November 9, 1906.] 



SCIENCE. 



607 



of the ion — and they were now eagerly and 

 anxiously following the growth of the chem- 

 istry of the electron. 



The British Medical Journal says : " M. 

 Clemenceaii, the new prime minister of 

 Trance, has created a ministry of labor; this 

 has involved the readjustment of certain 

 public offices, for to the new minister of labor 

 has been assigned not only labor and insurance 

 and providence funds formerly under the con- 

 trol of the minister of commerce and mines 

 formerly belonging to the department of the 

 minister for public works, but also poor relief 

 and public sanitation departments hitherto 

 directed by the minister of the interior, M. 

 Clemenceau has gained more fame as a poli- 

 tician and political writer than as a physician, 

 but he was at one time in practise in Paris, 

 so that he must be well acquainted with the 

 needs of the public health service, and it is 

 rather surprising to find him sactioning an 

 arrangement which assigns to a minister of 

 labor, who will have so many other interests 

 conunitted to his care, the incongruous duty 

 of presiding over the public health administra- 

 tion." 



The London Times, usually very correct in 

 its scientific news, contains the following re- 

 markable announcement : " Professor Josef 

 Nowack, the Austrian scientific authority, ar- 

 rived at Plymouth yesterday by the ISTorth 

 German Lloyd steamship Barbarossa, bring- 

 ing with him 26 cases of the rare plant Ahrus 

 precatorius noiilisj which is said to have ex- 

 traordinary properties in the prediction of 

 atmospheric and seismic disturbances. The 

 total number of specimens which the professor 

 has collected in Mexico and Cuba is 1,400, 

 and they were sent to London, where they are 

 to be exhibited. Professor IsTowack intends to 

 establish an institute in England for the pre- 

 diction of weather conditions and the fore- 

 casting of storms, earthquakes, volcanic erup- 

 tions and accumulations of fire damp in mines. 

 His system, he explained, is primarily based 

 upon the discovery of the weather plant, ' also 

 upon data obtained from studies of sun-spots, 

 statistics of natural phenomena throughout 

 the world, and upon general studies in physics. 



geology, chemistry and the physiology of 

 plants.' The weather plant, he explained, had 

 been found peculiarly sensitive to magnetic 

 influences, and when changes occur in the 

 electric and magnetic forces of the atmosphere, 

 its twigs and leaves perform peculiar and 

 abnormal movements, each movement having 

 a definite significance. By its aid earthquakes 

 and other influences can be predicted 26 days 

 in advance. One thousand of the plants have 

 been placed in the Botanical Gardens, New 

 York, and those now brought to England are 

 to remain here. There are to be bureaux in 

 Bombay, Tokio and San Francisco, and one in- 

 stitution already exists in Vienna. Professor 

 Nowack says that he can issue daily fore- 

 casts showing from two to seven days in ad- 

 vance the lists of rainy, foggy, or fine 

 weather. One station, he says, will be suffi- 

 cient for an area of 3,000 square miles, cov- 

 ering the whole of Europe, North Africa and 

 the North Atlantic Ocean. Much interest is 

 taken in the professor's researches in Austria, 

 where he has the support of the emi)eror and 

 the government." 



Consul TJrbain J. Ledoux reports from 

 Prague that Austrian papers are discussing 

 the introduction of the Kjellin process in the 

 manufacuture of steel by the Poldihiitte, at 

 Kladno, Bohemia, in concert with the Ober- 

 schlesische Eisenindustrie-Gesellschaft, which 

 process, says the Prague Tagehlatt, may bring 

 about a complete revolution in the Austrian 

 steel industry. Continuing, the Tagehlatt 

 says: That such steps may be leading to 

 vastly important results may easily be realized 

 when it is considered that the Kjellin process 

 yields an excellent steel, said to be fully equal 

 to the best crucible steel, while the cost of 

 production is considerably lower than with the 

 mode of production so far in use. The Kjel- 

 lin product, however, apart from its lower cost, 

 is further praised for its ductility, density, 

 homogeneousness, softness, the possibility of 

 obtaining high degrees of carboniferous qual- 

 ity and, finally, for its excellent magnetic 

 properties. If these surmises — as appears 

 highly probable — should be proved by facts, 

 all undertakings which have at their disposi- 

 tion the primary requisite for the adaptation 



