JaNuaARY II, 1917] 
Fisheries by Sir R. H. Rew in October last. Basing 
his comparison upon the average for the three years 
1906-8, he arrives at the general index number of 138 
for the year 1915, as compared with 111 in 1914. As 
compared with the latter year, the greatest increases 
were in wool (190 as against 133), barley (166 as 
against 113), and hops (140 as against 92). As com- 
pared with the average prices of 1906-8, the highest 
levels were attained by wool (190), barley (166), and 
oats (163). A notable exception to the general high 
rate of increase was fruit, which was only 5 per cent. 
above the standard selected. 
Tue cereal harvests of Argentina and Australia are 
now sufficiently advanced to enable the International 
Institute of Agriculture to issue from Rome its annual 
survey of the world’s supply of cereals available until 
next year’s harvest. From this survey the crops of 
enemy countries are necessarily excluded, but other- 
wise all significant grain-producing countries are in- 
cluded. In the case of wheat, the estimate shows a 
decline of no less than 25:3 per cent. from last year’s 
figure, or 8-8 per cent. below the average for the period 
1909-13. An important factor in this decline is the 
lamentable decrease in the Argentine crop, which is 
estimated at little more than one-half (52 per cent.) 
of the average for the above period. In marked con- 
trast the Australian crop is estimated to be 4 per cent. 
higher than last year, and 64 per cent. above the five- 
year average. For sixteen countries in the northern 
hemisphere the crop harvested is 9:1 per cent. below 
the five-year average. Barley, oats, and rye show 
increases above the five-year average of 1-1, 2-3, and 
12 per cent. respectively. For maize, data for the 
northern hemisphere only are yet available, and show 
a diminution of 5:3 per cent. below the five-year aver- 
age. In every case tthe contrast with the excellent 
crops of 1915 is very marked. 
Ar a recent meeting of the National Academy of 
Sciences, Washington, U.S.A., Prof. W. M. Davis 
brought forward a proposal for the exploration of the 
North Pacific Ocean. Some details of the scheme are 
given in La Nature for December 16. Prof. Davis’s 
proposal entails a thorough exploration of vast areas 
of the ocean in which there are at present few, if any, 
soundings, not by a single ship, even on the scale of 
the Challenger Expedition, but by methodical, long- 
continued efforts, presumably by several vessels, and 
including work in oceanography, biology, geology, and 
meteorology, as well as in the anthropology of many 
little-known islands. He suggests that the United 
States should undertake the work and be responsible 
for its cost. 
A MmeEnmoriaL to Sir Francis Drake was erected last 
summer on the shores of Drake’s Bay, on the coast 
of California. According to the Geographical Review 
for November, 1916 (vol. ii., No. 5), the memorial takes 
the form of a redwood post bearing a brass plate 
inscribed with the date of Drake’s landing, June 17, 
1579, and is, so far as practicable, a replica of the post 
set up by Drake himself before leaving the bay. The 
memorial was erected by the Sir Francis Drake Asso- 
ciation, a body of persons interested in commemorat- 
ing Drake’s voyage as a milestone in the history of 
California. There seems to be little doubt that it was 
in the bay now named after him, and not in San 
Francisco Bay, that Drake landed in 1579 on his 
voyage from Panama. 
AN article on the climate of Salonica which appears 
in the Bolletino of the Royal Italian Geographical 
Society for December (vol. v., No. 12) is of particular 
importance at present. The article is based on the 
NO. 2463, VOL. 98] 
NATURE 
377 
data obtained from the two observatories founded im 
1891 and 1893 respectively, and published in Vienna 
and Sofia. From the numerous tables which are given 
it would appear that in January, the coldest month, 
the mean temperature is 54° C., with an absolute 
minimum of —7°2° C.; July, the warmest month, has 
a mean of 266° C. The mean annual rainfall is- 
546 mm., with a marked maximum in late autumn 
and again in May. July, with a mean of 25 mm.,. 
appears to be the driest month. Snow falls on an. 
average of six days in winter. The prevailing winds: 
are south-westerly in summer and northerly in winter. 
Tue Scientific American for December 2, 1916, con 
tains an illustrated article on the telescopic rifle- 
sight of the United States Army. ‘The telescope is of 
the reflecting prism type, and magnifies six diameters. 
It is made as nearly as possible dust- and water-proof,. 
and is furnished with a rubber eyepiece to protect the 
eye of the marksman from the recoil of the rifle. A 
dovetailed slot on the telescope slides on to a corre- 
sponding piece on the service rifle. When detached it 
is carried in a leather pouch. In sighting, the object 
is brought on to the point of intersection of the cross 
lines of the telescope, which is adjusted for ranges up: 
to 3000 yards by means of a milled and graduated 
screw-head on the left-hand side, and for direction by 
a smaller screw-head. As in the case of the majority 
of soldiers the accuracy of sighting with the ordinary 
sight exceeds the ability to hold the rifle steady enough 
to secure a hit, it is not intended to issue a telescope 
sight to every soldier, but only to those who have 
shown by their skill as marksmen that they have the 
requisite steadiness of aim to profit by it. 
Buttetin No. 147 of the Institution of Mining and 
Metallurgy contains an account of a discussion on. 
standardisation and the metric system at a recent meet- 
ing of the institution. The desirability of employing 
discretion in the adoption of the principle of standard- 
isation was insisted upon, and it was pointed out that 
the articles in which standardisation had been success- 
fully achieved by the Engineering Standards Com- 
mittee are, in general, parts common to all kinds of 
machinery, such as nuts, bolt-heads, and wires, and 
not of a complicated character. In the case of plant 
that cannot be standardised down to details it may 
be possible to lay down the broad outlines, such as 
leading dimensions, speeds, and powers. As examples 
of mining plant which can be standardised completely 
were instanced the Californian stamp, amalgamating 
plates, rock crushers, iron or steel trams for under- 
ground use, tramway gauges, skips and skip-ways. 
An important question is whether standardisation 
should be adopted in terms of our present system of 
weights and measures, or in terms of the metric 
system. As regards universality, the metric system 
has a particular claim to consideration, as it is a 
system which is continually obtaining official recog- 
nition in other countries, while our own system is not. 
In the immediate future competition in trade will be 
more strenuous than it has ever been before, and in 
adhering to our present weights and measures we 
shall be seriously handicapped ; it is therefore necessary 
to decide at once whether the question of internal 
convenience shall continue to override all other con- 
siderations. There is no doubt that the adoption of 
the metric system in this country is inevitable sooner 
or later, and the present time appears to be exception- 
ally suitable for introducing the reform, 
Mr. H. C. Britt is the author of two papers of 
considerable biochemical interest in the March 
number of the Philippine Journal of Science 
(Section A.). The first deals with the so-called 
