November 26, 1908] 



NA TORE 



107 



ten years 181)6-1905, crossed marriages, in which the father 

 returned his nationality as Italian or Spanish and the 

 jnother ga.-e her nationality as Argentine, did give a 

 slightly larsjer proportion of male births than pure matings 

 in which both parents were Argentine, Italian, or Spanish 

 respectively. The differences are not great, the numbers 

 of male births per 1000 female births ranging from loo-S 

 for the marriages between Italians, 103-3 foi" those between 

 Argentines, and 105-6 for those between Spaniards, to 

 105-7 and 106-7 fo"" the crossed matings ; on the number 

 of births used the differences exceed, however, twice the 

 probable error in every case except one. As the authors 

 very truly state, vital statistics notoriously abound in pit- 

 falls, but they conclude that preponderance of males 

 observed appears not to be capable of explanation as the 

 rf'sult of environmental or demographic influences. 



Is the November number of the Popular Science Monthly 

 (New York), Prof. A. E. Kenelly returns to the subject of 

 the relation between record times and distances for 

 different races, using as fresh illustrations the records of 

 the Olympic Games held in London last July. In his 

 original memoir, of which a notice appeared in Nature 

 for March 14, 1907 (vol. Ixxv., p. 463), Prof. Kenelly 

 showed that a linear relation subsisted between the 

 logarithm of the record time for a race over a course of 

 given length and the logarithm of that length. The 

 01vmj)ic records give points on the diagram lying close 

 to. but above, the line determined bv earlier records, the 

 times being in every case relatively high. The divergence 

 is most conspicuous in the case of the Marathon race, but 

 this is not unnatural, as the conditions were scarcely 

 similar to those of a race run over an artificial and almost 

 strictly level course. Prof. Kenelly argues that records 

 would be most easily beaten by the racer attempting to 

 maintain until near the finish a uniform speed, equal to 

 the average speed corresponding to the existing record, 

 and suggests a mechanical method of pace-making for 

 attaining this end. 



The English edition of the " Report of the International 

 Meteorological Conference at Innsbruck, September, 

 1905," has been published recently by the Meteorological 

 Committee. The work extends altogether to 156 pages, and 

 has been excellently translated from the original German 

 edition by Mr. R. G. K. Lempfert. The conference was 

 attended by fifty-six gentlemen (including a few guests), 

 several of whom represented organisations outside Europe. 

 Some forty items for discussion were included in the pro- 

 visional programme ; some of these were referred to special 

 commissions, while a few were ruled out as being of a 

 purely theoretical character. An account of the opening 

 and second and third meetings appeared in Nature of 

 September 21 and October 5, 1905 (vol. Ixxii., pp. 510, 

 562). Among the matters subsequently dealt with we 

 may mention a proposal by M. Durand-Gr^ville for the 

 special study of squalls (hail, thunderstorms, &c.) ; a per- 

 manent commission was appointed to organise the observa- 

 tions. Thanks were accorded to MM. Hellmann and 

 Mildebrandsson for the preparation of the International 

 Meteorological Codex, a systematic collection of the 

 resolutions passed at various meetings since 1871. The 

 comparison of standard barometers, which had engaged 

 the attention of previous conferences, was advocated, both 

 for European and other stations. The magnetic com- 

 mission also advocated a comparison of instruments and 

 prompt exchange of records for disturbed days. Sir 

 Norman Lockyer read the reports of the solar commission 

 at Cambridge (1904) and Innsbruck (1905) ; observations 

 NO. 2039, VOL. 79] 



are required, inter alia, at a number of island stations 

 (specified) for all oceans. All the resolutions of the cloud 

 commission, containing desired improvements in definitions, 

 &c., were adopted by the conference without discussion. 



A TWELFTH edition of Mr. Andrew Jamieson's " Elemen- 

 tary Manual of Steam and the Steam Engine " has been 

 published by Messrs. Charles Griffin and Co., Ltd. 



Mr. C. Baker, 244 High Holborn, has just issued a 

 revised edition of his catalogue of microscopes and 

 accessory apparatus. The catalogue includes particulars 

 of a number of new instruments of interest to workers 

 in microscopy, whetlicr they be students, teachers, 

 naturalists, or men concerned with studies in medicine 

 or public health. The list of lantern-slides also includes- 

 many sets of interest. 



The fourth edition of Behrens's " Tabcllen zum 

 Gebrauch bei mikroskopischen .Arbeiten " (Leipzig : S. 

 Hirzel, price 8 marks) has been received. It contains tables 

 of weights and measures, specific gravities, solubilities, 

 and formula of fixing and hardening agents, stains, 

 microchemical reactions, &c., and should prove of the 

 greatest service in biological, bacteriological, and patho- 

 logical laboratories. 



A SECOND edition of " British Mosses," by Sir Edward 

 Fry, G.C.B., F.R.S., has been published by Messrs. 

 Witherby and Co. With one exception, the illustrations 

 in the new edition have been re-drawn ; the short treat- 

 ment of the liverworts, which formed part of the earlier 

 issue, has been omitted, since the author hopes shortly 

 to deal with this group in a separate volume. The price 

 of the boolc is is. 6d. net. 



Messrs. W. Heffer and Sons, Cambridge, have pub- 

 lished a second edition of Mr. Sydney W. Cole's " Exercises 

 in Practical Physiological Chemistry." The first edition 

 of the book was reviewed in Nature of March 2, 1905 

 (vol. Ixxi., p. 412). It is sufficient to point out that the 

 chief changes are the adoption of the new nomenclature for 

 the proteins as recommended by the Physiological Society, 

 a new set of exercises on the globulins of blood serum, and 

 new methods for the quantitative estimation of sugar. 



The Iron and Steel Institute has published separately 

 an excerpt from its Journal (No. 3 for 1908) dealing with 

 the visits and excursions at the Middlesbrough meeting 

 this year. The report, which is edited by Mr. L. P. 

 Sidney, the assistant secretary of the institute, provides a 

 brief resume of the proceedings at the Middlesbrough 

 meeting, the speeches at the various functions, accounts of 

 visits to places of interest in the neighbourhood, and de- 

 scriptions of the various steel and iron works visited by 

 parties during the Middlesbrough meeting. The booklet 

 will serve as an interesting memento of a successful 

 meeting. 



Three books of especial interest to those connected with 

 the tropics are shortly to be published by Messrs. J. and 

 A. Churchill. They are : — " Report on the Prevention of 

 Malaria in Mauritius," by Prof. Ronald Ross, C.B., 

 F.R.S. ; a new volume of " Studies from the Institute of 

 Medical Research," issued by the authority of the Govern- 

 ment of the Federated Malay States; and "Lessons on 

 Elementary Hygiene for Especial Use in Tropical 

 Climates," by Dr. W. T. Prout, C.M.G. The eighteenth 

 edition of Squire's " Companion to the British Pharma- 

 copoeia " is also announced by the same firm. 



