86 



NA TURE 



[May 26, 1898 



to light in papers of all grades ; from those of the best quality 

 as regards the fibrous materials of which they are composed, 

 i.e. rag papers ; also of course in those of lowest quality, i.e. 

 containing mechanical wood pulp in large proportions. It is 

 generally the result of chemical change of the fibres themselves. 

 As to the causes determining such changes : in the case of the 

 rag papers examined the effects appear to be due to acid bodies ; 

 the disintegration may be generally referred to acidity. In the 

 case of mechanical wood pulp the effects are traceable to oxida- 

 tion pure and simple ; the disintegration is accompanied by a 

 basic or alkaline reaction of the paper. Discoloration may 

 be said also to affect all papers more or less, and without dis- 

 cussing minutely the chemistry of the changes, the evidence ob- 

 tained certainly warrants the general conclusion that discolora- 

 tion of ordinary cellulose papers (as distinguished from those 

 containing mechanical wood pulp) under usual conditions of 

 storage is proportional to the amount of rosin which they con- 

 tain, or more generally to the rosin and the conditions employed 

 for fixing it in the ordinary process of engine-sizing. The Com- 

 mittee have been desirous of bringing their investigations to a 

 practical conclusion in specific terms, viz. by the suggestion of 

 standards of quality. They limit their specific findings to the 

 following, viz. (i) normal standard of quality for book papers 

 required for publications of permanent value. For such papers 

 they specify as follows : — Fibres : not less than 70 per cent, 

 of fibres of the cotton, flax, and hemp class. Sizing : not 

 more than 2 per cent, rosin, and finished with the normal 

 acidity of pure alum. Loading : not more than 10 per cent, 

 total mineral matter (ash). 



The Rontgen Society has appointed a Committee to inquire 

 into the alleged injuries produced by exposure to Rontgen 

 radiation. In order to obtain accurate information, the com- 

 mittee has prepared a set of questions framed with a view of 

 determining the cause or causes of the injuries received. 



A NOTE in Cotiiptes rendus (May 9) states that M. Mascart 

 has received information that Prof. Leist has found at 

 Kotchetovka, in the province of Kursk (Russia) a local magnetic 

 pole ; that is to say, a point where a dipping needle stands 

 vertical. It is necessary to move twenty metres from this point 

 to change the direction of the needle by 1°. The declination 

 needle sets itself indifferently in any direction in the spot where 

 this magnetic anomaly occurs. 



M. Vincent stated at a meeting of the Academy of Medicine, 

 held on May 10 (says the Laiicet), that he has found that French 

 soldiers are on an average a hundred times more subject to 

 typhoid fever than native soldiers — a singular observation, be- 

 cause this disease is in general serious when it attacks Arabs. 

 The comparative exemption of the Arabs depends, in his 

 opinion, neither on a previous attack nor on a slow acclimatis- 

 ation consequent on residence in towns, but on a natural im- 

 munity comparable to the immunity of negroes against yellow 

 fever, or of Algerian sheep against anthrax. 



The U.S. Weather Bureau has published in its Bulletin 

 No. 21, an abstract of a report on solar and terrestrial magnetism 

 in their relations to meteorology, by Prof. F. H. Bigelow, who 

 has during the last six years devoted much time to the study of 

 the fundamental principles of this important subject. It is stated 

 in the introductory text that he is of opinion that the atmospheric 

 conditions which culminate in the storms traversing the United 

 States are in part dependent upon the solar energy that reaches 

 ' the earth in the form of magnetic force, and that there are 

 synchronous fluctuations in the pressures and temperatures of 

 the north-western regions of the American continent in the 

 neighbourhood of the magnetic pole. Prof. W. L. Moore, the 

 chief of the Weather Bureau, is of opinion that while at this 



NO. 1 49 1, VOL. 58] 



stage of the investigation the sequence of cause and effect is not 

 shown with sufficient definiteness to justify the weather fore- 

 caster in attempting to apply these theories in predicting marked 

 atmospheric disturbances, the paper will lead to discussion and 

 result in further additions to our knowledge of magnetic science. 



Petennanii s Mittheihmgen publishes a new map of the central 

 highlands of northern German East Africa. Much new matter 

 is introduced by the addition of the surveys made by Premier- 

 Lieut. Werther on the so-called Irangi expedition during 

 1896 and 1897 ; the map itself is drawn by Dr. B. Hassenstein. 

 A paper describing the main features of the country traversed 

 by the expedition is appended by Lieut. Werther. 



Prof. A. Supan contributes a careful analysis of the reports 

 and statistics of trade in China for the year 1896 to Peiermaitn's 

 Miltheiliingen. The results lead him to expect immense de- 

 velopments from the construction of railways, even within the 

 next decade, and he believes the establishment of Germany at 

 Kiaou-tschou will mark the beginning of a new era in the trade 

 of that country. 



We have received the index to the first ten volumes of the 

 Mittheilungen von Forschungsreisenden tmd Gelehrten aus den 

 DeiitscheJt Schutzgebieten. The index, which covers the years 

 1888 to 1897, is arranged under six separate headings, four of 

 which are subdivided according to the different colonies. Dr. 

 von Danckelman is the editor. 



The Verhandlungen des natzirhistorischen Vereins der 

 preussischen Kheinlande contains a long paper, by Herr R. 

 Hundt, on the petrography and palaeontology of the middle 

 Devonian rocks of south-west Prussia. The geology of the 

 Lenneschiefer beds is discussed in detail, and a comparison with 

 the Calceola beds of the Eifel is based on the distribution of 

 fossils of Calceola and Stringocephalus. A map of the region 

 is appended. 



A recently issued part of the Proceedings of the U.S. 

 National Museum (vol. xx.. No. 1134) contains an important 

 contribution to our knowledge of the ornithology of the Philip- 

 pine Islands, by Messrs. Worcester and Bourns. The first por- 

 tion of this memoir consists of a complete list of the 526 birds as 

 yet known to inhabit the various islands of the Philippine archi- 

 pelago and of those of the adjoining group of Palawan in a 

 tabular form, and shows their occurrence or absence in thirty- 

 seven islands of the two series. Taking this list as a text, 

 Mr. Worcester proceeds in the second portion to discuss the 

 very interesting problems presented by the distribution of the 

 birds in these islands. Each island is taken in order, a list of 

 its known birds is given, and its relationships, as thus shown, 

 are worked out. Mr. Worcester comes to the conclusion that 

 Mr. Everett's view {Proc. Zool. Sac, 1889) that Palawan and 

 its .satellites belong ornithologically to Borneo, and not to the 

 Philippines, is amply confirmed by recent evidence. Turning 

 to the Philippines proper, the author shows that the five " sub- 

 provinces " into which Dr. Steere, in 1894, proposed to divide 

 the Philippine area are not maintainable. Nor is Mr. Worcester 

 better satisfied with Dr. Steere's deduction that each genus of 

 Philippine birds is represented by a single species only in each 

 island. The contrary is manifestly the case in many instances. 

 The memoir is illustrated by a map and numerous diagrams, 

 and is worthy of careful study by all who are interested in laws 

 of geographical distribution. 



One of the most important services performed by the Agri- 

 cultural Experiment Stations found in almost every one of the 

 United States, is the instruction of the farmer and the fruit- 

 grower in the life-history of the animal and vegetable foes which 

 destroy or injure his crops, and in the mode of combating them. 



