158 
NALRORE 
[ DECEMBER 17, 1903 
mean spherical candle-power is approximately 170 candles, 
and the mean hemispherical candle-power for the lower 
hemisphere 290 candles. The maximum candle-power is 
400 candles in a direction vertically downwards. It will 
therefore be seen that the efficiency varies very greatly 
according to the direction in which the candle-power is 
measured. Taking the mean spherical candle-power, which 
is the only value of any use for comparative measurements, 
the consumption of power comes out to 3-3 watts per candle; 
for the mean hemispherical it is 1-9, and for the mean hori- 
zontal 6.6 watts per candle. If, however, the measurement 
be made in the direction of maximum candle-power, the 
consumption of power is only 1-3 watts per candle. The 
general distribution of the light and the values of the mean 
and maximum candle-powers show that this lamp is on a 
par with a small (six to eight ampere) arc as a source of 
illumination. 
WE have received further copies of the Journal of the 
Meteorological Society of Japan (for September and October 
last), containing papers on the climatology of Formosa and 
other important subjects relating chiefly to Japanese meteor- 
ology. The articles are all in Japanese, but the promise of 
issuing some in European languages is reiterated. We look 
forward with pleasure to the fulfilment of the promise, as 
the proceedings of this energetic society will doubtless be 
of much interest to our readers. 
Tue weather for the present month is proving very dis- 
appointing, and, after a few days with somewhat low 
temperatures at the commencement, the conditions have 
again become cyclonic with the usually accompanying mild 
and damp south-westerly winds blowing from off the re- 
latively warm waters of the Atlantic. Disturbances are again - 
reaching us with considerable frequency, and the rains which 
are occurring over the whole country are considerably 
augmenting the already excessive falls for the present year. 
At Greenwich the fall for 1903 is now approximately 35 
inches, and is about an inch in excess of 
annual record during the last sixty years. The storm areas 
which have arrived over us recently have had the barometer 
as low as 29 inches, and gales have been experienced at 
many places in exposed positions on our coasts. 
A CORRESPONDENT sends us an extract from a letter de- 
scribing an aurora observed at Calgary, Canada, on 
October 31, when auroral displays were seen in many parts 
of the world (see this vol. p. 9). At Calgary a peculiar light 
was noticed in the sky about 6.30 p.m. Large and beautiful 
vertical shafts of coloured light were first seen moving 
about the sky. ‘‘ Presently the shafts began to lower, vastly 
increased in size and number, until their lower tips touched 
the ground (objects about half a mile off could be 
seen through them) and the upper tips met in the zenith, 
losing themselves among the stars directly overhead. They 
formed a perfect apse, bright ruby above, and coming 
through purple and greenish tints to gold at the bottom. 
The apse shivered and shook out all sorts of colours, and 
literally chased me in the buggy, the nearer huge shafts 
being but a few yards off. A horse in a field alongside tore 
madly round in terror. A few minutes later there were 
only a few stray but grand shafts left.’ 
Some experiments on the influence of a magnetic field 
on a tuning fork are described by Mr. O. Kirstein in the 
Physikalische Zeitschrift, and lead to the results that if the 
lines of force are perpendicular to the plane the frequency 
is increased; if parallel it is diminished; at an angle of 
45° no change occurs; the decrease in the second case is 
NO. 1781, VOL. 69] 
any previous | 
| the destruction of mongooses. 
greater than the increase in the first; the changes are in 
every case proportional to the field, and the action of the 
magnetism is only temporary. These results, some of which 
agree with previous investigations, have an important 
practical application in connection with electrically excited 
tuning forks. 
Tue frequent use of sill suspension fibres in physical 
laboratories renders the determination of the elastic con- 
stants of silk a problem of considerable interest. This 
problem forms the subject of a paper by M. F. Beaulard 
in the Journal de Physique, in which hysteresis curves are 
drawn showing the elongations produced by traction. The 
most remarkable conclusions drawn are, firstly, that the 
curve ultimately tends to become a straight line, the 
hysteresis then vanishing ; and, secondly, that the value of 
Poisson’s ratio, calculated from observations of the be- 
haviour of the fibre under traction and torsion, is about 
1-56, and this high value supports the view that silk is 
not isotropic. 
A GRACEFUL tribute to the venerable Japanese botanist, Ito 
Keisuk{, is paid by Mr. Botting Hemsley by the establish- 
ment of a new genus of the Bixineze under the name Itoa. 
Dr. Tokutaro Ito, who is associated with his grandfather 
in the compliment, has followed in the paths of his illustrious 
ancestor in his systematic contribution entitled ‘‘ Planta 
Sinenses Yoshianz.’’ 
In 1894 Prof. Carmody published a summary of the 
industrial resources of the island of Trinidad, and in a small 
pamphlet recently issued he uses this as a basis of com- 
parison with the conditions and general trade returns of 
the island for the year 1902-3. The principal export, sugar 
and sugar products, has, of course, decreased considerably, 
but there is a balancing increase in the amount of cacao. 
Another important product is that of asphalt, which has 
also steadily increased in amount. A striking feature of 
the statistics is the rising value of imports from Canada. 
Tue Barbados Agricultural Reporter of November 18 
contains a report of a meeting of the Legislative Council 
of the island at which it was resolved to offer rewards for 
With this, it may be hoped, 
we shall soon hear the last of an ill-starred experiment in 
acclimatisation. 
A cIRCULAR has recently been issued by Messrs. Stejneger 
and Miller, the well-known American naturalists, urging 
the governing body of the Carnegie Institution to undertake 
a thorough and detailed biological survey of the eastern 
Holarctic region, on the plan followed by Dr. C. H. 
Merriam in the United States. Despite the gigantic nature 
of this undertaking, it is estimated that it might be com- 
pleted within ten years. 
Amonc several other articles in the Journal of the Quekett 
Microscopical Club for November, we may refer to one by 
Mr. W. H. Harris on the emission of musical notes by 
the hover-flies of the genus Eristalis, and on the habit from 
which they take their name. It appears that the thoracic 
spiracles of these insects carry a couple of crescentic 
chitinous rods joined by a ligament, so as to form a bow. 
A large bundle of muscles is attached to these rods, which 
supports a number of delicate membranes pleated in a com- 
plex manner. The air-chamber is kept inflated by the 
movements of the fly, and the musical notes are apparently 
produced by bringing the pleated edges of the membranes 
close together and expelling, by muscular action, the air 
from the chamber with sufficient force to set them vibrating. 
