December 29, 19 10] 



NATURE 



^77 



■eight multiplied by 4'5. Armed with a convenient 

 iable of cube roots and plenteously available data, it 

 will be found that this man is a departure from the 

 average, but a departure in the opposite direction to 

 that which would promise the concealment of much 

 weight under a partially spherical and dispropor- 

 tionally small surface. In this country- at least the 

 average height of the youth from eight years of age to 

 ighteen is 4'3v'W, whereas the stouter child and 

 dult above and below these ages is liable to possess 

 nailer heights, such as 42 to S'yv'W. 

 So far is this man's rate of heat-loss per estimated 

 square metre of surface below the average, and so 

 unlikely is it that direct measurements of his surface 

 will lead to any compensator)- change in the statements 

 such as would bring it near to the average, that it 

 might have been of value to direct special attention 

 ro his indisputable peculiarity-. Had this been done, 

 another peculiarity of his might perhaps have been 

 brought to mind and have been found of interest, 

 namely, that he is a veteran hahitiii of the calori- 

 meter. It may be suggested, indeed, that this is the 

 important fact inasmuch as it enabled him to sleep 

 amidst these peculiar surroundings and modified atmo- 

 sphere with unusual unconcern. That unconcern is 

 truly a factor of some importance may perhaps be 

 gathered from a consideration of the unexplained 

 greater evaporation of water from the surfaces of the 

 few women bold enough to enter the calorimeter. 

 It might be suggested that there is no mystery in the 

 fact that these ladies perspired unduly. 



It is almost certain that this particular case might 

 legitimately be used to illustrate the statement that 

 sleep, like scientific literature, is sometimes profound 

 although often not so. It is indeed a well-known fact 

 that the excitability of the nervous system during sleep 

 is a very variable value, and it is extremely probable 

 that its variations are attended with changes in the 

 " tone " of the skeletal musculature, and therefore with 

 modifications in the quantity of concurrent meta- 

 bolism. Once take this point of view, which is 

 apparently not dealt with by the authors, who describe 

 all alike as being in profound sleep, and it will, on 

 sound grounds, be found that there is not one of these 

 recorded cases that does not require some consideration 

 in these terms. Thus it will be found that ever\- in- 

 dividual with a metabolism during sleep that is below 

 the averagfe value by more than 5 per cent., awakes 

 to a metabolism increased bv from 26 to 63 per cent., 

 whereas every individual with a metabolism in sleep 

 greater than the average by more than 5 per cent, 

 awakes to a smaller increase varying from 10 to 22 

 per cent. It is necessary- to suggest that the one set 

 awake to a relatively much greater increase of meta- 

 bolism because they awake from a more profound 

 Mte of slumber. Nor is the suggestion the less 

 -cessar\' when it is discovered that although several 

 "»t infrequent visitors to the calorimeter are found 

 n either side of the average, vet the initials of the 

 ^pst-known habitues are found in the heavy slumber 

 rlass and those of certain restless probationers in the 

 list of light sleepers. J. S. Macdonald. 



NOTES. 



In a four-column article which appeared in the Times 

 : December 22, the outbreak of plague in East .Anglia, 

 nd particularly the rat-infection in the locality, is dealt 



ith ably and exhaustively. The writer of the article 

 oints out that no adequate measures have yet been taken 

 o deal with the situation, and urges that it is one of 

 ational importance and for direct Government interven- 

 on. It is suggested that a sum of lo.oooZ. at the very 

 east is required to prosecute the necessary inquiries and 

 NO. 2I4S, VOL. 85] 



investigations, and that there is immediate necessity for 

 expert inquiry under Government control and at Govern- 

 ment expense. Compared with the issues involved, the 

 expenditure of such a sum, or even one many times larger, 

 need not be considered, and the course of action recom- 

 mended will commend itself to those who have a real 

 knowledge of plague, and it is to be hoped that the 

 authorities will speedily take in hand an organised scien- 

 tific inquiry into the outbreak of plague in England and 

 the remedy for its control. Similar views in outline were 

 expressed in the article on " Plague " which appeared in 

 Nature of the same date (December 22, p. 237). 



The appalling loss of life associated with the terrible 

 colliery disaster at the Yard Mine of the Hulton Colliery 

 Co. at Bolton, Lancashire, has again emphasised ..Jhe 

 desirability of perfecting, so far as is practicable, the warn- 

 ing of approaching danger. The explosion, which occurred 

 shortly before 8 a.m. on Wednesday, December 21, resulted 

 in the loss of about 350 lives. The Times of December 22 

 says the disaster followed immediately upon a colliery 

 warning, which appeared on Monday in newspapers 

 circulating in various mining districts, and the warning 

 was said to be in continuation of one which had been 

 circulated a week earlier. Such warnings are not, how- 

 ever, issued by the Meteorological Office. With the 

 advance made in recent jears in our knowledge of weather 

 changes, it seems desirable to determine the atmospheric 

 conditions under which explosions generally occur, and, if 

 possible, to place the warnings of approaching danger on 

 a scientific basis and to make some public authority 

 responsible for the issue of such warnings. The weather 

 chart for 7 a.m. December 21 issued by the Meteorok^ical 

 Office is of quite a coriimon tjpe, and is representative of 

 many such occurrences in the course of an English winter. 

 .\ region of low barometer was situated to. the south of 

 Iceland, and a region of high barometer was situated over 

 Germany. The barometer at this time was fairly steady 

 at about 2995 inches over Lancashire. Examining the 

 atmospheric conditions under which fifteen of the greatest 

 colliery disasters of recent years occurred, between the 

 years 1880 and 1910, there is a preponderance of explosions 

 with a high barometer, and about the time that the central 

 area of an anticyclone is situated in the neighbourhood. 

 There are, however, marked exceptions to this, and the 

 disaster near Wigan on August 18, 1909, occurred when 

 an area of low barometer readings was centred close by. 

 Irrespective of the absolute height of the barometer, the 

 instances examined seem to occur about equally with a 

 rising and a falling barometer. 



A Bill to make Paris official time coincide with Greenwich 

 time was presented to the French Senate on December 21. 

 The Bill was passed by the Chamber of Deputies several 

 3ears ago, and has been approved by the senate committee 

 and by the Cabinet, so that in all probability it will be- 

 come law. Paris time is 9m. 21s. ahead of Greenwich 

 time ; and upon the day prescribed by the law, the clocks 

 indicating official time in France will be put back by that 

 amount. By the adoption of the change, France will be 

 brought into the international system of Standard Time 

 reckoning which is now followed in most civilised 

 countries. On this system, the hour of each successive 

 fifteen degrees of longitude, reckoning from the Greenwich 

 meridian, is used for the Standard Time ; hence the differ- 

 ence in time in passing from one zone to another is always 

 an exact number of hours. 



It was announced a short time ago that a new zoo- 

 logical garden in course of construction by Mr. Carl 

 Hagenbeck in the grounds of the Villa Borghese, Rome, 



