35Q 



NA TURE 



[February 12, 190,: 



a constant candle power incandescent lamp, such as that de- 

 scribed by Prof. Fleming- in his paper on photometry read 

 before the Institution of Electrical Engineers, and of having 

 it standardised by a competent and recognised authority, 

 should act as an inducement to electrical engineers to pay 

 more attention to the testing of lamps, and cannot fail to have 

 a beneficial effect on the electric lighting industries. 



We learn from a short notice in the Scientific American, 

 translated from V Illustration, that the dirigible balloon 

 constructed for the brothers Lebaudy by MM. Julliot and 

 Surcouf has been experimented on with continuous success. 

 The start has been made in every case from a cemented 

 trench in front of the shed. A number of ascents have been 

 made with the guide rope trailing on the ground, and finally 

 the rope was drawn up. though so arranged that it could 

 be instantly thrown to the ground and caught by people who 

 followed the balloon on foot. Even though a fog came on 

 so heavily as to cause fear that the balloon would be pulled 

 down by the weight of the condensation, a safe return to the 

 starting point was made, and M. Juchmes then took charge 

 of the balloon and caused it to describe a figure of eight 

 with great dexterity. MM. Julliot and Surcouf propose to 

 attempt the journey from Moisson to Mantes and back . s 

 soon as a fine day occurs. 



Measurement of electric resistance has been employed by 

 M. Lesage as a method of analysis for certain fermentations 

 and in pathological cases. A note on these experiments is 

 given by M. Dongier in the Bulletin of the French Physical 

 Society (No. 188). Samples of Parisian milk were found 

 at a temperature of i6°.7 to vary in resistivity between 230 

 and 275, but it was found that watering the milk increased 

 the resistivity while lactic fermentation lowered it. The 

 resistance of culture broths generally was affected by the 

 growth of the bacilli. The tetanus bacillus lowered it, and 

 this lowering was not due to the toxin; others raised it, 

 some left the resistance unaltered. The serum of the blood 

 of man and animals, taken from healthy adults, varied from 

 97 to 104 ohms at a temperature of i6°.7- Most diseases 

 did not affect the resistivity, but some, notably tvphoid fever, 

 produced a noticeable increase, reaching to 117 ohms. The 

 maximum in the case oi typhoid occurred at the commence- 

 ment of convalescence. 



Dr. J. Mount Bleyer has sent us a copy of the introductory 

 address delivered by him at the American Congress of Tuber- 

 culosis, on "Light — its Therapeutic Importance in Tuberculosis 

 as Founded upon Scientific Researches." Barely ten of the 

 eighty pages are devoted to the subject in question, the bulk of 

 the communication being occupied by the consideration of the 

 vibratory theory of light and its relation to other forms of 

 motion familiar to every student of elementary physics. The 

 fact that tuberculous patients are benefited by light is well 

 known, and the author describes a method of treating consump- 

 tives by exposing them to sunlight in specially constructed 

 solaria, and to the electric light from powerful arc lamps. He 

 relies upon the violet and ultra-violet rays for his results, and 

 maintains that they have the power of penetration, ignoring the 

 fact that Finsen has proved that the red colouring matter of 

 the blood prevents the passage of the radiations at the 

 violet end of the spectrum. If the blood circulating in the 

 lobule of the ear is sufficient to prevent the blackening of 

 photographic paper, it is obvious that a very small proportion of 

 the actinic rays can penetrate the lung, and it is known that to 

 destroy bacteria, concentration of the actinic rays is necessary. 

 The beneficial effect is probably due to the stimulation of the 

 skin by the light rays and not to any direct influence upon 



r:o. 1737, vol. 67] 



the deeper tissue?. The author does not, of course, rely upon 

 light alone in the treatment of consumption, but combines 

 with it "hygienic food, fresh air, exercise and such suitable 

 remedies as are indicated." By a judicious combination of these 

 measures, he claims that 75 per cent, of tuberculous patients 

 are curable "to a certain extent." 



The fourth volume (1901) of the Publicationen der Kim. ting. 

 Reichsamtalt fur Meteorologie unci Erdmagnetismus contains 

 an interesting summary and discussion of the lighlning strokes 

 that have been recorded in Hungary during the years 1890 to 

 1900. Theauihor, Herr Ladislaus von Szalay, chief assistant 

 of this institute, has written the text in two languages in 

 parallel columns, so that those who cannot follow the Hungarian 

 will probably be able to read the German. In hi; dUcussion of 

 the observations, he treats of the distribution, frequency, 

 periodicity, &c, of thunderstorms, and brings together a useful 

 number of statistics relating to the same phenomena in other 

 countries. A coloured map shows the geographical distribution 

 of the thunderstorms, while an interesting diagram illustrates 

 the eleven-year means of the frequency of incendiary flashes 

 over 1000 square kilometres in Hungary. Full details, given 

 in tabular form, of the thunderstorm records made at the several 

 storm stations for the years 1S9 6-1900 are added. 



Herr von Szalay also contributes an interesting note on 

 the peculiarity of lightning flashes to the Meleorologische Zeil- 

 schrift (Heft to, 1902). He has found that the coherer of 

 his instrument constructed to record the approach of thunder- 

 storms was found sometimes to be quite insensitive to some 

 flashes of lightning that were practically very near to it, while, 

 on the other hand, it was in nearly continuous agitation during a 

 distant storm when the sky overhead was cloudless. He re- 

 lates that by watching the coherer and the lightning flashes 

 simultaneously, he observed that flashes having sharp contours, 

 whether from cloud to cloud or to the earth, agitated the co- 

 herer, but those that were diffuse were not recorded at all. 



The United States Weather Bureau has issued its report 

 for the year 1901-- 2. It need scarcely be said that the work, 

 which contains 342 quarto pages, mostly tables, contains a 

 large amount of very useful information. In addition to the 

 results relating to the year in question, it includes a valuable 

 series of tables, showing, for each month, the highest and 

 lowest temperatures recorded in each State since the time 

 observations were commenced. The work also contains 

 monthly and yearly results for a number of stations in the 

 West Indies. The weather forecasts and storm warnings 

 appear to have been very successful, and an important recog- 

 nition from the secretary of Lloyd's is quoted as to the 

 accuracy of forecasts of bad weather issued for the North 

 Atlantic Ocean. A programme of aerial research in the 

 upper strata of the atmosphere has been inaugurated under 

 the care of Prof. Abbe, and, further, a valuable set of nepho- 

 scope observations at eleven stations in the West Indies has 

 been secured between May, 1899, and May, 1902 ; these 

 observations furnish, for the first time, the necessary data 

 for discussing problems connected with the circulation of 

 the atmosphere in the tropical zone, and possess especial 

 interest in connection with the distribution of the ashes 

 ejected from the volcanoes in May and June last. Experi- 

 ments on wireless telegraphy are being made ; the opinion 

 at present seems to be that for permanent communication 

 between land stations, wire is the more trustworthy means of 

 1 ommunication, and probably the more economical. 



The current number of the American Journal of Psychology 

 contains an elaborate experimental study of Fechner's colours 

 (the colours of the "artificial spectrum top") by Miss F. W. 



