5IO 



NATURE 



{Sept. 29, 1 88 1 



the support they give to the opinion that the diastatic property 

 is connected with the degree of solubility of the albujjinoid 

 matter, and in the fact that this may result as well from the 

 growth of an organi.;m foreign to the grain as from the germina- 

 tion of the embryo itself. K. W. Atkinson 

 College of Science, Nei\castle-on-Tyne, September 19 



Integrating Anemometer 



Permit me to oljserve that tlie iiitegraling anemometer 

 devised by Mr. Shaw and Dr. Wilson, an abstract of who>e 

 paper, read before the British Association (Section A), appeared 

 in your issue of September 15 (p. 467), is in principle and in 

 several of its details identical with a machine intended for the 

 mechanical reduction of anemograms of the Kew pattern adopted 

 by the Meteorological Office, a description of which, with 

 draw'ngs, was pUced by me in the hands of Mr. R. H. Scott, 

 and by him transmitted to Prof. Stokes in February last. It is 

 however to be n )ted that there is a fundamental objection to the 

 mode in which such machines deal with the data .subaaitted to 

 them, namely this, that the air d jes not, in fact, move parallel 

 to itself, as these integrators and Lambert's well known expression 

 a^-ume that it does. In olher word>, the integrator should con- 

 cern itself only with those particles of air which are passing the 

 anemometer at each instant, i.e. \\ ith the directions and velocities 

 of successive elements of the wind at a fixed point. Dr. von 

 Oetlingen (Wild's " Repertorium fiir Meteorologie," Baud v.) 

 has shown this. Charles E. Burton 



38, Barclay Road, Walham Green, S.W., September 22 



Red Rainbows 



The accounts in Nature, vol. xxiv. pp. 431, 459, of pink and 

 red rainbows induce me to mention one of a rose colour which 

 viSlS seen in this neighbourhood at sunset yeterday afternoon. 

 Just before setting, the sun shone out with a pale gilden glow, 

 but about the norih and east there ^\as a general cloudiness, 

 dark inky purple with light masses of cloud floating from north 

 to south, and as the sunset glow lost its golden and assumed a 

 ruddy appearance, theac fl jating clouds took the same colour, the 

 general cloudiness beyond retaining its purple character, and 011 

 looking north-east there was the rainb,)\\, or rather the lowet 

 part of the left hand of the bow, almost perpendicular, but 

 inclining, of course, to the east ; the general colour was rose, 

 but along the inner side the prismatic colours were plainly 

 seen. It lasted for aboat five minutes, and was seen by others 

 who Were just giving up shooting, about a mile from the house. 

 The clouds in the west soon put on a stormy appearance, and 

 rain began to fall. A. Trevor Crispin 



Hyde End, Brimpton, Reading, September 23 



Hay Fever 



In Mr. Hannay's letter on Hay Fever (p. 485) two facts are 

 mentioned, y\z. , that ' ' those who are afflicted with hay fever are so 

 owing to the tenderne. s of the internal lining of the nose," and that 

 " in Scotland hay fever is practically unknovMi." By connecting 

 these facts a probable remedy is suggested, viz., the use of snuff. 

 That this habit destroys the natural tenderners of the internal 

 lining of the nose is evident from the insensibility of the snufT- 

 taker to dj>es that furiously irritate the nostrils that have been 

 differently educated. As Scotchmen generally aie either snuff 

 takers themselves or descended from snuff-takers, a direct or 

 hereditary insensibility may explain their immunity from this 

 affliction. Not being one of its victims, I am unable to try the 

 expeiiment, which should be started a few weeks before the 

 season commences, in order to gradually develop the acquired 

 insensibility. W. Mattieu Williams 



Stonebridije Park, Willesden 



In Nature (vol. xxiv. p. 485) Mr. Hannay remarks that 

 "no remedy yet publi-hed will cure hay-fever." Has Mr. 

 Hannay read Dr. Blackley's "Hay Fever" (Bailliere, Tindall, 

 and Cox, second edition, 1S80)? It will be found that Dr. 

