490 



NATURE 



[Februak>' ^ 



") I 2 



expected that the representatives upon these boclics shoii!<l 

 be familiar with the zone system of standard time reckon- 

 ing now recognised throughout almost the whole civiliwd 

 world, for if they were they would understand the prac- 

 tical and international importance of the invariability of 

 the Greenwich meridian upon which the system is based. 

 Surely in a matter of this kind expert knowledge is a 

 safer guide to follow than argument derived from the 

 counting of heads. What is wanted is the opinion of 

 • istronomers, navigators, and others, who know the mean- 

 i;tndards of time and longitude, rather than of city 

 Kills .-ind district councils, which would just as 

 li'iliilU |i.i-- ;i i'--olution in favour of a periodical 

 ili:m;;> <ii |>,.siii,)ii (if the cquator as they do that for 

 pla( ini4 ( ii n iiwic li in the longitude of Berlin during certain 

 inoiitlis of the ytar. 



Mk. C. G. Abbot, director of the Smithsonian Astro- 

 physical Observatory, has just returned to Washington 

 from Bassour, Algeria, where he has been making astro- 

 physical observations in regard to the solar constant of 

 radiation. The observing station in Bassour was estab- 

 lished in July, iqii, when Mr. Abbot and his field 

 assistant. Prof. F. P. Brackett, of Pomona College, 

 arrived in Algeria, and observations were continued until 

 the end of November. From previous work at Washing- 

 ton, Mount Wilson, and Mount W'hitney, it had been 

 (i'terminrd that the sun was probably a variable star, and 

 ili.ii app.iiriuly its radiations frequently fluctuated from 

 J In 5 per (lilt, (lurint; irregular periods of from five to 

 I'll (l.i\v' (liiraiiim. AliiiDiif^h strongly indicated 1)\ the 

 work on Mount Wilson, liie result was so imporiani ihr.t 

 it seemed necessary to test it further by nv .uis of 

 simultaneous independent observations held at Mount 

 Wilson and some other high altitude station remote from 

 there, where an equally cloudless atmosphere existed. Mr. 

 Abbot made complete determinations of the solar constant 

 of radiation for forty-four days in Bassour, while his 

 assistant, Mr. L. B. Aldrich, made similar measurements 

 at Mount Wilson, Cal. The two observing stations were 

 separated by a distance nearly equal to that of one-third 

 the circumference of the earth, thus making the locations 

 ideal in that respect. Unfortunately, some cloudy weather 

 was encountered at each of the stations, but the records 

 of about thirty days will be available for comparison. 



The Evening News of February i made some interest- 

 ing remarks on Candlemas, February 2, one of the great 

 festivals of the May or agricultural year which precedes 

 the present solstitial year. The church candle festival 

 followed the lif^litin^; of bonfires or blazes in the stone 

 circles, and was dedicated to St. Blazius. The proverbs 

 show that the day has always been considered a critical 

 one from the meteorological point of view — indeed, " The 

 proverbs which cluster round this day are more numerous 

 than those about St. S within 's, St. Martin's, and St. 

 Michael's Days combined. .\nd they all refer to the 

 weather." 



"If Candlemas Day is come and gone, 



The snow lies on a hot stone (i.e. soon melts)." 



"If Candlemas Day be fine and clear. 

 There'll be two winters in the year." 



" .A windy Christmas, a calm Candlemas, 

 Are sure signs of a good crop of grass." 



" If Candlemas Day bring clouds and rain, 

 Winter is gone and won't come again." 



" If the lark sings before Candlemas (it did in 1912) 

 She'll soon crv out and mourn alas ! " 



'ihev proverbs are followed by a letter fro;u a ton 

 spondfnt, who writes ati follows : — " You may sum 

 this British proverbial wisdom thus : If February 

 (Candlemas Day) is cold, we shall have a coW, la 

 spring and a fine summer. If wet and warm, the chan< 

 are we shall get a dismal summer after a fine, op' 

 spring. Some of the scores of available proverbs c<r 

 tradict each other on minor points. They all agree th. 

 February 2 (Candlemas Day) is a critical point in the 

 year. It sets the baronntrr .and thermometer for us. For 

 years I have verified ms advice is, \vat<h the 



weather on February . 



TiiK December (1911) nm //«> Journal of Hygiene 



(vol. xi.. No. 4) contains a paper by Drs. Stokvis and 

 .Swellengrebel on the purification of water by an infusorian 

 (Colpoda cucullus). Numbers of Colpods were added to 

 emulsions of bacteria in water, and as a result th^ water 

 was clarified, and the bacteria were removed. The purifi- 

 cation was effected only in the presence of living Colpods. 



We have received the first number of The Journal of 

 Vaccine Therapy, which is edited by Dr. R. \V. .\llen and 

 published by Mr. H. K. Lewis. It contains papers on the 

 vaccine treatment of rheumatic fever and chorea by Dr. 

 Buchanan, of typhoid fever by Dr. Sadler, and of acne by 

 Dr. Allen. Important as vaccine treatment is, we scarcely 

 think that the subject requires a special journal. 



The Malaya Medical Journal for last October (vol. ix., 

 part iv.) is devoted to the subject of beri-beri. Recent 

 research, in particular by Braddon, I"ra>er, and Stanton, 

 strongly suggests that the use of "polished" rice, which 

 seems to be deficient in certain nutritive qualities, is the 

 cause of this disease. The editor, however, points out that 

 there are certain outbreaks which do not seem to be ex- 

 plicable on this hypothesis, and publishes a translation of a 

 paper by Kohlbrugge in which it is suggested that certain ; 

 acid-forming bacteria present on rice may be the actual 

 cause of beri-beri. 



At the present time, when public interest is directed to 

 the political situation of China, we may direct attention 

 to two valuable papers contributed by Mr. E. W. Capen ' 

 to the fifth volume of the Publications of the American 

 Sociological Society. In the first this writer, who 

 familiar with the conditions of inner China, gives 

 graphic account of his observations. He describes, in 

 order, the struggle for existence, the physical constitutior. 

 of the people, their mental characteristics, the organi>: 

 tion of family life, the evils resulting from neglect 1 

 forest conservation, and the lack of patriotism among tl: 

 rural population. It is, on the whole, a melancho' 

 picture of social decay as the result of misgovernmer 

 The most interesting portion is that in which he discuss' 

 the physical characters of the people and their power ■ 

 resistance to disease and injuries as compared wit 

 Europeans. In the second paper he reviews with am}> 

 knowledge the effects of Western influences upon tl: 

 people of the Orient. 



."Vfter an exhaustive study of the limb-arteries of tl 

 Primates, the details of which are recorded in the Janua: 

 number of The Journal of Anatomy and Physiology, Mi 

 T. Manners-Smith arrives at the conclusion that the- 

 arteries — as, indeed, had been previously suggested — a; 

 arranged on a definite system. They are, in fact, form- .. 

 on a segmental plan, and to some extent appear to have 

 constituted portions of the tubules of an arterial plexus 

 with longitudinally arranged meshes. " We must also 

 regard the normal arrangement, which is proper to a par- 



NO. 2206, VOL. 88] 



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