Aug. 3, 1888.] 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



103 



H&mtt&l 0ott$. 



Professor J. C. Houzeau. — We much regret having 

 to put on record the death of Professor J. C. Houzeau, 

 the eminent Belgian meteorologist. 



Strange Impurity in Milk. — Hermann Thorns 

 alleges, in the Pharmaceutische Zeitung, that he has de- 

 tected ultramarine in a sample of milk as offered for sale. 



An Artesian Well in Queensland. — An artesian 

 well has just been completed at Blackall, in Queensland. 

 A bed of good water was struck at the depth of 1,600 

 feet, and a flow of 280,000 gallons daily is secured. 



Height of Waves. — According to del et Tcrre the 

 waves of the sea may exceptionally reach the height of 

 56 feet. D'Urville records waves of 90 feet in height, 

 which is more than double the figure given by other 

 observers. 



The Cultivation of the Senses. — The Popular 

 Science Monthly, discussing industrial training, says : — 

 " We expect a well-developed perceptive power in the 

 senses, delicacy of touch, a minutely trained ear — yes, 

 even nose." Surely the nose is of far greater importance 

 in science than the ear ! 



British Museum Library. — It is understood that the 

 name of Mr. Edward Maunde Thompson, Keeper of the 

 Department of Manuscripts in the British Museum, has 

 been submitted to Her Majesty by the Principal Trustees 

 of the Museum for appointment to the post of Principal 

 Librarian, in succession to Mr. Bond. 



Japanese Honours. — The Emperor of Japan has been 

 pleased to confer the fourth class decoration of the 

 Order of the Rising Sun on Professor J. M. Dixon, M.A., 

 F.R.S.E., of the Imperial University in Tokio, Japan. 

 Professor Milne, the well-known seismologist, who is on 

 the staff of the same institution, was also decorated. 



British Association's Visit to Newcastle. — A Local 

 Committee has been formed in connection with this visit, 

 and it has been decided to prepare a Local Guide giving 

 a brief sketch of the industries, natural history, and 

 general history of the Northern counties. The three 

 editors are, Historical Section, Dr. T. Hodgkin ; Natural 

 History, Prof. Lebour; Industries, Dr. Wigham Richard- 



Danger of Refrigerated Water. — According to 

 the Medical Press, twelve workmen died lately at the 

 manure works of Prairie-au-Duc. The disease was 

 pneumonia, and it was ascribed to inhaling phos- 

 phates (volatile fluorides ?) or the dust of dried fecal 

 matter. On inquiry, however, it appeared that the 

 premises were irreproachable from a sanitary point of 

 view ; but it appeared that the men, when heated, 

 were in the habit of drinking freely from a vat in 

 which refrigerated water was kept for certain uses in the 

 factory. This is a warning for the lovers of iced water. 



Loofah. — The Borsenaeiiung directs attention to the 

 growing use of loofah as a substitute for sponge. This 

 curious substance is the skeleton-like, fibrous covering 

 of a species of cucumber which grows in tropical 



climates. The proprietors of the extensive loofah works 

 at Halle were the first to recognise its value as an 

 adjunct of the bath, and to make of it an article of com- 

 merce, and they have created a considerable industry in 

 collecting, preparing, and converting it for use. 

 Enormous quantities are exported to all the principal 

 markets of the world. A large quantity is now manu- 

 factured into inside soles for shoes. The latest develop- 

 ment of the trade is to apply it to the under side of 

 saddles, its principal merit in the application being that 

 it tends to keep the horse's back cool. 



Consumption and Coal Miners. — Dr. Nasmyth's results, 

 given in our Abstracts, must be regarded as not a little 

 remarkable, for it seems to have been clearly demon- 

 strated by geologists and others that phthisis is always 

 more prevalent where the soil and air are unusually 

 damp, and that conversely the drying up of the moisture 

 by drainage has always resulted in a marked decrease 

 in the mortality from this cause. And yet, according to 

 Dr. Nasmyth, we have here a very low proportion of 

 lung disease among men who habitually work in air 

 which is " nearly always saturated." If statistics from 

 wider coal-mining areas bear out these observations it 

 would certainly appear that some other cause than mere 

 dampness has a share in inducing consumption ; and as 

 the ground beneath and around the mine must be satu- 

 rated with water, while the temperature is shown to be 

 closely similar to that obtaining above-ground, it is not, 

 in the present state of our knowledge, very easy to see 

 what other influential factor could enter into the question. 



Structure of a Flash of Lightning. — M. E. L. 

 Trouvelot, during the storm of June 24th, at Paris, 

 succeeded in obtaining the photograph of a flash of 

 lightning, and submitted the proof to the Academy of 

 Sciences on the 9th inst. This flash, which seemed 

 to connect the earth to a cloud, subtended an angle of 

 40 . The flash appears divided in four main 

 branches, brilliant and strongly-marked. But there 

 were others less visible, some so faint that they could 

 not be seen in the negative without the help of a lens. 

 The total number of the branches, large and small, is 

 thirty-seven. A microscopic examination of the 

 image of the flash shows that it is like a long ribbon, 

 taking all the forms which a ribbon might present if 

 plunged into a slowly-moving liquid. This ribbon 

 seemed to be traversed vertically by a multitude of 

 rays more or less close together, and more or less 

 brilliant. They are seen almost everywhere upon 

 the flash, even upon its faintest ramifications. They 

 correspond in general with the fracture of the .zigzags 

 which seem to make up the flash. 



The Distillation of Sea Water. — The Government 

 is fitting a distilling apparatus in many of the new ships, 

 which has several features to recommend it. It has been 

 necessary heretofore to have a donkey boiler, or to set 

 one main boiler aside for use in distilling,. and either plan 

 has its inconveniences. As steam will be used constantly 

 in the new ships for power purposes, with the new 

 arrangement, the same boiler can also be used for making 

 fresh water without the oily unpleasantness that usually 

 accompanies distilled water made from a boiler fed from 

 a surface condenser. Steam from a special boiler is led 

 through a series of coils, which are contained in a vessel 

 supplied with sea water. The steam is condensed, or 



