October i, 1903] 



NATURE 



527 



writer and other observers on the night of April 19, several 

 brilliant meteors having been observed. If the computed 

 time of the maximum for that night be correct, viz. 

 loh. 30m., it would not, of course, have been possible for 

 observers situated near the longitude of Greenwich to 

 witness the display in its entirety. 



The Lyrid activity on the night of April 21, judging from 

 Mr. Alphonso King's letter, appears to have been somewhat 

 exceptional, and scarcely inferior to that observed on April 

 22 It may be interesting to note that the well-known 

 continental observer, Prof. A. A. Nijland, states that the 

 night of April 19, as well as that of April 20, was almost 

 constantly and entirely overcast, and that not a single Lyrid 

 was observed at Utrecht in 1903, though the night of April 

 21 was both clear and moonless. This negative result 

 might have been anticipated from the forecast which 

 appeared in Nature last April. John R. Henry. 



Dublin, September 21. 



Glow-worm and Thunderstorm ; also Milk. 



In the Daily News of July 14 is printed an observation 

 by a Mr. Haswell, of Handsworth, which bears the marks 

 of genuineness, that during a thunderstorm a glow-worm 

 extinguished its light for a second or a second and a half 

 before each flash, relighting at an equal interval after the 

 flash. May I ask if this has been noticed by anyone else? 



It may also be worth while for someone to examine 

 whether radium can assist milk to turn sour, or can other- 

 wise influence organic processes of that kind. 



Oliver Lodge. 



ILL-HEALTH OF THE RAND MINERS. "^ 



THE two official reports described in the footnote 

 are not pleasant reading; it seems that the 

 War Office is not the only culprit with regard to 

 South African affairs, for the waste of life among 

 the Transvaal miners from disease and accidents may 

 fairly be described as appalling. But here, as in 

 the case of the War Commission, the Briton is not 

 afraid to wash his dirty linen in public, and for this 

 he must be commended. The remedy for an ill will 

 be discovered most speedily, if the symptoms are pro- 

 claimed widely and discussed freely. 



The first document tells us that the death-rate 

 among the natives employed at the mines on the 

 Rand is 42 per 1000, which is extremely high. To 

 see exactly what this figure means, we should compare 

 it with the mortality rate of males of like age and 

 occupation in this country; and no one can say that 

 too favourable a case is taken if we choose, as a 

 standard, the Cornish miner, who notoriously is a 

 great sufferer from the ills which pertain to work 

 below ground. Unfortunately, the official report does 

 not state the mean age of the Rand miners, but it 

 may be fairly assumed that the majority are young, 

 and probably no great error would be made if their 

 ages were taken as ranging from 25 to 35. In the 

 years 1890-92 the mean annual death-rate of 

 Cornish tin miners of 25 to 35 years of age was 

 8.06 per 1000, and for the men of 35 to 45 it rose 

 to 14.32 per 1000. In brief, the death-rate of the 

 natives employed at mines on the Rand is five times 

 as much as that of the Cornish miners for the life- 

 period 25 to 35, and nearly three times that of the 

 men in the life-period 35 to 45. 



The endeavour to cast some of the blame upon the 

 natives themselves by saying that they fail to take 

 ordinary common-sense precautions is ungenerous on 

 the part of the author of the report. In matters of 



1 " Rand Mines (Native Mortality). Return of the Statistics of Mortality, 

 Sickness and Desertion among the Natives employed in the Rand Mines 

 during the Period October. igci-March, 1903." Pp. 6 folio. (London, 1903.) 



" Report of the Miners' Phthisis Commission, 1902-1^3, with Minutes of 

 Proceedings and Minutes of Evidence." Pp. 147 foho and 7 appendices. 

 (Pretoria, 1903.) 



NO, 1770, VOL. 68] 



hygiene, the natives must be regarded as children 

 and treated as such. The blame for the ill-health of 

 the native must in the main lie at the door of the 

 British employer. It is satisfactory, however, to 

 learn that the present heavy death-rate on the Rand 

 is regarded as exceptional. 



The second document is a Blue-book containing the 

 report of a Commission appointed by Lord Milner to 

 inquire into the disease commonly known as miner's 

 phthisis. Judging by the facts and figures brought 

 forward, the inquiry has taken place none too soon. 

 The Commissioners report " that the disease prevails 

 to a very great extent, and that a high mortality is 

 due to it." Carefully prepared medical evidence shows 

 very plainly that the malady is silicosis pure and 

 simple, a dust disease. The miner inhales sharp, 

 angular particles of quartz, and these cause such 

 irritation that the lung tissue undergoes a change and 

 gradually becomes incapable of carrying on its re- 

 spiratory functions. At the end of a few years, often 

 only six or seven, so large a proportion of the lungs 

 is rendered useless that the man dies. The age at 

 death of many of the victims is only about 35 years. 

 In the majority of cases there is no tubercular 

 phthisis added to the silicosis. As might be expected, 

 the rfien working rock drills are the greatest sufferers, 

 and especially in places where the holes are bored 

 upwards without any water. 



The remedies suggested by the Commissioners are 

 sprays and jets of water to prevent and keep down 

 the dust, and some of the witnesses advocate the 

 use of respirators, which are already being employed 

 to a certain extent. The Commissioners are of 

 opinion that experience is needed before deciding how 

 water can be best applied. 



Though dust is the worst evil affecting the miner 

 on the Rand, it is not the only one. Analyses show 

 undesirable proportions of carbonic oxide in what is 

 called " normal mine air under ordinary working 

 conditions." This noxious gas is generated mainly 

 by the dynamite and other explosives, but also in some 

 cases by heat acting upon the lubricant during the 

 compression of the air used for working the drills. 

 Mine-managers are often unaware of this latter 

 source of danger. Mr. E. Hill, in a paper read 

 before the American Institute of Mining Engineers, 

 puts the matter very plainly by saying, " Workmen 

 at the front, instead of receiving pure, cool air from 

 the exhaust of the drills or other machmes, breathe 

 a foul, stupefying, and sometimes fatal, mixture." 



The Transvaal Commissioners deserve much credit 

 for the painstaking inquiry which they have made, 

 and the lessons taught by it should be taken to heart 

 by English mine-owners, for both Dr. Ogle and Dr. 

 Tatham in their well-known reports have pointed out 

 that the Cornish tin miner is a great sufferer from 

 his dust-producing occupation. 



PHOTOGRAPHY AT THE NEW GALLERY. 



THE forty-eighth annual exhibition of the Royal 

 • Photographic Society is, in general arrange- 

 ments, much like its predecessors, and shows very little 

 evidence of this being the jubilee year of the Society. 

 In the scientific and technical division the only differ 

 ence that we notice is the reappearance of several 

 exhibits that have been seen before, and the presence 

 of a few isolated frames of examples from the Society's 

 own collection. We understood that the Society's fine 

 historical collection was to have been on view in its 

 entirety, and feel much regret that advantage has not 

 been taken of this opportunity for its display. 



The fact that many of the exhibits are old and 

 already well known gives especial value to the present 



