162 
NAT ORE 
[DECEMBER 17, 1896 
cylinder between the poles of a magnet, with the axis of rotation 
perpendicular to the lines of force. If a beam of polarised light 
traversed the cylinder in the direction of the lines of force, 
Villari found that the rotation of the plane of polarisation de- 
creased as the velocity of rotation of the cylinder increased, so 
as to become zero for a velocity of about 200 turns per second. 
He explained this result as being due to the molecules of the 
glass requiring a finite time to acquire the power of rotating the 
plane of polarised light. The author, in order to test the 
accuracy of Villari’s deduction, has examined the optical pro- 
perties of the rotating glass cylinder, and he finds the following :— 
The effect of centrifugal force on the glass is to virtually con- 
stitute it a bi-refringent body, with its axis parallel to the axis of 
rotation. Hence, unless the plane of polarisation of the incident 
light is parallel or perpendicular to the axis of rotation, the 
emergent light is elliptically polarised. The author, making 
use of this discovery, then arranged the plane of polarisation 
either parallel or perpendicular to the axis of rotation, and 
found that in a magnetic field of sucha strength that the rotation 
was about 5°, so that the plane of polarisation of the emergent 
light remained practically either parallel or perpendicular to the 
axis of rotation, no change in the rotation produced by the 
magnetic field was produced by rotating the cylinder even at 
velocities exceeding 200 turns per second. Hence he concludes 
that the bi-refringence induced by the rotation may have vitiated 
Villari’s results. 
In Sczevce of May 1, 1896, Prof. Bigelow says :—‘‘ A scientific 
knowledge of the action of the currents in cyclones and anti- 
cyclones can be obtained only by a determined attack upon the 
physics of the upper levels of the atmosphere.” Following out 
this idea, and owing to the impetus given to the systematic study 
of the clouds by the action of the Meteorological Conference at 
Munichin 1891, Mr. H. B. Boyer, the Weather Bureau observer 
at Key West, Florida, has published a pamphlet entitled 
** Atmospheric Circulation in Tropical Cyclones, as shown by 
the Movement of the Clouds.” The observations were begun in 
1891,.and in the treatment of the data each storm is taken in its 
chronological order, while the different currents and the bearing 
of the centre are shown on diagrams. The conclusions as to 
the behaviour of the upper and lower clouds in tropical storms 
are, so faras they go, valuable, and agree, upon the whole, with 
those found to obtain in our latitudes. 
Sfelunca continues to publish accounts of cave exploration 
in various parts of the world. No, 7-8 of vol. ii. contains some 
good views of cliffs and caves in the Liparis, along with other 
interesting matter. 
Two publications of the Geological Survey of Alabama have 
come to hand. One is a very detailed description of the iron 
industry of that State; the other (Bzzd/etin No. 5) is a pre- 
liminary report on the mineral resources of the Upper Gold 
Belt, with petrographical descriptions of the crystalline rocks. 
PHYSICAL investigators and instrument makers will be 
interested to know that Prof. C. V. Boys contributes to the 
Electrician of December 11, the first part of a detailed description 
of the method of making and manipulating the fine quartz fibres 
for which his name is famous. 
Tue Belfast Naturalists’ Field Club has issued, as an ap- 
pendix to its Proceedings, a ‘* Bibliography of Irish Glacial and 
Post-Glacial Geology,” by R. Ll. Praeger. This contains a 
list of over 700 books and papers, varying in importance from 
a geological survey memoir to an anonymous letter to a local 
newspaper. A subject-index and a geographical index are 
added. It should prove of great value both to Irish and to 
‘glacial’ geologists ; while in the thoroughness with which it 
has been compiled, and the method of cataloguing, it may 
serve as a model to all local bibliographers. 
