would be interesting to know if others have observed anything like it in other localities. About four inches of light dry snow fell during the afternoon and night of March 2. Towards the end of the storm the flakes were very large and the wind blew at a considerable velocity. This high wind continued most of the day of March 3. After the sun had been shining on the snow for three or four hours and had probably formed a thin layer of moist snow on top, the wind would catch up a portion of this moist snow and roll it over and over, forming a snowball of increasing size until the gust of wind had spent its energy, or the ball had become too large to be rolled any farther. Some people who saw this process taking place said that the fields were literally alive with moving snowballs. This peculiar phenomenon continued until about noon and the fields around Orono and Bangor were left with countless snowballs everywhere. Back of each snowball could be seen the triangular shaped path, from which the snow had been rolled up. In one instance this triangle was found to be approximately thirty-six feet in length, but that was for an unusually large snowball. The snowballs were of all sizes, from two or three inches in diameter up to nearly two feet. Of course the largest ones were formed where the ground sloped so that the ball rolled down hill, but even on the level some of the balls were a foot or more in diameter. One ball in particular, on which measurements were taken and recorded, was elliptical in shape, the horizontal diameter being twenty inches and the vertical diameter being fourteen inches. LEON ELMER WOODMAN est in the periodicity of these insects is the number of individuals appearing from time to time. I wish to suggest a means of measuring the numbers of them in a manner that will make it easy to compare the density of them from year to year. Wherever these cicada are there is produced an incessant screech. The intensity of this "screechy" sound is dependent upon the density of "locust" population. A measurement of the intensity of this sound may be referred to the density of the population in the environment where the intensity of the sound is produced. This is applying "sound ranging." The proper environment would have to be chosen. This means would at least afford an excellent way to record the activity of the cicada during any one season; and might be developed to give relative seasonal activity also. ENOCH KARRER BUREAU OF STANDARDS SCIENTIFIC BOOKS World-Power and Evolution. By ELLSWORTH HUNTINGTON. New Haven, Yale University Press, 287 pp., 30 figures. 1919. This is a far-reaching book, written in an interesting style, and is suggestive of thought along new lines, not only to students of evolution (especially those interested in the accepted laws of heredity), but to biologists, paleontologists, physicians and statesmen as well. The underlying thesis of the study is organic change, largely brought about by the changing environment, chiefly climate, which affects the well being and health of organisms. "Training, heredity and physical environment are like food, drink and air." They are necessary materials and conditions that are at the basis of all life. Humanity "does not yet realize that the human species must be bred as carefully as race horses," and even when people inherit perfect constitutions their health must receive much care. That climate largely underlies human health, this book abundantly demonstrates, and that it is a changing climate that develops the strongest and most intellectual peoples is clearly set forth. The author asks: Have religion, education, philanthropy and government failed? Shall we despair because the church, the school, the charity organization, and the state have not yet destroyed war, pestilence, lust, greed, cruelty and selfishness? Far from it. These agencies can not possibly play their proper parts unless science comes to their aid. Not mechanical science, although that has its useful part to play, but biological science. The sum and substance of biology is evolution, the Darwinian idea that no type of living creature is permanent. In this book health is studied, not from the standpoint of the physician, but from that of the geographer and evolutionist. Fluctuations in health, even the rise and decline of nations, are found to be conditioned by changes in the climate, in a small way, by the daily and seasonal changes, and in the large by the sweeping climatic ones that historians have as yet made so little use of in their interpretations of the fluctuations in national prosperity. The expansion of great nations is to a large extent determined by climatic conditions. We talk, indeed, about trade, but back of trade... lies the question of health. Health, however, depends chiefly upon air, food and water; and all three of these depend upon climate. Every nation that has been stimulated by an energizing climate has apparently spread its power over neighboring regions either by land or by sea. The author establishes his argument in a study of Health and Business, followed by other chapters on Business Cycles in Foreign Countries, How Health does its Work, and Climate and Health. The prosperity curve follows the health curve with no apparent regard for the crops. Contrary as it seems to our established convictions, there appears to be no way of avoiding the conclusion that economic cycles of adversity and prosperity in the United States depend upon health far more than upon any other factor. And health depends largely upon the weather. Aside from a good inheritance, which is of course the first essential, good health depends upon three material factors proper food, proper drink and proper air and climate. Air is the first necessity of life. We may live without food for days and without water for hours; but we can not live without air more than a few minutes. Our air supply is therefore of more importance than our food or water supply, and good ventilation becomes the first rule of hygiene. Huntington says that it is not enough to understand man's extremely sensitive adjustment to temperature and humidity. We must understand the effect of changes. A variable climate has utterly different effects