Marcu 18, 1897 | 
NATURE 
469 
divided into four sections. (1) Ocean meteorology. —The 
practice followed by the Office in the collection of information 
is to supply observers on ships with a complete set of instru- 
ments on condition of their return, with a log-book, on the 
completion of the voyage. The large steamship companies 
also allow access to their logs, and in some special cases the 
documents are deposited at the Office. The principal discus- 
sions in preparation for publication during the year in question 
were current charts of the Arctic regions, embracing the area 
lying north of 60° north latitude, and the meteorology of the 
South Sea, embracing the area from the Cape of Good Hope 
to New Zealand. The latter charts, which are the first pub- 
blished for that part of the ocean, will be found very useful by 
the navigator, especially in connection with the question of the 
westward homeward route from Australia. Under this head is 
also included the supply of instruments to distant stations ; 
everal sets have been supplied, at the cost of the Foreign Office, 
for use in Uganda. (2) Weather telegraphy and forecasts. — 
The work in this branch is constantly increasing from inquiries 
by the public as to current and past weather, which necessitate 
a considerable amount of investigation. The number of stations 
to which storm-warning telegrams are sent has been materially 
increased during the year by the addition of a number of light- 
houses, in accordance with a suggestion made by the Royal 
Commission on Electrical Communication with Lighthouses. 
The Council renewed the offer, made in previous years, of send- 
ing daily forecasts to agriculturists during hay-making; the 
results show that the total percentage of useful forecasts 
amounted to 89 per cent., the same as in the preceding year. 
(3) Climatology.—This branch includes the discussion and 
publication of all observations relating to the climate of the 
British Isles. The publication of the monthly and yearly re- 
sults for a number of stations for the fifteen years (1876-90) 
appeared during the year, and forms a valuable contribution to 
climatological knowledge. (4) Miscellaneous experiments and 
researches.—The comparison of various forms of anemometers 
“has been made, with the object of determining the factor for 
converting the records of various instruments to the true velocity 
of the wind. Experiments have also been made for the 
measurement of earth temperatures at considerable depths. 
Rainfall means for alarge number of stations are in an advanced 
state of preparation, and when completed will form a standard 
of reference in this important subject. 
S1NcE Jiihler and Jérgensen, now nearly two years ago, 
revived the idea of moulds being the parent of yeast cells, a 
considerable amount of attention has been directed to the careful 
reinvestigation of this question. Amongst those who have sub- 
mitted Jiihler and JGrgensen’s results to the several tests of 
experimental inquiry, must be reckoned Messrs. Klocker and 
Schiduning, and in the last number of the Com:pte-rendu des 
travaux du Laboratoire de Carlsberg these gentlemen publish 
an extremely interesting memoir entitled ‘‘ Que savons nous de 
Yorigine des Saccharomyces?” An historical survey of the 
subject prefaces their own extensive investigations, and we are 
carried back to the days when Pasteur himself was under the 
impression that the mould Dematium, so abundantly present on 
vines, might furnish forth yeast cells, an idea which his later 
experiments led him, however, to discard. If this Dematium, 
_as Jorgensen claims, is a parent of yeast cells found on grapes, 
then, provided this mould is present, yeast cells are bound to 
appear on the surface of the fruit. locker and Schiouning, 
following in the earlier footsteps of Chamberland and Pasteur, 
protected grapes from aérial contamination by enclosing them in 
glass vessels plugged with cotton wool whilst still attached to 
the vine. The time selected for their imprisonment was the 
green stage of the fruit when, whereas Dematium is present in 
abundance, no yeast cells are to be found. Comparative 
NO. 1429, VOL. 55 | 
examinations made later of protected and unprotected grapes 
respectively, revealed the fact that, whilst the former exhibited 
plenty of Dematium and not a single yeast cell, the latter, along 
with the mould, had an abundant crop of yeast cells. The 
conditions of the two sets of grapes were identical, barring the 
air being deprived of germs in the one case before reaching the 
fruit, and not in the other. The experiment was varied in 
divers interesting ways, but in no single instance was any 
evidence forthcoming that the yeast cells obtained access to the 
fruit otherwise than from the surrounding air, the mould 
Dematium being proved absolutely innocent of any participation 
in their presence. 
Mr. P. Lee PHILLIPS speaks truly where he says, in a paper 
entitled ‘* Virginia Cartography,” just issued as No. 1039 of the 
Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, that no records of the 
past have suffered more from the wear and tear of time than 
maps. On this account the preparation of a bibliographical 
description of maps af Virginia—a portion of North America 
which in early days embraced much of that which is now known 
as the United States—must have been a very laborious task, and 
Mr. Lee Phillips is to be congratulated upon haying brought his 
work to a successful conclusion. The maps comprised in his 
monograph range in date from 1585 to 1893. 
WE have on our table several very valuable excerpts from the 
Report of the U.S. National Museum for 1894, but the limit- 
ations of space prevent us from doing more at the present time 
than call attention to their publication by the Smithsonian 
Institution. In one of these excerpts Mr. Thomas Wilson 
describes, and lavishly illustrates, ‘‘ The Swastika” and its 
migrations ; and makes some observations on the migrations of 
certain industries in prehistoric times. The Swastika is the 
earliest known symbol, and consists of a monogrammatic sign 
of four branches, of which the ends are bent at right-angles, 
thus ae Prof. Max Miiller has found evidence for believing 
that among the Aryan nations the Swastika may have been an 
old emblem of the sun; but he has also shown that in other 
parts of the world the same, or a similar emblem, was used to 
indicate the earth. Mr. Wilson does not attempt to discuss the 
primitive meaning of the sign, or the place of origin, because 
they are considered to be lost in antiquity. The principal 
object of his paper is to present in a compact form all the inform- 
ation obtainable concerning the Swastika, and to trace its possible 
migrations in prehistoric times. Another of the papers from 
the U.S. National Museum is on ‘‘ Primitive Travel and Trans- 
portation,” by Dr. O. T. Mason. As is the case with all the 
publications of the Museum, this is illustrated with numerous 
plates and figures in the text. We must content ourselves now 
with noting the statement that the mechanical powers, as they are 
called, seem to have come into vogue in the following order : 
(1) The weight, for hammers, traps, and pressure; (2) the 
elastic spring, in bows, traps, machines; (3) inclined and de- 
clined plane, in locomotion and transportation ; (4) the lever ; 
(5) the wedge, in riving and tightening ; (6) the sled, on snow 
or prepared tracks ; (7) the roller, for loads and in machine 
bearings ; (8) the wheel, in travel and carriage ; (9) wheel and 
axle in many forms; (10) pulleys, with or without sheaves ; 
(11) twisting, shrinking, and clamping devices ; (12) the screw. 
The subjects and authors of three other publications just received 
from the U.S. National Museum are: ‘* A Study of the Primi- 
tive Methods of Drilling,” by Mr. J. D, McGuire ; ‘* Mancala, 
the National Game of Africa,” by Mr. Stewart Culin ; and 
<* The Golden Patera of Rennes,” by Mr. Thomas Wilson. 
THE very important question of the physical and chemical 
nature of the pigment substances found within the scales of 
