p 



Feb. 



[887] 



NA TURE 



319 



10 be in millimetres, for the longer (which I will call A), 228'4 ; 

 for the shorter (which I will call G), 227 3 ; the length of 9 

 English inches in millimetres being 2286 The "handle" 

 penetrates into the sheath about 177 mm. These hamlles are 

 tapered to the end penetrating the sheath. The two " sheaths" 

 are not alike in interior form : the sheath A is hollowed out 

 conically to a depth of 46'5 mm,, the remainder of its length 

 having a hole drilled through it of about 2 '6 mm. diameter ; the 

 sheath G is 70 mm. long, is hollowed out to a depth of 50"5 mm., 

 and has no hole through the bottom or end part. 



I was led to conjecture that these tubes or "sheaths" might 

 be musical pitch-pipes ; and on blowing across their orifices, the 

 shorter produced the sound of high G, the longer or perforated 

 one that of high A. By stop,)ing with the finger the hole which 

 passes through the bottom of the "sheath" A, the sound of 

 high G sharp was produced. These notes I tested with a pitch- 

 pipe. 



This led me to further conjecture that they should present an 

 interior diameter in accordance with the condition laid down 

 therefor by Lyng-Lun ; that is, such as to give an interior cir- 

 cumference equal to 9 grains of Sorghum ruhrtim laid length- 

 ways. Having carefully calibered the interior diameters, I ob- 

 tained a series of values, giving for the interior circumference of 

 the G sheath or tube a mean value of 28 32 mm., and for that of 

 the A tube 28-44. Through the kindness of Messrs. J. Carter 

 and Sons, of High Ilolborn, London, I obtained a sample of 

 Sorghum riihrum, and operating on this, as also on a sample 

 obtained in Dublin, I got for the length of nine millet seeds 

 placed end to end the following values in millimetres : 26, 26'5o, 

 27'io, 27'38, and 28. I took as mean the value 27 mm. (the 

 exact mean being 26 '995 mm.), so that the difference from that 

 of the interior circumferences found is only 1-44 mm. in the 

 me.in. I may add that from a series often measurements kindly 

 made micronietrically by Dr. McNab, it appears that the lengths 

 of the grains measured by him vary, and would give for the 

 lengths of nine placed end to end, the limits 28'8o4 mm. and 

 24'689 mm. 



I consider therefore that, so far, the interior circuaiferences 

 deter jiined point to the "sheaths" being pitch-pipes having 

 the standard interior dimension laid down by Lyng-Lun. 



I thought it worth while furthermore to verify the cubical 

 contents of the tubes in millet seeds. The pipe G gave a con- 

 tents of 421 red millet seeds, and the pipe A of 375; or a mean 

 capacity in seeds of 398. The white seed; gave me for G 400. 



What, however, is interesting, is that the end of the "handle " 

 which penetrates the G sheath is hollowed out cylindrically, and 

 this space holds 39 red seeds, and would seem to represent 

 a standard of onete ith volume. The corresponding end of the 

 A sheath gives for two measurements 37 seeds, or as near as 

 possible one-ten'.h the capacity of that sheath measured in seed 

 contained. 



With the measures of lengths of millet seed determined, we 

 m.ay attempt to fix the probable or approximate length of the 

 fundamental pitch-pipe ; that is, the length of 81 millet seeds 

 placed end to end. Taking 27 mm. as the approximate length 

 of nine grains, this length, or r.ither depth, would be 9 X 27 = 

 243 mm. Now there is found for the combined lengths of the 

 " sheaths " and "handles " when pla::ed end to end, the values : 



For the G tube, 227-3 + ^T^S — 244 '95, 

 ,, A tube, 228-4 •<- '77 = 246-10; 



both riiffering little from the approximate value found above. 



Taking, on the other hand, the mean interior circumferences 

 of the two tubes as probably representing the lengths of nine 

 millet seeds, we h.ave frjm the measurement 



Of the G pipe, 28 32 x g = 254 88, 

 ,, A-pip;, 28-44 X 9 = 255-96. 



It is worthy of remark that by multiplying the mean, end or 



bottom, diameters of the two sheaths, '^ 9" + '2-47 _ 12-71^ 



2 ■' 



by 20, the product comes out 254-3 m-jti. 