from a uniform climate, even though both have the same average temperature and humidity. This thesis is developed in the section on The Importance of Variability. One of the best possible safeguards of health is constant change of temperature. "We need to return to the conditions under which the evolution of our unclothed ancestors took place.” In the chapter called The Voyage of Evolution, we read of the rise of the organisms into man, and that the last glacial epoch was peculiarly stimulating toward the mental development of humanity. "The coldest places were not favorable, but on their borders where the climate was severe enough to be highly bracing, but not benumbing, there occurred an extraordinary development of brain power." Then follow chapters in The Environment of Mental Evolution, The Origin of New Types among Animals, and The Origin of New Types among Men. The culminating chapters of the book come next in order. First in the one on The Example of Rome, we are told that mighty Rome fell because "men's energy and power of selfcontrol, as well as their crops, were suffering at the behest of the inexorably changing climate." The human world to the north was disarranged by the same climatic change, and "the barbarians were constantly swooping down first on one part of the empire and then on another." The enervated Romans could not overcome the more vigorous peoples of the north. "So Rome fell, and her fall was followed by that period of unfavorable climate which is known as the Dark Ages." In the chapter on The Problems of Turkey, we learn that: In ancient days, when the climate of the Turkish empire was favorable, the ancestors of some of the present inhabitants were the leaders of civilization. To-day their descendants are crushed and discouraged by the insurmountable obstacles of nature. No wonder their spirit is broken, their children ignorant, their religion corrupt, and their government diabolical, Truly Turkey is the sick nation of Europe, and her civilization corresponds to her physical environment. It This does not mean that she is forever doomed to misgovernment, race hatred and massacre. does mean, however, that there is little hope of any favorable development from within. We now attain to the climax of the book in a consideration of Germany and her Neighbors, and the Great War. Racial character, Huntington says, "is the effect of physical environment acting upon generation after generation." The Germans are living in one of the most invigorating climates, one that is superior to that of her enemies who live east and south of them, and it has made them the virile and persisting people that they are. No other nation in the world has so many people who live under a highly stimulating climate. The German devotion to the national cause is like that which made early Rome so formidable. Wherever and whenever the climate is stimulating, civilization seems to rise to a high level. The character of the civilization of course varies according to the race and training of the people. Yet no matter what the race, it seems under such circumstances to acquire the power to originate new ideas, to stick to them until they are carried out, and to impress its rule and its civilization upon the less favored people with whom it comes in contact. ers. tion. The present editor is E. Rignano, whose works are favorably known to American readThis is a monthly publication (subscription at 33 francs per year, Felix Alcan, publishers, Paris), with articles in French, Italian and English, but articles in Italian. and English are repeated in French translation. The title indicates the purpose, synthesis of science, of the journal, particularly to counterbalance the ill effects of over-specialization and also to have due regard for the bonds of unity among the different sciences. The social sciences and the history of science are included within the program of this publication. It deserves the hearty support of all scientists, particularly the support by subscription of college and technical libraries and by individuals. Professor Gino Loria has published for nearly twenty years the quarterly journal, Bollettino di Bibliografia e Storia delle Scienze Matematiche (Torino, Rosenberg et Sellier, Via Maria Vittoria, 18). The editor is notable among historians of mathematics as a mathematician of the first rank, con tributing equally to the field of pure mathematics and to the history of the science. This journal is always interesting and instructive, particularly valuable to all students of mathematics. In March of this year appeared the first number of a new Italian publication, quarterly, devoted entirely to the history of science, the Archivio di Storia della Scienza. The editor, Professor Aldo Mieli, of the University of Rome, is a well-known contributor to the fields of the history and philosophy of the sciences. Each volume of the Archivio will consist of about 500 pages (foreign subscription 35 francs, Dott Attilio Nardecchia, Via dell'Umilta, 14, Rome 19). While particular attention is to be paid to Italian science and scientists, all publications in the history of the various sciences and relating to the philosophy and development of science come within the range of the journal. The first number contains the following articles and departments: G. B. De Toni, Francesco Griselini, viaggiatore e natural ista veneziano del sec. XVIII."; Ant. Favaro, "Matteo Carosio (Amici e corrispondenti di Galileo. XLI.)"; Gino Loria, "Per una storia della matematica nel secolo XIX."; Andrea Corsini, "L" influenza' oggi e nel passato"; Studi e Note Vinciane Proemio, D. T. Per l'edizione nazionale delle opere di Leonardo, Notizie varie; Bibliografia metodica dei lavori di storia della scienza publicati in Italia; Analisi critiche: R. Almagià, Cristoforo Colombo (G. Stefanini); U. Viviana, Andrea Cesalpino; R. Marcolongo, Il problema dei tre corpi; W. Libby, An Introduction to the History of Science (A. Mieli); Gli Scienziati Italiani, Aggiunte, note e discussiono; Notizie e Commenti: Organizzazioni italiane per promuovere lo studio della storia della scienza (A. Mieli). La storia della scienza nelle Università-Notizie varie. Due credit must be given, even to-day, to the Germans for their activity in the publication of journals of an international character. However, Americans should now realize the desirability of stimulating and encouraging Italian, English and other European scientific publications of an international character. The revived Belgian journal Isis, now published by Dr. George Sarton and Dr. Charles Singer, of Oxford, should be remembered in this connection. The best way to stimulate these publications is by personal subscription and by personal interest on the part of scientists in urging upon librarians the subscription to these enterprises. LOUIS C. KARPINSKI UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN SPECIAL ARTICLES THE MOTION OF A GRAVITATING NEEDLE1 1. Static Elongations.