96 NATURE 
[MarcH 26, 1914 
but the paper gave rise to an interesting discussion. 
This dealt principally with a brass rod which had 
become disintegrated while in use as a floor-bolt in 
a high-tension electric power station. The bolt passes 
through the floor inside a procelain tube, and electrical 
leakage gives rise to the formation of nitric oxides 
in the air-space of the insulator tube. In the case 
described by Dr. Stead, and also in a similar one 
mentioned by Dr. Rosenhain in the discussion, the 
brass rod either had some minute cracks, due to slight 
hollow drawing, when first put in, or these were de- 
veloped while the rod was in service. The nitric acid 
gases penetrated into these fissures and produced basic 
salts of zinc and copper which, by their increased 
volume, widened the cracks and ultimately led to the 
complete disruption of the rods. An initially sound, 
annealed brass rod suffers no such damage in the same 
conditions. 
Other interesting papers, by Prof. A. Read and Mr. 
Greaves, on the influence of nickel on the alloys of 
aluminium and copper, by Mr. Dewrance on bronze, 
and by Messrs. Whyte and Desch on the micro- 
chemistry of corrosion, were read and fully discussed, 
the eminently successful meeting only terminating late 
in the afternoon. 
AN EELWORM DISEASE OF RICE. 
= appearance of a rice-disease in eastern Bengal 
so serious that in certain districts the cultivators 
were in 1911 on the verge of ruin calls for special 
notice, since rice is, of all important cereals, the one 
perhaps least subject to serious disease. The matter 
is dealt with by Dr. E. J. Butler, mycologist to the 
Agricultural Research Institute at Pusa (Bihar), in a 
recent pamphlet (Bulletin No. 34, ‘‘ Diseases of Rice” ; 
Calcutta : Superintendent Government Printing, India, 
1913). 
The disease in question (called locally ‘‘ufra,”” from 
a word meaning “above,” owing to a belief that atmo- 
spheric conditions are responsible for it) has existed 
long, but has only recently acquired such an intense 
form as to call for a special inquiry. From Dr. 
Butler’s researches the active cause appears to be an 
eelworm, Tylenchus angustus, closely allied to the 
nematode which causes tulip-root in oats and other 
cereals. This Bengal worm, however, differs in its 
mode of attack from the Tylenchus of wheat and oats. 
It never enters the tissues of the rice-plant, but con- 
fines its ravages to epidemic organs wherever these 
are sufficiently soft and unsilicified to allow the 
entrance of the ‘‘spear’’ with which its mouth is 
armed. The inflorescence, the tissue above the nodes, 
and the growing point, are such weak places, and 
here the eelworm, both in mature and in larval stages, 
was abundantly found in all the plants exhibiting 
“ufra.’”’ The results of the attack of such large num- 
bers of Tylenchus are discoloration of the stem and 
leaves, arrest of the _ inflorescence, sterility, and 
mouldiness. The extent of the damage is not accu- 
rately known, but in some districts is estimated to 
amount to half the normal crop. 
This ‘‘ufra” disease is of a highly infectious quality. 
The eelworms swim through the submerged paddy- 
fields from one rice-plant to another, which they 
ascend and attack. Like their allies, these nematodes 
exhibit great powers of resistance to drought, but 
little to continued submergence; and hence it is some- 
what difficult to account for their abundance in such 
flooded districts as the rice-growing lands in the Noak- 
hali (eastern Bengal) district. Further investigations 
are needed on the bionomics of these parasites. 
With regard to preventive measures, the only hope- 
NO 231 7a ViOL- 993 | 
+ 
ful indication at present is the behaviour of trans- 
planted rice in contrast to that of broadcast paddy. 
Dr. Butler shows that the former, though susceptible 
of attack by inoculation, is not attacked under ordinary 
conditions, and advocates an extension of the trans- 
planted crop, the improvement of natural drainage, 
and the more systematic burning of the stubble. The 
importance of taking adequate prophylactic measures 
is seen in the geographical position of the infected 
area. On one side of it is the enormous paddy area of 
Bengal, on the other the Irrawaddy Delta, which 
supplies practically the whole of the export rice of 
India. ‘‘A serious disease of rice,’’ says Dr. Butler, 
“is one of the greatest calamities that could befall 
the people’’ in the infected districts, ‘‘(where nearly 
three-quarters of the cultivated area is under paddy), 
for no other food crop can replace it.” 
METEOROLOGY IN NETHERLANDS’ 
EAST INDIA.! 
HE volume of observations before us contains the 
hourly readings made at the Batavia Observa- 
tory during the year 1910, which is the forty-fifth year 
of this uninterrupted series of hourly observations. 
Investigation of the upper air by balloons and kites 
has been regularly carried on, and important results 
were obtained. Several of the registering balloons 
attained heights exceeding 15 km. The number of 
ascents of pilot balloons amounted to 163; many were 
followed by means of theodolites to a height exceeding 
1o km. The record height reacned was 31 km. (on 
September 12, 1912). 
The observations at secondary stations include (a) 
monthly and annual means of air-pressure reduced to 
the period 1866-1911. The influence of the high 
mountain range of Sumatra is shown in the deflec- 
tions of the isobars in the direction parallel to the 
ridge; in the Indian Ocean, to the south-west of the 
island, there is a relative air-defect in the west mon- 
soon, and an excess of pressure in the east monsoon. 
Dr. v. Bemmelen (director) also points out that in the 
west monsoon the isobars show a remarkable curvative 
over the sea between Borneo and Sumatra. (b) Sun- 
shine observations 1909-11: the tables give distinct 
evidence of the way the cloudiness increases with 
height above sea-level, and that insolation is stronger 
during the east monsoon in East than in West Java. 
A further discussion of results is postponed until more 
data are available. (c) Observations of temperature 
and relative humidity at the agricultural station at 
Tjipetir, Java, 1906-11. Owing to deficiency of sun- 
shine in the afternoon, the maximum temperature is 
shifted towards the morning hours. 
With respect to the climate generally, Dr. van 
Bemmelen remarks that rainfall is the ruling factor in 
the archipelago, as other meteorological elements are 
almost constant; the average yearly rainfall at Batavia 
is a little more than 70 in. The study of changes of 
weather is of little practical importance, as these are 
trifling, while a storm-warning service is unnecessary, 
as cyclones do not pass over the area in question. 
Although it is at present considered unnecessary to 
construct. daily weather charts, the director thinks 
it would be of great scientific interest if the conditions 
could be followed by means of synoptical grouping 
for either weekly or monthly periods. In connection 
with this view, mercury barometers have been supplied 
to several places; it is also proposed to establish 
meteorological stations on a few of the mountains 
possessing relief of simple form. 
1 (1) Observations made at the Royal Magnetical and Meteorological 
Giscwerords vol. xxxiii. (2) Observations made at Secondary Stations 
vol. i. 
Eee 
