202 



NA TURE 



[June 27, 1895 



short and steep slope k the more unstable of the two, especially 

 in its steepest parts. Coast regions with a rapidly deepening 

 sea are unstable, especially if bordered by an important moun- 

 tain-chain ; those with a slightly sloping sea-bed are stable, 

 especially if they adjoin a flat country. Lastly, in regions which 

 are frequently disturbed by earthquakes, and which at the same 

 time possess ver)- active volcanoes, the seismic frequency and 

 volcanicity are independent. It follows, therefore, that earth- 

 quakes are a purely geological phenomenon, and probably have 

 their origin in the same dynamical forces to which the present 

 relief of the earth's crust is due. 



R.\DlOlJVRlAN earth of Tertiar}- age has long been familiar 

 from Barbados : in a recent number of the Bull. Museum Comp. 

 Zool. (Harvard), Mr. R. T. Hill records it from the island of 

 Cuba. It occurs at one place only, near Baracoa, where it is 

 over 500 feet in thickness and is well stratified, the strata being 

 vertical. The rock is chalky in appearance, with occasional 

 thin separation-layers of a grey-blue clay, and .some flint-like 

 siliceous nodules : spongespicules and echinoid fragments were 

 found in it, but no diatoms It appears to lie below certain 

 yellow beds identified as Miocene. The paper contains much 

 other information on the geology of Cuba, and the origin of the 

 circular harbours of the north coast is dealt with. The author 

 finds no evidence of any movement of depression in the island 

 since the beginning of Tertiary times. 



Dr. F. Kl.ENGEL, of Leipzig, has sent us a copy of his 

 paper, read some time since before the Bohemian .Society of 

 Sciences, on the non-periodical variations of temperature in the 

 district of the Pic du Midi and Puy de Dome, compared with 

 those at St. Bernard, for which station a longer series of 

 observations is available. The problem undertaken by the 

 author was mainly to show how far the irregular variations of 

 temperature in these three widely separated and high regions of 

 Central Europe agreed together. The most important con- 

 clusions drawn from various tables are, that a remarkable 

 agreement is shown in the non-periodical changes at the 

 mountain stations, whereas in the plains the variations differ 

 materially from each other. The influence of the sea is visible 

 in the lower region of of the Pic du Midi, but at the higher 

 level it entirely disappears. 



The papers in the June fournal of the Royal Microscopical 

 Society include one on <Briti.sh patents taken out in connection 

 with the microscope, between 1666 and 1800. 



The Department of Mines ot Victoria has is.sucd a report on 

 the Victorian coalfields, the development of which is |)rocccding 

 rapidly. Evidence is given to .show that the coal is of drifted 

 origin : among other points, the mixture of conifers and ferns in 

 the flora can only be explained by transport before deposition. 



.Mr. John Tebbi'TT has sent us a report of the work done at 

 his oljscTvator)', Windsor, New South Wales, during 1894. 

 Meteorological ol>servations have now been made at the 

 oliscrvatory for thirty-two years. Among the astronomical work 

 of last year were observations of lunar rxrcuUations of stars, of 

 southern comets, and of double stars. 



The sixty-first annual rcjwrtof the Natural History, Lilcrary, 

 and Polytechnic Society of York School gives evidence of 

 enthusiastic work in many branches of science. Few school 

 societies of a similar kind can lioast of reports running into the 

 sixties. With this report we received the Natural Hhlory 

 Journal and School licporter for June 15, conducted by the 

 vicietics in Fric^d.^' schools. Thu journal contains articles 



NO. 1339, VOL. 52] 



on Southern Tyrol and on the planet Mars, as well as notes, and I 

 records of observations of scientific interest. 



Bulletin No. 48 of the U.S. National Museum is devoted to 

 "A Revision of the Deltoid Moths," by Prof John B. Smith, 

 the paper being a contribution towards a monograph of thi- 

 insects of the Lcpidoplerous fiimily Noctuidiv of Boreal Norlli 

 America. Fourteen plates, showing the different species ot 

 these Noctuids, and the structur.il char.ictcrs of the Heliini, 

 Ilerminiini, and Ilypenini, accompany the descriptive text. The 

 genera Pseudorygia and Rivula are not included in the series, 

 Prof. Smith being of the opinion that they do not possess real 

 Deltoid characteristics. 



The Report of the Geological Survey of Canada lor 1S94 de- 

 scribes the results of geological expeditions in the Labrador 

 Peninsula and west of Hudson Bay. In consequence of lack of 

 money it was found necessary to reduce the number of parties 

 working in the field, while there is an .accumulation of material 

 awaiting publication. -V deej) boring for petroleum has been 

 begun at Athabasca Landing, but at a depth of toil feet the oil 

 had not been reached ; all indications, however, point to the 

 existence of great quantities of petroleum in the Devonian strata 

 which immediately underlie the Cretaceous. 



TtlE Central Physical Observatory of St. Petersburg has 

 made an important addition to its comprehensive Monthly 

 IVcather Report by showing on a chart the deviations of 

 temperature and rainfall of the month from the normal con- 

 ditions. To arrive at this, M. Wild slates that the values 

 have been calculated for no less than 322 stations, all of which 

 are represented in the report. The excess or defect of tempera- 

 ture at each place is shown on the chart by drawing curves 

 through those places where the deviation is equal in amount, 

 while the deviation of rainfall is represented by red and blue 

 tints. The work is very neatly executed, and .shows clearly, at a 

 glance, the climatic conditions of the month. 



The 1895 Photography Annual, editeil by Mr. Henry 

 Sturmey, is an invaluable compendium o( photograjihic in- 

 formation, and a useful record of the progress made during 

 last year in the various branches of the science and practice of 

 photography. In it Mr. C. H. Bothamley traces the advances 

 of photogr.-.phic chemistry; Mr. Chapman Jones describes the 

 work done in the field of photographic optics; Mr. T. Bolas 

 records the progress made in photo-mechanical printing : Captain 

 .■\bney writes on spectrum photography; and Mr. Albert Taylor 

 contributes a very full .iccount of what w.as done in .astronomical 

 photography during 1894. These records, together with de- 

 scriptions of new photographic apjiaratus and materials, 

 technical articles, and particulars of photographic societies 

 throughout the United Kingdom, render the .4h«ki7/ indispens- 

 able to all who take .an intelligent interest in photography. The 

 publishers are Messrs. Ilific and Son. 



The current number of the Comples rendus contains an 

 account, by M. Berthelot, of a new combination of argon. 

 I'ollowing u|) his researches on argon, this author has discovered 

 that free nitrogen, prepared pure from nitrites, can be caused to 

 enter into combination with the elements of carbon disulphidc 

 when .subjected to the spark or silent discharge after .saturation 

 with disulphide vapour. The resulting compound contains 

 some mercury sul|)hocyanidc, and docs not regenerate nitrogen 

 under the action of heat or of concentrated sulphuric acid. 

 When argon is employed in place of nitrogen, a similar reaction 

 appears to take place. Under the continued action of the .silent 

 discharge, a sample of 6-55 c.c. of argon, as pure as it could 

 possibly be obtained, saturated with carbon disulphide vapour 



