of rendering these bases 
inactive consists in heating the tar to a temperature 
of about 160°, and blowing ordinary or ozonised air 
through it; in this way the auxetics are rendered 
harmless by oxidation. 


For many years considerable inconvenience has been 
experienced in the sheet-metal trade in consequence 
of misunderstanding as to the recognised gauge for 
iron and steel sheets and hoops. A series of sizes 
known as the ‘‘B.G.’’ gauge, or Birmingham gauge, 
was adopted by the South Staffordshire Ironmasters’ 
Association in 1884, and were very generally accepted 
in the trade concerned; but many buyers have per- 
sisted in ordering sizes belonging to other systems, 
such as the ‘‘B.W.G.,’”’ or Birmingham wire gauge, 
which has no legal status, and is often confused with 
the imperial standard wire gauge legalised in 1883. 
Neither of these gauges is, however, recognised in 
the iron trade for sheets and hoops, and, in con- 
sequence, mistakes have often been made, leading 
in some cases to litigation. At the instance of the 
metal trades section of the London Chamber of Com- 
merce, the Board of Trade was approached in 1912 
with a view to the legalisation of the ‘‘B.G.”’ gauge, 
and, after consideration, they decided in August last to 
prepare the necessary order in council. This’ order 
in council has now been issued, and comes irto 
operation on November 1 next, on which date all 
the’ ““B.G? sizes from 15/0' BsG:, or’ z)in.; to’ 52 
B.G., or 0-00095 in. will become legal denominations 
of imperial measure, and will accordingly be admis- 
sible for verification and stamping by inspectors of 
weights and measures. In the interest of the metal 
trade generally, it is to be hoped that the illegal and 
arbitrary “*B.W.G.”’ will then cease to be specified by 
purchasers. 


Aw admirable ‘‘ Report on Radiation and the Quan- 
tum Theory,’ by Mr. J. H. Jeans, has been pub- 
lished by the Physical Society of London. It con- 
tains an introductory portion showing in simple 


NG 2330. VOL. 93 | 


NATURE 


' development 


' specific heat. 


a 


language the need for a quantum theory, followed 
by a general discussion of the radiation problem on 
the lines of the classical mechanics, an account of the 
of the quantum theory, and_ special 
chapters on line spectra, photo-electric effects, and 
The need for some theory not based 
upon Newtonian mechanics is shown by the fact that 
in all known media there is a tendency for the energy 
of any systems moving in the medium to be trans- 
ferred to the medium, and ultimately to be found in 
the shortest vibrations of which the medium is capable. 
Thus, a system of corks connected by springs, and 
floating in a tank of water, will transfer any vibra- 
tional energy they have to water-waves, and ultimately 
to molecular heat. This tendency, which results from 
Newtonian mechanics, is not observed in the phe- 
nomena of radiation. Otherwise a hot body in a 
perfectly reflecting enclosure would transfer all its 
heat to the zther within the enclosure. Max Planck 
got over this difficulty by supposing that radiant 
energy is not emitted until it has reached a certain 
minimum quantity or ‘‘quantum.’? However difficult 
it may be to imagine such a process, Mr. Jeans agrees 
with the late Henri Poincaré that some such discon- 
tinuity in the structure of energy is imperatively 
required by experimental evidence. 


* Tue June issue of the Memoirs of the Manchester 
Literary and Philosophical Society contains seven 
memoirs, and extends to 140 pages. The whole of the 
memoirs have been issued separately by the society 
during April and May at intervals subsequent to their 
reception which vary from one to four months, the 
average being about two and a half months. This 
average does not differ much from that which obtains 
in the Royal Society of London and other societies. 
The various memoirs cover a wide range of subjects. 
One by Mr. R. F. Gwyther introduces a new specifica- 
tion of stress from which a great simplification of 
treatment results. Another by Mr. W. Cramp de- 
scribes measurements of the flow of air through pipes, | 
but ignores the work published by the National 
Physical Laboratory on the subject during the last four 
years. Mr. A. D. Hall, in a third memoir, shows how 
the old view that the plant derives nutrition direct 
from fertilisers in the soil represents the facts better 
than the newer one of Messrs. Whitney and Cameron, 
according to which all soils give a soil solution of the 
same composition from which the plant derives its 
nutrition and into which it excretes substances toxic 
to its kind. Two memoirs by Messrs. T. A. Coward 
and W. M. Tattersall are devoted to a valuable survey 
of the fauna of Rostherne Mere, a secluded fresh-water 
lake in the north of Cheshire. These remarks suffice 
to show that the society maintains a high standard in 
its memoirs. 


In a paper read before the Tokyo Physico-Mathe- 
matical Society in April, which appears in the June 
number of the Science Reports of the Tohoku Uni- 
versity, Prof. K. Honda puts forward a new theory of 
magnetism which appears to follow the experimental 
facts more closely than any previous theory. It is 
based on the following assumptions. The molecules, 


594 


NAT ORE 


[Aucust 6, 1914 


or in a solid, the molecular groups, which are in 
thermal agitation, have magnetic moments which are 
functions of the temperature. Their action on each 
other is due partly to actual impacts, partly to the 
magnetic field each sets up in its neighbourhood. In 
general the second effect is small compared with the 
first. When an external field is applied, both the im- 
pacts and the molecular fields tend to oppose the 
rotation of the magnetic axes of the molecules or 
molecular groups into line with the field. If the mole- 
cules or groups are elongated in shape the impacts 
almost entirely prevent rotation and the substance is 
paramagnetic. If the molecules or groups are 
spherical the impacts have only a small effect, rotation 
is resisted mainly by the mutual magnetic actions 
and the substance is ferromagnetic. Diamagnetism 
he considers to be atomic in nature and only another 
aspect of the Zeeman effect. 


OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 


Comer 1913f (DELAvAN).—The following is the 
ephemeris for Delavan’s comet (1913f) for the current 
week (Astronomische Nachrichten, No. 4739) :— 


; R.A. (true) Dec. (true) Mag. 
° m. Ss. ° ‘ “ 
ANUS, Gs Sys. Ow 21 EO . +40 40 17:9 
fa ee 2H AGS ocel, IMEL FON Aye] «| =e ROLE 
Saree 2815356) .. 4 2Dy20°0 
2) coc BE DAE” eas ete oad, 
HOiMMess Be BRa 1 ts ee la2 228-0 
ni BOZO | wactomig2 23 MaeO sy jctacar 59 
Tein ees AGINS-2 = A Nee Aaa. Sans 
na ere 4elG-O - +43 4 46 


The current number of the Observatory (August) 
states that this comet was detected by Mr. W. H. 
Steavenson on July 4 at an altitude of 1°. It was of 
about the 6th magnitude, had a nucleus of magnitude 
7-5, and a head of five minutes in diameter; daylight 
prevented the tail from being observed. It is expected 
that the object will be visible to the naked eye in 
September and October, but no more confident pre- 
diction than this can now be made. 


NEBULAR Roration.—In this column on June 4 
(vol. xciii., p. 361) reference was made to an announce- 
ment by Prof. Lowell of the discovery, by spectroscopic 
means, of the rotation of the Virgo Nebula. Dr. 
V. M. Slipher now publishes (Lowell Observatory 
Bulletin, No. 62) a brief communication describing 
in more detail the discovery in question. It seems 
that about a year ago a spectrogram of the Virgo 
Nebula N.G.C. 4594 showed the nebula lines to be 
inclined. A second plate verified the above, but was 
not considered sufficiently satisfactory to warrant a 
public announcement of the discovery. A_ recent 
photograph confirms the previous deduction, and it is 
stated that the inclination of the lines, which is ana- 
logous to that produced by the diurnal rotation of a 
planet, ‘‘is unmistakable, and leads one directly to 
the conclusion that the nebula is rotating about an 
axis.’ This nebula has a radial velocity of fully a 
thousand kilometres a second. The nebula is of a 
‘‘spindle’’ type, and the slit of the spectroscope was 
placed over the long axis: these nebulz are thus 
spirals seen edgewise, as previous observations of 
their form have led one to believe. The fact is now 


proved. Dr. Slipher promises the details of the ob- 
servations in a general discussion of the spectro- 
NO; 239G VOU, 193i ; 


graphic observations of nebula made since i912. 
Some of the numerous spectrograms of nebule taken 
at Flagstaff have shown indications of inclined lines, 
among them being the great nebula in Andromeda, 
and he hopes to give a definite answer to the im- 
portant question of the rotation of this the greatest 
of spiral nebulz. 


SoLarR PHysicS OBSERVATORY, CAMBRIDGE.— lhe first ° 
annual report of the director of the Solar Physics 
Observatory, Cambridge, to the Solar Physics Com- 
mittee covers the year commencing April 1, 1913. 
The introductory remarks contain a statement indicat- 
ing the circumstances in which the observatory is now 
administered, and deplore the loss of three members 
et the committee, namely, Sir George Darwin, Sir 
Robert Ball, and Sir David Gill, since the appointment 
of the committee in June, 1912. After a reference to 
the purchase of additional land extending down to the 
Madingley Road and to the selection of instruments 
to be used, the new buildings are next described. 
These include an extensive and complete laboratory 
building forming an extension at the west end of the 
astrophysical building, a spectroheliograph house, a 
dome 27 ft. in diameter for the 3-ft. reflector, etc. The 
energies of the staff are stated to have been chiefly 
confined to getting the observatory into working order, 
and for this reason systematic work not involving 
fresh observations was undertaken, and night work 
put somewhat in abeyance. Under the heading 
“Stellar Work,”’ the photographic and visual observa- 
tions made with the Newall telescope are recorded. 
These consist of spectrograms of variable stars and 
visual observations of the spectra of fine nove. A 
discussion of spectrograms of Nova Persei No. 2 has 
been completed, and an atlas of typical stellar spectra 
with assigned chemical origins of the lines is in 
course of preparation. | Under the heading, ‘Solar 
Work,” that with the spectroheliograph and _ the 
McClean solar instruments is dealt with, while in 
meteorological physics a brief account is given of the 
investigations in atmospheric electricity and experi- 
mental work on ionising radiations. Preparations 
were made for the observations of the coming eclipse 
of the sun, the director and two members of the staff 
planning to take up their station near Feodosia in the 
Crimea. 


ANNALS OF THE RoyaL BELGIUM OBSERVATORY.—The 
second part of vol. xiii. of the Annals of the Royal 
Observatory of Belgium contains three separate 
memoirs. The first is confined to the details of ob- 
servations of variable stars made at that observatory 
during the period 1907 to 1912 by Messrs. G. van 
Biesbroeck and L. Casteels. Forty-six stars are here 
studied and the total number of observations published 
is 3225. Chief attention has been paid to new vari- 
ables which have not been ‘well studied. In many 
cases their identity was so ambiguous that the authors 
have studied the stars themselves, and for the sake 
of future observers have published charts of the regions 
where those stars were not included in the Bonner 
Durchmusterung. In many cases light curves accom- 
pany the text. The second portion of the volume 
brings together the observations made with the 
38 cm. aperture equatorial by Dr. G. van Biesbroeck 
during the period 1907 to 1912; these comprise the 
observations of double stars, comets, minor planets, 
and phenomena. The third and last portion, by 
M. L. Casteels, summarises the physical observations 
of comets made by him in the years 1910 and IgII. 
Both the second and third portions are accompanied 
by numerous illustrations of the details observed in 
comets’ heads. 


AucustT 6, 1914] 


NATURE 


595 


THE ABERDEEN MEETING OF THE 
BRITISH MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 


fe the meeting of the British Medical Association 
held in Aberdeen during the last week of July, 
the presidential address was delivered by Prof. Sir 
Alexander Ogston, the distinguished surgeon, whose 
classical reseaches on the organisms of suppuration 
constitute a landmark in the history of bacteriology in 
this country. Prof. Ogston described the foundation 
in Aberdeen of the first medical schocl in the United 
Kingdom, and paid a tribute to the sagacity of Bishop 
Elphinstone, who in planning the university provided 
for a faculty of medicine. 

The sectional addresses were of the usual character, 
surveys of progress in the various departments of 
medical and surgical science. 

To the proceedings of the various sections several 
interesting contributions were made. In the course 
of a discussion on the cause of death under chloroform, 
Prof. MacWilliam stated that so long ago as 1887 he 
had pointed out that the cause of sudden cardiac 
failure under chloroform was due to _ ventricular 
fibrillation. With continuous administration of 
chloroform there was no danger of fibrillation and 
sudden collapse, but with intermittent administration 
the case was otherwise. Fibrillation was due to 
sudden increase of chloroform vapour during the 
sensitive stage. Omnipon and choral previously ad- 
ministered gave no protection. Dilatation of the 
heart was not protective. With normal and increased 
vagus control, fibrillation is prevented. Removal of 
vagus control is apt to lead to fibrillation, afferent 
impulses then constituting a danger. The acapnia 
hypothesis of Henderson did not meet the facts. 

During the discussion on the pathology of heart 
function Dr. Lewis brought forward evidence to prove 
that fibrillation was due to independent action of the 
muscular fibres of the heart. In the case of heart- 
beats, either in response to normal physiological im- 
pulses or in response to a weak faradic current, if 
two pairs of contacts were placed on the heart one 
above the other and in close proximity to each other, 
string galvanometer curves taken during the contrac- 
tion of the cardiac muscle from both pairs gave electro- 
cardiograms of similar pattern. But in auricular or 
ventricular fibrillation tracings from the same leads 
showed no similarity of pattern. Consequently he 
concluded that in fibrillation the adjacent muscle 
fibres were acting independently of each other. 

Dr. Ivy Mackenzie, discussing the anatomy of the 
primitive specialised cardiac tissue in birds, pointed 
out that there was no sino-auricular node and no 
auriculo-ventricular bundle similar to the Bundle of 
His. 

A muscular connection between auricle and ventricle 
did exist on the right side of the heart near the 
coronary sinus. In the heart of the guillemot a node 
of specialised tissue could be demonstrated at the 
junction of the inferior vena cava and right auricle. 

During a discussion on carbohydrate metabolism, 
Dr. MacLean demonstrated a valuable method of 
accurately and quickly estimating the amount of sugar 
in about 2 c.c. of blood. 

Prof. MacLeod (Cleveiand), discussing the glyco- 
genic function of the liver, stated that although the 
Claude Bernard doctrine regarding the fate of the 
glycogen stores of the liver no doubt holds true for 
strictly physiological conditions, this was not the case 
in certain experimental conditions such as hydrazine 
and phosphorous poisoning. Evidence was brought 
forward to show that even in the typical forms of 
hyperglvcogenolysis much of the glycogen also be- 
comes discharged into the blood of the hepatic veins 


NO. 2336, VOL. 93] 


~_— 


| as a colloidal (dextrinous) body and in the condition 


of local asphyxia of the liver as lactic acid. The 
lactic acid content of the blood leaving the liver was 


; assayed by the method of von Firth and Charnass. 


Dr. Cathcart gave a short communication of much 
interest on the réle of carbohydrate in nutrition. He 
pointed out that it was no longer possible simply to 
assess the value of a diet on its caloric content. It 
had, of course, always been admitted that there must 
be a sufficiency of protein present, but it was generally 
believed that fats and carbohydrates were mutually 
replaceable in isodynamic amounts. Dr. Cathcart 
stated, as regard carbohydrate, it might be accepted 
as an established fact that a certain proportion of this 
material must be present in a diet. In support of this 
he gave an account of a series of experiments in 
which the degree of protein catabolism was investi- 
gated on diet consisting of olive oil and varying 
amounts of pure glucose. He maintained that his 
results showed conclusively that although carbo- 
hydrates and fats were mutually replaceable to a cer- 
tain extent, this replacement could not be carried out 
to the complete exclusion of carbohydrate. 

In the neurological section Dr. James McIntosh 
pointed out that the failure of antisyphilitic remedies 
to influence the conditions known as parenchymatous 
syphilis was due to their not being able to pass through 
the capillaries of the brain to the nerve substance 
proper. The cerebro-spinal fluid was not the lymph of 
the brain, and these remedies did not reach the brain 
by this channel, as had been suggested. He had 
failed to find any improvement in cases treated by 
intrathecal injections of salvarsanised serum or of neo- 
salvarsan, and did not believe this newer method 
would have any permanent vogue. 

In the bacteriological section, Drs. Hort and Ingram 
discussed the cocco-bacillus they had recently isolated 
from typhus patients, which on injection into the 
Bonnet monkey in several cases produces a high con- 
tinued fever after an incubation period. 


THE HAVRE MEETING OF THE FRENCH 
ASSOCIATION. 


are forty-third congress of the French Association 

for the Advancement of the Sciences, which has 
just been held at Le Havre, was noteworthy for the 
invitations extended by that association (1) to those 
members of the British Association who did not attend 
the Australian meeting, (2) to the delegates of the 
Corresponding Societies of the British Association. 
Both invitations were accepted by a number of English 
visitors, who were accorded a very hospitable recep- 
tion. At the opening meeting of the congress, held in 
the Havre Theatre. ‘‘God save the King’’ was played 
by the orchestra, the whole assembly rising in honour 
of the English national anthem. M. Armand Gautier 
presided, and (after speeches of welcome had been 
delivered by M. Morgand, the maire of Havre, and 
M. Jules Siegfried) called upon Sir William Ramsay, 
as the principal delegate of the British Association, to 
address the meeting. This he did in a discourse 
which was felt to be charming and sympathetic. He 
referred to the community of races between the French 
and the English, to the ninety-nine years of peace 
that have subsisted between the two nations, and to 
the illustrious men of science that each has pro- 
duced, associating the immortal names of Pasteur and 
of Lister, both of whom had saved more lives than 
the most sanguinary of wars had destroyed. M. 
Gautier then delivered his presidential address, in 
which he referred to recent studies in hydrology and 
oceanography, with especial reference to their bearing 
upon the welfare of the town in which the meeting 


596 


was held, and spoke eloquently of the sea as contri- 
buting to the grandeur of the countries which it 
washes and to the heroism of their inhabitants. The 
annual report of the association was then read by 
Dr. Loir on behalt of the secretary, and gave evidence 
of good scientific work in various directions and of a 
sound financial condition. In the evening a reception 
was given by the municipality in the Hotel de Ville. 

On Tuesday morning a prehistoric exhibition was 
opened in an annexe of the Museum of Natural His- 
tory. It comprised a selection of false antiquities, a 
large collection of palzolithic implements found in 
the bed of the Seine, at Le Havre, and a well- 
classified collection of neolithic objects. The other 
contents of the Natural History Museum were de- 
scribed by Dr. Loir, the curator. 

At the meeting of the Conference of British Dele- 
gates of Corresponding Societies which, by the cour- 
tesy of the French Association, was made part of the 
proceedings of the Congress, and was held in the 
Salle des Conférences of the Hdétel de Ville, the 
chairman expressed the gratitude of the delegates to 
the Association for the compliment thus paid to them. 
The absence of Sir George Fordham, who had been 
nominated President of the Congress, was a dis- 
appointment, but it was, to some extent, made up for 
by his having sent the MS. of his presidential address, 
which was read. It comprised an interesting account 
of the origin of these conferences, in which Mr. John 
Hopkinson was the principal actor, and which have 
now been held for more than thirty years. The 
number of corresponding societies and of delegates 
has continuously increased, and the papers read at the 
conferences, the annual reports of the Corresponding 
Societies Committee, and especially the annual lists 
of papers read before local societies have been of 
great value; but Sir Geoge Fordham was of opinion 
that the advantages proposed by these annual con- 
ferences had not been fully realised, and attributed 
it, to some extent, to a want of interest in their work 
on the part of the secretaries of some societies, an 
evil for which he was unable to suggest a remedy. 
A similar opinion was expressed by Dr. Garson, but 
Dr. Bather and Mr. Hopkinson entertained a different 
view. A paper was then read by Mr. John Hopkin- 
son on local natural history societies and their publi- 
cations. He restricted his observations to those 
societies which were formed for the definite and prac- 
tical purpose of investigating the natural history of the 
locality in which they are formed. He urged upon 
such societies the necessity of division of labour, one 
member acting as meteorological recorder, another 
as geological recorder, another as recorder of birds, 
and so forth, after the plan adopted by the Hertford- 
shire Natural History Society, of which Mr. Hopkin- 


son is the secretary. For members who are not 
workers, popular lectures should be provided. He 
considered the subject of the publications of the 


societies entirely from the point of view of a biblio- 
grapher. On this he had many practical suggestions 
to make. Especially he urged that the papers printed 
should be those giving the results of original work, 
and he gave further examples from the publications 
of existing societies of the way in which this should 
be done, and emphasised the importance of accurately 
dating every publication. Dr. Loir approved of Mr. 
Hopkinson’s recommendations generally, but said 
that if they were constituted into rules, the system 
would not go down with French societies, who were 
too solicitous of their independence to agree to work 
on a uniform system. The subiect was afterwards 
further considered at a conference over which M. Ray 
presided, on the organisation of French societies. 
Besides the prehistoric exhibition, a retrospective 


NO, 2336, VOL. 93) 


NATURE 


rng i SS ES eee ee 
ee ere 


[AucusT 6, 1914, 


marine exposition, and expositions of medical elec- 
tricity and of odontology were organised by the sec- 
tions respectively concerned. 

The French Association has not the same dread of 
a multiplicity of sections that we entertain in Eng- 
land, inasmuch as the number of separate sections 
was not fewer than twenty. It is impossible in so short 
a notice as this to do justice to the work undertaken 
by all of them, but a few of the subjects dealt with 
may be noted. 

The questions submitted to the section of anthropo- 
logy, over which Prof. Gidon, of Caen, presided, 
related entirely to Normandy, and dealt with its ethno- 
graphy, its prehistoric deposits, its megaliths, and the 
recent discoveries in its prehistory. A subsection of 
this section was devoted to history and archeology, 
under the presidency of Dr. Leroy, of Le Havre, 
Here were discussed the Roman roads, their points of 
termination on the Norman coasts, and their relation 
with England, the Roman camps of the valley ot the 
Seine, the Norman influences on the architecture ot 
England, the appearance and development of statuary 
in Normandy, and other like subjects. 

The section of political economy and statistics, of 
which M. Granet was president, considered the utility 
of commercial agents to the foreigner, the increase in 
the cost of living, and a projet de loi upon the unifica- 
tion of measurements. 

Prof. Ray was president of the section of pedagogy 
and instruction, where were to be discussed the ques- 
tions of after-study, of the place of the Press in 
popular instruction and education, of the utilisation of 
museums in all branches of education, and of the 
educative value of the constitution of a conference of 
affiliated societies in connection with the French Asso- 
ciation. 

The Frencn Association, like the British, has had 
to create a special section tor agronomy, and this was 
presided over by M. de Coninck. It considered many 
questions of breeding, agricultural industry, rural 
economy, and agricultural engineering. 

As in England, the great subject of physics, com- 
prising mathematics, astronomy, geodesy, and 
mechanics, in respect of which two sections had been 
combined into one, asserted its pre-eminence, and M. 
Mesny, director of the School of Hydrography of the 
Navy, presided over both. Naturally, the subject of 
naval construction was one of those considered, and 
others were the history of the calculating machine 
and its possibilities, and the biography of those mathe- 
maticians whose careers have shed lustre on the 
departments of the Seine Inférieure. 

Two sections were also combined to deal with the 
sciences of navigation, aeronautics, and civil and 
military engineering. To these a large number and 
variety of questions were submitted, including mari- 
time fishery, the stabilisation of aeroplanes, canal 
transit, wireless telegraphy, and other problems of 
the day. M. Gobin was the president of the com- 
bined sections. 

The section of meteorology and terrestrial physics 
was presided over by M. Georges Lemoine, of the 
Institute. It considered maritime meteorology, sur- 
face winds, and the local meteorology of the depart- 
ment. 

The section of geology and mineralogy had for 
president M. Bigot, dean of the Faculty of Sciences, 
and the questions submitted to it related almost whollv 
to the geology of the district in which the meeting 
was held. 

The section of medical sciences, presided over bv 
Dr. Paul Engelbach, of Le Havre, also devoted itself 
largely to local problems, but it also took into con- 
sideration ‘alcoholism, the transfusion of blood, anti- 


AucusT 6, 1914] 


NATURE 


597 


typhoid vaccination, and leprosy. Other medical sec- 
tions were those of pharmacological science, medical 
electricity, odontology, chemistry, hygiene, and public 
medicine. 

The geographical section, of which M. Dupont was 
president, had on its programme the subjects of the 
Panama Canal, the Channel Tunnel, and many 
matters of more local interest. 

The French Association may well be congratulated 
on its Havre meeting. 


IMPERIAL CANCER RESEARCH FUND. 


‘io annual meeting of the general committee 
of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund was 
held on July 21, the Duke of Bedford, K.G., presi- 
dent, in the chair. Among those present were Sir 
R. Douglas Powell, Sir Thomas Barlow, Sir Rickman 
Godlee, Sir William Church, Sir W. Watson Cheyne, 
Sir John Tweedy, and Prof. Sims Woodhead. 

Dr. Bashford’s report stated that during the past 
year fewer claims to the possession of a cure for 
cancer had been brought to the notice of the fund. 
In no instance was the information of a kind to 
necessitate further inquiry. None of the alleged 
remedies were new, all having been brought to notice 
in one form or another in earlier years. 


The Two Categories of Transplanted Tumours. 


As a result of the work carried out in the labora- 
tory, it was becoming more and more generally recog- 
nised that transplanted tumours fell into two main 
categories, namely, a very small group which grew 
progressively because they did not produce resist- 
ance to their own growth, and a large group in which 
the tumours tended to disappear spontaneously in 
varying proportions because of the resistance to their 
growth, which was induced in the body as a result 
of their presence; indeed, in extreme cases, every 
animal, as it were, cured itself. The claims to cure 
cancer in mice had without exception been made by 
investigators who had not recognised the latter fact 
with regard to the propagation of tumours, and who 
had been dealing with the latter class of tumours not 
supplied from the laboratory of the fund. The Im- 
perial Cancer Research Laboratories had distributed 
widely a tumour-strain of the former class which grew 
progressively in all animals and produced metastases, 
and these were the tumours which ought to be em- 
ployed for the purposes of therapeutic experiments; 
up to date no successful results had been obtained 
with them. It seemed well to emphasise these facts 
because most, if not all, the transplantable tumours 
in the possession of other investigators did not fully 
reproduce the natural features of cancer, and a large 
number of proprietary preparations, many of them 
metallic and possibly dangerous, were now on the 
market as cures for cancer, on the basis of these 
untrustworthy laboratory experiments. 


Resistance to Growth. 


Further investigations had been conducted into the 
nature of the resistance which, as previously reported, 
can be induced in animals so as to render them 
refractory to the growth of transplanted tumours. 
Advances of a purely technical character have per- 
mitted it to be demonstrated that resistant animals 
possess the power of destroying cancer-cells intro- 
duced into the blood-stream. The question of resist- 
ance to growth is of great etiological importance, 
because it has been shown that when tumours previ- 
ously capable only of transitory growth acquire the 


NO. 2336, VOL. 93] 


| > : ena tn 
| power of progressive growth and of dissemination, 


the result is due to the loss of power to produce 
hindrance to their own growth. 


Abderhalden’s Serum Test. 


Abderhalden claimed that the serum of cancer 
patients had the power of breaking down or digest- 
ing tumour tissue in a test-tube in a way that normal 
serum did not, and by a special technique a colour- 
reaction might be obtained which was held to be 
diagnostic of cancer. The technique had been im- 
proved, and it was now possible to avoid contradictory 
results. It appeared that reliance ought not to be 
placed on this reaction either in pregnancy or in the 
diagnosis of cancer. 


Increase of Cancer in Certain Situations. 


It was quite justifiable to make such a crude state- 
ment as that the number of deaths assigned to cancer 
had increased in 1911 for females to 1088 a million 
living in I91I, as compared with 500 in 1860; and 
for males to 891 from 200 during the same period. It 
was also justifiable to express these facts in another 
way (also crudely), namely, that of women attaining 
the age of thirty-five, 1 in 12 was recorded as dying 
of cancer in 1889, but 1 in 7-4 in 1911; and of men I in 
21 in 1889, but .1 in 9-7 in 1911. But these figures 
ought not to be set out, as they still were, before the 
public without any qualification, and interpreted forth- 
with as a demonstration of the reality of the increase 
of cancer. The increase in the number of deaths was 
not uniform for the different parts of the body, and 
for some parts, notably the uterus, an actual fall was 
persistently evident since 1902. 


Heredity. z. 


There were still no trustworthy data available as re- 
gards cancer in man. In mice hereditary predisposition 
had been shown to exist, sufficient to double the inci- 
dence of cancer in female mice in the ancestry of which 
cancer had occurred not further back than the grand- 
mother, as compared with animals in which the 
cancerous ancestry was more remote. 


Cancer Areas and Cancer Houses. 


“The question of cancer houses had been allowed to 
stand over until experiment and the improvement in 
the collection and tabulation of statistics had advanced 
to a point which made it possible to discuss the sub- 
ject on the basis of positive knowledge. With the 
awakening of interest in the study of cancer in 
animals, the belief in cancer houses was naturally 
transferred to ‘“‘cancer cages,’’ largely on the basis of 
statements made by breeders. The extensive experi- 
ence of the Royal Prussian Institute for Experimental 
Therapeutics agreed with the even larger experience 
of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund under labora- 
tory conditions. Cancer cages, in the sense that 
animals housed in them became infected, were a myth. 
Contact with animals with natural or inoculated 
cancer did not increase the liability to the development 
of the disease. 

A considerable part of the report was devoted to the 
discussion of the question of ‘‘cancer houses.’ Five 
of the best known instances of cancer houses had 
been inquired into and the places visited. Inquiries 
had also been instituted into a sixth area, which had 
also been visited. The investigations into “cancer 
houses”? and ‘‘cancer areas’? accorded with what had 
been established by experiments on animals. ‘‘ Cancer 
houses”? were as much a myth as were “cancer 
cages.” 


595 


NATURE 


[| AuGUST 6, 1914 


INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION ON THE 
CHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF SOILS. 


MEETING of the International Commission on 
the Chemical Analysis of Soils was held at the 
Forestry Research Station, Munich, on April 23-24. 
Prof. Kraus, of the agricultural department of the 
Technical Highschool, Munich, was elected chairman. 
The first discussion, on the ‘‘ Preparation of Soil 
Extracts for Total Analysis,’’ was opened by Dr. A. 
von Sigmond (Budapest), who had prepared an ex- 
haustive account of previous discussions on the sub- 
ject at earlier meetings of the commission. The 
account is published in the Internationale Mitteilungen 
fiir Bodenkunde, 1914, and includes, in addition to 
the opinions of von Sigmond himself, articles by Dr. 
D. J. Hissink, Wageningen; Prof. E. W. Hilgard, 
Berkeley, California; and Prof. E. A. Mitscherlich, 
Konigsberg. The discussion centred round the rela- 
tive merits of :—(1) Hilgard’s Method, digestion of the 
soil for 120 hours with HCl of 1-115 sp. gr. on a 
water-bath; (2) van Bemmelen’s Method, division of 
the soil into two parts according to their solubility 
in HCl and H,SO,; (3) Ultimate Analysis (Bausch- 
analyse) by fusion with alkali, or treatment with HF. 
Hissink objected to Hilgard’s use of 1-115 HCl, and 
produced a ‘‘boiling-point ”’ curve for HCI of varying 
strength to show that Hilgard’s acid could not have 
the maximum solvent action, but that it lay with a 
rather stronger acid which had a higher boiling point. 
He gave the following results :— 


Sp. gr. of HCI ILLS 1°16 I'19 
Dissolved AI,O, 1-7 12-0 12-1 
ne Fe,O, 11-7 11-6 LI-7 
ay SiO, 25-0) Werke ese 25:3 

3 K,O 1-56 1-51 I-52 


and recommended van Bemmelen’s method as being 
the most complete for soil constituents likely to be- 
come available for plant food. 

Prof. A. Rindell (Helsingfors) gave results of esti- 
mations of K,O in felspar using varying proportions 
of felspar to acid :— ; 


Felspar gr./litre KoO gr./litre Per cent. of KgO 


50 Sot 0-144 ae 0:288 
100 Ae 0-258 0-258 
200 O-511 0:256 
300 1-034 0°207 


He recommended the ‘ultimate analysis” as the only 
one likely to give comparable results for all soils. 

Mitscherlich regards no method of strong acid 
extraction as valuable on the ground that the solution 
is affected by too many variables. 

The position was summed up by Prof. Ramann 
(Munich), who spoke in favour of much quicker 
methods, t.e. a shorter digestion with HCl, designed 
not to give a full analysis of all soil constituents, but 
of the more easily decomposable substances which 
may within a relatively short period become available 
as plant food. He contended that such analyses taken 
in conjunction with others, such as the estimation of 
easily soluble constituents, the mechanical analysis 
etc., would for all soils of the same type give accu- 
rately comparable results. ‘ x 

The members of the commission finally decided to 
unite in their efforts to obtain a standard method, 
and to investigate thoroughly the different methods 
side by side for their particular types of soils. 

The next discussion, led by Mitscherlich and 
Ramann, dealt with the ‘Estimation of the Easily 
Soluble Soil Constituents.” Mitscherlich advocated 
his well-known method of extraction with water 
saturated with CO,, the temperature, time of extrac- 


NOY 2336; VOL O34 


tion, quantities of water used, etc., all being constant 
during the extraction and for all soils. Ramann out- 
lined a new and interesting method recently tried 
by him, but not yet thoroughly worked out in detail. 

The water-containing double silicates of the soil 
can be separated into two groups: (1) those which 
permit of a quick, almost instantaneous replacement 
of their bases; (2) those with which the replacement 
of their bases takes place only very slowly. The bases 
from group (1) can be completely removed from a 
soil by the action of a fairly strong (10 per cent.) solu- 
tion of an electrolyte, provided that the experiment is 
so arranged, that the soil is continually in contact 
with the fresh solution, or, in other words, that the 
dissolved bases are immediately removed. This is 
carried out by allowing the electrolyte solution to 
filter slowly through a column of soil in a vertical 
glass tube. Ramann found that by taking 25 grams 
of soil and a to per cent. solution of ammonium 
nitrate the whole of the easily replaceable bases of 
group (1) was contained in the first 50 c.c. of the 
filtrate. The following quantities of 50 c.c. contain 
a very small proportion of replaced bases, the quantity 
of which represents the equilibrium between electro- 
lyte solution and the silicates of group (2). For 
example, the proportions of CaO, MgO, K,O, Na,O 
obtained in the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth 


50 c.c. of filtrate for 25 grams of soil were as 

follows :— 

co MEM 
CaO 0-403 0029 0-049 0:042 0-030 
MgO 0-076 0002 0-009 0-008 0-004 
K,O 0-013 0-002 0004 0:002 0:003 
Na,O 0-012 0-003 0:00 0-00 0-002 

3 


Ramann is of the opinion that these easily replace- 
able bases represent the bulk of the available mineral 
matter in soils, and therefore proposes that this should 
be estimated. 

To obtain further information as to the bases in 
soils most easily attacked and set free by weak acids, 
and as to the easily soluble P,O,, Ramann makes use 
of water containing CO,. The extraction is carried 
out in a large Soxhlet extractor; the water is boiled 
and condensed in the usual way, and the CO, is led 
directly into the thimble containing the soil. ‘ihe 
stream of CO, is constant, the temperature is kept 
as constant as possible (between 60° and 70° C.), and 
the burner arranged so that the syphon works every 
go minutes. The extraction continues for ten hours, 
when practically all solvent action has ceased. 
Ramann recommends that the two estimations should 
be made simultaneously. 

These methods called forth such universal interest 
that practically all members took part in the dis- 
cussion following, and unanimously requested a 
demonstration of the methods, which was given at the 
end of the conference in Ramann’s laboratory. The 
remarkable part of the discussion was that no method 
involving the use of organic acids, such as citric acid, 
was even mentioned. The methods of Hall and Dyer, 
and the American official method, used almost exclu- 
sively in England and America respectively, appear to 
be very little used on the Continent. 

It was unanimously decided that for the purposes 
of the commission, 1.e. the arrangement of standard 
international methods of soil analysis, members should 
for the present confine their work to extractions with 
water and CO.. 

The discussion on methods for the ‘‘ Estimation of 
Acidity in Soils’? was opened by Dr. Gully, of the 
Research Station for Moor Cultivation in Munich. 


; He gave’ an account of the methods tried jin his 


AUGUST 6, 1914] 


NATURE 


Sfeie, 


laboratory for the estimation of acidity in peats from 
different types of moors. The most satisfactory re- 
sults were obtained by treatment of the peat with 
calcium acetate and estimation of the free acid result- 
ing. 
Dr. Tacke (Bremen) supported the method adopted 
at Bremen, 1.e. neutralisation with CaCO,, on the 
ground that it involves the actual practical method of 
getting rid of acidity in moors. Moreover, whether 
the acid properties are due to the presence of actual 
acids or to colloids, CaCO, is the best and most 
commonly applied neutraliser. 

Tacke’s method found many supporters who fre- 
quently use it and have always found it efficient. 
Results obtained at Bremen with the two methods, 
CaCO, and calcium acetate, agreed very well. It 
became at once noticeable that the former diversity 
of opinions between the stations at Bremen and 
Munich, as to the nature of soil acidity, no longer 
exists to the same extent. It appears to be generally 
accepted that the acidity of sour soils may be due to 
the presence of both actual acids and colloids. Tacke 
still maintains that the fact that most colloids present 
in soils are acid is sufficient to account for the views 
previously put forward by Baumann and Gully. 

The discussion was chiefly remarkable for bringing 
out the large number of methods which have been 
employed by different workers. These included the 
direct method of obtaining an alkali extract, precipi- 
tating the brown colloidal matter 
with neutral calcium chloride, and 
titrating the clear solution. Another 
method was the estimation of the 
H ions in a water extract. It was 
considered that much more research 
is required before any particular 
method can be adopted officially. 

A committee, consisting of Prof. 


Albert, Prof. Rindell, Dr. Tacke, 
and Dr. Gully was appointed to 
test thoroughly the different 
methods. 0 


After the meeting the members of 
the commission were conducted by 
Prof. Kraus through an interesting 
collection of soils in his laboratory, including typical 
agricultural soils of Bavaria and other German States 
and also a large collection from the German colony 
of Togo; then by Prof. Henkel through the other 
laboratories of the agricultural section of the Munich 
Technical High School. ALA ET: 


Thee Shak S AROUND FHEINORTH POLE.! 


HIS is a mathematical problem which can be 
solved fairly easily, and the answer is that the stars 
must be distributed in distance according to a law 
shown graphically by the curve in Fig. IV. (The 


eee Hs hig 
distribution of velocities —j7-e~"*"*dyv combined with the 
Nr 


distribution of proper motions gee) “ leads to the 
a a 


patial distribution 2a*h?re~ lr? dp), 

In the diagram, distances are measured horizontally, 
the unit of distance being that at which a star’s 
parallax is equal to 1” (or 206,265 times the distance 
of the earth from the sun). It is convenient to have 
a name for this unit, and in what follows the word 
Parsec, suggested by Prof. Turner, will be adopted. 
With this unit a distance of 100 in the diagram 
denotes twenty million times the distance of the sun 


1 Diseeurse delivered at the Royal Institution on Friday, April 24, by 
Dr. F. W. Dyson, F.R.S. Continued from p. 576. 


NO.( 2336, VOL. 93| 


40 8100 200 300 400 5090 600 7090 800 $00 


Fic. 4.—Distribution in distance of the stars in Carrington’s Catalogue. 


from the earth. The following table gives the per- 
centage of stars between certain limits of distance :— 


TaBie IV. 
6 per cent. of the stars are between o and 100 parsecs 
5 » 9 % LOOs ,nt2 COME 
10 9 ” ” 200 ” 400 ” 
43 9 ” 39 400 ? 7090 ” 
36 ” 9 ” = 700 ” 


It follows that 88 per cent. of the stars in Carring- 
ton’s Catalogue—that is, 88 per cent. of all the stars 
brighter than about 10°5 magnitude—lie between 20 
and 150 million times the distance of the sun from 
the earth. This law of the distribution of the stars 
is at first sight rather surprising. It should be 
remembered that the only stars at a great distance 
which are included are those which are intrinsically 
very bright, and these form only a small proportion 
of all the stars. Prof. Eddington has found that a 
similar law holds for stars brighter than 6-0 magni- 
tude. 

Having found the law of distribution of the dis- 
tances of these stars, it is not difficult to determine 
something about their absolute luminosities, 1.e. how 
they would compare with the sun in brightness if 
placed at an equal distance from us. 

If the sun were at a distance of one parsec, it 
would appear as a bright star, brighter than the first 


1090 PARSECS 


magnitude—actually of magnitude 05; if at a dis- 
tance of 100 parsecs, its magnitude would be 10's. 
Now all the stars in Carrington’s Catalogue may be 
taken as brighter than 10°5 magnitude, thus at least 
gs per cent. of these stars are intrinsically brighter 
than the sun, and at least 80 per cent. are four 


times as bright, 40 per cent. are sixteen times as 
bright, and 8 per cent. are fifty times as bright. 


We may conclude that the great majority of the 
stars brighter than 10°5 magnitude are intrinsically 
brighter than the sun, and a considerable proportion 
very much brighter. ; Of 

The distribution of bright and faint stars in a given 
volume of space is quite different, and contains a 
much larger proportion of faint stars. If we make 
the assumptions that the density of the stars and the 
proportions of bright and faint ones is the same at 
the different distances from the sun within which 


| these Carrington stars are situated, it is possible to 
find the actual number of stars of different luminosi- 
| ties in a given volume of space. 


In a sphere with 


or twenty million times the 


radius 100 parsecs, 


| distance of the earth from the sun, there are, at least, 


24 which are 100 times as luminous as the sun 


340 ” 50 Ph] ” ” 
1,53 bh) 25 ” ” ” 
4,840 9 ite) ” ”? 3” 
23,200 ” I 9 ig ” 
93,300 39 jsth the luminosity of the sun. 


600 


NATURE 


[AuGUST 6, 1914 


— 


The data only admit of a rough determination of 
the number of very faint stars and the number of 
very bright ones. The figures give a general indica- 
tion of the density of the stars in space and of their 
intrinsic brightness, and serve to direct attention to 
the fact that there are many stars much less luminous 
than the sun, and a certain proportion very much 
more luminous. 

The conclusions drawn up to this point have been 
based entirely on a consideration of the proper 
motions of the stars, irrespective of whether they are 
bright or faint; provided only that they are sufficiently 
bright to have been observed by Carrington. But as 
the apparent magnitude of a star depends on its 
distance as well as on its intrinsic brightness, we 
naturally expect some assistance in assigning the 
distances of these stars from their magnitudes. The 
brightest star in this small area round the North Pole 
is Polaris, the magnitude of which is 2. (It may be 
remarked incidentally that the distance of the pole 
star has been actually measured. It is twenty parsecs, 
or four million times the distance of the sun from the 
earth, and if it were at the same distance as the sun 
it would appear to be 100 times as bright.) Then 
there are about twenty stars which are visible to the 
naked eye. The following table gives the actual 
number of stars of different magnitudes (photo- 
graphic) :— 


TABLE V. 
Brighter than 7’om. ... 61 stars 
From 7‘om. to 8om. ... 124g, 
SE OLOLM SE. OOM wee: SOM 
“5, ORC -5 MKeNaONs 5 993); 
Fainter than 10'om. ... 2140 ,, 


Then, again, the stars may be divided into groups 
according to the physical characteristics revealed by 
the spectroscope. The researches of Kapteyn, Camp- 
bell, and others have shown—at any rate, for the 
brighter stars—remarkable relationships between the 
distances and velocities of the stars and the type of 
spectrum which they manifest. It is therefore 
desirable to examine the proper motions of stars of 
different spectral types separately. The spectra of 
many thousands of stars have been determined at 
Harvard College, under Prof. Pickering’s direction, 
by Miss Cannon. The different classes are indicated 
in the Harvard classification by the letters B, A, F, 
G, K, M, with further subdivisions. The B stars 
are characterised by the presence of helium, the A 
stars by series of broad hydrogen lines. In the F 
stars the hydrogen lines are thinner, and fine metallic 
lines are shown. The G stars are very like the sun, 
full of metallic lines, and with broad lines due to 
calcium. In the K stars the two calcium lines are 
still broader, and there are many fine metallic lines. 
The M stars are characterised by broad absorption 
bands. This arrangement places the stars in the 
order of their temperatures; the B stars are the 
bluest and hottest, and the M stars the reddest and 
coolest. The character of the spectra of about 800 
of the stars in Carrington’s Catalogue is given by 
the Harvard observations. 

For the fainter stars the spectra have not been 
determined, but they can be inferred in another way. 
As the blue stars are more active photographically 
than the red stars, if a red and a blue star have the 
same visual magnitude, the magnitudes estimated 
from the images on a photograph will differ consider- 
ably, and this difference is an index of the colour, 
and thus of the type of spectrum. Now the visual 
magnitudes of most of these faint stars have been 
very accurately determined at Potsdam by Messrs. 
Miller and Kron (and have been kindly communicated 
in manuscript), and the photographic magnitudes 


NO. 2336, VOL, 93) 


have been determined at Greenwich. The differences 
have been taken between the photographic and visual 
magnitudes, and serve to classify the stars according 
to their temperature. ; 

Separating the stars into two groups, those which 
are brighter than 9’°5 magnitude on the Potsdam scale 
of magnitudes, and those which are fainter than 9°5 
magnitude, and dividing each group into four classes 
according to the colour index, the parallactic motion, 
i.e. the mean angular movement per century arising 
from the motion of the sun through space, is deter- 
mined for each class. The results are exhibited in the 
following table :— 


Tas.e VI. 
Stars brighter than Stars fainter than 
Spectral colar oism: aie ena Bae 
] i araliactic arallactic 
eae cad Number motion Number motion 
“ “ 
K—M >8 175 0°65 269 0°36 
G—-K 4to8 168 1°31 428 0°95 
F—G = 1a tOrd, 264 2°58 959 1°53 
A—F <—I 240 1‘97 460 1°28 


In this table the red stars are on the top line; the 
third line consists of stars which are in the same 
stage of development as the sun; those in the second 
line are somewhat cooler and redder; those in the 
last line hotter and bluer. The last line includes a 
few, but only a few, B stars, as there are not many 
in this part of the sky. The quantities in the fourth 
and six columns of the table are a gauge of the 
distance of the stars to which they refer. [t is only 
necessary to divide these into 337”, which is the angle 
through which a star distant 1 parsec would have been 
displaced in the solar motion in one hundred years, to 
obtain the distances in parsecs. Thus the 240 stars 
belonging to types A-F, and brighter than 9:5 mag- 
nitude, are at an average distance of 170 parsecs. 

The first point to notice is that parallactic motions 
of stars fainter than 95 magnitude are always con- 
siderably less than the corresponding quantities for 
stars brighter than 9'5 magnitude. This is, of course, 
because the faint stars are, on the whole, further 
away. The average distance of stars of magnitude 
100 1S approximately 13 times as great as for a star 
of 80 magnitude. 

The next point is the very great distance of the 
red stars. The 269 faint red stars are very nearly 
1000 parsecs away, or 200 million times as distant 
as the sun. At this great distance the sun would 
appear as of magnitude 15°5, but these stars vary in 
magnitude from o9'5 to 110, and are therefore 
intrinsically from 250 to 63 times as bright as the 
sun. Now it happens that among the stars nearest 
to the sun the distances of which have been actually 
measured there are several red stars, and these are 
all very much fainter than the sun. It has been 
suggested by Prof. Russell and Prof. Hertzsprung 
independently that the red stars are of two distinct 
classes, which they call the giants and the dwarfs, 
and that, in accordance with Sir Norman Lockyer’s 
views, the giant red stars are in an early stage of 
evolution, and are increasing in temperature; while 
the dwarf stars are at the other end of the series, and 
are growing colder and darker. 

Leaving the red stars, it is seen that the stars 
the colour indexes of which lie between —1 and +4 
are nearer to us than the groups on either side of 
them. These stars are those the spectra of which 
are of the types F and G in the Harvard notation, 
and are the stars most like the sun. The mean 
distances of these stars is only 130 parsecs for the 
stars brighter than 9's magnitude, and 215 parsecs 
for the stars fainter than 9's magnitude. At this 
distance the sun would be of magnitude 12'1. It 


AvcusT 6, 1914| 


follows that these stars are, on the average, from two 
to eight times as bright as the sun. The A-F stars 
are a little, but not much, further away, the stars 
fainter than 9°5 magnitude being at an average 
distance of 263 parsecs. At this distance the sun 
would have a magnitude of 125, and these stars are 
from sixteen to four times as luminous as the sun. 

It has been shown how the knowledge that the 
solar system is moving in a known direction with a 
velocity of 19:5 km. per second leads to a determina- 
tion ot the distances of groups of stars the angular 
movements of which are known. The hypothesis 
made is that in a number like one hundred or two 
hundred stars, the irregular angular movements due 
to the motions of the stars themselves neutralise one 
another on the average. But this is only the mean 
distance of the group, and some are much nearer 
and some much further. ‘the distribution of the stars 
about this mean distance may be derived from the 
proper motions, if we know how the linear velocities 
are distributed. I shall apply this method to the 
group of stars which are like the sun in type of 
spectrum, and therefore, presumably, of like tempera- 
ture and physical constitution. 

Dividing these into three classes according to their 
magnitude, it is found that their parallactic motion 
due to the sun’s movement, and their average motion 
in the perpendicular direction due to their own peculiar 


movements, are as follows :— 
Parallactic Ay. cross 


No. motion motion Ratio 

All stars down to IIl’om. 1247 192 +1°67 0 87 
Stars brighterthanto‘7om. 470 2°50 +210 084 
= 5 Qyom. . Ween sos eee'Oo 0°87 


In the last column is given the ratio of the average 
cross motion to the parallactic motion. The agree- 
ment of the numbers shows that the bright stars and 
the faint stars have the same average velocity. 
Taking the velocity of the sun as 195 km. a second, 
it follows that the average velocity of these stars in 
the direction perpendicular to the sun’s motion is 
13°7 km. a second. 

We shall now make the assumption that some of 
these stars are moving faster than this velocity and 
some slower, just as errors of observation are dis- 
tributed about a mean error. With a mean velocity of 
13°7 km. a second, there will be in 1000 stars 


231 with velocities oto 5 km/sec. 


208 ” ” 5 » 10 
175 ” ” TO ,, 15 
141 is = LS 920 
163 - - 20 5, 30 
59 ” ” 39 5, 40 
18 ” ” 40 ” 50 

I ” ” 750 


If now the observed proper motions are arranged, 
it is found that the number less than any value 7 
can be represented satisfactorily by an algebraic 

/ 

(7? +a?)? 
stars and a is the mean value of 7. The following 
table shows the actual number of stars with proper 
motions between certain limits, compared with the 
number given by the formula :— 


formula N where N is the total number of 


Tasie VII. 

Limits of ay motion Ne. eee eee Difference 
o” to 1” a century 427 "429 —2 
Leen es9 346 337 +9 
2) eae 53 324 332 —8 
4 5 7 » 105 103 +2 
7g LO e ep. 2(- 22 +3 

> 10 r “s 20 19 ar! 


NO. 2336, VOL. 93] 


NATURE 


601 


We may take it that the formula substantially 
represents the observed facts. With the proper 
motions distributed according to this formula, and the 
actual velocities distributed according to the law of 
errors, the distribution of the stars in distance can be 
determined, and it is found that these 1247 stars are 
distributed in space as shown in Table VII. 


TasL_e VIII.—Number of Solar Stars (Types F and 
G) at Different Distances. 


Distabpe Out of total disee HOCRee dentate 
(parsecs) He YELM than 10’0om, than g’om. 
< 100 a I2I 76 40 

100-—200 oes 298 161 65 
200—300 disc 332 136 34 
300— 400 eer 254 68 8 
400 —500 re 146 ae 23 soe I 
500—600 eas 65 ae 5 
600—700 aa 23 
>700 Aas 5 


The most remarkable feature of this table is that 
70 per cent. of the stars lie between the narrow limits 
of one hundred and four hundred parsecs. 

I have treated the 470 stars which are brighter than 
10.0 magnitude and the 148 brighter than 9’0 magni- 
tude in a similar manner. The results are given 
in the third and fourth columns of Table VIII. 
Taking the differences, the distribution in distance 
of the 777 stars of magnitude Io’o-11’0 and of the 
322 stars of g0—I0’0 magnitude is found. 

To compare the intrinsic magnitudes of the stars 
it is convenient to take limits of distance in geo- 
metrical progression with a common ratio 1259 
(log =0;1)," 2.22.40, 50,. 63; /79,, 100, 120, /EEC., pagsece. 
These limits correspond to a change of half a magni- 
tude in the intrinsic brightness of the stars which 
are of the same apparent brightness. Confining our 
attention to the stars of apparent magnitude Io’o to 
II-o, or, speaking broadly, stars of 10-5 magnitude, the 
limits 50-63 parsecs contain stars half a magnitude 
brighter, and distributed over twice the volume of 
those contained between the limits 40-50 parsecs. 

If we may assume that the actual density of the stars 
is the same in all parts of the space with which we 
are dealing, we obtain by reasoning of this kind the 
number of stars between different limits of absolute 
brightness. The following table shows the number 
of stars of different luminosities in a sphere of one 
hundred parsecs radius :— 


Luminosity No. of stars 
(=F 10°0m.—11‘'0om g'om —10’0om 
o'40 to I'o 16,000 18,000 
TeOlgr so 6255 9,500 11,200 
25» 63 5,750 7,300 
635, to 2,570 3,600 
16 5 40 on 502 1,040 
Brighter than 4o... 14 68 
The results in the second column have been 


obtained by considering the faintest stars, those from 
1o’o to 11.0 magnitude. If the class brighter is taken, 
those stars which appear to be of magnitudes 9’0 to 
100, we find in a similar way the quantities given 
in the last column. 

There is an increasing divergence between the 
results. Now it is to be remembered that these 
figures have been derived from regions at different 
distances from the sun. Thus the stars which are 
between sixteen and forty times the brightness of 


| the sun, and which are apparently of magnitude 10 
| to 11, lie between 398 and 631 parsecs, while those 


which are apparently of 9’0 to ro’‘o magnitude lie 
between 251 and 398 parsecs. , 
We may conclude, therefore, that the density of 


Go2 


this class of stars is somewhat less at this greater 
distance from the sun. Following out this line of 
reasoning, I have found that the diminution of 
density of the stars to be as follows :— 


Distance Density Distance Density 
At 50 parsecs "30 At 300 parsecs 0748 
100 . 1°00 400 5 O32 
200 “ 0'70 500 55 O21 


Although much weight cannot be attached to the 
exact figures, one seems justified in saying that there 
must be a very considerable falling off in the density 
of the stars between the distances of one hundred and 
five hundred parsecs. A falling off in the total density 
of the stars would affect the tables giving the pro- 
portion of stars of different brightness, and would 
increase considerably the proportion of bright stars. 

Although the conclusions presented in this paper 
have been derived from a study of the proper motions 
of the stars in a small area of the sky, and may be 
somewhat modified by the investigation of other 
regions, they may be considered as fairly applicable 
to the stars in general. The limiting magnitude of 
the stars that have been considered is nearly 11-0 (on 
the Potsdam scale), and there are, in the whole sky, 
half a million stars brighter than this limit of mag- 
nitude. 

It may be said of them that :— 

(i) On the whole, the yellow stars, the stars like 
the sun in physical conditions, are the nearest. 

(ii) They lie within fairly narrow limits of distance 
—8o0 per cent. are between one hundred and five 
hundred parsecs, Io per cent. nearer than one hundred 
parsecs, and 1o per cent. further away than five 
hundred parsecs. 

(iii) Going from the yellow to the blue or the orange 
stars, the average distances increase. 

(iv) The red stars are at great distances—an averegc 
of about one thousand parsecs. 

(v) The stars vary greatly in intrinsic brightness. 
The red stars are specially luminous, being on an 
average one hundred times as bright as the sun. 

(vi) Considering all the stars down to this limit of 

magnitude, from 90 to 95 per cent. are intrinsically 
more luminous than the sun. 

(vii) When, however, the luminosity of the stars in 
a given volume of space is considered, there are found 
to be far more faint than bright stars. There is no 
contradiction between this conclusion and the last 
one, because the more distant bright stars are visible, 
while we only see the faint ones which are compara- 
tively near. 

(viii) Evidence has been found that the stars thin 
out very materially at great distances from the sun. 

These conclusions are in harmony, with the con- 
ception of a finite stellar universe. Most of the stars 
we see, and a great many fainter ones, are within the 
distance of one thousand parsecs. Doubtless the stars 
extend to much greater distances, perhaps ten times 
as far or further, but we can scarcely doubt that we 
are near the middle of a finite group of stars, and 
that the extent of this sroup is of the order of one 
thousand to ten thousand parsecs. 


UNIVERSITY. AND EDUCATIONAL 
INTELLIGENCE. 


Lonpon.—Two lectures on studies in historic mas- 
netism will be given in the autumn by Prof. S. P. 
Thompson. 

The Rogers prize has not been awarded this vear. 
It will be again offered for award in 1916, and the 
subject of the essay or disser tation will again be ‘‘ The 
Nature of Pyrexia and its Relation to Micro- 
organisms.” 


NO. 12336, VOL“ @2\ 


NAT ORE 


' of the University 


Agricultural Society 


[AUGUST 6, 1914 


Applications are invited from suitably qualified 
biologists wishing to engage in research work for 
the use of the University table at the laboratory of 
the Marine Biological Association at Plymouth. Pre- 
ference will be given to members of the University of 
London. Applications should be sent to the secretary 
of the Board of Studies in Zoology, the University of 
London, South Kensington, S.W., and should be 
accompanied by a statement of the qualifications of the 
candidate and a brief account of the investigation 
which he proposes to undertake. 


LONDON (UNIVERSITY COLLEGE).—The Drapers’ 
Company has made a grant of 5ool. a year for three 
years, in aid of the work of the department of applied 
statistics, including the Galton Laboratory of Eugenics 
and the Drapers’ Biometric Laboratory. 


Tue Russian Imperial Duma has voted in favour of 
the proposal to establish a faculty of medicine in the 
University of St. Petersburg. 


THE Hele-Shaw prizes in the faculty of engineering 
of Bristol have been awarded as 
follows : to Mr. John Rogers (a day student) and Mr. 
Arthur George Adams (an evening student). 


THE trustrees of the University of Pennsylvania have 
sanctioned the admission of women to the medical 
college of the University. The new regulations will 
come into force.in the autumn of the present year. 


ACCORDING to a Reuter telegram honorary degrees 
have been conferred upon the following members of 
the British Association by the University of Perth, 
Western Australia :—Prof. W. Bateson, Prof. Herd- 
man, Dr. A. D:. Waller, and @Dr, AiG. Haddone 


THE twenty-fifth anniversary of the opening of the 
Johns Hopkins Hospital will be celebrated in October 
next. The celebration will begin on October 5 with 
a meeting to be presided over by Dr. W. H. Welch, at 
which Prof. Sir William Osler will speak. ‘On 
October 7 the new Brady Urological Institute will be 
dedicated. 


Tue Board of Education has issued [Cd. 7531] the 
regulations for technical schools, schools of art, and 
other forms of provision of further education in 
England and Wales which came into force on 
August 1. This year the Board has included in the 
same volume with the régulations for evening schools, 
day courses in technical institutions and schools of 
art, the regulations for junior technical schools and 
those for university tutorial classes. No changes of 
substance are made in the regulations for junior 
technical schools or in those for university tutorial 
classes. Other alterations, which are not numerous, 
are printed in distinctive type so as to male reference 
and comparison easy. 


THE annual examinations of the National Agricul- 
tural Examination Board in the science and practice 
in dairying will be held for English students on Sep- 
tember 12, and following days, at the University Col- 
lege and British Dairy Institute, Reading, and for 
Scottish students on September 19 and following days 
at the Dairy School, Kilmarnock. All candidates 
must have spent at least four months on a dairy 
farm, and present certificates from approved institu- 
tions testifying (1) that he or she has received at least 
six months’ instruction in practical dairy work, and 
(2) that he or.she has attended approved courses in 
chemistry, bacteriology, and botany, and has satisfied 
the authorities of the institution of his or her fitness 
for admission to the examination. Entry forms and 
all further particulars may be obtained from the Royal 
of England, 16 Bedford Square, 


AvucusT 6, 1914] 


NATURE 


603 


W.C., or the Highland and Agricultural Society of 
Scotland, 3 George IV. Bridge, Edinburgh. The 
latest date for receiving applications is August I5. 


Sir J. J. THomson delivered the inaugural lecture 
at the summer meeting of the Cambridge Local Lec- 
tures on Friday last, taking as his subject, ‘‘ Educa- 
tion and Science.”’ Referring to the changes in the 
educational system, he said that visitors to Cambridge 
thirty or forty years ago used to get confused by the 
multitude of colleges, but the very small number of 
laboratories gave them no trouble. Now there were 
quite as many laboratories as colleges, and they would 
realise the liberality with which the ancient University 
had welcomed these modern studies. It had also made 
no distinction in its award of fellowships and scholar- 
ships between the old studies and the new, and had 
acted on the principle that its duty was to take all 
knowledge as its province. As one whose work had 
been for the most part connected with the newer 
studies, he was pleased to have the opportunity of 
acknowledging the liberality and sympathy which 
those studies had received at Cambridge. The pro- 
gress of science had been hastened by the additional 
facilities provided for research in recent years. And 
if it was a fact that the application of science to the 
prevention and cure of disease, to the increase in 
facilities of transport, of intercourse, and of the 
amenities of life had been a gain to humanity, had 
increased human happiness, and diminished human 
suffering, then it was the bounden duty of every 
civilised nation or community to do all in its power 
to hasten that progress. Humanity was suffering 
from evils which could be cured more quickly if still 
greater resources were placed at the disposal of scien- 
tific workers. It would be unfair and ungrateful not 
to acknowledge that the Government, without any 
pressure from public opinion, had done something in 
that direction, but much remained to be done. When 
the people of this country realised that some of the 
evils from which they were suffering would be removed 
some day or other by science they would insist that the 
pace should be hastened as much as possible. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 


ParIs. 

Academy of Sciences, July 20.—M. P. Appell in the 
chair.—Paul Sabatier and A. Mailhe;: The catalytic 
decomposition of benzoic acid. A study of the action 
of various catalysts upon the vapour of benzoic acid 
at 550° C. With the blue oxides of tungsten and 
molybdenum and the oxides of zirconium and cerium 
the acid passes unchanged. Benzene and carbon 
dioxide are produced in presence of reduced copper, 
cadmium oxide, zinc oxide, and titanium oxide. 
Benzophenone is the main reaction product in presence 
of lithium and calcium carbonates.—H. Douvillé : The 
first geological epochs. A discussion of the composi- 
tion of the earth’s atmosphere at varying tempera- 
tures of the earth’s crust, with especial reference to 
the conditions prevailing at temperatures between 
700° C. and 364° C.—Y. Delage: The capture of a 
‘specimen of Luvarus imperialis on the coast of Finis- 
tére.—A. Blondel; Electric chronographs and _ self- 
recording micro-galvanometers. Remarks on an in- 
strument recently described by M. Beauvais, and re- 
ferring to earlier communications by the author 
describing a similar instrument.—Ph. A, Guye and 
F. E. E. Germann: The gases retained by iodine and 
by silver. An application of the apparatus recently 
described by the authors for the analysis of minute 
volumes of gas. The gas contained in the silver was 
determined by conversion into iodide in a vacuum, and 


NO. 2336, VOL. 93] 


the gases evolved pumped out and analysed. Oxygen, 
carbon monoxide, and water vapour were found.—Kr. 
Birkeland; The zodiacal light. A discussion of some 
recent observations from the point of view of the 
author’s hypothesis, that the sun emits radiant matter 
and electrons, and that these corpuscles group them- 
selves round the magnetic solar equator.—S. Stoilow : 
The integrals of partial differential linear equations 
with two independent variables.—Pierre Séve : The use 
of an alternating current for the transmission of the 
indications of apparatus of which the index can effect 
complete rotations. Application to the distribution of 
time.—G, Chaudron ; The reversible reactions of water 
on iron and on ferrous oxide. From the experiments 
quoted the author concludes that between 300° C. and 
1oo0° C. there are two series of equilibria with the 
solid phases iron-ferrous oxide, iron-magnetic iron 
oxide.—M. Delépine: The separation of the optical 
isomerides of the iridotrioxalates.—F., Taboury ; Con- 
tribution to the study of the iron-zinc alloys. The 
crystals formed in baths used for galvanising iron 
contain a constant proportion (7-3 per cent.) of zinc.— 
A, Sénéchal: The solid chromic sulphates.—H. Giran : 
Bromine hydrate. From a cryoscopic study of mix- 
tures of bromine and water, Br,+8H,O is deduced as 
the composition of the hydrate.—Th. W. Richards and 
M. E. Lembert: The atomic weight of lead of radio- 
active origin. According to the theory of Soddy and 
Fajans, the atomic weight of lead derived from the 
decomposition of radium and uranium should be 206-0, 
that from thorium, 208-4, ordinary lead being 207-1. 
Experiments with lead from carnotite gave 206-59, 
from three samples of pitchblende, 206-57, 206-40, and 
206-86, one from thorianite, 206-32.—A. Desgrez and 
R. Moog : A method for the estimation of urea. Details 
of a method based on the decomposition of urea by 
Millon’s reagent, in presence of intusorial earth. Tesi 
figures showing the accuracy obtainable are given.— 
R. Fosse: The gravimetric quantitative analysis of 
small quantities of urea for dilutions greater than 
o-1 per cent. The urea is weighed as an_ insoluble 
compound with xanthydrol—H. Gault: Oxalocitric 
lactone and its transformation into tricarballylic acid. 
The best yield of tricarballylic acid from oxalocitric 
lactone is obtained by heating the latter with alcohol 
to 180° C.—Albert Gascard : The presence of an alcohol 
and an acid, both containing thirty-two atoms of 
carbon, in the wax of Tachardia lacca.—A. Duffour : 
An association of crystals of unequal symmetry.—C. 
Gaudefroy: The dehydration of gypsum.—J. Deprat: 
The projects for the Yun-nan-fou railway at Sseu- 
tchoan and their relations with geology. From the 
geological point of view it is shown that the con- 
struction of the proposed line would offer great diffi- 
culties, and the upkeep would be onerous and costly. 
From an economic point of view the line would prob- 
ably prove unprofitable-—V. Vermorel and E. Dantony : 
The chemical composition of alkaline spraying mix- 
tures and the soluble copper which they contain. 
Alkaline Bordeaux mixtures, contrary to the view cur- 
rently held, contain copper in the dissolved state.— 
F. Jadim and A. Astruc: Arsenic and manganese in 
some plant products used for animal food. Arsenic 
and manganese are shown to be present in fifteen 
plant products, and are probably normal constituents 
of the plant cell—P. Mazé: The mechanism of the 
exchanges between the plant and the external medium. 
—J. Giaja: Study of reactions of two ferments work- 
ing together. The hydrolysis of amygdalin by emulsin, 
or by the digestive fluid of Helix pomatia, is shown 
to be the restilt of two connected fermentative actions, 
involving the production of reducing sugar and hydro- 
cyanic acid respectively—Mme. Marie Phisalix: The 
action of the virus of hydrophobia on Batrachians and 


604 


snakes.—Pierre Delbet and Armand Beauvy : Compara- 
tive study of the action of ultra-violet light on the 
hemolytic power and the colloidal state of blood 
serum.—Henri Piéron: The influence of the state of 
adaptation of the eye on the laws of decrease of the 
time of latency for various light radiations.—C. 
Levaditi: Hydrophobia virus and cells cultivated in 
vitro.—G. Marinesco and J. Minea: The infective power 
of the cephalo-rachidian fluid in juvenile general 
paralysis. This fluid has been shown to contain living 
spirille. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 


The Commonwealth of Australia. Federal Hand- 
book, Prepared in Connection with the Eighty-fourth 
Meeting of the British Association for the Advance- 
ment of Science, held in Australia, August, 1914. 
Edited by G. H. Knibbs. Pp. xvi+598. (Melbourne : 
A. J. Mullet.) 

