October 7, i897j 



NATURE 



551 



tidal stream, in such a manner that while at the sides the tide 

 presents the ordinary phases, in the centre the gravitational 

 movement is first against the tidal movement, then in equilibrium 

 with it, giving slack water for a longer or shorter period, and 

 finally in the same direction with it. 



An account of the quantity and value of the minerals obtained 

 from mines, quarries, brine-works, &c., in the United Kingdom, 

 during the year 1896, is given in a Blue Book just issued by the 

 Home Office. Many facts of interest are contained in the re- 

 port, in addition to the statistical information ; but the limita- 

 tions of space will only permit us to refer to a few of them. In 

 1896 the total output of coal was 195,361,260 tons; of this 

 amount, 9309 tons were obtained from open quarries. The 

 seams worked in England vary from eleven or twelve inches 

 to thirty feet in thickness, and in Scotland seams of cannel coal 

 only six inches in thickness are being worked. The only mine 

 worked for coljalt and nickel ore is in Flintshire ; and, after 

 being idle for several years, it has lately been re-opened. The mine 

 affords an instance of the occurrence of the mineral asbolane 

 with red clay in irregular cavities in the carboniferous limestone. 

 Copper mining is rapidly decreasing in importance in Britain, 

 only 9168 tons having been produced in 1896, whereas the out- 

 put in 1863 was 210,000 tons. Flint-mining still survives at 

 Brandon, in Suffolk ; the produce of a few shallow mines 

 worked in a most primitive fashion suffices to supply the gradu- 

 ally diminishing demand for gun flints, which are exported to 

 savage countries. Referring to gold ore, the report points out 

 that, compared with the yield of the colonies and many coun- 

 tries, the amount of gold obtained in Britain is insignificant ; 

 nevertheless, mineral veins in North Wales have from time to 

 time furnished considerable quantities of rich auriferous quartz. 

 In 1896 the five mines in Merionethshire produced 2765 tons of 

 ore, from which 1352^ ounces of gold, having a value of 5035/. 

 were obtained. This, however, is a much lower output than 

 that of the previous year. The principal iron-producing dis- 

 tricts at the present time are Cleveland or North Yorkshire, 

 yielding over five million tons annually, and Cumberland and 

 North Lancashire, with an output of over two million tons. 

 The Cleveland ore is an earthy carbonate containing about 30 

 per cent, of metal, while the red haematite of the two other 

 counties yields 50 to 60 per cent. The total quantity of iron 

 ore obtained from our mines and quarries last year was twelve 

 and a half million tons. Appended to the report are tables show- 

 ing the production of minerals in the British Colonies and De- 

 pendencies. 



The Weekly Weather Reports issued by the Meteorological 

 Ofttce show that for the nine months ending with September the 

 rainfall had reached or exceeded the average in all districts of 

 the United Kingdom, except in Scotland. The greatest excess 

 has occurred in the south-west of England, where it amounts to 

 six inches, and in Ireland. During the severe thunderstorm 

 which occurred over the southern and eastern parts of England 

 at the close of the month, amounts exceeding an inch were 

 recorded at many places, the fait in the metropolis (i"03 inch) 

 being the greatest in twenty-four hours since the beginning of 

 the year ; about one and a half inches fell at Cambridge, being 

 about three parts of the mean for the month, and over two 

 inches at Hillington (Norfolk). The greatest deficiency (27 

 inch) is in the north of Scotland, notwithstanding that more 

 than an inch fell at some places in the twenty-four hours ending 

 on the morning of September 30, during which period the 

 heavy storms occurred in the south of England. 



We have received from Prof. A. Klossovsky a copy of the 



Innales of the Odessa Observatory, for the year 1896. One of 



the most serious operations during the year has been the erection 



of magnetic variation instruments in an underground room of the 



NO. 1458. VOL. 56] 



observatory. In this work the valuable assistance of Dr. Leyst, 

 of the Pavlovsk Observatory, has been obtained. In addition to 

 the usual meteorological and magnetic observations, a sj^ecial 

 study has been made of the movement and height of the clouds 

 during the year, in accordance with the scheme of the Inter- 

 national Meteorological Committee. Some interesting experi- 

 ments have also been made upon the ascending and descending 

 currents of the atmosphere by means of an anemometer turning 

 in a vertical direction. The results show that in the diurnal 

 period the ascending currents are more frequent than the 

 descending, the hours being in the proportion of 8:1. The 

 maximum motion occurs at ih. p.m., and the minimum at 4h. 

 a.m. The regular staff of the observatory, two in number, is 

 absurdly small for the amount of good work done ; the publica- 

 tion of the results is due to the liberality of the Municipality of 

 Ode.ssa. 



The South Saxons have been investigated by Mr. R. J. Horton- 

 Smith (Joiini. Anth. Inst. xxvi. p. 81). His studies are based 

 on a collection of fourteen skulls, excavated by Mr. C. H. Read 

 at Goring in Sussex, the associated ornaments proving them to 

 be of early Saxon age. This collection was supplemented by a 

 study of West Saxon, E.ist Anglian, and other British skulls in 

 the Cambridge Museum. Mr. Horton-Smith arrives at the 

 following conclusions : — The South Saxons in Britain were not 

 an absolutely pure race, but had a little British blood in them. 

 The Wessex Saxons were still less pure, owing to their more fre- 

 quent intermarriage with the British population. Dr. Beddoe's 

 researches are confirmed that the pre-Saxon population predomi- 

 nates in the upper valley of the Bristol Avon ; but the population 

 of the Cirencester district is chiefly Saxon, though containing a 

 slightly larger admixture of British blood than is the case in 

 East and South Wessex. The East Anglians have a form of 

 skull slightly different from that of the South Saxons. It is 

 rather broader, less flattened, the orbits are higher, the face 

 relatively longer, and the cranial capacity larger. Mr. Park- 

 Harrison believed that the projecting (prosopic) nose of the 

 modern English was derived from the Angles, and not from the 

 Saxons. According to Mr. Horton-Smith's observations the 

 reverse is the case. 



A BACTERIAL disease of the commDn "squash-bug," Anasa 

 trislis, has been studied by Mr. B. M. Duggan at the Illinois 

 State Laboratory. It is readily communicated to "chinch- 

 bugs," and is the first genuine bacterial disease of hemipterous 

 insects known. The parasite has been named Bacillus cntoino- 

 toxicon. A disease which attacks the capsules of the cotton- 

 plant in Alabama has also been worked out in the Agricultural 

 Experiment Station at Auburn, Ala., by Mr. J. M. Stedman, 

 and is referred to a hitherto undescribed microbe, which he 

 names Bacillus gossypinus. 



We have received a copy of " Botanical Observations on the 

 Azores," by William Trelease (from the eighth annual report of 

 the Missouri Botanical Garden). The observations were made 

 and specimens collected in order to obtain information as to the 

 endemic and naturalised flora of the Azores group. Very few of 

 the species described are, however, endemic, most of the existing 

 species having evidently been introduced by drift, migratory 

 birds, &c., and by human agency since the discovery of the 

 islands. Mr. Trelea.se remarks : " Though it might, perhaps, be 

 expected, no differentiation has yet been shown comparable with 

 that seen in the plants of diflferent islands of the Galapagos 

 group in the Pacific, where specific or varietal differentiation 

 is strongly marked, but where communicatibn between the 

 several islands is far more restricted than in the Azores." 



To the list of forthcoming scientific books, given in last 

 week's Nature, we are now able to add the following: — 

 The Cotton Press announces :— " Synopsis of Diseases and 



