642 
NATURE 
[FEBRUARY 5, I914 
increased by 273), on the ground that mathematical: 
and dynamic studies of the motions of the atmosphere 
are possible only when such rational units are em- 
ployed. It will be remembered that these units are 
already used in some of our Meteorological Office pub- 
lications, and that it is proposed to adopt them in 
others. Also that the Weekly Weather Report now 
contains small-scale daily charts, including practically 
the whole of the northern hemisphere, excepting 
Alaska and the North Pacific Ocean. The action 
taken by the Washington Bureau will be welcomed 
as matter of prime importance. 
New paths of physical knowledge form the subject 
of an address to the University of Berlin delivered by 
Prof. Max Planck on his appointment as principal. 
The address deals with the conservation of matter, 
space, and time, and the quantum hypothesis; it is 
printed by the Norddeutscher Buchdruckerei, S.W., 
Wilhelmstrasse, Berlin. 
AN article by Mr. Charles Bright in the January 
number of The Quarterly Review discusses the ques- 
tion of inter-Imperial telegraphy, and the advantages 
and disadvantages of cable telegraphy as opposed to 
wireless telegraphy. Whilst in favour of the State 
taking over control of the Imperial wireless telegraph 
scheme (Mr. Bright advocated this many years ago), it 
is pointed out that an inter-Imperial telegraph system 
would be the most advantageous. The route sug- 
gested is from Blacksod Bay, on the west coast of 
Ireland, to Halifax (N.S.), with an intermediate 
station at Cape Bauld (Newfoundland), and a branch 
cable up the Gulf of St. Lawrerice towards Montreal. 
The cost of this line is estimated to be 500,000l., and 
should be borne by the Empire as a whole. Having 
laid the Imperial Atlantic cable, it is suggested that 
the gaps should be filled up in order to complete an 
all-British cable chain between the Mother Country 
and her outlying possessions. Attention is directed 
to the fact that all the existing Atlantic cables are in 
foreign hands, and it is recommended that steps should 
be taken to remedy this state of afiairs, which, it is 
argued, would be extremely prejudicial to the British 
nation in the event of international disputes. It is 
maintained that a cable has an advantage over wire- 
less telegraphy in its greater secrecy and effective 
working speed owing to the far less repetition in- 
volved, and also owing to its freedom from inter- 
ruption from “atmospherics,” which are still a source 
of trouble in all wireless work. 
In two papers published in The Biochemical Bulletin, 
vol. iii. No. 9, by Dr. Clayton S. Smith and Messrs. 
W. A. Perlzweig and William J. Gies respectively, 
the question of the inhibition cf change in fish by cold 
storage is dealt with. It is shown that bacterial and 
chemical action can be entirely prevented by efficient 
cold storage, and that even after two years of such 
storage practically no change can be detected by chem- 
ical means. in the nutritive value of the fish or in its 
taste or palatability. 
THe January number of The Popular Science 
Monthly contains an article by Prof. Cyril G. Hopkins 
on the Illinois system of permanent fertility. In this 
NO. 2310. VOL. 92] 
system no potash is added to the soil in the form of 
purchased fertiliser, but provision is made for the 
liberation of the necessary quantity from the soil by 
the action of decaying organic matter ploughed under 
in the form of farm manure or crop residues, includ- 
ing clover or other legumes. Ground natural lime- 
stone is added when needed. Phosphorus is supplied — 
in the form of ground rock phosphate, at least 1000 Ib. 
per acre being added every four years. Special rota- 
tions are arranged to suit the case, either of the live 
stock farmer or the grain producer, so as to maintain 
the nitrogen fertility at a maximum. Articles on the 
present status of cancer research, by Dr. Leo Loeb, 
and the mechanism of heredity, by Prof. T. H. Morgan, 
discuss problems which are of general interest. 
A PAPER on amalgams containing silver and tin, by 
Messrs. Knight and Joyner, which appears in the Chem- 
ical Society’s Journal (December, 1913), is of special 
interest in view of the widespread use of these amal- 
gams in dentistry. Although solid solutions may be 
present in large proportions at higher temperatures, 
these disappear almost entirely below 70°, and the 
process of amalgamation at room-temperature is sub- 
stantially that represented by the equation :— 
Ag,SN Se Hg—Ag,Hg,+ Sn, 
The curious “ageing,” by annealing at 100°, which — 
reduces to less than one-half the amount of mercury f 
taken up by the freshly prepared filings of the silver- — 
tin alloy has been further studied. It has been shown 
that it is not due to oxidation, and that it is accom- 
panied by a change of density, but the real nature 
of the process is still obscure. 
Tue Chemical Society’s Journal for December, 1913, 
contains an important monograph by Profs. Bredt and — 
Perkin on epicamphor. This substance, which is 
related very closely to camphor, 
/CHyg oO 
CsA, ‘ | CoH | 
‘HO CH, 
Camphor Epicamphor 
differs from it mainly in that the carbonyl group is 
contiguous to hydrogen on both sides, 
—CH—CO—CH,_, 
| 
instead of —C(CH,)—CO—CH.—, and might be ex- 
pected to produce greater activity in the molecule. 
Nevertheless it refuses to combine with hydrogen 
cyanide and brominates in much the same way as 
camphor itself. The physiological effects of epi- 
camphor are vastly inferior to those of camphor; a 
favourable effect on the beat of the heart does not become 
apparent until the dose is four times stronger than in 
the case of camphor, and even then the effects pro- 
duced are very transient 
Mr. A. P. THurston gives an account in Engineer- 
ing for January 30 of some experiments carried out 
by him at the East London College on the resistance 
of bars, struts, and wires in a current of air. Part 
of this research was the investigation of the shield- 
ing effect of one bar mounted in the direct path of 
