414 



NA TURE 



[August 25, 1904 



The Gazette of August 23 gives notice that by the Wire- 

 less Telegraphy Act, 1904, it is provided that a person 

 shall not establish any wireless telegraph station or instal 

 or work any apparatus for wireless telegraphy in any place 

 in the British Isles or on board any British ship in the 

 territorial waters abutting on the coast of the British Isles 

 except under and in accordance with a licence granted in 

 that behalf by the Postmaster-General. Wireless telegraphy 

 is defined bv the Act to mean any system of communication 

 bv telegraph as defined in the Telegraph Acts, 1863 to 1904, 

 without the aid of any wire connecting the points from and 

 at which the messages or other communications are sent 

 and received. 



The death is announced of Dr. George Pirie, professor of 

 mathematics in the University of Aberdeen. 



Dr. H.x.ns Battermann, astronomer at the Berlin Observ- 

 atory, has been appointed director of the observatory and 

 professor of astronomy at Kbnigsberg. 



The Athenaeum announces the death of the well known 

 German geographer, Prof. F. Ratzel, at the age of sixty. 

 .Since 1886 he had been professor at the University of 

 Leipzig. 



The twenty-third annual summer meeting of the English 

 Arboricultural Society took place last week at Aberdeen, 

 when Prof. Fisher, of the R.I.E. College, Coopers Hill, was 

 elected president for the ensuing year. 



-An international exhibition of hygiene, life-saving, first 

 aid, and of industrial arts has been opened at the Grand 

 Palais des Champs Elys^es in Paris by the French Minister 

 of Commerce, M. Georges Trouillot. The exhibition will 

 be open until November. 



The first International Congress of Education and Home 

 Protection of Infants will be held in September of next year 

 in Li^ge in connection with the Universal Exposition at 

 that place. There will be four sections in all, devoted to 

 the following subjects : — (i) Study of childhood ; (2) educa- 

 tion of children (a, general questions ; b, education by 

 parents at home ; c, collaboration of the family with the 

 school ; d, education in the family after the school period) ; 

 (3) abnormal children ; (4) various lines of work relative to 

 childhood. 



According to the Scotsman, Mr. Eagle Clarke, of the 

 Natural History Department of the Edinburgh Museum of 

 Science and Art, will, by permission of the Commissioners 

 of Northern Lights, spend some time during the coming 

 autumn in the lighthouse on the Flannan Islands for the 

 purpose of studying the migratory movements of birds. 

 Since the lighthouse was erected on this outlying group a 

 few years ago it has been ascertained that the islands lie 

 in the course of a considerable stream of migratory birds 

 en route between their northern spring and southern winter 

 quarters, a fact which is of special interest owing to the 

 far westerly situation of the isles, and one which renders 

 it very desirable that the phenomena observed there should 

 be investigated by an expert. Mr. Clarke will also investi- 

 gate the limited terrestrial fauna and flora of the islands, 

 which, owing to their remote situation and the difficulty 

 of landing on them, have not hitherto received attention. 



In a recently published pamphlet entitled " An Introduc- 

 tion to the Study of Forestry in Britain," Sir Harold G. 

 Hewett, Bart., makes an appeal in favour of the so-called 

 new school of forestry, that is, scientific forestry as it is 

 understood and taught on the Continent. In the author's 

 opinion the different works on forestry in the English 

 NO. 1817, VOL. 70] 



language recommend methods differing so widely as to be- 

 wilder the beginner. The object of this booklet is to 

 criticise, compare, and reconcile where possible the advice 

 given by the several writers. The author strongly advocates 

 the adoption of more scientific methods in the treatment of 

 British woodlands, the existing methods being too haphazard 

 and antiquated. 



In celebrating its twenty-seventh annual excursion, the 

 Royal Scottish .\rboricultural Society visited France, where 

 a fortnight was spent inspecting the various types of forests 

 and studying the different methods of forest management 

 as practised there. Three centres were chosen, where the 

 society in turn established its headquarters. The party, 

 numbering seventy members, proceeded first to Nancy, 

 where the forest school and neighbouring forests belong- 

 ing to the State were inspected. After spending several 

 days in Nancy, the e.xcursionists proceeded to Gerardmer, 

 with the object of inspecting the coniferous forest of the 

 Vosges Mountains. During the few days' sojourn in 

 Gerardmer, the party had an opportunity of making a trip 

 on the electric railway to the summit of the Schlucht, the 

 highest point of the French Vosges, which reaches an alti- 

 tude almost equal to that of Ben Nevis. During the ascent 

 many interesting observations were made on the character 

 of the trees and other vegetation according to altitude. 

 On nearing the wind-swept summit, the forest trees became 

 reduced to mere bushes and scrub. From Gerardmer the 

 party then proceeded to Paris, where headquarters were 

 established for the last week of the excursion, when the 

 forests of Villiers Cotterets, Compifegne, and Belleme were 

 visited, which afforded many valuable object lessons in the 

 treatment of beech and oak woods. 



We have received the report of the Meteorological Service 

 of Canada for the year 1902, containing monthly and annual 

 summaries for a large number of stations, including some 

 in Newfoundland and one in Bermuda. Most of the tele- 

 graphic reports are forwarded to the weather bureau at 

 Washington, which office in return supplies the Canadian 

 Service with some si.xty-eight reports from the United 

 States, affording data for a very comprehensive daily weather 

 chart, and for the issue of weather forecasts for all parts 

 of the Dominion lying to the eastward of the Rocky Moun- 

 tains. The percentage of success of these forecasts in each 

 district is given for each month and for the year, and the 

 general total reaches the high figure of 86-6. The predic- 

 tions partly verified are divided by two before being added 

 to the total percentage, which makes the figure quoted even 

 more successful than appears at first sight. The storm 

 warnings attain still higher success;, 88 per cent, were fully, 

 and 95 per cent, were fully and partially, verified. We 

 congratulate the director, Mr. R. F. Stupart, on these verv 

 satisfactory results. 



.\ number of papers dealing with experimental progress 

 in the direction of aerial navigation have reached us during 

 the last few months. .-Xs long ago as November last an 

 illustrated account of the Barton airship was given in the 

 Automotor Journal. Among other peculiarities we notice 

 the use of aeroplanes for raising and lowering the balloon, 

 the introduction of water tanks for maintaining a level 

 keel, and the peculiar form of the propellers, each of which 

 consists of three pairs of blades fixed one behind the other, 

 thus embodying in the propeller the principle of superposed 

 narrow vanes which has been so successfully applied to 

 aeroplanes. In the Revue scientifique (5), i., 2, M. Jean 

 Jaubert gives an account of the aeroplane machine con- 

 structed by Mr. Ernest .\rchdeacon at Berck-sur-Mer 

 (France). A paper communicated to the .American .Associ- 



