444 



NATURE 



[March 8, 1894 



coast in safety. Dr. Gregory's objects in visiting Kenya 

 were : (l) To collect the flora and fauna of the different 

 zones ; (2) to see if an Alpine flora occurred similar to that of 

 corresponding altitudes in Kilima Njaro ; (3) to examine the 

 geological structure of the mountain with a view to the deter- 

 mination of its position in the African mountain system ; (4) 

 to see if there were any true glaciers upon it ; (5) especially to 

 determine whether these had at any time a greater extension 

 than at present. All these points were satisfactorily settled, 

 and the information obtained during the exploitation of the 

 region traversed is of prime scientific importance. An interest- 

 >g question as to the origin of the Rift Valley is raised, of 

 which the following is a description : " From Lebanon, almost to 

 the Car-e, there runs a long, deep, and comparatively narrow 

 valley occupied by the sea, by salt steppes that represent former 

 lakes, and by a series of over twenty lakes, of which only one 

 has an outlet to the sea. This is a condition of things absolutely 



unlike anything else on the surface of the earth But if 



the Rift Valley is unique as far as the earth is concerned, there 

 are structures elsewhere which may be compared with it. It 

 has long been known that there are on the moon, in addition 

 to the well-known ring systems— generally spoken of as 

 volcanoes— a series of long, straight clefts or furrows, known 

 as 'rills.' The great East African depression would present 

 to an inhabitant in the moon much the same aspect as the lunar 

 rills do to us. Not the least interesting of the problems raised 

 by this Rift Valley, is the possibility that it may explain the 

 nature of these lunar clefts which have so long been a puzzle to 

 astronomers." 



Under the title "Scientific Problems of the Future," Lieut. - 

 Colonel Elsdale considers, in the Cotitemporary, four lead- 

 ing problems, some, if not all, of which seem practically 

 certain of solution in the next generation, if not in our own. 

 The conquest of the air is the first of these problems, and the 

 conclusion is arrived at that if the rate of progress of the last 

 thirteen or fourteen years is kept up for a similar period in the 

 future, aerial navigation will be an accomplished fact. The 

 second of the problems is the diminution of the large percentage 

 of the total resistance to a vessel's motion through the water due 

 to surface or skin friction. "This friction," says the author, 

 " is the leading and essential cause of the great waste of power 

 in the propulsion of all vessels of man's design, whether partly 

 or wholly submerged, when compared with the natural propul- 

 sion of fish or marine animals, such as whales, under correspond- 

 ing circumstances and conditions. Hence the question of the 

 possible reduction of this friction is one of vast and supreme 

 importance to the marine engineer." Two other questions to 

 which answers may be expected in the future are — " How can 

 we best, by some simple and practical process, reduce coal to a 

 condition in which it will, when brought into conjunction with 

 the inexhaustible reservoir of oxygen in the atmosphere, give us 

 the necessary elements for the production of an electric battery ? " 

 and " how to reduce the vegetable foods which at present are 

 only adapted to animals like the cow, the sheep, or the horse, 

 to a condition suited to the human digestion and to the human 

 palate?" "Shakespeare's Natural History — a new light on 

 Titus Andronicus," is the subject of an article by Mr. Phil 

 Robinson, Shakespeare's authorship of this play has been dis- 

 puted by many eminent critics. Mr. Robinson shows, however, 

 that the natural history references in the play are almost identical 

 with those of all the other plays attributed to Shakespeare. It 

 has been objected that though the panther is referred to three 

 times in " Titus Andronicus," it is not mentioned in any other of 

 Shakespeare's plays. The reply to this brings out the following 

 bit of information: — " If anyone will glance over the bard's 

 flora, he will find that Shakespeare uses a great number of com- 

 mon plants only once — for instance, the holly, poppy, clover, 

 brambles, lavender, and harebell, «&c., and most remarkable of 

 all, perhaps (and in a hunter, such as Shakespeare undeniably 



was),/(?rM Among other trees he only mentions the ash 



once (and then as the shaft of a Volscian spear !), the birch once, 

 as furnishing 'threatening twigs,' the lime-tree once. Among 

 others, he never mentions at all the walnut-tree, the larch, the 

 fir, the chesnut, the alder, the poplar, or the beech." 



