October 17. [918 



NATURE 



logical aspect, thest an mon elaborate than those 

 employed in this country. In addition to the deter- 

 mination of reflex times to visual, auditory, and 

 cutaneous stimuli by the usual methods, a method is 

 employed by which the subjecl musl perform appro- 

 priate movements according to the nature of the 

 stimulus given. Graphic records of "emotivi re- 

 actions" are also taken by means of the pneumo- 

 graph. In addition, the power of attention, jiuli;- 

 ment, and observation are tested. Results are also 

 given of observations upon the pulse-rate, arterial 

 pressure, and respiratory rate. These results are 

 generally in e with those noted by other 



observers \- regards the pulse-rate, this is found 

 io accelerate with increasing altitude, hut to remain 

 approximately constant while at a certain height. 

 During descent there is at first a slighl augmentation 

 1 1, followed by a gradual diminution, but on 

 landing there is always an increased rale compared 

 with thai at the beginning of the ascent. In regard 

 arterial pressure, it is found during ascent that 

 the systolii pressure first falls slightly and then rises, 

 while the diastolic pressun gradually falls; during 

 descent the systolic pressure falls, while the diastolic 

 pressun again rises. After a flight there is always 

 a hypotension. In rate, respiration follows the 

 pulse, hut to a less degree. The author has also 

 made investigations in regard to the composition 

 of the blood "of aviators. He has observed an 

 augmentation of the haemoglobin index and of the 

 number of red corpuscles in most pilots of long ex- 

 perience. \- regards the rather vexed Question as to 

 whither thi- is due to a concentration of the blood or 

 to the new formation of red corpuscles, the author 

 inclines to the latter view. 



An abnormal change of air-temperature at Tokyo 

 anil Sinagawa on March 20 last is dealt with in the 

 Journal of the Meteorological Society of Japan for 

 August, 1918, l>\ K6saku Sigetomi. At Tokyo the 

 thermograph -In, wed a rise of temperature amounting 

 F, in twenty minutes, followed immediately l>\ 

 a sudden fall of v s I' • in the next ten minutes, and at 

 the same time at Sinagawa, about 5'. miles south of 

 Tokyo, the air-temperature rose 14 P. in fifty 

 minutes. Such an abrupt change of temperature in 

 so short a time i> said to be rare, and on December to, 

 n> 1 -, the amplitude is said to have been 17-6° F. in 

 about twenty minutes, but it is not noted whether 

 the change was a rise or fall. A weather-chart is 

 given for 2 a.m. March 20 to explain the change 

 of temperature, and it is attributed to the presence 

 of a cyclonic disturbance over the Japan Sea and to 

 the passage of secondary disturbances in the south- 

 western quadrant of the parent disturbance. A 

 diagram is also given showing the records of the 

 thermographs at several stations, with the wind direc- 

 tions at each hour, which shows very different results 

 for stations in tin- north and in the south of Japan. 

 The movements .,f cyclonic disiiulian.es in Japan are 

 similai 10 those followed in the British Isles, and sub- 

 sidiar\ cyclonii disturbances are clearly subject to the 

 same laws. In March the normal winds are northerly, 

 with a high barometric pressure over Asia and a low 

 pressure in the North Pacific. Charts for the period 

 dealt with have not yet been received in this country, 

 so that the details given cannot bi easily followed 

 or criticised. Thi is somewhat similar to 



the changes of temperature not unusually experienced 

 in parts of the British Isles when a "V "-shaped 

 --inn or a line-squall is passing over the country. 



According to a Press dispatch from Amsterdam 

 (quoted in Engineering and Mining Journal. 

 August t"i, the discovery that Germat dees not hold 

 NO. 2555. VOL. I02") 



a world-tnonopolj ol potash comes as a great blow 



e e, ,,n, .mists who thought thai German) could 

 imp,,- her own terms for the supply after the war. 

 I he 1 ,,,yei ntnetit ha- jus i a report to the 



Reichstag pointing out that Spain has unexpectedly 



entered the market as .. largi ; 1 ; potash, and 



urging the German mineo 1 thi ir forces 



1,, meet the new situation. 



I'm-: Austrian Treason (according I 1 1 epo I in the 

 Zeitschrift des Oesterreichischen Ingenieur- und 

 irchitekten-Vereines, fulj 26) has decid tinue 



the investigations on a large scale into the occuri 

 ..I mineral oil and natural gas in Hungarv, as the 

 experiments recently made with the EiStvo 

 pendulum have given encouraging results. A large 

 sum has been set aside for the work, which will be 

 carried out by a number of geophysicists. 'Hi. v 

 of Hungary will be systematical!) investigated from 

 the point of view of the occurrence of mineral-oil 

 deposits. 



New regulations have been issued by the Physi- 



kalis. h-Technische Reichsanstall (Elektrotechnische 

 Zeitschrift, July 4) regarding the testing of electrical 

 meters. The complete outfit consists of transformers 

 and one or more meters. During the testing of the 

 instruments all auxiliary apparatus (power, current, 

 voltage indicators, relays, etc.) thai are to be actuated 

 bv the transformer in practice must be connected up 

 or replaced bv substitute resistano - and coils with the 

 correct energv consumption and power factor. If the 

 secondarv leads of a current transformer exceed 

 0-15 ohm, an equivalent resistance must be inserted 

 during test. 



Carl Goldschmidt discusses in Technik und Wirt- 

 schaft for August the question of the more thorough 

 utilisation of the bv-products of coal and lignite in 

 gasworks, slow-combustion plants, extracting plants, 

 etc. He points out that many of the valuable "key" 

 products akin to naphtha are wholly or partially wasted 

 in the processes at present in use. By proper thermal 

 treatment of lignite in suitable plant and the sub- 

 sequent careful treatment of the resultant products, 

 it should be possible to secure even greater independ- 

 ence of foreign sources of supply of lubricants and 

 of burning and lighting oils in the future. 



La Nature of August 24 contains an interesting 

 account of the recent discoveries in the so-called Lyons 

 coalfield, which is, in effect, a concealed extension 

 of the Saint Etienne coalfield on the left bank of the 

 Rhone, south of Lyons. Whilst the first attempts 

 to prove this area date hack s. . far as 1S55, it is only 

 within the last few years that the existence of work- 

 able seams has been successfully demonstrated. The 

 various borings are described in some detail in the 

 original paper. The results show a long, narrow coal- 

 field or, possibly, a string of small basins. The 

 seams are narrow and the coal measures rela- 

 tively deep, probably in some cases more than 2000 ft. 

 below tb. surface. The coal is, however, a gas-coal 

 .,! excellent quality, and the geographical position 

 of the field, .lose to an important industrial centre 

 like Lyons, is much in its favour. So far it is not 

 supposed that the output is likely to exceed greatly 

 on. million tons per annum. There are, furthermore, 

 indications that oil-shales may also exist in thi- field. 



We have received from the Board of Agriculture a 

 copy of the Food Production Leafli .i.i, which 



.l.als with the storage of sulphat. of ammonia on 

 farms. It is pointed out that, whether the sulphate 

 is si, ned in bags or loose in a heap, the building in 



