— - Somer 
joryvee sro 14 | 
NATURE 
463 
dry’ in this country, very heavy rains accompanied 
by much flooding occurred generally over the Argen- 
tine Republic. An article by Mr. R. C. Mossman in 
Symons’s Meteorological Magazine for June states that 
between April 21 and 27 from 8 to 14 in. of rain fell 
during a cyclone in the northern parts of that country, 
the maximum daily falls being from 83 to 9g in. Mr. 
Mossman states that although similar intensity has 
occurred locally in previous floods, it is not thought 
that such a widespread rainstorm has occurred before. 
Owing to difficulties of road transit it has been impos- 
sible in many instances to get the maize crop to the 
railway stations, with the result that an enormous 
deficit is already apparent in the receipts of the various 
railway companies. 
In the Journal of the Washington Academy of 
Sciences for June 4, Mr. F. E. Wright, of the Geo- 
physical Laboratory, gives a résumé of the methods 
hitherto available for the determination of the index 
of refraction of a small drop of a liquid, and describes 
some interesting improvements he has introduced. One 
of these enables the index to be determined with an 
ordinayy petrographic microscope to one unit in the 
third decimal place. It depends on the use of a stage 
refractometer made from a small sheet of optically 
dense lead glass, the upper surface polished, the lower 
parallel surface matt, and the edge bevelled to make 
an angle of 60° with the former surfaces. The sheet 
is cut in two by a plane perpendicular to the bevelled 
edge, one-half turned over, and the two bevelled edges 
brought together. Between them the drop is placed, 
and the boundary between the transmitted and totally 
reflected portions of the field, is read on the eyepiece 
scale, which is calibrated by the help of standard 
liquids. A simple device which enables the Abbe- 
Pulfrich refractometer to be used with light incident 
at the grazing angle, even with a small drop of liquid, 
is also described. 
In the Atiz de: Lincei (vol. xxiil., p. 523) Prof. WL. 
Marino and F. Gonnelli describe a modification of the 
ordinary Kjeldahl method for estimating nitrogen 
based on the pronounced catalytic activity of vana- 
dium oxide. It is shown that, by carrying out the 
ordinary decomposition process with sulphuric acid in 
presence of potassium sulphate and a trace of vana- 
dium pentoxide exact results are obtained in a large 
number of cases. The process suggested is recom- 
mended when the ordinary Gunning process is carried 
out with difficulty, or in cases where the use of mercury 
gives rise to mercury-ammoniacal compounds which 
resist decomposition. It is shown by special experi- 
ments that vanadium, even when present in quantity, 
does not retain even traces of ammonia. 
Tue South Africa: Journal of Science (March, 1914) 
contains a paper by Dr. C. F. Juritz on the chemical 
composition of rain in the Union of South Africa. 
This forms part of a scheme for the world-wide and 
systematic examination of rain-water from the point 
of view of both composition and total rainfall, and 
more particularly as regards the nitrogen brought into 
the soil in the form of rain. The data are as yet 
somewhat incomplete, but it appears that in general 
NOs 2231, VOL. 93) 
more nitric nitrogen is brought down by the summer 
than by the winter rains, and the same is true of the 
nitrogen in the form of ammonia, although the rule 
is sometimes reversed. The total nitrogen per acre 
in the rainfall of South Africa ranged from 1-5 to 
6-2 Ib. per annum. The chlorine was abnormally high 
in some instances, amounting in the Durban districts 
to 60-70 |b. per acre. 
In the current number of the Comptes rendus of 
the Paris Academy of Sciences is a paper by Otto 
Scheuer on the reduction of carbon monoxide by 
hydrogen in the presence of radium emanation. Start- 
ing with 240-122 c.c. of a mixture of these two gases 
containing 43-71 per cent. of hydrogen, after nineteen 
days the volume was reduced to 217-332. c.c.,. repre- 
senting a loss of 1-8 c.c. per Curie-hour.. The analysis 
of the residual gas gave figures consistent with the 
assumption of the formation of methane, with pos- 
sibly a little ethane. The gaseous mixture contained 
neither methyl alcohol nor formaldehyde, but from the 
appearance of a minute solid deposit in a second 
experiment the author concludes that formaldehyde 
may be the primary reduction product, this being 
finally reduced to methane. The reaction is accom- 
panied by the formation of water. 
Engineering for June 26 contains an_ illustrated 
article dealing with Mr. F. Baines’s report on. the 
condition of the roof timbers of Westminster Hall. 
Mr. Baines demonstrates the necessity of large and 
effective repair, and discusses the proper treatment 
that will give to the roof the necessary strength and 
support without injuring its historical character or 
archeological features. Tender regard for the ancient 
work overthrows all proposals for securing the roof 
by piecing up defective members, and a system of 
steel reinforcement has been approved as the most 
suitable course. Supposing the timber decay to con- 
tinue, the loads would be borne by the steel reinforce- 
ment, and the possibility of complete collapse would 
be eliminated. An entire truss of steel will be added 
to the existing timber work, of sufficient strength to 
support the whole of the present roof, together with 
the weight of the steel-work itself, so as to bring the 
total weight of the, strengthened roof to a safe and 
satisfactory bearing on the walls. Both walls and 
foundations are strong enough to bear the additional 
weight of the steel and to resist any possible outward 
thrust such a weighty reinforcement might produce. 
The work will take six years to execute. 
A SECOND edition of Dr. A. Harden’s monograph on 
‘Alcoholic Fermentation’? has been published by 
Messrs. Longmans, Green and Co. The first edition 
was reviewed in the issue of Nature for June 20, 
tgiI (vol. Ixxxvi., p. 579); and though no change has 
been made in the scope of the work, the rapid pro- 
gress of the subject has rendered necessary many 
additions to text, and an increase in the bibliography. 
—The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge 
has published a second edition of Canon McClure’s 
“Modern Substitutes for Traditional Christianity.’ 
The first edition was reviewed in Nature on March 
26, 1914 (vol. xliii., p. 81), and it will be sufficient 
