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NATURE 



[August 2, 1906 



Fisheries. Questions of water-supply, of ground-water, 

 and of drainage are dealt with in their sanitary aspects ; 

 the geology of the district is described according to the 

 nature of the subsoil, whether clayey, sandy, gravelly, or 

 chalky. A small colour-printed map accompanies the 

 letterpress, and the memoir is further illustrated by twenty- 

 two sections and drawings. Copies may be obtained from 

 any agents for the sale of Ordnance Survey maps, or 

 directly or through any bookseller, from the Ordnance 

 Survey Office, Southampton. The price is \s. 6d. 



The first mention of petroleum in North America is due 

 to Father de la Roche d'AUion, the Franciscan, in 1629. 

 Mr. Alfred Sang, of Pittsburg, U.S.A., suggests, in a note 

 to us, that the first mention of oil in South America may 

 be that by Albaro Alonso Barba, of Potosi, eleven years 

 later, in 1640, in " The Art of Metals," translated by the 

 Earl of Sandwich in 1669. The part referring to petroleum 

 is contained in the following extract sent by Mr. Sang : — 

 " La Naphte is a sulphurous liquor, sometimes white, and 

 sometimes black also, and is that which is called Oyl of 

 Peter, of admirable vertue to cure old pains, proceeding 

 from cold causes. It will draw fire to it (as the Loadstone 

 does Iron) with that force, that it will take fire at a great 

 distance from the flame, as hath been confirmed by the 

 miserable experience of the Conde de Hercules de Icontrarii, 

 of the Country of Ferara, who having a well in his ground, 

 the water whereof was mixed with Petreol ; and by some 

 breaches or cracks in the well, much of this water ran 

 to waste ; commanded it to be repaired ; the Laborer that 

 was let down into the bottom of the Well desired a Candle, 

 the better to see his work, which was furnished him in a 

 Lanthorn, and immediately through the holes of the Lan- 

 thorn the Naphte suckt the flame into it self and set fire 

 on the whole Well, which discharged it self instantly like 

 a great piece of Cannon, and blew the poor man into 

 pieces, and took off an arm of a Tree that hung over the 

 Well." 



In the " Ethnography of the Macedonian Slavs " 

 (London : Horace Cox), translated from the second edition 

 of Dr. Cvijic's well-known booklet, we have a useful 

 criticism of many wild statements which have been made 

 with regard to racial relations in Macedonia. After treat- 

 ing of the sense of nationality and showing its connection 

 with religion in the area in question, the author discusses 

 the value of ethnographical maps published in the peninsula 

 and elsewhere ; he has little difficulty in showing that 

 the majority are quite untrustworthy. Most of them are 

 dominated by erroneous conceptions as to the term 

 Bulgarian, adopted by Macedonian Slavs, and often used 

 by the peasant to denote simply one who speaks the Slav 

 longue ; an additional complication is introduced bv the 

 attribution of the same name by the Macedonian peasants 

 to the Serbs, so that Russian, Serb, and Bulgarian all bear 

 tlie same name. The maps published in the peninsula 

 reflect only the political aims of the cartographer. In 

 such circumstances Dr. Cvijic's impartial evidence is of 

 the highest value. A comparative table at the end of the 

 booklet shows the variations of the statistical tables. The 

 translation would have gained if an anthropologist had 

 revised the terminology. 



An article on pure food legislation, by Mr. Robert 

 McD. Allen, in the Popular Science Monthly for July has 

 a special interest at the present moment. Its object is to 

 show the difficulties which have retarded legislation with 

 regard to the adulteration of food in the United States 

 in the past, and the proposals by which the Hepburn Pure 

 NO. I918, VOL. 74 I 



Food Bill, which has passed the House of Representatives, 

 suggests a remedy. The Bill aims at the correct labelling 

 of foods, drugs, and liquors in such a way as to show 

 the source of the material, its treatment, and whether 

 colouring matters or preservatives have been added. It is 

 pointed out that not only has the chief of the Bureau of 

 Chemistry, assisted by the medical staff of the Army, re- 

 ported against the use of salicylic, benzoic, and boric 

 acids as preservatives, but that preservatives are used in 

 many cases as a substitute for cleanliness and careful 

 handling, thus discouraging better methods, such as chilling, 

 sterilising, and curing. The use of artificial colouring 

 matters, if not actually injurious, is at the best a fraud ; 

 genuine colour is one of the best indications of quality, 

 and with artificial colour to depend upon there is less need 

 for the selection of the best materials. With regard to 

 tinned meats, the " Government inspection," which is sup- 

 posed to be a guarantee, refers only to the state of the 

 original carcass, and antiseptics, colouring matters, filling 

 materials, and other adulterants may be freely added. 

 The extreme difficulty of the problem of pure food legis- 

 lation is owing to the fact that adulteration has become 

 " so strongly entrenched in business systems that a pro- 

 position to put truthful labels on foods and drugs intended 

 for interstate commerce has met continuous defeat for 

 more than fifteen years at the national capital." 



In the Atti dei Lincei, xv., 10, Dr. G. Almansi discusses 

 how far the principle of virtual work is applicable to 

 systems in which friction exists. 



An interesting note on " Americanism " is contributed 

 to the Rendiconti of the Lombardy Institution, xxxix.. 

 10-11, by Dr. Bassano Gabba. It deals largely with 

 religious thought in America, with special reference to 

 Catholicism. 



A SIMPLE machine for compounding sine-curves is de- 

 scribed by Prof. W. G. Cady in Science, xxiii., 597. 

 While not possessing the same capabilities as Michelson's 

 harmonic analyser, the instrument is convenient for 

 demonstration purposes, and gives the resultant of a funda- 

 mental sine-curve and either its second, third, or fifth 

 harmonic with any desired amplitude and phase-relation. 



A COMMEMOR.4TION of Christopher Columbus, read on the 

 400th anniversary of his death by Dr. Dalla Vedona, is 

 published in the Atti dei Lincei, xv., 11. It is pointed oui 

 that the work of Columbus initiated a new method of 

 research by applying to navigation the theory of the 

 sphericity of the earth. As the author remarks, the funda- 

 mental conception of Columbus was absolutely rational 

 and absolutely scientific. 



SxEREOPHOTOMicROGR.-iPMV forms the subject of two 

 papers in the Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society 

 for June. One, by Mr. W. P. Dollman, of Adelaide, is 

 illustrated by a photograph of polyzoa (Idmonea radians), 

 the other, by Mr. H. Taverner, by groups of Foraminifera 

 and the water mite (Ecpolus papillosus. Soar). In both 

 cases the photographs were taken by successive exposures 

 on the same plate with a screen cutting off half the 

 objective. 



Most teachers of geometrical optics have, at one time 

 or another, devised arrangements for showing the paths 

 of rays reflected at a mirror or transmitted through a 

 lens ; in general, however, such arrangements require 

 time to be spent in their adjustment, and the results 

 obtained are often very poor when (he trouble taken in 

 attaining them is considered. Prof. Hartl has laid all 

 teachers of experimental optics under an obligation by 



