372 



NATURE 



[July io, 1919 



unchanged relative to the cloudlets. Prof. Mascart 

 puts forward the interesting suggestion that the clear 

 path through the cloud which formed the curve was 

 caused by the passage of a small cvclone or whirl in 

 the upper layers of the air, which by mixing caused 

 the cloud-particles to evaporate. It thus left a track 

 through the cloud similar to that which a tornado 

 marks out for itself on the earth by its path of 

 destruction. A drawback to this hypothesis is the 

 great speed at which the curve was generated. 



Monthly results of magnetical, meteorological, and 

 seismological observations for several recent months, 

 and the Annual Report for the year 1917, of the Royal 

 Alfred Obsen'atory, Mauritius, show the maintenance 

 of considerable activity under the directorship of Mr. 

 A. Walter. Information of the probable state of the 

 weather over the surrounding area of the southern 

 Indian Ocean to a distance of five hundred miles is 

 supplied to shipping in the harbour daily between 

 November and May, and during the cyclone season 

 information, when necessary, is telegraphed to Mada- 

 gascar, Reunion, and Rodrigues. From May to 

 September cablegrams are sent weekly to the Director. 

 General of Indian Observatories in connection with 

 the monsoon predictions. Daily observations of rain- 

 fall are received from about 150 stations in different 

 parts of the island. During 1917 the logs of seventy- 

 six voyages trading in the neighbourhood were copied 

 under the auspices of the Meteorological Society of 

 Mauritius. This work, being carried on during the 

 period of the war, may afford valuable information to 

 the British Meteorological Office. The report states 

 that "the glass ball of the old sunshine recorder 

 having become discoloured, a new instrument was 

 ordered"; its registers have since been used. This 

 defect suggests extreme caution in using the sun- 

 shine values of recent years. The monthly results of 

 observations give hourly values for most of the 

 elements, and these show great precision. In Septem. 

 ber, 1918, there is no single day without the double 

 occurrence of maximum and minimum atmospheric 

 pressures, whilst other data, such as the velocity of the 

 wind, exhibit equally regular periods. 



A NEW uniaxial hydrous magnesium aluminium 

 silicate, styled colerainite, is described by Messrs. 

 Poitevin and Graham in a paper on "The Mineralogy 

 of Black Lake Area, Quebec" (Canada Geol. Surv., 

 Museum Bulletin No. 27, 1918). Analyses are given 

 of the fine crystals of vesuvianite from the Montreal 

 chrome pit and neighbouring localities. The varia- 

 tions in their habit seem connected with their colour, 

 iwhich ranges from colourless through yellow and 

 emerald-green to lilac. The minerals of the district, 

 including chromite and chrysotile, are constituents of 

 the great belt of serpentine that extends discon- 

 tinuously from Vermont across the province of 

 Quebec. We wish it were not too late to protest 

 ;Tgainst the American use of the verb "intrude" in 

 an active sense without a succeeding preposition. We 

 thus read in a few lines: "These igneous rocks are 

 found intruding sediments " ; " Devonian strata are 

 not intruded"; and "the igneous rocks were prob- 

 ably intruded in pre-Devonian time." The second 

 and third of these" passages cannot both be correct, 

 and the third seems the only one that should be 

 accepted by geologists who write in English. 



Statistics of the mineral production of India for 

 the year 1917 have been published in the last volume 

 to hand of the Records of the Geological Survey of 

 India, vol. xlix., part ii. These show that the Indian 

 mineral industn,' is so far in a satisfactory con- 

 dition in that The value of the products has risen to 

 13,351,364?., an increase of about i2| per cent, on 

 NO. 2593, VOL. 103] 



the value in 1916. In some cases this increase in 

 value is due to a rise in the price of the commodity, 

 which has been sufficient to compensate for an occa- 

 sional falling off in the output. Nearly one-half of 

 the total increase is due to coal, which contributes 

 nearly one-third of the total value of the output, and 

 in this instance it is satisfactory to note that the 

 production has gone up by nearly a million tons to 

 18,212,918 tons. There was again a decrease in the 

 output of gold by about 24,000 oz., the total yield 

 being 574,293 oz., the decrease being almost wholly 

 in the Kolar goldfield in Mysore. The production of 

 manganese ore, too, has fallen from 645,204 tons in 

 1916 to 590,813 tons in 1917. Similarly there has 

 been a falling off in the production of petroleum, 

 namely, from 297,189,787 gallons to 282,759,523 gal- 

 lons. On the other hand, it is interesting to note that 

 the output of monazite in Travancore has increased 

 from 12925 tons in 1916 to 19403 tons in 1917. The 

 Bawdwin silver-lead mines in Burma have also in- 

 creased their output, the lead produced having risen 

 from 13,790 tons to 16,962 tons, and the silver from 

 759,012 oz. to 1,580,557 oz. There was a very trifling 

 increase in the production of iron ore, and both the 

 Tata Iron and Steel Co. and the Bengal Iron 

 and Steel Co. were actively engaged throughout 

 the yeai^. Upon the whole, having regard to the 

 difficulties under which the mineral industry laboured, 

 the outlook for this industry in India appears to 

 be very promising. 



The publication in March, 1917, of the regulation 

 for preventing the misuse of the title of "engineer" 

 in Austria has aroused great interest in Germany, 

 where for many years abortive efforts have been made 

 to achieve the same results. In Austria the title is 

 now reserved for those who have studied at a technical 

 college and passed both State examinations or taken 

 the doctorate. The affiliation of the technical colleges 

 to the universities was regulated by the law of April 13, 

 1901, giving such schools the right to confer the 

 degree of doctor. The Austrian Society of Engineers 

 and Architects has agitated for this protection 

 for twenty-seven years (Zlsch. des Vereins deutschcr 

 Ingenieure, October 23, 19 18), but the war has 

 brought matters to a satisfactory head. In Germany 

 it is thought a way out could be found by conferring 

 the title " Dipl. Inr^." ("engineer holding a diploma") 

 or Engineer by Examination. The writer in the 

 journal quoted, however, does not hold this view, 

 and considers that no person unless properly qualified 

 shoy^ld be permitted to use the title "engineer." 



A REPORT about to be issued by the U.S. Depart- 

 ment of Commerce shows the great development of 

 the electric light and power industry of the U.S.A. 

 in the periods 1907-12 and 1912-17. The output of 

 electric energy by the lighting and power stations in- 

 creased at a considerably greater rate, and their ex- 

 penses at a slightly greater rate, than their income. 

 The total number of establishments in 1917 was 6541, 

 4224 being private and 2317 municipal undertakings. 

 According to U.S. Commerce Report No. 84 (1919) 

 (from which this note is taken), the total primary 

 power in 1917 amounted to nearly 13,000,000 h.p. — an 

 increase of 708 per cent, as compared with 1912. Of 

 this power about two-thirds was derived from steam 

 and about one-third from water, the slight surplus being 

 obtained from internal-combustion engines. The total 

 dvnamo capacity in 1917 was, roughly. 9,000,0(0 kw., 

 743 per cent, rnore than in 1912 ; while the output of 

 energy aggregated 25,500,000 kw. -hours, an^ increase 

 of 119-9 per cent, for the period 1907-12. It is stated, 

 incidentally, that incandescent electric lamps are 

 rapidly exceeding arc lamps for street lighting. 



