June 2, 1898] 



NATURE 



117 



in the secondary schools, without any specialisation whatever. . 

 " We in Germany do not care to know anything about a river 

 unless it will float a ship, and new countries interest us only 

 when they afford an outlet for our industry." Speaking after- 

 wards upon the past and present of commercial education in 

 Germany, Dr. Stegemann pointed out the solidarity which 

 existed between the professors of their schools and the com- 

 mercial men of the country, a union which led to the happiest 

 results, inasmuch as the latter had given to the former the 

 benefit of their practical business experience. In conclusion, 

 he said that he ventured to counsel English educationists not to 

 lose sight of the fact that, even in Great Britain, they must give 

 to their young men a more extended and practical course of 

 study if they wished to maintain the commercial prestige of 

 their country. As to the aim of the continental higher com- 

 mercial institutes, M. Heinzmann Savigno (Antwerp) said the 

 object pursued at the Antwerp Institute, and at the other 

 establishments modelled upon it, was not to furnish " clerks" in 

 the ordinary acceptation of the word, but "merchants," who 

 would be able to transact their business on a scientific basis, 

 and give to their commercial transactions an impetus which 

 would materially extend their country's home and foreign trade. 

 They also aimed at the creation of men who would be properly 

 prepared to be themselves professors of the higher commercial 

 sciences, or to go forth into the world and effectively undertake 

 the duties of the consular service. The speaker added that, in 

 order to keep pace with the growing extension of colonial 

 enterprise, he would strongly advocate the formation of a 

 special class of men competent by their knowledge to take the 

 lead in colonial development. 



SCIENTIFIC SERIALS. 



American Journal of Science, May. — On the properties of 

 seasoned magnets of self-hardening steel, by B. O. Peirce. In 

 searching for a material of which to make a set of standard 

 measuring magnets which should be as permanent as possible 

 and have small temperature and induction coefficients, the 

 author tested a number of magnets made of some of the brands 

 of "self-hardening" tool steel now in common use for lathe 

 tools. He found that the temperature coefficient could be 

 reduced almost indefinitely by cutting the rods long and thin. — 

 Some lava flows of California, by F, L. Ransome. This paper 

 deals with a strip of the middle, western slope of the Sierra 

 Nevada. The volcanic eruptions began during the Miocene 

 period and continued to the end of the Pliocene. The deposition 

 of auriferous gravels both preceded and accompanied the de- 

 position of volcanic material. The author distinguishes three 

 separate flows of lava, which were eventually brought to an end 

 by fresh andesitic eruptions. During Pleistocene time the 

 present streams have dissected the Neocene lavas and tuffs, and 

 have deeply cut into the Jurassic and older rocks. — Some new 

 Jurassic vertebrates from Wyoming, by W. C. Knight. The 

 University of Wyoming has in its collection of Jurassic verte- 



; brates partial remains of four swimming saurians that in a 

 general way resemble Plesiosaurs. The discovery of these 



j remains is of considerable value to American Mesozoic geologists 

 for correlating the American and European Jurassic. The 



j largest of the four species surpasses in size the European 

 Pliosaur, and it is described under a new genus, I^Iegalneusatirus, 

 The description given is founded upon a cervical, dorsal, and 

 caudal vertebra ; one fore- limb nearly complete ; ribs, and the 

 greater portion of the pectoral girdle. The genus represents 

 ♦he largest known animals of the order Sauropterygia. — On the 

 imation of manganese separated as the carbonate, by Martha 

 istin. The carbonate precipitated by means of alkaline 

 abonates is very uncertain. An improvement in the quantita- 

 ive analysis maybe effected by converting the carbonate first 

 :nio oxide and then into sulphate by heating with a few drops 

 of concentrated sulphuric acid. 



Symons's Monthly Meteorologicat Magazine, May. — The 

 climate of Algeria, by Dr. A. Thevenet, director of the Algerian 

 Meteorological Service. The first subject dealt with is temper- 

 ature. The absolute maximum in the shade is 122° at Orl^ans- 

 ville (lat. 36° 40' N., long. 1° 19' E.), and the absolute minimum 

 is given as 6'-8, at El-Aricha (lat. 34° 16' N., long, i" 23' W., 

 altitude 4364 feet). Sharp frost is not infrequent on the Sahara, 

 but on the Mediterranean coast frost is rare. The air is not so 

 dry as might have been expected ; monthly means below 40 per 



NO. 1492, VOL. 58] 



cent, are very rare, except on the high plateaux and on the 

 Sahara. The mean annual rainfall at Algiers, as recorded at 

 four stations between 1838 and 1895, 's 30-16 inches, but there 

 is considerable divergence between the different records. — 

 Results of meteorological observations at Camden S(juare 

 (London) for April for forty years, 1858-97. The mean of all the 

 highest maximum temperatures was 7o''7, and the mean of all 

 the lowest minima was 29°"8. The average monthly rainfall was 

 1*66 inches, while in April of this year it was only i-oi inches. 

