July 1 1, 1907] 



NA TURE 



257 



year, which, although not dealing with mean values, con- 

 stitute the greatest investigation of synchronous meteorology 

 ever undertaken by any country. 



The paper on the theory of thermoelectricity contributed 

 by Shizuwo Sano to the Proceedings of the Tokyo Mathe- 

 matico-Physical Society, iv., i (February number, recently 

 received), cannot fail to throw light or suggest ideas in 

 connection with this difficult and controversial subject. 

 It is usual to apply to thermoelectric phenomena the equa- 

 tions of reversible thermodynamics which would hold good 

 in the absence of such irreversible phenomena as the Joule 

 effect or conduction of heat, but the author, following on 

 the lines indicated by Boltzmann in 1887, considers that 

 the reversible and irreversible effects may be mutually 

 interdependent. The paper does not claim to be free from 

 assumptions which are not altogether justified, and in 

 particular the deduced property of potential difference in 

 relation to temperature mav be open to question. I'he 

 theory deserves careful consideration ; but would it not be 

 possible to throw it into a less analytical form? 



The first part has appeared of the Rivista di Sciensa, of 

 which a preliminary notice has been already given in these 

 columns. It is an international journal somewhat similar 

 in appearance and arrangement to the present series of 

 Science Progress. From the nature of the case the articles 

 necessarily take a somewhat broader view of the progress 

 of science than is possible in a journal published in a 

 country specially characterised by its national apathy to 

 scientific work, and the expectations that were raised by 

 the prospectus have been more than realised in the present 

 number. The character of the journal will best be inferred 

 from the following table of contents : — E. Picard, " La 

 mScanique classique " ; W. Ostwald, " Zur modernen 

 Energetik " ; G. Ciamician, "Problem! di chimica 

 organica " ; F. Raffaele, " II concetto di specie in bio- 

 logia " ; H. E. Ziegler, "Die natijrliche Zuchtmahl " ; 

 C. Scipino, "II carattere delle leggi economiche " ; 

 \V. Cunningham, " Impartiality in History "; J. Tannery, 

 "Questions p^dagogiques, I'Enseignement secondaire"; 

 in addition to a large number of reviews, notes on physics 

 and physiology, a " review of reviews," and notes. The 

 price of each part is 75. 6d. net ; Messrs. Williams and 

 Norgate are the London agents. The editorial office is at 

 Milan, i6 Via Aurelio Saffi. The list of forthcoming 

 articles is sufficient to fill a large number of volumes, and 

 nearly every nationality is represented among the con- 

 tributors. 



Of all the numerous publications issued by the United 

 States Geological Survey, none is of greater interest than 

 the volumes dealing with the " mineral resources of the 

 United States," a series of which we have just received 

 the twenty-second annual issue (Washington ; Government 

 Printing Office, 1906). Each chapter in this report is a 

 census of the production of the industry under discussion 

 during the calendar year 1905. Although printed in 

 smaller type, (he volume is considerably larger than that 

 of the previous year, covering as it does no less than 

 1403 pages. The publication of the volume has been antici- 

 pated to a great extent by the issue in advance, in pamph- 

 let form, of the several chapters which compose it. The 

 volume is edited by Dr. D. T. Day, and the various 

 chapters are written by different statistical experts. The 

 figures dealt with are stupendous. In 1905, for the seventh 

 time, the total value of the United States mineral pro- 

 duction exceeded the enormous sum of 200.ooo,ooo(. The 

 px.ict figures for 1905 are 324,775,422!., iron ore and coal 

 being, as heretofore, the most important of the minerals 

 NO. 1967, VOL. 76] 



produced. The arrangement and scope of the volume are 

 practically the same as in previous issues. The production 

 of carbonic acid, especially at Saratoga Springs, New 

 York, is, however, discussed for the first time, and 

 statistics are given of the production and consumption of 

 water-gas. A report is also included directing attention to 

 peat in the United States, and to its great possibilities as 

 a source of fuel. There is, too, a chapter devoted to tin, 

 although, as a matter of fact, during 1905 no metallic tin 

 was made in the United States, and merely an insignifi- 

 cant quantity of ore was obtained from the placers of Buck 

 Creek, Alaska. 



In a paper published in the Verhaiidbiiigcn of the 

 German Physical Society (No. 8, p. 175), Messrs. P. 

 Nordmayer and A. L. Bernoulli give the results of a series 

 of determinations of the specific heat of a large "number 

 of substances, both elementary and compound, between 

 the temperatures -185° C. and -I- 20° C. The method 

 used was to ascertain the weight of liquid air evaporated 

 on adding a known weight of the substance in question, 

 the hea't required to evaporate i gram of liquid air being 

 taken as 50 calories. The results obtained show that, 

 whereas the specific heat of a compound substance such as 

 water or benzene in the solid state diminishes very rapidly 

 as the temperature falls, the specific heat of most solid 

 elements is subject to a much smaller variation. The 

 change of specific heat with temperature is most marked m 

 the case of elements of low atomic weight, for example, 

 sodium and magnesium. For the metals molybdenum, 

 tungsten, and tantalum, the specific heat is almost^ constant 

 for all temperatures between -200° C. and -(-250° C. 



The conditions which are essential in order to obtain 

 accurate results in the estimation of potassium by the 

 well-known method based on the precipitation of the 

 metal in the form of its chloroplatinate are studied in a 

 paper by M. J. Morozewicz in the Bulletin of the Cracow 

 Academy of Sciences (1906, No. 9, p. 796)- Fresenius re- 

 commended that in presence of sodium the chloroplatmate 

 should be precipitated in 70 per cent, to 80 per cent 

 alcohol but subsequent workers have advised the use of 

 absolute alcohol instead; it is, however, shown that if 

 absolute alcohol be used, a much larger proportion of 

 platinum chloride is required to ensure the complete trans- 

 formation of sodium chloride into its chloroplatinic salt. 

 The results obtained are, moreover, generally high, owing 

 to the co-precipitation of some of the sodium chloride 

 It is therefore advisable to adhere to Fresenius's original 

 procedure. 



In Nature of June 20 (p. .84) Prince B. Galitzin's ex- 

 perimental verification of Doppler's principle for light rays 

 was briefly noted; and the paragraph stated that use was 

 made of "the graduated spectroscope (Stufenspektro- 

 scope)." Mr. J. Twyman. of Messrs. A. Hilger,_ Ltd., 

 writes to point out that " Stufenspektroscope is the 

 accepted designation of a spectroscope wherein a " Stu.en- 

 gitter " or echelon diffraction grating is employed. 



The British Sports Publishing Company, Ltd., have 

 issued in their Spalding's Athletic Library the " Lawn 

 Tennis Annual for .907," edited by H. R. M and 

 "Spalding's Golfers' Annual for 1907, edited by Mr. 

 Henry Leach. Both books are illustrated by reproductions 

 of action photographs depicting well-known players. The 

 price of the annuals is bd. net each. 



We have received from Marconi's Wireless Telegraph 

 Company, Ltd., a copy of a catalogue dealing with 



