278 



NATURE 



[May 15, 1913 



milk was exposed in thin layers to the rays, a marked 

 reduction in the bacterial content was obtained, but 

 the experiments indicate that it would not be possible 

 to sterilise milk completely by the ultra-violet rays. 

 In some cases an abnormal disagreeable flavour was 

 produced by the rays. 



The Alpine Club of Canada has set a good example 

 to kindred bodies by publishing in The Canadian 

 Alpine Journal, 1912, lists of the mammals (by Mr. 

 N. Hollister), birds (by Mr. J. H. Riley), and plants 

 (by Mr. P. C. Standley) of the Mount Robson district, 

 Mr. Hollister also giving a note on the reptiles and 

 amphibians. 



We have received the first five numbers of a new 

 journal (or work), entitled Java, Zoologisch en Bio- 

 logisch, by Dr. J. C. Konigsberger, published at 

 Buitenzorg, the first number being dated 191 1, and 

 the other four 1912. Its object is apparently to give 

 a general popular account of the leading features 

 of the meteorology and fauna of the island, the fauna 

 being divided into a coastal fauna, the fauna of the 

 plains, and the fauna of the high mountains. 



A restoration and model of the skeleton of the 

 gigantic carnivorous dinosaur Tyrannosaurus, from 

 the Montana Cretaceous, form the subject of an 

 article by Prof. H. F. Osborn in the Bull. Amer. 

 Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. xxxii., pp. 91-92. Another 

 paper on reptilian paleontology is to be found in the 

 Annals of the Transvaal Museum, vol. iv., pp. 1-46, 

 where Dr. E. C. N. van Hoepen describes and figures 

 in great detail a remarkably fine skull of the Karroo 

 dicynodont Lystrosaurus (olim Ptychognathus) 

 latirostris. 



The Aarsberetning for 1912 indicates that the 

 naturalists of the Bergen Museum have been engaged 

 in arranging exhibition series to illustrate the osteo- 

 logy of vertebrates in somewhat the same fashion as 

 those displayed in the hall of our own Natural History 

 Museum, photographs of the new exhibits being in- 

 cluded in the report. The work of the biological 

 station has also been conducted with the usual 

 energy ; pictures and plans of a new vessel and a 

 map of the hydrographical stations in the neighbour- 

 hood of Bergen accompany the report. 



We have received from the Government of India 

 copies of three Forest Bulletins (Nos. 13-15), by Mr. 

 R. S. Pearson, dealing respectively with "ligno" as 

 a means of protecting timber from splitting- while 

 seasoning, with the strength of natural and plantation- 

 grown teak, and with the technical properties of toon 

 wood (Cedrela toona), and giving evidence of the 

 enterprise and activity of the Imperial Forest Service 

 officers at the Dehra Dun Institute of Forest Re- 

 search. In No. 13, the author describes briefly the 

 methods employed for seasoning timber, and some 

 experiments made with "ligno" — a light-brown plastic 

 substance of the consistency of thick paint which has 

 been placed on the market recently. The application 

 of this protective substance is based on the principle 

 •of retarding evaporation from cut ends of logs and 

 thus preventing splitting ; the result of the severe 

 NO. 2272, VOL. 91] 



tests applied was that "ligno" was found to be verv 

 effective in retarding the seasoning process, though 

 not absolutely preventing splitting. In No. 14 details 

 are given showing that plantation-grown teak is ns 

 strong as that from natural forests ; the figures for 

 compression and shearing tests show that the per- 

 centage of moisture in the timber has no marked 

 effect on the strength of teak, whereas it has a con- 

 siderable effect when transverse strain is applied 

 across the fibre. In No. 15 details are given showing 

 that toon timber, after contracting considerably during 

 seasoning, is very liable to absorb moisture and ex- 

 pand again when seasoned, this process of contraction 

 and expansion continuing for several years, though 

 becoming less marked in successive years ; hence in 

 order to prevent this excellent furniture timber from 

 falling: into disrepute it is only necessary to allow a 

 longer time for seasoning. 



The Meteorological Chart of the North Pacific 

 Ocean for May, published by the U.S. Weather 

 Bureau, contains the concluding part of several 

 articles on cyclonic storms and typhoons of that ocean 

 by Mr. W. E. Hurd. They constitute a very useful 

 summary of the subject, compiled from available 

 sources, including quotations from Father Algue's 

 valuable report on the cyclones of the Far East, and 

 track charts for various months. It is pointed out 

 in the Barometer Manual issued by the Meteorological 

 Committee that the tracks of tropical storms of the 

 North Pacific are very similar to those of the North 

 Atlantic. "Typhoons of the China Sea originate to 

 the eastward of the Philippines, Carolines, and 

 Ladrones. In the lower latitudes the centres travel 

 westward. Some pass over the mainland, some re- 

 curve to the eastward, and eventually reach the west 

 coast of North America by way of Japan." Near the 

 Philippines the rate of translation is from six to twelve 

 miles an hour, but in the vicinity of Japan the speed 

 is greatly increased. Since the establishment of tele- 

 graphic communication between the Philippines and 

 the outlying islands the warning of approaching 

 storms is very efficient. The " barocyclonometer," in- 

 vented at the Manila Observatory, "for ascertaining 

 the position, distance, and direction of advance of a 

 cyclone," is both ingenious and important ; it is said 

 to be in general use among East Indian vessels. 



A pamphlet of "Suggestions for Investigations in 

 Human Geography in Britain " has been written by 

 Dr. H. J. Fleure and Mr. W. E. Whitehouse, and 

 is issued from the registrar's office in the University 

 College of Wales, Aberystwyth. It claims for 

 "human geography, the part of the subject which 

 deals with man's relation to his physical environ- 

 ment," the status of "the main objective of geograph- 

 ical study." The authors' ideals of detailed local 

 investigation on these lines are lofty and exhaustive : 

 a list of no fewer than eighty suggested 

 "sections for investigation" is laid down, and 

 many of them, such as those involving philological 

 and antiquarian research, would demand a special 

 training, quite outside that afforded by geography 

 alone, for the investigator. No doubt, however, in 



