88 



NA TURE 



[November 28, 1907 



through rush-turf to coniferous forest. The plate illus- 

 trating the high-moor decked with cotton grass shows 

 additional layers, notably sphagnum-zones superposed. 

 The plates, measuring no cm. by 150 cm., are published 

 by Gebriider Borntraeger at the price of twenty shillings, 

 or mounted on linen thirty-two shillings, a pair. The 

 same firm is also publishing a set of plates illustrating 

 pharmaceutical products at a subscription price of twenty- 

 five shillings for five plates. A specimen plate of Lignum 

 Gitaiacttm bears figures of wood and cortex as seen in 

 different sections, also of the broken elements. The plates 

 have been drawn by Mr. J. Pohl under the direction of 

 Dr. E. Gilg. 



■ The latest Bulletin (No. 26) issued by the Geological 

 Survey of Western Australia contains a series of miscel- 

 laneous reports which in themselves are not of sufficient 

 length to warrant issue as separate publications. The 

 volume covers eighty-seven pages, and contains fourteen 

 illustrations and six maps. Mr. A. Gibb Maitland con- 

 tributes papers on the occurrence of artesian water in the 

 Northampton and Geraldine district, on the geology of 

 Princess Royal Harbour, with special reference to the 

 occurrence of petroleum, and on recent advances in the 

 knowledge of the geology of Western Australia. Mr. 

 H. P. Woodward gives an account of the geology of the 

 country between the Ashburton and Minilya rivers. Mr. 

 W. D. Campbell describes the phosphatic deposits near 

 Dandaraga. The discovery is one of great value to the 

 State. The deposit occurs in a series of beds which have 

 been followed for twenty-two miles, one bed of fossil bone 

 and coprolite rock, 7 feet in thickness, containing 15-32 

 per cent, to 39-34 per cent, of phosphoric acid. Mr. 

 W. D. Campbell also contributes some notes on a geo- 

 logical map of the Greenough River district. Mr. E. S. 

 Simpson describes a small meteorite, a siderite of the 

 octahedrite type weighing 120-2 grams, from the Nuleri 

 district of Western .Australia. He also contributes a 

 valuable report on the prevention of the external corrosion 

 of goldfields' water-supply pipes. The Survey is to be 

 congratulated upon the issue of these reports in a collec- 

 tive form, as they cannot fail to help to make known the 

 varied mineral resources of Western Australia. 



A THOROUGH change has occurred in the type of thi- 

 weather during the past week, and more wintry conditions 

 than at any time this season have been experienced. 

 Night frosts have occurred in many parts of the country, 

 and heavy snow has fallen over the northern portion of 

 England. Cyclonic disturbances continue to arrive from 

 the Atlantic with considerable frequency, and at times these 

 are accompanied by winds of gale force. On Monday a 

 whirlwind was experienced in the neighbourhood of Deal, 

 and some farm buildings sustained considerable damage. 

 The autumn has, on the whole, been exceptionally mild, 

 .the day and night temperatures being generally at least 

 5° above the average. 



We have received the fourteenth annual report of 

 meteorology in Mysore, being the results of observations 

 at Bangalore, Mysore, Hassan, and Chitaldrug for 1906. 

 To the present report the daily means for the twelve years 

 1893-1904 have been added for each of those important 

 stations. The director (Mr. J. Cook) states that, in 

 accordance with the recent action of the Government of 

 India, which has reduced the majority of its second-class 

 observatories to third-class ones, the last two of the above- 

 mentioned stations will hereafter be of the third class. 

 For this reason the twelve-year means now published for 

 N©. 1987, VOL. 77] 



those places will be valuable as climatic standards of 

 reference. 



An important article by Captain Tancredi in the Rivista 

 Coloniale on the climate of the Italian colony of Eritrea, 

 from observations at fourteen stations, is summarised in 

 the Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological .Society 

 for October. The observations at Massaua extend over 

 ten years, and these, so far as regards temperature, rain- 

 fall, and humidity, have also been discussed with others 

 extending (with small interruptions) over eighteen years 

 (1885-1902) by Drs. Eredia and Mcmmo in the Bulletin 

 of the Italian Geographical Society. The lowest of the 

 mean monthly minima, 72°-3, occurs in January, and the 

 mean maximum, 103°-!, in July; the mean yearly tempera- 

 ture is 86°-o. The year may be divided into two periods ; 

 from May to October the monthly means are above, and 

 from November to .April below, the mean value. The 

 average annual rainfall is small, being only 7-19 inches, 

 of which 6-04 inches fall between October and March ; 

 none falls in June. Malaria depends especially upon the 

 altitude ; places above 6000 feet are practically free from 

 it, while in the low-lying regions it is endemic, and 

 assumes an epidemic character in some months, apparently 

 depending upon the regime of the rainfall in the locality. 



The Smithsonian Institution has published (" Miscel- 

 laneous Collections," xli.x.) a memorial of the late Prof. 

 .S. P. Langley, accompanied by a bibliography of his pub- 

 lished writings. It contains addresses by Dr. Andrew 



D. White, dealing with biographical details ; by Prof. 



E. C. Pickering, dealing with Prof. Langley 's contribu- 

 tions to astronomy and astrophysics ; and by Mr. Octave 

 Chanute, dealing with his contributions to aerodynamics. 

 The last-named address is of considerable interest in 

 consequence of the conflicting statements which appeared 

 in the Press at the time in reference to the alleged success 

 or failure of Langley 's experiments on aeroplane flight. 

 The facts of the case as chronicled by Mr. Chanute will 

 now become a matter of history. 



In the Proceedings of the Edinburgh Mathematical 

 Society (xxv.), Mr. R. F. Muirhead directs attention to a 

 simple method of calculating first and second moments 

 of certain elementary figures. By " second moments " are 

 meant the same as '" moments of inertia," the term being 

 preferred, as it does not imply that we are concerned 

 with masses. The method in question, or one very similar 

 to it, was known at Cambridge many years ago, but 

 does not seem hitherto to have been much discussed in 

 print. As applied to the triangle, this method consists 

 essentially in dividing a triangle into four smaller triangles 

 by joining the middle points of the sides, and applying 

 Huyghens's principle of parallel axes to obtain a relation 

 between the moments of the original triangle and the four 

 smaller ones. 



An interesting account of the Amalgamated Radio- 

 Telegraph Company's new Transatlantic wireless station 

 at Knockroe appears in the Electrician of November ts- 

 The station is nearly completed, and when finished an 

 Atlantic shipping service will be- started, while as soon 

 as the Canadian station is opened a Transatlantic 

 service will be commenced. Three masts, 350 feet high, 

 carry the insulated ends of some 300 wires, which descend 

 in a cone to nine short masts, 70 feet high, erected in a 

 circle about the taller ones. The Poulsen system of wire- 

 less telegraphy by undamped waves is employed, and it 

 will be interesting to compare the Marconi and the Poulsen 

 svstems in a Transatlantic service. Possibly in this station 



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