March lo, 1898] 



NATURE 



441 



In connection with recent measurements of the temjjerature 

 of the air at high altitudes, Signor Luigi de Marchi, writing in 

 the Rendiconto del R. Istituto Lombardo, discusses the validity 

 of Mendeleef s and Herschel's laws connecting temperature 

 with altitude, and draws conclusions which may be briefly 

 summed up thus :— (a) Recent measurements of temperature of 

 the higher strata of the atmosphere can be represented by a 

 formula of the type of Mendeleef's, viz. / + C = (T + C)//P, 

 where, however, C increases with the altitude ; (3) for alti- 

 tudes below about 4500 metres the formula agrees with observ- 

 ation when C is taken as a linear function of the altitude, but for 

 greater altitudes, up to 13,000 metres, the supposition that C is 

 a linear function of the pressure gives the best results, the 

 formula then reducing, like Herschel's, to an equation of the 

 second degree in / ; (c) for altitudes of a few thousand metres 

 Mendeleef s formula gives sufficiently approximate results when 

 C is taken to be constant ; {d) the validity of the proposed 

 formula, if substantiated by further observations, would confirm 

 the hypothesis that the temperature of a stratum at any given 

 altitude is determined principally by the equilibrium between 

 the thermal radiations which it receives from the ground, 

 and which it emits into the sky, when the assumed law of 

 radiation is that of Newton or of Stefan. The latter law in 

 the strata hitherto reached would lead to a formula less recon- 

 cilable with the data of observation than the former. 



One of the difficulties which water-engineers have to face is 

 the unpleasant odour which sometimes characterises surface 

 waters stored in open reservoirs. Such odours are frequently 

 supposed to be due to the decomposition of organic matter in 

 the water, but, although such may be the case, in many 

 instances they have been found to be attributable to the growth 

 of microscopical organisms, and quite a long list has now been 

 furnished of vegetable growths which impart disagreeable tastes 

 and smells to water. Messrs. Jackson and Ellms have just 

 published a memoir describing their investigations upon one of 

 the Cyanophycece or blue-green Algae which, when growing in 

 water, impregnates the latter with a most unpleasant mouldy 

 grassy smell. Pure cultures of Anabmna circinalis, an im- 

 portant offender in this particular, were obtained and numerous 

 experiments were carried out. As in the case of other micro- 

 scopical water-organisms, the odour emitted during growth 

 was found to be due to the presence of certain compounds of the 

 nature of essential oils which make their appearance at a 

 particular stage of growth. The investigation was also extended 

 to an examination of these Anabaena during decay, a most 

 offensive odour being given off during decomposition. This 

 the writers think is probably due to the high percentages of 

 nitrogen which these growths contain. The gas given off 

 during decomposition was analysed and was found to contain 

 a large percentage of hydrogen, and a considerable propor- 

 tion of sulphur compounds. Analyses of the decayed gelatinous 

 material resulting from the decomposition of Anabaena revealed 

 the presence of a large amount of sulphur and a considerable 

 amount of phosphorus. The subject is of such importance in 

 connection with the storage of surface waters, that the closer 

 study of the chemical composition of these organisms and of 

 the organic and mineral contents of the waters which the 

 various genera infest, is well worthy of attention ; for by ex- 

 tending our knowledge in this manner, we should be better able 

 to judge beforehand of the likelihood of particular waters 

 becoming subject to these unpleasant changes on storage. The 

 above memoir is to be found in vol. x. of the Technology 

 Quarterly, Massachusetts. 



The receipt by the University of Pennsylvania of a collection 

 of mammalian fossils from the tundra at the back of Point 

 Barrow, Alaska, has induced Mr. S. N. Rhoads to put together 



NO. 1480, VOL. 57] 



the available information on the living . and extinct species of 

 North American Boves. Mr. Rhoads refers one of the 

 Alaskan Bison-heads to an unnamed species which he proposes 

 to call Bison alaskensis {Proc. Ac. N.S. Phil., 1897, p. 490). 

 He has likewise taken this opportunity to examine the question 

 of the so-called " Woodland Bison" of the Peace-River district 

 of Athabasca. It appears that an adult male specimen of this 

 little-known animal has recently been obtained by the Geological 

 Museum of Ottawa. Mr. Rhoads describes this example from 

 information sent to him by Prof. J. Macoun, and refers it to a 

 new sub-species. Bison bison athabasc<e, separating it from the 

 typical form on jaccount of its ' ' great size, darkness of colour,, 

 and the characters of the horns and horn-cores." 



An interesting article on the wild cattle of Chartley, Stafford- 

 shire, is contributed to Nature Notes by Mr. J. R. B. Masefield. 

 This herd of wild white cattle is of great antiquity ; but whether 

 the present animals are directly descended from some one of the 

 ancient native species, such as Bos ptimigenitts. Bos longifrons, 

 &c., or whether they are descendants of domestic cattle intro-^ 

 duced by the Romans and run wild, is still an undecided ques- 

 tion. The home of these cattle is situated on high ground some 

 300 feet above sea-level, and was enclosed about the year 1200, 

 and forms a portion of Chartley Park, some five miles from 

 Uttoxeter, the nearest town. The extent of this wild tract of 

 table-land is about 1000 acres, covered with coarse grass, rushes, 

 stunted bilberries, and heather, and patches of luxuriant bracken 

 fern, with a few clumps of old weather-beaten Scotch firs and 

 birch, which afford some shade from the hot summer sun. 

 Among the other denizens of this wild primeval tract are herds 

 of red and^fallow deer and multitudes of rabbits, (with no doubt 

 a few of their natural enemies, the stoat and voles — both the 

 common vole and red bank vole), moles, long-tailed field mice, 

 shrews, weasels, and adders. The theory that the Chartley 

 breed of wild cattle is indigenous appears to be sup- 

 ported by their general habits at the present day. When 

 alarmed they start off at full gallop for a short distance, then 

 turn and face their foe in a semicircle, with the bulls in front,, 

 the cows behind, and the younger animals and calves still 

 further in the rear. If closer approached, these tactics, which 

 are clearly those of wild animals, are repeated, or the adversary 

 is charged and attacked. Again, they conceal their young in 

 fern or long rushes, and the cows, when calves are born, be- 

 come exceedingly fierce and dangerous, especially if an intruder 

 should get between a cow and her calf. Mr. Masefield points 

 out that a fine herd of white cattle, very strongly resembling the 

 Chartley breed, are to be found at Lamphey Court, near Tenby, 

 in South Wales ; they are said to belong to an old Welsh breed, 

 but in colour and general appearance it is difficult to distinguish 

 them from the Chartley animals. 



M. P. VuiLLOT has completed a map of the lake districts of 

 Timbuktu on the scale of 1/100,000, which contains a number 

 of topographical discoveries in this little-known region. In 

 presenting the map to the Paris Geographical Society, M. Vuillot 

 adds an interesting note on the hydrography of the area, and on 

 its productiveness, which has been published in the Society's 

 Comptes rendus. 



Prof. Theobald Flscher contributes a short paper to 

 Peterinanjis Mittheilungen on the "moraine-amphitheatre" of 

 the Lake of Garda. The form of the moraine deposits on the 

 inner or Italian side of the Alps differs markedly in type from 

 that on the outer or German side. In the former type, of which 

 the Lake of Garda affords an excellent example, the deposits are 

 laid down in concentric ramparts which turn their convex side 

 to the plains ; while in the latter we find the familiar expanded 

 fan shape at the mouths of the valleys. Dr. Fischer avails him- 

 self of the very excellent maps and models furnished by the 

 Italian Service. 



