February 9, 1899J 



NATURE 



349 



The Trustees of the British Museum have published the first 

 volume of the monograph of the Lepidoftera Phalacime which 

 they have in preparation. The volume is a " Catalogue of the 

 Syiitotnidae in the British Museum," by Sir George F. Hampson, 

 Bart. In addition to the numerous species of Syntoiiiidae in 

 the British Museum Collection, other rich collections have been 

 lent for examination. Coloured illustrations of new or hitherto 

 inadequately figured species are published separately, in order 

 not to add to the cost of the catalogue. 



Bulletin vol. iii. No. 5 (October 1898) of the College of Agri- 

 culture of the Imperial University of Tokyo, now published 

 entirely in English, is mainly devoted to the discussion of 

 various questions connected with the cultivation of rice. It 

 contains, besides, papers on the formation of proteids and the 

 assimilation of nitrates by phanerogams in the absence of 

 light, by Prof. Suiuki ; and on the properties of cocoons of the 

 various silkworm races of Japan, by Prof. Kawara. 



The Hull Scientific and Field Naturalists' Club has just 

 issued the first number of a series of annual Transactions, 

 containing papers brought before the members at the fortnightly 

 meetings. It is intended to publish original papers and notes 

 upon local natural history ; and if every local society of 

 naturalists did the same, and placed their observations on 

 record, much valuable scientific material would be accumulated. 

 A RE.\I)Y means of obtaining a number of copies of an illus- 

 tration is so often required in the scientific world that many 

 men of science will be glad to have their attention called to an 

 appliance called the Photo-Autocopyist, which enables this to 

 be done. The apparatus and method are very simple, but a 

 tittle experience is necessary to produce good effects. The 

 negative of which copies are wanted is printed in the usual 

 way upon a stout paper having a gelatine surface, which 

 has been previously sensitised by immersion for a few minutes 

 in a 3 per cent, solution of bichromate of potash, and then 

 dried. The gelatinised sheet is taken from the frame when 

 sufficiently printed and washed. It then constitutes the print- 

 ing surface, which is stretched upon a frame, and inked with an 

 !,nk roller, the ink only adhering to the indented parts which 

 have been acted upon through the negative. Ordinary paper 

 is then placed upon the inked surface, pressed in a copying 

 press, and taken out at once. A finished, permanent, print is 

 thus obtained in a minute or two, and to procure others it is 

 only necessary to ink the surface again and put it under the 

 press with another sheet of paper. The process is a simple 

 modification of the Collotype method of reproduction, and as 

 a means of quickly obtaining permanent prints from photo- 

 graphic negatives it should prove extremely useful. 



Sever.m. new editions of well-known works have reached us 

 during the past few days. The second edition of Prof. W. C. 

 Unwin's " Testing of Materials of Construction " (a text-book 

 for the engineering laboratory, and a collection of the results of 

 experiment) has come from Messrs. Longmans, Green, and 

 Co. — Pages 273 to 672 of the English version {third edition) of 

 Carl Busley's " Marine Steam Engine," translated by Mr. 

 H. A. B. Cole, have been published by Messrs. Lipsius and 

 Tischer, Kiel and Leipzig (London : H. Grevel and Co.), with 

 an atlas containing plates 9-45. It is expected that the third 

 <and concludmg) part, consisting of only a few sheets and 

 plates, will be published in the course of the present year. The 

 completed work will be a manual and book of reference for all 

 who are concerned with steam navigation. — Under the title 

 "An Intermediate Text-book of Geology," Messrs. \V. Black- 

 wood and Sons have published a text book by Prof. C. 

 Lapworth, founded upon Page's " Introductory Text-book of 

 Geology." With the latter title, the work passed through 

 twelve editions, several of which were prepared by Prof. Lap- 



NO. 1528, VOL. 59] 



worth, and in its new form it should be even more successful. 

 The text has been rewritten, with the exception of a few parts, 

 and nearly a hundred pages have been added. Special attention 

 has been paid to the subject of the geographical distribution 

 of the geological formations at home and abroad. Systematic 

 students of geology will find the new volume very serviceable. — 

 A third edition of "Gordon in Central Africa, 1874-1879,'' 

 edited by Dr. G. Birkbeck Hill, has been published by Messrs. 

 Macmillan and Co., Ltd. 



A SERIES of tables, showing the differences between Green- 

 wich mean time and the civil times used in various parts of 

 the world, compiled by Prof. John Milne, F. R.S., is published 

 in the February number of the Geographical Journal. The 

 names of places in the tables are arranged in alphabetical order, 

 and the amount by which the time used at each is fast or slow 

 of Greenwich mean time is indicated. Some of the descriptive 

 notes are interesting. It is pointed out that the Chinese 

 at most places use an approximate apparent solar time, obtained 

 from sun-dials. At Tientsin the civil time is determined by 

 the municipal chronometer, which, however, has sometimes 

 been known to have an error of three minutes. The Persians 

 keep sun time, watches being set at sunset. In Teheran there 

 is a midday gun fired by the time shown on a sun-dial. 

 But a few minutes makes no difference in Persia ; the railway 

 trains start when full or when required, and Persian telegraphists 

 do not give time of issue or receipt of telegrams. 



The constancy of composition of natural gas is a question of 

 some practical importance to manufacturers in the Pittsburgh 

 region, and as the opinion has been frequently expressed that 

 natural gas fluctuates in its heating power, it seemed worth 

 while to see if these changes in composition really occur. 

 The results of an investigation by Mr. F. C. Phillips on 

 this subject are given in the Proceedings of the American 

 Academy of Arts and Sciences for November 189S. Since the 

 nitrogen in the gas appeared to be the most readily determined 

 constituent, attention was first directed to this element, and an 

 apparatus devised by which comparatively large quantities of 

 the gas could be completely burnt by red-hot copper oxide, and 

 the residual nitrogen collected and measured. The results of 

 duplicate determinations on the same sample of gas were closely 

 concordant, the variations not exceeding in any case 003 per 

 cent. ; but since samples of gas from the same well, collected 

 at different times, showed variations of nearly 2 per cent. , it 

 would appear that fluctuations in the composition of natural 

 gas do really occur. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gaidens during the 

 past week include a P.hesus Monkey {Macacus rhesus, 9 ) from 

 India, presented by Mrs. Emily Price ; a Bonnet Monkey 

 (MacaCus sinicus, i ) from India, presented by Miss May Wie- 

 land ; a Sooty Mangabey [Cercoceius fuliginosus, S) from 

 West Africa, presented by Mr. B. Stewart ; a Black-faced 

 Spider Monkey (Ateles aler) from Eastern Peru, presented by 

 Captain Chas. T. Swain; a Vulpine Phalanger (Trichosurus 

 vulpccula, ? ) from Australia, presented by Mr. W. J. 

 Matthews ; a Golden-backed Weaver Bird {Pyromelana 

 aurea, S ) from West Africa, presented by Mr. A. F. Wiener ; 

 three Common Marmosets (Hcipale jacchus) from South-east 

 Brazil, a Great Kangaroo [Macropus giganteus, 9 ), a Great 

 Wallaroo [Macropus robustus) from Australia, a West Indian 

 Agouti (Dasyprocta cristala) from the West Indies, deposited ; 

 two Indian Chevrotains ( Tragulus meminna) from India, five 

 Sacred Kingfishers (Halcyon sancla), four Lace Monitors 

 ( Varanus varius) from Australia, a Black-throated Diver 

 (Colymbus arcticus) from Holland, purchased ; a Red Kangaroo 

 {Macropus rufus, i), five Puff Adders (j5/V/.f arietans) hotn m 

 the Gardens. 



