.VA TURE 



[February 20, 1908 



Acting upon the adviro of Trof. H. J. Hamburger, it 

 was. decided to publisli in the Rcciicil de I'Inslilut 

 botaniqnc de BruxcUes (vol. vil.) the course of lectures on 

 molecular physiology delivered by the late Prof. Errera to 

 students taUingf the botanical degree in the University, 

 ll is primarily a physicochemical course dealing with the 

 properties of fluids and soiids, and the special application 

 ol the laws regulating their action lo various botanical 

 problems. Surface tension of liquids, viscosity, properties 

 of emulsions, circulation of gases and liquids in narrow 

 tubes, and similar phenomena are treated with regard to 

 their bearing in plants, and especially with reference to 

 the two important subjects of osmosis and the ascent of 

 sap in trees. Practical examples of calculations in con- 

 nection with osmotic problems are given, and the dis- 

 cussion of the various theories put forward to explain the 

 ascent of sap is illustrative of Prof. Errera's lucid 

 exposition. 



' The TCfsf Indian nuUctin (No. 3, vol. viii.) contains 

 summaries of several of the papers presented to the famous 

 agricultural conference of 1907. Mr. Gossett points out how 

 valuable Indian cattle have proved in Jamaica; they are 

 said to surpass all others as workers, and to be so remark- 

 ably hardy in constitution that they withstand the effects 

 of the climate, of insects, and other pests, besides being 

 able to subsist on coarse grasses and shrubs that other 

 cattle would refuse. Another paper deals with the suita- 

 bility of Jamaica for breeding horses, mules, and polo 

 ponies. Mr. Cox discusses the prospects of tea production, 

 and concludes that tea is a safe crop for a settler who 

 lives within reach of a factory. Mr. Cousins contributes 

 two papers, one on cassava starch and the other on agri- 

 cultural education in Jamaica. He finds that cassava 

 starch of high qualitv and commanding a good price can 

 be produced in Jamaica at a cost which allow's a very 

 handsome profit. Other papers deal with Jamaica ginger 

 and with the native timbers. The standard of the papers 

 is very good, and all the authors are very hopeful about 

 the future. They have good reason, for few of our 

 possessions have better agricultural departments than the 

 West Indies. 



The second number of the Bulletin of the Imperial Cen- 

 tral Agricultural Experiment Station of Japan is to hand, 

 and is in every way an excellent production. One paper 

 deals with the behaviour of nitrate of soda in paddy soils. 

 Kagaoka found some years ago that this fertiliser actually 

 depressed the yields of rice, Sagittaria, and Junctis cfjusus 

 when cultivated, as is usual in Japan, on swampy soils. 

 Me considered that the effect was due to denitrification, a 

 process which would give rise, among other things, to 

 poisonous nitrites. It is now shown that this view is 

 correct. Another paper, by Uchiyama, deals with the 

 influence of stimulating compounds such as manganese and 

 iron salts, sodium fluoride and potassium iodide on crops, a 

 subject to which considerable attention has been devoted 

 in Japan. The general conclusion is that manganese 

 sulphate at the rate of 20 kilos, to 50 kilos, per hectare 

 increases the crop, but the actual amount of the increase 

 depends on a variety of factors. The most favourable 

 ratio of lime to magnesia in soils forms the subject of 

 several papers. There is also an important synoptical list 

 of CoccidtE of Japan, with descriptions of thirteen new 

 species by Kuwana. The bulletin is profusely illustrated, 

 und the illustrations are unusually good. 



The report of the chief of the U.S. Weather Bureau 

 tor the fiscal year ended June 30, 1906, has just reached 

 us. In the department dealing with weather prediction, 



NO. 1999, VOL. yjA^ 



the distinctive worl< of the year was the study of atmo- 

 spheric movements in the United States with the additional 

 light afforded by reports from the Azores, western Europe, 

 Honolulu, and other places, the result of which has been 

 sufficiently encouraging to warrant a still further extension 

 of area. The amazing figures connected with the receipt 

 of telegraphic reports and the distribution of meteorological 

 information were referred to in Nature, vol. Ixxvi., p. 300. 

 There has been considerable increase of observing stations 

 of various classes ; the number now amounts to more than 

 4500. The report contains, inter alia, observations or 

 summaries for a large number of selected places, and 

 monthly and annual rainfall values for all stations, for 

 the year 1905, the whole occupying 405 quarto pages. At 

 Mount Weather Research Observatory systematic work is 

 carried on in connection with the international kite experi- 

 ments ; the institution possesses a very complete instru- 

 mental outfit for the purpose. Among various other useful 

 operations of the bureau, we may mention that efforts are 

 being made to correlate and reduce to a uniform system 

 the teaching of meteorology in the numerous colleges and 

 schools ; circular letters on the subject have apparently 

 been addressed to a large number of educational establish- 

 ments. 



As important paper on the smoke from metallurgical 

 works, by Mr. W. D. Harkins and Mr. R. E. Swain, is 

 contained in the Journal of the American Chemical Society 

 (vol. xxix., No. 4). The work which led to the publica- 

 tion of the paper was the estimation of the amount of 

 arsenic expelled from the greatest of the world's smelting 

 works, a plant which has a capacity of 10,000 tons of 

 ore per day, and a production estimated at iii per cent, 

 of the world's output of copper. It has been found that 

 not only are the trees and grass in the vicinity of works 

 injured by the sulphur dioxide and sulphuric acid of the 

 smoke, but the grass is also rendered poisonous by arsenic. 

 By the erection of new works with huge settling chambers 

 in place of the long flues of the old works, the loss of 

 animals in the valley became very much greater than 

 before. The velocity determinations and analyses of smoke 

 set forth in the paper were undertaken with a view to 

 determine the real efficiency of the great flues and stack, 

 300 feet high, built in order to prevent damage to the 

 forests and crops. The velocity determinations were made 

 with a Pitot tube, modified by Captain D. W. Taylor, 

 which was found to give much more trustworthy results 

 than the wheel anemometer. The results of the investi- 

 gation show that while the great flue may be fairly 

 efficient in causing the copper from the smoke to settle, 

 a considerable amount escapes, while the amount of 

 arsenic given off is very great. The arsenic is chiefly 

 in the form of trioxide, but a sitiall amotmt exists 

 in the form of trisulphide and in the form of 

 complex minerals containing iron. The dust from the 

 flue near the stack or in the stack itself contains a con- 

 siderable amount of concentrated sulphuric acid, while 

 that from near the furnaces contains much less. To this 

 sulphuric acid, together with the arsenic w-ith which it. is 

 associated, is probably due much of the spotting of leaves 

 which is so common in the vicinity of the works. The 

 action of the flue dust is of far less importance than that 

 of the sulphur dioxide in affecting the growth of plants, 

 but the arsenic of the dust may affect to a greater degree 

 the value of the grasses, since it renders them poisonous. 



Messrs. C. Wooli.iscroft .\kd Son, Ltd., Hanley, 

 Staffs, ask for information as to an electrostatic separator 

 for the purpose of extracting iron pyrites. An expert to 

 whom we referred the inquiry has been good enough to 



