88 



NATURE 



[May 28, 189] 



drills used. This line acros? the Andes consists of a series of 

 tunnels and other heavy works ; the tunnels had to be bored in 

 most inaccessible regions, where the means of transport are 

 meagre in the extreme. The whole of the plant therefore had 

 to be designed with great care and with special reference to 

 the unusual requirements. Weight had to he minimized, and 

 strength and simplicity had to be carefully obtained. Water- 

 power was available at some distance from the scene of 

 operations ; the water-power was brought to the primary stations 

 by means of 20-inch steel pipes. On the Chilian side the 

 primary station contained ten dynamos and two spare ones, each 

 being of 80 horse-power, and each coupled direct to, and driven 

 by, a Girard turbine. The electric power generated is trans- 

 mitted through a cable to secondary stations, where, by means 

 of motors, the air-compressors are operated. A similar arrange- 

 ment is in use on the Argentine side, only the dynamos are of 

 40 horse-power, because they had to be transported over moun- 

 tains on mules' backs, which made it necessary to minimize the 

 weight. This use of the electrical transmission of power is 

 highly interesting, the circumstances being such that, without 

 it, the boring of the tunnels would have been a work of great 

 expense and magnitude. 



Globus has received information from Japan to the effect that 

 there is an increasing reaction in the country against foreign 

 influences. This is said to be especially visible in schools where 

 European instruction is given. Two such schools, one of which 

 formerly had 300 pupils, the other 150, have been obliged to 

 combine their .forces, having no more than 150 pupils between 

 them. At the University of Tokio the number of native lecturers 

 increases, while that of the foreign staff decreases. 



In the New York Sun, Mr. G. F. Kunz, the well-known 

 expert in gems, has recently called attention to a property of 

 the diamond which may serve as a means of distinguishing it 

 from other substances. Referring to the paper of Robert Boyle 

 " On a Remarkable Diamond that Shines in the Dark," pub- 

 lished in the Transactions of the Royal Society in 1663, Mr. 

 Kunz remarks that this paper has been indirectly alluded to 

 by a number of authors, but never read. Among a quantity of 

 facts Boyle mentions one diamond that phosphoresced simply by 

 the heat of the hand, absorbed light by being held near a 

 candle, and emitted light on being rubbed. He stated that 

 many diamonds emitted light by being rubbed in the dark. 

 The experiments made by Mr. Kunz show conclusively not only 

 that Boyle's statement that some diamonds phosphoresce in the 

 dark after exposure to the sunlight or an arc of electric light is 

 true, but also that all diamonds emit light by rubbing them on 

 wood, cloth, or metal, a property which will probably prove of 

 great value in distinguishing between the diamond and other 

 hard stones, as well as paste, none of which exhibit this phe- 

 nomenon, and will be welcomed by the general public who do 

 not possess the experience of the dealer in diamonds. The 

 property is evidently not electric, or it would not be visible on 

 being rubbed on meal. 



We learn from the American Meteorological yournal for 

 April that the appropriation for the new Weather Service of the 

 United States is 879,753 dollars, being an increase of 62,797 

 dollars on the amount for the current year. This is accounted 

 for by the addition of 50,000 dollars for the proposed extension 

 of the service in agricultural regions, and by the fact that, under 

 the present arrangement, five of the leading officials were 

 assigned from the army, and their salaries must henceforward 

 be provided for from the appropriation for the new Weather 

 Service. The Chief of the Service is to receive 4500 dollars a 

 year. No appointment has yet been made to this position. It 

 's quite possible that the present Chief Signal Officer will be 

 detailed from the army for this duty, and Prof. Abbe, Prof. W. 

 NO. I 126, VOL. 44] 



M. Davis, Prof. Nipher, and Dr. Hinrichs are some of the 

 other prominent meteorologists mentioned as possible can- 

 didates. The same Journal also reports that Dr. Baker, 

 Secretary of the Michigan State Board of Health, has investi- 

 gated the cause of influenza. He stated that the germs are at 

 all times present, but that there must be certain coincident 

 meteorological conditions to irritate the throat and air passages 

 sufficiently to let the germ gain an entrance to the body. These 

 conditions were, in this instance, the excessive prevalence of 

 north and north-east winds, and the excessive amount of ozone 

 during the past three months. 



Mr. C. L. Wragge has issued a circular, dated February 3 

 last, stating that "in consequence of the rapid extension of the 

 Meteorological Service of Australasia in connection with the 

 Queensland Government — an extension which now embraces a 

 large portion of the Western Pacific Ocean, New Guinea, and 

 the Malay Archipelago — it has been determined to stop the issue 

 of the large charts which have hitherto dealt with the meteoro- 

 logy of Australasia only, and to issue, instead, in the early 

 future, a weather chart as complete as possible, embracing not 

 only Australasia, but also the regions above indicated." Some 

 charts have already been issued giving the isobaric lines for the 

 region referred to, and extending southwards and eastwards to 

 New Zealand and the New Hebrides. Isobars drawn for 20° 

 to 30° to the eastward of Brisbane must be to a great extent 

 problematical, and in fact this is admitted by the broken lines 

 extending over the ocean. The information, to say the least, seems 

 at present insufficient for the purpose, and over large tracts it is 

 absolutely wanting ; but the establishment of stations in remote 

 islands is, of itself, very desirable. 



The other day Prof. Vambery delivered m Edinburgh, under 

 the auspices of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, an 

 interesting lecture on British civilization and influence in Asia. 

 He had many pleasant things to say about England, but did not 

 quite overlook her shortcomings. He said he was immensely 

 struck by the indifference shown by the public at large to every- 

 thing that concerned Asia. He had lectured in more than zo 

 towns in this country, and found, even amongst the middle 

 classes, great ignorance in regard to Asiatic geography and 

 ethnography. Asiatic languages, moreover, were greatly neg- 

 lected. Germany, which had not got any territory in Asia, 

 bestowed far greater attention upon the old world than this 

 country. He opined that if the interest in Asia would increase 

 in this country commensurately with its political power and 

 influence over the various races in Asia, Britain would decidedly 

 remain there a permanent Power which could never be ousted 

 by any rival. He thought that there ought to be more schools 

 for Oriental languages in this country. There was a general 

 supposition that Britons in general could not learn foreign 

 languages, but that was not true. The greatest linguists of our 

 age had been British, as, for example. Lord Strangford for 

 Turkish, and the late Sir Richard Burton and the late Prof. 

 Palmer for Arabic. Then there were scholars like Sir James 

 Redhouse, Sir Henry Rawlinson, Sir William White, and many 

 others bearing evidence of the brilliant linguistic capacity of the 

 British. He believed that nothing could be easier than to 

 recruit in this island a goodly number of Oriental linguists for 

 employment in various Asiatic countries. 



A PAPER by Messrs. G. F. Harris and H. W. Burrows, on 

 the Eocene and Oligocene beds of the Paris Basin, is to be issued 

 as a separate publication by the Geologists' Association. It will 

 be illustrated by a map and sections. The paper is the result 

 of several years' careful study of the Parisian Tertiaries, and 

 close communication with many eminent French geologists. 

 The authors give an elaborate appendix, consisting of a list of 

 the fossil Mollusca, some 3500 species, showing the range in 



