January i8, 1894.] 



NATURE 



^7o 



area of the positive crater is constanl), and by the temperature 

 being always the same, a^; well as by all the circumstances which ; 

 characterise normal ebullition. The constancy of the character j 

 of the light given out by the arc has been noted by Abney and j 

 Fesling, who have adopted it as the standard of white light, 

 and the author's observations show that whatever b.e the watts , 

 consumed in the lamp, the brightness remains constant. This 

 he has shown by direct comparison with a standard light, and 

 also by photographing the positive carbor, when the density of 

 the image remained constant. 



Prof. S. P. Langley, who has recently been giving a ' 

 large amount of attention to cerodynamic?, contributes a ; 

 remarkable paper to the current American J otirnal of Science 

 on what he calls "The Internal Work of the Wind." The 

 conclusions attained in this paper lead the author to the con- j 

 fident assertion of the mechanical and practical possibility of a 

 heavy body, provided with suitable plane or curved surfaces, 

 being suspended indefinitely in a wind, or even advancing 

 against it without connection with the ground or the expendi- 

 ture of internal energy. This is to be brought about by utilising 

 the heterogeneous structure of wind, which Prof. Langley shows 

 to consist of puffs succeeding each other several times per minute. 

 This was proved by the records of some very light anemometers 

 with paper cups, mounted on the roof of the Smithsonian 

 Institutiop, at 153 feet above the ground. The electric record 

 was made at every half revolution. In one case a wind of 

 23 miles an hour rose within 10 seconds to a velocity of 33 miles 

 an hour, and fell to its initial speed in another 10 seconds. It 

 then rose within 30 seconds to 36 miles an hour, and so on, 

 passing through a series of maxima and minima separated by 

 intervals of about lo seconds, and sometimes stopping alto- 

 gether. This observation may serve to solve the long-discussed 

 problem of the soaring of birds. A wind acting against a free 

 plane at a suitable angle will urge it upwards until the plane 

 has assumed the velocity of the steady wind. If the wind- 

 velocity is then reversed, absolutely cr relatively, and the 

 inclination of the plane is reversed at the same time, the plane 

 will be urged still further upwards, and the more so the greater 

 its weight. If a heavy body can thus rise, it follows at once 

 that it can also advance against the wind if not too strong, by 

 utilising the energy thus acquired, and descending in the direc- 

 tion whence the wind blows. The main difficulty in construct- 

 ing a contrivance to effect this would lie in the adjustment of 

 the inclination to a varying wind, but Prof. Langley is con- 

 fident that this difficulty will not prove insuperable. 



The alleged discovery of the northern end of Greenland in 

 the NordenskiiJld Inlet seems to have been based upon a very 

 bold interpretation of Peary's observations. Peary himself has, 

 in his first account, said nothing about having discovered a 

 passage from Nordenskiold Inlet to Independence Bay, and the 

 report now issued by his companion, J- Astiup [Geogr. Selsk. 

 Aarhog), which gives particulars of what was actually observed, 

 does not allow any conclusion as to a waterway connecting 

 them. It would be strange indeed if Astrup let the discovery 

 of the north end of Greenland unmentioned, as if it were some- 

 thing unessential. 



An ingenious .method for making permanent microscopic 

 preparations of particular colonies on a gelatine plate, has 

 been recently devised by Hauser {Miienchener med. Iloc/iai- 

 schrift, 1893, No- 35)- It was found that when exposed for 

 some time to the vapour of formalin, gelatine becomes so rigid that 

 no temperature is able to melt it ; even submitting it to the heat of 

 a bunsen flame, or boiling it in a soda solution, fail to liquefy it. 

 This formalin-gelatine becomes, moreover, strongly antiseptic, 

 for when freely exposed to the air no colonies make their 

 NO. 1264, VOL. 49] 



appearance, and neither will those organisms grow which are 

 purposely introduced into it. Gegner, in an earlier numl)er of 

 this journal, stales -that although solutions of formalin had a^ 

 bactericidal action, the vapour was a far more powerful anti- 

 septic ; this investigator also notes that gelatine exposed to this 

 vapour would not melt at 37° C. To prepare bacterial colonies 

 for microscopic examination, Hauser takes a thin film of the 

 solid gelatine containing the particular growth required, and 

 places it on an object glass, and, superposing a cover-glass, seals 

 it from the outer air by a rim of melted gelatine. The prepara- 

 tion is then placed in the formalin chamber for twenty-four 

 hours, during which it becomes quite solid, and on being re- 

 moved may be further protected by a border of sealing-wax. 

 If it is desired to stain the colonies before the formalin 

 process, the gelatine film should be immersed for twenty-four 

 hours in a weak aqueous solution of fuchsin, by which means 

 the bacterial growth becomes fairly strongly coloured, whilst 

 the gelatine itself only assumes a much paler hue. 



We have received the 1S94 Aniniairc of the Brussels Academic 

 Royale des Science^, des Lettres et des Beaux-Arts. 



"The Elements of Co-ordinate Geometry,"' Part i, by W. 

 Briggs and G. II. Bryan (Univ. Corr. Coll. PressS has reached 

 a second edition. 



A THIRD edition, enlarged and revised, of Dr. T. Button's 

 little book on " Indigestion" (Kimpton, and Hirschfeld Bros.) 

 has been published. 



Mr. William Clay, Edinburgh, has issued a new catalogue. 

 No. 60, of standard second-hand and new books on physical 

 science offered for sale. 



Dr. H. Wagner gives an account, in the Oeslerreichische 

 Boianische Zeitschrifl,oih.\S: botanical exploration of the Balkan^, 

 in company with Herr J. Stipanics, entomologist. 



Thy. Journal of Anatomy and Physiology for January contains 

 an article by Mr. A. Keith, on the ligaments of the Catarrhine 

 monkeys, with references to corresponding structures in man. 

 Profs. J. C. Ewart and A. Macalister are among the other con- 

 tributors to the number. 



The first part is published of Dr. II. Trimen's "Handbook 

 to the Flora of Ceylon," containing descriptions of all the species 

 of flowering plants indigenous to the island, and notes on their 

 history, distribution, and uses. It is issued under the authority 

 of the Government of Ceylon. 



The Calendar just issued by the Department of Science and 

 Art contains the foUou ing names of recently appointed In- 

 spectors of Science and Art Schools: — Dr. E. J. Ball, F. 

 Blair, S. F. Duflon, C. Geldard, Dr. II. H. Hoffert, D. E. 

 Jones, Dr. MacNair, C. McRae, T. Preston, F. Pullinger, 

 Captain T. B. Shaw, R. E. , and H. Wager. 



The National Fool path Preservation Society, of which the 

 late Prof. Tjndall was a member, has issued its ninth annual 

 report. The large number of cases of footpath interference, 

 encroachments, &c. described in the report, shows that the 

 society exerts a salutary influence upon those who are 

 inclined to disregard ancient rights. 



Subscriptions are invited by Laidley and Co., of Port 

 Elizabeth, to the issue of a complete botanical collection for the 

 Cape Colony, Kaffraria, Natal, Zululand, Swazieland, Matabele- 

 land, Bechuanaland, Mashonaland, the Transvaal, Orange Free 

 I State, and the Portuguese territoiies of the Zambesi. The flora 

 is computed to exceed 20,000 species. 



Messrs. Blackie and So.\ have sent us several of their 

 Guides to the Science Examinations of the Department of Science 



