446 



NATURE 



[December i6, 1915 



chlorohydrin of glycerol. — E. A. Mattel : The con- 

 tamination of subterranean waters as a consequence 

 of the war. An example is given of contamination 

 of a water supply persisting for a whole year, and the 

 necessity of special precautions in maintaining the 

 purity of potable water is pointed out. It must not 

 be taken for granted that after a certain lapse of time 

 processes of self-purification are sufficient. — J. 

 Bergonid : A new method of surgical radioscopy in red 

 light.— A. Renault, L. Fournier, and L. Gu6not : Five 

 hundred and fifty cases of syphilis treated by an 

 organic compound of arsenic, silver bromide, and anti- 

 monyl. Further experiments on treatment of syphilis 

 with the compound proposed by M. Danysz under the 

 name of " 102." It has the special advantage that 

 there is a wide range between the parasitic dose and 

 the toxic dose. The therapeutic effects are comparable 

 with those of arseno-benzene. . The preparation 

 possesses great stability, the treatment is simple and 

 without danger, and extremely efficacious. 



BOOKS RECEIVED. 



A Text-Book of Inorganic Chemistry. Edited by 

 Dr. J. Newton Friend. Vol. viii. : The Halogens and 

 their Allies. By Dr. G. Martin and E. A. Doncaster. 

 Pp xviii + 337. (London : C. Griffin and Co., Ltd.) 

 I05. 6d. net. 



The British Warblers. By H. E. Howard. Two 

 vols. (London : R. H. Porter.) lol. los. net. 



The Book of Matriculations and Degrees. Pp. 

 xvi + 315. (Cambridge: At the University Press.) 

 125. 6d. net. 



Memoirs of the Queensland Museum. Vol. iv. 

 Edited by Dr. R. Hamlyn-Harris. Pp. 365. (Bris- 

 bane : A. J. Cumming.) 



Submarines : their Mechanism and Operation. By 



F. A. Talbot. Pp. x + 274. (London : W. Heine- 

 mann.) 35. 6d. net. 



Archaic Sculpturings. By L. M. Mann. Pp. 52. 

 (Edinburgh and London : W. Hodge and Co.) 25. 6d. 

 net. 



Roald Amundsen's Antarctic Expedition. Scientific 

 Results : Meteorology. By H. Mohn. Pp. 78. (Kris- 

 tiania : H. J. Dybwad.) 



Rural Sanitation in the Tropics. By Dr. M. Wat- 

 son. Pp. xvi + 320. (London : J. Murray.) 12s. net. 



Ticks. Part ii., Bibliography of the Ixodoidea II. 

 By Prof. G. H. F. Nuttall and L. E. Robinson. Pp. 

 32. Part iii.. The Genus Haemaphysalis. Bj^ Prof. 



G. H. F. Nuttall and C. Warburton. Pp. xiii + 349- 

 .^50 + plates viii-xiii. (Cambridge: At the University 

 Press.) 45. 6d. net and 125. net respectively. 



Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. 

 Year Book for 1915. Pp. xvii+177. (Washington, 



My Growing Garden. By J. H. McFarland. Pp. 

 xiii + 216. (New York : The Macmillan Co. ; London : 

 Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) Ss. 6d. net. 



Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. 

 Vol. li. Part i. (No. 4) : The Temperatures, Specific 

 Gravities, and Salinities of the Weddell Sea and of 

 the North and South Atlantic Ocean. Bv Dr. W. S. 

 Bruce, A. King, and D. W. Wilton. "^Pp. 71-169. 

 (Edinburgh : R. Grant and Son ; London : Williams 

 and Norgate.) 85. 3d. 



A Manual of Soil Physics. By Prof. P. B. Barker 

 and H. J. Youngf. Pp. vi+ioi. (Boston and Lon- 

 don : Ginn and Co.) 35. 



A Treatise on the Theory of Invariants. By Prof. 

 O. E. Glenn. Pp. x + 245. (Boston and London : 

 Ginn and Co.) 105. 6d. net. 



A Voyage in Space. By Prof. H. H. Turner. Pp. 

 xvi + 304. (London: S.P.C.K.) 6s. net. 

