3IO 



NATURE 



[June 8, 1916 



that the canine, tooth was "incongruous in this [Pilt- 

 down] mandible." We are of opinion that future dis- 

 covery will show that all three specimens are, as Dr. 

 Smith Woodward inferred, parts of one individual, or 

 at least of individuals of one species. A closer 

 acquaintance with the anatomy of anthropoid apes 

 will reveal many similar incongruities in their struc- 

 ture. If mankind has been evolved from an anthro- 

 poid stock the occurrence of a combination of human 

 and anthropoid characteristics in earlier or dawn 

 "human forms, such as occur in Eoanthropus, is just 

 what we ought to find. 



The coast-section of Honte Hermoso, near Bahia 

 Blanca, Argentina, has been relied on by authors who 

 assign a high antiquity to man in South America 

 (see Nature, vol. xcll., p. 144). Mr. Ricardo Wich- 

 mann, however, contributes to Physis (tomo li., 1916, 

 p. 131) an account of the present condition of the 

 exposure, and remarks that F. Amcghino must have 

 compiled his sequence of formations from observations 

 made at various localities. The surface of the Her- 

 mosean beds now exposed passes beneath the Puel- 

 chean without any appearance of unconformity, and 

 the author was unable to satisfy himself that the 

 angular fragments of quartzite, regarded by Ameghino 

 as human implements, belong with certainty to the 

 Puelchean horizon. 



The famous intermittent spring at Rajapur, in the 

 Bombay Presidency, is the subject of a short paper by 

 the Rev. Dr. A. Steichen, S.J. (Bulletin No. 14, Indian 

 Association for the Cultivation of Science). A careful 

 record of the flow of the spring, kept since 1883, shows 

 that the flow lasts for sixteen to sixty-eight daj's, 

 followed by a dry period of 291 to 1189 days. Dr. 

 Steichen has compared these periods with the records 

 of rainfall, and finds that there is no obvious corre- 

 spondence between the two. This makes it unlikely 

 that the intermittency of the spring depends on a 

 ^simple siphon-like arrangement of channels connected 

 with an underground reservoir. Dr. Steichen supposes 

 that the channels have this arrangement, but that they 

 become choked with deposits of lime, which stops the 

 flo-w in many cases before the reservoir Is empty. 

 This, he believes, will also explain how the flow may 

 "begin as late as five months after the last drop of rain 

 has fallen. Whether or not this is the true explana- 

 tion of this extraordinary spring, there certainly is much 

 limy matter in suspension in the early part of the flow. 



In a paper published by the University of Nevada 

 Mr. S. P. Fergusson makes some interesting remarks 

 on the use of high-level meteorological observations in 

 making forecasts of temperature. His comments refer 

 more particularly to Mount Rose, a mountain 10,800 ft. 

 high, but he discusses the results from other high 

 stations, such as Mount Washington, Pike's Peak, 

 Colorado, Ben Nevis, and others. Mr. Fergusson 

 finds some correlation between the changes on the 

 summit and the subsequent changes in the lowlands, 

 but on the whole the Impression given is that moun- 

 tain stations are not of much use for forecasting. 

 Pike's Peak, Mount Washington, and Ben Nevis were 

 all given up, unfortunately, for meteorology, but their 

 use in forecasting was not sufficient to make up for 

 the cost and diflficulty of maintaining them. It 

 is to be hoped that Mount Rose will not share the 

 same fate. It ought not to do so, as many useful 

 inquiries are in progress ; also the records are obtained 

 by autographic instruments, which can run for long 

 periods, so that it is not necessary for the observers 

 to remain always on the summit. 



In a recent note to the Faraday Society on the 

 annealing of aluminium, Messrs. Seligman and Wil- 

 liams describe certain interesting anomalies in the 



NO. 2432, VOL. 97] 



behaviour of this metal. Hard-worked aluminium is 

 more readily soluble in nitric acid than the annealed 

 metal. On heating the hard-worked metal to 125° C. 

 a definite change in the rate of dissolution is brought 

 about. A sample of the hard-worked metal which 

 lost 56 mgr. per 100 sq. cm. per 24 hours in 1-42 nitric 

 acid only lost 39 mgr. when similarly exposed after 

 being annealed at 500° C— a decrease of 30 per cent. 

 On annealing for 10 hours at 125° C. there was a decrease 

 in the rate of dissolution of 53 per cent. It was 

 anticipated that if the heating were prolonged the 

 decrease in the rate of dissolution might be augmented. 

 This was not found to be the case, but, on the con- 

 trary, as the heating at 125° C. was prolonged the fall 

 in the rate of dissolution diminished until samples 

 heated for 80 hours at 125° C. showed the 

 same rate of dissolution as, or even a slightly 

 higher rate of dissolution than, samples which 

 had not been heated at all. These facts do not 

 tally completely with the observations of other worker?. 

 A release of strain as indicated by Dr. Beilby should 

 be accompanied by a reduction in the rate of dissolu- 

 tion, but such a release of strain would not account 

 for the subsequent Increase. The behaviour of 

 aluminium as described above is not accounted for bv 

 any theories which have yet been put forward. 



Part vi. of the Transactions of the Institution oi 

 Engineers and Shipbuilders m Scotland contains an 

 interesting paper on the Ljungstrom steam turbine 

 and its application to marine propulsion, read by Mr. 

 R. S. Portham on March 21. In this type of turbine 

 the flow is radial and outwards from tne centre, and 

 takes place between two discs fixed on shafts which 

 revolve in opposite directions. Each disc is fitted 

 with concentric rings of blades, and each ring 01 

 blades on one disc serves as guides for the ring on 

 the other disc, which surrounds it, and is concentric 

 thereto. The relative sf)eed is thus doubled, as com- 

 pared with a turbine having fixed guide blades, and 

 the system therefore necessitates only one-quarter the 

 total number of rings for the same efficiency. The 

 illustrations in the paper are exceptionally good, and 

 includes drawings of the largest Ljungstrom turbine 

 yet constructed. This turbine develops 10,000 b.h.p. 

 at a sf)eed of 3000 revolutions per minute ; the 

 diameter of the outer blade ring is 34 in. only. Each 

 of the revolving shafts is connected to an alternator, 

 one at each end of the turbine. The condenser i.i 

 placed underneath. The overall length is 24 ft., 

 height 21 ft., and the weight of the complete turbo- 

 alternator is 45 tons. A machine of this type of 3000 

 kilowatts, tested in January last with steam at 

 160 lb. per sq. in. superheated 280° F., gave a con- 

 sumption of 11-15 lb. of steam per kw. per hour, and 

 showed a thermodynamic efficiency of 87 per cent., as 

 compared with the ideal engine. 



In connection with the electrification of the North- 

 Eastern Railway, the Engineer for June 2 contains 

 illustrated particulars of the goods locomotives. These 

 were designed and built at the Darlington works of 

 the North-Eastern Railway, under the direction of 

 Mr. V. L. Raven. There are four enclosed motors, 

 each driving an axle through single-reduction twin 

 gearing. The test results are of Interest. A train 

 of 800 tons was hauled from Newport to Shildon, 

 with stops on certain of the heaviest gradients; this 

 train was stopped and started on a gradient of i in 

 103. The maximum draw-bar pull was 16 tons, and 

 the average speed from Newjjort to Shildon was 

 183 rniles per hour. On a gradient of i in 230 and 

 45 miles long an average speed of 23 miles per hour 

 was obtained. The locomotive also proved capable of 

 hauling a train of 1400 tons on the level at 26 miles 

 per hour. 



