452 



NA TURE 



[August 31, 1905 



Such return undercurrents have in somewhat similar 

 circumstances been shown to exist in the Dardanelles, 

 Strait of Gibraltar, and in the Suez Canal. 



The observation at Bab-el-Mandeb was difiicult. The 

 wind is strong and the disturbance of the sea is considerable, 

 while the water is 120 fathoms or 700 feet deep. But a 

 surveying vessel maintained herself at anchor there during 

 four days, and, by the aid of an ingenious apparatus sent 

 from England for the purpose, clearly proved the existence 

 of a current of i\ knot flowing steadily at depths below 

 70 fathoms out of the Red Sea, whilst in the upper strata 

 there was a similar current flowing in. In such ways is 

 interchange of water provided for by Nature in places 

 where tidal action does not suffice. 



In what I fear is a very discursive Address I have not 

 mentioned the interior of Africa. In the first place, it is 

 a subject of itself ; and as we shall have, I hope, many 

 papers on African subjects I have thought it better to deal 

 •mainly with generalities. 



Still I cannot refrain from a few words to express the 

 astonishment I always feel when I hear people complain 

 that Africa goes slow. When I look at what has been 

 effected in my own lifetime, it appears to me that, on the 

 contrary, it has been rushed. The maps I learnt from as 

 a boy showed the whole interior as a blank. There are 

 now no parts that are not more or less known. The great 

 lakes have all been revealed ; the great rivers have all been 

 traced ; Europeans are now firmly fixed with decent govern- 

 ments in parts formerly a prey to tribal wars and the 

 atrocities of the inland slave traffic. Railways are running 

 over regions unknown forty years ago, and one of the most 

 astonishing things to me is that I should be able to hope 

 now to visit in comfort and luxury the great Victoria Falls 

 which my old friend Sir John Kirk — whom I left the other 

 day hale and hearty — was, with the exception of Living- 

 stone, the first white man to see, after a long and laborious 

 journey in his company in i860. 



I could not help being amused as well as interested at 

 seeing a short time ago a proclamation by the Government 

 of Northern Rhodesia, dated not far from Lake Bangweolo, 

 calling on all concerned to observe neutrality during the 

 present war between Russia and Japan. I think that if 

 anyone had prophesied to Livingstone, as he lay in 1873 

 lonely and dying by the shores of that newly discovered 

 lake, that such an edict would be issued in thirty years he 

 would have expressed a doubt as to its fulfilment.- 



To Southern .'\frica Nature has denied two of the features 

 that facilitate rapid progress — good harbours and sufficient 

 rainfall — but the energy of man has done wonders to pro- 

 vide the former where possible, and will doubtless do more ; 

 whilst I believe that the lack of the latter will also be 

 overcome in the same way. The coordinated — or, in other 

 words, the scientific — observations made in many other 

 countries have pointed out a possible solution. On the other 

 hand, the height of the inland plateaux makes it possible 

 for the white man to live and work in latitudes which 

 would under other conditions be tropical. 



South Africa must have a great future before it; and 

 while some present circumstances may delay development 

 of its natural advantages, I am inclined to think that in 

 the long run prosperity may be more solid and material 

 for being reached in the face of difficulties, as has so often 

 occurred in the history of the world. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

 Paris. 



Academy of Sciences, August 21. — Ivl. Bouquet de la 

 Grye in the chair. — On the laws of sliding friction : Paul 

 Paiinleve. A discussion of a problem suggested by M. 

 de Sparre in a recent paper, and of the conditions necessary 

 for a solution without ambiguity. — The cause of the 

 presence of abnormal quantities of starch in bruised 

 apples : G. Warcollier. It is shown that tannin from 

 galls prevents all action of amylase on starch, and it is 

 supposed that the accumulation of starch in bruised apples 

 is due to a similar action. 



Calcutt.^. 



Asiatic Society of Bengal, August 2.— Additions to the 

 collection of Oriental snakes in the Indian Museum, 

 part iii. : N. Annandale. Four new species and a new 



NO. 1870, VOL. 72] 



genus are described, two of the former coming from the 

 Malay Archipelago, one from N.E. India, and one from 

 Gilgit. Notes on other species from different parts of the 

 Oriental region are given. This paper completes the series 

 for the present, the collection now being worked out and 

 arranged. — Sal-ammoniac : a study in primitive chemistry : 

 H. E. Stapleton. An attempt to carry back the history 

 of sal-ammoniac through Mohammedan times, and to 

 throw light on the primitive conceptions of nature which 

 led to its introduction as an alchemical drug. Although 

 little used by the Greek school of Alexandria, it was in 

 high repute as one of the alchemical " stones " of the 

 Arabs, and through their agency the substance passed 

 into European alchemy. Authorities are given for the 

 belief that the salt owed its reputation partly to its magical 

 qualities, which were due to its connection with human 

 hair and other animal substances, and partly to its strictly 

 chemical qualities. A suggestion is finally made that the 

 salt was originally introduced into Western Asia through 

 Persia from China. — Alchemical equipment in the eleventh 

 century, a.d. : H. E. Stapleton and R. F. Azo. This 

 paper is an annotated analysis of an Arabic treatise on 

 alchemy lately discovered in the library of His Highness 

 the Nawab of Rampur. The treatise was written in 

 Baghdad in the year 426 a.h. (1034 a.d.), and though now 

 in a somewhat mutilated state, it affords a welcome addi- 

 tion to our knowledge of alchemical methods and equip- 

 ment in the eleventh century. Special attention is directed 

 to (i) the great importance attached to weights in chemical 

 operations 700 years before the time of Black and 

 Lavoisier ; and (2) the drawings and description of the 

 Vthdi (.\ludel), which furnish, for the first time from 

 Arabic sources, a clear conception of this instrument. 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



British Mosses. By E. F 425 



Experimental Morphology. By G. C. C. .... 426 



Atlas of Emission Spectra. By F. E. B 426 



Our Book Shelf :— 



Busquet : '' Precis d'Hydraulique — La Houille 



blanche" 427 



Trouessart : " Catalr.gus Mammalium, tain viventium 



quam fossilium." — R. L. 427 



Peteison : "How to know Wild Fruits: a Guide to 

 Plants when not in Flower by means of Fruit and 



Leaf" 42S 



Letters to the Editor : — 



The Kangra Earthquake of April 4, 1905. — T. H. 



Holland, F.R.S 42S 



The Transverse Momentum of an Electron. — Oliver 



Heaviside, F.R.S 429 



A Parasite of the House-fly. — Prof. Sidney J. 



Hickson, F.R.S 429 



The Transplantation of Shellfish. (Illustrated.) . . 430 



The Standardisation of Screws 431 



The Sterilisation of Water in the Field. By Prof 



R. T. Hewlett 431 



Prof Jules Oppert 432 



Notes. (Illustrated.) 433 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



Astronomical Occuirences in September 436 



Observations of Planets 436 



Proper Motions of the Hyades 436 



Variations of Latitude 437 



A Proposed New Method for determining the Solar 



Radiation 437 



The Cape Observatory 437 



Recent Advances in the Chemistry of Albumin. 



ByJ. B. C 437 



On the Origin of Eoliths 438 



The British Association : — 



Inaugural Address by Prof. G. H. Darwin, M.A., 

 LL.D., Ph.D., F.R.S., President of the Associa- 

 tion. Part II 439 



Section E. — Geography. — Opening Address by Rear- 

 Admirdl Sir W. J. L. Wharton, K.C.B., 



F.R.S., President of the Section 445 



Societies and Academies _ 452 



