170 



NATURE 



[June 29, igi6 



The annual range varies from i2o° to i6o° F. The 

 maximum temperature reported is 96° F. , the minimum 

 — 76°F. A range of 90° or more is experienced in the 

 months of January and February. The winters are 

 long and intensely cold, with the result that the ground 

 has become frozen, in places, to depths of more than 

 300 ft. The effect of the brief summer warmth is 

 merely to thaw a few feet at the surface. 



The mean annual rainfall is estimated on the incom- 

 plete data available at about 12 in., but there is con- 

 siderable local variation, and the records are as yet too 

 inadequate, both in extent and duration, to permit of 

 any definite conclusions being drawn from them. 

 Vegetation generally takes the form of a covering of 

 moss, beneath which is the tundra, a thick turf, con- 

 sisting of a wet, spongy mass of roots and accumulated 

 vegetable matter. Spruce trees are plentiful, and 

 birch and cottonwood grow in certain areas. The 

 conditions are scarcely such as to lead one to expect to 

 find much horticultural development, yet i* is stated in 

 the report that in nearly every small town and in 

 many outlying districts gardening has proved success- 

 ful. Many varieties of vegetables are profitably grown 

 for local use. 



Transportation is difficult, slow, and expensive. 

 There are three main routes, two available during the 

 summer months only, the third mainly used for pas- 

 sengers and mails during the winter at considerable 

 cost. Many outlying places are accessible with the 

 greatest difficulty. 



From the data collected, it is evident that the water 

 resources are not adapted for hydraulic development 

 to any extent. Mining is, of course, the principal con- 

 sideration at present, and for this the winter supply 

 is quite inadequate, while in summer the flow fluc- 

 tuates considerably. Hitherto wood fuel has been 

 exclusively used for the production of steam for power 

 purposes, but each year the cost increases with the 

 greater distance of transport. The problem of obtain- 

 ing power is therefore annually becoming more serious 

 with the diminution in the supply of fuel. It is one, 

 moreover, which will have to . be faced and solved 

 before any extensive industrial development of the 

 region becomes practicable. B. C. 



UPPER AIR INVESTIGATION. 



THE Meteorological Service of Canada has pub- 

 lished an interesting account of its upper-air 

 investigation. Part i., which is now published, deals 

 with the records of registering balloons; the work 

 has been done, and the report prepared by Mr. Patter- 

 son, under the direction of Mr. Stupart, the director. 

 Ninety-four balloons were sent up, and fifty-three 

 recovered, a fair proportion perhaps, considering the 

 nature of the country. The instruments and methods 

 are practically the same as in England, but the 

 balloons have all been started at 8 p.m. local time, so 

 as to avoid solar radiation. The mean annual tem- 

 perature at each height up to 11 km. is very similar to 

 that in England, the temperature fall per kilometre is 

 almost identical, but the actual temperature is a degree 

 or two higher. In view of the lower latitude this is 

 not surprising. But in Canada the fall of tempera- 

 ture continues to a greater height than in Europe, 

 the mean value of H^. being given as ii-y km., 

 against about 10-7 for Europe, and in consequence 

 the temperature of the stratosphere is from 6° to 7° C. 

 colder. Except in the case of the surface pressure, the 

 variations of all the elements are larger in Canada ; 

 the amplitude of the seasonal variation of H^ is about 

 20, and the standard deviation is i'96. The correla- 

 tion between H^ and the pressure at 9 km. is very 



NO. 2435, VOL. 97] 



high, but the correlation between the surface pressure 

 and the other quantities is very small, perhaps on 

 account of the small variation shown by the former. 

 The most remarkable result given is that the tempera- 

 ture of the stratosphere over Canada is colder in 

 summer than in winter. The number of observations 

 is scarcely enough to establish this with absolute cer- 

 tainty, but they suffice to make it almost certain, 

 and, after all, it is no more surprising than that the 

 lowest temperatures of the stratosphere should have 

 been found over the equator. The general drift of the 

 balloons, in Canada as in Europe, is towards the 

 east, but there are a few instances of a balloon falling 

 westward of its starting point. 



GENETIC STUDIES FROM AMERICA. 



A FURTHER instalment of Dr. Raymond Pearl 

 and M. R. Curtis's " Studies on the Physiology 

 of Reproduction in the Domestic Fowl " appears in 

 the Journal of Experimental Zoology, vol. xix.. No. i. 

 In this paper they deal with the distinction between 

 "genetic" and "somatic" sterility. Some hens from 

 high-laying strains, with the genetic characters for 

 rich egg-production, were found to be sterile ; the 

 cause, when made evident by dissection, proved to be 

 an oviduct with a mouth too narrow to afford entrance 

 to the yolks, which, shed into the body-cavity, became 

 absorbed through the peritoneum. 



Some suggestive remarks on " Heredity and Muta- 

 tion as Cell Phenomena " wiff be found in a paper by 

 Dr. R. Ruggles Gates (Amer. Joiirn. Bot., 1915, pp. 

 519-28), in which attention is directed to the fact that 

 whereas the normal number of chromosomes is four- 

 teen in CEnothera, (E. lata has fifteen, one of the 

 original chromosomes having been doubled through 

 an irregular meiotic division ; CE. latescens has six- 

 teen ; and CE. gigas and its derivatives have twenty- 

 eight, the chromosome series in this case being doubled 

 and " the plant being a cell-giant and not merely 

 gigantic in its external dimensions." 



In view of the importance now assigned by many 

 biologists to the "mutation theory," interest will be 

 aroused by Dr. Gates's appreciation (Amer. Nat., 

 vol. xlix., pp. 645-8) of the neglected work of Thomas 

 Meehan (1826-91), a British gardener who settled in 

 Philadelphia. Meehan asserted, from his observations 

 on wild and garden plants, that "strikingly distinct 

 forms come suddenly into existence . . . and act in 

 every respect as acknowledged species," and that 

 "morphological changes in individual plants are by 

 no means by gradual modification." 



CHEMICAL SCIENCE 

 CIVILISATION.^ 



AND 



\17E who enjoy all the privileges of modern civili- 

 * * sation are apt to forget how much we owe to 

 the efforts of mankind to investigate, understand, and 

 utilise the things around them. Let me very briefly 

 trace this element of civilisation in its relation to the 

 chemical arts and chemical science. It is certain 

 that the early development of human beings was 

 dependent upon their ability to gain the mastery over 

 other animals of greatly superior strength, speed, 

 and power of attack. This was rendered possible by 

 the discovery of means of making efficient weapons 

 and tools ; the former for purposes of attack and 

 defence and for the obtaining of food, the latter for 

 building secure habitations, tilling the ground, and 



1 From an address on "The Ro/e of Chemical Science in Civilisation," 

 delivered in the Lecture Theatre of the new Chemical Laboratories at Uni- 

 versity College, London, on May i6, by Prof. F. G. Donnan, F.R.S. 



