Feb. 6, 1890J 



NATURE 



325 



The Kew Bulletin for February begins with some extracts 

 from the Annual Report on the Government cinchona plantation 

 and factory in Bengal for the year 1888-89. The valuable in- 

 formation presented in these extracts is given for the benefit of 

 jjersons growing cinchona in countries which the documents for 

 the Government of Bengal are little likely to reach. The new 

 number also deals with the use of maqui berries for the colour- 

 ing of wine, vine-culture in Tunis, phylloxera in Victoria, the 

 botanical exploration of Cuba, and the sugar production of the 

 world. The section on the last of these subjects relates to statis- 

 tics brought together in Dr. Robert Giffen's report on the progress 

 of the sugar trade. Commenting on the figures supplied in this 

 report, the writer in the Bulletin says that if they "do not 

 justify a gloomy view of the present position of the cane-sugar 

 industry in British colonies, they scarcely justify a very optim- 

 istic one. It is obvious that the capital which should be applied 

 to the improvement of manufacturing processes and machinery 

 is, under present circumstances, practically diverted to the mere 

 maintenance of the cultivation. And this in the long run must 

 be a losing game. At present the fact stands that West Indian 

 sugar has to a large extent been driven from the home market 

 to that of the United States. If in time it should lose that, its 

 fate apparently is sealed." 



At the last meeting of the Paris Biological Society, Prof. 

 Raphael Bianchard gave an interesting account of a peculiar 

 pigment, hitherto found in plants only, caroiine, which he has 

 discovered in a crustacean in one of the Alpine lakes, near 

 Brian9on. Its functions are not yet known, but M. Bianchard 

 intends to pursue his study of the subject on the spot. The 

 animals cannot be transported alive to lower levels. 



We are glad to welcome the first number of The University 

 Extension journal. The Society by which it is issued has 

 become important enough to need an organ of its own ; and the 

 new periodical, which will appear at the beginning of every 

 month, ought to be of service to all who are in any way 

 interested in the movement. 



The Engineer oi ]im\xa.\y 31 contains a leading article on 

 "Colour-blind Engine-drivers," and it is interesting to note 

 what the leading technical journal has to say on the subject: 

 " We do not say that no accident was ever brought about by 

 the inability of a driver to distinguish between a green light and 

 a red one, but we can say that nothing of such an accident is to 

 be met with in the Board of Trade Reports." Our contemporary 

 is of opinion that the testing of the sight "of locomotive men 

 should be made under working conditions, i.e. with actual signal 

 lights. 



A PAPER on mortality from snake-bhe in the district of 

 Ratnagherry was read lately before the Bombay Natural History 

 Society by Mr. Vidal, of the Bombay Civil Service. Many of 

 the deaths in that district are, he says, due to a small and in- 

 significant-looking snake, called " foorsa " by the natives. It 

 is a viper rarely more than a foot long, and is so sluggish that it 

 does not move out of the way till trodden on. Thus it is much 

 more dangerous than the stronger and fi;ercer cobra. 



During the year 1889 no fewer than 28 bears, 115 wolves, 

 and 45 wolf-cubs were shot in the single district of Travnik, in 

 Bosnia. 



Das Wetter for January contains :— (a) An article by Dr. R. 

 Assmann on climatological considerations about the prevalent 

 epidemic of influenza. From an experience of many years in 

 dealing with the connection between climatic conditions and the 

 state of health, the author gives the following conditions as ihe 

 most favourable for spreading organisms in the air: (i) dry- 



ness of the soil, (2) deficiency of snow covering, (3) deficiency 

 of rainfall, (4) existence of fog or low-hanging clouds, (5) preva- 

 lence of high barometer with a small intermingling of air in the 

 vertical direction ; and he shows that these conditions were 

 prevalent in Eastern and Central Europe from the beginning of 

 November ; that atmospheric dust existed in great quantities, 

 and was propagated westward by easterly, north-easterly, and 

 south-easterly winds. He considers that changes of temperature 

 had no important relation to the spread of the epidemic. (/') A 

 lecture recently delivered to the Scientific Club in Vienna, on the 

 general circulation of the atmosphere, by Dr. J. M. Pernter. 

 He refers to the idea of the conflict of polar and equatorial 

 winds so long supported by Dove and others, and shows that 

 the publication of synoptic charts since the year 1863 has demon- 

 strated that the above theory does not hold good for temperate 

 and northern latitudes, that the circulation there depends upon 

 the positions of the areas of high and low pressures, producing 

 cyclones and anticyclones. Many dark points require explana- 

 tion, such as the tracks which the cyclones follow, but much 

 new light has recently been thrown upon the subject, especially 

 by the researches of Ferrel, Oberbeck, and Abercromby. 



Dr. Albrecht Penck, Professor of Physical Geography at 

 the University of Vienna, lately called attention to the fact thit 

 no two official accounts of the area of the Austro-Hungarian 

 monarchy agree. The difference between the highest and the 

 lowest estimates amounts to 331375 square kilometres. By an 

 examination of the new special map constructed by the Army 

 Geographical Institute, which is on the scale of i to 75,000, 

 and occupies 400 sheets, Prof. Penck has satisfied himself that 

 the actual area of the Empire is 3247 "12 square kilometres 

 greater than is given in the latest published official account. 

 The error arose chiefly from an incorrect triangulation of the 

 Hungarian portion of the Empire, which is 3054*02 square 

 kilometres larger than has been supposed. 



It has hitherto been generally believed that the Montgolfier 

 or hot-air balloon cannot be used in tropical climates. If this 

 were true, ballooning for war purposes would of course be im- 

 possible in places where coal-gas could not be obtained. We 

 learn from the Ti)nes that Mr. Percival Spencer, who has been 

 making a series of interesting balloon experiments in Central 

 India, has succeeded in showing that the theory is without 

 foundation. At Secunderabad, in presence of the garrison and 

 a crowd of European and native spectators, he lately made an 

 ascent in his patent asbestos balloon. The inflation was effected 

 by the burning of methylated spirit inside the balloon, which 

 was held in place by 25 soldiers of the Bedford regiment until 

 the word to " let go" was given. After rising to a considerable 

 height, the aeronaut descended by means of his parachute. 

 The spot where the ascent was made is over 2000 feet above the 

 level of the sea, and the achievement was all the more remark- 

 able because of the sultry climate and the great rarity of the air. 



An interesting paper on " Some Terraced Hill Slopes of the 

 Midlands," by Mr. Edwin A. Walford, has been reprinted from 

 the Journal of the Northamptonshire Natural History Society. 

 The factors in the formation of these terraced slopes Mr. 

 Walford groups as follows : — (i) The slipping and sliding 

 outwards of the saturated porous marls upon the tenacious clays 

 at the line of drainage, aided doubtless by the pressure of ihe 

 superincumbent rock bed. (2) Displacements caused by the 

 removal by chemical and mechanical solution of certain con- 

 stituents of the marls and marlstone by the passage of the surface 

 water through them. (3) The sliding downwards of the surface 

 soil, as described by Dr. Darwin, and latterly illustrated by Mr. 

 A. Ernst. The suggestions offered by Mr. Walford agree in 

 the main, as he himself points out, with those adopted by Mr- 

 A. Ernst in his paper in Nature, February 28, 1889. 



