io6 



NATURE 



[OcKiUKR 20, 1910 



imbedding an object in paraffin, trimming the blocl<, 

 making the " ritzer " lines on one face of the blocl-c, and 

 cutting it into sections. The causes of curling, splitting, 

 and wrinkling of the sections, and of sundry other troubles 

 which confront the beginner, are pointed out and the 

 remedies given. .Most workers use xylol after dehydra- 

 tion of the tissue to replace the alcohol and to act as the 

 paraffin solvent, but the author advocates the use of 

 toluene ; he also recommends dammar as a mounting 

 medium in preference to balsam. 



-A.N anonymous contributor to S^ymona's Meleorolo/iical 

 Magazine for September communicates an article on " The 

 Meteorological Outlook in South .-Xfrica." He points out 

 that this pre-eminent vantage ground for the study of that 

 science has not been utilised as it might have been, and 

 expresses the hope that the new Union Parliament will 

 favourably consider the matter. There are only some 

 half-dozen of the more important stations, and some of 

 these are poorly equipped ; in nearly all cases the sites 

 are not satisfactory, and have been chosen with a view 

 to astronomical observations, and none can hope to under- 

 take good magnetical work. A single service for the 

 whole country is advocated, instead of separate services 

 for each State as at present. The writer recommends the 

 establishment of a series of first-order observatories suit- 

 ably distributed geographically, e.g. in one line from Durban 

 to Port Nolloth, and in another line from Bulaw.ayo to 

 East London ; also a systematic discussion of all the 

 observations at present in existence, and particularly of 

 the anemometric records kept at some of the ports. 

 .Attention is also directed to the necessity of uniformity 

 of times of observation and of the measures used in 

 publications. 



The results of the Italian aeronautical experiments near 

 Zanzibar during the last week of July, 1908 (the period 

 selected for international balloon ascents), are published 

 in the .Iniiali of the Central Meteorological Office (vol. 

 XXX., part i.). The Italian Government lent the cruiser 

 Caprera for the purpose, and deputed Prof. L. Palazzo to 

 superintend the work. The weather during the whole of 

 the time was unfortunately unfavourable ; only two 

 successful ascents were made with registering balloons, 

 and ten ascents of pilot balloons could only be observed 

 in the lower strata of the atmosphere. Some useful 

 observations were, however, made with the latter, and 

 showed that the wind direction during the summer mon- 

 soon was practically southerly, with more or less easterly 

 components. On July 30 the registering balloon reached 

 an altitude of 4940 metres ; at 1500 m. and 3500 m. a 

 small inversion of temperature was observed, both in 

 ascending and descending. The lowest temperature, 

 — 2-8° C, was registered at 4690 m. during the descent. 

 In the ascent of July 31 the altitude of 6630 m. was 

 reached; the minimum temperature, —12-0° C, occurred 

 at 6610 m., during the descent. There was a tendency 

 to an inversion at 3500 m., and a more decided one at 

 about 6200 m., both in ascending and descending. 



In the October number of the American joutnnl of 

 Science Mr. .\. Mc.Mie directs attention to the urgent 

 necessity of replacing the present bewildering diversity of 

 systems of notation in meteorology by an international 

 system. The work now in progress with the help of kites 

 and the rapid strides which the art of aviation is making 

 both point to an early extension of our knowledge of the 

 properties and motions of the atmosphere, and it is 

 important that the results should be expressed in a form 

 readily understood by all. With Dr. \V. N. Shaw, the 

 NO. 2138, VOL. 84] 



author advocates the expression of pressures in terms of 

 till" barie of one million dynes per square centimetre, which 

 is the pressure at a height of 106 metres in the atmo- 

 sphere. Temperature to be expressed on the absolute 

 scale, reckoned from —273° C. ; humidity in terms of the 

 weight, in grams, of water vapour in 1000 cubic metres 

 of air; and the direction of the wind in degrees from the 

 north towards the east. 



The Revue scienlifique for October i reproduces a 

 lecture given by Prof. Jean Becquerel on modern ideas as 

 to the constitution of matter. ."Mthough no mathematical 

 symbols are used, the author succeeds in giving a clear 

 and interesting account of the steps by which, since the 

 discovery of the kathode rays, physicists have been driven 

 to the conclusion that, like matter, electricity is atomic in 

 constitution, that the kathode rays are, in fact, streams 

 of atoms of negative electricity. In virtue of their motion 

 these atoms possess an inertia equal to one two-thousandth 

 part of th'jt which an atom of hydrogen would possess, 

 and it seems possible that they form one of the primordial 

 elements out of which matter as we know it is built. 

 How each atom of matter is constructed remains to be 

 discovered, but if the above view is correct it is no longer 

 possible to conceive of the atoins of the chemists as 

 immutable ; we must, in fact, turn alchemists. 



We learn from an article in Engineering for October 14, 

 dealing with the annual report of Lloyd's Register of 

 Shipping, that the Diesel oil engine is now being fitted to 

 three fairly large vessels being built on the Continent 

 under the supervision of the surveyors of Lloyd's Register. 

 One set is being constructed on the older principle of the 

 four-stroke cycle with single-acting cylinders, and will be 

 of about 450 indicated horse-power. A two-stroke cycle, ' 

 in which the reversal is effected in the engine itself, the 

 crank-shaft being directly coupled to the screw-shaft, has 

 been successfully adopted. A single-acting set on the two- 

 stroke cycle is being fitted to a twin-screw vessel, the 

 power being about 900 indicated horse-power on each 

 shaft. The third set is being made on the two-stroke 

 cycle double-acting system, each cylinder providing two 

 impulses per revolution. This will also be fitted in a 

 twin-screw vessel, the total power being about iSoo 

 indicated horse-power. 



In the same report of Lloyd's Register are describril 

 several novel features posspssed by a set of internal- 

 combustion engines which is being constructed in this 

 country, under the society's survey, for a vessel of about 

 260 tons. Gas for the engines is to be produced on board 

 from anthracite coal. The cylinders are to be of com- 

 paratively small size, and the engines are intended to run 

 at a high rate of revolution, and will not be reversible. 

 The connection with the screw-shaft will be made by means 

 of a hydrodynamic transformer, in which a turbine pump 

 driven by the engine delivers water to another turbine 

 coupled direct to the screw-shaft. The arrangement is 

 such that the screw-shaft will rotate at a much less rate 

 of speed than the engines, and provision is also made for 

 reversing its direction of rotation. The experience which 

 will be obtained from these four applications of the 

 internal-combustion engine is being looked forward to with 

 great interest, and will provide data of great value. 



Messrs. E. B. .Atkinson and Co., 24 Dock Street, 

 Hull, have sent us a copy of their new catalogue of 

 balances and weights. In addition to containing par- 

 ticulars of the balances of their own designs, the catalogue 

 provides prices and details of all other well-known makes 

 of balance and accessories which Messrs. .Atkinson and Co. 

 are prepared to supply. 



