258 



NA TURE 



[December 30, 1909 



been supposed, but are derived from the secreting 

 epithelium of the udder. Moreover, vast numbers of these 

 cells may occur in the milk of perfectly healthy cows. 

 Some have considered that these cells (so-called leucocytes 

 or pus-cells), when present in any number, indicate in- 

 flammation and suppuration of the udder, but in view of 

 this work such a conclusion does not appear justifiable. 



The sjrowing interest in India among Americans is 

 shown by the fact that the National Geographic Magazine 

 for November is largely devoted to a series of excellent 

 photographs illustrating the temples, tombs, and people 

 of the country, by Mr. W. M. Zumbro. It is unfortunate, 

 however, that the titles of the plates and the letterpress 

 were not submitted to the revision of someone more 

 familiar with Indian life and architecture. 



" Tide Tables for the Eastern Coasts of Canada for the 

 Year 19 lo," by Dr. VV. Bell Dawson, have been issued by 

 the Tidal and Current Survey in the Department of Marine 

 and Fisheries, Ottawa. The tables are based upon observa- 

 tions obtained by means of self-registering tide-gauges kept 

 in continuous operation, and, owing to the length of the 

 series of observations, can lay claim to considerable 

 accuracv. The records are reduced by the latest methods 

 of analysis, by which the tidal constants are arrived at, 

 and from these the tables are calculated by the Nautical 

 Almanac Office in London. The paper also includes useful 

 summaries of the more important resuUs of investigations 

 regarding the currents in various regions contained in 

 the reports issued by the Survey ; copies of these full 

 reports, illustrated by charts and plates, may be had on 

 application to the department. 



A REPORT on the rainfall of the Exe Valley, by Dr. 

 H. R. Mill, forming part of the report of progress in the 

 investigation of rivers, Iw Dr. A. Strahan and others, is 

 contained in the Geographical Journal for December. 

 Owing to the scarcity of long records. Dr. Mill found it 

 necessarv to construct maps for four decades between 1868 

 and 1907 from the data which are summarised in the 

 tables, and to combine these four maps into one of forty 

 vears' average by a somewhat laborious process, fully ex- 

 plained in the paper. This map shows that the heaviest 

 rainfall occurs on Dartmoor, where a wide area has more 

 than 70 inches per annum, but that this amount diminishes 

 rapidly in all directions. The general rainfall of the whole 

 of the Exe Valley is shown to be about 42 inches, and 

 nowhere less than 30 inches. Roughly speaking, the Culm 

 and Creedy receive an equal volume of rainfall over their 

 basins, and the Exe three times as much as either. The 

 four ten-year groups of the mean annual rainfall over the 

 whole area show 107, 103, 95, and 95 per cent, of the 

 average ; with regard to this, Dr. Mill remarks that he 

 sees no reason for supposing that there is a progressive 

 diminution of the annual amount, though a comparatively 

 dry spell has succeeded a comparatively wet one. 



The geological section of the Belfast Naturalists' Field 

 Club held its first meeting of the winter session on 

 November 24, when one of the members, Mr. James 

 Strachan, delivered a lecture on petrological types of 

 basalt in County Antrim. The chief portion of the lecture 

 was devoted to a suggested rational classification of the 

 basaltic rocks of Co. Antrim according to their varying 

 basicity. Three main classes were recognised, and sub- 

 divided as follows : — (i) Basalts without olivine (basaltic 

 andesites) : (a) flow type, basalt of Spanish Bay, Giant's 

 Causeway ; (fc) intrusive type, dolerite of the Neck at 

 Carnmoney Hill. (2) Olivine basalts : (a) flow type, the 

 common olivine-basalt of the district, with olivine increas- 

 XO. 2096, VOL. 82] 



ing from occasional grains to plentiful porphyritic crystals ; 

 (b) intrusive type, the common oUvine-dolerite of the dis- 

 trict with varying amount of olivine, e.g. dolerite of the 

 Neck at Scawt Hill, and that of Ballygalley Head. 

 (3) Basalts rich in olivine : (a) flow type, containing excess 

 of olivine in large phenocrysts, minimum of felspar and 

 augite and colourless interstitial glass ; north side of Carn- 

 money Hill ; (b) intrusive type, dolerite rich in olivine ; 

 Slieve Mish. These types of basaltic rocks were all illus- 

 trated by hand-specimens and numerous microscopic 

 sections. In conclusion, the lecturer referred to several 

 peculiar features of the local basalts, such as the fairly 

 common occurrence of " tube-amygdaloid " at the basal 

 portion of many of the Co. Antrim flows, and the complete 

 inclusion of primary minerals, such as felspar and augite, 

 in natrolite and other zeoUtes. 



The Bausch and Lomb Optical Company, 19 Thaviis 

 Inn, E.C., have submitted an improved Stormer viscosi- 

 meter for our inspection. In this apparatus a weight fall- 

 ing from rest causes a paddle to rotate in the oil or other 

 liquid to be tested, and a dial registers the number of 

 revolutions made. The time required for a given number 

 of rotations is taken with a stop-watch ; it varies with the 

 viscosity of the liquid. Thus, when the apparatus is so 

 adjusted that 100 revolutions in water take 12 seconds, 

 with ether the time is 9-8 seconds, and with glycerine 36-8. 

 The viscosities are reckoned as proportional to the time, 

 that of water being taken as unity. To obviate " spin- 

 ning " of the liquid a square receptacle is used. Some of 

 the advantages claimed over other types of apparatus 

 are : — (i) Only a small volume of liquid (50 c.c.) is neces- 

 sary ; (2) a determination is made in a few seconds, and 

 can be easily repeated upon the same identical quantity of 

 liquid ; (3) the variation due to change of temperature 

 during the operation is practically negligible, since the 

 time is so short ; and (4) given spare cups, a series of tests 

 can be made without any waste of time in cleaning the 

 instrument after each experiment. The apparatus is com- 

 pact, and appears quite easy to manipulate. 



The Verhandlungen der deutschcn physikalischen Gesell- 

 schajt for November 15 contains a critical e.xamination, by 

 Dr. Karl Kurz, of the theories which have been advanced 

 to account for the existence of the penetrating radiation 

 of the nature of 7 rays in the atmosphere, and even in 

 vessels hermetically sealed. There are three possible 

 sources of this radiation. It must come either from an 

 extra-terrestrial source, from the earth's atmosphere, or 

 from the material of the earth itself. The author shows 

 that the extra-terrestrial source must be excluded, owing 

 to its leading to consequences in the upper atmosphere 

 which are not in agreement with observations. The atmo- 

 spheric source he shows to be quite inadequate, the quantity 

 of radio-active matter present being much too small. The 

 radio-active matter present in the soil is, however, not only 

 sufficient to account for the radiation, but gives its 

 intensity correctly as that necessary to produce nine or ten 

 ions per cubic centimetre per second. The semi-diurnal 

 period observed in the amount of radiation the author 

 ascribes to the radio-active matter present in the atmo- 

 sphere. 



The belief that areas of seismic and volcanic activity 

 move slowly to the west is given a precise form in a 

 paper, by Mr. H. Wehner, which appears in the Physik- 

 alische /.eitschrift for December i. He assumes that within 

 the solid crust of the earth, and separated from it by a 

 thin layer of liquid, is a solid nucleus which rotates about 

 the same axis as the outer shell and in the same direc- 



