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NATURE 



[January 12, 1905 



over the whole system, the electrical trains being at first 

 run in place of some only of the regular trains, their 

 numbers being increased until eventually the complete 

 service is electrical. When this has been effected, and the 

 steam trains entirely displaced, the cleaning of the stations 

 and tunnels will be taken in hand ; it is not until this is 

 complete that the public will derive the full benefit of the 

 alteration, so it is to be hoped that no difficulties will be 

 experienced to cause delav. It has been no small under- 

 taking to prepare everything for the conversion of these 

 lines, and the actual change itself must necessarily be 

 carried out with care, especially as it has to be effected 

 without interruption of the traffic. 



M. H. BouRGET, of the University of Toulouse, writes to 

 ask what is the form of the surface of a fowl's &%Z' ^'^^ 

 if precise measures have been made of eggs in order to 

 determine whether the shape is constant and approaches 

 that of any known geometrical figure. In reply to this 

 inquiry, Prof. G. H. Bryan, to whom the matter was re- 

 ferred, remarks : — " I believe it is generally recognised 

 that the shape of the meridian section of an ^%% is most 

 approximately a Cartesian oval, that is, a curve given by 

 the equation or,-|-fer, = c, where rj and r, are distances from 

 two fixed points. For a — h this becomes an ellipse, but 

 with a and 6 unequal we get a figure with^one end more 

 rounded and one more pointed, very like an egg. But 

 anyone who tried to find mathematical equations for the 

 curves occurring in the forms of organic life would have 

 a diflicult task, especially if he were to tackle the 

 Diatomaceae. It should also be remembered that the number 

 of curves which have an equation is infinitely small com- 

 pared with the number of curves that cannot be so re- 

 presented." 



The annual report of the Russian Geographical Society 

 for 1903 has only just reached us. .^mong the scientific 

 explorations accomplished during the year we notice the 

 explorations of Lake Balkhash by M. L. S. Berg, of Lake 

 Kosogol by M. V. S. Elpatievsky, of Lake Ladoga by 

 M. J. M. Shokalsky, and of various lakes in European 

 Russia, as also of Lake Gokcha, by several students under 

 Prof. D. N. Anuchin. M. V. I. Lipskiy has continued to 

 study the flora of Central Asia, in connection with his 

 forthcoming work on this subject, and has made for this 

 purpose interesting journeys in the Tian-Shan, while the 

 range of Peter I. has been further explored by M. V. Th. 

 Novitzkiy. The botanist, M. J. N. Voronoff, explored 

 north-western Mongolia, M. N. B. Grinevetskiy the flora 

 of Transcaucasia, V. A. Faussek the Transcaspian fauna, 

 and V. E. Petersen the Lepidoptera of the Urals. .\ 

 journey in the Pechora region, by P. P. Mataftin, is also 

 worthy of notice. Several expeditions — Dr. Zarudnyi in 

 Persia, Syeroshevskiy, explorer of the Ainos, in Yezo, 

 Karskiy in White Russia — were at work during the same 

 year, as also the committee for the scientific collection of 

 folk-songs, with their music. 



At the meeting of the Institution of Civil Engineers held 

 on January 10 Sir William White, K.C.B., delivered an 

 address on the recent visit of the institution to the United 

 States and Canada. He described the visits made to the 

 principal engineering works in New York City and district, 

 to those in Canada, and to similar enterprises in Chicago. 

 In Canada, many opportunities were afforded to see 

 examples of the utilisation of water power, and no one 

 could fail to realise the enormous possibilities of develop- 

 ment in the pulp and paper industry, with cheap power and 

 a good supply of labour. The visitors were informed that 

 NO. 1837, VOL. 71] 



within a few miles of Ottawa there is 200,000 h.p. of water 

 power, and within a radius of forty-five miles nearly a 

 million horse-power. At Niagara on the Canadian side 

 three new undertakings are being rapidly advanced, 

 together giving more than 400,000 h.p., while a fourth 

 will yield 40,000 h.p. When these are completed the grand 

 total of power derived from Niagara on both sides of the 

 river will be about 700.000 h.p. These particulars were 

 followed in the address by an account of the Inter- 

 national Engineering Congress at St. Louis organised 

 by the American Society of Civil Engineers. Concluding, 

 Sir William remarked that there can be no doubt but this 

 visit enabled American and Canadian engineers to give 

 practical proof of their fellowship with British engineers. 

 The visit must tend to strengthen the friendly feeling already 

 existing between the United States and the British Empire. 

 It must result also in a better understanding between the ■ 

 mother-country and Canada. 



A VALUABLE report by Dr. Musgrave and Mr. Clegg on 

 pathogenic amoebae, the cultivation of amoebs, and 

 amoebic dysentery, has been issued by the Bureau of 

 Government Laboratories, Manila (No. iS, 1904). It is 

 considered that all amceboe are, or may become, pathogenic. 

 Pure cultures of amoebjE were obtained by a modified plate 

 culture method, but it was not found possible to cultivate 

 the organisms unless bacteria were present in the cultiva- 

 tions, and the amoebae were often found to exhibit a 

 preference for certain species of bacteria. 



The United States Department of .■\griculture has added 

 to its valuable memoirs on food and diet a report by Messrs. 

 Woods and Mansfield on the food of the Maine lumbermen 

 (Bulletin No. 149, 1904). These men perform hard manual 

 labour, and are much exposed to cold, wet, and hardship, 

 and the staple daily fare consists of pork or beef, sour 

 dough biscuits made of dough which undergoes ferment- 

 ation with a " wild " yeast, tea and molasses, and beans 

 which are first parboiled in the forenoon, and are then 

 packed with alternate layers of salt pork in a pot which 

 is covered with hot ashes and earth, and allowed to cook 

 over night. It is considered that the dietary, as regards 

 protein and energy, is the highest yet recorded for any 

 .American labouring men, is well digested, and costs about 

 235 cents per person per diem. 



We have received a copy of the third and final part of a 

 " Catalogue of Canadian Birds," by Mr. J. Macoun, issued 

 bv the Geological Society of Canada, which deals with 

 such families of the Passeres as were not included in the 

 preceding part. Owing to the fuller knowledge of the 

 habits of most of the birds recorded in this part, as com- 

 pared with those in its predecessors, a larger amount of 

 space is devoted to the majority of the species, thereby 

 enhancing the value of the work. Otherwise the method 

 of treatment is the same as that adopted in parts i. and ii., 

 which have been previously noticed in our columns. 



In the eighteenth annual report of the Liverpool Marine 

 Biologv Committee, dealing with the new biological station 

 at Port Erin, Isle of Man, the director deplores that while 

 there have been more students than in any previous year 

 (who have worked harder than their predecessors) and more 

 investigators engaged on original work, to say nothing 

 of the success of the public meetings and the excellent result 

 of the fish-hatching, yet the number of subscribers does not 

 increase; and, in truth, the list of subscriptions to such an 

 admirable institution is but a pitiful one — a total of 

 89/. 3s. 6d. The marvel, indeed, is how so much good 

 work is accomplished and the establishment kept in going 



