Nov. 29, 1883] 



NA TURE 



work?, some distance from the principal station at Sodankyla. At 

 Kultala exliaustive experiments will be made as to the effect 

 which the increase of the area of the " utstromnings " apparatus, 

 invented by Prof. I.emstrom for producing the aurora borealis, 

 has on the intensity of the current. The observations will in 

 other respects be the same at both .■■tations. At Sodankyla they 

 will be continued until September I, 1884. 



The Report bytlie Board of Trade on their Proceedings and 

 Business under the Weights and Measures Act, 1878, for the 

 pa^t year has been issued. The following are some of the lead- 

 ing points in the Report : During ihe past year the Standards 

 Department has had the opportunity of assisting the United 

 States Government in a comparis n of their standard of length 

 (Yard No. 57), with the standards at this office. Prof. C. S. 

 Pcirce, of the United .States Coast and Geodetic Survey, came 

 to London for this ] urpose in June last, on behalf of Prof. J. E. 

 Hilgard, who has charge of the Bureau of Weights and Measures 

 at Washington. A large number of comparisons of these 

 measures was made with all possible care, and it was found that 

 at 62° F., ^"ard No. 57 was o'000022 inch longer than the Yard 

 No. I deposited at this oifice. Ihe results of these comparisons, 

 as calculated by Prof. Peirce, will be referred to in a printed 

 memorandum which « ill be separately drawn up. It was found 

 necessary to test the accuracy of the standard kilogram, and 

 the only re-curce was to apply to the Comite International 

 des Poids et Meiures for permission to compare the British 

 standard kilogram with that deposited at their bureau near 

 Paris. By the report of this comparison, it is seen that 

 our standard kilogram is now 2'oi7S milligrams too light. 

 The Report rather naively points out that, but for the courtesy 

 of the Comite, the Standards Department would have been 

 unable to re-verify our unit of metric weight, as this country is 

 not represented on the Comite, and consequently does not con- 

 tribute towards its expenses. In a previous Report it is 

 also pointed out that the Board of Trade had been then 

 able to avail itself of the results of the scientific researches 

 which had been carried out under the directions of tlie Bureau. 

 A note on the instrumental equipment of the Bureau of the 

 Comite International is attached to the Report ; of the equip- 

 ment of this Bureau we recently gave a detailed description. 

 The tables of densities and expansions hitherto in use at the 

 Standards Office not having been found entirely in accord w-ith 

 the mo~t recent scientific research, new tables have been drawn 

 up for future use in the accurate comparisons of standards of 

 measure and weight, and these are given in the Appendix. At 

 the last annual trial of the pyx, the Report states, the differences 

 in weight and fineness of the new coins tlien submitted fjr 

 testing were again found to be far within the legal amounts 

 allowed, particularly on those allowed in the fineness of the gold 

 coin. Willi reference to the Electric Lighting Act, the Report 

 remarks that with the advance of science there arise from time 

 to time measures and w eights of new forms and denominations 

 which, in their application to commercial purposes, subsequently 

 receive the sanc'.ion and force of legislative enactment. Among 

 the most important of such new measures are those for the 

 measurement of mechanical and of electrical energy, as applied 

 to the measurement of electricity under the Electric Lighting 

 Act of last year. A present unit of measurement has been 

 taken in Provisional Orders under this Act, which is equivalent 

 to " the energy contained in a current of 1000 amperes flowing 

 under an electromotive force of one volt during one hour." No 

 practical meter of electricity capable of use in commerce and 

 daily life has ytt received official sanction. The Report and 

 Appendices show that Mr. Chaney continues the work of his 

 office as efhcienlly as his means will permit. 



Ar the Last sitting of the Academy of Sciences M. Pa-teur 

 read and commented on a posthumous paper by Dr. Thuilier 



his pupil, who died in Alexandria, where he was sent in August, 

 in order to make observations on cholera. The late Dr. 

 Thuilier takes an intermediate position betw-een M. Pasteur and 

 M. Bouchardat. M. Pasteur seems not to be quite opposed to 

 the views of his pupil. 



The German Cholera Commission are going, not, as they 

 originally intended, to Bombay, but to Calcutta, as they con- 

 sidSr the latter place more suitable for their investigations. 



In an official pamphlet published at Washington there is an 

 interesting sketch of the work and history of the United States 

 Bureau of Education. Not only does tlie Bureau publish reports 

 on education in the United States, but at frequent intervals 

 issues "Circulars of Information" containing data of great 

 value, and in many cases not otherwise accessible. Among 

 other things these circulars contain information on the systems of 

 education in nearly every civilised country, including China ; the 

 pamphlet referred to contains a useful list of all the circulars 

 issued, with their contents. 



In the report by Dr. Daniel Draper on the New York Meteoro- 

 logical Observatory for 1S82, it is show-n that the actual hours of 

 sunshine at Greenwich Observatory were 1245 in 1S7S and 

 977 in 1S79, when the pos.-ible hours were 4447 ; whereas at New 

 York in the former year the actual hours were 2936, and in the 

 latter 3101, when the possible hours were 4449. 



The " Howard " Medal of the Statistical Society for 1S83, 

 with a ]irize of 20/., has been awarded to Dr. R. D. R. Sweeting, 

 S.Sc. Cert. Camb., Medical Superintendent of the Western 

 District Fever Hospital, Fulham, for the best essay on "The 

 experiences and opinions of John Howard on the preservation 

 and improvement of the health of the inmates of schools-, prisons, 

 workhou-es, hospitals, and other public institutions, as far as 

 health is affected by structural arrangements relating to supplies 

 of air and water, drainage," &c. 



The cultivation of Sorghum {S. saccharatitm) and the manu- 

 facture of sugar from its stems has of late occupie I a large share 

 of attention by the Government in America, reports on which 

 have been issued at different times. The most recent of these is 

 an " Investigation of the Scientific and Economic Relations of 

 the Sorghum Sugar Industry." This is in the form of a report 

 drawn up by the committee of the National Academy of 

 Sciences, in which the subject of the cultivation, production, and 

 manufacture of the sugar is treated in considerable detail. The 

 report is one of considerable value, especially to those interested 

 in the progress of this industry. 



From Dr. King's Annual Report of the Royal Botanic Garden, 

 Calcutta, for theyear 18S2-83, and Mr. J. F. Duthie's Report of 

 the Government Botanical Gardens at Saharunpur and Mussoorie 

 for the year ending March 31, 1883, both of which have recently 

 reached u--, we learn something of the progress of botany at these 

 botanical centres in Indii. It is satisfactory to note that at 

 Calcutta considerable improvements have been effected during 

 the year, not only in the general arrangements of the garden 

 itself but also in the scientific department, for Dr. King informs 

 us that " the bamboo and mat erections which used to do duty 

 as conservatories have been replaced by three large, handsome, 

 and efficient structures of iron, on which a thin thatch of grass 

 is spread, and under shelter of which tropical plants thrive 

 admirably." As usual at Calcutta considerable attention has 

 been given to various economic plants, notably those which 

 produce the valuable article indiarubber, and which have occu- 

 pied so much attention of late. Dr. King says the cultivation of 

 the soy bean of Japan (Glycine soja) has of late been pressed on 

 the people of India, and "niDre in obedience to the loudness ot 

 this clamour than from a belief in its soundness " he has arranged 



