November 16, 1905] 



NA TURK 



61 



ation on mica, and should lead to the development of the 

 large mica tracts now known only by name, and to a 

 search for the mineral in other parts of the Dominion. 

 At the present time only a small proportion of the Canadian 

 deposits are worked, many promising deposits having been 

 abandoned on account of lack of experience on the part 

 of those who directed the operations. In 1902 the value 

 of the world's production of mica, in dollars, was as 

 follows: — India, 507,770; Canada, 242,310; United States, 

 98,859; Brazil and other countries, 55,200; total, 904,139. 



In the Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, vol. xlix., 

 Dr. A. G. Maddren has published a report of his expedition 

 to Alaska last year in search of remains of the mammoth 

 and other extinct mammals. The report contains a valu- 

 able description of the surface deposits of the country 

 which will interest students of glacial geology, and there 

 is an appendix of extracts from the published writings of 

 Kotzebue, Beechey, and later travellers who have visited 

 Alaska for a similar purpose. Dr. Maddren appears to 

 have failed to obtain any important fossil bones, but his 

 geological observations justify a few interesting conclusions. 

 He thinks that the climate of the Arctic and sub-Arctic 

 regions was never colder than it is at present. He is also 

 convinced that there are no deposits of ice in Alaska which 

 date back to the Pleistocene period, except the large 

 glaciers. He has not observed any ice-beds interstratified 

 with undoubted Pleistocene formations. 



The well preserved fossil ganoid fishes from the black 

 Triassic shales of New Jersey, U.S.A., have long attracted 

 attention. They are sometimes found in numbers so great 

 as to excite public interest. The State geologist of New 

 Jersey, in his last annual report (for 1904), has accordingly 

 published a short account of these fossils, illustrated by 

 photographs, and preceded by some elementary remarks 

 on the study of fossil fishes in general. The chapter was 

 prepared by Dr. Charles R. Eastman, and contains a useful 

 summary of our knowledge of American Triassic fishes up 

 to date. Notwithstanding the abundance of individuals, 

 only six genera are represented — a curious contrast in this 

 respect to any fish-fauna now existing. The species are 

 also remarkably few, and some of them are difficult to 

 distinguish on account of the crushing and distortion to 

 which the fishes have been subjected during burial and 

 fossilisation. Dr. Eastman does not describe any new 

 forms. 



The Philippine Islands experienced a very destructive- 

 cyclone on September 26 ; the accounts that have hitherto 

 reached us are rather meagre, and are extracted from the 

 Manila Cablenews of September 28, which states that the 

 storm was the worst that has occurred in the last twenty 

 years. Some hundreds of houses were unroofed in Manila, 

 where the wind is said to have reached a velocity of 

 103 miles an hour; at the naval station at Cavite damage 

 was done to the extent of at least 100,000 dollars, but, so 

 far as is known, the loss of life has not been very great. 

 I he Manila Observatory did good service in giving timely 

 notice of the approach of the storm, notwithstanding that 

 it was mostly dependent upon its own observations, as the 

 telegraph lines in south-east Luzon were destroyed. The 

 direction taken by the storm seems to have been from E.S.E. 

 to W.N.W., and the rate of advance was about 12 miles 

 an hour. The barometer fell from about 29-850 inches to 

 29213 inches between 9I1. p.m. of September 25 and 

 sh. p.m. of September 26; compared with the fall in out 

 own latitudes, the amount, of course, is not excessive. 

 The rainfall in twenty-four hours amounted to 45 inches. 

 NO l88 I, VOL. 73] 



Prof. J. Hann has made a very valuable addition to 

 our knowledge of the meteorological conditions prevailing 

 over the tropical regions of the earth by his publication 

 of " Der tagliche Gang der Temperature in der inneren 

 Tropenzone," which has been reprinted from the seventy- 

 eighth volume of the " Denkschriften der mathematisch- 

 naturwissenschaftlichen Klasse der kaiserlichen Akademie 

 der YVissenschaften " (Vienna, 1905). In his introduc- 

 tion he states that the mean temperatures of several 

 stations in the tropics have been placed too high on 

 account of inaccurate determinations of corrections which 

 were applied to compute the true means. The object of 

 the present investigation is therefore to determine the 

 mean temperatures more exactly, making full use of the 

 latest observations, and to employ a greater number of 

 stations well distributed in longitude which were not 

 previously available. Further, the two previous researches 

 by Dove were published more than half a century ago, and 

 no such complete work has since been published. In the 

 present investigation the observations at thirty-five stations 

 are utilised, and these are distributed over Africa, West 

 Indies, Central and South America, south Asia and north 

 Australia, and tropical oceans. To refer, even at the 

 shortest length, to the method of reduction, the numerous 

 tables, and the details given regarding each station 

 utilised would considerably extend this note, but those 

 interested in the investigation should make themselves 

 acquainted with the volume itself. 



A valuable paper by Mr. S. R. Williams on the 

 anatomy of Boophilus annulatus (Say), the tick which 

 transmits the Texas fever of cattle, is published in the 

 Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History, 

 vol. xxxviii., No. 8, p. 313. 



Mr. Watkixs-Pitchford, bacteriologist and analyst to 

 the Government of Natal, has published some observations 

 on the germicidal action of copper salts and of bright 

 copper. He concludes that in cupric sulphate, in the pro- 

 portion of 1 part to 75,000 parts of water, we possess an 

 agent which promises to be both efficient and safe. 



he Radium for October (26 annee, No. 10) contains 

 articles by Sir W. Ramsay, on a new element, radio- 

 thorium ; by M. Bloch, on the .electric conductivity of 

 selenium ; by M. Charbonneau, on the transformation of 

 currents of high tension into static discharges ; and by M. 

 Fraenkel, on the application of the X-rays in the study 

 of the distribution of the blood vessels ; together with the 

 usual summary of researches connected with radio-activity. 

 It is altogether an excellent number. 



We have received the second number of vol. i. of the- 

 Memoirs of the College of Science and Engineering, Kyoto 

 Imperial University, containing reports on original work 

 carried out by members of the university. The present 

 number contains accounts of research in pure and physical 

 chemistry, geology, engineering, and electricity. 



The Psychological Review (n.s., vol. xii., No. 5) con- 

 tains an account, by Mabel S. Nelson, of an investigation 

 of the difference between men and women in the recog- 

 nition of colour and the perception of sound. As a result 

 of many observations, the conclusion is formed that men 

 are clearly superior in the recognition of blue and women 

 possibly superior in the recognition of yellow. Both men 

 and women hear farther with the right than with the left 

 ear, men hearing better than women. 



Recent American mathematical journals contain some 

 interesting papers. In the Transactions of the American 

 Mathematical Society for July 10 M. Poincar^ gives a 



