July 4, 1901] 



NA TURE 



investigation of the native races of Africa, the natural history, 

 resources, diseases and other subjects upon which exact know- 

 ledge is required. In Germany the publication of a journal, 

 as well as of some books dealing with many of these subjects, 

 has already been inaugurated under the auspices of the Govern- 

 ment. In France an independent society, more on the lines of 

 what is now proposed, is at work in French Africa, and other 

 European nations are advancing in the same direction. England 

 ought not to be behind in this work, and the new society will do 

 good service by encouraging interest in its objects. At the meeting 

 held on Friday last, when the first meeting of the Society was 

 held, the Marquis of Ripon, who occupied the chair as president, 

 pointed out the need for scientific research in Africa. In order 

 to discharge the responsibilities of Empire it is essential, he 

 remarked, to set to work to understand the full and complete 

 nature of the problems with which we had to deal, to study the 

 whole field of African affairs, and, above all, to endeavour to 

 understand, so far as might be possible, the thoughts, the views, 

 the opinions and laws of the people. It is only by this 

 means that we can arrive at a state of things in which our 

 administration is likely to be successful. The secretary^of the 

 Society is Mr. R. Sewell, 22, Albemarle Street, London, W., 

 to which address all communications should be sent. 



There is no doubt that the establishment of an experimental 

 tank in which models of ships could be tested for resistance, 

 form, stability and other qualities would benefit the science of 

 naval architecture in this country. The subject was brought 

 before the meeting of the Institution of Naval Architects at 

 Glasgow last week, and received much support. Dr. Elgar 

 directed attention to this question in describing how the Govern- 

 ment tank at Washington was available for the use of private 

 shipbuilders on the payment of a fee merely covering expenses. 

 Mr. A. F. Yarrow, referring to this statement, pointed out that 

 the British Admiralty had an experimental tank of their own at 

 Ilaslar, near Portsmouth. There was one other tank in this 

 country, which was owned by a private shipbuilding firm. Mr. 

 Yarrow submitted that, having in view the rapid increase in 

 competition in shipbuilding, it was desirable that no stone should 

 be left unturned by the shipbuilders in this country to keep well 

 to the front, and that all the means modern knowledge could 

 give should be made available for ship designers. He therefore 

 proposed that the Institution of Naval Architects should take 

 into consideration whether such a tank should not be established 

 under its auspices, so that it might be available, not only for ship- 

 builders in this country and members of the Institution, but also 

 for all willing to pay for the information to be obtained, irrespec- 

 tive of nationality. Sir Nathaniel Barnaby referred to the 

 immense benefit that had accrued to the science and practice of 

 naval architecture by the investigations of the late Mr. Froude, 

 which he had carried out by means of the experimental tank he 

 ad originated, and by means of which various qualities ol 

 different forms] of ship could be determined with models of 

 practicable size. At the present time all types of British war 

 vessels were tried in this way. The resolution suggested by Mr. 

 Yarrow was to the following effect : — " That this meeting, having 

 regard to the desirability of establishing a tank in this country 

 for testing the resistance of models, and which might be available 

 for all shipbuilders, request the council of the Institution to take 

 the matter into serious consideration with a view to arriving at 

 the best means of carrying out the suggestion." This was put as 

 a motion by Lord Brassey and seconded by Sir Nathaniel 

 Barnaby, and carried with acclamation. 



During the past few days exceptionally high temperature 

 conditions have prevailed in New York and the neigh- 

 bourhood, and have resulted in numerous deaths from heat 

 apoplexy. On Monday shade temperatures from 103° Fahr. to 

 NO. 1653, VOL. 64] 



II r Fahr. were recorded, and the official reading was 98' Fahr. 

 The minimum night temperature was 87° Fahr. 



The Berlin correspondent of the Times announces the death 

 of Prof. Johannes Lamp, one of the scientific members of the 

 expedition which was charged with the demarcation of the 

 boundary between German East Africa and the Congo State in 

 the neighbourhood of Lake Kivu. Prof. Lamp, who was born 

 at Kiel, was for some time employed at the Geodetic Institute 

 in Berlin. He was afterwards appointed to the observatory at 

 Kiel, and held a professorship at the University of that city. 



We learn from the British Medical Journal \kaX. a bust of Dr. 

 Armauer Hansen, the discoverer of the bacillus of leprosy, will 

 be unveiled with appropriate rites in the Lungegaards-Hospital 

 at Bergen on August 10. In order to give the ceremony as 

 much of an international character as possible, an invitation has 

 been issued to prominent members of the medical profession 

 throughout the world by Prof. Rudolf Virchow, president of the 

 committee. Gerhard Henrik Armauer Hansen was born at 

 Bergen in Norway in 1S41, and has spent the whole of his pro- 

 fessional life in that town, where he was for many years on the 

 staff of the Lungegaards-Hospital. 



It is stated by the Engineer that the General Electric Com- 

 pany of Berlin has just completed near Naples, in the valley of 

 Pompeii, an installation for the transmission of electric energy, 

 all the conductors used being of aluminium. This installation 

 comprises three horizontal turbines of 150 horse-power, working 

 at 190 revolutions per minute. These turbines each drive a tri- 

 phase alternator, and the current, at a tension of 3600 volts, is 

 led along three aluminium lines to Pompeii, Sarno and Torre 

 Annunziata. The first of these lines, which has a length of about 

 3 kilometres, leads to a substation comprised of two three-phase 

 transformers of 45 kilowatts. The second line, which leads to 

 Sarno, has a length of 15 kilometres ; it conducts the current to 

 a tri-phase motor working at 3500 volts, and driWng a con- 

 tinuous-current dynamo of 36 kilowatts capacity. This instal- 

 lation supplies a three-wire system at a tension of 240 volts. 

 Finally, the line to Torre Annunziata has a length of 3 '5 

 kilometres, the current serving for motive power in the 

 macaroni factories in the district. 



In an interesting and useful supplement to the Daily Weather 

 Report, the Meteorological Council have published values for 

 pressure, temperature, rainfall and bright sunshine for each 

 month of the year. The sunshine values refer to a period of 

 twenty years, temperature and pressure thirty years, and rainfall 

 thirty-five years, all ending with the year 1900. With regard to 

 temperature, a glance at the tables shows when the highest 

 maxima of the period occurred. The maxima in London were : 

 96° (August 1876), 91° (June 1878), 95° (July 1881), and 91° 

 (September 1898). The coldest winters occurred in 1S81 and 

 1895, the lowest readings in London being respectively 9° 

 (January) and 10° (February). Much lower readings were 

 registered in other parts of England and in Scotland. 



We have received the Report of the director of the Liverpool 

 Observatory, Bidston, containing the result of the astronomical 

 and meteorological observations taken in the year 1900. The 

 work of this Observatory dates back to the year 1845, and the ob- 

 servations, which are taken with every care, form a very valuable 

 contribution to our knowledge of those sciences. The transit 

 instrument has been used continuously for the determination of 

 time and continues to give entire satisfaction, and the self- 

 recording meteorological instruments have worked without 

 failure the whole of the year. A Milne seismometer, pro- 

 vided by the Earthquake Committee of the British Association, 

 has recently been added to the existing apparatus. As in former 

 years, a useful comparison has been made between the records 



