March 22, 1888] 



NATURE 



493 



though they are now widely separated, their general drift has 

 been in an east-south-east direction, the logs being found a 

 little to the southward of this line. That they were not carried 

 more to the northward and eastward by the Gulf Stream, as 

 would be expected, was probably due to the strong north-west 

 winds which prevailed during the latter part of December and 

 the first part of January. Fortunately, no vessel has been dis- 

 abled by collision with them, although the German ba k Bremen, 

 which was in company with the logs for five days, in latitude 

 39° north, longitude 62" west, had her sheathing torn and rudder 

 injured. 



We have recei ved from Mr. R. T. Rohde, of the New Oriental 

 Bank, a well-known authority on questions connected with cur- 

 rency and banking, a pamphlet entitled "A Practicable Decimal 

 System for Great Britain and her Colonies." In criticizing the 

 Report on Decimal Coinage of the Parliamentary Committee 

 of 1853, he proposes, amongst other things, to preserve the 

 sovereign as the standard unit of the country, but to call it 

 five dollars British sterling, each dollar being divisible into lOO 

 cents, a cent thus being nearly one halfpenny in value ; the 

 sovereign and half-sovereign to remain, as before, the only 

 gold coins in the country, the latter to be legal tender for an 

 amount not exceeding £<,, and the former for any amount. In 

 the silver and copper coinage he would not make any alteration. 

 He also advises the allowing of the use of the cental of 100 

 avoirdupois pounds, divisible into any decimal subdivision of 

 such pound avoirdupois ; the using of the foot as the standard 

 measure, such foot being divisible into 100 equal parts, ten of 

 which make one decimal inch. As a measure of capacity, he 

 would suggest a vessel equal to one-tenth of an Imperial gallon, 

 such ves el to contain one pound avoirdupois of distilled water 

 at a temperature of 60° F. 



An interesting experiment in the planting of waste saline tracts 

 :n India has been carried out by Mr. Maries, superintendent of 

 the gardens of the Maharajah of Durbhunga. The results have 

 been communicated to the Agricultural Department, Bengal, 

 and are contained in the last report of the Director. Mr. Maries 

 says that six years ago, when he went to Durbhunga, he did not 

 know what to do with patches of saline soil, on some of which 

 not even weeds would grow. He dug the soil to the depth of 

 two feet, and planted it thickly at the commencement of the 

 rainy season with trees which had been grown in pots till they 

 were about three feet high. In three years the ground was filled 

 with roots, and -to all appearances the salt had gone. When the 

 trees were thinned out last year, leaving only the best, the 

 ground was found to be in good condition. Similar experiments 

 have been carried out in other places, and now Mr. Maries hau 

 splendid plantains growing on soil which a few years ago would 

 not even grow a weed. He employed various kinds of trees in 

 his reclaiming operations, but he says that the best were the 

 Inga Saman, or rain trees, and the Albizzia Proccra. The 

 former is valuable as producing an enormous quantity of surface- 

 feeding roots, and these decaying yearly leave a rich vegetable 

 deposit en the soil. The trees soon completely change the 

 character of the soil. The timber is excellent for fuel, and the 

 trees bear lopping well. It is such an enormous water absorber 

 that it would most probably be very useful in swampy places as a 

 fever preventive, like the willow which is planted in China 

 around the villages in the rice districts. 



M. LftOTARD, Secretary to the Scientific Society of Marseilles, 

 describes, in a recent issue oi La Na'tire, the appearance of certain 

 peaks of the Pyrenees as seen from Marseilles and its neighbour- 

 hood. Every year, about February 18 and October 31, Mount 

 Carrigou, situated in the Eastern Pyrenees, and 2765 metres above 

 the level of the sea, may be distinguished from Notre-Dame de 

 la Garde in Marseilles, prfijected on the disk of the sun as the 



latter is about to set. From the top of Marseille- Veyre, 8 kilo- 

 metres south of the town, the same observations may be made 

 about P'ebruary 13 and October 28. A straiglit line drawn from 

 Notre-Dame de la Garde to the summit of Carrigou is 253 kilo- 

 metres. Both Carrigou and the peak of Treize- Vents have been 

 seen frequently since 1808, and this year M. Leotard and some 

 of his colleagues made observations on the subject, and secured 

 illustrations. 



Referring to a journey of exploration in Australia which 

 M. Ernest Favenc proposes to take, the Colonies and IiuHa 

 says that no group of colonies in the world have taken more 

 interest in exploration than those in Australia. In Melbourne 

 especially, scientific Societies have given attention to this subject. 

 It appears that the design in respect to a trip which M. Ernest 

 Favenc proposed to take has now assumed a definite shape, and 

 that he will pursue his object if only the Victoria and New 

 South Wales branches of the Royal Geographical Society 

 of Australasia will subscribe the necessary funds to send 

 a surveyor with him. His intention is to start for Western 

 Australia, there to inspect a large area of unstocked country, 

 and subsequently to undertake a trip into the unexplored region 

 between the tracks of Forrest and Warburton. If he finds the 

 season favourable, then he proposes to make south, cutting the 

 tracks of the other explorers at right angles. It should be 

 mentioned that the explorer makes it a condition that the 

 surveyor shall also be a fair mineralogist and know something 

 of botany. Horses, saddlery, and rations will be found by the 

 leader, but the passage, instruments, and salary of the surveyor 

 selected are to be provided by the Societies named. When the 

 matter came before the Victorian branch, at a meeting of the 

 Council, a sub-committee was appointed to deal with the applica- 

 tions for the post of surveyor, which, it is believed, will be 

 numerous. 



The storm which was experienced on the Atlantic coast of 

 the United States on the nth and 12th inst. was apparently 

 due to a disturbance which was situated over Georgia on the 

 loth, and which subsequently moved rapidly up the American 

 coast. The storm apparently commenced with a warm southerly 

 wind and heavy rain, which changed very suddenly to a north- 

 westerly gale and violent snowstorm. The character of the 

 storm was that common to the blizzard of the United States, 

 and the intense cold of the north-westerly wind was evidently 

 due to the rear of the disturbance stretching for a long distance 

 over the cold continent of America. The loss occasioned by 

 the storm, both to life and property, is immense. 



The Italian Meteorological Office has issued a report on the 

 climate of Massowah, based upon the observations made with 

 standard instruments by the officers of the Italian expedition, 

 between May 1885 and September 1887. The discussion is 

 divided into two periods (1) May 1885 to May 1886; and (2) 

 June 1886 to September 1887. The results show that the mean 

 monthly temperature is above 86° in the months May to October. 

 The maximum occurs in August : 108° in 1886, and ioi°*8 in 

 1887. The minimum occurs in February ; in two ten-day 

 periods the thermometer fell to 66°, but there is little difference 

 between January and February. Rainfall is very scarce and 

 erratic, the fall of a few days may exceed that of the rest of the 

 year. In the first twelve months 4-1 inches fell on thirty-four 

 days ; in the second, 4-3 inches on twenty-six days. The pre- 

 valent winds are northerly and southerly. The latter pre- 

 dominated from June 1885 until the end of the year ; from 

 January 1886 until September 1887, northerly winds prevailed. 

 The above temperatures, while showing that Massowah is very 

 hot, are lower than those sometimes quoted, apparently owing 

 to more careful exposure in the present investigation. 



