April 3, i9 : 3] 



NATURE 



117 



waterplane either way across the Atlantic In seventy- 

 two continuous hours, without any limitation as to 

 nationality of pilot or place of construction of the 

 machine. A prize of 5000Z. will also be awarded to 

 the pilot who takes a waterplane of entirely British 

 invention and construction round England, Scotland, 

 and Wales, and within one mile of Kingston Harbour, 

 in seventy-two continuous hours. The waterplane is 

 a very promising type of aircraft, and we have little 

 doubt that both prizes will eventually be won. From 

 a national point of view it is important that en- 

 couragement should be given to the design and per- 

 formance of a machine which can start from a water 

 surface or come to rest upon it. The prescribed tests 

 are severe, but not more so than are necessary to 

 decide the efficiency of the waterplane both as regards 

 flexibility and range of action. The new prizes 

 offered by The Daily Mail will encourage aviation 

 engineers and pilots to produce a machine by which 

 the two courses will be successfully traversed, and 

 thus bring us nearer that conquest of the air which 

 will be the distinguishing characteristic of the present 

 century. 



In America it is quite common for waters to have 

 an unpleasant fishy, oily, or " geranium " taste, due 

 to the excessive growth of certain algae. Some species 

 grow best during the colder months of the year, 

 others attain their maximum development during the 

 summer. The water supplies of the United Kingdom 

 are usually free from these unwelcome visitations, 

 but many instances have occurred of temporary un- 

 pleasantness arising from this cause. London has 

 been singularly fortunate in this respect, yet there 

 can be no doubt that the present commendable policy 

 of storing river water antecedent to filtration increases 

 the risk of algal troubles arising in the future. At 

 Easter time the consumers of West Middlesex water 

 became unpleasantly aware that the supply had a 

 peculiar aromatic taste and smell, which, with 

 apologies to horticulturists, may be likened to gera- 

 niums. The water is derived from the Thames, and 

 is stored for a long period in the Staines reservoirs. 

 After re-storage at Barn Elms and Barnes, it is 

 filtered and pumped into supply from the Hammer- 

 smith side of the river. First the complaints arose 

 along the line of direct supply from the pressure 

 mains, later the Hampstead area became affected 

 owing to the back-flow of tainted water which mean- 

 while had accumulated in the service reservoirs. Dr. 

 A. C. Houston informs us that the growth was largely 

 composed of Tabellaria, together with some Asterio- 

 nella, and the taste developed chiefly during the pro- 

 cess of filtration. Remedial measures were at once 

 carried out, and all the implicated filter beds were 

 closed, with immediately satisfactory results. The 

 water, although unpalatable, was at no time unsafe 

 for drinking purposes. The best way of killing algae 

 is to treat the affected water with copper sulphate 

 (dose, from 1 to 10 lb. per million gallons), and Dr. 

 Houston has found that the most satisfactory way 

 of removing the taste from a water which has become 

 already tainted is to use potassium permanganate 

 (dose, about 2-5 to 5 lb. per million gallons). 

 NO. 2266, VOL. 91] 



Tin; International Geographical Congress was 

 opened at Rome on March 27 by King Victor 

 Emmanuel. We hope to she an account of the pro- 

 ceedings in an early issue. 



We are informed that the Royal Botanic Gardens 

 Department, Ceylon, has been replaced by a Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, and that communications should 

 in future be addressed to the Director of Agriculture, 

 Peradeniya, Ceylon. The work of the Royal Botanic 

 Gardens will be continued under the new department. 



On the nomination of the Gassiot Committee of the 

 Royal Society, the Meteorological Committee has ap- 

 pointed Mr. L. F. Richardson, assistant lecturer in 

 physics at the Municipal School of Technology, Man- 

 chester, to be superintendent of the Geophysical 

 Observatory at Eskdalemuir, in succession to Mr. 

 G. W. Walker, resigned. 



The Vienna correspondent of The Times announces 

 that Prof. J. Hampel, the eminent Hungarian 

 archaeologist, died at Budapest on March 25. As one 

 of the directors of the National Museum and the 

 leading authority on the pre-Christian archaeology of 

 Hungary, Prof. Hampel was held in high esteem in 

 his own country and in archaeological circles through- 

 out Europe. 



We are informed that the optical and mechanical 

 engineering works of Ernst Leitz, of Wetzlar, which 

 recently completed their 150,000th compound micro- 

 scope, have presented this instrument to his Excel- 

 lency Prof. Ehrlieh, of Frankfort-on-Main, thus doing 

 honour to a genius of scientific discovery. It may be 

 remembered that the ioo.oooth Leitz microscope was 

 presented to the late Prof. Robert Koch, the famous 

 bacteriologist, who was director of the Imperial 

 Institute for Infectious Diseases, Berlin. 



Arrangements are being made for the starting, in 

 July next, of an expedition to Crocker Land, under 

 the auspices of the American Museum of Natural His- 

 tory and the American Geographical Society. One of 

 its special features will be a seismological investiga- 

 tion. The seismograph, which will be in charge of 

 Ensign Fitzhugh Green, of the U.S. Navy, is of the 

 Weichert horizontal type, and carries a stationary 

 mass of 80 kilos. It will be sheltered in a hut of 

 special design, so arranged as to preclude violent 

 changes of temperature. The instrument will be 

 furnished by Georgetown University, Washington, 

 and an attempt will be made to carry on daily com- 

 munication, by means of wireless messages, between 

 the explorers and the seismographers of the Univer- 

 sity. 



The inauguration of a new President at Washing- 

 ton has necessarily been followed by many changes 

 in important Federal offices. Among them is the 

 appointment of Dr. D. F.' Houston to be Minister 

 of Agriculture, succeeding Mr. J. Wilson, who has 

 held that post continuously for sixteen years, under 

 four administrations. Dr. Houston was president of 

 the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas 

 from 1902 to 1905, and of the University of Texas 

 from 1905 to 1908. Since that date he has been 



