524 



NATURE 



[January g, 1913 



roiild not be fully investigated, but so far as the work 

 went it indicated that they are of the same character 

 as in the case of cows. 



An interesting instance of the effect of caponising 

 an ostrich is described by Mr. Fit2simons, director 

 of the Port Elizabeth Museum, in the Agricultural 

 Journal of the Union of South Africa (No. 3, 19 12). 

 The ovaries were removed from three hen ostriches 

 four years of age. Shortly afterwards the birds began 

 to lose their characteristic female appearance and to 

 take on the external characters of the male ; the body 

 feathers no longer remained drab-coloured, but assumed 

 the glossy jet-black colour of the cock bird, while the 

 wing and tail feathers were so completely trans- 

 formed in every detail that feather experts to whom 

 they were shown declared them to be typical cock 

 feathers. One of the birds was killed, and is mounted 

 in the Port Elizabeth Museum. 



"Thought as the mainspring of development" 

 forms the subject of a powerful article by Prof. C. J. 

 Patten, of Sheffield, translated into German bv Dr. 

 W. Breitenbach, and published in the Ncuc TVeM- 

 aiischauung (vol. iv.). 



In the Transactions of the American Mathematical 

 Society (xiii., 4), Mr. Wm. H. Roever discusses the . 

 southerly and easterly deviations of falling bodies for 

 an unsymmetrical field of gravitational force, this 

 problem referring to cases where, owing to the attrac- 

 tion exerted by mountain ranges, the ordinary formula 

 becomes inapplicable. 



Under the title, "Rising Prices and the Public," 

 Prof. John Bauer, writing in The Popular Science 

 Monthly for December, 1912, discusses an economical 

 problem which has recently assumed practical im- 

 portance. His general conclusions are to the effect 

 that the evils which result are not due to high prices 

 so much as to increases in prices which affect incomes 

 of some classes more rapidly than others. The social 

 effects are to foster speculation at the expense of 

 industry by penalising the cautious investor whose 

 " safe " income has depreciated in value ; further high 

 prices lead to increased extravagance and luxury. 

 He considers that for the public at large everything 

 should be done to prevent considerable changes, either 

 upward or downward, in the price level. 



A PLEA for the more general cultivation of "nature- 

 study" is contained in an article in Symoni'i Meteoro- 

 logical Magazine for December on phenological 

 observations, by Mr. R. H. Hooker. The records 

 collected under the auspices of the Royal Meteoro- 

 logical Society are of a simple character, and " aim 

 more directly at a knowledge of the effect of the 

 weather upon the commonest plants, birds, and in- 

 sects, and at obtaining some measure of the lateness 

 or earliness of the season." For many years such 

 observations were collected and analysed by the Rev. 

 T. A. Preston, of Marlborough, and more recently, in 

 a reduced form, by Mr. E. Mawley, of Berkhamsted. 

 The Royal Meteorological Society undertakes to send 

 forms and instructions to anyone willing to assist in 

 the work. At present only parts of the south of Eng- 



No. 2254, VOL. go] 



land can be said to be fairly represented ; observations 

 in Scotland, the north of England, and in Ireland are 

 very scanty. As one instance of the practical utility 

 of similar observations, reference is made to the recent 

 investigation by Dr. Unstead, who, from the dates 

 of sowing and harvesting wheat, in combination with 

 data as to temperature, was able to indicate, inter 

 alia, the regions in Canada where any attempt at 

 wheat-growing" would be foredoomed to failure. 



The recent disastrous storms and high seas in the 

 English Channel and the North .Atlantic, together 

 with the serious damage to the P. and O. liner 

 Naming and other large vessels, have directed attention 

 to the heights of waves. The chief officer of the 

 above vessel estimated that the wave that caused the 

 principal damage was 70 ft. high, .\dmiral FitzRoy 

 ("Weather Book," 1863, p. 388) quotes a case experi- 

 enced by himself near the Bay of Biscav in which 

 the waves were not less than 60 ft. high. He says : 

 " I never saw such seas before, and have never seen 

 any equal to them since, either off Cape Horn or the 

 Cape of Good Hope, during two circumnaviga- 

 tions, and many years of foreign service." 

 This case is referred to in an article on ocean waves 

 in the Meteorological Office Chart of the Indian 

 Ocean for January, 1913, and several other trustworthy 

 reports of extraordinary waves are quoted. Among 

 these we may mention (i) one by Captain David, 

 R.D., R.M.S. Corinthic, about 45° S., 102° E., esti- 

 mated to be 50 ft. ; (2) Captain Kiddle, ss. Celtic, 

 determined a height of 70 ft. for several waves in 

 mid-Atlantic from good measurements. The late 

 Admiral Sir W. J. L. Wharton (formerly hydro- 

 grapher to the Navy) expressed the opinion that seas 

 of 40 to 90 ft. in height may be experienced, albeit 

 the most probable maximum is 50 or 60 ft. 



The November number of Lc Radium contains a 

 memoir by M. A. Zaroubine on the ionisation currents 

 produced in a solid dielectric by the gamma rays from 

 radium. A. sheet, two millimetres thick, of the hard 

 paraflfin known as ozokerite was placed between ■ 

 aluminium electrodes to which differences of potential 

 up to 2200 volts could be applied. The gamma rays 

 entered the dielectric through one of the electrodes, 

 and the currents produced were measured by means 

 of a Dolezalek electrometer. Up to 2000 volts they 

 follow Ohm's law. If the dielectric is first ionised, 

 the radium removed, and the electric field then 

 applied, the current falls off with time according to 

 a hyperbolic law. The law of superposition of effects 

 due to several causes does not apply to the ionisation 

 currents. Under the action of tlie radiation the 

 dielectric develops an electromotive force which is 

 capable of producing a current analogous to that of 

 polarisation. 



Half the December 22 number of the Naturxvissen- 

 schaftliche Wochcnschrift is devoted to an article by 

 Prof. Valentincr on new facts in physics. More than 

 a dozen important advances are described in clear 

 and simple language, which would be readily under- 

 stood by those whose work lay outside the particular 