Geologischer Fiihrer durch die Lausitz. 
Beger. Pp. xii+319. (Berlin: 
6 marks. 

Astronomy, By C. Flammarion. 
(London: Constable and Co., Ltd.) 2s. net. 

The English Year. Summer., By W. B. Thomas 
and A. K. Collett. Pp. viii + 341 + plates. (London 
and Edinburgh: T. C. and E. C. Jack.) os. 6d. net. 

Memoirs and Proceedings of the Manchester Literary 
and Philosophical Society, 1913-14. Vol. Iviii., part ii. 
(Manchester.) 7s. 

Dante and the Early Astronomers. By M. A. Orr. 
Pp. xvit+507. (London and Edinburgh: Gall and 
Inglis.) 15s. net, 

Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. Vol. xxxi. 
Clare Island Survey. Part 7, Geology. By T. Hal- 
lissy. Pp. 22+vi plates+1 map. is. 6d. Part 9g, 
Tree Growth. By A. O. Forbes. Pp. 32+ii plates. 


Byaby: je 
Gebriider Borntraeger.) 


Pip.) xi4-19n. 


1s. Part 47, Archiannelida and Polycheta. By R. 
Southern. Pp. 160+xv_- plates. 5s. (Dublin: 
Bee Figgis and Co.; London: Williams and Nor- 
gate. 

The Khasis. By Lt.-Col. P. R. T. Gurdon. Second 
edition. Pp, xxiv+232. (London: Macmillan and 
Co., Ltd.) tos. net. 


Enquéttes et Documents relatifs 4 1’Enseignement 
Supérieur. cix. Année 1913. Pp. 108. (Paris.) 

Ergebnisse der Zweiten Deutschen Zentral-Afrika- 
Expedition, 1910-11. Under the Direction of Adolf 
Friedrichs, Herzogs zu Mecklenberg. Band. i., 
Zoologie. Lief. 4. Pp. 89-108. 90 pfennigs. Lief. 

Pp. 109-134. 1.20 marks. (Leipzig: Klinkhardt 
and Biermann.) 

Elementary Household Chemistry. By Prof. J. F. 
Snell. Pp. ix+307. (New York: The Macmillan 
Co.; London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 5s. 6d. net. 

Glamorganshire. By J. H. Wade. Pp. xi+196. 
(Cambridge University Press.) 1s. 6d. 

Durham. By W. J. Weston. Pp. viii+ 184. 
bridge University Press.) 1s. 6d. 

Flies in Relation to Disease. 


(Cam- 


Non-Bloodsucking 


Flies. By Dr. G. S. Graham-Smith. Second edition. 
Pp. xvit+389. (Cambridge University Press.) 12s. 6d. 
net. 


The Family Chain. Marriage and Relationships of 


Native Australian Tribes. By J. Hepkins. (Pp ai 
(London: Watts and Co.) 1s. 

Die geologischen Naturdenkmaler des _ Riesen- 
gebirges. By Prof. Dr. Giirich. Pp. 141-324. (Ber- 
lin: Gebriider Borntraeger.) 5.50 marks. 

Krafte und Spannungen das Gravitations- und 
Strahlenfeld. By Prof. Dr. Max B. Weinstein. Pp. 
ee (Braunschweig: F. Vieweg und _ Sohn.) 
2 marks. 


NO. 2236) (VOL soai 


NATURE 


[AuGuST 6, 1914 


Verfliissigung der Kohle und Herstellung der. 
Sonnentemperatur. By Profs: Df-jO:. Lunmer: 7) Bp: 
xiiit+140o. (Braunschweig: F, Vieweg und Sohn.) 


5 marks. 

Malaio-Polynesische Wanderungen. By Dr. 
Friederici. Pp. 37. (Leipzig : Simmel and Co.) 

Willkommen in Cambridge. Schlichte Antworten 
auf kluge Fragen. By Karl Breul. Dritte Auflage. 
Pp. 40. (Cambridge University Press.) 1s. 6d. net. 

Mellon Institute of Industrial Research and School 
of Specific Industries. Smoke Investigation. Bulletin 
No. 8. Some Engineering Phases of Pittsburgh's 
Smoke Problem. Pp. 193+plates. (Pittsburgh, Pa. : 
University of Pittsburgh.) 

Experimentelle Untersuchungen tiber die innere 
Sekretion der Keimdriisen und deren Beziehung zum 


G; 


Gesamtorganismus. By Dr. W. Harms. Pp. iv+ 
368. (Jena: G. Fischer.) 12 marks. 

Deutsches Meteorologisches Jahrbuch ftir 1913. 
Freie Hansestadt Bremen. Jahrgang xxiv. Edited 


by Prof. Grosse. Pp. iv+88. (Bremen: Jilling and 
Luiken.) 

CONTENTS. PAGE 
ThewNew, British> Flora, ~ By/A SB. ho. ee eee 579 
Geapraphical Guides. By G.At JiiC =a ae 580 
Glenetres? prs oe: s. d.0.'s. Bo Lhn Seen oe ee 581 
OurnBookshelf. © 2, . seis: tment ere 582 


Letters to the Editor :— 
The Hemoproteus of the Indian Pigeon.—Lt.-Col. 


AsiAlcotck; .C.l-E., BO RaS. es oe eee 584 
Radio-activity and Atomic Numbers.—Dr. F. A. 

Kindémann,; *.)... 27) Seep ae ee 584 
Circulatory Movements in Liquids. (///ustvated.) 

Prof. D. J. Korteweg BAY Sop ee te SH fio ie 584 
Natural History and the Ocean. (J//ustrated.) . . 585 
The Administrative Problem of Sleeping Sickness 587 
Recent Studies of the Atmosphere. ....... 58 
INJOCES Rh ted oe Lok be RE erg 589 
Our Astronomical Column: — 

Gomet1o13/(Delavan) “itt us so set es 594 

Nebular Rotation... jag thas seneenel sean ee 594 

Solar Physics Observatory, Cambridge ...... 594 

Annals of the Royal Belgium Observatory .... . 594. 
The Aberdeen Meenas of the British Medical 

ASsociation!:! 2. i.) 3s SR as eee 595 
The Havre Meeting an the French Association 595 
Imperial Cancer Research Fund. ..... 597 
International Commission on the Chemical Anarene 

pimsolls. “By J. A‘ Hn cee ele coker ee 598 
The Stars Around the North Pole. (W2th Diagrams.) 

ByeO reek. VV. Dyson; RRs o mci neeemn 599 
University and Educational Intelligence. . . 602 
Societies and Academies ......... 603 
Booksereceived.  . 5. a. a eee eens 604 

Editorial and Publishing Offices: 
MACMILLAN & CO., Ltp., 

ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C. 

Advertisements and business letters to be addressed to the 


Publishers. 


Editorial Communications to the Editor. 
Telegraphic Address: 
Telephone Number: 


Puusis, Lonpbon. 
GERRARD 8830. 


NATURE 


605 


THURSDAY, AUGUST 13, 10914. 


AGRICULTURAL BACTERIOLOGY. 
Vorlesungen itiber landwirtschaftliche Bakterio- 
logie. By Dr. F. Loéhnis. Pp. viii+ 398+x 

plates. (Berlin: Gebriider Borntraeger, 1913.) 

Price 16 marks. 

ODERN research has established the mani- 
fold activities exerted by micro-organisms 
in almost every department of agriculture and the 
attention of micro-biologists has naturally been 
directed to a study of the micro-organisms present 
in soil which influence its fertility, and of those 
met with in fodder and manure and in agricultural 
products such as milk, butter, and cheese. The 
result has been that many books dealing with 
these subjects have appeared during the last few 
years, but we doubt if any single volume has been 
issued which will compare with that under review 
in the completeness with which agricultural bac- 
teriology is treated in a comparatively short space 
of five and twenty lectures. Prof. L6hnis has 
managed to convey an admirable summary of the 
whole subject. 

The volume commences with an excellent his- 
torical introduction which the author directs 
attention to papers by E. King, published in 1693, 
in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal 
Society, London (vol. xvii), which seem to have 
been overlooked and which confirm and extend 
the observations of Leeuwenhoek on the presence 
of micro-organisms various organic fluids. 
The second and third lectures deal with the general 
morphology, classification, and nomenclature of 
the bacteria. The author adopts practically the 
old Zopf classification, remarking that no better 
one has yet been formulated; with this we cor- 
dially agree. Succeeding lectures deal with the 
biology, cultivation, and investigation of micro- 
organisms, the circulation in nature of nitrogen, 
carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, exchange and de- 
composition of mineral salts, and the pathogenic 
functions of micro-organisms, and this completes 
the first part of the volume. The second part 
deals with micro-organisms present in fodder, 
milk and milk products, manure and soil, and the 
changes which they produce. In this we find 
accounts of the cellular elements in milk, the 
heating of manure and hay, nitrification, the pos- 
sible influence of protozoa and of “toxins” in 
the soil on fertility, and the use of artificial bac- 
terial fertilisers. In the last Connection we miss 
any reference to Prof. Bottomley’s investigations. 

The volume is excellently printed and produced, 
and the illustrations form a striking feature. 
There are ten plates, of which eight are coloured 


NGwe2 437," VOL. ga | 


in 


in 


and admirably depict the objects represented, 
one of the most successful perhaps being that of 
a sole glowing with phosphorescent bacteria, a 
most difficult subject to reproduce. There are 
sixty figures in the text, some of which are novel. 
By depicting a rectangular jar of given size wiih 
a small black square in it drawn to scale an idea 
is given of the volume occupied by a certain 
number of bacteria compared with the volume ot 
the material in which they occur, such, for ex- 


ample, as milk. Rei se 
THE. *CONSTITULION® ORY cALiOY S. 

Metallographie. By Dr. W. Guertler.  Erster 
Band: Die Konstitution. .Erster Teil. Heft 


i_xii. Pp. 1177. (1909-1912. Zweiter Teil.) 
Heft. i., Die Konstitution des Systemes Eisen- 
Kohlensto ff der sonstigen  bindren 
Kohlenstofflegierungen. Pp. xl+648+ plates. 
(Berlin: Gebriider Borntraeger, 1913.) Price 
32 marks. 


SOWLEe 


HE scientific study of alloys has attracted a 
whole host of investigators during the last 


twelve years, and the mass of experimental 
material has increased with great rapidity. 


Metallography has become a distinct branch of 
applied physical chemistry, having numerous con- 
with mineralogy and with engineering 
science. There are many text-books dealing with 
the principles of metallography or with its appli- 
cations, but the work now in course of publication 
by Dr. Guertler has a much wider scope. It aims 
at being a complete treatise on the subject, review- 
ing critically both methods and results, and also 
serving as a work of reference. The practical 
methods of thermal analysis, micrographic ex- 
amination, etc., and the physical properties of 
alloys, are left for discussion in iater volumes, and 
the volumes now published deal only with the 
equilibrium of phases in alloys. The general ex- 
planation of the meaning of the equilibrium dia- 
gram has been written with the object of making 
such diagrams intelligible and useful to the techni- 
cal metallurgist, who may not be acquainted with 
the principles of physical chemistry. This general 
account is very clearly written, but the number of 
new terms introduced, and the rather complicated 
illustrations of possible forms of equilibrium, may 
repel some such readers. The discussions of such 
subjects as diffusion and incomplete equilibrium 
are excellent. 

Just one-half of the first of the present volumes 
is occupied by a detailed account of binary alloys, 
classified according to a modified periodic system. 
Even then, the alloys of the calcium and alumin- 
ium groups are postponed to a later section, 

B B 


tacts 


606 


NATURE 


[AUGUST 13, #914 


together with all the ternary alloys and systems of 
a higher order. The second volume now under 
notice deals almost exclusively with the iron- 
carbon system. 

Dr. Guertler has thus undertaken an immense 
task, and has shown marvellous industry in the 
sifting and presentation of so large a mass of 
material. The published data referring to each 
system have been critically reviewed, tempera- 
tures have been reduced as far as possible to a 
uniform scale, and the equilibrium diagrams in 


which the author embodies his conclusions repre- | 


sent a large amount of patient labour and acute 
criticism. It is impossible, however, to escape a 
doubt whether so great an undertaking is justified 
in the present state of the science. It is well 
known that very many of the published investiga- 
tions on this subject have been carried out with 
rough experimental methods and impure 
materials, and can only be regarded at best as 
preliminary surveys. Even the author’s critical 
examination of the data cannot bring conclusive 
results out of such material. At the present time 
many of the binary systems are undergoing re- 
examination by competent investigators, often 
with surprising results, and for some years to 
come any systematic account of metallic alloys 
must be regarded as merely provisional. Such a 
work as the present is inevitably out of date before 
its publication is complete. This being admitted, 
however, all metallographers must be deeply 
grateful to Dr. Guertler, who has provided them, 
in a compact form, with a carefully sifted collec- 
tion of experimental data, otherwise difficult of 
access, enriched with comments of a thoroughly 
sound and practical character. 

It is an astonishing fact that six hundred pages 
are required to give an account of the equilibria 
in a single binary system, that of iron and carbon. 
The volume devoted to these alloys leaves out of 
consideration the whole field of the technical treat- 
ment of iron and steel, of their physical and 
mechanical properties, and of the influence of 
other elements on the system. Probably no better 
guide than the author could be found through the 
controversial mazes of this part of the subject, 
and his conclusions are to be received with all 
respect. The recent revolutionary proposals of 
Wittorf and others are subjected to a searching 
analysis, leading to the conclusion that cementite, 
FesC, has a range of stability above 1700°, 
graphite being the stable solid phase between 
1700° and 1360°, whilst the existence of a further 
carbide, FesC, with a small range of stability, is 
regarded as probable. The thorny subject of the 
nature of martensite and troostite receives very 


cult to find two metallographers who are in com- 
plete agreement, and the author’s views are not 
likely to escape criticism. Ingenious diagrams, 
sometimes having the curves corresponding with 
metastable equilibria printed in colours, are used 
in this volume, which is indispensable to all who 
are seriously interested in the constitution of cast- 
iron and steel. 

The book is admirably printed. In the course 
of constant use few misprints have been detected, 
with the exception of proper names, which are 
rather frequentiy mis-spelled. References are only 
given by author’s name and year of publication, 
the details having to be sought in a bibliography, 
which is to appear on the completion of the work. 
In the first volume it would have been of advan- 
tage to provide a larger number of photo-micro- 
graphs in some sections, but those which are in- 
cluded, most of which are fairly familiar, are well 


reproduced. The second volume is profusely 
illustrated. C: Hi. Desens 
ZOOLOGY, EMBRYOLOGY?) AND 


HEREDITY. 
(1) Handbuch fiir Biologische Uebungen. By Prof. 


P. Réseler and H. Lamprecht. Zoologischer 
Teil. Pp. xii+574. (Berlin: Julius Springer, 
1914.) Price 27 marks. 


(2) Konstitution und Vererbung in ihren Begieh- 
ungen sur Pathologie. By Prof. F. Martius. 
Pp. viiit+258. (Berlin: Julius Springer, 1914.) 
Price 12 marks. 

(3) Leitfaden fiir das Embryologische Praktikum, 
und Grundriss der Entwicklungslehre des 
Menschen und Wirbeltiere. By Prof. A. 
Oppel. Pp. vii+ 313. (Jena: Gustav Fischer, 
1914.) Price 10 marks. 

(4) Studies in Cancer and Allied Subjects. Vol. 
iv., Contributions to the Anatomy and Develop- 
ment of the Salivary Glands in the Mammalia. 
(Conducted under the George Crocker Special 
Research Fund at Columbia University.) Pp. 
v+364+plates. (New York: Columbia Uni- 
versity Press, 1913.) Price 5 dollars net. 

(1) HIS handbook appears to be meant 

specially as a guide to teachers who 
have to conduct courses of practical instruction in 
zoology in higher schools and colleges, but who- 

ever works conscientiously through it, whether a 

prospective school teacher or not, will have gone 

through an excellent course in practical zoology 
on the “type” system. He will have given him- 
self a practical training of a much sounder and 
more extensive kind than is, we fear, commonly 
attempted by those who have to conduct such 
courses in the schools of this country. We fancy 


d er 


full treatment, but on this point it would be diffi- | that if our science masters had to work through 


WO) "23275 VielBOs) 


AvuGUST 13, 1914] 


NATURE 


607 


a course such as is given in the book now under 
notice we should find them teaching in theit turn 
something rather different from what so fre- 
quently, with us, masquerades under the name 
“nature study.” 

The opening chapters of the book are of a 
general nature. A useful inventory of laboratory 
requirements is followed by practical directions 
regarding the use of the microscope. Methods of 
observation of the living animal are described, 
and thereafter the technique of fixing, staining, 
section-cutting, and so on. A chapter on general 
histology gives good practical directions for ob- 
taining the various types of tissue, and that is 
followed by a chapter on physiology, with good 
practical exercises dealing with digestion, respira- 
tion, milk, blood, and urine. 

About four-fifths of the book are taken up by 
special exercises upon representatives of the vari- 
ous main groups of the animal kingdom. In the 
chapter on protozoa the sporozoa as exemplified 
by Gregarina and Monocystis are taken first, then 
flagellates and while our old _ friend 
Ameceba comes last. This is a reversal of the 
usual order, and its advantage seems to us very 
questionable, for, whatever unexpected complexi- 
ties may turn up in the life-history of Amoeba 
proteus, the fact remains that the ordinary phase 
in the life-history, which alone is studied in prac- 
tical classes represents an extra. 
ordinarily simple and unspecialised type of animal 
—quite without a rival as a subject of study for 
the beginner in zoological science. 

The chapter on Ccelenterata deals with a couple 
of sponges, Leucandra and Spongilla (why not a 
simple Ascon?), Hydra (we notice its coelenteron 
is miscalled ceelom!), Obelia geniculata (the 
figure of the hydroid phase appears to represent 


ciliates, 


in zoology, 


another species), Aurelia, Nausithoe, Actinia, 
Alcyonium, and Corallium. Chapters on worms, 
arthropods, molluscs, echinoderms, tunicates— 


each deal with varicus representative members 
of the group; while vertebrates are illustrated by 
Amphioxus, Petromyzon, Scyllium, 
Rana, Lacerta, Columba, Lepus. 

It will be seen that the book covers a very wide 
area and on the whole it does it well, although 
necessarily some of the descriptions are very 
short. Both in the introductory chapters and 
scattered throughout the book are to be found 
hints on technique valuable even to those who 
have considerable experience. The book is amply 
illustrated, though the illustrations vary much in 
quality. Some are excellent, for example, those 
of Astacus and Hirudo (the latter after Hatschek 
and Cori’s beautiful figures); while others, such 
as that of the transverse section through the 


Nee 2437, VOL. 9a 


Leuciscus, 


earthworm, are very rough. The figures of 
Ascaris eggs should also be revised for a future 
edition. On the whole we find the book wonder- 
fully free from gross errors, and we think it will 
be very useful to students. 

(2) Thus: boolz, 


literary style, 


with its quaint expressive 
and its occasional flashes of 
humour, forms a very readable section of the 
Enzyklopadie der klinischen Medizin. The first 
half of the book is devoted to emphasising the 
importance of the individual constitution as a 
factor in disease. The two extreme schools of 
thought on this subject are referred to: on 
one hand, the extreme bacteriologists to whom the 
body is little more than a test-tube containing 
nutritive medium in which the inoculated microbe 
can grow and multiply, and to whom the mere 
mention of the word constitution is looked upon 
as an attack upon their science; and on the 
other, the extreme constitutionalists, some of 
have gone the length of looking upon 
as the mere harmless accompaniments of 


whom 
germs 
illness. 

The second half of the book is devoted to 
heredity in relation to pathology. Chapter iii. 
gives a crisply written and, on the whole, fair- 
minded summary of the theory of heredity and 
of the main facts of cytology related to it The 
author’s attitude is eminently common-sensible, 
and shows a width of view difficult of attainment 
by the specialist in the study of heredity. He 
gives full credit of the enunciation of the main 
idea of the continuity of the germ plasm to Galton 
in 1875, i.e. before both Jager and Weismann. 
Due space is given to Mendelism. We notice the 


verb “mendeln,” and the substantive ‘“* Nichtsals- 
mendelianer,” though we miss the suggestion of 


still further developments of the vocabulary on 
the lines of mendelacious, mendelacity, men- 
delinquency, mendelette, and so on. The final 
chapter, which might with advantage have been 
longer, gives a summary of some of the more 
important facts of observation in pathology and 
teratology in relation to heredity. 

(3) The author of that admirable encyclopedia 
entitled the ‘Lehrbuch der mikroskopischen 
Anatomie,” has in the work now under review 
succeeded in writing an uncommonly dull book 
upon an uncommonly fascinating subject. The 
way in which the book opens—with the sentence 


“Das volkommenste Forschungs- und Unter- 
richtsmittel, tuber welches die beschreibende 


Embryologie heute verfiigt, besteht darin, dass 
ein Embryo in eine Reihe von diinnen Schnitten 
zerlegt wird, welche mikroskopisch untersucht 
werden kénnen”’—illustrates admirably the cha- 
of the work, which is typically 


racter whole 


608 


German in its combination of trustworthiness in 
regard to detail, with almost complete absence of 
that wide “grip” which makes a work, or a 
worker, a living force in the development of the 
science. 

Chapter i. sketches the objects and general 
method of a course in practical embryology ; 
chapter ii., consisting of less than a page, is 
entitled “Embryology and  ‘ Entwicklungs- 
mechanik’”; chapter iii., about half a page in 
length, has the somewhat ambitious title, “ Evolu- 
tion, Epigenesis, Neo-evolution, Neo-epigenesis.” 
After this it is somewhat startling to find that 
chapter v., ‘“On some of the causal factors of de- 
velopment,” which teaches the student various ex- 
cellent Rouxian expressions in which his—and his 
teacher’s—ignorance may be safely wrapped up, 
extends over some eight pages. and 
and 


Many long 
Greek-looking words occur in this chapter, 
we confess to being not altogether convinced that 
they serve a useful purpose. We do not quite 
see of what special advantage it is to a German 
student—apart from some slight economy in time 
or ink—to refer to the wandering apart of cells 
which had come together as ‘‘Cytochorismus,” 
instead of using the expressive vernacular 
“Wiedervoneinanderlésung.” Technical terms 
are, of course, very necessary things, but there is 
often a danger—-and it is one from which _ bio- 
logical science is suffering greatly at the present 
time—that the affixing of a new technical name 
may be counted as explaining a natural pheno- 
menon, cr as making at least a definite step 
towards explanation. 

The first section of the book is completed by a 
short but good account of simple embryological 
technique suitable for elementary students, fol- 
lowed by a short sketch of developmental 
mechanics and a syllabus of work for a course in 
practical embryology. 

The second section of the book gives a good, 
though rather too short, general account of germ 
cells, early stages in development, and foetal mem- 
branes. The third section gives directions, illus- 
trated by outline drawings, for working through 
series of sections of various vertebrate embryos, 
while the concluding section of the book gives a 
short but good sketch of vertebrate organogeny. 

The book is excellently illustrated. It is too 
short, and it has, as we have indicated, other 
faults, but it is, on the whole, trustworthy, and 
will, we doubt not, serve its purpose to the stu- 
dent who hustles through a course in vertebrate 
embryology with the idea of picking up some 
knowledge of its methods rather than of becom- 
ing acquainted with its general principles as a 
branch of evolutionary science. 

(4) Vol. iv. of the ‘““George Crocker Studies in 

INO! 42 337, eaOlenoa | 


NATORE 


[AUGUST 13, 1914 


Cancer and Allied Subjects’ consists of a series 
of eight valuable memoirs upon the anatomy and 
development of the salivary glands of the mam- 
malia. Adult anatomy is dealt with by Carmalt 
(man, carnivora, ungulata, rodentia, insectivora, 
marsupialia) and Huntingdon (lower primates) ; 
embryonic development by Schulte (man, cat, 
pig); while the evolution of the primate salivary 
glands out of the presumably ancestral condition 
of a diffuse gland-field is discussed by Hunt- 
ingdon. Taken altogether the volume forms a 
valuable addition to our knowledge of the meor- 
phology of the salivary glands of the mammalia, 
and incidentally it affords a striking tribute to 
the wise and broad-minded administration of the 
George Crocker Research Fund of Columbia 
University. 


TROPICALE PRODUCTS. 


(1) The Cultivation of the Oil Palm. Some 
Essential Notes. By F. M. Milligan. Pp. 
xiv+1o00o. (London: Crosby Lockwood and 
Sonm,.1914.) Price 25.a0d- mer 


(2) Rubber: Its Sources, Cultivation, and Pre- 
paration. By Harold Brown. With a Preface by 
Dr. W. R. Dunstan. Pp. xiti+ 245+ xu plates. 
(London: John Murray, 1914.) Price 6s. net. 

(3) The Banana: Its Cultivation, Disiribution, and 
Commercial Uses. By W. Fawcett. With an 
Introduction by Sir Daniel Morris. Pp. xi+ 
287+plates. (London: Duckworth and Co., 
nQEge) Price 7s. 6da tiem 

HE trio of books under notice deal with 

three important tropical products, the first 

being chiefly associated with European colonies 

in western equatorial Africa, the other two being 
widely exploited. 

(1) The luxuriance and abundance of the oil-> 
palms in the coastal lands from Sierra Leone to 
the Cameroons furnish good evidence that the 
climate is particularly suitable and that the tree is 
well able to hold its own against plant and insect 
pests. The supply of fruit and nuts was origin- 
ally obtained from wild plants, but plantations 
have been formed by natives and are being ex- 
tended. Undoubtedly there is scope both for 
extended planting and for more careful cultivation. 
It is with the object of offering advice in these 
matters that Mr. Milligan has written his book. 
Unfortunately, although there are many allusions 
to his experience, the information given is ex- 
ceedingly meagre; on the subjects of seed-ger- 
mination, planting, and manuring, the advice is 
sound, but in other respects, notably as regards 
botanical details, the information is not only in- 
sufficient, but incorrect. The subject of oil-pro- 
duction is not included. 


AUGUST 13, 1914] 


(2) The present time is very opportune for a 
review of the plants and methods connected with 
rubber production. During the last few years a 
number of outstanding problems have been criti- 
cally determined or investigated, primarily by 
planters and agricultural officials in the produc- 


ines coummies, and, to aumesse Gerree, by 
workers in museums and _ laboratories. Thus 
there is a fairly general agreement with re- 


spect to the limitations of climate required by 
the Para rubber tree, Hevea brasiliensis and the 
Ceara rubber tree, Manihot glaziorti, and the 
sources of the various native-prepared rubbers; 
also opinions have gradually crystallised with re- 
gard to the best methods of tapping Hevea, the 
different requirements for Manihot, the African 
rubber tree, Funtumia elastica, and other trees, 
and the various methods of producing coagulation 
of latex. On all these matters Mr. Brown pro- 
vides a valuable mass of recorded observations 
and sifted conclusions, together with summaries 
of quantities of latex obtainable and analyses. 
Two chapters are devoted to the rubber industry 
in British Africa and the principal rubber-yielding 
plants. The chapters on latex, tapping, prepara- 
tion, and chemistry of rubber are particularly 
interesting because the author is specially quali- 
fied to write on these subjects. With reference 
to the botanical determinations of the various 
species of Landolphia, Manihot, and Ficus, refer- 
ence is made to the sources from which the data 
are collated. The book is certainly one of the 
most useful contributions to the subject of rubber 
production; not the least interesting paragraph is 
that in which an opinion is given as to the com- 
petition with synthetic rubber. 

(3) The greater part of Mr. Fawcett’s book on 
bananas is occupied with an account of the culti- 
vation of the banana in Jamaica, its dietetic value 
and by-products and the development of the 
banana trade. The chief points treated in con- 
nection with cultivation are details of the plant, 
flowers and fruit with illustrations, the pruning 
and treatment of suckers—a very complex and 
important matter—mulching, fertilisers, diseases, 
and pests. The later chapters are devoted to a 
comprehensive review of the cultivation of different 
species and varieties of bananas and plantains 


throughout tropical countries, including India, 
Queensland, Egypt, Natal, various African 


colonies, and States in Central and South America. 
Into many of these the Jamaican and Canary 
banana plants have been introduced for cultiva- 
tion; the former is a variety of Musa sapientum, 
known as Gros Michel, that originated as a sport 
in Martinique; the latter is Musa 
The Jamaican banana is better fitted for transport, 


NO. 2337, VOL. 93] 


cavendishii. 


NAT ORE 


609 


but the plant is liable to be wrecked by strong 


winds. Attention is directed to the by-products, 
dried bananas, known as “banana figs” and 
banana flour, also to the cooking recipes. The 


book is recommended as a comprehensive and 
authoritative compilation, characterised by clear- 
ness and accuracy. An item of special botanical 
interest is the list with chief characters of sixty- 
six species of Musa. 


ENGINEERING MANUALS AND 
TEXT-BOOKS. 

(1) Suspension Bridges, Arch Ribs, and Canti- 
levers. - By. Prof. WH. Burr.) Ppe xa 
(New York: J. Wiley and Sons, Inc. ; London : 
Chapman»and Hall, Ltd., 1913.) Price 19s- 
net. j 

(2) Technical Mechanics, Statics, and Dynamics. 
By Prof. E.R. Maurer. ~ Ppr sire 3500 (New 
York: J. Wiley and Sons, Inc.; London: 
Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1914.) Price 1os. 6d. 
net. 

(3) Mechanical Refrigeration. By Prof. H. J. 
Macintire. Pp. ix+346. (New York: J. Wiley 
and Sons, Inc.; London: Chapman and Hall, 
Lid; 19n4.)2 Price 075. met 

(4) The Human Factor in Works Management. 
By J. Hartness. Pp. ix-Fi59. (New) York: 


McGraw-Hill Book Co.; London: The Hill 
Publishing Co., 1912.) Price 6s. 3d. net. 

(5) Elasticita e resistensza dei corpt pietrosi 
Mattoni, Pietre, Malte e Calcestruzzi, Mura- 
ture. By Ing. Alfredo Montel. Pp. vi+ 180. 
(Torino: S. Lattes and Co., 1914.) Price 5 


lire. 

ROF. BURR is so well known as a writer on 
bridges that another work from his pen 

will be welcomed by engineers, particularly as he 
deals with the problems connected with large 
suspension bridges, about which he is particularly 
qualified to speak as a consulting engineer. The 
problem of the stiffened suspension bridge in 
general is dealt with in an exhaustive manner, 
preceded by a treatment of the perfectly flexible 
cable or frame loaded vertically. A useful table 
is given for the lengths of cables assuming a 
parabolic form, an assumption which is generally 
made by engineers in designing, for the loading 
is so nearly uniform per unit of length of span 
that the catenary is almost the same as the para- 
bola. This leads to an interesting deduction as 
to the approximate greatest length of span for 
different ratios of central deflection of cable to 
span. Thus, taking 60,000 lb. per sq. in. as the 
working stress for steel wire and the above ratio 
10, we find that a span of 13,740 ft. is possible. 
The friction in the joints of a link cable is shown, 
and the stresses due to friction in the pins of eye 


610 


NATORE 


[AUGUST 13, 1614 


bars become larger than is generally supposed, and 
the resulting bending moments are by no means 
negligible. The theory of the straight stiffening- 
truss based upon the elastic deformation of the 
structure assumes that there is no sensible varia- 
tion from the parabolic form of cable or frame. 
The thermal stresses in_ stiffened suspension 
bridges are discussed. This work should find a 
ready acceptance among engineers and students 
alike. 

(2) It is not surprising that this work has 
reached a third edition in ten years for it possesses 
distinct merit and originality. Unlike the usual 
text-book on tmechanics which is compiled by 
rigid adherence to academic method, it has a 
treatment all its own, and one that will commend 
itself alike to teachers and students who have left 
the abstract for the concrete problems met with 
in practical application. The author asserts that 
it is neither theoretical mechanics on one hand, 
nor applied on the other, since it does not include 
strength of materials, and the reader will not go 
far before discerning a judicious blend between 
the two extremes. The thirteen chapters com- 
prise statics, friction, centre of gravity, rectilinear 
and curvilinear motion, translation and rotation, 
and work, energy, and power. The illustrations 
are clear and essentially represent objects familiar 
to the engineer. 

(3) A short introductory chapter to this volume 
is devoted to the usual thermodynamic relations 
for air and other vapours, after which the various 
types of refrigerating machines and their con- 
struction are described. This is followed by the 
theory of refrigeration and the choice and _ pro- 
perties of refrigerating mediums. We then find 
a chapter on testing refrigerating machines, fol- 
lowed by a discussion on insulation; and finally, 
the various commercial applications are dealt 
with. The discussion on refrigerants has been 
brought up to date by including the work of 
Mollier and others. The descriptions of refrigerat- 
ing plant and methods are very complete. 

(4) A perusal of this work will leave the reader 
in doubt as to the object of the writer, and yet he 
will conclude that it is an interesting and plea- 
santly written essay upon the motives and habits 
of the workman in the pursuit of his work. As 
human nature is the same the world over, it will 
doubtless be found to meet the characteristics of 
the English as well as the American workman, 
and perhaps to suggest to the employer some of 
the causes which have operated to give a nation 
a certain place in the industrial world. To 
American managers who have given the problems 
of works management the 
would and 
NO. 2337; 


a position 
make a 


VOL. 93] 


among 


sciences it appeal, 


direct 


though most men of experience would find their 
views in general accord with those of the author, 
it is pleasant to find them confirmed by one who 
has evidently a clear and shrewd apprehension of 
the actuating forces that underlie all human en- 
deavour. We would however be inclined to say 
ca va sans dire to much that the author has 
written. For instance, few will find fault with the 
statement that inertia is not confined to an inani- 
mate mass and that it has to be overcome in a 
progressive business. Notwithstanding the some- 
what trite remarks that we find throughout the 
work, there is a distinct charm about the manner 
of presentation, and as the author confesses to a 
feeling of incompleteness in the treatment, we 
must take what he has given us with this reserva- 
tion and accept his contribution to a very large 
subject capable of indefinite variation. 

(5) This work on the strength and physical pro- 
perties of bricks, stone, mortar, cement, and 
masonry is a compilation of results of experiments 
with a discussion of the theory of elasticity as 
applied to such materials. The first chapter deals 
with the elastic properties in reference to Hooke’s 
law and Poisson’s ratio for the materials, and 
in the second the behaviour of materials under 
compression is dealt with, which is followed by a 
chapter on the flexure of beams. The ordinary 
tensile tests on various kinds of cement are de- 
scribed and the results tabulated. The strength 
of bricks based upon various experiments made 
by different men is, in view of the variable charac- 
ter of the material, of special interest, also the 
crushing strength of building stones of different 
kinds is given. The chapter on the crushing 
strength of brick piers is of special value as so 
little has been done in this direction, chiefly owing 
to the inherent difficulties of testing and rendering 
the results comparative. The effect of the quality » 
of the bricks and mortar and the workmanship is 
discussed, the results obtained by Popplewell, 
Howard, and others being cited. The thickness of 
the joints, leading dimensions, and other possible 
variations in the test piers make it impossible to 
lay down any absolute laws as the result of the 
tests. The work ought to be of use to engineers 
as a guide to what has been done in a very large 
subject. 


OUR BOOKSHELF. 


Minerals and the Microscope: an Introduction to 
the Study of Petrology. By H. G. Smith. Pp. 
xi+116+xu plates. (London: Thomas Murby 
and @o,, n.d.)» Price 35. 6d. net. 

Tue author of this convenient and systematic little 

treatise is Demonstrator of geology in the Imperial 

College of Science, London, where he has gained 


AUGUST 13, 1914| 


NATURE 


611 


experience through the introduction of 
classes to the use of the microscope in petrology. 
The style is clear, and suflicient optical theory is 
introduced to add interest to determinative methods. 
The philosophic processes by which minerals are 
determined, affording as they do an insight into 
crystalline structure, are of far more value in class- 
work than actual specific identifications. The 
beautiful series of photographs of minerals as they 
appear in thin rock-slices is a very welcome 
feature, and gives special distinction to the book. 
As an “introduction to petrology ” the micro- 
scopic method often fails; this is seen, for in- 
stance, where the author (p. 103) regreis the 
difficulty of distinguishing the triclinic felspars 
present ina granite. Surely, in a coarse-grained 
rock, a fragment broken from the mineral wil 
supply material for other than optical tests. We 
do not know, again, how “microscopic investiga- 
tion should always enable the student to make the 
distinction” (p. 112) between foliation and bed- 
ding, seeing that the two so frequently coincide in 
schists. But Mr. Smith has given us the handiest 
and best illustrated introduction that we possess 
to an important aspect of rock-minerals, and has 
even included a coloured plate of Newton’s scale. 
If the student remembers that every rock-section 
has its parent rock, he may well place himself at 
an early stage of his work under the guidance of 
these lucid pages. eA. fC, 


Researches into Induced Cell-reproduction in 
Amoebae. By J. W. Cropper and A. H, Drew. 
Pp. 112+ plates. (The John Howard McFadden 
Researches, Vol. IV.) (London: John Murray, 
Ipine oe rice 5s. net. 

THE investigations described in this volume were 

undertaken with the view of supporting the theory 

of H. C. Ross, that cell-reproduction is brought 
about by certain chemical agents termed 

‘“auxetics,’”’ and that their effect is increased by 

the addition of other substances known as 

“kinetics.”” The authors claim to have _ con- 

firmed this theory, and to have shown that the 

mode of action of these substances is probably 
through the medium of enzymes. The presence of 
these agents in the environment is stated to pro- 
duce variations in the morphology of the organ- 
ism. Methods of cultivation of amoebe and their 
examination by the “jelly method,” are de- 
scribed. The encystment of an ameeba is stated 
to be due to the action of certain deleterious bac- 
terial products, and it is claimed that the subse- 
quent excystation is caused by other products 
which act on the cyst-wall from without, and are 
of the nature of ferments. A detailed account is 
given of the preparation of cultures of the amoeba 
with pure strains of different bacteria. The 
amoeba used in these researches was a species 
found by the authors living in a solution of sodium 
chloride (1 per cent.) and sodium citrate (3 per 
cent.) in the laboratory, and named by them 

Amoeba ostrea, A parasitic micrococcus, which 

was very deadly to the amceba, was also isolated 

and investigated. 


WO:- 2337, VOL. 932i] 


b 


large 


Song and Wings: a Posy of Bird Poems for 
Young and Old. By Isa J. Postgate. With a 
Preface by the Rev. Canon H. D. Rawnsley. 
Pp. xi+50. (London: Alexander Moring, Ltd., 
1914.) Price 2s. 6d. net: 

Miss PostGaTe’s pretty verse wiil serve a very 
useful purpose if, by arousing an interest in birds 
and bird-life, it assists in the arrest of the exter- 
mination of beautifuily plumaged birds for the 
gratification of the desire for barbaric adornment 
fostered by modern fashion. 


LETTERS TC THE EDITOR: 


[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for 
opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with 
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 
this or any other part of Nature. No notice is 
taken of anonymous communications.] 


Asymmetric Images with X-Radiation. 


CONFIRMING our letter of July 16 on asymmetric 
haloes, we have found that the bands can be produced 
on one, two adjacent, three, or all sides of a square 
(lead), and when an obstacle is placed at or over one 
side the corresponding band only vanishes. These 
effects are independent of the incidence of the radia- 
tion. With V-shaped aperture, the apex resting on 
the plate, the bands on one side are sharply defined, 
and twice bent; on the other there are several, and 
they are diffuse and fainter. 

The double bend is due to the fact that within a 
short range two edges contribute as in light. 

With strips (steel), say, 4 cm. width, the white 
bands cross at various angles depending on the slope 
to the plate, but are afterwards dispersed at short 
distances from the edges they approach. 

The diametric asymmetry excludes polarisation, and 
since it increases directly with the distance from the 
axis through the “optimum” (i.e. 15° from the direc- 
tion at which light would be reflected) the rays must 
have some determination from the plane of the anti- 
kathode. In other words, they must be * polarised” 
in planes at successive angles to the direction of pro- 
pagation. The continuance of the bands within the 
shadow beyond the range of light diffraction and their 
varying asymmetry show that X-radiation is something 
more than light of very short wave-length, or other- 
wise light itself must possess unequal polarity in its 
structure. 


‘ 


I. G. RANKIN. 
W. F. D. CHAMBERS. 
go Gordon Road, Ealing. 


Unit of Acceleration. 

Ir is a little surprising to find in Dr. Shaw’s paper 
(December 16, 1913), “ . He (Mr. Whipple) points 
out that we have no special name for the unit of 
acceleration.” In Nature of June 25, 1914, Mr. 
Whipple proposed the name “‘leo.’’ So long ago as 
1909 Wiechert used the term “ gal”’ in the report for 
the Gottingen earthquake station for that unit, being 
the first syllable of Galileo, whence Mr. Whipple 
derives his ‘‘leo.”” Others, as well as myself, have 
used ‘‘ gal,” or rather “ milligal,” in analyses of earth- 
quakes. A milligal is approximately a millionth of g. 
Dyne is the unit of force, gal the unit of acceleration. 

Orto Kiorz. 

Dominion Observatory, Ottawa, July 18. 


612 


NARORE, 


[AUGUST 13, T9714 


THE’ NESTING’ HABITS” OF  ADELIE 
PENGUINS (PYGOSCELIS ADEEI“»). 
HEN they arrive at the southern rookeries 
in the early spring, the penguins appear 
to be quite unattached, and pairing takes place 
during the ensuing week or two. As they spend 
the winter on the floating pack ice, far out to 
the northward, they have a journey of some 
hundreds of miles to get to their rookeries, and 
are therefore much fatigued on arrival. Conse- 
quently, many are seen to spend their first day 
or so in resting, either on the sea ice, or on the 
solid ground on which the rookery is formed. 
The hens betake themselves either to old nests, 
or else scrape little scoops in the ground, which 
they previously thaw by squatting on it for a 


preliminary squabbling, two of the band are seex 
to settle down to a serious encounter (Fig. 1), in 
which each uses his weight, ieaning his breast 
against his opponent, so that as one begins to out- 
last the other the weaker bird gets rushed out of 
the crowd, and the fight ends on some open patch 
of snow, when the victor has his enemy down, 
and hammers him until he cannot rise or beats a 
retreat. 

After this the conqueror returns to the hen, 
and as likely as not fights another of the band. 
Thus hours may be spent over the winning of a 
single hen. At length there seems to be an agree- 

ment that one of the knights has established his 

right to the lady. As a rule, it is the strongest 
and cleverest fighter of the group; but, curiously, 
| this is not always so, as sometimes the bird who 


| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 


japon: Oe 


Fic. 1.—Two of the band in serious encounter. 


short time. They sit in these scoops, and wait 
until mates come to them. Were they not very 
jealous of one another, the cocks might easily 


get mated and start domestic life without any 
trouble. Unfortunately, however, the jealousy 


which characterises the animal kingdom in general 
when engaged in matrimony, is ingrained in the 
character of the Adélie cock in its most violent 
form, so that bands of these little warriors are to 
be seen all over the rookery, watching each 
other’s every movement, and hindering one an- 
other in their quest for wives. As soon as one 
of their number approaches a hen, one or more 
of his companions sails in at him, and a desperate 
battle takes place, each bird raining in blows with 
his powerful “flippers,” and fighting with the 
most indomitable bravery. As a rule, after some 

NOm23.373) VOW: 


93 | 


has undoubtedly proved himself the victor sud- 
denly walks off, and by general consent his van- 


His troubles are not yet ended, as the hen has 
yet to make up her mind that she will have him. 
His first overture very often takes the form of an 
offering in the shape of a pebble for the nest. 

| This he lays in front of her, and it may suffice; 
| but often it does not, and she responds by peck- 
ing him furiously, whilst he hunches himself up, 
with closed eyes, making not the least resistance 
nor any attempt to evade the onslaught. 

When she desists, he rises and sidles up to 
her, arching his neck and looking very pretty 
and graceful. in his efforts to ingratiate himself. 
Then perhaps both have some sort of argument, 
facing one another, their heads stretched upwards 


quished opponent is left in possession of the field. 


NATURE 613 


re) 


and rocking from side to side as they appear to 
discuss the matter in raucous tones. © Gradually 


they become calmer, until finally the matter is 


Fic. 2.—An adélie penguin sitting on eggs. 


settled and they have pledged their faith for the 
rest of the season. 

Once made the compact is final, and though, 
unhappily, death from misadventure breaks up 
many a home, those that survive 
remain unswervingly faithful to 
one another. Overtures are fre- 
quently made by unmated cocks 
to mated hens during the. early 
part of the year, before the eggs 
have come, but the husband takes 
good care of his wife, and soon 
drives off the interloper. 

The pair being wedded, the 
cock fetches stones for the nest, 
which the hen builds. A week 
or so elapses and the first egg 
is laid. In two or three days’ 
time the second appears. Up to 
this time none of the birds at- 
tempt to get food, but when the 
eggs are both laid one of the pair 
goes off to the nearest open 
water, and may remain away a 
week or ten days, after which it 
returns and takes its turn on the 
eggs (Fig. 2), whilst the . other 
goes off for a similar period to 
catch the little shrimp-like crus- 
tacea that abound in the Ant- 
arctic seas, and to gambol with 
groups of neighbours in_ the 
water and on the sea ice. 

The eggs take about thirty- 
two days to incubate, and at the 
end of this time the little plush- 
coated chicks appear all over the 
rookery. These grow at a great 
rate, eating voraciously. Some 
idea of their rapid growth may be got from the 
photograph showing a chick twelve days old 
(Fig. 3). 

Won 2337, VOL. ge 


_ Now the adult birds are extremely fond of play- 
ing games, and spend whole days in playfully 
skirmishing with one another on the sea-ice near 
the rockery, and having rides on the ice floes that 
drift past on the tide. Consequently, the needs 
of the youngsters becoming greater as they grow 
bigger, when these are about a fortnight old an 
ingenious social arrangement is made by the 
entire rookery, resulting in a great economy of 
labour. Hitherto, the greatest care has been 
taken by the parents to prevent the chicks from 
straying away from the nests, hecause when they 
do so they are invariably pounced upon by the 
skua gulls which are always in attendance to prey 
upon them, and should the chicks seek the protec- 
tion of neighbours the latter would only drive 
them away with savage pecks which might prove 
mortal to the tender youngsters. 

Now, however, by mutual consent all this is 
changed, and the occupants of large groups of nests 
(Fig. 4) pool their chicks so as to form créches, 
sometimes consisting of many dozens of young- 
sters, which are guarded by a few old birds who 
take turns to remain on duty whilst the rest are 
free to go off to get food and to play. The sentry 
birds take good care of the créches under their 


Fic. 3.—A chick twelve days old. 


charge, and soon drive in any of the chicks that 
try to get away, so that these learn to keep in a 
cluster and are safe from the attacks of the skuas. 


614 


Surely this is a most wonderful development of 
social instinct on the part of a colony of birds. 

When the chicks have changed their downy 
coats for a covering of feathers, it is time for both 
young and old to depart. The sun will soon be 
gone, the sea be frozen over, and the long An- 
tarctic night begun. So the youngsters make 
their way to the water’s edge, and here they learn 
to swim and to catch their own food. Some take 
to the water at once; others are more tardy, and 
these are encouraged to enter the new element by 
the old birds, who take pains to show them that 
they are as safe here as on land. Then in bands 
of some dozens at a time, the whole rookery takes 
to the sea and departs for the north, where the 
floating pack ice of the Antarctic seas affords 


r 


NATORE 


[AUGUST. 13, 1914 


Stable aeroplanes have been built before; Lieut- 
Dunne, Mr. Handley Page, and others, have pro- 
duced aeroplanes which are inherently stable, and 
yet the RE1, from a theoretical point of view, 
has an importance of a different character from its 
predecessors. If the older machines be examined 
they will be found to possess marked peculiarities 
in their wing construction, and in some cases have 
been clearly produced as the result of the study 
of natural wing forms. In all cases, however, 


the design is primarily based on the requirements 
for stability, and the strength of construction is 
a matter for important but secondary considera- 
tion. 

On the other hand, as was remarked in a recent 
number of one of the technical flight periodicals, 


7 


Fic. 4.—A group of nests. 


them a safe home and the proximity of open 
water from which they must derive their food. 
G. Murray LEvIck. 


RECENT, PROGRESS IN 
SGlE NCB. 
WO lectures delivered recently have directed 
attention to striking progress in the develop- 
ment of aeronautical science. Simultaneously 
with these lectures, the ‘ Wilbur Wright” lecture 
by Dr. R. (is) Glazebrook, andsthe, ~ James, For- 
rest’ lecture by Mr. F. W. Lanchester, results are 
published of experiments on an inherently stable 
aeroplane, the RE 1, constructed at the Royal 
Aircraft Factory. The two lectures and the flying 
machine are not wholly unconnected with each 
other. 


AERONAUTICAL 


the absence of special stability features in the 
RE is striking. Superficially, the aeroplane 
differs little from standard biplanes designed 
chiefly for strength and efficiency, and the proce- 
dure followed in its production was a complete 
reversal of that leading to the older stable 
machines. It is shown clearly that neither ease 
nor strength of construction nor efficiency need be 
sacrificed in order to obtain a stable aeroplane. 
Like many other achievements, the RE 1 is not 
the sole production of any one person. The credit 
for some of the earlier links in the chain must go 
to those early mathematicians—Lagrange, Kelvin, 
Routh, etc.—-who put the theory of the small 
oscillations about a state of steady motion on to 
a sound and regular footing. Later, the method 
has been applied to the particular problem of the 
aeroplane by Prof. Bryan, whilst, at the same 


AUGUST 13, 1914] 


NATURE 


615 


time, Mr. Lanchester, working from first prin- 
ciples, developed the same conditions for the pro- 
duction of longitudinal stability. Both investi- 
gations are dependent for numerical data on the 
results of experimental research on models, and in 
producing this the aerodynamical laboratories are 
concerned. In England such data are produced at 
the National Physical Laboratory, whilst France, 
Germany, Italy, and Russia have each one or more 
institutions for the purpose of aeronautical ex- 
periment. 

Finally, there are the constructors and pilots 
who apply the results to practice. In the case of 
the RE1 the application was made by the Royal 
Aircraft Factory, the pilot being responsible, not 
only for the flying of the machine, but also for the 
adjustments necessary to produce the desired 
amount of stability. 

The mathematical analysis, most clearly ex- 
pressed in Prof. Bryan’s work on ‘Stability in 
Aviation,” has shown that for all aeroplanes the 
motion may be considered as dependent on four 
surfaces. The surfaces need not have any exact 
material existence in the aeroplane but are equi- 
valent to the sum of the effects of all the separate 
parts. The position of these surfaces can be 
described quite shortly; the largest of them 
carries practically the whole weight of the aero- 
plane, and in a monoplane is almost identical with 
the main planes. A_ second surface roughly 
parallel to the supporting surface and behind it is 
used to obtain longitudinal stability, whilst two 
vertical surfaces, one above and the other behind 
the main supporting surface, are necessary to 
produce lateral stability. The equivalent surface 
above the main planes is usually produced by turn- 
ing up the wings near the body so as to make a 
dihedral angle, whilst that behind the main planes 
is in large part provided by the rudder and fixed 
tail fin. 

Each of these equivalent surfaces. is somewhat 
complex in character, and in particular the rear 
vertical fin is dependent on whether the propeller 
is running or stationary. Theoretical considera- 
tions indicate that any good flying machine can, 
however, be made stable by suitable choice of 
these four equivalent surfaces without affecting 
appreciably the design of the aeroplane from the 
point of view of efficiency and strength. Actual 
flight has shown how in one particular case, at 
least, it has been done. 

The problem of flight, however, is more difficult 
than that of producing stability, and further 
analysis brings into prominence the importance of 
knowing the amount of stability. In the course 
of the Wilbur Wright memorial lecture, Dr. 
Glazebrook exhibited diagrams which, amongst 
other things, showed the amount of the rise and 
fall of a stable aeroplane in a moderate wind, 
this rise and fall being necessary for recovery 
from disturbance. As a deduction from these dia- 
grams it appears that in really rough weather a 
stable aeroplane might be tossed about to an un- 
comfortable extent. The analysis which leads to 
this result also indicates a remedy, and by an 
extension it is possible to investigate the effect 


NO. 2337, VOL. 93| 


of moving the controls of an aeroplane and so to 
utilise the result as to produce a mechanical device 
for reducing the tossing. It is perhaps unwise 
to attempt to prophesy, but it appears to be prob- 
able that the aeroplane of the future will be in- 
herently stable, with a degree of stability now 
thought undesirable, and that it will be provided 
with a mechanical device for operating the con- 
trols so as to reduce the effect of an external 
disturbance. Near the ground the pilot will 
always need to take control, for then the man- 
ceuvres may require to be quite different from 
those natural to the flying machine. 

Problems of an urgent but entirely different 
character are also presenting themselves to the 
constructor for solution. A suitable engine is still 
being sought for, whilst the problem’ of safe 
alighting is probably the one now presenting the 
greatest number of difficulties. 


TECHNICAL EDUCATION FOR FISHER- 


MEN. 

WE noticed, a short time ago (May 28, p. 

324), the report of the Departmental Com- 
mittee on Inshore Fisheries, but did not deal fully 
with the sections relating to education. Some of 
the recommendations made in the Report are 
most useful in so far as they direct public atten- 
tion to the question of the better education of 
fishermen. We feel, however, that they do not 
suggest any useful advance upon what is already 
being done by certain local authorities under the 
stimulus of the Board of Education; and it is 
evident that the committee, in their desire to re- 
port speedily upon the other more important 
questions referred to them, did not fully acquaint 
themselves with the real conditions at the fishing 
ports so far as the instruction of fishermen is 
concerned. ‘ 

Two distinct questions are involved: (1) that 
of the better education of the deep-sea mén, and 
(2) that of the education of the inshore men. 

(1) The Deep-sea Fishermen.—Until a few 
years ago it seemed as if the craft of the fisher- 
man were almost the only one for which tech- 
nical instruction was unnecessary. For cen- 
turies the methods of trawling, drifting, and 
lining have been carried on with essentially no 
modification. But with the development of the 
modern deep-sea fishing vessel, and the enormous 
industrial change which has followed this, there 
arose the necessity for a real knowledge of work- 
ing methods of navigation. Even for such vessels 
working in the shallow seas a sound acquaintance 
with the rule of the road was necessary ; and when 
steam-trawling became extended to Icelandic 
waters, the Barentz Sea, and the coast of 
Morocco, it became evident that tnere was little 
in the way of a knowledge of navigation, as it is 
practised ‘aboard a transatlantic liner, that was 
not also required by the master of a steam-fishing 
vessel. Repeated and lamentable losses of life 
and property, experienced even during the last 
few months, have driven home this truth in the 


minds both of owners of fishing vessels and of 


6i6 


NATO Toe 


Board of Trade officials, so that the standard ot 
proficiency expected from candidates for fishing 
certificates is now rapidly. approximating towards 
that expected from foreign-going merchant ser- 
vice officers. This is as it should be, and under 
the stimulus of the increasing stringency of the 
Board of Trade examinations, and the active over- 
sight of the Board of Education, fishery naviga- 
tion schools are successfully being worked at 
Fleetwood and Piel, Grimsby, Hull, and other 
places. So much for the purely professional train- 
ing of the fishermen, but with that desire to be 

“practical ” which so appeals to the local adminis- 
trators of public money, such handicrafts as sea- 
manship, net-making and mending, engineering, 
knot-making, splicing, and cookery are also 
taught, with, we fear, indifferent success. 

Nowhere in England, except at the Lancashire 
Sea-Fisheries Committee’s Laboratory at Piel, 
Barrow-in-Furness, has marine biology and 
oceanography been taught. Usually instruction 
in those subjects has taken the form of public 
lectures given at the fishing ports, and no one who 
has had personal experience of this method of 
education can claim that it is even moderately 
successful. | Systematised instruction in marine 
biology, so far as it relates to marine economic 
animals, was instituted in Lancashire in 1900, and 
has been continued in a graduaily modified form 
ever since then. Personal laboratory work is 
done by the men, and the usual methods of in- 
struction by means of lectures and demonstrations 
are also carried on in a very thoroughly equipped 
marine biological station. Scholarships are 
awarded by the county education committee to 
men who indicate their fitness for the instruction, 
and each fisherman student spends a fortnight at 
Piel, working from five and a half to nine hours 
a day for a fortnight. At the present time the 
instruction includes marine biology, seamanship, 
oceanography, and navigation. It is intensive 
and systematised, and has been successful to an 
extent indicated by the ease with which the men 
selected have obtained Board of Trade certifi- 
cates; by the disappearance of the hostility with 
which the early attempts at fishery regulation 
were met; by the applications of scientific prin- 
ciples which have been made by the fishermen 
themselves in some localities; < and by the ready 
cooperation of the men in the work of fishery 
investigation—in obtaining statistical data, for 
example. . 

Apart from such systematised instruction, deep- 
sea men can only educate themselves by infre- 
quent, and mostly evening, attendance at the 
navigation schools, or at occasional fishery lec- 
tures. In itself this is an unsatisfactory method 
of instruction, and one which demands consider- 
able expenditure of money, and of the very limited 
leisure time enjoyed ashore by these fishermen. 
But an equally serious difficulty is the defective 
elementary education of the men. At the present 
time a boy cannot go to sea in a deep-sea vessel 
until he is sixteen years of age, or unless he is 
apprenticed—a system of employment which is 


NOMZ 2375, ViOlaoel 


[AUGUST 13, 1614 


disappearing in most ports. He leaves school at 
fourteen, and the two years’ interval is often spent 
in undesirable forms of shore employment, or in 
some form of inshore, or shore, fishing; and 
during this time what little primary education he 
did acquire mostly lapses. It is in these years, 
and during the first year or two of life at sea, that 
the education of fisher lads must be organised. 
It is not asking too much from the employers, 
during this period of a fisher-boy’s life, that they 
should be made to send him to school on full or 
modified pay for, say, two or three months in 
the year to receive continuous and systematised 
instruction. It is asking too much from the lad, 
or from his parents, that he should either obtain 
his education by attending evening school after a 
long day’s work, or by sacrificing a considerable 
fraction of his earnings. If the technical educa- 
tion of the fishermen is greatly to be improved 
this. sacrifice should be expected from the em- 
ployers of lads. 

(2) The Inshore Fishermen.—lIt will probably 
be found impossible in actual practice to set up 
different systems of technica] education for lads 
likely to become inshore or offshore fishermen. 
To begin with, it is clear that what a boy will 
become when he attains the age of sixteen de- 
pends on “chance,”’ on temperament, or on oppor- 
tunity. Some knowledge of the conditions on 
part of our coast convinces us that it is generally 
the lad who becomes ‘‘shiftless,” either from 
temperament or example, or he who is naturally 
impatient of discipline or routine, or he whose 
parents desire to make the most of him regard- 
less of his future, that swells the numbers of in- 
shore fishermen, mussellers, cocklers, shrimpers, 
etc. It is all work that a strong boy, brought up 
by the seaside, can do almost as well as a man; 
work at which he can earn much more than he 
could at a skilled trade or in deep-sea boats— 
generally where a superior technique is required. 
A lad of this class who is ambitious and has 
received a tolerably good primary education will 
go to sea, not as an inshore fisherman, but either 
as a deep-sea fisherman, or in the merchant ser- 
vice. So far, then, as a primary education for a 
seaboard population can be specialised it should 


become one which includes simple science— 
marine biology and oceanography—if these 


matters can be taught at primary schools without 
prejudice to a plain elementary education without 
imperfectly taught fads. 

The organisation of the continuation education 
—that which we suggest should be given, not in 
evening classes, but continuously as a fisher-lad’s 
daily work throughout some part of the year— 
presents the greatest difficulty. There is no diffi- 
culty with respect to what ought to be taught ’ 
the lad who is going to sea in deep-sea fishing 
vessels: what he must learn is still the “three 
R’s,” and such things as nautical astronomy, 
trigonometry, marine architecture, and mag- 
netism. But. are we really going to help our 
inshore fishing population by attempting to teach 
the boys “ropework, sail-mending, signalling, 


AUGUST 13, 1914] 


NATURE 


617 


carpentry, and metalwork,” “practical courses on 
marine motors and their installation, net-mending 
and the preservation and curing of fish,” and 
‘business methods’ all in continuation evening 
classes? Surely these are not school subjects, but 
handicrafts, and surely the attempt to teach them 
in schools is merely overloading a primary educa- 
tion already burdened by sufficient imperfectly 
taught ‘“‘subjects.” If these things are to be 
really useful they must be acquired by a boy in 
the daily practice of his occupation. 

If scientific instruction can be given in addition 
to the above, so much the better, say the inshore 
committee.. It is proposed that this instruction be 
given by “‘occasional lectures.” These would ex- 
plain “the most up-to-date methods as well as the 
cogency of the case for any newly imposed by- 
laws.” They would “obviate any resentment felt 
for ordinances” and “convince fishermen of their 
expediency.” Would they? The experience of 
the Lancashire local committee, which first in 
England attempted to regulate, by restrictions, a 
large inshore fishing population was that any 


attempt to argue for (or explain) by-laws by © 


means of public lecture was. fatal at once. . But 
simply to impart, by means of sound: laboratory 
instruction, the main things in the life-histories 
of marine economic animals—that is, by pure 
scientific instruction—has gradually effaced the 
intense hostility to legislative interference which 
those who began fishery regulation in England 
experienced. This end has to be attained in- 
directly. It is like the much-discussed question 
of sex-hygiene instruction. Why not. plainly 
teach human physiology? And must one still 
apologise in England when he wishes to impart a 
scientific education ? 

Certainly methods of preservation, curing, 
marketing, etc., ought to be described in lectures 
and informal conferences; certainly methods of 
fishing in use abroad or in other parts of the 
country should be demonstrated; certainly the 
choice and upkeep of motor installations should be 
the subject of informal meetings and conversa- 
tions, all these things being described to inshore 
fishermen by “practical’’ men or tradespeople. 
But this is rather organising the industry than 
educating the fishermen. Tee f- 


SECULAR CLIMATIC CHANGES IN 
AMERICA? 


NES the meteorologist nor the geologist 
commonly realises the extent and import- 
ance of the changes which have taken place dur- 
ing the “historic period.” The latter is apt to 
close his investigations with the Ice Age; the 
former too often concerns himself only with the 
period of instrumental observations. The inter- 
vening “post-Glacial”’ time is the field of rela- 
tively few workers, who are rapidly building up 
the new science of “ Palzeoclimatology.” 

Prof. Huntington’s elaborate memoir on the 


1 “The Climatic Factor as Illustrated in Arid America.” By Ellsworth 
Huntington, with contributions by Charles Schuchert, Andrew E. Douglass, 
and Charles J. Kullmer. Publication of the Carnegie Institution of Wash- 
ington, No. 192, Pp. v+341. (1914.) 


NO. 2337, VOL. 93] 


“Climatic Factor ” should do much to gain recog- 
nition for at least the later stages of this period. 
From the viewpoint of the “pulsation” theory 
of climates developed during similar investigations 
in arid Asia, the author studies the climates and 
their attendant effects during the last thirty-five 
centuries over an area extending from California 
to Guatemala. A study of the ruins of arid New 
Mexico shows that at three distinct periods prior 
to the coming of the Spaniards the country was 
able to support a far greater population than can 
exist at present; this could only have been pos- 
sible with a heavier rainfall, permitting the culti- 
vation of regions now too dry for agriculture. The 
strand lines and gypsum dunes of the Otero Soda 
Lake and the alluvial terraces of the rivers point 
to the same conclusicn (though the theory that 
even in rivers reaching the sea terraces and deltas 
are the result of changes of climate rather than of 
level will come as a shock to most English geolo- 
gists). 

In America there are no continuous historical 
records from which the ruins can be dated; this 
deficiency is supplied in an unexpected way by the 
measurement of the rings. of. growth of. the giant 
Sequoias of California, some of which are more | 
than three thousand years old. By means of an 
empirical formula, Prof. Douglass, in a chapter on 
a method of estimating rainfall by the growth of 
trees, has been able to reconstruct the rainfall, for 
the period over which records exist, with an accu- 
racy of 82 per cent. With the very .old trees, 
however, a number of corrections are necessary, | 
which render uncertain the slope of the curve - 
plotted from the measurements, although they do 
not impair the evidence of short-period fluctua- 
tions. The corrected curve shows cycles of 155 
years, of -21°0 .years,..and. of 114. years, and in 
addition three long wet periods, from 1000 B.c. to 
300 A.D., from goo to 1100 A.D., and from 1300 to 
1400 A.D., which Prof. Huntington considers must 
correspond to the three native civilisations of New 
Mexico. 

This curve is next compared with the curve 
previously published in ‘ Palestine and its Trans- 
formations,’ showing the fluctuations of climate 
in arid Asia. There is a pronounced agreement 
between the two curves, especially during the 
period from 300 to 1000 A.D. 

The Maya civilisations of Yucatan and Central 
America are next investigated—though, since these 
regions largely suffer from an excess of precipita- 
tion, they can scarcely be included in “arid” 
America—and the theory is developed that these 
extinct civilisations fell in dry, cool periods con- 
temporaneous with the moist periods of New 
Mexico, both changes being the result of a south- 
ward movement of the subtropical anticyclone. 
The coolness stimulated the Mayan races into ac- 
tivity, and the dryness enabled them to master the 
forest. The dates of the Maya chronology are 


| not yet satisfactorily worked out, but so far as 


they go they confirm this correlation. An attempt 
is made to connect the terrestrial changes with 
changes of the sun’s surface, but the results, 


| which are illustrated by curves, do not appear to 


618 


attain a high degree of definiteness. Discussions 
by C. J. Kullmer on the shift of the storm track, 
and by Charles Schuchert on climates of geologic 
time, complete the volume. 

The memoir is written in Prof. Huntington’s 
usual vigorous style, and is well illustrated with 
photographs, diagrams, and curves. In this con- 
nection it must be remarked that although the 
graphical method of comparison is very valuable, 
it would have been usefully supplemented in the 
case of the long series of comparable values by 
the calculation of correlation coefficients, which 
give a quantitative measure of the relationship. 
The vigorous American style, also, is apt to strike 
English ears harshly, as when on page 73 the 
author writes: ‘‘The present water supply .. . 
is almost negative, and the possibilities of agricul- 
ture still smaller.” These, however, are very 
minor details, and in no way detract from the 
value of the memoir as a detailed comparative 
study of several lines of evidence bearing on a 
subject hitherto somewhat neglected. 


NOTES. 


Tue London office of the British Association has 
learned from the officers of the Association in 
Australia that the overseas party has safely arrived, 
and that the meeting is proceeding in accordance 
with the original programme. 

Tue Meteorological Conference, which was to have 
taken place in Edinburgh in September, has had to 
be postponed. A further announcement respecting it 
will be made in due course. 

Tue International Seismological Congress, which 
was shortly to have been held at St. Petersburg, has 
been postponed. 

Ir was stated in our last issue (p. 590) that forms 
had been circulated by the British Association Com- 
mittee for Radiotelegraphic Investigation for the use 
of those who will observe the forthcoming solar eclipse 
and who were prepared to make notes of “strays ”’ 
and to record the measurement of the strength of 
signals, five high-power wireless telegraph stations in 
Europe having undertaken to make a series of special 
emissions during the eclipse. The outbreak of hos- 
tilities on the Continent will doubtless make it im- 
possible for the programme of proposed emissions to 
be carried out, and intending recorders of the ob- 
servations above referred to are therefore informed 
that the suggestions of the Committee cannot be 
carried into effect. 

