August 24, 1905] 



NA TURE 



423 



An interesting contribution to the history of the steam- 

 engine is published in the Engineer of August ii in the 

 form of particulars of some old prints unearthed at the 

 British Museum. One of the most interesting of these, 

 engraved by Sutton NichoUs and bearing the date 1725, 

 is that illustrated in the accompanying figure, reduced 

 from one of the illustrations in our contemporary. The 

 engraved part measures 13^ inches by I2j inches, and on 

 either side in letterpress appears a detailed description. 

 The print is believed to be unique, and in point of date 

 is second only in importance to the Dudley Castle steam- 

 engine print of 1712, preserved in the Birmingham Free 

 Library. It resembles the drawings of the Newcomen 

 engine at the colliery at Griff, in Warwickshire, erected 

 in 1722. Several changes in the mechanical details from 

 the Dudlev t'astle engine may be noted. The boiler is fed 

 with a portion of Ihe hot water coming from the bottom 

 of the cylinder, so that a date is fixed for this advance 

 in economy. There are also two gauge-cocks instead of 

 one, so that both high and low water would be indicated. 

 Reproductions are also given in the same article of copper 

 plali's of the Newcomen engine erected at Passy, near 



Paris, in 1720, which was copied from that at Griff 

 Collierw The first Newcomen engine on the Continent 

 was, however, that put down in 1722 at Cassel by Joseph 

 Emanuel Kischer von Erlach, who ordered at the same 

 time in England a similar engine for draining a mine at 

 Kcinigsberg, in Hungary. This was completed in 1724 by 

 one Isaac Potter from Durham, who was in consequence 

 looked upon as the inventor. 



The Journal of the Ronigcn Society for July (ii.. No. 5) 

 contains reports of meetings of the society and of the 

 Ronlgen Congress at Berlin, and various papers, notes, 

 &c., as well as three plates of excellent radiograms and 

 a portrait of the president, Mr. Wilson Noble. 



The Journal of the Royal Sanitary Institute for .August 

 (xxvi., No. 7) contains a valuable discussion on sanatoria 

 for consumptives, opened by Mr. Edwin T. Hall, and an 

 interesting paper by Dr. Rideal on the sterilisation of 



sewage effluents, with special reference to oysters and 

 other shell-fish, and to watercress beds. 



Wi- have received a copy of Messrs. Merck's annual re- 

 port for it)o4 on the advancements of pharmaceutical 

 chemistry and therapeutics during that year. It contains 

 a wealth of information, and should be in the hands of 

 every medical practitioner and pharmaceutical chemist who 

 wishes to keep abreast of modern work and progress. 



The Annual Report and Transactions of Ihe Manchester 

 Microscopical Society for 1904 has just reached us. The 

 society is evidently in a flourishing condition, and several 

 of the contributed papers are of interest, particularly those 

 by Prof. Hickson, the president, on micro-organisms 

 associated with disease, and by Mr. Gillanders on arboreal 

 insects, with two illustrative plates. 



With reference to a note on the Leishman-Donovan body 

 or parasite which appeared in these columns (June 15, 

 p. 157), Lieut. Christophers, I. M.S., writes pointing out 

 that his researches on the development of flagellated forms 

 antedated those of Leishman, but that Capt. Rogers, 

 I. M.S., was the first discoverer of the metamorphosis. 

 The latter fact was noted in N.iture (vol. Ixx. p. 534). 



Prof. F. Ramalev contributes an account of the examin- 

 ation of certain foliaceous cotyledons to the University 

 of Colorado Studies (vol. ii., part iv.). The anatomical 

 structure of the cotyledons of several species of tropical 

 plants was examined for comparison with the structure 

 of Ihe ordinary leaves. 



A SIMPLE piece of apparatus, called a pinometer, for 

 connecting both ends of a plant, cut as for a root-pressure 

 experiment, has been devised and is described by Dr. 

 O. ^■. Darbishire in the Botanical Gazette (May). The 

 object of the pinometer, which is well adapted to ordinary 

 class work, is to enable the experimentalist to study at 

 one time both the suction force of transpiration and root- 

 pressure. For research purposes the author is elaborating 

 a more complex and precise form of the instrument. 



Sir Joseph Hooker continues his epitome of the British 

 Indian species of Impatiens in No. 2, vol. iv., of the 

 Records of the Botanical Survey of India. This includes 

 a list of eastern Himalayan plants, of which the chief 

 centre is Sikkim, and fifty species from Burma of which 

 three-quarters are endemic. In addition to the new species 

 which, as Sir Joseph Hooker expects, still await discovery 

 in Sikkim and Burma, there is great need for collecting 

 better material, more especially good specimens of the 

 flowers and of separate parts of the flowers. 



The Trinidad Bulletin for July contains an account of 

 the results obtained during the first year in manurial 

 experiments with cacao plants on the Brasso Estate. Mr. 

 E. H. Cunningham-Craig contributes some geological 

 notes on soils in Trinidad to serve as an explanation of 

 the geological maps that have been produced, and also 

 to furnish a guide to cacao planters of the value and prob- 

 able manurial requirements of the various soils. Mr. 

 C. W. Meaden has an article on parasites in cattle and 

 poultry, giving a detailed account of the parasite 

 Strongylus micrurus, with remarks on the methods of 

 treatment. A report on various rubber plantations in the 

 island is presented by Mr. W. Leslie. 



Messrs. R. ami J. Beck, Ltd., have sent us a dark 

 screen mounted in a convenient way for use in viewing Ihe 

 eclipse of the sun on August 30. If the sky is clear, a 

 smoked or very dark glass will enable the progress of the 

 partiid eclipse to be followed in any part of our islands. 



NO. 1869, VOL. 72 j 



