394 



NATURE 



[February 21, 1895 



of the shock was fifty-five seconds ; at Santiago Observatory, 

 where it was reg istered by a seismograph, ihe duration was 

 10.403., and the amplitade of the oscillations 2°5 cm. 



Thk Revue Scientifi,jue contains a full discussion of the cause' 

 of mountain sickness, by M. H. Kronecker, who was sent to 

 investigate the conditions under which the proposed railway to 

 the top of the Jungfrau could be worked without endangering 

 human life. M. Kronecker and six other persons from Berne 

 •wiire carried from Zermatt to a point near the summit of the 

 Breithorn, 3750 m. above sea-level. It was proposed to reach 

 the summit itself, but it was impossible to proceed without ai- 

 ditional carriers, the work bein^ mu-h more laborious at high 

 altitudes. But at the altitude reached, all the symptoms of 

 mountain sickness had shown themselves — acceleration of the 

 pulse and of respiration, desire f ir rest, even after a very slight 

 effort, and headache. M. Kronecker arrived at some interesting 

 conclusions regarding mountain sickness. It sets in at altitudes 

 \-arying with different persons. Beyond 3000 metres it attacks 

 all persons as soon as they indulge in the least muscular effort, 

 but children and very old people are much less subject to it than 

 others. It also varies with the character of the mountains, being 

 usually less serious on isolated peaks. Prrsons in good health 

 can stand passive transport to about 4000 m. without incon- 

 venience, but they should not remain more than two or three 

 hours at the top. .A. prolonged sojourn may be disastrous in 

 its effects upon health, as it proved to be in the case of Dr. 

 Jacottet. For the purposes of the railway, M. Kronecker 

 recommends that nil guards and other officials should be care- 

 fully selected and, if possible, acclimatised or frequently changed 

 between the stations. Finally, the summit station should be 

 arranged so that no further ascent whatever is necessary to get 

 the full benefit of the view. 



At a recent meeting of the Sociele Fran9aise de Physique, 

 M. de Kowalski read a paper on the conditions necessary for 

 the production of katho le rays. Starting fro n an experiment 

 dne to Goldstein, in which in a vacuum tub» having a constric- 

 tion at its middle, it is found that the kathode rays are formed 

 not only at the negative electrode, but also at the constriction, 

 the author hai made several experiments. usin» tubes of different 

 shapes. He fin Is that wherever the electiic discharge is suffi- 

 ciently dense, as near the electrodes or in a capillary tube joining 

 the two parts of a vacuum tube, kathode rays are produced. 

 These rays are propagated in straight lines, are deviated by a 

 magnet, and produce a bright p\tch where they strike the glass. 

 The author has also succee led in obtaining kathode rays in a 

 tube without e'ectrodes. This tube had somewhat the shape of 

 an elongated hour glass, and was placed alongsi Ic a di-charger, 

 through which "Tcsla currents" were passed. Under these 

 circamttanccs katho le rays are produce I at either end of the 

 capillary tube forming the central part of the vacuum tube. M. 

 de Kowalski concludes from his ctperimenis (1) : that the pro- 

 duction of kathode rays is not connected with the disintegration 

 of metallic electrodes in a rarefied gas ; {2) that these rays are 

 produced wherever the dcn<iiy of the discharge is sufficiently 

 great ; (3) that the direction of the rays is the same as (hat of 

 the lines of flow of the current at the point where they arc 

 produced, and that they are propigaied in the oppo-itc direc- 

 tion 'o that in which poiiiivc electricity i'l supposed to flow. 



At the same meeting at which the above pnpcr was read, M. 



