402 



NA TURE 



[February 22, 1894 



The Somerset County Education Comminee announce that 

 three Senior County Scholarships will be offered for competi- 

 'tion in June 1894. They will be tenable for two years in the 

 scientific or technical depariment of a university college, the 

 Royal C' "liege of Science, South Kensington, or some other 

 college or institution approved by the County Education Com- 

 mittee. The annual value of each scholarship will be from 

 ^50 tO;i^6o, according to the place of instruction chosen, and, 

 subject t.. the maximum limit, will be fixed at a sum sufficient 

 to cover the cost of instruction, together with ^30 per annum 

 toward's the scholar's maintenance. The compeliiion will be 

 open to any boy whose parents or guardians are bona fide resi- 

 dents in the administrative county of Somerset, and who has 

 regulaily attended any secondary school (public or private) 

 within the county for two school years preceding August I, 

 1894, provided that every candidate is over 15 and under 17 

 years of agr- on July I, 1894, and that his pirents are in receipt 

 of an income ot nut more than ;^400 a year from all sources. 

 Six intermediate County Scholarships will also be offered for 

 competition in June 1894. They are of the annual value of 

 ^30, and will be tenal>le lor two } ears at some pui>lic secondary 

 school approved for the purpose by the County Committee. 



SCIENTIFIC SERIALS. 



American yoiirnal of Scunce, February. — On the chemical 

 compo'^iiion c)i staur>'lite, and the regular arrangement of its car- 

 bonaceous inclusions, by S. L. Penfield and J. H. Pra't, A careful 

 analysis of several si ecimens gave the formula H ALgFeSio'^is, 

 which may he written as a basic orihosilicate. Thr aiuminuun 

 is partly replaced by feiric iron, an'l the ferrous iron by niat;ne- 

 sium and manj^aiiese. Basal sections of the rhombic prism show 

 the carbonaceous inclusions to t'e disposed in the form of a 

 rhombus parallel to the outline, with the coiiers joined together. 

 This figure develops into a simple cross towards the centre, 

 whereas ioward> the ends the rhombus uidtns out until it coin- 

 cides wiih the outline. This provc-s that the inclusions are 

 arranged in ihe surface of a douMe p)ramid with iis aprx in the 

 centre, and also in planes joining the e>lges of this py.amid with 

 those <)• ihe prism. — Aiidiiional species of i>leislocene fos.sils 

 from Winihrop, Mass., by R. K. Dodge. Three more spec es 

 of preglacial -hells have deen found in the drumlin in Boston 

 Harbour, known as Winthop Great Head. They a'e LunatUi 

 Grtznlandica, Siimpson, S' apharca transversa, Ad.ims, and 

 Buccinum iindatum, Linne. These lo^^il- give additional 

 evidence of the higher temperature of MassachuS' tts Bay in 

 pre-giacial as compared with the present time. — On the 

 basalts III Kiila, by H. S. Wa-hin^ton. These basalts occur 

 near Kula, about 125 km. east by n 'rth of Smyrna, where ihey 

 from cones and stieams of a fresh a' d unaltered appearance. 

 The lavas are to be classed as hornblende- lagioclase basalts, 

 distinjiuished by the constant presence and gnat relative 

 •quanti y ol the hoinhlende, its peculiar njafjm.itic alteration, the 

 small quantity of both phigioclase and olivine, and the large 

 amount of glass basis. The name Kulaite is proposed for thi m. 

 — The fishi g liank^ betwem Cape Cod and Ncwioundlaiid, i>y 

 Warren Upham. If a portion of the continental bolder irom 

 Cape Cod to the Grand Bank south east of Newloundland 

 could be uplifted, we shoul 1 behold nearlv as much diver-ity ol 

 valleys, ri'lges, hiJls, plateaus, and all the forms of subae ial 

 land erosion, as is exhii>iied by any portions of the adjacent 

 New England states and eas'ern provinces of Canada. The 

 submerged channels of ou let from the Gulfs of Maine and St. 

 Lawrence, and the less profound valleys that divide the fishing 

 banks from each other, prove that this region during a compara- 

 tively late ge logic time was a land aiea, us maximum elevation 

 being a' least 2000 ect higlier than now. 



Bulletin of the Nfw York M Uhemalical Society, vol. iii. 

 No. 4, January. — "Modern Maihemiii>.al Ttiough ," ihe 

 presidt-nnal addiess, delivered by Frof. Newcomi), before 

 the New York Mathematical Society (pp. 95-107), has been 

 printed in our columns (see Naiurh, vol. xlix. pp. 325- 

 329). " Recent Reseaiches in Eleciricity ana Magnetism " (pp. 

 I07-III) IS a review, by G. U. Squ er, of Prol. J. J. 

