614 

pts. I and 2, have been received, and contain some 
important communications, such as :—‘‘ Palzonto- 
logia Nove Cambrie meridionalis; Occasional De- 
scriptions of New South Wales Fossils,’’ No. 8, and 
presumably the last, from the pen of the late R. 
Etheridge, junr.; ‘‘A Census and Index of the 
Lower Carboniferous Burindi Fauna,” by Dr. W. N. 
Benson; ‘‘ Note on the Occurrence of Graptolite- 
bearing Beds of Ordovician Age at Yalgogrin and 
Ariah Park,’’ by L. F. Harper; ‘‘ Materials for the 
Study of the Devonian Paleontology of Australia,’ 
by Dr. W. N. Benson, in which is included a useful 
bibliography, and a ‘Census and Index” which will 
prove invaluable to students. 
AN article on “‘ The Present Situation in the Radium 
Industry,” by H. E. Bishop, in Science of March 23, 
gives an interesting account of the influence which 
the discovery of a rich deposit of radium will have on 
supplies in the future. Rich ore was discovered near 
Elizabethville in the province of Katanga in 1913, 
during prospecting work by the Union Miniére de 
Haut Katanga, a Belgian corporation. Before any 
developments of the find could occur the War broke | 
out. The secret was so well kept that no word 
reached the outside world until a very large plant 
for radium extraction had been erected at Oolen in 
Belgium. In spite of the fact that the ore is trans- 
ported 2000 miles down the Congo, across the ocean 
to Antwerp, and then by rail to Oolen, its richness 
allowed of radium preparations being put on the 
market in the early part of last year at a considerably 
lower figure than that at which it has been main- 
tained for some years by the American companies. 
As a result of conferences between the representatives 
of the American companies and the Belgian, a joint 
selling organisation has been formed. We learn from 
the article that the question of a tariff to protect the 
radium industry of America has been discussed, and 
apparently the decision taken that the preferable 
policy is one by which a lower price of the commodity 
will lead to its more widespread use. 
CircuLars Nos. 120 and 121 of the U.S. Bureau of 
Standards, Washington, are of interest as showing 
the wide scope of the work of the Bureau and how 
the interests of various sections of the community are 
looked after in America. No. 120 describes the 
“ Construction and Operation of a Simple Home- 
made Radio Receiving Outfit,” and No. 121 describes 
the “ Construction and Operation of a Two-circuit 
Radio Receiving Equipment with Crystal Detector.” 
They are both clearly written, and can be obtained 
from the Government Printing House at Washington 
for a few cents. The apparatus described can all be 
made at home. The movable coil tube, for example, 
can be made from a round cardboard box which 
contained table salt, and the outer cardboard cylinder 
can be an old oatmeal box. For a set which will 
receive messages from a high-power radio telephonic 
station up to 75 miles, or from a medium station up 
to 10 miles distant, the cost varies from ro to 15 dollars. 
The simple apparatus described is suitable for every- 
day work, but mention is made that parts of the 
NO. 2792, VOL. 111] 
NATURE 

[May 5, 1923 
apparatus may possibly be covered by existing 
patents. A test buzzer for finding the most sensitive 
spots on a galena crystal is regarded as a necessity, 
and is included in every estimate. As crystals are 
quite cheap, insensitive crystals should never be 
used. ° 
WE have received the first five parts of the Japanese 
Journal of Chemistry, issued by the National Research 
Council of Japan, Tokyo, 1922. The president of 
the Council is Baron K. Furuichi, and the vice- 
president Prof. J. Sakurai, and there is a committee 
of publication. As we have already stated in these 
columns (April 7, p. 478), the Council issues a journal 
devoted to chemistry and another to physics, each 
in ten numbers annually, a journal dealing with 
geology and geography quarterly, and a proceedings 
and journals covering botany, zoology, medical 
sciences, astronomy and geophysics, and engineering, 
occasionally. Communications relating to these 
publications should be addressed to the Secretary, 
National Research Council, Department of Educa- 
tion, Japan. The editorial matter, and most of the 
papers, in the numbers of the Journal of Chemistry 
which have been received are in English. Besides 
original papers, there are abstracts of papers which 
have been published in Japanese journals. The 
standard of the publications is high, and the journals 
will be useful to European readers in keeping in 
touch with much first-class work now appearing in 
Japanese journals. 
eT 
THE Ministry of Public Works, Egypt, has pub- 
lished the report on the work of the physical depart- 
ment for the year ending in March 1922. Dr. H. E. 
Hurst, controller of the department, records that in 
spite of an inadequate staff the scope of work has 
widened in several directions. Rainfall returns were 
received from thirty stations in Egypt, eighty-nine in 
the Sudan, forty-five in Uganda, fifty-five in Kenya, 
five in Abyssinia, and one each in Aden, Somaliland, 
Zomba, Seychelles, Mauritius, and Cyprus. Arrange- 
ments have been made to start a new station at — 
Dangela in north-west Abyssinia. Regular readings 
of river discharges were made at sixteen stations on 
the Nile, Atbara, Rahad, and Dinder. The discharges 
of the White Nile and Main Nile in February 1922 
proved to be the lowest on record. The level of the 
Bahr-el-Gebel and the White Nile fell below the 
bottom of many of the gauges, and new methods had 
to be devised quickly to mean the levels. The 
meteorological service has been active. During the 
year Egypt had twenty-six and the Sudan twenty- 
nine meteorological stations. This was an increase 
of four; new stations have been opened at Suez, Del a 
barrage, Giza, Makwar, and Bir Abu Tif in the Si 
peninsula. The station at Mansura was closed. - 
the Egyptian stations, that at Helwan is of the 
order and fourteen are of second order. Investi 
tion of the upper air continues at Helwan and else- 
where in co-operation with the Royal Air Force. The 
report contains records of other valuable work. 





em 
Messrs. W. HEFFER AND Sons, L1D., Cambridge, — 
have sent us a copy of their catalogue (No, 223) — 
