49'- 



NATURE 



[March 21, 1895 



mens of the wild camel. After having reached Sa-chou, 

 the expedition miie extensive surveys in the Nan-shan high- 

 lands, and then ic went out for the exploration of the country 

 in the east of Lake Kukunor. 



With reference to Mr. Culverwell's recent criticism of the 

 astronomical theory of the Ice age, the Rev. O. Fisher [^Giol. 

 Mag. for March) quotes the opinion of the late Prof, .\dams, 

 expressed to him in a letter dated February 2S, 1S66. He says : 

 "I do not myself believe in the change of eccentricity of the 

 earth's orbit being a cause of climatal changes on the earth. 

 The efifect, if any, would depend only on the s::iart of the 

 eccentricity ; and this always remains so very small, that I 

 believe the effect on the earth's mean temperature would be 

 almost insensible. Depend upon it, geologists who look in 

 this direction for the cause of glacial epochs are entirely on the 

 wrong track. It seems to me much more likely that the actual 

 act of emission of heat from the sun is variable, than that the 

 change of eccentricity of the orbit should have any sensible 

 effect." 



Prof. F. Brioschi read before the .Vccademia dei Lincci, on 

 March 3, a very full account of the life and works of the late 

 Prof. Cayley, who was a Foreign Associate of the Academy. 



A WORK almost entirely concerned with Insurance statistics 

 is "Bourne's Handy Assurance Directory," now carried on by 

 Mr. W. Schooling. Every one interested in statistical in- 

 formation relating to human life will find the volume useful. 



Is the "Handbook of Jamaica" (Stanford) for 1895, 

 compiled by Mr. S. P. Musson and Mr. T. L. Roxburgh, short 

 biographical descriptions are given of the men of science who 

 have been associated with the island, in addition to the 

 historical, statistical, and general information concerning it. 



The number of the BuUclin of the Uotanical Department, 

 Jamaica, for January 1895, edited by the Director, Mr. W. 

 Fawcett, is largely occupied with the insect enemies of the 

 cocoa (Thtoliroma) and pine plantations, and some of the 

 Coccida; or scale-insects. It also contains a very interesting 

 report on the services rendered in the island by the Botanical 

 Department of Jamaica. 



With the March number, Science Progress commences its 

 third volume. Dr. E. Klein, F. R.S., contributes to the num- 

 ber an article on antitoxin, and Mr. J. E. Marr, K. R. S., 

 summarises recent literature concerned with foreign work 

 among the Precambrian and Pal.xozoic rocks. The subjects 

 of the remaining articles are : — " Insular Floras," by Mr. 

 W. B. Hemsley, F.R.S. ; "Peptone," by Dr. \V. D. Halli- 

 burton, F.R.S. ; "Budding in Tunicata," by Mr. \V. Garstang; 

 and "The Reserve Materials of Plants," by Prof. J. R. Green. 



The first part of Mr. C. B. Moore'svaluable report of his 

 excavations in the prehistoric sand mounds of the St. John's 

 River, Florida, was noticed in these columns last November 

 (vol. li. p. 27). The second part, which has now reached us, 

 contains the results of seven months' continuous work upon all 

 the remains that could be found, and the complete report 

 practically exhausts the study of the mounds on the banks of the 

 St. John's River ; for the river has been explored from the 

 source to its outlet. The mounds described in the part of the 

 report before us are, perhaps, not quite so interesting as those 

 of which an account was given in the former part, but this does 

 not diminish their value to archxologists. Future workers among 

 the moundi will find that all the objects found are recorde<l, 

 instead of merely the rare ones, and those of unusual workman- 

 ship. The flint implements, curious types of earthenware, and 

 human remains described, and finely illustratol, furnish ni.itcrlal 

 for much scientific study. The Philadelphia .Academy of 



NO. 1325. VOL. 51] 



Sciences, in the yournal of which (vol. x.) Mr. Moore's report 

 appears, deserves much credit for the admirable illustrations. 



Meteorologists and physicists have reason to be grateful 

 to Mr. S. P. Langley for the valuable series of numerical tables 

 which he has projected, to take the pl.ice of a series of 

 meteorological tables compiled by Dr. .Vrnold Guyot, and 

 published by-the Smithsonian Institution in 1S52. Dr. Guyol's 

 tables were widely used and appreciated, but the new series 

 will be of even greater service. The work will be completed 

 in three parts : Meteorological T.ibles, Geographical Tables, 

 and Physical Tables. The first of these volumes appeared in 

 1S93 ; the second (Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, No. 

 S54) lies before us. This has been prepared by Prof. R. S. 

 Woodward, whose experience in geodetic work particularly 

 qualifies him for the task. The introductory p.irt of the 

 volume is divided into seven sections, under the heads : useful 

 formulae, mensuration, units, geodesy, astronomy, theory of 

 errors, and explanation and use of tables. This section takes 

 up a hundred pages, after which come tables running into one 

 hundred and eighty pages. Every effort appears to have been 

 made to avoid errors, and Prof. Woodward has made a 

 judicious selection of matter from a vast amount of available 

 material. It requires no great prophetic instinct to say that 

 his compendium will be prized by geographer and meteorologist, 

 as a standard work of reference. 



The Meteorological Society of Berlin has published its 

 Report for the year 1895 ; the Society holds monthly meetings 

 between October and May, and a summary of the papers read 

 is regularly printed in our columns. Prof. Hellniann, the 

 President, appends to the Report a discussion of the wind 

 velocity at Berlin from ten years anemometrical observ.itions. 

 The principal maximum, in the yearly period, falls in M.ivch, and 

 the minimum in September ; in the daily period, the maximum 

 throughout nearly the whole year occurs between ih. and 2h. 

 p.m., with a tendency to a second maximum during the night 

 in the cold season. The greatest hourly velocity recorded was 

 fifty miles an hour, which is about half the rate that has beei» 

 registered in the greatest storms on our own coasts. 



We have received from Dr. Henry Bovey a paper of high 

 technical value, containing the results of numerous experiments- 

 which have been carried out in the testing laboratories of the 

 McGill University, on the strength of Canadian Douglas fir, 

 red pine, white pine, and spruce. The tables given tend to 

 prove that timber, unlike iron and steel, may be strained to a 

 point near the breaking-point without being seriously injured. 

 In almost all cases the increments of deflection and extension, 

 almost up to the point of fracture, are very nearly proportional 

 to the increments of load, thus showing that it is difficult to 

 define a limit of elasticity for timber. This, Dr. Bovey thinks, 

 probably accounts for the continued existence of many timber 

 structures of wood in which the timbers have been, and are 

 still, continually subjected to excessive stresses, the factor of 

 safety being often less than one and a half. Whether it is 

 advisable so to strain limber is another question, and experi- 

 ments are still required to show how, wood is affected by 

 frequently repeated strains. 



A further memoir concerning the interesting sodium 

 derivative of nitro ethane, and the sodium compounds of nitro- 

 paraffins generally, is contributed by Prof. Victor Meyer to the 

 Beriihte of the German Chemical Society. The nature of 

 these unstable compounds has not hitherto been satisfactorily 

 determined, for in a communication to the AnnaUn der Cliemit, 

 J. U. Nef, some lime ago, stated th.it they do not partake of 

 the nature of true derivatives of nitro -paraffins, but contain 

 an altogether differently constituted organic residue. The ex- 



