5io 



NATURE 



[August 29, 19 18 



far inland. From Trieste to Constantinople the sea- 

 board shows Mediterranean influences. There are 

 traces of Venetian civilisation in Serbia, but too few 

 to be mapped. Magyar civilisation was a later in- 

 fluence, but it has spread widely and deeply along 

 the main routes. Naturally, it is felt most in cities. 

 Finally, Prof. Cvijic notes the tendency, especially in 

 Serbia, to create a new endemic civilisation out of 

 the mingling and fusion of other civilisations. The 

 depth and power of spreading of that national civilisa- 

 tion will be a determining influence in the Balkans in 

 future years. 



A PAPER by the late Mr. R. C. Burton on "The 

 Laterite of Leoni, Central Provinces" (Records Geol. 

 Surv. India, vol. xlviii., p. 204, 1917), revives the 

 frequently expressed view that some pisolitic laterites, 

 at any rate, have accumulated by deposition as lacus- 

 trine strata. Grey bauxite is interbedded with laterite 

 at Aturwani, and must have had a similar origin. 

 Near Magarkatta, bright red lithomarge, passing into 

 a brecciated condition, contains veins of kaolinite. 

 Mr. Burton, who died from wounds received in the 

 present war, was probably unable to examine the most 

 recent literature on the interbasaltic rocks of Ireland, 

 where similar associations have been recorded, and 

 where pisolitic structure occurs within the bole that 

 results from the decay of basaltic lavas by penetrating 

 influences from above. He refers, however, to the 

 views of Forbes and Mallet, who accepted a lacus- 

 trine origin, and to those of Lacroix (1913) as to the 

 formation of concretionary pisolite in siiti. Where, as 

 the author believed to be the case in Leoni, the limits 

 of the laterite coincide with those of a former lake, 

 the pisolitic structure may well be a feature of original 

 deposition. 



Korea is maintaining its claim to systematic regis- 

 tration of climatic conditions, as shown in the issue of 

 the annual meteorological report for the year 1916, 

 compiled under the direction of the Government- 

 General of Chosen (Korea). Hourly observations 

 made at Jinsen (Che-mul-po) are given for each 

 month for air pressure, air teihperature, relative 

 humidity, direction and speed of wind, hours 

 with sunshine by Jordan's recorder, and remarks 

 showing the character of general and exceptional 

 weather. Monthly and annual results at twelve 

 stations well scattered over the peninsula from four- 

 hourly observations are given for the elements already 

 mentioned, as well as for tension of water vapour, 

 precipitation, evaporation, direction of upper clouds, 

 and surface temperature of earth. There are results 

 of observations of air temperature and precipitation 

 at 182 auxiliary meteorological stations, many of 

 which are lighthouses, where observations are made 

 three times daily. The volume also contains results 

 of seismic observations at Jinsen. S. map is given at 

 the end of the report showing the geographical dis- 

 tribution of meteorological, climatological, and rain- 

 gauge stations in Korea at the end of 1916. The 

 whole of the peninsula is well covered by observations. 

 Tn summarising the work done, mention is made of 

 improvements in the routine work as the result of 

 the decision of the congress of the directors of all the 

 meteorological stations of the Japanese Empire held in 

 Tokyo. The present volume shows an increase from 

 nine to twelve in the number of branch meteorological 

 stations. It is noteworthy that special attention is 

 given to the selection of a suitable site in the matter 

 of an observatory. Change has been made in the 

 position of the building at Talkd. Improvements have 

 been made in the issue of weather forecasts and storm 

 warnings. Experience shows that a gale caused by a 

 NO. 2548, VOL. lOl] 



cyclone passing through the peninsula ceases generally 

 within about twenty-four hours, so it has been deter- 

 mined that the effective interval of a warning is 

 twenty-four hours from the time of issue. 



An interesting gravitational problem, with a bearing 

 on the theory of coral reefs, has lately been studied 

 by Motonori Matsuyama (Memoirs of the College of 

 Science, Kyoto Imperial University, vol. iii.. No. 2, 

 February, 1918). Using an Eotvos gravity-vario- 

 meter, he has determined the second derivatives of 

 the gravitational potential (the complete set of these 

 derivatives defines the space variations of the first 

 derivative, i.e. of the gravitational acceleration or 

 force, which was not measured and remains still un- 

 known) in the Jaluit Atoll. This atoll (169° E., 6° N.) 

 is situated at the southern end of the Ralick chain of 

 the Marshall Islands. The shallow lagoon, of irregular 

 rhombic shape (the diagonals being about 30 km. and 

 50 km. in length), is surrounded by a narrow coral 

 reef about half a kilometre wide, with its top just at 

 the level of low water. On this reef low banks of 

 coral, sand, and debris, rising just above high water, 

 form a chain of discontinuous islets. The island is 

 situated in a sea which at ten kilometres distance 

 from the atoll is four kilometres deep. The study of 

 the gravitational field on an isolated island of very 

 simple construction is calculated to throw light on the 

 state of mass distribution under the atoll. The coral 

 reef is built on a denser foundation, probably of vol- 

 canic origin, and the diff^erences of density between 

 the water, the reef, and the foundation are to some 

 extent known. The problem which the gravitational 

 data help to solve is that of the distribution and depth 

 of the coral. After various instrumental and other 

 corrections (for the effect of tides, the oblateness of the 

 geoid, etc.) had been applied to the observed second 

 derivatives of the potential, these were compared with 

 the second derivatives theoretically calculated, on 

 various assumptions as to the depth of the coral reef 

 and the density of the foundation. For convenience^ in 

 the numerical integrations employed, the foundation 

 was supposed flat ; three values were assumed for its 

 density, viz. 26, 28, and 30. The "effective" depths 

 determined for the coral reef ranged from 243 to 

 1000 metres. 



E. Elod (Elektrotechnische Zeitschrift, March 21) 

 has carried out experiments from which he concludes 

 that during the formation of nitric oxide by the elec- 

 tric arc in the production of nitric acid from the air, 

 the electric discharge causes the nitrogen and oxygen 

 to split up into atoms, so as to be Capable of pro- 

 ducing chemical reactions. 



The use of black millet {Sorghum vulgare) for the 

 production of alcohol has been suggested in Ger- 

 many (Zeitschrift fiir angewandte Chemie, April 23), 

 for which purpose it possesses suitable properties. 

 The food-value of the grain is high, so that its cul- 

 tivation, which costs no more than wheat or rye, is 

 recommended to the farmer as being a paying crop. 

 The use of the " straw " as a source of cellulose or 

 alcohol would make the .crop doubly valuable. Ac- 

 cording to recent French notices, the cultivation of 

 sorghum for the production of sugar has been widely 

 suggested. 



According to the Zeitschrift fiir angewandte Chemie 

 for Mav 17, at a recent meeting of the German Bunsen 

 Society the question of the production of synthetic 

 rubber was discussed, and its possibilities as a sub- 

 stitute for the natural product considered. In spite 

 of the difficulty of obtaining material, 150 metric tons 