Curie described tome experiments lie had made to see whether 



li^hl rays were deviated by a m.ignetic field in the same manner 



'■de rays, lie has ohiaineii no deviation, although his 



us prrmi'ted him to p»s« the light rays for a distance of 



20 QUI, in a field having an intensity of l4"ocio units, the direc 



lion of propagation of Ihe light being pcipcndicular to the lines 



NO. 132 I, VOL. 51] 



of force of the magnetic field. The experiment was made in 

 air, as well as in carbon bisulphide in which sulphur had been 

 dissolved. The author, although he does not think the above 

 experiments are conclusive proof that kathode rays are radiation 

 of a different nature from that which constitutes light, yet thinks 

 they tend to show that there is some difference. FurthermoTC, 

 if the kathode lays are analogous to light rays, it is difficult to 

 explain ihe absence of double refr.iciion when a magnetic field 

 acts on the kathode rays. 



The triple number, pp. 10-12, of the BulUtitt of the 

 Botanical Department, Jamaica, is entirely occupied by a list of 

 the more interesting trees and shrubs, 109 in number, grown in 

 the Botanic Garden at Castleton, near Kmgslon. 



In the most recent part of the Records of the Botanical Survey 

 of India, the Indiun Government publishes a report of a 

 Botanical tour in Kashmir, by Mr. J. F. Duthie, director of 

 the Botanical Department of Northern India, accompanied by 

 a map. 



The Bulletin of the Royal Gardens, Kew, No. 96, for 

 December, 1894, contains an interesting article on " Cultural 

 Industries in Dominica," an island which, since the abandon- 

 ment of the coffee plantaiions, which were at one time its 

 staple industry, is very far from yielding the economical pro- 

 ducts which might be expected from its climate and the 

 fertility of its soil. .X. brief account is given of the four 

 Botanic S'ations in the Leeward Islands, those of Antigua, 

 St. Kitts, Dominica, and Moiitserrat. 



The 1895 Aniiuaire of the Royal Observatory at Brussels, 

 edited by M. F. Folic, has been received. The Annuaire is 

 is second only to that published by the French Bureau des 

 Longitudes. It comprises ephemerides containing the principal 

 astronomical d.ita for 'he current year ; geographical, meteoro- 

 logical, and other statistics; physical constants; and several 

 articles, among them being three by M. Folic, _on diurnal^and 

 annual aberration. 



The Smithsonian Report for 1893 has recently been issued. 

 The report comprises a selection of miscellaneous memoirs 

 embracing a considerable lange of scientific investigation and 

 discussion. This collection of reprints and translations, running 

 into very neirly seven hundred pages, contains articles of 

 interest to workers in all branches of science. Among the 

 contribuiions to the Report is a monograph on "North 

 .Vmerican Bows, .\rrows, and Quivers," by Dr. O. T. Mason. 

 The paper, which is illustrated by lifty-seven plates, deals with 

 the types of bows, arrows, and quivers of the North American 

 aborigines, with incidental references to similar forms found 

 eKcwhere. 



Messrs. J. and A. Churchill have nearly ready the 

 second volume ol "Chemical Technology," edited by Mr. 

 C. li. Groves, F.R. S., and Mr. William Thorp. This volume 

 is devoted to lighting by candles and oils, and is illustrated by 

 about 350 figures ; the section on fats and oils being written 

 by Mr. William Y. Dent; siearine, by Mr. John .Mc Arthur; 

 candle manufacture, by Messrs. L. Field and M. A. Field ; 

 the petroleum industry, by Mr. Boverion Redwood ; lamps, 

 by Mr. Boverton Redwood ; and miners' safety lamps, by 

 Messrs. Boverton Redwood and D. A. Louis. The third 

 volume of the same work, containing gas lighling, by Mr. 

 Charles Hunt, of Birmingham, and cleciric lighting, by I'rof. 

 Girnctt, of ihc Technical Board of the London County 

 Council, is in a very forward slate. 



Messrs. Macmillan and Co. will publish early in March 

 the treatise on '• BesscI Functions and their Applications to 

 Physics," by I'rols. Gray and Mathews, which has already been 

 announced. The work, after an introductory chapter on the 



