132 



NATURE 



[December 8, 1892 



"Long carriages," said Mr. Dundas, " cannot be built to go 

 round ordinary curves without either a bogie or radial axle ; 

 and between the two experience leaves very little doubt as to 

 which is the better. The radial axle is an awkward arrange- 

 ment, and does not act with the same smoothness as a well- 

 constructed bogie with properly balanced springs to regulate 

 its motion, and a bogie of short wheel base is not so good as a 

 long one ; the wheel base should always be more than the 

 gauge to produce good results. There is no better test to 

 determine what is good or bad in rolling stock than the efifect 

 on the permanent way." 



A VALUABLE paper on the copper resources of the United 

 States, read by Mr, James Douglas before the Society of Arts 

 on November 30, is printed in the current number of the Society's 

 journal. Mr. Douglas notes that though for many years no new 

 copper mine has been opened, the larger and richer ones, which 

 have been able to maintain existence in the face of depressed 

 prices, are directing their efforts, not so much towards increas- 

 ing their capacity for production as towards reducing the cost of 

 reduction, saving, as far as possible, the precious metals asso- 

 ciated with their ores, and securing for themselves the profits 

 which have heretofore been made by the refining companies, to 

 whom they sold their furnace material. " The efifect of this 

 change of policy," said Mr. Douglas, "may tell upon the mar- 

 ket. It certainly will aflfect the copper refineries of this country 

 and the continent. It would seem, therefore, that the era of 

 rapid expansion is drawing to its close, and a healthier one of 

 economical treatment is being inaugurated. The demand for 

 copper is so great, that, if this policy be pursued by the large 

 existing mines, there will be room for the appearance of new 

 competitors, without imminent risk of over-production." 



Mr. W. J, L. Abbott contributes to the new instalment of 

 the Proceedings of the Geologists' Association an interesting 

 note on the occurrence of walrus in the Thames valley. Triche- 

 chus rosmarus, Linn., has been recorded from several places on 

 the east coast, from the Dogger Bank, and from the peat near 

 Ely. In the Thames valley it was discovered at a depth of 33 

 feet 2 inches during the excavations for the new London Docks. 

 It was, however, considered to have "tumbled down from 

 above," and so was passed by. In 1888 Mr. Abbott saw a 

 tusk taken out of the gravel in the course of excavations for a 

 wharf in Upper Thames-street ; it was associated with bones of 

 pachyderms. Although he felt sure of its identity, he was 

 un.ible to procure the specimen, probably because his eagerness 

 to obtain it manifested itself to the workman, who immediately 

 affected that he would not part with it. Not long afterwards, 

 in an excavation between Leadenhall and Fenchurch streets a 

 number of bones were taken out of the gravel which underlies 

 the peat, which in turn underlies the Roman layer. The upper 

 part of the gravel is stained somewhat by the peat, as are the 

 contained bones. Amongst the latter there was a large part of 

 the skull of a walrus, with one tooth still left in silu, the others 

 having been destroyed in the rough usage to which it had been 

 submitted in bygone times. The state of preservation is seen 

 to be exactly similar to that of the other bones found with 

 it ; while its position, Mr. Abbott thinks, leaves no question 

 as to its Pleistocene age. He holds therefore that in future 

 Trichechus rosmarus should be added to the Thames valley 

 fauna. 



At the meeting of the chemical section of th; Franklin 

 Institute on October 18, Mr. Palmer read a note on a lilac 

 colour from extract of chestnut. He said that in experiment- 

 ing with a commercial extract of chestnut wood, wit'i the idea 

 of making galloflavine therefrom, he had obtained an unlooked- 

 for result. The extract was somewhat fermented ; that is a 

 pa-t of the tannin had been changed into gallic acid ; and the 

 NO. 1206, VOL. 47J 



design was to convert this gallic acid into galloflavine by the 

 usual method. A solution of the 51° extract was made strongly 

 alkaline with potash, and subjected to the action of a stream of 

 air for about ten hours. The temperature, meantime, was kept 

 below 50° F. At the end of the period of oxidation the potash 

 was neutralized with acetic acid. The solution so obtained was 

 tested for galloflavine by working therein cotton and wool yarns 

 with the addition of potash alum. While no yellow colour was 

 obtained, a clear, bright lilac was developed on both the 

 animal and the vegetable fibre. The body giving this colour has 

 not as yet been separated from the oxidized extract. 



A BOOK entitled "Mind and Matter: an Argument on 

 Theism," by the Rev. James Tait, of Montreal, has been so 

 well received that a third edition, revised and enlarged, has 

 just been issued (London : C. Griffin and Co.). Whatever may 

 be said of Mr. Tait's theology, he has a good deal to learn as 

 to the temper in which the consideration of scientific problems 

 should be approached. It seems a little foolish, at this time of 

 day, to talk about the "horrible plau'lits" which "have ac- 

 companied every effort to establish man's brutal descent." 



A PAPER embodying various suggestions to travellers was 

 read at the June meeting of the Queensland branch of the Royal 

 Geographical Society of Australasia by Mr. J. P. Thomson, 

 the honorary secretary of the Society. The paper, revised and 

 enlarged, has now been reprinted from the Society's " Pro- 

 ceedings and Transactions." 



The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge has issued a 

 new edition of "Sinai : from the Fourth Egyptian Dynasty to 

 the Present Day," by the late Major H. S. Palmer. The little 

 book has been revised throughout by Prof. Sayce. 



Messrs. Newton & Co. have issued a catalogue of science 

 lanterns, magic lanterns, dissolving view apparatus, and lantern 

 slides, manufactured and sold by them. The catalogue is ac- 

 companied by a supplementary list for season 1892-93. 



The arlditions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Lesser White-nosed Monkey {Cercopithecus 

 petaiirista i) from West Africa, presented by Mr. W. H. 

 Henniker ; two Great Kangaroos {Macropus giginteus 9 'i) 

 from Australia, presented by Sir Francis Wyatt Truscott, 

 J. P., F.Z.S. ; a Common Chameleon {CliamcEliron vulgaris) 

 from North Africa, presented by Miss 'Iruefitt ; a Sykca's 

 Monkey {Cercopithecus albigularis ?) from West Africa, 

 deposited. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 



Comet Holmes (November 6, 1892). — Computations of the 

 orbit of this comet show now that it is an elliptic one, the period 

 extending to 6'78 years, very nearly the sauje as that of Wolf 

 Comet, 1884 111.-1891 II. Tha time of perihelion occurred 

 on June 207357 of this year, and the comet's orbit may be 

 mentioned as lying wholly between those of the planets Jupiter 

 and Mars. 



The following elements and ephemeris are due to Mr. A. 

 Berberich, and are derived from observations made on Nov- 

 ember 9 (Karlsruhe), November 18 (Hamburg), and November 

 25 (Berlin): — 



Elements. 

 Epoch 1892, November 25*5 Berlin M.T. 



Mean Equator, 1892.0 



