NOVEMBER 22, 1906 | 
NATURE 79 
plates, but as it is the part strongly heated by the fire, the 
cell is filled with steam, which escapes in bubbles through 
the slits; the water then creeps into the cell, to be con- 
verted immediately into steam. ‘This process goes on at 
first intermittently, but it soon reaches a stationary state. 
The bubbling of steam through the slits acts as exciter, and 
the kettle emits sonorous notes, which may be likened to 
the ruffling of pine trees by a gentle breeze or the sound 
produced by stridulating insects. The difference of sound 
is mainly due to the form of the kettle rather than to the 
method of exciting the vibration. To make the kettle sing 
loudly it is necessary to regulate the fire in such a way 
that the expulsion of steam bubbles from the cell is in 
good accord with the natural period of vibration of the 
kettle, so that it is set in sympathetic vibration. Excessive 
heating is, therefore, unfavourable to singing. 
Various forms of steam exciter can be easily designed, 
and different manufacturers seem to have their own speci- 
ality. When and where this method of exciting the vibra- 
tion came into use is not well known, but as the kettles 
were common for many centuries, the exciter seems to 
have been invented by the amateurs of teaism (chanoyu) 
long before Western science was introduced to Japan. 
H. NaGaoka. 
Science College, Tokyo, September 27. 
Bursaries at the Royaj College of Science, London. 
Science scholars selected from the whole of Great 
Britain for their ability and promise, maintaining them- 
selves on 17s. gd. per week, are year by year saved from 
much privation by secret gifts of small bursaries—see the 
subjoined audited account for last year. 
I have no right to ask for help from the generous men 
who helped me last year, but I have all the sturdiness of 
a chartered beggar. I ask in a good cause. 
It was originally intended that these bursaries should be 
given only to such National Scholars as required assist- 
ance, but some of the subscribers have given me power 
to assist other students of the college. Also one of the 
two City companies has given me power to grant an 
occasional bursary of more than rol. It is understood that 
every student is morally bound to repay this money to 
the fund at some future time. Joun PERRY. 
November 12. 
RoyaL COLLEGE OF SCIENCE. 
BALANCE SHEET, BURSARIES, 1905-6. 
Moneys Received and Paid by Prof. Perry from July 12, 
1905, to July 12, 1906. 
Necetved, 
Sah a. 
July 12, 1905—Balance in hand ... ae mae 22 19 O 
+7 399 3) Royalty on Slide Rules ... re 4-50 
Octr20%ea—. 55 Pease ens ve Phi (o)? 
Nov. 6, ,, —Dr. Sprague ae 20 0 0 
+, 13; 5, —A. T. Simmons, Esq. re iol Koy ) 
», 16, ,, —Oscar Guttman, Esq. ... re He i) 
»» 21, ,, —The Drapers’ Company 100 Oo O 
Dec. 4, ,, —Robert Kaye Gray 10 0 O 
>> 7) 5, —Matthew W. Gray I0 10 O 
Jan. 13, 1906—George Beilby, Esq. .... a 10 10 O 
»> 13, 5, —Royalty on Slide Rules... 0 3) 2) 0) 
», 16, ,, —The Goldsmiths’ Company % 100 0 O 
July 6, ,, —Royalty on Slide Rules ... tes it ae @) 
4293 I1 oO 
Paid. 
July 12 to Dec. 20, 1905— 
One Bursary Ae6 oe aoe 7,10) (0 
Two Half-Bursaries, each £7 I0s. ... I5 0 0 
Twenty-three Half-Bursaries, each £5 TIS 0) 0 
April 6 to June 15, 1906— 
Two Half-Bursaries, each £7 Ios. ... 1), (0) (0) 
Twenty Half-Bursaries, each £5 100 0 O 
Balance oe vee 41 II oO 
£293 II Oo 
Audited and signed by 
July 17, 1906. Witiiam A. TILDEN. 
NO. 1934, VOL. 75 | 
LAKE BALATON.! 
AKE BALATON, the largest lake in the Hun- 
garian Plain, occupies a basin of internal 
drainage at the level of 343 feet above the sea, and 
has an area of some 230 square miles. It is well 
known from the watering-places and mineral springs 
upon its shores. In 1891 the Hungarian Geographical 
Society appointed a commission to undertake a de- 
tailed investigation of the lake. The scheme was 
supported financially by the Hungarian Minister of 
Agriculture, the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and 
Dr. Andor von Semsey. The results are being pub- 
lished in three volumes; the first deals with the geo- 
graphy, geology, hydrography, climate, and the 
physical and chemical characters of the lake water. 
