April 12, 1900] 



NATURE 



573 



and that even these results require a two-fold correction, owing 

 to the radiation of the parts of the balloon in the vicinity of 

 the thermometers and to the sluggishness of the instruments. 

 The observations during the descent must be used with great 

 caution, as in many cases the thermometers are coated with a 

 deposit of aqueous vapour, which obstructs their proper working. 

 With respect to the temperature conditions of the higher air- 

 strata, the observations up to an altitude of 10,000 metres 

 show in all cases a decrease with height of 40° C. or more. 

 In no case is a decrease in the magnitude of the variation 

 shown with increasing altitude. The various ascents show a 

 great mobility of temperature according to locality ; at the 

 same hour differences of 30°-40° C. have been recorded in the 

 higher strata which are only a few hundred kilometres apart. 



Mr. R. D. Ward records in the Boston Medical and 

 Surgical Journal some observations on the condition of the 

 air of an artificially heated room as regards moisture, during 

 winter months. His observations show that the atmosphere of 

 a room is often drier than that of many desert regions. 



The Latian earthquake of July 19, 1899, is described by Dr. 

 A. Cancani in the last BolUtlino of the Italian Seismological 

 -ociety. At Frascati, Marino and Grottaferrata, much damage 

 was caused by the shock, and several interesting examples are 

 described. The record obtained by the great seismometrograph 

 at Rocca di Papa shows two very distinct phases before the 

 irincipal movement began, the first of which Dr. Cancani con- 

 iders as responsible for the prior effects on animals, and the 

 -econd for the preliminary sound heard by man. The shock 

 was felt over an area of about 80,000 sq. km., and was also 

 recorded by a seismometrograph at Catania, the waves having 

 travelled there with a mean velocity of 5 '5 km. per second. 

 Earlier on the same day occurred the explosion of Etna, and 

 the rainfall for the seven previous weeks was nearly three times 

 the average for the time of year. 



It is but too seldom that our military officers stationed in 

 remote districts devote some of their spare time to the investiga- 

 tion of the natural history of the surrounding country, and we 

 have therefore the more pleasure in welcoming a paper in the 

 Jour7i. Asiatic Soc. Bengal, for 1899, by Capt. A. H. Mac- 

 Mahon (son of General MacMahon), on the fauna of the Gilgit 

 district. The author has added the Ermine to the list of Gilgit 

 mammals, and has also shown that the Bharal {Ovis nahura) 

 extends westward into the Hunza valley. — To the same journal 

 Mr. de Niceville and Major Manders contribute a paper on the 

 butterflies of Ceylon, containing a complete list of the fauna. 



Abnormal colour-variations in British Lepidoptera forms the 

 subject of a paper (illustrated by a coloured plate), by Mr. 

 Prohawk, in the April number of the Entomologist. Very 

 curious is a brown variety of the Tiger-moth, in which the blue 

 spots on the hind wings are, however, retained. In this com- 

 munication the author very properly refrains from giving iiames 

 to such individual "sports." Not so a writer in the April 

 number of ihe Journal of Comkology, who proposes to designate 

 a white snail from Gibraltar, Nelix marmorata. var. alba. In 

 view of the present employment of trinomialism to indicate 

 geographical races, such a usage is quite unjustifiable. 



The third of the Liverpool Marine Biological Committee's 

 Memoirs on typical British Marine Animals and Plants is to 

 hand, under the title of "Echinus," by Mr. H. C. Chadwick. 

 It is an admirably written and beautifully illustrated " booklet " ; 

 but if the editor wishes to attract popular attention to this 

 series, would it not be better if he used the names " Cockle " 

 and "Sea urchin " in place of " Cardium "and " Echinus " ? 



The issue of the Proceedings of the Philadelphia Academy of 

 January 2 contains an interesting paper, by Mr. L. Stone, on the 

 Birds and Mammals collected by a recent expedition to Point 



NO. 1589, VOL. 61] 



Barrow, Alaska. It is stated that, ^ far as the antlers are con- 

 cerned, the Barren-ground Caribou of Alaska is indistinguishable 

 from the Greenland Caribou (or Reindeer), although the two are 

 generally regarded as distinct races. 



