524 



NA TURE 



[March 28, 190J 



We have the pleasure of congratulating Mr. T. Southwell, of 

 Norwich, on the appearance, in the February number of the 

 Zoologist, oiX^Cit. twentieth annual issue of his valuable "Notes 

 on the Seal and Whale Fishery. " The season's catch included 

 16 whales, 494 walruses, 53 seals and 145 bears, which yielded 

 230 tuns of oil and arg cwt. of whalebone ; in addition to which 

 was the product of i whale, 138 walruses and 3400 seals, equal 

 to 60 tuns of oil and 10 cwt. of "bone " from the Cumberland 

 Gulf station. With oil at 22/, per tun, and sizable "bone "at 

 1400/. per ton, the estimated value of the take would be about 

 30,000/., as against 38,000/. in 1899. Owing to the bays in 

 which they are usually beached being blocked with ice, no white 

 whales were taken. Mr. Southwell is informed that the Green- 

 land seas, [are not to be visited by any British whalers during 

 the coming season. Commenting on the practical disappearance 

 of the right whale from the Greenland seas, the author doubts 

 whether this can be attributed to extermination, but is at a loss 

 to determine where the remnant have gone. " As to the seals, 

 the case is much more simple ; the destruction year after year 

 of a very, large proportion, often virtually of the whole brood 

 and of a large number of old seals in addition, congregated in a 

 limited area, must inevitably tell in course of time, and sooner 

 or later reduce the breeding pack to such an extent that they 

 would be no longer worth pursuing, and eyen lead to their final 

 extermination. This has doubtless, to a very large extent, been 

 the case. The British vessels have quite abandoned the pursuit, 

 and what there is left of the Greenland sealing is now quite in 

 the hands'of the Scandinavians, whose more economical outfits 

 enable them to continue the struggle long after we have been 

 driven froni the field." ' 



A BULKY volume just issued by the Government of India 

 contains accounts of the trade carried by rail and river in India 

 in the official year 1899-1900 and the four preceding years, 

 compiled under the direction of the director-general of statistics, 



A COLLECTION of tables showing the rainfall recorded on 

 each day of every month from 1868 to 1899 at Dehra Dun has 

 been issued by the Survey of India Department. The daily, 

 monthly and. annual means are also given. 



The following lectures will be given at the Royal Victoria 

 Hall, Waterloo Road, during April, on Tuesday evenings : — 

 " Waves and Oscillations," Mr. A. W. Porter ; '• Wild Nature 

 a,t Home," Mr. R. Kearton ; " Arctic Discovery," Captain 

 Wiggins ; " Our Field Crops as a Factory of Food," Mr. J. S. 

 Dymond ; "Facts about India: Plague and Famine," Mr. 

 Birdwood. 



We have received a copy of Ktihlow's German Trade Review 

 and Exporter. This paper is published in Berlin but is 

 written in English, and contains some interesting translations 

 from German and other technical papers on recent electrical 

 work. The main object of the journal is to introduce German 

 productions to foreign markets, and it is noteworthy as an 

 example of the energy and perseverance with which the 

 Germans are pushing their export trade. 



The Rendiconto of the Bologna Academy (iii. i) contains 

 a" paper, by Prof. Ferdinando Paolo Ruffini, on the moments 

 of inertia of a system of points not possessing a mass centre. 

 The author examines, with the aid of certain formulae already 

 indicated by the late Prof. Beltrami, the disposition in space of 

 the axes which in a given system of points having no mass 

 centre (the sum of the mass constants being zero) have a given 

 moment of inertia. The quadrics which are analogous to the 

 ellipsoids of inertia in an ordinary system are also discussed. 



In a recent number of the Revue ginerale des Sciences Prof. 

 A. Haller describes the contact process of sulphuric acid manu- 

 facture as used by the Badische Anilin- und Soda-Fabrik. In 

 NO. 1639. VOL. 63] 



this process a mixture of sulphur dioxide and air is brought into 

 contact with platinised asbestos at the proper temperature. 

