NOVEMBKB n, 1883.] 



SCIENCE. 



629 



to vegetate sufficiently to form cotyleiloiis, under the 

 favorable conditions of a testing-apparatus. In elev- 

 en tests, with four species of seeds, from tea to forty- 

 six per cent of the seeds germinated, but failed to 

 vegetate. — (iV. F. ayric. e^. stat. bull., Ixii.) ir. r. a. 



[334 

 Sulphuric acid as a fertilizer. — The use of 

 sulphuric acid has been jiroposed as a means of ren- 

 dering the constituents of the soil soluble. Experi- 

 ments by Farsky on summer rye, grown in boxes, 

 showed no advantage from the use of sulphuric acid 

 or of acid sodium sulphate. When the soil was kept 

 dry, a slight decrease in the production of grain was 

 noticed as the result of the manuring. The soil was 

 a clay soil, and the sulphuric .acid was sprinkled upon 

 it in the concentrated form until it was distinctly 

 moist. A hundred grams of acid were used to thirty- 

 five hundred grams of soil. — (Biedermanii's centr.- 

 blatt., sii. 447.) ii. p. a. [335 



GEOLOGY. 



Lithology. 

 Determination of the felspars in rocks. — Pro- 

 fessor .J. .Szabo's method of determining the felspars 

 in rocks was published at Budapeslh in 187G; but he 

 has recently placed it before the English reading 

 public in a paper read at Montreal last year. His 

 method consists chiefly in determining the coloration 

 of the flame by the felspars, and their fusibility. 

 This method, with the addition of Boricky's micro- 

 chemical process, is further used by Szabo for the 

 determination of other silicates. For the details of 

 the process, reference is to be had "to the original 

 papers. — ( Proc. Amer. a.<!.soc. adv. sc, 1882. ) M. E. w. 



[336 

 Laterite from Huranbee, Pegu, India. — This is 

 described by Dr. R. Konianis as an aqueous rock of 

 a bright red color, friable, and full of cavities. It is 

 stated to be composed of ■H.4i'/i of quartz sand, 

 lo.27% of soluble silica, 30.28% of ferric oxide, 9.72/^ 

 of alumina, and 8.8;)^ of water. When the sand is 

 examined under the microscope, it is seen to be water- 

 worn. Laterite is much used in building and road- 

 making on account of its hardening when exposed to 

 the air. — ( Trans. Edinb. rjeul. soc, iv. 164. ) m. e. w. 



[337 

 MINKRALOGY. 



Minerals from Amelia county, Va. — In a vein 

 of granite which for the past few years has been 

 worked for mica, a few rare and interesting minerals 

 have been found, and are describeil by William F. 

 Fontaine. Columbite occurs in crystals of large size, 

 and rather rarely a manganese variety of a chestnut- 

 brown color is found. This latter has a tendency to 

 assume a fibrous structure. Orlhlte is found abun- 

 dantly in long, bladed crystals. The most interesting 

 mineral found at the locality is microlite, occurring 

 both in crystalline masses of large size, and in dis- 

 tinct crystals: the latter are octahedrons, modified by 

 small cubic, dodecahedron, and tetragonal-trisocta- 

 hedron face«. Analysis has shown that the mineral 

 is essentially a calcium tantalate. Monazeto, another 



rare and interesting mineral, is found abundantly at 

 the locality, sometimes in masses weighing several 

 pounds. Analyses have shown that this has the com- 

 position of a normal phosphate of the cerium metals, 

 while the thorium, which is most always present, and 

 abiuidautly in the mouazete from Amelia, is due to 

 an admixture of a silicate of thorium. Helvite, a rare 

 silicate of manganese, beryllium, and iron, contain- 

 ing "sulphur, is found sparingly associated with spes- 

 sarlite (manganese ganiet). — {Amer. journ. sc, May, 

 1883. ) s. L. P. [338 



METEOROLOGY. 



Thunder-storms.— A special investigation of thun- 

 der-storms has been made in Bavaria and Wiirtemburg 

 sfhce 187'J. In 1SS2, in Bavaria there were 2.52 sta- 

 tions, which number, distributed imiformly, would 

 give a mean distance between stations of about ten 

 miles. To each of these stations, cards were sent, 

 having questions calling for the time of beginning 

 and ending of thunder, hail, or rain ; also, the direc- 

 tion from which the storm came, and the direction 

 and force of the wind. 



These investigations show: 1°. That the thunder- 

 storm, while not an accompaniment of a cyclone, still 

 appears with sm.aller secondary depressions, or spurs 

 of great depressions, which are so flat that they do not 

 produce any strong wind. Of special force is the 

 thunder-storm in the ridge of high pressure dividing 

 two great depression-regions from each other. 2°. 

 That the line upon which simultaneous electric dis- 

 charges take place encloses a space which has, in 

 most cases, great length but little width, and which 

 stands at right angles to the line of progress of the 

 storm. Such simultaneous discharges have been ob- 

 served over a region :300 km. (186 miles) broad and 

 about 40 km. (2.5 miles) deep. :J°. That special re- 

 gions for thunder-storms are marshy low grounds 

 between the Mediterranean or other smaller bodies 

 of water, and the Alps; also the western declivity of 

 the Bohemian forest. 4°. That in eases where the 

 origin of the storm can be well determined, within 

 the region of observation, it is found that electric dis- 

 charges take their beginning along a long line simul- 

 taneously ; and it is conjectured, that the disturbance 

 of the electric equilibrium, by the first discharge, 

 prop.agales its influence from cloud to cloud, and 

 causes simultaneous outbursts in different places. 5°. 

 Heat-lightning is due to the presence of a storm at 

 a great distance. In one instance it was traced to a 

 storm 270 km. (167 miles) distant. 6°. Arranging 

 the storms according to their frequency at each hour 

 of the day, we find the hours from midnight to eight 

 A. M. of little activity, a very rapid rise from eight 

 A. M. to four p. M., and nearly as rapiif a fall to mid- 

 night. 



The above results show the importance of a detailed 

 observance of these meteors. It is hardly probable 

 that we can learn particulars of these so-called local 

 storms, by observing them at stations a hundred or 

 more miles apart. The various state wAther-services 

 have an excellent opportunity for undertaking such 

 observations. It may be possible to learn the move- 

 ments of these storms over large areas, and thus to 



