AuGusT 1, 1912] 
NATURE 
50 
na 
| 
attention to the regular publication of tables contain- 
ing systematic information regarding the rainfall for | 
the preceding month. The stations in question are 
so uniformly distributed that the mean of the values 
gives a fair approximation to the general rainfall 
over the British Isles. Out of fifty-five stations 
quoted all except two had falls exceeding the average, 
at eighteen more than twice the average fell, and 
at Cardiff the fall was nearly three times the average. 
Dealing with the percentage of the average generally, 
England and Wales had 186, Scotland 156, Ireland 
193, and the British Isles as a whole 180 per cent. 
An interesting article on the weather of the same 
month, by Mr. F. J. Brodie, shows that with the 
exception of one short fine spell in the south-east the 
weather was of a continuously broken character, and 
that thunderstorms were unusually frequent. ‘‘ The 
generally unsettled character of the weather was duc 
to the almost constant extension over these islands 
of large cyclonic systems from the Atlantic.’’ In 
many instances the centres of the disturbances passed 
directly across the United Kingdom. 
THE researches on fluorescence and phosphorescence 
which have been carried out at Cornell University 
during the last ten years by Profs. Nichols and 
Merritt and their pupils are summarised in a memoir 
entitled ‘Studies in Luminescence,’’ which forms 
publication 152 of the Carnegie Institution. With the | 
help of the spectrophotometer the distribution of in- 
tensities throughout the emission bands and 
the variation of the absorption with wave- 
length have been determined under as_ wide 
a range of conditions as possible, in order to 
provide a test of the validity of each of the theories 
of fluorescence and phosphorescence which have been 
proposed. After a careful examination of the experi- 
mental facts thus accumulated, the authors arrive at 
the conclusion that the theory most in keeping with | 
them is the one first advanced by Prof. Wiedemann 
in 1889, and modified and extended by Wiedemann 
and Schmidt six years later. According to this theory | 
some chemical or physical change (probably dissocia- | 
tion) takes place in a luminescent body during excita- | 
tion, and the return of the substance to its normal | 
condition, which may last for some time or be over 
in an instant, is accompanied by emission of light. 
In the June number of the Transactions of the 
Chemical Society Dr. T. M. Lowry describes some 
interesting observations on the production of nitrogen | 
peroxide on passing air through an ozoniser and elec- | 
trical spark-gaps, either in parallel or in series, in | 
accordance with the process devised in 1903 by 
Leetham for the production of a bleaching gas suit- 
able for the treatment of flour. It is shown that, 
whereas in air which has been subjected either to the 
action of the ozoniser alone, or to the spark-gaps 
only, no trace of nitrogen peroxide can be detected 
by means of the absorption spectrum, in the Leetham 
gas, which has been submitted to both forms of dis- 
charge, the concentration of the peroxide is as high 
as 1/4000. Not only is this concentration attained by | 
passing ozonised air through the spark-gaps, but, | 
NO. 2231, VoL. 89] 
| contrary to what had been anticipated, the same result 
first and then through the ozoniser. 
| owing to oxidation to nitric anhydride, N.O,. 
is obtained by passing the air through the spark-gaps 
This novel 
function of the ozoniser is the more remarkable 
because ready-made nitrogen peroxide is completely 
bleached on passing it through the machine, probably 
A 
similar concentration of the peroxide is also obtained 
on passing the two air currents in parallel and subse- 
quently mixing the gases. The conclusion is drawn 
that the sparking of air gives rise to ‘‘atomised”’ 
nitrogen (N,—2N) which is capable of combining 
directly with ozone. It is, however, to be noted that 
this ‘‘atomised”’ nitrogen behaves somewhat differ- 
ently from the “chemically active’ variety of nitrogen 
obtained recently by Prof. Strutt under somewhat 
different conditions, which does not appear to combine 
with ozone to form oxides of nitrogen. 
JournaL vii. of the British Fire Prevention Com- 
mittee (published at 42s. net) contains the results of 
fifty-eight tests on the fire-resistance of doors and 
shutters. The results are presented in the form of 
four tabulated summaries, and included are illustra- 
tions from photographs of some of the tests. The 
reports state bare facts and occurrences, and are not 
to be read as expressions of opinion, criticisms, or 
comparisons. The information given is certain to be 
of great value to all engaged in the design or con- 
struction of buildings. Thus we extract the following 
particulars from the table of tests for ‘‘ temporary 
protection." A solid-framed teak door, 17 in. thick, 
6 ft. high, and 2 ft. 5 in. wide, failed at twenty-four 
minutes by flame showing between the bottom edge 
of the door and the sill. After forty-nine minutes 
flame showed between the edge of the frame and the 
stile of the door above and below the lower bolt. 
| After fifty-four minutes, smoke issued through joints 
of the panels and centre rail. After sixty minutes the 
flames burst through all joints, and the door collapsed 
five minutes afterwards. The maximum temperature 
was 1975° Fahr. 
Engineering for July 19 contains an_ illustrated 
| account of a new type of ship for the transport of 
submersible boats, designed by Messrs. Schneider and 
Co., Creusot. The hull of the Kanguroo has a 
central portion built in the shape of an ordinary type 
of floating dock, and carries the submersible boat. 
|The aft part of the ship contains all the engines, 
boilers, the men’s quarters, &c. The forward part 
| contains a tunnel or covered canal, forming an exten- 
| sion of the dock portion, and is closed by a movable 
stem; this part also acts as a levelling caisson to put 
the ship on an even keel. A series of sluice-valves 
and drain pumps serve to vary at will the draught 
of the vessel when shipping or unshipping, the 
draught being so regulated as to allow the sub- 
mersible to float through the tunnel. When the sub- 
mersible is in the compartment amidships, it is shored 
up, the movable stem is replaced, and the water is 
pumped out of the dock, which then forms a dry dock 
of the usual type. The first submersible boat to be 
transported in the Kanguroo was the Ferre, built by 