 Blackley has used the treatment mentioned in Nature, viz. the 

 protection of the mucou membrane of the nose from pollen, 

 with success both on himself and other persons subject to the 

 fever, and Mr. Hannay's experiments offer another projf of the 

 efficiency of this treatment. There is a short article on the 



subject in the Zirwfrf of July 16, p. 82, by Dr. Thorowgood, and 

 another by Dr. Blackley in the Lancet of August 27, p. 371. 

 Mr. Hannay's treatment is essentially the same as that published 

 by Dr. Blackley, though in the latter the inconvenience of 

 plugging the entrances to the nasal ducts, and of the stoppage of 

 the proper air-passages, is avoided, whilst the mucous membrane 

 of the eyes is also protected. M. C. 



September 24 



Electric Light in Collieries 



The WTiter of the article in Nature, vol. xxiv. p. 383, has 

 overlooked the long account given in the limes of lune 14, 1881, 

 of the visit paid by the Accidents in Mines Commissioners to the 

 Pleasley pit, near Chesterfield, where the first important applica- 

 tion of the light was made nearly three months ago. Credit 

 sh luld be given to Mr. Swan and to Messrs. Crompton and Co., 

 who for more than a year have been experimenting with, and 

 perfecting, the lamps, &e., rather than to those who may have 

 the good fortune to adopt that which the I'lea»ley trials proved 

 to be so perfect ; and, as one who was present with the Royal 

 Commissioners, 1 think it only fair to call your attention to what 

 is probably a slip in your report. Sesamy 



London 



THE ORIGIN AND FUNCTIONS OF THE 

 BRITISH ASSOCIATION 



TV /f Y attention has been called to a pamphlet published 

 ■'■'■'- by Mr. W. H. Harrison, purporting to contain a 

 correct account of the first founding of the British Asso- 

 ciation for the Advancement of Science. I am sure that 

 Mr. Harrison, in common with such other readers of 

 Nature as take an interest in the affair, will be glad to 

 hear my father speak for himself upon a matter which Mr. 

 Harrison, with the amount of information at his disposal, 

 could only treat of as a subject of speculation. The 

 paper which I inclose was addressed to Sir Edward (then 

 Colonel) Sabine ; and I think I may claim for it that it is 

 written with much clearness and impartiality. You may 

 perhaps also consider the letter of importance at this 

 moment, as pointing out what was the view taken in those 

 early days of the proper functions of the Association. 

 The wisdom of this view is abundantly evident no.v that 

 science has been so widely popularised, and that little 

 more of real work remains for the Association beyond the 

 just apportionment of its funds for scientific purposes. 

 In respect to the numerous scientific letters addressed to 

 my father by Buckland, Murchison, Smith, Sedgwick, 

 Scoresby, Humboldt, Wollaston, Davy, Sabine, Faraday, 

 Brewster, Babbage, Prout, Herschel, Whewell, Forbes, 

 Liebig, De la Bcche, Lyell, and others, I hope some day 

 to cause a selection of them to be produced, in a form 

 which may be of interest, and perhaps of use to the 

 public. E. W. Harcourt 



Nuneham Park, Abingdon, September 23 



Account of the Formation of the British Association by the Rev. 

 W. i: Harcourt 

 "To Colonel (afierwards Sir Edward) Sabine 



" I HAVE received from the President of the Philosophical 

 Society of Hull (1853), where you know the British Associatiou 

 is about to meet, a memoir which he has put into public circula- 

 tion descriptive of the nature of that body, its early history, and 

 the specific services rendered to it by individuals. 



"The task which Mr. Frost has undertaken is one of a difficult 

 and delicate kind ; and I was not surprise to find his description 

 of circumstances with which he had no means of being intimately 

 acquainted somewhat inaccurate and defective, 



'•Mr. Frost informed the public that when in 1 83 1 Sir David, 

 then Dr., Brewster, made proposals that meetings for promoting 

 science by rhmions of .cieutific men similar to those which pre- 

 vailed abroal should be held in England and commenced at 

 York, the country had been duly prepared and predisposed for 

 such co-operation by the severe strictures which he had then 

 recently passed ou the actual state of science in this country, and 

 on the conduct and character of its scientific institutions, and in 



