December 12, 19 12] 



NATURE 



417 



search institutions, universities, and colleges tlie need- 

 ful to ascertain more and more the nature of their 

 most dangerous diseases. He had received permission 

 only that day to announce that one of the schemes he 

 had been enjoining; for some months in the country 

 had so far met with the approval of the Development 

 Commissioners that they would shortly recommend to 

 the Treasury a release from the Development Fund of 

 moneys for the following objects : First of all to 

 provide in every one of what were now called the 

 provinces, for the purposes of agricultural education, 

 the services at the headquarters of those provinces of 

 men concerned with advice as to soils, crops, and so 

 forth, but who should be concerned also with live 

 stock; that each one of these men should be an 

 organiser or supervisor, to organise in that province 

 a live stock scheme which would be described in 

 further detail. The Commissioners were also prepared 

 to enable them, with an annual sum, to have engaged 

 in their office a man of the highest class, who could 

 not know everything about every branch of live stock, 

 but, bv general knowledge, would be able to give 

 administrators advice which at present they were 

 without. Thirdly, premiums would be provided from 

 the Development Fund for the breeding of heavy 

 horses, Shires, Clydesdales, and Suffolk Punches. 



The annual general meeting of the Royal Agricul- 

 tural Hall, Islington, was held yesterday, December 

 n, when the report of the council was presented. 

 The total number of governors and members of the 

 society during the year has been 10,307, as compared 

 with 10,306 in the previous year. About the same 

 number of samples were submitted for analysis by the 

 chemical department of the society as during the 

 preceding twelve months, this being 426. Special 

 reference is made in the reports to Bombay cotton 

 cake containing excessive sand, rice meal composed 

 mainly of rice " shudes " (husks), barley meal adul- 

 terated with pea husks, and sharps adulterated with 

 pea husks and containing an excessive amount of 

 sand. .Among much other important work done at 

 the Woburn Experimental Farm may be mentioned 

 an interesting series of experiments on varieties of 

 lucerne and on methods of sowing this crop which 

 was carried forward, the best results coming from 

 Russian (Europe) lucerne, and then from Canadian 

 and Provence seed. The plots sown on bare ground 

 were uniformly better than those laid down in a barley 

 crop. There were also trials with different varieties 

 of wheat — including French wheats — and of barley. 

 Progress has been made during the year with the 

 experiments which are being carried out at Woburn 

 for the purpose of demonstrating that by means of 

 isolation it is possible to rear healthy stock from 

 tuberculous parents. It is hoped that the final report 

 on the experiments will be ready some time ne.xt year. 

 The council decided last year to offer the society's gold 

 medal annually for original research in agriculture. 

 Five essays have been submitted by qualified candi- 

 dates. 



With reference to the letters in Nature of Novem- 

 ber 14 and December 5 concerning the moon and 

 poisonous fish, a correspondent writes from Don- 

 NO. 2250, VOL. 90] 



caster to say that twenty-five years ago he heard 

 many stories from sailors of the ill-effects caused by 

 eating fish which had been exposed to moonlight. 

 He adds : — " The probabilities are that the same be- 

 lief was held by the sailors in the early days of 

 emigration to South Africa, and transmitted to the 

 colonists." 



Mr. -W. F. Denning believes that the shaking of 

 windows and similar effects experienced at Sunning- 

 hill and the neighbourhood on November ig, as men- 

 tioned in Nature of November 28, p. 365, had their 

 origin in meteoritic explosions. In the course of a 

 letter published in The Westminster Gazette of De- 

 cember 9, he says : — " I have investigated several in- 

 stances of similar kind, and the conclusion has been 

 irresistible that they were induced by fireballs under- 

 going disintegration high in the atmosphere. And in 

 the recent case this explanation is rendered highly 

 probable from the fact that the period from Novem- 

 ber 19 to 23 is well known astronomically for its 

 abundance of detonating fireballs. Messrs. Greg and 

 Herschel attributed a special significance to the period 

 named, and their deductions have been fully cor- 

 roborated by later experiences." 



A COPY has been received of the fifth annual report 

 (1911-12) presented by the council to the court of 

 governors of the National Museum of Wales. It con- 

 tains an account of the ceremonies in connection with 

 the laying of the foundation-stone of the new buildin'^ 

 by the King on June 26 last, and much information 

 as to the progress made during the year. The 

 Treasury has agreed to an estimate of 233,000^. for 

 the erection and furnishing of the new building. The 

 financial position at present is as follows : — Local con- 

 tributions, 42,000/. ; an equal amount from the 

 Treasury, 42,000?. ; making the total sum available at 

 present 84,000?. This leaves a deficiency of 149,000?., 

 one-half of which will be found by the Government, 

 provided a like amount is forthcoming from other 

 sources. The Treasury has increased its grant to- 

 wards maintenance for the year 1912-13 to 3000Z., as 

 compared with 2000L in the past. The Cardiff Cor- 

 poration has erected a building and has leased it to 

 the museum for a period of five years from July i 

 last, at a rental of 130?. per annum, for the purposes 

 of a temporary museum. Expenditure to the amount 

 of 567?. has been incurred in the purchase of specimens 

 during the year, and an appendix of eight pages is 

 devoted to a list of donations of specimens to the 

 museum. 



A SUMMARY of the weather during the recent autumn 

 has been issued by the Meteorological Office as com- 

 prised by the results for the period of thirteen weeks 

 ended November 30. The mean temperature for the 

 whole period was below the average ov'er the entire 

 kingdom, the greatest deficiency being 2° in the south- 

 east of England ; the deficiency was also considerable 

 in the south-west of England and in the Channel 

 Islands. The autumn rainfall was below the average 

 everywhere except in the east of Scotland, where the 

 excess amounted to o'83 in. The duration of bright 

 sunshine was below the average over the entire king- 

 dom. At the close of autumn the temperature of the 