A well-illustrated and simple account of earthquakes and the 

 methods of measuring them is contributed by Dr. E. S. Holden 

 to the Century. The Lick Observatory is furnished with a com- 

 plete set of Prof. Ewing's seismometers, and Dr. Holden 

 describes them, while their arrangement and use are shown 

 by means of several woodcuts. After stating the Rossi-Forel 



NO. I 27 I, VOL. 49] 



scale of earthquake intensity, a means is indicated of making 

 the scale even more useful than it is. From earthquake records, 

 it has been found possible to assign a mechanical value to each 

 of the ten numbers of the scale. Taking an acceleration of one 

 millimetre per second as a unit. Dr. Holden has calculated that 

 I. on the Rossi-Forel scale corresponds to ^J^ of the acceleration 

 due to gravity, or 20 units ; II. corresponds to -n\% of gravity, 

 or 40 units ; III. corresponds to 60 units ; IV. to 80 units : V. 

 to no units ; VI. to 150 units ; VII. to 300 units ; VIII. to 

 500 units ; and IX. to 1200 units. All the shocks felt in San 

 Francisco in the years from 1800 to 1888 have been evaluated 

 in this way. There were 417 shocks in all, and the sum total 

 of their accelerations was 33,360 units of intensity. "The 

 average intensity of the 417 shocks of these 80 years results as 

 IV., and this is ^ part of gravity. The total intensity for 

 the whole period is 3*4 times the acceleration of gravity ; that 

 is, if all the earthquake force which has been expended in San 

 Francisco during these 80 years were concentrated so as to act 

 at a single instant, it would be capable of producing an 

 acceleration almost 32 times that of gravity." 



Harper's Magazine contains an excellent article entitled 

 "The Welcomes of the Flowers," in which Mr. W. Hamilton 

 Gibson traces the development of knowledge as to flower- 

 fertilisation from the time of Nehemias Grew to Darwin, and 

 exemplifies the method of cross fertilisation by a number of well- 

 chosen examples. The article is embellished with twenty-two 

 remarkably fine illustrations. The Bessemer process of steel- 

 making, and the plant used in the steel works of the United 

 States, forms the second of a series of articles on " Great 

 American Industries," edited by Mr. R. R. Bowker. Dr. T. 

 M. Prudden writes on "Tuberculosis and its Prevention." 



Mr. Frank Beddard, F. R. S., contributes to Blackwood a 

 popular description of the characters and habits of some remark- 

 able earth-worms, under the title "The Newest about Earth- 

 worms." Chambers's /ourtial coniSLms several chatty articles. 

 In one of these, entitled " A Vegetable with a Pedigree," 

 mention of the asparagus^is traced back to about 425 B.C. Other 

 articles deal with Italian granite, great cork forests, and Bra- 

 zilian snakes. A facetious review^of the "History of Four- 

 footed Beasts and Serpents," by the Rev. Edward Topsel, an 

 Elizabethan zoologist, appears in Cornhill. That distinguished 

 author wrote of birds, beasts, and fishes which have never 

 come within the ken of latter-day naturalists. Dr. T. Lauder 

 Brunton, F. R.S., is the author of a short paper on "The Pro- 

 gress of Pharmacy " in the Humanitarian, and Sir Douglas 

 Galton dwells on the necessity of observing "abnormal chil- 

 dren " in elementary schools, in order to establish a sound basis 

 for the proper conduct and development of our educational 

 system. Good Words contains an illustrated article on "Celes- 

 tial Photography," in which Mr. R. A. Gregory describes, 

 among other celestial sights — 



" Regions of lucid matter, taking form, 

 Brushes of fire, hazy gleams. 

 Clusters and beds of worlds, and bee-like swarms 

 Of suns, and starry streams." 



Mr. Douglas Archibald describes " Clouds and Cloudscapes ' 

 in the English Illustrated Magazine, his article being accom- 

 panied by illustrations of the typical forms of clouds. Scribner's 

 and Longman'' s Magazines have been received in addition to 

 those already noted. The former contains a fine engraving of 

 Signor Tito Lessi's painting, " Milton visiting Galileo," and a 

 description of " Subtropical Florida," by Mr. C. R. Dodge ; 

 and students of anthropology will find interest in an account of 

 "Savage Spiritualism," contributed to the latter. 



THE CAMBRIDGE DIPLOMA IN 

 AGRICULTURE. 



"T^HE question of agricultural education at Cambridge — of 

 -^ which the latest development is the establishment of a 

 Diploma in Agriculture — is comparatively recent. The move- 

 ment began some three years ago (in July, 1890) with a letter 

 addressed by the President of the Board of Agriculture to the- 

 Duke of Devonshire in his capacity of Chancellor of the 

 University. This led to the appointment of a University syn- 

 dicate {i.e. committee), who framed a carefully weighed scheme 

 of agricultural education and examination, the funds for which 

 were to be supplied partly by the University and partly by the Cam- 



