October 24, 1901] 



NATURE 



637 



ancient mines had been pushed on energetically. At Um Rus 

 the exploration of one of the ancient gold mines was commenced 

 last December, and so far the results had been decidedly en- 

 couraging. Speaking at the meeting at which Mr. Alford's 

 paper was read, Lord Harris stated his willingness to undertake 

 the responsibility that a gold medal, or whatever material object 

 the council of the Institution might suggest, should be pre- 

 sented as a prize for the purpose they might think most useful. 

 According to the Electrician, difficulty has for some time 

 past been experienced in maintaining communication with the 

 observatory on the Zugspitze mountain, 3000 metres high, on 

 the Austrian frontier of Bavaria, throughout the year. Last 

 September the Bavarian Postal Telegraph .\dministration put 

 the matter into the hands of the Allgemeine Elektriciliits 

 Gesellschaft, who have now solved the difficulty by establishing 

 a wireless telegraph installation between the observatory and 

 the post-office of Eibsee on the Slaby-Arco system. The 

 difference in altitude between the summit of the mountain and 

 the Eibsee post office is 2000 metres. In designing the appa- 

 ratus such a wave-length was chosen, so that deflection from the 

 surfaces of rocks, ic. , on the mountain should assist rather than 

 impede the transmission of the signals. Another difficulty'which 

 has been overcome is that of the power supplied to the apparatus. 

 The transport of heavy batteries, &c., to the top of the mountain 

 would have been extremely difficult, and therefore the company 

 has designed the apparatus so that it should require a minimum 

 of power, and the dry cells which are employed with it have 

 proved sufficient. Instead of the wire which has been used in 

 many recent Slaby-.\rco experiments, ordinary steel rope has 

 been employed, and this has been fixed in a slanting direction 

 lo the surface of the rocks without the assistance of either a 

 mast or insulators. It is stated that the .system has so far given 

 entire satisfaction to the Post Office authorities. 



At the Trinidad Agricultural Exhibition specimens of sponges 

 which had been collected on the beach of Tobago were on 

 show. The sponges were not large, but were soft in texture, 

 minutely porous, and the presence of large silicious spicules, 

 so common in inferior kinds, was not apparent. They re- 

 sembled very much what are sold as face sponges. In the 

 specimens exhibited it was seen that the structure was tender 

 and easily pulled to pieces, showing that they would not last 

 long in use. It was explained, however, that the specimens 

 were taken from the beach, and there was nothing to show how 

 long they had been exposed to the rolling of the breakers, the 

 heat of the sun, and the erosion of sand and pebbles of the 

 beach, which would naturally tend to rot the texture of a sponge. 

 .Such, however, is the quality that it is thought, says \\\s Bulletin 

 of Miscellaneous Iiiformxtion (Trinidad), a trial might usefully 

 be made by a skilled diver on the reefs where they are produced, 

 to ascertain whether the quality would be of fair market value, 

 if harvested direct from their habitat. Such an experiment 

 would cost but little, and, if successful, would confer a blessing 

 on the little Island of Tobago, so long hampered by financial 

 difficulties. In the Bahamas the export for 189S was valued at 

 97,^12/. If the reefs of Tobago should prove as fertile of 

 marketable sponges as those of the Bahamas, it would mean the 

 establishment of a new and permanent industry of the highest 

 value. 



The Essex County Council is to be congratulated on 

 the good work done in the technical laboratory at Chelms- 

 ford by Messrs. Dymond and Hughes. The " Notes on 

 Agricultural Analyses " just issued contain a careful account 

 of different descriptions of soil occurring in Essex, their 

 geological and physical characteristics, and their chemical com- 

 position. This is just the kind of work which county councils 

 may carry out with great advantage. 

 NO. 1669, VOL. 64] 



The annual report of the Connecticut Agricultural Experi- 

 ment Station, just issued, furnishes a good example of the kind 

 of work done at an American station. One half the volume 

 consists of reports of the analyses of fertilisers, foods and 

 other agricultural commodities ; the other half deals with 

 investigations, and discusses agricultural questions. One of the 

 most interesting articles is on the kinds of trees most suitable 

 for street avenues, and the diseases and accidents to which they 

 are specially liable. Dr. T. B. Osborne continues his laborious 

 researches upon the chemistry of vegetal)le proteids. A 

 valuable bibliography of American work on plant diseases is 

 supplied by Dr. Sturgis. 



We have received a copy of Sir Charles Todd's Report upon 

 the Rainfall in South Australia and the Northern Territory 

 during 1S9S. Monthly and yearly values are given for a large 

 number of stations and show that, generally speaking, the small 

 annual average over the northern districts is mostly made up of 

 summer rains, while in the southern districts the winter rains 

 are largely in excess. As wheat growing chiefly depends upon 

 the latter conditions, the monthly tables are very valuable for 

 agricultural purposes. The annual distribution is clearly shown 

 in two maps which accompany the report. 



Mr. W. W. Wagstaffe, B.A., has printed an interesting 

 little pamphlet on the climate and weather of Sevenoaks, based 

 on observations for ten years (1890-99). The absolute maximum 

 temperature was 89° in August 1893, and 'he lowest 5°in February 

 of the severe winter 1894-5. The average annual rainfall is 

 2975 inches, of which only about one-third fell during the 

 daytime. The summer temperature is nearly 3° lower than 

 London. 



The first volume of the Journal of Hygiene has just been 

 completed by the issue of part iv., which maintains the high 

 standard of its predecessors. In it Rogers discusses the seasonal 

 prevalence of Anopheles and malarial fever in Bengal, and his 

 observations support the view that the disease known as Kala- 

 azar of Assam, the jeliology of which has been doubtful, is an 

 epidemic malarial fever and is transmitted by Anopheles. 

 Nuttall and Shipley conclude their studies on the structure and 

 biology of Anopheles, their paper being illustrated by some ex- 

 cellent plates. Cobbett surveys the epidemiology and bac- 

 teriology of a recent outbreak of diphtheria at Cambridge, and 

 Fulton that of the Elkton (Maryland) milk epidemic of typhoid 

 fever. The use of '* neutral red*' as a test for the colon bacillus 

 and of its presence in waters is the subject of the remaining two 

 papers by Makgill and by Savage These two investigators, 

 working independently and separately, arrive at practically the 

 same conclusions. They find that this reagent is a very deli- 

 cate indicator for the colon bicillus and that a negative 

 neutral-red reaction obtained with a sample of a water is high 

 presumptive evidence of the absence of this organism. 



The current number of the Berichte of the German 

 Chemical Society is remarkable for the number of original 

 communications it contains, there being no less than 106, 

 occupying 753 pages. Among these is a paper by Dr. Otto 

 Ruff, on the existence of ammonium. It has been regarded as 

 highly probable by many experimenters that on treating 

 ammonium chloride solution with sodium amalgam or on 

 electrolysing a solution of ammonium chloride with mercury 

 as kathode, a real amalgam of ammonium with mercury is the 

 true primary product. The problem is here attacked from a 

 new and ingenious point of view, although with negative 

 results. It is known that the alkali metals dissolve in liquid 

 ammonia with the production of compounds possessing a fine 

 blue colour. Thus a solution of potassium iodide in liquid 

 ammonia submitted to electrolysis at a temperature of - 70° C. 



