468 
NATURE 
{| Marcu 14, 1907 
AN insidious disease of the cocoa-nut palm, known as 
“‘bud-rot,’? has been recognised for a considerable time, 
but the primary cause was not determined. The view is 
now held that decay is due to bacteria developing in the 
slimy coating found on the young protected organs. 
Although certainly existent in the East Indies, there was 
no record of its occurrence in Ceylon until last year a 
case was brought to the notice of the Government 
mycologist, Mr. T. Petch. The disease and its treatment 
are noted in vol. jii., No. 15, of the Circulars and Agri- 
cultural Journal of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Ceylon. 
In No. 17 cf the same series Mr. Petch describes the root 
disease of the Para rubber tree caused by the bracket 
funsus, Fomes semicostatus. 
In the course of an article in vol. i., No. 10, of the 
Philippine Journal of Science, on the active constituents 
of certain medicinal plants, Mr. R. F. Bacon refers to 
the substances used by the Filipinos for stupefying or 
poisoning fish. The fibre of Entada scandens, the bark 
of Ganophyllum obliquum, and the fruit of Croton Tiglium 
are commonly employed for the purpose. The two former 
contain saponin, the latter a poison allied to ricin, but it 
is not considered dangerous to eat fish poisoned by these 
substances. On the other hand, there is risk attending 
consumption of fish poisoned with the fruits of 
Anamirta cocculus on account of the picrotoxin contained. 
The fruits of Dervis polyantha and Diospyros canomot are 
also used. 
the 
Tue Local Government Board has just issued a report 
on the micrococcus of epidemic cerebro-spinal meningitis 
(spotted fever), a which recently appeared in 
Glasgow, Belfast, Liverpool, and other places in the British 
Isles. The report is compiled by Dr. M. H. Gordon, and 
contains full details of the characters of the microorganism 
and its recognition. 
disease 
Tue Journal of Hygiene for January (vii., No. 1, just 
issued) contains a number of interesting and important 
papers. Dr. Castellani describes certain cases of tropical 
fever associated with apparently new species of bacilli; 
Messrs. Dudgeon and Dunkley discuss the M. neoformans, 
found in cancer by Doyen; Prof. Hewlett and Mr. Barton 
outline the results of a chemical, microscopical, and 
bacteriological examination of twenty-six samples of 
London milk; and Dr. Arkwright describes the M. 
catarrhalis, met with in nasal catarrh, and its differenti- 
ation. Fleet-Surgeon Bassett-Smith, R.N., contributes an 
important paper on the treatment of Mediterranean fever 
by means of vaccines. Although a few cases did well, on 
the whole the resuits were disappointing. 
Wr have received the first number of the ‘‘ Annals of 
Tropical Medicine and Parasitology,’’ edited by Prof. 
Ronald Ross, F.R.S., and issued by the Liverpool School 
of Tropical Medicine. It is intended to take the place of 
the separate memoirs on tropical medicine which have 
hitherto been issued by the school, and is to be issued at 
the subscription price of ros. 6d. per volume of probably 
not less than four numbers. The present number, of 161 
pages, contains an elaborate memoir, by Messrs. New- 
stead, Dutton, and Todd, on insects and other arthropods 
collected in the Congo Free State, illustrated with six 
plates; descriptions of two new species of African ticks, 
by Prof. Neumann, and of parasites in the Liverpool 
School Museum, by Prof. Looss; a paper on the presence 
of S. duttoni in the ova of the tick, Ornithodoros 
moubata, by Captain Carter, I.M.S.; and a note on the 
NOS 1950; VOL. 
y= 
if 2) 
therapeutics of. trypanosomiasis, by Messrs. Moore, 
Nierenstein, and Todd. The number is excellently printed 
and illustrated, and the general “‘ get-up”’ all that can be 
desired. Jt bids fair to be one of the most important 
journals on tropical medicine in its scientific aspects. 
In the Naturwissenschaftliche Wochenschrift (vol. vi., 
No. 8) Prof. H. Potonié gives an interesting historical 
summary of the yarious theories that haye been propounded 
to explain the genesis of coal. 
A PAPER contributed by Mr. W. R. Thomas to the 
Institution of Mining and Metallurgy, and published in 
the Bulletin (No. 29) of the institution, strikingly illus- 
trates the manner in which modern mining appliances 
and methods are now being adopted in Cornwall. It 
describes the electrically-driven centrifugal pumping plant 
at the Tywarnhaile mine. Special interest is attached to 
the installation from the fact that Dowson gas is used 
to run the electric plant. The results obtained have proved 
eminently successful. 4 
ADVANCE statistics, subject to correction, issued by the 
Home Office, show that the British output of coai in 1906 
Was 251,050,809 tons, or 6-33 per cent. more than in 1905. 
The number of persons employed at the coal mines in 
1906 was 882,345. The mineral production also included 
2,971,173. tons of fireclay, 8,209,880 tons of ironstone, 
2,546,113 toms of oil-shale, 1,824,415 tons of iron ore, 
230,558 tons of rock salt, 151,915 tons of salt from brine, 
and 126,699 tons of slate. The number of persons 
empleyed at mines under the Metalliferous Mines Regula- 
tion Acts was 29,969. 
IN a paper read before the Society of Arts, published 
in the Journal of the society of March 8, Prof. W. Boyd 
Dawkins gives a summary of the results obtained in the 
investigation of the south-eastern coalfield. The paper 
contains a map of the coalfield between Dover and Canter- 
bury, and sections of the strata in the borings at Dover, 
Penshurst, Ellinge, Brabourne, Waldershare, and Fred- 
ville. At present, the seams proved are at Dover, thirteen 
seams with an aggregate thickness of 223 feet; at Walder- 
share, four seams 10 feet 3 inches thick; and at Fredville, 
three seams 7 feet thick. At Dover the coalfield is about 
1000 feet below Ordnance datum, At Ropersole the Coal- 
measures were struck at a depth of 1180 feet, and at 
Ellinge at 1815 feet. Prof. Boyd Dawkins takes an 
optimistic view of the future of the coalfield, which he 
regards as an important national asset and a_ striking 
instance of the value of scientific research to the nation. 
Very high temperatures are required in tempering the 
modern special tool-steels, and care has to be taken that 
contact with carbon or air is avoided lest the compo- 
sition of the steel should be altered. A novel type of 
electric tempering furnace designed by Kéorting Brothers 
is described in Engineering of March 1. The steel is 
placed in a fused salt, which must have a high melting 
point, and should not evaporate to any great extent at 
high temperatures. With barium chloride a temperature 
of 1300° C. can be maintained in such a furnace. The 
furnace forms a square box built up of iron, asbestos, 
and fire-bricks, leaving in its interior a cubical crucible 
chamber. This space is filled with the salt, and two plates 
of iron attached to opposite walls serve as electrodes for 
the alternating currents, supplicd by an oil transformer. 
When the salt is fused, the object is lowered into the 
molten mass, and the temperature controlled by means 
of a pyrometer and rheostats. The tools may be pre- 
