500 



NATURE 



[April 15, 1922 



first to have a large and accurate conception of the 

 causes underlying the physical configuration of the 

 earth. His studies of aqueous erosion, the formation 

 of alluvial plains, the process of fossilisation, and the 

 nature of stratification, led him to a logical con- 

 viction of the immensity of geological time, far in 

 advance of the dogmatic thought of his age, and 

 exposed himself to the charge of atheism. Caution 

 compelled hiTn to work in isolation, and to keep his 

 results concealed. He had no scientific instruments, 

 no correspondents to furnish him with observations 

 on geological conditions elsewhere ; yet his grasp 

 of the physical history of the portions of Italy which 

 he had visited was sound, and entirely in accord 

 with modern knowledge. Leonardo left a record 

 of his discoveries in his paintings, generally in the 

 backgrounds. There are found pictures of the 

 primeval world as he imagined it, when seas and 

 lakes ran up to the foot of the mountains, to be slowly 

 displaced and silted up by the detritus which the rain 

 carried down from the summits. 



Brussels. 



Royal Academy of Belgium, March 4. — M. A. 

 Lameere in the chair. — C. Servais : The geometry of 

 the tetrahedron, Pt. 4. The cubic surface of 

 Cajdey. — P. Martens : The cycle of the somatic 

 chromosome in Paris quadvifolia. 



Diary of Societies. 



FRIDAY, April 14. 

 Malacolooicai Society (at Linnean Society). 



WEDNESDAY, April 19. 



ROTAL Meteorological Society, at 5.— W. T. Russell : The Relation- 

 ship between Rainfall and Temperature as shown by the Correlation 

 Coefficient.— R. A. Fisher: The Correlation of Weekly Rainfall.— 

 Prof. S. Chapman and Miss E. Falshaw: The Lunar Atmospheric 

 Tide at Aberdeen, 1869-1919. 



Royal Microscopical Society, at 8.— C. Beck : The Photometry of a 

 Bull's-Eye Lens for I Illuminating Microscopic Objects — Dr. S. C. 

 Harland and J. H. Denham : The Use of the Microscope in Cotton 

 Research.— Dr. R. S. Ludford : The Morphology and Physiology of 

 the Nucleolus.— H. Sutcliffe: The Use of the Microscope in the 

 Rubber Industry. 



THURSDAY, APRIL 20. 

 liONDOX Mathematical Society (at Royal Astronomical Society), 

 at 5. 



Institution of Mining and Metallurgy (at Geological Society), 



Ht 5,30, 



Child-Study Society (at Royal Sanitary Institute), at 6. 

 Institute of Metals (London Section) (Annual General Meeting 



at Shaftesburj' Hotel, Great St. Andrew Street. W.C.l), at 8.— 



H. Moore : The Ball Hardness Test. 



FRIDAY, APRIL 21. 



Institute of Transport (at Royal Society of Arts), at 5. — -J. K. 

 Bruce: The Operation of a Large Tramway Undertalang, with 

 reference to Capacity and Cost under given Conditions. 



CONTENTS. p,GE 



Oxford and Cambridge and the Royal Commission . 465 



The First European Civilisation. {Ilhtstrated.) By 

 Prof. R. C. Bosanquet 466 



Turbulence as a Meteorological Agency. By Sir 

 Napier Shaw, F.R.S 469 



NO. 2737, VOL. 109] 



(ZQV)!i^Vi!c&— {continued). p^^,^ 



Forensic Chemistry 470 



The " Index Kewensis " 472 



Mental Measurement 472 



Statistical Method. By G. U. Y 473 



Surveying for Oil Geologists 474 



The Fourth Dimension. By Dr. S. Brodetsky . . 474 



Our Bookshelf 475 



Letters to the Editor :— 



The Atomic Vibrations in the Molecules of Benzenoid 



Substances.— Prof. R. Robinson, F.R.S. . . 476 

 Transport of Organic Substances in Plants.— Prof. 



S. Mangham 476 



Pricked Letters and Ultimate Ratios. — Prof. F. 



Cajori ......... 477 



Einstein's Aberration Experiment. {With diagram.) 



—Prof. C. V. Raman 477 



The Weathering of Mortar. {Illustrated). — C. 



Carus-Wilson . 478 



Metchnikoff (Mefnikov) and Russian Science in 1883. 



— Dr. B. Brauner 478 



The Accuracy of Tide - predicting Machines. — 



H. A'. Marmer ; Dr. A. T. Doodson . . 479 



Pythagoras's Theorem as a Repeating Pattern. — 



Major P. A. MacMahon, F.R.S. . • -479 

 The Age of the Earth. ( With diagrams. ) By Prof. 

 J. Joly, F.R.S 480 



Recovery of Hughes's Original Microphones and 

 Other Instruments of Historic Interest. By A. 

 Campbell Swinton, F.R.S 



485 

 485 

 486 



Obituary 



Current Topics and Events .... 

 Our Astronomical Column :— 



Evening Stars ........ 488 



The Distances of the Short -Period Cepheid Variables 488 

 Research Items 489 



Auxiliary International Languages. By Prof F. G. 

 Donnan, F.R.S 491 



The Properties of Powders. {Illustrated) . 



The International Petroleum Commission . 



Facilities for Foreign Students in American Colleges 

 and Universities 



496 

 497 



497 

 498 



University and Educational Intelligence . 



Calendar of Industrial Pioneers 499 



Societies and Academies 499 



Diary of Societies 5°° 



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 Rates of NATURE see p. cxix. 