 —The gloomy summers of i860 and 1879, and the nineteen 

 years' cycle, by H. A. Boys. The author points out that there 

 has been so obvious a parallel between most of the last few years 

 and those years that preceded them by 19 and 38 years re- 

 spectively, that ground has been given for watching whether 

 the summer of 1898 will not prove gloomy and rainy like those 

 of i860 and 1879, at least in the midland counties. 



Wiedemann's Annalen der Physik tind Ckemie, No. 4. — 

 Some modifications in the quadrant electrometer, by J. Elster 

 and H. Geitel. The drying apparatus is a wide side tube off 

 the chamber containing the quadrants. It contains a wire 

 attached to the movable end cover, and the point of the wire 

 carries a piece of sodium, wiped or scraped to remove adhering 

 petroleum or oxide. Below the sodium is a glass bulb, which 

 catches the dripping moisture. The sodium is surrounded by a 

 wire net to prevent its dropping bodily into the liquid. — Dura- 

 tion of electric oscillations of large periods, by J. Bergmann. 

 Describes an improved apparatus for measuring oscillations with 

 periods over one-millionth of a second. — Fluorescence and 

 actino-electricity, by G. C. Schmidt. E. Wiedemann and the 

 author have propounded the theory that the molecules, split up 

 into ions by the action of light, give rise to fluorescence on re- 

 combination. This would lead to the conclusion that fluorescent 

 bodies could not easily lose negative ions on exposure to light, 

 i.e. would not be photo-electrically or " actino-electrically " 

 sensitive. This conclusion is, however, not borne out by experi- 

 ment, as no connection between the two phenomena can be 

 established. It is found, on the other hand, that bodies which 

 exhibit the strongest thermo-luminescence show also the 

 strongest photo-electric action. — A new method of measuring 

 dip and horizontal intensity, by G. Meyer. The dip may be 

 measured without a magnet and without a galvanometer by 

 means of a continually revolving inductor coil and a telephone. 

 The axis of the coil is adjusted to the telephone minimum. 

 The measurements are correct to within 3' of arc. To measure 

 the horizontal intensity, the earth's field is compensated by the 

 field due to a current of known strength. Complete compensa- 

 tion is indicated by silence in the telephone. — An instrument 

 for measuring astigmatism, by R. Straubel. This consists of two 

 cylindrical lenses which rotate with respect to each other about 

 a common axis. Artificial astigmatisn of any given amount may 

 thus be produced. 



From the articles in the lotirnal of Botany for March-May, 

 we may select the following as of the most general interest : — 

 The fifty years' limit in nomenclature, by the editor ; in which 

 he shows how impossible it would be to work such a rule in 

 practice. Notes on Mycetozoa ; and Mycetozoa of Antigua and 

 Dominica, by Mr. A. Lister. Experiments in cross-fertilisation 

 of Salices, by Mr. G. F. Linton. Some species of willow cross 

 with great readiness, others with reluctance, and others obstin- 

 ately resist all attempts at hybridisation. Wayfaring notes in 

 Rhodesia, by Mr. R. F. Rand. The work of cross-fertilisation 

 of the native flowers of Rhodesia appears to be effected largely 

 by butterflies ; but by far the most active agents are beetles. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

 London. 



Royal Society, May 5—" On certain Structures formed inv 

 the drying of a Fluid with Particles in Suspension." By 

 Catherine A. Raisin, B. Sc. Communicated by Prof. T. G. 

 Bonney, D.Sc, LL.D., F.R.S. 



Experiments have been made with various muddy fluids, which 

 were allowed to dry under certain conditions, in order to 

 study the forms assumed by the dried material. It seemed 

 possible that these forms might throw some light on the origin 

 of certain minor structures in rocks. Various pigments or 

 powdered rocks (mostly very fine grained) were mixed with 

 water and placed on microscope slides or larger pieces of glass, 

 generally beneath a cover-glass. 



