50 



NATURE 



[September 9, 1915 



and poisonous to the system, e.g. mercuric chloride. 

 The efficiency of a disinfectant is probably always 

 reduced more or less by the albuminous constituents 

 of the discharge from the wound. In a paper entitled 

 " On J:he Use of Certain Antiseptic Substances in the 

 Treatment of Infected Wounds " (Brit. Med. Journal, 

 August 28, 1915, p. 318), by Dr. H. D. Dakin, of the 

 Herter Laboratory, New York, some of the limitations 

 of the commonly-used substances are detailed, and 

 means for obviating them are discussed. Thus hypo- 

 chlorite of soda is very active, but always contains free 

 alkali, which is irritating. If, however, it be mixed 

 with a weak polybasic acid, the latter will neutralise 

 the free alkali without decomposing the hypochlorite. 

 A solution of suitable concentration for direct applica- 

 tion to wounds, containing o-5-o-6 per cent, of sodium 

 hypochlorite, may be prepared as follows : — 140 grams 

 of dry sodium carbonate (NajCO,), or 400 grams of 

 the crystalline salt (washing soda) is dissolved in 

 10 litres of tap-water, and 200 grams of chloride of 

 lime (bleaching powder) are added. The mixture is well 

 shaken, allowed to stand for half an hour; the clear 

 liquid is then syphoned off from the precipitate of 

 calcium carbonate and filtered through cotton-wool. 

 To the clear filtrate 40 grams of boric acid are added, 

 and when dissolved the resulting solution is ready for 

 use, but it should not be kept longer than one week. 

 It may be used for continued irrigation of wounds up 

 to I, or even 2, litres a day without harm. Other 

 chlorinated organic compounds (certain chloroamides) 

 are also being tested. 



Discussions of the anemographic observations re- 

 corded at Jubbulpore from May, 1889, to April, 1900, 

 and at Belgaum from May, 188 1, to April, 1904, are 

 given as Nos. 5 and 6 of the Memoirs of the Indian 

 Meteorological Department, vol. xix. The discussions 

 have been carried out by W. A. Harwood, and an 

 introduction is given by Dr. G. T. Walker, 

 Director-General of Observatories in India. Some 

 notes were left by Sir John Eliot on the Belgaum 

 observations. Faulty exposure and inefficient work- 

 ing are alluded to as occasioning some discrepancies. 

 Jubbulpore is at an elevation of 1327 ft. above sea- 

 level, and a detailed description is given of the station. 

 The climate is divided into three seasons : the dry, 

 cool season, from October to February ; the dry, hot 

 season, from March to May; and the rainy season, 

 from June to September. The variation of wind 

 direction and velocity is given for each of these seasons 

 and for the year, also for the several hours in each 

 month, and details are shown both in a tabular form 

 and graphically. Storm winds are also dealt with. 

 Belgaum is 2539 ft. above sea-level, and the observa- 

 tions are similarly treated to those at Jubbulpore, the 

 discussion being made separately for the cool season 

 commencing in October and ending in February; the 

 hot season in March, April, and May; and the south- 

 west monsoon season in June and September. 



In the Journal of the Royal Statistical Society for 



July Mr. S. Rosenbaum analyses the effects of the 



war on the overseas trade of the United Kingdom. 



In order to estimate the probable value of the trade 



NO. 2393, VOL. 96] 



in each of the five months, August-December, 19 14, 

 if no war had taken place, the trade in January-July is 

 multiplied by the average ratio, for each of the months, 

 in the years 1904-13. A basis is thus obtained for 

 separating, approximately at least, the effects of the 

 war from the normal course of trade. So estimated, 

 the collapse of the export trade due to the war was 

 about 97,ooo,oooZ. in the first five months — a decline 

 that was widely spread over nearly all classes of ex- 

 ports. If exports are valued on the basis of peace 

 prices this decline is slightly lessened. Of the total 

 export trade lost about 22,000,000/. would have taken 

 place with enemy countries. As regards imports, the 

 shrinkage was approximately 67 millions, or about 

 one-fifth of the expected imports, but the ratio was a 

 steadily declining one. It must be remembered, how- 

 ever, in this case that a considerable rise in prices 

 partly masked the decline ; in volume the decline must 

 have been about one-fourth. Details are given in the 

 paper for the several classes of exports and imports, 

 and in the latter part some analysis is presented of 

 the figures for January-April, 1915. During these 

 months the state of affairs was largely altered. While 

 exports were still heavily down, in February, March, 

 and April the value of imports was greater than in the 

 corresponding months of 1914, and this was a real 

 increase, not in values only, but also in volume. 



In the same issue of the Journal there is a paper 

 by Mr. Bernard Mallet and Mr. Strutt, in continuation 

 of a paper published by Mr. Mallet in 1908, on the 

 multiplier necessary for converting the value of estates 

 passing at death, and declared for estate duty, into 

 the value of capital wealth in the hands of the living. 

 The value of the multiplier, 24, reached in the earlier 

 paper was thought on several grounds to be too low, 

 and the problem has now been re-attacked. The 

 chief source of error was the assumption of too high a 

 rate of mortality. Taking figures more nearly corre- 

 sponding to the estate-leaving class the multiplier is 

 raised to 28. Rather unexpectedly an often-suggested 

 source of possible error — gifts inter vivos — it is argued, 

 does not, in fact, affect the results, though this con- 

 clusion was disputed in the discussion that followed. 

 A further amendment of the mortality rates used, made 

 in reply to criticisms offered, suggests that the multi- 

 plier might be further raised to 30. Even this multi- 

 plier gives a value of total capital in the hands of the 

 living of only 10,776,000,000/., a value some two or 

 three thousand millions less than that of several other 

 estimates. 



In his concluding article on modern bullets in war 

 and sport in Engineering for August 27, Fleet- 

 Surgeon C. Marsh Beadnell says that hard-nosed 

 bullet wounds of the lung are not as a rule fatal. 

 When a hollow organ such as the stomach is per- 

 forated by a bullet, it sustains more damage if it 

 contains fluid than if empty. The author fired a 

 0-303 bullet at a sheep's stomach, in the one case 

 when it was full of water, and in the other case when 

 empty, with the following results. The aperture in 

 each wall of the empty organ was 0-2 in. ; the aperture 

 in the first wall of the full stomach was also 0-2 in., 