THE many friends of Prof. W. A. Bone will be 
distressed to learn of the death, on August 8, at a 
Leeds nursing home, of Mrs. Bone, which followed 
upon an operation. Prof. and Mrs. Bone with their 
family were on holiday at Burnsall, Wharfedale, 
when the necessity for the surgical operation referred 
to arose. Mrs. Bone took a deep interest in the 
progress of science, and subordinated all other con- 
siderations to the furtherance of her husband’s scien- 
Prof. Bone will receive the respectful 
sympathy of his scientific friends, and past and pre- 
sent colleagues. 

NO. 2337, VOL. 93] 


tific work. 


NATURE 


| 
cipal of the Monmouthshire Training College, and 


| AUGUST” 13,° 1974 


Tue death is announced, in his eighty-third year, 
of Prof. F. Humphreys Storer, a_ distinguished 
American chemist. In 1853 he served as chemist to 
the U.S. North Pacific exploration expedition. After 
studying abroad, he spent several years in practising 
as a chemist at Boston. From 1865 to 1870 he was 
professor of general and industrial chemistry at the 
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and from, 
1870 to 1907 he held the chair of agricultural chem- 
istry at the Bussey Institution. He was the author 
of several text-books of chemistry, two of which were 
written in collaboration with Dr. C. W. Eliot, the 
ex-president of Harvard. 

WE regret to notice the death, on Saturday last, at 
the age of forty-eight, of Sir Edward Anwyl, prin- 


lately professor of Welsh and Comparative Philology 
at the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth. 


Ir is stated in the Geographical Journal that the 
Swedish Riksdag has voted to the Anglo-Swedish 
Antarctic Expedition the sum asked for, viz. 150o0l. a 
year for five years, on condition that a similar amount 
is raised in England. Prof. O. Nodenskjold will 
assume the leadership of the expedition for the first 
vear and a half. The other members of the staff 
have not yet been chosen. 


Ir is stated in the Morning Post that in future the 
distribution of the Nobel prizes will take place on 
The 


June 1 instead of in December, as hitherto. 
next distribution has been fixed for June 1, 1915. 


Tue Earl of Londesborough and Mr. E. O. Sachs, 
of the British Fire Prevention Committee, have circu- 
lated a letter appealing for the names and addresses 
of qualified men prepared to enrol themselves as an 
emergency fire service force to be placed at the service 
of the Government for use in our fortified and de- 
fended places, our arsenals and national stores, and 
in certain Government establishments requiring special 
protection. Retired Fire Brigade officers and firemen 
—both professional, volunteer and private—and a 
limited number of Fire Brigade officers and firemen 
of inland (country) brigades, both volunteer and 
private, not exceeding three from any one brigade, 
are needed. It is also proposed to form a_ supple- 
mentary roll of young engineers (used to steam 
engines or motor-cars) and young surveyors or archi- 
tects (used to building, survey, or dangerous structure 
works), who, although not having actual fire experi- 
ence, would be valuable in an emergency fire service 
force. Applications for enrolment should be addressed 
to Lord Londesborough and Mr. Sachs at the offices 
of the British Fire Prevention Committee, 8 Waterloo 
Place, London, S.W. 


THE current number of the Geographical Journal 
contains well-executed process plates of the memorial 
about to be erected to Captain Scott and the com- 
; panions who perished with him in the Antarctic, and 
that of Dr. E. A. Wilson, which was unveiled at Chel- 
tenham on July 8 by Sir Clements Markham. The 
design of the Scott memorial is the work of Mr. A. H. 


Hodge, and the gereral plan is as follows :—A granite 
pylon is surmounted by a bronze group representing 


AUGUST 13, 1914] 


NATURE 


619 


courage sustained by patriotism, spurning fear, 
despair, and death, the figure courage being crowned 
by immortality. The front of the pylon bears the 
names of the five men, and portrait medallions, in 
bronze, occupy prominent positions on the monument. 
On the back are represented a pair of snowshoes, a 
replica of the cross erected on Observation Hill, and 
a wreath. Beneath is given an extract from Capt. 
Scott’s last message. On the four sides of the base 
are bronze relief panels depicting the course of the 
expedition, under the headings ‘‘to strive,’ “to seek,” 
‘“*to find,’ ‘‘and not to yield.’’ The Wilson memorial 
was designed by Lady Scott. It is in bronze 7 feet 
high, on a base of Portland stone, and represents the 
explorer in Polar dress in a natural attitude. 


WE are asked to state that, in consequence of the 
war, the editorial duties in connection with the Gipsy 
Lore Society have been assumed, in collaboration, by 
the Rev. F. G. Ackerley, Grindleton Vicarage, near 
Clitheroe; Mr. E. O. Winstedt, Oxford; and Mr. A. 
Russell, Stromness. Members of the society are re- 
quested to address business communications to the 
first-named gentleman. 


Tue fifth report of the Royal Commission appointed 
to make an inventory of the ancient and _ historical 
monuments and constructions of Wales and Mon- 
mouthshire has just been issued. The inventories of 
Denbighshire are in the press, and will be issued in 
the course of the present year. The inspection of the 
monuments of Carmarthenshire has been completed, 
and the inventories are in preparation for the press. 
The volume on that county will be taken in hand 
immediately on the publication of that for Denbigh- 
shire. The inspection of the antiquities in the county 
of Merioneth is in progress, and will be concluded this 
year. Occasional reports are received of damage done 
to the monuments, as a rule to those of the prehistoric 
class, and, though the commission is powerless to 
exert active interference in such cases, endeavours 
are made to exert what influence is possessed by it in 
the best interests of the public. 


Tue July number of the Journal ef Anatomy and 
Physiology contains three interesting embryological 
studies based on the construction of wax models, N.C. 
Rutherford points out certain resemblances between 
the fore-limb of the human embryo and that of the 
toothed whale and certain reptiles, suggestive of the 
fact that the history of the race is here repeated in 
the development of the individual. J. E. Frazer has 
investigated the development in the human embryo of 
the region of the internal and middle ear, while J. K. 
Milne Dickie has described the anatomy of the head 
end of a human embryo. The remaining articles are 
purely anatomical studies. Miss J. Meiklejohn gives 
an interesting series of illustrations demonstrating the 
position and relations of the groups of nerve cells in 
the heart of the rat. H. Blakeway’s investigation on 
the anatomy of the palate is mainly of surgical interest, 
while that of D. E. Derry deals with a pathological 
perforation of the skull of an ancient Egyptian. 

AN interesting feature in Captain S. S. Flower’s 
report on the Giza Zoological Gardens for 1913 (in- 


NO. 32337, VOL. 93] 


cluded in the report on the Zoological Service for the 
same year, issued by the Ministry of Public Works, 
Egypt) is the reproduction of a photograph of a living 
Nubian ibex with the largest horns on record; the 
left horn measuring 514 and the right 502 inches, 
while the tip-to-tip interval is 35 inches.. The enclo- 
sure of the two large paddocks for giraffes, together 
with the erection of the necessary buildings, has been 
completed, and the series of twenty-eight paddocks for 
antelopes were all but finished at the close of the 
year. 


ALTHOUGH described by the late Prof. Cope so long 
ago as 1870, on the evidence of a fragmentary skull 
and teeth from the Puerco, or Lowest, Eocene of 
New Mexico, the genus Polymastodon, belonging to 
that group of early mammals known as the Mullti- 
tuberculata, has hitherto been very imperfectly known. 
A recent expedition dispatched by the American 
Museum to the Puerco beds of New Mexico was, how- 
ever, fortunate enough to discover a number of remains 
of the genus, among these being a skull which, 


although much 
crushed _ and 
broken, -was 


found to be 
capable of re- 
storation. This 
unique specimen 
is described and 
figured in vol. 
ROK (pp. Tt5— 
134) of the Bull. 
Aum er.) Miu 
Nat. Hist. by 
Dr Ro Brooms 
whose figure is 
here reproduced. 
In the general 
characters of its 
dentition and its 
relative short- 
ness and breadth, the skull, which measures about 6 
in. in length, distantly recalls that of a rodent; the 
dental formula being 


Skull of Polymaston tadensis. 


Fr, frontal; Jz, 


jugal; Mz, maxilla; Pa, parietal; Pz, 


premaxilla; Sg, squamosal. 


oe oe ptm.>. 
Among its many peculiarities are the cutting-off, by 
means of processes of the parietals and nasals, of the 
frontals from the orbits, and the apparent absence of 
lachrymals. As regards the affinities of the multi- 
tuberculates, Dr. Broom (in opposition to the opinion 
of Dr. Gidley, who, as recorded in NaTurRE in 1909, 
definitely included them in the marsupials) considers 
that these are with the monotremes (duck-billed 
platypus and echidna), a remarkable feature being 
that the Tertiary Polymastodon comes nearer to that 
group than does the South African Triassic Tritylodon. 
On the whole, it seems probable that mammals 
originated during the Trias from cynodont reptiles, 
and that from this original stock diverged at an 
early date a branch which gave rise to the multi- 
tuberculates, and later, after considerable specialisa- 
tion and degeneration, to monotremes. 


620 


An elaborate study of the auditory ossicles of 
American rodents has been made by Messrs. Cockerell, 
L. Miller, and M. Printz, in the hope that it might 
elucidate the taxonomy and origin of the order they 
represent. The work, which is published as article 28 
of vol. xxxiii. of the Bulletin of the U.S. National 
Museum, has not, however, led to any very decisive 
result with regard to either point, Dr. W. D. Matthew 
remarking in an appendix that the frequent occurrence 
of parallelism and convergence is likely to be a bar 
to the taxonomic value of these structures. In refer- 
ence to the suggestion that rodents are derived from 
the multituberculates, the same paleontologist, in a 
footnote, states that is an altogether untenable theory. 


Tue Daily Malta Chronicle of July 22 records the 
stranding at Birzebbugia on July 20 of a “‘sea- 
monster.”’ It measured 163 ft. in length, was black in 
colour, and armed with eighteen pairs of teeth. 
Although referred to as a ‘“‘cachelat,’”’ it was probably 
a blackfish (Globicephala melaena). 


Tue August number of the Selborne Magazine con- 
tains that portion of the annual report of the Selborne 
Society for 1913, which deals with the natural history 
of the year. In the section on the protection of 
animals, it is recorded that the hawfinch nested—so 
far as known for the first time—in the Brent Valley 
bird-sanctuary. 


Tue July number of the Museums Journal contains 
a photograph of the model of the skeleton of the early 
Tertiary Egyptian ungulate, Arsinoétherium zitteli, 
to which attention was directed in our columns a few 
weeks ago. The Children’s Museum at Olympia, 
which has been so admirably arranged, under condi- 
tions not altogether the most suitable, by Mr. W. 
Mark Webb, and the Wilton Park Museum, Batley, 
Yorks, form the subject of other articles in the same 
issue. The Wilton Park Museum does not restrict 
its scope to local subjects, one room being devoted to 
illustrations of life in Biblical lands. 


In an appendix to a reprint of an article in the May 
number of Zoologica, it is stated that three of the 
school of bottle-nosed dolphins, or porpoises, in the 
New York Aquarium (to which reference has been 
already made in Nature) died early in June from 
tubercular pneumonia, and that the rest were suffering 
from ulceration of the skin, due to the low degree of 
saltness in the water of their pond. 


In the February issue of Section D of the Philippine 
Journal of Science (vol. ix., No. 1) Mr. D. C. Wor- 
cester records the occurrence off the coast of Palawan 
of what is definitely asserted to be a flying crustacean. 
The creature was seen thrice by Mr. Worcester, and 
once by Mr. Schultze, and on this evidence, despite 
the fact that no capture was made, it is asserted that 
‘there remains no doubt of the existence in the Philip- 
pines of a marine crustacean, from 15 to 25 centimetres 
in length, which has the power of rising rapidly from 
the water and flying, after the fashion of a flying- 
fish, for several rods.”’ Articles by A. Seale on the 
preservation of food-fishes and other commercial 
fishery products in the tropics and on the fishes of 


NO..233 7) Ol. 7G) 


NATURE 


[AUGUST 13, 1914 


Hong Kong, and a third, by Mr. Artemus Day, on 
the osteology of the Philippine “‘ slime-head”’ (Ophio- 
cephalus striatus), a fresh-water fish, are included in 
the same issue. 


In the April number of the Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. 
(8), vol. xiii., 1914, pp. 380-9, Prof. Chas. Chilton 
records the presence of the well-known wood-boring 
‘ oribble ’’ (Limnoria lignorum) in Auckland Harbour, 
New Zealand. He believes that this isopod must been 
introduced into Antipodean waters many years ago in 
the timbers of some old wooden ship. In connection 
with this record, Prof. Chilton discusses the relation- 
ships of the six known species of Limnoria which are 
all closely related to each other, and describes in some 
detail L. segnis, a form indigenous in New Zealand 
seas, which does not bore into timber, but lives in 
seaweed. He regards the wood-boring habit as 
normal for the whole genus, and explains the wide 
distribution of the species as due to transport by float- 
ing logs. In a supplementary note he points out 
that Dr. W. M. Tattersall, in his’ account of some 
of the Crustacea of the Scotia expedition, records L. 
lignorum from the Falkland Islands. There is, how- 
ever, a characteristic L. antarctica—a seaweed-borer 
like L. segnis—which lives off South Georgia, the 
South Orkneys, and the South Shetlands. 
be that these far southern members of the genus 
show, rather than our European “‘ gribble,’”’ the primi- 
tive habit of the group. 


- Tue Clare Island Survey carried out by the Royal 
Irish Academy has published two further volumes : 
a full. report on Archiannelida and Polychaeta, by 
R. Southern; and a paper on Tree-Growth, by A. C. 
Forbes. The latter reaches the conclusion that the 
absence of such trees as the ash, alder, and wych elm 
from the whole of the western islands suggests that 
these islands possess only the oldest representatives 
of the Irish forest flora, and were separated from the 
mainland at an early period. Pine and birch were 
the principal species at first, but oak and_ hazel 
followed, and gradually dominated the pine. The 
present treeless condition of the island is largely due 


to human agency, but there is reason to believe that ° 
| the summers are cooler than when the oak was largely 


represented. 


Miss Lititian S. Grpps has contributed to the 
Journal of the Linnean Society (Bot., vol. xlii.) an 
extensive and valuable description of the flora and the 
plant associations of Mount Kinabulu and the high- 
lands of British North Borneo. Although the coastal 
flora of the country had been well explored previously, 
the author has been able to add to the already known 
flora of Mount Kinabulu itself 129 new records; in all 
she collected about a thousand species, of which eighty- 
seven have proved new to science, including four new 
genera, while 337 species (comprising three new 
genera and thirty-eight new species) are referable to 
the mountain itself. The systematic account, which 
contains valuable notes on many of the species, is 
preceded by a detailed general description of the 
ecology and plant-geography of the area which the 
author has so strongly explored. 


It may : 


te ee ee 


AUGUST 13, 1914] 


Dr. N. O. Horst supports Jamieson’s theory of 
the subsidence of large areas under the weight of 
the ice-sheets of the Glacial epoch (‘‘ Le commence- 
ment et la fin de la période Glaciaire,’’? L’Anthro- 
pologie, vol. xxiv., p. 353), and urges that glacial 
conditions are primarily due to elevation of the land. 
Such elevation defeats itself, as it were, since the 
spread of the ice soon causes a depression. The up- 
ward swing, after melting has occurred, may promote 
a further, but less important, glaciation, and when, 
on depression, this second series of ice-sheets melts, 
the Glacial epoch comes to an end. It must be re- 
marked that the real difficulty of the isostatic theory 
of movements during an ice-age lies in the impossi- 
bility of saying how far these were complicated by 
crust-displacements of a more normal order. 


Dr. J. v. Hann, in an article in the Oesterreich- 
isches Béderbuch on climatic factors from the balneo- 
logical point of view, points out that existing statistics 
for health resorts only partially meet the requirements 
of medical men as regards information wanted for 
invalids. The subject is discussed under each element 
at considerable length, and the author’s great authority 
in climatological matters lends additional weight to his 
views. We can only very briefly refer to a few of the 
points. Air temperature: the hours usually adopted 
require to be supplemented in some cases, and the 
mean dates given of the occurrence of certain tempera- 
tures in spring and autumn. The desirability of pub- 
lishing ‘‘variability’’ of temperature (the difference 
of the mean from one day to the next), and possibly 
for different parts of the day is urged. Wind: refer- 
ences are made to experiments on the cooling effect 
of different wind forces, and to a useful instrument 
(homéotherm) lately devised for the purpose of deter- 
mining the loss of heat due to wind. Humidity: Dr. 
v. Hann thinks that ‘‘ relative humidity ’’ is most suit- 
able from a biological point of view; the readings of 
the wet-bulb thermometer (in conjunction with those 
of the dry-bulb) are also important. Sunshine: Mean 
duration is best shown by the ratio to the possible 
amount. Of other methods, that giving the mean 


daily duration is more convenient than that showing. 


the total number of hours. Fog: the mean data as 
mostly published are misleading; the time of its occur- 
rence is wanted. The second part of the article con- 
tains a general sketch on the climatic districts of 
Austria. 


A RECENT publication of the Meteorological Office, 
“Hourly Values frorh Autographic Records, Geo- 
physical Section, 1912,’’ includes data meteorological, 
magnetic, and electrical. The meteorological data con- 
sist mainly of normal hourly values for each month of 
the year of barometric pressure, temperature, relative 
humidity, wind velocity, rainfall, and duration of 
bright sunshine at Aberdeen, Falmouth, Kew, and 
Valencia, and the differences from these normals 
observed in 1912. For Eskdalemuir, a recent station, 
the information is confined to 1912. At the end of the 
volume there are some notes by Mr. E. Gold on the 
principal meteorological phenomena, and some tables 
explanatory of the units (millibars, absolute tempera- 
tures, etc.) employed. The magnetic part 


NO.29337,. VOL. 93] 


gives 


NATURE 


| 


| values of the magnetic elements. 


621 
hourly values of the north and west magnetic 
| components at Eskdalemuir. The vertical force 


magnetograph, it is explained, did not give trustworthy 
results. There are also tables of diurnal inequalities 


| from all days at Eskdalemuir, and from five ‘“ quiet” 


days a month at Kew and Falmouth. Other tables 
give inequality ranges, non-cyclic changes, Fourier 
coefficients for the diurnal variation and mean annual 
The electrical mate- 
rial bulks much less largely. It consists of mean 
monthly values and diurnal inequalities of potential 
gradient at Kew and Eskdalemuir. 
planatory remarks and comments by the super- 
intendents of Kew, Eskdalemuir, Falmouth, and 
Valencia Observatories, and a preface by the director 
of the Meteorological Office. 


There are ex- 


“THE Seaman’s Handbook of Meteorology,” re- 
cently issued by the Meteorological Committee as a 
companion to the ‘‘ Barometer Manual for the Use of 
Seamen,”’ is, in fact, a general meteorological treatise 
covering to some extent the same ground as_ the 
‘‘ Observers’ Handbook” (which is published annually 
for the use of observers at land stations), with the 
addition of special chapters on ‘*Seamen’s Weather,” 
relating especially to wind, fog, and floating ice. It 
is intended to replace the ‘Fishery Barometer 
Manual” which has been issued for many years for 
use in connection with barometers lent to fishery 
stations and small seaports. The work has been car- 
ried out in a very satisfactory manner by Commander 
Campbell Hepworth, marine superintendent of the 
office. Full explanations, based on investigations of 
scientific men generally, and on Meteorological Office 
publications, are given, with frequent extracts, of the 
processes at work in the production of meteorological 
conditions. These are illustrated by excellent pictures 
of clouds, and by typical synoptic charts of high and 
low barometric pressure, some of which are supple- 
mented since the time of original issue by data from 
wireless telegrams, so that the area westward has been 
much extended. The #apter on icebergs and other 
forms of drifting ice, not usually found in ordinary 
text-books, will be much appreciated by meteorologists 
generally. The handbook is accompanied by an in- 
structive prefatory chapter by Dr. W. N. Shaw, on 
the old and modern aspects of maritime meteorology. 


THE Proceedings of the British Academy, vol. vi., 
contains an interesting article by Prof. Silvanus P. 
Thompson, on the ‘‘rose”’ of the winds and the origin 
and development of the compass card, which was read 
in April, 1913, at the International Historical Con- 
It deals with the origin of the names of the 
winds, the letters denoting which appear on many of 
the older compass cards, also with the origin of the 
arrangement of the ‘‘rose”’ of 32 points, and with the 
distinctive marks on compass cards. A curious fact 
related by Prof. Thompson is that the fleur-de-lis, now 
in general use to denote the north, did not appear on 
compass cards prior to 1500. He thinks there is some- 
thing to be said for the view recently advanced by 
Herr Schiick that the device was originally intended 
to represent the primitive form of floating compass in 
which a lance-shaped needle was supported between 


SEES: 


622 


two wooden floats. After a general review of the 
development of the compass card, Prof. Thompson 
gives a classification of the principal forms which 
appeared prior to 1600. Beautifully coloured illustra- 
tions appear in five of the six plates at the end of the 
paper. From an artistic point of view it is to be 
regretted that, as has been the case with ordinary 
male attire, colour has now disappeared from compass 
cards. At first almost universal, it seems to have 
died out before the end of the seventeenth century. 


In the Quarterly Review for July, Mr. George 
Forbes, in a review of Sir David Gill’s~ “‘ His- 
tory and Description of the Royal Observatory, 
Cape of Good Hope,” gives a sympathetical account 
of the life and labours of ‘‘this great man, who will 
live in the hearts of all who knew him, not only as 
among the greatest of astronomers, but also as one 
of the noblest and most lovable of men.’’ Special 
attention is naturally given to his work at Capetown 
between 1879 and 1907. The comments on his career 
by the most eminent astronomers of the day, included 
in this article, show the great scientific value of his 
work, and the impression left on his contemporaries 
by his unselfish devotion to science and by the nobility 
of his character. 

Buttetin No. 11 of the Indian Association for the 
Cultivation of Science consists of three papers by Mr. 
Cc. V. Raman on the dynamics of vibration, which 
are well illustrated, and cover fifty-two pages. The 
first deals theoretically and experimentally with the 
vibrations of a silk thread attached at its two ends to 
the prongs of two tuning-forks of different periods 
the directions of motion of which are parallel to the 
string. If M and N are the frequencies of the forks, 
it is shown that the string will be set into vigorous 
transverse oscillation if the tension of the string is so 
adjusted that the natural period is nearly 3(Mm+Nn), 
where m and n are integers. The second deals in 
the same complete manner with the possible fre- 
quencies of oscillation or speeds of synchronous rota- 
tion of a soft iron wheel with thirty teeth mounted 
between the two poles of a small electromagnet fed 
by an alternating current of frequency 24 or 60 per 
second. The third describes new methods of studying 
the relation between the motion of the bow and that 
of the bowed point of the string it sets in motion, 
and of recording the motion of each point of the 
string. It appears from the author’s observations 
that in all cases in which the displacement time curve 
of the bowed point is saw-toothed, the velocity of 
forward motion of the bowed point is identical with 
that of the bow. 

Tue Government have taken over two battleships, 
one completed and the other shortly due for comple- 
tion, which had been ordered in this country by the 
Turkish Government, also two destroyer leaders 
ordered by the Government of Chili. Reference is 
made to the battleship Sultan Osman I., now H.M.S. 
Agincourt, in the paper read at the joint meeting of 
Naval Architects at Newcastle by Mr. J. R. Perrett, 
chief of the shipbuilding department at Elswick, 
where the ship was built. The vessel is 632 ft. long, 
with a beam of 89 ft. and a displacement of 27,500 

NO. 2337. VOLe ga 


NATURE 


em, 


| October. 


[AUGUST 13, 1914 


tons. She carries fourteen 12-in. guns, twenty 6-in. 
guns, and a number of small guns. Her main 
armour belt is 9 in., and the upper belt 6 in. She 
has various armoured decks and extensive magazine 
protection. She is designed for a speed of 22 knots. 


Messrs. LONGMANS AND Co. have in preparation 
“The Year Book of Radiology for 1915.’’ It is to be 
edited by Dr. R. Knox and J. H. Gardiner, and its 
object is to give an account of the more recent 
advances in our knowledge of radium, X-rays, and 
the allied phenomena, both from the medical and 
physical point of view. The volume will comprise a 
series of authoritative articles by specialists working 
in radiology, and a directory of qualified medical men 
practising in radiography, X-rays, radium and 
electro-therapeutics, both at home and abroad, also a 
list of hospitals and institutions where such treatment 
is carried out. 


OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 


Comer 1913f (DELAVAN).—The following ephemeris 
and chart give the positions of Delavan’s comet for 
the remainder of the present month and September. 
This ephemeris is given by Dr. Crommelin in the 
July and August numbers of Knowledge :— 


Greenwich, Midnight. 


R.A. Dec 

likes Pits AS 3 j 

Aug. 15 6 54 2 +43 44 

28 Tea tehy 4 46 22 

i 31 8 15 43 48 35 

Sept. 8 9 8 35 49 56 

16 10 8 6 49 51 

24 TT -9u33 +47 56 
During the present month the comet is_ travel- 
ling in the constellation of the Lynx, passing 


then into The best time for observation 


Ursa Major. 
is the early hours of the morning, and Dr. Crommelin 
thinks ‘‘that the prospects are hopeful for this comet 


being an interesting spectacle in September and 
There is already no doubt that it will be 


visible to the naked eye.”’ 


THE Perrserps.—The progress of this shower up to 
and including August 10 was watched by Mr. 
Denning at Bristol, and he reports it as fairly active, 
though on August 10 the number seen was decidedly 
scanty. ’ 

The shower first gave intimation of its oncoming 
on July 14, and there has been a gradual increase 
since that date. On August 10 the radiant point was 
very exactly defined at 43°+56°. On nights when 
the position could be determined from a_ sufficient 
number of meteors it showed the usual displace- 
ment. 


alae ae 


ne ee 


AUGUST 13, 1914] 


On July 27, at toh. 584m., a fine meteor, brighter 
than first magnitude, was doubly observed by Miss 
Cook at Stowmarket and by Mr. Denning at Bristol. 
Its heights were from 85 to 56 miles from over 
Hailsham to Selsey Bill on the south coast. Its path 
extended over 49 miles at very swift speed. 

On August 7, at toh. 37m., a brilliant Perseid, 
giving a vivid flash and leaving a strealx for ten 
seconds, was seen at Bristol. It shot from 2863°— 
23° to 280°—134°, but no further observations of this 
fine object have yet been received. On the same 
night, at 1oh. tom. to roh. 15m., a ‘“‘mock moon,” 
or Paraselene, was observed at the same altitude as 
the moon, and about 23° east of our satellite. 

This year, moonlight has interfered with the 
character of the Perseid display in its earlier stages, 
but her lustre will not: materially obscure the meteors 
at the period of their expected greatest frequency, on 
August 11 and 12, when a considerable number of 
observers will have been engaged in watching them if 
the weather was suitable. 


A New SATELLITE TO JuPITER?—In the Times of 
August 8, it is stated that ‘‘a telegram has been 
received announcing the discovery of a tiny object 
near Jupiter, which appears to be a new satellite of 
the planet. The discovery was made photographically 
by Mr. Nicholson at the Lick Observatory, Mount 
Hamilton, California. He reports that the new body 
is still fainter than the eighth satellite, which is of 
the seventieth magnitude, and only about forty miles 
in diameter, so that it can only be observed with very 
large instruments.’’ It is further stated that on 
July 21 the new body was 6m. 41s. west of Jupiter, 
and on July 24, 6m. 36s. W. 


STELLAR RaDIAL-VELOCITY OBSERVATIONS.—In 1908 
Prof. Kistner published the results of the radial 
velocities of ninety-nine stars of the spectral types 
F to M, which he determined during the period 1903 
to 1908 with the three-prism spectrograph of the 
30 cm. Bonn refractor. The faintest star then photo- 
graphed in two hours was of the magnitude 5:2. In 
Astronomische Nachrichten, No. 4750, he publishes 
the radial velocities of 227 stars of the spectral type 
F to M which he has determined during the period 
1908 to 1913, with the same refractor. In this case a 
new spectrograph was employed in order to continue 
the work to fainter stars. At the conclusion of the 
individual observations he compares his values, where 
possible, with those obtained by Prof. Campbell at 
the Lick Observatory: the values for 151 stars are 
available, and he determines the mean differences of 
the observed radial velocities, Lick minus Bonn, for 
each spectral class. These differences he regards as 
errors of the Bonn observations, taking into account 
the better observing conditions and more efficient in- 
struments available at the Lick Observatory. Mr. 
J. H. Moore publishes in the Lick Observatory 
Bulletin, No. 257, the observations of seventeen stars 
the radial velocities of which vary, and also those of 
two stars which have large and apparent constant 
radial velocities. These stars are AGC7195 and 
w Pavonis of magnitudes 5:2 and 5-1 respectively. 
They belong to the spectral classes G and K, and the 
velocities derived were +184:8 and +184-4 kilometres 
a second respectively. 


THE Sorar Eciipse.—The Times announces that a 
telegram has been received from Major E. H. Hills, 
president of the Royal Astronomical Society, stating 
that he and Prof. A. Fowler, who had intended going 
to Kieff for the purpose of observing the solar eclipse, 
have abandoned their project, and are on their way 
to St. Petersburg. 


N@W2337, VOL. 93) 


NATURE 


623 


SOUTH AFRICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE 
ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. 
HE twelfth annual session of the South African 
Association for the Advancement of Science was 
held in Kimberley, Cape Province, during the week 
commencing Monday, July 6, under the presidency of 
Prof. R. Marloth. There was the usual round of fes- 
tivities and of visits to places of scientific or historic 
interest. The association meets in four sections, but 
in view of the increasing interest of matters pertain- 
ing to South African native races, Section D resolved 
to establish a subsection for African ethnology, educa- 
tion, history, language, and native affairs before next 
year’s meeting in Pretoria is held. 

The papers read numbered between forty and fifty, 
and brief outlines of the four sectional presidential 
addresses and some of the papers contributed by 
members are given below. 

Dr. A. Ogg, professor of physics at Rhodes Univer- 
sity College, Grahamstown, in his presidential address 
to Section A, dealt with some of the ideas in physical 
science which are under discussion at the present 
time in the light of recent research, and sought to 
bring under review some of our fundamental notions 
or principles, having regard to the fact that what 
mathematicians and physicists have long considered 
well established is now being uprooted and replaced by 
non-Newtonian mechanics based on the principle of 
relativity. Shape and mass, in fact, are looked upon 
as functions of velocity. Scientific thought, Prof. Ogg 
described as so plastic nowadays that the most 
cherished tenets of the last generation of men of 
science are being abandoned, and the greatest danger 
is that the meaning of the involved consequences is 
not always realised. As to the true physical meaning 
of the new ideas propounded there is much speculation, 
and many hold such speculations to be beyond the 
true scope of science. Quoting Schuster, in conclu- 
sion, Prof. Ogg said that all preferred being right to 
being wrong, but it is better to be wrong than to be 
neither right nor wrong. 

In Section B the presidential address was given by 
Prof. G. H. Stanley, of the Transvaal School of Mines 
and Technology, whose subject was ‘“‘A Decade of 
Metallurgical Progress on the Witwatersrand.”” The 
greatest advances during the last ten years, he said, 
were in improving methods of carrying out the various 
stages of the extraction processes, the essentials re- 
maining unchanged. Sorting tables, for example, had 
been replaced by travelling belts, which were also 
elevators. Amalgamation is now carried out by flow- 
ing the tube-mill product over stationary plates, shak- 
ing plates having been discarded. Slime is now being 
treated more cheaply than sand; classification had 
greatly improved, and this, together with finer grind- 
ing, ensured that the sand residue after cyaniding 
contained only 0-2 of a dwt. of gold per ton. For slime 
treatment filtering methods were now sometimes 
employed, giving higher gold extraction and increased 
profits. Working costs had been brought as low as 
3s. per ton. : 

In Section C, comprising the biological sciences and 
agriculture, the presidential address of Prof. George 
Potts, of Grey University College, Bloemfontein, dealt 
with rural education. South Africa, except the Rand 
and some coast towns, Dr. Potts pointed out, is essen- 
tially rural, and inland towns depended on the sur- 
rounding pastoral population. Ali grades of education 
should therefore be made adaptable to a rural people. 
The following reforms were advised :—(1) More repre- 
sentation for agriculture and the natural sciences on 
the University Council; (2) encouragement of the study 
of natural science in university colleges; (3) appoint- 
ment of additional school inspectors specially qualified 


to deal with nature-study and science teaching; (4) 
more teaching of nature-study, school gardening, 
botany, and zoology at the training colleges; (5) a 
more liberal matriculation, allowing of two natural 
sciences alternatively to Latin and mathematics; (6) 
more biology in secondary schools; and (7) systematic 
and correlated nature-study and school gardening in 
the primary schools. 

Prof. W. Ritchie, of the South African College, and 
Vice-Chancellor of the University of the Cape of Good 
Hope, presided over Section D, and in his inaugural 
address discussed *‘Some Aspects of Language Study.” 
Comparing the science of language with the other 
branches of natural science, he showed the disadvan- 
tage of the former in that it lacks actual objects 
capable of being handled and experimented with. The 
spoken word perishes, and cannot be retained as a 
labelled specimen for investigation at leisure, so that 
the student of a thousand years hence, with no data 
regarding the English language save its written sym- 
bols, would be unable to reconstruct from these the 
exact vocal sounds which they represent for us. For- 
tunately specimens of vocal sounds may now be stored 
away for reference by means of the gramophone, and 
even the records now being produced for mere amuse- 
ment may thus aid the objects of science. Some 
European countries already possess large collections of 
records showing distinctive features of various dialects, 
and it may be feasible with every census of population 
thus to provide for a census of language. In South 
Africa there is an amazingly wide field open for in- 
vestigation; in English, with its varieties of local 
intonation; in Dutch with its three recognised forms; 
and in the numerous native languages, in regard to 
which an endless amount of work yet remains undone. 
The institution of a chair of phonetics was therefore 
suggested, and next in importance would be chairs for 
the systematic study of the country’s aboriginal 
languages. Then chairs of ethnology should be added, 
and all this calls for speedy attention, as witness the 
opportunities passing, never to be recalled, with the 
fast disappearing Hottentots and their curious and 
interesting language and ethnological connections. 

Of the papers read at the sectional meetings, in 
Section A a great deal of interest attached to a serves 
of spectrographic investigations of the N’Kandhla 
meteorite and other meteoric irons by Dr. J. Lunt, of 
the Royal Observatory, near Cape Town. — Several 
measurements of wave-lengths demonstrated that the 
lines observed were yielded by cobalt, nickel, 
chromium, iron, and barium. No evidence was found 
of the presence of magnesium, platinum, or copper. 
Mr. E. Jacot contributed the results of experiments 
made at the South African College with respect to 
atmospheric radio-activity. The activity of a wire 
charged with a high negative potential was least after 
rain and highest after S.E. winds. Per ) unit 
volume of air there was 28,000 times as much of the 
emanation of radium as of thorium. 

In Section B Dr. W. Johnson contributed a paper 
embodying further experiments made by him in regard 
to the origin and formation of the diamond, which, he 
is convinced, could not possibly have taken place in a 
rock in molten condition. ‘‘ The lost land of Agulhas ”’ 
was the subject of a paper by Prof. E. H. L. Schwarz, 
whose theory is thay the flagstones and clay slates of 
the Cape Peninsula were formed by denudation from 
a now submerged land to the south of the present 
continent. Four papers on geological subjects were 
submitted by Dr. W. Versfeld, the most important of 
which was one which recently gained him his doctorate 
from the Cape University—‘‘ The Geological Structure 
of Parts of German South-West Africa.” Dr. C. F. 


Juritz read a paper on the investigation of plant 
poisons in South Africa, detailing the results of 
NO!) 2337.0 VOL. 103) 


NALDGRE~ 


[AUGUST 13, 1914 


numerous analyses, many of which indicate active 
principles new to science. The great importance of 
systematically investigating this subject was urged. 
Another instructive paper, by Mr. C. Williams, dealt 
with the chemical control of cattle-dipping tanks. 

The Rey. J. A. Winter contributed to Section C a sug- 
gestive paper on native medicines, and urged that the 
Agricultural Department should devote its attention 
to the indigenous plant remedies employed by * Kaffir 
doctors.””. Dr. Perold and Mr. Crawford contributed 
a comprehensive series of analyses of vineyard soils 
from the Montagu and Robertson districts. Mr. F. W. 
FitzSimons detailed the results of experiments with 
banana stem juice and other alleged  snake-bite 
remedies, all of which failed to produce the curative 
effects ascribed to them. 

Several papers in Section D were devoted to native 
manners and customs. The Rev. W. A. Norton dealt 
with the study of the South African native languages, 
and in the course of his address he pleaded earnestly 
for a scientific study of comparative Bantu. Miss 
Wilman exhibited a magnificent collection of actual- 
size reproductions of Bushman paintings and_ rock 
engravings. The Rev. J. R. L. Kingon, of the U.F.C. 
Mission, Somerville, contributed a paper on_ the 
emergence and progress of the Transkeian natives, 
ascribing to the passing of communal land tenure, 
inter alia, the vast change that was taking place. He 
emphasised the desirability of instituting individual 
tenure, so that economic pressure, supplemented by the 
establishment of a native university, might complete 
the improvement in the status of the natives who were 
being rapidly Christianised. The Rev. Noel Roberts 
submitted a paper on the practice of the To-Kolo 
system of divination amongst the natives of the 
northern Transvaal, and a contribution by Mr. H. W. 
Garbutt on the resemblance between the utensils of 
the ancient Egyptians and those found in Northern 
Rhodesia was likewise of great interest. Mr. Garbutt 
also contributed some notes on the natives of Rhodesia. 
‘‘The mental and moral capacity of our natives’ was 
exhaustively dealt with by the Rev. J. A. Winter, who 
has resided for fifty years amongst the natives of 
eastern Transvaal. 

Other papers of interest read in Section D included 
suggestions for the constitution of an Upper House of 
Parliament, by Dr. A. H. Watkins, the main sugges- 
tion being that admission to the franchise be restricted 
to persons of advanced years. A valuable paper on 
South African place-names was read by the Rev. 
Charles Pettman, and one equally valuable, although 
in a totally different sphere, was given by Dr. T. B. 
Muller on some defects common to epistemological 
idealism and realism. 

An evening discourse was delivered in the Kimber- 
ley City Hall on Friday, July 10, by Prof. E. Hs EL: 
Schwarz, on the Kimberley diamond pipes, the history 
of their discovery, and their relation to other South 
African volcanic vents. This lecture, like Prof. Mar- 
loth’s address as president of the Association on Wed- 
nesday, July 8, was illustrated by many lantern slides. 
The numerous slides exhibited by Prof. Marloth were 
all exquisitely hand-coloured, and constituted without 
doubt the most excellent collection representative of 
South African indigenous flora ever exhibited. They 
were specially prepared by Dr. Marloth for this occa- 
sion. At the conclusion of the president’s address, Dr. 
Crawford, the association’s senior vice-president, 
handed to him the South Africa medal (instituted by 
the British Association in 1905 in commemoration of 
its visit to South Africa during that year) and grant 
of 501. which had been conferred upon him in recog- 
nition of his eminent services to botanical science in 


| South Africa during the last thirty years. 


Cpa 


AuGusT 13, 1914] 


625 


THE MUSEUMS ASSOCIATION. 
SWANSEA CONFERENCE, JULY, I914. 


HE Museums Association fittingly celebrated the 

completion of a quarter of a century’s existence 

by an incursion into a hitherto unvisited country— 

the Principality of Wales—Swansea being chosen as 
the meeting place. 

The attendance was very large, and the papers and 
discussions reached a high standard of excellence. 
Particularly noteworthy were those dealing in a prac- 
tical way with the preservation and restoration of 
works of art—a subject which has never previously 
received so much attention at an annual conference. 

Representatives were sent by forty provincial 
museums and art galleries, five national museums 
(the British Museum, the British Museum of Natural 
History, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the National 
Museum of Wales, and the Museum of the Royal 
Botanic Gardens at Kew), and the London County 
Council. i 

The presidential chair was occupied by Mr. Charles 
Madeley, Director of the Warrington Municipal 
. Museum. 

In his presidential address Mr. Madeley invited the 
conference to consider ‘‘What is the true theory of 
a municipal museum?’ To the community which 
desires to establish or to re-organise a museum, this 
is a vital question, and the president dealt with it in 
a manner at once comprehensive and illuminating. 
Municipal’ museums are mercifully free from any kind 
of departmental regulations restricting their scope and 
activities, but this blessing has in the past been a 
somewhat mixed one, and one of the great functions 
of The Museums Association is to see that it is 
henceforth properly appreciated. 

The president suggested that a museum might be 
defined as ‘‘a collection of specimens arranged with 
a purpose,’ and objected to that purpose being de- 
fined as ‘‘educational,’’ by reason of the unattractive 
nature of the word and the unnecessary limitations 
imposed by it. This objection was the source of some 
misunderstanding on the part of those hearers who 
did not grasp the true significance of Mr. Madeley’s 
remarks, although he made it abundantly clear that a 
museum must, in his view, be educational. The con- 
tents of the ideal museum should, according to the 
president, constitute a miniature or synopsis of the 
universe—the true microcosm, in fact—but with the 
great and essential difference that, in the museum, 
things are classified, and therefore intelligible, whilst 
in the world outside they are not. He quoted with 
approval the statement of Dr. Brown Goode that a 
museum should be ‘‘an institution for the preservation 
of those objects which best illustrate the phenomena 
of nature and the works of man, and the utilisation 
of these for the increase of knowledge and for the 
culture and enlightenment of the people.” 

The text being thus provided, there arises the neces- 
sitv for a full and sound classification of the whole 
of the possible contents of such a museum. 

Classifications, which might be thought suitable 
by some, have been prepared for the use of librarians, 
but the president pointed out that these are too 
arbitrary. In a library, where classification exists 
merely to promote ease of reference, this does not 
matter, but an orderly and logical conspectus is abso- 
lutely necessary when one of the great properties of 
the institution is ‘‘visualisation,’? as in the case of 
museums. 

A filling-out of the broad scheme, drawn up by 
Brown Goode, is the kind of thing required. In 
it different points of view would be provided for, and 
the president called attention to one which has long 


NOwm237,..VOU. (92) 


NATURE 


suffered under an unjust stigma—namely, — the 
economic point of view. ‘‘We may hope,” said he, 
“that technology, and eventually even commerce, may 
meet with adequate recognition in the museum.” 

Mr. W. Grant Murray, Director of Art in Swansea, 
then gave an interesting account of the rise of the 
school of art and crafts and of the two local art 
galleries. 

Dr. H. Langton related some of his experiet:ces in 
the preparation of the skulls of birds by means of the 
sand-process. His remarks brought forth a champion 
of the old water-maceration method, in the person 
of Mr. A. W. Gunn, of Newport, and it seemed 
fairly obvious from the discussion that, as in most 
matters, there is no one universally applicable method. 

Mr. B. H. Mullen gave an account of the ‘‘ Chil- 
dren’s room”’ at the Salford Museum, which has been 
established with the intention of providing a series 
of introductions to the various major collections, and 
to bring young people into intelligent and sympathetic 
touch with them. 

The Bankfield Museum publications were the sub- 
ject of a note by the curator, Mr. H. Ling Roth. 

On the evening of Tuesday, July 7, Mr. E. Rim- 
bault Dibdin, curator of the Walker Art Gallery, 
Liverpool, delivered a public lecture on ‘* Wales and 
the Fine Arts, Past, Present, and Future.”’ 

Mr. E. Howarth opened a discussion on the sub- 
ject of ‘The Museum and the Schools,’’ in which he 
emphasised the great desirability of these rapidly 
developing institutions keeping in close touch. There 
should be greater collaboration between the curator 
and the teacher in order that the curator’s work may 
be of a nature to deserve and receive a full measure 
of use and appreciation by members of the scholastic 
profession and their charges. Mr. Howarth alluded 
to the importance of the kinematograph as a_ force 
in school teaching, and, as it is scarcely possible to 
have a kinematograph in every school, he suggested 
that every municipal museum might usefully instal 
an instrument to exhibit films germane to the work 


| of the institution. 


A demonstration of the characteristics—colour, 
translucency, etc.—of the various types of porcelain 
formerly *made in Swansea and neighbourhood was 
given by Mr. Herbert Eccles. 
~ Mr. Quick, under the title ‘‘The Protection and 
Restoration of Pictures,’ gave a number of hints on 
the care and treatment of paintings, drawings, and 
engravings. 

Mr. Williams’s paper on ‘‘The Renovation and Re- 
storation of Oil-paintings, with Practical Experi- 
ments,’’ was illustrated by some examples of ‘before 
and after’? treatment. 

Dr. H. S. Harrison, of the Horniman Museum, in 
a paper entitled ‘‘ Ethnographical Collections and their 
Arrangement,’’ advised the adoption of what has been 
described as the ‘‘topical’’ mode of arrangement, and 
showed by means of well-chosen lantern slides how 
the evolution of processes, utensils, instruments, etc., 
might be advantageously illustrated. 

Some points in the construction and fittings of the 
new King Edward VII. galleries at the British 
Museum were described by Mr. R. A. Smith. 

The final paper was one in which there was every 
evidence of a serious premeditated intention to fit a 
museum building for the purpose of adequately and 
comfortably displaying the objects to be housed in it. 
We refer to the design for the new museum and art 
gallery at Belfast, which was lucidly described by 
Mr. Arthur Deane. Here the curator and architect 
have evidently been in close collaboration, and have 
produced a design original in several features and 
full of promise. 


626 


The entertainment and hospitality meted out to the 
Association by the Mayor and Corporation of Swansea 
and the leading citizens were of a most lavish and 
thoroughly enjoyable character, and the local arrange- 
ments were carried out by Mr. W. Grant Murray 
with a smoothness and precision which have never 
been surpassed. 

The Association, at its business meeting, elected a 
distinguished worker on the art side—Mr. E. Rim- 
bault Dibdin—to be president for 1914-15. 


THE HARDENING OF STEEL: 


‘AS the May meeting of the Iron and _ Steel 
Institute two papers were read and discussed 
dealing with the theory of the hardening of steel; 
they gave rise to one of the most interesting dis- 
cussions of the meeting. While it is, of course, 
obvious that the more ‘practical’? members of the 
institute take no interest in these discussions, it must 
be borne in mind that the theories of to-day become 
the foundations of the practice of to-morrow, and that 
therefore the ‘“‘practical’? man cannot in the least 
afford to despise or ignore what he likes to dismiss 
as ‘‘mere theory.” , 

The two papers on hardening presented to the insti- 
tute both put forward fairly definite theories, and at 
first sight these differ entirely from one another and 
still more from the older purely *‘‘allotropic’’ theory 
of hardening. It was interesting to find, however, 
that during the discussion not a single advocate of the 
other older theory—that of the so-called **carbonists”’ 
—came forward. When the views put forward by 
Profs. Edwards and Carpenter and by Mr. McCance 
are carefully compared, however, it will be found that 
they do not really differ very vitally either from one 
another or from the older allotropic view. All three 
theories agree in supposing that when carbon steel 
is cooled rapidly an essentially unstable transition 
product is formed which is itself intrinsically hard. 
The allotropic theory called this intermediate hard 
product ‘‘beta iron,’’ and identified it with the beta 
iron which has a limited range of stable existence in 
pure iron and in low-carbon steels; Messrss Edwards 
and Carpenter and the writer now identify it with the 
“hard amorphous phase” of Beilby, while Mr. 
McCance invents a new word and calls it “‘inter- 
strained”’ iron. The real difference of opinion seems 
to centre on the question how this intermediate sub- 
stance comes into existence. 

Profs. Edwards and Carpenter approach the subject 
from the point of view of an analogy between the 
hardening by quenching of steel and of alloys of 
copper containing from to to 13 per cent. of 
aluminium. These latter are somewhat hardened by 
quenching, and there is a corresponding similarity, on 
broad lines, between the respective constitutional dia- 
grams; by quenching, both kinds of alloys are caused 
to pass rapidly through a transformation range. The 
resulting micro-structures also show a certain simi- 
larity, the aluminium-copper alloys exhibiting an 
acicular structure having some resemblance to the 
coarser kinds of martensite seen in hardened steels. 
The authors then endeavour to show that the struc- 
tures of both quenched aluminium-copper alloys and 
of quenched steel arise from an identical cause, viz., 
highly multiplied twinning, which they believe to 
occur during quenching as a result of the internal 
strains caused during rapid cooling. The evidence 
that the martensite of steel is really equivalent to 
highly twinned austenite is, however, very weak, and 
it has yet to be proved or even shown to be likely 
that quenching can produce multiple twinning. In 


NO. 232721 OLEOs) 


NATURE 


[AUGUST 13, 1914 


the discussion of this paper, the writer pointed out 
that to produce notable strain-hardening of a plastic 
metal by deformation needed the application of really 
large deformations, while, on the contrary, the 
amount of deformation (strain in contradistinction to 
internal stress) which could be caused in steel by 
quenching must be very small. It is further a very 
open question whether strain really ever produces 
direct twinning in a metal. Finally, it has yet to be 
shown that a twinned constituent is really materially 
harder than in the untwinned condition; the softness 
and ductility of such materials as rolled and annealed 
copper or brass, which are one mass of twinned 
crystals, points in the opposite direction. The idea 
put forward by Edwards and Carpenter _ that 
amorphous layers are formed. on the twin boundaries 
in the process of twinning was well refuted by Mr. 
Humfrey in the discussion, as he showed by means of 
models that twinning could and did occur without dis- 
arrangement of the space-lattice at the boundary. As 
a result of the whole discussion it appeared that the 
authors had attached altogether too much weight to 
the process of twinning, but that the formation of 
amorphous metal during the quenching process might 
well be looked upon as the real cause of hardening— 
a view which the late F. Osmond had put forward 
quite clearly a year or so before his death. 

Mr. McCance’s paper began a thoughtful considera- 
tion of the whole subject by a review of existing 
theories. Both in regard to the existence or other- 
wise of beta iron as an independent allotropic modi- 
fication, and in regard to the amorphous theory, how- 
ever, the author made the mistake of considering 
that the objections which he raised can settle the 
point and dispose of these theories in half a dozen 
words. The question as to the extent and nature 
of the differences between alpha and beta iron is still 
being closely discussed, and even if Weiss’s magneton 
theory finds ultimate acceptance, it is still a question 
whether the magnetic transformations do not really 
constitute one type of allotropy, nor is it yet certain 
that they may not be associated with far-reaching 
changes in other properties. Again, as regards the 
amorphous theory, Mr. McCance’s objections are 
based on a simple misunderstanding, coupled with an 
assumption, based on the magneton theory, which has 
yet to be justified. This assumption amounts to the 
view that only crystalline solids can be ferro-magnetic, 
and that consequently amorphous iron would neces- 
sarily be non-magnetic. 
this view, for colloidal suspensions of iron are strongly 
ferro-magnetic, and so are a number of oxides and 
salts of iron, some of the latter even in a state of 
solution. 

Of much greater value are Mi. McCance’s experi- 
mental studies of hardening in carbon steel, which 
lead him, finally, to put forward a theory of the 
hardening of steel by ‘‘interstrain,’ which is prac- 
tically a translation of Osmond’s view ascribing the 
hardness of quenched steel to the presence in it of “le 
fer alpha écroui.”” It is only Mr. McCance’s account 
of the nature of “‘interstrained”’ iron which it is diffi- 
cult to accept. Declining to accept the views of 
Beilby and of Rosenhain as to the hardening of 
strained metals by the formation of layers of the 
amorphous phase, the author uses the word ‘ inter- 
strain” to denote a condition in which the regular 
crystalline arrangement is broken up generally, leav- 
ing a mass of irregularly arranged crystal fragments. 
It may well be asked what it is fhat holds these irre- 
gular and ill-fitting fragments together, and why an 
aggregate of such fragments should be harder than 
the aggregate of the larger pieces of crystal which 
constitute the ordinary soft metal? But beyond this 


Facts are, however, against. 


t 


AUGUST 13, 1914 | 


there is the experimental evidence; both strain- 
hardened metal and quenched steel on etching exhibit 
the well-defined oriented lustre of a crystalline aggre- 
gate, thus clearly showing that the crystals are not 
disarranged into minute irregular fragments. It 
would seem, therefore, that Mr. McCance’s conclu- 
sions must be narrowed down to this, that the hard- 
ness of quenched steel is due to the same cause as 
the hardness of strain-hardened iron, and this—but 
for a difference as to mode of origin—is also the view 
of Edwards and Carpenter. In this narrowed con- 
clusion, however, there is a distinct step forward, since 
we have a definite ‘‘explanation "of the hardening 
of steel in the sense that this phenomenon is cor- 
related with the much larger class of phenomena 
which occur when any soft or ductile metal is hardened 
by plastic strain. If we accept the possible existence 
of the amorphous phase, it is easy to express both 
classes of facts in a single and simple formula, and 
this in itself constitutes another argument in support 
of the amorphous theory. Whatever view one may 
take of these admittedly hypothetical matters, it seems 
that a definite advance has at last been made in our 
knowledge of the hardening of metals. 
W. ROSENHAIN. 


SCHOOLS AND EMPLOYERS IN THE 
UNITED STATES:+ 


ISS WINEFRID JEVONS gives in the report 

before us an interesting account of the history and 

present position of the relations between the schools 
and industrial employment in the United States. 

The most important lesson to be learnt from the 
report is, perhaps, that in the United States employers 
and trade unions have realised, to a much greater 
extent than in this country, the necessity for part-time 
day classes for persons engaged in industry and com- 
merce. Not only does the American Confederation of 
Labour take this view, but the National Association of 
Manufacturers also favours it. Indeed, the latter body 
went so far in 19:2 as to recommend compulsory 
continuation classes, until the seventeenth or 
eighteenth year, one half-day a week, without loss of 
wages. 

In this country there are some firms (comparatively 
few in number) who have had the wisdom to see that 
it is not only in the interest of the people they 
employ but also in their own interest to liberate 
young persons a certain number of hours a week, in 
order that they may in the daytime receive proper 
part-time instruction directed to make them more 
efficient in their respective industries; but we are still 
far from so wide and generous a belief in the value 
of education as the resolutions of the National Asso- 
ciation of Manufacturers show to be prevalent in the 
United States. 

The existence of such a wholesome state of public 
opinion accounts for the large amount of voluntary 
and compulsory part-time instruction which is to be 
found throughout the States; many instances of this 
are given in the report. In Massachusetts, a law has 
been enacted which enables local authorities to open 
day continuation classes for the education of children 
between fourteen and sixteen who are in regular 
employment, and to compel attendance at these classes 
in the daytime for not fewer than four hours a week; 
the time spent in the school is counted as a part of 
the number of hours that the child is permitted by 
law to work. The State provides half of the cost of 
the maintenance of the classes. 

In the States of Ohio and Wisconsin, compulsory 


1 Board of Education. 


B Special Reports on Educational Subjects, vol. 
XXVI111. 


NO. 2337, VOL. 93] 


NATURE 


627 


day continuation classes are in existence; in the latter 
State, apprentices may not be employed for more than 
55 hours a week, and the employer must liberate the 
apprentice five of these 55 hours a week in order that 
he may attend a day continuation school. 

J. We 


SEISMOMETRY AND ENGINEERING.! 
N the memoir before us we have a gratifying proof 
that practical engineers realise the importance of 
the application of the principles of instrumental seis- 
mometry to building construction. The immediate 
object in the present investigation is the vibration set 
up in a large masonry bounding wall of a reservoir in 
Queistal, Schleswig. This wall stretches between 
rocks across a narrow valley, and the overflow of 
water, estimated at 100 cubic metres a second, falls 
about 4o metres. Thus an enormous amount of vibra- 
tional energy is set up. 

The destructive action of vibration on a structure 
is probably determined by the maximum acceleration 
experienced, and thus short-period vibrations are often 
more serious than long-period vibrations of larger 
amplitude. Prof. Grunma h first describes and dis- 
cusses an apparatus designed to give the maximum 
acceleration, and then goes on to describe the arrange- 
ments for investigating the period and amplitude. 
These are really seismographs for measuring the hori- 
zontal and vertical components of motion. They are 
based on precisely the principle of electromagnetic 
registration introduced by Prince Galitzin for earth- 
quake recording. The apparatus differs from Galit- 
zin’s in detail considerably, since the periods and 
amplitudes to be measured are very different from 
those experienced by the passage of earthquake waves. 
Continuous registration was made, and excellent dia- 
grams of the results are given. It appears that the 
periods ranged from about 0-03 sec. to 0-003 sec., 
and the amplitude from o-oo1 mm. to 0-00005 mm. 

The theoretical discussion of electromagnetic regis- 
tration given appears somewhat inadequate. The 
author adopts what may be called an equilibrium 
theory instead of a dynamical one. It is possible that 
this may be accurate enough in the case considered, 
but one would like a demonstration that this is so. 

The memoir will no doubt be appreciated by 
engineers and seismologists alike. G. W. W. 


RECENT BOTANICAL WORK IN 
DENMARK. 

yANes the general meeting of the Danish Botanical 

Society in 1g12 it was decided to publish in the 
future two distinct journals. One of these is the 
Botanisk Tidsskrift, the society’s old periodical, which 
has reached its thirty-third volume, and contains 
chiefly papers on the Danish flora, besides articles 
on subjects of more general botanical interest. This 
will continue on its former lines, being written mostly 
in Danish, though occasionally—much too rarely, it 
may be said, for non-Danish readers—with abstracts 
in English, French, or German. The second journal 
is a new venture, the Dansk Botanisk Arkiv, pub- 
lished at indefinite periods, and containing mono- 
graphs and other special articles in either of the four 
languages mentioned. Both journals are sent post 
free to members of the society, membership being open 
to all on payment of to Kronen (11Is.) a year; the 
subscription for the Botanisk Tidsskrift alone is 
6 kronen, and the numbers of the Arkiv may be pur- 


1 ‘* Experimentaluntersuchung zur Messung von Erderschiitterungen. 
By Prof. L. Grunmach. Pp. 102. (Ber.in: Leonhard Simion Nf., 1913. 


628 


NATURE 


[AUGUST 13,4914 


chased separately. We have received from the society 
copies of the 1913 numbers of the new journal, and 
some of those of the old one, besides two reprints 
from the Mindeskrift for Japetus Steenstrup, pub- 
lished in 1913 and 1914. 

These publications form sufficient testimony to the 
high standard of excellence maintained by the large 
output of papers by Danish botanists. ‘The mantle 
of the distinguished veteran of Danish botany, Prof. 
Eugene Warming, has fallen upon the shoulders of 
C. Raunkiaer, who two years ago succeeded Warm- 
ing as professor of botany in the University, and 
director of the Botanic Garden and Museum at Copen- 
hagen, and who has already, like his predecessor, 
done brilliant work on the ecology of plants. In the 
1913 Tidsskrift, Raunkiaer has a long paper on the 
plant ecology of the Skagen district, in which he 
applies his system of ‘‘life-forms’’ to the statistical 
study of the various plant communities. An account 
of Raunkiaer’s methods of ecological study was given 
by Dr. W. G. Smith in the Journal of Ecology, 
vol. i., 1913, pp. 16-26, in which the value of Raun- 
kiaer’s system was pointed out. Ecology bulks 
largely in this, as in former volumes of the Tids- 
skrift, but while the Danish botanists have done so 
much for this department of the science they have 
by no means neglected other branches. Their 
systematic investigation of the flora of the Danish 
West Indies has yielded a large and valuable series 
of monographs, while they have done more detailed 
and intensive work on the vegetation of Denmark 
than has yet been carried out in any other area of 
similar extent, and the work of Ostenfeld, Borgesen, 
Paulsen, and others on the marine vegetation of the 
northern seas, and on the plankton in particular, is 
too well known to botanists generally to need more 
than passing mention here. 

The first four parts of the new journal are occupied 
respectively by a list, in Danish with Latin diagnoses, 
of diatoms collected by Borgesen in the Danish West 
Indies; an account in English of the growth-forms of 
some plant formations of Swedish Lapland, by M. 
Vahl, who proposes a system of ecological nomen- 
clature for plant formations according to the dominant 
growth-forms distinguished by Raunkiaer (a summary 
of Vahl’s useful paper is given in Journal of Ecology, 
vol. i., pp. 304-6); a long paper in Danish on the 
ecology of lichens, with 240 illustrations, by O. Galloe, 
unfortunately without a summary in another 
language; and a valuable monograph of the marine 
alge (part i., Chlorophycez) of the Danish West 
Indies, in English, and with a chart and 126 fine 
illustrations, by F. Borgesen. The last-named 
(Bind i., No. 4, price 4 kronen) is of much more than 
merely systematic or algological importance, for 
Borgesen devotes 146 of his 158 pages to detailed 
descriptions of the Siphonez, a group of alga of 
peculiar morphological and biological interest, and 
exhibiting the extraordinary complexity of form and 
structure attained by-plants which are built up of 
ccenocytic or incompletely septate filaments. 

With these four papers the Dansk Botanisk Arkiv 
has certainly made an excellent beginning, and the 
only criticism that occurs to an English botanist is 
that all papers written in Danish should be furnished 
with a generous summary in English or French or 
German. In this connection one may remark that 
despite all that has been written and said concerning 
the advisability of the use of one or other of the three 
most widely read languages in scientific literature, 
pending the arrival of the golden age of one universal 
speech, there is apparently an increasing rather than 
diminishing tendency for scientific workers in the 
smaller countries, or those whose language is little 

No. VOL. 93] 


9225 


oko fs) 


‘known outside their own frontiers, to publish in 


their own tongue. 

There are, of course, many sides to this question, 
local patriotism and other considerations having to be 
taken into account, but it is certainly inconvenient and 
often exasperating to come across publications in 
languages such as Russian, Czech, the Scandinavian 
tongues, etc., with either the baldest summary, or in 
many cases none at all, in the more widely read 
languages. Life is too short for the acquisition of 
even a fair working knowledge of so many tongues; 
summaries or reviews in the familiar languages may 
or may not be published sooner or later in the Central- 
blatt journals, and are often very meagre indeed; and 
meanwhile one hesitates to tale the thing to a trans- 
lator—it may prove of no special importance for one’s 
purpose after one has taken the trouble or expense 
involved. The remedy is simple enough: a scientific 
worker whose native language is not English, French, 
or German, should take the trouble to master one or 
other of these languages sufficient to be able to append 
a good summary to his paper. Failing this, a rever- 
sion to the old custom of publishing in Latin might 
be advocated. 

The two reprints from the J. Steenstrup memorial 
volume are devoted to accounts of the species of 
Sargassum found on the coasts of the Danish West 
Indies, with remarks upon the floating forms of the 
Sargasso Sea, by Borgesen, in English; and of the 
distribution and reproduction of the common eel-grass 
or grass-wrack (Zostera marina) in Danish seas, by 
Petersen, in Danish. F.°Gs 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 
INTELLIGENCE: 

BirRMINGHAM.—The war will have a serious effect 
upon the University during the coming session. The 
whole of the new buildings at Edgbaston have been 
taken over by the War Office, and now form the 
First Southern General Hospital. Certain structural 
alterations are being carried out with a view of 
making the hospital as efficient as possible. The 
size and situation of the buildings and grounds, and 
their proximity to railway and canal, render them 
especially suitable for the present purpose. 

CAMBRIDGE.—Mr. W. L. Bragg, son of Prof. W. H. 
Bragg, has been elected to a fellowship at Trinity 
College. He gained first-class honours in the Natural 
Science Tripos, with distinction in physiology. 


A SCHOOL of public health is to be established at the 
University of Minnesota. 

Dr. T. SHENNAN, pathologist to the Royal Infirmary 
of Edinburgh, has been appointed Regius professor 
of pathology in the University of Aberdeen, in the 
place of the late Prof. G. Dean. 

THE new session of the medical faculty of the Uni- 
versity of Manchester will be opened on October 8 by 
an address by Prof. E. S. Reynolds on the industrial 
diseases of Greater Manchester. 


Tue Bissett-Hawkins memorial medal of the Royal 
College of Physicians of London has been awarded 
to Sir Ronald Ross, for his work in connection with 
malaria, and the Sir Gilbert Blane medal of the Royal 
College of Surgeons of England has been awarded to 
Surgeon G. F. Syms, R.N. 

It is announced in Science that Prof. C. H. Eigen- 
mann has been appointed research professor of zoology 
in the Indiana University, and that he proposes to 
devote the greater part of the time at his disposal 
in completing his studies of the distribution of the 
fishes of western Ecuador and western Colombia and 


AvucGusT 13, 1914] 


NATURE 


629 


its bearing of this on the east and west slope fauna 
of Panama. He intends to spend the coming winter 
months in correlating the fresh-water fauna of the 
lesser Antilles to that of South America. 


Tue Board of Education has issued (Cd. 7535) a 
new edition of its building regulations for secondary 
schools, being principles to be observed in planning 
and fitting up new buildings in England. The last 
issue was made in 1907, and experience has shown 
that a fresh statement of principles and of their 
application is required. The principal modifications 
in the present issue relate to the position of the 
assembly hall in relation to the class-rooms, the need 
of making provision for physical training in every new 
school, the arrangement of cloak-rooms, and certain 


details in connection with art and science rooms, 
housecraft rooms, and staircases. 
THE prospectus of the university courses in the 


Municipal School of Technology, Manchester, for the 
forthcoming session has been received. It will be 
remembered that the Manchester Technical School 
forms part of the Victoria University of Manchester, 
and provides for the faculty of technology. The 
courses described in the prospectus lead to the degrees 
of Bachelor and Master of Technical Science. These 
courses are controlled by the Senate of the University, 
through the board of the faculty of technology, which 
is composed of the heads of departments in the school 
of technology together with certain other professors 
and lecturers in the University. The degrees may be 
taken in the following divisions of technology: 
mechanical, electrical, or sanitary engineering ; applied 
chemistry; mining; architecture; and textile indus- 
tries. Courses of post-graduate and specialised study 
and research have been arranged for students who 
have graduated. 

AN interim report of the Joint Committee of the 
Illuminating Engineering Society and other bodies 
on “The Natural Lighting of Schools”? appeared in 
the July number of The Illuminating Engineer. 
Among the suggestions we note :—(1) No place is fit 
for use in a schoolroom when diamond type cannot 
be read easily by a normal observer at a distance of 
half a metre; (2) the darkest desk should receive not 
less than o-5 per cent. of the unrestricted illumina- 
tion from the complete sky hemisphere; (3) windows 
should be to the left of the pupils. Other recom- 
mendations refer to details such as the colour of 
walls, furniture, etc. A point deserving special atten- 
tion is that most light is needed in the infant class- 
rooms, which at present are usually less efficient as 
regards lighting than any other schoolrooms. The 
Committee consider that the Building Regulations 
(1907) of the Board of Education have produced good 
results, but find, nevertheless, many points which re- 
quire further investigation. In view of the extensive 
character of the research, it is hoped that local 
authorities will be willing to assist. The Committee 
is of a thoroughly representative character, and has 
obviously proceeded with judicious care so far; we 
are glad to see that the Society intends to issue a 
reprint of this report, together with notes on Con- 
tinental research and the corresponding interim report 
on the Artificial Lighting of Schools, issued last 
year. 


