NOVEMBER 19, 1903] 
NATURE 
37 
Perry. Is it not surprising that a method which Prof. 
Perry himself considers very important should have to reach 
England from Germany by the circuitous path of the United 
States ? 
The reorganisation of technical education in England has 
occupied the wisest men in England for the past thirty 
years. It seems to be of so much importance that it has 
been made the subject of Sir Norman Lockyer’s recent 
presidential address before the British Association. It 
seems to me that a plea might well be made for the acquisi- 
tion of a reading knowledge of modern languages, 
especially French and German, in the advanced public 
schools. Prof. Perry re-discovered in an American paper, 
eighteen years after its first publication, a very important 
method for constructing a curve continually used in thermo- 
dynamics. Nineteen years ago Prof. Herrmann originated 
and described the entropy diagram, so often attributed to 
Mr. Macfarlane Gray, through whose admirable paper, read 
in 1889, the entropy diagram has since come into general 
use. There are a number of similar cases which might be 
cited in favour of the cultivation of a reading knowledge 
of those modern languages which are apt to contain valuable 
contributions to scientific knowledge. Forty-three years 
ago Prof. Huxley wrote, ‘‘ What is it that constitutes and 
makes man what he is? What is it but his power of 
language—that language giving him the means of record- 
ing his experience—making every generation somewhat 
wiser than its predecessor—more in accordance with the 
established order of the universe? What is it but this power 
of speech, of recording experience, which enables men to 
be men... .’’ We might paraphrase Huxley’s words and 
apply them to the advantage that a knowledge of the 
modern languages gives its owner in regard to utilising 
the experience of other men and nations. 
B. A. BEHREND. 
Station H, Norwood, Cincinnati, Ohio, October 26. 
Ir was of very little importance to me to find out whether 
the method was new; the important thing was that it was 
not generally known in England, that I, who read a good 
deal, had never seen the method, and that many of my friends 
who read French and German engineering books more than 
I do had never seen it. I may say without any contrition 
that there are useful things not only in French and German, 
but in Italian, Russian, and Chinese, as well as in English 
books unknown to me and to many other people, but surely 
this is not enough for an argument for the absolute 
necessity for a study of Chinese or German. Before our 
“advanced public schools ’’ take up the study of French and 
German or Chinese, I should like to see them take up the 
study of English. In America and Scotland English is 
really well taught in many schools; this is not the case in 
England. J. Perry. 
November 11. 
The Leonid Shower of 1903. 
QuiTE an abundant and attractive display of Leonids was 
observed here this morning (Monday, November 16). I 
began to watch the north-eastern sky at midnight (follow- 
ing November 15), and found meteors increasingly numerous. 
After 2 a.m. November 16, the numbers appearing in 
alternate intervals of fifteen minutes were as follows :— 
h. m h. m. Leonids 
INOvestOl-+-112) LOluto! 2\) 15ita.m. 10 
BeSOMMtOn 2/4 5uise 14 
3 OR ALONT S| 15) S59. 13 
oo) LON35 45) fos 13 
4 Oo to 4 15 355 26 
4 30 to 4 45 » 34 
Se OmtOne S55) 28 
Ree OMOMIH TEA Ge, irc d cumin. (42 
6 o to 6 TS 5) > ; 21 
The horary rate of apparition for one observer was 
approximately as under :— 
Leonids 
() [RIB A oo) een 16 
1 UO BR Sos tot) dope bdoue eee 20 
ZO RES series bec metecs ote Lice; | 48 
3) WO) CN as 6 Been Scholl icon! Logan Cop? 
Giy [OU Q aah, 9 recch coe ecco | Seem Fegan 40) 
5 to 6 140 
NOW L777; VOL. 69| e. 
Maximum 5h. 30m. to 5h. 45m. a.m., when the rate was 
nearly three per minute. 
The position of the radiant point was at 151°+22°, and it 
formed an area about 6 degrees in diameter, The great 
majority of the meteors, however, diverged accurately from 
the central part of the area. 
During the minute following 3h. 44m, a.m. five Leonids 
appeared. 
The meteors generally were very bright, and compara- 
tively few were seen fainter than second magnitude. The 
more conspicuous objects were as follow :— 
Nov. 16 Mag. From To 
a.m a Cy a 5 
h, m. 5 ° 
Ol Yoco 1 ab HR See 103 + 23% 
Lois eee LOS. ed 97 «534 
PN BY) oon SHAS oo) IUGR eeen 98 26} 
Be PB ceo Th ncn 383 168 44 
244) eee OO. Vk mlsen 03 
4 AiR BE . 1684 37 186 45 
Ae 2a) eee O 7Oleee Lop ES9) 
AY as Ta HES I te UE) BP) 
AER eet al bon OL G3) cco GS Ges 
tke Walsaer aa ous HFSS a2 134072 
ary Neer SOE Soak diie; 29 2222, 
4c | Ue eee 7Oleeen 40a 200" 147 
Oe eS asea eed . 182 51 195 552 
A few meteors were noticed from minor showers, two 
particularly interesting objects being :— 
a.m. 
h, m. : A - F, 
Sued Cees . 219 + 63 . 209 + 61} 
G) ea! 3 . 178 TOM 223i a4 
These moved very slowly, and probably belonged to radiants 
at 262°+62° and 147°—11° respectively. 
I should be glad to hear of duplicate observations 
of any of the above, as it is desirable to compute their real 
paths if the necessary materials can be obtained. 
Bristol, November 16. W. F. DENNING. 
Autophyllogeny in the Vine (Vitis). 
I LATELY received from a neighbour a vine-leaf, taken 
from his own garden, exhibiting the uncommon phenomenon 
known as ‘‘ autophyllogeny.’? A small green leaf had 
arisen from the midrib, near the apex of the central lobe, 
upon the upper surface of the leaf. The supernumerary leaf 
was sessile, and had its upper surface turned towards the 
corresponding surface of the primary leaf, in the same direc- 
tion of growth. The leaflet appeared to be of the normal 
shape, but, owing to a slight malformation, it was not 
fully expanded, and I could not therefore entirely satisfy 
myself upon this point. 
Dr. Masters, in his ‘‘ Vegetable Teratology,’ cites in- 
stances in which supernumerary leaflets have been observed 
upon the upper surfaces of leaves of Heterocentron and 
Miconia, and upon the under surfaces of leaves of other 
plants, but I cannot find any record of their occurrence in 
the vine. HERBERT CAMPION. 
Walthamstow, Essex. 
’ 
The “ Dew-bow.” 
On Wednesday and Thursday, November 4 and 5, 
fogs prevailed in this district and brought by mild winds 
great quantities of carbonaceous dust from over the town, 
which covered the surface of the top pond in Vernon Park 
with a dry film. On the morning of Friday, November 6, 
hoar frost covered the grass and walks; the film of dust on 
the pond was covered with a glistening coat of minute 
watery globules. At 11.20, standing with my back to the 
sun, I noticed a bright streak of light on the surface of the 
water, and on moving a few feet further saw that it was 
split up into the colours of the prismatic spectrum, and 
presented the appearance of the rainbow, as it appeared 
curved. There were two spectra, one fainter than the other. 
The phenomenon was visible for more than four hours, and 
I directed the attention of several gentlemen to it. In 
November, 1885, Mr. Thomas Kay, Moorfield, Stockport, 
saw a similar phenomenon on Lake Windermere, and pub- 
