June io, 1920] 



NATURE 



465 



Bulletin- No. 22, part i., of the Geological Survey 

 of New Zealand, on the limestone resources of the 

 countr>', by Mr. P. G. Morgan, is really a treatise on 

 limestone and its uses, illustrated from occurrences 

 In New Zealand. It is thus exactly suited to local 

 requirements; but both it and its successor on the 

 phosphates will be welcomed in a much wider field. 

 .Utention is well given to the use of lime and of 

 ground limestone on the land. The literature to be 

 consulted is wide, but we note that all the papers 

 named as of a general character are of American 

 origin. We thus miss the work of Messrs. Hutchin- 

 son and MacLennan at Rothamsted, published in the 

 Journal of Agricultural Science in 1915. Mr. J. A. 

 Hanley's account of his experiments with various 

 limes in Yorkshire (Journ. Soc. Chem. Indust., 1918) 

 is probably too recent for inclusion, since communica- 

 tions have been disturbed bv war; but for some years 

 past there have been indications that authors and 

 publishing bodies in the United States have been 

 more mjndful than ourselves of libraries in the Pacific 

 rej:<ion. This should be a reminder for Britons, who 

 are the true begetters of the enterprising island folk. 



The Executive Committee of the Advisory Council 

 of Science and Industry of the Commonwealth of 

 Australia has issued the third and concluding part 

 of an exhaustive report by Dr. F. L. Stilhvell upon 

 the factors influencing gold deposition in the Bendigo 

 goldfield. As is well known, the mode of occurrence 

 of the gold reefs in this field is quite unique, and its. 

 peculiarities have given rise to much discussion, so 

 that the thorough investigation here presented should 

 be of great interest to all students of mineral deposits. 

 The general conclusions arrived at are that the form 

 of the reefs is due primarily to that of the original 

 fracture through which the depositing solutions have 

 percolated ; that all the large and important reefs 

 have been in some way associated with faults, the 

 latter being generally contemporaneous and connected 

 with the folding of the rocks, the faults having given 

 rise to a network of fractures which afforded a pas- 

 sage to the mineralising solutions ; and that the 

 deposition of the gold from these solutions has been 

 brought about in three ways : (i) Precipitation from 

 the auriferous solution ; (2) crystallisation from a 

 supersaturated solution ; and (3) crystallisation from 

 solutions the supersaturation of which is due to de- 

 creasing temperature after the main portion of the 

 gold has been precipitated. The first of these is the 

 most important method of deposition, and appears 

 to be closely connected with the presence of car- 

 bonaceous matter. 



In his address to the Royal Geographical Society 

 at the anniversary meeting on May 31, Lt.-Col. Sir 

 Francis Younghusband pleaded for a wider outlook 

 in geography and freedom from a strictly utilitarian 

 viewpoint. A knowled}:je of the beauty of the earth 

 niav be legitimately included within the scope of geo- 

 i^raphical science. Beauty of scenery in many 

 instances is the most noteworthy characteristic of a 

 countrv" and its most valuable asset. .VdvertisementS 

 of tourist organisations, railway and steamship com- 

 panies, and even emigration departments, bear con- 



NO. 2641, VOL. 105] 



stant witness to the importance of this aspect. More- 

 over, natural beauty is inexhaustibU', while mineral 

 wealth is limited and agricultural productivity not 

 unbounded. Sir Francis Younghusband contended 

 that the geographical knowledge of a country was 

 incomplete without a knowledge of its beauty, and that 

 by this means alone can the geographer gain a sense 

 of the earth "as live, supple, sensitive, and active." 

 Continuing, he pointed out that there should be less 

 hesitation in accepting this principle when it is 

 realised that natural beauty affects the movements of 

 man, and that man is having an increasing effect on 

 natural beauty, often, but not always, with disastrous 

 results. This relationship between man and the beautv 

 of the earth is one of which geography should take 

 as much cognisance as it does of the relationship 

 between man and the productivity of the earth. The 

 knowledge of beauty must be carefullv gathered. 

 Careless snapshots and shallow rhapsodies in guide- 

 book style are unsatisfactory. \Ve require the best 

 photographs as well as paintings and accurate 

 descriptions of literary merit. The artist both in 

 pencil and in words is essential in geographical work. 



In the Meteorological Magazine for May a notice 

 is given of the circulation of forecasts by wire- 

 less telegraphy from collective weather reports 

 for London and south-east England. Hourly 

 reports of meteorological information prepared by 

 the Forecast Service of the Meteorological Office 

 are sent out from the wireless statior\ at the 

 .\ir Ministry. The message is given in a code form, 

 which is practically the same as that prescribed in 

 -Annex G of the " Convention relating to international 

 Air Navigation," Paris, 1919. The forecasts, which 

 are being issued eight times a day, are based on 

 observations taken about half an hour }>efore the time 

 of issue. Detailed explanation of the code can be 

 obtained on application at the Meteorological Office. 

 A new device is also mentioned for making the 

 meteorological reports rapidly available to the public. 

 -V large weather map is exhibited daily at the Air 

 Ministry in one of the front windows on the ground 

 floor of Empire House, Kingsway. All the principal 

 reporting stations in the British Isles,' as well as a 

 few neighbouring Continental ones, are marked on 

 the chart, which is on the Mercator projection, and 

 is 10 ft. high and 6 ft. wide. The information on the 

 chart is changed at about 3h., 8h. 30m., and i4h. 3oni. 

 G.M.T., the data exhibited referring to observations 

 made at ih., 7h., and i3h. G.M.T. The exceptionally 

 wet character of April is well shown iri' the Thames 

 Valley Rainfall Map, where upwards of 5 in., and in 

 places more than 6 in., of rain occurred during the 

 month over the western portion of the valley. Dis- 

 tricts with less than ^ in. are rare, and almost entirely 

 confined to the neighbourhood extending from London 

 to the mouth of the Thames. In England and Wales 

 the general rainfall for April was 204 per cent, of the 

 average. 



For many years the utilisation of the water-power 

 of the Rhone has attracted attention in France. The 

 shortage of coal has renewed interest in the problem, 



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