TueE handbooks for next session of the faculties of 
engineering and of the medical sciences at University 
College (University of London), Gower Street, W.C., 
have now been issued. The faculty of engineering, 
of which Prof. J. A. Fleming is dean, includes the 
departments of civil and mechanical engineering, elec- 
trical engineering, and municipal engineering, and is 
intended to provide for students wishing to devote 


NO. 2337, VOL. 93] 


themselves to engineering a systematic training in the 
application of scientific principles to industrial pur- 
poses. The courses are also suited to the requirements 
of students who intend to enter for appointments in 
the Indian Public Works Department, engineering 
department of the General Post Office, department of 
the Director of Engineering and Architectural Works 
in the Admiralty, Patent Office, and other similar 
services. The departments have been recognised by 
the Board of Trade as providing suitable technical 
training for marine engineers. Facilities are provided 
for post-graduate and research work in all the sub- 
jects. The faculty of medical sciences, of which Prof. 
A. R. Cushny is dean, comprises the departments of 
physics, chemistry, botany, and zoology—the pre- 
liminary medical sciences; also the departments of 
anatomy, physiology, and pharmacology—the inter- 
mediate medical science; and the departments of 
hygiene and public health, and of pathological chem- 
istry for post-graduate study. All communications con- 
cerning these courses should be addressed to the Pro- 
vost, University College, London. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 


EDINBURGH. 

Royal Society, July 6.—Prof. James Geikie, president, 
in the chair.—Dr. George Philip: Obituary notice of 
John Sturgeon Mackay.—Dr. E. M. Wedderburn and 
A. W. Young: Temperature observations in Loch 
Earn. Part ii. The observations discussed were made 
in August, 1913, and supplied a good example of a 
temperature seiche. The decay of the oscillations was 
very rapid. Periodogram analysis indicated periods of 
twenty hours and ten hours. Calculation of the prob- 
able period from the mathematical theory gave a 
period of 19:6 hours for the principal oscillation. The 
records were also subjected to harmonic analysis, and 
the effect of light winds in altering the character of 
the oscillation was clearly demonstrated.—D. Ferguson, 
G. W. Tyrrell, and Prof. J. W. Gregory : Contributions 
to the geology of Louth. The valuable collections 
made by Mr. Ferguson were studied and described by 
Mr. Tyrrell, who gave a general petrographical report. 
In a further report Prof. Gregory considered the 
general geological problems suggested. 


Paris. 

Academy of Sciences, July 27.—M. P. Appell in the 
chair.—Mlle. Th. Tarnarider: The best approximation 
of xk|x| by polynomials of indefinitely increasing 
degrees.—René Garnier: The representation of the 
integrals of Painlevé’s equations by means of the 
theory of linear equations.—César Spineanu: The de- 
velopment of a holomorph function in series of in- 
verses of polynomials and in series of rational 
fractions.—Georges Rignoux: An arrangement for 
vision at a distance. A description of a system of 
relays in connection with a number of selenium cells. 
—-Maurice de Broglie: The spectral analysis by the 
secondary rays of the Réntgen rays and its applica- 
tion to the case of rare substances. As the method 
of examination, described in an earlier communica- 
tion, can be applied to very small quantities of sub- 
stance, the oxides of gallium and germanium have 
been examined. Figures are also given for antimony, 
tin, and  lanthanum.—Henri — Labrouste : Mono- 
molecular layers and surfusion. A study of the 
solidifying points on trilaurin, tribenzoin, and tri- 
myristin in very thin layers.—J. Guyot: The Volta 
effect and monomolecular layers. Measurements of 
the differences of potential appearing at the con- 
tact of gold and water when extremely thin layers 
of various organic substances are floating on the 


630 


| 
surface of the water.—R. Boulouch: The general con- 


dition of stigmatism in a system of. diopters of 
revolution round a given axis.—MM. Massol and 
Faucon: The absorption of ultra-violet radiations by 


the chlorine derivatives of methane. Pure carbon 
tetrachloride gives no absorption band, and the band 
ascribed to this substance by several observers has 
been traced to the presence of carbon disulphide. 
Chloroform and dichloromethane also give no absorp- 
tion bands.—J. Larguier des Bancels: The photo- 
chemical properties of the coloured resinates.—Ch. 
de Rohden: The constant presence of rare earths in 
scheelite as shown by cathodic phosphorescence. In 
scheelites of different origin a study of the phosphor- 
escence spectrum has shown the _ presence of 
samarium, dysprosium, erbium, terbium, europium, 
neodymium, and praseodymium. All the elements to 
which the method is applicable have been found, but 
the relative proportions of the rare elements differ 
considerably from one scheelite to another. All the 
spectra found can be explained with the known rare 
elements.—Marcel Duboux : The estimation of potash 
and magnesia by a_ physico-chemical volumetric 
method. Application to the analysis of wine. The 
method is based on the changes of electrical conduc- 
tivity produced by the gradual addition of an appro- 
priate reagent.—J. Blumenfeld and G. Urbain: The 
isolation of neoytterbium. As a criterion of purity 
of a fraction, the magnetisation coefficient possesses 
advantages over the usual spectrum methods. This 
has been applied to the products resulting from a 
long series of fractionations of the earths of the 
ytterbium group, and the name neoytterbium has 
been given to one of the earths isolated in this way. 
It is defined by its magnetisation coefficient, spec- 
trum, and atomic weight (173:54).—André Brochet 
and André Cabaret: The addition of hydrogen in the 
presence of nickel at atmospheric pressure to com- 
pounds with fatty ethylene linkings. Details of ex- 
periments on the hydrogenation of r-octene, cinnamic 
acid: and its derivatives, allyl, alcohol, anethol, iso- 
safrol, and some unsaturated ketones.—MM. Cousin 
and Volmar: Some nitro- and amino-derivatives of 
orthocyanophenol.—F. Jadin and <A. Astruc: Man- 
ganese in some springs of the central massif.— 
Julien Loisel: The construction of a monogram re- 
presentative of the mean direction of the wind.— 
M. Gazaud ; Contribution. to the study of the mistral. 
—M. Chifflot : The extension of Marsonia rosae in 
cultures of roses. Precautions necessary to prevent 
the attack of rose trees by this parasite.—Em. Miége 
and H. Coupé: The influence of the X-rays on vegeta- 
tion.—Mme. Victor Henri: Study of the metabiotic 
action .of the ultra-violet rays. Modification of the 
morphological and biochemical characters of anthrax 
bacilli. Transmission of the acquired characters.— 
Mme. Z. Gruzewska: The action of some diastases on 
the dextrins.—T. Salimbeni: Bacteriological  re- 
searches on scarlatina. A description of a new 
micro-organism found in the blood of fifteen out of 
twenty cases of the disease. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 


Report of the Fourteenth Meeting of the Austra- 
lasian Association for the Advancement of Science. 
Held: at ‘Melbourne;to1g- “By. Dr) 19. Ss) Hall: “Ep: 
xcii+751. (Sydney: Australasian Association.) 

British Museum (Natural History). British Hae 


arctic (Terra Nova) Expedition, 1910. Zoology. Vol. 
Not ae Fishes: 7 By. (©. (0.2 Regans (.sPp. ee4e-ocit 
plates. (London: British Museum (Natural History), 


and Longmans, Green and Co.) tos. 6d. 


Indian Forest Insects of Economic Importance. 
NO, 2227, Votnoel 


NATURE 


[AUGUST 13, 1914 


Coleoptera. By .E. .P. XVi+ 648. | 


(London : 


Stebbing. Pp. 
Eyre and Spottiswoode.) 15s. : 

English Literature for Schools. The Early Life of 
Thomas De Quincey from his Own Writings. Edited , 
by A. Burrell. Pp. 124. (London: J. M. Dent and 
Sons, Ltd.) 6d. 

Agriculture in the Tropics. An Elementary Treatise. 
By Dr. J. C. Willis. Second edition, revised.’ Pp. 
Xvi+ 223. (Cambridge University Press.) gs. net. 

A Manual of Mechanical Drawing. By J. H. Dales. 
Pp. xii+181. (Cambridge University Press.) 3S. metem 

The Story of Plant Life in the British Isles. Types 
of the Natural Orders. By A. R. Horwood. Vol. ii. 
Pp. xiv+358. (London: J. and A. Churchill.) 6s. 6d. 
net. 

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. — 
Division of Intercourse and Education. Publication 
No. 4: Report of the International’ Commission to 
inquire into the Causes and Conduct of the Balkan 
Wars. Pp. ix+415. (Washington : Carnegie Endow- 
ment.) 

Department of the Interior. U.S. Geological 
Survey. Professional Paper 86: The Transportation 
of Débris by Running water, by G. K. Gilbert. . Pp. 
263. (Washington : Government Printing Office.) 

A First School Botany. By E. M. Goddard. Pp. 


xiiif191. (London: Mills and Boon, Ltd.) 2s. 6d. 
CONTENTS. PAGE 
Agricultural Bacteriology. By R.T.H. . 605 
The Constitution of Alloys. By Dr. C. H. Desch . 605, 
Zoology, Embryology, and Heredity .... . 606 
Tropical Products . . 7. 008 
Engineering Manuals and Text-Books . DMs » ee) 
Our Bookshelf Sle 38 tn CAMERA crm @ (610 
Letters to the Editor :— 
Asymmetric Images with X- Radiation.—I._ G. 
Rankin; W...F. D::Chambetss -):). |.) 2.5mm 
Unit of ecaleniiont —D rJOttoykK lolz eae 6T1 , 
The Nesting Habits of Adélie Penguins (Pygoscelis 
Adeliz). eager By Surgeon G. mest 
Revicky. . . 612 
Recent Progress in Aeronautical Science. . 614 
Technical Education for Fishermen. By J. J.. 615 
Secular Climatic Changes in America . . » (617 
Notes. (///ustrated.) . Sera Sone eLee foe 
Our Astronomical Column :— 
Comet 19137 (Delavan). (UT ce Prenatal) (Gir 
The Perseids . ¢ ‘ «it ital eee 
A New Satellite to Jupiter? 2a is 6 Ao eee a 623 
Stellar Radial-velocity Observaticns . =, do -ived LoeO2e 
The Solar Eclipse. _. 623 
South African Association for the Advancement of 
science. By C. F. Jc... ims shee) ee 
The Museums Association... . keene OZ 
The Hardening of Steel. By Dr. W. Rosenhain, 
F.R.S. : 7. 1026 
Schools and Employ ers in the United States. By 
Maa Nate e627 


Seismometry and Engineering. ‘By GW) Wee 627 
Recent Botanical Work in Denmark. By F.C... 627 
University and Educational Intelligence. . oo. an NO2Zs 
Societies'and Academies: . 2yaueae > fa eS 
Books Received . 


Editorial and Publishing Offices: 
MACMILLAN & CO., Ltp., 
ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, 


W.C. 


Advertisements and business letters to be addressed to the 
Publishers. 


Editorial Communications to the Editor. 


Telegraphic Address: Puusis, LONDON. 
Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830. 


THURSDAY, AUGUST > 20;)-1914. 


FISHERIES AND FISH-CULTURE. 
Traité Raisonné de la Pisciculture et des Péches. 
By Prof. Louis Roule. Pp. viii+ 734. (Paris: 

J. B. Bailliere et Fils, 1914.) 

RANCE has held aloof from the international 
fishery investigations in which most of the 
other countries of northern Europe have been en- 
gaged during the last decade, and ‘such fishery 
work as has been carried out by Frenchmen has 
progressed upon somewhat independent lines. It 
is therefore interesting to receive a general work 
by a Frenchman dealing with fishes and fishery 
questions in a comprehensive, but at the same 
time somewhat popular way, and to see familiar 
questions looked at from a different aspect and 


treated in a more lively and entertaining manner | 


than that to which we have recently been accus- 
tomed. Although Prof. Roule’s work is a volume 
of more than seven hundred pages, it must, how- 
ever, be regarded neither as a text-book suited to 
the requirements of the student of fishery science, 
nor as a practical handbook for those whose busi- 
ness it is to concern themselves with fishery ad- 
ministration or with fish culture for commercial 
purposes. The general results of much recent 
scientific research are, it is true, explained in a 
clear and illuminating way, but little or nothing 
is said as to the methods, often very laborious 
and involving a close and minute study of a vast 
number of detailed observations, by which those 
results have been obtained. Often, too, we are 
afraid the author does not sufficiently discriminate 
between results which may be regarded as es- 
tablished scientific facts and mere working hypo- 
theses which are useful enough or indeed essential 
as guides to future work, but would not be con- 
sidered, even by those who have fathered them, 
as settled conclusions. Throughout the book there 
are no detailed references to the literature of the 
subject, although there are a number of references 
in footnotes to the names of authors well known 
for their fishery work. 

The book, nevertheless, does fill a very useful 
place of its own. It will appeal strongly to that 
numerous class of fishermen and naturalists, both 
amateur and professional, to whom the habits and 
natural history of fishes, their migrations, their 
modes of feeding and of generation, and the 
general history of their lives are questions of 
never failing interest and speculation. To all 
such it may be confidently recommended. The 
author deals with both sea- and fresh-water fishes, 
and his book is divided into three parts. The first 
part treats in 180 pages of fishes in general and 

NO. 2338, VOL. 93| 


NATURE \ Av@si ioi4 


| 


om tte 
i) 


they live. 
general features of aquatic life are described, and 
the nature of the fixed and floating animals and 
plants found in the sea- and in fresh-water is con- 


of the’ conditteadnalddius: : 


sidered. The structure of fishes and the physio- 
logy of their nutrition, their sensations and their 
reproduction are also treated of in a way that can 
be easily understood and in a logical sequence 
which makes the account both suggestive and 
interesting. Part ii., to which 262 pages are 
devoted, deals with sea fishes and sea fisheries. 
Some account is first given of the physical and 
chemical conditions of sea water, including a dis- 
of tides, and currents. The 


cussion waves, 


' general physical characters of the sea floor are 


also touched upon. This is followed by a more 
detailed discussion of the various methods of 
fishing which are practised both in coastal waters 
and on the high seas. The author has succeeded 
in imparting very great interest into this part of 
his work and, especially when dealing with the 
tunny fisheries, he has introduced an amount of 
vigour and excitement into his descriptions which 
we do not frequently meet with in works of this 
kind. Considerable space is devoted to the 
pelagic migratory fishes, such as the mackerel, 
herring, pilchard, and anchovy, and the many 
different theories as to the extent of their move- 
ments which have been put forward from time to 
time are discussed. The author agrees with those 
modern writers who have concluded that the 
actual distances travelled by the shoals of these 
fishes are by no means so great as was at one 
time supposed. 

Comparatively few pages are given to the ques- 
tion of the hatching and rearing of sea fishes and 


| Prof. Roule is clearly of opinion that no great 


results are likely to be attained by this method of 
attempting to increase the harvest of the open sea. 
His views are summarised in this passage 
(p. 429):—‘‘Mais on connait la faiblesse de la 
pisciculture marine; l’immersion dans la mer de 
plusieurs millions d’alevins n’augmenterait la 
population habituelle que d’une proportion in- 
finitésimale. Les facilités naturelles de la repro- 
duction suffisent d’elles-mémes. Aussi, la méthode 
économique ne consiste point tant a s’ingénier vers 
la piscifacture, comme a favoriser le peuplement 
naturel par la surveillance et la sauvegarde des 
jeunes sur leurs aleviniéres.” 

The third part of the work treats of fresh-water 
fishes and to this subject 255 pages are given. 
This is, perhaps, on the whole, the most satisfac- 
tory part of the book. The author seems to be 
more at home with his subject and to be writing 
more within the limits of his own special experi- 
There can be no question also that practical 

ce 


Ence: 


632 


NATURE 


[AUGUST 20, 1914 


results are much more easy of attainment when 
dealing with fresh-water fishes than when dealing 
with those of the sea. The methods of artificial 
hatching and rearing have been thoroughly worked 
out and put into practice, and they are here well 
described. 

The book is profusely illustrated and the illus- 
trations are of such a character that both the 
interest and the clearness of the descriptions are 
enhanced. 


ECONOMIC ANALYSIS. 

(1) Investigating an Industry: a Scientific Diag- 
nosis of the Diseases of Management. By W. 
Kent. With an Introduction by H. L. Gantt. 
Pp. xi+126. (New York: John Wiley and 
Sons, Inc.; London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 
LO14.) Price 4s:)76d." net. 

(2\oPrnciples of Heonomics. Pay. Profs ike 
Seager. Pp. xx+650. (London: G. Bell and 
Sons, ‘Ltd.; New York: Hi.” Holt ‘and *Go;, 
1613.) rice. 10s.,.6a. net. 


(1) R. KENT?’S book belongs to a branch of 

investigation which has been specially 
developed in America. It might seem at first that 
business management scarcely belonged to science, 
but was rather a question of personal qualifica- 
tion, tact, and resource. When we speak of good 
management in this country we are inclined to 
regard it mainly as concerned with labour-saving 
methods. But this book, and others on the same 
lines, aim at applying to the faults of business the 
scientific methods of medical diagnosis; and Mr. 
Kent has given great vividness to his analysis 
by working it out in the concrete case of an indi- 
vidual business faced with competition and a fall- 
ing market. To meet the case, each aspect of 
organisation, within and without the factory, is 
examined in detail by an expert. Is the location 
of the works where it should be, in view of the 
buying and selling markets, and conditions of 
transport? Are the buildings well equipped, and 
are they too large or too small for the most 
economical output? Is the power plant modern, 
or does it waste fuel? Are the high-priced men 
on work which really requires their skiil, or are 
they being wasted on low-price work? What is 
the “load-factor ” of the machinery—its percent- 
age of running full—both in general and for each 
machine? How are accounts kept and audited ? 
Are the directors and manager ‘running full” 
themselves? An inquisition into each aspect 
shows, in the case taken, that the main technical 
fault is the want of a supplementary product to 
balance fluctuations in the main output, and 
occupy the spare factory space; while the main 
defect of organisation is in the work of the direc- 

NO, 2338; VOL./93] 


tors themselves. The book is full of the keen 
business spirit of America. Students of scientific 
economics will be interested to see how, in various 
detailed ways, the broad principles of the ‘“‘mar- 
ginal” method are illustrated. 

(2) Prof. Seager has revised and exnanded his 
“Introduction to Economics,” and the ‘“ Prin- 
ciples’? are now a very full treatment of both 
theory and description. There are also some im. 
portant historical chapters, so that the book is 
much wider than its title suggests. In _ the 
theoretical chapters, the marginal principle is de- 
veloped and illustrated with a welcome abundance 
of comment and illustration. The most interest- 
ing, to English readers, of the new chapters are 
those on social insurance and on profit-sharing ; 
but Prof. Seager is content rather with descrip- 
tion here, and some important general questions 
might have been raised from the point of view of 
analysis and social ethics. To American readers 
the chapter on the income tax is appropriate and 
up to date. It is one of the most valuable of those 
text-books which are now confirming and estab- 


lishing the structure of the science. 
DH 


OUR BOOKSHELF. 


Geological Map of the Caucasus, with Explanatory 
Notes. By Dr. F. Oswald. (London: Dulau 
and:Co., Lid., 1904))Neb mice. ss:mec: 


Dr. OswWatp’s colour-printed map of the Caucasus 
is on the scale of I : 1,000,000, and covers the 
country from the Sea of Azov to the Caspian. We 
may regret that the heights are given in English 
feet ; but those who use it will generally have other 
topographic maps at hand. It is produced in a 
bold style, somewhat like that of Noé’s map of the 
Alps, and embodies a good deal of personal study 
by the author. The descriptive pamphlet directs 
attention to the production of crystalline schists 
and the intrusion of granite in pre-Carboniferous 
times. Intense folding took place in the Upper 
Jurassic epoch, the pressure acting from the south- 
west; and the latest and still more important fold- 
ing, this time induced from the north-east, is of 
Miocene and even post-Sarmatian age. Kazbek 
and Elburs are enormous volcanic piles, due to the 
outwelling of lavas along fractures connected with 
the final earth-movements of Pliocene times. The 
author’s classification of the Miocene strata brings 
the Sarmatian into the middle of the system, so 
that almost all the beds regarded as Miocene in 
western Europe are crowded into one Lower or 
Vindobonian series. He retains an Oligocene 
system, mostly marine, which is well marked off 
from the prevalent fivsch type of Eocene strata. 
This work will be of service to many travellers, 
now that the district is so accessible through 
Constantinople or Odessa, and it will be of much 
help to readers of Suess’s description of the range. 
GC: AMEE 


AUGUST 20, 1914] 


NATURE 633 


Catalogue of Scientific Papers. Fourth series 
(1884-1900). Compiled by the Royal Society. 
Vol. xiii., A—B. Pp. xcviiitg51. (Cambridge 
University Press, 1914.) Price 2/. ros. net. 

Tue fourth series of the Royal Society’s Cata- 
logue of Scientific Papers, of which the present 
is the first volume, comprises the titles of papers 
published or read during the period 1884-1900, 
and concludes the work undertaken by the Royal 
Society. The catalogue thus completed will con- 
tain titles of papers for the whole of the nine- 
teenth century. The continuation of the work is 
now in the hands of the authorities of the Inter- 
national Catalogue of Scientific Literature, which 
deals with the titles and subjects of papers pub- 
lished after the end of 1go0o0. 

This volume contains 11,551 entries of titles 
of papers by 2001 authors with the initial A, and 
51,720 entries of papers by 6928 authors with the 
initial B, making a total of 63,271 entries by 8929 
authors. 

A list of the 1555 serials which have been ex- 
amined for the preparation of this section of the 
catalogue, with the abbreviations used for their 
titles, is given at the beginning of the volume. 

The complete risk of printing and publishing 
the Catalogue of Scientific Papers and the Subject 
Index has been undertaken by the Cambridge Uni- 
versity Press, and we echo the hope of the Cata- 
logue Committee that the circulation of the 
volumes throughout the scientific world will be 
large enough to prevent financial loss. 


EEPTERS TO THEGEDITOR. 


[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for 
opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with 
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 
this or any other part of Nature. No notice 1s 
taken of anonymous communications. ] 


The Peregrine Falcon at the Eyrie. 

In the notice of Mr. Heatherley’s ‘‘The Peregrine 
Falcon at the Eyrie’’ (Nature, August 6,-p. 586), 
that author is quoted for the previously ** unrecorded 
fact that after the first few days the falcon turned 
over to the tiercel the duties of her sex, spending his 
time abroad hunting and bringing the quarry to 
the tiercel, who remained at home to feed and look 
after the young.’’ This sentence in its wording 
appears to treat the falcon as male, the tiercel as 
_ female; the reverse being, however, the correct use 
of these terms. As Harting (‘‘ Birds of Shakespeare,” 
p. 52) says: ‘‘By the falcon is always understood 
the female, as distinguished from the tercel, or male, 
of the peregrine or goshawk.”’ 

W. E. Hart. 


Kilderry, Londonderry, August 7. 


Mr. Harr is quite correct. The term ‘‘tiercel” 
has always been applied to the male peregrine falcon, 
cf. Newton’s ‘“‘ Dictionary of Birds”’ et passim. The 
notice in which the quoted sentence occurs was con- 
tributed from the reviewer’s sick bed, and he is 
only now aware that a point of interrogation after 
‘his’? and before ‘‘time,’’ which was in his original 
draft, had dropped from his MS. and its omission 
had escaped him in the proof. 

Tue REVIEWER. 


NO. 2338, VOL. 93] 


PRACTICAL EDUCATION.! 
HE title of Mr. Legge’s book is suggestive 
of a painting in the University of Bologna, 
in which Science is represented by a female figure 
with eyes in each of her extended hands. We 
are so apt to speak of “seeing”? when we mean 
“perceiving” that we forget that the blind can 
see with their hands, and that science through- 
out the centuries has achieved most of her tri- 
umphs by the knowledge acquired by means of 
hand-work. It was early explained that the chief 
educational advantage of manual training was to 
exercise the hand from childhood as an instru- 
ment for acquiring knowledge, and so to create 
an additional perceptive sense. 

Since the years 1887-1890, when hand-work 
was first introduced as a scientific experiment into 
elementary schools, and was then proved to be 
the means of stimulating the intellectual activity 
of children, making them more alert in all other 
studies, the advances in this new educational de- 
parture, if not rapid, have been unbroken, and 
have been carried forward in many _ different 
directions. The recognition of the value of 
manual work in the education of children is now 
very general. Nevertheless, Mr. Legge has de- 
voted some of the few pages of his letterpress in 
answering those opponents who, in the early 
history of the movement, charged its advocates 
with infringing the principles of elementary edu- 
cation, with trenching on technical instruction 
and prematurely encouraging vocational teaching. 

Mr. Legge has successfully refuted all these 
arguments. In the chapter of his book headed, 
“The Growth of an Idea,” he has not attempted - 
to give anything approaching to a history of the 
movement, or he would have referred to those 
early efforts which in 1890 induced the then Edu- 
cation Department to include in the Code of that 
year regulations for the teaching of hand-work 
under conditions carrying a Government grant. 
Indeed, the few short chapters of his book, al- 
though well worth reading, are not intended to 
add anything to what may be found in other 
treatises. In his own words, “The letterpress is 
here simply to explain and lead up to the illus- 
trations,” which, he states, are designed to give 
the general public a view of the practical side of 
the instruction now provided in schools. 

These illustrations, more than four hundred 
in number, admirably fulfil that purpose. They 
show how varied may be the exercises which are 
now practised in the conduct of the modern side 
of elementary schools, and experience has fully 
borne out his contention that these exercises are 
all, or nearly all, equally efficient in stimulating 
the intelligence of children. Indeed, the value of 
manual training is shown to depend far more on 
the method of instruction than on the materials 
employed, or on the models that are made. The 
illustrations, of which this book largely consists, 
show children occupied with educational exercises 
in such diverse materials as wood and metal, 


1 ‘*The Thinking Hand; or, Practical Education in the Elementary 
School.” By J. G. Legge. Pp, x+217. (London: Macmillan and Co., 
Ltd., 1914.) Price 8s. 6d. net. 


634 NATURE [AUGUST 20, 1914 


' 


cardboard, rope and cane, leather and stone, and The letterpress, short as it is, covering only 
they also show children engaged in housewifery in | 36 out of the 217 pages of which the book con- 
sists, contains 
many tersely ex- 
pressed = conclu- 
sions Hon tiie 
value of hand- 
work and on 
various matters 
connected with 
school adminis- 
tration, | which 
the author’s ex- 
pervenitelas 
Director of Edu- 
cation of the 
City of Liverpool 
has enabled him 
to form.; ) Mery 
truly he ‘says, 
“Tt is. a senous 
question whether 
the whole sys- 
tem of modern 
education up to 
the most recent 
days has not de- 
voted itself too 
& als tothe A: in assiduously to a 

Fic. 1.—School Gardening. Morrison Council School. From ‘‘ The Thinking Hand.” % one-sided _ intel- 
lectual culture.” 

This is so, and the Board of Education, although 
recognising fully the value of hand-work as a 


ail its branches, in the construction of simple 
scientific apparatus, in gardening, and in other 
forms of hand- 
work. Of these 
illustrations we 
select two, one 
snowing garden- 
ing practice at Le 
the Morrison ee igs oe 
County School, ; ° 
and the _ other 
the apparatus 
anc, samordet's 
made «at wero 
Miatehwa es 
County School. 

Not the least 
instructive  sec- 
tion ofp “Nir: 
Legge’s book is 
that in which are 
found = sug ges- 
tions fot courses 
of instruction in 
hygiene, house- 
hold science, and 
the care of in- 


fants, with sylla- Bs Sst emtied ccm Hee oe eiiticoe : ueteeeaebaneabaiiaieial al 
buses of cookery yy a sce 

and Inundry Fic. 2.—School-made Apparatus and Models. St. Michael's Council school. trom ‘* the Thinking Hand.” 
work. These 


means of educational discipline, has not yet 
realised the urgent need of giving to manual 


cannot fail to serve as useful guides to many 
teachers. 


NO. 2338, VOL. 93] 


AUGUST 20, 1914] 


NATURE 


635 


training in one or other of its many forms its 
proper place in the school curriculum. 

The author does well to plead for considerable 
liberty in the teaching of these subjects. Freedom 
on the part of the teacher to use his own initia- 
tive and judgment in determining the exercises to 
be given to his pupils is essential, for unless he 
himself is interested in the work in which his 
pupils are engaged, his instruction will prove of 
little value. The author is on equally safe ground 
when he says, “It is not only teachers that call 
out for liberty; local education authorities are be- 
ginning actively to resent the evil of a central 
bureaucracy drawn tighter and tighter.” 

Although the number of text-books and essays 
on manual training already published is very 
large, we believe Mr. Legge’s book will be found 
to be a valuable addition to the works which 
teachers and administrators may usefully con- 
sult. 


THE AUSTRALIAN MEETING OF. THE 
BRITISH... ASSOCIATION. 


INauGURAL ADDRESS By PROF. WILLIAM BaTESON, 
M.A., F.R.S., PRESIDENT. 


Part ].—MELBOURNE. 


Tue outstanding feature of this meeting must be 
the fact that we are here—in Australia. It is the 
function of a president to tell the association of 
advances in science, to speak of the universal rather 
than of the particular or the temporary. There will be 
other opportunities of expressing the thoughts which 
this event must excite in the dullest heart, but it is 
right that my first words should take account of those 
achievements of organisation and those acts of national 
generosity by which it has come to pass that we are 
assembled in this country. Let us, too, on this occa- 
sion, remember that all the effort, and all the goodwill, 
that binds Australia to Britain would have been power- 
less to bring about such a result had it not been for 
those advances in science which have given man a 
control of the forces of nature. For we are here by 
virtue of the feats of genius of individual men of 
science, giant-variations from the common level of 
our species; and since I am going soon to speak of 
the significance of individual variation, I cannot intro- 
duce that subject better than by calling to remem- 
brance the line of pioneers in chemistry, in physics, 
and in engineering, by the working of whose rare 
—or, if you will, abnormal—intellects a 
of the British Association on this side of the globe 
has been made physically possible. 

I have next to refer to the loss within the year of 
Sir David Gill, a former president of this association, 
himself one of the outstanding great. His greatness 
lay in the power of making big foundations. He built 
up the Cape Observatory; he organised international 
geodesy; he conceived and carried through the plans 
for the photography of the whole sky, a work in 
which Australia is bearing a conspicuous part. 
Astronomical observation is now organised on an inter- 
national scale, and of this great scheme Gill was the 
heart and soul. His labours have ensured a base from 
which others will proceed to discovery otherwise im- 
possible. His name will be long remembered with 
veneration and gratitude. 

As the subject of the addresses which I am to deliver 


here and in Sydney I take Heredity. I shall attempt | 


NO. 2338, VOL. 93] 


to give the essence of the discoveries made by Men- 
delian or analytical methods of study, and I shall ask 
you to contemplate the deductions which these physio- 
logical facts suggest in application both to evolutionary 
theory at large and to the special case of the natural 
history of human society. 
Recognition of the significance of heredity is 
modern. The term itself in its scientific sense is no 
older than Herbert Spencer. Animals and plants are 
formed as pieces of living material split from the body 
of the parent organisms. Their powers and faculties 
are fixed in their physiological origin. They are the 
consequence of a genetic process, and yet it is only 
lately that this genetic process has become the subject 
of systematic research and experiment. The curiosity 


_of naturalists has of course always been attracted to 


such problems; but that accurate knowledge of genetics 
is of paramount importance in any attempt to under- 
stand the nature of living things has only been realised 
quite lately even by naturalists, and with casual ex- 
ceptions the laity still know nothing of the matter. 
Historians debate the past of the human species, and 
statesmen order its present or profess to guide its 
future as if the animal man, the unit of their calcula- 
tions, with his vast diversity of powers, were a homo- 
geneous material, which can be multiplied like shot. 

The reason for this neglect lies in ignorance and 
misunderstanding of the nature of variation; for not 
until the fact of congenital diversity is grasped, with 
all that it imports, does knowledge of the system of 
hereditary transmission stand out as a primary neces- 
sity in the construction of any theory of evolution, 
or any scheme of human polity. 

The first full perception of the significance of varia- 
tion we owe to Darwin. The present generation of 
evolutionists realises perhaps more fully than did the 
scientific world in the last century that the theory of 


evolution had occupied the thoughts of many and found 


acceptance with not a few before ever the “Origin” 
appeared. We have come also to the conviction that 
the principle of natural selection cannot have been the 


chief factor in delimiting the species of animals and 


plants, such as we now with fuller knowledge see 
them actually to be. We are even more sceptical as 
to the validity of that appeal to changes in the con- 


ditions of life as direct causes of modification, upon 


| which 


latterly at all events Darwin laid much 


emphasis. But that he was the first to provide a 


body of fact demonstrating the variability of living 


meeting | 


things, whatever be its causation, can never be ques- 
tioned. 

There are some older collections of evidence, chiefly 
the work of the French school, especially of Godron * 
and I would mention also the almost forgotten essay 
of Wollaston 2—these, however, are only fragments in 
comparison. Darwin regarded variability as a property 


| inherent in living things, and eventually we must con- 


sider whether this conception is well founded; but 


| postponing that inquiry for the present, we may declare 


that with him began a general recognition of variation 
as a phenomenon widely occurring in nature. 

If a population consists of members which are not 
alike but differentiated, how will their characteristics 
be distributed among their offspring? This is the 
problem which the modern student of heredity sets out 
to investigate. Formerly it was hoped that by the 
simple inspection of embryological processes the modes 
of heredity might be ascertained, the actual mechanism 


| by which the offspring is formed from the body of the 


parent. In that endeavour a noble pile of evidence 
has been accumulated. All that can be made visible 
by existing methods has been seen, but we come little 


1 “De |’Espéce et des Races dans les Etres Organisés,” 1359. 
2 “On the Variation of Species,” 1856. 


636 


if at all nearer to the central mystery. We see nothing 
that we can analyse further—nothing that can be trans- 
lated into terms less inscrutable than the physiological 
events themselves. Not only does embryology give no 
direct aid, but the failure of cytology is, so far as I can 
judge, equally complete. The chromosomes of nearly 
related creatures may be utterly different both in 
number, size, and form. Only one piece of evidence 
encourages the old hope that a connection might be 
traceable between the visible characteristics of the body 
and those of the chromosomes. I refer, of course, to 
the accessory chromosome, which in many animals 
distinguishes the spermatozoon about to form a female 
in fertilisation. Even it, however, cannot be claimed 
as the cause of sexual differentiation, for it may be 
paired in forms closely allied to those in which it is 
unpaired or accessory. The distinction may be present 
or wanting, like any other secondary sexual character. 
Indeed, so long as no one can show consistent dis- 
tinctions between the cytological characters of somatic 
tissues in the same individual we can scarcely expect 
to perceive such distinctions between the chromosomes 
of the various types. 

For these methods of attack we now substitute 
another, less ambitious, perhaps, because less com- 
prehensive, but not less direct. If we cannot see 


how a fowl by its egg and its sperm gives rise to a, 


chicken or how a sweet pea from its ovule and its 
pollen grain produces another sweet pea, we at least 
can watch the system by which the differences between 
the various kinds of fowls or between the various 
kinds of sweet peas are distributed among the off- 
spring. By thus breaking the main problem up into 
its parts we give ourselves fresh chances. This 
analytical study we call Mendelian because Mendel 
was the first to apply it. To be sure, he did not 
approach the problem by any such line of reasoning 
as I have sketched. His object was to-determine the 
genetic definiteness of species; but though in his 
writings he makes no mention of inheritance, it is 
clear that he had the extension in view. By cross- 
breeding he combined the characters of varieties in 
mongrel individuals and set himself to see how these 
characters would be distributed among the individuals 
of subsequent generations. Until he began _ this 
analysis nothing but the vaguest answers to such a 
question had been attempted. The existence of any 
orderly system of descent was never even suspected. 
In their manifold complexity human characteristics 
seemed to follow no obvious system, and the fact 
was taken as a fair sample of the working of heredity. 

Misconception was especially brought in by de- 
scribing descent in terms of ‘‘blood.’? The common 
speech uses expressions such as consanguinity, pure- 
blooded, half-blood, and the like, which call up a 
misleading picture to the mind. Blood is in some 
respects a fluid, and thus it is supposed that this fluid 
can be both quantitatively and qualitatively diluted 
with other bloods, just as treacle can be diluted with 
water. Blood in primitive physiology being the 
peculiar vehicle of life, at once its essence and _ its 
corporeal abode, these ideas of dilution and com- 
pounding of characters in the commingling of bloods 
inevitably suggest that the ingredients of the mixture 
once combined are inseparable, that they can be 
brought together in any relative amounts, and in 
short that in heredity we are concerned mainly with 
a quantitative problem. Truer notions of genetic 
physiology are given by the Hebrew expression “ seed.”’ 
If we speak of a man as ‘‘of the blood-royal’’ we 
think at once of plebeian dilution, and we wonder 
how much of the royal fluid is likely to be ‘‘in his 
veins’’; but if we say he is ‘‘of the seed of Abraham ”’ 
we feel something of the permanence and indestructi- 


NO. 2338; Svouqoa|| 


NATURE 


| AUGUST 20, 1914 


bility of that germ which can be divided and scattered 
among all nations, but remains recognisable in type 
and characteristics after 4000 years. 

I knew a breeder who had a chest containing bottles 
of coloured liquids by which he used to illustrate the 
relationships of his dogs, pouring from one to another 
and titrating them quantitatively to illustrate their 
pedigrees. Galton was beset by the same kind of 
mistake when he promulgated his ‘* Law of Ancestral 
Heredity.”” With modern research all this has been 
cleared away. The allotment of characteristics among 
offspring is not accomplished by the exudation of 
drops of a tincture representing the sum of the char- 
acteristics of the parent organism, but by a process 
of cell-division, in which numbers of these characters, 
or rather the elements upon which they depend, are 
sorted out among the resulting germ-cells in an 
orderly fashion. What these elements, or factors as 
we call them, are we do not know. That they are in 
some way directly transmitted by the material of the 
ovum and of the spermatozoon is obvious, but it seems 
to me unlikely that they are in any simple or literal 
sense material particles. I suspect rather that their 
properties depend on some phenomenon of arrange- 
ment. However that may be, analytical breeding 
proves that it is according to the distribution of these 
genetic factors, to use a non-committal term, that the 
characters of the offspring are decided. The first 
business of experimental genetics is to determine their 
number and interactions, and then to make an 
analysis of the various types of life. 

Now the ordinary gcnealogical trees, such as those 
which the studbooks provide in the case of the 
domestic animals, or the Heralds’ College provides 
in the case of man, tell nothing of all this. Such 
methods of depicting descent cannot even show the 
one thing they are devised to show—purity of ** blood.”’ 
For at last we know the physiological meaning of 
that expression. An organism is pure-bred when it 
has been formed by the union in fertilisation of two 
germ-cells which are alike in the factors they bear; 
and since the factors for the several characteristics 
are independent of each other, this question of purity 
must be separately considered for each of them. A 
man, for example, may be pure-bred in respect of his 
musical ability and cross-bred in respect of the colour 
of his eyes or the shape of his mouth. Though we 
know nothing of the essential nature of these factors, 
we know a good deal of their powers. They may 
confer height, colour, shape, instincts, powers both 
of mind and body; indeed, so many of the attributes 
which animals and plants possess that We ice: justified 
in the expectation that with continued analysis they 
will be proved to be responsible for most if not all of 
the differences by which the varying individuals of 
any species are distinguished from each other. I will 
not assert that the greater differences which charac- 
terise distinct species are due generally to such inde- 
pendent factors, but that is the conclusion to which 
the available evidence points. All this is now so well 
understood, and has been so often demonstrated and 
expounded, that details of evidence are now super- 
fluous. 

But for the benefit of those who are unfamiliar with 
such work let me briefly epitomise its main features 
and consequences. Since genetic factors are definite 
things, either present in or absent from any germ- 
cell, the individual may be either ‘‘ pure-bred”’ for any 
particular factor, or its absence, if he is constituted 
by the union of two germ-cells both possessing or 
both destitute of that factor. If the individual is 
thus pure, all his germ-cells will in that respect be 
identical, for they are simply bits of the similar germ- 


cells which united in fertilisation to produce the parent 


AUGUST 20, 1914| 


organism. We thus reach the essential principle, that 
an organism cannot pass on to offspring a factor which 
it did not itself receive in fertilisation. Parents, 
therefore, which are both destitute of a given factor 
can only produce offspring equally destitute of it; 
and, on the contrary, parents both pure-bred for the 
presence of a factor produce offspring equally pure- 
bred for its presence. Whereas the germ-cells of the 
pure-bred are all alike, those of the cross-bred, which 
results from the union of dissimilar germ-cells, are 
mixed in character. Each positive factor segregates 
from its negative opposite, so that some germ-cells 
carry the factor and some do not. Once the factors 
have been identified by their effects, the average com- 
position of the several kinds of families formed from 
the various matings can be predicted. 

Only those who have themselves witnessed the 
fixed operations of these simple rules can feel their 
full significance. We come to look behind the simu- 
lacrum of the individual body, and we endeavour to 
disintegrate its features into the genetic elements by 
whose union the body was formed. Set out in cold 
general phrases, such discoveries may seem remote 
from ordinary life. Become familiar with them, and 
you will find your outlook on the world has changed. 
Watch the effects of segregation among the living 
things with which you have to do—plants, fowls, dogs, 
horses, that mixed concourse of humanity we call the 
English race, your friends’ children, your own chil- 
dren, yourself—and however firmly imagination be 
restrained to the bounds of the known and the proved, 
you will feel something of that range of insight into 
nature which Mendelism has begun to give. The 
question is often asked whether there are not also 
in operation systems of descent quite other than those 
contemplated by the Mendelian rules. I myself have 
expected such discoveries, but hitherto none have been 
plainly demonstrated. It is true we are often puzzled 
by the failure of a parental type to reappear in its 
completeness after a cross—the merino sheep or the 
fantail pigeon, for example. These exceptions may 
still be plausibly ascribed to the interference of a 
multitude of factors, a suggestion not easy to dis- 
prove; though it seems to me equally likely that 
segregation has been in reality imperfect. Of the 
descent of quantitative characters we still know prac- 
tically nothing. These and hosts of difficult cases 
remain almost untouched. In particular the discovery 
of E. Baur, and the evidence of Winkler in regard to 
his ‘graft hybrids,’? both showing that the sub- 
epidermal layer of a plant—the layer from which the 
germ-cells are derived—may bear exclusively the 
characters of a part only of the soma, give hints of 
curious complications, and suggest that in plants at 
least the interrelations between soma and gamete may 
be far less simple than we have supposed. Never- 
theless, speaking generally, we see nothing to indi- 
cate that qualitative characters descend, whether in 
plants or animals, according to systems which are 
incapable of factorial representation. 

The body of evidence accumulated by this method 
of analysis is now very large, and is still growing fast 
by the labours of many workers. Progress is also 
beginning along many novel and curious lines. The 
details are too technical for inclusion here. Suffice it 
to say that not only have we proof that segregation 
affects a vast range of characteristics, but in the 
course of our analysis phenomena of most unexpected 
kinds have been encountered. Some of these things 
twenty years ago must have seemed inconceivable. 
For example, the two sets of sex organs, male and 
female, of the same plant may not be carrying the 
same characteristics; in some animals characteristics, 


NO. 2338, VOL. 93| 


NATURE 


| polarity shown 


637 


quite independent of sex, may be distributed solely 
or predominantly to one sex; in certain species the 
male may be breeding true to its own type, while 
the female is permanently mongrel, throwing off eggs 
of a distinct variety in addition to those of its own 
type; characteristics, essentially independent, may be 
associated in special combinations which are largely 
retained in the next generation, so that among the 
grandchildren there is numerical preponderance of 
those combinations which existed in the grandparents 
—a discovery which introduces us to a new pheno- 
menon of polarity in the organism. 

We are accustomed to the fact that the fertilised 
egg has a polarity, a front and hind end, for example; 
but we have now to recognise that it, or the primitive 
germinal cells formed from it, may have another 
in the groupings of the parental 
elements. I am entirely sceptical as to the occurrence 
of segregation solely in the maturation of the germ- 
cells, preferring at present to regard it as a special 
case of that patch-work condition we see in so many 
plants. These mosaics may break up, emitting bud- 
sports at various cell-divisions, and I suspect that the 
great regularity seen in the F, ratios of the cereals, 
for example, is a consequence of very late segregation, 
whereas the excessive irregularity found in other cases 
may be taken to indicate that segregation can happen 
at earlier stages of differentiation. 

The paradoxical descent of colour-blindness and 
other sex-limited conditions—formerly regarded as an 
inscrutable caprice of nature—has been represented 
with approximate correctness, and we already know 
something as to the way, or, perhaps, I should say 
ways, in which the determination of sex is accom- 
plished in some of the forms of life—though, I hasten 
to add, we have no inkling as to any method by which 
that determination may be influenced or directed. It 
is obvious that such discoveries have bearings on most 
of the problems, whether theoretical or practical, in 
which animals and plants are concerned. Permanence 
or change of type, perfection of type, purity or mixture 
of race, ‘racial development,” the succession of forms, 
from being vague phrases expressing matters of 
degree, are now seen to be capable of acquiring physio- 
logical meanings, already to some extent assigned 
with precision. For the naturalist—and it is to him 
that I am especially addressing myself to-day—these 
things are chiefly significant as relating to the history 
of organic beings—the theory of evolution, to use our 
modern name. They have, as I shall endeavour to 
show in my second address to be given in Sydney, an 
immediate reference to the conduct of human society. 

I suppose that everyone is familiar in outline with 
the theory of the origin of species which Darwin 
promulgated. Through the last fifty years this theme 
of the Natural Selection of favoured races has been 
developed and expounded in writings innumerable. 
Favoured races certainly can replace others. The 
argument is sound, but we are doubtful of its value. 
For us that debate stands adjourned. We go to 
Darwin for his incomparable collection of facts. We 
would fain emulate his scholarship, his width and his 
power of exposition, but to us he speaks no more 
with philosophical authority. We read his scheme of 
evolution as we would those of Lucretius or of 
Lamarck, delighting in their simplicity and_ their 
courage. The practical and experimental study of 
variation and heredity has not merely opened a new 
field; it has given a new point of view and new 
standards of criticism. Naturalists may still be found 

3 The fact that in certain plants the male end female organs respectively 


carry distinct factors may be quoted as almost decisively negativing the 
suggestion that segregation is confined to the reduction division. 


638 


expounding teleological systems* which would have 
delighted Dr. Pangloss himself, but at the present time 
few are misled. The student of genetics knows that 
the time for the development of theory is not yet. 
He would rather stick to the seed-pan and the incu- 
Bator. 

In face of what we now know of the distribution of 
variability in nature, the scope claimed for natural 
selection in determining the fixity of species must be 
greatly reduced. The doctrine of the survival of the 
fittest is undeniable so long as it is applied to the 
organism as a whole, but to attempt by this principle 
to find value in all definiteness of parts and functions, 
and in the name of science to see fitness everywhere, 
is mere eighteenth-century optimism. Yet it was in 
application to the parts, to the details of specific differ- 
ence, to the spots on the peacock’s tail, to the colouring 
of an orchid flower, and hosts of such examples, that 
the potency of natural selection was urged with the 
strongest emphasis. Shorn of these pretensions the 
doctrine of the survival of favoured races is a truism, 
helping scarcely at all to account for the diversity of 
species. Tolerance plays almost as considerable a part. 
By these admissions almost the last shred of that 
teleological fustian with which Victorian philosophy 
loved to clothe the theory of evolution is destroyed. 
Those who would proclaim that whatever is is right 
will be wise henceforth to base this faith frankly on 
the impregnable rock of superstition and to abstain 
from direct appeals to natural fact. 

My predecessor said last year that in physics the 
age is one of rapid progress and profound scepticism. 
In at least as high a degree this is true of biology, 
and as a chief characteristic of modern evolutionary 
thought we must confess also to a deep but irksome 
humility in presence of great vital problems. Every 
theory of evolution must be such as to accord with 
the facts of physics and chemistry, a primary neces- 
sity to which our predecessors paid small heed. For 
them the unknown was a rich mine of possibilities on 
which they could freely draw. For us it is rather 
an impenetrable mountain out of which the truth can 
be chipped in rare and isolated fragments. Of the 
physics and chemistry of life we know next to nothing. 
Somehow the characters of living things are bound 
up in properties of colloids, and are largely determined 
by the chemical powers of enzymes, but the study of 
these classes of matter have only just begun. Living 
things are found by a simple experiment to have 
powers undreamt of, and who knows what may be 
behind ? 

Naturally we turn aside from generalities. It is no 
time to discuss the origin of the Mollusca or of Dico- 
tvledons, while we are not even sure how it came to 
pass that Primula obconica has in twenty-five years 
produced its abundant new forms almost under our 
eyes. Knowledge of heredity has so reacted on our 
conceptions of variation that very competent men are 
even denying that variation in the old sense is a 
genuine occurrence at all. Variation is postulated as 
the basis of all evolutionary change. Do we then as 
a matter of fact find in the world about us variations 
occurring of such a kind as to warrant faith in a 


4 I take the following from the abstract of a recent Croonian Lecture ‘ On 
the Origin of Mammals” deliyered to the Royal Society :—‘‘ In Upper 
Triassic times the larger Cynodonts preyed upon the large Anomodont, 
Kannemeyeria, and carried on their existence so long as these Anomodonts 
survived, but died out with them about the end of the Trias or in Rhzetic 
times. The small Cynodonts, having neither small Anomodonts nor small 
Cotylosaurs to feed on, were forced to hunt the very active long-limbed 
‘Thecodonts. The greatly increased activity brought about that senes of 
changes which formed the mammals—the flexible skin with hair, the four- 
chambered heart and warm blood, the locse jaw with teeth for mastication, 
an increas d development of tactile sensation and a great increase of cere- 
brum. Not improbably the attacks of the newly-evolved Cynodont or 
mammalian type brought about a corresponding evolution in the Pseudo- 
suchian Thecodonts which ultimately resulted in the formation of Dinosaurs 
and Birds.” Broom, R., Proc. Roy. Soc., B., 87, p. 88. 


NO: 2338, V@E.)03)| 


NATURE 


[AUGUST 20, 1914 


contemporary progressive evolution? Till lately most 
of us would have said “ yes’? without misgiving. We 
should have pointed, as Darwin did, to the immense 
range of diversity seen in many wild species, so com- 
monly that the difficulty is to define the types them- 
selves. Still more conclusive seemed the profusion 
of forms in the various domesticated animals and 
plants, most of them incapable of existing even for a 
generation in the wild state, and therefore fixed un- 
questionably by human selection. These, at least, for 
certain, are new forms, often distinct enough to pass 
for species, which have arisen by variation. But when 
analysis is applied to this mass of variation the matter 
wears a different aspect. Closely examined, what is 
the ‘‘ variability ’’ of wild species? What is the natural 
fact which is denoted by the statement that a given 
species exhibits much variation? Generally one of 
two things: either that the individuals collected in one 
locality differ among themselves; or perhaps more 
often that samples from separate localities differ from 
each other. As direct evidence of variation it is clearly 
to the first of these phenomena that we must have 
recourse—the heterogeneity of a population breeding 
together in one area. This heterogeneity may be in any 
degree, ranging from slight differences that systemat- 
ists would disregard, to a complex variability such as 
we find in some moths, where there isan abundance of 
varieties so distinct that many would be classified as 
specific forms but for the fact that all are freely breeding 
together. Naturalists formerly supposed that any of 
these varieties might be bred from any of the others. 
Just as the reader of novels is prepared to find that 
any kind of parents might have any kind of children 
in the course of the story, so was the evolutionist 
ready to believe that any pair of moths might produce 
any of the varieties included in the species. Genetic 
analysis has disposed of all these mistakes. We have 
no longer the smallest doubt that in all these examples 
the varieties stand in a regular descending order, and 
that they are simply terms in a series of combinations 
of factors separately transmitted, of which each may 
be present or absent. 

The appearance of contemporary variability proves 
to be an illusion. Variation from step to step in the 
series must occur either by the addition or by the loss 
of a factor. Now, of the origin of new forms by loss 
there seems to me to be fairly clear evidence, but of 
the contemporary acquisition of any new factor I see 
no satisfactory proof, though I admit there are rare 
examples which may be so interpreted. We are left 
with a picture of variation utterly different from that 
which we saw at first. Variation now stands out as 
a definite physiological event. We have done with the 
notion that Darwin came latterly to favour, that large 
differences can arise by accumulation of small differ- 
ences. Such small differences are often mere 
ephemeral effects of conditions of life, and as such 
are not transmissible; but even small differences, when 
truly genetic, are factorial like the larger ones, and 
there is not the slightest reason for supposing that 
they are capable of summation. As to the origin or 
source of these positive separable factors, we are 
without any indication or surmise. By their effects 
we know them. to be definite, as definite, say, as the 
organisms which produce diseases; but how they arise 
and how they come to take part in the composition 
of the living creature so that when present they are 
treated in cell-division as constituents of the germs, 
we cannot conjecture. 

It was a commonplace of evolutionary theory that 
at least the domestic animals have been developed 
from a few wild types. Their origin was supposed 
to present no difficulty. The various races of fowl, 
for instance, all came from Gallus bankiva, the Indian 


j 


AUGUST 20, 1914] 


jungle-fowl. So we are taught; but try to recon- 
struct the steps in their evolution and you realise your 
hopeless ignorance. To be sure there are breeds, 
such as black-red game and brown leghorns, which 
have the colours of the jungle-fowl, though they 
differ in shape and other respects. As we know so 
little as yet of the genetics of shape, let us assume 
that those transitions could be got over. Suppose, 
further, as is probable, that the absence of the 
maternal instinct in the leghorn is due to loss of one 
factor which the jungle-fowl possesses. So far we 
are on fairly safe ground. But how about white 
leghorns? ‘Their origin may seem easy to imagine, 
since white varieties have often arisen in well-authen- 
ticated cases. But the white of white leghorns is not, 
as white in nature often is, due to the loss of the 
colour-elements, but to the action of something which 
inhibits their expression. Whence did that something 
come? The same question may be asked respecting 
the heavy breeds, such as Malays or Indian game. 
Each of these is a separate introduction from the East. 
To suppose that these, with their peculiar combs and 
close feathering, could have been developed from pre- 
existing European breeds is very difficult. On the 
other hand, there is no wild species now living any 
more like them. We may, of course, postulate that 
there was once such a species, now lost. That is 
quite conceivable, though the suggestion is purely 
speculative. I might thus go through the list of 
domesticated animals and plants of ancient origin 
and again and again we should be driven to this 
suggestion, that many of their distinctive characters 
must have been derived from some wild original now 
lost. Indeed, to this unsatisfying conclusion almost 
every careful writer on such subjects is now reduced. 
If we turn to modern evidence the case looks even 
worse. The new breeds of domestic animals made 
in recent times are the carefully selected products of 
recombination of pre-existing breeds. Most of the 
new varieties of cultivated plants are the outcome of 
deliberate crossing. There is generally no doubt in 
the matter. We have pretty full histories of these 
crosses in gladiolus, orchids, cineraria, begonia, 
calceolaria, pelargonium, etc. A very few certainly 
arise from a single origin. The sweet pea is the 
clearest case, and there are others which I should 
name with hesitation. The cyclamen is one of them, 
but we know that efforts to cross cyclamens were 
made early in the cultural history of the plant, and 
they may very well have been successful. Several 
plants for which single origins are alleged, such as 
the Chinese primrose, the dahlia, and tobacco, came 
to us in an already domesticated state, and their 
origins remain altogether mysterious. Formerly 
single origins were generally presumed, but at the 
present time numbers of the chief products of domes- 
tication, dogs, horses, cattle, sheep, poultry, wheat, 
oats, rice, plums, cherries, have in turn been accepted 
as ‘‘polyphyletic’’ or, in other words, derived from 
several distinct forms. The reason that has led to 
these judgments is that the distinctions between the 
chief varieties can be traced as far back as the 
evidence reaches, and that these distinctions are so 
great, so far transcending anything that we actually 
know variation capable of effecting, that it seems 
pleasanter to postpone the difficulty, relegating the 
critical differentiation to some misty antiquity into 
which we shall not be asked to penetrate. For it 
need scarcely be said that this is mere procrastination. 
If the origin of a form under domestication is hard 
to imagine, it becomes no easier to conceive of such 
enormous deviations from type coming to pass in the 
wild state. Examine any two thoroughly distinct 
species which meet each other in their distribution, 


NO. 2338, VOL. 93] 


NATURE 


639 


as, for instance, Lychnis diurna and vespertina do. 
In areas of overlap are many intermediate forms. 
These used to be taken to be transitional steps, and 
the specific distinctness of vespertina and diurna was 
on that account questioned. Once it is known that 
these supposed intergrades are merely mongrels be 
tween the two species the transition from one to the 
other is practically beyond our powers of imagination 
to conceive. If both these can survive, why has their 
common parent perished? Why when they cross do 
they not reconstruct it instead of producing partially 
sterile hybrids? I take this example to show how 
entirely the facts were formerly misinterpreted. 
When once the idea of a true-breeding—or, as we 
say, homozygous—type is grasped, the problem of 
variation becomes an insistent oppression. What can 
make such a type vary? We know, of course, one 
way by which novelty can be introduced—by crossing. 
Cross two well-marked varieties—for instance, of 
Chinese Primula—each breeding true, and in the 
second generation by mere recombination of the 
various factors which the two parental types severally 
introduced, there will be a profusion of forms, utterly 
unlike each other, distinct also from the original 


parents. Many of these can be bred true, and if 
found wild would certainly be described as good 
species. Confronted by the difficulty I have put 


before you, and contemplating such amazing poly- 
morphism in the second generation from a cross in 
Antirrhinum, Lotsy has lately with great courage 
suggested to us that all variation may be due to such 
crossing. I do not disguise my sympathy with this 
effort. After the blind complacency of conventional 
evolutionists it is refreshing to meet so frank an 
acknowledgment of the hardness of the problem. 
Lotsy’s utterance will at least do something to expose 
the artificiality of systematic zoology and botany. 
Whatever might or might not be revealed by experi- 
mental breeding, it is certain that without such tests 
we are merely guessing when we profess to distin- 
guish specific limits and to declare that this is a 
species and that a variety. The only definable unit in 
classification is the homozygous form which breeds 
true. When we presume to say that such and such 
differences are trivial and such others valid, we are 
commonly embarking on a course for which there is 
no physiological warrant. Who could have foreseen 
that the apple and the pear—so like each other that 
their botanical differences are evasive—could not be 
crossed together, though species of Antirrhinum so 
totally unlike each other as majus and molle can be 
hybridised, as Baur has shown, without a sign of 
impaired fertility? Jordan was perfectly right. The 
true-breeding forms which he distinguished in such 
multitudes are real entities, though the great 
systematists, dispensing with such laborious analysis, 
have pooled them into arbitrary Linnean species, for 
the convenience of collectors and for the simplification 
of catalogues. Such pragmatical considerations may 
mean much in the museum, but with them the student 
of the physiology of variation has nothing to do. 
These ‘‘little species,” finely cut, true-breeding, and 
innumerable mongrels between them, are what he 
finds when he examines any so-called variable type. 
On analysis the semblance of variability disappears, 
and the illusion is shown to be due to segregation and 
recombination of series of factors on pre-determined 
lines. As soon as the ‘‘little species’? are separated 
out they are found to be fixed. In face of such a re- 
sult we may well ask with Lotsy, is there such a 
thing as spontaneous variation anywhere? His 
answer is that there is not. 

Abandoning the attempt to show that positive 
factors can be added to the original stock, we have 


640 


further to confess that we cannot often actually prove 

variation by loss of factor to be a real phenomenon. 
Lotsy doubts whether even this phenomenon occurs. 
The sole source of variation, in his view, is crossing. 
But here I think he is on unsafe ground. When a 
well-established variety like ‘Crimson King” 
Primula, bred by Messrs. Sutton in’ thousands of in- 
dividuals, gives off, as it did a few years since, a 
salmon-coloured variety, ‘‘Coral King,’’ we might 
claim this as a genuine example of variation by loss. 
The new variety is a simple recessive. It differs from 
‘Crimson King’ only in one respect, the loss of a 
single colour-factor, and, of course, bred true from 
its origin. To account for the appearance of such a 
new form by any process of crossing is exceedingly 
difficult. From the nature of the case there can have 
been no cross since ‘‘Crimson King ’’ was established, 
and hence the salmon must have been concealed as a 
recessive from the first origin of that variety, even 
when it was represented by very few individuals, 
probably only by a single one. Surely, if any of these 
had been heterozygous for salmon this recessive could 
hardly have failed to appear during the process of 
self-fertilisation by which the stock would be multi- 
plied, even though that selfing may not have been 
strictly carried out. Examples like this seem to me 
practically conclusive.® They can be challenged, but 
not, I think, successfully. Then again in regard to 
those variations in number and division of parts which 
we call meristic, the reference of .these to original 
cross-breeding .is surely barred by the circumstances in 
which they often occur. There remain also the rare 
examples mentioned already in which a single wild 
origin may with much confidence be assumed. In 
spite of repeated trials, no one has yet succeeded in 
crossing the Sweet Pea with any other leguminous 
species. We know that early in its cultivated history 
it produced at least two marked varieties which I can 
only conceive of as spontaneously arising, though, 
no doubt, the profusion of forms we now have was 
made by the crossing of those original varieties. I 
mention the Sweet Pea thus prominently for another 
reason, that it introduces us to another though sub- 
sidiary form of variation, which may be described as 
a fractionation of factors. Some of my Mendelian 
colleagues have spoken of genetic factors as per- 
manent and indestructible. Relative permanence in 
a sense they have, for they commonly come out un- 
changed after segregation. But I am satisfied that 
they may occasionally undergo a quantitative dis- 
integration, with the consequence that varieties are 
produced intermediate between the integral varieties 
from which they were derived. These disintegrated 
conditions I have spoken of as subtraction—or reduc- 
tion—stages. For example, the Picotee Sweet Pea, 
with its purple edges, can surely be nothing but a 
condition produced by the factor which ordinarily 
makes the fully purple flower, quantitatively 
diminished. The pied animal, such as the Dutch 
rabbit, must similarly be regarded as the result of 
partial defect of the chromogen from which the pig- 
ment is formed, or conceivably of the factor which 
effects its oxidation. On such lines I think we may 
with great confidence interpret all those intergrading 
forms which breed true and are not produced by 
factorial interference. 

It is to be inferred that these fractional degradations 
are the consequence of irregularities in segregation. 
We constantly see irregularities in the ordinary 
meristic processes, and in the distribution of somatic 
differentiation... We are familiar with half segments, 


5 The numerous and most interesting ‘‘mutations’’ recorded by Prof. 
T. H. Morgan and his colleagues in the fly, Drosophila, may also be cited 
as unexceptionable cases. 


NO. 2338s, VOL. 193) 


NATURE 


[AUGUST 20, 1914 


| how 


with imperfect twinning, with leaves partially petaloid, 
with petals partially sepaloid. All these are evidences 
of departures from the normal regularity in the 
rhythms of repetition, or in those waves of differentia- 
tion by which the qualities are sorted out among the 
parts of the body. Similarly, when in segregation 
the qualities are sorted out among the germ-cells in 
certain critical cell-divisions, we cannot expect these 
differentiating divisions to be exempt from the im- 
perfections and irregularities which are found in all 
the grosser divisions that we can observe. If I am 
right, we shall find evidence of these irregularities 
in the association of unconformable numbers 
with the appearance of the novelties which I 
have called fractional.. In passing let us 
the history of the sweet pea belies those 
ideas of a continuous evolution with which we 
had formerly to contend. The big varieties came 
first. The little ones have arisen later, as I suggest 
by fractionation. Presented with a collection of 
modern sweet peas how prettily would the devotees 
of continuity have arranged them in a graduated 
series, showing how every intergrade could be found, 
passing from the full colour of the wild Sicilian 
species in one direction to white, in the other to the 
deep purple of ‘Black Prince,’ though happily we 
know these two to be among the earliest to have 
appeared. 
Having in and other considerations 


view these 


| which might be developed, I feel no reasonable doubt 


that though we may have to forgo a claim to varia- 
tions by addition of factors, yet variation both 
by loss of factors and by fractionation of factors 


is a genuine phenomenon of contemporary nature. 
If, then,. we have to dispense, as seems likely, 
‘with any addition from without we must begin 


seriously to consider whether the course of evolution 
can at all reasonably be represented as an unpacking 
of an original complex which contained within itself 
the whole range of diversity which living things 
present. I do not suggest that we should come to a 
judgment as to what is or is not probable in these 
respects. As I have said already, this is no time for 
devising theories of evolution, and I propound none. 
But as we have got to recognise that there has been 
an evolution, that somehow or other the forms of 
life have arisen from fewer forms, we may as well 
see whether we are limited to the old view that evolu- 
tionary progress is from the simple to the complex, 
and whether after all it is conceivable that the process 
was the other way about. When the facts of genetic 
discovery become familiarly known to _ biologists, 
and cease to be the preoccupation of a few, as they 
still are, many and long discussions must inevitably 
arise on the question, and I offer these remarks to 
prepare the ground. I ask you simply to open your 
minds to this possibility. It involves a certain effort. 
We have to reverse our habitual modes of thought. 
At first it may seem rank absurdity to suppose that 
the primordial form or forms of protoplasm could 
have contained complexity enough to produce the 
divers types of life. But it is easier to imagine that 
these powers could have been conveyed by extrinsic 
additions? Of what nature could these additions be? 
Additions of material cannot surely be in question. 
We are told that salts of iron in the soil may turn a 
pink hydrangea blue. The iron cannot be passed on 
to the next generation. How can the iron multiply 
itself? The power to assimilate the iron is all that 
can be transmitted. A disease-producing organism 


' like the pebrine of silkworms can in a very few cases 


be passed on through the germ-cells. Such an 
organism can multiply and can produce its char- 
acteristic effects in the next generation. But it does 


note 


— 
= re Ae 


AUGUST 20, 1914] 


not become part of the invaded host, and we cannot 
conceive it taking part in the geometrically ordered 
processes of segregation. These illustrations may 
seem too gross; but what refinement will meet the 
requirements of the problem, that the thing intro- 
duced must be, as the living organism itself is, 
capable of multiplication and of subordinating itself 
in a definite system of segregation? That which is 
conferred in variation must rather itself be a change, 
not of material, but of arrangement, or of motion. 
The invocation of additions extrinsic to the organism 
does not seriously help us to imagine how the power 
to change can be conferred, and if it proves that hope 
in that direction must be abandoned, I think we lose 
very little. By the re-arrangement of a very moderate 
number of things we soon reach a number of possi- 
bilities practically infinite. 

