Auoust 



18, 1887] 



NATURE 



375 



Zingiber officinale^ the species commonly in cultivation in 

 other parts of the world. It is possible that some other 

 plant, which is not a true ginger, may be used in making the 

 celebrated Canton preserved ginger, but all the information Mr, 

 Ford has yet obtained points to the species Zingiber officinale as 

 the only kind which the Chinese use for this purpose. The ginger 

 cultivated on the Lo-Fau Mountains has a wide reputation 

 amongst the Chinese as being of unusual efficacy in medicine. 

 This superior quality may be derived from peculiarities of soil or 

 climate which communicate to the plant exceptional properties. 



A REMARKABLE relation is shown to exist by Dr. C. Bender 

 {Ann. der Physik und Cheinie, 1887, 8 B., p. 873) between 

 certain physical constants and chemical valency. In experiment- 

 ing upon the density, expansion, and electrical resistance of 

 several salt solutions, and mixtures of the same, the curious fact 

 was noticed that a very simple relation existed between the 

 number of gramme-molecules of the various salts required per 

 litre of water at 15° C. to make up solutions the physical con- 

 stants of which should remain unaltered on mixing. It is a well- 

 known fact that on mixing two chemically-inactive salt solutions 

 the physical constants generally diverge very considerably from 

 the arithmetical mean of those of the constituents. But Dr. 

 Bender finds that it is possible to prepare "corresponding" 

 solutions, which on mixture shall retain their physical constants 

 unchanged, the constants of the mixtures forming the arith- 

 metical means of those of the constituent solutions ; and further, 

 the strengths of these "corresponding" solutions expressed in 

 gramme-molecules per litre bear extremely simple relations to 

 each other. For example, with respect to density and expan- 

 sion, a solution of sodium chloride containing i gramme-mole- 

 cule per litre at 15° corresponds with a solution of potassium 

 chloride also containing a gramme-molecule, or a barium chloride 

 solution containing half a gramme mjlecule, barium being 

 divalent ; corresponding with these are also a solution of 

 ammonium chloride containing | gramme-molecule, and a lithium 

 chloride solution in which f gramme-molecule is dissolved in a 

 litre of water. With respect to electrical conductivity, the 

 following also correspond : — Solutions of NaCl, LiCl, and 

 ^(BaCI.j), each containing « gramme-molecules ; and of KCl and 

 NHjCl, each containing ^n gramme-molecules per litre. Hence 

 "corresponding solutions" are those whose gramme-molecule 

 contents, respect being had to valency, stand in a simple relation 

 to each other. 



Th^ American Meteorological Journal lox the months April 

 to July last contains a reprint of a lecture delivered by Prof. 

 Cleveland Abbe, in December last, before the Franklin Insti- 

 tute, on sonie popular errors in meteorology. We can only 

 draw attention here to a very few of the points taken up. The 

 author first attacks the astro-meteorological predictions made up 

 for a long time in advance, and shows that every effort to 

 demonstrate any appreciable influence of the moon or planets on 

 our atmosphere has signally failed. He refutes the singular belief 

 that animals or birds know more about future weather than man 

 himself, and attributes their migrations and hibernating habits 

 to the results of experience of many past ages, or to natural 

 causes beyond their control ; and he shows that what is tiue of 

 animals is still more clearly true of vegetables, so that nearly all 

 the rules for weather- prediction founded on the behaviour of 

 plants, on the falling of soot in the chimney, &c., relate t imply 

 to hygroscopic phenomena, of which a hygrometer w ill give more 

 accurate indications. The eflforts to show that the destruction 

 or growth of forests affects the climate are objected to on the 

 ground that we have not enough observations of rainfall and 

 temperature properly comparable with each other to justify any 

 conclusion whatever. With reference to the fact of less rainfall 

 being caught in gauges high above the ground, the author 



explains that, although the drops grow as they descend through 

 clouds, they rarely grow after they have nearly reached the 

 ground ; the stronger winds to which the gauge is exposed when 

 set high up, carry the drops to one side, and so the higher gauge 

 catches less than the lower one. 



The Monthly Weather Review of the United States for May 

 contains much useful information, and possesses additional 

 interest from the fact of its publication so soon after dale. 

 Eleven barometric depressions are traced in the North Atlantic, 

 two of which traversed the ocean from coast to coast. Among 

 the notices of meteors, one of extrao:d:nary size seems to have 

 fallen in a field near Wellsburg, N.Y., making a pit 40 feet 

 wide and 20 feet deep ; an effort is to be made to find the 

 meteor, A special feature in these Monthly Reviews is the 

 reports of fogs in the vicinity of the banks of Newfoundland 

 and in the trans-Atlantic routes. Notes on their possible pre- 

 diction have been published by Sergeant E. B, Garriott in the 

 last three issues of the Review, and ship- masters have been 

 requested to send special reports relative to the fog-banks 

 observed. From the observations already made it is assumed 

 that the difTerences in the temperature of the air which cause 

 the development of dense fog, are occasioned by the deflection 

 of the regular prevailing air-currents by cyclonic areas advancing 

 from the interior of the continent, A knowledge of the move- 

 ments of these cyclonic areas would, in the opinion of Sergeant 

 Garriott, allow of the prediction of fog in time to send tele- 

 graphic warning to ships leaving British ports. Further investi- 

 gation of the subject by the Signal Office will show whether 

 these hopes are capable of practical realization. 



The Danish Meteorological Institute has published its 

 Me'eorologisk Aarbog for 1885, with the exception of that 

 portion relating to the colonies, which appears to be one year 

 in arrear of the other parts. The work is divided into three 

 sections, (i) Observations taken in the kingdom of Denmark at 

 10 principal stations, 102 climatological stations, and 171 for 

 rainfall. At 8 of the principal stations the observations are 

 printed in exienso ; and there are also monthly and yearly 

 resumes. The correction for gravity at lat. 45° is given for the 

 means of the barometric observations, in accordance with the 

 recommendation of the International Meteorological Committee 

 (Paris meeting, 1885). (2) Colonial stations, containing ob- 

 servations in the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Greenland, and one 

 station at Santa Cruz in the West Indies, (3) Observations of 

 air and sea temperature, &c., taken on 21 light-vessels round 

 the Danish coasts. These latter observations are very valuable 

 for determining various questions connected with the range of 

 sea-temperature of the coasts, and the migrations of fish, &c. 

 The Reports of the Meteorological Council show that such 

 observations have been taken for some years in this country, 

 although not regularly published. The Danish observational 

 system dates from 186 1, when it was under the charge of the 

 Agricultural Society, The Meteorological Institute has published 

 jts year-books since 1873. 



At a recent meeting of the Pekin Oriental Society, Dr. 

 Dudgeon read a paper on "Kung-fu, or Taoist Medical Gym- 

 nastics." Kung-fu means labour, and is applied to the science 

 of movement, including, among other things, massage, sham- 

 pooing, and other operations on the body practised with the 

 object of preventing and curing disease, and for the comfort and 

 sense of bracing which they confer. One of the thirteen depart- 

 ments in the Chinese great Medical College is that of pressing 

 and rubbing. An early Chinese work on this subject was trans- 

 lated by the Jesuits in 1779, and first drew the attention of 

 Europe to the subject and stimulated inquiry. Ling, a 

 .Swede, introduced the movement cure into Europe ; but 

 here it rests on definite anatomical knowledge, whereas in 



