156 



NATURE 



[Decembek 15, 1904 



study the various health problems presented by the districts 

 they visit, the distribution of biting insects, and related 

 matters. 



A DEMONSTRATION of the Pollak-V'irag high-speed writing 

 telegraph was given on December 9 at the Carlton Hotel 

 in the presence of the Austro-Hungarian Ambassador. The 

 Pollak-\"irag high-speed telegraphic system was described 

 upwards of three years ago in a detailed article published 

 in N-ATt/RE for May -i, 1901, and readers may be referred 

 to that account for particulars of the instruments used. 

 \'ery high speeds — reaching too, 000 words an hour — were 

 reported as having been attained in America in 1901 by 

 this system, using several perforating machines to prepare 

 the message being sent ; but it now appears that these 

 estimates were too high. The postal authorities in Hungary 

 in recent experiments carried out between Budapest and 

 Pozsony, a distance of some 218 kilometres, with two copper 

 telephone wires of 3 mm. diameter, secured the trans- 

 mission of 45,000 words an hour. In another series of ex- 

 periments, conducted between Berlin and Kbnigsberg, a 

 maximum transmission of 40,000 .words an hour was 

 attained over a distance of 710 kilometres with wires 

 45 mm. in diameter. It is stated that our Post Office 

 department is about to carry out some trials of the PoUak- 

 \'irag system. 



The performances of an intelligent horse — " Clever 

 Hans " — at Berlin two or three months ago attracted much 

 attention. In a letter which appeared in Nature of 

 October 20 (vol. Ixx. p. 602) the Rev. J. Meehan pointed 

 out that the performances of the horse were much the same 

 as those of the horse " Mahomet " shown at the Royal 

 .Aquarium twelve or thirteen years ago, and depended 

 entirely upon the animal's observation of movements of the 

 trainer or the tones of his voice. Much the same opinion 

 has been reached by a commission of psychological e.xperts, 

 headed by Prof. Stumpf, of Berlin University, that has sub- 

 jected "Clever Hans" to a scientific examination. The 

 conclusion arrived at is that the horse is not capable of 

 independent thought. According to the Berlin correspon- 

 dent of the Daily Chronicle, Prof. Stumpf found that this 

 horse is gifted with remarkable powers of observation, 

 which four years of patient and skilful treatment have de- 

 veloped. When asked a question " Hans " knows he has 

 to beat with his hoof in reply, but he does not know when 

 to cease beating until he detects some movement on the 

 part of the person questioning him. The commission ex- 

 presses the opinion that, so far as Herr von Osten, the 

 owner, is concerned, these movements are given involun- 

 tarily, and are sometimes of so imperceptible a nature as to 

 be undetected, save by highly trained human observers. 

 There has been no trickery, says Prof. Sturripf, but, on the 

 other hand, there have been no reasoning powers on the 

 horse's part. The whole secret is in von Osten's skill, 

 patience, and judicious reward, and, on " Hans's " part, 

 in keen powers of observation. 



Visitors to the Zoological Gardens in the Regent's Park 

 will miss the old Indian rhinoceros "Jim," which had 

 been a denizen of the menagerie since July 25, 1864, on 

 which date it was presented to the society by the late Mr. 

 A. firote. It died on December 7, after having been out 

 of health for many months. Such a long sojourn in 

 captivity in this country is probably unparalleled for 

 an animal of this kind. As a statement has appeared 

 in the Press that the skin might perhaps be mounted in 

 the British (Natural History) Museum, it may be well to 

 slate that His Highness the Maharaja of Kuch-Behar 

 recently presented the skin of a wild specimen of the great | 

 NO. 1833, VOL. 71] 



Indian rhinoceros to the museum, which has been set up, 

 and is exhibited. The " Zoo " specimen will therefore not 

 find a home in the national collection. 



The December number of the Century Magazine contains 

 a most interesting account, by Mr. G. H. Grosvenor, of 

 the new method of purifying water — both in small quanti- 

 ties and when stored in large reservoirs — by means of blue 

 vitriol (copper-sulphate). It has long been known that 

 copper is fatal to bacteria, but the fear has hitherto been 

 that the amount required to effect the destruction of such 

 organisms would likewise be injurious to man. Dr. (■. T. 

 Moore has, however, announced in an American official 

 publication that he can employ copper in such a diluted 

 form as to be quite harmless to the higher forms of animal, 

 and yet sufficiently potent to destroy the germs of cholera 

 and typhoid, as well as mosquito larvas, in a few hours. 

 The method of introducing the copper-salt into the water 

 is fully explained in the article. It may be added that 

 the treatment is stated to be equally efficacious and 

 safe for sterilising milk. .\s an illustration of the effects 

 of copper in destroying bacteria, it is mentioned that such 

 organisms are never found on copper coins, although 

 abundant on those of silver, and it is mentioned that 

 artisans in copper-works are immune to bacterial diseases. 

 Whether we have been wise in abolishing the old-fashioned 

 copper tea-kettle is one of the questions raised by the new 

 operations. 



The discovery of the existence of an anterior rudimentary 

 pair of gills in the Continental fresh-water crayfish Astaciis 

 fluviatilis, which is not present in the common A. pallipcs 

 of the Thames, was described by Prof. Lankester in 

 Nature of January 21 (vol. l.xix. p. 270), and is recorded in 

 the November issue of the Otiarterly Journal of Micro- 

 scopical Science by Miss M. Moseley, who appears to have 

 inherited her father's love for biological studies. The 

 other four papers in the same number are of a 

 very technical nature, the longest and perhaps the 

 most important being a detailed account by Mr. J. W. 

 Jenkinson of the maturation and fertilisation of the egg 

 of the axoloti {Amblystoma tigrinutn). More general interest 

 attaches, however, to the article by Prof. L. Rogers on the 

 development of flagellated organisms or trypanosomes from 

 the protozoic parasites found in the spleen in cases of ■ 

 cache.xial fevers and certain other diseases. Of the two ' 

 remaining articles, the one by Dr. J. Rennie discusses the 

 so-called epithelial islets in the pancreas of bony fishes, while 

 the second, by t)r. H. G. Fowler, is devoted to the descrip- 

 tion of the anatomy of a radiolarian of the genus Gazeletta. 



In an article entitled " .\ Flamingo City," which appears 

 in the December number of the Century Magazine, Mr. 

 F. M. Chapman, of the -American Museum of Natural 

 History, gives a graphic and well illustrated account of one 

 of the great breeding-places of the American flamingo in 

 the Bahamas. .Although previous observers, both in those 

 islands and in Europe, have published descriptions of 

 flamingo colonies, and have refuted the old error that the 

 birds sat straddle-wise on their nests, the author claims to 

 be the first to have seen nestling flamingoes in their native 

 haunts, and likewise to have brought the camera to bear 

 on one of the breeding-places of these birds. Flamingoes, 

 as Mr. Chapman remarks, are more brightly coloured than 

 any other large bird, and their gregarious habits and the 

 open nature of their resorts are admirably suited to bring 

 their gorgeous hues into prominence. The visit to the 

 nesting-grounds was made at the latter end of May, when 

 both eggs and young birds were to be lound in the np>its. 