That primordial life may have been of small dimen- 
sions need not disturb us. Quantity is of no account 
in these considerations. Shakespeare once existed as 
a speck of protoplasm not so big as a small pin’s 
head. To this nothing was added that would not 
equally well have served to build up a baboon or a 
rat. Let us consider how far we can get by the 
process of removal of what we call ‘‘ epistatic’’ factors, 
in other words those that control, mask, or suppress 
underlying powers and faculties. I have spoken of 
the vast range of colours exhibited by modern sweet 
peas. There is no question that these have been de- 
rived from the one wild bi-colour form by a process of 
successive removals. When the vast range of form, 
size, and flavour to be found among the cultivated 
apples is considered it seems difficult to suppose that 
all this variety is hidden in the wild crab-apple. I 
cannot positively assert that this is so, but I think all 
familiar with Mendelian analysis would agree with 
me that it is probable, and that the wild crab con- 
tains presumably inhibiting elements which the culti- 
vated kinds have lost. The legend that the seedlings 
of cultivated apples become crabs is often repeated. 
After many inquiries among the raisers of apple 
seedlings I have never found an authentic case—once 
only even an alleged case, and this on inquiry proved 
to be unfounded. I have confidence that the artistic 
gifts of mankind will prove to be due not to some- 
thing added to the make-up of an ordinary man, but 
to the absence of factors which in the normal person 
inhibit the development of these gifts. They are 
almost beyond doubt to be looked upon as releases 
of powers normally suppressed. The instrument is 
there, but it is ‘‘stopped down.’’ The scents of 
flowers or fruits, the finely repeated divisions that give 
its quality to the wool of the merino, or in an 
analogous case the multiplicity of quills to the tail of 
the fantail pigeon, are in all probability other examples 
of such releases. You may ask what guides us in the 
discrimination of the positive factors and how we can 
satisfy ourselves that the appearance of a quality is 
due to loss. It must be conceded that in these deter- 
minations we have as yet recourse only to the effects 
of dominance. When the tall pea is crossed with the 
dwarf, since the offspring is tall we say that the tall 
parent passed a factor into the cross-bred which makes 
it tall. The pure tall parent had two doses of this 
factor; the dwarf had none; and since the cross-bred 
is tall we say that one dose of the dominant tallness 
is enough to give the full height. The reasoning 
seems unanswerable. But the commoner result of 
crossing is the production of a form intermediate 
between the two pure parental types. In such 
examples we see clearly enough that the full parental 
characteristics can only appear when they are homo- 
zvgous—formed from similar germ-cells, and that one 
dose is insufficient to produce either effect fully. When 


NO. 2338, VOL. 93] 


NATURE 


641 


this is so we can never be sure which side is positive 
and which negative. Since, then, when dominance 
is incomplete we find ourselves in this difficulty, we 
perceive that the amount of the effect is our only 
criterion in distinguishing the positive from the nega- 
tive, and when we return even to the example of the 
tall and dwarf peas the matter is not so certain as it 
seemed. Professor Cockerell lately found among 
thousands of yellow sunflowers one which was partly 
red. By breeding he raised from this a form whollv 
red. Evidently the yellow and the wholly red are the 
pure forms, and the partially red is the heterozygote. 

We may then say that the yellow is YY with two 
doses of a positive factor which inhibits the develop- 
ment of pigment; the red is yy, with no dose of the 
inhibitor ; and the partially red are Vy, with only one 
dose of it. But we might be tempted to think the 
red was a positive characteristic, and invert the ex- 
pressions, representing the red as RR, the partly red as 
Ry, and the yellow as rr. According as we adopt the 
one or the other system of expression we shall inter- 
pret the evolutionary change as one of loss or as one 
of addition. May we not interpret the other apparent 
new dominants in the same way? The white domi- 
nant in the fowl or in the Chinese primula can inhibit 
colour. But may it not be that the original coloured 
fowl or primula had two doses of a factor which in- 
hibited this inhibitor? The Pepper moth, Amphidasys 
betularia, produced in England about 1840 a black 
variety, then a novelty, now common in certain areas, 
which behaves as a full dominant. The pure blacks 
are no blacker than the cross-bred. Though at first 
sight it seems that the black must have been some- 
thing added, we can without absurdity suggest that 
the normal is the term in which two doses of inhibitor 
are present, and that in the absence of one of them 
the black appears. 

In spite of seeming perversity, therefore, we have 
to admit that there is no evolutionary change which in 
the present state of our knowledge we can positively 
declare to be not due to loss. When this has been 
conceded it is natural to ask whether the removal of 
inhibiting factors may not be invoked in alleviation 
of the necessity which has driven students of the 
domestic breeds to refer their diversities to multiple 
origins. Something, no doubt, is to be hoped for in 
that direction, but not until much better and more 
extensive knowledge of what variation by loss may 
effect in the living body can we have any real assur- 
ance that this difficulty has been obviated. We should 
be greatly helped by some indication as to whether the 
origin of life has been single or multiple. Modern 
opinion is, perhaps, inclining to the multiple theory, 
but we have no real evidence. Indeed, the problem 
still stands outside the range of scientific investiga- 
tion, and when we hear the spontaneous formation 
of formaldehyde mentioned as a possible first step 
in the origin of life, we think of Harry Lauder in 
the character of a Glasgow schoolboy pulling out his 
treasures from his pocket—‘‘ That’s a wassher—for 
makkin’ motor cars’’! 

As the evidence stands at present all that can be 
safely added in amplication of the evolutionary creed 
may be summed up in the statement that variation 
occurs as a definite event often producing a sensibly 
discontinuous result; that the succession of varieties 
comes to pass by the elevation and establishment of 
sporadic groups of individuals owing their origin to 
such isolated events; and that the change which we 
see as a nascent variation is often, perhaps always, 
one of loss. Modern research lends not the smallest 
encouragement or sanction to the view that gradual 
evolution occurs by the transformation of masses of 
individuals, though that faney has fixed itself on 


642 


popular imagination. The isolated events to which 
variation is due are evidently changes in the germinal 
tissues, probably in the manner in which they divide. 
It is likely that the occurrence of these variations is 
wholly irregular, and as to their causation we are 
absolutely without surmise or even plausible specula- 
tion. Distinct types once arisen, no doubt a pro- 
fusion of the forms called species have been derived 
from them by simple crossing and subsequent recom- 
bination. New species may be now in course of 
creation by this means, but the limits of the process 
are obviously narrow. On the other hand, we see 
no changes in progress around us in the contemporary 
world w hich we can imagine likely to culminate in the 
evolution of forms distinct in the larger sense. By 
intercrossing dogs, jackals, and wolves new forms of 
these tvpes can be made, some of which may be 
species, but I see no reason to think that from such 
material a fox could be bred in indefinite time, or that 
dogs could be bred from foxes. 

Whether science will hereafter discover that certain 
groups can by peculiarities in their genetic physiology 
be declared to have a prerogative “quality justifying 
their recognition as species in the old sense, and that 
the differences of others are of such a subordinate 
degree that they may in contrast be termed varieties, 
further genetic research alone can show. I myself 
anticipate that such a discovery will be made, but I 
cannot defend the opinion with positive conviction. 

Somewhat reluctantly, and rather from a sense of 
duty, I have devoted most of this address to the evolu- 
tionary aspects of genetic research. We cannot keep 
these things out of our heads, though somtimes we 
wish we could. The outcome, as you will have seen, 
is negative, destroying much that till lately passed 
for gospel. Destruction may be useful, but it is a 
low kind of work. We are just about where Boyle 
was in the seventeenth century. We can dispose of 
alchemy, but we cannot make more than a quasi- 
chemistry. We are awaiting our Priestley and our 
Mendeléeff. In truth it is not these wider aspects of 
genetics that are at present our chief concern. They 
will come in their time. The great advances of 
science are made like those of evolution, not by im- 
perceptible mass-improvement, but by the sporadic 
birth of penetrative genius. The journeymen follow 
after him, widening and clearing up, as we are doing 
along the track that Mendel found. 


SECTION A. 
MATHEMATICS AND PHYSICS. 
Opreninc ApprEssS BY Pror. F. T. Trouton, M.A., 
Sc.D., F.R.S., PRESIDENT OF THE SECTION. 


WE have lost since the last meeting of the Section 
several distinguished members who have in the past 
added so much to the usefulness of our discussions. 
These include Sir Robert Ball, who was one of our 
oldest attendants, and was president of the section at 
the Manchester meeting in 1886; Prof. Poynting, who 
was president of the section at Dover in 1899; and 
Sir David Gill, who was president of the Association 
at Leicester in 1907. 

It seems appropriate at this meeting in the City of 
Melbourne to mention one who passed away from his 
scientific labours somewhat previous to the last meet- 
ing. I allude to W. Sutherland of this city, whose 
writings have thrown so much light on molecular 
physics and whose scientific perspicacity was only 
equalled by his modesty. 

This meeting of the British Association will be a 
memorable one as being indicative, as it were, of the 
scientific coming of age of Australia. Not that the 


NO. 2338, VOL. 93] 


NALORE 


' 


[AucusT 20, 


IQI4 


maturity of Australian science was unknown to those 
best able to judge, indeed the fact could not but be 
known abroad, for in England alone there are many 
workers in science hailing from Australia and New 
Zealand, who have enhanced science with their in- 
vestigations and who hold many important scientific 
posts in that country. In short, one finds it best 
nowadays to ask of any young investigator if he 
comes from the Antipodes. 

This speaks well for the universities and_ their 
staffs, who have so successfully set the example of 
scientific investigation to their pupils. 

Radio-activity and kindred phenomena seem to have 
attracted them most of late years, and it would per- 
haps have been appropriate to have shortly reviewed 
in this address our knowledge in these subjects, to 
which the sons of Australasia have so largely con- 
tributed. 

Twenty-five years ago FitzGerald and others were 
speculating on the possibility of unlocking and utilising 
the internal energy of the atom. Then came the 
epoch-making discovery of Becquerel, to be followed 
by the brilliant work of Rutherford and others show- 
ing us that no key was required to unlock this energy, 
the door lay open. 

We have still facing us the analogous case of a 
hitherto untapped source of energy arising from our 
motion through the ether. All attempts, it is true, to 
realise this have failed, but nevertheless he would be 
a brave prophet who would deny the possibility of 
tapping this energy despite the ingenious theories of 
relativity which have been put forward to explain 
matters away. ‘There is no doubt but that up to the 
present nothing hopeful has been accomplished to- 
wards reaching this energy and there are grave 
difficulties in the way; but ‘‘ Relativity’ is, as it were, 
merely trying to remove the lion in the path by laying 
down the general proposition that the existence of 
lions is an impossibility. The readiness with which 
the fundamental hypotheses of “ Relativity’’ were 
accepted by many is characteristic of present-day 
physics, or perhaps more correctly speaking is an 
exaggerated example of it. 

Such an acceptance as this could hardly be thought 
of as taking place half-a-century ago when a purely 
dynamical basis was expected for the full explanation 
of all phenomena, and when facts were only held to 
be completely understood if amenable to such treat- 
ment; while, if not so, they were put temporarily 
into a kind of suspense account waiting the time 
when the phenomenon would succumb to treatment 
based on dynamics. 

Many things, perhaps not the least among them 
radio-activity, have conspired to change all this and 
to produce an attitude of mind prepared to be content 
with a much less rigid basis than would have been 
required by the natural philosophers of a past genera- 
tion. These were the sturdy Protestants of science, 
to use an analogy, while we of the present day are 
much more catholic in our scientific beliefs, and in 
fact it would seem that nowadays to be used to any- 
thing is synonymous with understanding it. 

Leaving, however, these interesting questions, I 
will confine my remarks to a rather neglected corner 
of physics, namely to the phenomena of absorption 
and adsorption of solutions. The term adsorption 
was introduced to distinguish between absorption 
which takes place throughout the mass of the absorb- 
ing material and those cases in which it takes place 
only over its surface. If, for instance, glass, pow- 
dered so as to provide a large surface, is introduced 
into a solution of a salt in water, we have in general 
some of the salt leaving the body of the solution and 
adhering in one form or other to the surface of the 


| 


AUGUST 20, 1914] 


glass. It is to this the term adsorption has been 
applied. Physicists have now begun to take up the 
question seriously, but it was to biologists and 


NATURE 


' 
] 
| 
| 
| 
| 


especially physiological chemists that most of our | 


knowledge of the subject in the past was due, the 
phenomenon being particularly attractive to them, 
seeing that so many of the processes they are in- 
terested in take place across surfaces. 

As far as investigations already made go, the laws 
of adsorption appear to be very complicated, and no 
doubt many of the conflicting experimental results 
which have been obtained are in part due to this, 
workers under somewhat different conditions obtaining 
apparently contradictory effects. 

On the whole, however, it may be said that the 
amount adsorbed increases with the strength of solu- 
tion according to a simple power law, and diminishes 
with rise of temperature; but there are many excep- 
tions to these simple rules. For instance, in the case 
of certain sulphates and nitrates the amount adsorbed 
by the surface of, say, precipitated silica, only in- 
creases up to a certain critical point as the strength 
of the solution is increased. Then further increase in 
the strength of the solution causes the surface to 
give up some of the salt it has already adsorbed or 
the amount adsorbed is actually less now than that 
adsorbed from weaker solutions. Beyond this stage 
for still greater concentrations of the solutions the 
amount adsorbed goes on increasing as before the 
critical point was reached. 

There is some reason for thinking that there are 
two modes in which the salt is taken up or adsorbed 
by the solid surface. The first of them results from 
a simple strengthening of the solution in the surface 
layers; the second, which takes place with rather 
stronger concentrations, is a deposition in what is 
apparently analogous to the solid form. It would 
seem that the first reaches out from the solid surface 
to about 10-§ cm.—which is the order of the range of 
attraction of the particles of the solid substance. 

The cause of the diminution in the adsorption layer 
at a certain critical value of the concentration is diffi- 
cult to understand. Something analogous has been 
observed by Lord Rayleigh in the thickness of layers 
of oil floating on the surface of water. As oil is 
supplied the thickness goes on increasing up to a 
certain point, beyond this, on further addition of oil, 
the layer thins itself at some places and becomes much 
thicker at others, intermediate thicknesses to these 
being apparently unstable and unable to exist. As 
helping towards an explanation of the diminution in 
the adsorption layer, we may suppose that as the 
strength of the solution is increased from zero, the 
adsorption is at first merely an increased density of 
the solution in the surface layer. For some reason, 
after this has reached a certain limit, further addition 
of salt to the solution renders this mode of composition 
of the surface layers unstable, and there is a breaking 
up of the arrangement of the layer with a diminution 
in its amount. We may now suppose the second 
mode of deposition to begin to show its effect with a 
recovery in the amount of the surface layers and a 
further building up of the adsorption deposits. 

On account of passing through this point of in- 
stability the process is irreversible, so that the appli- 
cation of thermo-dynamics to the phenomenon of 
adsorption is necessarily greatly restricted in its 
usefulness. 

A possible cause of the instability in the adsorption 
layer which occurs at the critical point may be looked 
for in the alternations in the sign of the mutual forces 
between attracting particles of the kind suggested by 
Lord Kelvin and others. Within a certain distance 
apart—the molecular range—the particles of matter 


NO. 2338, VOL. 93] 


t 


643 


| mutually attract one another, while at very close dis- 


tances they obviously must repel, for two particles 
refuse to occupy the same space. At some inter- 
mediate distances the force must pass through zero 
value. It has for various reasons been thought that, 
in addition, the force has zero value at a second 
distance lying between the first zero and the molecular 
range, with accompanying alternations in the sign of 
the force. Thus, starting from zero distance apart of 
the particles, the sign of the force is negative or re- 
pulsive; then, as the distance apart is ‘supposed to 
increase, the force of repulsion diminishes, and after 
passing through zero value becomes positive or attrac- 
tive; next, as the distance is increased, the force 
diminishes again, and after passing through a 
second zero becomes negative for a second time; 
finally, the force on passing through a third zero 
becomes positive, and is then in the stage dealt with 
in capillary and other questions. 

As an instance, of where these alternations of sign 
seem to be manifest, may be mentioned the case of 
certain crystals when split along cleavage planes. 
The split often runs along further than the position 
of the splitting instrument or inserted wedge seems 
to warrant. This would occur if the particles on 
either side of the cleavage plane were situated at the 
distance apart where the force between them was in 
the first attractive condition, for then on increasing 
the distance between the particles by means of the 
wedge the force changes sign and becomes repulsive, 
thus helping the splitting to be propagated further 
out. 

Assuming that a repulsive force can supervene be- 
tween the particles in the adsorption layer, through 
the particles becoming so crowded in places as to 
reduce their mutual distances to the stage when re- 
pulsion sets in, we might expect that an instability 
would be set up. 

As already stated, a rise in temperature reduces 
in general the amount adsorbed, but below the critical 
point the nitrates and sulphates are exceptional, for 
rise in temperature here increases the amount ad- 
sorbed from a given solution. This obviously necessi- 
tates that the isothermals cross one another at the 
critical point in an adsorption-concentration diagram. 
This may perhaps account for some observers finding 
that adsorption did not change with temperature. 
We have another exception to the simple laws of 
adsorption in the case of the alkali chlorides; this 
exception occurs under certain conditions of tempera- 
ture and strength of solution. The normal condensa- 
tion into the surface layer is reversed and the salt is 
repelled into the general solution instead of being 
attracted by the surface. In other words, it is the 
turn of the other constituent of the solution, namely, 
the water, to be adsorbed. 

It is a very well known experiment in adsorption to 
run a solution such as that of permanganate of potash 
through a filter of sand, or, better, one of precipi- 
tated silica, so as to provide a very large surface. 
The first of the solution to come through the filter 
has practically lost all its salt owing to having been 
adsorbed by the surface of the sand. 

I was interested in finding a few months ago that 
Defoe, the author of ‘‘ Robinson Crusoe,’ in one of 
his other books, depicts a party of African travellers 
as being saved from thirst in a place where the water 
was charged with alkali by filtering the water through 
bags of sand. Whether this is a practical thing or 
not is doubtful, or even if it has ever been tried; for 
it is only the first part of the liquid to come through 
the filter which is purified, and very soon the surface 
has taken up all the salt it can adsorb, and after that, 
of course, the solution comes through intact. It is 


644 


interesting, however, to know that so long ago as 
Defoe’s time the phenomenon of adsorption from salt 
solutions had been observed. It is not so well known 
that in the case of some salts under the circumstances 
mentioned above, the first of the solution to come 
through the sand filter is stronger instead of weaker. 
This, as already mentioned, is because water, or at 
least a weaker solution, forms the adsorption layer. 

Most of the alkali chlorides as the temperature is 
raised show this anomalous adsorption, provided the 
strength of the solution is below a certain critical 
value differing for each temperature. For strengths 
of solution above these values the normal phenomenon 
takes place. 

No investigations seem to have been made on the 
effect of pressure on adsorption. These data are much 
to be desired. 

The investigation of adsorption and absorption 
should throw light on osmosis, as in the first place 
the phenomenon occurs across a surface necessarily 
covered with an adsorption layer, and in the second 
place, as we shall see, the final condition is an equili- 
brium between the absorption of water by the solution 
and that by the membrane. 

The study of the conditions of absorption of water 
throughout the mass of the colloidal substance of 
which osmotic membranes are made is of much in- 
terest. Little work has been done on the subject as 
yet, but what little has been done is very promising. 

It is convenient to call the material of which a semi- 
permeable membrane is made the semi-permeable 
medium. The ideal semi-permeable medium will not 
absorb any salt from the solution but only water, 
but such perfection is probably seldom to be met with. 
If a semi-permeable medium such as parchment paper 
be immersed in a solution, say, of sugar, less water 
is taken up or absorbed than is the case when the 
immersion is in pure water. The diminution in the 
amount absorbed is found to increase with the strength 
of the solution. It is at the same time found that the 
absorption or release of water by the semi-permeable 
medium according as the solution is made weaker or 
stronger is accompanied by a swelling or shrinkage 
greater than can be accounted for by the water taken 
up or rejected. 

The amount of water absorbed by a semi-permeable 
medium from a solution is found by experiment to 
depend upon the hydrostatic pressure. If the pressure 
be increased the amount of water absorbed by the 
semi-permeable medium is increased. It is always 
thus possible by the application of pressure to force 
the semi-permeable medium to take up from a given 
solution as much water as it takes up from pure 
water at atmospheric pressure. 

It is not possible for a mass of such a medium to 
be simultaneously in contact and in equilibrium with 
both pure water and with a solution all at one and 
the same pressure, seeing that the part of the medium 
in contact with the pure water would hold more water 
than that part in contact with the solution and con- 
sequently diffusion would take place through the mass 
of the medium. 

If, however, the medium be arranged so as to 
separate the solution and the water and provided the 
medium is capable of standing the necessary strain, 
it is possible to increase the pressure of the solution 
without increasing the pressure of the water on the 
other side. Thus the part of the medium which is in 
contact with the solution is at a higher pressure than 
that part in contact with the pure solvent; conse- 
quently the medium can be in equilibrium with both 
the solution and the solvent, for if the pressures are 
rightly adjusted the moisture throughout the medium 
is everywhere the same. 


NO: 23300 VOEwO 3] 


NATURE 


| AUGUST 20, 1914 


The ordinary arrangement for showing osmotic 
pressure is a case such as we are considering, and 
equilibrium throughout the membrane is only obtained 
wnen the necessary difference in pressure exists be- 
tween the two sides of the membrane. 

This condition would eventually be reached no 
matter how thick the membrane was. It is some- 
times helpful to think of the membrane as being very 
thick. It precludes any temptation to view molecules 
as shooting across from one liquid to the other 
through some kind of peep-holes in the membrane. 

The advantage in a thin membrane in practice is 
simply that the necessary moisture is rapidly applied 
to the active surface, thus enabling the pressure on 
the side of the solution to rise quickly, but it has no 
effect on the ultimate equilibrium. 

As far as that goes, the semi-permeable membrane 
or saturated medium might be infinitely thick, or, 
in other words, there need be no receptacle or place 
for holding the pure solvent outside the membrane 
at all. In fact, the function of the receptacle contain- 
ing the pure solvent is only to keep the medium moist, 
and is no more or no less important than the vessel 
of water supplied to the gauze of the wet-bulb ther- 
mometer. Jt is merely to keep up the supply of water 
to the medium. 

The real field where the phenomenon of osmosis 
takes place is the surface of separation between the 
saturated semi-permeable medium and the solution. 
Imagine a large mass of colloidal substance saturated 
with water and having a cavity containing a solution. 
The pressure will now tend to rise in the cavity until 
it reaches the osmotic pressure—that is, until there 
is established an equilibrium of surface transfer of 
molecules from the solution into the medium and back 
from the medium into the solution. 

No doubt, the phenomenon as thus described occurs 
often in nature. It is just possible that the high- 
pressure liquid cavities, which mineralogists find in 
certain rock crystals, have been formed in some such 
manner in the midst of a mass of Semi-permeable 
medium; the pure solvent in this case being carbon 
dioxide and the medium colloidal silica, which has 
since changed into quartz crystal. 

In considering equilibrium between a_ saturated 
semi-permeable medium and a solution there seems 
fo me to be a point which should be carefully con- 
sidered before being neglected in any complete theory. 
That is, the adsorption layer over the surface of the 
semi-permeable medium. We have seen that solu- 
tions are profoundly modified in the surface layers 
adjoining certain solids, through concentration or 
otherwise of the salts in the surface layer, so that the 
actual equilibrium of surface transfer of water mole- 
cules is not between the unmodified solution and the 
semi-permeable medium, but between the altered 
solution in the absorption layer and the saturated 
medium. Actual determinations of the adsorption by 
colloids are much wanted, so as to be able to be quite 
sure of what this correction amounts to or even if 
it exists. It may turn out to be zero. If there is 
adsorption, however, it may possibly help to account 
for part of the unexpectedly high values of the osmotic 
pressure observed at high concentrations of the solu- 
tion, the equilibrium being, as we have seen, between 
the saturated medium and a solution of greater con- 
centration than the bulk of the liquid, namely, that 
of the adsorption layer. In addition, when above the 
critical adsorption point, there may be a deposit in 
the solid state. This may produce a kind of polarised 
equilibrium of surface transfer in which the molecules 
which discharge from the saturated medium remain 
unaltered in amount, but those which move back from 
the adsorption layer are reduced owing to this de- 


= Ree treniesaee.- 


§ 
4 
¥ 


An ceat 


AUGUST 20, 1914] 


NATURE 


645 


posit, thus necessitating an increase in pressure for 
equilibrium. If either or both of these effects really 
exist, it would seem to require that the pressure 
should be higher for equilibrium of the molecular 
surface transfer than if there were no adsorption 
layer and the unaltered solution were to touch the 
medium, but at the same time it should be remem- 
bered that there is a second surface where equilibrium 
must also exist—that is, the surface of separation of 
the adsorption layer and the solution itself. It is 
just possible that the two together cancel each other’s 
action. 

Quantitative determinations of absorption by solid 
media from solution are hard to carry out, but with 
a liquid medium it is not so difficult. Ether con- 
stitutes an excellent semi-permeable medium for use 
with sugar solution, because it takes up or dissolves 
only a small quantity of water and no sugar. A 
series of experiments using these for medium and 
solution has shown (1) that the absorption of water 
from a solution diminishes with the strength of the 
solution; and (2) that the absorption of water for any 
given strength of solution increases with the pressure. 
This increase with pressure is somewhat more rapid 
than if it were in proportion to the pressure. On the 
other hand, from pure water ether absorbs in excess 
. of normal almost in proportion to the pressure. Cer- 
tainly this is so up to 100 atmospheres. This would 
go to confirm the suggestion already made that the 
departure from proportionality in the osmotic pressure 
is attributable to absorption. 

By applying pressure ether can be thus made to 
take up the same quantity of water from any given 
solution as it takes up from pure water at atmospheric 
pressure. It is found by experiment that this pres- 
sure is the osmotic pressure proper to the solution in 
question. 

Decidedly the most interesting fact connected with 
the whole question of osmotic pressure, the behaviour 
of vapour pressures from solution, and the equilibrium 
of molecular transfer of solutions with colloids, is 
that discovered by van ’t Hoff, that the hydrostatic 
pressure in question is equal to what would be pro- 
duced by a gas having the same number of particles 
as those of the introduced salt. Take the case of a 
mass of colloid or semi-permeable medium placed in 
a vessel of water; the colloid when in equilibrium at 
atmospheric pressure holds what we will call the 
normal moisture. By increasing the pressure this 
moisture can be increased to any desired amount. 
Now, on introducing salt the moisture in the colloid 
can be reduced at will. The question is, what quan- 
tity of salt must be introduced just to bring back the 
amount of the moisture in the colloid to normal? 
Here we get a great insight into the internal mechan- 
ism of the liquid state. The quantity of salt required 
turns out to be, approximately at least, that amount 
which if in the gaseous state would produce the 
pressure. So that normality can be either directly 
restored by removing the pressure or indirectly by 
introducing salt in quantity which just takes up the 
applied pressure. That this is so naturally suggested 
that the salt, although compelled to remain within 
the confines of the liquid, nevertheless produces the 
same molecular bombardment as it would were it 
in the gaseous state, though, of course, the free path 
must be viewed as enormously restricted compared with 
that in the gaseous state. 

Many have felt a difficulty in accepting this view 
of a molecular bombardment occurring in the liquid 
state, but of recent years much light has been 
thrown on the subject of molecular movements in 
liquids, especially by Perrin’s work, so that much of 


NO. 2338, VOL. 93] 


the basis of this difficulty may be fairly considered as 
now removed. 

Quite analogous to the reduction from the normal 
of the moisture held by a semi-permeable medium 
brought about by the addition of salt to the water, is 
the reduction in the vapour pressure arising from the 
presence of a salt'in the water. The vapour pressure 
is likewise increased by the application of hydrostatic 
pressure, which may be effected by means of an inert 
gas. In both cases the hydrostatic pressure which 
must be applied to bring back to normality is equal 
to that which the added salt would exert if it were 
in the state of vapour or, in other words, the osmotic 
pressure. 

The two cases are really very similar. In both 
there is equal molecular transfer backwards and for- 
wards across the bounding surface. In the one a 
transfer from that solution to the semi-permeable 
medium and back from it into the solution. In the 
other a transfer from the solution into the super- 
ambient vapour and back from it into the solution. 

The processes are very similar, namely, equal mole- 
cular transfer to and fro across the respective surfaces 
of separation. 

Thus we may in the case of osmotic equilibrium 
attribute the phenomenon with Callendar to evapora- 
tion, but not evaporation in its restricted sense, from 
a free surface of liquid, but as we have seen from a 
saturated colloidal surface into the solution. This 
process might perhaps be better referred to as mole- 
cular emigration, the term migration being already a 
familiar one in connection with liquid phenomena. 


SECTION B. 
CHEMISTRY. 


OprNING ADDRESS BY PRoF. WILLIAM J. Pope, M.A., 
Pi Da kh RIS, | PRESIDENTNEON LHe SEG TON: 


Tue British Association has been firmly established 
as one of the institutions of our Empire for more than 
half a century past. The powerful hold which it has 
acquired probably arises from the welcome which 
every worker in science extends to an _ occasional 
cessation of his ordinary routine—a respite during 
which the details of the specific inquiry in hand may 
be temporarily cast aside, and replaced by leisurely 
discussion with colleagues on the broader issues of 
scientific progress. 

The investigator, continually occupied with his own 
problems and faced with an ever-increasing mass of 
technical literature, ordinarily finds little time for 
reflection upon the real meaning of his work; he 
secures, in general, far too few opportunities of con- 
sidering in a philosophical sort of way the past, 
present, and future of his own particular branch of 
scientific activity. It is not difficult to form a fairly 
accurate survey of the position to which chemistry 
had attained a generation ago, perhaps even a few 
years ago; probably no intellect at present existing 
could pronounce judgment upon. the present position 
of our science in terms which would commend them- 
selves to the historian of the twenty-first century. 
Doubtless even one equipped with a complete know- 
ledge of all that has been achieved, standing on the 
very frontier of scientific advance and peering into the 
surrounding darkness, would be quite incompetent to 
make any adequate forecast of the conquests which 
will be made by chemical and physical science during 
the next fifty years. At the same time, chemical 
history tells us that progress is the result in large 
measure of imperfect attempts to appreciate the pre- 
sent and to forecast the future. I therefore propose to 


646 


lay before you a sketch of the present position of 
certain branches of chemical knowledge and to discuss 
the directions in which progress is to be sought; 
none of us dare cherish the conviction that his views 
on such matters are correct, but everyone desirous of 
contributing towards the development of his science 
must attempt an appreciation of this kind. The im- 
portance to the worker and to the subject of free 
ventilation and discussion of the point of view taken 
by the individual can scarcely be over-estimated. 

The two sciences of chemistry and physics were at 
one time included as parts of the larger subject en- 
titled natural philosophy, but in the early part of the 
nineteenth century they drew apart. Under the 
stimulus of Dalton’s atomic theory, chemistry de- 
veloped into a study of the interior of the molecule, 
and, as a result of the complication of the observed 
phenomena, progressed from stage to stage as a 
closely reasoned mass of observed facts and logical 
conclusions. Physics, less entangled in its infancy 
with numbers of experimental data which apparently 
did not admit of quantitative correlation, was de- 
veloped largely as a branch of applied mathematics, 
such achievements of the formal physics of the last 
century as the mathematical theory of light and the 
kinetic theory of gases are monuments to the powers 
of the human intellect. 

The path of chemistry, as an application of pure 
logical argument to the interpretation of complex 
masses of observations, thus gradually diverged from 
that taken by physics as the mathematical treatment 
of less involved experimental! data, although both 
subjects derived their impetus to development from the 
speculations of genius. 

It is interesting to note, however, that during recent 
years the two sciences, which were so sharply dis- 
tinguished twenty years ago as to lead to mutual 
misunderstandings, are now converging. Many 
purely chemical questions have received such full 
quantitative study that the results are susceptibie to 
attack by the methods of the mathematical physicist ; 
on the other hand, the intense complication perceived 
during the fuller examination of many physical pro- 
lems, has led to their interpretation by the logical 
argument of the chemist because the traditional mathe- 
matical mode of attack of the phycisist has proved 
powerless to deal with the intricacies exhibited by 
the observed facts. 

The progress of chemistry during the last century 
has been mainly the result of the coordination of 
observed facts in accordance with a series of hypo- 
theses each closely related in point of time to the one 
preceding it. The atomic theory, as it was enunciated 
by Dalton in 1803, was a great impetus to chemical 
investigation, but proved insufficient to embrace all 
the known facts; it was supplemented in 1813 by 
Avogadro’s theorem—that equal volumes of gases 
contain the same number of molecules at the same 
temperature and pressure. These two _ important 
theoretical developments led to the association of a 
definite physical meaning with the idea of molecular 
composition, but ultimately proved insufficient for the 
interpretation of the ever-increasing mass of chemical 
knowledge collected under their stimulus. A further 
great impetus followed the introduction by Frank- 
land and Kekulé, in 1852 onwards, of the idea of 
valency and the mode of building up constitutional 
formule; the conception of molecular constitution 
thus arose as a refinement on the Daltonian notion of 
molecular composition. In course of time the theor- 
etical scheme once more proved insufficient to accom- 
modate the accumulated facts, until, in 1874, van ’t 
Hoff and Le Bel demonstrated the all-important part 
which molecular configuration plays in the interpreta- 


NO., 2338) VOrsost 


NATURE 


[AuGUST 20, 1914 


| means of which 


tion of certain classes 
organic chemist. 

During the early days of chemical science—those 
of Dalton’s time and perhaps also those of Frankland 
and Kekulé—we can believe that chemical theory may 
have lacked the physical reality which it now seems 
to us to present; the attitude of our predecessors to- 
wards the theoretical interpretation of their observa- 
tions was rather that described by Plato: ‘‘as when 
men in a dark cavern judge of external objects by 
the shadows which they cast into the cavern.’ In 
the writings of the most clear-sighted of our fore- 
runners we can detect an underlying suspicion of a 
possibility that, at some time or other, the theory by 
chemical observations are held to- 
gether may undergo an entire reconstruction; a very 
few years ago Ostwald made a determined attempt 
to treat our science without the aid of the molecular 
hypothesis, and indeed suggested the desirability of 
giving the Daltonian atomic theory decent burial. 

The last ten years or so has seen a change in this 
attitude. The development of organic chemistry has 
revealed so complete a correspondence between the 
indications of the conception of molecular constitution 
and configuration and the observed facts, and recent 
work on the existence of the molecule, largely in 
connection with colloids, with radioactivity, and with 
crystal structure, is so free from ambiguity, that per- 
sistence of doubt seems unreasonable. Probably 
most chemists are prepared to regard the present 
doctrine of chemical constitution and configuration 
as proven; although they may turn a dim vision 
towards the next great development, they have few 
misgivings as to the stability of the position which 
has already been attained. 

Let us consider how far the study of organic chem- 
istry has hitherto led us; we may pass over the 
gigantic achievements of those who in past genera- 
tions determined constitution and performed syntheses, 
thus making the subject one of the most perfect 
examples of scientific classification which exist, and 
turn to the question of molecular configuration. In 
1815 Biot observed that certain liquid organic sub- 
stances deflect the plane of polarisation of a trans- 
mitted ray of light either to the right or to the left; 
half a century later Pasteur and Paterno pointed the 
obvious conclusion, namely, that the right- or left- 
handed deviation thus exerted must be due to a 
corresponding right- or left-handedness in the con- 
figuration of the chemical molecule. A scheme repre- 
senting such right- or left-handedness, or enantio- 
morphism, was first enunciated by van ’t Hoff and 
Le Bel upon the basis of the previously established 
doctrine of chemical constitution; briefly stated, the 
idea suggesed was that the methane molecule, CH,, 
was not to be regarded as extended in a plane in the 
manner represented by the Frankland-Kekulé con- 
stitutional formula, but as built up symmetrically in 
three-dimensional space. The carbon atom of the 
methane molecule thus occupies the centre of a 
regular tetrahedron, of which the apices are replaced 
by the four hydrogen atoms. A methane derivative, 
in which one carbon is separately attached to four 
different univalent atoms or radicles of the type 
CXYZW, should thus exist in two enantiomorphous 
configurations, one exhibiting right- and the other 
left-handedness. The inventors of this daringly 
mechanistic interpretation of the far less concrete 
constitutional formulz were able to interpret im- 
mediately a large number of known facts, previously 
incomprehensible, by means of their extension of the 
Frankland-Kekulé view of constitution. They showed 
that every substance then known, which in the liquid 
state exhibited so-called optical activity, could be 


of phenomena known to the 


AvuGUST 20, 1914] 


NATURE 


647 


regarded as a derivative of methane in which the | 


methane carbon atom was attached to four different 
univalent atoms or groups of atoms; a methane carbon 
atom so associated is termed an asymmetric carbon 
atom. It is of interest to note that the van ’t Hoff- 
Le Bel deduction resulted from the discussion of the 
behaviour of organic substances of some molecular 
complexity; the optically active substances then 
known were mostly the products of animal or vege- 
table life, and among them none occurs which contains 
less than three carbon atoms in the molecule. Lactic 
acid, CH,.CH(OH).CO.OH, is practically the most 
simple optically active substance of natural occurrence ; 
it contains twelve atoms in the molecule, and it has 
only recently been found possible to associate optical 
activity with a much more simply constituted sub- 
stance, namely, chloriodomethanesulphonic — acid, 
CHCI.SO,H, the molecule of which contains less 
than 5 per cent. of carbon and only nine atoms, four 
more than the minimum number, five, which theo- 
retically can give rise to optical activity.? 

The working out of the practical consequences of 
the doctrine of the tetrahedral configuration of the 
methane carbon atom by von Baeyer, Emil Fischer, 
and Wislicenus is now a matter of history; the ac- 
quisition of masses of experimental data, broad in 
principle and minute in detail, placed the van ’t Hoff- 
Le Bel hypothesis beyond dispute. The rapid growth 
of organic chemistry as a classified subject contrasted 
strongly with that of inorganic chemistry, in which 
the collection of a great varietv of detailed knowledge 
incapable of far-reaching logical correlation formed 
the most striking feature; in fact, the extension of 
the conclusion, proven in the case of carbon com- 
pounds, that the Frankland-Kekulé constitutional 
formulz must be translated into terms of three- 
dimensional space, to compounds of elements other 
than carbon, did not immediately follow the applica- 
tion of the theory to this element. Twenty years ago. 
indeed, the idea prevailed that carbon compounds 
differed radically from those of other elements, and 
we were not prepared to transfer theoretical con- 
clusions from the organic to the inorganic side of our 
subject. In 1891, however, Le Bel stated that he had 
found optical activity associated wth asymmetry of a 
quinquevalent nitrogen atom; although the experi- 
mental work upon which this conclusion was founded 
is now known to be incorrect,” the conception thus 
put forward was important, as suggesting that the 
notion of space-configuration could not be restricted 
logically to methane derivatives. When it was proved 
in 1899 that benzylphenylallylmethylammonium iodide 
could exist in a right- and left-handed configuration, 
it became necessary to admit that the spacial arrange- 
ment of the parts of a chemical molecule, previously 
restricted to methane derivatives, must be extended 
. to ammonium salts.* 

The demonstration that optical activity, or enantio- 
morphism, of molecular configuration is associated 
not only with the presence of an asymmetric quadri- 
valent carbon atom, but also with that of a nitrogen 
atom attached to five different radicles, was the result 
of an improvement of technique in connection with the 
study of optical activity; previously the resolution 
into optically active components of a_ potentially 
optically active basic substance had been attempted 
with the aid of naturally occurring optically active 
weak acids of the general type of d-tartaric acid. 
The application of the strong d- and I-bromocamphor- 
sulphonic acids and the d- and J[-camphorsulphonic 
acids to such purposes rendered possible the isolation 


1 Pope and Read, Trans. Chem. Soc,, 1914, 105, 811. 
2 Jbid., 1912, 101, 519. 
3 Pope and Peachey, Trans. Chem. Soc., 1899, 75, 1127- 


NO. 2338, VOL. 93| 


of the optically active substances containing no 
asymmetric atom other than one of quinquevalent 
nitrogen. The resolution of asymmetric quaternary 
ammonium salts of the kind indicated was rapidly 
followed by the preparation of optically active sub- 
stances in which the enantiomorphism is associated 
with the presence of an asymmetric sulphur, selenium, 
tin, phosphorus, or silicon atom; compounds of the 
following constitutions were thus obtained in optically 
active modifications :— 


GiHer eG, A= CH. ACI, CH.) “GHe 
eS. rad \ vA Die 
N ; S Se i 
‘\ Vi 
GA GH. Gk \uCH, «CO; OH. Cl. .cOnmemE 


(Cols | CH, C,H; GH; 
ere Ze 
Sn 2 P 
oS tN 
C,H, I O CH; 
@oHe (Goi 


| 

SO,FL C.He. GH, 45h; O;./Si CH... Coll, (SOLED 
| | 
C3H; C3H, 


In all this work, and amongst all the varied classes 
of optically active compounds prepared, it was in». 
every instance possible to indicate one ~° particular 
quadrivalent or quinquevalent atom in the molecule 
which is separately attached to four or five different 
atoms or radicles; the enantiomorphism of molecular 
configuration may be detected, in fact, by the observa- 
tion that such an asymmetric atom is present. It 
must, however, be insisted that the observed optical 
activity is the result of the enantiomorphism of the 
molecular configuration; the asymmetry of a par- 
ticular atom is not to be regarded as the cause of 
the optical activity, but merely as a convenient geo- 
metrical sign of molecular enantiomorphism. In 1874 
van ’t Hoff realised that molecular enantiomorphism 
and optical activity might conceivably exist without 
the presence of an asymmetric carbon atom, and 
suggested that compounds of the type 


aS EE 
1Cee ac 

7H Na 
should be of this kind. Previously this particular 
case had escaped realisation experimentally, but an 
example fulfilling similar conditions was described in 
1909; in this year the d- and lisomerides of 1-methyl- 
cyclohexylidene-4-acetic acid, 


« Q-. Jel 
CHy | CHa CHa 3 
Hi? + SCHuy CH ee a NOOl OE 


were obtained.* The consideration of the constitution 
of these substances shows no carbon atom which is 
attached to four different groups, but a study of the 
solid model representing the molecular configuration 
built up in accordance with the van ’t Hoff-Wislicenus 
conclusions reveals the enantiomorphism. 

It is of Some importance to note that the configura- 
tions assigned to such optically active substances as 
have been mentioned above, on the basis of the ex- 
perimental evidence, are of as symmetrical a character 
as the conditions permit; the Kekulé formula for 
methane, CH,, in which all five atoms lie in the same 
plane, is not of so highly symmetrical a character 
as the van ’t-Hoff-Le Bel configuration in which the 
four hydrogen atoms are situate at the apices of a 


H 


4 Perkin, Pope, and Wallach, Trans. Chem. Soc., 1909, 95, 1789; Perkin 


| and Pope, Trans. Chem. Soc., 1911, 99, 1510. 


648 


regular tetrahedron described about the carbon atom 
as centre. Some influence seems to be operative 
which tends to distribute the component radicles in 
an unsymmetrical molecule in as symmetrical a 
manner as possible; recent work indicates, however, 
that this is not always true. During the past few 
years Mills and Bain’ have shown that the synthetic 
substance of the constitution 


CH, CH, CHa 
ee SCN OE 
HH?) Cry pCi 


can be resolved into optically active modifications. 
The conclusion is thus forced upon us that the tri- 
valent nitrogen atom in such compounds is not en- 
vironed in the most symmetrical manner possible by 
the surrounding components of the molecule; the 
experimental verification which the conclusions of 
Hantzsch and Werner, concerning the isomerism of 
the oximes, thus derive, constitutes the first really 
direct evidence justifying their acceptance. 

Quite recently, and by the application largely of the 
optically active powerful sulphonic acids derived from 
camphor, Werner has made another great advance 
in Connection with the subject of optical activity. He 
has obtained a number of complex compounds of 
chromium, cobalt, iron, and rhodium in_ optically 
active modifications. 

The foregoing brief statement probably suffices to 
indicate the progress which has been made during 
the last twenty years in demonstrating that the atoms 
or radicles associated in the chemical molecule do not 
lie in one plane, but are disposed about certain con- 
stituent atoms in three-dimensional space; careful 
study of the present stage of progress shows that we 
must attribute to molecular configuration, as deter- 
mined by modern chemical methods, a very real 
significance. It can no longer be supposed to possess 
the purely diagrammatic character which attached to 
the Frankland-Kekulé constitutional formula; it 
seems to be proved that the men who developed the 
doctrine of valency were not merely pursuing an 
empirical mode of classification, capable of various 
modes of physical interpretation, but were devising the 
main scheme of a correct mechanical’ model of the 
cheniical universe. 

The development of a branch of science such as 
that now under discussion is, to a considerable extent, 
an artistic pursuit; it calls for the exercise of manipu- 
lative skill, of a knowledge of materials, and of 
originality of conception, which probably originate in 
intuition and empiricism, but must be applied with 
.scientific acumen and logical judgment. For reasons 
of this kind many gaps occur in our present knowledge 
of the subject; although so many important con- 
clusions find an unshakable foundation on_ facts 
relating to optical activity, we have as yet no clear 
idea as to why substances of enantiomorphous mole- 
cular configuration exhibit optical activity. Great 
masses of quantitative data referring to optical 
activity have been accumulated; something has been 
done towards their correlation by Armstrong, Frank- 
land, Pickard, Lowry, and others, but we still await 
from the mathematical physicist a theory of optical 
activity comparable in quantitative completeness to 
the electro-magnetic theory of light. Until we get 
such a theory it seems unlikely that much further 
progress will be made in interpreting quantitative 
determinations or rotation constants. 

That aspect of stereochemistry which has just been 
so briefly reviewed represents a situation which has 
been attained during the natural development of 
organic chemistry by methods which have now be- 


5 Trans. Chem. Soc., 1910, 97, 1866. 
T 2 
NO. 2238, 


NATURE 


[AUGUST 20, 1914 


come traditional; progress has been made by the 
application of strictly logical methods of interpreta- 
tion to masses of experimental data, and each new 
conclusion has been checked and verified by fhe 
accumulation of fresh contributions in the laboratory. 
The sureness of the methods adopted could not fail 
to lead to the intrusion of stereochemistry into ad- 
jacent fields of scientific activity; bio-chemistry, the 
study of the chemical processes occurring in living 
organisms, is already largely dominated by stereo- 
chemistry, and the certainty with which stereo- 
chemistry has inspired us as to the reality of the 
molecular constitution of matter is exerting a power- 
ful influence in other branches of natural science. 
Quite possibly, however, the acquaintance which every 
chemist possesses of the great progress already made 
upon one particular set of lines is to some extent an 
obstacle to his appreciation of new directions in which 
further great stereochemical advances may _ be 
anticipated. 

A little reflection will show that the study of the 
relation between the crystalline form and chemical 


‘ constitution or configuration of substances in general 


may confidently be expected to lead to important: ex- 
tensions of our knowledge of the manner in which 
the atoms are arranged in molecular complexes. The 
earlier crystallographic work of the nineteenth century 
led to the conclusion that each substance affects some 
particular crystalline form, that the regular external 
crystalline shape is an expression of the internal 
structure of the crystal, and that a determination of 
the simpler properties—geometrical, optical, and the 
like—of a crystalline material constitutes a mode of 
completely characterising the substance. Later work 
during the last century demonstrated that the proper- 
ties of crystalline substances are in entire harmony 
with a simple assumption as to the manner in which 
the units or particles of the material are arranged; 
the assumption is that the arrangement is a geo- 
metrically ‘‘homogeneous”’ one, namely, an arrange- 
ment in which. similar units are uniformly repeated 
throughout the structure, corresponding points pre- 
senting everywhere a_ similar environment. The 
assumption of homogeneity of structure imposes a 
definite limitation upon the kinds of arrangement 
which are possible in crystals; it leads to the inquiry 
as to how many types of homogeneous arrangement 
of points in space are possible, and to the identification 
of these types with the known ‘classes of crystal 
symmetry. The final conclusion has been attained 
that there are 230 geometrically homogeneous modes 
of distributing units, or points representing material 
particles, throughout space; these, the so-called 230 
homogeneous ‘‘point-systems,’’ fall into the thirty- 
two types of symmetry exhibited by crystalline solids. 
The solution of the purely geometrical problem here 
involved was commenced by Frankenheim in 1830, 
and finally completed by Barlow in 1894; it brings us 
face to face with the much larger stereochemical 
problem—that of determining what the units are 
which become homogeneously arranged in the crystal, 
why they become so arranged, and in what way a 
connection can be established between chemical con- 
stitution and crystal structure. 

Since the conception of homogeneity of structure 
alone is clearly insufficient for the interpretation of 
the more advanced problem, some further assumption 
must be made as a foundation for any really compre- 
hensive attempt to collate the quantities of. isolated 
facts bearing upon the subject. Of the many assump- 
tions which have been made in this connection only 
one, which may now be stated, has as yet proved 
fruitful in the sense that it serves to correlate large 


| numbers of. known experimental facts, and that it 


1 


al ll 


Sore 


AUGUST 20, 1914] 


NALORE 


649 


indicates the way to the discovery of fresh facts. 
The assumption is that each atom in a crystalline 
structure acts as a centre of operation of two opposing 
forces: (a) a repellent force, attributable to the kinetic 
energy of the atom, and (b) an attractive force, both 
forces, like gravity, being governed by some inverse 
distance law. Such an assumption forms an essential 
part of the classical work of Clerk Maxwell and van 
der Waals on the kinetic theory of gases and liquids. 
Its application to solid crystalline substances, where 
it must be applied in conjunction with the principle 
ef structural homogeneity, was made by Barlow and 
myself in 1906. 

The operation of the assumption just stated 
readily visualised by considering the simplest possible 
case, that, namely, of a crystalline element each mole- 
cule of which consists of but one atom and in which 
all the atoms are similar. Consideration of this kind 
of case shows that the set of identically similar centres 


is 


of attracting and opposing forces will be in equili- 
brium when one particular simple condition is 
fulfilled; the condition is that, with a given density 
of packing of the centres, the distance separating 
nearest centres is a maximum. Two homogeneous 
arrangements of points fulfil this condition, and these 
exhibit the symmetry of the cubic and the hexagonal 
crystalline systems. 

Since the nature of the two arrangements of points 
is not easily realised by mere inspection, the systems 
must be presented in some alternative form for the 
purpose of more clearly demonstrating their pro- 
perties; this is done conveniently by imagining each 
point in either arrangement to swell as a sphere until 
contact is made with the neighbouring points. The 
two arrangements then become those shown in Figs. 
rt and 2, and are distinguished as the cubic and the 


hexagonal closest-packed assemblages of equal 
spheres; they differ from all other homogeneous 


arrangements in presenting maximum closeness of 

packing of the component spheres. The equilibrium 

condition previously remarked—that, with a given 
NO. 8, VOL. 93] 


233 


density of distribution of the force centres in space, 
| the distance separating nearest centres is a maximum 
—is revealed in the assemblages of spheres as the 


| condition that the spheres are arranged with the maxi- 


mum closeness of packing. 

A further step is yet necessary. Each point in the 
arrangements considered is regarded as the mean 
centre of an atom of the crystalline element, but the 
assumption originally made states nothing about the 
magnitude of the atom itself; it is therefore convenient 
to regard the whcle of the available space as filled by 
the atoms, without interstices. This is conveniently 
done by imagining tangent planes drawn at each 
contact of sphere with sphere, so partitioning the 
available space into plane-sided polyhedra, each of 
which may be described as the domain of one com- 
ponent atom. The twelve-sided polyhedra thus derived 
from the cubic and the hexagonal assemblages repre- 


Fic. 2. 


sent the solid areas throughout which each atom 
exercises a predominant influence in establishing the 
equilibrium arrangement. 


(To be continued.) 


NOTES. 


A Reuter telegram states that the New Zealand 
meeting of the British Association has been cancelled, 
and that the members will return home after visiting 
Brisbane and Melbourne. 


record the death, at 
A. J. Jukes-Browne, 


WE deeply regret to have to 
Torquay, on August 14, of Mr. 
ES Res: 


TuHeE death is reported, in his sixty-fourth year, of 
Dr. Franklin W. Hooper, director since 1889 of the 
Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences. He had 
previcusly been professor of natura] science at 
Adelphi College, Brooklyn. He was the organiser of 


650 
the Brooklyn Museum of Arts and Sciences, the 
Brooklyn Children’s Museum, and the Brooklyn 


Botanic Garden. 
part in the administration of the Brooklyn Board of 
Education and the Brooklyn Public Library. 


Rev. Dr. Horace Carter Hovey, an American 
geologist who had made a special study of cave 
formations, has died at Newburyport, Mass., at the 
age of eighty-one. He contributed geological articles 
to the ninth, tenth, and eleventh editions of the 
Encyclopedia Britannica, and was the author of 
several volumes on the mammoth cave of Kentucky. 


Tue death is announced of Dr. R. F. Harper, pro- 
fessor of Assyriology in the University of Chicago 
since 1892. In 1906 he was appointed director of the 
American School of Archeology at Jerusalem. He 
will be chiefly known by the publication of the texts 
of the Assyrian letters and reports of the reigns of 
Sargon, Sennacherib, Esarhaddon, and Ashurbanipal, 
preserved in the British Museum. Thirteen volumes 
have been published, and Prof. Harper was finishing 
the fourteenth at the time of his death. This volume 
will be issued in due course, together with the fifteenth 
volume, dealing with Assyrian Palzography, which 
he had planned. 


Tue Iron and Steel Institute has been obliged to 
abandon the holding of its proposed autumn meeting 
in Paris. 


In consequence of the war, the publication of the 
British Pharmacopoeia, 1914, has been indefinitely 
postponed. Advance copies will not, therefore, be 
accessible to the public for inspection as had been 
arranged. Due notice will be given as soon as it is 
decided that the time has arrived when the work shall 
be published. 


A crrRcUuLAR has been issued by the Council of the 
Institution of Electrical Engineers to the members of 
the institution, pointing out two directions in which 
the members may be of great service to the nation at 
the present time, first, by placing their services as 
electrical engineers at the disposal of the War Office 
and the Admiralty, and, secondly, by being ready to 
fill vacancies in public services, electric power stations, 
tramways, railways, etc., caused by the calling up of 
the Reserves and the Territorial Forces. With the view 
of being ready to assist the authorities and the public 
services, the Council has decided to prepare classified 
lists of suitable men, and for this purpose has asked 
members who are in a position to assist in the direc- 
tions indicated, to fill in and return a form giving full 
particulars of the occupations for which they are 
fitted. Not only are members of the institution re- 
quired, but as many other qualified men as possible. 
Further information may be obtained from the Secre- 
tary of the Institution of Electrical Engineers, Victoria 
Embankment, W.C. 


WE learn from Engineering that a scheme has been 
set on foot for the founding of an Australian Institu- 
tion of Engineers. 


M. L. Testut, Professor of Anatomy in the Uni- 
versity of Lyons, contributes to L’Anthropologie (vol. 


NO! 2336, VGxs103)| 


He had also taken a prominent . 


NATURE 


[AUGUST 20, 1614 


xxv., January—April, 1914), under the title of ‘‘ Dis- 


section d’un Imbécile,’’ a careful study of the skull 
and brain of an idiot, aged 69, who died at the 
General Hospital in 1886. The article is well illus- 
trated and contains a large amount of statistical 
information. The writer claims that he has gained 
important results by supplementing his examination 
of the brain by that of other organic systems. 


Tue Carnegie Institution cf Washington has just 
published ‘“‘A Reconstruction of the Nuclear Masses 
in the Lower Portion of the Human Brain-stem,”’ by 
Mr. L. H. Weed, of the Harvard Medical School. 
This valuable publication embodies the results of an 
extremely careful and laborious piece of work in a 
field in which the labourers are comparatively rare. 
The majority of previous studies deal only with plotted 
limits and not with actual morphology. Mr. Weed, 
however, by means of the wax-plate method, has con- 
structed an accurate and enlarged model of the nuclear 
masses in the medulla and pons from a series. of 
more than 2000 serial sections—4o microns in thick- 
ness, and stained by the Weigert-Pal method—com- 
prising one of the “loan collections’ in the anatomical 
department of the Johns Hopkins Medical School. As 
this is practically a purely morphological study, the 
text, for the most part, is descriptive, and contains 
no controversial or hypothetical matter. The six 
coloured plates, comprising fourteen figures, show 
different aspects of the model and cross-sections at 
various levels, and reproduce the more important 
features and relations of the nuclear matter in the 
brain-stem., 


In vol. viii., Nos. 2 and 3, of the Quarterly Journal 
of Experimental Physiology, there are four articles 
dealing with the internal secretion of the ductless 
glands. The most conclusive are those of P. T. 
Herring, who differentiated between the extracts of 
the intermediate and posterior segments of the pituitary 
body of the ox by the effects, which these produced, on 
the uterus of the virgin rat, and on the blood-pressure 
and volume of the kidney in the cat, respectively. T. 
Graham Brown has contributed two further elaborate 
studies on the nervous system, dealing with the 
rhythmic movements in flexor and extensor muscles 
under certain conditions. He holds that similar 
rhythmic phenomena underlie the act of mammalian 
progression, walking, galloping, etc. Rhythmic con- 
traction has been demonstrated by J. A. Gunn and 
S. W. F. Underhill in the circular muscle—completely 
freed from nerve cells—of the small intestine of the 
cat many hours after its removal from the body. The 
journal contains other articles of an interesting but 
highly technical character, 


Tue first part of the second volume of the zoological 
section of the Natural History Report of the British 
Antarctic (Terra Nova) Expedition, 1910, published by 
the trustees of the British Museum, is devoted to a list 
of the collecting stations, drawn up by Dr. S. F. 
Harmer and Mr. D. G,. Lillie, the latter of whom 
served in the expedition. It comprises twelve 4to 
pages and four maps, the total number of stations 
being 357, commencing near the western mouth of 


ml ee eo te OS thse ta S - ‘ 


Mie Nnca 


—s. 


. AuGUST 20, 1914| 


the English Channel and extending close to lat. 
80° S. The greater portion of the stations were for 
plankton-collecting, but the list includes a certain 
number of localities at which specimens were obtained 
by the shore-party. During the first sorting of the 
collection a system of numbering was adopted which 
has not proved suitable for more permanent use, and 
these provisional station-numbers, which are entered 
in the third column of the tables, have accordingly 
been replaced by others, which occupy the second 
column, and correspond with those in the maps. The 
-plankton-nets used are referred to the number of 
meshes per linear inch, the ‘‘full-speed net” having 
no fewer than 180. 


IN continuing his article on pattern-development 
among mammals and birds in the August number of 
the American Naturalist, Dr. G. M. Allen suggests 
that the light-coloured rump-patch so common among 
ungulates, and generally regarded as a “‘ recognition- 
mark,’ is probably due to the total inactivity of the 
primary pigment-patches usually covering that region 
of the body. Among the ground-squirrels, or chip- 
munks, a transition may be observed from a uniformly 
grizzled coat to one indistinctly spotted, then to one 
with rows of white spots, and finally to others with 
broken or complete longitudinal white stripes. Such 
stripes the author believes to be due to the develop- 
ment, not of breaks between the primary pigment- 
patches, but of small pigmentless spots, which, in their 
fullest intensity, unite into stripes. On the other hand, 
it is quite conceivable that the reverse condition—the 
breaking up of stripes into spots—may likewise occur 
in some instances. 


In ‘‘A Fourth General Adjustment of the Precise 
Level Net in the United States and the Resulting 
Standard Elevations,” by W. Bowie and H. G. Avers 
(pp. 328; Special Publication No. 18; Washington : 
Government Printing Office, 1914), the results of the 
latest adjustment of the level net of the United States 
are discussed, all precise levelling done previous to 
1912 being included except those lines which do not 
form portions of closed circuits. On this occasion the 
orthometric correction has been applied to standard 
altitudes westward of the Mississippi River, since this 
correction is found to be needed in high altitudes. 
Altitudes are now given both in feet and metres, the 
former being added for the convenience of surveyors 
and engineers who may use the results. Instruments 
and method of levelling have been the same as in 
preceding years; the rate of work has varied from 
56 to 84 miles a month, according to the character 
of the country traversed, and the average cost has 
been rather above 2]. per mile. For the present pub- 
lication, after the orthometric correction had been 
applied to the levelling westward of the Mississippi, 
an adjustment of the entire net was made, using the 
weights as determined by the 1907 adjustment. A 
special adjustment was also made of altitudes in the 
western part of the country with very satisfactory 
results. The accidental and systematic errors of the 
levelling, which has been carried out by the Coast 
and Geodetic Survey since 1899, has, in this report, 
been computed in accordance with the resolutions 


NO. 2338, VOL. 93] 


NATURE 


651 


adopted at the Conference of the International Geo- 
detic Association, held at Hamburg in 1912, and for 
levelled lines totalling 15,028 kilometres, the probable 
accidental error is given as +o-713 mm. per kilometre, 
and the probable systematic error as +0-080 mm. per 
kilometre. It is, however, pointed out that this 
systematic error cannot include all sources of error, 
since the probable accidental error for a kilometre, as 
found in the general adjustment of 1912, is consider- 
ably larger than that obtained by the International 
formula. 


In an. interesting paper in the Popular Science 
Monthly for August Dr. William H. Ross, of the 
United States Bureau of Soils, deals with the origin 
of nitrate deposits, more particularly of the famous 
Chilean beds, which occur in the deserts of Atacama 
and Tarapaca, and still form the principal source of 
the world’s supply of nitre. In the year 1912, for 
example, the total quantity exported from Chile -was 
2,485,860 tons. The origin of these enormous deposits 
is still uncertain; the various theories which have been 
put forward to explain their existence are dealt with in 
some detail in the present paper. It has been sug- 
gested that they have been forméd by the nitrification 
of immense deposits of sea-weed, of guano, or of the 
dung of vicufias and llamas, but it is more probable 
that they represent the concentrated fertility of the 
thousands of square miles of land between the water- 
shed of the Andes and Coast Range, the nitrates 
formed in these regions being washed out by the 
periodical mountain floods, which occur every seven or 
eight years, and subsequently recovered by the 
evaporation cf the leachings in the lower levels, where 
the nitrates are found. 


Amone paleontological papers it may be mentioned 
that the latest issue of the Palaeontologia Indica 
(ser. 15, vol. iv., part ii., fasc. 4) is devoted to the 
description, by Dr. K. Holdhaus, of the lamellibranchs 
and gastropods of the Silurian Shales of Spiti, N.E. 
Himalaya, in which a number of new species, and at 
least one new genus, are named. Also that the 
Egyptian Survey Department has issued the first part 
of a catalogue of the invertebrate fossils of Egypt re- 
presented in the collections of the Museum of Geology 
at Cairo, by M. R. Fourtau. This deals with Creta- 
ceous echinoderms, a group in which the Cairo 
Museum is particularly rich, as the result of -collec- 
tions made of late years in the Sinaitic Peninsula 
between Gebel Tih and the Gulf of Suez. A consider- 
able number of the specimens represent new species, 
all of which, together with many others, are figured. 


Tue joint annual report of the Forestry Branches 
for 1912-1913 (London: Wyman and Sons, Ltd.), is 
due to a recent arrangement by which the Board of 
Agriculture and the Office of Woods cooperate in 
the development of forestry in this country. The 
report gives an excellent historical summary of the 
management of the Crown woods and forests from 
the earliest times until 1912. This is followed by a 
brief account of each of the twenty forests and wooded 
estates that are now under the charge of the Com- 
missioners of Woods. These properties, with a total 


652 


wooded area of 65,766 acres, consist partly of the 
ancient hereditary estates of the Crown (New Forest, 
Dean Forest, Bere Woods, etc.), and partly of estates 
that have been recently acquired, as Inverliever 
Estate in Argyllshire, and Hafod Fawr Estate in 
Merionethshire. Instruction in forestry is provided 
at the Chopwell Woods, near Newcastle-on-Tyne, 
which was managed by the Lecturer in Forestry of 
the Armstrong College, and at the School for Work- 
ing Foresters in the Forest of Dean, which was 
established in 1903, and passed out sixty-four 
certificated woodmen in the subsequent nine years. 
The most important chapter in the report is devoted 
to the timber trade of the United Kingdom. The 
annual home supply of timber is less than 20,000,000 
cubic feet, and cannot be appreciably increased, unless 
extensive afforestation is carried out immediately, of 
the actual inception of which there is no sign in the 
report, no money being available as yet from De- 
velopment Funds for such a purpose in England or 
Scotland. The annual import of unmanufactured 
timber now stands at 400,000,000 cubic feet, valued 
t 28,360,000]., to which must be added manufactured 
timber, 3,400,000l., and wood pulp, 4,400,000l., or a 
total of 36,160,o00l. annually spent on foreign timber 
and wood pulp. Our consumption of timber, as 
shown in the decennial tables of the report, has 
steadily grown with the progress of our industries; 
and during the last decade the price of timber has 
considerably increased. The day is not far off when 
coal-mining, the extension of railway and telegraph 
communications, building, etc., will be checked by the 


high price of foreign timber, the only supply 
available. 
DISCOVERIES connecting the pre-Cambrian fossil 


algal florea with the blue-green alge of to-day are 
announced in a preliminary report by Dr. Charles D. 
Walcott, published by the Smithsonian Institution. 
The fossil remains of these ancient marine plants 
which form part of the Palzontological collections of 
the U.S. National Museum were collected in the 
Algonkian formations ot the Cordilleran area of 
Western America, chiefly in the Big Belt Mountains 
of Montana. Eight genera and twelve species, new 
to science, are described by the author, who includes 
illustrations of both the ancient and modern forms 
for comparison. Dr. Walcott proposes to visit during 
the present field season the localities where these old 
forms of life in fossil form are found, for the purpose 
of continuing his investigations and to gather data for 
a further and more detailed report. 


WE have received a copy of No. 1 of a new journal 
dealing with biochemistry, the Bulletin de la Société 
de Chimie Biologique, which, as its name implies, is 
the organ of the newly formed French Biochemical 
Society. One of the most striking facts of the past 
few years is the very great development of biochemistry 
as a special science; this branch of chemistry has now 
its own journals in England, Germany, France, and 
the United States, all of which are regularly publish- 
ing numerous and important papers. Considering the 
activity of French chemists in this particular field, the 
existence of a special journal in which their researches 


NO.: 2338, VOL.)O3] 


NATURE 


[AUGUST 20, I914 
may become readily available to other workers is a 
welcome fact. Foreign biochemists will undoubtedly 
wish the newly formed society every success in its 
efforts. 


A USEFUL paper on the climate of Lorenzo Marques 
(Delagoa Bay), with frequent references to the 
meteorological elements of South Africa, by Sr. A. de 
Almeida Teixeira, is published in the South African 
Journal of Science for July. The mean annual tem- 
perature, from fourteen years’ observations, is 72-:0°; 
January, 786°; July, 64°49. 
quoted are 111-9° (November) and 460° (July), but 
readings above 104° and less. than 48° are excep- 
tional. Extremes of heat are due to hot winds from 
N.N.W., which precede atmospheric depressions; 
these are immediately followed by fresh south winds 
with a fall at times of nearly 29° within an hour and 
a half. The mean annual rainfall is 26-7 in., on 
77 days; the wettest month is January, with 5 in.; 
the driest, August, with o'5 in. The average annual 
percentage of hours of sunshine is 61°3, but the in- 
strument used is Jordan’s photographic recorder, which 
is not directly comparable with the Campbell-Stokes 
burning instrument. The usual four seasons are not 
well marked, a better division being the warm and 
rainy season—October to March—and the cool and 
practically dry season—April to September. The 
author points out that the climate is more pleasant 
than could be expected from its geographical position, 
owing, among other things, to the sea breezes and the 
scarcity of calms, and he quotes Commander de 
Lacerda’s view that ‘tin winter during the period of 
fine weather, and with the south winds prevailing, the 
climate may be placed on a level with the best in the 
world.”’ 


Tue recently published Transactions of the Cardiff 
Naturalists’ Society for 1913 contains monthly and 
yearly rainfall values and other details for fifty-one 
stations in the Society’s district. The tables are 
arranged according to the height above sea-level; at 
the highest station, Tyle Brith, Brecknockshire 
(2350 ft.), the annual fall was 89 in.; at Cardiff, 
Penylan station (204 ft.), 42°1 in.; at Cadoxton, Barry 
(20 ft.), 32°2 in. A comparison with the averages 
shows that the year was abnormally wet. Climatology 
is indebted to Dr. E. Walford, medical officer of 
health, for the preparation of this useful report froyn 
data supplied by voluntary observers. 


Part 3 of Publication No. 149 of the Carnegie In- 
stitution consists of a report by Prof. Carl Barus, of 
Brown University, on the application of interference 
methods of measurement in a number of branches of 
physics. The first is to the measurement of the index 
of refraction of a double refracting crystal for the 
extraordinary ray in terms of that for the ordinary ray, 
by inserting a plate of the crystal in the path of one 
of the interferometer beams and observing the two 
sets of elliptic interference fringes produced. A 
second is to the accurate comparison of screws, and a 
third to the detection and study of the motion of a 
resonator, or of the disc of a telephone. Attempts to 
detect a change in the index of refraction of rarefied 


The absolute extremes _ 


Or ae ele ek ee 


AUGUST 20, 1914] 


air through which an electric current is passing, and 
measurements of the change of refractive index of air 
with temperature are further applications. Finally the 
author deals with the measurement of the deflection of 
an electrometer needle by interference, and shows that 
such an instrument will measure a few millionths of a 
volt. 


