SEPTEMBER II, 1902] 
hydrogen ‘gas, left.a grey residue possessing metallic character- 
istics resembling those of selenium, The experiments, however, 
require confirmation before the conclusion can be accepted. 
THE last number of the /owrna? of the Institution of Elec- 
trical Engineers contains chiefly papers read before the various 
local sections. These show that the policy of the Institution in 
establishing these sections was a very wise one, the papers being 
quite equal in merit, if not superior, to those read in London. 
Mr. Osborne’s paper on the lighting and driving of textile mills 
by electricity, read at Dublin, will be read, we feel sure, with 
great interest ; it shows that the electrical engineer has still a 
great deal to study with reference to the best kind of light, and 
its proper distribution, for special purposes. Another paper 
dealing with a subject of great importance at the present time 
is that by Mr. Clothier on switch-gears, which is to be specially 
commended for its very beautiful illustrations. The Institution’s 
Journal has shown a very marked improvement in this respect 
during the past few years; the illustrations published two or 
three years ago are not to be compared with those which now 
appear in it. 
ACCORDING to the Sczentific American, the new Marconi 
Transatlantic signalling station at Cape Breton is nearly com- 
pleted, and will be ready for commercial working in the course 
of a few weeks. We reproduce an illustration showing the 
Fic. 1.—The New Marconi Wireless Telegraph Station at Glace Bay, 
Cape Breton. 
general appearance of the station, with its low buildings con- 
taining the signalling plant and its four wooden towers for sup- 
porting the aérial conductor. These towers are more than 200 feet 
high (their tops being about 300 feet above sea-level), and are 
placed at the corners of a 200-foot square. From the top plat- 
form of each tower to that of its neighbour is strung a horizontal 
cable from which the vertical conductors depend ; these, 150 
in number, are all joined together in the centre of the square, 
thus forming an inverted pyramid from the apex of which a 
single cable runs into the apparatus room. The wooden towers 
are of special design and are well stayed with wire ropes to 
prevent them from being blown down ina gale. The machinery 
installed is stated to be more powerful than is necessary for 
merely signalling to Europe, and hopes are entertained of 
transmitting messages to Cape Town. As a receiver, 
coherer has been discarded and a more trustworthy instrument 
substituted ; this is in all probability the magnetic receiver re- 
cently described by Mr. Marconi before the Royal Society. 
In the Century for September, Mr. R. T. Hill and Prof. 
I. C. Russell contribute articles on the West Indian volcanic 
eruptions, both of which are excellently illustrated with pic- 
tures, many of which are published for the first time. Although 
the text of these articles to a great extent describes observations 
NO. 1715, VOL. 66] 
NATURE 
the | 
485 
similar to those with which we are already familiar, here and 
there, as, for example, in Mr. Hill’s description of one of Pelée’s 
eruptions which he witnessed, we find materials well worth the 
attention of students of volcanic phenomena. Since the articles 
were written, on the night of Augtist 30, Mont Pelée and the 
Soufriére in St. Vincent have broken out again, and this time 
with exceptional intensity. Morne Rouge has disappeared, and 
there is “not a single creature left to tell the tale.” More than 
a thousand persons are reported to have lost their lives. Carbet 
was invaded by a sea wave, a portion of the island sinking in the 
sea; at Fort de France the sea penetrated 4o feet inland, and 
the water line at that place has risen 5 to 6 feet. These 
disturbances in the ocean may result from a movement in its 
bed, which, considering the number of cables which have been 
interrupted, appears likely, or they may be directly due to the 
hurricane-like blasts from the mountain. In this last eruption, 
we again appear to have evidence of a connection between 
seismic and volcanic activities. The hour at which Mont Pelée 
and the Soufriére renewed their violence is not known, but on 
August 30, at 9.59 p.m. (5.54 p.m. St. Vincent’s time), an earth- 
quake occurred at a distance of about 62° from the Isle of Wight, 
which probably disturbed the whole of our globe. If this can 
be identified with a violent earthquake which at 9 p.m. dis- 
turbed Venezuela on that date, we again have a repetition of a 
history common to all the known West Indian eruptions. The 
gratuitous prophecies that Martinique is to sink beneath the 
ocean again appearing in papers are only increasing alarm, de- 
preciating the value of property and giving trouble, not only to 
the authorities in Martinique, but to the governors in adjacent 
islands. Although the inhabitants of districts which are 
threatened are being moved to places of safety, the alarm at the 
possibility of further devastation is intense. Let this be 
increased by sensational announcements and there may be 
panic, the results of which can only intensify calamity. 
WE have received from M. Henri Desmarest a copy of his 
article on ‘* La Houille blanche,” which appeared in the Reveze 
Universelle. The paper describes in a popular manner the 
utilisation of water power for industrial purposes, and the author 
points out that France, having at command a large supply of 
| waterfalls, may hope, by making the most of its advantages, to 
take a leading place amongst the nations. A table shows that 
more than 500,000 h.p. is already utilised, but this is only one- 
twentieth of the power available. The article is copiously 
illustrated by photographs of waterfalls and turbines, and diagrams 
showing the general construction of water-power installations ; 
there is also an interesting little map of France, shaded to show 
the amount of power existing in the different departments. One 
of the photographs shows the motor erected at Santa Cruz for 
using the power of the sea waves; this consists of two wells 
sunk near the sea front, in one of which is a float which is 
raised and lowered by the waves ; the float is connected to, and 
works, a pump in the second well, which forces the sea-water 
into a reservoir, from which it can be drawn when required. 
A NOTE on the use of Fourier’s series in the problem of 
the transverse vibrations of stretched strings is contributed by 
Dr. H. S. Carslaw to the current number of the Proceedings 
of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society. Dr. Carslaw proves 
that where the initial form of the string involves discontinuity in 
the slope of the curve, the th term of the series for the displace- 
ment is at most of order 1/7”, and the series cannot, therefore, be 
differentiated twice term by term, as would be necessary if the 
| series is to be proved to satisfy the differential equation of vibra- 
tion. Where, however, no discontinuity occurs in the slope of 
the string, the zth term of the series is of order 1/z*, and the 
second differentiation term by term is possible. But then, as 
