March 2, 1905] 



NA TURE 



423 



mitotic division. Dr. Phillips is of opinion that the 

 movement of the filaments of Oscillaria and Cylindro- 

 spermum is due to protoplasmic processes or cilia which, 

 he says, are to be observed around all the cells. The 

 chromatophore, containing cyanophycin granules, was iden- 

 tified as a peripheral zone. 



.\ti interesting address on the present problems of 

 meteorology was given by Mr. A. I- Rotch to the section 

 of cosmical physics of the International Congress of Arts 

 and Sciences at St. Louis, and was printed in Science on 

 December 23 last. The author pointed out that although it is 

 nearly fifty years since the first commencement of weather 

 telegraphy, and-much has been done to complete and extend 

 the area under observation, the methods employed in the 

 preparation of weather forecasts are still essentiallv em- 

 pirical, and practically little or no progress has been 

 made. This is mostly due to the fact that until recently 

 observations have been carried on solely at the bottom of 

 the atmosphere. Even the observations made at mountain 

 stations still pertain to the earth and do not represent the 

 conditions prevailing in free air. The still more recent use 

 of unmanned balloons and kites has led to the acquirement 

 of a knowledge of the vertical gradients of meteorological 

 elements which contradicts previous conceptions, e.g. that 

 the temperature diminished with increasing altitude more 

 and more slowly, whereas the results show that it decreases 

 more and more quickly with increasing altitude. The 

 international cloud observations at various altitudes dis- 

 cussed by Dr. Hildebrandsson also show that theories held 

 heretofore are untenable, and that there is no exchange of 

 air between poles and equator. With regard to cosmical 

 relations to meteorology, the author points out that neither 

 the effects of the periods of solar or lunar rotation upon 

 the earth's meteorology can be claimed to have been 

 proved. But coincidences — if nothing more — have been 

 shown by Sir Norman and Dr. Lockyer to exist between 

 sun-spot frequency and atmospheric changes, especially as 

 manifested by barometric pressure, rainfall, and tempera- 

 ture. It does not seem impossible, therefore, that the 

 discussion of meteorological observations from the point of 

 view of their relation to solar phenomena may eventually 

 lead to seasonal predictions of weather possessing at least 

 the success of those now made daily. 



The Survey Department of the Egyptian Public Works 

 Ministry has sent us the meteorological report for the year 

 1002. This volume indicates that the Director-General of 

 the Survey Department, Captain H. G. Lyons, is making 

 rapid strides, not only in increasing the number of stations 

 which send in records, but in publishing a considerable 

 amount of valuable information which should prove of 

 great value. We are told that arrangements are in pro- 

 gress for commencing a systematic measurement of rainfall 

 in the Delta and western part of the Mediterranean coast ; 

 that a monthly resume' of the weather has been started ; and 

 that forecasts during the early and late months of the year 

 have been issued. All these show the activity that is being 

 displayed in the collection and dissemination of meteor- 

 ological data. The present report includes magnetic as well 

 as meteorological observations, and also Nile gauge read- 

 ings. At the end are given numerous curves representing 

 the variations of the meteorological elements as registered 

 at the Abbassia Observatory. 



The Journal of the Rbntgen Society (vol. i.. No. 2) con- 

 tains a note by Mr. J. H. Gardiner on the new ultra- 

 violet glass manufactured by Messrs. Schott and Genossen, 

 of Jena ; it is illustrated by photographs of spectra showing 

 the transparency ot the gla.ss in the ultra-violet region. 

 NO. 1844, VOL. 71] 



Fi.uoRiisCENT substances are usually regarded as excep- 

 tions to Kirchhoff's law of absorption on account of their 

 being able to emit light which in ordinary circumstances 

 they do not absorb, but hitherto no investigation has been 

 made of the absorptive power of such substances during 

 active fluorescence. In the Physical Review for December 

 1004, Messrs. E. L. Nichols and Ernest Merrill show that 

 substances such as fluorescein, when caused to fluoresce 

 strongly in solution, produce a decidedly different absorp- 

 tion from that of the feebly illuminated material, and that the 

 absorption curve obtained in this way is intimately con- 

 nected with the curve of fluorescence. In the case of five 

 different substances, moreover, there is conclusive evidence 

 of a slight increase in electrical conductivity accompanying 

 the phenomenon, and on this account a dissociation hypo- 

 thesis is brought forward to explain the nature of 

 fluorescence. 



An address delivered by Prof. Edward B. Rosa at the 

 opening of the John Bell Scott Memorial Laboratory of 

 Physical Science at Wesleyan University, Connecticut, is 

 printed in Science for February 3. It deals with the 

 National Bureau of Standards, which commenced work in 

 the United States in 1901, and defines its functions and 

 ideals. It is to be noted that research plays a prominent 

 part in the programme of the bureau. We have already 

 had occasion to refer to Dr. Guthe's critical investigation 

 of the various forms of silver voltameter (Nature, vol. Ixx., 

 p. 583), and to the determinations by Drs. Waidner and 

 Burgess of the temperature of the electric arc (Nature, 

 vol. Ixxi., p. 132). Both these researches were carried ou( 

 under the auspices of the bureau, and in addition to these, 

 the Physical Review for December, 1904, contains a valu- 

 able communication by Drs. Waidner and Burgess on 

 " Radiation Pyrometry," in which the degree of accuracy 

 of several radiation pyrometers is discussed. The bureau 

 does not confine itself entirely to physical and mechanical 

 measurements, but contains a department devoted to 

 chemistry, one of the purposes of which is to attempt to 

 secure uniformity in technical analyses. A characteristic 

 of the bureau which deserves particular notice is its aim 

 not only to conduct investigations through its own staff, 

 but also to afford facilities for research to others who may 

 come to work for a limited period as scientific guests. In 

 this way it is hoped that " the output of original research 

 in America will be materially increased." 



The remarkable catalytic power of reduced nickel, dis- 

 covered some years ago by MM. Paul Sabatier and J. B. 

 Senderens, has been applied by them in many directions, 

 and has been especially fruitful in the addition of hydrogen 

 to cyclic compounds. Applying this reaction in another 

 direction, the authors in the current number (February 20) 

 of the Comptes rendiis describe the reduction of nitriles to 

 amines. The nitrile, with an excess of hydrogen, is passed 

 over reduced rrickel at temperatures between 250° and 300° C. 

 Hydrocyanic acid might be expected to yield methyl- 

 ainine, but, as a matter of fact, the nickel was 

 found to exert a further action, both dimethylamine 

 and trimethylamine being produced, together with ammonia 

 and the primary amine. With acetonitrile all three 

 amines are likewise produced, the diethylamine, which 

 forms about three-fifths of the mixture, predominating. 

 Dipropylamine was similarly the chief product of the 

 reaction with propionitrile ; with capronitrile, derived from 

 ordinary amyl alcohol, besides the three amines, two of 

 which were new, an appreciable proportion of the hydro- 

 carbon a-methyl-pentane was obtained. The yields were in 

 all cases good with fatty compounds, but the reaction was 

 Ifss satisfactory when applied to the aromatic series, there 