In connection with the development ot the Langley 
Aerodynamical Laboratory of the Smithsonian Insti- 
tution, the purpose of which, it will be remembered, 
is primarily to plan and conduct such theoretical and 
experimental investigations, tests, and reports as may 
serve to increase the safety and efficiency of aerial 
locomotion for commercial advance, national defence, 
and the welfare of man, a visit was paid a short time 
ago to various kindred institutions in Europe by 
Dr. A. F. Zahm, the recorder of the Langley 
Laboratory, accompanied by Mr. J. C. Hunsaker, of 
the U.S. Navy. The tour of inspection included the 
British, French, and German laboratories; also many 
of the aerodromes, aircraft factories, and aeronautical 
libraries, the object being the study of the latest 
developments in instruments, methods, and resources 
used and contemplated for the prosecution of scienti- 
fic aeronautical investigations. The results of their 
observations are embcdied in No. 2273 of the Smith- 
sonian Miscellaneous Collections. 


BULLETIN No. 8 of the Mellon Institute of Indus- 
trial Research deals with some engineering phases 
of Pittsburg’s smoke problem. In this district more 
bituminous coal is used than in any other district of 
like size in the world. The coal found in the neigh- 
bourhood of Pittsburg is very plentiful, cheap, and 
rich in volatile matter. Further, the many hills and 
valleys and the frequent fogs hold the smoke long 
after it would have been carried away in another 
locality having a more regular topography. The soot- 
fall for the twelve months ending April, 1913, at the 
various observation stations in Pittsburg ranges from 
595 to 1950 tons per square mile. Pittsburg learned 
the appearance of a clean city during the brief period 
in which natural gas was largely empioyed; since 
1895 the use of coal has been general again. The 
local authorities have made attempts since 1893 to get 
rid of smoke production at the pumping stations, but 
with little success; the Mayor reported in 1913 that 
one of the worst offenders against the smoke ordin- 
ance is the city of Pittsburg at the Northside light 
plant and the Brilliant pumping station. Of special 
interest is a series of photographs showing two views 
of each locality, one on a clear day and the other on 
a smoky day. 


We have received from the Cambridge University 
Press a copy of the second edition of .Dr. G. S. 
Graham-Smith’s ‘‘ Flies in Relation to Disease : Non- 
Bloodsucking Flies,’ the first edition of which work 
was reviewed in Nature of December 11, 1913. In 
the work as first issued an attempt was made to 
collect, tabulate, and examine critically the various 
facts and hypotheses relating to the life-histories, 
habits, and disease-carrying potentialities of non- 
blood-sucking flies, which had been published up to 


92.338; VOL. 93 | 


NATURE 


| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 


053 


the’ end of 1912. In the present edition the worl 
published during 1913 is dealt with in the same 
manner, and in addition an account of some recent 
unpublished observations made by the author has 
been added. The volume is published at 12s. 6d. 
net. 


OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 


THe PerRsEID METEORIC SHOWER.—The weather has 
been very favourable for tracing the progress of this 
shower. On August to there were not many meteors, 
though a few tine ones appeared. On August 11 
there was a great increase in numbers, but the moon 
rose soon after g p.m. At Bristol Mr. Denning esti- 
mated that the total number of meteors visible to one 
observer between 9 p.m. and 3 a.m. on the following 
day must have been about 150. On. August 12 the 
rate of meteoric apparitions had declined and the num- 
ber visible in the same time was estimated at IIo, 
but there were many detached clouds over the sky. 
On August 13 there were clouds at Bristol and few 
meteors were seen, but the Perseid shower had 
evidently decreased in a marked degree since the 
previous night. On the whole the display may be 
regarded as having exhibited moderate numbers with 
a large proportion of brilliant meteors. The radiant 
point showed the usual displacement to the eastward 
as observed on successive nights. 

On August 16 meteors were abundant, and there 
were two active showers, one of late Perseids from 
56°+59° and another of Lyrids from 279°+45°. 

The observations generally have been ample this 
year, according to reports from many stations. Mrs. 
Fiammetta Wilson, at Bexley Heath, recorded the 
paths of no fewer than 152 meteors on the four nights 
from August 10-13. Two magnificent fireballs were 
seen by her and by Miss Grace Cook at Stowmarket 
on August 14, viz., a Perseid at 9.34 and a slow 
meteor three or four times as bright as Venus 
directed from a radiant in the southern sky at 9.50. 
The latter was also recorded by the Rev. Ivo Gregg at 
Walthamstow, and the following deductions have been 
made regarding this and a few other brilliant meteors 
of the recent display :— 


Height Height p,,, Velocity pogiant 


Date G.M.T. Mag. at first at end per sec. 

Diep eres m. m. m. m. ‘ < 

Aug. II II 25 >I 72 48 38 38 47+ 61 
12) 70.22) ‘Sirius 78 45 59 45 48+ 58 

SE ONsoane Paw 80", 54 948) 40'' 45-657 

i 1Ouj2h 8 > Te 382 53 31 80 2804+44 

Py: II 10 I 64 49 28 14 320-4 

147g 0834 Qe BG G4 Old. GI aaa 

14 QUSO Om G7 44 31 16 296+10 


The great velocity of the Lyrid of August 12, 10 525, 
is remarkably in contrast with the rate of motion of 
the last two meteors in the table. 


THE SPECTRUM OF Comer 1914b (ZLATINSKy).—Dr. 
Slipher publishes in the Lowell Observatory Bulletin, 
No. 63, a description with wave-lengths of the spec-. 
trum of Zlatinsky’s comet. Three spectrograms of 
this comet were secured at Flagstaff on the evenings 
of May 25, 26, and 27, using a one-prism_spectro- 
graph employed in nebular work attached to the 24-in. 
refractor. Vanadium and iron were used as com- 
parison spectra, and it was possible to expose for 
about one and one-third hours. The wave-lengths 
were reduced independently from the three negatives, 
and all three reductions are printed in tabular form 
in the paper. In order to differentiate between the 
spectrum of the head and nucleus of the comet a long 


654 


slit was used, and he is able to divide the cometary 
bands into two classes—long and short. The long 
bands comprise the carbon bands at A5165, 4737, and 
4351, and the cyanogen bands at A4216 and 3883, 
these last extending even further from the nucleus. 
Comparing this spectrum with those of other comets, 
he finds that comet 1912a (Gale) and comet i1gtIc 
(Brooks) are closely of the same spectral type as Zlatin- 
sky’s: this type he considers the more usual. Halley- 
Daniel (1907) is a type less common, and Morehouse 
(1908) a truly exceptional type. 


THE SPECTRUM OF SiLicon.—Those engaged in 
astrophysical researches will welcome the important 
paper communicated to the Royal Society (R. S. 


Proc., Series Ace VOLT XC.) sp. hi2, eAusust) by 1si6 
William Crookes on the spectrum of elementary 
silicon. Silicon plays an important part in the classi- 


fication of stellar spectra, and the wave-lengths of 
lines attributed to this substance by different workers 
are by no means similar, and the number of lines 
recorded in the spectrum also vary for different 
observers. The discrepancies have chiefly arisen 
owing to the difficulty of obtaining pure silicon for 
laboratory purposes, but Sir William Crookes has 
recently been able to secure specimens of considerable 
purity, and so is able to record the results of his 
labours over eleven years on this one element in this 
communication. The specimens worked upon were 
obtained from the Carborundum Company at Niagara 
Falls, and gave on analysis 99:56, 99:86, and 99-98 
per cent. of silicon, the impurities being titanium, 
iron, and aluminium. The use of these specimens has 
allowed the author to correct the lines given by other 
less pure samples, and to clear up other doubtful 
points. The paper gives a sketch of the procedure 
of treatment and the method of measurement of the 
lines, with, finally, a list of the lines attributed to 
silicon, with comparison tables of the wave-length 
determinations of other workers; it is to be noted 
that no intensities of the lines are given. The follow- 
ing is a list of the lines recorded :— 


A 3853-812 6346-962 2516-131 
3856: 193 6371-032 2519-27 
3862-743 woes) 2524-110 
3905-726 2124-163 2528-585 
4089-016 2208-048 2541-970 
4097-021 2210:987 2631-370 
4128-18g 2211-839 2881-690 
4131-192 2216-882 2987-750 
4552:841 2218-227 3086-479 
4568-123 2435:212 3093-694 
4574823 2438-911 3247-684 
5042-715 2443°454 3438-444 
5057°832 2452-219 3796-364 
5961-6 2507°055 3806-802 
5982-0 2514-400 


Tue Tora Sorar Ec .ipse.—Attention is directed 
to the article in Nature of July 16 on the eclipse of 
the sun which is to take place to-morrow. In the 
communication in question particulars are given of 
the various observing parties and the positions and 
duties assigned to them. The outbreak of hostilities 
must necessarily interfere with the programme therein 
sketched, e.g. the expedition which was to have been 
stationed near Kief has had to abandon its proposed 
work. According to the Times, Major Hills, president 
of the Royal Astronomical Society, has arrived in 
London from Russia, and Prof. Fowler and Mr. 
Curtis may be expected shortly. The party had con- 
siderable difficulty in getting away from Russia, 
having to travel from Riga to Copenhagen as deck 
passengers on a cargo steamer. 


NO. 2338, VOL. 393] 


NATURE 


| Ty HE papers here noted are reprints 


[| AUGUST 20, 1914 


RECENT JAPANESE BIOLOGICAL 
PUBLICATIONS.} 


from the 

Journal of the College of Science, Imperial 
University of Tokyo, covering a period of five months, 
and do not by any means fully represent the output 
of the Japanese botanists and zoologists during this 
period, various other papers in natural history by 
Japanese workers having appeared in other journals 
—chiefly American. However, they form a fair sample 
of the large quantity and high quality of the bio- 
logical work which is being done in Japan, and one 
is grateful to the authors and the publishing com- 
mittee for refraining from publishing any part of this 
important journal—except a small part of the outer 
covers—in Japanese, which is, unfortunately, from 
the point of view of readers in other lands, still used 
in some other scientific journals published in Japan 
and usually without a summary in another language. 
The articles mentioned here are taken in order of 
numbering of the volumes to which they belong. The 
method of publication of the Tokyo science journal is 
to keep on starting fresh volumes before the preceding 
three or even four have been completed, instead ot 
finishing off each volume as the various consecutive 
papers are published; the latter would certainly appear 
to be the better plan. 

(1) Kinoshita gives a very detailed and beautifully 
illustrated description of the alcyonarian family 
Chrysogorgiide, as represented in Japanese waters, 
twenty species being dealt with, of which eight are 
new. He criticises the view put forward by Neumann 
and others that the stems and branches of the Gor- 
gonid colony are mouthless vegetative polyps, and 
discusses in some detail the morphology of the canal 
system and the ccenenchyma in Alcyonaria generally. 

(2) Koidzumi contributes a valuable monograph of 
the family Rosacez as represented in the Japanese 
Empire, with Latin diagnoses of the forty genera and 
nearly two hundred species now known, and interest- 
ing notes in English, with tables, showing the dis- 
tribution of these plants. These tables are most use- 
ful, since they display the distribution of the sub- 
families, genera, and species of Japanese Rosacez, not 
only in Japan itself, but in various parts of the world, 
statistics of endemic and introduced as compared with 
indigenous species, etc. 

(3, 4) Liebwohl gives in these two papers a mono- 
graphic account of the Tetraxonid sponges of Japan, 
illustrated by very fine plates. The material was 
collected by Prof. Ijima (who had already worked up 
the Hexactinellid sponges of Japan), and sent to Prof. 
von Lendenfeld, by whom the preparation of this 
monograph was entrusted to the author. 

(5) Koketsu’s paper on the latex-containing tissues 
of Japanese plants contains much that is of general 
interest, for not only is the structure of the laticiferous 
vessels full worked out and illustrated, but interesting 
micro-chemical and physiological experiments are de- 
scribed. After a useful summary of the various views 
that have been put forward regarding the functions 


1 (1) K. Kinoshita: “Studien iiber einige Chrysogorgiiden Japans.”’ 
Journ. Coll. Sci., Imp. Univ. of Tokyo, vol. xxxiii., Art. 2 (November 30, 
1913). Pp. 47+3 plates+34 text-figures. 

(2) G. Koidzumi: ‘* Conspectus Rosaceanum Japonicarum.” /6zd., vol. 
xxxiv., Art. 2 (October 28, 1913). Pp. 3124-12 text-figures+8 tables. 

(3) F. Liebwohl : ‘‘ Japanische Tetraxonida. i. Sigmatophora ; ii. Astvo- 
fA: metastrosa.”’ Ibid., vol. xxxv., Art. 2 (March 15, 1914). Pp. 116+ 
9 plates. 

(4) F. Liebwohl: ‘‘ Japanische Tetraxonida. iii. Fuastrosa; iv. Sterra- 
strosa.” Jézd., vol. xxxv., Art. 5 (March 20, 1914). Pp. 70+2 plates. 

(5) R. Koketsu : ‘‘Studien iiber die Milchréhren und Milchzellen einiger 
einheimischer Pflanzen.” /é7¢., vol. xxxv., Art. 6 (December 25, 1913). 
Pp. 57+3 plates+12 text-figures. 

(6) K. Koriba: ‘* Mechanisch-physiologische Studien iiber die Drehung 
der Spiranthes-Aehre.” /dz¢., vol. xxxvi., Art. 3 (March 30. r914). Pp. 
179+7 plates+14 text-figures. 


t 
Ly 
* 
“| 
> 


ee ee ee ee ee 


AUGUST 20, 1914] 


NATURE 


055 


of latex, the author concludes that the latex tubes 
do not serve for conduction of useful organic sub- 
stances, that such substances when present in latex 
are probably not utilised at all by the other tissues 
of the plant, and that the question belongs to ecology 
rather than to physiology, the chief functions of latex 
being essentially that of protection against animals, 
and in some cases that of closing over injuries to the 
plant. 

(6) Koriba deals in this long and very detailed 
paper with the many problems raised by the curious 
flower-spike of the orchid genus Spiranthes, in which 
the inflorescence is so twisted as to bring the flowers 
into from one to three rows. The paper is of great 
general interest, since, in addition to his own exhaus- 
tive observations extending throughout the life-history 
of tthe plant from germination to flower develop- 
ment, the author discusses the general question of the 
arrangement of leaves and other lateral organs in 
plants, torsion and other displacements of organs, etc., 
with a very full bibliography of these aspects of 
general morphology, nowadays somewhat neglected 
by botanists. Fie Os 


ROYAL SOCIETY OF SCANADA. 
HE annual meeting of the Royal Society of Canada 
was held this year at Montreal on May 26-28, 
under the presidency of Prof. Frank D. Adams, F.R.S. 
The general and sectional meetings were held in the 
new medical building, McGill University, and in the 
Laval University, and there was an excellent attend- 
ance of fellows and of visitors. Dr. R. F. Stupart 
presided over Section III]. (Mathematical, Physical, 
and Chemical Sciences), and in the absence of the 
president of the section, Prof. A. P. Coleman, Prof. 
A. H. R. Buller presided over the proceedings of Sec- 

tion IV. (Geological and Biological Sciences). 

In his presidential address, Prof. Adams spoke on 
the national domain in Canada and its proper con- 
servation. As a member of the Canadian Commission 
of Conservation, Prof. Adams was well qualified to 
review in all its aspects the national importance of the 
proper conservation of the natural resources of the 
Dominion, and he considered, in a comprehensive 
manner, agriculture, forests, water-powers, mines, 
fisheries, and the fur trade. By means of statistics 
and charts he described the manner in which the sup- 
plies of iron and coal were being exhausted, how the 
supply of merchantable timber, which is usually over- 
estimated, is disappearing at a rapid rate, and the 
reckless destruction of the natural fertility of the soil 
brought about by growing only a single crop and bad 
farming. He indicated the manner in which the con- 
servation of these resources was dependent upon the 
application of scientific methods to the various forms 
of production and the dependence of manufactures and 
transportation systems upon careful conservation. 
Conservation does not mean hoarding up, but develop- 
ment without waste. ‘‘Each generation,’ the presi- 
dent said, ‘‘is entitled to the interest on the natural 
capital, but the principal should be handed on un- 
impaired.”’ 

The president of Section III. (Dr. Stupart) con- 
sidered in his address the present position of meteoro- 
logical science. He contended that the _ success 
achieved in storm warnings and forecasts was ample 
warrant for the system, largely empirical, now in 
vogue in all civilised countries. The general inter- 
national scheme for the exploration of the upper atmo- 
sphere was outlined and a comparison was given of 
the results obtained in Europe, Canada, and the 
equatorial regions. The present ignorance of many of 


disturbances in higher latitudes was pointed out, and 
the factors concerning which more knowledge was 
available were described. In opening a discussion on 
the structure of the atom, Drs. A. S. Eve and J. C. 
McLennan considered the rapid progress in blending 
the Thomson electron rings with the Rutherford 
nucleus, Moseley’s experiments on the atomic number 
with the isotopic theory of Fajans and Soddy, Bohr’s 
views with the Rydberg number of Planck’s quanta, 
and the hydrogen nucleus as positive electron, accord- 
ing to Rutherford’s recent suggestion. 

Among the series of important papers presented 
before Section III., the following may be mentioned. 
Prof. H. T. Barnes, in a paper on the expansive force 
of ice, showed that an ice-sheet over water expands 
and contracts similarly to a bimetallic rod, and results 
in the formation of peculiar cracks. An estimate was 
given from available data of the expansive pressure 
and the tensile strength of ice. Prof. C. J. Lynde 
described a new method of showing that soil solutions 
move through the soil by osmotic pressure from points 
of low concentration to points of high concentration. 
Dr. J. S. Plaskett discussed prism material for stellar 
spectrographs, and showed that a marked gain in 
efficiency, especially towards the ultra-violet, was 
gained by the use of lighter flint. He also described 
the new 72-in. reflecting telescope which is to be 
erected by the Dominion Government near Victoria, 
B.C. Dr. F. T. Shutt read a paper on the nitrogen 
compounds of rain and snow. For the year ending 
February, 1914, the eighth of the investigation, the 
total nitrogen furnished by precipitation amounted to 
6-207 Ib. per acre, and for the total period during 
which the inquiry has been carried on the average 
per annum is 6-182 Ib. 

A large proportion of the papers communicated to 
Section IV. were of a physiological character. Prof. 
A. T. Cameron described the distribution of iodine in 
plant and animal tissues. He showed from a wide 
series of iodine analyses that iodine is an almost in- 
variable constituent of all organisms, plant and 
animal, the amount present depending upon the diet 
and mediums of the organism. With greater develop- 
ment there is greater specificity of the tissue concerned 
in storing iodine, until in the vertebrates no tissue 
except thyroid contains appreciable quantities. Miss 
D. Duff described the trematode, Amphistomum sub- 
triquetrum, Rudolphi, found in the cacum and colon 
of the Canadian beaver. This species was described 
by Rudolphi as a parasite of the European beaver, a 
fact of interest from the point of view of geographical 
distribution. Mr. L. Lambe described a new species 
of Aspideretes from Alberta, and a new species of 
Platysomus, noteworthy on account of its large size. 
Dr. C. Gordon Hewitt communicated the results of 
a series of observations on the feeding habits of the 
stable-fly, Stomoxys calcitrans, in which investigation 
the flies had been fed chiefly on human blood. Dura- 
tion of feeding lasted from two to twenty-five minutes ; 
the time required for the digestion of the whole meal 
varied from 493 to 95 hours. Prof. A. H. R. Buller 
described the subterranean parts of the fruit bodies of 
certain Hymenomycetes, such as Collybia radicatu, 
C. fusipes, Mycena_ galericulata, Coprinus macro- 
rhizus, etc., in which the extensions of the fruit bodies 
below the ground occur when the mycelia are deep- 
seated. Development is from below upwards, and a 
useful purpose is served in allowing the fungus to 
reach the surface of the ground before the spore-pilei 
are developed. 

Instead of the annual popular lecture, illustrated 
addresses on popular subjects were given by repre- 
sentatives of the sections.. Dr. L. G. Herdt, repre- 


the factors which lead to cyclonic and anti-cyclonic | senting Section III., dealt with ‘*The Development 


NO. 2338, VOL. 93] 


of our Water Powers and their Effect on the Progress 
of Canada." Dr. C. Gordon Hewitt, representing 
Section IV., spoke on the destruction of trees by 
insects in Canada and modern methods of fighting 
them. 

The following officers were elected :—President, Sir 
Adolphe B. Routhier; vice-president, E. F. Burton; 
hon. secretary, Duncan C. Scott; hon. treasurer, C. 
Gordon Hewitt; hon. librarian, D. B. Dowling. Three 
new fellows were elected on the scientific sections :— 
Section IIJ., F. B. Allan and F. M. G. Johnson; 
Section IV., Sir Thomas G. Roddick. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 
INTELLIGENCE. 


CAMBRIDGE.—It has been decided by the Council of 
the Senate to allow terms and leave to postpone 
examinations to all undergraduates who are prevented 
from residing by the requ'rements of military service 
at the present time. There is no reason for supposing 
that the University will not reassemble as usual for 
the Michaelmas term. 


Lonpon.—The Vice-Chancellor has written to the 
Times to say that the Senate is anxious to do all in 
its power to render it easy for members of the Univer- 
sity, and especially for cadets of the Officers’ Training 
Corps, to offer their services to the Government. To 
this end, in the first place, all fees paid in for ex- 
aminations which a student 1s for the above reason 
unable to take will be remitted. In the second place 
the Senate will take each and every step possible to 
prevent students who are serving their country from 
being in any way prejudiced in their university career, 
and will willingly make any special arrangements 
that may be possible for the same purpose. 

Emergency first-aid and nursing classes have been 
arranged to be held daily, under the direction of Sir 
John Collie, who will lecture on first aid. Dr. Chris- 
tine Murrell will lecture on nursing. The courses 
began on Monday last. Particulars are obtainable 
from Miss Claire Gaudet, care of the University Ex- 
tension Registrar, University of London, South 
Kensington. 

Oxrorb.—The Vice-Chancellor has sent a letter to 
the daily Press with reference to the measures likely 
to be taken by the University in order to relieve under- 
graduates from any disabilities which might arise under 
statutes relating to them, in consequence of their 
absence on military service. He says :—‘‘(1) At the 
time of the war in South Africa a general decree was 
passed allowing men who owing to their absence 
would have passed the time-limit for entering the 
honour schools to have an extension of time. I pro- 


pose to introduce a similar decree when the term 
begins. (2) Other undergraduates were allowed to 
count the terms which had elapsed during their 


absence as if they had been in residence. These cases 
were provided for by a separate decree for each in- 
dividual. J should propose that this procedure should 
be repeated. (3) The case of candidates for scholar- 
ships who may, owing to their absence, be unable 
before the age of nineteen io come up for examination 
is much more difficult, and can only be dealt with by 
cooperation amongst the colleges.” The Vice-Chan- 
cellor further states that he sees no reason why term 
should not proceed as usual. 


Ir is stated in the Lancet that several citizens of 
Toronto have agreed to contribute sums amounting to 
15,000 dollars for five years in order that research work 
may be engaged in at the University of Toronto. 
It also states that Dr. D. A. Campbell, of Halifax, 


NO. 2338, VOL. 93| 


NATURE 


[AuGUST 20, 1914 


! Nova Scotia, has promised 60,000 dollars to endow a 
chair of anatomy at Dalhousie University, Halifax, in 
memory of his son, the late Dr. George Campbell. 


THE prospectus for the session 1914-15 of courses 
and regulations for degrees in arts and science in the 
University of Leeds has been received. We notice 
that, in common with other of the more modern Eng- 
lish universities, the degree of bachelor of science may 
be taken in applied as well as in pure science. In his 
final course the candidate for a degree may select from 
the following branches of applied science : mechanical, 
civil, electrical, mining, or gas engineering; agricul- 
ture; and applied chemistry. Applied chemistry in- 
cludes two branches, namely, colour chemistry and 
dyeing, and the chemistry of leather manufacture. 
The university also awards diplomas in applied science 
and technology, and offers facilities to persons desir- 
ing to pursue original research in the University 
laboratories. 


Tue Staffordshire County Council Education Com- 
mittee has issued its directory for higher education, 
IQI4-15, containing the regulations of the committee 
and details of schemes in operation throughout the 
county. The arrangements outlined are very com- 
plete, covering many branches of pure science and 
technology, and it is possible to refer to one or two 
departments only. Instruction in mining is provided 
by means of lecturers, whose whole time is devoted to 
the work, and their assistants. For this purpose the 
county is divided into two portions, comprising the 
North Staffordshire Coalfields and the South Statford- 
shire Coalfields respectively. Theoretical and prac- 
tical classes in metallurgy and iron and steel manu- 
facture are conducted in accordance with the regula- 
tions of the Board of Education and the City and 
Guilds of London Institute. The principal centre in 
South Staffordshire is Wednesbury, where it is hoped 
the new County Metallurgical and Engineering 
Institute will be opened this autumn. Lectures and 
| laboratory classes in subjects related to engineering 
will be conducted at the new institute. The course 
will include instruction in mathematics, physics, 
applied mechanics, theory of heat engines, and so on, 
with the necessary workshop practice. Among other 
subjects in which instruction is to be provided in 
various parts of the county may be mentioned : pottery 
and porcelain manufacture, silk manufacture, agri- 
culture, horticulture and hygiene, home-nursing, and 
first aid. The system of scholarships of which par- 
ticulars are given seems well designed to ensure that 
every student should have the opportunity of carrying 
his education as far as his powers make possible. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
LONDON. 


Geological Society, June 24.—Dr. A. Smith Wood- 
ward, president, in the chair.—V. C. Illing: The 
paradoxidian fauna of a part of the Stockingford 
Shales. This communication deals mainly with a 
small subdivision of the Stockingford Shales occurring 
at the base of the Oldbury division. The beds have 
been termed the Abbey Shales, and are about roo ft. 
thick, consisting mainly of blue laminated shales, 
although glauconitic sandy horizons occur at frequent 
intervals. This small subdivision passes down into 
the Purley Shales, while it is separated from the 
| overlying shales (which are probably of Lower 
Maentwrog age) by a calcareous conglomerate lying 
upon an eroded surface of the underlying blue shales, 
although the irregularity of the eroded surface does 
not appear to be great in the somewhat poor exposures. 
The beds have been examined in a series of trenches 


ie id 


AucGusT 20, 1914] 


situated near the Abbey Mound in Hartshill Hayes, 
and have yielded over fifty different species of trilo- 
bites—each ranging through one or more of about 
fifteen fossiliferous horizons in the sequence. ‘The 
fauna shows marked affinities with those of the equiva- 
lent beds in Wales, Scandinavia, and Bohemia.— 
T. C. Nicholas: The trilobite fauna of the Middle 
Cambrian of the St. Tudwal’s peninsula (Carnarvon- 
shire). In a previous paper on the geology of the St. 
Tudwal’s peninsula approximate determinations were 
given of the fossils found in the Upper Caered Mud- 
stones and Nant-pig Mudstones, both of Middle Cam- 
brian age. The object of the present paper is to give 
detailed descriptions of several forms which are either 
new or of particular interest, namely, Agnostus 
kjerulfi, two new species of Agnostus, a species of 
Agraulos, of Dorypyge, of Corynexochus, and Soleno- 
pleura applanata, and to give brief notes on a number 
of other species, including Agnostus punctuosus, A. 
exaratus, A. fissus, A. altus, A. truncatus, Microdiscus 
punctatus, Conocoryphe cf. dalmani, and Paradoxides 
hicksii. The vertical distribution’ of the different forms 
through the Upper Caered and Nant-pig Mudstones 
is tabulated and compared with that of other areas, 
particularly the succession recently established by 
Mr. V. C. Illing in the Abbey Shales of Nuneaton. 
This comparison strengthens the opinion already put 
forward in the previous communication, that there is 
a non-sequence at the base of the Lingula Flags in 
the St. Tudwal’s Peninsula. 


Paris. 


Academy of Sciences, August 3.—M. P. Appell in the 
chair.—J. Boussinesq: ‘Theoretical considerations on 
the filtration of liquids by sand or by other analogous 
porous media, and on the analogy between electric 
currents with those of filtration.—L. Lecornu; The 
aerodynamic laboratory of Auteuil. A summary of 
the work recently undertaken by G. Eiffel, including 
a three-dimension logarithmic model composed of 
three scales of different directions, carrying as gradua- 
tions the logarithms of the weight of the apparatus, 
its velocity, and the power developed by the propeller. 
—H. Le Chatelier:; The iron-zine alloys. Remarks on 
a recent communication of M. Taboury, directing 
attention to earlier work on the same subject by 
Berthier, Le Chatelier, and Wologdine.—H. Parenty : 
The constitution of the jet of elastic fluids below 
various orifices.—Th. Anghelutza and O. Tino: The 
polar equation.—Thadée Peczalski: Corresponding 
states with respect to temperature.—R. Fosse, A. 
Robyn, and F. Frangois: The gravimetric quantitative 
analysis of urea in the blood. Details of the applica- 
tion of the xanthhydrol method, in which the urea is 
weighed as the compound 


co.(x H. CH< EO) 
ott4 2 
—E. Gourdon: The mineralogical constitution of 
Jenny Island (Antarctic). The island consists of a 
massif of gabbro, with numerous lodes of andesites 
and andesi-labradorites. Ten complete analyses of 
the minerals are given.—J. Chaine: Observations on 
the study of the phylogenic development of the soft 
parts and hard parts of the organism.—Eugéne 
Pittard ; Comparative analysis of some body magni- 
tudes in Bulgarians of both sexes. The difference 
in height between the sexes is 13 cm. larger than is 
usual for races of medium height. The skull is rela- 
tively more developed in the women than in the men. 
—Pierre Girard: An attempt at a physical scheme for 
the semipermeability of living cells to ions. A study 
of the diffusion of solutions of barium chloride into 
dilute acid and alkaline solutions, and a suggested 


NO. 2338, VOL. 93] 


NATURE 


057 


| modification of the Ostwald hypothesis of the semi- 


permeability of membranes to ions and not to mole- 
cules, with application to the mechanism of the ex- 
changes of electrolytes between living cells and their 
media.—Mme. Marie Phisalix : Vaccination against the 
poison of Heloderma suspectum with cholesterol and 
with the venom itself. Guinea pigs were found to 
have been immunised against double the usual fatal 
dose of the poison either by cholesterol or by the 
venom itself. The venom contains at least two active - 
substances, one possessing vaccinating properties de- 
stroyed by five minutes’ heating to 80° C., the other 
toxic and resistant to heat.—J. Cantacuzéne ; A micro- 
organism isolated in scarlet fever. A description of 
an organism, accompanied by photographs, and of 
the lesions caused by its inoculation into Macacus 
rhesus. 

August 10.—Georges Lemoine: Notice on the life 
work of Louis Henry.—J. Boussinesq: Theory of the 
transpiration of gases through porous media.— 
Edmond Delorme; Battle wounds: advice to surgeons 
in the field.—The Perpetual Secretary announced the 
death of M. Considére, correspondant for the section 
of mechanics.—MM. Chaspoul and Bachalard: The 
action of radium on the sensibility of crystal 
detectors used in wireless telegraphy. The num- 
ber of sensitive points on a_ crystal detector 
used in wireless telegraphy is notably increased under 
the influence of the radium emanation.—J. Blumenfeld 
and G, Urbain: The ultra-violet spectrum of neo- 
ytterbium. <A list of wave-lengths of the spectrum of 
the neoytterbium the preparation of which was de- 
scribed in a recent paper in the Comptes rendus.— 
Francois Canac: A new method of crystallographic 
measurements by means of the Réntgen rays. Details 
of measurements on a crystal of cane sugar. The 
advantages claimed are that the reticular structure 
alone is concerned, and not the crystal faces, and the 
ratio of the parameters is known with exactness, 
since the reticular planes of great density are shown 
without ambiguity by the intensity of the spot which 
they give.—M. Herlant: The mechanism of the first 
segmentation of the egg of the sea-urchin in experi- 
mental parthenogenesis by J. Loeb’s method.—Albert 
Frouin and D. Roudsky : The bactericidal and antitoxic 
action of lanthanum and thorium salts on the cholera 
bacillus. The therapeutic action of these salts in 
experimental cholera. Thorium and lanthanum salts 
are not poisonous, and do not interfere with digestion. 
It would appear from the experiments cited that 
thorium sulphate may be usefully employed in the 
treatment of cholera.—M. and Mme. Victor Henri: 
Study of the metabiotic action of the ultra-violet rays. 
Theory of the production of new microbial forms by 
the action on the different nutritive functions. Under 
the influence of a short irradiation, the anthrax bacillus 
would appear to lose the power of secreting proteolytic 
ferments, whilst retaining the power of producing 
amylolytic ferments. 


CALCUTTA. 


Aslatic Society of Bengal, July 1.—Ramesh Chandra 
Majumdar: The date of Chashtana, The date of Chash- 
tana, the founder of the long line of Saka kings, has 
hitherto been held to be about 130 a.p. It is shown 
that such a theory is untenable in the light of modern 
researches, and that Chashtana most likely flourished 
at the end of the first century a.pD.—Nilmani Chakra- 
varti: Spirit belief in the Jataka stories. The belief 
had its origin in the soul theory, according to which 
tree had a soul. There were two kinds of 


even a 

spirits, good and evil. The former class was sub- 
divided into three classes, viz. I. Spirits dwelling in 
towns, houses, etc. II. Spirits dwelling in trees. 


658 
III. Spirits of rivers, the sea, etc. Of these, spirits 
dwelling in trees formed an important class. All men, 
even kings, used to have trees for worship. Sacrifices 


of goats, lambs, pigs, and cocks used to be offered 
before the tree gods and human sacrifices were not 
unknown.—H. Beveridge: The date of the death of 
Shah Beg Arghun, the ruler of Sind.—H. Beveridge : 
Sirhind or Sahrind.—Maulavi M. Hidayet Hosain;: 
Note on a history of Firuz Shah, called Sirat-i-Firuz 
Shahi.—Sahityacharya Pt. Bishweshwar Nath Shastri ; 
Jhalrapatan stone inscription of Udayaditya [vikram] 
Samvat 1143 (1086 a.D.) This is a stone inscription 
in Sanskrit dated 1086 a.D., and recovered from Jhal- 
rapatan in Rajputana. It records that a _ certain 
person named Janna built a temple of Siva and dug 
a tank, in the reign of the Udayaditya who is said 
to be a successor of Pramara Bhoja. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 


Ministry of Finance, Egypt. 
Geological Survey of Egypt. Palzontological Series, 
No. 2: Catalogue des Invertébrés  Fossiles de 
LEgypte représentés dans les Collections du 
Musée de Geologie au Caire. Terrains Crétacés. 
ihe” Panices ehinodermes. “By KK: Bourtau. Pp. 
viit1og+plate viii. (Cairo: Government Press.) 
AOL, 

Memoirs of the Boston Society of Natural History. 
Vol. vii., No. 1: Monographs of the Natural History 
of New England. The Fishes of New England. 
The Salmon Family. Part 1. ihe Lrout. or Charrs. 
By W. C. Kendall. Pp. 103+vii plates. (Boston : 
Boston Society of Natural History.) 

The Gaseous Metabolism of Infants. By PG: 
Benedict and F. B. Talbot. Pp. 168. (Washing- 
ton: Carnegie Institution.) 

Department of Marine Biology of Carnegie Insti- 
tution of Washington: Papers from the "Tortugas 
Laboratory of the ~ Carnegie Institution of W ashing- 
tone Ol vi. . En. 322 +X plates. (W ashington : 
Carnegie Institution.) 

The Osmotic Pressure of Aqueous Solutions. 
Report on Investigations made in the Chemical 
Laboratory of the Johns Hopkins University during 
the Years Tagg Tots. By wEtot.gid.  N: Morse. 
(Washington: Carnegie Institution.) 

The Production of | Elliptic Interferences in Rela- 
tion “to Interferometry. Part iii By Prof. GC. 
Barus. Pp. vi+169-273. (Washington: Carnegie 
Institution.) 

The Salton Sea. 
182+xxxii plates. 
tion.) 


Survey Department 


By D. T. MacDougal. Pp. x+ 
(Washington: Carnegie Institu- 


British Rainfall, 1913. Pp. 92+384. (London: E. 
Stanford, Ltd.) 

Anthropological Report on Ibo- speaking Peoples 
of Nigeria. By N. W. Thomas. Part iv., pp. vi+ 
208; Part v., pp. x+184; Part vi., pp. viiit+ 3114. 
(London: Harrison and Sons.) Each 4s. net. 

Dairy Chemistry. By H. D. Richmond. Second 


edition. Pp. xi+434. (London: 
Ltdie args. net: 


Memoirs’ of 


C. Griffin and Co., 


the Geological 
Palzontologia Indica. Vol. iv. 
Lower Gondwana Plants from the 
Kashmir. By Prof. 
plates. New Series. 
Mesozoic Plants from 


Survey of India. 
Memoir — No. 32 
Golarbarh Pass, 
Ree Seward. Pp; ‘10-fin 
Wel iv. Memoir No: 4: 
Afghanistan and Afghan- 
Turkistan. By Prof. A. C. Seward. Pp. 57+vii 
plates. New Series. Vol. iv. Memoir No. 3: The 
Vertebrate Fauna of the Gaj ae in the Bugti 
Hills and the Punjab. By Dr. G. E. Pilgrim. Pp. 
83+xxx plates. Series xv. Vol. iv. Part ii. Fasc. 


NO! 72235, VOL: 63 | 


NATURE 


[AUGUST 20, 1914 


No. 4: Fauna of the Spiti. Shales. 
Holdhaus. Pp. 397+456+xciv—c plates. 


‘By: Dr oiK. 
(Calcutta : 


Geological Survey.) 1s. 4d., 2s. 4d., 10s. 8d., 25. 4d. 
respectively. 
Solar Physics Committee. Areas of Calcium 


Floceuli on Spectroheliograms, 1906-1908. Measured 
and Reduced at the Solar Physics Observatory, South 
Kensington. Pp. 7. I. Comparison of the Spectra 
of Rigelian, Crucian, and: Alnitamian  Stars.: 
II. A Discussion of the Line Spectrum of a Orionis. 
Hil. The Spectrum of. y. Cassiopeizn| By “FE: 
Baxandall. Pp. 41. On Some of the Phenomena of 
New Stars. Pp. 63+1v plates. (London: Wyman 
and Sons, Ltd.) od., 3s. 6d., and 5s. respectively. 

Western Australia. Department of Lands and 
Surveys Geodetic Tables. (Perth, W.A.: F. W. 
Simpson.) 

British Museum (Natural History). 
Antarctic Terra Nova Expedition, tg10. Natural 
History Report. Zoology. Vol. ii., No. 1: List of 
Collecting Stations. By Dr. S. F. Harmer and 
D. G. Lillie. Pp. 1-12+4 maps. (London: British 
Museum (Natural History); Longmans and Co.) 
ts. 6d. 


British 


CONTENTS. 


Fisheries and Fish-Culture 

Economic Analysis. By D. H. M. 

Our Bookshelf 

Letters to the Editor :— 
The Peregrine Falcon at the Eyrie.—W. E. Hart; 


The Reviewer 633 
Practical Education. (hist 7 7636 
The Australian Meeting of the British Aecunsatinee 

Inaugural Address by Prof. William Bateson, 

M.A., F.R.S., President.—Part I.—Melbourne 635 

Section A.—Mathematics and Physics. —Opening Ad- 
dress’ by Prof, F. Ts Drouton,; M.A se. Dr, 
BR. S., President of thesSectiony i. saneme 642 
Section B.—Chemistry.—Opening Address by Prof. 

William J. Pope, M.A., LL.D., F.R.S., Presi- 

dent of the Section. (J///ustrated.) . 645 
Notes S02.) AAS ee 649 
Our Re tedetenaical! Coluuiate — 

The Perseid Meteoric Shower .. . wk Coes 
The Spectrum of Comet 19146 (Zlatinskey) 653 
The Spectrum of Silicon . 654 
The Total Solar Eclipse . Bean, c 654 
Recent Japanese Biological pan ieeteers By F. C. 654 
RoyalsSociety of (Canada ass ae meee 655 
University and Educational Tnretiaences 656 
Societies) and Academies “#47 656 
Books Received . 658 


Editorial and Publishing Offices: 
MACMILLAN: & €@:;) Eemps, 
ST. MARTIN'S STREET, LONDON, W.C. 


Advertisements and business letters to be addressed to the 
Publishers. 


Editorial Communications to the Editor. 


Telegraphic Address: 
Telephone Number: 


Puusis, LONDON. 
GERRARD 8830. 


NATURE 


THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, ‘ror: 


THE NEWER EDUCATION. 


(1) Dr. Montessori’s Own Handbook. By Dr. M. 
Montessori. Pp. viii+136. (London: Heine- 
mann, 1914.) Price 3s. 6a. net. 

(2) The Montessori Method and the American 


Bieaol., Isy;Prof. F. E.,Ward... Pp: xvi+ 
243. (New York: The Macmillan Co. ; 
London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1913.) 


Price 5s. 6d. net. 
(3) A Path to Freedom in the School. By N. 
~MacMunn. Pp. 162. (London: G. Bell and 
OMS, FOL4.). Price 2s, net. 


(1) BOOK by Dr. Montessori is an event in 

vs the educational world; it creates an 
interest beyond that due to its intrinsic merit. 
The ‘‘Handbook” is a distinct advance on the 
“Method” in that the descriptions of how to use 
the apparatus are now given in orderly sequence 
and in much more detail; that the name “direc- 
tress”’ is now replaced by “teacher,” and that, 
instead of the “ passivity,” which was quite over- 
emphasised in the ‘‘ Method,” we read in the 
“Handbook” of what the teacher has to do as 
well as to refrain from doing; and the importance 
of teaching the right way to do actions is fully 
recognised. There is, too, less of that tendency 
to decry current knowledge and practice which 
has undoubtedly done much to hinder appreciation 
of her own valuable work. 

Like the ‘‘ Method,” the ‘‘Handbook”’ is dis- 
appointing in that it says nothing of the difficulties 
the teacher meets when the children do not behave 
in the expected way, nor are the principles by 
which the teacher must be guided dealt with. The 
book is in truth a Handbook, with the limita- 
tions of the “ Handbook” or “ Manual,” as con- 
trasted with a brain-book intended for those who 
work by intelligent application of principles rather 
than by rules. The reader, too, should be 
cautious in accepting the few physiological or 
psychological statements it contains. For ex- 
ample, a sharp distinction is drawn between sen- 
sory and motor training, though each involves 
the other; again, the psychology of the first para- 
graph of p. 122 will not withstand examination. 
But to those who have already grasped the prin- 
ciples on which their teaching should be founded, 
the “Handbook” will be of very real assistance. 
It gives, as might be expected, the best account 
yet published of how to use the apparatus. Dr. 
Montessori’s deep sympathy with the child, her 
patience with its halting efforts, are beautifully 


NOs 2339; VOL. 92] 


659 


visible throughout its pages. Patience, indeed, is 
not the right word, since it may suggest con- 
trolled impatience, and of impatience there is no 
trace; no matter how disappointingly slow the 
child’s progress may seem to be, one cannot 
imagine Dr. Montessori doing otherwise than 
watching nature’s progress with expectant and 
deeply interested hopefulness. 

(2) Prof. Ward’s book is for the most part a 


laborious, detailed, uncritical résumé of Dr. 
Montessori’s views as given in “The Montessori 
Method.” There are so many summaries, 


arranged numerically, and under (a), (b), (c), and 
so on, that the work is not stimulating—it does 
for the reader what he should do for himself. 
The best chapters are those not so directly dealing 
with Montessori practice. 

(3) Of books criticising the meagre results of 
our secondary education there have been many, 
but none comparable in interest and importance 
with that of Mr. McMunn. Lively and vigorous in 
its English, sometimes putting conclusions more 
strongly than sober critics, even friendly ones 
may approve, it is, above all, valuable for its 
constructive side, and is the outcome of definite 
and successful experience. Inspired by Dr. 
Montessori’s work, he endeavoured to found his 
class-teaching of older students on the concept of 
freedom, and the method of “partnership” was 
the outcome. 

Nothing in education is wholly new, except 
perhaps the relative importance attached to the 
different means employed. Thus, in university 
classes in mathematics the writer, following the 
Jesuits, has for years put those students who 
understand to explain to those who do not—a 
plan excellent for both. Mr. McMunn improves 
much on this: in teaching French he arranges 
that the boys teach each other, irrespective of 
supposed ability ; something like it has been done 
in teaching history, where by the aid of a school 
library each, even the most backward, is enabled 
to bring a contribution to the lesson. 

Mr. McMunn has so worked out and applied his 
ideas that mutual self-education by the boys is 
carried to a much greater extent than in any other 
school, so far as the writer knows, and with 
extraordinary success—new intellectual life and 
interest have been generated in the boys, especi- 
ally in those who before were deemed stupid or 
backward. If other teachers can use the method 
as he has used it, and apply it to other subjects, 
secondary education will take an immense stride 
forward. 

In regard to little children, from Dr. Montes- 
sori in Rome; in regard to schoolboys, from Mr. 

DED 


660 


McMunn at Stratford-on-Avon; in regard to 
criminal or semi-criminal children of the streets, 
from Mr. Lane at the Littlke Commonwealth in 
Dorset, we learn of the wonders wrought by a 
wise respect for the individual personality of the 
pupil. Shall we learn the lesson they teach? Or 
shall we go on blindly in the ways of the past? 
Te ERA OS 


THE “CONWAY” MANUAL. 


The “Conway” Manual: being a complete Sum- 
mary of all Problems in Navigation and Nauti- 
cal Astronomy. By J. Morgan, T. P. Marchant, 
and: was Sl Wood. Pp. yo." \(Lendon J. 2D: 
Potter, 1914.) Price 5s. 

HIS manual of navigation, as taught on 

board the Conway, gives the courses of 

instruction the cadets of that vessel go through 
to prepare them to qualify as navigators afloat. 

Quite properly the manual lays stress on the 
importance of all students being familiar with 
both plane and spherical trigonometry, as naviga- 
tion is simply applied trigonometry, and entirely 
discards all rule of thumb methods, but in teach- 
ing the cadets the method appears to be to plunge 
at once into a statement of the formulas used—the 
sine formula, etc., without indicating what is 
meant by sines, cosines, tangents, etc. Surely in 
teaching beginners it is best to make plain what 
is meant by the expressions used. 

In applying the formulas to practical navigation 
the manual adopts the method of zenith distances 
given by Marcq St. Hilaire about 1880, to the 
exclusion of all other methods. Now the method 
of position lines has been in use for nearly a 
century. When first started, the line of position 
was obtained by finding the longitude from the 
observation of the sun worked out with two lati- 
tudes some miles apart; the resulting longitudes 
gave a line on which the observer must be situ- 
ated. When it became of importance to ascertain 
the compass errors, at the time of observation, 
the system of working with two latitudes was 
abandoned in favour of calculating the true bear- 
ings of the heavenly object, together with the 
longitude; as the observer must be on a line of 
position at right angles to the bearings of the 
heavenly object observed. If two heavenly ob- 
jects were observed, in convenient positions with 
respect to each other, it is evident that the ob- 
server must be where those lines intersect, but 
even with one object only, by knowing the true 
zenith and polar distances, and the approximate 
co-latitude, the line of position on which the ob- 
server is situated can be placed on the chart at 


NO. 2330, VOL? 93 


NALORE 


[AUGUST 27, 1914 


once, and frequently by steering along that line 
an accurate landfall be made. In this problem 
the only doubtful point is the co-latitude. By 
Marcq St. Hilaire’s method an approximate hour 
angle is assumed, as well as an approximate co- 
latitude, and the true polar distance, to calculate 
an approximate zenith distance and true bearing, 
and the difference between the true zenith dis- 
tance, as observed, and the approximate zenith 
distance, as calculated, plotted along the line of 
bearing of the heavenly object, and the lines of 
position parallel to each other plotted. 

Lines of position are fully explained in Riddle’s 
“Navigation,” eighth edition, published in 1864, 
and can be obtained by the Marcq St. Hilaire 
method as well as by Sumners, or by calculating 
‘the longitude and azimuth of the heavenly body 
observed. When the sun is the heavenly object 
observed the zenith distance plan has the disad- 
vantage of not giving the longitude and line of 
position. Wiitn two stars at or near right angles 
to each other this does not apply, but even then 
the method of calculating the longitude and line 
of bearing appears quite as advantageous as the 
zenith distance method. But what appears to be 
omitted from the ‘Conway Manual” in the prac- 
tical work is all instruction relative to Dr. Ivory’s 
method of double altitudes or to lunar distances, 
though in the case of the sun’s double altitude 
given at page 74 the ship’s position can be cal- 
culated at once by Dr. Ivory’s method as ex- 
panded in Riddle’s “ Navigation,” without trouble 
and without any plotting and position iines. Also, 
in the example of star double altitude at page 76, 
although the rate of the chronometer for a period 
of eighty-five days has to be applied to obtain the 
Greenwich mean time, nowhere is the student 
warned that in such a lapse of time the chrono- 
meter may, and probably would, have altered its 
rate, and that the most convenient way of ascer- 
taining this in a ship at sea is by lunar observa- 
tions. 

It may perhaps be as well to point out 
also that in the problem on page 74, although the 
altitude at the first observation is corrected for the 
run of the ship, the latitude it is worked with is 


the approximate latitude of the ship at the first 


observation for both sets of the sun’s altitude, at 
II a.m. as well as at 9 a.m. It will be found 
that if the hour angle and sun’s bearing be ob- 
tained from the observations at 9 a.m., and the 
run of the ship be applied to that hour angle, as 
well as the elapsed time, a more correct hour 
angle will be obtained for the 11 a.m. observation, 
and the correct position got, as in the annexed dia- 
gram; where if A be the position of the ship at the 


——— 


AUGUST 27, 1914] 


NATURE: 


661 


time of the second observation, as obtained by 
applying the run from the first observation, then 
AC will be the position line by the first observa- 
tion, AB the line of bearing of the sun at the 
second observation, and the distance from A to B 
the difference of 36 miles, the difference of the 
zenith distance as calculated, using the corrected 


True Meridian 


latitude and hour angle, and, as observed, then 
BC will be the line of position at the second ob- 
servation cutting the first position line at C. Drop 
a perpendicular CD on to the parallel of latitude, 
and the distance CD, and departure AD, are easily 
obtained by the traverse tables without any need 
of drawing the diagram to scale. 


THE FOSSIL INVERTEBRATES. 


Text-book of Palaeontology. Edited by Prof. 
C. R. Eastman. Adapted from the German of 
Prof. Karl A. von Zittel. Second Edition, re- 
vised and enlarged. Volume I. Pp. xi+839. 
(London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1913.) 
Price25s. net. 


HE appearance of a new edition of Zittel’s 
“Paleontology” is always something of 

an event in the paleontological world, more so, 
perhaps, than the publication of many a weighty 
monograph. For this is a work which appeals 
not only to the student, but to each expert in his 
own specialty. Some years ago one could say, 
“there are many text-books, but only one Zittel”’ ; 
but this is a tribute that can no longer be paid, 
since there are now two Zittels. One, the German 
edition, recently revised by Prof. Broili, but still 
evincing the cautious conservatism of the original 
distinguished author; the other, the American 
edition, retaining the preface and the illustrations 
of the “Grundziige,” but in almost all other re- 
spects a very different work. It is the first volume 


NO. 2339, VOL. 93] 


| cestors, through the cirripedia.” 


‘ of the second edition of this latter that is now 


before us. 
As in the previous edition, Prof. Eastman has 
managed to secure the cooperation of a number of 


well-known authorities, most of whose names 
(not always correctly given) appear in this 
connection for the first time. With the ex- 
ception of Dr. W. T. Calman and Dr. A. 


Handlirsch, all are citizens of the United States, 
and have therefore not been afraid to introduce 
drastic alterations. In this respect, however, 
there is considerable difference of treatment. 
While, for instance, the classification and account 
of the foraminifera have been entirely re-modelled 
by Dr. Cushman, the sections on radiolaria and 
sponges are almost unaltered, the latter still re- 
taining on p. 71 the misprint Ventriculites for 
Verticillites. Perhaps the editor was in this 
matter well advised, but Dr. Wayland Vaughan 
might have done more with the corals; he has 
made a few slight changes and introduced Duer- 
den’s views of the septal development in hexa- 
coralla, but he does not, except by a literature 
reference, direct attention to the important studies 
that have lately been made on our Carboniferous 
corals, and the student who turns up here the 
much-debated Archzeocyathus will be disappointed. 

In the hands of Dr. Ruedemann the graptolites 
are safe; but we look for something more than 
safety, at the least for some evolutionary scheme 
that shall enable the student to carry the leading 
facts in his head, and in this case the scheme 
would probably have the additional merit of truth. 
How different is Prof. Schuchert’s chapter on the 
brachiopoda (based on his previous valuable 
synopsis, but incorporating “the brilliant results 
of C. D. Walcott” and “the important work of 
S. S. Buckman”)! Here is evolution with a 
vengeance : the Orthide are defined as ‘“ progres- 
sive, divergent, and terminal Orthacea, derived 
out of the Eoorthine, etc.” True, the student will 
have to find out elsewhere than in this volume 
what is the precise meaning of these evolutionary 
terms; but the search will do him a world of 
good. 

If only a page can be spared for fossil jelly- 
fish, the doubtful forms should give place to those 
now well known, and the figure should be cf a 
better specimen. Under “ Vermes” some of Wal- 
cott’s Cambrian genera are illustrated, and there 
is a fresh note on alleged worm-tracks, but we 
meet with no great change until we reach the 
echinoderms. In revising this phylum four experts 
lent their aid, and the fact that Dr. A. H. Clark 
was one explains the suggestion “that the echino- 
derms are derived from acraniate crustacean an- 
After this it is 


662 


NATURE 


[AUGUST 27, 1914 


tame to find the classification of both cystoidea and (7) Dynamics. By -Prof2 H.; Lambs Pp.) xi 


blastoidea following that of Bather. For the 
crinoidea, however, Dr. Springer naturally takes, 
with some modification, the main divisions estab- 
lished by Wachsmuth and Springer. The post- 
paleozoic genera are separated as an _ order, 
articulata, which seems rather a backward step; 
but it is interesting to have them arranged ac- 
cording to the views of Dr. A. H. Clark, even 
though much space is given to purely recent 
forms. Dr. H. L. Clark, who revises the aster- 
ozoa, seems timorous by contrast. Dr Kaas 
Jackson (whose help throughout the editor ac- 
knowledges) has fortunately been able to deal 
with the echinoidea on the lines of his recent great 
monograph; our only regret is that the name 
centrechinoida (vice diademoida) has thus entered 
on its text-book career. 

In the bryozoa, and in mollusca other than am- 
monoidea, we detect no great change; that impor- 
tant order has been entrusted to Prof J. Perrin 
Smith, who strikes a happy mean between the 
phylogenists and the geologists. With such re- 
visers-as Drs. C. D. Walcott, J.:M. Clarke, P. E. 
Raymond, A. Petrunkevitch, W. T. Calman, and 
A. Handlirsch, the chapter on the arthropoda 
proves sound and up-to-date. The editor must 
have felt very happy when he had seen its last 
page through the press, and could turn to compile 
the index of more than 5500 names. We offer 
our congratulations and thanks. 


MATHEMATICAL TEXT-BOOKS. 
(le Hasord: by, Prot. “EE.” Borel: -) Pp. ‘ive- 
Bae (Ramis s/h selcatt,e) wii 4.) Price 
3.50 francs. 
(2) Intermediate Mechanics for Indian Students. 


By bte. burner and ror. |. mm. Bose.” Pp. 
xi1+332. (London: Longmans, Green and 
Cow. 19042)) Price 4s. 6d. 


(3) A Junior Trigonometry. By W. G. Borchardt 
and jthe Rev. A. 1D. Perrott: “Pp: xv 220+ 
xvii+xx. (London: G. Bell and Sons, Ltd., 
1Or4.), Price 3s. Gd- 

(4) Mathematical Papers. For Admission into 
the Royal Military Academy and the Royal 


Military College. For the years 1905-13. 
Edited by R. M. Milne. (London: Macmillan 
and Co., Ltd., 1914.) Price 6s. 

(5) Bell’s | Outdoor and Indoor Experimental 
Arithmetics. By H. H. Goodacre, and E:; F. 
Holmes, C. F. Noble, P. Steer. Teacher’s | 


Book. Pp. xii+377. (London: G. Bell and 
Sons, Ltd., 1914.) Price 3s. 6d. net. 

(6) The Theory of Proportion. By Prof. M. J. M. 
Hill. Pp. xx+108. (London: Constable and 
Co., Ltd., 1914.) Price 8s. 6d. net. 


NO. 2330; VOL g3) 


344. (Cambridge: University Press, 1914.) 


Price) ros. )6d. ‘net. 
(8) Lectures on the Icosahedron and the Solution 


of Equations of the Fifth Degree. By Prof. F. 
Klein. Translated by ~Dr- .G. -G. Moprrice. 
Second and revised edition. Pp. xvi+ 289. 


(London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner and 
Go:, Ltd.; n.d.) Pricepaes.sod-aner 
(9) Tables for Facilitating the Use of Harmonic 


Analysis. As arranged by Prof. H. H. Turner. 
Pp. 46. (London: Oxford University Press, 
mo03.)| / Price 1s. net. 


(1) JT has been said that “Chance is the 

measure of our ignorance,” and if by this 
it is meant that any event, the causes of which we 
do not understand, is to be ascribed to chance, 
then chance is indeed a powerful factor in life; 
and many of our actions and policies are deter- 
mined by our estimate of it. The mathematical 
theory is, of course, beyond the powers of the 
ordinary reader; no one, for instance, who had 
not received a special mathematical training could 
make much of the excellent article on “ Prob- 
ability”? in the ‘Encyclopedia Britannica.” But 
there are general considerations and conclusions 
which lie apart from technical difficulties, and it 
is these that form the substance of this volume. 

The book is divided into three parts. The first 
considers the meaning of probability with illustra- 
tions from the tossing of a coin, cases of limited 
and unlimited alternatives and inverse probability ; 
examples are taken in which different methods 
appear to yield different solutions of the same 
problem, thus paving the way to an instructive 
discussion on possible elements of ambiguity in 
the data. The second part deals with the appli- 
cations of the laws of chance to sociology, 
biology, physics, astronomy, and chemistry; and 
the third with their practical and philosophical 
bearing on human affairs. All these topics should 
appeal to the general reader. 

(2) This text-book is compiled with special re- 
ference to the needs of Indian students, and 
includes all that is required by the syllabus of 
Calcutta University. There is nothing particu- 
larly original in the treatment; and although the 
importance of practical work is emphasised in 
the preface, yet in the text itself there is not as 
much as will be found in most recent English 
books. For examination purposes it will, how- 
ever, be found distinctly useful, since the book- 
work is set out clearly and there are a good 
selection of illustrative examples, worked out in 
careful detail. There is an unfortunate mistake 
in the section on circular motion, where it is 
stated that this implies the action of some force 


AuGusT 27, 1914] 


NATURE 


663 


acting outwards along the normal. We are glad 
to see that statics and dynamics are taken 
together, instead of, as often happens, being 
made to form distinct parts of the course. 

(3) Most of the subject-matter of this book is 
included in the ‘“‘Numerical Trigonometry” by 
the same authors, already noticed in these 
columns. There are additional chapters on solid 
geometry, multiple angles, and identities. 

(4) Following their usual custom, Macmillan 
and Co. publish in a single volume the collected 
mathematical papers for admission to Sandhurst 
and Woolwich for the years 1905-1913. All the 
diagrams are reprinted as set, and a complete list 
of answers is appended. The volumes of this 
series are invaluable for army class work. 

(5) The authors of this practical text-book have 
interpreted in an admirable manner the sugges- 
tions made in the Board of Education’s Circular, 
Number 807. The course is planned to cover five 
years, and deals with length, area, volume, 
weight, and time. In addition to setting out in 
detail the experiments to be made, there is a 
number of useful notes for the teacher, enumerat- 
ing such points as are likely to require special 
attention, detailing the requisite apparatus, and 
suggesting methods for organising the work of 
the class. Complete lists are also given at the 
end of the equipment that is (1) necessary and 
(2) desirable, together with useful information 
as to cost. The book is undoubtedly the work of 
eapable and enthusiastic teachers, and the variety 
of the exercises is evidence of the thought that 
has been expended in the selection of material. 

(6) The purpose of this book is to provide an 
account of the theory of proportion, suitable for 
elementary teaching. The main part of it is 
founded on an annual course of lectures given by 
the author in the University of London; but the 
concluding chapters are intended only for teachers 
or honour-students. 

One of the chief points of difference between the 
theoretical development adopted by Prof. Hill and 
that of Euclid is the establishing of properties 
of equalities of ratios by the use of Def. 5, Bk. v., 
instead of introducing Def. 7, Bk. v., which 
gives the test for distinguishing between unequal 
ratios. The author is of opinion that this greatly 
simplifies the difficulties students meet with. For 
the first nine chapters, which form the elementary 
course, little mathematical ability is required; 
and a clear idea should be obtained of the mean- 
ing and nature of irrationals. Part II. deals with 
geometrical applications of Stolz’s theorem on 
the test for equal ratios and further consideration 
of irrationals; and Part III. is historical, being a 
commentary on Euclid’s work. 


NO: 92339, VOL. 93] 


(7) This is the second volume of a treatise on 
mechanics, the first part of which deals with 
statics and has already been noticed in these 
columns. Together they form an excellent course 
of reading for scholarship divisions in secondary 
schools. In style, this volume closely resembles 
the first; the bookwork is cast in an interesting 
and refreshing form; the able student will find 
much that is highly stimulating, and the boy of 
ordinary capacity will appreciate the concentra- 
tion on the fundamental] processes required for the 
systematic solution of problems. Many boys are 
so easily bewildered by detail, that it is highly 
important to make them realise at the earliest 
moment how few and simple are the general 
principles of mechanics; and for this reason it is 
desirable to provide them with examples which 
require small analytical skill. In this respect, as 
in his volume on statics, Prof. Lamb has prce- 
vided exactly what is most needed. A certain 
number of the traditional problems are naturally 
included, but the main body have been selected 
to illustrate principles and clarify ideas. There 
is an interesting appendix on the relation of 
abstract dynamical principles to human experi- 
ence. 

(8) More than twenty-five years have passed 
since Prof. Klein’s classic treatise was first trans- 
lated into English, and the nature of its contents 
and the line of argument are so well known as to 
render any account at the present time super- 
fluous. In preparing this revised edition, Dr. 
Morrice has been fortunate in securing the 
assistance of Prof. Burnside. 

(9) If a set of n values of a slightly varying 
quantity are taken, the expression representing 
them most closely is obtained from a Fourier 
series. To assist numerical computation, these 
tables, arranged by Prof. Turner, give the values 
of terms of the type a,,, sin 70, a+,, cos70 to 
two significant figures, for values of n between 
8 and 22, where 0=27/n. 


OUR BOOKSHELF. 


India-rubber Laboratory Practice. By Dr. W. A. 
Caspari. Pp. viii+196. (London: Macmillan 
and, Cox, Jlatd’ te1oL4.) bnice cs? net. 


Ir must be a great temptation to any chemist who 
writes about rubber at the present time to devote 
a considerable amount of attention to the views 
that are in the air on the constitution of this ia- 
teresting substance, or substances, and to the 
bearing of recent developments in colloidal chem- 
istry on the problems presented by the prepara- 
tion and properties of rubber. Dr. Caspari has 
expressly omitted all reference to these subjects, 
and has limited himself entirely to the analytical 
problems which arise in the ordinary routine prac- 


664 


NATURE 


[AuGUST 27, 1914 


tice of an industrial rubber laboratory, viz., the 
sampling and analysis of raw rubbers, the nature 
and properties of the various substances—rubber 
substitutes, fillers, pigments, etc.—used in pre- 
paring manufactured rubber, and finally the analy- 
sis of manufactured rubbers. 

The methods described and recommended are 
well chosen, and, indeed, are those which the 
author has found satisfactory in actual practice. 
The book is, in fact, so good that one regrets 
the decision not to include any account of the 
mechanical testing of manufactured rubber. The 
reason given for this decision is that this method 
of examination is as yet merely beginning to give 
rise to systematic laboratory practice. Both manu- 
facturers and planters are now, however, taking 
up this subject seriously, and in view of this, a 
statement of the experience of so careful and con- 
scientious an observer as Dr. Caspari would have 
been welcomed by all interested in this subject. 
It is to be hoped that when a new edition of this 
little book is called for, the author will still fur- 
ther increase its utility to the rubber chemist by 
adding a section on mechanical testing. 

The book is very well produced and illustrated, 
and is remarkably free from misprints. 


Ancient India, from the Earliest Times to the 
First Century a.p. By Prof. E. J. Rapson. 
Pp. vilit+199. (Cambridge University Press, 
EOI!) Ierice 3s-- net, 

Ir is not an easy task to write a popular introduc- 

tion to the history of ancient India. A race, 


records of early events save poems and dreary 
treatises on belief and ritual, coloured by religious 
antipathy and prejudices. 
excavation has scarcely begun, but even now the 
fresh material daily accumulating—epigraphical, 
numismatic, artistic—is so abundant and perplex- 
ing that the time for its scientific discussion has 
scarcely yet arrived. The ruling tendency of Indian 
history has always been centrifugal, and it is only 
at rare periods—those of Asoka and Harsha—that 
the story attains ephemeral unity, and, as a whole, 
it remains a record of the fortunes of petty States, 
without much material for a continuous sketch of 


social life or an account of the individual actors | 


in the drama. 


For those who desire an elaborate account of 
the facts, Mr. V. A. Smith’s “Early History,” 
now in its third edition, is available. Prof. 


Rapson is a master of the subject, and he has | 


relieved the tedium of the narrative by some inter- 
esting disquisitions, such as a discussion of the 
rise of the study of Sanskrit, and of the processes 
by which some attempt at a chronology has been 
reached. The engravings of coins, architecture, 
and inscriptions are much to the purpose. He 
might have done more to illustrate the social side 
of the history, but so far as it goes the book 
forms an admirable introduction to work a know- 
ledge of which has too long been confined to the 
specialist. 


NO: 12330, Vor. 92 | 


_ bag or purse. 
| with me, and turned it over and over with your own 
hands, marvelling at that new belly and wonderful 
| provision of nature. 
' ence that she never letteth her whelps go out of that 
| purse except it be either to play or suck until such 


| Australian phalanger. 
The age of scientific | 


| times a second 


LETTERS TO (THE: EDITOR: 


[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for 
opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with 
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 
this or any other part of Nature. No notice is 
taken of anonymous communications. ] 


The First Description of a Kangaroo. 


On reading Dr. Estreicher’s letter under this head- 
ing in Nature of March 19 (p. 60) I wrote to Mr. 
Petherick, who was kind enough to send me one of 
his articles on the subject reprinted from the British 
Australasian for May 6, 1897. This article gives the 
complete passage from Peter Martyr, part of which 


| Dr. Estreicher quoted, evidently from memory. 


The passage is as follows :—‘‘ Among these trees is 
found that monstrous beast with a snout like a fox, 
a tail like a marmoset, ears like a bat, hands like a 
man, and feet like an ape, bearing her whelps about 
with her in an outward belly, much like unto a great 
The dead carcase of this beast you saw | 


They say it is known by experi- 


time that they be able to get their living by them- 
selves.” 

