July 2, 1903] 



NA TURE 



207 



narsh gas and other gases are generated which become 

 \plosive when mixed with oxygen and fired. During the 

 ist six months three explosions of septic tanks have 

 ccurred, viz. at Exeter, Walton-on-Naze, and Shering- 



ham ; in the last named three persons were killed and several 



injured. 



A Parliamentary paper has been issued by the Colonial 

 Office containing official correspondence and circular^ re- 

 lating to the investigation of malaria and other tropical 

 diseases, and the establishment of schools of tropical 

 medicine. It contains a circular letter to the Governors of 

 all colonies upon the investigation of tropical diseases and 

 the establishment of the London School of Tropical Medi- 

 ae, a summary of researches upon malaria by Drs. 

 -tephens and Christophers, a despatch from Sir William 

 MacGregor relating to the prevalence and prevention of 

 malaria at Ismailia, and a despatch from Sir F. A. Swetten- 

 ham upon the work done at the Institute for Medical Re- 

 arch, Federated Malay States. The increasing import- 

 nce of the study of tropical medicine has been recognised 

 iiy the Special Board of Medicine of Cambridge University, 

 which has proposed to institute a special examination and 

 tu grant a diploma in tropical hygiene and medicine. 



A PAPER read before the Royal Dublin Society by Dr. 

 11. H. Dixon offers a reply to some criticisms passed on 

 th3 cohesion theory of the ascent of sap which was pro- 

 posed by the author and Dr. Joly. There seems to be a 

 difficulty in the minds of some botanists in accepting this 

 hypothesis if the column of water contains air-bubbles. As 

 Dr. Dixon points out, this merely puts out of gear the 

 particular cell in which the bubble appears. Another 

 opinion which the author combats is that glass tubes con- 

 taining plaster of Paris through which water passes may 

 bo taken as the equivalent of the water columns in trees. 

 Experiments show that plaster continues for a long time 

 to absorb water, and further, the amount varies with the 

 changes of temperature. 



The appearance of a new scientific publication, Records 

 of the Albany Museum, emanating from Grahamstown in 

 South Africa is a matter for congratulation, whether it is 

 offered to the director, Dr. Schonland, or in so far as it 

 furnishes an indication of the sign of the times. Dr. R. 

 Broom contributes three palaeontological articles, in the 

 first of which he describes the skull of a small lizard taken 

 ftom the Triassic beds in South Africa. Dr. Schonland is 

 responsible for the remainder of this, the first part. A 

 critical account of a number of species of South African 

 aloes adds considerably to the information collected by Mr. 

 J. G. Baker in his monograph in the " Flora Capensis. " In 

 addition to the botanical papers, Dr. Schonland describes 

 some Bushman and Hottentot pottery which is stored in 

 the museum. A pot about 14^ inches high, consisting of 

 a wide neck slightly ornamented by raised lines and a re- 

 markably fine curved base, approximately oval, denotes 

 workmanship of a higher order than that displayed by the 

 • '-ivilised potter. 



VvE have received the second part of the Sitzungsberichte 



and Abhandlungen of the Dresden " Isis " for 1902. The 



I former contains an obituary notice of the late Ilofrath 



Dr. H. Nitsche, professor of zoology at the Academy 



I Tharandt. Among the contents of the latter is an 



rticle, by Prof. O. Schneider, on the prevalence of 



iiiplanism among the beetles of Corsica. 



An interesting case of " commensalism " is recorded by 

 Dr. R. Horst in the May issue of the Leyden Museum Notes 

 (vol. xxiii. part ii.)i In Sabang Bay, Poeloe Weh, several 

 NO. 1757, VOL. 68] 



small fishes (Atnphiprion intermedius) were observed to issue 

 from the cavity of a large anemone of the genus Discosoma. 

 Several previous instances of a similar association are on 

 record, notably in Australian waters, where other species 

 of Amphiprion have been observed frequenting anemones of 

 the genus above mentioned. 



Our knowledge of the fishes of Africa is progressing by 

 rapid strides, one of the latest contributions to the subject 

 being a paper on a collection from Zanzibar, by Mr. H. W. 

 Fowler, published in the Proceedings of the Philadelphia 

 Academy, in the course of which two species are described 

 as new. The same serial also contains a revision of the 

 land and fresh-water molluscs of Western Arkansas and 

 the adjacent States, by Mr. H. A. Pilsbry. 



We have received a copy of the address on " Modern 

 Views on Matter: the Realisation of a Dream," delivered 

 by Sir William Crookes before the recent Congress of 

 Applied Chemistry at Berlin. A general account of the 

 proceedings of the congress appeared in Nature of June i8 

 (p. 156), and abstracts of some of the papers brought before 

 the various sections are given in the present number. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during 

 the past week include a Patas Monkey (Cercopithecus patas) 

 from West Africa, presented by Mr. H. Padgett ; two Two- 

 spotted Paradoxures (Nandinia binotata) from West Africa, 

 presented by Mr. Charles R. Palmer ; a Burrowing Owl 

 {Speotyto cunicularia) from South America, presented by 

 Mr. L. M. Seth-Smith ; a Diademed Sand Snake 

 {Lytorhynchus diadema), five Egyptian Eryx (Eryx jaculus) 

 from Egypt, two Bull Frogs {Rana cotesbiana) from North 

 America, deposited ; six American Flying Squirrels 

 (Sciuroptertis volucella) from North America, purchased; 

 an Ogilby's Rat Kangaroo {Bettongia penicillata) born in 

 the Gardens. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 



Reported Change on Saturn. — The following telegram, 

 announcing the discovery of a new phenomenon on Saturn 

 by Prof. Barnard, has been received from the Kiel 

 Centralstelle : — 



" Conspicuous white spot, Saturn, three seconds north, 

 transit June 23, i5h. 47-8m., Williams Bay time. — 

 Barnard." 



Search Ephemeris for Faye's Comet. — A search 

 ephemeris for Faye's comet, from which the following is 

 an extract, is published in No. 3876 of the Astronomische 

 Nachrichten by Prof. E. Stromgren : — 



Ephemeris 12/1. {Berlin M.T.). 



This ephemeris is calculated from the elements previously 

 jiublished, in the Astronomische Nachrichten, by the same 

 worker, and takes June 364 (Berlin M.T.), 1903, as the 

 time of perihelion passage. The comet will rise about two 

 hours before sunrise towards the middle of the month. 



Ohservations of Nova Geminorum. — Prof. Barnard 

 publishes in No. 5, vol. xvii., of the Astrophysical Journal 

 the results of his observations of Nova Geminorum ; most 

 of these observations were made with the finders of the 

 40-inch and 12-inch refractors of the Yerkes Observatory. 



During the first set of observations the Nova had a 

 strong reddish colour, but this has since disappeared; 



