October i8, 1906J 



NA TURE 



62- 



part of the annual amount is sometimes made up in the 

 course of a few days. At Oltombahe, for instance, two- 

 thirds of the annual amount of ii^ inches fell in the 

 course of four days tj>''nuary 27-30), and of this amount 

 5 inches fell on January 28. Generally speaking, little or 

 no rain falls between May and September, inclusive. 



Report of the Liverpool Observatory, 1905. ^This observ- 

 atory, maintained at Bidston by the Mersey Docks and 

 Harbour Board, is one of the oldest and best equipped in 

 the United Kingdom, and it transmits daily telegraphic 

 reports to the Meteorological Office. Under the head of 

 automatic instruments are included anemometers of the 

 forms designed by Dines, Osier, and Robinson. We give 

 the comparative maximum records of these during two of 

 the heaviest gales of the year : — 



Ume,. Osier. Robinwn. 



mUs Ib-.onsq.rt. miles per hour Direciion 



1905, Jan. 8 733 3^ 55 ■ S.W. 



,, Nov. 26 ... 70-1 ... 405 ... 08 ... W. 

 ,, 27 ... 770 ... 3J-2 ... 61 ... W. 



1 he gusts recorded by the Dines and Osier anemometers 

 were not exactly at the same time; the figures seem to show 

 that the force of the gusts differs considerably at different 

 points of the same locality. With respect to observations 

 with Milne's seismograph, Mr. Plummcr makes the 

 interesting remark that during the time of the recent 

 Antarctic expedition many earthquakes recorded by the ex- 

 ploring party were registered on the instrument at Bidston, 

 although intermediate stations did not in all instances 

 record the tremor. The average number of astronomical 

 observations made with the transit instrument has been 

 practically maintained during the year. 



South African Meteorology. — Under the title " South 

 Africa as seen by a Meteorologist," Dr. H. R. Mill gave 

 a lecture before the Royal Meteorological Society on 

 March 21, and an abstract has now been published. The 

 address contains much instructive matter, but Dr. Mill's 

 meteorological notes naturally refer chiefly to rainfall. 

 Table Bay was reached on .\ugust 15, 1905, the minimum 

 temperature at Cape Town being only 38°. The most 

 unusual part of the meteorological equipment at the Royal 

 Observatory was the size of the standard rain-gauge, having 

 a diameter of about iij inches; at other stations in the 

 colony the size is 8 inches. The usual exposure of the 

 gauges in South .'\frica is 4 feet high, a fact, as Dr. Mill 

 observes, that must be borne in mind when comparing 

 readings with gauges in this country, where they are 

 usually placed at a height of i foot. Meteorology in Cape 

 Colony suffers, the author states, by the excessively small 

 annual grant available, and the opinion is expressed that 

 the good work done at Kenilworth (Kimberley) makes it 

 desirable that the institution should be placed on a per- 

 manent footing. The Transvaal Government spends a 

 comparatively large sum on meteorological observations ; 

 at Johannesburg the observatory is admirably fitted up, and 

 the site offers peculiar advantages for anemometer work. 

 The rain gauges here and in the Orange River Colony 

 are 5 inches in diameter. The site of the observatory at 

 Grey Town is not a very good one, and is shortly to be 

 • changed. Meteorology at Bulawayo is under the charge 

 of Father Goetz, to whose work we recently referred ; 

 he has constructed an ingenious electrical recording rain 

 gauge which is apparently very efficient. On the home- 

 ward journey a visit was made to the Portuguese station 

 at Beira ; with regard to this observatory. Dr. Mill re- 

 marks that it is " an imposing structure and the rain 

 gauge is of heroic dimensions." This interesting paper is 

 embellished by many photographic illustrations. 



Report of the Observatory Department of the National 

 Physical Laboratory for the Year 1905. — .As this branch is 

 in many respects complete in itself, and its work appeals 

 to a different class from that interested in the other depart- 

 ments, the director thinks it desirable to issue the report 

 separately. The magnetographs have been in constant 

 operation throughout the year, and the curves have again 

 been free from anv very large disturbances ; the most 

 interesting movements were those of November 12 and 15. 

