April 17, 1884J 



NATURE 



3/0 



vessels and of bodies such as pendulums, when totally 

 immersed in fluid, are also adverted to. 



Twenty-live useful maps and charts are attached show- 

 ing the general progress of the survey, particularly on the 

 coasts of Florida, California, Oregon, and Carolina ; 

 together with illustrations of the apparatus used. As 

 compared for instance with the precise drav/ings given 

 by General Ibanez in his Reports in 1S60 and 1S65 on 

 the Madrid base-line, there may perhaps be room for im- 

 provement in the finish of the illustrations given in this 

 Report. 



In the Report of the Superintendent for 18S3 we shall 

 look forward with interest to the results of the experi- 

 mental researches on the force of gravity, by ."Xssistant 

 C. S. Peirce, who is now visiting Europe for the purpose 

 of his inquiries. 



In the success with which the Superintendent has been 

 able to deal with the different branches of his department, 

 much is due, as he indicates, to the forethought and 

 systematic treatment of his eminent predecessors, par- 

 ticularly to Carlile P. Patterson, to whose memory a 

 graceful tribute is rendered in the Report ; as well as to 

 the able assistance which the Government have placed at 

 the Superintendent's disposal. 



AGRICULTURE IN SUSSEX^ 

 'T^HIS Report bears evidence of a considerable amount 

 ■*■ of careful research bearing upon the agricultural 

 practice of Sussex. The honorary secretary. Major 

 Warden Sergison, must be congratulated upon his zealous 

 administration of the finances, whereby an annual income 

 of about 770/. has been secured for the three successive 

 years of active operations. This Report deals with the 

 results of the third year's work, which completed the 

 period over which it was originally calculated that the 

 work should be extended. We are therefore in a position 

 to form some opinion as to the practical value of the 

 results which have been gained. It appears from this 

 Report that it is intended to extend this inquiry. 



These experimental researches have been conducted by 

 Mr. Thomas Jamieson, the Fordyce Lecturer on Agri- 

 culture in the University of Aberdeen, and it will be 

 interesting to notice the improvements and economies 

 which are claimed in his Report as resulting from this 

 rather costly investigation. He says : — " The results are 

 too numerous to give, . . ." but "an attempt will be made 

 to give in a general way the lessons they seem to teach,' 

 He then proceeds to indicate these, placing them in the 

 form of question and answer. We will take the first of 

 these. 



" IVJiat food do plants need? Prior to the experiments 

 now recorded, the answer to this question would have 

 been 'Nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, sulphur, calcium, 

 magnesium, iron.' The results of the experiments warrant 

 us in saying that the latter four substances may be disre- 

 garded by farmers. We thus reaUse the value of experi- 

 ments. If the farmer of ;oo acres will lay his manure 

 bill before a chemist, and ask him to calculate how much 

 he has paid for those useless — or hurtful — ingredients, he 

 will recognise the direct benefit of such experiments." 



Those who have watched the good work which Mr. 

 Jamieson has done in connection with the Aberdeenshire 

 .Agricultural Association, and who have recognised the 

 opposition with which he had to contend, cannot but 

 regret the hasty conclusion at which he has arrived. It 

 is a very bold assertion to make that sulphur, calcium, 

 magnesium, and iron are not needed as plant-food. He 

 cautions his friends " not to be led away by opposed 

 statements, however plausible, if unaccompanied by 

 proof." In this case Mr. Jamieson shall supply his own 

 proof, for which purpose we refer to the Report of the 



* "The Annu.-!! Report of the Proceedings rf the Stis=ex .Association for 

 lie Iinprovctnetit of Agr.ciiltiire in Sussex. Season 1883." 



Aberdeenshire .Agricultural Association, 1875-76, p. 29. 

 Here Mr. Jamieson reports a very valuable series of experi- 

 ments which he made. White sand was supplied with all 

 the ingredients found in turnips — except one — and turnip 

 seeds were then sown. He says: — " Precisely the same 

 sand, precisely the same seed, precisely the same water- 

 ing, precisely the same ingredients added, except one — 

 which was purposely omitted — calciuui. In consequence 

 of this omission, although all the other ingredients were 

 present in abundance, the healthy seed produced healthy 

 young plants, but speedily tJtc ii.'lwlc of tlum died. Just 

 as in an ordinary chemical experiment //w desired substance 

 cannot be formed if one of tlie essential im^redients is absent:' 

 The lesson derived front this experiment is perfectly con- 

 sistent with agricultural science, and it is a source of pro- 

 found surprise to find that this substance — calcium — is 

 one of the four bodies named in the Sussex Report as 

 being unnecessary, and that it should be stated that 

 "farmers will not hurt their crops by omitting these four 

 elements." This is a dangerous lesson to deduce from 

 this valuable series of experiments, and we regard it wiih 

 the greater regret because the facts do not justify such a 

 conclusion. 



Other examples might be selected from this Report, 

 which conflict with other experimental trials conducted 

 with, at least, equal care, which also tend to show the 

 necessity for taking more practical views of the results 

 gained. The opinions expressed upon permanent pasture 

 are also open to severe criticism. If the general series of 

 Sussex experiments be placed in comparison with the 

 investigations carried out for the Aberdeenshire Agricul- 

 tural .Association, they will be found devoid of those great 

 national advantages which must long attach to the Scotch 

 experiments. The value of the Aberdeen Association 

 work has never been as fully appreciated as it deserves, 

 and the agricultural public would have been highly grati- 

 fied if the Sussex Association experiments had been 

 equally definite and satisfactory. 



SO com A ' 



T^OUR years have elapsed since an expedition was sent 

 -'- out from this country by the British Association and 

 the Royal Society to explore the Island of Socotra. With 

 the exception of diplomatic visits by the resident at Aden 

 in the two or three preceding years, and of a short ex- 

 ploration in 1847 by the French naturalist Boivin, there 

 is no record of any European having sojourned on the 

 island since the date, forty years ago, of its abandonment 

 by the Indian troops which had occupied it for this 

 country during four years, and VVellsted's account of his 

 survey of the island (in Journ. Roy. Ceog. Soc. v. 1S35) 

 made in 1834, has been up till now the most recent and 

 most satisfactory. It is remarkable that an island so long 

 neglected and forgotten should be visited in two successive 

 years by exploring expeditions ; yet this has happened. 

 In 1 88 1 a party of German explorers followed the British 

 Expedition. This German Expedition to Socotra formed 

 part of a scheme of scientific exploration of many unknown 

 or but little-known regions of the globe set on foot by Dr. 

 Emil Riebeck, and for which his liberality provided the 

 means, and the results of this portion of his undertaking, 

 some account of which now lies before us, must be grati- 

 fying to him as they are valuable to and welcomed by 

 science. Dr. Riebeck was accompanied to Socotra by 

 the well-known traveller Dr. Schweinfurth and two other 

 companions, Drs. iSIantay and Rosset — a quartet of ob- 

 seners well qualified to take advantage of every oppor- 

 tunity of extending our knowledge of nature. Many 



* " Ein Besuch auf Socotra niit der Riebeck'schen Expedition." Vortrag 

 von Professor Dr. Schweinfurth. (Freiburg, 1884.) 



" Allgenieine Ecirjctuiigcn uUr die Flora von Sccolra," von G. Schwein- 

 furth. Sep. Abd. aus /.'w^/, ,( U.tauUchen Jalirbuchent, v. (1883). 



■• I.and-Schnecken von Sokntr:!," von E. von Martens, aus Nachrichtshl. 

 d. deutsch. Malnkol. Cesclhc/ia/l, No. io(i8Si). 



