January 28, 1904] 
NATURE 
393 
sociological teaching in London University. With that ex- 
ception there is at present no provision in British universi- 
ties for studies specifically sociological. This country is 
also alone among leading nations in having neither a 
journal of sociological studies nor a special library of socio- 
logical literature. In addition to directing attention to 
these national deficiencies, the Sociological Society is 
making particular efforts to organise a reference library of 
sociology and to establish a journal of sociology. Par- 
ticulars referring to the society’s origin, purpose and pro- 
gramme may be obtained by application to the secretary, 
5 Old Queen Street, Westminster, S.W. 
Earty in September, 1900, Galveston was devastated by 
a storm and a great wave which overwhelmed the bank on 
which the city is built. To prevent the recurrence of this 
disaster, the whole city—buildings, streets, boulevards, 
parks, theatres, residences and quays—in fact, everything 
now resting on the present ground level, are, says Trans- 
port, to be lifted up 17 feet in the air, and the space between 
the old and the new levels will be filled in, so that the city 
will be actually that number of feet higher than it is at 
present. The cost of this undertaking is estimated to be 
some three and a half million dollars, and the contract for 
lifting the city has been awarded to Messrs. Goedhart 
Brothers, of New York City, in cooperation with Mr. Lindon 
W. Bates, the engineer who devised the scheme for making 
‘Galveston flood-procf. 
Tue Autocopyist Company has sent us one of its 
“Black Boxes.’’ This is really a form of small port- 
able changing bag, and should be found useful to every 
phctographer, whether amateur or professional, whilst 
travelling. The term ‘‘ box’’ is rather a misnomer, for it 
is really not a box at all. The black cloth, form- 
ing the dark space,.is very ingeniously made to fold 
up or out by means of two sets of wire frames after 
the principle of an umbrella, the lower portion having 
a larger circumference than the upper; when expanded the 
whole arrangement is placed on a bench or table and is 
ready for uSe. There are two sleeves for the insertion of 
the arms and one for the head, all of which have elastic 
extremities to fit tight to keep out the light. There is also 
a small window covered with red cloth, and a separate 
celluloid red sheet to place over this window. Altogether 
this portable dark room looks as if it would prove very 
serviceable, for it is well made, light, and closes up into 
a small compass. 
Tue Deutsche Seewarte (Hamburg) has recently made an 
addition to its useful contributions to maritime meteorology 
by the publication of a quarterly pilot chart for the North 
Sea and Baltic. The first issue is for the present winter, and 
every available space is occupied by valuable information 
for navigators and others. The mean frequency of wind 
direction for various parts of the different coasts is shown 
by wind-stars giving percentages of the observations by lines 
radiating from a central circle in which is shown the number 
of calms; the percentage of wind direction for any point 
of the compass can be easily measured from a given scale. 
The mean tracks of storms are laid down in the usual way, 
together with the average minima of barometric pressure. 
Three subsidiary charts show (1) the mean isobars and pre- 
valent wind direction; (2) the average air temperature; (3) 
the mean temperature of the sea surface and average pre- 
valence of fog. The reverse side of the chart is occupied 
by a series of maps showing the tidal currents on the coasts 
of the British Islands and north-west Europe for each hour 
NoO.1787, VOL. 69] 
following the flood and ebb tides at Dover. In addition to 
the data exhibited by the charts, the text contains much 
useful information relating to the prevalence of storms, ice 
and other matters. 
Tue Meteorological Office Atlantic pilot chart for 
February contains an interesting article by Dr. Shaw on 
‘Buys Bailot’s Law and Trajectories of Air.’’ Several 
diagrams are given representing the air movements during 
the passage across our islands of two cyclonic systems, that 
of Noven:ber 12-13, 1901, moving at the rate of 15 miles 
an hour, attended by hard gales and heavy rain, and that 
of March 24-25, 1902, moving at the rate of 25 miles an 
hour, attended by strong winds and gales and but little 
rain. The circumstances in the two cases differ also in the 
general disposition of atmospheric pressure and the be- 
haviour of the barometer in the surrounding regions. 
There is, consequently, a wide divergence in the air trajec- 
tories of the two systems. From a consideration of the 
facts presented we are ‘‘ led to associate changes of surface 
velocity with exchange of air between the surface and the 
upper regions, unless they can be accounted for by alter- 
ations of area. Exchanges between the surface and the 
upper air are connected with temperature change and 
generally also with rainfall, and thus the vicissitudes of the 
air along its trajectories may have a very close connection 
with the special character of the weather changes associated 
with the passage of depressions.” To the mariner the 
questions raised are of more than passing interest, for the 
article touches upon the question of ascending and descend- 
ing air currents, which can be established or verified by the 
effects produced upon meteorological instruments or upon 
the surface of the sea. Every sailor has observed how the 
wind in some storms beats down the sea, while in others 
it raises a tumultuous sea. There is reason to suppose that 
in the former case the wind is a descending current, in the 
latter an ascending current. It is to be hoped that officers 
will supply careful notes on these different characteristics 
of wind and sea, as the subject is one of great importance 
from a meteorological point of view, and up to the present 
has not been investigated. 
Aw interesting paper on a familiar subject, the relation of 
temperature to the keeping property of milk, has reached 
us from Storrs, Connecticut. The view of the writer, 
Mr. H. W. Conn, the well-known dairy bacteriologist, is 
that the keeping of milk is more a matter of temperature 
than of cleanliness. He points out that at 50° F. milk 
may not curdle for two weeks, whereas at zo° F. it may 
keep but forty-eight hours, and at 95° F. but eighteen hours. 
This curdling is due to the action of bacteria, and the effect 
of temperature on their multiplication is surprising. Thus 
at 50° the ordinary milk organisms increase about 5-fold 
in twenty-four hours, but at 70° they may multiply 750-fold 
in the same time. The optimum temperature for different 
species varies considerably. At 70° the ordinary B. lactis 
acidi develops rapidly, while at 95° the undesirable lactic 
ferment B. lactis aerogenes develops quickly and the 
ordinary form dces not. At 50° neither of the lactic ferments 
makes much growth, but putrefactive bacteria develop, and 
though these may not make the milk sour, they make it 
unwholesome. Milk which has been kept sweet by ex- 
posure to low temperatures should be viewed with suspicion. 
Tue fourth report of the Royal Commission on Sewage 
Disposal, which has just been published, deals with the 
pollution of tidal waters, with special reference to con- 
tamination of shell-fish. The state that 
they are satisfied that a considerable number of cases of 
Commissioners 
