May 6, 1920] 



NATURE 



3« 



the application of poisons or deterrents in the 

 _ sld is useless. Dry heat is unsatisfactory, as tem- 

 peratures that destroy the weevils kill the seeds also; 

 sulphuf is unsuccessful, but fumigation of well- 

 matured and dry seeds with carbon bisulphide gives 

 good results. Damp seeds should not be treated. 

 Contrary to expectation, it was found that fumigating 

 while the insects were in the larval stage was less 

 effective than if done in the adult stage, as the gas 

 cannot penetrate into the interior of the bean to the 

 irtly grown larvae as easily as it can reach the full- 

 lown larvae, pupae, or adults directlv under the 

 M^ed-ront. ' W. E. B. 



Canadian Water- Power Development. 



AN interesting article in the Engineer of April 9 

 by Mr. Leo. G. Dennis, Hydro-electric Engineer 

 of the Canadian Commission of Conservation, reviews 

 the situation in regard to Canadian water-power 

 development. From it we have gathered the fol- 

 lowing particulars indicating the remarkable growth 

 since the commencement of the century. 



In 1900 less than 200,000 h.p. was utilised, as com- 

 pared with 2,383,240 h.p. now available, according to 

 the most recent returns, subdivided as follows : — 



Province. 



Ontario 



Quebec 



British Columbia 

 Manitoba 



Alberta 



Nova Scotia 

 New Brunswick 



Yukon 



Prince Edward Island 

 Saskatchewan ... 



Horse-power. 



... 1,000,000 



900,000 



310,000 



78,600 



32,500 



30,000 



17,000 



13,400 



1,700 



40 



Of the total electric central station installation of 

 2,107,743 h.p., no less than 1,806,618 h.p., or more 

 than 85 per cent., is in hydro-electric stations, and these 

 are remarkable for their large size. Forty per cent, 

 is in plants of 100,000 h.p. and more, and another 

 42 f>er cent, in plants between 10,000 and 100,000 h.p. 

 Particularly worthy of note are two large hydro- 

 electric systems in Eastern Canada. The Niagara 

 system is supplied mainly from plant of 211,300 h.p., 

 and transmits to some 150 municipal distribution 

 centres. The Shawinigan system is fed from plants 

 with a total capacity of 270,000 h.p., and, directly or 

 indirectly, supplies some S5 distributing systems. 



Water-power is an important factor in many 

 Canadian industries, but in none so essentially as in 

 the case of pulp and paper manufacture. Of a total 

 of 525,000 h.p. installed for this purpose, at least 

 475,000 h.p. is derived from hydraulic sources. From 

 an economic point of view it is probable that if water- 

 power had not been available, pulp in many cases 

 could not be manufactured at all. 



Canada's potential water-power resources are placed 

 by recent estimates at 18,832,000 h.p., subdivided 

 provincially as follows : 



Province. Horse-power. 



Quebec 6,000,000 



Ontario 5,800,000 



British Columbia ... ... 3,000,000 



Manitoba 2,797,000 



Alberta 462,000 



New Brunswick 300,000 



Saskatchewan 220,000 



Nova Scotia ... ... ... 100,000 



Yukon ... ... ... ... 100,000 



North-West Territories ... 50,000 



Prince Edward Island ... 3,000 

 NO. 2636, VOL. 105] 



In Ontario, the Niagara and St. Lawrence powers 

 are the outstanding features, although the figures in 

 regard to the former have been at times exaggerated. 

 Bearing in mind that it is an international source, 

 the theoretical total available for Canada is about 

 2,300,000 h.p. But only about one-third of that 

 quantity is at present available for exploitation. The 

 large power plants installed below the Falls have not 

 so far utilised the descent in the river below the 

 cataract, but this mistake is not being repeated bv 

 the Chippawa-Queenston project, which will add 

 200,000 h.p. to the total installation. It will embrace 

 the maximum possible head of 316 ft. The St. 

 Lawrence powers are also partly international, and 

 are estimated as follows : 



Province or 

 State. 



Ontario .. 

 New York 

 Quebec 



Available 

 low-water 

 horse- power. 

 387.500 

 387,500 

 ■1,375,000 



2,150,000 



Besides its share of the St. Lawrence and Ottawa 

 River powers, Quebec has other important possibili- 

 ties, notably on the St. Maurice River and in the 

 Sagaway basin. The present capacity of plants at 

 Shawinigan and Grand 'm^re in the Upper St. Maurice 

 is 330,000 h.p., and there is expectation of this figure 

 being doubled at no distant date. 



The Solar Eclipse of May, 1919. 



pROF. L. A. BAUER contributes an article on this 

 -*■ eclipse to a recent issue of Science. He notes the 

 new interest which eclipses have recently acquired, 

 first from their effect on terrestrial magnetism, and 

 secondly from the gravitational deflection of light. 

 The Carnegie Institution of Washington sent two 

 parties to stations inside the zone of totality ; Prof. 

 Bauer himself occupied Cape Palmas, Liberia, while 

 Messrs. Wise and Thomson went to Sobral, Brazil. 

 There were three other stations outside the zone, and 

 most of the magnetic observatories co-operated in a 

 scheme of observations. The detailed results are not 

 yet available. 



Cape Palmas has a bad weather record, but this 

 was of little importance for the magnetic work. The 

 sun was very high, and the duration of totality, 

 6m. 33s., was probably the longest that a scientific 

 party has ever enjoyed. As it turned out, the sky was 

 clear, and small-scale photographs of the corona were 

 secured. These were, however, subsidiary to the 

 main work, of which Prof. Bauer says: "There were 

 clear indications of a magnetic effect. ... As the 

 station was nearly on the magnetic equator, the effect 

 was specially noticeable , . . upon the magnetic dip." 

 He notes that the darkness was not nearly so great as 

 at the much shorter eclipse of 1918, perhaps owing to 

 the greater brightness of the corona. The fall of tem- 

 perature was nearly 3° F., the minimum being some 

 twentv-four minutes after totality; the maximum of 

 humidity synchronised with this minimum. Shadow 

 bands were' not seen here, but they were observed at 

 Sobral by Mr. Thomson. 



Dr. Abbot and Mr. Moore observed the eclipse from 

 La Paz, Bolivia, where the sun's altitude was only 

 5°. but their altitude of 14,000 ft. compensated for 

 ithis. "Taking into account the great length and 

 beautv of the coronal streamers, the splendid crimson 

 prominence . . . the snow-rovered mountains as a 

 background, it seemed to the observers the grandest 

 eclipse that thev had seen." Besides photographing 

 the corona, their special work was the measurernent 