 The platinised asbestos is placed on perforated trays, supported 

 in an upright tube which is so arranged that it can be heated 

 or cooled by means of a current of air. The temperature at 

 which the best results may be obtained depends upon the con-, 

 centration of the sulphur dioxide and must be sufficiently high 

 to start the reaction, but lower than the dissociation temperature 

 of sulphur trioxide. A similar process has been in operation 

 for a considerable time in this country and in Germ.any for 

 preparing " Nordhausen " acid, but it has been found only 

 workable when the mixture of sulphur dioxide and oxygen is. 

 pure, such as the mixture obtained from sulphuric acid by drop- 

 ping it on to hot platinum. Presence of water vapour and other 

 impurities causes the platinised asbestos to become inactive. In, 

 the Badische Fabrik process the sulphur dioxide is obtained by 

 burning pyrites, and complete combustion of the sulphur and. 

 other oxidisable matter is attained by blowing jets of air and 

 steam into the hot gas just as it issues from the burners. The; 

 gas is then washed and dried by passing through sulphuric acid. 

 Before passing into the "contact" apparatus the mixture is. 

 examined optically, and must show no trace of cloudiness when 

 viewed through a long tube. It is also chemically examined 

 and must be free from arsenic. By proper regulation of the 

 temperature up to 99 per cent, of the sulphur dioxide is con- 

 verted into sulphur trioxide. The sulphur trioxide is dissolved 

 in water, and for the production of acid of higher concentration 

 than 60 per cent, the process is more economical than the lead 

 chamber method. The claim is also made that better acid is 

 produced, since it contains no arsenic, nitric compounds or 

 lead. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during 

 the past week include a Rhesus Monkey {Macacus rhesus) fron> 

 India, presented by Mrs. F. Page ; a Green Monkey {Cerco- 

 pithecus callitrichus) from West Africa, presented by Mrs. 

 Horrell ; a Senegal Touracou ( Turacus persa), a Great-billed 

 Touracou (Ttiraius fnacrorhynchus) from West Africa, pre- 

 sented by Mr. G. A. Corder ; a Goshawk {Astur palumbaritis), 

 European, presented by Mr. C. Schaible ; four Chameleons 

 {Chamaeleon vulgaris) from North Africa, presented by Mr. W. 

 F. Cornelius; a Lesser White-nosed Monkey {Cercopithecus 

 peiaurista) from West Africa, a Grey Ichneumon {Herpestes 

 griseus) from India, deposited ; a Tasmanian Wolf ( Tkylacinus 

 cynocephalus) from Van Dieman's Land, received in exchange. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 

 Astronomical Occurrences IN April. 

 April I. I5h. 56m. Transit (egress) of Jupiter's Sat. III. 



2. 8h. 23m. Minimum of Algol (/8 Persei). 



3. i8h. om. Mercury at greatest elongation, 27° 48' 



West. 



4. iih. 59m. to I3h. i8m. Moon occults B.AC , 4531 



(mag. 57). 

 7. i5h. 59m. to I7h. 19m. Moon occults w^ Scorpii 



(mag. 4-6). ' 



7. i6h. 5m. to i6h. 20m. Moon occults e*' Scorpii 



(mag. 4-1). 

 15. Saturn. Outer minor axis of outer ring = I5"'96. 

 15. Venus. Illuminated portion of disc = 0*998. 

 15. Mar.?. Illuminated portion of disc = 0924. 

 20-21. Epoch of Lyrid meteoric shower (Radiant 270'* 



+ 33°)- 

 22. loh. 5m. Minimum of Algol ()8 Per«e)). 

 22. loh.. 25m. to iih. iim. Moon occults x" Orionis, 



(mag. 5-9). ^ 



27. 7h. 40m. to 8h. 31m. Moon occults 19 Sextantis 



(mag. 6"o). - 



30. I oh. Jupiter stationary. 



