NATURE 



[January 19, 1922 



Surv., Bull. 719) can only be regarded as tentative. 

 It is doubtful whether Alaska will ever take rank as 

 an important producing country, but oil will probably 

 be obtained in sufficient quantity to meet local require- 

 ments. 



SouTHPORT Corporation has issued its annual 

 report of meteorological observations for the year 

 1920, the results and discussions being carried out by 

 Mr. Joseph Baxendell, meteorologist to the corpora- 

 tion. The report is circulated by the Air Ministry 

 through the Meteorological Office and by the Cor- 

 poration of Southport, as was done with the results 

 for the year 19 19. For many years these reports have 

 stood out as specimens to show what can be done by 

 corporations in England when there is a desire to aid 

 in the advance of meteorology. The observations for 

 1920 are admirably treated, but there is rather less dis- 

 cussion of the observations than in some recent years, 

 possibly due to the real lack of sufficient scientific 

 assistants ; it is stated in the report that a research 

 computer is greatly needed. Research is going on to 

 establish the trustworthiness of a five-year periodicity 

 for wind direction, temperature, and rain in north- 

 west England, and observations are contributed to 

 the Meteorological Office for the daily, weekly, and 

 monthly weather reports. The mean temperature of 

 the complete year was 492° P., or 1° above the fortv- 

 five years' average. The total duration of sunshine in 

 1920 was 1277 hours, or 279 hours less than a twenty 

 years' local average, and the smallest annual value yet 

 recorded at Southport. North-westerly winds were 

 deficient throughout the year, the deficiency amount- 

 ing to little less than double the largest previous 

 annual deficiency from that direction. The dominant 

 feature of the year was the exceptional prevalence of 

 winds from the southern half of the compass. The 

 total rainfall for the year was 3408 in., which is 

 1-24 in. above the normal. Observations of diurnal 

 variation of wind direction and velocity, air tempera- 

 ture, and sunshine are of especial interest, as are 

 also the observations of atmospheric pollution. 



Wind observations in various Finnish lightships 

 taken between 1014 and 1020 (Strom- och Vind- 

 observationer vid Fyrskeppen) have been published bv 

 Dr. G. Granovist Jn Hav<:forsknings Institutets, Skrift 

 No. 10, IQ2I. The observations are from fourteen 

 lightships in the Gulfs of Bothnia and Finland and 

 one in Lake Ladoga. Most of them ceased late in 

 iqi4 and throughout the years igii, to 1918, but the 

 series is fairlv complete in iqio and 1020. The data, 

 which were taken three times daily, are given in detail. 



Several useful pamphlets on map projections have 

 been issued by the Department of Commerce of the 

 United States Coast and Geodetic Survev. A study of 

 map projection in general (Special Publication No. 6o> 

 treats in a few pages with numerous illustrations of 

 the fundamental ideas underlying the subiect. A 

 larger work is "Elements of Map Projection," by 

 C. H. Deetz and O. S. Adams (Special Publication 

 No. 68), which deals both with the theoretical side 

 of the subject and the practical details of the con- 

 NQ. 2725, VOL. 109] 



struction of some of the most important projections. 

 It is copiously illustrated with maps and diagrams 

 and supplied with tables for the construction of 

 Mercator's projection. At the low price of 50 cents *it 

 should find ready acceptance in this country. The 

 third pamphlet (No. 67) deals with latitude develop- 

 ments connected with geodesy and cartography, and 

 includes tables for the Lambert equal-area meridional 

 projection. 



The paper read by Sir Vincent Raven before the 

 North-East Coast Institution of Engineers and Ship- 

 builders on December 16 last is noteworthy, as it 

 makes out a strong case in favour of electric traction 

 on railways. The author is the chief mechanical 

 engineer to the North-Eastern Railway Co., which is 

 about to electrify 250 miles of its main-line system. 

 It is well known that the steam locomotive engine 

 has only half the economy of the steam stationary 

 engine of the same size owing to the great difference 

 in the economy of the boilers in the two cases. The 

 question to be considered, therefore, is whether the 

 great economy that could be effected by generating 

 power on a large scale in a fixed station would be 

 counterbalanced by the unavoidable losses in trans- 

 mission and the interest on the capital cost of the 

 transmission lines. The_ author quotes data which 

 prove that electric traction is in nearly every case the 

 more economical. As the North-Eastern Railway Co. 

 intend to purchase their electricity from the supply 

 companies operating in the district, a probable result 

 will be the reduction in the price of electricity to 

 ordinary consumers. This happened in 1904 when 

 the Tyneside passenger lines were electrified. 



In a recent catalogue of the Snook apparatus by 

 Messrs. Newton and Wright, Ltd., we find useful 

 descriptions of two models of this well-known and 

 trustworthy transformer ; the Standard model is in- 

 tended for radiographic work only, the Universal for 

 all purposes, including deep therapy. This latter 

 model is insulated with oil, and is also suitable for 

 X-ray tests upon metals and for the many industrial 

 purposes for which X-rays are being used. A brief 

 description of a new time switch is given ; this is based 

 entirely on mechanical principles, and should form 

 a useful addition to a radiographic outfit, for it has a 

 working range of automatic action from 8 seconds to 

 I /30th of a second. 



Messrs. J. Woolley, Sons and Co., Ltd., of 

 76 Deansgate, Manchester, have issued their annual 

 pocket-book, "The Scientist's Reference Book and 

 Diary for 1922," price 35. 6d. In addition to the usual 

 information given in diaries, there are brief par- 

 ticulars of the more important scientific societies and 

 departments and numerous tables of physical and 

 chemical constants which make the little volume 

 extremely useful to teachers of science and other 

 scientific workers. 



Dr. a. S. Russell has written, for publication by 

 Mr. John Murray, "The Chemistry of the Radio- 

 elements." The work is intended to describe in a 

 simple and concise form the main facts concerning 



