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NATURE 



I January 30, 1896 



of snow may account for it by accelerating the motion cf the ice ; 

 but Mr. H. C. Russell, F.R.S. , remarks, in a paper read before 

 the Royal Society of New South Wales in September last, that 

 the circumstances forbid the acceptance of this view, because the 

 motion of the glacier depends mainly on the declivity down 

 which it is descending, and that does not alter, and the piling 

 up of snow could not in one year cause such a marked increase 

 in the rate of flow as would be necessary to account for the 

 enormous increase in number of icebergs which appear from time 

 to time. There must evidently be a force sufficient to break off 

 the icebergs which are slowly forming on shore, and to do it at 

 irregular periods separated by many years. He is of the opinion 

 that the true cause resides in the volcanoes of the Antarctic 

 continent, when they burst forth in eruption, and by the act 

 so shake the foreshores, that the icebergs are broken off from 

 the glaciers. In connection with Mr. Russell's paper, it is 

 interesting to note a report, issued from the U.S. Hydrographic 

 Office, descriptive of the floating ice seen during 1892 and 1893 

 in the South Atlantic east of Cape Horn. It is said that the 

 icebergs were of such size that they could not have been formed 

 on small, low-lying islands, but only on a large continent of such 

 height that great glaciers could be formed. 



Is there a connection between crime and the weather ? The 

 relations between certain meteorological conditions and many 

 diseases has been fairly well established, and more knowledge 

 about the connection is likely to be obtained now that a depart- 

 ment having for its object the collection of statistics referring 

 to climate and health has been formed in the U.S. Weather 

 Bureau. And if bodily disease is affected by atmospheric 

 changes, why not those mental diseases which result in the per- 

 petration of crimes ? Several attempts have been made to reveal 

 a connection between the moods and impulses of the people and 

 the weather, and a description of the results obtained in the 

 latest of these investigations is contained in the current number 

 of the American Meteorological lotirnal. The investigator is 

 Mr. C. E. Linney, Director of the Illinois State Weather 

 Service, who has considered the police records of the city of 

 Chicago for each month in the years 1888-1894, the total number 

 of arrests for each month, and for each division of crime, being 

 examined with his "weather eye" open. While it is admitted 

 that there are some cases which • seem to go against the 

 general rule, Mr. Linney thinks that the results do show 

 a marked increase in crime with the increase in temperature, 

 probably daily, at least for the months, seasons, and the year. 

 Also that there is an increase in crime with a marked deficiency 

 in rainfall, temperature conditions remaining normal ; and again 

 a greater increase where both conditions are aggravating causes. 

 As for humidity, there seems to be no special connection, and 

 also little connection with the cloudiness, except possibly a slight 

 increase in clear, and a slight decrease in cloudy, weather. On 

 the other hand, it is thought that the figures show a decrease in 

 crime with a deficiency in temperature, especially during winter 

 months, or with excess in rainfall in summer, and a greater de- 

 crease when both are restraining causes. Mr. Linney also thinks 

 his results indicate that there is a decrease in crime with a 

 north-east over a south-west wind. Perhaps the day will come 

 when police stations will possess a full equipment of meteoro- 

 logical instruments, by reference to the readings of which police 

 inspectors will regulate their vigilance. 



Nos, 5 and 6 of the " Records of the Botanical Survey of 

 India " are devoted to a report on a botanical tour in the Lak- 

 himpur District, Assam, by Mr. G. A. Gammie ; and notes on 

 a journey from Poona to Nagotna, by Mr. G. M. Woodrow. 



We have received a copy of the memoir of the late Mr. 

 Frederic Kitton, the well-known diatomist. His life aff"ords one 



NO. 1370. VOL. 53] 



of the numerous instances of the great additions to our scientific 

 knowledge due to men immersed in business, who can only 

 devote to science their hard-earned leisure. 



A CATALOGUE just received from the General Electric Com- 

 pany shows to what a vast extent the electrical industry has 

 grown. The catalogue, which runs into nearly one thousand 

 quarto pages, appears to include illustrations and descriptions 

 of almost every invention known in connection with the appli- 

 cation of electricity to useful purposes, and an abundance of 

 information of value to electricians, while students will obtain 

 from it a good idea of modern electrical work. 



Nos. 4 AND 5 (vol. iii.) of the "Contributions from the 

 United States National Herbarium," issued by the Department 

 of Agriculture, have reached us. The former is devoted to a 

 report, by Mr. J. M. Holzinger, on a collection of plants made 

 by Mr. J. H. Sandberg and assistants in Northern Idaho in the 

 year 1892. The latter contains a report, by Prof. J. M. Coulter 

 and Mr. J. N. Rose, on Mexican Umbelliferse, mostly from the 

 State of Oaxaca, collected by Mr. C. C. Pringle and Mr. E. W. 

 Nelson ; and descriptions of plants, mostly new, from Mexico 

 and the United States, by Mr. J. N. Rose. 



Mr. Arthur Lister, the monographist of the Mycetozoa, 

 who recently presented to the British Museum a magnificent col- 

 lection of these organisms, together with a number of micro- 

 scopic slides, has now prepared a " Guide to the British 

 Mycetozoa," founded on these collections, which can be ob. 

 tained in the Botanical Gallery of the Museum. It contains a 

 most valuable, though concise, account of the life-history of 

 these interesting structures, and a synopsis of the British genera 

 and species. Each genus is illustrated by at least one wood- 

 block drawn by the pencil of Miss Galielma Lister. 



A " Review of Mineral Production in India" for 1894, com- 

 piled by Mr. G. Watt, has been published by the Indian 

 Government. It is carefully prepared, and as regards the 

 important materials salt, coal, and petroleum, the statistical 

 returns of production, import and export, are complete. Iron 

 ore is also fully treated ; but it was not found possible to give 

 complete statements of other minerals, though a great deal o 

 information, both statistical and descriptive, has been brought 

 together. In view of the great difficulties in the way of obtain- 

 ing full information, the result is very satisfactory, and will 

 probably lead to greatly improved reports in the future. 



With the January number, the National Geographic 

 Magazine, published by the National Geographic Society, 

 Washington, commences a new series, and makes its first ap- 

 pearance as a monthly publication. It is intended that the 

 magazine shall be the exponent of the geography— physical, 

 political, and commercial — of the New World ; in fact, the aim 

 is to be American rather than cosmopolitan. The articles in 

 the first number are " Russia in Europe," by the Hon. Gardiner 

 G. Hubbard ; "The Arctic Cruise of the U.S. Revenue Cutter 

 Bear" (with illustrations), by Dr. Sheldon Jackson ; and " The 

 Scope and Value of Arctic Exploration," by General A. W. 

 Greely. 



The eleventh volume of " Travaux et Memoires" of the 

 International Committee of Weights and Measures, has just 

 come to us from MM. Gauthier-Villars, together with a volume 

 containing the " Proces-verbaux " of the meetings of the Com- 

 mittee in 1894. Under the title, " Determination experimentale 

 de la valeur du metre en longueurs d'ondes lumineuses," the 

 former contains a detailed account of Prof. Michelson's work in 

 connection with the use of the light-wave as the ultimate standard 

 of length. There are two other papers in the volume, viz. 

 " Metres prototypes et etalons," by M. J. Rene Benoit and 