Such coincidences can hardly be fortuitous, and to some 

 extent justify the |)resumption that the two jade instruments 

 which I originally took to be "brushes," are either original 



standard measures of very great antiquity, or copies more 

 or less exact therefrom. A further determination of the 

 length-i of the Chinese red millet seed is evidently desirable 

 as a matter of metrical and historical research. 



J. P. O'Reilly 



The Cambridge Cholera Fungus 



In reply to Dr. Klein's letter, I wish to state that although the 

 specimens figured by Prof Roy in the Royal Society's Proceed- 

 ings appear to be branched, the one shown to me did not. 



Dr. Klein is of course perfectly right as to his statements 

 concerning branching Bacteria ; and his remarks, if he rigorously 

 distinguishes between real and false branching, are true also of 

 all the Schizomycetes. At the same time, the existence of such a 

 form as ClaJothrix dickotoma is not without interest, more 

 especially since Cienkowski has described for it an involution 

 form. 



Walter Gardiner 



Clare College, Cambridge, January 31 



As bearing on the subject of the " Cambridge cholera fungus," 

 it may interest some readers to learn that methylene-blue has long 

 been known as a good stain for fungi. My friend Mr. T. Hick, 

 Botanical Lecturer at Owens College, showed m5, some years 

 .a^o, beautiful preparations of moulds stained with this substance, 

 and I have frequently used it for the same purpose, as also 

 chinoline-blue, known as "blue No. 13 " of the aniline dyes. 

 It is impossible to keep an aqueous solution of the latter for any 

 length of time free from fungoid growth, the hyphje of which, 

 at a certain stage of development, exactly resemble the forms 

 described by Messrs. Roy, Brown, and Sherrington, and my 

 specimens, when grown on a slice of potato, developed into 

 Aspergillus glaucus. Remembering the very varied appearances 

 assumed by the barren hypha; of fungi, depending on nature of 

 substratum, relative amount of moisture, cS;c. , I believe that 

 morphological agreement of vegetative parts by no means proves 

 specific identity, even when both can be examined in a fresh 

 state — a great advantage, as the chemi-al and physical proper- 

 ties of the hyphas can be compared ; but an expression of opinion 

 as to relationship based on the comparison of barren hyph^e 

 with drawings is simply valueless, and only proves a very 

 slender acquaintance with the characters of admitted specific 

 value in the determination of fungi. Members of the Chytri- 

 diacea; are common only in books ; during" years of prac- 

 tical mycological work I have only once met with a species 

 belonging to this group, and this one I could not succeed in 

 staining with either methylene- or chinoline-blue, but Bismarck- 

 brown gave good results. I was inclined to attach a certain 

 amount of value to this selective power exercised by fungi in 

 connection with dyes, until I discovered that the hyphfe pro- 

 ducing the zygospores of Syzygitcs tnegalocarpa could not be 

 stained with blue, but readily with methyl-green, while the 

 hyphs of the conidial stage (grown by us from the zygospore) 

 readily absorbed methylene-blue, but had no affinity for green. 

 Interstitial swellings and knob-like outgrowths are not uncom- 

 mon on mycelium belonging to widely separated groufis, espe- 

 cially when the spores are caused to germinate under ab- 

 normal conditions, as described in the Journal of Botany foi 

 October 1882. The protoplasm frequently becomes concentrated 

 in these portions, which are then cut off from the thread by a 

 septum, and serve as centres for a fresh growth, when placed 

 under favourable conditions. The ab=ence, presence, or relative 

 number of septa vary much in the same plant at various ages 

 and under different conditions of growth. 



Kew G. Massee 



Earthquakes 

 In Nature of October 14 (p. 570) you published a letter from 

 Prof. O'Reilly regarding the great earthquake of Carolina, and 

 dr.iwing attention to the tendency of earthquake lines to assume 

 the direction of great circles. S 1 far his observations were 

 identical with a theoy I had myself elaborated, and which I 

 embodied in a paper written at the beginning of the year 18S4, 

 now in the hands of the Committee of the Geological Society of 

 London, but never presented to the Society. So long ago as 



