June 17, 1897] 



NA TURE 



161 



almost always opposite in sign, especially when the figures are 

 large. (2) That the greatest differences are found in January 

 and July in the vicinity of Greenland and Iceland on the one 

 hand, and to the north of Russia, between the White Sea and 

 St. Petersburg, on the other. The discussion seems to establish 

 the fact that a kind of oscillation exists at all places in the pres- 

 sure of the air between a centre of action of high pressure and 

 another adjacent centre of low pressure. The author states that 

 a closer study of these relations promises to lead to practical 

 results for the prediction of weather for long periods. 



The current number of the Annales de t Institut Pasteur 

 contains M. Pottevin's annual report for 1896 on the anti-rabic 

 inoculations conducted during the past year at the Paris Pasteur 

 Institute. The number of persons treated was 1308, less than 

 in any previous year since the Institute was opened. This 

 diminution is attributable to the fact that patients, instead of 

 going to Paris from all parts of the country, undergo the inocu- 

 lations at the institutes now established at Lille and Marseilles ; 

 also similar institutes have been founded in Algiers and Turin, 

 districts which formerly sent considerable numbers of cases to 

 Paris. During the ten years which have elapsed since the open- 

 ing of the Paris Institute, 18,645 persons have been treated 

 there, and an interesting table is appended showing the nation- 

 ality of the patients, from which it appears that England con- 

 tributed no less than 870 individuals, and more than any other 

 country ; Belgium coming next, with 429. In some of the 

 departments of France cases of rabies have steadily diminished, 

 thanks to the energetic measures taken by the local authorities ; 

 whilst in others, where less vigorous steps have been taken to 

 guard against its dissemination, the number of cases has increased. 

 It is in the southern districts of France that, M. Pottevin tells 

 us, "possess the sad distinction of containing the largest number 

 of bitten persons, and of paying the most dearly for disobedience 

 to the laws of the sanitary police." 



In north latitude 70° 40' ii"'3, where the most northerly 

 town in the world--namely, Hammerfest— is situated, there is 

 a monument which was visited by most of those who went to 

 Norway to obtain a view of the total solar eclipse. This monu- 

 ment consists of a fine granite pedestal and pillar supporting a 

 large terrestrial globe made of copper, and was placed there 

 to commemorate the completion of a grand piece of surveying 

 work. The primary object of this survey was, as Mr. Fowler 

 writes in an interesting article in Knowledge (June), the measure- 

 ment of the earth, and to provide a permanent mark in order 

 that the measurements may be repeated at any future time if con- 

 sidered desirable. Without entering into the details of a trigono- 

 metrical survey, and how a triangulation is accomplished, we will 

 limit ourselves to the inscription, written in Latin and Norwegian, 

 on the pillar, referring the reader to the article in question for 

 details. "The northern termination of the arc of meridian of 

 25° 20' from the Arctic Ocean to the river Danube, through 

 Norway, Sweden and Russia, which, according to the orders 

 of His Majesty King Oscar L, and the Emperors Alexander I. 

 and Nicholas I., and by uninterrupted labours from 1816 to 

 1852, was measured by the geometers of the three nations." 



Prof, P. Tacchini, oi\<omQ{Al(idei Lincei, vi. 9), describes 

 a remarkable thunderstorm which passed over Italy on April 24, 

 in which the rain was mixed with sand and seeds of the caroub 

 that had evidently been transported from Africa. 



In a preliminary note published in the Rendiconto della K. 

 Accademia delle Scienze fisiche e Matetnaliche (Naples), Dr. R. V. 

 Matteucci and Dr. E. Giustiniani announce the discovery for the 

 first time of the element selenium among the products of the 

 " fumaroli " of Vesuvius. Dr. Matteucci has also completed a 

 brief but accurate investigation of the dynamical phenomena 

 NO. 1442. VOL. 56] 



connected with the eruption of 1895, of which he gives an 

 account in the same journal. 



From a series of investigations on the effect of cutaneous 

 excitations on the formation of red blood-corpuscles. Prof. H. 

 Kronecker and Dr. A. Marti, writing in the Atti dei Limei, 

 draw the following conclusions : (i) Feeble irritations of the 

 skin promote the formation of red blood -corpuscles, but modify 

 the formation of hiKmoglobin in different ways. (2) Strong 

 irritations of the skin determine a diminution of the number of 

 red corpuscles, and, in a minor degree, of the haemoglobin con- 

 tained in the blood. (3) Darkness diminishes the number of 

 blood-cells ; after about a fortnight, a minimum is reached which 

 is followed by a limited increase. (4) Continued exposure to 

 intense light (even at night with electric light) induces the 

 formation of red blood corpuscles, and also, in a lesser degree, of 

 haemoglobin. 



A RoNTGEN Society has been formed, with Prof. S. P. 

 Thompson as the president. The intention of the founders is 

 that the Society shall occupy a position between those devoted 

 purely to medicine, to physics, or to photography. Some of the 

 members will study the sources of the Rontgen rays, others the 

 applications ; some the induction coils, others the tubes and the 

 various forms and adaptations of the apparatus used in the pro- 

 duction of the rays. Rontgen photography has been found 

 serviceable in so many branches of scientific investigation that 

 the Society appeals to a large constituency for support. It 

 should be the means of increasing the efficiency and applications 

 of the rays, and should also be of assistance to surgeons and 

 others who have entered the new field of work without previous 

 training in physics. 



To the June number of the Strand Magazine, and also to 

 McClure's Magazine, Prof. S. P. Langley contributes an 

 interesting illustrated narrative of his experiments with flying 

 machines, and the development of the aerodrome to the con- 

 dition in which it was able to demonstrate the possibility of 

 mechanical flight. A description of the aerodome was given 

 by Prof. Langley in these columns a year ago (vol. liv. p. 80, 

 May 28, 1896), and the first successful flight of the machine 

 was then described by Mr. Alexander Graham Bell. 



Another name must be added to the long list of martyrs 

 who have given up their lives while endeavouring to effect the 

 conquest of the air. The latest victim is Dr. Wolfert, who had 

 devoted many years to the problem of aerial navigation, and 

 who claimed to have invented a navigable balloon. The Berlin 

 correspondent of the Times says that Dr. Wolfert had made an 

 arrangement with the officers of the ballooning section of the 

 army to put his invention to a practical test at Tempelhof on 

 Saturday last. The officers and a number of persons interested 

 in aerial navigation assembled to witness the ascenL The balloon 

 was of the new cigar-shaped form. The car was a square basket 

 made of bamboo cane, and contained a benzene motor of eight- 

 horse power, partly constructed of aluminium, and driving at 

 one end of the car a propeller of the same material. At the 

 other end of the car was a so-called helm, consisting of bamboo 

 staves covered with linen sails. The balloon had already been 

 tested on several occasions, and was said to have attained a very 

 high rate of speed against the wind. Dr. Wolfert was accom- 

 panied in his ascent by a mechanic named Knabe. At first the 

 balloon ascended steadily and began to make good progress 

 against the wind in the direction of the suburb of Rixdorf, to 

 reach which and to return to Tempelhof was the task set himself 

 by its inventor. Suddenly, however, when the balloon was 

 sailing at a height of about 1000 feet, flames shot up from the 

 car and the balloon exploded with a loud report and was 

 precipitated, a burning mass, into a wood-yard below. The 



