July 29, 1904.] 



SCIENCE. 



153 



series of events does not explain one of the 

 fundamental attributes of living matter is 

 irrelevant. 



An explanation of this curious misappre- 

 hension, as well as a remedy for it, may be 

 found in the definition of regeneration as 

 either the homomorphic or the heteromorphic 

 replacement of lost parts, or the development 

 of whole as well as imperfect organisms from 

 pieces of adults, embryos or eggs. This 

 definition leaves out of account a large class 

 of true regenerative phenomena. Unless the 

 term ' regeneration ' has become a technical 

 one, intended to convey only half of its legiti- 

 mate sense, every restorative process should 

 be included under it. It seems to me that if 

 all anabolic processes were included in our 

 common acceptance of the term, we should 

 neither forget that the ability to regenerate is 

 a fundamental attribute of living things, nor 

 try to account for it by natural selection. 



0. C. Glasee. 



Johns Hopkins UisrivEiisiTT. 



CURRENT NOTES ON METEOROLOGY. 

 JAMES GLAISHEB. 



In the Quarterly Journal of the Boyal 

 Meteorological Society, Vol. XXX., 1904, pp. 

 1-27, Mr. "William Marriott, assistant secre- 

 tary of the society, has a paper on the meteor- 

 ological work of the late James Glaisher, 

 F.R.S., whose death, in February, 1903, was 

 duly noted in these columns. Glaisher was 

 the founder of the Eoyal Meteorological So- 

 ciety in 1850. He had, in 1840, been ap- 

 pointed superintendent of the magnetic and 

 meteorological department of the Eoyal Ob- 

 servatory, Greenwich. He soon became in- 

 terested in and conversant with all kinds of 

 meteorological investigations, and through his 

 instrumentality numerous meteorological sta- 

 tions were equipped in various parts of the 

 country. From 1847 to March, 1902, he sup- 

 plied quarterly the results from those stations 

 to the registrar general. He prepared various 

 tables of corrections for the use of the observ- 

 ers, the principal of which were his ' Hygro- 

 metrical Tables,' which have passed through 

 nine editions. He was a juror of the Great 

 Exhibition of 1851, and as such he caused a 



great stimulus to be given to the manufacture 

 of reliable meteorological instruments. Glai- 

 sher was best known to the public by the 

 twenty-eight balloon ascents which he made 

 for scientific purposes in the years 1862-1866, 

 on behalf of a committee of the British Asso- 

 ciation. A bibliography of the writings of 

 Glaisher is appended, and the statement is 

 made that the instruments which he used 

 during his balloon ascents have been given 

 to the Royal Meteorological Society by his 

 son. The last paper by James Glaisher ap- 

 peared in the Quarterly Statement of the 

 Palestine Exploration Fund, 1902, and is en- 

 titled ' Rainfall at Jerusalem in the Forty-one 

 Years 1861-1901.' 



THE DUST-FALL OF FEBRUARY^ 190 3 . 



'The Great Dust-Fall of February, 1903, 

 and its Origin ' is discussed by H. R. Mill, 

 R. G. K. Lempfert and J. S. Flett in the 

 Quarterly Journal of the Boyal Meteorological 

 Society, Vol. XXX., 1904, pp. 57-88. The 

 dust fell over nearly all parts of England and 

 Wales to the south of a line drawn from 

 Anglesey through Wrexham and Northampton 

 to Ipswich, except in parts of northern Corn- 

 wall, Somerset, Wilts and Mid-Wales. At 

 many stations to the north of this line the 

 dust-fall did not attract the attention of ob- 

 servers, but is believed to have taken place on 

 account of the distinct marks of yellow dust 

 detected on the sunshine cards sent in to the 

 Meteorological Office. The dust usually at- 

 tracted attention either in the form of a dense 

 yellow haze, like a London fog, or as a reddish- 

 yellow powder, lying thickly on trees or roofs, 

 or adhering to windows. There is reason to 

 believe that the air which reached the southern 

 half of England on February 22 started from 

 the northwest coast of Africa on the nine- 

 teenth. Dr. Flett, who examin.ed the dust 

 microscopically, reports that the bulk of each 

 specimen of dust presented to him for exam- 

 ination consisted of comparatively coarse par- 

 ticles of mineral and organic origin derived 

 from the locality where it was collected. In 

 addition to the coarser particles, all the 

 samples contained a very fine-grained reddish 

 clay, the particles of which were too minute 



