February 14, 1J595] 



NA TURE 



n^ 



of course, exposed to the ri^jours and inclemencies of the 

 climate on the top of the m uTain, and are thas subject to I 

 conditions that, /W'/w/ar/V, mi^h' bi expected to favour the 

 >:carrence of catarrhs an 1 inflim nitions. Bit experience ! 

 hows quite a different result. Tne observatory staff while in 

 actual residence on the summit has been remarkably free from 

 all kinds of ailments durin; the eleven years that have elapsed 

 since the opening. The subieqient residence at low level, 

 however, renders the members of the staff peculiarly liable to 

 an affection which clo;ely resembles, in most of its features, 

 what is usually recognised as an influenzal catarrh. There 

 seems Utile room for lioubt that this conlition is due to germ 

 influences in the lower atmosphere. .Vt the sum nit of the 

 mountain organisms do not exist, or if they do exis', only in 

 innocuous numbers. At the low level they relatively thrive, 

 and, seizing upon the " virgio S)il" of a renewed and sus- 

 ceptible mucous surface, they set up the phea omena described. 



In the January and February numbers of the Geological 

 Magazine, Mr. E. P. Culverwell criticises severely the astro- 

 nomical theory of the Ice Age. He concludes that the change 

 in the distribution of the solar heat received by the earth 

 during a period of maximum eccentricity, would no', cause a 

 shifting of the isotherms as great as the displacements to which 

 the course of existing isotherms is subject from purely geo- 

 graphical cause;. If this is orrect, the cccentrici y theory of 

 the Ice Age must be abandoned. As a possible alternative 

 theory, Mr. Culverwell sugjests a variation in atmospheric 

 pres;ure through interchange of gases during the earth's passage 

 through space. 



Some interesting additions to PaI:eobitany are being made 

 by Japanese geologists. In a recent paper {Journ. Coll. Sci., 

 Imp. Univ., /afan, vo\. vii. part iii. 1894), Prof. Vokoyama 

 gives the results of his study of the fossil plants from several 

 localities on the outer or convex side of that remarkable island. 

 Unlike the plant-bearing beds of the inner, concave side, 

 which, so far as is known, are all Middle Jurassic, the strata 

 from which the floia in question comes appear to be comparable 

 in age to the Wealden of our o*n country. In the same 

 number, Mr. Nishiwada records the occurrence in Japan of a 

 Tertiary (probably Miocene) limestone with abundant remains 

 of the peculiar calcareous alga or "nuUipore," Litho- 

 tham nion. 



Prof. A. Issel and Dr. G. Agamennone, who were deputed 

 by the Italian Government to investigate the Zante earthquakes 

 of 1893, have recently issued a viluable report of more than two 

 hundred quarto pages (Ann. Jeli Uff. Cent, di Met. c Geod. 

 vol. XV. part i. : Rome, 1894.). Dr. .\gamennone contributes a 

 catalogue of the earthquakes felt in Zinte from the earliest 

 times until 1893, and some general remarks on the same, as 

 well as chapters on the relation between the shocks of 1893 

 and the contemporaneous geodynamic phenomena in Italy, and 

 on the velocity of propagation of the principal shocks. Prof. 

 Issel describes the geology of the island, relates in ,'^ome detail 

 the features of the recent earthquakes, and concludes the work 

 with a chapter of theoretical considerations. 



In a former note (p. 232), a brief description was given of a 

 remarkable group of earthquake-palsatioTS recorded at several 

 Italian obseivatories, and at Nicolaiew on Oc'ober 27, 1894. It 

 was supposed that these might have proceeded from the great 

 earthquake which occurred on the same day in Chili and the 

 .Vrgentine Republic. The doubt which formerly existed about 

 the time of the shock is now removed by the receipt of detailed 

 accounts. The first pulsations were registered at Rome at gh. 

 7m. 35s. p.m., , Greenwich mein lime, while the shock was 

 recorded at the observatory of Santiago (Chili) at 8h. 5000. 26s., 

 NO. 1320, VOL. 5 l] 



i.e. 17m. 9s. earlier. There can thas be little doubt as to the 

 origin of the pulsations, which probably travelled with a velocity 

 of nearly II k.m. per second. 



A si.MPLiFiED process for silvering glass is described by MM. 

 .Vuguste and Louis Lumiere in the /jurnal de Physique. Take 

 100 parts by volume of a 10 per cent, solution of nitrate of 

 silver, and add, drop by drop, a quantity of ammonia, just suf- 

 ficient to dissolve the precipitate formed, avoiding any excess ol 

 ammonia. Make up the volume ol the solution to ten times the 

 amount by adding distilled water. The reducing solution used 

 is the formaldehyde of comaierce. Tne 40 per cent, solution is 

 diluted to a I per cent, solatioa. Tae glass to be silvered is 

 polished with chamois leather, and the bath is male up imme- 

 diately before use, by mixin^ two parts by volume of the silver 

 solution with one of formaldehyde. The solution must be 

 poured right over the surface without stopping. After about 

 five or ten minutes, at a temperature between 15° anl 19' C, 

 all the silver in the solution is deposited on the glass in a bright 

 layer, which is then washed in running water. It is then var- 

 nished if the ^lass side is to be used, or polished if the free 

 surface is required for reflection. This method does not require 

 the scrupulous care necessary wilh other methods, but Brashear's 

 process, for instance, gives mirrors which do not require 

 polishing. 



The Government of Cape Colony has recently instituted 

 inquiries in various quarters with a view to gain sugjestions 

 as to the best methods of developing the neglectei sei-iisleries 

 of the colony. Tne Minister of Agriculture has received a 

 number of replies upon the subject, which have been published 

 in the Agricultural Journal of Cape Colony. The first de- 

 sideratum in a matter of this important nature is clearly that the 

 Government should possess some trustworthy and responsible 

 source of information upon matters connected with its sea- 

 fisheries ; and on this account Dr. Trimen, the Curator of the 

 South .Vfrican Museum, strongly recommends the Government 

 to obtain the services of a competent naturalist, accustomed to 

 the study of marine animals and, if possible, experienced in 

 the work of English or American Fishery Departments, who 

 would devote himself to a thorough study of South African 

 Fisheries. The appointment of skilled naturalists as Fishery 

 Advisers to Governments has been attended with excellent 

 results in Holland and other countries, and we heartily 

 endorse all that Dr. Trimen has to say in favour of the 

 adoption of a similar course in the present instance. 



Messrs. Laws and Andrewes have not finished their 

 vindication of the innocuous nature of sewer air. We thought 

 that from the microbic point of view this question had been 

 disposed of ; but the London County Council evidently think 

 differently, and another report is to hand, telling us that the 

 microbes present in sewage are not present in sewer air, and 

 that there is no microbic relationship, either in quantity or 

 quality, between the two. These investigators claim to have 

 found a bacillus resembling the typhoid bacillus in a drain from 

 the typhoid block of a fever hospital in which no disinfection 

 had been carried out for two days previously. This is hardly 

 "an important fact," and perhaps not an unexpected dis- 

 covery; but it is interesting to note that when typhoid germs are 

 placed in sterile sewage, they are said to succumb rapidly, 

 whilst the closely allied B. coli communis multiplies extensively. 

 Details are given as to how the sewage was sterilised ; but 

 whether culture material was introduced along with the respec- 

 tive organisms, is not mentioned. We fail to understand why 

 the colon bacillus is described as "harmless"; it has been 

 shown to possess very distinct pathogenic properties. Experi- 

 ments were conducted to ascertain what effect certain sewage 

 microbes] would have on the vitality of the typhoid bacillus in 



