544 



NATURE 



[April 7, 1898 



charts showed that when there was a prevalence of north-west 

 wind no ice was reported, while with southerly winds bergs were 

 frequently observed. Mr. Russell states that the records are too 

 short to settle the question, but he is of opinion that by careful 

 study of the winds in connection with the movements of the 

 bergs it will be possible to forecast their positions from the winds 

 prevailing ia South Africa and Australia. 



The Pilot Chart of the North Pacific Ocean for the month of 

 March, published by the Hydrographer of the United States 

 Navy, contains tables and charts giving the mean temperatures 

 of the surface waters for each quarter and for the year for that 

 part of the North Pacific Ocean comprised between latitude 30° 

 and 60° N., and the west coast of North America and longitude 

 180° W. The material has been obtained from observations in 

 the possession of the United States Hydrographic Office, supple- 

 mented by the data contained in the Russian Admiral MakarofTs 

 work, " The Vitiaz and the Pacific Ocean." The coldest region 

 is in 55°-6o° N., and 155°- 180° W., having for the months of 

 May to September a mean temperature of 43°. In the same 

 longitude, and latitude 50 "-55° N. , the mean annual tempera- 

 ture is 42°, The warmest region is in latitude 30°-35° N., 

 longitude i40°-i65° W., having a mean annual temperature of 

 68°. The yearly range of monthly temperature is highest in 

 latitude 3S°-40° N., longitude iso'-iSo" W. , being i8°'5, and 

 lowest 8°'5, in latitude 30°-35° N. , longitude Ii5°-i45° W. 



The report of Mr. S. P. Langley, Secretary of the Smithsonian 

 Institution, for the year ending June 30, 1897, has just reached 

 this country. Following the custom of several years, Mr. 

 Langley gives in the body of the report a general account of the 

 affairs of the Institution and its bureaus — the U.S. National 

 Museum, the Bureau of American Ethnology, the International 

 Exchanges, the National Zoological Park, and the Astrophysical 

 Observatory — while more detailed statements by the officers in 

 direct charge of the various branches of the work are given in an 

 appendix. We regret to see, in the report on the work of the 

 National Museum, that the complete manuscript of an important 

 and comprehensive work by the late Prof. Cope on the reptiles 

 of North America, based on the museum collections, is withheld 

 from the printer for want of funds for its publication, and at least 

 four others, equally valuable and extensive, now in an advanced 

 stage of preparation. Delay in the publication of these works 

 will prove a hindrance to the progress of American natural 

 history. The Bureau of American Ethnology has been very 

 active. The field operations have been extended into a large 

 number of states and territories, and incidentally into those 

 districts of neighbouring countries occupied by native tribes 

 closely affiliated with the aborigines of the territory now com- 

 prised in the United States. During the year covered by the 

 report special attention was given to the classification of the 

 tribes in such manner as to -indicate their origin and develop- 

 ment, and to this end the rich archives of the Bureau, comprising 

 the accumulations of eighteen years of research, have been sub- 

 jected to careful study, and important conclusions have been 

 reached. The International Exchange Service continues to 

 increase ; and the fact that exchanges are now made with 28,000 

 correspondents in every part of the civilised world demonstrates, 

 to some degree, the far-reaching influence of the Institution. 

 The National Zoological Park has been improved by the con- 

 struction of roads and a new bridge ; but the buildings and 

 enclosures of the Park are altogether inadequate, and there are 

 no funds to supply the wants. Among the needs are suitable 

 houses for the preservation and care of birds, a vivarium for 

 small animals, and ponds for aquatic birds and mammals. The 

 operations of the Astrophysical Observatory have consisted 

 chiefly in experiments in the holographic analysis of the infra 

 red solar spectrum. The report upon this work has been com- 



NO. 1484, VOL. 57] 



pleted ; and it contains, in addition to introductory, historical, 

 descriptive, and theoretical matter and accounts of subsidiary 

 investigations, tables of positions of 222 absorption lines in the 

 infra- red solar spectrum in terms of angular deviations and re- 

 fractive indices for a rock-salt prism, and of the approximate 

 wave-lengths corresponding. It is to be hoped that this report, 

 containing results of great interest and value to physical science, 

 will soon be published. 



The election of Prof. James E. Keeler, director of the 

 Allegheny Observatory, to the directorship of the Lick Observ- 

 atory was announced in last week's Nature. We now learn 

 that Prof. Keeler has written a letter to the Chairman of the 

 Allegheny Observatory Committee stating that he is prepared to 

 decline the call to the Lick Observatory if within two weeks 

 200, 000 dollars can be collected for the erection of a new observ- 

 atory with a thirty-inch telescope, and towards the endowment 

 of a chair of astronomy in the Western University of Penn- 

 sylvania. Efforts are being made to obtain this sum of money, 

 and as much as 137,000 dollars has already been subscribed, 

 while Allegheny City has given a site for a new observatory in 

 an elevated position surrounded by parks, and comparatively 

 free from smoke. We wonder how many British cities and 

 citizens would show in such a substantial way their anxiety tx> 

 keep a distinguished scientific investigator within their borders. 



An interesting observation upon the development of a taste 

 for honey by starlings is recorded by Mr. W. W. Smith in the 

 Entomologist (April). In a previous note referring to some 

 enemies of humble-bees in New Zealand, Mr. Smith stated that 

 he had observed the newly-introduced starlings killing and con- 

 veying humble-bees to their nests to feed their young. The tui 

 or parson-bird {Prosthemadera novcE-zealandicc) has now been 

 detected killing them at Akaroa on Banks Peninsula. The case 

 is remarkable in illustrating how new habits are acquired, or 

 family habits are developed in some species of birds when 

 certain conditions are present. As the tui belongs to the star- 

 ling family, and is one of the native honey-suckers, it is possible 

 it also was killing humble-bees to feed its young when it dis- 

 covered the honey-sac of the insects. The tui, while engaged 

 in killing the bees, would discover their honey-sac, which would 

 also lead to a continuance of the habit as a ready means of pro- 

 curing their favourite food. An analogous case is also presented 

 in some recently acquired habits of the starling. For two 

 seasons Mr. Smith has observed" what is undoubtedly an acquired 

 taste and habit in the starling in New Zealand. Like the tui, this 

 bird now frequents the flax-flats and sucks the honey from the 

 richly mellifluous flowers. It appears probable that the eating 

 of the humble-bee's honey-sac by the starlings developed, or is 

 now developing, the taste for honey in these birds. 



From the many papers before us dealing with kathodic rays, 

 Rontgen rays, and the closely-allied phenomena of "electro- 

 dispersion," we extract the following : — Prof. Battelli and Dr. 

 Garbasso {N'uovo Cimento, vi. 4) examined more closely the 

 action of kathodic rays on insulated conductors, with the view 

 of testing the existence of indeformable rays in the interior of the 

 Crookes' tube. Their results agree with the hypothesis that the 

 different modes of action of kathodic and Rontgen rays depend 

 on the different conditions of the medium in which the con- 

 ductor is placed. — M. P. de Heen {Bulletin de V Acadhnie 

 Roy ale de Belgique, 1898, pp. 188, 191) publishes two papers 

 relating to the electro-dispersive power of Rontgenised air, and 

 also of air modified by a Bunsen burner. In the first paper 

 the author obtains, by the Bunsen burner, results which cannot 

 be accounted for on Villari's theory of Rontgenised air, but 

 indicate the existence of a special kind of energy, to which he 

 applies the name infra-electric. In the second paper he de- 

 scribes four experiments dealing with the propagation of what 



