396 



NATURE 



[August 27, 1903 



The causes of acceleration and retardation in the meta- 

 moiphosis of Amhlystoma tigrinum, the adult form of the 

 Mexican axolotl, form the subject of an article by Mr. 

 J. H. Powers- in the June number of the American 

 Naturalist. According to the author, previous observers 

 have been in error in attributing the retention of the larval 

 form to inability to leave an aquatic life, and, conversely, 

 the early acquisition of the adult condition to removal from 

 water. The real factor in the case, he believes, is nutri- 

 tion. A paper by Mr. J. H. Lovell, in the same journal, 

 on the colours of northern gamopetalous flowers and their 

 relations to bees and other insects, contains much rriatter 

 of interest alike to the botanist and to the entomologist. 

 The sequel will be published in a later number. 



To vol. ii. No. 5 of Marine Investigations in South 

 Africa, Dr. J. D. F. Gilchrist contributes some important 

 notes on the development of South African fishes. The 

 publication of these notes, which are confessedly crude and 

 imperfect, would have been deferred until fuller investi- 

 gations had been undertaken were it not for the circum- 

 stance that they have an important bearing on certain dis- 

 puted points connected with the Cape fisheries. Many of 

 the fishermen urge, for instance, that the spawn of several 

 of the commoner food-fishes is developed on or near the 

 sea-bottom, and is, in consequence, seriously damaged by 

 trawling. To this the author replies that, since in northern 

 waters it has been demonstrated that only one valuable food- 

 fish, the herring, has deep-lying spawn, and since the Cape 

 seas are the home of only a small species of herring of 

 little or no commercial value, it is probable that the damage 

 done by trawling in South ^rican waters has been largely 

 overestimated. 



A PRELIMINARY report upon " Trypanosomiasis of Horses 

 (' Surra ') in the Philippine Islands," by Messrs. Musgrave 

 and Williamson, has been issued by the Government 

 Laboratory, Manila. The disease seems to have been 

 recently introduced into the Philippines, for careful investi- 

 gation has failed to show any evidence that it existed there 

 before May or June, 1901. It is transmitted through the 

 bites of insects, and until the exact species are discriminated, 

 for preventive measures all insects should be considered 

 as carriers of the infection. In Manila a certain number 

 of the rats have been found to be infected with the horse 

 trypanosoma. An account is given of the symptoms of the 

 disease and of the preventive measures to be adopted, the 

 most important of which is the prevention of the access of 

 all flies and insects. 



A SHORT time ago M. Blondlot announced the discovery 

 of a new form of radiation found with Rontgen rays, and 

 possessing the power of penetrating black paper and many 

 metals. The rays could be reflected and refracted by quartz 

 lenses, and were without photographic action; they could, 

 however, be detected by their power of increasing the 

 luminosity of small electric sparks or of a colourless " blue " 

 flame. The rays were subsequently shown by M. Blondlot 

 to be produced by an Auer burner. Following up his re- 

 searches on these n rays, M. Blondlot has been led to dis- 

 cover some remarkable properties which they possess ; these 

 are communicated in a recent number of the Comptes 

 rendus. It seems that the rays are capable of increasing 

 the illumination given by an incandescent surface on which 

 they fall, and this without any increase of temperature. 

 An experiment which seems conclusive is quoted ; a 

 platinum wire which was heated to a dull red was subjected 

 to the action of the rays, and whenever these were allowed 



NO. 1765, VOL. 681 



to fall on it the incandescence was visibly increased. An 

 auxiliary electrical circuit afforded a means of measuring 

 the resistance, and hence the temperature of the wire, and 

 this showed that the rays produced no increase in tempera- 

 ture ; an increase of temperature too small to produce a 

 visible effect in the incandescence of the wire was easily 

 detected by the measuring circuit. This result is particu- 

 larly interesting, not only in reference to the n rays of M. 

 Blondlot, but in reference to theories of incandescence and 

 light emission generally, as it seems possible that these 

 rays may be able to throw some light on the many difficult 

 problems that beset this subject. The remarkable properties 

 that this radiation seems to possess promise to make it of 

 unusual interest, and possibly also of great utility. 



In the Gazette de Lausanne, M. F. A. Forel directs atten- 

 tion to what appears to be a recurrence of the coloured circle 

 round the sun (Bishop's Ring), similar to that which was 

 observed after the Krakatoa explosion in 1883. The present 

 phenomenon is paler than that first described by Mr. Bishop, 

 and is supposed to be connected with the eruption of Mont 

 Pel6e in May, 1902. M. Forel states that if can only be 

 seen at an altitude of not less than 2000 metres ; it was 

 first seen by him on August i, and he points out that it 

 would be very interesting if alpine climbers, or balloonists, 

 would state when the ring was first observed by them, and 

 whether its appearance is intermittent or continuous. 



A CORRESPONDENT of the Times directs attention to a 

 supposed cure for the mysterious malady known as moun- 

 tain sickness. The discoverer of the specific is a Russian 

 topographer named Passtoukhof, who, for some years past, 

 has been making ascents in the Caucasus, where he has 

 climbed the Grand Ararat, Mount Kasbek, and Mount 

 Elbruz. At such high altitudes as these it is easy to under- 

 stand that the question of mountain sickness becomes a 

 serious one, and on more than one occasion M. Passtoukhof 

 has found not only himself, but all the other members of 

 his expedition, completely prostrated by it. On one of 

 these occasions it occurred to him to try the experiment 

 of lighting his spirit lamp and making some tea, which he 

 administered to himself and his companions in an almost 

 boiling condition, with a result that far exceeded his ex- 

 pectations. Almost immediately the more serious symptoms 

 disappeared, and in a short time all the members of the 

 expedition found themselves well enough to continue the 

 ascent. Later on M. Passtoukhof repeated this experiment 

 of using boiling tea as a remedy for mountain sick- 

 ness, with results so invariably successful that he now feels 

 justified in considering that it may really be regarded as a 

 specific. 



A CORRESPONDENT directs our attention to the fact that 

 one feature of the programme at present in force at the 

 Alhambra is an exhibition of the microbioscope. We are 

 glad, like our correspondent, that science is being intro- 

 duced — even in the form of amusement — to those who, 

 in ordinary circumstances, take no interest in scientific 

 matters, and think with him that more might be done even 

 with existing resources to bring a knowledge of the 

 advances of science under the notice of the people. " The 

 music halls are," says our correspondent, "being in- 

 creasingly used for good music ; why not for good science ? 

 The managers will put money into it if the public respond, 

 and no objection will be made to raising the tone of their 

 programmes if the houses fill. Those interested in science 

 need not spend the evening there ; they could go to see just 

 what concerned them." 



