February 6, 19 13] 



NATURE 



627 



memoir on the progress made in the study of meteorites 

 since 1900, in which he gives, besides lists of the 

 literature published and of the falls or discoveries of 

 meteorites made during the decade, and full particu- 

 lars of chemical analyses, interesting articles on such 

 important questions as the origin of meteorites, 

 their form and surfaces, &c. 



Among various items of useful information in- 

 cluded in the United States Meteorological Charts for 

 February, we may specially mention an account of 

 three recent Pacific volcanic eruptions, by Prof. 

 McAdie, with concomitant atmospheric phenomena 

 and illustrations, viz. : (i) at Taal, Luzon, January 

 30, 1911; (2) at Asama-yama, Japan, May 8, 1911; 

 and (3) at Mount Katmai, Alaska, June 6, 1912. 

 Although these occurrences have already been reported 

 in the publications of the respective countries, it may 

 be of interest to general readers to be able to refer 

 to them in one periodical. The chart in question can 

 presumablv be easily obtained from the Washington 

 Weather Bureau, or from American Consular offices 

 at important seaports abroad. The volcano at Katmai 

 was supposed to be extinct, but eruptions have taken 

 place in several months subsequent to June. 



Compared with the neighbouring islands of Japan, 

 the peninsula of Korea is singularly free from earth- 

 quakes. The records contained in the old chronicles 

 of the country extend back, however, for nearly two 

 thousand years, the first known earthquake having 

 occurred in the year 57 B.C. These and other records 

 have recently been examined by Dr. Y. Wada, the 

 director of the Meteorological Observatory of 

 Chemulpo (Scien. Mems. of the Met. Obs. of the 

 Government-General of Korea, vol. ii.). The total 

 number of earthquakes in the period mentioned 

 amounts to 1671, of which fifty-nine were notable 

 shocks, many of them having attained a strength 

 sufficient to damage buildings, and several to result 

 in loss of life. Dr. Wada gives an interesting map of 

 what he calls the seismic densit)- of the different parts of 

 the country. North of the parallel of 37° N., the 

 seismic density decreases almost uniformly from west 

 to east, while south of that parallel, that is, in the 

 part of the country facing Japan, there is a rapid 

 decrease in density from east to west. 



A REMARKABLE difference exists between the climates 

 of western and central Japan, so much so that these 

 districts are distinguished by the two names Sanindo 

 (shady side) and Sanyodo (sunny side) respectively. 

 During the long and rigorous winter of western 

 Japan, the central provinces, bordering the Inland 

 Sea, enjoy dry and comparatively mild weather. The 

 two regions are separated by mountain ranges, and 

 the factors determining their climatic conditions are 

 distinct. In the Journal of the Meteorological Society 

 of Japan (xxxi., No. 9, 1912), Mr. G. Ishida gives the 

 results of some elaborate investigations carried out by 

 others and himself in this connection. He finds that 

 while the winter climate of central and southern 

 Japan depends on the south-western monsoons, that 

 of the western coast is directly related to the baro- 

 metric area of North China. Records of the mean 

 NO. 2258, VOL. 90] 



daily temperature at Tientsin, representing the con- 

 tinental area, for a period of six years from 1904-5 to 

 1910-11, comprising the eight months from September 

 to April in each case, were collated with correspond- 

 ing records taken at Hamada and Sakai, representing 

 western Japan. The diurnal variations at Tientsin 

 for each month in the whole period of six years, rang- 

 ing from 169 days for February to 186 days for 

 December, were obtained and compared with those 

 recorded at the Japanese stations respectively on the 

 same day, and one, two, and three days later. The 

 results indicate a striking similaritv between the 

 winter temperatures of North China and western 

 Japan, especially as regards the records taken at an 

 interval of two days between the two areas. 



The Eugenics Review for January contains a report 

 of the research committee of the Eugenics Education 

 Society regarding the standardisation of the notation 

 used in drawing up pedigrees, .'\mong various 

 features of the committee's recommendations we note 

 use of squares and circles to denote male and female 

 offspring, arrangement of children in order of age, 

 darkening of the whole or part of the circle or square 

 to denote presence or absence of any special char- 

 acteristic which it is desired to record, and the use 

 of certain letters to denote age of death, death by 

 suicide, or other particulars. 



Prof. F. Y. Edgeworth's presidential address to 

 the Royal Statistical Society, published in the Journal 

 of the society for January, deals with the use of 

 probabilities in statistics relating to society. In this 

 address Prof. Edgeworth draws an analogy between 

 the phenomena exhibited by a medium of gas mole- 

 cules and a collection of individuals, and argues that 

 as the doctrine of probabilities enables definite laws 

 to be established according to the kinetic theory of 

 gases, similar laws may be built up regarding social 

 phenomena. Although Prof. Edgeworth does not 

 actually use this term, it may be possibly suggested 

 that the analogy is due to both groups being in the 

 language of Boltzmann, " molekular ungeordnet." 



The method in use at the Reichsanstalt for the test- 

 ing of magnetic materials with high-frequency cur- 

 rents is described by Drs. H. Fassbender and E. 

 Hupka in vol. vi. of the Jahrbuch der drahtlosen 

 Telegraphic und Telephonic. The wire tested is in 

 the form of a ring, and is magnetised by the high- 

 frequency currents from a Poulsen arc. The values 

 of the magnetising field and the rate of change of 

 the resulting magnetic induction are obtained by 

 means of the electrostatic deflections of the kathode 

 rays of a Braun tube, the two deflections being at 

 right angles to each other. A complete hysteresis 

 curve is obtained from the loop on the screen at 

 the end of the tube. Of the various sug- 

 gestions as to the quantity which should be adopted 

 as the measure of the dynamical permeability, the 

 authors find the best to be the quotient of the maxi- 

 mum induction by the maximum field. 



We have received a copy of the reprint of Dr. M. 

 Jakob's paper on the specific heat and specific volume 

 of steam for pressures up to twenty atmospheres arid 