 On the latter date an auroral display was generally 

 observed (Nature, November 30, 1905. p. 101 i. The 

 mean declination during the year was 16° 32 '^9 W., mean 



NO. 1929, VOL. 74] 



inclination t>7° 3 '8 N. Owing to the disturbance of the 

 vertical force produced by electric trams, it was found 

 impossible to tabulate the curves for this element satis- 

 factorily. The meteorological traces and tabulations have 

 been, as usual, sent to the Meteorological Office for publi- 

 cation, therefore only the results are given as an appendix 

 to the report in question. The maximum shade tempera- 

 ture was 8i°.5, on July 8, and the minimum 22°-4, on 

 November 22 (23°.4 on January ig). The rainfall was 

 22-61 inches, and the number of rain days 154, including 

 five days on which snow was recorded. The number of 

 instruments verified (exclusive of watches and chrono- 

 meters) amounted to 26,658, being a considerable increase 

 as compared with the previous year ; about 60 per cent, 

 of these instruments w-ere clinical thermometers. 



The Warm Air Current at the Height of 10-12 A'i7o- 

 metres. — In the Meteorologische Zeitschrift for June, Dr. 

 R. Nimfiihr discusses the question of one of the most 

 interesting results of the international balloon ascents, viz. 

 the " inversion of temperature " at an altitude of 8-13 km. 

 pointed out by M. L. Teisserenc de Bort (Comptes rendus, 

 .April 28, 1902), and by Dr. Assmann at an altitude of 

 10-15 km. (Sitzb. Akad., Berlin, May 1, 1902). Dr. 

 Nimfiihr states that the French experiments were made 

 with paper balloons, that in about half the ascents the 

 maximum height of the balloon was at the critical alti- 

 tude of 11-12 km., and that consequently the instruments 

 were affected by solar radiation owing to decrease of ventil- 

 ation ; also that Dr. Assmann's e.xperiments were prob- 

 ably similarly affected, although to a less extent, as he used 

 closed rubber balloons. Dr. Nimfiihr thinks that the 

 lifting power of the balloons was decreased in the higher 

 regions owing to the rubber becoming porous by expansion ; 

 further, that the bimetallic thermometer used in some 

 ascents is subject to a fundamental error, now under further 

 investigation, which possibly affects some of the results 

 obtained. We offer no comments on the questions raised ; 

 they will no doubt receive full consideration by those 

 engaged in this important branch of meteorological inquiry. 



Rainfall in the Philippines. — The Bulletin for December 

 last, issued by the Weather Bureau of Manila, under the 

 direction of the Rev. Father .Algu^, contains a table of the 

 monthly and annual distribution of rainfall in 1905 at 

 tifty-three stations scattered over the different islands of 

 the archipelago. It is shown that the stations may be 

 arranged in three groups : — (i) where the fall is uniform 

 in the various months ; (2) where the rainfall is scarce 

 from December to March inclusive ; (3) stations with 

 abundant rains from June to October, and little in the 

 rest of the year. At some stations the amounts are large, 

 e.g. Baguio, an elevated plateau, more than 165 inches, 

 while eighteen of the other stations have falls varying 

 from 79 inches to 115 inches. From the results of the last 

 five years' observations at Baguio we note that the mean 

 annual temperature there is 65°. 3 ; the lowest monthly 

 mean is 6i''-3, in February, and the highest 67°.i, in .April 

 and May. The absolute maximum was 84°-7, in .April, and 

 the minimum 42''-8, in February. Rain falls on an average 

 on 171 days, mostly between May and October. 



DISEASES OF SHEEP. 



OROBABLV few persons, unless they have had reason to 

 study the matter, have any idea of the immense 

 economic importance of the diseases of animals. As a 

 matter of fact, our flocks and herds are every year stricken 

 down to an extent representing a value of hundreds of 

 thousands of pounds ! 



In 1901 a committee, consisting of Prof. Hamilton, Mr. 

 J. McCall, and Mr. E. G. Wheeler, with Mr. R. B. Greig 

 as secretary, was appointed by the Board of Agriculture 

 to investigate and report on the diseases of sheep known 

 as louping-ill and braxy, and the findings of this committee 

 have lately been published in a voluminous and interesting 

 report. 



Louping-ill is a disease which shows itself in the form 

 of nervous spasms of the limbs and neck, or rigidity, 

 follow-ed bv more or less complete paralysis ; sometimes, 

 however, there is a general dazed condition with speedy 



