I lO 



NA TURE 



[June 4, 1908 



" Woiiderboom " to Ficiis cafjra. The determination of 

 species in tlie orders Rubiaceje, Ebenaceje, and Celastrace* 

 is provisional. On the subject of the South African locust 

 fungus, Eiitomophthora Grylli, Mr. G. Massee concurs in 

 the opinion that it does not provide a remedy for exter- 

 minating locusts. Mr. T. A. Sprague collates the informa- 

 tion regarding the occurrence of rubber in species of 

 Gymnosporia. 



Mr. R. G. Thompson, in the May number of Man, 

 describes the ancient gold mines at Geb^t, in the eastern 

 Sudan, some eight days' march from Sudkim. The works 

 on this site, which is still occupied by miners, consist of 

 an extensive series of underg-round tunnels excavated with 

 metal tools, such as an iron scraper found in one of the 

 workings. The scanty remains of pottery found indicate 

 that these mines were worked about the beginning of the 

 Christian era. The most noticeable relics are a number 

 of querns of a rude form in which the quartz was ground, 

 the gold being subsequently extracted by the action of 

 water. 



In the .April number of the Journal of the Gypsy Lore 

 Society Dr. G. A. Grierson contributes an interesting note 

 on the philology of Romani. The Indian Gypsies, most 

 of whom are of south Indian origin, have little to do with 

 it, although some of them have borrowed words which 

 are closely connected with it. He accepts Prof. Peschel's 

 suggestion that the linguistic home of the Romani is to 

 be found mostly beyond the northern frontier of India, in 

 Kashmir, Gilgit, and Chitral, among the Doms of that 

 region. Their language is one of the Pisdca group, a 

 name which represents an Aryan tribe which reached India 

 from the Pamirs over the Hindu Kush. As they entered 

 the Punjab their speech became partially mixed with those 

 of the other Aryan tribes who entered India from the west, 

 but it can still be traced down the Indus valley into Sind, 

 across Gujarat into the country of the Bhils, and as far 

 as the central Vindhyan range, where it has affected the 

 local dialects of Mahratti. 



The Australasian Traveller, the journal of the Com- 

 mercial Travellers' .'Association of Australasia, issued as its 

 last Christmas number a richly illustrated folio volume 

 of nearly 200 pages entitled "Australia To-day." It 

 contains accounts of the resources, industries, and attrac- 

 tions of each of the Australian States and of British New 

 Guinea. It directs attention to the enormous value of 

 Australian production, with its output of 474,000,000!. of 

 gold and its pastoral and agricultural produce, which 

 together give it a greater output per head of population 

 than any other continent. In addition to a collection of 

 recent statistics, • it describes pictorially the working life 

 of the Australians and their industries, and the series of 

 large photographs gives an excellent idea of the varied 

 and beautiful character of Australian scenery. 



It is stated in the Eii^iiicer of May 29 that in sinking 

 for the sump at the new collieries at Bentley, near Don- 

 caster, where the Barnsley seam was reached six weeks 

 ago at a depth of 624 yards, a further fine seam of coal 

 has been discovered twenty-four yards below the Barnsley 

 seam. It is 5 feet thick, and is known in Derbyshire as 

 the Dunsil seam. Hitherto it has not been found in work- 

 able thickness in Yorkshire. 



The new museum of safety devices installed in December, 

 1905, at the Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers, in Paris, is 

 described by Mr. J. Boyer in the Engineering Magazine 

 for May. Its purpose is to indicate the precautions to be 



NO. 2014, VOL. 78] 



taken and the devices to employ to protect workmen 

 against risks of all kinds — unhealthy atmosphere, dangers 

 from machinery, harmful dust, high electric voltages, and 

 poisoning. 



The summary of the weather for the closing week of 

 May, issued by the Meteorological Office, shows that the 

 conditions had generally become more settled and summer- 

 like over the entire country. In the north of Scotland the 

 shade temperature rose to 80°, and almost equally high 

 temperatures occurred generally over the United Kingdom. 

 The spring, covered by the period of thirteen weeks end- 

 ing May 30, was wet over the entire country, the aggre- 

 gate rainfall being everywhere in excess of the average. 

 In the north-west of England and in the Midland counties 

 the excess of rain was more than 2 inches, and the number 

 of rainy days was everywhere more than the normal. The 

 temperature for the season was below the average, and 

 there were fewer hours of bright sunshine than the normal. 

 June opened with high summer temperatures, and sharp 

 thunderstorms were experienced on the night of June i 

 in most parts of England. 



Dr. F. Eredia, of the Meteorological Office at Rome, 

 continues in the Bulletin of the Italian -Aeronautical Society 

 his useful discussion of the winds of Italy, for places where 

 trustworthy observations are available for the years 1891- 

 1900. We have received memoirs relating to five provinces, 

 in which he deals with the frequency of wind-direction 

 referred to eight points, for months and seasons, illustrated 

 by diagrams and wind-roses. In all cases the principal 

 results are summarised in an interesting textual discussion. 



We have recently received from Prof. Hergesell a copy 

 of the observations relating to the meteorological service 

 of Alsace-Lorraine for 1903, one of the series of year-books 

 published on a uniform plan by the various States of the 

 German Empire. The tables include monthly and yearly 

 results for a large number of stations, hourly means for 

 Strassburg, and five-day means at fourteen selected places. 

 There is also a valuable appendix by Dr. Kleinschmidt 

 containing monthly and yearly rainfall values for lustra, 

 extending in some cases from 1S76 to 1905. Some of these 

 data have been compiled from Dr. Hellmann's great rain- 

 fall work and other trustworthy publications. 



The May number of the Jahrbiich der Drahtlosen Tele- 

 graphie und Telephonie contains two contributions by Prof. 

 J. A. Fleming and Dr. L. Mandelstam, respectively, to the 

 discussion as to the correct deduction and interpretation 

 of Prof. Fleming's formula for the radiation in different 

 directions of the bent antennae used in wireless telegraphy. 



The Physikalisclie Zeitschrift for May 15 contains an 

 article on the daily variation of the potential gradient in 

 the atmosphere, by Dr. D. Smirnow, of the Central 

 Observatory of St. Petersburg. He shows that the daily 

 variation on clear days may be explained, qualitatively at 

 least, and possibly quantitatively, by the production at 

 sunset of a colder and relatively moist stratum of air in 

 contact with the ground, which, owing to the reduced 

 mobility of the ions and consequent decrease of electrical 

 conductivity, causes positive electricity to collect on the 

 ground, and thus reduces the electric field above the cool 

 layer. At sunrise the layer disappears and the field in- 

 creases to its former value. During the day the ascending 

 air carries with it prasitive electricity, leaving negatively 

 charged dust particles behind, and so the field is reduced. 

 The direct action of sunlight in producing negative charges 

 in the upper atmosphere seems to have little effect on the 

 potential gradient near the surface. 



