August 27, 1903] 



NATURE 



397- 



The Engineering Standards Committee has just issued 

 " standard sections and specification " for tramway rails. 

 If the series of rails be adopted, it should be easier for the 

 British manufacturer to hold his own against foreign com- 

 petition, which, in the case of tramway rails, is particularly 

 severe. 



We have received the first parts of the monthly Bulletin 

 of the Philippine Weather Bureau for 1903, prepared under 

 the direction of the Rev. Jos6 Algu6, S.J., director of the 

 service. This bulletin, modelled on the plan of the United 

 States meteorological publications, contains valuable 

 climatological observations and general notes on the 

 weather and crops. The report for 1902 contains an 

 interesting account of the establishment and development 

 of the service under the Spanish Government, and of its 

 reorganisation and improvement under the United States. 

 Meteorological observations were begun in Manila in 1865, 

 and after many years of assiduous study of the behaviour 

 of the typhoons of the eastern seas. Father Faura, the first 

 director of the observatory, commenced his predictions of 

 the approach of typhoons in July, 1879. These storm 

 warnings have been the means of saving much life and 

 property, not only in the Philippine Islands, but on the 

 Chinese coasts. Their value is now fully recognised by 

 the United States Government and by the Colonial 

 Secretary and Chamber of Commerce of Hong Kong. On 

 the recommendation of the chief of the U.S. Weather 

 Bureau, a network of subsidiary stations has been estab- 

 lished in the archipelago which will doubtless render in- 

 valuable service to our knowledge of the meteorology of 

 the Far East. 



A PAMPHLET of sixty-nine pages, extracted from the re- 

 port of the expedition of the Stella Polare in 1899-1900, 

 deals with the magnetic observations undertaken in the 

 Bay of Teplitz by Captain Umberto Cagni. These observ- 

 ations were reduced by Prof. Luigi Palazzo, who gives the 

 following results for July, 1899, and June, 1900 :— Declin- 

 ation, 21° 10' and 21° 18' east; inclination, 83° 25' and 

 83° 1-2' north; horizontal intensity, 006846 and 006855; 

 vertical intensity, 0-59319, 055990; total force, 0-59713, 

 o 56409. The principal instruments used were a unifilar 

 Schneider magnetometer and a Kew inclinometer, but great 

 difficulties were experienced in making the observations ; 

 among other inconveniences, snow was carried into the 

 temporary observatory, and succeeded in penetrating 

 through every crack or crevice. 



Some recent researches in the comparatively modern study 

 of experimental phonetics are given by Prof. E. W. 

 Scripture (Yale) in the Medical Record (February 28), and 

 Die neuern Sprachen (January). In the former paper, 

 Prof. Scripture describes the different methods that have 

 been employed for registering the sound curves of the 

 human voice. The method preferred by the author is to 

 obtain a gramophone or phonograph record of the voice 

 and to trace off an enlargement of the fluctuations either 

 by mechanical or by photographic methods. In the second 

 paper, Prof. Scripture describes a complete record of the 

 melody of the Lord's Prayer as recited in the style charac- 

 teristic of the eastern part of the United States. A diagram 

 is given showing the main variations of pitch. An investi- 

 gation in another branch of physiological acoustics, deal- 

 ing with the audibility of vowel sounds under pathological 

 tx>nditions, is given by M. Marage in the Comptes rendus 

 (February). 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during 

 the past week include two White-crowned Mangabeys 



NO. 1765, VOL. 68] 



(Cercocebus oethiops) from West Africa, presented by Mr. 

