34 



KNOWLEDGE. 



January, 1911. 



youns man, was the third professor, and uiidt'r him thoCa\ en- 

 dish has, to quote Lord Rayleigh, assumed the first place 

 among physical laboratories. Not only the professor's own 

 researches, but the ^spirit with which he has animated the 

 band of students who have thronged to him at Cambridge, 

 have spread the fame of the laboratory throughout the civilized 

 world. 



SCIENCE .4ND ENGINEERING.— Sir J. J. Thomson, 

 in a presidential address to the Junior Institution of E.ngineers, 

 pointed out that the distinction between Physics and Engineering 

 is one of aim, and not of method. It is the Engineer's 

 business to turn to practical account the advances made by 

 the Physicist. But the latter must by no means concern 

 himself with utility, ^o man can foresee the significance of a 

 new discovery ; and it would be disastrous to the progress of 

 Engineering if men of science were to confine their researches 

 to matters of obvious utility, .'^t the same time England is still 

 behind Germany in the way in which new discoveries are seized 

 upon and applied industrially. For example Professor Dewar 

 invented a flask for holding liquid air. A form of this is now 

 sold in large quantities as the "Thermos" flasli, and used for 

 keeping tea and other forms of refreshment hot (or cold). But 

 none of these flasks are made in England. A well-known 

 example of the German faith in pure scientific research exists 

 in the Jena glass industry, which owes its foundation to the 

 patient and thorough investigations of Abbe and Schott. 



ZOOLOGY. 



By Professor J. .Arthur Thomson, M.A. 



HABITS OF THE WOMBAT.— J. A. Kershaw got two 

 living wombats iPIiascolninys iirsiiins} from Flinders Island 

 in Bass Strait, and kept them alive in the National Museum. 

 Melbourne. They took fresh grass and thistles readily, and 

 allowed themselves to be handled. One of them had a young 

 one in the pouch, which emerged in fifteen days. But it did 

 not survive long. " In habits these animals remind one of the 

 Rodents, their manner of feeding and (juick side-to-side 

 movement of the jaws being very similar. They are very 

 quick in their movements when excited or alarmed, and 

 run with greater speed than one would expect from such 

 an apparently awkward animal. When touched, especially 

 near the hind quarters, they have a peculiar habit of 

 kicking violently backward with both hind feet. This, it was 

 noticed, occurred even when approached by its companion. 

 If annoyed, they do not hesitate to use both teeth and claws." 

 A peculiarity not before noticed is their habit of closing their 

 claws on the rough under surface of the paw so as to grasp 

 pieces of grass and the like. They spent most of the day 

 .sleeping, partly buried in their bedding. 



SPERMACETI ORGAN.— E. Danois has studied this 

 curious organ in the whale, called Kogia hrcviccps, and finds 

 that it closely resembles that of the cachalot. He finds 

 corroboration of the view of Pouchet and Beauregard that 

 the spermaceti organ is a dependence of the right nostril, and 

 equivalent to a mucous gland in other toothed Cetaceans, 



such as the dolphin. If so. we have another illustration of ,1. 

 frequent evolutionary method — making an apparently new 

 organ by a transformation of a very old one. 



W'.XSHING OYSTERS. — Fabre-Domergue has made an 

 interesting series of observations at Concarneau. which should 

 serve to justify scientific methods in the eyes of the world, for 

 they concern the oyster. He has shown that oysters may be 

 kept for eight days (or even for a fortnightl in filtered water, 

 frequently changed, without losing any of their virtues, but 

 gaining rather. The micro-organisms which are apt to linger 

 in the mantle cavity, with deleterious results to the oyster- 

 eater, can be thoroughly washed away by the filtered water, 

 and the oysters do not lose in weight, nor in their power of 

 " \ital resistance," nor in " embonpoint." Their market 

 value is unaffected, and we can swallow them with a lighter 

 heart. 



COLOUR SENSE OF HIVE-BEES.— John H. Lovell 

 has made an experimental contribution to a much discussed 

 question : — "Do Hive-bees distinguish colour as such ?" The 

 results of his experiments strongly support the conclusion that 

 bees distinguish colours. They are more strongly influenced 

 bv a coloured slide than by one without colour, and when 

 they get accustomed to visit a certain colour they tend to 

 return to it habitually. They stick to their colours. But 

 " this habit does not become obsessional." 



ARE THERE BLACK CORALS IN THE NORTH 



SEA ? — Messrs. Freeland, Fish Merchants, .-Aberdeen, recently 

 presented to the .Aberdeen University Museum a beautiful 

 Antipatharian, or Black Coral, with two thick irregular 

 branches o\er a yard in length, and with a basal diameter of 

 nearly an inch ! They got this from a trawler, which reported 

 finding it some fifty miles off Aberdeen. Such records must 

 be taken ctiin grano salts, for the sense of accuracy varies 

 greatly in its degree of development, and mistakes may arise 

 without any intention to play a trick on the innocent 

 naturalist. Many of the trawlers make long voyages nowadays, 

 a specimen may be passed from hand to hand, and invention 

 may be called upon to supply what memory has lost. On the 

 other hand, the specimen is rather an awkward one to carry 

 about, and a secure record in 1908 of a large Antipatharian 

 {Parantipathes larix) from the north-east of the Faeroes 

 makes one more inclined to admit that the locality reported 

 may be accurate. Unfortunately, the beautiful ebony black 

 axis is polished from end to end, and there is not a trace of a 

 spine, far less of a polyp ! Secure specific identification is 

 almost impossible. 



COLOUR IN DEEP WATER.— Frederick Chapman 

 has called attention to the occurrence of deeply coloured tests 

 of the Foraminifer (Polytrema miniaceum), at a depth of 

 five hundred and seven fathoms. The species inhabits 

 relatively shallow water; the specimens from five hundred and 

 seven fathoms showed the characteristic rose-pink colour. It 

 may be recalled that one of the results of Sir John Murray's 

 1910 Expedition is to extend the light limit. Distinct traces 

 of light were detected at fi\ f hundred fathoms. 



REVIEWS. 



ASTRONOMY. 



The Romance of Modern Astronomy. — By Hector 

 M.\CPHERSON, JUN'R. 334 pages. 39 illustrations and diagrams. 

 7T-in. X 5:i-in. 

 (Seeley & Co. Price 5/-.) 



This volume is one of the series published by this firm under 

 the title of " The Library of Romance." We do not welcome 

 works of romance in astronomy, preferring books dealing more 

 with hard facts and less with romance and supposition, 



leaving such as these to be supplied by the readers. However, 

 in the present instance, we do not find fault with the book, 

 only with the title, for the author has written an entertaining 

 book, and we like his way in which he records, in a pleasant 

 and accurate manner, most of the great and well-known 

 astronomical discoveries of the past four hundred years, as 

 well as some of the Grecian discoveries. We would 

 scarcely consider it as a text-book or book of reference 

 for an observatory library, though a copy should be in 

 all observatories ; but few astronomers, and none of the 



