February i6, 1922' 



NATURE 



2»5 



flief in his views that led to the trouble after Galileo, 

 his experiments from the Leaning Tower of Pisa, 

 id shown the falseness of Aristotle's dictum that 

 16 velocity of a body falling in a given medium was 

 )portional to its weight. The works of Archimedes 

 of a much more valuable nature. His solution 

 problems regarding floating bodies, his determina- 

 of the centre of gravity of various sur- 

 ;es, his invention of the Archimedean screw, 

 jd his investigation of the lever place him 

 long the greatest pioneers in the acquisition 

 knowledge. Though it is generally believed that 

 rchimedes asserted that he could move the earth 

 irith a lever had he a place to stand upon, it appears 

 it Archimedes contemplated the use of compound 

 illeys for this purpose, and not the lever. After 

 kerring to the engines of war of those days, Mr. 

 >ones gave interesting details of the two great aque- 

 ducts which led water into Rome, the old Roman 

 roads, and other civil engineering works. He also 

 referred to the tools used by the ancients in the 

 execution of their works. 



In an article in the Quarterly Review for January 

 Mr. E. Howell discusses at length the problems con- 

 nected with river control in Mesopotamia. The Tigris 

 and Euphrates are exceptional rivers in the way that 

 their lower reaches break down, throwing off effluents, 

 although eventually they unite and enter the Persian 

 Gulf through a single mouth. Between Bagdad and 

 Ezra's Tomb, a distance of some four hundred miles, 

 the Tigris receives only two tributaries, but throws 

 off five huge effluents besides innumerable smaller 

 channels. The Euphrates in the same portion of its 

 length shows even more marked degeneration, break- 

 ing into a thousand petty waterways in the tract 

 known as Shamiyah, reuniting near Shamawah, and 

 again spreading into a waste of shallow waters in 

 Lake Hammar. There seems to be much evidence that 

 this state of affairs is the outcome, not of natural 

 causes, but of man's interference with the river 

 acting through long ages and accentuated by the 

 difference in both rivers between the levels of low 

 water and high flood. It is suggested that if this 

 interference is scientifically regulated the rivers will 

 revert to former conditions, in which their value to 

 man will be greatly enhanced in respect of definite 

 channels and deeper beds. Unregulated riparian cul- 

 tivation for ages has resulted in the formation of 

 many effluents and the blocking of the river-bed by 

 silt dug from the channel at low water in the con- 

 struction of the irrigation canal from the shrunken 

 river to the squatter's date-grove. Mr. Howell, 

 quoting Major Walton, explains the process in full, 

 and contends that the remedy lies in the control of 

 riparian cultivation, the regulation of the course and 

 nature of irrigation channels, and the construction of 

 dams or locks on the chief effluents. Some work of 

 this nature carried out from 19 16 to 19 19 has had 

 noticeably beneficial results on the navigability of the 

 Tigris. 



From the report on the administration of the 

 Meteorological Department of the Government of 

 NO. 2729, VOL. 109] 



India in 1920-21 it appears that the susf>ension of 

 wireless telegraphy from ships at sea during the war 

 has rendered, it more difficult to give information as 

 to the development and path of storms. The system 

 was started again in May, 1920, although it will 

 necessarily take time to regain the former efficiency. 

 The absence of such wireless information apparently 

 led to wrong deductions relative to the movement of 

 a storm in the Arabian Sea between June 6 and 13. 

 There was, fortunately, little loss of life, but in 

 Junagadh State the storm did a large amount of 

 damage; 16,000 houses are said to have fallen, 

 22,000 trees were uprooted, and 7700 cattle died. 

 Upper-air observations are being made in connection 

 with military flying on the part of the Royal Air 

 Force and for the use of civil aviators when the 

 route Bombay-Calcutta-Rangoon is opened. The 

 number of special forecasts and warning messages 

 sent from Simla during the year was 2994, and from 

 Calcutta 929. In connection with cases of heat- 

 stroke among British soldiers, information was sup- 

 plied to local medical authorities when the wet-bulb 

 temperature rose above 75° F. Registration of rain- 

 fall has been carried out during the year at 2915 

 stations, for which the returns are published. The 

 growth in departmental activity and changes in total 

 cost are shown by diagram for the last thirteen years. 

 Mention is made of the loss to the Indian Service 

 of Dr. G. C. Simpson through his appointment as 

 Director to the Meteorological Offlce of the Air 

 Ministry. 



The Royal Astronomical Society was founded as 

 the London Astronomical Society in February, 1820, 

 but did not gain the prefix "Royal " until 1830. At 

 the annual general meeting of February, 1920, the 

 president. Prof. A. Fowler, gave an address on the 

 origin and early days of the society, which had Sir 

 W. Herschel for its first president. There was some 

 opposition to its formation on the part of the Royal 

 Society, but this did not last long. The centenary 

 of the society will be celebrated next June.; it will 

 open with a conversazione on th'^ evening of June 8. 

 On June 9 there will be an historical meeting in the 

 morning and a scientific one in the afternoon ; at the 

 former three addresses will be given, one introductory 

 by the president, an historical address by Dr. Dreyer, 

 and a biographical address by Prof. Turner. The 

 society will dine together in the evening. A volume 

 dealing with the history of the society is in course 

 of preparation, and may be issued during the year. 

 It is divided into ten decades, and is the work of 

 several collaborators, but Dr. Dreyer, who is well 

 known as an astronomical historian, has contributed 

 the largest share. It will be illustrated by portraits 

 of some of the more celebrated presidents of the 

 society. 



The Times of .February 13 makes the following 

 announcement : — A Committee has been appointed to 

 discuss the co-ordination of the work of the various 

 Admiralty chemical laboratories. It will consider the 

 scope of all work now carried out at the various 

 laboratories in the Admiralty service, and will report 



