SOILS FERTILIZERS. 9 1 5 



The Miiller self-registering anemometer {Ann. Dir. Tlydraul. ct Amelior. 

 Aiir., Mill. A(ir. \Fr{ni<<\. I'.ifXi. So. .it. iip. .iO.'>. .W6). — Tho construction of this 

 iustruiiuMit is brioHy described. 



On the occurrence of niti'o-bacteria in the sea, P. Tiiomsen (licr. Dent. 

 Hot. (IcscIL. .>.-) {1901), So. t. pp. 16-22). — Such organisms were found in tiie 

 ooze from tlio TJay of Naples, (lie harbor of Kiel, and the roadstead of Ilelj^o- 

 land, as well as in the surface waters. 



On nitrogen-fixing bacteria from the Bay of Naples, W. Benkcke {Brr. 

 Dent. Hot. (IcfirU.. .11 (Hxn). A'o. /. pp. 1-7). — The occurrences of Azotobacter 

 veKctatioii was established cnnlrary to the contention of Xathansohn. 



Underground water supplies from a sanitary point of view. P.. Latham 

 {Hiirrcj/or. ,11 {1901). So. 192, pp. 3S2-384). — This paper discusses the origin 

 and quantity of undersround waters, the sources of iniimrity, the effects of 

 punipinj;. and the I'clation between lyjihoid fever and Ihe water line, especially 

 as affectinj; the water supjil.v of London and other Knj,dish cities. 



[Municipal engineering in 1906 in relation to water supply and sewer- 

 age and sewage disposal] {Si(rrci/or. 31 (1901). \o. 7',s/,, pp. 80-88, 85-91). — 

 These subjects are discussed in a general review of progress in municipal 

 eufjineeriu}^ during the year, p.irlicnl.irly in (Jrcat P.ritain, but also in other 

 countries. 



SOILS— FERTILIZERS. 



Report on statements of Dr. Cyril G. Hopkins relative to Bureau of Soils, 

 W. M. Hays and M. Whitney {( . S. Dcpt. Afjr., Office Hec. Circ. 22, pp. 12). — 

 This circular contains replies by the Assistant Secretary of Agriculture and 

 the Chief <)f the Bureau of Soils of this Department to statements made by 

 Prof. C. (i. Hopkins, of the University of Illinois, in an open letter of March 

 20, 190G, and in an address as president of the Association of Official Agricul- 

 tural Chemists, published as Circular 105 of the Illinois Experiment Station 

 (E. S. P., 18, p. GOT). 



Transformation of volcanic rocks into aluminium phosphate under the 

 influence of substances of physiological origin, A. Lackoix {Vompt. Rend. 

 Acad. Sri. [I'ari.s], 1J,3 {1906), pp. 661-66J/; ahfi. in Jour. Hoc. Clieni. Indus., 25 

 (1906), No. 23, p. llJi5). — This article describes the large deposits of aluminium 

 j)hos])hale found on the Island of St. Thomas and on other islands in the Gulf 

 of (iuinea, which, it is asserted, are the result of the reaction of the excrement 

 of sea fowl on the trachytes and other volcanic rocks of the island. Apparently 

 such decomposition of siliceous rocks has not been before observed. The alkalis 

 of the rocks have not been i-etained as phosphate, probably having been washed 

 out by the copious rains to which the islands are subject. 



A contribution to the study of the alkaline rocks of East Africa, H. 

 Aksandaux {Compt. Rend. Sci. Mission Duchesne-Fournet [Paris], 1906, pp. 96, 

 pis. 9: ahs. in Anier. Jour. .S'/.. .'/. ser.. 23 {1907), So. 135, pp. 230, 231). — The 

 author reports petrographical and chemical examinations of extrtisive igneous 

 rocks which cover large areas in French Somaliland in the southern part of the 

 Afar region of East Africa. It is shown that " these rocks are of acid alkalic 

 character and of three prominent types, rhyolites with ;egirite and riebeckite 

 or coniendites, ])antellarites with a»girite-augite and cossyrite and trachytes." 

 The i-esults are of interest as indicating the wide distribution in volcanic 

 regions of highly alkalic rocks in which soda predominates. 



On the formation of hardpan, T. Marr {Meded. Proefstat. Oost-Jara, .'/. ser., 

 1907, So. 30, pp. 14-5-167). — The formation and character of a peculiar hard 

 layer known as " padas,"' which widely occurs in Java soils, are discussed. 



