July 13, 191 1] 



NATURE 



53 



to difference of temperature or difference of salinity, pub- 

 1 in the Proceedings of the society within the pre- 

 scribed period, and also in the Transactions and Proceed- 

 and after that period. 



A strong earthquake was felt at San Francisco and 

 throughout a large pari o) central California and Nevada 

 on the afternoon of July 2, and was evidently the most 

 severe of all the successors of the great shock of 1906. 

 The lotal damage was comparatively slight, but many 

 buildings were cracked, part of the cornice of the Bank 

 of California fell, and the coping of the Hall of Justice 

 was cracked. The latter was one of the few buildings 

 which escaped uninjured in 1906. 



On July 9, at 2I1. 2.5m. a.m., a strong earthquake 

 occurred in Hungary, the epicentre being at or close to 

 Kecskemet, which lies about fifty miles south-east of Buda- 

 pest. In this town, of some 50,000 inhabitants, ni arl} 

 every house was damaged, some so seriously that they 

 collapsed. In the neighbourhood of Kecskemet ten 

 persons were killed bj the fall of a house, and two others 

 at Nag> Koros, twelve miles to the north-east. The 

 shock was felt over a large part of Hungary, and was 

 evidently of unusual strength when compared with previous 

 movements in the same seismic centre. In his catalogue 

 of Hungarian earthquakes for 1865-84, Fuchs records only 

 seven slight shocks at Kecskemet or in the surrounding 

 district. 



Arrangements have been made to hold the autumn meet- 

 ing of the Iron and Steel Institute at Turin on October 2 

 and 5 next. On October 2 the members of the institute 

 will be welcomed by the civic authorities of Turin, the 

 Chamber of Commerce, and the reception committee of the 

 Associazione fra gli Industriali Metallurgici Italiani. 

 After the reception, the Carnegie gold medal for research 

 for 1910 will be presented to M. Fedix Robin, of Paris, 

 and papers will be read and discussed. At the conclusion 

 of the meeting, beginning on October 4, a tour in Italy 

 ha- been arranged to visit Genoa, Pisa, Rome, Naples, 

 Florence, Milan, and other places. Members desirous of 

 attending the meeting must signify their intention on reply 

 forms, to be obtained from the secretary of the institute, 

 not later than August 22. 



From a circular just received from South Africa we find 

 that the ninth annual meeting of the South African Associa- 

 tion for the Advancement of Science was to be held last 

 week at Bulavvayo under the presidency of Prof. P. D. 

 Hahn. The four sections, with the name of the president 

 in each case, are as follows : — Section A, astronomy, 

 mathematics, physics, meteorology, geodesy, surveying, 

 engineering, architecture, and irrigation ; president, the 

 Rev. E. Goetz. Section B, chemistry, geology, metallurgy, 

 mineralogy, and geography ; president, Mr. A. J. C. 

 Molyneux. Section C, bacteriology, botany, zoology, agri- 

 culture, forestry, physiology, hygiene, and sanitary science; 

 I dent, Dr. E. A. Nobbs. Section D, anthropology, 

 ethnology, education, history, mental science, philology, 

 political economy, sociology, and statistics; president, Mr. 

 G. Duthie. The South African medal and fund for 1910 

 has been awarded to Dr. L. Peringuey, director of the 

 museum, Cape Town. 



The United States Weather Bureau is forming in its 

 library, at Washington, a collection of meteorological 

 photographs, and will welcome additions thereto from all 

 parts of the world. The following classes of pictures are 

 among those desired : — (.1) views of meteorological offices, 

 observatories, and stations ; (2) pictures of meteorological 

 NO. 2176, VOL. 8/] 



apparatus ; (3) portraits of meteorologists — views of their 

 homes and birthplaces ; (4) views showing the effects of 

 storms, inundations, freezes, heavy snowfall, &c. ; 

 (5) cloud photographs ; (6) photographs of optical pheno- 

 mena (rainbows, halos, Brocken specter, mirage, &c.) ; 

 (7) photographs of lightning and its effects; (8) photo- 

 graphs of meteorologically interesting pictures in old books, 

 or of early prints and paintings (e.g. contemporary pictures 

 of the damage wrought by the great storm of 1703 in 

 England). Persons who are willing to present such 

 pictures to the Weather Bureau, or will furnish them 

 in exchange for Weather Bureau publications, are requested 

 to address : Chief U.S. Weather Bureau (Library), 

 Washington, D.C. 



Dr. W. T. Shepherd has contributed to the Psycho- 

 logical Monographs, issued in connection with The Psycho- 

 logical Review, a paper entitled " Some Mental Processes 

 of the Rhesus Monkey." His experiments lead him to 

 conclude that this monkey is able to discriminate colours 

 with speed and precision when it is presented with foods 

 (rice) variously coloured red, pink, yellow, and green ; that 

 it can be trained to discriminate between double-octave 

 differences in pitch of musical tones ; that, alike in the 

 formation and in the inhibition of habits, it is superior 

 to the raccoon and far superior to various other mammals 

 that have been examined. Dr. Shepherd believes that 

 monkeys learn only to a limited extent by imitation, and 

 that, although they may acquire a generalised mode of 

 action when confronted with a series of similar problems, 

 there is no evidence that they form true general notions 

 or can truly reason. 



The Japan Magazine for last April contains an interest- 

 ing article, by Mr. Mikimoto, on the culture pearl indus- 

 try, describing the methods employed in the Bay of Ago. 

 Every year during the months of July and August small" 

 pieces of stone are deposited in those parts of the sea 

 where the pearl oyster is abundant. In the third year of 

 the oyster's life it is removed from the sea, ana into the 

 shells are introduced small pearls or pieces of nacre to 

 serve as nuclei for the pearls. These are allowed to 

 develop for at least four years, when tiny are taken up 

 and the pearls recovered. The success of the industry is 

 much restricted by the great mortality among the oysters 

 due to what is called " red currant," an accumulation of 

 microscopic organisms in the water, and a seaweed known 

 to the Japanese as Mirumo (codium), which by its growth 

 smothers the young oysters. These artificially grown 

 pearls are said to resemble those of natural growth in 

 colour, lustre, and symmetry. It is interesting to note- 

 that most of the work in this industry is done by women, 

 who are believed by the Japanese to be able to remain 

 longer under water and to perform more and better work 

 than men. 



The report of the Lancashire Sea-fisheries Laboratory 

 and Fish Hatchery for 1910 contains a number of interest- 

 ing papers dealing both with economic and with more 

 purely scientific subjects. Mr. James Johnstone's memoir 

 on internal parasites and diseased conditions of fishes con- 

 tains a detailed description of a new genus and species of 

 trematode (Paracotyle caniculae), and Mr. W. J. Dakin 

 provides a note on a new sporozoan from the whelk, 

 which he also regards as belonging to a new genus and 

 species (Merocystis kathae). Prof. Herdman, in conjunc- 

 tion with Mr. A. Scott, contributes part iv\, dealing with 

 the year 1910, of his report on the intensive study of the 

 marine plankton around the south end of the Isle of 

 Man, and in conjunction with Mr. W. Riddell gives ait 