 NO. 2407, VOL. 96] 



DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 



THURSDAY, December i6. 



Royal Society of Arts, at 4.30.— The Indian Jute Industry: C. C. 

 McLeod. 



Institution of Electrical Enginebrs, at 8.— The Design of High- 

 ptessure Distribution Systems: J. R. Beard. 



RovAi. Geographical hociETV, at 5.— The Nature and Formation of Sand 

 Ripples and Dunes: W. J. Harding King. 



LiNNEAN Society, at 5.— The Structure and History of Play : The Floating 

 Fen of the Delta of the Danube : Mi>s Marietta Pallis. — The Seed-mass 

 and Dispersal of Helkborus foetidus, Linn. : T. A. Dymes.— Sample of 

 "Figuted Ebony," with Specimens of Walking-sticks Manufactured 

 from it: B. Daydon Jackson. — The Reproduction of Protodrilus : 

 E. S. Goodrich. 



Institution of Mining and Metallurgy, at 8. — Influence of Heat in 



Cyaniding Gold Ores: E. A. Wraight.— Clay : Its Relation to Ore 



Dressing and Cyaniding Operations: A. W. Allen.— Wolframite Mining 



in the lavoy District, Lower Burma : E. Maxwell-Lefroy. 



FRIDAY, December 17. 



Institution 07 Mechanical Engineers, at 6.— Engineering Colleges 

 and the War : Dr. R. MuUineux Walmsley and C. E. Larard. 

 MONDAY, Df.cember 20. 



Aristotelian Society, at 8. — The Common-sense Criterion of Reality : 

 J. W. Scott. 



TUESDAY, December 21. 



Institution of Petroleum 'Iechnologists, at 8.— The UraUk Province 

 and Its Oilfields : F. A. Holiday. 



Royal Statistical Society, at 5.15. 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



Industrial Research Laboratories 419 



Wireless Telegraphy and Time Signals ..... 420 



The Steam Engine. By T. H. B 421 



Mathematical Text-books 423 



Our Bookshelf 424 



Letters to the Editor:— 



Pre-Columbian Representations of the Elephant in 



America. — Prof. G. EUiot Smith, F.R.S. ... 425 

 Electric Conductivity of the Atmosphere. — Prof. 



Arthur Schuster, F.R.S . 425 



Viscosity of Cobbler's Wax.— Prof. John Perry, 



F.R.S 426 



The Cause of Fluted Weathering. {Illustrated.)— 



G. Abbott . 426 



Winter Thunderstorms. — Capt. Charles J. P. Cave 426 



The Quadranlid Meteors.— T. W. Backhouse . . . 426 



Laboratory Electric Furnaces. {With Diagrams.) . 426 



Oils and Fats .... 42S 



The Dye Famine in America and the Proposed 



Remedy. By G. T. M 429 



Optical Investigation of Ether-drift 430 



Science and War 431 



Notes 433 



Our Astronomical Column :— 



Comet 1915^ (Taylor) 43S 



Spectroscopic Orbit of 12 Lacertse 438 



The Use of the Blink-Microscope 438 



The Structure of the Spectrum of the So nCoiona . 438 



Areas of Absorption Markings on Spectroheliograms . 439 

 The Corrosion of Metals. By Prof. H. C. H. 



Carpenter 439 



Viscosity of Oils 439 



Queensland Rainfall. By R. C. M 440 



Chemistry of Fire and Explosives 440 



The Minute Life of the Sea. By M. V. L 441 



Atmospheric Pollution. {With Diagrams.) By Prof. 



W. P. Wynne, F.R.S • 442 



University and Educational Intelligence 444 



Societies and Academies 444 



Books Received 446 



Diary of Societies 446 



Editorial and Publishing Offices: 



MACMILLAN & CO., Ltd., 



ST. MARTIN'S STREET. LONDON, W.C. 



Advertisements and business letters to be addressed to the 

 Publishers 



Editorial Communications to the Editor. 

 Telegraphic Address: Phusis, London. 

 Telephone Number : Gerrard 8830. 



