‘. eo o 
Maxcu 3, 1923] 

to use or not to use for transcriptions of vowels the 
Czech j, referred to in the table under (1)-(5). 
Be aw at! a tt 
Aiba. d- enjene a20m JLtii, a) j 
Hera Or pt eC Weare = on 
Pant een tO! mace tim. fe ch. cyt 
Mint. See oY ht 8 ro! HY ey oy 
-— eel -— 
Bese, y i. 6,jé e ju, fw ja, ia f i 
For brevity’s sake I do not translate the single ! 
notes. 
I lived long enough in England to love the nation 
and appreciate its wonderful conservatism, and I 
quite understand that English geographers will 
scarcely give up the transcription once introduced 
by Lord Gleichen (of which I also possess a copy) ; 
yet a glance at the special Ordnance maps of countries 
of Central Europe, for example the excellent maps 
(I : 75,000 or I : 25,000) of the late Austrian Empire, 
might convince everybody that the diacritic signs 
of half-a-dozen different languages are not a draw- 
back in producing or using such maps even for 
military purposes. 
Thus the nations outside Great Britain will have 
to choose between the mode of transcription defended 
by Lord Gleichen or the rules given by the Russian 
Academy of Sciences, which—up to this date having 
been unknown to me—happen to coincide with my 
proposal. BouuSLAv BRAUNER. 
Bohemian University, Prague—VI. 
February f., 

Herapath’s Artificial Tourmalines. 
IseEE that Prof. F. J. Cheshire (NATURE, February 3, 
. 171), in his presidential address to the Royal 
eicrscapical Society, urges ‘‘ that the work of Hera- 
path and others in the production of artificial tourma- 
lines should be again taken up,’’ and I wish strongly 
to support this hope. In my report in the War 
Office ‘‘Observations on Malaria ’’ (1919) I showed 
that the Herapath test for quinine, especially as 
modified by Prof. W. Ramsden, is the most delicate 
test known for this alkaloid, and I feel certain that 
Herapath’s method lends itself to many other applica- 
tions. I have never found it to fail in the case of 
quinine, which I was able to detect even in dilutions 
of I in 15,000,000. M. NIERENSTEIN. 
University of Bristol, 
February 6. 

The Mechanism of Audition. 
In connexion with the recent discussion in NATURE 
of the mechanism of the cochlea, and of the model 
of the cochlea designed by Mr. George Wilkinson 
(October 21, p. 559; November 11, p. 632), it seems 
well to point out another characteristic of hearing 
which will have to be taken into account in any 
comprehensive theory of audition. This is the 
abruptness of the changes which are found in the 
sensitivity of many ears when tested as a function of 
frequency. These are disclosed by the accurate 
determinations of the sensitivity-frequency character- 
istics of ears which have been made possible by the 
use of continuous ranges of pitch for acuity tests 
instead of the method of tests at discrete frequencies 
which has usually been used. A description of the 
apparatus used is given in-an article soon to appear 
in the Physical Review. Insome cases with apparently 
NO. 2783, VOL. 111] 
NATURE 

291 
normal hearing people, changes as great as a factor 
of one thousand in the necessary intensity for audition 
are found with a change of pitch of a semitone, 
these occurring in connexion with depressions in 
the general level of sensitivity. Pictorially, this 
would seem to require the physical existence of a 
large number of elements each of which is concerned 
with the transmission of only a very narrow range 
of frequencies, these differentiated elements existing 
in the inner ear, in a possible cable from the ear to 
the brain, in the brain itself, or possibly in all three 
places, and of such a nature that the individual 
elements may be quite severely injured without 
seriously affecting neighbouring elements. 
FREDERICK W. KRANz. 
Riverbank Laboratories, Geneva, Illinois. 

Spiranthes autumnalis. 
In Nature of February to, p. 185, Prof. Bower 
describes the finding of the orchid Spiranthes autum- 
nalis near Carrbridge in the summer of 1921. I have 
to report the discovery of a single specimen of this 
orchid in the first week of September 1922, on Docharn 
Craig, a small hill (1250 ft.) four miles south-east of 
Carrbridge. The hill is under cultivation up to 
1100 ft. on the southern side, but on the northern 
side there are the remains of a wood of magnificent 
wind-sown pines. The floor of the wood is covered 
with Vaccinium spp. (mainly oxycoccus), mixed in 
places with Evica Tetralix and E. cinerea: earlier in 
the season Pyrola votundifolia and Trientalis europea 
were abundant. Only one plant of Spivanthes 
autumnalis was found, although the interest attach- 
ing to its unexpected discovery in this locality led to a 
careful search of the whole wood. The specimen was 
unfortunately lost in the transit to town, but when 
fresh it was quite unmistakable. 
E. Pirie SmirH. 
46 Murrayfield Avenue, 
Edinburgh, February rr. 

Pror. BoweEr’s letter in NATURE of February tro, 
recording the finding of Spivanthus autumnalis near 
Carrbridge, Inverness-shire, prompts me to record 
the presence of that orchid in the Island of Coll, 
Argyllshire. 
Whilst surveying there in August 1921 my wife 
and I noted some half-dozen specimens. These, 
though undoubtedly of the genus Spiranthus, did not 
tally exactly with the description of S. autumnalis 
as given in Hooker’s Flora, but the difference was 
not sufficient to make them a variety. 
Unfortunately we have not preserved a specimen, 
but we were so surprised at the time at finding that 
species in Coll that we sent one specimen to a com- 
petent field botanist who confirmed our identification. 
Joun B. Srmpson. 
H.M. Geological Survey Office, 
33 George Square, Edinburgh. 

The Drayson Paradox. 
Tue writer of the first paragraph in the astro- 
nomical column of NATURE of January 20, page 94, 
refers to my pamphlet (Wm. Pollard and Co., Exeter, 
1s. 6d.) in a way which might lead an incautious 
reader to suppose he had seen it, which evidently he 
has not, or he would scarcely speak of ‘‘ wresting a few 
isolated observations to suit their preconceived views ”’ 
in face of the statement on its nineteenth page that 
