:8S 



NA TURE 



reasonable plane of living for all, and it is the object of 

 the essay to discuss the influence of biological factors on 

 such a form of society, assuming it possible of attain- 

 ment. Thus the maintenance of a social democracy re- 

 quires a rate of increase of population that is not too 

 rapid as compared with the rate of progress in the arts ; 

 this probably implies that the democracy would be out- 

 stripped in population by nations of a lower standard of 

 living, and hence might be only capable of survival in the 

 case of a nation living in an easily defended situation. The 

 low rate of increase postulated would not, the author con- 

 siders, sensibly lessen the action of selection, as the latter 

 acts in too many ways, nor would it be likely to lead 

 to degeneration. But a recognition of the existence of 

 hereditary individual differences and of the importance of 

 selection is sufficient to warrant " conscious social inter- 

 ference in the biological process," interference which 

 already takes place in such matters as the control of 

 immigration. The question arises whether the principle 

 should not be extended for the purpose of maintaining the 

 level of natural ability in the population. As regards the 

 United States, the author considers that the attainment 

 of social democracy should be possible if they do not enter 

 into the struggle for foreign markets in competition with 

 peoples of a lower plane of living. 



In the Journal of the Society of Arts for July 26 Mr. 

 T. E. Younge gives an account of the " sand-counter " 

 (iJ/a/u^uiVij!) of Archimedes, which may help to revive 

 popular interest in this very remarkable tract. Practically, 

 Archimedes uses a scale of notation the radix of which is 

 ,-' myriad (10,000), and shows that by means of this scale 

 it is possible to estimate the number of grains of sand 

 in a sphere of the size of the earth. His estimate, of 

 course, is only approximate, and his data imperfect ; but 

 considering the state of Greek science at the time, it is a 

 most interesting achievement, and it is quite clear that 

 Archimedes could have used more exact data with equal 

 facility. Mr. Younge has checked .'Vrchimedcs' numerical 

 calculations, and found them all correct. 



In the Monthly Wcalhcr Review for April, issued by 

 the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Mr. H. Helm Clavton 

 proposes a new method of weather forecasting by analysis 

 of atmospheric conditions into waves of different lengths. 

 Data in support of his theory were published by the author 

 in the Atnerican Meteorological Journal of July, 1885, and 

 June, 1891, and after further research into the' laws under- 

 lying the drift of weather conditions he concludes that 

 the meteorological elements at any place may be analysed 

 into oscillations or waves differing in length! each having 

 a distinct physical existence; further, that the waves drif't 

 generally from west to east, with a velocitv inversely 

 proportional to their length. Specimens of the 'movement's 

 of pressure and temperature waves over the United States 

 illustrate the investigation, and the author considers that 

 the results not only open the way to an improvement in 

 forecasting weather from day to day, but furnish a scientific 

 basis for lojig-rangc forecasts. 



Prof. H. Ebert describes in the March number of 

 Terrestrial Magnetism an extremely sensitive arrangement 

 he has used for investigating the pulsations of short period 

 in the strength of the earth's magnetic field. For observ- 

 ations of the vertical component, a wire 3000 metres in 

 length is formed into a coil of fifteen turns, and is placed 

 on the ground. In series with it is a sensitive " filament 

 galvanometer " of the Einthoven type. Any change in the 

 number of magnetic lines through the coil will produce a 

 NO. 1972 VOL. 76] 



current through the galvanometer, and the arrangement 

 win indicate a change in the vertical component of the 

 earth's magnetic field equal to 1/400,000 of its mean 

 value. Prof. Ebert finds that periodic changes of certain 

 frequencies most often occur, and one of these has the 

 period 1/6 to 17 second, which is that of the oscilla- 

 tion of an electrical charge on a sphere of the size of 

 the earth. The observations are being continued, and will 

 probably play an important part in the search for an 

 explanation of the phenomena of terrestrial magnetism. 



The Carnegie research memoirs submitted at the meet- 

 ing of the Iron and Steel Institute in May last, brief 

 summaries of which were given in Nature (this vol., 

 p. 65), have now been published in full in a special 

 volume of the Journal of the institute (vol. Ixxiv.). The 

 volume contains papers by Mr. P. Brcuil (Paris), on 

 copper steels ; by Mr. W. H. Hatfield (Sheffield), on cast 

 iron as cast and heat treated ; by Mr. E. F. Law (London), 

 on the non-mclallic impurities in steel ; and by Dr. O. 

 Stutzer (Freiberg), on the geology and origin of the Lap- 

 land iron oris. There is also a paper on boron steels, by 

 Dr. L. Guillet (Paris), received since the meeting. These 

 steels have not hitherto been the subject of systematic 

 investigation, and the researches described show the com- 

 mercial interest attaching to these products when quenched. 

 Boron steels will probably never prove of commercial use 

 in the raw state, but they may prove useful after quench- 

 ing. In that condition they possess high tensile strength 

 and a remarkable degree of elasticity. The best results 

 were obtained with a steel containing 0-50 per cent, of 

 boron. The volume concludes with a reprint of consider- 

 able historical interest. It is an address on the effect of 

 air and moisture on blast furnaces, delivered at Bradford 

 in the year iSoo by Joseph Dawson, of Lowmoor. 



In summarising the work of the United States Geo- 

 logical Survey during 1906 in the investigation of ores, Mr. 

 S. F. Emmons directs attention to the way in which 

 science is handicapped. The increasing exodus of members 

 of the economic staff of the survey in consequence of their 

 employment by large mining organisations at salaries 

 much greater than those they have been receiving from 

 the Government seriously impairs the efficiency of the 

 work of this branch of the survey. The loss of trained 

 men in this work is, for a time, irreparable, as 'it is only 

 bv years of practical experience in the field that the 

 geologist becomes competent to carry on independent work 

 of this kind. 



In the Journal of the Franklin Institute (vol. clxiv.. 

 No. i) Mr. .Albert Obholzer describes the methods used 

 to avoid piping in steel ingots at the Hungarian Govern- 

 ment steel foundries at Diosgybr. With the addition of 

 thermite to the charge of open-hearth steel, homogeneous 

 ingots are obtained. The method presents considerable 

 advantages over the very successful Harmet process, which 

 necessitates the use of elaborate machinery. 



The number of the Bulletin of the College of Agri- 

 culture (vol. vi.. No. 3), Tokio University, lately re- 

 ceived, contains several short papers on the physiological 

 action of various chemical substances on plants. Prof. 

 O. Loew and Dr. K. Aso discuss the importance of 

 culture solutions being physiologically balanced, and allude 

 to the use of lime in averting the injurious action of an 

 e.xcess of magnesium salts. They also touch upon the 

 beneficial action of treating the soil with bactericidal sub- 

 stances such as carbon disulphide, attributing the effect to 

 the breaking down of living matter. Mr. T. Takeuchi 