The second volume is devoted to biology; the third to 
the anthropography, ethnography, archaeology, biblio- 
graphy, and the description of the watering-places. 
There is also an atlas. Several sections of the work 
and the topographic atlas have been issued. They 
contain contributions to all three volumes, and illus- 
trate the thorough nature and wide range of the 
work. 
The report on the ethnography, by the late Dr. 
Johann Janko, translated by Dr. Willibald Semayer, 
is the longest contribution, and is perhaps of most 
general interest. It begins with a concise geo- 
graphical description of all the localities around the 
shores of the lake, and then gives an interesting 
discussion of the place-names. They are mainly 
Magyar, with some Sclav and German additions. 
The place-names are classified into groups, based on 
orographic and hydrographic conditions, on plants, 
on the general features of the vegetation, on animals, 
on soils and rocks, on echoes (as in Ekko and Zongo 
odal, ‘‘ the resounding side ’’), on industries, ecclesi- 
astical terms, family and personal names, and races. 
(English occurs in the term Angol zollok, the 
‘English vineyard,’’ and in other names associated 
with gardens.) Other places are named after the 
days of the week, military terms, numerals, and un- 
natural death (such as ‘‘ Olo”’’ for murder). His- 
torical place-names are placed as a special group, and 
they can be traced back to between the eleventh and 
fifteenth centuries; they are regarded by Dr. Janko 
as of especial historical value as showing the un- 
broken continuity of the Magyar occupation of the 
Balaton district during the past nine centuries, in 
spite of the invasions of Tartars and Turks. The old 
families who have been domiciled round Lake Balaton 
for at least a century are mostly Hungarians; 6.5 per 
cent. are Jews, and 1 per cent. are foreigners. The 
census of 1890, enumerating a population of 55,000, 
gave their numerical proportions as follews :—98-809 
1 ‘*Resultate der Wissenschaftlichen Erforschung des Balatonsees.” 
Balatonsee-Commission der Ung. Geographischen Gesellschaft. (Vienna : 
Ed. Hilzel, 1902-1906.) 
Vol. i. “ Physische Geographie des Balatonsees und seiner Umgebung.” 
Part iv., Sect. 3, Resultate der Phytophanologischen Beobachtungen in der 
Umgebung des Balatonsees. By Dr. Moriz Staub, completed by Dr. J. 
Bernatsky. 45 pp. 1 map. (1906.) Part v. Die Physikalischen Verhalt- 
nisse des Wassers des Balatonsees. Sect. 2 and 3, Die Farbenerscheinungen 
des Balatonsees, by Dr. E. von Cholnoky; Die Reflexionserscheinungen 
an Bewegten Wasserflichen, by Dr. Baron Bela Harkanyi. 88 pp., 2 col. 
plates. (1906.) 
Vol. ii. ** Die Biologie des Balatonsees.’’ Part i, Die Fauna des Bala- 
tonsees. Beitrage zur Kenntniss des Planktons, by Dr. Geza Entz, Jun., 
and i. and ii. Nachtrag zur Aufzahlung der Weichthiere, by Dr. A. Weiss 
and Theodor Kormos. 76 pp. (1906.) Part ii., Die Flora. Sect. 1, Die 
Bacillarien des Balatonsees, by Dr. Josef Pantocsek. 112 pp., 17 plates. 
(1c02.) 
Vol. iii. ‘‘Social- und Anthropogeographie des Balatonsees.’ Part i., 
Archzologie der Balatonsee-Umgebung. Sect. i., Archeologische Spuren 
aus der Urzeit und dem Altertum bei Veszprem. By Gyula Rhé._ 33 pp-; 
2 col. plates. (1¢06.) Part ii. Ethnographie der Umwohner des Balaton- 
gestades. Bythe late Dr. Johann Jank6, continued by Dr. Willibald 
Semayer. 499 pp-, 1 map. (1g06.) Part v. Bibliographie des Balatonsees. 
By Julius von Sziklay. 65 pp. (1906.) : 
“‘Spezialkarte der Balatonsees und seinen Umgebung.” By Dr. Ludwig 
| von Loczy. 4 sheets. Scale 1 to 7s5,coo. (1903.) 
