460 



NATURE 



September 10 '903 



physical institute, 15,000 r. to a chemical laboratory, and 

 the balance to physico-geographical, zoological, and 

 botanical teaching. 



A NEW gem, lilac coloured and transparent, has recently 

 been discovered in California by Dr. George F; Kunz, of 

 New York. On the suggestion of Dr. C. Baskerville, of the 

 University of North Carolina, who made an analysis of the 

 mineral at the New York Museum of Natural History, the 

 name of Kunzite has, it is stated, been given to the stone 

 in honour of its discoverer. In the course of the tests made 

 by Dr. Baskerville, the Kunzite crystals were subjected to 

 the action of ultra-violet light without showing any evidence 

 of fluorescence or phosphorescence, and it was not until 

 Rontgen rays of very high penetration were brought to 

 bear upon them that they became at all fluorescent. On 

 their removalto a dark chamber they exhibited a persistent 

 white luminosity never before observed in this class of 

 minerals. A description of the gem, by Dr. Kuriz, appears 

 in Science of August 28. 



The Pioneer Mail, Allahabad, states that the Ceylon 

 Government has given notice that, under the Insect Pest 

 Ordinance, the importation of pepper plants into Ceylon from 

 any part of India is prohibited. The dried seed of the pepper 

 plant imported for commercial use is, however, exempt from 

 the prohibition. 



The daily weather report issued by the Meteorological 

 Office on Friday last, September 4, showed that a barometric 

 depression had passed the Azores and was advancing on an 

 easterly course; the mercury was lowest on the west coast 

 of Ireland, with south-easterly winds, and the air be- 

 coming close and thundery. As occasionally happens, a 

 secondary depression was developed to the southward of 

 the primary system, and this subsidiary disturbance caused 

 during the afternoon severe thunderstorms over the southern 

 portion of England, which subsequently extended to the 

 metropolis and eastern coast, accompanied by torrential 

 rain, laying many districts under water. At Ventnor a 

 fall of 1-65 inches was recorded the next morning, at West- 

 bourne 2-4 inches, and at Brixton 1-2 inches. At some 

 places the fall was probably greater, as at Dover the ship- 

 ment of mails was delayed, and many houses in the low- 

 lying districts of that town were flooded to the depth of 

 several feet. 



Prof. Langley has addressed a statement to the American 

 Press with reference to his mechanical flight experiments 

 from which we abstract the following : — " These, trials, with 

 some already conducted with steam-driven flying machines, 

 are believed to be the first in the history of invention where 

 bodies far heavier than the air itself have been sustained in 

 the air for more than a few seconds by purely mechanical 

 means. In my previous trials success has only been reached 

 after initial failures, which alone have taught the way to it, 

 and I know no reason why prospective trials should be an 

 exception. . . . The fullest publicity consistent with the 

 national interest (since these recent experiments have for 

 their object the development of a machine for war purposes) 

 will be given to this work when it reaches a stage which 

 warrants publication." 



Mr. Edison is reported to have deyeloped his alkaline 

 storage battery into a form fit for commercial use, and 

 already has works equipped capable of turning out per day 

 one complete set of cells suitable for motor-car work ; soon 

 he will be able to turn out five sets a day. The results of 

 tests of the practical working of the battery are said to be 

 entirely satisfactory ; four sizes are made, capable of 

 running a car 25, 50, 75, and 100 miles respectively on one 



to 



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NO. 1767, VOL 68] 



charge, at an even rate of 25 miles an hour. The possibility 

 of working at more than normal discharge rates without 

 injury to the cells gives cars equipped with this battery 

 good hill-climbing powers. The results of general outside 

 experience of the battery will be eagerly awaited. 



Mr. Marconi, who recently went out to America on board 

 the Lucania, had special apparatus fitted on the ship to 

 enable him to carry out experiments during the voyagi 

 The main object of the experiments was to determine 

 power necessary to transmit messages to and from a movi 

 station, such as a ship, with varying distances. 



It is announced that the Metropolitan District Railway 

 will be equipped with trains run on the multiple unit train 

 control, which is in use on the Central London and several 

 American railways. Each train will have three motor-cars 

 all controlled by a single driver ; if by any accident the 

 driver is incapacitated, the train is automatically brought 

 to a standstill as soon as he releases his hold on the driving 

 lever. The motor equipment is separated from the public 

 part of the car by a fireproof steel partition. The contract 

 for the equipment (known as the .Sprague-Thomson Houston 

 system) has just been placed with the British Thomson 

 Houston Company, of Rugby and London. 



The supervision of the Imperial Department of Agri- 

 culture for the West Indies extends to several islands, where 

 the progress that is being made is not placed on record 

 except in the yearly reports. Of these, the report which 

 originates from St. Vincent refers to the eruptions of Mont 

 Soufri^re during the period included in the official year 

 1902-3. The botanic gardens escaped, but the Georgetown 

 experimental plot was almost entirely destroyed ; even this 

 catastrophe was turned to account, as experiments were 

 started in order to test the possibility of growing certain 

 plants, such as sugar-canes, cotton, ground-nuts, &'c., in 

 the volcanic ash. The experiment station of the British 

 Virginia Islands is situated at Tortola, and the yearly re- 

 port is presented by Mr. Fishlock, who took up the position 

 of agricultural instructor at the beginning of the year. 

 The station lies low, and is not suited to the cultivation of 

 cacao or coffee, but pines produce excellent crops, and there 

 is every reason to expect that good results will attend the 

 introduction of cotton cultivation. 



A PAPER entitled " The Forward Movement in Plant- 

 breeding " was read by Prof. L. H. Bailey before the 

 American Philosophical Society, and is published in its 

 Proceedings. The advice which is offered to the scientific 

 breeder is to get thoroughly acquainted with the character- 

 istics and . qualities of the plant which it is desired 

 to cultivate, to decide in what direction he can make 

 practical improvements, and after choosing what appears 

 to be a suitable strain, to get all the information possible 

 from his results by means of a careful system of measure- 

 ment and tabulation. 



In the September issue of the Irish Naturalist Messrs. 

 Carpenter and Beresford publish the result of certain ex- 

 periments as to the relations existing between the wasps 

 respectively known as Vespa austriaca and F. rufa. The 

 former, which is not uncommon in Ireland, is believed to 

 produce no workers, but to breed as an " inquiline " in the 

 nests of other species. In a nest with an austriaca queen 

 kept under observation by the authors, all the workers 

 hatched were of the rufa type, while of the drones some 

 were austriaca, some rufa, and others intermediate between 

 the two. As the two forms are sufficiently distinct to be 

 regarded as species, it seems as if we had here an instance 

 of the origin of species by discontinuous variation. "We 



