April 1, 1899.] 



KNOWLEDGE. 



83 



Mr. Morrice, and everyone else who has written of Lapland, our 

 author devotes many pages throughout the book to mosquitoes. 

 Mosquitoes, bogs, want of food, the laziness of the Lapps, and 

 scarcity of carriers seem the chief evils of this country, and ^Lr. 

 Hyne does full justice to them. The book is well worth reading, 

 but it tells us little that is fresh. The illustrations, which are 

 the work of Mr. Hayter, are for the most part excellent. 



Diet ami Food. By Alex. Haig, jr.A., ^f.^>. (Churchill.) 

 Illustrated. 2s. A rational system of supplying the human 

 machine with food, although of the utmost importance, is for 

 some unaccountable reason entirely ignored by the great 

 majority of the British public. Even among the more en- 

 lightened, far too little attention is devoted to the advantages 

 which follow in the wake of a course of dieting suited to the 

 varying needs of the body at different periods of life. Dr. 

 Haig endeavours to impress on the minds of his readers the 

 necessity for varying the diet at different stages of life. The 

 food required for youth, he contends, will not answer equally 

 well in old ^e, neither will the diet adhered to by persons in 

 active outdoor life suit persons of sedentary habits. In this 

 way the doctor goes into the subject thoroughly, touching upon 

 many phases of human life, and projecting the light of science 

 thereon iu a manner wliich is decidedly instructive and agreeable 

 reading at the same time. Careful perusal of such books as 

 this will help to minimise the evils arising from ill-regulated 

 gastronomic operations — disease in many forms, the agony of a 

 deranged digestive system, and premature death. 



We learn from Mr. Davies, of Brecon, that he is publishing by 

 subscription a volume on "The Birds of Breconshire,''by Mr. E. 

 Cambridge Phillips. The price of the book to subsciibers will 

 be 7s. 6d. 



BOOKS RECEIVED. 



Primitive Constellations. Yol. I. By Robert Brown. (Williams 

 aud Norgate.) Maps. ICs. 6d. 



Tlie Stori/ of the British Race. By John Munro. (Newnes.) Is. 



Laboratori) Manual in Astronomif. By Mary E. Byrd. (Ginn 

 and Co.) .<"l-35. 



Truth and Error. By J. W. Powell. (Kegau Paul.) Os. 



On Centenarians. By T. E. Young, B.A. (Chas. and Edwin 

 Layton.) 



An Introduction to Stellar Astronomy. By W. H. S. Monet, M. A. , 

 F.E.A.3. (Hutcliinson.) Illustrated. 39. 6d. 



Haunts and Hobbies of an Indian Official. By Mark TliornhiU. 

 (Murray.) 6s. 



Chemistry for Photographers. 3nd Edition. By Charles P. 

 Towuaend. (Dawbaru and Ward.) Illustrated. Is. net. 



The Practical Electrician s Pocket Book and Diari/—lS99. 

 (Kentell & Co.) \a. net. 



The Naturalist's Directory, 1899. (tJpcott O-Ul.) Is. net. 



Chapters on Unman love. By GreofErey Mortimer, (University 

 Press, Limited.) 10s. 



The Life Story of Sir Charles TiUton Bright. By Edward aud 

 Charles Bright. ' 2"Yo1s. (Constable.) Illustrated. 



Funafuti, or Three Months on a Remote Coral Island. By Mrs. 

 Edgeworth David. (Murray.) Illustrated. 12s. 



The Resources of the Sea. By W. C. Mcintosh, E.B.S. (Cambridge 

 University Press.) Illustrated. 15s. net. 



History of Physics. By Florian Cajori, ph.d. (Macmillan.) 7s. 6d. 



Eclipse Observations taken at Dumraon, 22nd January, 1S9H. By 

 Rev. v. de Campigneulles, s.j. (Longmans.) Plates. lUs. 6d. net. 



The Internal iViring of Buildings. By H. M. Leaf. (Constable.) 

 Illustrated. 38. 6d. 



