514 



NA TURE 



[September 22, 1898 



The results of meteorological observations made at Rousdon 

 Observatory, South Devon, under the superintendence of Sir 

 Cuthbert Peek, have been published. Interest in local meteor- 

 ology is necessarily limited, but there are several sections of 

 the present report which appeal to meteorologists generally. 

 The usual comparison was made of daily forecasts issued by the 

 Meteorological Office for the district in which the Observatory 

 is situated with actual weather experienced. The wind and 

 weather predictions were both correct in 85 per cent, of the 

 forecasts. The forecasts of wind alone were correct in 90 per 

 cent. , and 92 per cent, of the weather predictions were fulfilled. 

 The percentage of correct weather forecasts has not been below 

 92 for the past five years. Sir Cuthbert Peek has made a further 

 comparison of the records of the Robinson cup anemometer and 

 the pressure-tube anemometer. It has been assumed that the 

 factor of the cup anemometer does not depend upon, or vary 

 with, the velocity of the wind. To roughly test this conclusion, 

 a comparison was made of the daily total mileages of wind 

 passing over the Observatory, as recorded by the two instru- 

 ments, during three periods of about twenty-four days each, 

 when light airs, winds of moderate force, and strong winds, 

 respectively, prevailed. These results show quite clearly the 

 effect of the inertia of the cups in low velocities, the excess of 

 the cup record over that of the pressure-tube being as much as 

 53 per cent., when the mean hourly velocity is as low as four 

 miles. With a moderate wind of eleven miles per hour, how- 

 ever, the cups yield 3 per cent, less than the pressure-tube ; and 

 with a wind of double that velocity the difference is increased 

 to 8 per cent. It is pointed out that these results are based 

 on too few observations to be accepted as final, but they are 

 suggestive, and a fuller comparison on the lines indicated may 

 at some future time be carried out. The factor 2*2 appears, 

 however, to be practically correct for all winds, except when 

 the force is extremely low. 



The two Cantor Lectures delivered before the Society of 

 Arts by Dr. D. Morris, C.M.G., on sources of commercial 

 india-rubber, have been published in a pamphlet form. In his 

 lectures, Dr. Morris confined himself to describing the rubber 

 .plants now existing in various parts of the tropics, their 

 geographical distribution, the conditions under which they 

 grow, and the prospects they afford of being able to meet the 

 increasing demand for rubber. At the outset he made a com- 

 I parison between india-rubber and gutta-percha. It is very well 

 known that india-rubber and gutta-percha are closely allied sub- 

 stances, not only in their origin but also in their chemical 

 ' composition. They are both obtained from the latex of certain 

 plants, and are composed wholly of carbon and hydrogen. But, 

 as Dr. Morris points out, the similarity ends here. The most 

 conspicuous property of gutta-percha is that of becoming soft 

 and plastic on immersion in hot water, retaining any shape then 

 .given to it on cooling, when it becomes hard and rigid. 

 Caoutchouc, on the other hand, does not soften in moderate 

 sheat, is impervious to water, alcohol, most acids, and gases, 

 -and retains for a long period its original elasticity and strength. 

 Again, gutta-percha is obtained only from large trees belonging 

 to one family of plants, the Sapotacecu, confined to one 

 small portion of the world's surface. Caoutchouc, on the other 

 hand, is obtained from numerous families of plants, and these 

 are distributed over almost every part of the tropical regions ; 

 they may be low herbaceous plants, shrubby climbers, small 

 trees, or majestic giants of the forest, 150 to 180 feet high. 

 Dr. Morris's lectures deal with these plants with special refer- 

 ence to the rubber industries connected with our Colonial and 

 Indian possessions ; they are, therefore, of great interest at the 

 present time. 



In the Bulletin International of the Imperial Academy of 

 Science of Bohemia, Herr Franz §vec discusses the ciliated 

 NO. 1508, VOL. 58] 



Infusoria of the Unterpocernitzer Teich, on the banks of which 

 a biological station has been established. Sixty-nine species of 

 Infusoria have been observed, of which ten are new ; these are 

 Holophyra atra, Enchelys variabilis, Lacrymaria pkialina, 

 Pyrodon nucieatus, Lionotus lanceolatus, Loxophyllmn aselli, 

 Dileptus elepkantinus, Zoothanmium limneticum, Epistylis 

 rotans, Rhabdostyla discostyla. 



The " Communications from the Physical Laboratory at the 

 University of Leiden," published in English under the direction 

 of Prof. Kamerlingh Onnes, afford a striking instance of the 

 activity of foreign Universities in the matter of research. Part 41 

 contains a paper by Dr. E. van Everdingen, jun., on the 

 Hall-effect in electrolytes. The author has calculated the 

 amount of the effect in liquids, and has compared the results 

 with those afforded by experiments, but it appears that the 

 observed galvanometric differences of potential in liquids differ 

 considerably (sometimes even in sign) from those which would 

 be caused by the Hall phenomenon. For the present, it there- 

 fore appears that we cannot use the phenomenon in electrolytes 

 to obtain a better insight into the nature of the electric current 

 in metals. 



The Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland (vol. 

 xiii.), just published, comprise several papers of interest. In a 

 useful presidential address, Mr. C. J. Pound shows how the 

 stockowner is jindebted to the microscope, and explains that 

 " all those marvellous and brilliant discoveries relating to the 

 origin, nature, prevention, and treatment of bacterial diseases 

 of our domesticated animals have been mainly brought about 

 by the investigations of such brilliant epoch-making men as 

 Pasteur, Koch, and Lister, whose names will ever be associated 

 with the microscope and remain as lasting monuments to the 

 science of preventive medicine." — Mr. Walter E. Roth con- 

 tributes some notes on social and individual nomenclature 

 among certain north Queensland aboriginals, personally studied 

 by him. Mr, Roth points out that the whole question of class- 

 systems, whereby a relationship, such as it is, is established 

 between aboriginals living miles and miles apart, yet may be 

 mutually unknown personally, has an important practical 

 bearing which has hitherto been apparently overlooked. In the 

 mind of the real North-west Central Queensland savage, all 

 white men are believed to be similarly related ; he looks upon 

 any one European as being the brother, brother-in-law, father, 

 or mother's brother, &c., of any 'ther.— Mr. Thomas P. Lucus 

 gives descriptions of Queensland lepidoptera, and Mr. Rowland 

 lUidge contributes a list of butterflies of the Brisbane district. 



A BRIEF statement of the results of an investigation into the 

 distribution and ethnography of leprosy in the Far East is given 

 by Mr. Sydney B. J. Skertchly in the volume of Proceedings 

 referred to in the foregoing note. The area embraced in an 

 inquiry carried out by Mr. Skertchly and Dr. J. Cantlie, extends 

 from the Malay Peninsula, through China, the whole of the 

 East Indian Archipelago, Japan, and the Philippines and the 

 islands of the Pacific ; and a large amount of most valuable 

 information as to the distribution of the disease has been 

 obtained. As the area investigated contained every variety of 

 surface, it was easy to determine whether physical configuration 

 was a determining cause of leprosy. The conclusion arrived at 

 is that neither physiographical climate nor geological conditions 

 have any influence upon the distribution of leprosy. Contrary 

 to the general statements, leprosy is not rife throughout- the 

 length and breadth of China, entire provinces being free from 

 the disease. An examination of the state of affairs in the 

 Pacific leads to the important conclusion that from the Chinese 

 provinces of Kwantung and Fokien, leprosy spreads with 

 diminishing intensity in all directions, and has formed a new 

 focus in Hawaii of unparalleled virulence. Viewing the facts 



