204 



KNOWLEDGE. 



[September 2, 1895. 



Sciena Notes. 



A propos of Dr. J. G. McPherson's article in last 

 month's Knowledge on an effectual cure for snake 

 poisoning, some very interesting facts are furnished by an 

 Australian correspondent about snake bites during the last 

 three months of 1894 and the first three of the present 

 year. Of thirty attacks reported, eight proved fatal ; but, 

 strange to say, not a single death was caused by the bite 

 of the most venomous of all the New South Wales colony 

 (to which the facts are confined), namely, the black 

 snake. Some of the details are instructive. March 

 appears to be the most fatal month. All sorts of 

 remedies were applied, and in two instances remedial 

 treatment was actually declined, with the repult that 

 the one person died and the other recovered in a few 

 days. If we had to hand all the facts of these two cases, 

 it would probably be found that the different results were 

 due to the relative quantity of the poison injected, or to 

 the relative constitutional strength of the victims. For 

 example, the poison of our common viper [VipirK //cn<s) is 

 undoubtedly deadly to small animals, rodents, birds, and 

 even dogs of comparatively large size. There have been, 

 from time to time, reports of fatal cases of adder bites of 

 pigs, sheep, horses, cattle, and even human beings ; but, 

 as far as we know, in no case within the last quarter of a 

 century have the " facts " been authenticated. 



The Public Health Section of the British Medical 

 Association, in its recent Congress, gave considerable 

 attention to the subject of water filters, which has recently 

 been much discussed in medical and scientific papers, as 

 well as in the daily press. In the presidential address, on 

 July 31st, it was pointed out that one of the gravest 

 reproaches against official sanitary administration was 

 that it was only just beginning to realize the protection 

 which could be obtained against cholera, typhoid fever, 

 and similar diseases, by the adoption of the Pasteur system 

 of filtration, which had in France for many years suc- 

 ceeded in stamping out such diseases wherever it had been 

 applied. 



The Chronide has been much agitated over the delama.uu 

 of the far-famed Falls of Foyer by the British Aluminium 

 Company, and all lovers of the beautiful in nature must 

 feel an intense antipathy to anything that may convert, 

 say, a I'hirlmere into a Manchester reservoir. Dr. Common, 

 F.R.S., the chairman of the Aluminium Company, assures 

 us, however, that so far as the intrinsic beauties of these 

 lovely falls are concerned, their utilization for the production 

 of electricity shall be in no way damaging. The company 

 have an unlimited supply of the mineral bauxite in their 

 Irish workings ; and at Larne the preliminary process of 

 obtaining from this mineral pure alumina will be carried 

 out, whilst the final electrolytic process for obtaining 

 aluminium is to be eflected by means of the electricity 

 generated by the Falls of Foyer. The company by these 

 means will he able to produce aluminium at about t'4 a 

 ton instead of £20 a ton. There can be no doubt that 

 aluminium at this price will effect a revolution in many 

 'ndustries, and alter our conceptions as to the velocity of 

 locomotives, steamers and velocipedes. 



America is not behind the rest of the universe in 

 showering good things on the heads of Profs. Lord 

 Eayleigh and Eamsay. Characteristically it comes in 

 the form of the almighty dollar. Each have received 

 five thousand dollars from the Smithsonian Institution in 

 recognition of their discovery of argon. 



Messrs. Chapman \- Hall have been constituted sole 

 agents in this country, the Continent, and the Colonies, for 

 the sale of the important scientific and technological 

 publications of Messrs. Wiley and Sons, the well-known 

 scientific publishers, of New York. 



3Lctttrs. 



« 



[The Editor docs not hold himself responsible for the opiuious or 



statements of correspondents.] 



> 



THE EFFECT OF LiaHTNING ON BEECH TREES. 



To the Editor of Knowledge. 



Sir, — Referring to the short article on " The Effects of 

 Lightning on Trees," in the July number of Kxov\'ledge, 

 I venture to ask if you can supply me with any well- 

 authenticated cases of hen-h trees being struck. It would 

 seem that both Kauschinger and Hellman believe that 

 there are such ; but, in over fifty years of careful noting of 

 the effects of lightning, I have never known — nor have I 

 ever heard of any such — except once, an ill-authenticated 

 report of one in Norway. 



Inverarity, Forfar, N.B. (Eev.) P.\t. Stevenson. 



[Negative evidence m a matter of this kind is of no 

 scientific value whatever. I have examined hundreds 

 of beech trees "struck'' by lightning, and invariably the 

 efl'ect has been as described in my " Notes ' in the July 

 number of Knowlkikje. But to go beyond my own 

 personal experience, permit me to quote a passage from an 

 article which appeared in the columns of ^Vomh and Forests 

 (now dead), for March r,th, 1884, pp. 199-200, by Mr. John 

 W. Crompton, of Rivingtou, Lancashire. 



" I have frequently seen it stated that beeches are not 

 liable to be struck by lightning. I do not find it so here ; 

 my beeches have sufiered more than any other trees, oaks 

 not excepted. The circumstance that these beeches are 

 taller than many of the surrounding trees may have 

 something to do with it." 



Very likely, and there is no doubt at all that the water- 

 conducting power of beech leaves, branches, and trunks, 

 also the peculiar formation of the branches as contrasted 

 with the square set liranches of the oaks, are the cause of 

 less damage generally being seen at the time. Since I 

 wrote my '■ Notes ' for Knowledge, I have had an oppor- 

 tunity ot reading a very admirable work on the " Protection 

 of Woodlands," by Mr. John Nisbet, of the Indian Forest 

 Service (Edinburgh : David Douglas), which might be 

 studied with advantage by your correspondent. Some 

 interesting observations on the same subject will also be 

 found in " Diseases of Trees" by Prof. Hartig, of the 

 Munich University, an Imglish edition of which (MacmiUan 

 and Co.) has also appeared since I wrote my " Notes." I 

 am glad to say that these high authorities bear out the 

 theory I advanced in my capacity of a humble field 

 naturalist and observer. — G. W. Mubdooh.] 



COLOURS of' 'butterflies. 

 To the Editor of Knowledge. 



Sir, — I have read the answers of Dr. Marshall and Mr. 

 Johnson to my (Queries in your July number, but am as far 

 as ever from enlightenment on the subject of "protective" 

 colouring. 



Mr. Johnson says — " The fact that some insects are 

 protected while many others are not, is because those 

 othei-s do not need protection." What constitutes the 

 dift'erence between the two classes he does not say. Ho 

 merely says " This is obviously a truism." I fail to see 

 the truth in this " truism." He is bound to be more 

 explicit. Mr. Wallace, as I formerly pointed out, expresses 



