June 25. 1908J 



NA TURE 



181 



and ascospores were obtained in cultures, as a result of 

 which the fungus is made the type of a new genus, allied to 

 Trichosphteria, of the order Sphseriaceae. The bamboos 

 are converted into walking-sticks, flutes, and small 

 articles. 



In connection with an article on the " Pigmentation 

 Survey of Scotland," which appeared in Nature of May 21 

 (p. 68), Mr. J. F. Tocher requests us to state that the 

 survey, which was carried out under the supervision of a 

 committee consisting of Sir W. Turner, Prof. R. W. 

 Rcid, Mr. J. Gray, and himself, has up to the present 

 extended only to school children — one-eighth of the total 

 population ; that his share in Mr. Gray's report, published 

 in the Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, and 

 noticed in Nature, was confined to supplying a key map 

 and some statistical tables ; that he is not responsible for 

 the views expressed in Mr. Gray's article; and that a 

 complete account of the results, with the conclusions 

 which he has drawn from them, is in the press, and will 

 be published at an early date. 



The methods of manufacture of the remarkable Malaita 

 shell bead money current in the Solomon group are 

 described by Mr. C. M. Woodford in the June number 

 of Man. Of this there are three varieties : — white, made 

 from the shell of Area granosa ; red, from that of Chaina 

 pacifica ; black, from a large black mussel or pinna. The 

 shells are first broken into irregular fragments about the 

 size of a threepenny piece. They are next chipped into 

 the form of a roughly circular disc, in diameter about as 

 large as a pea. Finally, these are ground into shape on 

 a stone, the fragments being fixed on the flat surface of a 

 piece of soft wood of semicircular section. This stone is 

 so rare and valuable that Mr. Woodford was able to 

 secure only a few pieces. After being pierced by means of 

 a pump drill, the beads are threaded on strings, each a 

 fathom or about 5 feet long, the character and colour of 

 the beads determining their values as currency. 



.An admirably illustrated description of the Federal Fuil 

 Testing Laboratory at Zurich is given by Prof. E. J. 

 Constam in the Engineer (vol. cv., p. 618). The labora- 

 tory was started in 1906, and has already done much to 

 ensure that Switzerland receives the proper equivalent for 

 the 3,000,000!. annually expended on imported fuel. In 

 the first year of its existence, besides research work, more 

 than 3300 samples of coal and briquettes were examined. 

 Most came from Germany, and the rest from Belgium, 

 France, and England. This extensive examination of 

 imported fuels has tended to enlighten the consumers as to 

 the qualities and economic value of the fuels from the 

 various countries and collieries, and has contributed 

 towards their classification according to heating power. 

 It is to be hoped that before long this latter will be 

 universally adopted for the basis of coal contracts, instead 

 of the vaguely defined evaporation power, or the percentage 

 of combustible matter. 



From the Pulsometer Engineering Co., Ltd., we have 

 received a catalogue of pulsometers which, in that it con- 

 tains a detailed description of the working and of the 

 various applications of this useful form of steam pump, 

 is of greater interest than the usual type of manufacturers' 

 price-list. The pulsometer will pump dirty water, it has 

 no moving parts except the valves, it disposes of its own 

 exhaust steam, it can be supported on its suction pipe or 

 slung from a chain. In short, it is essentially a pump 

 that will stand rough usage, and requires no skilled atten- 

 tion. In these circumstances the useful services it is cap- 



NO. 2017, VOL. 78] 





able of rendering are evident, and the variety of applica- 

 tions of the pulsometer are well shown in the excellent 

 illustrations given in the catalogue. 



We are indebted to Prof. G. Platania for an interesting 

 pamphlet (reprinted from the Annuario of the R. Nautical 

 Institute of Catania, 1908) on the determination of 

 wind direction and force at sea, and on the Beaufort scale. 

 The author quotes the results of various comparisons of 

 wind-force estimated by the latter method with the records 

 of anemometers both in this country and abroad, and 

 especially the recent elaborate discussion by Dr. Shaw 

 and Dr. Simpson (Meteorological Ofiflce Publication, 

 No. 180, 1906). The author also quotes a useful modifi- 

 cation of the scale, suggested by Commander Hepworth, 

 in view of the changed conditions due to the use of steam 

 and to the rig of modern sailing vessels since it was 

 devised by Sir F. Beaufort in 1806. Prof. L. Marini pro- 

 posed an elegant method of finding the true direction and 

 velocity of the wind from the speed of the ship and the 

 direction of the apparent wind, without reference to its 

 velocity (Rivista Geogr. Ital., 1907), which, although 

 worthy of being known, is not very easy of practical 

 application. Prof. L. Rotch's ingenious instrument, made 

 by Casella, of London (Quart. Journ. R. Meteor. Soc, 

 1904), is admitted to be more useful in practice. 



The values which have been obtained for the molecular 

 weight of the radium emanation ' have been based on 

 observations of the rates of diffusion of the emanation and 

 of various gases in the same circumstances. According to 

 Graham's lavif, the molecular weights should be inversely 

 proportional to the squares of the rates of diffusion, but 

 the values of the molecular weight of the emanation 

 calculated on the assumption of the truth of this law have 

 differed widely from each other. Rutherford and Brooks 

 obtained a number between 44 and 74, while Bumstead 

 and Wheeler more recently found a value about iSo. Mr. 

 P. B. Perkins, of Yale, has just completed a comparison 

 of the rates of diffusion of the emanation and of mercury 

 vapour through a porous plug, and publishes his results in 

 the June number of the American Journal of Science. He 

 concludes that the molecular weight of the emanation 

 exceeds that of mercury, and probably differs little from 

 that of radium, 227. 



.Although much has been written on the theory of the 

 Ruhmkorff coil, the simpler single circuit induction coil, so 

 much used in these days to ignite the explosive mixture 

 in gas and petrol engines, has received little attention, 

 and no accurate measurements of its efficiency have been 

 made. The Physical Review for May contains an article 

 on the subject which is probably the first ever published. 

 It is from the pen of Mr. B. F. Bailey, and includes both 

 a theoretical treatment and a comparison of theory with 

 experiment. In the case of one of the coils tested the 

 efficiency, that is, the ratio of the energy of the spark to 

 that supplied to the coil, was 54 per cent., while the 

 calculated value was 56 per cent., and the author shows 

 how, by cutting down the time of contact, the efficiency 

 of the coil was raised to 85 per cent. 



The Philosophical Institute of Canterbury is one of the 

 district institutes affiliated to the New Zealand Institute, 

 and is devoted, among other works, to the encouragement 

 of science. It was founded in 1862, and though under- 

 going many vicissitudes since that date, it has had a con- 

 tinuous e.xistence, and has numbered among its members 

 most of the residents of Canterbury interested in science. 

 The institute holds reg'ular monthly meetings from May to 



