SCIENCE- GOSSIP. 



2 55 



Becquerel Rays. — Among a large number of 

 papers on Becquerel rays now before us, two are 

 worthy of especial notice as giving a comprehen- 

 sive and general account of the phenomena. For 

 those who propose to study the subject more fully, 

 i in better guide could be found than Professor Elster's 

 report in Eder's " Jahrbuch fur Photographie und 

 Reproductionstechnik " for 1900. The references 

 to original papers in footnotes form a complete 

 bibliography of the subject up to the time when 

 the article appeared, and it is surprising that Pro- 

 fessor Elster should have succeeded in summarising 

 so large an amount of matter in eleven very small 

 pages. Dr. B. Walter's article in the " Fortschritte 

 auf dem Gebiete der Rontgenstrahlen," illustrated 

 by a plate of radiographs, is somewhat more 

 popular, and the most important phenomena are 

 therein dealt with at rather greater length. — [-#>'.] 

 ff. H. Bryan, Bangor, North Wales. 



Royal Institution. — Among the lecture 

 arrangements at the Royal Institution before 

 Easter are the following : Sir Robert Ball, six lec- 

 tures (adapted to young people) on " Great 

 Chapters from the Book of Nature " ; Professor 

 J. A. Ewing, six lectures on " Practical Mechanics 

 (experimentally treated), First Principles and 

 Modern Illustrations " ; Dr. Allan Macfadyen, Ful- 

 lerian Professor of Physiology, R.I., four lectures 

 on " The Cell as the Unit of Life " ; Dr. Arthur 

 Willey, three lectures on " The Origin of Vertebrate 

 Animals"; Mr. F. Corder, three lectures on "Vocal 

 Music, its Growth and Decay " (with musical illus- 

 trations) ; the Right Hon. Lord Rayleigh, six lec- 

 tures on " Sound and Vibrations." The Friday 

 Evening Meetings will begin on January 18th, 

 when a discourse will be delivered by Professor 

 Dewar on " Gases at the Beginning and End of the 

 Century " ; succeeding discourses will probably be 

 given by Dr. A. W. Ward (the Master of Peter- 

 house), the Right Rev. Monsignor Gerald Molloy. 

 Professor G. H. Bryan, Professor J. J. Thomson, 

 Sir W. Roberts-Austen, Mr. H. Hardinge Cunyng- 

 hame, Mr. W. A. Shenstone, Dr. Horace Brown, the 

 Right Hon. Lord |Rayleigh, and other gentlemen. 

 Sir Robert Ball's lectures commenced on December 

 27th, being continued on the 29th, January 1st, 

 3rd, and 5th, at 3 o'clock each day. The admission 

 is hy subscription of one guinea and half-a-guinea 

 for adults and children respectively. 



HOMOCHRONOUS HEREDITY AND PRONUNCIA- 

 TION. — It is generally supposed that Frenchmen 

 and Germans have a particular difficulty in the 

 pronunciation of the English Th sound. Now, 

 seeing that this sound must have been used by the 

 Celtic ancestors of the former, and that it is also 

 found in the old High German and Gothic alpha- 

 bets, ought not the children of these nationalities 

 at least to inherit the power of distinguishing and 

 pronouncing these discarded but ancestral sounds, 

 even though from want of practice they lose the 

 power as they grow older ? For any information 

 given through your columns, especially as to 

 authorities or to systematic experiments and in- 

 vestigations on this subject, I should be much 

 obliged. — Charles G. Stuart-Menteath, 23 Upper 

 Bedford Flare, W.C. 



HOMOCHRONOUS HEUEDITY AND INHERITANCE 



of Mutilations.— If an animal, after sustaining 

 the loss of a limb, gives birth to young exhibiting 

 an analogous deficiency, this is regarded either as 

 a great coincidence or as an irrefragable proof 



of the doctrine of the inheritance of acquired 

 characters. Is this, however, consistent with the 

 ontogenetic recapitulation of phylogeny, which 

 could scarcely allow the inheritance until the 

 attainment of nearly the age or stage of develop- 

 ment of the parent when the latter's accident 

 occurred ? There seems, therefore, little coincidence 

 after all. — Cliarles G. Stuart-MenteatJi, London. 

 Brera Observatory, .Milan. -Professor Schia- 



parelli, who has been director since |S(J2, retired 

 in November, and is succeeded by Professor Gio- 

 vanni Celoria, who has occupied a post then; for 

 some years, besides rilling the chair of Geodesy at 

 tin' Technical Institute. 



Erosion op Shells. — I nave recently been 

 examining specimens of Li/rmaea stagnalis, Planor- 

 his complamatiis PI. eorneits, and PoAudina from a 

 locality in which nearly all specimens show some 

 degree of erosion, often considerable. The erosion 

 seems always to commence in a punctiform manner. 

 Appearances seem to lend much support to the 

 view of K. Semper ("Animal Life," 1890, p. 213), 

 and others, that the destruction of the periostracum 

 is immediately due to the boring of small algae. 

 Once the periostracum is gone, the calcareous 

 matter is probably easily dissolved by the CO, in 

 the water. The L. stagnalis suffer most, the Plan - 

 orbis Cornells least. — Arthur E. Boycott, Hereford. 



Malaria and Mosquitoes.— On November 28th 

 Major Ronald Ross, D.P.H., M.R.C.S., gave a lec- 

 ture at the Society of Arts on his discoveries with 

 regard to the relations existing between mosquitoes 

 and malaria. After giving a full and interesting 

 account of the disease itself, its terrible prevalence 

 in hot climates, and the old theories concerning h - 

 origin from the miasma of the blue mists, Major 

 Ross proceeded to describe the insect that appears 

 to be inseparably connected with malaria, as it 

 alwaj'S appears where this disease is prevalent. It 

 belongs to the genus AnopJie'les, the females of 

 which differ from Cidex, the ordinary British gnat, 

 in having long palpi, and spotted wings instead of 

 plain ones. There is also another important dif- 

 ference which requires special mention in connec- 

 tion with malaria. The larvae of Ciilex live in 

 almost any stagnant water, such as tubs, flower- 

 pots, broken bottles, drains, etc. It is, however, 

 otherwise with Anopheles, the larvae of which 

 prefer collections of water on the ground. 

 Hence they abound only in low-lying locali- 

 ties where water suitable for them exists, 

 and also delight in thick rank vegetation. It is the 

 female of the Culicidae that feeds on the blood of 

 animals, including man. The male, asa rule, is not 

 bloodthirsty, but lives chiefly on fruit. As means of 

 prevention. Major Ross suggests that care should 

 always be taken in the prophylactic use of quinine, 

 the careful employment of mosquito-nets and 

 window-screens, and the destruction of larvae round 

 the house. After an examination of various public 

 methods of prevention, the lecturer stated that he 

 personally adhered to the method proposed by him- 

 self to the Government of India nearly two years 

 ago. namely, that of careful surface drainage. To 

 this he adds removal of undergrowth, and the use 

 of powdered culicicides in certain cases, also 

 segregation and large airy houses for Europeans. 

 Major lew, also stated that he did not SUggesI this 

 would exterminate mosquitoes throughout Africa 

 or any where, else. Hereferred onlj to their extinc- 

 tion in large towns. 



