March 17, 1898J 



NATURE 



47 » 



in some districts. The floods occurring during the last twenty-six 

 years, during which time trustworthy gauge readings are avail- 

 able, have been specially investigated ; this period embraces six 

 notable flood -years. The downfall of water in each of these has 

 been computed, and the results are given in tabular form ; the 

 most destructive floods occurred in 1882, 1890 and 1897. In 

 the latter year the river rose higher than was ever known below 

 Cairo, but the duration of high water was exceeded in 1882 and 

 1884. One of the duties of the Weather Bureau is to issue 

 warnings of impending floods, and it is satisfactory to note that 

 ample notice is usually given. Indeed, so completely was the 

 public warned on this last occasion that the Bureau was criticised 

 for needlessly alarming the people in the threatened district.s, 

 but subsequent events fully justified its action. 



Following a recent example, the Royal Geographical Society 

 has issued the first number of a "Year-Book and Record," 

 designed to afford information respecting the constitution and 

 working of the Society, and its annual progress. It seems 

 somewhat strange that so useful a publication should not long 

 ago have come into vogue ; but we gladly welcome the new- 

 comer as tending very considerably to enhance an interest in 

 geography. Following the charter and bye-laws, an interesting 

 account is given of the library and its contents, as well as of 

 the map-room. Her Majesty's Government give 500/. per 

 annum to the latter on condition that the public have access to 

 the maps and charts. The illustrations are a pleasing feature, 

 and give point and variety to the subject-matter. They com- 

 prise a view of the Society's house in Burlington Gardens, and 

 selected parts of the interior, together with sundry plans ; while 

 very satisfactory reproductions are given of the two Royal 

 medals and of the special medals which have been awarded 

 from time to time for eminent services to geography. Some 

 indication of size might well have been given here ; if we mis- 

 take not, the gold Stanley medal was of quite heroic propor- 

 tions — far larger than the illustration would make it appear. 

 The list of recipients, beginning with Richard Lander, who 

 received a Royal medal in 1832 for his discovery of the course 

 of the River Niger, and the accompanying statement of the 

 grounds of each award, is of distinct interest in this publication, 

 connecting as it does the geographical progress of the past with 

 the present. A long catalogue of pictures and busts is given. 

 In another issue it would be useful, for reference, to supply 

 painters' and sculptors' names. 



HerrF. E. Suess communicates to the Verhandlungen of the 

 Austrian Geological Department some details of the earthquake 

 at Graslitz between October 25 and November 7 of last year. It 

 appears that the disturbance belonged to the group called 

 "Vogtland-Erzgebirge" by Credner, and it is remarkable that 

 at the end of the Graslitz earthquake the centre of disturbance 

 seems to have moved to another locality as yet undetermined. 



We have received a paper by Prof. Dr. Eduard Richter, of 

 Graz, containing an account of soundings and temperature 

 observations made by the author in the lakes of Carinthia, 

 Carniola, and Southern Tirol. The data discussed form the 

 basis of the second part of the Atlas of the Austrian Lakes, 

 produced under the joint editorship of the author and Prof. 

 Penck, and published in the Vienna Geographische Abhand- 

 lungen. 



The National Geographic Magazine for January contains an 

 article by Mr. Robert Stein, of the U.S. Geological Survey, on 

 " Three Weeks in Hubbard Bay, West Greenland " : the 

 author, anxious to gain experience in Arctic work, was landed 

 by Peary in his last expedition. Another paper, by Mr. W. J. 

 McGee, deals with the "Modern Mississippi Problem," defined 

 NO. 1481. VOL. 57] 



as being "not that of navigation, not even that of normal 

 regimen as a great river, but that of the floods to which the 

 stream is subject." 



" The Mechanics of Soil Moisture " forms the subject of a 

 paper by Mr. Lyman J. Briggs, published by the United States 

 Department of Agriculture. In it the author explains in simple 

 terms such of the physical properties of liquids, including surface 

 tension and viscosity, as are necessary to explain the retention 

 and motion of water in the soil. To scientific students of agri- 

 culture, such an insight into the. elementary laws of capillary 

 phenomena will be useful in enabling them to explain the why 

 and wherefore of the differences between heavy and light soils. 



In a brochure of six pages, on " ^ther, its Nature and Place 

 in the Universe," by Dr. Hugh Woods, published by the Medical 

 Magazine Publishing Company, the author, after propounding 

 his views on the existence of the ether and the why and where- 

 fore of certain laws of nature, concludes by remarking : " The 

 theory opens up far too wide a field for one man to traverse, 

 however cursorily, especially when he can devote only a few 

 leisure minutes to the difficult and laborious task." With this 

 opinion we are certain that all who have read the paper will 

 unanimously concur.- 



The " Electrical Trades' Directory and Handbook," noticed 

 in last week's Nature, contains 1174 + clix pages in all, in- 

 cluding the pages of advertisements. The extensive character 

 of the electrical and allied industries may be gauged by the great 

 size of the new volume of this Directory. 



An English edition of the two volumes of "Audubon and his 

 Journals," the American edition of which was reviewed in 

 Nature of February 24 (pp. 386-7), has just been published 

 by Mr. John C. Nimmo. Every field club and naturalists' 

 society should add the volumes to their libraries, for they are 

 full of interesting notes on outdoor natural history, and on the 

 character and methods of a naturalist whose name is familiar to 

 all observers of nature. 



A second edition of Prof. Heinrich Weber's systematic 

 treatise on algebra, the " Lehrbuch der Algebra " (Brunswick : 

 Vieweg und Sohn) is in course of publication, and the first volume 

 of the new edition has just appeared. The scope and value of 

 this masterly work has already been indicated in Nature (vol. 

 Iv. pp. 25 and 481, November 12, and March 25, 1896). In the 

 new edition the plan and method of the original work has been 

 retained. About fifty pages of new matter have been added ; 

 corrections have been made where necessary, and paragraphs 

 which appeared slightly obscure have been elucidated, while 

 the section on the theory of elimination has been considerably 

 enlarged. 



An ingenious actinograph, devised by Dr. Hurler and Mr. 

 V. C. Driffield, has been sent to us by Messrs. Marion and Co. 

 By means of a small double slide-rule, and a sliding set of 

 curves movable at right angles to the motions of the rules, the 

 variables concerned in photographic exposure are shown in 

 their varying relations to one another. To find the time of ex- 

 posure, the scales corresponding to the light, the lens, and the 

 speed of the plate are set in their proper positions, and then 

 the correct exposure can be read off. For photography unde"" 

 various conditions, such as views, portraiture, interiors, and 

 copying, a table of factors are given. By using the actinograph 

 intelligently a photographer may be confident of obtaining a 

 good negative. 



Apparatus for simple experiments in physics, such as are 

 described in manuals and text-books used in elementary physical 

 laboratories, now take a prominent place in the catalogues o 



