April 12, 1894] 



NATURE 



569 



the other hand, from those benevolent institutions from which 

 no interest is expected. An experiment can never be in itself 

 a source of money profit. Benefit may be regarded as certain ; 

 but while at times it may be immediate, it is often remote, and 

 not unfrequently the benefit is derived in practice without 

 creditmg, or even tracing, the source from which the benefit has 

 sprung." 



Among other matters in the report from which this extract 

 has been taken, is a description of educational agricultural 

 experiments intended to be performed by schoolmasters in 

 country districts. The suggestion that a scheme of simple 

 experiments should be framed, such as teachers might suitably 

 carry out for illustration, was made at a meeting of the Institute 

 of Agricultural Education for the North-Eastern Counties of 

 Scotland, consisting exclusively of certificated teachers of agri- 

 culture. Mr. T. jamieson, Mr. W. A. Simpson, and Mr. Gavin 

 Grieg, have now drawn up a scheme on the lines proposed. To 

 show the effects of partial manuring, they suggest a series of 

 tests, such as those shown from A to F, inclusive, in Fig i. A 

 will thus exhibit the effect of nitrogen alone ; B, of potassium 

 alone ; C, of phosphorus : D, of nitrogen and phosphorus ; E, 

 of phosphorus and potassium ; and F, of potassium and nitrogen. 

 The series of experiments indicated by i to 6 in the figure have 

 been designed to .show the effect of complete manuring. No. 



employed. The experiments from Nos. i to 6, inclusive, will 

 thus afford comparison with the farm trials to be performed by 

 farmers in different parts of Scotland. The scheme will there- 

 fore not only prove of great educational advantage, but will lead 

 to results of scientific value. 



THE INFLUENZA EPIDEMIC IN GERMANY 

 IN 1889-90. 



'X'HE patient compilation of countless fac's, and their elaborate 

 ■*■ arrangement, is a task in the performance of which the 

 Germans are facile princefs. If any fresh instance were re- 

 quired, we need only refer the reader to the official report, whic'i 

 has just been issued, of the history of the influenza epidemic 

 which spreai through Germany in the years 1889-90. This 

 document covers upwards of two hundred pages of ihe large 

 quarto volume containing the " Arbeiten aus dem Kaiserlichen 

 Gesundheitsamte,'* and has been drawn up by Dr. Paul L. 

 Friedrich, Koniglicher Sachsische Assistenzarzt I. Klasse, 

 Kommandirt zum Kaiserlichen Gesundheitsamte. 



No pains have been spared to secure, as far as possible, 

 trustworthy official data from all parts of the country coricerning 

 the various factors intimately connected with the epidemic. The 



-W 



N 



B 

 K..CO-. 



Ammonium 



phosphaie 



2 gr. 



Anmonium 



ph jsphate 



^^ Sr- 



Seeds steeped in 



K.,CO;j 



I gr. K.jCOy added 

 20 days later. 



Ammonium 

 ph -sphate i\ gr. 



Potassium 

 pliosphate J gr. 



5. having no manure, will afford a comparison with the others. 

 No. 6 will show the effect of complete manuring, as given in the 

 usual manure mixtures. No. i to 4, inclusive, will show the 

 effect of new forms of phosphate proposed for manure. For the 

 steeping of the seeds in No. 2, a solution containing about one 

 or two per cent, of potassium carbonate should be made, and 

 the seeds allowed to lie in it for about twelve hours. The 

 committee have prepa;-ed full directions as to the manner in 

 which the experiments should be carried out. Twelve flower- 

 pots are required, or wooden boxes, 9x9x12 inches deep. 

 The soil with which these are to be filled should be dug out from 

 a cavity 6x3x1 foot deep, and intimately mixed. It is sug- 

 gested that five seeds be inserted in each pot or box, thus : — 



Fifty days after sowing, the two plants "marked x have to be 

 taken up and sent to Mr. Jamieson, at the Research. Station, 

 Peterculter, Aberdeen, together with a i lb. sample of the soil 



NO. T276, VOL. 49] 



Superphosphate 

 ISaNOs I 



2 gr, eacn. j 



Superphosphate 



K2CO3 



2 gr. each. 



Ammonium 



phosphate lA gr. 



KCl i gr. 



Superphosphate 



4gr. 

 Bone Hour ^ gr. 



NaNOsiigr. 

 KCl i g'r. I 



Fig. I. 



first forty pages of the report contain elaborate details ar.d 

 statistics as to the dates when influenza first made its appeats 

 ance, and the period during which it remained, in the variou- 

 provinces and cities of the empire. From the information col- 

 lec'ed it appears that Berlin and Charlottenburg were the first 

 districts in which it declared itself. Statistics have also been 

 gaihered together of the varying intensity of the scnurge 

 in different parts of the country, and an endeavour 

 has been made to ascertain the influence, if any, of 

 different occupations on the path pursued by the epidemic. So 

 many conflicting reports were received as to the effect exercised 

 by the kind of employment on the susceptibility of the indi- 

 vidual to influenza, that it was impossible to arrive at any definite 

 conclusion. In some districts the evidence went to show ihat a 

 remaikable immunity to the disease was exhibited by people 

 engaged in i7«/-r/t7fr occupations, whilst from other pans the 

 statistics collected pointed equally strongly to ihe freedom from 

 attacks exhibited by workpeople employed within doors. In 

 some glass works, however, careful observations showed that the 

 employes who succumbed first to influenza were those who were 

 farthest removed from the furnaces, and that those whose work 

 was to remove the glass from the latter, and who were therefore 

 working in a very heated atmosphere, enjoyed a remaikable 

 immunity. Dr. Heiszler, who is responsible for these observa- 

 tions, ascribes the undoubted freedom from influenza expe- 

 rienced by hese workpeople, to the air in the immediate 



