564 



NA TURE 



[April 16, 1903 



At 9 a.m. on March 23 there was another huge outburst. 

 On March 22 a slight layer of dust fell at the Botanic 

 Station, and the northern half of the heavens was shrouded 

 in gloom, but there was no real darkness. At Georgetown 

 a layer of ejecta about three inches deep, with stones the 

 size of the fist, is reported, and at Tourama a layer of five 

 inches. An estimate of the large quantities of dust which 

 fell in the neighbourhood of the volcano can be formed from 

 the fact, reported in the Barbados Advocate, that the Com- 

 missioners of Health for St. Michael at their meeting on 

 March 23 agreed to pay 20/. for the removal from the 

 streets and public ways of the volcanic dust which fell 

 during the previous day. The dust on this occasion was 

 very coarse, dark, and heavy, resembling that of May last 

 rather than the impalpable grey dust of October. 



From a note in a recent number of the West Indian 

 Bulletin, it is satisfactory to learn that the planters of 

 Dominica appreciate the assistance given them by the 

 Imperial Department of Agriculture for the West Indies. 

 An illustration of the useful work being done bv this De- 

 partment is afforded by a report on the soils of Dominica, 

 which has just been issued by the Commissioner of Agri- 

 culture for the West Indies. The report gives the physical 

 and chemical composition of twenty-three typical soils ex- 

 amined in the Government chemical laboratory of the Lee- 

 ward Islands, and is the work of Mr. F. Watts, Government 

 chemist. Samples were taken in all parts of the island, 

 and the analyses published give the composition of both 

 virgin and cultivated soils. In general, the soils of 

 Dominica were found to be well furnished with available 

 compounds of nitrogen and potash, but were almost uni- 

 formly deficient in phosphates, and in many cases also in 

 lime. A microscopic examination of the soil minerals 

 showed that they were much the same in all parts of the 

 island, and further that they closely resembled the minerals 

 found in the volcanic dust of the Mont Pelee eruptions. 

 Mr. Watts concludes that " the recent volcanic activity is 

 similar in character to that of the past." 



On Tuesday next, April 21, Prof. Allan Macfadyen will 

 deliver the first of three lectures at the Royal Institution on 

 the blood and some of its problems ; on Thursday, April 23, 

 Prof. Dewar commences a course of two lectures on 

 hydrogen, gaseous, liquid and solid ; and on Saturday, April 

 25, Prof. Langton Douglas begins a course of two lectures 

 on the early art of Siena. The Friday evening meetings 

 will be resumed on April 24, when the Hon. R. J. Strutt 

 delivers a discourse on some recent investigations in electric 

 conduction. The discourse on May 1 will be delivered bv 

 Prof. W. J. Pope on recent advances in stereochemistry. 



The first Easter vacation party of workers at the new 

 Biological Station, Port Erin, is a large one, including two 

 students from Oxford, four from Owens College, two from 

 Liverpool, one from Leeds, and also Mr. Isaac Thompson, 

 Mr. J. Lomas, Prof. Gregg Wilson, Mr. Chadwick, and 

 Prof. Herdman. A small class of school teachers from the 

 Isle of Man has also been formed for " nature-study," and 

 is being conducted in the junior laboratory and in the field 

 by Mr. Chadwick and Prof. Herdman. The season is a late 

 one, both in fish-spawning and in the general condition of 

 the fauna, but, notwithstanding the unsettled weather, a 

 good deal of collecting and field work has been carried on. 



Reoter's agent at St. Petersburg reports that Captain 



Kozloff lectured there on April 6 on his scientific expedition 



to Central Asia and Tibet, lasting from 1899 to 1901. As 



a result of the expedition, the central steppe of the Gobi 



NO. 1746, VOL. 67J 



desert and the country of Han-su and Tsaidam were 

 traversed. Numerous meteorological observations were 

 made, as well as a great many notes with regard to the 

 flora and fauna of the country. After establishing a meteor- 

 ological station in the Tsaidam, where the collections were 

 left, the party started for the heights of Tibet. Captain 

 Kozloff's expedition was at first allowed to enter the terri- 

 tory of the Dalai-Lama, but it was stopped on reaching 

 districts strictly reserved. It was consequently compelled 

 to winter for five months in the Mekong Valley. The ex- 

 pedition traversed and made a study of parts of Tibet which 

 had never before been visited by Europeans, and made col- 

 lections which will have an important bearing on the study 

 of the ethnography and the flora and fauna of that country. 



As already announced, the annual meeting of the Iron 

 and Steel Institute will be held on May 7 and 8. At the 

 opening meeting the council will present the report for the 

 year 1902, and the president-elect, Mr. Andrew Carnegie, 

 will deliver an address. The Bessemer gold medal for 1903 

 will be presented to Sir James Kitson, Bart., past-president, 

 and the awards of the Andrew Carnegie gold medal and 

 research scholarships for 1903 will be announced. Among 

 the papers to be read and discussed are the following : — 

 the alleged diffusion of silicon into iron, Mr. J. E. Stead; 

 the influence of sulphur and manganese on steel, Prof. J. O. 

 Arnold and Mr. G. B. Waterhouse ; the open-hearth process, 

 Lieut. -Colonel L. Cubillo ; the application of electric 

 furnaces in metallurgy, Mr. Albert Keller; the manufac- 

 ture of Portland cement from blast-furnace slag, Mr. C. 

 von Schwarz ; and the effect of flue dust upon the thermal 

 efficiency of hot blast stoves, Mr. B. H. Thwaite. Reports 

 on research work carried out during the past year will be 

 submitted by Messrs. O. Boudouard (Paris), W. Campbell 

 (New York), A. Campion (Coopers Hill), P. Longmuir 

 (Sheffield), E. Schott (Berlin), and F. II. Wigham (Wake- 

 field), the Andrew Carnegie research scholars of 1902. The 

 autumn meeting will be held at Barrow-in-Furness during 

 the first week in September. An influential reception com- 

 mittee has been formed with His Grace the Duke of Devon- 

 shire, K.G., as chairman. 



The Easter holidays have been to a considerable extent 

 marred by the inclement weather which has been ex- 

 perienced generally in the British Islands. The Daily 

 Weather Report issued by the Meteorological Office on 

 Saturday last, April 11, showed that a disturbance lay to 

 the north of Scotland and was likely to be followed by 

 further unsettled weather. Very cold winds, chiefly north- 

 westerly, spread over the whole country and caused frequent 

 sharp showers of snow and hail, with very low day temper- 

 atures on Sunday and following days, the readings on the 

 ground at night being eight or more degrees below 

 freezing. Much damage has been done to fruit trees in 

 blossom, and in some cases small seeds have been blown 

 from the fields. Bright intervals of sunshine followed the 

 squalls, and, in places sheltered from the coldness of the 

 winds, were very agreeable. The advance of a cyclonic dis- 

 turbance from the Atlantic during Tuesday has occasioned a 

 change of wind and milder weather. 



We have received the first part of vol. xvi. of Mittheil- 

 Mngen relating to German Protectorates. This valuable 

 publication is so well known that it is unnecessary to say 

 that it contains a large amount of useful information both 

 for travellers and men of science. We wish particularly to 

 draw attention to the care and thoroughness with which the 

 German officials establish meteorological stations and 

 collate and publish useful data for districts which would 



