iS 



NATURE 



[May 3, 1900 



manuiactured in Madagascar from the silk obtained from the 

 halabe, an enormous spider that is found in great numbers in 

 certain districts of the island. The matter has been taken up 

 by M. Nogue, the head of the Antananarivo Technical School. 

 The results he has already achieved show that the production 

 of spider silk should quickly become a highly important industry. 

 Each spider yields from three to four hundred yards of silk. 

 After the thread has been taken from the spiders they are set 

 free, and ten days afterwards they are again ready to undergo the 

 operation. The silk of these spiders, which is of the most ex- 

 traordinary brilliant golden colour, is finer than that of the silk- 

 worm, but its tenacity is remarkable, and it can be woven without 

 the least difficulty. 



We have received from the Agricultural Department of the 

 Economical Society of Youriev (Dorpat) a report upon the 

 results of rainfall and temperature observations made in the 

 Baltic Provinces of Livonia and Esthonia during 1898. This is 

 the thirteenth year of publication ; the report contains a large 

 amount of very useful statistics, including monthly and yearly 

 means and the number of rainy days at no less than 203 stations. 

 The same information is also shown very clearly in a graphical 

 manner, together with a comparison of the year's results with 

 a ten years' average. We note that the publication of the 

 results for the year 1899 may be expected very shortly. 



The Weather Bureau of the United States has published a 

 valuable discussion of the climate of San Francisco {Bulletin 

 No. 28), by Messrs. A. G. McAdie and G. H. Willson. The 

 work is based upon observations collected during the last thirty 

 years, and the results are given in considerable detail on account 

 of the important position of the town and the peculiarity of its 

 climate. The authors state that if a native of San Francisco 

 were asked which was the coldest month of the year, he might 

 be unable to answer, and if asked which was the warmest, he 

 might say November. This arises from the comparative small 

 range of temperature ; the mean annual temperature is about 

 56 '2°. May and November have practically the same tempera- 

 ture ; the warmest month is September, 6o"9°, and the coldest 

 January, 50'i°. The highest temperature recorded was 100°, 

 in June, 1891, and the lowest 29°, in January, 1888. The 

 mean of the three consecutive warmest days has never exceeded 

 76 '3°, and the mean of the three coldest days was 407°. The 

 annual rainfall is 23 inches. July and August are practically 

 without rain, while December and January together have nearly 

 10 inches. 



A SERIES of Lower Silurian fossils from Baffin Land, in the 

 region between Hudson Bay and Davis Strait, has been described 

 and figured by Mt. Charles Schuchert {Proc. U.S. Nat. 

 Museum, vol. xxii. 1900). The fossils belong to the Trenton 

 group, and the strata rest unconformably on old crystalline rocks. 

 The author notes the early introduction in the Baffin fauna of 

 Upper Silurian genera of corals, such as Halysites. He also 

 remarks that the corals, brachiopods, gasteropods and trilo- 

 bites have a wide distribution, and are less sensitive to differing 

 habitats than the cephalopods or lamellibranchs. 



In an article on the Dwyka Coal-measures ( Trans. S. African 

 Phil. Soc. vol. xi.), Mr. E. J. Dunn points out that the Dwyka 

 conglomerate, which occurs at the base of the coal-bearing series, 

 is a most valuable horizon, and that its length of outcrop exceeds 

 2,000 miles. This is shown on an accompanying map. Within 

 \}[\\s, OMXcxo^t co2\ may be present zX varying depths over an im- 

 mense area, extending from the southern part of the Transvaal 

 to Kimberley and near East London. Borings alone can decide 

 if profitable seams occur, and if so, at what depths. 



It is well known that the blood of animals that have been 

 poisoned with carbonic oxide loses its power of absorbing 

 oxygen. Dr. Adolfo Moutuori, writing in the Reudiconto. of 

 NO. 1592, VOL. 62] 



the Naples Academy, describes experiments tending to explain 

 the fact that dogs are capable of surviving the injection into 

 their veins of a quantity of carbonic oxide far greater than would 

 poison them if inhaled. It is found that the poisoned blood 

 reacquires its power of absorbing oxygen when it is brought 

 into contact with the pulmonary tissues, but not otherwise. 



The statics and dynamics of pseudospherical space in three 

 dimensions form the subject of a memoir by Prof. D. de Fran- 

 cesco in the Reudiconto of the Naples Academy. Defining the 

 co-ordinates of a point as the hyperbolic sines of the perpendi- 

 culars on three principal orthogonal planes of reference, the 

 author introduces the conception of the moment of a force with 

 regard to a point, analogous to the moment in ordinary statics, 

 and, in addition, the new notion of the co-moment, of which an 

 analytic expression is given. By representing forces by the 

 hyperbolic sines of segments measured on their lines of action 

 the equation of virtual work is established, and by applying 

 this equation to a rigid system the author determines the six 

 characteristics, the central axis, and the invariants. Starting 

 from the conception of the co-moment, the problem of dynamics 

 is treated by the method of Poinsot. Two invariants are found, 

 and the conditions for their vanishing lead to remarkable 

 geometrical properties, which do not exist in ordinary mechanics. 

 The same author discusses in the Atti dei Lincei the kindred 

 problem of integration of the differential equations of free motion 

 of a rigid body in space of constant curvature. 



Mr. J. E. Griffith, of Bangor, author or the " Flora of 

 Carnarvonshire and Anglesey," proposes to publish a series of 

 photographic reproductions of the cromlechs of these two 

 counties of Wales. The series will contain forty-three photo- 

 graphs of thirty-six different cromlechs. 



A rumoured project of reclaiming Wicken Fen in Cambridge- 

 shire, forming the subject of a recent leader in the Standard, 

 once more raises the question as to the desirability of acquiring 

 by public subscription this last remaining habitat of the old 

 fauna and flora of the Fen district, and thus saving them from 

 extinction. Such a project was suggested some time ago by 

 Mr. Carrington, the editor of Science Gossip, and it is much to 

 be hoped that a movement may be set on foot for the purpose 

 before it is too late. 



We have received No. 3 (vol. i.), for April, of Climate, " a 

 Quarterly Journal of Health and Travel," edited by Dr. C. F. 

 Harford-Battersby. The periodical is the organ of the Travel- 

 lers' Health Bureau, the object of which is to supply to inquirers 

 information of every kind connected with the health and comfort 

 of travellers and of residents in unhealthy climates. Among the 

 original articles in the number before us is a very interesting 

 one on " Gardening in West Africa," by Miss Kingsley, and a 

 rhumi of the facts at present ascertained connecting malafia 

 fever with the pa asite of the mosquito. A short paper on 

 "European Children in Tropical Climates," by Dr. G. D. 

 McReddie, will be read with interest by many. 



A " Flora of Bournemouth " is announced for early publi- 

 cation by the Rev. E. F. Linton, of Bournemouth (subscription 

 price, 75. dd.). The area taken is a radius of twelve miles, and 

 includes portions of the counties of Hants and Dorset, with the 

 Isle of Wight. The total number of flowering plants and 

 Pteridophytes is stated as 1137. 



In the Naturwissenschaftliche Wochenschrift for April 15, 

 Prof. M. Mdbius gives an interesting account of pigments in the 

 vegetable kingdom. Commencing with the colouring matters 

 of fungi and lichens, he proceeds to those in the various groups 

 of Algse, and then to the pigments of Muscineoe, Pteridophytes, 

 and Phanerogams, contained in the stem, root, leaves, flowers, 



