AUGUST 19, 1915] 
NATURE 

and expressed in popular phrases is doubtful, but in 
every part of the world may be found a stock of 
proverbs that express the general experience. Egypt, 
of course, is no exception to the rule, and, owing 
to its old civilisation, it is probable that in these wise 
saws we have the fruits of the earliest meteorological 
observations. We cordially welcome, therefore, the 
paper by Mohammad Bey Kasim, who by industriously 
collecting a long list of these predictions, and trans- 
lating them into English, has benefited both meteoro- 
logy and folklore. 
In a climate where the changes are frequent and 
apparently lawless, these are apt to be assigned to 
frivolous and irrational causes, but in more settled 
climates, as that of the Nile Valley, the prognostica- 
tions may be regarded as founded on a more scientific 
basis. Weather changes are seasonal, rather than 
daily, and as the Coptic year is based on solar reckon- 
ing, the repetition of the same phenomena at nearly 
the same dates in successive years would tend to con- 
firm the accuracy of the proverb, and give rise to a 
running commentary on the calendar, useful in the 
guidance of husbandry and agricultural operations. 
Thus in the month Abib (July 8-August 6) we have 
in its translated form the saying: 
In Abib, it will be tound 
We hear the running water's sound. 
referring to the expected rise of the Nile, and, in the 
following month, Misra: 
Misra makes all the watercourses flow, 
Though difficulties it must undergo, 
That the proverb-mongers were quite aware of the 
necessity of making provision for the variability of 
seasons, and not limiting the changes too rigidly to 
the arbitrary divisions of months, is shown by an 
ingenious interlocking of Amshir and Baramhat, 
which together include the spring from February 8— 
April 8, when periods of warm and cool weather will 
interchange : 
The month of Amshir to Baramhat says : 
Exchange ten of mine for ten of your days. 
The author does, however, give a complete calendar, 
in which apparently an attempt is made to foretell the 
weather from day to day, but it is not clear whether 
this is a perpetual calendar, or liable to revision from 
year to year according to the fancy of the local expert. 
For comparison additional information founded on 
average meteorological data is supplied. The main 
climatological factors are sufficiently well indicated. 
Thus for 22 Tut (October 2) the comment is, ‘‘ No 
hope of more rises of the Nile.’ The Cairo observa- 
tions show that that date is the mean, and not the 
extreme of maximum flood, for which the variation is 
+16 days. The fixing of the low stage of the Nile to 
27-28 Bashans (May 4-5) is not so happy. The mean 
date from 1873 has been about a month later, but since 
the Aswan Reservoir has been utilised a comparison 
of dates may be misleading. The fact that is empha- 
sised by this calendar is the advantage due to em- 
ploying the apparent motions of the sun, as shown 
by the assistance given to the old meteorologists 
in the maintenance of a continuous record. 
Another feature of this admirable compilation is the 
successful attempt to classify the terms used in Egypt 
to describe the degrees of variation in the climato- 
logical elements.. The Egyptian vocabulary seems to 
be wide and rich; seven terms are given expressing 
gradations of ‘cold,’ and a round dozen for different 
degrees of heat. Naturally there must be a good deal 
of overlapping, and the phrase, ‘“‘the hot weather (el 
harr) lasts seven days or three,’” may be capable of 
very wide interpretation. Apparently the author has been 
very successful in accommodating the terms expressing 
varying strength of winds to our Beaufort scale, and 
the accuracy in the two cases is no doubt comparable, 
since each depends on eye observation and memory. 
NO. 2390, VOL. 95] 

689 
The forms of clouds, too, have long been described 
with sufficient accuracy, and Luke Howard, who has 
supplied our nomenclature, has but followed an un- 
known, but ancient, classification. We are glad to 
know that Mohammad Bey proposes to continue his 
investigations into a subject that cannot but grow 
more interesting the further it is pursued. 

COMPETITIONS IN CONNECTION WITH 
THE UTILISATION AND DENATUR- 
ING OF SPIRIT OR ALCOHOL FOR 
INDUSTRIAL PURPOSES. 
Apia following particulars have been received by 
the Board of Trade, through the Foreign Office, 
from the Russian Ambassador in London, respecting 
the international competitions organised by the 
Russian Ministry of Finance in respect (1) of 
methods of utilising spirit or alcohol or their pro- 
ducts, and (2) of new substances for denaturing spirit 
or alcohol for industrial purposes. 
As regards the first-mentioned competition, prizes 
of 60,000, 30,000, and 10,000 roubles, respectively, 
will be awarded for the invention of a novel means 
of adapting alcohol for the preparation of such a pro- 
duct as shall by its nature absolutely differ from the 
spirit from which it is made, e.g. vinegar, ether, 
chloroform, ete. Three prizes, of 50,000, 20,000, and 
5000 roubles, respectively, will be awarded for the 
invention of a novel method of utilising spirit for the 
preparation of a product (e.g. a pharmaceutical or 
perfumery preparation) of which spirit or its products 
(sulphuric ether, etc.) will appear as one of its com- 
ponent parts or dissolvent, providing that spirit can- 
not be extracted profitably from the product. Three 
prizes of 30,000, 15,000, and 5000 roubles, respectively, 
will be awarded for the invention of a novel method 
of utilising spirit in productions, where spirit or its 
products would serve as temporary intermediary dis- 
solvents of either of the extracted or precipitated 
materials, e.g. in the manufacture of smokeless 
powder, artificial silk, etc. Further prizes ranging 
from 75,000 to 5000 roubles will be awarded for the 
invention or perfection of apparatus for the utilisation 
of spirit as motive power, fuel, or illuminant. 
The competition of new substances for denaturing 
spirit or alcohol is being organised with the object of 
extending the use of spirit for technical purposes, and 
accordingly three prizes of 30,000, 15,000, and 5000 
roubles, respectively, are offered for finding novel 
denaturing materials for improving the existing 
methods of denaturing, which, whilst guaranteeing 
the free use of denatured spirit, would obviate any 
possibility of using it as a beverage. 
Applications in respect of both these competitions 
should be addressed to ‘‘L’Administration générale 
des Impéts indirects et du Monopole de 1’Alcool,”’ 
Tutchkoff Naberezhnaia, Petrograd, not later than 
January 11-14, 1916, and must be accompanied by 
samples. Such applications should be made in the 
Russian or French languages, and be enclosed in a 
special envelope bearing an inscription or device of 
some sort, the name and address of the applicant 
being submitted under separate cover bearing the 
same inscription or mark. 
Inventors may reserve the right of benefiting by 
their inventions and of protecting themselves with 
letters patent. 
Copies of the full text of the conditions for par- 
ticipating in the two competitions above referred to 
may be obtained by United Kingdom firms interested, 
on application to the Commercial Intelligence Branch 
of the Board of Trade, 73 Basinghall Street, London, 
E.C. 
