July 21, 1904] 



NA TURE 



28- 



In a paper on " Edge Corrections in Condensers," com- 

 municated to the Proceedings of the American Academy of 

 Arts and Sciences, Mr. J. G. Coffin worlds out a number 

 of electrostatical problems in two dimensions by the con- 

 formal transformation of Schwarz and Christoffel. The 

 problems here considered include as particular cases many 

 of the cases solved in Prof. J. J. Thomson's book, and 

 they have application to condensers, such as one formed of 

 two silvered glass plates, the capacities of which have not 

 previously been determined. 



In his presidential address to a joint meeting of the 

 American Physical and Mathematical Societies, delivered 

 in February last, Mr. .Arthur G. Webster chose as his 

 •subject " Some Practical .Aspects of the Relations between 

 Physics and Mathematics." The address has been reprinted 

 in the Physical Review for April, and deals with the work 

 •of the late Prof. Willard Gibbs, the endowment of research, 

 and the relative parts played by mathematical and physical 

 teaching and general culture in the education of the 

 physicist in schools and colleges. 



Some interesting properties relating to the polarisation 

 of electrodes are described by M. E. Roth^ in the Bulletin 

 of the French Physical Society, No. 214. In particular the 

 author obtained a deposit of hydrogen on a platinum wire 

 with a single Daniell cell when the anode was a large 

 •lamina, although 1.7 volts would be required to decompose 

 water in ordinary circumstances. This deposit ceased 

 -when the anode became polarised by the absorption of 

 ■oxygen. It thus appears that gas may be deposited on a 

 single electrode when the electromotive force is just sufficient 

 ■to overcome the counter-electromotive force of that electrode 

 alone. 



An account of the department of international research 

 in terrestrial magnetism of the Carnegie Institution is 

 given in Terrestrial Magnetism and Atmospheric Elec- 

 ■tricity, ix., i. The object of the department will be to 

 investigate such problems of world-wide interest as relate 

 to the magnetic and electric conditions of the earth and its 

 atmosphere, not specifically the subject of inquiry of any 

 ■one country but of international concern and benefit. 

 Among the problems suggested are a magnetic survey of 

 ■ocean areas and unexplored regions, international observ- 

 ations of the variations, including the establishment of 

 ■secular variation or repeat stations throughout the globe, 

 observations in ocean depths and atmospheric regions (for 

 -which the first step consists in devising suitable instru- 

 ments), and other problems. 



At the recent show of the Royal Agricultural Society, the 

 •new Just-Hatmaker process for drying milk was exhibited. 

 The milk is fed continuously on two cylinders, one-eighth 

 of an inch apart, and revolving inversely. These are 

 heated by superheated steam within, and have a surface 

 temperature of 110° C. The milk passing between the 

 revolving cylinders forms a thin layer on each, becomes 

 evaporated to dryness, and is stripped off as a thin sheet 

 of milk solids, all v/ithin a single revolution. The thin 

 •sheets are reduced by sieving to a powder, which can be 

 compressed into tablets. Mixed with warm water the 

 powder immediately forms a liquid having all the properties 

 of boiled milk. The advantage to travellers of having milk 

 in a concentrated form — the powder contains only 6 per 

 cent, of moisture — is obvious. Moreover, the dry milk 

 as it leaves the machine is completely sterilised. With 

 rennet or acid we find that the mixture of dried milk and 

 water curdles, but the curd is not coherent, a property 

 •which may add to its digestibility but destroys its value for 

 •certain culinary purposes. Owing to its cooked taste, the 

 ?sO. 18 I 2, VOL. 70] 



new product can never replace fresh milk, so that its intro- 

 duction is no menace to the British milk industry ; on the 

 contrary, farmers should benefit if the milk supply associ- 

 ations they deal with possess this apparatus for drying any 

 surplus over the daily requirements. The public will find 

 that discrimination is necessary in the purchase of the dried 

 milk, as it can be made from either whole or separated 

 milk. 



We have received a copy of the fifth annual report of 

 the Plymouth Municipal Museum and Art Gallery, in which 

 an unusually large number of presentations to that insti- 

 tution are recorded. 



In the July issue of Bird Notes and News the Society 

 for the Protection of Birds directs attention to the extent 

 of the trade in cage-birds, and the evils attendant on the 

 capture and maintenance in captivity of such birds. The 

 subject is emphasised in the case of the linnet by a special 

 leaflet, " A Linnet for Sixpence," in the course of which 

 it is stated that sixty per cent, of these birds perish during 

 the first week of captivity, in addition to others killed in 

 capture and the number of hens wantonly destroyed by 

 Iheir captors. The practice of selling in London cock- 

 linnets in paper-bags for sixpence is specially deprecated. 



The Popular Science Monthly for July contains an illus- 

 trated account by Prof. Bashford Dean of the zoological 

 station at Misaki, Japan. The station, which was removed 

 to Misaki in 1S97, now contains two buildings with con- 

 venient workrooms, for which fittings and books are 

 periodically sent from Tokyo in accordance with the needs 

 of investigators. The great feature of the station is the 

 crew of fishermen, who are accustomed to carry on their 

 trade in deep water, with lines which may be as much as 

 a mile in length, and often bring up rarities. The shallow 

 water of the bay yields numerous interesting types — among 

 others a giant Balanoglossus — while from deep water 

 further out are obtained the remarkable shark Mitsurikina, 

 perhaps identical with the Cretaceous Scapanorhynchus, the 

 frilled shark (Chlamydoselachus), and one of the Port 

 Jackson sharks, in addition to numerous interesting inverte- 

 brates, such as swarms of glass-sponges and specimens of 

 the stalked crinoid Metacrinus. 



In No. 10 of vol. ii. of the Circulars and Agricultural 

 Journal of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Ceylon, the director, 

 Mr. J. C. Willis, gives an account of the history of the 

 institution ; originally simply a botanic garden at Pera- 

 deniya, it has gradually developed into one of the greatest 

 botanical and agricultural establishments in the tropics, 

 comprising six botanic gardens with a cultivated area of 

 256 acres in different climates and elevations, three experi- 

 ment stations of a total cultivated area of 360 acres, and 

 forest reserves for scientific purposes of 850 acres. There 

 is a European staff of nine, including four botanists, an, 

 entomologist, and a chemist, and well equipped laboratories, 

 library, museum, and herbarium, all open freely to workers 

 from abroad. No less than twenty-two scientific men have 

 visited Peradeniya for purposes of original research during 

 the last seven years, and the institution now publishes a 

 botanical journal devoted to pure research. 



" The Fungous Diseases of Fruits in Michigan " forms 

 the title of a special Bulletin prepared by Mr. Longyear and 

 issued by the Michigan State Agricultural College. The 

 author has brought into a small compass the diagnoses of 

 fungal pests which attack common fruit trees and plants, 

 together with hints as to preventive or remedial treatment. 



Seeing that no comprehensive account of the flora of 

 Norfolk Island has been published since Endlicher's " Pro- 