NO. 1416, VOL. 55] 
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A DETAILED discussion of the meteorological conditions at 
Frankfurt a.M., from observations extending over thirty-six 
years (1857-92), has been completed by Dr. Julius Ziegler and 
Prof. Dr. Walter Konig, and is now published under the title 
“*Das Klima von Frankfurt am Main” (C. Naumann). The 
observations, which were made under the auspices of the 
Physikalische Verein, have been subjected to a very careful 
analysis, and the results are expressed diagrammatically upon 
ten full-page plates and several figures in the text. 
THREE local scientific societies have lately sent us reports 
comprising papers read at their meetings. In the Zyansactéons 
of the Edinburgh Field Naturalists’ and: Microscropical Society 
| (1894-96), we notice papers on Daubenton’s Bat ( Vespertzlio 
Daubentonz), as observed and captured in Glen Dochart, Perth- 
shire, the geology of Arran, trout and their influence in purify- 
ing water, the little Auk, poisonous plants, the habits of Gulls, 
popular delusions in natural history, and researches on snake 
poison, with special reference to the work of Dr. Cunningham, 
of Calcutta. —The Zyansactions of the Ealing Natural Science 
and Microscopical Society (1895-96) contain a descriptive list 
of the birds of the Lower Brent Valley, and abstracts of lectures 
on parasitic and saprophytic plants, the last stages of the Great 
Ice Age in the neighbourhood of Ealing, and the relation of man 
thereto, recent astronomical photography, the life-history ot 
Alypus piceus, wild bees, the structure of flames, and others. 
—The portrait of Prof. Ramsay forms the frontispiece of the 
Proceedings of the Bristol Naturalists’ Society, and is accom- 
panied bya short biographical notice. Among the papers is one 
on the British Jurassic Brachiopoda, and another on some ancient 
British remains at Long Aston, Somerset. 
Limits of space prevent us from doing more than refer to a 
few of the papers in the Jownal and Proceedings of the Royal 
Society of New South Wales (vol. xxix.), received a few days’ 
ago. In an important paper Mr. Lawrence Hargrave describes 
his aeronautical experiments with cellular kites. Mr. G. H. 
Knibbs contributes a long account of the history, theory, and 
determination of the viscosity of water by the efflux method ; 
and Dr. C. J. Martin gives the results of a detailed investigation 
of the physiological action of the venom of the Australian Black 
Snake (Pseudechts porphyriacus). The surviving refugees, in 
austral lands, of ancient antarctic life are considered by Mr. C. 
Hedley. The paper by Mr. H. C. Russell, on icebergs in the 
Southern Ocean, and that of Mr. Henry A. Hunt, on types of 
Australian weather, have already been noted in these columns. 
In a paper on the amount of gold in sea-water, Prof. Liversidge 
concludes that gold is present in the sea-water off the coast of 
New South Wales in the proportion of about ‘5 to r grain per 
ton, or, in round numbers, from 130 to 260 tons of gold per 
cubic mile. The results, in a second paper on the removal of 
silver and gold from sea-water by Muntz metal sheathing, indicate 
that by keeping the metal in the sea for several years the pro- 
portion of gold increases, while that of silver decreases. Ethno- 
logists will be interested in Dr. John Fraser’s presentation of 
three myths about the Senga parroquet, showing how intimately 
Fiji and Samoa were connected in the minds of the early myth- 
makers. The subjects of other contributions to the volume are 
Australian vegetable exudations; notes on Antarctic rocks, 
collected by Mr. C. E. Borchgrevink; the great meteor of 
May 7, 1895; and fascine work in New South Wales. 
THE additions to the Zoological Society’s Gardens during the 
past week include a Grey Ichneumon (Hevfestes grtseus) from 
India, presented by Colonel Smythe ; a Changeable Tree Frog 
(Ay/a versicolor) from North America, two White’s Tree Frogs 
(Ayla coerulea) from Australia, presented by Mr. F. E. Blaaw ; 
two Maned Geese (Chenonetta jubata):from Australia, purchased. 
