March 21, 1889] 



NATURE 



495 



customs of Japan, and all matters connected with the develop- 

 ment and progress of civilization in that country. Its members 

 ^re chiefly members of the parent Society, but membership is 

 not confined to these. It is proposed that there shall be 

 monthly meetings at which papers will be read, and discussions 

 held. Well-known scholars are to be invited to attend the 

 meetings, and contribute to the discussions. Essays or speeches 

 which are considered to be of sufficient importance will be 

 printed either separately or in the volume of Transactions of the 

 Anthropological Society. 



At the meeting of the French Meteorological Society on 

 February 5, M. Lemoine communicated the information he 

 had collected upon the rising of the Upper Rhone from the 3rd 

 to the 5th of October last. The maximum rise was on the Sth 

 at Lyons, where it reached 14 feet. The cause of the rise was a 

 severe thunderstorm which broke out at 2 a.m. on October 2, 

 with incessant rain over a large area lasting until the evening 

 of the 5th. 



The Pilot Chart of the North Atlantic Ocean, issued by the 

 Washington Hydrographic Office, for March, shows that gales 

 were experienced in the western part of the Atlantic during the 

 first ihree weeks of February. The most noteworthy was one 

 which originated on the loth, just north of the Bahamas ; on 

 the 1 2th its influence was felt, noticeably from Newfound- 

 . land to the West Indies, and from the American coast to the 

 45th meridian. More fog was experienced than is usual during 

 February. The southward movement of ice was very back- 

 ward, no field ice or bergs having been reported till Feb- 

 ruary 6, in lat. 45° 35' N., and long. 48° W. The chart 

 contains brief rules for the use of oil at sea. 



The "Administration Report" of the Surveyor- General of 

 Ceylon, for the year 1887, contains meteorological summaries 

 for sixteen observatories, and monthly rainfall values for seventy- 

 one stations. The mean temperature of the year was below 

 the average at almost every station, and a comparison of the 

 records since 1882 proves that there has been a fall of tempera- 

 ture throughout the island up to the present time. A map 

 is given, showing the mean annual rainfall of the various dis- 

 tricts, and a table showing the monthly means during different 

 periods. The returns from Ceylon have been regularly published 

 since 1869. 



Two shocks of earthquake occurred at Bologna on March 9, 

 but no damage was done. A severe shock was noticed at Aquila 

 on March 10. 



, The vapour-density of aluminium methide, [AI(CH3)3]«, has 

 formed the subject of an important series of experiments by Dr. 

 Quincke, of Gottingen, with the view of further elucidating the 

 question of the valency of aluminium. A few months ago, 

 Messrs. Louise and Roux published an account of their experi- 

 ments upon the same substance, from which they conclude that 

 molecules of the constitution A]„(CH3)g are capable of existence. 

 This result was in direct contradiction to the earlier observations 

 of Messrs. Buckton and Odling, who showed that, even at the 

 boiling-point itself, 130° C, the density was considerably lower 

 than that required for this double formula ; from the boiling- 

 point upwards the density gradually diminished, until, at the 

 temperature at which this organo-metallic body unfortunately 

 commences to decompose, it had almost reached that required 

 for A1(CH3)3. Hence a revision of the subject has been under- 

 taken by Dr. Quincke at the request of Prof Victor Meyer. 

 The aluminium methide employed was a very pure specimen, of 

 constant boiling-point, and solidifying, on cooling, in the form 

 of magnificent tabular crystals. Analyses gave practically 

 theoretical numbers. The vapour-density was determined in 

 a Victor Meyer apparatus in an atmosphere _of hydrogen. Of 



course, the all-important point to decide was the nature of 

 molecular grouping just above the boiling-point, and, if such 

 molecules were found to exist at all, to ascertain whether the 

 value required for AljCCHj),. remained constant for a sufficient in- 

 terval of temperature. The experiments were therefore performed 

 at the temperature of boiling xylene (140°), only lo'' higher than 

 the boiling-point of the methide. The mean value for the 

 density, obtained from ten consecutive determinations, was 3*92 ; 

 A12(CH3)b requires 4-98, and A1(CH3)3 corresponds to 2-49. 

 Hence it can no longer be doubted that molecules of the double 

 formula are incapable of existence. Aluminium methide must 

 therefore be represented by A1(C 113)3. Readers of Nature 

 will remember that only a fortnight ago an account was given in- 

 these columns (p. 4^7) of an analogous series of experiments by 

 M. Alphonse Combes, upon a new organic aluminium com- 

 pound, Al(C5H-02)3, aluminium acetyl acetonate. It is 

 supremely satisfactory that in this case the density, at a tempera- 

 ture only 45° above the boiling-point, was found to actually 

 correspond precisely with that required by the triad formula, 

 precluding again the possibility of the existence of molecules of 

 the type A1„R,;. Taking the mass of evidence now before us, it 

 may fairly be granted that the stable molecules of aluminium 

 salts are constructed upon the type AIR3 ; and aluminium in 

 this respect thus completely resembles iron, chromium, indium, 

 and gallium. 



A Report of Mr. D. Hooper, the Government Quinologist in 

 the Nilgiris, says that efflorescent salts occur in nearly every 

 district of India. When the salt is alkaline in its nature, the 

 surface of the soil on which it collects is known as dhobies' 

 earth, which has for ages been used in various manufactures, and 

 for washing and dyeing. A large quantity of the efflorescence 

 of Northern India, which is sold in the bazaars as sajji mati, is a 

 mixture of salts, where the sulphate and chloride of sodium 

 preponderate over the carbonate. Dhobies' earth consists 

 principally of sodium carbonate and sand ; the other ingredients 

 are organic matters and sodium chloride, with traces of sulphate 

 of clay, oxide of iron, and lime. 



In the Report on the Blue-book of 1887, the Colonial Secretary 

 for Ceylon says that the operations of the Survey Department 

 during the year were most important and varied. Not only 

 was the ordinary work of surveying Crown land for sale 

 carried on, but a large amount of surveying was undertaken 

 in connection with irrigation schemes and forest reservation. 

 The minor triangulation of the island was continued, and thirty 

 new stations were established. The great triangulation of the 

 northern part of the island, for the purpose of connecting the 

 Ceylon system with the Madras coast series of the great Trigo- 

 nometrical Survey of India, was completed, as described in these 

 columns some time ago. Considerable advance was also made 

 with the surveys of roads, streams, and lakes in all the provinces ; 

 and a vast amount of other work, including surveys of the 

 coast-line, surveys of villages for forest reservation purposes, 

 &c., was satisfactorily completed. 



A recent American Consular Report contains a long account 

 of the industrial school at Reichenberg, which was founded by 

 the Imperial and Royal Ministry of Public Instruction as a 

 technical school of the middle grade, with the object of edu- 

 cating young men for important industrial and manufacturing 

 positions. The institution is divided into a high school and 

 a workmaster's school, and each of these is subdivided into 

 branches for architecture, mechanical arts, and chemistry. 

 In the high school a very high standard of general educa- 

 tion is maintained, and the students are prepared, by system- 

 atic courses of lectures, for practical work. The workmasters' 

 school is open to persons who have already worked in architec- 

 ture, or in some mechanical art, or in chemistry. Besides these 



