June i, 1905] 



NA TURE 



109: 



With Tegard to daily range, the author states that, speak- 

 ing very generally, rain falls more frequently, but less 

 heavily, by night than by day, at the foot of the moun- 

 tain ; whilst on the summit the variations are less pro- 

 nounced, but, on the whole, are in sympathy with those 

 at Fort William, On the top of the mountain falls of 

 4 to 6 inches in a day were occasionally recorded. 



A' GOOD oil-immersion lens at a moderate price has long 

 been wanted by histologists and bacteriologists. This 

 need has been met by Mr. GowUand, of Selsea, who has 

 produced an objective of i/12-inch focal length and 1-30 

 numerical, aperture at a price of 2L 155. It is an admir- 

 able piece of apparatus, and is well corrected for spherical 

 and chromatic aberration. We have tested it on a number 

 of objects, and can recommend it as" thoroughly efifictent. 

 It is claimed by the maker that it has good photographic 

 qualities. 



In a paper published in the Gazseita for April 3, Dr. 

 Itaio Bellucci proves that the so-called hydrated platinum 

 oxide, PtO,,4H,0, is in reality a platinic acid of the struc- 

 ture H2Pt(OH)|,, corresponding with chloroplatinic acid 

 H,PtCl„ and forming a series of well defined salts of the 

 type M,Pt(OH)j. In a second paper, written in conjunc- 

 tion with N. Parravano, the metallic stannates and 

 plumbates are shown to be derived from similar acids, 

 H,Sn(OH). and H,Pb(OH)„ whilst the three salts 

 K,Pt{OH)„ K,Sn(OH)„ and K,Pb(OH), are strictly iso- 

 morphous. The views brought forward are of considerable 

 importance from the standpoint of the systematisation of 

 inorganic chemistry, and as showing that so-called water 

 of crystallisation may in many instances play an important 

 part in molecular structure. 



Since Lord Rayleigh published in 1897 his interesting 

 results on the oxidation of atmospheric nitrogen by an 

 electric arc, many attempts have been made to devise a 

 practical method of synthesising nitric acid from the gases 

 of the atmosphere. Owing, however, to the fact that 

 nitric oxide is formed by an endothermic change and to the 

 early production of a condition of equilibrium when little 

 oxidation has occurred, the processes hitherto published 

 have been far from economical. In the Gaszeita for 

 April 3 E. Rossi describes how the efficiency of such 

 methods may be greatly increased by working with air 

 under a very great pressure. The heating is effected by 

 means of an incandescent resistance similar to the filament 

 of a Nernst lamp, and the nitric oxide is absorbed by 

 concentrated sulphuric acid within the interaction chamber, 

 as fast as it is produced, so as to obviate an equilibrium. 



In the Verhandlungen of the German Physical Society 

 (vol. vii. p. 78) L. Graetz replies to the objections raised 

 by Profs. Precht and Otsuki (compare Nature, vol. Ixxi. 

 p. 468) against his view that hydrogen peroxide gives rise 

 to a special radiation capable of affecting a photographic 

 plate. He considers that a substance so comparatively 

 non-volatile as hydrogen peroxide, which has a vapour 

 tension less than that of water, and can be concentrated 

 by allowing a current of air to pass through it, cannot 

 be conceived as directly permeating sheets of celluloid and 

 gelatin. Again, the extreme readiness with which 

 hydrogen peroxide is decomposed catalytically by metals 

 makes it improbable that it would pass as such through 

 minute holes in thin metallic plates. In a second com- 

 munication, published in the same periodical (vol. vii. 

 p. 163), Profs. Precht and Otsuki maintain their original 

 contention by emphasising the minuteness of the quantity 



NO. 1857, VOL. 72] 



of hydrogen peroxide necessary to affect a photographic 

 plate. The action of the peroxide on sensitive plates has 

 since been discussed in detail by Prof. Otsuki in a paper 

 read before the Society of Chemical Industry on May i. 



A Herbert Spencer lectureship has been founded at 

 Oxford by a Hindoo gentleman who is a Master of Arts 

 of Balliol College. The first lecture was delivered on 

 March 9 by Mr. Frederic Harrison, and has been published 

 by the Clarendon Press. It is appreciative, but not— 

 lecturer or printer has surely blundered in regard to the 

 prefix — " an apodictic eulogy." Mr. Harrison's chief 

 criticisms of the synthetic philosophy are: — (1) that, lay- 

 ing all the emphasis on evolution, it disregards the laws 

 of stability and permanence, such as are manifested chiefly 

 in the inorganic sciences — which it accordingly passes over ; 

 (2) that its attempt to reduce all manner of sciences under 

 the same laws only succeeds because it neglects the peculi- 

 arities which make any one science or set of sciences in- 

 commensurable with others, as, e.g., the human sciences 

 are with the non-human. But the lecturer readily admits 

 that Spencer did not allow himself to be confined by the 

 materialistic dogmas with which he set forth, and that 

 while " Philosophy never opened with aspect more physical, 

 it never insisted more imperatively on the law of Justice 

 from man to man, on the supreme duty of Altruism." 



The thirty-fifth of the privately printed opuscula issued 

 to the members of the Sette of Odd Volumes is entitled 

 "The Early History of the Royal Society." The author 

 of this brochure is Mr. Henry B. Wheatley, sometime 

 clerk to the Royal Society, who has succeeded in writing 

 a very interesting account of the early years of our national 

 association of men of science. Mr. Wheatley shows that 

 Charles II. — " Founder, Patron, and one of the Royal 

 Society of London for improving Natural Knowledge " — 

 took a genuine interest in the advancement of the society. 

 " True he did not give any money, but then money was 

 never very plentiful with His Majesty. He was always 

 ready to assist with his name and influence. His interest 

 doubtless made the Society the fashion." Doubt is cast 

 on the truth of the story of the paradox put forward by 

 Charles II. concerning the weights of respective bowls of 

 water with or without fish in them. A suggestion of Sir 

 William Petty, the inventor of the double-bottomed boat, 

 as to the society's anniversary, is worth repetition. 

 .•\ubrey writes :— " I remember one St. Andrew's day I 

 sayd methought it was not so well that we should pitch 

 upon the Patron of Scotland's day. We should rather have 

 taken S. George or S. Isidore, a philosopher canonized. 

 No, said Sir William Petty, I would rather have had it 

 been S. Thomas's day." Objections were on one occasion 

 made to Charles II. that a member recommended by him 

 for election was a shopkeeper. By way of reply the King 

 " gave this particular charge to his Society, that if they 

 found any more such trjidesmen they would be sure to 

 admit them all, without any more ado." Mr. Wheatley 

 records many more quaint stories and odd incidents associ- 

 ated with the society's earlier years, and his paper will 

 excite lively interest in all scientific readers who are able 

 to obtain a copy of it. 



Mr. Henry Frowde has published in pamphlet form the 

 Robert Boyle lecture delivered by Prof. H. B. Dixon, 

 F.R.S., before the O.xford University Junior Scientific Club 

 in 1903, on the nature of explosions in gases. 



New editions of " Half Hours with the Microscope," by 

 Dr. Edwin Lankester, and " The Preparation and Mount- 

 ing of Microscopic Objects," by Mr. Thomas Davies, have 



