February 14, 19 18] 



NATURE 



479 



the washed growth, in presence of the three-type 

 ra, gives valuable information. It is, however, appar- 

 ently not so delicate a test. for the presence of E. tetani 

 as is animal inoculation after culture of the wound- 

 exudate.^Dr. J. Brownlee : An investigatipn into the 

 periodicity of measles epidemics in the different dis- 

 tricts of London for the years 1890-1912. In a previous 

 paper it was found that during the years investigated 

 the chief epidemic periodicities were respectively 87, 

 97, 109^, and 114 weeks, the most marked period being 

 that of 97 weeks. It is found now that the epidemic 

 with the 87 weeks' period occurs solely south of the 

 Thames, where it is a very marked phenomenon ; that 

 the epidemic with the 97 weeks' period, while very 

 marked in the whole of London, is especially marked 

 in the western district ; that the epidemic with the 

 roqi weeks' period is present throughout London with 

 the exception of the east, but is most marked in the 

 western districts; while that with the 114 weeks' period 

 i- most marked in the central districts and least present 

 in the eastern districts. The mpst important fact 

 found, however, is that the epidemics of different periods 

 have special phenomena of their own. In the case of 

 the chief period, that of 97 weeks, the epidemic prac- 

 tically breaks out synchronously in the whole city. In 

 the case of the epidemic with the 87 weeks' period a 

 quite different phenomenon is found, the permanent 

 seat of this epidemic being St. Saviour's or Bermond- 

 sey, whence the disease spreads to the neighbour- 

 ing districts. With regard to the period 1095 weeks, 

 there is evidence that, in both, the conditions just 

 described exist, this epidemic breaking out synchron- 

 ously in several districts and extending from these 

 to neighbouring districts. 



Rontgen Society, February 5.— Capt. G. W. C. Kaye, 

 president, in the chair. — Dr. G. B. Batten : A simple 

 method of obtaining " static currents " from an induc- 

 tion coil. One pole of the secondary winding is 

 earthed, while the other is connected, through a series 

 spark-gap and a series condenser, to the patient, who is 

 insulated from earth. The function of the condenser 

 is that of a high resistance, and the apparatus is most 

 effective when employed with the old type of coil with 

 a long and fine secondary winding. The main advan- 

 tages of the apparatus are that the method is not 

 affected by a cfamp atmosphere, and its cost is small. 

 Suitable adjustment of the spark-gaps enables any of 

 the six usual methods of application of static elec- 

 tricity to be given .^ — E. E. Burnside : A mobile Snook 

 apparatus. This is constructed on the same principle 

 as the larger pattern hitherto in use, but is made in a 

 more compact form by reducing the maximum spark- 

 gap to 7 in. Mr. Burnside also showed a small trans- 

 former constructed for employing the continuous-cur- 

 rent main supply to heat the spiral of the Coolidge 

 tube. A small rotary converter changes the direct 

 current into alternating current, which is stepiped down 

 to 12 volts by the static transformer. The secondary 

 is well insulated from the rest of the apparatus, and 

 regulation of the filament current is obtained by a vari- 

 able choke-coil in the primary circuit of the trans- 

 former. 



Manchester. 



Literary and Pliilosopliical Society, February 5.— Mr. 

 W. Thomson, president, in the chair.— Capt. L. Munn : 

 Ancient mines and megaliths in Hyderabad. During 

 his thirteen years' exoerience as Inspector of Mines to 

 the State of Hyderabad, Capt. Munn discovered large 

 numbers of ancient gold and copper mines, many of 

 them of great ;depth ^nd extent, of which no remem- 

 brance has persisted among the people. These mines, 

 as well as the old diamond pits, show the association 

 with megalithic monuments to which Perry directed the 

 NO. 2520, VOL. 100] 



attention of the society two years ago; but Capt. 

 Munn's discoveries are of peculiar importance, because 

 Perry was not aware of the presence of ancient gold 

 mines in Hyderabad, although he attached primary im- 

 portance to gold as the chief attraction of the mega- 

 lith-builders in other parts of the world. Capt. Munn 

 also discussed the interesting problem of the ancient 

 iron and steel workings in Hyderabad. — Prof. G. Elliot 

 Smith': The origin of early Siberian civilisation. At 

 least as early as 3000 B.C. the people who developed 

 Sumerian and Elamite civilisations at the head of the 

 Persian Gulf were already exploiting the country east 

 of the Caspian for copper, and probably turquoise and 

 jade also. It is highly probable that somewhere in the 

 neighbourhood of Meshed the art of making bronze was 

 discovered. The earliest prospectors came from the 

 shores of the Persian Gulf, and had already credited 

 pearls with certain remarkable magical properties. The 

 fact that the special appreciation of jade by the Chinese 

 is due to the mineral being credited with the same 

 powers of life-giving, birth-promoting, corpse-preserv- 

 ing, and luck-bringing as the pearl acquired on the 

 shores of the Erythraean Sea affords conclusive evi- 

 dence that the incentive to work jade did not originate 

 in China, as Laufer believes, but came from the 

 Khotan,Kashgar region, where the mineral acquired its 

 peculiar virtues by transference from the pearl, the 

 legends concerning which were brought to Turkestan 

 by miners from the south: The inspiration of the 

 early civilisations of both Central Asia and China came 

 directly from Turkestan, which in turn was influenced 

 early in the third millennium B.C. by miners from the 

 Erythraean coasts exploiting its gold and copper and 

 its precious stones. Some centuries later, when bronze 

 came into use, the deposits of tin in Transcaspiana 

 probably attracted men from all parts of the then 

 civilised world ; and the effect of this was that to the 

 Babylonian influence in Turkestan and Central Asia 

 was added that of the Mediterranean area. 



Petrograd. 

 Academy of Sciences, December, 1917.^ — V. I. Palladin : 

 The influence of wounds on plant respiration. — V. I. 

 Pavlov : Investigations on the luminescence of mercury 

 vapour under the action of low-velocity electrons. — 

 N. A. Abramenko : Sugar-beet cultivation by the 

 peasants of the Governments of Poland. . 



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