Mar. 2, 1888.] 



SCIENTIFIC NE\A^S. 



199 



©General ^otejs. 



Snow in the Sahara. — On February 2nd flakes of 

 snow fell at Laghonat in the Sahara, between 9 and 

 10 a.m. In the night there ensued a hail-storm. 



The Sensitiveness of the Eye for Different 

 Colours. — According to the recent investigations of Herr 

 H. Ebert, the sensitiveness of the eye varies for different 

 colours. By lamplight it is by far the greatest for green. 

 After green, the eye appears most sensitive for red, then 

 for greenish-blue, yellow, and least sensitive for blue. 



Sculptured Stones in Britain. — The newly-ap- 

 pointed " Disney " Professor of Archaeology at Cam- 

 bridge, the Rev. G. F. Browne, B.D., gave his inaugural 

 lecture in the Senate House. The subject of his first 

 course is the English sculptured stones of the pre- 

 Norman type. On the present occasion he took a general 

 survey of the sculptured stones of the British Islands. 



Interesting Discovery in Algeria. — According to the 

 Vigie Algericnne, a well of boiling sulphurous water has 

 been discovered in the neighbourhood of Thenobela on 

 the banks of the river. In pursuing the digging the 

 labourers came across a mill, supposed to be 1,600 years 

 old. This led to some more digging in the hope of dis- 

 covering the famous treasure which, according to the 

 legend, Scipio Africanus had hidden in a cave. 



Increase of Baldness. — Professor T. Wesley Mills 

 criticises the theory {Popular Science Monthly) of Messrs. 

 Eaton and Gouinlock, that the chief cause of baldness is 

 the constriction of the blood-vessels of the head by tight 

 hats, and gives it only a partial acceptance. He con- 

 siders that " baldness is one more of the many warnings 

 of our day, one of Nature's protests against the irregular 

 and excessive activity maintained in this restless age." 



A New Comet. — A new comet was discovered by 

 Sawerthal, and observed at the Cape Observatory at 

 2h. 33m. a.m. on the 19th inst., when its position was 

 R.A. igh. iim. 32.5s. (increasing 7m. daily) ; N.P.D. 

 146° 3' 44' (diminishing 1° 15' daily). The physical 

 appearance is described as " Seventh magnitude, nucleus 

 well defined ; tail 2° long; visible to the naked eye." It 

 has since been seen in New Zealand aud at Melbourne. 



Republication of Galileo's Works. — We understand 

 that the Italian Government have decided to issue a new 

 edition of the works of Galileo at the expense of the 

 State. The publication has been entrusted to Prof. 

 Favaro, of the University of Padua, and he is endeavour- 

 ing to make the edition as complete as possible. The 

 work will occupy about twenty-five volumes, and it is 

 not proposed to offer it for sale, but copies will be 

 presented to the chief public libraries of the world. 



The Ammonia-Soda Process. — It is not generally 

 known that this process which threatens ruin to our once 

 flourishing alkali industry is in origin a British inven- 

 tion. M. Solvay, with whose name the process is now 

 commonly connected, has overcome certain practical 

 difficulties in its working, chiefly of a mechanical nature. 

 In like manner, certain foreign papers boast that the 

 Thomas and Gilchrist "basic" process was only 

 rendered capable of existence by Massenez, at Hoerde. 



Purification of Water-Supplies. — At Atlanta, in 

 Georgia, a system has been adopted for purifying thewater 

 supply of the town, which consists in a combination 

 of the old Chinese method of treating suspicious waters 

 with alum and filtering afterwards through sand. The 

 quantity of alum used is, as in China, infinitesimal, and 

 no bad effects can result to the consumers, seeing that if 

 the proportions are properly adjusted no compound of 

 alumina, soluble or insoluble, will remain in the water. 



The Physiological Signification of Tannin in 

 Vegetable Tissues. — M, Westermeyer {Biedermaniis 

 Ceiitralblait) holds that tannin is intimately related to 

 the first assimilation products of the plant. Intensified 

 action of light involves an increase of tannin, both in 

 living cells, whether chlorophyll is present or absent, 

 whilst in the normal chlorophyllous assimilation cells, if 

 the chlorophyll is exceptionally absent, there is a corre- 

 sponding deficiency of tannin. In the oak the tannin 

 travels in summer from above downwards. 



Poisonous Nature of Acacia Bark. — According to T. 

 Emery the inner bark of the common white acacia of 

 our gardens and shrubberies (Robinia pseudacacia, 

 known in America as the " locust-tree ") is decidedly 

 poisonous. At the Brooklyn Orphan Asylum thirty-two 

 boys were rendered seriously ill from chewing the inner 

 bark of this tree. None of the cases terminated fatally, 

 although very active treatment was found needful. It is 

 remarked that a number of woody leguminous plants are 

 found to contain poisonous alkaloids. 



The Electric Light in Navigation. — As an instance 

 of the value of the electric light in the navigation 

 of dangerous waters, the Electrical Review mentions 

 its successful use by vessels approaching Cay West 

 in Florida. The channels leading to the anchorage 

 are intricate, winding between reefs and shoals, and are 

 marked by buoys and beacons. On the darkest nights, 

 steamers plying between Tampa Bay, Cay West, and 

 Habana run in and out of Cay West nearly at full speed, 

 and it is interesting to watch the manner in which the 

 marks are picked up by the powerful lights placed in 

 the bows of these vessels. 



New Magnetic Survey of France. — A new mag- 

 netic survey of France has been executed by M. 

 Moureaux, under the direction of M. Mascart, Director of 

 the Meteorological Observatory of the Pare St. Maur. 

 The instrument employed has the advantage of weigh- 

 ing only about 9 lbs., whilst the Kew magnetometer 

 weighs about 50 lbs. M. Moureaux has taken the pre- 

 caution to select stations as remote as possible from rail- 

 way lines, manufactories, etc. ; but he does not seem to 

 have attended to the geological character of the districts, 

 especially the possible proximity of igneous rocks, or 

 formations containing magnetic oxide of iron. 



The New Forest Law in Russia. — The St. Petersburg 

 Gazette believes that " the new law on the preservation 

 of forests approved by the Council of the Empire will be 

 enforced only partially in the thickly-wooded provinces 

 of Archangel, Vologda, \''iatka, Novgorod, Olonets, Perm, 

 the districts on the left bank of the Volga, Kostroma, 

 Nijni Novgorod, Kazan, and the Transcaucasus, except- 

 ing Stavropol. In all these provinces the law will only be 

 applied to forests which the authorities of the Depart- 



