Uecem»er 1 6, 1909] 



NA TURE 



189 



into a teschenite by the incoming of purple titanaugite and 

 basic soda-lime felspars, but the latter rock is penetrated 

 by irregular veins of the analcite-syenite. 



This occurrence is interesting, inasmuch as there is only 

 one other occurrence of alkali-syenites in the British area, 

 namely, the borolanite and associated syenites of Suther- 

 landshire. These, however, are probably of Cambrian age. 

 The Ayrshire occurrences are being investigated by the 

 writer with the aid of a Royal Society grant, and it is 

 hoped that an account of these alkalic rocks will be pub- 

 lished in a short time. G. W. Tyrrell. 



University of Glasgow, December 9. 



Collected Works of Sir William Herschel' 



I ra;G to direct attention to a pressing need, namely, the 

 publication of the collected works of Sir William Herschel. 

 The investigations of this great man are practically in- 

 accessible to the vast majority of modern astronomers, 

 and the result is that few have any acquaintance with his 

 writings, or know them only second-hand. In my rela- 

 tions with American astronomers I have met no one who 

 has made a close study of Herschel's papers, and in going 

 over them myself have been obliged to obtain them from 

 distant libraries and abstract the contents by laborious 

 processes. I have been equally impressed with the deep 

 Insight into the laws of nature which Herschel shows, and 

 the slight extent to which his conclusions and methods are 

 known to modern workers. Surely you will be willing to 

 lend your voice to the praiseworthy task of awakening the 

 British public to a national duty. When writing the life 

 of Herschel for the " Encyclopedia Britannica " thirty 

 years ago, the late Prof. Pritchard directed attention to 

 the necessity of the publication of Herschel's collected 

 works; but meanwhile nothing has been done. Italy has 

 published the collected works of Galileo, Holland the 

 collected works of Huyghens, while France has published 

 the collected works of several of her great mathematicians 

 and astronomers. Sic, .as those of Lagrange, Laplace, 

 Fourier, Fermat, &c., and now the Swiss, with commend- 

 able effort, are trying to publish the vast collected works 

 of Euler. 



Herschel's writings are not very voluminous, and prob- 

 ably could be comprised in one large or two moderate 

 sized volumes ; and it seems certain that a thousand copies 

 of them could be sold within reasonable time, so that a 

 good publishing house might safely undertake the risk ; 

 Ijut in order to give the work a national stamp it would 

 need supervision by an official committee of the Royal 

 ■Society, or the Royal Astronomical Society, of which 

 Herschel was the first president. T. J. J. See. 



U.S. Naval Observatory, Mare Island, California, 

 November 20. 



An International Map of the World. 



I HAVE read with much interest, in Nature of 

 December 2, the communication by Sir Duncan Johnston. 

 I must, however, confess that two of his propositions tend 

 to damage the very principle of uniformity aimed at by the 

 original idea. 



For if, in the preparation of the map of closely popu- 

 lated districts, another scale (in the details) is to be adopted, 

 the general idea conveyed by the map will be misleading. 



The same is the case with altitudes. It is necessary 

 to take into consideration the fact that, in all probability, 

 the metre-unit will be adopted throughout the world in the 

 time necessary for the preparation and issuing of the pro- 

 posed maps. In the meantime, it should be noted on the 

 ■sheets for foot-countries; im. = 3 feet. 



E. BAthori. 



Nagybecskerek, Hungary, December 6. 



With reference to Dr. Bdthori's letter on the article 

 which appeared in Nature of December 2, on the 

 1/1,000,000 scale international map, I agree with him to 

 the extent that I am fully impressed with the importance 

 of uniformity so far as it can be attained without detriment 

 to the value of the map, but I consider that in some cases 

 ■imiformity can only be obtained at too great a price. 



Dr. BAthori demurs to my suggestion that the detail 

 NO. 2094, VOL. 82] 



shown should not be absolutely uniform throughout the 

 world. I can best illustrate my view that too hard and 

 fast a uniformity should not be insisted on by stating a 

 concrete case. The committee proposes, and 1 think 

 rightly, to show on the map lines of telegraph and post 

 offices. In sparsely settled countries, for example 

 Rhodesia, such information would be useful, and could 

 easily be shown on the map. In the populous London dis- 

 trict such information would be of no value, even if it 

 could be shown, and I think that the practical utility of 

 the map would be increased in this case by some departure 

 from strict uniformity. Other similar cases might be 

 given. 



With regard to the other point mentioned by Dr. Bdthori 

 I am afraid I cannot agree with him that the metre will 

 be adopted throughout the world, and I certainly hope that 

 the completion of the international map will not be post- 

 poned until the metre is generally used. In the past and 

 the present the foot has been and is used as the unit of 

 measurement in the United States of America, in Great 

 Britain and Ireland and its colonies and dependencies ; prac- 

 tically all records are in terms of that unit, and it must be 

 many years before this unit can be changed, if it ever is. 

 If the countries named do not exceed in area and population 

 those which have adopted metrical measurements, they are, 

 at any rate, large enough to merit consideration. I see no 

 reason why the altitudes in this very large and populous 

 area should be shown on the map in terms of a unit not 

 generally used by their people, nor, on the other hand, do 

 I see any cause why the large and populous countries which 

 have adopted the metrical system should have their altitudes 

 expressed in feet. 



It seems to me that, provided the unit adopted is legibly 

 marked on the map and subject to some give and take 

 where the two systems meet, countries using the foot should 

 have their altitudes expressed in feet, and those using the 

 metre in metres. I do not think this would cause material 

 difficulty. The practical advantages of this course seem 

 to me to justify some departure from rigid uniformity. 



Duncan A. Johnston. 



Eastbourne, December 10. 



Positions of Birds' Nests in Hedges. 



During the autumn and winter of the past three years 

 I have been observing the distribution of birds' nests as 

 regards position in the hedges. In the fields around this 

 village the following facts are noticed. In hedges running 

 north and south (facing east and west), by far the greater 

 number of nests are found to the east of a line through 

 the length of the hedge. In hedges running east and west 

 (facing north and south), very few are on the north side, 

 some in the centre, but most to the south of the line 

 through the length of the hedge. There seems to be a 

 very good reason why this should be the case, but it would 

 not do to state reasons without more evidence. I have not 

 seen this matter noticed in any book or " paper," and it 

 would be interesting to know how the majority of the 

 nests in other parts of the country are placed. The present 

 is a good time for such observations. 



J. H. TuLL Walsh. 



St. Faith's, Norfolk, December 2. 



Uranium Ore as a Remedy. 



With reference to Mr. H. Warth's letter in Nature of 

 November n (p. 38), it may be of interest to record a 

 fact which has come under my notice while engaged in 

 the development of a uranious mine in Turkestan. The 

 ore is oxidised and calcareous, and contains uranium, 

 vanadium, and copper, radium being present in accordance 

 with Prof. Rutherford's formula, which gives the quantity 

 of it in relation to the uranium. The uranium is on the 

 average 3-8 per cent., but in some places reaches the ratio 

 of 30 per cent, and more. Until now the work in the mine 

 has proceeded only in the summer time, and in the winter 

 season the workmen have migrated to the neighbouring 

 coal and copper mines. As I know from the literature of 

 the subject that vanadium and uranium are toxic sub- 

 stances, I instruct the workmen to wash their hands well 

 before going to their dinner and after their work. " We 



