November 9, 191 1] 



NATURE 



the superposed spectra of the anhydrous substance and 

 water. The water in crystals of the first class he proposes 

 to call " water of constitution," and in the second " water 

 of crystallisation." The latter term would thus include 

 water which has in the past been known as " water of 

 crystallisation," " dissolved water," and " water of solid 

 solution." 



The diurnal variation of magnetic declination at Kiel 

 is discussed by L. Weber and H. Borchardt in a paper in 

 Heft I, Bd. XV., of the Naturwissenschaftlichen Verein for 

 Schleswig-Holstein. . The data, derived from a magneto- 

 graph of special construction, extended — with two or three 

 short interruptions — from January, 1902, to September, 

 1910. The range of the regular diurnal variation in 

 individual months varied from 2-8' in December, 1905, to 

 12-8' in July, 1906 ; while the range of the mean diurnal 

 inequality for the year varied from 6-63' in 1909 to 8-46' 

 in 1905. At the end are curves showing the diurnal varia- 

 tion for the twelve months of the three years 1907 to 1909 

 treated individually, and for the twelve months of the seven 

 years 1903 to 1909 combined, as well as the mean diurnal 

 variation for the year from the last-mentioned period. 



The recent study of white plumage and hair coloration 

 has led to the interesting conclusion that there are two 

 varieties of white, one of which is dominant and the other 

 recessive. These are indistinguishable to the eye, but 

 exact opposites from the breeder's point of view. Dr. 

 R. A. Gortner, working in the biochemical laboratory of 

 the Carnegie Institution, has shown recently (Journal of 

 I Biological Chemistry, September) that dominant whites do 

 I not contain a melanin which is lacking in the recessive 

 '. whites ; he attributes dominant whites to the presence of 

 a factor which inhibits pigment formation. His experi- 

 ments prove that the oxidation of tyrosine by tyrosinase 

 is prevented by the presence of aromatic phenols, which 

 [ contain two hydroxy] groups in the meta position to each 

 t other, such as resorcinol, orcinol, or phloroglucinol. 

 t These phenols do not inhibit other oxydases than tyrosine. 

 j It is supposed that in dominant whites such an inhibiting 

 ' factor is present, whereas the recessive whites lack enzyme 



or chromogen or both, and also lack the inhibiting factor. 



J 



' Engineering for November 3 comments on the report of 



the commission appointed to inquire into the cause of the 



Liherti explosion, which has now been made public. 



' Briefly, the report states : — (i) That it was not due to an 



' act of malevolence. {2) That it was not due to a fire 



: having occurred in any of the spaces adjoining the 



magazines. (3) That it was due to the inflammation of a 



;^ cartridge of service powder in one or other of the forward 



I starboard magazines containing only powder from one lot— 



' namely, lot BM^, AM, 2-06 P.B.— j.e. the second lot of 



( powder manufactured in 1906 at the Government powder 



, factory of Pont-de-Buis. The commission hesitates to 



attribute the cause to " spontaneous combustion " of the 



', powder. Among other recommendations, the report states 



that the recent order lowering to four years the limit of 



j age allowed for powders stored on board will be, without 



j doubt, for a long time yet one of the most efficacious 



'guarantees of safety against the instability of "B" 



I powders ; in foreign navies the limit of age is even lower. 



■j Our contemporary points out that British cordite is 

 I J tested as soon as possible after it becomes eight years 

 I 'old, and though inspection is made twice yearly of all 

 (cordite, it is clear that it is expected to last at least eight 

 |, years. Germany and Italy both use nitro-glycerine powders 



•i NO. 2193, VOL. 88] 



for their navies, which, so far as is known, have been 

 immune from trouble as regards powder. Possibly the 

 United States regulations are referred to, since the U.S. 

 Navy use a nitro-cellulose powder — i.e. the same type as 

 the French Navy. Engineering holds that the report con- 

 firms its already published views that, for naval purposes, 

 the nitro-cellulose type of propellent powder is vastly 

 inferior, both chemically and ballistically, as compared 

 with the nitro-glycerine type. Indications are not want- 

 ing that the U.S. Navy may have to deplore a similar 

 disaster, as it has lately adopted the course of " rework- 

 ing " its " old " powders, some of them only a couple 

 or so years old, with so-called stabilisers. These may 

 have their uses when added to newly made powders ; 

 but to add them to powders which have already shown 

 themselves to be unstable, from the fact that they are 

 sentenced to be reworked, is a dangerous expedient which 

 no economic consideration can excuse. 



Mr. W. Martindale, New Cavendish Street, London, 

 W., has issued a new complete price-list of apparatus, 

 chemicals, and appliances generally suitable for scientific 

 chemists and medical practitioners. The catalogue runs to 

 182 large pages, is well illustrated, and arranged in a form 

 handy for reference. 



Many valuable works— old and new — are included in a 

 catalogue of second-hand books on meteorology and terres- 

 trial magnetism just issued by Messrs. H. Sotheran and 

 Co., 43 Piccadilly, W. Brief notes are given describing 

 the characters of most of the books. The catalogue 

 includes also a collection of works on airmanship, and a 

 supplement of cognate periodicals and publications of 

 learned societies. 



An illustrated supplement, 1911, to the catalogue of 

 scientific apparatus issued in 1910 by Messrs. Heynes 

 Mathew, Ltd., of Cape Town, serves to show, incidentally, 

 the satisfactory way in which the teaching of science is 

 being developed in South Africa. The science teachers in 

 South African schools are now able to obtain locally the 

 equipment and material necessary for their work. The 

 present list shows that this firm is in a position to under- 

 take the complete furnishing and equipment of laboratories. 



The Revista Tecnica del Ministerio de Obras Publicas 

 of Venezuela for September contains a note on the calcu- 

 lation of geographical coordinates and azimuths for a 

 geodetic triangulation on which a physical and political 

 map of the country may be based. The values for 

 Clarke's ellipsoid of 1866 are used, and the Coast and 

 Geodetic Survey of the United States is followed for the 

 logarithms of the different constants involved in the com- 

 putations. 



Among notices of forthcoming scientific books which we 

 have received during the week may be mentioned the 

 following : — Messrs. Methuen have in the press a book by 

 Mr, R. Lydekker, F.R.S., entitled " The Ox and its 

 Kindred." Commencing with a discussion as to the proper 

 English name of the domesticated animal, the author gives 

 a sketch of the structure and zoological position of oxen, 

 followed by a history of the extermination of the wild 

 ox, or aurochs. Accounts are also given of park-cattle 

 and the chief domesticated breeds of cattle — British and 

 foreign ; the book concludes with brief surveys of the wild 

 and extinct members of the group. — Messrs. Kegan Paul, 

 Trench, Triibner and Co., Ltd., are publishing under the 

 title of " North Sea Fishers and Fighters " a work, by 

 Mr. Walter Wood, on the development of the deep-sea 