There can be no doubt that this is the description of 
a marsupial, and to me it seems very clear that it 
refers to an opossum. ‘Hands like a man and feet 
like an ape”’ implies that all four feet were used for 
grasping, and I cannot understand how anyone could 
think such a description applicable to a kangaroo, 
especially when we are told that the creature had a 


‘ y : | ‘tail like a marmoset.”’ 
destitute of the historical sense, has left few | 


The following points in the description seem to me 
to point to the true American opossum rather than the 
‘Bearing her whelps about 
with her’’ implies that the animal had a litter of 
young. The phalangers (and kangaroos) only give 
birth to a single young one at a time, though some- 
is born before the first leaves the 
pouch. ‘‘ They say it is known by experience ”’ implies 
that the animal lived in a country either inhabited by 


| white men or in which white men had intercourse with 


the natives. Neither of these conditions can have 


| applied to Australia in the fifteenth century. 


W. B. ALEXANDER. 
Western Australian Museum, Perth, W.A., July 11. 


The ‘‘ Green Ray’’ at Sunset. 


YESTERDAY, Sunday, August 16, I was watching the 
sunset over the sea. I was using binoculars, and 
remarked that I had never seen the horizon so sharp. - 


| The waves could be seen on the edge of the sky. 


I was watching with interest the rapid disappear- 
ance of the upper rim of the sun when quite un- 
expectedly the golden edge turned apple-green and 
seemed to lag for a second or two and then vanished. 

The green line seemed to be broken into three, 
possibly by waves acting in the same way as a small. 
irregularity on one edge of a spectroscopic slit acts on 
a spectrum. The waves were not big enough to ke 
simple obstructions. Ry Gi Bivawee 

Sandringham House, Marina Crescent, 

Herne Bay, August 17. 
[Ir is a pity that this well-known phenomenon due 


to atmospheric dispersion is not more frequently 
looked for.—Ed. Narturs.] 


ee UCL lL 


AUGUST 27, 1914] 


NATURE 


€65 


TREATMENT OF THE WOUNDED. 


my the meeting of the Academy of Sciences, 
held in Paris on Monday, August I0, a 
paper, of particular interest at the present time, 
was read by Inspector-General Edmond Delorme 
dealing with the treatment of the wounded in 
modern warfare.t General Delorme became a 
surgeon in the French Army during the last 
Franco-Prussian War, and has devoted his life 
to the advancement of military surgery, his text- 
book on that subject being recognised everywhere 
as a standard work. His opinion of the wounds 
inflicted by modern weapons is by no means 
pessimistic :— 

“The military surgeons, at the present time,’’ he 
writes, ‘‘must adopt the most conservative methods of 
treatment in the great majority of military wounds; 
indeed, such methods must be applied in practically 
every case of bullet wound. The opening of a modern 
bullet wound is so small that if the surgeon adopts 
strict antiseptic or aseptic dressings and refrains from 
probing the wound or making a systematic search for 
foreign bodies arrested in its track, it is possible to 
give the most favourable prognosis for wounds of this 
class. Thanks to aseptic and antiseptic methods of 
treatment, the wounded run less risk than in former 
times.” 

The pointed bullet, employed by the German 
Army, leaves very narrow wounds of entrance 
and exit when it penetrates the more fleshy parts 
of the body, but its track in the tissues themselves 
is marked by a considerable degree of destruction. 
Still, such cases, in General Delorme’s opinion, 
should recover in the course of several days or 
perhaps weeks. On the other hand, wounds from 
shrapnel, or from deformed bullets, are often ex- 
tensive, open, and complicated by the intrusion of 
clothing or other foreign bodies. Such wounds 
are not necessarily dangerous, but they frequently 
suppurate and require close attention when the 
wounded are being transported to the hospital at 
the base. 

One naturally pays the closest attention to what 
General Delorme has to say regarding wounds 
of the abdomen—so fatal in former wars. During 
the last twenty years surgeons have so improved 
their technique that they now perform abdominal 
operations as safely as those on the limbs. 

‘“The treatment of wounds of the abdomen,”’ writes 
General Delorme, ‘‘deserves the closest attention of 
surgeons, particularly of those working at the front. 
We have new methods at our disposal which may 
ameliorate the results of a class of cases always re- 
garded as of grave import. The advisability of operat- 
ing on such cases in civil practice is open to discussion, 
but the case in war is quite different. In war the 
surgeons must lay aside any idea of opening the 
abdomen. The experience of all recent wars is against 
such means—experience in the Transvaal, Manchuria, 
the Balkans. In the Transvaal, even when abdominal 
operations were carried out by the most eminent sur- 
geons, under the best conditions, it was found that 
those who were operated on yielded a smaller per- 
centage of recoveries than the cases which were not 
subjected to operation.” 


1 “‘Blessures dé Guerre, Conseils aux Chirurgiens.” Par M. Edmond 
Delorme. Comptes rendus, August 10, p. 394. 


NO. 2339, VOL. 93| 


The modern German bullet, in full flight, leaves 
a very small wound on the wall of the abdomen, 
and seldom infects the wound by carrying clothing 
in front of it. The perforations produced by such 
bullets in the loops of intestine are minute and 
tend to close spontaneously. In some cases the 
bullet may pass between loops, leaving the 
intestinal wall intact. 

The natural and salutary inclination on the part of 
the wounded to relieve both bladder and bowels, allow- 
ing the patient rest for some time, instead of hurrying 
him to the transport, allows a natural exudate to form 
round the wounded parts and favours the process of 
healing. For wounds of this kind the ancient methods 
of treatment seem best: absolute repose, refraining 
from prolonged transport, total abstinence from food 
and drink for several days, rinsing of the mouth, 
hypodermic injections of artificial serum, the adminis- 
tration of opium, and placing the patient in a half- 
sitting (Fowler’s) posture. 

It will be thus seen that the leading military 
surgeon of France advises conservative methods 
of treatment. We do not doubt that he is right. 
During an extensive action the surgeons at the 
front are suddenly overwhelined by thousands of 
patients. It would be impossible to undertake, 
even were it advisable, prolonged and tedious 
operations—to give attention to one case and neg- 
lect the remaining ninety-nine. Fortunately, at least 
in General Delorme’s opinion, such operations at 
the front are unnecessary; the surgeon’s business 
is simply to see that the wounded are placed in 
the best circumstances to allow their natural re- 
cuperative powers to have the best chance of 
exerting themselves. 

Much of the paper to which we have directed 
attention is of a purely technical nature and 
directly concerns only surgeons of the navy and 
army. But much of it concerns us all, and we are 
glad to think that as our arms of precision have 
improved our methods of treating the injuries 
produced by such improvements have not lagged 
behind. 


NATURAL HISTORY, INFORMAL AND 
FORMAL} 


(1) HE first of the books before us aims rather 
at being a work of art than of natural 
history. It tells, with many a winding bout of 
linked fancy, of the yearnings of a boy and of a 
somewhat introspective stag. Never since the 
days of melancholy Jacques was such outpour of 
sentiment upon a stricken deer. To those who 
like this mood the book may be recommended, 
for it is curiously wrought and daintily embel- 
lished. 
(2) The second book on the list strikes quite 
another strain: its author has certainly succeeded 
in his object, which is to introduce those of his 
fellow-creatures who love to live under the green- 


1 (x) ‘ The Trail of the Sandhill Stag.” By E. T. Seton. Pp. 93+ plates. 
(London; Hodder and Stoughton, 1914.) Price 3s. 6d. net. i 

(2) “Wild Game in Zambezia.” By R. C. F. Maugham. Pp. xii+376+ 
plates. (London: John Murray, 1914.) Price ras. net. ; 

(3) ‘Animal Communities in Temperate America as Illustrated in the 
Chicago Region.” A Study in Animal Ecology. By Dr. V. E. Shelford. 
Pp. xiii+362. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press; London: Cambridge 
University Press, n.d.) Price r2s. net. 


666 


wood tree to one of the few remaining regions of 
the earth where noble scenery is still unvulgarised 
and good shikar still unspoiled. 

As a geographical expression, Zambezia is a 
little vague, but it appears from the companion 
map to include the Zambezi delta and the entire 
basin of the Zambezi system in the last five hun- 
dred miles of that great river’s course. This 
country is said to contain every variety of climate 
and every beauty of African landscape. With the 
touch of a magician the author reveals tropical 
lowlands where vast seas of prairie, studded with 
islands of jungle, end in oceans of swamp and 
billowy sedge, the citadel of the water-birds—a 
very Nephelococcygia. Then up country he shows 
us the blue Zambezi, with many a feathery islet 


NATURE 


5 


[AuGusT 27, 


I9Q14 


of the reed and fen to the coney that dwells among 
the rocks; if it be game, he has plenty of good 
stories to tell, in time and season, of its pursuit; 
and if it be an animal that can be made a pet of 
he can impart amusing information as to its 
manners and behaviour, good and bad. He also 
writes sensibly about game-reserves, tolerantly 
about the camera-sportsman, and with becoming 
scorn about the biltong-butcher. He has some- 
thing to say about the tsetse-fly problem, and 
regards with unmeasured disapproval the bar- 
barous proposals of those who think to settle it 
offhand by wholesale slaughter of game. It is to 
be wished that he could tell us something of the flv 
itself—whether we are, or are not, justified in 
assuming that an insect that produces a limited 


(Crocodile. 


on her broad bosom, flowing through grassy 
plains and tranquil park-like expanses that lead 
into the forest primeval—gloomy shades made 
almost impenetrable by tangled creeper and thorny 
undergrowth, but breaking here and there into 
green pastures where the spongy soil is thickly 
printed with heart-thrilling spoor. Beyond the 
tropical jungle we pass to more temperately ver- 
dant hills, where cedar and bracken and the music 
of the waters call to mind the pine-woods of Scot- 
land; and thence to rugged heights and clattered 
slopes and stark granite peaks that almost rival 
the Alps in grandeur and inspiration. 

Of the fauna of this delightful land the author 
writes with discernment tempered with humour. 
He considers each species separately, in all its 
ways and bearings, from behemoth in the covert 


NO. 2330, VOr.93|| 


From ‘‘ Wild Game in Zambezia.! 


number of young, and nourishes them in her 
womb, must always carefully deposit them in some 
chosen habitat at that most critical period in their 
post-embryonic development when they become 
independent of her. 

Since he writes so methodically and _ scienti- 
fically of what he really knows, it is a pity that he 
sometimes wanders into the misty regions of 
pseudo-science, as when he discourses about the 
ancestry of the elephant, or gravely explains that 
since the horn of the rhinoceros consists of agglu- 
tinated hairs it has nothing in common with other 
horn. 

The chapter on rifles and ammunition, tents, and 
all manner of equipment, camp regulations, etc., 
is full of most useful detail. But the list of stores 
required by two persons for a trip of two months 


AUGUST 27, 


NATURE 


is Startling. It almost shakes one’s confidence 
in the author to learn that he cannot go into camp 
with a friend for two months without a dozen 
tins each of lobster and salmon, two dozen tins 
of sausages, and three dozen tins of fruits in 
syrup. 

The book is well printed and beautifully illus- 
trated. 

(3) The third book on the list reveals Science in 
her severest mood. The aim of this conscientious 
piece of work is to elevate the outdoor pursuit of 
natural history into a serious academic study em- 
bracing each and every species of animal in rela- 
tion to its environment, particularly to its organic 
environment, and still more particularly in its 
relations of interdependence with other species of 
animals. It may almost be regarded as embody- 
ing a formulary or ritual of the precepts and prin- 
ciples shown forth in the third chapter of that 
immortal book, “The Origin of Species.” 

The author adheres firmly and steadily to the 
great truth that all the animals of a given habitat 
form a definite interdependent association ; but his 
application of the term “community” to an 
assemblage bound by ties so non-moral implies a 
cynical view of the ethics of communal life in this 
twentieth century. He sets out to determine by a 
prolonged and detailed study of a given territory 
—its streams, ponds, lakes, swamps, prairie, 
thickets, forests, etc.—-the salient impressive 
features of its different kinds of habitat, and the 
character and exact specific composition of the 
animal-associations appertaining to each. An in- 
cidental end is to teach the sentimental person 
“sanity towards nature,” and to show the prac- 
tical man that he himself has much to find out 
before he can learn any animal to be a toad. 
So far so good; but the esoteric terminology of 
it all is wondrous pitiful, and there is much 
dressing up of old plain truths in confusing folds 
of majestic language—such as the following :— 
“The breeding instincts are the centre about 
which all other activities of the organism rotate, 
and the breeding-place is the axis of the environ- 
mental relations of the organism.” 


Pip eenO iA: - SOLARA GLIPSE ;-OF 
AUGUS Iz sear 


nite a number of expeditions were or- 
ganised, and some were dispatched, to 
‘observe the total solar eclipse on Friday last, 
August 21, many were unable to take up their sta- 
tions owing to the upheaval now taking place in 
Europe. It is, therefore, with the greatest satis- 
faction that we learn of at least two expeditions 
which successfully reached their destinations and 
observed the eclipse under most favourable weather 
conditions. The two parties were the observers from 
the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, consisting of 
Messrs. Jones and Davidson, and the expedition 
sent out by the Joint Permanent Eclipse Com- 
mittee of the Royal and Royal Astronomical 
Societies, composed of Fathers Cortie and 
O’Connor and Messrs. Atkinson and Gibbs. 
According to a telegram to the Daily Mail of 


NO. 2339, VOL. 93] 


667 


August 24, the Greenwich party, stationed at 
Minsk (Russia), observed the eclipse under good 
conditions in a clear sky, and photographs of both 
the corona and chromosphere were secured. It 
is stated that the form of the corona was of the 
intermediate type, i.e. of the square type, there 
being no large equatorial streamers or streamers 
in the regions of the solar poles. The corona is 
also stated to have been very bright. The party 
under Father Cortie, S.J., took up their position at 
Hernoesand in Sweden, and his telegram to the 
Royal Astronomical Society says, “ Weather per- 
fect. All operations successful. Intermediate 
corona.” 

It is interesting to mention that the Greenwich 
party was specially equipped for recording the 
ultra-violet spectrum of the chromosphere, while 
Father Cortie’s instruments were more restricted 
to the yellow and red regions of the spectrum. 
Should the photographs turn out successful after 
development a wide range of the chromospheric 
spectrum will have been secured. 

It is a great pity that Prof. Fowler was pre- 
vented from making any observations, for the in- 
teresting method of photographing the spectrum 
of the chromosphere for a long interval of time 
both before and after the total phase had every 
chance of being successfully tried. 


ALFRED JOHN JUKES-BROWNE, F-.R.S. 


epee: has the triumph of force of will over 
the most serious disabilities been more strik- 
ingly illustrated than in the case of the .subject 
of this notice. To most geologists engaged in 
field-work the loss of the full use of the limbs 
would seem to be fatal, but Jukes-Browne, in spite 
of all difficulties, continued his work as a geo- 
logical surveyor for twenty years after the almost 
complete loss of his powers of locomotion. 

Alfred John Browne was born near Wolver- 
hampton in 1851; his mother was a sister of the 
distinguished geologist, J.. Beete Jukes, whose 
work on the English and Irish geological surveys, 
and whose fame as a teacher in Dublin, are so 
well known; and young Browne, probably fired by 
his uncle’s example, added the name of Jukes to 
his own as soon as he came of age. 

After receiving his early education at Highgate, 
Jukes-Browne entered St. John’s College, Cam- 
bridge, and, under the inspiring teaching and 
influence of Prof. T. G. Bonney, was able to add 
his name to the group of distinguished geologists 
who made that college famous during the last half 
of the nineteenth century. After a successful 
university career, Jukes-Browne joined the geo- 
logical survey in 1874, and during the next nine 
years did good work in parts of East Anglia and 
Lincolnshire. But never, probably, a very strong 
man, the strenuous labours of a geological sur- 
veyor began to tell upon his health, enforcing 
retirement for a time. 

Just at this period, however, a new and promis- 
ing field of work opened out for the young geo- 
logist. The famous French paleontologist Hébert 


668 


NATURE 


[AUGUST 27, I@r4 


had shown, by the study of the fossils of the enor- 
mous deposits of chalk in his own country, that 
not only must the deposition of this thick forma- 
tion have occupied vast periods of time, but that 
the changes taking place in the fauna during those 
periods furnish us with evidence by means of 
which the almost homogeneous mass of strata 
could be divided into a number of clearly recog- 
nisable “paleontological zones.” Heébert’s dis- 
tinguished pupil, Prof. Charles Barrois, of Lille, 
by a general reconnaissance over the chalk areas 
in the British Isles, proved that these zones could be 
traced through the length and breadth of our land. 
Jukes-Browne took up the task of working out the 
details of this classification of the English chalk 
strata, and after traversing during nine years the 
Cretaceous areas of the south and west of England 
published his results in three volumes of the 
Survey Memoirs. 

In the winter of 1888-9 the state of his health 
caused Jukes-Browne to go to Barbadoes; there 
he worked at his favourite studies with such good 
purpose as to be able to publish, in conjunction 
with Prof. J. B. Harrison, a most valuable descrip- 
tion of the upraised oceanic deposits in that island. 

Besides his survey memoirs, and many papers 
in scientific journals, Jukes-Browne wrote three 
geological text-books and a work of more general 
and speculative character, “The Building of the 
British Isles,” and some of his books have passed 
through several editions. The value of his scien- 
tific labours was recognised by the award of the 


Murchison medal by the Geological Society and | 


by his election to the Royal Society. In 1902 the 
state of his health compelled his retirement from 
the Geological Survey, and the last twelve years 
of his life were passed at Torquay, where he died 
on August 14. Je Wee 


NOTES. 


A CentraL NEws message from Melbourne on 
Tuesday, August 25, states that a number of members 
of the British Association attending the Australian 
meeting are curtailing their proposed tour and prepar- 
ing for a speedy departure for England. Exactly what 
this message signifies is, however, not quite clear. 
The Sydney session did not begin until August 20, 
and the intention was to proceed to Brisbane after- 
wards, but the whole meeting was not to last more 
than about three weeks from August 8. 


been discovered at Muir of Ord, about ten miles’ 


Cees ee eee, andy aibab tests Yare, being | affiliated to the union, if they have no special earth- 


applied to discover the nature of the oil and its com- 
mercial value, if any. 


THE outbreak of war has, of course, made it im- 
possible for drugs to be obtained from Germany as 
has hitherto been the case. In this connection the 
Government has appointed a committee to consider 
questions in relation to the supply of drugs in the 
United Kingdom. The members of the committee 
are: Dr. J. Smith Whitaker, Sir Thomas Barlow, 


Dr. E. Rowland Fothergill, Dr. B. A. Richmond, 
Dr. F. J. Smith, Dr. W. Hale White, with Dr. E. W. 
Adams as secretary. 


THE Government of Madras recently undertook an 
investigation into the causation, prevention, and pos- 
sible cure of diabetes, and secured the services of Dr. 
S. W. Patterson as investigator. We learn from the 
Allahabad Pioneer Mail that the sum of 50,000 rupees 
has been given by the Raja of Pithapuram for the 
purpose of carrying out the project, and that the 
Surgeon-General with the Government of Madras has 
been requested to submit to the Government by an 


_ early date proposals for providing Dr. Patterson with 


the necessary staff and laboratory accommodation. 


Tue twenty-fifth annual general meeting of the 
Institution of Mining Engineers will be held at Stoke- 
on-Trent on September 9, under the presidency of Sir 
W. E. Garforth, when the following papers will be 
read, or taken as read:—The absorption of oxygen 
by coal: part ii., the quantity of oxygen absorbed; 
part iii., the thermal value of the absorption; part iv., 
the influence of temperature; part vi., the ratio of 
spontaneous heating of coal, T. F. Winmill; the 
absorption of oxygen by coal, part v., the influence of 
temperature on the rates of absorption of different 
parts of the Barnsley Bed, J. I. Graham; self-con- 


‘tained rescue-apparatus and smoke-helmets for use in 


irrespirable atmospheres, Dr. J. S. Haldane; the un- 
known clays in coal-mines, Dr. J. W. Mellor. 


In the June number of Folk-lore Mr. J. H. Powell 
discusses the rite of hook-swinging in India. He 
describes, with numerous good photographs, the cere- 
mony which he witnessed in the Manbhum district of 
Chota Nagpur in 1912; and he has collected accounts 


' of the rite from that of Duarte Barbosa in Malabar 


down to recent times. He compares it with the 
meriah sacrifice of the Khonds, which Sir J. Frazer 
explains to be a fertility rite, and he regards it as a 
survival of human sacrifice. The facts recorded in 


_ the article are useful, and the argument is ingenious; 


but the object of the ceremony still remains obscure. 
On the analogy of other swinging rites in other parts 


| of the world, it may be suggested that the rotation 


of the victim is intended to disperse, as a fertility 


| charm, the mana of the performer, who by submitting 


to the rite is believed to be sacrosanct. 


Tue Congress of Archeological Societies, in issuing 


E ; ; é | its report for the past ear, directs attention to the 
It is reported in the Times that an oil well has | 5 P y af dane 


passing into law of the Ancient Monuments Consolida- 
tion and Amendment Bill, and suggests that societies 


works section, should appoint some competent member 
to watch over the earthworks in their district. It 


| announces with pleasure that steps have been taken to 
| place Worlebury Camp, Somerset, under the protection 


of the Act, and that steps have been taken to stop 
the damage that was being done to Bokerly Dyke and 
some ancient remains near Bristol. But much de- 
struction, as at the Burh of Edward the Elder at 
Witham, and of Whitehawk Camp near Brighton, still 


Sir Lauder Brunton, Dr. A. Cox, Prof. A. R. Cushny, | continues, and it is pointed out that the absence of 


NO, 2339,) VOl./93) 


+ ili a 


AvuGUST 27, 1914] 


power to compensate owners for loss incurred in the 
application of the Act is the weak point in the existing 
legislation on the subject. 


Mr. R. F. GiLper has issued a catalogue of the 
remains discovered in the course of a survey conducted 
by him of a series of prehistoric dwellings in Douglas 
and Sarpy Counties, Nebraska. There were believed 
to be depressions caused by bison wallowing in the 
mud, but are now proved to be of human origin. 
Along the Missouri river as far as the Platte some 
forty ruins have been explored, and the specimens 
collected are now deposited in the Omaha Public 
Library Museum. The collection consists of numerous 
articles made of bone and deer horn, pottery, pre- 
historic pipes, and various ornaments. The most re- 
markable object is a human head carved out of pink 
soapstone, which is believed by some competent 
archeologists to be unique among American collec- 
tions. 


WE have to acknowledge the receipt of a copy of the 
tenth part of Dr. Koningsberger’s Java, the greater 
portion of which is devoted to the fauna of the coast 
region. 


AN extraordinary destruction of gulls and other sea- 
birds at Teesmouth, as the result of a thunderstorm 
accompanied by the fall of hail and lumps of clear ice, 
on July 2, is recorded in the August number of British 
Birds. |The bodies of three hundred gulls were 
counted within a distance of three-quarters of a mile, 
exclusive of those by the side of the breakwater. 


From the report for the year ending April 30, pub- 
lished in the July number of the Victorian Naturalist, 
we learn that the Victoria Field Naturalists’ Club 
continues in a flourishing condition, although the 
attendance at the excursions has been diminished 
owing to the greater demands of military training. 
Special efforts were made in the matter of bird-protec- 
tion and the prohibition of the feather-trade. 


A spEciAL double number (August and September) 
of the Irish Naturalist is devoted to an annotated list, 
by Mr. N. Colgan, of the opisthobranch molluscs to be 
found on the coast and adjacent shallow water of 
county Dublin. The Malahide River, or channel, by 
which the Malahide Creek is alternately filled and 
_ emptied, is a classic locality for these organisms, and 
was the source, in 1844, of specimens described by 
Alder and Hancock as new species. 


Bird-lore for July and August contains a_note- 
worthy letter from Mr. Abbott H. Thayer in regard 
to the alleged recent diminution in the numbers of the 
commoner birds in the United States. Impressed with 
the belief that the replies to question-lists issued to 
the general public are misleading, the author put him- 
self in communication with Prof. H. Miinsterberg, the 
Harvard psychologist, who unhesitatingly regards the 
answers as untrustworthy and the result of imagina- 
tion. 


THE Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales 
has started an illustrated journal of its own—the 


Australian Zoologist—of which the first number was | 


NO. 2339, VOL. 93] 


NATURE 


669 


published at Sydney in June. Among its contents is 
an article by the Rev. T. R. R. Stebbing on a third 
species of the exclusively Australian genus of caprel- 
line marine crustaceans known as Paraproto. In a 
second Mr. A. R. McCulloch illustrates the remark- 
able sexual dimorphism of a pipe-fish, Stigmato- 
phora nigra, and likewise describes, Gnded the name 
of Histiogamphelus briggsii, a new generic and 
specific representative of the same group. 


To the series of greatly enlarged models in the 
Natural History Museum illustrating the structure of 
insects and other invertebrates harmful to man or 
domesticated animals have been added several of the 
bont-tick (Amblyoma hebraeum), of southern and cen- 
tral Africa, which transmits heart-water to sheep, 
goats, and sometimes cattle. With one exception the 
models are twenty times natural size, and show the 
male and female under normal conditions, the fully- 
gorged female (a truly disgusting object), and the 
larva, the last represented by two models, are multi- 
plied by 20 and the other 120. This interesting exhibit 
is at present placed in the central hall. 


ANOTHER special exhibition in the central hall of the 
museum includes two cases—originally arranged for 
the conversazione in connection with the congress of 
dental surgeons—illustrating some of the most remark- 
able types of vertebrate dentition, both recent and 
fossil. The coiled dental spiral a Helicoprion and 
the button-like teeth of Lepidotus are noticeable in the 
fish series, while reptiles are represented, among 
others, by Piacoa and Hyperodapedon, and mammals 
by the marsupial Thylacoleo, Arsinoétherium, Toxo- 
don, the primitive cetacean Prozeuglodon, and—most 
interesting of all—the head of a foetal rorqual from 
South Georgia with the row of temporary teeth on 
either side of the upper jaw. Other preparations show 
the rise and development of the plates of whalebone 
which eventually cover the entire palate in this and 
other whalebone-whales. 


THE “Report on Scottish Ornithology in 1913, in- 
cluding Migration,’ by Evelyn V. Baxter and Leonora 
Jeffrey Rintoul (Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh; 1s. 6d. 
net), is a welcome publication. It summarises in con- 
venient form the ornithological happenings in Scotland 
during the past year. Following the introductory 
remarks comes a section on species and subspecies 
new to Scotland, which is of special interest. The 
dusky willow-warbler (Phylloscopus fuscatus), an 
Asiatic species not hitherto recorded in any part of 
Europe, was met with on Auskerry on October 1. 
New to Scotland during the year, although previously 
recorded in England, were the lesser grey shrike, 
the melodious warbler, the Indian stonechat, the gull- 
billed tern, and the Scandinavian subspecies of the 
lesser black-backed gull. Scarcely less interesting are 
many of the records in the longer section on birds new 
to faunal areas, and uncommon visitors. In the sec- 
tion on extension of breeding range, we note that in 
1913 the gadwall, the pintail, and the great crested 
grebe were all recorded for the first time as breeding 
species in the faunal area of ‘‘ Moray.’”’ Among the 
notes in the section ‘‘Summer and Nesting” we find 


670 


several relating to an unexplained scarcity of sea-fowl 
at various west coast breeding stations. There follow 
short sections on winter, ringing, plumage, and 
habits, etc., each of which contains a number of inter- 
esting records. A summary is then given of the course 
of migration during the year, a paragraph being de- 
voted to each month. In the remaining two-thirds of 
this report of ninety-six pages we find a detailed list of 
the vear’s records arranged according to species. 
There is also an adequate index. The observers are 
to be congratulated on their effective report, the 
outstanding feature being the large number of un- 
common visitors and the addition of no fewer than 
five new birds to the Scottish lists. 


THE meteorological charts of the North Atlantic 
Ocean for August issued by the Meteorological Office 
and other institutions, show that ice conditions have 
considerably improved since the previous month. 
Bergs were only met wilh to any great extent north 
of 47° N.; the most westerly position in which field 
ice, with fragments of bergs embedded in it, was 
seen this year was 42° 18’ N., 62° 43’ W. The first 
issue (July 16) stated that mist and fog were prevalent 
at times, and extended up to the Arctic circle. During 
August, fog over the North Atlantic is in a transition 
stage; a remarkable feature is said to be its tendency 
to occur along the parallel of 20° N. 


Tue renewal of Antarctic exploration and research 
will bring into prominence the importance of the 
knowledge of ice conditions in the south polar regions. 
It is probably well known that the monthly meteoro- 
logical charts of the Indian Ocean issued by the 
Meteorological Office usually contain particulars of 
icebergs of the southern hemisphere, with charts. 
The issue for September, e.g. gives tables of icebergs 
met with each month during the last twenty-nine 
years, and also between January and May of this 
year. The summaries published during past years 
show that the epochs of frequency are variable, and 
that bergs may be met anywhere poleward of the 
parallel of 30° S. Heights of from 800 to 1700 ft. are 
not uncommon, and in several instances the lengths 
have been estimated to extend to many miles. It is 
stated that, unfortunately, angular measurements are 
seldom recorded. 


In ‘‘La Forme de la Terre”? (Paris: Hermann et 
Fils) Dr. Vérronet has written an extremely interest- 
ing note on the history of researches into the form of 
the earth’s surface. Pythagoras, Eratosthenes, the 
forgotten Paris philosophers of the fourteenth century, 
and Fernel, all played a part in building up our pre- 
sent knowledge. But it is from the work of Cassini 
that modern geodesy may be said to date. The dis- 
agreement that he found between geodetic measures 
and the results of mathematical reasoning led the 
Paris Academy to send out an equatorial and a polar 
expedition to measure meridian arcs so as to settle 
whether the earth is an oblate or a prolate spheroid. 
The result then as afterwards more than once was 
to confirm the conclusions of the mathematicians. 
Lately a readjustment of geodetic measures has again 
been made, in terms of such hypotheses as isostasy, 


NO. 2339, VOL. 93| 


NATURE 


i 


| 


[AuGusT 27, 1914 


to bring the measured value of the earth’s ellipticity 
into accord with the theoretical value deduced from the 
constant of precession. Despite the attempts at re- 
adjustment, Dr. Vérronet insists rightly that the ulti- 
mate decision must lie with the geodesist, as the-value 
given by the constant of precession depends on the 
hypothesis that the internal constitution of the earth 
is essentially fluid. This would appear to be Dr. 
Vérronet’s own view, and by the aid of it he indicates 
some interesting conclusions as to a belt of earthquake 
areas in the neighbourhood of latitude 35° (San Fran- 
cisco, Lisbon, Sicily, Japan). The range of uncertainty 
is steadily diminishing, and the increased accuracy of 
the modern work: is clearly indicated in the pamphlet. 
We note one small error—Huyford is spoken of as 
an English worker. The very brief criticism of Dar- 
win’s tidal friction as applied to cosmogony is not at 
all convincing, and should be either amplified or 
omitted in any subsequent edition. 


A PAPER on the demagnetisation factors of cylindrical 
rods in high uniform fields, by the late Prof. B. O- 
Peirce, of Harvard, appears in the June number of the 
Proceedings of the American Academy. With the help 
of a large solenoid nearly two metres long, capable of 
producing a magnetic field of 2500 gauss at its centre, 
the magnetic flux for high fields through the various 
sections of rods of different lengths of the same mate- 
rial were measured. It was found that at fields of the 
order of 2500 gauss the rods need only have lengths 
about 25 or 30 diameters for the magnetic flux through 
the central section to be equal, to within a small 
faction of 1 per cent., to that which would be obtained 
with a rod of infinite length. If an accuracy of 4 per 
cent. only is required the rod need only be 15 diameters 
long. These conclusions have been verified on several 
specimens of soft iron and mild, tool, and magnet 
steel. For uniformity of field the magnetising coil 
should be about 25 of its own diameters longer than 
the test piece. 


One of the most interesting cases of the presence 
of abnormal constituents in the urine occurs in 
pentosuria, when pentoses or five-carbon sugars are 
found in considerably quantity. Since the work of 
Neuberg in 1g00, the pentose present in such cases 
has generally been regarded as dl-arabinose. Messrs. 
E. Zerner and R. Woltuch, in the Sitzungsberichte 
of the Vienna Academy of Sciences (vol. cxxii., p- 
79), now bring forward good evidence to show that 
in two cases they have studied the sugar is d-xylose. 
In these cases the urine showed considerable reducing 
power, but no rotatory power. The osazone isolated 
had the same melting-point as ordinary /-xylosazone, 
but an opposite (positive) rotation; when the osazone 
was mixed with I-xylosazone the melting-point of 
the mixture rose 40°—a behaviour which is good 
evidence of its being d-xylosazone. The occurrence of 
d-xylose under such conditions is a striking example 
of abnormal metabolism, especially as the ordinary 


form of xylose which occurs in plant-materials is the 
lavo-form. 


Tue Engineer for August 7 contains an account of 
a fireless locomotive built by Messrs. Andrew Barclay, 


ee 


AUGUST 27, 1914] 


NATURE 


671 


Sons and Co., Ltd., of Kilmarnock, and supplied to 
the Admiralty for service at one of the explosive 
depéts, where the question of absolute safety from 
fire is of the first importance. The locomotive has 
a reservoir partly filled with water, and is charged 
with high-pressure steam from a boiler placed outside 
the danger zone. It can work on one charge of the 
reservoir for several hours on continuous hauling, or 
for a much longer time on ordinary shunting work. 
It can stand for twelve hours in ordinary open-air 
temperature with small loss of steam, and can run 
back to the charging station under the very low 
pressure of 15 lb. per square inch. All the test con- 
ditions were more than fulfilled at the trials. The 
engine is not only fireless, but the rubbing surfaces, 
such as the brake blocks, and the impact points, such 
as the buffers, have been rendered sparkless by the use 
of special facings. 

Tue lack of supplies of glass and porcelain from 
Germany and Austria, on account of the war, has 
affected various businesses depending upon them. We 
are informed, however, by the Thermal Syndicate, 
Ltd., manufacturers of pure fused silica, that it is 
still in a position to supply its ‘ Vitreosil’’ ware 
promptly, as this substitute for porcelain and glass is 
made entirely in the works of the syndicate at Wall- 
send-on-Tyne. 

“THE Report of the Fourteenth Meeting of the 
Australasian Association for the Advancement of 
Science ’’ has been recently issued by the Associa- 
tion from its permanent office in Sydney. It is 
edited by Dr. T. S. Hall, and contains a full account 
of the proceedings of the meeting held at Melbourne 
in 1913. 


OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 


Comet 1913f (DELAvAN).—Little news is at hand 
concerning observations of Delavan’s comet. During 
the present week the object will be situated in the 
constellation of the Lynx pursuing a course nearly 
midway between the stars 27 and 31 in that con- 
stellation, and at right angles to a line joining 
these two stars. The small chart below, given pre- 
viously in this column on August 13, is reproduced 
here again for reference :— 


Mr. . W. 


5B. slripp, 
August 22, says that he observed the comet on the 


writing from Isleworth on 


night of August 21 with a binocular field-glass. He 
describes it as of “substantial proportions promising 
to be a fine object later.”’ 

THe LarGe CaNaDIAN REFLECTOR.—The Journal of 
the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada for May- 


NO. 2339, VOL. 93| 


June (vol. viii., No. 3) contains two illustrated articles 
dealing with the proposed site and the observing con- 
ditions for the large 72-in. reflector; these are con- 
tributed by Messrs. W. E. Harper and J. S. Plaskett. 
An examination of the seeing conditions of many 
scattered regions has resulted in the choice of a hill, 
Little Saanich, 732 ft. high, situated seven and a half 
miles from Victoria. While Mr. Harper admits that 
the transparency of the air at the Lick Observatory is 
superior to any place examined by him in Canada, he 
holds the opinion that in the matter of low temperature 
range and the character of the seeing itself conditions 
may be looked for to equal those upon Mount Hamil- 
ton. The Government of British Columbia has con- 
sidered the whole project in a broad-minded way and 
agreed to provide 10,000 dollars for the purchase of 
the land and to build a road to the summit of the hill. 
Fifty acres of land have been secured. As regards the 
instrument itself, the disc for the mirror is ready for 
shipment, and it is stated that there is every prospect 
of the telescope being ready for erection next year. 
Messrs. Warner and Swasey are the constructors, and 
Mr. Plaskett says that he is in the highest degree 
delighted with their work, and firmly convinced that 
“this telescope in rigidity, suitability, and convenience 
will be away ahead of any hitherto built.” 


Rapip CONVECTION IN STELLAR ATMOSPHERES.—In 
this column for April 30 of this year (vol. xciii., p. 224) 
reference was made to the new interpretation to the 
observed displacements of the solar lines suggested by 
Mr. Evershed. The observations were explained by a 
very rapid descent of the cooler gases and vapours 
upon the body of the sun, most rapid in the higher 
levels, and less rapid as the successively lower levels 
were reached, combined with small effects due to 
pressures less than one atmosphere. Prof. W. W. 
Campbell points out (Lick Observatory Bulletin, 
No, 257) that these observations give us apparently a 
measure of the general convectional circulation in the 
sun’s atmosphere, which, if confirmed, ‘‘must be con- 
sidered as of very great importance.’”’ These con- 
siderations lead him to inquire into what may be 
occurring in the atmosphere of other suns. Assuming 
that surface temperatures of stars must be largely a 
function of their convection-activity, a sluggish star, 
i.e. One with little convection, should have a relatively 
cool surface, while a massive star, approximating to a 
perfect gas, should have a large convection and have 
relatively a hot surface. Having found that the radial 
velocities of Class B stars are observed about 4-5 km. 
a second too great (then attributed to pressure in the 
absorbing layers), Prof. Campbell, in the light of 
Evershed’s results as regards the solar atmosphere, 
puts forward the view that this excess is probably due 
to the existence of relatively unobstructed radial circu- 
lation. This circulation would bring the internal heat 
to the surface, with little loss of time, to replenish 
loss by radiations to surrounding space. If the sun’s 
atmosphere, which is sluggish, can account for a speed 
of 1 km. a second, a relatively hot star like those of 
Class B might rationally have a velocity of 4-5 km. a 


| second. 


A NoOveEt COMBINATION OF INSTRUMENTS.—Dr. Frank 
Schlesinger in the Publications of the Allegheny 


| Observatory (vol. iii., No. 13), gives an account of the 


solar spectrograph of that observatory and the vertical 
telescope with which it is used. These instruments 
are the gift of the Hon. H. Kirke Porter, and they 
form part of the Keeler memorial telescope. The 
Keeler memorial telescope is a 30-in. reflector, and its 
mounting is used not only as a polar heliostat carrying 
an 18-in. mirror, but as a coelostat also with an 18-in. 
mirror. The telescope is mounted on a tall pillar cir- 
cular at its upper end, and the dome is raised corre- 


672 NATURE 


spondingly high. Round the upper portion of this 
pillar is a strong lattice work structure, capable of 
rotation round the pillar, and to this is fixed the ver- 
tical telescope with a second mirror. and the objective 
at its upper end, the lower end carrying the large 
spectroscope, the collimator of which is vertical. For 
different declinations of the object under investigation 
the vertical telescope can be moved round in azimuth. 
In the communication in question Dr. Schlesinger 
describes all the chief portions of the instruments in 
detail, and numerous reproductions accompany the 
text. The latter part of the paper contains an inves- 
tigation on the rotation of the sun by spectroscopic 
means made with the instrument described briefly 
above. Reference should be made to the paper itself 


formule derived for the solar rotation by the spectro- 
scopic method, may be here reproduced :— 


Fermala Equatorial 


Velocit 

3 2 km. 

Duner 14-81—4:2 sin*@ ... 2:09 
Halm 14°53—2°5 wee) | 205 
Adams ... att 14°54—3°5 ates 205 
Storey and Wilso 14-75 — 3:2 Se ge riote. 
Plaskett @: PG: 14:37—4:0 en meee 
De Lury ... 14:04 — 4:0 a RO 
Hubrecht Wr we 13:23 —3-2 saa) een E: SO 
Evershed and Royds ... 13-77 Pane Gey"! 
Schlesinger 14:17 —3°4 2-00 


It should be stated that Duner’s and Halm’s ob- 
servations were visual, and that Hubrecht found a 
difference of 0-8° between the coefficients of sin? for 
the two solar hemispheres and the value given above 
is the mean. Dr. Schlesinger is strongly of the 
opinion that the causes of the diversity of the results 
are due to systematic errors at the telescope and at 
the measuring machine. 


FLUCTUATIONS IN THE YIELD OF SEA 
FISHERIES,} 


Ose can be little doubt that this report by 
Dr. Hjort will mark an epoch in the history of 
scientific fishery investigations. If the arguments 
upon which its conclusions are based successfully 
withstand the test of criticism, there has been estab- 
lished a method of predicting the probable future 
course from year to year of some of our most im- 
portant fisheries, which should be of the utmost value 
both to those engaged practically in the fishing in- 
dustry and to those responsible for fishery administra- 
tion. 

The report is the result of many years of observa- 
tion, and although the lines upon which the work 
has proceeded, and the character of the results which 
were expected, have been described by Dr. Hjort and 
his fellow-workers from time to time, this is the first 
report in which the whole matter has been brought 
forward in a comprehensive way, and the first time 
that all the data upon which the conclusions are based 
have been available. It is now possible to form a 
judgment as to the value of the work already done 
and as to the promise which it holds out of still more 
useful results in the future. 

It is one of the most characteristic features of the 
great sea fisheries that they are subject to remark- 
able fluctuations from time to time. Sometimes these 
fluctuations are seasonal, sometimes annual, but more 
often, perhaps, we have a series of years of successful 
fishery, followed by another series of comparatively 

1 Fluctuations in the great fisheries of Northern Europe viewed in the 


light of biological research. By Johan Hjort. Con. perm. internat. Explor. 
Mer. Rapp. et proc. verb. XX. Copenhagen, r19rq. 


NO. 2339, VOL:"G3) 


[AUGUST °27, 1914 


lean years. These fluctuations are especially notice- 
able in the case of the fisheries for the so-called 
pelagic fish, such as the herring, mackerel, pilchard, 
and anchovy, and, to a less-marked degree, in the 
case of the cod and haddock. Dr. Hjort’s principal 
results refer to the herring, but a considerable amount 
of attention has also been given by him and his 
colleagues to the cod and haddock. 

The case of the herring is the most conclusive. 
The main evidence has been obtained by the deter- 
mination of the age of the fish from the markings on 
the scale. As in the case of many other fishes, there 


| is little or no growth of the fish during the winter, 


and the difference in growth between winter and 


| summer is clearly marked on the scale of the fish, 
for details, but the interesting table, showing the | 


the period of small winter growth being represented 
by a dark mark or ring. By counting the number of 
such rings the age of the fish can be determined, so 
that the year in which it was born becomes known. 
In a sample of the fish taken at any particular time 
it is therefore possible to determine in what propor- 
tions the different year classes are represented. 

This method of age analysis has now been applied 
to Norwegian herring for a series of years with 
somewhat remarkable results. It has been found 
during the period 1907 to 1914 that fish of the year 
class 1904, that is to say, fish born in the year 1904, 
have occupied a very prominent position throughout, 
at first forming a large proportion of the shoals of 
smaller herring (‘‘fat herring” as they are called in 
Norway, fish from 19-26 cm., still quite immature), 
and in later years being equally prominent amongst 
the larger fish (‘“‘large herring,” fish from 27-32 cm., 
and ‘‘spring herring,’’? the actually spawning’ fish). 
The following table shows the percentage of fish of 
the 1904 year class in the samples examined each 
year from 1907 to 1913 :— 

Per cent. 1904 in 1907 1908 1909 I9IO IQII I9I2 1913 
Among fat herring ... 51°3 3778) 116%9)) 4:5) (0) 0 fo) 
Among large herring 7°7 516 48°38 59°6 46°0 52°5 586 
Among spring herring 1°6 34°8 43°7 77°3 70°0 64°3 64°7 

The 1904 fish, therefore, formed more than 50 per 
cent. of the immature ‘‘ fat herring’’ in 1907, and oc- 
curred amongst this class of fish in diminishing propor- 
tion until 1910. Amongst the “large herring,’’ 51-6 
per cent. were 1904-spawned fish already in 1908, and 
fish of the same year class occurred in large propor- 
tions each year until 1913, when there were still 58-6 
per cent. Turning to the ‘“‘spring herring ’’—the 
large spawning fish—the 1904 group was represented 
each year by a larger percentage, until in 1Ig1o it 
constituted 77-3 per cent. of all the fish. Since that 
time the percentage has only slightly fallen off, being 
still 64-7 per cent. in 1913. In the last chapter of 
the report the figures for 1914 are given, the percent- 
ages of the different year groups amongst the spring 
fish being as follows (p. 219) :— 


Spring Fish, 1914. Total number of Herrings 
examined 2205. 


Age in Years... 4 5 6 7 8 9 


Year of Birth .. ... I910 1909 1908 1607 1906 1905 
Percentage of fish in 

each age group... 0'6. {312 OO eS 2 an ao mE 
Age in Years... aot) LO IT 12 1033 14 15 
Year of Birth ... 1904 1903 1902 I90I1 1900 1899 
Percentage of fish in 

eachsagelgnroupear..! 54:3 Tis I'5 12) + O}4 eons 


In the year 1914, therefore, we still have, in the 
samples examined, 54:3 per cent. of the fish derived 
from the spawning of the year 1904. It should be 
added that the 2,205 fish are the combined total of 


| eight samples taken at different points on the Nor- 


AuGusT 27, 1914] 


NATURE 


673 


wegian coast, and that each individual sample shows 
the same predominance of the 1904 class. It is also 
equally well shown in seven samples of ‘“‘large 
herring”’ taken during the winter of 1913-14. 

The next step in Dr. Hjort’s argument is based | 
on a study of the fishery statistics showing the fluc- 
tuations in the total yield of herrings of the different 
kinds. He is able to show that a marked increase 
of the yield occurred in those years in which the 1904 
class became prominent. 

The report then goes on to a study of the cod and 
haddock, and evidence is produced of a similar series 
of phenomena in the case of these fish. Again, the 
1904 year class is predominant for a number of years, 
and its abundance gives rise to a successful fishery. 

Summing up the whole matter, Dr. Hjort claims 
that the renewal of the stock of fish does not take 
place, as in any human population, by means of a 
more or less constant annual increment in the form 
of new individuals, but that, in the case of the species 
investigated, it is of a highly irregular character. 
‘At certains intervals, year classes arise which far 
exceed the average in point of numbers, and during 
their lifetime, this numerical superiority affects the 
general character of the stock, both as regards quan- 
tity and quality, thus again exerting a decisive in- 
fluence upon the yield of the fisheries in both respects.”’ 
These rich year classes make their presence felt when 
they are still quite young, and their influence on the 
yield of the fisheries extends through a number of 
years. It should, therefore, in future, by means of 
properly organised investigations, be possible to 
ascertain beforehand the probable general course of 
the fisheries over a series of years. Such predictions 
will, of course, be liable to be upset by special cir- 
cumstances, both of a general and of a local character. 
Nevertheless, there is now good reason to hope -that 
indications of great practical value may be given, if 
the methods of investigation advocated by Dr. Hjort 
are continued upon an adequate scale. Be Je As 


PawDIes OF TROPICAL: GDISEASES.1 


a report consists of the report of the committee 
(2 pp.) and six appendices, the first of which 
deals with anti-malarial measures in the Crown 
Colonies and protectorates, etc., the remainder with 
reports of the work done in various laboratories. To 
consider, first, Appendix I. The data in this appendix 
are mainly statistical. They seem to us to be deficient 
in two ways. (1) The figures are not scrupulously 
accurate, or at least differ from other official figures. 
(2) Information is lacking which seems to be essential 
to an appreciation of the meaning of the figures. Of 
want of accuracy, the following are examples. On 
p. 11 in the Mauritius report the number of deaths 
ascribed to fever (malaria included) is given as 4408, 
whereas in the annual report for Mauritius the deaths 
due to malaria only are given as 4619. Again, under 
the heading, ‘‘Government Hospitals,’ we find mala- 
rial fever: admissions 2321, deaths 30, whereas in 
the annual report for Mauritius we find 3063 cases of 
malaria, and 43 deaths. The discrepancy here may be 
due to the fact that in the latter case other than hos- 
pital cases are recorded, but if this is so, at any rate 
they find no place among the data in this report. 
Again, comparing the figures given in this report 
and in the annual medical report for the Straits Settle- 
ments, we find the figures for malarial admissions to 
be 9172 and 9474 respectively, a difference of 302. 
In the corresponding reports for Nyasaland we find 
the population given as 1,000,659 and 1,001,895 respec- 


1 Report of the Advisory Committee for the Tropical Diseases Research | 
t 


Fund for the Year 1913. 


NGws2330, VOL. 93] 


| 73 deaths, 5; admissions, 1; deaths, to. 


tively. In the Southern Nigerian report (p. 35) we 
find the following puzzling figures under malarial 
fever, viz. :—Admissions, 6; deaths, 10; admissions, 
And again, 
under ‘‘Government Hospitals,” we find the admis- 
sions given as 9687, and two lines further down as 
1365! Under “Blackwater Fever’’ four deaths are 
recorded, but no admissions are given, and it is only 
by referring to the annual medical report that we find 
that the number of cases in the colony was twenty- 
three. Not to pursue the subject further, we would 
only add that in our opinion the heading, ‘‘ Deaths 
Ascribed to Fever,’ is ambiguous, as apparently some 
medical officers have found it to be, for some change 
the heading to ‘t Malaria Fever,’’ others sav “ malaria 
included,’ whereas others again subdivide it into 
malaria, typhoid, and non-specified fevers. We think 
this heading should be changed to ‘‘ Diseases During 
the Year,’’ and divided into various sub-headings, e.g. 
malarial fever, blackwater fever, etc., with the addi- 
tion, if necessary, of unclassified fevers, and in each 
instance where possible cases as well as deaths re- 
corded, as is done under heading 6 ‘t Government 
Hospitals.” 

The second criticism we have to make is that in- 
formation is lacking which is necessary to give the 
figures their full value. While dreading to suggest 
any addition to the really burdensome labours of those 
who have to compile these reports, yet we cannot help 
feeling that a mere record of population and malarial 
deaths tells us less than we ought to know. In our 
opinion, for these figures to be really of value we 
should know, besides the total population, that of each 
race and the deaths in each race. For instance, we 
are given, on p. 14, the European, Chinese, ‘‘ other 
races,’ and Malay population of the Straits Settle- 
ments, but while we are told that the total births are 
more than 20,000, we are given no idea as to what 
races were responsible, and similarly we cannot tell 
among what populations the malarial deaths occurred. 
We have dwelt on these points because it seems to us 
that sooner or later the question of the compilation 
of the figures in reports of this kind and in the annual 
medical reports must be seriously considered. It is 
scarcely an exaggeration, we think, to say that at pre- 
sent no two annual medical reports are based on 
exactly the same plan, and we actually find that the 
official year is not identical in all. One point will not 
be disputed, viz., that absolute accuracy is necessary, 
and this is by no means an easy matter to attain, as 
everybody knows who has had to make up tables of 
figures. Whether these matters should not be in the 
hands of trained statistical officers, instead of being 
thrown on the shoulders of already overworked medical 
officers is a matter for consideration. 

It is impossible to give shortly an adequate notice of 
the various researches recorded in appendices ii.—vi., 
as the subjects differ widely. It is evident that much 
valuable research is being done and interesting results 
got, but it occurs to us whether practical results—and 
we think we may assume that this is the main object 
of most of these researches—could not be got more 
quickly if the forces now scattered in various directions 
were to some extent concentrated on certain problems. 
For instance, we consider that each of the reports on 
the use of salvarsan in yaws (three in number) is more 
valuable than it would have been if it had stood alone. 
On ankylostomiasis we have only one report. It 
would be a gain to check the results recorded in it by 
experience elsewhere. So while not wishing to limit 
in any way a man’s predilection, we think that 
coordination would be of advantage. The report is 
priced at 2s. 4d., but we hope that every medical 
officer receives a copy gratis. IW WE Ss 


674 


SOLIDIFICATION “OF METALS. 


ee first Report to the Beilby Prize Committee of 

the Institute of Metals on ‘‘ The Solidification of 
Metals from the Liquid State,” by Dr. C. H. Desch, 
is published in the current number of the Journal of 
the Institute. It consists of a very interesting and 
comprehensive review of the literature bearing on the 
subject, in conformity with the first part of the scheme 
of Dr. Beilby, which included both the preparation 
of a summary of the existing knowledge on the sub- 
ject of the solidification of metals and an experimental 
investigation of certain parts of the subject. The 
report deals first with the cellular structure of metals, 
and it is shown that more than one _ apparently 
cellular structure may be detected in metals under 
suitable conditions. The crystallisation of metals is 
next approached, and the formation of crystallites or 
crystal skeletons. Attention is very rightly directed 
to the few opportunities which occur for the gonio- 
metrical and physical study of isolated crystals of 
metals. For there can be no doubt that much valu- 
able information would be obtained from such an 
investigation, which would also be of particular value 
as throwing light on the phenomenon of hardness. 
In a solidifying metal crystallites start at numerous 
independent centres, and each grows as a crystal 
until interfered with by its neighbours, which inter- 
ference gives rise to the so-called ‘‘allotriomorphic ”’ 
formations of irregularly bounded crystals. 

The foam-structure theory of Quincke is next dealt 
with, and shown to be carried much too far in its 
application to metals; for the theory affords no ex- 
planation of the absolutely firmly established geo- 
metrical properties of crystals. Cellular structures in 
cooling liquids are next described, and then comes a 
most interesting section on liquid crystals, in which it 
is pleasant to see that Dr. Desch gives full credit to 
the marvellously detailed work of Lehmann, who has 
now established it beyond doubt that there are sub- 
stances, usually organic, which unite the properties 
of a crystal and a liquid, and that a definite arrange- 
ment of the molecules may persist in the liquid state. 

The influence of surface tension is then discussed, 
and the existence of a metastable limit in the case 
of undercooling, together with the phenomenon of 
change of volume on solidification. Finally, the 
possibility of a thrust being exerted by growing crys- 
tals is debated from the evidence available, and the 
fact pointed out that there is yet no clear evidence 
of any effect which cannot be attributed to change 
of volume during change of state. The net result of 
the report is to indicate the immense field open for 
investigation, and one which has bearings, not only 
on pure science, but on industrial problems of the 
greatest importance and magnitude. 


THR AUSTRALIAN MEETING OF THE 
BRITISH “ASSOCIATION. 


INAUGURAL ADDRESS BY PRoF.. WILLIAM BaTESON, 
M.A., .F.R.S., PRESIDENT. 


Part I1.—Sypney. 


At Melbourne I spoke of the new knowledge of the 
properties of living things which Mendelian analysis 
has brought us. I indicated how these discoveries are 
affecting our outlook on that old problem of natural 
history, the origin and nature of species, and the 
chief conclusion I drew was the negative one, that, 
though we must hold to our faith in the evolution of 
species, there is little evidence as to how it has come 
about, and no clear proof that the process is con- 
tinuing in any considerable degree at the present 


NO! 2330, WOn..03)| 


NATURE 


[AuGUST 27, 1914 


time. The thought uppermost in our minds is that 
knowledge of the nature of life is altogether too 
slender to warrant speculation on these fundamental 
subjects. Did we presume to offer such speculations 
they would have no more value than those which 
alchemists might have made as to the nature of the 
elements. But though in regard to these theoretical 
aspects we must confess to such deep ignorance, 
enough has been learnt of the general course of 
heredity within a single species to justify many prac- 
tical conclusions which cannot in the main be shaken. 
I propose now to develop some of these conclusions 
in regard to our own species, Man. 

-In my former Address I mentioned the condition 
of certain animals and plants which are what we call 
‘*polymorphic.’? Their populations consist of in- 
dividuals of many types, though they breed freely 
together with perfect fertility. In cases of this kind 
which have been sufficiently investigated it has been 
found that these distinctions—sometimes very great 
and affecting most diverse features of organisation— 
are due to the presence or absence of elements, or 
factors as we call them, which are treated in heredity 
as separate entities. These factors and their com- 
binations produce the characteristics which we per- 
ceive. No individual can acquire a particular charac- 
teristic unless the requisite factors entered into the 
composition of that individual at fertilisation, being 
received either from the father or from the mother 
or from both, and consequently no individual can pass 
on to his offspring positive characters which he does 
not himself possess. Rules of this kind have already 
been traced in operation in the human species; and 
though I admit that an assumption of some magni- 
tude is involved when we extend the application of 
the same system to human characteristics in general, 
yet the assumption is one which I believe we are 
fully justified in making. With little hesitation we 
can now declare that the potentialities and aptitudes, 
physical as well as mental, sex, colours, powers of 
work or invention, [iability to diseases, possible dura- 
tion of life, and the other features by which the 
members of a mixed population differ from each 
other, are determined from the moment of fertilisa- 
tion; and by all that we know of heredity in the 
forms of life with which we can experiment we are 
compelled to believe that these qualities are in the 
main distributed on a factorial system. By changes 
in the outward conditions of life the expression of 
some of these powers and features may be excited or 
restrained. For the development of some an external 
opportunity is needed, and if that be withheld the 
character is never seen, any more than if the body 
be starved can the full height be attained; but such 
influences are superficial and do not alter the genetic 
constitution. 

The factors which the individual receives from his 
parents and no others are those which he can trans- 
mit to his offspring; and if a factor was received from 
one parent only, not more than half the offspring, 
on an average, will inherit it. What is it that has 
so long prevented mankind from discovering such 
simple facts? Primarily the circumstance that as 
man must have two parents it is not possible quite 
easily to detect the contributions of each. The in- 
dividual body is a double structure, whereas the germ- 
cells are single. Two germ-cells unite to produce 
each individual body, and the ingredients they respec- 
tively contribute interact in ways that leave the 
ultimate product a medley in which it is difficult to 
identify the several ingredients. When, however, 
their effects are conspicuous the task is by no means 
impossible. In part also even physiologists have been 
blinded by the survival of ancient and obscurantist 


AUGUST 27, 1914] 


conceptions of the nature of man by which they were 
discouraged from the application of any rigorous 
analysis. Medical literature still abounds with traces 
of these archaisms, and, indeed, it is only quite 
recently that prominent horse-breeders have come to 
see that the dam matters as much as the sire. For 
them, though vast pecuniary considerations were in- 
volved, the old ‘homunculus’? theory was good 
enough. We were amazed at the notions of genetic 
physiology which Prof. Baldwin Spencer encountered 
in his wonderful researches among the natives of 
Central Australia; but in truth, if we reflect that 
these problems have engaged the attention of civilised 
man for ages, the fact that he, with all his powers 
of recording and deduction, failed to discover any 
part of the Mendelian system is almost as amazing. 
The popular notion that any parents can have any 
kind of children within the racial limits is contrary 
to all experience, yet we have gravely entertained such 
ideas. As I have said elsewhere, the truth might 
have been found out at any period in the world’s his- 
tory if only pedigrees had been drawn the right way 
up. If, instead of exhibiting the successive pairs of 
progenitors who have contributed to the making of 
an ultimate individual, some one had had the idea of 
setting out the posterity of a single ancestor who 
possessed a marked feature such as the Habsburg lip, 
and showing the transmission of this feature along 
some of the descending branches and the permanent 
loss of the feature in collaterals, the essential truth 
that heredity can be expressed in terms of presence 
and absence must have at once become apparent. For 
the descendant is not, as he appears in the conven- 
tional pedigree, a sort of pool into which each 
tributary ancestral stream has poured something, but 
rather a conglomerate of ingredient-characters taken 
from his progenitors in such a way that some in- 
gredients are represented and others are omitted. 

Let me not, however, give the impression that the 
unravelling of such descents is easy. Even with 
fairly full details, which in the case of man are very 
rarely to be had, many complications occur, often 
preventing us from obtaining more than a rough 
general indication of the system of descent. The 
nature of these complications we partly understand 
from our experience of animals and plants which are 
amenable to breeding under careful restrictions, and 
we know that they are mostly referable to various 
effects of interaction between factors by which the 
presence of some is masked. 

Necessarily the clearest evidence of regularity in 
the inheritance of human characteristics has been 
obtained in regard to the descent of marked abnorm- 
alities of structure and congenital diseases. Of the 
descent of ordinary distinctions such as are met with 
in the normal healthy population we know little for 
certain. Hurst’s evidence, that two parents both with 
light-coloured eyes—in the strict sense, meaning that 
no pigment is present on the front of the iris—do not 
have dark-eyed children, still stands almost alone in 
this respect. With regard to the inheritance of other 
colour-characteristics some advance has been made, 
but everything points to the inference that the gene- 
tics of colour and many other features in man will 
prove exceptionally complex. There are, however, 
plenty of indications of system comparable with those 
which we trace in various animals and plants, and 
we are assured that to extend and clarify such evi- 
dence is only a matter of careful analysis. For the 
present, in asserting almost any general rules for 
human descent, we do right to make large reserva- 
tions for possible exceptions. It is tantalising to have 
to wait, but of the ultimate result there can be no 
doubt. 


Zz 


E2339, VOL ?93i| 


NATORE 


again transmitters. 


675 


I spoke of complications. Two of these are worth 
illustrating here, for probably both of them play a 
great part in human genetics. It was discovered by 
Nilsson-Ehle, in the course of experiments with 
certain wheats, that several factors having the same 
power may co-exist in the same individual. These 
cumulative factors do not necessarily produce a 
cumulative effect, for any one of them may suffice to 
give the full result. Just as the pure-bred tall pea 
with its two factors for tallness is no taller than the 
cross-bred with a single factor, so these wheats with 
three pairs of factors for red colour are no redder 
than the ordinary reds of the same family. Similar 
observations have been made by East and others. In 
some cases, as in the Primulas studied by Gregory, 
the effect is cumulative. These results have been used 
with plausibility by Davenport and the American 
workers to elucidate the curious case of the mulatto. 
If the descent of colour in the cross between the negro 
and the white man followed the simplest rule, the 
offspring of two first-cross mulattos would be, on an 
average, one black: two mulattos: one white, but 
this is notoriously not so. Evidence of some segrega- 
tion is fairly clear, and the deficiency of real whites 
may perhaps be accounted for on the hypothesis of 
cumulative factors, though by the nature of the case 
strict proof is not to be had. But at present I own 
to a preference for regarding such examples as in- 
stances of imperfect segregation. The series of germ- 
cells produced by the cross-bred consists of some with 
no black, some with full black, and others with in- 
termediate quantities of black. No statistical tests 
of the condition of the gametes in such cases exist, 
and it is likely that by choosing suitable crosses 
all sorts of conditions may be found, ranging from 
the simplest case of total segregation, in which there 
are only two forms of gametes, up to those in which 
there are all intermediates in various proportions. 
This at least is what general experience of. hybrid 
products leads me to anticipate. Segregation is some- 
how effected by the rhythms of cell-division, if such 
an expression may be permitted. In some cases the 
whole factor is so easily separated that it is swept 
out at once; in others it is so intermixed that gametes 
of all degrees of purity may result. That is admit- 
tedly a crude metaphor, but as yet we cannot sub- 
stitute a better. Be all this as it may, there are many 
signs that in human heredity phenomena of this kind 
are common, whether they indicate a multiplicity of 
cumulative factors or imperfections in segregation. 
Such phenomena, however, in no way detract from 
the essential truths that segregation occurs, and that 
the organism cannot pass on a factor which it has 
not itself received. 

In human heredity we have found some examples, 
and I believe that we shall find many more, in which 
the descent of factors is limited by sex. The classical 
instances are those of colour-blindness and hzmo- 
philia. Both these conditions occur with much 
greater frequency in males than in females. Of 
colour-blindness at least we know that the sons of the 
colour-blind man do not inherit it (unless the mother 


is a transmitter) and do not transmit it to their 
children of either sex. Some, probably all, of the 
daughters of the colour-blind father inherit the 


character, and though not themselves colour-blind, 
they transmit it to some (probably, on an average, 
half) of their offspring of both sexes. For since these 
normal-sighted women have only received the colour- 
blindness from one side of their parentage, only half 
their offspring, on an average, can inherit it. The 
sons who inherit the colour-blindness will be colour- 
blind, and the inheriting daughters become themselves 
Males with normal colour-vision, 


676 


whatever their own parentage, do not have colour- 
blind descendants, unless they marry transmitting 
women. There are points still doubtful in the inter- 
pretation, but the critical fact is clear, that the germ- 
cells of the colour-blind man are of two kinds: 
(i) those which do not carry on the affection and are 
destined to take part in the formation of sons; and 
(ii) those which do carry on the colour-blindness and 
are destined to form daughters. There is evidence 
that the ova also are similarly predestined to form 
one or other of the sexes, but to discuss the whole 
question of sex-determination is beyond my present 
scope. The descent of these sex-limited affections 
nevertheless calls for mention here, because it is an 
admirable illustration of factorial predestination. 
moreover exemplifies that parental polarity of the 
zygote to which I alluded in my first Address, a phe- 
nomenon which we suspect to be at the bottom of 
various anomalies of heredity, and suggests that there 
may be truth in the popular notion that in some 
respects sons resemble their mothers and daughters 
their fathers. 

As to the descent of hereditary diseases and mal- 
formations, however, we have abundant data for de- 
ciding that many are transmitted as dominants and 
a few as recessives. The most remarkable coliection 
of these data is to be found in family histories of 
diseases of the eye. Neurology and dermatology have 
also contributed many very instructive pedigrees. In 
great measure the ophthalmological material was col- 
lected by Edward Nettleship, for whose death we so 
lately grieved. After retiring from practice as an 
oculist he devoted several years to this most laborious 
task. He was not content with hearsay evidence, 
but travelled incessantly, personally examining all 
accessible members of the families concerned, working 
in such a way that his pedigrees are models of orderly 
observation and recording. His zeal stimulated many 
younger men to take part in the work, and it will now 
go on, with the result that the systems of descent 
of all the common hereditary diseases of the eye will 
soon be known with approximate accuracy. 

Give a little imagination to considering the chief 
deduction from this work. Technical details apart, 
and granting that we cannot wholly interpret the 
numerical results, sometimes noticeably more and 
sometimes fewer descendants of these patients being 
affected than Mendelian formulz would indicate, the 
expectation is that in the case of many diseases of 
the eye a large proportion of the children, grand- 
children, and remoter descendants of the patients will 
be affected with the disease. Sometimes it is only 
defective sight that is transmitted; in other cases it is 
blindness, eiher from birth or coming on at some later 
age. The most striking example perhaps is that of 
a form of night-blindness still prevalent in a district 
near Montpellier, which has affected at least 130 
persons, all descending from a single affected indi- 
vidual! who came into the country in the seventeenth 
century. The transmission is in every case through 
an affected parent, and no normal has been known 
to pass on the condition. Such an example well serves 
to illustrate the fixity of the rules of descent. Similar 
instances might be recited relating to a great variety 
of other conditions, some trivial, others grave. 

At various times it has been declared that men are 
born equal, and that the inequality is brought about 
by unequal opportunities. | Acquaintance with the 
pedigrees of disease soon shows the fatuity of such 

1 The first human descent proved to follow Mendelian rules was that of a 
serious mal‘ormation of the hand studied by Farabee in America. Drink- 
water subsequently worked out pedigrees for the same malformation in 
England. After many attempts, he now tells me that he has succeeded in 


proving that the American family and one of his own had an abnormal 
ancestor in common, five generations ago. 


NO.) 2330) VOL. 492] 


NATOK 


It | 


without restraint. 