-The apparatus2 with which I am working is of the simplest character, but judiciously designed. Two shots (m=.6 gram), one at each end of a straw shaft 22 cm. long (diagram 1a), are supported by a long quartz fiber, fixed with 1 Advance note from a Report to the Carnegie Institution of Washington, D. C. 2 Proc. Nat. Ac. Sc., IV., 338, 1918. cement above and below. The attracting weight (M=1 kilog., or more) can easily be moved from one side to the other and definitely placed by a smooth-working crank mechanism, between stops. Observations are made in a dark room (except for distant lamp light), in a damp, semi-subterranean basement, in midsummer, with very fair constancy of temperature and no electric charges. The motion of the needle is essentially creeping with a period (if I may so call it) of 20 or 30 minutes. The scale distance is over 4 meters from the little mirror at the center of the shaft. The observer keeps out of the way. Under these circumstances reasonably constant scale deflections, for periods of alternation exceeding 30 minutes would be expected; but the reverse of the case. Here is an example of the successive mean excursions or double amplitudes of the needle during the day: July Scale displacement in cm July Scale displacement in cm 4.03 3.64 3.07 4.50 5.39 The values of the morning and afternoon readings were equally different. Individual excursions may run as high as 6 cm. on certain days, though the behavior is throughout, of course, quite systematic. 2. Triplets for three-minute Periods.-The results for short period alternations of the pull of M (3 minutes in the examples given, Figs. 1, 2, 3) are equally bizarre; though, here they become interesting. In Fig. 1, the turning points of M are indicated by little circles, R and L are pulls to right and to left, respectively, and the mean double amplitude of the successive triplets are marked on the curves. There is drift throughout the figure; otherwise the behavior is about what would be expected. Inertia apparently carries the ball a little time after the gravitational pull has changed sign. But for this, there would be a phase difference of 90° as there should be. Moreover, the motion of the needle, after turning, is uniform. In Fig. 2, made under the same circumstances on a different day, the phenomenon is totally changed. The needle turns in the middle of the interval between the turning times of the pulling weight. There is no phase difference, while the drift has been accentuated. The triplets are larger, though the motion within the branches is still uniform. Similar observations were obtained with a downward drift. So I might adduce examples with all kinds of phase-differences, in some of which what was called "inertia " in relation to Fig. 1, comes just before the reversal of the pull ! For the same reason alternations in periods of one minute each rarely succeed. It is obvious therefore, that in addition to gravitational attraction there is in all these cases evidence of the development of an attractive (or in Fig. 2, of a repulsive) force more or less rapidly after the weight is turned. the 3. Radiation.-The extraneous forces originating in M are clearly referable to radiation. We may argue plausibly that, if M be warmer than m, there is excess of convection on the M side and a corresponding part of the pressure is converted into kinetic energy. Attraction apparently results. In the opposite case (colder M), there is repulsion such as is evidenced, for instance, after the semi-periods in Fig. 2. The relative magnitude of the radiation forces is astonishing. One has merely to warm the ball M with the hands, in order to increase the gravitational attraction" five or ten times. on cooling the ball in tap water only a Again few degrees below that of the room, repulsion may be obtained. Thus when the external 20m 30m 40m FIG. 2. 12-19 19 MMA 10m 20m 30m 40m Exhaustion, 40 cm. FIG. 3. temperatures are increasing even if very slowly, outside objects like M are hotter and the excursions of § 1 are large; and vice versa. The warmer ball remains effectively though decreasingly so, for hours, even when it has become cold to the touch. Normal experiments are not again feasible until the day after. 4. Radiation in Vacuo.-At this point it was therefore necessary to build another apparatus, capable of being exhausted. This was done, and experiments similar to the last performed, by exhausting the interior in successive steps of 0-10 cm., 10-20 cm., etc. Thus again the interior was cooled relative to the exterior and there was an influx of radiation, the character of which was made evident by hanging the needle somewhat obliquely to the vertical walls of the case. The ball M was discarded. It was found that the attractive forces obtained in each of these successive steps of exhaustion (allowing the needle to get back to equilibrium before the next step) gradually diminished with the decrease of pressure, until between 60 and 70 cm., there was no appreciable effect. For higher exhaustions (70-74 cm.) the attractive forces were reversed and became strong repulsive forces. In other words at this point the radiometer forces supervene 3 I give this explanation with some reservations. All that is in question is a reversible inequality of radiation on the two sides. 4 Deflections of +15 cm. and 15 cm. were observed, respectively, at the first and last drop of pressure, whereas the gravitational deflection is but 3 or 4 cm. |