832 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXIX. No. 751 



serious interruption in telegraph and cable lines, 

 and are usually accompanied by fine auroral dis- 

 plays. One of the most severe of these magnetic 

 storms was that of October 30-November 1, 1903, 

 which was violent enough to derange the mariner's 

 compass at certain places by as much as 3° and 

 even was said to have caused a temporary sus- 

 pension of the electric ear lines in Zurich, Switzer- 

 land. The effect from this particular storm lasted 

 for fully two months after its apparent subsidence, 

 the earth's magnetic condition being beloiv normal 

 until towards the close of the year (1903). 



Renewed interest has been shown by the recent 

 discoveries of Professor Hale, director of the Car- 

 negie Solar Observatory at Mount Wilson, Cal., 

 viz., that sun-spots are centers of violent cyclones 

 and that they are accompanied by powerful mag- 

 netic fields. But however intensely magnetic these 

 whirling cyclones may be, a simple calculation 

 shows that they are far too distant to appreciably 

 affect our most sensitive magnetic instruments. 



Yet the various curves exhibited show indis- 

 putably that some relation exists between solar 

 activity, as evidenced, for example, by sun-spots, 

 calcium flocculi, solar eruptions, prominences, etc., 

 and the earth's magnetic fluctuations. The varia- 

 tions in the solar and the terrestrial magnetic 

 phenomena follow each other closely. One of the 

 most important of the conclusions drawn is, that 

 an increase in sun-spot activity is accompanied hy 

 a decrease in the earth's magnetization, or that 

 the magnetisation superposed on the earth's mag- 

 netic field during solar outbreaks is opposite to 

 that of the earth's own field. 



It appears questionable whether the earth's 

 magnetism ever settles down precisely to its 

 former condition after the occurrence of a mag- 

 netic storm. 



The facts are not yet sufficient to draw a defi- 

 nite conclusion whether solar activity and mag- 

 netic storms stand to each other as cause and 

 effect or whether they are both effects of the 

 same cause. The indications are, that during a 

 period of intense solar activity, in some as yet 

 unknown manner, considerable fluctuations are 

 caused to take place in the electric field that we 

 know from various facts exists in the regions 

 above us. These varying electric currents in turn 

 affect the magnetic needles on the earth's surface. 



Ore the BeveUan Halo: Professor Charles S. 



Hastings, of New Haven, Conn. 



The paper reviewed the various kinds of halos 

 that have been described and the explanations that 

 have been offered in regard to their origin. It 



had been assumed by writers on 'the subject that 

 the snow crystals, which are in the form of plates 

 or prisms, would fall with the plate or prism 

 presenting the least resistance to the air. Thus, 

 according to this idea, the hexagonal plates would 

 fall edge on and the prism end on. This was 

 shown to be incorrect and the contrai"y was the 

 case, the plates and prisms could fall through the 

 air with their longer dimensions horizontal. The 

 plates would assume a horizontal position as well 

 as the prisms. The halo was then caused by total 

 internal reflection from the plates or prisms and 

 not by surface reflection. Assuming these general 

 positions for the long or short prisms (or plates) 

 and total internal reflection the various types of 

 halo that have been described could be explained, 

 with the exception of the Hevelian halo. To ex- 

 plain this on the basis of total internal reflection 

 it was necessary to assume pyramidal planes in 

 the crystal of such an angle as to produce the 

 90 degree halo of this rare type. 



The Effect of Temperature on the Absorption of 

 Certain Solutions: Professor Habky C. Jones, 

 of Baltimore. 



An account of experiments on the absorption 

 spectra of certain solutions which Dr. Jones is 

 carrying on under the auspices of the Carnegie 

 Institution of Washington, D. C. Increase of 

 temperature of the solution was found to alter 

 the absorption spectra in the same way that they 

 are changed by concentration of the solution. 



The Specific Chemo-therapy of the Protozoal Dis- 

 eases: Dr. Simon Flexnek, of the Rockefeller 

 Institute for Medical Research, New York. 

 The Unsus2)ected Presence of Habit-forming Agents 

 in Beverages and Medicines: Dr. Lyman F. 

 Kebler, of Washington. 



The paper considers the increased use of various 

 habit-forming drugs. Attention is called to the 

 fact that a large number of soft drinks contain 

 not only a considerable amount of caffein, but in 

 many instances small quantities of cocain. The 

 presence of cocain has also been found in a consid- 

 erable number of agents intended for the treat- 

 ment of the tobacco habit. The presence of the 

 same pernicious drug has been revealed in medi- 

 cine used in the treatment of hay fever, asthma 

 and for relieving pain resulting from dentition in 

 infancy. The presence of morphine, opium, chloral 

 hydrate, heroin and codein, singly or combined, 

 has also been foimd in many other medicines, par- 

 ticularly those intended for the treatment of epi- 

 lepsy, rheumatism, asthma, gastric troubles and 

 ailments of infancy and childhood. 