[AUGUST 27, I914 


fancies. The same conclusion, we may be sure, 
would result from the true representation of the de- 
scent of any human faculty. Never since Galton’s 
publications can the matter have been in any doubt. 
At the time he began to study family histories even 
the broad significance of heredity was frequently 
denied, and resemblances to parents or ancestors were 
looked on as interesting curiosities. Inveighing 
against hereditary political institutions, Tom Paine 
remarks that the idea is as absurd as that of an 
‘hereditary wise man,” or an “hereditary mathema- 
tician,’”’ and to this day I suppose many people are 
not aware that he is saying anything more than 
commonly foolish. We, on the contrary, would feel 
it something of a puzzle if two parents, both mathe- 
matically gifted, had any children not mathematicians. 
Galton first demonstrated the overwhelming import- 
ance of these considerations, and had he not been 
misled, partly by the theory of pangenesis, but more 
by his mathematical instincts and training, which 
prompted him to apply statistical treatment rather 
than qualitative analysis, he might, not improbably, 
have discovered the essential facts of Mendelism. 

It happens rarely that science has anything to offer 
to the common stock of ideas at once so comprehen- 
sive and so simple that the courses of our thoughts 
are changed. Contributions to the material progress 
of mankind are comparatively frequent. They result 
at once in application. Transit is quickened; com- 
munication is made easier; the food-supply is in- 
creased and population multiplied. By direct appli- 
cation to the breeding of animals and plants such 
results must even flow from Mendel’s work. But I 
imagine the greatest practical change likely to ensue 
from modern genetic discovery will be a quickening of 
interest in the true nature of man and in the biology 
of races. I have spoken cautiously as to the evidence 
for the operation of any simple Mendelian system in 
the descent of human faculty; yet the certainty that 
systems which differ from the simpler schemes only 
in degree of complexity are at work in the distribution 
of characters among the human population cannot fail 
co influence our conceptions of life and of ethics, lead- 
ing perhaps ultimately to modification of social usage. 
That change cannot but be in the main one of simplifi- 
cation. The eighteenth century made great pretence 
of a return to nature, but it did not occur to those 
philosophers first to inquire what nature is; and per- 
haps not even the patristic writings contain fantasies 
much further from physiological truth than those 
which the rationalists of the ‘t‘ Encyclopedia ’’ adopted 
as the basis of their social schemes. For men are so 
far from being born equal or similar that to the 
naturalist they stand as the very type of a polymorphic 
species. Even most of our local races consist of many 
distinct strains and individual types. From the popu- 
lation of any ordinary English town as many distinct 
human breeds could in a few generations be isolated 
as there are now breeds of dogs, and indeed such a 
population in its present state is much what the dogs 
of Europe would be in ten years’ time but for the inter- 
ference of the fanciers. Even as at present consti- 
tuted, owing to the isolating effects of instinct, 
fashion, occupation, and social class, many incipient 
strains already exist. 

In one respect civilised man differs from all other 
species of animal or plant in that, having prodigious 
and ever-increasing power over nature, he invokes 
these powers for the preservation and maintenance of 
many of the inferior and all the defective members of 
his species. The inferior freely multiply, and the 
defective, if their defects be not so grave as to lead 
to their detention in prisons or asylums, multiply also 
Heredity being strict in its action, 


AucGusT 27, 1914] 


NATURE 


677 


the consequences are in civilised countries much what 
they would be in the kennels of the dog-breeder who 
continued to preserve all his puppies, good and bad: 
the proportion of defectives increases. The increase 
is so considerable that outside every great city there 
is a smaller town inhabited by defectives and those 
who wait on them. Round London we have a ring of 
such towns with some 30,000 inhabitants, of whom 
about 28,000 are defective, largely, though of course 
by no means entirely, bred from previous generations 
of defectives. Now, it is not for us to consider 
practical measures. As men of science we observe 
natural events and deduce conclusions from them. I 
may, perhaps be allowed to say that the remedies pro- 
posed in America, in so far as they aim at the eugenic 
regulation of marriage on a comprehensive scale, 
strike me as devised without regard to the needs either 
of individuals or of a modern State. Undoubtedly if 
they decide to breed their population of one uniform 
puritan grey, they can do it in a few generations; but 
I doubt if timid respectability will make a nation 
happy, and I am sure that qualities of a different sort 
are needed if it is to compete with more vigorous and 
more varied communities. Everyone must have a pre- 
liminary sympathy with the aims of eugenists both 
abroad and at home. Their efforts at the least are 
doing something to discover and spread. truth as to 
the physiological structure of society. The spirit of 
such organisations, however, almost of necessity suffers 
from a bias towards the accepted and the ordinary, 
and if they had power it would go hard with many in- 
gredients of society that could be ill-spared. I notice an 
ominous passage in which even Galton, the founder 
‘of eugenics, feeling perhaps some twinge of his Quaker 
ancestry, remarks that ‘‘as the Bohemianism in the 
nature of our race is destined to perish, the sooner it 
goes, the happier for mankind.” It is not the eugenists 
who will give us what Plato has called divine releases 
from the common ways. If some fancier with the 
catholicity of Shakespeare would take us in hand, well 
and good; but I would not trust even Shakespeares 
meeting as a committee. Let us remember that 
Beethoven’s father was an habitual drunkard and that 
his mother died of consumption. From the genealogy 
of the patriarchs also we learn—what may very well 
be the truth—that the fathers of such as dwell in tents, 
and of all such as handle the harp or organ, and the 
instructor of every artificer in brass and iron—the 
founders, that is to say, of the arts and the sciences— 
came in direct descent from Cain, and not in the pos- 
terity of the irreproachable Seth, who is to us, as he 
probably was also in the narrow circle of his own 
contemporaries, what naturalists call a nomen nudum. 
Genetic research will make it possible for a nation to 
elect by what sort of beings it will be represented not 
‘very many generations hence, much as a farmer can 
decide whether his byres shall be full of shorthorns or 
Herefords. It will be very surprising indeed if some 
nation does not make trial of this new power. They 
may make awful mistakes, but I think they will try. 
Whether we like it or not, extraordinary and far- 
reaching changes in public opinion are coming to pass. 
Man is just beginning to know himself for what he is 
—a rather long-lived animal, with great powers of 
enjoyment if he does not deliberately forgo them. 
Hitherto superstition and mythical ideas of sin have 
predominantly controlled these powers. Mysticism 
will not die out: for those strange fancies knowledge 
is no cure; but their forms may change, and mysticism 
as a force for the suppression of joy is happily losing 
its hoid on the modern world. As in the decay of 
earlier religions Ushabti dolls were substituted for 
human victims, so telepathy, necromancy, and other 
harmless toys take the place of eschatology and the 


NG. 2330, VOL. 93] 


inculcation of a ferocious moral code. Among the 
civilised races of Europe we are witnessing an emanci- 
pation from traditional control in thought, in art, and 
in conduct which is likely to have prolonged and 
wonderful influences. Returning to freer or, if you 
will, simpler conceptions of life and death, the coming 
generations are determined to get more out of this 
world than their forefathers did. Is it then to be 
supposed that when science puts into their hand means 
for the alleviation of suffering immeasurable, and for 
making this world a happier place, that they will 
demur to using those powers? The intenser struggle 
between communities is only now beginning, and with 
the approaching exhaustion of that capital of energy 
stored in the earth before man began it must soon 
becomes still more fierce. In England some of our 
great-grandchildren will see the end of the easily 
accessible coal, and, failing some miraculous dis- 
covery of available energy, a wholesale reduction in 
population. There are races who have shown them- 
selves able at a word to throw off all tradition and 
take into their service every power that science has 
yet offered them. Can we expect that they, when they 
see how to rid themselves of the ever-increasing weight 
of a defective population, will hesitate? The time 
cannot be far distant when both individuals and com- 
munities will begin to think in terms of biological 
fact, and it behoves those who lead scientific thought 
carefully to consider whither action should lead. At 
present I ask you merely to observe the facts. The 
powers of science to preserve the defective are now 
enormous. Every year these powers increase. This. 
course of action must reach a limit. To the deliberate 
intervention of civilisation for the preservation of in- 
ferior strains there must sooner or later come an end,. 
and before long nations will realise the responsibility 
they have assumed in multiplying these ‘cankers. 
of a calm world and a long peace.”’ 

The definitely feeble-minded we may with propriety 
restrain, as we are beginning to do even in England,. 
and we may safely prevent unions in which both 
parties are defective, for the evidence shows that as. 
a rule such marriages, though often prolific, com- 
monly produce no normal children at all. The union 
of such social vermin we should no more permit than. 
we would allow parasites to breed on our own bodies. 
Further than that in restraint of marriage we ought 
not to go, at least not yet. Something too may be 
done by a reform of medical ethics. Medical students 
are taught that it is their duty to prolong life at what- 
ever cost in suffering. This may have been right 
when diagnosis was uncertain and interference usually 
of small effect; but deliberately to interfere now for 
the preservation of an infant so gravely diseased that. 
it can never be happy or come to any good is very 
like wanton cruelty. In private few men defend such 
interference. Most who have seen these cases linger- 
ing on agree that the system is deplorable, but ask 
where can any line be drawn. The biologist would 
reply that in all ages such decisions have been made 
by civilised communities with fair success both in 
regard to crime and in the closely analogous case of 
lunacy. The real reason why these things are done 
is because the world collectively cherishes occult views 
of the nature of life, because the facts are realised by 
few, and because between the legal mind—to which 
society has become accustomed to defer—and the 
seeing eye, there is such physiological antithesis that 
scarcely can they be combined in the same body. So 
soon as scientific knowledge becomes common p7ro- 
perty, views more reasonable and, I may add, more 
humane, are likely to prevail. 

To all these great biological problems that modern 
society must sooner or later face there are many 


678 


aspects besides the obvious ones. Infant mortality 
we are asked to iament without the slightest thought 
of what the world would be like if the majority of 
these infants were to survive. The decline in the 
birth-rate in countries already over-populated is often 
deplored, and we are told that a nation in which 
population is not rapidly increasing must be in a de- 
cline. The slightest acquaintance with biology,: or 
even school-boy natural history, shows that this in- 
ference may be entirely wrong, and that before such 
a question can be decided in one way or the other, 
hosts of considerations must be taken into account. 
In normal stable conditions population is stationary. 
The laity never appreciates, what is so clear to a 
biologist, that the last century and a quarter, corre- 
sponding with the great rise in population, has been 
an altogether exceptional period. To our species this 
period has been what its early years in Australia were 
to the rabbit. The exploitation of energy-capital of 
the earth in coal, development of the new countries, 
and the consequent pouring of food into Europe, the 
application of antiseptics, these are the things that 
have enabled the human population to increase. I 
do not doubt that if population were more evenly 
spread over the earth it might increase very much 
more; but the essential fact is that under any stable 
conditions a limit must be reached. A pair of wrens 
will bring off a dozen young every year, but each year 
you will find the same number of pairs in your 
garden. In England the limit beyond which under 
present conditions of distribution increase of popula- 
tion is a source of suffering rather than of happiness 
has been reached already. Younger communities 
living in territories largely vacant are very probably 
right in desiring and encouraging more population. 
Increase, may, for some temporary reason, be essen- 
tial to their prosperity. But those who live, as I do, 
among thousands of creatures in a state of semi- 
starvation will realise that too few is better than too 
many, and will acknowledge the wisdom of Eccle- 
siasticus who said ‘‘Desire not a multitude of 
unprofitable children.” 

But at least it is often urged that the decline in 
the birth-rate of the intelligent and successful sections 
of the population—I am speaking of the older com- 
munities—is to be regretted. Even this cannot be 
granted without qualification. As the biologist 
knows, differentiation is indispensable to progress. 
If population were homogeneous civilisation would 
stop. In every army the officers must be compara- 
tively few. Consequently, if the upper strata of the 
community produce more children than will recruit 
their numbers some must fall into the lower strata 
and increase the pressure there. Statisticians tell us 
that an average of four children under present con- 
ditions is sufficient to keep the number constant, and 
as the expectation of life is steadily improving we 
may perhaps contemplate some diminution of that 
number without alarm. 


In the study of history biological treatment is only 
beginning to be applied. For us the causes of the 
success and failure of races are physiological events, 
and the progress of man has depended upon a chain 
of these events, like those which have resulted in the 
‘“improvement’’ of the domesticated animals and 
plants. It is obvious, for example, that had the 
cereals never been domesticated cities could scarcely 
have existed. But we may go further, and say that 
in temperate countries of the Old World (having 
neither rice nor maize) populations concentrated in 
large cities have been made possible by the appear- 
ance of a ‘‘thrashable’’ wheat. The ears of the wild 
wheats break easily to pieces, and the grain remains 


NO: 2330,; VOL;-93) 


NATURE 


[AUGUST 27, 1914 


| in the thick husk. Such wheat can be used for food, 


| but the true pioneer, 


but not readily. Ages before written history began, 
in some unknown place, plants, or more likely a plant, 
of wheat lost the dominant factor to which this brittle- 
ness is due, and the recessive, thrashable wheat re- 
sulted. Some man noticed this wonderful novelty, 
and it has been disseminated over the earth. The 
original variation may well have occurred once only, 
in a single germ-cell. 

So must it have been with Man. Translated into 
terms of factors, how has that progress in control 
of nature which we call civilisation been achieved ? 
By the sporadic appearance of variations, mostly, 
perhaps all, consisting in a loss of elements, which 
inhibit the free working of the mind. The members 
of civilised communities, when they think about such 
things at all, imagine the process a gradual one, 
and that they themselves are active agents in it. 
Few, however, contribute anything but their labour; 
and except in so far as they have freedom to adopt 
and imitate, their physiological composition is that 
of an earlier order of beings. Annul the work of a 
few hundreds—I might almost say scores—of men, 
and on what plane of civilisation should we be? We 
should not have advanced beyond the medieval stage 
without printing, chemistry, steam, electricity, or 
surgery worthy the name. These things are the con- 
tributions of a few excessively rare minds. Galton 
reckoned those to whom the term “illustrious ’’ might 
be applied as one in a million, but in that number 
he is, of course, reckoning men famous in ways 
which add nothing to universal progress. To improve 
by subordinate invention, to discover details missed, 
even to apply knowledge never before applied, all 
these things need genius in some degree, and are far 
beyond the powers of the average man of our race; 
the man whose penetration 
creates a new world, as did that of Newton and of 
Pasteur, is inconceivably rare. But for a few 
thousands of such men, we should perhaps be in the 
Paleolithic era, knowing neither metals, writing, 
arithmetic, weaving, nor pottery. 

In the history of art the same is true, but with 
this remarkable difference, that not only are gifts of 
artistic creation very rare, but even the faculty of 
artistic enjoyment, not to speak of higher powers of 
appreciation, is not attained without variation from 
the common type. I am speaking, of course, of 
the non-Semitic races of modern Europe, among 
whom the power whether of making or enjoying 
works of art is confined to an insignificant number 
of individuals. Appreciation can in some degree be 
simulated, but in our population there is no wide- 
spread physiological appetite for such things. When 
detached from the centres where they are made by 
others most of us pass our time in great contentment, 
making nothing that is beautiful, and quite uncon- 
scious of any deprivation. Musical taste is the most 
notable exception, for in certain races—for example, 
the Welsh and some of the Germans—it is almost 
universal. Otherwise artistic faculty is still sporadic 
in its occurrence. The case of music well illustrates 
the application of genetic analysis to human faculty. 
No one disputes that musical ability is congenital. 


In its fuller manifestation it demands sense of 
rhythm, ear, and_ special nervous and muscular 
powers. Each of these is separable and doubtless 


genetically distinct. Each is the consequence of a 
special departure from the common type. Teaching 
and external influences are powerless to evoke these 
faculties, though their development may be assisted. 
The only conceivable way in which the people of 
England, for example, could become a musical nation 
would be by the gradual rise in the proportional 


—— 


CO ——— — 


ee 


AvuGUST 27, 1914] 


numbers of a musical strain or strains until the 
present type became so rare as to be negligible. It 
by no means follows that in any other respect the 
resulting population would be distinguishable from 


the present one. Difficulties of this kind beset 
the efforts of anthropologists to trace racial 
origins. It must continually be remembered that most 


characters are independently transmitted and capable 
of such recombination. In the light of Mendelian 
knowledge the discussion whether a race is pure or 
mixed loses almost all significance. A race is pure 
if it breeds pure and not otherwise. Historically we 
may know that a race like our own was, as a matter 
of fact, of mixed origin. But a character may have 
been introduced by a single individual, though sub- 
sequently it becomes common to the race. This is 
merely a variant on the familiar paradox that in the 
course of time if registration is accurate we shall all 
have the same surname. In the case of music, for 
instance, the gift, originally perhaps from a Welsh 
source, might permeate the nation, and the question 
would then arise whether the nation, so changed, 
was the English nation or not. 

Such a problem is raised in a striking form by 
the population of modern Greece, and especially of 
Athens. The racial characteristics of the Athenian 
of the fifth century B.c. are vividly described by Galton 
in ‘‘ Hereditary Genius.”” The fact that in that period 
a population, numbering many thousands, should 
have existed, capable of following the great plays 
at a first hearing, revelling in subtleties of speech, 
and thrilling with passionate delight in beautiful 
things, is physiologically a most singular phenomenon. 
On the basis of the number of illustrious men pro- 
duced by that age Galton estimated the average in- 
telligence as at least two of his degrees above our 
own, differing from us as much as we do from the 
negro. A few generations later the display was over. 
The origin of that constellation of human genius 
which then blazed out is as yet beyond all biological 
analysis, but I think we are not altogether without 
suspicion of the sequence of the biological events. 
If I visit a poultry-breeder who has a fine stock of 
thoroughbred game fowls breeding true, and ten years 
later—that is to say ten fowl-generations later—I go 
again and find scarcely a recognisable game-fowl on 
the place, I know exactly what has happened. One 
or two birds of some other or of no breed must have 
strayed in and their progeny been left undestroyed. 
Now in Athens we have many indications that up to 
the beginning of the fifth century so long as the 
phratries and gentes were maintained in their in- 
tegrity there was rather close endogamy, a condition 
giving the best chance of producing a homogeneous 
population. There was no lack of material from 
which intelligence and artistic power might be de- 
rived. Sporadically these qualities existed throughout 
the ancient Greek world from the dawn of history, 
and, for example, the vase-painters, the makers of the 
Tanagra figurines, and the gem-cutters were presum- 
ably pursuing family crafts, much as are the actor- 
families? of England or the professorial families of 
Germany at the present day. How the intellectual 
strains should have acquired predominance we cannot 
tell, but in an in-breeding community homogeneity at 
least is not surprising. At the end of the sixth cen- 
tury came the ‘‘reforms”’ of Cleisthenes (507 B.c.), 
which sanctioned foreign marriages and admitted to 
citizenship a number not only of resident aliens but 
also of manumitted slaves. As Aristotle says, Cleis- 
thenes legislated with the deliberate purpose of break- 
ing up the phratries and gentes, in order that the 


2 For tables of these families, see the Supplement to ‘“‘ Who's Who in the 
Theatre.” 


NO. 2339, VOL. 93] 


NATURE 


679 


various sections of the population might be mixed up 


as much as possible, and the old tribal associations 
abolished. The ‘‘reform’’ was probably a recognition 
and extension of a process already begun; but is it too 
much to suppose that we have here the effective be- 
ginning of a series of genetic changes which in a 
few generations so greatly altered the character of 
the people? Under Pericles the old law was restored 
(451 B.c.), but losses in the great wars led to further 
laxity in practice, and though at the end of the fifth 
century the strict rule was re-enacted that a citizen 
must be of citizen-birth on both sides, the population 
by that time may well have become largely mon- 
grelised. 

Let me not be construed as arguing that mixture 
of races is an evil: far from it. A population like 
our own, indeed, owes much of its strength to the 
extreme diversity of its components, for they con- 
tribute a corresponding abundance of aptitudes. 
Everything turns on the nature of the ingredients 
brought in, and I am concerned solely with the obser- 
vation that these genetic disturbances lead ultimately 
to great and usually unforeseen changes in the nature 
of the population. 

Some experiments of this kind are going on at the 
present time, in the United States, for example, on a 
very large scale. Our grand-children may live to see 
the characteristics of the American population entirely 
altered by the vast invasion of Italian and other South 
European elements. We may expect that the Eastern 
States, and especially New England, the people of which 
still exhibit the fine Puritan qualities with their appro- 
priate limitations, absorbing little of the alien 
elements, will before long be in feelings and aptitudes 
very notably differentiated from the rest. In Japan, 
also, with the abolition of the feudal system and the 
rise of commercialism, a change in population has 
begun which may be worthy of the attention of 
naturalists in that country. Till the revolution . the 
Samurai almost always married within their own 
class, with the result, as I am informed, that the caste 
had fairly recognisable features. The changes of 
1868 and the consequent impoverishment of the 
Samurai have brought about a beginning of dis- 
integration which may not improbably have perceptible 
effects. 

How many genetic vicissitudes has our own peerage 
undergone! Into the hard-fighting stock of medieval 
and Plantagenet times have successively been crossed 
the cunning shrewdness of Tudor statesmen and 
courtiers, the numerous contributions of Charles II. 
and his concubines, reinforcing peculiar and persistent 
attributes which popular imagination especially re- 
gards as the characteristic of peers, ultimately the 
heroes of finance and industrialism. Definitely intel- 
lectual elements have been sporadically added, with 
rare exceptions, however, from the ranks of lawyers 
and politicians. To this aristocracy art, learning, and 


| science have contributed sparse ingredients, but these 


mostly chosen for celibacy or childlessness. A  re- 
markable body of men, nevertheless; with an average 
‘“horse-power,” as Samuel Butler would have said, 
far exceeding that of any random sample of the 
middle-class. If only man could be reproduced by 
budding what a simplification it would be! In vege- 
tative reproduction heredity is usually complete. The 
Washington plum can be divided to produce as many 
identical individuals as are required. If, say, Wash- 
ington, the statesman, or preferably King Solomon, 
could similarly have been propagated, all the nations 
of the earth could have been supplied with ideal 
rulers. 

Historians commonly ascribe such changes as 
occurred in Athens, and will almost certainly come 


680 


to pass in the United States, to conditions of life and 
especially to political institutions. These agencies, 
however, do little unless they are such as to change 
the breed. External changes may indeed give an 
opportunity to special strains, which then acquire 
ascendency. The industrial developments which 
began at the end of the eighteenth century, for in- 
stance, gave a chance to strains till then submerged, 
and their success involved the decay of most of the 
old aristocratic families. But the demagogue who 
would argue from the rise of the one and the fall of 
the other that the original relative positions were not 
justifiable altogether mistakes the facts. 

Conditions give opportunities but cause no varia- 
tions. For example, in Athens, to which I just re- 
ferred, the universality of cultivated discernment could 
never have come to pass but for the institution of 
slavery which provided the opportunity, but slavery 
was in no sense a cause of that development, for many 
other populations have lived on slaves and remained 
altogether inconspicuous. 

The long-standing controversy as to the relative 
importance of nature and nurture, to use Galton’s 
“convenient jingle of words,’ is drawing to an end, 
and of the overwhelmingly greater significance of 
nature there is no longer any possibility of doubt. It 
may be well briefly to recapitulate the arguments on 
which naturalists rely in coming to this decision both 
as regards races and individuals. First as regards 
human individuals, there is the common experience 
that children of the same parents reared under con- 
ditions sensibly identical may develop quite differently, 
exhibiting in character and aptitudes a segregation 
just as great as in their colours or hair-forms. Con- 
versely all the more marked aptitudes have at various 
times appeared and not rarely reached perfection in 
circumstances the least favourable for their develop- 
ment. Next, appeal can be made to the universal 
experience of the breeder, whether of animals or 
plants, that strain is absolutely essential, that though 
bad conditions may easily enough spoil a good strain, 
yet that under the best conditions a bad strain will 
never give a fine result. It is faith, not evidence, 
which encourages educationists and economists to 
hope so greatly in the ameliorating effects of the 
conditions of life. Let us consider what they can do 
and what they cannot. By reference to some sen- 
tences in a charming though pathetic book, ‘‘ What 
Is, and What Might Be,” by Mr. Edmond Holmes, 
which will be well known in the Educational Section, 
I may make the point of view of us naturalists clear. 
I take Mr. Holmes’s pronouncement partly because 
he is an enthusiastic believer in the efficacy of nur- 
ture as opposed to nature, and also because he illus- 
trates his views by frequent appeals to biological 
analogies which help us to a common ground. 
Wheat badly cultivated will give a bad yield, though, 
as Mr. Holmes truly says, wheat of the same strain 
in similar soil well cultivated may give a good har- 
vest. But, having witnessed the success of a great 
natural teacher in helping unpromising peasant 
children to develop their natural powers, he gives us 
another botanical parallel. Assuming that the wild 
bullace is the origin of domesticated plums, he tells 
us that by cultivation the bullace can no doubt be 
improved so far as to become a better bullace, but 
by no means can the bullace be made to bear plums. 

All this is sound biology; but translating these facts 
into the human analogy, he declares that the work of 
the successful teacher shows that. with man the facts 
are otherwise, and that the average rustic child, whose 
normal ideal is ‘‘bullacehood,’”’ can become the rare 
exception, developing to a stage corresponding with 
that of the plum. But the naturalist knows exactly 


NO?123309, VOL. 103 


NATURE 


| where the parallel is at fault. 


[AUGUST 27, 1914 


For the wheat and 
the bullace are both breeding approximately true, 
whereas the human crop, like jute and various cottons, 
is in a state of polymorphic mixture. The popula- 
tion of many English villages may be compared with 
the crop which would result from sowing a bushel 
of kernels gathered mostly from the hedges, with an 
occasional few from an orchard. If anyone asks how 
it happens that there are any plum-kernels in the 
sample at all, he may find the answer perhaps in 
spontaneous ‘variation, but more probably in the 
appearance of a long-hidden recessive. For the want 
of that genetic variation, consisting probably, as I 
have argued, in loss of inhibiting factors, by which 
the plum arose from the wild form, neither food, nor 
education, nor hygiene can in any way atone. Many 
wild plants are half-starved through competition, and 
transferred to garden soil they grow much bigger; 
so good conditions might certainly enable the bullace 
population to develop beyond the stunted physical and 
mental stature they commonly attain, but plums they 
can never be. Modern statesmanship aims rightly 
at helping those who have got sown as wildings to 
come into their proper class; but let not anyone sup- 
pose such a policy democratic in its ultimate effects, 
for no course of action can be more effective in 
strengthening the upper classes whilst weakening the 
lower. 

In all practical schemes for social reform the con- 
genital diversity, the essential polymorphism of all 
civilised communities must be recognised as a funda- 
mental fact, and reformers should rather direct their 
efforts to facilitating and rectifying class-distinctions 
than to any futile attempt to abolish them. The 
teaching of biology is perfectly clear. We are what 
we are by virtue of our differentiation. The value of 
civilisation has in all ages been doubted. Since, 
however, the first variations were not strangled in 
their birth, we are launched on that course of varia- 
bility of which civilisation is the consequence. We 
cannot go back to homogeneity again, and differ- 
entiated we are likely to continue. For a period 
measures designed to create a spurious homogeneity 
may be applied. Such attempts will, I anticipate, 
be made when the present unstable social state 
reaches a climax of instability, which may not be long 
hence. Their effects can be but evanescent. The 
instability is due not to inequality, which is inherent 
and congenital, but rather to the fact that in periods 
of rapid change like the present, convection-currents 
are set up such that the elements of the strata get 
intermixed and the apparent stratification corresponds 
only roughly with the genetic. In a few generations 
under uniform conditions these elements settle in 
their true levels once more. 

In such equilibrium is content most surely to be 
expected. To the naturalist the broad lines of solu- 
tion of the problems of social discontent are evident. 
They lie neither in vain dreams of a mystical and 
disintegrating equality, nor in the promotion of that 
malignant individualism which in older civilisations 
has threatened mortification of the humbler organs, 
but rather in a physiological co-ordination of the 
constituent parts of the social organism. The rewards 
of commerce are grossly out of proportion to those 
attainable by intellect or industry. Even regarded as 
compensation for a dull life, they far exceed the value 
of the services rendered to the community. Such 
disparity is an incident of the abnormally rapid 
growth of population and is quite indefensible as a 
permanent social condition. | Nevertheless, capital, 
distinguished as a provision for offspring, is a eugenic 
institution; and unless human instinct undergoes 
some profound and improbable variation, abolition of 


AUGUST 27, 1914| 


capital means the abolition of effort; but as in the 
body the power of independent growth of the parts 
is limited and subordinated to the whole, similarly in 
the community we may limit the powers of capital, 
preserving so much inequality of privilege as corre- 
sponds with physiological fact. 

At every turn the student of political science is con- 
fronted with problems that demand biological know- 
ledge for their solution. Most obviously is this true 
in regard to education, the criminal law, and all 
those numerous branches of policy and administration 
which are directly concerned with the physiological 
capacities of mankind. Assumptions as to what can 
be done and what cannot be done to modify indi- 
viduals and races have continually to be made, and the 
basis of fact on which such decisions are founded 
can be drawn only from biological study. i 

A knowledge of the facts of nature is not yet 
deemed an essential part of the mental equipment of 
politicians ;-but as the priest, who began in other ages 
as medicine-man, has been obliged to abandon the 
medical parts of his practice, so will the future be- 
hold the schoolmaster, the magistrate, the lawyer, 
and ultimately the statesman, compelled to share with 
the naturalist those functions which are concerned 
with the physiology of race. 


SECTIONS? 


CHEMISTRY. 


OPENING ADDRESS BY PROF. WILLIAM J. Pope, M.A., 
LL.D., F.R.S., PRESIDENT OF THE SECTION. 


(Concluded from p. 649.) 


THE two assemblages can now be described in a 
quantitative manner by stating the symmetry and also 
the relative dimensions of each. The cubic assem- 
blage exhibits symmetry identical with that of the 
cube or the regular octahedron, a symmetry charac- 
teristic of so-called holohedral cubic crystals; the 
relative dimensions in different directions are defined 
by the symmetry. The assemblage can, in fact, be 
referred to three axes parallel to the edges of a cube, 
and as these directions are obviously similar in a 
cube, their ratios are of the form, a:b:c=1:1:1. 
This expression indicates that if the assemblage, sup- 
posed indefinitely extended through space, is moved 
by a unit distance in either of the three rectangular 
directions, a, b, and c, the effect, as examined from 
any ee is as if the assemblage had not been moved 
at all. 

The symmetry of the hexagonal assemblage is 
identical with that of a hexagonal prism or of a 
double hexagonal] pyramid, and is that characteristic 
of the so-called holohedral, hexagonal, crystalline 
system; the relative dimensions are no longer defined 
entirely by the symmetry, and are conveniently stated 
as the ratio of the diameter, a, of the prism or pyra- 
mid, to the height, c, of the pyramid. The ratio, 
a:c, for the assemblage of spheres under discussion 
can be calculated; it assumes two forms, correspond- 
ing to two modes of selecting alternative principal 
diameters of the prism as unit. The alternative 
ratios are: a :c =1 : 1-6330 Or @:c=1: 1-4142. 

This somewhat lengthy theoretical discussion has 
now reached a stage at which it can be applied to the 
observed facts; the accompanying table (Table I.) 
states the mode in which crystalline substances of 
different degrees of molecular complexity distribute 
themselves amongst the various crystal systems. Of 
the elements which have been crystallographically 
examined, 50 per cent. are cubic, whilst a further 35 
per cent. are hexagonal; and consideration of the 
data for these latter shows that they exhibit approxi- 


NO. 2339, VOL. 93] 


NAT ORE 


6051 


mately the axial ratios characteristic of the hexagonal 
closest-packed assemblage; thus magnesium shows 
a:c=1:1-6242, and arsenic the ratio a: c=1-4025. 


TaBe I. 
Inorganic substances, the num- 
ber of atoms in the molecule of 
which is re: pectively : Organic 
System. Sub- 
Elements stances 
More 
2 3 4 5 | thans 
Per cen’. 
Cubic 50 68°5 42 5 ete 5 nSh ees 
Hexagonal 35 LOSSe eI 35 138) (414 Oy 4a 
Tetragonal ae 5 47-5 | 19 See Ken || pf 50 
Orthorhombi: ... 5 37Q)| 23'°5;| 50:| 935) 27acieda 
Monosymmetric 5 4e5b 3 § || Szegeeares 
Anorthic He fe) fo) 155 | Oalu ee: 5 70 
No. of cases ex- 
amined for each 
vertical column 140 67 | 63 20 | 50 | 673. | 585 


Whilst the crystal structure of some 85 per cent. of 
the crystalline elements seems to be in general agree- 
ment with the simple assumption of equilibrium which 
has been made, the divergence presented by about 15 
per cent. of the elements still awaits explanation. The 
previous discussion applies to the theoretically simple 
case of a monatomic element; many of the elements 
are, however, certainly polyatomic. Imagine, there- 
fore, that in the crystal structure, agreeing with the 
cubic or hexagonal arrangement just described, the 
similar atoms are grouped to form complex molecules, 
each containing two or more atoms; the geometrical 
effect of this grouping, if any, should be, first, to 
degrade the symmetry of the structure, and, secondly, 
to slightly alter its relative dimensions. It would 
therefore be expected that if the elements which are 
neither cubic nor hexagonal owe their departure from 
those systems to molecular aggregation, the crystal 
dimensions should approximate closely to those of the 
two ideal assemblages; this is, indeed, found to be 
the case. Monosymmetric sulphur, for instance, ex- 
hibits the axial ratios, a:b: c=0-9958: 1 : 0-9988, 
B=95° 46’; the relative dimensions in the three direc- 
tions a, b, and c, are almost the same as in the cubic 
system, and the angle between the directions a and ¢ 
is B=95° 46’, instead of g0°. ‘This substance has 
nearly the dimensions of a cubic crystal, and is obvi- 
ously ‘pseudo-cubic’’; the same is true of all other 
elements which depart from true cubic or hexagonal 
symmetry. 

The crystalline forms presented by the elements are 
consequently in accordance with the assumption that 
the crystal structures are equilibrium arrangements 
of the component atoms of the two kinds described. 
It is also indicated that aggregation of the atoms to 
form molecular complexes is responsible for the depar- 
ture from simple cubic or hexagonal symmetry; in 
this connection it is interesting to note that the 
strongly coloured elements depart most widely from 
these two systems. Thus, the colourless modifica- 
tions of carbon and phosphorus are cubic, whilst the 
black graphite is monosymmetric and the red phos- 
phorus is orthorhombic in crystal form; this is in 
accordance with the general view that colour is the 
result of some particular kind of molecular aggrega- 
tion. 

Although so much general correspondence of a 
quantitative character is to be observed between the 
observed facts and the anticipations developed from 
the equilibrium assumption, it has become evident 
during the last year or two that the conception formed 


682 


as to the nature of the equilibrium which determines 
the arrangement of the atoms in a crystalline element 
is of too simple a character. In 1912 Laue showed 
that on passing a narrow pencil of X-rays through a 
crystal plate the emergent rays were capable of form- 
ing a regular, geometrical pattern of spots upon a 
photographic plate placed to receive the emergent 
beam; the pattern of spots thus produced was in 
agreement with the symmetry of the direction in the 
crystal plate in which the beam was passed. This 
discovery was developed and very considerably ex- 
tended by Bragg, who was able to show that an X-ray 
beam undergoes reflection at the surface of a crystal 
plate. The interpretation of the novel results indicates 
that the homogeneous crystal structure acts upon the 
X-ray beam much as a solid diffraction grating might 
be expected to do, and that each deflected transmitted 
ray is a reflection from one set of parallel planes of 
atoms in the crystal, 

The experimental and theoretical study of the X-ray 
effects has been prosecuted with brilliant success by 
W. H. and W. L. Bragg, the result being that a 
method is now available which makes it possible to 
determine, with very great probability, the actual 
arrangement of the constituent atoms in crystal struc- 
ture. Sufficient time has not yet elapsed for the 
thorough exploitation of this new and fruitful field of 
research, but many data are available already for com- 
parison with the conclusions drawn from the con- 
sideration of the equilibria possible in crystal struc- 
tures; it is found that the two methods do not at 
once lead to identical conclusions. Thus, in accord- 
ance with the first method, the structure of the 
diamond would be indicated at some slight modifica- 
tion of the cubic closest-packed assemblage of equal 


spheres, the modification consisting in the main 
of a grouping of sets of atoms which leads to 
the partial cubic symmetry which the diamond 


apparently exhibits; one particular mode of group- 
ing which leads to the required result consists in 
supposing the carbon atoms formed into sets of four, 
tetrahedrally arranged, two oppositely orientated sets 
of such tetrahedral groups being distinguished. If 
each of these tetrahedral groups be replaced by a 
single point situated at the group-centre, the struc- 
ture which the Bragg experiments indicate for the 
diamond is obtained. 

The simple geometrical relationship which thus 
exists between the two suggested structures for dia- 
mond raises a suspicion that the particular form in 
which the assumption of equilibrium is stated re- 
quires qualification: that possibly the domain of the 
carbon atom when packed with others, as in the dia- 
mond, does not become converted into a rhombic 
dodecahedron, but into a polyhedron roughly tetra- 
hedral in shape. 

Leaving this particular point for the moment and 
turning again to Table I., it is seen that the binary 
compounds, like the elements, also tend to crystallise 
in the cubic or hexagonal systems; the axial ratios of 
the hexagonal binary compounds approximate very 
closely to the value, a: c=1: 1-6330, calculated for the 
closest-packed, hexagonal assemblage of equal spheres. 
The values ot c/a for all the known cases are: 
BeO — 1-6365, ZnO—1-6077, ZnS—1-6350, CdS — 1-6218, 
and AgI—1-6392. 

Assemblages representing the crystal structures of 
the cubic and hexagonal binary compounds may be 
derived from. the two closest-packed assemblages of 
similar spheres already described, by homogeneously 
replacing one half of the spheres by different ones of 
the same size. The degrees of symmetry presented 
by these arrangements are not so high as those of the 
unsubstituted assemblages; this is in accordance with 


NON2330, VOURG.|| 


NATURE 


[AUGUST 27, I914 


| the fact that the crystals themselves have not the full 
symmetry of the holohedral cubic or hexagonal system. 
Thus, on warming a hexagonal crystal of silver iodide, 
one end of the principal axis c becomes positively, 
and the other negatively, electrified. The axis c is 
thus a polar axis, having different properties at its 
two ends; this axis will be found to be polar in the 
model. Again, when hexagonal silver iodide is heated 
to 145°, it changes its crystalline form and becomes 
cubic; this so-called polymorphous change can be 
imitated in the hexagonal model by slightly shifting 
each pair of layers of spheres in the assemblage. 

A very close agreement thus exists between the 
properties of the assemblages deduced and the ob- 
served properties of those binary compounds which 
crystallise in the cubic or hexagonal systems. The 
remaining 12 per cent. or so are not, in general, 
pseudo-cubic or pseudo-hexagonal, and it is noteworthy 
that they comprise those binary compounds in which 
the two component elements have not the same lowest 
valency; amongst them are the substances of the 
compositions, PbO, FeAs, HgO, AsS, and CuO. 

On comparing the structures of the binary crystal- 
line compounds indicated by the foregoing method of 
consideration with those deduced by the Braggs, dis- 
crepancies are again obvious; again, however, the 
former assemblage is converted into the latter by re- 
placing groups of spheres by their group-centres. The 
relation thus rendered apparent is once more a sug- 
gestion that the type of equilibrium conditions origin- 
ally assumed is too simple. It will be seen, however, 
that the Bragg results furnish a proof of one part of 
the assumption made concerning equilibrium, namely, 
that each component atom operates separately; the 
discussion of the properties of crystals on the assump- 
tion that the crystal structure may be regarded as 
built up of similar mass-points, due to the mathe- 
matical physicists of the last century, therefore 1e- 
quires to be reopened. Thus, the Bragg structure of 
rock-salt is represented by dividing space into equal 
cubes by three sets of parallel planes and replacing 
the cube corners encountered along the directions of 
the cube edges by chlorine and sodium atoms alter- 
nately; each chlorine atom then has six sodium atoms 
as its nearest and equally distant neighbours. With 
which of the latter the one chlorine atom is associated 
to form a molecule of sodium chloride is not apparent 
from the nature of the crystal structure. 

Time need not be now occupied with the further 
discussion of the crystalline structure of simple sub- 
stances; until the discovery of the X-ray effects thus 
briefly described, no direct method of determining 
those structures was available, and, in view of the 
paucity of the experimental data, only the possibilities 
of arrangement could be considered in the light of 
the Barlow-Pope mode of treatment. It will, how- 
ever, be useful to review some of the results which 
accrue from this latter method of regarding the 
problem of crystal structure in general. : 

Taking the general standpoint, which is also in 
accordance with the Bragg results, that each com- 
ponent atom of a crystalline structure has a separate 
spacial existence, and premising that the atomic 
domains are close-packed in the assemblage in accord- 
ance with some particular type of equilibrium law, 
it becomes obvious that crystalline structure presents 
a volume problem. The law arrived at after a careful 
investigation of the subject—the so-called law of 
valency volumes—states that in a crystalline structure, 
the component atoms occupy domains approximately 
proportional in volume to the numbers representing 
the fundamental valencies of the elements concerned; 
the student of the subject of molecular volumes will 
hardly accept this conclusion without convincing evi- 


AucusT 27, 1914| 


NATURE 


683 


dence of its correctness—it indicates, for instance, that 
in crystalline potassium sulphate, if the atomic volume 
of potassium is taken as unity, those of sulphur and 
oxygen each have the value two. Many different lines 
of crystallographic argument converge, however, to 
this law, and, if the latter is in the end found to be 
incorrect, it at least represents something fundamentai 
which still awaits enunciation in a more generally 
acceptable form. A few illustrative instances may be 
quoted. 

If valency be a volume property, the relation should 
be revealed in the compositions of chemical substances, 
especially those of composite character. The sum of 
the valencies in potassium sulphate, K,SO,, is 12, and 
in ammonium sulphate, (NH,),SO,, 24, just twice the 
number; the two substances are so closely related 
that they crystallise together to form ‘“‘ solid solutions ”’ 
(isomorphous mixtures. Similarly, in the alums, such 
as K,SO,+Al,(SO,),+24H,O, the valencies are 
12+36+96; the sum of the valencies of the water 
present, 96, is just twice that, 48, of those exhibited 
by the metallic sulphates. Similar curious numerical 
relationships occur in each of the well-defined series 
of double salts. 

Again, if the valency volume law hold for two 
substances of different crystalline form, such as ortho- 
rhombic rubidium nitrate, RbNO,, and rhombohedral 
sodium nitrate, NaNO,, the metal, the nitrogen and 
the oxygen in each compound should have the re- 
spective atomic volumes, 1, 3, and 2. As the sub- 
stances differ in density the absolute values of the 
atomic volumes of nitrogen and oxygen will differ in 
the two substances as examined in the same tempera- 
ture; the ratios of the atomic volumes in either com- 
pound should, however, be as stated. Considering 
this conclusion in conjunction with the fact that these 
crystalline compounds represent symmetrically con- 
structed assemblages, it would seem that the relative 
dimensions of the one crystal structure should be 
traceable in those of the other. Orthorhombic rubi- 
dium nitrate exhibits the axial ratios, a:b:c= 
1-7336: 1: 0-7106, three rectangular coordinates, a, b, 
and c, being used as the directions of reference; 
rhombohedral sodium nitrate exhibits a:c=1 : 0-8276, 
the coordinates being three axes, a, making angles 
of 120° in one plane, and a fourth axis c, perpendicular 
to a. On converting the axial system of sodium 
nitrate into a simple set of rectangular axes similar 
to those used for rubidium nitrate, the value, a:c= 
1: 0:8276, becomes 


Ge bt G= 1-7520 27 5k. 


These values approximate very closely to those 
obtained by direct measurement of the orthorhombic 
rubidium salt. It seems difficult to avoid the con- 
clusion that the two diss‘milar crystalline structures 
are built up by the arrangement of layers or blocks of 
the same relative dimens’ons in two different ways, 
the molecule of sodium nitrate, NaNO,, possessing 
practically the same relative dimensions as that of 
rubidium nitrate, RbNO,; this, of course, is in dis- 
accord with the classic conception of atomic volume, 
but agrees entirely with the valency volume law. 

Another remarkable body of evidence is found in 
the interpretation of many morphotropic relationships 
between organic and inorganic substances which have 
been long recognised but have hitherto eluded inter- 
pretation. The description of one or two cases will 
make the bearing of the law of valency volumes clear 
in this connection. 

d-Camphoric anhydride, C,,H,,O,, and d-camphoric 
acid crystallised with acetone, C,,H,,O,, 1/2 (CH;),CO, 


NO. 2339, VOL. 93] 


both crystallise in the orthorhombric system and ex- 
hibit the axial ratios stated in the following Table 
II. :— 
Tasce II. 
W DB Ae} a yx z 
I‘OOIT : 1 3 1°7270 3°2654 : 3°2618 3 5°6331 
1°2386 21 34°7172 470435 : 3°2646 : 5°0000 


Ci9H 403... eee vee 160 
Cio H 1604, 1/2(CH3)2CO 74 

The ratio c/b is approximately the same in the two 
cases and general similarity exists between the two 
crystalline substances. It will be observed that the 
values of a/b are very nearly in the ratio of the sums 
of the valencies, W, making up the two molecular 
complexes, namely, 60:74=100: 123. This and 
similar cases may be more conveniently discussed with 
the aid of the so-called equivalence parameters; these 
are the edge lengths, x, y, and z, of a parallelepipedon 
of which the volume is W, the sum of the valencies in 
the molecule, and of which the linear and angular 
dimensions express the crystallographic axial ratios. 
Thus, for orthorhombic substance xyz=W, and 
x:y:z=a:b:c; the equivalence parameters of the 
two substances under discussion are given in the table, 
and it will be seen that whilst y and z are almost 
identical for the two, the z values differ considerably. 
This correspondence indicates clearly that in passing 
from camphoric anhydride to the acetone compound 
of the acid the mass added to the molecular complex, 
H,O0+1/2(CH,),CO, occupies a volume proportional 
to the number of valency units which its contributes to 
the structure. 

A very remarkable relation has been long recog- 
nised between the crystalline forms of the three 
minerals chondrodite, Mg,(SiO,),, 2Mg(F,OH), 
humite, Mg,.(SiO,),, 2Mg(F,OH), and clinohumite, 
Mg,(SiO,),, 2Mg(F,OH); the crystalline forms are 
referable to three rectangular directions, a, b, and c, 
and the ratio a: b is practically the same for all three 
minerals. The relationship is at once elucidated by 
the law of valency volumes in a simple manner. In 
the molecules of the three substances the sums of the 
valencies of the constituent atoms are respectively 
34, 48, and 62; it follows from the law that these 
numbers are proportional to the relative volumes of 
the several molecules. The ratios, a:b:c, being 
known, the dimensions can be calculated of solid 
rectangu'ar blocks having these volumes and having 
edge lengths proportional to the axial ratios, a:b: c. 
The equivalence parameters, x, y, and gz, thus cal- 
culated are given in the following Table III.; the first 
observation of importance to be made is that the 
equivalence parameters, x and y, remain practically 
constant throughout the series of three minerals. 

It will be seen that chondrodite and humite, and 
humite and clinohumite, differ in molecular composi- 
tion by the quantity, Mg.(SiO,); they form a series 
in which the increment of composition is Mg,(SiO,). 
Subtracting this increment from the composition of 
chondrodite, the residue, Mg,(SiO,), 2Mg(F,OH), is 
left. This is the composition of the mineral prolectite, 
and the increment, Mg.(SiO,), is the composition of 
the mineral forsterite. 

If the law of valency volumes be correct the equi- 
valence parameters of forsterite should be the x and y 
of the first three minerals, and a value z which is the 
difference between the z values of chondrodite and 
humite, or of humite and clinohumite; further, pro- 
lectite should have x and y values identical with those 
of the other four minerals and a zg value which is 
the difference of the z values of chondrodite and for- 
sterite. It is thus possible to calculate the equivalence 
parameters of forsterite and prolectite without using 
data determined on these two minerals, and to com- 
pare the values so obtained with those calculated from 


684 


NATURE 


_ [Aucust 27, 1914 


the observed axial ratios of forsterite and prolectite. 
All the values referred to are given in Table III., 
and it will be obvious that the agreement between 
the calculated and the observed equivalence parameters 
is very close; as this agreement could not occur with- 
out the operation of the law of valency volumes, 
which was deduced from entirely different data, strong 
confirmation of the accuracy of the law is provided. 


Tasce III. 
Minerals W Axial Ratios Equivalent Parameters | 2/W 
G3 RUNG (2 25 y Zz 
Chondrodite... 34 | 1708630: 1 : 3°14472 | 2°3367 2°1510 6°7644 | 0'19895 
Humite +» 48 | r'o802t : 1 2 4°40334 | 2°3343 271610 9°5155 | 0719824 
Clinchumite... 62 | 1°08028 : t : 5°05883 | 2°3354 2°1646 12°2491 | 0°19756 
Prolectite : | 
observed 20 | 10803 : 1: 178862 2°3130 2°1414 4°0385 | 0°19977 
Prolectite : 
calculated 20 | 1°0818 :1:1°8618 | 2°3365 2'1589 4°0211 | 0°19968 
Forsterite : 
observed 14 | 0°9296 :1:1°r714 | 2°3426 21778 2°7442 | 019601 
Forsterite: 
calculated 14 | o’9240 :1 1°174r | 2°3365 21589 2°7433 | 0°19585 


The several illustrations of the operation of the law 
of valency volumes have been quoted in detail for the 
purpose of showing how difficult it is to avoid the 
conclusion that this deduction represents some physical 
reality. It may be traced in connection with quantita- 
tive data of other kinds; during the last few years 
it has been very successfully applied by Le Bas to the 
interpretation of the molecular volumes of liquid sub- 
stances. 

From what kas been already said it will be seen 
that the great problem as to the relation between crystal 
structure and chemical constitution, of which the solu- 
tion seems imminent, is a stereochemical one; as- 
semblages must be built up in accordance with the 
principle of homogeneity and in some form of close- 
packing, in which each component atom of a chemical 
molecule is represented as the sole occupant of some 
specific solid area. The properties of these assem- 
blages must also be in agreement with the crystallo- 
graphic measurements and the X-ray photographs 
yielded by the substances represented. 

A brief indication may be given of what has been 
already effected in this connection. The normal 
paraffin hydrocarbons of the general composition 
C,Hon+2 consist of a chain of the composition 
(CH,),, to each end of which one hydrogen atom is 
attached; in accordance with the principles already 
indicated, a close-packed assemblage of the empirical 
composition CH, can be constructed from carbon and 
hydrogen spheres of the respective volumes 4 and 1, of 
such a nature that it can be divided by planes into 
blocks, each made up of strings of tne composition 
(OO) On M@la KOH. St eho > CH. At each 
plane of cleavage of the assemblage hydrogen spheres 
can be inserted in appropriate numbers so that close- 
packing is restored when the cleavage faces are 
brought together again; the assemblage will then 
have the composition H . (CH,).,, . H, and may be 
geometrically partitioned into units each representing 
one molecular complex of a normal paraffin. It is 
noteworthy that these units exhibit the configurations 
indicated by the van ’t Hoff-Le Bel conception for the 
normal paraffins. Other assemblages can be con- 
structed which represent in a similar manner the 
secondary and tertiary paraffins, and all these assem- 
blages are of one particular geometrical type, that 
which corresponds to the chemical behaviour charac- 
teristic of the paraffins. In these assemblages replace- 


NO: 2230, 37Ol-"a3] 


el 


ments may be effected so as to introduce new geo- 
metrical features of arrangement corresponding to the 
presence in the molecule of an ethylenic or an acety- 
lenic bond, and thus other classes of hydrocarbons 
can be represented in accordance with the conception 
of close-packing; the process can be extended to the 
polymethylene and aromatic hydrocarbons and to their 
substitution derivatives, and throughout a close corre- 
spondence is observed between the numbers of iso- 
merides possible, with their constitutions and con- 
figurations, and the experimental facts. 

Many considerations indicate the fruitfulness of the 
mode of regarding organic substances just briefly 
sketched; one may be more particularly specified. An 
assemblage representative of benzene has been sug- 
gested which accords with the crystalline form and 
chemical properties of the hydrocarbon, and can be 
geometrically partitioned inte units, each representing 
a single molecule. The equivalence parameters of the 
substance are 


x: V3 2S=370n 2 2-480)"2-9e0. 


The dimension y is twice the diameter of a carbon 
sphere, and that of z slightly less than the sum of 
the diameters of a carbon and a hydrogen sphere. 
Now a dimension approximating closely to the z value 
for benzene can be found amongst the equivalence 
parameters of large numbers of arcmatic compounds, 
indicating that in these crystalline substances the ben- 
zene complexes are stacked one upon the other so as 
to preserve the z dimension, but that the columns so 
formed are pushed apart in the derivatives to an 
extent sufficient to admit of the entrance, in close- 
packing, of the substituting radicles. A few cases 
of this kind were quoted by Barlow and myself, and 
many others were discovered by Jerusalem;° quite 
recently the subject has been subjected to a very 
thorough quantitative examination by Armstrong, Col- 
gate, and Rodd.’ The exhaustive nature of the ex- 
perimental work of these latter authors and the care 
with which their conclusions are drawn leave little 
room for doubt as to the accuracy of their main con- 
tention, namely, that the crystallographic method 
affords material from which the stereochemical con- 
figurations of aromatic substances can be deduced. 

If cystallography is to be used as a tool in the ser- 
vice of stereochemistry in anything like the way which 
has been briefly sketched in this address, a number 
of important results should accrue. We have seen 
that in the structure assigned to rock-salt, each sodium 
atom is identically related to six chlorine atoms; only 
when the crystal is disintegrated by solution in water 
does the necessity arise for a choice to be made, the 
sodium atom then selecting one particular chlorine 
atom as a mate. Even then the sodium chloride 
molecule present in solution appears to spend the 
greater part of its time in dissociation, namely, in the 
act of changing its partner. There is thus in the 
theory of crystal structure something which bears a 
superficial relationship to electrolytic dissociation, and 
the further study of this aspect of the subject may be 
fruitful. 

Again, the solid crystalline structures which we have 
attempted to build up present, as one essential feature, 
the property that they can be partitioned geometrically 
into unit cells, each composed of one molecule of the 
substance; thus, the rock-salt structure can be parti- 
tioned into cells each representing the molecule NaCl. 
In this instance, the partitioning can be performed 


6 Trans. Chem. Soc., 1909, 95, 1275. 
7 Trans. Chem. Soc., 1910, 97, 1578; Proc. Roy. Soc., A, 1912, 87, 2043 
19 13, 89, 29253 1914, Qo, 111. 


: 
" 

; 

7 
i 
& 
" 


Aucust 27, 1914] 


in a variety of ways corresponding to the allocation of 
one particular sodium atom to either of six chlorine 
atoms; the alternative modes of partitioning lead to 
the production of molecular units of identical con- 
figuration. In many cases, however, alternative 
methods of geometrically partitioning the assemblage 
representing the crystalline structure do not yield units 
of the same configuration; thus, the assemblage re- 
presenting phloroglucinol can be geometrically parti- 
tioned in two distinct ways. Each of these gives a 
unit of the composition C,H,O,, but the configuration 
of the unit of the one partitioning corresponds to the 
chemical structure of the 1: 3: 5-trihydroxybenzene, 


,C(OH) . CH 
Se a Sc(OH) 


Nc(ou): ca” 


whilst the other exhibits the structure of the sym- 
metrical triketohexamethylene, 


CO. CH, 
HCC Sco. 
‘CO. CH,” 


A new suggestion is thus made to the effect that 
tautomerism consists in the possibility of geometrically 
partitioning the close-packed assemblage in two or 
more alternative ways, each giving molecular units of 
the same composition but of different constitutions. 
The idea that in the occurrence of tautomerism some 
component atom wanders from one position to another 
in the molecule is thus rejected; the change in con- 
stitution arises from the transference of atoms as 
between two or more molecules. As the older concep- 
tions of the mechanism of tautomerism do not provide 
a satisfactory explanation of the experimental facts, 
the suggestion now made is perhaps worthy of con- 
sideration. 

The new line of work has many bearings upon the 
subject of chemical change; thus, the assemblage 
which is assigned to acetylene (or methylacetylene) 
is convertible, by symmetrical distortion, into that 
representing benzene (or the 1: 3: 5-trimethylbenzene, 
mesitylene. Further, the great change in chemical 
behaviour which accompanies many types of chemical 
substitution is possibly connected with the manner in 
which the actual atomic volumes are affected by the 
replacement; on converting benzene, in which the 
atomic volumes of carbon and hydrogen are as 4:1, 
into bromobenzene, a considerable’ increase in mole- 
cular volume occurs. The atomic volumes of carbon 
and hydrogen still, presumably, preserve the 4:1 
ratio, and the volume appropriated by the entering 
bromine atom is approximately the same as that 
occupied by each hydrogen atom already present; the 
actual atomic volumes of carbon and hydrogen must 
thus be supposed to have increased during the pro- 
duction of bromobenzene. It can hardly be supposed 
that this fundamental volume change, even apart from 
a distortion of the aromatic ring arising from slight 
inequality of hydrogen and bromine atomic domains 
in the molecule, could occur without the exhibition 
of considerable differences in chemical properties as 
between benzene and bromobenzene. 

Whatever view may be taken as to the accuracy of 
the conclusions concerning the relation between crystal 
structure and chemical constitution which are briefly 
discussed in the present address, no critic will be dis- 
posed to doubt that wide developments in chemical 
science will result from the cultivation of crystal studv: 
it seems clear that any satisfactory theory of the solid 
state must be largely crystallographic in character. 
The chief hindrance to progress at present consists 


Hew2739, VOL. 93] 


NATURE 


685 


in the lack of chemists trained in modern crystallo- 
graphic methods; in my own country the only school 
in which chemical students were trained in crystallo- 
graphy, dissociated from mineralogy, was founded by 
Dr. Henry E. Armstrong and Sir Henry A. Miers in 
1886. After doing a vast amount of valuable educa- 
tional work this school has recently been allowed to 
become extinct. 

In a presidential address to the Mineralogical Society 
in 1888, Mr. Lazarus Fletcher remarked that ‘‘a know- 
ledge of the elements of crystallography, including the 
mechanics of crystal measurements, ought to be made 
a sine qua non for a degree in chemistry at every 
university.’ Twenty-five years later we find that no 
European university has applied this principle, and in 
consequence the chemical crystallographer has the 
greatest difficulty in making himself intelligible to his 
purely chemical colleagues. May I, in concluding, 
express the hope that the colonial universities, less 
fettered by tradition than their older sisters, may lead 
in the work of placing the subject of crystal structure 
in its legitimate position as one of the most important 
branches of modern physical chemistry ? 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 
INTELLIGENCE. 


GLasGow.—The Principal wishes it to be known 
that the University will do what it can to safeguard 
the academic interests of undergraduates on military 
duty. In relation to attendance on courses of instruc- 
tion, to duration of study, to periods of notice re- 
quired, etc., account will be taken of a student’s 
absence on military duty to ensure, if possible, that 
his graduation shall not be unduly delayed. 


Tue authorities of the Royal Agricultural College, 
Cirencester, wish it to be known that every endeavour 
will be made to prevent students who are undertaking 
army or other patriotic work from being thereby 
penalised as regards their courses of study. 


Tue Vice-Chancellor of the University of Liver- 
pool states that. although the Council and Senate 
have not met since the declaration of war, it may 
be assumed (1) that the University courses will 
begin on the appointed day; (2) that in due time 
everything will be done that can be done to safeguard 
the interests of members of the staff and of students 
who have offered themselves for national service 
at home or abroad. It is also announced that at 
Durham University the term will begin as usual in 
October, and that no member of the Durham Colleges 
will suffer any academic disability by reason of absence 
on any form of national service. 


Tue fifty-fifth annual report of the Cooper Union for 
the Advancement of Science and Art has been received 
from New York. The union governs and finances 
many departments of higher education, and in the 
report its director gives full particulars of the work 
done during the year ending June, 1914, and directs 
special attention to the development of the technical 
school. We notice the resignation of Prof. Robert 
Spice, after twenty-five years’ service in Cooper Union 
as professor of chemistry and head of the department 
of chemistry. Since 1900 Prof. Spice has devoted the 
whole of his time to the Cooper Union; beginning with 
some twenty students the attendance has steadily in- 
creased until now the limits of the capacity of his 
department have been reached. 


686 


Tue Vice-Chancellor of the University of Wales has 
written to the Press to say that he is prepared to 
undertake that the University will arrange that, in 
the case of students who entered the University in 
Ig11, the coming session shall not be reckoned as the 
last of the four years beyond which honours in the 
B.A. or B.Sc. degree cannot. be obtained, so that 
they may complete honours schemes in the session 
1915-16 under the same conditions under which they 
would have completed them in the coming’ session. 
He says it will be understood that, as pursuance of 
qualifying courses is essential for initial degrees, a 
year of absence cannot be reckoned as a year of the 
qualifying period; but, subject to this proviso, he has 
no doubt that the University will be anxious to con- 
sider cases of disability arising, other than the one 
above provided for, with the view of making special 
arrangements for their relief. 


THE former circular on geometry, issued five years 
ago by the Board of Education, has exercised a 
marked and unquestionably beneficial influence on 
elementary education. We do not know of any 
geometrical text-book, published since that date, which 
has not taken account of it, and we have frequently 
directed attention to it in these columns. That circular 
is now out of print, and the Board has, therefore, 
drawn up the present memorandum (Memor- 
andum on the Teaching of Geometry’ in 
Secondary Schools) which covers the same 
ground, slightly more elaborately. Now that it 
is generally recognised that Euclid’s postulates are 
far from being exhaustive, and that any philosophic- 
ally complete set involves abstract considerations, 
wholly unsuitable for immature minds, there seems 
to be a growing consensus of opinion in favour of widen- 
ing the basis of deduction, and including in it such 
spatial ideas as the ordinary boy (when he appreciates 
the significance of the statements made) regards as 
obvious. A proof which is not the cause of intellectual 
conviction, if only because belief exists independently, 
stands ipso facto condemned. The basis which has 
been suggested includes the fundamental properties of 
angles at a point, parallelism, and congruence. This 
provides a perfectly intelligible system of postulates 
and requires nothing which will present any difficulty 
to a boy who is capable of geometrical work of any 
kind, if the facts are presented to him in a satisfac- 
tory manner; and it enables him to proceed to apply 
deductive methods to the establishing of properties of 
which he realises the need of proof, thus arousing in 
him that interest which springs from a recognition of 
the utility of his work. 7 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 


The Vaccination Question in the Light of Modern 


Experience. By Dr. C. K. Millard. Pp. *xvit244+ 
1o plates. (London: H. K. Lewis.) 6s. net. 


Suggestions for a Course in Climatology in Cor- 
relation with Geography. By W. E. Whitehouse. 
Pp. 31. (Aberystwyth: University College.) 1s. 

Report on Scottish Ornithology in 1913, including 
Migration. py BH.’ WV. Baxter and L.. J. Rintoul. 
Pp. 96. (Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd.) 1s. 6d. net. 

General Report on the Operations of the Survey of 
India during the Survey Year 1912-13. Pp. x+43+ 
maps. (Calcutta: Survey of India.) 35. ; 

Memoirs of the Geological Survey of India. Vol. 
bi _Part 2: On the Geology and Coal Resources 
of Korea State, Central Provinces. Bv Dr. L. L. 


NO.92330. VOL. 931 $18 


NATURE 


[AUGUST 27, 1914 


Fermor. Pp. iv+148-245.. Vol. xlii. Part r: 
Burma Earthquakes of May, 1912. By J. C. Brawn. 
Pp. vit147. (Calcutta: Geological Survey of India; 
London: Kegan Paul and Co., Ltd.) 4s. each. 


Annals of the South African Museum. Vol. x.: 
Descriptions of New Species of Lepidoptera Heterocera 
in the South African Museum. By W. Warren. 
Pp. 467-510+2 plates. (London: West, Newman and 
Co.) Sos: 


Ninth Annual Report of the Meteorological Com- 


mittee, for the year ended March 31, 1914. Pp. 60. 
(London: Wyman and Sons, Ltd.) 4d. 
CONTENTS. PAGE 
The Newer Education. By E. P. C. 659 
The ‘‘Conway” Manual. (J/7th Diagram.) ... . 660 
The Fossil Invertebratessea 7.2 eee 661 
Mathematical Text=Bo00kS = s-s-ineeeen 662 
Our Bookshelf . .. 330%s eee oe 663 
Letters to the Editor :— 
The First Description of a Kangaroo.—W. B. 
Alexander: ©: a). iow Pera. ka, alee el ae 664 
The ‘‘ Green Ray” at Sunset—Dr, R. C. T. Evans 664 
Treatment ‘of the. Wounded i). 1° oi). oe eee 665 
Natural History, Informal and Formal. (///ustrated.) 665 
The Total Solar Eclipse of August 21. ...... 667 
Alfred John Jukes-Browne, F.R.S. By J. W.J.. . 667 
Notes) 2 5. 2°83 Sis eee ee 668 
Our Astronomical Column :— 
Comet 1913f(Delavan). (Wzth Chart) ...... 671 
The Marge Canadian) Redector. = = eee 671 
Rapid Convection in Stellar Atmospheres .... . 671 
A Novel Combination of Instruments ....... 671 
Fluctuations in the Yield of Sea Fisheries. By 
J Bige jausNs a wi Ee > ot Ga 672 
Studies of Tropical Diseases. By J. W. W.S.. . 673 
Solidification of Metals... «3-50-00 eee 674 
The Australian Meeting of the British Association-— 
Inaugural Address by Prof. William Bateson, 
M.A., F.R.S., President.—Part II.—Sydney . . 674 
Section B.—Chemistry.—Opening Address by Prof. 
William J. Pope, M.A., LL.D., F.R.S., Presi- 
dent of the Section. (@dz:/ud¢d)))s--ee 681 
University and Educational Intelligence. ..... 685, 
Books) Received .\/. (saga) Wye gs oa ee 686 


Editorial and Publishing Offices: 
MACMILLAN & CO., Ltp., 
ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C. 


Advertisements and business letters to be addressed to the 
Publishers. 


Editorial Communications to the Editor. 


Telegraphic Address: Puusis, LONDON. 
Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830. 


The — 


~ > 7 


> 4 


* ‘| 2 
iv, ote 
an yy 
oy) at 1 . 
af aes 
bso «) 


7 = 
’ i 
or = 
> 
| A ‘ 
is _ 


‘= 
_ ~ - 
: " 
=e 1 
(Se ee 
224 
Lean 
xa i 
mS 
i” & 
at i 
ne 
» 
is 
Ff : 
*y 
P wy 
ke 
bat 
‘ 
i 
aL 
’ ; , 
¥ yy 
i 
- Ne = 
i wll 
Car 
ae 4 
: ae 
thes! 
‘ay 
ey 
nd = 
eee, | 
a ¢ 
‘e 
ee 
4 
’ y 
4 £ 


wie 


Md . ea eatin tO hin bre: 5 ye, poems aires 0 AP ete - 
“ Adis Pay Pgacripeepacnarinechane eo eae OOOO NE tach ibet whtotintemn indienne cy Peo. 
- ° laren UGAametyneneemnaraaan tee = - m 
: ; np ernh Ore Spy pee mae aes O a onan 
AO" DAML ARMM Lene ment as arm ee 
t ~ ron eA MORO RENI ND hes, Op eho errethad shee theft ed Phiten viel ter remeron reve Him > 
a ag - = 


liiasntintliteak ai ts 
pens? At te er to ey 


earned gouadaeds pepreririncheti- teas ood cheek hate aeenee 
wete 


MAIN 


WN 


9088 013596895 


Pity ae a 
PERM CLOSER a Caan