5IO 



NATURE 



^SePTEMRER 2 2, 1904 



compelled the Frithjof to return ; and now it is impossible 

 that another attempt can be made until next year. There 

 has been no news of the America since she left Norway in 

 July, 1903, but, so far as can be ascertained, it was intended 

 that on reaching Franz Josef Land the explorers should 

 establish a supply base, from which forced marches would 

 ■be made in the direction of the Pole. No apprehension is 

 felt concerning the America, for the ship carried provisions 

 for five years, and there are also stores of pemmican and 

 <iothes available. 



Scientific critics in Kerlin are now much exercised with 

 regard to the remarljable performances of " Clever Hans," 

 the thinking horse. According to the daily Press, a re- 

 presentative committee, which included the director of the 

 Berlin Zoological Gardens, a veterinary surgeon, and a 

 professor of the Physiological Institute of the Berlin Uni- 

 versity, witnessed these performances with the view of 

 ascertaining whether they were the result of a trick, or 

 whether they were due to the mental powers of the animal. 

 Their verdict, it is reported, was unanimous in favour of 

 the latter view. It is stated that when told that the day 

 •vvas Tuesday, and asked which day of the week this repre- 

 sented, the horse would give the correct answer by taps. 

 Similarly he will tell not only the hour, but the minutes 

 indicated by a watch ; while he is also reported to be able 

 to record the number of men and of women among a row 

 ■of visitors, and to indicate the tallest and the shortest 

 members of the party. 



It is stated in the Times that Messrs. C. G. Spencer and 

 Sons, of Highbury, have lately constructed, from the designs 

 of Seiior Alvares, a new aeroplane flying machine which 

 does away with the gas vessel and its many risks. The 

 structure consists of two swing-like aeroplanes having a 

 superficial area of 400 square feet ; these are attached to 

 two outstretching and slightly curved arms and fi.xed to a 

 bamboo framework, in shape like a cigar. In the front of 

 this framework is fitted a 2 horse-power motor, which drives 

 two two-bladed tractors — each of them 5 feet in diameter — 

 which are placed one on each side of the frame, and level 

 ■with the motor. At the back of the machine are three 

 rudders, which are worked from the front by means of ropes. 

 Two of the rudders are triangular, and are constructed to 

 move horizontally, for the purpose of controlling the upward 

 and downward motion of the machine, while the other, the 

 largest of the three, which is rectangular, is fitted perpen- 

 dicularly, and is intended to guide the machine to the left 

 or right. The weight of the inachine is 150 lb. without the 

 iieronaut. It does not appear that the invention has any 

 power of raising itself from the ground, as it is stated that 

 during the next few days it is to be taken up by a balloon, 

 »it the Crystal Palace, to an altitude of 5000 feet, when it 

 will be released for the purpose of testing its actual power 

 ■of flight. 



Sir Lowthian Bell was elected president of the Institu- 

 tion of Mining Engineers for the ensuing year at the meet- 

 ing held at Birmingham last week. A paper by Prof. 

 Redmayne read before the meeting is summarised on p. 524. 

 Among other papers read was one by Mr. George Farmer, 

 ■on the problem of gob-fires, in the course of which he 

 pointed out that coal absorbs oxygen quickly, and more 

 ■quickly as the surface open to oxidation increases and as 

 the heat increases, so that any cause which will split up 

 the gob-material will aid in initiating a fire. Moisture 

 assists the oxidation and heatin"- by splitting up the gob- 

 material, so that this may be considered an important factor. 

 In every case in which a fire has been properly located props 

 NO. 1 82 I, VOL. 70] 



left in the goaf, or ribs of coal left against faults, or falls 

 in working stalls burying a rib of coal, have been found to 

 be the origin. In any method of extinction means must be 

 taken for cooling the hot material by the application of 

 substances which will absorb the heat and reduce the 

 temperature to such a degree that combustion entirely ceases 

 in a natural atmosphere, or by the removal of the com- 

 bustible material from the influence of the heat. Mr. J. 

 Cresswell-Roscamp described an improved apparatus for 

 laying dust in coal mines. Water (or other liquid) is forced 

 by pumps into an air-cylinder, which causes a regular and 

 unpulsating column to flow along the pipes and out of 

 sprayers or nozzles fitted with a specially constructed screw 

 apparatus round which the liquid is forced, so as to cause 

 the spray to spread over a circular breadth up to 30 feet. 

 The sprays are in the shape of inverted cones impinging on 

 each other, and become broken up into extremely fine 

 particles, which are carried along by the air current and can 

 clearly be felt from 100 feet to 150 feet behind the apparatus 

 when in motion. 



In the year 1883 the late Sir Cuthbert Peek established 

 an important meteorological station at Rousdon, Devon, 

 midway between Lyme Regis and Seaton, and from time 

 to time various self-recording instruments, including a 

 Dines 's pressure tube anemometer, have been added. The 

 observations have been regularly continued under the super- 

 intendence of the Hon. Lady Peek, and we have received 

 a copy of the results for the year 1903. .As this volume 

 completes a period of twenty years, tables are appended 

 giving the average monthly and annual results for the years 

 1884-93. The observatory is a second order station of the 

 Royal Meteorological Society, and the work is a valuable 

 contribution to the climatology of the south of England. 



We have received the report of the U.S. Weather Bureau 

 for 1902-3. The first part of this elaborate compilation, 

 containing a very interesting account of the administrative 

 work of the year, was referred to in our issue of February 4 

 (vol. Ixix. p. 328). The remaining portions consist of 

 meteorological summaries, including hourly averages from 

 the records of automatic instruments at twenty-eight 

 stations, and monthly and annual means at stations in the 

 United States and West Indies. Among the many valuable 

 miscellaneous tables and reports we may mention especially 

 those showing the accumulated amounts of precipitation for 

 each five minutes at stations in the L'nited States and West 

 Indies supplied with automatic gauges, during all storms 

 in which the rate of fall equalled o 25 inch in five minutes 

 or o^75 inch in one hour. The volume also contains hourly 

 observations at several localities in the West Indies; these 

 are of importance in connection with the study of the 

 destructive hurricanes which frequently occur in those 

 regions. 



It may be of interest to some of our readers to know that 

 very complete meteorological observations, taken three 

 times a day at the Central Meteorological Office at Vienna, 

 together with daily and monthly meians, are regularly pub- 

 lished in the Anzeiger of the Vienna .Academy of Sciences. 

 Further, that the observations for each month are followed 

 by the observations made in connection with the international 

 scientific balloon ascents. We have before us the results 

 of two ascents of manned and one of unmanned balloons 

 in the month of June last. In addition to the summary of 

 the principal facts obtained during the ascents, the actual 

 observations taken every few minutes and explanatory re- 

 marks are given. The publication of these valuable data 

 so soon after their occurrence is of considerable importance 

 for the study of the processes at work in the upper strata 



