NATURE 



{Nov. 4, i8£o 



Titrbo, but another species so named by Mr. Angas. 

 Nor is the Nucula sulcata of A. Adams the same as 

 Bronn's much older species of that name. But a serious 

 defect of the work consists in the description of the 

 shells. We give one instance among many. Littorina 

 710VCE zealaiidia: is described as "somewhat globosely 

 turbinated," with the whorls "spirally irregularly linearly 

 grooved;" and the characters of the several species are 

 not arranged systematically or in any kind of sequence. 

 Dog-Latin would be almost preferable to such English. 

 Perhaps, however, the description of species made by 

 the late Mr. Reeve may have been copied from his 

 "Conchologia Iconica." Prof. Hutton says that there 

 are " between 300 and 400 species " of the New Zealand 

 mollusca and polj-zoa. This is considerably less than half 

 the number of those species which have been recorded as 

 inhabiting the British seas. J. Gvv'yn Jeffreys 



OUR BOOK SHELF 

 The Zoological Record for 1878/ being vol. xv. of the 



Record of Zoological Literature, edited by E. C. Rye. 



(London: John Van Voorst, 1S80.) 

 This publication seems to pursue the even tenor of its 

 very useful way. The editor has to acknowledge grants 

 of 250/. towards the expenses of the work from the British 

 Association for the Advancement of Science, the Royal 

 Society, and the Zoological Society of London. The 

 "Record of the Arachnida for iS/S^'has been unavoid- 

 ably postponed until vol. xvi., and Mr. Kirby has for the 

 future undertaken all of the groups of the Insecta with the 

 exception of the Coleoptera, which the editor will still re- 

 view. Entomologists will perceive with regret that they thus 

 lose the services of Mr. McLachlan, who has reported on 

 the Neuroptera and Orthoptera since 1S69. A special 

 committee has been appointed to endeavour to expedite 

 the publication of the annual volume, and arrangements 

 have been made, both as regards the contributors and 

 printers, which it is hoped will have the eventual effect of 

 bringing out the record of one year's work during the 

 succeeding year. This would be an immense boon, and 

 though it is obvious that it cannot be effected at the first 

 attempt, still the editor confidently expects that the 

 Record of 1S79 ^^'''1 ^^ published in the beginning of 

 1881, and let us hope that ere the end of that year we 

 may also have the Record of that one now coming to a 

 close. 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 



\The Editor docs 7Wt Itold himself responsible for opinions expressed 

 by his correspondiiits, A'either can he undcilake to return,or 

 to correspond with the writers o/^ rejected mamtscripts. No 

 ■notice is taken of anonytnozis cominjinicationsi\ 



[ The Editor tirgeritly requests correspondents to keep their letters as 

 short as possible. The pressure on his space is so ^eat that it 

 is impossible otherwise to ensure the appearance even of com- 

 munications containing interesting and novel facts.] 



The Recent Gas Explosion 



On my return after the vacation tlie experiments on the 

 explosion of gases in tubes were continued. 



A tube was constructed by winding narrow strips of paper 

 helically round a glass tube about S mm. in diameter ; two-thirds 

 of the width cf the paper being glued, it was so wound as to 

 make a tube of three thicknesses of paper. Tlie interior of the 

 tube was afterwards varnished with shellac. At the ends short 

 pieces of gla'-s tube about 5 mm. in diameter were fixed, one 

 being provided with platinum wires in order to inflame the 

 gas ; the total length of the tube was 4360 mm. 



The tube was filled -with a mixture of oxygen and hydrogen, 

 the end of the glass tube with tlie wires was plugged with wet 

 cotton wool, the other tube being closed with an India rubber 



cap ; a spark was then passed. At a distance of 650 mm. from 

 the open end, at which the ignition took place, the outer cover- 

 ing of the tube was split ; at a distance of 1,900 mm. from the 

 same point was a hole, at 3030-3040 another hole, and at 

 30S5-3100 a third hole. The india-rubber cap wa? blown off 

 the end of the tube. At the third hole the interior coating of 

 the tub2 was torn and blown back towards the opening, showing 

 that the orifice had allowed the escape of gas from both direc- 

 tions Measuring the distances between the holes and the ends 

 of the tube, we have the following numbers ; — From end to 

 first split, 650 mm. ; from split to first hole, 1250; from first 

 hole to mean of second and third, 1200; from this point to 

 end of tube, 1260. 



