496 



NA TURE 



[March 24, 1892 



mens of the fibre, and of articles produced from it, for the col- 

 lections in the Museums of Economic Botany at Kew. It was 

 with the utmost difficulty that specimens were obtained ; but 

 ample material for arriving at a definite conclusion with regard 

 to the origin and character of "Genista fibre" was at last 

 received. There is now in the Kew Museums a complete set, 

 consisting of twigs, fibre in various stages of preparation, as well 

 as yarns and coarse cloths. These were sent by Mr. Consul 

 Perceval. There is also a sample of coarse sheeting received 

 from M. Geoffroy St. Hilaire through the English Embassy 

 at Paris. These fully illustrate the fibre industry connected 

 •^xXh Spartiuin[^Q&xvvs,K^) juiiceuvi. "It is evident," says the 

 Bulletin, "that this interesting rural industry is fast dying out 

 in France. It may be said to exist now only in very remote 

 hamlets in the Cevennes. The inquiries made by Kew were 

 therefore only just in time to secure the last specimens of cloth 

 made in the laborious fashion before the days of rapid com- 

 munication and the introduction of cheap cotton and other 

 goods." 



One of the most interesting of recent additions to the 

 Museums of Economic Botany at Kew has recently been 

 received from Sir John Kirk. It consists of a large sheet of 

 bark cloth prepared by the natives of Uganda from the inner 

 bark of a species oi firachystegia, a small genus of trees belong- 

 ing to the CcEsalpinecB sub order of the natural order Legtt- 

 tninosce. Various details relating to the use of Brachystegia as 

 a source of bark cloth are given in the current number of the 

 Kew Bulletin. The same number contain ■; sections on oil palm 

 fibre and the sources of rubber supply. 



Anyone who may desire to devote himself to the study of 

 Finnish archaeology and folk-lore will find ample material for 

 study in the information collected by the late Dr. H. A. Rein- 

 holm. He was chaplain of the prison, and pastor of the Lutheran 

 congregation, at the Fortress of Sveaborg, near Helsingfors, 

 and for many years devoted the whole of his leisure time to the 

 amassing and arrangement of facts relating to the life of the 

 Finnish people in past time>. He died in 1883. Only a few 

 results of his researches have been published. By far the greater 

 part of his work is preserved in manuscript in the Historical 

 Museum at Helsingfors. An interesting account of the labours 

 of this indefatigable investigator is given in the current number 

 of Globus. 



Mr. R. H. Scott delivered a lecture at the Royal United 

 Institution on March 18, on a subject of much importance to 

 meteorologists in this country, viz. "Atlantic Weather and its 

 connection with Brhish Weather." He pointed out that less 

 than a quarter of a century ago, before synchronous charts were 

 in vogue, it would have been impossible to have traced a storm 

 across America and the Atlantic to our own coasts ; but this can 

 now be done with considerable certainty. The broad principles 

 which govern the weather system of the Atlantic were shown on 

 two diagrams exhibiting the mean pressure, and the regions of 

 greatest disturbance of temperature, on the globe, in our winter. 

 The latter chart showed that, at that season, the relatively 

 warmest district is near Iceland ; and the barometer chart 

 showed that close to the same region the barometer is lowest. 

 The reasons of these relations, which involve the first principles 

 of modern weather knowledge, were fully explained. The more 

 northern part of the Atlantic area interests us the most. The 

 whole region from 40° to 70^ N. is constantly visited by cyclonic 

 depressions, and in order to throw some light on the origin and 

 history of these depressions, and of the storms which they at 

 times bring with them, various institutions have published daily 

 maps of the weather in the Atlantic. The most complete of 

 these maps were published by the Meteorological Office for 

 thirteen months, commencing with August 1882. The last 

 NO. II 69, VOL. 45] 



twelve of these months have been carefully examined, and show 

 no less than 264 depressions in various parts of the ocean. Of 

 these, out of 62 which originated south of 40" N., only 16 had 

 sufficient energy in them to cross the meridian of Greenwich, 

 while out of 22 which originated further south only 11 

 crossed the Atlantic, and these were not all felt as actual storms 

 in this country. The practical outcome of obtaining telegrams 

 from America has not been satisfactory, but this failure has 

 probably been mainly due to the fact that the reports "have 

 been neither numerous nor full enough." This accurately re- 

 presents the case at the present time ; but we hope it is not too- 

 much to expect that, with our present knowledge of the paths 

 taken by depressions with regard to areas of high pressure, some 

 further advance may shortly be made in predicting storms by 

 means of more numerous and fuller telegraphic reports both 

 from outward and homeward bound ships. 



The following are among the lecture arrangements at the 

 Royal Institution for the period after Easter :— Prof. T. G. 

 Bonney, two lectures on "The Sculpturing of Britain — its Later 

 Stages " (the Tyndall Lectures) ; Mr. Frederick E. Ives, two 

 lectures on "Photography in the Colours of Nature"; Prof. 

 Dewar, four lectures on "The Chemistry of Gases"; Prof. H, 

 Marshall W^ard, three lectures on "Some Modern Discoveries 

 in Agricultural and Forest Botany " (illustrated by lantern). 

 The Friday evening meetings will be resumed on April 29, 

 when a discourse will be given by Dr. William Huggins on 

 " The New .Star in Auriga" ; succeeding discourses will prob- 

 ably be given by Captain Abne)', Dr. B. W. Richardson, Mr. 

 J. Wilson Swan, Sir James Crichton- Browne, Mr. Ludwig 

 Mond, Prof. Dewar, and other gentlemen. 



A GOOD seam of coal from 7 feet to 8 feet thick has been 

 discovered by Mr. Hughes, of the Indian Geological Survey, on 

 the banks of the Tenasserim River, which is navigable to that 

 point. The Government of India has sanctioned the grant of a 

 large concession in Mergui to Ah Kwi, a wealthy Chinese resi- 

 dent of the Straits, to prospect for tin. According to the 

 Calcutta correspondent of the Times, this is the first attempt to 

 encourage on a large scale the mining industry in Mergui. 



Messrs. Crosby Lockwood and Co. have issued the 

 fourth edition of Mr. Primrose McConnell's "Nole-book of 

 Agricultural Facts and Figures for Farmers aqd Farm 

 Students." The author was originally induced to prepare the 

 volume by noticing the great value of Molesworth's "Pocket- 

 book of Engineering Formulae " to engineers, and of similar 

 books to those engaged in other professions. It occurred to 

 him that a book compiled in the same style, and devoted to 

 farming matters, could not f.xil to be useful as a ready means of 

 reference for refreshing the memory. The success of the "Note- 

 book" has proved that he was right. The progress of agri- 

 cultural practice and science has been so rapid that it has been 

 necessary for him to rewrite the greater part of the hook, and 

 nearly twice as much matter is given in the present edition as 

 was contained in the earlier issues. The use of a slightly 

 longer page and thinner paper has prevented the size of the 

 volume from being much increased. 



The Agricultural Research Association for the north-eastern 

 counties of Scotland has issued its annual report for 1891. It 

 includes a valuable paper on " Root Hair.-," in which Mr. T. 

 Jamieson presents the results of a laborious investigation he has 

 carried on during the past three years. He also gives some 

 hints on permanent pasture, and brings together various items 

 of information which are likely to be of immediate benefit to 

 farmers. 



If we may judge from its twenty-sixth annual report, the 

 American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is 