 C. R. Farquharson ; an Ocelot {Felis pardalis) from Rio de 

 Janeiro, presented by Mr. John Gordon ; a Grand Eclectus 

 {Eclectus roratus) from Moluccas, a Black-crested Cardinal 

 {Gubertiatrix cristatella) from Paraguay, a Red-headed 

 Cardinal {Paroaria ' larvata), a White-throated Finch 

 {Spermophila lineola) from Brazil, presented by the Right 

 Hon. Earl of Crawford, K.T. ; a Brown-throated Conure 

 {Conurus oeruginosus) from South America, presented by 

 Mrs. M. Moir-Byres ; a Barred Dove (Geopelia striata) 

 from India, a West African Love-bird {Agapornis pullaria) 

 from West Africa, presented by Sir Arthur Bigge, K.C.B. ; 

 a Common Snake {Tropidonotus natrix), British, presented 

 by Mr. Oliver Roberts; a Yellow Baboon {Papio cyno- 

 cephalus) from Africa, a Lesser White-nosed Monkey 

 {Cercopithecus petaurista) from West Africa, a Lion 

 Marmoset {Midas rosalia) from South-east Brazil, an 

 Echidna {Echidna hystrix) from New South Wales, two 

 Stanley Parrakeets {Platycercus icterotis), two Tree 

 Sparrows {Passer montanus), three Limbless Lizards 

 {Pygopus lepidopus), a Muricated Lizard {Amphibolurus 

 muticatus), a Cunningham's Skihk {Egernia cunninghami) 

 from Australia, a Lesser White-fronted Goose {Anser 

 erythropus), two Jackdaws {Corvus monedula, var.), Euro- 

 pean ; an American Glass Snake {Ophiosaurus ventralis), 

 a Hog-nosed Snake {Heterodon platy rhinos), two Couch's 

 Snakes {Tropidonotus ordinatus couchi) from North 

 America, deposited ; nine Summer Ducks {Aex sponsa) from 

 North America, purchased. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 



Astronomical Occurrences in September :— 

 Sept 3. 8h. Saturn in conjunction with moon. Saturn 

 5° 26' S. 

 5, 9b. 26m. Minimum of Algol (/3 Persei). 

 7. 5h. Mercury at greatest eastern elongation (27° o'). 



11. i8h. Jupiter in opposition to the sun. 



12. Saturn. Polar diameter = i6"*3, outer minor axis 



of outer ring = I4"'39. 

 15, Venus. Illuminated portion of disc =0"002; of 



Mars = 0-891. 

 17. 9h. Venus in inferior conjunction with the sun. 

 >. I3h. 53m. to I4h. 36m. Moon occults o Cancri 



(mag. 4-3). .... 



20. Sun totally eclipsed, invisible at Greenwich. 



21. 7h. 13m. to loh. 22m. Transit of Jupiter's Sat. in. 



(Ganymede). 

 23. i8h. Sun enters Libra. Autumn commences. 

 25. iih. 9m. Minimum of Algol {fi Persei). 



27. 7h. 55m. to lih. 2m. Transit of Jupiter's Sat. IV. 



(Callisto). 



28. 7h. 58m. Minimum of Algol {& Persei). 



,, loh. 30m. to I3h. 40m. Transit of Jupiter's Sat. III. 



(Ganymede). 

 30. I3h. Saturn in conjunction with moon. Saturn 

 5° 32' S. 



New Table for Ex-Meridian Observations of Altitude. 

 — In existing tables for obtaining the difference between 

 the observed and meridian altitudes, when determining 

 latitude by ex-meridian observations, one has to refer to 

 two separate tables, using as arguments declination, hour 

 angle and approximate latitude. To remedy this Mr. H. B. 

 Goodwin, R.N., has just published a pamphlet (Griffin and 

 Co., Portsmouth) showing how the problem may be solved 

 by the use of one table only, which is included in his 

 pamphlet, using approximate latitude and azimuth. 



The principle on which the method is based is that a 

 body near the meridian may be regarded as changing its 

 altitude with a uniform rate of change, and at any one 

 interval we may take the mean rate of change as repre- 

 sentative, and obtain the ** reduction " to meridian altitude 

 from the formula dz = sin A cos l.dh, where dz is the change 

 of altitude and dh the contemporaneous change of hour 



