September io, 1896] 



,VA TURE 



447 



ascertaining the distribution of food fishes in relation to their 

 physical surroundings ; and the samples of water brought home 

 number 130, taken from the sea each day at noon, the surface 

 temperature and other particulars having been noted. It is 

 understood that the results of the inquiries will be communicated 

 to an international congress of men of science interested in this 

 and kindred questions. 



An account of an interesting plant which has the apparent 

 property of turning its leaves in a north and south direction, 

 thus behaving like the needle of a compass, is given in GarJcii 

 and Foreit. Mr. E. J. Hill, of Chicago, who seems to have 

 been investigating it, gives the name of the plant as Silphiuiii 

 lacinatum, and says that the Silphiitm teyebinthinaceitm is 

 affected in the same way, seventy-five per cent, of the latter 

 orienting themselves in the manner mentioned above. The 

 tendency to orientation seems to be a function of the ages of 

 the leaves in question, the younger ones being said to point 

 more accurately north and south than those of greater age, the 

 latter falling off and therefore supplying an insufficient amount 

 of evidence. It is mentioned that Sir Joseph Hooker remarked 

 the uses which might be made of the peculiarity of this plant ; 

 it is stated, also, that he was able when travelling to note per- 

 fectly the change in direction of the train by observing the general 

 appearance of these plants which were scattered over the plain- 



In consequence of the great number of earth movements that 

 occur in Turkey and on the boundary of the Ottoman Empire, 

 the Meteorological Observatory of Constantinople had been 

 charged to make a study of them. The first year's observations 

 were begun on January i, 1895 '^^^ ^^ director. Dr. Agamennone, 

 has given in the Bulletin some details of the results obtained. 

 The mean number of movements per day amounted to over two^ 

 the total number amounting to 753, and out of these 400 had 

 been obseived in Turkey, 236 in Greece, and 56 in Bulgaria. 

 Tabulating these movements in order of their magnitude it is 

 shown that the small ones are the most frequent, amounting to 

 519. The moderate ones are 225 in number, while the remain- 

 ing 9 have resulted in large calamities. The importance of this 

 new branch will be demonstrated when the observations extend 

 over a larger period of time, as certain marked indications, which 

 appear to precede large disturbances, will be more fully studied. 

 In this way warnings may be eventually given of disturbances 

 likely to do damage. 



The current number of A'osmos (No. 606) gives the results 

 obtained by Mr. Eginitis of the velocity of the earth-wave during 

 the earthquake at Constantinople. Employing the method of 

 Dutton and Ilayden, he finds that the depth of the centre of dis- 

 turbance was 34 kilometres, a distance not very different 

 from that obtained by Mr. Lecomte. The velocity of the wave 

 he found to be between 3 and y6 kilometres per second, a value 

 equal to that found for the progress of the wave move- 

 ment in the last earthquake at Locride. Mr. Eginitis reminds 

 us of the. Seismic period which two years ago affected the 

 eastern part of the Mediterranean, Zante, Thebes, Locride, 

 Constantinople, and Sicily, without mentioning some of the 

 minor movements in Europe and Asia. These countries lie 

 nearly in a straight line. 



In the Comptes rendtis for August 17, .M. Berthelot gives an 

 interesting account of some recent exploratii ns of the copper 

 mines of Sinai, the most ancient workings mentioned in history. 

 These mines were worked by the Egyptians from the time of the 

 third dynasty (about 5000 K.c), and were abandoned about 

 3000 years ago owing to the poorness of the deposits and their 

 distance from Eg)'pt proper. The ores consist of turquoises, 

 containing about 3*3 per cent, of oxide of copper, and sandstone 

 impregnated with carbonate and hydrosilicate of copper, the 

 metal forming two or three per cent, of the rock. The minerals 

 NO. 1402, VOL. 54] 



were carefully sorted and fused with oxide of iron and carbonate 

 of lime in crucibles made of quartzose sand cemented by clay. 

 The furnaces were built of sandstone, and the fuel used was 

 wood. Both fuel and carbonate of lime must have been brought 

 from some distance. Some of the slags consist largely of 

 2FeO.SiO„, with the addition of crystals of magnetite ; others 

 are less basic, and contain lime. It is remarkable that the 

 existing fragments of furnaces and crucibles, the slags and the 

 scorite contain the same products, and show the same character- 

 istics as those in modern smelting-works, and that the general 

 method of extracting the metal differed little from that still em- 

 ployed in the treatment of similar ores. At a time when 

 weapons of wood and stone were used by the Egyptians the 

 copper must have been highly prized by them ; moreover, the 

 hand-labour of slaves cost little. The continuous working of 

 such poor deposits need not therefore occasion surprise. 



The Vienna correspondent of the Times states that an 

 interesting report of its first year's work has just been issued by 

 the -Austrian State Institute for the preparation of anti-toxin 

 serum. Of iioo cases of diphtheria treated with the serum, 

 970 recovered, a very favourable result compared with the 

 previous mortality. When the remedy was applied on the first 

 and second day of the illness, the percentage of deaths was only 

 67. After the third day, however, the mortality reached 19 

 percent., rising to 33 per cent, after the sixth day. Of 318 

 cases of preventive inoculation only twenty were attacked by 

 the disease, mostly in a mild form, and all recovered. 



The winter session of the medical schools and colleges in 

 the United Kingdom will open at the begmning of next month, 

 and in connection with many of the institutions an address or 

 a lecture will be delivered by a prominent medical man. We 

 glean from the Brilish Medical Journal the following informa- 

 tion respecting the opening arrangements of most of the 

 schools :— St. Bartholomew's Hospital College session will 

 begin on October i, when (or on the succeeding day) a dinner 

 of past students will be held in the great hall of the hospital. 

 Charing Cross Medical School will re-open on October 5, on 

 which day, at 4 p.m., Prof. Michael Foster will, as has already 

 been stated in these columns, deliver the first Huxley lecture on 

 " Recent Advances in Science, and their bearing on Medicine 

 and Surgery." At the opening of the St. George's Hospital 

 School, on October I, an address may be expected from Mr. W. 

 Adams Frost. In the evening of that day the annual dinner of 

 past and present students will take place at the Hotel Metropole. 

 The winter session of Guy's Hospital Medical School will begin 

 on October i. The biennial festival dinner of the school will be 

 held the same evening at the Hotel Cecil. The London Hospital 

 Medical College will re-open on October i, and in the evening 

 the annual dinner will take place in the college library. An 

 introductory address will be given at the opening of the session 

 of St. Mary's Hospital School, on October I, by Mr. Morton 

 Smale. The school's annual dinner will be held at the Holborn 

 Restaurant on the same day. At the Middlesex Hospital School 

 Dr. W. Essex Wynter will, on October i, deliver an address, and 

 past and present students and others will meet for dinner at the 

 Cafe Royal in the evening. At the school in connection with 

 St. Thomas's Hospital the prizes will, on October 2, be dis- 

 tributed by the Lord Justice Lindley, and in the evening former 

 and present students will dine together at the Whitehall Rooms. 

 The session of the Faculty of Medicine of University College 

 will commence on October i, when Prof. Sidney Martin may be 

 expected to deliver an introductory address. Past and present 

 students will meet for dinner in the evening at the Hotel Cecil. 

 Dr. Wills will deliver an address at the re-opening of the 

 Westminster Hospital Medical School, and the prizes will be 

 subsequently delivered by Archdeacon Furze. The annual 