Early Chapters in Science. By Mrs. W. Awdrey. (Murrav.) 6s. 



Report of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of 

 Science, 189S. 



Marold Hardy. 'BjF.C.Kaidle. (University Press, Limited.) 6s. 



The Scientific Roll. A Magaziue conducted by A. Ramsay. 

 (O'DriscoU, Lennox & Co.) Is. 



^ 



Sctcnce l^otfs. 



Most observers are agreed that before a great storm 

 birds which sing are more restless than usual. During 

 one of the nights of August, last year, there was a very 

 severe storm, accompanied by wind, rain, thunder, and 

 lightning, which prevailed over a considerable part of 

 Dlinois. For forty-eight hours before the storm broke. 



Mr. W. Warner, of Henry County, U.S.A., records that not 

 a sound was heard from a single one of the numerous song 

 birds in the district. Other observers declare, however, in 

 letters written to Mr. C. E. Linney, that birds sing more 

 loudly and more persistently in such circumstances. But all 

 were agreed about the restlessness of song birds before a 

 storm. That there is some connection between the con- 

 ditions of the atmosphere and the behaviour of birds is 

 borne out by some of the proverbs Mr. Linney has collected 

 in his paper on this subject in the United States Monthly 

 Weather Eevieic. The following will help to exemplify this 

 connection : — When birds cease to sing, rain and thunder 

 will probably occur.— Eobins will perch on the topmost 

 branches of trees and whistle when a storm is approaching. 

 — Parrots and canaries dress their feathers, and are 

 wakeful the evening before a storm. 



»-•-• 



An ingenious generator of acetylene gas has been 

 patented by Sir Howard Grubb, particularly useful for 

 domestic purposes, or where unskilled labour is employed. 

 The generator, provided with baskets or compartments for 

 the carbide, may lie inside or outside of an enclosed tank, 

 but connected therewith in such manner that, as the 

 volume of gas in the container increases, water is displaced 

 and forced up through a pipe to the water supply tank, 

 or, water may flow from a separate tank on to the carbide 

 in such manner that as the gas accumulates the generator 

 is left comparatively dry. The generator, if outside the 

 gas container, is conveniently provided with a water jacket, 

 a precaution which minimises the chances of explosion, 

 and the various valves for shutting off the water inlet, the 

 gas outlet, and the pipe to the waste tank may be auto- 

 matically operated by springs or other equivalent means 

 by the removal of the cover of the generator when it is 

 necessary to recharge. 



— ■♦ « 



The Frena pneumatic release is a new auxiliary to the 

 hand camera. Among other advantages it overcomes the 

 risk of shaking the camera in the act of setting off the 

 shutter ; enables an exposure to be made in many positions 

 where it is otherwise most inconvenient ; and, with the 

 aid of a long tube and ball, enables the operator to retire 

 to a distance and make the exposure unobserved. It con- 

 sists of a spring plunger attached to the ordinary tube and 

 baU, and can be clipped on or taken off the camera as 

 required without removing the screws which hold it in 

 position. 



Just now, when the Bill relating to the sale of food and 

 drugs is engaging the attention of the Legislature, it is 

 opportune to mention a most useful journal, The British. 

 Food and Analytical Revieu-, the ofiScial organ of the Com- 

 mission, the object of which is to disseminate authoritative 

 information upon the thousand-and-one ways in which un- 

 principled tradesmen tamper with commercial products. 

 Public authorities and officials, by consulting its pages, 

 may receive valuable assistance in the administration of 

 the existing laws for the suppression of the malpractices 

 in question, and so give the public proper guidance in 

 regard to food and other useful products. 



There is every reason to believe that the proposed National 

 Antarctic Expedition will start in 1900. Grants of one 

 thousand pounds each, it is confidently expected, will be 

 received from the Government Grant Committee of the Royal 

 Society, and from the Council of the British Association 

 for this object. Sir Clements Markham has received a 

 letter from Baron von Richthofen, President of the Berlin 

 Geographical Society, in which he refers to a great and 