Prof. Sydney Young, F.R.S., contributes to the April 

 number of Good Words an appreciation of the life and work of 

 Dr. W. H. Perkins, F.R.S. The article is the third of a series, 

 entitled " Present Day Leaders of Science." 



The first number of a new quarterly — The Hutnane Review — 

 has been received. Mr. G. Bernard Shaw writes pleasantly 

 upon nothing in particular, under the title of "The Conflict 

 between Science and Common Sense." He seems to be grieved 

 because science is progressive, and that cherished beliefs of 

 yesterday are disturbed by discoveries of to-day. Mi. W. H. 

 Hudson laments the disappearance of the Furze Wren, or 

 Dartford Warbler, from most parts of England. Other articles 

 deal with various ethical and humanitarian subjects. 



The discovery of Dr. Cohen that metallic tin can exist in 

 two modifications, white and grey, only one of which is stable 

 at a given temperature, led him to study the velocity charge of 

 white tin into grey tin (see Nature, p. 330). It was found that 

 the velocity for the temperature interval, 10° to 20° C, was ex- 

 tremely small, so small that years would be necessary to prove 

 the change. Dr. Cohen now quotes [Zeitschrift fiir Physi- 

 kalische Chemie, 23, 59) some remarks of Dr. Gowland upon 

 the condition of a pewter vase of date about 350 a.d., from 

 which it would appear that the change into grey tin was prac- 

 tically complete after 1500 years, a conclusion confirmed by a 

 dilatometric study of some of the material. 



The field of research opened up by M. Becquerel by his dis- 

 covery of the radiation from uranium salts, is now being rapidly 

 enlarged by many workers. Besides the radio-active elements, 

 polonium and radium, discovered by M. and Mme. Curie, 

 particulars are given by M. A. Debierne, in the Comptes rendus, 

 of another element having similar properties, but belonging to 

 the iron group of metals. It is extracted, like polonium and 

 radium, from the residues from the treatment of pitchblend, and 

 is named by the discoverer actinium. As is the case with all 

 these elements, they have not been obtained even in an 

 approximately pure state, the most that can be done being to 

 concentrate the radio-active material in certain precipitates. Thus 

 the chemical reactions of the most active actinium material so far 

 obtained, and also the spectroscopical examination, show that the 

 product is an impure thorium. It can be shown, however, that 

 the effects observed are due neither to polonium nor radium. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Chacma Baboon ( Cynocephalus porcarius, <J ), 

 a Vervet Monkey {Cercopitkeeus lalandii, ? ), two Yellow-billed 

 Ducks {Anas undulata) from South Africa, presented by Mr. J. 

 E. Matcham ; a White-collared Mangabey {Cercocehus col- 

 laris, 9 ), a Ludio Monkey (Cercopitkeeus ludio, 9 ) from West 

 Africa, presented by Mr. D. J. Jones ; two Bonnet Monkeys 

 [Macacus sinicus, <J 9 ) from India, presented by Mr. T. W. B. 

 Lindgren ; a Fennec Fox {Cam's cerdo, <J ) from North Africa, 

 presented by Dixon Bey ; a Marabou Stork {Leptoptilus 

 cruineniferus) from Africa, presented by Mr. Justice H. G. 

 Kelly; a Wedge-tailed Eagle {Aquila audax) from Aus- 

 tralia, presented by Colonel R. B. Ingram ; four Spot-billed 

 Ducks {Anas poecilorhynchd) from India, presented by Sir 

 Ed. Chas. Buck, K.C.S I. ; a Common Duiker {Cephalophns 

 grimmi, 9 ) from South Africa ; a Small clawed Otter {Lutra 

 leptonyx), a Bengal Monitor ( Varanus bengalensis) from India ; 

 a Common Hare {Lepus europoeus), British ; a Greater Sulphur- 

 crested Cockatoo (Cacatua galerita) from Aus.tralia, deposited ; 

 two Squirrel-like Phalangers {Petaurus sciureus), born in the 

 Gardens. 



