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NA TURE 



[June i8, 1896 



no important exhibition of pharmacy in Europe since 1883, and 

 the forthcoming one at Prague this year is to include all features 

 of progress in the pharmaceutical branch and its ramifications. 

 Meetings of various pharmaceutical societies will be held at 

 Prague during the exhibition. Particulars may be obtained 

 from Dr. Charles Fragner, Pharmacien, President du Comite 

 Executif, a Prague. 



In connection with the cloud observations to be made during 

 the international cloud year commencing iNFay i, Siieiue of May 

 29 has some interesting notes by Mr. R. De C. Ward, of the 

 Harvard University, on scientific kite-flying under the super- 

 intendence of the Washington Weather Bureau, and the Blue 

 Hill Observatory. Instead of being flat and tapering at the 

 lower end, the kites used are box-shaped, with their ends open 

 and their sides partly covered with cloth or silk, and when fine 

 piano wire is used, instead of twine, they are found to be splendid 

 flyers. Recent ascents have reached altitudes of nearly a mile 

 above sea-level, and excellent results have been obtained by 

 means of a self-recording instrument made by Mr. Fergusson, of 

 the Blue Hill Observatory, which gives automatic readings of 

 temperature, pressure, humidity, and wind velocity. Among 

 the most important matters that have hitherto been noted is the 

 presence of cold waves and warm waves at considerable elevations 

 some hours before the temperature changes are noted at the earth's 

 surface. The prospect of improving weather forecasts by such 

 means and by the use of small pilot balloons, which can be made 

 at slight expense, and can reach considerable altitudes, is 

 considered to be very encouraging. 



In a paper in the Photographische Mitleilungen, Jahrgang 33, 

 Hefte I and 2, entitled " Uber chromatische Homofocallinsen und 

 liber meine chromatische Planparallelplatte," Dr. Hugo Schroeder 

 gives an account of the uses that may be made of a compound 

 len? of which the external surfaces are plane and parallel, while 

 the component lenses join internally at surfaces of any convenient 

 curvature. The simplest form of a double lens of this kind may 

 be derived from an ordinary plano-convex achromatic objective 

 by grinding the front (convex) surface of the crown lens to a 

 plane. Such a lens would evidently have almost exactly the 

 same chromatic and spherical aberrations as the removed plano- 

 convex portion, but with the opposite signs. By substituting 

 crown glass for flint, and vice versa, the character of the lens may 

 be reversed. Inserted in the cone of rays coming from an 

 achromatic object-glass, a suitable plane lens of this kind shows 

 what would be the effect of altering the curvatures of the surfaces 

 of the object-glass. For this kind of lens Dr. Schroeder pro- 

 poses the name of "Corrector." Again, by the use of such 

 a corrector an ordinary achromatic telescope may be fitted for 

 photographic work, and this can be done without greatly 

 changing the place of the focal plane. By moving the corrector 

 along the axis, dift'erent groups of rays may be brought together 

 to suit the photographic method employed. As independently 

 pointed out by Prof. Keeler and Mr. Newall, one difficulty, 

 however, cannot be overcome : the available field of view will 

 always be very restricted ; unless, indeed, the correcting lens 

 is made so large as to become practically an extra member 

 of the object-glass. 



From an artesian well, iS8 feet deep, recently bored at San 

 Marcos, Texas, there were expelled more than a dozen speci- 

 mens of a remarkable batrachian, together with numerous 

 crustaceans. The latter are described by Mr. Benedict, and 

 the batrachian by Dr. Stejneger (Proc. U. S. Nail. Mus.y vol. 

 xvii ., 1896). From the American Naturalist, it appears 

 that the crustaceans comprise numerous shrimps (one new 

 species, Pahimonetes autroriitn), a lesser number of Isopods 

 of a new genus (Cirolanides), and a very few Amphipods. All 

 the species are white, blind, and have unusually long, slender 

 NO. 1390, VOL. 54] 



feet and antenna;. The batrachian, for which Stejneger creates 

 a new genus, is described under the name Typhlomolge rathbuni. 

 It belongs to the family Proteida;, and is more nearly allied to 

 Necturiis than to Proteus. Like the crustaceans, it is blind. 

 The most remarkable external feature is the length and slender- 

 ness of the legs. In commenting on this peculiarity, Dr. 

 Stejneger says : " Viewed in connection with the well-developed 

 finned swimming tail, it can be safely assumed that these ex- 

 traordinarily slender and elongated legs are not used for loco- 

 motion, and the conviction is irresistible that in the inky dark- 

 ness of the subterranean waters they serve as feelers, their 

 development being thus parallel to the excessive elongation of 

 the antenna; of the crustaceans." The gills are external, its 

 colour nearly white, having the upper surfaces densely sprinkled 

 with minute pale grey dots, and its total length measures 

 102 mm. 



Vet another method or the separate identification of the colon 

 from the typhoid bacillus has been furnished to the bewildered 

 bacteriologist by Dr. Piorkowski from Berlin. Recognising the 

 fact, now established by so many investigators, that both the 

 colon and typhoid bacillus are frequently found in urine, and 

 that the former is regarded as undoubtedly intimately associated 

 with various processes of inflammation. Dr. Piorkowski has 

 compared the growth of these two micro-organisms in broth, 

 gelatine, and agar, to which he made additions of urine. He 

 states that whereas the typhoid-bacillus cultures, both in colonies 

 and tubes, exhibited fine hairy extensions resembling in the 

 case of the colonies the well-known niedusa-head-like appear- 

 ance so characteristic of the anthrax bacillus, the colon bacillus 

 never forsook its compact form of growth, and only occasionally 

 were very small, short hairy extensions visible in the contour of 

 the colonies. We agree with Dr. Piorkowski that his method of 

 diagnosis is easily applied, but we are not altogether convinced 

 as to its efficacy. Colonies of the colon bacillus may also exhibit 

 very characteristic whip-like extensions under circumstances 

 which at present we are not in a position to exactly determine, 

 but these so-called abnormal colonies were obtained from 

 colon bacilli derived from a .sample of cystitis-urine. Already 

 the catalogue of comparative tests is considerable through which 

 typhoid and colon bacilli are required to be passed, and unless a 

 decided advance can be recorded on these, we think it is 

 unnecessary that the bacteriologist should add to his burdens by 

 adopting any more. 



The artesian water question continues to largely occupy the 

 attention of Australian geologists and engineers. We have 

 received an abstract of Mr. J. P. Thomson's presidential address 

 to the Royal Geographical Society of Australasia, on the al- 

 leged leakage of artesian water. The address seems to have 

 been called for by the too ready acceptance by local writers of 

 Mr. R. L. Jack's tentative suggestion that the artesian water of 

 the porous Lower Cretaceous beds might largely leak away to 

 the sea. Mr. Thomson considers there is no evidence of such 

 leakage : it is true that at various places off the coast fresh water 

 is known to rise through the sea-water from below, but there is 

 no evidence to associate such submarine springs with Lower 

 Cretaceous outcrops — the water may more probably be derived 

 from the Tertiary beds which form the actual coast. On the 

 other hand, the geological structure of the continent seems to 

 prevent the possibility of an unbroken flow of water to a sub- 

 marine outcrop, if such outcrop exists. Referring to the asserted 

 great excess of the rainfall over the river-flow, which had been . 

 put forward as evidence of the artesian leakage, he points out 

 on the one hand the enormous evaporation in such a climate as 

 that of Central Australia (quoting some striking instances of 

 this), and on the other hand, that there has hitherto been no 

 systematic gauging of the flow of the Australian rivers. 