There seemed to be some doubt as to the uniformity of this 

 tubi, so another was made by rolling a strip of paper helically 

 along a glass tube in such a manner thit the edges did not over- 

 lap. A glued strip was wound over this so as to cover the 

 j lint ; and a third to cover the joint of the second, the edges not 

 overlapping and yet touching one another throughout. The 

 process was very tedious, and as the result showed, not successful. 

 This tube was 7"5 mm. in diameter, and the glass ends 4'S, the 

 total length being 8390 mm. The end of the tube farthest from 

 the wires was firmly closed, after introducing the explosive 

 mixture. When the gas was exploded in the tube 14 holes were 

 made, in some places the tube giving way at joints, but without 

 any great tear of the paper. Starting from the end of the tube 

 the first hole was at 620 mm., the other holes being distant from 

 one another 650, 530, loo, 475, 375, 320, 580, 455, 370, 885, 

 2115, 365, 85, and the other end 465 from the last hole. 



A third tube was now constructed, but on a different principle. 

 A sheet of glued paper was wound round a brass tube and at 

 once removed ; in this way a tube about 275 mm. long and 1 3 'J 

 wide, and consisting of about 5 layers of paper was obtained. 

 Thirty-two of these were joined end to end by glueing narrow 

 strips of paper round the joints. The tube was varnished inside 

 and out, and \\'hen completed was 9000 mm. long. The experi- 

 ment was made after dark, and it was not found out until after- 

 wards that a small quantity of water had entered the tube from 

 the gas-holder while introducing the gas. In this case the 

 explosion made 10 holes, but the joints obviously considerably 

 strengthened the tube in their neighbourhood. The distances 

 between the holes were not more regular than in the previous case. 

 From the end to first hole 757 mm. ; the other holes being distant 

 660, 1595, 146, 4S4, 230, 295, 30S, 1325, 585, to end 2615. 

 The end was not opened by the explosion. 



Although these experiments have not exhibited the regularity 

 I anticipated, they show that a tube burst by an explosive 

 mixture must not be expected to open along its whole length. 



Cooper's Hill, October 25 Herbert McLeod 



Geological Climates 



I WAS not surprised at reading Mr. Duncan's letter in supposed 

 reply to my communication to Nature, vol. xxii. p. 532, as it fully 

 proves my case against the slipshod logic of geologists in general, 

 lie writes: — " \Vhere I now write, on the Bagdiot sands and 

 gravels of Cooper's Hill, facing the cold north with a touch of 

 the east, there is a patch of bamboo canes in full leaf. They 

 were in full leaf at this time la^t year. The plant survived out 

 of doors the extreme frost and fogs of last winter and other 

 evidences of a temperate climate, and it has been in beautiful 

 leaf all this summer. 



"Now everybody knows that in torrid India the bamboo 

 grows . . .'' 



Mr. Duncan might as well have told your readers that where 

 he now writes, "facing the warm south with a touch of the 

 west," he beheld before his astonished eyes a tuft of grasses. 



He has not named the species of the " patch of bamboo canes " 

 which delighted his eyes, and which " everybody " knows came 

 from "torrid India." 



If Mr. Duncan does not know, at least "everybody" does, 

 that species of the bamboo canes flourish in every latitude from 

 Northern China to Southern Chili, including " torrid India," 

 where in some places you may have a half-inch thick of ice, in 

 consequence of the starlight radiation of a clear summer's night. 



I have before me a list of twenty-four species of bamboo 

 canes cultivated in most of the gardens of Europe, but they are 

 all, with the exception of a species from the Himalayas (not 

 " torrid India"), imported from the severe climates of Northern 

 Japan and China. 



