134 



NATURE 



[June i i, ipcS 



The April numbei- of the Journal of the Gypsy Lore 

 Society is mainly devoted to a protest against the action 

 ■of the Continental Governments who are starting a 

 crusade against vagrancy, and against the attempt in this 

 ■country, under the Movable Dwellings Bill, to enforce the 

 registration of caravans and to compel the residents in them 

 to send their children to school. This action will, it is 

 said, if pushed too far, drive the Gypsy into city slums, 

 where he will suffer from ill-health and lose his national 

 • identity. At the same time, the useful chronicle in the 

 same number of the adventures during the year 1906 of 

 the bodies of Continental Gypsies who took refuge in this 

 country demonstrates the necessity of bringing such people 

 4jnder control. It is difficult to see how any system of 

 regulation, such as that proposed, is consistent with the 

 maintenance of the nomadic life, a picturesque phase of 

 our social system which few would wish to destroy. 



In the Journal of the Franklin Institute (vol. cl.xv., 

 No. s) Dr. C. B. Thwing describes a new radiation pyro- 

 meter based on the measurement of the total energy of 

 radiation by means of the current generated in a sensitive 

 thermocouple by the radiations concentrated upon it. In 

 the same number Mr. C. L. Huston gives the results of 

 experiments undertaken in order to secure for practical 

 purposes a more accurate knowledge of the interior 

 character and structure of steel. 



The Queensland Geological Survey has issued a second 

 report (Publication No. 204) on the West Moreton 

 (Ipswich) coalfield, with special reference to the Bundamba 

 district. The report, which has been written by Mr. 

 W. E. Cameron, covers thirty-seven pages, and is illus- 

 trated by two large coloured geological maps, one plate, 

 and eight illustrations in the text. The West Moreton 

 coalfield is at present the chief producing coalfield in 

 Queensland, its importance being due to the generally 

 useful character of its coal and to its proximity to the 

 chief industrial centre and most important shipping port 

 of the colony. The investigations described in the report 

 show that the resources of the area under consideration 

 will be sufficient to meet any increase likely to occur in 

 the demand for some years. 



The past week has experienced weather changes of an 

 ■exceptional character. Sharp thunderstorms occurred in 

 nearly all parts of the country. In London and the suburbs 

 the storm experienced on June 4 was unusually severe, and 

 was accompanied, over the southern parts of the metro- 

 polis especially, by a heavy fall of large hail and a copious 

 downpour of rain. At Croydon the rainfall exceeded an 

 inch in half an hour. The shade temperature in London on 

 June 4 rose to 8i°, and on the following day there was 

 a sharp fall of the thermometer over the entire country. 

 On Saturday, June 6, the highest temperature in London 

 ■was 59°, 22° lower than two days previous. The colder 

 weather was brought about by the setting in of a northerly 

 wind over the whole of the British Islands, the supply of 

 air being drawn from the neighbourhood of Iceland. On 

 the night of June 6 the exposed thermometer fell almost 

 to the freezing point in the south-east of England. 



The frequency of different forms of clouds during the 

 years 1903-5 is discussed in Appendix i. to the observa- 

 tions made at Batavia Observatory in 1905. The general 

 results of the observations, made four times a day during 

 the three years, show that the percentage of occurrence 

 of cumulus was 35-3, of cirrus 21, and of strato-cumulus 

 11-3. With reference to the diurnal period, attention is 

 directed to the predominance of stratus and cirrus forms 



NO. 2015, VOL. 78] 



and of clear sky in the morning, of the cumulus forms 

 about noon, and of nimbus forms at the close of the day. 

 The daily change in the amount of each cloud form is 

 nearly the same for both dry and wet seasons, except 

 that during the latter period (October-March) there is a 

 greater prevalence of the nimbus forms in the morning. 

 Also the cirro-stratus form preponderates during the wet 

 season. 



In another interesting appendix to the above-mentioned 

 volume. Dr. W. van Bemmelen (acting director) discusses 

 the influence of days of bright sunshine on the various 

 meteorological elements at Batavia (1S89-1906 August i). 

 Among the results arrived at, he finds that the clearness 

 of the sky decreases the fluctuation of air-pressure in the 

 early morning and emphasises it during the day ; in the 

 case of temperature, as one would naturally expect, the 

 air is greatly cooled in the early morning and heated (to 

 about the same degree) in the early afternoon, but the 

 maximum is not retarded. The daily oscillation of relative 

 humidity is strongly emphasised, especially in the wet 

 season. The sea-breeze is much stronger, and the pre- 

 dominance of northerly components is much more con- 

 spicuous, but there is no evidence of a strengthening of the 

 feeble land-breeze. 



.1 North W.^les branch of the Mathematical Associa- 

 tion has lately been formed. Three meetings have already 

 been held in Bangor, and have proved highly successful in 

 stimulating discussions between those engaged in teaching 

 mathematics in secondary and elementary schools in North 

 Wales. The secretary of the branch is Mr. T. G. Creak, 

 Bron Eryri, Llanberis. 



Sever.al papers on aeronautics and on meteorological 

 experiments of aeronautical interest have reached us lately. 

 Prof. L. Palazzo has sent a reprint from the BoUetino 

 della Sociela aeorotiautica Jtaliana describing the results 

 of experiments with kites and hallons sondes in the Gulf 

 of Genoa, conducted on board the torpedo-boat Fulmine. 

 Prof. Cleveland Abbe has suggested somewhat original 

 methods of studying atmospheric circulation by means of 

 models as well as maps (Bull. .Amer. Math. Soc, xiii., 10, 

 and Monthly Weather Review, December, 1907). The 

 winds in the Straits of Messina are dealt with by Dr. 

 Filippo Eredia in the Rivista marittima for March. 



The International Association for promoting the study 

 of Quaternions and allied Systems of Mathematics has 

 issued its annual report (Lancaster, Pennsylvania : New 

 Era Printing Co., March, 1908). The president, Dr. A. 

 Macfarlane, gives an interesting biography of his pre- 

 decessor, the late Prof. Charles Casper Joly, with especial 

 reference to his work on quaternion methods. An 

 important feature of the report is the bibliography of 

 recent and recently catalogued literature classified under 

 the heads of matrices, linear substitutions, quadratic 

 forms, bilinear forms, complex numbers, equipollences, 

 vector analysis, commutative algebras, quaternions, bi- 

 quaternions, linear associative algebras, and general 

 algebra and operations. 



Mr. E. St.^nhope Kitchin, Woodford Green, Essex, 

 Wiites to us directing attention to the prevailing lack of 

 true scientific method on the part of those who are engaged 

 in aeronautical experiments. He gives instances in which 

 experiments have been described on air resistance of 

 rotating planes, where the author of the paper has 

 entirely ignored the necessity of specifying the conditions, 

 and has failed to appreciate the difference between main- 

 taining the torque or the power of the motor constant. 