 Thomson's "Notes." The leviewer leels a-sured thai this 

 "supplementary" volume will lake its proper place be^iite 

 Maxwell s great trea ise in the library of eveiy irue student 

 of electrical .-cience. "JNutes" and "new publications" 

 occupy pp. 112-118. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 



London. 

 Physical Society, Fe' ruary 9. — Annual general meeting. 

 Prof. A. W. Riicker, F. R.S., President, in the chair. — The 

 annual report of the Council was read by the President. 

 Dr. Atkinson read the Treasurer's Report, and also an o'atuary 

 notice of the late Prof. Tyndall. The adoption of the Reports 

 was moved by the President, and carried 11cm. con. Dr. 

 Chichester Bell and Mr. Griffiths were appointed scrutators, 

 and sub>equently declared the following irentlemen duly elected 

 to form the new Council : — President, Prof. A. W. Riicker, 

 F.R.S. Vice-Presidents: Walter Baily, Major-General E. R. 

 Festing, F.R.S., Prof. J. Perry, F.R.S. , Prof. S. P. Thomp- 

 son, F.R.S. Secretaries: H. M. Elder, 50 City Road, E.C., 

 and T. 11. Blakesley, 3 Eliot Hill, Lewisham, S. E. Treasurer: 

 Dr. E. Atkinson, Portesbery Hill, Camberley, Surrey. De- 

 monstrator : C. Vernon Boys, F. K.S., Physical Laboratory, 

 South Kensington. Other members of Council : Shelfoid 

 Bidwell, F.R.b., W. E. Sumpi.er, Prof. G. Fuller, J. Swin- 

 burne, G. Johnstone Stoney, F.R.S., R. E. Baynes, Prof. G. 

 M. Minchtn, L. Fletcher, F.R.S., Prof. O. Henrici, F.R.S., 

 Prof. S. Young, F.R.S. Prof. Reinold proposed a hearty 

 vote of thanks to the Lords of Committee of Council on Educa- 

 tion, for the use of the rooms and apparatus in the Royal 

 College of Science. This was seconded by Piof. J. V. Jones, 

 and carried unanimously. Votes of thanks were similarly 

 accordeu to the auditors, Mr. A. P. Trotter and Mr. R. 

 Inwards, on the motion of Mr. Watson, seconded by Prof. 

 Fuller ; and to the officers of the Society, on the motion of Dr. 

 Barton, seconded by Mr. Trotter. At an ordinary science 

 meeting then held, Mr. Owen Glynn Jones read a paper on the 

 vi^coSlty of liquids, and exhibited the apparatus used in his ex- 

 peiiments. The method employed consists in measuring the 

 -peed at which a small sphere travels through the liquid under 

 the ac ion of gravity. As Prof. Stokes had stiown, the 

 velocity of a sphere falling in an infinite liquid becomes con- 

 stant, this velocity being given by the equation 



,;■ 2 o(r - p 



9 M 



where a is the radius of the sphere, a its density, p the density 

 ol the liquid, and fx its viscosiy. If sliding friction exists 

 between the sphere and liquid, the equation becomes 



NO. 1 269, VOL. 49] 



9^ M 



P ^« +_Ji" . 



j8a + 2fi ' 



where ;8 is the coefficient of friction. In making the experi- 

 ments, small spheres (usually of mercury) were allowed to fall 

 through a burette containing the liquid, and the time taken to 

 travel the dis ance between two marks about 50 cms. apart 

 noted. The radii of the spheres being small, it was considered 

 better to deduce this from the mass. Direct deiermination of 

 such small masses being difficult, a larger mass (M) was taken, 

 weighed, and divided in o, say, ten or twelve pirts, and the 

 speed of tailing of each part observed in a liquid of constant 

 viscosity. The velocity V, with which a sphere containing 

 the whole mass would have fallen, was deduced from the 

 equation 



V' = Sz'-. 



Similarly, the mass of any part which falls with a velocity v is 

 given by 



^(?y 



M. 



In this way the author had been able to determine the 

 mass of a sphere weighing only about 0*003 grammes 

 to four significant figures. Referring to experiments made 

 with a view to ascertaining whether sliding Iriciion existed, j 

 ihe author said the divergence from the simpler formulaj 

 did not exceed experimental errors. In determining viscosity,! 

 changes ot temperature were found to be of great importance, 

 especially in the case of glycerine, whose viscosity varies a^! 

 much as 10 per cent, for l° C. Small differences of temperature 

 between different pans of the liquid are, however, not very 

 serious, provided the mean temperature be known, for the mear 

 speed observed is shown to be that corresponding to the iiiear^ 

 temperature. To determine viscosity accurately at a given tem- 

 perature, very delicate thermometers must be employed. Mos, 



