September i, 1904] 



NATURE 



445 



The value and possibilities of wireless telegraphy as a 

 journalistic adjunct are described in Saturday's Times by 

 the special correspondent who established a wireless tele- 

 graph system at the theatre of war operations in the Far 

 East with such success that both the belligerents regarded 

 the enterpi-ise as dangerous to their interests. The Japanese 

 Government placed such limitations upon the free move- 

 ments of the Haimuii — the vessel chartered by the Times 

 for its wireless telegraph service — that this means of 

 communication was discontinued of necessity ; and there 

 seems little doubt that in future the use of all systems of 

 wireless communication will be controlled by international 

 law. The De Forest system, with its telephonic receiver, 

 was adopted by the Times correspondent as most suitable 

 for war messages, as it will allow the operators to record 

 twenty to thirty words a minute, and its usefulness is not 

 impaired by the working of other systems in the vicinity. 

 The land station was at Wei-hai-wei, where a mast 170 feet 

 high was erected. Even with a mast 90 feet high and 

 102 feet exposure of wire on board the moving ship, there 

 was not the slightest difficulty in keeping up intercom- 

 munication at a distance of 100 sea miles. With the 170 feet 

 mast on land, perfect communication was established over 

 a distance of 180 sea miles, and on one occasion over 210 

 miles. A long message sent from a point 155 miles from 

 the land station had to cross 30 miles of the mountainous 

 corner of the Shan-tung promontory, the hills of which vary 

 from 200 feet to i860 feet in height, yet the message reached 

 its destination. As soon as the apparatus was in working 

 order, both Russian and Japanese messages were received 

 by the operator, who could easily recognise the difference 

 in the systems employed, and by this means it was possible 

 approximately to tell the distance of the Haimun from the 

 various ships. Moreover, the operator began to recognise 

 the notes of various ships, that is to say, he could tell if a 

 Russian ship was at sea by listening for the answering 

 communication from the shore. He could also detect 

 whether the Japanese messages were being transmitted by 

 relay to the naval base or whether the fleet itself was at sea. 

 The information thus obtained guided the movements of 

 the correspondent, and thus assisted the enterprise, which 

 has had to be abandoned on account of the restrictions placed 

 upon it. 



In Nature of June 2, Dr. H. A. Wilson pointed out 

 (p. loi) that Prof. Rutherford's value for the absorption 

 coefficient of a rays is nearly 2000 times greater than 

 Lenard's value for the absorption coefficient of j3 rays of 

 the same speed. He suggested, as an explanation, that the 

 a rays consist of positive electrons having a radius 2000 

 times smaller than negative electrons. Prof. W. H. Bragg, 

 of the University of Adelaide, in a letter which the limit- 

 ations of space prevent us from publishing, gives reasons 

 for believing that the a rays penetrate further than ;8 rays 

 of the same speed because they do not suffer from deflection 

 by collision, whereas ;3 radiation of this speed is very much 

 affected thereby. 



The results of an attempt to derive formuUe by which 

 the effect of wind and atmospheric pressure on the tides 

 could be calculated were given by Mr. F. L. Ortt in Nature 

 several years ago (1897, vol. Ivi. pp. 80-84). Dr. Wegemann 

 informs us that these formulae are printed in the Getijtafels 

 for 1904, though they are only true for the deep water at 

 the Hook of Holland and Ymuiden. Theoretical consider- 

 ations have shown that the tables are not applicable to 

 shallow water (Wegemann, Annalen der Hydrogr., 1904, v.). 

 Dr. Wegemann suggests that in deriving a general formula 

 it would be desirable to name the directions of the wind, not 

 NO. 18 18, VOL. 70] 



according to the compass, btif ■ to the angle af^which 

 they touch the coast. The places should also be grouped 

 according to depth, coast-line, and formation of the sea 

 floor. 



During each of the months April to June last, the usual 

 scientific balloon ascents have taken place in the countries 

 which generally participate in these useful e.xperiments. 

 Some of the flights have attained great altitudes, e.g. three 

 registering balloons sent up by Baron v. Bassus, from 

 Munich, averaged more than 19,000 metres. Two ascents, 

 from Pavlovsk and from Itteville (near Paris), attained 

 17,600 metres or more, and one from Trappes reached 16,540 

 metres. Kite ascents were also made each month by Mr. 

 Rotch at Blue Hill (U.S.), and in May and June by Mr. 

 Dines at Oxshott (Surrey). The value of these researches 

 is recognised by the Royal .\cademy of Sciences of Amster- 

 dam, which has awarded the Buys-Ballot medal for 1903 

 to Messrs. R. Assmann, director of the Aeronautical Observ- 

 atory at Tegel (near Berlin), and A. Berson, of the same 

 institution, for " the great services they have rendered to 

 the development of meteorology " by means of daily observ- 

 ations of the upper air, and as editors of, and contributors 

 to, an elaborate work on scientific balloon ascents. 



From a report which we have received, it is seen that 

 the present Meteorological Service in Japan is highly 

 organised and more centralised than in this country. It 

 is placed under the direction of the Central Observatory at 

 Tokio, and under the supervision of the Minister of 

 Education, who determines the sites of the provincial 

 stations ; any persons who desire to erect meteorological 

 stations (except for rainfall only) must obtain the necessary 

 sanction from the Minister. All provincial stations of the 

 first and second orders have to forward monthly and annual 

 registers to the Central Observatory, while stations of the 

 third order (of which there are more than 1200) send their 

 observations to the " provincial " stations to which they 

 belong. The method of taking observations and the reduc- 

 tions are made in accordance with the regulations of the 

 International Meteorological Committee, and each station 

 is inspected once in three or four years. The principal 

 publications are the daily weather map, monthly and annual 

 reports, and a monthly weather review. The text of 

 the daily weather map is given in English and Japanese. 

 Storm warning telegrams are issued to some 360 stations, 

 and signals are hoisted by day and night. The average 

 success of weather forecasts is 82 per cent., and that of 

 storm warnings 70 per cent. Maritime meteorology has 

 been carried on since 1888 ; all ships with a tonnage exceed- 

 ing 100 tons forward logs to the Central Observatory. 

 Much attention is given to earthquake phenomena and to 

 magnetic observations, and since 1880 several expeditions 

 have been made from time to time to high mountains in 

 various portions of the Empire to investigate the processes 

 of the higher strata of the atmosphere. The present director 

 of the service is K. Nakamura. 



The first part of a new serial, Memoirs of Natural Sciences 

 of the Brooklyn Museum, is devoted to an account of the 

 medusas of the Bahamas, by Mr. A. G. Mayer. Numerous 

 new forms are described, and the author directs special 

 attention to the difference between the medusa-fauna of the 

 Bahamas and that of the Tortugas — a difference correlated 

 with physical differences in the two areas. 



We have received the July issues of the Emu and the 

 Victorian Naturalist, the contents of both of which are 

 chiefly devoted to matters of local interest, although a new 

 kestrel from Western Australia is described in the former. 



